Woohyun’s shift was over and he was extremely nervous. He was countng down the seconds as he sat behind the counter, mindlessly bouncing his knees. He was putting his life in the hands of a stranger. The only person he ever hung out with was Dongwoo. The other people he associated with were the people he lived with and that was honestly just because they lived together. It was just a common courtesy. He was heard to be fun and outgoing but little did anyone know Nam Woohyun was a recluse.

He looked out the store front window about a hundred times checking to see if Sunggyu would actually return, and where had he even gone to? It had been such a nice day when he came to work. The sky was blue and the rays of the sun were out in full force. The clouds were white and fluffy dotting the sky with puffs of cotton. So, he daydreamed of a nice lunch at a quiet café, or soup and sandwiches on the open patio of a quaint restaurant, feeling the breeze.

When he finally collected himself and was calm enough to step out into the unknown, he put on his jacket and walked out the door. Sunggyu was leaning up against the building, closest to the open alleyway. He had a cigarette placed at his pursed lips, a hand shoved in his pocket and a knee bent foot pressed against the wall, like something out of a movie. Woohyun watched as the red head took one last drag, eyes closed, head tipped towards the sky. He watched as the smoke left his body and dispersed towards the clouds. Now the sky was grey and everything had changed.

It was going to rain.

Sunggyu put out his cigarette scraping it against the brick of the building and took notice of his new admirer. Woohyun looked good, wind ruffling his hair again. Sunggyu always saw him like that, almost like he was in a dream.

“Hey, you didn’t skip out on me.” Sunggyu chuckled walking closer to woohyun's side.

“What? Why would I?” Woohyun came back to reality, the clouds looked angry. Would they make it to where they were going?

“You should have seen your face earlier,” Sunggyu laughed again but then his expression changed, serious and knowing as he recalled the previous events. “And, well, you seem to have a habit of always leaving.” He raised an eyebrow.

Woohyun was at a loss for words. He honestly expected Sunggyu to not show up. Why was he even trying so hard in the first place? Luckily his brain kicked in and he made a comeback.

“Maybe I just don’t hang out with cripples.” Woohyun had to laugh at his own remark, cheesy grin plastered on his face stretching from ear to ear.

Sunggyu rolled his eyes. “Why am I even here?” He pulled his hood up over his head and shoved his hands back in his pockets walking away and out into the middle of the street.

“Hey, wait. I’m sorry.” Woohyun said the words but he was still laughing. It was just that Sunggyu was easy to tease. “Where are you going?” He hurried to catch up. For someone who was injured Sunggyu walked, or limped pretty fast.

“To get food.” Sunggyu called out to the empty road in front of them.

This was not what Woohyun expected, but he shouldn’t expect anything when it came to Kim Sunggyu. He was like an ultimate mystery that Woohyun was willing to spend his life figuring out. Mystery just so happened to be one of his favorite genres. They were at a convenience store buying way too much instant ramen for two people. Sunggyu was loading Woohyun’s arms up with ramen and many other snacks that came in some sort of bag. Woohyun thought he might be sick.

Since he was little he had been eating real food, like things that didn’t come out of a package. Maybe he was spoiled but ever since he met Dongwoo he hadn’t touched premade food and his lunches were packed with things like fresh fruit and vegetables. Homemade was the only way, Dongwoo’s mother insisted.

This place was so foreign to him, the florescent lights, the humming of the coolers and the smell of stale wetness. It was all so off putting. He preferred to surround himself with people and places that put him at ease and this was not one of those places. Sunggyu was still wandering around the aisles and Woohyun followed in silence checking everything out, but as they passed the ice cream cooler Woohyun came to a complete stop.

“Woohyun, dude. Over here.” Sunggyu walked backwards to meet up with Woohyun and see what was so enthralling. Ice cream? “Hmm. You want one?”

“Uh, no. No. That’s okay.” Woohyun looked down at all of the pre-packaged food he was carrying. Would it be rude to not eat this... crap?

“Come on just get one.” He elbowed Woohyun in the side, making him almost drop everything in his hands. “I’ll buy so get whatever you want.”

“No really. I’m fine.” Woohyun his lips thinking about the chocolate he hadnt had in forever. And when Sunggyu saw that he wasn’t convinced. Those puppy dog eyes said it all.

