A/N: Hello, all. I meant to put this up sooner, but life... I keep stealing my titles from songs. This has nothing to do with the Franz Ferdinand song; it's just what came to me when I was trying to title the story. So, like with everything else I write this is based on a prompt (and took me ages to finish). It went something like: a gay man, who hasn't made his ual orientation public, runs into several co-workers while on a date. For some reason Hoyeol was the pairing that popped into my head for this. I don't know why. It's not really important to the story, but Sungyeol's kinda supposed to be a comic book artist or whatever the title is. I feel like the ending is weird and a little incomplete. I didn't really know how to end it. I always have trouble finding the right sentence to be the last sentence. But I'll stop talking now so you can actually read the story.

"So, Howon, you got any plans tonight?" Woohyun asks as he drops himself onto the weathered couch next to Howon in the teachers' lounge. "Or is grading papers your idea of a fun time?"

Howon chuckles softly. "I take it that's your way of saying I need to get out more?"

"We're planning on going to a bar or two," Dongwoo supplies helpfully from his position in front of the fridge. "You can join us if you want."

Howon finishes organizing his briefcase, which is the only reason he's still in the school, and closes it with a soft click. "Actually, I do have plans tonight. Non-work related even."

Woohyun raises a skeptical eyebrow. Of course he doesn't believe him. Howon is one of those teachers who takes his job very seriously. He probably spends more time in school than anywhere else. The other faculty (well, mainly Woohyun) sometimes joke that Howon'll never retire and he'll be seventy and still teaching.

"I really do." Howon says, trying to convince the other. "How about a raincheck?" He stands up with his briefcase and goes to retrieve his jacket from the coat rack by the door. "See you on Monday." With a quick wave he leaves the teachers' lounge before either of his colleagues can ask any further questions about his plans.

•••

"You know, I didn't take you for the clichéd date kind of guy." Sungyeol says as he and Howon take their seats near the back of the movie theatre. He speaks softly even though the trailers haven't even started yet. "Dinner on the first date and now a movie?"

"I'm a history teacher," Howon responds. "How creative do you want me to be?"

Sungyeol nods. "Fair point."

"For the third one maybe we can have a picnic or spend the day walking through the park and riding tandem bicycles."

"Confident are we?" Sungyeol quirks an eyebrow as he gives his date a sly smile.

Howon resists the urge to lean over and leave a lingering kiss on the other's lips. It doesn't help that he looks so attractive when he's teasing. But then again, he always seems to be teasing Howon. "That wasn't a no," Howon chooses to say instead.

"We'll see," Sungyeol responds as the lights dim and the screen fades to black, plunging the room into darkness.

•••

"How about I show you the story I've been working on for our third date?" Sungyeol asks as he and Howon walk out of the theater. They walk close enough to touch, but manage not to. By the time the movie was half over their hands had been intertwined and timid smiles were plastered on their faces.

Howon considers shooting a teasing remark, but decides against it. Sungyeol always seems to know the right words to use to make him blush and fumble for a good retort. He doesn't think he can get the same response from the other.

"Aren't those things, like, top secret or something?"

Sungyeol chuckles softly. "I have no idea." He becomes very interested in the passing cars as he says, "You're actually the first person I've wanted to show my unfinished work to."

Howon looks over at him in surprise. Under the glow of the city lights he can see the blush tinting the taller man's cheeks to match his own reddened ones. He looks away and lets a silence settle over them as they walk, no destination in sight.

The implication of Sungyeol's words makes Howon both thrilled and nervous in equal parts. It's thrilling to know that he has enough trust and interest in him to share such a big and important part of his life with him. Someone he has two dates and one sleepless night's worth of knowledge about. The nerve-wracking part is that this means they're one step closer to becoming "Something". The label that would best fit is "boyfriend", but Howon hasn't had enough experience in that department to feel comfortable with that.

Sungyeol's hand on his arm brings Howon out of his thoughts and his steps to a halt.

"It's not that late. Do you want to get a drink?" Sungyeol tips his head in the direction of the bar across the street.

Howon checks his watch. Barely 10:30. His mind is still on the future of their relationship. Maybe a couple of drinks will bring him back to the present. Before he can give an answer, Sungyeol latches onto his arm.

"C'mon, let's get some drinks. Please?" Even though Howon is the one looking up, Sungyeol still manages to look like a child begging for their favorite snack in the aisle of a grocery store. He's even attractive when he's acting like a five-year-old. That can't be fair, Howon thinks.

