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Gunwook was nervous to go to Ricky's house and he knew he shouldn't be. It wasn't the first time they had a sleep over with the whole friend group, but he was still so nervous. And he knew the reason why too. Ricky and Taerae broke up 5 months ago. He was sure Taerae still hasn't moved on from Ricky and he couldn't blame the boy for it.
Even though they aren't in a relationship anymore, they were still close friends. It wasn't a bad break up, they just lost interest and it was better for them to stay friends-- if he believed what the two said. He had known Taerae long enough to see the way he looks at a person he really loves.
And he wished he was one of those people.
Gunwook didn't deny it anymore like he did in the past. He was in love with one of his best friends and he lost count for how long he had liked him. But he never confessed, he was too scared to. The boy didn't want to risk their friendship. He would rather be friends with him anyways.
At the least, that was what he was trying to convince himself. In reality, he knew he wanted to be more than friends, but he was terrified of even saying the words 'I love you'.
Gunwook felt his heart pounding against his chest when he was standing in front of Ricky's house. He was sure he was the last one to arrive, but he didn't mind. "Took you long enough." It was the first thing Gyuvin said as soon as he opened the door. "My parents wouldn't let me unless I came up with a good reason to leave the house." While it was usually the case, Gunwook was late because he was too focused on his feelings.
"Is Gunwook here?" He heard Ricky say from the living room. It was still a big surprise to him of how big Ricky's house was. It was normal to have a big home when your parents are extremely rich, but it was still a surprise to him. It was like a big white mansion you see in those kdrama's with rich families.
He was looking around the house trying not to look obvious that he was amazed, but hearing a chuckle leaving Ricky's mouth was enough for him to know that he was in fact being very obvious. "Acting like you have never been here." He could hear him mumble underneath his breath. "Where do I place my stuff?" Gunwook asked as he was finally looking at the person right in front of him. "Let me take it."
He walked into the living room and was immediately greeted by the others. "Always the last one to arrive. Can't believe you aren't like this in class." Zhanghao joked before receiving a small punch on his shoulder by Hanbin. "Don't be so mean to him. He has strict parents." Gunwook sat down on the empty chair near the television.
"I'm starving. Let's order some food now that Gunwook's here." Gyuvin suggested and everyone seemed to like that idea. "What about fried chicken?" Jiwoong spoke and no one was against that idea, so Ricky grabbed the phone and started to call Jinnie's food. It was the standard place they always called when they were over at Ricky's house. "Since Taerae lost the bet, he has to get the food for us." The boy said, but not without an evil grin on his face.
"This is abuse." Taerae joked and crossed his arms over his chest. Gunwook couldn't help but think that he looked extremely handsome like that. When he was realizing what he was thinking, he immediately looked the other way and felt his cheeks heating up.
Because of his natural blush, it wasn't always that obvious whenever he was blushing and he couldn't be more grateful about that.
"They'll be here in 40 minutes. Let's pick out a movie to watch tonight." Ricky said. "I will grab the mattresses from upstairs." Before he could walk up to the stairs, he was stopped by Taerae. "I'll help you with the mattresses." The boy smiled in respond. "Thank you, Rae." Rae, that stupid nickname. He could see the way Taerae's cheeks blush when he heard that nickname slip out of Ricky's mouth.
He knew the other said it as an accident, but he couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed by the way he made Taerae blush. As a friend, shouldn't he be happy? Shouldn't he help them get back together? He felt like a horrible friend for even feeling jealous of Ricky.
"Let's watch a horror movie." Yujin immediately suggested as soon as the two were gone from their sight. "But Taerae-" Gunwook was cut off by Gyuvin as if he didn't even try to talk. "It's funny to see Taerae scared." He raised an eye brow. "Okay, we'll pick a not so scary one then." He remembered the last time they watched a horror movie, Taerae didn't sleep all night because he was completely horrified from what he had seen.
Ricky stayed up all night comforting him and Gunwook stayed up all night listening to their conversations because he simply couldn't fall asleep. "Rae, it's fine. That movie was horrible." He was lying to him. Ricky enjoyed horror movies, he liked them the most out of everyone here. "Gunwook, what do you think of Eli?" He knew that movie, he had seen the trailers a couple of times but he had zero interest in actually watching the movie.
"Sure." He wasn't in the mood to search for longer when all he could think of what Taerae and Ricky were doing so long upstairs. "Oh my god, remember when we were having a sleepover and there was a gigantic spider on the shoulder of Ricky?" Gyuvin suddenly brought up a 2 year old memory. "That's the only time we have ever seen Ricky terrified!" Zhanghao responded while laughing.
