Understanding
Title: Understanding
Length: 1/1
Author: Kurokitsune09
Rating: PG-13
Genre: slight angst undertones/romance
Focus: HoyaxSungyeol
Sub-Focus: random members of Infinite, Beast, 4Minute, Mblaq etc. etc.
Notes: the sequel to Support. It is set in the same universe as Epiphany so yeah… I think its kinda confusing still…sorry if it seems to vague -_-U
Summary: He finally gets it.
“Just be happy.”
The words reverberated in his mind, emotions ringing behind it and the tall male just curled in on himself. He could hear his family members and some of his friends banging, pounding on the door trying to get him out of his room. Sungyeol really didn’t want to. He really didn’t.
“Sungyeol-ah, c’mon. You’ve been in there for almost two days now. We’re worried,” he heard Joon call out over Mir and Sohyun trying to get Sungyeol’s mother to not call someone. “Sungyeol-ah.”
He didn’t answer and instead, Sungyeol let out a pitiful sound, burying himself in his covers and comforters. It hadn’t hurt before. It really hadn’t but now that he heard it from his best friend, it really did hurt. And he didn’t know why. To know and understand that Hoya did so much for him, and while on some level he knew it already, to be kind of smacked in the face with it, it kind of really hurt. Hoya put him before anything.
“Just be happy.”
Fuck. And Sungyeol almost screamed, his hands grabbing his pillow to muffle the sounds as his best friend’s voice echoed in his mind again. Sungyeol knew that he wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box nor was he the most observant of people but Hoya hadn’t tried to hide anything. So why was it that he never noticed? Why didn’t he ever notice that his best friend in forever, his partner in crime was in love with him? Why the hell did he keep making Hoya suffer? Why the hell did he-?
Sungyeol’s shoulder’s stiffened beneath his covers, his entire body going still as a singular thought rang out in his mind, running and flashing to the forefront of his thoughts. Vaguely he heard his door slam open and probably off its hinges from the force as someone who sounded like Mir or Joon shout something. Of course, at the same time, little Sohyun could have gotten annoyed and kicked his door down instead of Mir and Joon but Sungyeol really couldn’t give a damn. Over the roar and crash of his door hitting the wall, he heard his mother shrill something and he could faintly make out Jiyoon’s voice. Someone yanked the covers off him and he or she or whoever it was just stared as Sungyeol whispered a horrified sounding, “Oh god. Maybe I don’t care.”
Joon blinked in confusion and Mir asked a bewildered, “What?”
But Sungyeol was already out of his bed, out of the room and flying down the stairs. He bolted.
---
“So did you or did you not out right tell him that you love him?” the male made a slight face as his companion’s fork, containing food, flickered out in his direction. He grimaced as the forkful of hash and eggs made a splotching noise, hitting the table. The other didn’t notice and he grimaced again. He squawked when his companion reached out with his free hand and smacked him soundly across the forehead. “Yah! Hoya-ya are you listening?”
“Yes Sunggyu-hyung. I am,” Hoya answered dutifully, reaching for napkins to wipe up that food splotch. His friend made a low noise of satisfaction and dug back into his plate. He had the fork halfway to his mouth again before he exhaled and dragged Hoya’s attention with a harsh sounding, “Yah! Lee Howon! Answer the question!”
“That’s a no Sunggyu-hyung. Hoya-ya’s feelings were implied but he didn’t actually say those words,” the voice was light and Hoya gave a weak smile to Woohyun as he slid into the booth. Woohyun nodded to him before throwing a clean napkin at Sunggyu. “And hyung, food belongs in your bowl or your mouth. Not on the table,” Sunggyu just threw the wad back at him and Woohyun gave a sidelong glance at Hoya. “Are we discussing Hoya-ya and Sungyeol-ah’s relationship?”
“We’re not in a relationship,” Hoya muttered quietly. He winced as he said those words; emotions flickering across his face and Woohyun shook his head.
“Not everyone is quite as blind as the two of you alright,” Woohyun sniped and Hoya looked up. The other rolled his eyes. “It’s not a normal relationship but it is one. Besides you two being best friends, it’s clear to a lot of people you put Sungyeol-ah first and depending how you look at it, Sungyeol-ah puts you first too.”
