No one was really paying attention to the lesson, since they were too preoccupied with plans for Myungsoo’s party, so Sunggyu finally gave in and dismissed the class early.

“Lets go to your house now!” Sungyeol slung an arm around an unsuspecting Myungsoo’s shoulder.

“Now?” Myungsoo turned to him, blank faced, though there was a goofy smile threatening to form.

“Sure.” Sungyeol grinned as they headed out of the library towards an expensive looking sleek black car, with a gold Rose Palace license plate. “That’s your car right?”

“You’re coming with me?” Myungsoo’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah, we can get ready for the party together.” Suddenly Sungyeol paused, pursing his lips. “Uh you know the other day…”

“Hm?”

“Uh, sorry we were kind of mean to you.” Sungyeol awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “I was just really bored and wanted to know about Ssaem and Woohyun hyung’s relationship.”

“…It’s ok.” Myungsoo nodded, quietly.

“But…” Sungyeol turned to the Rose Prince curiously. “How do you know Woohyun hyung anyways?” He remembered the first time he saw them, they both came in holding hands.

“Ah…he—.”

“You guys ready to party!” Suddenly Woohyun squeezed in between them, slinging an arm around each of them.

“You’re coming too hyung?” Myungsoo grinned.

“Of course! I got to help plan your party.” Woohyun returned the smile, before marching ahead of them to the driver standing nervously in front of the car, with his gold cap in his hands.

“Y-Your majesty!” Carl bowed to Myungsoo, the sun reflecting off his blindingly gold suit.

“Carl?!” Woohyun gasped, his eyes going wide. Suddenly he rushed up to him, wrapping his arms around the gold covered man. “Carl! What’re you doing here?!”

Sunggyu could hear the commotion as he was but a few feet away, clutching onto his briefcase. He noticed the way Woohyun was laughing and hugging Carl. It made him sigh sadly. He missed seeing Woohyun’s smile. All he ever did was make Woohyun upset, angry or uncomfortable.

“Ssaem, are you ok?” He turned to see Sungjong there, staring at him with a concerned expression.

“Uh yeah…” Sunggyu sent the prince a small smile. “I’m fine.”

Meanwhile Woohyun spotted the teacher and prince conversing and smiling. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, at the two, desperately wanting to know what they were talking about. He didn’t even realize that he was clutching on rather tightly to Carl’s arm, cutting off the poor butler’s blood flow.

“E-Excuse me…” Carl whimpered, feebly.

“Uh…” Sungyeol seemed to be the only one concerned about Carl’s life, since Myungsoo was merely staring at Woohyun’s hand on Carl, with an unreadable, somewhat tense expression.

“I’M GOING TO FAINT!” Carl suddenly cried out.

“Huh?” Woohyun turned to him. “Oh…” He grinned sheepishly and patted Carl’s arm. “Sorry about that.” Sungyeol noticed Myungsoo ease up slightly the moment Woohyun removed his hand from Carl.

“Well…should we go?” Sungyeol nudged Myungsoo’s arm, before climbing into the backseat of the car.

“Ok.” Myungsoo nodded, and grabbed onto Woohyun’s hand. “C’mon hyung.”

“Uh…” Woohyun was still glaring in the direction Sunggyu and Sungjong were in at the front of the library. “Actually…you guys go on ahead…”

“Huh?” Myungsoo blinked.

“Yeah.” Woohyun waved off the Rose Prince’s hand. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

“But…” Myungsoo frowned. “I thought you were going to help with the party planning.”

“Uh, Sungyeol can help you.” Woohyun explained, eyeing Sunggyu from the corner of his eye. He glanced at Sungyeol before turning to Myungsoo with a grin and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Besides, this way you can become closer friends with Sungyeol.”

Myungsoo stared. “R-Really?”

“Good luck, I’m rooting for you Myungsoo-yah~” Woohyun patted him on the back, and after sending both Carl and Sungyeol friendly waves, he waltzed off.

Sungyeol watched the entire exchange suspiciously. It made him more curious about Woohyun, and not only about his relationship with Sunggyu, but with Myungsoo as well.

*

“I thought you were tired.” Sunggyu and Sungjong looked up, as Woohyun approached them. He was smiling thinly, and was clearly pissed off.

“Huh?” Sunggyu blinked.