He remembered how he screamed in a high-pitched voice while he was running for his live and hid in the bathroom for 20 minutes until Jiwoong finally killed that ugly thing. After less than 5 minutes, he saw Ricky and Taerae coming downstairs with a lot of mattresses that they were kicking towards them.
He noticed the redness on Taerae's cheek—it wasn't only Taerae, but Ricky had blushed like a mess too. Gunwook wanted to throw his thoughts away, because he didn't want to think of what they possibly have done upstairs. And he hated for feeling like envying Ricky for—
"I want to sleep on the couch!" Matthew immediately said, because he wanted to sleep alone. It dragged him out of his thoughts.
"I'll sleep with Hao." Hanbin spoke. "I want to sleep with Gyuvin!" Yujin raised his voice, not wanting anyone to say that before him. "I will sleep with Jiwoong then." Gunwook immediately went in panic mode in his mind.
I have to sleep next to Taerae?!
He didn't know if he wanted to cry from excitement or fear that he might embarrass himself in front of the boy when they're sleeping. He didn't know how, but he was sure he would find a way to do so anyways. "We're sleeping together." Taerae seemed to be happier about it than Gunwook. "What movie did you guys choose?" They all looked at each other but before they could say a word, the doorbell rang.
"It must be the food." Ricky said while looking at the shorter boy. Taerae seemed to be nervous when he heard the knocking after the ringing of the bell. Ricky had already paid with his card online, so they didn't have to worry about the money. "Good luck!" Gunwook was partly joking. He knew how nervous he was around strangers. When he swung the door open, the boy seemed to be frozen in fear.
"Taerae?" It was a familiar voice he hasn't heard in a while and for a good reason too. "Inseok..." His voice was barely above a whisper. "What's wrong?" He could hear Yujin ask the others, but they were as clueless as him except for Gunwook. "If I had known you were this rich, I would have never left you." The boy didn't seem to react to anything he was doing, he was just there, looking at him like a statue.
"Oh my excuses, I forgot what kind of person you were." The boy could feel his blood boil. No one understood what he was trying to say because they had no idea what was exactly going on.
Before anything could get worse, Gunwook immediately walked up towards the two and snatched the food out of Inseok's hands. "Good night, Kang Inseok." Before a word could leave his mouth, he slammed the door closed and immediately turned to Taerae, who let out a small breath before looking at Gunwook.
"Are you alright?" The boy didn't hide his worry and placed a hand on his arm, softly rubbing it with his thumb. "I'm okay." When he looked at the others, he just silently waited for someone to say anything. "Who was that?" Hanbin asked with concern. The boy avoided eye contact before he started. "He's my ex. We didn't really end on good terms." "He's an asshole." Gunwook added.
"He seems like one too." Gyuvin chuckled. "I am sorry, if I had known he worked there-" Taerae cut Ricky off with a small smile on his face. "It's fine, no one knows about me and Inseok besides Gunwook anyway. You wouldn't have known, Ricky." The younger placed the food on the table. "We'll grab some plates." The shorter followed the taller into the kitchen.
"Are you really okay?" He asked, breaking the comfortable silence between them. Taerae straightened his back as he was grabbing some plates and handed them over to Gunwook. "I am just a little shaken up. I haven't seen him in 2 years, Gunwook." He licked his dry lips wet and sighed. "I just couldn't believe my own eyes when I saw him." The shorter got a little closer to the taller and smiled.
"Thank you for slamming the door. I would have hugged you if we both weren't holding plates." That smile, it made his heart miss a beat. "Y-You're welcome." He wanted to slap himself for stuttering in front of him, but he softly smiled instead. "It's the bare minimum I can do as a friend." He wasn't sure if the other had heard him because his voice wasn't loud enough.
"I still wanted to thank you." When they were back, the boys had opened Netflix and was ready to turn on the movie. "A horror movie?" He didn't seem to be very excited anymore as he was placing the plates in front of everyone. "It was Gyuvin's idea!" Yujin immediately yelled even though it was his idea. "That's not true!" He yelled back, not wanting to take the blame for something he didn't do.
"It's fine, you can hold me when you're scared." Gunwook looked over at Taerae who just sighed in defeat and sat down. The other sat down next to him and put the food on his place. "Whatever you guys want."
During the movie, he could feel Taerae wrapping his arms around his and was barely eating while he was hiding his face with a pillow and a blanket. It wasn't that scary, but the other seemed to be watching with horror written all over his face and closed his eyes a couple of times every time something scary happened.
Gunwook felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest. The boy hid his eyes behind his arm and he couldn't help but let out a silent chuckle. Not because he found it funny, but because he was so sure his heart was thudding so loudly, the others could hear it.
