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Soonyoung is always surprised at how many people Seokmin is friends with. Well, he is not sure if the word 'friend' is the right one but Seokmin seems to know just about everyone whenever they walk around campus, usually to grab an afternoon cappuccino at their favorite café or find a book one of them needs at the library.
"Tell me again why did you invite me for coffee out of nowhere when the last time you did so was two months ago?" Soonyoung asks as Seokmin urges him to walk faster by grabbing the sleeve of his sweater. He seems excited and Soonyoung is skeptical as to why he's so eager to have him along.
"Don't be so dramatic, it hasn't been so long," he says dismissively but Soonyoung is sure that it's been at least two months because it wasn't winter yet. "I asked you out for coffee last week and you turned the offer down because you had a dance project to work on," now that brings Soonyoung some memories of those late nights at the studio with Junhui, not so nice memories of numb limbs and their slipping a few times on the sweat covered floor. "I had to come here with Seungkwan, do you know how much he talks?"
"As much as you do," Soonyoung replies and Seokmin is pushing him inside the café without hesitation. The place is small and, thankfully, at this time of the day it is also almost empty, aside from a small boy with a pair of purple headphones at the end of the place and two girls studying with a pile of books between them. "Where you wanna sit? Usual?"
"At the back," Seokmin says and walks away from Soonyoung. If he has a saying in all of this, Soonyoung is just utterly baffled that Seokmin is treating him like this after so long since they've last met up but he follows him anyway, Seokmin is his best friend after all. He's surprised when Seokmin stops right next to the small boy - who has pink hair now that Soonyoung gives it proper attention - and taps him on the shoulder. One thing that Soonyoung is sure of is that the boy does not look happy to be disrupted in the middle of whatever he was doing, he looked pretty immersed in his own music and notes.
"Wh-"
"Soonyoung," Seokmin puts a hand on his shoulder and gives him a smile before turning to the smaller male and putting a hand on his shoulder as well - different to Soonyoung, the other boy looks a little bothered but takes his headphones off and looks up. "Meet Jihoon. Jihoon, this is Soonyoung."
"Nice to meet you, I guess," Soonyoung says, rubbing the back of his neck and looking sheepish at the sudden introduction. Seokmin clearly did not warn him that someone else would be joining them. "Do I know you?"
"Probably not," Jihoon says and nods in acknowledgement, Soonyoung is just glad he doesn't look pissed at him. "I thought you said you'd just pass by to have some coffee in hopes I'd still be around."
"That's what I'm doing," Seokmin smiles brightly and Jihoon presses his lips together, not buying it. "And I brought my best friend along because I have been neglecting our friendship these days and I thought, why not do both at the same time?"
"Such genius," Jihoon says and is about to put his headphones back on when Seokmin slides on the booth at the opposite side as his supposed friend and holds his wrist. Soonyoung, who does not know this boy for more than a minute, is sure that Jihoon is not pleased by Seokmin's action. "Let me work on my project, please," Jihoon replies calmly and softly tugs Seokmin's hands away from himself - way different from the violent reaction Sooyoung expected. "I need this finished by next week and I postponed it enough."
"What do you do?" Soonyoung's curiosity gets the best of him and he takes a seat next to his best friend, although keeping his hands away from Jihoon for obvious reasons. "I mean, your major."
"Music production," Jihoon answers without ceremony and sighs, taking the headphones off from around his neck and putting them on top of his mint colored backpack that's resting against the window glass. "You?"
"Dance," Soonyoung is pleasantly surprised when Jihoon shows some interest - even if a minor one and even if this is out of politeness - since he looked not so keen on socializing. "What's your project about?"
"Music production," Jihoon says and gives Soonyoung a look that says 'are you stupid or what?', Soonyoung feels a little embarrassed for asking such question, the answer should be obvious seeing that Jihoon had a laptop opened on a music editing software, headphones on and some music sheets in hands. "Sorry, I'm just annoyed at this project and end up releasing my frustration on others."
"I forgive you," Seokmin says and Jihoon gives him a small smile. Much to Soonyoung's and Jihoon's dismay, Seokmin raises both hands up and cries out "Seungcheol!"
Seungcheol, the waiter at the café, looks amused and rushes to their table.
"Well hello Seokmin, didn't notice you here until now," he jokes and Soonyoung snorts, shoving his friend by the shoulder. "Orders?"
"Bring us the usual," Seokmin says and taps his fingers on the table. "And bring some hot chocolate for our Jihoon here, he's extra bitter today and he's in dire need of some sugar in his system."
"I'm not bitter," Jihoon protests jokingly and Seokmin smiles at him, knowing face and all. Soonyoung doesn't remember Seokmin being this playful with any of his other friends aside from himself. He doesn't even know how Seokmin and Jihoon got themselves acquainted when they seem to be so different from each other.
"So?" Seungcheol asks, amused.
"I want the hot chocolate, I need energy so sugar is a good option," Jihoon says and glances over at his laptop, whatever he has been working on untouched ever since Seokmin and Soonyoung showed up. "I know why you're here with your friend," he says when Seungcheol leaves the table and Seokmin raises an eyebrow.
"And what would it be for?" Seokmin question, daringly and Soonyoung wonders if this is usual, all the teasing and pushing each other's buttons like it's a competition.
"I'm actually finished with my project but I'm not happy with it," Jihoon says and all Seokmin does is nod as he speaks. "You brought your friend Soonyoung, you will convince me that I should show him what I have and he will tell me that he likes it and that I shouldn't be fretting so much over this."
"Well, aren't you a smartass?" Seokmin reaches up and ruffles Jihoon's hair until it is all disheveled and the perfectly swept bangs are covering his eyes. "It's not exactly what I planned and I didn't know you were finished, that's good news."
"Since I am tired of all this, I'm just going to show you the final thing and you give me your input, even though I'm probably going to dismiss anything you two say and trash it when I get to my place," Jihoon sighs and pushes his headphones right to Soonyoung's hands. Soonyoung who just watched the whole exchange in confusion with hopes that he'd be able to pick up what was going on, accepts the headphones and puts it on.
At first there's just the muffled sound of Seokmin and Jihoon discussing something, he can't make out the words and nor is he good at lip reading, then the silence stops when the first notes of a piano start playing softly, at first the arrangement is pretty simple but as the song progresses, more instruments are added and then someone is singing and Soonyoung is so mesmerized that he stares blankly at the powdered chocolate shaker Seungcheol places in front of him when he brings their orders over. Once the song is over, Soonyoung slowly takes off the headphones and hands it back to Jihoon.
"So?" he asks, already sipping his steaming hot chocolate. At a loss of words, Soonyoung ends up nodding and Jihoon furrows his brows at him. "That bad, huh?"
"That's not it," Soonyoung says and takes a small sip of his cappuccino before trying to explain himself further. "It's really good."
