Archive of Our Own

He's Back

Prompt: Woogyu on a beach vacation.

(A/N: not exactly a beach vacation, but they are on the beach)

Sunggyu smiled as he watched the dark grey clouds roll in and cover the sky. “We’re going to have to push back the shoot,” the director ordered with a groan. “Everyone, let’s go inside before it rains.” And Sunggyu was more than happy to follow that order. He wanted nothing more than to go back inside and away from the beach. He hated the beach.

He could appreciate the beauty of the beach, the white sand and the blue water, but you can do that from a safe distance, maybe from the balcony of a really nice hotel or like from the shack that they were currently hiding in. But he thoroughly disliked being on the beach. It was too hot. There was too much sun. And then the worst, there was water. Not just any water, but salt water that burns your nose or throat when you accidentally inhale it. Sunggyu hated that feeling. He also felt his stomach churn at the thought, and he rubbed it gently with his hand. He already had a sensitive stomach that weakened from travel and stress. He didn’t need to upset it anymore.

He wasn’t entirely happy when the company announced that they were going to film the Japanese version of “She’s Back” on Jeju. Yes, it was a relaxing place to film and was like a mini-vacation for the boys. But to Sunggyu, the beach was still the beach, and he didn’t like it. In fact the most relaxed that he felt the entire trip was right now, resting in the shack, sipping on juice that his manager had gotten for him. And it was kind of peaceful watching the storm clouds peer over the horizon and the waves being picked up by the wind. However, not everyone was so at peace.

“Hyung, let’s go play,” Woohyun, who was sitting next to him, begged. 

“Woohyun-ah, it’s raining,” Sunggyu plainly stated in return and continued to sip on his drink.

Woohyun shrugged, “We’re going to get wet by going in the water anyways.”

Sunggyu shook his head. “Don’t like it.”

Then there was a clap from behind his head. Sunggyu almost thought it was thunder until he saw the tiny frame of the shoot’s director. “But I do!” she announced. “Actually overcast days are good for photos, so even if we can’t film the video, we can at least get some decent photos. So who wants to go play?”

Sungyeol, Dongwoo, Sungjong, and Woohyun immediately sprang from their seats (Myungsoo was currently sleeping in the corner and Hoya was busy eating). Three of them went ahead and left the shack but Woohyun lingered behind. “Hyung, are you sure?” he asked again. “I know you really don’t like the water, so maybe I can help you get over that fear today. Dongwoo would help too, I’m sure.”

Sunggyu thought about it for a minute and chewed on his straw. “Nah,” he concluded. “You guys would just end up throwing me in and dunking me under the water. I don’t trust you.”

The frown on Woohyun’s face deepened. “Fine then,” he muttered. Then he turned around and yelled at the others, almost a bit too cheerful, “Hey guys! Wait for me!”

^^
Sunggyu watched the four of them frolic in the water from the safety of the shack. To be honest, he was feeling a little bored. The other two were sleeping, and he had tried to, but his stomach was acting up too much. Laying down made it worse. Maybe I should have gone, he thought. But then he saw Woohyun and Sungyeol pounce on Dongwoo and dunk the eldest into the water. Nope, Sunggyu thought and shook his head. It’s better that I stayed here.

Or so he thought.

But for the rest of the day, Woohyun was giving him the cold shoulder, opting to play with Hoya and Dongwoo when they resumed shooting. And when the director had suggested that the main vocals sit under the umbrella together, Woohyun said that he’d rather try surfing, and Sungjong volunteered to sit with Sunggyu instead. It’s probably better this way, Sunggyu thought as he ruffled the maknae’s hair in front of the cameras. Woohyun would have tried to bury me in the sand. 

Sunggyu thought that it was safer for him this way, but that was before Dongwoo snuck up from behind and gave him a mini heart attack. Sunggyu swore that some of the members were going to send him to an early grave.
^^
It was nearing the end of the shooting and the sky was growing yellow. Sunggyu was laying out onto a lounge chair next to Sungyeol and Dongwoo. They were watching Woohyun and Hoya swim in the pool, shirtless of course. It would bound to be a scene that would send fangirls into a tizzy. Sunggyu wondered if he should’ve volunteered for the role, but then looking at the loathsome water and then down at his soft stomach, it was probably better this way. No one would want to see his body when they had Hoya and Woohyun with toned muscles (and even Sungyeol was bulking up everyday). Sunggyu clasped his hands on his stomach and closed his eyes. 

But then they quickly opened again after hearing worried murmurs and feeling the tension rising. “Did he really get hurt?” Sungyeol asked in disbelief. “Did he really get hurt without making a noise?” Sunggyu got up and saw Sungyeol already making his way to the other side of the pool. Sunggyu turned to his other side and saw the spot now empty and Dongwoo following close behind Sungyeol’s long strides. Sunggyu’s eyes followed the duo until he could see Woohyun’s bare back and a towel wrapped around his head. The director was kneading the soft fabric into his forehead with a guilty look on her face. Woohyun was hurt.

Sunggyu finally got up from his chair and walked around to check out his friend. “Woohyun-ah,” he called out to the other. “Come over here and let me see.”

Woohyun didn’t come closer, but he did turn around, showing off his scraped elbows as he lifted up his wet fringe and revealed the bruising mark on his forehead. He put his arm down and laughed in embarrassment. “It was too shallow,” he explained as he looked to the side. “I’m only around 170 cm.”

Sunggyu scoffed. Woohyun, even now, was being lenient with his height. He was always the one to try to maintain his image. “Director,” Sunggyu spoke and the woman turned towards him. “Can Hoya finish filming this part?” Woohyun looked at the leader and frowned at that suggestion.

But the director smiled warmly at him. “He’s already in the pool with the cameraman,” she stated. And sure enough, Sunggyu turned just in time to see Hoya dive down under the water.

“Good,” he said. Sunggyu then turned towards the maknae. “Sungjong-ah, I have a first aid kit in my bag. Can you go get it?” Sungjong nodded and dashed off into the direction of their managers. “And you,” Sunggyu turned towards Woohyun. “You come with me.”

“Why should I?” Woohyun challenged but he was still following the leader around the pool, wrapping a towel around his chest.

Sunggyu waited until they were out of earshot of the crew. “It’s better this way,” he said in a hushed tone. “Unless you want 20 people to fret over you, making you feel more embarrassed, or you can have just me make a fuss over you.” He led Woohyun to the lounge chairs and made the younger sit down with him.

“You’re just upset that I was the center of attention,” Woohyun argued tightening his grip on the towel. “With the amount I talked today, I’ll probably be the star of the documentary.”

“Then you worked hard today,” Sunggyu praised and lifted up the other’s fringe. He winced after seeing the wound up close. He inhaled sharply, “Ow! That must’ve hurt. And you really didn’t make a sound?”

“It didn’t hurt that much,” Woohyun replied and pulled his head away. “I’m a tough guy.”

“Whatever you say…Oh! My bag’s here,” Sunggyu exclaimed. He pulled the bag from underneath the lounge chair and opened it up, taking out the first aid kit.

Woohyun looked at it curiously. “You actually brought that?” he asked as he watched Sunggyu open it up and take out rubbing alcohol and bandages.

“I lead a very accident-prone team,” Sunggyu replied in a distracted tone as he was pouring liquid onto a.cottonball. “Dongwoo or I try to bring one wherever we go just in case. Now give me your arm.” Woohyun just looked up at him and brought the towel even closer to his body. Sunggyu rolled his eyes. “Give it,” he demanded and reached into the towel to take out Woohyun’s arm. He then began dabbing the cotton ball onto the scrapes.

“Aish!” Woohyun cursed and winced in pain. “That stings!”

Sunggyu grinned. “And this is the guy who didn’t make a sound when he hit the bottom of the pool,” he teased.

“Well,” Woohyun began as he watched Sunggyu take away the cotton ball and replace it with a band aid. “The water might’ve helped to cover some of my screaming.”

“I thought so,” Sunggyu added. He then lifted up Woohyun’s bangs again, holding a new cotton ball profusely soaked in rubbing alcohol. “It’s going to sting,” he warned.

“Just do it!” Woohyun exclaimed, and to his surprise, Sunggyu treated his forehead more gently then his elbow. Woohyun opened his eyes (he had closed them when he saw the blasted cotton ball get closer to his face) only to see Sunggyu concentrating on cleaning up the wound. And there was something about the elder’s expression that made him look like a caretaker. Woohyun grinned and teased, “I feel like you’re filling in for my mom.”

Sunggyu chuckled as he tossed the cotton ball aside and tore the plastic off from the bandage. “Then what? You’re my child? Do you want me to kiss your boo-boos to make them all better?” he joked.

“Eung,” Woohyun agreed as he felt the band aid being pressed onto his forehead. But then he felt something else being pressed onto the spot shortly after, over the bandage. Something soft and warm.

Sunggyu pulled back. “All better?” he asked.

“Nu uh,” Woohyun protested cutely shaking his head. “My elbow still hurts too,” he whined, thrusting his arm out between them.

The elder chuckled and grabbed the arm, planting a kiss at his elbow. “There,” he announced and tapped the elbow softly. “Are you better now?”

Woohyun shocked his head again. “Hyung, I hurt somewhere else,” he revealed.

Sunggyu’s eyes darted all over the other, wondering where else the injuries lied. He hadn’t thought Woohyun had gotten hurt anywhere else. “Where?”

“When you didn’t want to play with me today, it really hurt my feelings,” Woohyun answered and jutted out his lower lip.

“Tch!” Sunggyu scoffed. “I can’t kiss that.”

Woohyun leaned in closer and spoke in a low voice, “You can.”

“Hm?” Sunggyu also leaned in, but something told Woohyun that the elder already knew the answer. Sunggyu’s eyelids were growing heavier and his eyes were looking right…

“Here,” Woohyun whispered, pointing at his lips. His lips that were growing warmer under Sunggyu’s hot breath and his own lips only a few centimeters away. All they needed was a little push then…

“HYUNG!” the both of them pulled back at the maknae’s cry. Sungjong was running over to them as fast as his legs could carry him and carrying a large bag in his hands. “I couldn’t find your bag, but I found Dongwoo’s,” Sungjong announced as he was panting and grappling with Dongwoo’s heavy bag.

