{Pledis University Dorms}

October 5

    When Jun awoke, he had a pounding headache and a nagging sense of unease. Groaning he rolled over, blearily reaching for his phone. 9:02 AM. What the hell? He let out another, slightly louder groan. Who the hell woke up so early after a late night of partying? All he wanted to do was roll over, snuggle up to Minghao, and go back to sleep. Maybe if he was lucky they could kiss a little bit too, but only if Minghao wanted to. He would understand if he didn’t. It was still quite early and although his boyfriend wasn’t quite Jihoon-level when it came to sleep deprivation, he knew that he despised being woken up early (but let’s be real here, who doesn’t?). But maybe today Minghao would be up for it, and just the very thought left a smile on his face. A smile that froze in place, his body stiffening as he realized what was wrong: No Minghao.

    Panicked, he scrambled for his phone, fumbling to unlock it as he rolled out of bed. No missed calls, no unopened texts, what the hell was going on? He nearly tripped as he stumbled over to his closet, pulling out the first pair of sweatpants he saw and yanking them on over his boxers. Was he okay? When had he left? Why hadn’t he told Jun about it? Where was he?

    “Hyung, stop making so much noise.” Mingyu whined, rolling over on his bed and staring pointedly at his best friend/roommate, who was wearing backwards sweat pants and a rumpled tshirt, his hair an absolute mess. “It’s too early!”

    “Mingyu!” Jun turned, frantically latching onto his friend, tightly clasping his blanket-covered shoulders. “Have you heard anything from/about Minghao?”

    “Soonyoung texted me last night saying that Jihoon was taking Minghao home,” At this, Jun sighed, his entire body slumping from relief as Mingyu watched him cautiously. “But he also said that Minghao was upset and that he was crying when he called Jihoon.”

    “What?” Jun’s head snapped up, eyes meeting Mingyu’s concerned gaze.

    “What the hell did you even do, hyung?”

    “That’s the thing,” He whispered, staring down at his fingers. “I have no idea.”

*******

    After a hot shower and some surprisingly rational conversation with Mingyu, Jun had calmed down a little bit, eaten some toast, taken medicine for his headache, and developed a rational plan for how to proceed moving forward. A plan which involved texting Soonyoung and begging to know both a) where Minghao was currently located and b) what he had done to upset the younger to the point of tears. Then it involved a lot of pleading and begging for forgiveness if the situation called for it. He’d have to play it by ear really, but that was hardly the point at the moment. The point was that his boyfriend was upset with him and he had no idea what he’d done wrong in the first place.

Today 10:10 AM

Me

> SOONYOUNG

> PLEASE ANSWER ME
> PLEASE
> I’M GOING TO SPAM UNTIL YOU DO

> S
> O
> O
> N

> Y

> O

> U

> N

> G

> S

> O

> O

> N

> Y

> O

> U

10:10

> OH MY GOD
> I WAS IN THE BATHROOM

> WTH U WANT

Me

> I think you that you know what I want

10:10

> …

> Maybe I do

Me

> I know you do

10:10

> Wow

> Actual correct grammar

> And no abbreviations

> Im impressed

Me

> Please help me

> That’s how serious I am

> Please Soonyoung

> I just want to know where he is

> I need to know if he’s okay

> I need to see him

10:10

> He’s w/me and Jihoon

> But I dont think he’s ok

> I haven’t talked to him since last night

> But Jihoonie has

> And he’s been muttering smth about murdering u in ur sleep

> I think u really messed up

> Wht did u even do?

Me

> I DONT KNOW WHAT I DID

> THAT’S THE PROBLEM

> PLEASE HELP ME

> IM DESPERATE

10:10

> …

> Idk

> Jihoonie would probably kill me

> Or u

> Most likely u

Me

> PLEASE SOONYOUNG

> Just let me see him

> Give me a chance to talk to him

> sort out this mess

> I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding

10:10

> U rlly have no idea wht u did?

Me

> I HAVE NO CLUE

> WE WERE HAVING FUN @ THE CLUB

10:10

> Ur absolutely sure nothing strange happened?

> U didn’t say anything weird

> Or do anything?

Me

> NO
> We were having a good time

> He was laughing

> I was laughing

> Things were going well

> Then I got a call from my cousin

> …

> SH*T

10:10

> Ur cousin?

Me

> SH*T

> I THINK I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED

10:10

> U sure about that?

Me

> YES

> AND I HAVE TO SEE HIM
> I NEED TO MAKE THIS RIGHT

10:10

> …

> I don’t know…

Me

> PLEASE SOONYOUNG
> I know that I can fix this

10:10

> Fine

> Be here in ten minutes

> Minghao’s still asleep

> So is Jihoon

> Don’t wake Jihoonie up if u value ur life

Me

> You think I don’t know that already?