“What are you doing here chatting?” Woohyun stuffed his hands in his pocket, regarding Sungjong for a moment, before returning his glare on the elder.

“Oh look, there’s my ride!” Sungjong waved at his driver. He bowed to both teachers before escaping the tense scene.

Sunggyu frowned, and brushed past Woohyun. “I don’t think it’s any of your business.”

Woohyun followed him across the parking lot until they reached Sunggyu’s convertible.

“You’re not supposed to have favorites you know?” Woohyun spat, folding his arms.

Sunggyu merely snorted, as he unlocked the car door. He threw his briefcase in, and turned to the younger man. “Talk about being a major hypocrite.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Woohyun furrowed his brows.

“The Rose Prince! You totally treat him differently than the rest!”

“So? That’s because we…I mean I know him better!” Woohyun exclaimed. “I’m closer with him and—.”

“How close exactly?” Sunggyu growled, suddenly fuming. “He’s a prince for god’s sake! You can’t be with—.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Woohyun scoffed. “You’re ridiculous, you know that right?”

“Why?” Sunggyu frowned. “I’m just trying to—.”

“To what? Do you really think you’re allowed to have an opinion on my relationships anymore?” Woohyun shook his head. He studied a splatter of flower petals scattered around a bush that was planted nearby.

“I-I’m not trying to…” Sunggyu clenched his fists, averting his gaze. “I just…”

“And you know this?” Woohyun pulled down the collar of his t-shirt, so Sunggyu could clearly see the hickey. “Yeah I know you were looking at it before! But guess what? You’ll never know who did this. It could be a one night stand…” He inched closer, causing Sunggyu’s back to press against his car. “It could be a lover.”

“I-I don’t care!” Sunggyu shoved him away, his chest aching. “Why the hell are you doing this to me? I…stuff like that isn’t my business! It has nothing to do with me!”

“Right.” Woohyun chuckled bitterly. “Because I’m just a stupid—.”

“Stop it!” Sunggyu pleaded, gripping onto the sleeves of Woohyun’s shirt. “I never thought you were a stupid kid! You already know how I see you!”

“Then…why did you leave?” Woohyun was looking at him with that honest gaze that made Sunggyu feel so very guilty.

“W-Why did you come back?” Sunggyu mumbled, eyes downcast, as he pulled away.

“Huh?” Woohyun frowned. “Hyung—.”

“I left for a reason stupid! Why did you have to follow me?!” Sunggyu’s voice cracked, his upset gaze meeting Woohyun’s.

Woohyun looked away. “I…I didn’t follow you.”

“Fine. Then leave me alone.” Sunggyu muttered, before opening up his car door. He stopped, when Woohyun grabbed onto his arm.

“I…I can’t.” Woohyun’s voice was shaky.

Sunggyu didn’t dare turn to look at the younger man. He swallowed. “L-Let go.”

“I-I can’t hyung.” Sunggyu knew Woohyun was crying. He wanted nothing more than to turn and hug Woohyun. To comfort him and never hurt him again. But he couldn’t even face him.

“Let go.” He repeated, coldly.

“L-Look at me hyung.” Woohyun begged, tears streaming down his cheeks. “P-Please…stop doing this. J-Just stay with me. Don’t leave again…please—.”

“Let go!” Sunggyu shoved the younger away harshly. Woohyun stared up at him with red watery eyes. It kind of broke Sunggyu’s heart, but he swallowed down the lump in his throat. “No…you’re the one who needs to stop. I-I’m not right for you—.”

“How do you know that?!” Woohyun sobbed. “Only I know who’s right for me!”

“Exactly! I don’t know you at all—!”

“How can you even say that?!” Woohyun cried. “You know me better than anyone else in the whole entire world!”

Sunggyu bit his lip, shaking his head. “Y-You’re wrong. What about Boohyun—.”

“Who cares about him?! I only care about you!”

“B-But Boohyun’s your brother!” Sunggyu replied, worriedly.

“So?!” Woohyun stared at him, a complete mess. He knew he probably looked awful but he couldn’t care less. “He doesn’t understand me like you do! You’re the one who…who was always there. Y-You were supposed to always be there—.”

“I-I’m sorry.” Sunggyu uttered, before he could stop himself.

“T-There was no one else…” Woohyun’s voice cracked as he lowered his head. “I-I had no one else…”

“W-Woohyun, I—.”

