Jaehwan grinned brightly, over the moon too see the amazing cosplay before him.

“They look awesome,” he heard someone beside him comment to a friend.

“Well,” the other laughed, “it’s VIXX. They always do awesome stuff.”

Ken had no idea what ‘VIXX meant, but he just had to get a picture with the group. After all they we dressed up as characters from his favorite manga; One Piece.

“Hey,” the one dressed up as Sanji said, smiling brightly, “you want a picture as well?”

“Yeah,” Jaehwan nodded, thankful that the cosplayer had said something first because he had no idea how to ask for a picture.

Even though he’d been to several conventions in the past, he’d never actually stopped to take pictures of the people in cosplay. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago when he’d been talking to his mother that he decided to take pictures. He’d mentioned some of the great cosplays he’d seen in past years and she said that she’d like to see pictures. Thus, Jaehwan decided to take as many pictures as he could so that he could show his mom.

And thus, here he was.

“Happy you like the cosplay,” said another member of the cosplay group, waving Jaehwan off once he’d gotten his picture and thanked them.

And that was the end of that.

Jaehwan saw the group around several times, but that was it. He didn’t approach them again and didn’t think anything of it until he was home and going through all the pictures.

“They really did look cool,” Jaehwan smiled slightly when he came across the group’s photo. He studied the image for several minutes before deciding that the guy dressed as Sanji was pretty handsome.

 

--

 

“No way,” Jaehwan muttered to himself upon noticing the group cosplaying Fullmetal Alchemist before him.

He recognized the face of the one dressed up as Edward right away. It wasn’t because he’d spent a lot of time looking at that photo of the guy dressed up as Sanji. No, the guy just had one of those faces, the kind you remembered.

Well, that was what Jaehwan kept telling himself as he made his way over to the group.

“Hi,” he smiled, hoping that he wasn’t blushing when ‘Edward’ turned to look at him.

“Hey,” ‘Edward smiled brightly, “you want a picture?”

“Yeah!” Jaehwan could hit himself for using such an excited tone. God, he sounded like such a little kid.

“So excited,” he heard one of the others giggle, “it’s cute.”

“We’ve got fans,” another nodded before the group fell into a pose so that Jaehwan could take a picture.

“I saw you last year, right?” Jaehwan said ‘Edward’ after taking the picture, eyes focused on his hand as he wondered if he was making a fool of himself, “you were dressed up as Sanji from One Piece, right?”

“Yeah,” ‘Edward’ smiled, “since you remembered that….I’m assuming that you’re a big One Piece fan.”

“Yeah,” Jaehwan nodded, “but you also looked really amazing. It’s hard not to remember that.”

“So we do have a fan,” ‘Alphonse’ spoke up, “that’s awesome. N hyung, don’t you have some of those business cards you printed up on you?”

“Here,” N, who was dressed up as Winry, nodded while handing over a small card.

“I’m Hyuk by the way,” ‘Edward said, taking the card from N and handing it to Jaehwan, “this is my big brother, Bin, and our friends, N, Leo, and Ravi.” Everyone exchanged greetings, but Jaehwan was mostly just interested in Hyuk. He felt kind of bad about that.

“There’s a link to our deviantart account on the card,” Bin said, pointing to the card Jaehwan was holding onto tightly, “we post a ton of pictures of us in different cosplay, so fell free to check it out.”

“I will,” Jaehwan nodded, “um. I’m Jaehwan by the way.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Jaehwan,” Hyuk smiled and Jaehwan felt his face heating up once more.

Unfortunately, Jaehwan couldn’t stick around any longer and left the group. Glancing back, he pouted when he realized he couldn’t get a good look at Hyuk through the crowd that had gathered around him and his friends. But at least he’d talked to him, right? And he could always go to this deviantart page Bin told him about.

“VIXX,” Jaehwan read the card before tucking is carefully into his wallet. He recalled the first time he’d seen Hyuk, recalled the girl who’d referred to the group as ‘VIXX.’ Guess he finally knew what ‘VIXX’ was. When he got home, he was going to make a deviantart account and start following them.

 

--

 

Jaehwan took a deep, calming breath before he started typing his message.

Hi. I’m Jaehwan. I don’t know if you remember me, but I talked to you a few days ago at a convention, Bin gave me your card. I just wanted to say that you guys are really awesome.

Jaehwan hit the send button before he could regret it but immediately wanted to take the message back. Whoever read it would probably think he was crazy or stupid or something. And telling them his name? As if that would make them remember him? VIXX went to a lot of conventions and talked to a lot of people, there was no way they would remember Jaehwan. He’d just made a huge fool of himself.

Or maybe not.

A few hours later, Jaehwan received a message.

