“Sorry we took so long!” Woohyun apologized as he practically dragged Sunggyu through the crowd of freshly graduated students. The award ceremony was over and it was just about time for the rush of families to make their way into the popular BBQ place for a celebratory dinner. Thank goodness they got there earlier.

“Good God man! Did you fall into the toilet or something?” Sunggyu’s father joked.

“Certainly not. Have you seen the crowd? It's like navigating through Lotte World on the first day of summer!”

“That is, surprisingly, a very accurate comparison,“ Sunggyu commented and tried to pull his hand free as they took their seats, but Woohyun kept their intertwined fingers hidden under the table.

Sunggyu shot him a glare but the younger boy ignored it, he instead brought up a new topic to distract them, “Is it time to give the kids their presents yet?”

Sungyeol, Sungjong and Myungsoo cheered wildly together. That’s what they had been looking forward to the whole night. The bags containing the gifts were on Sunggyu’s end of the table, far away from their grabby hands in case one of them couldn’t control their excitement and decided to rip one open.

After the bags were passed down, the three boys held the Kims, Dongwoo and Key’s attention. Sunggyu took advantage of this time to step on Woohyun’s foot as hard as he could.

“,” Woohyun hissed and looked at the older boy, “What!?”

“Didn’t we just talk about this?”

“Talk about what?”

Sunggyu motioned to their hands, “This.”

“We did. And we agreed you were being stupid for doubting me so that is why I’m doing this,” he tightened his grip and Sunggyu huffed in frustration.

“I seriously will hurt you. Physically, painfully.”

“I have a high pain tolerance,” he smirked and leaned closer to whisper, “And if you don’t stop threatening me I’ll kiss you right here, right now.”

Sunggyu stiffened and immediately looked to his mother. She was taking pictures of the kids and was, thankfully, distracted. Sunggyu wasn’t as worried about his father, the man looked a little more than tipsy, but he still wanted to be careful.

“Woohyun,” Sunggyu began, and the boy used his free hand to grab his chin, a glint of mischief in his dark eyes.

“Think of your words carefully, hyung,” he smiled.

“What the- HYUNG!” At the sound of Myungsoo’s call, Woohyun immediately dropped his hand and the two turned to look at the youngest Kim.

He was holding the camera Sunggyu had bought with Woohyun and his eyes were sparking with  awe and admiration. He examined it closely to make sure he wasn’t imagining anything before laughing loudly.

Mrs. Kim turned to Sunggyu with furrowed brows, “Where did you get the money for that?”

“I had a job, remember? And for the years I’ve been asleep, my bank account has racked up enough interest to double what I had in there before.”

“Maybe I should take a nap for, say, 30 years,” His father joked, “Then we won’t have to worry about a retirement plan.”

“Oh shush,” She hit her husband’s shoulder good naturedly.

Sunggyu smiled and turned to Woohyun, “You think we did g-”

“Thank you so much!” A pair of arms wrapped themselves around Sunggyu’s torso, causing Woohyun to release his hand and for the oldest to tip off balance.

He didn’t notice Myungsoo get out of his seat, but the boy must have ran to get around the table in the amount of time it took for Sunggyu to hold a short conversation with his parents.

“Don’t mention it, and don’t thank me! This is Woohyun’s present too!”

“Really?” Myungsoo glanced up and the said boy shook his head.

“Don’t be so modest Gyu. It was all him. I got you something else,” he announced proudly and Myungsoo raised a doubtful brow.

“Did you now?”

“Yeah, but hey, if you don’t want it I’ll take it back-”

Myungsoo released one arm he had around Sunggyu and held his hand out, “Give it here.”

“Aish, so rude,” he lifted up a small brief case Sunggyu remembered him carrying into the restaurant earlier and handed it over. Myungsoo completely detached himself from Sunggyu to take it and flick the locks off.

The young boy’s eyes widened and Sunggyu shifted to take a peek. Inside was an assortment of lenses neatly packed in grey foam padding. Sunggyu frowned, he remembered seeing them on display when he was in the store, but Woohyun didn’t buy anything when they were together.

