Chapter Text
People meet three types of love in their lifetime. Each love may have different plots and endings, but they’re perfect in their own little way.
Their song is Perfect - Perfect in some way.
Yoon Jeonghan, or simply Han, has always been their friend group’s number one confidant. Him along with Wonu, and the eldest Choi Seungcheol, are always the ones looking out for the rest of their friends from high school.
Now, with Hao and Jun crying to the two of them because of another LQ, the two decided to force them to talk. The four of them, along with Kwan, Vernon, and Mingyu, are currently cramped in the living room of Han and Wonu’s 2-bedroom condo unit talking about whatever the couple was fighting over.
“I’m seriously about to beat the shit out of the two of you. I ran here thinking it’s something serious and now you’re telling me it's only because Hao didn’t let you drink last night,” Kwan says, with both eyebrows raised in frustration. Vernon, his boyfriend, can only try to suppress his laughter while trying to calm Kwan down.
Han also suppresses his laugh and says,”I get both of your points. Jun’s right - Hao, you shouldn’t be too strict on Jun.” Jun looked at Hao and was about to say something when Han continued, “But Hao totally had a point - you have a serious lack of control with your alcohol especially when you’re with that group. I’d get mad too, Jun.”
Jun sighed, dejected. The door suddenly opens and in comes the eldest of the group - Cheol. He goes straight to smacking Jun’s head and says, “I’ve heard from Hannie. It’s about your drinking again. Why don’t you listen to Hao?” Then, he turns to everyone and puts down the pizza and beer that he bought for everyone. “Okay, let’s stop this. Jun, apologize to Hao and no beer for you.”
Now, everyone’s laughing. Jun apologizes to Hao separately and it seems like nothing ever happened again.
“Oh Han-hyung, what time is Jisoo-hyung coming? He said ‘g’ in the groupchat earlier, right?” Mingyu asks while waiting for his turn on the pizza.
“Let the guy be. You know he’s busy,” Wonu says. Han nods as he bites into his pizza.
Han’s phone dings. “Speaking of, he’s downstairs already. Make sure to help Won clean later, okay?”
“Wait, he’s not joining us? I thought you guys are staying with us,” Cheol asks as Han runs to his room to get his bag.
“We’re just going for a quick drive. You’ll probably still be here when I get back.”
Before anyone else could protest, Han excitedly runs towards the elevator. This is their thing - the quiet late night drives after a long day at work. The perfect way to end the day is to spend a few hours together away from everyone, from everything, doing whatever they decide before they call it a day.
“Hey!” Jisoo visibly perks up when Han enters the passenger side. “How’s your day?” Han asks, while they entwine their hands like a habit.
“Tiring, as usual. We recorded a new song today. I’ll let you listen as soon as it’s available. Why don’t you tell me about what happened with Jun and Hao this time?”
Han laughs, “Oh it’s their usual petty fight. Jun wanted to go out with Chenle and their other friends last night. Hao asked him not to go. Then, Jun got mad because he feels like Hao’s too strict on him but like, I can’t blame Hao. They went to me because Jun was saying, how come you’re not like that when I go out with them?”
“But, you don’t go all out like Jun when you’re out with friends,” Jisoo says as a matter of fact and kisses the back of Han’s hand.
“That’s what I told him, too. Anyways, at least they’re okay now. Cheol and Won are still back there. For sure, they’ll be able to knock some sense into him and make him remember what we said earlier.”
After about an hour of driving around, Han starts to yawn, which is Jisoo’s signal to drive him back to the condo. As they open the door to the condo, Jisoo gets pulled in by their friends who are still drinking in the living room.
“Jisoo-hyung! Long time, man,” Vernon greets him.
Han quickly says hi and bye to everyone as he goes straight to his room to sleep. There he finds a sleeping Hao and joins him in bed. Jisoo stays behind to drink with the other boys and catch up.
“Did you and Hao make up already?” Jisoo asks Jun right away.
He scratches his head and says yes, but Kwan rolls his eyes which tells Jisoo that the story probably doesn’t end there.
Jun asks, “How come you and Han-hyung are always perfect together? Everything seems so simple. With me and Hao, the pettiest things turn into a fight.”
“No relationship is perfect, Jun. Believe me, Han and I aren't. We just somehow make it work. When there are issues, there are compromises. When there are disagreements, there are bargains. Most stuff can be resolved through communication.”
“It’s amazing how we never see you fight though. Do you ever? Fight about anything, I mean?” Kwan asks.
“About small things, yes. Where do we travel next? Will it be crowded there? What if people see us?” Jisoo looks down.
“Does it get easier? Hiding your relationship?” Kwan asks again.
“I know it isn’t easy on Han. That’s for sure. I’ll never stop feeling bad about that.”
The morning after, Han wakes up to a clean condo and with Wonu already working at their dining table.
“Morning,” he yawns.
