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Okay, so here's the thing.
Hyeongjun doesn't think of himself as a very assertive person. (Eunsang would probably scoff and consider 'wimp' to be a more appropriate term, but Hyeongjun would take it over Dohyon's casual "or maybe you're just a little bi-" during which he would not be able to finish the sentence without Minhee tackling him to the ground.)
He's a self-confessed follower, non-confrontational and a pacifist at best. He doesn't like arguments, doesn't like fights. The closest thing he's ever gotten to a fight was when he purposely stepped on the back of Dongpyo's shoe after the other made fun of his new perm, and even then he was terrified of the little squirt. Dongpyo could punch air and he would be the one hurt. It felt a little embarrassing, but Hyeongjun's made peace with the fact that he can never, for the life of him, take a few punches, be it verbal or in any sense.
He's also resorted to never complaining, because complaints start arguments, and Hyeongjun does not want arguments. This, according to Eunsang (who even listens to him, really? He dyed his hair fire engine red. That doesn't exactly scream good decision-making skills), makes him an easy target for good-for-nothing school group mates, teachers who make him stay after class to help with filing, neighbors who ask him to babysit for the cheapest price known to man. And Hyeongjun takes it, simply because he believes that nothing good would ever come out of letting people know how shitty they are, or how much you dislike them. It won't make them change, and you'll just end up looking like an asshole with a black eye to match.
Hyeongjun, in all his naive and non-confrontational glory, just never knows how to say no. Eunsang had, time and time again, warned him that this would come back to bite him in the ass one day. Apparently, his ass was getting chased instead of bitten at this point.
Jaehoon was nice, with his tan skin and boy-next-door charm. He's part of the student council (and a lot of other useless things, yada yada, save some for the rest of us Koreans, Dongpyo would add) with a track record as spotless as the gray Camaro his dad got for him as an eighteenth birthday gift. He was, for all intents and purposes, nice and charming and Korean enough that Hyeongjun's mother would coo at his manners. But by god, he was boring.
There was one weekend when Hyeongjun asked him to join them at the lake to swim. Jaehoon looked at him as if he grew a second head, laughed in a little condescending way like he was so silly and funny for thinking that was a great idea.
Another time, the brunet rode with him on the way to a baseball game (Jaehoon plays, but Hyeongjun watches more for the aesthetics of it than his skills), and he scolded him for accidentally spilling a few drops of soda on his car seat. It was humiliating, he felt like such a child. He was close to offering to wash his car for him just so he would shut up about it. And no, it would not be the sexy kind.
Jaehoon was nice, an all-american kind of hot, and a shoo-in for Ivy League, but Hyeongjun would rather gouge his eyes out than date him. He figured out that much. But you see, his plan of action kind of stopped there? Which can be bad considering after two sort-of dates, Hyeongjun is sure Jaehoon would be asking to date him officially?
Hyeongjun fell asleep and forgot to text him back yesterday, and the brunet swears he saw the other's eye twitch when he told him. This was bad. ("I told you!" Eunsang exclaimed, "I fucking told you he was a psychopath. He has like, these pointy shark teeth when he smiles. Jaehoon will probably kill you when you turn him down." The redhead tilted his head in thought, "I need to find a new best friend.")
Hyeongjun doesn't know what to do. Can he even ask people to turn Jaehoon down for him? Can he pay someone for that? Kind of like a promposal but a rejection. He's resorted to slamming his forehead on his locker as he thinks of what a disaster it'll turn out to be. Dohyon patted him on the back comfortingly.
"Cheer up, buddy. At least we know what car to tail if you go missing. His car's too clean it's impossible to miss." The giant joked, and Eunsang shoved him with an annoyed glare.
Hyeongjun turned to them with a pout. "Can't one of you tell him I can't date him? Sangie, tell him you're in love with me or something." Eunsang's nose scrunched up at the suggestion.
