"So are you coming?" Hyukjae asks the boy lying flat across his bed with a Macbook on his clothed stomach. 

"You ask as if I have a choice," Donghae replies monotonously. And Hyukjae nods with a smirk, liking the fact that it's no longer necessary to constantly irritate his best friend in order for him to say yes. This is the seventeeth party the brunette has had to attend; he has learned from the first, second and third parties that Hyukjae would not quit until he agreed to join. 

At the fourth party, Donghae wondered why Hyukjae was so insistent for him to tag along. 

At the fifth party, Donghae left midway while Hyukjae went to the restroom because he was tired. At the fifth party, Hyukjae called Donghae and screamed through the phone why the did you leave me here. At the fifth party, Hyukjae ran back to their apartment after the phone call and didn't talk to Donghae for two days.

At the sixth party, when Hyukjae got wasted and cried his eyes out, Donghae finally learned why the redhead kept wanting him to come to parties.

"I'm sorry that you keep having to do this, Hae. I know how much you hate it and how despite that, you come with me anyway." The older explained that High School was tough for him. His best friend was handsome and popular and literally every girl who had ever heard of 'that boy with a pretty face and taco-shaped eyes' had a crush on said boy. On the other hand, Hyukjae did not have an appearance that could match up to Donghae. But having Donghae by his side allowed others to notice him too, it allowed others to think that hey, that guy is kinda cool too. Even though it's different in college, Hyukjae persists that he still needs Donghae. The latter tried to comfort him, telling him that it's not like that and that you're great and you don't need me, you idiot. But the redhead just cried more and clutched the younger's expensive shirt.

At the seventh party, Donghae stayed and Donghae enjoyed himself - well, tried to. 

At the eight party, Donghae thinks that huh, this isn't that bad anymore. He didn't want to tell that to Hyukjae, though.

And now, at their shared apartment, Hyukjae is getting ready for the seventeeth party. Although Hyukjae's face is painted with a smile, the ball of guilt that hovers in his conscience gets bigger every time he has to practically force his younger friend to go to another gathering. The redhead is completely aware of how reluctant Donghae is to accompany him and knows that he has to make it up to the latter before their nineteen years of friendship snaps. 

And that's how Donghae and Hyukjae find themselves sitting cross-legged next to each other in a circle with other college students, mostly unrecognisable ones, around an empty bottle. 

***

"Spin the bottle, really, Hyukjae?" Donghae asks, scrunching his nose to make it clear to the older that he does not want to play at all. Sure, they used to play this game when they were high school kids. But even the school kids of today don't play such lame games any more.

"Come on, Donghae! Lighten up. I'm doing this for you," the redhead winks.

"For me? First of all, why would I want to do this? And second, why are you doing something for me?" 

"I'm not stupid, Hae. I've known you for nineteen years. This past month you've been acting weirder than normal, or to be more specific, more normal than your usual weird self." Donghae is shocked at the serious tone that leaves his friend's throat. Did he know? He couldn't possibly know, right?

Donghae tries to laugh it off, attempting to find out if the other is just joking. "What do you even mean?"

"You've been studying whenever you're free instead of bugging me to buy you ice cream. You're no longer jumping around at home when you've got something exciting to tell me. Heck, you're rarely laughing and hitting me nowadays and if I'm being completely honest, it's kinda freaking me out." Hyukjae wants to add that he had noticed that the younger doesn't respond to his hugs any more also, but he thought that he already had enough points to justify his statement. "You've been like that since that time you got really sick. Do you need to go to the hospital or something?" 

Donghae is nervous. He has no idea how to reply because all the things he had tried to subtly not do in the past month did not seem to be as subtle as he thought. Beads of sweat start forming on his forehead as he tries to think of an answer and say it without stuttering.

"I'm studying because if you didn't know, Hyuk, we have a tonne of exams at the end of this month. I'm not like you, who gets good grades without picking up a text book. I'm no longer jumping around because I haven't got anything to tell you when I'm too busy revising. And I'm not laughing any more simply because I am too stressed to laugh. I'm too stressed to go to parties like this," that's what he says, but he knows just as much as Hyukjae that he's lying. Studying, really? Out of all the stupid excuses he could have generated, he ended up using the least realistic one.

He snorts to lift the awkward aura surrounding him and ends his speech with some sarcasm, "And i've stopped hitting you because I know your weak self can't withstand my light punches. I'm just that nice to you." 

"Please, Hae. I know exactly what's going on."

"Y-You do?" 

"Yeah." 

Once again, Donghae is terrified. Terrified that he didn't do a good enough job of trying to conceal the thing he's been hiding for a month now. So, Donghae stares at the ground, not being able to look at his best friend in the eye. He's ready to confess until Hyukjae says something first.

"You are lonely." 

"What?"

"You're lonely, right? You need a girlfriend. Or maybe you just want a one night stand. Kyu and Sungmin have girlfriends now and I've seen how you've been staring at them like a sad puppy."

Donghae looks at him dumbfounded, unable to utter a sound, let alone any words. 

"And I know you're not the type to have a one night stand or find a girlfriend this way. I just want you to have some fun, okay? We used to play this all the time in high school and I know you had fun kissing all those girls that wanted to kiss you. The bottle seemed to like you a lot back then." Hyukjae smiles, gums on display.

The younger sighs, not sure if he's relieved or disappointed with Hyukjae's response. "That's all? So we're not playing spin the bottle because Lee Hyukjae hasn't kissed anyone in nine months and is desperate for some lips?" He smiles this time, now that he has calmed down. Maybe it's not such a bad idea to play. Maybe it'll be fun, he thinks. Maybe I'll get over this thing if I get a girlfriend or if he gets a girlfriend, is what he's trying not to think. 

