Chimaek, a favorite meal amongst students, was more than just simple, crispy, sweet, savory chicken and beer. It was a pastime of good food, good drinks, and good friends.

It was thus quite rare for any student to regret engaging in such a god-tier activity.

That is what Jong In had always believed. At least, until that evening when he sat at a nondescript rectangular table at the far end of the restaurant, surrounded by his two friends and a stranger, all of whom, minus one, were currently frozen, staring up at the impassive face of the man Jong In had hoped—at least until a couple of hours ago—that he would have had the luck to see that day.

But that was then.

Now, he prayed that he could run far, far away.

It had to be a joke played by fate. Some cosmic power must have decided that it would be good fun to play a little prank on him. It had to be. Otherwise, why would the guy he had been in love with since he was twelve years old, the very man he had so desperately wanted to see but who refused to see him, suddenly be staring down at him while the lips of another man hovered over his in a near kiss.

Even as their gazes met, Jong In’s hazy mind had to wonder how it was that they had gotten to this point in the first place.

Right. They had been drinking. And like for many, the drink made Jong In and his friends lose their reasoning. The awkwardness that often came to him when meeting strangers melted away with that yellow-golden liquid, and it melted even faster when coupled with several friendly, well-known drinking games. Even his stutter had mostly disappeared.

Just an hour or so ago, he had been laughing openly with his friends when Si Woo had suggested a game for them to play. The game utilized pickup lines to fluster the opponent and if the player succeeded in getting their opponent to react, the opponent drank. Otherwise, the other drank.

Somehow, likely after copious amounts of beer, the game had evolved to the point where instead of using words they had started using physical contact to incite a reaction.

Ji Soo had successfully made Hwan’s eyes widen by pressing a kiss against his fingertips. Though Jong In speculated that tongue had been involved when she winked at him a second later. This would have been expected of her, to add a little bit more to the act. And since skinship was not uncommon between those two individuals, a simple kiss would not have incited such a reaction from the self-composed Hwan.

Then it was Si Woo’s turn against Jong In, who had turned to him with his best poker face, waiting to see what the older man would do. Perhaps it was the beer, but Jong In had met the man’s gaze straight on, daring him to do his best. In response, Si Woo smirked, leaning forward as his eyelids dropped ever so slightly. And Jong In wondered, in that split second, if he was about to be kissed.

But instead, Si Woo had placed his palm flat against Jong In’s chest, his eye contact never wavering.

Jong In had forced himself not to react, alcohol having always made him a bit bold, a bit competitive. He then felt a slight pressure from the hand that was now moving in slow, circular motions on his chest.

He froze.

A soft laugh left Si Woo's lips.

“You really are cute,” he had whispered and Jong In had forced himself to remain still.

He wouldn’t allow himself to fall for this; that was the point of the game after all.

“You’re unexpectedly tough to break,” Si Woo said with a smile as he shifted his chair closer.

Jong In could feel the man’s breath against his cheek. He braced himself as he wondered if he would actually kiss him, a near stranger, one he had met only a few hours ago.

Then, suddenly, Si Woo gripped him by the front of his shirt and dragged him down towards him, closing the few inches that had been between them.

Jong In felt the soft touch of Si Woo’s breath right against his lips.

He should have jerked away. No amount of preparation would have saved him from this move, Jong In realized. So, it was ironic that an external force that had the opposite effect of maintaining his composure had in fact saved him from losing this insignificant game.

“What are you doing?” came a cold voice from somewhere above them.

Jong In looked up, the alcohol in his system making him move just slightly slower than normal. He reacted only when his eyes met the owner of the voice. But since it was not in response to Si Woo, he did not lose. At least, that is what his muddled brain was thinking until the face of the man staring down at him finally registered.

“Y-Ye Jun…”

“Oh, it's Ye Jun Han!” came Ji Soo’s slurred voice from their left. “Woah, Mr. Popular, I thought you were too busy to come,” she said as she perfunctorily patted Hwan’s head, which was currently resting atop her shoulder.

