Archive of Our Own ^beta

“You’re sure you’re okay with me moving in, hyung?” Felix asked, for about the fortieth time since he and Chan had sat down at the diner. It was one of the only semi-decent places to eat on campus, and apparently Chan was a frequent patron because the waitress didn’t even bat an eye when he ordered what looked like half of the menu.

“Totally,” Chan said lightly. “Three of my other kids are your age, I’m sure you’ll get along great.” He stopped for a second to inhale an entire burger in two bites, and Felix tried not to stare. “Plus, a couple of them have pretty good English, and the rest are passable enough that you’ll be fine.”

Felix nodded. That had been his biggest insecurity ever since moving to Korea for school, and it had been a serious stroke of luck for him to get Chan, a fellow Australian, as his orientation leader. He took a sip of his milkshake, his mind still on classes and his new roommates.

“You can meet them tomorrow,” Chan said, and Felix looked up in surprise. He didn’t know how Chan had known what he was thinking, but maybe it was visible on his face. Chan smiled, dimples appearing in his cheeks. “There’s six of them, not including me. It’ll be a pretty full house, but don’t worry. There’s three floors. I’ll take you over after we’re done here, but I’m not sure everyone will be home so we’ll do a real get-together tomorrow if I can bully everyone into showing up.”

“That sounds good,” Felix replied, eyeing the substantial amount of food still left on the other side of the table. It had taken the waitress three trips to bring it all over, but at the rate that it was disappearing Felix thought Chan might be finished before he was even through with his milkshake.

“Bummer about your place, though,” Chan added. “Flooding’s the worst. Happened to my family once, when I was a kid. Y’know, cause it doesn’t rain that much in Sydney. When it does, though, it’s a total nightmare.”

“Yeah,” Felix replied, face scrunching a little at the memory of walking into his brand-new apartment to five inches of water. “Last time I’ll ever live in a ground-floor place. As soon as the upstairs pipe burst, it all headed straight down.”

“Sucks,” Chan said sympathetically, after an entire slice of pie vanished down his throat. “Did you save anything?”

“Not much,” Felix said. “Most everything was ruined. At least I won’t have to move much stuff into your place, though.”

Chan chuckled. “That’s true, although with all the burly muscle pigs in my house it wouldn’t have taken long at all even if you still had everything.”

Felix raised his eyebrows, gaze roving over Chan’s substantial build and bulging biceps. “If you’re calling someone else a muscle pig, then I should probably be afraid.”

Chan laughed at that, the sound so loud that it caused an older couple behind them to turn their heads. They were already attracting a fair amount of attention since Chan had ordered a small family’s worth of food, and because they were the only ones in the restaurant speaking English. He didn’t seem bothered, though, and started on a plate of spaghetti after taking a huge swig of water. “Remind me to get a piece of cheesecake on the way out,” he said. “Jisung will kill me if I forget again. If he’s even awake, that is.”

“Is he a big cheesecake enthusiast?” Felix asked. He didn’t know much about his new roommates, just a few names that Chan had thrown out here and there, and was curious to learn more. Chan laughed again.

“Oh boy, you have no idea. He’s a fiend for cheesecake, goes absolutely berserk if he finds out that you’ve been here and didn’t bring any back for him. The only saving grace is that he spends most of his time sleeping, so you can usually get away with it if you just don’t mention it.”

That was a pretty specific trait, Felix thought, and mentally filed away that information for later.

“They’re all kinda weird, actually,” Chan said thoughtfully. Felix’s apprehension must’ve shown on his face, because Chan quickly waved his hand. “Not in a bad way. They’re just sort of… quirky, I guess. I’m sure you’ll like them.”

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Felix agreed. “I’m generally pretty laid-back.”

“I can tell.” Chan grinned, his eyes turning into crescent moons. 

The house was larger than Felix thought it would be, considering that it belonged to seven college-aged boys. Chan had driven them over in his car after paying the entire bill, even though Felix had protested. Chan had just laughed and handed the waitress his card.

Felix was a little nervous, standing outside the front door as Chan fumbled with the lock. He had a lot of keys attached to a keychain with a metal wolf on it, and Felix silently wondered what on Earth they could all be for. Chan pushed the door open eventually, and Felix followed him into the house.

It was very clean, Felix thought– again, considering that it was occupied by a bunch of college students. He’d heard some nightmare stories from older friends who’d graduated back in Australia, but he was pleasantly surprised by the tidily organized shoes on the rack and jackets on the row of coat hooks. He took his shoes off and placed them next to the front door. Chan led Felix into the living room, which had a massive brown sofa set on a woven rug. There was a large square coffee table in front of it, wooden with a glass top. The TV opposite the couch was on silent with the captions playing, set to a documentary. Felix watched as an exotic cat pounced on some sort of small rodent, but missed.

“Probably Minho,” Chan said, pointing to the TV. “He always watches the TV on silent when his precious Jisungie is asleep, which means he pretty much always watches the TV on silent.”

A boy walked in just then, from a different doorway that Felix assumed led to the kitchen. He was very pretty, was Felix’s first thought. He had dark brown hair and angular eyes, with long lashes and pink lips that gave him a slightly feminine look. It worked well with his broad shoulders.

“There you are, Minho,” Chan greeted. The other boy didn’t respond, just stared at Felix with his head tilted a little. Felix felt a bit unsettled by the way Minho’s eyes narrowed as he looked Felix up and down.

“This is Felix,” Chan said, gesturing. “He’s the one that’s coming to live with us.”

“Mmm,” Minho hummed, noncommittal. “Hello, I’m Minho. I’m a fourth-year.”

“Hi,” Felix said quickly, relieved now that Minho had stopped analyzing him with his gaze. “I’m Felix, I’m a second-year. I just transferred here from Australia.”

“Ah, yes.” Minho’s face flashed with recognition. “You’re Jisungie’s age.”

“I guess?” Felix answered, unsure, and Chan laughed.

“Yes, that’s right, although not everything is about Jisung all the time.” Minho glared at Chan when he said it, like he very much disagreed. “He’s also Hyunjin’s age, and Seungmin’s age.”

Minho hummed, looking like he couldn’t care any less about Hyunjin or Seungmin. He did spot the cheesecake box in Chan’s hands, though, and his face brightened considerably. He set the mug in his hands on the coffee table, and went to take the box. “I’ll give it to him later,” he told Chan. “He’s asleep right now.”

“I know, you’ve got the TV on silent,” Chan responded amiably. “No chance you’d be willing to wake him up for me? I want him to meet Felix.”

“No, no,” Felix cut in quickly. “If he’s asleep then there’s no need to bother him. I’ll just meet him later.”

“He’s literally always asleep,” Chan responded. “Whether you meet him today or tomorrow, we’ll have to wake him up either way.”

Minho disappeared through the door Chan and Felix had come from, back into the hallway. Felix heard stairs creaking, and Chan gestured quickly to the couch.

“Sit, sit,” he said. “I already texted to see who else was home, but I think it’s just Jisung and Minho. Can I get you anything to drink, or something?”

“I’m okay, hyung.” Felix shook his head, and Chan flopped down next to him. The exotic cat on the TV had finally succeeded in catching its meal, and there were a few moments of comfortable silence before Minho returned.

Jisung was surprisingly adorable. Felix didn’t know what he’d been expecting, really, but he didn’t look like the type of person who’d go rabid over anything– much less something benign like cheesecake. Jisung had dark blue hair, which he’d messily jammed a beanie over. His eyes were sleepy and round, and he had soft-looking cheeks. He sort of reminded Felix of a squirrel.

“Hi, hyung,” he said, looking at Chan. It took him a second to register that there was someone new on the couch, too, but when he made eye contact with Felix he started and stepped behind Minho slightly like he was afraid.

“It’s okay, Ji,” Minho said gently. “This is Felix, he’s the transfer student from Australia, remember?”

“Oh!” Jisung exclaimed. It was as if he’d changed entirely; a smile lit up his face, and all signs of tiredness vanished. “Hi, I’m Jisung.” His voice was much more energetic now.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” Felix said. “I like your hair.”

“Oh, thank you!” Jisung beamed, and it made Felix smile involuntarily. “I like yours, too. The blonde is really pretty on you.”

Minho’s expression pinched at that, for some reason. Felix got the impression that Jisung wasn’t quite aware of just how much Minho adored him.

“So, you’re moving in?” Jisung asked. “That’s good, actually. The room opposite me has been empty ever since we got here, it’ll be nice to have some company up there.”

“He’s on the top floor because it’s quiet,” Minho interjected. Felix understood it as the warning that it was, and vowed to try to avoid making as much noise as possible while Jisung was asleep. The blue-haired boy, however, seemed unbothered.

“It’s okay, I’ll sleep through pretty much anything,” he said reassuringly. “Hyunjin accidentally set off the fire alarm by putting a spoon in the microwave once,  and I didn’t hear anything at all.”

Chan chuckled. “There’s a reason he and Jeongin are banned from the kitchen. If you ever see them in there touching any of the appliances, chase them out. Seungmin usually does a pretty good job of keeping them under control, though.”

“There’s cheesecake for you, Jisungie,” Minho said. “I’ll go get you a fork. You can have my coffee, too, and I’ll just get another cup.”

Jisung looked at the box on the table like it had just fallen down from heaven. “It’s okay, hyung, I can get my own coffee,” he told Minho, but it was too late. He’d already gone into the kitchen. Jisung sat down quickly and pulled the box into his lap.

“Did you get this for me?” He stared at Chan like he, too, had just fallen down from heaven. “I love you so much, hyung.”

Chan’s expression looked panicked for a second as his head whipped towards the kitchen, but it took another few moments for Minho to return with the fork. Chan sat back, strangely relieved. Felix mentally filed that information away for later, too.

“Is Bin at the studio?” Chan asked. 

Jisung nodded, squirrel cheeks stuffed full of cheesecake. “He said he’s going to be home late tonight, he’s recording today.” The words were a little muffled, which Felix thought was kind of cute. Minho seemed to agree, judging by his infatuated expression.

“Oof. I’ll have to leave him something to eat when he gets home tonight, or he’ll lose it.” Chan looked kind of sad at the thought of missing out on food, and Felix suppressed a laugh. He wasn’t sure how Chan could possibly be thinking about another meal after the amount that he’d packed away at the diner, but his stomach seemed to be an endless void.

Felix, Chan, and Jisung chatted for a while longer, Minho adding a few words every now and then. By the time the cheesecake was gone, Jisung was nodding off over the empty box. 

“Sorry, he didn’t sleep much last night,” Chan said to Felix. “He was at the studio working. Him and Changbin are both producers, like me. We’ve been pretty busy lately, since we’ve got an album release coming up.”

“Oh, that’s so cool!” Felix chirped. “Can I listen to it once it’s out?”

“Of course,” Chan said, grinning. His dimples were out again. “If you sweet-talk Changbin enough he might even let you listen to it early.”  He gave the last part in a mock whisper, and Minho snorted.

“If you sweet-talk Chan hyung enough he’ll let you listen to it right now,” he said. “He’s a sucker for cute things, and he can’t say no to the kids to save his life.”

“The kids?” Felix asked curiously. He’d heard Chan call them “kids” earlier at the diner, too, although he wasn’t sure what that implied exactly.

“That’s just what we call the younger ones,” Chan answered. “I’m the oldest, and Minho and Changbin are a year and two years younger, respectively. We’re sort of in charge around here, although of course everyone is really free to do as they like.” He shuddered a little at the concept, and Felix got the sense that if Chan wasn’t around the house would likely fall apart. Maybe another microwave accident, or something.

“We have another one, Jeongin, who’s a first-year,” Chan continued. “But basically, the second-years and Innie are what we call “the kids.” That includes you, now, too!” Chan’s grin was bright as he patted Felix’s shoulder. 

