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Jun doesn't even flinch when a pair of hands start unzipping the backpack right next to him.
"Smallest pocket."
Wonwoo grunts something unintelligible but adjusts his rummaging tactics accordingly.
Jun looks on fondly as Wonwoo, with all the grace of a disgruntled older cat, pulls out a slim packet of instant coffee and staggers away. Jun re-zips the pocket.
"He'll say thank you later," Jun reassures his friends sitting across from him in the student center cafeteria.
"Who was that?" Mingyu says curiously.
Minghao continues eating, unbothered.
"Wonwoo," Jun explains. "We've lived across the street from each other since we were kids."
After a moment, Jun adds, "He's pre-med."
A look of sympathetic understanding settles on Mingyu's face. None of them are strangers to the dreaded all-nighter.
Jun looks over to where Wonwoo has already plopped down with his fellow pre-med colleagues, Seungcheol and Jihoon. Jun assumes they're last-minute cramming for their exam today.
Now that Wonwoo has had some caffeine, he looks a bit more alive. Jun smiles, satisfied, but silently plans on dragging him back to the cafeteria later for a full meal.
Mingyu cuts his gaze surreptitiously over to the other group as well.
"So that's your best friend? He's..."
Mingyu pauses to look apologetically at Minghao, who just shrugs.
"Your best friend is hot," Minghao finishes.
Jun sighs, "I know."
"I was going to say handsome," Mingyu says diplomatically.
Outwardly, Minghao looks like he couldn't care less, but Jun senses that he is pleased by this.
Jun's content to let go of this objective observation of Wonwoo's attractiveness, but something bittersweet must linger in his expression because Minghao eyes him suspiciously.
Then Minghao's face twists in repulsion. "Stop doing that. Stop it right now," he demands.
"I'm not doing anything!" Jun protests.
"You're pining. It's disgusting. As your roommate, I command you to stop."
"Minghao doesn't like to see you sad," Mingyu clarifies, then pouts when he gets elbowed for his troubles.
"He does this all the time," Minghao complains.
"Like you never pined over Mingyu," Jun scoffs, feeling a little offended.
Mingyu perks up at this turn in conversation, though Minghao immediately bristles in defense. "I did not. I saw what I wanted and I wooed him properly and immediately."
Mingyu beams widely at Minghao.
Jun pouts. He'd protest with plenty of anecdotal evidence but Minghao is giving him a look that insinuates that he might not survive the night if he did.
So instead Jun sighs and buries his face in his arms.
"Hey."
Jun looks up to see a sunny Seungcheol. "Hi, hyung," Jun smiles back at him.
"There's a party at the Sigma frat house next week. You all should come."
Mingyu has wide dinner plates for eyes. Minghao elbows him again, and says, "Sure."
Jun nods too. "Thanks, Seungcheol-hyung!"
"You know Choi Seungcheol?" Mingyu says after Seungcheol leaves.
"Yeah," Minghao rolls his eyes. "Didn't you see him next to Wonwoo?"
"Well, yeah, but I didn't know that he'd invite us to his legendary frat party!"
Jun laughs, "They're not legendary if I'm being honest, but they're fun and safe, and Seungcheol-hyung is super nice if you're too drunk to go home and need a place to crash."
"Speaking from experience, hm?" Minghao asks. Jun grins in response. "Anyway, if you're not pining, maybe you should actually do something productive."
Junhui fiddles with his light-colored hair, frowning a little. "I was thinking about getting my hair dyed again. The roots are starting to show."
Minghao says, "I was going to say, just ask him out. But whatever."
Jun is not happy.
He had his hair colored and styled for nothing. He really likes this shade, too. The lilac color is so soft and enchanting, like a mermaid in a fairytale.
Wonwoo liked the Instagram photo, but hadn't commented on it since. Jun hasn't even run into him yet at the party, which Jun assumes is related to the fact that he saw Wonwoo go off with some girl (though the logical part of Jun's mind reasons she is probably a nice girl if Wonwoo is spending so much time with her).
