Junhwe was mindlessly playing with the hem of his white hoodie, keeping his gaze cast downwards as he felt the awkwardness of the air. The three of them were sitting in the main yard under a tree, basking in the sun rays that managed to get through the hurdles of leaves. No one was speaking and remained utterly silent as minutes ticked by, choosing instead to stare at one another nervously.

As always, it ended up being Jinhwan who spoke up first, being the oldest and definitely the most mature out of the three of them.

“So you’re a Hybrid too.” Jinhwan stated, trying to break the ice.

Donghyuk nodded. “Lycos mother and human father.”

Jinhwan hummed in thoughts. The elder then glanced at Junhwe with a small smile and back at Donghyuk.

“No need to be so tense, boys.” He said with a small laugh.

Junhwe felt his own lips stretch out in a smile. After all, it wasn’t that big of a deal if Donghyuk was a Hybrid too, Junhwe should even be happy. He could be completely at ease with him now that Junhwe knew he was aware of the Lycos world too.

Donghyuk let out a small mellow laugh as well before he stretched his arms above his head and slowly lying down on the grass, looking up dreamily at the blue sky.

“I’m just a bit confused.” He then said. “You’re the first Hybrid I’ve ever met, Junhwe, and I wasn’t even sure you really were one since you weren’t saying anything.”

Junhwe hummed in thoughts as he remembered all of their interactions. He would have never guessed that Donghyuk wasn’t human either. He wouldn’t have guessed that Donghyuk was just like himself.

“What confuses me is your nose.” Jinhwan stated as he glanced up at the sky as well.

Junhwe looked up to Donghyuk’s face, seeing the way his friend seemed to tense up, before bringing his eyes downwards to meet Jinhwan’s, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Ever heard of Achroma before?” Donghyuk said, his voice enigmatic.

Jinhwan seemed to tense up as well but nodded stiffly nonetheless. Junhwe was thankful for his training sessions with Taehyung since he remembered pretty well their talk on Achroma. Many Lycoi regarded the Colorless as wolves with no morals that had given up on their own kind.

“I grew up with them, my mother is part of it.” Donghyuk explained, his face closed and shoulders tensed.

“Did they somehow teach you how to use your nose like a Lycos?” Jinhwan asked, genuine curiosity obvious in his voice.

Donghyuk seemed to relax a bit more from the lack of animosity in Jinhwan’s attitude. Junhwe could understand his friend’s reluctance. From what he had heard, Achroma was definitely not something regular Lycoi liked or enjoyed conversing about. But Junhwe knew that Jinhwan wasn’t the type of person to mind such details.

“They simply saw me as another Pup so I just attended the regular training lessons.” Donghyuk explained, cheeks reddening from the awestruck stare Jinhwan was giving him.

Junhwe wouldn’t admit it, but he wished Jinhwan would look at him that way instead. Junhwe knew he was being childish.

“That’s amazing.” Jinhwan whispered, eyes shining. “Junhwe is so human-like, I had no idea other Hybrids could be so similar to regular Lycoi.”

Junhwe tried really hard not to take it the wrong way, but with how Jinhwan was staring at Donghyuk as if he was some Greek God made him feel even more aware of his lack of ability. Jinhwan was right, he and Donghyuk were exactly the same, but his friend was no disgrace to the Lycos kind. Just like Jinhwan, he could smell the different emotions, feel attraction based on smell, recognize people from mere scents… Junhwe’s last hope was that Donghyuk was too far to be able to smell Jinhwan’s sweet honey scent, he wanted to keep that for himself only.

“I’m not really that great.” Donghyuk said sheepishly, before continuing. “I’m sure Junhwe can do that too if taught how.”

Junhwe’s head shot right back to his friend’s face, meeting Donghyuk’s warm eyes in silence. From what he had gathered with Taehyung, he had no amazing physical ability, was always tired and clumsy, was as silent as a sneezing elephant and had no hope whatsoever of ever being a good Lycos. Junhwe really doubted that, even with good training, that he would ever succeed in being remotely close to being able to differentiate smells.