“I thought it was the same for you hyung.” Woohyun desperately met Sunggyu’s gaze. “I thought you needed me too. I thought we were—.”

“I-I do need you!” Sunggyu blurted out, voice trembling. Woohyun merely stared, sniffling. Sunggyu immediately regretted his words. He didn’t want to give Woohyun the wrong idea. He didn’t want to give him false hope. His eyes darted to and fro, desperately trying to come up with something.

“Hyung…” Woohyun was moving towards him, his eyes were wide and sparkling. It was too late. Sunggyu thought. Woohyun was already hopeful.

“A-A friend!” Sunggyu stammered.

“Huh?” Woohyun paused, his hand that was reaching out for Sunggyu, left dangling in midair.

“I…you’re a good friend, and right now…with everything going on. I just, I mean it would be nice to have someone to lean on. A friend to lean on.” Sunggyu bit his lip, hoping Woohyun would get what he was implying.

Suddenly Woohyun’s lips curved into a smirk. “Oh…” He nodded, “A friend.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing Sunggyu to slap a palm to his forehead in exasperation.

“No. Not a friend. A friend.” Sunggyu sighed. “Do you understand what I mean?”

“I understand exactly what you mean~” Woohyun hummed, practically beaming.

Sunggyu frowned. “No you don’t. Yah, I mean like an acquaintance-like friend. That’s all. Like we act civil towards each other, and can go more than two hours without arguing. That’s all.”

“And then we can get ice cream sometimes—.”

“No!” Sunggyu pointed an irritated finger at him. “No ice cream!”

“How about dinner?”

“That’s even worse!”

Woohyun pouted. “How about coffee?”

“No hanging out outside of work!” Sunggyu announced, and hastily got into his car, before Woohyun could suggest brunch before work. He fired up the engine and high-tailed it out of there, leaving a trail of smoke in his midst.

“Ok, see you at the party!” Woohyun, yelled, not even realizing that Sunggyu could no longer hear him. He started coughing from Sunggyu’s car’s exhaust fumes, infecting his nasal cavities. But he was still smiling widely, and even did a little bounce, as he skipped to his own means of transportation—his motorcycle.

His plans for his revenge were completely erased from his mind. And in its place, plans of spending time doing fun things with Sunggyu took over.

Little did he know, Hoya and Dongwoo had witnessed the entire scene from behind a bush.

“What was that?” Dongwoo turned to Hoya with wide eyes.

“Hm…” Hoya narrowed his eyes. “Looks like they had some kind of relationship before…”

“Relationship…” Dongwoo titled his head. “You think they were friends?”

“I don’t know, but it…it doesn’t really seem like it.”

*

Sunggyu paced his living room that evening.

“This is bad…” He mumbled to himself, sinking on to his sofa. He kept replaying his last conversation with Woohyun. “I shouldn’t have said that…that I wanted to be his friend. He’s going to take it the wrong way and think it means I want to be with him…” Sunggyu studied his phone’s screen that still had the default wallpaper, because he was too lazy and boring to change it.

“He’s probably going to keep calling and texting me. Saying he wants me to come to the Rose Prince’s stupid party…” He smirked slightly. “He’ll probably write something totally dumb, that idiot.” He sat there for a whole minute, smiling like an idiot, but nothing happened.

He angrily stood up and threw his phone aggressively onto the plush sofa. “What the hell?!” He yelled furiously, to no one in particular...or an imaginary Woohyun. “Why aren’t you calling, you idiot?!”

*

“Bless you.” Myungsoo said to Woohyun who had just sneezed.

“Ah, thanks…” Woohyun sniffled. “I guess its allergy season.”

“Or someone’s thinking about you.” Carl joked, and Woohyun lightheartedly nudged him. Sungyeol noticed Myungsoo blatantly glaring at the other two laughing and Woohyun tapping Carl’s arm playfully.

“Does he…does Myungsoo like Woohyun hyung?” Sungyeol wondered, as they all headed down the corridors of the Rose Palace. Carl pushed open gold encrusted double doors that led to a ballroom.

“We can have the party here, I guess.” Myungsoo shrugged.

“Yeah, this looks good.” Woohyun nodded, looking around the grand room. There was creamy marble flooring, and intricately etched designs into the gold lined crown molding across the walls. A huge crystal and gold chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling, emitting a warm classy glow.

