Archive of Our Own

It's 2 AM and awfully dark outside, the stillness of the night only interrupted by the occasional breeze that carries the noise of the people milling around the main street towards the housing complexes. If Sakuya listens closely enough, they sound like ghosts.

He shivers. The last few days of winter still have a nasty bite to them. He would honestly rather be at home in bed, but Sakuya is determined to see his business through.

Where the fuck is he? he wonders, shivering with a particular nasty gust of wind, scuffing at the ground impatiently.

The sound of footsteps signal an approach, and he nearly cries in relief when he sees the familiar figure. Fucking finally. He steps back into the shadows, lying in wait as Sion comes closer, standing still until he's right in front of his door and abruptly tapping him on the shoulder.

“You’re hiding something.”

“Holy shi–Saku?” Sion whips around, clutching his chest. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Sakuya narrows his eyes, ignoring the question as he barrels on. “I said, you’re hiding something.” He leans forward, trying to corner Sion in the doorframe.

“Yeah, I heard you,” Sion says, pushing around him to key in his door code. “That doesn’t explain why you ambushed me outside of my apartment at–,” he pauses to check his watch, “at 2:30 in the morning.”

“I was waiting for you to come home!” Sakuya argues, following after Sion and inviting himself inside.

Sion stops in the middle of the hyeongwan and sends him a strange look. “Were we supposed to meet tonight or something?”

Sakuya shakes his head no.

“Then let me ask again. Why are you here?”

It’s a fair question, honestly. But Sakuya has gotten it into his head now that he’s not leaving without his own answers first.

Realizing that Sakuya won’t back down, Sion rolls his eyes. “Fine. Just come in already, then.”

“Great, I was getting cold,” Sakuya says, like he hadn't been toeing off his shoes already. And then: “Let me text everyone else that they can come in too.”

“Saku!” Sion looks like he wants to argue more, but decides against it with another eye roll and an exasperated sigh. Sakuya snickers and follows him the rest of the way inside.

Sakuya helps himself to a seat on the couch while Sion busies himself in the kitchen, and a couple of minutes later, they hear the beeping of the keypad and the clammer of voices much too loud for the middle of the night. Ryo shuffles in first, followed by Daeyoung, then Yushi, who’s clinging onto Daeyoung like some sort of human backpack.

“Hyung,” Ryo crows, “thank you for having us!”

There’s a slight pause, Sion likely fighting an inner war between the need to coddle his baby versus the want to yell at them all for showing up unannounced. At 2 AM. (Well, it wouldn’t be yelling, more like a stern talking to in what Yushi calls Sion’s ‘dad voice.’ Because Sion is already becoming an old man at the ripe age of 26.)

It comes out as sort of both: “You know I’m always happy to see you, Ryo. But did it really have to be right now?” He pauses, frowning slightly. “Should I be concerned that you know my door code?”

“No! I won’t abuse it, don't worry” Ryo says, sing-song, but his mischievous grin implies exactly the opposite.

“Anyway,” Sakuya cuts in. “We’re staging an intervention.”

“An intervention?” Sion asks, incredulous. “Where is this coming from?”

Yushi, deciding it’s finally time to unstick himself from Daeyoung’s back, pads over to Sion and starts pushing him towards the couch. “Sit down, hyung. We have a lot to get through.”

Sion stares at them one by one as Yushi sits him down. “Seriously. Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on?”

Yushi simply hums noncommittally, then takes a seat on the floor. Sakuya moves down to join him, and now Sion is the only one on the couch, with the four of them looking up at him. It would make for a funny scene almost, if not for the gravity of the situation.

Sion is still eyeing at them with suspicion, but signs of discomfort are also beginning to peek through. He’s fidgeting with his rings, and bouncing his leg. Good, Sakuya thinks. We’re starting to wear him down.

Sion clears his throat. “So is anyone going to say something or–”

“Hyung,” Sakuya interrupts, deadly serious. “You’re hiding something.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Sion huffs. “What could I possibly be hiding?”

“You have no other friends,” Yushi says, blunt as always, and Sion’s ears redden with irritation.

“What he meant,” Daeyoung says quickly, with a gentle slap to his boyfriend’s arm, “is that you really only hang out with us, hyung! But we only ever see you at work now.”

