a/n: warnings: swear words, light ual jokes and hyosung angst. also, sangmin and jieun, the cutest ppl in the world are mentioned in this chapter!!!!

(sangmin from cross gene)

and jieun from secret!!!

“Takuya, I can practically hear you thinking from here,” Sangmin says as he eyes Takuya from the corner of the practice room.

Takuya’s dancing to a watered down version of their next comeback song. The riffs and side melodies aren’t fully developed yet, but the bass line is enough to follow. He goes over move after move, but he can’t imagine the formation correctly, can’t remember the next steps well enough, simply because his mind is invaded with thoughts of something else.

They’re the only ones in the practice room. Takuya’s here because he needs practice, and Sangmin? Sangmin’s here just because, and as the main dancer of the group, he practically lives in the practice room. He has his own stash of snacks in the bottom cabinet, always has his dance remix CDs lying somewhere near the CD player, and Takuya suspects that fluffy cloth looking thing near the door is Sangmin’s sleeping bag.

“-just can’t get this right…” Takuya grunts incoherently, staring at his reflection in the mirror.

Sangmin gets up from the stool and joins Takuya, cross-legged in front of the mirror. “Hyosung problems?”

“Wow, you’re fast.”

“Yeah, you’re usually not this trashy at dancing,” he says, earning him a glare from Takuya, “Heard it from Pdoggie man. Kidoh spots you guys at his café, and everyone thinks you’re having some kind of affair. It’s like they totally forget you were friends with her from before.”

Sangmin’s the only one that knows about the whole I’m-scared-im-in-hyosung’s-friendzone ordeal. It’s embarrassing, really. If Shin-hyung gets word about this, he’ll probably tell Takuya upfront that “You’ve got no balls. Did they all disappear on The Lover?”

The thing that remains is that Sangmin knows things. He’s a erted ball of sunshine but he’s awfully observant. Maybe because they’re the same age, or maybe because Sangmin’s a good listener. He just knew from the start. (There was once the group met Seyoung-hyung’s girlfriend, and Sangmin could tell from the first meeting that she was cheating on him. It’s sort of spooky.)

But the fact remains that Sangmin knows, and he’s taunting Takuya with a knowing smile right now. “Maybe it’s time you, you know, man up.”

“But what if it screws up things between us? Life’s been good. So far. Without her knowing,” Takuya groans, rubbing the back of his head. Because in all honesty, he’s scared. He doesn’t want them to end up like the she’s gone through in the past. He’s scared that after confessing, everything would go downhill. He’s scared that she’d change her opinion and think of him as just another guy trying to have with her. Not that he’s repulsed by the idea, but he wants to be more than that.

And therein lies the problem. (He doesn’t know when he got so sappy, ugh) 

Finally, Sangmin speaks. “So like, this is your point of view. Ever wondered if it’s a shared one?”

“What?”

“I’m saying, that you might not be the only one struggling here, you know.”

Sangmin’s giving him a stupidly wide grin and patting his back. “It’s been what, months? You guys still dancing around like fragile little butterflies?”

“But what if she-” Takuya tries to justify his point but to no avail.

“Really, Takuya. I’ve seen you struggle like a prawn in a steam bath,”

“-whY am I a prawn-”

“-and it’s like, it feels kinda good right? Kind of comfortable where you are now, but you’re uneasy. You both are. You guys don’t know what’s going on anymore, all these feelings and stuff. ”

“Haha, very funny we’re just friends, Sangmin.”

“Really,” Sangmin peers at him through narrowed eyes, and Takuya knows that he can’t win. “The curiosity is clawing at you and you’re simmering in your own feelings, hyung. One day, you’re going to be cooked alive in this steam bath and you’re going to lose any opportunities to tell her how you feel.”

Sangmin’s using “hyung” even though they’re barely months apart in age, so Takuya guesses he’s being pretty serious. He doesn’t say anything, taking in the Steamed Prawn analogy and the uncanny sliver of truth in it. (Sangmin always uses food for analogies; never forget the time when he described the softness of Shin’s skin to premium marbled meat on national television.)

“You know, you can’t hold onto her like this forever, right. This is Jeon Hyosung we’re talking about. Everyone has called virtual dibs on her.”

Huh, reality is harsh.

“So, you gonna do something about it? Or are yo