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Woojin and Jihoon met at the dance club during their junior year in middle school. They hung out a lot since then and participated in a lot of activities and performances in and out of the school til senior year.
College wasn’t any different, despite attending different universities, they still hung out at each other’s places. At times they go out together either to eat out, watch movies, play in the arcade, or even travel to places.
A lot of people who’ve seen them would say they complement and suit each other just as how the tan skin of the younger complements well with the older’s milk skin. Or how Woojin wears monochromatic clothes while Jihoon wears colorful ones. Heck, they sometimes get mistaken as a couple because they’re close just as twin flames would be. However, they’ve never really seen nor considered their relationship in any way more than what’s considered as platonic.
Though admittingly, they have both acknowledged the other is attractive - from looks, to talent, to a personality that charms the people around them, which makes them easily loveable.
Both of them, especially Jihoon have been snatching hearts here and there - be it boys or girls. This is why it doesn’t come to a surprise to him when he finds out Jihoon is already dating someone.
When he finds out for the first time however, Woojin doesn’t know why for some odd reason, the older doesn’t really initiate to talk about his relationships to him. He waited for months since he noticed, but much to his disappointment, Jihoon never introduced the man to him. And so he thought maybe he isn’t really the open type and just tried to respect that.
And so whenever the older rejects his offer to hangout, he never asked about it and just assumes that Jihoon would be meeting with his lover so he couldn’t come. He also focuses most of the time on their relationship as friends and his academics.
He didn’t cared, really. Or at least, he tried not to.
But somehow when Woojin finds himself in the strangest situation and involvement to the other and his relationships, one (to many) night(s) he receives a drunk call from the other and finds him wasted in the bar and reeking from alcohol, he decides otherwise.
The first time it happened, Woojin was on a blind date. He was in a dog-themed restaurant with a lovely lady introduced to him by his friend, Daehwi. Everything was going well until dinner when his phone started ringing.
“Excuse me for a moment” Woojin says to his date before stepping outside to answer the call.
“Ya- you...” the voice on the line says in a laughter.
“Ji? What’s up?” he answers.
“Why did you do that? Why did you sleep with her?” jihoon asks.
“What are you talking about? Dude, sorry I’m in the middle of-” the other responds but was suddenly cut by jihoon.
“Am I not enough for you?” the older says, voice changing from laughter to sobbing.
“Hello? Ji? Wait, are you crying?” woojin asks voice slightly raising but being constrained so as not to get the attention.
“Park Jihoon, where are you?” the younger adds when he just hears more sobbing.
It took a good 10 seconds before Jihoon responds with an “ugh… club…?”
“Okay, which club?” woojin asks in a serious tone.
“...ugh i don’t know i see… sparkly lights… uh, no, crystals… maybe I’m in the mine?” the other replies chuckling again.
“Okay… I’ll be there. Stay put, okay?” woojin responds before dropping the call.
The truth is the younger has never been into many nightclubs before. So he never really know which club Jihoon was in. He recalls a couple ones he went to with Daehwi when he needs someone to accompany him. Figures. He could ask Daehwi.
“Hello hyung? how was your date?” Daehwi answers quite enthusiastically which died down when he sees the other’s response.
“Daehwi I need you to help me find a certain club for me”
“Hyung, are you gonna bring your date to a club? Cause I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Ughhh no, long story, I just need you to find the club with crystals that light up or something.”
“Oh I know that! that one’s in Itaewon! I’ll text you the address”
“Okay, thanks!”
Then Woojin goes back to the table and was greeted by his date with a smile. He too, smiles at her, only it was apologetically.
“Sorry I need to go. It was nice meeting you… really” he leaves the girl with those words.
When he sees a taxi at the front of the restaurant, he hails it and directs it to the address Daehwi had sent him.
When he got off the cab, he was greeted by a few ladies about to head inside the said club. He follows them in, still quite unprepared for the loud thumping of the music and the smell of smoke that often fills those kind of places.