“I’m going to take him back upstairs,” Minho said, standing up. Jisung roused for a second when he took the empty box and put it back on the coffee table, but drooped again quickly. Felix was very impressed when Minho scooped the sleeping Jisung effortlessly into his arms, and went back out into the hallway.

“See?” Chan murmured, tilting his head towards the doorway. “Muscle pig.”

Felix chuckled, and Chan stood as well. “C’mon, I’ll take you back to the school. We can pick up some of your stuff now, and then do a second trip tomorrow.” Chan’s back cracked rather threateningly when he stretched, and he winced. For a split second, Felix saw a beleaguered middle-aged dad instead of his twenty-two-year-old friend. The concept was sort of funny, he thought.

When he arrived back at the house with the last of his bags the next day, there was an entire welcoming committee at the door. Chan had warned him that everyone would be home, but still Felix felt unprepared for what looked like a small crowd of boys smiling and waving at him with differing degrees of enthusiasm. Jisung was awake and hit him with a beaming grin, Minho at his side. 

“Back up, we need to get inside, you buffoons,” Chan said good-naturedly. He had Felix’s biggest suitcase in his hands, having not accepted “no” for an answer when Felix offered to take it himself. “Someone take that bag from Felix and get it upstairs,” he called. An incredibly good-looking boy with shoulder-length blonde hair stepped forwards, but Felix quickly shook his head.

“It’s okay, I can do it,” he said. 

“Don’t be silly,” he trilled. “You’re on the third floor, you don’t have to haul it all the way up there. Why don’t you hang out and meet everyone?”

Jisung took his arm and led him into the living room again. Minho was the one to make everyone introduce themselves while Chan was heading upstairs with the blond from earlier.

“I’m Minho, of course, we met yesterday,” he said unnecessarily. His cat-like eyes were focusing on Felix with a single-minded intensity as he sat on the couch with Jisung curled up on his left. He then pointed to a puppy-faced kid with brown hair and glasses. “Seungmin, go.”

“Hi, yes, like he said,” the boy started. “I’m Seungmin. I’m a second-year, too.” He had shiny eyes and a sweet-looking smile, and he wore a pair of round glasses. Felix smiled back, recognizing his name from Chan and Minho’s conversation the previous day. This was the kitchen guardian.

“I’m Jeongin,” the boy next to him said. He had fox-like eyes that turned into crescent moons when he grinned and waved. Seungmin patted his mop of black hair affectionately.

“Oh, the maknae, right?” Felix asked.

“Yep,” he said, looking pleased. “Proud to be the only first-year to survive the hyungs so far.” Felix couldn’t quite tell if that was a joke or not, but his train of thought was interrupted by Chan’s return.

“Oh, good,” the eldest said. “Hyunjin hasn’t missed his turn yet.” He pushed the blond forward. Hyunjin was unbelievably handsome, really, now that Felix got a good look at him. He looked sort of like a character from a fantasy novel or a video game, with princely features and a tall stature. He would’ve been intimidating if it wasn’t for the fact that he had the top of his hair pulled back in a ponytail that bounced when he moved his head, and wore a fluffy lilac sweater.

“Hi, I’m Hyunjin. Glad to see another second-year, now we really have a good majority. They can’t stop us if we all work together,” he said with an impish smile. Felix chuckled.

The last boy to speak, aside from Jisung who was snoozing again, was also very good-looking in Felix’s opinion. He had an angular jawline and a sharp gaze, with lush lips. His shoulders were so broad and his muscles so defined that it made Felix’s mouth kind of dry. “I’m Changbin,” he said, voice low. “Third-year.” Right, Changbin the producer. He was really kind of… hot, for lack of a better word. Felix had to swallow before he could speak again. 

“Um, it’s great to meet you all, and thanks for taking me in on such short notice. Water really is not my friend right now,” he joked. Chan laughed loudly, which made Jisung sit up all of a sudden.

“Oh! Sorry, excuse me for that,” he apologized quickly. “We met yesterday, but yeah. Welcome, it’s nice to have you. Third floor buddies!” Jisung raised his hand for a high-five, which Felix met with enthusiasm.

“Right, well,” Chan said from the doorway. “That’s my forced socialization session out of the way. I know you all have things to do, so you’re free to go.”

“Lunch?” Hyunjin asked him hopefully.

“Not if you’re making it,” Chan answered sternly. “You can go into the kitchen with supervision.”

Seungmin stood up from the couch. “I’ll go with him,” he cut in quickly. His shiny eyes blinked a few times when Hyunjin beamed at him, and there was a light blush on his cheeks. Jeongin trailed after the two of them, asking about kimchi fried rice.

“I’m going to go start unpacking,” Felix said to the room. Jisung bounced up from the couch, too.

“I’ll go with you! I mean, I might fall asleep, but I’ll be good company until then,” he said sheepishly. 

“Let me know if you want help moving anything,” Changbin added. 

Felix paused, a little surprised, but then smiled. “I will. Thank you.” He was so ruggedly handsome in a black muscle tee and ripped jeans that Felix was almost intimidated. Jisung took his arm again, and he could feel Minho’s eyes on the back of his head until they turned the corner into the hallway.

The room that Felix was staying in was large and airy, with two windows on each of the outward-facing walls. The ceiling sloped slightly since it was just under the roof– but it was much nicer than he’d been expecting it to be, all things considered. He sat down on the floor and started tearing into the box that had his new bed frame in it, since his last one had been warped so badly from the floodwater that there was no way it would still be safe to sleep on. It had gone into the giant dumpster outside of his old apartment complex, as had the majority of his things. He peered at the instructions, the diagrams and tiny hangul labels making his head spin. His confusion must’ve showed on his face, because Jisung got up from his spot on the floor against the wall to sit at Felix’s shoulder.

“Ikea,” Felix said by way of explanation. Jisung nodded sympathetically. Felix laid out the parts on the carpet, and Jisung took the instructions from him.

“I think those are A, and those are B. We need to put them here, like this– or are those B?” Jisung mused, pointing at four wooden posts and five different piles of screws. They eventually got everything sorted out, and Felix got started with the screwdriver and wrench. Jisung chattered lightheartedly as he worked, occasionally stopping to look at the instructions again when Felix got stuck.

“Really, you’re lucky to be up here with me,” he said. “Not that anyone’s really obnoxious around here, ‘cause Changbin hyung would probably just crush them, but Hyunjin and Jeongin are noisy when they get Mario Kart going. Channie hyung is loud too, sometimes, actually, mostly because he’s just a child in an old man’s body.”

Felix snorted. “He’s not that old.”

“No, you’re right. He’s not old, he’s ancient.” Jisung looked pleased with himself when Felix giggled at that.

“Minho sunbaenim is almost his age, though,” Felix pointed out.

“Yeah, but hyung isn’t old like Channie hyung. He’s…” Jisung trailed off, a little lost for words, and then said something that Felix didn’t get.

“What, sorry?” He asked, mildly apologetic. “I didn’t understand.”

“Oh! Um…” He thought for a second, and then said “my soulmate” in accented English. Felix stared.

“Whoa, your English is really good.”

“Oh, thanks,” Jisung said, blushing a little. “I was practicing before you got here.”

“Minho sunbaenim is your soulmate?” Felix asked, surprised.

“Well, I think so,” he answered quietly. He was pulling at a string on the sleeve of his sweatshirt, like he was unsure about how Felix would react. “We match really well, and he’s…” Jisung’s sentence trailed off. Felix was one hundred percent certain that Minho felt the same way, but opted not to say anything just yet.

“Wow, must be nice,” he sighed. “I’m not even sure soulmates are real, but if you’ve met yours then it gives me hope.”

Jisung smiled at that, and nudged Felix’s shoulder with his own. “We’re still young. Not like Channie hyung, who’s basically two weeks from the retirement home, at this point,” he said with a grin. “Wait, when’s your birthday? I know we’re the same age, but…”

“September 15th,” he replied. “You?”

Jisung gaped. “No way. Mine’s September 14th.” He raised his hand for another high five, which echoed through the room with a resounding clap. “We’re basically twins,” the blue-haired boy told him with a grin. “We’re going to have the wildest birthday party ever.”

Jisung managed to stay awake long enough to put the bed together and help Felix haul the new mattress on to it. When he knocked out on the freshly-made bed, Felix opted to go downstairs instead of risk waking him up by unpacking some more. School didn’t start for another week, thankfully, so he still had some time.

Chan was on the couch when he walked back into the living room. He was staring at his phone with a frown, and jumped slightly when Felix plopped down beside him before shoving his phone back into his pocket.

“Oh, hey Felix,” he said. “Did you do enough unpacking for today?”

“I got the bed put together, but then Jisung fell asleep on it,” he replied. “I didn’t want to wake him up so I came down here.”

Chan grimaced. “I’ll tell Minho. He couldn’t even make it back to his own bed? He’s a menace, I swear.”

“Does he…?” Felix didn’t know how to ask in a way that wouldn’t be potentially offensive, but Chan understood. He shook his head.

“No, he’s just ridiculously lazy,” he said. “Anything that takes brain power is simply too exhausting, and he cashes out. Don’t even get me started on physical exercise, I saw him get winded from carrying his laptop once.”

“Isn’t he a producer like you?” Felix asked, perplexed. “That’s a lot of brain power. I couldn’t write a song to save my life.”

“Yeah, but it literally doesn’t take him any effort at all to make music. He finishes his work in like, half the time it takes me and Changbin,” Chan explained, sounding mildly put-out. “It’s like his one superpower. Musical genius, but at the price of being incapable of doing anything else.”

Felix chuckled. “That’s why he always falls asleep around Minho sunbaenim, then.”

Chan smiled at him ruefully. “Figured that out already, have you?”

“They’re kind of obvious,” Felix said with a nod.

“Yeah,” Chan agreed. “Don’t say anything, though, or Minho might kill you.”

“Why?” Felix asked, fiddling with the string on his hoodie. “If they both like each other, then…”

Chan rolled his eyes, sighing. “Minho is convinced that Jisung doesn’t like him that way, for some godforsaken reason.” He then looked up at the ceiling suddenly, like God might actually smite him for saying it, which confused Felix. Maybe he was just really religious; although, Felix had definitely heard him swear before. 

“I think it’s because Jisung has such a hard time staying awake when he’s around,” Chan continued. “They click really well when they’re together, but the second Jisung gets nervous he’s out like a light.”

“Minho sunbaenim is really protective over him, though. It’s kind of sweet,” Felix said.

“It’s not just that,” Chan whispered, leaning forward conspiratorially. “He’s jealous. Any time Jisung tells someone else that he loves them it looks like he’s going to explode. He’d probably have tried to fight every cheesecake in the world by now if it didn’t make Jisung so happy.”

Felix burst into laughter, but Chan looked deadly serious. “Wow, he’s got it bad.”

“Yes,” Chan confirmed. “Really, really bad. He hasn’t actually killed anyone yet, but I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s got some… very creative ideas.”

Just then, Jeongin stuck his head into the room. “Lunch,” he said. “I got Seungmin hyung to make kimchi friend rice.” Chan rose from the sofa, and Felix followed him into the kitchen. There was a large dining table off to the side, on which Seungmin had placed an absolutely massive bowl of fried rice. Hyunjin was sat beside him.

“Is anyone else eating?” Felix asked, eyeing the small bathtub’s worth of food.

“I texted the group chat,” Hyunjin answered. “But I think Changbin hyung is working again. Minho hyung might come down, though, assuming he’s not busy making googly eyes at Jisung’s sleeping face.”

Seungmin snickered, and Chan groaned. “That means I have to leave some for Binnie again, doesn’t it?”

Hyunjin shrugged. “Depends on if you want to get your ass beat or not, hyung,” he replied innocently.

“This is delicious,” Felix said, once he’d swallowed a bite. 

Seungmin beamed, and Jeongin puffed his chest out. “Hyung let me cut the onions, you know. I didn’t even cry.”

