Archive of Our Own

That's not to say they're on bad terms or anything, but they're in so many group chats together that they don't need to message each other privately. Rarely does Daehwi have anything he just must tell Guanlin that their other friends shouldn't be privy to, and when he does, nothing good comes from it.

So, it's no surprise that Guanlin is a little wary when he sees Daehwi's name light up his screen with no group chat name to qualify the message.

It's a picture of a girl.

Guanlin wasn't aware Daehwi knew girls.

isn't she cute? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Daehwi had sent with the picture. Guanlin doesn't look too carefully at it, but some things are obvious—pretty girl, tall, long hair and longer legs, blue dress, and wide eyes that look vaguely uncomfortable.

dont u have a boyfriend, Guanlin texts back, not sure how he's supposed to respond.

omg do you not recognize who this is??????? comes Daehwi's indignant reply. Guanlin sighs and opens the picture again.

Oh.

Oh.

While Daehwi is the first friend Guanlin made in Korea ("LA bros, work hard play hard, am I right?" "What."), Yoo Seonho is Guanlin's best friend. Seonho is generally a very friendly and likable person, so Guanlin didn't realize this best friendship was reciprocal until he overheard Seonho rejecting an invite to a movie night because "Guanlin wants jokbal tonight and I'm not gonna let him order anything less because he's not confident enough to say it himself." 

They had been going to the same family-run restaurant every week on Thursdays for the past three months, and Guanlin had been ordering for himself for the past two. Seonho really didn't need to do that.

"You know, you don't have to stick by me all the time if you don't want to," Guanlin had told Seonho after school on their way to the convenience store. "My Korean's good enough that I won't get hopelessly lost anymore."

Seonho had looked almost offended that Guanlin would think he'd rather spend his free time with someone else.

"I don't need you to tell me that," Seonho retorted. "And yet I'm still here."

Guanlin ignored the sudden flush in his own cheeks and paid for Seonho's dried squid before the other boy could get out his wallet.

"This wig keeps getting in my mouth," Seonho whines. Guanlin's sitting next to him, eating chips, and watching as Daehwi transforms Seonho into a pretty girl for the fourth time this week in the comfort of Daehwi's living room. He keeps thinking he gets used to it a little bit more every time he sees Seonho in a wig, but this time they got Seonho in that blue dress from Daehwi's picture and just when did Guanlin start staring so much at his best friend's thighs? How are Seonho's legs so long?? Where did they get this dress???

Seonho just objectively makes a rather pretty girl, Guanlin thinks. Anyone would agree, and Guanlin is a weak teenage boy. You shouldn't expect any more from him.

"Close your eyes," Daehwi demands, and Seonho follows obediently even if he's still pouting. He pauses the YouTube makeup tutorial he's watching before trying to replicate the same smoky eyeshadow on Seonho.

He does surprisingly well.

"Do you think this is the right look for a maid cafe concept though?" Jinyoung, Daehwi's boyfriend, asks, draping himself over Daehwi's back as the smaller boy examines the mascara he's holding like it contains the secret of the universe.

Daehwi puts mascara down and looks closely at Seonho, who still has eyes still closed. He frowns.

"You're right. This is too sexy. He needs to be more pure. Make the hyungs want to pay to protect him." Daehwi turns around to look up more makeup tutorials. "This is why we experiment."

"Do we have to experiment every day after school though?" Seonho whines more, finally opening his eyes. "I think I looked fine the first time."

Daehwi contemplates the question for a moment before he turns to Guanlin. He has a sweet smile on his face, and Guanlin knows he's about to ruin his life again. "Guanlin, what do you think? You saw the picture I took from the first day."

Seonho sputters, "You sent Guanlin—"

"Uh, yeah he looked fine. I guess?" Guanlin cuts Seonho off, unsure. Seonho looks at him owlishly.

Daehwi smiles a little wider. "I guess it's decided then."

