Daehyun was confused. Why was he jealous again?

He looked at the scene in front of him. Youngjae, Jongup and Junhong were tangled upon each other from playing twister. Himchan, who broke his pinky and ring finger 2 weeks prior, was in charge of the spinner while Yongguk, who had said before the game started “I am too old for this ”, watched his little family with a huge grin on his face. Daehyun didn’t want to play the game because he was sulking because Youngjae refused to acknowledge his existence since last week.

So now he was stuck in the kitchen, eating his strawberry cheesecake while watching his best-friend making a fool out of himself and getting touchy – too touchy to Daehyun’s liking – with the two maknaes. The five of them laughed when Junhong almost crashed onto the floor when his right arm shook from bearing his weight for too long, but the maknae managed to stay in position.

Youngjae’s turn was up next so Himchan spun the pointer on the spinner.

“Right hand on red!” Himchan announced.

Youngjae carefully placed his hand on a red circle but now his body was hovering above Jongup. Jongup grinned at his hyung and the latter laughed. “Well this is a very fangirl-scream-inducing position.” Youngjae remarked helpfully.

Daehyun’s grip on his plastic fork tightened.

Himchan spun the pointer for Jongup. “Left foot on green.”

Jongup sighed, his arms were already sore and he was sure if he moved his legs, his arms would have to bear a little extra weight. But he was determined not to lose. Unable to fully see the mat below him, he guessed where the green circle was and slowly moved his leg. He messed up, his leg colliding with Youngjae’s and with a cry Youngjae’s body toppled on top of Jongup.

The fork snapped into two.

The living room exploded with laughter with Himchan clutching his stomach with his uninjured hand, Junhong attacking the floor with his fist and a teary-eyed Yongguk trying to suppress his laughter by covering his mouth. Youngjae’s face was buried into Jongup’s chest, shoulders shaking as he laughed while Jongup wheezed from both laughter and the weight on his body.

Appetite lost, Daehyun shoved his half-eaten cheesecake into the fridge and stomped towards their bedroom, locked the door and buried himself under his three blankets. Why was he jealous again?

His mind replayed the scene over and over again, although it filtered everyone else’s presence except Youngjae.

Youngjae smiling.

Youngjae biting his lips as he figured where to put his hand next.

Youngjae’s eyes turning into crescents when he laughed at the maknae.

Youngjae’s little lips stretching into a smile, showcasing his pearly white teeth.

Youngjae grinning when he hovered above the second maknae.

Youngjae’s existence in general.

Daehyun’s mind shut down as realization hit him like his body crashed onto the pavement from 20 floors above before getting ran over by a pick-up truck.

“Do I… like him?”

He realized he had been crushing on Youngjae ever since their Crash era (when all of his clammy hands, thump-thump-thump stupid heart, doodles of Youngjae’s stupid face in his planner and those daydreams started) (He wondered why he had just realized it now).

Daehyun confirmed it with his other best-friend, Google.

He typed “How to tell if you like your best-friend” into the search box. The first search result linked him to a wikihow page and he clicked it.

“If you think you're falling for your best friend but you're not exactly sure, read on.”

And read on he did.

“How do I tell him?” Daehyun mumbled to himself, gnawing the pillow as he thought of a way to confess. When he came to a dead end he typed into the address bar “How to tell your best-friend you like them”. The first link in the search result looked unreliable, so he chose the second one which was a wikihow page as well.

After reading and considering the pros and cons of each steps, Daehyun opted for the first, third and seventh steps. Now he just had to direct Youngjae’s attention to him so that he could confess.

“Let’s do this!”

Attempt 1: Get the other person alone.

Daehyun peered from his seat on the sofa. Youngjae was making dinner while Himchan instructed him on what to do and all that cooking shenanigans. He stood up and made his way towards the two males in the kitchen.

“Youngjae, can I –”

“Later, Daehyun. We’re making dinner.” Himchan said curtly.

Daehyun opened his mouth and closed it and opened it again like a fish out of water. Himchan spared a glance at him and dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

With a sigh, Daehyun dejectedly walked out of the kitchen, joining Yongguk and the two maknaes who were watching TV on the sofa.

Attempt 1 failed.

Attempt 2: Make casual conversation.