“Can’t actually see that,” Sunggyu muttered and Woohyun kicked him under the table. Sunggyu winced.
“Hoya’s the first person Sungyeol notifies if anything goes wrong. Whether or not he breaks up with people or if his cactus plant grew a centimeter or something. It doesn’t matter if it’s trivial or not or if he was dating anyone or not. He always lets Hoya-ya know what he’s doing or if he needs company because he knows that if he doesn’t, that if Hoya-ya hears it from a different source, he’ll worry and get angry that Sungyeol-ah didn’t tell him,” Woohyun pointed out lightly.
“I don’t.” Hoya muttered. There was a snort and Sunggyu said flatly, “You do.”
“And a lot of people already knows that Sungyeol-ah means the world to you Hoya, given how you’re always there when he needs you or even if he doesn’t actually need you. You’re always off in that little corner, waiting for the moment he’s going to fall and you’ll catch him before he hits the ground,” Woohyun continued as if Hoya hadn’t muttered his denial. He would have continued when, simultaneously, Hoya’s phone beeped with an incoming text message and the door slammed open, someone slamming pretty hard into their booth.
“Is Sungyeol-ah here?” Joon pretty much gasped, trying to get air into his lungs. Woohyun blinked and Sunggyu raised an eyebrow. Hoya was checking his phone, managing a distracted wave at Joon.
Woohyun swept out his arm, saying lightly, “Well, obviously not. It’s just the three of us,”
“Fuck,” Joon swore, earning a few worried looks and he bowed his head. There was clamoring and when he looked up, Hoya had his phone pretty much smooshed into Joon’s face.
“Yah! Hyung! What’s the meaning of this?!”
From: Sungyeol
To: Hoya
Yah…Howon-ah…I do care don’t I?
“I wish I could tell you I know but I don’t. We can’t find Sungyeol-ah. He ran out of the house pretty damn horrified and we haven’t found him since. And before he ran out, he locked himself in his room for two days,” Joon backed up when Hoya pretty much leapt over the table screeching, “Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me?!”
“Because we’re pretty sure the reason he was in his room in the first place was because of you!” Joon’s words fell on deaf ears as Hoya bolted out of the diner, nearly running over Jiyoon and Mir as they entered, looking worried. Joon huffed. “Yah! Hoya-ya!”
---
His hands were shaking and he grimaced, folding them together in an attempt to stop the shaking. It obviously wasn’t working and he let out a quiet noise, his head falling back to tap against the rough bark of the large tree he was leaning against. He did care about Hoya didn’t he? He had too right? If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have so many fucked up relationships right?
Hyunyoung had broke up with him…no. He broke up with her because of something she had said concerning Hoya. He couldn’t remember what it exactly was but he did distinctly remember being angry that she said it. It had been enough to cause her to throw something at him. Sungyeol didn’t remember why he cried afterwards but he did know that it wasn’t over Hyunyoung and it definitely wasn’t over the fact that they broke up.
With Myungsoo, they fought a lot, also concerning Hoya. There was also something about disagreeing views but it was mainly about Hoya. And in the end, it was a mutual break up. At first, Sungyeol wasn’t sure why it was a mutual break up, not until Hoya arrived. It was mutual because…because…
Be mine. I love you, okay? I worry about you, okay?
Sungyeol jerked, his eyes snapping towards his phone as the ringtone rang out and his screen flashed, Hoya’s name filling the screen. He didn’t exactly recognize the song but it was one he heard often, one that Hoya really liked. Of course, the moment he heard it, Hoya had snatched up Sungyeol’s phone and declared that it was going to be Sungyeol’s ringtone for Hoya’s calls. At the time, Sungyeol had just laughed it off, but now…He froze, listening to the song snippet and watching as Hoya’s name continued to light up his screen.
I’ll take care of you till the end
Be mine. You know me, right? You saw me, right?
I’ll protect you till the end
The signs were all there, even the ringtone and not once did he notice. Not until now anyways. Sungyeol reached out, hands trembling and he lifted the phone, bringing it up to his ears, receiving the call with a quiet, “Hello?”