He stood at the side and tried to scan the crowd. First he looks at the people on the dancefloor that were grinding at each other’s bodies. When he doesn’t see Jihoon, he decides to check the couches.
Woojin was checking each table carefully. Then he notices a man in a suit dragging another man that looks a lot like his best friend. Just like a reflex, he went closer to the said men to check. And true to his gut-feel, it really was Jihoon, all drunk that he’s unable to keep his balance.
Woojin holds the man’s wrist signalling him to stop and says “Let go of him”, while supporting Jihoon by the shoulder to keep him steady.
“No, you move. Stop butting in to someone else’s business if you don’t want to get hurt” the man responds.
“Too bad, his business is my business. And you’ll have to go home with one of your limbs broken if you fight me tonight” Woojin challenges bravely.
The man lets out a snort before throwing a punch at Woojin’s direction. Woojin dodged the attack and managed to kick the man on his right leg which had him drop on the floor, hissing in pain.
Woojin, on the other hand, embraces Jihoon to make it easier for him to carry the other outside. He tries to find a taxi that they could ride on the way home, but the streets were unfortunately empty.
So the younger resorts to giving the other a piggyback ride. Jihoon lives quite farther from Itaewon than Woojin and it would definitely be hard to bring him back home so he heads to his apartment instead.
He settles Jihoon down his bed, removed his shoes and socks, and unbuttoned the older’s top. Then a hand suddenly grasps his arm and pulls him in. The older presses his lips on the other, leaving the latter in surprise.
Woojin just stared at the other still dumbfounded before getting back up. ‘He’s just drunk, it isn’t a big deal’ Woojin thought to himself after they break away from the kiss.
“Don’t leave… please stay, don’t leave me” Jihoon says beggingly when Woojin was about to head out of the room.
The younger just responds with an “Okay, I won’t leave.” and sits into the floor at side of the bed, patting the other’s hand until he himself falls asleep.
The day after the incident, Jihoon had only apologised for making the younger pick up his drunk ass. He also explained to the other why he was out in the club that night. It turns out Jihoon got cheated on by his boyfriend for a girl known for sleeping with random boys from their university.
After finishing his story, the older male had asked about what happened to him that evening because everything was all a blur. He says he wanted to apologize if there’s anything he made hard for Woojin to handle that night. The younger, however, thinks that it’s the last thing he should be bringing up since Jihoon is currently in an emotionally unstable state, and he didn’t know how to break to the older that he drunk-kissed his best friend.
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Months after the incident, Woojin observed Jihoon had been seeing another guy. Again, the older didn’t introduce him to the said guy - and what else would he have done than leave Jihoon be.
However, another drunk call on the night when he’s sitting at the table in the farthest corner of the library, typing his life away in the dead of the night because his thesis paper is due tomorrow. He was just about to finish it, but when he sees the caller ID flashed on the phone vibrating next to him he, like a reflex, immediately picks it up.
“Ch-cheater! Don’t show your face before me or you’re dead.” Jihoon says as the line has been picked up by the other.
With the loud music blasting at the background, Woojin already had everything figured out. He knew it’d be his best friend calling him, definitely in need of saving. So he mentally prepared himself for another long night.
Woojin sighs before answering, “I’m sorry Ji, it’s Woojin you called. Can you hand over the phone to the bartender?”
“Woojin? Stop fucking pretend you’re my best friend, he doesn’t even know you. You bastard.”
The younger figured he couldn’t argue with a drunk Jihoon. So he just replies with a “Let’s talk. Hand over the phone to the bartender, I need to know where you are so I could pick you up”
Woojin didn’t expect it would work, but he’s thankful when a sober man has answered on the other line with a “Yes,sir?”
“I’m sorry about my friend. I’ll go get him. Can you tell me the address of your bar?”
Woojin quickly reaches for a pen and paper when the bartender had started dictating an address. He quickly packs his things as soon the call ends and rushes to where the drunk Jihoon is.
