Sengkwan in love is a creature Soonyoung has never encountered before. It’s so alien has to blink twice to make sure that it’s really him.

It is. Boo Seungkwan is Best Quality and impossible to imitate, he had retorted. And since nobody quite has Seungkwan’s sharp tongue even when distressed, it has to be him.

Frankly, it’s quite cute. And very sickening. Ever since the moment he stumbled through the doors of the rooftop shed, Soonyoung has seen a side to Seungkwan he’s never quite seen ever before. The word vomit is still there, as with the sharp remarks against Seokmin’s teasing. What a bad best friend. Then again, what else are best friends for?

To observe the stark differences of people in love, Soonyoung guesses. Sure, he’s seen how the normally devilish Jeonghan gets rather soft with Joshua. But then again church boy does have the effect on most people, so it’s not really saying anything. Who’s the real angel here, it sure as hell isn’t Jeonghan. Halo effect from Joshua, maybe. He’s seen how the normally sensible Mingyu becomes a total fool near Wonwoo. But Wonwoo doesn’t change much at all, except become a little less monosyllabic and profit off Mingyu’s food. Damn, Soonyoung wants a boyfriend who can cook too. Or at least buys him nice food. He’s not picky.

Maybe it’s because he’s known Seungkwan for so long that he sees even the smaller changes. How he jumps and freaks out when the phone buzzes, the way he fumbles and hesitates about replying. The clumsy way he composes his a very decent and cute reply before panicking and trying not to reply.

Of course Seokmin steals his phone and presses send for him. Because that’s what best friends are for. Especially brazen best friends who like interfering with each other’s lives.

“NOOOOO!”

“You have to reply sooner or later. She likes you anyway, one bad reply won’t spoil anything.” Soonyoung says when Seungkwan runs to his arms, looking for some consolation. He’s not really upset, probably happy that someone did the hard part for them. But it must be a mess of confusing emotions for him, and Soonyoung knows how they’re supposed to handle the Seungkwan Situation.

Soonyoung is the sweet one, the one who provides the soft reassurances and comforting words. And Seokmin is the tough love, the one who kicks Seungkwan to start working and tells him straight how it’s supposed to be done.

It’s a conventional best friend tag team, one that’s pretty much guaranteed to work.  

And it does work. After an hour of Seokmin’s Very Good love advice (which Soonyoung later found he repeated from his mom), Seungkwan is fired up enough (even though he would have totally done the same thing with or without the pep talk) to ask her out.

Soonyoung wonders why it took so long to reach that conclusion. Then he remembers Junhui and Minghao. Three months, those punks. And they’re even better than the terrible Wonwoo and Mingyu, who’ve been dancing circles around each other for an entire year. So yeah, in context, an hour is really decent.

“Your job isn’t done.” Seokmin hisses after they make sure that Seungkwan doesn’t have a mental breakdown on the way back home. His emotions are even messier than before some mega school event he’s emceeing for, he like the girl that much. Even though it’s a little annoying, the whole thing is too adorable. If only she could see how worried Seungkwan is, she’d like him even more.

But who doesn’t love Boo? Not a heartless Lee Seokmin, who’s already making battle plans for tomorrow. And obviously the number one recruit for this is Kwon Soonyoung. He’s going to do everything to support Boo’s blossoming first love, like Seungkwan would support them. Like how Seungkwan tried so hard to make them get along, how he fearlessly sang for the Rock Band when Seokmin got sick despite his personal fears.

Well, if Seungkwan could see them now he’d be really proud. His two best friends working together to help him, willing spending time together. Except he’s probably has his face buried in his pillows trying to rationalize the last three hours of his life. Three very pleasant hours, Soonyoung thinks.

Seokmin’s house is closer, so for the very first time Soonyoung is seeing the inside of the Physic’s top scorers lair. And there’s nothing dark or scary about it. Just a little messy, some anime figurines lying around because Seokmin is a little nerd like that. Soonyoung barely reacts when he sees Pokemon plushies lying on his table. Instead he gives the little Pikachu a pat on the head.

And of course, the centerpiece of the room is Pony-Pony. Soonyoung just has to get his grubby hands on that. Seokmin opens his mouth in protest, but when Soonyoung tightens his hug on the worn pink plushie he shuts his mouth again.

“I didn’t invite here you to play, okay.” Seokmin says when Soonyoung starts browsing through his bookshelf. Damn, slotted between all his intellectual science fiction books are his manga volumes. A smart guy who doesn’t take himself too seriously and knows how to have fun, where can you find someone like that in the world? Lee Seokmin is that ideal guy, apparently. Who knew? Maybe Seungkwan, who has the best foresight ever.

“Maybe you should invite me over to play then.” Soonyoung says, as he browses the shelves. Aww, how cute. He has those personal improvement books all bookmarked and everything. 10 Ways to be a Nicer Person, how cute can he get? Opening the book makes the snarky creature Seokmin even more squeal-worthy.

“4- Speak Nicely -> not everyone is Boo who bothers to understand that’s just how I speak so I must reduce my snark and speak more nicely!! even though it’s difficult >.< try harder!!

“8- Understand Other People -> just because some people doesn’t mean you should lump everyone into the same category based on some similiarities!! not everyone is a coward just because they don’t have your bravery. I’m brave??? really don’t understand what Soonyoung thinks. but I must try to if I want to be nicer to Soonyoung?

“10- Don’t Judge -> this is super hard okay but I will try! if people sow me a different side and haven’t proven to be bad people I will try to adopt a neutral stance. we don’t want any repeats of Kwon Soonyoung!! no more being mean to nice people!!