“I already have it taken care of,” Sunggyu announced as he cleaned up the supplies. He then stood up. “I’m going to see what’s scheduled next for the shoot,” he announced and walked over to the director.

Sungjong groaned as he threw the heavy bag next to Woohyun, making the other bounce in his seat. “I had to go ALL the way to the car and dig through a bunch of crap and…ARGH!” he yelled and fell into the seat across from Woohyun. “Kim Sunggyu is a meanie.”

Woohyun frowned as he watched the leader talk animatedly with the director. “I agree.”

Stuck With You 

Prompt: Sunggyu and Woohyun are stuck overnight in a bookstore together :D 

“Hyung, you’re a titanic ignoramus, and I genuinely hope you die of amenorrhea.”

“W-what?” Sunggyu turned his head towards his friend. Figures, he thought. Woohyun was sitting on the floor with his back resting on the bookshelf with a large dictionary in his lap.

“Okay,” Woohyun chuckled a bit. “You can’t die of that, but hyung, you have to admit that you can be an asinine meretrix  sometimes,” he continued to spout seeming nonsense as he leaned forward and rest his elbows on the book.

“You’re not helping,” Sunggyu grumbled back, taking a pin from his mouth and inserted it into the lock. He then brought his ear to the door and closed his eyes. “What I really need is complete silence,” he said in a low voice and listened as the pin scratched the inside of the lock, waiting to hear any sign of a click. “I think if I just…” He twisted the pin a bit more. And…nothing. “Forget this!” Sunggyu shouted throwing the pin on the ground.

“Oh, would you look at that? We’re still locked in the storage room,” Woohyun remarked as he licked his finger and turned the page. He was now flipping through a even larger book.

“Woohyun,” Sunggyu called out to him in a warning tone.

Woohyun lifted his eyes from the page and glowered at the elder. “You’re the one who locked us in here,” he spoke darkly.

Once, Sunggyu messed up only once since he got his job at the bookstore (whereas Woohyun had several little blunders almost daily), but it ended up being one, giant colossal mistake. He had accidentally locked the both of them into the storage room when they were taking inventory (who knew that the door automatically locked behind them when it closed. Well Sunggyu did, but he had a lapse in judgment). And now they were trapped together in the small room until the morning, when the owner of the shop would come to open it.

Also Sunggyu probably deserved the cold treatment that he was receiving from Woohyun. He was harder on Woohyun than the rest of the employees at the shop. As the manager, Sunggyu felt like he had to be. They were friends before the younger was hired at the store, and Sunggyu didn’t want to show favoritism. And when something went wrong in the shop, it was normally because of that dunderhead, who accidentally created a book avalanche when he thought he found a quicker way to stack books. But now the biggest either of them had made was because of Sunggyu. Karma.

Now to make matters worse, both of them were getting cranky from skipping dinner. And Woohyun was growing extra snippy.

“Du bist hässlich,” Woohyun snarled.

Sunggyu glared at him. “Are you cussing at me?”

“No,” Woohyun replied and showed the German phrasebook that he was now flipping through. “You know, there’s probably a book on picking locks.”

Sunggyu walked away from the infuriating door and leaned up against a large bag of puppets. He closed his eyes. “It’s impossible. Let’s just wait until morning,” he retorted as he snuggled into the bag. He’d tried his best to sleep through the rest of the night. But, something kept him from even falling into slumber. Some metallic scratching noises and soft curses. He opened his eyes and saw Woohyun now trying to pick the lock. The other had no idea what he was doing. Woohyun was furrowing his brow in concentration as he dug the pin into the lock, with his tongue peaking out of the corner of his mouth. Sunggyu could also tell that Woohyun was nowhere near giving up. If Nam Woohyun was in that dictionary now discarded on the floor, his picture would be under the word “stubborn.” And Kim Sunggyu wouldn’t be getting sleep anytime soon. So the elder got up from his spot and walked over to the corner of the storage room. He might as well have some fun.

^^

“Hyung!”

“WAH!” Sunggyu yelped and dropped the manga from his hands.

Woohyun chuckled as he picked up the fallen book. He clicked his tongue as he flipped through it. “Dirty, dirty,” he chided. He side-eyed the other. “Hyung, I had no idea that you were into this kind of stuff. And here I was, spending my time either expanding my horizons or trying to get us out of here, but you…” He looked down at the other, frowning. “You were being a pervert.” He opened the manga again. “Just how many panty-shots are in here.”

Sunggyu tore the manga away from the other. “I was just curious. I see a lot of people buying this,” he excused himself.

“Whatever you say, hyung,” Woohyun responded in a distracted voice. He was currently scanning the shelves. “Ah!” he exclaimed after finding the one that he was looking for. “Here,” he said, pulling it from the shelf. He then handed it over to Sunggyu. “This is Myungsoo’s favorite.”

Sunggyu cocked an eyebrow as he scanned the cover, covered with flowers and a doe-eyed girl. “Really?” he challenged.

“Yea, I’d rather have you read that than the dirty rag that you were reading earlier. I’m just across the room, hyung! You can’t be doing anything inappropriate.”

“Yah!”

^^

Woohyun put down the book and rubbed his eyes. His head was spinning now. This was the third Magic Eye book that he had done, and the crossing and uncrossing of his eyes was starting to take a toll. He better stop. It was getting late too. Maybe he could finally fall asleep. Woohyun closed the book and placed it down next to him. Then he looked up, searching for the elder, mostly hoping that the elder hadn’t passed out on the bag of puppets so that he can sleep on it himself. But Woohyun was surprised to find Sunggyu still awake in the corner of the room, still reading the manga series that Woohyun had given him. Woohyun smiled. Sunggyu looked like he was getting pretty into it. Maybe his hyung was more innocent than he’d thought.

^^

Truth was,  Sunggyu was enjoying it, but probably for different reasons than Myungsoo had. Myungsoo who had ideas of an innocent love, but not Sunggyu. It’s not that Sunggyu believed in the opposite, but he found the manga intriguing because the main character reminded him of Woohyun. But there was a big difference. Whereas the girl in the comic book tried hard to gain the attention of the boy she liked, Woohyun was vying for everyone’s attention. However just like main, more often than not, Woohyun screwed everything up. But…but…there’s was just incredibly likable and admirable that in spite of all of their failures, that they kept trying.

^^

“Hey, you can’t sleep there,” Sunggyu said, kicking Woohyun’s feet. The younger had curled up on the bag of puppets, the only soft spot in the entire storage room. 

Woohyun opened his eyes and glared at the other. “Why not?”

“Because I want to sleep there.”

“Hyung,” Woohyun pulled himself up and was now resting on his elbows. “Why are you so mean to me?” He rubbed his eyes, avoiding the other’s gaze. “Not just now, but always.”

Sunggyu scoffed. “What? Are you still upset because I turned you down.”

Well now Woohyun was looking him in the eye with a gaze as sharp as daggers. He hated being reminded of that, as he should. But Sunggyu couldn’t help but to bring it up and see the disgruntled pout on Woohyun’s face. It reminded him of look on Woohyun’s face the day he’d confessed, when the younger had slipped a love note into Sunggyu’s favorite book, and when Sunggyu refused because it would be an inappropriate work relationship (even though they’d known each other beforehand). But Sunggyu had a feeling that the other wouldn’t give up so easily. Woohyun never gave up on anything.

“I’m sick of you making fun of my feelings,” Woohyun grumbled as he sat up straight. His eyes were filled with defiance. “I give up…I’m going to quit liking you.”

“Ah,” Sunggyu murmured with a nod. He bent down onto his knees to get down onto the other’s level. “So you’ll forget about me?” he asked as if he didn’t believe Woohyun’s threat.

“That’s right,” Woohyun spat back. “Now that I know what kind of person you are,” he growled, looking the elder up and down with a snarl on his lips. “And when I leave the bookstore next week and begin my job at the bank, I will forget about you and find someone better. I’ll never have to see your hässlich face again.”

That’s right. He’s leaving. Sunggyu leaned in closer. “Then try and forget about me,” he challenged. He kissed Woohyun’s lips, now slightly parted in surprise. He pulled back, now seeing the younger’s jaw unhinged. “Serves you right,” he teased. Sunggyu tried to get up while the other was still stunned.

But hands grabbed at his collar, pulling him back down. Woohyun kissed him back. “You’re still a jerk,” Woohyun said between kisses.

Sunggyu smiled. “I know.” He then finally dropped the manga from his hands (Itazura Na Kiss) so that he could hold the other’s cheeks, and he sat with Woohyun on the bag. In the end, he did get to sleep there, and it was more comfortable and warm sleeping next to Woohyun. Although the two were rudely awakened by the shop owner the next morning, who screamed seeing the two men together unexpectedly. However, even with that, this was a mistake that Sunggyu didn’t regret making.

Birth of a Family

Prompt: Could you write a drabble where woohyun pesters sunggyu to buy a pet for their shared apartment and “not just another fish”? :) Thank you ♡

"Come here, little Mong-mong-ie,” Woohyun spoke softly as he sprinkled tiny fish flakes into the water and watched the red betta fish immediately swim out of it’s hovel and up to the surface. Woohyun sighed sadly. This wasn’t what he wanted. This was never what he wanted. He wanted a dog, and Sunggyu knew it. But still every year for his birthday, when Woohyun would only ask for a pet from the other, Sunggyu would come home with a cake and a damn plastic bag with a sad, little betta fish inside.

Woohyun thought that the other would get the hint, if he named every betta with a traditional dog name, which Sunggyu only found amusing. The elder had insisted that this was better for them. Sunggyu could be away from home for days, and sometimes Woohyun worked late nights when the magazine was about to go to print. Woohyun sighed again, more loudly and desperate this time as he looked around his empty apartment. Sunggyu was on trauma call again and had gotten called in for a case. Woohyun then turned his gaze down towards the fishbowl in front of him. He dipped his finger into the water, trying to pet the fish. It darted away from his finger and hid behind the fake, plastic seaweed. “It’s just not the same,” he murmured. He wanted something to pet, something to love, and something that would love him back. But most of all, he just wanted noise. The apartment was way to silent for his liking, without Sunggyu’s usual shouting, singing, and other various sounds to fill it.

