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There comes a point in every friendship where you start to give into the intrusive thought of what-if-my-friend-is-capable-of-murder.
There are a lot of details involved, it's really not just a matter of yes they are or no they aren't. Was it an ethical kill? Will it be a one-off or grow into a nasty habit? Will they at least be sanitary and disinfect themselves post-kill and pre-friend-group-dinner because Jay isn't very fond of having blood tracked across his linoleum flooring.
And then there's the matter of your own involvement to consider. Will you help hide the body? Will you lie to the police for them and risk accomplice-to-murder charges? Will you really give up 20 years of friendship just because your best friend might be hiding a body in his and his boyfriend's spare bedroom that they forbid all their other friends from entering?
"Ah-woof." Riki answers, words muffled as he speaks through a mouthful of broccolini. A few green flecks jump out of his chewing mouth, covered in spittle and aimed almost directly at Jake's right shoulder. Riki grins sheepishly. "Sowwy"
Jake, without a word, puts down his fork. Jungwon watches in mild awe as Jake picks up a napkin to wipe at the corner of Riki's mouth, and then uses the same napkin to wipe off his shoulder. He goes right back to his steak, as if Riki hadn't just showered an entire ecosystem of greens onto Jake's shirt.
Jake looks up in response to the silence that takes over the table. He looks confused to see the different ranges of disgust embedded into Jungwon, Jay, and Heeseung's expressions. He interprets it as confusion. "Oh, he said he would." Jake translates for Riki.
Everyone smartly chooses to move on. "You would give up the friendship?" Heeseung confirms, tone implying that he thinks Riki's answer is reasonable, and he just wants to confirm Riki's moral choice of unfriending a murderer.
Riki blinks. "No, don't be silly. I would help Sunoo-hyung hide the body."
Ah, Heeseung should know better.
“What about Sunghoon?” Jay asks with a raised eyebrow of his own. He’s digging neatly into the side salad that he forced onto everybody else’s plate tonight. You guys don't eat enough greens, he had chastised as he shoved double the portion of salad onto a protesting Heeseung’s plate. And you hyung, don't think I don't know you've had ramen for dinner three nights in a row.
“What about him?” Riki replies.
Ah, Jay should know better too.
Jungwon clearly knows best, as he is not at all surprised by Riki’s partiality to Kim Sunoo. “Right okay, you would hide a dead body for Sunoo-hyung.” He nods as if it's the most obvious answer in the world and Riki nods in agreement. “But would you hide a body for Sunghoon-hyung, or any of us?”
Riki takes one long searching look at his group of friends. His eyes dart from Jungwon, to Heeseung, to Jake, to Jay, back to Jake, and then back to Jungwon to answer his question. “Maybe Jake-hyung?”
Jake hums around his bite of salad in quiet triumph.
“I wouldn't get involved,” Jay cuts in with a tone suggesting a refusal to concede. His chin is held up high and his eyes are shielded with a look of uncompromising morality.
Again, Jungwon knows best. “Even if Sunoo-hyung asked you in that voice?”
Jay’s eyes widen as he takes in Jungwon’s words. His eyes get a faraway look, as if he is recalling times when Sunoo had defeated him with that voice. His memories seem to outweigh this moral judgement. “Nevermind,” he quickly says. Jake, another victim to Sunoo’s that voice, nods in agreement.
“You guys can't be serious.” Heeseung deadpans. “Jungwon, you can't seriously be considering that Sunoo and Sunghoon are hiding a dead body in their spare bedroom.”
But Jungwon is, in fact, considering that his two close friends, a beautiful couple who couldn't join them for dinner tonight because they were busy moving into their first apartment together, are potentially hiding a dead body in the spare bedroom that they forbid their entire friend group from ever entering.
Jungwon has to jump in to defend his theory, because no way was he going to catch shit and schizophrenia allegations for the next three months over this. His fork is pointed in Heeseung’s direction, who is conveniently sitting across from him at Jay and Jungwon’s dinner table, as he emphasizes each word. “You guys weren't there! You didn't see how scared Sunoo-hyung looked when I tried to open that door!”
Jungwon had never seen Sunoo move that fast, and Jungwon was there when Sunoo took on a grown man toe-for-toe in a speed-walking contest at the tech store (the workers had said no running) for the last 49-inch Samsung Odyssey gaming monitor on sale. One second, Sunoo had been watching in horror from across the hall as Jungwon went Oh! What’s in here? and reached his hand out to twist the doorknob of The Room. The next second, Sunoo’s back was flat against the door and he had slapped Jungwon’s arm away. “Don't go in there!” He had screeched. “It’s… it’s messy!”
“Seriously you guys, he was like Usain Bolt or some shit!” Jungwon insists as he recalls the events of yesterday to the rest of his friend group. “He moved so fast when I tried to open that door! They're definitely hiding something behind it.”
Jake nods in agreement, recalling his own experience from a few days ago. “I was over at their place to help Sunghoon set up his PC, and we couldn’t find the box that his parts were in. I thought it might have been in their spare room and tried opening the door, but then Sunghoon just… screamed at me to get away from the door.” Jake furrows his eyebrows in deep thought. “Insisted that there was no way the box was in there… it was so weird.”
Riki hums in consideration. “Maybe Sunoo-hyung and Sunghoon-hyung are vampires and they store their blood bags in that room?”
Jungwon, Jay, and Heeseung all stare at Riki in disbelief. Jake pats Riki’s hand in comfort. “That's nice, Riki-yah.”
Riki looks like he's about to protest, before his eyes fall down to Jake’s hand still on his. The protests melt right off his tongue like cotton candy, and he leans into Jake instead with a satisfied smile. Jake's touch is the cotton candy, by the way.
Heeseung's eyes widen at the dinner table in comical realization, as if he has found some sort of divine answer in the etchings of Jay and Jungwon’s oakwood furnishing. “Oh my fucking God, it’s a sex dungeon! They have a fucking sex dungeon!”
No divine answer… probably just the after effects of the canned gut-friendly dual biotic mocktails that Jay made them all drink before dinner. Jungwon swore some of the ingredients had names that just sounded like aliases for counterfeit hallucinogens. Seriously, their friend group might be in deep jeopardy because of Jay’s health kick.
Jay looks at Heeseung like he’s fucking stupid. “No, they're clearly housing a criminal in there.”
“A vampire criminal!” Riki deduces in excitement, like he just cracked the code.
Jungwon drops his fork and rubs his forehead in pain.
Jake also drops his fork, and the resounding clatter echoes through the dining room. His eyes have widened to the size of saucers and his face has paled several shades. His hand flies up to his mouth like he’s about to puke. “Oh my gosh,” he whispers in absolute horror, earning the sudden, alarmed attention of everyone else in the room. “Oh my fucking gosh… he did it.”
Jungwon is now officially fucking terrified. “What!?” He demands impatiently. The scenarios in his head are multiplying and none of them are good nor have a resolution where Jungwon can see a life for Sunoo and Sunghoon outside of prison. Did they really kill someone? Oh my God, did Sunghoon kill that one guy in Sunoo’s pilates class who wouldn't stop flirting with Sunoo? Did Sunoo kill their old nextdoor neighbor who wouldn't stop stealing his and Jungwon’s packages?
