chapter 5 - celebration (I)

[NOTE - all characters are purely fictional, names are not based off of anyone real and are purely coincidental if there are celebrities with the same name!]

Meanwhile back at the HQ

Haneul turned to face Kei after the others had left, "why did you stay behind?"

He furrowed his brows as he hesitated for a moment. Was there any point in dwelling over something so trivial? 

In the end he decided to not answer her, instead took something out of his pocket and unwrapped it. A green lollipop appeared in front of Haneul, partially blocking her sight. Apple flavour. 

"What is this, a bribe?" She grumbled sarcastically as she snatched it from him.

Kang house

Seojun took his shoes off and slipped on a pair of slippers. The house was quiet since his siblings were still at school. Without a thought, he walked up to his room and lied on the bed, his eyes closed.

His bedroom on the second floor was spacious now he had graduated high school, all his work for college was left behind in his dorm for the time being. The desk that used to have piles of textbooks was starting to collect dust. His bookshelf that had now been cleaned out felt useless. It was boring. Though he did do something today, and there was something he couldn't understand. Maybe because he was born with a silver spoon and naturally smart, he didn't see the point in killing a professor over a mere grade. 

He sighed, oh well, it's like that guy said, it's none of our business. He rolled over and lifted the duvet, then paused, right, why did he stay behind? 

Lying in the soft and warm bed, Kang eventually drifted off to sleep after scrolling through his phone. 

"Hyung," he heard his younger brother's voice calling him outside his bedroom door. 

Seojun pulled himself up, yawning as he grabbed his phone. "What is it?" He opened the door. His brother had an uncomfortable look on his face and was fidgeting. 

"...well it's dinner time," he replied. 

Seojun looked at him with a confused expression, was that it? "Let's go then," he said, heading for the stairs, stopping as Seungcheol added.

"Erm, Mum and Dad are back."

"Good work today, bye," Yuu hurriedly pushed Hyunwoo out of the studio the moment it hit 9pm on the dot. Hyunwoo and Mii exchange a brief wave goodbye before the door was shut in his face. He existed the dim and cold building, strolling to a nearby convenience store. 

It was a remote area, and since it was already dark out the store wasn't busy. He grabbed a sandwich then headed to check out, then paused. Smiling to himself as he pulled out his phone. After a few seconds, a call connects at a surprisingly fast speed, "still down to celebrate?"

The front door to the 135m^2 apartment opened and Kang Seojun was greeted by a man with messy black hair. He had a familiar vibe yet for some reason Kang Seojun couldn't quite figure out why. With a few stares back and forth between them, he finally said something. 

"Who!?" 

"What, it's me!" As the voice answered, Kang Seojun's shocked expression slowly turned to normal. 

"What the, you look different."

"Really?" Hyunwoo's hand moved up to touch his slightly wet hair, "I didn't have time to fully dry it... Anyway come in." His arm extended out to show off the inside. The open floor plan had a spacious living room for a single person. The black leather couch sat to the right on top of a rug. In front was a glass coffee table and on the wall hung a 65 inch tv. To Kang Seojun's surprise, the two dracaena fragrans either sides of the tv was well taken care off and had a vibrant colour. The modern contemporary kitchen behind looked as if it was too big for one person to use, which was probably the reason it seemed like it was untouched. There were two more doors visible, one on the right side of the living room and another at the back; both with sleek black panelling paired with a gold door handle. 

He followed Hyunwoo in, sitting down on the sofa as the other grabbed a few cans from the fridge, opening one before handing it to Seojun.

"There's a new movie that came out, wanna watch it?" He picked up the tv remote as he flopped onto the sofa.

"What's it about?"

Hyunwoo shrugged, "no idea, but Lee Jinhyuk's main lead."

Seojun looked at him as if it meant something. The confusion he felt quickly reached Hyunwoo as the other's jaw dropped. A horrified expression appearing on him face, like his dream was crushed.

"You.. what, but.. Huh?" He stuttered, unable to voice his shock.

Seojun simply tilted his head to the side as if questioning what he was doing, oblivious as to why the other was confused by his reaction.

"..Don't tell me you don't know who Lee Jinhyuk is?" A question from Hyunwoo that sounds as if it's supposed to be rhetorical mixed with horror, was met with a shook of the head. 

"What!?" Hyunwoo gasped.

What's wrong with him..Seojun thought as the other started flailing his arms around, point to the screen then hands on his chin as if hard in thought. 

"How can you not know? He is the best romance actor of the generation! Not only that, even his small roles as a child actor from years ago brought attention to the shows that no one would've watched if not for him!" 

Despite the fanboy rambling from Hyunwoo that continued on, the thing that caught Seojun's attention was romance actor. Romance? Him? ... What?

"..2nd! I'm so proud of him! ..though personally I think he should've been 1st.." Do not be fooled by his snarky remark, as Kim Hyunwoo goes on to become the biggest supporter of the duo merely weeks after their debut.

His speech was interrupted as Seojun finally managed to squeeze a word in, "is it a romance movie then?"

His question made Hyunwoo pause then throw him an annoyed look as if it was obvious. The attitude quickly changing as he realised the chance to convince Seojun, "so you want to watch it!? Right? You do, yes?" 

Seojun leaned back slightly as he's being bombarded by Hyunwoo's enthusiasm, finally sighing as he gave in, "sure."

Around half way into the movie, for no apparent reason, Kim Hyunwoo noticed the discomfort in Seojun's eyes that were glued to the screen. 

It was nothing special, or so he thought at first glance. A cliche scene of the female lead lighting the main character's cigarettes. Normally no one would even bat an eye. Unless, there was some strong opinion they had about such a thing.

"Do you not like smokers?" 

Kang Seojun turned his head, his attention switching to Hyunwoo as he furrowed his brows in a state of confusion. Why is he so nosy? But Hyunwoo stared back. "No."

"Why?" He continued in an attempt to dig further which was quickly shot down by Seojun's reply.

"No reason." 

Kim Hyunwoo let out a slight scoff. It was obvious on his face he didn't want to answer. Well, no matter, he wasn't actually interested, but for some reason he just enjoyed bothering Kang Seojun. 

The sly smile on his face quickly dropped as Seojun pointed at the screen, "oh, they kissed."

"WHAT!?" He quickly turned his head back to the screen, only to realise evidently it was a lie. "..what is your problem?" A grumble occurring as Seojun laughed.