Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Apartment Block 17. A ten-storey apartment block located south of the Han River, surrounded by talent agencies, idol’s dorms and schools that every parent would want their child to attend. Needless to say, it was a place of high demand.

Located a mere walk away from Apartment Block 17 was Pledis Performing Arts High School, and its associated university, Pledis University. Many aspiring entertainers would compete in endless and ruthless auditions and entrance exams in order to gain entrance to these amazingly high profile, scholarship-only schools. Being so close to these two highly competitive schools meant that Apartment Block 17 was incredibly expensive, especially for students, and difficult to secure a place of residence at.

Kim Mingyu, an aspiring actor who’d graduated out of his local high school in Anyang earlier that year, had finally been accepted into the acting course at Pledis University after his 5th audition. His mother had said it was because of his good looks, while his father disagreed, saying it was his pure acting skill and perseverance (which Mingyu had hoped to be the truth). His sister insisted that it was probably just a mix up; “There’s gotta be tons of Kim Mingyu’s in South Korea,” she said.

Being accepted into his dream university made Mingyu so happy that he broke down into tears in front of his whole family - something he hadn’t done since he was in diapers. There was just one problem, though: accommodation. He had scoured the depths of the internet for days to find an apartment near the university, but being in such a popular area, finding an available place that was affordable was nearly impossible. He was ready to accept the fact that he’d be stuck in a dingy closet two hours away from the university by train.

Growing incredibly desperate, he decided to change tactics - find a fellow university classmate willing to let him stay with them. Searching through a rather dodgy website that advertised people in need of roommates in Seoul, his eyes finally caught the words ‘Pledis University’.

BLOCK 17; APARTMENT #417 - near Pledis University

My name is Jeon Wonwoo and I study Korean literature at Pledis University. I’m aware that it’s quite difficult to find an apartment near the uni, which is why I’m opening up this offer. I live alone and I’m a bit tight on money, so it’d be great to split the rent over with someone else.

I’ve talked it over with my landlord, and the price is set at ₩ 350 000 per person, per month. No deposit is required as I already paid it when I first rented this apartment.

The apartment has a living room, one kitchen, one bathroom and two bedrooms. It’s a decent size, in my opinion.

If you’re interested, please send me an email at [email protected]. Thank you.

Mingyu couldn’t believe his eyes. He prayed that it wasn’t a scam and it was a legitimate offer. With his savings he’d earned throughout high school, and a job he would endeavour to find in Seoul, he’d be able to afford the rent. He honestly couldn’t wait to move out and begin chasing his dream of becoming an actor. He wanted to wipe the doubtful expressions off his family’s faces whenever he would talk about acting in a drama like the ones they would watch every other day.

Jittering with excitement, he decided to send the guy an email.

Bling. Wonwoo’s phone lit up with an email notification, just as he was about to settle down with a cup of coffee and a book. He’d picked up the new title earlier that day from his favourite bookstore, ‘20’, which was conveniently located in the mall across the road from his apartment block. Sighing, he put down the book and reached for his phone.

Kim Mingyu (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ 3m ago
Hoping to be your roommate :)
Hello!! My name is Kim Mingyu! I saw your ad asking for a roommate and I’m pra…

It was the 25th roommate application he’d received in the 3 days since he’d posted that advertisement. Wonwoo never thought he’d get that many applicants, though from briefly conversing with several of the them already, he knew that there was no way he’d ever share a room with those people.

As he was about to unlock his phone to read the email, his phone buzzed again.

your one and only junhui<3 now
yo wonu, taehyung went home sick so we need you at jam jam asap

Wonwoo sighed again. He was thankful to have such a well paying job at Jam Jam Café, a rather high-end coffee shop in the same mall as ‘20’, but working there was extremely tiring. He’d recently been put on dishwashing duty for accidentally serving an important customer the wrong meal, which happened to contain walnuts despite the order emphasising no walnuts. Turns out nut allergies can be really serious…

your one and only junhui<3
> yo wonu, taehyung went home sick so we need you at jam jam asap

me
> at this time?!?

your one and only junhui<3
> i mean the shop closes in like 2 hours so you don’t have to stay for long

me
> can’t you handle it by urself :/
> its friday night !!!!
> i was just about to start a new book
> :(

your one and only junhui<3
> no there’s actually quite a few people here rn
> i need u bro
> pls :)

me
> ...fine i’ll be there soon
> i better get paid overtime for this

Wonwoo grabbed his uniform and backpack and began to trudge his way to the mall.

Seokmin sighed in relief as he saw the familiar sign of Jam Jam Café as he turned the corner. He was exhausted.

After being accepted into Pledis Entertainment, he had also secured a place at the infamous Pledis University in order to study music and simultaneously train to be an idol.

Leaving behind his hometown of Yongin with his younger brother, Chan, they had moved to downtown Seoul together. He knew that his dream of becoming a singer was far from reached, proved by the brutal hours of training he had to go through from Monday to Saturday, as well as the endless piles of assignments set by his university music course. At this point, he was ready to collapse in his usual seat at Jam Jam with a hot cup of coffee.

Stumbling in with bleary eyes, he caught sight of someone he hadn’t seen in a while. “Wonwoo!” he croaked, throat exhausted from the vocal lessons he had just been at. “Did you change your shifts? I don’t remember ever seeing you working this late.”

“Oh, Seokmin. You’d better sit down, you don’t look good,” Wonwoo guided Seokmin over to the nearest table and left to get him a cup of coffee.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Seokmin mumbled. He flopped his head down onto the table and closed his eyes.

Junhui laughed. “Wonwoo’s filling in for Taehyung. He seems to have a lot on his mind, so don’t bother him too much.” Seokmin raised an eyebrow.

“He's been tight on money lately, so he was thinking about sharing his room with someone to lower the rent,” Junhui explained. “He's received quite a few applications, but he's having trouble choosing who to room with.”

“Ah, good luck to him then.”

Wonwoo returned and set down a cup of coffee in front of Seokmin. He looked around and saw that only a few other people were in the café. Among them, a talented artist Wonwoo had gotten to know as a regular customer, Jeonghan. Turning to Junhui, who had sat down next to Seokmin, he flashed a look of annoyance. “Jun, you said the shop was busy! There’s literally no one here. Can I go home now?”

Junhui rubbed his neck sheepishly. “I was bored. Plus, weren’t you talking about getting another roommate application? Let me see!”

Wonwoo sighed and unlocked his phone to read the email from Kim Mingyu. Seokmin, looking much more awake after sipping the coffee, also leant closer in curiosity.

From: Kim Mingyu (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ >
To: me >

Hoping to be your roommate :)
Today at 8:05 PM

Hello!! My name is Kim Mingyu! I saw your ad asking for a roommate and I’m praying that you haven’t already taken someone else in as your roommate T^T

I’m entering Pledis Uni as a freshman in September, as I wasn't accepted for the course that began in March. I want to become an actor, so getting accepted into Pledis is a dream come true! I'm so happy :3

I’ve been looking EVERYWHERE for a place to stay!! and I can afford the rent price you set!

It'd be cool if I could move in soon so I can get accustomed to Seoul life before I start in September! (I'm from Anyang, btw)

Anyway, here’s my number if you wanna call me or something, and get to know your future roommate ;) 010-XXXX-0406

(Please tell me the offer's still standing !!! If not this would be really awkward I'm so sorry)

“Oh, he’s doing the same course as me! And he sounds... normal... and actually kinda nice,” Junhui said incredulously. Wonwoo couldn’t deny that some of the applications he had gotten were borderline pedophilic. Kim Mingyu’s was much more tame in comparison.

“I’m not sure if I want to room with someone who uses emojis in a business email,” Wonwoo said, half joking. “At least the pedophilic ones seemed more professional.”

Seokmin rolled his eyes. “Seriously, Wonwoo? He seems cool. Hang on, I’ll search him up for you.”

If Seokmin wasn’t training to become an idol, he could’ve easily been accepted into the police force as a private investigator. It seemed like he did background checks on strangers far too often. After a few minutes of typing while taking sips of his coffee, he handed the phone proudly to Wonwoo.

“He accepted by friend request on Facebook, and I added his number into my contacts. Have you seen his face? Dude, even I’m whipped.”

Wonwoo gingerly took the phone from Seokmin, and leant away from Junhui, who was leaning dangerously close in order to catch a glimpse of what was on the phone. Seokmin was right; Kim Mingyu really was gorgeous. Fluffy brown hair and a killer smile, Wonwoo was sure a face like that would look good on a television screen.

Seokmin pegged Mingyu as the loud, outgoing type - the exact kind of person he’d noticed that Wonwoo would completely avoid. In fact, it was a miracle Wonwoo even talked to Seokmin, considering Seokmin was pretty loud himself. But strangely, Wonwoo seemed to be intrigued by Mingyu.

“I’ll message him and see how it goes,” Wonwoo mumbled. Using Seokmin’s phone, he messaged Mingyu.

me
> hey, this is jeon wonwoo.
> i’m using a friend’s phone to message you, so don’t save it as my number

010-XXXX-0406
> omg hello! nice to meet you ! :D
> lee seokmin is your friend right? the one who added me on facebook?
> aRE WE GONNA BE ROOMMATES??

me
> um, i’m still thinking about it, but if you send this month’s payment in advance, i might consider you.

010-XXXX-0406
> alright!!
> i’ll transfer it if you give me your account number :)

me
> alright.

“Hansol, I’m going to the mall!” Seungkwan shouted through the apartment. A muffled voice sounded from the shower and Seungkwan took that as an ‘okay’. Grabbing his keys and backpack, he left the apartment.

Upon arriving in the lobby, he was greeted by loud chatter and a group of teenage girls surrounding the front door. He figured it was probably an idol sighting, since the area they were in was a hotspot for celebrities.

“Oh my God, he’s got a suitcase!”

“Is he a new resident? I heard Seungcheol mention something about a new guy coming here...”

“I hope he lives on my floor!”

“What’s his name? Do you think he’s a model?”

Seungkwan frowned and pushed through the crowd, who let him through once they saw who he was. Some of the girls smiled shyly at Seungkwan, who smiled back in response.

“Do you know him, Seungkwan?” asked one of the girls.

Standing outside the entrance to the apartment block was an extremely tall, confused looking teenage boy. He looked rather tired, but despite his eye bags and messy hair, even Seungkwan had to admit that he looked good. Pushing past the girls, he approached the boy, who had begun to search through his backpack.

“Hello. Are you new here?” Seungkwan tried his best to sound nonchalant, but it was difficult with a group of teenage girls staring daggers at the two.

“Oh, yes!” the boy said, pulling out a piece of paper from his backpack. Seungkwan was surprised at how raspy his voice was. The boy sneezed into his elbow and gave the paper to Seungkwan with his free hand.

“Sorry, I’m a little sick,” he said sheepishly, pulling out a tissue to blow his nose. Seungkwan looked at the piece of paper, which had an address on it. The address of Apartment Block 17.

“This is Apartment Block 17, right? Do you know where I can find Choi Seungcheol? He’s the landlord’s son and he told me to go find him when I arrive here,” the boy said.

“Which apartment are you staying in?” Seungkwan asked. The girls behind him were inching uncomfortably close, presumably to listen in on their conversation.

“Apartment #417, with Jeon Wonwoo. My name is Kim Mingyu, by the way! I’m from Anyang.”

Seungkwan’s eyes widened in surprise. Jeon Wonwoo... one of the few people that Seungkwan had never actually talked to much before. He was a mystery - always quiet, keeping to himself, and didn’t seem to have many friends. Seungkwan had seen him a couple of times around the place, but Wonwoo had always held an aura of inapproachability, which had discouraged Seungkwan from approaching the latter.

“Oh, I didn’t know Wonwoo was getting a new roommate! Well, I’ll show you to Seungcheol’s place, if you want. I’m Boo Seungkwan, and I’m here from Jeju Island. Welcome to Seoul.” Mingyu nodded gratefully and followed Seungkwan through the crowd of girls, unaware of the girls’ lustful stares at him as he struggled to pull his luggage through.

Boarding the elevator, Mingyu turned to Seungkwan. “D-do you think you could tell me more about Jeon Wonwoo? Last week, he told me I could move in since I paid my rent early... but he was really vague when I asked him about himself,” he said nervously.

“Hmm, I honestly have to say... for Wonwoo to accept you as a roommate is a pretty big deal,” Seungkwan said thoughtfully. Mingyu tilted his head in confusion. “I mean, he’s a really quiet guy,” Seungkwan elaborated, “I’ve only seen him around this guy called Junhui, maybe Minghao occasionally. To let you, a complete stranger, into his apartment? Pretty interesting.”

Mingyu wasn’t sure what to do with this information. He wasn’t the best at talking to quiet people, as all his friends had been loud and boisterous like himself. If worst comes to worst, he could just leave Jeon Wonwoo alone. Roommates don’t necessarily have to be best friends, after all. Mingyu was just grateful that he had found a decent apartment near the university.

“Oh, yeah. I don’t know much about him, so don’t take my word for this, but...” Seungkwan leaned closer to Mingyu. “I’ve heard that he’s gay.”

Mingyu laughed. “I don’t think that’ll bother me too much, though. If it’s true, then at least we’ll have something in common.”

Seungkwan stared incredulously at Mingyu. I guess the girls were right when they said all the hot ones were gay or taken.

Seungcheol had to drag himself out of bed to answer the doorbell that was ringing incessantly. “I’m coming, shut up!” he groaned.

He opened the door to see Seungkwan and an unfamiliar boy. Seungcheol knew Seungkwan quite well as they often hung out together with Seungkwan’s roommate, Hansol. The three of them occasionally sang and rapped together, and Seungcheol also helped film some videos for their Youtube channel. Seungcheol had always wished that Seungkwan and Hansol would let him actually be in their videos, but they always cut him out. Hansol would say that Seungcheol was just taking advantage of their fame to promote himself as a rapper (which wasn’t entirely a lie).

“Why are you here Seungkwan? And who’s the guy?” Seungcheol rubbed his eyes groggily. His black hair was sticking up in weird places and he was itching to go and wash his face.

“Hi, you must be Seungcheol! I’m Kim Mingyu, Jeon Wonwoo’s new roommate,” the unfamiliar boy grinned, showing a set of blindingly white teeth and strangely sharp canines.

Seungcheol’s eyes widened in recognition. “Oh, right! Sorry, I never saw your picture so I wasn’t aware. I was gonna show you round the block, but I’m so tired right now. I’ll take you to your new apartment, though. Maybe Wonwoo can show you around later.”

Seungkwan left after Seungcheol had changed, mumbling something about missing the morning sales at the mall because of Kim Mingyu. Seungcheol locked the door and led Mingyu down the hall and back to the elevator.

“Sorry for asking you to come to my place first. I just wanted to meet you in person to make sure you weren’t some pedophilic murderer. You won’t believe the requests I get from people who want to stay here,” Seungcheol sighed. Mingyu laughed. “I’m Choi Seungcheol, the landlord’s son, which you already knew. Feel free to come to me for help or whatever. I don’t bite, usually. I’m a junior at Pledis, so you might see me around on campus. I study health education.”

“Oh, I’m a freshman studying drama! Though you were probably aware of that,” Mingyu said.

“No, actually. Wonwoo didn’t tell me much about you... just that you’re from Anyang, you’re moving to Seoul to study at Pledis and that you’re able to pay the rent.” Seungcheol looked up at Mingyu’s face. “A budding actor, hm? You certainly have the looks for it.” Mingyu looked down in embarrassment.

The elevator arrived on their floor, saving Mingyu from having to react to more compliments from the landlord’s son. The doors opened, and it seemed like there was someone inside. Someone... really tall?

Seungcheol looked in the elevator in confusion. “What the hell are you two doing?”

Mingyu was utterly confused to find two boys, one on the other’s back in a piggyback, standing nonchalantly in the elevator. The boy on the bottom had faded blue hair and was wearing a ridiculously bright-coloured tracksuit. His slanted eyes were glimmering with amusement. On his back, he was carrying a shorter boy with blondish-purple hair and a slightly intimidating grin. The boy with blue hair was about to run out of the elevator when Seungcheol stopped him, causing him to drop the purple haired boy onto the ground.

“Cheol, what the hell?” the blue haired boy groaned, helping the purple haired boy get up.

“Do we have to start again?” sighed the purple haired boy. As he stood up, he caught sight of Mingyu, who looked extremely confused. “Who’s the tree?”

“O-oh, hi. I’m Kim Mingyu. I’m new here,” Mingyu stuttered, cowering under the purple haired boy’s gaze.

“Oh hi, Kim Mingyu! I’m Soonyoung,” the blue haired boy, Soonyoung, grinned, his eyes slanting up in the cutest eye smile Mingyu had ever seen. “And this is Jihoon, my roommate!” he added, slinging his arm around the shorter, purple haired boy.

Standing next to Jihoon, Mingyu felt uncomfortably tall. He hoped Jihoon wouldn’t continue calling him a tree; his sister had overused that joke far too much back home.

Noticing Seungcheol’s glare, Soonyoung turned to him. “We were betting on who could run the fastest through all the floors of the building while piggybacking the other,” he explained, making it sound like it was just as normal as doing the laundry. “But we didn’t want to use the stairs in case we trip or something, so we’re not counting the time it takes for the elevator to arrive.” Mingyu couldn’t imagine how Jihoon, who was quite small compared to Soonyoung, would be able to run fast while piggybacking the latter.

Seungcheol sighed and rubbed his temples. “Fine, just don’t... break anything.”

“Sweet,” Soonyoung grinned and allowed Jihoon to jump back onto his back. “Nice meeting you, Mingyu!” he smiled, and Jihoon smiled slightly in acknowledgement. Soonyoung then turned and took off running, Jihoon bouncing on his back. Mingyu burst out laughing.

Seungcheol looked at Mingyu. “Get used to it. People here are all so freaking weird. That’s what you get for living in a place full of performing art majors at Pledis. Word of advice though; don’t get on Jihoon’s bad side. He may seem pretty cool, but he’s terrifying if you get him angry. Plus, you’ll probably have to deal with Soonyoung as well. Those two are honestly so different... beats me how they get along so well.”

“Well, from what I’ve heard, it seems that Wonwoo is pretty different to me as well. Hopefully I’ll be able to get along with him like them,” Mingyu said hopefully.

Seungcheol laughed slightly. “Good luck, man. Took me a while for Wonwoo to warm up to me, but once he’s friendly with you, I can guarantee that he’s the cutest thing ever.”

“That’s... reassuring?”

They boarded the now empty elevator and Seungcheol pressed the button for the fourth floor.

“These paintings are really gorgeous,” Mingyu commented as he admired the meticulously hung paintings at regular intervals along the hallway of the fourth floor. There had been many on the seventh floor as well, where Seungcheol’s apartment was. “They have a really similar style. Were they painted by the same artist?”

Seungcheol chuckled. “Yes, actually. There’s a boy who lives in this apartment block named Jeonghan, and he studies art at Pledis. He’s a junior as well! He painted all these, and since these paintings sell for quite a lot, he gives me one painting a month in exchange for his rent.”

Mingyu hummed. “Man, I wish I had this kind of talent. I’d love to meet Jeonghan someday.”

They arrived at Apartment #417, Mingyu’s new home. Loud arguing could be heard from inside, and Seungcheol hesitated on unlocking the door with his spare key.

“Don’t lie to me, I saw you making out with him at the club last Friday!” an angry male voice shouted.

“You always misunderstand! He was my cousin, for god’s sake,” a different, deeper voice said in exasperation. “It was dark, and there’s no way I’d make out with my cousin!”

A loud sigh was heard. Mingyu looked at Seungcheol, who looked just as confused about the ordeal. “I’m sorry, I’m just not feeling the best today...” the angry voice from earlier seemed to have calmed down.

After a few moments of shuffling, the room went quiet. Seungcheol slowly unlocked the door and opened it with a creak. Mingyu’s heartbeat picked up. Was Wonwoo one of the people who were arguing? He didn’t want to meet his future roommate like this.

The two of them took off their shoes and tiptoed into what Mingyu assumed was the living room. Standing a paper’s width apart from each other, were two teenage boys. They were both the same height, and had similarly dyed dark brown hair. Their faces were so close to each other that they were a centimetre away from kissing. Upon realising that Seungcheol and Mingyu were in the room, they broke apart hastily.

“Well, well. Junhui, last time I checked, weren’t you dating Minghao?” Seungcheol tutted.

“I’m here,” a voice piped up from the living room couch. Sitting in a relaxed position was a tall, skinny boy with hair a darker shade of purple than Jihoon’s. At this point, Mingyu was considering getting his hair dyed a weird colour, since it seemed to be the norm around this apartment block. The boy’s ears were also quite pointy, like an elf’s.

“Oh, Minghao. What’s going on?” Seungcheol furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

One of the brown haired boys, with fox-like eyes and an intimidating stare turned his attention to Mingyu. Mingyu stared back, not knowing what to do. His eyes are really mesmerising.

“Oh, it’s you, Mingyu. Sorry about that, we weren’t, um...” he looked at the other brown haired boy for help, but all he got was a smug smile. He sighed and walked towards Mingyu.

“I’m Jeon Wonwoo,” he shook Mingyu’s hand rather formally, all the while maintaining an unnerving poker face. His hands were really cold.

“I’m Wen Junhui, but you can just call me Jun. I’m a friend of Wonwoo’s, and I live on the sixth floor along with Minghao,” the other brown haired boy said. Mingyu noticed that he had a slight accent, but he couldn’t pinpoint where from. Probably China, since his name sounds Chinese?

“We weren’t actually arguing or anything...” Junhui continued, “You see, I’m studying drama at Pledis, like you. I’m a year older, though. There’s a really big audition coming up for a play.” He pointed at Wonwoo. “Wonwoo was just helping me practice, since Minghao can’t act for shit,” he grinned at the boy sitting on the couch, who gave him an annoyed look.

“Minghao was just helping judge my performance. Oh, and he’s taken, by the way. By me. Just thought I’d put that out there. But Wonwoo, on the other hand...” he winked, which made Wonwoo glare at him.

Mingyu laughed. “It’s nice to meet you, Jun, Minghao.” He turned hesitantly to the boy who just shook his hand; his roommate, Jeon Wonwoo. “And Wonwoo, I hope we’ll get along! Thanks for letting me stay here. I look forward to getting to know you better!” Mingyu gave Wonwoo the best smile he could muster.

Wonwoo nodded. “I’ll show you to your room, then.” He turned and walked briskly in the direction of Mingyu’s new room.

Mingyu thanked Seungcheol and smiled at Junhui and Minghao before following Wonwoo. He had to admit, it was a really nice apartment - neat, organised and spotless. it really did match Wonwoo’s personality as far as Mingyu knew.

This place is pretty interesting.

Chapter Text

“Seungkwan!” Hansol shouted, jumping onto his bed in an attempt to wake him up. Seungkwan groaned and pulled the covers over his head, ignoring Hansol.

Hansol retaliated by ripping the covers off Seungkwan with all the force he could muster, causing Seungkwan to snap awake at the breeze and groggily glare at his roommate.

“Guess what?” Hansol grinned. Seungkwan narrowed his eyes, which Hansol took as a sign to continue. “Pokémon Go was released this morning in South Korea!”

At the mention of the popular game that had taken over the world in the past two weeks, Seungkwan snapped wide awake. Both of them had been dying to play it ever since hearing of its release, but alas, it wasn’t available (officially) in South Korea. Until now, it seemed.

“You better not be joking right now, Choi Hansol,” Seungkwan said, pulling out his phone excitedly. He searched the App Store as fast as he could, and sure enough, it was available and legal to be played in South Korea. He looked over at Hansol, who was still waiting for the app to finish downloading.

“Which are you going to choose as your starter Pokémon?” Seungkwan asked, wanting to break the silence between them as they both waited for the app to finish downloading.

“I’ve heard you can start with a Pikachu, but I’m gonna go with a Squirtle,” Hansol said thoughtfully.

“Oh, then I will as well,” Seungkwan smiled. He looked down and found that the app had finally finished downloading. Grinning at Hansol, he said, “Well, what are we waiting for?”

kim meangyu
> hey seokmin
> didn’t you say that you went to pledis the last time we talked?

me
> oh hey mingyu!! haven’t talked to you since like... the time we met lmao
> soz about that
> but yeh, i study music there. i started in march... i’m a freshman!
> wait have you moved here already??

kim meangyu
> HAHA YEAH SORRY I FORGTO TO TELL YOU
> i moved here a week ago
> didn’t wonwoo tell you?

me
> nope, i was only there when he accepted you as a roommate
> didn’t he text you with his number afterwards?
> i assumed you guys talked later but wonwoo didn’t say anything :(

kim meangyu
> lmao yeh, he did text me with his number after he used your phone to text me
> but it was only to tell me when i could move and stuff
> all business :/

me
> o well that does sounds like wonwoo
> but still you must be like hella special

kim meangyu
> what do u mean?

me
> i mean like, wonwoo doesn’t seem to like friendly&loud people
> like you
> knowing him, i thought he’d pick someone more bookwormy to room with
> no offence lol

kim meangyu
> uhm excuse you???
> i am so triggered
> how do you know i’m not bookwormy :(
> haha kidding, tru though!!
> this dude i met when i first moved here said the same thjng to me

me
> really?

kim meangyu
> yeah, he said it was weird that wonwoo would let me room with him
> idk
> but hey, he also told me something else... is it tru that wonwoo’s gay?

me
> lmao wtf how did he know that??? who is this dude
> well yeh, it’s true
> he’s like the gayest guy i’ve met. i mean in a good way ofc
> idk how to explain so dont ask because im not stereotyping here

kim meangyu
> well the dude who told me is called seungkwan i think
> oh so he actually is gay... wow?? :O
> i hope its ok if i room with him then ?
> im not exactly the straightest person either :/

me
> WOAH WTF DUDE
> BAAHAHHAHAHA THIS IS TOO MUCH
> in that case...
> how’s it going with wonwoo? any progress? ;)

kim meangyu
> i hope you’re not implying anything with that wink face
> and no
> talking to wonwoo is like talking to a brick wall. how tf did you manage to get him to talk to you ??

me
> i’m lee seokmin, duh.
> don’t worry, i’m pretty sure he likes you anyway
> he looked pretty whipped when he saw your picture online

kim meangyu
> ... i never said i liked him! :/
> just bc he’s gay and i’m gay doesn’t mean we like each other ok
> PLATONIC .THERES SOMETHING CALLED PLATONIC

me
> lmao sure sure

kim meangyu
> he’s alright to live with so far, but i literally know nothing about him :/
> ive tried asking him stuff but he replies with one word answers???
> i even asked him to show me around and he said he was busy (he totally wasnt)

me
> well keep trying lol
> i can show u around later if u want then
> oh btw, what apartment you guys in again?
> i always forget because i never visit wonwoo without his friend jun
> i needa come meet you face to face :)

kim meangyu
> oh yeah i met jun last week too! he’s pretty cool ... he comes by a lot as well with his bf minghao
> omg i can’t believe i havent even met you irl yet
> but yeh we’re in 417
> come by anytime ;)

me
> yo save the flirting for wonwoo
> i’ll come by now. i’m hoping you aren’t as good looking irl as you are in the pictures
> as an idol trainee, i rlly don’t need you to be scouted off the street and create more competition for me :/

kim meangyu
> i’ll take that as a compliment <3

Seokmin laughed. Mingyu was actually pretty cool, though they had only talked briefly after Wonwoo’s roommate situation the previous week. Seokmin was far too busy with training to keep up his social life regularly. Even though it was the summer holidays, he still had to go to regular training sessions as well as study for the next semester of university, starting in September.

He packed up his bag, said goodbye to his little brother, Chan, and was about to head out when he was stopped by another text message notification.

meanhui now
Seokmin!!! pokemon go is out in south korea!! FINALLY

Seokmin nearly screamed. He dropped his bag and ran into Chan’s room, shaking his phone violently. “Chan! Jun just said Pokémon Go is out in South Korea!” he said excitedly.

Chan jumped out of his chair, where he seemed to have been trying to finish his holiday biology homework. He was in his second year at Pledis Performing Arts High School, and doing quite well, according to his report cards. But obviously, right now, there were more important things to do in life than biology homework. Like play the game that everyone’s been talking about for the past two weeks.

After downloading the app, the two brothers decided to go their separate ways in order to try it out. Unlike most siblings, they weren’t very competitive; they were much more supportive of each other and respected their differences.

They both ended up picking Charmander as their starter, and agreed to pick Team Valor once the option to choose a team became available at Level 5.

Seokmin grabbed his bag, locked the door and followed Chan out into the hallway, trying to track down nearby Pokémon; completely forgetting about visiting Mingyu.

“Hey, Hosh,” Jihoon called, “Have you heard of this Pokémon Go thing that’s been all over the news?”

“Pokémon what?” Soonyoung walked into the living room, seeing Jihoon sprawled out on the couch, watching some morning news program.

“It’s this app called Pokémon Go. Apparently it’s been really popular worldwide and it was finally released in South Korea this morning,” Jihoon said tiredly.

Soonyoung was actually pretty surprised to see Jihoon up this early. While Soonyoung was a morning person and often woke up very early, Jihoon was the kind of person whose ‘morning’ was actually in the afternoon.

Soonyoung held free dance classes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as he was a dance major at Pledis University and loved teaching people who were enthusiastic like he was. He had heard his students talking about a new Pokémon game that was recently released, but as he wasn’t a fan of the original games, he didn’t think too much of it. He never thought that a mobile app would become so popular, popular enough to be on news headlines. Curiosity overtook him, and Soonyoung pulled out his phone and searched for the app.

He found it displayed on the main page - it must’ve already been downloaded many times since its release in South Korea that morning. He skimmed through the description to get an idea of what the game was about.

Now’s your chance to discover and capture the Pokémon all around you... step outside, and explore the world! ...As you walk around, your phone will vibrate when there’s a Pokémon nearby. Take aim and throw a Poké Ball... Search far and wide for Pokémon and items... Visit PokéStops, found at interesting places like monuments to stock up... hatch Pokémon Eggs based on the distances you walk... Take on Gym battles and defend your Gym... It’s time to get moving - your real life adventures await!

“Hmm... Isn’t this just an excuse to get people outside and exercising for once?” Soonyoung pondered.

“Probably. Sound likes it,” Jihoon hummed. “Are you going to play it?”

Soonyoung grinned. He loved challenges and was known to be rather competitive in a variety of things. Mobile games was definitely one of them. Jihoon shuddered whenever he remembered the fit Soonyoung had thrown when he wasn’t able to beat the former in a game of Flappy Bird.

“Wanna join me?” Soonyoung waved the phone in Jihoon’s face and plonked himself down onto the couch next to him. Jihoon merely yawned.

“Nah, I’m good. Don’t even try to make me play with you. I won’t, even if you make some stupid bet with me like last time,” Jihoon huffed.

“Bet? Nah. I just wanted to go for a nice walk outside with my roommate! Who do you take me for, Jihoon?” Soonyoung pouted.

“Kwon Soonyoung. The guy who bet me to run through a ten-storey apartment block with him on my back and nearly breaking my spine in the process,” Jihoon said bitterly.

“Hey, you totally enjoyed that! Don’t pretend like I didn’t see you grinning like a madman.” Soonyoung flinched as Jihoon flicked his forehead.

“Plus, you got some exercise! Maybe if you exercised more, you’d be a little talle-” Soonyoung had to stop himself from clowning on his roommate as Jihoon’s eyes began to flare up in annoyance. Soonyoung knew that Jihoon was sick of everyone commenting on his height.

Honestly, Soonyoung thought he was average, but Jihoon wouldn’t hear any of it. In order to retaliate to people calling him things like ‘dwarf’, ‘fairy’ and ‘pixie’, he tended to call every tall person he met things like ‘tree’, ‘lamp post’ and ‘bean pole’. Most people either laughed it off, or showed signs of slight annoyance. Soonyoung thought it was really cute (not that his height had anything to do with the cuteness, he sweared. Soonyoung would likely find Jihoon cute regardless).

“Oh well, then. You’ll be missing out! Just watch me, I’ll catch all the Pokémon and become famous for it or something,” Soonyoung laughed nervously, not wanting Jihoon to be angry with him.

“I thought you didn’t like Pokémon?” Jihoon said, narrowing his eyes.

“Well, this game sounds interesting. You know how much I love a challenge! Knowing that millions of people around the world are playing this too, it kinda fires me up,” Soonyoung jumped off the couch, packed some food and water into a backpack and ran to the door. “See you later, Jihoon! I gotta go catch ‘em all!” he laughed as he slammed the door.

Jihoon cringed. You used to make fun of me for liking Pokémon...

As much as he wanted to play it too, since Pokémon was a large part of his childhood; 1. he hated playing mobile games and 2. he hated conforming to society’s trends. Hoping that Soonyoung wouldn’t get run over by a car while playing the game (Jihoon could definitely see it happening, considering how terrible Soonyoung’s attention span was), he sunk further into the couch and aimlessly switched the channel.

After two hours of continuous Pokémon hunting, Seokmin had caught a few varieties he was happy with, although he was stuck with an abundance of Rattatas he didn’t want. Chan had texted him earlier saying he was now riding around Seoul in order to hatch Pokémon eggs, as the game required you to walk/ride distances like 2km, 5km and 10km to hatch them. It really was a good excuse to get some exercise; though for both Seokmin and Chan, this game would definitely take a toll on their stamina during idol training lessons.

Having less than an hour left of the morning before having to go back to Pledis Entertainment to train, Seokmin decided he needed to quicken up his pace to catch up all the time he would lose.

A few months ago, Seokmin had met Junhui and Minghao while shopping at a gaming store called ‘Chuck’ in the mall across the road. Ever since talking and befriending them, the three had gotten together occasionally to play video games with each other after realising what similar tastes they all had. Junhui and Minghao were also thankful because Seokmin would help them out with perfecting their Korean, as they were both studying abroad in Seoul from China.

So with a new game like Pokémon Go coming out, Seokmin knew that the three of them would be in an unofficial competition against each other. He had already reached Level 5 and had chosen Team Valor, like he told Chan he would. He was pretty sure Junhui and Minghao would choose Team Mystic.

Wandering the hallway of the sixth floor, Seokmin jumped excitedly when he felt his phone vibrate, signalling a nearby Pokémon. He nearly screamed when he realised it was a Pikachu.

He thought he’d have to wander to the strangest locations in order to catch a Pikachu, but praise the lord, there was one right in front of him. The only thing that was stopping him was the door to Apartment #617.

Seokmin was startled when he heard a yelp not far from where he was. Glancing up from his phone, he saw a boy with black hair and a slightly muscled figure running over to where he was, standing awkwardly outside the apartment.

As the boy ran closer, Seokmin realised he knew who it was - Choi Seungcheol, the guy who came by once a month to collect his rent. Honestly, Seokmin was kind of intimidated by Seungcheol, but the guy was friendly enough and they would occasionally smile at each other when passing by.

Seungcheol halted when he saw the brown haired boy standing in front of Apartment #617. “Oh hey, Seok...” he trailed off, having forgotten his name.

“...min. Are you playing Pokémon Go?” Seokmin asked.

Seungcheol grinned. “Yeah. Are you trying to catch the Pikachu that’s around here?”

Seokmin nodded. “I’m not sure if I want to barge into a stranger’s home just to catch a Pikachu, though.”

“Well, lucky you’ve got me! I’m the landlord’s son, after all,” Seungcheol grinned.

He knocked confidently on the door, while Seokmin stepped back nervously. Do it for the Pikachu.

The door opened several seconds later to a tall boy with bleached blond hair and really plush lips. Seungcheol, being the unofficial rent collector, recognised the boy. “Oh hey, Seokjin.” You remember Seokjin’s name but you can’t remember mine?

“Oh, Seungcheol! You’re not here to collect the rent, are you? It’s not the end of July yet...” Seokjin said in confusion.

“Oh no, no. Um, do you know about this game called Pokémon Go?” Seungcheol asked.

Seokjin laughed. “Of course! I’ve already downloaded it, but my roommate Namjoon threatened to kill me if I started playing without him. He’s at some meeting right now.”

“Oh, well. Then you won’t mind if we come in? There’s a Pokémon in your apartment, apparently,” Seungcheol said cautiously.

“Which one?” Seokjin asked, narrowing his eyes.

Seungcheol contemplated whether to lie or not. “Pikachu,” he eventually said. Seokmin shifted nervously next to him.

“What?! Are you serious? No way! I’m not letting you guys get a Pikachu!” Seokjin promptly slammed the door in their startled faces and frantic footsteps could be heard inside.

Seokmin hit Seungcheol’s shoulder. “Why’d you have to tell him it was a Pikachu?”

“Well, he would’ve found out eventually and kicked us out anyway!” Seungcheol shot back.

“Ah, our loss then. I’ll see you around, Seungcheol,” Seokmin sighed and began walking away.

Seungcheol wasn’t having it. He decided to go back to his apartment and grab the spare keys he had for every apartment, and maybe even make a note to raise Seokjin and Namjoon’s rent price for this month. Trespassing or not, he needed that Pikachu.

For the entire morning since the release of Pokémon Go in South Korea, Junhui and Minghao had been out of their apartment, walking endlessly around the neighbourhood to catch Pokémon. The schools had been closed since it was summer break, but they both managed to find many on the streets outside. Soon enough, they both levelled up to Level 5 and were able to pick a team; they both picked Team Mystic. Junhui decided to text Seokmin about it.

me
> Guess who just levelled up to 5!!
> Me and Minghao!!! :D

donkey k
> SAME HERE :)
> pls tell me you picked valor???

me
> No we picked mystic duhh
> Did you choose valor??
> You traitor, i thought we were friends

donkey k
> smh valor is obviously the best
> omg anyway you wont believe what just happend to me
> so i was hunting and suddenly a PIKACHU pops up

me
> Wait wtf where? I need a pikachu

donkey k
> it was outside apartment 617 right
> and soon enough that seungcheol dude comes running to me as well

me
> Omg is he playing as well??

donkey k
> yeh lmao so he knocked on the door and this dude comes out. so seungcheol tells him there’s a pikachu in his apartment
> and tHE DUDE JUST SLAMS THE DOOR IN OUR FACES

me
> Wait so you didnt catch pikachu ??

donkey k
> NO

me
> Lmao wait didn’t you say it’s in 617?

donkey k
> yeh it was... according to the radar thingy

me
> Does the floor even matter? Like isn’t the pokemon just in that... geographical position

donkey k
> wat??

me
> I mean, wonwoo’s in 417. The room two floors beneath?
> So if pikachu’s in 617, isnt 417 like, directly below
> So its the same geographical spot or somethjng??

donkey k
> OMG JUN UR A GENIUS BYE

me
> Wait idk if it’s legit i was just brainstorming
> Oh ok nevermind, let me know how it goes ??

“What happened?” Minghao asked when he saw Junhui laughing at his phone.

“Nothing. Just Seokmin being an idiot,” Junhui smiled. “Alright, let’s go take over some Gyms! I saw some over at Adore U Park, which is pretty close.”

Upon reaching Adore U Park, a wide expanse of meticulously kept green, with various sporting facilities and playgrounds littered here and there, both their phones buzzed with an onslaught of nearby Pokémon to catch.

“Wow, why didn’t we come here earlier?” Minghao widened his eyes.

The pair wandered around, capturing Pokémon here and there, until they reached the nearest Gym, which was located near a basketball court. Minghao was busy trying to catch a Fearow nearby, while Junhui moved to claim the currently unclaimed Gym for their team.

Seeing the Gym turn blue, the colour of their chosen team, Team Mystic, was extremely satisfying for Junhui. He decided to search Adore U Park for higher level Pokémon in order to help hold their place at the basketball court’s Gym, as well as go around finding other Gyms to claim.

Minghao finally caught the Fearow, and proceeded to station it in the Gym to help hold their place. Junhui knew it wouldn’t be long before higher level players from rival teams would show up and try to defeat them, but being able to hold a Gym for even a little while made him happy.

As they were about to leave, Junhui noticed two other teenage boys walking towards them while staring intently at their phones. One had brownish-blond hair and foreign features, while the other had reddish brown hair that was hidden under a blue cap. They both looked like high school students.

“Oh my God, Hansol! There’s a Gym here!” the boy with reddish brown hair exclaimed.

“Don’t say ‘oh my God ’, Seungkwan,” the foreign-looking boy muttered.

“You guys playing Pokémon Go as well?” Junhui asked, drawing their attention from their phones.

The reddish brown haired boy tilted his head upon seeing Junhui’s face. “Oh, you’re Wen Junhui. And the other guy must be your boyfriend, Xu Minghao,” he said thoughtfully.

Junhui was taken aback. He didn’t recognise this boy at all. Was he supposed to know him? “I’m sorry, do we know each other?”

“Seungkwan, it’s rude when you do that. You sound like a creep,” the foreign-looking boy tutted and bumped the other boy’s shoulder. He then turned to address Junhui, as well as Minghao.

“Sorry, this is Seungkwan. He tends to be really nosy and probably knows more about you than you think. I’m pretty sure we live in the same apartment block. He knows basically everyone who lives there. My name is Hansol, by the way. Nice to meet you,” the foreign-looking boy, Hansol, stuck his hand out to shake Junhui’s. As he did, Seungkwan took his phone from him and walked closer to the basketball court.

“Oh, alright then...” Junhui said uncertainly. He wasn’t sure what to make of this Seungkwan guy. But Hansol seemed nice enough. “I’m Junhui, and this is my boyfriend, Minghao. Though Seungkwan already knew that...”

“Oh, nice to meet you two! Are you from China, by any chance?” Hansol said, smiling.

Junhui rubbed his neck awkwardly. “Is it that obvious?” he laughed.

“Oh, no! Your Korean is fine, if that’s what you meant. I mean your names sound Chinese, so...” Hansol smiled sheepishly.

“Oh, right. Yeah, we’re both from China. We’re studying at Pledis University,” Junhui said.

“Oh, Seungkwan and I are going there next year! We’re third years at Pledis High at the moment,” Hansol said with an energetic tone.

“Is it okay if I ask... are you foreign as well?” Junhui asked cautiously.

Hansol laughed. “Is it that obvious?” he repeated Junhui’s earlier statement. “Yeah, I’m half-American. But I’ve been living in Korea for most of my life,” he explained.

“Yes! I got it!” Seungkwan screamed from behind Hansol. He was holding his phone triumphantly.

“Were you guys ‘moonhui’ and ‘the8’?” Seungkwan asked towards Junhui’s direction.

“Uh, yeah? I’m ‘moonhui’ and Minghao’s ‘the8’,” Junhui answered.

“I just overtook your gym,” Seungkwan smirked.

Junhui whipped out his phone and saw that indeed, the previously blue Gym had turned into an ugly yellow. Team Instinct. The new Gym holders were ‘divaboo’ and ‘vernon’, presumably the usernames of Seungkwan and Hansol.

Hansol whirled around to see the phones that Seungkwan was holding; Seungkwan had won Gym Battles for Hansol on his phone. “Did you get it on video?” he pestered Seungkwan excitedly.

“Oh, right...” Seungkwan had forgotten that they were trying to vlog their first Pokémon Go experience to upload to their Youtube channel. Hansol looked disappointed.

“Ah, well. That just means we’ll have to capture other Gyms then!” he said optimistically.

“Like we’d let you! This isn’t over,” Junhui said. “That Gym won’t be yours by the end of the day!” Grabbing a startled Minghao, the two Chinese boys stormed off in search for stronger Pokémon.

“Bring it on!” Seungkwan hollered after them.

Seokmin arrived at Wonwoo and Mingyu’s apartment and knocked on the door excitedly. It was only then he remembered he had told Mingyu he would be there over three hours ago. He figured Mingyu wouldn’t mind anyway.

“Hey, Wonwoo,” Seokmin grinned as a very tired Wonwoo opened the door and glared at him.

“This better be really important, Seokmin,” Wonwoo grumbled.

“So there’s this game called Pokémon Go,” Seokmin began.

Wonwoo raised an eyebrow. “I mean yeah, everyone’s been talking about it. Don’t think it’s something I’ll bother with.”

“But you love games!” Seokmin said.

“Eh, I prefer ones where I don’t have to… move,” Wonwoo said straightforwardly.

“Fair. But anyway, I need to go into your apartment for a bit. Is that alright?” Seokmin asked hopefully.

“Oh, sure, I guess,” Wonwoo stepped aside reluctantly and allowed Seokmin to enter. “Mingyu was expecting you earlier, by the way. But apparently you didn’t show up, so he left a while ago to go grocery shopping or something.”

“Oh, yeah. I told him I’d come meet him this morning but I kind of forgot,” Seokmin said sheepishly.

“We all know you don’t have the best memory, Seokmin. He’ll be fine… That boy isn’t capable of being sad,” Wonwoo said with an exasperated tone.

Seokmin smirked. “Sounds like he’s fitting in here pretty well. Don’t act like you don’t love him, Wonwoo.” He flinched when Wonwoo shot him a glare.

“So, what’s so important that you had to barge into my apartment at 11:30 on a Friday morning?” Wonwoo asked.

Seokmin glanced at his phone and saw that the Pikachu was very near. He walked around a bit, ignoring Wonwoo’s gaze, and jumped when his phone vibrated and displayed a Pikachu near the door of Wonwoo’s bedroom. He quickly tapped on it, and caught the Pikachu in one try. Seokmin grinned and showed the phone to Wonwoo, not that he actually seemed to care anyway.

“I caught a Pikachu!” Seokmin said a little too loudly for Wonwoo’s liking. “That Seungcheol guy is gonna be so mad!”

“Seungcheol’s playing it too?” Wonwoo questioned.

“Everyone but you is playing it, Wonwoo,” Seokmin smirked.

“Mingyu’s not playing it,” Wonwoo said, and Seokmin swore he saw him pout a little.

“Wonwoo, who goes on a grocery trip at 11:30 on a Friday morning? I bet you he’s going out Pokémon hunting,” Seokmin reasoned.

“Alright, it’s time for you to leave,” Wonwoo started pushing Seokmin towards the door. “Pokémon hunting or not, Mingyu better bring back some milk from the store like I asked him to.”

“You should really be nicer to him, Wonwoo. The poor guy’s trying to get to know you better. Why would you let him go on a grocery trip by himself? He’s still new here,” Seokmin said.

“He insisted he would be fine. Anyway, it’s not like there’s anything interesting about me. He’ll give up soon enough,” Wonwoo said quietly.

Seokmin stopped. “He likes you a lot more than you think, you know. Just give him a chance.”

“He only likes me because I gave him a place to stay. What if he finds out that I’m gay?” Wonwoo said bitterly.

So that’s what this is about. Seokmin laughed. These two were so hopeless. “Well, hypothetically speaking, if he were to find out you were playing for the same team, he would probably be extremely happy that his roommate turned out to be his teammate as well, if you know what I mean. Hypothetically speaking.”

Wonwoo paused and stared at Seokmin. “Are you trying to tell me that Mingyu’s gay as well?”

Seokmin rolled his eyes. “No, Wonwoo. I’m telling you that you actually have a chance with Mingyu.” Seokmin wished he was better at reading facial expressions - particularly Wonwoo’s - because the boy had an indescribable emotion etched across his sharp features.

“Right. You should go now,” Wonwoo gently shoved Seokmin out and closed the door behind him.

Seokmin leant against the door. “Wonwoo’s so whipped,” he laughed to himself. Pulling out his phone to admire his newest Pokémon, his smile dropped when he caught sight of the time. 11:53AM. He had to be at Pledis Entertainment by 12PM.

He ran down the stairs impatiently and luckily, managed to catch the right bus that stopped right outside the Pledis Entertainment building, which was located slightly further away from Apartment Block 17 compared to the two schools. Taking a seat near the back, he pulled out his phone and found several messages from Junhui.

meanhui
> Guess who just claimed a gym at adore u park ;)

meanhui
> Are you freakin kidding me right now
> These two teenage dudes just came here and took over my gym?!?! They were team instinct :( pfft
> Gotta go searching for more pokemons with minghao tO GET MY REVENGE

meanhui
> Okay so minghao and I found a really strong pokemon just now, so we returned to try take back that gym
> THE GYM WAS TAKEN OVER BY SOMEONE ELSE
> He was team mystic as well so it’s okay but HE WAS LEVEL 10 ??? Already?? It’s been like 4 hours since release wtf
> Some dude with the user ‘hoshi’
> He must be a hacker idk dude

me
> lmao omg rip
> at least someone defeated those two teenage dudes for you?
> OH YEH I JUST WENT TO WONWOOS APT AND CAUGHT THE PIKACHU :DD
> also dude, wonwoo’s so whipped for mingyu :’)

meanhui
> Oh hey, you’re not dead ;; I thought you died catching pokemons since you didn’t reply :(
> But yeah no shit
> Wonwoo wont stop asking me for advice about mingyu
> When will they get together already? Minghao wants to go on double dates with them

me
> well then we have work to do lmao
> oh hey gtg the bus is about to stop at pledis
> ready for 8 hours of torture, YAEY!!

meanhui
> Haha rip

“Yo, Soonyoung!” Seungcheol called out as he entered No F.U.N, which was ironically a very fun place that specialised in making pizza and ice cream. Since Soonyoung worked there, Seungcheol would often take advantage of his employee discounts.

“Oh hey, Cheol. Wanna try the special today?” Soonyoung walked to the table Seungcheol had sat down at.

“Yeah sure, surprise me. I’m starving,” Seungcheol replied, pulling out his phone.

Soonyoung leaned over to look at Seungcheol’s phone. He raised his eyebrow. “Oh, you’re playing Pokémon Go?”

Seungcheol’s eyes lit up. “You know about it? I thought Jihoon was always complaining that you made fun of him for playing the original games.”

Soonyoung laughed and rubbed his neck awkwardly. “Oh nah, I just heard about it on the news this morning. Not too interested, really.”

“Oh, well, you’re missing out! I need to tell you what happened earlier today,” Seungcheol started excitedly.

“Oh? Well you’ve got about a minute before my boss yells at me to stop flirting with customers,” Soonyoung winked. If Seungcheol’s stomach wasn’t so empty, he probably would’ve gagged.

“I’m telling Jihoon you said that,” Seungcheol muttered. Soonyoung didn’t seem to hear. “Anyway, so I was searching around for Pokémon and I found one around Apartment #617.”

Soonyoung nodded to indicate he was listening, while pretending to take Seungcheol’s order so his boss wouldn’t yell at him.

“I also meet this other guy there... Sungmin or something? He was looking for the same Pokémon. So we both knock on the door, but when we told the dude we found a Pokémon in his apartment, he slams the door on us! To go catch the Pokémon himself!” Seungcheol said incredulously. Soonyoung started laughing.

“But get this! I went back up to my place to get my keys, and the Pokémon I was hunting earlier was in my apartment!” Seungcheol said happily.

Soonyoung tilted his head. “Were you going to break into someone’s apartment, just to catch a Pokémon?” he asked suspiciously.

“Well, I didn’t have to, since I found it in my apartment,” Seungcheol said nonchalantly. “My apartment is #717, which is directly above #617. So it must’ve been the same spot or something! Man, that was so lucky,” Seungcheol sat back and grinned.

Soonyoung rolled his eyes. “Well, I’m not bailing you out of jail for trespassing, just because you were catching Pokémon. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go get your order. And I’m not using my employee discount for you this time,” he said, walking away before Seungcheol could inflict any damage on him.

As Soonyoung left, Seungcheol felt the phone in his hand vibrate with notifications - to his dismay, it wasn’t a notification that there was a nearby Pokémon. Instead, it was from the group chat he had with Seungkwan and Hansol.

hit the kwan (Seungkwan)
> CHEOL YOU WONT BELIEVE THIS
> hansol and i went around adore u park and took over lots of gyms right

hansmol (Hansol)
> BUT WHEN WE WENT BACK TO CHECK ON THEM
> EVERY SINGLE ONE WAS TAKEN BYT HIS DUDE CALLED ‘HOSHI’

me
> lmao was he team valor?

hit the kwan (Seungkwan)
> NO HE WAS MYSTIC BUT THATS NOT IMPORTANT
> HE TOOK OVER LIKE EVERY SINGLE GYM IN THIS AREA SINGLEHANDEDLY

hansmol (Hansol)
> and he’s already like level 11 ??

me
> shit
> im only like level 6

hansmol (Hansol)
> we’re level 7 ;))

me
> stfu

“Who’re you texting? Your girlfriend?” Soonyoung smirked as he set Seungcheol’s food in front of him.

“Nah, it was just these two guys I know. Seungkwan and Hansol,” Seungcheol replied.

“Oh, I think I know Seungkwan. Yeah, I’ve seen him around our apartment block. He’s pretty funny. Are they playing Pokémon Go as well?” Soonyoung asked.

“Yep. They just told me some dude with the username ‘hoshi’ has been taking over all the Gyms in the area. Looks like I’ve got some work to do,” Seungcheol sighed.

“Oh, is that so? Good luck, then,” Soonyoung grinned and went back to work. There was something off about Soonyoung’s grin, but Seungcheol was too hungry to question it. Digging into the large pizza that Soonyoung had brought him, Seungcheol thought about where he could go next to find more Pokémon.

Chapter Text

Seokmin collapsed onto the floor, finally being granted a break to eat something after dancing lessons that lasted for the past two hours. He checked his phone to find several messages from Chan and Mingyu.

kim meangyu
> seokminn
> wonwoo just told me you stopped by just now… did you really forget about me???
> bc you were playing pokemon go?!?! i thought you were better than this :( s m h
> i got lost as well lmao YOU SAID U WOULD SHOW ME AROUND
> i was meant to go to the grocery store but i ended up in a really dodgy part of town ... then i wandered around for like an hour until i made it back to the apartment block somehow :P
> i dont wanna ask wonwoo the way bc he’ll think im stupid or something??
> speaking of wonwoo he’s like mad at me :(
> he was saying something about me forgetting to buy milk bc i was trying to catch pikachu
> i don’t even like pokemon?? what did you tell him seokmin :/

me
> its a long story im sorry !! D:
> i was just really excited to play it ok
> i’m at training now so soz i cant stop by yet
> ill meet u another time i pROMISE

kim meangyu
> hmmmmmmm

me
> not this week because i have important performances coming up
> NEXT WEEK I SWEAR

kim meangyu
> so you dont have time for me but you have time for pokemon?

me
> ... you wouldnt understand :/

kim meangyu
> pft fine i have wonwoo anyway i dont need u

me
> ;)

chanson
> HYUNG, YOU WONT BELIEVE!!
> I JUST HATCHED A PIKACHU !!!IT WA S ONLY A 2KM EGG
> BUT PI KA CHU

chanson
> i just rode another 2km
> AND WHAT DO I GET? A ZUBAT
> I have like 100 of them already
> :(

chanson
> Bro i’m so tired
> can i skip training

me
> apparently the police released a statement this morning
> “i was hunting pokemon” is not a legal excuse for trespassing

chanson
> so...?

me
> SO POKEMON GO ISNT AN EXCUSE TO SKIP TRAINING YOU NOOT

chanson
> damn are you going to make it, bro?
> fine, i’ll be there soon!
> fighting!!!! :D

Seokmin wished that he was younger. High school students like his brother, Chan, didn’t have to train as often as university students, due to their timetables. They had moved to Seoul a year ago, meaning Seokmin had less hours of training last year, as he was still in high school. Even after barely surviving a semester of the university timetable, he felt like he was still far too unfit to keep up.

“Dokyeom! What are you doing, texting over there? Get back to practice!” one of his dance teachers called. ‘Dokyeom’ was his stage name - it literally meant ‘doing things in various aspects’, as his company wanted him to be an all-round entertainer. He was slightly stressed out lately at the expectations that were placed on him.

Sighing, he placed his phone back in his bag and trudged back to the dance studio.

“Welcome to Very Nice, how may I help you?” a bored university-aged worker uttered at the entrance of several more customers.

“Do you have any power banks?” Junhui asked.

“Yeah,” the worker led them to the counter and pulled out a box of them.

“Make that two more!” a familiar voice said beside Junhui. Junhui whirled around to see the two boys from the park; Seungkwan and Hansol.

“What are you guys doing here?” Junhui asked. Minghao laughed quietly at Junhui’s slightly enraged expression. This game was working him up way too much.

“Same as you, buying power banks! Our phones are dead,” Hansol said, oblivious to Junhui’s intimidating gaze.

“Power banks?” a slightly deeper voice sounded from somewhere in between the shelves. Seungcheol stepped out, grinning at the four boys as he held up his phone. “My phone’s dead as well, and I’m too lazy to go charge it.”

“So, are all five of you going to buy one?” the worker asked, seemingly impatient to get them out of the store.

“Yeah, I’ll definitely take one,” Seungcheol said, pushing past and slamming cash onto the counter. One by one, each of them pulled out some cash and placed it onto the counter.

The worker gathered all the cash and handed each boy a power bank. After receiving their respective change and receipts, the five boys walked to the exit together.

“Didn’t expect to see you here, Cheol! And Junhui and Minghao, too,” Hansol smiled. “Guess Pokémon Go really does bring people together.” Minghao smiled back, while Junhui was still staring at them suspiciously.

“Seungcheol, which team did you choose?” Seungkwan asked, as they reached the exit.

“Team Valor,” Seungcheol grinned.

Seungkwan narrowed his eyes. “Well, we chose Team Instinct. I’m not sure we can be friends anymore.”

Minghao laughed. “You’re all taking this game way too seriously,” he rolled his eyes.

“Aight, well… Good luck to you all,” Junhui said slightly sarcastically, ignoring Minghao’s judgemental expression.

Seungcheol laughed. “Thanks, much appreciated. But hey, where have you guys been searching?” he asked before the two could leave.

“Around Adore U Park, mostly,” Minghao replied. “But since it’s getting dark, we came here to look around.”

“Did you see that our Gym got overtaken? The one at the basketball court?” Hansol said sadly.

“Oh yeah! Some dude called ‘hoshi’ overtook a bunch of Gyms all around the park,” Junhui frowned. “He’s in Team Mystic though, so it’s okay,” he grinned, causing Seungkwan to pout slightly in annoyance.

“I just went down to Rock Dance Studio, which is pretty far, and all the Gyms down there are held by this ‘hoshi’ guy as well. Looks like we all have a common rival,” Seungcheol sighed. “Maybe if he was in Team Valor, I might’ve been be okay with it...”

Minghao grinned. “Well, Team Mystic is obviously the best so, good luck to you guys~” he imitated Junhui’s sarcastic tone from before. He then grabbed Junhui’s arm and pulled him away, waving at the three boys cheekily.

“And you said we’re taking this too seriously? Maybe I’m influencing you a little too much,” Junhui smirked, earning a quick glare from Minghao.

“Do you think Jam Jam will have Pokémon around it?” Minghao wondered, as his phone vibrated when they passed No F.U.N. He paused in order to catch the Rattata that had appeared.

“I hope so. I gotta go to work soon,” Junhui sighed. “Think you could go catch more for me while I’m working?”

Minghao rolled his eyes. “It’s not fun going alone. Plus, I’m exhausted. I think I’ll just sit somewhere and watch you work or something.”

“You’re gonna watch me work my shift... for five hours?” Junhui questioned. Minghao smiled and blew him a teasing kiss. Junhui felt himself getting flustered. It was rare for Minghao to display affection in public, as he was a rather reserved person. He had only been living in Korea for a few months, compared to Junhui’s year and a half, and he still felt uncomfortable with his surroundings though his Korean had improved substantially. Junhui, and occasionally Seokmin, had dragged him out on random excursions in order to expose him to more of the foreign country, and it seemed to be working so far.

From around the corner, Junhui grinned when he heard Seungkwan yelling, “Get a room, you two!” followed by loud laughter from Hansol and Seungcheol. Junhui chuckled and smirked at them over his shoulder, as he pulled Minghao closer. Maybe those three aren’t so bad after all.

It was getting late enough that the streets were beginning to fill with stumbling drunks trying to falsify their sobriety to the club bouncers. After Soonyoung had finished teaching his Friday dance class, he had immediately hopped onto a bus after reading a report of a rare Pokémon sighting in downtown Seoul. He hoped he wouldn’t be too late.

Soonyoung wasn’t sure why he didn’t want to let anyone know that he was the person who was dominating all the Gyms in the area, or more commonly known as the guy with the username ‘hoshi’. It was so entertaining hearing his friends and dance students complaining about it. It brought out his competitive spirit even further. Plus, Soonyoung was sure that if Seungcheol found out he was ‘hoshi’, he would get himself and Jihoon kicked out of the apartment they had worked so hard to secure (Seungcheol’s wrath could be a scary thing, as Soonyoung had learnt far too many times throughout their friendship).

So here he was, at 8:30PM outside a dodgy nightclub, trying to catch a Vaporeon that had spawned directly outside. Several others were also there with their phones out, though a majority were club-goers who roughly pushed their way past.

Soonyoung finally managed to catch the Vaporeon, and he cheered silently. He wasn’t quite sure what to do now. It was pretty late and he should be getting back home soon. His thoughts were interrupted by messages from Jihoon.

woozi:)
> Um Soonyoung
> It’s really late. Where are you?

me
> oh LOL hi jihoonie :D
> I JUST CAUGHT A VAPOREN !!

woozi:)
> A vaporeon? cool
> But uh, are you coming home soon?

me
> awwww you sound worried !!!
> even after telling me to go get hit by a bus this afternoon:)

woozi:)
> ... just please get home soon

me
> im getting on a bus now!! :D
> man, i gotta tell u more about everything that happened today :O

woozi:)
> Did you go to work today?
> And did you remember you had a dance class to teach?

me
> yep! dw, i went to both
> i was tempted to ditch to find more pokemons tho
> i managed to take over the gym at my dance studio during break!! :D
> stop worryinggg you sound like my mother :/

woozi:)
> I’m just worried about you paying your share of the rent for this month

me
> dw jihoonie i’ll alwyas have your back<33

woozi:)
> ...right
> Also, what’s this i’ve been hearing about some guy named ‘hoshi’ dominating our area?

me
> HAHAHAHA SURPRISE IT ME :D

woozi:)
> ns, of course I knew it was you...
> But wow, i didn’t know you could get this good. I went to the tech store to get some batteries a few hours ago and I heard seungcheol talking about it with some other people...
> Is everyone playing this goddamn game?? I’m not surprised about seungcheol, but still.
> Do they not know that you’re ‘hoshi’?

me
> lmaooo you’re the only one who calls me hoshi anyway??
> that’s why i used it as my nickname ;)
> it’ll be our little secret
> so dont tell cheol and the others okkaaay :)

woozi:)
> Okay, but aren’t you getting a little too obsessed over this game?

me
> oh hey brb bus is stoppin

Soonyoung turned off his phone as the bus pulled into the stop right outside Apartment Block 17. Scanning his bus card on the way out, he stepped out into the refreshing night air. As he walked into the building, he spotted two tall boys walking in at the same time, each holding a heavy looking grocery bag. One of them looked slightly familiar - it was that tall guy with Seungcheol from last week.

“Hey!” Soonyoung called, catching the attention of the two boys. “Min...hyuk?”

The taller boy smiled. “Mingyu, actually. Soonyoung, was it? Nice meeting you again.”

“Oh, right. Too many Min’s around here, to be honest,” Soonyoung smiled sheepishly. He glanced over at the boy Mingyu was with; dyed brown hair and sharp, fox-like eyes. Soonyoung was about to introduce himself, but the boy turned and walked towards the elevator without glancing at him.

He followed the two boys onto the elevator, where they pressed their respective floor buttons. Ignoring the intimidating aura of the unknown boy, Soonyoung grabbed out his phone to check for any last minute Pokémon before he reached home.

“Oh, you’re playing Pokémon Go?” Mingyu asked, peeking at Soonyoung’s phone over his shoulder. Soonyoung nodded enthusiastically.

“Are you playing it too?” Soonyoung asked.

“Nah, I’m not a big fan of Pokémon. Plus, I’m too occupied with moving in,” Mingyu said. Soonyoung saw the other boy eye Mingyu suspiciously.

“Oh, well you’re missing out! Hope you’ve moved in alright, though!” Soonyoung said. The elevator reached the fourth floor, presumably where the two boys lived. He was about to say goodbye when his phone vibrated with a notification; a new Pokémon was nearby.

“Do you live on this floor too?” Mingyu asked as Soonyoung followed them out into the hallway, furiously sliding his finger over his phone screen.

“Nope! But I just caught another Goldeen,” Soonyoung showed Mingyu his phone proudly.

Mingyu’s eyes widened. “Level 11? Wasn’t the game only released this morning?”

“I took over a lot of Gyms, I guess,” Soonyoung smiled shyly. Noticing that Mingyu had no idea what he was talking about, he rephrased and said, “I’ve been busy.”

Mingyu nodded in understanding and leaned closer to peek at his phone screen. “Hoshi... Is that your username? Doesn’t that mean ‘star’ in Japanese?” he asked. Soonyoung nodded. He figured that letting Mingyu know was okay, since he didn’t play the game anyway.

“Yeah, it’s just a nickname my roommate uses sometimes. I think it was when the music and dance students collaborated on a performance in our first year of high school, he said something like my dancing was good, therefore I was a star,” Soonyoung recounted the moment fondly. Now that he thought about it, Jihoon was much nicer when they first met. Nowadays, he tended to switch between playful and grumpy quite often.

“Oh, that’s cute,” Mingyu smiled. “At least he calls you by a name. Unlike someone,” he looked pointedly at the other boy, who frowned in return.

“Mingyu,” the boy said pointedly, and Soonyoung was surprised at how deep and smooth his voice sounded. “Help me carry the milk. It’s the least you could do for me, having to take you out at this time just to show you where the grocery store is,” the boy continued with a bitter tone, but despite the boy’s supposed harshness, Soonyoung could see a playful glint in his deep brown eyes. After knowing Jihoon for many years, he had become experienced in reading other people’s expressions. Mingyu seemed to be quite oblivious though.

Mingyu grabbed the bag from the other boy, groaning under the added weight. “Well, I asked if you could show me earlier, but you said you wouldn’t leave until you finished your book,” he said sadly.

“Hey, that book was great! You’re the one who finished all the milk anyway,” the boy shot back.

“But you were the one who wanted more milk...” Mingyu said, sounding slightly hurt.

The boy’s face visibly softened and he sighed, taking the bag back from Mingyu’s hands. “Right, sorry. I just hate going out this late, except for work. You know the way now, don’t you?”

Mingyu perked up. “Yeah. Though you’ll owe me more than money for going out grocery shopping for you,” he added smugly.

Soonyoung laughed. These two reminded him a little of how he and Jihoon talked to each other. “Well, it was nice meeting you two, but I’ve gotta run before my roommate reports me missing,” he said, walking back to the elevator. Mingyu smiled and waved with his free hand, while the other boy simply nodded in a respectful manner. After boarding the elevator and pressing his floor button, Soonyoung realised he never got the name of the other boy. Oh well.

Upon arriving at his apartment door, he felt his knees buckle; he was exhausted. The door opened with perfect timing, and Jihoon caught him before he fell.

“Soonyoung, what the hell?” Jihoon groaned as he struggled to pull Soonyoung into the apartment and shut the door.

“Oh hey, Jihoon,” Soonyoung mumbled. “I’m so tired, honestly. Did you cook dinner?”

Jihoon sighed, sat Soonyoung down at the table and put a steaming bowl of ramen in front of him. Soonyoung grinned. “Have I ever told you that you’re the best person ever?” he said, slurping up the contents immediately.

“Not nearly as many times as you should,” Jihoon said as he sat down next to him. He wore a tired expression on his face, though Soonyoung was quite used to seeing him like this.