“Sunghoon finally got Sunoo pregnant.” Jake announces, horrified yet thrilled. “It’s a baby nursery room.”
Jay tells Jake that he’s fucking stupid. “You’re fucking stupid,” he says.
Riki pats Jake’s hand in comfort. “That’s nice, hyung.”
Heeseung is trying his best to move on from the mental image of a pregnant Sunoo. “I still think my sex dungeon theory is the most reasonable, and it doesn’t incriminate our two friends, who might I add, have always been nothing but kind to us.”
“Debatable,” both Jake and Jay say in frightening unison with Sunghoon in mind.
“They can be kind vampires!” Riki insists, still not letting go of his own theory no matter how much of Jake's warmth is pressed against his body. “If they drink from blood bags then they’re probably not killing people. Plus, Sunoo-hyung always takes his steak rare.”
It’s true, this was the first time in a while that Jay had cooked steak for his friends above the medium-rare temperature range, all because he usually accommodated for Sunoo’s preferences without much complaint or question.
“That’s not because Sunoo is a vampire.” Heeseung shakes his head. “It’s because he's a sadist.”
Jay suddenly looks extremely concerned. “You don’t think they got tied up with the wrong crowd, do you?” He asks worriedly. “Hoon has been looking really stressed lately… they could be getting blackmailed by some terrible gang member…”
Jungwon looks at his boyfriend like he has grown a third head. “You think Sunghoon-hyung, the most non-confrontational person that we know, has gotten into trouble with a criminal gang?”
“That’s exactly why he would be targeted!” Jay points out, snapping his fingers as if he has done the absolute impossible. “He would do anything to keep Sunoo safe, even make a deal with the devil.”
Riki raises an eyebrow. “You think Sunoo-hyung would let anybody blackmail Sunghoon-hyung? I’m still half-convinced Sunoo-hyung had something to do with Sunghoon-hyung’s freshman year roommate moving out mid-semester.”
Jay deflates a little while he realizes that he failed to consider Sunoo’s territorial behavior over his boyfriend, territorial behavior that Sunghoon indiscreetly loves and encourages.
“Guys, I really think Sunoo is pregnant.” Jake worriedly says. “You've all seen the way Sunghoon acts around Sunoo… he’s obsessed with him.”
Jake suddenly looks around to make sure no one else was listening to their conversation; the conversation taking place inside of Jay and Jungwon’s private apartment with a double-locked front door. His voice drops a few decibels just in case. “I didn't say anything when it happened because I thought it was just Sunghoon being Sunghoon… but last week, Sunghoon told me that he thinks Sunoo would look beautiful if he was pregnant.”
Heeseung tries to be understanding of Jake’s worry, he really does. His voice is gentle when he states the obvious. “When Sunoo dressed up as Ghostface for Halloween, he said Sunoo would be the world's most beautiful serial killer. That is just Sunghoon being Sunghoon.”
“Listen,” Jungwon finally cuts in, tired of beating around the bush. “None of us can agree on a theory, but we all agree it's weird that they're being so protective over that room.”
Everybody nods in agreement, unanimously agreeing that there is some sort of secret being kept from them. Though it feels weird to talk about their friends in such a way while neither of them is here to defend themself, everyone couldn't help but reflect on how preposterous Sunoo and Sunghoon are being over a room. Sure, maybe it is nothing. But then why are they practically barricading the room from everyone else? What is there to hide from the rest of them?
They were a pretty unsecretive friend group, Jungwon thinks. Nobody usually has any issues bringing stuff up, and everyone is rather open with their thoughts, some more than they should be. In fact, they can probably do with some more boundaries among one another… Whatever it is, Jungwon is incredibly offended that Sunoo, his best friend of 20 years, and Sunghoon, his favorite hyung (don't tell Jay), are both keeping a secret from him. A secret that… secretive could only mean something bad. To Jungwon, nothing is worse than murder.
The silence that fell after everyone’s agreement is shattered by a contemplative Jay. “Well, the only way to find out is to open that door.” He announces decidedly.
Everyone considered it for a moment. “So like, we just walk in and ask them to open the door for us?” Riki asks good-naturedly.
Jay would never call Riki stupid to his face, never. But he was thinking it a little.
Jungwon continues off of Jay’s plan. “We have to open the door ourselves,” he says slowly, letting the idea sink into everyone’s conscience. “We find a reason to go over to their place, and when they’re distracted, we take our chance.”
Jake nods slowly, the gears in his head turning while he cooks up his action plan. “Okay, yeah let’s do it.”
Jay and Heeseung agree easily, curious enough to follow through with an arguably invasive plan to strip yet another boundary between their friend group. Riki, bless him, is more cautious. “But I don’t want to invade their privacy,” he frowns.
“Okay fine, you go last then.” Heeseung grants Riki a small reprieve. “Hopefully one of us will have figured it out first.”
“I’ll go first,” Jungwon quickly volunteers. He was the one to bring up the topic in the first place, he should probably have the first go at The Great Unveiling that should probably be renamed to The Great Invasion of Sunsun’s Privacy. Seriously, they are all maybe going to go to hell for this and Jay will find another new micro green there to contaminate Jungwon’s diet with.
“It’s decided then.” Jay nods. “We open the door, figure out what’s behind it without Sunoo or Sunghoon knowing, and when it ultimately is a criminal who blackmailed Sunghoon into hiding him from the authorities then you’ll all owe me 150,000 won each.”
Jake throws a piece of broccolini at Jay.
–
They do decide on a bet and a prize, though. Whoever figures out the secret would get bragging rights and 200,000 won from each of the other boys (the elders have zero intention of making Riki pay up). If they were going to hell for this, they might as well make it worth the trip.
Jungwon decides to be quick with his plan. He figures he’ll try his luck the day after dinner with everyone (minus Sunghoon and Sunoo).
He only didn't anticipate how guilty he would feel at the prospect of tricking a secret out of his childhood best friend.
Sunoo answers the door for Jungwon with the brightest smile on his face. Anyone would think Jungwon came over with the cure to cancer. Jungwon knows he came over with a knife in his back pocket to figuratively stick into Sunoo’s chest and betray his oldest friend.
“Wonnie!” Sunoo beams, happiness so infectious that it softens the guilt in Jungwon’s stomach the slightest, before hardening into something even heavier. “Thanks again for taking me out for lunch!”
Jungwon musters up his best you-are-so-welcome-my-dear-friend-i-am-so-sorry-for-betraying-your-trust smile possible. “Of course, hyung. We were all bummed about you and Sunghoon-hyung not making it last night.”
Sunoo offers Jungwon his own guilty smile. “I’m sorry Wonnie,” he apologizes while frowning prettily, the way he does most things. “Sunghoon-Hyung accidentally told the handyman to show up at 9PM instead of 9AM. That hyung…”
Likely thing for Sunghoon to do, Jungwon privately thinks. Jungwon steps across the threshold as Sunoo opens the door wider to let the younger boy in. As soon as Jungwon’s second foot crosses the threshold, a ball of orange fur jumps out from behind the front door and barrels right into his shins. “Meow,” it says threateningly.
