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Wonwoo falls asleep with his glasses on, head against the side of Soonyoung’s pullout couch as the projector flickers on the blank wall in front of them. The lights dance across the bottles of dried tattoo ink on his dining table turned desk turned Wonwoo’s gaming setup.
Sketches of Joshua’s proposal tattoo to Minghao stain the last pages of his sketchbook. Soonyoung tiptoes around the couch, slipping the small notebook into the pocket of his cargo jacket.
Standing at the door, he takes a look around the room, sighing at the sight of Wonwoo, unguarded.
He gives in, unlacing his shoes and shuffling back to the side of the couch, running a finger along Wonwoo’s cheek. Soonyoung hooks a finger around the bridge of his glasses and carefully slides them off, folding them and setting them next to a bottle of graveside light purple.
When he leaves his little studio apartment, the sun hasn’t risen yet, but the sky is a lighter shade of blue, before the haze turns it grey. One side of his jacket falls lower, down his shoulder, but it’s not even cold enough to need it anymore.
It is supposed to rain later. The jacket won’t do much for the acid so Soonyoung stops by the convenience store to pick up an umbrella, one that he’ll likely have to discard later that week anyway. The rain has only grown more and more acidic over time, and it won’t be long before they stop being able to go outside when it does.
NASA’s discovered a new asteroid, one with a trajectory towards Earth. Minghao had mentioned it when Soonyoung asked why he’d stopped coming to their dance classes—Jeonghan and Joshua hadn’t said anything yet though, so it probably wasn’t that serious. The last time there was an asteroid that serious, they lost the dinosaurs.
There’s something new each week. The water levels are rising, the moon is slowly spinning out of orbit, it’s too hot for half the species to live anymore, it’s too cold in places it shouldn’t. It’s not like Soonyoung can personally remember sitting down for dinner with an ankylosaurus anyway.
Oddly enough, the weather’s freezing today. Maybe an asteroid fits in with that.
He’s not surprised that the studio is open when he gets there. Soonyoung pushes the door open. “Yah, Kim Mingyu, do you ever—”
He freezes. Behind the counter, Mingyu freezes.
Seungcheol freezes too, legs wrapped around Mingyu’s waist and hands buried in his hair as he yanks Mingyu closer, panting against his lips. Mingyu’s hands hold his waist under his t-shirt, his gaze still lingering even as he turns his head to look at Soonyoung.
“—go home,” Soonyoung finishes weekly. “Hi, Seungcheol hyung.”
“Got evicted,” Mingyu mumbles, sliding his hands out from under Seungcheol’s t-shirt. “I just picked up all my stuff yesterday.”
“Hi Soonyoung-ah,” Seungcheol mumbles, melting into the crook of Mingyu’s neck and looking very much like he wants nothing more than to hide. Soonyoung can’t blame him—he really thought it would be him and Jeonghan, though. “I was just—helping Mingyu move his things to our apartment.”
“Jeonghan hyung moved out?” Soonyoung looks around the counter, scanning the wall of cameras behind him.
Mingyu chokes. “What? No, of course not.”
A whine from Seungcheol. Mingyu’s muffled voice behind him—Soonyoung does not turn around this time.
“Hyung, what are you looking for?”
Soonyoung isn’t proud of the way he jumps. “Ah, Kim Mingyu, the mind of a tiger is truly mysterious, what do you know—”
“He wants to buy that camera Wonwoo’s been eyeing,” Seungcheol calls out, noticeably more composed. Soonyoung sulks, wishing his hyung could go back to being embarrassed about being caught making out with his dongsaeng.
Why were they making out, by the way, and why did they not tell Soonyoung that was a thing they did?
“Hyung, do you have to spoil the surprise?'“
Seungcheol makes a face. “If you keep beating around the bush, how is Mingyu supposed to know what you’re looking for?”
Mingyu opens his mouth to speak. Soonyoung cuts him off first. “You—no, hyung, isn’t your favoritism too much?”
Seungcheol smirks, sliding his legs over the other side of the counter and pulling Mingyu closer again. He hooks his chin over his shoulder and Mingyu goes willingly, smiling a little bashfully when Soonyoung mock-gags. “You’re just jealous you don’t have a Mingyu at home.”
And okay, that is something Soonyoung might be jealous of. Mingyu’s a great cook, can’t stand when things are messy—he’s good at playing house. But if Mingyu were in his house, that would mean Seungcheol and Jeonghan would be too, and his little studio isn’t big enough for that. It’s hardly big enough for when Wonwoo stays over, especially since he keeps refusing to just use Soonyoung’s bed.
