Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Promoting was exhausting. It really was. You wake up at ass in the morning, get shuttled to a music show, try not to fall asleep all day, perform a shit ton of takes, all while keeping up pleasantries with the staff and members of other groups. Sunghoon loved his job, though. And while the days were grueling, they were equally as rewarding. 

The singular biggest downside to music show days, however, was that they made you hungry as hell. 

So there Sunghoon stood, steaming his ramen in the dorm’s kitchen, eyelids drooping as he shook off his exhaustion. They were all supposed to watch their diets—and ramen wasn’t exactly the most diet-friendly food they had—but whatever. Heeseung always ate ramen in the middle of the night and never gained weight, so why should Sunghoon be worried?

Right. Heeseung.

“Dude,” Sunghoon turned around to peek at Jake, who, despite sitting in front of the TV, was simply on his phone. “Do you think I should make some ramen for Heeseung-hyung?” 

“Why’re you asking me?” Jake didn’t even look up, eyes glued to the screen of his phone. 

“Well, you’ve been sitting here on your ass longer than I have,” Sunghoon shrugged as Jake finally peered over at the kitchen. “Has he eaten yet?”

Jake squinted, clearly wracking his brain, “Don’t think so,” he said a few seconds later. “I already ate, though.”

“Didn’t ask,” Sunghoon smirked to himself as Jake rolled his eyes. He decided he’d just bring this one to Heeseung and make another for himself afterward. He’d even deliver it—getting some charity work in for the day. 

Sunghoon walked smoothly with the steaming hot bowl of Buldak ramen in his hands, using his elbow to summon the elevator up to the second floor. He smiled a bit to himself as he got on, wondering if Heeseung would even thank him, or possibly be so enveloped in a game that he wouldn’t even notice. 

As the elevator dinged, Sunghoon moved forward carefully, wondering if he should kick on the door to get Heeseung’s attention. If he had his headphones in, there’s no way he’d hear Sunghoon yelling from outside his room. 

Knitting his eyebrows, Sunghoon decided he’d just open the door with his spare hand, in case it wasn’t locked. Heeseung might have the volume up so high he wouldn’t even be able to hear the kicking. 

“Ah—!”

Sunghoon stopped in his tracks once he was halfway down the hallway. That sound definitely came from Heeseung’s room. Panic crept through his veins upon realizing what it was. It was the sound of someone choking! Now, it’d been a while since Sunghoon had performed the Heimlich Maneuver—the last time was during his figure skating days—but he had to do whatever he could. Heeseung was probably in there choking on some tapioca pearls, or something. What a pathetic death that would be!

Sunghoon charged forward, still holding the ramen, adrenaline running high, and kicked Heeseung’s door open.

“Hyung, are you—!” 

The ramen landed on the floor with a loud splat. Because that choking noise didn’t come from Heeseung. 

Before him stood Heeseung and Sunoo, both stark fucking naked. And to make matters even worse, Sunoo was bent over slightly, Heeseung’s right hand holding his right arm, and his left hand—in Sunoo’s mouth!

Heeseung wasn’t choking on any food. Heeseung wasn’t choking at all! Sunoo was choking—on Heeseung!

Sunghoon spun around on his heel quicker than he ever had on the ice, and sprinted down the hall to his room, the sound of his bedroom door as ear splitting as thunder. 

Panting heavily, Sunghoon sunk to the ground, back up against the door. 

What the hell did he just see? If he didn’t know any better, he’d think he just found Sunoo and Heeseung fucking doggy style in the dorm!

Sunghoon blinked blankly, rubbing his eyes to make sure he was conscious, and that this was not, in fact, a horrible, horrible nightmare. Since when were Heeseung and Sunoo attracted to men, anyway? He’d never thought about his members’ sexualities before—because why would he care? It’s not like they were going to date each other.

Until now, apparently? Who the hell dates their own group members? Or were they just hooking up? And worst of all—why did the sight of a naked Sunoo getting railed make Sunghoon hard!?

“Fuck,” Sunghoon tried to think of the most unsexy thing ever—the company’s previous CEO—until it went away. 

After staring into space for a few minutes, relaxing himself, Sunghoon pulled his phone out from the pocket of his sweatpants. 

He knew this was a shot in the dark, but it was his best bet.

Me:

How’d you know you were a lesbian

Hands tugging at his hair nervously, Sunghoon waited impatiently for a reply.

Wonyoung (IVE, Music Bank):

What are you even talking about?

Are you abroad? Isn’t it 10 p.m.?

Breathing a sigh of relief, Sunghoon typed back quickly. Wonyoung almost never answered her texts. God must’ve known that this is his hour of need.

Me:

No I’m just asking 

Wonyoung (IVE, Music Bank):

Okay..?

Well I guess I’ve always known, but I’m not sure what sort of advice you’re looking for.

Sunghoon was about to reply, but then Wonyoung began to type again.

Wonyoung (IVE, Music Bank):

Did something happen?

The image of Sunoo’s naked body flashed before his eyes. His heart began to beat out of his chest—his hands shaking as he answered her question.

Me:

Yeah

How do I know if I’m gay

Her reply took a bit longer this time.

Wonyoung (IVE, Music Bank):

Are you not an adult?

Frowning, Sunghoon realized what she was getting at. He’s an adult. He can figure this out himself. So he picked his phone up again, and searched ‘Am I Gay Quiz’ on Google.

Have you ever pictured yourself in a relationship with a woman? Was the first question.

Sunghoon pursed his lips, thinking back. He’d never really had much interest in romance growing up. Then he got too busy to even care. With his thumb, he pressed ‘No’.

Have you ever pictured yourself in a relationship with a man?

His eyebrows furrowed unconsciously as the image of Sunoo bent over Heeseung appeared before his eyes once more. Only this time, it was his face. Not Heeseung’s.

Gasping, Sunghoon chucked his phone across the room and onto his bed, before burying his head in his hands. His next thought was notably not in his own voice, but Wonyoung’s.

I think that’s a good enough answer, don’t you?

Sunghoon collapsed on his bed a few moments later, hoping that this was really all just a bad dream. 

Sunoo was having a good dream. A really good dream. God, had it been so long since he’d gotten his dick sucked that he’s dreaming about it now? His subconscious tried to recall when the most recent time was—was it Heeseung? 

No, he mentally shook his head, letting out a moan in his dream. He was always the one sucking Heeseung off. Not that he was complaining. 

“Ngh—,” Sunoo thrust forward into the warm mouth, the head of his cock hitting the back of the guy’s throat. 

He froze for a split second, his subconscious remembering the answer to his question. His ex. That was the last time he’d gotten a proper blowjob. Unless he was forgetting something. He was asleep, after all.

Sunoo felt the guy moan around his cock, which only made Sunoo’s subconscious hungrier. Since this dream was so realistic, he might as well make the most of it, right?

He began to fuck the guy’s throat desperately. Whoever he’d dreamed up was taking it like a champ. Did he even have a gag reflex?

“Fuck, so good—” Sunoo went impossibly faster, and the guy simply swallowed, letting out a groan with each thrust. Sunoo’s subconscious located his hand, patting around the bed sheets until it found the guy’s hair. He ran his fingers through the smooth locks, giving a little tug, which only made the guy take Sunno even deeper.

“You—mm—” Sunoo’s hips rose from the bed, his fingers pulling the guy’s head along with him. “You’re so—ah! You’re so good—” Sunoo could barely finish his words before he felt his body tightening. “I’m—”

The guy somehow knew Sunoo’s body and pleasure more than his own subconscious did, because he pulled off right as Sunoo came, his cum undoubtedly splattered all over his pretty face.

Only then did Sunoo open his eyes. And when he did, he came face-to-face with Riki, whose face was covered in Sunoo’s cum. 

“God,” Sunoo’s head fell back on his pillow, and he swore he could hear the smirk on Riki’s face. “Warn a guy next time, will you?”

“What?” Riki slid up, wiping Sunoo’s cum off his cheeks with his fingers, then sucking it off, staring Sunoo dead in the eyes as he swallowed it. “You liked it last time I did it.”

Sunoo furrowed his eyebrows, then a memory flashed before his eyes. Right. His last blowjob wasn’t his ex. But since he was at least partially asleep, it was no wonder his subconscious brought his ex up. 

Great, Sunoo turned his head, and frowned at Riki who’d just finished off the last of Sunoo’s cum as if it was nectar. I wish it was a dream.

But it wasn’t. It was real. And now he had to get Riki out of his room before both of them were late.  

Sunoo trudged out of bed once he’d physically kicked Riki out. He’d refused to leave until Sunoo resorted to violence. 

They had a fanmeeting in a few hours—why they scheduled one for the morning was beyond him. Perhaps it would be catered by a coffee place. 

He emerged from his room to find the kitchen bustling with life. That is, signs of life from all of his other members besides Sunghoon. 

Ugh, Sunghoon… Sunoo stared blankly at a mug of tea as the memories came flooding back. He’d had a crush on Sunghoon since day one. Like, day one. I-Land. But Sunghoon had never shown any interest. Not even in men—he’d just never shown any interest in romance at all. 

Yet, Sunoo couldn’t get over him, not even in five whole years. He tried, he really did—taking his friend up on an offer to introduce him to someone. They’d dated for little over a year (any resemblance that guy had to Sunghoon was coincidental. Purely coincidental), then broke up a few months ago. Sunoo just wasn’t that into him. He’d strung him along in hopes of finally forgetting about Sunghoon, but it was hard when you saw him every day. 

The sex was good, too. But Sunoo would be lying if he said he didn’t picture Sunghoon’s face on his ex whenever they fucked. His ex tried to get more serious about their relationship, and that was when Sunoo decided the jig was up. 

“Hey,” Sunoo shook back to reality. Heeseung. “Eat up—we’re gonna go soon,” Heeseung’s voice was soft as he handed Sunoo a pastry. He moved to sit down at the table next to Sunoo, but apparently he wasn’t fast enough for Sunoo’s taste.

Sunoo yanked him down, snatched his arm, and melted into his side, breathing his scent in. Heeseung merely chuckled, taking the pastry back, and putting it up to Sunoo’s lips.

“C’mon,” Heeseung’s smile was audible, “Say ‘ah’.”

Sunoo opened his mouth and allowed Heeseung to feed him. It wasn’t like this was out of the ordinary. Heeseung was the best coping mechanism there ever was.

Sunoo smiled as he took a bite of the pastry. Heeseung was really the ideal partner. Sweet, attentive, handsome, excellent in bed—it was a shame that he was allergic to actual relationships.

“There you are!” Jay shouted from the fridge, inadvertently calling everyone’s attention to him. Besides Heeseung’s—he was putting a glass of water up to Sunoo’s lips. 

Sunghoon had walked in, glued to his phone. He was typing furiously, as if he was playing a game. But his phone wasn’t sideways, or anything. He had to be texting someone. But who? Sunghoon was hardly on his phone. And a dry texter, to say the least. Was he dating someone? Was he texting his girlfriend? That had to be the only reasonable explanation—he was so focused on it, his eyes didn’t even leave the screen when Jay chucked a banana at his head from all the way across the kitchen.

Yet somehow, Sunghoon still caught it.

“Alright, everyone up!” Jungwon ordered, now that everyone had congregated around the kitchen. 

“How the hell did you get that!?” Jake was the first to reach Sunghoon, whose only reply was to take a bite out of the banana. 

Jay spun on his heel, looking over at Jake, “Probably something about his athletic reflexes, or whatever.” He came to a stop at the table, shooting a smile at Sunoo before ruffling his hair. “Morning.”

“Morning,” Sunoo yawned, allowing Heeseung to pull him up and walk them to the stairs. Sunoo stayed tucked into Heeseung’s side. It was rather cold, and Heeseung was an effective portable heater. And a pillow.

“So I was thinking,” Heeseung started as all seven of them descended to the ground floor. “There’s a tournament at the PC cafe tonight—”

Sunoo finally removed his head from Heeseung’s shoulder as he caught a quick glimpse of Sunghoon’s phone screen. He was quite a few steps below the two of them, giving Sunoo a bird’s-eye view of his messages. He was too far to make anything out, but the person was replying almost immediately. Sunghoon also wouldn’t let up. The second he got a reply, he began typing again. At that moment, a lightbulb went off in Sunoo’s head: if he sat behind Sunghoon in the van, he could read his texts!

“—D’you want to go? We can get dinner, too. I’ll pay,” Heeseung finished as Sunoo finalized his nefarious plan. 

“You just want me to carry you, don’t you?” Sunoo looked up at Heeseung with the best puppy dog eyes he could muster. 

They clearly worked, since Heeseung wrestled his arm out of Sunoo’s grip, only to wrap it around his waist, squeezing Sunoo even closer. That was his only reply, since they’d reached the first floor. 

Heeseung’s proposal would be considered a date if it was absolutely anyone else, Sunoo mused to himself, watching his members start to pile into the car. It really was a pity—Heeseung never wanted to be romantically involved with anyone, even if he was practically dating the person. Sunoo had no idea why, and frankly, he didn’t care. Sunoo had accepted by now that he’d never be able to get over Sunghoon. And since Heeseung was obsessed with keeping everything explicitly casual, they worked perfectly for each other. 

“After you,” Heeseung released Sunoo’s waist. 

Sunoo stopped abruptly in front of the van’s door, doing a quick count. If he sat next to Jay, then he’d be behind Jake, not Sunghoon.

“Mm,” Sunoo hummed aloud, spinning around to hug Heeseung from behind. “After you.” Heeseung was also easily deceived. If Sunoo hadn’t put that act on, Heeseung might’ve sussed him out. And if he realized Sunoo was trying to pay attention to Sunghoon—albeit covertly—he’d try to steal all of Sunoo’s attention for himself!

Heeseung breathed out a laugh, shaking his head, “Move, dude,” Heeseung climbed into the van after Sunoo released him, attempting to get Jay to stop manspreading. 

“Just have Sunoo sit on your lap,” Jay waved his hand dismissively, staring at his phone. 

“That’s not very safe,” Jungwon remarked from the front, turning around to watch Sunoo buckle himself in. 

Sunoo could’ve sworn he’d seen Sunghoon twitch in front of him. And to his horror, Sunoo realized he’d miscalculated! Sunghoon’s headrest was completely covering his phone screen!

Heeseung and Jay began to bicker once the van took off, with Jay still refusing to move his legs. 

“It’s fine, hyung,” Sunoo tugged Heeseung a bit closer, throwing a leg over him. “I’ll sit on his lap.”

Jay smirked, relishing in his victory, and Sunoo moved as much onto Heeseung as his seatbelt allowed. Now Sunghoon was typing even faster, and with Heeseung acting as a cushion, Sunoo could finally see his screen in the gap between the chair and the headrest.

It took Sunoo everything he had to not let out an audible gasp when he saw who it was. 

Wonyoung! It was Wonyoung! Fuck, he couldn’t compete with Wonyoung! And to make it even worse—Sunoo was a huge fan of hers!

“It starts at seven,” Heeseung spoke quietly, so as to not interrupt the conversation the other members were having at the front of the van. “What do you want for dinner? Since if it’s out of the way, we’d have to leave earlier—”

Sunoo wasn’t paying attention. He was freaking the fuck out! Were Sunghoon and Wonyoung dating? He didn’t even think they were friends! Weren’t they just co hosts for a bit? Did they hang out? God, is that what Sunghoon does on his off days? The days where the group’s golden rule is to not contact Sunghoon!?

“Su-noo,” Heeseung’s singsong voice as well as the new presence of his hand on Sunoo’s thigh shut the panicking up. “If you don’t tell me what you wanna eat then I’ll pick—”

“You,” Sunoo’s gaze turned intense, whipping his head around to look up at Heeseung. Heeseung was taken aback for a split-second, before clearly understanding the euphemism, and smirking.

“That’s also not safe!” Jungwon had apparently been eavesdropping, shouting at them from the front of the van. “Cannibalism isn’t really an ideal dinner!” 

Everyone seemed to laugh at that, even Jay, who’d been tuning everyone out. Well, besides Sunghoon. He was still texting Wonyoung. Heeseung began to run his hand across Sunoo’s thigh, clearly anticipating what they'd be up to later that night. After the tournament at the PC cafe, that is. 

It was no secret that Sunoo was the best at games in the group. He was even better than Heeseung, who was completely addicted to them. They’d been playing together for years—strictly playing—until Sunoo recently dumped his ex. After they’d won a particularly hard LOL tournament, one thing led to another, and they ended up making out. Sunoo found it hard to blame himself, though. Heeseung was hot as fuck. And he looked absolutely delectable that night. 

It didn’t help that sex was Sunoo’s only coping mechanism, either. His ex had helped him cope with the fact that he’d be single and unhappy forever since he’d never be able to get over Sunghoon for as long as he lived. And since his ex was out of the picture, he’d been deprived. They’d agreed to meet each other’s needs—the two of them falling into a steady routine with each other. It was like they were dating without actually dating. And that worked perfectly for them. 

Sunoo had nodded off to the steady rhythm of Heeseung’s hand against his thigh, only coming to once they’d arrived at the venue. The stylists had gotten there first, ushering each of them into their respective seats. Sunoo couldn’t help but notice that Sunghoon was still typing. How long had they been talking for now? An hour?

Sunoo simply dissociated his way through makeup and the start of the fansign. Sunghoon only put his phone down when the manager confiscated it, and sat down on the seat next to Sunoo. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t even look over. 

Sunoo, of course, put on a smile for his fans. Sunghoon followed suit, still not having interacted with Sunoo at all yet. At some point, a fan asked Sunoo the (rather common) question of:

“Who would you date if you were a girl?”

Well, if I was a girl, I’d probably be dating a girl, Sunoo thought sardonically. In reality, however, he beamed at the fan, tapping his chin with his index finger as if he was thinking long and hard about his answer. 

He wondered vaguely whether or not he should answer truthfully, or if he should lie and say Heeseung. Peering over at Sunghoon out of the corner of his eye, Sunoo resigned himself. Maybe answering truthfully would at least make Sunghoon look at him.

“Sunghoon-hyung!”

Sunghoon felt his right eye twitch as he heard Sunoo call his name. He wasn’t looking over at him, so he must’ve been talking to the fan. Fuck, he didn’t want to think about Sunoo right now. Not after that nightmare he’d had. He’d been spending all morning trying to convince himself that everything was all a nightmare. He’d even been ignoring Sunoo, specifically keeping him out of his sight for fear that he wouldn’t be able to unsee anything.

“Hello!” There was a new fan in front of him now, shaking Sunghoon back to reality. They exchanged a few pleasantries before the fan set a notepad in front of him.