“Ow!” Woohyun quickly withdrew his finger from the bowl. He had left it in there for too long and Mong-mong-ie thought it was food. “Bad fish,” Woohyun spat at the betta and tapped on the glass bowl. But it was useless. It always was. He’ll just get bit tomorrow when he’ll try to pet them again.

“Alright! Dinner time! Come out Nurung-ie, Coco-ah, and Dubu“ Woohyun called out to the other 3 fish, lined-up in their respective bowls. He then fed his pets in fish-pack order.

^^

“I want a pet for my birthday and not just another dang fish, okay? I want a real, furry pet, okay? I want a dog! A dog, hyung!”

“Aish!” Sunggyu cursed as he leaned away from the other. The both of them were on the couch, when Sunggyu asked him the question, and now he was regretting it. “I’m sitting right here. No need to shout.”

Woohyun fell back into the couch’s cushions and crossed his arms. “Well, there’d be no need to shout, if you’d actually listen to me one of these years.”

“You know, you could always buy yourself the dog,” Sunggyu suggested. “Or unless you’re really that cheap,” he teased, poking the other in the cheek hoping to wipe off that pout. But it only deepened.

Woohyun looked over at Sunggyu with a stern look. “Being cheap has nothing to do with it,” he admitted. “You buying me the pet means that you approve of it because in the end, it won’t just be my pet. It’ll be ours. We live together, hyung. We’re sharing our lives together, pets included.”

“So those fish are also mine?” Sunggyu nodded to the fishbowls lining their counter.

Woohyun shrugged. “You feed them more often then I do. Hell, you race me to the bowls some days to do it.”

Sunggyu looked away, embarrassed, and mumbled something like, “But it’s funny.”

“Anyways,” Woohyun began, and Sunggyu faced him again. “If you get me one more fish, we’re going to have a pond. And I don’t want to be fish people, hyung. I want to be dog people.”

Sunggyu chewed on his lip in thought as he put his arm behind the headrest. “I took the day off,” he spoke after a while of silence.

“Really?!” Woohyun exclaimed. The other had never done that before. He always at least had to go to the hospital that day, even during the weekends just to do rounds.

“Yea,” Sunggyu nodded. “So let’s go to the pet-store and pick something out…that’s not a fish,” he added as he saw Woohyun open his mouth to object.

Woohyun grinned widely. “Let me do some research,” he said excitedly and sprinted off the couch to grab his laptop. And Sunggyu remained there, rubbing his temples vigorously. What had he just agreed to?

^^

Saturday finally rolled around, and Woohyun was more excited than usual for his birthday, mostly because this year he was going to get exactly what he wanted and no nay-saying Sunggyu would stand in his way. He was determined. And he knew exactly how to trick the other.

He also had to literally push the elder out of the door after breakfast. Sunggyu was even still trying to cram his foot into his shoe as they were walking down the hallway of their floor.

“So you did your research?” he asked with a yawn, eyes barely opened afterwards.

“Yup,” Woohyun chirped in response. “And I have a couple of options for you to choose from.” He jogged up to the elevator to press the button. He pressed it several times. It wasn’t coming up fast enough.

Sunggyu cocked his head. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” he asked. The elevator then arrived, and the both of them stepped inside.

Woohyun chuckled mischievously. “Nope, today you’re just my wallet, buying me whatever I want.”

That woke Sunggyu up, the thought of the other maliciously draining his wallet. “Y-yah!”

^^

They finally arrived at the pet-store, and Woohyun was miraculously still in one piece, even though Sunggyu had him in a headlock earlier for the comment in the elevator. But the elder never denied that it wasn’t true.

When they opened the door to the store, a bell rang happily to welcome them in. Woohyun was happy; the look on Sunggyu’s face was anything but. He was anxious, sad, sleepy, and afraid of what this place had in store for him.

“Alright,” Woohyun announced, grabbing onto Sunggyu’s hand and leading him towards some cages along the side. “This is option number one.”

Sunggyu looked at the creature in the cage, back at Woohyun, then to the creature again. “It’s a rat,” was all he could say.

“It’s a fancy rat,” Woohyun corrected. “They’re actually supposed to make decent pets.”

Sunggyu brought his face closer to the glass. The rat bounded up to the glass as well and opened its mouth, exposing it’s large yellow teeth. Sunggyu grimaced and pulled away. “It’s kind of creepy,” he added.

“Yea,” Woohyun agreed with an uneasy smile. “And you’d have to buy two of them so they don’t get lonely.”

“Two?!” Sunggyu exclaimed with his eyes slightly bulging.

Woohyun nodded. “Eung…so rats are out! Let’s go see the next one! Come on,” he urged, grabbing the elder’s hand and pulling him to the other side of the store. “Here’s option number two!”

“This is much better,” Sunggyu said as he walked up and stroked the glass, trying to pet the furry ball behind it. “I always thought that a cat would suit our lifestyle.”

“Yea,” Woohyun agreed again but this time, reluctantly. And Sunggyu knew why he was hesitating. The kitten was interested in them for one second, but then the walked over to the other side of the cage and laid down, not wanting to be disturbed.

“It seems kind of indifferent,” Sunggyu admitted. He glanced at the other and saw him nod. This wasn’t what Woohyun really wanted either. This was the middle ground, something between a fish and what he really wanted. Sunggyu sighed. He knew it. He was wrapped around the other’s finger. “What do you really want?”

Woohyun’s eyes lit up. “Hyung, I did my research, and I found it!” he announced. He then began to walk backwards towards the back of the store. His hands were in his pockets, and a grin stuck on his face.

“Found what?” Sunggyu asked apprehensively as he followed the other.

“The perfect pet!” Woohyun exclaimed. “It’s pretty easy to train because they get used to routines very quickly, they’re lazy just like you,” he said with a slight chuckle. Sunggyu just disregarded it and nodded, eager to know where this all was leading. “They’re sweet, they’re cuddly, and I can play with it. Heck, they’re so chill that I could do whatever I want with it and it’ll let me. But…”

Sunggyu knew that this was coming. “But?” he repeated with a raised eyebrow.

Woohyun looked down sheepishly at his feet. “But they eat a lot,” he confessed.

Sunggyu sputtered into a slight laugh. “Well, if that’s the only downside, I don’t see what the problem is. We make enough money to probably feed it nothing but steak if we wanted to,” he joked.

Woohyun lifted up his head. “True,” he admitted. “Let me go tell Dongwoo that we’re here to pick it up then,” he just let that bomb drop and scurried off into the back room.

“Wait…What? Pick it up? We didn’t even pick it out yet?” Sunggyu shouted fruitlessly at Woohyun’s back. The door shut behind the younger, and all Sunggyu could do was wait to see what the other had in store for him.

“Alright,” Woohyun called as he exited the backroom. Sunggyu could hear heavy breathing and claws clacking against the tile floor. And once he was in sight, Sunggyu could see Woohyun with a grey, shaggy dog that came almost up to his knee. “Hyung. Meet Neukdae!”

Sunggyu laughed nervously as he bent down to pet the beast, cautiously of course. “It does look like a wolf, but it doesn’t bite like one, right?” he asked.

Woohyun patted the dog’s side roughly. “Nope, it’s really sweet. They call them the ‘gentle giants,’” he replied. “Go on and pet him. He’s ours now.”

Sunggyu brought a shaky hand up to the dog, and the dog flinched a little, more afraid of Sunggyu. That seemed to calm his nerves. He finally placed his hand on the dog’s head and began petting it. “It’s a bit bigger than I thought, it’d be, but if it’s really easy to take care of, it shouldn’t be a problem. Especially since it’s already fully grown. We don’t have to potty train it like we would have to with a puppy.”

Woohyun bent down to their level. He chuckled in a way that made Sunggyu all nervous again. “But, hyung, it is a puppy.”

“W-what? How big is it going to be?”

Woohyun looked up at the ceiling as he thought. “Irish wolfhounds grow to up to 120 pounds,” he answered. Then he quickly bounced back up when Sunggyu was still in a daze. “Come on, Neukdae, let’s go home! Hyung, you can pay Dongwoo now!” And ran out of the store with a large puppy in tow.

Sunggyu grumbled as he got up, pulled his wallet out, and walked up to the register to pay. “I should’ve gotten him another damn fish.”

What Happened...

“Shit! It’s on us! Move!”

“How did it find us?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t know. I can’t believe it.” 

“Shut up and keep going!” Hoya yelled as he pushed Myungsoo into the elevator. He pushed the ‘close door’ button repeatedly after everyone was safe inside. Everyone was there, but Hoya counted anyways. “One, two, three, four, five, good,” he said with a sigh of relief and slid down the mirrored wall.

The rest joined him on the floor of the elevator, all except Sungyeol who was staring at the door with wide-eyes and standing next to the panel. “Where to? We can’t stop it. We need a key.”

“F-“ Hoya began and then shot a worried glance to his right. He carried on, “Forget that. Let’s regroup at our rooms. We have stuff that we can use there.”

“A-are we going to fight it?” Dongwoo stammered, looking at the others nervously. Then he turned his gaze to his hands. He never thought he’d have to use them to kill it; he’d also thought of them as healing hands, but now…He laughed out of desperation. “I guess we don’t have a choice.”

“No, we don’t,” Woohyun chimed in. “And Yeol, stop looking at the door and press the damn button.”

“Oh sorry,” Sungyeol apologized and pressed the button to their room on the top floor. 25 stories, he thought to himself as he took a seat next to Myungsoo. Would we be able to put 25 floors between us?”

“What if it’s there?” Myungsoo dared to ask the question on everybody’s mind.

“Run,” Woohyun plainly stated back.

Hoya got up from his seat, noticing that the elevator was climbing at a quick speed. They’ll be there soon. “Whether he’s there or not, run,” he commanded. “I’d rather not take the risk.”

Dongwoo raised his head. “Who’s room are we going to?” he asked.

“Whosever is closest. So everyone, take out your keys. We’ll be there soon,” Hoya announced. And one by one the members got up from the floor. He looked about the tight quarters and raised his eyebrows. “Ready?” 

