Chapter Text
Ricky was perfectly fine. His life was going fine. He wasn't having a minor crisis over a single text. Nope.
"Ricky, will you just answer the text? It's not a big deal."
"It is a fucking big deal, because that text is from my ex's sister. And she's asking if I'm coming to their family's Thanksgiving. And said ex most definitely told his family that we broke up."
Hao rolled his eyes. "Just tell her that you guys broke up. Or ask Gyuvin about it, it's really not that big of a deal."
Ricky shot the other a glare. "Fuck you. You don't even understand my problems. You're in a happy relationship, don't even talk to me."
Hanbin walked over to the couches, setting down three large mugs of hot chocolate that he had been balancing in one hand (he seriously had to be magic to not spill anything. Ricky refused to believe Hao's boyfriend was a genuine human).
"Ricky-ah, why don't you take things one step at a time? Thanksgiving is a week from now, so you have time to text Gyuvin and ask him about it. Once you've done that, then you can tell his sister."
Ricky held his mug in between his fingers, letting it warm his hands. "Okay. Yeah, that doesn't sound too hard."
Hao rolled his eyes, but reached over and patted his friend on the head. "It'll work itself out. Don't think about it too hard."
Easier said than fucking done, apparently, because Ricky could not stop thinking about it. He set aside an hour in his schedule just to draft and send the text, and then proceeded to blankly stare at his phone for a whole three-and-a-half hours, typing and deleting and typing and deleting. It really wasn't supposed to be that hard, was it?
Finally, he set down his phone, went into the kitchen, and poured himself a glass of wine. He wasn’t sending any text until he had at least a bit of alcohol in his system.
“A little bit” is what he said, but he woke up the next morning with a headache and a fuzzy memory.
He winced as the bright screen of his phone shined in his eyes and turned down the brightness until he could see his notifications.
kimgyu 🙄😒
🙄 i'll pick you up at 5 then
What?
Ricky opened his phone, going to his texts with Kim Gyuvin. He scrolled up, cheeks losing color as he read the texts from start to end.
Finally, he sat up and screamed bloody murder.
Hao and Hanbin rushed into the room, expecting to see anything from a person breaking in to a slightly large spider.
Instead, it was just Ricky, staring at his phone in utter disbelief.
young&rich
heyyy
by any chance
did you
NOT
tell your family that we broke up
kimgyu 🙄😒
um I did?
why
omg omg omg
my mom just asked if I'm bringing my boyfriend home for thanksgiving
I don't think I told my family?????
omg fuck I'm so sorry I thought I did but only taerae knows
geskjgknsekn
do you want me to tell them that we did?
omg my sister texted you didn't she IM SO SORRY
young&rich
it's fiiiiiiiine
can I still
like
go though
I miss your mom's cooking
I can practically taste it from here
🤤🤤🤤
kimgyu 🙄😒
uh
what
are you drunk???
you're texting like you're drunk
you haven't made a single typo omg you're absolutely drunk
young&rich
NO I'm sober and happy and hungry
plus I miss your family like jiwooooong he's so nice and sweet and 🥰 and taeraeeeeee he teams up on you with me and dayeooooon she's literally queen I loves her so muchsjfjjsjfjsjf
AND YOUR MOM IS LITERALLY MY MOM IM STEALING YOURS
kimgyu 🙄😒
yup you're drunk
you know what do whatever you want shen
but are we gonna tell them that we’re not dating?
or I can just bring you the food
or ollie can cuz he's coming with yujin
young&rich
OLLIE AND YUJIN ARE COMING????
well now I HAVE to be there like that's my wittle cousin and his wittle menace
and we can just like
date
for one day
cuz it'd be CRAZY awkward for you
to be like
"hey mom hey dayeon hey jiwoong btw I’m only telling you but actually I broke up with ricky months ago"
they'd be like
"omg gyuvin 😧 why didn't you tell us ☹️ do you not trust us 😤 do you hate us 😭 you're the worst son/brother EVER 💔💔💔💔😭😭😭😭😢😢😢😢😢"
kimgyu 🙄😒
uhhh alrighty then
we’ll have to get taerae to go with it
but if you wanna date for a day then sure
shame that it's just for my mom's food
young&rich
why else would I go lol
kimgyu 🙄😒
🙄 i'll pick you up at 5 then
"I texted my ex. While drunk. To tell him that...am I a fucking idiot? Am I stupid? I'm stupid. Stupid. Stupid." Ricky buried his head in a pillow and started screaming.
