Chapter Text
“Okay, be serious now, how do I look?”
Jungwon and Jay move their eyes from the TV screen to Sunoo in a heartbeat. The couple was leisurely hanging out in Jungwon and Sunoo’s living room, their legs intertwined under the blanket, a huge bucket of popcorn precariously balanced on top of them - probably Jungwon’s lap, since he seemed to be kinda on top of Jay, but for Sunoo’s mental health, we will not dwell into the specifics of that arrangement.
Both men analysed their friend like X-rays at the airport, clinical precision. Sunoo was always beautiful; that was as certain as the succession of days and nights, the need for air, the wetness of water. But tonight, he was especially dazzling with a not-so-common black turtleneck that highlighted his unfair shoulder-to-waist ratio. Sunoo usually opted for more casual and loose outfits, hoodies, or t-shirts that were 3 sizes too big on him. His pants were always baggy. His friends knew he was physically appealing, but it was hardly displayed in public. Sunoo was fashionable, but comfort was his number 1 priority. He knew he could (metaphorically) kill people with his looks, but he was also merciful, and instead decided to grant them only with his cute, friendly, and bubbly personality.
Apparently, not tonight.
The turtleneck was adorned with two heavy metal chains sitting prettily on his collarbones, giving him a more manly look than usual. His pants were straight high-waisted black jeans, as well. Jungwon thought his friend looked like a good-looking burglar; maybe he needed to rob a jewelry store or something. The make-up wasn’t heavy, but the cat eye was doing wonders to emphasize his foxy features even more. To summarize, he looked drop-dead lethal.
“This is not your usual go-to outfit. Is there a special occasion?”, Jay asked.
Sunoo rolled his eyes at the lack of response (compliments) from his friends. He put a lot of effort into looking presentable, desirable, and mature, while actively avoiding anything pastel in his wardrobe. It took him hours. His turtleneck was outlining more than he wanted at first, yet he decided it was a necessary step towards being more risky and taking more chances. Tonight was important, and he needed to leave the best impression possible.
You see, Sunoo was asked on a date.
I’ll repeat: he was asked. on. a. date.
By a gorgeous man: athletic, funny, interested, good listener, great arms, and he had experience abroad (meaning he had fun stories and wasn’t a total dickhead like most of the guys that approached him). He was so excited. Usually, people didn’t make a move on him at all - maybe because he was hardly alone, always surrounded by his group of friends. But when they did, ugh. It was… not very gracious, to say the least. More often than not, someone around him would end up intervening to hit the disgrace of a man groping him (funnily, it was usually Sunghoon to notice it first; Sunoo assumed it was a ‘I’m the only one that can make his life hard’ kind of thing. He was thankful regardless). He became a bit skeptical about the whole thing. He had a good family, loving friends, and he studied very hard. Life was pretty decent.
Now, it appeared, it would not only get decent, but potentially heated. He was over the moon about it. Not only because the guy, Eric, was very handsome, but he also took his time to get to know Sunoo even before asking for anything more serious. Eric was a gentleman, offered to help with Sunoo’s belongings, and walked with him between classes, just to say hi and catch up. He remembered his order at the cafeteria, and he smelled so good. It can’t get better than this.
After a few weeks of conversation and not-imposing but very present flirting, he asked Sunoo out. To dinner - at this charming (and not crazy expensive) Italian restaurant, nearby Sunoo’s apartment, because, and these were his words, he didn’t want Sunoo to feel overwhelmed or uncomfortable during their outing.
Like, are you serious?
Sunoo was ready to get proposed to. He would probably say yes on the spot, out of nervousness and honest shock.
Therefore, all the effort put into this. It was worth it.
What was not worth it, apparently, was waiting for useful input from his friends.
He wasn’t very happy about exposing his plans to them, being nosy af, but he was also so damn goodhearted, so he decided on honesty: “I’m going on a date tonight”.
“A DATE?”
“OH MY GOD, I CAN’T BELIEVE HE FINALLY GREW SOME BALLS, ARE YOU SERIOUS?”, Jungwon screamed, jumping from Jay’s lap and creating a rain of popcorn in the middle of the living room. Sunoo was not gonna be mad, just because he vacuumed the whole place yesterday, no no no, he was a good person. He could murder Jungwon after dinner, like a normal human being. He was someone who worked better with schedules after all.
But beyond that, Sunoo was honestly confused. And offended. Were they questioning his ability to get men? Well, excuse you, he was the one holding his suitors back. They all knew that, right? He could get… you know, it. He, like, super could. But also, what does Jungwon mean by “he finally grew some balls?!” Was Eric talking to him to get some insights on Sunoo? The prospect made him fluster.
“Oh, I didn’t know you knew Eric hyung”, he replied sheepishly.
Now was Jungwon’s turn to be confused; his excitement evaporated: “Who?”
“Eric, the guy I’m going on a date with.”
A beat of silence.
“Wait”, and now confusion was spreading to Jay’s face like a contagious disease, “When you said date, you weren’t talking about a date with Sunghoon?”
And now even their couch appears to be lost in this conversation. Sunoo took a deep breath. Eric was about to be here any minute now. He needed to keep his composure.