Maybe they're kissing.
Jun feels a bit sick, like his stomach is cramping up.
But it's not his business if Wonwoo ends up going home with someone.
Jun is happy for him.
"Jun-ge. What did you do your hair for if you weren't going to snag a guy?" Minghao says, visibly annoyed. "Drink this and forget about him. You're here to have fun."
A mysterious fruity smelling drink is held up to his face, which Jun accepts and sips gratefully. It's sweet, and Jun can barely taste the alcohol.
"Wow, this is dangerous!" Jun giggles a little despite himself.
"Be safe, make good choices, and find a nice boy," Mingyu says encouragingly.
"Let us know when you do so we can get out of here." Mingyu yelps slightly as Minghao slips one hand into the back pocket of his tight jeans and presumably squeezes.
Jun rolls his eyes. "Go ahead and have fun, you two, I'll figure something out." Jun walks away, figuring he can probably crash on Seungcheol's couch at the end of the night anyway.
In fact, Jun finds two nice boys.
"I'm Jeonghan and this is Jisoo."
Both boys have a feminine attractiveness to them, with pretty eyes and soft-looking hair, though Jeonghan especially has an intriguing androgyny to him.
They fall into easy conversation, getting to know each other. How they know Seungcheol, the main host of the party. Jun knows him through a mutual friend. The others know him from high school.
"Did you come with anyone?"
Jun says, "With my friends Minghao and Mingyu." He spares a cursory glance around the room to see if he can point them out, but doesn't see them. He smiles and shrugs.
Jeonghan and Jisoo give each other a look, then smile.
"We're together but we think you're cute," Jisoo says, so direct that Jun doesn't know how to respond for a few seconds, processing this information.
Jun says "Thank you" in a small voice, strangely pleased. He doesn't back away.
Maybe tonight could be fun.
Jeonghan steps forward and smiles kindly at him, flicking back a lock of Jun's hair. Jun catches the spiced scent of cologne, not too overpowering.
"Cute," Jeonghan says. Jun blushes.
Jeonghan winks at him. "So tell us more about your extracurriculars," he purrs.
"Do you dance or work out? Your arms are pretty muscular," Jisoo says.
An arm snakes its way around Jun's waist and he almost has a heart attack.
"Jun-ah," a familiar voice rumbles in his ear.
"Wonwoo?" Jun says, surprised, turning around.
Oh shit. Wonwoo is gone.
Jun can tell from the sort of glassiness in Wonwoo's eyes, different from just being tired. "Water, Wonwoo, you need water," Jun chides, taking Wonwoo's plastic cup away.
"Who are you?" Jun blushes at Wonwoo's gruff question, aimed at the other two.
He strains, "This is Jeonghan and Jisoo, they're my new friends."
Wonwoo doesn't seem impressed if that look is anything to go by. He whines, "But I'm your friend, Junnie." He breathes into Jun's ear ticklishly and Jun jumps, then smacks Wonwoo's chest, frowning a little.
"Stop bothering Jun, Wonwoo. Let's go drink some water," Soonyoung from the modern dance club swoops in with a grin at Jun. Wonwoo huffs again and wanders away, chaperoned by Soonyoung.
"Hmm." Jeonghan says with a delicately wrinkled nose, "That one was sort of like a grumpy cat." Jisoo giggles in agreement.
"Hey, I like cats," Jun laughs, feeling the need to defend Wonwoo.
Jisoo's eyebrows go up slightly. "Do you?" There's a teasing lilt to his voice. He smiles.
Jeonghan smiles too.
Jun feels vaguely trapped now, for no discernible reason. "Erm..."
"Do you like drinking games? We know a couple of fun ones," Jeonghan abruptly changes the subject, grabbing Jun's hand and tugging him towards another group of people.
"Sure!" Jun says, happy to comply.
"Drinking truth or dare time!" Jeonghan says, weaving through the crowd over to the group. Jun finally sees Mingyu and Minghao among them, so he waves.