“Soonyoung... you should slow down a bit,” Jihoon said quietly. Soonyoung noticed that Jihoon’s expression had changed into one of genuine worry. He gulped down a mouthful of soup before replying. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve been out all day, and you look exhausted. As hyper as you can get, this isn’t normal…” Jihoon said, furrowing his eyebrows.

Soonyoung hated seeing Jihoon look so genuinely concerned for him. In his eyes, everything he did was his own fault, and he hated making his roommate worry like that. Jihoon was the kind of person who would blame himself for every little mistake, even when it had nothing to do with him. Soonyoung decided the only way to cheer him up a little and stop worrying so much was to do what he always did when he did stupid things - make a deal.

“Tell you what. I’ll make you a deal!” he grinned. Jihoon groaned, as if he expected Soonyoung to say that.

Soonyoung stopped eating to think. “I heard about this legendary Pokémon that no one seems to be able to find.”

Jihoon nodded. “Yeah, there’s a few I think. They’re hard to catch in the original games as well. Which one do you mean?”

“This one called Mewtwo. Apparently it hasn’t been spotted anywhere, all around the world,” Soonyoung said. Jihoon didn’t like where this was going. Soonyoung ate more of the ramen before continuing. “So, if I catch a Mewtwo, I’ll stop playing the game for good. Deal?”

Jihoon sighed. He knew that nothing else would get him to stop playing, except for him losing interest by himself, which could take months. Soonyoung’s stubbornness and determination were some of the only traits Jihoon also felt that he had in common with him, so he knew that Soonyoung wouldn’t give up so easily.

“It’s going to be impossible, though,” Jihoon warned. “They’re labeled as ‘legendary’ for a reason... I doubt the creators even made it available to catch in the game.”

“Do you think that’s going to stop me?” Soonyoung grinned. Jihoon sighed. Praying that a Mewtwo would miraculously show up in Seoul sometime soon, he held out his hand reluctantly, which Soonyoung shook with a grin.

Luckily for Jihoon, it turned out that the mysterious Mewtwo wouldn’t remain hidden for very much longer.

Chapter Text

It had only been four days since the release of Pokémon Go in South Korea. With the player called ‘hoshi’ and his team dominating the Gyms in the area, Seungkwan and Hansol decided to spend the day catching more Pokémon at the Shining Diamond Mall, the shopping centre across the road from Apartment Block 17.

It would be a lie to say that regular shoppers weren’t annoyed with the onslaught of teenagers flocking the mall in order to catch Pokémon. There were rumours that the owner of the mall was going to file a complaint to the app developers for placing so many PokéStops and Gyms around the building. That definitely didn’t stop people like Seungkwan and Hansol from going there anyway and clogging up the hallways whilst swiping furiously on their phone screens.

Having been out past dark for the past four days, the two boys had slept in until nearly 2PM, meaning that by the time they washed up and got ready to go to the mall, the streets were already filled with teenagers and adults all bustling about to grab some late lunch.

“I’m starving. Do you want to grab food somewhere?” Hansol asked. His stomach growled in agreement.

“Sounds good!” Seungkwan agreed. He spotted a familiar café up ahead, and began hurrying through the crowd to get there before the line became too long.

Upon entering the café, Jam Jam, Seungkwan hopped into the growing line and began scanning the menu above the counter. Hansol joined him moments later, checking his phone for nearby Pokémon. Hansol jumped when his phone vibrated and displayed one in the coffee shop. While Seungkwan was trying to catch it as well, they reached the front counter.

“How may I help you?” Seungkwan looked up at the sound of the familiar voice, realising he knew the barista; Jeon Wonwoo, the quiet guy who lived in Apartment Block 17. Also, the guy who had Kim Mingyu had moved in with the other week.

“I’ll get a stack of pancakes with ice cream, and a blueberry smoothie,” Seungkwan ordered. He was about to ask Hansol what he wanted, but saw the the latter was busy catching yet another Pokémon.

“Will that be all?” Wonwoo asked politely. Seungkwan gulped. As nice as he seemed, there was something unnerving about his eyes. His gaze wasn’t purposely intimidating, but Seungkwan felt as though it was piercing right through his soul and analysing every fibre of his being. Noticing Seungkwan’s hesitation, Wonwoo brought out a sample menu.

“If your friend wants something, may I recommend the Belgian Waffles? You can order it with a variety of toppings—”

“Oh no, sorry. He’ll order in a minute, he’s just trying to catch a Pokémon,” Seungkwan interrupted, smiling sheepishly while he tugged on Hansol’s sleeve to get his attention.

Wonwoo nodded and smiled ever so slightly. “Seems like everyone’s enjoying that game, huh.”

“It’s pretty addicting,” Seungkwan agreed. Hansol finally caught the Pokémon and proceeded to order the same thing that Seungkwan chose. They nodded politely at Wonwoo and sat down at the only free table in the establishment.

“Alright, I think after this we should head to No F.U.N, as well as a clothes’ shop called Simple. Cheol texted me saying he found really good Pokémon around there,” Hansol said.

Wonwoo brought them their food moments later, and the two boys wolfed it down gratefully. They sat for a while using the café’s free WiFi to catch more. Upon finishing and preparing to leave, they were stopped at the door by a deep voice calling out to them.

“Wait, you guys! I just remembered. You’re here to catch Pokémon, aren’t you?” Wonwoo asked as they were walking out of the café.

“Yeah, we are,” Hansol said, surprised.

“I’ve seen lots of people playing it... Have you tried ’20 Books’ yet? That bookstore on the second floor. I was there a while ago and I saw lots of people huddled there on their phones,” Wonwoo said.

“Wow, thanks for the tip, Wonwoo. We’ll check it out,” Seungkwan smiled. He was beginning to think that Wonwoo wasn’t as scary and taciturn as he initially thought.

Wonwoo seemed confused as to how Seungkwan knew his name, so before he could say anything, Hansol hurriedly said, “This is Seungkwan, and I’m Hansol. We’ve seen you around Apartment Block 17 because we live there too.”

“Oh, right. It’s a pleasure to meet you guys,” he smiled slightly. “Good luck with your Pokémon hunting.”

“Pokémon?” another voice piped up from somewhere behind Wonwoo. Wonwoo turned around, his face lighting up in recognition as another university-aged boy made his way over from where he was seated at a nearby table.

The boy had luscious, long, dyed auburn hair and circular glasses that fit snugly around his face. If not for his broad shoulders and stout build, he could’ve easily been mistaken for a girl with his gorgeous locks and delicate features. Seungkwan immediately recognised him as Yoon Jeonghan, a junior at Pledis University. He was well known across the area for his appearance, as well as his amazing talent for painting among other art forms.

“Oh, Jeonghan! I was so busy I didn’t notice you had come in,” Wonwoo said. It seemed like he knew Jeonghan pretty well, judging by how comfortably he spoke.

“You know I’d never miss a meal here, Wonwoo,” the boy, Jeonghan, said. “Anyway, I heard you guys talking about that new Pokémon game...”

Wonwoo groaned. “Don’t tell me you’re playing it too, Jeonghan? Of all people...”

“Nah, I’m not. But my boyfriend who works at Love Letter told me that tons of people have been surrounding the place because there was some rare Pokémon there,” Jeonghan said.

“Wait, you have a boyfriend?” Wonwoo asked, clearly surprised.

“Oh, have I never mentioned? His name is Jisoo,” Jeonghan said with a smile.

Wonwoo blinked. “Oh. Nice. I’d love to meet him sometime.”

“He doesn’t usually follow me here, since he knows it’s where I go to brainstorm in peace. But I’ll bring him along one day,” Jeonghan said.

“Oh, your boyfriend, did he tell you about the Pokémon recently?” Hansol asked. He didn’t particularly want to interrupt their conversation, but curiosity overtook him.

“Yeah, he texted me just now. You two should go soon! If you meet a guy called Jisoo, tell him I sent you. Oh, I’m Jeonghan, by the way!” Jeonghan said.

“Thanks for telling us,” Hansol said. “I’m Hansol. Nice to meet you, Jeonghan.”

“I’m Seungkwan,” Seungkwan added in.

Jeonghan’s expression changed at the two boys’ introductions... was it surprise? “Wait, Hansol and Seungkwan? You two seem really familiar,” he squinted as he looked closer at the two boys.

“No way!” Jeonghan suddenly exclaimed, causing the three others to flinch in surprise. “You guys have a Youtube channel, right?” Seungkwan and Hansol both nodded, while Wonwoo just looked confused.

“Wonwoo, what are you doing? We have customers who need to be served over here!” an angry voice yelled from the counter’s direction.

“Sorry, gotta go. Nice meeting you two, I guess. See you around, Jeonghan,” Wonwoo muttered, scurrying back to the counter.

“Oh, bye Wonwoo!” Jeonghan turned back to the two boys, who were still startled that they were recognised. “I’m actually on a break right now, and I need to go back to work anyway. But yeah, Jisoo and I have watched lots of your videos!” Jeonghan said excitedly. “I feel so bad that I didn’t recognise you two right away.”

Seungkwan smiled at Jeonghan’s excited words. He’d always pegged Jeonghan to be the cool and calm type, like most artists seemed to be.

“That’s so cool! I’m glad you like our videos,” Hansol grinned.

“They’re great! I love your vocals especially. You two really look good together,” Jeonghan said. Though he seemed to mean it in a good-natured way, Seungkwan couldn’t help but feel slightly flustered. It definitely wasn’t the first time someone had told them that.

“Anyway, it was really cool meeting you! I gotta go before my boss hunts me down,” Jeonghan sighed. “Feel free to visit me anytime though. I work over at the Pretty U Beauty Salon.”

“Oh, are you a make-up artist? Hairstylist?” Hansol asked with curiosity.

“Make-up. It’s only part time, but it’s really fun. Sometimes we even get invited to music shows to do make-up for idols,” Jeonghan said.

“Wow, then we’ll be sure to stop by sometime,” Hansol smiled.

After saying goodbye to Jeonghan, they decided to head over to Love Letter, the store which he had recommended.

“Jihoon...” Soonyoung groaned. It was mid-afternoon and he still felt like an elephant was sitting on his head.

Jihoon poked his head into Soonyoung’s room. The curtains were drawn tightly and the lights were off, so Jihoon could only make out a vague human-shaped figure bundled up in bed. “You’re finally awake?”

“Everything hurts,” Soonyoung croaked.

Jihoon sighed and turned on the light. Soonyoung flinched and buried his face underneath his thin blanket. “Didn’t I tell you not to stay out so late? This is what you get for playing that goddamn Pokémon game.”

“I had to defend my honour, Jihoon,” Soonyoung mumbled, his voice muffled by the blanket.

Jihoon stalked over to the bed and ripped the blanket off Soonyoung. The boy looked terrible, body dripping in sweat and bloodshot eyes outlined by dark circles. For the past four days, Soonyoung had been out later and later, coming home at past midnight that morning. Jihoon was beyond worried, to the point where he just felt angry at Soonyoung for being so reckless.

“Did it ever occur to you that there are things more important than a stupid game? Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?” Jihoon said quietly, but harsher than he intended.

Soonyoung sat up groggily and tried his best to look Jihoon in the eye. He hadn’t seen the boy this angry in a long time. “I’m sorry, Jihoon. I swear I didn’t mean to make you worry like that. I guess I got carried away.”

“You guess?” Jihoon sighed in exasperation. “You know what, that’s it. Give me your phone.” He stuck out his hand authoritatively. Soonyoung was about to protest but Jihoon’s sharp glare shut his mouth.

Finding his phone hidden amongst various food wrappers inside his backpack, he placed it in Jihoon’s waiting hand.

“There goes all my honour,” Soonyoung laughed nervously. Jihoon pocketed the phone and threw the blanket back over Soonyoung.

“You’re not leaving this apartment today, you hear me? If you don’t rest, it’ll get worse,” Jihoon said sternly. “Luckily for you, it seems like it’s only a cold. It should get better if you stay here for the remainder of the day.”

“Thanks, mother,” Soonyoung said teasingly. Jihoon pulled a face at him. Then Soonyoung suddenly sneezed violently, covering his face with the blanket. Poor thing. Not really. He deserves this... Kind of.

Jihoon opened Soonyoung’s closet, pulled out some seemingly clean clothes and tossed them at him. “You should change into cleaner clothes. Maybe go wash your face or something.”

Soonyoung nodded obediently and dragged himself out of the comfort of his bed to go to the bathroom. Jihoon went back to the living room, feeling slightly better that Soonyoung wasn’t being too stubborn.

Jihoon glanced at the phone he had taken from Soonyoung. Turning it on, he saw that Soonyoung had some messages from Jisoo, another resident of Apartment Block 17 who they would sometimes play games with along with his boyfriend, Jeonghan.

josh 10m ago
hey hosh, you play that pokemon game right
i just got into work and there’s a gazillion people here
one of them was yelling ‘OH MY GOD IT’S A CHARIZARD’

josh 9m ago
so idk you may want to come here, just saying :)

Jihoon hated to admit that he felt a little betrayed seeing that Jisoo called Soonyoung ‘Hosh’, since he thought that he was the only one who knew about that nickname. Not to mention, Soonyoung had said he didn’t tell anyone except Jihoon that he was playing the game in the first place. ’Our little secret’, my ass.

Feeling bored and slightly curious, Jihoon swiped right and keyed in a random number for the passcode. He was surprised when the phone actually unlocked. The password had been Jihoon’s birthday - 1122.

He laughed when he remembered that he had told Soonyoung to set his passcode to something he could easily remember. “What am I meant to do with this idiot,” Jihoon muttered to himself.

Upon arriving at Love Letter, Hansol noticed that indeed, the area was much more crowded than normal. A long, haphazard line seemed to be overflowing outside the gift shop.

“Wow, this is really getting out of hand,” Hansol sighed.

“Hmm, I heard a classmate was having her birthday this week. Maybe I should get her a gift,” Seungkwan pondered.

“I guess we have to go in then,” Hansol said.

The store was bright and colourful, filled with all sorts of cute keychains and gifts. The display window on the right was piled to the ceiling with shelves full of meticulously arranged flowers ranging in size and colour.

A boy in his early 20’s was standing at the door, wearing an apron with ‘Love Letter’ printed across it in an ornate font. He had fluffy brown hair and distinct almond-shaped eyes. He wore a kind smile and had a cross-shaped piercing in his upper left ear. Looking closer, Hansol saw a name-tag pinned to the top of his apron, but he moved before Hansol could read it.

“Welcome to Love Letter! Please understand that we’ll expect you to buy something if you’re here to catch that Pokémon,” the boy told Hansol and Seungkwan.

“Ah, okay,” Hansol began sheepishly. “We need to buy a gift for a classmate, so it works out anyway.” The boy nodded.

“Oh, you’re Jisoo! Jeonghan’s boyfriend,” Seungkwan said, noticing his name-tag, as well as having recognised him from around the apartment block. Hansol glanced at his now still name-tag, and saw that it indeed read ‘Jisoo’. Hansol didn’t really peg Jisoo as Jeonghan’s type for some reason, yet it somehow made sense at the same time.

Noticing Jisoo furrow his eyebrows in confusion, Hansol quickly interrupted. “We met Jeonghan just now! He told us to come here,” he explained hurriedly.

“Oh, right,” Jisoo nodded. “Well, if you’re buying something, then go on in. I have to move the line along, but I’ll talk to you later,” he said with a warm smile.

Hansol nodded and followed Seungkwan into the crowded store. Their phones vibrated as they neared the Charizard, and after much difficulty, managed to catch it before it ran away. They spent the next ten minutes deciding on a gift for their classmate. Hansol had no idea who it was, but Seungkwan insisted a box of chocolates would do.

“Everyone likes chocolate,” Seungkwan reasoned, though it wasn’t true, as Hansol knew a guy who absolutely hated it for unknown reasons. As they proceeded to pay at the counter, they noticed that Jisoo was their cashier.

“Did you rotate jobs?” Hansol asked as he handed Jisoo the chocolate.

“Yeah, I’m grateful. It’s a riot out there,” Jisoo sighed.

“Oh, I’m Hansol, by the way. I don’t think I introduced myself just now. And this is Seungkwan,” Hansol pulled Seungkwan’s arm, as the latter was distracted by the 3D bookmarks in a shelf near the counter.

“Wait, Hansol and Seungkwan? No way!” Jisoo’s eyes widened in a similar manner to Jeonghan’s when he recognised them.

“Oh yeah, Jeonghan told us that you both watch our videos!” Hansol said.

“Yeah, we do! We haven’t been able to lately, since we’ve been busy, but I’ve watched them since the beginning,” Jisoo said as he scanned and bagged the chocolate. “I grew up in Los Angeles with a Korean family, though I didn’t know that much about Korea itself until I came here a few years back and experienced the culture myself. That was when I found your channel, and I’ve been watching ever since.”

Hansol cringed when he remembered the first videos he had made with Seungkwan - back in their first year of high school, when they were so much younger and so much dumber. Though he wanted to delete all history of his 15-year-old self, Seungkwan refused to let him, saying it was important to embrace their previous mistakes and embarrassments.

Hansol mentioned he was from New York, which prompted them to start conversing in English (with Seungkwan desperately trying to follow with his limited knowledge). After noticing the glares from both the customers behind them in the line and Jisoo’s coworker on the other register, they bid Jisoo goodbye, with promises they would return some other time when the shop wasn’t so busy.

“So, what were you two talking about?” Seungkwan asked as they made their way outside and back into the mall itself. He had tried for a nonchalant tone, but it had come out rather interrogatively.

“Just about American life versus Korean life. He’s so cool! I’m glad I got to meet another English speaker,” Hansol said happily. “I feel like my English has become a little rusty lately.”

“Hmm, that’s great,” Seungkwan mumbled.

“Sorry, Seungkwan, I promise I’ll teach you more English so you can practise with us!” Hansol said, slinging his arm around the latter, who looked a little sulky.

“What are you talking about? My English is the best quality,” Seungkwan huffed in his heavily accented English. Hansol laughed loudly, attracting curious stares from surrounding shoppers.

“Looks like I’ve got some work to do...” Hansol said in between laughs, earning a light shove from Seungkwan.

The riot surrounding Love Letter finally died down about 15 minutes later when the Charizard finally disappeared from the radar.

Finishing off the rest of his shift in peace, Jisoo was finally let off hours later around 8:10PM after helping to clean up part of the mess the earlier crowd had made. He texted Jeonghan that he was about to go home.

me
> Finally got to leave work!
> I can’t wait to get home
> Did you cook or do I have to buy takeout?

hannie ♥
> of course i cooked, jisoo
> who do you take me for

me
> yOU DID? omg I love you
> I didn’t want to have to buy dodgy chinese takeout again
> It may be cheap but my stomach doesn’t agree. Especially after last time

hannie ♥
> awww don’t worry you know i got you! :))
> i was just lazy last time
> sorry
> but i know how tough work was for you today because of that pokemon

me
> Yeah, you have no clue!!
> BUT
> I MET BOONON! THEY SAID THEY MET YOU TOO

hannie ♥
> OH YEAH I KNOW RIGHT
> I DIDN’T RECOGNISE THEM RIGHT AWAY I FELT SO GUILTY

me
> HAHA SAME HERE
> i feel so accomplished
> i never knew hansol was from america as well?
> I talked in English with Hansol, wow it was cool

hannie ♥
> damn, did you find an english buddy then?
> what about me :(

me
> As much as I love you and your amazing English, it was good talking to a native speaker :-)
> Well, somewhat native. He seemed a bit hesitant still

hannie ♥
> looks like i need to study english harder then...
> so you will notice me too :(

me
> Noo you don’t have to, I won’t neglect you why would I do that
> You’re doing that pouty thing aren’t you
> Yoon Jeonghan
> I moved thousands of miles to be here
> I’m not going to forget you just because I met some American dongsaeng

hannie ♥
> lol i know i just wanted to hear you say it ;)

me
> I hate you

hannie ♥
> [English] Love you too, Josh :^)

Jisoo smiled as he pocketed his phone in order to cross the road back to Apartment Block 17. Upon reaching the other side, he saw the landlord’s son, Seungcheol, racing down the front steps hurriedly with a grin plastered on his face.

Nearly colliding with a surprised Jisoo, Seungcheol grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him lightly. “Jisoo, right? Guess what?!”

“W-what?” Jisoo asked confusedly.

“I think I found a Mewtwo!” he said, grin growing bigger by the second. Letting Jisoo go, Seungcheol proceeded to race around the apartment block, presumably towards the back parking lot.

“What?” a loud yell sounded from the opposite direction. Jisoo turned to see two boys, both with short brown hair, one taller than the other, racing towards him at an alarming speed.

“Did- Seungch- just say- Mewtwo?” the taller one huffed in excitement.

“Yeah?” Jisoo answered uncertainly. He had no idea what was going on. Was it another rare Pokémon or something? “He went off towards the back parking lot,” Jisoo continued, pointing in the direction Seungcheol had gone.

“Thanks, hyung!” the shorter boy smiled and the two took off at a speed that rivalled Seungcheol’s. Jisoo shook his head and told himself to ignore what just happened; weirdness like this was to be expected in Apartment Block 17. However, he was stopped once more before he could even reach the front steps of the building.

“Jisoo-hyung!” a familiar voice called. Jisoo turned to see Hansol and Seungkwan jogging across the road towards him. Though they both looked physically exhausted, their eyes were still gleaming with excitement. “Do you live here too? I never knew.”

“Oh, you two live in Apartment Block 17? Wow, I can’t believe I’ve never seen you around until now,” Jisoo said incredulously. He had been watching their Youtube videos the entire time - how could he have not realised that they lived in the same building?

“Yeah! We should hang out sometime,” Hansol suggested. Jisoo didn’t know if it was the dark, or his tired eyes, but he swore that he saw Seungkwan huff ever so slightly.

“I’m really tired now, but come by Love Letter some other time and we’ll talk. Oh, but before I go, I should probably let you know that there’s a possibility there’s another rare Pokémon in the back parking lot—”

“Which one?” Seungkwan perked up.

“Um... Seungcheol said it was a... Mewtwo?” Jisoo guessed.

“No way! The legendary one?! Thanks, hyung!” Hansol yelped and ran off towards the parking lot, followed by Seungkwan, who nodded respectfully and excitedly before leaving.

Some other people walking past the building began whispering frantically as they caught the word ‘Mewtwo’. Several began taking out their phones, and upon seeing something jaw-droppingly amazing, began to walk hurriedly towards Apartment Block 17.

Jisoo figured it wouldn’t be long before word spread, so before he could be interrupted anymore, he rushed into the apartment building.

“Hey, Mingyu, it looks like I’m going to be a little late,” Wonwoo sighed into his phone.

“Oh, how come? Were you held back at work?” Mingyu asked.

“No, uh...”

“What’s that yelling in the background? Where are you?” Mingyu asked bemusedly.

“I’ll explain later. Basically, you can go ahead and eat without me,” Wonwoo said hurriedly before hanging up. He turned to Minghao, and to his relief, he was still next to him, straining to see over the heads of the crowd of strangers lining up the fence that surrounded the back parking lot of Apartment Block 17.

Wonwoo had finally finished his shift at Jam Jam and was walking back to the building with Minghao, who had visited the café to get a coffee (definitely not to see Junhui, who was also working his shift at the time). But with his luck, Wonwoo found himself being pushed along a crowd of people who were heading towards the back parking lot.

He could only distinguish a few words that were being thrown back and forth; ‘Mewtwo’, ‘legendary’, ‘have to catch it’. Wonwoo was seriously about to lose his mind if it was about that Pokémon game again.

If he had it his way, he would’ve escaped the crowd long ago and returned to comfort of his apartment, where Mingyu would be waiting with a hot bowl of something delicious. His cooking skill was definitely one of the pros Wonwoo saw in choosing him as a roommate, though he wasn’t sure if the pros in Kim Mingyu entirely outweighed the cons. But that wasn’t the problem at the moment.

Minghao had drifted toward the crowd naturally as if he possessed some psychic ability to sense whenever a Pokémon was nearby. Or at least be able to tell the difference between a crowd of Pokémon hunters and a crowd of rowdy protestors (Wonwoo saw no difference). He forced himself to go along with Minghao because if something happened to him, not only would he be worried, but Junhui would certainly not let him see daylight again.

The fence to the parking lot seemed to be locked, denying entry to the frenzied crowd and forcing them to clog up the pathway and front doors of the apartment block.

“Why’s the door locked? How come that guy is the only one in there?” an angry mobber demanded to know.

Wonwoo and Minghao, having a slight height advantage over everyone else, managed to peek over and see a familiar figure huddled at the far end of the parking lot, the brightness of his phone screen illuminating his face.

“Seungcheol?” Wonwoo frowned. Though Wonwoo didn’t know Seungcheol all that well, he knew that the boy was definitely capable of some crazy things. Aside from the stories he’d heard, Wonwoo had seen Seungcheol to be a rather caring and responsible individual - that was when he wasn’t in his competitive and reckless mode. Right now, seeing the boy furiously swiping and tapping his phone in the middle of an empty parking lot, fences surrounded by dozens of angry strangers... Seungcheol was undoubtedly in his reckless mode.

The angry mutters of the crowd were abruptly silenced in an instant as a loud scream pierced through the night.

“No! Of all times...” Seungcheol kicked the ground in frustration. He sat down on the gravel in defeat. The crowd resumed its chatter, twice as loud as before.

“Did he catch it?!”

“What happened?”

“Is this actually legit?”

“I swear I saw it pop up on his screen for a moment!”

“Hey, landlord boy! Unlock the fence already!”

“Guys, the server just crashed.”

The crowd hushed and turned to the person who had uttered the last statement - it was Seokmin, much to Wonwoo’s surprise. He was standing very close to the fence with his younger brother, Chan. Amongst the crowd, Wonwoo also spotted the two boys he had met earlier that day, Seungkwan and Hansol.

Everyone reloaded the game on their phones and saw that indeed, the server had crashed and they weren’t able to log in. Seungcheol trudged over to the fence, which he unlocked with his keys, seemingly oblivious to the multiple pairs of eyes on him.

Wonwoo laughed silently, despite the heavily gloomy aura that was surrounding the area. He couldn’t believe Seungcheol went to the lengths of locking himself in the parking lot just so no one else could catch a Pokémon.

The crowd parted slightly to let Seungcheol through. On his way out, he noticed Wonwoo, and gave him a dispirited nod. Wonwoo patted him on the back.

Everyone began to disperse as their attempts to re-log back into the game proved to be futile. Seokmin smiled slightly upon noticing Wonwoo and Minghao, but looked thoroughly exhausted and was half-relying on Chan to guide him back into the apartment block.

“Ah, that’s a shame. Mewtwo hasn’t been spotted anywhere before, and the server just had to crash now, of all times,” Minghao sighed. “But at least I got to take a screenshot of it’s silhouette! I have to text Jun about this.”

“So now that that’s over... can we go home?” Wonwoo yawned and stretched his arms out. He pulled Minghao’s arm and guided him up the steps and through the front door as he busily tapped out messages to Junhui. I hope Mingyu didn’t actually start eating without me.

“Oh, you’re awake. About time,” Jihoon turned to greet the boy from his comfortable spot on the living room couch. He had been aimlessly watching the morning news, as he usually did when he actually managed to wake up that early.

“Good morning,” Soonyoung yawned. “Man, I feel so much better! You were right, resting really did help.”

Flopping onto the couch, he rested his head in Jihoon’s lap, grinning mischievously up at him. Usually, Jihoon would have uttered some profanities and shoved Soonyoung off his lap, but today, he seemed rather... happy. Which was weird, considering it was 9AM on a Wednesday morning.

“Are you alright? Don’t tell me I gave you the flu,” Soonyoung furrowed his eyebrows.

Seemingly unable to hold his excitement anymore, Jihoon said, “Have you heard the news?”

“I just woke up, so no,” Soonyoung said carefully.

“Oh, well. I think you’ll find it quite interesting,” Jihoon’s smile grew wider. But it wasn’t the shy, bashful, honest smile that Soonyoung loved seeing. It resembled more of a Cheshire-Cat-grin, and it was terrifying.

“You’re scaring me, Woozi,” Soonyoung drawled out the nickname that he hadn’t used in quite a while; these days, he tended to use ‘Jihoon’ more often. Jihoon didn’t seem to care either way. “Oh, by the way, can I have my phone back? Since I’m feeling better, I wanna go out and retake the Gyms I’ve probably lost.”

“Sure,” Jihoon’s grin turned into a smirk as he handed Soonyoung his phone back. “Though I’m not sure you’ll have to worry about your Gyms anymore.”

Feeling incredibly suspicious, he unlocked it and immediately opened up the Pokémon Go app. Nothing seemed to be out of place. “What’s wrong with you this morning, Jihoon? Did you pull an all-nighter again? Did I cough non-stop in my sleep? Did SHINee break up?” he asked worriedly. Soonyoung knew that Jihoon wasn’t the biggest fan of boybands in general, and he was constantly teased by the latter for buying their albums and dancing along to their music. Nevertheless, Jihoon accepted it, but that didn’t mean a boyband breakup would make Jihoon feel any sympathy for the wreck Soonyoung would be in. Soonyoung didn’t believe that Jihoon would be that mean though.

“So... last night. You were sleeping,” Jihoon began, his voice dancing with a playful tone. Soonyoung narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “I went out to buy more cough syrup, remember?”

Soonyoung vaguely remembered being fed something that was gooey and artificially strawberry-flavoured late last night. Or was it early this morning?

“I saw a huge commotion outside our building. Turns out, a certain-”

“-legendary Pokémon finally appeared, in none other than Seoul!” the chirpy voice of the news presenter on the television interrupted Jihoon and caught Soonyoung’s attention.

“Last night, around 8:15PM outside an apartment block near the Han River, reports were posted all over social media claiming that the elusive Mewtwo had spawned in the building’s back parking lot.” Soonyoung’s heart jumped.

“Many witnesses claimed that before they were able to catch it, the server had unfortunately crashed. But one user by the name of ‘hoshi’ seemed to have been victorious in capturing the legendary Pokémon before the server bombed out. The user had posted screenshots of the captured Mewtwo a few hours after its reported sighting. Netizens are debating the authenticity of the screenshots, though many have agreed that they seem to be legitimate. Will Mewtwo spawn again anywhere else? Or was this just a one-off slip from the app developers? Follow us on—”

Soonyoung grabbed the remote and switched off the television. Hands shaking, he clicked on his Pokémon menu to bring up the list of all the Pokémon he had captured. It was sorted so that the most recently captured one was in the top left. Soonyoung felt his head pounding again when he saw what Pokémon held the top left spot.

“What the f—”

“So now that you’ve captured Mewtwo,” Jihoon interrupted, grinning like mad once again, “You’ll stop playing Pokémon Go for good, right?”

“But how—”

“No buts! You promised me!” Jihoon asserted.

“I know, but how did you—”

“Seungcheol locked the fence so no one could get in, but I went all the way around and climbed a tree so I could catch it, alright!” Jihoon sighed.

Soonyoung blinked. “But how did you know my passcode?”

“Don’t use your roommate’s birthday as your passcode, you idiot,” Jihoon laughed and smacked the back of Soonyoung’s head.

“Oh... But it helps me remember it, so it’s essentially a win-win situation,” Soonyoung chuckled. “But wow, Jihoon. I can’t believe you’d do all of that just to get me to stop playing...”

Jihoon yawned and stretched. “Yeah, I guess. No big deal, really.” If he was trying to sound like he didn’t care, it wasn’t working. His happiness (or was it pride?) was too evident.

“Whatever you say. I’ll admit my defeat to you this time,” Soonyoung grinned. Fulfilling his promise, he unlocked his phone again and deleted the Pokémon Go app after a few moments of hesitation. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

Chapter Text

“Hey Chan, aren’t you going to eat breakfast?” Seokmin poked his head through the door of his younger brother’s room. Chan had his laptop open in front of him, his head buried in his arms in a look of utter defeat. “What’s wrong?”

Seeing that his brother wasn’t going to move anytime soon, Seokmin walked over and peeked at his laptop screen. It displayed an official looking email from Pledis Performing Arts High School, along with a bunch of intimidating looking numbers and red text.

“They just mailed us our exam results from last semester,” Chan mumbled through the cover of his arms, “I did well in most of my subjects, like I thought I would’ve... but I failed maths.”

Seokmin pulled a face of sympathy and patted his brother soothingly. He definitely understood how it felt to fail a test you studied so hard for. Seokmin reasoned that it must’ve been the countless hours into the morning studying that overworked him a little too much.

Chan lifted his head up and looked at Seokmin. His eyes were sunken with tiredness and stress. “Should I get a tutor?”

“I can ask around, if you want. I would try tutor you myself, but we both know I’m not the best at maths,” Seokmin laughed sheepishly.

“Yeah, I’ll look around as well. I just really want to keep my grades up,” Chan sighed. “Oh, and do you mind not telling mum and dad about this?”

Seokmin knew that news of a failed exam wouldn’t sit well with their parents. It had taken much begging and assurance they would keep up with their education to convince their parents to let them move to Seoul. Seokmin had also been trying his best to keep up with schoolwork and idol training, since he wanted to be a good role model for his younger brother. But it seemed like the stress from the previous semester was finally catching up with both of them.

“Of course I won’t. I know you’ll get those grades back up in no time! It’s just one exam, anyway,” Seokmin said encouragingly. If anyone was diligent enough to pull through this, it was Chan. “No use moping around. Go eat breakfast.”

Dragging Chan from his desk and into the living room, Seokmin plopped down a bowl of hot porridge in front of him. They both ate in silence, while Seokmin scrolled through the daily news on his phone.

Mewtwo makes its second appearance in New York; a stampede of desperate PokéHunters disrupts traffic in order to capture the legendary Pokémon

Ever since the Mewtwo fiasco a few days ago, Seokmin and Chan had lost the will to play the game as obsessively as they did. They had occasionally opened the app during training breaks, but otherwise, they had relapsed into their usual routine of eat, sleep, train, repeat. Seokmin continued scrolling, eyes catching another recent news article.

Popular arcade chain “MANSAE” opens up a new branch in the Shining Diamond Mall

“Hey, a new arcade just opened up at the mall!” Seokmin said excitedly. Chan raised an eyebrow. “It’s called ‘Mansae’. Sounds pretty cool! I haven’t been to an arcade in years. Since we don’t have training today, wanna go check it out?”

“I don’t really feel like going out,” Chan said dejectedly, “Maybe next week. You should go and check it out though. Tell me how it is!”

Seokmin knew that Chan was pretty stubborn sometimes and preferred to be left alone to figure things out himself. “Alright, then. Call me if you need anything. I’ll be back to cook dinner.”

“Cool. Thanks, hyung,” Chan collected up the dishes and proceeded to wash them in the kitchenette. Seokmin grabbed his bag and left the apartment.

Upon reaching the lobby, Seokmin saw Junhui and Minghao walking in at the same time. They were both carrying bags overflowing with groceries. “Hey, guys!” Seokmin waved.

“Oh, hey Seokmin!” Junhui smiled, waving the hand holding the grocery bag, as the other was holding Minghao’s hand. “We were just going to call and ask if you wanted to come over today and play something.”

“Oh, I’m actually heading out to the new arcade that apparently opened at the mall,” Seokmin said. “Wanna come?”

“There’s a new arcade?” Minghao asked.

“Yeah! It’s called ‘Mansae’. I read about it in the news just now, so I thought I’d check it out since I have nothing better to do anyway.”

“Oh, we’ll pass. Minghao wanted to have a chill day today,” Junhui said.

“Aw, alright. You better come with me next time, though!” Seokmin said. Waving goodbye to them, Seokmin exited the apartment block and crossed the road to the Shining Diamond Mall.

After dumping their newly bought groceries in the fridge and pantry, Minghao collapsed onto the living room couch next to Junhui, who had begun to surf through channels on the television in search of something worth watching.

“What do you want to do today?” Junhui leant his head on Minghao’s shoulder, stopping on a channel that was playing reruns of ‘Running Man’.

“Just stay like this, I guess. Maybe put on a chick flick we can cringe over,” Minghao suggested.

Just as Junhui was about to sift through his extensive collection of chick flicks - which he kept in a neat stack next to their bookshelf, despite insisting that he didn’t care about them that much - his phone started ringing with the ringtone he had set for Wonwoo. He rejected the call. It was probably Wonwoo wanting to complain about Mingyu again.

“Hmm, it’s my turn to pick a movie anyway,” Junhui smiled, having decided on the cringefest they would watch that day.

Pulling himself from Minghao’s warmth on the couch, he squatted, knees cracking, and carefully pulled out one of his favourite American romcoms from the precarious stack of DVDs; She’s the Man.

Minghao started laughing as Junhui turned the DVD player on and inserted the movie. Wonwoo had just texted him, after Junhui had rudely rejected his call.

swagwoo now
Minghao!! Your boyfriend rejected my call... rude.
I know he’s sick of my rants but this is what friends are for.

After some grumbling from Junhui, Minghao replied.

me
> jun says he doesn’t care if mingyu started eating without you that one night
> “get over it and stop being so fucking salty” is what he said
> he doenst appreciate you making him into into ur advice friend
> because advice friends are always the second leads in chick flicks who dont get good endings or something
> idk i dont understand his mumbling

swagwoo
> Are you implying that my life is a chick flick
> No.
> It’s not about that one time he started eating without me, I promise. Turns out he saved me some food anyway
> Maybe if Jun didn’t hang up on me, he would know that! :(
> Also.. I’m not... salty? Whatever that means??

swagwoo is calling…

Junhui had sat back next to Minghao and was reading the text messages along with him. Ignoring his protests, Minghao accepted the call from Wonwoo and turned the phone onto speaker. “Hello!”

“Thanks, Minghao,” came Wonwoo’s voice from the other end of the line.

“Rant to Seokmin,” Junhui muttered, “If this continues, I expect some compensation for my time. And Minghao’s, too.”

“You know you love me, Jun,” Wonwoo said playfully, “Please. I just need someone to talk to.”

“Talk to Mingyu, then?” Minghao suggested sarcastically.

Wonwoo sighed. “He’s asleep, anyway. You know what? He asked me to wake him up at 8AM for some drama rerun.”

“It’s already 10:30, though,” Junhui said.

“Exactly. I tried shaking him awake but he told me to go away in his half-asleep state, so I just left. He hasn’t woken up yet. It’s like this everyday! His sleeping habits are worse than Jun.”

“Not everyone is happy to be awake at 8AM, Wonwoo. Even for a drama rerun,” Minghao pointed out.

Wonwoo went on about how often Mingyu sneezed - “You won’t believe how many tissue boxes I’ve had to buy...” - as well as how often he pestered Wonwoo to help him out with studying, acting, even asking how to use the public washing machines in the lobby of the apartment block. Mingyu was also constantly approached by girls wherever he went; Wonwoo claimed he was annoyed by that because Mingyu would complain about it, but Junhui thought that there was much more under the surface.

“Dude, you’re the one who chose him as a roommate,” Junhui sighed. The line went silent.

“Well, I’ve told him to ask you for acting practice but he doesn’t want to bother you. He’d rather bother me, but not you?” Wonwoo continued, ignoring what Junhui said.

“Is there nothing good about Mingyu?” Minghao switched topic.

“Well, he can cook well. And he managed to fix the wonky kitchen cupboard door that’s been bugging me for months,” Wonwoo said thoughtfully. “But he’s so clumsy. I don’t understand him. He keeps stealing my clothes. His choice of shampoo is really weird - he buys old people shampoo, and it smells like rotten grass. He laughs so loudly and he even snores—”

“You know, Wonwoo...” Junhui cut him off, rubbing his temples. “I don’t think I’ve heard you talk this much before. Ever. Not even when you’re talking about your favourite books.”

Wonwoo paused before continuing. “He just drives me insane,” he sighed, “I never thought I’d find someone this annoying. Knowing you and Seokmin, that’s saying something.”

Junhui faked a gasp. “Firstly, I’m offended,” he began, applying a sickening parental tone to his voice, “Secondly, I’m pretty sure that anyone listening to you right now would agree that you probably like him very much.”

“Were you listening to anything I was saying, Jun? He’s a-nnoy-ing.”

“I’m saying this as a friend, Wonwoo, but you’re so stupid,” Junhui said bluntly, earning a chuckle from Minghao. “You complain about him, yet you have never said that you wish he wasn’t your roommate. It’s your first time living with someone else, so try to at least get used to it.”

“Well I guess, but—” Wonwoo was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. He swore under his breath. “Never mind. He’s awake. I’ll talk to you later.” The call ended, followed by silence throughout Junhui and Minghao’s apartment.

“Right. Okay,” Minghao broke the quietness tentatively.

“I would try to help those two, but I feel like they’ll figure it out eventually,” Junhui sighed. “Did I tell you that Mingyu asked me for advice the other day?”

“Advice?” Minghao questioned curiously. Junhui pulled open his conversation with Mingyu and showed Minghao.

mingu the chingu
> hey, junhui
> um... this is kind of awkward but, I need some advice

me
> Oh sure, what about?

mingu the chingu
> it’s about wonwoo. since you’re like, his best friend... I figured you’d be the best person to ask
> is wonwoo always this... quiet? seokmin told me that wonwoo doesn’t like loud people
> does he hate me? or is he always this cold

me
> Nah, it’s not you, its him. It took me ages to get him to open up to me
> I guess he felt sympathetic for me since i was chinese and i had no idea what i was doing at the time
> But trust me, once he opens up to you, he’s incredibly talkative and adorable

mingu the chingu
> wonwoo, adorable? man, i’d love to see that
> i mean… in a platonic way ...pla-to-nic >.<
> it’d be a change from the emotionless look he gives me all the time

me
> The only advice i can really give you is to keep talking to him. He’ll break eventually
> i mean thats what i did and it worked eyyy

mingu the chingu
> alright, i hope so
> but i guess it has been getting better? he talks to me more often now and his face has upgraded from a frown into a poker face
> he gets mad at me sometimes for random things though. like when he saw me eating dinner earlier this week...
> he told me he’d be late home, and he said i could go ahead and eat without him. so i did, but he got back a bit later and was all like “you actually started eating without me???”
> but when i gave him his share of dinner he was all fine lmao
> is food the key to jeon wonwoo’s heart????

me
> That, and books
> Buy him books or something
> Oh wait no, i mean read the books he reads so you can talk about it

mingu the chingu
> oh good idea!!!!
> i’m not that good at reading though >.< but i’ll try :D

me
> Wonwoo isn’t... the best at expressing himself
> He’s hella awkward, basically. He may come off as cold, but he’s really caring inside
> Took me months to figure that out but yeah. He’ll open up to you eventually :)

mingu the chingu
> thanks hyung!!!
> i hope so. i wanna get to know wonwoo more ^_^
> oh yeah, about the play auditions you keep talking about

Minghao gave Junhui his phone back since the conversation turned irrelevant.

“Wow, I never knew you could be such a nice and caring hyung,” Minghao teased. “You sound like you actually want the best for Mingyu and Wonwoo.”

“Well, it would be good to see a less grumpy Wonwoo every now and then. I feel like Mingyu could really be good for him,” Junhui said. “You hear how passionate Wonwoo gets in his rants about Mingyu. Ever since that boy moved here, I’ve seen so many different sides of Wonwoo already. It’s refreshing.”

“Hmm, but I feel like I want things to speed up,” Minghao said. “Why don’t you tell Mingyu to take Wonwoo to that new arcade Seokmin mentioned?”

“Oh, good idea!” Junhui grinned and high-fived Minghao. He pulled out his phone again and texted Mingyu.

me
> Yo mingyu
> Have you heard about that new arcade in the shining diamond mall?
> You should totally take wonwoo there! Let him have some fun ;)

mingu the chingu
> ARCADE ???? IVE ALWAYS WANTED TO GO TO ONE :O
> good idea! :DD thanks hyung!!!

mingu the chingu
> wonwoo actually agreed omg. wish me luck!! :D
> hopefully i can get him to acknowlegde me as a friend today
> are you and minghao going aswell?

me
> Nah, we’re gonna be chilling at home
> So go have fun with wonu
> Good luck bro ;))

“Oh hey, Jeonghan,” Seungcheol greeted as he opened the door. Jeonghan was standing in the hallway carrying a medium-sized painting, its canvas backing facing Seungcheol. “Is that for August?”

“Yep. Hope you like it,” Jeonghan grinned and turned the painting to face Seungcheol. It was painted using oil paints and was heavily textured. The subject of the artwork suddenly made Seungcheol feel hungry; it was a plate of sushi and egg rolls.

“Why did you decide to paint this?” Seungcheol questioned. “It’s gonna make me hungry every time I look at it.”

“Jisoo did a hilarious impression of an egg roll the other day,” Jeonghan explained nonchalantly.

“That’s... you know what, I won’t ask.” Seungcheol never really understood things that happened between Jeonghan and Jisoo. Though they both seem quite normal individually, it’s a different story when they’re together.

“Thanks for the painting. I’ll probably put it up in the lobby.” Though he’d sold quite a few of Jeonghan’s paintings already for the money, Seungcheol didn’t have the heart to not keep at least a few. Jeonghan’s paintings brought a unique colour to the building and separated it from the other identically built apartment blocks surrounding them.

As soon as he bid Jeonghan goodbye, he saw Hansol and Seungkwan sauntering up the hallway towards his apartment. “Yo, Cheol!” Seungkwan hollered in his trademark English.

“Hey! Haven’t seen you guys for a few days,” Seungcheol greeted.

Seungcheol hadn’t seen them since the whole Pokémon Go thing happened - he himself had gotten bored of it after ‘hoshi’ proved to be unbeatable. As a result, both Hansol and Seungkwan also lost interest in playing, almost like they were baby ducklings following mother duck Seungcheol.

Seungcheol didn’t know who ‘hoshi’ was, but he both hated and admired the guy. He’d heard from others that as soon as ‘hoshi’ seemingly captured the Mewtwo, he disappeared from the radar. Not that Seungcheol really cared anymore; his obsessions tended to change quite randomly.

“Yeah, we wanted to let you cool off for a while,” Hansol said. “But we’re here to ask you if you wanna come to the new arcade that just opened up in the mall!” he continued in an upbeat tone.

“New arcade?” Seungcheol questioned.

“Yeah, we heard about it on the news this morning. It’s called ‘Mansae’!” Seungkwan said.

“Oh, well come in first. I still gotta eat breakfast. But yeah, I’d love to go! Haven’t been to an arcade in ages,” Seungcheol said excitedly. These two really knew how to cheer him up.

The two followed Seungcheol into his apartment and sat down at his dining table while he pulled out some cereal and milk. “Hmm, should we invite some other people? The more the merrier,” Seungcheol wondered.

“If you want, I guess,” Seungkwan said. He and Hansol had both taken out their phones and begun scrolling through them - probably Instagram or something.

“I’ll invite Soonyoung because he seems like the arcade kind of person. Maybe Jihoon too. You know them, don’t you?” Seungcheol asked.

“I know Soonyoung,” Seungkwan said, “And I know Jihoon is his roommate. But I’ve never talked to him before.”

Hansol shook his head. “I’ve met Soonyoung a few times. But I don’t really know him. Or Jihoon.”

“Oh, I’m sure you guys will be great friends,” Seungcheol grinned. He opened up the group chat he had with Soonyoung and Jihoon to invite them.

me
> yo guys
> theres apparently a new arcade in shining diamond. wanna join?

soonold (Soonyoung)
> oM G NEW ARCADE ?!?AS?D
> i wanna goooooo
> but uh
> i was sick a while ago right
> and bc jihoons in the same apartment
> hes kinda ...sick.. now??

jibooty (Jihoon)
> This idiot gave me the flu and i feel like ass
> So sorry, cheol. Blame soonyoung

me
> oh damn okay, get well soon :o
> soonyoung stop making jihoon’s life so hard

soonold (Soonyoung)
> iM SORRY D:
> I DIDNT MEAN TO I SWEAR
> i would go but i shld probably stay and make sure jihoon doesnt die

jibooty (Jihoon)
> Damn right you’re not leaving me here alone
> Oh by the way, can you get me water

soonold (Soonyoung)
> im like next to u rn why dont u just ask me out loud ???

jibooty (Jihoon)
> just get me water

me
> lmao k bye guys have fun staying home ;)
> we can go together when jihoonie’s better :D

jibooty (Jihoon)
> Stop calling me jihoonie

soonold (Soonyoung)
> jIHOONIEEEEE<3 ;) :P :3

me
> jihoooonnieieeeeeeee:)
> fight me
> you wont even be able to reach my face anyway;)

jibooty (Jihoon)
> -_-

soonold (Soonyoung)
> LMAO UR LUCKY HE’S BEDRIDDEN RN CHEOLLL

“Looks like they can’t come,” Seungcheol said sadly. “You’ll have to meet Jihoon another time. I seriously think you guys would all get along.”

“Oh, that’s too bad then,” Seungkwan said. “So, I guess it’ll just be us three!”

Maybe it was because he liked living vicariously through his friends, but Seungcheol really enjoyed setting up friendships and relationships. It was pretty much like shipping in real life. He had known Seungkwan, Hansol, Soonyoung and Jihoon for quite a long time now, and he was sick of them all acting like they were still friends with their roommates. At least to Seungcheol, he definitely knew there was something more behind their façade of friendship. He really did feel like the four boys would be good friends; they all loved music and performing and they were all hopelessly oblivious of their own feelings.

“Oh my God,” Hansol sighed suddenly. He was frowning at his phone.

“Don’t say ‘oh my god’,” Seungkwan mimicked Hansol as he leant over and peeked at the other’s phone screen.

“What is it?” Seungcheol abandoned his half-eaten cereal and joined the two. Hansol was looking at an email from Pledis Performing Arts High School.

“I failed my maths exam,” Hansol said dejectedly. Seungcheol saw that indeed, his maths mark was in the red, but all his other subjects had relatively high marks. Especially English at 98%. “I should probably spend more time studying, to be honest.”

“Do you want to get a tutor, maybe?” Seungcheol suggested.

“Yeah, that would be a good idea. I don’t think I’ll go to the arcade today, then,” Hansol murmured.

“It’s OK, we still have lots more holiday time,” Seungkwan said positively. “Maths isn’t that important, anyway.”

“True,” Hansol gave Seungkwan an approving nod. “Anyway, you guys go ahead. I should probably start taking my studies more seriously.”

“If you say so. Won’t be fun without you, though,” Seungcheol said.

“Do you want me to help you?” Seungkwan offered.

“Nah, I’ll be fine by myself,” Hansol insisted. He smiled sadly and followed the two out of the apartment after Seungcheol finished his cereal. They waved goodbye as Hansol left the elevator at the 1st floor to return to his and Seungkwan’s apartment.

“I hope the arcade is good! Not one of those lame ones with like, two games,” Seungkwan said.

“Yeah, I really hope there’s one of those dancing games! I used to play them when I was a kid, but since I moved here, I haven’t seen one before,” Seungcheol said.

They exited the apartment block and ran across the road towards the Shining Diamond Mall, Seungkwan nearly tripping over the curb in his excitement.

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry, Wonwoo-hyung!” Mingyu pleaded through the bathroom door to his roommate who was inside changing. “I’m terrible at waking up in the morning. I probably should’ve told you that earlier, but I really wanted to watch the reruns!”

Wonwoo hated to admit it, but he really loved teasing Mingyu. The boy was pretty easy to push around (not in a negative way, of course). Maybe he was being too harsh on the boy, but Mingyu apologised way too easily and Wonwoo found it really endearing. It wasn’t like Wonwoo was ever actually mad at Mingyu, but maybe he did come off as annoyed to someone who didn’t know him that well.

“I already told you, it’s fine,” Wonwoo sighed, his voice muffled by the door in between them. He pulled on his black jeans, completing his casual ‘I wear black but I’m not emo’ look he tended to favour when being dragged out on social outings.

“Maybe try sleeping earlier next time,” he continued, opening the door. Mingyu stumbled forward as if he had been leaning on the door. He caught himself before he could knock Wonwoo over, rubbing his neck sheepishly.

Mingyu laughed hesitantly, baring his blindingly white canines in a full, toothy smile. “No promises. Anyway, let’s go!”

Grabbing their bags and locking the door behind them, the two boys exited the apartment block. Mingyu had insisted on going to the newly opened arcade with Wonwoo that afternoon. Wonwoo honestly loved playing games, but was never the type to go to arcades unless his friends dragged him along. He would’ve said no to going, but Wonwoo found it really hard to ignore the pleading look Mingyu was giving him (and the fact that Mingyu would probably whine about it for a few more hours if Wonwoo insisted on staying home).

After living with Mingyu for around two weeks, Wonwoo found it increasingly harder to keep his composure around the apartment. Mingyu was loud, needy, whiny, clumsy... the list could go on, but Wonwoo knew that deep down, he wasn’t actually annoyed with the boy. Of course, he wouldn’t admit that, but for reasons he didn’t know, he was frustrated. Frustrated that though Mingyu was everything he disliked in a person, he didn’t hate him at all. In fact, he felt curious, drawn to him and his awkward nature. From the moment he saw Mingyu’s goofy smile on Seokmin’s phone, he was intrigued.

Wonwoo would often ask for advice as well as rant to Junhui and occasionally Minghao and Seokmin about his frustrations. The things they had said in response were bothering him.

“I’m pretty sure that anyone listening to you right now would agree that you probably like him very much.”

“He likes you a lot more than you think, you know.”

“I’m telling you that you actually have a chance with Mingyu.”

He hated his friends for even suggesting such things.

Wonwoo never actually had a problem with who he was. He was openly gay for a majority of his life. He never questioned it, but just knew that deep down he was ‘different’. His high school life went just as well as you’d expect - isolated, bullied, looked down upon just because he didn’t like girls. He hated living in an ignorant, majority-rules society.

He always felt like more of an introverted person, but after being shamed upon throughout his high school years, his smiles became rarer and he retreated further back into himself, hiding behind his grown and matured poker face. He became really good at hiding his emotions.

It took a while, but university straightened him back out again. Somewhat. He convinced his parents to let him move to Seoul to start a new life studying a subject he loved at one of the top universities in South Korea. Junhui, Seokmin, then Minghao came along and reminded him that people weren’t all that bad. All was great, fantastic, wonderful... so why did Kim Mingyu have to come along and emotionally ruin everything he had built up for himself? Wonwoo blamed himself for even considering the need for a roommate.

“You complain endlessly about him, yet you have never said that you wish he wasn’t your roommate.”

Wonwoo hated how helpless he felt around Mingyu.

“Wonwoo-hyung, are you alright?” Mingyu waved his hand in front of Wonwoo’s face as they entered the bustling mall, people dodging the two boys impatiently as they rushed off to appointments, dates and whatever else they had going on in their lives. “You’re spacing out again.”

“Oh, sorry. Just got a bit lost in thought,” Wonwoo said. Stop looking at me like that.

“You sure? Your face is paler than normal... you look like you’re going to pass out any minute,” Mingyu insisted worriedly. I really will pass out if you keep looking at me like that.

“Stop worrying,” Wonwoo said, perhaps a little too irritably. “I’m just tired. I had to wake up at 8AM because of you. And you didn’t even wake up anyway.”

Mingyu pouted and lightly shoved Wonwoo’s shoulder with his own. “I’m sorry, Wonwoo-hyung. Maybe we can catch the reruns tomorrow!”

“We? Who said I’d be joining you?” Wonwoo pursed his lips. Truthfully, he had ended up watching the drama rerun that morning since Mingyu didn’t wake up. He definitely didn’t want to admit that it was actually really good. Not to mention that the episode ended on a nail-biting cliffhanger. Wonwoo seriously considered not waking Mingyu up the next day just so he could watch the next episode alone.

“Also, I told you to stop calling me ~hyung. Just call me Wonwoo,” he added. Wonwoo noticed that while Mingyu often forgot to add the ~hyung, he had recently begun making a pointless effort to do so every time he called Wonwoo’s name.

“Alright, but it sounds weird without ~hyung,” Mingyu pouted.

Wonwoo snorted. “You forget it sometimes anyway,” he muttered to himself.

Up ahead past the crowd of shoppers was an enormous, obnoxiously bright neon sign flashing ‘MANSAE!’ in a strobe pattern that gave Wonwoo a headache. It made him remember part of the reason why he never wanted to go to arcades.

“Wow, the line is so long!” Mingyu said, happiness emanating from his infectious smile. As he followed Mingyu to the back of the line, Wonwoo spotted some familiar faces in the queue that was extending from the arcade’s doors right past the length of seven stores along the mall’s hallway. He hoped they wouldn’t notice him as he didn’t feel like engaging in social interaction. Mingyu was enough to handle.

“So, have you been to an arcade before?” Mingyu asked, trying his best at small talk. Though he was aware that Wonwoo wasn’t the biggest fan of it, he decided to follow Junhui’s advice anyway - pester him until he breaks.

“No. They’re too loud and there’s too many screaming kids,” Wonwoo said, his voice barely audible over the loud music and talking surrounding them.

“Oh, well, I’ve never been to one, but I’ve always wanted to! So I’m really excited! Thanks for coming with me,” Mingyu beamed. “I see them in the movies and stuff but I’ve never been able to go to one, since my hometown didn’t have any nearby ones.”

“There are quite a lot in Seoul. If you like the one here, I could take you to other ones I’ve heard of,” Wonwoo suggested, mentally slapping himself afterwards at his impulsive words.

“Really? Just by looking at the front doors, I can tell I’ll love this place!” Mingyu shouted over the surrounding noise.

The line inched forward, and the two boys were now close enough to see past the tinted windows into the arcade. Various prize-winning games that were obviously rigged lined the walls in their dazzling neon glory. Further back into the establishment, Wonwoo could make out much bigger booths as well as car racing games decked out in plush leather seats. The arcade was packed to the brim with adolescent teens screaming left and right, a majority of them losing all their pocket money to the claw games.

Several minutes of silence passed between them before Mingyu hesitantly prodded Wonwoo once again. “So, you’re studying literature,” he stated, wanting to know more. His major was pretty much all Mingyu had gotten out of Wonwoo in past two weeks.

“Yeah,” Wonwoo replied curtly. He was about to elaborate further but Mingyu beat him to it, probably assuming that Wonwoo wasn’t going to.

“Do you want to be a writer?” Mingyu asked. Wonwoo thought for a moment before answering.

“I guess, but it’s not like I’ve attempted writing a novel or anything. I simply like reading and analysing. You can learn so much from reading different books that were written in different contexts and by different authors. Stories can be about the exact same topic, but written in a contrasting perspective that makes you view it completely differently. I don’t know, I find it really fascinating,” Wonwoo concluded hesitantly, voice trailing off as he lost confidence in his words.

“That’s cool! At least it’s something you enjoy doing,” Mingyu smiled. “I guess I feel the same about acting, though I could never describe the feeling like you can. I love watching the same actor portray completely different roles. It’s so inspiring. I really want to become an actor that can play any role, no matter how absurd,” he said proudly. Seeing that Wonwoo was staring blankly at him, he quickly asked, “Uh, so do you have any book recommendations?”

“Oh, uh. Yeah. I’m reading this English book called ‘Me Before You’. It’s really... good,” Wonwoo said with lack of a better word.

“What is it about?” Mingyu asked curiously.

“I guess it’s like those dramas you watch? It’s a romantic... tragedy,” he said, not particularly wanting to spoil the book.

“Oh, the dramas I watch? How would you know that?” Mingyu smirked, catching Wonwoo’s slip.

Before Wonwoo could protest that no, he simply guessed and he definitely did not watch the drama reruns, a boy with generically dyed brown hair began waving frantically from the front of the line as he caught sight of the two tall boys waiting further back. “Wonwoooooo!”

Though Wonwoo didn’t have the best eyesight, he would recognise that voice anywhere; his great friend Seokmin. He waved back shyly as Seokmin pushed his way out of the line, making his way to where Wonwoo and Mingyu were waiting.

“Hey, Wonwoo! You’re here? At an arcade? Am I awake or is this a dream?” Seokmin asked in sarcastic disbelief. “And Mingyu! I’m Seokmin! Nice to finally meet you,” he turned and shook Mingyu’s hand earnestly.

“O-oh! Seokmin!” Mingyu stuttered.

“Damn, you really are more handsome in real life,” Seokmin marvelled. “Don’t cause Wonwoo too much trouble, yeah?” he winked suggestively. Wonwoo groaned.

Mingyu laughed nervously. “I won’t? Anyway, how’s training going? Haven’t talked to you recently.”

Wonwoo narrowed his eyes. He didn’t know Mingyu was already good friends with Seokmin, though that didn’t particularly come as a shock considering they both seemed to be on the same wavelength.

Seokmin and Mingyu began talking like old friends, about things from their upcoming university semester to what dramas they were addicted to (Wonwoo did feel like joining in with that conversation, but managed to refrain himself from doing so).

The line continued to inch forward, until the boys finally reached the ticket counter. Picking up a brochure, Wonwoo found out that in order to enter the arcade, you have to buy a keycard. Each keycard has an allotted number of tokens, which you can use to play the games in the arcade, as well as a time limit which determined how long you had those tokens for. Extra tokens could also be bought for a hefty price if you ran out. You could pick and choose between different numbers of tokens and hours in the arcade.

The boys ended up buying a two hour keycard with fifty tokens. Wonwoo had to pay for Mingyu since the latter had conveniently forgotten his wallet. Mingyu smiled sheepishly and insisted he’d pay Wonwoo back twice over when they got back.

“I’m so excited! Let’s go~!” Mingyu grinned at Seokmin and Wonwoo, dragging the two boys into the arcade.

Wonwoo was immediately drowned beneath the blaring music and rowdy chatter. The arcade was huge, almost like a giant warehouse with a low ceiling and tons of games littered around the place. Long queues were snaking through walkways and cluttering up the path. It was dark, the only source of light being from the games themselves and a row of small bulbs lighting up the walkways in between the games. Strobe lights flashed intermittently, hurting Wonwoo’s eyes, and the sound of incessant button smashing and cussing made him want to curl up into a ball right then and there.

I want to go home.

“Oh my God,” Seungkwan marvelled, watching intently as Seungcheol earned a near-perfect score in Dance Dance Revolution. A small crowd had gathered around the machine, admiring Seungcheol’s quick and precise steps and cheering as he set the new high score. Several young challengers were lining up eagerly, keycards at the ready, wanting to beat the insanely high score Seungcheol had gotten.

Seungkwan had tried his hand at the game before Seungcheol, but found it incredibly exhausting to keep up with the never-ending steps. It’s not like he really had a passion for dancing. But Seungcheol’s lighthearted laughs at his attempts on the game made him wish he was a little better at it, or at least better at coordinating his mind and legs.

After leaving Dance Dance Revolution, Seungcheol dragged Seungkwan over to the claw games as he really seemed to want one of those cheap plush toys you could probably buy at any dodgy retailer. But it was the feeling of winning that counted, Seungkwan guessed.

Seungcheol had a massively childish grin on his face and was laughing randomly with short bursts of cackling. Seungkwan was glad to see him having so much fun, though a happy Seungcheol was unpredictable and scarily hyper.

“Yes!” Seungcheol screamed, overjoyed as he finally managed to snag a giant plushie from one of the arcade’s terribly difficult claw games.

While Seungcheol was admiring his newly won prize, Seungkwan stretched and looked around. Through the darkness of the arcade, he made out the shapes of three tall boys stumbling towards them in excitement.

“Oh hey, it’s Seungcheol! And... Seungkwan!” the bean-pole that was Kim Mingyu uttered as he came to a halt in front of the two. Trailing behind him was a disgruntled looking Jeon Wonwoo, as well as a brown-haired energy ball Seungkwan thought was named Lee Seokmin.

Seungkwan wasn’t quite sure how, but after brief introductions and exchanges of “Oh, we’ve met but I don’t know you that well,” the newly formed squad of five had wound up in the line of a car racing simulator.

Seokmin seemed slightly salty that Seungcheol wasn’t getting his name right. “Sungmin? Wait no, don’t tell me... you’re ... Sugyeom? Seungsoo?”

“Seokmin,” he sighed. Seungcheol smiled sheepishly. Seungkwan started to blank out, mentally scanning and updating his profile for Seokmin - idol trainee, very smiley, extremely loud—

“So, you’re Seungkwan?” Seokmin snapped Seungkwan out of his thought process with a tone of voice that made him sound legitimately curious and not just asking things to make small talk. Seungkwan nodded. “I feel like I’ve heard your name before. Anyway, I’m Seokmin! Nice to meet you!” he finished with a wider grin.

“Oh yeah, Seungkwan is really famous on Youtube and all that,” Seungcheol grinned and wrapped his arm around Seungkwan’s shoulders in a half-headlock. “Have you heard of Boonon?”

Wonwoo’s face lit up in slight recognition; he remembered Jeonghan saying something about it when they all met at Jam Jam recently.

“Oh, right! I have! But I haven’t watched too many videos,” Seokmin admitted. “That’s so cool, though. I’ll definitely search you up.”

Seungcheol took this opportunity to tell Seokmin about his rap career; he had multiple social media accounts on which he uploaded cover raps as well self-written ones. Seungkwan was slightly amused when Wonwoo sniggered discreetly after learning that Seungcheol’s stage name was ‘S.Coups’. Mingyu was beside himself in awe at the two of them for chasing their dreams so passionately while they were so young.

The front of the line was approaching quickly and after several rounds of rock-paper-scissors, it was decided that Wonwoo would be the fifth wheel. Seungcheol and Mingyu would be against Seungkwan and Seokmin, as the car simulator could only take teams of two, although one in each team was a passenger, so it was pretty pointless to have them there except for moral support.

“Are you sure you don’t want to play?” Mingyu asked Wonwoo. “We can go again after if you want.”

“It’s fine, I’ll just watch you guys. I lost rock-paper-scissors anyway. The line’s way too long for another go and I don’t like racing games that much,” Wonwoo said, though it was a lie as he absolutely loved racing games.

“But--” Mingyu began to protest.

“Just go have fun,” Wonwoo prodded Mingyu and urged him on using his eyes. Wonwoo left the line and stood off to the side.

“Cheer for me!” Mingyu shouted over to Wonwoo. Wonwoo gave him a thumbs up, but there was hardly a trace of a smile or a sign of happiness.

Seungcheol laughed, seeing Mingyu’s pouty expression at Wonwoo’s lack of response. “Still haven’t gotten used to that poker face?” he said, patting Mingyu’s back.

The four finally reached the front of the line, next in line for a turn at the game. Seungkwan and Seokmin had used rock-paper-scissors once again to determine the driver; Seokmin was driving while Seungkwan sat as passenger (he wasn’t very happy about that). Mingyu and Seungcheol however, had still not decided.

“I’ll drive,” Mingyu insisted. “I’ve driven before back home.”

“Playing Mario Kart doesn’t count,” Seungcheol huffed. “I’m older, so I’ll drive. Respect your hyung.”

“No! First one to sit in the driver’s seat gets to drive,” Mingyu said hurriedly, scanning his keycard and jumping up onto the driver’s seat without missing a beat. Seungcheol’s mouth dropped into an ‘O’ of disbelief and proceeded to shove Mingyu lightly into the passenger seat. He attempted to force himself onto the seat, but Mingyu used his weight and height to hold his ground.

Wonwoo held back a chuckle watching the two make absolute fools of themselves. They were beginning to cause quite a commotion as well.

“I said, first one to sit gets to drive!” Mingyu protested, pushing Seungcheol, who was half-sitting on the driver’s seat in an uncomfortable position.

“Just because you said so, doesn’t mean I agree with it!”

