Chapter Text
"I guess you remember now." Yunho's words echo in Yeosang's ears.
Yeosang blinks, realizing he's been staring at Mingi for too long. He glances at Yunho.
Yunho sighs, facing Mingi. "You too. Just make up already. It's been ages Mingi, so just drop it."
Mingi, having heard the conversation prior to appearing in the living room, leans against the wall in silence.
"Mingi." Yunho repeats.
The younger rolls his eyes. Typical stubborn Mingi.
"So you are Mingi." Yeosang's voice catches his attention.
Mingi purses his lips, a little surprised at Yeosang talking to him. He sighs. "Yes, that's me."
"I was wondering who you were all this time.." he trails off. "I first thought Eunhyuk was cheating, but..."
"He was." Mingi stares down at him, "I knew everything."
Yeosang's throat tightens. "Oh."
Yunho eyes Mingi. "Mingi, be nice."
"What did I do? I only said that I knew Eunhyuk was cheating. It's not like I made him cheat on him or whatever."
"It's fine." Yeosang slowly nods, his gaze never leaving Mingi, "Mingi and I didn't know each other then, so it would have been harder to be able to tell me."
"I wouldn't have said anything anyway."
Yeosang stares at Mingi with a blank expression. He cannot believe he just said that.
"Mingi." Yunho says a little louder. "What's wrong with you? I thought we agreed that you'd apologize."
"Apologize for what? His ex is the reason my business went downhill." Mingi faces Yeosang, and the older can see fury in them, like he feels no remorse for him. "I will never forgive what that man made me go through. It took years to pick myself up together again."
"But it's not Yeosang's fault. And you know this, Mingi."
"I don't care anymore!" Mingi hisses, startling them both. "Yunho, I thought you'd know better than this. You were the one who helped me through it all. Why are you siding with someone who's linked to the traitor?!"
"Yeosang is not linked with him. That Eunhyuk guy accused him in order to not take responsibility of his own actions." Yunho calmly says, and Yeosang watches in stricken silence as Mingi stares at him in disbelief, "I know why you're feeling this way, I really do, Mingi, but I can't support what you were trying to do to Yeosang."
"What?"
Yunho is quiet before sighing. "Why are you making Yeosang's life miserable at work?"
"Who told you that?" Mingi is speechless.
"I heard it from Wooyoung."
Yeosang is stunned. He stares at Yunho, then back at Mingi.
Mingi presses his lips closed, side eyeing Yeosang and scoffing at him.
"I hate people like you the most."
Yunho frowns. "Mingi."
Yeosang does not move when Mingi approaches him. The taller dabs a finger on his chest, unaware of the slight annoyance he was causing on Yeosang. "Yah. Speak up. You told Eunhyuk to destroy my business, didn't you? Maybe Eunhyuk didn't lie at all. Right?"
Yeosang remains unfazed as Mingi keeps jabbing his finger on his chest. Mingi grows annoyed.
"Speak up, damn it. Why won't you just admit it?"
”Mingi.” Yunho warns.
Yeosang looks away, his jaw tightening. "I have nothing to say to you." He calmly says.
And he really does not. Yeosang broke up with Eunhyuk after finding out what he did. But, never in a million years did he think it was Mingi's business whom Eunhyuk had destroy this badly. While Yeosang feels bad for Mingi, the younger has proven to him the complete opposite. Hatred. Anger. Resentment.
Mingi resents him. And it's clear as daylight that he's hurting Yeosang to make up for Eunhyuk's grave sins.
Be calm. Be calm, is always his motive. But as Mingi glares down at him, his words earlier lingering on his head, Yeosang is now putting the pieces together.
His patience with Mingi has been less and less, and he's only noticing it now.
Mingi stares at him after a moment of silence. Then he scoffs. "Why not? Because Eunhyuk was right, after all?"
“That’s enough, Mingi.” Yunho says, but none of them are listening to him anymore.
Yeosang's eyes expand in size at his response. He swears he sees red for a brief second.
"I don't care what you say. You won't believe me anyways."
"How am I supposed to believe you if you won't say it!" Yunho’s eyes widen when Mingi grips his hands into fists. His chest heaves with fury as he steps forward, ready to lash at Yeosang but he doesn't flinch.
Oh, he's had it.