Guanlin's class is doing a maid cafe for the school's annual winter festival and selling off dates with their maids in the name of charity. There are no actual maid costumes involved, but they do have girls courtesy of Daehwi's friendship with Jeon Somi from the affiliated girls' school (turns out Daehwi does know girls...lots of them, actually) and Somi's overarching influence. 

What Guanlin didn't realize was that members of their all boys class were also going to be maids. Probably because he fell asleep during the planning meeting before he could hear who would be sacrifices to the Crossdressing Gods™. Whoops. He most likely wouldn't have known until the event itself had Daehwi not sent him that picture of Seonho. For whatever reason, Daehwi had also volunteered to be Seonho's "stylist" for the event but only Seonho's. ("You're on your own, Euiwoong.")

Seonho seems to take it in stride, though, if the way he's bouncing around the classroom as they prep is any indication. The bouncing gives Guanlin small heart attacks because Seonho's wearing that blue dress again, which would hit mid-thigh for most girls and is almost inappropriate on Seonho because his legs are just too long. Guanlin feels like he needs to preserve his best friend's decency. On the other hand, Seonho's also got a red bow in his wig, probably to evoke feelings of purity or whatever the fuck Daehwi wanted.

"Oppa, do you think I'm pretty?" Guanlin hears Seonho ask, voice pitched higher, breathier. He looks up and sees Seonho with his hands clasped behind his back, which pushes out his chest—did they give him boobs—as he sways faux-nervously in front of Samuel. Samuel cackles at the image, leaning on the desk he had been moving for support, and Seonho collapses out of the act, laughing too before he asks in his normal, deeper voice, "Yah, are you mocking my beauty?"

Guanlin busies himself with making more finger sandwiches.

The idea of people paying for Seonho's time and affection leaves a weird taste in Guanlin's mouth, even if it's for charity. 

Or maybe just the idea of Hwang Minhyun paying for Seonho's affection bothers Guanlin. Seonho already plasters himself on Minhyun's side in attempts to fuse his entire being into the elder's whenever Minhyun visits from university. The last thing Minhyun of all people needs to do is pay for Seonho's time, or go out of his way to visit his alma mater when he's on winter break.

For charity, Guanlin reminds himself. Friends and family are supposed to come to the festival. Besides, Minhyun already has a boyfriend he goes to university with.

Not that that last part matters. Guanlin doesn't concern himself with matters like this.

Or that's what Guanlin was telling himself when he accidentally burns his palm getting a sandwich out of the toaster oven, distracted by a particularly unattractive laugh Seonho lets out. Guanlin hisses out three words in Mandarin that would scandalize his mother.

"Yo, dude, are you ok—" Jinyoung starts to ask from where he's pouring coffees before Seonho appears behind the food table almost magically.

"Guanlin, what happened?" he asks, eyeing the way the other boy's cradling his hand. 

"Ah, toaster oven—" Guanlin looks over at the desk Seonho vacated where Minhyun's watching them, also concerned about Guanlin's hand. (Okay, fine, Guanlin actually likes Minhyun a lot. He's a good hyung.) Guanlin hadn't realized he cursed that loudly or that Seonho was even paying attention to him. 

Seonho wordlessly takes Guanlin's hand to look at the burn. His skin's still smarting pink, but they both know it's not too bad. Seonho blows lightly on the wound in an attempt to soothe the pain, the bangs of his wig obscuring his face. 

"Be more careful, you dummy," he chides without any heat. He looks up again and grins, and Guanlin's stomach flip flops a bit more that he'd like. Which is dumb because it's just Seonho and Seonho smiles at him like this all the time. That wig is fucking with him, clearly.

Seonho reaches over to grab one of the ice coffees Jinyoung's poured and presses it on the burn. Guanlin lets out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding in. "We should probably find you a first aid kit, though."

"Don't you need to go back to Minhyun hyung?"

Seonho's face morphs into something unreadable for approximately 0.5 seconds before he sighs dramatically.

"If I must. My prince awaits."

Turning to Jinyoung, Guanlin misses how Seonho practically deflates in his seat when he returns to Minhyun. Minhyun pities the two and pats Seonho on the head.

"I bought you a date." 