“Guys,” Seungkwan interrupted, “Just do rock-paper-scissors so we can play the game before we get kicked out.”

Both frowning childishly, Mingyu ended up winning after three tied rounds. Seungcheol reluctantly slid onto the passenger seat.

“What are you, five?” Wonwoo muttered to himself. So immature. But damn, it’s cute. Wait no. Shut up, Wonwoo.

Finally starting the game, the four boys yelped in surprise as the simulator began to rise. A large screen was displayed in front of them which showed their car avatar. Upon starting the race, the drivers found it incredibly difficult as the simulator would twist and turn just like a real car. The simulator moved up and down in jerky movements every time the driver would swerve.

“No, Mingyu! Left! No, my left! That’s not left? Give me the wheel!” Seungcheol yelled.

“Oh my God!” Seungkwan hollered for the umpteenth time that morning. He was gripping onto the handlebars, though they all had seatbelts securing them to the chairs.

Wonwoo smiled internally as he saw the grin on Seokmin’s face, tongue slightly poking out in concentration. Seokmin was winning at the moment, but it was only the first lap.

Seokmin had noticeably become increasingly tired toward the end of the last semester, and Wonwoo was quite worried about him. He no longer talked about his idol training with the zest he did during earlier months. It was good to see him loosen up a little, even if it was just for the afternoon.

As for Mingyu... he seemed happier than ever. If that was even possible. Part of Wonwoo wanted to be in Seungcheol’s position; Seungcheol was now gripping Mingyu’s arm tightly, partly to guide the steering wheel and partly because he was scared (he would never admit it, but Wonwoo had heard that Seungcheol wasn’t the biggest fan of rollercoasters and extreme motion simulators).

The race ended in a very close finish, with Mingyu outdriving Seokmin by only 1.2 seconds. As they hopped off the simulator, they had to catch each other as they stumbled back towards Wonwoo. Due to the intense motion from the simulator, they all looked tipsy to the point that it was funny.

“Did you see that, Wonwoo?! I won!” Mingyu beamed, pumping his fists in ecstasy.

Wonwoo laughed lowly. “How could I have missed that amazing finish? I didn’t think either of you would even make it to the finish line,” he said teasingly. It was true though; during the first few laps, the two had crashed into multiple obstacles and traveled in the wrong direction for about half the race. It was a miracle they managed to finish in such a spectacular fashion.

Mingyu slapped Wonwoo’s shoulder. “It’s harder than it looks, alright! Still though, it was so fun. We should play together sometime, hyung!” Mingyu laughed. “You try driving that thing before you talk trash about my amazing skills.”

“Sure,” Wonwoo agreed quietly. Mingyu didn’t seem to hear, so he leant in closer. “I said alright.”

“O-oh,” Mingyu stumbled back, flustered at his roommate’s sudden forwardness. “Yeah. We should!”

Wandering around, the five boys nearly lost each other amongst the crowd. “What should we try next? We have about an hour left,” Seokmin asked loudly.

“Oh, what about that?” Seungcheol pointed over at a relatively short queue. The large neon sign above said queue read out “BOXING RING”. Like the name suggested, it was a boxing simulator - it seemed that there were two separate body-sized screens with your opponent’s avatar shown on there as you punched the air using boxing gloves rigged with sensors (which translated as attacks on your opponent’s screen).

“Wonwoo, do you want to try?” Mingyu prodded. Frowning at first, Wonwoo reasoned it wouldn’t kill him to try something out since he had paid entrance anyway.

“Alright, then. Seungcheol, you seem the easiest to beat. You and me,” Wonwoo called Seungcheol out, low-key taking advantage of his competitiveness.

Seokmin and Seungkwan hollered, while Mingyu’s mouth dropped open in surprise at Wonwoo’s boldness. Hyung, I wish you’d tease me like you tease your friends.

“What should my nickname be?” Seungcheol wondered as the game asked for them to input one. He decided just to use his stage name, S.Coups.

The two screens stood side by side, Wonwoo in front of one and Seungcheol in front of the other. There were ropes around the small area, resembling a boxing ring. Mingyu and Seokmin were standing off to Wonwoo’s side while Seungkwan stuck near Seungcheol.

The two boys fitted on their boxing gloves and calibrated them. Seungcheol chose the buffest looking avatar in the selection, while Wonwoo chose a rather elegant looking man. The screen flashed with fancy graphics, introducing the two opponents. Those still in the queue started cheering, as if it were a real boxing match.

“Introducing our fighters!” the upbeat programmed voice of the machine announced. Their nicknames flashed across the screen as their avatars walked onto the screen of their opponent. Seungcheol snorted as Wonwoo’s avatar walked out; his nickname, Jeon Cena, flashing in bright colours across the screen as the avatar pumped his fists.

The match started, and Seungcheol started assaulting the air in front of him in a flurry of punches. He had no idea what he was doing, so he figured the faster, the better.

Wonwoo on the other hand, thought much more tactical. He didn’t have great physical prowess, but through observing Seungcheol’s random attacks, he managed to pull off a couple of uppercuts and sharp jabs which greatly lowered Seungcheol’s health. The boxing gloves also seemed to sense their whole body movement, so Wonwoo began moving back and forth in order to dodge Seungcheol’s punches.

Seungcheol started to lose strength as his stamina ran out, and Wonwoo finished off his avatar with one powerful jab. The crowd cheered as ‘K.O’ followed by ‘JEON CENA WINS!’ flashed across the screen, accompanied by glorified trumpet music. Through all the noise, Seungcheol could hear Mingyu shouting all sorts of praise and congratulations to Wonwoo.

As if to combat Mingyu’s shouts, Seungkwan started cheering for Seungcheol as well. He started jumping up and down, waving his hands and screaming terrible rhymes in an effort to out-cheer Mingyu.

The game entered its second round, music blasting out once again and their avatars walking proudly onto the screens. Seungcheol had underestimated Wonwoo, but he definitely wouldn’t lose this time.

The second round proceeded similarly to the first, though Seungcheol slowed down on his attacks and tried to play smarter rather than harder. Though Wonwoo still held the upper hand for a majority of it, in a twist of events, Seungcheol managed to land a fatal blow on Wonwoo’s upper left cheek. ‘S.COUPS WINS!’

Mingyu started booing lightheartedly, and Seungcheol shot him a glare. He laughed and hid behind Seokmin.

Tension was high as the third round began. Seungkwan upgraded his cheer by taking off his shoes and wearing them on his hands. He waved them around chaotically and looked like he was about to break out into a full Olympic gymnastic routine.

As the entrance music played, Seungkwan danced energetically, flinging his hands about and shaking them in a comedic manner. It caught the attention of surrounding patrons, who laughed and cheered him on.

Seungcheol looked to his right and studied his opponent. Wonwoo looked far too calm for someone about to go into a life or death match. Is he underestimating me? No, his eyes look really focused. He noticed Wonwoo glancing at Mingyu and Seokmin on the sidelines every few seconds, as if for assurance that they were still there. Mingyu was still yelling out encouragement.

Their avatars finally finished their glory parade and took their fighting stances. The match started and Seungcheol immediately jabbed sharply to the right. Wonwoo anticipated this and dodged easily, countering with a swift uppercut that sent Seungcheol’s avatar flying to the end of the boxing ring. As the match wore on, both of their health bars hovering around the same mark, the cheers from the surrounding crowd grew louder; cheering for who, Seungcheol wasn’t sure.

Seungkwan’s cheerleading got more intense, his arms swinging about dangerously. Mingyu had started fist pumping intensely and Seokmin seemed to be having the time of his life. Seungcheol had broken into a sweat as he focused as hard as he could on knocking Wonwoo’s avatar out.

By the three minute mark, both of their health bars were dropping below the 10% mark. Both of them were pretty exhausted from the previous two rounds of excessive arm pumping. Seungcheol didn’t know how the gloves were still on his hands; he could feel himself sweating out buckets through his hands.

In a swift moment, Wonwoo managed to land a lucky hit on Seungcheol’s nose, which caused his health to drop down to 4%. Seungcheol swore under his breath and blamed the sensors for not registering that he had definitely dodged that strike.

Seungcheol really didn’t like losing. His avatar’s health was so close to depleting completely that his body started acting on its own before his mind could catch up with it. He sidestepped Wonwoo’s next attack and slung his arm around real-Wonwoo’s neck in a light headlock.

“Seungche- what the-” Wonwoo spluttered, flailing around as he tried to escape Seungcheol’s grip on his head.

They were struggling with each other awkwardly, Seungcheol attempting to pull off some weird sidecuts with one arm while enveloping Wonwoo with the other. The crowd’s cheers dimmed down as they looked on in confusion.

“Hey, Seungcheol! That’s not fair!” Seokmin protested.

“Life’s not fair!” Seungcheol countered. Wonwoo seemed to accept Seungcheol’s challenge as he had a scarily eerie grin on his face. Wonwoo attempted to counter Seungcheol’s haphazard punches whilst he was still enveloped in Seungcheol’s death grip.

Seungcheol managed to lower Wonwoo’s health bar down to 6%; his was still dangerously hovering around the 3% mark. The cheers resumed and Seungkwan entered the 10th round of his extensive cheerleading routine.

Just as Wonwoo was about to win the third round, the cheers halted as a group of burly men pushed their way through the crowd, angrily staring down Seungcheol and Wonwoo, who were still half-wrestling each other in an effort to win.

“Stop!” they commanded in eerie synchronisation. Seungcheol and Wonwoo stopped flailing and straightened up as best they could. The men approached them and grabbed their arms firmly.

“What part of virtual fighting only do you not understand? If you didn’t know, that means no verbal or physical abuse,” one of the men said firmly.

“We didn’t really mean it--” Seungcheol began.

“Shut up. This is your first warning. If we see you causing trouble again, you’ll be banned from this arcade. Are we clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Seungcheol gulped.

Hauling the two boys out of the simulator area, the crowd dispersed in disappointment as the match wasn’t able to be finished. The game had reset once there was no movement for a while.

“Wonwoo totally won that,” Seungcheol heard Mingyu arguing with Seungkwan as the two of them met up with the other three away from the simulator.

“Seungcheol managed to bring him down 7% in like, 2 seconds. He definitely won,” Seungkwan said.

“Let’s just say it’s a tie,” Seokmin intervened.

“As much as I don’t want to accept that, I’m too tired,” Seungcheol sighed as he and Wonwoo rejoined the group. He turned and shook Wonwoo’s hand firmly. “It’s a tie. But next time, I’ll beat you. Fairly,” he added for good measure.

“Sure, sure,” Wonwoo smirked. Looking at the time, Seungcheol figured they had just over half an hour left in their keycards. Wonwoo’s group came in later, so they may have more time, he figured.

“What do you guys wanna do now?” Seokmin asked.

“Ooh, karaoke!” Seungkwan suggested excitedly, pointing over to the karaoke booths toward the back of the arcade.

Seungcheol figured it was the perfect excuse to practise and show off his rapping prowess.

“Wonwoo, I didn’t know you were so good at boxing,” Mingyu marvelled as the group walked toward the last empty karaoke booth.

“I’m not,” Wonwoo said, “Seungcheol’s just terrible.” Seungcheol shot Wonwoo a glare.

“Well, you looked really cool anyway,” Mingyu laughed.

As the day wore on, Mingyu began to feel more and more hopeless that he would ever get a response out of Wonwoo. He had never met someone who could act so passive around him. Most would either show signs of annoyance or happiness towards him, but Wonwoo was just blank.

Wonwoo would sound slightly annoyed or irritable at times, but none of it was extreme. His emotions all seemed very mild. There was so much about him that Mingyu wanted to find out, like a treasure box waiting to be opened.

Scanning his keycard, Mingyu took a seat next to Wonwoo on the couch in the booth. The other three boys had taken up the microphones and were arguing over which song to choose.

Seungkwan ended up picking ‘I can’t go to Shinchon’ by PostMen, a vocal-oriented song that Seungcheol looked ready to take on. Mingyu wanted to hear Seungcheol rap, since he himself was quite interested in rap music, but he was curious to see how well Seungcheol sang.

Seokmin began singing and Mingyu’s ears were filled with the sound of his soothing voice; Mingyu definitely saw why Seokmin was able to be an idol trainee. Seungkwan soon joined him, harmonising perfectly in time. Mingyu felt Wonwoo shift beside him.

Seungcheol waddled back and forth behind them, clutching his microphone tightly. He had a wide grin on his face as he watched the two vocals sing in perfect harmony. The high notes hit, and Mingyu felt shivers go down his back at their beautiful voices. Seungcheol made a face of pure appreciation and prepared to sing his part.

Turns out, rappers could sing too.

Mingyu snapped out of his hypnosis as he felt Wonwoo staring at him weirdly. Wonwoo shook his head, as if coming out of a stupor, and hurriedly muttered, “You look like you want to try it too.”

“Oh, yeah! I don’t really sing but... I like rapping, I guess?”

The current song ended and Seungkwan and Seokmin handed their microphones over to Mingyu and Wonwoo. Mingyu hesitantly stood and cleared his throat. He wanted to avoid sounding like a run-over frog as much as possible.

“You can pick,” Seungcheol said to Wonwoo, handing him the remote. Wonwoo pursed his lips and scrolled through the vast song selection. He seemed to be looking through sappy romantic ballads, which Mingyu thought was somewhat sweet.

Wonwoo finally stopped scrolling and settled upon ‘Drunken Truth’ by Kim Dongryul. Mingyu wasn’t familiar with the song, and Seungcheol didn’t seem to be either.

Mingyu wiped his sweaty hands down his jeans, way more excited to hear Wonwoo sing than he should’ve been. The song started in a rhythmic tune and Wonwoo slowly eased into the beat.

“Yeah, man,” Mingyu held his hand up and Wonwoo met it in an awkward high-five. Their hands were in contact for a split second too long and they awkwardly let go.

Seungcheol immediately began belting out some high notes at random, but they seemed to fit in with the song. Seungkwan started waving his hands and clapping. Then, Wonwoo started singing.

Mingyu felt his heart skip for a beat. Or maybe two beats.

“Jeon Wonwoo!” Seokmin cheered, his face in mock disbelief and appreciation. He probably had heard Wonwoo sing before and wasn’t surprised at the smooth, deep, velvety voice that flowed out from Wonwoo’s mouth.

Seungcheol joined in for a verse, but left Wonwoo to sing the chorus alone. Mingyu wanted to join in as well, but he was far too paralysed to do anything other than mutter along with whatever lyrics he could catch on the screen. It didn’t really help Mingyu’s wellbeing that Wonwoo was literally singing ‘I love you so much’ with his beautiful deep voice. Wait, did I just think his voice was beautiful? Well yeah, it is... Platonically beautiful, yeah. Oh, who am I kidding. He has a gorgeous voice.

Seungcheol waved his hand in front of Mingyu’s face, interrupting his internal monologue, and motioned for him to join in as well. He sang hesitantly, but was overpowered by Wonwoo’s now confident singing voice. Seungcheol and Wonwoo sang the rest together, while Seokmin cheered and Seungkwan intermittently shook a tambourine he had somehow gotten a hold of.

The song ended with Wonwoo stumbling over a high note because he was laughing. Handing the microphone back to Seokmin, he sat down and grabbed a bottle of water from his backpack.

It took a few moments for Mingyu to register that Wonwoo was actually laughing. Stumbling into the seat next to him, he muttered the first thing that came to his mind. “You... sing?” He immediately slapped himself internally for sounding so nervous.

Wonwoo looked up from the bottle he was taking a drink from. “Sometimes. I used to play guitar, so my teacher encouraged me to sing as well. But I guess I’m more interested in rapping like you.”

“O-oh! That’s cool! We should rap together, maybe?” Mingyu said timidly.

Wonwoo’s expression faltered a little. “U-uh, yeah. I just... it’s not a good idea.” Meanwhile, the other three had gone back to the song selection to choose another song.

“How come?” Mingyu asked worriedly. He hoped he didn’t offend Wonwoo, just when he was getting a little closer to him.

“I don’t really like performing in front of others,” Wonwoo said, “It’s... embarrassing.”

“You just sang, though! Do you have stage fright?”

“I got a little carried away. It’s fun singing with others as opposed to singing solo. I’ve had stage fright since forever, which is kind of why I quit guitar. My teacher kept insisting that I should perform at recitals.”

“Oh, yeah. It’s definitely embarrassing performing in front of people you don’t know too well,” Mingyu agreed. “If you don’t want to rap with me, it’s okay... I’ll just have to rap twice as often for the both of us!” he grinned.

Wonwoo buried his head in his arms. He mumbled something that Mingyu couldn’t hear over the arguing of the other three boys.

Seungkwan had picked a song this time - ‘Romantic Cat’ by Cherry Filter. The booth was soon filled with upbeat rock music accompanied by high quality screeching in English.

Seungcheol grabbed the tambourine and shook it energetically as Seungkwan belted out the lyrics in his amazing voice. Mingyu leant down so that his head was at Wonwoo’s level and prodded him.

“What did you say before?” he asked loudly next to Wonwoo’s ear. Wonwoo flinched slightly.

Turning out of his arm-cave to look at Mingyu directly, he whispered something. Over Seungcheol’s shouting, all Mingyu could make out was, “...why... frustrating.”

Not wanting to ask again, as Wonwoo had buried himself back into his enclosed position, Mingyu sat back and tried to focus on the singing boys, but his mind was filling with utter confusion at Wonwoo’s actions. He could hardly concentrate as the three boys sang their way through yet another song. Seungcheol sat down next to Mingyu after that song, and the two remaining vocals powered through two more songs before the machine beeped and alerted them that their time was up.

After stumbling through the arcade for too long attempting to locate the exit, the boys finally made their way out and handed in their keycards. On the way out, they passed a large, fancy photobooth that was seemingly still in construction. They agreed to come back and use it sometime; especially an enthusiastic Seungcheol, who was definitely extremely photogenic.

After a long while of exchanging numbers with each other, the five boys bid their goodbyes to each other as they got off the elevator on their respective floors back in Apartment Block 17.

Mingyu plopped facedown onto the couch as soon as they entered their apartment. Wonwoo slapped his head and motioned for him to move over. Mingyu lay stiffly next to Wonwoo as silence settled between them.

“That was fun,” Wonwoo said quietly after a while. Mingyu was about to say something along the lines of ‘I told you so’, but stopped when he saw a jaw-dropping sight unfold in front of his very eyes. Jeon Wonwoo was smiling? He didn’t seem to be aware that he was smiling in the first place; it was the kind of smile that looked like a natural reflex, a pure display of true happiness that was impossible to suppress. Though it wasn’t a wide, jaw-breaking grin, rather a slight upturn of Wonwoo’s lip-line, Mingyu’s heart raced faster than he had ever felt it race before.

He couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Jumping up from the couch, he happily bounced into the kitchen.

“What are you doing? You looked like you were about to collapse a moment ago,” Wonwoo asked loudly from where he sat on the couch.

“Cooking a celebratory dinner!” Mingyu announced happily.

“Celebration of what?” Wonwoo frowned in confusion.

But Mingyu would never admit how genuinely happy he had felt when he witnessed a real smile from Wonwoo for the first time since he moved in. They should open arcades here more often.

Chapter Text

[APARTMENT #118; Choi Hansol, Boo Seungkwan]

“Hey, what’s the date today?” Hansol asked Seungkwan, who was sprawled across the couch scrolling through Twitter on his phone. During the holidays, Hansol never kept track of the date; but he needed it now to timestamp a diary entry for their English holiday homework.

“Uh,” Seungkwan checked his phone, “It’s the 7th of August.”

“Cool, thanks.”

Seungkwan continued to scroll while Hansol went back to his room to write his diary entry. English was easily his best subject; he was pretty much fluent as he was half-American.

Suddenly, he remembered something and whirled back, startling Seungkwan. “Wait. The 7th? Isn’t Seungcheol’s birthday on the 8th of August?”

“Oh, yeah!” Seungkwan exclaimed. “Damn, we need to do something!” Seungkwan had honestly forgotten; but he knew that if they didn’t plan anything extravagant for his birthday, Seungcheol would probably hold some petty grudge against them for the rest of their natural lives.

“Quick, let’s head down to that party place in the mall,” Hansol suggested, aiming for the most clichéd yet somewhat thoughtful birthday present he could think of; a surprise party.

Grabbing their wallets, the two boys rushed out of the apartment and into the elevator. Upon reaching the lobby, they saw a small crowd gathered around someone. Someone quite short with fluffy, light purple hair.

“Oh, there’s Soonyoung,” Seungkwan acknowledged, pointing out the blue-haired teenager to Hansol. “I wonder what’s happening?”

In answer to his question, Soonyoung plugged his phone into a speaker and started blasting out ‘Heart Attack’ by AOA. Peeking over the crowd, Seungkwan remembered the name of the shorter, purple-haired boy; Lee Jihoon. One of the top music students at Pledis. Kwon Soonyoung’s roommate. Relationship... questionable?

Jihoon immediately started dancing a manly version of ‘Heart Attack’*, popping his chest intensely and eliciting a burst of laughter from the crowd. Seungkwan could see that Jihoon’s face was set in a grimace, but after the chorus finished, he cracked and turned around and buried his face into the wall in embarrassment. Soonyoung collapsed onto the floor, clutching his stomach in laughter. The crowd started cheering for an encore; Seungkwan noticed that he was surrounded mainly by 13-year-old junior high students he never knew lived in the block.

Soonyoung managed to calm his laughter a few minutes later, in which time Jihoon had curled into a ball in the far corner of the lobby. Seeing that nothing eventful was going to happen, the crowd dispersed with mumbles of disappointment. Seungkwan and Hansol approached Soonyoung hesitantly.

“Do I even want to ask?” Seungkwan began. He knew that Jihoon and Soonyoung were known for their weird dares that seemed to happen around the apartment every week or so. It puzzled him because Seungkwan had always seen Jihoon as a rather serious and quiet kind of person - not someone who would willingly perform a dare concocted by Kwon Soonyoung. I guess being around Soonyoung really does change you. Or maybe Jihoon likes him too much to refuse.

“Please, don’t ask. I’m just glad I only had to do the chorus,” Jihoon sighed, escaping his S.O.S position and joining the three boys.

“You were so cute, though!” Soonyoung laughed. “Little man with big movements. You should audition for a girl group.” Jihoon shot him a glare.

After bantering with Seungkwan for a good five minutes, Soonyoung finally introduced his roommate formally to Seungkwan and Hansol. Jihoon nodded respectfully and smiled. His smile wasn’t one that emanated happiness to the degree of Seokmin’s or Mingyu’s, but it had a feeling of warmth and comfortableness woven throughout it. Combined with his slightly short stature, he looked really cute. For a guy, especially. Seungkwan felt like hugging him.

Hansol and Soonyoung also seemed to get along quite well after they were introduced to each other, much like Seungcheol had predicted.

“My name is Soonyoung, but you can call me soon,” Soonyoung winked proudly, using his signature pick-up line jokingly. Jihoon rubbed his temples in exasperation and muttered something under his breath.

Hansol found it really funny, and gave Soonyoung an enthusiastic high-five. He himself tended to favour English humour, though Seungkwan never fully understood any of the jokes that involved English punchlines.

Seungkwan moved on to explain that Seungcheol had wanted to the four of them to meet a few days ago at the arcade, but wasn’t able to as Soonyoung and Jihoon were apparently sick.

“We’re better now! I definitely want to go to the arcade with you guys one day,” Soonyoung smiled. “Jihoon’s a killer at karaoke,” he added, poking Jihoon’s cheek.

“Oh, speaking of Seungcheol,” Jihoon said, brushing Soonyoung’s hand to the side. “Isn’t his birthday tomorrow?”

“Yeah, it is!” Hansol said. “We’re actually heading to the store now to get some supplies. We wanna plan a surprise party for him, since I’m sure he’ll love one of those.”

“Oh, that sounds like a pretty good idea. Also, I think Seungcheol did mention you guys once,” Jihoon said thoughtfully. “Aren’t you guys ‘Boonon’?” Seungkwan nodded earnestly; he loved being recognised. “Cheol showed us some of your covers on Youtube. You’re both really good. I’m studying producing and composing, so it’d be cool if we could combine our skills into a song sometime.”

“That sounds great, seriously! We’ve both wanted to try writing our own song,” Hansol said excitedly. “In the meantime, can you help us plan the party for Seungcheol?”

“We actually gotta go somewhere in a bit, but I’ll give you my number,” Soonyoung offered. Seungkwan swapped numbers with him and bid the two of them goodbye as he left the apartment block with Hansol.

“I feel like I’ve seen them doing crazy stuff around the apartments before,” Hansol said, as soon as they were out of earshot.

“Yeah. I met Soonyoung because I saw him walking on his hands through our floor with his hair tied in bunches with those cute little colourful headbands,” Seungkwan laughed as he remembered the first time he had talked to Soonyoung a few months ago. “Dunno about Jihoon, but I’d guess that they’re both pretty weird.”

“I guess that’s why they can get along with Seungcheol,” Hansol said jokingly.

They made a quick trip down to the local party store and returned to their apartment with bags full of streamers, banners and other generic party needs. All that was left was an actual plan; as well as a present. Seungkwan knew that just giving him money wouldn’t be good enough; he already collected bucketloads of money for rent every month.

“I really want him to have a good day,” Hansol said honestly. “He sucks, but he’s a good hyung for what it’s worth.” Seungkwan nodded in agreement.

Though Seungkwan knew Seungcheol was rather childish and competitive at times (okay, most of the time), when it counted, he was very reliable, hardworking and a good leader. All in all, he always had a sense of responsibility, wanting nothing more than to please his parents; his father, especially. Being the youngest son in the family, he wasn’t expected to amount to much, as all focus was pushed onto his oldest brother. But for all Seungkwan knew, Seungcheol was definitely doing a good job at handling one of the apartment blocks his father owned; more than what was expected of him. Apartment Block 17 wouldn’t function without him, as crazy as he could be, and Seungkwan wanted Seungcheol to know that. Especially on his 22nd birthday.

“Yeah, I wanna show him some appreciation as well. But what would he like?” Seungkwan pondered. Seungcheol definitely loves being recognised and praised...

“What about we make a giant card or book and get residents to sign it?” Hansol suggested. “Like a yearbook or something. A book of praises.”

“Oh, good idea!” Seungkwan exclaimed in English. He managed to find a small, ornate notebook hidden amongst other video props in his drawer. “This should do, right?”

Before Seungkwan could think about how to conduct a signature hunt, his phone buzzed with messages from Soonyoung.

soonshine
> ey this is seungkwan rite?
> its soonyoung!!!! if u ddint name my contact already
> so about the party
> well im at a friends place rn, and they know cheol as well
> we were thinking ... we need a distraction

me
> im not sure where you’re going with this...

soonshine
> so u need time to set up the surprise party ey
> do u have supplies

me
> yep we’ve got a lot
> also we’re thinking for the present - we have a notebook we can get ppl to sign with some nice stuff
> seungcheol loves being complimented so...

soonshine
> lmao this is asuming that people are nice enough to compliment cheol on his bday
> ok but good idea :D
> alright so back to distraction
> me and jihoon got it covered:)
> we distract him and u sneak into his apartment and set up and stuff
> invite lots of ppl as well
> how long do u need us to distract him for

me
> oh uh... hansol and i are pros.
> 10 mins top

soonshine
> piece o cake
> also bring that notebook over latr so we can sign it
> lol yey that’s my present for him covered :-)

me
> k
> we’ll go to his apartment prior so we dont actually have to sneak in
> we’re not risking getting kicked out just for seuncgheol’s birthday

soonshine
> aw but thats no fun :(
> ok whatever but tell us when ur ready for the distraction
> it’ll take time to get that notebook filled i imagine so tell us when the plan’s gonna start

me
> yeh we’ll head out now probably to start getting signs
> shld be done by today... tmr morning is like backup time
> so lets aim for tmr early afternoon

soonshine
> alright :D

me
> uh also... anyone got a cake?
> hansol said the cake store only takes orders like two days prior :/

soonshine
> oh uh.
> you see
> no one i know can cook decent instant ramen
> yet alone something magical like cake

me
> alright nvm
> we’ll figure something out
> anyway seeya i’ll keep u posted

soonshine
> we’re in apt 104 btw
> if u know jisoo and jeonghan
> yeh we’re with them

me
> oh right yeh i’ve met them
> we’ll come by soon

soonshine
> righteeeoooo see you SOON ;))

me
> i hate you

[APARTMENT #104; Yoon Jeonghan, Hong Jisoo]

“Why didn’t you video it?” Jeonghan whined, hitting Soonyoung’s shoulder lightly.

“He was laughing too hard,” Jihoon grumbled, referring to the dare he had performed earlier in the apartment lobby.

“You two never fail to amaze me,” Jisoo shook his head in mock admiration.

“Okay, but seriously,” Jihoon interrupted, changing the topic before they begged him for an encore, “What should we get for Cheol’s birthday?”

“Well, Seungkwan said they were making a card and getting people to sign it,” Soonyoung said.

“Seungkwan? You know him?” Jeonghan said excitedly.

“Yeah, kind of. We’re working together with him and his roommate to plan the surprise party,” Soonyoung explained.

“Damn, you should’ve told us! Don’t you know he’s part of that Boonon channel?” Jeonghan said.

“Oh right, right. Heard about them from Cheol and Jihoon,” Soonyoung said thoughfully. “I didn’t know you two were their fanboys,” he teased.

After several minutes of debating about presents for Seungcheol, Jeonghan decided he would paint an impromptu painting for him, and Jisoo would just nick something from Love Letter, the shop he worked at. Soonyoung and Jihoon figured that helping plan the surprise party and the heartfelt messages they would write in Seungkwan’s book was enough.

Before Jeonghan could get out his art supplies, the doorbell rang multiple times and Jisoo stumbled out to answer it before the visitor kicked the door down.

“Oh hey, Seungkwan! Hansol!” Jisoo exclaimed, upon recognising the visitors.

Hansol held up an antique-looking notebook that was filled to the brim with letters and photos poking out haphazardly. “Do you wanna sign the Seungcheol Appreciation Book?”

Jisoo allowed the two to enter their apartment as he set the book down onto the dining table. Flipping through, Jisoo was genuinely surprised to see nice messages throughout; though a majority of them were sarcastic (he could still feel the love).

“Why are so many of them referring to ‘scoops’?” Jisoo wondered. Many of the messages were all addressed to ‘S.Coups’.

Seungkwan sniggered softly. “S-Coups,” he corrected. “It’s his rapper name. He raps sometimes. You should search him up, I’m sure he’ll appreciate the attention. Believe it or not, he’s actually pretty decent.”

“Oh dang, I never knew!” Jisoo exclaimed. He felt slightly guilty that deep down, he found the name ‘S.Coups’ really funny.

“Why ‘S.Coups’?” Jisoo asked. Seungkwan and Hansol shrugged in unison.

“Oh, is that the book thingy?” Soonyoung bounced into the room and leant over Jisoo to look at the book.

“Yep. Go ahead, find a page that’s empty and write whatever,” Hansol said.

Jihoon and Jeonghan both came in following Soonyoung’s exclamation.

“Oh yeah, Jihoon, can I get your number? Also, Jisoo and Jeonghan... if you don’t mind. Mostly it’s in case we need to update you on the surprise party. Are you guys all coming?” Hansol enquired. They all nodded. “Okay, cool. Quite a lot of people said they’ll be coming so we need to coordinate it well.”

It took quite a long time for the boys to swap numbers and finish writing their messages for Seungcheol in the Seungcheol Appreciation Book. As Hansol picked up the book to leave, a polaroid fell out. Soonyoung frowned as he picked it up.

“Wait... Jihoon?” The polaroid was of Seungcheol sleeping on a couch, next to a person who resembled Jihoon making a face into the camera.

“What?” Jihoon said, peeking at the polaroid Soonyoung was holding. He tutted. “That’s not me; can’t you recognise your own roommate? Besides, you know him.”

“Oh man, yeah. That’s Yoongi. When we met him earlier today, I thought he was Jihoon at first, except he seemed older. I got kinda freaked out,” Hansol said.

“Oh, Yoongi! Your cousin!” Soonyoung remembered. “Right, he looks so much like you it’s scary.”

“He gave us lots of photos of Seungcheol. Seems like they’re quite close,” Hansol said.

“He likes rapping as well,” Jihoon explained.

“Pretty cool to have a relative live in the same apartment block as you,” Jisoo commented.

“We’re not that close, really,” Jihoon said. A silence settled upon the living room as they stared at each other awkwardly.

Seungkwan coughed. “Anyway, thanks for the messages! We’ll see you at the party tomorrow,” he said, waving goodbye as he and Hansol left the apartment.

Jisoo noticed that Jeonghan had been missing for a while, since he finished writing his message for Seungcheol in the book. He found him sketching Seungcheol’s birthday painting in his room; his art studio.

“What did you write in the book?” Jisoo asked as he entered the room.

“Secret,” Jeonghan grinned playfully. Jisoo shoved him lightly.

“Do you guys wanna play Monopoly again later, or should we just let you finish your painting?” Soonyoung asked, following Jisoo into Jeonghan’s room.

“I think I’ll work on the painting,” Jeonghan said sheepishly. “Can we play another time?”

“Alright, just text us whenever. See you around, then!” Soonyoung and Jihoon left the apartment together.

“So, I need inspiration for this painting,” Jeonghan said. He had sketched out a basic outline of the main subject; a camel. Jisoo laughed. They had both forever made fun of the fact that Seungcheol greatly resembled a camel, from his angular face and thick, luscious eyelashes every girl would be jealous of.

“I found out earlier that Seungcheol actually raps. And his stage name is ‘S.Coups’,” Jisoo said.

“Oh yeah, Seungcheol’s told me before. Funny name, hey,” Jeonghan laughed.

“Indeed. But since he seems pretty proud of it, maybe we could put his rap lyrics in the background or something? I don’t know him that well so you decide, but that’s all the inspiration you’re gonna get out of my uncreative brain,” Jisoo said.

“You’re heaps creative,” Jeonghan smiled. “Not everyone can imitate inanimate objects as well you do.”

Jisoo furrowed his eyebrows, flicked Jeonghan’s forehead and left the room, saying he had to go to work; which was true, as he realised he was already 10 minutes late for his shift at Love Letter. Jeonghan laughed loudly after him. Jisoo tried his best to ignore Jeonghan’s shouts of “You know I love you!”, grabbed his things and headed out.

[APARTMENT #407; Jeon Wonwoo, Kim Mingyu]

sasskwan
> yo ming
> r u and wonwoo at home?

me
> no we’re eating early dinner at this rlly cool chinese place
> thERES AN AQUARIUM
> UNDR THE FLOOR
> LIKE I MEAN THE FLOOR IS CLEAR AND WE’RE LITERALY SITTING ON FISH AS WE EAT THEIR RELATIVES IDK HOW TO FEEL

sasskwan
> oh lol cool
> but anyway
> did u know it’s seungcheol’s birthday tmr

me
> wait what rlly?
> omg i didnt know!
> seungcheol, as in, the guy who basically owns our apt block?

sasskwan
> yeah basically
> anyway me and my roomie are outside ur apartment now
> we have this book we compiled for seungcheol and basically u just write a message in there for him
> also we’re planning a surprise party, maybe tmr afternoon, so ur invited if u want
> tell wonwoo too

me
> oh alright cool
> do u think u can come by later tonight so we can sign the book? we shld be back by like 8

sasskwan
> 8??? wtf how long does it take to eat dinner

me
> wonwoo said he wanted to take me to an arcade close by!!!

sasskwan
> wow
> ok
> have fun :-)
> oh but one more thing
> can u cook

me
> yeah im alright bahaha
> i havent burnt down our kitchen so i think im pretty great

sasskwan
> cool bc is there any chance you’d want to maybe bake a cake for cheol’s birthday?

me
> omg yeah i’d love to!!!
> i’ll do my best :)

sasskwan
> ok cool ur a lifesaver
> also ill probably forget to come by later so
> here’s the plan
> tmr about 12pm, seungcheol’s gonna be out
> my roomie and i are going into his apartment to set up the surprise stuffs
> u can come by then with the cake
> i’ll text u
> then u can also sign the book then

me
> alright cool! :D
> ok i gtg bc wonwoo’s telling me its rude to text at dinner
> bye seungkwannn!!!!

“Who’re you texting? Your girlfriend?” Wonwoo asked. Mingyu couldn’t tell if his tone was sarcastic or serious.

“Jealous?” Mingyu teased. He laughed when Wonwoo frowned. “Joking, joking. I don’t swing that way anyway,” he said casually.

“Oh, right. Who was it, then?”

“Do you remember Seungkwan, from the arcade?” Wonwoo nodded. “He was telling me that it’s Seungcheol’s birthday tomorrow!”

“Oh yeah, Seungcheol mentioned his birthday was coming up the last time he came over,” Wonwoo said thoughtfully. “Are you getting him anything?”

Mingyu looked up as the waiter brought them their food and thanked him. Turning back to Wonwoo, he said, “I’m thinking of baking him a cake! Well, it was Seungkwan’s suggestion, but it’s a cool idea.”

Wonwoo knew that Mingyu was a great cook, but he wasn’t sure about his dessert making skills. Well, guess I’ll find out.

It turned out that if anything, Mingyu was at his happiest when making desserts, and he was pretty darn good at it as well. The following morning, Seungcheol’s birthday, was completely occupied with Mingyu planning an elaborately decorated cake. The hardest part was Mingyu’s insistence on drawing the likening of a camel with 10+ different types of icing on the top of the cake; he said that Seungcheol resembled a camel way too much to ignore the opportunity to make use of it. Wonwoo couldn’t really disagree with his line of thinking.

“Do we have any leftover chocolate?” Mingyu asked, busy stirring up his 11th batch of icing. This time, it seemed to be the lovely yellow-brown colour of something you’d find in a toilet. Probably for the camel’s ears.

“Yeah, we still have a bag left,” Wonwoo replied, searching through the abundance of sweet ingredients Mingyu had bought last night after dinner. The arcade Wonwoo wanted to show Mingyu had ended up being closed by the time they got there, much to their disappointment (though Wonwoo wouldn’t admit he was upset).

“Ooh, toss me one!” Mingyu said, pausing his avid stirring to open his mouth like a puppy begging for food.

Wonwoo pursed his lips but gave in; definitely not because of Mingyu’s cuteness in that moment. Or maybe every moment. He took out a square of cooking chocolate and threw it with the best accuracy he could muster. Mingyu caught it gracefully and chewed on it with great enthusiasm.

“Cooking chocolate is so good,” he mumbled. He finished making his last batch of icing and piped it carefully onto the cake. He turned to Wonwoo, holding out a bag of black icing. “Okay, do you wanna help me with the last bit of icing?”

“I don’t particularly want to try. I got a C in high school art,” Wonwoo said.

“Grades don’t define you, Wonwoo,” Mingyu huffed, “I can’t be the only one making this cake. I’m sure you have really neat writing. Maybe you can write ‘happy birthday’ across it,” he suggested.

Looking closer at Mingyu’s creation, Wonwoo couldn’t help but admire the carefully piped designs and the intricacy of the camel itself. It really was a masterpiece. He didn’t want to ruin it with his amateur icing skill.

Steeling himself and willing his hands to stop trembling, Wonwoo piped out ‘Happy Birthday Seungcheol’ around the cake with as much control as he could muster. Mingyu was beside himself in awe at Wonwoo’s ‘hella posh writing’.

“I’m sure Seungcheol will appreciate this amazing effort,” Wonwoo said.

“I think it’s pretty great, don’t you?” Mingyu said. Well, it is, since you’re the one who baked it.

“It’s the love that counts,” Wonwoo said sarcastically.

“Right. So... I guess it’s clean-up time?” Mingyu sighed, looking at around at their chocolate-devastated kitchen. Wonwoo grumbled and grabbed a cloth from the sink.

“Probably would’ve been a good idea to wear aprons,” Wonwoo frowned, looking at Mingyu’s chocolate-smeared shirt.

Mingyu smiled sheepishly. “I actually have some in one of my boxes somewhere... I totally forgot!” He ran off and returned with the most ridiculously cheesy aprons Wonwoo had ever seen.

“Bit late, but might as well wear them for clean up!” Mingyu grinned, handing one to Wonwoo. The one Mingyu put on was obnoxiously bright pink with ‘KISS THE COOK’ printed across it in a hideously generic font (probably Comic Sans). The one Mingyu had given him, however, made him throw up in his mouth slightly. It was an apron with a muscled body printed on it; so it made the wearer look like a totally natural, tan, muscular man. Wonwoo put it on with great reluctance, wincing at Mingyu’s outburst of laughter.

“Wait, wait, I need a photo of this. If this isn’t the best thing Seungcheol will ever see, I don’t know what will be,” Mingyu grabbed his polaroid camera and snapped a quick selfie of them before Wonwoo had time to protest. The result was an incredibly cute picture of a confused (but very muscular) Wonwoo.

Wonwoo didn’t feel like protesting because Mingyu looked so happy. He grabbed his cloth and grudgingly scoured the kitchen surface. It took nearly an hour for the two of them (mostly Wonwoo, since Mingyu was too busy laughing) to clean up all the utensils and bench-tops.

Mingyu sank to the floor in exhaustion, flinging the rag into the sink. Wonwoo sat next to him and handed him a tissue. “You’ve got lots of icing on your face,” he said.

“Oh, really? Where?” Mingyu asked as he scrubbed his face, conveniently missing all of it. Feeling like he was in an incredibly clichéd romance movie, Wonwoo sighed and grabbed the tissue in order to properly free Mingyu’s face of poo-coloured icing smears.

Wonwoo’s face was just a little too close to Mingyu’s and he felt his heartbeat pick up. Has Mingyu always smelt this good?

Mingyu smiled and thanked Wonwoo for cleaning up his mess. “That was so fun. We should bake together more often!”

“Isn’t this just your excuse to see me in this ridiculous apron and smear cake batter on my face without getting into trouble?”

“I’ve heard that cake batter is great for your skin,” Mingyu grinned jokingly, reaching for one of the leftover bags of icing.

“Please, we just cleaned up,” Wonwoo begged. Wonwoo’s reaction to having cake batter splattered on his face was way too funny for Mingyu to resist.

Just as Mingyu was about to decorate Wonwoo’s face for the umpteenth time that morning, his phone buzzed. Seungkwan had added him and Wonwoo to a group chat.

sasskwan
> righteo guys the party’s about to start
> hansol and i are in cheol’s apt right now just chillin
> soonhoon’s about to create a diversion
> u guys gotta get to cheol’s apt quietly in the space of 10 minutes without arousing suspicion
> are you game!??!?!?!!?

mingtwo [a/n; these are all the names Mingyu has in his phone... this is Minghao btw]
> wait right now???

[unknown number]
> yep me and jihoon are creating the best diversion of the century
> u guys can count on us [thumbs up emoji]

seokmean
> chan and i can prob only stay for a while since we have training but we’ll be there :)

[unknown number]
> do we bring presents too?

[unknown number]
> omg josh did jeonghan finish the painting???
> send pic pls

[unknown number]
> [unknown number] sent a photo.

me
> WOAH THATS SO GOOD

sasskwan
> man, cheol will love that

me
> turns out me and wonwoo made him a cake with a camel on it as well
> You sent a photo.

[unknown number]
> woowowoww great minds think alike :O

sasskwan
> alright anyway, u ready for the distraction soonyoung??

[unknown number]
> ayeaye captain :D

[unknown number]
> seungcheol’s feeling salty bc its his birthday and no ones said anything lmao
> [unknown number] sent a photo.

actor-hyung
> lol poor cheol

sasskwan
> oh hey there junhui how did gift hunting go
> bet u its not as great as our gifts

actor-hyung
> shut up seungmeme we’re the best gift buyers
> im still not over u stealing our pokegym

sasskwan
> of course u arent ey
> lets see who got seungcheol the better gift :^)

[unknown number]
> ok guys shut up we’re starting our plan
> get ready to rush to his apartment

sasskwan
> i’m surprised u agreed to this jihoon but ok
> leggo :D

[APARTMENT #811; Lee Jihoon, Kwon Soonyoung]

Seungcheol rubbed his temples in frustration as he stared at the disaster of a kitchen in front of him. He took a deep breath and turned to Soonyoung and Jihoon, who were standing sheepishly in the corner.

“Tell me again... How did you manage to break the pipes?” he asked through gritted teeth. The whole kitchen was flooded, water pooling across all the bench-tops and pouring into the cupboards, soaking everything inside. The tap seemed to have been ripped off the sink, which was where water was spurting out haphazardly.

Soonyoung laughed nervously. “I wonder...”

“I’ll have to call my dad or something. You realise the repair costs will probably add to your rent?” Seungcheol sighed.

“Oh lord, no. I didn’t sign up for this! Please, just let us off this one time, Cheol,” Jihoon pleaded.

Seungcheol ran his hand through his hair and took a closer look at the situation. “It’s pretty serious. How the heck did something like this happen? It looks like a dog attacked the sink.”

“Uh, who knows, hey? Nature is weird,” Soonyoung shrugged.

“Um, I’ll need to go back to my place and ring up my dad,” Seungcheol said, turning to leave.

“Wait! Can’t you just call him here? I mean, you could video call him and show him the situation,” Soonyoung said hurriedly, barring the door with his body in order to stop Seungcheol from exiting.

“Uh, alright,” Seungcheol said suspiciously, but obeying anyway. As Seungcheol was calling his father, Jihoon texted Seungkwan.

me
> alright, seungcheol’s buying it
> he said we’re going to have to pay for the broken tap?!?!?!
> this better be worth it

seungkwan.
> yeh it will we all love cheol<3
> we’re pretty much ready
> all the guests (so far) have arrived
> we’re barely fitting in here and its already at a point where random strangers are wandering into cheol’s bedroom
> so yeh, u can send him up anytime

Jihoon gave Soonyoung an ‘OK’ sign. Seungcheol put his phone away in frustration, saying that he wasn’t able to get a hold of his busy father.

“Oh well. Guess it’s back to your apartment!” Soonyoung said, jittering slightly. Jihoon face-palmed internally. Man, he’s a terrible liar.

Seungcheol furrowed his eyebrows but nevertheless led the way out of the place and down a floor to his apartment. As he unlocked the door, he was greeted with a face full of confetti, flour and screams from more than thirty people crammed into the small room.

“Happy Birthday, Seungcheol!” they all screamed in slightly off unison.

Jihoon had doubted Seungkwan and Hansol’s promise to be ready in under 10 minutes but it seemed that they had managed to pull it off. There were banners hung all over the room, food strewn across every available surface and presents stacked in a disorganised pile in the far corner. Typical 12-year-old party set up.

“What?” was Seungcheol’s appropriate response. He looked thoroughly confused. At least try to look happy, you idiot. We broke our tap for you.

“It’s a surprise party,” Hansol grinned.

“How...”

“Don’t ask, just enjoy,” Seungkwan said, shoving a cupcake in Seungcheol’s face.

One by one, residents of Apartment Block 17 rushed forward to congratulate Seungcheol with words of encouragement, lots of sarcastic remarks and a plethora of birthday punches; Jihoon didn’t miss out on his chance to punch Seungcheol.

“You guys...” Seungcheol mumbled, muffled under the hugs of several residents.

“Hey, Seungcheol!” the tree boy who moved in recently approached Seungcheol and slapped him on the back. “Wonwoo and I made a cake for you! Hope you like it,” he gestured to a large cake sitting in the centre of the dining table. Jihoon sniggered upon seeing the camel drawn with icing on top. I can’t even tell the difference.

“Oh man, I never knew all you guys would’ve known...” Seungcheol bro-hugged yet another random resident Jihoon had never seen before. Further behind, he spotted his cousin, Yoongi, with his roommate whose name Jihoon could never remember. Jimin, maybe? I never remember since Yoongi always just calls him an idiot...

“Cheol!” A gorgeous, black-haired bean pole grinned as he got his turn at bro-hugging Seungcheol. “Up for another match sometime?”

“Jungkook! It’s been so long. I bet you’re just salty I beat you last time**,” Seungcheol smirked.

“Yeah, right. You just got lucky,” Jungkook retorted. Seungcheol laughed and slapped him on the back. Jihoon felt a small tug at his sleeve and he remembered that Soonyoung was still standing awkwardly next to him.

“I never knew so many people actually liked Seungcheol,” Soonyoung whispered to Jihoon.

“Tell me about it,” Jihoon mumbled.

“Should we like, congratulate him or something?” Soonyoung asked.

“If we suck up to him, do you think he’ll let the tap thing go?” Jihoon wondered.

“He seems a bit preoccupied now, though,” Soonyoung sighed, referring to the crowd of people vying for Seungcheol’s attention.

It took a while for the room to settle down after most people in the room had given their congratulations to Seungcheol. Seungkwan and Hansol had been busy for most of it making sure no one was breaking anything; it technically would be their fault if anyone broke anything since they were the party hosts.

Much to Jihoon’s surprise, there were several residents who showed up because they were fans of his rapping.

“My brother showed me your raps the other day and I really liked them! I never knew you could rap so well,” a younger boy told Seungcheol as he held out a present. “Have you ever considered auditioning for a talent agency?”

“Nah, I prefer flying solo. You’re Chan, right? Sungmin’s brother? Damn, yeah, you’re in Pledis, aren’t you!”

“You remember his name, but you still don’t remember mine?” a taller boy, presumably the brother, grumbled as he flicked Seungcheol’s forehead lightly.

“Uh, isn’t it? I swear your name was Sungmin,” Seungcheol insisted.

“Seokmin,” the boy sighed. “We have to go, anyway. Hope you had a good birthday, Seungcheol.”

“Oh, thanks!” Seungcheol smiled sincerely as he waved them goodbye.

Seungkwan decided to move things along and actually get Seungcheol to open some of the presents and eat some of the food before the guests stole it all.

“Mingyu, did you seriously bake this?” Seungcheol mumbled, wolfing down a generous slice of the cake.

“Wonwoo helped a little,” the boy replied humbly.

“Don’t lie. I know Wonwoo can’t cook for shit,” Seungcheol said. The boy standing next to Mingyu - dark brown hair and rather tall, to which Jihoon wondered if everyone in this goddamn building was taller than him - frowned and made a face of mock hurt.

“Well, you’re not wrong. But I did the icing, and a majority of the cleaning up,” he looked pointedly at his roommate.

“Alright!” Seungkwan interrupted loudly, effectively drawing the attention of everyone in the apartment. It seemed that in the last half hour, the number of people squeezed into the room had doubled as more people showed up late.

“Time for the main present!” He grabbed the overflowing notebook and presented it to Seungcheol. Seungcheol grabbed it gingerly, not wanting to get paper-cuts from the sharp edges of photos that stuck out of the pages.

“Seungcheol... Appreciation Book?” he read out slowly. He turned to the first page and stared blankly at the words.

“We went round the entire block yesterday and asked people to write a message in there for you,” Hansol explained.

“If you make it to the end, there’s an extra special message there as well!” Seungkwan added. “It was kinda difficult to get that one on such short notice, so we hope you’ll appreciate it.”

Seungcheol sat in the nearest chair and scanned through the messages in the book. Jihoon couldn’t tell what the expression on his face was. He gave in to curiosity and snuck through the crowd to take a peek at the book. Messages ranged from a simple ‘happy birthday’ to long-ass passages about why they appreciated or ‘hated’ Seungcheol.

Thank you for always taking my trashy paintings. You suck, but I love you in the most heterosexual way. -Jeonghan

Uh, happy birthday, I guess. Yeah. Thanks for taking care of Minghao and I when we needed help with stuff! Much appreciation. -Jun

MY NAME IS SEOKMIN. -S E O K M I N
ps. happy birthday!

I’m sorry to say that I laughed when I heard your rapper name was ‘S.Coups’. I’m sure you’re great at rapping, though (promise I’ll look you up later!). Thanks for being a great caretaker of the place, and just know that this block wouldn’t be the same without you screaming every day or so. Love from Jisoo ♡

CHEOL!! You’re such an idiot but honestly one of my great friends. Your dances are hilarious, and you’re such a dad. Also, hands off Jihoon. (winks) -Soon

I love you, Dad. -Hansol

If you found my camel cake offensive, I’m so sorry!!!! I tried my best!!!! I hope we can become better friends in the future because you seem like a really cool hyung! Happy Birthday!! -Mingyu

After reading countless messages and laughing at photos that were inserted here and there, Seungcheol finally reached the final page. There was a short paragraph written in clean, bold print.

I’m proud of you, so don’t think that I’m not just because I never say so. You’ve got yourself some good friends. I’m thankful that I can count on them to take care of you in my absences. Happy 22nd Birthday, Seungcheol. -Dad

“Dad...?” Seungcheol said faintly.

“I had to call your dad’s office 20 times to finally get him to pick up,” Seungkwan tutted. “He couldn’t make it to this party, but Hansol took the book there this morning for him to sign it.”

“You seriously went to all that trouble?” Seungcheol asked.

“Well, we don’t hate you,” Hansol stated.

“Oh... thanks,” Seungcheol said quietly. He coughed.

“Yeah, we know, we’re pretty great. Don’t cry too much,” Seungkwan said sarcastically. But to his surprise, as much as Seungcheol was trying to hide it, he started choking up.

“I never...”

“Aw man, Seungcheol’s crying!” Soonyoung hollered, pushing through the crowd with a grin on his face, whipping out his phone to video the historical event.

“Shut up, I’m not-” Seungcheol’s protests were muffled by the residents who surged forward to engulf him a huge group hug.

“Appreciate the kindness while you can, Seungcheol!” someone yelled over the commotion.

“We’ll act like we hate you every other day of the year!” another commented.

Seungcheol sniffled and rubbed his face vigorously. “I’m not crying, I swear. Stop videoing,” he tried to lightheartedly shove Soonyoung to the side.

“Sure, sure. Your eyes are probably just sweating. You should probably get that checked out,” Soonyoung smirked.

“Bet you didn’t think people actually cared about you, hey?” Jihoon reached through the crowd and patted Seungcheol on the back.

“I didn’t...”

The screams and Seungcheol’s eye sweating eventually subsided, but the noise level was once again brought up when someone in the crowd insisted Seungcheol deliver a thank you speech. The crowd began chanting “SPEECH! SPEECH!” like a mantra until Seungcheol spoke.

“Don’t make it sound like I’m receiving an Oscar or something,” Seungcheol remarked.

“That book is more precious than any Academy Award, so just do a thank you speech for all our sakes’,” Hansol insisted.

“Um... thank you,” Seungcheol said hesistantly. The crowd burst into yells of disappointment.

“Wait, I’m not done! Jeez, calm down,” Seungcheol held up his arms. “Honestly, I didn’t really think anyone would care about my birthday. I mean, I expected someone to do something, but I didn’t think you actually would bother. Compared to my last birthday, when I just got a $5 cake from the supermarket and a massage gift voucher, this is pretty dope.”

Laughs came from the crowd as someone yelled, “Don’t pretend like you didn’t love that massage!”

“But wow. Seriously, thank you. Hansol and Seungkwan, especially, I’m so glad I met you guys. Though you didn’t do anything for my last birthday...” he said jokingly.

“Hey, we were saving the best for this one!” Seungkwan argued. Seungcheol laughed and shook his head in mock disappointment.

“What was the best present you got?” someone yelled out.

“The book was beautiful. I love it,” Seungcheol said thoughtfully, “I also love and hate all the camel-themed gifts.” The crowd laughed collectively. “Oh yeah, whoever gave me that ticket to a seven-day spa resort deserves my never-ending thanks as well.”

“That was mine!” someone hollered. From near him, Jihoon heard Seungkwan mutter, “Dammit, Junhui.”

“Um, I really do love taking care of this place," he continued before the crowd’s noise could grow louder. "Though you guys can give me headaches multiple times a day, I’m sure I give you all the equivalent back. That goes for everyone in this goddamn apartment block who didn’t show up today. I don’t know many of you particularly well, but I definitely notice your presence. Plus, I have your personal records in my cupboard somewhere.” The crowd groaned.

“I hope we can grow closer in the next year and become more of a family. Thanks for putting up with my nonsense. I really do care about this place a lot, so thanks for cooperating and caring enough to wish me happy birthday today,” he finished to loud cheers and pats on the back from satisfied residents.

After thanking a few more people, the party resumed back to how it was before, except most guests had begun talking to others in the room instead of swarming Seungcheol. Jihoon noticed that Hansol was holding a camera in a vlog-style position, capturing most of the events of the party.

“I’m gonna release this as a vlog on our channel,” Hansol explained to Jihoon. “Seungcheol’s always complaining that we don’t let him appear our videos, so we decided to let him have some publicity for once.”

“Oh, are you going to advertise his rapping or something?” Jihoon asked.

“Pretty much. Hope he appreciates it,” Hansol grinned.

“I will!” Seungcheol slung his arm around Hansol from behind, looking into the camera and making a disgustingly cute face. Noticing Jihoon, he unengaged himself and disappeared from the camera’s view. “Oh hey, Jihoon. Mind if I ask you and Soonyoung something?”

“I guess,” Jihoon pulled Soonyoung over from where he was, crouched over the food table, gobbling down an unhealthy amount of cupcakes.

“What was your broken tap really about?” Seungcheol asked seriously. Jihoon groaned; he had hoped that Seungcheol would’ve forgotten about it.

“Uh, surprise?” Soonyoung mumbled through his mouthful of cupcakes.

“It was a distraction to get you out of your apartment so the others could set up the decorations,” Jihoon explained rationally.

“You couldn’t think of anything else?” Seungcheol said in disbelief.

“Seungcheol. Do you really think you would’ve left your apartment if it wasn’t as drastic as a broken tap?” Jihoon pointed out.

“Fair enough.”

“So, since you’re feeling extra nice and kind today, do you think you could let us off the hook? Because we helped planned this party and we’re your best friends in the entire world who love you more than anything and would even take a paper cut anytime, any day for you?” Soonyoung pleaded.

“You must be joking, Soonyoung,” Seungcheol sighed.

“Love you, Cheol!” Soonyoung grinned as he ran out of the apartment, dragging Jihoon along by his wrist.

“Kwon Soonyoung, do you really think I asked for you to break your tap?!” Seungcheol yelled as he chased the two outside. “Your rent’s gonna be tripled next month!”

The crowd hushed as they watched the centre of the party run out of the place like a maniac. No one knew what to do.

“This place really wouldn’t be right without Seungcheol’s yelling,” Seungkwan sighed. Murmurs of agreement spread across the room as the guests began packing up and leaving with lack of anything better to do, returning back to their normal lives in Apartment Block 17.

Chapter Text

[APARTMENT #417; Jeon Wonwoo, Kim Mingyu]

“Good morning,” Mingyu yawned as he plopped himself down onto the couch next to his roommate.

“Finally decided to wake up before 9AM?” Wonwoo raised an eyebrow, moving aside to allow more room for Mingyu’s lanky legs.

“I don’t know how you manage to wake up before 9 in the summer holidays. You’re probably not human,” Mingyu reasoned.

“It’s called having your life in order,” Wonwoo replied, switching channels for the umpteenth time. Aside from cringeworthy kids shows, morning news programs and sitcom reruns, there was nothing noteworthy on TV. The drama Mingyu had been watching had ended its reruns, with Wonwoo watching them on TV every morning while Mingyu had to watch the recorded version later as he was never awake early enough. Wonwoo had nearly shed a tear at the finale (not that he’d ever tell Mingyu he was secretly watching it).

“Not everyone has that luxury,” Mingyu yawned again and stretched, nearly hitting Wonwoo in the head. “Oh yeah, I finished reading ‘Me Before You’ last night! It was so sad!” Mingyu sniffled for good measure.

“Oh, I didn’t think you’d actually read it,” Wonwoo said incredulously. He felt immense happiness building up inside that Kim Mingyu of all people actually read a book. For all Wonwoo knew, Mingyu had trouble paying attention long enough to read a simple recipe; it was a wonder the boy knew how to cook so well.

Wonwoo managed to keep up a decent conversation with his roommate about the book until Mingyu’s stomach rumbled, signalling a need for breakfast.

“I definitely appreciate that you actually read something I recommended,” Wonwoo told him as he popped some bread into the toaster. “No offence, but I didn’t think you were the type who read books for fun.”

“Excuse me,” Mingyu clutched his chest in mock hurt. “When I was little, I read the phone book for fun,” he said with an emphasis on ‘fun’.

He was lying, of course; the last book Mingyu had fully read, not including textbooks, was Romeo and Juliet for his 10th grade literature class. And that was a play, not a novel. He found it mildly interesting, unlike the books he had to read for his senior literature classes; in which he had relied on summaries and essays from the internet to pass the subject.

“Whatever you say,” Wonwoo exhaled - his version of a laugh, Mingyu had learned - as he took butter out from the fridge and began lathering it generously across the slices of toast.

As they ate in silence, Mingyu searched for more topics of interest to talk about with Wonwoo. Ever since their arcade visit, Mingyu noticed that Wonwoo was a lot more open to conversation compared to before. That, and Wonwoo had displayed more emotions in the past week than Mingyu had seen in the first two weeks of living with him.

“Hey,” Mingyu mumbled through his mouthful of toast after finally remembering something he had to ask, “Do you happen to know if there’s a job opening at the café you work at?”

Mingyu had visited Wonwoo’s workplace, Jam Jam Café, a few times since moving in, and he really enjoyed the calming atmosphere the place held. Next months’ rent would need to be paid in just over a week, so Mingyu figured it was about time he went job hunting.

“Not sure, I’ll have to ask my boss. Do you need a job?” Wonwoo asked.

“Yeah. Need to be able to pay the rent, after all,” Mingyu said sadly. “I was meant to find one earlier, but I guess was in too much of a holiday mood.”

“Well, I honestly don’t feel like Jam Jam is the right place for you,” Wonwoo said carefully. Noticing Mingyu’s slightly downcast expression at his words, he hurriedly continued, “It’s way too serious. You wouldn’t enjoy working there, and it gets really hectic and uptight sometimes.”

“Or am I just not sophisticated enough to work there?”

“Maybe...” Wonwoo said sheepishly. “But you can give it a go! I’ll try hook you up. If it doesn’t work out, we can ask Seungcheol. He should know about open jobs around here; he practically knows everything.”

“Thanks, Wonwoo,” Mingyu smiled. “Well, it’d be cool to work there since I already know you and Junhui-hyung.”

“We can head down there this afternoon, since I’ve got a shift today,” Wonwoo suggested.

“Sounds cool!” Mingyu grinned, jumping up and bringing their empty plates to the sink. “In the meantime, wanna play some Mario Kart?” he asked, not expecting Wonwoo to agree.

“You’re on,” Wonwoo grinned quickly and dashed off to the living room.

Wait, I thought you said you hated racing games? Mingyu shrugged and happily followed his roommate, who was already on the couch holding out a remote for him.

[APARTMENT #118; Choi Hansol, Boo Seungkwan]

“Seungkwan, should we join any clubs?” Hansol wondered as he read an email he received that morning from their high school.

“Oh, is that about that email?” Seungkwan joined Hansol behind his laptop.

The email that was sent to all students asked them to consider joining new clubs for the new semester. Due to the current clubs being overfilled, several new clubs had opened up for students to join. Seungkwan was currently in choir, but Hansol wasn’t in any clubs as he saw them as a waste of time.

“Yeah. Are you gonna continue choir?”

“Nah, I’m a bit bored of it,” Seungkwan said, scanning the list of new clubs. “Oh! Let’s try drama!”

“Drama? As in, acting? No thanks,” Hansol screwed his nose in disgust.

“Why not? You already look like Leonardo DiCaprio. You’re wasting your visual,” Seungkwan tutted.

“Looks aren’t synonymous with talent,” Hansol sighed.

Seungcheol laughed from where he was quietly observing across the table. “Just do it!”

“Hearing that from you of all people isn’t going to change my outlook on an acting career,” Hansol shook his head. “There don’t seem to be any clubs for me. I’ll probably just go clubless again this semester.”

“C’mon, Hansol,” Seungkwan tugged his arm. “You’ll never know unless you try.”

“I’ll come watch you,” Hansol decided. “No promises on me joining, but I’ll come watch you (fail),” he coughed jokingly. Seungkwan slapped his arm lightheartedly.

“You should ask Junhui for help on acting,” Seungcheol said. “He does drama at Pledis.”

“Well, it certainly suits him,” Hansol said thoughtfully, thinking about the outgoing and friendly hyung they had acquainted themselves with since their Pokémon Go banters.

“Oh wait, I just remembered,” Seungkwan interrupted. “Talking about school, did you manage to find a tutor?”

“Crap! I forgot about that,” Hansol admitted. “I’ve been studying hard, but I totally forgot to look for one.”

“Oh yeah, I was meant to ask around, wasn’t I?” Seungcheol asked sheepishly. “Gimme a second, I think I know someone,” he said as he took out his phone.

me
> yo jeonghann
> doesnt jisoo study some science stuff at uni
> is he good at maths
> specificaly high school maths

jeongman
> well he studies astronomy so
> he’s pretty good at maths as far as I know
> how come?

me
> think u could gimme his number or smth
> need to ask him favours

jeongman
> hmmmmm what do I get in return?

me
> youre charging me for his number?!

jeongman
> he’s valuable to me
> I’m not giving out his number so easily ;)

me
> //.... um you don’t have to pay rent next month?

jeongman
> two months and we have a deal
> I’m lacking artistic inspiration and I have a load of uni stuff so pls

me
> ... fine.

jeongman
> thanks<3
> xxx-xxx-xxx
> also if ur gonna text him now can u tell him to hurry up with my milk
> hes ignoring me :(

me
> um ok

me
> hey jisoo, this is seungcheol
> jeonghan gave me your number if you were wondering

jicool
> oh ok.. hi seungcheol!
> do you need anything?

me
> are u good at high school math

jicool
> um... yeah... i didn’t fail lol
> why...?

me
> i got a child here who needs some help
> figured since ur doing like a science degree
> u’d be alright enough to help the boy out

jicool
> oh, who is it?
> i’d be happy to help

me
> he’ll pay u ofc
> oh his name’s hansol
> good kid
> bit weird though

jicool
> WAIT HANSOL
> CHOI HANSOL?????

me
> yes wait omg are you a stalker why do you know him

jicool
> lol he knows me you can ask
> i hope he remembers me
> bUT OMG I’D LOVE TO TUTOR HIM

me
> ok jisoo hold up you’re creeping me out here
> not sure i wanna let u anymore
> now that i know ur so eager...

jicool
> I’M NOT A PEDOPHILE
> ASK JEONGHAN,HE KNOWS
> i’m a gentleman.
> NO BUT i just rlly love boonon and i met hansol the other day
> now i know its not some dodgy kid you know
> id be happy to help !!@#

me
> sounds fake but ok
> do u have his number

jicool
> yeah he gave it to me for ur birthday plan thingy

me
> um ok
> i am slightly disturbed at how my birthday brought u guys all together

jicool
> disturbed? its an amazing thing
> friendship !!!1 not that you would know,hey ;)
> anyway ok i’ll text him later
> bye~

me
> byebye
> oh yeah jeonghan says to hurry up with the milk whatever tht means

jicool
> yeh i know i was ignoring his texts on purpose :)
> im at the store rn so u can tell him to chill lol

me
> tell him urself i’ve got stuff to do

jicool
> :(

“Okay, so,” Seungcheol said, drawing the attention of the two boys back to him. “Apparently you know Jisoo.”

“Jisoo-hyung! Yes, I know him! Wait, did you ask him if he could tutor me?” Hansol asked excitedly.