Hey, Jaehwan. I remember you (we don’t give out many business cards haha). Thanks, happy you like everything! -- Hyuk.

Jaehwan might have had a fan boy moment at that.

And then he panicked the next, trying to think of what to say now.

I really like your Karma cosplay.

“Was that too lame?” Jaehwan wondered, “And I responded right away! God, he’s going to think I have no life.”

Happy you think so! I’m pretty darn proud of that one myself. – Hyuk

Jaehwan grinned brightly, picturing Hyuk’s smile as best he could. And then he felt foolish for crushing so hard on a guy he’d only seen and talked to twice.

“God dang it,” Jaehwan sighed, “I’m such a loser.”

 

--

 

Jaehwan stood out front of the convention center feeling beyond awkward. Half the people who passed him stopped for pictures and told him about how awesome he looked. That was pretty awesome, but it was also so awkward since Jaehwan wasn’t used to such a response.

“Hey.” Hyuk called, making his way over and Jaehwan fought the urge to blush.

Not only did Hyuk look good, but they were in matching cosplay. And didn’t people ship Eren and Mikasa together? Heck, that pair was pretty much cannon as far as he could tell.

“Hi,” Jaehwan grinned, trying to hide his nerviousness, “do I look ok?”

“You look hot,” Bin spoke up, “at least, that’s what Hyukkie said the second he saw you.”

“I think his exact words where “dude, I’d tap that,” N spoke up, clearly teasing Hyuk who moved to chop the elder’s neck.

“Um,” Jaehwan looked away, trying to hide his blush once more, “so, um, I’m not that into Attack on Titan. Who are you all dressed as?” Mental, he kept telling himself to focus on anything but the idea of Hyuk finding him attractive or -able.

“Well,” Ravi spoke up, throwing an arm around Hyuk’s shoulder so that the younger couldn’t attack N anymore like he wanted, “Hyuk’s Eren, but he already told you that when he suggested you dress up as Mikasa. I’m Reiner and Leo hyung is Jean. Bin decided to be Armin and N hyung finally decided on Levi. Personally, I think he’d be a better Hange but he wanted to be Levi.”

“I didn’t want to use hair extensions this year,” N pouted, “besides, I was a girl last year.”

“You wanted to Winry,” Leo spoke up, earning laughter from everyone.

“So,” Hyuk smiled, turning his attention back to Jaehwan, “you got a full weekend pass, right?”

“Yeah,” Jaehwan nodded, flashing his pass at the group.

“All you need now is a fake name,” N said, “like us.”

“Hyuk mentioned that,” Jaehwan nodded, “but I don’t understand why you all use fake names.”

“It’s a safety thing,” N explained, “my older brother used to cosplay with his friends and got some fans. One was a bit……”

“Crazy,” Ravi supplied.

“Crazy works,” N nodded, “anyway, since he used his real name, she managed to track him down. Nothing happened, but it freaked him out. We decided to go the fake name route. Just to be safe, ya know.”

“Ok,” Jaehwan nodded, “so……call me Ken?”

“Ken works,” Hyuk nodded and Jaehwan could hit himself for feeling proud of himself just because Hyuk liked his fake name.

“Oh!” Bin spoke up, “we know your real name, but you don’t know ours.”

“I’m Wonsik,” Ravi said, taking it upon himself to start the proper introductions.

“I’m Hongbin,” Bin grinned, “and this is Sanghyuk.” Jaehwan smiled at that, happy to finally know Hyuk’s real name.

“I’m Hakyeon,” N pointed to himself, “and Leo’s real name is Taekwoon.”

“Let’s get going,” Sanghyuk said, throwing an arm around Hongbin and the other around Jaehwan, “I want to get some stuff from the dealer room now while the crowds are small.”

Jaehwan nodded in agreement, more than willing to let Sanghyuk guide him wherever just so long as he didn’t pull away.

Oh god, he was pathetic, wasn’t he?

 

--

 

Jaehwan really wished that the convention wasn’t over yet, but it was and that meant he was going home. Well, actually he was going back to his college dorm, but whatever. What mattered was that he was going to be parting ways with Sanghyuk for another year.

“Cheer up,” Hakyeon laughed, throwing an arm around Jaehwan’s shoulders, “and just think, we’re in the same dorm! Who knew? We’ll get to see each other all the time.”

Jaehwan nodded, defiantly happy to know that Hakyeon and Taekwoon lived in the same dorm as him. Actually, he was a bit ashamed of himself for never noticing either around campus. They’d been going to the same school for a year already! Jaehwan really was an idiot, wasn’t he?

“Next year we’ll have Wonsik and Hongbin joining us,” Hakyeon added, smile growing, “and Sanghyukkie the year after that. Before you know it, we’ll all be reunited!”