“Yeah, you’ve been missing our hangouts recently,” Ryo accuses. “You’re not around often anymore, and you’re coming home late. And I know you’re not spending extra time at the gym. I asked Wonbin-hyung.”

“So you’re hiding something,” Sakuya concludes. And that’s that. The four of them stare at Sion in silence, waiting.

Sion sighs. He sounds defeated when he says, “You’re right, I’ve been hiding something.”

Yes! Sakuya mentally fist pumps. But it’s too soon to claim victory yet, because Sion admitted that way too easily.

“So what is it?” he can’t help but ask eagerly. He hopes it’s juicy. Like drugs, or something. (Obviously, Sion wouldn’t be doing drugs. It’s just more fun to imagine that than, like, grinding to rank up on League. Because Sion’s a loser. It would be so on brand.)

Sion shrugs. “I guess I can tell you guys….I have a boyfriend.”

Almost immediately, Ryo is laughing, bright and again, likely much too loud for the hour. “That’s funny hyung,” he chortles. “What is it really though?”

Sion frowns. “I’m not joking. I have a boyfriend," he insists, hands clenching into fists.

Sakuya gapes, and Yushi scoffs. Only Daeyoung seems to hang on to any semblance of normalcy as he says, encouragingly, “That’s great, hyung. I’m happy for you!”

He says it so genuinely that Sakuya is almost convinced that yes, Sion has a boyfriend. He considers it for a second, the idea of Oh Sion—Operations Associate for T1 and single father of 4 at 26—with a boyfriend. Yeah, no. It's nearly as believable as the LCS winning Worlds, which is to say, not at all.

"Nice try, hyung," he huffs. "You almost had me."

Sion stands, groaning in frustration. "You asked me to tell you guys what I was hiding. And now that I've told you, you don't believe me." He begins pacing back and forth.

"I'm with Saku on this one," Ryo admits. "It would've been more believable if you'd said literally anything else."

"Guys," Daeyoung interrupts with a nervous laugh, "maybe we should just believe him?" He's ignored, Yushi's voice beginning to raise in volume, which is never a good sign. "Guys," he tries weakly, one more time.

"Are you okay?" Yushi asks, steamrolling over his boyfriend. "Like seriously, are you going through something? Do you need help?"

"No. I'm good. Great, even."

"You could've at least come up with a better excuse," Yushi accuses. "Do you think we're stupid?"

Sion’s pacing suddenly grinds to a halt. "Yes, I think you're stupid, because you're not listening to me!" he nearly yells through gritted teeth.

Yushi, always quick to anger, does not take kindly to that, rising to his feet and storming over to Sion, stopping only when their noses are nearly touching.

“We work in e-sports corporate, Sion,” Yushi says. Oof. Dropping the hyung. “You don’t talk to anyone outside of the office, and no, Wonbin doesn't count. So unless you’re dating Faker himself or something, then I. Don’t. Believe. You.” Every word is punctuated by a poke to the chest.

Ryo and Sakuya look on with thinly veiled glee. Daeyoung just looks scared.

Sion’s ears are burning a bright red now, his fists white-knuckled. Maybe somebody should step in now—Sakuya's never witnessed the sight of a truly angry Oh Sion, and he doesn't want to see it now. Or ever, hopefully.

But to his credit, Sion holds it together remarkably well, exhaling deeply and relaxing his hands before speaking again. “Daeyoung-ah,” he says, voice carefully even. “Please come collect your boyfriend.”

Daeyoung squeaks out an okay and quickly obliges, scrambling up off the floor before approaching Yushi from behind like he's a skittish cat. “Yushi hyung, come on. Let’s give him a chance to breathe,” he implores softly.

Sakuya looks on with part awe and part disgust as Yushi instantly deflates like a balloon, the anger rushing out of him as he steps back into Daeyoung's arms and lets himself be ushered a safe distance away.

Sion huffs. “Now, if anyone would like to discuss this like a civilized person—“

"Show us his Instagram," Sakuya butts in. That should settle the debate.

"He doesn't have one," Sion says.

Sakuya gapes at him incredulously. "Seriously?" he asks. "That's like, even less believable than you having a boyfriend. What twenty-something year old doesn't use Instagram?"

