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sunggyu is not, in fact, in love with woohyun.
woohyun discovers this inconvenient apparent-truth one night while they’re watching some shitty drama together in their room. they’ve been secretly binge-watching it together for a few days now and the main leads finally confessed and it’s kind of making him feel lonely and jealous. (if he had to categorize the feeling.)
“do they ever stop bickering? it's so bad, they kind of remind me of us,” he muses aloud.
“hm? she’s much prettier than you, don’t flatter yourself,” sunggyu jokes, still watching the screen.
woohyun scoffs. "no, she's not. why would I be her, anyway?"
"the personalities fit better, duh. although I'm not in love with you," sunggyu adds.
woohyun scrambles forward to slam his hand down on the space bar, pausing the episode. "excuse me?" he doesn't mean to sound so affronted but he kind of... is...
a flash of irritation crosses sunggyu's face as he turns toward the other. "what? did you think I was?"
woohyun just stares at him.
sunggyu's mouth goes slack. "wait, you did?"
"I don't..."
"that's..." sunggyu shakes his head like he's clearing it. "god, woohyun, it's possible to love somebody but not be in love with them."
"but I thought... okay, what the fuck, hyung."
and sunggyu asks him why he's so offended by the idea and he doesn't know how to respond to that kind of question, even just to himself.
"maybe your ego is getting a little big these days?" sunggyu suggests softly.
"haha... probably." woohyun shrugs, seemingly shaking it off. he hits play and sits back again. he notices, out of the corner of his eye, sunggyu still looking at him with a furrowed brow, but he doesn't say anything more about it.
they finish the episode and woohyun gets up from the bed, stretching before announcing, "well, I'm gonna go get ready for bed."
sunggyu complains, insisting they should just finish the drama now because there's only two episodes left and they don't have schedule tomorrow.
"stop encouraging my bad habits," woohyun says. "it's late."
"but no schedule." he practically pouts.
"I need my beauty seep." woohyun smiles down at him and he actually gets one in return.
"you sure do," sunggyu laughs.
"so mean," woohyun says, grabbing a change of clothes and going to the door.
"you said it first."
"don't agree with me!" woohyun looks back at him one more time before leaving and they’re both still smiling.
see, even after being inconvenienced by him and ruining his plans, sunggyu still can't help but smile at him like that. how dare he be so willfully untruthful and/or ignorant and say that's not love, honestly... it's the blatant lie that makes him so surprised, really. that's definitely what his reaction is all about.
he texts kibum as soon as he closes the door. it's customary to tell the other whenever he's having a crisis (which is often. kibum has his fair share, too; he's just... better at solving problems than woohyun is.)
woohyun
can't believe sunggyu hyung just said he isn't even in love with me
smh
doesn't this go against the natural order of the universe
#unexpected
kibum
bruh
woohyun
ikr
kibum
no like
ive been meaning to bring this up....
woohyun
okay?
kibum
HOW COULD YOU GO AND FALL IN LOVE WITH ONE OF YOUR MEMBERS, YOU IDIOT
woohyun
did you even read what i said
kibum
AND
AND THE LEADER, AT THAT
woohyun
no he's the one in love with me
not the other way around??
how is this ur reaction
kibum
WOW YOU REALLY
DONT GET IT
woohyun
okay i'm feeling very delicate right now, thank you v much
some support or whatever might be nice
kibum
DUDE
ok look
we can fix this
all you need to do is change your identity
move to india so you won't be able to speak to anyone
(that part is very important)
and raise farm animals in the mountains for survival
woohyun
wow ur so funny >_>
actually my plan was to make him realize the errors of his ways
since he's the one in love with me
not the other way around
but india can be a backup plan lol
kibum
bruh
woohyun
brb shower
he wasn't necessarily planning on taking a shower, but he needs the extra time. he uses it to flip out and convinces himself he just wants the world to proceed as he thought it always had. that's it, it just makes sense if sunggyu's in love with him like he thought this entire time. like he expected.
relied on?
strong words, he admonishes himself. he promptly gets soap in his eyes for the first time since he was a little kid. so much for things running smoothly.