But Ye Jun’s gaze did not leave Jong In’s.

In a delayed act, Jong In pushed Si Woo’s hand off his chest. “W-W-What aare you d-d-doing here?” Ye Jun’s gaze made him restless for some reason. He looked angry.

“What are you doing?” Ye Jun repeated himself after a long moment of silence.

“We – we.... p-playing a game.”

“Who is he?” Ye Jun said, curtly referring to Si Woo who was watching them quietly.

Ji Soo took that moment to speak up, using her words to cut through the tension. "Are you just going to stand there and stare? Sit!"

Ye Jun glanced once more at Jong In before pulling up a chair and sitting opposite the duo.

"Enough with the soju," Ji Soo said, yanking the shot glass out of Hwan's hand. "Who's going to take you home if you're wasted?"

For a moment, the others watched as she chided the obviously inebriated Hwan, who had reached over and idly stroked the soft hair at her temple. But as usual, Ji Soo was unfazed.

"H-How… how have you b–been?" Jong In asked, pulling Ye Jun’s gaze back to him. He swallowed, his hands shaking slightly, his stutter growing with his nervousness.

Ye Jun turned to look at him and then he paused. It had been four months since he had last seen Jong In, the longest period in which they had not spoken to each other.

It was strange. He had been successfully avoiding him all this time and it had taken little to no effort for him to do so. Despite the fact that he was always consciously aware that he had not met up with his oldest and closest friend, he had not felt any temptation to break their lack of contact.

That was, until today.

Earlier that day, he had received a text from Ji Soo asking him if he wanted to grab some chicken and beer. He had refused, stating that he had previous plans, which was true even if it wasn’t the real reason. He had rejected her because he had known that Jong In would be joining.

[Alright, jerk but show your face once in a while otherwise, you’ll become a stranger] came Ji Soo’s reply over text. And for some reason, her words had struck a chord within him.

So, when he later met up with his other friends and they had asked him where he wanted to eat, he had, before he knew it, suggested the name of the restaurant where he knew Jong In would be.

Upon entering the chimaek place, he had sat down with his friends at a nondescript, rectangular table, his gaze automatically scanning the faces around them, looking for one particular individual.

But Jong In had been nowhere to be seen.

He then stood up even as his friends set the menu before him. He began to walk around until he finally spotted a familiar green jacket at the far back corner of the restaurant, almost hidden from view.

Ye Jun had hesitated for a moment before making his way toward the table. He knew, even as he began to walk, that he shouldn’t have come, shouldn’t have even come to the restaurant. He had told himself that it was all for Jong In’s sake, for their friendship, and for some reason, for himself.

But just as he was convincing himself to turn back, he saw them, or rather he saw him.

Jong In.

In a compromising position with a stranger.

And he became inexplicably angry.

Was this what he had distanced himself for? Only to see his best friend be embraced by another man?

What the hell? He had had to change his way of life because of the decision he had made. It had become almost instinct after sixteen years for him to respond to Jong In’s calls and messages right away, to eat with him, to sit with him, to walk home with him, to nap in his room, to just be next to him. It may have been easy for him to put a halt to this behavior, but Ye Jun had not liked it.

And the possibility that it was all for naught, that Jong In’s feelings for him may not have been sincere pissed him off.

Shit. He was incredibly annoyed.

But then, as he gazed at Jong In’s startled and flushed expression, it hit him. Perhaps this was the answer. If Jong In could turn his romantic feelings elsewhere, then they could save their friendship.

Ye Jun turned to look at the unfamiliar face next to Jong In. The stranger was beautiful, so much so that even Ye Jun had some difficulty not staring. That only made it all the better because he was certain that Ye Jun’s face had played a part in Jong In’s romantic interest in him, which meant only a good-looking guy would do as his replacement.

And judging by the position they had been in earlier, it seemed as though the man may have already shown an interest in Jong In.

