Work Text:
Wooyoung remembered exactly when he realized he wanted Hongjoong to be more than just Ateez's Captain.
The group was set up for a White Day photo shoot, emphasizing boyfriend looks with a soft color palette. There was a constant line of makeup, clothes, and pictures as the boys went through each set separately. Overall, it was the usual busy day but a good day in Wooyoung's mind.
That was until he went back to the makeup room to wash up after his last set of solo shoots. The room blurred as he zoned in on his oldest two hyungs in front of him. Seonghwa had his lips on Hongjoong's neck, one hand on the back of his neck to hold the smaller man still for the kiss. Even with the Captain's face screwed up tight with a grimace, Wooyoung could see several other lipstick kisses covering his face, but the one that he could focus on was the one Seonghwa was currently placing on Hongjoong.
Wooyoung immediately understood that it was for a concept picture of Hongjoong with lipstick kisses all over but still felt speechless watching it unfold in front of him. Seonghwa finally pulled back, dropping his hand, and smiled at the Captain, who huffed and tucked his face away from the dark haired man. Unfortunately, from the younger member's viewpoint, he could see the soft smile on both of their faces, which opened the floodgates.
Filterless, his voice faster than most could keep up with as Wooyoung started, "Don't you think you're pushing this whole Matz concept too far, Seonghwa? Did you even think how Hongjoong would feel about it?" Wooyoung could see confusion clouding the older men's faces, but he kept talking, "You know he doesn't like to push Matz this much. You're the one who always tries to make it a thing. It would have been better if we all left our mark instead of you just taking over like you always do-"
"Wooyoung!" Hongjoong's voice was immediately in what Wooyoung had termed his sea captain voice. It was rough and borderline on the edge of making his name sound like a curse. "It's not a big deal. I told Seonghwa to do this. You should ap-"
Wooyoung's brain was overwhelmed with how much he hated what he had to witness and a need to make sure everybody knew it was wrong. Wooyoung immediately spat out more words, and his voice kept getting louder as he went, "You came up with this and thought Atiny would like it? Are you trying to push the Matz narrative when you always tell Mingi and me not to go too far with ours?" He felt a hand on his arm, realizing that other members were in the room with them, but he had to continue, "If anything, Woosan and Yungi are more popular than you two together. One of us should have had this photo concept, not you! You just yelled at Mingi last week fo-"
Hongjoong's face was twisted up in a deep scowl, his patience completely gone as he interrupted Wooyoung again, "Jung Wooyoung!"
Wooyoung was almost out of breath when he finally stopped speaking, which didn't make sense because he had said more even quicker before. It seemed like his emotions were overheating and stripping him of the required amount of oxygen to make his Captain see how wrong the concept was for them. Did Hongjoong really want this? And why did even thinking the answer might be yes make Wooyoung sick to his stomach? He felt San's hand and knew it had to be San as he knew his twin flame's touch from any other tightened on his arm, but that didn't help like it usually would in rough situations.
However, the nail in the coffin was when Seonghwa placed his hand on Hongjoong's arm, trying to hold back the fireball that wanted to combust from Hongjoong's mouth.
"Matz is such a stupid concept, Hongjoong."
It felt like the air had left the room. Even Hongjoong gaped, his eyes wide at the blatant disrespect. Wooyoung pushed his buttons consistently, but it was always done with a level of respect that Hongjoong could handle. This he couldn't comprehend. He didn't have a choice as Wooyoung turned on his heel and left the room immediately.
Wooyoung couldn't hear anything as he rushed out of the room and down the hallways. He had to get out of the building. The walls seemed to be closing in on him, and the air was turning stale as he continued to inhale deeply. He had to see the sky and get fresh air in his lungs, or he felt he might just suffocate.
Thankfully, he found the stairwell and was able to get to the roof before he collapsed. His breath came out ragged as he tried to take big gulps that did nothing to help his lungs. Finally, he caught his breath by the time he felt San's hands on his shoulders, the other man crouching down so they could be face level with each other. There was concern etched so deeply into his hyung's face that he worried about instant wrinkles.