“If you were a girl, who would you date?” The fan was smiling with anticipation. 

If I was a girl, I sure as hell wouldn’t be dating a man. Not in this political climate, Sunghoon grinned at the thought, remembering Wonyoung saying something similar at some point. 

Sunghoon looked down at the notepad. The question was written at the top, with each of the members she’d seen so far, and their answers. And then Sunghoon’s heart stopped.

Sunoo had written him. That’s what he’d heard earlier. 

Sunghoon’s heart had apparently restarted, now beating out of his chest so hard that it hurt. Sunoo hadn’t abstained from the question, which was apparently an option, as Jay had written ‘pass’ and even underlined it. Because Jay was straight. He didn’t even want to entertain the idea of dating a man, even if he was a girl in this hypothetical situation. But Sunoo had answered. And Sunoo had answered Sunghoon—!

Did that mean Sunoo was gay? Did that mean that what he’d seen was real? That he hadn’t dreamed it up? That his desperate attempts to convince himself it wasn’t real failed?

Slowly, Sunghoon turned his head to look at Sunoo, who was excitedly talking to a fan. It was the first time he’d looked his way all day, and he couldn’t even see his full face. Just one side—the top of his upper body, his shoulder, his neck, and half of a hickey that wasn’t covered by his collar—

Half of a hickey!?

“—Er,” Sunghoon whipped his head back to the piece of paper. He’d spent a suspiciously long time ‘thinking’ through this answer. This fan’s turn was up. “Jake,” Sunghoon answered, writing it quickly. “Make sure he says me, too!”

The fan was satisfied with the joke, thanked him, and moved onto Jake. 

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! There’s no way he could deny it anymore! And it couldn’t be a bug bite, either—he’d seen Heeseung give him the hickey! He had to tell Wonyoung. And fast.

Unfortunately, Wonyoung was definitely busy. He’d texted her the second he got his phone back, and the entire day had passed by with no response. Sunghoon had been at the dorm tweaking for hours. He’d barely eaten anything, and only emerged from his room once he was sure Heeseung and Sunoo had left. 

He crept down the stairs after sunset, only to find Jay sitting on the couch, watching some cooking show. Jay! That’s exactly who he needed. Forget the whole gay crisis—if two of their coworkers were dating, shouldn’t everyone in the group know? It could affect all of their careers!

“Jay,” Sunghoon finally forced out of his mouth after standing there awkwardly for a few seconds.

“Hm,” Jay merely hummed back, focused on the way the celebrity chef was dicing some onions.

“You’re my best friend, right?” Sunghoon muttered, twitching nervously.

Jay shrugged, still not turning around, “I guess.”

“So I can trust you,” Sunghoon continued, willing his voice to not shake. “And confide in you.”

“Uh,” Jay’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. “Yeah?”

Sunghoon swallowed, but found his throat completely dry, “And you’d want to know if there was something that could ruin our careers, right?”

“Well yes,” Jay responded in a deadpan voice. “I’d sure hope that if some career-destroying thing was happening that you’d—”

“I saw Sunoo with Heeseung-hyung—!” Sunghoon finally spat out, eyes closed, heart pounding. “And Heeseung was—I—Sunoo—” he couldn’t seem to finish the explanation.

A few tense seconds passed, completely silent, save for the onions the celebrity chef was now caramelizing. 

“Oh,” Jay spoke a moment later, sounding completely unphased. “Yeah, I know. I fucked him last week.”

Sunghoon’s jaw dropped so low, he thought it might’ve up and fallen off. What. The fuck!? What did he just say? And more importantly, why was he still watching the fucking cooking show!

Sunghoon hadn’t noticed that his hands had gone limp out of pure shock, his phone landing on the floor with a thump. It lit up as it hit the ground, showing a new text from Wonyoung on his lockscreen.

Wonyoung (IVE, Music Bank):

I’m home what do you want

Sunghoon remembered to breathe at that exact moment, since he’d apparently stopped the second Jay had said that. His head had started spinning from the lack of oxygen. And the information he’d just received. In a flash, Sunghoon bent over, snatched his phone, and booked it out of the dorm. This whole time, Jay’s eyes hadn’t left the TV screen. 

He’d already ordered a taxi before he finished sprinting down the staircase. It’d barely registered to him that the sun had completely set, and it was now pitch-black outside. In a fugue state, he’d managed to get all the way across Seoul, pay the taxi driver, and text Wonyoung before forming a single coherent thought. 

And there Wonyoung was, in a matching Hello Kitty pajama set, arms folded, glaring directly at him.

“If Dispatch sees any of this, I’m fucking killing you,” she pointed at Sunghoon threateningly, unlocking the door.

“Sorry for the intrusion,” Sunghoon bowed, taking his shoes off after entering, noticing that there were only two pairs of shoes on the rack. 

“You better have a good fucking reason for being here,” Wonyoung ushered him to the dining table, and began to make some tea. Her actions didn’t match her tone at all. “You can’t just do stuff like this without taking precautions—do you want milk in it?” Sunghoon shook his head. “No? Okay, give me a second—” she turned the kettle on. “Like, did you order that taxi with your real name?” She whipped around, pointing at him menacingly for the second time that night. 

“Uh…” Sunghoon couldn’t remember. He didn’t even think he was conscious for any of that.

Wonyoung threw her hands up in the air in disbelief, “Ugh! Were you followed? Did you see a sasaeng tailing you—”

The floorboards behind them creaked. Wonyoung’s tense gaze snapped up, only for it to quickly soften. Curious, Sunghoon turned around.

“Oh, hey,” it was another member of IVE—but frankly, Sunghoon only knew Wonyoung’s name. She seemed familiar though. “Thought I heard something—” she looked from Sunghoon to Wonyoung, “—the rest still aren’t back yet, huh?”

Wonyoung shook her head, “Sit down, Liz,” she smiled, pulling out a chair for her groupmate, whose name was apparently ‘Liz’. Sunghoon would remember that. He swore. “Since whatever’s up with him was so important he had to risk getting caught to come over here, he might as well share it with the whole class.”

Wonyoung beamed at him passive aggressively, passing him the mug of tea she’d made. 

“Um,” Sunghoon said eloquently. “Well…”

“Just tell us,” Wonyoung rolled her eyes, still leaning against the kitchen counter. “Not like we’re gonna call up Dispatch—”

“Fine,” Sunghoon put his hands up in surrender. “Do you know all of my members?”

Wonyoung and Liz glanced at each other, then back at Sunghoon, shaking their heads.

“I think I watched I-Land, though?” Liz trailed off, clearly trying to remember if she had or not. 

Sunghoon heaved a hefty sigh, “Well, there’s two members—Heeseung-hyung and Sunoo—”

“Oh, I know Sunoo!” Liz snapped her fingers. “He’s the one who always keeps the albums we give you, right? He’s so cute—”

“—and I walked in on them fucking.”

Wonyoung and Liz’s eyes both bulged in disbelief. Everything was silent as the three of them stared at each other, that is, until a drop of blood fell onto the dining table.

“Oh, sorry—” Liz scrambled to grab a napkin. “My nose is bleeding—” 

Sunghoon located one first, handing it to her. As she pressed it on her nose, he couldn’t help but notice that her face had gone entirely red.

“That’s not entirely unheard of,” Wonyoung shrugged, deciding now was the perfect time to sit down. “Considering the fact that I’m dating Yujin-unnie.”

“Yeah, but—” Sunghoon pressed his palm to his forehead. “I knew you were gay. I didn’t know they were—”

Liz raised her hand as if they were in a classroom, napkin still covering half of her face, “I knew Sunoo was gay.”

Now it was Sunghoon’s turn for his eyes to bulge out of their sockets, “You did? How—”

“She’s not dense,” Wonyoung shoved Sunghoon’s shoulder playfully. “So that’s what caused your crisis last night?”

Sunghoon nodded solemnly, taking a sip of his tea. 

“But,” Wonyoung began again. “What’s the problem? They’re both consenting adults. Unless you think that it wasn’t—”

“No,” Sunghoon shook his head. “It definitely was. And—” Sunghoon breathed in deeply, “—it’s not just those two.”

Liz tilted her head curiously.

“See, I tried to tell Jay about this earlier,” Sunghoon began to speak with his hands, miming his disbelief. “Since this could possibly affect our group’s dynamic and our careers if this breaks, and he said he was fucking Sunoo too!”

At that moment, Liz began to choke, turning away from the table, and coughed up a lung. 

Sunghoon shot up, alarmed, “Are you okay?” He asked urgently, approaching. “Do you need an ambulance?” No response, just more coughing. “Wonyoung!” His head whipped around, adrenaline rushing through his veins, “Call an—”

“I’m fine,” Liz sat up, voice hoarse. “The blood somehow went down my—” cough “—throat.”

Sunghoon breathed out a sigh of relief, shrinking back down into his seat. 

“So you—” Liz cleared her throat, “—you said multiple members are hooking up with Sunoo?” More blood appeared on the paper. “Also, could you hand me another napkin?”

Wonyoung nodded, “Let me make you some tea.”

“Yes,” Sunghoon turned to Liz, nodding. 

“And it bothers you because…?” She trailed off, raising a bleached blond eyebrow. 

Sunghoon pursed his lips, “Because they didn’t… tell me? It could—it could affect our careers—”

“Be honest,” Wonyoung sauntered over, handing Liz a proper tissue. “Do you want to know about your coworkers’ sex lives?”

“No!” Sunghoon insisted, cheeks flushing. “I just—what if more of them are in on it?”

Liz coughed again, “Like who?” She asked curiously.

“Like—like Riki!” Sunghoon stammered, thinking of the most likely culprit. “He’s had a crush on Sunoo for years—and I thought Jay and Heeseung-hyung were straight, so if they’re in on it, then anything’s possible!”

“And—” Sunghoon continued. “Looking back on it, those two are always disappearing at the same time! So are Sunoo and Heeseung-hyung, so they must be—how is this not concerning for the group?”

Liz opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, Wonyoung held her hand up, “Wait. So if this is true, and they’re all consenting adults—they’re adults, right?” Sunghoon nodded. “Right. Then I still fail to see what the problem is. If it’s about the story leaking, frankly, I trust them to take more precautions than you do.”

Sunghoon knew he should be offended, but his adrenaline was still so high he couldn’t even feel anything besides pure excitement. He thought about what to say, formed a thought, then immediately forgot it.

It was Liz who spoke first, “Unless,” she removed the tissue from her nose. “Your problem isn’t with the possible repercussions of the story breaking. It’s with the fact that you think you’re the only one who’s not fucking Sunoo.” She barely put the tissue back before more drops of blood came trickling down. 

Sunghoon sat there, eyes wide. That… that was exactly what he was feeling, wasn’t it? How did she know?

“That’s right!” Wonyoung clapped her hands excitedly. “You like him! That’s why you asked me how I knew I was a lesbian!” 

Liz gasped, the sound muted by the tissue, “He did?”

“He did,” Wonyoung nodded with her eyes closed, folding her arms.

Liz waved her hand, “So let me get this straight,” her eyes met Sunghoon’s. “You walked in on two of your members fucking, had a gay crisis, then found out another member is in on it, and suspect more, too? And the common denominator… is Sunoo.”

Sunghoon merely gulped down the rest of his tea, looking at the two of them tensely. 

“He’s not denying anything,” Wonyoung remarked, snickering slightly. 

“It appears not,” Liz now had a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Let’s say, hypothetically, you were invited to become a part of this—Sunoo ring. But you still had to share him with everyone else. How would that make you feel?”

Sunghoon was about to snap back with a comment like, ‘Is this a therapy session now?’, but it appeared that whatever expression on his face was enough of an answer. He didn’t even realize he’d been making a face. But frankly, the thought infuriated him. Not because he wanted Sunoo to be pure or anything, but because he wanted Sunoo to want… him. And nobody else. 

“Fuck,” Sunghoon’s forehead slammed down on the dining table. “Do you have anything stronger than tea?”

Liz giggled, pulling her chair out, “How strong are you talking? Soju? Beer?”

“More like vodka…” Sunghoon muttered pathetically. The two girls began to laugh at him, but Sunghoon couldn’t be bothered to be mad.

Wonyoung had apparently called one of her managers to drive Sunghoon back safely, seeing as he was both drunk off his ass on some raspberry vodka Liz just so happened to have in her room, and also not up to Wonyoung’s precautionary standards. Sunghoon thanked the manager as he stumbled out of the car, hobbling to his dorm. 

He didn’t even bother going to the kitchen first. No. That was Sunoo’s floor. And he had no idea what time it was. What if he and Heeseung were back? And what if they were—fuck! Heeseung’s room was right the fuck next to Sunghoon’s!

“Fuck!” Sunghoon shouted the second he got off the elevator. Not only was Heeseung on this floor, the other members were Jay and Riki. It was as if the world was out to get him! 

“Goddammit!” Sunghoon punched the pillow on his bed. 

Sunoo is gay. Heeseung, Jay, and Riki are at least a bit gay. And he’s gay! Sunghoon! And Sunghoon has a crush on his coworker!

“Argh!” 

And Sunghoon is wasted!

“Dude!” Sunghoon whipped around to find Heeseung, the devil himself, in the doorway of his room. “Can you quiet down? I’m trying to play League with Sunoo—”

Sunghoon saw red, “League. With Sunoo,” he spat. Did neither Heeseung nor Sunoo see Sunghoon walk in on them? Or the spilled ramen? Were they so engrossed in their own pleasure that they didn’t notice a thing? And come to think of it, Heeseung and Sunoo were totally fucking flirting this morning before the fansign!

“I’m sure you’re having a great time!” Sunghoon slurred his words, then began to mutter to himself. “Sit ‘n my lap my ass—”

“Are you drunk?” Heeseung frowned, taking his headset off. 

Sunghoon stumbled slightly, pointing his finger at Heeseung like Wonyoung had to him earlier, “Are you the devil? Haha—Liz’s raspberry vodka—s’legit—”

Heeseung sighed, pressing his fingers to his forehead, resigning himself, “Down you go.” He put his hands on Sunghoon’s shoulders, walking him to the elevator. “Go drink some water and sober up. And get sick in their bathroom, not ours.”

“Sir, yes sir!” Sunghoon saluted, forgetting for a second that he’s supposed to be mad at Heeseung. 

“Don’t get lost,” Heeseung gave him a smile as the elevator’s doors closed. 

“Going down,” the elevator’s robotic voice filled Sunghoon’s ears. And suddenly, a tear rolled down Sunghoon’s cheek. Why exactly, Sunghoon wasn’t sure. He couldn’t stop ruminating. Maybe it was because he’d just found out he was gay and the object of his affection was his coworker. One who probably wouldn’t return his feelings, since he was tangled up with multiple other men! And where did it leave Enhypen as a whole if the story did break!? And god, he wanted Sunoo so bad—!

More tears kept coming as he exited the elevator, making a beeline for the kitchen. It wasn’t loud, so that meant everyone was probably in their rooms—

“Sunghoon!” Jake’s voice called from the couch. “You gotta watch this, it’s—” Sunghoon looked up, and Jake froze. “Bro,” Jake shot up, approaching slowly. “What happened?” He reached his palm out, pressing it against Sunghoon’s forehead. “Are you feeling—”

“Don’t touch me!” Sunghoon’s latent reaction was definitely caused by the alcohol, taking a few seconds to bat Jake’s hand away. “I—I know you’re fucking him too!”

The look of concern on Jake’s face turned to one of pure confusion. He merely blinked back at Sunghoon before rubbing his eyes.

“Sorry, I must’ve misheard—you said him? As in a man?” Jake gaped as Sunghoon nodded. 

“You’re all fucking him!” Sunghoon pointed at Jake angrily. “And you all think it’s so funny because I’m the one that’s in love with him, yet I’m the only one who isn’t—”

Jake shook his head quickly, “Dude, who? Who are you even talking about—”

“Sunoo!” Sunghoon threw his hands up in the air, exasperated. “I know you’re all in on it! You must think it’s so funny that I’ve been left in the dark! Well here I am! And I’m not fucking laughing!”

Jake opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. Then opened it, then closed it. He finally sighed, and took a step forward, “Okay, you’re seeing shit because you’re drunk. That’s not happening—first of all, I’m straight, and so is Jay—”

“Oh, no he’s not. He admitted this himself.” Sunghoon looked Jake dead in the eyes. “And apparently I’m not, either!”

“He’s…” Jake trailed off, sounding slightly hurt. “And neither of you told me? I thought you trusted me!”

Sunghoon suddenly felt a million times more sober after seeing Jake’s expression. It was one of genuine betrayal. One that showed he was undoubtedly sad that his friends hadn’t confided in him. Which meant…

“You’re not in on it,” Sunghoon muttered, causing Jake’s eyebrows to knit in confusion. 

“Stop speaking in codes!” Jake demanded, exasperated. “Just tell me what the hell is going on!”

“Dude, you don’t know how happy I am to know I’m not the only one—” Sunghoon was clearly still drunk, seeing as he was now hugging Jake as tightly as he could. 

“Ugh!” Jake struggled free from Sunghoon’s grip. “Just sit down, will you? And start from the beginning!”

“Kay,” Sunghoon smiled dumbly, allowing himself to be led and plopped down onto the couch. “So it started when Liz brought out a bottle of vodka—”

“No!” Jake shook Sunghoon’s shoulders. “The Sunoo thing! And whatever Jay’s—”

“Ohhh,” Sunghoon nodded. He’d been so happy to find out Jake wasn’t actually in on it that he’d forgotten why he was mad in the first place. “So I saw Heeseung-hyung and Sunoo fucking—”

“What!?”

“—and then I asked Jay about it, ‘cuz duh, right? Wouldn’t you ask someone about something that could become a serious issue?” Sunghoon grabbed the glass of water from the table, and took a swig of it.

“Hey, that’s mine!”

“Not anymore,” Sunghoon sighed in satisfaction. “And then when I told him, Jay said he fucked Sunoo last week!”

“No way, dude,” Jake gasped, before pursing his lips. “Actually, maybe I do believe it—it’s rather like him to just admit to something he wasn’t even asked about.”

“Right?” Sunghoon felt the corner of his lips tug up to form the ghost of a smile. “And I swear Riki’s in on it, too.”

“Okay, wait,” Jake waved his hand. “You said we’re all f-fucking him, right?” Sunghoon nodded, snorting at the way Jake was embarrassed to even verbalize this. “So let’s go one-by-one. There’s both of us—”

“Then Sunoo,” Sunghoon added, and Jake put up three fingers. 

“Heeseung-hyung, you said you saw?”