Ding!

“GO! GO! GO!”

Slam. Slam.

“Crap,” Hoya cursed, hitting his head against the shut door. “We got split up.” He let out a deep breath and pulled back, looking at Dongwoo and Woohyun behind him. “Well, let’s gear up.”

<><><><><><><><><> 

“How did this happen?” Sungyeol asked as he sat next to Myungsoo on the bed. “Your room was the closest.”

Myungsoo had grabbed a pillow and pulled it closer to his chest. “I don’t know,” his voice was muffled by the pillow. He then turned his head towards Sungyeol. “Do you think they’re okay?”

“Of course!” Sungyeol encouraged, patting Myungsoo’s back. “Hoya’s with them. They’ll be fine.” 

“That’s what we thought about Sungjong, and now look at him.”

“That,” Sungyeol stopped to swallow the lump that had quickly formed in his throat. The same lump that always formed whenever he thought about their former maknae, and what had happened to him.  No one ever deserved that. “That wasn’t Hoya’s fault.”

Myungsoo didn’t seem convinced. He looked away and dug his cheek deeper into the pillow. “I knew that we never should’ve gone to Hong Kong,” he mumbled. 

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Sungyeol cast a glance over to his friend and then sighed. “I’ll go get it,” he offered. “It’s probably them.” He stood up from the bed, walked towards the door and looked out of the peephole. “OH MY GOD!” he yelped, jumping back, and clutching his heart. Panting and with his heart racing, he turned towards Myungsoo.  Myungsoo had never seen his friend so scared in his life.

“It’s here.”

<><><><><><><><><><> 

“Do you think this will help?” Dongwoo asked, showing a can of hairspray to Woohyun.

The vocal nodded. “Yea, you can spray it in its eyes, or…Hey, Hoya! Did you find any matches?”

“No,” Hoya quickly answered from the bathroom. Then he came out. “But I’m taking this,” he declared as he grabbed the ice pick from the ice bucket. It was the best weapon that they could probably find in this room. The only one that could deliver lasting damage. So their best fighter should have it. The others easily allowed Hoya to take it.

Especially Dongwoo, who was clutching the can of hairspray tightly. All of this still left a bad taste in his mouth. “I don’t think I can do this. This isn’t his fault,” Dongwoo confessed with his eyes fixed on the floor.

Woohyun walked over and patted his shoulder. “What can we do? He was infected…the virus…”

“I know!” Dongwoo snapped. He fell back on the bed and buried his face in his hands. “I know,” he said more quietly.

“He’s not the only one infected. There were others too,” Hoya mentioned as he looked through his bag again for anything and for the tenth time. He then looked over to Dongwoo sternly. “They all had to be taken care of.” 

Woohyun was now on the other side of the room, piling sweatshirt over sweatshirt as some makeshift armor. “It’s a shame that it got him,” Woohyun added. “And now we have to kill him?”

“Do we? Do we really have to?” Dongwoo argued. “Can’t we save him?”

“No,” Hoya responded. His words carried weight as if they were law, and they had been law this whole time. He was their leader now. “There’s no time. We have to get him before he gets us.”

<><><><><><><><><><> 

“We have to get him before he gets us,” Sungyeol whispered harshly to Myungsoo, who was standing closely next to him. “Are you ready?”

“Eung,” Myungsoo nodded and gripped the sides of the blanket tightly.

Their plan was simple. Myungsoo was going to throw the blanket over his head, and like a net (hopefully), it would trap him underneath it, rendering him unable to move. And then Sungyeol was going to beat the crap out of it with Woohyun’s portable keyboard that they found in the room. It was heavy, and Sungyeol could barely hold onto it. But the keyboard should bludgeon it, maybe even to death. 

“Okay,” Sungyeol said, unlocking the door. He looked back at Myungsoo as he reached for the doorknob. “It’s go time!” 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The two of them screamed. Myungsoo threw the blanket over it. Fortunately, it had worked at planned, and even better. It tripped over the blanket and fell onto the floor. Then Myungsoo closed his eyes shut and turned away as he hear the thud, thud, thud of Sungyeol hitting it over and over again with the keyboard, all while screaming at it and telling it to “DIE! JUST DIE!”

Then all Myungsoo could hear was heavy panting. He opened his eyes and craned his neck. Sungyeol was standing over it, still covered in the blanket. A pool of red was staining the formerly white sheet. Sungyeol then tossed the keyboard aside. “He’s dead,” he claimed without any life in his voice. He then turned to Myungsoo with his eyes wide in surprise. “I…I just killed him…it’s over.”

<><><><><><><><><><> 

Hoya scanned the room. He let out a deep sigh. This was it, his team. Woohyun was almost immobile; he could barely move under all of those layers of clothing. And Dongwoo…Dongwoo was in the midst of having a moral crisis, still sitting on the bed with his head in his hands, muttering about “life” and “right.” Hoya clapped his hands together, hoping to snap the two out of it. “Let’s go,” he commanded.

Woohyun quickly grabbed Dongwoo’s patchika and hobbled over next to Hoya by the door, and Dongwoo tried too…but when he tried to take a step forward, his foot was held in its place. He could feel a hand tightening around his ankle. “G-guys,” he whimpered quietly. “I can’t move.”

The other two turned slowly towards him with their jaws unhinged and eyes round in terror. “N-no,” Woohyun stammered. “DONGWOO! NO!”

It was too late. Dongwoo fell forward onto the floor and was crying for the other two to help him (or to run) as he was being dragged quickly under the bed.

“DONGWOO!” Woohyun yelled again. He tried to go towards his friend, but Hoya grabbed him and pulled him out into the hallway. After the door was slammed shut, Woohyun pushed Hoya off of him. “What are you doing? We can still save him!”

Hoya grabbed at his collar. “No, no we can’t! We have to go! Now!” he yelled, yanking Woohyun along with him. But Woohyun wouldn’t budge. Hoya groaned and shouted, “Fine, die with Dongwoo! I’m going to go and live.” And with that, he ran down the hallway.

Woohyun bounced on the balls of his feet, looking back and forth between the shut door and Hoya. He cursed under his breath and ran after Hoya. Tears filled his eyes.

Within a few seconds, Woohyun had caught up with Hoya, and the both of them caught up with Myungsoo and Sungyeol, poking at a lump under a red-stained blanket. Hearing the footsteps approach them, Sungyeol perked his head up and saw Woohyun and Hoya. “I killed him!” he exclaimed jovially. “It’s over.”

“No, it’s not!” Hoya bore the bad news. “RUN!”

“W-what?” Sungyeol stammered, seeing Woohyun and Hoya blow right past him. Then he saw Myungsoo get up out of the corner of his eye and chase after the others. He got to his feet too.

“What do you mean that it isn’t over?”

<><><><><><><><><><><><> 

The four of them found sanctuary in a janitor’s closet. Hoya hoped that the stench of ammonia and other cleaning supplies would be enough to mask their own. And that was assuming that those things didn’t hunt by smell.

“Dongwoo-hyung’s gone?” Myungsoo asked. He couldn’t believe it. But judging by Woohyun’s uncontrolled whimpers and Hoya’s stone-face, it was true. He felt tears welling up his own eyes. “Why?!” he shouted angrily. “WHY?! I thought there was only one! And Sungyeol killed him!”

“There was never only one,” Hoya hated doing this. Why did he always have to bear the bad news? He had to tell the others about Sungjong and about the entire situation in the first place. He was even starting to hate himself.

“What? He’s here?” Woohyun asked with a shaky voice. He looked about the closet at the others. “He can’t be!”

Sungyeol leaned closer to Hoya and whispered lest he’d upset the others even more, “Did you see him?”

Hoya shook his head. “I couldn’t get a good look, but I don’t know who else it could be. He’s the one that started this all.”

“It can’t be him. It just can’t,” Woohyun muttered, clasping his hands around his knees and rocking back and forth. “It can’t be him. It just can’t.”

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The door shook under the hits, as if it was being hit by a battering ram. And now the handle was shaking violently. It was only a matter of time before he got into here too. Hoya stood up, tightening his grip around the ice pick. “You guys head for the pool,” he ordered. “It hates the water. It can’t swim.”

Myungsoo sniffed loudly and looked up at the rapper. “What about you?”

“I’m going to try to kill it.”

“Hyung! NO!” Sungyeol argued back. Hoya swallowed. Sungyeol was being serious. He hadn’t called Hoya formally as ‘hyung’ in years. Sungyeol’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his socket at any second. “It’s going to kill you.”

Hoya took in a deep breath. He can’t change his mind. There wasn’t time. “Look,” he began. “Out of all of us, I have the best chance of killing him and surviving. And if not…” He gulped and took in the remaining members’ faces for possibly the last time. “I’ll buy you enough time to escape.” 

“Hyung,” Sungyeol begged again.

But Myungsoo wasn’t so against it. He got up from his seat, walked over, and hugged Hoya. “I love you, hyung. Thank you,” he murmured into Hoya’s neck, clutching him more tightly.

Hoya hugged him back and then pulled the younger off of him, only to be replaced by Woohyun. “I love you too.”

“Me too,” Sungyeol added, joining in on the hug.

“While this is nice, if we stay like this, we’re all going to die,” Hoya meant for it to be a joke, but there was too much truth in it. The other three immediately stepped back from the rapper.

“Good luck,” Woohyun wished him.

“You too,” Hoya returned, fixing his eyes on the other instead of the others. He grabbed the door knob. “On three…One…two…THREE!” he yelled, opening up the door and lunging onto the monster behind it.

The other three didn’t even turn to look behind them as they sprinted down the hallway. It was better not to know at this point. And after climbing only one flight of stairs, they reached the rooftop pool. The three of them jumped into the pool as soon as they reached it. When they broke through the surface, they were grasping and frantically treading water.

“Do you think it got him?” Sungyeol asked the other two. 

“We’ll see,” Woohyun responded, breathing more heavily than the rest. He was struggling. His several layers soaked up the water and was weighing him down. He didn’t know how much longer he could tread water. He was about to swim towards the shallow end, when Myungsoo’s panic-stricken face stopped him. “W-what?”

“It’s here.”