“Okay fine I guess I will just have to buy one of each considering you won’t tell me which…” Sunggyu opened the cooler and just started grabbing handfuls of everything, popsicles, ice cream cookies, and cones.

“Ah, wait. Don’t do that.” Woohyun whined at Sunggyu’s persistence and the huge mess he was making. “Chocolate, I want chocolate!” he pushed into Sunggyu with his hip because he didn’t have a free hand.

“Wow! Calm down, geez.” Sunggyu chuckled sarcastically and put back anything that wasn’t chocolate.

Woohyun just smiled and carried on following Sunggyu around until they were ready to check out.

“That will be ten sixty-nine.” The man behind the counter looked at the red head then back at Woohyun. They were such opposites.

“Oh wait a minute.” Sunggyu left the counter and headed back to the cooler. Woohyun peeked over the shelves. They really didn’t need any more ice cream.

He came back with a thirty pack of beer.

Woohyun’s eyes almost burst out of his head. This much beer in the middle of the day?

“I’m going to need to see some ID.” The bald man cashing them out eyed Sunggyu. It was obvious he didn’t really like him. Woohyun thought it’s not nice to judge a book by its cover and without realizing it he was glaring at the unfriendly fellow.

Sunggyu gladly obliged.

“I’m going to need to see your boyfriends too.” The man sneered at Woohyun who was scowling.

“Hey, Nam… your ID.” Sunggyu was a little concerned because the look on his short friends face was scary.

Woohyun pulled it out and just barely flashed it at the man before shoving it back in his pocket. The man mumbled something that was probably rude and finished cashing them out. They took their things and left. Sunggyu carried the beer and Woohyun had the bags. As soon as they set foot on the sidewalk, it started to rain. It was pouring buckets. Sunggyu ran towards the bus shelter at the end of the block. The frown on Woohyun’s face disappeared because the way Sunggyu ran was hilarious. He was kind of skipping… like a five year old.

“Well we have to catch this one anyway.” He set the beer down on the bench shaking out his jacket.

“I thought you drove?” Woohyun watched the pavement change colors with every drop.

“Ah, no. Well it’s in the shop.” Sunggyu was trying to fix his hair pressing it down on the sides. His hair was one of his favorite features, not a single strand could ever be out of place.

“Is that what happened? A car accident?” Woohyun took another look at Sunggyu’s unfortunately marred side profile.

“I guess you could say that…” Sunggyu pressed his lips together in a thin line. He really didn’t want to answer and as luck would have it the bus showed up right on time.

They got on the bus, thankfully they both had a pass because digging for change was always very annoying. They took the seats all the way in the back, having the same thought of wanting to be alone. Although there were only a few little old ladies chatting and knitting at the front. The bus took off with a jolt and Woohyun had to catch himself, unfortunately grabbing onto Sunggyu’s leg. Woohyun looked at his face and there was no reaction, and he thanked god it wasn’t his injured side. He wiped the invisible sweat from his brow and tucked his nervous hands into his lap.

“So, where are we going?” Woohyun looked out the window as he spoke. He watched all the tall buildings and rusted street signs as they passed by. He had never gone this way before.

Sunggyu laughed. “You have been just following me around this whole time.” He put his arm behind Woohyun resting it on the back of the seat, but only to make himself a little more comfortable. “My house.”

Woohyun went stiff at the words and Sunggyu could feel it. There was something really weird about this guy but he was still cool, he supposed. Woohyun’s mind was running wild. Where does he live? With his family, friends, a roommate? What if he has a girlfriend? What if he tries to kill him or something? What if he tries to get him drunk and steal his clothes or wallet? He had a very large savings account. This red haired guy could be some super hacker and break into his account. Woohyun mentally face palmed and scolded himself for riding on a bus with a stranger, going to a place he had never been before.

And there they were in the middle of nowhere. ‘Do not trust people with red hair’ was repeating in Woohyun’s mind over and over again, but because he is a nice person he volunteered to carry the beer seeing that Sunggyu was still limping and 30 cans of beer is really heavy. They were in front of a large ivy covered building, previously used as a warehouse presumably turned into a loft. The visual was astounding. There was water right on the other side and the view from the top must be exquisite. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. The sky had cleared up and the sun was beginning to set washing everything in a beautiful shade of amber and gold.

