the day that seonghwa had been dreading had officially arrived. the winter formal was here.

"seonghwa, i don't remember what you said. why couldn't hongjoong come with you to the dance tonight?" seonghwa's mother asked the boy as she finished cleaning up the dinner table with him.

"he told me he had something to do with his mom, but i honestly can't remember what it was." seonghwa lied straight to his mother's face, unable to look her in the eyes as he spoke.

"well i'm sorry about that, but i hope you have a good time regardless. now go get ready, you'll be late! i can clean the rest of the table by myself." his mother shooed him off, forcing seonghwa to get ready for the school event.

seonghwa walked into his room and shut his door behind him, immediately removing the clothing he had put on after the shower he took when he got home from school. his outfit was already picked out, laying out on his bed waiting to be put on his long body. seonghwa slipped into his black slacks and put on his black button down, making sure to button all the way up to his neck.

seonghwa then moved to his drawer and grabbed a pair of plain black socks, putting them on both of his feet. he put on his favorite silver watch, matching the shiny color with the small silver hoops he put in his ears. to top off the look, he added a few rings to each hand before looking in the mirror.

i look like a liar.

——

"sangie, come on! if you don't start getting ready now, you'll miss the formal!" hongjoong screamed at his friend as yeosang continued to lay on his bed, fighting off his smaller friend as he pulled on his arm.

"no, i'm scared!" yeosang shouted as he pouted his lips.

"i know you're nervous, but sitting here and refusing to get ready won't change anything! jongie will still be here in a half an hour to pick you up regardless if you're ready or not!" yeosang finally listened to hongjoong's words and stood up off his bed, crossing his arms and pouting as he did so.

"i don't even know what to wear!" yeosang cried out, stomping his foot as he spoke.

"well that's why you have me, the fashion expert!" hongjoong praised himself, putting his fists on his hips and standing like a superhero.

"yeah, says the boy who's wearing sweatpants and a crew neck right now!" yeosang laughed, earning a glare and a light slap from his friend.

"keep complaining and i'll leave!" yeosang shut his mouth and let hongjoong walk over to his closet, "do you have any ideas of what you'd like to wear?"

"well, definitely something that's a little fancier. maybe a button down or something?" yeosang asked, sounding a little unsure of what he really wanted to wear.

"hmm," hongjoong looked around, "woah, this is so cute! why have i never seen you in this?" hongjoong exclaimed, picking up a patterned brown button down that yeosang had never worn before.

"ew, no it's not! brown? there's a reason you've never seen me in it." yeosang scrunched up his nose, looking absolutely appalled with the shirt hongjoong had picked from his closet.

"no, trust me. i got this!" hongjoong put down the brown button down shirt and continued looking throughout yeosang's closet for more clothing items.

after what felt like a lifetime to yeosang, hongjoong had finally picked out a black turtleneck, a pair of shiny black pants, and black and brown shoes. yeosang looked down at the clothing items, confused as to how someone could style them together.

hongjoong caught on to the boy's confusion and chimed in to help, "ok, first put on the black turtleneck. then put the button down on top of it, i'll tell you how many buttons you should use. and then, tuck them both into the pants. i'll turn around, put the shirts on and then i'll button it for you."

yeosang did as he was told, taking off the shirt he was wearing and putting on the turtleneck followed by the button down. he called hongjoong over for help, hongjoong deciding on buttoning only two out of four of them. hongjoong turned around again for yeosang to put on the pants, the boy tucking in both shirts he was wearing before zipping up and buttoning his pants closed. he finished off by putting on his shoes and walking to the large mirror in his room.

"wait, i think you were right about the outfit." yeosang said as he looked in the mirror, face shocked from how good the outfit looked together. hongjoong quickly turned around and began squealing after seeing how amazing his friend looked in the outfit he picked out.

"see, i told you! you look so so so good!" hongjoong emphasized his speech, wanting yeosang to realize how incredible he looked, "now it's time for jewelry."

hongjoong ran over to yeosang's jewelry box and looked through the different pieces he had. he decided on giving yeosang gold jewelry to match with his warm tone aesthetic, finding some simple hoop earrings, a few rings, and a beautiful necklace. yeosang put all the jewelry items on and smiled widely in the mirror, completely obsessed with his look.

"so, do you like it?" hongjoong asked as he stood next to yeosang, seeming really excited to hear yeosang's response.

"i look better than ever! thank you so much for your help, joongie! i hope jongho likes it too." yeosang looked down shyly at the thought of his date.

"i know he'll love it!" hongjoong confidently stated, giving his friend a huge hug.

the boys broke apart when they heard a knock on the door.