Chan looked up from his plate to pat Jeongin’s head. “You did good, buddy. The onions are very well diced,” he said sincerely. The maknae went back to his meal looking very proud.

Minho didn’t make an appearance, but Changbin did come in several minutes after they’d started eating, to everyone’s surprise. He took a seat on Felix’s left side, which almost made him choke on an inconveniently large bite of food.

“Pass me the bowl?” Changbin asked. Felix reached over and slid it towards him, not trusting his noodle arms to be able to lift what was approximately forty pounds of rice. He knew his face was probably red. Changbin’s biceps were unfairly large, and he was trying very hard not to stare.

“Thanks,” Changbin said, plopping the serving spoon back into the dish and pushing it towards Chan. He seemed well-used to the fact that Chan would likely go back for thirds, even though his plate was already piled high.

“What classes are you taking, Felix?” Hyunjin asked politely. “Channie hyung said you’re an International Relations major.”

Felix quickly swallowed before speaking. “Oh, uh… A bunch of the IR requirements, just the basic-level courses, and then an art credit for my elective.”

“Oh, what art credit?” Hyunjin asked next. He looked very interested, his pretty eyes wide and alluring. “I’m a fine arts major. I know Jisung and Seungminnie here are trying to figure out what to take for their electives, too, so maybe we can all take a class together.”

“Watercolor,” Felix answered. “I don’t think I’ll be much good at it, though. I’ve never painted before.”

Hyunjin’s face lit up. “Oh, that’ll be so much fun! Watercolor is great. What do you say, Minnie? Want to take watercolor this semester?”

Seungmin’s brows knitted together in a small frown. “Is it going to be messy?”

“No, no,” Hyunjin reassured him. “Not for you, at least. Jisungie will probably spill a lot because he’s clumsy, but you’ll be just fine.”

Seungmin looked appeased at that, and blinked kindly across the table at Felix. “Okay. Let’s all take watercolor, then.” Felix had already gotten the sense that Seungmin was the well-organized type, since everyone in the house acted like he was the patron saint of kitchen appliances– but still, he made another mental note. Felix didn’t consider himself to be particularly messy, but he didn’t want to accidentally leave dishes out or a stray sock on the couch and annoy Seungmin by accident.

By the time lunch was over, Minho had finally come back downstairs. He managed to snag a plate of fried rice for himself before Seungmin whisked the bowl away, and Felix ventured into the kitchen to help with dishes.

“Sit, Seungmin,” Chan ordered, pointing to a stool by the counter with a stern expression. “We’re not going to break anything, I promise. Everything will get cleaned properly and put back in the right spot.”

Seungmin didn’t look thoroughly convinced by that statement, but he sat nonetheless. The whole time Felix was drying with a dishtowel, he could feel the boy’s eyes on him like a hawk. It made him shiver a little. Changbin, who was up to his elbows in soapy water in the sink, turned around and grunted.

“Seungmin, cut it out. You’re making him nervous. Go back to color-coding your underwear, or something.” Seungmin looked like he was going to protest, and then decided better. He stood up and vanished into the living room.

“Sorry about that,” Chan said cheerfully. “He’s not… I mean, he doesn’t have OCD, or anything, but he’s very particular about his things.”

“Is all this his?” Felix asked, staring around the room in awe. There was a stainless steel coffee machine on the counter, sitting next to a toaster and a block of knives. There was also an air fryer and a rice cooker, as well as a shelf stocked with a colorful array of spices. He’d seen Chan open up a few of the cabinets, all filled to the brim with perfectly organized crockery. It looked more like the kitchen of a mid-level celebrity chef than a house full of college-aged boys.

“Of course not,” Chan replied. “But he’s laid claim to all of it. Careful, or he’ll claim you, too.” There was a dimpled grin on Chan’s face that told Felix that he was joking, but his smile melted away into an expression of sincerity. “He’s a good kid, though. Super loyal friend, and lovely to have around.”

“Most of the time,” Changbin cut in. “Until you put the Tupperware lids in the wrong order.”

“That’s rich, coming from you,” Chan teased. “Temper of a bear, over here.” Yet another mental note to add to the pile– don’t piss off Changbin. Felix was going to have to start a diary.

Changbin grumbled a reply under his breath that Felix didn’t catch. Chan just gave a hearty laugh and patted Changbin on the head before taking the enormous bowl, now clean and dry, from Felix and stashing it in one of the cabinets.

Felix did manage to get what was left of his belongings unpacked and the Ikea furniture built by the Saturday before the semester began, but that left a rather considerable amount of shopping to replace the other things that he’d lost all to one day. He’d made a running list on his phone, and just looking at it was daunting. It would take him multiple trips to bring everything back, especially considering that he didn’t have a car. He dreaded the idea of hauling a bunch of heavy shopping bags back on the train.

“I’ll drive you,” Chan said right away, the moment that Felix mentioned the word “shopping.” Felix went to give a polite refusal, not wanting to interrupt Chan’s plans for the last free day before school, but the older boy just waved him off. “I’m sure the kids will want to do some shopping, too. We can make a little family adventure out of it.”

It was certainly an adventure, to say the least. Chan’s car was a little five-seater hatchback, which was fine because Changbin and Jisung were busy at the studio that day, and Minho apparently had no interest in going anywhere that Jisung wasn’t. Felix did worry a bit about the return trip, though, as he looked at the back seat. Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Jeongin looked happy to squish in together, but it didn’t leave much room for shopping– and Felix’s list was frighteningly long.

Chan accompanied the four them into the mall, stopping them with his arm before turning around with a serious expression. “Alright, guys. You know the rules.”

“No buying things for myself, only for other people.”

“Yes, good, Seungmin,” Chan told him, with a gentle pat on the shoulder.

“No flirting.”

“Good, Hyunjin.” Felix thought that was an extremely odd stipulation, but Hyunjin got a shoulder pat for that, too.

“I’m the cutest person in the mall!”

“No– well, yes,” Chan said, seriousness melting away in the face of Jeongin’s dimpled grin. “But what’s the actual rule?”

Jeongin huffed, crossing his arms over his chest with a small pout. “No fighting with teenagers.”

“Good.” Chan ruffled his hair, before turning to look at Felix. “Have fun. If you need me, you know where to find me.”

Once Chan had gone, Felix stepped up to walk beside Hyunjin. He’d become fairly close with the other boy over the course of the week, and Hyunjin was happy to loop his arm with Felix’s while they strolled. Seungmin and Jeongin had struck up a conversation up ahead, but Felix kept his voice low just in case.

“Would he actually fight a teenager?”

“Oh, Innie?” Hyunjin replied nonchalantly. “Yeah, totally. They’re all assholes, they know exactly what to say to get to you, and… well, Innie’s got a prideful streak a mile long. He’s not arrogant, or anything like that– I mean, he’s a smart kid and he just knows his worth, you know? He’s given a fair number of people the beat-down.”

Felix’s eyebrows rose. “What the hell, how could anyone be mean to him? I mean, if I was that cute, I’d be proud of it, too. He’s adorable.”

Hyunjin giggled prettily, and Felix spotted several people who’d turn to stare at him as they walked by. “You are cute. Don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you have the hyungs in the palm of your hand after only a week.”

“Yeah, Channie hyung’s threatened to adopt me multiple times, but it doesn’t count ‘cause he’s an Aussie,” Felix replied. “We’re already basically brothers.”

“That’s fair,” Hyunjin said. “But Changbin hyung has a suspicious soft spot for you, too.”

“What do you mean?” As far as Felix could tell, Changbin was just cordial– there was no dislike between them by any means, but he wasn’t as naturally outgoing as Jisung or as friendly as Hyunjin. Felix hadn’t really even seen him a whole lot over the course of the week, since the three producers in the house were pretty busy with album pre-release preparations.

Hyunjin giggled again, and Felix saw a girl’s mouth actually fall open as they passed. “He’s mostly a grump until you get to know him, all scary and gruff and ‘I like dark’ and blah blah blah… He didn’t even bother putting up that front with you, though– just let you waltz in and take over. He let you listen to one of the new songs on Thursday, and I haven’t even gotten that far. I had to ask Channie hyung instead.” Hyunjin looked a bit disappointed by that, his bottom lip sticking out in a pout. Felix didn’t quite know what to do with this information; his head was spinning, and he had to fight to keep a blush from showing on his cheeks.

“Hey, hyung, we’re going in here,” Jeongin called. It was a store that Felix was unfamiliar with, the front window filled with plain t-shirts and trousers and a lot of things that he definitely wouldn’t wear himself– but looked suspiciously like Seungmin’s style.

Hyunjin sighed. “Time to go try on sweater vests and pretend like they’re for me. You don’t have to come in here, if you don’t want to. We can always meet up later.”

“Nah, it’s okay, I’ll go with you,” Felix replied. “I think Seungmin will be a lot closer to my size than yours, anyways.”

Hyunjin grinned, his eyes turning up in a very attractive way.

When Felix had finally checked all of the necessities off of his list, he was feeling drained from the walking and the handles of various paper bags cutting into his arms. Jeongin had already taken several, insisting that he was very strong, and had lugged them through the mall without complaint.

“Where’s Channie hyung?” Felix asked.

Seungmin snorted. “You have one guess.”

“… The food court.”

Chan was sitting at a table by himself with his laptop open and headphones on. There was an incredible number of trays stacked up next to him, what looked like one from every take-out spot in the mall– all empty. He looked up when they arrived, closing his laptop and removing his headphones. He stood up and clapped his hands together, reminding Felix so much of a dad that he had to stifle a laugh.

“Ready to go, kids?”

“Yep,” Hyunjin replied cheerfully.

Chan surveyed the number of bags they were carrying with one eyebrow raised, looking at Seungmin. “There’s nothing for you in there, right?”

“No, no,” Hyunjin said quickly, putting a hand on Seungmin’s arm. “We followed all of the rules.”

It was true. Jeongin hadn’t gotten into any fights, and while Hyunjin had certainly gotten his share of stares and lovestruck expressions, there was no flirting involved; Felix thought that kind of stuff probably just came with the territory of being stupidly, stunningly handsome. Even Seungmin had refrained from buying anything at his favorite store in the mall– instead, he’d purchased a pretty embroidered button-down that Hyunjin had been eyeing. The way that Hyunjin’s eyes had sparkled when he received it made Seungmin’s face very red.

“Okay, I believe you.” Chan looked at Felix next. “Here, let me help you carry those. Did you get everything you needed?”

“Most of it,” Felix answered, allowing Chan to take his shopping gratefully. “All the essentials, anyways. I can always get the rest later.”

Chan somehow managed to Tetris all of the bags into the back of the car, and while Felix had offered to sit in the back this time, he’d been quickly turned down.

“Don’t worry about it,” Seungmin assured him. “I… don’t mind so much.”

It wasn’t difficult for Felix to figure out why; when he peeked into the back, Hyunjin had wound his arms around both Jeongin and Seungmin from the middle seat. Seungmin was sitting rather stiffly, but there was a raging blush on his cheeks.

When they arrived back at the house, Changbin and Jisung were both still out. Minho was curled up on the couch like a cat, another nature documentary playing on the TV. The volume was on, this time, and he barely looked up when they walked in. He had an angry bruise blooming near his jawline. Felix couldn’t hold back his shock.

“Hyung, what happened? Are you okay?”

Minho finally glanced over at them, his pink mouth falling open. “Oh, hi kids. I’m fine, don’t worry about it. Did you have a good shopping trip?” His glittering eyes wandered over all of their bags, and he raised his eyebrows at Seungmin. 

“It was good, I think they had a good time,” Chan answered. “Let me get you some ice for that.”

Felix’s curiosity was killing him, but the way that nobody was asking made him think that perhaps it was a bit of a sensitive subject. Was Minho also prone to getting into fights? Felix didn't think he’d even left the house that day, and heavily doubted that he’d been trying to fight Changbin or Jisung. Maybe he’d fallen and accidentally hit his chin?