"He doesn't like social media," Sion says sheepishly.

"Sure, then what about a picture of the two of you together?"

"Um. We haven't taken one yet because—uh, it's pretty new?"

"You're a terrible liar, hyung," Yushi huffs, subdued in his boyfriend’s half-embrace, but now even Daeyoung looks like he's beginning to doubt the existence of this so-called boyfriend, brows knitting together in bewilderment.

"You're telling me you don't have a single picture of him," Sakuya scoffs. "You're so full of shit, he's obviously fake."

Sion throws his arms in the air with a frustrated huff. "I don't know what more you guys want me to say—you asked, and I told you. If you choose not to believe me, then that's your choice, but I'm going to bed. Please just be gone by the time I wake up."

With that, he turns on his heel and disappears down the hallway into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

Well, that was rather dramatic. Sakuya turns to face the others. "I think,” he says with a devious grin, “we should bet on if Sion-hyung actually has a boyfriend or not."

"I think it’s pretty obvious," Ryo giggles. "He's clearly lying."

"I agree," Yushi grumbles, clearly still salty from their earlier argument.

Daeyoung pats his arm consolingly, then chimes in innocently: "I still think he as a boyfriend. He wouldn't lie for no reason."

The rest of them heave a collective sigh, and Yushi sends him a look of pity. "Daengie, of course he would lie for no reason. He's bisexual."

Huh, Sakuya thinks as he observes Daeyoung's expression shift from earnestness to confusion, he really does look like a puppy. He curbs the thought immediately, disgusted, not wanting to subscribe to whatever weird pet-play Yushi and Daeyoung have going on.

Thus, in the end, it becomes a three versus one bet—if Daeyoung wins, and the boyfriend is real (which he isn't), then they'll each owe him a meal, and vice versa if they manage to expose Sion's lie.

By the time they head their separate ways, Sakuya's already daydreaming about yukhoe he's going to make Daeyoung buy when the rest of them win. Which they obviously will, because Sakuya doesn't bet on losing dogs. (Sorry, Daeyoung.)

🐈‍⬛

The plan, as decided that same night, will be attempting to confront Sion at various times and places in the hopes that they'll catch him off guard, either proving the existence of the boyfriend (unlikely), or catching him in a lie (definitely happening).

Daeyoung is up first, still obstinately believing in Sion, much to Yushi's chagrin. He tries three days in a row to corner Sion in the break room, before finally succeeding on the fourth.

"Hyung," he says nervously, pretending to busy himself with the coffeemaker. Sakuya groans; Daeyoung doesn't drink coffee. Sion also knows this, which means they’re already off to a bad start.

"What?" Sion responds, eyeing Daeyoung suspiciously before his gaze flies over to where Sakuya's also trying to make himself appear busy.

Sakuya quickly whips his gaze back to the fridge with a wince. Subtle. He watches through the corners of his eye as Daeyoung is nearly trembling from the force of Sion's intense stare.

"He better not chicken out," Sakuya mutters to himself as he pretends to dig around for a drink.

"I was just wondering if there's something wrong, really," he hears Daeyoung say hurriedly. "We just miss having you around."

Sakuya shivers, the cold air of the fridge starting to penetrate through his clothing. Can Daeyoung hurry up and get to the point already?

He hears Sion exhale a relieved laugh. "Aw, that's sweet Daeyoung-ah. I'm fine though, I just—"

He's cut off by the sound of a phone ringing, some Japanese song Sakuya has never heard before. Hm.

"Sorry, I have to take this," Sion says, sounding suddenly very cheerful and not sorry at all. They watch as he nearly waltzes out of the break room, completely ignoring Daeyoung's stuttered protests from behind.

Sakuya lets the fridge door slam shut with a frustrated groan.

🐈‍⬛

Yushi’s approach is a lot less delicate. Unlike Daeyoung, he has zero qualms about potentially offending Sion, literally calling him a liar every time he has the chance. Whenever they manage to catch Sion during a lunch, which is less and less frequently these days, he's leaning across the table and grilling into Sion with a relentlessness that leaves Sakuya feeling grateful he's not the one on the receiving end.