Maybe he could just say that, like Dongmin, he had been born with a bad nose.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Junhwe said slowly, watching warily as Jinhwan’s eyebrows rose in surprise and Donghyuk’s face fell.

“I think it would be a very good idea, though.” Jinhwan stated, glancing between Donghyuk and Junhwe with a small smile. “You’d be safer that way.”

Junhwe looked from Donghyuk’s doubtful face to Jinhwan’s happy one, locking eyes with the elder in silence. He could see the genuine concern in the man’s dark eyes and Junhwe knew that it probably would be for the best, and yet he couldn’t help but feel like it would be a waste of time.

“I can surely try to teach you, buddy.” Donghyuk then said, offering Junhwe a bright smile.

Junhwe looked between Jinhwan’s hopeful eyes and his friend’s delighted grin and found himself unable to decline the proposal. It was with a long sigh that Junhwe finally nodded, signing for what he didn’t know yet to be long hours of endless training on the few days where he had no courses.

“So basically, it’s all about focus.” Donghyuk assured as he stuffed his mouth with another spoonful of vanilla ice cream.

Junhwe nodded silently as he swallowed down his own strawberry flavoured sweet.

Jinhwan had needed to attend a class and had left them a few minutes ago, letting the two of them free to hang out to that marvellous ice cream place. Junhwe reckoned what he was currently eating had been brought from Heaven itself. It tasted too perfect to be real.

Unfortunately, Junhwe couldn’t really give all his attention to his heavenly tasting as Donghyuk was already trying to teach a few things to Junhwe.

So far, all he had understood was that there was nothing new to learn for he already had all the capacities within him, he just needed to know how to trigger them. But Junhwe had no idea how to. No matter how deep the breaths he was taking were, the only thing he could smell was his strawberry ice cream.

“There are too many smells here so it’s not gonna work but let’s at least get the theoretical part done.” Donghyuk stated before resuming his explanation in a quieter voice.

Junhwe really understood all of what Donghyuk was telling him, because it made sense. He had never really needed to focus on smells, since it’s not something human do, and his nose has gone “dormant”, as Donghyuk had hilariously said. Junhwe was really trying to focus, blocking all sounds and thoughts as he put all his attention on breathing in slowly and very deeply. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t smell anything.

Donghyuk had reassured him, it was only because of the huge number of smells in the room and even if Junhwe wanted to believe him, he couldn’t help but think that the only reason why he couldn’t smell anything was that he was just untalented.

Determined to prove him wrong, Donghyuk had forced Junhwe to follow him back to the school campus into one of the classrooms so that they could train.

Junhwe was definitely not happy to be standing in one of the old crappy classrooms in the second building that no one was using any more. Donghyuk had been adamant, surprisingly, saying that it would be for the best for the smell would be pretty neutral.

All Junhwe could currently smell was the distinct smell of dust and old humid wallpaper and it almost gave him a headache. The only upside was that they were in the same building as Jinhwan and with a bit of luck they would be able to run into him on their way out.

For now, however, Junhwe had to focus.

“Close your eyes.” Donghyuk ordered gently.

Junhwe obeyed in silence, slowing closing his eyelids. He was standing in the middle of the room and he was feeling very awkward. The fact that Junhwe was suddenly reminded of the hide and seek game he and Jinhwan had played a few months ago was definitely not helping him focus on anything and Junhwe was simply hoping that his change of emotion wasn’t showing in his smell too much.

“Now, really try to stop thinking, I know it’s hard, but you need to let your senses take over your brain.” Donghyuk’s voice said, echoing stronger around the room.

Junhwe couldn’t really tell if his friend had been speaking louder, or if the focusing Juhwe was really trying to achieve was working. To stop thinking wasn’t something really hard for Junhwe, because he usually didn’t think much, but remaining standing, in the middle of a smelly old room with a friend staring at you while asking you to focus on utter nothingness was very different from dozing off during a class.

Each time Junhwe felt like he had not been thinking, there would always be something to distract him. A sudden melody coming from a music room on the other side of the corridor, the horrid smell of the mouldy books, or a breath too deep from Donghyuk.