“Sungyeol-ah!” slow warmth filled Sungyeol’s gut; just from hearing his friend’s voice and Sungyeol wondered why he didn’t notice it before. “Yeol-ah, where are you?”
And suddenly, like a light bulb starting to light, starting to turn on, Sungyeol just really wanted him to know something.
“Hoya-ya,” his words caught, his voice choking slightly. “You know I care about you right?”
“Yeol-ah what?” and Sungyeol could picture Hoya stopping in his run to find him, confusion etched on his face.
“I care about you okay? I really do,” Sungyeol’s eyes closed. “Guess I’m a little slower than I thought I was huh?”
“Sungyeol-ah what? Look, don’t do anything stupid do you hear me?”
“Howon-ah, did you know that I broke up with Hyunyoung because she said something bad about you? She didn’t like it that I was more defensive about you than I was about her.”
Silence. He didn’t hear a confirmation of anything and Sungyeol’s eyes opened. It was starting to come together now. Everything. Hyunyoung, Myungsoo, Hoya, himself. It was coming together.
“And that Myungsoo-ya and I had a mutual break up concerning you?”
It was mutual because Myungsoo could see something that Sungyeol couldn’t and even though he couldn’t, he knew it was important. Well, he couldn’t see it then but he definitely could now. It wasn’t that he didn’t care. It really wasn’t.
And that fear ebbed away.
---
“You know, you’re going to get hit by something if you keep standing there,” the voice was light and Hoya blinked stupidly at the speaker. For a moment, Sungyeol’s last comment and the dial tone still ringing in his ears, he didn’t recognize the person then it clicked.
“Myungsoo-ya,” and the handsome male nodded at him.
“You’re looking for Sungyeol-hyung right?” Hoya didn’t ask how he knew. No doubt that someone told him or something like that. The grapevines were pretty fast and the town was small enough that almost everyone knew each other. (Cheundong-hyung knew everyone but that wasn’t the point.)
“Yeah. Got a hold of him just now but he just hung up,” Hoya was surprised that his voice was steady. Myungsoo nodded.
“I’ll leave you to it then Hoya-hyung. Hwaiting,” and Hoya just watched as he turned away. Then there was a pause and Myungsoo turned back around. “Hyung, you know that Sungyeolie-hyung and I broke up because of you right?”
“Yeah. He just told me,” normally, Hoya would be embarrassed that his voice ended up in a pitch higher than his normal tone but his gut twisted and he couldn’t care that his voice was high pitched.
“Then you know for all his slowness and stupidity that he loves you too right?”
Hoya’s breath hitched for a moment then it was gone. He was surprised. Not that Myungsoo just told him. He wasn’t surprised that Myungsoo told him. He was surprised because on some level he did know. He did know.
“Yeah. I do.”
---
“We have a pretty bizarre relationship don’t we?” a smile quirked his lips and Sungyeol looked up as the other man crossed in front of him, blocking some of the sun.. His best friend didn’t really look miffed or worried, Sungyeol noted lightly. He just looked like Hoya; like Howon.
“We’re both pretty slow. Well, me moreso than you Howon-ah,” and Sungyeol’s smile widened when Hoya made a noise of agreement and wrapping a hand loosely around Hoya’s, he tugged him down to join him. Hoya lightly slapped his arm before he settled next to Sungyeol, hands loosely intertwining, as he shifted so they were back to back.
“The others are worried you know. I swear Joonie-hyung’s probably having a fit.”
“Mir-ah can distract him. Besides, I’m fine. You’re here aren’t you?”
Hoya snorted but just squeezed Sungyeol’s hand. They sat there, basking in their comfortable silence.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For being a slow, oblivious idiot and making you suffer like I do.”
“You’re not that much of an idiot. Slow yeah but it’s fine. You came around.”
“But you suffered so much Hoya-ya.”
“I did,” a pause and Hoya squeezed Sungyeol’s hand. “Don’t be like that. You can make it up to me starting now.”
“What should I do first then Hoya-ya?”
“Spot feeling guilty if you are feeling guilty. No one is slower than Jiyoon-noona alright?”
Sungyeol chuckled.
“Yeah. But really, I think noona knows.”
“Maybe.” Hoya agreed. Then, “Stop calling me Hoya all the time.”