"You have weird scratches on your arm," Yushi points out one time. He does—bright pink marks marring pale, veiny skin. Sakuya hadn't even noticed. "Did you get a cat or something?"

Sion rolls his eyes and takes a bite of his lunch, fried rice. It looks homemade; maybe Sion finally learned how to cook. Sakuya eyes it with longing and takes a bite of his sandwich. It’s dry. "No, and wouldn't you have seen it?"

"Well," Yushi pouts, "you could've been hiding it in your bedroom, I guess."

"That seems like a stupid thing to hide," Sion remarks with finality, suggesting the conversation is closed. He shoves another hefty spoonful of rice into his mouth. It looks so fucking good.

Yushi huffs and glares, but he has about as much intimidation factor as a disgruntled kitten. Daeyoung rubs his hand soothingly, and Ryo side eyes them with open disgust. Well, so much for that.

Sakuya takes another bite of his sandwich. It tastes like defeat.

🐈‍⬛

By the time that Ryo's attempt rolls around, Sakuya is nearly ready to just give up and wait until Sion slips up, because it has to happen eventually. But Sion, much to Sakuya's disappointment, has been steadfastly deflecting their interrogations with ease. They also just have fewer opportunities to confront him—he's out way more often, but aside from that, there are no other traces of his so-called boyfriend aside from the frequent phone calls that he always has to take.

If he was Daeyoung, maybe Sakuya would've been convinced about the existence of the boyfriend by now, but he's not so sure it isn't just some elaborate prank, Sion committing to the bit now that the rest of them are invested. Because again—he's bisexual and evil.

Sakuya's nearly about to ask Ryo to resort to aegyo, because the incessant questioning method just isn't working. Sion's responses come too fast, too rehearsed for them to find a loose thread to grab onto.

Sion's boyfriend, apparently, is 25 (age-appropriate much to their relief), works in entertainment (believable enough), and really shy around strangers (sure, but he actually—probably—just doesn't exist).

"I'm worried I'm going to have to pull out the puppy eyes," Ryo complains to him on the bus back home, another failed attempt in their wake. "Do you think he'd break?"

Sakuya shakes his head wordlessly. The thing is, actually—it usually doesn't take much for Sion to break at all. For all of his blustering, he's usually pretty soft when it comes to their little group, especially Sakuya and Ryo. He says no to them like, 10% of the time.

("My babies," he'll croon affectionately, smothering them in hugs and attempting to place fat, slobbery kisses on their cheeks, pulling them in tighter when they try to dodge.)

In this situation, though, he's not so sure that even Ryo's best sparkling chi-chi eyes will be enough for Sion to concede.

"I don't know," Sakuya sighs eventually. "But we're getting him one way or another."

He refuses to lose.

🐈‍⬛

The golden opportunity finally arrives one week later.

Sakuya has recently taken it upon himself to try at some reconnaissance, and he’s essentially been skulking around the office following Sion, trying to scope out any weird behavior.

He hasn’t found anything rewarding yet—the only things he’s earned so far have been stares from Sion’s colleagues, likely questioning why the Design Intern is on the operations floor. Sakuya just flashes his cutest, most innocent smile in response, and it must be working because no one has said something to him yet. But again, that may just be because they’re all a bit…socially stunted. (As Yushi had lovingly reminded them all—e-sports corporate.)

But today, the gods of luck must be on his side, because as he’s trailing Sion back to his desk after lunch, Sion is suddenly stopped by the Operations Senior Manager, Mr. Jung.

“Sion-ssi, can we chat for a minute?” said manager asks, head poked out his office door.

“Sure,” Sion responds, flustered as he rushes back towards his desk. “Let me just grab my stuff real quick.”

“No need,” Mr. Jung waves him off. “It’ll only be a few minutes.”

Sakuya watches carefully as Sion disappears into Mr. Jung’s office, then scurries over to the abandoned laptop on his desk, still unlocked. So it’s really Sion’s fault that this is happening, then. He should learn to be more careful.

It’s pretty much the perfect crime. Sakuya takes one more cursory look around just to ensure he’s away from any prying eyes before sitting down, cracking his knuckles, and getting to work.