"Not very insightful," Jihoon comments and takes a bite of a panini Soonyoung doesn't remember him ordering.
"Give the boy some slack, he's a dancer not a music producer," Seokmin says and pats Soonyoung's shoulder. "He usually only listens to EDM so this is probably different for him."
"I don't listen only to EDM," Soonyoung protests but doesn't give out examples of other artists or genres he likes. "I just don't know words I can use to describe your composition."
"Garbage, piece of shit. Those are good words for a beginning," Jihoon says before sipping his drink again. "Waste of time, worst song of the year."
"Not these kind of words," Soonyoung groans in frustration and wonders what makes Jihoon dislike his work so much. "It's very good, I don't remember listening to something so beautiful before."
"That's because you only listen to EDM," Seokmin butts in with a laugh and Soonyoung kicks him from under the table. "I'm joking, chill man."
"What's so beautiful about it? It's just the usual chord with the usual lyrics from most songs, I feel so unoriginal," Jihoon sounds and looks extremely frustrated, Soonyoung wishes his opinion on it mattered just a little to make the boy realize the piece is actually good.
After that, Soonyoung says nothing else and Jihoon shows the song to Seokmin. As his friend listens to it, Soonyoung finishes his drink and observes as Seokmin sways his head from side to side as he listens to it.
"You're right," Seokmin says and Jihoon nods, muttering a 'finally' under his breath. "It's not that good, you've done better before."
"What? No, that-"
"It's time Soonyoung and I go home," Seokmin announces and stands up, grabbing at his wallet inside his jacket's pocket and placing enough bills to cover their order on the table. "I know you'll come up with something soon, Jihoon. You're so great at this."
Soonyoung gives Jihoon a small goodbye before turning his back to him and following Seokmin out of the café.
"Do you really think that song sucks?" Soonyoung asks when they're walking back to Soonyoung's dorm room.
"Of course not but that's not what Jihoon wants to hear. He's super stubborn," Seokmin says and sighs, he looks around before crossing the street and dragging Soonyoung with him. "It's one of the best things he has written, composed and sung ever since he broke up with I don't know who he was dating last year, he wouldn't tell me."
"That's tough," Soonyoung comments, finally now understanding what that was all about. "So the song was about that person?"
"Most likely," Seokmin agrees with a nod and they reach Soonyoung's dorm. "I gotta go, I have vocal practice with Seungkwan."
"Right," Soonyoung waves and rushes inside because he needs to get changed since he still has practice with Junhui. Their final presentation for this term is the following day and they still need to go through it at least two times before the day ends.
Soonyoung thinks that even if he never gets to dance on the stage like he just did, under the spotlight - lights so strong he feels his skin hot -, he'll be more than happy just to be involved with dance still. He feels that way the moment the presentation is over. Junhui and him are sweating so much and they can barely hold their breaths, both from all the dancing and relief. He just needs to work with dance for the rest of his life and he'll probably be happy forever.
They can barely believe it when the crowd goes wild, an standing ovation just for them. Their hard work finally paying off, all the days in frustration trying to figure out how to fuse ballet and contemporary dance into one single stage. Their final presentation for this long term - that was assembled and successfully completed in such a short time.
"We did it," Junhui mumbles and hugs him, Soonyoung embraces him back and they bow twice before leaving the stage to cool down and change outfits. Soonyoung does everything on automatic, still dazed that this is over. He gets changed into his usual clothes and washes his face, the cold water helps him come down from the stage high. Right at the exit he finds Junhui waiting for him, his smile so wide Soonyoung observes as some people stare at Junhui mesmerized as they pass by him.
"Wanna grab something to eat in celebration?" Soonyoung suggests when he reaches Junhui and they come to a silent agreement. "I just need to locate Seokmin first and then we can go together."
"Sure," Junhui nods and points at some of his classmates. "I'm going to chat with them a little and we'll meet up here in five minutes, deal?"
"Right," Soonyoung gives him a thumbs up and rushes to the main entrance, looking around for his friend's familiar face. He hears Seokmin's voice coming from behind him, the other side of the street where it's away from all the crowd leaving the theater now that all the presentations are over. He's waving his arms up and down and Soonyoung laughs, dodging a few people and running to his friend. When the path is clear, Soonyoung finally notices the small figure by Seokmin's side. "Hey!"
"Great night," Seokmin fist bumps Soonyoung and ends up tackling him in a tight hug. "I brought Jihoon with me since he's done with his project as well."
"Almost done," Jihoon corrects and covers himself properly with his hoodie, it looks way too big for him but it seems to work well in such a chilly weather, it's the beginning of December and the cold has been coming at them with full force. Even so, Soonyoung's eyes are very observant and he notices that the few hair strands peeking out from Jihoon's hoodie look nut-brown. "I still gotta change some stuff."
"Hope it works well man," Soonyoung says sincerely and clasps his hands when he remembers why he's there in the first place. "Right, Jun and I are going to the usual place to celebrate, wanna come with us?"
"Of course," Seokmin says and slings an arm around Soonyoung's shoulders. Jihoon is about to say something when Seokmin does the same to him, his body a little bent down. "You're coming with us."
"No, I have to go back to my room and finish my shit," Jihoon tries to reason with Seokmin but he's getting none of that and drags poor Jihoon along with them. "You don't know Junhui yet, right?"
"I don't think so, at least not by face," Jihoon pushes Seokmin's arms away and walks with some distance between them. "We're not from the same department."
"Neither are we."
"That was an exception," Jihoon brushes him off and shows that the talk is over when he puts both hands inside the hoodie's pockets and stares ahead as they keep walking. Soon enough, they reach Junhui and Seokmin does the work of introducing everyone.
"Let's go!" Seokmin cheers, looking more excited than Soonyoung and Junhui together, and leads the way to the Korean barbecue restaurant three blocks away.
"It's getting late, I have to go," Jihoon excuses himself and fishes for his wallet on the back pocket of his jeans. He hands as much as he consumed to Junhui and is about to get up when Soonyoung does the same. "What?"
"It's late, we can go back together," Jihoon tilts his head and stares at Soonyoung as if questioning him but also taking the offer into consideration - meanwhile, Soonyoung is distracted at how soft Jihoon's hair looks with this new color. "Jun can take Min's drunk ass back to their dorm, they share a place."
"Well, that's where I know Junhui's face from then," Jihoon comments but agrees with the arrangement Soonyoung suggested without arguing.
"Yeah, you ran out of the apartment a year ago when I was arriving and we didn't get to meet properly," Junhui laughs and pushes Seokmin away from himself. "You're a nice pal, Jihoon. I don't know how you know this one here," Junhui points to Seokmin and pushes him away again. "Drunk Seokmin, worst Seokmin."
"He's so touchy," Soonyoung makes a face as he says it and Jihoon gives them a small smile.
