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Jihoon usually sleeps at ass-crack o’clock anyway, finishing up the work that never seems to end. Speaking of which… Jihoon scrolls aimlessly down the To-Do list on his phone. One paper, a test to study for, another paper, another paper… He hasn’t started on anything.
And yet here he is, listening to Soonyoung murder another innocent song on Seungcheol’s poor karaoke machine. The rest of their friends are scattered around the couch and the floor, either singing along without any microphones, or chugging down the last of their cheap beer, or both.
“I’m going out for some air.” Jihoon says, shrugging a sleeping Junhui off his shoulder as he gets up.
Seungcheol lifts an eyebrow, but gestures vaguely to the door to the balcony anyway. “Close it so the mosquitoes don’t get in.”
“Sure.”
Jihoon kicks the door to the balcony shut behind him. He knows his friends had dragged him over to this… party (?) to take his mind off school, and the mountain of work he hasn’t done, and he really appreciates it, but nothing is going to clear his head.
He takes a deep breath of the late night/early morning air. One of Seungcheol’s neighbors had barbecued something earlier that evening, and the smell of charred pork is really ruining the mood.
The door squeaks open behind him. “Jihoon?”
Jihoon doesn’t turn around. He doesn’t need to. “Hey.”
“Oh.” Joshua leans on the balcony rail next to him. “I thought you were smoking or something…”
Jihoon frowns at him. “Do you smoke?”
The way Joshua laughs and runs his hand through the back of his hair is an answer enough. That’s too bad, Jihoon thinks. He’s enjoyed harboring a tiny, tiny crush on Joshua these past couple of months – You know, smiling at the back of his head in class, his heart racing just a little bit every time Joshua wakes up at the end of class and asks Jihoon what the homework is.
“I quit a while back.” Joshua says, nodding aggressively, like that’s supposed to convince Jihoon.
“Sure,” Jihoon looks out over the balcony. The sky’s a dark, murky, bluish color, and the moon’s already set, leaving them lit by nothing but the moth-covered lamp of Seungcheol’s balcony.
“Hey!” Joshua protests, shaking one of Jihoon’s arms. “I really did! It was just a high school thing, everyone at my high school – Not that I’m one of those guys who’s like, you know, peer pressured into stuff, but-”
“Sure.”
Joshua laughs, shaking Jihoon’s arm again. “Why don’t you believe me?”
Jihoon’s not drunk enough to justify himself, but he grins and says, “Prove it.”
Joshua doesn’t look drunk at all. “Sure.” He says, mocking Jihoon’s reply to everything.
Joshua tips forward on his feet and lays a soft peck against Jihoon’s lips.
Jihoon, for once, decides not to question things. He leans in and kisses Joshua back, waiting with their lips against each other for a moment, just to see if the other backs away suddenly.
Joshua cups Jihoon’s face in his hands and kisses him again, and again, and Jihoon can’t help but smile into every kiss.
When Joshua pulls away and smiles back, Jihoon’s heart practically chokes.
“I guess this party was worth it after all,” Jihoon mumbles, when Joshua wraps his arms around him in a bear hug.
“It’d better be,” Joshua laughs. “I owe Seungcheol big time.”
“What?”
“I asked him to throw this party,” Joshua chuckles nervously. “Because all of us were so stressed and stuff lately, you know, just so you could take your mind off everything before Hell Week actually hit you – I mean, you as in everyone, all of us, not just you…”
Jihoon’s lips curl into an understanding smirk. “Sure.”
“Wha-ha-what?” Joshua says, his face starting to become a blotchy pink under the brightening sky.
Jihoon forgets to tease him, looking up at the sky. It’s become this soft lavender color in the few minutes that he’d been… distracted. “Shit.”
“What’re you looking at?” Joshua tilts his head up to the sky, his eyes wide.
“It’s nearly morning.” Jihoon groans. “I was supposed to get home before twelve so I could-”
“Shh, forget about it.” Joshua squeezes Jihoon tight in his arms, turning them to block Jihoon’s way to the balcony door. “You won’t die if you miss one little-”
Jihoon struggles against Joshua’s arms. “Uh, actually, I’ve got like four papers and an exam-”
“Fine, you can go.” Joshua lets go, spreading his arms in a wide I give up gesture. “Just watch the sunrise with me?”
Jihoon glances over at the sky, where the bright periwinkle from the horizon is starting to bleed upwards. He looks back at Joshua, looking just a little hurt and a little hopeful in the gentle light. Against all better judgment, Jihoon says, “Sure.”