“With my own eyes,” Sunghoon hung his head, wishing for a moment he had more of that vodka on him. 

“Yeesh,” Jake made a disgusted face, putting up another finger. “Nightmare. And Jay admitted to it, so that leaves…”

“Riki,” Sunghoon said solemnly, looking back up at Jake.

“See, he’s not a surprise,” Jake shrugged. “He’s always had a crush on—”

Sunghoon surged forward, covering Jake’s mouth, “Shhh! I don’t wanna be reminded!”

Jake rolled his eyes, slapping Sunghoon’s hand off, “So we can’t rule him out. But you haven’t gotten confirmation or anything yet, right?”

Sunghoon shook his head.

“So that leaves… Jungwon,” Jake now had seven fingers up. The two of them stared at each other blankly for a few seconds, before shaking their heads.

“Nah,” they said in unison. There was no way Jungwon was involved.

“He still might know, though,” Sunghoon pondered aloud. “Sunoo and Jungwon are really close…” Sunghoon’s cheeks heated slightly out of pure jealousy.

“I’ve got it!” Jake pumped his fist in the air as if he’d just won the lottery. “We can’t confront them, yeah? Because then we won’t get our answers… we have to investigate. Like detectives.”

Sunghoon raised an eyebrow curiously, “Keep going.”

“We have to get to the bottom of this,” Jake hit his fist against his open palm. “Pun intended. If we ask them, they’ll just lie. So we have to figure out how this happened covertly.”

“Sure,” Sunghoon agreed. “But what’s in it for you?” Sunghoon’s motive was perfectly clear—to determine whether or not he actually had a chance to have Sunoo to himself, but Jake? 

“An opportunity has presented itself for me to be there for you, bro,” Jake patted Sunghoon on the shoulder reassuringly. “Since it appears I have been so denied of that lately…”

Sunghoon didn’t know whether he was supposed to apologize to Jake for not telling him he was gay the second he himself found out. So instead, Sunghoon smirked and said, “I look forward to playing buddy cop with you.” 

And then he promptly puked his guts out onto Jake’s lap.

Chapter Text

Sunghoon picked the perfect night to get drunk. It was really one of the brightest ideas he’d ever had. Because he had to get up a mere two hours after he’d apparently passed out on Jake (covered in his own vomit) since today was another music show day. He had no idea how he’d forgotten—but then again, if he’d remembered, he probably would’ve gotten just as drunk anyway. 

It was still pitch-black outside when Sunghoon emerged from his room at Jay’s behest, who had apparently taken to blasting loud alarm noises from his phone in the hallway.

“You look like hell, hyung,” Riki smirked, who had apparently opened his door mere seconds before Sunghoon. 

“Let’s get a move-on!” Jay ushered Riki down the hall urgently. “If we’re late to the van again, Jungwon’s gonna kill us!”

Sunghoon rolled his eyes, trudging back inside his room to grab his bag—pre-packed, of course, because if Sunghoon was one thing, it was organized. He bent over behind his desk to grab his laptop charger, learning by now that he might as well bring any form of entertainment that he had access to on music show days, when he heard the final door on that floor creak open.

“Hyung, seriously!?” Sunghoon froze at the sound of Sunoo’s whiny voice. Fuck! Of course Sunoo came out of Heeseung’s room! Last night, they were probably—

“Did I go too hard?” Heeseung’s response was soft, and Sunghoon hit the floor upon hearing the sound of footsteps stop. 

His door was only slightly ajar, but it was open enough to see the outline of Heeseung and Sunoo’s bodies in the dim light. They definitely thought he’d already left with Jay and Riki. And he couldn’t reveal his position now. He could see them, but they couldn’t see him.

“Did I go too hard?” Sunoo repeated in a mocking tone, earning him a breathy laugh from Heeseung instead of any genuine offense. “I think my gallbladder is on the opposite side of my body now—!”

Sunoo’s voice suddenly cut off, and Sunghoon considered craning his neck, until he heard the extremely conspicuous sound of lips moving against each other.

“Mm,” Heeseung moaned into the kiss, and Sunghoon felt himself gag. Thankfully, he’d already puked everything his stomach had to offer up a few hours prior. After a few grueling minutes, the two of them finally parted. 

Sunghoon could hear the beady-eyed expression on Heeseung’s face, “Do you forgive me now?”

Sunoo let out a ‘hmph’, only for Heeseung to wrap his arms around Sunoo’s waist (which Sunghoon could unfortunately see), press another kiss to his lips, then—

“Ow!” Sunoo shrieked as Heeseung’s palm made contact with his ass. “Hyung!”

“Am I forgiven now…?” Heeseung pressed again, and Sunghoon had to pinch himself to prevent him from dry heaving.

“Still no,” Sunoo spun on his heel and began to sashay out of the hallway. “If I get lazy accusations for my dancing today because my whole ass is on fire, then you will suffer.”

The sound of Heeseung running after Sunoo signaled that the coast was finally clear, “Ooh, I’m so scared.”

Sunoo scoffed, letting out a sigh, “You psycho!” His words were juxtaposed against his lighthearted tone. “Don’t leave a hickey—” Sunghoon then realized he could vaguely hear the sound of wet kisses on skin. 

God, Heeseung was probably holding Sunoo from behind, kissing any part of him that wasn’t covered by clothing… How was Sunghoon supposed to move on with his day after witnessing all this!?

“I’ll make it up to you,” Heeseung insisted in a singsong voice as the elevator doors finally opened. 

Once Sunghoon was positive that they were gone, he rose slowly, mind both devoid of thoughts, yet still racing. He stood there blankly for a few seconds, before shoving his computer into his bag, and making a mental note to figure out where he could get himself some of that vodka. 

If anyone had spoken to Sunghoon in between him going downstairs and arriving at Music Bank, he was none the wiser. He’d popped his Airpods in, turned on noise cancelling, and tuned the world out. He eventually found himself sitting in the hair and makeup chair, despite his stylist being done with him. He’d neglected to move, since he’d been completely dissociating. That, and Heeseung and Sunoo had brought a yoga mat out and were ‘helping each other stretch’.

Sunghoon would be damned if he let himself see any of that. 

A sharp knock on their door, however, brought him back to reality. He finally focused his eyes again, watching as his members exchanged confused looks, before Sunoo got up from the yoga mat, dusted himself off, and with a smile, said “I’ll get it!”

They hadn’t signed up for any variety show this time, and judging by everyone’s reactions, it wasn’t their time to go on yet. Sunghoon swiveled in his chair, facing the door, and getting a prime view of Sunoo’s ass as he walked over to open it.

“Oh my god!” Sunoo gasped excitedly upon opening it. His reaction startled everyone, with Jungwon shooting up in concern, then quickly sitting back down once Sunoo spoke again.

“Liz-ssi!” Sunghoon could see how elated Sunoo was. After all, he was quite a hardcore IVE fan—

Wait, Liz?  

“Sunbaenim!” Sunoo opened the door more, and sure enough, the telltale blonde hair was right there. “I thought I’d bring you the copy of our new album myself—”

Oh, that’s why she’s here. 

“Oh my god,” Sunoo’s hands shook slightly as he accepted the album. “There’s even a pre-order benefit—”

Liz snickered, peeking her head over Sunoo’s shoulder to see Jungwon approaching, holding a copy of Enhypen’s album.

“We were gonna send our manager, but since you’re here,” Jungwon handed the photobook to Liz, whose cheeks flushed red. 

She thanked Jungwon, then stood up on her tiptoes, craning her neck, “Is Sunghoon-oppa here?” 

The way Sunoo’s expression dropped was comical. He’d gone from overjoyed, to what appeared to be pissed off. Sunoo turned around slowly to face Sunghoon, who hadn’t moved an inch.

“Hyung, she’s asking for you!” Jungwon shouted, thinking Sunghoon hadn’t been paying attention, pointing to Liz. 

Why was she asking for him? Sunghoon thought, exasperated. He leapt out of his chair, then came face-to-face with Sunoo’s now sour expression. 

For a second, Sunghoon wondered what his deal was. Then he realized he was probably mad that a member of his favorite group wasn’t giving all of her attention to him. Typical fan behavior.

Prying his eyes away from Sunoo, Sunghoon furrowed his eyebrows at the grin on Liz’s face, “What’re you—”

Suddenly, Liz reached into the pocket of her jacket, and shoved a small bottle in his face.

“Ta-da!” She sounded quite satisfied with herself. “No need to thank me—it was the least I could do since I gave you the vodka—”

Sunghoon felt Sunoo twitch beside him as he took the bottle from Liz’s hand. 

Hangover cure.

“God bless you,” Sunghoon ripped the seal off as fast as he could, overwhelmed with gratitude, and still too hungover to make any sense. “Angel on this earth,” he muttered to himself as Liz cackled smugly. Sunoo cleared his throat, as if to remind the two of them that he and Jungwon were still there.

“Oh, sorry!” Liz clasped her hands in a prayer position, looking from Jungwon, to Sunghoon, to Sunoo, then back to Sunghoon again. The same glint in her eyes from last night was back. “I’m wasting your time—I just need to borrow him for a bit!” 

And then, Sunghoon found himself getting violently tugged out of his own waiting room, earning a lighthearted, “Kay!” from Jungwon, and an eerie silence from Sunoo.

Liz finally released him once they’d gotten out of earshot. What was so important that she had to kidnap him? Sunghoon was way too hungover for—

Oh, right. The hangover cure.

Liz had opened her mouth to say something, but Sunghoon held up his index finger, tipped his head back, and downed the whole thing at once. 

“Ah,” Sunghoon smiled to himself, tossing the empty bottle into a nearby trash can. He crossed his arms, then looked down at Liz with a serious, if not slightly intimidating expression. “Explain.”

“First,” Liz insisted, the look on his face clearly not phasing her at all, “Who was who? I know Sunoo, but which one was Heeseung and Jay—”

Sunghoon let out a hefty sigh. That’s what this was about. “Jungwon came to the door,” Sunghoon gestured down the hall with his thumb. “Uh… Heeseung-hyung was on the yoga mat. I think Jay was asleep, and—Riki and Jake were on the couch, I think.”

“Got it,” Liz nodded vehemently, as if she was truly making a mental note. “Right. Now, I was just gonna bring you the drink. Honest,” Liz threw her hands up in surrender, but Sunghoon remained skeptical. “But I just had the most ingenious idea.”

Sunghoon tilted his head, expression contorting into a mix of disbelief and annoyance.

“Hear me out,” Liz’s voice grew lower. “I couldn’t help but notice the way Sunoo reacted when I asked for you—”

Sunghoon’s eyes widened, and his heart began to thunder within his chest. Did she mean—no, there was no way!

“—he was so jealous,” Liz smiled widely, as if she was a high schooler hyping her best friend up to ask their crush out. 

Then again, that seemed pretty spot-on.

Sunghoon pressed his palm to his forehead, closing his eyes, “Yeah, because he’s your fan—”

“No!” Liz insisted, shaking her head. “Trust me. I know how Dives act when they’re jealous. That, Sunghoon-ssi, was him being jealous of me. Not of you.”

Sunghoon started to twitch from all the adrenaline gushing through his system, “...How can you be so sure?” He couldn’t even believe he was entertaining this. He must be really far-gone for Sunoo.

“I can’t yet,” Liz admitted, shrugging. “But it’s something we can work with. And that’s where my idea comes in.” She held up her index finger, as if she was a professor lecturing a class. “If we let this opening slip away, you might never get him.”

Never? Fuck, she was probably right. With everything he witnessed this morning, who’s to say that Sunoo wasn’t full-on dating Heeseung? If Sunoo was actually jealous, and he was able to exploit that jealousy…

Apparently Sunghoon had pulled a face, since Liz began to smile even wider.

“So my idea,” she began. “Remember We Got Married?” 

Sunghoon furrowed his eyebrows, “Didn’t that show get cancelled? A long time ago…?”

Liz nodded, pursing her lips, “They’re trying to bring it back, but with a twist. Like you said, it got cancelled, so they can’t bring it back exactly as it was, then it’d just get cancelled again.” 

She paused for some sort of confirmation that Sunghoon was following, “I’m listening.”

“This time, it’s a cooking show fusion,” Sunghoon opened his mouth to ask a follow-up question, but she paid him no mind, continuing. “It’s specifically geared at idol groups now. The gist is that two members from different groups take a bunch of cooking classes, then ultimately cook for each other’s groups.”

Sunghoon frowned, “So how’s it We Got Married, then?”

“Cuz it’s gonna be following the same two idols,” Liz held up two fingers, inadvertently throwing a peace sign up. “That’s where the draw’s gonna come from—the audience is supposed to see the two of them growing closer. And cooking together is a rather domestic activity, too.”

“So what’s your idea?” Sunghoon wondered what this had to do with him successfully pulling Sunoo. “You said it’s two idols from different groups—”

“Yep,” Liz confirmed. “The producers really wanted one of us from IVE—specifically Wonyoung but—”

Sunghoon shook his head, rolling his eyes, “She’d never. And definitely not with a man—”

“Right?” Liz continued eagerly. “But I think they’d be satisfied with me. And you,” she poked Sunghoon in the chest with her index finger. 

“Me?”

“I swear I’m right about Sunoo being jealous,” she pondered aloud. “And if we star in this show, we’ll be spending a lot of time together—maybe even get some dating rumors out of it… But most importantly, since there’s gonna be interactions between groups, he’ll be forced to see the two of us firsthand!”

The lightbulb in Sunghoon’s head went off. That’s what she was getting at! They’d be able to suss out if Sunoo was really jealous by forcing content of themselves down his throat!

Sunghoon was ecstatic. How soon could he start? Would his company let him do it? And most importantly… Now that he thought about it… What did Liz have to gain from helping him out like that?

“So am I a genius, or what?” Liz was striking a pose, eyes closed, basking in her own ego. 

While she was, Sunghoon didn’t exactly want to encourage her. Not yet, at least.

“I have a question,” Liz’s eyes snapped open, looking up at him, clearly concerned by the tone change. “Why are you going so far to help me? Not that I don’t appreciate it, but—we didn’t really know each other until yesterday—”

“Ah,” Liz raised her eyebrows, catching on. “Have you…” Liz paused for a second, as if trying to determine which words would explain her motive the most accurately. However, all that came out of her mouth was: “Have you heard of BL?”

Sunghoon blinked back at her. Did he mishear? 

“BL?” He tilted his head. “Like gay dramas?” He’d heard of it, obviously. But he wasn’t one for dramas in general.

“Mhm,” Liz’s smile turned ravenous. “There’s a real-life BL playing out in front of me right now. And the whole cast is hot as fuck,” she began to speak through gritted teeth. “So if you think you’re gonna stop me from seeing all of that, you’re wrong.”

If Sunghoon had been asked even a mere few hours earlier who the scariest member of IVE was, he would’ve answered Wonyoung without hesitation. But now? The look in Liz’s eyes was totally murderous!

“...That’s why you asked who was who, huh…” Sunghoon trailed off, rolling his eyes, before a streak of red caught his attention. “Your nose!”

Liz’s nose had begun to bleed again. What kind of health problems did she even have? Had she never seen a doctor for this?

Before he was aware of it, Sunghoon had rushed forward, grabbing Liz by the shoulders, checking her forehead for a temperature, and offering her a bandana from his stage outfit to use in lieu of a tissue.

Liz had begun to thank him, right as the sound of a door flinging open echoed throughout the hall.

“Sunghoon-hyung! Are you—” Sunoo’s voice cut off with a choke. 

As Sunghoon turned around, he could see the way Liz’s eyes morphed into a maniacal smile. She’d realized what this looked like, too. With the way Sunghoon was bending down over her, holding her shoulders—how did this look any different than Heeseung and Sunoo had that morning?

Sunoo’s eyes had gone so wide, Sunghoon thought they might be close to falling out. And his face was red. But his expression didn’t look like one of embarrassment—it looked like one of anger.

Holy shit. Liz was right.

“Oh, sorry!” Liz piped up, customer service voice turned on, a stark contrast between the one she’d used to not-so-subtly threaten Sunghoon just moments earlier. “I’ve taken too much of oppa’s time, haven’t I?”

Oppa. Nice detail.

“I’ll get going now!” Liz lifted her arm to squeeze Sunghoon’s shoulder affectionately. “Manager-nim will come back after lunch so we can film a challenge!”

Goddamn. How much of this had she planned out?

It’d been silent for too long. Sunghoon was too busy marveling at Liz’s meticulous plan, he’d forgotten to play his part, too. He allowed himself one more glance at Sunoo’s face, which now looked like it was going to explode from anger, before he bowed to Liz, and waved.

“I’ll see you later,” he bid her goodbye, and if Sunghoon didn’t know any better, he’d think Liz shot him a wink.

Sunoo was in a bad mood. A really bad mood. The amount of stress Sunghoon had put him through in the past two days was just unfair. First, he texts Wonyoung for all of yesterday, then today, he’s all over Liz!? So he wasn’t dating Wonyoung, but Liz? And fuck, Liz was his bias!

Sunoo finally collapsed onto his bed with a muted scream after a long and painful day of ignoring Sunghoon. When he’d come back into their waiting room, he didn’t explain himself at all! He just moved to talk to Jake, ignoring Sunoo right back!

“Unbelievable,” Sunoo muttered into his pillow. Sure, he wasn’t exactly making this easier for himself, either. He’d spent practically the whole car ride back watching Sunghoon and Liz’s new dance challenges. And it didn’t help that all the comments were about how cute of a couple they made!

Sunoo punched and kicked his mattress like a two-year-old who’d just been told he couldn’t have cake for dinner. Whatever! Those two-year-olds didn’t know real pain!

The only thing that ended his temper tantrum was his phone suddenly vibrating and scaring the shit out of him.

It was an inconspicuous text from Jay.

Jay:

Hey can you help me rq

Sunoo knew what that meant. The kind of ‘help’ he wanted was something only Sunoo would be willing to give.

Me:

Coming

At some point, Heeseung had let it slip to Jay that the two of them were hooking up, and neglected to tell Sunoo. So needless to say, Sunoo was surprised when Jay came to him with a proposal. 

Apparently, he was sick of bringing NDAs to hookups, and wasn’t really looking for a girlfriend (or boyfriend) but still wanted to get his… needs met. If Sunoo hadn’t said yes, Jay probably would’ve gotten too lazy to deal with NDAs and gone completely celibate. And that wasn’t any good now, was it?

Sunoo didn’t care. He loved sex. And Heeseung wasn’t home all the time. Why would he say no when another opportunity to practice his only coping mechanism presented itself?