“When did you get that?”

“At lunch. Remember when I left you with the boys in the food court? I went back to get those,” he explained casually.

Sunggyu narrowed his eyes, “I knew it didn’t take that long to use the restroom.”

“No I did,” Woohyun nodded, “I would never lie to you Hyung, I just didn't tell you the complete truth.”

 Sunggyu would have commented on that if Myungsoo hadn’t reached over and pulled the two in a tight hug, repeating over and over how they were the best hyung’s anyone could have ever asked for.

“Yeah yeah yeah, you say that now,” Sunggyu shrugged him off lightly, “Go back to your friends, you’ve still got more gifts to open.”

Myungsoo didn’t say anything and jogged back around the table, suitcase in hand so he could show off the camera accessories to Sungyeol and Sungjong. They didn’t really care though, Sungyeol was too amazed with the game system his brother had given him before they left and Sungjong was admiring the clothes from his father.

“I think we did good Hyun,” Sunggyu smiled at their child-like expressions.

Woohyun nodded in agreement, “Our gifts complement each other… just like we do.”

The caramel haired male groaned in disgust and shoved some lettuce wrapped meat into his mouth, “Shut the hell up.”

--

“Myungsoo, could you be a dear and help your father into the house?” Mrs. Kim asked with one of her kind smiles.

Her son looked reluctant, but none the less left his bags in the car in order to get his father on his feet and lug him inside. The sight was amusing, seeing as Mr. Kim was burly man and Myungsoo… well… wasn’t.

“Is there anything I can help you carry inside, Mrs. Kim?” Woohyun offered, getting out of his own car and jogging across the lawn to meet them.

“No, Sunggyu here is enough.”

“Ah, I’m still on probation. Can’t lift anything more than 20 pounds and that definitely looks heavier than 20 pounds,” he lied with a straight face. In reality, Sunggyu was just too lazy to carry all of Myungsoo’s presents into the house. It would at least take two trips and all he wanted to do was sleep.

“Oh my, is that so?”

“Myungsoo can get it, it’s his stuff anyway,” Woohyun linked arms with Sunggyu while Key slung his arm around the elder’s shoulder, having appeared after Woohyun, “Do you mind if we borrow Sunggyu? He owes us a brawl tournament.”

“Brawl?” She looked slightly worried, but Key was quick to dispel her presumptions.

“A videogame. No actual fighting… unless Woohyun cheats. Then I’ll be happy to beat his .”

“Kibum!” he snapped, eyes enlarged at the language. Even Sunggyu looked shocked, he wasn’t really one to curse in front of his mother, and then he would be taking a big risk doing so. He had done so earlier, but the only reason he got away with it was because she couldn't for the past few years.

“Calm down Hyun, Mrs. Kim and I are tight.”

As if confirming his statement, Sunggyu’s mother laughed cheerfully, “Should I be expecting my son back tonight?”

“No,” Woohyun grinned, “You can send over Myungsoo too, if he wants. This invitation includes him too.”

“I’ll let him know, but I think he has plans to stay at Sungyeol’s.”

“Alright then. Good luck with the husband.”

She sighed heavily and gave her son a look, “What time will you be back?”

“Before noon, most likely,” Sunggyu pulled himself away from the boys and hugged his mother, “Sleep well mom.”

“See you tomorrow,” she rubbed his back and sent him off. Key and Woohyun both grabbed his arms and dragged him eagerly across the front lawn, ignoring his protest and complaints for getting his socks wet.

He barely managed to toe his shoes off when the boy’s came to a sudden stop. Sunggyu lost his balance and fell against Woohyun, but the younger boy caught him. He looked up the thank him and trailed off when he realized the boy wasn’t even looking at him.

“Oh, you’re back!” Mrs. Nam called from the living room, and Sunggyu cocked his head to the side to see her seated besides Hyomin and Dongwoon.