"I'm not the worst! Seokmin is the best and I am not drunk," Seokmin says, showing that he is, indeed, very drunk.
"No more drinks for Seokmin," Junhui says and Soonyoung turns around to leave and not watch the show that usually ensues right before it's time for them to leave the restaurant - drunk Seokmin is really damn loud and embarrassing.
Soonyoung and Jihoon leave the restaurant in silence. It's not uncomfortable, Soonyoung think as he shoves his cold hands in the pockets of his overcoat. The streets are quite empty seeing that it is a Friday night but it also might be because of the cold weather that's getting stronger each passing day.
"Thanks for accompanying me back to my apartment even though I don't need it," Jihoon says with a hint of amusement and Soonyoung smiles to himself, keeping his eyes focused on the street ahead. "It was really good by the way," he says and Soonyoung turns to look at him, a little confused. "Your performance in the showcase."
"Ohhh that," Soonyoung winces when he takes his warm hand out to rub the back of his neck, giving Jihoon a sheepish expression as response. "Thanks, it wasn't much."
"You dance really well. Junhui too," Jihoon compliments and Soonyoung hums, not knowing what to say back. "I don't know much about dancing but it looked complicated."
"Ah, not really," Soonyoung laughs and dismisses that with a wave of his hand that's already turning too cold for his liking. "Dancing is just a matter of practice."
"So is music producing to be honest," Jihoon adds and takes larger steps, Soonyoung assumes that they're getting closer to his place. "That's my apartment building over there," he points to the taller one to the right, a few lights are on in it and Jihoon fishes around his pockets in search of his keys. "Thanks for keeping me company."
"No problem," Soonyoung smiles and eyes the apartment building, wondering how a university student can afford that. "I didn't really want to stay back and deal with drunk Seokmin, I've done that plenty of times already."
"Junhui has to live with that though," Jihoon has a point and before Soonyoung can say something, he hears a goodbye and Jihoon waves at him once before rushing to get inside the building, probably running away from the biting cold.
"It was nice spending some time with you," Soonyoung mumbles to himself and turns around to leave to his dorm building. Steps large so he can get away from the cold as well.
Now that the most worrisome project from this term is over for both Soonyoung and Junhui, they spend most of their time studying for their finals that they have subjects in common and write the final touches on whatever papers they hadn't finished yet. They do most of that in the comfort of the café their friend Seungcheol works at - although, they rarely ever hang out with him since he's always busy.
"What do we have left?" Soonyoung asks and sips his hot drink.
"That practical anatomy for the moving body one that I hate and it seems we have another class about it next term as well," Junhui wrinkles his nose when he says that, Soonyoung gets why he's like this towards this subject because he's suffered in their professor's hand as well.
"At least we ain't working with this directly once we graduate," Soonyoung tries to shed some light on Junhui's misery, seeing that he's now hitting his head softly on the book cover. "Let's get done with this and not flunk it so we don't have to suffer more than necessary."
That seems to do the trick and Junhui cheers up a little, Soonyoung knows it worked when his friend calls Seungcheol over and asks for some cake. Although this time of the year is supposed to be festive, Soonyoung is not feeling the Christmas spirit yet, maybe it's due to the finals being a week away and end of the year celebrations being two weeks far.
Soonyoung also keeps it to himself that he's doing well in that subject that Junhui seems to dislike so much, he'll try his best to help him out if needed.
Since he's currently sitting opposite the entrance, Soonyoung sees each person who enters the café. Some faces are familiar, others not so much but one thing is sure, he almost gets up from his seat when he sees Jihoon entering the place with a black messenger bag and his purple headphones around his neck.
He waves at him without thinking much and Junhui is suddenly craning his neck to take a look at who Soonyoung is greeting. Soonyoung misses the smirk that plays on Junhui's lips as he slowly starts to gather his things scattered on the table.
"Hey," Jihoon says when he reaches their table and Soonyoung says a small 'hey' back. "You guys studying?"
"Yea-"
"I'm about to leave," Junhui cuts in and gives Soonyoung a quick glance before zipping his backpack up. Soonyoung is confused. "I'm glad to see you're socializing more. Min said you barely leaves your room and doesn't talk to people most of the times."
"He's exaggerating, I have friends," Jihoon snorts and waves a dismissive hand at Junhui. "You should go do your thing because you look like you need to pee with urgency and I don't think that's what you wanna do."
Junhui says a quick goodbye and rushes out of the café. Soonyoung stares at the table for full five seconds before smashing a fist on it. "He didn't pay for what he consumed."
"Here's your cake Jun- where's the boy?" Seungcheol says confused and exchanges a look with Jihoon and Soonyoung. "Wanna eat the cake?"
"Sure," Jihoon says and Seungcheol puts the plate on the table.
"You're paying for that though," their waiter friend says and leaves them.
"Duh, of course I am paying for the cake," Jihoon mocks him and puts his things on the other side and sits down next to it. "Did I interrupt something? I can get another table if you want privacy."
"Nah, I'm tired of studying, I already know it all," Soonyoung piles his textbooks and notebooks against the wall and finishes his coffee. "How did the project go? Did you finish it? It's been a week since we saw each other and I guess your deadline already passed."
"It went well actually," Jihoon says and takes out his laptop, setting it up and plugging his headphones on. "Wanna give it a listen? I'm not as shy about my stuff as I used to be when I started."
"Sure," Soonyoung nods and waits. Jihoon takes his sweet time to actually do it, eating the cake slowly as he does so. "Is it different from what you had before?"
"Just a little," he says and finally hands Soonyoung the headphones. "I hope you don't hate it."
Soonyoung is absolutely sure that he won't hate it. If Jihoon is actually satisfied with his final work, then it means it's even better than the other one he showed him. It's the same as the first time, Jihoon is focused on the laptop screen, mumbling something under his breath that Soonyoung can't understand and the muffled sound of the café makes Soonyoung imagine himself inside a bubble.
It catches him by surprise when he doesn't hear the notes of a piano as he was expecting to but the strumming of an acoustic guitar instead. It's a pleasant surprise, the sound of the guitar is extremely nice and clean, Soonyoung is even more mesmerized by that same voice singing the lyrics with so much emotion. The background piano keeps repeating in his mind when the song is over as well as the person's voice, he gives the headphones back to Jihoon and stares at the back of the laptop intently.
"Are you alright?" Jihoon waves a hand in front of Soonyoung's eyes and the other boy has to blink a few times, his vision going a little unfocused for some seconds. "How was it? Good? Bad? Terrible? Not worth shit?"
"Stop," Soonyoung shakes his head and runs a hand through his soft hair. "It was amazing."
"Thanks," Jihoon says and Soonyoung catches a glimpse of light red coloring Jihoon's cheeks, that's a new reaction from him, one that Soonyoung didn't expect to see any time soon.