After climbing some very old rickety rod iron stairs they came to a large black door. Sunggyu fumbled for his keys, but he managed even while holding the bags full of their lunch. He pushed the door open and stepped in.

“Well come on.” He smiled. The light was flowing in through the wide kitchen window setting his red hair ablaze, or so it looked. He held the door and waited while his fluffy haired friend spaced out. “Kid...”

Woohyun snapped out of it and walked inside kicking his shoes off following in Sunggyu’s footsteps. He stood in the middle of the kitchen wiggling his toes in his socks too scared to move. He did not like new surroundings. Although, these surroundings were quite pleasant, and clean, which was a surprise. He watched as Sunggyu started peeling off layers throwing his jacket over a chair and his sweater somewhere out in the much larger room where he could see a couch. Sunggyu was down to a sheer white t-shirt and jeans.

Woohyun didn’t know what to do with himself so he started unloading the bags onto the kitchen table avoiding eye contact with Sunggyu or Sunggyu’s lean body not hidden very well by what was supposed to be a shirt.

“Take your jacket off stay a while.” Sunggyu elbowed Woohyun as he passed by. He was searching through his cupboards for something to cook with. “You can throw the cold stuff in the freezer and can you sack the beer in the fridge? Oh, you do like ramen right?” He looked over his shoulder at Woohyun while he filled up a large silver pot with water.

“Uh, yeah sure.” Woohyun was too preoccupied ogling the empty refrigerator. It was completely empty minus a few packets of ketchup and soy sauce probably from take out. How can people live like this? "So I had a question... Do you just never buy anything or what?"

"What do you mean?" Sunggyu furrowed his brow turning to Woohyun with a pout.

"Your fridge is empty and all of your clothes look like they've been worn completely out... I mean unless thats a style or something?" Woohyun snickered; he thought he was being funny.

"Are you serious? You are an . Has anyone ever told you that? What? Is this too much for you?" Sunggyu dropped his arm and shrugged his shoulder letting his t-shirt slip exposing a lot more skin. To be even more dramatic he ripped the hole in his jeans making it wider. The hole just so happened to be at the top of his thigh.

Woohyun gulped looking away. He was practically sweating. "Well that wasn’t necessary. Haven’t you ever heard of real food?”

Sunggyu thought about how they got here. Why were they even here in the first place? He didn’t need any new friends. He watched as the water started to boil, bubbles rising to the surface bursting as they met with the open air. He liked Woohyun though. He had a certain presence, and he knew for damn sure there was something else going on there. It had been years since he invited anyone over. Myungsoo didn’t count.

Woohyun took a seat at the kitchen table removing his jacket. He fixed his collar and ran a hand through his hair it was still a little damp from the rain and probably all wavy. He didn’t even know what he looked like and suddenly he became self-conscious. What if he looked weird? Bathroom, he needed a bathroom.

“Can you pass me some of that ramen?” Sunggyu held out his hand and Woohyun shoved five packages at him.

“Where is the bathroom?” He looked uneasy. Sunggyu assumed he probably just really had to go.

“Right around the corner, the only door on the left.” Sunggyu shook his head as he watched Woohyun flee. “Such a weird guy.” He mumbled opening the packages.

Woohyun walked out into the large room. It was a living room and a bedroom. There was also some equipment set up in the corner. To the left in front of a very large window there was a couch and a few old chairs. Straight back there was a big bed with a metal frame covered in white sheets and a huge down comforter. The bed wasn’t made. In the corner to the right a few giant oriental rugs covered the ground stacked three high and a large tapestry hung from the ceiling all the way to the floor. The middle of the room was bare, just wide open wood floor. It was a mix of rustic and eclectic.

He found the bathroom. It really was the only other door in the whole place, that he could see anyway. He checked himself out in the mirror. He looked alright. His hair was starting to curl up in a few places but it wasn’t too bad. He really did need a haircut. Maybe Dongwoo could do it for him when he got back. Then he realized he never told his friend where he was going. He took his phone out of his back pocket and started to dial. He thought for a moment. Why did he have to call and check in? He’s an adult he can do as he pleases. He was putting his phone back when the bathroom door busted open. He dropped his phone in shock.