“Sunghoon hyung? Why would you assume I would go out with him????”
The silence that followed was missed three seconds later, when Jay said the most stupid thing imaginable:
“Wait, are you cheating on him?”
“WHAT????”, and Sunoo was sure his banshee response could be heard from the floor above them.
Before he would commit murder (‘cause honestly, enough is enough), his phone made a ‘ping’ sound that drew his attention to the screen.
“Oh, he’s here. I gotta go. We’ll talk later… or not. Probably not, stop being weird. You’re creeping me out.”
And with that, Sunoo grabbed his bomber jacket and left their apartment, ignoring the stunned faces of the couple left behind.
Jay was still processing what had just happened, while Jungwon, as always, was already moving.
[CHAT: MINT CHOCO HATERS + SUNOO]
jungwon: WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY. SUNGHOON HYUNG’S DORM. NOW.
***
It took, in fact, more than 20 minutes for any of the other guys to show up at Sunghoon’s place, much to Jungwon's dismay. He was certain he had more convincing power over his group of useless, ignoring-emergency friends, but he would process that later. He had more important business to attend to now, like his best friend’s love life, ‘cause what the hell?
He was about to bring Sunghoon’s door down with his incessant knocking - Jay was already envisioning the apology he would give to his friend’s neighbours - when finally a very confused Sunghoon answered the door.
“Gosh, what? Who died?”, he said in an exasperated tone that, to Jungwon’s understanding, was a confirmation of this man’s obliviousness and inevitable heartbreak. How could Sunoo do this to his boyfriend? To Sunghoon, of all people. The man was… well, okay, I guess? Jungwon wasn’t blind, and he knew Sunghoon was objectively handsome, but God is also fair, and that appealing face was accompanied by the most awkward social skills known to mankind. It’s how the universe finds balance and doesn’t explode: pretty people gotta lack somewhere or at least have smelly feet and overly sweaty armpits. It’s the law. And not even Sunghoon escaped that.
But even so, Sunghoon was his friend (not like Sunoo, but still someone close and dear to him), and he was decent, patient, and always willing to help others. And Jungwon was sure Sunghoon was obsessed with Sunoo, which was not his fault at all; it was the natural response to Sunoo being alive near you. To be honest, obsessed doesn’t even cover their dynamic. Sunghoon had always been weird(er) around Sunoo, from the get-go. At the beginning, they all thought it was amusing, harmless teasing, friendly banter. And then evolve to something else that no one seemed able to explain, but it felt ‘theirs’, a very specific way of being around each other that was just labeled as something… unique. But all the lingering eyes from Sunghoon’s part and the additional stuttering here and there, and Jungwon was certain, certain, that Sunghoon was about to propose any minute now, just waiting for the best opportunity to sweep his friend off his feet. All that oggling was not normal, folks.
Which led, after a while, to the only logical conclusion possible - and only disclosure between him, Jay, and their other friends, Heeseung, Ni-ki, and Jake: Sunoo and Sunghoon were secretly dating. That was, honest to God, the only way to explain their behaviour. Sunghoon was too emotionally constipated to come clean to his friends, but he was also so down bad that he couldn’t live without touching, bothering, or getting at least a reaction out of Sunoo. He needed his boyfriend in his orbit at all times. And Sunno, also being in love but in a more normal way, had no option other than to comply with Sunghoon’s quirkiness.
It worked out. The group learned to deal with it. When Sunghoon was (almost) desperately asking for Sunoo’s whereabouts after class, they would just indulge him. When Sunoo would show up to their hangouts, and Sunghoon would be all dressed up, drenched in his cologne, and so eager to cook (which they all knew was more unexpected than picturing Jake kicking a puppy), they accepted it as his efforts to be a low-key good boyfriend. When Sunoo was taking 500 selfies, Sunghoon would put the most descomunal effort to be in 499 of them, almost causing Sunoo an aneurysm, but to the rest of them, it was endearing (somehow… kinda). The fact that Sunoo put up with all that, and the teasing (the squishing cheeks daily, the waist-grabbing at any given opportunity) only confirmed to their friends that they were in a committed monogamous relationship.
Because honestly, what other reason did Sunoo have not to throw Sunghoon under the first bus in sight?
That must be love. The devastating, debilitating, irrational type.
Sunghoon barely spoke, and Jungwon brushed past him, followed by a very apologetic Jay, both entering his apartment like they were about to actually announce someone’s passing. The couple stood awkwardly in the middle of his living room, where Sunghoon had been playing a game on his TV before having his home invaded. The owner of the space sat back on his couch and waited. Jay and Jungwon were exchanging pained looks, and Jungwon checked his phone twice, realizing their friends were indeed unreliable. What if one of them were in fact dying? Then what?
Jungwon shook his head; now was not the time to be catastrophic. Well, more. More catastrophic, because this was a tragedy enough to handle. He exchanged another glance with Jay, but before he could say anything, Sunghoon had had enough:
“Can someone explain why you are barging in like that? And why does Jungwon look like he’s constipated? Is this a bathroom emergency? Jungwonie, you don't have to wait, just go”.