He pondered it some more as he went upstairs and began to sort out his new purchases. Come to think of it, he’d seen Chan with scraped-up knuckles earlier in the week. The older had told him that he’d just been trying to take a look at something on the underside of his car, but now Felix wasn’t so sure. Were they secretly running some sort of fight club? He couldn’t really picture Hyunjin fighting with anyone– he was very sensitive and emotional, and Felix doubted that he’d even be able to throw a punch without crying. Jisung would definitely just pass out.

The first day of school came and went without incident, and Felix found his initial nervousness easing up as the week wore on. Aside from the one watercolor class, his schedule didn’t match up at all with any of his friends– though he was grateful that at least one of them would always seek him out at lunchtime. 

“How’s your morning class?” Changbin asked, landing in the chair opposite Felix. Changbin insisted on paying for his lunch, which made butterflies erupt in his stomach. It was perfectly normal, a normal thing to do, Felix reminded himself sternly. The hyungs often paid for the younger boys when they went places. Felix was not special.

“Oh, um. It’s fine, I mean it’s just an IR required course, so it’s pretty basic. I’m more excited to get into some of the advanced classes next semester,” he replied. He took a bite of his sandwich, and Changbin hummed. He was wearing a long-sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and Felix was studiously avoiding looking at the veins in his arms.

“Your classmates being nice to you?”

“Um, well, I haven’t really met very many people yet. We mostly just talked about the syllabus, and then did a reading. It’s a lecture, so there’s not much opportunity to talk to other people,” Felix answered. “I think we’re starting group projects next week, though.”

“Okay,” Changbin said. “If you have problems with anybody, let me know.”

Felix giggled a little. “Hyung, I’m not going to get into any fights. That’s Jeongin’s job.”

“I know you’re not getting into fights,” Changbin replied, gesturing to Felix’s skinny limbs. “That’s why I said come tell me, so that I can get into fights for you.”

Felix let out a full-on laugh that time, and Changbin smiled over his bowl of chicken and pasta. “Hyung, no fights. I promise.”

“Alright,” Changbin conceded. “But if anyone’s even the slightest bit mean to you, I’ll destroy them.”

“Don’t worry,” Felix assured him. “I’ll just tell them that you’re my hyung, and they’ll run away screaming.”

Changbin looked very pleased by that. “Good. So, what class do you have after this?”

Felix very much looked forward to the watercolor class more than any of his other courses, which was ironic considering how much he’d been dreading it before the other second-years decided to take it with him. It only happened twice a week, but there were plenty of assignments in-between to keep him busy.

“What’re you planning to do for your still-life?” Jisung said, prodding him. He’d been nodding off over an essay for International Government after his weekly phone call with his family, but perked up right away when Jisung plopped onto his desk and sent his textbook to the ground.

“Oh, uh,” Felix replied distractedly, closing his laptop. He evidently wasn’t going to get much more done tonight, anyways. “I think I might just pick a fruit, or something.”

“Fruit?” Jisung wrinkled his nose, reminding Felix of a small, cute rodent. “That’s boring. Everybody does fruit.”

“Yeah, ‘cause it’s easy,” Felix replied “I’m not exactly trying to become Picasso on our first assignment.”

“You gotta pick something better than fruit, though,” Jisung whined. “You know how many paintings of fruit Professor Kim is probably going to have to look at next week?”

Felix frowned, kicking at Jisung’s foot where it sat next to his under the desk. “So what’re you planning to do?”

Jisung shrugged. “There’s a really pretty vase in Minho hyung’s room, the one that lives in the window. I might do that.”

Felix smirked at him, trying to hide his laugh but probably not doing so all that well. “Are you going to be able to stay awake while you’re painting it?”

“Hey,” Jisung protested. “I’ve been doing great in that class, Professor Kim has only had to wake me up twice.”

“We’ve only had two classes,” Felix pointed out. Jisung’s ears were pink, but he didn’t think that it was because of Professor Kim.

In the end, Felix decided to paint the stack of coasters on the coffee table in the living room. It looked sort of cool with Hyunjin’s takeout coffee cup still balanced on the top, and the house was currently empty enough that the living room was quiet. Not even Minho, the living room’s usual inhabitant, was there– instead, he was “keeping an eye” on Jisung painting the window vase in his bedroom. 

Felix looked up when Changbin walked in. The older was in another muscle tee, hair damp from the shower, crunching on an apple as he made his way into the kitchen. He came back out with a glass of water, and then positioned himself on the couch behind Felix with an optimal view of his half-finished painting.

“Hyung, you’re making me nervous,” Felix said, poking his knee with the end of his brush.

Changbin chuckled. “Why? I’m just sitting here.”

“Because I’m bad at this,” Felix responded, dipping his brush in his cup.

“Nah,” Changbin said gruffly. “Looks good. The only thing you should be nervous about is getting paint on that mug, Minnie’ll kill you.” He gestured to the cup of water on the table, which was slowly turning a sort of murky dark color as Felix continued to wet his brush.

“It’s all good, I already checked with him,” Felix replied, refocusing on his painting. There was something off about the shadow under the stack of coasters, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. “I asked for the worst mug in the house, and he gave me this one.”

Changbin raised an eyebrow. “Looks like every other mug to me.”

“I know,” Felix said. “Me too. But he told me to use this one, so I’m not going to argue.” He tried to add more grey to the shadow, but it just ended up looking worse. Sighing, he scrubbed a hand over his face.

Changbin grunted. “What’s bothering you?”

“Can’t get this to look right,” Felix groaned. “It looks stupid, I might have to start over.”

“Nah,” Changbin said again. “I’m telling you, it looks good. You’re an artist. Just needs more brown in the shadow, instead of grey, so that it blends in better with the rest of the tabletop.”

Felix blinked at him. “The only good artist in this house is Hyunjin, the rest of us are objectively terrible.” He dipped his brush in the brown and started to do as Changbin suggested, eyes widening when the painting magically started to fix itself. “Wait a second. Hyung, you’re a genius.”

Changbin opened his mouth to say something, but then the front door burst open. Chan came in dragging Jeongin, the youngest bleeding from a cut on his lip. He was also limping slightly, and his clothing looked wrinkled.

“Innie,” Felix gasped, nearly knocking the cup of paint-water over in his haste to get up. “Innie, are you–“

“Who did this?” Changbin growled. His fists were curled, shoulders set, his usually relaxed form suddenly intimidating with his defined muscles. “Where are they?”

“Gone,” Chan supplied. “He already took care of it. You did well, Innie.” The eldest smoothed the maknae’s hair gently, careful to avoid touching another gash on his forehead.

“Thanks, hyung,” he replied, sounding very cheerful considering the fact that he looked like he’d just been in a minor car accident. “He put up a fight, Binnie hyung, but I did it. I always win in the end, you know.” Even with his split lip, Jeongin’s dimpled grin was adorable.

Changbin’s rage was still palpable, but he sat back down on the couch with a huff. “Seungmin’s going to go ballistic. He takes good care of his things.”

Chan chuckled. “Nothing could possibly be as bad as you, Bin. C’mon, Innie, I’ll get you cleaned up before Seungmin sees.”

“Before I see what?”

Chan’s face went even whiter than usual, and even Changbin looked nervous.

“Hyunjin. I need you to be honest with me.” Felix had finally managed to catch his friend in his bedroom alone, without Seungmin or Jeongin– his usual companions. Hyunjin looked up from his own still life assignment, an old-fashioned wind-up alarm clock that Seungmin had apparently found at an antiques store years ago. Normally, Seungmin would never let such a treasure out of his sights, Chan had told Felix over breakfast that morning– except that his favoritism for Hyunjin was grossly overwhelming. The painting, of course, was far better than Felix’s own wonky stack of coasters with a questionably-shaped coffee cup could ever hope to be.

“‘Sup, Lix? You look stressed.” Hyunjin’s brow was creased with concern, and he set his watercolor brush down on the desk.

“Hyunjin. I’m serious about this, okay? Don’t laugh at me.” Felix perched himself on the end of Hyunjin’s bed, hands folded in his lap as he prepared to ask his question. After a deep breath, he spoke. “Are you guys in the mafia?”

Despite Felix’s request, Hyunjin immediately burst into laughter. His head tilted back, blonde hair falling over his shoulders, and his face split into a beautiful smile as his giggles rang through the room. Felix got up and smacked his leg repeatedly, pouting. “I said no laughing!”

“Sorry, Lix,” Hyunjin replied, in-between gasps of mirth. “It was just a really funny question, and kind of cute. But no, we’re not in the mafia.”

“No gangs?” Felix pressed. “No organized crime?”

Hyunjin had the gall to look impressed as he dabbed tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes with his sleeve. “How do you know the word for ‘organized crime?’ I’m surprised.”

Felix folded his arms over his chest. “I’m an IR major, dummy. Organized crime is a serious concern in the international community.”

Hyunjin stood up from his desk chair, stretching, and patted Felix on the head like he was an angry kitten. “You’re so cute.”

They both looked up as Minho poked his head through the door. The older’s expression was miffed, like he’d been interrupted in the middle of something important. “What are you guys laughing about?”

“Ah, hyung, you’re going to love this,” Hyunjin replied. “Felix just asked if we’re in the mafia.”

“It’s a reasonable suspicion!” Felix protested. “Channie hyung came home with scraped knuckles a couple weeks back, and then you had the jaw bruise, hyung. Plus, Jeongin came back yesterday looking like he’d been through the zombie apocalypse! You can’t pretend like that’s not a little weird.”

“It’s not weird,” Minho said smoothly, looking a lot more serious about it than Hyunjin had been. “Chan hyung was looking at his car, I accidentally knocked into a cabinet, and Jeongin got into a little scuffle with some high schooler looking for revenge. I don’t see anything suspicious about that.”

Felix squinted at him, not feeling appeased. Those were the exact same words that Chan had used to explain the situation, and it felt a little too convenient. Still, if no one here was willing to spill the beans, then there was no point pushing the topic. He’d have to find a different target.

“Don’t ask me!” Jisung squealed, his hands in the air. All Felix had done was walk into his bedroom, and the boy was cowering against the headboard with the blankets pulled up to his chin. There was a forlorn jingle from his phone that let Felix know that his character had died in whatever game he’d been playing before Felix walked in. “I don’t know anything, I swear.”

Felix gave him a look. “Great. That’s not suspicious at all.”

“I don’t!” Jisung cried. “I don’t know anything about why Chan hyung had scraped knuckles, or about Minho hyung’s bruise, or Innie’s fight. I only know what you know.”

“Chill,” Felix told him lightly. Jisung looked so stressed that he might knock out at any second, and Felix was secretly grateful that he was already in bed just in case. The last thing he needed was to be on Minho’s shit list because he’d accidentally terrified Jisung into passing out. “I didn’t come here to interrogate you, I just wanted to know if you heard about Jongho’s birthday party next week.”

“Oh.” Jisung relaxed immediately, hands coming down to rest on the sheets in front of him. “Yeah, I heard. Seungminnie told me, sounds like it’s going to be pretty big. He’s got a lot of friends, and apparently one of them offered to host at their place off-campus.”

“That’s what I heard, too,” Felix said. There was a short pause before he asked his next question. “You gonna go?”

Jisung shrugged. “Probably. Minho hyung is going, too, since he knows one of Jongho’s older friends pretty well. The one that’s hosting, actually. They’re the same age, and they’ve had a couple classes together before.”

Felix chuckled before he could stop himself. “Do you only go places that Minho hyung goes?”

Jisung blushed a little, eyes moving down to his hands fiddling with the bedsheets. “No. I go to the studio without him, sometimes.”

“And then he brings you dinner.” It was not a question, and Jisung blushed even more. 

“Well, Changbin hyung buys you lunch every day.”