Sion has left all his browser tabs open, of which there are four. Sakuya goes through them each individually, sneaking an occasional glance back at the door to Mr. Jung’s office. He has to squint at the screen as he reads. He should really get his vision checked.

The tabs are as follows:

1. The KIA Tigers’ match history (Sion could maybe do with supporting a winning team, someday. Like their company’s, for instance.)

2. TFT team comps (Nerd.)

3. The NamuWiki page on carpal tunnel (Geez, Sakuya knew he was aging, but not that fast.)

And, finally:

4. His Coupang recent purchase history: jellies (surely he’s going to get diabetes), KT tape, and strangely, a cat collar.

Sakuya lets out an involuntary noise of confusion, quickly slapping his hand over his mouth. After a quick 360 in the spinny office chair to confirm he hasn’t been heard, he looks back at the screen. Maybe he saw it wrong, and his vision is getting worse than he thought. He un-squints and squints again but nope, still there. Had Yushi been right? Had Sion been spending so much time away from them because he had gotten a cat?

That would explain the arm scratches, surely, but not much else. They all love cats. There’s no reason for Sion to hide one.

Sakuya has the quick, horrifying thought that the cat collar could be for a human, but he shakes it off with a repulsed shiver. Sion may be a loser, but he’s not a freak. That title is for Yushi only.

Before he can mull it over any longer, he hears the office door click open down the hallway, and quickly pushes away from the desk to make his speedy escape.

Oh my god, he thinks as he’s racing back down the stairs to the design department, did I just figure it out?

It’s not technically a direction admission of anything, nor is it concrete proof. But the case could likely be considered closed, because the actuality of Sion pulling anyone is, as previously established, basically impossible.

He feels a little bit like he cheated his way to the win, but he feels guilty for all of two seconds before he’s nodding smugly to himself at the thought of the meal he’s going to extort from Daeyoung. With a gleeful grin, he pulls out his phone to text the others.

Me: guyswe need to talk lter cnwe getgsdnnr

Ryo-chan: ?? what

Daeng: 😭

Ushi: can we get ramen

Me: 👍

🐈‍⬛

“So,” Ryo says, blowing on his noodles. “What did you want to tell us?”

“Oh,” Sakuya says, then takes a sip of the still-steaming broth. “Sion left his work computer open, so I peeked.”

“And?” Yushi demands, pausing mid-bite, leveling him with a blank stare. A third of his bowl is already finished, long-disappeared into the void called his stomach.

“Um,” Sakuya squirms. “I think we won.”

Through normally-paced bites, he gets straight to the point, telling the others about the open browser tabs and, mainly, the cat collar.

“I was right,” Yushi huffs grumpily, spoon and chopsticks abandoned. “I can’t believe him.”

Ryo laughs, and turns to face Daeyoung with an impish grin. “Daeyoung-hyung, I want steak.”

“Ah,” Daeyoung smiles sheepishly, “I guess I owe you all,” and the mention of free food is more than enough to wipe the frown off Yushi’s face.

“Let’s not do anything until it’s confirmed though,” Sakuya decides, before the conversation gets too derailed. “At this point, I’m just waiting to see how long it’ll take before he comes clean.” He takes a big bite of his noodles with a self-satisfied hum.

“Fine,” Yushi says, picking up his utensils again. Then to Daeyoung: “But you should buy me dinner tomorrow still.”

“I was going to treat you anyways,” Daeyoung pouts. Yushi smiles into his soup, all teeth.

Disgusting.

🐈‍⬛

There’s a man standing in the lobby of their building. A beautiful man.

Sakuya stares openly, far away enough that the man won’t notice. It’s certainly someone he’s never seen before, because Sakuya would definitely remember that face—he’s wearing a mask, but even then Sakuya spots an elegantly sloped nose and shoujo character eyes—and his clothing, which is dark and trendy, displaying the slight curves of his lithe figure. He’s got impeccable posture, back ramrod straight as he looks around in confusion, holding what appears to be a cloth-wrapped lunchbox. Sakuya eyes catch on it for a long second—it seems somewhat familiar.

The man looks relieved when he spots Sakuya, relaxing slightly as he draws closer.

“Hello,” he says, a bit quiet. “This is the lobby, right?”