He really tried to control his heart, but his body didn't seem to care what he had to say and made it race faster whenever Taerae held him tighter.
"Turn it off! Turn it off! Turn it off!" He screamed in fear and almost looked like he was about to cry any time soon if no one turned off the movie. "But-" "No buts!" The boy didn't allow Gyuvin to finish his sentence. Jiwoong was the closest one to the remote, so he closed it and Hanbin stood up to turn on the lights.
"I have another idea." Matthew said, catching everyone's attention.
"Let's change into our pajamas and play truth or dare." That didn't seem like a bad idea, unless they were going to ask something about Gunwook's love life because it only existed of him having the biggest crush on his best friend.
"I'll change upstairs." Taerae said before he grabbed his clothes and went upstairs. Gunwook opened his bag and grabbed his bottom, but he couldn't find his long sleeved shirt he was planning to use as a pajamas. The boy cursed underneath his breath before turning his head towards the blonde boy.
"Eh, Ricky." He called out his name. "Yes?" Ricky asked while putting on his top. "I forgot my shirt, can I borrow one of yours?" "Of course, no need to ask that. You know where my room is." He only knew where his room was because of the assignments they have done as a group or duo.
While walking upstairs, he let out a small sigh. Gunwook didn't mind borrowing a shirt of his friends, but it was a little different with Ricky's clothes. He was scared he might accidentally rip one of his shirts because he knew how expensive some of his clothes could be. He swung the door open and he immediately regretted it.
Taerae was there, shirtless.
Both being flustered, Gunwook immediately closed his eyes as he could feel the warmth in his cheeks as Taerae covered his body with shirt. "God, you scared me Wookie!" That nickname wasn't helping him when he tried to hide his blush and turned around.
"I didn't know you were here." The other let out a soft chuckle. "You can turn around. I am done with changing." Instead of turning around, he walked to the closet and swung the door of it open and tried to find a regular shirt that was long sleeved. "He still has the jacket I gave to him at our 6th month anniversary?" He suddenly heard Taerae speaking.
He could hear him take a few steps closer and looked at the jacket with those eyes, what Gunwook would call, heart eyes. "Ricky doesn't wear it anymore." He could see him frown a little. "It looked so good on him though." He didn't want to hear it anymore, but he still hasn't found a shirt, so he sped up a little.
"That ring? I'm surprised he still owns it. Remember when we searched for it because I wanted to give him something special for our 1 year anniversary—" "Can you stop?" Gunwook was surprised himself that he heard him say that even though it left from his own mouth.
Taerae looked a little shocked from the sudden change in his voice, but didn't say a word. I'm sorry, those words weren't escaping his mouth. The taller just stared at the boy like he had committed a crime. "I'll see you downstairs." He knew that tone, a tone he hated hearing.
"Taerae, wait!" It was no use when he already left the room. Gunwook stared at the open door and he wanted to follow him, but he couldn't go downstairs without a shirt. He snatched one out of his closet and ran downstairs to see that some of the mattresses were almost done.
"Hanbin and I are almost done, just wait for a little minute." Zhanghao spoke. His eyes immediately went to Taerae. Gunwook wanted to apologize, but the other wasn't even paying the slightest attention. After what felt like an hour of him staring, Zhanghao dragged him out his thoughts.
"The mattresses are ready!" Yujin immediately jumped on one of the mattresses and the others kind of followed him by sitting on it, besides Gyuvin. He was searching for his bag for something. "There is 1 rule." The boy spoke, catching everyone's attention. "Everyone, except our kid Yujin here, has to drink one shot if they don't want to tell the truth or do the dare."
"My parents made a no drinking rule." Ricky said, but the other stopped him. "And your parents aren't here for a week. They won't even notice it!" He was right, but the boy still seemed to be a little against this idea. "Who wants to start?" Matthew asked while looking at everyone. "You since you asked first." Jiwoong responded.
"Truth or dare to...." He acted like he was deep in his thoughts while they all already knew the obvious answer. "Hanbin!" He pointed at him. "Truth." A small smirk formed on his face and took a deep breath before asking the question. "That one time you cancelled the first date with Zhanghao, what was the real reason?" Hanbin's eyes widened and immediately threw a pillow at the shorter's head.
"You— That is embarrassing to tell in front of everyone!" He hid his face while letting out a groan. "Wait- you weren't sick?" Zhanghao asked and placed a hand on his shoulder. Hanbin shook his head and sighed. "I was scared to embarrass myself in front of you so I ate some spicy peppers and pretended to have a fever." He told while hiding his face in embarrassment.