“So?” His friend asked, voice expectant.

“I feel like a moron” Junhwe answered dully, eyes still closed.

Junhwe’s heard Donghyuk’s laugh echoing throughout before hearing the vague thump of footsteps coming closer to him.

“Let’s try another way.” Junhwe heard Donghyuk whisper, his voice so unbelievably loud that his friend was probably standing right in front of him.

Junhwe then heard a few more footsteps before feeling Donghyuk’s hand on his shoulder. His friend was so close that Junhwe’s eyelids seemed darker from the proximity of Donghyuk’s silhouette and he could have sworn that he could feel the warmth radiating from his friend.

“Breathe in deeply.” Donghyuk ordered, his warm breath hitting Junhwe’ collarbones.

And Junhwe did breathe in deeply, smelling this time what probably was Donghyuk’s cologne.

“What do you smell?” Donghyuk asked as he stepped back.

“Your perfume?” Junhwe answered as much as he asked, feeling pretty confused.

Donghyuk laughed and it didn’t help Junhwe feel any better about his stupidity.

“I don’t wear perfume.”

At that, Junhwe couldn’t help but open his eyes to find Donghyuk standing a small meter away from him, looking straight at him with a big grin and warm eyes.

“What you smelt was my natural scent, and humans can’t smell that.” Donghyuk said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, eyes shining with pride. “You’ve always been able to smell, idiot.”

Junhwe stared ahead wordlessly as he tried to put the pieces together. He had never really noticed that he had a sense of smell stronger than humans’. How could he have, really? It then only took him a second to realize that Jinhwan wasn’t wearing some weird honey scented perfume, and that Junhwe had merely always been able to smell his natural scent ever since he had met him.

For some reason, it made Junhwe really proud. He knew that as an Omega, Jinhwan had a very discreet smell but he had always been able to tell it apart from the others. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as he had thought he was.

Now that he was standing in front of Donghyuk, it felt as if the only thing Junhwe could smell was his friend’s musky scent. There was no terrible dust smell or stinky old books invading his nostrils, only Donghyuk’s scent.

“Close your eyes, I’m gonna hide and you’ll find me based on the smell.” Donghyuk said as he rushed up to Junhwe sides, hiding his eyes with his hands.

“I can’t do that dude! It won’t work!” Junhwe protested as he tried to wriggle out of his friend’s hold.

But Donghyuk wasn’t moving at all, his hands still firmly clasped over Junhwe’s eyes.

“Close ‘em and try.” He whispered.

Junhwe huffed and sighed, letting out a bit of sass for good measure before closing his eyes reluctantly. Donghyuk then stepped away silently, the warmth of his palms slowly fading away.

Junhwe waited for a few seconds and surprisingly, it was as if Donghyuk’s smell was slowly disappearing to be replaced with the room’s terrible stench. He took a few cautious steps ahead, blindly reaching out with his hands to avoid any tables or chairs.

He couldn’t smell anything and the small joy that he had been overcome with only a second ago had completely disappeared. He shouldn’t have felt so proud for so little.

“I can’t smell anything.” Junhwe whined, listening carefully for any giggle but Donghyuk was being utterly silent.

Junhwe almost feared that his friend had left the room but he then remembered how loud the door was creaking when opened and decided that Donghyuk was most likely trying to hold his laugh in. Junhwe reckoned he looked really dumb, walking around with his arms extended and eyes closed, nose scrunched up and breathing deeply.

Junhwe then took a few steps towards his left, immediately stopping in his tracks when his nose picked up the very discreet scent of something earthy and musky. It was what Junhwe now recognized to be Donghyuk’s smell and he was so stunned to be able to smell it that he stopped moving altogether, focusing all of his thoughts towards the smell.

He took another few steps, feeling a smile blossom on his lips when the scent became stronger. He knew he was approaching one of the corners of the room and so he extended his arms in front of him blindly, trying to reach out for anything to stabilize himself.

A shocked squeak left Junhwe’s lips when his hand hit something plump and warm, quickly followed by a few giggles.

“See, you did it!” Donghyuk then said as Junhwe opened his eyes.

