“What do you mean? Gyu, you’re starting to worry me.”

And indeed Sunggyu was. Dongwoo wasn’t used to how threatening his voice sounded, this was all completely foreign. The only times he had ever heard Sunggyu use this tone was either when he was reprimanding his juniors or setting ground rules with someone who had gotten in trouble at the office.

“Dongwoo, are you deaf? Or dumb? I’m telling you that I don’t want Howon around you so much. It doesn’t feel right, it doesn’t sit well with me. How do you think it looks-“

Dongwoo cut in before he could go too far.

“Gyu, you and I both know Howon is just a friend! Heck, he’s my best friend. And just because he’s always around doesn’t mean anything!”

“Don’t ing interrupt me! How do you think it looks when my colleagues see you walking around Hongdae with him, all smiles and giggles like some stupid high school couple? What do you think the ing neighbours are thinking when they see you let him into the apartment without me home?”

Dongwoo was struck. Sunggyu’s voice was cold, harsh. Although cursing wasn’t unheard of from Sunggyu’s lips, Dongwoo had never heard it directed at him. And as cliché as this sounded, he never thought it would happen. The silence was only broken by the static.

“Sunggyu. Don’t you have any faith in me? I love you so much, I would never betray you. And why do you care what your colleagues or the neighbours think? Why does it matter? Don’t you trust me?”

His voice sounded hurt, and a little small, he knew that. But Dongwoo didn’t want to hide the fact that he was a little offended or scared. 

“How can I have any faith in you when all you ever do is hang around that Howon?”

The sadness turned into anger and it slowly bubbled up his stomach and into his chest, making it squeeze and his heart contract faster. Dongwoo almost shouted into the phone.

“And whose fault do you think that is? Mine? Because it isn’t! I know you have a big company to manage and on top of that you have sad little old me! But if it’s something I have no control over, how can you blame me? Would you have more faith in me if you spent more time with me? Well then, I’ve got some news for you! You don’t spend any time with me, in fact, you can’t! Last week was less than a week and I can’t even-“

Dongwoo stopped before he screamed. He knew he would. He could feel it coming. His heart was beating so quickly and his anger was like a boiling pot. It was making him shiver and the knuckles of his hand turned white as he gripped his phone tighter to his ear. Sunggyu didn’t reply for a while. When he did, Dongwoo realised that he had finally stopped panting into the phone.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Dongwoo. Baby, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just. People talk too much and Howon is just and work is… I’m sorry. I just. I love you, so, so much. I know Howon’s just a friend but sometimes when I hear about you two together, I just. I don’t know. I’m sorry, baby.” 

The grip on his phone loosened and Dongwoo snorted. 

“Whatever. Listen, it’s late and I’m going to sleep. Go finish your work.”

Dongwoo ended the call, the first time he ever did to Sunggyu. Then he almost threw his phone across the room but stopped himself and just tossed it to the far end of the bed, throwing the covers over his face and fell asleep in a fit of anger. 

When Dongwoo woke up, the first thing he did was check on his ankle. The swelling had stopped and it seemed to be normal now, if not still a little sore when he moved it. He decided to give himself another day to recover. The company had given him a minimum of 3 days to recover from the sprained ankle and Dongwoo liked that. It meant that the company cared about your wellbeing more than business. It was probably what made him want to apply there in the first place.

Repeating everything from the last two days, Dongwoo was just getting ready to snuggle back into his soft bed, trying to shelf the idea of Sunggyu to the back of his mind when his phone rang. It was still where he left it last night. And Dongwoo gave in and picked up the call after 3 missed calls. 

“Sunggyu, stop wasting your time and calling me. You’re already forgiven for yesterday.”

There was a pause.

“Dongwoo? It’s Howon? Don’t you have caller ID?”

He lifted the phone away from his ear and checked it. It was Howon. How could he just jump to conclusions? Of course Sunggyu wouldn’t call in the middle of the day, he was too busy for something as petty as this.

“Of course. Sorry, Howon. I was just expecting a call from Sunggyu.”

“Sunggyu? Did something happen? You rarely ever call him Sunggyu.”

It was true. He usually referred to Sunggyu as either his husband, Gyu, babe, or my better half. Dongwoo didn’t even realise. Maybe his subconscious was still angry.

“Something did. It’s nothing important, just a lover’s spat. You know how it is.”

“Actually, I don’t know how it is.”

The two of them chuckled. Howon had shared with Dongwoo just a few days ago that he hadn’t had a serious relationship before in his life. Only little flings that lasted a couple months, with girls and guys who just didn’t seem to catch his attention for longer that. 

“Listen, Dongwoo, how’s your ankle? Do you want me to come over?”