In a blink of an eye, Yeosang dodges his punch, grabbing his arm and locking it behind him in place to trap him as Yunho watches, speechless.
Mingi's eyes widen in surprise. "What are you doing?!"
"What I should've done a long time ago..." Yeosang mutters behind him.
"Wha-?" Before Mingi can realize what's going on, Yeosang shoves him, hard. Mingi stumbles forward, crashing into Yunho with a sickening thud, sending both of them tumbling to the ground.
The scene alone makes Yeosang's anger disappear and his eyes widen. He had not meant to shove Mingi straight into Yunho.
Suddenly, the doors to the rooms bursts open, and Wooyoung, Hongjoong, and Seonghwa rush into the living room. Their eyes widen in shock as they take in the scene. Mingi on the floor, Yunho groaning beneath him, and Yeosang standing like a lost puppy with wide eyes as he realized he had accidentally caused Mingi to crash into Yunho.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Hongjoong demands.
Yeosang jerks at the older's voice. "U-uh..."
"No, it's okay," Yunho strains out, "Yeosang was just upset and he shoved Mingi."
Wooyoung stares at Mingi's pained expression. He looks away, covering his mouth to hide his evil grin.
More footsteps appear and San and Jongho step out. Their hair is messy and they had clearly just woken up amongst the chaos.
"What did you do now, Mingi hyung?" Jongho quietly groans.
"Are you okay?" Hongjoong softly asks Yeosang.
Yeosang nods, looking down at Yunho in concern. He watches as Seonghwa pulls Mingi off of Yunho before Yunho is helped up by San.
"Thanks." Yunho quietly says, patting his pajamas free from the ground's dust.
Hongjoong then points at Mingi and Yeosang with an accusing finger. "Didn't you two agree to get along?"
Yeosang and Mingi immediately look at each other, before their faces fall and they roll their eyes, looking away in frustration.
"I was just defending myself. But I hadn't meant to make Yunho fall. Are you okay?" Yeosang asks the taller.
Yunho nods, smiling. "Don't worry. Mingi is at fault here, so don't be sorry."
"How am I at fault?" Mingi groans and immediately gets silenced when Jongho nudges him.
"Come on, we need to talk." Jongho grabs him and yanks him out of the scene, probably for a very earful scolding.
"How much did you hear?" Yunho asks everyone.
"Everything." San deadpans.
"I absolutely hate that bitch now." Wooyoung rolls his eyes. "I'm so glad you finally stood up to that bastard, Yeosang. It was about time you use your strength to put him in his place."
Yeosang doesn't respond. If there's anything anyone and especially his close friends know, is that he doesn't start problems with people. He doesn't like to. Yeosang is someone who does not usually get fazed by it, after all.
But Mingi was his breaking point. And even more so after finding out he has known Yeosang ever since he started working with him. Yeosang didn't understand how someone like him could be this cruel to plan to sabotage his career over something that he didn't even do.
Yeosang never thought someone like that exists. Now, he does.
-
The sleepover went on after everything settled down. But the original plans to hang out the next day as a group changed a bit. Mingi did not participate. Nor did Jongho. The group was oddly quiet without them, but Wooyoung quickly fills the space with his usual energy, keeping the mood light.
"Don't worry about it. Jongho is probably trying to get him to cool off or whatever. We all on your side, Yeosang." Wooyoung says as he happily hums while slurping his noodles.
Yeosang eats along, his earbuds ringing as he tastes the warm, delicious noodles. He chews on them, sneakily glancing across at Yunho, who's chatting with Hongjoong and the rest. He never had the time to thank him. But Yeosang will be sure to do it soon, today.
Just then, Yunho's phone rings.
"Who is it?" San curiously asks.
Yunho takes his phone out to check the caller ID. Then his eyes latch to Yeosang's and everyone goes silent.
"Is it Mingi?" Hongjoong asks.
Seonghwa nudges him, giving him a look.
"Uh. Sorry, I'll be back." Yunho stands up and walks away.
"Weird. Maybe it is Mingi." Wooyoung mumbles.
San nods, "True. I don't think Jongho has Yunho's phone number."
"I'll be back." Yeosang tells Wooyoung and abruptly stands up.
"Yah, where are you going?!" Wooyoung shrieks out, but Yeosang dips out like a light.