“Changbin hyung buys everybody lunch.”

“That’s not true! He never buys me lunch.”

“That’s because Minho hyung would have his head.”

Jisung had the good sense to stop talking after that, and went back to whatever game he’d been playing on his phone while Felix laid on his bed and stared at the ceiling. The little “pew pew” noises were sort of grounding, and he pondered what Jisung had meant about Changbin earlier. Neither the ceiling nor Jisung’s “pew pew” phone game held any answers.

Felix’s one major oversight in his shopping expedition at the beginning of the semester was his failure to procure any sort of party-appropriate attire. As he stood in front of his closet the night of the party, a wall of plain sweatpants, jeans, t-shirts and hoodies stared back. Uniqlo was convenient, so sue him.

Sighing, he threw on a pair of grey jeans and a white jumper. At least the jeans had rips in them that could potentially be construed as “risqué,” and the jumper was warm enough that he wouldn’t freeze in the mid-October night but not so hot that he’d be sweating. An appropriate outfit, Felix thought, if a little unadventurous.

Hyunjin very much disagreed.

“You’re not actually wearing that, are you?” He asked, one eyebrow raised. Hyunjin was already dressed in the button-down that Seungmin had bought for him, black with a white rose embroidered on one side. It was buttoned very low, and there was a delicate silver chain at his throat. A hint of something dark and glittery was smudged at the corner of his eyes, and his lips were pink and shiny. His hair was pulled back, bangs falling into his eyes in an attractive way.

“Uh, yes I am,” Felix replied, eyeing the way that Hyunjin’s sleeves were rolled up to expose his forearms. “You’re going to freeze to death.”

“Hoes don’t get cold,” Hyunjin dismissed. “Less clothes. C’mon.” He grabbed Felix’s arm and led him downstairs, towards Seungmin’s room.

“I’m not a hoe,” Felix whined, pulling back. Hyunjin’s grip remained firm, though– he was a lot stronger than he looked. “We can’t go in Seungmin’s room, he’ll kill me.”

“Of course you are,” Hyunjin said lightly. “Min, can we come in? Felix needs something to wear.”

“Hm?” Seungmin came to the door, eyes widening. Evidently he hadn’t seen Hyunjin yet, because his mouth fell open in a round ‘o’ of surprise as he spotted the button-down. He, too, was wearing black, a sweater with a pretty criss-cross pattern at the collar with a red cherry necklace. He wasn’t wearing his glasses today, and Felix was pleasantly surprised by how handsome he looked. It was a complete image change from the puppy-like kid he knew so well. “Oh, um, yes,” he said after a moment. “Come in.” Seungmin pulled the door all the way open, allowing them inside.

Felix had never been in Seungmin’s room before, and he always kept the door closed. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but he was still stunned. It looked like a miniature museum in here, with so many things carefully arranged and labeled in glass cabinets that Felix felt like it was impossible to take in all at once. It was immaculately clean, not even a speck of dust on any of the surfaces or a fingerprint on the glass. 

When Hyunjin casually strode over and pulled his closet door open, his clothing was pristinely organized as well– sorted by style and color. He pushed a few of the hangers aside before pulling out a cropped black denim jacket, something that Felix had seen Seungmin wear a couple of times with long-sleeved shirts. It would look nice over his jumper, he supposed, and went to take it from Hyunjin before the blond snatched it away.

“Ah-ah,” he said disapprovingly. “Give me the jumper.”

Felix looked down in shock. “Wha– you want me to wear just that?”

“Of course not,” Hyunjin replied. “You’re still going to wear your jeans.”

“Hyunjin,” Felix groaned. “I’m going to freeze, I’m so serious. I’m from Australia, I can’t handle winter weather.”

Seungmin chuckled from his spot at the end of the bed. “It’s October.”

“I know!” Felix exclaimed. “And I’m dying. I wasn’t built for this.”

Hyunjin’s shiny mouth curled into a foxy grin. “Changbin hyung’s wearing a jacket.”

“So?” Felix retorted, completely nonplussed. “That probably means I should wear one, too.”

Hyunjin’s grin got even more evil. “No. That means you definitely shouldn’t.”

True to Hyunjin’s word, Changbin was indeed wearing a jacket. What Hyunjin hadn’t mentioned was that it was a leather jacket, or that his white t-shirt was so tight that Felix could see practically every muscle in his chest. A number of silver rings sparkled on his fingers, and his jeans were ripped at the knees. Felix was afraid he might pull a Jisung and pass out.

“Felix.”

“Hi, hyung.” His voice was definitely higher than usual, and he cleared his throat to force it down to a normal octave.

“You look nice, Felix.” Changbin’s dark eyes traveled up and down his body, and Felix felt blood rush to his face.

“Thank you,” Felix managed. “You look nice, too.”

Changbin smiled a little at that, and reached out to tug at his sleeve. “You’re going to be cold, you know.”

“That’s what I told Hyunjin, and yet he still bullied me into wearing this,” Felix complained. “I wanted to wear a jumper.”

“It looks good,” Changbin said quietly. “You look really good.” His eyes lingered on the chain around Felix’s bare waist, another accessory courtesy of Hyunjin that the blond had insisted was “tastefully slutty.”

“Alright kids, ready to go?” Chan called from the living room. “We’re going to be late.”

“Ah hyung, how old are you, eighty?” Jisung joked, heart-shaped smile wide. “No one shows up on-time to a college party.”

“He’s right about that one,” Minho said, appearing from the stairway. He went straight to Jisung’s side, putting a hand on the small of his back. “Where’s Innie?”

“Still getting ready,” Hyunjin answered, coming down the stairs after Minho. 

“Oh, Hyunjin, very tastefully slutty,” Chan said approvingly. Hyunjin grinned and walked over to the couch, straddling Chan’s legs and pulling the glittery eyeliner out of his pocket. Once he was satisfied with his handiwork, he stood up again. Chan’s gaze was now deep and sultry, all essence of dad energy gone. Maybe a DILF, Felix supposed.

“Team Tasteful Sluts, let’s go!” Hyunjin cheered, high-fiving Chan. “I already converted Felix, and Minho hyung is always hot. Four down, four to go!”

All eight of them took the train, rather than trying to fit in Chan’s car. The party was being hosted by a senior named Park Seonghwa, a marketing major– also incredibly rich, as Felix found out. His apartment was a penthouse with a roof, and the floor-to-ceiling windows had a stunning view of the city. He lived there with his boyfriend, a fine-arts major like Hyunjin, and the pair looked completely opposite but made a very cute couple. 

“Come in!” Seonghwa trilled cheerfully. “Minho, good to see you.”

“Nice to see you too,” Minho replied. “Where’s the birthday boy?”

“On the roof,” Seonghwa’s boyfriend, Hongjoong, answered. “I think Mingi’s making him do shots.” The thumping of music was audible even from outside the door, and Felix momentarily felt bad for their neighbors– before realizing that the size of the apartment probably meant that they didn’t have any.

The party was already in full swing when they arrived, and it was a bit of a struggle to get to the stairs with the number of people dancing and drinking and otherwise causing havoc. Jongho’s friends were mostly Changbin’s age, and a pretty rowdy bunch. Changbin was greeted with a lot of yelling and fistbumps, and the one named Wooyoung locked eyes with Felix right away. He had a mischievous look to him, with dark brows and a tall nose, and his skin was a pleasant shade of caramel.

“Oi, Changbin!” He said loudly. “Who’s this cutie?”

“That’s Felix,” Changbin answered. “You know, the one from Australia.”

“You didn’t tell me that he was hot!” Wooyoung exclaimed. “What the hell, dude. You’ve been holding out on me.”

Changbin snorted. “That’s ‘cause you already have a boyfriend, dumbass.”

“Yeah, but I can still look. Besides, we could always use a third, right Sannie?” Wooyoung gave Felix a dramatic wink, tugging at the arm of a boy with narrow, fox-like features and strong cheekbones. “San, what do you think?”

“Shut up,” Changbin said, smacking Wooyoung’s bicep. “Sorry about him, he’s annoying when he’s drunk,” he told Felix. “Actually, he’s annoying all the time.”

“Ah, that’s okay hyung,” Felix replied with a smile. “Your friends are funny.”

“Don’t encourage them,” Changbin grumbled. “Hey, you want to go get something to drink? Yunho and Yeosang told me that Seonghwa hyung bought enough alcohol to put an entire frat in the hospital.”

When Changbin pulled the industrial-sized stainless steel refrigerator open, it was filled to the brim with more kinds of alcohol than Felix could name and dozens of mixers. Changbin pulled two cups out of the cabinets, and set them on the marble counter.

“Any preference?”

“Uh, no,” Felix replied, eyeing the selection with apprehension. “Just don’t put me in the hospital, I guess?”

Changbin chuckled, the sound making something bloom in Felix’s chest that had nothing to do with the large amounts of alcohol that he was undoubtedly about to consume. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

Their fingers brushed when he passed the cup, and Felix shivered. He forced the feeling down; what was this, a high school crush? Changbin was his roommate, and a good hyung. He tossed most of the drink down in one go, trying to distract himself.

“Whoa there,” Changbin said. “Did you even taste that?”

“A little,” Felix replied. “It’s good. What’s in yours?”

“Here.” Changbin put his own drink in Felix’s hands, letting him taste from the same cup that his lips had just touched. Felix smacked himself internally for even thinking about it.

“Oh, that’s good, too,” he commented.

“I can always make you more,” Changbin said lightly. “C’mon, I bet Wooyoung forced Seonghwa hyung into playing beer pong with him upstairs.”

Seonghwa and Hongjoong lost to Wooyoung and San, but it was a closer match than Felix thought it would be at first. Wooyoung then cajoled Changbin into playing next, and he pulled Felix to the table along with him.

“I suck at this game,” Felix warned him. “You might want to get Chan hyung, or something.”

“I’m not here to win,” Changbin said. His hand was warm on Felix’s arm, even through the denim jacket, cutting through some of the chill from the wind up on the roof. “I’m here to spend time with you.”

Beer pong it was, then.

They actually beat Wooyoung and San, but Felix thought it was mostly because Wooyoung was so giggly and drunk that he was having a hard time standing up and kept leaning on San’s shoulder. Changbin seemed to sense that Felix was nervous about the party, and made the effort to introduce him to everyone they talked to. Felix didn’t know many people at the university outside of his roommates, and meeting Changbin’s friends made him feel strangely jittery. They were all cool and outgoing and naturally funny, whereas Felix was having a hard time even following with the conversation over the loud music. Changbin’s hand on his arm all night seemed to help, though.

Felix lost track of time, and how many drinks he’d been through. While at first the alcohol had staved off the cold, the night had grown late enough that he was shivering despite the pleasant tipsiness. Changbin noticed right away, and brought him aside. He started to shrug off his jacket, the leather one that Felix was now drunk enough to admit made him look stupidly attractive.

“Ah, it’s okay, I’m fine,” Felix said. His brain had stopped processing Korean, apparently, and the sentence came out in English.

“No, no,” Changbin replied softly. He was speaking English, too, and Felix felt a rush of affection for him. “You’re cold. Wear this.” He draped the jacket over Felix’s shoulders, helping him into the sleeves. The jacket was pretty big to accommodate Changbin’s muscles, giving it a nice comfy oversize feel on Felix’s body. He sighed, finally warm and shielded from the wind. 

“Hyung,” he said. His brain felt like it was melting. “Changbin hyung.”

“Lix-ah.” Changbin was so close, his fingers brushing Felix’s bangs away from his face. His touch was gentle, like Felix was something delicate and precious. His dark eyes were reflecting the string lights on the roof, sparkling like fireflies. He was so close that Felix could smell his cologne on his skin and on the jacket he’d given him, and it made his head spin.

Felix knew that there was a list of reasons a mile long why he shouldn’t kiss his roommate, his hyung. He knew, but right now it felt very far away. So far away, and Changbin was so, so close.