"Woo…" it seemed like even his twin didn't know what to say. Wooyoung didn't blame him, though, as he was also confused. Matz, WooSan, and Yungi had been concepts from the very beginning. It was something they had all agreed upon as they picked the person they felt would be the easiest to do fanservice with, the easiest to fake a relationship with, the easiest to openly love.
The realization seemed to hit Wooyoung physically as he slumped into San's arms. Tears had started to leak from his eyes, his heart breaking when he discovered the root of his problem.
"Wooyoung, what's wrong? What's going on?" San's voice was soft but urgent as his friend clung harder to him.
"San…I messed up. I messed up so bad."
San ran a hand gently up and down Wooyoung's back as he cried, his face still confused about what was happening.
"You can just apologize to them, Woo. I don't understand why you went off like that, but we're a team. Any mess ups we can fix together."
Wooyoung shook his head, his tears starting to soak his friend's shirt, which, luckily, wasn't the outfit for the photoshoot.
"I can't fix what I'm feeling, San. How can I fix it? This will hurt everybody." Wooyoung continued to break down as San spoke again, "What are you talking about, Wooyoung?" His body went tense as he thought of what the younger man might mean. He just went off on the two oldest members over what was really nothing in San's opinion. Was it because it was Seonghwa and Hongjoong?
"Do you hate Seonghwa?" San didn't know how to fix that. He also didn't understand where the hatred would have come from as Wooyoung floated from member to member all the time, giving love and affection.
Wooyoung, to San's relief, shook his head no. Unfortunately, that led to another question he couldn't wrap his head around, "Do you hate the Captain? There is no way you hate him. You're always laughing at whatever he says, and you won't shut up for days if he says anything nice about you…"
Wooyoung cried harder as San trailed off, finally understanding what was happening to his twin flame.
"Oh Wooyoung…you like him."
Those words seemed to make it real, which made it worse simultaneously. Wooyoung cried harder, his voice shaking as he spoke, "I can't like him, San. It will mess up the entire group. I'm going to cause the group to fall apart, and everybody is going to hate me. Atiny is going to hate me. Hongjoong will, too.”
San tightened Wooyoung into a hug, his muscled body scooping the other man to him. He hugged so hard that the other man was slightly worried San was squeezing him to death early before he could ruin the group.
"Wooyoung, nobody is going to hate you. We're not going to break up. We're a team, and we all love you. We would never hate you or blame you for something you can't control."
Wooyoung felt like he had just been dropped into the biggest scandal and that the media was just waiting outside the door to uncover his feelings for Hongjoong. San's words did offer some relief, though. San didn't hate him, and he didn't believe that Wooyoung liking their hyung would cause the group's downfall, even if Wooyoung still believed so. Finally, the tears had slowed down, his head starting to hurt from the intense emotional release.
"San…what do I do?"
They pulled back from each other, a tear stained face looking at a face full of adoration.
"First, you have to apologize to our hyungs." Wooyoung groaned and buried his face into San's shoulder.
"Then you're going to sit down and tell Hongjoong how you feel." As quickly as he put his head down, Wooyoung's head was back up just as quickly.
"No. Never. I am taking this to my grave. You are taking it to your grave right along with me, Choi San. That's the only way this won't cause problems."
San had a soft smile as he shook his head, "Oh no. You're telling him because, Wooyoung, this is just going to get worse if you can't handle even a little PDA. What happens if we're on a show next time?"
"I can control myself. I can hide it now that I know what the problem is."
San bumped his forehead against Wooyoung's, the close proximity helping to ground both of them.
"Wooyoung, you can never hide what you're feeling. You're not going to be able to hide this. It's going to cause problems between you and them if they don't know what's going on."
Wooyoung whined as he knew San was right. What if Atiny picked up on how he was feeling any time Matz was pushed? The media would then pick up on it and would eat the group alive.