“Gyu where the hell did you go? I was asleep and you just left me here…” Myungsoo rubbed his eyes coming to the realization this short guy with brown hair was not Sunggyu. “Who the are you?”

Woohyun bent down to pick up the pieces of his phone the battery was right next to the guys foot and this guy was tall and only wearing boxers. Sunggyu walked over at the exact moment Woohyun was on his way back up and couldn’t help but laugh at the way things looked from behind. Myungsoo was just standing in the doorway almost and Woohyun was bent over eyelevel with his crotch. Hilarious.

“Woohyun… What are you doing buddy?” Sunggyu called out as he laughed all the way back to the kitchen.

Myungsoo didn’t move, he just stood there arms crossed. Woohyun was nervous. Okay so there is a guy, almost guy and he is blocking the way. What to do? He doesn’t look nice either.

“Hi. I’m uh, Nam Woohyun. I just um, dropped my phone and I was done now so… you can-“ Myungsoo pushed passed cutting Woohyun off mid-sentence.

“I have to pee. Feel free to stay and watch if you like.” Myungsoo narrowed his eyes and didn’t hesitate to reach for his own crotch about to whip it out.

Woohyun flew like a bat out of hell slamming the bathroom door shut behind him. This was a real struggle. People who had no sense of privacy were an issue. Even if it’s their own privacy. He took a deep breath and sat down at the kitchen table with his head in his hands. Sunggyu just asked if he was okay and laughed at his new friend when the only response he got was a quiet ‘mhmm’ and a head shake. Poor kid.

The ramen was done and the three of them sat and ate all five packages in no time at all. Once Myungsoo had put on pants and a shirt, things sort of went back to normal. They made their formal introductions and Myungsoo was Sunggyu’s roommate, also his bass player. He was the one who got him to play at the poetry reading. To which he said he was only joking thinking Sunggyu would never do it, but ‘the guy is desperate for attention.’ Sunggyu punched Myungsoo in the arm and in turn Myungsoo just responded with hugging Sunggyu until the red head shoved him away. Woohyun assumed that all this touching was only due to the amount of beer that they had consumed but, maybe they were more then roommates. Woohyun felt his heart skip a beat at the thought. Sunggyu may have someone who he loves.

He pushed the thought away because they were friends and he was going to try his best to keep Sunggyu around. Sunggyu managed to get the goody two shoes up out of his chair with a beer in hand pushing him onto the couch.

“Okay, Woohyun sit there. Don’t move and watch. I will play you a song.” Sunggyu had his hands on Woohyun’s thighs leaning way to close. Woohyun could feel his breath on his lips and the smell of alcohol on his breath. “Myungsoo get your bass we are going to preform!”

“Jesus why are you such an attention ?” Myungsoo yelled from the kitchen, as he was left to clean up their mess. “Also, we have no drummer. That idiot never shows for practice…” he trailed off mumbling something over the sound of running water as he was doing the remainder of dishes.

As soon as Sunggyu walked across the room, Woohyun chugged his beer and waited for what would happen next. He thought about Sungyeol for a moment, and how he would fit in quite well with these people. He made friends so easily. He even played the drums. Everything was just so spontaneous, and Woohyun didn’t have to wait long. While Sunggyu was setting up he was startled when a small furry animal jumped into his lap.

“Oh, hello cat.” Woohyun pet the cat and it cuddled into his lap purring loud. He was happy with the added warmth. After the sun had set it became cold and Sunggyu’s apartment was drafty.

Suddenly Woohyun was pulled from his cozy kitty and brought back to the real world by the loud strum from an electric guitar.

“Hello, I am Kim Sunggyu and we are Queen Mab.” Sunggyu looked overly excited gripping his microphone stand looking very rock and roll with his guitar slung over his shoulder. He swiped the hair out of his face and nodded to Myungsoo.

“Hi… this is dumb.” Myungsoo shrugged and started to play without cue from the leader, who was now glaring at his dumb bass player.

“You are supposed to do an intro!” Sunggyu whined and stomped his feet throwing a mini temper tantrum.