"No, really," Soonyoung slams his fists on the table softly. "Who the fuck do you even ask to sing your songs? That voice is so good, I want to pay this person to sing all my favorite songs to me so I can listen to it all the time."
There's an awkward silence hanging in the atmosphere until Jihoon coughs into his fists and mumbles something. Soonyoung obviously doesn't catch it and leans closer.
"It's me," Jihoon repeats louder and scratches his forehead as he looks down at his last bite of cake. Soonyoung doesn't know where to hide his face after he realizes he said all of those things straight to the owner of that magical voice. "Thanks for liking it."
Soonyoung plays with his fingers and doesn't know really what to do to hide the embarrassment.
"What's wrong?" Jihoon tries to keep the conversation going but all Soonyoung does is turn red. Soonyoung hates himself for getting flustered so easily, especially at this moment.
"I just said something super embarrassing, I want to dig a hole and jump in it," he glances up at Jihoon and gives him a very sheepish and abashed smile.
"Don't be, it was a compliment and I'm glad you like my voice," Jihoon says and waves at Seungcheol to come over. "I want an americano," he orders and gives Seungcheol a pat on the back when he's leaving. "He's my best friend," Jihoon explains when he notices Soonyoung looking at him curiously. "We just don't spend much time together because he has to cram working here into his Law school hell of a schedule."
"He majors in Law?" Soonyoung says incredulous and Jihoon shakes his head in amusement and takes out two books from his bag. "I have to finish some papers and study for my applied music theory class but you don't have to leave."
It's weird hearing that because Soonyoung was sure Jihoon was going to ask him to leave. He never thought that grumpy boy he meet a few weeks ago would be such a nice company. Soonyoung was sure he wouldn't give him space for friendly interactions.
"I'm going to eat some more," Soonyoung announces and orders when Seungcheol brings Jihoon's drink.
"You guys are making me exercise so much today," Seungcheol jokes and leaves to get Soonyoung's pie and hot chocolate.
The first day Sonyoung decides to stay back and not go home for the holidays, he feels just a tiny bit regretful.
The campus is close to empty and very few students chose the same thing as him, most of them obviously missing home and their families. It's not that Soonyoung doesn't miss his family, of course he does but his parents decided last minute that they were going to travel overseas because 'son, the plane tickets were on sale!!' and they forgot about him, not on purpose but Soonyoung knows how his parents are a little clumsier than him.
It's alright though, Soonyoung can enjoin the dorm room just for himself. Wonwoo always goes back home for any type of festivity since he doesn't live too far and Soonyoung won't feel too lonely because they've always had clashing schedules and were never home at the same time except for sleeping.
Though, right now he doesn't know what to do with all the free time he has in hands. He's currently lying down on his bed and staring up at the ceiling, arms behind his head and humming Jihoon's composition that comes to his mind every now and then.
Right before this term ended and everybody went home, Soonyoung and Jihoon exchanged numbers. None of them sent a message so far and Soonyoung honestly doesn't have anything to say to him.
For the most part, Soonyoung is spending all this time he has in hands to think. After all the anxiety to know how well he did on his finals, he can finally pay attention to other things. If there's one thing Soonyoung does often is think but he hasn't done it much until now, his mind wandering back to Jihoon now that he had that addicting tune playing nonstop on his head. He thinks about Jihoon's songs mostly - how he loves it and how he wants Jihoon to send him an mp3 file of it so he can listen whenever he feels like it, but Soonyoung is too shy to ask the boy for that - but Soonyoung also thinks about many other things regarding his new friend. How Seokmin and him met? Soonyoung has been friends with Seokmin since high school, it's been a pretty long time and Seokmin talks and talks and talks until he's spilling everyone's secrets to his best friend but he never talked about Jihoon to him. It confuses Soonyoung.
He jumps from his bed suddenly, holding that thought and making a run for his phone that's forgotten since the last day on top of his desk. He finds Jihoon's number and texts him.
soonyoung: can i ask you a question?
Soonyoung sits back down on his bed and stares at the screen. After over five minutes of no answer, he puts it down on the mattress and hears his own stomach grumbling. He quickly checks the time on his phone and sees that it's almost dinner time.
"I could go to the chinese restaurant some blocks from here," he thinks aloud and gets up, leaving his room and going straight to the door, looking around and suddenly feeling pretty lonely in the silent room. The dorm accommodations are really small, each has two bedrooms, a bathroom with hot water and a living room with a two seat couch along with a coffee table in the middle, Soonyoung thinks it is more than enough for someone like him who rarely spends his time there, he just needs a bed to sleep and a place to shower.
He wastes no more time and grabs his overcoat as well, closing it up all the way to his neck. The temperature is nearing the negatives and Soonyoung is not very keen on catching a cold. He's met with the corridor's cold still air, he locks the door and starts walking, steps rushed so he can get back to the warmth of his bedroom fast.
Out of the usual, Soonyoung doesn't get takeout but eats there instead. Feeling less lonely as he sees that most of the customers are there unaccompanied too. He doesn't take more than ten minutes after the food arrives to wolf it down and pay for his bill once he's satiated.
The dorms are empty aside from a single student he sees from afar entering the room at the end of the corridor. Soonyoung is glad he is back and runs to enter the comfort of his place. Once inside, he kicks his shoes off and hangs his overcoat, rubbing his cold hands together until they feel less numb and skips all the way to his bedroom.
Soonyoung debates whether he should shower again since he did that not even seven hours ago and the biting cold is not very inviting to being naked under running water. He chooses against it and changes into his pajamas, yelping in surprise when his phone vibrates where he forgot it on top of his bed. After changing completely, Soonyoung throws his body down on the mattress and unlocks his phone, seeing that Jihoon has finally answered his message.
jihoon: i guess so
soonyoung: how did u meet min? i have been wondering and didn't know if it was a pertinent question or not
soonyoung: sorry i'm a curious person
Soonyoung wonders if Jihoon is the type of person who doesn't care much about keeping in touch with people because he takes decades to send a reply. His eyes are slowly closing when his phone vibrates again and he almost drops the device.
jihoon: sorry i fell asleep
jihoon: was having a hard time and seokmin found me
jihoon: like, not as in i was lost or anything but he helped me
soonyoung: that sounds a lot like him
soonyoung: he's a nice friend
jihoon: yea
Soonyoung senses that Jihoon is on the verge of falling asleep on him again and doesn't bother him anymore, instead, he puts his phone aside on the nightstand and turns his body around so he's facing the white ceiling again. He now is curious to ask what was the hard time Jihoon was going through. Soonyoung can't help himself and be curious about everything, always asking questions and wanting to know everything.
Maybe he'll ask that to Jihoon in person when he's back.