Donghyuk was standing in the corner, a huge grin gracing his features as he stared at Junhwe with his warm eyes, a few strands of chocolate hair falling in front of them. Junhwe slowly withdrew his hand that had been brushing against Donghyuk’s cheek awkwardly before glancing away and stepping back.

“Must have been luck, I don’t feel like I’ve done anything, really.” Junhwe whispered sheepishly, feeling his cheek redden from the proud grin Donghyuk was giving him.

“You did great, Junhwe.” Donghyuk said as he patted Junhwe on the shoulder with a smile. “It doesn’t feel like you did anything because you just did what your Lycos blood had been asking for you to do for years.”

Junhwe nodded, gaze stuck on the floor and mouth pulled up in a small smile. He felt weird. He really didn’t feel like he had done something. It seemed silly to him that Donghyuk would look so proud when all Junhwe had done was breathe in deeply.

But somehow, the awstruck gaze Donghyuk was giving him also made Junhwe proud of himself.

8^th April 2017

Junhwe and Donghyuk had both decided to come everyday to that room until Junhwe would be able to pick up Donghyuk’s smell without even focusing any more and when that would be done, they would go out to more crowded areas and work on Junhwe’s ability to differentiate scents.

Junhwe believed that it would take years since he was pretty sure that he was really slow and was completely hopeless. He couldn’t tell why Donghyuk’s smell gave away that he was a Hybrid. It didn’t seem any different from Jinhwan’s, beside the fact that the older man’s was a lot sweeter.

Jinhwan had insisted for Junhwe to keep trying so that he could tell apart Lycoi from humans and be safer but Junhwe couldn’t even smell his own scent. He was a lost case, but each time the training got harder and he would want to give up, he would remember the way Jinhwan’s face had lit with happiness when Donghyuk had told him that Junhwe was making progress.

It had been a few days since Junhwe had been training with Donghyuk and even if the first few times had been terrible and had gotten his happiness back down in hell, things were starting to get better.

Junhwe needed to focus less each time they played hide and seek and he was starting to find Donghyuk a lot quicker. When he arrived to school, it would only take him one deep breath when entering his classroom to know who was present and even if some smells were kind of mixing up and making Junhwe confused, he was becoming more at ease with telling people apart.

The best upside of this training was that Junhwe could instantly tell, when entering the second building, whether Jinhwan was there or not. It seemed as if, even if it was by far the most discreet scent Junhwe had ever smelled, that Jinhwan’s smell took longer to disappear and was easier to follow then anybody else’s.

Junhwe fished his phone out of his pocket to check the time, sighing when he realised that it was already 5pm. It was Saturday and it was the first day off Junhwe had managed to get from Donghyuk. They had decided not to train that day, but in exchange, Junhwe would need to work on their project on his own.

Junhwe had figured that he would spend his whole day out, having fun and eating ice cream, and then get back home early to work for a while. It was already 5, and he was nowhere close to heading back home.

Junhwe stopped with a sigh at the crosswalk, waiting for the light to turn green as he glanced around him. The streets weren’t as busy as they usually were at that time of the day on Saturdays but there were still enough people for his nose to be confused. Now that he had learnt how to use it, it felt as if Junhwe couldn’t turn it off any more and busy streets were things he was starting to hate.

There were so many smells at one time that it almost hurt his head.

Junhwe was about to start crossing the road, the light now green, but stopped in his tracks when he smelt something way stronger than everything else. It was vaguely familiar but he couldn’t tell whether he had actually ever met the person before or if it just reminded him of something.

The smell was strong and musky, but also very perfumed and it smelt so very different from everything else on the street that Junhwe immediately understood it to be a Lycos’s scent.

Junhwe stepped away from the cross walk and closed his eyes, trying to focus as much as he could with all the noise and smells around him. The person wasn’t far, probably just a few meters away.

Junhwe swiftly opened his eyes and looked around, trying to find any familiar faces. He could feel it inside him, the smell was too nostalgic for him not to know the person it belonged to.