"I don't think you're leaving me much of a choice." Howon laughs at the triumphant look on the other's face as he lets himself be half-dragged through oncoming traffic to the other side of the street. Maybe he's a little less nervous about their impending "Something" than he was before.

•••

"Howon?"

Howon's stomach drops at the sight of Dongwoo approaching the quiet corner table at which he and his date had settled. Of all the bars they could have walked into...

"What are the chances, huh?" Dongwoo's smile is blindingly bright, especially for a Friday night in a dimly-lit bar. His eyes turn to Sungyeol who, when Howon takes a quick glance, is returning a friendly smile even if his eyes are a tad confused. If he wasn't so shocked, Howon would also be smiling back at his colleague because Dongwoo's smile (and generally cheery mood) is as contagious as a yawn. "I don't believe we've met..." he starts politely before his voice trails off. "Oh."

"There you are," Woohyun says as he comes up behind Dongwoo with two full glasses in his hands. He looks past the shorter man to see a wide-eyed Howon. "Hey, I didn't know you'd be—" He stops suddenly once he sees the tall stranger next to Howon and takes in the whole picture. "Oh."

Howon raises an eyebrow at the two's behavior. Was it that obvious? He had thought they would just look like two friends out drinking together. Especially if they kept their hands to themselves—except... Sungyeol had been innocently teasing Howon until his hand had not-so-innocently found the other's thigh and then Dongwoo had shown up. Howon looks down and, yeah, Sungyeol's hand is definitely still on his thigh. Oh.

That explains the stunned silence from the two teachers. Crap.

It's not that Howon is trying to hide his uality. He's not ashamed of it, so he sees no reason to pretend to be something he's not. He just considers it need-to-know information. Dongwoo and Woohyun are good guys and he might even think of them as friends (albeit not all that close of friends), but he had never thought he needed to tell them he's interested in men.

Sungyeol clears his throat as he (thankfully) pulls his hand away from Howon. "Hi, I'm Sungyeol."

Woohyun finds his voice first. "Woohyun. I'm Woohyun." He holds up the drinks in his hands as if to say he would shake his hand, but he's unable to. Sungyeol smiles and nods in acknowledgement. When he turns his attention to Dongwoo, Woohyun gives his friend a small nudge as his cue to talk.

"D-Dongwoo," Dongwoo says dazedly. Another nudge from Woohyun and he extends his hand which Sungyeol politely takes and shakes.

"Sorry for disturbing you two. We'll leave so you can, um," Woohyun flounders a bit for the right word, his brows furrow and his lips twist like he's tasted something sour. In the end he decides to forgo the entire sentence. "Uh, we'll just go."

"It was nice meeting you," Sungyeol says politely.

They watch the two men leave and it's not until they're out of sight that Howon lets his head drop onto the table in front of him. "Did that really just happen," are his first words since his colleagues happened upon Sungyeol and him, his voice muffled by the table. "I'm so dead."

With a chuckle Sungyeol gives an affectionate pat to the top of Howon's head. If he wasn't preoccupied with his imminent death, Howon would be grinning like an idiot from the touch. "I take it they didn't know?" Howon only groans in response. "I'm sure they're just surprised right now. I doubt they'll hate you once they get over it. They don't look like they will, at least."

Howon picks his head up to give the other a quizzical look. "How are you so calm?"

Sungyeol shrugs, picking up his forgotten drink and taking a sip. "There's nothing to hide. Who were they anyway?"

"I work with them." The thought of his job brings fresh wave of panic over Howon. More than people finding out about him, his constant worry is what being himself could mean for his career. He loves his job and the fact that it could be taken away from him because other people don't find a fundamental part of him acceptable is baffling to him. After all the years he's worked alongside Woohyun and Dongwoo, Howon doesn't think they would be so cruel as to have him fired. They know how passionate he is about teaching; that his life revolves around his students. They wouldn't take that from him. At least he doesn't think they would.

Sensing the shift in the mood, Sungyeol finishes off his drink before rising from his seat. "How about we get out of here," he asks, holding a hand out to Howon. The other stares at the proffered hand before looking up at Sungyeol's face. "I think I hear a big tub of passionfruit frozen yogurt calling our names." Howon holds his gaze for another moment. The room is dark and close to crowded, but it all seems to disappear when their hands meet. They stay connected as they walk out of the bar (Howon doesn't look back, but his paranoid mind is certain Dongwoo's and Woohyun's eyes are on them as they leave) and don't let go until they reach the supermarket where they first met.

