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Yuta woke up to the familiar view of Sicheng trying to murder Taeil. It looked like they’d been awake and at it for a while, they were dressed and Sicheng looked like he’d just come from outside, while Taeil’s brown hair was pushed back from his forehead with a headband.

Yuta had just gotten used to the red, and now Taeil’s hair was brown again.

His lids fought back valiantly as he struggled to open them. Taeil had pulled the curtains open again, he noticed, even though Yuta had asked him not to the night before, and harsh sunlight poked his retinas mercilessly.

He pushed off of the mattress and reached for his phone. He unlocked it and filmed a short video of the fierce, but mostly silent, battle happening in the middle of the room. He then went to take a shower.

The bathroom was filled to the brim with steam by the time Yuta was done.

He splashed cold water on his burning face to cool it. He finally felt fully awake and refreshed.

The door burst open, Jungwoo appeared in the frame.

Panic filled his eyes as he realized his mistake.

Yuta’s eyes narrowed.

“I don’t know how you did things in the old dorm, but here we knock.” Yuta said. He wrapped the towel he’d used to dry his hair around his waist before he stormed past Jungwoo, who said nothing in return.

When he was back in his room, he found Taeil watching Sicheng play on his phone.

Taeil looked at Yuta.

“Yuta.” He said, like he just noticed him.

“Jungwoo,” Yuta said as he roved his hand through the mess that was their dresser. “Is not normal.”

“Good morning to you, too.” Taeil said with an easy smile, but there was something off about the way he looked at Yuta.

Yuta supposed Jungwoo and Taeil were friends and he didn’t like hearing the way Yuta talked about him.

But Yuta and Taeil had been friends longer.

“Where is my moisturizer?” Yuta asked.

“Oh.” Sicheng got up, not breaking eye contact with his phone, and fished the small container from his back bag. He tossed it to Yuta.

Yuta caught it, “Why was it there?”

Sicheng shrugged.

Yuta didn’t want to argue, so he dropped it.

“You should give Jungwoo a chance,” Taeil said. “He’s pretty cool.”

“You think that about everyone.” Yuta retorted. He had expected Taeil to say that. Besides, it wasn’t like this was their first time having this conversation.

“That’s not true,” Taeil said. “I think Winwin is so much more than just ‘pretty cool’.”

Sicheng dodged Taeil’s attempt to touch his face.

Yuta rolled his eyes, but smiled.

“Food?” Taeil asked, taking Yuta’s smile as a green light to move on from the topic.

“Food.” Yuta agreed.

“Food.” Sicheng added, even though his focus remained on his phone.

Breakfast was a strange mix of dishes.

Taeyong was in the mood to cook, which instantly fixed Yuta’s sour mood.

The table was full of bowls of rice, kimchi stew, soup, plates of steamed rice, and he’d even made stacks of what were supposed to be pancakes, or so Taeyong claimed (Yuta didn’t say anything, but they were misshapen to the point of being unrecognizable as anything from the natural world).

That was all good if not for the fact that Haechan had decided to pay them (Taeil) a visit and had ordered from a seafood restaurant he had wanted everyone to try.

Yuta checked the time. It was 11:28 AM. He wouldn’t normally complain. But Mark, who hadn’t known about Haechan’s plan, had coincidentally also decided to visit their dorm (Jaehyun) and had bought fried chicken.

That was when Yuta made the mistake of teasing Haechan and Mark about getting the same idea at the same time, which ended with him getting scarred by the loving look they gave each other.

Johnny, who hadn’t known that Taeyong had made breakfast, had ordered pancakes (which actually looked like pancakes) and his pancakes accidentally hurt Taeyong’s pancakes’ feelings.

Yuta was trying to find another table to add to the plethora of mismatched tables they had gathered in the living room.

He found one, but as soon as he gripped either side of it, Jungwoo was there on the other side, smiling at him.

He kind of resembled a puppy, Yuta thought absentmindedly, if said puppy was secretly demonic.

Yuta felt his mouth twitch.

“Ha.” Jungwoo said and stole the table; it smoothly slipped out of Yuta’s unsuspecting hands.

Yuta walked into the living room with his arms crossed. The first thing he saw was Jungwoo spoon-feeding Taeil. His eyes turned into slits as emotion rose up his chest.

It was fear, he was sure.

Jungwoo was up to something; Yuta felt it in his gut. Taeil laughed at something Jungwoo said and started to push him away while Jungwoo tried to hug him. Haechan soon joined in. Yuta grabbed a bowl of rice and steamed eggs then sat next to Mark.

How could Taeil trust someone so quickly?

Taeil’s eyes met Yuta’s. Yuta saw him wipe at the corner of his mouth, even though there was nothing there.

Yuta looked towards Mark, “Mark?”

“Yes?” Mark said around a mouthful of food.

“What’s it like being so naïve?”

Mark stared at him for a second, then started speaking genuinely only to stop and smirk at Yuta, “Aah, I see what you’re doing!” He said with a laugh that lasted too long.

Yuta wasn’t teasing, he was actually curious, but he nodded in what he hoped was a kind way at Mark, who was more than happy to return to his food.

“How do you ask someone what they’re thinking in English?” Yuta asked, secretly hoping to spike Mark’s curiosity and start discussing Jungwoo.

Mark only translated the sentence.

Yuta memorized it even though he would probably have no use for it. He then told Mark not to speak with his mouth full, which, to Yuta’s dismay, Mark found hilarious.

“Yuta,” Sicheng was suddenly in front of him. How long had he been standing there?

“Yeah?” Yuta looked up, Sicheng looked like he had something important to say. Yuta wondered if something was bothering him and he wanted to talk about it privately.

“Are you going to eat the rest of that?” He said, pointing at the bowl in Yuta’s lap.

Yuta heard Taeil laugh and knew he had seen the disappointment on Yuta’s face, so he scrunched his face at Taeil then scowled at Sicheng as he gave him his bowl.

So maybe Yuta had discussed this issue with Taeyong once or twice since Jungwoo moved out of the Dream dorm and into 127’s dorm a few weeks ago, but he couldn’t for the life of him fathom the reason why Taeyong was kicking him out of his room.

It was late. Taeyong had dark circles under his eyes, but he wasn’t in bed when Yuta barged into his room. He had found him hunched over his computer, looking too serious to be playing a video game. Although one look at the screen proved that Taeyong took his gaming as seriously as he took his career.

“Wait,” he tried to reason with a fuming Taeyong. His forearm forced the quickly closing door to still. “Just hear me out.”

“For the thousandth time, Yuta, Jungwoo is not a secret agent reporting our every move to the government.” Taeyong let his mouth hang slightly open as he shook his head condescendingly with his eyes narrowed at Yuta.

“I didn’t say the government, I said spy agency!” Yuta corrected him, not letting himself get affected by Taeyong’s mockery. “Listen, he walked in on me this morning, in the bathroom, he didn’t even knock.”