“But you like Hoya.”
“And I like hearing Howon from you too. Not just when you’re sad okay?” Hoya just got a squeeze of confirmation.
“Anything else?”
“Naw. Not right now. Maybe when I think of more.”
“Can I give one?”
“Sure.”
“Stop supporting me,” Sungyeol felt Hoya stiffen immediately and he turned around, drawing the other into his arms. “It’s not that I’m not happy that you’re there Howon-ah. I am. But if you keep supporting me, who’s gonna support you? So instead, let’s just go together, be there for each other every step of the way, equally. So if we fall, we’ll fall together and we’ll be there helping each other up.”
“And if we both don’t get up?” Hoya asked.
“Yah!” and the two looked up in time to see Joon take a tumble down the grassy hill that the two of them were seated at the bottom of. Following behind, laughing at his boyfriend’s misfortune was Mir, and when they caught sight of what made Joon tumble, Woohyun, Myungsoo and Sunggyu broke into wide grins and charged down.
“HoYeol-ah!” was the exclamation as Woohyun (being the fastest of the three) tackled them.
“Yah! Lee Howon! Why didn’t you call when you found Sungyeol-ah! I thought my heart was going to burst from worrying so much!” Joon exclaimed the moment Mir and Sunggyu pulled him to his feet.
“I told you that Hoya-hyung probably found Sungyeol-hyung after I talked to him Joonie-hyung,” Myungsoo commented lightly.
“No you didn’t.” Joon whined. Myungsoo raised an eyebrow and Mir quipped, “He did hyung.”
“Whatever. That aside Joonie-hyung. They’re together!” Woohyun said gleefully, his hands clapping together. “Which just leaves us really, with Sunggyu-hyung and Jiyoon-noona to set up! Kinda.”
“Hey! I don’t need anyone’s help!” and Woohyun squawked when Sunggyu tackled him. Myungsoo laughed and he joined the pile, dragging Mir and Joon with him.
“I’m sure if we both didn’t get up Howon-ah,” Sungyeol said with a fond grin, gently embracing Hoya from behind. “These dorks will make us.”
“Yeah. Probably.”
Length: 1/1
Author: Kurokitsune09
Rating: PG-13
Genre: slight angst undertones/romance
Focus: HoyaxSungyeol
Sub-Focus: random members of Infinite, Beast, 4Minute, Mblaq etc. etc.
Notes: the sequel to Support. It is set in the same universe as Epiphany so yeah… I think its kinda confusing still…sorry if it seems to vague -_-U
Summary: He finally gets it.
“Just be happy.”
The words reverberated in his mind, emotions ringing behind it and the tall male just curled in on himself. He could hear his family members and some of his friends banging, pounding on the door trying to get him out of his room. Sungyeol really didn’t want to. He really didn’t.
“Sungyeol-ah, c’mon. You’ve been in there for almost two days now. We’re worried,” he heard Joon call out over Mir and Sohyun trying to get Sungyeol’s mother to not call someone. “Sungyeol-ah.”
He didn’t answer and instead, Sungyeol let out a pitiful sound, burying himself in his covers and comforters. It hadn’t hurt before. It really hadn’t but now that he heard it from his best friend, it really did hurt. And he didn’t know why. To know and understand that Hoya did so much for him, and while on some level he knew it already, to be kind of smacked in the face with it, it kind of really hurt. Hoya put him before anything.
“Just be happy.”
Fuck. And Sungyeol almost screamed, his hands grabbing his pillow to muffle the sounds as his best friend’s voice echoed in his mind again. Sungyeol knew that he wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box nor was he the most observant of people but Hoya hadn’t tried to hide anything. So why was it that he never noticed? Why didn’t he ever notice that his best friend in forever, his partner in crime was in love with him? Why the hell did he keep making Hoya suffer? Why the hell did he-?
Sungyeol’s shoulder’s stiffened beneath his covers, his entire body going still as a singular thought rang out in his mind, running and flashing to the forefront of his thoughts. Vaguely he heard his door slam open and probably off its hinges from the force as someone who sounded like Mir or Joon shout something. Of course, at the same time, little Sohyun could have gotten annoyed and kicked his door down instead of Mir and Joon but Sungyeol really couldn’t give a damn. Over the roar and crash of his door hitting the wall, he heard his mother shrill something and he could faintly make out Jiyoon’s voice. Someone yanked the covers off him and he or she or whoever it was just stared as Sungyeol whispered a horrified sounding, “Oh god. Maybe I don’t care.”
