Archive of Our Own ^beta

Hoyoung and Minchan are art major students. The two best friends both sleep in the dormitory as they respectively live far away from their school, and also forged links with a local student, Ju Yeonho.

Hoyoung dresses up with a simple white shirt and chic black pants. He tries his best to fix his hair by delicately arranging a couple of its strands. After knocking at his door, Minchan smiles while glancing at his outfit. It suits him well.

"You forgot this." He says, showing Hoyoung the fancy mask in his hand.

The item was white, fox shaped and defined by thin red lines. Hoyoung carefully grabs the given object, observing its details a bit closer.

"Where's yours?" He asks while trying his on.

"Right there." He pulls out a cat shaped one. Hoyoung giggled as he thought it looked cute. "Are you ready? We should leave now."

" I am. Let's go then."

The two students were both invited to a masked ball.
It was a quite uncommon event that occured on the occasion of one of their friends' birthday, Chanhyuk. Minchan first drove them in front of a building from which a dark silhouette approached. Hoyoung jumps as the masked person walking towards the passenger seat suddenly scares him. Minchan just laughs.

"It's me dummy." The masked boy says after sitting in the back seat.

"I'm questionning if it's actually safe to bring Yeonho with us." Hoyoung stated, glancing at Minchan.

"You know it's important, he wanted to see his crush so bad."

"I told you already! He's just a good friend I appreciate…"

"Right. We believe you." The driver ironically answers.

"A good friend you'd be willing to infilitrate a party for." Hoyoung goes one further. Yeonho ignores their comments and silently blushes under his mask.

The youngest boy did not get invited to the party since he wasn't closely related to the host. But after hearing about his crush coming there, he begged his best friends to bring him with them.

"What if they discover you're not invited though?" Hoyoung asks as he seeks the host's home, properly putting his mask on.

'They won't, I'm keeping my face hidden."

"You better. Otherwise we're getting headshot."

Minchan parked the car near the house. Hoyoung feels nervous since he never really enjoyed any party. He used to decline the proposal of the previous ones he got invited to, but somehow accepted that one for its interesting concept. No one would remember him doing or saying embarrassing stuff under his mask. He though that was a good thing.

They walk towards the door with their faces covered, and Hoyoung sees how huge and modern the house looks. A man welcomes them with a pink panther figure and a notebook in his hands.

"Your name?"

"Hong Minchan."

As the door was open, Hoyoung glances at people dancing, drinking and discussing in the house under fancy and colorful lights.

"Bae Hoyoung." He says before glancing at Yeonho, who obviously couldn't give his own name.

He doesn't bother waiting for him, deep down knowing he's good at lying, and finally gets in the living room. He notices Minchan is out of sight and searches for his cute cat mask, but people somehow all looked the same. The music was loud and the space to walk in narrow. He did not expect himself to end up alone here and slightly starts to panic as people unintentionally brush past him. Suddenly, he bumps into someone who allows themselves to gently grab his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" The guy says with a concerned tone.

Hoyoung barely heard his voice as the music was filling his ears. He just stands still, observing the tiger faced man pulling him by the hand to the backyard. A few people only were calmly talking there. Hoyoung catches his breath under the eye of the stranger.

Yeonho made it in. He used the name of a classmate he begged to replace a few days ago. Realizing everything he did just to be able to talk to his crush makes him blush again, but he totally assumes his decision and proudly enters the crowded place. Jo Gyehyeon wasn't that hard to recognize. After a few minutes analyzing every single people he passes by, he confidently grabs a rabbit masked one by the wrist to an isolated corner of the hall. He doesn't pay attention to the fact this person was actually a bit taller than Gyehyeon.

"Hi, you are…?"

"It's Yeonho of course! You didn't recognize me? I expected a bit more of you, Gyehyeon." He jokes.

"I'm not-Ju Yeonho? But you weren't supposed to come…"

"I sneaked in." He whispered in his ear with a smile. "You smell great by the way."

"Thanks."

"Let's go grab drinks !"

The rabbit faced man nods, smiling behind his mask as Yeonho grasps his hand walking to the buffet.

"Are you feeling better?" The tiger man asks.