“Oh, like you knocked when you just barged into my room?” Taeyong spat back.

Taeyong gave his chest one last shove and just like that, Yuta was past the threshold and the door was being slammed in his face.

“Why does no one believe me?” Yuta asked, his face pressed against the cool surface of the door.

“You trying to prove Jungwoo is a robot from another dimension again?” Sicheng asked from behind him, making him jump away from the door in surprise.

“You scared me,” He said. “And no, that was a ridiculous thought and I only entertained it for a few hours, I’m trying to tell Taeyong about how I’m convinced he’s a spy.”

“Ah,” Sicheng said, clearly not taking him seriously. But unlike Taeyong, Sicheng loved hearing Yuta talk about his theories. Sadly, it was for the wrong reasons. “A spy,” He said, a little hop coming into his steps as he paced in front of Yuta, lacing his fingers together in a pseudo conspiratorial manner. “You’re probably right-- But just out of curiosity, tell me exactly what it was about him that made you think this.”

Yuta shook his head and stormed past him, “You’ll all regret not believing me one day.”

“When he takes us to his mother ship to probe us with his tentacles?” Sicheng called after him, his voice brimming with laughter.

Yuta was all the way down the hall, his hand closed around the handle to their room, “Shut up, you’re mixing up two different theories.”

Yuta went into the room, ignoring Sicheng’s giggles, and threw himself onto his bed. Taeil was watching something on his phone and didn’t pay him any mind.

There was usually music in the room, but Taeil had his headphones in tonight. Yuta would normally be grateful, however, he didn’t feel like sleeping right now.

“Taeil?” Yuta said.

“Mm.” Taeil answered without turning to look at him. He wondered what he was watching.

“Never mind.” Yuta had been ridiculed just about enough for one day anyway.

Taeil looked at him, turning to his side and supporting his head with a palm. The shorter hairs stood up straight behind his headband. Yuta found himself smiling at them.

Taeil’s tone was soft, making Yuta forget about the possibility of being mocked entirely, “You wanted to talk about something.”

Taeil’s gaze was steady and open. Yuta had never once found judgment when he looked into Taeil’s eyes. Well, except for that one time Yuta had claimed he held the toe bouncing world record when they’d first met. In his defense, he had thought Taeil would believe him because Taeyong so easily accepted his words as fact.

“It’s just that…” Yuta started, then reshaped his thought into a question, “Don’t you ever wonder about Jungwoo?”

Taeil smiled strangely, “Oh, that.” Of course Taeil knew about Yuta’s issue with Jungwoo. He’d even entertained Yuta’s theories the first time he had brought the topic up. However, Yuta remembered bitterly how on that same day, he’d seen Taeil laughing with Jungwoo about some stupid video he’d found. He bitterly recalled watching Jungwoo spoon-feed Taeil this morning.

“How do you feel, by the way,” Yuta asked. “After he fed you that soup earlier today? You know he’s close with Jisung and Chenle and they supposedly play with dark magic.”

Taeil gave Yuta a meaningful look. He wouldn’t have understood what it meant from someone else, but Yuta has been living with Taeil long enough to be able to communicate almost anything with just a look.

Give him a chance, the look conveyed. Yuta pretended he didn’t notice anything and waited for an answer to his question.

“You should talk to him.” Taeil said suddenly, but his attention wasn’t on Yuta anymore. Instead he was inspecting one of his sleeves carefully. The room was dark, but Yuta could have sworn he saw color rise up the collar of Taeil’s loose sleeveless white cotton shirt.

Yuta definitely did not want to do that. “Sure.” Yuta said, faking a smile, even though Taeil wasn’t looking at him.

Taeil nodded absentmindedly and went back to his video. He almost asked Taeil what he was watching, but decided not to.

He also almost asked Taeil why he cared so much about Jungwoo, but the words caught in his throat.

Taeil probably wanted to be left alone anyway, although he would never show it.

Something about him drew people in, that was something all the members agreed upon; that Taeil was someone with whom everyone felt comfortable.

Yuta didn’t know if that was what the feeling he had around his friend was exactly. But he knew that he enjoyed being near him and missed him when he wasn’t with him. He also knew that he would rather talk to him about things than anyone else. But since most of the members came to Taeil to vent, Yuta tried his best not to.

Yuta was curious about whether Taeil had someone like that, someone with whom he could share his thoughts and concerns.

Yuta and Taeil talked quite often, but Taeil rarely shared any of his negative feelings. Yuta was sure he had them, everyone did.

Yuta would be lying if he said it didn’t bother him.

Yuta didn’t realize he’d been staring until Taeil’s eyes met his own.

Taeil had pushed the sheets off; one of his legs was bent on the bed. Yuta deduced he was feeling warm, because he could see that his cheeks were bright even under the shroud of darkness that covered the room.

Taeil’s eyes narrowed in a silent question.

Yuta’s heart stopped. But then Taeil crossed his eyes, his face transformed and Yuta’s heart eased up.

Yuta smiled, embarrassed.

Taeil was always obliging; he smiled back and turned his attention back to his phone for the second time.

Yuta turned his back to Taeil.

He closed his eyes and ignored the thudding of his heart.

“Wake up.” Someone whispered loudly.

Yuta’s eyes opened to early morning rays creeping in through the windows. Sicheng’s eyes gleamed with excitement. Yuta hadn’t meant to fall asleep. He wondered what time it was.

“Come on, wake up.” He repeated.

“What do you want?” Yuta groaned, pushing him lightly away.

“I want,” Sicheng grabbed his wrist to stop him. “To help you.”

Yuta raised a brow without moving.

Sicheng raised his own brows.

With a sigh, Yuta got up and they quietly left the room so as to not disturb Taeil.

“Listen, you want to know if Jungwoo really is an alien right?” Sicheng flicked his arm.

Yuta rolled his eyes without bothering to correct him. How hard was it to remember that it was spy, not alien.

“Yeah?” He flicked him back.

“I talked to Chenle. Jisung can help you.” Sicheng flicked him again.

Yuta remembered what happened in the Dream dorm a few months ago… He shivered. He wasn’t sure he wanted to mess with that. “I don’t know,” He said. “I don’t even know if I believe them about what happened with Jaemin and Mark.” He flicked Sicheng once on his shoulder and then on his forehead before turning back.

“Let’s just talk to them!” Sicheng insisted, pulling Yuta along without waiting for an answer. “If you’re right, and they lied, you would have nothing to worry about.”

Yuta let himself get dragged until he found himself sitting in a cramped spare room with a cauldron steaming with god knew what in front of him. Sicheng was buzzing with excitement next to him, his leg jumped up and down and his shoulders were close to his ears. A playful grin broke across his face the moment he saw the cauldron.