Bless his heart, Jungwon thought. The man was offering his bathroom as a sacrifice in case of a stomach crisis of his friends. He’s an angel. How could Sunoo do this to him???
“Hyung”, and Jungwon sounded like he was about to say he ran over a stray cat. So much pain in one single word.
“What? What, Jungwonie? You can talk to me, it’s okay. What happened?”
Jay squeezed his boyfriend’s shoulder in solidarity. Jungwon took a deep breath and continued, with all the caution he could muster.
“Hmmm, hyung. I, I don’t know how to tell you this. And I feel like I’m being the worst best friend on the planet. I owe Sunoo hyung my undivided loyalty, you know that, right?”
He nodded. Sunghoon had no idea where this was going, but yes, he did know about the bond Sunoo and Jungwon had. It was something so beyond being best friends that he felt a bit jealous of it at times. If they confess to their friend group that they had telepathic powers and could hear each other without uttering a word, Sunghoon would only shake his head and say ‘makes perfect sense”, because it does. Those two met when they were only 14 and 13, respectively, but Sunghoon can’t even fathom a world before them being best friends, living glued to each other all the time. Even Jay, being the boyfriend, suspected that he was second in Jungwon’s list of affection, because Sunoo and Jungwon’s family were tied in first place. He made peace with that.
“Maybe we should wait for the others, I’m sure they’re on the way, right?”, he said to Jay, ignoring all the question marks on Sunghoon’s face.
Sunghoon suddenly seemed to stir from his stupor, his sentences sounding frantic: “Wait, is Sunoo okay? Did something happen to him?”
Seeeeeee? The concerned expression in front of him was all the confirmation Jungwon needed.
Sunoo and Sunghoon are obviously together. That’s a fact. They were just shy about it and decided to go private for a while; Jungwon could respect that. He was patiently waiting for Sunoo to open up to him, which was fine (it was not fine, but oh well).
Sunghoon was dumb around Sunoo because that was his love language: acting brainless because he felt overwhelmed by Sunoo’s existence. That’s love right there, another fact.
And now Sunoo was cheating on his lovely boyfriend with some Edward. An unfortunate fact. That one, to be honest, was the thing he couldn’t explain. Sunoo was the most loyal and feral about his friends. He defended them with all he had. He was extra empathetic; it couldn’t be helped. Sunoo threw his mint choco latte on a random girl who was badmouthing Jake a few weeks ago. And Sunoo loved mint choco, really, he would never waste any of it unless absolutely needed. That was just who he was. And now you want Jungwon to believe that the same person is now a cheater and a homewrecker? This madness gotta stop.
“Baby, maybe they will take a while to get here… only Jake saw your message”, Jay tried to ease his boyfriend, he knew Jungwon was sensitive about those replies.
“No”, and now it was Sunghoon’s turn to be offended, “you come in here like you’re about to make an arrest, explain nothing, and mention Sunoo. Like, did something happen to him? Is he okay? Do we need to get him somewhere?”
Jungwon was this close to crying. Imagine if they found out that Jay was cheating on him with a whatever dude, oh my god, he would be devastated for days. No, actually, he would be arrested for days, because he would certainly kill both of them. Like hell he would let that happen. And Jay, Jay was a blessing, he was smart, semi funny, but drop dead gorgeous, and he plays the guitar. He really loved Jungwon, even with all his baggage (that now was just mostly Sunoo). They clicked together; it was gradual, but steady, and Jungwon was more than happy to settle down finally. So no, he loved Sunoo, but the idea of seeing someone else hurt, especially in a context like this, was unfathomable to him. He needed to do something even if it jeopardized his relationship with his platonic soulmate. Someone gotta have common sense here, and if he was the man for the job, so be it.
“Hyung, it’s just. It’s complicated. I’m sorry to come in here like this. I got overwhelmed. And now, looking at you, God, how could he do this? Jay hyung, what should we do? They just got together.”
“Baby, we haven’t even talked about this before storming here. Have you even considered that they have an agreement, like an open relationship or something?”
“What? Do you really think Sunoo hyung would want that? Even worse, do you think Sunghoon hyung would allow that? Does he look like someone who would support that idea? Look at him”, and Jungwon was pointing aggressively at Sunghoon’s dumb face.
Ok, seriously, what? Like, what the fuck?
“Hold on, I’m not following. At all. What about Sunoo and me?”
“Hyung”, and Jungwon sounded like a pre-school teacher talking to a 5-year-old. Explaining the obvious facts of the world with tender patience, “we know, okay? We know.”
“Know what?”
“About you and Sunoo hyung. No. Not Sunoo. But a homewrecker. Homewrecker hyung. I can’t believe I’m saying this about my best friend, oh my god” and Sunghoon, sitting on his couch, watching all that circus in his living room, only had the strength to whisper another not very eloquent “I’m sorry, what?” in utter disbelief.
Jungwon, with the self-control of a newborn baby, dropped to the floor and screamed his sorrows into the void:
“Hyung, I’m sorry, I know you love him, but I think he’s cheating on you”, and honest to god, he started sobbing right there.