"Yes… Thank you. I was searching for my friend, we just arrived. It's so crowded here…"

"I'm glad I helped. What do you want to do now? Drink something?"

"Sure!"

Hoyoung is not a great fan of alcohol -nor people, loud music, whatsoever things related to parties- but he thought it might help him to enjoy this evening a bit more. Now that he found some company, he wants to make sure he's going to have fun.

They end up dancing among people, jumping like night has no end. Hoyoung couldn't seize this moment more, getting hyped by his new friend. He blushes at their closeness, their masks could touch at any moment. He sees a bit further from him Minchan giving him thumbs up. Hoyoung holds back the urge to nag at him for leaving him behind, as it leaded to a great encounter.

A calm song suddenly plays, incitating everyone to find a partner to slow dance with - or not, some people looked fine dancing alone. Hoyoung looks at his tiger friend, blushing again. He never danced like that before.

Since he didn't want to embarrass himself, Hoyoung goes back to the backyard with his party partner. He suddenly lies down in the fresh grass, facing the dark sky. No stars appeared to him, but it's a full moon night. He grins wide at the sight of it.

"You should see that! The moon is beautiful."

"We could've danced. That seemed fun." The tiger replies with a lowkey disappointed tone.

"Just lay down..." Hoyoung pulls his hand to make him lie on the ground. He does not let it go and holds it tight.

People were looking at them weirdly but they did not mind it at all, both distracted by each other. It's not like they were screaming and staggering anywhere. Minding their own business in their warm bubble was actually the best thing that could happen in their drunk state.

"Don't you want to tell me your name?"

"You can call me Heoni. But I won't give you my real name."

"Oh… Why?"

"Let's just keep it secret." He almost whispered. "How should I call you ?"

"Bae."

"Bae? But that's just… a couple nickname."

"No dummy, it's my last name."

"Like I knew you for ages…" Heoni jokingly lets out an annoyed sigh, shaking his head with his hand covering his eyes.

Hoyoung chuckles and turns his head towards him. Through their masks, their eyes somehow succeed to meet while their fingers intertwine.

"I didn't want to do a slow dance because I'm really bad at it. In fact I never tried so failure was too expectable." Heoni laughed at Hoyoung's words.

"That's it? We should go try then, I'll teach you!"

"No I'm dizzy… Let's just stay here."

They couldn't kiss because the entirety of their faces covered, but right now Hoyoung wishes they could. Maybe he thought so because of the alcohol running in his blood, or the way his partner was truthfully a nice person to be with. He was good at dancing, a great person to talk with. He also made Hoyoung laugh a lot.

In a surge of confidence, the fox boy lands his fingers on his friend's mask, slowly stroking his cheek with the back of his hand. He likes his presence, and feels secure with him. He giggles at the thought that no matter how drunk he could be, that random boy would keep him safe.

This moment could've last longer if Hoyoung did not sneeze. He tried his best not to mind it earlier but the weather was quite cold. Heoni suggests him to get back inside. They went upstairs as they were not hyped to dance anymore, but most of the few rooms up there were full of people kissing. In the end, they just sat in the dark corridor against the wall. Heoni removes his jacket in order to gently place it on Hoyoung's shoulders. It smells great, something like vanilla.

"Can we kiss?" The fox masked boy asks out of the blue, feeling like he would regret not daring to.

They look at each other for the umpteenth time. Despite the muffled music coming from the ground floor, all they can hear is silence. They both feel trapped alone in a peaceful bubble. Heoni doesn't even feel the need to answer and grabs his own mask to remove it but Hoyoung stops him.

"I'm still... shy. Let's not reveal our faces. That's today's concept after all..."

Afraid that his friend might be disappointed or confused, the fox boy looks away, but he cannot see Heoni's affectionate smile behind his tiger face.

"Close your eyes. I'll close mine." Heoni carefully takes the edges of Hoyoung's mask.

The latter freezes at the slight touch of his warm fingers on his skin, and firmly closes his eyes as demanded. He can slowly feel his mask getting removed from his face. Both of them smile with their eyes shut. It was a thrilling situation that brought in them a feeling of excitment. Yet this moment was precious, as they were equally trusting each other not to give in to the desire to open their eyes.