“Seungcheol-ah,” Mingyu whines.
Like they didn’t sleep together when they were in kids, and then again in college, crammed in the capsule dorms. Why is it different now?
He blinks twice when something teal floats in his vision, a plastic bag he can see a box inside.
“Happy birthday, Soonyoungie,” Mingyu calls out softly, smiling so sweetly that Soonyoung can’t even complain about not being called hyung. Didn’t he just not call Seungcheol that too? Soonyoung can be magnanimous—it’s his birthday today anyway.
Ah. It’s the date in between, rather.
Soonyoung celebrates his birthday twice, once in June on the day of with Junhui, his Gemini twin, and then again between his and Wonwoo’s, the same way they’ve celebrated both their birthdays since ninth grade.
Seungcheol buries his face back in Mingyu’s neck. Soonyoung wrinkles his nose. “How much is it?”
“We all pitched in.” Seungcheol’s voice is muffled. Mingyu pats the back of his head, smiling blindingly at Soonyoung.
Seriously, what is this guy doing working three jobs? He could have gotten rich as a model and they could all have lived off of him. Seungcheol certainly would’ve taken advantage—he’s already clinging to Mingyu like a limpet.
Soonyoung takes the bag from him. “Thank you.”
Mingyu gives him an extra bag in case it rains and Soonyoung leaves the photo studio to let them get back to—whatever it is they were doing and heads to the dance studio.
“Hoshi-ah!” Jun calls out, eyeing the bag. “Oh, happy second birthday. Did Wonwoo like it?”
“I haven’t given it to him yet,” Soonyoung mumbles, setting the bag in his locker. “How come you never said anything about it?”
Junhui gives him a weird look, like he should know why. Soonyoung doesn’t though, so he just keeps staring at him and hopes that Junhui will give him an aswer.
He sighs, shaking his head. “Wonwoo can talk to you about that himself. Is he picking you up?”
Wonwoo is the only one of their friends with a car. Seungcheol used to have one, but as Jeonghan has often complained, he sold it and came back home with a turquoise dumpster of a scooter.
Jeonghan’s also a liar, considering there’s a video of him squeezing in between Mingyu and Seungcheol on the scooter, as well as a rather creative photoshoot of Seungcheol on the scooter, complete with their eldest hyung’s signature sulky pout.
“Don’t know,” Soonyoung admits. Wonwoo works at a virtual reality start-up as a tester, so he only really takes the car out if he has to drive out to the company’s headquarters since it’s further out and easier to carry the gear back like that than on the train. “He was sleeping when I left, so.”
“He stayed over?”
Why does Junhui sound like he knows something? Soonyoung nods. He texted his roommate about it last night, and Junhui had liked the message and asked what they both wanted for dinner. “Yeah. Why?”
“No, nothing, just—” His brow furrows and he makes a face. “You know Channie likes him, right?”
Isn’t it Soonyoung’s turn to make a face now? Chan likes Wonwoo, sure, but it’s no secret that Wonwoo likes Chan too.
“They should just talk about it,” Soonyoung says plainly, pausing when Junhui just raises an eyebrow and shakes his head. “Wouldn’t it be easier like that?”
He doesn’t get a response. Junhui’s usually just as straightfoward as the rest of them.
Minghao stops by later, for the first class in a while, so Soonyoung doesn’t have the time to ponder Junhui’s expressions and speculate on what he means.
Joshua also stops by to pick up Minghao and Soonyoung watches the acid rain wash on the hood of their taxi as Joshua holds the umbrella over their heads so he can climb in first.
“Shua hyung,” Soonyoung calls out, just before he closes the door behind them.
Joshua looks up. “Yeah?”
“When’s the wedding?”
Joshua just throws head back and laughs. Minghao leans over, poking him in the side. “You can tattoo him with a tiger striped ring then.”
Joshua buries his face in his hands. “No, you can’t. Soonyoungie, I love you, but that’s too embarrassing to mention, okay?”
He’s pretty sure Seokmin will mention it in his best man speech. Kind as he is, second only to God, Seokmin has a special talent for teasing Joshua that all of them envy. Jeonghan in particular, but that’s only because Mingyu gets under Joshua’s skin just as well.
In light of recent events, maybe Soonyoung understands what Jeonghan’s thing with Mingyu is a little better. Maybe it’s not about Joshua at all, maybe it’s about Seungcheol.