Gladly, this time, he finds Jihoon seated at the bar, his head resting on one arm above the counter while his other hand circles above the glass filled with alcohol. He also looks like he’s almost about to lose strength on his other arm, so Woojin quickly picks him up from his seat, holding his two arms up and says, “C’mon Ji. Woojinie’s here. Let’s go home”.
But instead of answering, Jihoon momentarily stares into Woojin’s eyes for a few seconds, then suddenly pulls the younger by the collar, and presses his lips against his best friend’s plump lips.
Woojin just froze to his feet. The world was suddenly quiet, he couldn’t hear anything, not even the loud ear-pumping music of the club, besides the rising and dropping of their breaths. Everything just blanked out and his mind was about to wander off when he felt a tug on his lip. Woojin swears he could feel his heart beat erratically from his chest because of it. But instead of giving in, the younger pushes away the other gently.
Woojin just observes Jihoon and notices a tear forming in his eyes. He was about to wipe it away, but the older moves to snuggle up in the younger’s arms before losing consciousness.
The younger isn’t sure if he’s just unlucky, but this time too, he couldn’t find a single taxi to ride on, going home. He doesn’t consider taking the bus too, because if his best friend throws up, they’d be in bigger trouble. So he settles to carrying Jihoon on his back, just like the last time.
This time, however, Woojin brings Jihoon home to the older’s apartment. He settles the drunk boy onto the bed, discarding some of his clothing to help him sleep comfortably.
As soon as he had Jihoon dealt with, he steps out into the living room, pulling out his laptop from his bag, and finishes his thesis paper.
The morning after, Jihoon only finds a note on his bedside table “I cooked you a hangover soup. Just have it heated again once you wake up.”
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It’s been two weeks since Woojin had started avoiding his best friend. Jihoon had been bombarding him with texts but he never opens his messages, at least he’s not brave enough to leave Jihoon on seen, because that’d be as if he’s asking for a beating from the older. Or y’know, just so that he could use the excuse of not having the time to charge his phone, or leaving it behind, or mayhaps his phone is broken and is unable to receive messages.
The difference in their schedules also kind of helped Woojin in his goal of hiding from Jihoon (or more like, hiding his feelings from Jihoon). He also stays away from his dorms until the dead of the night because he’s afraid he’d find Jihoon on his front door or probably break down his door the moment he finds out he’s inside.
Their other friends had been telling Woojin that Jihoon had been looking for him and is mad worried for not seeing him for weeks.
He just responds to them with ‘I got papers to finish’, ‘I needed to meet my group mates for our final project’ or ‘Our breaks just don’t match’. Which in fact, is partly true. Though he’s still got time to upgrade his weapons and character strengths in the most recent game he’s playing.
But now he has a more valid excuse to say he’s unavailable, since a few days ago, he received an invitation for auditions with one of the biggest dance troupe in Korea. Which is why he’d been staying up late to practice in their school’s dance room which he had obtained the permission to use from his dance teacher.
A day before the scheduled auditions, Woojin is in the dancing room, finishing his choreography. He’s exhausted and decided to rest for a bit before going home.
A few moments later, he receives a call from Daehwi’s boyfriend, Jinyoung.
“Hello Jinyoung, what’s up?”
“Hyung, please help us. Daehwi and I took Jihoon hyung at the club because he said he wanted to unwind. But as soon as we got here he’s been drinking like crazy and is now surrounded by random guysdancing wildly “Please come hyung, we can’t handle him anymore”
Woojin sighs deeply, suppressing the mix of rage and worry on his chest, as he replies with an “Okay, I’ll see you there” then quickly heads to the motorcycle he had bought just last weekend.
As soon as he sees Daehwi, he approaches him and asks “Where is Jihoon?”
Daehwi points at Jihoon’s direction at the dancefloor. He sees him with some random guy who was grind-dancing at him, and rushes there, pushing past through people. They were giving him the look but he couldn’t care less as his eyes are fixed on one person only.
“Woojin?” the older says as he stops dancing with the man behind him.
“Let’s go home, Jihoon” the younger replies in a low voice.
“Hey, stop ruining my fun” the random guy who was grinding at jihoon earlier interjects.