Hao rolled his eyes and snatched the phone out of his hands, scrolling through the texts. "Oh shit, these are kinda bad. Like, you confessing your love for his whole family but not for him? Talk about embarrassing."
Hanbin gave his boyfriend a look and perched on the edge of Ricky's bed. "It might seem bad now, but think on the bright side! You only have to spend a few hours there, and it won't be too awkward. Plus, you always used to talk about Mrs. Kim's food. It's a reasonable reason to want to join family Thanksgiving! Or you could always cancel.”
"Why'd you guys break up anyways?" Hao asked. "I mean, it's been what, half a year?"
"Seven months and thirteen days," came Ricky's muffled voice.
"It's been seven months and thirteen days, and I don't think anyone knows why you broke up. Not even me, and you tell me everything."
Ricky removed the pillow from his face, staring at Hao for a few moments before rolling onto his stomach and screaming into a new pillow.
Hao took that as his sign that he wouldn't get an answer anytime soon. He rolled his eyes and tossed the phone back onto Ricky's bed. "So what are you gonna do now?"
The blonde rolled back over, staring up at the ceiling. "I have to embrace my stupid drunk brain and go through with it."
Hao raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like a bad idea."
"Your face sounds like a bad idea."
Hanbin raised his hand. "I disagree with that."
"Fuck you, your opinion doesn't count."
The week had gone by all too quickly, and suddenly, the cursed Thursday had arrived.
Ricky fixed his sleeve in the mirror. "I don't look like an ex, right? Casual enough to pass as a lover, fancy enough to impress the family. Not that I need to impress the family. I already impressed the family ages ago. But, you know—"
"You look fine, Ricky. Chill out."
The blonde took one last deep breath, running a hand through his hair. "Right. I look hot. No, Hao, I can't do this."
Hao rolled his eyes and grabbed Ricky's hand, dragging him out of the room and sitting him on the couch. "Remember. This is only for the food. Don't go back to your ex. Smile. Try not to look too awkward. You've got this."
"I've got this."
"Mhm."
"I've got this."
"Yup."
"Hao, I don't think I've got this—"
A knock on the door interrupted Ricky, who's face morphed into one of dread. He shook his head at Hao. "Don't open it. Nobody's home, nobody's here. Please."
Unfortunately, Hao didn't take mercy on Ricky, no matter how distressed he looked. He opened the door, shooting a big smile towards the person at the door.
"Gyuvin! It's nice to see you after so long!"
Gyuvin walked in with an equally sweet smile. "It's nice to see you too, Hao." He turned to face Ricky. "Hi, Ricky."
Ricky stared at the boy in front of him, speechless. There were hardly any thoughts in his mind, just a single memory that has been playing on repeat for the entire week.
"What do you mean, you're breaking up with me?"
He could swear that the tear running down Gyuvin's cheek wasn't just in his head.
"Do I look so pretty that I've rendered you speechless?"
Ricky recovered quickly. "As if. Was just wondering if it's too late to back out."
Gyuvin rolled his eyes. "You had a week to do that. It's too late now. Besides, don't you miss my family soooo much?"
Internally, Ricky swore that he'd never drink alcohol again.
"Well, you two should get going," Hao said, ushering the two out the door. "Don't wanna keep the family waiting. Have fun! Bring him home by midnight!"
With that, he slammed the door in their faces, leaving the exes outside.
"Midnight? What are you, Cinderella?" Gyuvin teased.
Ricky rolled his eyes and flipped the other off, walking down the hall.
Gyuvin laughed and ran after him. "Wait for me!"
"What do you mean, you're breaking up with me?"
"I can't do this anymore."
"Why? Was it something I did? Please, I can fix it, just don't—"
"I'm not in love with you anymore. That's it. I can't keep faking this. It's better if we just part ways."
Ricky glanced over at Gyuvin every so often. The latter was humming to the music, bopping his head up and down. And yet, that invisible tear was still there, a permanent reminder.
He tore his eyes away, focusing on the passing cars instead.
It didn't take them long to arrive at the house.
Gyuvin opened the blonde's door, holding out his hand. Ricky took it, climbing out of the car.
"I hope you're a good actor," Ricky said, grabbing the roses and candies that he'd brought for Gyuvin's family.
"I doubt I'll be able to match your skills."
Ricky felt the overwhelming urge to drop everything and walked off right then. It was a cruel comment; one that was well deserved, but still painful.
"Shall we go in?" he asked, ignoring the sharpness of the memories digging into his shoulders.
The two walked up to the door, hand in hand. Right as Gyuvin reached to open the door, it was thrown open. The person who answered grabbed Gyuvin's hand and pulled him inside, Ricky being dragged as well.