Jisung feigned boredom where he sat across from Yuta, although Yuta didn’t miss the way his eyes shone even through the rising smoke that separated them.

Chenle was playing with a calculator next to Jisung, “We could help you,” He said with a confident smile and a cocky shake to his head. “But it will cost you.”

Yuta got up, dusting his pants down just for the effect. “Well, I’m broke, so I guess I’m going back to my dorm. Thank you for your time.”

Sicheng grabbed his arm and forced him to sit, “I’ll pay.”

Yuta choked on some of the smoke, it was strangely heavy despite not having a scent.

Chenle said, “If Sicheng wants to pay, we’ll do it for free.”

Jisung pretended that he cared about the money for half a second before moving on.

Yuta could tell they just wanted an excuse to mess with magic, not that he believed any of this was real.

“What do you suggest?” Yuta asked.

“For you situation, I think the best option is mind reading.” Jisung declared.

Yuta heard Sicheng clap his hands once next to him.

“Mind reading?” Yuta repeated skeptically.

“You want to know whether or not Jungwoo is an alien. If you read his mind, you would know.”

“Spy.” Yuta said pointedly.

“Whatever.” Jisung waved a hand as though Yuta’s correction was part of the smoke between them. “I have a lot of customers, it’s almost impossible to keep up with the details of their woes.”

Yuta took one look at Sicheng and knew that there was no getting out of this. He wondered who else was asking for magical assistance.

“If you’re playing with magic, shouldn’t you keep a record of each ‘customer’ and their ‘woes’.”

“He’s doing finger quotations.” Jisung said, looking at Chenle.

“I saw.” Chenle answered, rolling his eyes.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Jisung said, reaching for something in a box that looked about a thousand years old at least.

Yuta sighed.

“Okay,” Jisung said, taking the way Yuta’s shoulders slumped as consent. “I’m going to pour this into the cauldron,” He held up a vial sloshing with red liquid, it was a shade of red so deep that it reminded Yuta of the color Taeil’s hair had been just last week. “And say the incantation. All you need to do is think about Jungwoo. The more you focus, the stronger the spell will be.”

Before Yuta could concentrate, Jisung had turned the vial upside down over the cauldron, emptying it of its content. Yuta couldn’t see Jisung’s face anymore as the liquid raged and bubbled, emitting enough steam to make anyone choke.

However, it only seemed to be affecting Yuta.

Jisung spoke words in a language Yuta didn’t recognize.

Yuta realized that he had expected the incantation to sound guttural, but Jisung’s words sounded silky, kind of like how Taeil sounded to Yuta before Yuta learned Korean.

“It’s done!” Jisung said with a smile.

Yuta’s stomach dropped. “What?” He asked, his voice coming out high.

“Let’s test it out,” Chenle said, checking his watch then nodding. “Follow me.”

Yuta was surprised to find Jungwoo standing in the Dream dorm’s living room with an empty duffel bag. He waved awkwardly at him, then embraced Jisung and Chenle quickly.

“I’m getting the rest of my stuff.” He said.

Yuta tried to concentrate. Jisung didn’t explain how mind reading worked, so he just stared at Jungwoo as hard as he could.

“Yuta,” Jungwoo stammered. “I’m really sorry about yesterday, barging in on you, I was really distracted and I didn’t think.”

Sicheng elbowed Yuta.

“It’s fine.” Yuta said curtly.

He wasn’t trying to be rude, but he was really disappointed that the spell didn’t work.

“Right,” Jungwoo said awkwardly. “So I guess I’ll go pack the rest of my stuff. See you later.”

When he was gone, Chenle, Jisung, and Sicheng all stared at him expectantly.

“It didn’t work.” He said simply.

Jisung paced for a short minute, then hit his palm against his forehead as though he just realized something.

When he faced Yuta his eyes were wide. He then looked at Chenle, they had some kind of silent discussion before Jisung turned back towards Yuta with a diplomatic smile.

“I may have made a mistake.” He said.

“What did you do to me?” Yuta demanded.

“I thought you didn’t believe in any of this?” Sicheng said with a smile. Then a look of pure horror overtook his features, he grabbed Yuta by the shoulders and turned him around. “IS THAT A TAIL?”

Yuta’s heart dropped to his stomach, he reached to touch his lower back, his palm moved around without finding anything.

Sicheng’s high-pitched giggle made Yuta’s eyes turn to slits. “That wasn’t funny.” Yuta said. He doubted Sicheng could hear him over Chenle’s wails of joy.

Yuta focused on Jisung, “If I didn’t grow a tail, what happened to me?”

“Nothing, nothing. It just didn’t work,” Jisung said unconvincingly. “We just have to try again.”

“No!” Yuta said.

Sicheng grabbed his elbow, slightly tugging at it. When Yuta looked at him, he saw the challenge there, What are you afraid of? I thought you didn’t believe that this was real? Sicheng’s eyes said.

“Fine.” Yuta spat.

They were back in the stuffy room. Jisung grabbed a vial and lifted it. “Just to stay safe, I’ll let you into everyone’s minds, but only for a few hours.”

“Everyone?”

“Except for me and Chenle, of course.” Jisung said. He then looked at Sicheng for a moment.

Sicheng shrugged, “I don’t mind.”

“I already know what he’s thinking all the time.” Yuta muttered.

“Oh yeah,” Sicheng smiled. “What am I thinking of right now?”

Yuta didn’t even pretend to think, “Chicken.”

“He’s good.” Sicheng said reaching an arm out to wrap it around Yuta’s shoulder briefly.

When Jisung raised the vial this time, Yuta saw that it was a luminescent green.

“The potion you used earlier was red.” Yuta pointed out.

“It was really nothing, don’t worry.”

Yuta told himself that he wasn’t worried, that he was just doing this to shut Sicheng up, but a small part of his mind nagged at him that this was a terrible idea.

“So do I have to think about Jungwoo now?”

“Not this time.” Jisung said. “I was wrong earlier, the spell I used was probably ineffective.”

“Probably?” Yuta asked with a raised brow. He really wanted to beat Jisung up at that moment.

“Well, given how nothing happened between you and Jungwoo just then, we have our answer,” He assured Yuta. “It didn’t work.”

Yuta took in a calming breath then released it. “Okay. Go ahead.” He said.

Jisung dropped the green liquid into the cauldron and spoke words that flowed like an icy river through Yuta’s ears and into his bloodstream.

Yuta felt a sensation so strong he thought he might pass out.

A moment later, he felt something cool against his left cheek, it was a shock, as he couldn’t imagine anything being colder than the green potion that ran through his veins.

When did he close his eyes?

What he was feeling was the hardwood floor; he saw it as he opened his eyes.

His arm was outstretched before him.

The ground twisted and he was falling.

He heard Sicheng say something in Chinese. But Chenle wasn’t replying.

“Yuta, are you okay?” Sicheng asked. He sounded very far away.

