"Jihoon… Earth to Jihoon… Look out!"

A harsh tug pulled Jihoon from his daydreams. He blinked in confusion, reality coming surging back to him. He looked to Wonwoo for an explanation for the rude awakening but the other boy merely pointed in the direction of the pole he had been about to collide head first with.

"Oh, sorry… Were you saying something?" Jihoon changed directions to bypass the obstacle and Wonwoo followed behind him at a safe distance. Usually the two didn’t walk together to morning classes but because Jihoon had nearly burned the kitchen down from forgetting to turn off the stove Wonwoo had decided to keep a close eye on him while he could.

"What is wrong with you?" Wonwoo looked skeptical. "You’ve been spacing out ever since you came back this weekend."

Jihoon could only shrug, fiddling with the straps of his backpack because even he couldn’t come up with a good explanation. "I’ve just had a lot on my mind I guess."

"Really. That’s the only thing bothering you." Wonwoo clearly didn’t look convinced. "Care to share any of those 
thoughts?"

The pink hair boy finally turned fully to look at his friend. Wonwoo was speaking in a joking tone but Jihoon could tell he was serious. They hadn't known each other for long but Wonwoo had quickly become one of his closest friends, and it warmed his heart that he was genuinely worried for him, but also respectful enough that he would back off if it was what Jihoon truly wanted.

"Something… Unexpected happened last weekend," Jihoon finally admitted, voice trailing off. Wonwoo deserved the truth.

"Anything I can do?" Wonwoo asked when they stopped in front of Jihoon’s classroom. 

But Jihoon merely shook his head. He felt guilty over making the other boy worry when there wasn’t anything he could do. This was something he was going to need to adjust to by himself. "No, don’t worry about it. I’ll work through it myself. I just need a bit of time." Then he smiled, just to further assure him that he would be fine.

Wonwoo seemed to be able to sense that the smile was forced, but he didn’t push the factor. "Alright. Do what you need to do, but let me know if you need anything." He then grinned and ruffled the younger boys hair, who cringed out of his grasp. "See you at dinner? Maybe we can bribe Mingyu into cooking for us tonight."

Jihoon chuckled as he attempted to fix his hair strands back into place. "Sounds like a plan. Forget bribery though, I have some blackmail we can use."

Wonwoo chuckled and waved goodbye. However before Jihoon could get far into the classroom he was suddenly grabbed around the shoulders.

"If it isn't my favorite Bronze!" Lee Seokmin said, a cheeky grin on his face. "Listen, my lovely Ice Prince, the coldest of them all… I need a favor."

He barely let Jihoon get a word in as he pulled him towards his desk. "You'll never get a favor if you keep calling me that," Jihoon sniffed, exasperated. It was a stupid nickname that had somehow stuck. Even Seungcheol had started calling him that.

"Sorry, sorry," Seokmin chuckled. "What would you prefer? Dark Lord? Voldehoon? Hannibal Lee?"

Jihoon was not amused. "Do you want my help or not?"

"Please," Seokmin said quickly, appearing strained. He grabbed his notebook and hesitantly held it out. "I was supposed to have half my work done for my project by the beginning of class today but I have about… Two percent of it worth presenting."

Jihoon gaped, flipping through Seokmin’s notes which consisted of more doodles than actual words.

"Yuju is going to kill me," he moaned pitifully.

"Yes, she is," Jihoon murmured, frowning as he flipped through the pages. "Did you even attempt to do any work?"

"I swear, I tried!" Seokmin showed him a couple pages where he had at least gotten a few facts. "It’s just… This weekend I had so much homework, and my radio DJing gig took up a lot of time, and whenever I tried to focus it was just so boring." He turned his puppy eyes toward Jihoon, practically on his knees beginning. "Please. Help me. Do you want to see my body hanging off the roof of the school after Yuju dismembers me and sets me on fire?"

Jihoon couldn’t contain the laugh that escaped his throat. "I mean, it’d be quite the sight…"

Seokmin desperately grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "It’s not even a joke and you know it. She’ll really kill me. You won’t be laughing when you see my broken body in a hospital bed."

Jihoon sighed, though a small genuine smile had made its way onto his face. Who would have thought that it would be Seokmin that would be the one to cheer him up. "You’re going to owe me big time," Jihoon said, already picking up his pencil and skipping to a couple of blank pages.