Woohyun spun back around, and saw it grabbing a raft, putting it in the water, and climbing on. “Can it do that?”

“It just did!” Sungyeol yelled. It had just successfully gotten on top of the raft and was now paddling towards them. Sungyeol immediately dove under the water and made his way to the end of the pool. When he reached the pool’s edge, he gripped it and pulled himself up. And once he was out, he saw Myungsoo reaching the edge, with his hand thrust out of the water for Sungyeol to grab. Sungyeol took his hand and pulled his friend out of the water. “Woohyun?” Sungyeol asked. Myungsoo just shook his head. Sungyeol lifted his head, and that’s when he saw it. It was hard to see through all of the splashing water. But there was Woohyun flailing. And it was dunking him into and out of the water mercilessly.

“We have to go,” Myungsoo said, still holding Sungyeol’s hand and pulling him away from the pool. But just within a few steps, he realized it. They were stuck, trapped on the rooftop. “Uh oh.”

Sungyeol spun his head around desperately. “There!” he yelled, pointing at shrub. It wasn’t much. It was barely anything, but it was their only hope.

The two of them ran and hid behind the shrub, just barely wide enough to cover the two of them. Right as they sat down, Sungyeol brought his finger to his lips, motioning to the other to be silent. Myungsoo nodded, even holding his breath. He just closed his eyes and leaned against the other. They had seen much today, too much. But they were quite possibly going to die in a few seconds. Myungsoo opened up one eye cautiously and then the other. If they were going to die, Myungsoo at least wanted his last sight to be of one of the members he loved dearly. Then maybe…he could at least die happily, thinking of those memories, of good times that they had together. He raised his head slowly to look up at Sungyeol’s face. And the other must’ve been thinking the same thing. He was looking down at Myungsoo with warm eyes (and his eyes finally returning to their normal size).

That’s when Myungsoo say it. “What?” Sungyeol barely moved his lips when he spoke. 

“Don’t move. It’s right behind you.”

“WHAT?!” Sungyeol didn’t just move. He flinched. He yelled. He got its attention. And now Sungyeol was being dragged away from behind the bush.

Myungsoo shut his eyes again. He didn’t want to see this, especially this. But he heard it, and it sounded like Sungyeol was thrown off from the edge of the rooftop. Myungsoo got up and tried to run, run with his eyes still closed shut. But he soon fell down, the pavement digging into his skin. Even more harshly now with the weight on top of him. Myungsoo flipped over and opened his eyes again, seeing his leader looming over him with a animalistic sneer on his face. “H-hyung! You don’t have to be like this! I can help you!” Myungsoo yelled desperately, but this really was his last hope.

Sunggyu leaned in and growled, “This is what you get for leaving me behind in Hong Kong.”

….

“Pbft!” Myungsoo sputtered. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Sunggyu let him go and watched the visual, rolling around on the ground in laughter. 

“Aaaaand cut!” Woohyun announced. He had taken off all of his layers and was now wrapped in a towel. He walked up to Sunggyu and Myungsoo with Dongwoo right next to him. Dongwoo shuffled over to Myungsoo, throwing a towel onto the visual so that he could dry off. “Good job, you guys! We can edit out the last part and Sunggyu-hyung’s voice to make it scarier.” 

“You guys,” Sungjong began but had to soon stop to regain his breath. He was clutching a camera tightly in his hand. “Ran around too much. Did we really have to get this in one-shot.” He glared over at Woohyun. “You’re editing it anyway.” 

Woohyun shrugged, “I didn’t think we’d have time.”

Hoya came up to their sides. “Do you think Hyoan-hyung is hurt?” he asked, looking about nervously.

“I don’t know,” Sungyeol said and appeared over the ‘edge’ of the roof (which only led onto a sunken patio). He climbed over the ledge. “I’m a little to afraid to check.” 

Woohyun walked over, bent down next to Sunggyu, and put his arm around the leader. “Now are you going to stop complaining that you weren’t in the last one, hyung?” he teased.

Sunggyu pouted and tried to shake off the other. “I never complained…I just don’t like being left out,” he lied. 

“But now you’re the star…alongside Myungsoo, of course,” Woohyun added. “And it’s another masterpiece from Nam Director. Woooo!” he cheered. He got up and took the camera away from the maknae. It was time to edit his new film.

But he didn’t leave everybody behind. Sungyeol was hot on his trail. “Yah! You’re going to put my name on it more than once this time, right? And in big letters? This was all my idea!”

WHAT HAPPENED…IN JAPAN!

Prompt:Infinite shenanigans in their hotel room when they went to japan,please! (It doesn’t have to be in their hotel room

Outlier

Prompt: sunggyu a 42 years old man, fallin love with24 yo woohyun.. Apparently their love story works smoothly .. a fluff please? Thank you❤

Name: Nam Woohyun, DOB: February 8^th, Age: 24, Occupation: 3^rd Grade teacher

Aquarius: Often called geniuses, Aquarias grasp highly technical subjects with ease, and keep their focus firmly on tomorrow. Aquarius’ role is to break down established structures and replace what has been swept away with something better. Aquarius have their inherent rebellious streak: They must challenge the status quo.

Woohyun believed in many things. Some would call them ‘superstitions,’ others ‘outright myths.’ But Woohyun believed in them anyway, like destiny, aliens, ghosts, horoscopes, etc. So it’s not too hard to imagine his recent fascination with psychology, which some old science fanatics deem to be a pseudo-science. But to Woohyun, all of it was as real as the ghost in his closet (the maintenance guy said it was just the water heater, but water heaters don’t moan).

Unfortunately, psychology was only a hobby of his. It’s unfortunate because he would be making much more money as a psychologist than he currently was making as an elementary school teacher. However, he did make some extra money on the weekends by participating in experiments at the University nearby. And at one of those experiments was were he met him for the first time.

Name: Kim Sunggyu, DOB: April 28, Age: 42, Occupational: Research Psychologist

Taurus: A Taurus is incredibly practical, reliable, and steadfast. They also have a strong conservative streak. Passive resistance is a Bull’s specialty. In terms of lifestyle, Taurus like to stay home and surround themselves with all kinds of comforts. Their  focus is on the here and now, with the added role of preserving what was created yesterday, and crave social approval.

He was overseeing a psychology students’ experiment that Woohyun was participating in, a simple experiment on memory, one that Woohyun had done several times before. And although he had done it several times before, and visited the campus even more times, this was the first time Woohyun had ever seen the doctor. And he looked bored, yawning as his student was delivering the instructions. Woohyun smiled. It was obvious. He was new to the school, and probably new to overseeing graduate students. Woohyun laughed to himself and his amateur analysis of the man. And that’s when the old man lifted his head and their gaze met for the first time.

Gazes, they weren’t supposed to feel like that. They weren’t supposed to send a tingling sensation coursing through his body and make the small hairs on his arms and neck stand on its end. But it did. And the only word running through Woohyun’s mind was ‘fate.’

However fate comes in all forms. Not all fateful meetings end with love. They could be fated to be enemies or friends, maybe even rivals. They were fated to be something. But fate is tricky like that. It takes awhile to figure it out. Woohyun doubted that they were supposed to be lovers though. They weren’t supposed to be a good match. Not only their signs clashed, but their ages did as well. There seemed to be too many obstacles in their path.

Aquarius and Taurus: Because both of you are fixed signs, neither of you is likely to make a concerted effort to resolve conflicts that crop up. Both of you learned early in life that you can win arguments by employing your steely resolve. This inevitably leads to an impasse. If one or both of you has compatible earthor waterplanets in your individual charts there could be flexibility on at least on one side. Let’s hope so! Otherwise, you both are going to have to try very hard to abandon your stubbornness.

However:

Tauri remain physically attractive well into old age.

And Sunggyu fulfilled that aspect of that sign very well. Woohyun was attracted, dragged into his pull. And perhaps the feelings were mutual. Or at least Sunggyu didn’t take his eyes off of Woohyun while he was completing the experiment.

When it was over, the professor came up to Woohyun. “You,” he began looking at Woohyun in astonishment. “Are you a genius? You performed exceptionally well.” 

“Well,” Woohyun said with an embarrassed chuckle. He had been caught. “I’ve done this before. And I might have learned a trick or two to help me memorize some of the words. Like clustering them.” 

Sunggyu stared at him blankly and then broke out into a laugh. “Well, there’s always an outlier,” he said after coming down from laughing. “Thank you for ruining my student’s experiment.”

Woohyun grinned. “Anytime.”

And Woohyun did, or at least he tried. Half of the fun of taking the experiments was to guess at what the study really was. And Sunggyu, as the recent hire who had to oversee most of the experiments, was more than willing to divulge the answer to Woohyun. Well, that was a part of the required post-test regiment after each experiment, but the conversations they would have weren’t. They would talk about the semantics of the experiment, how the other participants performed. 

After one experiment, during which the graduate student was being peculiarly chatty, Woohyun came out of the room and Sunggyu watched him come out with an amused smile on his face. “She was trying to seduce you,” he explained.

“Well, she failed,” Woohyun retorted. 

“I can see that,” Sunggyu added and jotted a few things down into his notebook. “So…was she not your type?” he asked, barely looking up from the notebook. 

Woohyun chuckled. “You could say that.” He paused and waited for Sunggyu to raise his head and shoot him his usual curious glare before continuing, “And it was really obvious. She was being too sweet, and I’ve done an experiment with her before. She’s normally kind of standoffish.”

Sunggyu laughed. “You’re going to mess it up for her.”

On the inside Woohyun was incredibly pleased, but he tried to mask it as best he could, acting cool. He shrugged. “There’s always an outlier.” 

“True,” Sunggyu agreed with a nod. “And at least we know why.” 

Woohyun leaned in closer and spoke in a teasing voice, “Or do you?” He then left the professor behind, pondering the implications of that statement. And after awhile, he could hear Sunggyu softly laughing behind him.

**********

“Do you…want to come to this conference with me?” Sunggyu suddenly asked after an experiment one day. “I mean,” he cleared his throat. “It’s being held on campus, and it’s open to the public. Or you could not spend your weekend listening to boring lectures about cognition and do whatever kids these days do?”

Woohyun scoffed. Kid…he gritted his teeth. “No, I’d like to come,” he replied.