That didn’t make sense, though, because just a second before Yuta had heard him speaking and he sounded so close he might as well have spoken right into his mind.

The next sentence he heard was loud and clear, it rang through Yuta’s mind. It was mostly Chinese but Yuta also heard the words oh my god in English and kill him? In Korean.

“Stop yelling.” Yuta hissed, he was braced on his forearms, still facing the floor.

“You’re okay!” Sicheng said.

He helped Yuta up. “I’m fine.”

You look like shit. He heard Sicheng’s voice more clearly than ever.

He felt his skin crawl as he backed away from his friend.

Sicheng’s mouth hadn’t moved.

“What’s going on?” Sicheng asked Jisung hurriedly.

Yuta looked frantically to the smirking boy who said, “It worked.”

The implications of those two words took a few moments to fully hit Yuta.

He had read Sicheng’s mind.

He could now read minds.

“Oh.” Sicheng said, still sounding confused. “Oh!” He said again a moment later.

Sorry, He shot towards Yuta with a smile that looked genuinely apologetic.

I wish I had some fried chicken…

Yuta groaned. “I can’t believe you’re an actual magician.” He said to Jisung.

Chenle put an arm around Jisung’s shoulder, “Come to us with cash next time. And tell your friends.” He said.

The walk back to their dorm was mostly silent. They were still in shock. Yuta thought Sicheng would be, too. But every now and then a random sentence in Chinese would echo through Yuta’s mind and when Yuta asked for a translation Sicheng would tell him that he was thinking about what he would eat once they got back. Although that was what he claimed, Yuta felt like he was being lied to so he asked again and Sicheng answered, ”I’m thinking about one of Hilbert’s problems.”

“Who’s Hilbert?” Yuta asked.

Sicheng sighed and muttered another Chinese sentence into Yuta’s brain.

The fourth time Yuta asked, Sicheng answered in his mind, Stop asking it’s annoying.

“Then stop thinking in Chinese.”

“You’re not entitled to my thoughts, we did this so that you could find out if Jungwoo was secretly a ferret or not.” Sicheng shot back.

Yuta sighed. Sicheng was right, well not about the ferret thing, but Yuta knew he only said it to rile him up, so he ignored it.

When they got back to the dorm, they only found Taeyong and Doyoung home.

Yuta wanted to ask Taeyong where the others were, but his mind was bombarded with things he didn’t understand. One look to Taeyong’s screen told him that it was related to the same video game he had found him playing the night before and decided to leave him to it.

He went to Doyoung’s room and asked him where the guys were. Doyoung’s thoughts sounded a lot like Yuta’s sentence but in a mocking tone.

“Are you five?” Yuta snapped.

“What?” Doyoung’s eyes widened in confusion.

Yuta sighed and asked again, “Where are the rest of the guys?”

“They went out for breakfast.” Doyoung answered.

Did he just read my mind? Yuta heard Doyoung think. The guy was smarter than they gave him credit for.

“Why didn’t you join them?” Yuta asked.

God, will he ever leave?

Okay so maybe mind reading wasn’t as fun as Yuta thought it would be.

“Too tired. Could you close the door on your way out?” In retrospect, Yuta thought, there wasn’t much of a difference between Doyoung’s thoughts and his words. He had to admire that for a bit.

Why is he just standing there, Doyoung thought impatiently. “Can I help you?” He said.

“No, I’ll be going now. Thanks.” Yuta wasn’t sure what he was thanking him for, but Doyoung didn’t comment as Yuta left and closed the door with a bit more strength than was necessary.

He was pleasantly surprised to find that his mind-reading ability only worked when he was in a certain vicinity of a person.

He shared this discovery with Sicheng and they decided to test it in the living room, which was the largest space they had indoors. They started with Yuta’s back against the couch that they’d pushed until it was right up against the wall. Then Sicheng backed away slowly.

What about now? Yuta heard loud and clear.

“I can hear you.” He said aloud.

Now?

Yuta wanted to try something. “I can’t hear you anymore.” He lied.

Ugh, finally. So annoying, honestly ‘think in Chinese’ you would think he would know what it’s like, also being a foreigner, but—

“I can still hear you, shit, I didn’t know you felt so strongly about what I said earlier, I didn’t mean it.”

Sicheng rolled his eyes, Serves you right for lying. I’m so hungry.

He backed away a few more steps. When he was about four meters away, Yuta felt himself relax.

He only realized that having Sicheng’s thoughts in his head had been bothering him when they stopped.

He smiled and Sicheng understood. “I’d say this is about 4.2 meters?”

“Was the .2 really necessary?” Yuta asked without bite.

Sicheng smiled back at him.

“Now you just have to wait for Jungwoo to come back.”

“Did Taeil text you?” Yuta asked.

“No, why?”

“Just—I thought he might wonder where we were.”

Sicheng shrugged.

Sicheng was meeting Renjun so he left soon after.

Yuta decided to sit in the living room. It was where the guys would have to pass through on their way to their rooms when they got back.

He imagined what it would be like, hearing everyone’s thoughts at once and shivered.

He was flipping through his book when he heard the keys in the lock. The door opened.

Jungwoo, Mark, Haechan, and Johnny walked in.

Where was Taeil?, Yuta thought. Jaehyun was missing too…

For a moment his mind was blank. Then they came closer.

There was nothing he could have done to prepare himself for the splitting pain he felt in his head when the members walked into the living room.

He tried to focus on Jungwoo, but he could not make out a single thing. It was like they were all screaming right in the center of his brain.

He couldn’t help the small yell he let out as they came closer. His eyes met Jungwoo’s briefly. “Are you alright?” He read Jungwoo’s lips, but he couldn’t hear it over the roar of their thoughts.

His body was shaking as he dragged himself away from them all.

He didn’t know how much time passed before he calmed down. He was lying on his side, taking in even breaths and massaging his temples.

A knock sounded at the door.

Taeyong came over and sat on the edge of Yuta’s bed, his eyes were fixed on the ceiling like he was trying to remember something. “I need to tell you something.” Taeyong said.

Yuta tensed as Taeyong’s thoughts flooded in uninvited, What did I come here to tell him? Do we have any milk left? Will we even run out of cereal… I need to buy a new brush. Did I pause the game? I had something to tell Yuta… It had to do with Sicheng… What time is it?

Yuta couldn’t take it anymore, “It’s 4 PM.” He said.

“Huh?” Taeyong asked, “Oh, well, I can’t remember what I came to tell you but I’ll text you when I do.” The meeting starts in half an hour, I should get ready… Johnny’s wrong; I could take care of a pet turtle.

Yuta sunk further into his duvet when Taeyong left. He missed Winwin’s thoughts. Who knew that not understanding them was a blessing in disguise.

“Yuta?” He heard Mark’s voice through the door.

He steeled himself, “Come in.” He called.