Guanlin looks up from his phone at Daehwi holding a red "ADMIT ONE" ticket.

"Excuse me?"

"I bought you a date," Daehwi repeats again, with earnest.

The festival is winding down; Guanlin's pretty sure Euiwoong disappeared somewhere to change back into a boy, and most of Somi's friends decided to check out the other classes' events. Guanlin already did that when his food prep shift ended about two hours ago and brought back Taiwanese sausages for his friends. One of the senior classes decided to do an international street food fair. He wishes his class did that. Guanlin lives for night market food.

"A...date," Guanlin repeats slowly. He doesn't like where this is going. Why must Daehwi do this to him?

"Yes, with the prettiest girl at the ball," Daehwi jokes before he grabs Guanlin's uninjured hand and closes it around the red ticket. Guanlin looks around the classroom. There are a huddle of three girls on their phones, and Jinyoung and Samuel are cleaning off the unoccupied desks. It occurs to Guanlin only then that Jinyoung isn't even in their class and should probably be helping his own class with their event.

"Uh," Guanlin replies eloquently.

"They'll be back soon," Daehwi promises. "Bathroom break." Guanlin frowns.

He should have known he'd be sitting at one of the last desks across from Seonho ten minutes later. They're the only ones left in the classroom, save Jinyoung and Daehwi. Guanlin thinks they might be making popcorn right now.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Seonho asks, using his girl voice. He fidgets a little in his seat and plays with the hem of the dress. If Guanlin didn't know better, he'd think Seonho was a great actor or just nervous, though that'd be ridiculous because what does he even have to be nervous about?

"Uh, no, I'm good." Seonho takes a sip of his ice coffee. Guanlin wonders how much coffee Seonho's had to drink today as part of this get up. Most likely a very unhealthy amount given how much energy Seonho already possesses.

They lapse into a bit of an awkward silent before Seonho says, "My eyes are up here, Guanlin oppa."

Oops.

"I can't believe they gave you fake boobs," is Guanlin's immediate response. "Did you just call me oppa?" His eyes flicker back up to Seonho's face, and they start laughing when their eyes meet.

"I mean, I'm technically younger than you," Seonho manages to get out between giggles. He's using his normal voice again, to Guanlin's relief. "Daehwi made me wear one of his mom's bras and got those weird silicon pads. I think I'm a solid C cup right now." This sends Guanlin into another fit of giggles. 

"Did you have fun today at least?" Guanlin asks, once they both calm down.

Seonho sighs gravely. "Even in this form, I was unable to seduce Minhyun hyung."

"Minhyun hyung has a boyfriend."

"Don't remind me."

"I'm just saying dressing up as a girl probably wasn't the move to make."

"Sexuality is a spectrum, Guanlin, and you don't know where Minhyun's preferences fall. Besides, Yoo Sunmi is a goddess." Seonho flips his hair to accent the point.

"Yeah," Guanlin agrees without thinking. 

Seonho pauses.

"Yeah?" Seonho looks nervous again. Guanlin suddenly doesn't know what question he's answering.

"Yeah," Guanlin repeats. Before his brain can process his next thought, he says, "I think I prefer you without the skirt, though."

Seonho's eyebrows disappear into his bangs. Guanlin hears Daehwi gasp as Jinyoung whispers, "Guanlin's wild."

"Excuse me?"

Guanlin's face heats up as he realizes just exactly how that sounded like. "Wait. No. I just—you know I prefer you as you." Guanlin averts his gaze. Seonho's smile blooms as he breathes out a quiet, "Oh."

"Yeah."

Another beat of silence. 

"Are you sure? You seem to like my legs a lot more like this." Guanlin chokes. Seonho crosses his legs triumphantly with a smirk.

"Hey, while Seonho's still dressed like this, can you guys do Troublemaker again?" Daehwi interrupts from across the room. He's cuddled with Jinyoung, sharing a bag of popcorn. Typical.

Guanlin is about to protest when Seonho hops up. "Yes! We must. This is my final form!"

Guanlin needs new friends.