“In what I see, it was only you having fun. So go find another person who’d play with you because this guy here is coming with me” Woojin deadpans tugging Jihoon’s hand leading them out into the club.
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Woojin drives his motorcycle with Jihoon seated at the back seat, hugging him tightly. For some reason he brings them to his own apartment tonight.
When they got inside Woojin’s room, Woojin assists Jihoon to lay him down on his bed. But before he successfully places him down, he slips and lands on top of Jihoon. For a few seconds, they just stared into each other’s eyes. And like those cliché things that happenin dramas, he feels the urge to lean down and kiss Jihoon. And he did.
It wasn’t anything like the pure kiss they shared at the club the last time. This time, they let their tongues dance together.
Woojin doesn’t recall when Jihoon’s mouth was out of his, but the next thing he realizes is that the plump lips that was against his earlier is now on his neck planting kisses and sucking on his skin, while being grinded at.
The older gives the other a look rather similar to a look of pleading him to do something — but whatever it is, Woojin isn’t sure. Then a slap of reality hits the younger, telling him best friends are not supposed to do this, let alone he and Jihoon who had only been bros for as long as they remember. So he slowly gets up saying “Jihoon, this is wrong, I’m sorry”
“Woojinie, please”
“You’re drunk. And besides, best friends don’t do these things”
“But saying ‘I love you now’ changes everything right?”
“What are you saying. Jihoon, it’s me, Woojin. Your best friend”
“I’m confessing obviously.”
“You’re just drunk, Ji. You don’t know what you’re saying. Talk to me when you’re sober.”
With that Woojin walks out of the room leaving Jihoon dizzier than he had originally been.
When Jihoon wakes up, he checks all the rooms but Woojin is nowhere to be found. He stayed there for a few hours, but the younger didn’t come back, so he decides to go home instead. He calls Daehwi to ask about Woojin and the younger told him about Woojin’s auditions.
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Woojin was very nervous for his audition - who wouldn’t be, when it’s the audition of his life? If he passes this, he’ll be fulfilling his dreams of being a member of one of the well-known group of dancers in Korea.
So when it was his turn to show his skills in dancing and choreography, he poured out as much passion and energy he could to perform the dance he had long worked out on - the dance where he carefully put in the skillful moves that’d make his body scream ‘talent’. Cheers and claps filled the room when he finished his number. He scans the crowd bewildered how they could’ve loved the dance he prepared - and then his eyes lands on someone whom he recognizes as his best friend, Jihoon.
The said boy was holding a banner with words written on it that reads “I LOVE YOU PARK WOOJIN! I’M SOBER!”. And Woojin breaks into a smile. As soon as the auditions ended, Woojin rushes to find Jihoon. He finds him at the hallway, asking for directions.
“Ji!” Woojin calls out.
“Ya. Park Woojin, you stupid” Jihoon replies while unrolling the banner he was holding out earlier.
“I love you too, Jihoon”
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“So when did you realize you had feelings for me?” the younger asked.
“Remember the day you cooked hangover soup for me? I was gonna talk to you about the kiss, but then you set off and hid from me for weeks.”
“You remembered the kiss?”
“Yeah, the first one was when I kissed you on your bed when I got dumped by my ex. Then the second was the one at the club.”
“What? Why did you ask me about what happened that night then?”
“I was trying to figure out if you’d talk to me about it. But then you didn’t. So, I played dumb.”
“Wow, Jihoon you’d make a good actor”
“Okay, in my defense, I just got out of a relationship that time. So I figured it wasn’t time to talk with you about that yet… I really love how you’re always there taking care of me and such. Plus, I didn’t really wanna ruin my chances with my first love like that”
“Your first what?”
“I actually had a little crush on you back in middle school. But then you only treated me as your best friend, so I moved on.”
“You’re so confusing Jihoon, you know that?”
“Hey, I was just saying, ‘It’s been you all along’ I don’t deserve to be attacked like this”
“Okay, sorry. I love you, brat”
“I love you more, dumbass”