Then, suddenly, in the mass of foreign faces, Junhwe saw a man taller than the mob, with dark locks, black eyes and features so familiar that Junhwe felt his heart stop for a second.

Dongmin didn’t really look any different than he did four months ago. His hair was slightly longer but still as messy, and Junhwe could have sworn that his best friend had gotten even taller, but he still looked the same to Junhwe’s eyes.

Junhwe knew that Dongmin had not noticed him yet. He was looking straight ahead, walking down the street completely oblivious to Junhwe’s presence only a few meters away.

Junhwe knew that Dongmin had quite a bad nose based on Lycoi standards but he had never thought there would be a day where he would smell Dongmin before Dongmin smelt him.

He felt proud, somehow, and he hoped that Dongmin would be too. But that meant actually going up to him and talking to him.

But Junhwe found himself stuck in place, unable to move. He wasn’t sure whether Dongmin would even want to talk to him and he was scared of being rejected by the only best friend he had ever had.

But how could they be best friend if they never talked again? So, Junhwe took a long deep breath before walking up to where Dongmin was, waiting at the same crosswalk Junhwe had been about to cross when he had suddenly smelt his best friend.

He made his way through the mass of people swiftly until he stood right behind Dongmin, his best friend standing only a small meter away. Junhwe couldn’t believe that Dongmin seemed to have at least five good centimetres on him. They used to be almost the same height only four months ago.

Junhwe was still debating how he should attract Dongmin’s attention when his best friend’s shoulders suddenly tensed. His head shot up from the ground he had been staring at and he looked around, before swiftly turning around, looking quite alarmed.

The light had turned green and the mob had moved, people rushing to the other side of the pavement, leaving only Junhwe and Dongmin to stare at one another in complete silence.

Junhwe could hear the dull buzzing of people in the streets, he could still smell the mix of scents that hurt his head but all of that was overpowered by Dongmin’s smell and the way his best friend was staring at him.

His eyes were wide with surprise but unlike what Junhwe had been scared of, there was no hate hidden in the dark orbs, only genuine confusion as Dongmin looked at him up and down.

“Hi.” Junhwe whispered, trying to make things less tense.

For a second, it seemed as if Dongmin had become mute. He opened his mouth and tried to speak but no sound came out, his mouth opening and closing like a fish’s.

Then, without any warning, Dongmin closed the meter separating them, took a hold of Junhwe’s wrist and dragged him across the street into a smaller and more secluded alley-way.

Once they both stood in the middle of the dark and silent small street, empty of any passer-by, Junhwe found himself almost regretting not running away the second he had smelt Dongmin.

There were many things he wanted to tell Dongmin but the way his best friend was staring at him was making him to uneasy that his mouth felt like it had been stuck shut with glue.

“So, how have you been?” Junhwe asked slowly, watching Dongmin intently for any shift in his features.

“Don’t you ‘how have you been’ me.” Dongmin whispered, his shoulders tensed and face expressionless.

Junhwe couldn’t really tell if Dongmin was angry or not, but it did seem like he wasn’t delighted at all. His brows were furrowed and his eyes cold as he stared at Junhwe in complete silence.

“I’m sorry, Dongmin, I really am.” Junhwe then said, breaking eye contact to stare at the ground.

Junhwe had expected Dongmin to be mad at him for leaving him alone. They had always been together through hardships and Dongmin had surely thought that he would have his best friend by his sides to support him through the war, but Junhwe had left him on his own.

Junhwe did not regret his choice, and he would do it again even if he could change the past. He believed that it had been for the best, even if it had hurt his best friend. Junhwe had been scared, and he had wanted protection. He did not feel proud of his actions but he did feel sorry for Dongmin.

“I’m not blaming you, hell, I’m not even mad at you.” Dongmin then said, letting out a bitter laugh as he ran a hand through his black messy hair. “It just feels weird talking to you like this. I didn’t expect to be seeing you so soon.”

“Well, I wasn’t expecting it either, I just suddenly smelt you.” Junhwe explained nonchalantly before suddenly realising what he had just said.

“You did what?” Dongmin asked, his eyes wide open and mouth falling.

