Jiho took another shot, his third one for the night. He felt the alcohol slide down his throat, burning every inch of the way. He leaned his head down on the bar and closed his eyes, listening to the rock music that drifted from the speakers.

It was just a game, a silly one at that. Nothing serious, only playful. The goal was to move the paper from Jihoon’s mouth and give it to the next in line. It was just something stupid for them to try and play.

But the paper fell.

And their lips touched.

Jiho tried to shake the memory away from his head and took another sip from his beer. He tried thinking about thighs, bountiful, glorious, thighs. How soft thighs could be, how soft Yukwon’s were…

Jiho slapped himself out of his trance. He left a wad of money on the bar and walked out into the warm, night air. It was windy that night, his hair blowing freely around his face.

That day had been a calm day. The sun shone down on the backs of the seven men as they prepared to play their game. Jiho was ready, his lips in a perfect position to receive and give the paper. Everything went fine for the most part, until the blasted baby blue paper fell. Neither Jiho or Yukwon realized in time that the paper was gone until their lips met in the whirlwind of excitement.

It took but a second for Jiho and Yukwon to grasp the situation and pull away from each other. The others whooped and hollered when they saw the playback as the two victims watched in embarrassed horror. Jihoon teased the two while Jiho tried to brush off the entire ordeal and keep his composure. But Jiho couldn’t shake the pleasure of feeling Yukwon’s lips against his and the warmth that radiated from his body. It was a passion he couldn’t ignore, a sensation he wanted to experience again.

Jiho opened the front door to the dorm. It was dark and no one was home. He didn’t bother to turn on the light and fell face first onto the couch.

He had always felt a slight spark whenever he touched Yukwon, as if a volt of electricity surged through his body. He admired his defined features, his huge, charming smile, and his ability to dance while beatboxing,

Jiho felt something hit his and sat up to see Jaehyo aiming an aluminum foil ball at him.

“What are you doing here? I thought you guys were going out to eat?” Jiho asked.

Jaehyo finally threw the ball at Jiho’s head. “I didn’t want to go. The internet was calling my name.”           

Jiho nodded his head. “Wait, were you in my bed again?”

“Of course I was. Best place for the wifi in the dorm.”

“Stay out of my bed,” Jiho demanded.

Jaehyo laughed. “Never.”

Zico sighed and lay back down on the couch.

“What’s wrong with you? You’d usually beat me for throwing at you.”

“I’m just thinking about stuff,” Jiho answered.

Jaehyo moved his legs and sat on the couch. “About what?”

Jiho wasn’t sure whether or not he should tell Jaehyo, or anyone for that matter, about his confused feelings for Yukwon. He looked at Jaehyo’s large, expectant eyes, and knew that he wasn’t a person he could trust. A quite terrible person in fact, but keeping his secret inside was eating away at him, tearing a hole in his stomach. He knew that he would eventually have to tell someone and Jaehyo was going to have to be the person.

“Do you promise not to tell anyone about what I’m about to tell you?” Jiho requested.

“No,” Jaehyo said freely.

Jiho rolled his eyes. “Whatever. It’s about Yukwon.”

“What about Yukwon?”

“When our, you know, lips touched.”

“It wasn’t that your lips touched; it was that your entire mouth was inside of his,” Jaehyo detailed.

Jiho glared at him.       

Jaehyo smiled.

“Anyway, I feel strange about him.”

“Strange how? Like you have a crush on him?” Jaehyo said jokingly until he looked at Jiho’s guilty face. “Oh my god you have a crush on Yukwon!”

“It’s not a crush! I’m just confused,” Jiho explained.

“Yeah. Confused. But I always knew you had a thing for Yukwon. I was puzzled as to how you can fall in love with him when my beautiful self is standing right here, but okay.”

Jiho rubbed his face and looked at the framed picture of Sulli that they kept on a door. It made him feel a little better.

“Why don’t you go talk to your loverboy tomorrow? Aren’t you two supposed to be going out for food or something?” Jaehyo asked while hitting Jiho’s with a notebook.

Jiho exhaled. It would be exhausting being around Yukwon while all of his desires for him ran wild inside his stomach, but he knew that he needed to face Yukwon eventually. He buried his face deeper into the couch as Jaehyo teasingly sang Apink’s “NoNoNo” to him.

Jiho and Yukwon left the Chinese restaurant they went to that afternoon, walking side by side as they usually did, but it felt different to Jiho, being that close to Yukwon. The majority of Yukwon’s black hair was brushed to the left side of his face and he wore a navy blue beanie that covered his ears. Yukwon was smiling about a joke he had told Jiho, something about how Kyung tripped over a rope last night. His smile was radiant, lighting up the afternoon fog that settled around the city.

They stopped to rest at a park and sat on a bench. Together they watched a gambling ring consisting of five year olds, betting their toys. Children grow up so fast, Jiho thought.

Jiho didn’t know how exactly to approach the subject. He was afraid of rejection, as most are, and didn’t want to ruin his and Yukwon’s relationship, but Jiho couldn’t continue to live with the feeling of being a preteen in love.  Jiho in air and told himself to be brave, that no matter what Yukwon’s response was, he could accept it and move on.

“Yukwon,” he said. Yukwon jumped a little at hearing his voice; he was too involved with staring at a bird who he felt a deep, spiritual connection with. Yukwon was a very weird person.

“Yeah, what?” Yukwon asked, feeling a little broken now that the bird had flown away.

“It’s about that, uh,” Jiho gestured towards his lips, “the paper game.”

Yukwon smiled. “That was fun. Your breath smelled like onions, but it was okay.”

Jiho didn’t really know how to respond to that, but he brushed it off. “I don’t know how best to say this, but, Yukwon, I like you, romantically.”

Yukwon nodded his head and looked down. Jiho’s heart skipped a few beats, knowing that this was a mistake. His face felt hot and his throat seemed full and dry, as if he swallowed cotton. He felt like a twelve year old boy awkwardly trying to ask his crush to a dance. Jiho wanted to disappear, fade away into the air.

“I like you, too. Romantically.” Yukwon said, breaking Jiho’s melancholy.

Jiho looked up to see him smiling. Yukwon leaned a little closer and placed his hand on top of Jiho’s. Yukwon brought his finger to his chin and lifted his face up slightly. Yukwon placed his lips upon Jiho, intentionally this time. Yukwon’s lips were soft and tasted like the strawberry candy he'd been on earlier. Jiho could only hope that his breath didn’t smell like onions this time.

Yukwon pulled away from and looked into his eyes. “I’ve liked you romantically since the day I first saw you.”

Jiho laughed. “I like you romantically sounds dumb.”

“You said it.”

They both laughed and resumed their kissing; their lips mingling in a tango of affection and devotion. Jiho felt then as if destiny caused that piece of paper to fall, just so that the two men wouldn’t ignore their love for each other, and they could realize that they were meant to be together.