“This isn’t right.”

Woohyun was sitting in his bedroom, that evening, legs crossed, with his cell phone in his hands. He clicked on the photos icon on his phone’s screen, and scrolled down to that picture. The one he had taken when he attacked Sunggyu in his shower. He immediately blushed and shut off his phone.

“Ugh this isn’t right!” He groaned, clutching on to his head and kicking his legs in the air.

Images of that afternoon, playing on repeat in his head.

“I almost folded…I almost believed him…” Woohyun shook his head with a panicky expression. “I need to be more careful from now on…revenge. That’s the thing I need to focus on. Yes…revenge.”

Although he said that, his phone was in his hand, and he was once again blatantly staring at that picture. “Gyu hyung…”

He had never seen Sunggyu …well except for the time he had taken the picture. But that didn’t end well, and dangerous things were still happening to his body at the sight of that photo. “Hyung…” He moaned softly, unconsciously lying on his back, eyes still glued to the photo. Before he could stop himself, his hand was already wandering down his pants.

Suddenly the door burst open and Key appeared.

Woohyun immediately gasped and his stomach, blushing madly.

“C-Can’t you knock?!”

“Can’t you lock the door?” Key rolled his eyes. “Anyways, Jonghyun and some of the others are going to the club. Wanna go?”

Woohyun planted his face into his pillow, one hand still holding his phone with Sunggyu’s photo on it, the other hand down his pants. He realized just how pathetic he looked at that moment.

“I’m coming.” He mumbled.

Key made a face. “Ew.”

“N-Not like that!” Woohyun stammered. “I-I meant to the club! I’ll go!”

*

The next morning, Sunggyu was awoken by the rather obnoxious alarm blaring from his digital clock. He cursed the device, before slamming the snooze button.

He went about his typical morning preparations, and as he was eating a quick breakfast before work, he got a call from the Rose Kingdom.

“Sunggyu-sshi!” The Queen’s voice screeched. “It’s a disaster!”

“What is?” Sunggyu sighed, apathetically.

“My Myungie won’t come out of his room!”

“Did you try opening the door?” Sunggyu snorted, dryly.

“Yes! He locked it this time! And he’s refusing to come out!”

“Why are you calling me then? Isn’t Woohyun the only one who can get him to leave?”

“Yes, but he won’t answer his phone, and I’m so worried!”

“Fine…” Sunggyu inwardly groaned. “I’ll be there soon.”

*

Woohyun felt it in his stomach. That ill, guilty ache he got whenever he knew he had done something extremely stupid. He squinted slowly, not appreciating the unforgiving sunlight pouring through his window and blinding him. His eyes stung, but he knew it wasn’t exclusively the sun’s fault.

He had cried. Sometime during the night, he knew that for sure. However, that was only one of his regrets from last night. The other was lying next to him on the bed, fast asleep.

“Damn it…” Woohyun cursed, realizing he was under the white down comforter.

“So what ever happened to feeling guilty about taking advantage of an innocent girl?”

Woohyun looked up to see Jinwoon leaning in the door frame, with his arms folded and a disappointed glare plastered on his face.

Woohyun sighed and ran a hand through his messy dark brown bed hair.

“Can you please just leave me alone right now?”

“You’re such a hypocrite!” Jinwoon ignored the other man’s request and marched forward. “So who’s the hoe? Do you even know her name?” He pointed to the girl asleep behind Woohyun.

“No…” Woohyun frowned, folding the comforter over his lap, conservatively. He was ashamed. Of course he was. It wasn’t the first time something like this happened though. But Woohyun didn’t want to keep letting these one night stands go on. Because he knew very well that he only did it in an attempt to forget Sunggyu. It never worked. It only made him want Sunggyu more.

“And what about Kim Sunggyu?” Jinwoon piped up, as if reading Woohyun’s mind.

“W-What about him?” Woohyun stammered, averting his eyes.

“Who’s Sunggyu?” They both turned as the girl sat up, rubbing her eyes. “Because last night also…you kept crying out his name while we—.”

“W-Wow is that the time already?!” Woohyun gasped pointing at the clock on his night stand.

Jinwoon eyed him incredulously. “Yah, you were actually calling out for him while having —?”

Woohyun blushed, as he made a grab for his phone. “I-I didn’t—.” His eyes went wide when he saw that he had a bunch of missed calls from the Rose Queen, and one from Sunggyu. “H-He called me!” Woohyun shot up, but then quickly realized he wasn’t wearing any clothes and immediately pulled his boxers on.