"Bae, you're closing your eyes right?"

"I am! Did you remove your mask?"

"I did."

The youngest doesn't even wait and wraps his arms around Heoni's neck to press his lips against his. He can feel Heoni smile through their kiss and place his soft palm on his cheek.

Hoyoung never imagined himself in this situation. His heart is beating fast and the touch of his partner makes him melt. It was his first kiss, but he did not need to be an expert to know that the oldest was a good kisser.

An automatic reflex opens his eyes as they seperate from each other, but Heoni expected it and covers them with his hand.

"Do I really want to hide?" Hoyoung thinks, grasping his wrist to remove it.

He does so and slowly opens his eyelids. As soon as his vision gets clearer in the dark, all he can see is a white tiger mask from side-on. Heoni purposely wasn't looking at Hoyoung's bare face. The latter sights, somewhat disappointed and takes his fox shaped mask too, putting it on before getting back against the wall and lays his head on Heoni's shoulder.

"Right, maybe we should keep it like that."

Dongheon didn't expect anything from this party except to have fun. He used to go to most of the ones he got invited to, and collected numerous conquests from them. But that cute fox boy was probably the best encounter he made until now.

He's really cute, and Dongheon feels good in his presence. However, they'll surely forget each other as the days pass by, meeting other people, liking other people, kissing other people… That's why Dongheon wanted to keep his identity secret for once as the opportunity was given. So that they won't embarrass themselves meeting each other again. It was just a bit of flirting after all, nothing serious, even if the romantic tension seemed to be stronger than usual to the oldest compared to others. He could sense a very innocent passion coming from Bae, which he could only appreciate and reward with affection.

"There you are!" A voice suddenly raises from the end of the corridor.

"Minchan?" Hoyoung says. Dongheon looks at him getting up without a word.

"I think Yeonho got caught, we have to leave."

"Right now? But…" He gazes at Dongheon.

"Come on!" Minchan pulls him by the hand to the stairs.

"Wait! Heoni... Let's meet again!" He couldn't say more as he disappears downstairs.

Dongheon sights and removes his mask. He wishes he could've spent more time with him. They'll probably never see each other again. He stands up and enters one of the rooms around him. Seeking for someone feeling alone, he carelessly kisses a random person. It clearly feels different to Hoyoung's lips. They didn't even get to say goodbye to each other properly.

He therefore realizes he lost the sight of someone he wishes he kept by his side.

Hoyoung wakes up in his own bedroom with a light headache. After a few moments trying to convince himself to move, he sits on the edge of his bed and notices the fox mask on his bedside table. He remembers almost everything, even though he couldn't recall every single detail as his memory was quite bad. He still misses the touch of the stranger he met yersteday night. Is he overreacting for falling in love this fast with a stranger? Was he the only one feeling like meeting someone he would never leave? He felt embarrassed after imagining himself being Heoni's umpteenth kind of one night stand - even if all they did was kissing. Hoyoung thought he shouldn't attend a party ever again. He didn't know if his headache was caused by his thoughts or the amount of alcohol he drinked yersteday.

He properly stands up and enters the room next door without even knocking. Minchan was still in his bed, silently looking at his phone. Hoyoung pushes him nonchalantly to try weaving his way under the blanket.

"Did you sleep well?" Minchan asks, switching off his screen.

"I did. Did you have fun yersteday?"

"Yeah! They kept playing my favorite songs so all I did was dance I guess. But that's the concept of parties, isn't it?" Hoyoung nodded. "Also… Let's talk about the love of your life. How did you call him again? Heoni."

His best friend blushes, hiding under the blanket.

"I don't want to talk about him. I don't even know his name, he doesn't know mine. We agreed on forgetting each other."

"What? You should've given him your number at least. You seemed to like that tiger boy. Don't you remember the last words you adressed him ? "Heoni… Let's meet again!", right ?"

"Oh my god please shut up! I was drunk!"

"But you weren't lying. I know that."

Hoyoung wanted to smash Minchan's smirking face with his stuffed toy, so he did.