As Jeonghan sits down next to Jun, Jisoo sits on Jun's other side. Jun smiles nervously at both of them, and out of the corner of his eye, sees Mingyu whispering fervently in Minghao's ear.
"Hey, is this our new J-unit?" Soonyoung joins in.
To Jun's dismay, Wonwoo is close behind, chugging down a bottle of water.
"Hoping so," Jisoo winks. Jun is going to be a space heater in his next life, he's blushing so much today.
"Careful there, Junnie," Seungcheol warns good-naturedly, "Don't bite off more than you can chew with those two."
"Don't be rude," Jeonghan says, patting Jun's knee and narrowing his eyes at Seungcheol. "We're very gentle."
"Are you though?"
Jeonghan moves on, "Anyway! Let's spin the bottle to see who goes first. If you don't want to do something, you have to drink."
Jisoo spins the bottle and the lip points at Soonyoung.
"Dare!" is Soonyoung's immediate response.
"Take something off," Jisoo says teasingly.
"Oho, so there's going to be a theme again I see." Soonyoung pretends to unbutton his shirt to a couple wolf whistles from the crowd, but ends up taking off a shoe. He chucks it in Jisoo's direction.
Jisoo flinches as the shoe lands near his knee, then hurls it back at Soonyoung with a wicked grin.
Soonyoung spins the bottle next and it lands on Jeonghan.
"Truth," Jeonghan says. Soonyoung and Seungcheol boo.
Jisoo tsks at him. "You're not allowed to pick truth, remember?" he says warningly.
Jeonghan rolls his eyes. "Fine, dare."
"Kiss Seungcheol," Soonyoung demands.
Jeonghan sticks out his tongue and surprisingly takes a shot of tequila without any kissing involved. He hisses at the burn. "Been there, done that."
Seungcheol laughs, not appearing offended in the slightest. Jun figures it must be an inside joke, but Jisoo whispers to him, "We all dated briefly and figured out very quickly that he was better off as a friend."
Jun appreciates the honesty, and he giggles at the faces Jeonghan and Seungcheol start making at each other.
Jeonghan spins the bottle next and it lands on Jun, who quickly becomes the center of attention.
"Truth," Jun says nervously.
"Have you ever wanted to fuck anyone sitting here in this room?"
Jun swallows as he locks eyes with Wonwoo across the circle.
"If you don't want to answer, you can drink," Jisoo whispers in his ear. Jun looks at him. Jisoo winks like they're sharing a secret.
Jun gulps down a shot, making a sour face. He tries to use the beer Jeonghan offers as a chaser to wash away the taste. His throat burns.
Jeonghan whispers in his other ear, "It's okay. We know." Jeonghan squeezes his knee. "You want us to help you win him over? We can get him to see you as more than a friend," he says in the same quiet voice.
Both of the boys are caressing Jun gently. If Jun weren't so head over heels in love with Wonwoo already, he'd be a goner. He definitely wouldn't have trouble finding a place to stay tonight.
But Jun's trying his best not to look at Wonwoo, scared of giving anything away.
It's also far beyond Jun's capability to understand just how quickly these two came to the right conclusion.
"Jun didn't complete the dare so I'll spin again." Jeonghan smiles, and with a flick of the wrist, sends the bottle spinning before anyone can protest.
It lands on Wonwoo.
"Interesting," Jisoo murmurs knowingly.
"What's your name? I think Jun mentioned it but I forgot." Jeonghan sounds truly unaware. Indeed, if it weren't for the mischievous sparkle in his eyes, Jun would be fooled.
"Wonwoo," comes the stony answer from a cold face.
Jun can't stop looking at Wonwoo. He's so mad right now and Jun's not sure why. He's literally never seen Wonwoo this furious.
"Well, Wonwoo. What will it be?"
"Dare."
Jeonghan hums thoughtfully. "I don't know you too well, so I'll let you off easy."