"Ew. I've seen you pick at a gross scab once, and there was this one time you laughed so hard while you were sick a bubble of snot came out of your nose. I don't think I can stomach saying that." Dohyon snorted as he looked down at his phone, probably to text the rest of their group of friends where they're headed.
The curly-haired boy groaned out. "I can't be thinking about this. I have prom to plan out, and we're doing color run this month for the club." Hyeongjun's the head of projects for the LGBTQ+ club of their school, and Dongpyo's coming with them to the mall to canvas supplies. "Are they on their way?" he asked.
Dohyon nodded as they walked towards the exit, "Yeah, think so. How are we gonna get there? Jun didn't bring his car." Eunsang sighed at that, as he pressed his phone against his ear.
"Yohan's picking us up and dropping us off. He owes me." Eunsang says as he presumably dials his older brother's number, an annoyed expression clouding his face. Hyeongjun was familiar with it, a look of solidarity shared by all little brothers of the world at the mention of their older siblings. Thank God Seungwoo is his best friend, even if he can be an overbearing asshole at times.
"Wait, Yohan's in town?" Hyeongjun almost had a heart attack at Dongpyo's arrival, all sly smiles and dreamy sighs. Junho rolled his eyes in amusement while Dohyon busied himself with trying to open Dongpyo's bag without him noticing.
"Unfortunately." Eunsang replied, and Dongpyo was about to speak again when the redhead warned with a 'don't even think about it', making him visibly deflate.
Hyeongjun can understand Eunsang's annoyance, given his brother's reputation at their school. He graduated two years ago, and if Jaehoon was the boy-next-door, Yohan Kim was the golden boy.
He's going to college at Cornell with a sports scholarship, and everybody in town loves him. Homecoming King two years in a row and student body president, the quintessential, modern-day prince. Eunsang hates him with a passion. Hyeongjun never did get to see much of Yohan, even if he's been best friends with Eunsang for seven years now. For some reason, they just never crossed paths that much. Whenever Hyeongjun would come over on weekends, Yohan was out practicing for lacrosse or something. Whenever he stayed the night, the younger barely roamed around Eunsang's gigantic mansion, in fear of getting lost or breaking something expensive.
Junho's face lit up in excitement. "Yohan's picking us up? With which sports car?" Dohyon shared the same starry-eyed look as Eunsang narrowed his own at them in disdain.
"You blood-sucking traito-"
"Hyeongjun?" A familiar voice asked from behind them, at the bottom of the school stairs near the road. Hyeongjun squeezed his eyes tightly before turning, seeing Jaehoon rush down to meet them. Dohyon and Junho let out small whistles to tease him, while Eunsang was busy being annoyed with his brother for not picking up.
The dancer shot him a hesitant smile, "Hey." Dongpyo snorted at his unenthusiastic response and Hyeongjun elbowed him. Jaehoon didn't seem to notice and went closer to the other.
"You haven't been answering my texts. Did you not get them or something?" Oh god, his eyes are doing the whole twitching, serial killer-y thing again. Hyeongjun gulped, sending a helpless look at his friends who had huddled into a circle conveniently farther from them.
"Right, yeah. I've just been um," Hyeongjun tapped his feet and tried to think of a reason. "A bit busy with the whole queer club and all. We're doing a color run this year."
Jaehoon's smile brightened, seemingly past his initial annoyance at Hyeongjun's neglect. "Of course, of course."
Jaehoon took a deep breath, as if he was preparing himself for something and oh god please don't ask or else I'm gonna have to get myself run over by a car, "Listen, I know this seems completely out of the blue but, I just think I need to ask if-"
His words were cut off by an engine revving closer to where they were standing, a black SUV with almost glinting headlights stopping near the pavement. Hyeongjun could hear a distant squeal from his side, presumably Dohyon's high-pitched, 'It's the fucking Rover, guys.' and the sound of a car door opening and closing, as Yohan Kim came out of his obnoxiously expensive car.
He was fiddling with his phone, a crease between his eyebrows evident as he stared down on it. He was wearing a loose black shirt and a dark green bomber jacket, jeans ripped intricately and shoes immaculate. Hyeongjun wasn't at all surprised that Yohan got even more handsome at college, some people were just that lucky.