•••

Howon walks into the school feeling nervous for the first time in his career. He expects judging stares and whispers and looks of disgust. Instead, he receives warm smiles and polite "good mornings", as if it were any other day. It's surprising and somewhat confusing, but not unwelcome. It's a relief to know that Dongwoo and Woohyun aren't gossips, but Howon isn't completely sure that they won't say anything.

For his first two classes, he's distracted waiting for something to happen, someone to say something. He keeps one eye on the door as if the principal will walk in any second to "have a word with him". He spends the first half of each class attempting to lecture, but after losing his place more times than he cares to acknowledge, he tells the students to take the rest of the class to get started on their homework. His strange behavior doesn't go unnoticed by the kids. A couple ask him if he's feeling okay. He half-lies and says he's just tired.

By lunch, Howon thinks he's just being paranoid. If something was going to happen it would have by now, right?
He's sitting at his desk (as per usual) pretending to grade papers (a new occurrence) when he feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. When he fishes it out, he sees he has a new text from Sungyeol. A smile breaks out on his face and he glances around the empty classroom before opening the message.

Are you dead yet?

Howon laughs, remembering his hysterics (well, according to Sungyeol) after Dongwoo and Woohyun had excused themselves. He starts typing an overly dramatic reply, but the door opening interrupts him. He looks up to see the last two people he wants to see standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"Can we come in?" Howon smiles inwardly at the shy way Woohyun asks the question. After five years of being around him, he knows there's nothing shy about Woohyun.

"Sure," Howon nods. He quickly erases the text he had started and types in a different response.

My executioners just came in OTL

He pockets the phone and turns his attention to the two men who have taken seats at desks in front of Howon's desk. He figures he should wait for them to speak first since they sought him out.

"We're not going to tell anyone that you—uh, that you're, you know," Woohyun starts with the same uncharacteristically timid tone.

"Since you didn't tell us," Dongwoo continues. Judging from the slight pout and the reproachful tone, Howon realizes the older teacher must be upset that he didn't come out to him. He finds that weird because he didn't know they were close enough to confess such personal information to each other. "We can respect that you would like to keep it private."

Howon thinks carefully about how to respond. He doesn't want to (further) offend Dongwoo by saying he only told people closest to him who he felt needed to know. "Thanks, I guess." Those seem to be the right words because Dongwoo smiles his usual mega-watt smile. Howon feels himself relax into his chair. After having two days to process, it's reassuring to see that Dongwoo isn't repulsed by Howon's uality. "I didn't tell you guys because I didn't want to make you uncomfortable," he admits.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that," Dongwoo assures him. "Right, Woohyun?"

Woohyun looks down at the desk, abashed. "Actually, it was a little weird seeing you two together. B-but," he rushes to say after a not-so-subtle kick from Dongwoo. "It's fine now."

Dongwoo shakes his head disapprovingly at his friend before turning back to Howon with an eager smile. "Can I ask about him?"

"You mean Sungyeol?" The other nods, leaning forward in his seat in anticipation. Howon doesn't know if Sungyeol would be okay with being talked about. The other is very open and honest about himself, but Howon doesn't think that means he's allowed to relay that information to his friends. He also doesn't know what Dongwoo could possibly want to know. "What do you want to know?"

Dongwoo answers almost immediately. "How'd you guys meet?"

"We were both buying late-night snacks."

"And?"

"And we started talking?"

"And?"

"...And?" Howon doesn't know what else Dongwoo wants to know about their meeting. It's not that interesting a story.

"You might as well tell the whole story from beginning to end," Woohyun informs him. "You would think after five years you'd know how much of a romantic he is. He won't be happy until you tell him everything."

Howon looks over at Dongwoo. The older teacher is leaning forward in his seat, full of excitement, as if they have all the time on the world rather than fifteen minutes left of lunch. Sungyeol was right; Woohyun and Dongwoo don't hate him. He sighs to himself, relief a welcome change from the dread that had been weighing him down the last couple of days. As he begins to tell the story of his and Sungyeol's meeting, the words flow without him having to think too much about them. And a smile slowly forms on his face at the thought of the taller man and their so-called "Something".