Chapter Text
After the inspirational talk he had with Minsoo, Gyujin thanked his hyung before going off in search of Sungjun. If his plan was to succeed, he was going to need all the help he could get. After sufficiently checking every bathroom in the building, as well as a few of the rooms he knew Sungjun frequented often, Gyujin still couldn't find Sungjun anywhere. Where is he? the thick-browed boy wondered as he rubbed the back of his head. Just as he was about to throw in the towel and find Sooil instead, he heard the sound of some western rap song blaring over the speakers in a nearby practice rooms. Peering in through the glass door, he caught sight of his pillar of a friend as he ecstatically jumped around, rapping along with the song.
"There you are, hyung!" Gyujin exclaimed as he burst through the doorway, causing Sungjun to jump. "I've been looking for you everywhere!" Sungjun had gone to one of the less frequented practice rooms in order to take his mind off of what he had witnessed, but it seemed fate had other plans. As Sungjun walked over to pause the song, Gyujin continued; "Alright so I have a plan on how we can get Hwanhee and Dongyeol together this time."
"Wait, Hwanhee and Dongyeol?" Sungjun asked as he made his way back over to his friend.
"Have you not been paying attention? What do you think I've been trying to do all day?!"
Sungjun paused for a second as he thought. "So, wait... you mean there's nothing..."
The younger furrowed his browed questioningly as he gestured for Sungjun to finish his sentence. "There's nothing...?"
"Like, there's nothing... like with you and..."
Gyujin continued to stare at Sungjun with a confused expression. "What are you talking about, huyng?"
Sungjun felt a weight fall from his shoulders as he breathed out a sigh of relief. "Never mind. What was it you needed from me, then?"
"Alright so here's what we're going to do..."
---
Back at the dorm, Jinhoo was walking into the kitchen after a late-night run to grab himself a drink from the fridge, when he noticed two of his dongsaengs waiting eagerly behind the doorway as they stared into the living-room. From behind he couldn't see the expression on their face, though the two seemed to be preoccupied as they didn't notice the presence of the older.
"What are you guys doing?" Jinhoo asked, causing both boys to jump. Gyujin clutched one hand to his chest and braced his other against the wall as he turned to face the leader.
"Aish, hyung," Gyujin groaned as he tried to quell his racing heartbeat. "Don't sneak up on me like that."
Jinhoo laughed. "Sorry, Gyujin-ah," he said as tousled the younger's hair. "So, who we pranking?" he asked as he too hid behind the doorway and stared in the living-room.
Gyujin rolled his eyes. "We're not pranking anyone."
"Shh!" Minsoo scolded to the both of them. "You're going to get us caught."
"Caught by who?" Jinhoo wondered aloud.
Minsoo pointed at the hallway where a certain maknae was walking in, followed closely behind by Sungjun. The older of the two was going on about a level in a video game he was having trouble beating, and needed the maknae's help with.
"And I kept throwing my boomerang at them, but-- oh? What's this?" Sungjun said as he pointed to a small stuffed toy of a dog sitting on the coffee table. "That's strange, this wasn't here when I left? I wonder where it came from?"
Gyujin inwardly cringed at his hyung's poor attempt at acting.
Dongyeol too looked over at the stuffed dog, before glancing at the TV. "Hyung the TV's not even on? I thought you were playing a game?"
"I was. Someone must have turned off the TV, but no matter I'll just do it later. Anyways, back to this stuffed dog."
"Eh, some fan probably sent it in," Dongyeol said as he walked over to the PS4 and turned it on. "Hyung, the consoles not even warm, how long did you say you were stuck on this level again?"
"Oh you know..." Sungjun trailed off as he mumbled some number that could have been 20 minutes or 20 seconds. "Look, there's a little note on the dog's paw."
Sure enough, tied to the dog's paw with a red ribbon was a little paper note. Dongyeol watched as Sungjun carefully untied the ribbon, and began to unroll the little piece of paper. "To, Dongyeollie," he read, "Please don't look so sad anymore. It's not a good look on you."
Puzzled, Dongyeol took the note from Sungjun's hands and read it to himself a few times.
"Waaah, it seems you have a little crush there, Dongyeollie," Sungjun said as he elbowed Dongyeol in the shoulder. Suddenly Dongyeol's expression changed from confused to ecstatic as he clutched the note to his chest. "Any idea who it's from?"
Dongyeol nodded his head. "This is Gyujin's handwriting, I would know it anywhere," he said as he picked up the dog on the table and squeezed it tightly.
"A-are you sure?" Sungjun asked. "I mean I thought that would be something Hwanhee would say?"
"Nope, this is Gyujin's doing I know it," Dongyeol said as he smiled and carried the dog off to his bedroom. Sungjun glanced over to the kitchen and frowned as Gyujin buried his face in his hands and sighed.
---
"Whelp, so much for that plan," Gyujin said glumly as he took a seat at the kitchen island. "I don't get it. How could he have figured out it was me?"
"Gyujin-ah, your handwriting is messy as shit it's pretty easy to tell you wrote it," Jinhoo laughed as he ruffled Gyujin's hair once again. The younger pushed the older's hand away before crossing his arms over his chest.
"No one asked you."
Sungjun smiled as he sat beside Gyujin and rubbed his back tenderly for a moment. "Maybe we've been going about this all wrong."
Gyujin furrowed his brow as he looked at the older. "How so?"
"Well, instead of getting Dongyeol and Hwanhee together, maybe we should try getting Changhyun and Yein together first?"
"Of course! Hyung, you're a genius!" Gyujin exclaimed. He grabbed the older by the sides of his head and planted a kiss onto his forehead before standing up from the chair.
"Does anyone know where Changhyun keeps his car keys?"