> But seriously Soonyoung

> Thank you

> I’m on my way

> Screw ten minutes

> I’ll be there in seven

*******

    Jun had always appreciated the apartment building within which his friends resided. It was built with a classic elegance, one which made him want to throw tea parties and eat crumpets but that was neither here nor there. Now was hardly the appropriate time to admire it, what with the whole treasured-relationship-in-crisis issue. All he he could focus on was how to phrase his apology well enough so that it was clear that he had done nothing wrong but also equally clear that he was not blaming Minghao for jumping to conclusions. He had been practicing it the entire run from his dorm and he felt as if he had finally come up with the perfect explanation.

     He would begin by carefully explaining that his cousin was visiting from China and they had been in contact for the last few days. She had wanted to meet up and it had seemed like perfect timing, considering that she was dying to meet Minghao since he was pretty much all Jun talked about these days. Then he would go on a long and incredibly cheesy rant about how wonderful Minghao was, talking about every single little thing that he loved about the other boy, which, spoiler alert, would be pretty much everything. That would continue until Minghao blushed, possibly hit him, and told him to shut up. Finally he would wrap everything up with a long-winded, full-blown apology centering around how stupid he was for not telling Minghao everything to begin with. It was the perfect plan, one which he thought to be nearly fool proof. But he still had a back up which involved lots of begging, crying, and pleading just in case his brilliant plan failed. Their ship was strong but even the Titanic sank after all, and that was supposed to be unsinkable.

     After the whole apology was dealt with, Jun was secretly hoping that they could go out on a date and hold hands and make out a lot. Jun enjoyed doing lots of things with Minghao but making out was definitely one of his favorites, one which, fingers crossed would make an appearance later that day, but only time would tell.

     So, needless to say, Jun was prepared for the absolute worst when he rang the bell to Jihoon and Soonyoung’s apartment, taking a second to appreciate their lemon-yellow door (as opposed to the usual five) as he waited for it to be opened. During the seven-minute run from his dorm room to his current location, he thought that he had run through every possible scenario imaginable, but apparently he was wrong. Nothing, nothing could have prepared him for the smiling face he was met with as the door swung open.

     “Hey.” Minghao grinned at him, laughing ever so slightly at the rather comical expression of shock frozen on Jun’s face. “You might want to close your mouth before something flies into it. I heard from Jihoon that they’ve been having a problem lately with flies.”

     “But I, you, you’re..” He spluttered after coughing awkwardly and trying his best to avoid swallowing any miscellaneous insects (not that he saw any buzzing around, it was just a risk which he did not want to have to take).

     “Supposed to be mad at you?” Jun nodded enthusiastically. “I woke up like right after you stopped texting Soonyoung. He explained things to me. Besides I’m… I’m a bit of an over-emotional drunk.” Minghao colored a little bit at the last statement, he did not like to disclose the fact that, when pumped up on alcohol, he cried at pretty much the drop of a hat (he had learned his lesson in high school at a crazy party when he had started crying because someone ate the last bag of doritos). It was one of the reasons why he avoided drinking. That and the fact that he could gather some pretty awesome blackmail to later use with his friends when he wanted something (it was quite the effective strategy, earning him several free lunches, an obscenely large gummy bear, and one obnoxiously sized inflatable cactus, but that was a story for another day).

     “You’re an emotional drunk?” Jun’s brain was all over the place given the latest revelation. As far as mornings went, it as one of the craziest that he had ever experienced, full of more ups and downs and twists and turns that your average roller coaster and it wasn’t even ten o’clock yet (but if all mornings were like this, then Jun was glad that he slept until at least eleven each day).

     “You’re an emotional drunk!” He laughed, clutching Minghao’s shoulders as the younger watched his boyfriend experience what he thought was some kind of mental breakdown, but then again it wasn’t like he had much experience with mental breakdowns. “Of course you are, you adorable little ball of fluff. Of course you’re an emotional drunk! It all makes so much sense! All of your repressed desires and emotions, I can’t believe I didn’t know this sooner!”

     “Oh my god, I was so worried when I woke up this morning! But this, this is the best possible scenario! I thought that you would hate my guts but instead you just get a little bit weepy when ya hit the drinky-drinky,” Jun mimed tipping a beer bottle back. His intense joy lasted for approximately another 30 seconds before he seemingly snapped back to his senses, his face taking on a more somber expression. “But seriously though, you’re okay right?”

     “I think so, Soonyoung explained what you told him about the girl being your cousin?” Minghao shrugged, fidgeting a little uncomfortably. “It’s just that… That my past relationship didn’t end so well. I was still living in China and my boyfriend, he was biual, ended up cheating on me with one of our female friends.”

     “I had no idea, I’m so sorry.”

     “It’s okay, it’s all in the past now. It’s just that we were together for several years. Honestly, I know that I saw the signs coming, but I chose to ignore them. I was deluding myself into thinking that we were happy when we weren’t and probably hadn’t been for a while. I don’t know. Afterwards I was upset, yes, but I just felt so stupid. So stupid and so betrayed.”