Jungwon chuckles and bends down to pet the ball of fur while Sunoo shuts the front door behind him. “Hey Mimi.”
Mimi is Sunoo and Sunhoon’s very unthreatening orange cat, the official third member of the Kim-Park family as of four months ago. She is overwhelmingly affectionate for a cat, enough so that Jay and his cat allergies need to come drugged up on the strongest allergy meds on the market just to last through the night. It’s safe to say that all friend group gatherings have shifted to Jay and Jungwon’s place for a good reason.
“Just give me one second, I need to refill Mimi’s water and food bowls and then we’re good to go.” Sunoo excuses himself quickly and retreats to the kitchen, leaving Jungwon to play with a sprawled-out Mimi who is now showing him her belly.
Jungwon giggles at the kitten’s cuteness, hand reaching out to rub her nose again before the little creature suddenly jumps up and onto her feet. Jungwon is not confused as he watches her walk away from him like he is nothing but a speck of dust on the floor, it’s just typical cat behavior. She prances down the hallway like she owns the place (she probably does), leading herself all the way down to The Door.
Jungwon watches with increased interest as Mimi stops right in front of the door, takes one long look at Jungwon, and then starts scratching at the door.
Oh my God, Jungwon realizes in horror, she wants him to open the door. There is something behind the door.
Animals are good at detecting unnatural presences and all-things-weird, Jungwon knows this. He had a dog, Maeumi, growing up that wouldn’t stop barking at the abandoned mart on the corner of their street back home. It turns out, the halabeoji who owned the mart had died there from a sudden heart attack one night after closing, and no one noticed until a few days later because he had no other part-timers. Jungwon is still sure, to this day, that Maeumi was always barking at the halabeoji’s ghost.
As Mimi’s scratching picks up, she also starts mewling at the door. This was Jungwon’s chance to find out what was behind the door, and Mimi was presenting the opportunity to him on a silver platter. He stands up on two shaky feet, and feels a sudden dread crawl up his spine while taking hesitant steps towards the door.
This is it. I’m two feet away from discovering a dead body in Sunoo-hyung and Sunghoon-hyung’s spare bedroom. Oh my fucking God, where are we going to hide the body? Jay-hyung’s family still owns that vacation home in the countryside… It's probably half a day’s drive from here. If we leave now we can make it by nightfall. Is my car trunk empty or did I forget to take out Jay-hyungs golf clubs? Is my trunk even big enough to hide a dead body? Maybe if it’s a child… holy shit please do NOT be a child.
Jungwon’s breathing picks up in pace with each step he takes towards the door. Mimi does not stop scratching at it, and if anything she is even more excited as Jungwon crawls closer to the scene. Jungwon reaches out a shaky hand, sudden deja-vu settling in alongside a startling realization that nothing will likely be the same once he opens this door-
“Mimi! Bad kitty, no scratching doors!”
Jungwon lets out the most relieved breath of his life as Sunoo’s voice screeches out from behind him. A pair of speedy footsteps bound down the hallway and Jungwon drops his arm immediately, suddenly thankful for the interruption. He twirls around on his feet to see a concerned and half-frantic Sunoo fly down the hall.
“Sorry hyung,” he apologizes with a guilty smile. “I know you said not to open the door, but Mimi wouldn’t stop scratching at it so I thought…”
Sunoo shakes his head to dismiss Jungwon’s apology. “Don’t be sorry, Wonnie.” He says, a gentle smile covering up the previous alarm on Sunoo’s face. Jungwon is starting to get whiplash, really. “Here, just… do you mind moving over a bit?”
Jungwon practically leaps out of the way as Sunoo asks for space to open the door himself. The dread suddenly returns to Jungwon’s body as the next few seconds move in slow-motion.
Sunoo reaches out his own hand to grab a hold of the doorknob. Sunoo twists the doorknob, just enough to let in a sliver of space. Jungwon’s eyes slowly dart to the open space as Mimi herself darts through the opening between the door and its doorframe. Jungwon feels a chill go up his spine as a wave of cold air washes over him. He catches a glimpse of boxes… tarps… the color red-
The door suddenly shuts before Jungwon can note down anything else. Mimi walks out with a toy snake in between her little teeth, looking satisfied by herself for rescuing her toy from the room. “She won’t let that thing go,” Sunoo explains, rolling his eyes fondly at the feline. He isn’t positioning himself between Jungwon and the door the way he did last time, like he really did have nothing to hide anymore. “Sunghoon-hyung and I have been redecorating that room and she keeps slipping in and leaving her toys in there… the little menace.”
Jungwon accepts the answer without hesitation, not because he entirely trusts Sunoo, but because he wants Sunoo to be right. He can’t believe he almost tried to expose his own best friend for murder… what kind of friend was he?
Jungwon spends all of lunch feeling guilty, enough to buy a delighted Sunoo a few different pieces of cake from the new bakery that opened up around the corner to take home and share with Sunghoon. Sunghoon wouldn’t eat any of it, but Jungwon needed to do something in order to relieve his conscience. He drops Sunoo off back at his place, guiltily. He drives back to his and Jay’s apartment, guiltily. He gets through the rest of his Saturday chores on autopilot, guiltily. He eats dinner next to an oblivious Jay, showers, and gets ready for bed, guiltily.
He lays in bed feeling so guilty for almost betraying his best friend’s trust. Jay is next to him, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose and face stuck in some sort of book about the History of Wainscoting. He lets Jungwon stew in his guilt, knowing that is probably what his boyfriend needs to do in order to get over it all.
“I take it that you did not see any dead bodies, then?” Jay asks, though he already knows the answer.
Jungwon is staring up at his ceiling with one arm folded behind his head. The other arms rests on his chest where the guilt lies solid underneath built muscle and human organs. There is a faraway, almost traumatized look in his eyes. He shakes his head in reply to Jay’s answer.
Jay sighs, shutting his book close with a snap. He lays the book on his sidetable before pulling his glasses off and placing them neatly on top of the book. He reaches for the glass of water that he always refills before bed, sitting neatly on a rattan coaster to avoid any condensation from ruining his furnishing. He takes one gulp, two, three, and puts the glass back down on the coaster.
He finally speaks again. “Alright.” There’s a definitive tone in his voice. Jay peels the comforter off of both himself and Jungwon and tosses it to the side to make room. Jungwon watches in awe as his boyfriend slides down the bed with one hand tugging down Jungwon’s pants. “Time to make you feel better.”
–
Jay decides to go next, mostly to appease his boyfriend and try to prove to Jungwon that he wasn’t the worst friend in the world for suspecting their two best friends of murder. Not when Jay himself suspects them of housing a criminal.
He has invited himself to the couple’s place to cook dinner for them. You guys must be so busy with the moving process,” he had said over the phone. Let me cook dinner for you, you’ve probably been eating takeout all week.