Wooyoung loved his group dearly. He wanted nothing but for them to succeed and be healthy and happy. Relationships within idol groups were so dangerous. Letting romantic feelings get too involved within a group that essentially, at the end of the day, are coworkers is one surefire way to end up in flames.
On top of that fact, Hongjoong is a man. While Wooyoung knew since he was a teenager that he was pansexual, this did not mean that he wanted to share it with the world. Who knew how Atiny would take it? He knew the media would run scandal after scandal on the group.
Even through all his fear, he knew San was right deep down. He had to tell Hongjoong. He didn't trust himself to keep his face neutral if Matz was pushed again. Thankfully, until now, Matz had been such a loose concept. There has been no favoritism with Seonghwa other than words of appreciation since Hongjoong seemed to hate physical contact. It was easy to overlook the comments, but seeing those two physically touch each other was too much. He just needed time to get his emotions in order. Time to get over this silly crush that caused destruction even just thinking about it. Who knew what the directors would try to push and what Hongjoong would allow if Wooyoung didn't say anything?
"I hate it when you're right." Wooyoung conceded finally.
San tightened his arms again, squeezing Wooyoung in a hug, "I know."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking to either hyung was not a task for the weak. Wooyoung hid in his room the rest of that day as he genuinely didn't trust himself not to burst out into a rant or tears again, but even when he had built up the courage to speak of them, he couldn't find them. Anywhere.
A voice in the back of his mind whispered they must be off together somewhere. Who knew what they were doing? Maybe they're making Matz real.
Wooyoung scoffed at his brain, however it was hard to ignore after a while. It had two days now. Thankfully, their schedule had been light as it was off season, but he hadn't seen either of the hyungs except for glimpses of their backs as they left.
Everybody had given him space the day of the initial outburst and had avoided the topic since then. He appreciated it since he could carry on with everybody else like usual. He was a bit quiet on his end, but normal. Yeosang had even bought him lunch one day as a surprise.
As two days had passed, he was starting to worry. Why were they always missing? He figured Hongjoong was at the studio, but after speaking to Mingi, he realized that Hongjoong had apparently been avoiding the studio. They had their first group session that Tuesday, but Wooyoung had to speak to them before that. He couldn't keep this up.
With sleep avoiding him that Sunday night, he quietly went into the kitchen for a glass of water. He wasn't prepared at all for a conversation, but it seemed like the world had other plans when he found Seonghwa making tea in the kitchen.
Seonghwa looked up, locking eyes with the younger man. Instead of being guarded and hostile like Wooyoung imagined him to be, Seonghwa graced him with a soft smile.
"Hi, Wooyoung."
If he didn't feel prepared before, he definitely didn't know what to do now.
"Hi, hyung."
Seonghwa went back to making tea, "Would you like a cup? It's chamomile. It might help you sleep."
Not trusting his voice, Wooyoung nodded and jumped onto the counter as he watched the older man move around. The silence wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't hostile either. He knew he would have to make his move, but it was difficult.
Finally, the tea was made, and Seonghwa passed him a cup without comment. Fixing what he did was up to Wooyoung, and he knew he had to do it now, or he never would.
"I'm sorry."
Seonghwa hummed in acknowledgment but still didn't say a word. His dark eyes looked at Wooyoung, a silent offer for him to continue.
"I shouldn't have acted like that or been rude to you, hyung. It was unfair." Wooyoung hung his head as he spoke. He knew he should say more to explain, but even after days of preparing, he didn't know how to continue.
Luckily, Seonghwa did. With a smile, he said, "All is forgiven, Wooyoung. Thank you for apologizing."
The younger man was flabbergasted. That was it? Seonghwa wasn't mad at him after he went off so rudely in front of everybody?
"I…I don't understand." His forehead creased with confusion, "We're okay, just like that?"
Seonghwa let out a soft chuckle, leaning against the opposite counter. "Yes, we are."
Wooyoung was suspicious. Seonghwa was an amazing friend and a great group member, but the black cat was so rude to him. Usually, it took more conversation before Seonghwa was satisfied that everything was okay, but now it was only a few words, and he was fine.
