“So, why did you want to see me?” Si Woo asked, dropping his cigarette to the ground and stomping it out before picking up the butt. He then looked up from where he sat on the backdoor stoop of a building that rarely saw any activity.

Ye Jun walked towards him and then paused when he stood in front of the sunbae, staring down at him. For a moment, he felt a strange sense of assurance as he assessed the older man from this new angle.

He was certainly good looking, and from what Ye Jun could determine from their previous encounters, he was straightforward and friendly. The sunbae was also a friend of Ji Soo and despite her odd character, Ye Jun trusted her judgment.

He met the requirements for becoming Jong In's partner or, at least, he met the requirements that Ye Jun had for him.

He felt a strange itch suddenly developing somewhere deep within him, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was or why he was feeling it. He looked down at Si Woo again.

The realization alone should have mattered, but for some reason his current physical position was important as well. It brought him relief.

Ye Jun's eyes focused in on the other man’s wide mouth and sharp, slightly upturned eyes, and he felt a tightening in his chest.

“So, what is it that you want?” the sunbae asked again as he started to stand.

Damn.

Ye Jun briefly turned away before facing him again. “I wanted to talk to you about Jong In.”

Si Woo looked back at him steadily. Earlier that week, he had asked Ji Soo about this man who had barged in on their gathering in the chimaek restaurant. It was then that he had found out that Ye Jun Han was known as the campus prince. He was handsome, from a fairly well-off family, friendly, liked by all, and perhaps most importantly he was also Jong In’s childhood friend. He had been given the moniker ‘Ice Prince’ during his first year in high school because of his notable lack of jealousy towards all of the women he had dated and, apparently, the nickname had followed him into the university.

Si Woo met his gaze. It was curious for a straight man who had a penchant for not being jealous to ask him to meet simply to talk about his friend. A friend who happened to be male and whom, according to Ji Soo, Ye Jun happened to be avoiding, though she had refused to divulge the reason why.

“What about Jong In?”

“I couldn’t help but notice—” he began, and Si Woo realized that Ye Jun was meeting his eyes rather intensely “—how close you have gotten with him.”

Ahh. Was he about to witness a momentous occasion in this young man’s history?

“We may have grown close. What does that have to do with you?”

Si Woo idly wondered if the young man noticed that his eyes had narrowed slightly and that he now stood a little taller.

“It’s strange," said Ye Jun. "You see, Jong In is not the type to get close to strangers.”

Si Woo felt the sides of his mouth curving upward. “I’m hardly a stranger now.”

Ye Jun's eyes narrowed further. “It makes me think that perhaps he’s interested in you.”

Si Woo blinked. “Who? Jong In?”

“Yes,” he replied through gritted teeth. “Who else would I be talking about?”

Si Woo looked at the young man thoughtfully. What was he getting at, he wondered.

“I want to help you.”

Si Woo pulled out another cigarette and dug through his pockets for a lighter. “With what?”

“With Jong In.” Si Woo’s hand paused in his pocket. Ye Jun suddenly looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know if you know anything about Jong In. He is my closest friend.”

Curious.

Ye Jun winced. “And it’s not exactly my place to say this but…he has feelings for me.”

And that explained the distance Ji Soo had referenced.

“Hmm,” Si Woo replied as his hand continued searching for his lighter.

“I can’t return those feelings,” Ye Jun said.

He paused again, the cigarette in his mouth and the lighter raised towards his lips. Ahh. “Why not?” he asked even though he already had an inkling.

“I like women.”

“Are you sure that Jong In has romantic feelings for you?”

Ye Jun watched him as he lit his cigarette. How could he possibly not know? He thought about all the times Jong In would wake him up in the morning despite his grumbling and how he would wait for him outside of class to eat lunch or to walk home. He had also caught Jong In staring at him throughout different periods of the day. Jong In would almost always monopolize his time, making it difficult for Ye Jun to hang out with anyone else who was not Ji Soo or Hwan since most others found Jong In’s lack of social skills to be annoying.

Then there were the girls who were interested in Ye Jun. Jong In would never purposely butt into their conversations, but he would always be within earshot, waiting for Ye Jun as he talked, trying to hide the somewhat dejected look on his face that always made Ye Jun feel guilty.