after he's done (he doesn't actually spend more than three minutes thinking, it turns out. the remaining twelve or so are spent zoned out, and he finishes the shower on auto pilot), he towels himself off and checks his phone.
kibum
wow(great timing)wh
im just trying to imagine how thatll go
its july so maybe you can do a christmas in july thing
get out the ol mistletoe
"oh sunggyu hyung how did this get here"
what the fuck dude, thats an awful idea
or how about a plane in the sky with a banner
"i want 2 suck u off"
youve confessed in worse ways
dont think i dont know
(at least his reaction would be funny)
wait you should pose as the pizza man
(kibum is typing...)
woohyun
how much porn have you been studying
kibum
enough to need a massage for the bags under my eyes
lol
woohyun
heehee
kibum
i know its been a long time since then but
i just want you to know that
you two had a lot of sexual tension in that
woohyun
shush
kibum
shush because you know or because you dont want to admit it?
[eye emoji]
woohyun
like
both?
i'm tired good night kibummie
lmk if you have any actually useful ideas lol
and have fun in japan
without me
[crying emoji] x11
kibum
you text me so much, its like youre here
hardly have time to miss you haha
[blowing kiss emoji]
woohyun
why don't girls say these things to me
kibum
or sunggyu.......................
its because youre an idiot
night, idiot
dont do anything i wouldnt lol
woohyun
you know you love me
you dick
list of reasons why woohyun knows sunggyu is secretly in love with him:
1.
he's said so, for god's sake.
("hyung do you love me?"
"yes I love you")
ok it's not a confession but how many times can someone hear I love you without...
the next day, he probably pisses kibum (and sunggyu) off but once he spits it out, he can't take it back, which is too bad, because what he says is:
"what are we?"
of all the fucking things to say...
sunggyu looks up at him with his spoon hovering between the bowl and his mouth. "best friends?"
"well... I already have a best friend?" woohyun looks down shyly.
"last night we stayed up super late and watched dramas in my bed, what do you call that?"
"couples do that too," woohyun mumbles. he'd like to think that comment made the other blush. I mean, he can hope, right. "that sounds more like couples than friends."
"couples do other stuff, too." and there's the stutter. nice! "like... hold hands."
"you hold my hand all the time."
"and they... kiss?"
woohyun grins. "we've literally kissed, though. or did you forget?"
"we didn't do it on purpose, though." sunggyu sounds almost frustrated.
"oh, so you didn't want to kiss me. I see how it is," he teases.
sunggyu picks up his bowl. as he's walking away, he informs woohyun that he's "being very confusing right now, so bye."
woohyun waves and says, "goodbye, dear."
it's not his imagination this time that sunggyu's face is red. "don't call me that," he snaps.
2.
he was using his lying voice when he said "don't call me that," and yes he does know what that sounds like, of course he would, and he was using his lying voice when he said "I'm not in love with you."
"not that I actually care, but what's up with you lately? you're like, extra pouty," sungyeol asks flippantly later in the day.
"nobody loves me," woohyun whines. "which is obvious, so thank you for that."
"oh, is that all."
woohyun ignores his sass. "I have a very imporant question," he says, suddenly focused.
"no," sungyeol says without listening.
"it's literally important. listen to your elders."
sungyeol gives him a fake sneer.
"do you think sunggyu hyung is in love with me?"
that actually surprises him. "what the fuck?"
"it's a real question," woohyun defends.
"look..." sungyeol sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "kind of? I mean, he kind of is. why are you asking me?" he taps his chin. "well, I guess I am the most qualified option to help you get together, since I'm so smart and all." he shrugs. "you definitely have a chance, is my official stand on the matter."
"oh, no, I don't want us to get together. I just want him to admit he's in love with me."
"wait..." sungyeol squints at him. "you want to lead him on but not take responsibility for it?" he looks bewildered. "is that what I'm hearing?"
woohyun cocks his head to the side, pondering, and nods. "yeah, it just makes sense."
sungyeol's face goes pink, and not from embarrassment. "people aren't playthings!" he bursts out. "they're not dolls, you fucking idiot." he stomps away, muttering to himself about wanting to stick pins into woohyun.
woohyun stares at the spot sungyeol had previously been occupying for a few minutes, thinking about what just happened, before whipping out his phone and texting kibum (again.)
woohyun
if i die, you can have my apink collection
if i die mysteriously, blame sungyeol
(also if you die, i want your f(x) stuff)
kibum
what did you do this time..?