“Youngjae-ah” Daehyun called, flopping next to Youngjae who was frowning at his iPad, navigating his character who was running faster by every minute through the temple. The younger brunette gave him a noncommittal hum.

“Yah, I’m talking to you!” Daehyun exclaimed, shoving Youngjae’s shoulder to the side causing his character to stumble on a collapsed roof.

“Tsk, what is it? Can’t you see I’m busy?” the younger boy hissed, sparing a glance at Daehyun for a millisecond before resuming his attention on the iPad. Daehyun rolled his eyes and kicked at his friend’s leg. Youngjae ignored him.

Daehyun was about to say something when a gigantic maknae suddenly crashed onto the couch next to Youngjae and clung at the boy’s hand while making noises that sounded like a dog whining (to Daehyun that was what it sounded like).

“Youngjae hyuuuungggg”

“Yes, maknae?” Youngjae paused the game and turned his whole body so that he was facing Junhong.

Daehyun’s jaw dropped and he scoffed. “Really, Youngjae? I called you twice but you ignored me like I don’t even exist while Junhong called you once and you paused your game for him!”

“Hyung, I need help with my math homework. Can you help me?”

“Ask Yongguk-hyung!” Daehyun interrupted. Junhong glared at him and he returned the glare with a similar murderous vibe, imagining all sort of sharp weapons coming out of his eyes and burying themselves on the maknae’s pretty face.

“Yongguk-hyung isn’t in the dorm, if you haven’t noticed. He left to god-knows-where with Himchan-hyung.” Junhong said matter-of-factly.

“Then what about Jongup? You can ask for his help!”

“Jonguppie-hyung is in the dance studio and if I ask for his help he’ll probably confuse me even more. Either that or he’ll space out, daydreaming about how Chris Brown would help him with his homework instead or something.”

Youngjae snorted at that comment. He put his iPad away and stood up, taking Junhong’s wrist in his hand. “Come on, I’ll see what I can help you with.”

Daehyun stared with his mouth agape at the two retreating figures. Junhong on the other hand turned around for just a brief moment to stick his tongue out at Daehyun, making the older boy seethe with annoyance.

“ing brat.” Daehyun thought. He made a mental note to sprinkle some itchy powder on Junhong’s bed later.

Attempt 2 failed.

---

After two of his attempts to confess to Youngjae failed miserably, he decided to take a break.

Daehyun stared at his reflection in the foggy bathroom mirror. He blew a strand of his hair off his forehead and put his hands on his waist, wrapped by a white towel. He studied his topless body up and down, scrutinizing every details. He had been working out lately, so he guessed he had developed some muscles. And he thought he looked pretty good. Well, not as good as Jongup but decent enough to pass the flabby stage.

“It’s really y when Jongup comes out of the bathroom with only his underwear on.”

Remembering the comment Youngjae made on Jongup on that radio station made Daehyun growl in frustration. He was caught off guard when Youngjae said that, his brain unable to fully comprehend what the younger boy was saying. When it finally sunk in the only thing he could come up with was calling Youngjae a ert. Never mind the fact that he almost spontaneously combust from jealousy. Jongup only smiled and laughed at what Youngjae said, though Daehyun thought he sounded pretty nervous (and Jongup was glancing at Youngjae and Daehyun back and forth as if waiting for a time bomb to explode).

Daehyun shook the memory out of his head. “y only in his underwear, huh? Let’s see how you’ll like this.”

With a muttering of “fighting, Jung Daehyun!” and a fist pump, he stepped outside the bathroom. Cold air immediately embraced him and he shivered, slightly regretting not putting a shirt on. But if that was what it took to get Youngjae pay attention to him then people could douse him with ice cubes and he won’t give the slightest .

He strode towards their shared bathroom with confidence (that was barely there), peeking from behind the door to see if anyone else was there. To his relief, Youngjae was the only one in the room and as per usual, completely preoccupied with one of his techy little friends (this time it was the laptop).

Daehyun swallowed a lump in his throat before walking inside, pretending to be oblivious of the younger’s presence. He pretended to check himself out in the mirror hung by the wall of their bedroom. Through the mirror, he could see Youngjae glancing up from the laptop, before eyes widening and started spluttering.

“Y-yah! Put on some clothes will you?”