"Why?"
Seonghwa had a slightly smug expression on his face, something that confused Wooyoung even more. "Apparently, you weren't the only one with a problem with the concept."
The conversation was derailing so much that anything Wooyoung could have expected was out the door.
"What do you mean?"
Everything about Seonghwa's posture and attitude was like the fat cat finally getting the cream when he answered, "I mean, somebody else didn't like that I was kissing Hongjoong either. He just didn't have a meltdown in front of everybody like you."
Immediately, he felt like he had to defend himself, but with the playful attitude Seonghwa was exhibiting, the atmosphere wasn't tense anymore. "I didn't have a meltdown."
Seonghwa smiled, his genuine, gorgeous smile he did when he was happy and content.
Wooyoung relented softly, "Okay, I had a meltdown." He pointed towards the other man, accusing him as he spoke again, "Don't change the subject! Who else had a problem with it?!"
Wooyoung knew he had fallen into a trap when Seonghwa said, "I'll tell you if you tell me why you had such a problem with it."
Hook, line, and sinker.
Wooyoung deflated, but he knew he had to tell his hyung. It was for the health of the group, even if it went against the health of his heart.
"I may have…" Wooyoung started and blurted out the rest in a rush, "Teeny tiny crush on Hongjoong. Like a really small one."
Even if Seonghwa didn't understand everything Wooyoung said so quickly, he already knew the cause of the meltdown.
"A small crush? You had a reaction like that to me putting lipstick marks on Hongjoong because of a small crush?"
Wooyoung nodded and looked down at his cup, waiting for the other man's reaction.
"If that's how somebody reacts when they have a small crush, then Yeosang must have the smallest crush on me. He didn't even say anything until we were alone."
Wooyoung blinked as he looked back at Seonghwa, who finally appeared nervous about their conversation.
"Yeosang?"
It was Seonghwa's turn to nod shyly. Wooyoung's mind was everywhere at once, trying to connect pieces that his sleep deprived brain was missing. Why was Yeosang bought up right now? What did he mean, crush?
Oh!
"Yeosang confessed?!?"
Immediately, Seonghwa hushed the other to lower his voice. His face broke into a light blush as he hushed Wooyoung again.
"You're so loud!"
"Yeah, but Yeosang? He confessed to you?" Wooyoung lowered his voice again, but his questions came out at a spitfire pace, "When? What did he say? What did you say? What does this have to do with what I said?"
The blush was still there, but Seonghwa's nervousness disappeared as he let Wooyoung speak.
"He came to check on me after what happened in the makeup room that day. I was so confused by what you did, Wooyoung, so I asked him why you would act like that."
Wooyoung felt guilty again, but quickly became absorbed back into the story.
"Yeosang said that he understood why you said all those things. He didn't agree with them, but he said jealousy recognizes jealousy. Then he confessed that he didn't like seeing me kiss Hongjoong either."
Wooyoung jumped off the counter as he gasped, his hand coming up to cover his mouth like a school girl at a sleepover, getting the latest gossip.
"What did you say?!"
"I told him I don't understand because it's just for the Matz concept. Yeosang said it still didn't feel good to see the man you like kissing another man." Seonghwa looked shy again, avoiding Wooyoung's eyes as he finished, "Then I may have kissed him."
Wooyoung smacked Seonghwa on the shoulder, "Omg! Hyung!"
Seonghwa smacked Wooyoung, his face falling back into a more somber expression. "See! That's how you tell somebody you like them. Not yelling at them. This is why you and Hongjoong are a good fit."
Wooyoung's excitement died with each word, "I'm sorry. It was really shitty of me to say all those things."
Seonghwa sighed, "Yes, it was, but it all worked out for me."
"What do you mean?"
"What do you mean, what do I mean?" The two men started to sound like parrots.
"I mean, yeah he confessed, but you two still can't be together. What if the media find out? What if Atiny finds out?"
