Chapter 8

Andy heard the agency door opening, as he turned, bowed and said, “Welcome.” It was the day of the month when they held an exhibition of pictures Kim Dongwan had taken. There were no pictures of modelling Eric, but pictures of everything Dongwan had seen since he was a teenager. Some people had always been interested and they kept coming to their exhibitions, and some people were just randomly passing by.

“Hi Andy hyung,” Yeonghwa smiled widely whilst waving his hand.

“Hi…” Andy immediately felt anger in him, when his gaze lowered at the united hands. “What are you two doing in here?” he interrogated softly.

“Oh, Eric hyung said that there will be an exhibition here and so we decided to come here and see it.” The tall, fair skinned man just grinned. “And I am quite fond of Kim Dongwan hyung’s photography.”

Yeonghwa nodded eagerly, holding some brochure in his hands, as he already avidly wanted to go and see the photos. He was practically pulling his boyfriend away from the catering manager, who still was talking. Junjin gestured with his arm and left Andy mid-sentence, so the young fellow would be extremely happy. Andy just gritted his teeth unhappily, but returned back to his original spot whenever the customers were ready to have something to eat.

“That is an amazing picture.” Yeonghwa praised, looking at a picture taken of Eric.

“That really is.” Junjin agreed. “I have never seen Eric hyung smiling so…genuinely…” he said. “They must be super close.” He added.

Every people halted in front of the picture and chitchatted about it, saying it was by far the best photo in the whole exhibition. Most of the customers commented that there must’ve been some deep meaning since the man in the photo seemed to be in love. Some people assumed that the photo of the photographer himself, taken from close, but being a bit blurry, belonged together with the picture of Eric Mun.

Dongwan stared at the photos melancholically, sipping his champagne silently, recalling the day when he had felt like he and Eric were something more than just friends with benefits. But every time people asked the story behind the shirtless Eric and the loving smile, Dongwan always just said the same answer.

“We’re just really good friends.”

                ***

Andy was packing the leftover food to the containers after the exhibition. He always had that problem, where he made too much food and no one wanted it. He ended up taking it home himself. He did not mind, because he appreciated good (and free) food, it was just super exhausting to eat the same foods for weeks.

“Hyung, I’m leaving!” the maknae shouted at Dongwan, and grabbed several box at the same time. “See you tomorrow!!”

He stepped outside, closed the door with his left foot, and walked down the stairs carefully, trying not to fall. He managed to get down safely, and then continued walking towards his apartment. Andy only stopped when he needed to wait for the red light to turn into green one. He looked right and then to the left and started walking, hearing weird yelling behind him. Couple of very long honks, and Andy’s boxes flew in the air and opened.

“Are you okay!?” Andy had covered his face with his arms. “Yah! Andy! Are you okay?” the guy lowered his arms and opened his eyes, looking around.

“Jinnie?”

“You were being blind! You stupid!!” The tall man yelled.

Andy abruptly gasped, got onto his knees and was shocked by the view in front of him; there was scattered food everywhere. His hands were shivering, when he tried to reach for the boxes. But Junjin grabbed him under the armpits and lifted him up.

“YAH!” He was angry. “How can someone be so blind!?” Andy blinked his eyes.

“I’m sorry.” He said.

“Are you okay hyung?” Yeonghwa questioned.

The shorter man looked at the pretty boy and nodded, and then turned to look at Junjin who kept panting very furiously, eyebrows furrowed. It seemed like he would have hit him if he had had the chance or Yeonghwa hadn’t been there. For the first time Andy thanked the lord that the annoying pretty guy was there right now, sincerely concerned about him.

“You could’ve looked around!!!” Junjin shouted. “WHAT KIND OF A PERSON DOESN’T DO THAT!??”

Andy pouted and looked down at his feet.

“Why are you so mad hyung?” Yeonghwa asked, clinging onto the man. “He was almost driven over, but you saved him.”

“Exactly! He was almost driven over!!” The tall man exclaimed, glaring at Andy.

Andy felt tears stinging his eyes. He extended his arms and proceeded to the tall man, who kept hissing, and put his arms around him. Yeonghwa let go of the arm and stepped back, or was more like nudged away, as Junjin threw his arms behind the shorter man’s back and embraced him strongly.

“I’m really, very sorry.” Andy murmured. “I will be careful next time.”

Junjin’s embrace got tighter when he whispered, “There won’t be next time.”