Sakuya nods. The man’s eyes curve up into narrow crescents. “Yeah. Are you looking for someone?”

“Ah, not really,” the stranger says, looking away shyly. “I’m just waiting for someone, but I wasn’t sure I found the right place."

“I see,” Sakuya answers. “Well, if you just stay here, they’re sure to see you when they come out of the elevator.”

“Perfect. My boyfriend forgot his lunch, so I’m just dropping it off.” He gestures to the lunchbox in his hand, and Sakuya swears he can smell it, catching a whiff of garlic and soy sauce. His stomach rumbles.

Wait. Boyfriend? There’s no way, Sakuya thinks, scrambling for a way to ask the man about who his boyfriend is without sounding like a stalker.

“Do you know what department he’s in? I can take it up there for you, if you’d like.” Please don’t say Operations. Please.

“That’s okay,” the stranger says kindly. “I can wait here. I also kind of forgot which department he’s in…maybe HR…” He laughs sheepishly, and Sakuya breathes a minuscule sigh of relief. HR. Okay. Not Sion then, they’re safe.

Sakuya’s about to say more, maybe pry more into this beautiful man’s life, but he’s interrupted when his supervisor slash pseudo-mentor comes running around the corner.

“Sakuya!” he exclaims. “I’ve been looking for you all over. Come help me with this before lunch.”

“Renjun-hyung—” Sakuya protests, but he’s already being dragged away. He waves a sad goodbye at the beautiful man, barely managing to catch the sound of a squeaky laugh before he’s pulled into the elevator.

“Who was that?” Renjun asks curiously once the doors have closed.

“He’s taken,” Sakuya grumbles, arms crossed, still miffed at the interruption.

“Shame.”

🐈‍⬛

Lunch arrives after what feels like an eternity. Sakuya is already feeling grumpier than usual thanks to Renjun’s sudden request, and worse yet, his food for today is another fucking sandwich. He hovers in the break room impatiently as he waits for his friends to arrive, and soon enough they all shuffle in one by one, looking about as tired as Sakuya feels.

Someone’s missing, though.

“Where’s Sion-hyung?” Sakuya questions, frowning.

“I don’t care,” Yushi snarks, pushing past him. “I’m hungry, let’s just eat.”

“Hyung,” Daeyoung protests, grabbing Yushi by the shoulder, “we haven’t seen Sion-hyung in a few days, we should wait for him.”

Yushi groans, but stops in his tracks. “Well I’m not just going to sit here, can we just go look for him instead?”

“Maybe he’s on the roof for a smoke break,” Ryo suggests. That’s probably the most likely option, so they set their lunches down—Yushi with a forlorn glance—and beeline down the hall to the elevator.

“I’m going to kill him for being late,” Yushi mutters as they step in.

Daeyoung begins chiding him, but Sakuya privately agrees. He’s so hungry that even the dry sandwich sounds appetizing. His stomach is so empty it’s almost painful.

Finally, the elevator arrives at the roof, and they stumble out, gazing around to try and spot Sion. There’s no sight of him, but Sakuya hears the faint sound of voices coming from somewhere around the corner.

“Guys,” he whispers, tilting his head in the direction of the noise. They nod in understanding, and slowly inch their way closer. Then, as if all having the same idea, they stop in place, just within earshot. Nosy fuckers.

“Hyung,” Sakuya hears a nervous voice sputter, “I don’t think we should be doing this up here.”

“Relax, aegi,” someone says. “No one ever comes up here. And we’re behind the wall anyways.”

Oh my god, Sakuya knows that voice—it’s fucking Sion. He has to bite back a gasp.

“Um,” Daeyoung whispers nervously, “I think we should leave now.”

“No way,” Yushi argues. “I wanna know what’s going on now.”

Then, there’s the sound of heavy breathing, clothes rustling, and what’s definitely gratuitous making out, and nope, Sakuya can’t listen to it anymore. He’ll take one for the team, he decides, peering around the corner, then goes still.

It’s Sion, which, yes he knew that, but the more surprising thing is that the man Sion currently has pinned to the wall is the pretty stranger from downstairs. They’re kissing openly, shamelessly, and Sakuya needs bleach for his eyes now.

“Why are you just standing there,” Ryo hisses, then he’s pushing past Sakuya to round the corner when he promptly shrieks.