“Changbin hyung!”

They jumped apart. It was Jeongin, running towards them, pushing people out of his way. “Changbin hyung. Someone hit on Jisung hyung, asked for his number.” He was panting from exertion, his sweater slightly askew and hair messy.

“I don’t get it,” Felix said dumbly.

Jeongin made eye contact with him, swallowing. “The guy asked for his number in front of Minho hyung.”

Suddenly, they were on the other side of the roof, running downstairs. By some miracle, Felix managed to get down the stairs without tripping and into the crowded living room. They went down a separate hallway, towards the bathroom. The carpet crunched beneath Felix’s shoes; a frame had been knocked off the wall, the glass shattered and the picture beneath rendered unrecognizable. Jisung was standing just before the bathroom door, frozen.

Changbin pushed Felix towards Jisung. “Take care of him, Ji,” he growled, before turning down the hall. Jisung was staring after him, a look of abject horror on his face. Felix looked, too.

Minho had the guy by the collar. He was slammed against the wall, feet dangling off of the ground, Minho’s grip impossibly strong. The guy’s face was bloodless with fear, fingers scrabbling uselessly at Minho’s fist in the front of his shirt. Minho’s other arm was drawn back, ready to strike, but Chan was standing stubbornly between them. Minho’s eyes were slitted like a snake, glowing a bright, acidic green.

“What are you?” The guy cried, panicked. “You’re a monst–“

“Felix.” Jisung spoke, pulling him, turning him away. “Felix, look at me.”

“Wha– what’s happening?” Felix whispered, fear rising in his throat. “Ji, I don’t understand wh–“

“I’m sorry, Felix,” Jisung murmured. Felix opened his mouth, confused, but then Jisung raised two fingers and pressed them to Felix’s forehead. Suddenly, his limbs seemed incredibly heavy. All of the fear left his body, and everything went quiet. The world felt soft, muted, and he forgot why he’d been so scared in the first place. Mostly, he felt tired. So very tired. A nap sounded good right about now. He was conscious of sliding to the ground, let down gently to the carpet by Jisung, before his eyes fell closed.

Felix sat up suddenly. He was in his own bed, in his room, wearing a pair of pajamas patterned with yellow ducklings that he definitely didn’t remember putting on. The house was silent, the early morning light streaming in through the windows, and he flipped back the blankets and hurried downstairs.

Minho wasn’t up yet, it seemed, despite the fact that he was usually the first one awake. Instead, Chan was the one on the couch nursing a cup of coffee and what looked to be a violent hangover. He glanced up when Felix walked in, but then immediately grabbed his head and groaned.

“Too bright.”

“Uh, you mean my hair?” Felix replied, grabbing a lock of blonde and inspecting it. It just seemed like his normal hair color. “That bad, huh hyung?”

“Don’t drink when you’re my age,” Chan said roughly, staring down into his cup of coffee like he was hoping it might hold all of the answers to his problems. “I think last night is going to send me to an early grave.”

“It’s not that early,” Felix joked, sitting down on the sofa beside him. “You’re already old.”

Chan rolled his eyes, and then grabbed his head again. “Very funny, Felix.” He took a sip of coffee, and Felix allowed him to finish before he spoke.

“So. What happened last night?”

Chan looked at him funny. “You don’t remember? Well, that makes sense, I guess, considering you fell asleep early. Well, the last time I saw you, you were having a dance battle with Wooyoung, and then–“

“That’s not what I meant,” Felix said, cutting him off. “I meant with Minho hyung.”

Chan frowned, eyebrows wrinkling together. “Minho? Uh, I’m not sure. I was talking to Hongjoong near the fire pit most of the night, and I think Minho and Jisung were downstairs.”

“Hyung, cut the bullshit,” Felix said firmly. “I saw what happened, his eyes were glowing. He lifted that guy up like he weighed nothing, normal people can’t do that.”

Chan blinked a couple of times, the concern in his expression increasing. “Glowing– what are you talking about? Are you feeling alright, Felix?”

Felix stared at him, completely thrown off. He was so sure that he was remembering correctly. He could still picture the aggression in Minho’s stance, the fury on his normally-kind hyung’s face. There was no way that he could possibly forget the green glow and the slitted pupils.

Chan took a sip of coffee, pressing the back of his hand to Felix’s forehead. “No fever,” he announced, after he’d swallowed. “Weird dream, maybe? You had a fair amount to drink last night, and sometimes hangovers can make me have wack-ass dreams.”

“I– I don’t understand,” Felix said numbly. “I thought I saw–“

“You’re tired, too,” Chan told him, patting his leg. “You’ve been studying hard this semester, and you’re learning a second language on top of that. It’s no wonder your brain is exhausted. Go back to sleep, I’ll wake you up for lunch.”

Felix stood and walked upstairs to his room in a daze.

No one else brought up the events of Jongho’s party over the course of the following weeks, and Felix was starting to think that maybe he really had just dreamt it all up. He thought about asking Changbin, but Chan already seemed mildly concerned about Felix’s mental state– he didn’t want to worry Changbin, too. Still, the memory of Minho’s slitted pupils sent a shiver of fear down his spine. 

He was sitting in the living room working on an assignment for Politics and Relations in East Asia when he caught the sounds of a furious whispered argument floating in from the kitchen. Normally, he wouldn’t have paid it any mind– probably someone just putting the rice cooker away facing the wrong direction and garnering Seungmin’s ire. This time, though, he heard his name, and strained his ears to see if he could catch the rest of the conversation.

“–he’s already suspicious, he’s asked Hyunjin and Minho hyung–“

It was indeed Seungmin, but Felix was surprised by his next words.

“–and if we don’t tell him now, it’ll only make things worse down the line. He deserves to know.”

The next voice was Chan, Felix knew from the very slight Australian accent coloring his words. “We talked about laying claim on humans, Seungmin. You can’t do that, they’re fickle and they like their freedom too much.”

“It’s not about that.” Felix could hear the bitterness in Seungmin’s voice. “He makes Hyunjin happy, and if Hyunjin likes him, then…”

Chan gave a quiet chuckle. “I don’t think it’s just Hyunjin. You let him borrow your jacket, I don’t think you’ve ever let me borrow anything.”

“He’s my friend, too,” Seungmin replied. There was a short pause, and then a third voice jumped into the mix. Jeongin, Felix realized. He hadn’t been expecting the maknae at all– usually the hyungs liked to keep him out of petty arguments whenever possible. Maybe this wasn’t such a trivial matter.

“Jisung hyung had to put him to sleep at the party. You know that’s bad, hyung, there’s no way he’s not already doing the math. Plus, all of cuts and bruises… He saw me come in after taking care of the movie star last night, there’s only so many plausible excuses we can come up with.”

Felix’s blood ran cold. So he’d been right after all, and something weird really had happened the night of Jongho’s party. That means that Chan had been lying to him, and that everyone else had been lying by omission. What else were they hiding?

“I promised Changbin we wouldn’t tell him.” Felix was pulled from his train of thought by the mention of Changbin’s name. Chan gave a heavy sigh before continuing, and there was a slight melancholy to his voice. “Felix is good for him, he’s so much more stable, his control is so much better than it was before–“

“Which is why we need to tell him.” It was unlike Seungmin to cut Chan off in the middle of a sentence, being as polite and considerate as he was. “If he finds out on his own, it’ll be a betrayal. He’ll think that we don’t trust him, or worse– that we were intentionally trying to deceive him. Then we’ll lose him for sure.”

Chan sighed again, sounding troubled. “I’ll try to talk to Changbin, but I can’t make any promises.” There was a long pause before he spoke again. “When did you both become so grown up, hmm? My wise, responsible maknaes.”

Jeongin snorted. “Someone has to be, hyung.”

Felix quickly turned back to his reading when he heard footsteps, humming to himself in what he hoped was a casual manner. Jeongin approached him from behind, launching himself over the back of the couch and tugging Felix’s book from his hands. His dimpled grin was so cute that Felix felt all of his suspicion pushed to the back of his mind.

“C’mon, hyung. Infinity War, you promised me on Friday.”

Felix poked him in the thigh, making him squeak. “It’s supposed to be Civil War next, you can’t just go skipping all over the place like that.”

Jeongin hit him with his best puppy eyes, and Felix relented. “Fine, but Civil War on Tuesday.”

“Okay!” Jeongin chirped, settling into the couch and leaning his knee against Felix’s. Seungmin came in from the kitchen next, holding a glass of water. When he saw them, he raised an eyebrow over his glasses.

“Another Marvel movie? Don’t you two ever study?”

“Nope,” Jeongin replied, popping the “p”. “You should take a break sometimes, hyung.”

Seungmin sniffed. “No, thanks. I’m actually trying to pass all of my classes this semester, you know.”

Felix looked up at him, affronted. “Hey, I’m passing everything!”

Jeongin rolled his eyes, and loudly mock-whispered into Felix’s ear. “Seungmin hyung doesn’t consider it passing unless you get at least an A- average.”

“Oh,” Felix said. “In that case, I’m fine with failing.”

Jeongin cackled and raised his hand for a high-five, ignoring Seungmin’s huffy exit from the room.

Felix found himself on the roof a few nights later, long after dark. It was November, meaning that it was fairly cold, but the wind was helping him to clear his mind. He wasn’t entirely sure that he was allowed to be up here in the first place, but having a third-floor room meant that the roof was only a window away. He’d found that it was a good place to come and think when he wanted to be alone.

He was running over the things he’d seen and heard in the last few months, trying to bring it all into view. Nothing was making sense. He was missing something, the key to cracking the code. Without it, he was looking at disjointed fragments with no hope of painting the full picture. Vaguely recognizable, a wonky stack of coasters with a questionably-shaped coffee cup, but nothing close to reality. There was something else hidden in the shadows.

Quirky, Chan had called them. That, they certainly were. Chan could eat more than anyone else Felix had ever met, and never gained a pound. In fact, if anything, he looked skinnier and more fatigued than when they’d first met– no doubt the product of his hard work behind the scenes, all of the effort he put in to care for them all. Minho’s jealousy, his protectiveness, the superhuman strength Felix had seen him display that night. Hyunjin’s beauty, like something out of a fairy tale, the uncanny ability to charm an entire room without saying a word. Jisung’s brilliance despite his laziness, two contrasting personalities in one. Seungmin’s perfectly curated museum, the hoard of a dragon, in which he counted his friends as his most valued possessions. Jeongin’s well-earned pride.

Changbin. He was like an enigma to Felix, so simple and yet so complicated. Quick to anger, like a spark in a dry bushland, but somehow so steady and reliable at the same time. He was their only third-year, the middle child, the border between the hyungs and the maknaes, and filled his role perfectly. Surprisingly cute when he wanted to be as the youngest of the hyungs, but still responsible as the eldest of the maknaes. The glue that held their dysfunctional little family together.

So where did that leave Felix?

“Lix-ah.”

He looked up. Changbin had come up to the roof as well, a thick blanket in his arms. He looked softer than usual, somehow, in a dark green sweater with too-long sleeves. He crouched down to wrap the blanket around Felix’s shivering shoulders, tucking it in carefully, and then stood up again. He looked unsure of whether he should stay or go until Felix lifted the corner of the blanket.

Changbin settled in beside him, their bodies pressed together for warmth. It was a cloudless night, and a few stars were visible despite the lights of the city below. This was the first time that it had been just the two of them since Changbin had given him his jacket at the party, and Felix’s chest felt fluttery now the same way it had then– only this time, there was no alcohol to blame it on.

He took a deep breath. He had to try.

“Hyung,” he said quietly. Changbin looked at him, liquid-black eyes, perfect cheekbones, so close that Felix could’ve memorized the shape of his mouth. Maybe he already had.

“Lix-ah.” His name felt worn-in and familiar on Changbin’s lips.