And so Jay shows up at their doorstep with two bags worth of groceries and enough allergy medication to defeat a tiny army. A very tiny army, because his boyfriend is a pharmacist so he couldn't exactly go around abusing over-the-counter drugs.
Sunoo is an extremely kind dongsaeng, Jay knows this. So he is not surprised when Sunoo opens the door for him and immediately says. “Hi Jay-hyung! I made sure to triple-vacuum the sofa and carpets for you. All of Mimi’s fur should be gone!”
Sunghoon is a pain in his ass, Jay also knows this. He stands behind Sunoo with Mimi wrapped up in his arms, holding the cat like a newborn baby. There is a disgusting smirk on his face as he locks eyes with an apprehensive Jay. He sticks his arms out and pushes Mimi right under Jay’s nose. “Mimi, say hi to samchon.”
Jay sneezes in Sunghoon’s face.
“You really should have known better,” Jay hears Sunoo scold his boyfriend in the living room, probably wiping Jay’s snot off his face with a napkin. Jay is in the kitchen arranging all his ingredients, a satisfied smirk on his own lips. Mimi meows in agreement from his feet, maintaining a two-foot distance that she smartly deduces will be necessary.
As Jay lays out his ingredients, he begins to map out his action plan of the night. After debriefing with Jungwon post-consolation blowjob, Jay realized that perhaps honesty was the best route to take rather than deception.
Jungwon’s eyes had started to tear up as Jay explained his thought process, and Jay had to immediately jump to comfort his boyfriend and gently explain to him that it had been deception out of necessity and that Jungwon was only looking out for his best friends. And then Jay proceeded to roll Jungwon onto his stomach before sliding down the bed again and eating his boyfriend out.
All of that to say, Jay intends on figuring out the truth through honesty, rationality, and maybe a little bit of farfetched doubt. He double-checks to make sure the pamphlets are still safely stored at the bottom of his bag.
Sunoo and Sunghoon flitter in and out of the kitchen to converse with Jay as he cooks and they set the table. It feels nice, Jay admits, to spend time with his friend one-on-one (or two) again. He loves his entire friend group, he really does, but sometimes the chaos of seven bodies in one room means shouting over each other to be heard, flying limbs in danger of taking someone’s eye out, and a lack of boundaries and personal space.
The three of them move in steady harmony similar to one they shared when Jay and Sunghoon were still roommates, back when Sunoo and Sunghoon had still been toeing the line between them and Jungwon and Jay were getting tired of seeing their best friends refuse to admit their feelings for one another. Jungwon and Sunoo, roommates themselves, were often always at Jay and Sunghoon’s place; Jungwon because he was Jay’s boyfriend, and Sunoo because wherever Jungwon went, Sunoo followed and vice-versa. But Sunoo did also want to see Sunghoon.
A few months after Sunoo and Sunghoon had finally admitted their feelings for one another, Jungwon and Sunghoon had roommate-swapped, much to the relief of all parties involved who were all getting tired of getting walked in on or walking in on the other couple. Now, Sunoo and Sunghoon had decided they needed a bigger space, and here Jay was cooking in their new kitchen. Their new kitchen down the hall from The Room where Jay was sure they were housing a criminal against their will.
Sunoo is taking polite sips of the green juice Jay made as a pre-dinner drink, and then immediately chasing them down with ice cold water. Sunghoon is half-done with the green juice and begging Jay for the recipe. The three of them settle around the couple’s new dining table that Riki helped them build last week.
“It looks so good, Jay-hyung!” Sunoo praises, eyes wide with delight at the plate of lamb chops in front of him. “Thank you for cooking for us, again!”
Jay beams at the younger. “My pleasure, Sunoo-yah.”
Sunghoon eyes his plate. “You could’ve seared these for a little longer.”
“Eat shit.” Jay says.
Mimi paces below the table, orange fur pressing up against everyone’s legs as she patiently waits for crumbs to fall down for her. Jay is glad he wore thick socks to protect his shins from Mimi’s coat. He gives her a small smile under the table, pleased that she is keeping her distance and that they’ve come to an understanding of sorts.
Conversation ebbs and flows among the three of them. They talk about how tiring the moving process is, how all seven of them should go on a trip soon–Sapporo, Jay thinks, Jungwon has always wanted to go–and how they’re certain Jake and Riki are days away from announcing the weird relationship they have going on. Jungwon and Sunoo think they’re already together and just not telling the rest of them, while Heeseung and Jay think they’re still in the weird not-together-but-together stage. Sunghoon just thinks they’re weird, period.
Dinner is wrapping up and Sunoo and Sunghoon are washing the dishes as Jay cuts himself and Sunghoon a slice of sugar-free carrot cake made out of oats. Sunoo had politely declined and instead opted for one of the slices of sugarful cake that Jungwon had bought him the other day. Jay watches his friends from the dinner table, fork scampering across his plate as he twists it to and fro.
Sunoo and Sunghoon look really happy, and Jay is even happier to see it. Sunghoon is washing the dishes and playfully flicking water in Sunoo’s direction every now and then, even wiping a few dish soap bubbles off of Sunoo’s cheek. Sunoo giggles and swats at his boyfriend with the towel he was using to dry dishes. He reaches a hand up to push back some of Sunghoon’s fringe that fell over his eyes in the midst of their back-and-forth, before letting his hand fall to Sunghoon’s cheek. Sunoo lets out another giggle as Sunghoon pauses in his tracks, and leans forward to quickly kiss his boyfriend on the lips. Mimi slinks between their legs as if intertwining herself into their love.
Jay looks away politely, a small smile on his own lips. He takes a bite of his cake. Okay, maybe he could add a little sugar next time.
Sunoo and Sunghoon finish up and join Jay at their dinner table, Sunoo with his own biblically acceptable slice of cake. Sunghoon is happily destroying the slice of carrot cake birthed from a recipe made by someone located in the deepest pits of the Beverly Hills hellscape. Jay is just glad that someone else is appreciating his efforts to eat healthier, because last night Jungwon had threatened to kick Jay in the balls if he tried shoving a scoop of protein powder into Jungwon’s morning coffee ever again.
“Sapporo,” Sunoo hums as he considers the location. He’s perched at the edge of his seat with his fists cutely tucked into his sleeves and under his chin. They were back on the topic of the trip, the idea sounding more and more appealing as they consider how tired and burned out they’ve all been from work. “It could be fun! I’ve always wanted to go to the Snow Festival.”
Sunghoon is sitting next to Sunoo and lounging into the back of his chair. He has one leg crossed over his other knee, and his hand is gently stroking Sunoo’s back. “Yeah, I would be down.” He agrees easily. He would agree to arguably anything Sunoo says.
And suddenly Jay has a realization that he wishes he hadn’t. The entire time, Jay had been thinking that Sunghoon had been the one roped into housing a criminal. That poor Sunoo is an innocent victim in the whole situation whose only mistake was picking Sunghoon as his partner. But now Jay is thinking what if it was Sunoo who had brought the criminal into their home…
He watches the two warily. He notes how easily Sunghoon moves to every one of Sunoo’s whims. He notes how warm the smile on Sunoo’s face looks and how pleased his expression becomes when his boyfriend hangs onto his every word. He notes just how much more attached the two have become at the hip since moving in together. Perhaps in an alternate universe, these would all be usual observations for a couple in love.
