Jongwoon was floored by how much work it was to talk Kyuhyun into going out for a drink together without alerting either Sungmin or Ryeowook.  He straight up had to lie to his boyfriend.  Sungmin would ask where he was headed and they’d been together too long to tell him it wasn’t his business to know where he was going.  As much as he disliked deceiving Sungmin, if he’d told him the truth, he would want to know more about why he asked Kyuhyun to go out with him alone.  Ryeowook was almost as bad, not because he constantly asked Kyuhyun where he was headed and what he was doing but because the maknae voluntarily told his best friend everything that was going on. 

            So, Jongwoon had to ask Kyuhyun to meet with him in private because he wanted to talk to him about something bothering him—man to man—and that wasn’t exactly a lie, just a half truth.  What Jongwoon needed to talk to him about wasn’t himself.

            Thankfully, after careful work, they were out of the apartment and neither Sungmin nor Ryeowook were wise to where they were.  So, after ordering, Kyuhyun leaned forward, his curiosity clearly killing him since the morning when Jongwoon arranged plans with him. 

            “Tell me everything.  Are you and Minnie having problems?”

            Jongwoon shook his head.  “No, everything’s fine unless you count me already freaking out about what I’m going to get him for our anniversary.  But I have time yet.”

            “Well, that’s a relief.  I was worried you were going to break my poor roommate’s heart.”

            That was Kyuhyun’s favorite nickname for Sungmin, since they weren’t roommates at all.  Kyuhyun was just nice enough to pretend to share a room with Sungmin so that the fans wouldn’t suspect who he was really dating.  Of course, Jongwoon had mixed feelings about it, since they all thought he was perfect with Kyuhyun.  It made him a little jealous from time to time, even without having any fear that Kyuhyun would ever try to steal Sungmin away.

            “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about another love affair…a one-sided one.”

            Kyuhyun gave him a puzzled look but didn’t interrupt.  The waiter brought their drinks over and Jongwoon waited until he was out of earshot to continue. 

            “Go on,” Kyuhyun urged, sipping from his glass of wine.

            Jongwoon took a deep breath and slowly let it out before continuing.  “I have a friend that has had a very long crush on someone else, for several years already, and is very good friends—best friends—with his crush.  They get along very well and this best friend thinks the world of him but does not know about the romantic feelings and would never reciprocate them.  The problem is, it obviously bothers him that they can never be together but because of their close relationship, he just can’t seem to move on and he may never look for someone else that will love him the way that he wants to be loved if he doesn’t put some distance between himself and this crush.”

            “So, being close friends with his crush makes it hard for him to look for another person?”

            Jongwoon nodded.

            “Why doesn’t he tell his crush that he loves them?”

            “Because he knows that it would probably make the relationship awkward and he doesn’t want to lose them as a friend,” Jongwoon explains.

            “So, what exactly are you asking?”

            “Since this friend never intends to say anything and will never find someone to really love them if everything stays the same, should I tell his crush and ask them to back off a bit so he has the chance to lose interest in them?”

            “Do you think this friend would do what you ask?”

            “I think his friend genuinely cares for him a great deal and would do anything that they believed would make him happier in the long run.”

            Kyuhyun gave the idea some honest thought before continuing.  “It’s still possible that telling the crush about his romantic feelings could turn them off from him completely.”

            “I know this other person well too and I highly doubt that would happen.  I think they love him very much, in their own way.  Like a brother,” Jongwoon explained. 

            “If they’re a true friend, they’d want to see their friend happy.  I guess, if you’re sure this person would not overreact to the news, you should say something.  Although, I really do think that most people in a one-sided love do eventually give up and move on.”

            “It’s been a really long time.”

            “How long?”

            “I think for a good six or seven years now but he didn’t own up to it the first couple years.”

            Kyuhyun nodded, sipping his wine more.  “You probably ought to say something then.”

            “You agree?” Jongwoon questioned.

            Kyuhyun nodded.  “That’s a long time for someone to be hung up on someone that will never love them.  I still worry that you’ll hurt your friend.  But he also deserves a try at happiness.”

            “I was hoping you’d say that,” Jongwoon said, downing a third of his beer in one go. 

            “You don’t have to answer me but I’m just curious if this is about someone I know?” Kyuhyun asked. 

            Here was the moment that Jongwoon had been leading up to.  He’d been so confident this morning when he approached Kyuhyun and made plans to meet but now that the moment had come to tell him, he was full of guilt and regret at even contemplating sharing Ryeowook’s secret.  But he also felt terrible whenever he glimpsed the pained look on his face when he spoke of how he’d never get to be with the one he loved.  His desire to see Ryeowook happy still outweighed his fear of hurting their relationship. 

            “Yes, it is.”

            “Hae and Hyuk?”

            “No.”

            “Minho and Taemin?”

            Jongwoon shook his head.  Kyuhyun was deep in thought, looking out the window aimlessly, but Jongwoon knew the answer would never come to him.  He had to tell him.  “Kyuhyun…”

            Kyuhyun’s eyes met Jongwoon’s but instead of being eager or curious, they bore into him, as if looking for something.  Jongwoon opened his mouth to speak.

           “Wait!  Don’t say it,” Kyuhyun suddenly ordered.  “Don’t tell me something I don’t want to hear.”

            So, he did suspect something.

            “It has to be addressed, you said so yourself.”

            Kyuhyun grabbed his wine glass with a shaky hand and brought the rim to his lips.  He drank it down in one smooth tilt of the glass before setting it down. 

            “Kyuhyun.”

            Kyuhyun said nothing, he didn’t even move. 

            “Ryeowook’s been in love with you almost since the first day he met you.  Don’t you think it’s time that you take a step back so that he has a chance to open up to the thought of finding someone who wants him?  I don’t think you have any idea how tortured he is, being so close and yet so far.”

            Kyuhyun covered his face in his hands.  “You’re wrong.  He loves me as a friend.  He’s my best friend in the whole world; he’s supposed to love me.”

            “He values your friendship more than anything else in the world, but he’s clearly in love with you, Kyu.”

            Kyuhyun shook his head.  “I can’t just believe one person’s opinion.”

            “If you ask Sungmin, I’m sure that he would also give you a direct answer.  He’s been concerned about Wookie too,” Jongwoon informed him.  “And Min is the one that Wookie confides in most.”

            Jongwoon let Kyuhyun have some time to absorb what he’d been told, ordering them both another drink.  He was relieved to find that Kyuhyun was taking him seriously, even if he was in a bit of denial, and that he hadn’t yet acted disgusted that his best friend would be attracted to him.  The last thing he wanted to see was Ryeowook get hurt more than he needed to be by Kyuhyun being cruel to him.  Then again, no matter how mean and evil Kyuhyun could be, didn’t he usually do it out of love, in some twisted kind of way?

            “I don’t want anything to change between us,” Kyuhyun mumbled to himself.

            “But you’re being selfish,” Jongwoon finally said.  “He’s the one who’s suffering.”

            It was only the beginning of a long night and Jongwoon indulged him this once, letting Kyuhyun drink himself numb.  He needed time to consider what he’d been told, time to decide how he wanted to approach the matter.  And for once, without Ryeowook here to baby him, Jongwoon really did feel sorry for him.