She stood eagerly and set her cup of tea down before approaching her son. Woohyun’s eyes were wide and he forced a smile when she came over. Sunggyu tried to pull himself out of Woohyun’s arms, but that didn’t seem to be happening anytime soon.

“Mother,” he spoke through gritted teeth, “Why didn’t you tell me Hyomin was here?”

“Well dear, I didn’t know she was coming,” she replied with just as much strain on her voice. It seemed that neither Nam was happy about her arrival, “She insisted she'd wait for you to come home. I told her you were be busy but-”

“About time!” Hyomin huffed and approached them. Sunggyu finally escaped Woohyun’s grasped and stepped besides Key, who was speaking to Dongwoon with their eyes (at least that’s what it seemed like, their stare off was intense).

With a heavy sigh, Key tugged on Sunggyu’s arm and walked over their other friend. Key took a seat next to Dongwoo and motioned for the older boy to take his other side before engaging them in a hushed conversation.

“How long have you guys been here?” he asked, motioning to Hyomin with his eyes. The said girl was currently whining about wasting time to Woohyun, who didn’t find it cute nor look guilty about it.

“I was totally content with sleeping until the little Kim's graduation was over, but she woke me up at noon and demanded to go do something, and by 'something' I mean go to Woohyun’s. Nicole noona didn’t seem all too keen on the idea either but she dragged me out anyways.”

“Wait, noon?” Sunggyu frowned, “So you’ve been here for like… six hours?”

Dongwoon glanced at his watch, “Eight. Mrs. Nam is such a gracious host. I don’t know how she put up with Hyomin. Then again, aside from her stubbornness to leave she was a real angel.”

“Deceptive,” Key fell back against the couch and scoffed, “She isn’t exactly the easiest person to get along with as of late."

“She was before. She was incredibly down to Earth… That was the girl I liked. I don’t know what happened to her.”

“Woohyun broke up with her, that’s what happened.”

“Yeah… I guess she doesn’t really know how to move on.”

“Well Woohyun’s partly at fault. He can be a jerk, but he doesn’t like hurting people’s feelings, even if it is someone like Hyomin. He just needs to throw her off his tail.”

Sunggyu was a little lost with their conversation, mainly because he didn’t really know anything about Woohyun and Hyomin’s past… other than the fact that they were together before. He managed to catch Key’s eye and the feline-like male smirked. The look sent shivers down his spine, “W-what are you plotting?”

“I think I have a plan,” he declared happily. Sunggyu wasn’t able to ask him to elaborate because Woohyun arrived at the couch and collapsed next to Key, giving Hyomin a sideways glare when she chose to sit next to him.

“Mom’s going to bed. SeukJin usually watches his news programs while she sleeps though so we don’t have to worry about noise,” Woohyun explained and then pointed at Hyomin, “You’re not allowed to sleep here.”

She looked appalled, “Why?!”

“Because we are men, you are a woman, and by social norms that’s scandalous. Besides, I don’t want your noona to worry.”

Hyomin huffed a pout, “She doesn’t care! Besides, I’m a 4^th year university student! I think I can make my own damn decisions.”

“Hyomin-noona,” Key began, sending her a sweet smile, “That was Woohyun’s way of saying that there isn’t enough space here.”

“I don’t mind taking the couch!”

“No can do,” Woohyun shook his head, “That’s filled, and I don’t have any spare mattresses, so Dongwoon is already going to have to take the floor.”

“I am?!”

“Yup, sorry man.”

Dongwoon laughed, “How about we settle that with a round of Brawl?”

“I’m game,” Key smirked and slid to the floor so he could crawl towards the TV and set up the console.

“Alright, you’re out of here in an hour, Hyominnie,” Woohyun’s smile was obviously fake, but Hyomin didn’t seem to catch it and just nodded obediently. Content with her answer, he stood and forced Dongwoon to sit closer to the girl so he could be with Sunggyu.

