“You look like .” Sungyeol gasped when Myungsoo entered the popular MC’s dressing room. He quickly dashed over to his friend, only to poke at the bags under the actor’s eyes. “Have you heard of this great thing called sleep? It prevents you from becoming a zombie.”

“Shut up,” Myungsoo pushed the lanky man away from him and walked over to the couch so he could lay down. “I can’t sleep.”

“Why not?” Sungyeol plopped himself down on his friend’s legs. “Still thinking about Sunggyu?”

“Of course I am!” Myungsoo tried to kick the other off of him, but Sungyeol managed to stay on with a smirk on his face. “How could I have stopped? It’s not every day that someone from six years ago tells you he left for you, not because he was cheating.”

“So what are you going to do about it?” Sungyeol asked, knowing he wasn’t really helping the situation. He just liked to bother his friend a lot.

“Shut up.” Myungsoo retorted before managing to knock the taller off of his legs. The actor used his new freedom to sit on the couch and sigh, “Honestly though, I have no clue what’s gonna happen next. Maybe it’ll be easier to be his friend knowing that he never did replace me.”

Sungyeol gave Myungsoo a curious glance, “Just a friend?”

“It took me pretty much six years to get over the guy,” Myungsoo explained, “That was six years of nightmares of him leaving, feeling like I wasn’t good enough for anyone who I may have gone on a date with or met on a set who seemed to take an interest in me, and just not letting myself be happy. But recently, I was able to push passed all of that and I’ve felt great. I’m finally over him, I’m not gonna waste this by getting back under him-oh shut up! I didn’t mean it like that.”

Sungyeol, who had burst out into laughter at the slightly dirty connotation of his friend’s words, just smiled brightly and shook his head, “No I know you didn’t mean it like that. After all, you never did get under him, did yo-“

He was cut off when Myungsoo grabbed the nearest pillow and smacked the MC’s head. “Stop being such a .”

“Ok, ok, I will,” Sungyeol finally stopped laughing. “But I see your point, maybe it is time to just move on. You’re working with Suzy again, aren’t you? Maybe you could date her.”

Myungsoo shrugged. That was always a possibility. He didn’t actually think that she was someone who he wanted to date, but at the moment he felt like he had to date just anyone to prove to all his friends, as well as himself a little bit, that even with this new information he wasn’t going to run to Sunggyu like the older was the only option he had.

“Myung,” Sungyeol’s face suddenly turned more serious than Myungsoo had seen it in a while, “Just don’t drag unnecessary people into this. No one else needs to get their heart broken by whatever this thing between you and Gyu is.”

“I won’t,” Myyungsoo assured his friend. He knew he’d never be able to hurt someone like Sunggyu hurt him. Myungsoo spent so long sulking, feeling not good enough, and in pain over losing his boyfriend that the news of Sunggyu being a selfless guy didn’t really change much.

A few hours later, Myungsoo couldn’t help but wonder why he agreed to take Jinyoung and his best friend to the mall to shop for new clothes. The two didn’t get the chance to wear many normal clothes since they were young and were in their school uniform most of the time, but their class had a field trip soon and the two wanted to look cool since they’d be able to wear whatever they wanted.

So, after a day packed with an interview, a variety show, and a drama filming that began at four am, Myungsoo really just wanted to head home and nap. But he promised his brother a shopping trip and that was the one person he could never turn down. So, after grabbing a thick pair of sunglasses and a black wig to cover his dyed hair, Myungsoo took the two to the nearest shopping center.

“Okay boys, no spending a lot of my money,” Myungsoo instructed as they entered the mall. It wasn’t an overly fancy mall where the cheapest stores were still expensive, but Myungsoo never liked going to those places because they were filled with fangirls who were waiting there in hopes of seeing someone famous, and Jinyoung was a growing boy who had no problem with ripping a hole in an expensive shirt.

“But Hyung, you’re loaded.” Jinyoung pointed out as he pulled Baro up to a nearby window. “Look! It’s so pretty.”

“We’re boys we’re not pretty.” Baro pointed out and rolled his eyes. “We need to find something manly. Plus we can’t just buy the first thing we see, we need to shop around a little bit.”

“No, feel free to buy the first thing you see.” Myungsoo interjected. He was ready to go home and sleep in his cozy bed. ”I’d really appreciate it.”

“Come on Baro, let’s hurry.” Jinyoung decided before pulling his best friend into a nearby store.

The two twelve year olds took a long time to find their outfits. They decided they wanted to coordinate it so they weren’t wearing the same patterns or colors, but so that the styles were the same so it was like a pair.  Myungsoo wasn’t really sure how that worked out, but so far they both bought new shoes that were relatively cheap so the actor was okay with it. All he had to do was follow them into a shop and sit down and wait for them to be done. Not a lot of work.