Joon blinked in confusion and Mir asked a bewildered, “What?”
But Sungyeol was already out of his bed, out of the room and flying down the stairs. He bolted.
---
“So did you or did you not out right tell him that you love him?” the male made a slight face as his companion’s fork, containing food, flickered out in his direction. He grimaced as the forkful of hash and eggs made a splotching noise, hitting the table. The other didn’t notice and he grimaced again. He squawked when his companion reached out with his free hand and smacked him soundly across the forehead. “Yah! Hoya-ya are you listening?”
“Yes Sunggyu-hyung. I am,” Hoya answered dutifully, reaching for napkins to wipe up that food splotch. His friend made a low noise of satisfaction and dug back into his plate. He had the fork halfway to his mouth again before he exhaled and dragged Hoya’s attention with a harsh sounding, “Yah! Lee Howon! Answer the question!”
“That’s a no Sunggyu-hyung. Hoya-ya’s feelings were implied but he didn’t actually say those words,” the voice was light and Hoya gave a weak smile to Woohyun as he slid into the booth. Woohyun nodded to him before throwing a clean napkin at Sunggyu. “And hyung, food belongs in your bowl or your mouth. Not on the table,” Sunggyu just threw the wad back at him and Woohyun gave a sidelong glance at Hoya. “Are we discussing Hoya-ya and Sungyeol-ah’s relationship?”
“We’re not in a relationship,” Hoya muttered quietly. He winced as he said those words; emotions flickering across his face and Woohyun shook his head.
“Not everyone is quite as blind as the two of you alright,” Woohyun sniped and Hoya looked up. The other rolled his eyes. “It’s not a normal relationship but it is one. Besides you two being best friends, it’s clear to a lot of people you put Sungyeol-ah first and depending how you look at it, Sungyeol-ah puts you first too.”
“Can’t actually see that,” Sunggyu muttered and Woohyun kicked him under the table. Sunggyu winced.
“Hoya’s the first person Sungyeol notifies if anything goes wrong. Whether or not he breaks up with people or if his cactus plant grew a centimeter or something. It doesn’t matter if it’s trivial or not or if he was dating anyone or not. He always lets Hoya-ya know what he’s doing or if he needs company because he knows that if he doesn’t, that if Hoya-ya hears it from a different source, he’ll worry and get angry that Sungyeol-ah didn’t tell him,” Woohyun pointed out lightly.
“I don’t.” Hoya muttered. There was a snort and Sunggyu said flatly, “You do.”
“And a lot of people already knows that Sungyeol-ah means the world to you Hoya, given how you’re always there when he needs you or even if he doesn’t actually need you. You’re always off in that little corner, waiting for the moment he’s going to fall and you’ll catch him before he hits the ground,” Woohyun continued as if Hoya hadn’t muttered his denial. He would have continued when, simultaneously, Hoya’s phone beeped with an incoming text message and the door slammed open, someone slamming pretty hard into their booth.
“Is Sungyeol-ah here?” Joon pretty much gasped, trying to get air into his lungs. Woohyun blinked and Sunggyu raised an eyebrow. Hoya was checking his phone, managing a distracted wave at Joon.
Woohyun swept out his arm, saying lightly, “Well, obviously not. It’s just the three of us,”
“Fuck,” Joon swore, earning a few worried looks and he bowed his head. There was clamoring and when he looked up, Hoya had his phone pretty much smooshed into Joon’s face.
“Yah! Hyung! What’s the meaning of this?!”
From: Sungyeol
To: Hoya
Yah…Howon-ah…I do care don’t I?
“I wish I could tell you I know but I don’t. We can’t find Sungyeol-ah. He ran out of the house pretty damn horrified and we haven’t found him since. And before he ran out, he locked himself in his room for two days,” Joon backed up when Hoya pretty much leapt over the table screeching, “Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me?!”