     “Minghao, if I had known I would never-”

     “No, I know. It’s okay now. To be honest, I didn’t even know that it still bothered me until I saw her with you and it all just came back. I’m sorry for putting you through all this.”

     Minghao looked sad, adorably so, but to be fair, Jun thought all of his emotions, even the icky ones, were more adorable than most people’s. He stared at Minghao for a minute, cute, fluffy, feisty Minghao, who sometimes seemed as if he could fight the whole world and win. Jun stared at him and Minghao stared back, and then they were embracing each other, Jun enjoying the way Minghao felt in his arms, enjoying his fresh but slightly spicy scent, enjoying the warmth seeping off of his skin.

     “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay,” He murmured against Minghao’s hair, pressing a kiss against his scalp. “That would never happen with me, trust me. I mean come on girls? They’re pretty and all but I don’t exactly swing that way.” He allowed his hands to drift lower ever so slightly.

     “In fact,” He whispered, hands straying even lower still. “I’m pretty sure that I’m something else entirely. Some kind of Minghaomoual.” And with that, he punctuated his statement with a squeeze to, well, Minghao’s assets, causing the younger boy to squeal rather loudly and spring back.

     “JUN, WHAT THE HELL”

     “What?” Jun grinned rakishly, jumping back and attempting to avoid the multitude of light punches and slaps that the other boy was throwing his way, along with a copious amount of swearing in mandarin.

     “I hate to interrupt this little love fest but you might want to come inside before you wake up the entire floor.” Jihoon stared at them blankly, his hair still ruffled from sleep, sticking up in odd directions. “I’d hurry if I were you. It would be a shame if someone threw a brick at you one your way in. Wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt…”

     “We must have woken him up,” Minghao whispered to Jun as they finally entered the apartment. It was a lot cleaner than the last time that Minghao had been over, a lot of the excess boxes and random piles of semi-useless belongings had been put away, and it actually looked like a place which people had been inhabiting for a while as opposed to one which had been moved into within the last few weeks.

     “Hey guys,” Soonyoung was lounging in the small living room, body draped lazily over their large, heavily cushioned couch. “Not that I mean to make everything awkward but if you’re going to make out or whatever please do it in like the bathroom or something.”

     If Minghao was drinking anything then he would’ve spit it out, but fortunately neither Jihoon nor Soonyoung were good enough hosts to have offered them anything to drink (but to be fair it had been a rather eventful morning for all parties involved. Jun and Minghao had rather anticlimactically resolved their relationship issues while Soonyoung had managed to convince Jihoon not to kill anyone after being woken up early) .

     “While I appreciate the the sentiment, we won’t be doing any of that.”

     “But Minghaaoooo, they’re practically offering!” Jun whined, clinging to his boyfriend much like a koala.

     “No they’re not. That’s why Soonyoung had to specify an acceptable location.” Minghao unceremoniously shoved his boyfriend away from him, only to have him come creeping back like some form of overly-touchy boomerang.

     “I mean he’s not wrong… I don’t want to have to think about you guys gettin’ it on while I’m taking a crap.”

     “Soonyoung! Why would you even get my hopes up like that it’s cruel.”

     “It’s not his fault you only think about two things,” Jihoon pushed one of Soonyoung’s starfish limbs aside before flopping down on the couch next to him.

     “Hey!” Jun frowned, his brow scrunching adorably. “I think about at least three things.”

     Jihoon only snorted. “Now, do you guys want to get something to eat? I’m not used to being up at this ungodly hour and I’m starving.”

     “When are you not starving though?” Soonyoung rolled over, poking at Jihoon’s stomach.

     “When I’m sleeping.”

     “Touché” [A/N I just got a macbook bc my old laptop broke and for the first time ever I know how to add accents! I’m so happy! \(^▽^)/]

     “I’m down with anything except Ah Yeah.” Minghao visibly shuddered. “I just don’t want to have to put up with Wonwoo and Mingyu right now.”

     “Yeah they seriously need to get into each other’s pants already.”

     “HOSHI!”

     “He’s not wrong,” Jun grinned earning him a slap from Minghao, which he took as a fantastic sign. Minghao was always slappy when he was in a good mood. “How about that bowling alley?”

     “Don’t even joke about that.” Soonyoung shivered. “I can still taste those french fries.”

     “Adore U then? I could really go for some red-velvet waffles right about now.” 

     “Sounds good.”

     “Great!” Jihoon stood up, stretching. “Now give me just a minute to appropriately gather my soul and we can head out!”

[A/N]

I think that I’m really starting to fall in love with this fic again, so I might delete my “Important Update” but idk man at this point (I’m sorry for being so wishy-washy).

On the bright side, we’ve finally moved past the infernal party chapters! I low-key did not enjoy writing them as much as the usual stuff, so I’m excited to move forward as I have lots of ideas! Expect Verkwan, Soonhoon (I’m not saying they’re my favorite pairing in this fic, but that’s exactly what I’m saying), and Seokmin coming up! I’ve got some fun content planned, so please stick with me!