Woohyun laughed at the charade. Myungsoo just rolled his eyes and continued to play. Soon enough Sunggyu got into it and caught up with Myungsoo. They played a song Woohyun had never heard before but the melody was beautiful. Everything was beautiful. It was as if every word of every song was written for him. Sunggyu’s voice was like velvet; he could definitely sing and knew how to move, everything. Woohyun was entranced. The nodding head, swaying hips and long pale fingers sliding over the frets, pushed him to the edge. Then it happened Sunggyu caught his gaze. The fire was there behind his eyes like glowing embers. If Woohyun looked too long or too deep he was sure his soul would be set ablaze. Without realizing his own actions, he was biting his lip and leaning forward in his seat, the tiny cat in his lap mewing at the shifting body. Sunggyu wasn’t any better sliding his tongue over his cherry lips grinning at the boy on the couch.

However, before it could go any further Myungsoo was resting his chin on Sunggyu’s shoulder too close for Woohyun’s comfort and the moment was lost. They were friends and roommates and who knows what else. Woohyun sat back again and just returned to the cat. He gave up for the time being.

Sunggyu looked at his roommate who just smiled and snuggled closer as they continued to play. They went onto the next song. Of course, Sunggyu making an announcement to the audience, consisting of only Woohyun, but he liked to do those kinds of things. Woohyun thought it was cute. The red head even had Woohyun with his hands in the air at one point; they were clapping to the beat. Woohyun watched as the bracelets on the red heads wrist jingled and fell together. There was not anything he didn’t like about Kim Sunggyu.

There was more beer and singing and laughing and weird roommate closeness that Woohyun was not fond of but what could he do. Mostly he just watched as the two continued to play and somewhere around Myungsoo falling over into the drum set dragging Sunggyu down with him and Sunggyu pretending to be Gene Simmons Woohyun passed out.

Sunggyu didn’t notice until it was too late. Woohyun was snoring with a cat sleeping on his chest. It just may have been the cutest thing he had ever seen.

“That cat hates everyone.” Myungsoo spoke as he opened a beer and handed it to Sunggyu. The crack of the fresh can echoed in the silent room.

“Except me,” Sunggyu took a sip and moved closer to the sleeping boy taking a seat on the edge of the couch. “And him.” He smiled and pet the sleeping cat. In that moment he really wanted to pet Woohyun too, just run his fingers through his chocolate brown hair.

“Ehem.” Myungsoo coughed, standing off to the side noticing Sunggyu’s deep gaze. “Why don’t you take a picture it will last longer?” He laughed at his own joke but Sunggyu was already fishing his phone out of his pocket. “Um, I was just kidding.”

“You just gave me a great idea. I can use this for revenge later if I need to.” Sunggyu focused his camera as best as he could on the sleeping boy, he was quite drunk. “Also he didn’t listen to all our songs, so technically he is already in trouble again.”

“You have such a strange obsession with this weird kid.”

“He’s older then you. Only I can call him kid.” Sunyggu snapped the picture and let out a small giggle.

“See… weird.”

“Shut up, Soo.”

They were interrupted by a phone ringing. It was coming from Woohyun. Myungsoo and Sunggyu both paused waiting for Woohyun to wake up and answer it or for it to stop ringing. Neither happened. Whoever was calling was not going to stop until someone answered.

“Just wake him up.” Myungsoo was about to wake up Woohyun but Sunggyu karate chopped his arm.

“Don’t touch him. He’s sleeping.” Sunggyu reached out towards Woohyun hesitating before he slipped his fingers into the front pocket of the sleeping Woohyun’s pants. Myungsoo just stared at him in shock. “Don’t look at me like that!” Sunggyu’s face was red. He answered the phone.

“Woohyun’s phone,” Sunggyu stared at Myungsoo like a deer caught in the head lights. What was he doing? Why did he just answer Woohyun’s phone? He shook his head at his own stupidity.

“Who is this?” The voice on the other end of the line spoke. It was a guy.

“Who is this?” Suddenly Sunggyu was defensive.

“Um, Dongwoo. Can I talk to my friend please?” The guy who was calling didn’t sound so bad.

“How do you know Woohyun?” Sunggyu slapped a hand over his own mouth. The words just came out. He couldn’t stop. Myungsoo face palmed and threw himself on the floor in second-hand embarrassment. He mouthed the words ‘You are a loser’ to Sunggyu who was currently dying on the couch.