Daehyun raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Put on some clothes!” Youngjae repeated, focusing his eyes back onto the laptop.

“What’s the big deal? Jeez, you were fine with Jongup going around the house half .”

“He- he’s different, okay?”

“How is he different? I have what he have. Hell, you have what we have.”

“At least Jongup’s body is nice to look at.” Youngjae muttered. Daehyun narrowed his eyes at the boy.

“You’re one to talk!”

Youngjae’s glare was so murderous Daehyun averted his gaze. The younger boy got off from his bed and stalked towards Daehyun slowly. “Are you calling me fat?”

“What? I didn’t!”

“You were implying that I’m fat!”

“You interpreted it the wrong way! God damn it, Youngjae stop twisting my words!”

Their faces were so close now, Daehyun could feel Youngjae’s breath on his face. His gaze darted from the brown haired boy’s dark eyes to his lips and he wondered what would happen if he leaned in for a kiss.

He’d probably get his smacked with Youngjae’s laptop.

Youngjae seemed to finally realize how close they were as well, and he cleared his throat and looked away, cheeks dusted with a faint hue of pink.

They heard heavy footsteps coming towards their bedroom and prepared for the worst. They have been pretty loud so the hyungs must have heard them.

“What’s going on here?” Yongguk appeared from the doorway, scanning the bedroom for any signs of broken furniture or whatever. He visibly relaxed when he saw nothing was out of the ordinary, save the half- Daehyun and fully-clothed Youngjae standing in a really close proximity that suggested something that would drive the fangirls crazy if they ignored the angry shouts. He raised an eyebrow.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Youngjae’s face reddened even more and he half-walked-half-ran out of the bedroom, spluttering something incomprehensible.

Daehyun sighed as he opened the drawer and took out a plain blue shirt and a blue polka dot pajama pants before putting them on.

“It’s nothing, hyung.”

---

So a week later Youngjae was still ignoring him, and Daehyun had given up entirely on his plan to confess because, well, confidence. And Youngjae was making it hard for him to carry out his plans too.

A bark of laughter snapped Daehyun off his reverie and he switched his focus on the living room. Youngjae, Jongup and Junhong were playing again, this time a console game. Junhong was winning the race, although to Daehyun it was obvious that Youngjae was letting him win because Youngjae plus ‘losing in a video game’ doesn’t even go together in a sentence.

Daehyun wondered if he was the maknae would it be easier for him to confess? Because being the maknae meant innocence and everything adorable and being doted on by your hyungs and nonsense like that.

And Youngjae had never been this close to the two maknaes. He was close, all right but these days he wasn’t just close, he was touchy-close with them, so much that it made Daehyun’s skin crawl. The maknaes were definitely enjoying the extra attention that their Youngjae-hyung was giving them and Daehyun wished he was the maknae.

He spent the next 20 minutes glaring daggers at the three boys while murdering his pancake on the plate.

“Whoa easy there, tiger. We don’t have body bags in our house, you know.” Yongguk patted Daehyun’s shoulder as he sat on the chair on his right.

“Huh?”

“If looks could kill, we would’ve have 3 dead bodies in our dorm right now.”

“Oh. I- I wasn’t staring.” Daehyun stammered, finally trying to eat his (mutilated) pancake properly.

“Of course you weren’t staring. You were glaring. There’s difference.” Yongguk grinned.

Daehyun groaned and pushed his plate away. “Leave me alone to dwell on my unfortunate life, hyung.”

“Come on now, spill. Hyung-line heart to heart talk. What’s bothering your pretty little head?”

Daehyun pursed his lips. “I think Youngjae hates me.”

“What? You guys are best friends so why would he hate you?”

“I don’t know, hyung! It’s just that… he seems so distant to me now. It’s like he’s ignoring me, you know? I tried to talk to him but he keeps pushing me away. Did I do something wrong?”

“Well you did call him fat yesterday.”

“I did not call him fat! Seriously, what’s with people and fat shaming? He has been ignoring me way before that happened anyway.”

Yongguk hummed as he tapped his chin. “Why don’t I distract the two maknaes and then you’ll have Youngjae all for yourself?”

“Can you do that?” Daehyun’s eyes were practically sparkling it made Yongguk gag internally. What a hopeless kid.