This was good. If only he could now help them see it through by pushing Jong In in the right direction. He was certain that he would be able to do so. After all, despite Jong In’s grumbles, he often listened to him.

Ji Soo’s voice rang out somewhere to his right. He turned to look at her.

“What’s with your expression?” she asked with an arched brow.

Why? Was he smiling now that he had found a solution?

“You look pissed.”

“What?” That wasn’t what he was feeling though. No, he was glad. The solution was right in front of him. “I’m smiling.” He smiled, or at least he thought he did.

“Okay…” she said slowly, giving him an odd look. “Anyways, I thought you said you weren’t coming.”

“Yeah, I can’t stay. I’m here with my friends. I just wanted to see what you guys were up to.”

Ji Soo scoffed. “Now you’re too popular for even us, huh? You don’t show your face around all break and suddenly you’re here? What, are you feeling guilty?”

Ye Jun paused for a moment. He had forgotten that Ji Soo tended to be rather direct, sometimes even tactless. But she was rarely wrong. He was feeling guilty, at least that was part of what he was feeling.

He peered back at Jong In’s face. “Yeah, I guess so,” he said, responding to Ji Soo even as his eyes were on Jong In. “Anyways, who is this guy?”

“Huh, you’re as rude as ever,” she replied as she turned to introduce him. “Oppa, this is Ye Jun Han. Ye Jun, this is Si Woo Go. He’s technically your sunbae, he graduated from our university a few years ago, went to the US to finish his grad studies, and now he’s back to assist a professor with a project.”

“Ah.” Ye Jun bowed a perfunctory greeting. He still didn’t quite feel like warming up to the man.

“Umm… h-h-how have you been, Y-Ye Jun?” Jong In asked after a moment’s silence.

He was stuttering more than usual, a sure sign of his nervousness. For some reason, it put Ye Jun at ease.

He smiled. “I’ve been good. My parents and I went to Bali over the break.”

“Ah y-yeah, m-my m-m-mom mentioned.”

“And you?” he asked though he already knew the answer thanks to their mothers being close.

“M-My sister and I w-went to–" he took a deep breath, "–Australia t-t-to s-see m-my dad.”

He nodded, choosing to ignore the increasing disfluency. From their years together, he knew that not mentioning when Jong In lost control of his speech was the best course of action. After all, it wasn't as if he didn't know. Bringing it up would simply embarrass him and likely make things worse.

“And you two?” he asked, turning to Ji Soo and Hwan, who was still resting his cheek against Ji Soo’s shoulder.

“Just the normal stuff, helped at my mom’s food stall. Hwan helped too, though only when he wasn’t busy with his whole family business.” She poked his cheek. “I always thought it would be nice being born rich and all but watching this guy, it made me realize it isn’t all that.”

Ye Jun smiled. It felt nice talking to his friends. He had missed this. He turned back to Jong In, whose eyes had not once left his face. He opened his mouth to say something when a voice interrupted them.

“Hey, Ye Jun! There you are, man,” a friend from his department called out to him from a few feet away. “We were all looking for you. Hana is here so we’re going to order.”

Ye Jun glanced sideways at Jong In, whose gaze had lowered slightly onto the table. Yeah, this was the best course of action, to push Jong In towards a new guy. Then he wouldn’t feel so dejected every time Ye Jun had to leave.

“Alright, tell them I’ll be right there,” he called back before he turned to Si Woo. “It was nice meeting you, sunbae. I hope you take really good care of my friends,” he said, his words and smile heavy with meaning. He stood and nodded at the others.

Jong In briefly glanced at him and Ye Jun could see the disappointed look in his eyes. He knew that he wanted to ask him to stay. They had barely spoken to each other.

Ye Jun opened his mouth to say something but then paused. No, this was the right way; it was better to continue maintaining a distance.

And with that reaffirmation of his plan, Ye Jun felt an odd mix of relief and unease as he walked away from his closest friend, leaving him in the care of a stranger.