"come in!" yeosang called out, knowing it would be his mother walking inside.

"wow yeosang, you look amazing!" she cheered, "hongjoong, you're an amazing stylist."

"thank you mrs. kang!" hongjoong smiled widely at yeosang's mother's compliment.

"now come on, let's get your hair done before jongho shows up!" yeosang's mother waved the boys on, all three of them moving from yeosang's room to her master bathroom.

hongjoong looked around the room in amazement. the bathroom was huge; there was a large vanity covered with makeup products and hair accessories, shelves filled with fluffy towels and different types of shampoos, and a beautiful white tub big enough to hold an entire family.

"wow, your bathroom is beautiful!" hongjoong complimented as yeosang took a seat in his mother's makeup chair, waiting for her to blowdry and style his blonde hair.

"thank you, honey. you're too sweet." she smiled as she began fixing up yeosang's hair. hongjoong sat in another chair that yeosang's mom had in the bathroom, watching as she magically transformed yeosang's hair from a mess to a perfect wavy masterpiece.

"mommy, it's perfect! i don't understand how you do it." yeosang looked in the mirror in amazement, obsessing over his new hairdo.

"it's just a special talent i have." yeosang's mom shrugged her shoulders as if it was nothing, giggling along with the other two boys in the room.

yeosang looked around the counter in front of him, not wanting to say what was on his mind to his mother. he was eyeing down some products in particular, hoping his mother would suggest putting them on. hongjoong noticed the boy's slightly distraught face and was curious as to what he was thinking about.

"sangie, is everything ok?" hongjoong asked the boy, peaking his mother's attention.

"y-yeah, i'm fine." yeosang stuttered out, continuing to look at the makeup products. yeosang's mother noticed what he was looking at and she smiled to herself, picking up the concealer without even asking yeosang to make sure.

yeosang's eye lit up when he saw the product in his mother's hands, "how did you know that was what i wanted?"

"a mother's intuition, i guess." she answered bluntly, applying a few different makeup products to yeosang's face. he ended up with a light smokey eye and some basic base makeup, making him happier than he could've ever imagined.

"i love you so much mom. thank you for everything!" yeosang cheered, jumping up from his seat and hugging his mother tightly.

"i love you more, hun. join the hug, joongie!" mrs. kang put her arm out for hongjoong to come in, the boy taking the opportunity and running into it.

"as much as i'm enjoying this little love fest, we need to hurry it up! jongho will be here any second!" yeosang backed out of the hug, rushing down the stairs without bothering to wait for hongjoong or his mother to follow. they both laughed and walked down the stairs, waiting for the boy to show up.

a few moments later, the front doorbell rang. yeosang's heart immediately dropped, nerves beginning to take over his entire body. thankfully, yeosang's mother opened the door so yeosang could have another second to compose himself.

"come on sangie, you got this! you're gonna have the bestest time ever tonight!" hongjoong hyped up his friend, knowing yeosang would have so much fun with his brother at the formal.

"you're right, i will." yeosang smiled and stood up, "let's go now."

both boys walked over to the door and waved to jongho. jongho's mouth opened wide when he saw yeosang. he had never seen yeosang look more amazing in his entire life.

"wow yeosang, you look beautiful." jongho complimented him, making yeosang blush and hongjoong and his mother coo at how adorable the two were. jongho quickly took out his phone and opened the notes app, handing it over to yeosang so he could type a reply.

'thank you. you look amazing as well.' yeosang showed the older, smiling widely as he did so.

"you guys better head off now before you're late to the dance! yeosang, i hope you have a great time tonight. jongho, please watch over him. i love all of you so much!" mrs. kang instructed, giving yeosang a kiss before they could head out.

"thank you so much, mrs. kang. i'll make sure to take good care for yeosang." jongho bowed respectfully before taking yeosang's hand in his own and walking out of the house. hongjoong followed quickly behind, jongho promising to drop him off at home before heading to the dance.

"so hongjoong, what do you plan on doing tonight with mom?" jongho asked, trying to spark up a conversation after he began driving away from the kang residence.

"we're gonna watch my little pony! at least that's what i hope." hongjoong giggled as they neared the house.

"i'm sure mom will love that movie choice." jongho said as he parked the car, "i hope you have a great night, babe."

"you too jongie! and you as well sangie!" hongjoong jumped out of the car and ran to the front door of his house, vigorously ringing the doorbell. hongjoong's mother quickly ran to the font door, knowing it was her son ringing the bell like that.

"my love, you're back!" hongjoong's mother greeted her son, giving him a hug and allowing him inside the house. jongho drove away as soon as he saw his brother was safely inside, grabbing onto yeosang's hand as they neared the high school.

