Chapter Text
Coy had a theory about Anthony.
It wasn’t a very nice theory.
Actually, if he said it out loud, everyone would probably tell him he was being dramatic.
Which was exactly why he never said it out loud.
Anthony wasn’t mean. That was the annoying part.
If Anthony had been rude, or selfish, or obviously difficult, Coy would have had a reason. A clear reason. Something he could point to and say, there. That’s why.
But Anthony wasn’t like that.
He was just… Anthony.
Quiet. Sarcastic. Impossible to read.
The kind of person who would sit in the corner during a conversation, say one sentence, and somehow everyone would laugh. The kind of person who could disappear for three hours working on something and come back like nothing happened. The kind of person who always seemed completely comfortable, even when everyone else was scrambling around trying to figure things out.
Coy hated that.
Not Anthony.
The fact that Anthony always seemed so unaffected.
It was almost impressive.
Almost.
“Are you going to keep staring at him, or are you going to come inside?”
Coy looked up immediately.
Hanbon was standing in the doorway, holding it open and looking far too amused.
“I wasn’t staring.”
“You were absolutely staring.”
“I was looking.”
“At Anthony.”
“Because he’s sitting right there.”
Hanbon raised an eyebrow.
Coy sighed.
“You’re annoying.”
“I know.”
She walked away before he could respond.
That was Hanbon. She never waited for the last word because she already knew she had it.
Coy stepped inside the goffice, immediately surrounded by the familiar chaos of another filming day.
Camera equipment covered half the table. Someone had left a hoodie on the couch. There were three different drinks sitting near the editing setup, and Coy was almost positive none of them belonged to the person currently sitting there.
Anthony.
Of course.
Anthony looked up.
“Hey.”
Coy nodded.
“Hey.”
That was it.
A normal interaction.
Nothing wrong.
Except Coy noticed that Anthony never looked away first.
And for some reason, that bothered him.
He walked past him toward the kitchen.
“You guys starting soon?” he asked.
“In like twenty minutes,” Will answered from the counter.
Will was always the calmest person in the apartment. Which was probably why he survived living around the rest of them.
Hanbon had chaos.
Coy had energy.
Anthony had whatever weird combination of sarcasm and confidence made him impossible to figure out.
Will just existed peacefully in the middle of it all.
“Perfect,” Coy said.
Anthony glanced over.
“You’re filming the intro today, right?”
Coy looked at him.
“Yeah.”
“Cool.”
Another normal conversation.
Another thing that shouldn’t bother him.
But it did.
Because Anthony always sounded like that.
Like everything was casual.
Like nothing mattered that much.
And Coy cared.
He cared about the videos. He cared about the group. He cared about making sure things went well.
Sometimes it felt like Anthony cared too.
And sometimes it felt like he was just there because it was fun.
Coy hated not knowing which one it was.
“You’re doing the thing again.”
Coy turned toward Hanbon.
“What thing?”
“The thing where you look like you’re arguing with someone in your head.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“I’m literally standing here.”
“That’s usually when people do it.”
Coy ignored her.
Because the worst part was that she was usually right.
The day went normally after that.
Which meant it was loud.
There were jokes, filming, arguments about tiny details that didn’t matter, and somehow everyone still ended up having a good time.
That was the thing about Bunch of Friends.
No matter how chaotic things got, they always worked.
Usually.
Except for one person.
At least, that was what Coy told himself.
Anthony.
During filming, Anthony was exactly how he always was.
Funny without trying.
Annoying without realizing it.
He made one joke during a serious moment and everyone laughed.
Everyone except Coy.
Not because it wasn’t funny.
It was.
That was the problem.
Anthony was always funny.
Coy hated that.
“You’re smiling.”
Coy immediately stopped.
Will was looking at him.
“I’m not.”
“You were.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
Will shrugged.
“Okay.”
Coy narrowed his eyes.
“Why are you like this?”
“Like what?”
“Like you notice things.”
Will thought about it.
“Because I have eyes.”
Coy looked away.
Sometimes he hated how everyone in this apartment was impossible.
Especially Anthony.
Especially when Anthony was the one making him laugh five minutes after irritating him.
It made everything confusing.
By the time they finished filming, everyone was tired.
Hanbon collapsed onto the couch dramatically.
“I have an idea.”
“No,” Coy said immediately.