“It will be like high school all over again,” Hongbin nodded, dumping his bag into the back of Wonsik’s car, “except this time we’ll have Jaehwan hyung with us.”

“Not that I’m not happy about this,” Wonsik called from the driver’s seat, “but I want to get going before the traffic gets bad.”

“Coming,” Hongbin called before giving Jaehwan a hug, “see ya next year, Jaehwan.”

“Later,” Sanghyuk said, throwing an arm around Jaehwan’s shoulders and pulling the older tightly against his chest.

Jaehwan blushed a dark red, somehow managing to get out his own good-bye. Watching Wonsik drive off with Sanghyuk in back and Hongbin riding shotgun was more than a little sad, but Hakyeon was quick to assure him that they’d all be together again before he knew it.

“Maybe next year you can ask Sanghyuk out,” Hakyeon teased and Jaehwan felt the urge to hide behind Taekwoon. It wouldn’t help though, so he just made a beeline for his car, calling over his shoulder that he didn’t like Hyuk.

“Yeah right,” he heard Taekwoon call back.

Before he could respond, the pair was in their own car and getting ready to pull out. Jaehwan had to rush to catch us with them since the plan was to follow them back to the dorm.

 

--

 

 “Sanghyukkie!” Hakyeon called, rushing to hug the youngest the second he entered the apartment he, Taekwoon, and Jaehwan shared, “you’re finally here! I missed you so much!” Jaehwan pouted, less then pleased that Hakyeon had pushed past him and greeted Sanghyuk first. He tried not to neck chop the other when Hakyeon shot him a knowing grin.

“Hey,” Sanghyuk laughed, pulling away from the oldest, “you saw me two weeks ago, hyung. Stop acting like it’s been years.”

Jaehwan hummed in agreement before moving to greet Sanghyuk himself. Honestly, he wanted to hug Sanghyuk for a lot longer, but it was like Sanghyuk had said; they saw each other two weeks ago. But then again, Sanghyuk had come to visit his brother, not Jaehwan, so it wasn’t like they’d spent all that much time together last time they got to hang out.

“Everyone else is here already,” Hongbin said, leading Sanghyuk to the empty spot beside himself, “so let’s get started.”

Jaehwan pouted slightly as Wonsik beat him to the empty spot on Sanghyuk’s other side, forcing him to sit down beside Taekwoon.

“Alright,” Hakyeon said after everyone was paying attention, “it’s time to decide what we’re going to cosplay this year. After that, we can have fun and enjoy the weekend together.”

“Maybe we can try game characters this year,” Hongbin spoke up, “you know, try something different.”

“What game are you thinking of?” Wonsik questioned, “I mean, there are a lot of games to pick from.”

“We could do Halo,” Sanghyuk suggested, earning a big ‘no’ from everyone else. Even Jaehwan had to say ‘no’ to that one and he had major problems saying that word to Sanghyuk.

“You are not dressing up as Master Chief,” Hakyeon sighed, “besides, this is an anime convention. Not a gaming convention. We have to pick a game that’s got a connection to anime.” Sanghyuk pouted.

“Didn’t they just put out a new SmashBros?” Taekwoon spoke up, “we could get some ideas from that.”

“That could work,” Hakyeon nodded after a moment, “and we can go as couples. Like, someone can dress up as Mario and someone else as Princess Peach while other people go as Link, Zelda, and…..I don’t know…..Palutena and Pit maybe?”

“Taekwoon hyung would be a good Link,” Sanghyuk suggested, “and I’ll take Pit.”

“I’ll be Mario then,” Wonsik volunteered, earning small groans from three who hadn’t spoken up it time to save themselves from dressing up as women.

“I call Zelda,” Hakyeon called a second later, quick to realize that he didn’t have to actually dress up as Zelda. He could just dress up as Shiek and it was cool since the two were one in the same.

“I’ll be Peach!” Hongbin said after thinking it over, “So that leaves Jaehwan with Palutena. That gonna be alright with you, hyung?”

“Yep,” Jaehwan smiled, more than a little caught up in the idea that his cosplay would match Sanghyuk.

“We can start working on them later,” Hakyeon said, “right now, let’s go have fun.”

“You sure you want to go as Palutena?” Sanghyuk asked as the group started to exit the apartment, pulling Jaehwan to the side, “if you don’t want to, I can try talking Hongbin hyung about switching.”

“Yeah,” Jaehwan nodded, wondering why Sanghyuk was making such an offer, “I’m sure. It will be fun.”

“Alright,” Sanghyuk nodded before heading over to get his shoes and heading out with the others.

Jaehwan followed close behind, trying to figure out why Sanghyuk had suggested changing cosplays with Hongbin.