"so, i was thinking we can watch my little pony tonight. is that ok?" hongjoong asked his mother with doe eyes, hoping for her to say yes.

"of course that's ok! but first, let's get some ice cream. you deserve it!" she exclaimed and hongjoong cheered, following behind his mother into the kitchen to eat one of his favorite strawberry desserts.

as hongjoong and his mother scooped out a frozen dessert at their house to enjoy, jongho pulled up to his high school with yeosang. the two of them stepped out of the car and made their way to the front door, both of their hearts racing due to their overwhelming nerves.

"i know tonight is going to be great because i'm with you." jongho shyly admitted, smiling to his date next to him. yeosang nodded his head in agreement, not wanting to take out his phone and tye out a response in that moment.

the boys handed in their tickets to the front desk and walked into the cafeteria where the event was being hosted. the room was dark, strobe lights moving side to side throughout the whole room. there were snacks and drinks lined up along the side of the room, being watched over by teachers to make sure no students would spike them.

jongho looked around to find some of his friends. he knew seonghwa wouldn't be there, but the rest of his main friend group were still going. not too long after, jongho spotted san and the rest of his friends on the outskirts of the dance floor.

"choi san!" jongho screamed out, walking towards the boy and the rest of his friends.

yeosang didn't like big crowds, so he thought it would be best if he waited for jongho to finish talking to san and his friends to spend time with him. he decided to take a seat on one of the available chairs and looked around the room, thankful to see ryujin was nowhere in sight. he pulled out his phone and started playing some games to pass the time, not minding that jongho left him to talk to his friends for a bit.

"hey ho, fancy seeing you here!" san screamed out, peaking his friend's attention. mingi and yunho quickly waved, but seonghwa didn't.

shit... why is he here!? didn't he say he wasn't coming?

"what do you mean?" jongho questioned, unsure of what san meant by his comment.

"you said you weren't coming because of ryujin, remember?" san asked, seeming confused. a lightbulb went off in jongho's head after san spoke up and he laughed out loud.

"oh yeah! i guess i forgot to tell you guys that i was coming." jongho answered, feeling slightly bad for leaving his friends out of the loop. seonghwa continued to hide himself, facing the crowd of people rather than his friends.

much to his dismay, mingi tapped him on the shoulder to catch his attention, "hwa, what are you doing? say hi to jongho."

jongho's eyes widened at the sight of seonghwa, "woah, why are you here? i though you weren't coming either?"

"uh, yeah. m-my family party got cancelled at the last minute. it was so last minute that i had to buy a ticket at the front door. my mom didn't bother telling me until five o'clock today." seonghwa stuttered out, lying once again to his friend.

"oh, well that's great then!" jongho answered, not seeming to think of the fact that seonghwa didn't bother taking hongjoong. seonghwa let out a deep breath, feeling grateful for jongho's forgetfulness at that moment.

something seonghwa didn't notice was that jongho took a date to the formal, his date being one of hongjoong's best friends. yeosang looked up from his phone, smiling widely when seeing how adorable jongho looked with his friends. his smile quickly turned upside down, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

is that seonghwa? there's no way, right? hongjoong said he was busy tonight and that's why he couldn't take him to the formal. but that's him, he's here? i have to tell hongjoong about this...

yeosang discreetly lifted his phone and snapped a picture of the boy, opening the messaging app to quickly text his friends.

besties!💓

sangie
joongie, didn't you say seonghwa had a family event and that's why he couldn't take you to the formal?

back in hongjoong's living room, the boy was sitting with his mother, cuddled up with her and his mars plush. he felt his phone buzz and he picked it up, smiling when he saw it was yeosang texting him. he read the text and furrowed his eyebrows, seeming confused as to what he friend meant by the text.

joongie
yeah he is, why? what's up?

sangie
because this doesn't look like a family party...
*picture*
i'm sorry to upset you, but i thought you should know. i'm so sorry joongie🥺

wooyoungie
oh my god, he didn't!!
joongie i'm sorry😔

hongjoong's heart immediately dropped when he saw the picture.

seonghwa went to the formal and didn't bother to tell me? he lied to me?

"sorry mom, but i'll be right back. i have to use the bathroom." hongjoong quickly shot up and ran to the bathroom, not even bothering to wait for his mother's response. he felt the tears streaming down his face, unable to control them from flowing.

call sangie ?

yes or no

oh shit... IT'S HAPPENING EVERYONE!!!! i'm sorry... hehet, not really🥰

and yes i decided to double update, i want to leave y'all shaking😇

-vic