That, and Jay wasn’t bad in bed at all.

Sex with Jay was borderline funny. Without fail, they’d always end up laughing at each other. That never happened with Heeseung, his ex, or Riki.

Right, Riki…

Sometimes Sunoo felt sorry for him. He totally had a crush on Sunoo—a huge one, too. But Sunoo knew there’d never be anyone for him besides Sunghoon. Riki, similarly, didn’t seem to care. He’d somehow found out—it was probably the time Sunoo was getting Eiffel Towered by Heeseung and Jay (they should do that again soon)—seeing as he was on the same floor as those two. He’d confronted Sunoo about it, then insisted that it was fine if Sunoo couldn’t return his feelings. Sex would be enough. 

Sunoo agreed, of course. The more, the merrier. The less he’d spend thinking about the futility of his crush on Sunghoon. Plus, Sunoo got a kick out of teaching Riki everything. Just the thought of that got him hard…

Sunoo knocked on Jay’s door a few moments later, and was met with a muffled shout of, “Come in!”

Entering, Sunoo made sure to lock the door behind him, “Hey,” he yawned, casually flopping down onto Jay’s bed. Jay was sitting on the floor with his guitar, like a true artist, quickly setting it down and approaching. 

“Thanks, by the way,” Jay eyed the prominent tent in Sunoo’s pants. “We don’t have to do that much, or anything. Just something quick—”

Sunoo had cut Jay off by jumping him, placing his head right above his crotch, unzipping his jeans with his teeth. 

Jay snorted, unable to resist laughing at the sight, “You’re serious tonight, aren’t you?”

Sunoo rolled his eyes, yanking Jay’s boxers down to reveal his cock, “Less talking, more hair-pulling,” Sunoo ordered crassly. Jay was about to laugh again, when Sunoo took all of him in one swift movement, turning the laugh into a moan.

Jay obeyed, tugging Sunoo’s hair as the head of his cock hit the back of Sunoo’s throat. Sunoo swallowed around him, causing his hips to buck, but Sunoo didn’t gag.

More accurately, Sunoo couldn’t gag. There was nobody better at sucking cock than him.

“Fuck, just—” Jay’s voice was breathless. “Just a bit more—”

He wasn’t kidding about it being quick, because soon enough, a load of cum was running down his throat. Sunoo gladly swallowed it, only to be met with a look of disbelief from Jay. 

“Why’d you swallow?” He zipped his pants back up. “You could’ve pulled off—”

“Then it wouldn’t have felt as good,” Sunoo shrugged, sitting up. 

Jay eyed Sunoo’s bulge, “Did you—”

“I’m good,” Sunoo waved Jay’s concern away. “I said I’d meet Heeseung-hyung later, anyway.”

Jay fumbled for his phone, “Figures,” to Sunoo’s surprise, he handed his phone over. “Want anything? I’m ordering delivery.”

Sunoo was about to refuse, then thought back to his tantrum earlier. Cake for dinner. Maybe he would have cake for dinner. He was an adult. Who was gonna stop him?  

“Can you get me a cake?” Sunoo asked, just in case he was planning to order from one restaurant in particular. To his surprise, Jay barked out a laugh, and threw an arm over Sunoo’s shoulder.

“Bahaha!” He rubbed his eyes with one hand in disbelief. “If a cake is what you want, then a cake is what you shall have,” Jay declared, ruffling Sunoo’s hair. 

The cake came a mere twenty minutes later along with Jay’s dinner, and Sunoo wasted no time before heading up to Heeseung’s room. 

“Hyung,” Sunoo opened the door—he tended not to lock it so that Sunoo could enter whenever he wanted—to find Heeseung playing League. 

“One sec,” Heeseung couldn’t look away from his screen, furiously slamming his fingers across the keyboard.

Sunoo locked the door, and set the cake box onto Heeseung’s nightstand. 

“Fuck!” The inevitable shout came a few moments later as Sunoo sat down on the bed. 

“Do you want some cake?” Sunoo asked, pointing to the box after Heeseung pulled his headset off. 

Heeseung spun around in his chair, approaching Sunoo with a hungry look in his eyes, “Asking me as if you don’t already know the answer,” his voice was low, going straight to Sunoo’s dick. But instead of going for the cake box, he tugged Sunoo over so that he was straddling his lap, their clothed cocks making the slightest bit of contact. Sunoo bit back a moan.

“Sit on my face,” Heeseung said matter-of-factly, expression remaining unchanged. His eyes were just as intense as they were when he approached. 

“Huh?” Sunoo obliged, of course, starting to strip. But he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit confused.

“Well, you asked if I wanted cake, didn’t you?” Heeseung shrugged, lying down. He licked his lips at the sight of Sunoo’s thighs as he tossed his pants aside. “My mouth’s already watering.”

“Freak,” Sunoo rolled his eyes, but smiled fondly, lowering himself down onto Heeseung’s waiting face.

Predictably, he wasted no time, licking a fat stripe around Sunoo’s hole, causing his cock to twitch in anticipation.

“You tease,” Sunoo complained, hands on the headboard to keep balance. “All of that just for you to—ngh—”

Heeseung made Sunoo bite his words, as his warm and hot tongue slid inside of him. He hadn’t been lying—his mouth really had been watering. It was so wet and messy, Sunoo could feel drool running down the insides of his thighs, which were held in an iron grip by Heeseung’s veiny hands. The room was full of obscene slurping sounds as Heeseung fucked Sunoo with his tongue, precum leaking down onto Heeseung’s hair. 

“Oh, fuck,” Sunoo moaned, feeling his hips move against his will. He couldn’t hold back anymore. He’d been dealing with too much pent-up frustration all day, and now? He was going to use Heeseung as his own personal fucktoy.

“‘m gonna ride your face,” Sunoo gave Heeseung a heads up before he began to move up and down, the sound of his cock slapping against his own stomach making the whole scene infinitely more lewd. 

Heeseung moaned below him, giving him verbal encouragement to continue. The vibration from Heeseung’s voice nearly sent Sunoo over the edge, causing him to move even faster. He was riding Heeseung’s face just like he rode his cock, hungry to fuck himself on Heeseung’s tongue. 

Sunoo was going to mutter something about how good Heeseung felt, but was interrupted by a tap on his thigh. 

“Hm?” Sunoo stopped moving momentarily. He better have a damn good reason to stop him when he was getting close.

Heeseung’s lips were bright red, swollen, and glistening with saliva. The sight made Sunoo’s cock twitch, to which Heeseung moaned.

“Hit me with your cock,” he demanded, and Sunoo’s eyes went wide. Though, he was happy to oblige.

Before he could ask anything, Heeseung had lowered Sunoo back down onto him, working his tongue in and out of the wet heat. 

“Fuck, you’re so hot,” Sunoo moaned, slapping Heeseung’s face with his own cock. Heeseung looked back up at him greedily, moaning as he continued to fuck Sunoo open with his tongue. “You love this, don’t you? Getting slapped in your pretty face with a cock?”

Heeseung moved his head up and down slightly, moaning in affirmation.

“Fuck, that feels good,” Sunoo moved his hips up and down again, riding Heeseung in earnest. When he lowered himself down, he slapped Heeseung’s face once more with his cock, resulting in a choked moan, and an absolutely orgasmic expression.

“Did you just cum?” Sunoo asked incredulously, speeding up, milking Heeseung’s mouth. “Mnn, there—! Untouched?” Sunoo gripped Heeseung’s hair, earning him another moan. Heeseung’s hands had been on Sunoo’s thighs this whole time. He hadn’t been able to jerk himself off, yet he still came from eating Sunoo out and from getting slapped with his cock?

“Mmm—‘n I bet you want me to cum on your face, hm?” Sunoo’s hips jerked. He was getting close. “It’s probably—fuck!—gonna get in your hair, but—ngh—” Sunoo grinded down on Heeseung’s face hard, nearly setting him over the edge. “—You’d enjoy that, wouldn’t you?” Sunoo carded his fingers through Heeseung’s soft hair that was soon to be stained with his own cum. 

That, too, went straight to Sunoo’s cock.

“You’re so nasty,” Sunoo smirked down at Heeseung, which earned him a slap on his ass. 

White-hot pain and pleasure ran through Sunoo’s veins as the sound of flesh slapping against flesh in multiple places filled the room. Sunoo slumped down, still holding himself up with the headboard, before rolling off Heeseung’s face, a trail of cum leading from Sunoo’s cock to Heeseung’s hair.

He turned on his side to face Heeseung, who was completely soaked in Sunoo’s cum. 

“Fuck, don’t look at me like that,” Sunoo shoved Heeseung’s shoulder. “You’re gonna get me hard again.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Heeseung smirked, leaning closer.

“Insatiable,” Sunoo muttered under his breath. “The cum in your hair is what’s wrong with that! And your pants!”

Heeseung blinked at him for a solid three seconds straight, “Oh. Right.” 

“Go rinse off,” Sunoo pressed a kiss to one of Heeseung’s clean cheeks. “I’ll be right here.”

Heeseung promised to hurry, which Sunoo appreciated, because he really didn’t want to be alone with his thoughts right now. After the door closed, Sunoo made the mistake of turning his phone on, only for it to open to Tiktok to reveal another Tiktok of Sunghoon and Liz—this time a slideshow of pictures they’d taken!

Infuriated, Sunoo got up and grabbed the cake box, which had handily come with multiple utensils, and started to dig in. Heeseung emerged from the shower a few minutes later, hair slightly damp with water instead of cum. 

“What are you—” he froze in his tracks. “There’s actual cake!?”

Sunoo grumbled, pointing at Heeseung with his fork, “I literally asked you if you wanted cake—”

“I thought you were asking me if I wanted to eat your ass!” Heeseung slumped onto the bed, grabbing his laptop.

“No,” Sunoo insisted, setting the fork down. “You clearly already wanted to eat my ass, since I walked in with this giant box—no idea how you didn’t see it—”

“I won’t deny that,” Heeseung leaned across, opening his mouth. 

Sunoo pulled a face, “Are you seriously gonna have me feed you right now?”

Heeseung neglected to respond. 

Sunoo scoffed and stabbed the cake, shoving the fork into Heeseung’s mouth. Heeseung happily accepted it, humming in delight at the taste.

“Now put on Drag Race before I get really mad,” Sunoo demanded, and Heeseung merely snickered, laying his head on Sunoo’s shoulder.

“Whatever you say.”

Chapter Text

Apparently, Liz was a criminal mastermind. At this point though, Sunghoon figured he shouldn’t be surprised anymore.

Liz had the two of them exchange contact information after they’d filmed each other’s challenges, and said she’d text him once she’d met with her company about the show. He just didn’t expect it’d be so soon.

Liz (IVE):

do u have tmr off

She’d texted that late last night, after they’d all finally gotten back from Music Bank. 

Me:

Yeah why

She hadn’t responded, but their messages showed she’d read it. Weird, he thought. Maybe she’s trying to schedule a meeting? But then she’d probably have texted me back by now…

Whatever. Sunghoon decided he’d spend the day shopping, or something. He’d forgotten to ask his parents if they were free for him to come visit, and he also didn’t really want to do too much today, anyway. 

So there he was, shaving before he went out to get some coffee, when his phone buzzed on the counter.

Liz (IVE):

get out im outside

Sunghoon’s eyes widened comically, and he nearly dropped his phone in the sink. The hell did she mean she was outside? Outside where? Here!?

Sunghoon dropped his razor and sprinted out of the bathroom. First of all, how’d she know where he lived? And second of all—what was she thinking! There were constant mobs of sasaengs hanging around their dorm… What if she got spotted by them? And worse—what if she got jumped by them? 

Dating rumors notwithstanding (seeing as that was part of Liz’s plan), her being seen outside of Sunghoon’s dorm publicly might put her in actual danger!

Reaching his room, Sunghoon violently slammed his window open, tugged the screen back, and peeked his head outside. Scanning the sidewalk a few storeys down from his floor, Sunghoon’s heart thundered in fear. He didn’t see the normal gaggle of sasaengs, he only saw one—

“Hi!” Liz’s smile was just as blinding as the sunlight reflecting off the sidewalk. She was dressed rather conspicuously, as if she was about to go on a variety show. It was easy to mistake her for a sasaeng, since sometimes they wore their best clothes in hopes of making the members fall in love with them. 

Ugh, Sunghoon audibly sighed, rubbing his eyes. He hadn’t even told her where he lived! Maybe she is a sasaeng!

Liz finished waving, then suddenly stopped smiling, placing her hand above her eyes. She squinted, looking up at Sunghoon. He was about to ask her what her deal was, when she burst out in a fit of laughter.

“You—” Liz cut herself off with a snort, removing her hand from her line of sight to point at him mockingly. “You only shaved one side of your face!”

Sunghoon’s arm shot up in an instant, feeling his jaw. Fuck. She’d shown up so abruptly, he hadn’t even finished shaving yet. And to make matters worse, there was still some shaving cream on the top of his lip. 

“That’s because you didn’t give me a heads up!” Sunghoon fired back, figuring it’d be safe to interact now that he knew no sasaengs were lurking around.

Liz simply shrugged, raising her bleached blonde eyebrows, “Is your head not up right now?”

Sunghoon rolled his eyes and slammed his window shut, figuring he’d finish up as fast as he could and meet her down there. But as he was grabbing something to wear from his closet, he could’ve sworn he heard the sound of another window opening and closing. 

“I’m imagining shit now,” Sunghoon sighed to himself before dashing back to the bathroom and finally shaving the other side of his face. 

A few moments later, he was running down the stairs, aftershave spray in hand, before realizing he’d left his water bottle in the fridge. Groaning, Sunghoon stopped after a singular flight of stairs, bursting into the first floor of their dorm, making a beeline for the kitchen. 

He found his water bottle quickly, threw it in his bag, and sprayed on his aftershave. Vaguely, he heard someone’s voice, but it was probably coming from one of the downstairs rooms. He didn’t have any time to spare, anyway. The longer Liz was out there, the more of an opportunity there was for sasaengs to show up and attack her.

Yanking his sunglasses out of their case, he put them on as he emerged from the lobby of their building. And dutifully, Liz was waiting outside. 

“Why are you even here?” Sunghoon approached, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“I told you I’d tell you when I had an update, didn’t I?” Her tone was carefree and casual. 

“Yeah, but I thought you’d text me—” before Sunghoon could finish his complaint, he heard the telltale sound of a high-pitched squeal in the distance.

Slowly, Sunghoon turned his head to the left. 

They were back. The sasaengs.

“Fuck, they must’ve been on lunch!” Sunghoon lunged forward, corralling Liz with an arm placed protectively around her waist—he was afraid of hurting her if he grabbed her arm, seeing as he was only mildly stressed out. 

“This way!” He hissed urgently under his breath as Liz’s expression showed she’d finally realized what was happening. 

The two of them began to half-walk half-run amidst the cries of “Oppa!” and “Ya, who is that!?” among other things Sunghoon would rather not repeat. 

After hurrying across the street, Liz ventured a glance above Sunghoon’s shoulder.

“Oh!” She exclaimed, using the arm that wasn’t pressed against Sunghoon’s side. “We can lose them if we go through there!” 

She was pointing at a Lotte Mart. Sunghoon hadn’t even considered that. He had multiple escape routes around the block, but none of them involved going through a business.

“I’m sure they have a back exit—even if it’s for employees, we could probably sneak by,” she assured him, easily breaking free from his grip and continuing on ahead. 

They were only a few yards ahead of the sasaeng stampede, so Sunghoon wasted no time. Liz began to sprint through the store, weaving in and out of various aisles in hopes of throwing the sasaengs off, but Sunghoon would wager it did more to throw him off, instead. 

They eventually made it outside to the cargo loading lot, then Liz pulled her phone out.

“Alright!” She announced, standing up even straighter. “This cafe has good reviews!” She shoved the screen in Sunghoon’s face. “And we’re about… two blocks away. Sound good? Good!”

She hadn’t even bothered to get Sunghoon’s approval before gallivanting off in search of the cafe. Sighing, Sunghoon trailed after her like a dog following its owner. 

“Er,” Sunghoon began after chugging half of his water bottle down. “You said there was an update?”

Liz stopped humming, “Oh, yeah!” She gestured for the two of them to turn a corner. “So I spoke to the producers at MBC last night—”

“You went directly to the network?” Sunghoon’s eyebrows knit in confusion. “Why not your company?”

“Oh, you’ll see,” Liz wagged her finger at him as if she was telling a toddler off. “In here, by the way…” The two of them ducked into a quaint cafe decorated by hanging plants and flowers, yet was blasting noisy pop music. 

“I already knew going into this that Hybe would be the hardest to convince,” Liz wasn’t even looking at him while she spoke, and began scrolling on the ordering kiosk. “Seeing how you guys are marketed, and all—which is working from what we saw earlier.” The astute observation earned her a sigh from Sunghoon. “Putting you on a pseudo-dating show wouldn’t be ideal for the image they’re trying to sell. So I decided—put your order in—to corner them.”

She whispered that last part, tugging him forward to the kiosk. Sunghoon looked at her curiously before selecting some plain milk tea and a cake slice. 

“How exactly are you planning to corner a corporation?” He raised an eyebrow as Liz reached for her wallet. “No, I’ll pay—” he insisted, “—least I could do.”

Liz gave a slightly evil laugh, as if to signal to Sunghoon that he played right into her hands, “Elementary, my dear Sunghoon-ssi.” She snatched a table number after Sunghoon tapped his card and beckoned him forward. 

“You see,” she began once they sat down. “The producer was insistent that he needed IVE in order for the show to take off. And I’ve asked my members about it before—they’re not exactly enthusiastic about being the member to go on, which just leaves me. So I figured that if I expressed interest to him directly, Hybe would hear about it from MBC itself instead of Starship.”

Sunghoon’s eyes narrowed, trying to mentally connect the dots, “What if Starship won’t let you go on, though?”

Liz relaxed back into her chair, “They already have,” she assured him with a smirk.

Now Sunghoon was really in disbelief, “But won’t fans get jealous?”

“Not as much as yours,” she laughed at her own slightly dark joke, waving her hand as she spoke. “Starship will do whatever we tell them to do, so they were a non-issue from the get-go.” 

She paused as their cake slices arrived, bowing to thank the waiter.

“Then,” she continued, despite just shoving a bite of cake into her mouth. “I told MBC that I’d only do it if it was with you,” she monitored Sunghoon’s expression closely, pointing her fork at him. He wasn’t exactly sure what face he was making right now.  