“Wow, didn’t know you guys were so in love already,” Seungcheol said dryly. “But yeah, he said he’ll text you later.”

“I never thought of asking him! Thanks, Cheol,” Hansol grinned.

“Just part of my job,” Seungcheol said, ruffling Hansol’s hair. “Anyway, I have some errands to run, so I’ll head off. Have fun with Jisoo.”

“Thanks, Seungcheol,” Seungkwan said. Seungcheol detected a hint of sarcasm and wondered if Seungkwan held something against him for bringing up Jisoo. Ah, teenage jealousy.

[PRETTY U BEAUTY SALON]

“Hurry up, Jeonghan! The cars leave in five!”

Fumbling to cram all his makeup brushes into his bags, Jeonghan mumbled out reassurances to his manager that he’d be out on time.

The salon he worked at, Pretty U, had close ties with Pledis Entertainment and would often be called out for makeup assistance on big projects for their trainees. Such times filled with Jeonghan with more dread than excitement; helping out with trainees’ makeup was essentially a trip to hell.

Not only were makeup artists pressured with the task of beautifying these pure, innocent trainees to fit society’s standards, but working on little sleep, in terrible time constraints and studios was commonplace. Jeonghan felt blessed that he was only a part time helper.

Throwing his bags into the last departing car, Jeonghan squeezed into the seat next to his fellow co-workers. The air was stuffy with stress and fatigue, and all Jeonghan wanted to do was curl up in bed back home. Preferably, with Jisoo.

Arriving at Pledis Entertainment was just as hectic as it had always been. The drivers ejected their passengers violently, bags were mixed up (everyone just had to grab what they could and work with it) and Pledis staff would swarm the makeup artists with directions on where to go and who to beautify. Jeonghan usually stuck to one of his seniors, but today, a staff member instructed him to head to a certain studio and tend to one of the dance teams.

Over his several visits to Pledis Entertainment, Jeonghan had formed quite a close bond with a few of the trainees there. Having to feel their faces for a good hour or so really brought them closer together. He spotted a few of his close trainee friends on his way to his assigned destination.

“Hey, Seokmin!” he reached out for a quick and awkward hand-hug as they passed by each other in a flurry. Seokmin, a tall, brown-haired vocalist, was being ushered quickly by staff members into one of the building’s many recording studios. He barely had time to say hello before he was guided into the room.

At first glance, the building’s current situation was no different to a hospital’s emergency unit. Announcements were going off at every given second and people in white formal-wear were rushing left and right to God knows where. Jeonghan managed to make his way through the crowd to his destination.

The room was a dance studio turned into a makeshift makeup studio, with rags and boxes of makeup strewn everywhere in front of the giant mirrors. Jeonghan wasn’t even sure what important performance they were preparing for this time; but it happened quite often at Pledis.

“Jeonghan, there you are!” one of his coworkers, a tall, black-haired boy named Hyungwon called as he spotted the boy enter the room. “We’re doing up this lovely group of boys for an important dance performance today. I’ve started with their hair, but we need help with their makeup because Jihyo was reassigned somewhere else,” he instructed.

“Alright,” Jeonghan said, setting his tools down in front of the first boy and reading the instructions he was given on the group’s concept.

After the group briefly introduced themselves, Jeonghan set to work on the first boy, who went by his stage name, ‘Rocky’.*

The room settled into a comfortable silence as Hyungwon and Jeonghan worked tirelessly to prepare the six dancers for their performance. The boys started talking after a while, having nothing else to do.

“Hey, Chan, are you still looking for a tutor?” one of the older boys asked. Jeonghan remembered him introducing himself as Shownu, the unofficial leader of the group.

The younger boy, who had just returned from the change rooms, sat back down in his seat and turned to the older boy. Though he had introduced himself by his stage name, ‘Dino’, he insisted on being referred to by his real name, Chan.

“Yeah, I haven’t been able to find someone available,” he said sadly.

“What do you need a tutor for?” a boy named Jinyoung asked.

“Maths. I failed my last test, and it hasn’t been looking that good lately either.”

“Maths sucks. You’re a trainee anyway, you’ve got better things to worry about,” another boy assured.

Jeonghan was currently finishing up one of the boy’s makeup; a tall, attractive trainee by the name of Hyungkyung. He didn’t particularly want to interrupt their conversation, but remembering that Jisoo had agreed to tutor Hansol earlier that morning, he decided it would probably be beneficial to the young boy.

“Hey, if you’re looking for a tutor, I think I know someone,” he said.

“Really?” Chan sat bolt upright with a smile on his face. The pure innocence of the boy made Jeonghan want to protect him.

“My boyfriend’s really good at maths. I’m sure he’ll be happy to help out,” Jeonghan smiled back.

“That would be so good! You have no idea how hard it is to find a good maths tutor these days,” Chan said, sighing.

“Give me your number later and we can arrange stuff,” Jeonghan suggested, starting to apply makeup on the next trainee.

“Chan, stop moving so much. You’ll ruin your hair,” Hyungwon chided.

The conversation relapsed back into random things, as well as last minute instructions for their upcoming performance. Jeonghan and Hyungwon were dismissed an hour later, after finalising preparations, and were allowed to go straight home.

“Good work, Jeonghan. That was a particularly hectic shift,” Hyungwon sighed as he reached his apartment block, which was several blocks away from Jeonghan’s. Bidding each other goodbye, Jeonghan trudged to Apartment Block 17 and managed to get to his apartment before he collapsed. He had worked for two hours longer than he usually did, so to put it simply, the pavement was suddenly looking very comfortable to him.

“Jeonghan,” Jisoo grinned as he opened the door with open arms. Jeonghan gladly accepted them and held the boy tightly. As far as Jeonghan was concerned, Jisoo was the best smelling person he’d ever met (not in a creepy way, of course), which made his hugs a million times more comforting.

“I hate going to Pledis,” Jeonghan mumbled into Jisoo’s woollen sweater. “If I see one more makeup brush, I’ll throw up.”

“Hope you don’t mind seeing regular paintbrushes,” Jisoo said as he disentangled his arms from Jeonghan, “Don’t forget about your project that’s due tomorrow.”

Jeonghan groaned and trudged to the kitchen, gripping onto Jisoo’s hand tightly and dragging the boy along.

“You cooked?” Jeonghan said incredulously, staring at the steaming plate of deliciousness awaiting him on the dining table.

“Why do you make it sound like I’m a terrible cook?” Jisoo laughed, snaking his arms around Jeonghan’s waist in a semi-back hug that Jeonghan loved a little too much.

“Because you are.”

Jeonghan found out later that the delicious dinner was actually a pre-prepared meal that just had to be heated up in the microwave. Nevertheless, it was pretty good.

“Oh yeah,” Jeonghan mumbled through the food, starting up a casual conversation as they usually did during dinner, “Do you think you’ll be able to handle one more boy to tutor?”

“What?” Jisoo nearly choked on his food, which he had been eating in large mouthfuls.

“Today at Pledis, a child was saying he needed a tutor,” Jeonghan said. “So small, so cute. You gotta help him.”

“Oh no. Are you latching on to this one?” Jisoo knew Jeonghan’s motherly tendencies to baby anyone he found small and innocent. Though a bit weird at times, Jisoo found it kind of endearing.

“Okay, he’s not that small. But he’s so young.”

“What’s his name?”

“Chan.”

“Okay, that’s cute.”

“I know, right! So, you’ll tutor him? I’ll give you his number.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Jeonghan knew Jisoo was too nice to say no.

me
> hello

4chan
> .... hi

me
> i’m jisoo
> jeonghan asked me if i could tutor you

4chan
> oh!! i didn’t know your name sorry
> nice to meet you jisoo!
> do you think you could help me with my maths :(
> i’m a 2nd year at pledis high

me
> yeah should be no problem
> i’m actually tutoring another one though wait
> im not sure what year he’s in lol
> might be easier to help you both at the same time but i’ll check hang on

4chan
> oh ok whatever’s easier for you!
> im just thankful i can get some help
> the holiday homework is killing me

me
> rip
> i definitely dont miss high school
> b rb

me
> hansol wht year are you in

memesol
> 3rd year

me
> oh ok thanks
> also when do u wanna come over

memesol
> what day is it tmr

me
> friday?

memesol
> when does school start

me
> like next week
> dunno about high school but uni starts in about a week

memesol
> shit
> i’ll come tmr then... you free around 11?

me
> k

me
> nvm he’s 3rd year

4chan
> ok then

me
> ill have to tutor you separately
> when do you wanna start?

4chan
> tmr morning?

me
> ok but it has to be before 11
> 10?

4chan
> ok thanks!!! :)
> one more thing
> uh, where do you live? :P

me
> o right
> do u live close to pledis? since ur a trainee

4chan
> yep. apartment block nearby

me
> ok i do aswell
> do u know apartment block 17?

4chan
> WHAT YEAH I LIVE THERE

me
> oh wat
> coincidence HAHAHAHA
> i’m in apt 104

4chan
> ok ill see u tmr then!!! :D

me
> oh yeah, hwo was your dance performance?

4chan
> oh, did jeonghan tell you?

me
> he texted me briefly :)

4chan
> oh ok well....
> it was sO GOOD
> my hyungs are amazing im so proud!!

me
> wish i could’ve seen it! love me some good dancing

4chan
> well, the pledis hosts a showcase for students at the school every year
> you could come then :D

me
> wouldnt miss it for the world :-)
> looking forward to meeting u tmr :D

4chan
> me too!!! jeonghan’s super nice so u must be too

“How much did you pay this child to say you were nice?” Jisoo poked Jeonghan.

“I’m a genuinely nice person,” Jeonghan shrugged. “I can’t help it.”

Jisoo laughed in disbelief. The poor boy has no idea what he’s getting himself into with Jeonghan. I pray for his soul.

“Also, turns out Chan lives in this block as well,” Jisoo added.

“Well, it is a big apartment block,” Jeonghan said.

“He’s coming over tomorrow, and so is Hansol. Don’t be creepy,” Jisoo warned jokingly.

“Who do you take me for?” Jeonghan shook his head. “But hey, you sure you can handle tutoring both of them?” he added in a serious tone.

“Well, I could use the extra money, since Hansol insisted he’d pay me,” Jisoo said. “I don’t mind giving up the extra time.”

“You’re too nice,” Jeonghan smiled.

“One of us has to be the nice one,” Jisoo teased, “Knowing you, you would’ve turned them down just so you could keep your extra sleep-in time.”

Jeonghan couldn’t really disagree.

After much chiding and insistence on Jisoo’s part, he finally got Jeonghan to his room to finish his holiday project that was due the next day. Pledis University was holding some random art showcase, and participants had to hand in their works before school started the following week. Though Jeonghan’s work schedule had been hectic lately, he still managed to complete a majority of his artwork; Jisoo was in awe at how the boy managed to stay standing.

“Don’t push yourself too hard, okay?” Jisoo said as he handed Jeonghan a cup of milk. The boy perked up and gulped it down thankfully as he picked up his paintbrush grudgingly.

“You know I’m too lazy to push that hard,” Jeonghan said good-naturedly. “Don’t push yourself too hard either,” he smiled. Though Jisoo knew Jeonghan could be cunning at times, his angelic smile and laugh shone so brightly that it could probably cure cancer. That is, when it wasn’t laced with devilish intentions.

Kissing him gently, Jisoo wondered how he ever got lucky enough to meet Jeonghan.

Trudging back to his room; which was next to Jeonghan’s, as the two could never agree on how to share space, resulting in having to spend nights together in alternating bedrooms; Jisoo decided he’d better dig out his old maths books his mother had insisted on bringing over from America. Sorry, Jeonghan. If you’re not sleeping tonight, then neither am I.

Chapter Text

[JAM JAM CAFÉ]

“Sorry about yesterday, Wonwoo,” the café manager apologised as his worker entered the establishment. “I didn’t know we’d have a sudden health inspection.”

“It’s alright. But I have Mingyu with me today, since he couldn’t come yesterday,” he replied in his deep voice.

Wonwoo had always been a quiet and diligent worker, which gained him the approval of his manager and coworkers. He wasn’t necessarily shy, and was able to deal with customers quite skilfully, but tended to keep to himself most of the time. His coworkers had learnt to respect that.

It puzzled the manager as to why someone like Kim Mingyu even had contact with Jeon Wonwoo. Upon entering the café after Wonwoo, he brought in an aura of cheerfulness and joy that seemed far more appropriate for a kindergarten, not a high-end coffee shop. The manager had met Mingyu on occasion as Wonwoo’s new roommate, but how their relationship worked out was still a mystery.

“Hi, I’m Mingyu!” he greeted boisterously, bowing a full 90 degrees. The manager nodded his head and shook Mingyu’s hand firmly.

Wonwoo didn’t have a shift that day, since it was Friday, but he negotiated with his manager to let him work the shift to make up for the one lost yesterday. Because the café had been closed for a health inspection, he had spent a majority of his afternoon playing Mario Kart with Mingyu. He hated to admit that he got a little too into playing the game with his roommate; it had been a long time since he’d played Mario Kart with someone else.

Unsurprisingly to Wonwoo, Jam Jam had passed the inspection with flying colours. The fact that the place was always kept impeccably clean was one of the reasons Wonwoo liked working at Jam Jam. It was also one of the reasons Wonwoo hesitated on letting Mingyu work there - the boy was an accident waiting to happen.

“Today, we’ll just let you help out at the register and perhaps some odd jobs around the place. Have you ever worked as a cashier before?” the manager asked as he led Mingyu behind the counter. The café was already bustling with customers seeking a late-afternoon coffee. Wonwoo noticed several girls from his university eyeing Mingyu inconspicuously from where they sat at a corner table.

“No. But I’ll try!” Mingyu said, determined.

“You’ll keep an eye on him, won’t you, Wonwoo?”

“Yeah,” he assured his manager. “I’ll make sure he won’t break anything. Hopefully.”

By the time Junhui arrived for his shift two hours later, Mingyu had managed to spill five coffees, collapse a shelf in his quest to grab another bag of sugar, accidentally key in an order for fifty pancakes instead of five (much to the chef’s annoyance) and pour salt instead of sugar into multiple orders of coffee. Wonwoo was exhausted from having to apologise to both the customers and his manager (though if there was something Mingyu was good at, it was apologising).

“Hey, Mingyu! How’s the work?” Junhui greeted, slapping on his Jam Jam apron and joining them behind the counter.

“Great!”

“Terrible,” Wonwoo said simultaneously as he furiously scrubbed the counter, cleaning up another one of Mingyu’s spills. Junhui chuckled as Mingyu rubbed his neck sheepishly.

“It’s a lot harder than I imagined,” Mingyu admitted, grabbing another rag and helping Wonwoo.

“Money doesn’t come easy,” Junhui said.

“I hope I get paid overtime for all this work,” Wonwoo muttered.

“Stop being so grumpy, Wonwoo. Mingyu’s trying his best!” Junhui laughed, patting Mingyu on the back.

“I really am,” Mingyu nodded.

“I know. I just wish you’d be less clumsy,” Wonwoo said.

“Can’t change a person, Wonwoo. Just accept him as he is and your life will be easier,” Junhui advised. “When I first met Minghao, I hated that he chewed his fingernails all the time. But now that I’ve accepted that he’ll never not bite his nails... well, my life is easier.”

“Thanks for the stellar advice, Jun,” Wonwoo said sarcastically. Junhui grinned sheepishly. Even though he'd been living in Korea for nearly two years and learnt the language for over ten, he still found it difficult to explain certain things.

Junhui took to serving the intermittent flow of customers, while Wonwoo and Mingyu helped out with the drinks. Wonwoo instructed Mingyu as carefully as he could, and Mingyu initially seemed to get the hang of using the coffee machine. But of course, all good things must come to an end.

“Wonwoo, something’s wrong,” Mingyu said slowly, fiddling with something on the coffee machine. It had only been ten minutes since Wonwoo had left him to his own devices.

Wonwoo breathed in deeply in an attempt to calm his oncoming headache. “What happened?”

Mingyu’s tongue was sticking out in concentration, as he attempted to fit a metal piece back into the top of the machine. “The ice was stuck, so I tried to unjam it but this piece came off.” He held up a metal pipe-like object.

Much to Wonwoo’s relief and surprise, it wasn’t actually entirely Mingyu’s fault. Wonwoo remembered having an internal panic attack when he broke the exact same part the first time he worked in the café. It seemed that it was a small ‘easter egg’ some of the senior workers left for novice workers to stumble upon.

Wonwoo took the pipe and fitted it back with ease. Mingyu gave him a relieved smile. “I thought I broke it,” he said with guilt.

Wonwoo patted him on the back awkwardly. “Not everything you touch breaks. You’re probably just having a bad day,” he assured Mingyu.

“Wow, that’s the nicest thing I’ve heard you say to him,” Junhui leaned over from the cash register and sniggered.

“Shut up,” Wonwoo mumbled. “It’s true.”

Jam Jam’s manager set Mingyu on cleaning duty next, as he figured nothing else could go wrong with simple cleaning. Aside from a few slips and dropped utensils, Mingyu seemed to be pretty good at mopping. Most of the female customers seemed to have no problem with Mingyu cleaning up their messes; it got to a point where Wonwoo strongly believed that none of those messes were accidental in the first place.

“I’m so sorry,” Mingyu’s signature apology slipped out habitually, “I’ll get you another coffee!” he insisted as he mopped up another ‘accidental’ spill by a customer. Wonwoo wondered why Mingyu was even apologising in the first place.

“That’s okay!” the customer, a young girl wearing grossly excessive makeup smiled sickeningly sweetly at an oblivious Mingyu. “Instead, do you think I could get your number?”

“Sorry, I’m not interested,” Mingyu replied bluntly but honestly. The girl pouted in what was meant to be a cute gesture, but ended up resembling more of a slutty duck.

Wonwoo held back a laugh from where he observed behind the counter. Mingyu never meant anything in a mean way, but his honesty could sometimes make him sound extremely blunt. Wonwoo wasn’t sure how Mingyu felt about always being approached by girls; it happened every other day or so around the apartment block, and to be frank, it really pissed Wonwoo off. He wasn’t sure why it made him so angry, though watching Mingyu turn them down using different good-natured excuses proved to be very entertaining. However, among all the excuses Mingyu had come up with so far, he had yet to use the ‘gay card’.

Mingyu left abruptly after gathering all the dishes, much to the disappointment of the girl. She looked as if she was about to get up and chase him, but after noticing Wonwoo’s glare from behind the counter, she sat back down quietly. Sometimes, Wonwoo was glad that he possessed what Junhui referred to as a ‘resting bitch face’.

The bell at the door rang as two more customers entered. Wonwoo stood up straighter, preparing himself to serve them (assuming they weren’t just there to window shop, but to actually buy something).

“But how are we gonna pay for it?” one of the two customers, a teenage boy with dyed blue hair, said with a troubled tone. Wonwoo recognised him, having met him a few times around his apartment block, though they had never actually talked before.

“Beats me,” the other customer, a shorter boy with light purple hair sighed.

“Welcome to Jam Jam, how may I help you?” Junhui greeted brightly as the customers approached the counter. After they placed their order, Junhui continued talking to them with great ease. Wonwoo had always been jealous of how easily Junhui managed to converse with others.

“Aren’t you two the ones Seungcheol was chasing out at his surprise party?” Junhui asked with a laugh.

“Yeah, that’s us!” the blue-haired boy grinned and high-fived Junhui as if they were old friends.

“That’s not exactly something to be proud of,” the purple-haired boy muttered.

“Was what I heard true? You broke your tap to distract Seungcheol?” Wonwoo interrupted, joining the conversation.

“Unfortunately, yes,” the shorter boy sighed.

Introducing themselves as ‘Soonyoung’ and ‘Jihoon’, the two boys seemed to settle in well with the workers in the café. Well, Soonyoung at least; it was hard to feel uncomfortable in the presence of his cheerful aura. One of Wonwoo’s coworkers, Taehyung, brought their food out and sat the two boys down at an available table.

The shop settled back into its usual peaceful atmosphere (occasionally interrupted by Soonyoung’s exclamations and Jihoon’s insistence on lowering his voice), with Wonwoo taking over the register and Junhui helping Mingyu out with the drinks.

Seeing that the place was relatively empty, Junhui started talking freely with Mingyu. He grabbed his bag from the bag rack, digging through all the junk to find something.

“Before I forget, I brought the audition script,” he said, handing Mingyu a slightly crumpled booklet.

“What’s that?” Wonwoo asked curiously, abandoning his position at the cash register.

“Oh, didn’t Mingyu tell you?” Junhui said smugly, as if he had knew a secret no one else did, “He’s gonna try out for the end-of-year play.”

“Oh, that hugely important one?” Wonwoo remembered Junhui trying extra hard to earn a role in the previous year’s play; but only being able to score the role of an unnamed background character. Wonwoo had been helping Junhui practise his acting for the past few months in preparation for this year’s auditions; leading to the awkward position they were in when Mingyu first entered the apartment a few weeks ago.

“Yeah. It’s great exposure and lots of casting directors attend it,” Junhui said. “Auditions are in the first week of school.”

“Oh, is it the same script we’ve been practising?” Wonwoo asked, leaning over Mingyu to scan the script.

“Yep,” Junhui grinned, “You can help Mingyu practise!” Mingyu nodded enthusiastically.

“Do you know what the play’s gonna be about?” Wonwoo asked, ignoring Junhui’s suggestion.

“This is the script from last year’s play, so no one knows what this year’s is going to be,” Junhui said sadly. “Apparently it’s going to be really different, something they haven’t done before. But I do know that they’re asking for two male leads and one female. Maybe it’s just another love triangle thing.”

“Haven’t heard of that one before,” Wonwoo said sarcastically. “Good luck to you both. Maybe you two could end up getting the male leads; that’ll be really entertaining to watch,” he added, returning to the cash register as he heard the bell ring at the door, signalling a new customer.

“Jeonghan!” Wonwoo greeted, recognising the long-haired boy as he entered the café. The boy smiled upon seeing Wonwoo, as well as acknowledging Soonyoung and Jihoon, who greeted him as well.

“Jeonghan?” Mingyu’s ears perked as he recognised the name of the artist which Seungcheol had told him about.

“Oh, you must be Mingyu,” Jeonghan smiled at the boy as he approached the counter. “Wonwoo’s told me lots about you.”

“No, I’ve only mentioned him once,” Wonwoo denied, heading to the coffee machine to whip up Jeonghan’s usual.

“Oh,” Mingyu laughed nervously, not sure how to react. He didn’t know that Wonwoo knew Jeonghan so well. “I heard you were the one who painted all those amazing artworks around the apartment block!”

“Oh, yeah that’s true! Seungcheol’s too stingy to buy actual decor so he relies on me,” Jeonghan shook his head.

“They’re honestly so beautiful. I’ve always been interested in design and art,” Mingyu said. “But I never got the time with school and stuff.”

“Oh, really? That’s cool to hear,” Jeonghan gave him a warm smile. “Do you know Soonyoung over there?” He pointed to the blue-haired boy who waved enthusiastically when he heard his name. “He runs free dance classes, and I was planning on starting my own with art. At my university, we have to complete some volunteer stuff during our time studying there, so if you’re interested...”

“I’d love to!” Mingyu jumped at the opportunity. Wonwoo returned from the back kitchen, setting down a coffee and muffin in front of Jeonghan, who accepted and paid for it.

“What’re you so excited about?” Wonwoo asked curiously, seeing Mingyu jitter slightly with excitement.

“Jeonghan said he could teach me art!”

“Art’s pretty broad. I’m not sure if I’ll end up doing the classes, but I’ll let you know,” he said as he slipped a piece of paper with his number on it towards Mingyu. Wonwoo narrowed his eyes.

“Well, have fun with that,” he said curtly, leaving to clean up an imaginary mess in the back kitchen.

“You’re really acting like a jealous bitch, Wonwoo,” Junhui commented, having observed the situation through the window of the kitchen.

“Shut up,” Wonwoo hit Junhui’s shoulder. “It’s nice to know that Mingyu’s getting to know more people.”

“Your face doesn’t exactly reflect that,” Junhui pointed out.

“It’s just my face.”

“Your tone doesn’t either.”

“Shut up and get back to work, Wen.”

“Right back at you, Jeon.”

Mingyu heard the sound of laughter float through the café from the kitchen as Jeonghan took his food and sat down at Soonyoung and Jihoon’s table. Peeking through the window (technically a hole in the wall, through which food would pass through and hopefully not spill in the process), he saw Wonwoo and Junhui poking each other teasingly. Junhui slapped Wonwoo on the back before parting, so their manager wouldn’t catch them goofing off.

Mingyu was genuinely a pure-hearted person, and never would he say that he felt green feelings; his mindset was more bright and yellow than an ugly green. But couldn’t help but feel slightly jealous that Wonwoo was able to get along much better with other people like Junhui.

Mingyu remembered what Junhui had told him about Wonwoo. ”It took me ages to get him to open up to me.” Mingyu hoped that Wonwoo would open up to him with time, though at the moment, he realised just how little he still knew about his roommate.

He only knew the trivial things, like how Wonwoo liked his coffee and how often he needed to shower. Mingyu didn’t even know those things about people he referred to as friends; which just showed how different a roommate relationship is. But with ‘just friend things’ like common references, favourite colours, ex-boyfriends... Mingyu had no clue about Wonwoo. Not even his birthday.

“Hey, Wonwoo,” Mingyu said absently as he spotted his roommate emerging from the kitchen holding a plate of food. “When’s your birthday?”

“July 17th,” he replied briefly, taking the food to its rightful destination at Table #17.

Wait, wasn’t that the day before I moved in?

“Damn, I missed it,” Mingyu said regretfully.

“You wouldn’t have known,” Wonwoo said reassuringly. “Don’t worry about it. When’s yours?”

“April 6th.”

“Noted,” Wonwoo said as he rushed to serve another customer.

“I’ll get you a late present, I promise,” Mingyu insisted. He wouldn’t feel like a good friend otherwise.

“You seriously don’t have to,” Wonwoo said. He felt his cheeks heat up; they never did that, so he convinced himself that he was coming down with a fever.

“I will!” Mingyu decided happily, wiping the counter for the 100th time with lack of anything better to do.

“Why did you ask all of a sudden?” Wonwoo questioned.

“I was just wondering,” Mingyu said honestly.

“Of course you were,” Junhui grinned, walking in between the two to deliver food to a customer.

“Stop grinning. You’re so creepy,” Wonwoo said jokingly, hitting Junhui with the towel in his hand. Junhui grinned wider in response.

“Hey, Mingyu,” Jam Jam’s manager reappeared from the kitchen, startling the three boys behind the counter. “Can I talk to you?”

The manager took Mingyu aside and spoke to him in a serious manner, much to the curiosity of Wonwoo and Junhui. Mingyu returned a minute later, looking rather downcast.

“He told me that he doesn’t think I’m fit to work here,” Mingyu said despondently. “He said that they’re already overstaffed anyway.”

Wonwoo unconsciously started rubbing circles on Mingyu’s back, as he usually tended to do when he wanted to comfort someone.

“You’re much better suited for other places, Mingyu,” Wonwoo said consolingly. Mingyu gave him a small smile.

“Hey, Mingyu!” Soonyoung called suddenly, beckoning him over to his table. Mingyu obliged and walked over to him.

“Couldn’t help but overhear the manager talking to you,” Soonyoung continued when Mingyu reached his table. Mingyu had seen Soonyoung not-so-obviously sneaking past their conversation on his way from the toilet. “I was actually wondering why you were working here. Didn’t seem like your kind of place.”

“I guess it isn’t,” Mingyu agreed.

“You should come work at NO F.U.N! I know my boss is looking for some people. Preferably ‘attractive teenage guys’ she can use to lure in new customers.” Noticing the look he was getting from Jihoon, he quickly added, “Her words, not mine.”

“Sounds like a... fun place?” Mingyu said uncertainly.

Soonyoung chuckled. “It is! We make pizza and ice cream there. Tell me that’s not fun,” he said pointedly. “It’s a bit late now, but you can come in tomorrow at 1. That’s when I work,” he grinned.

“Wow, thanks, Soonyoung! I’ll give it a go,” Mingyu said thankfully. He turned back to the counter’s direction and flashed Wonwoo a thumbs up. Wonwoo didn’t know why.

Jihoon was looking at the café’s clock in a worried manner. “Hosh, it’s nearly 6.”

“Oh, right. Hang on, Seungkwan just texted me,” Soonyoung said dismissively.

faboolous
> hey soonyoung
> you run dance classes on fridays, don’t you?

me
> mon,wed,fri :)

faboolous
> do you think i could join?’

me
> wait really?
> you wanna try out dancing???
> THATS AWESOME YES CCOME JOIN US :D

faboolous
> it’s at rock studio, right?

me
> yeppp :)
> what made you wanna suddenly dance?

faboolous
> idk i just feel like its my calling u know
> since im like
> not bad at anything ;)

me
> righ right

faboolous
> nah its just... i want to get better
> so people will stop taking my dancing as a joke

me
> but isnt it??
> no one can dance girl groups like u do :’)

faboolous
> i dont want to just be known for that
> i wnat people to actually acknowelgde me as a good dancer
> anyway yes ill be there thank u

me
> ok dont be late

faboolous
> ok:)

“Right, I’m gonna head over to Rock now,” Soonyoung said, standing up.

“You’re gonna be late again,” Jihoon muttered.

“I have an excuse,” Soonyoung said, pointing to his empty coffee cup with a smile. “See you, Jihoon-ie,” he ruffled his roommate’s hair, “Bye, Jeonghan!” he told his long-haired friend.

Turning to the counter, he waved goodbye to Junhui and Wonwoo, who waved back politely.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Mingyu!” Soonyoung told Mingyu, who had stooped down next to their table to pick up a fallen receipt. Mingyu waved energetically, and Soonyoung left with a laugh.

“Why does he always have to make such a scene whenever he leaves places,” Jihoon sighed.

Mingyu returned to the counter and told Wonwoo that he found another job opportunity.

“Whatever pays the bills,” had been Wonwoo’s reply. He genuinely was happy for Mingyu, though it wasn’t obvious in his impassive expression.

Mingyu decided to stay and help Wonwoo out for the rest of his shift, though Wonwoo insisted he’d be fine and Mingyu could just go home. Mingyu wouldn’t accept it, and started mopping the floor aggressively to prove his point. Wonwoo sighed and accepted his defeat; there really was no arguing when it came to Mingyu.

Chapter Text

[ROCK DANCE STUDIO]

junhoe<3
> lmao mingyu was just as clumsy as we expected
> hes spilt a bazillion coffees and stepped on my toes like 10 times

me
> awwwwwww idk thts so cuteeee

junhoe<3
> what

me
> like hes so innocent
> so pure
> precious bean pole

junhoe<3
> oh yea true
> anyway what u up to?
> im so bored
> come visit me;)

me
> i cant rn im sorry :(
> remember how i said i wanted to join dance classes?
> before school starts

junhoe<3
> so u can like get a feel of korean-style dance or smth??
> yeh i rmb

me
> im at a dance studio now
> i saw a flyer in the lobby saying there are free dance classes here

junhoe<3
> oh damn, free???
> cool
> have fun<3

me
> hopefully!!!
> u too,
> have fun with mingyu ;0

“Where are the new ones?” a loud voice boomed from across the dance studio, echoing around the spacious area. The dancers in the room looked towards the door, where a grinning boy with faded blue hair was leaning against the frame.

Minghao felt completely out of place; not only was he the only foreigner in the room (not that he looked foreign since ‘all Asians look the same’, according to the foreign students back in his school in China), he was also a lot taller, skinnier, and probably older than most of the boys in the room. It didn’t seem to be a dance class for girls, as the room only contained around fifteen teenage boys.

Having only moved to South Korea a few months ago, Minghao had found it incredibly difficult to learn the Korean language and assimilate Korean culture in general. He had earned a scholarship-based exchange to study dance at Pledis University, having done martial arts and b-boying since he was a young child. He wasn’t entirely sure if dancing was similar in South Korea, so after stumbling upon a flyer on the advertisement board in the lobby of his apartment block, he decided to give dance classes a go before school started.

“Hey, Soonyoung! You’re late,” one of the boys tutted as he pointed to the clock, which read 6:10 PM.

“Sorry, I was getting some coffee,” the boy at the door, Soonyoung, apologised as he set his bag down and walked to the front of the studio.

“Did you get us some?” a young boy of around 12 years asked hopefully.

“You’re too young to be drinking coffee,” Soonyoung laughed, ruffling the boy’s hair. “Anyway, as I was saying, Hoseok was telling me that some new students just signed up!”

The boys in the room turned to look at Minghao and another tall boy who stood next to him, displaying a face of equal confusion. “Hi,” Minghao said quietly, feeling unnerved under their piercing stares.

“My name is Minghao. I’m an exchange student from China, so please take care of me,” he continued formally, bowing slightly. Following his cue, the other tall boy introduced himself as ‘Moonbin’. The boy had an infectious, crinkly eye smile that made Minghao feel relaxed in his presence. At least he wasn’t the only new bait in the room.

“Thanks for joining our family, Minghao, Moonbin!” Soonyoung said cheerfully. “My name is Soonyoung, and I’ll be the one running your classes. Well, most of the time. Sometimes I get Hoseok to fill in, but he’s not as good as me.”

A yell resounded from outside in protest at Soonyoung’s statement, and all the boys in the room chortled. “No one cares, Hoseok,” Soonyoung hollered teasingly.

After settling down somewhat, Soonyoung plugged his phone into the sound system and beckoned at Minghao and Moonbin to go to his side.

“Alright boys, let’s show the newbies what you’ve got,” he instructed his students.

Much to Minghao and Moonbin’s awe, the ragtag group of boys; all ranging in height, age, appearance and dancing style; performed with great confidence, gusto, and impeccable coordination. The music’s beat reverberated a little too loud for Minghao’s liking, but he decided he’d just have to get used to it. Minghao was relieved because the boys’ dance didn’t seem too far off the dances he learnt back in China.

Just as the music slowed down and the dance came to a close, the studio’s doors flung open abruptly, revealing a proud-looking teenage boy. Minghao’s eyebrows furrowed as he realised that he knew him, though a dance class was the last place he’d expect to meet the boy. He was Boo Seungkwan, a friendly, over-the-top high school student who lived in the same apartment block as Minghao. Also, someone that Junhui low-key hated in terms of his competitive nature (but that was really just Junhui’s way of classifying his friendships).

“I’m here!” Seungkwan strolled into the studio, proudly announcing his entrance in English. His round cheeks were slightly red and he seemed to be out of breath, though he looked as if he was desperately trying to hide it. Soonyoung paused the music and all the boys turned to him in confusion.

“Seungkwan, you said you’d be here on time,” Soonyoung tutted, standing up and greeting the new boy.

“Sorry, Hansol got his shirt stuck in the door, and-”

“I don’t even want to know,” Soonyoung interrupted. The dancers had broken their formation and were making their way over to Soonyoung and the intruder.

“Anyway,” Soonyoung continued, unfazed, “since you interrupted the boys’ performance, I might as well get you and the other two newbies up and warm.” The mischievous grin on his face was broadening by the second.

Upon noticing Minghao, Seungkwan approached him with a warm smile. Though they didn’t know each other particularly well, Seungkwan knew that Minghao wasn’t nearly as savage as Junhui was (but that was because he didn’t know Minghao. Not yet.)

Soonyoung’s version of a ‘warm-up’ left the three boys out of breath and ready to cry in about ten minutes. The other dancers, seemingly having gone through the exercise regime from hell multiple times to the point of immunity, laughed and patted their backs in sympathy. Minghao didn’t know how Soonyoung was still so energetic and bright.

Once they had somewhat caught their breaths, and assured Soonyoung that ‘yes, we’re very warm’ , Seungkwan introduced himself to the class as ‘Boo Seungkwan from Jeju’. Some of the boys started murmuring something about a ‘Boonon’, but Minghao had no idea what they were talking about. Is it some Korean slang I’m not aware of?

The next two hours of the dance class were some of the most tiring (but fun) hours Minghao had experienced thus far in Korea. Soonyoung had singled the three newbies out and asked them to dance freestyle in front of the other boys. Though nerve-wracking, Minghao felt immense happiness when the boys threw an abundance of praise at him following his short display of b-boying. They were so welcoming and friendly that Minghao’s anxiousness was thrown out the window.

Seungkwan took to dancing ‘Catallena’ by Orange Caramel with great confidence, and the room erupted in cheers and laughs. Having a tough act to follow, Moonbin somehow managed to keep the girl group routines going by dancing to ‘Wiggle Wiggle’ by Hello Venus, which many boys hollered at teasingly.

The remainder of the lesson saw some of the older students taking the class while Soonyoung helped the three newbies with the steps to a dance routine the group had been learning for the past month. Minghao was absolutely thrilled with the complex routine; he loved being challenged.

Moonbin proved himself to be an incredibly talented dancer, despite his tall, model-like figure that would normally result in an awkward flailing of tangled limbs (which was partly why Minghao preferred b-boying, as he himself had quite a lanky figure). Seungkwan on the other hand, seemed to struggle at first with the quick steps, but Soonyoung was incredibly supportive and slowed things down in an effort to teach him.

Though Soonyoung had looked like a really bubbly, carefree individual, Minghao was surprised to see how serious and concentrated he looked while dancing. The way he moved, the precision in his skill and above all, his passion, was what Minghao came to admire most about the teenager.

Minghao collapsed to the floor soaked in sweat, as he weakly managed to catch a towel that was flung at him by Soonyoung. The boys arranged themselves into a circle of some sort, with Soonyoung sitting in the middle, sucking on a popsicle he had seemingly stolen from the common fridge.

“Nice work as usual, everyone,” he grinned, slicking his sweat-ridden hair back. It seemed to be habit for the boys to have a small chat after each class.

“We should talk to our newbies more,” Soonyoung insisted, swivelling around to face the three out-of-breath boys. “I’m curious; what made you want to come to this class?”

“It was free,” Minghao admitted and smiled when Soonyoung shot him a look of false disappointment. Moonbin nodded in agreement and high-fived Minghao.

“I wanted to get better at dancing,” Seungkwan said quietly. Minghao had gotten to know Seungkwan as one who enjoyed attention, as well as matching greatly with Soonyoung and his beagle tendencies. It came as a surprise that he sounded so serious and slightly nervous about the fact that he wanted to improve his skills.

“I think you’re great, Seungkwan!” one of the younger boys piped up. “You’re really awkward, but I think it’s funny!” he added with a toothy smile.

“Thanks,” Seungkwan exhaled, and though he said it with a slight sarcastic tone, he looked noticeably happy afterwards. Minghao had admired his resolution throughout the lesson to improve; and seeing where he was at the start of the class, Minghao was surprised at how much the boy had improved over the course of two measly hours.

“I hope my classes will be more than just free sessions,” Soonyoung commented, looking pointedly at Minghao and Moonbin. “And I’m sure we can help you out, Seungkwan.”

Soonyoung clapped once and stood up with a groan. “Well, if that’s all for today, let’s all head home and eat dinner, shall we?”

“Thanks, hyung!” the class collectively yelled as they swarmed the blue-haired boy in hugs and handshakes. Minghao smiled at their friendly, family dynamics and infectious energy. He knew he made the right decision to try out the class.

“Thanks for running these classes, Soonyoung,” Minghao approached the older boy as the rest of the students disappeared outside, no doubt contributing to the noise pollution of the night. “I learned a lot, and it was really fun too!”

Soonyoung smiled and pulled Minghao into a hug. “When Hoseok told me I was getting some new students, I was ecstatic! You’re so talented, and your Korean is really good as well. I look forward to teaching you!”

Minghao smiled and bowed one last time for good measure, before leaving as Soonyoung stayed back to pack his things. He heard Soonyoung yell something behind him, but having not understood what he said, he decided it wasn’t important.

Moonbin caught a taxi on his way out, smiling one last time at them. Minghao waved back. Throwing on a thin jumper, he began walking back to Apartment Block 17 with Seungkwan, but was quickly halted by Soonyoung, who was yelling at them to wait for him as he struggled to carry his bags out of the building. Minghao jogged over to help, feeling slightly guilty that he had left him earlier; though he wasn’t entirely sure why Soonyoung would need so many bags in the first place.

“Where do you live?” Minghao asked, lifting one of Soonyoung’s shoulder bags onto his back.

“Same place as you do,” Soonyoung flashed him a smile. “I heard you’re starting at Pledis this semester.”

“Oh, how-”

“Seungkwan,” Soonyoung replied bluntly. Oh right, Junhui did say that Seungkwan was somewhat of a gossip queen.

“Anyway, I’m studying dance there as well! Though of course, I’m your senior. So don’t hesitate to come find me for help!” Seungkwan had appeared to help Soonyoung out with his bags, and the three began walking back home together.

“Thanks, I could definitely use the extra help,” Minghao smiled gratefully. “Do you know Mingyu? He’s also starting this semester as a freshman, so it’ll be great if you could help us both settle in.”

“Ah, Mingyu. The big clutz of a puppy. He’ll definitely need my help,” Soonyoung chuckled.

Minghao managed to get Soonyoung’s bags over to his apartment on the eighth floor in one piece, much to the gratefulness of both Soonyoung and his roommate, who had opened the door looking absolutely wrecked with fatigue.

“Don’t mind Jihoon. He always looks like that,” Soonyoung grinned, dodging a punch from his sleepy roommate.

“Oh hey, Seungkwan,” his roommate, Jihoon, greeted. “I’ve written a few different chord progressions like you asked. Do you want to check them out?”

“Wow, thanks! Sure, I’d love to,” Seungkwan entered the apartment excitedly, saying goodbye to Minghao. Minghao wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but he decided to dismiss it, as all he wanted to do at the moment was see Junhui and go to sleep.

Hugging Soonyoung one last time, Minghao dragged himself to the elevator to return to his apartment. After blearily opening the door and hearing his footsteps echo throughout the empty space, he realised that Junhui hadn’t finished his shift at work yet.

“Why does he always have to work so late?” Minghao mumbled, collapsing onto the couch.

When Junhui finally did return at nearly half past ten, he smiled upon seeing Minghao passed out on the couch in an uncomfortable looking position, clutching tightly onto a pillow like a baby.

“Must’ve been a tough dance class,” Junhui laughed quietly, carrying Minghao to their bed after facing great difficulty in prying the boy from his beloved pillow.

Chapter Text

[APARTMENT #811; Lee Jihoon, Kwon Soonyoung]

“Cheol, you have to be joking,” Jihoon groaned as Seungcheol handed him a receipt; the receipt for the repair of their tap, which Soonyoung had broken forcefully for Seungcheol’s birthday plan to succeed. Jihoon cringed at the total printed at the bottom.

“I paid for it all,” Seungcheol said. “You don’t really have to pay it back. It’s not that much, anyway.”

“No, we will,” Jihoon insisted, “It doesn’t feel right to let you pay for something you didn’t ask for.”

Seungcheol grinned. He knew that Jihoon would’ve been too stubborn to let him pay the bulk of the cost, as much as Jihoon hated dishing out his hard-earned money. But Seungcheol didn’t actually mind paying for it at all.

“Was your birthday worth it?” Jihoon asked dryly.

“Yeah, everything was really great,” Seungcheol said sincerely. “I gained like, 5000 new followers because Hansol posted a video about my birthday. Not to mention the amazing presents. I can’t wait to go on that seven-day spa trip.”

“Oh, that’s great. How was cleaning up?”

“Sucked. Hansol and Seungkwan helped a little. There was cake thrown into my houseplants; I don’t even want to know why,” Seungcheol sighed.

“We didn’t even sing you happy birthday, now that I think about it,” Jihoon said thoughtfully.

“It was Soonyoung’s fault for running out like that,” Seungcheol chuckled. “Thanks for taking part in the action, though.”

“Whatever makes you happy. I like living in this apartment, after all,” Jihoon said with a low laugh.

“Jihoon, you know I’d never kick you guys out,” Seungcheol grinned mischievously.

“I’m not liking the look on your face,” Jihoon pointed out.

“It’s just my face,” Seungcheol shot back.

“And I don’t like it.”

“Watch it, Lee.”

“Okay, okay. Sorry.”

Seungcheol left, probably to go back to sleep in his apartment. Jihoon inspected the newly fitted tap that Seungcheol had paid for. It was much fancier than their old one; it had a cool filter thing fitted into it and much more precise hot-cold control. But of course, good things come with a cost.

Money had always been a problem for Jihoon; his parents were humble market sellers who didn’t have much in the area of funding for their son’s education. Jihoon had saved up a substantial amount from a horrible grocery store job he had undergone during his high school years; but that money was slowly running dry with all his university and rent expenses. Not wanting to beg his parents for money, he sighed and accepted the fact that he would have to find a job. Especially after Seungcheol had paid the hefty price for their tap repair, which Jihoon refused to let go.

me
> hey
> u were telling mingyu that ur boss was looking for new workers?

hoshi.
> yeapp!! xD
> also btw, im at the store
> do u want dark or milk chocolate

me
> its not chocolate if its not dark
> anyway i was wondering
> could i come during your shift today?

hoshi.
> to work??
> u wanna work at no fun ?!
> HAHAHAHAHAHAHA JIHOONIE ARE U SRS

me
> i need money ok

hoshi.
> u sure u wanna try no fun tho?
> one of the staff policies is to always serve customers with a smile :)

Jihoon had to think seriously about how much he needed that money.

me
> is it good pay?

hoshi.
> yes its pretty good!!!
> how do u think i’ve been paying rent the whole time? :D

me
> ok
> so can i come or not

hoshi.
> this day is going to go down in history
> meet me there at 1 :D

Jihoon felt guilty that Soonyoung was the one who always worked so hard; as irresponsible and unpredictable as Soonyoung could be, he always put 110% into everything he did, including his job. Jihoon figured it was his turn to actually put some effort into something that wasn’t music.

Having entered the Shining Diamond Mall at exactly 12:55 PM, he pushed open the doors of NO F.U.N with his newfound determination. Unfortunately, his resolve didn’t last long as a young child ran into him the moment he stepped into the establishment; jamming a chocolate ice cream right into his shirt in the process.

The child’s mother took to apologising profusely, producing a packet of baby wipes and scrubbing at Jihoon’s shirt. Hearing the commotion, Soonyoung left his station behind the counter and rushed to his roommate’s aid.

Soonyoung laughed at first, seeing Jihoon’s expression at the mishap. He assured the mother that it was alright, and led Jihoon into the bathroom to clean up. He even offered the child another free ice cream, which the greedy thing grabbed without so much of a thanks (to which his mother sighed and apologised yet again).

“Stop laughing,” Jihoon grumbled.

“Your face was so cute!” Soonyoung protested, mimicking the Jihoon’s expression which was somewhat of a mix between surprise, humour and disgust.

Jihoon grabbed the paper towels from Soonyoung and scrubbed at his shirt roughly. Chocolate ice cream wasn’t easy to get out. It didn’t leave the most appealing stain either.

“Here, you can wear this in the meantime,” Soonyoung slipped his own thin hoodie over Jihoon. It was slightly large on him, and Soonyoung laughed as he realised just how small his roommate looked in his hoodie. Jihoon nodded in thanks and started to leave.

As he exited the bathroom, Jihoon spotted Mingyu, his tree-like height making him stand out from the crowd. He was already wearing NO F.U.N’s uniform; a ridiculously bright coloured apron and matching hat. Jihoon groaned when Soonyoung brought him his uniform and forcefully jammed the hat onto his head with a smile.

“Oh hello, Jihoon!” Mingyu greeted politely.

“Hopefully this job works out better for you,” Jihoon said teasingly, adjusting the large apron to somehow fit around his small frame. He swore Soonyoung brought him the largest sized apron on purpose.

“I hope so, too!” Mingyu laughed, unfazed.

The manager, a rather young, bubbly woman, quickly put the two boys to work as waiters, perfectly fine that Jihoon had literally just turned up and asked for a job position.

Jihoon groaned internally at his job allocation as a waiter; he had hoped they’d put him on dishwashing duty or something similar. Anything that didn’t require him to have to deal with people.

“Welcome to NO F.U.N, how may I help you?” Jihoon said monotonously, plastering on his best smile - which turned out to be more of a mutter of words through gritted teeth with lips upturned in an upside-down crescent that looked far more creepy than happy.

Soonyoung put his hand on Jihoon’s shoulder from behind and swivelled him around to look at his face. He started laughing, saying, “You call that a smile?” in between his giggles.

Just breathe. Do it for the money. The money.

Grinning wider in an attempt to look somewhat friendly, he turned back to his customers; a humble family of four, two adults and two young children. The youngest girl flinched at Jihoon’s expression and buried herself into her mother’s arms.

The family ordered somewhat stiffly and Jihoon left promptly afterwards, dropping the fake smile from his face in relief. Forced smiling was really tiring.

Soonyoung did feel somewhat bad for Jihoon; it wasn’t that his roommate was always grumpy and never smiled. In fact, Jihoon smiled quite a lot. But when he did, it was always because it was 100% genuine. Forcing Jihoon into a position to act nice to people he didn’t care about was obviously taking a toll on his wellbeing.

“Are you sure you really want to work here?” Soonyoung asked Jihoon gently, who was standing at the condiments stand wiping the counter absentmindedly. His roommate had served a grand total of three tables so far and it appeared that he was a paper’s width away from resigning and going back home to sleep.

“I’ll do it for the money,” Jihoon gritted his teeth and left to serve Table #13, where a young boy was waving his hand persistently for someone to notice him.

Leaving Jihoon alone to cope with his inner turmoil, Soonyoung decided to check up on Mingyu. He didn’t have to look too far, immediately recognising the tall boy standing nearby at Table #17.

Mingyu stooped down to be eye level with the young girl sitting at the table and began making ridiculous faces, to which the girl squealed with pleased laughter. Mingyu high-fived the girl, smiled at her parents and left to serve another table. Seems like he’s doing alright.

On his way to other tables, Mingyu did manage to knock into several chairs and accidentally tip a salt shaker in his clumsiness, but it somehow fit into the mood of NO F.U.N. The place was constantly bustling with spills and mishaps; the entire restaurant was an accident waiting to happen. Soonyoung was glad that Mingyu fit in so well, right from the get go.

Soonyoung himself wasn’t the clumsiest person, but he admittedly had broken quite a few glasses and plates over his time working there. He believed he made up for it by being exceptionally good at customer service.

Jihoon on the other hand, was almost guaranteed a no-broken-plate work experience; he was far too careful and meticulous. Soonyoung hoped that would somehow balance his unwillingness to interact with customers. Nevertheless, Soonyoung hated seeing Jihoon suffer so much.

Soonyoung’s shift ended at 5 PM, and Jihoon gladly took up his offer to leave at the same time. NO F.U.N’s manager didn’t seem to mind Jihoon’s lack of customer interaction, and instead told Soonyoung that she’d probably just set him up in the back kitchen. It sounded fine, and Jihoon agreed, but Soonyoung could tell his roommate wasn’t happy working there.

Mingyu was given the waiter job officially, which he was incredibly happy about and moved on to apologise for all the drinks he’d spilled over the course of a few hours. The manager laughed, reached up to pat him on the head and told him that it was perfectly fine. Several regular customers had taken an immediate liking to the puppy-like boy and wouldn’t accept it if Mingyu wasn’t allowed to work there. He left at the same time as Soonyoung and Jihoon, but needed to go on an impromptu visit to the grocery store to get some strawberries and pick up Wonwoo’s new glasses from the optometrist.

“So,” Soonyoung asked hesitantly as he walked out with Jihoon, “How’d you find working at NO F.U.N?”

Jihoon gave him a sarcastic smile and replied, “Wouldn’t want to work anywhere else. When do we get paid?”

“Depends on when your shifts are. Mine’s usually on Saturday, when my work week ends,” Soonyoung said, laughing at Jihoon’s downcast expression after realising he wouldn’t be paid until he finished at least another week of work.

Soonyoung decided right then and there that he wouldn’t stop until he found a better job for his roommate. Giving Jihoon the excuse of ‘I think I left something behind, go ahead without me’, he turned and ran back into the mall to search for more job openings. Jihoon continued walking back home with a shrug; Soonyoung forgot things quite often.

Spotting a ‘now hiring’ poster stuck to the window of a nearby store, Soonyoung rushed in to ask for the specifics. There was already a customer at the counter; a certain tall, puppy-like boy whom Soonyoung had just said goodbye to.

“Mingyu!” Soonyoung called, breathing heavily from his short jog.

“Oh, hey Soonyoung!” Mingyu smiled. He was holding a fancy glasses case and a long receipt in his hands; probably Wonwoo’s new glasses.

Looking up at the actual name of the store and glancing around at the racks of glasses surrounding him, Soonyoung realised he had entered Can’t See The End, the local optometrist and glasses store.

“May I help you?” a girl with a friendly smile asked from behind the register.

“I was just wondering about that hiring sign you have out the front,” Soonyoung said.

“Oh, are you wanting a job here? Do you have any previous experience in optometry?”

“Oh. Nevermind,” Soonyoung said. Stupid prerequisites.

Saying a rushed goodbye to a confused Mingyu, Soonyoung entered several other random stores in search of a job for Jihoon. They all told him they were already full and not looking for new workers.

“Maybe I should just ask Cheol for help,” Soonyoung muttered to himself as he entered a small corner store; Ah Yeah Videos. He hadn’t been to a video rental in years; why need to when you could just watch them on the internet?

[a/n; don’t illegally stream movies on the internet, kids ( ≖ิ‿≖ิ )]

“Soonyoung!” a familiar voice called from the counter’s direction. A slim teenage boy with dark purple hair waved with a smile.

“Minghao!” Soonyoung responded, greeting his new dance student and friend he had met the previous night. “You work here?”

“Not the best job, but I have to pay the bills somehow,” Minghao admitted.

“People still rent videos?” Soonyoung raised an eyebrow.

“Some law-abiding people, yes,” Minghao said reproachfully.

“Touché,” Soonyoung laughed.

“So, I take it you’re not here to rent a video?” Minghao questioned.

“You caught me,” Soonyoung said, putting his hands up in surrender. “I was wondering if you had any job openings.”

“Nah, sorry. Lots of people want to work here because it’s a pretty chill job,” Minghao said apologetically.

“Oh, alright then,” Soonyoung sighed. “How’d you get the job?”

“You underestimate me,” Minghao grinned. In all honesty, he had simply played the ‘poor foreign boy who needed money’ card. “Why are you asking, anyway? Do you need a job?”

“Nah, I’m finding one for my roommate,” Soonyoung explained.

“Why didn’t he come ask himself?” Minghao questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“He doesn’t know I’m doing this,” Soonyoung admitted.

“Oh, I see. I’ll keep your secret,” Minghao said.

“It’s not really a secret, but okay. Appreciated,” Soonyoung smiled.

Silence. “Wanna rent a video, maybe?” Minghao hinted.

Soonyoung laughed. “Maybe some other time.”

Minghao shook his head disapprovingly. “Then get out.”

Soonyoung’s mouth dropped into an ‘o’ as he backed out of the store. He chuckled and waved bye to Minghao, who returned the favour with a cheeky grin.

After asking a few more places without luck, including Very Nice Electronics, Chuck Games and even Jam Jam Café (whose manager didn’t want to accept any other job applications following the ‘incompetence’ of Kim Mingyu), Soonyoung proceeded to the second floor in hopes of success. He spotted a humble bookstore next to the escalator, and wondered why he didn’t think of it sooner; Jihoon would probably like working in a quiet environment like that of a bookstore.

“Welcome to 20 Books, what genre are you feeling?” a friendly voice greeted from the counter.

“Uh, a part time job?” was Soonyoung’s hesitant reply. He wasn’t the biggest fan of reading; he hadn’t entered a bookstore like this in years.

“Oh, that’s great! We’re actually looking for new people since school’s starting soon,” the cashier said.

Sooonyoung jumped slightly. “Really?” A few customers glared in his direction following his loud outburst. He smiled sheepishly and reminded himself to lower his voice. Sheesh, it’s not like this is a library.

“Just hand us a résumé and frankly speaking, you’ll probably get the job. As long as you don’t have a criminal track record or something.”

Soonyoung was fairly certain that Jihoon didn’t have anything of that sort. But he wasn’t sure if Jihoon had already made up a résumé.

“Can I just give you like, contact details and availability?” Soonyoung enquired, thinking back to how he got his job at NO F.U.N.

“Yeah, sure,” the cashier said, handing Soonyoung a notepad and pen.

“It’s not for me, by the way,” Soonyoung explained as he wrote down Jihoon’s contact details and availability (which was everyday, since Jihoon hardly did anything). “My roommate needs the job.”

“Anything’s fine,” the cashier said. Soonyoung appreciated how chill she was about everything.

“Thanks, Mina,” Soonyoung said, squinting to read the name-tag of the cashier. She smiled and waved goodbye as Soonyoung left.

“Man, Jihoon’s gonna love me for this,” Soonyoung mumbled proudly, jogging across the road back to Apartment Block 17.

[APARTMENT #811; Lee Jihoon, Kwon Soonyoung]

“Took you an awful long time to find what you lost,” Jihoon commented as Soonyoung returned back to the apartment.

“Couldn’t find it at first,” Soonyoung laughed nervously. “Oh, but awesome news!” he declared as he plonked down onto the couch next to Jihoon. Jihoon nodded at him to continue.

“I found you another job!” Soonyoung said proudly, throwing out his arms to emphasise the huge favour he had just done for his roommate.

Jihoon looked at him suspiciously. “Is it legal?”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Soonyoung said dismissively, as if he expected this question from his roommate. “It’s at that bookstore on the second floor.”

Just as Soonyoung finished speaking, Jihoon’s phone rang. “Hello?” came Jihoon’s hesitant answer upon picking up the phone.

“Oh. Ok, thanks so much. Sorry about him. Yes, I’ll go in tomorrow. Right. Bye.”

“Was that the store?” Soonyoung pestered.

“Yes. Looks like I got the job... that I never applied for.”

“Of course you did!” Soonyoung grinned. “Now you won’t have to deal with seven-year-olds shoving ice cream into your shirt!”

“Thank you?” Jihoon said in bewilderment. He couldn’t believe that Soonyoung went to that much trouble to find him a job. Does he not want to work with me that badly?

Whether Jihoon liked it or not, he found himself dragged along to 20 Books the following day by an overenthusiastic Soonyoung. Jihoon definitely liked the idea of working in a bookstore, but still didn’t see it as the most exciting job in the world. He liked books, but it wasn’t like he was completely obsessed with them. If anything, he was more obsessed with his music scores than books.

“You must be Jihoon!” a girl around his age greeted brightly, shaking his hand politely. “I’m Mina, and I’m one of the part-timers here. My boss trusts me with handling the store, so I’ll pretty much be in charge of you while you work here.”

“Oh, well I look forward to working with you,” Jihoon bowed politely.

Soonyoung wondered around the store for a good while, and concluding that there was nothing of interest to him, he left the store with a cheeky wave and grin at his roommate, who was stuck with the fabulous job of restocking and tidying the shelves. It didn’t help that Jihoon wasn’t the tallest person around.

“Thanks for shopping at 20 Books,” Jihoon called out sarcastically as Soonyoung left the store. The air was soon filled with Soonyoung’s fading laughter as he left the vicinity.

“Need some help?” an intelligent looking teenager with greyish-blond hair stood behind Jihoon, watching him struggle with placing books on the uppermost shelf.

Jihoon halted his attempts and turned to the young man. His name-tag, indicating he was also a worker, read ‘Namjoon’.

“Thanks, Namjoon.”

“You must be that new worker, Jihoon. It’s nice to meet you,” he said politely as he placed the books on the shelf with ease. Jihoon clicked his tongue; Namjoon wasn’t even that much taller than he was.

“Yep, that’s me.”

Aside from several boring rearranging jobs and difficulty in carrying heavy boxes to and fro - that took up way to much effort, in Jihoon’s opinion - Jihoon found that working at 20 Books was far more manageable and relaxing than NO F.U.N. He didn’t want to admit that Soonyoung had actually managed to do something right for him, but it proved to be true as Jihoon actually didn’t feel like punching the wall while working in the bookstore.

Though Namjoon seemed rather intellectual at first glance with his round glasses and cashmere sweater, Jihoon soon found out that his personality was the complete opposite. He was loud, especially for a bookstore worker, he laughed weirdly, cracked jokes far too often and conversed easily with anyone who was willing to accept recommendations from him. He helped Jihoon out whenever he could and though he was a very humorous and energetic person (but not to the degree of Kwon Soonyoung), he did have good leadership qualities. Jihoon grew to enjoy working with him over the first few hours of his shift.

Mina seemed impressed at Jihoon’s quick adaptation to his assigned jobs. The door opened to a new customer as Jihoon finished labelling the last of the on-sale books.

“Yo, Jihoon,” Jisoo greeted, waving, “Soonyoung told me he got you a job here.”

“He must’ve been so proud of his achievement,” Jihoon said dryly.

“You seem like you’re having fun,” Jisoo grinned. “Anyway, I’m not here just to make your life miserable. I need some books.” Jihoon raised an eyebrow.

“I was expecting more friendly customer service, but I think that’s the best I’ll ever get out of you,” Jisoo teased, leaning over Jihoon to browse through the on-sale books. “Ah, third year maths. Calculus. Differentiation. Fun, fun, fun,” he said as he picked up an old curriculum maths book. Jihoon had just labelled it at 90% off (honestly, who wants to buy old maths books?).

“Do I want to know why you're buying a high school maths guide?” Jihoon took the book from Jisoo and proceeded to hand it to Mina at the counter.

“I’ve started helping Hansol and another boy with their maths work,” Jisoo explained, taking out his wallet to pay. “But I realised when I met them that I’d forgotten most of my high school maths.”

“Oh, right, I think Seungkwan mentioned something like that last time he was over,” Jihoon said thoughtfully. Jihoon had started working with Seungkwan to produce some original music for Seungkwan and Hansol’s music channel. So far, nothing noteworthy had been produced, but progress had somewhat been made. “What’s tutoring them like?”

“Hansol and I get along really well,” Jisoo said, “And the other boy, Chan, is really diligent and hardworking. I love teaching them both, honestly.”

“Jeonghan?” Jihoon questioned briefly.

“Oh,” Jisoo sighed, “I’m surprised Hansol and Chan haven’t been scared off by him.”

Jihoon chuckled.

“That’ll be $5,” Mina said as she bagged the maths book. Jisoo paid and thanked the both of them, bidding Jihoon a brief goodbye as he exited the shop.

“Well done Jihoon,” Mina marvelled, “Soonyoung did tell me that you would probably take time to get used to the whole customer service thing. I’m surprised; you seem completely fine.”

“Don’t believe anything Soonyoung tells you. I’m a ball of sunshine.”

Mina laughed and sent Jihoon to the back room to check up on stock levels. He finished doing a brief stocktake, so Mina allowed him to loiter around the store and help out any customers he saw.

Most were just window shopping, or simply reading the book right in the bookstore. Jihoon knew he was also guilty of doing this; but now, working as an employee and actually wanting people to buy things so his pay would potentially rise made window shoppers extremely frustrating. Placing misplaced books back into the right spot was also far too tiring for Jihoon to bother, so he hid the book behind another one like any radical, lazy employee would do. It somewhat went against his meticulous tendencies, but after a long hour of intensive working, he was too exhausted to care.

“At least I get paid to do this,” Jihoon muttered to himself as he picked up a fallen book. A chuckle sounded from the other side of the bookshelf. Looking upwards, Jihoon found himself eye to eye with a teenager with dark brown hair and even darker, piercing eyes.

“Oh, it’s you. Wonwoo,” Jihoon said, recognising the boy he had met recently at Jam Jam Café. He walked around the shelf that was separating them to properly face the boy. “You’ll be glad to know that Mingyu is doing a fabulous job at NO F.U.N,” Jihoon said in a joking tone, though he meant what he said.

“I know. He wouldn’t stop telling me yesterday,” Wonwoo sighed. “He said you were working there as well, so I’m slightly confused seeing you work here too...”

“I was just trying it out, but... it’s not my kind of place,” Jihoon said dryly, “So I came here instead. Today’s my first shift.”

“Ah, ok. I know how you feel. I can’t stand the noisiness of that place. But the pizza’s amazing,” Wonwoo chuckled softly. “I would work here myself, since I love reading, but Jam Jam pays better,” Wonwoo admitted with a hushed tone.

“Fair enough. I’m just glad I have a decent job as of today,” Jihoon said. “Anyway, what brings you here? I take it you come here quite often.”

“I have an hour to kill before I have to go to work,” Wonwoo said. “Mingyu’s first official shift started today,” he added, though Jihoon didn’t particularly need to know that. “Since he dragged me along, I figured I might as well come here to browse before I head to work.”

“Ah, ok. Anything you like to read in particular?”

“Not in the mood for anything too heavy. But actually, I do need some new books for school. I lost my old ones,” Wonwoo explained briefly. Jihoon detected a bitter tone to his words, but decided not to question it further.

Jihoon directed Wonwoo to the titles he required for his literature course at Pledis University. Since the bookstore was quite small, Jihoon had quickly learnt the placement of books over the course of the last hour or so.

“Is this enough?” Jihoon asked sarcastically, helping Wonwoo carry the heavy stack of books to the counter.

“Actually, I was wondering if you had a guide. Specifically a gay guy’s guide to living with a male roommate,” Wonwoo asked dryly.

“Hm, quite specific,” Jihoon humoured him, “If something that helpful existed, I’ll be sure to let you know. Though right now, society hasn’t advanced that far yet, unfortunately.”

“Ah, that’s a shame. Really did need that title.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Oh, you have no idea. I could go on about it for hours.”

“You don’t look like the sort of person who’d rant on about a guy. Humour me.”

“So, it’s about Kim Mingyu.”

“The tree.”

Wonwoo let out a small laugh. “I suppose. He moved in with me recently.”

“Oh yeah, I met him when he was with Seungcheol. Probably on his first day here,” Jihoon reminisced to the day Soonyoung had made that piggyback bet with him. Jihoon’s back still hurt occasionally because of it.

“Oh, small world, huh.”

“Nah, just a small apartment block.”

Mina walked to the counter from the back room and smirked upon seeing Jihoon converse easily with a tall customer with sharp, handsome features. She had to admit that his intense aura was attractive. Not wanting to disturb their conversation, she busied herself with tidying up a nearby bookshelf. Though she wasn’t purposely trying to overhear, she became curious in their conversation; it seemed that the customer was telling Jihoon about his annoying roommate.

“The worst part is that I think I’m actually starting to like it,” the customer said with a tone of disgust. “Like when he begs me to follow him to the grocery store, I actually don’t mind anymore.”

“You seriously remind me of myself,” Jihoon said sympathetically. “My roommate’s the same.”

“Soonyoung, right? He does remind me a little of Mingyu.”

“Soonyoung is... loud. And weird. But like you said, I kind of got used to it and to be honest... I really like it,” Jihoon said, pursing his lips. “But don’t you dare tell him I said that. Or I’ll beat you with my guitar.”

“Your secret’s safe with me,” the customer smirked.

Mina spotted more students entering the store and decided that their conversation had to cease as they were blocking the front entrance and the counter. She signalled Jihoon to move off, and he complied, presumably taking Wonwoo to another part of the store to continue their deep conversation. She couldn’t help but dwell on the snippets of their conversation she had overheard. Damn, so that Mingyu guy I saw at NO F.U.N yesterday is the customer’s roommate? He is such boyfriend material!! Poor customer-guy. Must suck having a roommate who steals all the girls from you~

“Anyway,” Jihoon continued as Wonwoo followed him to the science fiction section, “I say you embrace this new joy of a roommate.”