“I-I have to go.” He exclaimed, and then turned to the girl. “Um should I call you a taxi or something…?” He paused when he realized he didn’t even know the girl’s name.

“No its fine.” She waved him off casually.

“Ok.” Woohyun was already rushing into the bathroom to shower.

Jinwoon waited for Woohyun to leave, before turning to look at the girl.

“You…” He pointed a finger at her. “You look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?”

“Hm?” The girl nodded quickly, nervously, covering her face with her wavy dark brown locks. “I-I don’t think we’ve ever met!”

“Hm…” Jinwoon pursed his lips, skeptically.

*

“I’m here! I’m here!” Woohyun burst through Myungsoo’s bedroom door. “Myungsoo, I’m—!” He froze in place, at the sight in front of him.

Myungsoo was sitting on the floor in front of his flat screen TV, latching onto a very uncomfortable looking Sunggyu.

“What is this?” He walked up to them.

“I don’t know…” Sunggyu frowned, attempting to remove Myungsoo’s arms from his waist. He shot Woohyun a pitiful look.  “He won’t let go. Help me.”

“How did this even…?” Woohyun rubbed the back of his head, attempting to push back the jealousy swirling around inside of him. He knelt down in front of them, and grabbed the remote control from Myungsoo’s hand. As soon as he turned off the J-drama that Myungsoo was enjoying, the prince frowned and turned to him.

“Oh, Woohyun hyung, you’re here.” He sent the older man a blank stare.

“Could you…you know? Let go of him?” Woohyun gestured to Sunggyu, who was still trapped in the Rose Prince’s clutches.

“Hm?” Myungsoo blinked obliviously.

“I said let go of him.” Woohyun raised his voice slightly, getting kind of pissed.

Myungsoo merely tilted his head. “Let…go…of—.”

“OF SUNGGYU HYUNG!” Woohyun exploded. “STOP HUGGING HIM! HE’S MINE! NO ONE GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO TOUCH HIM AND—!” He immediately gasped and clamped a hand over his mouth. Myungsoo finally released the uncomfortable teacher, who quickly scooted away, and straightened his shirt which had rode up slightly.

“Why was he hugging you? What happened?” Woohyun crawled over to Sunggyu to interrogate him, leaving a blank faced Myungsoo sitting there with the remote.

“Well the Rose Queen called me this morning. She said she tried to call you but you wouldn’t…” Sunggyu paused, when he noticed a dark reddish purple mark under Woohyun’s collar bone. Woohyun realized what Sunggyu was staring at, and immediately clutched both ends of the collar of his jacket together protectively, to conceal the hickey. Sunggyu averted his gaze, and Woohyun wondered why he seemed kind of…hurt.

“Y-You were saying?” Woohyun cleared his throat.

“Oh yeah…well since you wouldn’t answer, I had to come over here. Apparently Myungsoo wouldn’t come out of his room and he locked the door.” Sunggyu explained, glancing at Myungsoo from the corner of his eye. “When I got here, I knocked at the door, and he let me in after five minutes. But then he latched on to me and wouldn’t move.”

“It happened again…” Woohyun turned to Myungsoo, concerned.

“What?” Sunggyu raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with him? Attendance isn’t his only issue, is it?”

Woohyun sighed, before scooting closer to Myungsoo and putting a comforting hand on the younger man’s knee.

“Myungsoo-yah, what happened this time?”

Myungsoo studied the remote for a moment. “They…they didn’t come.”

“Hm? Who?”

“The others…they said we were friends…”

“Is he talking about the other princes?” Sunggyu asked, and inched closer to sit beside Myungsoo. “Are you talking about them?”

Myungsoo nodded slowly. “I thought they were going to come over yesterday after class…I waited all night…”

Woohyun and Sunggyu exchanged a worried glance, both of them feeling bad for the Rose Prince.

“Uh, could it be…that you didn’t invite them properly?” Sunggyu suggested. “Like maybe you didn’t tell them an exact time or—?”

“Invite them?” Myungsoo looked up. “I had to ask them? I had to tell them a time?”

“Not this again!” Sunggyu slapped a palm to his forehead. “Yah, you can’t just expect people to read your mind! Did they even tell you they would come over?”

Myungsoo blinked. “Uh…not exactly.”

*

While waiting for Myungsoo to get ready for class, Woohyun and Sunggyu waited in the palace gardens. Though garden would be a loose term. A rose bush maze would be a more accurate description of the rather large, intricately decorated landscape.