In this universe, one where Jay is 85% certain that his best friends are housing a criminal in their spare bedroom, Jay thinks these are all the observations of a mastermind Sunoo and willing-to-do-anything-for-his-boyfriend Sunghoon.
Oh my God, Jay thinks, Sunghoon is a fucking loser for his boyfriend.
Jay thinks it’s now or never, as everyone was wrapping up their dessert and Jungwon already texted him asking when he would be home. “I…I had something I wanted to talk to you guys about.” He starts shakily.
Both Sunoo and Sunghoon pull away from their little world where they had been accidentally ignoring Jay, not that Jay had really noticed since he was wrapped up in his own inner turmoil. “What is it, Jay-yah?” Sunghoon asks curiously. Both he and Sunoo are watching Jay mull over his next words.
Jay’s eyes dart from Sunoo, to Sunghoon, back to Sunoo, before he sighs. He reaches into his bag and pulls out the pamphlets that he picked up the other day, and spreads them in front of the couple without a word.
Sunoo furrows his eyebrows as he picks one up. “How to speak up even when you're scared.” He reads the title out loud. He picks up another pamphlet. “What to do when my life is being threatened by a criminal gang member.”
Sunghoon picks up another pamphlet, looks at Jay like he's fucking stupid, and reads the title. “Self-defense techniques to use against home invasions.” Mimi meows from below the table.
Sunoo’s tone grows increasingly worried as he picks up another pamphlet. “How to help a sex addict-”
“Oh, sorry that one’s not for you.” Jay snatched the last pamphlet out of Sunoo’s hand as quickly as he could, a forced chuckle of pure panic filling the silence left behind.
Both Sunoo and Sunghoon are staring at Jay like he just grew a third head in front of them. Jay is starting to feel like he did grow a third head in front of them, especially because neither of them look nervous about Jay figuring out their secret. In fact, they’re looking at Jay like he’s the one hiding a criminal gang member in his house.
“Hyung,” Sunoo speaks slowly, like Jay is a scared animal about to jump off a ledge. “What is this about?”
Jay flounders for a bit, suddenly unable to find any words. He now feels like crying, much like Jungwon did. “I…It’s…” He can’t stop staring at the etchings of Sunoo and Sunghoon’s oakwood table, suddenly unable to look them in the eyes. This was it, he was about to find out that his best friends were in trouble and needed a way out. Get it together, Park Jongseong, he tells himself, your friends need you.
So Jay straightens his shoulders and lifts his chin up as he looks both Sunoo and Sunghoon in the eye (at different times, Jay only has one pair of eyes, after all). “Are you guys being threatened by a criminal gang member?”
There’s a beat of silence, just one beat. And then Sunghoon screeches in half-horror and half-amusement. “What!?”
Jay tries again. He clears his throat and repeats his question, this time with additional context. “Are you guys being threatened by a criminal gang member? Because Sunghoon has been super stressed lately, and you guys haven’t been around as much. And Jungwon said that Sunoo has also been a little weird lately. I’m just… I’m really worried about you guys and I just need you both to know that I’m here for you and I’ll help with absolutely anythi-”
“Hyung!” Sunoo has to almost yell to grab Jay’s attention. There’s pure mirth in his eyes and he’s clearly stopping himself from laughing in Jay’s face. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Jay is suddenly at a loss for words again. “I…” It’s really getting embarrassing how much he has been stuttering tonight.
Sunghoon, on the other hand, has an arsenal full of words for Jay tonight. “Jay-yah, have you been watching those criminal docuseries again? I told you too many of those aren’t good for you, especially before bed.”
“No!” Jay groans, before quietly adding. “Jungwon doesn’t let me watch those anymore anyways.”
“Hyung,” Sunoo is gentle again, just as he always is. God, Jay is so fucking embarrassed. “We’re not… we’re not being threatened by anyone, although I’m really thankful to know that you’d help us out if we were. So is Sunghoon-hyung.” Sunoo eyes his boyfriend and nudges him in the side with his elbow.
“Oh!” Sunghoon jolts, as if activated by his boyfriend’s touch. He tries to sound convincing as he agrees with Sunoo, “yes, yes, very thankful. And very concerned that you think we would house a criminal gang member in our new apartment.”
Jay’s hands are buried deep in his scalp and he is about two minutes away from ripping his hair out from stress. He tries to explain himself again as a final attempt at saving face. “It’s just… the stress…”
Sunghoon lets out a huff of laughter. “We’ve just been busy with moving in, there’s so many parts to it, you know? And I’ve been trying to get promoted at work, that’s all Jay-yah.” He shares a look with Sunoo, who nods encouragingly. “Actually… I was going to tell everyone soon because we wanted to invite you all over to celebrate… but I just got promoted to Senior Manager at the company.”
Jay lets go of his hair. “Oh!” He exclaims, letting the pieces click together. “That’s… that’s awesome Hoon-ah, congrats.” Jay really does his best to sound excited for him, he does. He’s just so fucking mortified right now.
Mimi chooses that moment to jump right onto Jay’s lap, fur and all. Jay takes one look at Mimi before sneezing in her little face.
Sunghoon and Sunoo send him home with thankful hugs and encouraging smiles, promising to tell the rest of the group about Sunghoon’s promotion and invite them all over for a family dinner next weekend. Jay drives back home with his tail tucked between his legs and half a stack of leftover pamphlets shoved at the bottom of his bag, still absolutely mortified.
He parks his car in the apartment complex’s garage, mortified. He showers and gets ready for bed, mortified. He slips into bed next to Jungwon who is scrolling through his phone with a sheet mask on, mortified.
Jungwon doesn’t look up from his phone as he asks, “how did it go?”
Jay lets out a pained sound in response.
Jungwon looks up from his phone to briefly eye his boyfriend, before giving him one short nod. He turns off his phone and puts it to charge on his sidetable, before peeling off his face mask and tossing it into the small garbage next to their bed. He pats the serum into his skin once, twice, three times, and rubs the rest of it into his hands.
Jay watches as Jungwon tosses their comforter to the side and slides down the bed, pulling down Jay’s pants as he goes.
–
Jake laughs in both Jungwon and Jay’s faces as they recount their trials to him over coffee the next day (he laughs less in Jungwon’s face). Their offices are all pretty close to one another, and they like to gather for coffee or lunch every now and then to give themselves a reason to not kill themselves in the middle of the workday.
Now it’s Jake’s turn to play detective and he clearly needs to go about this a different way. Jungwon tried deception, Jay tried honesty, and Jake is going to try acting fucking stupid.
“That won’t be too hard for you,” Jay says plainly when Jake explains his plan to both him and Jungwon. Jake proceeds to kick Jay’s shin under the table.