Dongheon wakes up in a bed that's not his. A girl is still sleeping against his bare chest. He delicately pushes her aside and puts his shirt back on after finding it on the floor. He slept in Chanhyuk's house, like a few people did. He finds him in the kitchen drinking orange juice while observing the mess surrounding him.

"Hey Dongheon, how are you?" The host asks.

"Fine, thanks. How about you?"

"I'm tired. I was about to wake up everyone. Are you heading home?"

"Yup, um… I also wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

Dongheon scratches his neck.

"By chance… Do you know a fox disguised boy from yersteday's party?"

"Oh no, sorry. I do know everyone who came but you know, the masks… It was on purpose so that people somewhat stay anonymous. The only one who checked the names was the guy at the front door."

He points at the man sleeping on the couch while sipping his carton of juice.

"It's pissing me off though. Some uninvited people allowed themselves to enter with another name. It could've been better if people would actually respect the rules. It's free and it would be more enjoyable that way. It kinda worked though! You know, I wish-"

"I'm sorry but I gotta go now… See you later."

Dongheon left after waving at his friend. All he wants right now is to take a shower and and a nap. But once he goes outside, he notices he forgot something. He checks his pockets and finds his phone and wallet, but he still feels an abnormal sensation of loss and emptiness. The more he tries to remember the more he gets triggered. He suddenly gasps in the middle of the streets, doing a u-turn.

His jacket.

Hoyoung is silently observing it as it's hanging on the coat rack of his own front door. He noticed the unfamiliar leather piece of clothing after getting out of the bathroom. He slowly approches it, and cautiously searches it. All it contains is fortunately some gum and lipbalm, nothing too important to be worried about. But no matter what, he now has to return it to its owner.

"We have to meet again…" he whispers to himself, drying his hair with a white towel.

But the jacket did not show any phone number or personal feature except a light vanilla scent. Frustrated by the sudden issue he has to face, he decides to call Chanhyuk. The mere idea of getting to see his party partner once again was making him feel nervous.

"Hi Hoyoung? Is everything okay?" The voice from his phone says.

"Hm, yeah. Sorry for bothering you. About yersteday… I took someone's jacket. I don't know whose it is, so, by any chance… Could you call someone? Do you have any idea of how I can return it?"

"So you're the one who has it! Good thing, my friend was searching for it. He's here right now, would you mind coming back to my house?"

"Right now…?" He whispers to himself in panic. "Yeah. Yeah, sure. Just let me get ready quickly, I'll be there soon."

"Cool! See you."

Hoyoung throws his phone on his bed after realizing he's meeting Heoni again. Murmuring unhearable words out of embarrassment, he hides his face in his palms hoping for this to be a dream. Or more like a nightmare. He suddenly doesn't assume anymore the way his drunk self acted yersteday night though he did not mind it. Embarrassed and worried that Heoni might tease him, he cringes while trying to calm his beating heart down.

But he does not take the time to get lost in his thoughts as people are waiting for him to come. After hurriedly dressing up, he runs his fingers through his hair and observes himself in the mirror. He makes sure he's not looking too bad and leaves his room with an anxious mind.

"Minchan!" He enters in his best friend's room for the second time. "Can you drive me somewhere?"

The boy was still on his bed, reading a book. The curtains now open let the light fill the room as today was a sunny day.

"I'm not a taxi." He says while standing. "But ok. Where are we going?"

"To Chanyuk's place. I have to return something."

Dongheon heard everything. He couldn't help but get excited to meet Bae again. Bae Hoyoung. His name was pretty, and knowing it now could only make Dongheon happier.

"Could you stop smiling like that? Are you in love?" Chanhyuk says, chuckling at his friend's excited facial expression.

"It's not like that… I just want my jacket back."

"Sure." Chanhyuk stands up from his chair and walks towards his backyard. "You smoke ?"

"I don't."

"Fine, but I do so I'll be outside for a second. If Hoyoung arrives just open the door, it's unlocked already."

Dongheon nods. He doesn't know why he's suddenly nervous as he's alone now. The people sleeping upstairs left a couple of minutes ago, so did the guy on the sofa. He exhales and tries to relax by stretching.