[cat sighing sticker]
woohyun
idk for sure but nobody ever told me sungyeol can use voodoo dolls
kibum
i know i keep saying this but
wow ur kinda dumb
woohyun
i hear that way too much to be useful
will you let it gooooo
and help meeeee
[crying emoji]
kibum
you hear it so much bc its true
woohyun
ok i'm only forgiving you because youre my bff [sparkles emoji] and the only ally i have left in this cruel world
kibum
*bc ur right, almighty key
delivering the cold hard truth is my job
woohyun
you need a new job
3.
kibum
ur not wrong tho
woohyun
YES I FINALLY GET TO BE RIGHT
abotu what tho? :o
*about
kibum
i always kinda thought he had a thing for you, too
"hey, myungsoo. what are you up to?" woohyun only asks because he's still wounded from the conversation with sungyeol, and myungsoo appears to be sewing a doll, what the fuck-
"playing?"
the doll is only about half finished, so he could give him the benefit of the doubt, but myungsoo looks him in the eye and purposefully jabs the sewing needle into the doll's flesh, and woohyun involuntarily flinches.
"wanna hear something funny?" he looks uncharacteristically cold. those who actually know him are used to his hugs and warm looks...
"s...ure," woohyun says, against his better judgement. note to self, stop messing with maknae line.
"sungyeol told me you're trying to tear the group apart," myungsoo says nonchalantly. "with fake fraternization."
"okay, he's very dramatic. you know this," woohyun says. "it's not even like that."
"really?" myungsoo looks confused and his hands still. "because he said you wanted to hurt sunggyu hyung, and I just..."
"I can see where he got that from, but it's simply not true."
"okay?" myungsoo keeps sewing.
"it's... I'm just working out all the kinks. you know."
"you have a kink for hurting people?" this time the doll just falls out of myungsoo's hands. it lands pitifully on its face.
"I don't," woohyun splutters. "where did you get that from?"
"you're the one who said it," myungsoo splutters back. "I can't believe you'd take advantage of him like that."
"I'm not saying I'm actually into bdsm, but it's about consensual-"
"no, of his feelings." myungsoo picks the doll back up and keeps working on it faster than before. "sungyeol was right; you are being a dick."
"why is everyone against me," woohyun wonders, walking away.
4.
even myungsoo thinks so.
woohyun smartly decides to greet sunggyu with, "so you know how all the fans kind of low-key think we're banging?" the next time he sees him.
sunggyu rolls his eyes. "because of the fanservice, which we're essentially paid to do."
"we've both read fics. there's more to it than that," woohyun insists.
"maybe I'm just a really good actor." sunggyu sounds disinterested. "and maybe, in reality, I exclusively like girls. have you ever thought about that."
woohyun looks at him blankly, not sure what to say.
"probably both of those, if I had to make a guess," sunggyu adds.
"wow, you're full of shit."
"you're full of shit."
5.
he just... looks like he loves him
he looks at him like he's a bit too in love with him
he doesn't even have to say it, woohyun just feels it from the way he sees sunggyu looking back at him
he never had any reason to doubt it before
(he knows him, why is he bothering to hide this? it's not like he's going to be mad.)
dongwoo gets back early that afternoon from visiting his family.
"woohyun! hello!" he yells, lugging his bag back to his room.
"hi to you too," woohyun laghs.
sungyeol appears and zooms into dongwoo's room right after him, slamming the door shut. woohyun goes back to his phone game. he's been absorbed into it for at least ten minutes when he hears someone trying to talk to him.
"um, so..."
he looks up; it's dongwoo.
"how was your visit?"
"good! my mom-" dongwoo's eyes light up, but then he stops. "wait, I'm supposed to be mad at you. sungyeol told me what you were up to."
woohyun groans, mentally cursing sungyeol. sungyeol will probably do worse than that once myungsoo finishes that doll, he doesn't let himself forget.
"it wouldn't be that bad if you weren't being weird about it," dongwoo rationalizes. "like, I always kind of suspected? not always - mostly only after you guys started actually getting along - but in hindsight it was kind of always there."