But Jake thinks that his idea is actually so smart and so stupid, that it has to be foolproof. He is simply going to go looking for the bathroom and accidentally open the door to The Room. If Sunghoon or Sunoo ask, well, he’ll just say he got lost. Jake thinks he can play the dumb bimbo act pretty well. Jay tells him it's not an act and Jake kicks Jay’s other shin.
A few days later, Jake is over at Sunghoon and Sunoo’s place to help Sunghoon set up his new PC again, this time with all the parts. Sunoo is out shopping for decor with Riki and Jungwon, so it’s just Jake and Sunghoon at the apartment, which theoretically should make everything a little easier.
“Hi Mimi,” he greets the feline warmly, giving her an affectionate round of pats across her back. She meows happily at the affection, always having had a soft spot for Jake.
Jake is sitting criss-crossed on the floor of Sunoo and Sunghoon’s room. He refuses to sit on their bed, knowing the couple’s track record. He watches as Sunghoon starts to arrange his set-up, occasionally throwing directions now and then while continuing to pet Mimi. The door to their bedroom is wide open and Jake can see The Door from where he is sitting.
He gives it occasional glances as he tries to time his pee break at the right moment; Sunghoon has to be preoccupied enough with his set-up to not watch Jake go. He thinks that's easy enough, seeing as Sunghoon has been giving him single-word answers for the last 15 minutes.
“Hoon, can we get chicken and beer for dinner?”
“Mmf.”
“Hoon, can I give Mimi a treat?”
“Mmf.”
“Hoon, Riki and I are eloping tomorrow.”
“Mmf.”
Jake isn't even sure he can call it words.
Sunghoon is sorting through wires now, and when Jake sees him pull out a wadded-up bundle of wires from a box, Jake knows he has enough time in the world to see what's behind The Door, Actually pee, maybe take Mimi for a walk that she’s not allowed to go on because she has the escaping tendencies of a prisoner, and then come back.
“Ah,” he chortles at the unimpressed look on Sunghoon’s face at the sight of his next conquest. “You have fun with that.” Sunghoon will not have fun with that. He just cut his nails short yesterday.
“Where the fuck are you going?” Sunghoon barks, irritated as he watches Jake gently nudge Mimi to the side before getting up from his seat on the floor. Mimi meows as if to echo her father’s sentiment, clearly ruffled that her favorite floor warmer was leaving her.
Jake rolls his eyes. Why is Sunghoon so abrasive to him… he really misses Sunoo. “Relax, I need to piss.”
Sunghoon lets out a grumble under his breath and turns his attention back to the tangled mess of wires.
There’s a jitter of nerves crawling up Jake’s spine as he takes slow and hesitant steps towards the doorway. Jake swallows the burning sensation of fear and anticipation in his throat… or that might just be the acid reflux kicking in. Jake is suddenly starting to understand why Jungwon had been so terrified to open The Door
Because what if he opens The Door and the walls are painted pink and there are wall decals of flowers or princesses behind it. Or what if there’s a baby blue crib full of dinosaur plushies. How will Jake even begin his lecture on the harms of prenatal sex role stereotypes and gendered perceptions of expectant parents.
And then there’s the matter of Sunoo being pregnant.
Jake pauses in his tracks, and slowly turns around to face a still-struggling Sunghoon. He watches for a moment as Sunghoon unties a particularly tricky loop, before realizing he had simply made the knot of wires worse. “Hey… Hoon?”
“Mmf.” Sunghoon lets out, eyes not leaving the wires.
Jake tongues at his front teeth nervously, breath hitched in his throat as he forms his next words carefully. “Remember when… when you said that Sunoo would look pretty if he was… pregnant?”
“Beautiful,” Sunghoon corrects immediately. “I said he would look beautiful.”
Jake blinks. “Right… but like… you were just saying that for shits and giggles. Right?”
Sunghoon looks up briefly to shoot Jake an irritated look. “You think I would joke about my boyfriend being beautiful?”
“Not that!” Jake is the irritated one now. He careens through the conversation with absolutely no idea what the next words to leave his mouth will be. “I meant the pregnant part.”
There’s a brief pause, and then Sunghoon answers. “No, I wasn’t joking about that part either.”
Something drops in Jake’s stomach. He’s suddenly so fucking scared, and for the first time in Jake’s life, he says the Lord’s name in vain. “Oh my fucking God.”
Sunghoon rolls his eyes again. “What the fuck are you taking about?”
“YOU FUCKING GOT SUNOO PREGNANT!”
There’s a loud thump. The wires are now sprawled across the floor, more tangled than ever. Mimi lets out the loudest meow Jake has ever heard, followed by a hiss as she narrowly misses being hit by a power adapter. Instead, the power adapter lands on Sunghoon’s foot. He doesn’t even notice because he’s too busy gawking at Jake.
“Sunoo is pregnant?”
“Don’t act all innocent now, you… y-ou MONSTER!” Jake is so fucking terrified. “How could you make Sunoo go through childbirth, you sick, greedy piece of shit! That shit can kill you, did you know that!? It should’ve been YOU who got pregnant, you bastard!”
There’s a dumb, dopey smile on Sunghoon’s face. “Sunoo is pregnant?” He repeats, happily.
“You should fucking know since you’re the one who got him pregnant!” Jake is angry at Sunghoon for putting Sunoo’s life at risk, yes. But he is also starting to become slightly confused. Did Sunoo not break the news to Sunghoon yet?
“I got Sunoo pregnant?” Sunghoon asks, dopily.
Jake is very confused now. “You…Did you not…” he trails off, and that seems to break Sunghoon out of his spell.
He furrows an eyebrow and the dumb smile on his face is gone. “Wait… Sunoo can get pregnant?”
Sunoo can not get pregnant, Sunghoon clarifies after he and Jake sit down to do some intensive research on Google. Jake can, however, get his ass kicked out of Sunghoon and Sunoo’s apartment.
–
The living room is warm and humid despite the frigid cold outside. Sunghoon still can’t get enough of Sunoo’s body heat.
“Fuck.” He curses under his breath as Sunoo rolls his hips particularly hard on the last thrust. His grip on his boyfriend’s waist tightens and he throws his head back against the couch, enjoying the weight of Sunoo on top of him. “Fuck, do that again, please.”
Sunoo, flushed from his cheeks down, does it again. He lets out his own moan as he feels Sunghoon’s erection press up against his own, shuddering at the feeling of Sunghoon’s pant zipper adding pressure to his crotch. Sunoo’s hands are under Sunghoon’s shirt, palms tracing up and down the older boy’s abdomen in a way that makes Sunghoon shudder even amidst the warmth of the room.
Sunoo lets his fingertips press into Sunghoon’s chest as the elder continues to rut into him. His nails trace down the ridges of Sunghoon’s chest, and he pulls them all the way up to Sunghoon’s nipples. There, he circles one of Sunghoon’s nipples with his finger, before lightly scratching it with his nail, earning a pleased groan from his boyfriend.