The sudden noise has Sion and the pretty boy leaping apart immediately, Sion whirling his head around to gawk at them as the other man flushes red all the way down to his chest, back pressed to the wall.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Yushi remarks dryly, stepping forward, “I guess Daeyoung wo—”

He’s promptly interrupted by Ryo nearly yelling again, “Hyung! What is he doing here with you?”

Sion's mouth twists unhappily, offended, and he opens his mouth to retort before Ryo is cutting in again to say shrilly, “That’s Maeda Riku!”

And, okay, Sakuya is thoroughly lost now. Does Ryo know this guy? He turns to Yushi and Daeyoung, wondering they’re also sharing his confusion, but strangely, Yushi’s eyes are also widening in recognition. At least Daeyoung still looks confused.

“No way,” Yushi says, voice way louder than normal. There’s an extremely tense moment of silence. The stranger has his face hidden in his (large) hands.

Sion sighs. “Well, I didn’t mean for it to happen this way, I guess. Guys—meet my boyfriend, Riku.”

Fuck.

🐈‍⬛

“So,” Sion starts, expression carefully blank, “do you believe me now?” They’ve relocated to the break room now, so they can finally eat.

“Honestly, no,” Sakuya replies, taking a huge bite out of his sandwich. Yup. Still dry.

Between bites, Yushi keeps looking back and forth between the newly announced couple as if he still can’t believe what he’s seeing. Sakuya feels the same, honestly. He’s almost so exhausted he’d believe he’d imagined the whole thing. He even pinches himself to check but nope, pretty stranger—Riku—is still sitting with them at the break room table.

“Are you going to explain how it is that you’re dating Maeda Riku?” Ryo asks, as if the said man isn’t sitting right in front of him. He hasn’t touched his food yet, still in shock.

“Hold on,” Daeyoung interrupts. “First, hyung, congratulations, I’m happy for you. But am I supposed to know who this is?”

Yushi gasps, affronted. “Daengie, do you not pay attention to anything I say?” He pulls up something on his phone, then hands it over.

“Of course I do,” Daeyoung says, a bit pathetically, but takes the phone. Sakuya peers over Daeyoung’s shoulder, curious.

As it turns out, Riku does work in entertainment, as an actor—a pretty famous one at that, on the up and coming. His Instagram page is pretty impressive, showcasing brand deals and recent projects. It all makes sense now, Sion’s refusal to show them Riku’s social media, and general caginess around sharing any pictures at all.

Daeyoung and Sakuya look up to study Riku across the table, and now that he’s unmasked, Sakuya can admit he does look somewhat familiar. He’s definitely crossed Sakuya’s feed more than once.

Riku meets their eyes shyly, cheeks puffed out like a hamster’s and ears still tinged red. “It’s nice to meet you properly,” he says to Sakuya first. Then he greets each of them in turn. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I was hoping we would’ve met under better circumstances.”

Sion scowls. “Don’t apologize, aegi-yah. That’s what they get for sticking their noses in other peoples’ business.”

Riku pouts at him, smacking him gently on the shoulder. “Don’t say that, hyung. I told you we shouldn’t have been doing that up there anyways.”

“Okay, you’re right,” Sion folds immediately, properly chastised. Hah. Whipped.

“Ah, but how did you guys meet, though?” Daeyoung asks curiously.

Sion eyes his boyfriend. “I’ll let Riku explain, since you guys aren’t going to believe me if I say it,” he grumps, opening his lunch. It smells so good. Sakuya curses his fucking sandwich.

“I’m actually acting in some of the promotional videos for Worlds,” Riku explains sheepishly. “I just happened to run into Sion-hyung on the way out of one of my meetings.”

“Interesting,” Yushi remarks, wiping the remains of his meal off his mouth. “And how, pray tell, did this one get you to date him?” He tilts his head in Sion’s direction, eyeing the way Sion’s shoveling rice into his mouth at an impressive speed with mild disgust.

Sakuya’s curious, too. He’s not blind, he knows Sion is objectively quite handsome, it’s just usually overshadowed by his…loser-isms. Like, for starters, their workplace. How he managed to bag someone like Riku is anyone’s guess.

