An image of a man dressed in all black, polished designer shoes, a handkerchief peeking from the side pocket, silver cuff links on the sleeves was staring back at him from the mirror. He turned his head to the right, paying close attention to the way his bangs were glued to stay in their place, satisfied with his handiwork. Smoothing the creases out of his jacket, every detail was adjusted to perfection. It was time to act the role of Eric Mun, the newly hailed prince of the business world.

A phone-ring broke the silence, his dog starting to waddle around the room restlessly and barking loudly at the the device conveniently placed on the table. 'What is it' he muttered as he went over to it, reading the ID before answering.

‘Hey, I know I’m late’ he picked it up without giving the caller a chance to talk first, ‘but will be down in five. Don’t yell’ he cut the conversation, happily grinning to himself as he placed the phone in his inner pocket. Having adjusted his wristwatch once more for good measure, he patted his dog on the way out and switched the lights off.

‘Wasn’t even that long, Min. Don’t stress it’ was the first thing he said as he got into the car waiting for him at the entrance. The smartly-dressed guy sitting inside had his hands folded, the peeved look on his face being a manifest of how much he disagreed with that statement. He waved a dismissing arm at him. ‘Aren’t you just the queen of ing everything, Eric. I don’t even know why I bother’

Without waiting for an answer, he leaned forward and patted the chauffeur on the shoulder, a sign for him to start driving. ‘I mean,’ Minwoo resumed once he had made himself comfortable in his seat, ‘it’s your party we’re going to so you should at least have the sense to show up early. Your club’s opening, remember?’ he reached over and pinched the tip of Eric’s nose hard, making the taller man yelp in surprise. 'You deserve this' Minwoo muttered when he dug a finger in Eric's side for an even louder yelp. Seeing how the God of mercy was not on his side tonight, Eric was ready for a fight just before another phone ring saved him from the wrath of his friend. Defensively holding a hand in front of his face, he excused himself and fished the phone out of his pocket. He kept shielding his nose as he spoke, carefully observing the other’s threatening hands. As the one-sided conversation dragged on, his expression grew more serious, the threat beside him forgotten.

‘What is it?’ Minwoo realized that Eric had stopped fooling around, now full devoted to whomever he was talking to. He scuffled closer, trying to listen in. ‘Eric? What is it?’ the sudden change in the mood made him cautious. Eric was rarely serious like this but when he was, it meant nothing less than the beginning of another world war. Annoyed by the pestering, Eric motioned for Minwoo to be silent, moving further away in the limited space.

Instead, the shorter grabbed Eric’s sleeve, tugging at it, his tone turning whiny ‘Eric-ah! tell me what’s wrong!’ Which only resulted in Eric grimacing and shaking his head. He kept motioning for his fiend to be quiet and when that didn’t work he silently mouthed a name, hoping it would sufficient. Minwoo repeated the name, trying to figure out what had Eric meant by it and, once realizing its meaning, he stayed dutifully still for a minute before returned to tugging at Eric’s sleeve more eagerly.  

‘Eric- hey, Eric, what’s wrong with Andy?’

Having no other opinion left, Eric pushed him away, keeping him pinned down in his seat with one hand only. Struggling against the taller man seemed counter effective and biting was beyond his pride so Minwoo forced himself to calm down and wait for his friend to finish talking. The moment the conversation ended, he was released, Eric now eerily quiet, staring at the floor like a broken man.

‘Ok, now tell me what’s wrong?’ If he didn't ask, Eric would close up to him and everyone around him. He had the tendency to keep everything in, having a hard time opening up to anyone since the death of his mother. Neither looked happy, a mutual feeling of concern reflecting in their eyes.

‘Junna says he had a really bad fit, worse than usual’ Eric spoke slowly, almost unwillingly, the phone clutched tightly in his hand, ‘she says she called because she wanted him to go to the hospital but he refused’

Minwoo let out a sight, not sure how to follow on that. He wasn't angry but rather it was a feeling of complete and utter helplessness. ‘Again?’ he muttered, slumping in his seat in defeat, ‘what’s it, like, third time this week? Is he planning to die on us or something?’

'Don't say that' Eric dismissed his friend, disliking whenever anyone talked about death. The small space in the car felt restricting, refusing him the need to vent his anger out on something. There was either Minwoo or his chauffeur and, not wanting to endanger any of their lives, Eric chose to take it out on his phone instead. 'Screw this' he hurled it away, watching it bounce off the floor afterwards and tumble under the front seat. It wasn't even cracked and now he had to fish it out of there. Resigning to his bad fortune, Eric sank deeper in the seat beside Minwoo.  

‘What makes me mad is that knowing Andy he probably thinks this is best for everyone’ They couldn’t as much as mention Andy’s condition in his presence without him getting upset then starting to complain about wasting their time with foolish talks. He would hate the man if he didn't love him so much. 