So Seokmin was worried about being nice? So much so he got self-help books and made those scrawly handwritten notes about being a good guy to prevent himself from being mean to nice people? Hell, if he had Seokmin’s brains, looks and talent Soonyoung is pretty sure he’d be a jerk. Some self-entitled who thinks he’s the coolest and actually is. Definitely won’t be buying self-help books about being nice after being just a little mean to a classmate.

“Hey, how else do you think Seungkwan will mess up- Hey! Don’t look at that!” Seokmin scrambles from his chair over to snatch the book away from Soonyoung. Face totally red as he tries to force Soonyoung away from the bookshelf.

“That’s not very nice! Weren’t you trying so hard to be a nice person!”

“Not to you, I don’t need to be nice.”

Really, this stupid tall boy says one thing and means the complete opposite. The entire book is littered with reference towards not wanting to be mean to Soonyoung and here he is saying that he doesn’t need to be nice to him. No wonder his life is so hard. Just be honest, he wants to scream. Will not making a sharp remark kill him? Well, it might. Seokmin looks like he very much wants to be dig himself a hole and bury himself inside. The first post-Valentine’s casualty might not be Seungkwan after all, but the pitiful Seokmin.

Seokmin places a whole bunch of books up on the highest bookshelf, away from Soonyoung’s grabby hands. Damn, one of that looks like Seokmin’s diary. Soonyoung should have read that one the first chance he got, he’s made a grave tactical error! Jumping, Soonyoung tries to take down some of these books that Seokmin is so keen on hiding. But like Seungkwan, despite all his martial arts skills he loses against that size and height. Seokmin fences him between the bookshelf and his body, effectively trapping Soonyoung there.

“Be a nice guy and show me your books!”

“No way. I’m not a nice person. I’m a lousy person who buys self-help book to stop myself from being a monster.”

There’s certainty in his eyes, like Seokmin really believes what he’s saying. That he’s that kind of terrible person he’s making himself out to be. Cold and emotionless, someone who might as well be a monster. Barely human.

And even if Soonyoung might have thought so before, he’s certain this isn’t true. Seokmin is so far from being a monster. There’s definitely warm blood flowing through his veins, he cares and feels for people. Would he be trying to save Seungkwan’s from temporary embarrassment and give him a happy love story if he didn’t care? Could he have comforted Soonyoung so well when he was feeling down?

Sure, he isn’t Boo Seungkwan, the epitome of niceness and general human fluffball. But Lee Seokmin isn’t that far behind when it comes to being nice. Once Soonyoung has seen behind the guise of his insults and cutting words he’s seen way too many examples of him being a good guy, of him reaching out and caring for others. His passion in coming to the school festival even when sick, the way he worried about the rest of the (useless) Rock Band embarrassing themselves. How he was happy when Wonwoo and Mingyu got together despite his playful taunting.

So why does he so strongly believe that he’s a terrible human being? Lee Seokmin is so, so far from that.   

“You’re nice. Very nice.”

Seokmin blinks dumbly. The blush on his face doesn’t seem to disappear as he recoils back.

“I mean it! You’re so nice. If other people can’t see that’s their loss.”

There’s this thoughtful silence. Released from Seokmin’s arms, Soonyoung places Pony-Pony into his hands.

“Do you think Seungkwan will make a homemade bento, trip and fall and dash all hopes of impressing the girls with his culinary skills?”

Seokmin looks straight at the screen, but there’s a tension that’s disappeared from his shoulders. So he did get the message. Heh, so much for the cold guy. So easily swayed by sincere words, so good at worrying for the people he cares for.

“A bit far-fetched but sounds possible. Seungkwan can be clumsy.”

Lying next to Seokmin, Soonyoung adds to the ten-page document about the ways they’ll solve every problem Seungkwan will throw for them. There are contingency plans, contingency-upon-contingency-plans and last-ditch attempts at setting everything straight. All which can be carried out by two people.

Man, they’re both great worriers. Topping the level in Physics and worrying, apparently. May Boo Seungkwan never find this document. Or maybe he should, and then they can guilt trip him into doing their bidding. Which just means old anime reruns and pizza. Speaking of pizza, Seokmin’s ordered some. In Soonyoung’s favourite flavour.

It takes them three hours to prepare all the contincency measures. Which include party poppers, empty pizza boxes, string and oversized tee shirts. Don’t ask. It also includes a homemade bento box prepared by Lee Seokmin. Which Soonyoung managed to steal bites of and it tastes pretty good. Kwon Soonyoung can lower his standards, only a Lee Seokmin level cooking to impress him. No need to be a Kim Mingyu level chef. Also, Lee Seokmin’s ability to somehow guess what his favourite pizza flavour is.

Seokmin is truly a man after Soonyoung’s heart. So ideal.

In the end, they don’t need any contingency plans. First thing in the morning, Boo Seungkwan goes to the girl’s class with a small flower and sincerely confesses. The whole scene is way too cute Soonyoung can see the pink flowers surrounding them and the soft romantic music playing. Except that’s just Seokmin playing with his speakers.

And because after all, it is the born-to-be-loved Boo Seungkwan and a girl who already likes him, the answer is obviously yes.

Somehow Soonyoung feels like he and Seokmin are overprotective, overzealous parents fussing over their only child. Strangely enough, that isn’t a bad feeling.

He won’t lie. Getting to eat the bento is also a definite highlight.  

a/n: hope ya'll enjoy this chapter ^.^ all your comments are the sweetest and give me strength uwu