“I do, I guess. But I’m just confused,” Wonwoo sighed.

“Do you like him?” Jihoon asked bluntly.

“Um, no,” Wonwoo cringed, “No, definitely not. I hate Mingyu.”

Jihoon raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, hate is a strong word,” Wonwoo admitted, “I like that he’s not... horrible and messy. Yeah, he’s pretty great as a roommate. But I hate that I don’t hate him. Does that make sense?” he babbled.

“No. But I’ve been there, so I understand,” Jihoon smiled. “I hated Soonyoung so much when I first got to know him. I still have no clue what made me agree to his suggestion to move in together after high school...”

“But yet, you’re here today?”

“Exactly. I still hate him, don’t get me wrong. But I really like him too.”

“I doubt your kind of like matches my kind of like though,” Wonwoo murmured.

“So, you’re finding it hard to keep your gay guy feels in control because your roommate is too much and you’re basically just a hot mess?”

“Why do you think I need a gay guy’s guide to living with a male roommate?”

“Fair enough.”

Wonwoo felt good after talking with Jihoon, though his ever-growing feelings toward Mingyu still frustrated him. He knew denying any emotions wasn’t going to get him anywhere, but it was all he could do to keep himself somewhat sane. Wonwoo had never felt this strongly toward anyone before; whether it be hate or love, Mingyu was an entirely different case to anyone Wonwoo had met before. Every guy Wonwoo had ever crushed on didn’t hold a candle to Mingyu.

Jihoon, though acting much more confident and well-versed in the subject compared to Wonwoo, was in a similar boat. As much as he wanted to deny it, ever since he met Soonyoung, his life had made a complete 180. For the better.

“Soonyoung really likes you, you know,” Wonwoo decided to turn the conversation over to Jihoon.

“Um, thanks?” Jihoon said uncertainly. Soonyoung was a very friendly and easygoing person; Jihoon knew that. He didn’t see Soonyoung’s friendliness toward him to be any different to how he acted with other people. Jihoon didn’t want to be falsely led on into believing that Soonyoung held any feelings stronger than friendship for him. But of course, Jihoon definitely didn’t like him like that.

“I’ve only talked to him like, once, before Friday. I met him in the elevator with Mingyu, and he was talking about how you guys met or something.”

“And why was he telling you that?”

“He was explaining why you call him ‘Hoshi’. Anyway, the way he talked about you was so sincere and cute.”

“Oh, well, that’s nice to hear.”

An awkward silence settled between them. Wonwoo coughed. “Um, anyway, it was nice talking to you, Jihoon. Thanks for listening.”

“You too. We’re pretty similar,” Jihoon agreed. “You wanna swap numbers maybe? I could use someone to talk to sometimes.”

“Sure,” Wonwoo said, getting out his phone.

“Good luck with Mingyu,” Jihoon smirked as he typed his number into Wonwoo’s phone. “I’ll be rooting for you guys.”

“Shut up. I’m sure this thing will die off as I live with him longer,” Wonwoo insisted, though more for his own benefit than Jihoon’s. It was as if Wonwoo believed that the more he told himself that he didn’t like Mingyu, the more he would actually begin to actually feel like he didn’t. Jihoon knew that wouldn’t work; he himself had been doing that for years, but his own deep feelings for Soonyoung still remained latched onto his heart. It wasn’t that Jihoon was deep in love with his roommate, but it was more of a nagging butterfly in his stomach that would spaz out whenever Soonyoung did anything. Frankly, Jihoon found it quite annoying. Especially when he was around Soonyoung almost 24/7.

“You go to Pledis, don’t you? I’ll see you around,” Jihoon said.

“Ah, right. School. Won’t that be fun?” Wonwoo said sarcastically, bending down to pick up his stack of newly bought books. “Good luck with Soonyoung.”

Wonwoo left shortly after to dump the books in his apartment before having to go to work. Jihoon was left to the mercy of several schoolgirls who had come in to find some published fanfiction, which was actually sold there, much to Jihoon’s surprise and dismay. He groaned internally as their grating voices cooed over the titles displayed.

“When can I go home?” he muttered to himself. He’d certainly take Soonyoung over this any day of the week.

Chapter Text

[APARTMENT #104; Yoon Jeonghan, Hong Jisoo]

“Jeonghan, I can’t believe this!” Jisoo gasped.

“You better believe it. I had to save up for over a year for this,” Jeonghan smiled angelically.

Jisoo was sitting at a table decorated by creeping vines and blooming flowers, the joyous sound of nature blessing his ears as he stared across in an abundance of wonder at the love of his life; Yoon Jeonghan, who had never looked more angelic, sitting across from Jisoo wearing a pure white, angel-like robe and a halo of light crowning his deep, silky auburn hair. It wasn’t even an exaggeration. At least not in Jisoo’s eyes.

On the table in front of Jisoo was an ornate velvet box with the most gorgeous, expensive-looking diamond ring he’d ever seen in his life. And his name was on the box.

Jeonghan reached over and carefully pulled the ring out from the box and kneeled in front of Jisoo with a look of pure adoration gracing his delicate features. The sky above them cleared, the sun shone down onto them and a choir of birds sang melodically in the background. It was perfect, and Jisoo didn’t know whether to cry or laugh in happiness.

Jeonghan took a deep breath and held the ring out in Jisoo’s direction. “Hong Jisoo... will you... beep?”

“What?” Jisoo was taken aback.

“Will you beep?”

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

“Jisoo, will you wake up already?”

Jisoo felt a rough hold on his arm pull him upwards. He blinked in confusion, rubbing his eyes. Jeonghan sat in front of him on their bed. But he was just normal old Jeonghan; paint-stained shirt and boxers, frizzy auburn hair sticking up in clumps; yet, he still managed to look like an angel.

“I-I’m awake,” Jisoo muttered, his voice croaky. He immediately felt disappointment that Jeonghan’s movie-like proposal was only a dream.

“You must’ve had a good dream,” Jeonghan smirked.

“How d-do you know that?”

“You kept clinging onto me in your sleep. You were mumbling stuff like 'oh yes' and you said my name over and over,” Jeonghan grinned.

“It was nothing like what you’re thinking about, you devil,” Jisoo flung a pillow at him, and Jeonghan caught it easily.

“Was it not?” Jeonghan pouted, resulting in another pillow-to-the-face from Jisoo.

They eventually dragged themselves out of bed, following Jeonghan’s incessant alarm which he had simply snoozed earlier, and trudged to the bathroom to get ready.

Today was everyone’s favourite part of the year - the beginning of school. Back were the ‘BTS’ sales that persuaded you to buy an entire new set of unnecessary stationery, as well as the sound of multiple alarms threatening to wake up the whole block if you didn’t wake from your much needed slumber. Back were the snobbish teachers, pointless rumours, stacks of homework; all the good stuff.

Jisoo squinted into the mirror and was met with his very rugged-looking self. He brushed his teeth whilst trying to wake his body up properly.

Ding Dong. Jisoo groaned internally. Yet another interruption.

Seeing as Jeonghan wasn’t going to budge from where he was carefully brushing his long hair in front of the mirror, Jisoo spat out his toothpaste and went to answer the door.

“Oh, hey Chan,” Jisoo greeted, opening the door to the smiling teenage boy.

“I realised that I left some of my books here yesterday,” Chan said sheepishly.

“Oh, yeah I have them here.” Jisoo went to retrieve Chan’s forgotten books. When he returned to hand them back to the boy, another one had showed up at his doorstep; a slightly taller boy of a similar energetic aura to Chan.

“Hello! I’m Seokmin. Chan’s brother,” the boy said with a blinding smile that made his eyes disappear into his face. Jisoo couldn’t help but feel awake in his presence.

“Oh, nice to meet you! Chan’s mentioned you before. As you know, I’m Jisoo,” Jisoo said, clearing his throat slightly to get rid of his morning voice (which Jeonghan insists is the best thing since sliced bread).

“Thanks so much for helping him,” Seokmin said gratefully. “I can’t do maths for my life, so I’m glad someone was able to help him out.”

“Well, you are paying me,” Jisoo said jokingly. “Anyway, I’m also helping out another boy with his work as well. It makes me realise how much high school maths I’ve forgotten.”

“I’ve only just graduated and I’ve already forgotten everything,” Seokmin admitted.

“It’s a wonder you passed your finals,” Chan muttered. Seokmin slapped his shoulder lightly.

“Anyway, you go to Pledis right?” Seokmin said to Jisoo. “Let’s go together, hyung!”

“Sure, I just need to tell my roommate,” he said as he turned to the general direction of his bedroom, “Jeonghan! I’m going now!”

“Wait, Jeonghan?” Seokmin perked up.

The boy in question poked his head out into the front hallway, hair no longer wild but much more tamed after brushing, and a quizzical look on his face.

“Jeonghan!” Seokmin grinned and burst into the apartment to hug him.

Jisoo looked slightly confused.

“I never knew you were Jeonghan’s boyfriend!” Seokmin exclaimed to Jisoo. “He’s mentioned a boyfriend quite a lot, but he never told me a name.”

“I’ve done his makeup quite a lot over at Pledis Entertainment,” Jeonghan explained to Jisoo.

“Oh,” Jisoo nodded.

“Chan’s here as well!” Jeonghan exclaimed and went to greet the young boy, who looked slightly taken aback that his brother knew Jeonghan so well.

“Seokmin, you know Jeonghan?” Chan asked in confusion.

“Yeah? How do you know him?” Seokmin replied in equal confusion.

“He’s Jisoo’s roommate,” Chan said in an obvious tone.

“Huh, small world isn’t it,” Seokmin said to himself.

“Apparently they’re brothers,” Jisoo told Jeonghan.

“Wait, you’re Chan’s brother?!” Jeonghan exclaimed. Seokmin nodded.

Jisoo checked his watch. “Hey, I’ve got my first class in half an hour. Gotta blast,” he said, heading out the door. “You guys coming? Jeonghan’s got this art showcase thing so he’s got no classes.”

The brothers said goodbye to Jeonghan and left with Jisoo to go to their respective schools.

Jeonghan, left alone in the apartment, went back to the bathroom to brush his hair again.

Just as he was about to change into a new pair of pants, after realising that the ones he was wearing were horribly tight, there was a loud, panicked knocking at the door.

“Did Jisoo forget something again?” Jeonghan wondered to himself as he opened the door in his boxers.

It was Seungcheol. And he looked like he’d just walked through a tornado to get to Jeonghan’s apartment.

“Jeonghan,” Seungcheol panted, not seeming to care that the boy wasn’t wearing pants, “Thank God you’re here. I need help.”

“I think you need a shower first,” Jeonghan said, standing to the side to let Seungcheol enter the apartment.

“I don’t have time,” Seungcheol said hurriedly. Jeonghan raised an eyebrow. “So like, I think I have my first sasaeng fan.”

Jeonghan laughed. “Seriously?”

“I’m serious, Jeonghan! This girl’s been stalking me for a couple days now,” Seungcheol said irritably, “And this morning, I was going down to check some stuff and she fucking pounced on me like some rabid animal as I got into the elevator.”

“And that’s why you look like a train wreck?”

“Normally, I wouldn’t care that much. But my dad kindly volunteered me to do some opening speech at Pledis Uni in half an hour.”

“So you want me to fix you up before then?” Jeonghan narrowed his eyes.

Seungcheol grabbed Jeonghan’s shoulders and shook him vigorously. “I’m begging you. I can’t go up in front of a bunch of freshmen looking like this.”

“Sure. But we only have,” Jeonghan checked his watch, “ten minutes, since I have to go at 9. Let’s see what we can do.”

[APARTMENT #417; Jeon Wonwoo, Kim Mingyu]

“I swear this makes me look like a marshmallow,” Wonwoo groaned, stepping out of the bathroom wearing an oversized beige jumper. Mingyu had given it to Wonwoo that morning, insisting that it was a ‘belated birthday present’.

“Ahh! It looks so good on you!” Mingyu said with delight. He was wearing a very similar one, except that it was a slightly darker shade of beige.

“Did you really get us matching jumpers?” Wonwoo narrowed his eyes.

“No, I just like this brand a lot so I bought two,” Mingyu waved his hand dismissively. “But do you like it?”

Wonwoo pulled the sleeves over his hands and shifted the neckline, as it had begun to fall over his right shoulder, revealing a good portion of his collarbone which made Mingyu choke a little. “I suppose it’s pretty comfortable.”

“Well, Happy Birthday anyway,” Mingyu smiled. “I didn’t really know what else to get you... I figured you’d probably want some new clothes.”

“Practical. Thanks,” Wonwoo gave him a small smile. “Did you not know my size or did you purposely buy an oversized one? Because you could easily wear this too.”

“Um, I guess it’s a slight apology for stealing your clothes all the time,” Mingyu admitted sheepishly. Mingyu wasn’t the best at remembering to do his own laundry; so he often ‘borrowed’ Wonwoo’s larger jackets and shirts. “Most of your clothes fit me, so I just bought two the same size.”

Mingyu felt too embarrassed to tell Wonwoo that he looked unfairly adorable in the loose sweater. He definitely didn’t regret insisting that Wonwoo wear it to school on their first day.

Mingyu was jittering with excitement that he could finally start school at Pledis University. After what felt like a long holiday of moving and settling in with Wonwoo, he would finally be able to take the first step toward achieving his dream in acting.

As it turns out, the drama department were holding hugely important auditions on the first day of school at 5 PM. He’d signed up through Junhui, who was also auditioning, and had spent the last few weeks practising his lines over and over (alone, since Wonwoo didn’t want to help).

Mingyu honestly wasn’t that confident around girls; though he looked like the kind of guy who’d be all over them. The play he’d been practising required intensely romantic scenes between the main guy and girl character, and Mingyu wasn’t sure if he could really pull it off. He knew he’d have to suck it up if he wanted to be an actor.

“You ready for the auditions?” Wonwoo asked as they boarded the elevator with their backpacks slung over their shoulders. Mingyu had the constant nagging feeling that he was forgetting something.

He laughed nervously. “I haven’t even started the school day! I don’t wanna worry about the auditions just yet.”

“You’ll be fine,” Wonwoo assured. “Hopefully all the yell-acting I’ve had to sit through will be worth it.”

Mingyu felt slightly flustered that Wonwoo probably heard all of his practices in front of the bathroom mirror. After all, he needed to get his emotions and tone perfect for the auditions. Even if that meant locking himself in the bathroom and yelling at the mirror for two hours straight.

Ding. More people squished into the elevator and it was becoming noisy and stuffy in the enclosed space. Upon reaching the lobby, they were met with a crowd of students mingling around, waiting for their friends who were probably thirty minutes late.

Mingyu spotted Minghao and Junhui among the crowd of students and quickly ran to catch up with them, Wonwoo trailing behind, struggling to keep up with his long strides.

“Yo, Mingyu,” Minghao greeted him with smile and a slap on the back. “I’m so pumped for our first day.”

Mingyu smiled enthusiastically.

“Enjoy the freshman days while it lasts. You won’t be so enthusiastic this time next year,” Junhui sighed. Wonwoo nodded in agreement. “Also, nice matching jumpers,” he added with a smirk.

Wonwoo pulled his sleeves down further and retreated into the fabric, glaring at Junhui. “Thanks,” he said sarcastically.

“So, ready for orientation?” Junhui asked Mingyu.

“Orientation?” Mingyu tilted his head.

“It’s this assembly thing they do for freshmen,” Wonwoo explained. “To welcome them to the school.”

“Oh, neat.”

“It’s really boring,” Junhui admitted.

“Why are you here anyway, Jun?” Wonwoo asked. “I thought you don’t have classes today.”

“Junhui wanted to come along,” Minghao sighed.

“You’d get lost without me. You couldn’t even find your way to the laundry downstairs that one time,” Junhui pointed out.

“Fair enough,” Minghao relented.

“Yo, guys!” a loud shout announced the entrance of their good friend, Lee Seokmin, who had sprinted from the apartment block to catch up with the group.

“Seokmin!” Mingyu grinned. He slung his arm around the boy’s shoulders.

“So, you and Minghao are the new bait this time around,” Seokmin winked.

“Looking forward to it,” Minghao said dryly.

“Where’s Chan?” Wonwoo asked.

“He’s at school already,” Seokmin said, pointing across the road to Pledis Performing Arts High School.

“Oh. I haven’t seen him in a while. Hope he’s doing okay,” Wonwoo said.

“Bit of difficulty with maths, but otherwise, he’s great,” Seokmin said with a smile.

Seokmin turned back for a moment and waved his hand at someone else, who jogged to meet up with the growing group. The boy had fluffy brown hair, distinctly shaped eyes and a warm smile.

“Guys, this is Jisoo. He’s our hyung at Pledis,” Seokmin introduced.

The boy - Jisoo - nodded politely.

“Jisoo! You’re... Jeonghan’s boyfriend?” Wonwoo asked.

“Yeah! You must be Wonwoo. Thanks for taking care of Jeonghan at your café; he’s talked about you quite a lot,” Jisoo smiled.

The boys all introduced themselves as they entered the university grounds.

“Ah, so it’s your first day here?” Jisoo said to Mingyu and Minghao. “Pledis is a good place. Really competitive, which is understandable, but the people here are great.”

“Yeah, it’s a bit nerve-wracking, but I’m hyped!” Mingyu said. “I’m auditioning for a play this afternoon, so that’s making me even more anxious.”

“Oh, the annual Pledis production? Good luck,” he told Mingyu. “My boyfriend always helps out backstage for the drama productions, so I normally come and watch stuff like this.”

“Don’t come and watch me,” Mingyu pleaded in embarrassment. He didn’t mind acting in front of large audiences, since he didn’t get stage fright easily, but it was different when people he knew was in the crowd.

“I’ll make sure to come, then,” Jisoo grinned.

Heading towards the freshmen meeting place, they were stopped by a man handing out some flyers. It seemed they had reached the area where clubs were advertised.

“Want to learn how to sing like an idol without the gruelling hours of training?” he said, approaching the group. Normally, Mingyu would’ve shied away from people handing out flyers, but he took one from the friendly looking man. Jisoo took one as well.

“You should take singing lessons,” Mingyu whispered to Wonwoo, showing him the flyer.

Wonwoo gave him a look. “No way.”

“Why not? You have a great voice.”

“I’m not interested,” Wonwoo muttered, feeling flustered under Mingyu’s gaze. Respecting his boundaries, Mingyu dropped the subject. But honestly, Mingyu really wanted to hear Wonwoo sing again, like he did in the arcade a few weeks ago. Wonwoo’s velvet-smooth voice had ingrained itself into Mingyu’s brain and he felt addicted to the sound of it.

“You like singing, Jisoo?” Seokmin asked, seeing Jisoo study the flyer intensely.

“Jeonghan and I sing together sometimes,” Jisoo explained. “I’ve always wanted to get better.”

Wonwoo looked over at the man handing the flyers out - one of the seniors he’d seen around the university, Bumzu. He was talking to two younger boys, who Wonwoo knew.

“Do you think I should take singing lessons, Jihoon-ie?” the blue-haired boy, Soonyoung, asked his shorter roommate.

“Why would you want to?” Jihoon grumbled in a low voice. “I could just teach you.”

“Last time I asked, you kicked me,” Soonyoung pointed out.

“Your singing is fine. You don’t need classes,” Jihoon insisted.

“You’re so good at dance. But your specialty is vocal and composing. It’s unfair,” Soonyoung complained. “My singing is no where near as good as your dancing is.”

Jihoon saw Wonwoo standing nearby, and seeing an excuse to drop the subject, he waved at the tall boy.

“Your singing is fine as it is,” Jihoon said under his breath as Wonwoo walked up to greet them. Jihoon felt like Wonwoo was grinning at him - though his face showed no emotion, his usual poker face covering up anything he potentially felt.

“Hey, Jihoon. Soonyoung,” Wonwoo greeted. Jihoon saw Mingyu following up behind and grinned.

“Hey, Wonwoo,” he drawled, “Nice to see you. And Mingyu.”

“Jihoon!” Mingyu said enthusiastically. “I’m really sad you didn’t end up working at NO F.U.N with me and Soonyoung.”

“Don’t be. It wasn’t the place for me.”

“Oh man, I’m gonna be late,” Soonyoung exclaimed, checking his phone. “Good luck on your first day, Mingyu! See you at work sometime,” he said with a wave as he ran off toward the dance studios.

“We should probably head to the meeting place,” Wonwoo said.

“When’s your first class?” Jihoon asked.

“In about an hour,” Wonwoo replied. “I got a pretty good schedule this year, I’m happy.”

“Lucky you. I’ve got some 9 AM classes,” Jihoon sighed.

“9 AM? I’ve got some too. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“You like morning classes?” Jihoon said incredulously.

“Wonwoo wakes up at like 7 everyday,” Mingyu interjected. “Willingly.”

“Unbelievable,” Jihoon shook his head. “Anyway, I’ve got my first class on the other side of the campus. See you guys.” Jihoon walked in the direction of the music department.

“Hey, Wonwoo, do you think we could stop by the bathroom before the meeting thing?” Mingyu asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Wonwoo said. He went over to tell Junhui and the others that they’d meet them at the main courtyard, where the freshmen were meant to meet. While they were talking with Soonyoung and Jihoon, the others had begun looking around the stalls and talking to people handing out flyers. Minghao seemed very interested in joining a thug-looking dance group.

Wonwoo walked with Mingyu to the nearest bathroom he knew of. Even after two years in the university, he still barely knew his way around the campus. His classes were often in the front few buildings, which meant he hardly explored the back of the university, where most of the performing art blocks were.

Wonwoo wasn’t a social person, which was pretty obvious to most as he avoided eye contact as much as he could and only offered up short answers to anyone attempting conversation with him. He didn’t have any mortal enemies, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t any people who disliked him ‘just because it was him’.

He hated people pitying him, which was probably why he refused to tell anyone, even Junhui, about a particular group of guys who somehow found out he was gay during the last few weeks of the previous semester. Wonwoo’s university life had been pretty normal up until the point some dickheads decided to target him as the ‘local gay kid’. Wonwoo wasn’t even the only gay person in his classes, he knew that, but he tended to ignore rather than fight back, making him an ‘easy target’.

Wonwoo’s heart dropped down to his stomach when he saw those very boys sauntering towards their general direction. Hoping they didn’t see him, he grabbed Mingyu’s hand and pulled him along hurriedly.

But it wasn’t like Wonwoo was the luckiest person around.

“Oi, isn’t that Jeon Wonwoo?” one of them hollered.

“Who’s the guy with you?”

“Got a new boy toy?”

Wonwoo’s eye twitched as he turned around, frozen in his tracks. He sighed. He was so sick of them.

“Hey. Thanks for the lovely work you did on my books last semester,” he said dryly.

“Wonwoo, what’s going on?” Mingyu whispered urgently.

“Oh, they just helped me wash my books,” Wonwoo said, tone betraying no emotion. He was bitter that he had to spend a few hundred dollars on new books for the semester. But since it led him to meeting Jihoon, he decided he wasn’t all too bad.

“Ah, you’re welcome, friend,” the tallest boy grinned.

“And what’s your name?” they jeered at Mingyu.

“Don’t bring him into this,” Wonwoo said firmly. “We don’t have time for your bullshit. Let’s go.” He gripped Mingyu’s wrist tightly and pulled him away. The bathroom was so close.

Wonwoo pulled Mingyu into the bathroom and looked back quickly, relieved that they didn’t follow them. But he could hear their jeering shouts in the background.

“I’m sorry,” Wonwoo said quietly. It had been a good few years since Wonwoo wanted to drown himself in a black hole. It wasn’t that their teasing bothered him - he just felt embarrassed that he had to drag Mingyu into it.

“Wonwoo.” Mingyu’s intense stare made Wonwoo’s stomach churn. “Why are they bullying you?”

“Beats me,” Wonwoo said quietly.

Sensing that he didn’t want to talk about it, Mingyu decided to drop it. But if he had to, he’d do something about it in the future. “Well, it’s not cool.”

“You don’t say.” Wonwoo felt thankful that Mingyu didn’t push the subject. It seemed that Mingyu had come to understand his boundaries over the last few weeks of living with him.

“Anyway, I need to use the toilet,” Mingyu laughed. Wonwoo went back outside cautiously to wait for him. Luckily, the boys were gone.

When Mingyu was done, they rushed over to the main courtyard, because they were already a few minutes late for the freshmen meeting.

[PLEDIS UNIVERSITY - MAIN COURTYARD]

“About time you got here,” Minghao whispered as he met Mingyu at the edge of the courtyard.

“Sorry, we got held up,” Mingyu said apologetically. He looked slightly distressed, but Minghao didn’t question it as the professors were giving them looks to shut up.

Minghao turned his attention back to the current speaker, a short man with a bald head. He couldn’t help but be transfixed by the shininess of his bald head.

“Welcome, freshmen, to the best university in South Korea, if I may say so myself,” he chortled. The freshmen in the crowd didn’t seem to be too amused, but clapped to humour him.

“We’ll keep this as short as possible so that you can head off to your classes, conducted by the best professors in the country!” the man’s upbeat tone was starting to annoy Minghao. He was excited to be in this new school, but the man’s grating voice was making him doubt himself. The man started droning on about how philosophy and ethics was undoubtedly the best course - using a lot of complex terminology that Minghao didn’t understand. He looked over at Junhui, who was standing off to the side with Wonwoo and a couple other seniors. Junhui looked back at him and shrugged, seemingly not understanding the speech either.

“That’s enough, Dr. Kim, you’re boring them,” a younger professor halted him from the sidelines. “Let Seungcheol speak now.”

Dr. Kim cleared his throat sheepishly and resumed speaking. “Oh, uh, now! A young man who is currently a junior at Pledis will say a few words,” he gestured to the side. Minghao was surprised to see Seungcheol there, looking rather jittery and nervous. Did Seungcheol get a new haircut? He actually looks pretty good.

“Um, hey guys,” Seungcheol said into the microphone. He flinched upon hearing his voice amplified through the speakers.

“So, it’s finally your first day of university. Congratulations on making it this far. You probably only had finals a little while ago, am I right?” The crowd offered up a few murmurs of agreement. “Well, whatever you learnt from finals, from high school, from your entire life up until now; that’s all pretty useless in university.” The crowd groaned.

“According to Junhui, he’s not wrong,” Minghao whispered to Mingyu.

“Whether you’re into science, or into the arts, or you have no idea what you’re doing,” the crowd laughed, “university is the time to reinvent yourself. Let loose, meet new people, procrastinate... Do what you want to do and don’t let other people oppress you. I’ve been here for three years, and I’ve had the time of my life. It’s not like I have the best grades, but as long as you have fun, it’ll be alright. But still. Study hard, kids. Don’t follow in my footsteps. Good luck for university. If you have any problems, please hesitate to ask me.” He grinned and proceeded to step away from the microphone. The crowd clapped uncertainly.

“Just kidding. Come talk to me whenever!” Seungcheol shouted out as he ran off.

“Seems like he has somewhere to be,” Mingyu laughed.

Everyone soon dispersed, heading toward their first classes. The four of them began walking towards the performing arts block, where Mingyu and Minghao’s classes were. Junhui and Minghao dropped back a little, watching Mingyu and Wonwoo from behind.

“They seem closer,” Minghao whispered to Junhui. While he used to keep his distance, Wonwoo seemed to be comfortably walking right next to Mingyu, shoulders brushing occasionally.

Apparently Minghao wasn’t the only one who thought they looked good together.

“Oh my God, those guys over there!”

“They’re so cute! Do you think they’re models?”

One girl smiled at Junhui with a bit too much flirt for Minghao’s liking. He gave the girl a look, and the smile dropped off her face.

A girl with a lot of courage stopped Mingyu and Wonwoo in their tracks. Looking up at them (since she was considerably shorter than the boys), she said, “You guys look so good together.”*

Minghao spluttered and clung onto Junhui, holding back a laugh. He didn’t expect her to say that; every girl who’d approached them so far had only been interested in getting with either one of them.

“Him? No...” Wonwoo dismissed.

“But you do,” the girl giggled, running off to her friends who squealed in screeching harmony.

The four of them had drawn so much attention that they were approached by more girls, all much shorter than them. But they were all wearing heels to make them taller and what looked like very expensive clothing.

“Hey there,” one of them drawled. From a completely homosexual perspective, Minghao thought she was quite pretty, despite the horrible ‘popular girl’ tone in her voice. She had big, round eyes and perfectly applied makeup that complimented her petite features - though she was gorgeous, the amount of perfect she emitted made Minghao want to gag. He hated girls who seemed as perfect and manicured as she did.

“You’re freshmen, aren’t you?”

Wonwoo and Junhui took a step back and inched away from them.

“I haven’t seen you around here,” another one began advancing towards Mingyu.

Minghao gulped; her perfume was overbearing. It seemed that they were in full-hunt mode, and Mingyu and Minghao were the prey. Man, girls are scary. Jun, isn’t this a great time to fight for me?

“We’re not interested,” Mingyu said in his signature blunt tone. He still managed to sound so sincere and apologetic about it.

“We don’t believe that,” a girl drawled. Did more girls just show up, or am I high from the perfume?

“Guys as gorgeous as you belong with girls as gorgeous as us,” she stated.

“I’m offended,” Minghao growled. “Don’t you dare compare us to you.”

She laughed in a high pitched voice that made Minghao cringe. “What, are you gay or something?”

Minghao laughed lowly. “Is that a problem?” Reaching back, he pulled over who he thought was Junhui, but because he didn’t look back, he accidentally grabbed Wonwoo’s waistband. Mortified, Minghao had to roll with it since the girls didn’t seem to want to back down, as frustrated as he felt.

Pulling Wonwoo towards him, he gingerly slid his arm around his side. The girl narrowed her eyes and sighed. “I don’t mean bromance. Boys do that all the time.”

Minghao gulped; what, did she want him to kiss the guy? He’d never live that down.

“Fine. You’ll never meet girls like us again though,” she insisted. Minghao breathed in a sigh of relief.

“That’s the point,” Mingyu said, grabbing Wonwoo and walking past quickly. The girl looked confused. Minghao grinned sheepishly and hurriedly followed after with Junhui.

“So, I guess you want to break up,” Junhui said, wiping away a fake tear.

Minghao buried his face in his hands. “Sorry, Wonwoo,” he apologised to the boy first.

“No worries,” Wonwoo held back a laugh. “I’ve used the gay card before. But not like you did.”

“Shut up.”

“Nice one,” Mingyu chuckled, slinging his arm around Minghao and laughing even louder.

“Shut up,” Minghao repeated.

“You guys should get used to this. Girls who don’t even go here show up just to hunt for a new boy toy,” Wonwoo sighed.

“You sound pretty experienced,” Minghao smirked, winding his hand into Junhui’s. Junhui huffed, but couldn’t stay mad for long.

“It happens a lot,” Wonwoo shrugged. But has any girl outright shipped you with your roommate before?

They reached the building where Mingyu’s first class was, and Wonwoo said he would follow him in to make sure he ‘didn’t lose his way’. Knowing Mingyu, Minghao didn’t think it was a bad idea for Wonwoo to follow.

“Don’t be late to the auditions,” Junhui said, bro-hugging Mingyu. “You ready?”

“I practised as much as I could,” Mingyu smiled.

“Have fun in your classes,” Junhui said as he bid them goodbye.

Junhui followed Minghao until they reached his classroom building. Not really caring that the building was quite crowded, Minghao quickly kissed Junhui before going into his classroom. Not only was Junhui’s face priceless, but hearing the gasps and whispers of the surrounding girls never felt more satisfying to him.

“Should probably let you know, Minghao, that public affection isn’t that acceptable around here,” a strangely familiar voice remarked as Minghao entered the classroom.

Minghao felt his stomach drop. He turned slowly and came face to face with a gorgeous boy with light brown hair, wearing a beanie that framed his delicate features. Out of all the places in the world, Minghao never expected to meet him again here. In his dance class. In South Korea.

“Luhan?”

Chapter Text

[PLEDIS PERFORMING ARTS HIGH SCHOOL]

“Welcome back to school everyone. I hope you all remembered your books, because our first lesson is English,” the teacher drawled.

“The best subject,” Hansol said in English, leaning back in his chair relaxedly. Seungkwan, who sat in the seat behind Hansol, flicked the back of his head.

“Sir, is there time to go to the toilet?” a student asked.

“Yeah, sure,” the teacher said dismissively. Out of all the subject teachers, Seungkwan had to admit that the English teacher was the most chill. Maybe a little bit too chill.

“Oh, I’ll go as well,” Hansol stood up and followed the student out the door.

Left alone, Seungkwan involuntarily eavesdropped the girls’ conversation behind him. They were squealing about something, as usual, but the mention of Hansol’s name caught Seungkwan’s attention.

“...Hansol’s got a girlfriend!” one girl announced proudly. What?

“No way,” another girl said.

“A junior told me that he asked out a girl in her class!”

“Who? Is she pretty?”

“Wait, that’s her!” The group silenced and Seungkwan looked out into the hallway, seeing a girl in a rush, holding a precarious stack of papers. With her short, light brown hair, petite and innocent features, he couldn’t help but stare as she rushed past. Her beauty was that of a girl that he would never talk to, or even think of associating with. He was far too shy and awkward around girls; whether it be classmates, or fans, he could never talk to a girl without clamming up and sweating all over. Well, not counting people like his sister or cousins.

“No way! Isn’t that Chaeyoung?”

“She’s an idol trainee in JYP, isn’t she?”

“Are you sure they’re dating? Well, I mean, who wouldn’t want to date her...”

“I don’t know... A junior heard it from other girls, not Chaeyoung herself. But don’t you think they would look cute together?”

Seungkwan spotted Hansol walking back from the toilet just as the girl - Chaeyoung - disappeared down the hallway, and he could’ve sworn he saw Hansol gulp nervously.

“Hansol... Are you dating anyone?” Seungkwan prodded him the moment he sat back down in his chair.

“What?” Hansol spluttered.

“It’s not a difficult question,” Seungkwan said curtly.

“Uh... no,” Hansol replied confusedly.

“Oh, ok,” Seungkwan sighed. He would’ve felt slightly annoyed if his roommate and best friend didn’t tell him about something as important as getting a girlfriend.

“But there’s someone I wanna ask out,” Hansol continued.

“... Who?” Seungkwan asked as he felt his heart drop to his stomach. He wasn’t sure why the idea of Hansol dating someone bothered him so much. Probably because his apartment would no longer just be his and Hansol’s.

“This girl called Chaeyoung,” he said. Looks like those girls were right... How do girls find out these things so accurately?

“She’s in the year below us,” he continued.

“Oh, that girl that just walked past?” Seungkwan narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah, that was her! I didn’t know you knew who she was,” Hansol said.

“Yeah, well, I know people,” Seungkwan muttered.

The bell rang, signalling the start of classes and their teacher called for attention to the front, forcing Hansol to turn around and cease their conversation.

English class ended an hour later, giving them a short break whilst their next subject teacher came to their classroom. Seungkwan couldn’t concentrate at all because of what happened before class. He tapped Hansol’s shoulder a little too urgently.

“When are you going to ask her out?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but I heard some guy in her class wants to ask her out too,” Hansol said sadly.

“Oh, that’s a shame,” Seungkwan said, in a tone that sounded a little too happy.

“How are you supposed to ask a girl out?” Hansol muttered.

“You don’t,” Seungkwan smirked.

Hansol pursed his lips and gave Seungkwan a look. Seungkwan put his hands up jokingly.

“You’re just jealous that I’m about to get a girlfriend,” Hansol smirked back. “Before you do.”

“Since when was this a competition?” Seungkwan narrowed his eyes. “How are you so sure she’ll actually go out with you?”

“Because I’m Choi Hansol,” he said triumphantly, before turning back to the front as their next teacher entered the room.

Biology was never Seungkwan’s favourite subject, but their new teacher, who insisted to be called ‘Mr. Bang’, taught in such a way that Seungkwan didn’t feel like throwing himself out of the window whilst learning about enzymes. It made the rest of the hour less agonising.

Several periods of needless subjects and endless writing passed, and it was finally time for after school club activities. Seungkwan had been looking forward to them even before school started.

“Hansol, coming to the theatre?” Seungkwan stuffed his books into his bag in a hurry, afraid that his roommate would leave as soon as he could.

“Theatre?” Hansol cocked an eyebrow, playing dumb. “Don’t you have choir practice or something?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten,” Seungkwan tutted, referring to the promise Hansol made, saying he would try out the drama club with him.

Hansol sighed. “Do I really have to?”

“Just come watch. It’ll be fun!” Seungkwan insisted.

“Fine.”

They made their way hastily to the school’s theatre, arriving just in time as the club’s apparent leader was about to start talking.

“So.. welcome back to semester 2!” the boy said. He was incredibly tall, with fluffy dark hair and an inviting eye-smile. Everything about his visual and aura screamed ‘manga boy’.

“For all the newcomers here, welcome! My name is Cha Eunwoo, and I’m the drama club’s unofficial leader,” the boy said with a smile. “Today, we won’t actually be doing anything here, since the dance students have booked it out for an upcoming performance. So instead, Pledis University has kindly let us sit in on their auditions for today.”

“We’re going over to Pledis?” Seungkwan asked, drawing the attention of all twenty or so club members.

“Yes, looks like it. Are you two new?” Eunwoo looked over at Hansol.

“We’re just trying it out,” Hansol said uncertainly.

“Everyone’s welcome! This isn’t a club for anyone in the drama scholarship program, but more for people who just want to have fun on stage. So don’t feel pressured to do anything you don’t want to,” Eunwoo said reassuringly. Seungkwan smiled.

“We’ll do introductions and whatnot next time, okay?” Seungkwan and Hansol nodded.

Following Eunwoo out just as the dance students began assembling in the theatre, the group headed towards the prestigious Fronting Theatre, located in Pledis University.

[PLEDIS UNIVERSITY - FRONTING THEATRE]

“Mingyu, stop jittering so much,” Junhui slapped Mingyu’s back as they entered Fronting Theatre. Already gathered were fifty or so hopeful actors and actresses.

After signing their name on a sheet at the front desk, Junhui and Mingyu were both given a number tag which separated them into different audition groups. Each group would read out a different, random part of the script they were meant to have practised.

“Looks like we’re in different groups,” Junhui sighed. His number tag said ‘4’ whilst Mingyu was in ‘1’.

“Please don’t tell me that group 1 means I’m going first,” Mingyu sighed.

Much to his dismay, a short while later, group 1 was called backstage to begin the auditions while groups 2-5 were to take a seat in the audience.

Junhui punched Mingyu’s shoulder lightly and pushed him off towards the stage. “You’ll be fine, you’ve practised this shit even more than I have. Believe in yourself,” he assured Mingyu.

Scanning the audience after sending Mingyu off, Junhui finally caught sight of Minghao and Wonwoo, who had followed him and Mingyu to the theatre.

Junhui had met Minghao after his morning classes to go get lunch, but the latter had seemed visibly shaken about something, but he wouldn’t tell Junhui what happened. Minghao had never been this reserved since they first met, so Junhui was above worried that something bad happened during his classes. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the time to worry about it now, as he was terribly worried about the upcoming auditions.

Taking a seat next to Minghao, Junhui noticed a big group of Pledis High students take a seat at the back of the theatre. Among them were two teenage boys he knew quite well; Seungkwan and Hansol.

Upon seeing Junhui, Seungkwan narrowed his eyes. He nudged Hansol, who waved and smiled at Junhui. Junhui huffed jokingly and sat down, turning his back to them. What are they doing here?

“You okay?” Minghao lightly tapped Junhui’s forearm, seeing his frowned expression. I should be the one asking you that...

“Yeah. I just saw Seungkwan and Hansol. I’d rather they not watch me audition,” Junhui muttered.

“Oh, alright,” Minghao accepted and relaxed in his chair.

Junhui tuned out the ongoing auditions as he took out his script and pored over the lines in a last-ditch effort to memorise as much as he could.

[PLEDIS UNIVERSITY - FRONTING THEATRE BACKSTAGE]

“Where is it?” Mingyu muttered, searching desperately through his bag. “I swear I put it in here...”

“Next is... Kim Mingyu and Kim Sohye**. Please make your way to the curtains,” one of the backstage crew members announced. The auditions were to be done in pairs of one boy and one girl, since there were about the same numbers of each. The audition was general, so roles would be distributed according to this one audition. The play that year was said to be primarily focused on the three lead characters - two male, one female - so it was obvious that everyone was vying for a spot as one of the three main characters.

Mingyu, who always had the best luck, couldn’t find the audition script in his bag and was slowly reducing into a shaking ball of anxiety. I knew I was forgetting something today...

“Kim Mingyu!” the crew member called out once again.

Mingyu stumbled towards the curtain just as the previous two actors ended their audition.

“Um, sir, I can’t find--” Mingyu began.

“Alright, you’re up,” the crew member said in a hurry, pushing Mingyu and his audition partner - Sohye - out onto the brightly lit stage.

The auditions allowed you to bring a script on stage, even though you were given it beforehand. Of course, the more you could memorise, the better, but Mingyu hadn’t acted in front of a large audience before. He didn’t feel like he could remember the lines unless he had paper in his hand.

Sohye didn’t seem to be nervous at all. She had a wide smile on her face that felt warm and welcoming, which put Mingyu somewhat at ease. C’mon, Mingyu. You’ve practised this till your voice broke. Stop worrying over a simple audition.

The audience was dead silent as Mingyu and Sohye walked out into the spotlight. Mingyu could hear every step he took on the echoing stage and wondered if Sohye could hear his heart threatening to break his chest open. His palms started sweating so much it became uncomfortable. Nevertheless, he tried to hide his nervousness and instead smiled as attractively as he possibly could in that situation.

“Please start from the top of page 20. When the male lead suggests that they break up,” one of the judges instructed.

Mingyu gulped and clenched his fists. He remembered practising that scene, but he wasn’t 100% sure of his lines.

He glanced out into the audience, covered in shadows as no light reached beyond the stage. But through the darkness, he spotted his friends sitting in one of the front rows. Aren’t you guys sitting a bit too close to the stage?!

His eyes met with Wonwoo’s, who was sat right in the middle of the row in perfect view of the stage. He didn’t know whether it was the darkness or not, but he saw Wonwoo quirk his lips in a slight upwards crescent in what could only be described as an encouraging smile.

Wonwoo held Mingyu’s gaze with such intensity that Mingyu was sure he looked like a dead fish on the stage.

Huh. I’m not that nervous anymore.

Sohye flicked to page 20 and glanced at Mingyu, who was still staring intently out into the audience.

“Whenever you’re ready,” a judge said.

Mingyu broke from Wonwoo’s gaze reluctantly, cleared his throat and glanced at Sohye. Breaking up scene? So, we have to act like we’re mad at each other...

“Let’s break up,” Mingyu began, putting as much emotion and strength into his voice as he could. It was a simple scene, line-wise, but portraying the character’s emotions correctly proved to be quite difficult for Mingyu, who had never had any sort of romantic experience in his nineteen years of living.

“What are you talking about?” Sohye retorted, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Wow, this girl is pretty good.

“I can’t be with you anymore,” Mingyu said after a moment’s hesitation. Crap, what’s the next line?

Sohye took a quick glance at her script, and said, “What’s wrong? Why are you saying this all of a sudden?”

“It’s just...” Mingyu wracked his brain, trying to remember what came next. In the split second of his hesitation, his eyes unconsciously drifted back out into the audience. Back out to Wonwoo.

“I’m so busy with schedules,” Wonwoo mouthed.

... Oh, that was the line!

“It’s just, I’ve been so busy with schedules lately...” Mingyu relocked his gaze with Sohye and delivered his line. Do I even want to know why Wonwoo knew my lines?

“But, you said you liked me!” Sohye argued.

“I liked you... I used to like you,” Mingyu frowned.

“I’ll treat you better!” Sohye pleaded.

Mingyu paused. He wasn’t sure if he was mixing up scenes, but the next line he remembered was a bit abrupt, so he decided to build it up more than he remembered was written in the play.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while, but... I have another girl,” Mingyu said.

Sohye huffed and turned away from him. “Seriously? You’re so obnoxious!”

“I know... that’s why we should break up,” Mingyu repeated.

“Do you like her that much?” Sohye furrowed her eyebrows again. “What does she have that I don’t?”

Mingyu laughed emotionlessly. “You’re one to talk, Nayeon. You say I’m obnoxious, but aren’t you the same?”

“What the hell are you on about?” Sohye demanded angrily. She stepped closer to Mingyu, so that her face was a hand’s width from Mingyu’s. I never noticed before, but... she’s really tall. Her face is so close... well, it’s in the script, I guess.

“A boy with brown hair and looks that rival those of an idol. Don’t lie to me, I saw you making out with him at the club last Friday!” Mingyu shouted, voice rising in anger.

Oh, that’s right! This was the scene Junhui and Wonwoo were practising the first time I met them... I’m glad the lines for this scene are seared into my mind...

“You always misunderstand! He was my cousin, for god’s sake,” Sohye said, exasperated.

Mingyu sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Oh shoot, did I just mess my hair up too much? What if I look like a raccoon in a tornado?

“I’m sorry,” Mingyu said quietly. “I’m just not feeling the best today...”

Alright, my character’s supposed to collapse due to his sickness...

Mingyu clutched his head and sunk to his knees. His knees hit the stage with a loud thump, and he bit his tongue to prevent himself from breaking character.

“Jaehyun!” Sohye cried, rushing to catch Mingyu as he fell towards the stage, clutching his head in pain.

“Alright, you can stop there,” a judge announced.

Mingyu breathed a sigh of relief, bowed a full 90-degrees to both the judges and Sohye, and practically ran off the stage in embarrassment.

“How am I supposed to be an actor like this?” Mingyu muttered to himself as he grabbed his bag and rushed to join his friends in the audience.

[PLEDIS UNIVERSITY - FRONTING THEATRE]

“See, you did fine, didn’t you?” Wonwoo said quietly as Mingyu sat down next to him, flustered.

Mingyu turned to face Wonwoo and stared intently at him. “Th-that.. back there. How did you know my lines?”

“Oh. How could I not remember after hearing them repeated over and over for hours?” Wonwoo said innocently.

Mingyu buried his face in his arms. “Sorry,” he said in a muffled voice. “You saved me. I forgot to bring my script.”

“I figured,” Wonwoo smirked. “Lucky you had me,” he said in a quieter voice.

“Don’t get so full of yourself,” Mingyu laughed and pushed Wonwoo’s shoulder.

“Hey, good job,” Junhui reached over Wonwoo and high-fived Mingyu. “Pretty decent for someone who hasn’t had much experience on stage.”

“You’re the one to talk! Korean isn’t even your first language, and you’re acting with it!” Mingyu said incredulously.

Junhui grinned and rubbed the back of his neck.

The rest of group 1’s auditions breezed through, and the judges announced a small break before group 2’s turn to audition.

“Junhui, was it?” a familiar voice called from behind them.

“Seungkwan and Hansol. What are you two doing here?” Junhui asked the two boys standing behind.

“Just... appreciating the fine arts,” Seungkwan smiled. “Are you auditioning?”

“Of course. You’ll get to watch my genius up close. Consider yourselves lucky,” Junhui grinned.

“I’ll make sure to wear a blindfold, then,” Seungkwan grinned back. Hansol held back a laugh and pushed Seungkwan lightly.

Behind Seungkwan and Hansol, Wonwoo saw Jisoo walking up towards them.

“Hey guys!” Jisoo greeted. Hansol high-fived him in greeting.

“Oh, Jisoo-hyung!” Mingyu gave him a warm smile.

“Just ‘Jisoo’ is fine,” he laughed. “I told you I would come and watch. But, they wouldn’t let me in earlier because auditions already started. Please tell me I didn’t miss yours...”

“Haha,” Mingyu scratched the back of his neck, grinning.

Jisoo sighed and sat down in the row behind them. “Anyone else auditioning?”

Junhui raised his hand with a grin. “Oh, Junhui! Should’ve known. You definitely have the visual for it,” Jisoo smiled.

“I know,” Junhui grinned, prompting Minghao to frown and hit his stomach. Junhui groaned in over-exaggerated pain and sat back down to watch the rest of the auditions. Seungkwan and Hansol took a seat next to Jisoo.

Jisoo began talking to Hansol about something in an excited hushed voice, to the point that one of the judges turned around and gave them the stink eye for being so noisy. Junhui suppressed a laugh.

“You know, watching these auditions...” Wonwoo whispered to Mingyu, after about an hour of auditions from groups 2 and 3, “...you might actually have a chance.”

“Aw, thanks,” Mingyu said sarcastically. “Glad to know you have faith in me.”

“I’ve always had faith in you. What are you talking about?”

“You’re just saying that everyone’s worse than me. That doesn’t mean I’m actually good,” Mingyu pursed his lips.

“Is it a bad thing if everyone’s worse than you? Means you’ll get the role,” Wonwoo nudged.

Mingyu rolled his head back in the chair and whined. God, he looks like an upset puppy. Why is he like this...?

“Group 4, please proceed backstage to begin your auditions,” a judge announced.

“Well, looks like it’s my turn. Try not to be too impressed,” Junhui grinned as he stepped over Wonwoo and Mingyu to get out of the seat row.

“You’re not using a script?” Mingyu asked, seeing that Junhui left his script on his seat.

“Nah, I want to do this like it’s a real performance,” Junhui said.

“Don’t stuff up, and maybe you’ll have a chance,” Minghao said with a smug smile.

Junhui gave him a look, but kept on walking.

While they were waiting for Junhui’s audition to begin, a familiar person snuck in and sat down next to Mingyu.

“What’re you guys doing here?”

Wonwoo turned and came face to face with a grinning Seungcheol.

“Watching auditions,” he replied, unfazed.

“Cheol, what the hell are you doing here?” Hansol leaned forward in his seat and placed his hands on Seungcheol’s chair.

“Oh, Seungcheol! Nice welcome speech today, by the way,” Mingyu smiled.

Seungcheol waved him off. “I was meant to be here two hours ago but I forgot. My father sponsors part of this production every year, and as his only available son, I’m meant to show up to rehearsals and stuff. Just to make it seem like we care, but it’s really all for my father’s good name. It sucks,” Seungcheol sighed. “Since you guys are here, can you tell the judge people I had urgent... apartment matters to deal with?”

“Why don’t you just tell them yourself?” Wonwoo frowned.

“I’m not sitting through boring auditions. I have places to be. Like, my bed,” Seungcheol gave him a look. “If they see me here, they’ll ask me all sorts of questions to try and get on my good side, since I’m the sponsor’s son,” Seungcheol sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I’ll give you a rent discount if you do me this small favour.”

“I’m not that low, Seungcheol,” Wonwoo sighed. “Don’t you want to watch Junhui’s audition?”

“Junhui?” Seungcheol raised an eyebrow, just as the judges called out the next audition duo; Wen Junhui and Jung Eunji.

“Oh, Eunji-noona!” Jisoo exclaimed.

“You know her? Is she a good actress?” Hansol asked with a yawn. “I wanna see something more jaw-dropping than the past few auditions.”

“She works at Love Letter with me. I’ve always heard how much she wanted to try out acting, so I’m sure she’s decent at least.”

The judges indicated for them to begin. Just like the past few auditions of group 4, they were to act out a scene where the male lead is at death’s door in the hospital and the female lead is beside herself with grief.

Junhui lay himself on the floor of the stage and closed his eyes; something that none of the previous actors did. Everyone else simply read out the lines in a standing position.

His partner, Eunji, seemed to adapt quickly. “Jaehyun!” she sobbed.

Junhui opened an eye slowly, and smiled with so much emotion that even Wonwoo could feel the intensity of his gaze.

“Is this why you kept pushing me away? Why would you never tell me something like this?!” Eunji cried.

“Damn, Eunji really is good. She looks good with Junhui,” Mingyu commented, earning a glare from Minghao. Mingyu shrunk away and put his hands up with a smile.

Junhui sat up slowly. “Nayeon?” he rasped in a sickly tone. “What are you doing here?”

“I-I... found these papers in your locker. They asked me to clear it out, because I was the only one who knew your combination,” Eunji thrust her script at Junhui.

“My... medical papers? Nayeon!” Junhui exclaimed and sat up suddenly, staring intently at Eunji.

“Why... didn’t you tell me?” Eunji said, her voice wobbling and eyes on the verge of tears.

“It’s not--”

“Stop giving me this kind of bullshit, Jaehyun!” Eunji shouted.

“Ma’am, please calm down!” the judge read out a nurse’s line.

“Stay out of this!” Eunji whirled towards the audience, eyes already filled with tears.

“Jaehyun, did you really thing breaking my heart would make me any less devastated?”

“I... didn’t know what else I could do...” Junhui croaked.

Eunji collapsed next to Junhui. “How long do you have?” she asked as she raised a hand to Junhui’s face, caressing it gently.

“Is this in the script?” Wonwoo heard Minghao mutter. Looking over, Wonwoo could see Minghao gripping the seat handle a little too tightly.

“About six months,” Junhui whispered, grabbing Eunji’s hand and staring into her eyes.

“Oh,” Eunji broke away from his gaze and turned around. “Well, I guess we’ll have to condense decades of being together into six months.”

Junhui laughed quietly. “I thought I said we should break up. There’s no getting rid of you, is there?”

“Hmm, aren’t you afraid I’ll go back to ‘the boy with brown hair and looks that rival those of an idol’?” Eunji said smugly, drying off her tears.

“Shut up,” Junhui laughed, which triggered a fit of coughs, causing him to double over into Eunji’s arms.

“Jaehyun! Nurse, what’s wrong with him?!” Eunji cried out.

“Alright, you can stop there,” a judge said.

“What?” Seungcheol exclaimed, a little too loudly. The judges turned around and caught sight of him, and immediately stood up.

“Choi Seungcheol! I-I--”

“Oh, shit,” Seungcheol whispered. He stood up reluctantly, the audience and judges’ eyes on him. Junhui and Eunji both stood up and sheepishly walked off the stage.

“Um, sorry. I was just pretty into the story there,” Seungcheol said, embarrassed.

“Oh, did you like their acting?” a judge asked, wringing his hands nervously.

“Yes! Those two were great! Felt like I was watching an actual drama,” Seungcheol said earnestly. “Uh, not that I watch dramas, of course,” he added hastily.

“Oh, we’re glad they impressed you! Please, let us know if there’s anything we can improve about this production! We are incredibly appreciative of your father’s support every single year.”

“Yeah...” Seungcheol laughed nervously. “Um, it was great watching all those auditions, but I have some urgent business to attend to!”

Yeah, right. You watched like, one and a half auditions.

“Oh, of course! Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to watch the auditions!” another judge bowed in Seungcheol’s direction.

“Wow, it’s like he’s some sort of god to them,” Hansol pursed his lips.

“God of Losers,” Seungkwan said in English and rolled his eyes.

Seungcheol bowed hastily and snuck out as the judges prepared for the next audition. They seemed visibly shaken by Seungcheol’s appearance.

“Knowing Seungcheol, I can’t imagine how people are actually intimidated by him,” Minghao laughed.

“He’s such a pushover, it’s adorable,” Jisoo agreed.

Junhui joined them several minutes later, and seeing as they had no point in staying longer, decided to leave the audition hall as quietly as they could. Seungkwan and Hansol said goodbye, as they had to stay with their school club that they came with.

“Well, you did alright, I guess,” Seungkwan shrugged.

“Thanks,” Junhui grinned, slapped his back and followed the others outside.

As they exited into the bright sunlight, Junhui felt Minghao’s hand wrap around his waist.

“You alright?” Junhui asked. Minghao had a thoughtful expression and wouldn’t look Junhui directly in the eyes.

“Junhui! That was amazing!” Mingyu interrupted, slinging an arm around Junhui’s shoulder.

“Thanks, Mingyu! Eunji was a good partner,” Junhui said with a smile. He felt Minghao tense up slightly.

“Uh, anyway, thanks for coming along for me and Mingyu. It was great of you to watch us embarrass ourselves,” Junhui laughed, pulling Minghao slightly closer for good measure.

Parting ways to return to their apartments in Apartment Block 17, Junhui debated whether he should ask Minghao why he looked so down.

“Alright, we should celebrate a successful audition and first day at school with some ramyun!” Minghao exclaimed as soon as they entered their apartment.

Deciding against ruining the good atmosphere, Junhui smiled and followed Minghao to the kitchen. He’s probably just a little tired from his first day at uni.

Chapter Text

[APARTMENT #118; Choi Hansol, Boo Seungkwan]

“Yeah, I saw my results just now. My grade’s gone up 7%,” Hansol announced proudly to Jisoo on the phone.

“I’m glad I could help,” Jisoo smiled through the phone.

“I’m proud of you!” Jeonghan shouted in the background.

“All thanks to you,” Hansol said. “Anyway, I gotta go get ready for school.”

Jisoo laughed. “Have fun.”

“We’re going to the aquarium today for an excursion,” Hansol said as he packed his bag. “Ever been?”

“Oh, the Drift Away Aquarium? Jeonghan took me when I first moved here,” Jisoo said.

“Any worthy attractions?”

“The penguins are so cute,” Jisoo said excitedly.

“They’re almost as cute as you,” Jeonghan commented in the background.

“Me or Jisoo?” Hansol smirked. He heard Jeonghan laugh faintly.

“Alright, I’ll look out for cute penguins. See you, hyung!” Hansol hung up as Seungkwan walked into the kitchen, where Hansol was now preparing himself breakfast.

“Hey, are we filming a video today or tomorrow?” Seungkwan asked as he grabbed cereal from the cupboard.

“The ZICO cover? Or is it another vlog?” Hansol asked to clarify.

“ZICO cover,” Seungkwan clarified, pouring milk over the cereal. “Jihoon said he’d get us into a recording studio at Pledis Uni. But it has to be today or tomorrow.”

“Hmm, how about tomorrow?” Hansol suggested. “Since we’re going on an excursion. And isn’t drama club at 4:30 today?”

“True, I forgot. I’ll tell him,” Seungkwan texted Jihoon as he ate his cereal.

They sat at the dining table and ate in silence for a while. Seungkwan had been a bit off lately, and it was worrying Hansol.

“Hey, are you alright?” Hansol asked cautiously. “You’ve been a bit quiet lately.”

“Just a bit tired, I guess,” Seungkwan replied, not too convincingly.

“Oh, well... I’ll believe you. But you can talk to me about anything, you know?” Hansol insisted. “That’s what friends are for.”

“Yeah. Friends,” Seungkwan laughed weakly and concentrated a little too hard on his bowl of cereal.

Hansol frowned, wanting to change the topic. “Oh, anyway. I need some advice! Figure I’d come to the best,” he smiled, trying to pry Seungkwan’s attention away from his cereal.

“Oh, about what?” Seungkwan perked up.

“I’ve decided to ask Chaeyoung out,” Hansol said proudly.

“Oh, really,” Seungkwan said, returning his gaze to his cereal.

“You know that New Year’s festival next month? Apparently there’s a really big fireworks display and it sounds like a great opportunity,” Hansol continued.

“Oh, nice.”

“You sound disappointed,” Hansol frowned. “Not good enough for Boo Seungkwan? What would you do?”

“What do you mean, ‘what would I do’?”

“If you wanted to ask a girl out, how would you do it?”

Seungkwan laughed slightly bitterly. “Like I’d ever want to ask a girl out. I can’t even talk to a girl.”

“But you’re Boo Seungkwan!” Hansol threw up his hands and laughed. “Look at all your adoring fans.”

“Okay, but... have you thought about what this means for our channel?” Seungkwan sighed, finishing the last of his milk and taking the bowl to the sink.

Hansol put on a face of confusion and Seungkwan sat back down.

“How do you think our fans will take it? That Choi Hansol has a girlfriend now,” Seungkwan said.

“Well, obviously not everyone will be happy. I know that,” Hansol said. “But I don’t think our online lives should affect our personal ones.”

“True. But.. what about...” Seungkwan hesitated.

“Oh, the Boonon shippers?” Hansol nodded thoughtfully.

“Yeah,” Seungkwan said quietly. Both the boys were painfully aware of the hardcore fans who looked into their interactions far too much. They were already really close friends, but sometimes the fans who shipped them made them feel a little uncomfortable around each other.

“I’m sure the majority of them know we’re not actually... like that...” Hansol said softly.

“Well, they’ll be angry,” Seungkwan said abruptly as he grabbed his schoolbag.

“Wait, are you leaving already--”

“Yeah. I need to... go buy stuff,” Seungkwan said absently as he left the apartment in a hurry.

“Seungkwan--” Hansol called out, but Seungkwan had already closed the front door.

[DRIFT AWAY AQUARIUM]

“Alright, as we call your name, please move to your assigned groups. You are to stay in these tour groups for the whole day,” a teacher instructed as the students filed out of the buses.

Hansol alighted the bus and searched around for Seungkwan. Since he left that morning, Hansol hadn’t been able to find him at all.

“Boo Seungkwan,” a teacher called. Hansol saw Seungkwan make his way to his tour group.

“Choi Hansol,” a different teacher called. Hansol sighed and walked to his group; he wasn’t in Seungkwan’s group. Hansol felt like he needed to talk to him; Seungkwan was rarely ever moody and they hardly ever argued with each other.

The groups were a mix of first, second and third year biology students. At Pledis High, students could choose different course selections, and Seungkwan and Hansol had chosen the selection with biology in it. The selections determined their classes.

Hansol nearly choked when he heard his group leader call out ‘Son Chaeyoung’, followed by a couple of other second year names. Their group was complete as the second years alighted their buses and joined their respective groups.

“Hi, Hansol!” Chaeyoung greeted. Her friends were smiling behind her.

“Oh, hi. Chaeyoung,” Hansol managed to get out. He’d talked to Chaeyoung a few times, but they weren’t best friends or anything. Chaeyoung was a fan of him and Seungkwan.

“Not with Seungkwan today?” she asked.

“He’s in a different group,” Hansol said, palms sweating.

“Aw, alright. Have you been recording anything lately?” she asked.

“Yeah, actually. We’re recording a cover tomorrow,” Hansol said, wringing his hands and willing them to stop shaking. “How’s training going?”

“We’ve just recorded some solos,” Chaeyoung said, sighing. “I hope I’ll get to debut soon.”

“I’m sure you will,” Hansol said good-naturedly. He was suddenly aware of the possible dating bans Chaeyoung would be put under.

All the groups were organised and the group leaders began to lead their groups into the aquarium one by one. Hansol glanced around at his group and realised he didn’t know anyone besides Chaeyoung.

Hansol spotted Seungkwan’s group following behind his. Their eyes met and Hansol smiled, but was disheartened when Seungkwan looked away hurriedly and disappeared into the crowd. What’s wrong with Seungkwan?

“Hey!” a voice greeted from his right. Hansol turned to see one of the second year boys talking to him. He seemed vaguely familiar, but Hansol wasn’t sure why.

“Hey,” Hansol greeted.

“You’re Hansol, aren’t you? Or, I guess, Vernon,” he smiled.

“Oh, you know Boonon?” Hansol grinned. Vernon was his middle name, which he used as his stage alias.

“My hyung introduced me to your channel. You and Seungkwan are really funny and inspirational,” he said.

“Oh, I’m glad! What’s your name?” Hansol asked.

“Oh, sorry. I’m Chan. I never knew you went to Pledis High,” the boy - Chan - gave him a toothy smile.

“It’s a small world,” Hansol smiled.

They entered the aquarium, and Hansol’s group moved off to the deep sea exhibit. Hansol started talking more comfortably with Chan, and seeing as they both didn’t know anyone else in the group, stuck together through all the exhibits.

“I’m actually training to be an idol,” Chan admitted.

“Wait, seriously?” Hansol exclaimed. “That’s so cool! Which agency?”

“Pledis,” Chan said proudly.

“Damn, you must be really good. I suddenly feel inferior,” Hansol laughed.

“Why don’t you and Seungkwan audition? You’ll surely be accepted,” Chan said.

“Idol life isn’t really for us, I guess,” Hansol said sheepishly.

“That’s true. It’s really tough, even though I haven’t debuted yet. My brother, Seokmin, is in the same agency and he’s got it tougher than me since he’s older.”

“Wait, Seokmin? That name sounds really familiar,” Hansol furrowed his eyebrows.

“Oh, Seokmin knows Seungkwan. Also, you guys came round for Seungcheol’s birthday a few months ago,” Chan explained. “Not sure you’d remember me, though,” he laughed.

“Oh, wait! I think I do. No wonder you seemed familiar,” Hansol said sheepishly. “Sorry. We met a lot of people that day and my memory isn’t the greatest.”

“It’s cool. Glad I got the chance to talk to you properly like this,” Chan smiled.

Their group managed to make it through the deep sea exhibit and proceeded to the outdoor pool, where there would be a seal feeding show in ten minutes. They were joined by other groups; among which, Hansol saw Seungkwan.

“Oh, hey! It’s Seungkwan,” Chan spotted him in the crowd. Seungkwan, upon seeing Hansol with Chan, quickly took a seat far up the back.

“Yeah,” Hansol said quietly.

“What’s wrong?” Chan picked up his hesitation quickly.

“Nothing. Just... roommate stuff,” Hansol brushed him off.

“Oh, you guys live in Apartment Block 17, right?” Chan asked as they took a seat in the middle of the bleachers. “You and Seungkwan should come over sometime!” he suggested with a grin.

Hansol laughed. “Sounds cool.”

The sound of girls giggling behind them captured Hansol’s attention. In his peripheral vision, he saw that it was Chaeyoung’s group of friends. They were all giggling and nudging Chaeyoung, who rolled her eyes and pushed them off.

Chan turned around fully and asked them what was so funny. It seemed that he knew them; they were probably in the same class.

“You would know, Chan,” one of the girls laughed.

“I actually don’t,” Chan shot back playfully.

“Sorry about them, they’re just idiots,” Chaeyoung looked pointedly at her friends.

Chan smiled and turned back around.

“You know Chaeyoung?” Hansol whispered.

“She’s in my class,” Chan said. Just as I thought.

“Does she like anyone?” Hansol nudged.

“Hmm. I’ve heard her friends teasing her about some guy before,” Chan said thoughtfully. “A guy in my class asked her out a few days ago but she turned him down, saying she liked someone else.”

“Oh, really,” Hansol said thoughtfully.

“What, do you like her?” Chan poked Hansol teasingly.

“Is it that obvious?” Hansol laughed.

“Oh, wait. Seriously?” Chan said a little too loudly. Hansol gave him a look and Chan shut up.

“Um, but... you know she’s a trainee, right? I don’t know about her agency, but Pledis has pretty strict dating regulations for trainees,” Chan said quietly.

“Yeah. But I’ll give it a shot anyway,” Hansol replied.

“Oh. Fighting!” Chan grinned.

The crowd settled down as the seal feeding show began. Hansol and Chan were sitting quite close to the front and were splashed multiple times. Chan laughed and shook off the water onto Hansol, who protested and shoved Chan to the side. They were lucky they weren’t sitting next to anybody.

They separated back into their groups an hour later and headed off to the touch pool. Hansol never really liked the touch pool; he felt sorry for the poor fish that had to deal with grabby kids.

“Woah, it’s so slippery,” Chan marvelled as he graced his hand over a stingray.

“Don’t touch the tail,” Hansol warned. “It’s not pleasant.”

Chan laughed. “You sound experienced.”

They fell back into casual banter a short while later while waiting for the rest of the group to finish touching fish.

“Maths is definitely my worst subject,” Chan sighed. “English must be good for you, right? Since you’re fluent.”

