↱RIBS↲ ⇾seongjoong⇽

いち

October

It was a combination of things, really, that lead to the fall.

It always is.

Seonghwa can take a lot.

His shoulders are used to the weight of a thousand hardships and a thousand more worries, his back no stranger to the strain of the world breaking him down.

But sooner or later, it all reaches a point where his legs— no matter how strong they look— eventually give out from under him.

In times like this, his head would be so heavy with demons that he found it hard to lift himself back up.

Seonghwa hasn't been this bad in a while.

Never this bad in the three years he and Hongjoong had been dating.

Not in the year they'd been living together, either.

And it was a combination of things, really.

It started as simply, and as misleadingly innocent, as a comment from one of the other dancers about Seonghwa's physique.

The whole dance crew was sitting in a messy circle on the studio floor, a mixture of sweat, cheap soap, and pizza mixing together in the air as they ate their weekly group meal.

Their instructor, Sungdeuk, had grumbled and groaned just like every other week, but still ended up buying them four extra large pizzas while hiding a fond smile.

There was some comparison of abdominal muscles going on in one section of the circle—shirts being pulled up and everything— that Seonghwa hadn't been paying attention to.

He was instead inhaling his first slice of pizza, when Woojin had suddenly taken notice of him stuffing his face and teased, "What happened to your abs, hyung? I've seen the videos, you used to be hot!" His snaggletooth showed as he grinned, Minhyuk laughing along with him once he finally pulled his shirt down and stopped showing off.

They were good acquaintances, immature and energetic friends with bright faces, and quite close with Seonghwa.

It wasn't anything malicious— they teased each other often.

It was a joke.

Of course it was a joke.

But Seonghwa was Seonghwa, and some combination of stress and timing made it hard for him to laugh, hard for him to swallow around the large mouthful of pizza.

Especially when someone else, Seongwoo probably, cut in with a comment about how "Hongjoong used to fawn over his abs before they started dating."

Seonghwa remembered those days.

Stupid oblivion, shy smiles, Hongjoong coming to every small performance and big showcase, watching him from the audience.

It was supposed to be a recollection of memories, a light tease at best.

But some combination of stress and bad timing made Seonghwa wonder...

Has Hongjoong noticed?

Does Hongjoong care?