Suddenly feeling embarrassed, he sits on the sofa. But his wait gets interrupted by a phone call. The person on the line pronounced a few words only, enough to make him abruptly stand up.

A few moments later, Hoyoung is patiently waiting for himself to dare knocking at the door. Standing in front of it with the leather jacket tightly held against his chest, he gathers his courage to hit the wooden surface three times. As it opens, Chanhyuk is the one facing him.

"Hi… I'm sorry, Dongheon left. He had an emergency."

Hoyoung's face darkens. As a feeling of disappointment grows in his chest, he sights and looks away.

"Oh… I see."

"Do you still want to come in?"

"No, thanks. Can I just give you the jacket? It'll be easier for him to get it back."

"Yeah, sure. I'll give it to him."

"Thanks… Bye, I guess. Your party was fun."

"Glad to hear that! See you Hoyoung, take care."

Hoyoung gets back in Minchan's car, staring in the void. Worried his best friend might cry, the driver gently rubs his back with his free hand.

"You did not see him."

"He had an emergency… I guess it's just fate."

"This must've been important enough to stand you up. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just… Disappointed."

"Let's go eat snacks. This is not going to cloud our sunday!"

"You're right. Turn on the radio."

As demanded, Minchan turned on the radio station while smiling wide. They foolishly look at each other as soon as they hear a random generic kpop song and start dancing without caring about the people that could see them from the outside. Hoyoung bursts out laughing observing his best friend moving in an obscure way.

After returning to the dormitories, they watched a movie on Minchan's carpet after buying snacks at the grocery store.

"That actor is my type, he's funny. What's his name again?" Hoyoung says while digging in his packet of potato chips.

"I don't know. You have a type?"

"Everyone does. You don't?"

"I mean I just didn't know you had one. Is yersteday's tiger guy you type then?"

"I guess yeah… He was funny and affectionate. I miss him. Am I thinking about him too much? I don't even know his… Wait yes I do. I know his name."

"What is it?"

"Dong… heon? I think that's it. Definitely. Chanhyuk said it earlier."

"Do you want me to stalk him on social medias ? You know I have superpowers. Easy peasy."

"No don't, that's just weird. Let's just keep it like that. I guess we weren't meant to stay together anyway. That was my first and last party."

"I like your drunk self though. You're the first one to say I should think before I talk, but when you drink your brain just disappears."

"What did you say ?"

"But for real do you recall the way you were dancing? I never saw your hips moving that much. I guess they were out of control."

Hoyoung jokingly slaps Minchan's shoulder as he feels embarrassed. They both laugh and grab each other's clothes to fight while their movie is still going on.

"Is Kiwi going to survive?" Dongheon asks, petting his dog's head which was laying on the vet's examining table.

"He's loosing a lot of energy. He's going to have a hard time." The vet answers. "Did he have lunch?"

"Kinda." Gyehyeon, Dongheon's roommate, answers. "Not enough to call it a proper meal. He usually wags his tail and eats it all but today he barely moved."

"He's going to get through this with a long-term treatment. What he needs right now is to have some rest."

On their way home, the two roommates felt gloomy. It's been three years since they rescued him, not so long after they met each other. The three of them were best friends for this whole time and Dongheon couldn't help but worry about Kiwi.

"I'm sorry hyung, you didn't meet your party friend. I realize I could've managed this alone."

"No you did good Gyehyeon, fortunately you were home. It sucks you didn't come to the party though, it was fun."

"I was too lazy…"

"That's right, it's not your thing."

Dongheon was carrying the dog luggage in which Kiwi was laying. He discretly sights at the thought of Hoyoung. He wishes he could've met him but the timing was just off. It may be fate, they may not be meant to see each other's face. He even wonders if they'll get the chance to meet again one day, it probably won't happen as there is no more context for them to do so.

Several days later, Yeonho was following his crush through the school corridors, trying to get his attention again after several tries. Gyehyeon was annoyed but did not want to hurt his feelings despite the huge amount of times he tried to convince him to leave him alone.

"Wait, Gyehyeon! Why are you ignoring me? I thought we got closer after the party..."

"Which I told you I did not attend. Now stop following me."