“Definitely,” Hansol said in English. “I’m terrible at maths too. I had to get a tutor because of it,” he sighed.

“Oh, same! He actually lives in Apartment Block 17 so it’s really convenient for me,” Chan said.

“Wait, yeah. Same. Mine’s a guy called Jisoo,” Hansol narrowed his eyes.

“What?” Chan blinked. “Jisoo tutors you too? You’re the other guy he’s been talking about?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Hansol said.

“Is he any good to you?” Chan asked jokingly.

“Raised my grades 7%,” Hansol said proudly.

“Hope I’ll see that improvement when I get my results,” Chan grinned.

“Fighting,” Hansol patted Chan on the back.

“You know, we should just ask Jisoo to take us at the same time. It’d be good for me to get a head start on next year,” Chan said.

“I don’t see why not. There’s always an awkward silence when I’m doing my work,” Hansol admitted.

“Same. Might as well save him time, right?” Chan grinned.

“Hey, hey, hey! It’s Hansol and... Chan!” a voice interrupted from across the room. He saw Junhui and Minghao waving from the other side of the touch pool.

“Junhui! Minghao! What are you doing here?” Hansol approached them. Chan smiled upon recognising them; they were friends of his brother, Seokmin.

“On a date,” Junhui grinned, putting his arm around Minghao. “You guys here on a school trip?” he asked, noting their uniforms.

“Yeah,” Hansol said. “So much fun.” Their teacher called out and told them they had five minutes before they were to meet in the doorway.

“Hey, where’s Seungkwan? Aren’t you in his class?” Junhui asked.

“Yeah. He’s in another group, though,” Hansol sighed.

“Oh, well... say hi for me,” Junhui grinned.

“Oh hey, have the roles for the audition been announced?” Hansol asked, suddenly remembering.

“It’s supposed to be up today, I think,” Junhui pursed his lips. “There aren’t many roles up for grabs so I’m not getting my hopes up.”

“Your acting is great, hyung,” Chan interjected. “I’m sure you’ll get a role.”

“Ah, thanks Chan. You’re friends with Hansol?”

“As of today?” Chan looked at Hansol.

“Nice. Hansol, you and Seungkwan should come over and play games with us sometime,” Junhui suggested.

“Be prepared to get your ass kicked,” Hansol grinned.

“Pledis High students, please gather at the doorway,” their group leader called out.

“See you around, guys,” Hansol said. “Have fun on your date,” he added with a wink.

“We will,” Junhui led Minghao to the touch pool as Hansol and Chan left.

“Alright, we’re going to the penguin exhibits, and then we’ll get lunch and head back to school,” the group leader explained once all the students in the group returned. Hmm, let’s see if the penguins are as cute as Jisoo says they are...

“Hansol, Chan,” Chaeyoung called as the group began to wander towards the penguin exhibit. “Wanna eat lunch together?” she asked.

“Of course!” Hansol replied a little too quickly. Chan nodded and smiled smugly at Hansol.

The group leader dropped back and started talking to the students around Hansol.

“Have you learnt anything today?”

“About what?”

“... Marine life, perhaps?”

“I’ve learnt about Chan’s hobbies if that’s what you mean,” Hansol grinned cheekily.

“Hansol, I hope you’ve been paying attention to what you’ve been seeing today. We’ll be starting a project on marine animals as soon as we get back.”

Hansol turned to Chan. “Well, shit.”

[DRIFT AWAY AQUARIUM - TOUCH POOL]

“I’ll be right back,” Minghao said hurriedly as he left towards the bathroom. He rubbed his eyes furiously.

“Minghao--” Junhui called, but Minghao had disappeared behind the doors.

“Holy shit. No way,” Minghao cursed in Chinese. “Why do I have the worst luck?” He locked himself in a cubicle and slumped against the wall.

Junhui had been chattering excitedly about stingrays when Minghao looked up and spotted someone he prayed he would never bump into. Luhan.

“Minghao,” came a voice from outside. “I saw you come in here.”

“Shit,” Minghao cursed under his breath. “Go away,” he said louder, in Chinese.

“Minghao. You have to stop avoiding me,” Luhan chided.

His voice. I can’t believe I used to be addicted to the sound of it. “I’ll do what I want.”

“I see you’ve got yourself a new boyfriend. He’s pretty hot,” Luhan said, his voice dancing with playfulness.

“Yeah, he is, isn’t he,” Minghao snarled defensively.

“We see each other pretty much everyday in class, you know,” Luhan sighed.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Minghao spat back.

“You still bitter about us?” Luhan said with a sour laugh.

“Bitter isn’t a strong enough word,” Minghao growled.

“Well, I apologise. Is that enough for you?” Luhan said.

“You’re not sorry,” Minghao felt his anger rising. “You meant every word you said. I can’t believe I actually liked you.”

“Hmm. Well, you’re not stupid. I did mean what I said back then,” Luhan said bluntly. “I’m not exactly overjoyed to see you again either, so I guess I don’t blame you for avoiding me. I didn’t ask to be in your class, and I don’t want to be there.”

“Why did you come to Korea?” Minghao asked suspiciously.

Luhan seemed to hesitate as he was silent for a bit before answering. “For a fresh start.”

“Well, I’m sorry for ruining your fresh start, then,” Minghao said bitterly. “Why would you even need a fresh start? You were so loved back home.”

“Shut up. Why don’t we just agree to stay out of each other’s way and pretend we never knew each other?” Luhan said with strength behind his words.

“You know I can’t do that, Luhan,” Minghao said quietly. He punched the door lightly.

“Fine. But it isn’t going to get better until you face me, Minghao,” Luhan sighed.

“If I see your face outside of the classroom, there’s a high chance my fist will connect with it,” Minghao said angrily.

Luhan laughed coldly. “You wouldn’t want your new boy toy to see you angry like this. Maybe he’ll leave you as well. See you in class, MingMing,” he said with a laugh.

“Don’t fucking call me that,” Minghao said between gritted teeth. He heard footsteps exit the empty bathroom. He slumped down and sat on the closed toilet, his head between his hands.

MingMing.

”MingMing!” Luhan called from across the hallway.

“Luhan!” Minghao called back happily, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and running up to the boy.

”I’m sure you aced that makeup test,” Luhan smiled, ruffling Minghao’s hair.

”You have too much faith in me,” Minghao laughed.

”Well, someone’s gotta have faith in you, right?” Luhan pulled Minghao close.

”Do I get a reward if I pass the test?” Minghao smirked.

”Hmm. A kiss, maybe?” Luhan grinned, looking at Minghao playfully.

Minghao sighed happily. “I hope I pass, then.”

Minghao slapped himself angrily. His eyes burned with the threat of angry, hot tears. Stop living in the past, Minghao. You’ve gotten past that.

“Minghao?” Junhui’s voice echoed in the empty bathroom. “You’re taking forever. You still in here?”

“I’m here,” Minghao said weakly, wiping his eyes furiously.

“Minghao,” Junhui’s voice immediately turned serious when he heard Minghao’s weak voice. “What happened?” He knocked softly on the only locked cubicle.

Minghao tried for a laugh. “Uh, I think I might be allergic to fish, or something,” was his lame excuse.

“That’s possible?” Junhui questioned.

Minghao opened the door slowly and saw Junhui standing there with a worried expression. He reached out to hug him.

“Yeah. Maybe,” Minghao mumbled into Junhui’s shirt.

Junhui didn’t question it, and instead hugged Minghao tighter. He knew Minghao wasn’t telling the truth, but if he wasn’t ready, Junhui wouldn’t push him into talking.

“I’ll be here whenever you want to talk about it,” Junhui said gently. He was confused, but it hurt him seeing Minghao like this. Minghao was always cheerful and mischievous, sometimes a little more quiet and reserved, but Junhui had hardly ever seen him look genuinely upset.

“I know,” Minghao said quietly.

A while later, Minghao seemed to have recovered from whatever happened in the touch pool’s bathroom. Junhui pulled him back out and decided to visit the main aquarium.

Passing through the penguin exhibits, they spotted Seungkwan walking out as they walked in. Junhui called out, but Seungkwan seemed rather dazed, so he didn’t notice the two Chinese boys waving at him. Several other students looked at them weirdly.

“Seungkwan doesn’t seem right,” Junhui frowned. What’s wrong with everyone, all of a sudden? First Minghao, now Seungkwan... Please tell me Seokmin is alright.

“He seems like he’s deep in thought,” Minghao said.

Pushing the strange events aside, Junhui pulled Minghao along to the main aquarium.

“Woah! Is that a shark? It’s so cute,” Junhui pushed his face to the glass to get a better look.

“Jun, you’re gonna break the glass if you lean on it like that,” Minghao laughed, pulling Junhui backwards.

“Shit!” he jumped back suddenly as a giant stingray swam up against the glass.

Minghao sat down on a nearby bench, clutching his stomach with laughter. “Wen Junhui just got jumpscared by a stingray.”

“Look at that face,” Junhui pointed accusingly at the stingray that just scared him. “The little shit did it on purpose.” True enough, a stingray's face looked like a happy little child’s. Like the :D emoticon.

Minghao laughed louder. Junhui smiled.

Fascinated by the fish, Junhui leant up against the glass again. “Wow. There’s seriously so many fish.”

“Hmm, yeah,” Minghao replied absently.

“No wonder people say ‘there’s plenty of other fish in the sea’ when they’re heartbroken or something,” Junhui laughed.

Minghao frowned.

”Minghao,” his mother hugged him tightly. Minghao wouldn’t stop crying. He hated himself for being so weak in front of his parents.

”Stop crying, Minghao. That boy isn’t worth it,” his father said sternly. He meant well, but it just made Minghao more upset.

“There’s plenty of other fish in the sea,” his mother said gently, stroking his hair. “I’m sure you’ll meet someone else in good time.”

“It isn’t about meeting someone else,” Minghao choked. “Luhan’s right. I’m a fag.”

“Minghao,” his mother chided. “Don’t use such language.”

“He’s right, though. How could you possibly want me as a son?”

His mother wasn’t sure how to reply.

“It was a shock,” his father sat down on his bed, looking Minghao in the eyes. “But what can we do? This is who you are. It’s not like... we’re happy about it. But we wouldn’t scorn you for it if that’s who you are.”

“I don’t want to be like this,” Minghao sobbed into his mother’s shirt. “Why am I like this?”

“Hey, you alright?” Junhui waved his hand in front of Minghao.

“Huh? Oh, sorry. Spaced out a bit,” Minghao blinked.

“Oh, alright. I was just saying--” Junhui was interrupted by his phone bleeping.

mingu the chingu
> jUN HYUNG

me
> why do u keep calling me different names
> be consistent jeez

mingu the chingu
> mY FRIEND SAID THE ROLES ARE POSTED
> OUTSIDE THE FRONTING THEATRE

me
> SHIT WHAT
> DID WE GET THE ROLES

mingu the chingu
> IDK MY FRIEND TOLD ME TO GO LOOK MYSELF

me
> WHAT A SHIT FRIEND

mingu the chingu
> JUST GET OVER HERE DUDE

“Hey, Mingyu said the audition results are posted!” Junhui exclaimed.

“Oh, what? Did you get the role? What about Mingyu?” Minghao asked, snapped out of his stupor.

“Dunno! Let’s go!” Junhui grabbed Minghao by the hand and dragged him out.

“But... the gift shop--” Minghao protested.

Chapter Text

[PLEDIS UNIVERSITY - FRONTING THEATRE]

me
> wONNNUUUUUUUU
> GUESS WAHT

Mingyu couldn’t contain his excitement as he texted his roommate. He had run to the university after his classmate texted him saying the audition results were posted.

Sure enough, sheets were pinned up on a board outside Fronting Theatre. Out of breath, he had scanned through the sheet when he saw his and Junhui’s names.

[LEAD] Byun Baekhyun, played by Kim Mingyu
[LEAD] Park Chanyeol, played by Moon Junhui*
[LEAD] Jung Yerin, played by Jung Eunji
[SUPPORTING] Kim Sojung, played by Kim Sohye
[SUPPORTING] Lee Jinki, played by Kim Seokjin

Please come to Room #507 for a meeting tomorrow (Friday) at 4:30 PM.
Other extra background characters have been listed on Board #2. Extras do not need to attend the meeting. Information and rehearsal schedules will be emailed.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the auditions.

“What?” Mingyu said in disbelief, tracing the page with his hands as if it were an illusion.

He read over the sheet at least ten times, not believing that his name was printed next to a lead role.

“Junhui and I got the leads?” he said to himself once again. He noticed that his acting partner, Sohye, as well as Junhui’s partner, Eunji, also got important roles.

Classmates who were passing by recognised him and congratulated him. This was undoubtedly his chance; the annual Pledis production was recognised by many talent managers and directors and those who acted in it almost always were guaranteed some sort of career in the drama industry.

He was about to text his family the good news when Wonwoo replied.

wonton
> sorry, i just got out of a class.
> did you get a role?

me
> WONUUUUUUUUU
> I GOT A LEAD ROLE
> I CANT BELIEVE THIS
> BUT GUESS WHAT AGAIN

wonton
> jun got the other lead?

me
> JUN GOT THE OTHER LEAD !!!!
> wait what
> oh how did you know ????

wonton
> wait seriously?
> omg

me
> you must be a wizard jeon wonwoo

wonton
> HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA WAIT REALLY

me
> YES REALLY
> You sent a photo.

wonton
> NO WAY
> do you remember me saying
> imagine if you guys got both male leads
> and now... YOU ACTUALLY DID???

me
> I KR

wonton
> now i get to watch you and jun fight over a girl
> i can’t wait

me
> :( wish me luck, hyung

wonton
> you dont need luck
> i’m the one who’s going to need the luck

me
> why??

wonton
> i’m going to have to listen to you rehearse

me
> help me rehearse then????
> please [prayer emoji]

wonton
> we’ll see
> but anyway, congratulations

me
> THATS NOT A NO
> THANKS HYUNG<3

wonton
> i told you, just call me wonwoo

me
> THANKS WONWOO<3

Junhui arrived just as Mingyu walked away from the board. He was just as out of breath as Mingyu had been, as well as hanging on to a tired-looking Minghao.

“Guys!” Mingyu greeted, jumping with excitement.

“Did we get anything?” Junhui asked hopefully.

“See for yourself,” Mingyu grinned, stepping aside to let them look at the board.

Minghao laughed and hit Junhui’s chest as he read the sheet. “See, I told you it would be fine.”

“No way,” Junhui said in disbelief. He brought Mingyu into a hug with Minghao.

“We should go celebrate,” Minghao smiled. Mingyu noticed that Junhui was looking at Minghao cautiously.

Minghao insisted on a trip to Jam Jam, saying ‘I’ll treat you’.

“But I’m the one who works there, Minghao,” Junhui raised his eyebrow.

“I’m aware,” Minghao poked Junhui, “I’ll use your employee discount and pay the remainder.”

Junhui laughed. “Whatever you want.”

“So, who do you reckon will get the girl in the end?” Minghao asked teasingly.

“What, you think this is going to be a clichéd love triangle?” Junhui asked.

“Two male leads, one female lead. What else could it be?” Minghao said.

“What if the female is the third wheel to the two male leads?” Mingyu suggested.

“A guy and a guy? You think Pledis would have the balls to perform something like that?” Minghao raised an eyebrow.

“Alright, then it’s a love triangle,” Mingyu pursed his lips. He secretly hoped that Junhui would get the girl in the end; especially if there was to be a kiss scene at the end of the play. He wasn’t sure he could convincingly act out being in love with Eunji, the female lead. Plus, Eunji had obvious chemistry with Junhui on stage, judging from their audition.

“I wonder if there’ll be a kiss scene,” Junhui voiced Mingyu’s thoughts, poking Minghao playfully.

“There better not be. Unless I’m the one you’re kissing.”

“But unfortunately, you and I both know that you can’t act for shit,” Junhui turned to look directly at Minghao, grinning cheekily.

“If it’s kissing you, I’m sure I’ll be able to put on a good show,” Minghao shot back.

“Ugh,” Mingyu rolled his eyes jokingly. “Save that for the bedroom.”

“I’m sure you’ll love to do a kiss scene, Mingyu,” Junhui turned to him.

“Yeah,” Minghao agreed, “Show Wonwoo what he could have,” he winked.

“Shut up,” Mingyu turned away, cheeks heating up.

“Guy with your looks, surely you’ve kissed plenty of people,” Minghao punched Mingyu’s arm. “It’ll be a cinch.”

“I’ve never kissed anyone,” Mingyu admitted.

“I don’t believe that,” Junhui said with a sly expression. “If anything, I’ll bet you’ve already kissed Wonwoo.”

Mingyu jumped back in horror. He realised they had finally reached Jam Jam Café. “We-we’re here. Buy us food, Minghao,” he shoved Minghao forward.

“That’s rather suspicious behaviour, Mingyu,” Junhui smirked.

“W-why would I ever think about kissing Wonwoo?” Mingyu stuttered. Minghao laughed from the counter.

“Jun! You’re in early today,” Junhui’s coworker, Taehyung, called as he noticed them behind Minghao. “Wonwoo’s in the back if you want him.”

“Oh yeah. Forgot Wonwoo had work now,” Junhui said. “Perfect timing,” he nudged Mingyu.

“Perfect timing for what?” Wonwoo’s voice sounded as he exited the back kitchen.

“Uh, to say hello?” Mingyu stammered.

“Oh, hello,” Wonwoo said, unsuspicious. “I thought you guys were still at Pledis. What are you doing here?” He wiped his hands on a towel and started cleaning the counter.

“Minghao dragged us here to celebrate,” Mingyu sighed.

“Oh, okay. Congratulations, you guys,” Wonwoo gave a small smile.

“Thanks. We were just talking about a possible kiss scene,” Junhui told Wonwoo. Mingyu coughed.

“Oh,” Wonwoo looked surprised. “Is there going to be one?”

“Would you want to see one?”

“Between who and who?”

“Mingyu and a girl, obviously,” Junhui laughed.

“Oh. I was thinking you, but okay,” Wonwoo exhaled a small laugh.

“Why me?” Junhui demanded.

“I wanted to see Minghao’s reaction,” Wonwoo smirked. Minghao glared at him. “So, are you getting the scripts at that meeting on Friday?”

“I hope so. I wanna know what I signed up for,” Junhui said.

“I wanna know what you signed up for,” Minghao echoed.

“You guys in the annual Pledis production?” Taehyung joined the conversation as he finished making a customer’s order. “Wasn’t last year’s play performed on Christmas? That’s less than a month away.”

“True. But they’re normally prepared under a really short time period. It’s truly a display of professionalism,” Junhui said thoughtfully.

“Don’t you do drama too, Tae? Did you try out?” Wonwoo threw his towel into an accumulated pile of dirty ones in the corner.

“I do, but my workload’s too much to balance learning an entire play within a month,” Taehyung sighed. “Just between us, though,” he leaned in closer, “I heard they’ve made this year’s play a really sad one. Possibly sadder than last year’s.”

“Sad? Like, Romeo and Juliet kind of tragedy ‘sad’?” Mingyu raised his eyebrow.

“Probably, yeah. They wanted to do something more emotional this year. But anyway, you didn’t hear this from me. I’m not supposed to know anything,” Taehyung winked.

“Guess we’ll find out when we get our scripts,” Junhui sighed. Wonwoo and Taehyung returned to work before their manager spotted them slacking off.

While Junhui was distracted, Minghao snuck into his pocket, grabbed his bank card and swiftly paid without him noticing.

[PLEDIS UNIVERSITY - ROOM #507]

The next day, Junhui and Mingyu found Room #507 in the drama building and entered to see the director of the production, as well as the three other actors already gathered in the small meeting room. Seungcheol was sitting on a table in the corner, eating some chips and talking to one of the actors - a tall, handsome boy with bleached hair and round glasses sitting on his nose.

“Hey, it’s the stars of the show,” Seungcheol peeked over the boy and grinned at Junhui and Mingyu as they entered, bowing to the director.

“Are we late?” Mingyu asked sheepishly.

“No, no. We were just about to get started. Since you’re here, we might as well start now,” the director said.

They all took a seat around the biggest table and waited for him to begin.

“Thank you all for trying out. We’re really blessed to have such a talented bunch of students this year. It was incredibly hard to choose, but we’re proud to have you star in this year’s Pledis production.”

The others clapped politely and Mingyu followed along awkwardly.

"As you all may have heard, we wanted to try something quite out of the ordinary for this year’s play. But first, I must clarify the biggest change; it will not be a female-male romance."

Mingyu turned to look at Junhui, whose eyebrows were raised in surprise. So, does that mean….

"Mingyu, Junhui,” the director turned to face the two lead actors, “Are you comfortable with acting as gay characters?”

Junhui spluttered. “Y-Yes, of course?”

Mingyu nodded. Looks like I was right. Ha, take that, Minghao.

“Alright. With that out of the way, I will give you a brief overview of the plot,” he flipped through his notes and handed them each a page-long plot summary. The title of the play was ‘Again and Again’.

“There are character profiles and an outline of the main events on there. Please study it before you open the actual script. The play will be performed in three separate parts, each an hour long. It’s scheduled to be performed in the first week of January, which is much later than previous years, due to the time constraints we will face in prop development and rehearsals. This means we have about a month and a half,” he explained. 

Mingyu glanced through the character profiles and found Byun Baekhyun, the character he would be playing. 

A junior college student and childhood friends with Jung Yerin. He is in love with her, though she does not feel the same way.

“The play centres around the character Byun Baekhyun, who is played by Mingyu,” the director began, indicating in Mingyu’s direction. “His character is in love with Eunji’s character, Jung Yerin. They are childhood friends.”

Eunji smiled at Mingyu. Mingyu nervously flashed a thumbs up. But if my character is gay, why is he in love with her?

“Sohye’s character, Kim Sojung, is in love with Baekhyun. She’s pretty psychotic, so after realising that Baekhyun loves Yerin, she decides to hire an assassin to kill her.”

“That’s… not cool,” Sohye laughed. “I can’t wait to play a psychotic bitch.”

“This is when our other male lead, Park Chanyeol comes in. He’s played by Junhui,” the director continued. “He’s an orphan who grew up in a rough neighbourhood, and he’s the assassin hired by Sojung.”

“Assassin, huh? I never expected I’d play the bad guy,” Junhui grinned.

“Chanyeol isn’t necessarily a ‘bad guy’. He’s just doing his job. The play explores his attempts at taking Yerin’s life. Each attempt fails because Baekhyun protects her, and as a result, Baekhyun and Chanyeol get closer.”

“Wait, is this where the gay part comes in?” Seungcheol interrupted.

“Yes, pretty much,” the director confirmed. Junhui glanced at Mingyu cautiously.

“Baekhyun ends up spending more time with Yerin in order to protect her. Yerin gets annoyed and after an argument, she decides to seek comfort from Jinki, who is played by our Seokjin.”

“Jinki is Baekhyun’s best friend, isn’t he?” Seokjin asked.

“Yep.”

“Aw, isn’t that sad for Baekhyun?” Seokjin said. “The girl he loves doesn’t love him back… but instead, loves his best friend. Man, my character’s going to be hated.”

“Your character did nothing wrong though,” Mingyu said defensively. “It’s my character’s fault for liking Yerin.” Seokjin laughed.

“Anyway,” the director interjected, “Yerin goes to Jinki. Baekhyun still looks out for her secretly, and ends up meeting Chanyeol again. Baekhyun learns that Chanyeol was ordered to kill Yerin, but Chanyeol doesn’t say who ordered him.”

“Loyal to his master. I like it,” Sohye grinned.

“Well, Sojung paid him after all,” Junhui pointed out.

“A short time later, by chance, Baekhyun meets Chanyeol at a coffee shop,” the director continued.

“Coffee shop? How cliché,” Eunji pursed her lips. “Yet, I love it. I’m such a sucker for coffee shop AUs.”

“Me too!” Seungcheol blurted out. He seemingly realised his outburst and quickly muttered, “Uh, kidding.”

“Anyway,” the director said, seemingly fed up with their constant interruptions, “Baekhyun and Chanyeol start talking. Like normal friends. And Baekhyun nearly forgets he’s talking to the guy who tried to kill the girl he loves.”

“Aw, that’s cute,” Mingyu said. “I like this relationship already.”

“Kinda stuffed up, though,” Junhui added.

“What happens at the end?” Seungcheol asked.

“If you all stop interrupting, maybe we’ll get there,” the director sighed. 

“Guys, shut up,” Seungcheol commanded. "Okay, tell us how it ends. I want to go back and sleep,” he said.

“About the coffee shop, Baekhyun actually followed Yerin and Jinki there. And Chanyeol happened to walk in as well.”

“Wow, your character’s such a stalker,” Junhui nudged Mingyu.

“Baekhyun and Chanyeol talk, and it eventually leads to Chanyeol telling Baekhyun ‘I like you’.”

Junhui grinned and nudged Mingyu harder. “Bet Wonwoo and Minghao won’t be happy about this.” Mingyu frowned at the mention of Wonwoo.

“Baekhyun abruptly leaves the coffee shop and causes a commotion, and Yerin sees him. Later on, Sojung approaches Chanyeol because she’s impatiently waiting for Yerin to die. Since Chanyeol hasn’t completed his job, Sojung decides to kill Yerin herself.”

“That escalated quickly,” Seokjin laughed.

“While Sojung heads to Yerin’s house, Yerin is talking with Baekhyun about the coffee shop incident. This leads to Baekhyun leaving the house in anger. On the way out, he bumps into Sojung.”

“Oh, shit,” Seungcheol interjected.

“Sojung comforts an upset Baekhyun.”

“Boo,” Seungcheol complained. “I don’t ship it.”

“Long story short, after sending Baekhyun home, Sojung goes into Yerin’s house and attacks her. Chanyeol has been following Sojung the whole time, and tries to stop her from killing Yerin.”

“Damn, not so loyal anymore,” Sohye shook her head.

“Yerin’s terrified, so she calls Baekhyun. When Baekhyun arrives, he sees Sojung stab Chanyeol with his own knife.”

“Wait, my character dies?” Junhui exclaimed, flipping quickly to the end of the script.

“Yeah. After Chanyeol dies, there’s an epilogue scene which takes place ten years later. You can read the scripts tonight,” the director concluded.

“My character dies?” Junhui repeated.

“Oh, and I should mention that one of the most important scenes of the play is Chanyeol’s death scene. He kisses Baekhyun right before he dies,” the director added.

Mingyu coughed. “What?” He snatched Junhui’s copy of the play from him.

[CHANYEOL] Aw, why are you crying? (coughs) Don’t tell me… you actually like me back? (with a sarcastic tone)
[BAEKHYUN] What if I did? (a pained expression)
[CHANYEOL] (sits up with a groan)
[BAEKHYUN] What are you—
[CHANYEOL] (kisses him insistently and abruptly. As they pull apart, Baekhyun is speechless and they maintain eye contact for a while. Chanyeol breaks the silence with a soft voice) I’m sorry for leaving you before we could even begin. (groans and falls back to the ground, clutching his wound)
[BAEKHYUN] (silent for a while. He doesn’t hold back tears anymore; after a while, he whispers) Then don’t leave.
(but Chanyeol is no longer breathing)

“What?” Mingyu repeated. Seungcheol’s uncontrollable laughter filled the room.

[APARTMENT #607; Wen Junhui, Xu Minghao]

Minghao couldn’t stop laughing. “Wait, let me get this straight. You and Mingyu have to kiss?” he said between laughs, clutching Junhui’s shoulder for support.

“I don’t get why you’re laughing, Minghao,” Junhui sighed. Minghao only laughed harder.

“Doesn’t this... mean... Junhui’s going to be your... first kiss?” Minghao said between his laughs, repeatedly slapping Mingyu’s back.

“Jesus Christ, Minghao,” Mingyu whined, shoving Minghao away lightly.

After the meeting, Junhui and Mingyu had met up with Wonwoo back in Junhui’s apartment. Wonwoo was sitting at their dining table, studying the plot summary intensely.

“Wait, can I see that?” Minghao calmed his laughter and sat down next to Wonwoo to read the sheet.

— CHARACTER PROFILES — 

BYUN BAEKHYUN (played by Kim Mingyu)
A junior college student and childhood friends with Jung Yerin. He is in love with her, though she does not feel the same way.

JUNG YERIN (played by Jung Eunji)
A junior college student and childhood friends with Byun Baekhyun. In love with Lee Jinki, the best friend of Baekhyun.

PARK CHANYEOL (played by Moon Junhui)
An underground assassin hired by Kim Sojung to kill Jung Yerin.

KIM SOJUNG (played by Kim Sohye)
A junior college student who is madly in love with Byun Baekhyun. Hires Park Chanyeol to kill Jung Yerin, the girl who Baekhyun loves.

LEE JINKI (played by Kim Seokjin)
A junior college student and best friend of Byun Baekhyun. 

“This is so much like those Korean dramas we watch, Jun,” Minghao commented.

“Right?” Junhui buried his head in his hands.

“Okay, but... objectively speaking,” Wonwoo said slowly, “shouldn’t Junhui play Baekhyun? Since he and Eunji had really good chemistry.” Minghao narrowed his eyes.

“I did ask the director why I was chosen,” Mingyu admitted, “Since I was slightly worried deep down that I was only chosen for my looks.”

Mingyu’s mother had always joked about him getting what he wanted because he was good looking, and he tried not to take the comments too seriously, but sometimes he wondered if it was actually true. He wanted to be recognised for his actual skill, not the fact that he was good looking.

“He said that my improvisation skills were really good.”

“So, forgetting your script turned out to be a good thing?” Wonwoo said incredulously.

“Yeah! He said that I actually improved on the original lines in the written script,” Mingyu said proudly.

“Anyway, I don’t think chemistry with Eunji matters as much... I mean, in the end, it’s Mingyu and Junhui kissing,” Minghao pointed out.

“Once again; why are you so happy about this?” Junhui grabbed Minghao’s shoulder.

“It’s hilarious, obviously,” Minghao grinned. “I admit, I was wrong about the love triangle thing.” Mingyu shot him an ‘I told you so’ look.

“It’s a pretty cool coincidence that this happened,” Wonwoo slipped in. “You and your acting partners all got main roles. Imagine if only one of you got the role and you had to kiss a complete stranger?”

“Yeah. Could be worse,” Junhui grinned. “But wouldn’t you love to take my spot, Wonwoo?” he added with a wink.

“No way,” Wonwoo shut him down without hesitation. “I have stage fright,” he said blatantly.

Junhui laughed in disbelief. “That’s his only reason?” he whispered to Minghao. Minghao nodded, having thought the same thing.

They were interrupted by the doorbell ringing repeatedly. Minghao glanced at the clock and jumped up immediately.

“Shit, I forgot. I’ve got dance,” he rushed to the door, where an impatient Soonyoung was waiting.

“You can make out with Junhui later. We’re late,” Soonyoung said cheekily, poking his head in the door and waving at the others inside. Mingyu waved back.

“We’ll finish this later, then,” Minghao winked and ran after Soonyoung, who had already left.

“No, please don’t,” Wonwoo slumped and let his head hit the table.

With Minghao gone, Junhui’s expression suddenly turned serious. “Hey, have you guys felt like Minghao’s been a bit weird lately?” he asked immediately.

“Wait, what do you mean?” Mingyu was shocked by his sudden graveness.

“Have you noticed anything weird with him? Like if he’s been spacing out, or hiding from someone...”

“Hmm, when you mention it... We were going to go to Mansae together a few weeks ago. We got there and we were going to go in, but he suddenly went all pale and pulled me out of there,” Mingyu recounted. “Then he said he was sorry because he forgot he had some important work and just left. It was so sudden and when I asked him about it later, all he said was ‘sorry about that’.”

“Something’s up,” Junhui pursed his lips. “He doesn’t seem to want to tell me what it is.”

“Oh, and this thing’s been happening for quite a while, but I didn’t think about it until now,” Mingyu continued. “Sometimes I meet up with him to go for lunch in between our classes. Normally, my class ends early so I go to the dance studios to meet up with him. But almost every time I meet up with him, he always seems like he’s in a hurry and also slightly agitated or scared.”

“He does? I meet up with him sometimes and he always seems fine,” Junhui said worriedly.

“Oh, it only happens when I meet up with him at the dance studio,” Mingyu said. “I’ve met him at other classes and he seems fine.”

“That’s not like Minghao,” Wonwoo said, concerned. “Especially not telling you if something’s wrong. He tells you everything.”

“I’m worried he’s gotten into some trouble,” Junhui said. “Can you guys keep an eye out on him?”

“Of course,” Mingyu nodded.

“Thanks, you guys,” Junhui sighed in relief. He glanced at the clock. “I should probably go. I pushed my shift up to 6:30 today.”

“Ah, we’ll leave you to it, then,” Wonwoo rubbed his back comfortingly. “See you around.”

Mingyu and Wonwoo left Junhui’s apartment slightly worried about Minghao.

“Minghao has seemed a little quiet this semester,” Wonwoo said thoughtfully as they waited for the elevator.

“It’s Junhui and Minghao. They’ll be fine,” Mingyu said with a tone of finality.

[PLEDIS UNIVERSITY - FRONTING THEATRE]

“You haven’t seen him?” Minghao asked.

“Nah, I haven’t seen him a while,” Seokmin said. “He hasn’t talked to me in a while. It’s a bit weird, especially for Seungkwan.”

“Seungkwan’s never missed a dance class since we started,” Minghao pursed his lips.

“He looked off when we saw him at the aquarium,” Junhui added.

“Hmm. I’ll go round to his apartment today. What about Hansol?” Seokmin asked.

“We haven’t seen him around either,” Minghao sighed.

“Well, they uploaded a new cover a few days ago,” Seokmin pursed his lips. “They’re not dead.”

“That’s reassuring,” Minghao said sarcastically.

“Oh, there’s Jisoo. I’ll ask him if he knows anything,” Seokmin said as he jogged ahead to catch up with Jisoo.

Minghao and Junhui were at Fronting Theatre for the first rehearsal of ‘Again and Again’. Junhui had read through the script and practised some lines, but he was pretty nervous about actually starting to rehearse the play. Seokmin had tagged along for ‘moral support’.

Minghao followed Seokmin and listened in on their conversation.

“Hansol? He came round yesterday,” Jisoo said, confused. “He seemed fine. I haven’t heard about Seungkwan, though.”

“If you see him, can you tell him to answer my messages?” Minghao asked Jisoo.

“He’s ignoring your messages?” Jisoo asked.

“He never does that,” Seokmin frowned.

Minghao pulled out his phone and showed them.

me
> seungkwan???
> where were you at dance
> did u ditch??? u never ditch

me
> seungkwan !!!
> are you alright?
> jun and i saw u at the aquarium on thursday...
> u didnt say hi :(

me
> answer me boo seungkwan

“He seemed fine the last time he talked to me,” Seokmin said, frowning. “But he hasn’t talked to me in a few days, now that I think about it.”

“Damn, what’s his deal?” Minghao muttered.

“He doesn’t seem like someone who’d get moody,” Junhui frowned.

The director clapped and called for actors to go backstage. Minghao squeezed Junhui’s hand as he walked off. He took a seat next to Seokmin and Jisoo. There were several people there, watching the rehearsal; including Seungcheol at the front, who looked rather tired.

“Wait, why are you here, Jisoo?” Seokmin asked.

“Jeonghan’s here to help out with props,” Jisoo said. “Plus, I wanna watch Mingyu acting, since I didn’t get to see his audition.”

After a few minutes, tables are brought out and the actors emerged and stood in position. The director came out as well, and gave them some instructions.

“We’ll be trying out some of the scenes today. They’re not in order yet, but we need to build up chemistry between all of you.” The actors nodded. “We’ll start with the coffee shop scene.”

The actors flipped through their scripts and settled down. The director called action.

Mingyu sat at a table, looking wistfully at Eunji and Seokjin, who sat at a further table.

Suddenly, Minghao sensed someone sit next to him. It was Wonwoo, who looked rather out of breath.

“Wonwoo? What took you so long?” Minghao whispered.

“Had... class,” Wonwoo whispers back, breathing heavily. “Did I miss anything?”

“They’ve just started,” Minghao said.

Back on stage, Junhui walked into the scene confidently. Mingyu suddenly looked panicked. He grabbed Junhui’s hand and pulled him down onto the seat opposite him.

“Chanyeol? What are you doing here?” Mingyu asked angrily.

“Oh, nice to see you too, Baekhyun,” Junhui smirked. “Relax, I’m just here for a coffee. I’m not going to kill Yerin here.”

“Why should I believe you?” Mingyu narrowed his eyes, gaze locked on Junhui.

“Do I look like the kind of person who’d give up a coffee to kill a girl? I have my own priorities,” Junhui said.

The two continued on talking, and Minghao couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was Junhui and Mingyu, yet, it wasn’t. They seemed so different to their usual selves it was weirding him out.

“It’s so obvious you love Yerin,” Junhui teased. “I feel bad that I have to kill her.”

“I don’t love her,” Mingyu laughed nervously. “But if you feel so bad, then don’t kill her!” his voice rose.

Junhui had to check the script again, but he delivered his lines perfectly, at least from what Minghao had read in the script.

“I’m just doing my job,” Junhui leant forward.

Mingyu scoffed. “Well, your job is stupid.”

“I’m sorry you love the girl I have to kill,” Junhui said sarcastically. “Life’s unfair.”

“Well, what about you then? Who do you like?” Mingyu demanded. “What if the person you liked were killed?”

Junhui grinned playfully. “What if I said I liked you?” Minghao gritted his teeth. He was glad it was Mingyu, and not anyone else on stage. He could barely handle Junhui looking so affectionally at Mingyu. Does he look at me like that?

Mingyu spluttered on an imaginary coffee he was drinking. “Excuse me?”

“I like you,” Junhui smiled at Mingyu.

Minghao clutched his head. That line felt too familiar.

”I like you,” Luhan whispered. “I really like you.”

Minghao gripped the armchair. Wonwoo noticed, and assuming it was because of what was happening on stage, patted his back comfortingly. Minghao was soon drowned in his own memories.

”Minghao, I love you,” Junhui smiled and hugged him. “Do you want to move in with me? Since like... you’re staying in such a dodgy apartment and... I mean, you’re still learning Korean and... You don’t have to if you don’t want to, it was a little stupid of me to ask so fast... I’m--”

“That sounds fake, but okay,” Minghao interrupted.

“What? No, I really do... I mean...” Junhui stuttered.

“I’m sorry,” Minghao whispered, as he hugged Junhui harder. “My feelings are just a bit weird right now.”

“Oh, that’s fine... I’m sorry, I’ll just--”

“Thank you.”

When Minghao snapped out of it, the scene had finished and the actors were preparing to rehearse other scenes. Wonwoo was looking at him worriedly.

“You alright?” he asked.

“Just zoned out,” Minghao said blankly. “It’s nothing to worry about.” Wonwoo frowned, clearly not believing him.

The actors wrapped up their rehearsal an hour later. Normally, rehearsals were longer but for the first day, the director let them off early. Minghao didn’t exactly want to sit there for hours, either, even if Junhui was acting on stage.

Mingyu and Junhui walked up to them, talking to another actor, Seokjin.

“I knew I’d seen you before,” Mingyu was saying.

“You two should come eat with me sometime,” Seokjin smiled. “We could do a broadcast together.”

“Getting money from eating on camera? I’m down,” Junhui grinned.

Seokmin stood up as they approached. “Wait, it’s you,” he pointed at Seokjin.

“Yes, it’s me,” Seokjin said.

“No. You’re the one who slammed the door on us--”

“Oh, you were with Seungcheol, right?”

“We wanted a Pikachu.”

“Oh, right. Sorry about that,” Seokjin said jokingly. He started laughing.

Mingyu introduced Seokjin to them; it seemed that Seokjin was a popular mukbang personality. Which meant that he broadcast himself eating, live on the internet, and people watched him.

“I’d love that kind of job,” Wonwoo sighed. “Mingyu’s probably watched you before. I always catch him watching weird stuff.”

“Not creepily,” Mingyu added quickly.

Seungcheol passed by and said hello to everyone before hurrying out of the theatre.

“He always seems like he has somewhere to be,” Mingyu sighed.

“He’s a busy guy,” Seokjin agreed.

Jisoo suddenly appeared, having gone to meet Jeonghan backstage. He had been helping prepare props with other artists.

“You guys were so good, honestly,” Jisoo said, complimenting Mingyu, Junhui and Seokjin. Jeonghan nodded. “I was pretty interested in the play.”

“How does it end?” Jeonghan asked.

“My character--” Junhui began.

“Spoilers,” Mingyu interrupted.

“Jisoo will show you a special trick if you tell us,” Jeonghan prodded.

“Stop selling me,” Jisoo prodded back. “We’ll just wait till you perform the rest of the play,” he looked pointedly at Jeonghan. Jeonghan looked disappointed.

The two of them said goodbye and left. Minghao and the others followed a while later.

“When’s the next rehearsal?” Wonwoo asked.

“Tomorrow. It’s going to be a lot longer,” Mingyu sighed.

“I’ll help you practise if you want,” Wonwoo said quietly.

“Wait, really?” Junhui interrupted.

“The play’s interesting,” Wonwoo said curtly.

“I must be dreaming,” Junhui shook his head.

Minghao gave Mingyu a shit-eating grin.

“Thanks, Wonwoo,” Mingyu said.

But Mingyu soon realised that practising with Wonwoo was scarier than performing in front of hundreds of strangers.

[APARTMENT #607; Wen Junhui, Xu Minghao]

mingu the chingu
> Help

me
> how’s practice ;)

mingu the chingu
> i’m scared

me
> ???

mingu the chingu
> wonwoo’s so good
> no offence to you but
> he’s so

me
> ur opinion is biased so i’m not offended ;)

mingu the chingu
> remember how i said i’ve never kissed anyone

me
> yeah

mingu the chingu
> i dont think thats true anymore

Junhui choked a little. He really needed to scream at someone, but Minghao was at dance class.

me
> jeon wonwoo

wonu
> i fucked up, jun

me
> did you kiss mingyu

wonu
> it wasn’t me, it was chanyeol

me
> ....

wonu
> we were acting

me
> JONE WONWOOI

Chapter Text

PART ONE: DECK THE HALLS
[PLEDIS UNIVERSITY - ART BLOCK]

“So, I’m thinking every Saturday from 5-7,” Jeonghan said.

“Yeah, it should be fine. Just make sure you’re not too noisy and you clean up afterwards,” the head of department told him.

“Cool. Thank you so much, Mr. Lee,” Jeonghan bowed and exited graciously.

Jeonghan had finally gotten round to setting up free art classes for anyone who wanted to join - it had required far too much effort for him to bother doing it any sooner, but because Jisoo kept insisting he started them, he finally forced himself to do it in order to complete his compulsory ‘volunteer work’ required by the university.

He knew that Wonwoo’s boyfriend roommate, Mingyu, was interested, so seeing as he finally managed to set a time and place for the classes to be held, he took out his phone to tell Mingyu the good news, ignoring several unread messages from Seungcheol.

me
> hey, it’s jeonghan.
> sorry i never texted you sooner lol

gyu~
> HEY JEONGHAN:)
> i was wondering when you’d text me lolol

me
> yeah ikr haha i was too lazy to text u sorry not sorry

gyu~
> :’(

me
> anyway u still interested in art classes?

gyu~
> yeah!!!

me
> ive booked a studio, every saturday, 5-7pm
> can u make it?

gyu~
> yeah i’m free!
> that’s awesomeeee i look forward to it :-))
> thank u :D

me
> cool. it’s in studio 4 in the art block
> it’ll start next sturday
> bring as many people as u like ??
> see u there ;)

cheollie
> jeonghanie
> its nearly christmas
> i need ur help to decorate ab17
> (fathers orders)

me
> all the shopping malls started christmas decorating two months ago
> what took u so long

cheollie
> priorities ..
> anway yeah my dad came round yesterday and told me to decorate the place a bit
> idk why??? its just an apartment block not a church
> jisoos christ :/

me
> dont use jisoo’s name like that
> rude

cheollie
> sorry sorry sorry
> anyway come help me put up stuff
> also ur good with kids arent u

me
> ....
> kids?

cheollie
> yeah come meet me in the mailroom asap !!

[APARTMENT BLOCK 17 - MAILROOM]

“I’m here,” Jeonghan flung open the door to the mailroom, out of breath, having had to run over from Pledis University.

“Didn’t expect you to get here so fast,” Seungcheol smirked. Behind him, mucking around with various parcels and letters were ten or so middle schoolers.

“They’re not kids, Cheol,” Jeonghan narrowed his eyes. “They’re middle schoolers.”

“Same thing,” Seungcheol waved him off, earning glares from the ‘kids’ behind him.

“Why are they here?” Jeonghan asked.

“We don’t have enough help in the mailroom, and our main mailman person conveniently took long service leave to see his family for Christmas,” Seungcheol sighed. “And with all the parcels coming in, I needed extra help.”

“So... you hired... middle schoolers,” Jeonghan tilted his head.

“They were easy enough to hire,” Seungcheol shrugged. More glares from the ‘kids’.

“Anyway, remember when you helped me out in here last year?” Seungcheol continued. Jeonghan nodded; it was a stressful day in which he hadå kindly volunteered to help Seungcheol admin for the day. Seungcheol’s father had insisted on his son helping out with admin work because it would ‘train him for the future’, or something like that. Jeonghan regretted being such a good friend and helping out (it was way too tiring and he didn’t get much compensation for his time anyway).

“Since you know your way around here, can you take half of them and show them the ropes?”

“Sure,” Jeonghan agreed reluctantly. He put on a smile as he approached the wary teenagers.

They were rowdy and unable to keep still, but Jeonghan grew to like them. He explained how things worked and how parcels were sorted to be delivered, and they seemed to understand. Hopefully they wouldn’t screw up too bad, Jeonghan prayed (to Jisoos Christ).

There were nearly ten times the parcels piled up in the mailroom compared to normal, and all of them had to be delivered by Christmas Day, which was quickly approaching. Seungcheol said he needed to go buy some decorations and extra things, and Jeonghan didn’t want to be left in charge, so he followed.

“You guys will be alright sorting through the parcels?” Seungcheol asked sternly.

“Yes, sir,” they smirked.

Seungcheol sighed. It’s not like he had much of a choice but to trust them. “Right. See you guys later.”

Jeonghan followed Seungcheol out of Apartment Block 17 and across the road to the Shining Diamond Mall. They went to a store called ‘HIGHLIGHT’, which sold everything from clothes, to stationery and craft materials.

“So I was thinking, as something extra,” Seungcheol explained as they grabbed a basket and searched through all the Christmas items, “I could dress up as Santa and go around handing out candy canes and other Christmas stuff on Christmas Day.”

“Sounds neat. You’ll definitely suit a pot belly and a beard,” Jeonghan smirked. Seungcheol frowned and flicked Jeonghan’s forehead.

Just as they picked up the last pack of candy canes in the sales bin, Jeonghan spotted a familiar figure round the corner.

Following the figure into the arts aisle, Jeonghan was beyond puzzled to find Jisoo, wearing an oversized jacket, glasses, a mask and cap. He was sifting through various art supplies, until he noticed Jeonghan staring at him.

“O-oh! Jeonghan,” Jisoo stuttered, his eyes wide behind his glasses and voice muffled by the medical mask. He looked like an idol desperately trying not to be recognised.

“What are you doing?” Jeonghan stifled a laugh. Jisoo looked really cute in that oversized jacket; a jacket Jeonghan was pretty sure belonged in his closet, and not on Jisoo’s body.

“Oh, uh,” Jisoo looked down at the brushes he was holding and back up at Jeonghan. “Just looking at some brushes.”

“I can see that,” Jeonghan chuckled and stepped closer. Seungcheol had caught up with him and was equally confused to see Jisoo looking so out of place in all that clothing.

“I gotta go to class,” Jisoo said hurriedly. “I’ll see you at home,” he said as he dropped the brushes back onto the shelf and practically ran out of the store.

“Bet you that was your Christmas present,” Seungcheol laughed from behind. “You just spoiled yourself.”

“Jisoo’s a terrible liar,” Jeonghan murmured.

“You’re both terrible in your own ways,” Seungcheol sighed. “C’mon. Let’s go pay.”

On the way out, Jeonghan saw Junhui and Minghao struggling to carry a giant box - probably a Christmas tree - over to the cashier.

“Aww,” Seungcheol cooed, having noticed the Chinese couple as well, “It’s their first Christmas together since Minghao moved here. How precious.”

“True,” Jeonghan smiled. “But not as precious as Jisoo wearing my oversized sweater.”

PART TWO: TREE-MENDOUS WISHES

[HIGHLIGHT]

“A bit pricey, but worth it,” Junhui convinced himself as he readjusted his grip on the heavy box containing his and Minghao’s first Christmas tree.

“I didn’t even celebrate Christmas back in China,” Minghao admitted, his line of sight blocked by the box. “So this is exciting.”

“I’ll take any excuse to spend money,” Junhui grinned. “I’ll admit, though... this Christmas tree seems way fancier than anything I’ve ever had.”

They put the box down by the sidewalk, while they worked out how to cross the busy road before the timer on the traffic light ran out. As Minghao looked around, he suddenly froze and turned pale.

Junhui frowned and followed Minghao’s line of sight. Coming out of the Shining Diamond Mall was a boy around their age, with light brown hair and doe-like eyes. He seemed to lock eyes with Minghao before disappearing into the parking lot.

Junhui wanted to follow, but seeing as their Christmas tree wouldn’t move itself, he decided against his curiosity. But just as Minghao came out of his stupor, a saviour in the form of Seokmin appeared.

“Hey, guys!” Seokmin greeted cheerfully. “What did you buy this time?”

“Christmas tree,” Junhui said proudly. “Actually, could you help Minghao bring it back? I have to go... do something,” he said, not very convincingly. Glancing at Minghao, who looked confused, he quickly ran off towards the parking lot.

Junhui saw the boy Minghao was staring at a couple of cars away from him. “Excuse me!” he called. The boy turned to face Junhui with a smile.

“I was wondering when you’d finally approach me,” he said. Junhui narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“Who are you? And why do you act like you know me?” Junhui asked.

The boy replied in Chinese, much to Junhui’s surprise. “You’re Minghao’s current boyfriend, aren’t you?”

“What do you mean by ‘current’?” Junhui demanded.

The boy only laughed. Junhui had to admit that he had a nice laugh, even though all he wanted to do was punch the truth out of the boy right then and there.

“You should probably hear it from Minghao,” the boy said. “Not that he’d want to tell you anyway.”

“Are you tormenting him or something? What have you done to Minghao?” Junhui stepped closer, eyes flaring in anger. If he was the reason Minghao was so off lately, Junhui wanted to get to the bottom of it.

“Maybe I did hurt him in the past,” the boy said thoughtfully, “but that was the past. I regret being so harsh on him, but I wasn’t exactly lying.”

Junhui couldn’t explain the expression on the boy’s face in that moment. It seemed to flash with hurt, before it was quickly replaced by a sneering expression.

“Who are you?” Junhui pressed on.

“I’m Luhan,” the boy said. “Maybe if you mention my name to Minghao, he’ll tell you about me.”

Junhui was beyond confused, but he suspected that Minghao used to date Luhan. The two of them had rarely spoken of previous relationships with each other; though Junhui hadn’t been in a relationship before Minghao. Minghao had mentioned being in a few short relationships back in China, but had insisted they ‘meant nothing’. Junhui wasn’t too sure anymore.

“Merry Christmas, Junhui,” Luhan said as he walked away, waving. Junhui wanted to pull him back, but decided that maybe asking Minghao directly was the best way to go. He didn’t want to involve himself with Minghao’s possible ex.

Junhui hurried back to Apartment Block 17, hoping that Seokmin and Minghao managed to get the tree up to their apartment in one piece (well, the box at least).

While waiting for the elevator, he decided to ask his friends if they knew Luhan. As expected, gossip queen Boo Seungkwan knew a little about him.

Junhui hadn’t talked to Seungkwan in a while, as the latter had seemed rather down for the past two weeks. He seemed to have gotten better lately, but he still wasn’t as upbeat and cheerful as Junhui knew he could be. It even seemed to show in his Youtube videos - many fans had noticed him looking down recently, and no one knew why or what triggered it. Hansol was beyond worried, but didn’t want to push Seungkwan into telling him at the moment. Everyone figured that Seungkwan just needed time to sort out whatever he was dealing with.

me
> hey kwan do u know a guy called luhan

seungmeme
> what do you want to know?

me
> omg u replied
> are u alright i haven’t heard from u in ages
> minghao’s been worried sick :(

seungmeme
> yeah... sorry. i’ve just felt a little off lately
> pls don’t ask
> what do you want to know about luhan?

me
> alright well minghao and i are here if u ever need help :)
> yeah so do u know anything about him? like where he’s from etc

seungmeme
> who do you think i am?

me
> right of course lol ur boo seungkwan
> yeah so... can u give me a profile?

seungmeme
> he moved here from china in july. around the same time as mingyu. was accepted into dance at pledis uni. quite a well liked person, but doesn’t seem to have any close friends or a girlfriend/boyfriend. he’s in minghao’s dance class, i’m pretty sure.
> oh and he’s allergic to seafood

me
> okay. thanks, seungkwan
> hope u feel better soon

seungmeme
> thanks.

With this newfound information, Junhui was sure that Luhan was the reason Minghao was acting so weird this past semester. It all matched up. All that was left was why he bothered Minghao so much.

Exes were one thing, but the way Minghao froze every time he saw Luhan was another. Minghao genuinely looked terrified of Luhan. Junhui hoped it wasn’t as severe as abuse - Luhan didn’t seem like the type to abuse anyone. But Junhui knew he couldn’t judge purely based on looks.

He reached his and Minghao’s apartment a short time later, fumbling for his keys to unlock the door. However, the door opened before he could, and Seokmin poked his head out.

“Oh, you’re back,” Seokmin said, opening the door wider. They had opened the box and taken out all the parts of their Christmas tree - long green branches were strewn across the living room.

“I’ve got training now, so you guys are on your own for the tree,” Seokmin grinned sheepishly. “The instructions may be a bit hard to understand, so good luck!” he added as he walked out.

“Hey, where did you go?” Minghao asked as Junhui entered their apartment.

“Oh,” Junhui wracked his brain for an excuse. “A friend wanted some chocolate for Christmas. But I couldn’t find it,” he lied.

Minghao seemed convinced. “Oh, okay. Let’s set up this tree, then!”

Junhui stared down the haphazard branches spread out across their floor. Should be a piece of cake, right? It’s just a tree.

He sighed as he picked up the instructions, which were entirely in Korean. His Korean was fine, but reading long paragraphs with complicated vocabulary like instruction booklets always did his head in. He never read instructions even when they were in Chinese.

“You know what? Fuck the instructions,” Junhui sighed, throwing the booklet in the bin.

Minghao seemed to think along the same lines. They managed to set up the frame fine, but when it came to inserting the branches in the correct place, it proved to be more difficult than they initially thought.

Half an hour later, they collapsed onto the couch in exhaustion. In front of them wasn’t a Christmas tree, but a piece of trash. The branches stuck out at unnatural angles, the top branches longer than the ones at the bottom which made the tree look upside down.

Minghao laughed and leant his head on Junhui’s shoulder. “Maybe we really did need the instructions after all.”

Chapter Text

PART THREE: ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU
[APARTMENT BLOCK 17]

“Jeonghan actually ended up starting art classes?” Wonwoo asked in surprise. He knew Jeonghan wasn’t the most active person in Pledis University (unless it concerned Hong Jisoo).

“Yeah! They start next Saturday,” Mingyu said excitedly. “He said Seungcheol would print posters to advertise them. So I gotta go to his apartment now to collect them since Jeonghan’s in class.”

“Do you need my help?” Wonwoo asked.

“Nah, I’ve got it. Thanks,” Mingyu smiled.

They walked into Apartment Block 17, having met up for lunch after both their morning classes ended. The lobby seemed much more festive than it was that same morning. Colourful lights were strung up across the walls and a tall Christmas tree with fake presents underneath sat in the middle of the wide space.

“Seungcheol must’ve finally got round to decorating the place,” Wonwoo said, amused.

“You sound like it’s something he’s never done,” Mingyu laughed.

“Last year, this was the only apartment block in the area that was as boring as normal,” Wonwoo explained. “His father must’ve pushed him to decorate this year.”

The elevator reached the lobby and they entered without a second thought. But Mingyu noticed that the elevator too, was decorated. His face flooded with a rush of blood to his cheeks when he looked up.

Wonwoo followed Mingyu’s line of sight and saw a small piece of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. His mind in that moment was full of profanities directed towards whoever put that damn plant in the elevator (he was 99% sure it was Seungcheol’s idea).

“Um--” Mingyu stuttered.

“Don’t,” Wonwoo looked away in embarrassment.

Mingyu’s cheeks flushed even more. As much as he wanted an excuse to kiss Wonwoo again (in a totally platonic way, of course), the pure embarrassment on Wonwoo’s face halted him.

Mingyu had never seen Wonwoo look so embarrassed. He didn’t think it was possible for someone as expressionless as Wonwoo to look so embarrassed.

The elevator soon stopped at the fourth floor, and Wonwoo hurried out before Mingyu could say anything else. Mingyu sighed and closed the elevator, continuing on to the seventh floor.

“I’ll be dead in an hour, Baekhyun, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Wonwoo laughed bitterly.

Mingyu punched Wonwoo’s chest lightly. “You’re an idiot,” he whispered.

“Well, you’re not wrong,” Wonwoo’s lips turned upwards into a small smile. But it still looked like he was in great pain.

Mingyu twisted his face into an expression of hurt. At least, he hoped it looked like he was hurting. Fake crying wasn’t as easy as most people thought it was - but Mingyu tried his best to produce a few tears.

”Aw, why are you crying?” Wonwoo asked with a raspy tone. “Don’t tell me... you actually like me back?” his voice had a joking quality to it. Exactly as the script entailed. Junhui was a great actor, but Mingyu was shocked at how well Wonwoo portrayed the character of Park Chanyeol.

“Mingyu, it’s your line,” Wonwoo broke character and pointed at the script. Mingyu snapped out of his thoughts with a sheepish grin.

“Sorry,” Mingyu hurriedly checked the script again, though he’d memorised that scene perfectly.

“You’re going to have to do better than that,” Wonwoo teased light-heartedly. “At this rate, even I could replace you.”

Mingyu punched Wonwoo’s shoulder. “It’s difficult,” he pouted.

“Well, that’s why I’m helping you practise,” Wonwoo rolled his eyes, looking back at the script. “Continue?”

Mingyu couldn’t help but wonder why Wonwoo was acting so cooperative that evening. Nevertheless, he shut his eyes and imagined himself back in the scene. “What if I did?” he continued with a choked voice.

Wonwoo sat up, groaning, bringing his face closer to Mingyu’s.

“What are you--” Mingyu asked. He was about to break character, saying they essentially finished the scene, but before he could, he felt something warm against his lips and a hand ghosting the back of his neck.

It took him far longer than it should’ve to realise that Wonwoo was kissing him.

Well, it was in the script, but Mingyu didn’t expect him to actually do it.

Mingyu had never kissed anyone before. He didn’t have any experience whatsoever. He didn’t really know what to do with his hands, didn’t know when he should take a breath, whether or not he should kiss Wonwoo back. He wasn’t sure he even knew how to kiss Wonwoo back.

He didn’t know if it was because it was Wonwoo, or if all kisses felt like this, but he liked the feeling. He could feel Wonwoo’s dark lashes tickling his face, and he willed himself not to sneeze and make the situation more awkward than it already was.

Wonwoo’s lips tasted like the honey lemon tea he loved to drink. Mingyu wondered what his own lips tasted like. Did his lips even have a taste?

Before Mingyu could even attempt to kiss back (because honestly, he kind of wanted to try it), Wonwoo pulled back. He was smiling.

But it was as if Wonwoo realised what he had done a few seconds too late. The smile was wiped off his face in an instant, and he stood up hastily.

“S-sorry,” Wonwoo blurted out. “I, uh-- got a bit too into that role,” he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Mingyu didn’t know what to say. His lips still tingled from where they touched Wonwoo’s. He kind of wanted to kiss him again.

“I think you’ll be fine at the rehearsal tomorrow,” Wonwoo continued. “Yeah. I’m gonna go... finish a book,” he said as he disappeared into his room. Mingyu remained on the floor for a few more minutes before he snapped out of it.

Not knowing what else to do, he texted Junhui.

It’d been roughly two weeks since Wonwoo kissed him for the first time. Mingyu still wasn’t sure what to think of it - Wonwoo had said he was acting in that moment, but Mingyu wasn’t too sure. It felt too... real.

Though it was initially awkward, Wonwoo seemed to have forgotten about it (until that moment in the elevator). Mingyu figured that Wonwoo didn’t want to talk about it, so he forced down his curiosity and didn’t push the topic further.

Though both of them didn’t address what happened, ever since that night, Mingyu could feel some sort of awkward tension between him and his roommate. He wanted to do something about the awkwardness between him and Wonwoo, but even he himself wasn’t sure of his own feelings. He didn’t want to jump to conclusions about why Wonwoo kissed him in the first place.

Of course he liked Wonwoo; they were roommates and close friends. They had only known each other for a few months, but Mingyu hadn’t felt closer to anyone else but Wonwoo. Whenever something mildly interesting happened, Wonwoo would be the first person Mingyu talked to. Though Wonwoo acted like he was uninterested, Mingyu knew he was actually listening. Talking to him was comforting.

Mingyu enjoyed every moment with Wonwoo, whether it was cooking together (which involved a lot of terrible food puns from Wonwoo and yells whenever Mingyu dropped something) or the random late night talks they would have from time to time (ranging from topics like global warming to the importance of buttons). He wouldn’t trade it for anything.

The past six months had been the best of his life; and he was thankful that his relationship with Wonwoo had come so far since the first day he moved into Apartment Block 17. Mingyu simply enjoyed being in Wonwoo’s company. He’d never bothered to think of their relationship as anything more than that.

So the immense confusion that overwhelmed Mingyu when Wonwoo kissed him caused him to rethink everything that he felt for his roommate. He wasn’t sure what defined the borderline between platonic and romantic love for a friend. He wasn’t sure if such a borderline even existed with Wonwoo.

Mingyu pushed aside his thoughts as he knocked on Seungcheol’s door.

“Hey, Mingyu,” Seungcheol greeted as he opened the door. “I’ve got the posters inside.”

“Cool,” Mingyu said thankfully as he entered the apartment. He was surprised at the state of mess it was in.

Strewn across his couch and dining table was what seemed like left over Christmas decorations, as well as packets upon packets of cheap candy canes.

“I just saw the lobby,” Mingyu smiled, “Looks like you were pretty busy this morning.”

“Tell me about it,” Seungcheol sighed as he plopped himself down onto the only available seat in the room. “If it wasn’t for Jeonghan’s help, I would’ve collapsed halfway. The posters are on the kitchen counter, by the way,” he pointed weakly to a stack of paper on the counter.

Mingyu sifted through the posters; they were simple, but they got the message across. “These are good. Jeonghan will be grateful.”

“He better be,” Seungcheol laughed. Looking around at his messy apartment, he seemed to be reminded of something.

“It’s nearly Christmas,” Seungcheol finally said. “Have you got a present for Wonwoo?”

Mingyu sat down on the floor in front of Seungcheol. “I was actually going to ask you for help,” he said, realising that asking Seungcheol for advice wasn’t a terrible idea. Mingyu wanted to get Wonwoo something special, but he’d been so caught up with rehearsing the play that he didn’t realise Christmas was approaching already.

“You’ve come to the right place,” Seungcheol grinned, leaning forward. “Any ideas so far?”

“Not anything meaningful or creative,” Mingyu sighed.

“Well, what does Wonwoo mean to you?” Seungcheol asked.

“I’m... not sure,” Mingyu admitted. “I’ve been a bit confused lately.”

Seungcheol gave him a smug smile. “Did something happen?”

“Well, I mean...” Mingyu began, realising he hadn’t told Seungcheol that Wonwoo kissed him. He assumed Seungcheol would’ve found out somehow. “He kind of kissed me, and--”

Seungcheol obviously didn’t expect that, as he flinched back in surprise. “Wait, what?” he exclaimed, leaning forward precariously in his chair. “Since when?” he demanded.

“He was helping me practise the play right after our first rehearsal,” Mingyu said quietly.

“That was like, two weeks ago,” Seungcheol said, as if he didn’t believe that no one had told him until now.

“Yeah... We got to the scene where Chanyeol dies. And he didn’t exactly air-kiss me like Junhui does during rehearsals.”

Seungcheol whistled. “Man... you kids grow up so fast,” he breathed, wiping a non-existent tear from his eyes.

Mingyu laughed nervously.

“Details,” Seungcheol pressed on.

“It was just a second,” Mingyu said bluntly. “It happened so fast. I can’t remember the details... Anyway, it’s not that important. Just tell me what to get him,” he said, exasperated, wanting to drop the topic.

In all honesty, Mingyu remembered every second of that moment. His close friends knew a play by play of it, as he ranted on for hours to them on the night it happened. He had a group chat with over 200 messages to prove it (which Junhui accurately named ‘wonwoo trash squad’).

“Fine,” Seungcheol frowned. “If you don’t want to tell me, I’ll just have to find out what happened from Wonwoo.”

Mingyu flinched in horror. “If I won’t tell you, don’t expect Wonwoo to.”

“We’ll see,” Seungcheol grinned, clearly planning out how to persuade Wonwoo into spilling the details. “Anyway, do you know what Wonwoo would like for a present?”

“No... that’s why I’m asking you. I guess a book is a safe option, but I don’t want to be so generic,” Mingyu was relieved that Seungcheol dropped the topic for now.

“Well, handmade gifts are always the most meaningful,” Seungcheol said thoughtfully. “You’re interested in art and design, aren’t you? Why not draw a portrait of him? It’ll be cute.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Mingyu said, surprised.

“I’d never give you a bad idea, Mingyu,” Seungcheol tutted. “You could ask Jeonghan for help,” he suggested. “But first, you’ll need a reference picture of Wonwoo.”

“He hates it when I try to take pictures of him, though,” Mingyu sighed.

“Well, you’ll have to try extra hard,” Seungcheol grinned and patted him on the back.

“I’ll give it a go. Thanks,” Mingyu said gratefully. He stood up and gathered the stack of posters into his arms with Seungcheol’s help.

“Do you like him?” Seungcheol asked suddenly, breaking the silence. Mingyu dreaded that question, because he honestly didn’t know.

“I’m not sure,” Mingyu sighed.

Seungcheol nodded thoughtfully. “You’ll figure it out eventually,” he said as he helped carry out the rest of the posters. “I know you will. I’m rooting for you guys.”

“Please stop,” Mingyu groaned. “You sound like a dad.”

“Hansol tells me that all the time,” Seungcheol rolled his eyes as he shut the door gently.

Mingyu let his head fall back in exasperation as he readjusted his grip on the posters. He felt better after talking to Seungcheol, but he hated how confused he still was. He treasured his relationship with Wonwoo, and hated the doubt he felt about their relationship.

But the urge to kiss Wonwoo again was overwhelming. It’s not like Mingyu was an expert on relationship classifications (his only ‘relationship’ being a fake marriage to a girl in pre-school), but he was pretty sure that ‘friends’ weren’t people you wanted to make out with.

Mingyu shook his head, desperately trying to rid himself of these thoughts. I’ll figure it out eventually. Like Seungcheol said.

‘Eventually’ turned out to be less than an hour later.