“Alright then. Here’s the flyer,” Sunggyu said and handed a yellow flyer to Woohyun.

Woohyun took it and smiled. “Save me a seat,” he commanded before leaving.

Surprisingly, Sunggyu did save Woohyun a seat, right next to him. But even though he had a seat, Woohyun felt out of place. Several people had notebooks or laptops to take notes on the lectures. Open up to the public my ass. There barely seemed to be a layperson in the room, except for the old man in the corner. He seemed to be there for the free cookies and refreshments that came with these kinds of things. 

And then Sunggyu stood up. Woohyun’s eyes widened. Don’t leave me. He didn’t. Sunggyu walked up to the front of the room. He then began introducing the first speaker. It became clear that Sunggyu was running the panel and had to introduce every single one of the papers. It was strange. Woohyun was finally seeing him as being more than just the bored advisor for his students’ experiments. He was a scholar, and an important one judging by the fact that he was running the panel.

And by the fact that after the session, Sunggyu was bombarded by several of his colleagues. However, only after stomaching a few seconds of small talk, Sunggyu stretched his neck, looking for someone. Their gazes met again. “Oh, I brought a student along with me,” Woohyun heard the other speak loudly. “If you excuse me, I have some things to discuss with him.” He then broke his way out of the crowd and walked up to Woohyun, greeting him with a small smile.

“Ah!” Woohyun exclaimed, nodding knowingly. “So that’s why you invited me. To get you out of schmoozing.” He shot the other an accusing glare before softening it into a smile.

“Not entirely,” Sunggyu argued, leading Woohyun to the refreshment table.

Woohyun fixed his eyes on the other and cocked his head. “But partially,” he countered.

“Yes,” Sunggyu quickly gave in. Then he pointed to the spread on the table. “These are free, you know. Don’t you kids thrive on free food?”

Woohyun stopped himself from grabbing five cookies. He turned to the other and pouted. “I’m not a kid,” he declared. “I’m an adult with a grown-up job. I take care of kids!” Screw it. He took a cookie and took a large bite out of it. “I’m not like one of your students,” he fought back, crumbs spilling out of his mouth.

Sunggyu smiled at him. “No, you’re not.”

“Then why else did you invite me?” Woohyun asked.

The professor took a long sip from his coffee, before answering, “I like talking to you. You have an interesting perspective on things.”

“What am I? Just one of your test subjects that you like to observe?” Woohyun joked.

Sunggyu shrugged. “I’m a psychologist. I observe people. It’s my job.” He then leaned in closer and spoke in a low voice, “Now what did you think about the second paper.”

Woohyun chuckled, slightly ashamed. “To be honest, it put me to sleep,” he admitted. “The person has a very monotone voice.”

Sunggyu nodded and enthusiastically pointed at him. “Right!”

When the sessions were over for the day, it was dinnertime. And as a thank you for giving him an excuse to escape making small talk with the other psychologists, Sunggyu offered to buy Woohyun dinner, which Woohyun readily accepted because he had nothing more in his fridge than a maybe an egg and some vegetables on the verge of expiring. Besides, he was a ‘kid.’ If he didn’t monopolize on free food, he was an idiot.

But nothing was ever truly free. And this meal came at the price of Woohyun’s curiousity. “I was wondering,” Woohyun began as he was pushing his food around on the plate. This place was fancier than the usual family restaurants that he frequented. “Why didn’t you bring your students with you?”

“They were there,” Sunggyu quickly answered. “Some of them even presented.”

Woohyun dropped his spoon and placed his hands in his lap. “Oh…”

“It’s just nice to get away from academia sometimes,” Sunggyu explained. “If I were to ask them about a paper, they’d give a well thought out reply with critiques and praises about the study, which they probably didn’t honestly care about, but because I asked them, they pretend to care. But it’s not like that with you.” He paused. Woohyun raised an eyebrow, silently begging him to continue. “You’re not trying to impress me, and you’re honest.”

“The study with the building blocks and three year-olds was stupid,” Woohyun declared loudly with a cheeky grin. If the other wanted honesty, he was more than willing to give it.

“Yes it was!” Sunggyu agreed again as if he was dying to say it himself. “Of course, they are going to build something. And they reached too far.”

“And the lady looked like a frog,” Woohyun added.

Sunggyu shook his head. “I’m surprised that she didn’t hop up to the podium.”

The two of them laughed together for awhile. Once it abated Woohyun leaned over the table. “You know which one I thought was interesting?” he asked.

Sunggyu slightly leaned over the table as well. “The one with the puppy?”

“Well, yea,” Woohyun admitted with a small chuckle. Then he rest his chin in his hand and finally revealed it, “But also the one that claimed to make people fall in love just by asking 36 questions.”

Sunggyu closed his eyes, shaking his head while laughing in disbelief. “Those types of studies are the reason why some people think that psychology is a pseudo-science.” He paused, chewing his lower lip in thought. “But…”

“But?” Woohyun urged the other to continue.

“I can see why it works,” Sunggyu confessed, leaning back into his chair. “You put everything out in the open from the beginning.”

“What about the end?” Woohyun inquired. Sunggyu cocked his head in confusion. “When they have to look at each other for four minutes?” 

“Ah!” Sunggyu exclaimed. “I can’t imagine doing that.”

“Have you ever tried?” Woohyun challenged.

“No,” Sunggyu responded with a scoff. He then looked at the other with wide eyes. “Have you?!”

Woohyun laughed at the other’s reaction. “No,” he confessed. “But I’d like to.” He spoke carefully, and when he ended, he slowly lifted his gaze to meet Sunggyu’s. The air between them seemed to be tense.

Too tense for Sunggyu. He looked away first. “You’re ridiculous.”

After the dinner, they exchanged phone numbers. Woohyun felt a bit weird. Other than his parents, Sunggyu was the oldest person in his contacts list. But they had a lot in common, surprisingly. He had asked for the number because Sunggyu had gotten tickets to watch the national soccer team play, and who he was supposed to go with couldn’t anymore. His friend couldn’t find a babysitter for the evening. Problems that Woohyun couldn’t imagine having yet. With Sunggyu, Woohyun sometimes felt incredibly young, but mostly, it felt comfortable. They had a lot in common, not just their love for soccer. The conversation naturally flowed, and although Woohyun was significantly younger, Sunggyu was good-natured and didn’t mind the younger ribbing and teasing him. Actually it seemed to be quite the opposite. He might’ve even enjoyed it. 

Aquarius and Taurus: We are only studying Sun signs here. If the Aquarius has lots of Capricorn planets in his horoscope (which is possible since Venus, the Moon Mercury and even Mars could be close to the Sun at any given time), you will find this relationship far easier than I have described. Something drew you two together, so have a look at your full horoscopes to get the entire picture.

It had been four months since they had begun hanging out, outside of experiments and the conference. And they had done a lot. They had gone to movies, eaten meals together, and they even went shopping once when Woohyun needed to pick out a gift for his father and claimed that no one understood an old man’s wants more than an other old man, which earned him a sharp slap on the head, but Sunggyu came anyways. They had done a lot, but there were some things that they still haven’t done. Woohyun was itching to do them. Sunggyu was starting to sense that and began distancing himself away from the young man. And when Woohyun was starting to think that this was the extent of their shared fate together, Sunggyu suddenly called him, inviting him to a conference that was out of town. He claimed that he didn’t do well in uncomfortable situations and needed something that would put him at ease. He needed Woohyun. Sunggyu quickly undercut that compliment by saying all of his graduate students were too busy to attend. Woohyun still agreed to go anyways. He still had an interest in psychology and maybe he could learn something more (and perhaps just a small bit of him wanted to see Sunggyu deliver his lecture. Woohyun had seen Sunggyu through his most recent experiment and was curious to see it come to fruition). 

At the conference, Woohyun pretended to be Sunggyu’s assistant, which also gave him the excuse to never leave the other’s side. And then he got to watch Sunggyu present, which was a bit surreal, seeing him so serious when Woohyun was used to the old man joking like a child and lazing around. Also that was when Woohyun realized that the other meant when he said that he needed someone to put him at ease. Although Sunggyu could be loud and extroverted, he became almost shy when he was presenting. Which was understandable. He was putting himself and his work up for immediate criticism which he had politely respond to lest he’d be seen as arrogant. Whenever his voice started to quiver or he began to break a sweat, Sunggyu would look for Woohyun in the audience, who was attentively listening and would give him an encouraging smile. Sunggyu would then get the strength to continue. 

Woohyun found it all ironic. Things between them couldn’t be more tense, but Woohyun still could manage to put the other at ease during stressful situations. What did it mean? Woohyun hoped that it meant the tension would soon snap, and they’d finally give in. But it seemed like he was hoping foolishly, until that evening.

They returned to the hotel room that they were sharing that night. Sunggyu was still in his suit, laying on his stomach in one of the two beds. They had gotten champagne to celebrate the professor’s successful presentation, but it didn’t appear like Sunggyu was enjoying it. He just laid in the bed, tipping the flute in his hands instead of drinking the wine.

“I’ve never really liked this stuff,” he finally confessed with a pout. “Too bubbly.”

Woohyun sipped out of his own glass as he sat down on the other bed. “Then why’d you buy it?” he asked.

Sunggyu shrugged. “It felt more celebratory then just getting a beer.” He then finally took a sip and immediately grimaced.

“Here,” Woohyun said as he got up, walked over to Sunggyu, and took the flute away from his hands. Woohyun took a swig from it before setting it on the nightstand. Sunggyu looked up at him confused. “I’ll go get you some beer,” he announced as he slipped back on his shoes, preparing to leave. But then he stopped. Sunggyu was practically cackling, almost drunkenly so even though he only had a sip. Woohyun tilted his head.

“They think you’re a gold digger,” Sunggyu explained. 

“Who are they?”

“People. Family, friends, some of my students.”

“Why didn’t somebody tell me?” Woohyun asked in mock disbelief. “I should be taking more advantage of my sugar daddy.”

Sunggyu immediately winced. “Please…please don’t call me that.”

“Hm?”