Soonyoung wants to ask Wonwoo about it—he’s always been better at figuring out relationships than he’s willing to admit, but also because he doesn’t want to deal with Junhui’s sudden cryptics. Since when has Wen Junhui been so mysterious?
Except Junhui abandons him soon too, claiming that he’ll just take the train back even if it takes a little longer.
“Wonwoo hyung’s coming though,” Chan calls out, just as the door closes behind him. He tilts his head at Soonyoung. “Does that mean he’s staying over with you?”
Sometimes Soonyoung forgets Wonwoo and Junhui are roommates and that’s why Junhui seems to know so much about him. He’s more used to Wonwoo spending the night lately, and it hasn’t occured to him to wonder when their time together will expire.
Then again, Wonwoo’s apparently told Chan he’s going to be stopping by the dance studio and not Soonyoung.
Maybe it doesn’t mean anything.
Wonwoo’s glasses are slightly crooked when he holds the umbrella out—to Chan—but Soonyoung still reaches over to tip them straight too. “Hey.”
“Thanks” Wonwoo murmurs, but he still won’t look at him. “Chan-ah, do you need a ride back?'“
Hello? Is Soonyoung not even worth a hello anymore? Does he really have no presence in Wonwoo’s life?
“Ah, only if it isn’t out of the way—”
Wonwoo jabs a thumb at Soonyoung, who’s too busy feeling happy that he’s been remembered to connect the dots. “His apartment is on the way to yours anyway.”
Huh.
“On the way to—are you not staying the night?” Soonyoung blurts out, and he wants to take it back before the question is even fully out. Chan’s face falls, and he bites his lip and looks at the floor, wishing for nothing more than for it to swallow him.
Soonyoung sympathizes. Empathizes, actually, because that’s what he wants too.'
“Don’t know.” Wonwoo kicks the floor slightly, his scuffed sneaker wet at the bottom. Even if it was a small walk from the parking garage to the abandoned mall where they hold their dance classes, his socks are probably wet. “Am I staying the night?”
Soonyoung feels small. Not in the sense that—well, Wonwoo is taller than him. But Chan isn’t. And Soonyoung’s at his dance studio, his home ground, so to speak. He never feels small when he’s dancing.
But Wonwoo’s looking at him like he’s a stranger and Chan looks even more uncomfortable to be here than Soonyoung. And somehow, Seungcheol and Mingyu are together, and Mingyu’s moving in with Seungcheol and Jeonghan. And Joshua and Minghao are engaged, so they’ll get married soon.
And Wonwoo’s been staying over more nights a week than he doesn’t.
Everything’s changing so fast that Soonyoung doesn’t know what to make of it.
“Soonyoung-ah?”
Soonyoung flinches, nodding. “If you want. I mean, I’m fine with it, you already know that.”
Wonwoo gives him a look—Soonyoung’s pretty sure he’s supposed to know what it means. He doesn’t. “You didn’t answer your phone.”
His phone? Soonyoung pulls it out robotically, pressing the power button with his index finger and frowning when the screen stays dark. He jabs at it again, harder this time, and turns it around. “It’s dead.”
Wonwoo’s eyebrows disappear behind his hairline and he turns back to Chan. “We’ll drop you off first, Chan-ah.”
Chan makes a face in the rearview mirror. Soonyoung catches the tail end of it when he looks up from plugging his phone. “Hyung, that’s further for you. You can just drop me at the bus stop near Hoshi hyung’s apartment.”
Soonyoung bites his lip. He probably should say something now—it’s his apartment, after all, and Chan’s done nothing wrong.
“Hyung will buy you dinner, okay?” Wonwoo speaks first. “What do you want to eat—Soonyoung-ah, can you look up restaurants that are still open?”
“Phone’s still dead,” he mutters on instinct, not even bothering to check. Wonwoo’s not doing this on purpose, he just genuinely likes Chan that much. “There’s a really good Chinese place one block from Channie’s apartment though. Junhui took us there once.”
Wonwoo’s expression shutters. “Oh.”
“You can drop me at the apartment though, I’m not hungry right now.” He looks up, meeting Wonwoo’s narrowed eyes. “What?”
“…Nothing.”
They drive in silence until Wonwoo puts Chan’s favorite playlist on shuffle and Soonyoung can’t even be jealous about it when Chan’s smiling and singing along in the backseat. Of course Wonwoo likes him, why wouldn’t he?
Wonwoo slows to a stop right under the freeway overhang, even if it means two cars honk at him while Soonyoung ambles out.
He holds out a teal bag right before he gets out of the car, grinning at his best friend. “Happy birthday, Wonwoo-yah.”