This has been so far, Soonyoung's less eventful end of the year celebrations. The campus cafeteria was obviously closed, even if it was Christmas, Soonyoung is not bothered because he thinks that everyone deserves a break and then he opts to go grab his Christmas dinner at any restaurant he finds open.
It's been about four days since he has texted Jihoon and they never exchanged messages again. Soonyoung is left wondering by himself why he keeps thinking about Jihoon. It's not like Soonyoung is that dense to know when he likes someone or not but now, he's sure he's not crushing on anyone but purely curious.
His Christmas dinner is made up of a pizza box and a liter of coke. Soonyoung would've felt miserable if pizza wasn't one of his favorite foods, he eats half of the box in one sitting as he watches Home Alone on his laptop, he doesn't like that movie but it reminds him of Christmas days when he was a child and it warms him somehow.
The movie is almost at the end when he hears his phone vibrating on the nightstand. With the movie paused, Soonyoung reaches out for it and sees that it's Seokmin checking up on him and wishing a Merry Christmas. A pop-up for a new messages appears on top of the screen and Soonyoung clicks on it.
jihoon: merry xmas
He has to admit that he is surprised that Jihoon is the one taking the initiative.
soonyoung: merry xmas!!!!!!
jihoon: are you being able to enjoy your xmas at home?
soonyoung: didn't i tell you?
soonyoung: i didn't go back home for the holidays this year
jihoon: oh
Soonyoung closes the laptop and puts it under his bed so he doesn't step on it later, leaning his back against the wall and reaching for a slice of pizza as he stares at the chat with Jihoon, waiting for him to send the message he's typing right now.
jihoon: i'm coming back earlier
jihoon: i composed some stuff on my free time
jihoon: wanna meet up and give it a listen? i need opinions on it
soonyoung: ofc!!!!!!!!!!!
jihoon: even knowing that your opinion is biased
Soonyoung spends the rest of his Christmas night texting Jihoon and talking about what they did during the holidays.
The café Seungcheol works at opens on New Year's Eve, maybe feeling pity for the students who stayed back, although, Seungcheol is not there. The moment Soonyoung sees that the place is open, he takes large steps so he can order his favorite cappuccino and a strawberry tart.
Upon entering the shop he takes a deep breath, the smell of freshly brewed coffee filling his lungs and he almost tears up at how much he missed the place. He sees an unfamiliar person delivering orders and another one in the cashier. Soonyoung notices how both have that flower boy look to them and that the café has more customers than the usual.
Before he has time to find a seat, he sees someone waving at him from the end of the place. It's Jihoon and he has black hair, Soonyoung walks slowly until he reaches the table, the setting is the usual coming from Jihoon: laptop in front of him and headphones around his neck.
"Hey!" Soonyoung says and takes the seat opposite him. "I didn't know you'd be here already."
"I said I'd be coming earlier," Jihoon smiles and sips what looks like steaming hot tea. He raises a hand and Soonyoung observes as the boy who's working as a waiter comes over - he has mid length hair and looks too pretty.
"Jihoon," the boy acknowledges and turns to look at Soonyoung. "Jihoon's friend."
"I'm Soonyoung."
"Right," he nods and takes out a notepad from the small pocket of his beige apron. "And I'm Jeonghan and that one in the cashier over there is Jisoo. Seungcheol will be back to work in a week and we're covering for him, if you're wondering. Would you like to order anything?"
"Thanks for the heads up, I guess," Soonyoung says and orders what he's there for. "So you work here only for this time of the year? I don't remember seeing you here before."
"Jisoo and I study overseas," Jeonghan starts explaining and puts the notepad back to its place. "And when we come back to visit on holidays and vacations, Jisoo's parents make us work. We're cousins. And Seungcheol is our countryside cousin."
Now that makes more sense, their physical features remind Soonyoung a little of Seungcheol. Soonyoung never seeing them makes sense too because he usually comes back home on breaks and holidays. With that, Jeonghan nods at them and leaves. Jihoon finishes his panini as he types on his laptop.
"Wanna hear some of the things i worked on?" Jihoon glances up at Soonyoung expectantly. Soonyoung doesn't remember seeing that look on Jihoon's face the other times the boy showed him his songs, that gets him giddy to check them.
"Now? Of course," Soonyoung agrees and opens his hands in front of himself, Jihoon shakes his head and hands the headphones to him. "What kind of song is it this time?"
"You'll find out by yourself," Jihoon comments and presses play. This time the song is extremely different, the beginning starts slow but the beat picks up after a minute and a different voice takes part in the song, not singing but rapping. Soonyoung is surprised. Once the song is over, Soonyoung has many questions swirling in his mind and Jihoon looks at him with a shine in his eyes, waiting for Soonyoung's opinion on this first one. "What do you think?"
"This was unexpected," Soonyoung breathes out, Jihoon looks amused at what he's seeing. "I have things I need to know."
"I would be surprised if you didn't," Jihoon laughs and does a motion that says go on.
"Ok so, I know it was you singing but who was the other one? I don't think I recognize that voice?" Soonyoung tilts his head and scratches the side of his neck while Jihoon doubles over in laughter.
"It's Cheol. I said he's my best friend, he lives next door to my house," Jihoon explains and wipes a fake tear out of his right eye. "He always helps me record things when he's free."
"I didn't know he had a good voice for rapping," Soonyoung comments and is about to take off the headphones from around his neck when Jihoon raises a hand at him.
"There's still a few more," Jihoon says putting his mug down on the table. "a week and a half at home with nothing to study or projects to finish means me working on too many songs in one go."
Still excited, Soonyoung taps his fingers on the table and puts the headphones back on.
"I didn't know you and Jihoon became so close," Seokmin comments. After Jihoon left the café, Soonyoung stayed behind and drank a few more mugs of cappuccino and hot chocolate. As thought he was dreaming, Soonyoung saw his best friend entering the place and spotting him immediately by the way he made a beeline to the table he was sat. Seokmin arrived right when Jihoon was leaving, only briefly greeting his friend as he gave Soonyoung a look the screamed you have things to tell me.
"A little, kinda," Soonyoung shrugs and Seokmin orders, looking at Jeonghan as though he were an angel. He stares all the way until Jeonghan is behind the counter making his order. "Min?"
"Sorry," he shakes his head and smiles. "A little? I heard you've been here just you two before."
"By whom?" Soonyoung scratches behind his ears and Seokmin raises an eyebrow. "Seungcheol?"
"Of course, who else?" Seokmin says it like it is a known fact and Soonyoung senses something on the tone of his voice.
"Are you jealous?" he asks because he has seem Seokmin getting jealous of his friendship with other people before and that wouldn't be a first.
"Perhaps," Seokmin places a hand under his chin and narrows his eyes at his beloved best friend. "Seungcheol says you two seem close and that's saying a lot because he is the one who's closest to Jihoon. And how come you never invited me to these coffee meetings? Or should I call them dates?"