“No sugar daddy,” Sunggyu grumbled. “No daddy or Appa or old man…ahjussi…”

Woohyun looked at the other blankly for a few seconds. “Then what am I supposed to call you? Hyung?” he asked. At the last suggestion, a small smile spread across the elder’s face. And somehow that made Woohyun feel frustrated. He’s not the only one with complaints. “I don’t like it when you call me ‘kid,’” Woohyun declared.

Sunggyu lifted his head. “Why?”

“Probably for the same reason you hate being called ‘old man.’”

They stared at each other. Woohyun could feel the tension tightening again. Fibers of the thread were being to fray and snap from the stress. Sunggyu looked away first again. “We can’t,” he muttered. Then he shot a quick glance at the other. “Can we?”

“I don’t know,” Woohyun honestly confessed. That answer seemed to depress the other. Sunggyu laid down fully on the bed again. “How about we try those questions, hyung? The 36?” Woohyun suggested.

“Right,” Sunggyu said with a grunt, sitting up on the bed. “Might knock some sense into our heads.” Woohyun began to grin. He had been chomping at the bit to conduct this experiment, especially with Sunggyu. “But first things first…get the beer.”

25. Make 3 true “we” statements each.

Sunggyu: We’re in this hotel room drinking beer.

Woohyun: Hyung!

Sunggyu: Your turn. Go.

Woohyun: We’re both sitting on the same bed.

Sunggyu: When did that happen? (pauses) We’re attracted to each other.

Woohyun: We want this.

Sunggyu: But we’re not sure that it’s a good idea.

Woohyun: I thought it said to make true ‘we’ statements.

Sunggyu: Fine…I’m not sure. But we shouldn’t be compatible.

Woohyun: But we…we get along really well?

Sunggyu: We do.

If they learned anything from this little ‘experiment’ it was that this truly did knock some sense into their head. The both of them had to be in denial. They were beyond just simply liking each other or being attracted. It was evident in their answers. Although their answers didn’t match each other’s at times, they would talked about it until they reached a compromise. They did it naturally without thinking twice about it. And it wasn’t like pulling teeth. It was more of a gentle act of giving and taking.

Then it was finally time for the final part, gazing at each other for 4 minutes. Which Woohyun on many occasions tried to get the other to do several times. He was more curious to know what it felt like, and now that he was unabashedly staring at Sunggyu for a lengthy amount of time, it wasn’t as awkward as he thought it was. Nor did the time move slowly either, like he feared it would. But he couldn’t put his finger on the feeling though. It was a mixture between fascination, anxiety, feeling defenseless and in control all at the same time. 

Sunggyu, on the other hand, appeared to be spending most of his time thinking. The creases on his forehead deepened. His eyes carefully scanned the younger’s face. But then all of the sudden, the creases smoothed out and his eyes still on Woohyun’s lips. The tension melted away. “F**k it,” he cursed, leaned over, and kissed Woohyun.

Nam Woohyun: age 30, currently unemployed

Kim Sunggyu: age 48, still a research psychologist

Woohyun suddenly plopped onto the coffee table, in front of the arm chair that Sunggyu was currently sitting in and reading a newspaper. They were living together and had been for some years. However, were things still okay between them? Woohyun began pondering that as he stared at the other. Sunggyu sensing the other’s presence looked up, matching the other’s gaze. After awhile the old man wiped his face. “What? Do I have something on my face?” he asked but Woohyun only shrugged in response. Sunggyu then sighed and looked back down at his newspaper. “You’re weird” 

Woohyun frowned and looked down at his watch. “1 minute and 30 seconds,” he announced. “You only lasted 1 minute and 30 seconds! What’s happening to us, hyung?”

Sunggyu laughed, realizing what the other was trying to do. “That’s a pretty good record actually,” he countered.

“It’s no 4 minutes,” Woohyun grumbled back.

Sunggyu looked clearly amused by Woohyun’s disgruntled expression. “We already fell in love,” he remarked.

“But are we still in love?” the younger challenged.

Sunggyu then placed his newspaper aside and gestured at the other to come over. Woohyun did, squeezing into the arm chair, conforming his body to the others and putting his arm around him. Sunggyu raised his arm and began patted his head. “What do you think?” he asked gently.

“You know, there’s a lot of reasons why we shouldn’t work out,” Woohyun looked up at the other.

“But there’s always an outlier,” Sunggyu replied.

“Yea,” Woohyun agreed and rest his head back down on Sunggyu’s shoulder. But then he jolted up straight. “Oh shit! Myungsoo!”

Name: Kim Myungsoo, DOB: March 8^th, Age: 7, Occupation: child of Kim Sunggyu and Nam Woohyun

“I can’t believe I almost forgot to pick him up from school!”

*********

A/N: I took all the horoscope information from this website (hence the hyperlinks sorry!): http://www.astrologyzone.com

also the experiment is real. Here are the 36 questions: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/fashion/no-37-big-wedding-or-small.html

Maybe?

Prompt: It’s come to Sungkyu’s attention that his friends don’t believe he’s straight. Even his ex-gf says she assumed he was bi-curious and wth is up with that?

(A/N: I played around with this a bit and here’s what I came up with. This probably wasn’t what you had in mind, but it’s what I got. haha)

Hoya was sitting on the couch, writing lyrics. It was one of the few quiet and peaceful moments in the apartment. Dongwoo was fast asleep. That boy seemed like an endless bundle of energy, until you lay him down. Then he’d go out like a light. Which was exactly what Hoya did. He laid Dongwoo down on his bed just so he could get a few moments of uninterrupted “Hoya” time. Which unfortunately was interrupted right now by the second biggest distraction in his life: Kim Sunggyu. Who by the look of his dumbfounded face was ready to demand much of Hoya’s attention.

“What is it?” Hoya asked, feigning concern. After all, Sunggyu was technically their leader so he demanded their respect.

“I…I think I just got dumped,” Sunggyu replied lifelessly as he slumped onto the couch.

Well, this is interesting. Hoya put down his notebook and turned towards the elder. “What do you mean ‘I think’? You either know or you don’t,” the rapper demanded.

“Well,” Sunggyu replied, avoiding Hoya’s eyes. “She said that I should explore my options and that we could have an open relationship and she wouldn’t mind at all.” He then glanced over to the rapper who was holding his mouth agape and his eyes wide. Sunggyu’s throat tightened. The next admission clung to his throat. He wanted to get it out because it hurt him, but…it was hard. Hoya will understand. Sunggyu confessed quickly, like ripping off a bandaid, “She thinks that I’m attracted guys too.” He cleared his throat and looked away, stretching his arms behind him. “So, yea, that started a fight and I may have technically been the one to break it off, but she started it.”

Nothing. Silence. Which was strange coming from Hoya who loved nothing more than to slice Sunggyu apart with his sharp tongue. Curious, Sunggyu turned his head to face the other, only to see Hoya trying his best to hold back laughter, his cheeks threatening to burst. And then it all poured forth.

“Hyung,” Hoya squeaked through his roaring laughter. “You…she thinks you’re gay!”

Sunggyu frowned and crossed his arms. “Yes, yes,” he admitted. “My life is a joke.”

Then the laughter stopped. Hoya straightened himself up. “Well are you?” he asked in all seriousness.

Sunggyu rolled his eyes. “What do you think?”

“I asked you first,” Hoya quickly retorted. It was best to be careful in this situation. It was delicate, and Sunggyu has a quick and violent temper. It could easily go wrong so fast.

“No,” Sunggyu replied. Then he cocked his head. “At least I don’t think so.” And with that, Sunggyu felt something bubbling at the pit of his stomach. It was hard to contain, and it was going to spill over soon. But what was it? Anger? Curiosity? Embarrassment? Whatever it was, it found it’s way out. “I mean, it’s not like I’m Lee Sungjong!”

“Sungjong is straight,” Hoya combated with a quirk of his eyebrow.

Sunggyu waved his hand. “That’s not what I meant,” he fought back. “I’m man!” He looked over at Hoya, and the rapper’s threatening eyebrow did not go down. “I mean, not that Sungjong is a girl. I just have more masculine qualities than he does.”

Hoya shrugged. “That’s debatable.”

Sunggyu sighed. He should really be having this conversation with Dongwoo or Myungsoo. Someone who wouldn’t make him feel worse than he already did. But… “But you know how I feel,” Sunggyu began. “Didn’t you feel the same way when people assumed that of you?”

Finally, Hoya agreed. “Yea, I think it was weird. But it was because of a role and I’m just too good of an actor,” he coolly praised himself. Sunggyu rolled his eyes again, but that didn’t stop the rapper from continuing, “Many people assume idols are gay for several reasons. Like Lee Hongki for his nail art and Kim Heechul because…”

“He’s Kim Heechul,” Sunggyu filled in with a slight chuckle.

“Kwanghee too,” Hoya added. He then put his finger to his lips in thought as he stared carefully at his leader. “I wonder what it is for you,” he thought aloud.

Sunggyu shifted, feeling uncomfortable under the other’s gaze. “I, uh, couldn’t tell you,” he responded.

“Do you think it’s…”

“Hey guys! I’m here! Did you miss me?” a voice boomed from the doorway. Sunggyu let out a deep breath of relief. He really didn’t want to hear Hoya’s hypothesis. This conversation only really gave Hoya opportunities for him to insult Sunggyu. And who just walked through the door, might finally give him the comfort he needed.

Sunggyu jumped off from the couch, leaving behind the pondering rapper, and walked over to the doorway. “You didn’t even give me a chance to miss you, Woohyun,” Sunggyu said as he leaned against the wall. “I just saw you this morning.”

“Yea, give us at least a month,” Hoya piped up, still on the couch.

Woohyun just chuckled and gave his usual grin as he pushed his way past Sunggyu into the kitchen. “Fine, I’ll just pick up some kimchi and run back. We ran out,” he explained as he dug through the fridge.

“Is that the only reason why you came here? To raid our fridge?” Sunggyu asked in mock shock, like this didn’t happen every other day. “I’m hurt.”

Woohyun pulled back out of the fridge, not with kimchi in his hand but one of Sunggyu’s expensive vitamin drinks. He twisted off the cap as he responded, “Of course, I’m here for hyung too.” He took a swig from the drink and dove back in.