His best friend seemed genuinely surprised and amazed and it brought a small blush to Junhwe’s cheeks.

“Well, I kinda have a Hybrid friend, and long story short, he taught me how to properly use my nose.” Junhwe explained, feeling awkward under Dongmin’s boring stare. “I’m not that good, though...” he then trailed off when Dongmin remained silent.

“Not good? You smelt me before I smelt you, and I’m a Lycos Junhwe!” Dongmin almost shouted, his lips stretching out in a small smile.

Junhwe couldn’t find anything else to say and chose instead to look down at his worn-out sneakers, still feeling Dongmin’s stare on his face.

Catching up with a best friend he had expected to loathe him wasn’t as bad as Junhwe had feared it to be. Dongmin had been in a rush and they only had a few minutes to talk in that small alley-way, but at least now Junhwe felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Dongmin wasn’t nearly as angry as Junhwe thought he would be and even after all that, they were still best friends.

From what Junhwe had understood during his talk with Dongmin, his best friend’s life had been very much busy the past months. As an Alpha, he had been on the front lines a lot and even if he had been thankfully unharmed, he had hinted darkly to the things he had seen on the battlefield and Junhwe was very sure that he did not need any details on that.

Now that the war was over, the Cloud Pack and the Swamp Pack had parted. Mino was struggling to keep his pack together, the lack of a Main Omega making it very hard for him to be at everyone’s disposal for help.

Dongmin confessed that he himself was so busy that he didn’t get much time to himself and that, before running into Junhwe, had in fact been on his way to meet up with Jimin and talk about the things they should do for the pack.

Junhwe had noticed the way his best friend’s cheeks had reddened when mentioning the other man’s name, but he didn’t say anything about it.

Soon enough, way too soon to Junhwe’s taste, Dongmin had needed to leave, not wanting to make Jimin wait too long. He had left Junhwe to stand on his own in the dark alley-way, with nothing to do but head back home.

But Junhwe really didn’t want to because being home meant having to work on the project. After all, he still had Sunday to work on it, he could allow himself to procrastinate a bit more.

And if Junhwe was not going home, the only place he could go to was Jinhwan’s. He wanted to call, or send a text, but he had figured that coming uninvited without any warning could also be fun.

Junhwe had had no particular reason to come to see Jinhwan and as he stood in front of the man’s apartment door – he had been allowed in the hall by an old lady who lived on the fourth floor – Junhwe tried really hard to come up with an excuse.

It wasn’t like he needed one for he was pretty sure that Jinhwan would love to see him, but he still felt like telling the elder he needed him for something would come off better than saying that he just had nothing to do.

Junhwe could have told him that he had simply wanted to see his face, but the mere thought of the words leaving his mouth made him sweat with embarrassment and he didn’t want to make a fool out of himself, especially if it was in front of Jinhwan.

Junhwe took one last deep breath before ringing the door bell, waiting with baited breath. Only a few seconds later, the door opened to reveal Jinhwan, standing in the door frame. The elder man looked very confused when his dark eyes fell on Junhwe unmoving figure, his eyes brows shooting up and his mouth falling open.

His orange hair was very messy, a few locks standing upright on his head and Junhwe had to bite down on his lips to prevent a laugh from spilling out. Jinhwan was wearing a plain white shirt and shorts, looking more casual than Junhwe had ever seen him and the sight made his heart flutter.

“Hi?” Jinhwan said inquiringly, a smile on his lips.

“Hi.” Junhwe answered with a small chuckle, feeling immensely awkward.

Jinhwan swiftly moved out of the entrance, gesturing for Junhwe to enter with a wide grin. Junhwe thanked him quickly before rushing inside and dropping himself down on the worn-out sofa.

“So, what brought you here?” Jinhwan asked as he disappeared into the kitchen to come out only a few seconds later, a fuming mug in hand.

Junhwe bit down on his lips, trying quickly to come up with something as Jinhwan sat down next to him, the coffee smell invading his nostrils. But Junhwe couldn’t find anything, he had thought of a few things on his way but now that Jinhwan was sitting right next to him, his bare thigh brushing against Junhwe’s jeans and his honey smell strong around the room, it seemed as if Junhwe had forgotten all of his plan.