"I don't think they were dates," Soonyoung replies and tries to remember why he didn't do as his friend just suggested. He snaps his fingers and shakes his head in amusement. "You were around town busking with Seungkwan, remember?"
Seokmin is silent for some time and nods slowly, probably remembering about it. "You're right."
"Don't be unreasonable," Soonyoung says and Seokmin makes a face before nodding. Jeonghan finally makes his appearance and Seokmin stares, Soonyoung wonders how he doesn't feel embarrassed by doing that, especially since Jeonghan seems to sense Seokmin's eyes on him.
"Would you like some more?" Jeonghan asks Soonyoung, pointing to his forgotten mug. "I mean, unless you're finally full after those two paninis, two slices of cake, three mugs of hot chocolate and four mugs of cappuccino."
Seokmin stares at Soonyoung in amusement, finally taking his eyes off Jeonghan for a moment. "You're fucking brutal when it comes to eating during winter."
"You looked like a bear about to hibernate," Jeonghan snickers, Soonyoung refuses more food or drinks and Jeonghan leaves.
Soonyoung observes as Seokmin drinks his hot beverage slowly and stares back at him.
"Why were you eyeing Jeonghan like that?" Soonyoung questions, now his time to give his friend the raised brow.
"Well," Seokmin puts the mug down and taps his fingers nervously on the table. "I have seen him here before but I thought it was just a random customer because I've never seen him again. It's literally the first time that I come back earlier from break and here he is again."
"You've got a crush on him?" Soonyoung says in surprise. Seokmin is oddly quiet after that and Soonyoung gets the message. "Wow man."
"Don't talk like I don't know you go around nurturing crushes on a certain someone you've recently become friends with," Seokmin says without mentioning names but it's just too obvious and Soonyoung groans as a reaction to that. "Even if that was my initial plan for you two, I can't believe it all happened so fast and on top of that, I couldn't even watch it blooming."
"Nothing's blooming," Soonyoung shakes his head and waves a dismissive hand at Seokmin. "Don't look too much into it man."
"You naive idiot," Seokmin softly jabs a finger at Soonyoung's forehead and shoves a giant piece of cake into his mouth. He munches, in order to give Soonyoung some thinking time, it doesn't do much for his friend. "You think Jihoon opens up to just anyone? I can't believe he let you into his life so easily."
That's a little piece of astonishing information. Soonyoung was already aware that Jihoon was pretty reserved but he didn't know he was Mr. Antisocial as Seokmin is making him to be. He doesn't remember a moment that he was like that with him, at least not aside from when they first met and even then he wasn't unapproachable.
"How did you even become friends?" Soonyoung asks what he has been wanting to know since forever. "I don't remember you mentioning him. I don't think I ever saw you two hanging out together as well."
"Those were tough times," Seokmin says and nods to himself. "It was last year around August, I think. I found him alone in the rain when I was coming back from the library. It was a day you were busy working on a project with Chan, your favorite freshman at that time, so you weren't with me. Anyway, I forced him to come back with me to my shared apartment with Jun, he wasn't there and he wouldn't mind me helping a stranger anyway."
"It feels like a movie scene to be honest," Soonyoung comments when Seokmin stops talking.
"Shush, I'm not done yet," Seokmin glares at him jokingly and Soonyoung presses his lips shut. "I lent him a pair of dry clothes and forced him to stay over until the rain passed because not even an umbrella would be of help. We got to talk a little and he told me it was just relationship problems that kept making him depressed randomly through the day. Apparently that relationship had ended the previous week but it was still affecting him."
Soonyoung kept in silence and kept staring at Seokmin.
"Now I'm done," Seokmin snorts at how this time Soonyoung remained quiet. "The rest of the story is not really important. The thing is, it took some time and insistence from my part because he wasn't that keen on being friends with me."
"Maybe time made him softer," Soonyoung suggests and Seokmin nods.
"He used to get real mad at me when I was too much," Seokmin explains and Soonyoung's mind brings back a few scenes where he expected Jihoon to snap but he did none of it. "Seungcheol can probably tell you this better than me but Jihoon has become softer as time passed. He's pretty different now I think, did he chuck anything at you since you two became acquainted?"
"What? No!" Soonyoung exclaims outraged and Seokmin smiles with his eyes, drinking his now lukewarm cappuccino since he spoke a lot and forgot about it. "Did he use to throw things at you?"
"Only happened a few times," Seokmin answers with a smile on. "He only threw a bottle of water, a book and a pencil case at me. He had a lot of internal anger in himself before, he used to yell a lot too."
It's not exactly that surprising but Soonyoung can't really wrap his head around the idea of small Jihoon being aggressive with others because he has never witnessed anything like that from him. Now that Seokmin brought this up, Soonyoung can totally picture it happening because Seokmin has the skill of running his mouth without being tired - that's why he's even friends with Boo Seungkwan even though he complains that the boy talks too much, Seokmin is the same.
"That's honestly a good change," is what Soonyoung comments.
"I didn't say it was bad, I'm actually glad he's making friends," Seokmin finishes with everything he ordered and Soonyoung nods. "Some changes are good and I'm in no position of saying this but I have a feeling that he likes you a lot more than he shows, if letting you check his songs and all is not a sign of it."
"You think so?" Soonyoung asks curiously and Seokmin nods while rolling his eyes, mumbling 'obviously under his breath. "I mean, I like him too but I'm not sure if it's like that and Jihoon doesn't really look like he's into guys."
"Oh please, Soon," Seokmin laughs and gets up abruptly, pointing behind himself in a silent request that they leave. Soonyoung complies because Seokmin looks tired. "Didn't you notice already that the gays all end up being friends somehow?"
"That's not scientifically proven," Soonyoung argues back and gets up, following his friend to the cashier. "I don't know."
Seokmin pays him no more attention, fishing for his wallet and paying for what he had, Soonyoung does the same and, right before they leave the shop, Jeonghan calls his name.
"Since you consumed so much and all, I thought it'd be nice to give you something," Jeonghan says, handing Soonyoung a paper bag with a big cookie in it. Seokmin stares at Jeonghan, waiting for him to give one too. "And since you were along with him," he says and gives Seokmin one as well. "See you around."
Soonyoung smiles at the free food - since he spent way more than he wanted to in just one day - and takes a bite as they exit the shop and are greeted with the falling snow and cold wind. He notices how Seokmin is staring at the paper bag and not doing anything, not even talking.
"What's wrong with your cookie?" Soonyoung asks and takes an even bigger bite. "You can give it to me if you don't like chocolate and raspberries."
Instead of saying anything, Seokmin shows him the cookie still protected by the package and Soonyoung squints. There's a number written there with a tiny handwriting and a short message that reads text me whenever :)
Seokmin and Soonyoung would be lying if they said that they're not surprised that Jihoon texted the two of them and invited them over to celebrate New Year's Eve at his place.