“So when Hybe gets the call—which they probably already have—” she set her fork down onto her plate with a light clang, “—if they refuse, MBC is gonna feel like they just backed out of a deal. The show won’t take off unless IVE’s on it, as the producer says, so if Hybe is the singular reason why all of the efforts to make this show happen go down the drain, MBC will be pissed.”

Now, Sunghoon was positive of the expression on his own face. It was the same kind of smirk Liz had. 

“Because you gave them an ultimatum,” he added excitedly, causing Liz to nod so fervently, Sunghoon thought her head was at risk of falling off.

“And—” Liz cut herself off with a snort, barely able to contain her laughter, “—you know what’s worse? If Hybe makes MBC mad enough, they can ban groups from going on Music Core and Show Champion—”

“That’s career suicide!” Sunghoon unconsciously slammed his fist against the table, so engrossed in the scenario. “Especially for rookie groups—”

“Exactly,” Liz snapped her fingers as their drinks arrived. “So if they know what’s good for them, they’ll let you go on the show,” her sentence was punctuated with the sound of her stabbing her straw into the seal of her drink. 

Sunghoon was terrified. 

“Mm!” She took a sip of her drink. “Before I forget, the producer told me he’s open to suggestions for how to increase ratings, since the whole thing is really one huge gamble.”

Sunghoon pierced the top of his drink with his straw, though with much less violence. Liz was silent as Sunghoon started drinking, before he realized she was waiting on him to say something.

“Any ideas?” Liz looked at him expectantly. 

“Uh,” he cleared his throat, wracking his brain. “Well… the point of this show is to see different idols interact, so…” He took another sip, hoping the caffeine from the tea would wake him up a bit. “Maybe if there was a way to get some of your friends on it? Idol friends—?”

“Brilliant!” Liz had somehow pulled out a pen and notebook without Sunghoon even noticing, jotting down some notes “We can have some other idols join us for cooking classes! Oh! And then we can have a house party where we cater!” 

Sunghoon just watched as she scribbled enough to fill a whole page, simply drinking his milk tea in silence.

“Done!” She set her pen down a few moments later. “So who should we invite?” She looked up at him expectantly. 

He blinked back at her, confused, “Er—I said your friends… I don’t—” he felt a bit embarrassed admitting to this, “—I don’t have that many friends.”

It was Liz’s turn to stare at him emptily, “Huh?” She leaned forward, suspicious. “No way! I don’t believe that for a second—”

“Well,” Sunghoon scratched the back of his head awkwardly, thinking back. “I don’t really have celebrity friends… I think the only one would be Wonyoung—”

“Me too, now!” Liz insisted, holding her hand out. “Give me your phone. I’m looking through your contacts.”

Sunghoon furrowed his eyebrows, “Why?” He protested, yet found himself unlocking his phone and handing it over.

“You have more friends than you think,” Liz took his phone, pointing at him accusingly. “Let’s see…” She trailed off, beginning to scroll. “Looks like you have everyone divided by affiliation,” she’d clearly noticed how each of his contacts specified what group everyone was in. Scrolling faster, she clicked her tongue a few times in a row. “There’s Wonyoung… Jungwon-ssi, Jake-ssi, and… plumber!?”

Rolling his eyes, Sunghoon beckoned for his phone back, “I told you you wouldn’t find anything—”

Liz sat back so that his phone was out of reach, scrolling even faster, “Wait! I’ll find someone, I swear—oh my god!” The last part came out breathy and high-pitched.

“What?” Sunghoon craned his neck, perplexed. Who the hell had she found?

“You have Ningning-sunbaenim!” Liz shoved his phone in his face. Sunghoon frowned, baffled. He didn’t remember having her contact info. Yet sure enough, Ningning (Aespa) was written on top of the pictureless contact card.

“I do?” He snatched it back. “Let me see that—,” he navigated his way to KakaoTalk. If he really had texted her, the messages should still be there. He started a new message, typed her name in, and sure enough…

“...Huh,” his voice came out soft and incredulous. He’d be damned. “I guess I do.”

“Give me!” Liz took the phone back before Sunghoon could see what the hell he’d been texting Ningning about. She let out a too-loud gasp, which made Sunghoon’s eyes dart around the cafe nervously. He didn’t want her to be too conspicuous. 

“She sent you a cat meme—” Liz scrolled up with her thumb, “—two years ago! And you just liked it!” Liz grumbled dramatically. “Not even I have Ningning-sunbaenim’s contact information… But you do, and you just take it for granted!” Liz buried her head in her hands, and Sunghoon found himself smiling, suddenly reminded of Sunoo. 

“...Excuse me…” The presence of a new nervous voice made Liz’s head shoot up out of her hands. 

Ugh, were they being kicked out? He really should have told her to be a bit quieter—

“Are you Liz from IVE?” Sunghoon looked up to see someone who was most definitely not a waiter standing awkwardly next to their table. The fan apparently hadn’t noticed Sunghoon until he turned his head, to which he expected the usual question of “Are you Sunghoon from Enhypen?” Or even a shriek.

But surprisingly, he got neither of those.

“Oh, I’m so sorry for interrupting—!” The fan bowed in apology. “I didn’t see you were with someone, unnie—”

Someone? Sunghoon raised his eyebrows in surprise. Did she not recognize him?

“No, no, it’s alright!” Liz waved her hands to calm the fan down, while Sunghoon continued to have a crisis in silence. “We don’t mind! Would you like a picture?” She offered, and the fan nodded excitedly.

Sunghoon didn’t snap back to reality until Liz made the fan hand Sunghoon the phone. Great. Now he was her photographer?

Well, he had to admit that even though this hurt his ego a bit, it was quite refreshing to not be recognized. 

And she was right, too, he thought as he snapped a few pictures of Liz and her fan. Her fans really don’t care about the idea of her going out with someone. Handing the phone back to the fan who was thanking the two of them profusely, he vaguely wondered whether his fans would feel the same.

“Anyway,” Liz continued, acting like nothing just happened. “Your homework is to go text Ningning-sunbaenim. I’ll check to see who I can get, too—oh! And if your company meets with you about the show, don’t blow it.”

“I won’t,” Sunghoon shook his head, suppressing a smile. 

Liz flipped through her notebook, appearing to be checking if they’d covered everything. Then suddenly, she stopped at the back. 

“That’s right,” she turned the notebook around. “If we want to create dating rumors by the time the show airs, we should probably start soft launching…”

Sunghoon frowned, because in the pocket of her notebook was none other than a Sunoo photocard.

“So take a picture of me holding this!” She picked it up excitedly along with her drink, posing. “We can be just like our fans!”

Obliging, Sunghoon actually found this quite cute, “Who else did you get?” He asked, opening his camera. 

“That’s a secret,” Liz winked, putting her index finger over her lips. “Ooh, now you!”

Sunghoon didn’t find this part cute. He generally hated posing for photos, “With a Sunoo photocard?” He thought that might be too on-the-nose. “Do you not have one of me?”

“Maybe if you guys gave me a pre-order benefit with the signed album,” she grumbled, holding her phone up. “Now say cheese!”

Sunoo was planning to have a fun day to himself—maybe go out, get some ice cream, see his friends—and the day was really shaping up to look just like that until he heard thundering steps from upstairs. His first thought was:

Goddammit, we told Riki to stop dancing upstairs, then his second occurred quickly after. Is that a girl yelling?

Oh no. The sasaengs. He decided to brave opening his window a crack to see if he had to call the police or not, because sometimes—

“You only shaved one side of your face!” A high voice called from below. Sunoo angled his head so as to see the ground better, and his jaw dropped.

It was Liz!

“That’s because you didn’t give me a heads-up!” An even more familiar voice responded from the floor above. 

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! They had to be dating! They had to be!

Sunoo decided he’d try to catch Sunghoon on his way out—maybe if he timed it right, he’d actually explain himself! Quickly, Sunoo shut his window, and waited for the sound of someone heading down the staircase.

It came a minute later, and Sunoo burst into the hallway from his room, prepared to confront Sunghoon in the staircase. But before he could even finish getting there, the ghost of Sunghoon’s figure had already come and gone from the kitchen!

“Hyung, wait—!” Sunoo sped forward, only to hear Sunghoon press the top of a spray bottle suspiciously close to his mouth before rushing down the stairs again, clearly too engrossed in what he was doing to even notice that Sunoo was there. 

 “Breath spray?” Sunoo whispered to himself in disbelief, eyes wide. 

Holy shit. He couldn’t lie to himself anymore. They were absolutely dating!

He began pacing around the living room like a maniac in a futile attempt to prevent his impending crash out. Maybe he should take up drinking. Or maybe he should go to the company gym and punch something. Ugh, but he didn’t know where Sunghoon was going! He sure as hell didn’t want to run into him and Liz!

Sunoo settled for sitting down blankly in front of the TV, not even paying the slightest bit of attention to whatever channel had come on. He even did some breathing exercises, quenching the mixture of panic and rage that threatened to boil over.

Sunoo had no idea how long he’d been sitting there before his phone vibrated, causing his eyes to finally open again.

“—said to be a revival of ‘We Got Married’ on soon!” The TV droned on mindlessly in the background. “But as a fusion—half cooking, half variety!”

Sunoo frowned as he picked his phone up, noticing that it was a notification from their group chat. And the sender? Sunghoon.

The members had clearly gotten to the message before he had, because soon they were spamming so much that Sunoo had to fight to scroll up to see Sunghoon’s initial message.

His heart dropped.

Sunghoon-hyung ♥: 

ENGENE spotted at a cafe 

To his complete and utter horror, it was a picture of Liz! In their own member group chat! At a cafe, nonetheless—undoubtedly taken by Sunghoon! And she was holding—wait.

Was that him?

Heeseung-hyung:

Looks like Sunoo is her bias lol

Jungwon:

She should film an Engene-log ᄏᄏᄏᄏ

How the hell were they all being normal about this!?

And they were still going!

Riki:

wait hyung have her rank her favorites lmfao

Jake-hyung:

@Jay ik ur the bottom bro

Jay-hyung:

I’m never the bottom 

Heeseung-hyung:

ᄒ

Sunoo had to admit that he breathed a laugh out at the innuendo. But his short-lived joy was gone before he was able to fully relish in it. 

Sunghoon-hyung ♥:

She says Sunoo is first

Oh. Well. Maybe Sunoo felt a bit bad now. But then again, she was his bias, too.

Jake-hyung:

As expected

Sunghoon-hyung ♥:

Then Jungwon because he’s born in 2004

Jungwon:

Yepppp

Sunghoon-hyung ♥:

She says Jay is cool too

Jay-hyung:

🔥

Sunghoon-hyung ♥:

Then Heeseung-hyung

Riki

Jake

Jake-hyung:

NOT LAST!

Riki:

@Sunghoon so everyone BUT you? 

Sunghoon-hyung ♥:

Well

Heeseung-hyung:

lolololol

Sunoo tuned the rest of the conversation out. He really couldn’t take this. The fact that he was Liz’s favorite did nothing to quell the waves of a crash out that were flowing through his body. 

He needed to fuck someone.

Right now.

Before he even registered what he was doing, Jay had already picked up the phone.

“Hyung,” Sunoo chewed nervously on his fingernail, trying to prevent himself from screaming. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure,” Jay’s voice was slightly muted by the sheer amount of background noise on his end. “What is it?”

Sunoo figured he’d cut to the chase. Beating around the bush got you nowhere with Jay. After all, he was the bluntest person in the group, “I need to borrow your Lucifer stage outfit.”

A small sigh came from the speaker of his phone a few moments later.

“...Assuming you’re not gonna use it with me, right?”

Sunoo gave a nervous laugh. Jay had immediately figured him out.

“Fine, whatever,” Jay grumbled, resigning himself to Sunoo’s whims. “Just don’t get any cum on it, okay?”

Sunoo snickered mischievously, the thought of what he was going to do later calming his panic down, “No promises.”

Jay said he could drop it off at the dorm in a half an hour, which was fine by Sunoo.

He had to find Riki.

Unfortunately, Sunoo didn’t have a tracker on Riki like he did with Jay. So where he was on their day off was anybody’s guess. Riki, however, was clearly near his phone, given his activity in the group chat. Sunoo figured he’d try texting him first.

Me:

Where are you

No response. No immediate one, anyway. But that was fine—he had thirty minutes.

“I’m never gonna be able to look at this the same way,” Jay sighed, stepping off the elevator and into the living room exactly thirty minutes later.

Sunoo rushed up to him, accepting the folded clothes with glee, “I’ll make it worth your while hyung, trust me,” he gave Jay a wink, which was met with slightly flushed cheeks.

 Now he only had one problem; Sunoo frowned as he walked down the hall and into his room. Riki hadn’t responded yet!

He threw the outfit onto his bed before opening his messages. 

“That fucker left me on read!” Sunoo shouted in disbelief upon seeing that Riki had indeed ignored him. He scoffed, “Fine. But you won’t be able to resist this.” Sunoo grinned in anticipation, typing.

Me:

I need you

He read it immediately. But no signs of typing. Great. He was really going to make Sunoo work for this, huh?

Me:

Please

Nothing. Sunoo started to feel mildly irritated.

Me:

If you don’t come home and fuck me I’m going to the gay club tonight

Riki:

give me 15 im at the gym

Hook, line, and sinker.

Sunoo waited in anticipation, preparing for Riki to get back. He’d timed this perfectly, if he did say so himself—coming back from the gym? God, Riki would be all sweaty and musky, and—

Sunoo’s bedroom door suddenly flung open, and there Riki was, panting, face flushed from rushing home. Smirking, Sunoo opened his arms.

“Come here,” he demanded, and Riki dutifully obeyed. He fell into Sunoo’s arms, beginning to pepper kisses on his neck. “Mm—I have something for you—”

This made Riki stop, briefly lifting himself off Sunoo to peer around the room, “What is it?”

Sunoo slid himself backward to escape the cage that was Riki’s arms, then grabbed the folded up stage outfit that laid at the edge of his bed.

“I thought we could try something new,” Sunoo unfolded the shirt, and Riki’s eyes widened. Then, Riki’s eyes filled with hunger.

“Put it on,” he demanded, lunging forward to give Sunoo a hickey. This only made Sunoo chuckle.

“Me?” He shook his head. “No—” Sunoo pressed a finger to Riki’s lips, “—this is gonna go on you.”

Sunoo had never seen Riki move so quickly. Sunoo was practically undressing him with his eyes as this was happening, too. Everything Riki knew about sex (as far as Sunoo was aware) he’d taught him since they’d begun their arrangement. It felt a bit like he’d corrupted an innocent flower—or better yet, a priest.

“Ah,” Sunoo sized Riki up once he’d finished donning the outfit, which was the top half of a priest gown. Riki was still in his gray gym sweatpants, giving Sunoo a prime view of his growing bulge. He couldn’t resist taking a step forward to squeeze his bicep, causing his mouth to water. “I don’t think I should call you Father, even though that’s the proper term…” Sunoo pursed his lips. “Reverend?” He tilted his head in confusion, trying to remember everything a priest could be referred to as.

But before Sunoo could finish his thought, Riki grabbed his wrist. Sunoo’s gaze shot up from his chest to meet Riki’s intense eyes.

“Do you have something to confess?” He peered down, raising an eyebrow as Sunoo’s heart began to thunder. 

Sunoo hated to admit it, but he didn’t think Riki would be the one to initiate this!

“...Oh,” Sunoo returned the stare with a grin. “I do, Reverend…” he freed his arm from Riki’s grasp, placing a finger on the top button of the shirt. “See, I wanted you so bad today—”

“Greed,” Riki muttered low under his breath as Sunoo trailed his finger down to the second button. 

Perfect. Sunoo made a mental note to compliment Riki for his improv later. Now this was something Sunoo could work with. He upped the ante.

“But you didn’t answer!” Sunoo huffed, relishing in the way he could feel Riki’s heartbeat quicken. “You have no idea how mad I was—”

Riki gulped, “Wrath.”

Down again, “Mm, you’re so smart, Reverend.” He splayed his palm out onto Riki’s left pec, squeezing slightly. Fuck, he’d really been working out lately. “I wish I knew as much about sin as you. Maybe then I wouldn’t be going to hell—”

“Envy.”

“—ugh, but I’m too lazy to care about any of that—”

“Sloth.”

Riki’s breath hitched when Sunoo resumed running his fingers down his chest, one button at a time, “But now that I have you in front of me,” Sunoo lunged forward to whisper in Riki’s ear. “I don’t think I can hold back.”

Riki tensed, physically restraining himself from jumping Sunoo then and there. However, it was all for naught once Sunoo connected his lips with Riki’s. He loved Riki like this. Obedient, subservient, submissive—hanging onto Sunoo’s every word like a lifeline. 

Sunoo licked Riki’s mouth open in an attempt to provoke him. Though while Riki (quite passionately) returned the kiss, he didn’t move to cup Sunoo’s ass, or anything. 

It was just as mildly infuriating as it was hot.

“Hm?” Sunoo tilted his head and spoke in a whiny voice. “Of course you wouldn’t give into anything, huh? You don’t want to sin,” now Sunoo’s hand was at Riki’s abs. “Because you’re the best, aren’t you?” Sunoo stepped impossibly closer. “The best servant of god, the best face, the best lips,” Riki’s face flushed darker with every compliment, “chest, abs, and—” Sunoo continued, sliding his hand off the Lucifer shirt until it reached Riki’s sweatpants, which now had a suspicious tent in them.

“And you’re all mine,” Sunoo dropped to his knees. “Because I only have the best.”

Riki was now practically shaking, hands balled up in tight fists at his sides, “...Pride,” he said through gritted teeth, voice wavering slightly. 

“Good boy,” Sunoo got what he was waiting for and proceeded, pulling Riki’s sweatpants and boxers down in one, feeling his cock twitch against his hand as he uttered those words. 

“Reverend, do you think there’s only hope for me?” Sunoo looked up with beady eyes as Riki’s cock bounced free, coming to rest against Sunoo’s cheek, right on his beauty mark. Smiling devilishly, Sunoo grasped the base of Riki’s cock, nuzzling into it. “Have I committed too many sins?” 

A bead of sweat trickled down Riki’s temple. He was now biting his lip so hard, Sunoo half-expected some blood to come out. 

“If you—” Riki grimaced, wincing, trying to keep it together. “If you repent, then god will—”

Sunoo ran Riki’s cock up and down the side of his face, placing a kiss on a vein. 

“I’m so bad, Reverend,” Sunoo’s eyes flashed with carnal desire at the sight of precum. He’d barely touched him! “Because right now, I want you to fill me up until I explode—and nothing is left inside of me anymore besides you—”

“G-gluttony,” he was almost at his breaking point. Just a bit more.