“Taeyong told me to tell you,” His expression transformed to one of pure joy. “OH!” He yelled excitedly. T-T-Taeyong told me to-to-to t-t-tell you you you, uh, T-T-Taeyong told me to, Taeyong told me to, he rapped in his head. Yuta couldn’t take this anymore. He got up and put his hand flat against the center of Mark’s chest. Mark’s eyes met his, wide with confusion.

“I’m tired, Mark, tell me about it later, alright?”

Mark frowned as Yuta pushed him all the way until he was outside the room and the door slamming shut removed him from Yuta’s sight. When Yuta walked back to his bed, Mark’s thoughts left Yuta’s head.

A couple of hours later, Yuta could hear nothing but silence. He figured it was safe enough to grab a snack from the kitchen.

He was lucky, because the path was clear and in the kitchen he found Jungwoo alone.

He carefully stepped closer.

“Hello.” He said.

“Are you feeling better?” Jungwoo answered.

“Yeah,” Yuta said carefully, moving closer. “I just had a bad headache.”

“Ah.” Jungwoo said. He was fiddling with the edge of his sleeve.

Yuta was close enough to hear his thoughts now.

Nothing loud invaded his senses, like he’d imagined it would. Instead, Jungwoo’s thoughts were gentle, resigned.

That wasn’t too bad. They’ll get used to me soon enough. Jungwoo thought.

Yuta froze, not daring to come closer.

I wonder what Lucas and Kun are doing.

Jungwoo’s thoughts sounded miles away. Yuta realized that the other boy was… sad.

Yuta forced himself to get closer. He awkwardly placed a palm on Jungwoo’s shoulder. “Do you want to hang out tomorrow? We could watch a movie, enjoy the rest of our break before we have to start practicing again.”

Yuta could almost feel Jungwoo’s hesitation, but looking at his face told Yuta nothing. Jungwoo was amazingly good at concealing his emotions.

“You want to hang out with me?” Jungwoo asked.

“Uh, yeah… We could ask the rest of the guys to join us, too.”

“Okay.” Jungwoo smiled, relief replacing his earlier doubt.

“Great.” Yuta clapped him on the back once and all but ran to his room, completely forgetting about his snack.

He felt so guilty about the way he’d been treating Jungwoo when all the other wanted was to fit in. Taeil was right; Yuta should have given him a chance.

As though he had summoned him with his thoughts, Yuta heard Taeil yelling at someone outside the room, “NO I DON’T WANT TO SLEEP IN THE LIVING ROOM TONIGHT, WHY WOULD I WANT THAT?”

Yuta thought he heard Jaehyun say something, his words were low and rushed.

Taeil answered loudly, “You’ve been acting weird all day, forcing me to go out and not letting me come back when I wanted to. At least tell me why!” He demanded. It took a lot to make Taeil lose his cool. Yuta wondered what happened today.

“Trust me, you don’t want to go in there.” Yuta heard Jaehyun warn Taeil right outside their bedroom door.

Did Jaehyun know about Yuta’s new power? Why didn’t he want Yuta reading Taeil’s mind?

Taeil opened the door. Yuta could tell he was genuinely angry from the slight rigidness to the corners of his mouth.

Yuta’s heart began to race; he wasn’t sure why he suddenly felt so afraid, but the closer Taeil came, the faster Yuta’s heart beat.

“Hi.” Taeil said, settling on his bed. Some tension remained in his shoulders as he rubbed his eyes with his fists, sighing softly.

Yuta wanted to ask what Taeil’s argument with Jaehyun was about, but he held his tongue.

“I don’t know why he wanted to keep me out today, and then when I told him I was coming back with or without him, he ran after me and tried to convince me to sleep in the living room instead of here.” Taeil said.

“Jaehyun?” Yuta asked.

Taeil opened his eyes, he looked at Yuta like he had grown a second head, “Yeah…”

“Weird.” Yuta said.

Taeil’s eyes narrowed and he shook his head, “Yeah, weird.” Taeil pulled his shirt off and Yuta averted his eyes.

When he looked up again, he saw Taeil’s back. His head was lowered, but Yuta could see how flushed the tips of his ears were. Was he still mad at Jaehyun?

“I’m not mad, I’m just confused.” Taeil said.

Yuta gasped. Whatever heat that had risen up his chest at the sight of Taeil without his shirt disappeared immediately.

“What?” Taeil looked at him.

Yuta jumped up quickly, lunging for the door. Taeil grabbed his arm and turned him around so that he faced him once again.

No, no, no, no this can’t be happening. Yuta thought desperately.

Yuta felt as his friend shivered. Taeil’s eyes went wide, his lips parted.

Do not look at his lips, Yuta scolded himself.

“How did you do that?” Taeil asked.

God damn it, Jisung.

“Jisung? What are you saying? How are you doing this? Your mouth isn’t moving.”

“Let me go.” Yuta said, his body locked. He tried to focus on anything other than Taeil’s hands on him.

“Yuta, I feel weird.” Taeil whispered, one of his hands pressed against his own chest. Taeil’s warm skin felt impossibly hot where they touched.

What did Jisung do.

“Is that… Are you?” Taeil trailed off, his eyes moving up from Yuta’s lips to meet his eyes.

“Please just let me go.” Yuta begged.

It took a moment for Taeil to loosen his fingers and step away from Yuta. Taeil trailed his fingers along the shell of his right ear carefully.

“I don’t understand.” Taeil said.

Yuta was breathing hard. He thought he heard something but he didn’t quite catch any of the words; it sounded an awful lot like English song lyrics but the words were too rushed for him to catch any of them.

“I’ll be back, okay?” He said hurriedly before yanking at the door handle.

He froze, and then pulled the door handle again.

It wouldn’t budge.

He gulped, Why is the door locked?

“The door is locked?” Taeil asked.

Yuta hadn’t said a word.

With a defeated sigh he rested his forehead against the door, his forearms were braced against the wood on either side of his bent head. He took one calming breath after another. After wiping his palms against his pants, he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Sicheng picked up. “What are you doing?” Yuta hissed.

“I’m watching a movie with Renjun.” Sicheng answered sounding annoyed at Yuta’s attitude.

“Did you lock the door?” Yuta asked.

“What? No, I’m not there.” Sicheng said before hanging up.

Yuta pounded his fist against the door, “HEY!” He yelled.

“Yuta…” Taeil was right behind him. He sounded pained.

One look at Taeil’s face broke Yuta. He looked so confused.

“Look, I don’t know what’s happening.” Yuta said, throwing himself down on his bed and accepting defeat.

“But you know more than I do.” Taeil deduced.

“Yeah.” Yuta agreed after a brief pause. Yuta’s mind raced back to the morning, when Sicheng woke him and took him to Jisung and Chenle. He found that he couldn’t really look Taeil in the eyes as he recalled the events all the way until Taeil returned to the dorm.