“You don’t even know what it is.”
“I know you.”
Anthony laughed from across the room.
Coy looked over before he could stop himself.
There it was again.
That effortless laugh.
The one that made everyone else smile.
The one that made Coy feel like he was missing something.
Hanbon sat up.
“Okay. Hear me out.”
Everyone groaned.
“The channel needs something new.”
Coy grabbed a drink from the table.
“Okay.”
“We need something people will talk about.”
Anthony leaned back.
“I’m already concerned.”
Hanbon pointed at him.
“Good instinct.”
Coy shook his head.
“This is going to be terrible.”
“It’s going to be genius.”
“Those are usually the same thing with you.”
Hanbon smiled.
Then she said:
“Fake dating.”
The room went quiet.
Coy almost laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because there was no way.
Absolutely no way.
“No.”
Hanbon looked at him.
“I didn’t even say who.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Anthony looked between them.
“Wait.”
Coy looked at him.
“Don’t.”
“I haven’t said anything.”
“You were thinking something.”
“I was thinking it could actually be funny.”
Of course he was.
Coy stared at him.
“You’re serious?”
Anthony shrugged.
“As a video? Yeah.”
That was the thing about Anthony.
He never seemed bothered.
Even now.
Even with Coy looking at him like he had suggested the worst idea in history.
He was just calm.
“I think people would believe it,” Anthony added.
Coy almost laughed.
“People believing something fake is literally the point.”
“Exactly.”
Hanbon looked between them.
A slow smile appeared.
“Oh, this is perfect.”
Coy immediately knew he was going to regret whatever happened next.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“You two already have the most annoying dynamic.”
“We do not.”
Will looked up.
“You kind of do.”
Coy turned toward him.
“Seriously?”
Will shrugged.
“I’m just saying.”
Hanbon clapped her hands.
“Okay. We’re doing this.”
“We are not.”
“You are.”
“I’m not.”
Anthony looked at him.
For some reason, that made Coy pause.
Not because Anthony looked upset.
He didn’t.
He just looked genuinely confused.
Like he didn’t understand why Coy was so against it.
And that irritated Coy more than anything.
Because maybe Anthony really didn’t notice.
Maybe he never noticed anything.
“Fine,” Coy said.
The words came out before he could rethink them.
Everyone looked at him.
Coy immediately regretted it.
“Fine?”
Hanbon grinned.
“Fine?”
Coy pointed at her.
“Don’t make that face.”
“What face?”
“The one where you think you won.”
“I did win.”
“You always think you win.”
“Because I usually do.”
Anthony smiled slightly.
Coy noticed.
And immediately looked away.
“Rules,” Coy said.
Hanbon blinked.
“What?”
“If we’re doing this, there are rules.”
Anthony nodded.
“Fair.”
And somehow, they started planning.
A fake relationship.
A video.
A joke.
Nothing more.
Coy repeated that to himself because it was easier.
Anthony was still Anthony.
He was still annoying.
He was still impossible to understand.
This was just for content.
That was all.
Later that night, Coy walked down the hallway toward the kitchen and found Anthony there.
For a second, he considered turning around.
But that would be obvious.
And Coy refused to let Anthony know he was bothered.
“Couldn’t sleep?”
Anthony looked over.
“No. You?”
“Yeah.”
They stood there quietly.
Normally, silence didn’t bother Coy.
But with Anthony, it always felt like there was something he was supposed to say.
“You really think this will work?” Coy asked.
Anthony looked at him.
“The video?”
“Yeah.”
Anthony nodded.
“Yeah.”
Coy waited.
That was it?
Just yeah?
“You’re very confident.”
Anthony shrugged.
“I think we’ll be good.”
Coy almost asked why.
Why he thought that.
Why he was so sure.
Instead, he just said:
“Right.”
Anthony looked at him for a second.
“You know, you don’t actually hate the idea because of the video.”
Coy froze.
“What?”
Anthony smiled a little.
“I’m joking.”
Coy looked away.
Except it didn’t feel like a joke.
Not completely.
Because maybe Anthony noticed more than Coy thought.
And maybe that was the problem.
“Goodnight, Anthony.”
“Goodnight, Coy.”
Coy walked back down the hallway.
And he hated that, for the first time in a while, he wondered if maybe Anthony wasn’t the person he thought he was.