"Help that is actually smart." Gyuvin commented as Zhanghao was laughing loudly. "Please, I cannot stop!" The laughing died down after a few seconds and he grabbed his hand. "You embarrassed yourself now more than you would have on that date." The boy slapped his shoulder. "He's so cruel!" The other let out a fake cry.
"Truth or dare to Taerae!" Hanbin asked without thinking twice. "I'll go with dare." "Sing 'Man in love' by infinite." The boy let out a soft giggle. "Just say you missed my singing." He said before singing the famous part, that part that everyone loved when he sang it.
Gunwook was looking at Taerae as if he had been enchanted by his sweet voice. If there was one thing he would listen to for hours, it was his singing. His voice was as sugary as honey and as smooth as warm butter. He looked at his friends like they were his fans and ended the part by placing his hand on his chest and stared directly into the eyes of Gunwook.
His smile blinded his eyes and immediately looked away, not wanting him to see him blush. "You're right, we missed your singing. Ended the whole industry and you aren't even an idol." Gyuvin joked while Taerae's face was turning red because of the compliment. "Truth or dare to..." His eyes met with him again.
Please not me, he repeated a couple of times in his head. "Ricky!" Of course he wasn't looking at me but Ricky. Gunwook didn't know if he felt disappointed or not. He didn't want to be called, but—
"Dare." The boy had the same smirk when Matthew asked something that he was sure of that he would embarrass Hanbin in front of his boyfriend. "Sit on Jiwoong's lap for the entire game."
"What?!" Both Jiwoong and Ricky shouted at the same time. If looks could kill, Taerae might have died that night because of him. "You heard me." "I fucking hate you." He was as red as a tomato when he sat down on Jiwoong's lap. "Is it comfortable?" He was getting redder when he asked him that. "Y-Yes." He shot a glare at the other and stuttered.
"Now it's my turn." He was looking at Gunwook. Oh my god. This time, he knew he couldn't escape it. "Truth or dare to Gunwook." He was thinking. Should he say dare? Or should he say truth? He didn't know why he was panicking over this game every time they played it.
"Truth." He didn't want to regret anything tonight. "Who are you in love with?" oh no. "I'll take dare." "Read the last 2 messages out loud." He didn't know what question was worse. The first or the second one. He knew who he recently texted. It was Gyuvin. He texted him about Taerae.
He was also the only one who knew he had a crush on that boy. He didn't tell him that, Gyuvin found out on his own because he saw the way he looked at the other guy. Being the curious boy he was, he immediately asked Gunwook if he was in love with Taerae. At first he kept denying it, but at the end, he admitted having feelings for one of his best friends.
With defeat, he hoped he didn't mention any names during his chat with Gyuvin about Taerae.
'I hate him and his stupid smile.'
'he keeps blinding my eyes! I need sunglasses ASAP!!!'
He felt relieved to see no names mentioned, but now all of his other friends knew that he was in love with someone with a beautiful smile. "I smell love in the air." Gyuvin kind of sang while holding his hands together. "He? I thought you were in love with Areum." Taerae said. Of course everyone besides Gyuvin thought he was in love with her because they didn't know that he was into boys too.
"I'm not in love with Areum or that guy. I was just drunk while I texted that." No one was going to believe that stupid lie and he knew that too. He doesn't even like the smell of alcohol, let alone the burning feeling it gives you in the throat. Everyone knew he hated alcohol. "You sure sound very convincing." Ricky joked and let out a little laugh at the end of the sentence.
"It's not like he likes me back, so it doesn't matter." A small breath escaped his mouth. "How are you so sure of that?" Taerae asked while looking at him with a confused face. Before he could even start another sentence, he cut him off. "You're an amazing person and anyone would be stupid to not like you." Then you are stupid, I guess. Gunwook didn't say it out loud, even if he wanted to.
The boy could feel everyone staring at him and he hated it.
"Truth or dare to Hanbin." He hoped that everyone would just shut up about his love interest and continue the game. The rest of the game went okay, no one asked him anything about those messages or the person he was in love with and he felt relieved, but he couldn't stop feeling the eyes of Taerae looking at him.
Gunwook wanted to stare back, but he just tried to ignore it. When he did look, the other immediately turned his head away from him. It was confusing him, really. Why did Taerae out of all people keep staring at him after that question?
As soon as the clock hit 2 am, they decided to go to sleep because they were planning to wake up early to go to the arcade the next day. Gunwook laid down on his side, facing the entrance of the kitchen. He didn't dare to turn around, otherwise he would face the other and the thought of him laying next to him while their bodies were almost touching made him extremely nervous.
The fact that Taerae kept moving his body didn't make it any better.