However, after they entered a fifth store to try and find the perfect shirt, Myungsoo was sitting on a couch waiting for the two kids to finish when a familiar face spotted him. Sunggyu looked like he was ready to bolt, but then Woohyun came up behind him and pulled the composer to the actor.

“Myungsoo?” Woohyun seemed to have recognized Myungsoo despite the glasses and wig.

“Shh!” The actor scolded. “I’m in disguise, obviously I don’t want people to know that I’m here.”

“Well, what are you doing here?” The singer asked, confused, as Sunggyu did his best to stand behind the younger so he wasn’t in Myungsoo’s view.

Myungsoo smirked, “Actually I’m shopping right now. With Jinyoung, and Baro.”

The composer did his best to hide his discomfort with the name, but Myungsoo knew all about Sunggyu’s tells and noticed the way the older shifted his weight around and tightened his fists. But it was Woohyun who spoke up, “Oh, really? How is Jinyoung these days?”

“He’s great.” Myungsoo smiled, knowing how to torture the older at t moment. “He’s looking around right now for matching shirts with Baro. The two are going on a day trip and want to look their best.”

“That sounds,” Sunggyu had to clear his throat, “Nice.”

“I think so too,” Myungsoo was ready to burst out into laughter. The older still had no clue that the person he was so jealous of was a twelve year old boy. “They get along so great, it’s like they’ve known each other their entire lives.”

“Really? That’s great.” Sunggyu was no longer hiding behind Woohyun, but when he spoke it sounded like he was struggling not to let his emotions take control over him.

“Hyung!” Jinyoung crashed his way into the conversation as he jumped onto the couch. “Can I buy this?”

Myungsoo was nearly blinded by the neon pink shirt in his hand, but knew that he wasn’t going to say no to his brother. It may not have been something Myungsoo would wear, but the kid was developing his own style. Plus, at least this wasn’t as dramatic as the kind of outfits their father wore onstage. “Of course. Where’s Baro?”

“Right here, Hyung!” Baro jumped over the back of the couch so he was on Myungsoo’s free side.”Can I get this one?”

The actor chuckled at the neon blue shirt that was into his face, these two definitely had unique taste. “Of course, kid.”

“Oh, and Jinyoung is too shy to ask you but he wants to buy this yellow one for-“

“Baro!” Jinyoung reached over and grabbed the yellow shirt from his friend, making the actor laugh. The kid must have wanted to buy it as a gift for the kid from Busan. “He doesn’t have to buy it. I just thought it’d be nice.”

“Baro?” Sunggyu’s voice cracked from where he watched the three on the couch. “This is Baro?”

“Yeah, you remember Sunwoo, right?” Myungsoo smirked while the boy next to him made a funny face at hearing his real name again. “He decided to change his name to Baro, do you like it?”

“Remember?” Jinyoung turned a suspicious eye towards the two men who were standing by the couch. “Why would they remember Baro back when he-“ His full attention turned towards Sunggyu, “You’re the composer right?”

“Yeah,” Sunggyu nodded.

“Then how do you know him?” Jinyoung was genuinely confused.

However, it seemed as if the child’s best friend had a better memory, “Aren’t you the guys who were at Jinyoung’s house all the time before Hyung debuted?”

Jinyoung’s eyes suddenly turned into dangerous slits as he looked at Sunggyu, “You need to leave.”

“What?” Woohyun was amazed by the sudden change in the child.

“I don’t want you around my brother you jerk!” Jinyoung jumped off the couch and shoved at Sunggyu, sending the composer back mostly due to shock over power. “Get away! I hate you! Hyung hates you! Get away now!”

“Jinyoung,” Myungsoo pulled his brother back before the younger could start throwing his fists around and attract more attention. “Come on, let’s just go. I’ll even buy the shirt for your friend from Busan, just let’s go before we get caught here.”

That seemed to have caught the younger’s attention. He may have been angry, but he spent his entire lift flying below the radar and never compromising his brother or his father when they were in public. “Come on Hyung, let’s go.”

Myungsoo let the little boy drag him away with his best friend following the two, holding the three shirts that the brothers forgot. The actor tried to look back at the two men they left behind, but with his sunglasses and the dim light of the store, they quickly faded into the darkness. And even though he wasn’t ready to run back if Sunggyu suddenly confessed, he didn’t want the possibility of them maybe being friends to disappear. He just hoped Sunggyu didn’t take Jinyoung’s words to heart.