"Anything, I owe you my life," Seokmin answers, hilarious serious. Jihoon merely chuckled, but his mind was elsewhere as he pulled facts from the top of his head for their topic. It wouldn’t be good work, but at least it would be something to spare his life.

"Why didn’t you ask Soonyoung for help?" The name was still strange on the tip of his tongue, but if they were going to be friends than he needed to get used to addressing him by his real name.

Seokmin pouted, sitting on the edge of the desk with his arms crossed over his chest like a child. "I would have, but that jerk never answers his text messages! He was in Busan the whole weekend for work, so he was even ignoring his best friend!" Then when Jihoon wasn’t looking, in order to gauge his reaction, he added, "He must have been with his wife."

The tip of the pencil broke in his grip and Jihoon swore in surprise, quickly erasing the ugly line he had made by mistake. He fumbled through his bag for a new pencil but Seokmin quickly handed him a pen. Without responding, Jihon went back to work, eyebrows furrowed in concentration but body visibly more tense.

Seokmin observed him carefully as he worked. He was a naturally curious person, and the relationship between Jihoon and Soonyoung was the most mysterious one he had encountered. He wanted to know what was going on between them and if Soonyoung wasn’t going to tell him, than he had other ways of finding out. "Fiancé, I mean," Seokmin teased when he noticed how flustered Jihoon seemed to grow.

Again, Jihoon ignored him, and quickly finished up the work before shoving the notebook into his chest. "There, that should be enough to save your life." He attempted to joke but his voice came out strained.

The brown-haired boy returned the smile, but a mysterious glint remained in his gaze. Jihoon had to remember they needed to be wary of Seokmin, he was too curious for his own good. "Thanks Jihoon, you’re a lifesaver!"

Jihoon collected his things, but before he could go back to his seat the classroom door swung open and immediately their classmates began whispering among themselves. He wasn’t surprised when Kwon Soonyoung strode through the doors, looking as sleek and put together as always.

The young man had earphones in, but he pulled them out once he neared his seat. "Hey Seokmin," he said, and then to Jihoon’s utter surprise, a smile made its way onto his face when he met Jihoon’s gaze. "Good morning."

Jihoon really should have been prepared, but the sudden change in attitude in public made him stumble in surprise. It was a complete three sixty from how Soonyoung usually treated him in class. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and heat rising to his face. "Good morning," he responded, and before either of them could say a word he grabbed his things and sprinted back to his seat.

Seokmin was left gaping in surprise, alternating between Soonyoung who was nonchalantly getting ready for class and Jihoon who was practically hiding behind his desk. "Now, hold up," he said, holding up his hands and turning fully towards his friend. "Since when has this been going on?"

Soonyoung didn’t even turn to look at him. "I don’t know what you're talking about."

Seokmin leaned forward and hooked an arm around his friends shoulder, physically turning him in Jihoon’s direction. The poor thing was bent over his textbook, not daring to look up. "You, getting all buddy-buddy with the Ice Prince himself."

"Jihoon and I?" Soonyoung questioned, as if it was the most obvious thing ever. "Jihoon and I are friends."

Before Seokmin could find the words to nicely comment that Soonyoung didn’t really have friends, the older boy had already stood from his seat and was making his way across the classroom.

Jihoon, who had been pointedly ignoring them, started when Soonyoung slid into the chair beside him. "I almost forgot," he said, not seeming to notice or care about the strange sight of them sitting together in public. "I finished most of the outline for the project but I wanted you to take a look at it. If it’s good, then we won’t really have much to do other than finish the poster and write up the paper. Maybe later tonight I could stop by your dorm and we could go over it together?" And then Soonyoung smiled and Jihoon was taken aback by the bright, genuine smile that spread across his face. There was no way he could have said no.

"Sure, come over anytime," Jihoon managed to choke out.

People were beginning to stare. Everyone knew they were partners in a project together, but usually they worked in silence and Soonyoung was known to keep his conversations with others to a minimum. But this was different. Jihoon could read it in his posture, but he seemed like he was completely and utterly comfortable speaking with Jihoon. And it seemed others had begun to notice.

"Alright, I’ll text you." Soonyoung stood from his chair, but then suddenly stopped like he had remembered something. He held out his phone, and when their gazes met Jihoon could see the hesitance and apologetic glint in his gaze.

Jihoon wordlessly took his phone and carefully entered his phone number in.

"I’ll text you," he repeated softly.

-

"Jihoon… You’re doing it again."

