“Well I’m sorry, actor Choi Seunghyun, for even thinking that I could get your opinion on anything.” Jiyong spat.

Seunghyun shot Jiyong with a glare and snapped, “What is that supposed to mean?”

Jiyong crossed his arms. “I asked you which one is better and you mindlessly pointed your finger at the one nearest to you?”

Here we go. “You could see that I was on the phone with the producer. Just give me a minute to finish the call, then I’m all yours.”

“So this is not your priority anymore? The rest of us are not important to you anymore?”

Seunghyun stood up from his chair, “Stop it, Jiyong. I’m warning you. You know that this is my life. It has been and will always be my priority.”

“Well I find it hard to believe now since you’re never here!”

“Well I’m here now. What do you want me to do?” Seunghyun turned to look at the placards of designs on the table, “Pick one of these for the album? Fine, I like this one.”

“It doesn’t mean anything now!”

“Why the hell not? You want me to pick one, so I picked one.”

“Because you picked one after I for-” Jiyong paused, sighing heavily, “You know what, forget it.” Jiyong gathered all the placards, tossing them back into the portfolio case. “I’ll just do this all by myself since everybody else is busy with whatever it is they’re doing.”

“Jiyong, stop!” Seunghyun grabbed Jiyong’s arm and pulled him to turn around. The grasp was a bit too tight causing Jiyong to hiss and wince when he pulled his arm free.

“What is this? Why are you being like this?” Seunghyun asked, looking straight into Jiyong’s glaring eyes with furrowed brows and continued, “Don’t expect me or anybody to know what’s going on in that head of yours if you keep lashing out like this.”

“It’s been 7 ing years! Do I still need to lay everything out for you?”

“You could’ve asked Youngbae or Daesung or Seungri for opinions. This is about them too. It’s really mature of you to dump all your frustrations on me!”

“Because all of my frustrations right now is you! If I wanted their opinions, I would’ve asked them long ago.”

“Whoa! What’s going on? I can hear you guys from the stairs.” The door opens and Seungri steps into the room.

“Ask your hyung.” Both replied in unison.

Seungri felt like he was caught in the middle. “You guys need to stop this.”

“Well I’ll stop when he decide to set his priorities straight.”

“I’m trying so hard not to hit you right now, Jiyong.” Seunghyun muttered through his gritted teeth, towering over Jiyong. But the latter doesn’t feel even a little bit intimidated.

“Give me your best shot.” Jiyong glared back.

“Hyung, that’s enough.” Seungri tried pulling Jiyong aside.

“You stay out of this, Seungri!” Jiyong shoved the younger’s hand from his shoulders. He returned to placing the designs into the case and continued sarcastically, “Or why don’t you go and join your hyung for some drinks or dinner or whatever stupid gathering that he’s having.”

“Ohhh..so this is what it’s all about. It’s a crime for me to have drinks or dinner with my co-workers. But it was totally fine for you to fly to LA and party with a bunch of people?”

Jiyong wanted to retort back but all words escaped him.

Seunghyun scoffed and started to gather his stuff. “Seungri, I’m out of here. I’m not gonna entertain this ridiculous behavior.”

Jiyong turned to face Seunghyun, crossing his arms. “That’s right. Walk away. Just leave everything and walk away. I’ll get everything done all by myself.”

“Do you even know why I always walk away when we argue like this?” Seunghyun asked, glaring at Jiyong, “Because I know something stupid would slip out of my mouth and you wouldn’t like it and you would go crazy.”

“Huh. Why don’t you just say it and I’ll be the judge whether it’s stupid or not.”

“Hyung, enough. Don’t push it.”

“You’ll be the witness, Seungri.” He shook Seungri’s firm grasp on his shoulders, “Say it!”

“You’re acting like a child and everything has to be about you and everything has to revolve around you!”

Jiyong’s eyes widened. “IT IS STUPID AND YOU’RE A JERK! GET OUT!”

“I’m going anyway!” Seunghyun paused. “Seungri,” he grabbed his bag, glanced at Jiyong and turned to the maknae, “Good luck.”

“You son of a-” Jiyong charged after Seunghyun, but Seungri quickly stopped him in a tight grip around his waist.

And they didn’t see each other or hear from each other for the rest of the day.

***

Jiyong stirred out of his sleep when he heard a phone rang. It was Seunghyun’s, coming from the living room.

“When did he come home?” Jiyong pulled himself up and rubbed his eyes. He sat still and quiet; trying to make out what Seunghyun was talking about but couldn’t really hear them clearly. So he plopped off the bed and trod out of the room.

Turning the knob slowly, Jiyong squinted, adjusting to the bright light and glanced at the clock.

“Well then, go with the red one. Yeah, I think we should go with the red one, the one that I’ve forwarded to you last week. Jiyong would love that one. Plus I think it would go well with the concept that he showed us the other day.”

Seunghyun paused, listening to the person on the other end, responding with short hums.

“No, no, no. The background shouldn’t be white. It will make it look like Heartbreaker, and people would think we’re recycling.”

Seunghyun nodded his head as if the caller could see him.

“Definitely. Maybe gold or something. I don’t know, I’m not good at this. Just try any color that would go well with red. But I think gold would look great. He likes the color gold anyway.”

Seunghyun paused again. And yawned.

“It’s okay. No need to rush this for tomorrow. We are flying out to Japan tomorrow and will only be back on Sunday. So, take your time. You can swing by the studio on Monday, or maybe Tuesday, so we could compare it with the other designs that we already have. But I won’t be around. Jiyong and the rest would be there, I think.”

Seunghyun hung up after saying his thank you and goodbye. He tossed the phone onto the couch and cards his hands through his hair, reclining his head on the headrest, closing his eyes.

Jiyong was dumbfounded. Earlier that day, he accused Seunghyun of neglecting their new album. He accused Seunghyun of giving more attention to his acting career. He accused Seunghyun of abandoning music for acting. He accused Seunghyun of everything ridiculous. And he practically told Seunghyun that he is his frustration of his life right now.

But here is Seunghyun, in the middle of the night, taking phone calls and discussing work.

Jiyong felt like an idiot. He clears his throat as he approaches the couch and stop right behind Seunghyun, “What was that call about?” Jiyong asked, voice still hoarse and sleepy with a hint of guilt.

Seunghyun looked up. He knows that Jiyong might have heard everything and was just being corny asking him that question, so he decided to be sarcastic, “Nothing.”

Jiyong bit his lower lip, feeling guilty. He leaned against the couch and looked down to meet with Seunghyun’s gaze. He pulled an apologetic smile.

Jiyong brushed the strands of hair out of Seunghyun’s eyes. “It’s getting pretty late,” he took Seunghyun’s hand and weaved their fingers together. Swiping his thumbs on the back of Seunghyun’s hand, he circled his arms around Seunghyun’s neck to lean down and kiss Seunghyun, upside down. “Let’s go to bed.”

Jiyong pulled away and let Seunghyun get on his feet. He waited for Seunghyun to round the couch before stretching his arms out to wrap around Seunghyun’s waist and nuzzled close against the man’s chest. He smiled in relief when he felt Seunghyun squeezed him closer with an arm around his shoulders.

“I think red and gold go well together, too.” Jiyong muttered softly as they walk back to the bedroom.

Seunghyun huffed a soft laugh, kissing Jiyong on his temple, “Of course they do.”

==========