Early morning rays painted the sky with warm pink and orange. The bright colours bounced off the mountains, highlighting the horizon with calming hues. Soon it became another cloudy morning, just like every morning of that month. A sunrise only lasts a few minutes, that is what makes it so special. 

Hyejung woke up exactly at six o’ clock. It was almost as if she had an internal alarm clock that would go off at the same time every day before school. The young girl walked in to the silent corridor, looking around to see if anyone was awake. Usually Seunghyun would already be awake at this time, but she could see through the open door that he wasn’t in his room. Hyejung’s called his name but there was no answer, so she walked up to her father’s room and gently put a hand on the door handle. The door squeaked as she opened it. Curiously, she poked her head in to find her father cuddling Seunghyun in his bed. It was a surprise for all three of them when they woke up.

Later That Morning

“Are you going to sleep together every day?” Hyejung asked, sitting at the breakfast table. Seunghyun smiled awkwardly and Jiyong choked on his water. Whilst Seunghyun fried an egg, Jiyong sat on the other side of the kitchen, in his favourite place next to the water dispenser. The two men kept an obvious distance from each other. 
Hyejung’s inquisitive expression forced Jiyong to answer, “no, we are not.”
“Why?” she quizzed.Hot oil splattered on to Seunghyun’s arm, making him yelp.
Jiyong was quick to react, “are you okay?”
“Ow-ow-ow-ow, I think I burned myself,” he moved the frying pan away from the fire and quickly walked to sink to wash his arm. Jiyong walked over to look at him.
“There’s burn cream here,” Jiyong opened an overhead cabinet and took out a first aid kit. “Let the water run on it for a while.” He put a hand on Seunghyun’s shoulder and softly spoke, “does it hurt a lot? I can take you to the doctor.”
“It really isn’t that bad,” Seunghyun smiled, “can you put the bread in the toaster? Hyejung will be late for school.” They both looked at Hyejung who was curiously watching them.

Jiyong left his phone in the kitchen before leaving to drive Hyejung to school. Whilst Seunghyun was washing the dishes, the phone rang. It was Seungri. First, Seunghyun ignored it, but it kept on ringing.
“Hello?”
“Jiyong?”
“Jiyong isn’t at home at the moment…”
There was a pause before Seungri spoke again, “who am I speaking to?”
“It’s me, Seunghyun.”
‘Oh hey, how are you?”
“I’m fine, thanks… What about you?”
“I’m good… so… where is Jiyong? Are you at his house?”
“Uh… yeah,” Seunghyun thought, “He went to get something from the shops…”
“Oh… You guys were together?”
“I live here.”
“You mean you moved in with him?”
Seunghyun was a bit puzzled over how he should explain himself, “yeah… Is there anything you need from him or…?”
“He had a tennis session booked with me in the evening at 6. I wanted to confirm it with him, can you please ask him to call me back when he gets home?”
“Sure.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, bye.”

Later, Seunghyun found himself unable to tell Jiyong the whole conversation. 
“Oh yeah!” Jiyong exclaimed, “I almost forgot about that, do you want to come with?”
“To your tennis thing?” The two of them stood in the corridor outside the living room.
“Yeah, we can go swimming at the Hyatt, I have a membership.”
Seunghyun tried to think of a reason not to come, “what about Hyejung?”
“It’ll be too late for her, I can get Katrina to babysit.” Seunghyun was cornered and didn’t understand how to pull himself out of the situation. He didn’t want to be there if Seungri asked about them living together, since the whole boyfriend thing was a lie anyway. “Why do you look guilty?” Jiyong laughed. Seunghyun didn’t answer, which made Jiyong suspicious, “are you hiding something?” 
“No, w-what would I be hiding?” he stumbled on his words. 
Jiyong smirked. “You’re a bad liar.”
“So are you.”
“You’re just trying to distract me,” Jiyong furrowed his eyebrows and smiled at Seunghyun, “if it’s something really bad, I’ll find out eventually, you know.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You’re lie is so bad it’s almost believable,” Jiyong giggled, “so do you want to come to tennis with me or not? I’m going to tell Seungri we’re not dating.”
“I don’t really feel like it, sorry…” Seunghyun tried to be polite, “thanks for asking though, you can have some alone time with Seungri.”
Jiyong blushed, “you make it sound like a thing…”
“But you like him.”
“I’ve liked him forever…” Jiyong spoke calmly as if he had practiced saying it, “yet it’s never gone beyond the odd compliment. I mean, I know he’s not flirting but the way he says everyday things just sound too ambiguous. Actually, I’ve known him since my school years. Katrina always tells me he’s just a player and I’m stupid for even liking him b- maybe I should stop talking.”
“It’s cute,” Seunghyun smiled, “and you’re so straight-forward about it.”
“I feel like a fourteen year old girl crushing on an English teacher, can we talk about something else?”
“Instead of talking, you should sleep,” Seunghyun changed the subject completely.
“As long as you don’t sneak in to my bed…”
“Why would I?” Seunghyun was defensive. “Are you talking about last night?”
“What else would I be talking about… you ert?”
“Hah… you should have seen the way you were holding on to me this morning.”
“Yeah, you liked it, didn’t you?” He bit his smile, waiting for a reaction. “Hyejung is scarred for life. She doesn’t even know how the world works yet; she’ll start asking me for a younger brother. How am I supposed to magically produce a child, Seunghyun?”
Seunghyun laughed uncontrollably, “you’re so… I don’t even know how to describe it.’
“I’ll let you off this time, but if I find you in my bed tomorrow morning I’ll make you sleep outside with the pigeons.” Jiyong laughed playfully as he ran up the stairs, leaving the other man to giggle at himself.

Seunghyun had noticed a dramatic change in Jiyong’s attitude. He considered it an achievement that he actually talked to him. However, the more he learned about Jiyong, the worse he felt about being so secretive. Jiyong still didn’t know anything about his life in Korea. Similarly from Jiyong’s point of view, he owed Seunghyun big time. After pretending to be his boyfriend he even got him free spa access, and on top of that Seunghyun was a huge help at home. In a way, their friendship had become more complicated as it developed. Furthermore, they were beginning to somewhat trust each other. Little did they know of the test they would have to face in the next few days. It started with that Sunday morning.

6pm in the Afternoon, The Tennis Courts

The sun had already set and a soft breeze touched Jiyong’s bare shoulder as he walked through the old metal gates of the courts. Looking good in a thin (almost transparent) pink tank top had its downsides. Nevertheless, Jiyong was confident with keeping Seungri’s gaze locked on him (as well as everyone else’s). He hadn’t noticed, but everyone around Jiyong was watching him closely. He naturally had an appeal that bought attention; he had accustomed himself to the feel. 
“Do you have a jacket or something?” Seungri’s voice asked from behind Jiyong, maki