“Because we’re pretty sure the reason he was in his room in the first place was because of you!” Joon’s words fell on deaf ears as Hoya bolted out of the diner, nearly running over Jiyoon and Mir as they entered, looking worried. Joon huffed. “Yah! Hoya-ya!”
---
His hands were shaking and he grimaced, folding them together in an attempt to stop the shaking. It obviously wasn’t working and he let out a quiet noise, his head falling back to tap against the rough bark of the large tree he was leaning against. He did care about Hoya didn’t he? He had too right? If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have so many fucked up relationships right?
Hyunyoung had broke up with him…no. He broke up with her because of something she had said concerning Hoya. He couldn’t remember what it exactly was but he did distinctly remember being angry that she said it. It had been enough to cause her to throw something at him. Sungyeol didn’t remember why he cried afterwards but he did know that it wasn’t over Hyunyoung and it definitely wasn’t over the fact that they broke up.
With Myungsoo, they fought a lot, also concerning Hoya. There was also something about disagreeing views but it was mainly about Hoya. And in the end, it was a mutual break up. At first, Sungyeol wasn’t sure why it was a mutual break up, not until Hoya arrived. It was mutual because…because…
Be mine. I love you, okay? I worry about you, okay?
Sungyeol jerked, his eyes snapping towards his phone as the ringtone rang out and his screen flashed, Hoya’s name filling the screen. He didn’t exactly recognize the song but it was one he heard often, one that Hoya really liked. Of course, the moment he heard it, Hoya had snatched up Sungyeol’s phone and declared that it was going to be Sungyeol’s ringtone for Hoya’s calls. At the time, Sungyeol had just laughed it off, but now…He froze, listening to the song snippet and watching as Hoya’s name continued to light up his screen.
I’ll take care of you till the end
Be mine. You know me, right? You saw me, right?
I’ll protect you till the end
The signs were all there, even the ringtone and not once did he notice. Not until now anyways. Sungyeol reached out, hands trembling and he lifted the phone, bringing it up to his ears, receiving the call with a quiet, “Hello?”
“Sungyeol-ah!” slow warmth filled Sungyeol’s gut; just from hearing his friend’s voice and Sungyeol wondered why he didn’t notice it before. “Yeol-ah, where are you?”
And suddenly, like a light bulb starting to light, starting to turn on, Sungyeol just really wanted him to know something.
“Hoya-ya,” his words caught, his voice choking slightly. “You know I care about you right?”
“Yeol-ah what?” and Sungyeol could picture Hoya stopping in his run to find him, confusion etched on his face.
“I care about you okay? I really do,” Sungyeol’s eyes closed. “Guess I’m a little slower than I thought I was huh?”
“Sungyeol-ah what? Look, don’t do anything stupid do you hear me?”
“Howon-ah, did you know that I broke up with Hyunyoung because she said something bad about you? She didn’t like it that I was more defensive about you than I was about her.”
Silence. He didn’t hear a confirmation of anything and Sungyeol’s eyes opened. It was starting to come together now. Everything. Hyunyoung, Myungsoo, Hoya, himself. It was coming together.
“And that Myungsoo-ya and I had a mutual break up concerning you?”
It was mutual because Myungsoo could see something that Sungyeol couldn’t and even though he couldn’t, he knew it was important. Well, he couldn’t see it then but he definitely could now. It wasn’t that he didn’t care. It really wasn’t.
And that fear ebbed away.
---
“You know, you’re going to get hit by something if you keep standing there,” the voice was light and Hoya blinked stupidly at the speaker. For a moment, Sungyeol’s last comment and the dial tone still ringing in his ears, he didn’t recognize the person then it clicked.
“Myungsoo-ya,” and the handsome male nodded at him.
“You’re looking for Sungyeol-hyung right?” Hoya didn’t ask how he knew. No doubt that someone told him or something like that. The grapevines were pretty fast and the town was small enough that almost everyone knew each other. (Cheundong-hyung knew everyone but that wasn’t the point.)
“Yeah. Got a hold of him just now but he just hung up,” Hoya was surprised that his voice was steady. Myungsoo nodded.
“I’ll leave you to it then Hoya-hyung. Hwaiting,” and Hoya just watched as he turned away. Then there was a pause and Myungsoo turned back around. “Hyung, you know that Sungyeolie-hyung and I broke up because of you right?”