“Yeah, yeah, piece of cake.”

So Yongguk walked to the living room and announced that he needed to talk with the maknaes and demanded Youngjae to stay there. They complied, and Youngjae plugged the console off and switched the TV to another channel.

Now or never.

Daehyun took a deep breath and sat next to Youngjae on the couch. When the younger boy didn’t show any signs to leave, Daehyun mentally sighed in relief. Both of them had their eyes on the TV but Daehyun knew none of them were focusing on it.

The air was thick with tension, something that was unusual when the two of them were together. Daehyun pressed his lips into a thin line as his drummed his fingers nervously on his thighs. After what seemed like an eternity, Daehyun couldn’t take the silence between them anymore and he nudged Youngjae’s arm gently with his elbow.

“Hey, man.”

“Hey.”

More silence.

“Look… I’m sorry about what I said, okay? Even though I really wasn’t implying that you’re fat, I’m sorry anyway.”

“So you’re just sorry because I was offended.”

“I’m not! Yah, Yoo Youngjae I’m trying to apologize here”

“Okay, okay…” Youngjae sighed and switched his position to face Daehyun and crossed his legs. Daehyun followed suit slowly after to mirror his position.

“I was at fault too. You know, for overreacting. So yeah. I’m sorry, too.”

“So… are we cool now?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Does that mean you’re not going to ignore me and stop pretending that I don’t exist anymore?”

“When did I ever ignore you?”

“Seriously? You’ve been ignoring me for, I don’t know? The past 2 weeks?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Youngjae, we happen to have this ‘raid-the-fridge-at-night-for-some-snacks’ relationship and we haven’t raided the fridge for many many nights because you just happened to suddenly develop a liking to sleep way too early. You do notice our food supply is a lot more abundant than usual right now, right?”

“Okay!” Youngjae threw his hand in the air. “I was ignoring you.”

“Why?”

Youngjae shrugged. “Because you’re stupid.”

“What?” Daehyun scoffed. “Okay, I know I wasn’t an honor student like you, but really?”

“I didn’t mean stupid as in academically stupid, I mean stupid as in generally stupid. Like Jung Daehyun stupid.”

“Oh so now we’re using my name to measure stupid?”

“Yes.”

They stared at each other. Daehyun didn’t know what else to say, so he went on with the third step on how-to-tell-your-best-friend-you-like-them, which was: JUST BLURT IT OUT.

“I like you.”

Youngjae blinked.

And the Dam of Jung Daehyun’s Mouth broke. “I really, really like you, Youngjae. Not like like you like Yongguk-hyung, Himchan-hyung, Jonguppie and Junhongie but like like ‘I really wanna kiss you and spend the rest of my miserable life with you so that you can suffer with me’ type of like.”

Youngjae rolled his eyes. “You just used the word ‘like’ 7 times.”

Daehyun grinned sheepishly as he rubbed his temple.

“This is why you’re stupid.” The younger boy sighed.

“I’m stupid because I like you?” Daehyun asked, incredulous. Youngjae smiled as he put his hand behind Daehyun’s neck.

“No. Because it took you so ing long to finally confess to me, stupid.”

And Daehyun waited for the kiss.

But Youngjae bumped their foreheads together instead (really hard) because Jung Daehyun deserved it.

---

Four sets of eyes watched the two soon-to-be-couple best-friend in anticipation. They were hiding themselves behind a wall, silently waiting for Daehyun and Youngjae to just shut up and make out already because they couldn’t stand all the ual frustrations that was practically oozing out of the two.

“Do you think Daehyun-hyung’s gonna confess to Youngjae-hyung now?” Junhong whispered.

“100% sure. I mean, after all the excessive unnecessary skinship that Youngjae intentionally did with both of you, Daehyun must have been murdering you kids brutally in his head.” Himchan whispered back, adding a snicker at the end.

Jongup, who was possibly the biggest victim in this whole non-mess sighed deeply. “I couldn’t even sleep properly because I thought Daehyun-hyung was going to kill me when everyone is sleeping.”

“Oh oh oh look Youngjae’s going to kiss him!” Yongguk announced and they all huddled together.

Their shoulders sagged when Daehyun was shrieking in Youngjae’s face for the huge bump on his forehead.

“That was pretty anticlimactic.”