You Rock My World

...but aren't you glad I did?

"What do you think?" Chan asked, leaning back in his chair, his hands tucked into the big pocket of his black hoodie.

"It's..." Hongjoong started, trying to come up with the words to describe exactly how he felt about the new arrangement.

"I know, I know—it's a bit different. I definitely took some creative liberties so if you don't like it just tell me, I can take it—" Chan rambled but Hongjoong interrupted him.

"It's incredible! It's way better than I could have imagined! It hardly even sounds like my song anymore," Hongjoong admitted bashfully.

"I'm sorry! We don't have to do it this way it was just a suggestion—"

"No! I like it way better than my version. Honestly. I'm just grateful to have inspired you," Hongjoong smiled and Chan sunk deeper into his hoodie, hiding his face.

"Agh! You're too nice, stop it! It's nothing!" he laughed through the material.

"Really, it's so good! Thank you for taking the time to work on it with me," Hongjoong replied, giving a slight bow.

"Of course! No problem! Thanks for agreeing! Sorry I interrupted you and Seonghwa."

"It's alright, I'm glad I came. If it's alright with you, I'd actually like to work on more songs together in the future."

Chan leaned forward in his chair, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Really?? I'd love that! I'm down here in the studio all the time and it'd be nice to have a little company," Chan smiled and Hongjoong felt warmth wash over him.

"I can relate to that," he sighed, reflecting on his countless nights spent working in his studio alone.

Chan moved back to the computer to save the new track just as the door opened. Hongjoong spun around at the sudden increase in volume.

"—ya! I told you not to say anything about them!"

"You're telling me I was just supposed to pretend it wasn't burnt to a crisp!?"

"Yes! That's exactly what I'm saying!"

"Well if you hadn't pretended it was so good I wouldn't have eaten it!"

"It's called acting! I was being nice! Clearly the cookies were burnt! And now you made Felix feel bad."

Changbin and Han finally noticed that Chan wasn't alone in the studio and the conversation ended abruptly.

"Hi," Hongjoong smiled weakly.

"Hi," they said in unison.

"Did you guys say that Felix made cookies?" Chan asked, only half-listening as he began opening new tracks.

"Yeah and he burnt them," Jisung groaned, trying to wash the taste from his mouth with a swig of water.

"And Jisung felt the need to point it out," Changbin snapped, unzipping his hoodie and setting on the table.

Hongjoong noticed Chan was still absorbed in his work and hadn't registered what they said, and decided it was his cue to leave.

"I'd better get going, I don't want to interrupt you guys. See you later!"

Hongjoong stood and bowed slightly at each member as he made his way out the door.

As he exited he caught a bit of their muffled conversation.

"Hey Chan, I'm going to have to head out a little early. Minho and I have a—pizza hangout," Jisung shared.

"You mean a date?" Changbin scoffed, sparking a reaction from Jisung.

"No! I mean a pizza hangout."

"Relax, Han. There's no one down here," Changbin responded.

Hongjoong felt like he was catching way too much of their personal information and picked up his pace, walking away from the studio.

So there were couples in the other group. And they'd managed to stay hidden. So it was possible.

He felt a bit hopeful. But only a bit.

He was still having second thoughts after talking to San.

He made it back to the dorms pretty quickly, remembering Seonghwa's promise. He had said he would tell him.

Hongjoong would finally know what was going on with him.

A smile broke across his face as he knocked on their bedroom door before stepping inside.

"Oh my God Hwa you wouldn't believe how awesome it was to work with—"

Hongjoong froze, seeing his boyfriend standing in front of the mirror, dressed in a black and white striped button-down and black skinny jeans.

"Damn."

Seonghwa turned and Hongjoong could feel the blush inching across his cheeks.

"What?"

"What do you mean what!? Look at you!" Hongjoong stepped into the bathroom, getting a closer view.

"Oh this? It's nothing," Seonghwa smiled shyly but Hongjoong caught a whiff of his cologne.

"Wait—are you—are we having a date night?" Hongjoong smiled excitedly, grabbing onto Seonghwa's waist and bouncing up and down.

"Wha—wai—how did you know?"

"So we are!?" Hongjoong beamed.

"Yes—but how did you know?"

"Duh, your date night cologne."

"My what??"

"Your date night cologne. Do you not realize that you only ever wear this when you're taking me on a date?"

"Wha—I wear cologne every day—how did you know it was different?"

Hongjoong gave a bashful smile.

"Remember that night in the park? When we both fell asleep? Well...I might have lied about not remembering it. When you were asleep...I kind of set my head on your chest and...well...date night cologne always reminds me of that."

Seonghwa arched an eyebrow.

"Kim Hongjoong. Are you telling me you let me sleep in the woods all night?"

"Maybe...but aren't you glad I did?"

Seonghwa laughed and turned around to finally face Hongjoong. Without thinking, he leaned in and kissed him, his hand resting along his jawline.

After a few seconds he pulled away and moved to finish his makeup.

"Wha—you—Park Seonghwa I require an explanation!"

"How's this? I love you."

Hongjoong rolled his eyes.

"God, you're going to be the death of me. I'm going to get ready so that I don't mess up your plans."

As Hongjoong left he finally felt truly happy for once. The whole time they'd been at this place, it had been tense and stressful. They'd navigated some of the hardest days of their relationship. But they were finally getting past it.

They were finally going to be okay.

Things were finally looking up.