"what are you talking about?"
"you and hyung." he rubs his arm awkwardly. "there's something about you that's different than with the rest of us. you know? he talks to you differently."
"yeah," woohyun agrees slowly.
"and it's not a bad thing! it's kind of weird but whatever works for you, right?"
"yes?"
"so you get why I'm mad at you??"
"nope."
dongwoo looks alarmed. "no?"
"sungyeol really has it out for me today and I have no idea what I did. he's the one who assumed everything."
"woohyun... listen. it's not just one-sided from him." dongwoo's jaw is set tersely.
"sounds fake. can we change the subject now? what were you gonna tell me about your mom?"
dongwoo sighs.
6.
and he always listens
(or pretends)
(and sometimes he pretends he wasn't but actually he was)
to woohyun go on and on and yeah, sometimes his eyes glaze over, because he sure does know how to talk, especially when he doesn't really have anything to say, but he still wants woohyun to think he was paying attention and even his mom doesn't try to do that all the time.
(and sometimes he forgets things woohyun says but he's really trying)
come on.
woohyun decides to take matters into his own hands and talk to howon and sungjong before sungyeol can get his claws into their minds and corrupt them, therefore turning everyone against him in his delicate time of need.
"you're being dramatic," howon says bluntly, flipping a page in his magazine.
"kind of, yeah," sungjong agrees.
"not really," woohyun grumbles in a weak protest.
"I'm not your therapist," howon says.
"oh, sorry, I mistook you for one." woohyun rolls his eyes. "I just wanted to tell you what happened before sungyeol remembers he hasn't told you to hate my guts forever."
"but what did you even do?" sungjong prods
"nothing, and apparently this is a crime now."
"my sunggyu-senses are tingling," howon says vaguely.
"he's on the other side of the house. your sunggyu-senses are shit."
"I mean nobody else gets you riled up like this." howon crosses his arms. "normally you wouldn't go through all this effort. and honestly, I don't even want to be part of this. I kind of mostly just want a nap."
woohyun and sungjong agree with that part, at least.
"so if you really don't care, just don't listen to anything that traitor sungyeol has to say," woohyun tries again. "just ignore him! or tell him to shut his big mouth and mind his own business."
"did he threaten you?" sungjong asks dryly.
"no," woohyun insists.
sungjong raises an eyebrow.
"myungsoo still has to finish sewing that doll of me."
7.
they're practically together anyway; they've been something like that for years, haven't they?
woohyun gets himself into another predicament the next morning.
everyone's in a bigger hurry than normal, finally having things to do after a short break, and he really has to pee so he knocks on the bathroom door - why does their cursed fucking house only have one bathroom, this should be illegal - and sunggyu tells him "just a minute" but he goes in anyway because it's just sunggyu.
he gets an exasperated look, which he ignores.
in general, they both agree that sharing the bathroom is a bad, hated idea but aside from that look, sunggyu actually allows him to stay.
once he’s done, he goes to the sink to wash up and when he’s fixing his hair, sunggyu kind of shoves him away so he doesn’t get foam on him when he spits out his toothpaste. when he’s wiping his mouth with a towel, woohyun turns to him and goes, “hey, gyu hyung, how do I look?” he frames his own face with his hands in a v-shape.
and sunggyu just smiles at him real softly. fondly – probably still not awake. probably he’s just tired. but woohyun’s breath still fucking hitches, though he pretends it didn’t and says, “I know I’m perfect” and sunggyu elbows him, laughing, and leaves the bathroom.
8.
nobody else gets to tell sunggyu he's being annoying. nobody else gets away with telling him he needs to chill out, that he's going too far, that he should shut up before he says anything worse.
woohyun's practically the only person he listens to, at times like that.
how could anybody not notice.
woohyun
so
i'm starting to think you might be right
and i got it wrong
kibum
i usually am [crying laughing emoji]
about what?
woohyun
:p
you're so weird
kibum
well, you gonna tell me what im right about or not
woohyun
thought we all knew the fact that you're right about everything
why do you need me to tell you
you don't know already
kibum
its called A Joke, nam woohyun
are you alright?
woohyun
probably?
or i would be if
like
kibum
oh this is about your sunggyu crisis
did you figure it out
woohyun
yeah
(about me MAYBE liking him right?)
kibum
lol duh
woohyun
I'M SENSITIVE RIGHT NOW
kibum
itll be ok woohyunie
he likes you too
dont worry about a THING
just send him roses
maybe then he will see what a catch you are
woohyun
on second thought
go back to being sarcastic
kibum
lmao
9.
why is this a question?
isn't it just how the world works?
