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It starts with a throwaway remark made by Park Hyeongeun during dinner, a few days after the trial's end.
Hyeongeun is obviously drunk when he says it, slapping Sangcheol's back with enough strength to make him choke on the soju that goes down the wrong pipe and cause a coughing fit. Which is kind of lucky, since the next sentence out of his mouth would make Sangcheol wish he was choking anyway.
"This one, he was a true rascal back then, weren't you? Only nice to your crushes."
Hyeongeun starts laughing uproariously, downing another glass of soju while Sangcheol tries to get his breathing under control. He's glad that he's already flushed by the alcohol, or he'd have no plausible excuse for his face heating up with the force of the sun suddenly.
Only nice to his crushes? Okay, first of all…
"That's not true! Are you trying to make me look bad?! Just shut up and eat," he says maybe louder than he explicitly needs to and stuffs a piece of pork directly into Hyeongeun's big, chatty mouth.
And second of all… Second of all… He doesn't know what he wanted to follow up with.
He glances at Jeongwoo sitting opposite to him, dressed a little more stylishly than his usual, in a midnight blue shirt that has a few buttons open at the top, showing off a sliver of skin that Sangcheol continuously has to drag his gaze away from. Jeongwoo didn't have any alcohol to drink, which Sangcheol can understand, but that means he's the most in possession of his brain out of the three of them right now, and the guy is sharp, he's too sharp, maybe he…
He's definitely thinking of something, Sangcheol can practically see the gears turning in his head.
This is bad, this is so so so bad, but if someone would ask why Sangcheol couldn't answer. What is he so worried about, what could Jeongwoo infer from this remark, anyway? It's silly, and totally untrue, Sangcheol's a grown man, he can be nice to people if he wants to- Oh. Oh, no, no, wait. That's not how… Dammit, he's not only nice when he's-
He only realises that he has been spacing out when Hyeongeun clinks their glasses together, Sangcheol's own raised and held still in front of his mouth. He sees Jeongwoo bite down on his lower lip to keep his amused grin contained, his eyes twinkling in that way he gets when he's about to ask something truly embarrassing. It's happened more than once since Sangcheol introduced him to Hyeongeun, unfortunately, so he's very familiar with that expression. In retrospect, Sangcheol should've chosen a lawyer that wasn't his high school classmate, but how could he know it would turn out like this?
This is so bad. Sangcheol's dignity is on the line here. He has to make it clear that he's a nice person, like in general, regardless of his crush on Jeongwoo. No, wait… Shit. He should stop thinking about it, dammit.
He downs the soju in one go, this time it goes the right way, and slams the glass down on the table, spooking Hyeongeun. Jeongwoo sits up straighter too, eyebrows elevated, and okay, maybe this was a bit too much force. Maybe he's drunk, sue him.
"I am perfectly capable of being nice to anyone," he picks up the soju bottle, refilling Hyeongeun's glass, "you're still sitting here, aren't you? Allowed to talk bullshit."
That somehow makes Hyeongeun laugh even more, and even elicits a snort from Jeongwoo. Sangcheol glares at him, why the hell is he laughing - he has a very nice laugh, though, so it's fine, but - this is not a laughing matter at all.
"Not as nice as you are to Jeongwoo-ssi."
Sangcheol sucks in a sharp breath, his hand landing on Hyeongeun's shoulder and squeezing, hard. It's settled, he's going to kill Hyeongeun, just as soon as he gets the opportunity. Hyeongeun hisses, the bastard, trying to wiggle out of his hold, but Sangcheol tightens his fingers. At least while he's giving pained noises he can't keep running his mouth.
Sangcheol needs to remedy the situation, ASAP.
"Because Jeongwoo is special," wait, no, "it's that simple," just what the hell is he saying?!
A second passes, then two, Sangcheol should really take a breath, like, yesterday, but his lungs won't expand, and Jeongwoo is blinking at him, eyes wide, and… Hold up. Is he blu-
"I know, I know," Hyeongeun smacks him in the back again and Sangcheol almost headbutts the table with the force of it. Please, someone free Sangcheol of this guy.
"You're a good man, Sangcheol-ah."
Thanks to Hyeongeun's slap, Sangcheol can finally breathe again, but he doesn't dare look at Jeongwoo. He files away that half a second vision of Jeongwoo blushing as a hallucination. He downs the next soju shot like his life depends on it, and keeps his mouth shut for the rest of the dinner, which is thankfully not very far away.