The older man's face fell quickly, his shoulders dropping as he looked at Wooyoung, who only looked back as though he couldn't imagine another answer to a confession.
"Woo…is this why you haven't talked to Hongjoong? You think you two can't date if we're idols?"
"I can't even find him to talk to him! You two keep disappearing together ever since that day."
"He's been in his studio like normal, Wooyoung. Every day."
Wooyoung felt taken back, wondering why he hadn't checked there before. Then, he remembered, "Mingi said he wasn't in the studio when I asked him."
Seonghwa sighed, "It's Mingi. He probably thought he was protecting you two from fighting if you didn't see each other right now."
Wooyoung wasn't mad, but he was disappointed that he hadn't checked himself to see if the Captain had returned to his lair.
"Then where have you been?"
“With Yeosang, Wooyoung. Because we are going on dates to see where this leads us, even though we're idols, it doesn't mean we don't deserve a relationship with somebody who cares about us. We don't have a relationship clause in our contracts for this reason."
Wooyoung felt like his world had been flipped upside down, but a nagging voice still came through his thoughts, "What about the group if you two break up?"
"To begin with, we haven't made anything officially yet, but when we do, we will all sit down and talk like adults. We are a group, and it is a risk, but it's a risk worth taking. We will support each other through everything. Even a break up if it came down to it."
Seonghwa hugged Wooyoung, "I'm not saying it isn't scary to think about, but it's worth trying. Don't you think your feelings are worth it?"
Wooyoung hugged back, burying his face into his hyung as he remembered yet another reason to love Seonghwa.
"He's going to hate me."
Rubbing his back, Seonghwa spoke softly, "Hongjoong could never hate you. He loves all of us but I don't think there is a member he is more proud of than you."
Wooyoung didn't respond as he marinated in the comfort of a Seonghwa hug. He didn't know if he felt confident enough to talk to Hongjoong. He knew he had to, though. It helped that Seonghwa supported him.
"I love you, hyung."
Wooyoung felt Seonghwa smiled into his hair, "I love you too, Wooyoung. Now go to sleep so you can have enough energy to deal with all this tomorrow."
They stayed close together for another minute before Wooyoung stepped away and retreated to his room for the night. Nothing was magically solved by their discussion, but Wooyoung slept better than he had in the past couple of nights.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wooyoung waited until the sun had dropped out of the sky to approach the studio. If timed right, a member could be lucky enough to find a sleepy Hongjoong, and a sleepy Hongjoong would be softer.
Wooyoung's nerves were on fire, but he was determined. If Yeosang could do it, so could he. Another part of his mind whispered that Yeosang had confessed to somebody sweeter and not the Captain with all the responsibilities of the group. Granted, he wouldn't change any of Hongjoong's fierce personality. He needed somebody like that, or else Wooyoung would run all over the other person in a relationship. It just meant he was more nervous than he had ever been before.
Opening the studio door, he saw the object of his affections. Hongjoong was staring at the computer, his back to the door. His head bobbed, loud music coming out from his headphones that were on the verge of falling off at any moment.
Wooyoung crossed the distance to him, touching his shoulder lightly as the other man startled and looked up at him.
Wooyoung voted for moving back to the couch, leaving space between them in an attempt to calm his nerves. He spoke once Hongjoong had paused the music and removed his headphones, "Hey, hyung."
"Wooyoung, I didn't hear you come in."
"I figured you wouldn't…" Wooyoung trailed off, once again feeling like he did with Seonghwa and being unsure how to start this.
Apparently, this is not a trait that Hongjoong has in common with him as the older man began immediately, "About what happened the other day, I just wanted to say I'm sorry."
First off, Hongjoong apologizing to him was melting his brain, but on top of that, he didn't understand why he was apologizing.
"What?"
Hongjoong sighed and turned his chair to face Wooyoung, "What you said was right. Well, not all of it. It was wrong and insulting, but you did get one thing right."
"Hyung, I-"
Hongjoong held up his hand, motioning for him to stop. "Seonghwa already told me you apologized to him last night and that you two made up, so it's okay, Wooyoung. I get why you were mad, though."