"What the fuck are you two thinking!"
Gyuvin smiled sweetly. "Hi, Taerae."
Taerae narrowed his eyes. "Don't you 'hi Taerae' me. Why are you two here, together? Holding hands?"
Ricky quickly pulled his hand out of Gyuvin's. "We can explain—"
"Ricky!"
A body flew into the blonde's arms, squeezing him tightly.
He couldn't help but laugh and ruffle her hair. "Hey, Dayeon."
She huffed and stepped out of his arms. "Why haven't you contacted me? I literally thought that you and Gyu broke up because he wasn't talking about you or bringing you home at all!”
Taerae's eyes went big. "You—"
"Hey, why don't we say hi to Mom!" Gyuvin said hurryingly. Dayeon nodded and grabbed Ricky's arm, pulling him along with her.
"You're telling me everything later," Taerae said before turning and marching back up the stairs.
Gyuvin sighed and reluctantly walked into the kitchen, meeting Ricky, Dayeon, and his mother.
"Gyuvin!" Ms. Kim turned around, glaring at the boy. "Why don't you bring your boyfriend home anymore? You can't rid us of Ricky just because you want him all to yourself."
Dayeon pouted. "That's what I was saying! I swear, gay men are so strange. Back in my day—"
"You're a year older than me, Dayeon."
"—we actually brought home our lovers often!"
Gyuvin could feel his face heat up. "Whatever! Anyways, me and Ricky should go say hi to Jiwoong and Taerae! Are Yujinnie and Ollie here yet?"
Ms. Kim nodded, pulling a tray of hot buns out of the oven. "They're upstairs playing video games. And Jiwoong is upstairs too, but I'd knock before entering. He brought his boyfriend." She paused and wrinkled her nose. "Actually, I wouldn't even try to go in, if I were you."
"Thanks, Ma," Gyuvin said, pulling Ricky out of his sister's grasp.
The second that they placed a foot onto the stairs, Taerae appeared at the top with a glare.
"My room, now ."
"Ooooh," Yujin and Ollie echoed, playing video games in the upstairs living room.
Gyuvin flipped the two off as he followed Taerae.
Finally, they reached Taerae's room. Ricky and Gyuvin sat on the the floor while Taerae locked the door behind them.
"Okay. Both of you, spill everything."
So spill they did. After they finished telling everything to the older, Taerae burst into laughter.
"So nobody in this house knows except for me? Oh my gosh, that explains so much. Dayeon’s gonna flip when she finds out.”
“Nobody is gonna find out. At least, not today.”
Taerae raised an eyebrow. “That’s stupid. You’re both stupid. But whatever. You do you, besties. I am keeping out of this."
Gyuvin pouted. "You act like you're such a love expert, but didn't you also fake date Park Hanbin to make Lee Jeonghyeon jealous last year?"
"Ya, we agreed that we'd never speak of that aga—"
"And you didn't even know that Park Hanbin had a crush on you the whole time! Are we really forgetting that?"
Ricky's mouth dropped open. "That was fake? Oh my gosh, Jeonghyeon literally had an Instagram account dedicated to you both! He was your biggest fanboy!”
Taerae flushed a deep shade of red. "This conversation is over! Screw yourselves over if you want, but don't come crying to me when it all turns into an absolute shipwreck!"
"What's turning into an absolute shipwreck?"
The three turned to the door, where Jiwoong was poking his head through. "Oh, Ricky! It's been a while. You should've gotten me when you arrived, I've missed seeing you around."
Taerae rolled his eyes. "Nobody in their right mind would enter your room when your boyfriend's here."
Another head peeked in through the door, blonde and messy. "You're just traumatized from when we first met."
"Yeah, I am, thank you very much! Those sights were not meant for my delicate eyes."
Jiwoong's boyfriend laughed. "Good to know that I made a lasting impact on you."
Taerae scoffed. "’Lasting impact’ my ass, Matthew. The only lasting impact there was pain from washing out my eyeballs with bleach."
"Can you all stop talking about this? There are minors who do not need any of those details," Yujin called from outside.
"This isn't even your house! Go home!" Taerae called back.
Ricky smiled at the bickering. It reminded him of the breaks from school that he and Gyuvin would spend at the latter's house.
"Is it loud?" Gyuvin whispered in his ear.
Ricky shook his head. "It's been a while since I've been around so much chaos. It's nice."
I missed it, he almost said, but he caught himself quickly.
He didn't have a right to miss any of this, not when that tear was still engraved on Gyuvin's cheek, visible only to Ricky.