Once they're out on the street, Hyeongeun getting into a taxi (and not getting run over by a bus or something, to Sangcheol's chagrin), Sangcheol realises he will soon be left alone with Jeongwoo, and that he will need to interact with him too without making an even bigger fool out of himself. He shoves his hands into his jeans pockets, staring at his shoes, trying to give off the vibe of someone who's only disoriented because of the alcohol and not vibrating out of his skin with anxiety.
He doesn't know if he manages. Probably not. Fuck, isn't there an applicable police tactic he can use here? Hostage negotiation maybe?
He opens his mouth to say something utterly stupid probably, but Jeongwoo is faster.
"Hyung…"
Out of habit, Sangcheol looks up, breath stuck in his throat when his gaze meets Jeongwoo's.
Jeongwoo has his head tilted to the side, a contemplating look on his face. He's smiling too, that soft, small one which makes him look a lot younger and that Sangcheol sees on him more and more these days.
"So, about-"
"Don't say it," Sangcheol blurts out, feeling his ears heat up.
Jeongwoo lets out a laugh as he steps closer, too close, close enough that Sangcheol could probably count his eyelashes if he wanted to. Sangcheol is rooted to the spot, incapable to do anything but stare down at him, heart hammering in his chest.
"Hm, but I think I should say it."
Shit, Sangcheol will die at this rate, with Jeongwoo standing way too close, looking up at him with his pretty eyes sparkling with the evening lights.
"Hyung, am I really special to you?"
Ah, so he isn't about to give Sangcheol an out of it, cool, cool, cool, it's fine. He closes his eyes, sighing, resigned to his fate. There's no use trying to postpone the inevitable.
"Yeah. You are."
So, there, he said it. It was both extremely hard, and the easiest admission he has ever made in his life. For a split second Yewon's face appears in front of him, smiling, like she did at the first time Sangcheol stammered out a rushed and clumsy iloveyou to her.
When he opens his eyes Jeongwoo has a similar smile on his face - kind of shy, overwhelmed, but looking like Sangcheol has just stated something incredibly obvious. As if he has known all along. He reaches out to take one of Sangcheol's wrists, prying his hand out of his pocket, twining their fingers together.
"And when were you planning on telling me that?"
The easiest answer is never, of course, but it would be a lie too. Sangcheol hadn't so much planned anything, as he was constantly fighting to keep it from slipping out of his mouth for the last two months. Or more, maybe it was more than that.
He blinks down at Jeongwoo, swallowing back his nervousness.
"I… don't know."
Jeongwoo nods thoughtfully, looking down at their joined hands. His skin is warm against Sangcheol's perpetually cold fingers.
"I should thank Attorney Park for this too, then," he says.
Sangcheol rolls his eyes and takes in a breath, prepared to argue, but Jeongwoo's free hand lands on his mouth, shutting him up.
"No, you weren't going to talk, so it's my turn."
Oh, this is… Hm. Sangcheol's eyebrows raise but he waits patiently for Jeongwoo to talk. He likes this side of him (too), the one that dares to make demands so confidently.
"You're also special to me, hyung. I…"
Sangcheol watches his eyes fill with tears, helpless to do anything about it. He gently pries Jeongwoo's hand away from his mouth, reaching out to wipe off the first tear rolling down his cheek.
"Jeongwoo-ya…"
Jeongwoo sucks in a breath, brows furrowing. "Do you even know how much I-"
Sangcheol doesn't let him finish. He leans in to capture Jeongwoo's trembling lips with his own, cupping his jaw to angle his head a little better for it. It's a really chaste kiss, their lips merely slotting together, but Sangcheol's heart is beating like it's trying to escape his chest, and he's worried his frantic heartbeats can be heard from the outside too.
Jeongwoo grips his hand tighter as they separate and leans forward to rest his head against Sangcheol's chest.
"You can't just do that out of the blue," he grumbles, voice somewhat muffled.
With a snort Sangcheol draws his free arm around him, resting his chin on the top of Jeongwoo's head. He's just the right height to do this, Sangcheol notes, unreasonably elated by this discovery. Maybe he's still a bit drunk.
"Sorry, Jeongwoo-ya. Next time I'll ask first."
Jeongwoo makes an unintelligible noise at that, circling an arm around Sangcheol's waist. His warmth makes Sangcheol's head spin. Yeah, that's definitely because of the alcohol, and nothing else.
"Hyung?"
"Hm?"
"Ask now."
While he pulls back from Jeongwoo with a laugh to ask him the question he wants to hear, Sangcheol reconsiders his earlier thoughts.
Park Hyeongeun can stay alive for a little bit longer, after all.