He knew he was going to stay awake the whole night because of that movie they watched and he thought he would fall asleep in a second or in a few minutes, but his heart kept racing whenever he could feel him move wasn't helping at all. Even though it was winter, he felt like sweating like crazy.
Gunwook let out a small sigh, hoping that Taerae didn't hear it. The other took a few deep breaths and he knew he tried to sleep, but he couldn't. No one was awake, they were the only ones. He didn't know for how long, but it felt like an hour had already passed by.
When he felt the other standing up from his mattress, he slightly opened his eyes. The darkness was making it very hard for him to see a single thing. He could see Taerae entering the kitchen.
Gunwook didn't know if he was going to make a mistake or not, but he stood up and silently took a few steps towards the entrance of the kitchen. The other grabbed a glass and filled it with water. The door was open, so he slowly pushed it open.
"Oh my-" He didn't mean to startle the boy. "Sorry for scaring you." He heard him placing the empty glass on the table. "Gunwook?" "The one and only." He jokingly whispered. "I barely could see you." Not only was it harder to see because of the limited light that was entering the room, the moonlight and the lanterns being the only light source from the outside that was entering the kitchen because of the windows, he saw that he wasn't wearing his glasses.
"Can't sleep because of the movie?" Taerae hesitated to answer, but after a few seconds nodded. "I'm sorry if I kept you awake the whole time." Gunwook took a few steps closer and gave him a tired smile. "It's fine, I don't mind it." The silence fell and he wasn't sure if his mind was playing with him when he saw Taerae take a few steps closer.
"Why did you avoid the question?" He knew exactly what question he was talking about, but he acted clueless. "What question?"
"Who you are in love with."
He knew that he would ask it, so why did he hold his breath for a few seconds? He could feel his heart racing when he took another step closer. "Is it because it's one of our friends?" He could hear the excitement in his whispers, but Gunwook didn't respond and he felt his cheeks heating up. He wasn't lying, but he couldn't have Taerae out of all people find out that he has a crush on him.
"Is it Matthew?" Gunwook immediately shook his head. "What? No!" He accidentally raised his voice and hoped he did not wake anyone up. "Yujin or Jiwoong?" "No, Taerae. It's not them." He didn't know why he felt hurt when his friend was trying to figure it out who it was. "Is it Ricky?"
He fell quiet. Gunwook's mind told him to scream no, but he was too surprised to hear that name leave his mouth. "Ricky is the one you're in love with?" No! Why were no words escaping his mouth? The black haired boy cursed at himself. He saw the way his eyes shined in the dark. "But you like Ricky, Taerae." He assumed that was the answer Taerae wanted to hear, but he chuckled.
Why was he chuckling? Why did he laugh? Was it a joke to him? "I don't like Ricky. Not anymore." "But the way you look at him..." Gunwook felt dumbfounded and lowered his voice. "Do you even know why me and Ricky broke up? It's because we both like someone else." He let out a sigh. "You can love him as much as you want to. Don't let our break up stop you—"
"I love you, not him!"
For once, he hated the silence more than anything else. Gunwook immediately regretted the words that escaped his mouth and took a few steps back. "You... love me?" He didn't say a word and stood there like a frozen ice cube. After a few seconds of silence, he saw Taerae take a few steps closer. "I know you don't feel the same way and I'm sorry for loving you."
He expected the other to run away and act like nothing had happened.
But he was met with his lips against his.
Oh my god.
Gunwook was freaking out. He didn't know if he should kiss him back or not, but before he could decide what to do, Taerae pulled away. "I really love you too, Gunwook."
The other threw his arms around him and pulled him closer. Once he felt his lips against his again, he did respond and kissed back. His body temperature rose and his heart was pounding against his chest so loudly he was sure Taerae might have heard it too.
He didn't want this moment to end, but he did end up pulling away. "Those messages, they were about me, weren't they?" He felt a little bit embarrassed, but he nodded. Taerae hid his face in his chest as a small giggle left his lips.
"Gyuvin was the only one who knew about my feelings. Not that I told him. He said I was too obvious." Gunwook felt his cheeks getting warm again when he was thinking about what happened earlier during truth or dare.
"And of course I was stupid enough to not notice." He chuckled. "I was so convinced that you were still in love with Ricky, so you're not the only stupid one here." Taerae laughed a little. "Well... I think we should try to sleep. At the least you should try to. I don't want to keep you awake the whole night." Gunwook didn't mind staying awake the whole night with him no matter how tired he would be the next morning.
"I don't think I can really sleep, so let me stay with you." Taerae knew it was no use to protest against him, so he allowed him to be with him the whole night.
And Gunwook definitely didn't regret it.