ℙ𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕪 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕, Beomjun

015

A problem occurs when intriguing suspicions come out about a friend. You find yourself searching for signs more often. It becomes a habit, and because picking up on these signs means looking towards that person more, those around notice too.

That's what happened with Yeonjun.

"Hyung!" Soobin clicks his fingers in front of Yeonjun's face, his lips a thin frown.

Alarmed, Yeonjun's eyes snap to him in surprise and he raises his brows in question.

"The pizza." Soobin points to the plate in Yeonjun's hand and then holds his hand out, impatient. Yeonjun was meant to hand it to him before he was distracted by the laughter of their mutual friend.

Yeonjun smiles sheepishly, the tips of his ears turning pink, and passes the cardboard plate to Soobin, eyes flickering between him and Beomgyu.

Neither Beomgyu nor Taehyun notice the silent stares between their Hyungs, too busy talking between bites of pizza. Yeonjun's glad they haven't. He wouldn't want either of them to draw their own conclusions of what their shared looks mean, or the disapproval on Soobin's face when he bites into his cooling slice of pizza.

It isn't his fault. Yeonjun would argue that it's Wooyoung's fault for voicing the idea in the first place because Yeonjun now wants evidence. He wants to know if it's truly possible for Beomgyu to be interested in him.

Adrenaline sparks in his chest and blossoms into something warm. He watches the younger with undying curiosity, smiling subconsciously at the warmth of his laughter. He can't help it, Beomgyu's always fascinated him and with the notion that Beomgyu might like him back it's harder for him to ignore his own feelings.

He watches for it all: any secret stolen glances, whether he turns to Yeonjun first when he's laughing to see if he's laughing too; if his eyes seem to linger on the elder.

He tallies the results, though it's hard to analyse the data because Beomgyu's actions vary and Yeonjun isn't always paying attention to him—even if he takes up the majority of Yeonjun's focus. Sometimes Beomgyu turns to Yeonjun and other times he doesn't. He occasionally repeats a joke to see if Yeonjun finds it funny, but that's not an individual thing when he's done the same with Soobin and Taehyun.

He knows what it means, these hopes, but he denies them in case confronting them hurts more. It's why he'd organised the double date to begin with, to stop delusions like Beomgyu's nimble fingers finding the material of his clothes in an excuse to get close to him, or when he likes to imagine that Beomgyu laughs that little bit harder when he notices Yeonjun's laughing too.

Setting Beomgyu up with someone else would give Yeonjun a chance to move on from his bottled feelings, which he isn't unable to do so when Beomgyu is adamant he isn't interested in dating.

Now Wooyoung has given him false hope and it's terrifying to imagine it crushed within seconds, especially when Yeonjun thinks being let down easier won't be any better.

Yeonjun stares down at the takeaway boxes open on the floor and sighs, deciding to cut the stream of thoughts short before he gets lost in his mind. He separates a few slices and moves them to one of the empty boxes, ensuring Hueningkai will get some pizza. He's working until midnight and Yeonjun wants to make sure he's well-fed before he goes to bed. The youngest has a habit of sleeping on an empty stomach if work gets too hectic, often being scolded by the others for it.

Soobin steals the remaining slices, awkwardly extending his body like he doesn't trust Yeonjun to supply him without becoming preoccupied with something (or someone) else.

Yeonjun chuckles softly at Soobin's antics, shaking his head as he closes the takeaway box containing Hueningkai's slices. He watches Soobin, who devours the pizza with a slight grin, his earlier disapproval replaced by the satisfaction of a sedated stomach. The room's laughter and chatter continue to swirl around him, but Yeonjun's thoughts eventually drift back to Beomgyu, his curiosity piqued.