Sunghoon can’t help it any longer. He pushes his head off the couch to trap Sunoo’s lips in a bruising kiss. Sunoo, caught off guard, mewls right into Sunghoon’s mouth in delight as the elder switches between licking into his mouth and biting at his bottom lip. “You taste so good, baby.” Sunghoon mumbles in between kisses, earning a giggle from Sunoo.
Sunoo’s right hand leaves Sunghoon’s chest and trails up to the back of his neck instead. He intertwines his fingers into the tufts of Sunghoon’s hair, pulling lightly to test his boyfriend’s reaction. “Yeah, are you gonna behave for me, my pretty hyung?”
Sunghoon nearly collapses at Sunoo’s words, lips parting and eyes rolling backwards. His cock throbs at Sunoo’s display of dominance and his brain is barely working anymore. “Fuck, yes,” he pants heavily. “Anything you want.”
Sunoo preens under the control he now wields over his boyfriend. His hips roll even faster, determined to make Sunghoon come just like this, at least for his first orgasm of the night. Sunoo drops his head into the crook of Sunghoon’s neck where he trails light kisses across the wide expanse of skin present there. He licks and nips his way up to Sunghoon’s ear, and he nibbles the lobe as well. His left hand is rubbing up and down Sunghoon’s side while his right hand squeezes the back of Sunghoon’s neck.
Sunghoon is a fucking goner. He can barely keep up with Sunoo’s ministrations.
“My impatient hyung,” Sunoo coos gently, but there's a mean tinge to his voice. “You’re so desperate for me, aren't you?” Sunoo suddenly stops his movements, earning a broken whine from Sunghoon. Sunoo tuts, “ah ah! Good boys wait patiently, isn't that right, Hoonie?”
Sunghoon’s breath peters out in short staccatos as he does his best to restrain his hips from thrusting back into Sunoo’s. His chest heaves as he fights for the breath Sunoo keeps stealing from him. His skin prickles with want and he's so tempted to reach out and lick the drop of sweat sliding down from behind Sunoo’s ear. But he doesn't, because he needs to be good.
“Y-yes,” he whimpers as Sunoo gives the back of his neck another squeeze. There’s tears forming in the corners of his eyes and Sunghoon is so terrified he might come from nothing but Sunoo’s words.
Sunoo smiles, pleased. “Good,” is all the warning Sunghoon gets, before Sunoo is thrusting his clothed cock against his again. There's a wilder, more frantic intent behind Sunoo’s pace now, like he is determined to make Sunghoon come as fast as possible. The heat in both of their stomachs build, making every place of contact between them feel like hot flames dancing across their skin.
Sunghoon is panting into Sunoo’s mouth as the younger tries to kiss him, but even Sunoo’s resolve is crumbling. He tries to maintain it, knowing that it's what gets Sunghoon even hotter. “Doing so well for me, my sweet boy.” He encourages. His words taste like sin and Sunghoon is ready to fall to his knees in front of the Devil himself. “Can you come like this for me, baby?”
Sunghoon nods eagerly, no longer able to reply with full words. He’s moving his hips as fast as he can to keep up with Sunoo, right hand catching Sunoo’s thigh in a bruising grip. “Y-yes,” he tries to sob out, tears free falling down his cheeks in response to the most pleasurable pain of his life.
Sunoo, the devil he is, leans forward to lick one of the tears clean off of Sunghoon’s face. Sunghoon moans even louder, loud enough to cover the knocks from their front door. Sunghoon wants to die here, buried under Sunoo, and covered in nothing but Sunoo’s warmth.
Sunoo won’t let him die though, this is only the start of the night. There’s a coy smile on his face as he leans forward, close enough for his lips to be pressed against Sunghoon’s ear again.
“Come,” Sunoo whispers into Sunghoon's ear.
Sunghoon feels his cock throb in delicious pain before his vision goes stark-white. Both Sunghoon and Sunoo moan as the heat overwhelms them from the inside out, arched into each other as if trying to get even closer. Sunghoon’s head tips back against the couch again, preventing him from seeing their front door open.
He doesn't have to see, though, because Heeseung does well enough with making his presence known.
“Oh fuck! I’m so sorry, fuck!”
Mimi meows from behind The Door.
Heeseung sits across from Jay, Jungwon, and Jake in the cafe across from Jake’s office. He hasn’t moved in the last 10 minutes, and he definitely hasn't taken a single sip of his now-room temperature coffee. There’s a vacant look in his eyes.
The other three are watching him with varying expressions. Jungwon is concerned, Jay is impatient, and Jake is confused.
“Did they…” Jake starts, almost unsure of how to continue. “Were they… did you see their dungeon… or…?”
Heeseung finally looks up, eyes bloodshot like he hasn’t slept in a week. He looks at each of his friends as if he is trying to remember what they look like before he breaks this important, life-changing information to them.
“Sunghoon is a sub.”
–
It takes three more sleepless nights and a lot of caffeine for Heeseung to finally forget the sight of Sunoo pulling on the hair of a crying Sunghoon while the two dry-humped each other. A lot of caffeine.
Heeseung is extremely jittery when he shows up to Sunoo and Sunghoon’s apartment, fresh off of another Red Bull. When Sunghoon opens the door, he has the decency to look a little guilty. “Hey hyung,” he tries for a nonchalant smile, which looks more painful than nonchalant. “Glad you could make it, come on in.”
Heeseung isn’t sure why Sunghoon looks guilty. It was Heeseung's own fault for showing up unannounced to their apartment, and then proceeding to open the door and walk in on them in a compromising state. This is what Heeseung gets for trying to catch them by surprise for his plan to unveil The Door. He might not have unveiled The Door, but he unveiled a lot more about Sunoo and Sunghoon’s dynamic than he ever wanted to.
Sunoo, bless him, greets Heeseung as if their last interaction never happened. “Hey hyung!” He smiles warmly and accepts Heeseung’s housewarming gift. A wireless doorbell.
Heeseung is the last to arrive, and the others are all comfortably lounging around in the living room. There’s a coffee-stained banner with Congratulations On The Promtion Sunghoon scrawled on it in what Heeseung correctly guesses is Jake’s handwriting. Heeseung takes one look at the banner, turns to Jake, opens his mouth, and immediately sees 4 heads violently shake their heads to shut him up. Jake’s pride already looks slightly wounded, and Jay seems to be nursing an ice pack on his right arm.
Heeseung takes one look at the couch, and decides to sit on the floor next to Mimi.
Riki stares at Heeseung, confused. “Hyung, there's room on the couch. Why are you sitting down there?”
Heeseung is quick with his excuse, knees bouncing as he speaks. Mimi paws at his moving knees. “I’ve been really into the concept of grounding. All about connecting with the Earth’s electromagnetic waves, it's good for the soul you know? I just… love sitting on the ground whenever I can.”
Riki furrows his eyebrows. “What ground? We’re on the 6th floor.”
“Like I said,” Heeseung cuts back in irritatedly. “Good for the soul.”
Jake pats Riki’s hand comfortingly.
Riki watches as Jungwon comes around and presses a mug into Heeseung’s hand. “Herbal tea, to help with the caffeine jitters. My recipe, not Jay-hyung’s.” He reassures Heeseung. Heeseung sighs in relief and gratitude.