They meet up at Seokmin's apartment three hours after they've left the café, both washed up and looking just a tiny bit more dressed up than before. The weather is cold as hell so both are wearing sweaters and thick overcoats, they also had beanies covering their head and a pair of gloves on each.
"I can't believe he invited us to his place, I've never even been there before," Seokmin comments as he locks the place up. Soonyoung stands close to him and even grabs his arm so they can walk together and feel less cold. "I just know it's in some fancy place because his parents own whatever where he lives and they're well off."
"Like, rich?" Soonyoung quickens his steps once they're outside the building, trying to remember the way to Jihoon's without having to ask help for the app he has installed on his phone.
"I don't think he's rich, just not regular," Seokmin says and they're soon reaching the place, it's a mere blocks away from where Seokmin lives and they're just glad they'll be getting rid of this freezing weather soon. Seokmin is faster and presses the button on the intercom to Jihoon's apartment.
"Yes?"
"Please open this fast, we're dying," Seokmin says through his gritted teeth and Jihoon laughs but does as requested. "Thanks."
They rush inside the building, Soonyoung still holding Seokmin's arm because it just feels warm and comfortable but lets go once they're not dying anymore. He sighs in relief and even takes off the beanie and gloves, putting them in his pockets.
"So much better," Soonyoung says and Seokmin calls the elevator. It reaches the ground floor quickly and they're soon going up to the fifth floor. The door to Jihoon's apartment is half opened when they step out of the elevator, Soonyoung knocks on it faintly.
"Come in and lock it up," Jihoon says, his voice sounds like it's coming from afar but once they enter the place, he's visible from the living room. Well, as visible as possible because he's all huddled up under a pile of blankets. Seokmin is the one who locks the door. "Are you guys hungry? I bought some takeout just to make sure since most places will be closed soon."
"Clever," Seokmin says and takes his shoes off, Soonyoung follows his lead and does the same. "That's a nice place."
"Thanks," Jihoon replies and scoots over to the end of the couch, freeing space for the two. "The couch has enough room for four so come sit if you're not going to heat food up yet."
They don't hesitate and do as said, Soonyoung goes first and doesn't miss the look Seokmin gives him when he sits down next to Jihoon.
"Did you plan anything for tonight?" Soonyoung asks, curious as always, and Jihoon pursues his lips before shaking his head.
"Absolutely nothing," he replies and Seokmin stares at him in outrage. "I've got some wine on the fridge and food though? I didn't plan a thing because I don't usually do anything on New Year's Eve aside from watching shitty TV programs or eating as much as I can. I thought it'd be nice to have company and you two also ended up here by yourselves, I tried to be a good person for once."
"Aww that's nice, Hoon," Seokmin reaches out and pets Jihoon's hair. "I think wine and whatever takeout you got is enough. We can play games too! I'm the king of games."
"Don't believe him, he sucks at games," Soonyoung whispers and receives a soft punch from his best friend. "Am I lying?"
"Of course it's a lie!"
"You made a fool of yourself at Jun's birthday party last year," Soonyoung points out and Seokmin huffs, not denying it. "But I'm not opposite to playing games."
"We could share secrets when we're drunk," Seokmin suggests and is met with Jihoon and Soonyoung narrowing their eyes at him. "Or we could talk about out New Year's resolutions."
"Just this one time I'm going to let you do as you wish," Jihoon says, raising one finger to get his point across and Seokmin nods eagerly. "Just because it's been a tough year and we need some fun. And I'm hungry, this show sucks and I can't deal with that host's voice anymore."
Jihoon then gets up and heads to the kitchen without another word. Soonyoung and Seokmin exchange a look before they're both rushing after Jihoon to help him out or just to make him some company.
Once they're all settled on the coffee table, the three sat around it and the food steaming hot in front of them, Jihoon pops open the wine bottle. Seokmin snatches the bottle from his hands and serves it on the three mugs Soonyoung helped bring to the living room.
"I never bothered with a dinner table," Jihoon comments as he looks at the small one they're using right now. "This is ridiculous."
"It's enough," Seokmin smiles and holds up his mug of wine. "For friendship."
"For less homework and less complicated projects," Soonyoung follows, raising his mug as well.
"For," Jihoon starts and imitates them. "I don't know, for good things."
The other two nod at him and the three boys bump the mugs carefully before bringing the wine to their lips, Seokmin takes a large gulp from it and is quickly wolfing down a portion of the kimchi fried rice he put on his bowl along with the sweet and sour chicken.
"It's so good," he says mouth full, covering his mouth with his hands so the rice won't fly everywhere.
"The house smells good," Soonyoung laughs and eats too, Jihoon doesn't say anything and savors their dinner with a smile. "My head is spinning already."
"You're such a lightweight," Seokmin comments and drinks down all the wine he has on his mug, he's also finished with his food. "Remember that time you had two shots of vodka at Wonwoo's birthday party? It wasn't even a bar, it was a regular restaurant."
"I lost a bet, you did the betting with me!" Soonyoung accuses his friend and doesn't like how imagery of that day comes back at him in one go. "You're the only one who can hold off well, neither Wonwoo, Jun or me are good at drinking. I'd rather have coffee or juice."
"I'm not good at drinking too," Jihoon makes a face and takes a small sip of his wine, grimacing just slightly and filling his mouth with more kimchi fried rice.
"I hope none of you get shitfaced tomorrow," Seokmin comments and pours more wine for himself, he empties the bottle as the other two are still eating and struggling with their mugs. "I swore to never drink until I feel like death again."
"This says otherwise," Soonyoung points to Seokmin finishing his second mug full of wine. "But I have seen you drink more so this will be fine."
They eat the remains of the takeout in silence. Once done, they clean it up together, Soonyoung's steps are a little clumsy and Jihoon's smiling more than usual. Seokmin walks steadily but he's babbling nonsense already.
They throw themselves down on the couch but Jihoon jumps from it and rushes to where's probably his room, coming back with some pillows and a bunch of blankets, disappearing behind them.
"So we don't feel cold in the middle of the night," Jihoon explains putting it all down in front of them, pushing the coffee table to the side so they have more space. "And it's a lot more comfortable than the three of us sharing a blanket."
Nobody says a word against it and each grab a blanket and a pillow. Soonyoung and Jihoon on the couch while Seokmin rolls off and falls on top of the spare blanket that's on the floor. He sits next to it and arranges it so he can lie down on top of it without struggling, putting the pillow behind himself and circling the blankets around his body like the other too.
"That's comfortable indeed," he comments and Soonyoung agrees with a hum. Jihoon smiles some more. "Let's play then? Are we drunk enough?"
"I'm pretty intoxicated but not enough to throw up my guts out," Soonyoung says, raising his hand without a reason to.