“You can hear my thoughts?” Taeil asked, his face blanched.

“No,” Yuta said. “You’re the only one whose thoughts I can’t hear… It seems to be working the other way around for some reason.”

Taeil regarded him thoughtfully. He shook his head after a moment of consideration, “I don’t think so. Based on what you just… showed me?” He said while tilting his head, unsure how to describe the telepathic experience. “It’s different.”

“I felt…” Yuta started, probably unnecessarily. “Pain, sort of like a headache. Like someone was screaming in the very center of my mind.

Taeil was still shaking his head. “It’s different. I’m not in pain.”

“Well, Jungwoo’s thoughts were quiet, it sounded kind of like there was a wall separating us.” Yuta said.

Taeil studied his face closely. “You’re jealous of him,” Taeil said. It didn’t sound like an accusation, but rather a fact. “You feel guilty about it.”

Yuta felt like a bucket of ice had been emptied over his head. “What?” He said.

“Your thoughts,” Taeil said, moving to sit next to Yuta on the bed. “They’re not loud, but they don’t sound distant either. It’s like…” Taeil shivered again. “It’s like you’re whispering right into my ears.” Yuta watched as Taeil’s palm rubbed the back of his neck, trying to smooth the gooseflesh that had risen along it, like he could feel Yuta whispering into his ear as he spoke. “I can feel you.”

Yuta swallowed. That sounded very different from Yuta’s experience with mind reading. It sounded… intimate. Yuta reminded himself to control his thoughts.

“I think I can feel what you’re feeling.” Taeil said in a way that indicated that he knew more than Yuta wanted him to, more than Yuta had ever dared to admit to himself. “You felt like you were replaced, like I replaced you with him…”

“I don’t know why someone locked the door, but we should get them to open it.” Yuta said, changing the subject.

“Yuta, that’s ridiculous. You’re my best friend.”

Yuta trained his gaze on the window. The curtains were closed, like he liked them.

“Hey,” Taeil said, his tone strange. “I’m sorry about the windows, I didn’t know it bothered you this much.”

“It’s fine.” Yuta lied. He felt very tired suddenly. This was the worst thing that could have happened. He wanted nothing more than to get out of the room. Yuta reminded himself; Taeil could read his mind, but if he focused on thinking what he wanted, he would be safe until he could get away, “Why do you draw them open when you know it bothers me?”

“It’s,” Taeil said, and then he seemed to change his mind. “Stop.”

“What?” Yuta faced him. It was the wrong move, because Taeil’s eyes were watching him so softly, he felt his breath hitch.

Taeil paused, his face a mirror of Yuta’s emotions, “Stop forcing your mind places it doesn’t want to go, stop being afraid.” Taeil said.

Yuta didn’t know what his friend meant. “This isn’t fair.” Yuta complained. He wanted to yell at Taeil to stay out of his head, but he knew that the other couldn’t.

“I didn’t do this.” Taeil said pointedly. When Yuta flinched, he sighed.

Yuta glared at him. He didn’t need anyone to remind him that this was his fault. He was paying for it.

“You’re cute when you pout.” Taeil said in a resigned way.

“What?” Yuta’s face heated.

“I’m making it fair.” Taeil said, their eyes locked.

Yuta looked away. “I’m going to call Jisung. I’ll make him fix this.”

His hold on his phone loosened when Taeil’s warm fingers touched his jaw. “Hey.” Taeil said.

Yuta’s heart raged in his chest as he finally looked at Taeil.

“I pull the curtains open because I like to see you in the morning.” Taeil said. This time, the smallest hint of desperation crept into his voice.

“How is this making it fair?” Yuta asked, ignoring the way his ears burned. Taeil had never acted this way before.

“I’m sharing my thoughts so that you’d relax.” Taeil stated.

Yuta shook his head. He didn’t know what to say to Taeil’s confession. He was flustered beyond words. A few seconds passed in silence. Taeil’s thumb swiped across Yuta’s cheek before he pulled his hand back.

Yuta needed to do something, so he called Taeyong, “Can you tell me why someone locked me and Taeil in our room?”

“Someone did what?” Taeyong said. “Wait, Jaehyun,” Taeyong called out loudly. Yuta could hear him without the phone. After a minute, Taeyong spoke again, “Jaehyun did it, he says it’s for the best and to say sorry to Taeil.”

“What? Tell him to unlock the door right now!” Yuta demanded.

“Here, talk to him.” Taeyong said. Jaehyun’s voice replaced Taeyong’s, “Hi, Yuta. It’s nothing personal, but you can read minds and we’d rather you don’t come close to us until your new superpower goes away.”

“I—“

He interrupted before Yuta could form his sentence, “Sicheng warned me about it and I tried to keep Taeil away, but he didn’t listen to me, so just tell him I’m sorry, okay? I couldn’t tell him the details because Sicheng told me to keep it to myself.” Yuta thought he heard Jungwoo say, ‘Yuta, I love you!’ but he wasn’t sure. Then he heard Taeyong ask Jaehyun if he was done with his phone. With that Jaehyun hung up.

Yuta turned towards Taeil to explain what happened, but then he remembered that Taeil heard everything without Yuta having to say any of it out loud.

“Maybe if you stayed away, you wouldn’t be able to hear or feel me clearly.” Yuta said, hoping that would get Taeil to go back to his own bed. And maybe you could put on a shirt.

Taeil widened his eyes at him, but smiled and nodded. Yuta couldn’t resist a smile at the familiar gesture. Taeil walked over to his side of the room. Thankfully, he obliged, pulling on a black half-sleeved t-shirt before lying down on his own bed.

Yuta pulled himself into a ball, trying to put as much distance between himself and Taeil as possible. He shrunk into a shadowed corner of his bed, his back to the wall as he watched Taeil for any signs of change.

“I can still feel you.” Taeil whispered.

“Can’t you turn it off?” Yuta tried.

Taeil was quiet for a minute, “I don’t really want to,” When he saw the shock on Yuta’s face, he smirked. “But I’ll try.”

Yuta hugged his knees close to his chest. He didn’t know what it was that made Taeil act this way. But he was definitely going to kick Jisung’s butt when Jaehyun deigned to let him out.

A few minutes passed with Yuta watching Taeil’s brows furrow in concentration. It was to no avail. There was no turning it off.

“What did you mean,” Yuta started, his voice almost failing. “When you said you liked to see me in the morning?”

Taeil smiled secretively. “Why don’t you come here and I’ll tell you.”

Yuta’s mouth gaped. Was Taeil being serious?

“I am.” Taeil moved to make more room on his bed. Yuta eyed the empty space his friend had made for him suspiciously.

“Why?” Yuta asked. “You can just tell me like this.”

“Mm,” He pretended to think about it. “I don’t want to.”

Did he have to sound like that?