Yohan looked up to find Eunsang with a perpetual frown on his face, sending death glares at his friends for waving enthusiastically. Yohan shot them a shy smile and a sheepish wave as Eunsang stomped closer to his brother. The elder, from the corner of his eye, saw Hyeongjun standing beside the group and waved at him as well.
The motion touched a live, very reckless, admittedly very idiotic wire in Hyeongjun's brain as he spoke, "Can you hold that thought for one second, I just have to-" Hyeongjun motioned to Yohan's general direction and started walking to where the other was standing, beating Eunsang to his brother.
Yohan glanced up at him from his phone with a tentative, polite smile on his face. "Hey. Hyeongjun, right?" Yohan asked, and Hyeongjun was thankful that at the very least the man knew his name.
"Yep. How have you been? Great. I've been fantastic. So, listen-" Before Hyeongjun could even continue, Eunsang was standing right beside him in front of Yohan, with the latter getting even more confused at the sudden invasion of his personal space.
"No, Lem. You are not doing this." Hyeongjun hated the fact that his best friend knew him so well, even when he was just about to start his ingenious plan.
Hyeongjun groaned petulantly. "Come on, Sangie. It's not like he's always here anyway."
"My brother's popular." Eunsang defended, and Hyeongjun could swear the older's chest puffed out slightly at that, "Even if he is a complete moron."
They continued talking while facing Yohan, to hide their little argument from view. "Jaehoon moved here after he graduated. He'll never suspect a thing. Please, please, please, let me do this, Sangie. I'll owe you one, I swear."
"What are we doing, exactly?" Yohan asked, a confused smile on his face as he tilted his head questioningly. It was a habit Eunsang also has, probably runs in the family.
Hyeongjun spoke again, rapidly. "I promise I'll love you forever and you know that you're my bestest friend in the world and," Hyeongjun grabbed onto Yohan's arm, which made the older's eyes widen in surprise.
"Hi, baby." Hyeongjun spoke loudly, enough for the group of people at the back to hear. Eunsang sighed in resignation as Yohan's eyebrows shot up, a slight tint of pink tainting his cheeks. Hyeongjun went closer to whisper near the taller, pleading quickly in one breath. "Please pretend to be my boyfriend just this one time so the serial killer at the back doesn't try to date me anymore."
Eunsang rolled his eyes as he huffed, "This is stupid."
"This is brilliant."
"This is confusing." Yohan piped up. "Weren't you always around the house since you were like, twelve?"
"Not the point. I'm eighteen now." Hyeongjun whispered back as he heard footsteps coming closer to them, a sign that Jaehoon was probably wondering if he heard him correctly.
A voice, a little wary and annoyed, piped up from behind. "I'm sorry, who are you?" Ah yes, and isn't that the million dollar question?
There was a pregnant, slightly awkward pause, with Hyeongjun clamping a strong hand around Yohan's arm, a warning and a silent plea at the same time. Yohan looked at Eunsang, standing beside Hyeongjun with a sigh, shaking his head subtly in disapproval.
Eunsang doesn't want him to do this. Yohan's smile widened even more as he removed the death grip Hyeongjun had on his sleeve to wrap it around the smaller's waist. And sue him, but Yohan is nothing if not a pain in his little brother's ass.
He smirked at the question, amused and teasing as he turned to face the other man. "I'm baby, apparently."
Eunsang slapped a loud hand across his cheek, as Hyeongjun smiled hesitantly at Jaehoon. The other looked visibly taken aback, and so did their group of friends. Jaehoon blinked, "You're who?"
"I'm Yohan Kim, Lem's boyfriend and Eunsang's brother." Yohan spoke, diplomatic and polite as he extended a hand out. Hyeongjun was surprised to hear Yohan use his nickname, probably after hearing it from Eunsang earlier. Jaehoon shook it absentmindedly. "I used to go here too."