“Why do you care? Can you just get him please?” This Dongwoo person was starting to sound a little irritated.

“Uh, yeah sure, hold on.” Sunggyu nudged Woohyun and shoved the phone at him.

Woohyun was a little confused because he had just been woken up from a nice nap, but he took the phone anyway. First he was scolded, then he explained everything to this Dongwoo guy. For some reason listening to Woohyun tell their story to someone else made Sunggyu feel embarrassed. He knew his cheeks must be red. He moved to the other end of the couch lifting up Woohyun’s legs to make room for himself. He sat down but kept Woohyun’s feet in his lap. His toes were cold even though he was wearing stupid polka dot socks. He just listened to the conversation and Woohyun’s sleepy voice. Before he knew it, he was playing with the kids toes. When he looked up Woohyun was just smiling that blinding smile. He sat up and pulled his legs in sitting cross-legged facing Sunggyu and handing him the phone.

Sunggyu was sad at the loss of contact and he pouted but there was a phone in his face. This Dongwoo person seemed to think it was necessary to thank him for ‘taking care of his best friend’ and tell him he was going to come pick him up as long as it wasn’t too late. Sunggyu secretly hoped that Woohyun would stay because he felt so much better when they were together. After that thought he felt insane because it most certainly was not possible to just feel instantly better around specific people. Right? It wasn’t possible for the sun to shine brighter or for the grass to look any more green…

Woohyun wanted to stay but everything was happening so fast and he needed to get out of there before something terrible happened. Maybe he was just pessimistic, but nothing lasts forever.

“I’m sorry I fell asleep.” Woohyun pulled the sleeping cat back into his lap.

“Don’t worry about it.” Sunggyu just looked down at his fingers. He didn’t know what to do with himself. He was so lost.

“Looks like Myungsoo is out.” Woohyun chuckled.

“Yeah he can sleep anywhere.” Sunggyu laughed with him. “I think he might be part cat.” They both just watched the dark haired guy curl up on the hard wood floor.

“Hey.” Woohyun paused for a moment, swallowing the lump in his throat. He was nervous. “Could you play another song? Maybe something acoustic… Ya know just so we don’t wake up Myungsoo.”

Sunggyu was caught off guard. He wanted to jump off the couch and run over to his case shouting ‘Yes of course’ but he didn’t. He just nodded maybe a little too excitedly and walked slowly to grab his acoustic guitar. He sat back down tuning it quickly in his lap.

“Any requests?”  He looked into those deep brown eyes. Woohyun didn’t look away, instead he just smiled again.

“Hmm, nope. Play something beautiful.” Woohyun leaned his head against the couch beaming at his red haired friend. He knew whatever Kim Sunggyu played would always sound like heaven in his ears, so absolutely anything would do.

“Okay then. This is something you inspired.” He strummed a few cords and stopped. “It’s not finished yet. I don’t know if it ever will be.” There was a sense of timelessness in his voice. As if this all would never end.

Woohyun was flattered that he had inspired the one and only Kim Sunggyu, he just figured it was only the other way around. He listened and swore he could hear the sound of the wind. He imagined the sun rising up over the mountains and the smell after a fresh rain. It was as if the whole world was blooming around him and Sunggyu had yet to sing a verse. When he finally did, Woohyun was done for. It was like that first night all over again. It was all too much he could feel his soul quake and his skin was on fire. He marveled at the man before him. So much beauty in such a sullen temple. His voice resonated with sadness and pain, but Woohyun felt every single word like a shot to the heart. The lyrics themselves were mellow and anything but depressing, but when Sunggyu’s angelic voice hit his ears it was like he could feel every moment that this pale battered beauty had ever lived through.

Woohyun wanted to know him inside and out, but the doorbell rang and it was over much too soon. They exchanged phone numbers and promised to see each other soon and with a heavy heart, Sunggyu closed his door locking up after Woohyun had left. He sat on the linoleum tile in front of the door with his head in his hands until the sun came up.

Neither of them slept that night.

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An: Helloooo. Kind of a filler chapter but yay hang out time!! Next chapter things get gooooood!! Thank you for reading and subscribing!!