The obviousness of his favoritism towards the older male made Sunggyu scoff and hit his shoulder when he tried to hold hands with him. Woohyun wasn't discouraged though and settled for keeping an arm around his shoulder, even that was pushing it.

"So... what game is this?" Hyomin asked as Key handed out the controllers. Woohyun opted to skip the round so the wavy haired girl was left holding it in confusion.

"Smash Bros." Dongwoon supplied helpfully, "The objection of the game is to knock everyone off."

"That's it?"

"Yup, and don't worry about losing. Sunggyu-hyung is actually pretty terrible."

"Yah!" The elder snapped, "In my defense I have never even seen this stupid 'Woo' thing!"

"'Wii', hyung." Key corrected, holding his laughter with much difficulty. Woohyun didn't bother to and laughed so hard he shook Sunggyu's shoulders.

"See? What other proof do you need?" Sunggyu glared at them and glanced in Hyomin's direction. His eyes widened slightly when he saw her readjust the controls in her hand to a more comfortable position (not at all like how Sunggyu tried to hold it before) and stare blankly at the screen. This clearly wasn't her first time playing.

"So how shall we do this? Teams?" Dongwoon suggested.

"Yeah, I'll take hyung and you can have our beloved princess," Key turned his head and bat his eyelashes at those sitting on the couch. Hyomin laughed lightly while Dongwoon and Woohyun shoved him with their feet.

Sunggyu huffed and leaned close to Woohyun until their heads rested lightly against each other, "Do I have to play?"

"Would you rather watch?"

"Until I can kick everyone's , yeah. I'm better at strategizing anyways."

"I see..." While everyone was focused on picking their characters, Woohyun slyly slid the controller out of Sunggyu's hand, "Who do you want to be?"

"Which one is the fastest?"

"I guess Marth has a pretty good sword speed."

"Him then," Sunggyu noted how Woohyun took advantage of his lack of skinship by grabbing Sunggyu's hand and putting it on his own knee. Sunggyu gave him a look, which he ignored, but didn't bother to move it.

Then the match began and all hell broke loose.

Sunggyu wasn't even sure what was happening. One minute everyone was on a platform and the next thing he knew Key and Woohyun had knocked the other two off... repeatedly. They were all confused though, having no idea that Sunggyu wasn't playing and that made the elder laugh so hard he had to hide his red face behind Woohyun's shoulder.

"I have no Idea what's going on. We're in the Twilight Zone or some crap because Sunggyu-hyung shouldn't be this good," Dongwoon was getting flustered, clearly since Woohyun was guarding the edge of the platform and wouldn't let him up.

"Either he's secretly really good, or you just really bad," Key snickered, pleased with the turn of events.

"Or he's cheating."

"I'm not cheating."

"Sure you're- hey, wait! You're not even playing!" Dongwoon had glanced at him briefly, but it was enough to catch Woohyun with the controller.

"Exactly, so how could I be cheating, hm?" Sunggyu wasn't even ashamed and simply patted Woohyun's thigh, "Keep at it Hyun."

"Will do."

"Woohyun's playing?" Key knocked Hyomin's character off and peered over his shoulder, "Should have known that he wouldn't let his boyfriend sink under water."

"Not his boyfriend," The older man kindly reminded.

"Not yet anyway," Sunggyu narrowed his eyes and took the controller from Woohyun. He turned Marth against Key's Meta-Knight (Friendly fire was not fixed) and K.O-ed him, "Yah! Woohyun!"

"That was Sunggyu," the said boy replied and Sunggyu dropped the dreaded thing into his lap. He stood, straightened out his pant legs and then walked away from the group to get something to drink. Woohyun called after him but he ignored it and busied himself with other things.

His phone vibrated while he was grabbing a glass and Sunggyu scanned Myungsoo's text.

From: Myung-So oooh la la
So... are you and Woohyun better now?

BTW I know you hate texting so you can call me. Yeol is in the shower.

Sunggyu set the cup down and hit the call button.

Myungsoo was quick to answer, "....Hi hyung. You really don't like texting, do you?"