Wooyoung felt his heart skip a beat, but he was still cautious about what the other man could mean.
"What do you mean?"
"I was being a hypocrite," Hongjoong fiddled with his rings as he spoke, his eyes tracing each one, "I can't get mad at you and Mingi when I was pushing Matz just as hard as you two do. So, if you want to push Woosan more in public, I won't get mad anymore. At you and San. Or Mingi and Yunho."
Wooyoung felt like the floor dropped from under his feet, "What are you even talking about, hyung?"
Hongjoong huffed and looked up, "Wooyoung, I get that you and San want to do more PDA and behind the scenes stuff. I was in the wrong to try to tell you to quit and hide it, okay?"
What was even happening? Wooyoung was so lost, but he blurted out the only thing he knew to be true, "I don't want to be open with San, hyung."
Now it was Hongjoong's turn to look confused, "Then why did you act like that? You said it wasn't fair, so I'm trying to make it fair for everybody."
Wooyoung smiled, realizing now that Hongjoong was just trying to be a good leader and solve their disagreement even if he was way off track. Even when Wooyoung was in the wrong with his actions, Hongjoong was trying to find a solution without hurting anybody's feelings. It made Wooyoung feel warm throughout his body for his Captain's consideration. With this knowledge, he felt more certain that Hongjoong wouldn't hate him if he knew the truth.
With that push of confidence, he spoke again. "Sorry, hyung, but that's not going to work. I rather see us do Topaz than you and Seonghwa push Matz."
Hongjoong's face turned into a scowl, running his hand through his hair, "Do you really want to have more screen time that badly?"
It was Wooyoung's turn to scowl, "Why is that what you think I mean?"
The two were scowling at each other as Hongjoong spoke again, "Why else would you want to push two couple concepts?" It appeared to be Hongjoong's turn to rant as he stated, "We can't do that. If we did that, Atiny would analyze every second we were all together to see who was mad or jealous. Everything we do would be "
"I was jealous, hyung!"
The silence fell between the two men like a steel blade in a guillotine. Hongjoong's wide eyes met Wooyoung's, who couldn't quite decide whether it was too late to run away and start a solo career.
"What?"
Wooyoung sighed, guessing he had to be brave enough, and continued, "San is my platonic soulmate, Hyung. That's it. So it's easy to do the Woosan stuff and not think about it. With Matz, Seonghwa usually just makes a couple of jokes when you two have the same hairstyle or food. All that was fine until you two started touching, especially kissing like that…I got jealous, hyung."
Wooyoung heard Hongjoong suck in a breath deeply, "You were jealous? That Seonghwa was kissing me?"
Even after Wooyoung confirmed the question, the reality of what he was saying still seemed to escape Hongjoong as he asked with disbelief, "Of me? Or of Seonghwa?"
Wooyoung looked at the floor, nerves getting the best of him, "Of Seonghwa. That he was the one kissing you instead of me."
Once again, the room was silent, but Wooyoung wanted to wait it out this time. The ball was in Hongjoong's court now, so it was up to him on how he responded. He heard Hongjoong turn his chair back around to his computer but his hyung's response was loud and clear.
"You don't have to be jealous. We're not like that. We both like other people."
Wooyoung's heart was beating fast, hoping that he was the lucky one the Captain liked, but before he could ask, Hongjoong continued. "I think we can keep our original couple concepts, but maybe, if there is anything that involves a lot of physical touch, we can all stick with the person we actually like for that."
Wooyoung, once again, spoke without thinking, "San and I are always touching, though. It's part of our thing."
Hongjoong turned around, his face scowling, "You don't have to stop touching him. I know you two are big into skin ship, but if you don't want Seonghwa kissing me, I don't want San kissing you!"
Wooyoung grinned. Hongjoong had confirmed it was Wooyoung that he liked with that statement, but the black cat never was one to not be a smartass when he was happy, "Fine, Jongho can kiss me, and San can kiss you! No need to be so jealous of us, hyung!"