For the hundredth time that day Jihoon had to drag himself from the depths of his daydreams to reality. Their group consisting of himself, Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Hansol, were gathered in their apartment for dinner and were all staring at Jihoon in concern.

"He’s been acting like this all day," Hansol whispered not so quietly, exchanging glances with Wonwoo.

"He didn’t eve pay attention in math, and he loves math!" Mingyu exclaimed, expertly chopping vegetables and putting them into the kimchi stew he was making.

"I hate math," Jihoon responded.

"He speaks," Hansol gasped and Jihoon glared at him. They were all acting like he was on his deathbed.

At that Mingyu looked even more confused than before if that was possible. "I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to be good at math and hate the subject… You have to be like, dead inside to be good at math." At the glare that Jihoon sent him, he quickly added, "Not that I’m saying you’re dead inside! Not at all…" 

Jihoon sighed and decided ignoring them was the best idea. He knew he was being spacey, but they were all acting like it was the end of the world. There wasn’t anything they could do anyway, he was going to have to overcome his feelings by himself. He just needed some time. At least he hoped.

"Is this about Jeonghan or Seungcheol?" Wonwoo asked, apparently not about to let the topic go. "Did something happen again?"

"No, that can’t be it. I would have heard something about it by now," Mingyu stated with certainty.

"That’s true, the whole school would have been talking about it by now."

Jihoon felt his eye twitch. He had to remind himself that he was hanging out with his friends, not a bunch of gossips.

"Is it Kwon Soonyoung?" Hansol suddenly asked, innocent and kind as he always was.

Jihoon’s jaw dropped just as Mingyu began spluttering.

"Whoa! Hold on a second," Mingyu said in disbelief, throwing down the ladle he had been using to mix the soup. "Since when has something been going on with Kwon Soonyoung?"

Wonwoo turned towards Jihoon skeptically. "I didn’t even know you knew Soonyoung."

"I didn’t know you knew him either," Jihoon attempted, but there was no way of escaping the topic now. Mingyu and Wonwoo had jumped on the topic like sharks attracted to blood. For a moment Jihoon regretted his whole life. Hansol at least looked apologetic.

Mingyu and Wonwoo exchanged glances. "We’re familiar with me," Wonwoo said, which didn’t clear anything up.

"Are you dating Kwon Soonyoung?" Mingyu asked, nearly jumping across the table for answers. Jihoon couldn’t quite tell whose side he was on.

"No, of course not!" Jihoon spluttered, pushing the boy back into his chair.

"You really can’t stay out of trouble, can you? First Jeonghan and Seungcheol, and now Kwon Soonyoung. Are you sure you don’t want to be a Golden Boy or something? Because you sure have a death wish."

"Nothing’s going on with Soonyoung, I swear," Jihoon assured quickly. "And I don’t have any interest in the Golden Boys."

"Jihoon’s right, nothing happened," Hansol added, looking like he was trying to salvage the situation. "It’s just… I thought… Something may have… Been going on?" Jihoon snapped a glare at the younger boy because he was not helping, and Hansol shut his mouth and shrugged meekly.

"Really," Wonwoo didn’t look entirely convinced. "It would explain why you're so spaced out lately though. Did something happen with Soonyoung?"

"Nothing happened, I swear!" Jihoon slammed his hands down on the table, making the group jump at the sudden sound. "Now, just drop it. Please."

Mingyu looked like he was itching to ask questions, but Wonwoo held him back. "Alright, fine. If you're sure, I trust you Jihoon." The conversation was finished, but the look in his gaze said that he wouldn’t be letting the topic go too soon.

"Thank you," Jihoon said, deflating in his seat. Hansol started rubbing his shoulder, smiling apologetically.

"Fine! Keep your gossip to yourself, but know that I will find out somehow," Mingyu promised. Jihoon had no doubt.

Mingyu turned off the heat from the stove and picked up the large pot he had been cooking in. "Let us take a break from the interrogation to eat!"

However it didn’t seem they would have to wait too long for answers because as they were sitting around the table to eat their first bites of dinner, the doorbell rang.

And standing in the doorway was the last person Jihoon had wanted to see.

Kwon Soonyoung.

-

The atmosphere in the apartment had taken a dip when Soonyoung showed up, like a blanket of awkwardness had descended upon the group. Before Jihoon could do anything, Mingyu had dragged Soonyoung in to stay for dinner and there had been no chance for escape. 