"Me too," Jihoon agrees and just brings the blankets closer to himself, hiding half of his face. "Since you suggested the game, you start."
"Alright," Seokmin smiles and looks thoughtful for a moment. There's a smirk on his lips and Soonyoung wonders what secret Seokmin has that he doesn't know, there isn't much they don't know about each other. "I have a mole shaped like a cat on my butt."
"I doubt it," Jihoon protests, voice muffled, and he laughs. Seokmin narrows his eyes at him. "But I don't want to see it so I'll pretend I believe it."
"It's not a lie," Seokmin huffs and imitates Jihoon, covering half of his face. "Your turn."
There's silence for a few seconds, Jihoon thinking about something to tell them. "I sell some of the songs I produce and earn some small money from it."
Instead of saying anything, Soonyoung and Seokmin look at him with amazement in their eyes.
"That's pretty cool," Soonyoung says with a smile on his lips. "My turn?" he points to himself and gets nods as reply. "I'm pansexual and not gay as Seokmin thinks," Soonyoung blurts out, wondering why he's talking about that when he's never said a word about it to anyone before. "Though, I've never liked or dated a girl."
"I'm going on a date with Jeonghan in two days," Seokmin says before anyone can comment on what Soonyoung just said. "I texted him as soon as I got home."
He laughs hysterically and falls down, turning around so he's stuck in a mess of blankets. Jihoon and Soonyoung wait for him to get up to keep the game going but Seokmin remains like that for way too long. When they both look down, they see Seokmin has his eyes closed and the snore he lets out confirms that he is asleep.
"It knocked him down pretty fast," Jihoon says and pats Seokmin's arm. "Do you want to keep playing? It's still nine but we're all so tired, I can tell from the dark circles around our eyes."
"You haven't been sleeping well? We're on break, you're supposed to catch up on sleep," Soonyoung slurs and blinks slowly, his vision going a little blurry before it focuses back to Jihoon who's right in front of him. "I have been binge watching anime so I stay up till late but you probably don't do this."
"I'm too used to not sleeping much so I used my time making songs," Jihoon says and sighs, Soonyoung notices how he's now resting his weight down on the backrest of his couch. "I made a song thinking of you."
"What?" Soonyoung says and widens his eyes, the feeling of alcohol in his veins making him even more dizzy than he would be if he were not slightly drunk.
"Another secret," Jihoon explains, smiling down to himself as Soonyoung notices by the way his eyes wrinkle at the corner. He thinks he looks absolutely adorable. "That song for my project, I worked on it the day after your presentation at the showcase."
The lyrics of the song still linger on Soonyoung's head even then, he thinks about it and laughs.
"I wouldn't have thought about it, the lyrics are not related to the presentation itself, are they?" Jihoon shakes his head. He blinks his eyes even slower this time, it seems as though he's sleeping but they open and they stare right at Soonyoung.
"It was what I felt as I watched you dance and not about the presentation," Jihoon explains and yawns, the red on his cheeks could be from the wine but he could also be blushing - Soonyoung really like it if were the latter. "I would not say this if I were not under the influence of that wine, but all the other songs I worked on, I made them all thinking of you. Even the ones that don't sound like it, I made some thinking of you dancing to them. I'm so lame, I hate myself."
Soonyoung stares at him, Jihoon covers his whole face now and curls up, looking even smaller. Seokmin's snore is the only audible sound in the living room. Soonyoung does not push Jihoon into talking more and instead, he uses this moment to think about all the songs Jihoon showed him earlier. He remembers them clearly, he even mentally call himself a fan of Jihoon's works and now he feels electricity run through his veins. All of those beautiful and amazing songs were written by Jihoon with him in mind. The more he thinks about it, the more flustered he feels. His cheeks heating up even and the tiredness washing away slowly - the effects of the alcohol are leaving as well.
"I can't believe it," Soonyoung finally says, his voice is low but Jihoon hears it. His eyes peek at him from a small space under the blankets. "I adore those songs so much and now you tell me this and I feel so flattered. I don't even know what to say," Soonyoung's eyes sparkle prettily as he speaks and his mind keeps playing Jihoon's songs in his head. Reminding him of that nice feeling when Jihoon was showing it all to him. "Thanks."
It takes some time until Jihoon decides to get out from under the blankets, or at least give up on covering all of his face.
"I'm glad you enjoyed them," Jihoon says shyly. He doesn't even look Soonyoung in the eyes and it makes Soonyoung feel endeared as he observes him playing with his fingers. "Since I'm all about exposing myself tonight, there's one more thing I want to say."
"Go on," Soonyoung motions for him to keep talking and even draws closer to Jihoon. "I'm actually interested. Everything you've said so far has been life changing."
Before opening his mouth to speak, Jihoon licks his lips and takes a deep breath.
"I kinda like you," Jihoon says and Soonyoung nods slowly, unsure of what to say because he's never been confessed to. He decides to play dumb.
"Oh I like you too, I really like my friends," he says and watches Jihoon's reaction. It's not as expected, Jihoon's shoulders fall and he looks down at his hands, disappointed. "But I like you in a different way," he adds not to make Jihoon think that he's joking with his feelings. It's a surprise that Jihoon is actually talking about his feelings, something he has never done to Soonyoung. "In a 'I think a lot about you' or 'I want to hold your hand' way."
"Oh," Jihoon mumbles and doesn't move from his current position.
"I didn't think you'd be the shy type," Soonyoung comments and Jihoon lets out a shaky sigh.
"I'm mostly embarrassed," Jihoon says and then slowly, makes eye contact with Soonyoung. "I'm not good at talking about what I feel, so I write songs about it."
"Did you write a song about this?" Soonyoung asks, small smile a constant on his naturally pouty lips. Jihoon nods slowly, Soonyoung's smile grows - it also glows. "Can you show me?"
"Tomorrow?" Jihoon tries, looking too comfortable to move from his position.
"Sure," Soonyoung keeps smiling, abruptly reaching out to take Jihoon's hands into his. Jihoon is startled but he doesn't pull away, although his hand goes limp. "Your hands are so soft."
Jihoon snorts and ends up smiling at that. "They're calloused from all the guitar and piano playing."
"I like holding your hand still," Soonyoung winks at him and Jihoon makes a sound from the back of his throat that would possibly make someone think he's choking. "What?"
"You're disgusting, shut up and sleep," Jihoon says and closes his eyes right after. Soonyoung thinks it's a joke but Jihoon's soon snoring softly, his hand almost slipping from Soonyoung's soft grasp on it.
With a small smile on his lips, Soonyoung makes himself comfortable - he lets go of Jihoon's hand but quickly holds it again -, he closes his eyes and falls asleep anxious to hear Jihoon's song the next day - and the many other songs he knows Jihoon will make in the future.
And Seokmin, who's supposedly sleeping on the floor, smiles widely.