Sunoo licked a stripe from the base of Riki’s cock to the tip, lapping the precum up eagerly, “So am I going to hell, Reverend? Will you grant me salvation even if I’ve committed all seven of the deadly—” Sunoo cut himself off at the sudden presence of a strong hand tugging at his hair.

“You’re forgetting one.”

Riki’s voice was clear and serious. A stark contrast between a few seconds earlier, when he’d barely been able to spit a whole intelligible word out.

“I am?” Sunoo furrowed his eyebrows, genuinely confused. He thought he’d accounted for everything! “Did I forget one—?”

“Yeah,” with a gasp, Sunoo had been pulled to his feet as if he weighed no more than a feather. Before he could get his bearings, he’d been shoved stomach-up onto the bed. “Lust.”

Fuck, Sunoo was so hard. When Riki finally pounced on him, he somehow got even harder. The wet sound of their mouths moving against each other’s, Sunoo sucking Riki’s tongue as if it was candy—Sunoo knew he’d jerk off to this memory in the future. Riki too.

Riki snatched the lube that Sunoo had quite obviously stashed on top of his pillow for easy access, all without taking his lips off Sunoo’s.

Well, Sunoo thought sardonically as Riki pulled all of the clothes on Sunoo’s lower body off. So much for ‘corrupting an innocent priest’ roleplay. He got off on the thought of him being the one to take Riki’s innocence away (though that was just speculation) so he figured he could do the same thing if he had Riki put a priest outfit on. But it seemed that Riki was plenty corrupted on his own.

“You—” Riki pulled off Sunoo’s mouth with a light moan, completely freezing. He’d been about to insert a lubed finger into Sunoo, when…

Sunoo merely raised an eyebrow and spread his legs wider, “Finally noticed, huh?” He smirked at the look of disbelief on Riki’s face. Because there, before Riki’s eyes, was a brightly colored plug already inside.

“I told you I wanted you so bad…” Sunoo started as Riki reached to remove it. “—mmn—that I had to start early. And a man of the cloth like yourself shouldn’t dirty your hands with such things,” Sunoo wrapped his arms around Riki’s neck, who was now lording over him.

Riki shook his head adamantly, lubing his cock up, “Nothing about you is dirty.”

Sunoo blinked in surprise. That was just a line for the roleplay, but Riki’s response was so sincere, it made Sunoo flush bright pink. 

“But I’ve committed all of the seven deadly sins, haven’t I?” Sunoo moaned as he felt the head of Riki’s cock enter. “How am I not dirty—?” He pushed in all at once without giving the slightest semblance of a warning. “Ah! Riki—”

He’d thrown his head back from the sudden pain, only for it to be guided back down by a calloused thumb on his chin, “You could never be dirty, hyung.” That look in his eyes was back. And it didn’t disappear, even when Riki began to move.

He’d prepped himself so thoroughly that Riki was immediately able to locate Sunoo’s prostate with his first thrust. 

“Don’t—” Riki’s voice had either turned softer, or was just harder to hear with all the moans Sunoo was letting out. “Don’t ever say that about yourself again.”

Sunoo’s heart skipped a beat, awakening a new feeling inside of him. He’d always been the one to order Riki around in bed. But why did it feel so good when Riki…

“Ngh, Riki—slow down, I—!” Sunoo’s fingernails clawed across the back of Riki’s shoulders, still clothed by the cassock shirt. He’d wanted to take this slow and savor it, but it appeared that Riki had other plans.

“Since you insisted on making me hear that,” Riki hissed in pleasure as Sunoo tightened around him, his prostate still being relentlessly assaulted. “I’ll—grant you salvation,” Riki began to speed up, and Sunoo swore he saw god. Or something. Whatever it was, it was bright.

“But I have to purify you first,” Riki began to attack Sunoo’s neck, showing no signs of slowing down, pounding into Sunoo fiercely. 

“Mn, Riki—right there—” as Sunoo’s moans grew louder, his hard cock began to brush against Riki’s equally hard abs. Fuck, Sunoo wasn’t going to last.

Riki said nothing, merely leaving more marks on Sunoo’s skin. Sunoo’s mind began to race as he looked up at his ceiling before pleasure overtook him completely.

Nothing about you is dirty.

“Riki, ‘m close—”

“Me too, just—hold on for me just a bit more, hyung.”

You could never be dirty.

“Riki—mmn—! I’m—”

“Fuck—Sunoo-hyung—”

Don’t ever say that about yourself again.

Sunoo began to wonder why tears were streaming down his face.

“Yeah, I’m almost there,” Sunghoon hurried through the hallways of the Hybe building. “What? No! Why would I text her before we get the green light—excuse me, sorry—” he narrowly avoided crashing into a group of staff. “I know, I know! I’ll tell you what he says—” the line went silent on the other end. “—Liz? Liz?” 

Sunghoon panicked a bit, thinking something might’ve happened to her, only to find a notification reading ‘Unstable Wi-Fi connection” flashing on his phone.

Fucking Hybe, Sunghoon sighed, and for what was probably the millionth time, sprinted down the hallway with no regard for his image. 

He’d been called to the CEO of Belift’s office—never a good sign—but at least he knew why this time. He’d dropped everything at the cafe, got a taxi, and went straight to the company. Liz nagged him via phone the whole time, clearly not trusting him to execute her plan as much as she trusted herself. Which was understandable—Sunghoon probably only knew a miniscule amount of everything Liz really had planned. 

He was ushered into the CEO’s office and took a seat in front of the desk. He maintained his normal blank expression as the CEO sized him up, clearly looking for any signs of guilt. 

“Could you explain,” he leaned forward threateningly, “why I just got a call from MBC saying you’ve agreed to participate in the revival of We Got Married?”

Sunghoon wasn’t threatened whatsoever. This man had nothing on Liz, “It wasn’t my idea,” Sunghoon shrugged nonchalantly. “The producer reached out to IVE directly, and they said the only male idol they’d be comfortable working with was me.”

The CEO obviously didn’t expect that answer, pressing his index finger and thumb to his forehead with a sigh. Sunghoon bit back a smirk, knowing that the CEO couldn’t really argue against that without sounding like an asshole. 

“MBC and Starship seem to think you’ve already received permission to do this,” he sounded infinitely more stressed now. “Did you even think about the repercussions this could have on your popularity?” Another heavy sigh. “We’ve been working our asses off to market all of you as ‘the perfect boyfriend’—” he made air quotes with both of his hands, “—so if you go on a show where you’re going to be someone’s—” he cut himself off abruptly, startling Sunghoon. A moment of silence passed, then he began to speak in a much calmer voice.

 “...What if there’s a chance that a good percentage of your fanbase will project onto your co-lead, and still feel as if they were dating you!”

The CEO snapped his fingers excitedly, smiling at Sunghoon, undoubtedly awaiting a compliment.

Sunghoon just blinked at him, wondering why anyone would even want to date him.

Well, he thought, laughing to himself. If Sunoo actually wanted to date me, then I wouldn’t be here right now. 

“I’ll have MBC send the info to your team for scheduling,” Sunghoon couldn’t prevent the smile from breaking out on his face. They’d done it! 

“And you better do a good job on it,” he pointed over the desk at Sunghoon with his index finger. “Make it worth our while. Have the media question whether you’re really dating or not. That’ll drum up some excitement before your next comeback.”

Next!? Sunghoon’s eyes widened for a split-second. But we just had one!

Sunghoon was promptly kicked out of the office moments later, allowing him to finally update Liz.

Me:

All good

Liz (IVE):

REALLY?

Why was she acting surprised? If Sunghoon had failed, she would’ve had his head on a silver platter.

Me:

Yeah he’s even ok with dating rumors

Liz (IVE): 

knew it

btw some of my friends already agreed to do it

Sunghoon sighed, knowing exactly what she was implying with that. You better text Ningning right now.

Unfortunately, he probably needed backup for that. And some liquid courage.

He knew just the person.

“Hello?” His call was picked up immediately.

“Where are you?” Sunghoon trudged through the carpeted hallway, heading toward the exit. 

“The company,” came Jake’s immediate reply. Sunghoon froze in his tracks.

“The company?” He spun around to see if Jake was secretly behind him, or something. “Why?”

Jake sounded exasperated, if not a little embarrassed, “Dude, I gotta use my meal swipes. They don’t roll over to next month, y’know—”

Sunghoon breathed out a laugh, shaking his head, “Come to the lobby—I’ll buy you meat.”

“No way.”

“Soju is on me, too.”

“No way!” Then the line beeped, going dead. Jake had hung up on him so fast, he hadn’t even gotten to tell him why he was suddenly feeling so generous today.

A few minutes later, one of the elevators beeped.

“You know my birthday isn’t until November, right?” Jake’s smile was blinding as he charged forward, one strap of his backpack hung across his shoulder. 

Sunghoon put his hands in his pockets as the two of them fell into step together, “Does this mean that  since I’m paying tonight, I won’t have to get you a birthday gift?”

Jake rolled his eyes, removing his Airpods to hear Sunghoon better, “Why now, though? Did something good happen—” he gasped as the two of them exited the building. “Don’t tell me you’ve already—”

“Not yet,” Sunghoon knew where this was going. No, he hadn’t already figured out what the hell Sunoo and the other guys were up to. “But this is a first step.”

Twenty minutes later, the two of them were sat down at a Korean barbecue restaurant, grill full of meat, and shot glasses overflowing with soju.

“Okay, I got it,” Jake nodded, snatching some brisket from the grill with his chopsticks. “So you guys’re gonna be filming the show at the dorm at some point? That’ll be fun!” Jake smiled after tasting the brisket, shoving an incalculable amount of it in his mouth immediately afterward.

Sunghoon nodded, using the tongs to place some more onto the heat, “Yeah. But Liz swears Sunoo’s jealous of her whenever she and I are together. And today the CEO—”

Jake perked up nervously, “You met with the CEO—cough—?” Jake pounded at his chest a few times. He hadn’t bothered to finish swallowing all of that meat before reacting. 

“Yeah, but he was fine with it… Here,” Sunghoon topped off Jake’s shot glass with more soju, and the two of them clinked shot glasses before downing another one in union. “He even encouraged dating rumors, too—” Jake’s eyes widened even more, “—He says it’ll get our names trending before our next comeback.”

“Next!?” Jake slammed his shot glass down. “But we just had one!” 

Sunghoon wordlessly picked the bottle of soju up again, and they promptly took another shot each.

The alcohol was finally starting to hit. Sunghoon made a bitter face, “I also need some advice.”

“‘Bout what?” Jake had become engrossed in grilling again, not seeming to be affected at all by the most recent shot. 

“She says we need to have some of our friends guest on it to get ratings up,” Sunghoon neglected to mention that that was actually his own idea. “Also that we should host a house party, which is gonna be hell to match up everyone’s schedules—”

“Oh, dude—” Jake picked his shot glass up again, pointing at Sunghoon with his index finger from the hand that held the glass. “If she’s right and Sunoo really does like you, the house party is gonna kill him.”

A rush of schadenfreude flowed through his veins, though Sunghoon wouldn’t admit it aloud. Sunoo had no idea how much he’d made him suffer with all of his… trysts so far. The idea of getting Sunoo back—all while making him jealous—made his heart pound in excitement. 

“Yeah, which is why I need your help,” Sunghoon poured another shot into Jake’s glass. “I need you to—how should I say it—spy?”

Jake’s head whipped back down after finishing the shot, “Oh? Do I get, like, gadgets and stuff?”

Sunghoon rolled his eyes, grabbing some now-cooked brisket for himself, “Liz and I don’t really have the budget for that.” Jake looked genuinely disappointed. The soju must’ve started to hit him, too. “I just need you to observe Sunoo closely when I’m out with Liz, or when everyone’s eventually watching the show.”

“Ah!” Jake nodded five times in a row. “So I’ll play double agent? Get Sunoo to confide in me and report back—”

“Er…” Sunghoon scratched the back of his head, considering. “You don’t have to go that far, but I guess I’d appreciate that, too. More like taking note of his reaction to stuff.”

“Oh,” Jake had gone quiet, pursing his lips. “But I dunno what guys look like when they like other guys!” He raised his hand as if he was asking a professor about a homework assignment, looking genuinely stressed out.

Sunghoon snorted, pulling out his phone, “That can be solved easily—I’ll have Liz send me a list of BL you can use to study—”

Before Jake could ask a follow-up question, which he definitely wanted to, given the obvious confusion now present on his face, Sunghoon found himself remembering something upon opening his messages with Liz.

“I actually need you to help me out with another thing right now,” Sunghoon navigated to Ningning’s contact information. Jake’s expression was now one of interest. “I tried to say I didn’t have any celebrity friends to invite to the show, but apparently I do have some—”

Jake’s jaw dropped as Sunghoon turned his phone over, showing Jake the contact card. 

“Dude!” Jake yanked the bottle of soju across the table. “You’re, like, the most professional fumbler ever!”

Sunghoon groaned in annoyance, wishing he didn’t have to take the shot Jake just poured. 

“I really don’t think Ningning ever wanted to date me,” Sunghoon remarked, feeling a little less awkward at the prospect of texting her out of the blue now. 

Good alcohol. 

Good, delicious, and nice alcohol.

“Still,” Jake insisted, loading the grill up with some pork. “The timestamp says you haven’t texted in two years! There’s such a thing as fumbling a friendship, you know,” Jake rolled his eyes as if it was Sunghoon’s fault he was misunderstood, not his vague verbiage.

This made Sunghoon chuckle in amusement, “So how do I ask her to do me a favor and go on this show despite not talking for two years?”

“Just say ‘hi’,” Jake shrugged as if this was the simplest thing ever. “Ahhhm,” he’d just unceremoniously shoved another wad of meat into his mouth as Sunghoon sent the message.

“Wait!” Jake panicked, throwing his arm up with the same urgency as if a fire had started and they needed to evacuate. “I wasn’t serious! Don’t tell me you actually sent that!” Jake was rambling now, speaking so fast Sunghoon almost didn’t understand him. “God, I don’t know how to speak to pretty women!” He poured himself another shot. “I only—I only know how to talk to Jay ‘n stuff…”

Sunghoon barked at a laugh, mind so foggy from the soju he interpreted that as Jake saying Jay wasn’t a pretty woman. He continued to cackle as his phone vibrated.

Me:

Hi

Ningning (Aespa):

sunghoon omg! so nice to hear from you

[cat_sticker3.png]

“Actually,” Sunghoon spoke through a fit of laughter, showing Jake his phone screen again. “It looks—” snort, “—it looks like you do.”

Jake gaped at him, looking from Sunghoon to the phone, and repeating three times, not believing his eyes. 

Me:

Sorry for contacting you out of the blue like this

I wanted to know if you’d be able to do me a favor

Ningning (Aespa):

depends on what it is…

Jake was leaning so far forward he was running the risk of setting the strings of his hoodie on fire. 

Me:

I don’t want to put it in writing

The soju was going to do all the talking from now on, that much was clear. If he’d been sober, he didn’t know what he’d tell her. Was he giving too many details? Would she agree if he was only vague about everything? But he for sure didn’t want to explain everything in writing—what if a sasaeng hacked his KakaoTalk?

She seemed to be on the same page, as Sunghoon’s phone began to buzz, signaling an incoming call. He placed his palm around the crown of Jake’s head, pushing him backward.

“Hey,” he began once the call connected, ignoring Jake’s muffled cries of protest. His hand was now covering Jake’s whole face. 

“Are you drunk?” Ningning sounded slightly concerned on the other end, and Sunghoon suddenly became aware of just how sleazy he was coming off—she probably thought he was trying to hit on her!

He stiffened out of pure nervousness. He had to set the record straight.

“I’m not straight,” Sunghoon assured her. 

For a few seconds, Sunghoon didn’t know why she was laughing. 

“...Congratulations?” She snorted, giggles finally dying down. “Did you text me just to come out?”

Sunghoon shook his head, removing his hand from Jake’s face, and quickly taking note of the volume level in the restaurant. It was quite loud—if someone happened to recognize him and overhear, well, there was no way they’d be able to understand what he was saying.

“No…” Sunghoon trailed off, words slurring slightly. “Well, kinda… Can you guest star on a show with me and Liz from IVE?”

“Oh! Of course!” She sounded infinitely more relaxed now that she knew Sunghoon was not, in fact, hitting on her, and also just inviting her onto a show with another female idol. “But what does this have to do with you—”

“Uh… So I think I’m in love with Sunoo,” Jake and Ningning both gasped dramatically upon hearing that. “Liz has agreed to help me make him jealous, and Jake—”

“Hi, Ningning!” 

Dammit. Sunghoon whipped around with a glare, covering his phone up. He’d been so distracted explaining everything that he’d allowed Jake to get close to his phone!

“Hi, Jake!” Ningning seemed rather amused by all of this. Unlike Sunghoon, whose palm made contact with Jake’s face again, pushing him back. 

“—he agreed with Liz that if we throw a house party, it’ll make him break and confess his undying love for me,” Sunghoon shrugged, vaguely thinking that the look on his face right now was actually sleazy.

“You just confessed your undying love for him, though?” Ningning chuckled on the other end.

He had? When had he done that?

“But I’ll help you!” She seemed even more excited than Sunghoon. “And really? A love affair in the same group? Ooh, you guys are scandalous!”

Sunghoon was about to spill everything about Heeseung, Jay, and Riki, but Ningning cut him off before he could.

“And let me know if you need any advice,” she continued, before pausing. “Actually, you probably shouldn’t take any from me. My girlfriend dumped me last year.”

“Huh?” Sunghoon shot up from his chair out of sheer surprise, and also now completely drunk off his ass. 

Ningning was gay, too? Why the hell was everyone around him gay? And to make matters worse… Even he was gay!

Slowly, as if in a horror movie, Sunghoon turned his head to look at Jake, who was sitting down politely, swinging his feet slightly.

I think Jake is the only normal person I know, Sunghoon sighed internally.

“Yeah, that’s what I said,” Ningning admitted sardonically. “Like, how are you gonna lovebomb me then hook up with another—wait, this is pretty standard for lesbians—” she interrupted herself with a shout. “I’m getting off-topic! I’ll send you my availability for the next month. I’m sure we can find a day that works with all of our companies… And send me updates!”

And then he and Ningning were bidding each other a good night, with Sunghoon collapsing back into the chair after he’d hung up. 

“So?” Jake was batting his eyes like an idiot. “What’d she say?”

“She said hi,” Sunghoon cracked a smile at the stupid grin on Jake’s face, setting his phone screen-down on their table. “And that she’s a lesbian.”