Yuta didn’t move. When Taeil spoke next, he sounded irritated, “Sound like what? Would you stop thinking about how weird you think I’m being and just come here already? I know you want to, literally.”

Yuta rolled his eyes, but relented. He walked over, then sat on the edge of Taeil’s bed, tucking a leg underneath him as he watched Taeil, who sat up and was now sitting cross-legged across from him.

“You look pretty when you wake up.” Taeil said simply.

Yuta tried to sound unaffected, “And I’m usually ugly?”

“You know what I mean.” Taeil said. He sounded flustered, which annoyed Yuta. He was the one who was completely exposed, if Taeil was flustered, how was Yuta supposed to feel?

“I actually don’t.” Yuta said. This was all so confusing and he didn’t know what to believe.

He looked at Taeil’s hands, forgetting to control his thoughts for the briefest of moments.

It was too late, though. Because Taeil leaned forward and took one of Yuta’s hands in his own.

“Don’t.” Taeil said, when Yuta made to get up. “Don’t run away.”

“Are you doing this because you feel sorry for me?” Yuta said. He felt humiliated. His eyes stung and he ignored the feeling, hoping it would go away.

“No.” Taeil said, tightening his fingers around Yuta’s hand.

“’No’?” Yuta demanded.

“No.” Taeil said firmly. “I want this too.”

“You want to hold my hand?” Yuta asked. His voice shook and he hated it.

“Yes. And,” Taeil said, his voice low as he moved closer. “I want…” He let go of Yuta’s hand in favor of cupping his face. Yuta was forced to look at him. His heart picked up speed as Taeil’s thumbs moved over his cheeks timidly.

His eyes slid from Taeil’s messy hair to his searching eyes down to his nose before settling on his lips. He wanted to be touched. He wanted to touch him. His hands closed into fists by his sides as Taeil knelt before him.

One of Taeil’s hands slipped into his hair, “Yuta,” He breathed. “Tell me what you want.”

Yuta tried to look away, but he was trapped. “You can already hear everything I’m thinking.” Yuta answered, he didn’t have enough strength left in him to sound annoyed.

“Say it anyway.” Taeil put a hand on his shoulder, while the other trailed a path down his neck, making his skin tingle.

Yuta’s mind was struggling to focus on a single coherent thought when he heard the key turning in the door. He got up so quickly he felt slightly light-headed.

Jaehyun appeared in the doorway, “Jisung says the spell should have worn off by now. I volunteered to be the guinea pig.” Jaehyun moved closer slowly, until he stood right in front of Yuta.

Yuta was painfully aware of Taeil behind him. He could feel the other’s gaze just as strongly as he felt his heart in his throat.

“It’s gone.” Yuta said. He sounded breathless; something he hoped would slip Jaehyun’s notice.

“Great, I can set you free now.” Jaehyun held his hand up for a high-five, which Yuta ignored. When Jaehyun left, Yuta followed him to close the door behind him, and to get some distance from Taeil. He had to think.

“What do you have to think about? I like you, you like me.” Taeil said behind him. It was so unnerving, having Taeil in his head. “So just kiss me already. And do all the other things you thought about doing, but we should start with the kissing.”

“You’re still in my head.” Yuta said.

Taeil looked extremely happy with himself.

“Taeil, are you sure you’re not being… influenced?”

Taeil’s face contorted, “What do you mean?” He got up, moving closer to Yuta and caging him against the wall. He brushed a few locks out of Yuta’s eyes. “I want this.” Taeil whispered against Yuta’s lips.

Before Taeil could kiss him, Yuta spoke again. “You said you--” Yuta’s words froze in his throat as Taeil pressed his lips to the corner of Yuta’s mouth. Taeil pressed one kiss after another along Yuta’s cheek, then down his jaw.

Yuta’s hand instinctively buried itself in the hair at the back of Taeil’s head. Taeil let out a pleased sound, before extending his attention to Yuta’s neck.

Yuta couldn’t remember what he was trying to say. All he could think of was how good Taeil’s mouth felt against his neck. Taeil’s hand’s slid down his back and he pulled him closer.

Taeil pulled away, his breaths fast. Yuta thought he had done something wrong.

“Are you—” Yuta started.

“I thought you liked him. Jungwoo, I thought you liked him.” Taeil breathed. His cheeks were glowing with color. “I was jealous. I wish you could feel this.” Taeil said, then he corrected himself. “Well you are, but the other way around, I mean.”

It all came crashing down on Yuta.

Yuta was jealous. Yuta thought Taeil like Jungwoo.

Taeil tried to chase his lips, but Yuta was faster. He pushed Taeil away lightly, the other was caught off-guard enough for Yuta to slip out the door.

When he was outside the room, he ran.

“Hello?” Jisung sounded annoyed.

“What was the red thing you accidentally used?” Yuta demanded, he was sitting on the pavement in their complex’s parking lot. It was slightly cold, but he didn’t care.

“Does it matter? It didn’t work.” Jisung said, sounding more than ready to hang up the phone.

“It did.” Yuta said. “Just not on Jungwoo.”

“I told you to think about Jungwoo, though?”

“Well, I didn’t.” Yuta said angrily. “Just tell me what it does.”

“I’m not too sure, to be completely honest with you… Wait, let me read the label.” Yuta heard a door open and close, some shuffling, then Jisung said, “Ah, here it is. There’s no label on it.”

“Jisung how could you not know what one of your potions does?”

“I have a book, it explains potions by color.”

“THEN FIND THE BOOK.”

“Okay, stop yelling.” Jisung said calmly. Yuta could hear pages turning. “I used the entire potion, so I don’t really remember the exact shade it was, but according to this it either makes you suffer from hiccups indefinitely, or it allows the person you thought of to hear your thoughts and feel your emotions.”

“Feel my emotions as in have my emotions forced on them? As in make them feel things that they don’t really feel?”

After a long pause, Jisung said, “I guess? I don’t know what you’re saying exactly…”

“Am I influencing the person who I thought of to feel the same way I do?” Yuta said through gritted teeth, his hands shook.

“I don’t think so, it’s more like they know what you’re feeling, but aren’t forced to feel the same way.”

“Are you sure?” Yuta said, worry soaking up his voice.

“I’d say I’m about 95% sure. Can I go now?”

Yuta’s shoulders sagged. He couldn’t blame Jisung. He did this willingly after all, he could have said no to Sicheng and left at any moment. “Yeah, you can go now.”

Jisung hung up.

Yuta’s cotton shirt did very little to warm him. He hugged himself and tried to force his misery down.

Was Taeil going to regret everything he said? Had Yuta taken advantage of his best friend?

He sighed.

He was never letting Sicheng talk him into anything ever again.

He heard footsteps nearby and turned. Jungwoo stood frozen, he looked like he’d noticed Yuta and tried to quietly turn the other way.

“Hi.” Yuta said.

“Hello,” Jungwoo said, coming over to sit next to Yuta. “What are you doing out here?”