They’ve got takeout from the Korean-Chinese place down the street that has become Sunghoon’s go-to spot for tangsuyuk. There are bottles of beer and soju littered across the coffee table, but they’re all on top of a stack of 3 folded-up plastic tablecloths that Sunoo had procured out of thin air. Mimi has successfully caught a few crumbs during her raid, and is now lounging across Sunoo’s lap, satisfied after another day’s hard work. Sunghoon, Riki, Heeseung, and Jungwon are all locked into an extremely intense game of Mario Party.
Jungwon had almost taken Heeseung’s head off for stealing Princess Peach from him. Riki is about to cry when he lands on Sunghoon’s Star Steal Trap and promptly falls from first to second place. Jake has to kiss him on the temple as Riki sniffles in agony.
Sunoo looks happy to see all his friends gathered in his new home. His smile is wide and his giggles are infectious, and Riki has suddenly forgotten why he was even sad in the first place.
There are at least two more games of Mario Party, a few more cases of beer, a late-night run to the convenience store for a 7-person ice cream order, and a handful of cuddles with Mimi before the rounds of yawns are cued in. Only when Heeseung almost cracks his skull against the living room floor does everyone realize that it might be time to go.
Jay and Jungwon leave first, pulling a half-asleep Heeseung in tow to hopefully drop him off at his apartment (or anywhere). Jake is giving Sunoo another hug, his eight of the night probably, and Riki is politely watching next to Sunghoon as their boyfriends say farewell like they are both being sent to two different deserted islands on opposite sides of the hemisphere. Riki is about to slip his shoes on, before he starts to feel himself need to pee.
“Hyung,” Riki tugs on Sunghoon’s sleeve, earning the elder’s complete attention. “I’ll be right back, just need to use the bathroom.” Sunghoon nods, and Riki turns to Jake. “Jake-hyung, go downstairs without me. I’ll be right there!”
Jake barely hears Riki because he is sobbing into Sunoo’s shoulder. “I’m so, so happy you’re not pregnant,” Riki thinks he hears Jake muffle into Sunoo’s shoulder.
Riki uses the bathroom and stares into the eyes of Mimi framed in the photo hanging above the toilet. He feels himself sober up as he washes and dries his hands. The bathroom door shuts behind him and he has taken approximately three steps down the hall before he catches something in the corner of his eye.
The Door.
It's slightly ajar. Riki isn’t sure if it’s been open the whole night, but he highly doubts anyone other than Sunoo or Sunghoon had opened it. If they had, someone would have left this apartment with 800,000 won. Sunoo or Sunghoon must have opened the door earlier and forgotten to close it all the way, and the Cosmic Powers above must have left this gift wide open (slightly ajar) for Riki to unwrap.
Riki is going to be the fucking hero of the group chat.
His right hand stretches out in slow motion and his fingertips are trembling in anticipation. He’s holding his breath, but his mind works fasts as it catalogues the new sneakers he is about to buy Jake with the bet money. His hand is almost there… it’s so close… the blood bags are just behind this door… the doorknob is twisting in his hands...
“Riki-yah, what are you doing?”
Riki freezes in his tracks, suddenly feeling like he is very close to dying.
“You’re not dying, just turn around.”
Fuck, Riki said that out loud.
He does turn, very slowly, and is almost certain he is going to die. Sunoo has his arms crossed over his chest and Sunghoon’s hands are on his hips, both of them staring at Riki like they are his disappointed parents.
Riki isn’t sure whether he’s more afraid of disappointing Sunoo and Sunghoon, or more afraid of disappointing two potential vampires with a diet of human blood.
“I…I was uhhh-” Riki is thinking as fast as he can. Different excuses come half-formed to his lips but none of them are able to make it out. So much for being the fucking hero…
Sunghoon looks amused. Riki is taller than him, but it suddenly feels like Sunghoon is the one staring him down. “What are you doing?” Sunghoon repeats Sunoo’s question.
Riki pales, and searches behind Sunoo and Sunghoon for an extremely drunk Jake to come in and swoop him out of this confrontation. There is no Jake, only an open front door where Jake must have disappeared through. He thinks he can hear his sobs from up the elevator shaft, and Riki thinks he’s still going on about Sunoo being pregnant.
Riki has to look at Sunoo and Sunghoon now, because he is running out of time and can’t think of any more excuses. “I was…” Riki pauses, takes a deep breath, and almost screams. “Wealllthinkyourehidingsomethinginsanebehindthisdoor.”
Sunoo and Sunghoon both blink, utterly confused. Riki thinks they’re about to get fed-up with his bullshit and suck his veins clean. They share a look with each other, and Sunghoon nods at Sunoo.
Sunoo takes a step forward and Riki has to stop himself from taking a step back lest he reveal that he knows his best friends’ secret. Sunoo is coming closer… he’s a few feet away… Riki can feel Sunoo’s shadow growing across him…
Riki hears a door hinge squeak.
He doesn’t know when he shut his eyes, but he has to open them in order to figure out where the noise came from. He sees Sunoo half-leaning over him with an amused look on his face. The Door is open.
Riki almost closes his eyes shut again, like he’s not supposed to see beyond The Door. He doesn’t, because he really doesn’t want Sunoo or Sunghoon to suck him dry. Although… if they’re showing him… that has to mean they’re about to kill him, right?
Kill him for staring at mountains of boxes, maybe.
Riki is so fucking confused. Why are there boxes where there should be blood bags…
“They’re just… boxes.”
“Boxes of all our crap,” Sunoo smiles guiltily. He steps into the room and opens up one of the boxes, only to pull out a few picture frames and an old university mug. “We have so much shit packed up from our old place and nowhere to put it so we’ve just been shoving it all into this room. It’s a little… embarrassing…”
The front door shuts behind Riki, and he is staring out into the night like he is the man of the hour. He is actually staring down the apartment building’s hallway, but that is neither here nor there.
Sunoo lets out a sigh as the door shuts behind the last of their friends to leave. He lets go of the weight on his shoulder and Sunghoon catches him from behind.
Sunghoon leans forward, arms wrapped around Sunoo’s waist, and presses a small kiss behind Sunoo’s ear. He smiles gently into his boyfriend’s hair as he speaks softly. “Tonight was good. You looked beautiful as a host.”
Sunoo giggles and turns himself around in Sunghoon’s arms. He leans into Sunghoon’s touch, delighted to have the apartment to himself, his boyfriend, and their daughter again. Mimi squeezes through the space in between their legs, soft fur peeking through the microholes in the fabric of their pants.
His face is tucked into Sunghoon’s chest as he mumbles, “that was really close, you know. Riki almost caught us.”
Sunoo tilts his head upwards, chin digging into Sunghoon’s sternum. Sunghoon tilts his own chin down and looks his boyfriend in the eyes–in his red eyes.
Sunghoon’s lips spread into a wide smile and his lips part. Two fangs extend downwards from his gums, sharp enough to playfully nick Sunoo in the neck. He draws back after their lover’s scuffle.
“They’ll never find out.”