"Ms. Kim...this looks so good." Ricky gaped at the food in front of him, mouth watering.
Gyuvin snorted. "You look like you haven't eaten in weeks."
Gyuvin's mom simply took Ricky's plate and piled food onto it, handing it back when she was done. "Enjoy it, Ricky. It's been a while since I've had someone around here to actually appreciate my food." She pointedly looked around the table at her children.
Yujin hummed happily as he took a bite of his food. "I appreciate your food too, Ms. Kim."
"Me too!" Ollie chimed in.
"Me three," Matthew added.
Ms. Kim smiled, clearly pleased. "It's always the guests who know how to be thankful for good food."
Dayeon pouted. "Mom, we appreciate your food too. Look, ahhhh." She grabbed some kimchi with her chopsticks and made a big show of eating it. "Mmmm! It's so good Mom, it's literally bursting on my tastebuds."
Around the table, Jiwoong, Taerae, and Gyuvin made sure to do the same thing, giving over-exaggerated reactions and compliments to the food.
Ms. Kim scoffed. "Oh, whatever! Fakers...so, Ricky, it's been a while since we've seen you. What have you been doing?"
"Oh, I've just been hanging out with my roommates. Their names are Hao and Hanbin, they're both dating. I haven't really done much since me and Gyuvin bro—"
Ricky trailed off, realizing that he almost revealed their secret. Quickly, Gyuvin swooped in to continue.
"Brought Yujin and Ollie to the mall! Yeah, that's the only fun thing we've done lately. How was that, you two?"
Yujin and Ollie shared a glance. "Uh...it was fun," Ollie replied, voice unsure as ever.
Taerae non-discreetly laughed into his arm, trying (and failing) to disguise it as a cough. Gyuvin shot him a glare.
Dayeon sighed and picked at her food. "Well, you could've hung out with me, Ricky. I'm ten times funner than Gyuvin could ever aspire to be."
"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to steal my boyfriend."
"Who says I'm not?"
Matthew scoffed. "Anyone can tell that you're too head-over-heels for Chaehyun to ever consider Rick—oof!"
Dayeon elbowed the older in the gut, smiling happily as the blonde groaned in pain.
Ms. Kim gasped and hit her daughter's arm. "Matthew's not gonna marry Jiwoong at this point if you keep on abusing him!"
Jiwoong flushed a deep red while Dayeon cackled evilly.
Ricky observed everyone while he ate. Ms. Kim smiled brightly every time someone took a bite of her food, happy just to be in the presence of her family. Jiwoong blushed every time the attention turned his way, holding Matthew's hand underneath the table. Matthew himself chattered away, blending in as if he'd always been a part of their family. Taerae added flair to every conversation with his sassy comments and sarcasm. Dayeon led everyone into different conversations, making jokes and keeping people laughing. And Yujin and Ollie whispered to each other, lost in their own world.
And then there was Gyuvin. He shone so bright with that smile. Ricky missed that smile so much. So much.
"Is there something on my face?" Gyuvin asked, voice soft and sweet. It was a question he'd asked a million times in the past.
Nothing but beauty , Ricky thought. A reply he'd given a million times.
The invisible tear dazzled so brightly underneath the chandelier light.
"Just skin and some eyeballs."
Gyuvin rolled her eyes. "Whatever." He checked his watch. "We have some time left before I have to give you back to Hao. Wanna go get ice cream?"
Ricky had one correct option. "No, I don't. You can just kick me out now. I'll take an Uber home. We can never talk again."
Instead, he smiled and nodded. "Sure."
It was too cold for ice cream, but that didn't stop Ricky or Gyuvin from sitting outside and eating it, Gyuvin's in a cone and Ricky's in a cup.
"I'm surprised that you agreed," Ricky said quietly.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean."
Silence was the response.
Ricky sighed. "I’m just curious as to why. If you don’t wanna answer, you don’t have to—"
“I wanted to be in your shoes for a change. Faking things. It’s fun, I can see why you do this kind of stuff. But it’s tiring. Wasn’t it you who said that it was better for us to break up than for you to keep faking things?”
The air chilled significantly. Gyuvin sighed and stood up, tossing his unfinished cone into the garbage. “Let’s go. You need to be home by midnight, and I don’t think I want to see your face anymore.”
The car ride home was silent. Up until they reached Ricky's front door, they didn't utter a word.
The blonde unlocked his door and turned to face Gyuvin. "Gyu—"
"Thank you, Ricky. Let's never speak again."
And with that, Gyuvin turned and walked back the direction he came, down the metal stairs, into his car, all while Ricky silently watched from the balcony above.