“So…looks like you had fun last night.” Sunggyu murmured, his hands in his pocket, as he kept his gaze downcast.

“None of your business.” Woohyun huffed, leaning against the back of a white wooden bench.

“Well it kind of is when it starts affecting your job.” Sunggyu frowned. “And in turn affects my job.”

Woohyun looked away with a guilty expression. “Whatever I do…I always end up being just a stupid kid to you, don’t I?”

“What are you even talking about?” Sunggyu sighed. “I never said you were—.”

“Just someone to play around with.” Woohyun laughed bitterly, daring to look straight up into the sun.

“Woohyun—.”

“I already knew that…since that’s how others always treated me but…” Woohyun met Sunggyu’s gaze. “I just thought you were different.”

Sunggyu awkwardly pulled at the sleeves of his navy cardigan.

“I’m sorry…” He murmured. It was the only thing he could think to say.

“Stop saying that.” Woohyun folded his arms. “It doesn’t mean anything to me anymore because you keep repeating it over and over. Do you even mean it anymore? Did you ever mean it—?”

“Of course I did!” Sunggyu suddenly gripped onto Woohyun’s arm. “I meant it every time I said it! I know I sound like a broken record, but I don’t know what else to say!”

“Well then,” Woohyun shoved Sunggyu’s arm away. “Don’t talk to me until you figure out something else to say.”

“Woohyun-ah…don’t be like this.” Sunggyu whimpered, tugging on Woohyun’s sleeve again. “Just tell me what you want me to do. I want to make things right again. Over these past years I…I changed a lot. I was just stressed out a lot back then. That was the only reason I…I became like that—.”

“Stressed? You did that because of stress?” Woohyun scoffed. “You became like that because of stress? That doesn’t even make any sense!”

“I-I know, but…I’m not,” Sunggyu looked away, biting his lip. “Its only girls now, I promise. I won’t bother—.”

“W-What…?” Woohyun choked. “How can you even…do you really have no heart?”

“Huh?” Sunggyu frowned. “I-I don’t understand…I thought that would make you feel more comfortable—.”

He yelped slightly when Woohyun suddenly kicked the bench, and then fell backward from the force of it.

Woohyun was on his back, lying in the grass, whimpering slightly and clutching onto his foot. Sunggyu knelt down beside him.

“Are you ok—?”

“Just please…” Woohyun whispered, his voice was almost pleading. “Don’t touch me.”

Sunggyu gulped, but didn’t listen and gently rubbed Woohyun’s calf.

“Yah, why are you so dumb?” He sighed, and cautiously eyed the younger man, one hand still resting on Woohyun’s leg.

Woohyun pouted, and averted his eyes, as he sat up. “I’m not dumb…you’re dumb.”

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s you.”

“Well I’m pretty sure it’s you.” Woohyun replied in a mocking tone.

Sunggyu rolled his eyes and held out a hand.

“Here, I’ll help you up.”

Woohyun ignored the offering hand and stood up on his own.

“Is your foot ok?”

“It’s fine.” Woohyun sniffed. There was an awkward silence as they both stood there, listening to the birds chirping in the distance.

“W-What’s taking Myungsoo so long?” Sunggyu coughed. “He’s really—.”

“Does that mean…Boohyun hyung…you don’t like him anymore?” Woohyun murmured, almost too quietly.

“Hm?” Sunggyu turned to him, leaning closer. “Boohyun? What about him?”

“Before you said…that it was only girls now…” Woohyun stuffed his hands in his pockets, awkwardly scraping his shoe in the grass. “Does that mean your feelings for Boohyun hyung—?”

He was interrupted by the sound of Sunggyu laughing hilariously, causing him to look up. “W-Why are you laughing?”

“Boohyun? What feelings for Boohyun?” Sunggyu snorted, barely containing a chuckle. “I never had feelings for Boohyun!”

“W-What…?” Woohyun blinked. “B-But I thought you—?”

“Is that what you thought this whole time?!” Sunggyu laughed in amazement. “That I liked Boohyun?”

“Y-You don’t?” Woohyun frowned. “But that’s what he told me!”

“…He did?” That wiped the smile right off Sunggyu’s face.

“Yeah! He told me, that you confessed to him and that he rejected you. That was why you moved out!” Woohyun stammered. “It’s not true? You never liked Boohyun hyung?!”

Sunggyu nodded quietly, realization seeping into him. “So that’s what he told you…huh?”