Though he walked fast in the hope to lose him, he stops in the middle of the corridor and turns around.

"I am not the one you should be searching for."

"What do you mean?" Yeonho looked at him with confusion, catching his breath after running after him for so long.

"Look, it was a masked ball. How can you be sure that guy was me after the umpteenth time I told you I stayed home?" Frustrated, Gyehyeon let out a quiet sigh.

"I mean… if it wasn't you I have no idea who it could be."

"Well, I'm sorry but that's not my problem. Now please stop following me, you're embarrassing. I have to go now."

Gyehyeon immediately felt guilty for his words but did not take them back, heading to his classroom as Yeonho didn't seem to have the will to follow him anymore.

The latter went to class too with a very confused mind. Even if alcohol blurred the memories, he does remember the person he spent the party with. Was he an actual stranger? Yeonho admits their personnalities and body proportions were slightly different. He spent a great time with him though…

Once he arrives in front of the right class, Yeonho enters with a gloomy expression, slowly bowing to his teacher. He notices not only most of his classmates are there already but the seats were mainly taken. As he does not get the choice, he heads to the closest unoccupied one. He suddenly frowns and looks at the person next to him. A classmate like any other, Kim Yongseung.

"I know that scent…" He thinks to himself.

This very small detail triggers his senses as they associate it with past experiences, forgotten memories - the light perfume scent brings him back to yersteday night. He blinks multiple times without noticing his seatmate was watching him too, troubled by his stare. Yeonho can't help but gets remembered the whole evening he spent with that rabbit masked person. Yongseung's scent was the same, and so were his body proportions. He ends up realizing they've been gazing at each other for ages and blushes, looking away.

"Sorry for that. You smell great." He says to get rid off the awkwardness.

"Thanks again."

Yeonho freezes, slowly understanding the meaning of that answer. Yongseung shyly smiles. His heart is pounding in his chest as he dared to get out of his comfort zone. To Yeonho he's always been a random classmate before, he never expected himself to stop playing his minor part in his life.

"Let's talk later." He murmurs while landing his eyes on the professor as if nothing happened.

As agreed, the two of them met in the corridor at the lunch break. Yeonho's heart was pounding hard, apprehending this moment since their small talk earlier. Yongseung looked confident, maybe because he knew that he had nothing to lose since they weren't even friends. If anything bad happens all they'd have to do would be ignore each other, that's it. Whatever, it is not his goal at the moment.

"Hum… First of all, I wanted to apologize for letting you believe I was Jo Gyehyeon, it wasn't so hard for me to understand you liked him so I took advantage of that to spend a great time with you. I'm sorry."

Yeonho didn't directly answer, looking away as he felt the weight of awkwardness.

"You know, I wish I could be mad right now but I'm just… embarrassed? That I did not get it on my own. I actually had fun, to be honest. Still I'm a bit sad. I'm just a psycho to Gyehyeon now."

"I can do anything if you want me to repay that. I mean, anything senseful that doesn't require me to involve my physical or mental health, secureness or more than 75% of my time."

"Wow… I though you sounded smart and mature because you were drunk the other day, but I guess that's just you being you."

"Thank you? What am I supposed to answer to this?"

Yeonho chuckles and shruggs.

"I don't want you to do anything, Yongseung."

"So, we're cool?" He extends his fist for Yeonho to bump his against it. The latter did so and Yongseung couldn't help but smiled.

"So you like me huh ?" Yeonho dares to ask, too curious to be bashful.

"I do, I'm not joking. But I'm not going to ask you out or anything. I don't think it'd be right after what I did to you. I'd still like us to stay friends though, if that's okay for you. That day was enjoyable, you're someone nice to be with, just like I somehow expected."

The bell rings as the lunch break ended. They were about to go back to class but a great amount of people suddenly floods the corridors, pushing everything on its way with no mercy. Yongseung judges it would be safer to stay on the side at the moment, keeping Yeonho with him by holding onto his shoulders.

The space between their faces was quite narrow and Yeonho realizes it when he turns his towards Yongseung's.

"Don't move…" Yongseung barely pronounces.

