“Kyungsoo!” Joonmyun shouted his friend’s name as he ran around the large casino. He stopped to catch his breath, and heard quiet sobs coming from an alleyway to his left. He slowed down and headed towards the sound.

Joonmyun found Kyungsoo slumped against the wall, his knees to his face, and his shoulders shaking from crying. The boy in the suit sprinted to his side, but hesitated before reaching out. “Kyungsoo...?” He said this as gently as possible, which wasn’t very gentle.

“Go away,” the crying boy sobbed. He tried to stand, but wobbled, and Joonmyun’s arms involuntarily shot out to catch him. Kyungsoo tried to shake him off, but Joonmyun wasn’t about to let go. He felt if he let go right now, Kyungsoo would be gone forever.

“I’m sorry,” Joonmyun began. “I should have----”

“Should have what?” Kyungsoo spun around and faced the taller boy. His eyes were rimmed with red, and his sleeves were damp with tears. “Told me that you were straight? That you had a fiancée? That you were getting married in two months?” His eyes were full of hurt, and his mouth contorted into an angry and pained snarl. “I thought that by now you would be able to trust me enough to tell me things like that.”

Joonmyun didn’t know how to answer, and could only hold Kyungsoo tighter. He hated himself. Kyungsoo had already gone through so much this week. Joonmyun knew his fiancée would be there, yet he still selfishly invited Kyungsoo to the party, all because he wanted someone to be there for him. 

Kyungsoo wiped his eyes and turned his head angrily. “Let go of me. I don’t want to see you anymore.”

Suddenly, Joonmyun did something completely on impulse. He cupped Kyungsoo’s cheek in his free hand, snapping his face towards him and smashed their lips together. The smaller boy was caught off guard, and stumbled backwards, into the wall. Joonmyun’s strong arms held him down, and slowly, Kyungsoo melted into the kiss.

They broke apart after a minute of feverish kissing, and Kyungsoo could only stare into Joonmyun’s intense but sad stare. “I started liking you around summer of last year,” Joonmyun whispered, staring intently at Kyungsoo’s deep, brown orbs. “But I didn’t think you would like someone like me.” He loosened his grip and lowered his gaze, his expression saddening. “Even so, I never told you I was engaged because I still had hope that maybe one day you would fall in love with the two-faced, terrible person that I am.” He looked at Kyungsoo again, his eyes pleading. “Please, Kyungsoo. I love you. Stay with me.”

Kyungsoo started tearing up again, and choked out a small laugh. “You’ve always been dense, Joonmyun. I love you too.” He placed a gentle kiss on Joonmyun’s lips, and for the first time since he was a child, Joonmyun smiled genuinely.

“Aww, how sweet.”

Both boys turned towards the voice, and found the middle sister standing at the opening of the alley with a cigarette in her hand. She puffed out a stream of smoke, and took a few steps towards them, her bright red, 5-inch heels clicking loudly on the concrete. Joonmyun protectively stood in front of Kyungsoo, his eyes a mixture of suspicion and relief. “Jessica,” he said.

“So you finally manned up and told him, huh Joonie.” She dropped the cigarette and stomped it into the ground. “Guess I won’t be seeing you on the streets as much, now that you’ve gotten yourself a boyfriend.” She smiled slightly, and shifted her gaze to Kyungsoo. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”

Joonmyun relaxed slightly. “Thanks, Jess.”

“Don’t thank me. I owe your new toy for spilling wine on my sister’s dress. No one believes me when I say she’s a .” She offered a cigarette to Joonmyun, but he declined with a shake of his head.

“What is it?” Joonmyun asked. His eyes were watching Jessica carefully, even if they’ve known each other for a while. He knew he could trust her to some extent, but he was suspicious she had ulterior motives.

Jessica scoffed. “Don’t be stupid, Joonmyun. You caused quite the scene, defending a waiter. The whole party’s been thrown into a bit of a disarray, after the ’s tantrum.” She lit the cigarette and brought it to her lips, inhaling deeply. When she exhaled, Kyungsoo coughed a little, and tried not to breathe. Jessica regarded him with disdain. “So innocent. You could do so much better.” She glanced at Kyungsoo with her brow raised.

“I know,” Joonmyun said with a grimace, ignoring the comment about being unsuitable for Kyungsoo. “Father’s going to skin me alive, like always.”

Jessica stuffed the cigarette pack back into her bra and yawned. “There’s going to be more than just skinning, I assume. Be careful from now on. Yoona isn’t going to forget this, and neither will our fathers.” She turned and walked back to the entrance of the alley, where a sleek black car was now parked and waiting for her. “You can’t run forever, Joonie.” There was a hint of worry in her voice, like she actually cared. “See you.” 

The car pulled away, taking the mysterious princess with it. The two boys stood in silence, until Kyungsoo finally asked, “You seem pretty close with her.”

Joonmyun ran his hands through his hair, ruffling it until the perfect hairdo was reduced to messy spikes. “We’ve known each other since we were kids,” he said, wiping the wax from his hair onto his suit. “I didn’t start talking to her until I bumped into her while I was buying drugs. Neither of us do drugs that often anymore, but we still see each other on the streets sometimes.” He laughed bitterly. “She’s actually decent, unlike her sister.”

Kyungsoo nodded, and laced his fingers through Joonmyun’s. “That’s for sure.”

They stood silently for a moment before Joonmyun checked his watch for the time. Half past 4. “What do you say we get out of here?”

The smaller boy smiled. “Let’s go for ice cream?”

“Alright.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: And that concludes the party arc! I am terrible at naming chapters haha

Also Happy Canada Day to all you Canadians out there! I'm updating a day early cause its a holiday and I'm busy the rest of the weekend, and I had this chapter done anyway. Hope you enjoyed the chapter :) 

Thank you so much for 300 subscribers! I know a lot of you probably don't read this anymore, but hey, this is still my most subscribed story, and 300 is still a huge number! So to those of you who don't read or still read, thanks for taking the time to read however much of this story. I really appreciate your support :) 

Leave a comment letting me know what you think, I reply and read all of them :) 

Until next week!