Riku shrugs, blushing. “Ah, well,” he’s fidgeting with his ring, and just then, Sakuya notices the matching one on Sion’s hand. “Hyung treats me really well. He makes sure that I eat every day, because I forget a lot. He’s very kind, and very reliable. I’m really thankful he met me, honestly.”

“Aw,” Daeyoung says, as Ryo simultaneously goes, “Ew.” Riku giggles, squeaky, hand in front of his mouth.

“That’s cute,” Sakuya remarks, giving up on the sandwich and putting it down. “But you forgot what department he works in?”

Riku’s eyes widen in betrayal as Sion swivels to face him in affront. “Riku!”

“I’m sorry, hyung,” Riku whines. “I was nervous…”

The annoyance clears off Sion’s face so quickly it’s disturbing, and when he smiles fondly, it’s somehow even more affectionate than he is with Ryo, which Sakuya thought impossible. Until now, at least.

Yushi squints at Riku, discerning. “You seem really nice and normal. Did Sion bribe you?”

Riku chokes out a startled laugh.

“I’m sorry about him,” Daeyoung rushes to add. “It’s really nice to meet you, Riku. You must be the reason why Sion-hyung seems happier lately.”

Riku blushes, and Sakuya observes idly as his friends continue to chat. Riku seems like a genuinely kind person, shockingly shy and humble despite it being well within his right to brag. Sakuya can see how he and Sion would work well together, honestly. And it’s about time Sion got a boyfriend.

Pause. Boyfriend. The bet. And the collar—

“Wait,” he hears Ryo interrupt. “Riku-ssi, do you own a cat?”

Riku shakes his head. “No, why? Also, please call me hyung. Riku-ssi makes me feel old.” He scratches the back of his neck with a self-conscious smile.

“Because, hyung,” Ryo says pointedly, “Sion-hyung bought a cat collar. And he doesn’t have a cat.”

“Um,” Riku stutters, face reddening rapidly as his eyes shift to the table.

“Should I ask why you know that,” Sion says, seemingly with zero shame, but the tips of his ears are tinged red too.

“I saw your browser tabs,” Sakuya admits sheepishly. “We had a bet on if you were lying, so we were trying to get you to ‘fess up. Daeyoung is the only one that believed you.”

“Of course you had a bet,” Sion mutters, placing his head in his hands. “Of course you did.” He closes his eyes. Riku is still bright red as he pats Sion’s back reassuringly.

The only sound for a long second is Yushi snickering.

Sion flicks his eyes open. “Shut up, Ushi-yah.” He sticks out his tongue childishly. “I know the kind of freaky dog stuff you and Daeyoung get up to at home.”

Then it’s Yushi’s turn to splutter, and Daeyoung nearly chokes on his water.

Ryo exchanges curious glances with Sakuya, who just shakes his head. Frankly, he doesn’t want to know. Luckily Riku, as it turns out, is a saint, grabbing onto Sion’s hand and scolding him, “Be nice, hyung.”

“I second that,” Yushi mutters, still flustered. “Be nice.” And then he offers a rare, toothy smile to Riku, who smiles back softly. Yeah, Sakuya can see how Riku would fit in here.

Riku stands up then, brushing off his clothes and grabbing his mask off the table. “Well,” he states, folding into a hasty bow, “it was really nice to meet you all, but I have to head out now. Apologies again for the sudden intrusion.”

They all chorus their goodbyes as Riku scurries out the door, gone before they can blink.

Sion stands too, looking at them somewhat menacingly, though any intimidation factor he had was already erased by the collar incident. “We’re talking about this later,” he says neutrally, but it sounds like an empty threat. Then he’s gone too, chasing after Riku down the hall, clumsily wrapped lunchbox in hand.

After that, a quiet daze settles over the table, everyone lost in their own thoughts. Sakuya still can’t believe in the events that just transpired. Sion has a boyfriend. He never thought he’d see the day. He shakes his head and tries for another bite of his lunch.

Then:

“What did he mean ‘freaky dog stuff’?” Ryo questions carefully.

Yushi groans and Daeyoung lets out a noise that kind of sounds like he’s dying.

Sakuya swallows his dry sandwich. “I don’t think I want to know.”