“I needed to think.” Yuta explained. “What about you?”

“I come down here every night. Same reason.” He said.

Yuta nudged him with his shoulder, Jungwoo nudged back.

“What’s up?” Jungwoo asked.

“It’s complicated.” Yuta answered.

“You could have at least tried to avoid sounding cliché.” Jungwoo said.

Yuta’s bark of laughter escaped without his permission. Jungwoo laughed along with him.

“Whatever it is, you’ll figure it out.” Jungwoo said. “And, if it has to do with Taeil, whom I spoke to before coming down here, he’s pretty upset, too. You should talk to him.”

“He’s under a spell.” Yuta said.

Jungwoo didn’t look surprised. “He told me, he can read your thoughts and feel your emotions.”

“Exactly. So I’ll stay away from him until it wears off. I don’t want him to do anything else he’ll regret.”

“Like what?” Jungwoo asked. It seemed to Yuta like the other knew more than he was letting on. But that was always the case with Yuta when it came to Jungwoo. Except now, Yuta knew better than to assume.

“What else did Taeil tell you?” Yuta asked.

After some thought Jungwoo said, “That you guys finally confessed to each other.”

Yuta laughed bitterly. “He figured out how I felt about him because of the spell, and he reciprocated my feelings because of the spell. It wasn’t real.”

“You’re wrong,” Jungwoo said. “He’s always liked you.”

“You can’t know that.” Yuta said.

“Except I do. He told me. We’re pretty close, I think you noticed.” Jungwoo said with a sly smile. Bastard.

Yuta felt his chest ease up. “Thank you.” He said, squeezing the bastard’s hand before he got up and dusted his pants. He needed to talk to Taeil.

“Be safe.” Jungwoo called from where he was sitting.

The look Yuta shot him should have frozen him to the bone. Instead Jungwoo smiled innocently.

When Yuta came back to the room, he found the door closed. He could hear music gently rolling through the crack under door.

He raised his hand to knock, but his knuckles only touched air.

The door opened and he was being pulled inside by the front of his shirt. Taeil closed the door behind them and let go of Yuta’s shirt before he went back to his bed. “That was pretty shitty of you.” Taeil said. He sounded irritated, but underneath it, Yuta detected hurt.

Taeil looked subdued as he stretched himself on his bed. Yuta didn’t want to waste time feeling guilty, although he did regardless. He was going to fix this.

“Hey,” He said a little awkwardly, he walked up to Taeil and lifted his face with his fingers under the other’s chin. “You’re right, it was pretty shitty and I’m sorry.”

One corner of Taeil’s mouth stretched upwards like he was pondering whether Yuta was worth his time.

Yuta gathered his courage.

Taeil’s expression changed. Yuta assumed the other just read his thoughts because Taeil’s mouth parted and his eyes darkened.

“I’m waiting.” Taeil said.

That was all the invitation Yuta needed. He braced himself on his forearms on either side of Taeil’s head. He held his body up with his knees. Apparently the courage he had mustered up still wasn’t enough for him to do everything he wanted. Besides, he was worried about Sicheng coming back.

“He won’t come back tonight.” Taeil, who was pretending to ignore Yuta’s presence while playing with his shirt, said.

“No?”

“I texted him. Told him that Taeyong was making us practice in the living room.”

Yuta laughed, “And he bought that?”

“I think he just went along with it.” Taeil admitted.

“Hmm.” Yuta lowered his body until it was flush against Taeil’s and turned them both so that they were lying on their sides. His arm went around Taeil.

Yuta sucked his bottom lip into his mouth as he watched Taeil play with the loose thread in his collar. Taeil’s cheeks dusted pink. He wondered what it would feel like to have Taeil’s bottom lip between his teeth instead.

Taeil eyed him almost lazily, but the color in his cheeks darkened and his breathing turned more labored. For once, Yuta didn’t feel at a disadvantage because of Taeil’s new ability.

Taeil’s hand came up to curve around Yuta’s nape as Yuta finally pressed their lips together. They kissed slowly, taking their time. Yuta didn’t worry about controlling his thoughts; the mind reading was working in his favor. But every now and then Taeil would ask Yuta what he wanted him to do, I just want to be sure, he would insist. But Yuta knew he enjoyed hearing him say what he wanted. He got bolder as time passed, whispering into Taeil’s ear, making him whine.

After, when they were holding each other and talking, Taeil sighed sadly.

“What’s wrong?” Yuta asked.

“Nothing, I’m just going to miss this.”

Yuta let out an indignant sound, “This really isn’t fair.” He couldn’t help but feel like he was missing out.

“If only you had trusted Jungwoo to not be an alien.” Taeil smiled.

You know it’s spy. Yuta thought as loudly as he could.

“Ow,” Taeil rubbed his head. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

“Me neither.” Yuta said. He was slightly guilty, but he mostly felt avenged. “Besides, we wouldn’t be here if I had trusted Jungwoo.”

His phone rang, but it was on his bed so he ignored it.

A minute later, Taeil’s phone started ringing.

“Jisung?” Taeil said. Yuta sat up, curiosity making him spring to action. He asked Taeil to put it on speaker only to be ignored. “Oh, is that so?” Taeil said sounding amused. “No, no, that’s okay. I’d rather wait for it to fade naturally.”

“Can he undo the spell?” Yuta demanded. “Give me the phone.”

“Thanks Jisung. And since this is happening to me, ignore anything Yuta tells you.” Taeil said before hanging up.

“What did he say?” Yuta asked.

“He said he learned how to undo the spell, but that it would fade naturally anyways so I told him not to bother.”

“When will it fade?”

“He doesn’t know, he just said that it would.” Taeil said with an easy grin.

“I hate you.” Yuta said.

“That’s not what you’re thinking.” Taeil told him.

“I hate this.” Yuta amended.

Taeil gave him an unconvinced look.

The door burst open.

Yuta nearly jumped out of his skin, thankfully, he didn’t. He did, however, fall out of the bed and onto the carpeted floor with a thud.

It was Jungwoo. For a moment, he looked panicked as his eyes fell on Yuta. But then his face relaxed as he said, “Nothing I haven’t seen before.” With a wink thrown in Yuta’s direction.

“Taeyong told me to tell you that he needs your help with something.” He told them both before leaving.

Taeil raised his eyebrows at Yuta. “And you were the one who was jealous?”

Yuta gave him a look. “Let’s go.” He said.

“Are you going to put your clothes back on or?” Taeil said.

“Remember when you said you wanted me to date your sister?” Yuta shot back.

“Shut up.”

They took their time getting dressed. Yuta wondered what Taeyong wanted.

“We’re about to find out.” Taeil said.

“I’m going to kick Jisung’s ass.” Yuta muttered, ignoring the way Taeil cackled as he took his hand. Together, they went to Taeyong’s room.