“Hyung,” he said again. “If there was something I needed to know… Something important, maybe something dangerous– would you tell me?”

There was a long silence. Changbin’s expression was searching, eyes roaming his face over and over again, like Felix was a song he wanted to know but could only halfway hear. Finally, he spoke.

“Felix… I want to. I want to say a lot of things, but I can’t.” His gaze dropped, and he turned away so that he was facing the lights of the city once more. “You’re right. It would be dangerous, and I can’t– I won’t. I swore to myself that your safety would come first, above all else.”

“Even if it hurts me?”

There was another pause. “Even then.”

Felix stood up and went inside without another word, leaving Changbin on the roof alone.

Finals came and went without incident, at least for Felix– Jisung had apparently fallen asleep during his Music Theory II exam, which was to be expected, and Seungmin came home terribly stressed over a singular question that he thought he’d missed on his World Literature final. Other than that, though, the end of the semester was relatively quick and painless.

Minho was the one to drive Felix to the airport, since Chan had work that day. The second-oldest hyung was bundled up in a thick coat and hat, and stood waiting at the door for Felix to grab the last of his things.

“We can mail anything you forget,” he assured Felix, words muffled slightly by the scarf pulled up over his mouth.

“No, no,” Felix said quickly. “It’s only a month, I don’t want you to have to burn money on mailing anything internationally.”

Minho chuckled. “I’ll just make Channie hyung do it, I hear he’s raking it in these days. The last album did really well.”

Minho insisted on carrying Felix’s suitcase downstairs and getting it into the car, saying that he was too skinny and the weight of it would simply snap him in half. There was a sparkle in his eyes over the scarf, and a slight lift to his cheeks that let Felix know he was smiling.

“You excited to see your family?” He asked, as he buckled his seatbelt.

“Yeah,” Felix replied. “It was a busy semester, but I think I missed them a lot. I mean, we called once a week, but it feels like I was too busy to talk much.”

Minho hummed. “That’s fair, you worked hard. You hardly had time to sleep, much less think about what you’re missing back home.” His long lashes fluttered slightly as he eyed Felix in the passenger seat. “You should go to bed earlier, you know. Jisungie told me you don’t sleep nearly enough.”

“Okay, mom,” Felix teased, and Minho reached over to pinch him. “Jisung’s standard of ‘enough sleep’ is inhuman, just so you know.”

Something in Minho’s expression shifted at that. Felix had suspected that Changbin might’ve told the others what he’d asked that night on the roof, and this was confirmation. So far, though, no one had approached him about it or bothered to provide any answers. Knowing that he wasn’t going to get any, Felix had been left with no choice but to let it go.

The conversation shifted to Felix’s holiday plans after that, and as he boarded the plane back to Australia he found that his worries were relegated to the far recesses of his brain.

It was bitterly cold in Seoul when he returned in January, especially after the blistering heat of the Australian summer. Felix had been welcomed back with a parade of smiles and hugs, and the smell of kimchi fried rice made him feel right at home again.

He’d barely gotten his suitcase unpacked before he was thrown into the chaos of school once more. He was able to get into a few of the upper-level classes that he’d been looking forward to, but he found himself hardly able to enjoy them due to the number of assignments that were quickly piling up. He had a small fortress of textbooks stacked up around him, laptop perched on top of one of them as he typed away at a reading response when Hyunjin and Jeongin walked in. Hyunjin flopped down onto the couch and sent a pile of papers flying with his clumsiness, Jeongin helping him to get them all together once more before perching himself much more carefully on Felix’s other side.

“Whatcha working on?” Hyunjin asked, frowning at Felix’s laptop screen. “That’s a lot of tabs.”

“Yeah, I’m behind on reading responses,” Felix told him distractedly, flipping through a book on his lap. “We’re only three weeks in, but this professor assigns so many readings that I feel like I’m drowning.”

“A New Look At The Seven Dea–“ Jeongin suddenly dropped the book he’d picked up as if it had burned him, a poorly disguised look of horror on his face. “Hyung, what is this?”

Felix spared the cover a glance before returning to his reading response. “Oh, that’s for my World Religions class, we’re studying Christianity starting this week. Why?”

“That’s– I mean, why that class?” Hyunjin said, a note of panic rising in his voice. “Is it an elective?”

“No, it’s an IR requirement. Religion is a fundamental component of international relations, particularly among the non-secular governments,” Felix replied, still scanning through his assignment. “That book is pretty good, actually. I mean, I’m not religious, or anything, but it’s interesting to see how today’s Christians view texts from centuries ago and apply it to modern life.” He started to count them off on his fingers. “Pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust. All natural emotions, part of the human experience, but they can be detrimental to living in a civilized society when viewed in excess.”

He looked up from his laptop. Both Hyunjin and Jeongin were wearing expressions of fear, Hyunjin swallowing audibly and Jeongin completely pale. Felix’s gaze flickered back and forth between them, befuddled. “Guys? Is everything okay?”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Hyunjin said, a forced nonchalance to his voice. “Actually, I just remembered that I needed to ask Chan hyung about something. Innie?”

“Yep, I’m coming, too,” Jeongin answered, too quickly to be considered completely benign. They both stood and vanished from the living room before Felix could say anything more, leaving him to stare after them in confusion.

They’d both had schedule changes since the start of the new semester, but Changbin still made time to take Felix to lunch whenever he wasn’t at the studio. Though something had changed between them since that night on the roof, a tiny crack that had yet to smooth itself over, Felix still appreciated it.

“You look like a penguin,” Changbin teased, as they left the noodle restaurant they’d eaten at that afternoon. “It’s not that cold today.”

“Look, hyung, not all of us have the internal rage of being 167 centimeters tall to keep us warm,” Felix shot back, zipping his coat all the way up to his nose. Changbin grumbled something unintelligible and pinched his side, but Felix hardly felt it through all of the layers that he was wearing. He grinned, savoring his next words. “You know what they say. The shorter you are, the closer you are to Hell.”

Changbin opened his mouth to say something snarky back, but suddenly his eyes went wide. The sound of tires squealing filled the alley that they were walking down, echoing between the buildings, and Changbin grabbed Felix so hard that he yelped. Felix felt himself pushed aside, slammed into a wall so quickly that he lost his breath, and there was a resounding crash. The alley was filled with smoke.

“H-hyung,” he managed, coughing, choking on the acrid scent of burning rubber. His breaths made a terrible wheezing noise, rattling in his chest, but he searched desperately for Changbin. His hyung was nowhere to be seen, and he staggered towards the spot where Changbin had disappeared.

The smoke cleared to reveal a car, hood mangled from where it had slammed into a lamppost. A chill ran down Felix’s spine as he realized that he had been standing next to that very same lamppost mere moments ago, and he finally managed to get his breath back by the time he crossed behind the car. He stopped, body freezing up of its own accord as Felix took in the sight before him.

Changbin had dragged the driver from the wreck, and had his boot on the man’s throat. The stench of smoke and alcohol was nauseating, and the man’s gaze was unfocused as if he was too drunk to comprehend what had happened.

“You could’ve killed him,” Changbin snarled. “You useless– vile– godforsaken–“

There was a lot of other swear words that Felix didn’t recognize, and Changbin punctuated each one with a kick to the man’s stomach. He hardly reacted, drunk to the point of blacking out, but that wasn’t what had Felix’s entire body numb with fear. It wasn’t the violence, or the rage twisting Changbin’s face.

It was the glowing, fiery-orange eyes, with pupils like a snake’s.

Felix turned and ran from the alley, as fast as he could, with no other goal than to get as far away as possible. He thought he heard Changbin’s voice calling after him, but he ignored it. He had no idea where he was going, shoes skidding on ice and snow, but he just kept running. By the time he stopped, he was completely lost.

He was at the river, staring out over the grey water, but it wasn’t any spot that he’d been to before. He sat straight down on the ground, cold seeping into his bones, but he hardly noticed. All he could see in his mind was the color of Changbin’s eyes. Brown, orange, brown, orange, brown. Felix didn’t know what was real any more.

It got dark early, as it usually did in February, but by the time he was aware enough to figure it out the sun had fallen past the horizon. The lights had come on all over Seoul, but it was still deeply blue this close to the river. The shadows were long and creepy, a shiver wracking Felix’s body that had nothing to do with the chill. Brown, orange, brown.

He had to get home. Thinking pragmatically, he had nowhere else to go, and the temperature was quickly dropping. He could call a taxi, he supposed, but when he dug around in his pockets for his phone he found that they were all empty. It must’ve fallen out at some point along his long, aimless journey.

Felix chose a street at random and started walking. He figured that he’d eventually hit a landmark that he recognized, or could stop and ask a stranger for directions at the very worst. People bustled by, hurrying along to get out of the cold, completely ignorant to the fact that somewhere in the city, monsters lived among them. Brown, orange, brown.

Felix had no idea what time it was when he finally made it back to the house, only that it was pitch-dark out and that every exposed patch of skin was as cold as ice. Hyunjin opened the door before he could even knock, tears streaming down his handsome face.

“Felix, I–“

“Please move,” he said, as evenly as he possibly could. “I am not in the mood to talk right now.” Hyunjin’s expression crumpled, but he stepped out of the way and allowed Felix inside without another word. He heard the blond on the phone with someone as he made his way upstairs, probably Chan or Minho.

“He just got back, hyung.” Hyunjin’s words were barely audible through his tears. “He’s safe. You guys can come home.”

Felix closed his bedroom door, shutting out the sound of Hyunjin’s sobs.

Felix went to class as usual, completed all of his assignments and studied for exams with his usual diligence. He ate his meals on time, and called his family once a week. The difference was that he no longer did any of those things in the company of his friends. Could he still call them that? He wasn’t really sure.

None of them tried to talk to him, or even really made eye contact when they saw him in the hallways. Hyunjin’s waterline was red more often than not these days, and Chan seemed to get thinner and paler with every passing minute.

It was a clear Saturday afternoon when Felix passed by Seungmin’s bedroom. The door was open, for once, and there were voices coming from inside. It sounded like an argument, and Felix paused on the stairs.

“This is your fault,” Seungmin growled. “I warned you, I told you this would happen if you didn’t explain it to him first.”

“I couldn’t.” It was Changbin’s voice, and for once he didn’t sound angry to be yelled at– just deeply exhausted. “You know why I can’t, Seungmin. Even now, it’s better for him not to know.”

“Is it!?” The rage was palpable in Seungmin’s voice, and Felix briefly wondered if his eyes had changed, too. “We’re going to lose him, hyung. That is, if we haven’t already.”

“Maybe it’s better that way.”

That hurt, somewhere deep in Felix’s chest. An inhuman rumble, like the roar of a dragon, echoed from inside Seungmin’s room, and for the first time Changbin raised his voice.

“Seungmin, stop. You know Jeongin cries when he hears the hyungs fight.”

There was a short pause, and Seungmin got up to close the door.

Yellow, with slitted pupils.

Felix frowned and pulled down his headphones. He thought he’d heard a knock, but perhaps not. The room was silent, sunlight streaming in and illuminating dust motes that floated through the air undisturbed. Shrugging to himself, he went to put his headphones back over his ears when he heard another knock.

He got out of bed and went to the door. Minho was on the other side, holding a book and Chan’s massive ring of keys with the wolf on it. 

“Minho hyung,” Felix said calmly. “Can I help you with something?”

“Yes, you can, actually,” Minho replied, pushing straight past Felix to drop the book onto his bed. Felix stared at it curiously. It was the reading from his World Religions class, the one he’d returned to the library weeks ago. He didn’t know how Minho had gotten it.

“Wha– are you reading this for class?” Felix asked. He didn’t think that Minho was taking any courses that would require it.

“No, but you did,” Minho said unnecessarily. “Gave Hyunjin and Jeongin a good scare. They went straight to Chan hyung, Jeongin was almost in tears.”