“Yeah. He just told me,” normally, Hoya would be embarrassed that his voice ended up in a pitch higher than his normal tone but his gut twisted and he couldn’t care that his voice was high pitched.
“Then you know for all his slowness and stupidity that he loves you too right?”
Hoya’s breath hitched for a moment then it was gone. He was surprised. Not that Myungsoo just told him. He wasn’t surprised that Myungsoo told him. He was surprised because on some level he did know. He did know.
“Yeah. I do.”
---
“We have a pretty bizarre relationship don’t we?” a smile quirked his lips and Sungyeol looked up as the other man crossed in front of him, blocking some of the sun.. His best friend didn’t really look miffed or worried, Sungyeol noted lightly. He just looked like Hoya; like Howon.
“We’re both pretty slow. Well, me moreso than you Howon-ah,” and Sungyeol’s smile widened when Hoya made a noise of agreement and wrapping a hand loosely around Hoya’s, he tugged him down to join him. Hoya lightly slapped his arm before he settled next to Sungyeol, hands loosely intertwining, as he shifted so they were back to back.
“The others are worried you know. I swear Joonie-hyung’s probably having a fit.”
“Mir-ah can distract him. Besides, I’m fine. You’re here aren’t you?”
Hoya snorted but just squeezed Sungyeol’s hand. They sat there, basking in their comfortable silence.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For being a slow, oblivious idiot and making you suffer like I do.”
“You’re not that much of an idiot. Slow yeah but it’s fine. You came around.”
“But you suffered so much Hoya-ya.”
“I did,” a pause and Hoya squeezed Sungyeol’s hand. “Don’t be like that. You can make it up to me starting now.”
“What should I do first then Hoya-ya?”
“Spot feeling guilty if you are feeling guilty. No one is slower than Jiyoon-noona alright?”
Sungyeol chuckled.
“Yeah. But really, I think noona knows.”
“Maybe.” Hoya agreed. Then, “Stop calling me Hoya all the time.”
“But you like Hoya.”
“And I like hearing Howon from you too. Not just when you’re sad okay?” Hoya just got a squeeze of confirmation.
“Anything else?”
“Naw. Not right now. Maybe when I think of more.”
“Can I give one?”
“Sure.”
“Stop supporting me,” Sungyeol felt Hoya stiffen immediately and he turned around, drawing the other into his arms. “It’s not that I’m not happy that you’re there Howon-ah. I am. But if you keep supporting me, who’s gonna support you? So instead, let’s just go together, be there for each other every step of the way, equally. So if we fall, we’ll fall together and we’ll be there helping each other up.”
“And if we both don’t get up?” Hoya asked.
“Yah!” and the two looked up in time to see Joon take a tumble down the grassy hill that the two of them were seated at the bottom of. Following behind, laughing at his boyfriend’s misfortune was Mir, and when they caught sight of what made Joon tumble, Woohyun, Myungsoo and Sunggyu broke into wide grins and charged down.
“HoYeol-ah!” was the exclamation as Woohyun (being the fastest of the three) tackled them.
“Yah! Lee Howon! Why didn’t you call when you found Sungyeol-ah! I thought my heart was going to burst from worrying so much!” Joon exclaimed the moment Mir and Sunggyu pulled him to his feet.
“I told you that Hoya-hyung probably found Sungyeol-hyung after I talked to him Joonie-hyung,” Myungsoo commented lightly.
“No you didn’t.” Joon whined. Myungsoo raised an eyebrow and Mir quipped, “He did hyung.”
“Whatever. That aside Joonie-hyung. They’re together!” Woohyun said gleefully, his hands clapping together. “Which just leaves us really, with Sunggyu-hyung and Jiyoon-noona to set up! Kinda.”
“Hey! I don’t need anyone’s help!” and Woohyun squawked when Sunggyu tackled him. Myungsoo laughed and he joined the pile, dragging Mir and Joon with him.
“I’m sure if we both didn’t get up Howon-ah,” Sungyeol said with a fond grin, gently embracing Hoya from behind. “These dorks will make us.”
“Yeah. Probably.”