Wonwoo was quietly eating to his hearts content, minding his own business, but Mingyu couldn’t contain all the side glances he was making, and Hansol was outright staring in shock.

Jihoon was hoping the floor would swallow him whole but universe was clearly not on his side.

"So… Nice seeing you after all these years," Mingyu said bluntly and Wonwoo shot him a glare. "What are you doing here?"

Soonyoung carefully ate his meal, and although he seemed impassive Jihoon could tell from the light tapping of his foot that he was anxious. He cast a sideways glance in Jihoon’s direction like it was his fault that this whole situation had occurred. Jihoon returned the glare half heartedly, Soonyoung was the one with his number! "Jihoon and I are working on a school project for anatomy, we were going to work on it tonight."

"Right," Mingyu said, looking unconvinced, "You and Jihoon. In his dorm. All alone…" Before Mingyu could continue Jihoon kicked him in the shin and he let out a sharp yelp at the sudden pain.

"Jihoon and I are friends," Soonyoung smiled.

Mingyu dropped his spoon, Hansol gasped, Jihoon’s jaw dropped in shock, and even Wonwoo looked up from his food.

"You have friends?" Mingyu asked and Jihoon couldn’t kick him soon enough.

A disappointed, gloomy look fell across Soonyoung’s gaze and he lowered his head, staring at the table with a sad smile.

"How did you and Jihoon meet?" Hansol spoke up, voice shy and quiet. 

"Ah," Soonyoung glanced at Jihoon, and then surprisingly cast a quick look in Wonwoo’s direction. "Jihoon and I met while I was on vacation in Busan."

"Then why have you been acting like you haven't known Jihoon?" Hansol asked bluntly, voice still quiet and shy. Jihoon started coughing violently on his meal and Soonyoung’s jaw dropped. Hansol glanced between the two, absentmindedly patting Jihoon on the back. "Was I not supposed to ask that?"

"Alright, I think we’re done here," Jihoon said quickly to break the atmosphere, taking a last bit of his meal and sitting up. "Come on Soonyoung, let’s go into my room and work on the project."

"In your room?" Mingyu squeaked out. "Alone?"

It was Wonwoo that shoved him this time and Jihoon sent his friend a thankful glance before gathering his plates and bringing them to the sink. Before Soonyoung could follow him, Wonwoo caught him by the sleeve of his shirt. 

"Make sure you see me before you leave," he said quietly. Soonyoung stared blankly at him before tugging his sleeve out of his grasp and following Jihoon into his room.

Once they were alone Jihoon closed the door tightly behind them and collapsed into a chair, motioning for Soonyoung to make himself comfortable. "I am so sorry about them," Jihoon said, knowing his face was probably bright red. "They were completely out of line."

Soonyoung smiled lightly, taking a seat at the desk and pulling out the materials for the project. "Don’t worry about it. I was the one who showed up without warning. Sorry, I should have texted you."

"It’s okay, don’t worry about it," Jihoon brushed his concern off and  the two shared a smile. Now that they were alone Soonyoung seemed to relax, the tenseness flowing from his body and becoming brighter.

"How do you know Wonwoo and Mingyu?" Jihoon asked curiously. Now that he thought about it, Wonwoo seemed to know a lot of the Golds but the other had never offered any explanation.

A shadow fell over Soonyoung’s gaze. "You don’t have to tell me," Jihoon cut in, sensing his hesitance. He had to remind himself that there was a lot of things he still didn’t know about. 

Soonyoung paused, before seeming to steel himself in response. "No, I’ll tell you. We’re friends now, right? That is what friends should do."

Jihoon nodded encouragingly and Soonyoung took a deep breath, his eyes looking into a distance only he could see. "We've known each other since we were young. We used to be friends."

"You, Wonwoo and Mingyu?" Jihoon asked, surprised. It wasn’t the answer that he had been expecting. They didn’t act like childhood friends, or friends at all.

Soonyoung nodded, looking almost apprehensive about what he was about to say.

"All of us. Myself, Wonwoo, Mingyu, Jeonghan, Seungcheol… And Doyoon."

-----

(A/N: ... Its been thirteeen years...

But yeah lol Im sorry guys this keeps happening. Im trying my best!!! Thank you for being so patient!

Enjoy this update! A bit of a filler, but it helps distinguish the growing relationship between Jihoon and Soonyoung. Also Hansol and Mingyu dont know when to stop talking lol

MORE MYSTERY!!!)