"No, it's like another language. How do you expect me to know what a smiley poop face means?"

"To be honest, I don't even know either. I just click random stuff and Sungyeol interprets it however he does."

Sunggyu snorted and filled his cup with water, "I'm glad you're texting me with proper grammar now. I was getting annoyed with this constant misspelling of 'you' and ."

"Yeah, well, I only text like that with you, be grateful. But anyways, you and Woohyun are better now right?"

"For now I guess. I still think he's a clingy idiot, but he'll come to figure that out soon enough."

Myungsoo chuckled, "You're still underestimating how much he likes you. Because he does, a lot."

Sunggyu flushed, "I'll hang up."

"No you-"

Sunggyu ended the call and silenced the infernal device. He finished off his water and left the cup on the counter, making his way back to the living room. They had started a new match of the game and everyone seemed too focused to notice his return. Everyone except Hyomin that is.

The two made eye contact when he stepped around the couch, but she quickly looked away. Sunggyu stared at her a little longer, trying to figure her out. He heard lots of things about her from the other boys, but it just... it didn't make any sense.

She was cool before, wasn't afraid to put Woohyun in his place when he was being stupid, 'down to Earth' or whatever the hell that term was supposed to mean, and yet she was acting so desperate. Why?

Sunggyu decided to sit next to her on the couch and smiled when she looked at him confused. The boys were too busy yelling insults in the hopes of distracting each other to pay attention to Hyomin and him, which was perfect considering what Sunggyu was asking her.

"Why are you pretending?" He asked bluntly and made her fumble with the controller.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Just... the way you're handling that," he gestured to her hands, "It seems like you know what you're doing. Earlier when Key was attacking you, you were avoiding him pretty well so... I just don't get it."

Whatever act Hyomin was putting on, she allowed it to drop momentarily and gave him a devious smile, "Oh, but little old me doesn't know how to play these kinds of games... Remember?"

Sunggyu raised an inquisitive brow, "Do go on."

"I actually really like video games, but I only act like this when I'm around them. Before this game came out, they played something similar on the computer. I asked how to play, though I was playing it much longer than them, and Woohyun had to spend an hour or so guiding me through like a tutorial," her tone was soft, and she had a distant look on her face, one akin to remembering something fondly, "He had to hold my hand on the mouse so I could get use to multitasking together with the keyboard."

"Sounds like him, he's the hands on type."

"No kidding. Guess you could say I took advantage of that."

"But I don't get why you're putting up an act now."

Hyomin paused briefly, "... That's a very good question... I guess it's just more fun for me to watch them battle it out like a bunch of preschoolers."

Sunggyu couldn't have agreed more. His gaze drifted over to the three staring intently at the TV, so focused on just beating each other that their faces were void of emotion, aside from the occasional twitches of irritation and wide eyes when they fell.

"I'm very confused by you," she began, setting her remote down after she was kicked from the game, "Well... Yours and Woohyun's relationship."

"Are you now?"

She nodded, now looking at him with an underline tone of seriousness that was hard to miss, "He likes you, hell anyone can see that. He even cried when you called him that one time, and it took us a while to calm him down you know. I've never seen anyone bring him to tears as fast as you did... Hell  I hadn't seen him cry before that."

"Yeah...  That's what I've been hearing."

"He likes you in a way that I thought he liked me in," Hyomin continued. Her voice was quiet, almost melancholy, "In a way I wanted him to like me."

Sunggyu didn't know how to respond. It almost made him uncomfortable, the way a simple sentence could leave him speechless.

She didn't seem to mind though, and filled in the silence, "Is there any water?"

"In the kitchen," he found his voice and nodded off to somewhere behind them.

"Could you show me?"

"Of course."

The two stood and Woohyun called out to them, a slight tinge of worry evident on his handsome features, "Where are you going?"

"Getting some water, play your stupid game," Sunggyu waved him off and led Hyomin to the kitchen. He worked on getting her something to drink while she leaned against the counter and watched him move.