Dongwoo thought for a moment. Sunggyu’s call sprang to mind. But then Dongwoo caught himself. Oh, screw Sunggyu and whatever the neighbours thought. He was lonely and the apartment felt worlds too big for just himself.

“Sure, and please don’t hesitate to bring food along.”

He could almost hear the eye roll and not long after they ended the call, there was the sound of his apartment door unlocking. Dongwoo had given Howon the extra key yesterday, after Howon had insisted on it after Dongwoo made him leave. Howon just wanted to be able to come in and out of the house without having to make Dongwoo strain his ankle. So Dongwoo waited patiently on the bed, before he got a little curious when there wasn’t any further sound after a few minutes.

“Howon?”

But of course, as luck would have it, it wasn’t his bulky- framed friend who appeared through the door. Sunggyu’s lean, perfectly- suited form appeared instead. With his briefcase still on hand and Blackberry on his other, he leaned against the doorjamb. 

He watched Dongwoo from there, his gaze angry. Dongwoo didn’t like how vulnerable he felt, and he didn’t like it even more that he actually felt vulnerable. Vulnerability was something a person with a weakness felt, and as far as Dongwoo was concerned, he didn’t have any. So why was Sunggyu treating him as if he did?

Sunggyu simply stood there, docile. Then the silence was broken when the buzzer rang from the intercom. Sunggyu pushed himself off the doorjamb and left his briefcase by the door, walking out to the intercom. 

Dongwoo couldn’t hear much from so deep inside the apartment but he was sure that Sunggyu, if he wasn’t before, was now seething. What a bad time for Howon to come, Dongwoo thought to himself morosely.

“So. He was going to come over and bring lunch, was he?”

He winced. That tone wasn’t good. It reminded him of the previous day’s call. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Dongwoo felt afraid. Given, Sunggyu would never hurt Dongwoo. Especially not when he was currently limping around and in bed. But the seed of doubt was planted. And Dongwoo was officially scared.

But Sunggyu never did anything. Instead he just picked up his briefcase, and walked back out. Dongwoo isn’t sure what happens after that. He knows he hears the front door slam shut, and the whole apartment is silent again. But it’s a different kind of silence. It almost explodes, once he hears the slam, into this silence that makes his throat go dry and the tears start.

Dongwoo goes back to work the next day, on Tuesday. The students are the first to pick up on his less- than- cheerful demeanour and when they ask about it, Dongwoo can’t help but freeze them off. All in all, it doesn’t result in a great day for him. He feels bad about snapping at some students, for giving them the cold shoulder. And most of all, he just feels like .

As he walks back to his apartment, and as he unlocks the front door, then toes off his shoes and puts them away properly, as he mixes a cup of tea and seats himself on the couch, Dongwoo thinks about the last few days. How did it even come to this? They were fine just a week ago. Something must have made Sunggyu paranoid because he’s had many friends over the past years. But Howon just sparks things up between them and Dongwoo doesn’t understand why.

Sunggyu is just so unreasonably angry all the time and they’ve only spoken to each other once or twice in the past few days and they’ve all only been arguments. And Dongwoo wants to believe it’s just a phase. Or not even a phase, just a little fluke. But then Dongwoo turns his head and he imagines Sunggyu’s taller frame at the doorway, his face contorted into a mask of anger, and it doesn’t even look like him. 

That’s when Dongwoo calls Howon. Because his heart had started pounding and he wasn’t sure why and the tears were flowing again and Dongwoo just feels scared and he doesn’t want to think anymore.

“Dongwoo?”

“Howon? Are you free right now? Is this a bad time to call?”

“What? No? Not at all! Dongwoo, are you okay? You don’t sound so good.”

Dongwoo stifled the sob. 

“I’m fine. Lets go out. Right now, lets go to that dessert house, okay?”

“Um, okay. I’ll see you there.”

Dongwoo ended the call as soon as he heard Howon’s reply, the weight in his throat forcing itself out. The sob was ugly, and Dongwoo didn’t want to hear it. But he quickly wiped the tears away and headed into the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face to get rid of the puffiness. Taking a deep breath, Dongwoo put on his shoes and pocketed his phone before he left. 

Howon was already seated at a table way at the back of the restaurant when Dongwoo arrived. On the way over, Dongwoo already convinced himself that he would not cry on Howon’s shoulder. He was just trying to cheer himself up.

And that almost emergency- like call started something like a tradition between the two of them. Sometimes, neither of them even had to say anything. All Howon had to do was order a plate of something sweet and shove it into Dongwoo’s mouth.

Other times, Howon would find Dongwoo in the dance studio, hours after his last class dismissal just sitting with his back against the glass and his hands fiddling with his phone. And Howon knew, Howon understood. Then he would lower himself and take a seat next to Dongwoo and hold his hand comfortingly. At least, he hoped it was comforting.

Dongwoo had started to avoid Sunggyu.