“But…it’s kind of big, for just a little party.” Myungsoo mumbled.

“Little?” Woohyun turned to the Rose Prince with a grin. “Who said this was going to be a small party?”

“Huh?” Myungsoo blinked. “I thought it was just going to be everyone in class—.”

“Oh Myungsoo~” Woohyun slung an arm around the younger man. “My silly adorable Myungsoo~”

“How many people did you invite?” Myungsoo tilted his head.

“Not me…but I told the other princes to invite everyone they knew.” Woohyun shrugged, turning to Sungyeol. “How many people did you invite?”

“Me?” Sungyeol scratched his head, thoughtfully. “Uh…about fifty?”

*

Sunggyu was grumpily stuffing his face with—no, not chocolate pudding. He had upgraded to tiramisu. A whole vat of it that he had ordered for delivery from some nearby dessert place. He adjusted the sleeve of his leopard print snuggie as he flipped through the television channels.

“Stupid Woohyun…” He muttered pausing at some show called, The Real housewives of the Rose Kingdom County.

“Last time on the Real housewives of the Rose Kingdom County…” A nasally woman’s voice narrated.

“Oh, I know you did not just call my man a hoe!” A woman with so much botox on her face, that she could open up her own plastic surgery clinic, craned her neck back and forth. Well she tried to…but her stiff neck would barely move, only her blonde extensions flipped about a bit.

“ I didn’t call no one else a hoe ‘cept the hoe I’m lookin’ at right now!” Another woman, with an overly styled weave and black lipstick snorted, folding her arms in a sassy manner. They then proceeded to slap each other with their designer purses.

Then a skinny man with wavy brown hair, and olive skin, popped up in front of them, as the camera panned out.

He shot two fingers to the camera and giggled, excitedly, “es be cray-cray~”

Sunggyu changed the channel.

“The male rabbit, referred to as a buck…” A male narrator spoke calmly in a classy accent, as footage of a large grey and white bunny played.

“Hm, this doesn’t seem too bad…” Sunggyu mumbled, recalling Myungsoo’s bunny that he had named Namu…after Woohyun…

Woohyun…

He frowned and shook his head, before stuffing his mouth with another spoonful of tiramisu.

“The male rabbit will sniff the female and hop around her. Once she lies on her stomach, the male rabbit will mount her. A few quick s—.”

Sunggyu choked on his Italian dessert and fumbled about with the remote, hastily turning off the TV.

“W-What the hell is up with TV these days…?” He muttered. “What happened to all the good shows?” He put his bowl down on the coffee table and lay down on the couch, bundling himself in his snuggie. His mind wandered to the documentary about the bunnies mating. “I wonder if Namu will do something like that…” He wondered. “He is a boy right? Then…” He was no longer thinking of Namu the bunny, and started thinking of Namu the person…sweaty, , mount, —

He suddenly sat up yanking off his snuggie, running a hand through his hair.

“No…” He murmured, getting up and heading to the bathroom. He stood in front of the sink after splashing cold water on his face. He studied his face in the mirror, his palms clutching to either side of the porcelain sink bowl.

Just when he was sure he had discarded of those feelings…only to realize that he had just pushed them back far enough to not think about them. And that was fine. It was working well that way. But that was only because he never had to see Woohyun before. But now…

He was shaken out of his thoughts by a barrage of knocking on his front door. He waited a moment, hoping that maybe the person would just leave. But of course, he had no such luck, and heaved a sigh, before heading down the hall, closer to the banging sounds. Suddenly the front door broke open and two masked strangers clad entirely in black burst in.

Sunggyu froze in his steps, in a state of shock.

“Who the hell are you?! Yah you broke my door! That wasn’t cheap, and—!” Suddenly one of the strangers grabbed him, while the other tied his arms up. “Who are you guys?! What do you want from me?!”

“Kim Sunggyu.” One of the strangers spoke in a dark tone, as they dragged Sunggyu out of his house and towards a white van with tinted windows. “This is a kidnapping.”

“Oh gee really?!” Sunggyu snorted. “And here I was, thinking you were escorting me to a ing tea party!”

---

Sunggyu is an idiot + a tsundere, which is kind of the worst combo tbh.