The way Jake’s hopes and dreams were crushed was completely visible as he seemed to go through all of the stages of grief at once.

“Oh, goddammit,” Jake shrunk within his seat, slamming his forehead down onto the hard wood. Then a few seconds later, he whipped back up like nothing happened, and threw one arm in the air. 

“Waiter! Another bottle of soju, please!”

Chapter Text

Sunoo had a clubbing phase. He’d admit it. He had nothing to hide.

Well, unless someone from the company was asking. In that case, the only club he’d been to was chess club. 

He’d been clean from clubbing for quite a bit, mostly due to just how busy he was. That, and he had a boyfriend until recently, so he didn’t exactly need to frequent the usual clubs to find someone to hook up with. 

But now? He was on the verge of relapsing. 

Why the fuck had he just received the love and affirmation he’d been yearning for his whole life from Riki!? Riki! When he was balls deep inside of him wearing Jay’s fucking priest stage outfit!

God, Sunoo’s life was unreal. 

It wasn’t like Sunoo felt unloved, or anything. He knew he was. There was just that staunch absence of romance in his life that kept gnawing at him like some gangrenous wound. He hadn’t been appreciated by, or thought of so highly by his ex. And that didn’t matter—Sunoo was just using him, anyway. 

But that caused the wound to fester. He couldn’t exactly date in high school, given that that was not only social suicide but also that the world was locked down, and then he debuted. So what more could he do besides yearn? 

He wanted love, attention, and adoration from a guy he felt the same way for. And the only guy Sunoo had liked for years was…

Sunghoon.

That was hopeless.

Sunoo had been wary of agreeing to casual sex with some of his members (well, besides Jay), lest he lead them on. Riki especially, who’d been openly harboring a crush on Sunoo for a long time, and now that Sunoo thought about it, he was wary of Heeseung too!

Heeseung was just so perfect! Both of their lives would be so much easier if they could just date each other and be happy about it. But Heeseung refused to date, and Sunoo was head over heels for Sunghoon.

Then why was Sunoo feeling something right now?

Frantically, Sunoo snatched his phone from his pillow. He needed to talk to someone about this right now.

Me:

Where are you

The reply came a few minutes later.

Heeseung-hyung:

Shooting a CF rn

Why

Sunoo was briefly unsure of how to phrase his request, but then again, if he was planning to have a serious conversation with Heeseung, he might as well hint at it.

Me:

Can we go on a date

KakaoTalk showed Heeseung start typing, then stop. Then start, then stop. 

Half-sighing and half-screaming, Sunoo figured he’d touched a nerve. Whatever. He could just make Heeseung talk to him when he came home. In the meantime, he’d go get ready to get a nasty probiotic smoothie. His favorite. 

After making himself look presentable, Sunoo trudged out to the living room a half an hour later. However, he was not met with the expected sight of an empty couch, illuminated by the daylight pouring in from open blinds. 

He was met with pitch-black. 

“What the fuck?” He muttered to himself, hitting his hand against the wall to feel for a light switch. Who the hell was there? And what were they watching—

The gasp from Sunoo’s soul coincided with the blinding lights filling the downstairs with life.

“Dude!” The responding shriek sounded a bit wet. “Turn those off! I was—I was having—”

“Jake-hyung,” Sunoo kept his hand securely on the light switch, blinking at the scene before him blankly. He asked in a monotone voice, “Why are you watching Kissable Lips…?”

Jake shot to his feet, pointing at Sunoo accusingly, “You knew about this? You’ve seen it!?”

Sunoo raised an eyebrow, taking a step forward, debating how he should reply. Had he ever told Jake he was gay? Well, if he couldn’t tell, then that was on him. But admitting he’s seen every BL in existence would definitely out him—

Sunoo’s silence appeared to have spoken for itself.

“You have!” Jake had the eyes of a crazy person. He staggered forward, and in the light, Sunoo could see that his eyes were a bit red. 

For a second, he wondered if this meant Jake was reacting badly. He didn’t think of Jake as homophobic, or anything, but then why was he acting like this?

Sunoo jumped in surprise as Jake’s hands gripped his shoulders. His heart thundered against his chest, and he felt tears begin to well up in his eyes. Would this be the end of Enhypen? Would they never work together again? All because—

“You knew about this masterpiece and you didn’t tell me!” Jake resembled the pleading emoji more than he did a human. The two of them locked eyes, and a tear rolled down Jake’s face. 

What.

The fuck.

“Hyung,” Sunoo’s voice was wobbly out of pure confusion. “Since when do you watch BL?”

“Since last night!” Jake’s head shot up to look at him once before he shook Sunoo back and forth repeatedly. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever seen! And nobody told me about it! I’ve been missing out on years of the best television—”

“Hyung,” Sunoo began again, causing Jake to stop shaking him. “You know BL dramas are bad, right?” Sunoo sighed, pressing his palm to his forehead. “Like genuinely badly written? There’s way better—”

“Don’t say that!” Jake insisted, now shaking Sunoo even harder this time. He pointed to his swollen eyes, “Do you see these tears!?”

Honestly, Sunoo barely remembered the plot. As with most BL dramas, there hardly was any plot. And why did Jake call this the best thing he’d ever seen? Was his taste really that bad?

Sunoo huffed, still in Jake’s death grip, “Who even recommended this one to you?” He was quite curious. Jake said he’d only been watching BL since last night. So this was one of the first ones he’d seen? 

“Liz did!” Jake’s face lit up, and Sunoo saw his soul leave his body and float away. 

Liz! Fuck, Jake and Sunghoon were best friends. He had to be dating her if she and Jake were talking now! And even more fuck, Liz was his bias and apparently had a bad taste in BL!

Before Sunoo could finish processing what he’d just learned, let alone ask a follow-up question, the front door thundered open to reveal an out-of-breath Heeseung.

He leaned his hand on the door, bending over to catch his breath before wiping sweat off his brow. He looked up a few seconds later, eyes brightening when he saw Sunoo. 

“There you are,” his voice was soft and airy. “I came as fast as I could—”

Sunoo pushed past Jake who began to whine about BL under his breath in protest to envelope Heeseung in a hug. 

“Hyung!” Sunoo felt Heeseung’s chest rise and fall against his as he continued to breathe heavily. “I thought you were filming!”

“I was,” Heeseung snaked his arms around Sunoo’s waist. “But I finished early since you said you wanted to go out.”

Heeseung had left Sunoo on read—scratch that—neglected to reply, seeing as he was typing, because he rushed home as fast as he could?

There it was. That feeling again. Sunoo’s heart began to beat a bit faster, and a pit grew in his stomach. Maybe not a pit, but… He couldn’t be sure what it was. 

“Well, shall we?” Heeseung stepped out of Sunoo’s arms to offer his own as if they were going to a royal ball, or something. 

Wordlessly, Sunoo nodded and held Heeseung’s arm close, ignoring Jake standing in the doorway.

“Hey, Sunoo!” He shouted down the hallway as the two of them exited and moved to exit their building. “Dude—text me! I need more recs!”

Sunoo rolled his eyes as the two of them stepped out, looking up to see Heeseung’s head tilted in confusion.

“What’s that about?” Heeseung held the door open. “Also, did you have a place in mind?” He leaned closer to whisper low in Sunoo’s ear, “Or should I book a hotel…?”

Sunoo jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow.

“Ow!”

Doubling over in laughter, Sunoo dragged Heeseung along, “I wouldn’t be opposed,” he smirked as Heeseung perked up, “But first we’re going to a cafe.”

Heeseung trotted along next to Sunoo, positively gleeful at the thought of what they’d be up to later. Sunoo would admit, he felt a bit guilty knowing that when he interrogated Heeseung his grin would immediately get wiped away. But whatever. It wouldn’t be fun for Sunoo, either.

He tugged Heeseung into a dessert cafe, surveying the inside for a space to sit down. It was fairly busy, which was fine, but to his disgust, there was a guy and a girl huddled close together in a booth near the back. Sunoo felt like gagging and screaming at the same time. Did he really have to see people happy and in love mid-crisis? And did they really have to be all over each other in public!?

“So when can we get out of here?” Heeseung wiggled his eyebrows at Sunoo after they’d ordered and paid. 

Sunoo kneed him in the shin from across the table, “Not now,” he trailed off, wondering how he should phrase his predicament. Apparently, he’d unconsciously pulled a face, because he soon found Heeseung’s hand before his eyes, pinching his cheek. 

“What’s wrong?” He was half-standing, half-crouching to reach Sunoo across the table. When Sunoo didn’t reply, Heeseung tugged his cheek a bit more.

“Ah, hyung—” Sunoo complained, batting Heeseung’s hand away. 

Breathing a laugh out, Heeseung sat back down, looking quite pleased with the mess he’d made out of Sunoo, who was rubbing his cheek in annoyance, sulking. Something had rushed through Sunoo’s veins. Something that felt an awful lot like—no. He didn’t know. But whatever it was, it appeared to have given his subconscious the words it’d been looking for. 

At that moment, Sunoo chose to ask a question. It was at that same moment that Heeseung chose to take a sip of water.

“Hyung, why aren’t we dating?”

Heeseung lurched forward, barely able to aim his mouth over his glass in time before he spat a mouthful of water onto Sunoo. Scrambling for a napkin, Heeseung cleared his throat, his now bright-red cheeks barely concealed by the white napkin. 

Sunoo felt a rush of that feeling again.

“Wh—” cough, “What are you talking about?” Heeseung’s face was now completely beet-red.

Sunoo had to physically hold himself back from reaching forward to pinch his cheeks this time, “It’s a genuine question,” Sunoo shrugged nonchalantly. “Why can’t we date each other?” He batted his eyelashes as Heeseung notably avoided eye contact. “When we first started… this…” He wasn’t exactly sure how to explain their relationship, “...you said you wouldn’t date anyone.”

“I—” Heeseung froze as their drinks arrived. After the waiter set them down, Heeseung’s head whipped around to make sure nobody was in earshot. “Why are you asking this all of a sudden? Couldn’t we have talked about this at home—”

“Nope,” Sunoo shook his head, feeling a bit of schadenfreude, taking a leisurely sip of his drink. “If we were at home, you’d just kiss me, or something,” Sunoo pointed his index finger at him accusingly. “Here, you can’t escape. Not without looking like an asshole who just stood someone up.”

Heeseung huffed, folding his arms, and shrinking back into his chair, “It’s—” he cleared his throat. “It’s not just me—you haven’t explained why you won’t either—”

“Excuse me!” Sunoo scoffed in mock-offense, slamming his milk tea back onto the table for effect. “I totally told you! You were just—” it was now Sunoo’s turn to give their nearby surroundings a once-over for possible eavesdroppers. “You were just sucking me off,” he whispered, relishing in Heeseung’s reaction.

Heeseung was probably the horniest and freakiest person he knew, yet when they were outside of the bedroom, he became a blushing virgin.

“Cute,” Sunoo goaded, and Heeseung’s hands shot up to cover his face. That feeling in Sunoo’s chest was still going strong. He wanted to tease and compliment Heeseung even more. But he had an agenda today… He could do that some more at the hotel later.

A few seconds of silence went by before Heeseung revealed his face again, and Sunoo was starting to get annoyed with the way he was dodging the question, “Look, hyung, I’ll tell you. But you have to tell me, too.”

Heeseung shifted nervously in his chair.

“Ugh,” Sunoo groaned, pressing his palm to his forehead in annoyance. “I’m not saying I want to date you,” Heeseung’s beady eyes finally glanced up to lock with Sunoo’s. “This is completely theoretical. I just wanted to—”

“...Fine,” Heeseung’s lower lip jutted out in a slight pout. 

Sunoo’s face brightened up in excitement, only for Heeseung to look away again. 

“I just can’t,” his voice was softer now, and his eyes were glued to the ground.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Sunoo picked his milk tea up, holding the straw to his lips, “You can’t what?”

“I can’t…” Heeseung watched closely out of the corner of his eye as Sunoo’s lips wrapped around the straw, sucking the drink and toppings out. “...I can’t go through that again.”

Swallowing a bit too quickly because of the surprise, Sunoo spoke impatiently, “Someone broke your heart!”

The responding sigh from Heeseung was all the confirmation he needed, “Before I-Land—” another sigh, “—I had a girlfriend.” Sunoo’s eyes widened while sipping his drink. This was news to him. It seemed like Heeseung was born focused on debuting and gaming. He wouldn’t have been able to guess that Heeseung had actual relationship experience.

He continued, “And it didn’t end well. I…” a pause. It looked as if his mouth had gone completely dry, “Nothing’s worth going through that again.”

It was rare to see Heeseung like this—so defeated. He, of all people, didn’t show weakness easily. But Sunoo was still a bit confused. Hadn’t this happened to everyone?

“Hm,” Sunoo hummed, trying to figure Heeseung out, tapping his index finger against his cheek, “So you got your heart broken once, and now you’ve sworn off love?”

Heeseung looked up at Sunoo nervously, nodding.

“But hyung,” Sunoo smiled as he chewed some grass jelly from his drink, filling his mouth with sweetness. “Hearts are meant to be broken, though?” 

After he spoke, Heeseung’s eyes went wide, his expression unable to be put into a single word. But Sunoo could try to describe it. He looked as if someone had just shot his nonexistent puppy. 

Knitting his eyebrows, Sunoo continued chewing the grass jelly casually, “That’s what they’re for,” he shrugged, eyeing Heeseung, perplexed. What was with this reaction? He’d never seen Heeseung act like this before!

“Like…” Sunoo trailed off, setting his drink down. He treaded lightly. Since something out of the ordinary was clearly happening with Heeseung, he might as well make sure his point was understood, “You kinda have to open yourself up in order to be happy, you know?” A small nod—so small that Sunoo barely caught it. “And if your heart got broken, that means you did it right,” Sunoo shrugged. “It’d be weirder if you felt nothing, wouldn’t it?” No nod this time. He was close to breaking through. Just a bit more…

“Then you’d be a psychopath,” Sunoo added with a smile, and Heeseung at last returned it. He’d finally broken through, but then again, Heeseung wasn’t exactly a tough nut to crack. And bullshitting didn’t work on Sunoo. 

“I understand why you wouldn’t want to bother again,” Sunoo rapped his nails against the table. “But you didn’t do anything wrong.” He figured he’d get off his soapbox now. He’d gotten the explanation he needed. No reason to pry any further—

“What about you?”  

Sunoo froze, looking down at Heeseung’s shy face. 

“You said you…” Heeseung trailed off, cheeks heating, “...told me, right? I just—”

“Was begging for me to shove my dick down your throat?” Sunoo smirked, resuming drumming his fingernails against the hard wood. 

“You—!” Heeseung panicked, head twitching as he frantically looked around to see if anyone was nearby.

Sunoo merely held his chin in his free hand, gazing at Heeseung fondly, unable to get enough of this side of him, “You’re too easy, hyung.” Heeseung began to sputter, and Sunoo continued to chuckle to himself. Heeseung had been rather dominant in the bedroom these days—not that Sunoo was complaining about that—but Sunoo had just been presented with a golden opportunity that he couldn’t let go to waste. 

“Sunoo, seriously…” Heeseung’s voice was meek, and Sunoo felt a red-hot rush when he said his name. 

“Fine, hyungie,” Heeseung’s face had now turned so red, Sunoo half-expected steam to start coming out of his ears. If Sunoo kept this up, then they were going to have a really good night.

“I, ah—” it was Sunoo’s turn to quickly look over his shoulders before speaking in a lower voice, “—have feelings for Sunghoon-hyung.”

The responding gasp from Heeseung was louder than any fake one he’d ever put on for a variety show. In fact, Heeseung didn’t even look human right now! He looked like some freaky Halloween decoration with eyes that were falling out of their sockets!

Before Sunoo could decipher the expression Heeseung was making, it quickly changed. He didn’t see this one on Heeseung often, generally only when sasaengs showed up or when they got mobbed by fans. Was he mad? Disturbed? Feeling inconvenienced? 

But Sunoo had literally already told him this!

Eventually, after a few moments of silence in which Sunoo tried to figure him out, Heeseung opened his mouth and began in a slightly strained voice, “What’s so great about—

“Liz!”

“—Sung—”

“Hoon!”

It was as if Norman Bates himself was standing behind their table, spine-chilling violin music and all, as Heeseung and Sunoo’s jaws clicked shut, and they turned their heads around in slow-motion.

It was them! That couple from earlier! Only, it wasn’t a couple of strangers, it was…

“Hi, everyone! We’re at a dessert cafe to study the menu for—” Sunoo couldn’t hear the rest of the words coming out of Liz’s mouth due to the incessant ringing in his ears.

Liz and Sunghoon were sitting in a booth next to each other, camera on an outstretched stick, filming. 

An unspeakable amount of dread shot through Sunoo’s veins for two reasons: one, why the hell were those two all cozied up together to the point where they could be mistaken for a couple—and why were they filming!? And two—how had Sunoo failed to recognize his bias from her mere silhouette! What kind of fan was he!

Sunoo was about to turn away so he wouldn’t be spotted, when a hand reached for his across the table. 

“Let’s get out of here,” Heeseung tugged Sunoo up so quickly, he nearly stumbled. 

And in that moment, Sunoo forgot all about his various plights. The only thing that existed was Heeseung’s perfectly-molded silhouette, illuminated by the light from the setting sun.

Unable to stop the smile from creeping onto his face, Sunoo grasped Heeseung’s hand even tighter, “Hyung, where are we—”

Heeseung looked over his shoulder at Sunoo before grabbing something out of his pocket, “Subway,” he flashed his now-full hand so that Sunoo could see what he was carrying. It was a mask—and he somehow managed to put it on just fine with one hand, and not slow them down for even a single pace.

Sunoo got the memo. He shifted his bag over to his front, pulling a mask and a cap out. They couldn’t exactly order a taxi or an Uber to a goddamn love hotel. Their best bet was to blend in on public transportation.

Attempting to look as inconspicuous as possible, Heeseung wordlessly led them to the subway. Sunoo’s everything was full of Heeseung, so much so that he hadn’t even processed getting past the stiles and onto the train until he felt Heeseung’s arms snake around his waist.

Heeseung had situated himself on the seat with Sunoo standing in front of him, holding onto the closest pole. Though this was a bit of a risk, Sunoo mused to himself as Heeseung buried his (albeit masked) face into Sunoo’s sweater, Heeseung was kind of a genius. There was always a possibility of them being recognized in public, even when they had masks on, but if Heeseung’s face was completely covered, there was a zero chance of that happening. The only other cause for concern was that they were clearly two guys doing PDA on the subway, which nobody liked regardless of gender. But their saving grace was that they were fairly close to Itaewon. This really wasn’t an unusual sight.