It started a couple weeks after Sunggyu’s Sunday midnight outburst. On one of those rare days that Sunggyu was home in time for dinner, Dongwoo had prepared dinner for them. He didn’t cook it of course, he never did. He would probably just set the house on fire. But he was setting the table and calling Sunggyu for dinner when the person in question just came up to him and snatched his hand away from where he’d been setting down a glass. Needless to say, the glass fell and shattered at their feet.

Sunggyu had then questioned Dongwoo as if he was some criminal, asking about Howon- which Dongwoo had started to get used to, unfortunately-, Woohyun, and even Sungyeol. Howon, he understood. Sunggyu had always been suspicious about Howon, after all, he spent more time with him than he did with Sunggyu. And Woohyun, maybe. Dongwoo had mentioned to Sunggyu once or twice about his flirting in class. But Sungyeol? The one who already had a boyfriend, not to mention was someone Dongwoo treated like a brother? The moment Sungyeol’s name had left Sunggyu’s lips, Dongwoo had snatched his hand away, ignoring the way Sunggyu’s nails had dug into his skin and pulled and how it hurt.

Dongwoo cradled his scratched hand to his chest and stared at Sunggyu. He had never known how to stare in any kind of malicious way but the gaze that he fixed on Sunggyu felt alien. 

“Based on the way you reacted, did I guess right?”

“Why the hell do you need to ruin a perfectly nice night? How can you even say that? Sungyeol is like my brother! And! He has a boyfriend!”

Sunggyu snorted.

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t seem to stop anyone, does it?”

Dongwoo had then taken a glass of water sitting atop the table and threw it at Sunggyu’s face. In less than 2 seconds, Sunggyu’s face turned red and as he drew back to hit Dongwoo (the palm flat, and his shoulder turned at least 45 degrees) the intercom buzzed. But Sunggyu still let the hand fly, and Dongwoo had barely missed it by turning to the side. Even so, the edge of his fingernails caught on Dongwoo’s cheek, leaving reddish marks. Fueled by even more anger, Dongwoo took the hand that his husband had raised against him and with all his strength, pushed Sunggyu back. The two stumbled back, and Sunggyu’s back hit the back of the couch. There was a yelp and Dongwoo knew he had probably twisted Sunggyu’s wrist. 

“Call me when you're no longer insane.”

Dongwoo left the shattered glass on the floor, knowing that Sunggyu wouldn’t even bother to clean it up, and his husband staring scandalised at the back of Dongwoo’s head.

Howon was standing at the lobby when he saw Dongwoo, with a less than happy expression. Raising his eyebrows in question, Howon asked what was wrong.

“Turns out my husband is the hulk or something.”

They headed down to the dessert house and Howon realised Sunggyu must have done something again. Obviously. And if the red marks on his cheek and wrists were any indication, this time Howon refused to let Sunggyu get away with it.

As they sat down, Howon leaned forward and made Dongwoo stare into his eyes.

“Please tell me you didn’t just stand there and take it.”

Knowing there was no point in denying it, Dongwoo blew out a frustrated sigh.

“No, I more than likely twisted his wrist. It was sort of an accident.”

Howon smirked and relaxed a little. 

“Good, he deserved that.”

They ordered their usual, but with an extra plate of ice cream because Howon knew Dongwoo needed more than their usual to calm down. He wasn’t entirely sure that Dongwoo wouldn't just randomly burst out into tears either, it has happened before after all. One second Dongwoo would be seething, his jaw clenched in hate and the next he would be sobbing, his hands tightly covering his face.

“Dongwoo, do you think you and Sunggyu should take a break? Maybe until Sunggyu’s work has calmed down and you guys can have a proper relationship again.”

Howon quickly held onto Dongwoo’s wrist and pulled him back before he accidentally walked into oncoming traffic. Dongwoo stumbled back, his thoughts still processing Howon’s suggestion. He was right, but Sunggyu would never agree to a break. But what if Sunggyu’s work never calmed down? What if they just went on a break forever then just… divorced? Dongwoo took Howon’s hand and held it tightly. He didn’t know what to do. 

In the end, Dongwoo didn’t ask for a break. But he took his own break, avoiding Sunggyu whenever he was home, and  only replying short messages like ‘was asleep’ or ‘was showering’ in reply to his calls late at night. It was a wrong way to go about it but Dongwoo didn’t know any other way. This was the safest for him.

As a result of wanting to avoid Sunggyu all the time, Dongwoo practically made Howon go out with him all the time. Every time Dongwoo didn’t want to face Sunggyu if he was home, he would call Howon and they would meet up at the studio. Howon didn’t mind, he liked Dongwoo’s company. Maybe a little too much, considering Dongwoo was supposed to be just a friend but Howon never said a word or did a thing out of line.