Jun's heart sinks a little as Jeonghan says, "Kiss anyone here. Absolutely anyone, anywhere on their bodies that they consent to."
Jun hopes Wonwoo refuses the dare, deep down. He doesn't want to watch Wonwoo kiss someone else.
Especially if it's anywhere.
Jun swallows, trying to harden his too-soft heart.
"Like here," Jisoo says, bringing Jun's attention back to the present. He leans over and Jun feels slender fingers tilting his head just so.
The feeling of rose petals lands on his cheek.
"This okay?" Jeonghan says in his other ear.
Jun gives a jerky nod, then jumps as Jeonghan nips at his earlobe. He feels his body heating up under all the attention, but part of him revels in the feeling of being so wanted.
"Wow, get a room, you three," Soonyoung waves them off. "No one wants to see that."
Someone else calls out, "Speak for yourself, it's so hard to watch decent porn on campus internet."
Jun blushes at that.
He's so distracted and a mess of nerves right now, that he's blown away when Wonwoo is there and crawling up on hands and knees to him, a look of grim determination etched into his features.
"Jun-ah." Jun trembles a little. He's never heard Wonwoo say his name like that before, in real life.
"Come here," Wonwoo says, stopping his movement forward. Asking, because Jun knows that Wonwoo asks. Remembers his delayed thank yous for things freely given, like instant coffee. Never is one to hurt.
Jun trusts him. And so he leans forward, and Wonwoo's hand gently grips the nape of his neck. It's warm. Jun can't focus anywhere but him.
And then Wonwoo is kissing him. It's a soft, warm press of lips against his. A faint tickle of hot air as Wonwoo breathes out through his nose. Jun can't think because Wonwoo is kissing him.
Uncertain if this is a dream, Jun parts his lips a little and laps at the closed seam of Wonwoo's mouth, still holding the kiss.
Oh.
With a deep, guttural sound, Wonwoo starts actually kissing him, deep and good, his tongue delving into Jun's mouth immediately. Jun distantly notes that he tastes like the beer he must have been sipping earlier. But it doesn't matter, because Jun finally knows what it's like to kiss Wonwoo.
Jun feels like he's drowning, dying, finally alive. With a small, short whine, he threads his fingers into Wonwoo's hair and kisses back for all he's worth. He can't mess this up, even if—even if—
Jun is happy with this, he'll take it, he will live in this moment and keep it close forever, tuck it away. He moans, doesn't mean to, but something in him just wants Wonwoo to know that this is good, this is perfect and he is enjoying this—
Wonwoo abruptly breaks the kiss. His eyes rove over Jun's face, panicked. He stands.
And he leaves, firmly shouldering past distracted party-goers until he makes his way out the door.
Jun jumps up and rushes after him, saying soft, "Excuse me's" and "Pardon me's" until he's outside the frat house as well. He sees Wonwoo walking down the sidewalk back to the dorms, sharpness in every movement.
"Wonwoo!" Jun calls out, running to catch up. "Wonwoo, wait, wait for me," he says. The night air is chill, is sapping the warmth away from his mouth, where he had been kissed.
Jun finally catches up to Wonwoo because he doesn't change his speed, gives no sign that he heard Jun.
Jun says, "You okay? Wonwoo?" He's concerned—doesn't know how much Wonwoo's had to drink. Wonwoo looks tired, most of all.
"Jun-ah, what are you doing," Wonwoo says flatly, but Jun knows him, has known this Wonwoo for years. He's tired. He's tired and sad.
"Walking you home," Jun says, forcing a gentle smile on his face. "It's dangerous out here," he says.
"You don't have to," Wonwoo says.
Jun makes a careful calculation. He threads his fingers between Wonwoo's so that they're holding hands.
"I'm not willing to take that chance, okay?" Jun says.
They make it back safely.
Jun coaxes Wonwoo into sleep clothes, and then strips into his undershirt and boxers and joins him in his single bed.
He figures they can talk about it in the morning.