Yohan glanced down at Jaehoon's shirt. "Part of council?" He asked, and Jaehoon snapped back into reality. A brief look of hurt flashed across his face as he looked at Hyeongjun and cleared his throat. "Yeah, you too?"
Yohan shrugged, so careless and confident that you just knew he has everything at the palm of his hands, "I was for three years, yeah. Glad I got to keep the boyfriend after graduation, though." Yohan jokingly motioned to Hyeongjun as his grip on the smaller's waist tightened. Jaehoon's eyes followed the motion.
"You never told me you had a boyfriend, Hyeongjun." Jaehoon remarked bitingly, making Hyeongjun wince. He opened his mouth to explain when Yohan squeezed his side.
"Not that it's any of your business but, we've been on and off since I went to college. We worked things out as soon as I got back the other day." Yohan replied, curt with a slight edge to it.
"I don't think I'll be going anywhere anytime soon." The older added with emphasis, a tight-lipped smile on his lips. Hyeongjun gasped inaudibly as Yohan leaned closer to his side.
"Guess you got lucky then." Jaehoon spoke, a tinge of bitterness coating his words. He turned to look at Hyeongjun, who was beginning to really regret his decision after seeing the sad look swimming in the other's eyes. "I'll see you around, Hyeongjun."
Hyeongjun was about to ask him to stay and talk when Yohan's grip on his waist never loosened, almost as if he could sense Hyeongjun's hesitance to follow through. "You'll look even more like an asshole if you told him you asked me to pretend, just so he'd leave you alone."
The brunet sighed and nodded in understanding, as the others went closer to them. Dongpyo had his mouth wide open and both Dohyon and Junho looked extremely confused. Eunsang shook his head at them, "That was stupid and unnecessary. News spread like fucking epidemics here. You'll be my brother-in-law by tomorrow, you idiot."
Yohan smiled as he rubbed Eunsang's head jokingly. "Lighten up, grumpy. You can tell everybody in town Hyeongjun broke up with me after a week because I have bad breath. That'll definitely cheer you up." His words made Eunsang smile slightly, pushing him away as he opened the door to the backseat.
"Whatever. I'm so getting the Audi after this." Dongpyo, Dohyon, and Junho were left outside, waiting for an explanation.
"So, you guys probably heard that I'm baby. Is anybody here sugarplum or honey, by any chance?" Yohan asked with a straight face, and Dohyon cracked up at that.
"Can I take the rover out for a spin now that you're dating Hyeongjun?" Dohyon asked as they climbed inside after Yohan motioned for them to.
The older laughed, a slight twinkle appearing in his eyes. "I'll consider it once we get to third base." And Hyeongjun blushed at that while Dohyon cackled, a low 'nice' spoken under his breath and a high-five from Yohan before he disappeared inside.
"Sit on the front seat, babe. I haven't seen you in ages, it feels like we've never even dated before." Yohan teased and Hyeongjun begged for another car to come so that he can stand in front of it. The brunet hid his face in his hands, mortified by his actions.
"I'm so sorry for dragging you into this mess." Hyeongjun spoke, apologetic. "It was just getting really complicated with-"
"It's fine. I haven't had this much fun teasing Sangie in a while." Yohan added as he opened the door for Hyeongjun. The smaller shyly complied as Yohan went around to climb up to the driver's seat.
"I'll owe you for this one, I swear." Hyeongjun bargained as Yohan smirked, pulling the seatbelt across Hyeongjun's chest and making him squeak in surprise. An Eunsang-like scoff could be heard from the backseat.
"You can pay me with a backstory." Yohan replied before looking at Eunsang from the rearview mirror, "Thanks for chaperoning my date, Sangie. I knew you cared so much about me, bud." He cooed, sickeningly sweet.
Eunsang smiled mockingly at him, reminding Yohan of just how adorable he was when he was a kid. The older turned back to Hyeongjun and smiled, a little encouragingly.
"Sorry I brought my little brother along on our date. You're gonna have to keep your hands to yourself while he's here."