He shook his head. “I just know. You too should have realized by now just how transparent Jong In is.”

“Hmm.” Si Woo blew out a puff of gray smoke and Ye Jun idly noticed that the wind had made his lips turn bright pink. “I can’t deny that I haven’t noticed. Do his feelings burden you?”

Ye Jun looked at him sharply. He hadn’t been expecting him to ask such a direct question. He had honestly never thought of his relationship with Jong In in that way. Were Jong In’s affections burdensome? He couldn’t deny that they had put him in some uncomfortable positions, like the first time he had taken his then girlfriend to his house.

His parents had both been out of town for a business meeting and he had expected that he and his girlfriend would be alone that night. However, when they arrived at his house they had found Jong In waiting outside.

It had been Ye Jun’s fault since he had forgotten to contact Jong In earlier that day to tell him that he would not be walking home with him, but what ensued was an awkward exchange when Jong In didn’t immediately leave once he saw Ye Jun’s girlfriend. She had then, out of annoyance, asked Jong In what his problem was, why he was always following Ye Jun around, and why he couldn’t get the hint that he was unwanted. Ye Jun had snapped and had immediately broken up with her, but he had also gotten into a fight with Jong In that night. And he had, for the first time, asked Jong In for some space when it came to his girlfriends.

It had been one of their biggest fights and Ye Jun could still remember the surprised look on Jong In’s face as he stuttered out an apology and then went home.

He sighed. “That’s beside the point,” he replied.

“Huh.” Si Woo watched him closely and then added, “What makes you think I’m even interested in Jong In?”

Ye Jun merely gave him a pointed look.

Si Woo chuckled. “That obvious, huh? Fine, you are right. I am interested in him. It’s not often one meets such an open book, I find him cute. And his stutter–”

"He’s more than his stutter," Ye Jun interrupted suddenly, his gaze intense. "If that's why you're interested in him then—"

Si Woo raised the hand that held his cigarette, stopping Ye Jun’s words. "That's not what I mean. I am simply saying that it makes him more endearing."

But Ye Jun's gaze remained intense, his eyelids still slightly narrowed. Si Woo sighed as he took a final puff of his cigarette and then stamped it out. "And you want to help me because you can’t return his affections—”

“I don’t want to lose him,” Ye Jun replied, not giving Si Woo a chance to get the wrong idea.

Si Woo looked at him closely, surprised by Ye Jun’s tone.

“He’s important to me.”

Si Woo was quiet for a moment before adding, “And you feel that if he starts to like someone else, then the burden of his affections won’t drive a wedge between you two?”

His reply was soft. “Yes.”

“How, exactly, do you plan to help me?”

“There is no one else who knows him as well as I do, and by now you know that he doesn’t warm up to people very easily. I can help you win him over. But…” he paused for a moment and Si Woo noticed his gaze intensify, “I want you to promise that you’ll treat him well and that you won’t hurt him.”

Si Woo didn’t immediately respond, instead cocking his head slightly to the side so he could peer at the man more closely. “There isn’t any assurance that he will reciprocate any interest I send his way, and as to my feelings, my interest is simply that: interest.”

Ye Jun’s hands suddenly clenched into fists. “If you have no feelings for him then what is with you? Are you playing with him?”

He shrugged. “It’s nothing as malicious as that. I am interested, that much is true. In fact, I haven’t been this interested in anyone in a long time.”

Ye Jun grew quiet, and Si Woo could see his hands clenching tightly into fists at his sides.

Interesting.

Si Woo wondered why this mattered so much to him. Even if they were friends, wasn’t Ye Jun’s response just a little bit too extreme?

“So?”

“So what?” asked Si Woo.

“Promise me.”

Si Woo tried not to laugh. Were they in grade school? Why make such a promise when there was so much uncertainty about the future?

He threw down his cigarette and stamped it out. Ah, why not?

“Alright,” he said, his eyes meeting Ye Jun’s. “I promise I won’t hurt him.”

Ye Jun's eyes narrowed as if searching for any trace of deception in Si Woo's face. After a moment however, he nodded.

“Give me your number,” Ye Jun said, pulling out his phone slowly as though his limbs were weighed down with something heavy.