"Pretending"

Endings Make New Beginnings

Three weeks.

It's been three weeks since Minhyuk confessed to Hyungwon and he was starting to think he had dreamt it up.

That night they had stayed in silence for a long time, he remembers that. Minhyuk had been glancing at him from the side but he was fully facing the other.

Minhyuk's eyes never stayed in the same spot longer than as second; Hyungwon, street, lamp post, feet, wheel, street, Hyungwon, lamp post. He licked his lips several times and Hyungwon was wracking his brain for something to say.

Minhyuk finally looked to him and the only thing he could bring out of his throat was a stretched out 'u' sound.

"Save it," Minhyuk had told him, tapping the steering wheel and looking back at the road. "I didn't ask you out, I said I liked you. You like Kihyun, wait no, you love Kihyun and I understand that so I came into this knowing you wouldn't like me back. I only told you because I feel bad for making you spill bad memories since I don't have any I chose something happening to me right now."

The only way Hyungwon responded was stopping himself from making a noise. "Look," Minhyuk started again, "I do like you, but you don't have to worry about it too much. Just get some sleep and I'll see you tomorrow."

He stayed true to his word he woke Hyungwon up the same way he did before. Hyungwon asked for clarification on the previous night, if it really happened, and Minhyuk had told him that it did indeed. Hyungwon didn't want to bring up more on his own and Minhyuk wouldn't bring it up himself.

-

"What's so wrong about it?" Kihyun flipped through wedding magazines. Hyunwoo was visiting his family to personally invite them to the wedding. Kihyun came over to have something to do and once he opened the door Hyungwon wanted his help with how to deal with his problem.

"Don't you think that would kind of ruin the show?" Hyungwon had been going on about it for an hour and the conversation was always brought back to this statement. Kihyun sighed and rolled up the magazine to look at Hyungwon.

"I think that you're making too big of a deal about this." He got up and walked towards the door, "If it bothers you so much, then just talk to him about it like the adult you are." As if he had summoned him, Kihyun opened the door to reveal a confused Minhyuk. Hyungwon swallowed waved nervously. Kihyun rolled his eyes on the way out.

"You are making too big of a deal out of it," were the first words Minhyuk said as he made his way through the closing door.

"I feel bad."

"Because you don't like me back?" Minhyuk stood in front of him, Hyungwon sat immediately, shrinking into the couch at the same time. He nodded timidly and Minhyuk sighed.

"Then I don't like you." He moved away from Hyungwon and there was a surge of fear racing through every fiber of the tall man's body.

"W-what?" He breathed better when he saw Minhyuk moving into the kitchen and followed.

"I don't like you, at least not romantically. Feel better?" Minhyuk was searching through the fridge, he'd brought a few boxes of sushi yesterday but they were gone, courtesy of Kihyun earlier.

"How do I know you're not lying?" Hyungwon challenged, voice still shaken.

"How do you know I wasn't lying the first time I told you?" Minhyuk settled for a glass of Iced Tea and faced Hyungwon with a questioning look while stirring the powder away. Hyungwon stayed silent, clueless as to what he was supposed to feel. In a way, he was relieved, but he felt a sense of loss as well.