“Right,” Sunggyu didn’t seem convinced. “Whatever.”

“Ah! That’s right!” Woohyun exclaimed as he pulled back out. This time he closed the door, nothing new in his hands. “You’re supposed to be on a date. What happened?”

Sunggyu sighed and replied, “We broke up.” Immediately after confessing that, he felt arms wrap around his shoulders, bringing him into a warm and tight embrace. There it was. The comfort he was looking for.

“I’m sorry, hyung,” Woohyun spoke lowly, giving the other a squeeze before letting go. “Is there no way it would work out?”

“You know how petty Sunggyu can be,” Hoya spoke from the couch again. The two vocals turned to see the rapper facing them with pen and paper in hand. “Once he’s broken up with them, it’s over.”

“That’s because I’m a cool guy,” Sunggyu retorted.

“Hey cool guy, tell Woohyun why you broke up,” Hoya suggested. Sunggyu glared at the rapper, biting back some choice words. He had a feeling telling Hoya first was a bad decision.

“What? Why?” Woohyun asked. He sounded honestly worried now. Better come clean or he’ll start guessing too, and I really don’t want to hear that.

“Because she think’s I’m attracted to men too,” Sunggyu blurted out so quickly that some of the words slurred together, but Woohyun still understood.

And laughed. “Hyung, why didn’t you tell me that you liked men?” he teased.

“Because I don’t!” Sunggyu shouted back.

Then Woohyun gasped. “Then you don’t like me?”

Sunggyu chuckled a bit at the other’s aghast expression. “Of course I do,” he answered back. Then he tore the now empty bottle from Woohyun’s grip. “But you only like me for my drinks. This was expensive. You owe me.”

Woohyun chuckled, having been caught. “But they’re delicious,” he excused himself. “And don’t you want me to be healthy? Oh! And if you really want to bring up owing somebody…” Woohyun let that hang in the air for a second.

Sunggyu immediately wrapped his arms around Woohyun and hugged him quickly while apologizing. “Okay okay okay! You don’t owe me anything. I’m sorry.”

“Next time you want someone to apply cream there, ask Dongwoo. I’m not doing it,” Woohyun defiantly declared.

“What? Cream where?” Hoya asked.

“Forget it!” Sunggyu barked back. “It was a one time thing. Stupid India…too many bugs,” he grumbled.

“And I’m still upset from the other day,” Woohyun said, folding his arms across his chest (but even though he was pretending to be upset, there was still a slight smile on his face. Play fighting brought both vocalists such joy).

Sunggyu sputtered into a slight laugh, “Really?”

Woohyun turned to face Hoya who was on the couch and pointed to Sunggyu. “Speaking about being gay, Sunggyu said that he would do it if it would finally land him a decent role, like it did for you,” Woohyun spoke as if it was the worst.

Hoya cocked an eyebrow. “And that’s bad because?”

“Hyung would be gay for a role but not for me,” Woohyun sadly answered.

Sunggyu rolled his eyes and gave Woohyun a shove. “Yah! You’re just upset because every time we’re asked ‘which of the members would you date?’ I never pick you. BUT you never pick me either! I should be upset too! Why don’t you pick me?” Sunggyu turned the question around.

“I’m out of your league,” Woohyun stated putting a hand over his heart.

“Please,” Sunggyu said with a scoff. “You don’t deserve me! I make more money than you!”

“If only if that could buy you a better personality and bigger heart,” Woohyun teased.

“Yah!” Sunggyu yelled while lunging at the other. He put Woohyun into a headlock. “What’s wrong with my personality, huh? I’m a very kind and caring person,” he argued as he tightened his hold on the younger.

“Right,” Woohyun gasped, tapping Sunggyu’s arm as a signal to let go. “Hyung is the best.”

“That’s right,” Sunggyu said, finally releasing him. 

“Yea, hyung is the best…at being the worst,” Woohyun retorted, sticking out his tongue.

“YAH!”

“Oh,” Hoya said as if he understood all about life and it’s mysteries. The two faced the rapper who was nodding to himself, on the couch (who had been forgotten up until now). 

“I think I know now where your girlfriend got it from.”

Sunggyu stared at him blankly. “Uh, got what?”

(A/N: This is largely based on everyday conversations that I have with my friend, Paesch. People assume the same of us as well. But you know what they say: when you assume something, it makes an “ass” out of “u” and “me.”)

Jealousy 

Prompt: Can you do a Drabble where Woohyun is jealous of Sunggyu and Minho after he watches Fluttering Indo?

(A/N: I played around with this one too…hehe sorry!)

Nam Woohyun had mixed feelings about Sunggyu going to India in the first place. 

Sunggyu did not travel well. Sunggyu did not like the heat. Sunggyu had to squeeze this trip in between schedules. And Sunggyu did not do well without rest. 

Woohyun, on the other hand, always wanted to go to India, and he was hoping that he’d be the next member to be sent overseas for a variety show. Sungyeol got to go to Belize. And after that, Dongwoo was sent into the jungle to join his long-lost animal brethren. Woohyun would be the next logical choice. Woohyun who was up for anything. Woohyun who always dreamed about being an MC. Woohyun who could actually drink the water in a foreign country.

But all of that was okay. Sunggyu promised to promote Infinite while he was there, and knowing their leader, he would take that mission seriously. Before he had left, he promised that the next time he’d go to India, it would be soon, it would be with the rest of the members, and it would be to have a concert there.

Woohyun was fine with all of that…but then the pre-show aired, and then episodes of the show were broadcast, and Sunggyu’s phone was incessantly buzzing with messages from the “Indo” group chat.

He honestly hated feeling this way. He tried not to because it could be detrimental to the team, but…god damn it! He was jealous.

But worse than being jealous, than seething in his seat as he watched Fluttering Indo (out of obligation), was the look on Sunggyu’s face, one of careful pity as he expected Woohyun to be upset at what he saw.

“What?” Woohyun barked after he couldn’t take Sunggyu’s glances anymore.

Sunggyu sighed and turned off the tv. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “You know, you don’t have to watch it.”

“I’m just making sure that you keep your promise,” he grumbled. “Turn it back on.”

“No,” Sunggyu snapped back. “You already saw me make a pink-promise with that woman and I showed you the card from the director. I held up my end of the bargain. You can stop watching now. It’s obviously making you upset.”

Woohyun rolled his eyes and faced the other. “And do you know why I’m upset?” he challenged darkly.

Sunggyu looked down and started picking at the seat cushion. “I have an idea,” he admitted after a strained silence. “Woohyun…it’s just television. Minho is…”

“My friend!” Woohyun cut him off.

Sunggyu took in a deep breath. “I know,” he said. “And that’s why I’m saying to not worry about it. It’s nothing.”

Woohyun made a strange sputtering noise and then chuckled darkly. “Hyung, you don’t know,” he spoke with a snide tone.

“I do!” Sunggyu fought back. “And I’m telling you that I like you more!”

“Don’t be so self-centered. Not everything is about you,” Woohyun bit back. “That’s not it at all. Minho is my friend,” he repeated the last sentence slowly. But Sunggyu was still staring at him blankly. He didn’t get it. “I’m not upset because he’s close to you. I’m upset that you’re close to him. He was my friend first,” he explained and ended with a pout.

Sunggyu sat there in silence for a few seconds, but then a small smile crept on his face as he nodded. “So it’s still about me,” he pointed out.

Woohyun groaned. “Fine it technically is,” he admitted quickly. 

“Isn’t better like this?” Sunggyu asked as he leaned his head back onto the headrest of the couch. He was turned onto his side, facing Woohyun across from him. “Now we’re both friends with him.”

“Hyung, I liked him because you weren’t friends with him. Shinee were supposed to be my friends. You said it yourself on that one show,” Woohyun ranted.

Sunggyu screwed up his face in thought. “I don’t get it. Isn’t Sungyeol also friends because of that whole 91-line thing?”

Woohyun sighed in frustration. Sunggyu wasn’t getting it and Woohyun didn’t want to admit it. “Sort of, but they all liked me more…until now,” Woohyun ended, glaring at Sunggyu, hoping that the elder would understand now.

“Oh,” Sunggyu finally got it. “You feel like I’m stealing your friends.”

“Yes,” Woohyun admitted. “And I don’t want to share everything with Infinite, with you…It was nice having a group of friends that were all mine. To get away from all of you guys. But now…they’re your friends too.” Now Sunggyu would be invited along to events that he hadn’t been before, probably befriend more of Woohyun’s friends there, become a permanent member of the group. And now all of the sudden, Woohyun’s little refuge, little reprieve from Infinite was now infiltrated by the most…Sunggyu-ish of all of the members.

“Look. You can still have Key. I don’t want him,” Sunggyu joked. But the look on Woohyun’s face told him that it wasn’t the time for joking. “Sorry,” he apologized again. “I’m sorry for being so charismatic,” he attempted at joking again and carefully watched Woohyun to gage his response.

“Don’t be sorry,” Woohyun mumbled. “I’m just being petty.” He rubbed his chest, hoping that this feeling would go away just as easily as he spoke those words. But it didn’t. It probably wouldn’t for awhile. It was never easy to see your good friend become closer with somebody else, even another good friend (which sometimes maybe made it hurt a bit more). “Of course you can be friends with Minho too.”

“I wasn’t going to stop just because of this,” Sunggyu pointed out. “After all, he did say that I was his favorite…of all the people who went to India,” he quickly added after seeing Woohyun’s frown deepen.

Woohyun drummed his fingers on his chest. It’s okay. You’re better looking and more likable than Sunggyu anyway. Even the fans voted you first that one time. You’ll make more friends. Like Kiu! Yea, Sunggyu would never want to hang out with him. A small spread across his face again and his chest felt less tight. He turned to Sunggyu. “And now what did you say? You like me a LOT more than Minho?” he asked with a coy smile.

Sunggyu cleared his throat and avoided Woohyun’s gaze. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Hey! Let’s watch me some more! Jonghyun said the funniest thing. I wonder if they’re going to air it. It’s probably not appropriate for tv though.”

(A/N: this was a problem that me and my older sister had all of the time. When we were in high school, some of our friends were shared between us, and neither of us liked it when one would favor the other. But sharing is caring? haha)