“Boohyun hyung lied to me?” Woohyun questioned, a desperate look in his eyes. “Hyung, why’d you leave then? If it wasn’t because of Boohyun hyung?”

“I didn’t…I never liked Boohyun like that.” Sunggyu assured him. His expression had soured, and he looked slightly annoyed. But then he suddenly started laughing lightly. “Besides Boohyun’s a guy. I-I like women!”

Woohyun merely blinked. He was more than a little confused by Sunggyu’s sudden mood change. And he was hurt my Sunggyu’s complete dismissal. He was acting like it was a crazy thing that he could like a man. When before he...

“Um—.”

“So you don’t have to worry about that anymore, ok?” Sunggyu grinned. “Is that why you were so angry with me? Because you thought I was after your precious brother?” He chuckled.

“What?” Woohyun frowned.

“Aigoo, you and your brother complex—.”

“I-I don’t have a brother complex!” Woohyun stammered. “And I wasn’t upset because of that…I…” Woohyun gulped, his cheeks coloring with heat. “N-Not because of Boohyun hyung…it’s because I wanted…I wanted you for myself.”

“What?” Sunggyu choked, and then started laughing again. “Ah because I was a better hyung than your actual hyung, right? Yeah well—.”

“No!” Woohyun gripped onto Sunggyu’s arms, a determined look on his face. “Not like that…I…hyung don't you know my feelings—?” All of a sudden, Sunggyu pulled away, coughing rather loudly.

“Boohyun won’t be happy to hear that.” He laughed, somewhat uncomfortably as he avoided eye contact. “After all he’s your blood relative--."

“Why are you talking about Boohyun hyung again?” Woohyun questioned, clearly confused. “I didn’t mean it like that. You know I didn’t mean in a brotherly way—.”

“Y-You’re being really weird!” Sunggyu patted the younger man on the back stiffly. “C-Cut it out with the jokes dummy!”

“What?” Woohyun pouted. “Hyung...I’m not joking.”

“S-So what’s Myungsoo’s problem?” Sunggyu suddenly asked, in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

“Ah…well.” Woohyun sighed. He hesitated for a moment, carefully watching a butterfly, fluttering off into the distance towards a nearby flower bush.

Sunggyu snorted. “You can chase it if you want to.”

“What?” Woohyun returned his gaze to the elder, and a frown enveloped his features. “Why would I do that? I was just looking at it.”

“B-Bunny!”

“Huh?” Woohyun blinked.

“Behind you…” Sunggyu cautiously pointed behind the other at the grass. Woohyun slowly turned to see a small white bunny with light brown splotches decorating its back and ears.

“What are you doing here little guy?” Woohyun knelt down beside the critter, who hurriedly scurried off behind a bush. Woohyun shrugged and stood up to face Sunggyu. “Well about Myungsoo…I think he’s lonely.”

“Lonely?”

“Yeah…he wants to make friends, but he’s really awkward and well you’ve seen him.” Woohyun rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t think he really knows how. But also…I think he has some social anxieties. That’s why he locks himself in his room. He gets really affected by social situations not going well, and shuts himself inside. Puts up walls and all that…” Sunggyu merely nodded, absorbing what Woohyun had said.

“Namu!” They both turned to see Myungsoo scooping up the little bunny from before.

“You’re ready to go?” Woohyun waved as the prince approached them. Myungsoo nodded, and hugged his bunny closer. “I didn’t know you had a bunny.” Woohyun grinned and patted the adorable ball of fluff between the ears.

“I just got him.”

“H-His name is Namu?” Sunggyu stood a safe distance away from the creature, eyeing them nervously.

“Hyung, it’s just a bunny.” Woohyun sighed. Sunggyu had always been fearful of animals. Woohyun remembered a time they went to the park and saw people walking their dogs everywhere. Later, Woohyun had said he wanted to get a puppy, but Sunggyu had flat out rejected the idea. “It’s not going to attack you.”

“H-How do you know that?” Sunggyu mumbled, folding his arms.

“I named him after Woohyun hyung.” Myungsoo stated proudly.

“After me?” Woohyun’s lips immediately curved into a smile. He leaned closer, so he was but a few inches from the bunny’s face. He studied its twitching little nose, and its small beady eyes, before turning to Sunggyu. “Hyung, does it look like me?” Sunggyu looked from the bunny’s cute face to Woohyun’s cute face and coughed, to conceal a blush.

“N-Not one bit.”