Hongjoong threw a stress ball from his desk at Wooyoung, who cackled in response. They hadn't said how they felt, but they knew. It was mutual and it tasted sweeter than Wooyoung imagined having Hongjoong's affection.
Of course, understanding his hyung liked him and what he wanted to do about that was two different things. Did he want to go on dates like Yeosang and Seonghwa, or did he feel like Wooyoung originally did and worry it was too risky?
"What about outside of work and concepts, hyung? How are we supposed to behave then?"
It was Hongjoong's turn to look bashful, "I think it would be good if we went out on our own to find out. If that's something you'd like to do."
Wooyoung blushed but stood firm, "I'd like that a lot actually. But…" he wasn't sure if he should voice his concerns after his talk with Seonghwa, but he had to get his Captain's option, "What about the media and Atiny?"
Hongjoong looked at Wooyoung with a tilt to his head, "Are you planning on kissing me on the lips while we're on stage or in public?"
"What, no!" Wooyoung may kiss the members on the cheeks, but he knew not to go further than that, especially if an actual relationship was involved.
"Then we'll be fine, Wooyoung. Is that what you were worried about?"
"Of course, hyung. I don't want to cause the group any trouble or get Atiny upset with us."
Hongjoong stood and stopped in front of Wooyoung, kneeling in front of him with a soft look on his face. Seeing his admiration so clearly on his face was rare, but Wooyoung treasured it dearly each time it occurred.
"Wooyoung, Atiny is important to us, but we're never going to make all of them happy. With every song we produce and every performance we do, some will love it, and some will hate it. We have to keep being true to ourselves because that is the only way we will be happy."
Wooyoung nodded, his eyes lost in Hongjoong's.
"Being an idol in a group doesn't mean you have to push aside what makes you happy just because it might change the group. We will all face our problems together, but we want each other to be happy at the end of the day. That's the most important part of our friendship."
The Captain broke eye contact, looking at Wooyoung's knees instead of his eyes now as he continued, "And being with you, Wooyoung, would make me happy. I've liked you for a long time now."
He knew it after their conversation, but to hear Hongjoong actually say it? Wooyoung might implode. That was a thing, right? Spontaneous human combustion?
Those feelings forced Wooyoung to be bold as Hongjoong was getting shy on him.
He softly cupped Hongjoong's face, turning it until they faced each other again. There was a light blush over his Captain's face, and Wooyoung could hear his own heartbeat speed up at the view.
"I like you too, hyung."
Soft lips touched him, a chaste kiss that happened before Wooyoung could even respond. By the time his brain was back online, Hongjoong had stood up and was back at his computer.
"Yah! You can't just kiss me and go back to work!" Wooyoung stood up, walking over to the producer.
A soft chuckle came from the slightly shorter man, "I'm just saving my work so we can leave."
Wooyoung blinked, "You're leaving the studio? You never leave the studio this early. It's only like 11."
Hongjoong finished with his laptop and closed it, "If we don't leave the studio, we can't go on a date, can we?"
Wooyoung giggled as they walked to the door, his whole body threatening to float hearing the other man talk about taking him on a date. Wait…
"It's 11 at night! What type of date do you think you're taking me on, Hongjoong?!"
Hongjoong tripped, catching himself before he fell. He turned quickly, "Not one of those, you dog! I just thought we could get some ramen."
Wooyoung felt better, but he still had to continue to fluster his companion, "Eating ramen together, huh? Pretty sure that's what they call it nowadays."
He cackled when Hongjoong smacked his shoulder, "Yah! Do you want to go eat together or not?"
Wooyoung took his chance, copying his hyung's moves from earlier as he quickly kissed the other's lips. He giggled as he grabbed Hongjoong's hand and pulled the blushing man with him through the studio door.
"Next time, we're going somewhere during normal date hours, hyung."
Hongjoong smiled softly as the dark haired man directed them towards the elevator, "Whatever you want, Wooyoung."