Chapter Text
Basketball Buddies
Nicholas
Yo
Anyone up for a game tonight?
… why isn’t anyone answering
It’s practically the weekend already, don’t tell me you guys are busy!
@Yuma you’re always on your phone? What’s going on
@Jo Oh wait, are you guys on a date or something?
Shit
Okay
okay fine, who am I to stand in the way of young love
But if you are free for, like, half an hour later tonight feel free to come over to the court, I’ll probably be there for a while anyway in a bit I think
It’s been a while since we played together! Don’t you miss it too?
Come over if you can!
_________
Artistes
Jo
Hi Harua! Sorry about this
Harua
We’ve talked about this before! You cannot use ‘sorry’ as the first thing you text someone
Jo
Technically, the first thing I said was hi
The second was sorry
So I wasn't really opening with 'sorry', unlike last time
Harua
You have been banned from saying sorry generally, every time you text
Jo
Oh, have I?
Harua
Yes! I’m making it a new rule
Running with the Pack
Harua
So we all agree - Jo can never use the word ‘sorry’ when he talks to us again
Nicholas
What?
Artistes
Harua
You were saying?
Jo
You know how K-hyung likes those plum snacks, I don’t remember their name
Harua
You mean those Haitai plum candy packets? They’re delicious!
Jo
Yes! That’s the one
Thank you!
Harua
Why did you want to know?
Jo
I’m at the konbini right now, but there are so many options here and I just got a little overwhelmed
I wanted to pick up the specific brand he likes so I thought I’d ask you
Harua
Ooh
Well yes, I am the Snack Prince after all 👑
Jo
😊 Yes
Harua
Are you going to meet him?
Jo
Yep!
Harua
Say hi to K-hyung for me! I would have come too but I’m a little busy right now unfortunately
I have an essay due tonight and I haven’t even started
Jo
That’s okay
Best of luck with the assignment! Let me know if you need any help
Harua
Always! _
________
Broskis
<missed callsx2>
Nicholas
Yo
Whr r u?
Maki
Hi Nicholas this is Fuma
Nicholas
Oh nooooo
You’re at the gym, aren’t you
Maki
Yes
Nicholas
Say no more, carry on, have fun, drink your protein shake
Maki
You’ve been skipping your workouts lately, don’t think I haven’t noticed
Nicholas
Nuh uh I can’t hear you
Maki
I’m typing? Of course you can’t hear me directly
Nicholas
Muscles are only good when they’re on you, Fuma-kun, and I can observe them from a distance
Maki
I’m sure Euijoo appreciates yours, too
In many, many ways
I can start listing them
Nicholas
This is going to be so weird when Maki gets his phone back and reads these
I'm gonna delete this for my peace of mind
Bye bye!
Maki
Come to the gym with me tomorrow!
_________
Orientation Club 2023 (Strictly for Work) ((Strictly for Fun!!!))
Gyuvin
Am I tripping or are all of you also receiving notifications from Euijoo-hyung about changes to the orientation format for next year?
Jaehyun
I’m getting them, too! My phone went off with all the notifications in a row just now and everyone in the club stared at me, it’s embarrassing
The real club I mean, not a club like ours haha
I’m asking the bartender for a drink and I’m embarrassed because of the notification sounds, I bet he thinks I’m too popular
Woonhak
Don’t lie, Jaehyun-hyung
Jaehyun
Yeah okay, I’m not at the club
Woonhak
Well duh obviously, you've never actually been to one
I meant you’ve never been embarrassed in your life
Hanbin
Euijoo
It’s, like, 11 PM
Gyuvin
More importantly, the year just started and we don’t have any new people to conduct orientations for! That’s our purpose, you know, we do orientations for rookies
EJ
Hi everyone! I hope we’ve all settled in well this year and things are going great!
Jaehyun
Euijoo-hyung what’s gotten into you
I thought we were past these niceties by now
EJ
But it’s never too early to start planning!
Gyuvin
For what?
EJ
I thought we could have a little mid-term party for all the first-years! To help them settle in better
Hanbin
Not that I don’t think it isn’t a nice idea, but what brought this on?
EJ
Are you guys in?
Woonhak
Any excuse for a party is fine with me!
Gyuvin
I mean, sure
Jaehyun
Of course!
@Woonhak you won't be invited though, you're still a kid
Hanbin
I’m always happy for a chance to spend time with all of you 🥰🥰
Woonhak
Jaehyun-hyung please
Hanbin
@Nicholas what do you think? Surprisingly, you haven't actually yet said a word
EJ
He’s busy, but he’ll say yes
Anyway, that’s great - we’re all on board! It’s time to start planning
Jaehyun
Can we please start planning tomorrow, it’s past Woonbaby’s bedtime
EJ
I’m creating a new folder for this, you should have all received a link! Feel free to add your thoughts when you can!
Hanbin
Okay…
EJ
Let’s get this party planning started!