Sunoo wasn’t sure where they were getting off, so he simply gripped the pole, and waited politely until Heeseung moved to get up. He barely moved at all, occasionally shifting the angle his head was at, causing Sunoo to giggle slightly at the ticklish feeling.

Eventually, Heeseung rose, ushering Sunoo out of the subway car as fast as he could. It was getting close to rush hour, and the longer they were out, the more risk they ran of getting recognized. 

“Hyung,” Sunoo began once they’d walked far enough from the crowds, still holding Heeseung’s hand. “Which one are we going to? I can split the cost—”

“Nope,” Heeseung shook his head. “I’ve already booked it.”

“Huh!?” Sunoo stopped abruptly on the sidewalk, halting Heeseung in tow. He’d been out with Heeseung for a while now and hadn’t even seen him pick his phone up! When did he even do that?

Sensing Sunoo’s confusion, Heeseung’s eyes creased into a devious smile, “I work fast.” 

And then he winked. He actually fucking winked.

An odd mix of disgust and affection surged through Sunoo’s veins. While yes, that was objectively corny and sleazy, but also… Why did Sunoo find it hot?

Whatever.

Continuing on in step with Heeseung, Sunoo wondered aloud, “Is this one of the themed ones? You know, like teacher-student roleplay rooms?”

“Er…” Heeseung scratched the back of his head with his free hand awkwardly. “I don’t think so? This one’s pretty run-of-the-mill.”

Sunoo frowned underneath his mask. There was no such thing as a run-of-the-mill love hotel. 

A few minutes later, Heeseung released his hand in front of a rather imposing-looking building. And then Sunoo read the sign. It immediately was no longer imposing. At all.

“True Love’s Kiss Hotel?” Sunoo gasped out in disbelief. Out of every hotel in Seoul, Heeseung chose the cheesiest, most romantic one possible!?

“Just go with it,” Heeseung muttered under his breath, barging into the lobby. It was as if Valentine’s Day had thrown up on every inch of surface area. 

As Sunoo gawked at all the sparkling hearts and hanging cupids, Heeseung walked up to the receptionist with Sunoo trailing behind. 

“—name?”

Heeseung was quick to pull an ID out, “Park Jongsung.”

Sunoo bristled, feeling like he’d just been struck by lightning. What the fuck?

“Ah, yes!” The receptionist handed Heeseung a keycard. “We’ve gone ahead and put the citrus scent into the diffuser as requested…” Sunoo eyed Heeseung closely for a reaction. Nothing. 

She looked at the computer, scrolling down on the mouse, “Hmm, let’s see… Roses are all set…”

Sunoo leaned forward in slow motion, eyes boring holes into Heeseung’s expressionless face.

“And the electrolyte water is already in the refrigerator,” she continued. “Is there anything else I can get you?”

Heeseung shook his head and thanked her, turning on his heel toward the elevator without saying a word. Sunoo followed, mind racing. There was no way this was a coincidence. Heeseung had absolutely zero plausible deniability for any of this. 

He’d requested Sunoo’s favorite scent, his favorite flowers, and his favorite drink! At a hotel called fucking True Love’s Kiss! Pushing that nameless feeling away once more, Sunoo realized Heeseung wasn’t going to fess up to anything. He’d been acting weird since earlier. And by weird, Sunoo meant extra cute…

Sunoo took a step forward, and latched onto Heeseung’s arm, lacing their fingers together, resting his chin on Heeseung’s shoulder, “I didn’t know you were such a romantic, hyung.”

Heeseung’s eyes flashed for a second before the tips of his ears went red. Oh, Sunoo was going to have an amazing night. 

Snatching the key card out of Heeseung’s hand, Sunoo took the lead as they exited the elevator, guiding Heeseung to their room.

“Really, hyung,” Sunoo started after he’d spotted the correct number. “My favorite of everything?” Heeseung looked up, still embarrassed. This only made Sunoo want to tease him even more. 

“You really are perfect,” Sunoo stopped before the door, reaching not to tap the key card onto the lock, but instead to remove Heeseung’s mask from his face, following suit soon after. Heeseung’s cheeks were bright red, he was fidgeting nervously, and looked absolutely ready to be destroyed. The sight of him standing there was so erotic, Sunoo felt his cock start to harden, and they hadn’t even touched each other yet. 

Tapping the key card onto the lock, Sunoo continued his musings, “So considerate, so generous…” Sunoo waited for Heeseung to enter behind him before pressing Heeseung to the door and slamming their lips together. 

Sunoo wrapped his arms around Heeseung as their lips moved together, hungry to take everything Heeseung had. He slid a hand down Heeseung’s chest, then locked the door without breaking a second of contact. Heeseung’s lips parted for Sunoo immediately, willing to give Sunoo anything he desired. They parted, a string of saliva still connecting their glistening lips. 

“And you’re all mine,” Sunoo relished in the shudder that ran through Heeseung’s body before he captured Heeseung’s lips again, pressing even closer to him. 

Heeseung moaned into the kiss as Sunoo gave his hair a light tug. He contemplated what exactly he wanted to do with Heeseung, lifting his thigh up to bracket one side of Heeseung’s waist. Getting the hint, Heeseung hoisted Sunoo up, carrying him from the door to the bed. Sunoo knew Heeseung could feel his growing bulge against his waist, so he pressed impossibly closer before Heeseung suddenly released him onto the bed. 

Sunoo tried to regain his bearings with Heeseung looming over him, pulling his shirt off. He salivated at the sight of Heeseung’s body, before quickly snapping out of it.

“No!” Sunoo declared, causing Heeseung’s eyes to widen in alarm. Sunoo lifted himself up, then promptly shoved Heeseung down so that his back was on the bed. “I said you were mine, didn’t I?” He straddled Heeseung’s lap, gripping Heeseung’s wrists to secure his hands over his head.

Heeseung’s Adam’s apple rose and fell. Then his tongue darted out to wet his lips. And then Sunoo felt something hard poke his ass. Heeseung made no effort to resist.

Fuck, Sunoo was so horny. 

“Good boy,” Sunoo felt Heeseung’s cock twitch against his ass as he lifted himself off Heeseung. “Now let’s see what we have here.”

Completely abandoning Heeseung on the bed, who still hadn’t moved an inch, Sunoo hopped off, and opened the cabinet at the front of the nightstand. Now, this love hotel was super vanilla—which was fine—but that also meant it’d probably have less supplies he could use to have his way with Heeseung.

Opening the cabinet, Sunoo began to throw rejects over his shoulder.

“Boring, boring, eh…” He’d tossed a few vibrators away, not exactly trusting that they hadn’t been up someone else’s ass recently. “Has to be something I can work with here…” He muttered under his breath, frowning at a pair of handcuffs. “Not into that… No, also boring—ah!” 

A rope. A singular piece of rope. Now that was exactly what he needed. Shedding his clothes as he went, Sunoo carried the rope back to the bed, where he was met with the sight of a hard and equally hot and bothered Heeseung.

“You didn’t move at all, hm?” Sunoo went back to straddling his lap, grinding down on Heeseung’s cock. He leaned forward, cupping Heeseung’s cheek with his free hand. Heeseung leaned into the touch, pressing his lips to Sunoo’s palm, “So good for me,” Sunoo whispered, vaguely wondering to himself why this couldn’t be enough.

Silencing his thoughts with Heeseung’s lips, Sunoo pressed his bare chest to Heeseung’s, drinking his taste in. Heeseung was addictive. And while Sunoo enjoyed it when Heeseung took the lead, he was never averse to switching it up. 

Heeseung chased Sunoo’s lips as he pulled away, and Sunoo nearly folded, wanting so badly to indulge him, but he had something to do. Hoisting himself up further so that he could touch the headboard, Sunoo began to bind Heeseung’s wrists together with the rope. Typically, Sunoo was the one being tied up, or when he wasn’t, he’d be using a rope that wasn’t so fucking hard to knot!

Pursing his lips, Sunoo was about to reconsider using the handcuffs, when he felt something wet encircle his nipple.

“Fuck,” he hissed out a moan, pushing himself further into Heeseung’s mouth. He hadn’t told Heeseung to move, which was kind of what he was going for, but now it was too late. And with the way Heeseung’s tongue was swirling around his chest, Sunoo couldn’t bring himself to complain. He also technically hadn’t moved that much, considering that Sunoo’s chest was already right there. 

Finally securing the rope around Heeseung’s wrists, Heeseung tilted his head slightly to go for Sunoo’s other nipple.

“Mmh, hungry today, aren’t you?” Sunoo smirked, beginning to tie the other end of the rope around the bed frame. Heeseung’s only reply was the lewd slurping sounds that filled the room. 

Once he’d secured Heeseung’s arms, Sunoo pulled away, his chest wet. He reached for the lube on the closest pillowcase, then freed Heeseung from his remaining clothes.

“Sunoo—” Heeseung spoke softly, his cock already so hard it bounced out of his boxers. He clearly wanted to cover his face in embarrassment, but both of his hands were bound to the headboard. 

“Why are you getting shy, hyung?” Sunoo opened the container of lube with a pop, then held his hand near Heeseung’s cock, acting as if he was about to touch, but not quite yet…

Heeseung’s hips bucked up for any friction he could get, only for Sunoo to yank his hand away.

“Ah-ah!” Sunoo tutted, moving back even further. Heeseung panted as he struggled against the rope, looking more bothered than he ever had. Sunoo felt a wave of arousal hit him at the sight. “Not yet, hyung. It’s my turn tonight.” 

Lubing a finger up, he pressed it into himself, stretching his insides as Heeseung watched, unable to touch.

“Sunoo, at least let me—” Heeseung started to beg as Sunoo merely watched him struggle, doing nothing besides inserting another finger. “You shouldn’t have to do it yourself—”

“Hm,” Sunoo ignored what Heeseung said entirely, instead curling his fingers around his own prostate, throwing his head back as a moan erupted from his mouth. Inserting another finger, Sunoo checked Heeseung out. His beady eyes looked close to tears. God, did he want to be inside of Sunoo that badly? Any part of him? Sunoo could prep himself, he didn’t need help. But Heeseung really wanted to give it.

Eyes shifting from Heeseung’s face to his cock, Sunoo saw the slightest bit of precum at the head. Surprised, Sunoo made a mental note to do this again sometime. 

“I’ve barely even done anything, hyung,” he slid his fingers out, then climbed onto Heeseung, his cheeks now as red as all of the heart-shaped decorations in the room. “But maybe next time I should put on a show, hm?” He reached forward to snatch a lubed condom before pressing it onto Heeseung, who tensed at the touch, breathing heavily.

“I’ll tie you up even tighter,” Sunoo moved his hand up and down the shaft, Heeseung’s hips bucking as he bit his lip, restraining himself. “And I won’t touch you. You’ll just watch. How does that sound?”

Heeseung opened his mouth to say something, but Sunoo didn’t actually care what he thought, lurching forward to capture Heeseung’s lips in a heated kiss, nibbling on his already worn lips.

“I bet I could make you cum in less than five minutes,” Sunoo kissed him again. “Untouched.” He sat back up, positioning himself right above Heeseung’s cock, but made no move to do anything more. 

“S-Sunoo,” Heeseung whimpered, lighting a fire in Sunoo’s veins. 

“Tell me, hyung,” Sunoo leaned forward to touch Heeseung’s bottom lip with his thumb. “Tell me how much you want it.” 

Heeseung closed his eyes, taking Sunoo’s thumb into his mouth. “That’s not an answer,” a smile broke onto Sunoo’s face. Sunoo pulled his hand back, and Heeseung’s eyes snapped open again. “Hyung,” he spoke seriously now. “Tell me how much you want to watch me. Tell me how the mere sight of me fucking myself while screaming your name is enough to make you cum—”

“I want it,” Heeseung whispered under his breath, so quietly that Sunoo could barely hear it. 

“Again,” Sunoo demanded, gripping Heeseung’s cock, preparing to slide down onto him.

“I—” Heeseung cut himself off with a moan at Sunoo’s touch. “I want—”

Sunoo hoisted himself up so that the head of Heeseung’s cock was touching his rim. Heeseung was now leaking with pure want. 

“Hm?” Sunoo feigned ignorance, pressing down so that Heeseung’s cock was almost entering him—

“I want it!” Heeseung choked out, and Sunoo finally sank down. 

The two of them had fucked so much that Sunoo’s insides had been practically molded to fit Heeseung’s cock by now. Heeseung though, no matter how many times they fucked, never seemed to get used to it. He tensed as he bottomed out inside of Sunoo, his hands struggling against the rope, desperate to touch.

“Su-noo,” he breathed out. “Move—please, I’m—”

Sunoo didn’t need to be told twice, moving up and down on Heeseung’s cock until he found a steady rhythm. Heeseung looked absolutely tortured, unable to touch Sunoo as he rode his cock.

“Mn, hyung…” Sunoo trailed off, the tip of Heeseung’s cock brushing his prostate ever so slightly. “Do you wanna touch?”

Heeseung nodded adamantly, just as eager as Sunoo wanted him to be. 

“Then fuck me.”

The second those words left Sunoo’s lips, Heeseung’s hips rose, his cock finally hitting Sunoo’s prostate. Gasping, Sunoo moved his hand to stroke himself as Heeseung’s thrusts intensified. He’d started to fuck into Sunoo harder and faster, mad that he couldn’t touch Sunoo’s cock himself. 

“Sunoo, please,” Sunoo followed Heeseung’s thrust. “Please let me touch you, I’ll—”

“Ngh, hyung—right there,” Sunoo’s cock slapped against his stomach as he moved as fast as he could, Heeseung tensing beneath him.

“Please,” he kept going. “Please, Sunoo, I’ll do anything—” Heeseung was babbling now. “Please just let me touch you—”

Sunoo continued fucking himself on Heeseung’s cock, venturing a glance at Heeseung’s desperate face. Why did he want to touch Sunoo so badly? He was getting his needs met just fine. Why was he begging so hysterically to touch him?

But Sunoo couldn’t focus on anything deeper right now. He was busy.

“I didn’t tie it that hard, hyung,” Sunoo sank down onto Heeseung fervently as Heeseung’s eyes widened in realization. “I guess you just don’t want to touch—”

Within mere seconds, Heeseung had forced his way out of the rope, and his arms had found Sunoo’s neck, pulling him close.

“Fuck, Sunoo,” Heeseung fucked his hips up, Sunoo’s movement now restrained because of how close they were. “I’m not the perfect one.” Sunoo grinded on Heeseung’s cock as Heeseung’s nails clawed at Sunoo’s shoulders. “You are.”

It was Sunoo’s turn to gasp, Heeseung’s cock pounding relentlesslyx into Sunoo’s prostate. The pain from Heeseung’s nails digging into his skin mixed with the pleasure, and soon, Sunoo knew it was too much.

“Hyung, I’m—” he whined, his cock rubbing in between both of their stomachs, only adding to Sunoo’s pleasure.

With a groan, Heeseung fucked Sunoo through his orgasm, spilling into him seconds later.

Collapsing onto Heeseung’s chest, Sunoo smiled into his skin, inhaling his scent. For a moment, they just laid there, enveloped in each other, chests rising and falling to the same beat, and the thought he’d brushed aside earlier reared its ugly head.

Why can’t this be enough?

His thoughts were interrupted by Heeseung sliding out of him, grabbing a pack of wipes strategically placed on the pillow by the hotel, and began to clean Sunoo off. He wanted to ask Heeseung something—something relating to their conversation at the cafe—but all that came out was:

“Hyung, why’d you book this under Jay-hyung’s name?”

Heeseung snorted, tossing the ball of wipes and condom trash into the trash can. It looked like he was feeling better now, likely just having to get a fuck out of his system.

“Oh, you don’t know?” Heeseung grabbed his phone, lying on the pillows before beckoning Sunoo forward. He stretched his arm out so that he could hold Sunoo close as he unlocked his phone. “Jay’s a rewards member.”

“Huh?” Sunoo’s jaw dropped. He didn’t even know love hotels had rewards!

“Mhm,” Heeseung opened his KakaoTalk. “He went to this one all the time—well, I guess he doesn’t anymore.” He shrugged, opening the group chat, typing with one hand.

Shaking his head, Sunoo was still confused, thinking back to what he’d seen at the lobby, “Did you also steal his ID?”

“Yep,” he scrolled through the messages they’d missed. Nothing urgent. Mostly memes from Riki.

“But—” Sunoo sputtered, “—you can’t just take someone’s ID—”

Heeseung yawned, tilting the phone over to Sunoo for a better view, “He has his US one. He’ll be fine.”

Sunoo told himself that he’d never carry cash around Heeseung again. How the hell did he even get Jay’s ID? Had he been a secret pickpocket genius this whole time?

“Don’t worry your pretty head,” Heeseung lifted his phone again, forcing Sunoo to read the messages. “Now look.”

[Five minutes ago]

Jake:

Does anyone want food I’m ordering Doordash rn

Jungwon: 

Ya

Burger plz

Jay:

I’ll text u

Riki:

i already ordered lol

Jake:

Anyone else

@Sunghoon  

Sunghoon:

I have a meeting so I won’t be home for dinner

Jake:

K

@Heeseung @Sunoo

There was a minute gap between the previous and next messages. 

Jake:

Are you guys still not home??

Jungwon:

Oh they’re together

I should’ve tracked Sunoo-hyung lol

Me:

We’re out tonight thx tho @Jake

Jake:

Bruh

Jay:

Hope the hotel has good room service

Riki:

LMFAOOO

Sunoo had unconsciously pulled a face once he’d gotten to Jay’s message, earning a chuckle from Heeseung, “I don’t think he’s mad.” 

Speaking of Doordash, Sunoo figured he should ask Heeseung about dinner, but when he opened his mouth, all that came out was a yawn.

Breathing a fond laugh out, Heeseung began to run his fingers through Sunoo’s hair soothingly, “I can order some food for later. Just rest now, okay?”

Sunoo yawned again, tucking himself deeper into Heeseung’s side, feeling his eyelids grow heavier and heavier. The last thing he felt as he was drifting out of consciousness, though, was a soft kiss pressed to his forehead. 

Unsure if he’d begun to dream yet or not, Sunoo muttered something under his breath, words eloquently selected by his subconscious.

“Mn, love you, hyung.”

He figured he must’ve been dreaming, because if it was real, Heeseung would have said something, or given an indication that he'd heard. But instead, the only sound in Sunoo’s dream was silence.