Sunggyu handed her the cold drink and she thanked him quietly. She didn't drink it immediately though, and stared at the ice inside before working up the courage to ask her next question, "You... You know about us, right? Our past?"

Sunggyu knew it was coming and simply nodded, "He cares for you. You're one of his closest friends."

"Yeah, but I didn't want to be his friend. And for a while, I thought I wasn't," she threaded her fingers through her long, light hair and exhaled deeply, "After our break up though, I thought we could just be friends. We were before, but you know what? It's hard. It's really, really hard."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Hyomin shrugged and took a sip. She put her glass down and tapped her fingers on the counter  a couple of times before locking eyes with the older boy, "Do you like him?"

"What?"

"Do you like him? Like he likes you?... Like I like him?"

"I... uh..." Sunggyu stumbled over his words, his cheeks heating up, "That's a little complicated... you see... Woohyun-ah..."

She looked sad, "This is another thing that makes it hard."

He swallowed thickly, "What is?"

"I like- well, if you had met me a while ago I would have said I loved him unconditionally," she rubbed her eyes tiredly, "But you're unsure. You're doubting yourself or him or whatever and it's... It's frustrating."

"I'm not... I don't think I am..."

"But you are. I get it, I'm being a little blunt but if you were sure of yourself then you wouldn't have this much difficulty answering the question."

Sunggyu remained silent, processing her words in his head. This was the same issue that had been brought up multiple times by multiple people. At this point he was starting to believe that his problem really did lie with this doubt hanging heavy over him. That wasn't something he could just dispel quickly though. There were a number of factors playing in this case.

"You know..." he started, changing the subject, "I'm surprised that you care so much. I get that your emotions run as far as Woohyun is involved but... Aren't you trying to get him back?"

She rolled her eyes, "Oh lord, it seems like that, doesn't it? Like I'm needy or something."

He nodded, "I've heard a lot of things about you. What you were like before you and him were a couple and how you are now after you've broken up."

"I know. I'm ashamed of myself, I should have moved on a long time ago and yet here I am," Hyomin looked towards the living room, "Jesus, I followed him to his hometown just so I could see him outside of Uni."

"Do you really think that being around him will make it any better?"

"No... but I've liked him for so long that I can't help but cling to this hope I've conjured up."

Sunggyu didn't know what to say yet again. Girls were strange. They had a better grasp of reality, yet their emotions got the better of them. They were both the wisest and yet the most misguided people Sunggyu had ever known.

"I think I understand now though," Hyomin looked back at him, her eyes shining with determination, "This isn't helping me. If anything I'm making the people I care most about miserable."

"I wouldn't say that... concerned is more like it."

She smiled, the first genuine one Sunggyu had seen directed at him and nodded, "They can see it as well as you can, huh?"

"I've got a bit more of an understanding though," he smiled back, "I know where you're coming from and I know we're not the closest, but I will do anything I can to help you."

She hummed lightly and straightened up, turning to look at her reflection in the window so she could fix her hair, "God, I look like I'm about to cry."

"We can blame it on the water. Say he needs a better filtration system or something."

Hyomin laughed and nodded, spinning back around once she was pleased with her appearance and cocked her head cutely, "Shall we return... Oppa?"

Sunggyu flushed, it wasn't everyday a pretty girl like Hyomin called him 'Oppa', "Ah... I...  Yeah, let's."

She laughed and linked arms with him in a friendly manner, "I'm just teasing. Let's see how jealous we can make Woohyun."

"I don't see how that's a good idea."

"It isn't, but I need to distract myself with something other than these depressing thoughts."

See? Hyomin isn't a bad person. She's just... depressed is all. One problem cleared, two to go. But will it be as easy as this? Sorry I haven't updated, I have no excuse, I've just been busy Dx. Anyways, it's a short chapter but it's the best I've got. Un beta-ed so... i'll look for mistakes later. Peace out

I was inspired by this image to update. So... thanks sailor-woon