Yeonho could smell his scent so well he blushes, suddenly getting flashbacks of the masked ball again. He steps back when most people left and goes back to class first, confused at his own heart beating this fast.

Hoyoung cannot concentrate. To be honest, he's about to pass out on his school desk. The professor's voice is too slow to not feel like a sweet lullaby. He doesn't want to get called out so he fights against his very strong will to sleep and hardly keeps his eyes open. While he was pinching the skin of his wrist to stay awake, someone knocks on the classroom's door. He didn't paid attention to the person entering, who seems to be a senior student. Hoyoung mindlessly watches him walk to the teacher to pass a small pile of papers to him. He blinks at the sight of the boy suddenly looking back at him with a tiny smile.

"Thank you Dongheon." The teacher says while taking a look at the papers.

Hoyoung's eyes widen. He waited a very short moment only after the boy left to hurriedly raise his hand.

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

A few seconds afterwards, he was running, trying to figure out where his senior could've gone. He randomly runs to the left and fortunately, he found someone walking there. Without thinking about what he's doing, he keeps running to him and reaches for his shoulder, making him turn around.

"Heoni?"

Their eyes met but the spark of hope in Hoyoung's faded. It was not Dongheon. He could tell by the cold and confused way the person reacts. Embarrassed and disappointed, he bows and apologizes for bothering the stranger and turns back, heading to his classroom.

But as he turns at the end of the corridor looking at the floor, his head bumps into someone's chest. He mumbles apologizes again and was about to keep going when the person carefuly grabs his arm.

"Are you okay?"

The voice he heard sounded familiar, evoking a sort of deja-vu to Hoyoung. He slowly lifted his gaze upon that person with glassy eyes. That student was smiling bright, as if something really enjoyable just happened.

"Were you searching for me, Bae?"

Hoyoung's heart stopped beating. It was him, Dongheon, and he is beautiful. His smile suddenly got contagious and Hoyoung's is so wide his cheeks hurt. He didn't wait any longer to jump into his wide open arms. Dongheon then grabs his shoulders, looking at him right in the eyes. They both were admiring each other's facial features.

"I'm so sorry for leaving Chan's house the other day. I really wanted to see you but I had an issue with my dog and…" He shook his head and smiled. "I'm happy to see you. I mean your face. I mean I'm happy to see you again, and to discover your face. You're cute. But you were cute that day too and- sorry. I'm being foolish."

Hoyoung can't help but laughs at Dongheon's nervous words. He almost forgot this man was a funny guy. Dongheon softly grins at his cute giggles.

"Thank you, that's nice. I find you cute too." Hoyoung says with a shy smile. "But how did you know I was… well, me ? I mean, the fox boy from the masked ball."

Dongheon remembers very well even if he drank that evening. The touch of Hoyoung's lips on his was still present in his memory, soft and warm in a precious and unique way. But as their faces separated from each other, he unintentionally opened his eyes, making his heart flutter at the sight of his fox boy's charming facial features. The latter's eyes were still innocently closed, but as Dongheon notices they were about to open, Dongheon put his palm right in front of them so that he could put his mask on fast.

He didn't tell Hoyoung any of that as he wanted to keep it as his own little secret memory, pretending he just somehow figured out by "connecting the dots".

"You're wise when you're sober. That's a good thing to know." Hoyoung says before biting his lower lip, smirking to tease the older student.

Dongheon does not respond to his saying and gets closer, daring to touch his cheek. He isn't used to his face yet, finding it cuter while analyzing one by one every single detail of it.

"Can you believe we've been passing by each other this whole time without ever meeting? Where were you hiding?"

"I just didn't know who you were, nor the fact you actually existed." Dongheon faked being annoyed by gently hitting Hoyoung's shoulder while laughing. "Ain't I right? Don't pretend I shouldn't be saying it!"

They decided to exchange their numbers before Hoyoung goes back to class and agreed on meeting at the end of the day. The youngest then gets ready to walk past Dongheon but the latter lands a peck on his lips, quickly leaving first in the opposite way of his. Surprised, Hoyoung stands still for a while before turning around.

"That was lame!" He shouted, observing Dongheon waving at him for the last time before disappearing behind another corridor's walls. "…But cute."