Minwoo didn't answer. The sun outside had set, the bright lights from passing cars shining on the two people with too cold eyes and too tired faces for their young age, a heavy burden weighting down their hearts. A sad ballad came on the radio, filling the saloon with an even bleaker atmosphere than before. 

‘You know what?’ Eric interrupted what had started to turn into a funeral tribute, the tone of his voice determined despite barely audible, ‘I’m not going to the club’

Minwoo turned his head, his eyes darting from Eric's face to his hands, then back from his hands to his face. He let out a lengthy sigh and shook his head. He couldn’t argue with Eric being in a mood like this. There was no choice as to comply.

'Hey. We're going back' he leaned over, starting to feel guilty for troubling the chauffeur so much, when the man at the wheel turned to him, a worry reflecting in his dark eyes. Maybe it was empathy, or how young he looked, or pure magic, but a sudden heat took over Minwoo's whole body the moment their eyes met. He swore he couldn't remember seeing that face before. He did remember Eric telling him something about a replacement chauffeur so his regular could take a day off- but what had that mattered at that time? Eric should have told him how hot this guy was. How incredibly hot.

‘Home?’ the chauffeur prompter, surprising Minwoo with his pleasant voice. If the guy wasn't at the wheel, he would jump him on the spot. He was staring, he knew, but he couldn't help it. Not before a strict ‘no’ interrupted his haze.

‘No?’

‘No,’ Eric pursued his lips and shook his head, ‘we’re not going back home. We're going drinking. Whatever bar is fine’

Now this was outrageous. Minwoo’s face fell, an instinctive urge to argue against Eric's peculiarities resurfacing. Going drinking did not differ much from going to the club's opening so why couldn’t he just mix both? 'Eric-' he was interrupted before he got more than two syllables out. 

‘We will go to a different place, Minwoo. Without all the people. No cameras and attention. Just the three of us’

Despite Eric's stubborn tone, there was no need for him to make the mistake in math. ‘The three of us?’ Minwoo felt himself growing more and more confused. Really. Math was something Eric excelled at, he should be capable of counting to two at least.

‘We’re going to take my chauffeur with us’.

The mentioned chauffeur cleared his throat which was a cue for Minwoo to start protesting, arguing that they could not exploit someone they barely knew. He did have some ideas on his own how to exploit the chauffeur but none of them involved Eric.

‘He’s been working for me, like, six months? That’s longer than any of my girlfriends have lasted. We’re almost best pals now. Just the three of us, drinking among friends, or future friends’ Eric persisted, ignoring Minwoo's desperate flailing. He would give up soon enough. He always did.

'Fine. Whatever. Freak' Minwoo stopped once he realized Eric was not changing his mind, also feeling like he wasn’t as invested in persuading his friend due to the guy in question being so hot. If this gave him an excuse for a potential fling he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. They could go to a club, a few drinks. Maybe a love-hotel later?

‘You ok with this?’ it was Eric who finally decided to ask the chauffeur after they both had agreed on the bar they would go to. Dongwan looked in the rear window where the tall man’s piercing eyes looked straight back at him. Shaken by the sudden turn of events he needed to weight the pros and cons quickly. An opportunity like this would not come again.

'Yeah. Sure' he nodded, feeling cold sweat forming on his forehead. He just needed to be extra careful.

---

‘And then you went drinking’

‘And then we went drinking’ Dongwan corrected Hyesung before swallowing the last drops of the liquid, shuddering at the taste in disgust. He was stoked on caffeine and sugar. Bouncing off the walls seemed like not only a good idea but a great idea. His friend, it seemed, did not share the same enthusiasm, instead standing up and flexing his tired muscles. The clock on the wall struck five and Hyesung took Dongwan’s cup away, bringing it over to the sink and leaving it there. Junjin was the one in charge of washing up and he would make sure the household chores were thoroughly done.

‘So this Andy guy-’ he wondered as he returned to the table with Dongwan rocking in his seat, 'what do we really know about him?' he leaned against the back of his chair, looking down at the shorter man. Dongwan smiled in return, looking up at him and wanting to reach out.  

‘They didn’t talk about him but he’s really important. They worry. He must be family’

‘Ok, family then’ Hyesung nodded, patting Dongwan's shoulder. He pushed away the arm reaching for him before straightening himself, 'your breath stinks, Dongwan. Go wash your teeth, drunkard, I’m going back to bed’

‘But Syungie,’ Dongwan whined as he watched the other heading off, unsure of what he wanted but asking anyway, ‘what about a goodnight kiss?’

Hyesung stopped, hesitating as he turned to look at Dongwan rocking in his seat, now twice as fast as before. He sneered, his smile crooked and his voice cold. 

‘If you drink and drive again, don't bother coming home anymore’

With that he switched the light off, leaving Dongwan alone in the dark.

tbc

A/N: I literally have nothing to add here. Except that Hyesung's still the nicest person ever...also, thank you for nice words.