“Morning,” Wonu answers, eyes still fixated on his laptop. “They all left late last night including Jisoo.”
Han proceeds to whip out a pan to fry eggs for breakfast. “Yep, figured. I know he has an early studio session today.”
Silence envelops them for a few minutes until Han notices Wonu’s creased forehead. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s another article about Jisoo…dating another actress.” Han shrugs and dismisses it since these articles come out every so often. Needless to say, he’s used to it. In contrast to what he says, Wonu knows that Han still gets bothered by this. Apart from not wanting to stir a fight between him and Jisoo, he knows how Han feels like he doesn’t have the right to even say anything. He’s just the secret boyfriend anyways.
To Cheol:
I need you to come here now.
Condo.
About Han!
Cheol comes in a few hours after that message. Right when he enters, Han goes out for an errand and tells the two that he’ll be back for dinner.
Right when he gets out, Cheol asks, “What is it this time?”
“My gut feel says this one is true.”
“Let’s pause for a second. You’re telling me that Jisoo might be cheating on Han?” Cheol clarifies. Wonu opens the article again and shows Cheol the photos of Jisoo kissing a girl at the club. “Fuck…did Han see this?”
“I didn’t show him. He denied it but I know he’s hurt, Cheol. I hate it but I know that face too well.”
“We need to talk to him about this.”
“You know I can’t. I promised him that I won’t meddle with these things. I don’t want him to think that I have an ulterior motive for bringing this up. He knows how I feel and he might think that this is me being biased. But you Cheol - he’ll listen to you. He always does. You need to talk to him.”
“Won, he will never think that your concern is coming from an ulterior motive.”
“Regardless, Han still has a higher chance of listening to you than to me, Cheol.”
Dinner comes and Han is surprised by Cheol, in his apron, in his kitchen. “What is happening? Where’s Wonu?”
“He went out with Mingyu. I heard they have a team dinner, so I’m left to accompany you.”
Han smiles at him and sits down in the diner. “Oooh let’s see what our Cheollie made for me, hmm?”
Cheol heartily laughs and proudly presents the fried eggs and hotdogs that he made. “I’m so sorry, you know I can’t cook.”
“You know I’d eat anything you make for me,” Han smiles, appreciating his friend’s effort nonetheless. Cheol sits down in front of him and quietly observes Han.
One good look at his face and Cheol knows. “You’ve seen them, haven’t you?”
Han closes his eyes for a second and smiles, “Gosh, nothing will really escape you.”
“You don’t have to hide this from me, Han. You know you can talk to me, or even Wonu, about anything, right?”
Han stops eating and closes his eyes. A few seconds later, Cheol sees Han quietly sobbing. He sits next to him, tapping his back to soothe his cries. “I want to trust him so badly, Cheollie. I thought everything’s fine. I thought I finally had this right. I learned how to compromise with everything that he needs, especially with his job. I agreed to keep this a secret even if sometimes it feels like I’m the third party he’s hiding from his fans. What’s worse is that I feel like we will always be like this - like there’s no end in sight with our hiding. What if…he wants to find someone that he can flaunt? Like that girl? He’s my friend, Cheollie. Will he really do this to me?”
Cheol carefully chooses his next words. “Leaving or staying is totally up to you, Han. I know you’ve worked hard for this relationship, even if the kids thought you and Jisoo have it easy. I’ve seen you do things I never thought I’d see you do,” Cheol smiles to himself. “In your last relationship, you were the boss. You called all the shots!” Han chuckles in between the tears. “But, in this one I’ve seen you compromise on a lot of things. I know you and I know that you regret a lot of things from your past relationship, but Han, look at me.” Cheol lifts the other’s head.“ Giving too much on this one won’t compensate for what you’ve lost in the past. You don’t have to lose yourself like this just to be able to love and be loved again.”
Cheol updates Wonu on what happened as the three proceed to continue with their work the following day. Han leaves the house early and is gone the whole day while Wonu anxiously waits for him at home.
Dinner time comes and he hears the door open. Wonu is in the living room pretending to be busy with his laptop as Han quietly enters and sits next to him. “How was your day?” he asks him, pretending to not know what happened the night before. He lets Han open up the topic when he’s comfortable - always at his own time.
“I did it,” Han says. He leans his head on Wonu’s shoulder and sighs deeply. “I confronted him. He apologized and said it was true. We’re done. Why do I feel so…relieved? Shouldn’t I be bawling my eyes out now?”
Wonu closes his laptop and leans his head onto Han’s. “You did a great job,” he says as he pats his hair. “You faced the problem and you resolved it.”
“Thank you,” Han says.
“For what?”
“I know you’re the one who asked Cheollie to talk to me. He did a really great job.”
Wonu knows that there is no point in still denying his part in this. “You know I always got you, right?” Han hummed in response. “Like I told you before, we may have never ended up together, but I’ll always be here for you. You are always loved, Han.”
[Listen: Perfect - One Direction]