_________
Hot Twinks Club
Nicholas
Yo
Did your dance practice get over already
K
I didn’t go today
Nicholas
Why the fuck not
That doesn’t sound like you
K
Well
Anyway, what did you want
Nicholas
Do you want to go shoot some hoops with me
K
I thought we agreed not to play anymore after the last time Fuma was irate about having to patch things up between us for weeks
Nicholas
We agreed not to play officially
No one said anything about just being on the same court together
K
I don’t know, I don’t think it’ll end well
Also I’m tired, I don’t feel up to pounding you today
Nicholas
First of all, you’ve literally never pounded me
K
Sure
Nicholas
And if there’s any pounding, it’s going to be me doing it
K
Again, sure
Nicholas
Also Euijoo and I are fighting
K
Why didn’t you lead with that?
Nicholas
You know me and my damn pride
And I know you and your saviour complex
K
Touché
Nicholas
Wow, usually you’d fight me on that
K
Well it looks like I’ve just been doing a lot of fighting lately and the worst part of it all is that I’m losing
Nicholas
Okay fine
Clearly all this requires a longer conversation than grunting at each other from across the basketball court
I’m bringing the bingsu, you break out those six packs you’ve stashed away at the back of your fridge because Fuma had to make room for his protein shakes
K
Get the strawberry bingsu
Nicholas
What do you take me for?
Of course I will
_________
Zootopia🦊🐰
Yuma
Is Taki back in his room?
Harua
Yuma-kun, I love you so I’m just going to say this once
Perhaps it’s best if you take a bit of a break from Taki for now.
Yuma
Not you, too
Harua
I don’t know what’s going on with you right now, and I’m going to be honest, I don’t really care. You don’t get to play with Taki’s feelings like this. It’s too cruel, and I know you’re not cruel, so I’m choosing to believe that this is just a temporary problem and that you’ll apologise to him soon and then we can all go back to normal.
Yuma
What does normal even mean, anymore? Everyone's so snippy about everything and this began only after Jo and I got together, not when the hyungs did
Harua
I can’t do all the work for you in fixing things, Yuma-kun, especially if you're just going to continue to be like that
You know everyone is genuinely happy about your relationship
It would take a lot to really split this very codependent group up and inter-group dating was never going to be the line, but only if we don't make it weird!
We all have feelings and we're all caught up over it all and honestly, I've come to realise that it's okay to feel what you feel, because we all know we trust each other, but that also means we don't go around saying some things out loud just to be petty about all of it
Yuma
I’m sorry, Rua-chan
You’re right, of course you are. I’m lashing out because I had a fight with K-hyung earlier today
Harua
That still has nothing to do with why you’re being an asshole to Taki right now
Yuma
It has everything to do with it
Harua
It really doesn’t have to be this complicated, you know?
He confessed to you, you rejected him, and you stayed friends. He’s moved on.
Yuma
Has he, though?
Sometimes I just feel so guilty about how everything went down
You know I never actually confessed to Nicholas back when I thought I had a crush on him, even though I got over it after a while before I realised it was Jo I really liked. So maybe I just don't get how Taki confessed but then he says he's moved on
Harua
Maybe you should give him a chance to see how he feels
It’s been a year already. Maybe he’s over it, maybe he isn’t. But if you keep hovering near him and making demands on his time and asking to hang out more than the rest of us do, you’re just making it all so much worse.
And you know if you bring up K-hyung, he’ll truly never forgive you
Yuma
All right, I’ll admit it. I said some things to K-hyung today that I regret
I guess I just don’t want to be called out about this
Taki has been so sweet and understanding about everything, but recently ever since I basically kicked him out of the apartment and left him to go fend for himself I’ve been beating myself up with guilt over it all
Harua
You want to know if he’s truly doing okay? Or do you just want to know if he’s angry with you?
Yuma
What’s the difference? If he’s okay he won’t be angry with me, would he?
Harua
That tells me my answer
Yuma
Please don’t be mad at me too, I'm seriously sorry
I’ve just been so confused about everything
Harua
What are you even confused about? You have an amazing boyfriend, you just moved in together with him, things are going great
Yuma
But that’s exactly the problem!
Harua
You’re losing me
Yuma
Things are going too well! I don’t know if I’m rushing into all of this with Jo, and sometimes I can barely understand what he thinks, he’s so silent about everything
I mean, yes, he agreed to move in with me, and it’s been so nice to have him around! But I feel like I’m on edge all of the damn time when he’s around. When we went on dates earlier I could come home and scream into my pillow about all of it and then play games all night with Taki so I wouldn’t lose my mind about ASAKURA JO BEING MY BOYFRIEND! But I can’t do that anymore because he’s always around and if he sees what a loser I really am, the bubble will finally burst and he won’t be around anymore! And then I’ll have let both a boyfriend and a best friend get away because I never get what I want and I always fuck it up!
Harua
<missed call>
Yuma-kun, please pick up
Yuma
My voice isn’t great, I’ve been crying too much
Harua
Who the fuck cares? Please pick up my call
<missed callsx2>
All right fine, I’m coming over and we’re going to talk this out tonight, once and for all
Yuma
No, thank you Rua-chan but it’s okay
Clearly I bottled up way too much and was just letting my anxiety get the better of me I’ll go to bed it’ll be okay in the morning
Harua
Open the door!