“Okay,” Felix responded slowly. “I don’t get it.”

“The Seven Deadly Sins,” Minho said, pointing to the title. “What are they?”

Felix counted them off on his fingers once more. “Pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust.”

“Correct,” Minho said shortly. “Though of course you already know that, since you told Hyunjin and Jeongin. What else did you tell them?”

“Uh… I don’t remember,” Felix answered, feeling more and more perplexed by the second. “Hyung, what are you doing here?”

“No one else will say anything because they’re afraid of pissing off Changbin, but I’m not.” Minho had his arms crossed over his chest, and he was standing near the bed with a stubborn look on his face. “What did you tell them, Felix?”

He racked his brain, feeling stupid. “Um, that they can be detrimental to civilized society.”

“Correct,” Minho said again. “They are a part of life, part of what makes us human. Everyone experiences such emotions. It is natural.” Minho’s gaze was piercing, though his irises remained brown. “However, in order to maintain civilized society, it is important that they be managed. It is not in the interest of the Creator to mislead his own people, as imperfect as they are.”

“Hyung, I don’t think I understand,” Felix murmured. “What are you trying to say?”

“In the religion of Christianity, it is believed that the Creator sent his son to die so that the people could be saved from their sins,” Minho explained. “But still, the Seven Deadly Sins stand out. They are unique, in a class all their own, untouched by the Savior’s power. The Creator needed a different outlet.”

An uncomfortable feeling was settling in Felix’s gut. The pieces were starting to come together, and he didn’t think he liked the picture. Brown, orange, brown.

“We are the embodiment of sin,” Minho stated matter-of-factly. He gestured to the door, where the other six boys went about their lives outside the room. “We collect it, hold it in ourselves, so that civilized society can be allowed to flourish.”

There was a long, long silence. Felix’s head was spinning, thoughts running so quickly that it felt as though he wasn’t having any at all. He looked at his bedside table, where a Polaroid sat in a frame. It was one he’d taken, in front of the house, the day before classes started back in September. The miniature versions of his friends, standing in a line in age-order, smiled back at him. Minho was gazing at the photo too, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Gluttony,” Felix whispered, pointing at Chan. “Envy. Wrath. Lust. Sloth. Greed." Finally, his finger stopped at Jeongin. "And… pride.”

Minho looked at him, the corners of his mouth quirking up ever so slightly. “That’s right.”

“When you say… ‘collect’ sin,” Felix clarified, swallowing. “What do you mean by that?”

Minho held up the ring of keys, which jingled in his hand. “Want to see?”

Felix followed him to his bedroom door, which was closed. Minho picked a random key and put it into the handle, and then turned it. When he pulled the door open again, they were no longer looking out on the upstairs hallway. Instead, they were looking into the office of the CEO of a very well-known medical company. The office was huge, immaculately-kept, and a middle-aged man at the desk positioned in the far side of the room was on the phone. He was yelling at someone, gesticulating wildly. His face was purple with rage, and he slammed the phone back into the receiver with a curse.

“Changbin hyung?” Felix asked quietly, unsure if the man would be able to hear them. He showed no signs of recognition, and pulled a golden pen off of its stand to sign a piece of paper.

Minho shook his head. “Seungmin. This man just closed a lawsuit, conning innocent people out of billions of won in rightful settlements.”

“So… you take his sins away, or something?”

“Kind of. We remove the desire to commit sins, take it upon ourselves. For this one– well, he won’t become a benevolent human being, per se, but he will regain his sense of right and wrong. He will become the man he was before being consumed by sin– and he is one of the lucky ones.” 

Minho led Felix back into his bedroom, closing the door, and put another key into the lock. This time, they were in the living room of a much younger man. He was also extravagantly wealthy, it seemed, though he was choosing to use his money in a different way. He was on a couch, surrounded by beautiful women in varying states of undress, all fawning over him as if he were some sort of celebrity. A look of disgust flickered over Minho’s face as one of the women stroked a long, red fingernail up the man’s thigh. “Some are far past the point of return.”

A chill ran down Felix’s spine. “What happens then?”

 He allowed Minho to lead him back into his bedroom once more, and then into a third room. This one was inhabited by a teenage girl. She was looking through her phone’s camera roll, filled with so many nearly identical photos of herself that Felix could hardly make sense of it.

“We remove them from society,” Minho answered. “Though it doesn’t always mean death, that is often the route that these people choose. They’d prefer to face the fires of Hell than be parted from their sin.” Felix watched as the girl found a satisfactory photo and hit “post”, a grin curling her glossy lips. The likes began flooding in almost instantaneously, and she scrolled through dozens of adoring comments with a satisfied expression. "They put up a fight, sometimes. Sin has become so deeply ingrained in their lives that they'd disobey the Creator himself."

Felix sat on his bed after Minho had closed the door on the teenaged girl, staring at his hyung in shocked silence. Minho had his arms crossed again, and was tapping his foot on the floor.

“I still don’t get it,” Felix said. “You guys are supposed to be the embodiment of sin, but you aren’t… evil. As far as I can tell, you’re doing these people a favor.”

Minho gave him a funny sort of half-smile. “No person is truly good, or truly evil. We are all complex, multi-faceted creatures.”

“So you’re human, then?” Felix asked him.

Minho nodded. “We… made a deal with the devil, you might say. All seven of us were destined for an early grave, but we postponed it in return for a lifetime of service.”

Quirky, Chan had called them. Only now could Felix see them for what they really were.

“He is only human, too,” Minho said gently. “He made a mistake. His intentions were good, you know. He wanted to protect you, to keep you safe. He still does.”

“Why?” Felix looked up at Minho, feeling somehow more lost than he had been before the older had knocked on his door. “Why would he keep this a secret from me?”

Minho’s expression softened. “Life hasn’t been easy for him. Anger is the most prevalent of the sins, you see it everywhere these days. It is hard for him to control his strength, and there have been times where he has been a danger to himself and to those around him.” A wistful look crossed over Minho’s face, tinged with empathy. “Though, of course, even the most obstinate among us are capable of change when it comes to the people we love.”

There was a short pause while Felix weighed his options. “Minho hyung,” he finally said, standing up from the bed. “You did me a favor, so now I’m going to do one for you. On the very first day that I moved into this house, Jisung told me you were his soulmate.”

Minho’s eyes widened in surprise, pupils shining with the light from the windows in Felix’s bedroom. “He… what?”

“I didn’t understand at first, I asked for clarification, and he told me again. He’s completely, one hundred percent sure,” Felix continued. “He’s in love with you. The reason that he falls asleep every time you’re in the same room is because he loves you so much it overwhelms him.”

Minho stood there opening and closing his mouth, completely speechless, before he turned around. He shoved the giant ring of keys in his pocket, and went downstairs without another word. 

Smiling to himself, Felix slipped his headphones back on over his ears.

Hyunjin burst into tears immediately after Felix asked him to go to lunch that afternoon, and it looked as though Seungmin could hardly believe his ears. Even Jeongin looked stunned, sitting over a half-eaten bowl of cereal at the dining table. 

“You’re sure?” Hyunjin sniffled, wiping at his face with his sleeves. 

Felix nodded. “Seungmin, I was wondering if you’d help me with this essay, I don’t think I quite have the structure worked out,” he said next. “Oh, and Innie– we never finished Black Panther. Is Wednesday okay?”

Seungmin nodded in agreement so fast his glasses fell off, and Jeongin just beamed.

When Felix passed through the living room, Minho and Jisung were on the couch, pressed together so that it seemed as though they’d become one person. A nature documentary played on the TV at full volume. Chan spotted the pair too, before they made eye contact with each other in the hallway, and gave him a tentative smile. Felix hadn’t seen his dimples in a while.

“Cute, aren’t they?” Chan whispered.

“Yeah,” Felix whispered back. “About as cute as Hyunjin and Seungmin.”

Chan looked at him kind of weirdly. “What do you mean? They’re not even together.”

Felix grinned. “Oops, you’re right. I can only manage one stupidly oblivious couple a day, though. Get back to me about that tomorrow.”

Chan had to cover his mouth to stifle a laugh, and gave him a silent high-five before making his way down the hall.

Felix found Changbin on the roof, in the middle of the night. He’d lost track of how long it had been since he’d even been in the same room as the older boy, almost as though he’d tried to make himself disappear from Felix’s life. Felix sat down on the cold roof tiles, just close enough but not so much that they were touching.

Changbin looked up. There were no stars tonight, and the bags under his eyes were so deep that it made his irises appear lifeless and dull. He blinked. Brown, brown, brown. After a long moment, his lips parted. Felix had almost forgotten the shape of his mouth.

“Lix-ah.”

“Hyung,” he said quietly. “I talked to Minho hyung. I know why you did it.”

Changbin shook his head. His voice was crackly when he spoke, as though it had been a long time since he’d used it. “I was a coward. I was afraid you’d hate us, hate me. I was afraid that– that you’d think we were monsters.”

“Jeez, hyung. Have a little faith in me, please,” Felix replied, bumping their shoulders together lightly. “For the record, I don’t hate you. I don’t think you’re a monster, either.” There was a short pause, and then he spoke again. “I actually think it’s really admirable, what you guys do. It’s– I’m sure you know. It’s a lot to carry.”

He’d started to shiver in his hoodie, despite the fact that it was now definitely spring. He was trying not to show it, but Changbin noticed right away– like he always did. He shrugged off his jacket and put it over Felix’s shoulders.

Felix sighed and snuggled into the fabric. Changbin smiled at him, just a little, and Felix smiled back. “You know, hyung, I’ve always wanted a hot demon boyfriend.” 

Changbin was so surprised that he snorted, his laugh echoing over the rooftop. Felix grinned, triumphant, and waited for the giggles to subside before linking their pinkies together. Changbin stared down at their hands between them in silence.

“Hyung,” Felix murmured. “I never said thank-you. You saved my life, that day.”

Changbin shook his head once more. “No need to thank me. Not for that.”

“You could’ve been hurt,” Felix said, chest squeezing at the thought.

“It doesn’t matter now.” Changbin brought his other hand up to brush Felix’s bangs away from his face, touch heartbreakingly gentle. He treated Felix like something delicate, something precious. Like something loved.

"Hyung," Felix whispered, quiet but firm. "No more secrets, okay?" He lifted their hands between them, pinkies curled over each others'. "Promise."

Changbin just nodded, the lights of the city in his eyes.

Felix didn’t know who leaned in first, only knew that the moment their lips met he forgot entirely about the fact that it was nearing four AM in Seoul in March, and he was on a roof exposed to the wind and probably entering hypothermia. Changbin’s hands were warm, so warm, and he pulled Felix close enough that he could run his palms over the muscles in Changbin’s chest. His lips were warm, too, pressing against Felix’s own, and Felix let out a very embarrassing whine when Changbin slid his hands up under his hoodie. He then used his considerable strength to just lift Felix straight into his lap, and continued kissing him. Felix whined again.

“Mmm?” Changbin hummed. “Everything okay?”

“Yes, hyung,” Felix breathed. “You’re just– I find it hot when you throw me around like that, and now it’s a problem.”

“Oh?” Changbin said, smiling against Felix’s mouth. “I thought you wanted a hot demon boyfriend.”

“I do, but now I’m scared that Hyunjin’s going to have to come up here and kick my ass.”

Changbin’s laugh was so loud Felix thought that the whole city might be able to hear it, and the idea warmed him from the inside.

“Kids!” Chan called from the living room. “We’re going to be late to Beomgyu’s birthday if you don’t hurry up!” His eyes fell on Felix, who came in from the hallway. “Oh, you look nice. Very tastefully slutty.”

“Thanks, hyung, you too,” Felix replied. “You know, no-one shows up to college parties on time.”

Chan rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “I know. I also know that you’re going to freeze out there wearing that.”

Felix grinned. “It’s okay. Changbin hyung’s wearing a jacket.”