...
his day is going Great, because as soon as he goes out into the living room after waking up one day the next week, he sees myungsoo, sungjong, and sungyeol all sitting together in front of the couch.
and they give him identical unwelcoming looks when they hear him. the doll sits in the middle of the circle of their crossed legs.
"fine!" he throws his hands in the air. "I understand what happened. I'll fix it, you demons."
"good," sungjong says sweetly. he picks up the doll and starts making it walk around on the floor.
"thought you promised not to hate me." woohyun frowns. the doll is really... starting to freak him out.
"I did no such thing. none of us did, really. not even howon hyung."
"you... suck." it lands flatly. even woohyun is ashamed.
"don't you have something to be doing right now?" sungyeol interrupts. myungsoo compiments the statement quite nicely by pointing to the door to woohyun and sunggyu's room.
"right." woohyun remembers his resolution to not mess with maknae line and wishes it had been as easy to do as it had been to say. "I'm just gonna..." he motions back toward the door.
they all nod. sungjong makes the doll wave at its namesake.
he escapes back into his room, leaning on the door and relishing in his relief for an entire second before his eyes trail over to sunggyu's shape on his bed. he's wound up neatly in his blanket with just his messy hair sticking out and woohyun maybe, possibly acknowledges the sudden surge of affection rushing through him.
it's not too bad, he decides. no, not bad at all.
he gets into bed next to sunggyu, who stirs a little from the movement.
he cracks an eye open and sees woohyun waiting. "ugh," he manages to say.
"take your time." woohyun smiles into his hand.
sunggyu rolls over, dislodging the blanket. "is this another one of your talks? you need to stop springing these on me." his voice is full of sleep, but begins to sound clearer by the end.
"I just have a question this time!"
"yeah, right."
"I mean it this time."
"you just had a question each time you started shit," sunggyu whines.
"how do you always know when I'm going to start something?"
"because I do." sunggyu sighs deeply, in the way someone only does when they're waking up. "what is it, then."
"do you love me?" that's not... strictly the order he had intended to say that in, but he's already said it.
sunggyu waits a few seconds, likely thinking, before responding. "you know," he says slowly, "I remember having this conversation before."
"it's just a question..."
"look, I'm not going to say I don't. but I'm still not in love with you."
"okay, but imagine if you were."
sunggyu slowly sits up, pulling the blanket with him so it sits on his shoulders. "you don't let anything go. just a question, huh?" his voice is slightly strained.
"but, like." woohyun sits up as well. "can you imagine if you were."
"okay..." he rubs his eyes. "I'm imagining it, I guess. what about it?"
"aha! so you can imagine it!"
"I'm just humoring you... what do you want?"
"totally not related to this, hyung, but..." he trails off.
"woohyun..."
"what if I was in love with you."
"hypothetically?" sunggyu looks like he's unsure of what to make of the whole situation. then again, is there a reason someone should expect him to?
"yes?" woohyun also sounds unsure.
"um... then, in that hypothetical world, it would be weird if... like, what you said before wasn't true, too."
woohyun quickly maneuvers his legs to fit underneath him, which bounces the bed somewhat, and he makes another sound of triumph. "so you are in love with me."
sunggyu looks taken aback. "w-well... what about you then, huh?"
"fuck off," woohyun shoots back. "obviously I am."
"okay." sunggyu crosses his arms. "then. good."
woohyun lays back down and pats the space beside him, beckoning the other to follow him this time. "see, that wasn't so hard. what have I been saying all along? the truth. ha."
"not all along," sunggyu corrects. he pulls the blanket tighter around him, hiding in it.
"you're cute."
10.
and...
he knows because he told him. for real, this time, despite it being mostly directed into his pillow.