Mingyu put up some posters on the board in the lobby, before dropping by Jeonghan’s apartment to give the rest to Jisoo, after explaining the situation.

“Jeonghan actually took initiative and started art classes?” Jisoo seemed as surprised as Wonwoo was. Mingyu nodded.

“Looks like my urging finally worked,” Jisoo muttered.

Mingyu noticed that Jisoo’s shirt was covered in splotches of paint. “Are you painting something?” he asked curiously.

Jisoo looked down at his stained shirt. “O-oh. Jeonghan’s Christmas present,” he explained in a hushed tone. “Please don’t tell him.”

Mingyu grinned. “I won’t.”

As Mingyu walked back to his apartment, he thought of how he could get a picture of Wonwoo without him protesting.

“Took you a while,” Wonwoo commented as he let Mingyu into their apartment.

Mingyu laughed timidly. “Yeah, I got caught up talking to Seungcheol.”

“About what?” Wonwoo asked casually as he plopped back down onto the couch. There was an American romcom playing on the TV that Mingyu wasn’t sure Wonwoo was actually watching or not.

“Uh... school,” Mingyu lied.

“Fun,” Wonwoo said sarcastically.

“Anyway,” Mingyu sat down on the couch next to him. He decided to just get straight to the point. “Can I take a picture of you?”

Wonwoo turned to him. “Why?”

Mingyu gulped, but pushed on. “I need a good contact picture of you in my phone,” he lied.

Wonwoo gave him a questioning look and laughed a little. “Seriously?”

“What’s so weird about that?” Mingyu asked defensively.

“Why didn’t you ask me sooner?” Wonwoo narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“Uh, I was looking through my phone earlier and it bothered me that you’re the only one without a picture,” Mingyu said cautiously. “You’re my roommate, after all.”

Wonwoo didn’t seem convinced. Mingyu should’ve known it would take a more convincing excuse.

“You’re pretty weird, you know?” Wonwoo smiled slightly.

“Well, you’re the one who picked me as a roommate,” Mingyu pointed out. “So stop insulting me,” he said jokingly, punching Wonwoo’s shoulder as he often did when the older insulted him.

“You’re such a child,” Wonwoo’s expression grew playful, “I took you in because I pitied you.”

Mingyu couldn’t handle how cute Wonwoo looked in that moment. He just stared.

“Fine,” Wonwoo relented after a few moments of silence. “Tell you what. I’ll let you take my picture if you cook dinner and do the laundry for this whole week. Sound fair?”

“But I always cook dinner,” Mingyu frowned.

“Then it’ll be easy, won’t it? Just add the laundry to your to do list,” Wonwoo leant closer unconsciously.

“Alright,” Mingyu agreed, suddenly flustered by Wonwoo’s proximity. He was surprised that Wonwoo consented so easily, even if it came with a price. Tearing his eyes from his roommate’s gorgeous face, Mingyu grabbed his phone.

He opened the camera app and focused it on Wonwoo’s face. Wonwoo smiled into the camera.

He smiled. A smile that Mingyu hadn’t seen before.

It wasn’t the kind of smile Wonwoo smiled when he was having fun. It wasn’t like the time Wonwoo smiled when Mingyu accidentally tripped over his long apron and spilled chocolate milk all over his face.

It wasn’t the same as the smile Wonwoo had on his face after he kissed Mingyu two weeks ago.

It was a smile that lit up his features, that said everything was going to be okay. It was a smile that displayed the purity of Jeon Wonwoo, a smile so powerful that even if Wonwoo was about to kill him, Mingyu would probably thank him for it. A smile that was dangerous to Mingyu’s health and wellbeing.

Mingyu felt something stir inside him.

He’s felt this feeling before. ‘Butterflies’ was an understatement. It was more like an entire zoo, honestly.

He felt like this whenever Wonwoo initiated contact, before pulling away hastily, leaving Mingyu slightly disappointed and craving more.

He felt it whenever Wonwoo hid his face behind his sweater paws, or whenever his laughs became uncontrollable and he would clap like a seal and his nose would scrunch up like a rabbit’s. Whenever Wonwoo’s poker face broke and his true emotions showed. He loved it when that happened.

He felt it whenever Wonwoo ranted on about his favourite books, trying to hide the fact that he was a complete nerd, trying to hide his obsession with dramas and cheesy romance novels (but failing completely as Mingyu occasionally caught him sitting on his bed in the dark in front of his laptop, with a box of tissues clutched in his arms and tears streaked down his face).

Mingyu felt like this whenever Wonwoo acted like the dork he actually was. It was a nice feeling.

Being the open and honest person he was, Mingyu often didn’t think twice before he spoke or acted. He was never one to hide things from anyone; especially not his roommate.

Mingyu considered texting Junhui, Minghao or Seokmin for advice, but figured this was far too personal to ask someone else’s opinion. As clichéd as it felt, he wanted to follow his heart this one time.

Instantaneously in that moment, it had become crystal clear. How he truly felt about Jeon Wonwoo.

It was as if all his previous confusion was erased the second Wonwoo smiled. Mingyu didn’t know why he was searching so hard for an answer that was right in front of him.

“Hey, Wonwoo. I think I’m in love with you.”

PART FOUR: REMEMBER THE REASON FOR THE SEASON
[PLEDIS ENTERTAINMENT]

The thirty or so current trainees at Pledis Entertainment gathered in the biggest studio, as per staff orders. It was time for Pledis’ annual special trainee Christmas broadcast.

Seokmin spotted Chan across the room and waved frantically to get his attention. Chan grinned and flashed finger guns.

“Seokmin,” a female voice caught his attention. Seokmin flushed, as he recognised the voice. It belonged to Yuju, a fellow trainee who also happened to be his classmate and good friend at Pledis University.

“You nervous?” she laughed, glancing at Seokmin’s shaking hands.

He smiled as widely as he could. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.”

She clasped his hands tightly in her own. “You’re one of the best trainees here. Fans love you already,” she smiled. The gesture made Seokmin relax a little.

They were soon divided into groups and given scripts to read over. This year’s broadcast would be a collection of Christmas skits performed by each group of trainees.

Seokmin was happy to see that both Chan and Yuju was in his group. The broadcast started and each trainee bowed and introduced themselves (which unsurprisingly took a really long time). Seokmin’s group was up to perform first, and they drew their roles out of a hat.

“Horse,” Seokmin grinned and held up the paper he had picked to the camera.

“Elf,” Chan picked his role after Seokmin.

“Princess,” Yuju read out after Chan. Seokmin couldn’t help but think it was a perfect role for her.

They soon assembled and Seokmin waited backstage nervously for his scene to come.

He read over the script again and realised that in his opening scene, the princess was riding the horse.

As in, Yuju was meant to be riding Seokmin. He didn’t exactly know how to pull that off.

“Do you think you could piggy back me?” the girl in question whispered. Seokmin hadn’t seen her approach him.

“Yeah, sounds like a good idea,” Seokmin said, thankful that Yuju seemed cool with the situation.

Seokmin knew he wasn’t allowed to ‘like’ anyone, due to Pledis’ strict dating regulations, but he would admit that Yuju was someone special to him. They had known each other since middle school back in Seokmin’s hometown, and had coincidentally moved to Seoul at the same time after both being accepted into Pledis.

But he’d never had the chance to properly get to know her. He heard that she was going to debut soon in Pledis’ new girl group.

Seokmin hated being left behind. While he was an easy-going and lively person, he did sometimes display perfectionist tendencies and didn’t like it when he failed to succeed. He was always used to getting by in life by trying his best; but knowing that even his best wasn’t good enough for the idol industry made him feel despondent.

Convincing his parents was difficult. They were quite shocked to hear that both of their sons wanted to move to Seoul and pursue careers as idols, which no doubt required brutal training, raw talent and mental strength to achieve. Seokmin knew that he had to try beyond his best if he wanted to succeed and prove to his parents that they made the right decision to trust him.

Yuju was no doubt one of the most talented people Seokmin had met in his life. Since middle school, she had excelled in both academics and sports, and had the same passion for music as Seokmin and Chan did. Seokmin didn’t know anyone more worthy of debut than her.

But he was also jealous. He’d never been able to really beat Yuju in anything for as long as he’d known her. He didn’t want to be left behind when she debuted.

He was snapped out of his worries when his entrance to the skit was required. He allowed Yuju to hop onto his back as he ‘galloped’ into the scene.

It was embarrassing to say the least, and it wasn’t like the skit had the best writing ever, but Seokmin had fun performing it. He had to admit that Chan was a pretty good actor himself.

The broadcast ended with unit performances; Seokmin had been grouped with two other trainees to perform an acappella cover of ZICO’s ‘I am you, you are me’. They hadn’t had much time to practise, but Seokmin hoped they did alright (if they didn’t, he knew they’d be at risk of not being considered for debut).

Chan had coincidentally been paired up with Yuju, and they performed a contemporary dance to a remix of Michael Jackson’s ‘Smooth Criminal’. Seokmin had no doubt that the song was picked by Chan (aka. #1 Michael Jackson trash).

The broadcast finished and the trainees collapsed to the ground in relief. As much fun as broadcasts were, it was stressful to filter everything you said and keep up a personality that fans would like.

Seokmin was all ready to head home, but their CEO walked into the studio. All the trainees immediately stood back up and formed a neat line.

The CEO of Pledis looked rather angry.

Seokmin shook at the CEO’s agitated expression. He didn’t see the CEO as someone who was very strict or short-tempered, and in the few times he had met with him, he had never seen him look this angry.

Seokmin prayed that he had done alright in the broadcast. There were rumours around the agency that a boy and girl group would soon be debuting, and Seokmin desperately wanted to be part of it. He didn’t want his parents to force him and Chan to move back home.

“Trainees,” the CEO began in his authoritative voice, “I wasn’t happy with your performance on today’s broadcast.”

Seokmin felt his heart drop to his toes.

“I need you all to follow me,” his voice boomed across the studio as he walked briskly out of the door. The other trainees looked terrified, but followed anyway.

Seokmin met Chan’s eyes and they gave each other a horrified expression.

The CEO led them to the cafeteria, and Seokmin was shocked to see plates upon plates of delicious food lined up on every available surface on the largest, centre table.

The smell of glazed meat invaded Seokmin’s nostrils and his mouth started watering. He was starving after training all afternoon and performing a skit and vocal act for the broadcast that evening.

The other trainees looked just as confused, but the sight of food in front of them erased all questions.

“Did I scare you?” the CEO sat down at a table and grinned at the trainees. “I was just joking. It’s nearly Christmas! I figured it was the perfect time to reward you all for your hard work this year.”

Seokmin’s heart jumped back to its original position.

The trainees were let loose on the feast in front of them. Seokmin met up with Chan, but both were soon distracted with piling up as much food as they could onto the tiny plastic plates they were provided.

Time went by in a blur whenever food was concerned. The feast was reduced to empty plates in just over half an hour. The CEO tapped a glass to call for the trainees’ attention once again.

“Cheers to a brilliant 2016, and an even better 2017!” he toasted. All the trainees cheered and raised their (empty) glasses.

As far as Seokmin was concerned, they had one last photoshoot to complete for a magazine starting from Christmas Day, before earning a well deserved break over New Year. He couldn’t wait to relax.

“I’m so proud of what you have all achieved this year. It’s truly a shame I can’t let you all debut.” The reality of the situation hit Seokmin once again.

“And speaking of debut, we have some news to announce,” he continued. The room went into uproar as the trainees began to talk amongst themselves.

When everything went silent, the CEO said, “The next group we will be debuting consists of five boys. We have plans for a girl group as well, but a boy group will be our first priority at the moment.”

Seokmin held his breath.

The CEO read out a shortlist of fifteen boys they were currently considering for the five-membered boy group lineup. Seokmin and Chan weren’t on the list.

“This is of course, subject to change. You are all incredibly talented, and there will definitely be chances for you in the future.”

Seokmin knew this was a lie; he knew tons of people who trained for years but never got to debut.

Seokmin and Chan needed to debut soon if they wanted to keep their parent’s trust. Seokmin thought that he had secured a dream and future to work towards when he was accepted into Pledis; but now, he wasn’t too sure about it.

He’d only trained for about a year, and definitely needed to train for at least two more years to be able to debut, but he wasn’t too sure he even wanted to continue training - his parents didn’t understand that this career needed time. His parents were the kind of people who wanted to see immediate results.

It was too much. Seokmin had become much more tired and stressed out recently (though of course, he’d do anything to pretend like everything was alright so as to not worry anyone too much). He could also tell that Chan was overworking in order to keep up his grades as well as improve his vocals and dancing.

“Looks like we need to work even harder,” Chan said sadly as they boarded the bus back to Apartment Block 17. Seokmin didn’t really care anymore at this point. He was too tired.

Chan went straight to bed as soon as they got back to their apartment. Seokmin figured that he probably didn’t want to talk about it either.

Deciding not to dwell on it any further, Seokmin washed up and changed before turning on his phone to distract himself.

Turns out, his phone was the perfect distraction. His notifications were flooded with more than 70 unread messages from ‘wonwoo trash squad’.

kim meangyu
> GUYSUYUYSYSUYSUDYFUSDYFUSDYFSUDFYSUDF
> FUUKUKFCKCKCKKKKK

meanhao
> WHAT????

meanhui
> DID SOMEONE DIE
> oh wait this is the wonwoo chat
> DID WONWOO DIE?!

kim meangyu
> IM IN LOVE WITH WONWOO

meanhao
> oh is that all lol
> whats ur point

kim meangyu
> ...
> arent u guys surprised

meanhui
> no...
> about time u admitted it lol
> minghao !!! we can finally go on those double dates u wanted

meanhao
> (ﾉ◕o◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

kim meangyu
> GUYS SRSLY
> but what if i told you....
> i told wonwoo i love him to his face?!?!?!?!

meanhao
> didn’t think you had the balls to do it bro
> i’m proud of you

kim meangyu
> -_-

meanhui
> ok but what happened tho

meanhao
> i’m only curious as to how wonwoo reacted?!

kim meangyu
> i was so confused before and like when he kissed me i was even more confused but then i talked to seungcheol and got even MROE CONFUSED btut then i was trying to get a picture of wonwoo smiling and hE ACTUALLY SMILED AT ME LIKE PROPERLY AND GENUINELY and my heart did this weird thing and then i KNW I KNEW
> THAT IT WAS LOVE and then without thinking i kind of just said ‘i think i love you’ and then
> hejust stared at me but he didnt even look shocked like it was his normal poker face then after a whil he was just like
> ‘okay’
> OKAY?!?!?!?! WTF DOES HE MEAN BY OKAY ?!?!?!?!?!?!

meanhao
> lmao mingyu calm down for a sec
> i cant read that fast

kim meangyu
> MINGHAO THIS IS NOT A TIME TO CALM DOWN
> I JUST CONFESSED TO MY ROOMMATE HELP ME

meanhui
> okay oik ok
> what did he do after he said okay?

kim meangyu
> okokok he said something like
> ‘i can’t really answer you right now. i’m sory’
> THEN ITS LIKE REALLY AWKWARDLY SILENT
> AND HE KINDA JUST GOES TO HIS BEDROOM i havent seen him since
> ??!??Q?Q??!!?!?

meanhui
> that piece of shit i s2g

meanhao
> jun pls. don’t talk about wonwoo like that
> even if he really is a piece of shit

meanhui
> -.-
> hes totally in love with u mingyu dont let him fool u

meanhao
> dont tell him that?!?! let wonwoo tell him... [a/n; in Chinese]

meanhui
> lol jk
> idk let wonwoo come to his senses
> he just needs to figure out his feels right now

kim meangyu
> ...

meanhui
> okoko but
> u better take care of him!!1 kim mingyu!!!!
> as his best friend i will personally neck you if you do anyting to hurt him

meanhao
> jun. mingyu’s your friend too...

kim meangyu
> YEAH?? ARENT I UR FRIEND TOO
> AND WHY WOULD I EVER HURT WONWOO I WOULDNT DO THAT

meanhui
> im sorry mingyu, but wonwoo will always be number 1
> well. number 1 friend.
> he’s number 2 person after minghao;)

meanhao
> iw as about to say ..

kim meangyu
> fine :(
> we’re not like... together tho
> but i’m not confused about my feelings anymore.

meanhao
> about time u figured out ur feelings !!?
> i feel like im watching a drama
> just fuck already

meanhui
> uuM UMMMMMMMMM

meanhao
> fucking get together*
> date
> i mean
> yeah

kim meangyu
> o_o
> well im gonna go make some ramen or something im hungry

meanhui
> yeah confessing ur love takes a lot of effort amirite

kim meangyu
> lol

me
> I GO AWAY FOR ONE DAY AND THIS HAPPENS ???
> JISOOS CHRIST

meanhao
> lolol look who finally joined the party

me
> congrats on the confession mingyu [thumbs up emoji]

kim meangyu
> thnx donkey

me
> give me the money tmr minghao
> and jun

meanhui
> shit i was hoping you’d forget :((

kim meangyu
> UM???
> DID YOU GUYS BET ON THIS

me
> yeah obviously lmao
> i said you’d confess first but junhao said wonwoo first lolol

meanhui
> i hoenstly thought wonwoo would break first fml
> now i owe seokmean 30000 won
> i was gonna buy a facemask with that money thanks a lot mingu

kim meangyu
> YOU’RE BLAMING ME????

meanhao
> yeah stuff u mingyu

kim meangyu
> i hate u guys

meanhui
> love u too, gyu<3
> (but not as much as wonwoo does)

me
> YOU BETTER INVITE US TO THE WEDDING

kim meangyu
> -_-

me
> Wonwoo
> tell. me. everything.

meanwoo
> oh hello seokmin
> i watched your broadcast
> it was cute

me
> o thanks lolol
> ANYWAY
> SPILL THE BEANS

meanwoo
> ...
> you’re going to have to be more specific

me
> mingyu???
> obviously

meanwoo
> oh
> well, he said he’s in love with me

me
> AND?

meanwoo
> and what?

me
> DON’T YOU LOVE HIM BACK???

me
> JEON WONWOO
> JISOOS CHRIST ANSWER ME YOU DIPSHIT
> JUST GET TOGETHER ALREADY IM SICK OF U GUYS PINING AFTER EACH OTHER LIKE IDIOTSSSSS
> sorry sorry. got a little bit passionate there
> BUT PLS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD ACCEPT MINGYUS FEELINGS

meanwoo
> I hate Mingyu.

me
> ily wonwoo but
> what the flipping shit is wrong with you

Chapter Text

PART FIVE: SANTA’S LITTLE HELPERS
[APARTMENT #717; Choi Seungcheol]

me
> Hey everyone; this is a mass message sent by yours truly, Choi Seungcheol. In celebration of Christmas, I’d like to ask anyone who’s willing and free to help me pass out candy canes to children and anyone around. Pls help. (rent discounts are up for grabs so don’t be shy)

hansmol
> omg sure ill help
> sounds cool

me
> fml
> almost everyone replied back with “nah im busy celebrating christmas”
> what kind of person celebrates on christmas omfg

hansmol
> lmao rip
> but i said i’ll help

me
> ur not enough

hansmol
> :’(

me
> /sighs/
> i’ll create a group chat with everyone who said ok

hansmol
> oh god here comes the notifications -.-

me
> righteo guys, you are all the best people living in ab17

jeongman
> SO DO WE GET RENT DISCOUNTS

me
> jeonghan you already pretty much live here for free

jisoos christ
> exactly
> some people have to actually PAY to live here

jeongman
> im sorry jisoo but at least i pay my share of the rent

jisoos christ
> i wish i could art like u so i can just pay with paintings -.-
> why is art so
> hard

jeongman
> art’s not the only thing that’s hard
> ;)

hansmol
> JISOOS CHRIST

me
> GUYS SAVE THAT FOR UR OWN CHAT OMFG
> this is to discuss what we do for the candy canes

jibooty
> seungcheol
> i said i would help give out candy
> i did not sign up for another group chat

me
> it’s jsut for this one day beAR WITH IT

soonold
> I HOPE EVERYONE HAS A BEARY MERRY CHRISTMAS :D

aegyu
> HAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHHA SOONYOUNG THAT WA S GOOD

jeon cena
> you laugh at his jokes but not mine are you kidding me

junhot
> HOHOHOHOHO UR DONE FOR MINGU xD

dino lee
> hi everyone

jeongman
> MY BABY IS HEREEEE~

dino lee
> i dont know like half the people here what’s going on

hansmol
> o hey chan lmaooooo

jeongman
> u know me~

dino lee
> unfortunately yeah
> hey hansol~

jisoos christ
> HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
> chan you’re actually so greeat

aegyu
> IM MINGYU IF YOU DON’T KNOW ME NICE TO MEET YOU

sungmin
> im pretty sure everyone knows who u are lmao
> ok but how long does this last seungcheol
> i have to be at a photoshoot thingo tonight

me
> just for the morning or until the candy canes run out

sungmin
> ok cool

junhot
> why

me
> why

sungmin
> we needed a cool group name ok
> if u put ‘operation’ in front of anything it sounds cool
> actual scientifically proven fact

jibooty
> tell us what the plan is otherwise i’m not helping

me
> OKOKOK jihoon has a point so LISTEN UP
> here’s the breakdown
> come to my apartment whenever u ready (717)
> i’ll give u some candy canes and assign u an area
> u can do it with whoever u want i guess?? roommates would be easy
> yeah that’s all thank u
> if u have any problems or wanna switch areas u can just use this group chat
> ok cool see u guys

minghot
> cool sounds fun

soonold
> o minghao ur here!!!! :D
> hows ur first christmas in korea?!

minghot
> we fucked up our christmas tree lolol

junhot
> but we tried and that’s all that matters

me
> holy shit u guys scared off jihoon omfg
> get ur asses to my apartment if u have time to talk like this -_-
> OH I FORGOT TO MENTION I’LL GIVE YOU CUTE ELF COSTUMES TO WEAR ;)
> i think ill have enough idk i just bought it in bulk lol

jeongman
> are you wearing a santa suit then

me
> yeh i will

jeongman
> i’ll bring a camera.

me
> ... ok...
> oh hey hansol where’s seungkwan
> not like him to stay quiet in a group chat...

hansmol
> in his bedroom i think

me
> is he helping out

hansmol
> he said he would

me
> get ur asses here then?!

aegyu
> we’re knocking in 3.. 2.. ...

Seungcheol was startled by loud knocking on his door. Perfect timing.

“You didn’t have to give me a count down,” Seungcheol said as he opened the door. Mingyu and Wonwoo were there, and so was Soonyoung and Jihoon.

“Never add me into a 13-person group chat,” Jihoon sighed.

“It was necessary,” Seungcheol grinned. He let the four of them into his apartment.

“Any preferences for who you wanna work with?” Seungcheol asked as he sifted through the packets of candy canes.

“Can I go with Wonwoo?” Jihoon said abruptly. Everyone looked at him in surprise (even Wonwoo himself).

“Sure...” Seungcheol agreed, but wondered why Jihoon wanted to go with Wonwoo.

Mingyu and Soonyoung didn’t argue and instead were overjoyed to be working together as they did at NO F.U.N. Seungcheol could tell that kids would love them.

The Wonwoo and Jihoon team... he wasn’t too sure.

“We have to wear this?” Jihoon asked in disbelief as Seungcheol pulled out a hat, shirt and matching shoes. He had even bought ear pieces that made their ears look pointy.

“Hey, I’m the one putting a pillow under my shirt so I’m round enough to be Santa,” Seungcheol scowled. “A little elf costume can’t hurt.”

Wonwoo pulled on the ridiculous clothes without much fuss. Jihoon sighed and followed.

Mingyu and Soonyoung looked ecstatic to be dressed up as ridiculously stupid elves.

“You suit that costume a little too well,” Wonwoo held back a laugh when he saw Jihoon. Jihoon could only scowl at him; but he still looked really cute.

“Wonwoo and Jihoon, you take floors 8-10. Knock on every door and spread some festive cheer,” Seungcheol instructed as he wrote it down on a white board. “Mingyu and Soonyoung, you can go across to the mall and hand out candy canes to people passing by.”

“Got it,” Mingyu said with a toothy smile.

“What’s the point of this again?” Jihoon asked.

“To spread Christmas joy,” Seungcheol grinned.

“Your dad told you do this, didn’t he?” Wonwoo narrowed his eyes.

“No, I legitimately thought of this myself,” Seungcheol looked hurt. “I’m not that terrible.”

“Hmm. Alright,” Wonwoo pursed his lips.

The doorbell rang and Seungkwan and Hansol walked in. The other four left to begin ‘operation candy cane’.

“Hey guys,” Seungcheol greeted. “Merry Christmas.”

Hansol grinned and high-fived Seungcheol. “I came here to see you in a Santa suit.”

“I’ll change later,” Seungcheol sighed. “Gotta hand out the rest of these candy canes to the others first. You guys wanna be my personal helpers?”

“Sure,” Hansol smiled.

“Oi, Seungkwan,” Seungcheol prodded. Seungkwan looked fine, but he was unnaturally quiet.

“What?” Seungkwan finally spoke.

“Cheer up baby, cheer up baby~,” Seungcheol sang, nudging Seungkwan.

Seungkwan laughed a little. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I should be asking you that,” Seungcheol slung his arm around the younger boy. Hansol pursed his lips, but stayed quiet.

“Just been feeling a bit sick,” Seungkwan said quietly. “It’ll pass.”

“If you say so.” Seungcheol certainly didn’t believe him. He knew that Hansol had been talking about asking out a girl called Chaeyoung lately, and ever since then, Seungkwan had acted out of the ordinary.

Seungkwan’s weird behaviour definitely had to do with Hansol. Seungcheol rolled his eyes. They’re hopeless.

As much as he wanted to do something, he felt like this was something they had to sort out between themselves. He knew that Seungkwan couldn’t sulk like this forever.

“You guys chill here first,” he instructed. “I’ll wait for the others to come first, then the three of us can head out.”

“Sounds cool,” Hansol said as he plopped down onto the couch.

”Hey, Wonwoo... can I talk to you?” Mingyu poked his head into Wonwoo’s bedroom the morning after he confessed. Wonwoo had locked himself in his bedroom all day yesterday.

“Yeah,” Wonwoo said weakly. He was sitting cross-legged on his bed, scrolling aimlessly through Tumblr and eating snacks he stole from the kitchen.

“Sorry,” Mingyu began with a nervous laugh, “I didn’t really think before I said what I said yesterday.”

“You never think before you speak,” Wonwoo smiled softly.

Mingyu rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. He sat next to Wonwoo cautiously.

“I understand that you can’t answer me right now,” Mingyu said quietly. “I don’t want things to be awkward between us. Seriously. I love being around you and you’re really important to me. So I’ll understand if you don’t love me back.”

Wonwoo didn’t say anything at first. But he forced himself to give Mingyu a quiet ‘Thanks’.

“But I won’t give up,” Mingyu said with a grin, turning to face Wonwoo. “I meant what I said. I’m not sure why it took me this long to realise it, but now that I do, I’m not giving up until you love me back.”

“You’re making it awfully difficult for me to hate you,” Wonwoo muttered quietly.

Mingyu’s smile got wider. “Then it’s working.”

[APARTMENT BLOCK 17 - FLOOR 8]

“So now he’s trying to get you to fall in love with him?” Jihoon concluded.

“That’s what he said,” Wonwoo sighed.

Jihoon had been Wonwoo’s main confidant for the past few weeks. From the moment Wonwoo impulsively kissed Mingyu to Mingyu’s confession a few days ago, Jihoon had heard of it all.

Wonwoo was glad that Jihoon insisted on talking about it in real life.

“But you’ve been in love with him since like forever,” Jihoon said.

“I guess, but I wouldn’t put it like that...” Wonwoo said in embarrassment.

“Any awkward tension since then?”

“I can feel it, but I don’t know about him,” Wonwoo pursed his lips. “He said he didn’t want things to be awkward between us. And he acts like everything’s normal.”

“You guys seem fine to me,” Jihoon admitted.

“We’re not fine on the inside,” Wonwoo laughed. “Then again, nothing’s been completely the same since I kissed him.”

“Sorry to say, but that’s entirely your fault,” Jihoon patted him on the back. “If you just admit that you love him, everything will be easier.”

“Says you,” Wonwoo poked Jihoon. “Mr. I’m-in-love-with-Soonyoung-but-won’t-admit-it.”

Jihoon didn’t exactly disagree. He just glared at Wonwoo.

“So what are you gonna do, then?” Jihoon asked.

“I have no idea,” Wonwoo said. “I... I’m just scared.”

“Scared of your own feelings?”

“Scared for Mingyu,” Wonwoo admitted. “I don’t want him to be hurt. I don’t want him to be disappointed by me.”

“Mingyu’s an honest person,” Jihoon said. “Maybe a bit too honest sometimes. But every part of him is sincere. I can see it. He truly cares about you.”

“And that’s why I’m scared,” Wonwoo said hesitantly. “I’ll... think about it.”

“Don’t think for too long,” Jihoon said slowly, “You might lose him to someone else.”

“You could take your own advice, you know,” Wonwoo muttered under his breath. Jihoon didn’t seem to hear.

They continued knocking on doors and putting up partially forced smiles (which probably looked quite creepy from an outsider’s perspective), hoping that the candy canes would magically vanish and their job would be over.

Because as much as they wanted to help spread Christmas cheer, they didn’t appreciate the rude people who demanded more candy; Jihoon especially didn’t appreciate being bitten on the arm because he refused to give a girl the rest of his candy canes.

[SHINING DIAMOND MALL]

“You know, I’m pretty good at reading people,” Soonyoung said in a serious tone. He gave out candy canes and smiled intermittently, but the flow of people halted when the crossing light turned red, giving him a chance to talk to Mingyu.

“I’m pretty sure Wonwoo loves you.”

“But he said he can’t give me an answer,” Mingyu frowned. He had told Soonyoung about the Wonwoo situation during down time at work.

“He seems really confused,” Soonyoung sighed. “Maybe you shouldn’t have been so outright.”

“But that’s just how I am,” Mingyu said innocently.

“True,” Soonyoung laughed.

“Oppa,” a young girl approached the two of them shyly, “Can I have another candy cane?”

“Of course you can,” Soonyoung grinned and handed the girl not one, but four more candy canes. His packet was finished.

“Hey, that’s unfair,” Mingyu realised what he had done. Earlier, Soonyoung had unofficially bet Mingyu that he could give out all his candy canes faster. Mingyu still had ten more in his packet.

“I win,” Soonyoung gave Mingyu a toothy smile.

“You know, I can see why Jihoon hates you so much,” Mingyu pouted.

“Jihoon? No way. He loves me,” Soonyoung poked his tongue out.

“Well, do you love him back?” Mingyu asked with genuine curiosity. He always wondered what Jihoon and Soonyoung’s relationship actually was - if was just friends or something more than that.

“Of course I love Jihoon,” Soonyoung said without hesitation. “He’s my best friend.”

Somehow, Mingyu felt like Soonyoung’s definition of ‘love’ didn’t quite match the ‘love’ he was referring to.

[APARTMENT #717; Choi Seungcheol]

me
> GUYS WELL DONE~
> I’M A VERY PRUD FATHER
> we gave out like 1029312093 candy canes i cant believ

jibooty
> please not again
> i left for a reason
> my phone and being can’t handle group chats like this

me
> importnat info though?!?!?

sungmin
> i hope this was worth it!!
> i was chased down by angry dogs because i approached their owner with a candy cane fml

junhot
> minghao kept getting approached by these girls omg

minghot
> THEY WERE ASKING FOR YOUR NUMBER THOUGUH?!

junhot
> oh

aegyu
> soonyoung is a cheater

soonold
> that girl asked for the candy canes tho
> dont be such a sore loser lolol

jeon cena
> jihoon scared someone’s little sister

jibooty
> SHE BIT MY ARM

aegyu
> i will be a sore loser if i want thank you very much

dino lee
> the dogs bit seokmin but he didn’t scare THEM off

jibooty
> how do you expect me to treat a brat who bites peoples arms to get more candy

dino lee
> lol true i probably would’ve been triggered

soonold
> where u at jihoonie
> come back home~

jibooty
> still at the store sorry

jeon cena
> are you still trying to get that limited edition chocolate omg jihoon

aegyu
> WAS IT THE EXTRA BITTER ONE FROM GHANA OR SOMETHING

jibooty
> YEAH

jisoos christ
> a lady told me i looked like a god and that she was thankful i was spreading christmas joy

jeongman
> might i add, she was a really religious lady from the nearby church

me
> u shld just be a priest jisoo

jisoos christ
> lmao i’ll consider that career option thanks

hansmol
> hansmol sent a photo.
> thought everyone should see santa seungcheol

junhot
> HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAAH
> lmao i’d look way better in that suit

me
> -.-
> guys lets take a squad photo with ur elf outfits

jeon cena
> no

soonold
> OKAY

aegyu
> YES !!!!

sungmin
> im pretty sure squad photos require every member’s consent

me
> ugh fine stuff u all i’m gonna sleep

soonold
> MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONEEEEEEEE <3

jisoos christ
> thanks for doing this seungcheol
> it was actually pretty fun and people looked happy to get a cheap candy from the store :)

me
> lmao maybe people will stop syaing i’m a terrible person now :)))
> thanks for all ur help u guys!!!

jeon cena
> yoou’re still a terrible person

jeongman
> do we get our rent discounts

me
> im tired lol bye

Seungcheol put his phone away and was about to lay his head down on his pillow when the doorbell started ringing repeatedly. He groaned and forced himself back up.

“Seungcheol,” Yoongi, one of his friends and a resident of Apartment Block 17, stood at his door holding a large box.

“Oh, Yoongi,” Seungcheol greeted, still slightly sleepy.

“I was just delivered this box,” Yoongi said, indicating the box in his hands. “It’s not mine. I think the mailman made a mistake.”

Seungcheol remembered that he had left ten middle schoolers in charge of the apartment block’s mail over the Christmas period.

“My friends all got pretty random parcels as well,” Yoongi continued.

Seungcheol sighed; he just wanted to sleep.

“Hang on, I’ll go check it out.”

PART SIX: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER
[APARTMENT #811; Lee Jihoon, Kwon Soonyoung]

Soonyoung jumped up at the sound of the door closing. His roommate, Jihoon, had gone to the store after ‘operation candy cane’ to get some ‘special’ chocolate.

“Soonyoung,” Jihoon greeted. He was holding a large box. “Did anyone send you Christmas presents?”

“Maybe my parents?” Soonyoung guessed, taking the heavy box from Jihoon.

The box was a lot heavier than Soonyoung expected. He nearly dropped it on his toes (which would’ve been quite a disaster).

“Park... Jimin,” Soonyoung read out slowly. “Apartment #711. That’s the one below ours.”

“Wait. Jimin?” Jihoon put down his other bags and read the sticker on the box.

“Isn’t #711 your cousin’s apartment?” Soonyoung asked.

“Probably. Explains why that kid gave me the box,” Jihoon scowled.

“How did you end up with it?” Soonyoung wondered.

“I was waiting for the elevator in the lobby when a kid gave me this box,” Jihoon said, flopping onto the couch. “He told me to give it to my roommate. But I guess it was because the kid knew Yoongi and thought I was him.”

“Wanna go give it to its rightful owners then?” Soonyoung asked, putting the box down onto the kitchen counter. He looked into the grocery bags Jihoon had also brought back along with the box; inside was what looked like a lifetime supply of expensive chocolate stacked up haphazardly in the thin plastic bags. Looks like Jihoon managed to find his special chocolate.

“Nah. I kinda wanna open it and see what’s inside,” Jihoon said, grinning mischievously.

“Open another person’s present?” Soonyoung narrowed his eyes. But it quickly changed into a mischievous grin. “I like the way you think.”

Soonyoung and Jihoon gathered around the box, Soonyoung holding a pair of scissors. He cut through the tape holding the box together and opened it.

They didn’t really know what to say. They just stared.

“Well, this explains why it was so heavy,” Soonyoung finally commented.

The box was filled to the brim with jars of strawberry jam. There was a note attached to one of the jars.

“Jimin-ah, I’m sorry I said you have no jams. It was a joke. I hope this makes up for it. Merry Christmas!! -Namjoon”

“Namjoon? I’m not even surprised,” Jihoon rolled his eyes.

“You know him?” Soonyoung asked.

“He works at 20 Books with me,” Jihoon explained. “I never knew he was friends with my cousin and his roommate.”

“Ah, okay,” Soonyoung nodded. “Should we deliver this to Jimin for him?”

“I guess. But why would he post this when he could just give them to Jimin himself?” Jihoon wondered. “The postage must’ve been horribly expensive judging by how much this weighs.”

“True,” Soonyoung chuckled. “But I heard that Seungcheol set up this mailing service where you could give your gifts to the mailroom to have it delivered within the apartment block.”

“What’s the point of that?” Jihoon yawned and sunk back into the couch.

“Maybe you can give anonymous gifts to other people? I don’t know,” Soonyoung laughed.

They both decided they felt too lazy to carry it down a floor, so they put it aside for the time being. Jihoon texted his cousin to come pick it up later.

“Alright! Now that you’re back...” Soonyoung continued with obvious excitement. “Time for Christmas presents!”

He walked over to their Christmas tree; a glittery white one, which he had put up all by himself because Jihoon had chosen to sleep on the couch instead of help out.

“You actually got me a present?” Jihoon asked in disbelief.

“Of course!” Soonyoung looked hurt. “I’m not a terrible person, you know.”

“Not so sure about that,” Jihoon smirked. Soonyoung faked a sad face.

“I’m not sure why I went to so much trouble to get this for you,” Soonyoung pretended to be angry. He thrust a brightly wrapped box at Jihoon. “Take it, you ungrateful walnut.”

“Walnut? That’s the best you can do?” Jihoon couldn’t help but laugh. He tore through the wrapping and pulled out a hideously bright yellow t-shirt.

“Look at the front,” Soonyoung smiled.

Jihoon slowly opened the shirt. On the front, there was a checklist.

“#1 Producer... #1 Sleeper... #1 Best Friend...?” Jihoon read out. All three entries had a tick in the box next to it.

“Wow, okay...” he didn’t know what to say.

“Do you like it?” Soonyoung fidgeted.

Jihoon noticed how nervous Soonyoung looked, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Jihoon softened into a smile. “Yeah,” he said quietly, “Even though the colour is hideous.”

Soonyoung’s face lit up into a smile. “Cool! Because I have another present for you.”

“Woah, hold up,” Jihoon was shocked that Soonyoung went to so much trouble this year. Both of them didn’t particularly celebrate Christmas, and for the past few years they had just bought each other food or necessities. “At least let me give you my present first.”

“You got me a present?” Soonyoung perked up. To Jihoon, he looked so cute when he was hopeful.

“Of course,” Jihoon copied Soonyoung’s words. “I’m not a terrible person, you know.”

“Touché,” Soonyoung grinned.

Jihoon pulled out a brown bag and gave it to him nervously. He braced himself for Soonyoung’s reaction.

“I’m sorry I didn’t wrap it nicely--”

“Holy shit,” Soonyoung exclaimed, looking into the bag. Jihoon flinched; he expected this much.

Soonyoung pulled out the contents of the bag; a SHINee album signed by all members, and an envelope with Soonyoung’s name on it.

Jihoon knew that there was no better present for a SHINee trashbag like Soonyoung than an actual SHINee album. This Christmas present was a no-brainer.

“Where? How? Why?” Soonyoung stuttered, handling the album as if it was made of pure gold (to Soonyoung, it was probably far more precious than gold).

“One of my classmates from university knows a guy in SM...” Jihoon said in embarrassment. “It’s really no big deal. They give out tonnes of signed albums like--”

Soonyoung tackled Jihoon into a tight hug. The corners of the album dug into Jihoon’s back uncomfortably.

“Jihoon,” Soonyoung mumbled into his roommate’s shirt, “I could literally kiss you right now.”

Then why don’t you?

“That’s... not all,” Jihoon said with difficulty; Soonyoung was crushing his ribs with his strong arms. Jihoon was pretty sure that his roommate wasn’t aware of his own strength.

“The envelope?” Soonyoung released Jihoon and tore open the envelope, his tongue sticking out slightly in the excitement. He pulled out two pieces of paper. Jihoon braced himself once again.

Soonyoung turned the papers over slowly. Category 1 tickets to a SHINee concert, including a Hi-Touch or Photo Op pass.

“Are--” Soonyoung began.

“Yeah, yeah,” Jihoon said, hiding his face from Soonyoung. He could feel his cheeks flushing rapidly. “VIP tickets. I got two, so--”

“Will you go with me?!” Soonyoung said a little too loudly, grabbing Jihoon’s wrists and pulling them away from his face. Jihoon tried his best to avoid looking at Soonyoung’s face.

“Of course,” Jihoon rolled his eyes. “I got the tickets. I should be allowed to go.”

“Sorry,” Soonyoung laughed, backing away from Jihoon. “I thought you weren’t the kind who would want to go to a boyband concert.”

“People change,” Jihoon muttered.

“Jihoon,” Soonyoung looked like he was on the verge of tears. “Thank you,” he choked.

Soonyoung’s face was brimming with happiness and joy, and Jihoon felt a rush of warmth run through his body. It was a nice feeling. Definitely worth begging his classmate multiple times to hook him up with SHINee tickets.

With Jihoon’s physical present out of the way, Soonyoung eagerly wanted to move on to his other present for Jihoon.

Soonyoung’s ‘other’ present turned out to be a performance. It so happened that Jihoon had a similar idea, and had prepared a performance for Soonyoung as well.

Jihoon insisted he wanted go first; he was embarrassed enough already. He stood in front of Soonyoung for a while before mustering up the courage to speak.

“You... keep asking me to dance to Taemin’s ‘Press Your Number’,” Jihoon said, hands shaking and eyes darting everywhere except for the boy in front of him. “So... I finally learnt it for you. Merry Christmas.”

He turned on the music and danced with as much passion as he could. He really did enjoy dancing, but always felt jealous whenever he watched Soonyoung. No amount of practice would get him to Soonyoung’s level, but he was content with his current dancing ability.

The look of pure awe and adoration on Soonyoung’s face as he applauded made Jihoon think that all the hours of practice was worth it.

Jihoon took a seat, breathing heavily, and prepared himself for Soonyoung’s performance. He knew that whatever Soonyoung performed, it would certainly set Jihoon’s heart off at an abnormal rate.

“Um... my performance probably won’t compare to all the things you’ve done for me today,” Soonyoung said, cheeks flushing. “But... I’ve been working on my singing. It’s no where near as good as yours, but--”

Jihoon smiled at him.

“Uh-- Yeah. I can’t play any instruments, so it’ll just be me, so--”

“I have high expectations,” Jihoon said encouragingly.

“Alright,” Soonyoung laughed. He began to sing, and Jihoon sat bolt upright. He recognised the song; he should, because he was the one who wrote it.

“Yeah, I just want it simple, simple. I want it simple~” Soonyoung sang.

Jihoon stared at him until he stopped singing. He felt shook not only by Soonyoung’s gentle, velvety voice, but the fact that the song he had sung was one Jihoon had been writing for the past few weeks. In secret.

“Soonyoung,” Jihoon said quietly. “How--”

“I found it in your room,” Soonyoung admitted sheepishly, bracing himself for the attack Jihoon would surely launch on him. “I don’t know why you always hide your compositions from me. They’re incredible.”

Jihoon wasn’t sure how to react.

“I really like this song,” Soonyoung lowered his hands and approached Jihoon. “It’s so... you.”

“Thanks,” was all Jihoon managed to say. He wanted to hear Soonyoung sing again.

“So... Merry Christmas,” Soonyoung laughed nervously.

“Merry Christmas, Soonyoung.”

As much as Jihoon wanted to hold back a smile, he couldn’t help himself. And his smile only got wider when he saw that Soonyoung had an equally happy expression on his face.

But that smile soon turned into an annoyed expression when Soonyoung began laughing whilst saying, “Your nose is so red, Jihoon! You look like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer!”

Later that evening, Soonyoung was lazing around in his room when his phone vibrated.

josh
> hello everyone
> jeonghan and i decided to hold a small celebration at our place
> come to 104 if u wanna join and celebrate our hard work this morning !!! :)

me
> lol thnx josh we’ll be there SOON !!! :D

woozi:)
> hold up i didn’t agree to this

devil.gif [a/n; Jeonghan]
> omg jihoon cmon it’ll be fun

woozi:)
> soonyoung would probably drag my dead body there if he had to anyway

me
> :)))

[unknown number 1]
> lol soz i have a photoshoot to go to really soon
> ill stop by before tho

[unknown number 2]
> me toooo~

han the man
> omg no u guys are always busy :(

[unknown number 1]
> idol duties call

me
> WOAH U GUYS ARE IDOLS?!?!?!?!
> wait who r u lmao

[unknown number 1]
> *trainees techinically
> the names seokmin
> or if u know me by my stage name it’s DK or dokyeom ;)

savagehao
> lmao that spon though

coups.jpg
> ????

[unknown number 1]
> s e o k m i n
> im looking at u seungcheol

coups.jpg
> if u say so
> but in my heart you will alwyas be sungmin

[unknown number 1]
> ok bye

me
> nooo dont go we just met~

[unknown number 2]
> lol bye

mingerm
> ooooo a party ?!
> sweet

savagehao
> o yeah will there be food?

josh
> yeah we’ll feed you

savagehao
> praise the lord

josh
> if you meant me, thnk you

me
> LETS CONTINUE OUR GAME OF MONOPOLY FROM LAST TIME

woozi:)
> but soonyoung, you went bankrupt in the first hour

me
> no???? i was just contributing to the economy

[unknown number 3]
> lmao lets play truth or dare

[unknown number 4]
> no

me
> whO ARE YOU PEOPLE

[unknown number 4]
> idk who you are either

me
> i came hre to party and im feeling so attacked rn
> iM SOONYOUNG NICE TO MEET U

mingerm
> NICE TO MEET YOU IM MINGYU

me
> i knowwwwwww -_-

[unknown number 3]
> oh soonyoung lolol
> im junhui

[unknown number 4]
> i’m wonwoo

me
> OOOOOHHHH
> MINGHAOS BF AND MINGYUS BF
> ILL CHANGE UR NAMES IN MY PHONE

MINGYU’S BF
> ......

woozi:)
> i apologise for soonyoung.

MINGYU’S BF
> none taken.

josh
> so is anyone gonna come over or what

han the man
> is it alright if we come at like 6

josh
> yeah of course

me
> OH YEAH I KNEW WE WERE FORGETTING SOMETHING
> sorry i started eating ramen lol

mingerm
> iM CHANGING HANG ON

MINGHAO’S BF
> i can’t find my shirt

josh
> -_-

coups.jpg
> smh u guys gotta stop scaring away jihoon -.-

me
> JIHOON MY LOVE COME BACK :((

MINGYU’S BF
> rip jihoon~

devil.gif
> guys ...
> come over before jisoo finishes all the nachos

me
> UM NACHOS ???
> OK BYE RAMEN YOU WERE GREAT WHILE U LASTED
> BR RIGHT THERE
> JISOO SAVE SOME FOR ME

Chapter Text

PART SEVEN: SNOW MUCH FUN
[APARTMENT #118; Choi Hansol, Boo Seungkwan]

“Jisoo’s having a party,” Hansol said, poking his head into Seungkwan’s bedroom. The latter was scrolling through his phone with an intense expression set into his delicate features.

“Cool,” Seungkwan replied, barely looking up from the screen.

Hansol sighed. “Wanna go? I pretty much said we’ll show up at 6.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll just change first,” Seungkwan said, hoisting himself up from his bed.

“Oh yeah. I have some presents for you,” Hansol grinned. “Merry Christmas.”

Seungkwan blinked a few times before speaking. “Seriously?”

Hansol clutched his chest in mock hurt. “I’m not that terrible. Why wouldn’t I get presents for my best friend?”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes. Grabbing clothes from his closet to change into, he also picked up a box wrapped in colourful Christmas paper. He threw it at Hansol without a word.

Hansol caught the box in surprise. Whatever was inside shifted a little.

“Merry Christmas,” Seungkwan said, not looking at Hansol.

Hansol ripped off the paper and saw that it was a shoe box.

“How did you know I wanted these?” Hansol took out a brand new pair of shoes - he had seen them at the mall a few weeks ago, but didn’t buy them because they were ridiculously expensive.

“You told me,” Seungkwan said bluntly. He shooed Hansol out while he changed.

Hansol stared at the box in disbelief. It would’ve certainly cost at least a month’s salary of an average part-time working teenager.

“Thanks, Seungkwan,” Hansol said in disbelief when his roommate finally came out of his room, sporting a single-coloured sweater and ripped jeans that somehow fitted him really well. Hansol didn’t hesitate to hug his roommate right then and there.

But Seungkwan didn’t respond. It was weird, especially for Seungkwan.

Seungkwan, who was normally the one who initiated contact.

Seungkwan, who was normally the one to wrestle with Hansol and randomly poke him whenever he felt like it.

Hansol hated how distant Seungkwan had been acting for the past few weeks. He didn’t know what he did wrong, or if it was even his fault. He didn’t know why Seungkwan had seemed so out of it. He didn’t know how to help.

Seungkwan hardly ever felt down, and even if he did, he never made it obvious. Between the two of them, he was always the moodmaker; always cheerful, kind and generous. He was so easy to talk to, and his smile was always a fresh of breath air no matter how many times Hansol saw it.

It really worried Hansol that Seungkwan was acting so withdrawn. Recently, Seungkwan hardly talked unless talked to first, and he was always in his bedroom; when previously, he would spend most of the day with Hansol in the living room.

Whether it was planning new videos, practising their vocals (Hansol was surprised they hadn’t gotten noise complaints as of yet) or just talking, Hansol enjoyed being with Seungkwan. There was never a boring moment when Seungkwan was present.

The past few weeks without a bubbly Seungkwan were mundane.

Hansol let go of Seungkwan awkwardly and went to get his presents. He wasn’t sure they’d be enough, but he hoped that they would cheer Seungkwan up a little.

He put the parcels in front of Seungkwan. He wasn’t the best at wrapping, but he tried his best.

Seungkwan tore through the smallest, blockiest one first. It was the scrapbook that Hansol had spent weeks making.

“I never realised how many polaroids we’d taken together until I collected them up,” Hansol said sheepishly. He had bought scrapbook materials from Love Letter (with Jisoo’s employee discount) and spent countless hours sticking in polaroids and decorating the pages with handwritten messages.

Seungkwan didn’t say anything. He flipped through the book, turning the pages carefully as if they would break at the slightest touch.

“Open the other presents!” Hansol urged Seungkwan. He felt embarrassed watching Seungkwan look through the scrapbook right in front of him.

Seungkwan took the roundest package next. It was the shirt Hansol had had custom made for the two of them. It was simple; a plain white Tee with their faces and ‘BOONON’ imprinted on it in a fancy modern font. Hansol unzipped his jacket and showed Seungkwan that he was wearing an identical shirt; similar to the one he bought for Seungkwan, except that it had ‘CHOI’ instead of ‘BOO’ written on the back like a sports jersey.

Seungkwan finally smiled. He went back into his room and came out wearing the shirt, as well as donning a fluffy white jumper that gave him the appearance of a polar bear.

“Still more presents?” Seungkwan laughed when Hansol held out the last parcel eagerly.

“Anything for my best friend,” Hansol gave him a toothy grin. Seungkwan’s expression visibly softened.

“It’s probably the most normal one,” Hansol grinned sheepishly.

Seungkwan unwrapped it. It was a few packets of elbow and knee guards, as well as a headband.

“Are these for... exercise?” Seungkwan raised an eyebrow.

“You’ve been really into volleyball lately,” Hansol explained. “I got pairs for both of us. I figured we should try out the volleyball club at school,” he said excitedly.

“But what about drama club?” Seungkwan questioned.

“Surely we can be in more than one club,” Hansol chuckled.

“I don’t think so,” Seungkwan couldn’t help but smile at Hansol’s enthusiasm. “I’d like to play, though.”

“Right?” Hansol shook Seungkwan’s shoulders. “It looks so cool when they dive, and when they spike-- they jump so high and--”

Seungkwan’s expression suddenly turned bright and he no longer looked expressionless. It was almost as if he had become animated within the few seconds Hansol was talking.

“And when they block and the ball goes like--” Seungkwan indicated with his hands and made various sound effects to illustrate how cool it was. Hansol smiled; Seungkwan was back to his previous, bubbly self.

“Hey, it’s 6:10,” Hansol noticed as he glanced up at their wall clock. “We’re so late.”

“No one ever shows up early to parties,” Seungkwan rolled his eyes. He led the way out of the apartment with Hansol following behind.

Hansol hoped that Seungkwan wouldn’t revert to the indifferent, aloof self he had been for the past few weeks.

[APARTMENT #104; Yoon Jeonghan, Hong Jisoo]

“Merry Christmas,” Seokmin grinned, holding out parcels for Jeonghan and Jisoo.

He and his brother, Chan, had shown up before everyone else to give presents before they both had to leave for a photoshoot at Pledis.

“You got us presents?” Jeonghan looked surprised, but happy all the same. Jisoo accepted the parcels graciously.

“New makeup brushes for Jeonghan,” Seokmin explained as the man himself tore through the wrapping excitedly. “And a pretty book we found for Jisoo. Oh, and a lot of food.”

“There’s a card somewhere,” Chan said. “Thanks for all the help, Jisoo. Seriously,” he smiled.

“It’s fun to teach you and Hansol,” Jisoo insisted. “Especially now that you guys come at the same time. You two are hilarious.”

Seokmin and Chan had found a really fancy astrology book at their local bookstore, 20. It was some limited edition encyclopaedia; both of them had no idea what it really was, but it had pictures and it was really pretty, so they bought it for Jisoo (even though it cost them at least 10 days worth of food).

“I’m glad,” Chan grinned. “I’ll need to come by more often, though. I’ve got huge exams coming up soon,” he sighed.

“No problem,” Jisoo said reassuringly.

“I’ll leave you in his care,” Seokmin said. “Anyway, hope you guys have a good party.”

“Wait, we have presents for you guys too. Kind of,” Jeonghan said sheepishly.

“Seriously?” Seokmin raised an eyebrow.

“It’s not theirs,” Jisoo hit Jeonghan’s chest. “But uh, it would’ve been a great present for you, Seokmin.”

Jisoo disappeared into the apartment and came back with two boxes; one larger than his head and one the size of a book.

“This is for Chan,” Jisoo gave Chan the smaller box. Upon opening it, he grinned widely when he saw that it was a book about Michael Jackson.

“You know me too well, Jisoo,” Chan said.

“Everyone knows you’re #1 Michael Jackson trash,” Jisoo smiled. “Anyway, we actually only got you some food, Seokmin...”

“Don’t tell him that,” Jeonghan hissed. He took the larger box from Jisoo and gave it to Seokmin. “What he meant, was that this is your Christmas present,” he grinned.

Jisoo rolled his eyes. “The truth is, we were delivered that parcel this afternoon. But it’s definitely not for us.”

Seokmin raised an eyebrow questioningly and proceeded to open the box. Inside was a horse head mask. He took it our gingerly and examined it; it would definitely fit over his head.

“For our favourite horse,” Jeonghan grinned.

“It does fit you, though,” Jisoo laughed. “But the writing’s really hard to read, so I guess the mailman just gave it to us since the address kind of looks like our apartment. It’s almost like Jeonghan wrote it.”

Jeonghan hit Jisoo’s shoulder. “My writing’s not that bad.”

Seokmin put the horse head mask down and squinted at the label on the box. It looked like it was water damaged, but he could make out some of the words.

“Jung... Hoseok...” Seokmin read out. “I think it might be Apartment #704, not #104.”

“Anyway,” Jeonghan picked up the horse head mask and put it on Seokmin’s head forcibly. “It fits you too well. It’s fate.”

Seokmin couldn’t breathe very well in the mask. “OK. Thanks. I guess,” his voice was muffled by the mask.

Chan couldn’t stop laughing. He got out his phone and started taking pictures of his brother.

“We should go, but thanks for the awesome gifts,” he managed to say between laughs. Seokmin grunted and made some horse noises; making the rest of them crack up even more.

Seokmin felt around for the door and tried to exit, but felt himself crash into another body.

“Is that you, Seokmin?” came Wonwoo’s confused voice.

“Wonwoo?” Seokmin replied in a muffled voice. He could hear Mingyu laughing next to him.

“You finally reveal your true form,” sarcastic Minghao piped up.

“Where are you?” Seokmin couldn’t see very well through the eye holes of the mask. He made contact with someone’s chest.

“Someone call animal control,” Junhui said jokingly.

Chan grabbed Seokmin’s hand and dragged him out. “Sorry guys. Gotta go before my brother embarrasses himself even more.”

“Have fun at the photoshoot,” Wonwoo said good-naturedly.

Seokmin managed to get the horse head mask off with Chan’s help in the elevator. He breathed heavily for a while.

“Shouldn’t we give this to Jung Hoseok?” Seokmin said.

“He probably wouldn’t want it now that you’ve sweat in it,” Chan laughed.

They ended up going to #704 anyway, where Hoseok’s roommate, Taehyung, accepted it since Hoseok was currently at some dance rehearsal. It was lucky that Seokmin knew Taehyung vaguely as Wonwoo and Junhui’s coworker at Jam Jam; otherwise the situation would’ve been a bit weird to explain.

“I’m pretty sure Yoongi-hyung sent this to him,” Taehyung laughed as he took the horse head mask from Seokmin. “He’s gonna love it.”

“Tell him not too put it on too tightly,” Seokmin advised. Chan laughed at Taehyung’s confused expression.

The two brothers soon left and boarded the bus to Pledis Entertainment; with luck, they would make it just on time for their Christmas Day photoshoot.

Seokmin was undeniably upset that he and his brother couldn’t go to Jisoo’s party. They always missed out on things because of their harsh training schedules.

Sometimes he wondered why he even wanted to be an idol in the first place.

[APARTMENT #104; Yoon Jeonghan, Hong Jisoo]

“What do you mean you have no more nachos?” Soonyoung asked sadly.

“Too late, mate,” Jisoo said in English.

“I am very sad,” Soonyoung replied in English. But his pronunciation of ‘very’ was more like ‘berry’ and it made Jisoo laugh.

Upon arriving, Wonwoo, Junhui and Minghao had made themselves comfortable in the living room and began talking amongst themselves in a heated discussion. Mingyu had gone to the kitchen and helped Jeonghan prepare the food.

By the time Soonyoung and Jihoon had arrived, most of the food was already eaten. Including the nachos Soonyoung loved so much (Soonyoung had sulked about it for half an hour until Mingyu made him more).

Jeonghan wouldn’t stop laughing when he saw what Jihoon was wearing. “What’s that hideous yellow thing on you?”
“Christmas present,” Jihoon said, with an even tone. Jisoo knew immediately that it was from Soonyoung; he was pretty sure Jihoon wouldn’t wear it if it was from anyone else.

Seungcheol showed up some time in between, wearing his santa suit and donning a large pillow belly. Jeonghan was beside himself in laughter at the sight and took photos from every angle.

“I can’t believe you didn’t let me see this in the morning,” Jeonghan laughed, punching Seungcheol’s pillow belly.

“You’ve been a naughty child,” Seungcheol said haughtily. His voice was muffled by the fake beard he was wearing.

“Have I been good?” Jisoo asked jokingly. Seungcheol patted his head and produced a stray candy cane from his sleeve.

“Sometimes, I wonder why Jeonghan calls himself the angel,” Seungcheol smirked and gave the candy cane to Jisoo. Jeonghan looked offended.

Hansol and Seungkwan were the last to arrive, entering the apartment with their typical attention-drawing entrance. They were wearing matching shirts; which made Jisoo crack up.

“Where do I get one of these?” Jisoo said in wonder. “It’d be perfect for your merch shop.”

“Sorry, hyung,” Hansol grinned, “These are one of a kind.”

Jeonghan whispered to Jisoo that he knows a guy who could get them a copy.

Now that everyone was present (of course, with the exception of Seokmin and Chan), Jisoo and Jeonghan weren’t exactly sure what to do.

“Like I said, let’s play monopoly!” Soonyoung insisted eagerly.

“With 11 people? No way that would work,” Seungcheol said.

“I’m pretty sure I only went bankrupt last time because Jeonghan-hyung kept taking my money when I wasn’t looking,” Soonyoung narrowed his eyes.

Jeonghan immediately reacted. “No. I wouldn’t do something like that.”

Jisoo rolled his eyes.

“Truth or dare,” Junhui piped up from the couch.

“No,” Wonwoo immediately hit his shoulder, giving him a disgusted look.

“Truth or dare would be fun!” Mingyu grinned.

Wonwoo looked at him with an expression of betrayal.

“If no one knows what to do, let’s pour some drinks to celebrate!” Jeonghan said, brandishing a bottle of wine from the cupboard.

Jisoo looked at him in horror. “Drink water, not alcohol,” he chided, grabbing the bottle and putting it back in the cupboard.

“Very no fun,” Soonyoung shook his head.

“We have minors here,” Jisoo hissed, glancing at Hansol and Seungkwan who were absorbed in different conversations with their other friends.

They ended up not playing anything suggested earlier, but instead played Twister, which Jeonghan had found in another cupboard.

It wasn’t the most Christmassy thing they could do, but it ended up being hilarious anyway.

“I bet you Minghao will win,” Wonwoo said. “He can b-boy.”

“But Junhui knows martial arts,” Seungcheol shot back. “I bet Junhui.”

“Minghao knows martial arts too,” Mingyu added.

“I thought you guys were my friends,” Junhui said sadly.

They ended up continuing on for so long that everyone forced them to stop and call it a tie. Neither of them really accepted it though, but that was a story for another time.

“So. Merry Christmas everyone,” Soonyoung said cheerfully after the boys collapsed in various positions around the living room.

“Cheers,” Seungcheol said weakly. He looked absolutely wrecked underneath his fake beard and pillow belly.

“What did you guys get for presents?” Jisoo asked.

He saw Mingyu look at Wonwoo nervously.

“Yeah, Mingyu. What did you get for Wonwoo?” Seungcheol grinned mischievously.

“I-I haven’t given it to him yet,” Mingyu said shyly.

“Oh, that’s a bummer. What about you, Wonwoo?” Seungcheol prodded.

“I haven’t given it yet,” Wonwoo said quietly.

Soonyoung made a sound of disapproval. “It’s nearly the end of Christmas.”

“We were busy,” Wonwoo said defensively.

“We’ll do it after this,” Mingyu said hurriedly.

Soonyoung didn’t look too impressed, but he moved on anyway. “Do you guys like what I got for Jihoon?” he said, gesturing at Jihoon’s shirt.

Seungcheol started laughing. “It’s perfect for our Jihoonie.”

Jihoon glared at him and Soonyoung. “I’m never wearing this again.”

“Speaking of shirts, what about Hansol and Seungkwan’s?” Junhui spoke up. “Cute couple shirts, you guys,” he grinned.

Seungkwan looked away in embarrassment. Hansol just grinned at Junhui. “They’re so good, right?”

“Junhui got me a trash can,” Minghao suddenly piped up from the kitchen counter, where he had gone to get some water.

“Wait what?” Mingyu choked on his drink (which was also water).

“It was a joke,” Junhui said defensively.

“He came up to me this morning and held a trash can in front of me, all like ‘I found this on the way here and thought of you’,” Minghao rolled his eyes.

“To be fair, it was a really nice bin,” Junhui insisted.

“But inside was actual clothes and stuff so I guess it’s okay,” Minghao continued.

“You guys are another level,” Seungcheol shook his head.

Their discussion about present-giving soon turned into a heated discussion on who gave the best present (mostly initiated by Seungcheol and Junhui). Jisoo interrupted, saying he and Jeonghan hadn’t given each other any presents yet.

“Oh, then show us how it’s done,” Jihoon smirked. “You won’t beat the SHINee album I got for Soonyoung, though.”

Jisoo disappeared into his room, insisting he’d go first. He came out moments later with an A3 canvas.

“This is what you locked yourself in your room for?” Jeonghan smiled knowingly.

“Uh, yeah,” Jisoo stammered, “Merry Christmas, Jeonghan.”

It was a painting of a selfie. Jisoo was smiling cutely, his hands in a sideways ‘peace’ sign, while Jeonghan, who was behind slightly, was staring at Jisoo’s ear with a smile. While it wasn’t entirely lifelike, the painting had a certain flair and realism to it.

“Why’d you pick this picture of us?” Jeonghan started laughing, unsurprised as he expected Jisoo to give him a painting.

“It’s cute,” Jisoo said defensively. “I found the polaroid of this when I was packing my room.”

“Wow. I don’t understand why you said ‘art is hard’,” Jeonghan raised an eyebrow, indicating to the clearly unamateur piece of art.

“I might have had some help,” Jisoo said sheepishly. “Oh, I have more presents,” he added, handing Jeonghan a book.

Jeonghan studied the book in confusion. “But this is a book teaching kids how to write Korean.”

“You need to improve you writing,” Jisoo said with a poker face.

Seungcheol started laughing loudly and high-fived Jisoo, clearly agreeing with his point.

“And there’s also this,” Jisoo grabbed a box from under the couch. Jeonghan opened it; it was a giraffe onesie.

“You always do the best giraffe impressions when I’m sad, and it really cheers me up,” Jisoo smiled. “This one is technically from me and Seungcheol since we split the cost, but I hope you like it.”

Jeonghan took the onesie out slowly. It was unbelievably soft. He wouldn’t stop saying ‘woah’ in admiration.

“Jisoo,” Jeonghan said slowly, “I love you.”

“I know,” Jisoo smirked in English.

“I got you a onesie too,” Jeonghan grinned and fetched a similar sized box.

Jisoo opened it eagerly. “Isn’t this Gudetama*?”

“You’re my egg roll,” Jeonghan sat next to him and looked him in the eye. “Literally. Your egg roll impressions are great.”

Both of them went to their rooms and changed into the onesies. The boys wouldn’t stop laughing and taking pictures of them when they came out.

Jeonghan grabbed the Korean writing book from the couch. “I’m just gonna give this to our China Line,” he said, handing it to Junhui and Minghao.

They looked at him as if he’d insulted their family.

“Merry Christmas,” Jeonghan gave them a grin. Junhui kicked his leg, but started laughing along with Minghao.

“I promise that my Korean will be better next year,” Minghao made a ‘fighting’ gesture.

“New Year’s resolution?” Mingyu smirked.

“At least it’s not a stupid one,” Minghao retorted.

The night came to a close with a surprise dinner that was prepared by Jeonghan (even though Jisoo thought all the food had been finished).

“I hardly ever cook, so this is a Christmas present for all of you,” Jeonghan smiled.

“I’m not sure I’d eat anything you cooked,” Seungcheols aid suspiciously.

“Mingyu helped, so don’t worry~” Jeonghan assured.

The food turned out to be way better than decent; Jisoo suspected it was a preprepared meal, like the ones he normally bought and just heated up in the microwave.

They fell into comfortable chatter as they ate.

“Oh yeah, Cheol,” Jeonghan said as he helped himself to another piece of chicken, “What’s the situation in the mailroom? The kids messed up a lot.”

“Yeah, but there’s nothing I can do to fix it,” Seungcheol sighed. “I’m just going to send out a mass text explaining the situation.”

“Oh speaking of texts, do you think we could all swap numbers?” Soonyoung piped up, mouth full of food. “The group chats are really confusing when all I see is ‘unknown number’.”

Exchanging numbers between 11 boys was quite a task.

“But I swear to God, if any of you spam that group chat--” Jihoon started.