"Okay, that too," the redhead grins. 

***

And here they are, sitting down watching the sixteenth kiss taking place. Although Hyukjae was the one who suggested the game, and although he was doing this for Donghae, the bottle had yet to land on either of them. The fact that the sixteenth kiss was between two hot girls did not excite the older anymore, as he was getting impatient. The younger, however, could not care less. It's not like the kisses mean anything, they're only pecks anyway. For that reason, Donghae didn't get jealous when Hyukjae finally got to kiss the girl on the opposite part of the circle. But when he saw the soft look in his friend's eye directed towards the girl he had just kissed, Donghae felt an ache in his chest. 

"Hey, that girl is kinda cute, don't you think?" Hyukjae whispers to the brunette. "She's totally into me." The latter tries to ignore the discomfort he's feeling. He knows that if Hyukjae gets a girlfriend then it would be much easier for him to get over the crush he had developed over the last month. It's for the best, he says to himself, This is why I played the game in the first place. 

The bottle spins for the twenty-second time and it finally lands on Donghae. He pecks the unfamiliar girl next to him and shifts back to his place as if nothing had just happened. Every time a kiss occurred, there was always some sort of reaction but Donghae had none. The next spin lands on him again and he kisses a different girl. The twenty-fourth and the twenty-fifth kiss belongs to Donghae as well and the other students wonder if the brunette is cheating somehow.

Hyukjae snorts and faces his friend, "I told you the bottle likes you." 

And Hyukjae is right. Because the twenty-sixth spin lands on Donghae again.

"Okay, Donghae. You can't steal all the kisses like this. This is your last one, alright?" Says the slightly annoyed Yesung, who only had the bottle pointed at him once that night.

The brunette nods and makes his way to the girl with long black hair cascading over her shoulders. He notices the hidden blonde highlights peeking through the contrasting ebony strands and immediately recognises her. Yoonhye, the girl in his class who was appointed to be his partner once for a project a few months ago. He nods at her, realising that this time he is not going to be placing his lips on a stranger, but on the lips of one of the few female friends he had made this year.

She skoots nearer to him and whispers, "I'm sorry that you have to kiss me when your lips are about to fall off," and at that, Donghae chuckles for the first time in an hour. 

As he leans in, for the fifth time, he is interrupted by a smirking Heechul. "Wait! Since this is your fifth and final kiss, at least make it interesting. Instead of another peck, you two make out. As in, lips stuck on lips, tongue and biting. For at least ten seconds." Donghae shoots his hyung a glare, not understanding why Heechul would do that to his supposedly favourite dongsaeng. He then turns to Hyukjae, hoping that he could end this, that he could take them home, hoping that maybe - just maybe - Hyukjae does not want Donghae to make out with a girl either. But Donghae's hopes plummet to the ground when Hyukjae nudges him encouragingly. No, of course Hyukjae wouldn't care. Of course he wouldn't get jealous. 

Yoonhye is apologetic and tells Donghae that he doesn't have to do this, so she attempts to leave the circle but only to be pushed back in. 

Let's just get this over with. 

And they do. 

Donghae leans in and only partially closes his eyes. He attaches his thin lips - that are now red due to the fact that he just had to kiss four other people - to Yoonhye's slightly thinner pink ones. Her lips are parted, allowing Donghae to slide his tongue in and explore her sweet taste. He doesn't know why he is abiding by his hyung's requests, but he proceeds to deepen the lip lock and caress the side of her face anyway. The girl is surprised, but she begins to follow the brunette's direction and succeeds in surprising him in return when she nibbles on his lip. Donghae, shocked by this, fails to supress a moan. Finally realising that they are, in fact, kissing in front of a large crowd, they slow the kiss down dramatically and part away embarrassedly. 

The brunette quickly walks over back to his spot next to Hyukjae as he hears Heechul's entertained laugh. "Well.. that was some kiss. I said ten seconds, not minutes, my baby Donghae." And then Donghae acknowledges that he had forgotten to time himself. He glances over to Yoonhye who is still covering her cheeks and makes a face that allows her to know that he's sorry. 

Then he looks over to the redhead next to him, who seemed to be watching that short, silent conversation between the two who had just stuck their tongues down each other's throats. His expression is unreadable, Donghae thinks. The brunette is about to ask the older when Hyukjae suddenly notices that Donghae was staring at him. Instantly, Hyukjae smiles at him and says, "Seems like you enjoyed that, huh? I told you you'd have fun." 

Hyukjae looks back at the bottle and ignores the confused brunette. 

***

The party is over and a slightly drunk Donghae crashes in his bed. He makes a mental note to buy some lip balm tomorrow to cure his swollen and damaged lips. 

He closes his eyes and recalls the kiss with Yoonhye. Not the kiss itself, but something else. 

As he leaned into Yoonhye, he glanced at Hyukjae who was sitting less than a metre behind her. The older was laughing and chanting along with the rest of the boisterous circle. But during the second glance, he noticed a change in expression. Donghae didn't know what the expression meant, which worried him because Donghae always knew how the older felt. 

Maybe he was seeing things. He did forget to wear contacts that night. 

Maybe he was drunk. Hyukjae did make the younger drink a couple bottles of beer before they started playing that damn game.

Donghae doesn't explore any other reasons beyond that point. He doesn't want to want to kid himself any longer. 

Yeah, that's probably it, Donghae thinks. 

-------------------------------------

A/N: oh my god this is so crap i'm sorry

i couldn't even bring myself to proofread it

i'm not cut out for writing at all