 

--

 

He figured it out the following weekend when Hakyeon finally started making the group’s cosplay

“Does the slit have to be so high?” Jaehwan asked, trying his best to hold the white fabric together so he didn’t flash Hakyeon and Taekwoon.

“Yes,” Hakyeon nodded before moving across the room to examine Taekwoon’s outfit, “and stop messing with the fabric, you’ll mess up all my work.”

“Sorry,” Jaehwan muttered, glancing at himself in the mirror and blushing brightly.

“Where the heck is Hongbin?” Hakyeon growled, making his way back over to Jaehwan to finish up whatever else he wanted to get finished that day, “how is he the only other person who knows how to make cloths in our group?”

“Doesn’t Sanghyuk know so stuff?” Taekwoon mentioned, “and I’m not completely useless in this area. Jaehwan isn’t bad either.”

“You two can help with the finishing details,” Hakyeon sighed, “but at this stage? It’s just me, Jaehwan, and Hongbin who are useful. Too bad Jaehwan is the one who is being worked on.” He turned back to Ken and looked him over, “you can take it off now, just be careful.”

“Alright,” Ken nodded, moving quickly to his room to change.

Once in his normal cloths, Jaehwan realized that not only was he going to spend a whole convention walking around in the outfit, but Sanghyuk would see him like that too. He let out a groan of embarrassment, cursing himself for not taking the youngest up on his offer.

 

--

 

Jaehwan glanced over at Sanghyuk and smiled slightly, admiring how attractive the other looked. The Pit cosplay defiantly did him a lot of favors, like showing off his arms and shoulders. Jaehwan kind of wished that the younger had worn a wig instead of dying his hair, but that was because he missed Sanghyuk soft, fluffy blond hair.

“Don’t look so embarrassed, hyung,” Sanghyuk spoke up, trying to make sure his own outfit looked and fit right, “you look cute.”

“R-Really?” Jaehwan asked, blushing slightly as Sanghyuk came over and brushed some of his hair out of his face.

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk grinned, “I mean, you always look cute, but you look especially cute now.”

Jaehwan didn’t respond with words, he just stood there blushing. Sanghyuk stood there, just smiling at him and showing not even a hint of planning to move any time soon. Jaehwan wanted to kiss Sanghyuk right then and there so badly, but the younger was called away by Hakyeon to help with the elder’s wig.

 

--

 

“You sure you don’t want to come?” Hakyeon asked, “You can still change your mind.”

“I’m sure,” Jaehwan smiled, moving to sit on the bed beside Sanghyuk while the younger searched his laptop for a movie they could watch.

“Alright,” Hakyeon nodded, “we’ll try to be back before midnight. Have fun. And if you do change your mind, Jaehwan, you know where the party room is, right?” Jaehwan nodded and Hakyeon left to catch up with the others.

“You don’t have to stick around,” Sanghyuk suddenly spoke up, “I’m fine by myself.”

“I know,” Jaehwan smiled, leaning against Sanghyuk once the younger found the movie he was looking for, “I want to stick around.”

“Ok,” Sanghyuk nodded, hitting play so that the movie could start, “you don’t mind scary movies, right hyung?”

Jaehwan wasn’t all that cool with horror movies, but he told Sanghyuk that it was alright. He ended up regretting it soon into the movie. The movie that the other had picked was defiantly a scary one and Jaehwan was soon hiding his face behind him hands and trying to hide his whimpers.

Sanghyuk made him feel better, though.

The younger pulled Jaehwan into his arms and held him tightly, letting Jaehwan hide his face in his chest when things got scary. Sanghyuk would also assure Jaehwan through the movie that it wasn’t real, that it was just a movie, and that the elder shouldn’t worry.

“Hey,” Sanghyuk smiled when the movie finished, “you made it through the whole thing.”

“Yeah,” Jaehwan breathed a small sigh of relief that the movie was over, leaning back against Sanghyuk’s chest and enjoying the warmth.

“You deserve a reward for that,” Sanghyuk said before leaning down to kiss Jaehwan on the lips, pulling back before Jaehwan could even process what had happened.

Jaehwan paused for a moment before a shy smile appeared on his face. Sanghyuk returned his smile before pulling Jaehwan in for another kiss.

“I really like you,” Sanghyuk said when he finally pulled back, “have for a while.”

“I like you too,” Jaehwan grinned, turning around to wrap his arms around Sanghyuk, “ever since I first saw you, I’ve had a crush on you. And once I got to know you…….it’s not a crush anymore.”

Sanghyuk pressed another kiss to Jaehwan’s lips before leaning back. The pair fell asleep in each other’s arms, soft smiles on both their faces.

The next day, Sanghyuk asked Jaehwan on a date and the older of the two agreed without a second thought.

A/N: I’m pretty gosh darn happy with this. I liked the short version (here) but this long version…..I think it adds to the story.