“We won’t!” Soonyoung mumbled through the food.

Jihoon didn’t look too convinced.

The doorbell suddenly rang. Jeonghan stood up and answered it, returning shortly with an envelope in his hands.

“It’s a letter for you, Jisoo,” Jeonghan approached to his boyfriend, who was concentrating intently on his pudding.

It was a pink envelope, with the name ‘Jisoo’ written in elegant cursive. It had a rather romantic vibe to it.

“Who’s it from?” Jeonghan asked innocently. But Jisoo could tell that he looked rather suspicious.

“Don’t know,” Jisoo admitted. He wasn’t expecting letters or cards from anyone; he’d received one from his parents a few days ago. “There’s no address on it.”

“The kid told me you were the only Jisoo in the building,” Jeonghan said. “According to their... records.”

“Did they look through my records?” Seungcheol said angrily. “Well. I’m not surprised.”

Jisoo tore open the envelope and scanned through. He was really confused.

“It’s a love letter,” Jisoo said. All the boys stopped eating and leant forward in curiosity. Jeonghan snatched the letter from Jisoo.

“Kim Seokjin? Isn’t he an actor from the Pledis production?” Jeonghan asked.

“What?” Jihoon looked up from his food. “Give me that.”

Jihoon read through the letter with an intense expression. Even Soonyoung was looking at him in confusion.

“Oh. I get it,” Jihoon said at long last.

“Get what?” Jeonghan and Jisoo said at the same time.

“This isn’t for you, Hong Jisoo. It’s for another person; a girl named Jisoo. Seokjin must’ve forgotten to put the address on the envelope when he brought it down to the mailroom, and the kids just assumed it was addressed to a Jisoo in the building.”

“How do you know?” Junhui asked curiously.

“I know Seokjin’s roommate,” Jihoon said flatly. “This sucks for Namjoon, though,” he muttered under his breath.

“Oh!” Soonyoung exclaimed. “Namjoon, right? Doesn’t he like Seokjin?”

Jihoon glared at him. “Yeah, but don’t tell everyone that.”

“But then Seokjin likes Jisoo. Oh, that’s sad,” Soonyoung continued, unfazed by Jihoon’s glare.

The rest of the night went by with more embarrassing stories and casual banter, until Jisoo and Jeonghan eventually kicked everyone out of the apartment after dinner, saying they wanted time alone to themselves. The 9 boys thanked them heartily for the dinner and left with a ruckus.

“So, what do now?” Jeonghan turned to Jisoo with a mischievous smile.

Jisoo took his hand and looked outside through the window. “Hey, it’s snowing.”

Jeonghan followed his gaze. He hadn't realised earlier that it was snowing. The outdoors was covered in a sheet of white, glittering flakes catching the moonlight as they fell slowly, accumulating across the landscape.

“Let’s go for a walk,” Jisoo smiled.

It started off as a romantic walk through the dark streets, illuminated only by colourful Christmas lights hung on the lampposts and buildings. Jisoo could feel Jeonghan’s warmth next to him, and intertwined their arms tighter so he could leech off it. The night was relatively quiet, with most families indoors, albeit the faint sounds of laughter coming from inside the buildings they walked past. Jisoo could hear Jeonghan faintly humming ‘Silent Night’, and he felt at bliss listening to Jeonghan’s silky, low voice. All was good.

But the moment Jeonghan flicked some snow off a postbox and into Jisoo’s face, the peace was interrupted and Jisoo retaliated automatically with a swift snowball to Jeonghan’s chest.

They caught the stares of some elderly passerbyers; but neither could care less.

At first, Jisoo was pushed to the ground while Jeonghan stood above him holding a large handful of snow over his face. But in a matter of seconds, the situation was quickly reversed, and Jeonghan soon became the one begging for mercy.

Both of them ended up covered in snow anyway.

They reached Adore U Park. The vast expanse of green was entirely covered in a thin layer of ice.

Jeonghan slumped to the ground and lay on his back. He moved his arms and legs in a starfish motion, disturbing the layer of snow.

“Look, Jisoo,” Jeonghan said happily, his face displaying a childish smile. “I’m an angel.”

Jisoo laughed and knelt down next to Jeonghan and drew a circle above his head. “And here’s your halo.” He slowly lied down next to Jeonghan and intertwined their hands.

They just lay there, side by side and hands intertwined. They didn’t need to say anything; just being in each other’s company was enough.

Jisoo could feel Jeonghan’s heartbeat through his hand. He noticed Jeonghan’s deep breaths in his peripheral vision. He was so peaceful.

It was quiet moments like this that made them both appreciate each other that much more.

After a while, Jeonghan asked Jisoo to tell him what constellations they were looking at. Seoul was a busy city; there weren’t many stars to look at in the dark, night sky. But the few that were visible gave Jisoo enough to ramble on for a long time.

Jeonghan closed his eyes as he listened to Jisoo ramble on about the history of the constellations they saw.

It was nice.

PART EIGHT: ALL WRAPPED UP

[APARTMENT #417; Jeon Wonwoo, Kim Mingyu]

Jeon Wonwoo loved Kim Mingyu. That was a fact. It had been that way since the moment Wonwoo saw Mingyu’s face on Seokmin’s phone screen, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

Wonwoo didn’t know why he was still so confused. While Mingyu had reached the great realisation that he loved Jeon Wonwoo, the man in question was still three laps behind.

If two people have mutual feelings for each other, they date. Then they marry and grow old together. That’s what all the romance novels and dramas said. That’s how Wonwoo’s parents got together. That’s how all the couples Wonwoo knew got together.

So he didn’t know why it was so difficult when it came to Kim Mingyu. Wonwoo’s inner self kept insisting that Mingyu was pulling a prank on him. Any excuse to not accept Mingyu’s feelings.

Wonwoo knew deep down that he was scared. He’d never been in a committed relationship before, and he still felt insecure about ‘publicising’ his sexuality. The group of boys that constantly harassed him at the university had gotten worse recently and Wonwoo didn’t want to get Mingyu involved.

It was so much easier when Mingyu only saw Wonwoo as a close friend and roommate.

Wonwoo cursed himself for giving Mingyu such a lame answer that night. What kind of person says ‘okay’ when someone confesses to them? He wished he could’ve just given a straight ‘I love you too’. But the commitment that came with that answer scared Wonwoo a little bit too much.

The truth was, Wonwoo loved listening to Mingyu’s morning voice every time they ate breakfast together. He wanted to be the only person to see Mingyu’s smile as he said ‘goodnight’. He wanted to spend as much time as he possibly could with Mingyu.

But he didn’t feel worthy enough to have the title of ‘Kim Mingyu’s boyfriend’. He didn’t want to drag Mingyu down when he deserved so much better. He didn’t believe that someone as perfect as Kim Mingyu could love someone like him.

Despite his mess of feelings, things around their apartment quickly returned to normal the day after Mingyu confessed to Wonwoo. Wonwoo was thankful that the awkward tension between them was gone for the moment.

They made it back to their apartment after Jisoo’s party. Mingyu immediately ran to his room as soon as they closed the door.

“Wait, I’ll get your present!” Mingyu had shouted before running off. Wonwoo waited around in the living room.

Mingyu returned as minute later, holding an A4 package wrapped in hideously colourful wrapping paper.

“Merry Christmas, Wonwoo!” Mingyu said with a toothy smile. Wonwoo’s heart skipped a beat as he took the package carefully.

He carefully undid the tape holding the paper together. Mingyu looked rather impatient for his roommate to open up the gift.

It was a portrait. A monochrome painting created with watercolours and what looked like charcoal. It resembled Wonwoo; but it was far too beautiful to actually be Wonwoo.

The Wonwoo in the painting was smiling. Wonwoo was pretty sure his smile wasn’t as beautiful as that.

“So, uh--” Mingyu began in embarrassment, “I took a picture of you the other day so I could paint a portrait.”

“You did the laundry for a week just so you could make me a Christmas present?” was all Wonwoo could say.

“Well, I love you after all,” Mingyu grinned. Wonwoo couldn’t help but think that he was saying it way too easily.

“Oh.”

“Jeonghan helped me though,” Mingyu said hurriedly. “He did the outline... I just painted over it--”

“It’s beautiful,” Wonwoo smiled. He went into his room and leant it against the wall, supported by his desk.

His dim desk light reflected off the painting, giving it such a realistic look that it made Wonwoo shudder.

“It’s beautiful,” Wonwoo repeated. Mingyu came up behind him and smiled.

Wonwoo couldn’t help but think that a hug from Mingyu in that moment would feel really good.

“Anyway,” Wonwoo spun around. “I have a present as well. Kind of.”

“You do?” Mingyu’s eyes lit up in excitement.

“It’s a performance,” Wonwoo said quietly. He had gotten the idea from Jihoon, who also had prepared a performance for his roommate, Soonyoung.

Wonwoo shooed Mingyu back outside and sat him down on the couch. He brought out a guitar; which Jisoo had kindly allowed him to borrow for the night.

“I know you’ve wanted to see me play the guitar ever since I mentioned it,” Wonwoo willed himself not to blush, “as well as sing and rap.”

Mingyu nodded enthusiastically.

“I’m thankful that you never push me to do anything I don’t want to. But I figured, since it’s Christmas, I might as well try it this one time.”

Mingyu looked so happy in that moment that Wonwoo wanted to hide.

“Uh-- this is a song Jihoon wrote,” Wonwoo said, trying to postpone performing as much as he could. “Jisoo helped me with the chords, as it’s been a while since I’ve played the guitar. So all the credit goes to them.”

Mingyu wouldn’t stop smiling.

“It’s called ‘Lean on Me’.”

Wonwoo figured it was now or never. He started singing, then transitioned into rapping.

It was a chill song. The beat flowed well, and it was easy for Wonwoo to perform. He was thankful that Jihoon allowed him to sing it for his roommate.

He didn’t realise he finished the song until Mingyu started clapping.

“Thank you, Wonwoo,” Mingyu said, his voice breaking slightly.

Wonwoo couldn’t look at Mingyu’s face out of sheer embarrassment. He looked at his phone instead; Junhui had texted him in the group chat that included Minghao and Mingyu.

your one and only junhui<3
> um, guys
> as in mingu and wonu

me
> yes?

your one and only junhui<3
> hope u guys r having a good evening lolol
> bc its about to get better!!! :)
> well.... better or possibly worse
> idk how you’ll take this.

me
> ... what did you do this time?

your one and only junhui<3
> can u guys come up to our apartment?
> it’ll be easier to tell you irl

me
> alright...??
> u better not have killed someone jun i s2g

“Looks like Jun wants us up at his apartment now,” Wonwoo stammered, looking up slightly but still steered clear of Mingyu’s face.

“Oh. What for?” Mingyu asked.

Wonwoo continued to avoid eye contact. “Knowing Jun, it’s probably not good.”

“Well, let’s go find out.” Wonwoo could hear the grin in Mingyu’s voice.

Yeah. This boy is a serious threat to my wellbeing.

[APARTMENT #607; Wen Junhui, Xu Minghao]

Junhui opened the door with a slightly creepy grin on his face. Minghao’s expression mirrored Junhui’s.

As Wonwoo entered the apartment, he couldn’t help but laugh when he saw the haphazard Christmas tree taking up a large portion of their living room. It looked like a three-year old had put it together.

“So,” Junhui began as Wonwoo and Mingyu took a seat on their couch, “What do you want to hear first? The good news, or the even better news?”

Wonwoo looked at Mingyu uncertainly. “Either.”

“Okay. I’ll tell you the good news first,” Junhui sat down opposite them. Wonwoo grew more nervous by the second - whenever Junhui was excited about something, it usually meant trouble.

“I just got a call. I’ve been casted in a TV drama,” Junhui grinned.

“Seriously?” Mingyu jumped up in excitement.

“Yep. It’s only a minor role, but it’s something. There’s so many high-profile actors on the cast list that I’m amazed I made it in as a minor character.”

“He’s been auditioning for many random roles for the past few months,” Minghao said proudly. “Looks like he finally landed one.”

“Took awfully long for you to appear on TV for someone who said he’d be winning Oscars within three years of being in the industry,” Wonwoo smirked, earning a punch from Junhui.

“But if that’s the good news, what’s the better news?” Mingyu asked. Wonwoo’s smirk was wiped off his face when his brain caught up and figured out what Junhui was getting at.

“The better news isn’t really for me. It’s for you two,” Junhui smiled slyly at Wonwoo, who had taken a sudden interest in the cuckoo clock on the wall.

“Filming for the drama starts on January 3rd in Tokyo,” Minghao explained. “He’s expected to be there for a week.”

“The 3rd? But that’s a few days before the play is--”

Mingyu stopped when he realised what this meant.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Junhui said. “I can’t perform the play. I’ll be in Tokyo.”

“But--”

“But you know what?” Junhui continued on with an excited voice. “The play isn’t doomed! Not when we have a top notch backup who knows 90% of the lines by heart,” he shook jazz hands at Wonwoo.

“Wait, so--”

“Wonwoo can play Chanyeol instead!” Junhui shook Wonwoo by the shoulders. Wonwoo looked like his soul had left his body.

Mingyu didn’t know what to say. Inside, he was overjoyed at the chance to act with Wonwoo on a big stage. But he suddenly remembered that Wonwoo had severe stage fright.

“Um, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Mingyu said uncertainly. Wonwoo still wasn’t saying anything.

“It’s not an idea. It’s the only solution,” Junhui said with a tone of finality. “They’re definitely not going to postpone something as important as the annual Pledis production.”

“We’re in Seoul,” Wonwoo finally spoke. His voice was low and shaky. “We study at the infamous Pledis University.”

Junhui slowly let go of Wonwoo’s shoulders and sat back down. He seemed to have realised that he went a little too far.

“And you’re telling me you can’t find another replacement?” Wonwoo gritted his teeth.

“You have a point, Wonwoo. But the play’s in two weeks,” Junhui said in a calmer voice. “And no one’s going to have the same chemistry with Mingyu as you do. You’ve practised with Mingyu, you’ve attended rehearsals regularly, and I’m sure you’ve read through the play multiple times.”

Wonwoo couldn’t really argue with Junhui’s logic. Laying out the possibilities, he was definitely the best person to fill in Junhui’s position.

“You don’t have to do it, Wonwoo,” Mingyu said gently. “There has to be other alternatives.”

Wonwoo had expected Mingyu to beg him to fill Junhui’s position. Mingyu always whined and begged Wonwoo for useless things.

But the Mingyu looking at him in that moment showed genuine concern and worry. Mingyu understood that Wonwoo wasn’t comfortable with performing in front of large crowds or going to large-scale social events. He had always respected Wonwoo’s boundaries when it came to it.

Which was why, that one time, Wonwoo wanted to step out of his comfort zone. He knew that if Mingyu was there, it’d be alright.

He sighed and hoped he wouldn’t regret everything the next day.

“I’ll do it.”

Chapter Text

[APARTMENT #417; Jeon Wonwoo, Kim Mingyu]

“It’s too embarrassing. I can’t do it,” Wonwoo sighed.

“You already agreed to it,” Jihoon reasoned, “I walked past a poster advertising the play today. They’ve already changed Junhui’s name to yours.”

Wonwoo groaned.

“Were the rehearsals alright?” Jihoon asked.

“I’ve been to like four already,” Wonwoo said, “They’re alright, because it’s basically only me, the actors, staff and the director.”

“What’s going to happen when there’s an actual audience in front of you?” Jihoon asked carefully. He was aware of Wonwoo’s stage fright.

“I don’t know. You see... majority of the play is fine. But at the end--”

“The kiss scene,” Jihoon said thoughtfully.

“Yeah,” Wonwoo sighed.

“But this isn’t the first time you’ve kissed Mingyu,” Jihoon said. The phone crackled with static and it made Wonwoo flinch.

“But this time, it’s in front of hundreds of judgemental strangers,” Wonwoo nearly yelled.

“Then make it a good show.” Wonwoo could almost feel Jihoon’s smirk through the phone.

Wonwoo heard the front door shut and he abruptly hung up without saying goodbye. Mingyu was back from his art class with Jeonghan.

“I’m home,” Mingyu called out, a thump indicating he had put his bags down on the counter; despite Wonwoo constantly telling him not to put bags on a food surface.

“How was art?” Wonwoo poked his head out of his bedroom door, leaning against the doorframe.

“It was fun,” Mingyu grinned. He had some paint on his face and shirt.

Wonwoo groaned; it was his turn to do the laundry that day.

“There were actually so many people there,” Mingyu rambled, as he often did (even if Wonwoo wasn’t entirely listening), “I met these guys called Jungkook and Yugyeom and they were really nice. Did you know they lived here too? They know Seungcheol apparently. And then when class started, Jeonghan got us to paint lines at first, and I didn’t understand why because who doesn’t know how to paint lines? But he said he was teaching us control--”

“That’s great,” Wonwoo laughed, joining Mingyu outside. He took Mingyu’s bags off the counter, put them on the chair and proceeded to get himself some milk from the fridge.

“Oh, right. I shouldn’t put bags on the counter,” Mingyu said sheepishly. Wonwoo gave him a look of approval.

“Hey, we don’t have anymore milk,” Wonwoo frowned upon opening the fridge.

“We ran out again?” Mingyu said with a suspiciously guilty tone.

Wonwoo turned to him and narrowed his eyes. “Did you make yourself more midnight cereal?”

“Um, maybe?” Mingyu looked away.

Wonwoo knew that whenever Mingyu was watching a drama, he tended to eat cereal with milk. Not snacks like a normal person, but cereal. And he ate a lot of it (thus causing them to go through their milk rather quickly).

“I’ll... go get more,” Mingyu said hurriedly, grabbing his keys and wallet.

Wonwoo sighed. “Okay,” he said quietly.

Mingyu left shortly and the apartment went eerily silent.

Feeling rather tired from his classes that day, Wonwoo decided to call it a night.

”What are you--” Mingyu asked.

Wonwoo pulled himself up to Mingyu’s face and kissed him harshly.

He could hear the uproar in the audience. Whether it was cheering or booing, he couldn’t tell.

He felt himself break down inside. He wanted to hide. He wanted the stage to open up and swallow him whole.

Wonwoo pulled away and collapsed back onto the ground. “I’m sorry for leaving you before we could even begin,” he uttered.

He closed his eyes, but he could still hear the jeers in the audience. He hated it. Not even Mingyu was enough to quell his uneasiness.

“Then don’t leave,” Mingyu’s voice cracked.

The curtains closed and Wonwoo could finally stand up. It was his last scene.

“That was so good!” Mingyu exclaimed, a puppy-like smile lighting up his features.

As Wonwoo replied, Mingyu’s face distorted and the vision melted into another. They were at the university now, but Mingyu was not smiling and standing in front of Wonwoo.

He was lying on the ground. He wasn’t moving.

“Looks like you found yourself the perfect boy toy,” someone growled. It was dark, and a looming shadow shrouded the figures in front of him.

“He won’t be so handsome after we’re done with him,” another one snarled.

Wonwoo couldn’t speak; his throat wouldn’t work. His legs were immobile as the concrete cemented around his feet, holding them in place. His arms refused to move.

He was helpless. Weak. Fragile.

“People like you two disgust me.”

“Go rot in hell with your own kind.”

Mingyu returned about an hour later, after having met Soonyoung at the grocery store by chance and stood talking with him without realising what the time was.

“Wonwoo, I’m sorry I took so long,” Mingyu called as he locked their door and set the grocery bags on the counter. He took the milk out and put it in the fridge (since he often forgot to put things back in the fridge, and Wonwoo scolded him for it).

Hearing no response, he knocked quietly on Wonwoo’s bedroom door. It was slightly ajar and dark inside, but Mingyu could hear something moving around on the bed.

“Wonwoo?” Mingyu whispered, slowly tiptoeing into the room.

“No,” Wonwoo mumbled, probably half-asleep. “Stop.”

“Stop what?” Mingyu asked gently. He’d never heard Wonwoo sleep talk before.

“Not Mingyu--”

Mingyu had never heard Wonwoo sound so broken before. Not even when he was acting as Chanyeol.

“Wonwoo,” Mingyu mumbled, sitting down on his bed slowly.

Wonwoo rolled around violently and made contact with Mingyu’s chest.

“Wonwoo, it’s okay,” Mingyu said, not knowing what to do. Should I wake him?

“Don’t you fucking dare--”

“Wonwoo, it’s just a dream,” Mingyu said a little louder. He attempted to put his arms around Wonwoo, but the boy was moving around too much.

Wonwoo’s eyes suddenly shot open and he sat up, scaring Mingyu. He was breathing heavily.

“Wonwoo,” Mingyu said again.

“Mingyu?” Wonwoo looked at him wearily.

“I-- got your milk,” Mingyu laughed quietly.

“Oh.”

“It was just a dream,” Mingyu said soothingly.

“It was a nightmare,” Wonwoo muttered.

“Do you get them often?” Mingyu asked. He wanted to know why Wonwoo had called out his name with such a pained tone.

“I guess,” Wonwoo said vaguely.

“Will you be alright?” Mingyu asked softly. “Do you want me to stay here?”

Wonwoo looked at him with an indescribable expression. He seemed to contemplate his decision.

“Okay,” he said after a long pause.

“Wait a second,” Mingyu said, his hand on Wonwoo’s back. He went outside and turned off all the lights before returning and lying down next to Wonwoo.

Wonwoo shifted a little and let Mingyu bury under the covers. It was undeniably comfortable and warm.

They just laid there, next to each other, not exactly touching but close enough to feel each other’s warmth. Mingyu wondered if it was okay if he could put his arm around Wonwoo.

It was dead silent in the apartment; the faint hum of the heater being the only distinguishable sound.

“Did you put the milk in the fridge?” Wonwoo asked quietly.

Mingyu started laughing. “Of course.”

“Okay.”

“Good night, Wonwoo,” Mingyu whispered.

“Good night.”

Mingyu wasn’t sure how long he stayed awake. He couldn’t sleep; he really wanted to cuddle Wonwoo, but he wasn’t too sure it was okay.

And he wasn’t exactly tired. It was only around 9.

After a while, Mingyu heard Wonwoo’s breaths become much deeper. He was probably asleep.

At some point in the night, Mingyu’s eyes fluttered open and he realised that Wonwoo’s arms were wrapped tightly around his abdomen and their legs were tangled. Mingyu could feel Wonwoo’s breath against his neck and he could barely move because of how tight Wonwoo’s hold on him was.

He felt an indescribable amount of happiness in that moment.

He tilted his head slightly and whispered, “I love you, Wonwoo.”

It was probably the only time he could tell Wonwoo that without the latter flinching and looking away awkwardly. He wanted to be honest, after all. Wonwoo didn’t usually seem to take it too harshly as they continued on as per normal afterwards.

But out of all the times Mingyu had said ‘I love you’ to Wonwoo in the past week, he’d never gotten a response. Until a half-asleep Wonwoo came into the equation.

“I love you too,” Wonwoo mumbled.

Mingyu didn’t know how to respond.

[APARTMENT #607; Wen Junhui, Xu Minghao]

“I just wonder if I actually got that role for real, you know? I still feel like I only got the role because Seungcheol said I was good,” Junhui said. “Wonwoo suits that role more than I do. Tonnes of others suit the role more than I do.”

If there was anyone whose personality contrasted vastly with how they acted, it was Junhui. Though he always carried himself as a confident and outgoing individual, Minghao knew that there was much more to the ‘real’ Junhui.

“That could be true,” Minghao said quietly. “It’s likely that the judges were biased toward Seungcheol’s opinion, since he’s a sponsor’s son. But, think about the role you just landed.”

“The TV drama?” Junhui raised an eyebrow.

“Was there any bias in that?” Minghao poked Junhui.

“No,” Junhui said quietly.

“Exactly,” Minghao poked him again. “You’re more talented than you give yourself credit for. So stop worrying and just do the best that you can.”

Junhui sighed and shifted himself so his head rested on top of Minghao’s. “Okay.”

Minghao hit his thigh. “You’re an idiot.”

“But I’m your idiot,” Junhui gave him a goofy grin.

Minghao gave him a disgusted look and reached out to off the lamp.

“Good night, Jun.”

“Good night, Minghao.”

”Did you really believe that I’d actually date a guy?” Luhan said in disbelief.

“But, what about--” Minghao stuttered.

“I’m not a fag, like you,” Luhan said, rather angrily. “I can’t believe you were serious about this... I thought you were cool, you know. I can’t believe you’re a queer.”

“But, all those things you said to me--”

“You thought I was serious?” Luhan laughed humourlessly. He looked quite distressed. “No way, Minghao. I was just humouring you. I thought you’d come to your senses eventually.”

“But I really like you, Luhan,” Minghao said in a small voice.

Luhan huffed. His face distorted and the atmosphere suddenly turned impossibly dark. Minghao’s vision started fading.

“Luhan?” Minghao called out. It wasn’t the same as what happened that day.

“You thought I was serious?” Luhan’s voice broke intermittently and his face started glitching.

“Luhan, what’s wrong with you?” Minghao reached out.

“Your seven days are up, Minghao.”

The darkness suddenly evaporated and Minghao was back in school, standing in front of the window. It was late afternoon; the sports clubs were practicing on the grounds and everyone in Minghao’s class had already left.

Minghao looked around in confusion and went out into the hallway. There were only two people outside; Luhan, and a girl from the year below him.

“Luhan--” Minghao called out. But he stopped himself. Luhan was talking to the girl with a smile.

They both turned to Minghao simultaneously and stuck their tongues out tauntingly.

“Even if you think you’ve found yourself the perfect guy, they’ll just leave you eventually,” Luhan called out. “Face it, Minghao. Guys aren’t supposed to like guys.”

“Shut up,” Minghao gritted his teeth. He took off in the opposite direction, turning the corner with great speed and losing his footing in the process.

He felt strong arms catch him before he could fall.

“Woah, are you alright?” a familiar voice said gently. Minghao looked up and realised he was staring directly at Junhui.

“Jun?” Minghao stuttered. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh, yeah! I’m Jun,” Junhui laughed, giving Minghao a look. “Do I know you?”

“O-oh,” Minghao backed away hastily and brushed dust off his jacket. “No, sorry. I’ve just heard about you, that’s all.”

“Oh, well I’m flattered,” Junhui gave him his signature grin. Minghao was so used to seeing it, but why did Junhui look so different in that moment?

“Don’t run too fast. Take care,” Junhui waved as he walked away. Minghao looked around in confusion; the hallway was suddenly crowded.

He watched Junhui jog up to a girl and tap her back gently. He watched as the girl smiled, kissed his cheek and held his hand. He watched them walk away, swinging their intertwined hands, their laughter emanating throughout the hallway.

Minghao realised why Junhui had looked so different. That grin was the grin Junhui gave everyone.

It wasn’t the grin that was exclusive to the person he truly cared about.

“Junhui,” Minghao shouted. But Junhui didn’t hear him.

“Didn’t I tell you?” Luhan’s voice sounded from behind. Minghao didn’t dare turn around; he was too scared of facing him. “Guys aren’t meant to like guys.”

“Minghao,” Junhui said loudly, reaching out and slamming the lamp on.

Minghao shot awake, looking at Junhui with wild eyes.

“Jun,” Minghao said shakily. He stared for a while, as if attempting to grasp reality. “Sorry. It was just a nightmare.”

Junhui pursed his lips. “You’ve been having an awful lot of nightmares lately.”

It was true; Minghao would often thrash around in his sleep, mumbling incoherent things until he calmed down a while later. Junhui had just held him tightly until it was over.

He was pretty sure it had to do with Luhan. But Minghao had acted much happier recently and he didn’t want to bring it up just yet. Until now.

“Yeah,” Minghao said quietly.

“Wanna talk about it?” Junhui shifted into a sitting position.

Minghao buried further down under the covers. “No.”

“Minghao,” Junhui said sternly. He was starting to get sick of him hiding things. “You know you can trust me.”

“I know.”

“Then why won’t you tell me what’s been bothering you?” Junhui nudged him.

“I...” Minghao faltered. “...don’t like talking about.”

“And that means I shouldn’t know why you’re hurting so much?” Junhui asked with a pained voice.

“No, it’s not like that--”

“I’m sick of it, Minghao,” Junhui said, exasperated. “I know how hurt you’ve been. Sometimes you’ll come home with a distant look in your eyes. Sometimes you’ll look like you’ve seen a ghost. And every time I ask why, you won’t tell me.”

“Jun--”

“How can I trust you like this?” Junhui said, hurt. “What if...”
He didn’t want to say anymore, so he stopped himself. Minghao fell silent.

“Minghao, please talk to me,” Junhui pleaded.

Minghao stared at the bedsheets without a word.

Junhui couldn’t bear putting it off any longer. “Minghao... can I ask you something?”

Minghao shifted his gaze to Junhui wearily. He almost looked scared at what Junhui was going to say.

“Who’s Luhan?”

[APARTMENT #717; Choi Seungcheol]

“I’ve been expecting you,” Seungcheol spun around in his wheely chair, hands clasped together formally and a grin on his face; he’d specifically brought out a spin-able chair into the front hallway for this purpose.

“Are you serious?” Seungkwan gave Seungcheol a look of disapproval.

“Yeah,” Seungcheol said cheekily.

“You never fail to amaze me,” Seungkwan sighed, walking past Seungcheol and making himself comfortable in the living room.

“You’re the one who wanted to talk to me,” Seungcheol protested, wheeling his chair back into his room and joining Seungkwan on the couch.

“Yeah,” Seungkwan said quietly.

“What’s on your mind?” Seungcheol asked with genuine concern.

“You sound like Facebook,” Seungkwan laughed.

“I’m serious!” Seungcheol objected.

“I know,” Seungkwan smiled. “Yeah. Um. Hansol said he’s asking Chaeyoung out at the New Year’s Festival.”

Seungcheol gave him a shit-eating grin. “Yep.”

“He told you, right?”

“Yep.”

“Stop grinning like that!” Seungkwan hit Seungcheol’s stomach.

“Ouch,” Seungcheol flinched.

“Anyway,” Seungkwan continued, his tone betraying his distress, “I’m scared... about what this means for our channel.”

Seungcheol put his arm gently around Seungkwan. “Are you sure that’s why you’re scared?”

Seungkwan looked at him in confusion. “Yeah, I mean... our fangirls can get pretty intense--”

“Forget about Boonon for a moment,” Seungcheol insisted. “This isn’t about your Youtube channel. It’s about your best friend and roommate.”

“Okay,” Seungkwan relented.

“How do you feel about Hansol getting a girlfriend?” Seungcheol prodded gently.

Seungkwan furrowed his eyebrows. “I’m... happy for him.”

“No, you’re not,” Seungcheol sighed. He crossed his legs and leant back into the couch. “You’re lying to yourself, Seungkwan. Stop denying how you feel and just admit it.”

“Admit what?” Seungkwan asked angrily.

It became apparent to Seungcheol that Seungkwan wouldn’t solve the problem by himself. He decided that if he didn’t take action sooner, it would get much worse as time went by.

“Admit that you like him more than just friends,” Seungcheol said quietly.

Seungkwan stared at him in shock. He didn’t speak for a while, clearly trying to process the situation.

When he finally spoke, his voice was small and fragile.

“How did you know?”

Seungcheol broke into laughter. “The only person dense enough not to realise it, unfortunately, is Hansol himself.”

“I--” Seungkwan faltered. “Help me, Seungcheol. I don’t know what to do.”

“How long has it been?”

Seungcheol wasn’t very specific, but Seungkwan understood what he meant. “Not sure, but he’s always been the one I cared about the most. After my parents, of course.”

“You probably never realised how you felt until the possibility of losing him came up,” Seungcheol reasoned.

“Losing him?” Seungkwan asked, terrified.

“I mean, you said he’s the one you care about the most,” Seungcheol clarified. Seungkwan nodded. “Have you ever thought about life next to someone else? Sharing an apartment with someone else?”

“No. Not at all,” Seungkwan answered without hesitation.

“So you just want to be with him forever?”

“I guess...” Seungkwan said, unsure. “I mean, I know we both will grow up and have our own personal lives eventually, but I just never thought--”

“That you two would separate,” Seungcheol finished quietly. “But now, Hansol’s starting to move on. He’s in love with someone else, and you can’t bear the thought that Hansol would value someone else over you.”

“Seungcheol,” Seungkwan’s voice broke.

“You two have been together since the start of high school,” Seungcheol continued, not letting Seungkwan speak just yet. “You’ve been inseparable. You do everything together. You need him as much as he needs you, yet now, he’s threatening to leave you for a girl he’s only talked to a couple of times.”

“It’s a bit harsh if you put it like that--”

“So why?” Seungcheol held Seungkwan’s shoulders firmly. “Why are you letting this happen?”

Seungkwan stared Seungcheol in the eye. “Because it’s what Hansol wants.”

Seungcheol let go of Seungkwan in frustration. “Have you even told him an inkling of what you feel?”

“No, of course not,” Seungkwan looked at him in horror. “Hansol is my best friend. But we’re officially nothing more than that. I don’t want to ruin what we have now just because of my own selfish feelings.”

“So you’re going to let all those years of being together go to waste?” Seungcheol said.

“This is just a simple high school crush we’re talking about,” Seungkwan said, exasperated. “It’s not like I’ll lose him forever.”

“But one thing, no matter how little, will always lead to another,” Seungcheol said. “If you don’t act now, you never know what will happen.”

“I don’t have the courage to do that,” Seungkwan said in a small voice.

“You’re Boo Seungkwan!” Seungcheol threw his hands up.

“Everyone keeps telling me that,” Seungkwan said, voice rising. “But just because I’m Boo Seungkwan doesn’t mean I can do everything.”

“Sorry,” Seungcheol apologised immediately. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

They fell silent for a while. Seungkwan stared at the kitchen counter.

“I just don’t want to make Hansol confused,” Seungkwan said quietly. “If I tell him how I feel, he probably won’t know how to reject me and it’ll make everything really awkward.”

“Who says he’ll reject you?” Seungcheol said gently.

“The universe does.”

“Look,” Seungcheol shifted closer and tried to comfort Seungkwan, like an older brother he never asked for. “Hansol’s really dense sometimes. You need to tell him things straight, otherwise he’ll never get it.”

“That’s true,” Seungkwan laughed quietly. “But that’s what I like about him. He’s so straightforward and easy to figure out.”

“You wouldn’t know, but I’ve seen the way he looks at you,” Seungcheol said softly. “Whenever he looks at you, which is almost all the time, it looks like he’s staring at the brightest stars in the galaxy.”

“So... he squints when he looks at me?” Seungkwan raised an eyebrow.

Seungcheol flicked his forehead. “No, you idiot. He looks at you like you’re the most beautiful thing in the universe. Like... a look of wonder, admiration, love, lust--”

“Okay, okay. I get it. When did you get so poetic?” Seungkwan muttered.

“My point is,” Seungcheol sighed. “He clearly cares about you. Whether it’s more than just a ‘friend’ is debatable. But he can’t do anything for you unless you tell him how you feel.”

“But what happens if he doesn’t like me back?”

“Then you worry about it when it happens. It’s Hansol; he’ll definitely make everything alright. You have to be honest with him, Seungkwan. And it’s a proven fact that talking about your feelings helps you get over them.”

“Alright,” Seungkwan said in a soft voice. “But what about Chaeyoung?”

“True,” Seungcheol said thoughtfully. “Tell you what. The New Year’s festival is in a few days.”

“Yeah.”

“I think... you’ve come this far. Just wait and see how it goes with Chaeyoung.”

“But you said--”

“I know I said you shouldn’t let this happen,” Seungcheol interrupted. “But I feel like it’ll work out for you. There’s nothing you can do if Hansol’s actually straight, but maybe you should just wait and see how it goes with Chaeyoung.”

“But--”

“You have to confess eventually, Seungkwan,” Seungcheol patted his back.

“I know,” Seungkwan said quietly.

[APARTMENT #118; Choi Hansol, Boo Seungkwan]

Seungkwan had been struggling with his feelings for a while now. He knew that he really liked Hansol as a friend and roommate, but the weird feeling he’d get whenever they watched romance movies together was really hard to ignore.

He would never stop glancing at Hansol whenever the girl kissed the guy on screen. It honestly got annoying and Seungkwan wished he would stop unconsciously watching Hansol’s reaction.

Being a skinship kind of person, he wasn’t one to hesitate making contact with another. It was just his way of being friendly. But the immense happiness he’d felt whenever Hansol was the one who was hugging him was hard to ignore.

He didn’t feel like anyone understood him as much as Hansol did. Even though Hansol could be rather dense at times, Seungkwan still loved being in his company.

He attributed all of these emotions to the fact that Hansol was his best friend and roommate. They spent pretty much all day with each other; whether it was in the apartment, or out filiming a video and hanging out, so it was expected that Seungkwan would like him more than other people.

But it was only after Chaeyoung that Seungkwan began to realise that maybe, all those weird feelings weren’t just because Hansol was his best friend.

Maybe Seungkwan liked Hansol more than just a friend.

Maybe Seungkwan wanted to kiss Hansol like the girl and guy in the movies.

The thought of Hansol hugging and kissing someone else hurt Seungkwan more than he liked to admit.

Seungkwan had always thought he was ‘straight’, but he realised that he had never really had an actual crush. He was friends with plenty of guys and most girls seemed to like him; though he felt more uncomfortable and shy around girls, he’d never actually liked a girl before.

Maybe he wasn’t ‘straight’ after all. He couldn’t really call himself ‘gay’ either, since he’d never actually liked a guy.

Maybe he was just Hansolsexual.

“Hansol, I’m back,” Seungkwan called out as he shut the door.

“Oh, Seungkwan!” Hansol jumped up from the couch. “You’ve already missed half the episode. Right now, the girl is--”

“No spoilers!” Seungkwan covered his ears and rushed into his room.

“Seungkwan! I’ll just tell you what happened so you can watch the rest--”

“I’ll watch the rerun!” Seungkwan said in embarrassment.

“Oh, alright,” Hansol said, rather disappointed. He returned to the living room.

Seungkwan sighed and collapsed onto his bed.

Ignoring Hansol and everyone around him was his only defence mechanism to the weird emotions he was going through. He figured that if he didn’t talk to Hansol, he wouldn’t like him as much.

But it didn’t work. In fact, it resulted in the opposite; being away from Hansol just made Seungkwan miss him more.

Seungkwan’s friends’ worrying wasn’t helping, because all of them would say something that reminded him of Hansol in one way or another. So he pushed them away as well, though he felt immensely guilty about it. But it was the only thing he felt he could do.

Everything reminded Seungkwan of Hansol, and it hurt. He could barely talk to Hansol anymore without his heart beating intensely out of his chest.

Maybe it’s puberty? Teenagers get a lot of weird feelings.

But Seungkwan knew that his feelings for Hansol wasn’t just a ‘hormonal thing’.

With all the confused emotions and thoughts clouding his mind, he decided to take an afternoon nap to (hopefully) clear his mind a bit.

Brrrring! The sound of the school bell ripped through Seungkwan’s eardrums and he awoke abruptly to find himself in his usual desk at school.

“See you, Seungkwan!” Hansol’s voice sounded behind him, and he felt a firm slap on his back. Hansol ran past him with a grin and jogged down the hallway.

“Where are you going?” Seungkwan called out, too late. He got up with a groan and followed Hansol outside.

He suddenly teleported down a floor, outside of the juniors’ classrooms.

Juniors?

“Chaeyoung!” Hansol smiled sweetly as he caught the girl in a tight hug. “I missed you.”

“It’s only been 6 hours, Hansol,” Chaeyoung giggled.

“The worst 6 hours of my life,” Hansol touched her nose lovingly.

Seungkwan wanted to drop-kick both of them.

“You guys are disgusting,” one of Hansol’s friends and Chaeyoung’s classmates, Chan, teased lightly as he pushed past them to exit the classroom.

“Exactly,” Seungkwan muttered to himself.

The scene shifted and suddenly Seungkwan was sitting in the furthest back seat in a movie theatre. He recognised the movie; it was a cheesy American romance drama that Hansol had shown him last week.

“I love you,” the girl on screen whispered.

Seungkwan noticed two silhouettes in front of him; other than them, the entire theatre was empty.

It was Hansol and Chaeyoung. Chaeyoung had her head on Hansol’s shoulder and they were whispering to each other, giggling about something.

Seungkwan realised he had a box of popcorn in his hands.

“You’re too young!” Seungkwan yelled, flinging popcorn at the couple in front of him.

Hansol turned angrily, but softened slightly when he saw that it was Seungkwan.

“Seungkwan? Why are you here?”

“Am I not allowed to be here?” Seungkwan asked angrily.

“Oh, I mean... Chaeyoung and I are on a--”

“Don’t you dare say ‘date’,” Seungkwan muttered. “What happened to our movie nights?”

“Oh, I didn’t think you wanted to continue them,” Hansol said guiltily. “Chaeyoung--”

“Chaeyoung, Chaeyoung, Chaeyoung. It’s all her, isn’t it?” Seungkwan couldn’t help getting worked up.

“I love her, Seungkwan,” Hansol said. His eyes stood firm and he showed no hesitation.

“I’m sorry Seungkwan,” Chaeyoung said quietly. “I know you’re his best friend, and I wouldn’t want to change that, but I’d like to spend time with him as well.”

Seungkwan knew he couldn’t blame Chaeyoung. But he had no one else to blame; he could never bring himself to blame Hansol for any of this.

“This is all your fault,” Seungkwan said to Chaeyoung, shaking, tears threatening to pour out. He hated feeling this emotional, selfish and childish.

“Seungkwan--” Hansol warned.

“If he’d never met you, none of this--”

“Seungkwan!” Hansol shouted. Suddenly, the theatre was crowded. The surrounding moviegoers turned to them with a glare. “I can’t believe you’d say something like that.”

Seungkwan didn’t reply. He looked down guiltily.

The scene changed once again, the darkness of the theatre dissipating as a bright light shone painfully into Seungkwan’s eyes.

Everything around him was white. The chairs, the tables, the flowers, the cake, the bride’s dress--

Wait. The bride’s dress?

“And do you, Choi Hansol, take Son Chaeyoung to be your lawfully wedded wife until death do you part?”

“I do,” said a much deeper voice than Seungkwan remembered. It was undeniably Hansol’s voice, but the man standing in front of Seungkwan holding hands with a beautiful bride looked nothing like the ‘Hansol’ Seungkwan knew.

The man was smiling. He was looking at his bride as if she were the brightest stars in the galaxy.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

The look on the man’s face as he kissed his wife was far more real and loving than any of the movies Seungkwan had watched.

Seungkwan felt something break inside him. He didn’t know why his chest felt like a fire was tearing through it.

“Hansol,” he said, voice cracking.

But Hansol was walking away, hand in hand with his wife.

“Hey, Seungkwan--” Hansol knocked on Seungkwan’s door after the two episode special ended. He wanted to ask his roommate what he wanted for dinner.

There was no answer, so he let himself in as he usually did when it was quiet inside (Seungkwan would loudly protest otherwise).

Seungkwan was asleep, clutching his pillow with a death grip. His face was set into a frown.

“Seungkwan,” Hansol gently shook the boy’s shoulder.

“I object!” Seungkwan yelled as his eyes shot open.

“Woah,” Hansol put his hands up and started laughing. “We’re not in court.”

“Oh. Hansol,” Seungkwan rubbed his eyes and cleared his throat as he sat up. “Sorry. Weird dream.”

“Weird? You looked pretty upset,” Hansol frowned. “Your face was all sour; it looked like you’d eaten a lemon or something.”

“Oh, really? Um. Well, coincidentally... I ate a lemon in my dream?” Seungkwan said, not very convincingly.

“Seriously?” Hansol seemed to believe him. “Sounds like a horrible dream.”

“It was,” Seungkwan laughed nervously. “Hey, can I talk to you?”

“Of course,” Hansol smiled. He sat down next to Seungkwan.

“I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting lately,” Seungkwan began.

“Oh, is this what you’re--”

“Just let me finish,” Seungkwan pleaded. Hansol stopped talking. “I know I haven’t been myself lately and I’m sorry. The thing is...”

He hesitated quite a bit before resuming.

“I was a bit uncomfortable reading all the Youtube comments in recent videos,” Seungkwan said slowly. “The way they ship us...”

“Ah, I see,” Hansol put his arm around Seungkwan, which did not help Seungkwan’s wellbeing in any way whatsoever. “I know what you mean. It gets really intense and... weird.”

“Yeah.”

Seungkwan wasn’t exactly lying; he didn’t like the way some people saw their relationship. He’d always wanted to keep his friendship with Hansol intact, because Hansol was incredibly important to him.

But maybe Seungkwan didn’t like people shipping them together because they were right.

He’d once read a fanfiction (for research, of course) in which he and Hansol were just normal high-schoolers, and the ‘Seungkwan’ in that fic had realised that he liked Hansol more than a friend.

Thinking back, the way the author described the ‘Seungkwan’ character eerily matched what actual Seungkwan was going through at the moment.

So maybe the Boonon shippers were right after all; Seungkwan really did have feelings for Hansol.

Seungkwan had decided to use the Boonon shippers as an excuse for his recent behaviour; seeing as he wasn’t ready to confess his true feelings just yet.

“Just don’t read the comments then,” Hansol said straightforwardly.

“It’s not that easy,” Seungkwan rolled his eyes.

“I know. But if it makes you unhappy, then why do it?” Hansol asked.

Seungkwan didn’t answer. He always craved feedback and constructive criticism about his vocals, his visuals, his everything. Even at the expense of hurtful comments.

“Tell you what,” Hansol continued, seeing that Seungkwan wasn’t going to answer. “I’ll go to the store and get you some of that ice cream you love so much.”

“The one with caramel fudge?” Seungkwan’s eyes shot up in hopefulness.

“Yeah,” Hansol laughed. “Will you be alright while I’m gone?”

“Yeah,” Seungkwan nodded. “Thanks, Hansol.”

Hansol grinned and ruffled Seungkwan’s hair affectionately. “Anything for my best friend.”

He left shortly and Seungkwan remained seated until the front door closed.

He knew he should be thankful that Hansol didn’t question him too much and their friendship didn’t take any severe blows.

He knew should be happy that Hansol still treated him so well even after how terrible he’d been acting in those few weeks.

But Seungkwan still wasn’t contented.

Chapter Text

”Wait, so,” Minghao said in disbelief, “He said ‘I love you too’?”

It was 11PM and Mingyu had called Minghao, sounding rather jittery.

“Yeah,” Mingyu’s voice sounded hushed over the phone. He was probably trying not to wake Wonwoo. “What do I do?”

“You obviously can’t mention this to him,” Minghao said thoughtfully. “Then again, I’m pretty sure no one lies when they sleep talk.”

“But...” Mingyu said quietly, “Why didn’t he just tell me that in the first place? Why did he avoid giving me an answer?”

“This is Wonwoo we’re talking about, Mingyu,” Minghao said. “He’s quite a confusing person.”

Mingyu sighed. “So what do I do? Should I ask him about it?”

“No,” Minghao said immediately. “At least you know... he doesn’t hate you. Just give him time to tell you himself. And don’t do anything stupid in that time.”

“Thanks, Minghao,” Mingyu sighed in relief at having someone to talk to; Junhui and Seokmin had begun to give up on him.

“You owe me for my time,” Minghao said. Mingyu scoffed.

“But hey, I should probably warn you,” Minghao continued, “I think the reason why he won’t tell you how he feels is because he’s afraid you’ll get hurt.”

“Hurt?” Mingyu said with a questioning tone.

“He probably thinks he’s not good enough for you. And that if he ignores you, you’ll eventually get over him and find someone better,” Minghao said.

“But I’d never find someone better than him,” Mingyu said bluntly.

“He doesn’t believe that,” Minghao sighed. “He’s not that confident about himself. Well, he’s confident about his looks, but--”

“There’s no one I’d rather be with,” Mingyu said firmly.

“I know,” Minghao laughed. “My point is, he needs to accept himself before he can accept you.”

“Wow, Minghao. You really have sense,” Mingyu said in awe.

“I know I do,” Minghao grinned.

“I’ll... see how it goes then,” Mingyu said. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Talk to me anytime.” Minghao was about to hang up, but Mingyu continued speaking.

“Oh, and... Minghao?” Mingyu sounded hesitant. “Junhui’s been worried about you. I hope you’ll tell him whatever’s troubling you.”

Minghao frowned. “Nothing’s--”

“Don’t,” Mingyu interrupted sternly. “You can’t fool me, Minghao. And you’re not fooling Junhui either.”

Minghao pursed his lips. “Alright.”

[APARTMENT #607; Wen Junhui, Xu Minghao]

“Who’s Luhan?”

Minghao sighed and slipped further underneath the covers. He knew it would come up eventually.

“How do you know his name?” Minghao asked quietly.

“I have my resources,” Junhui said.

Minghao wanted to talk to Junhui, but never managed to find the right moment or the courage to do so. But he figured it was now or never.

“I knew Luhan back in China. I dated him for... a short while,” Minghao began in a soft voice. Junhui shifted closer.

“He was a well liked boy in my high school, since he could sing, dance, and was incredibly good looking. He was like your typical drama lead.”

Junhui pursed his lips, but he couldn’t exactly disagree.

“His family was also really high class. There were rumours that he was going to marry one of the richest girls in my town.”

“Okay, this is really sounding like a drama,” Junhui admitted.

Minghao poked him. “Anyway, I wasn’t really that popular or anything. I was pretty low profile, and I liked it like that. I’d always been interested in Luhan, because honestly, everyone was; but I’d never taken my interest too seriously until one of my friends intervened.”

”Ooh, who’re you staring at?” Mei Qi teased.

She was a girl who wasn’t exactly Minghao’s friend, yet they talked quite often as they were classmates. She seemed to understand Minghao better than most of his other ‘friends’ did.

It wasn’t like Minghao was a loner, but he didn’t have any friends he actually trusted. They were great for the company and the laughs in between classes, but he didn’t see them as people he’d remember if he left.

“No one,” Minghao said hastily, looking in a different direction. It was after school, and Minghao was still loitering around the classroom because his parents had insisted on picking him up that day.

Mei Qi looked out the window at the sports grounds, where Minghao was looking a minute ago. “Luhan, huh? You have good taste,” she smirked.

“I wasn’t staring at him,” Minghao rolled his eyes and pushed Mei Qi lightly.

“You know, you should try asking him out,” Mei Qi said. Minghao thought she was joking, but her eyes said that she was being dead serious.

“Yeah right,” Minghao laughed nervously. “As if I’d stand a chance.”

Mei Qi stared him in the eye. “Ask him first thing next Monday.”

“Why Monday?” Minghao asked.

Mei Qi shook her head, as if she couldn’t believe how ignorant Minghao was. “He’ll accept your confession. I guarantee.”

Minghao didn’t really believe her, and so the rest of the week passed by in a blur.

It was Monday morning, and Minghao had nearly forgotten about Mei Qi’s advice until he saw Luhan standing alone at the school gates.

Minghao normally went to school quite early, since his parents would offer to drop him off before they went to work. Minghao did see Luhan before school sometimes, but this was one of the rare times he had seen him alone.

He decided it was worth a shot.

“Luhan,” Minghao approached nervously. His heartbeat picked up when Luhan turned to him, a cute smile gracing his features.

“I-I like you,” Minghao said. He didn’t really mean it too seriously, since it was just a minor crush, but Luhan seemed to take him seriously, though he looked quite baffled at first.

“You’re Minghao, aren’t you?” Luhan gave him a kind smile, and Minghao felt himself falling deeper.

“Yeah,” Minghao stuttered.

“Wanna catch a movie sometime?” Luhan asked gently.

“Sure,” Minghao smiled.

Looks like Mei Qi was right.

“Wait, so he just accepted your confession like that?” Junhui said in confusion.

“Yeah. Even I was confused, since what Mei Qi said was correct,” Minghao admitted.

“So... you started dating?” Junhui said, rather uneasily.

Minghao took his hand under the blanket and squeezed it to reassure him. “Yeah. For about a week.”

“A week?” Junhui sat up. “You only dated him for a week?”

“Yeah,” Minghao laughed blankly, “He... said some things. I’d rather not tell you what.”

“Did that make you dump him?”

“Technically, he dumped me,” Minghao said coldly.

”Luhan!” Minghao called happily, jogging to meet with the boy as he exited the school.

“Oh, Minghao,” Luhan said, with a blank tone. He didn’t look that happy to see Minghao.

“What’s wrong?” Minghao tried to take his hand, but Luhan put it in his pocket.

“Nothing. Are you following me?” Luhan asked suspiciously.

“Yeah,” Minghao said, furrowing his eyebrows. “Wanna go on a date?”

“No,” Luhan replied bluntly.

Minghao backed away abruptly. “Luhan, what’s wrong.”

Luhan looked at him, confused. “Your seven days are up, Minghao,” he said coldly.

“What?” Minghao didn’t understand.

“What don’t you understand?” Luhan sighed and stopped by a vending machine to buy a drink. Minghao realised he wasn’t even going in the right direction, since he had followed Luhan this far.

“What do you mean, ‘my seven days are up’?” Minghao asked.

“Your seven days. I dated you for seven days,” Luhan said monotonously. “You’re not my girl-- I mean, boyfriend anymore. You’ve had your week.”

“What, you only date people for seven days?” Minghao demanded angrily. Luhan wasn’t making any sense.

“Yeah,” was all Luhan said in reply.

“So, all that--”

“Minghao, were you not aware of this?” Luhan asked incredulously.

“Well then, please do explain,” Minghao said, exasperated.

“First person who asks me out at the start of each week will be my partner for seven days. I make them happy, they make me happy, and we go our separate ways at the end of the time period,” Luhan said, sipping on a coffee he had just bought.

“So... are you some sort of dating service? A rental boyfriend?” Minghao asked quietly.

“I guess,” Luhan pursed his lips. “To be honest, you were pretty fun to be with. I thought you were joking, though. I assumed you knew about the conditions of dating me.”

“Why would I joke about my feelings?” Minghao felt hot tears in his eyes.

“Because of the nature of our relationship,” Luhan leaned closer. “But Minghao, did you really believe that I’d actually date a guy?”

“Wait, he was pretending the whole time?” Junhui furrowed his eyebrows.

“Yeah,” Minghao’s voice cracked. “I believed him. I was young and stupid.”

“We’ve all been through the young and stupid phase,” Junhui gathered Minghao in a tight hug under the blankets. “What Luhan did was pretty fucked up. Why would anyone want to date him?”

“Because he made you feel good,” Minghao said simply. “People needed some love, but they didn’t want the commitment that came attached. I guess that was Luhan’s appeal.”

“But how did you not know about this? Surely you would’ve heard about what a playboy he was?” Junhui asked.

“I wasn’t exactly in the loop,” Minghao laughed. “I didn’t care about gossip. That was it.”

Junhui ruffled his hair. “You’re an idiot.”

“But I’m your idiot,” Minghao smirked, using Junhui’s words from earlier that night.

Junhui frowned and slapped his leg.

“Thanks for telling me,” Junhui said quietly, “Is it okay if I ask something else?”

“Of course. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, it’s just...” Minghao faltered.

“You don’t like talking about it?” Junhui said softly. Minghao nodded. “I’m sorry for pushing you, but you worried me so much.”

“Sorry,” Minghao snuggled closer to Junhui, resting his head on the other’s chest. “What do you want to know?”

“Why do you look so incredibly pained whenever you see him?” Junhui asked carefully.

“His words just really got to me. I’ll never forgive him for what he said that day. They had a massive impact on my life back then,” Minghao sighed, “I knew that I tended to prefer guys over girls at that point, and I’d accepted that, but just barely. His words damaged me beyond repair. But I’ve gotten over that now,” he added hurriedly.

Junhui now understood some of his confusions that had arisen during the beginning of their relationship.

When Minghao met Junhui, he was brand new to Korea and wasn’t too confident in Korean. Junhui was living alone in Apartment Block 17, but after meeting Minghao, he knew he would never find anyone as perfect as him.

At first, Minghao was very hesitant. He seemed to have trust issues, and Junhui thought it was because he was in an unfamiliar environment. But after a while, Minghao seemed to calm down and their relationship had been perfect ever since.

But Junhui guessed that those trust issues were because of whatever Luhan did to him.

“Are you still insecure about some things?” Junhui asked quietly, stroking Minghao’s back.

“Yeah,” Minghao said in a small voice. “Luhan bothers me. The sight of him bothers me. It reminds me of everything he said and all the pain I felt because of him.”

Junhui didn’t know how to help, so he just listened. His heart broke a little at how fragile Minghao’s voice sounded when he was talking.

“It’s because of Luhan that I get jealous if you’re around girls or anyone remotely attractive who’s not a friend,” Minghao continued, voice rising. “I hate seeing you around girls. All because Luhan told me that guys aren’t supposed to like guys. And I know that’s not true, because I’m really fucking in love with you, but I still have dreams that you’re going to leave me for a girl and--”

Junhui tilted his head downwards and kissed Minghao harshly. That seemed to do the trick.

“Forget about him,” Junhui rested his forehead against Minghao’s.

Minghao smiled, catching Junhui’s lips again, craving the feel of them against his own.

“But at the same time,” Junhui pulled apart for a moment reluctantly. “I think you should at least talk to him about it.”

“I never want to talk to that homophobic ass ever again,” Minghao replied angrily.

Junhui pressed his lips into a thin line. “He may act like an asshole, but I feel like there’s more under the surface. I just think you two should talk about what happened and find some closure in your relationship.”

Minghao sighed. “I guess.”

[PLEDIS PERFORMING ARTS HIGH SCHOOL]

“Remember to study hard for your upcoming tests,” their chemistry teacher said as the students all grabbed their bags and left the classroom for club activities.

“Hey, Chan,” Chaeyoung called out before Chan could leave the classroom.

“Oh, hey Chaeyoung!” Chan greeted with a smile.

“Did you understand chapter 8?” Chaeyoung asked, fidgeting with her books.

“On neutralisation reactions?” Chan clarified. Chaeyoung nodded.

“Not a clue,” he said sheepishly. “I kind of get them, but I can’t explain them in detail, yet alone write out examples.”

“Oh, okay,” Chaeyoung said. “We’re both screwed then.”

Chan wasn’t the best at chemistry, but he was well above average, so he didn’t feel like he needed to focus on it. He was just barely passing maths though, so that was where he concentrated all his efforts.

“Could you finish set 13A from the maths book?” Chan asked. They walked out into the hallway.

“I could do some of it,” Chaeyoung said thoughtfully. “But I got stuck on question 10.”

“Same,” Chan sighed, “My friend said that they’re going to put a similar one in the test.”

“Damn,” Chaeyoung sighed. “It’s really hard to find time for studying when I have training and all that.”

“Same,” Chan sympathised. “How’s JYP?”

“It’s great,” Chaeyoung smiled, “But extremely rough. I’m doing okay, though.”

“That’s good to hear,” Chan said as they reached the stairs.

Chan wasn’t part of any clubs as he had no time, but he was pretty sure that Chaeyoung had recently joined choir, which was on that afternoon. She had said it was for extra vocal practice outside of her usual training at JYP Entertainment; Chan admired how she was able to fit in so many extracurriculars even with the schedule of a trainee.

“See you tomorrow,” she smiled.

Just as Chan was about to part ways with Chaeyoung, he saw Seungkwan walking down the hallway.

“Seungkwan!” Chan called out, waving. Seungkwan smiled, but hesitated a little when he saw Chaeyoung.

“Hey, Chan,” Seungkwan nodded. “Chaeyoung,” he bowed his head a little.

“Seungkwan! Are you going to choir today?” Chaeyoung asked.

“Yeah,” Seungkwan said quietly.

“Cool. You haven’t shown up in a while! Everyone’s missed you,” Chaeyoung smiled. “See you around, Chan.”

Chan smiled and waved goodbye to both of them as they walked to the choir room.

He trudged home and dumped his bag on his table. He finally was able to study when previously, he had to go to training straight after school. Pledis trainees had a week break over the New Year, but Chan still had to study, so he couldn’t exactly relax like he wanted to.

He called Jisoo and asked if he was free, and he was, so Chan ate some bread before heading down to Jisoo’s apartment.

They spent the next six hours on the most recent chapters of his textbook. Jisoo had been stumped on some of the most important questions, and Chan felt bad for him.

“Sorry, I don’t remember learning any of this,” Jisoo said, clutching his head. “They’ve changed the curriculum since I was in high school.”

“It’s okay. None of my friends get it either,” Chan said reassuringly.

“I’ll try study it up,” Jisoo said. “I’m sure it’s not that difficult.”

“You don’t have to,” Chan insisted. “Let’s just focus on what we can do.”

“Alright, but I’ll still look into it for you,” Jisoo said.

“Thanks,” Chan said gratefully.

“Jisoo, I’m home~” Jeonghan’s voice sounded from the front door. He probably forgot his keys again.

Jisoo sighed and opened the door for him. Jeonghan was carrying several bags of groceries.

“Oh, Chan’s here!” he said happily when he noticed the younger sitting at their table.

“He’s working, so don’t disturb him,” Jisoo turned Jeonghan away and pushed him to the kitchen. “Be nice.”

“I am nice,” Jeonghan grinned.

“Hey, Jisoo,” Chan called from the table. “I think I can handle the rest, so I’ll head home for the night.”

Jisoo hit Jeonghan’s chest. “You scared him away.”

Jeonghan made a noise of shock. “No way. Chan, who’s baby are you~?”

“Just because I said it once doesn’t mean I’m saying it again,” Chan protested. He addressed Jisoo. “It’s not Jeonghan’s fault, I’m just tired. Thanks for all your help, hyung,” he packed up his things hastily, “I’ll see you around.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard, okay?” Jisoo said worriedly. Chan wasn’t in high spirits recently; the stress was clearly getting to him. “I’ll study up the stuff we didn’t understand so I can help you later, alright? Don’t stress.”

“Good luck,” Jeonghan added.

Chan gave them a small smile. “Thanks. I really appreciate it.”

[APARTMENT #211; Lee Seokmin, Lee Chan]

Seokmin was dead to the world when Chan returned back to their apartment. Chan didn’t blame him; as much as he himself wanted to black out and forget everything, he really had to work harder.

He forced himself to put his vocal and dance practice on hold in favour of school. He hated that he needed to put the most effort in the things he disliked the most, while being forced to neglect the things he liked the most.

His parents had called a few days ago to wish both Seokmin and Chan a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. They were both really busy with their jobs, so Chan figured they probably wouldn’t bother calling on New Year’s Day.

They weren’t happy with his school results. His other subjects were decent, but not that outstanding, but his maths was ‘not what we expect of our son’.

Seokmin, on the other hand, was doing quite alright. He had a better grip on the balance between study and training. Chan wasn’t sure how he managed it so well.

But the both of them weren’t among the top ranks in their agency. It was still a feat on its own that they were already trainees, when most didn’t even make it past the audition. But coming from a high profile family, their parents had great expectations for their two sons.

Chan loved training; though he could tell that his brother was beginning to lose hope. It’d only been a year, but they both knew that their parents would move them back to Yongin-si sooner or later so they could continue studying to be a lawyer like everyone else in the family.

They both loved living in Seoul, though. They got to live independent lives and do whatever they wanted. It was freedom that neither had ever tasted when they lived with their parents.

Chan peeked into Seokmin’s room, the light from the hallway dimly lighting up the outline of the furniture.

As usual, there were tangerine peels strewn all over Seokmin’s bed. Seungkwan had visited two days ago with a box of Jeju tangerines, which his father had sent to share with his friends.

Seokmin often ate in his bed while watching movies on his laptop, and he hardly ever cleaned up; he insisted that leaving tangerine peels next to your pillow was ‘good for you’ and that it ‘acts like a humidifier’.

Chan shuddered and was about to close the door, but Seokmin said something in a loud, sleepy voice.

“Ah, yes. I’d like to order,” Seokmin mumbled. “One jjajangmyeon, and--” he stopped speaking and snored softly.

Chan laughed and closed the door. His brother sleeptalked quite often, but this was the first time Chan had heard him attempting to order food in his sleep.

He made a mental note to order jjajangmyeon for lunch the next day.

[APARTMENT #811; Lee Jihoon, Kwon Soonyoung]

“Hey Hosh, did you get the brief for the showcase yet?” Jihoon asked, having just reached home from his last class. Pledis University had a showcase for its music and dance students every year, and everyone was expected to perform something, in units of their choice, as it counted towards their overall grade.

“Yeah, we got it today,” Soonyoung said from where he was, slumped on the couch with his legs spread out in an odd position only he could pull off comfortably.

“Have you thought about your performance?” Jihoon asked. The two of them would’ve been expected to collaborate with each other, but both were far too competitive to want to be in the same unit. They did a joint performance last year, and received much attention for it, but this year they both agreed to try something different for a change. Units could be made up of other students, friends or any willing participants (though only the students would be assessed).

“I’ve got nothing,” Soonyoung sighed. “But you know how Mr. Yoo loves me?”

“Of course,” Jihoon rolled his eyes.

“He said he’s gonna ask Pledis Entertainment if I can collaborate with one of their trainees,” Soonyoung said excitedly.

“Oh, really? There’s lots of Pledis Entertainment trainees in this uni,” Jihoon raised an eyebrow. “Any idea who they’ll partner you with?”

“These performances are always really last minute, anyway,” Soonyoung sighed. The showcase was honestly just like any other assignment for Pledis students; most left planning to the week before the performance. “They asked me if I had a preference, and I said anything’s fine. So they might only partner me up a week before and I’ll probably have choreographed a solo routine by then.”

“Would you rather go solo than perform in a unit?” Jihoon asked.

“I’d like to do a unit, to be honest. Solo can be a bit boring. Mr. Yoo says he wants me to try a contemporary dance with a female trainee, though.”

Jihoon scoffed. “You, dancing with a girl? Never thought I’d see that in my life,” he smirked.

“Well, I did say that anything’s fine,” Soonyoung laughed. “It’ll be a new experience then. What about your performance?”

“I’m probably gonna ask Cheol and Hansol to perform with me,” Jihoon said thoughtfully. “There’s a song I’ve been writing for a while and I think it’ll be cool to perform.”

“Oh, which one?” Soonyoung asked curiously.

“It’s called ‘Q&A’,” Jihoon said, “But the problem is, the chorus is best suited for a female voice.”

“I’m sure you’ll find someone,” Soonyoung said.

“It’s just an idea,” Jihoon waved him off. “I’ll probably end up performing ‘SIMPLE’.”

“Whatever it is, you’ll do well,” Soonyoung smiled. “I’m expecting a lot from you, so don’t you dare slack off.”

Jihoon laughed. “Only if you don’t either.”

”Thank you, thank you,” Jihoon smiled and waved at the crowd.

“Congratulations, Seventeen! Would you like to say something to your fans?” the MC handed Jihoon a microphone.

Jihoon struggled to carry the bouquet given to him by the other MC, as he thought of how to thank his fans.

“Carat, I love you!” he smiled and waved at the camera. The screams from the audience were deafening.

Jihoon wasn’t sure when he fell asleep, but he was only vaguely aware that he was dreaming.

“What kind of fanclub is called ‘Carat’?” Jihoon muttered in his sleep.

Soonyoung, who was next to him on the couch, started laughing.

”World Number 1 K-pop Chart Show, M-Countdown!” the MCs said in unison. “Thank you for watching, see you next time!”

The sound system began blasting a funky tune Jihoon wasn’t too familiar with. It sounded like something he’d begun writing but never finished because it was too difficult.

Jihoon realised he was surrounded by many others; he thought they were idols at first, but looking around, he realised they were his friends and people he’d met recently.