-
When Yeosang reaches the empty hallways, he spots Yunho at the end of the hall, his eyebrows furrowed as he listens into the call.
Yeosang hesitates about approaching him. Something feels off, and he can't help but wonder who's on the other end of that call.
"I see. We'll talk later, then." He nods and then hangs up. Yunho feels someone approach him and backs away in surprise when he looks up to see Yeosang. "Oh, Yeosang."
"Was that Jongho?"
Yunho doesn't say anything.
Yeosang sighs. "It's okay, you can tell me."
"Sorry I just thought... since well, you obviously don't like Mingi after what he's been doing to you and all.."
"Yeah, you're right." The younger chuckles, "But it was just a question. It's okay if you don't want to answer."
"I see."
"Are you okay, though? I didn't meant to shove him into you. Sorry about that. I got upset and slightly lost control of my feelings for a moment."
Yunho shakes his head. "No. Don't worry. I understand why you did it. Mingi is such a case sometimes. He can quickly gain an enemy just by what he says alone. Even when we first met, we didn't really get along. But it takes a lot to be able to really know him. I know he seems like an absolute jerk to you right now, but Mingi isn't like that. He's nice."
Yeosang must have had a doubtful expression on his face, because then Yunho smiles. "You don't believe me, huh?"
"It's hard to believe... but I'll believe you." He says like he's convincing himself.
"Really? Why?"
"Because," The younger quiets down. "You defended me from him. You seem like a nice person who can't lie."
"Ah, it's because of me then?" Yunho grins. "I'm flattered. Thank you for trusting me."
Pang. Yeosang feels small butterflies erupt in his chest at that sentence alone. He feels his cheeks get hot and Yunho seems to notice that, as he blinks and looks down at him, surprised.
"Oh, Yeosang? Your face is red right now."
"Huh? Oh." Yeosang places his hands on his cheeks, blushing even harder to attempt to cover up just how nervous he is right now. His eyes look everywhere but at Yunho.
Yunho chuckles again, his deep voice making Yeosang's cheeks slightly tingle.
What is this new feeling? Yeosang doesn't know, but he's not exactly hating it either. His thoughts briefly wander back to the moment Yunho stood up for him. It wasn't something many people would do — risking a friendship just to defend a stranger. But Yunho had. And for some reason, that made Yeosang feel a bond he couldn't quite explain.
"Thank you, for defending me. That was nice of you, even if we're strangers." Yeosang whispers, shyly looking down at his feet.
"I would have done it regardless if we're strangers or not." Yunho softly replies back, and Yeosang looks up at him, feeling like an arrow just hit him directly in his chest. Ouch. It hurts but it hurts in a good way. Yunho's words are making him clutch at his pearls. "And I don't think we're strangers at all. I know your name after all. Yeosang. Right?"
Yeosang... The way his name slips out of the taller's lips has him swooning. Yeosang nods in a daze.
"Yeah... Yunho."
Yunho smiles happily. "Yeah. That was impressive, by the way."
"What was?"
"The way you dodged his punch and then shoved him. Now that I think about it, it's so comical, replaying the way Mingi stumbles at your shove and collapses on me." Yunho doubles in laughter, "My back still hurts a bit, but I can't stop smiling when I think of that moment."
Yeosang smiles along. He's embarrassed but slightly flattered. Then he nervously clears his throat. "Are you, perhaps, doing anything tomorrow?"
"Nope. I'm off for tomorrow. Why?"
Yeosang tries to shake off the butterflies in his stomach, but they linger, making him shift uncomfortably. He can feel Yunho's eyes on him, scanning his every moment. His nerves are still there, but he's determined to take the plunge. "I thought maybe we can start to get to know each other better. You know? You seem really, really cool, so I was wondering if you can of course, hang out with me tomorrow. But you don't have to, I understand, we aren't close like that."
"I'd love that."
Yeosang blushes. He said love. He said... love.
Yunho stares down at Yeosang, eyes soft. He swears that's enough to thrill the younger with how gentle and nice he is, but Yeosang has to maintain his composure. Yunho is practically the man Yeosang ever wanted. And he doesn't want to scare him off.
"Yeah. Let's go out tomorrow then. I'll let the others know too."
Yeosang's smile falters, his heart sinking a little in disappointment. He was hoping for something a bit more private, just the two of them... But he forces a smile and nods.
"Yeah... that would be great."