Junhwe glanced up to meet the elder’s gaze, finding Jinhwan staring back, his head tilted questioningly and his wide eyes clouded with puzzlement.

“I, uh, I didn’t really have anything to do...” Junhwe stuttered, feeling his stomach dropped when he noticed the way Jinhwan’s eyes seem to lose their light.

There was a few seconds of heavy silence during which Junhwe cursed himself for his unthoughtful self before he gathered all his courage and spoke up, his voice small and unsure.

“And I wanted to see you.”

The silence came back, even more oppressing. Junhwe slowly rose his gaze once more, locking eyes with the elder. Jinhwan was looking back at him, his dark eyes unwavering and lit with a genuine happiness that Junhwe loved to see gracing the older man’s features. Jinhwan was smiling brightly as sipped down on his coffee, glancing away but the grin never disappearing.

“I was actually thinking of you.” Jinhwan then said, a shy blush on his cheek as he put his mug down on the table in front of the couch.

Junhwe rose a brow as he looked back to the elder, his heart beat slowly increasing.

“I was wondering how you were doing with the trainings.” Jinhwan asked as he sank back into the couch, their arms brushing.

Junhwe, while thinking of the training sessions with Donghyuk, was suddenly reminded of his meeting with Dongmin, all of that thanks to his nose.

“I smelt Dongmin on the street today.” Junhwe said, watching Jinhwan attentively, expecting a praise.

“You smelt him? That’s amazing, did you get to talk?” Jinhwan inquired, his smile wide and eyes bright.

Junhwe nodded sheepishly, feeling his cheeks warm up from the proud gaze Jinhwan was giving him.

The two of them then kept on talking animatedly about Junhwe’s meeting with Dongmin, Jinhwan inquiring excitedly on the boy’s whereabouts. It warmed Junhwe’s heart up to know that Jinhwan really cared about Dongmin. After all, they had grown up together.

When Junhwe looked at his phone quite some time later, he realised – not without his stomach dropping – that it was already 7pm and that Junhwe really needed to start heading back home. But he had absolutely no desire to.

He slowly rose up from the couch, joining Jinhwan in the kitchen. The older man had left only a few seconds ago to leave his mug in the sink. Junhwe lazily entered the room to find Jinhwan coming back to him, his head tilted on the side questioningly.

“I guess I’m going to leave.” Junhwe said slowly, a small pout on his lips.

“You could stay for dinner.” Jinhwan offered with a friendly smile.

Junhwe considered it for a few seconds. After all, there was no one waiting for him at home and he really wanted to stay longer.

“You could even spend the night.” Jinhwan added as he glanced away, a light blush on his cheeks as he cleared his throat.

Junhwe remembered that Jinhwan had made the exact same offer only a few days ago and he recalled perfectly the disappointed face Jinhwan had pulled when Junhwe had said no.

“Yeah, I’ll stay.” Junhwe finally said with a small smile that immediately widened when he saw the elated look on Jinhwan’s face.

Jinhwan then rushed back to the kitchen, a small skip in his steps as he opened the fridge to take a look at what he had to offer.

They quickly both chose to order from a neighbouring Chinese place considering that the older man’s fridge was too empty to satisfy both their stomachs. The wait wouldn’t be long and Jinhwan offered for Junhwe to take a look inside Dongmin’s old room and make himself at home in the meantime.

When Junhwe pushed open the door to his best friend’s former bedroom, the first thing he noticed was the absence of mess. Dongmin was definitely not a clean freak and Junhwe had never once in his life seen his best friend’s room being neat.

It was a first for Junhwe, but it was also most likely linked to the fact that the room was pretty much empty. The desk was completely void of any belonging and the only other pieces of furniture were a bed and a wardrobe. Junhwe opened the latter, looking for any clothes he could wear over night but everything from the shelves to the drawers were empty.

Junhwe walked out of the room and joined Jinhwan in the living room. The man was sitting at the table, a few sheets spread out in front of him as he scribbled down something that looked like to be music notes to Junhwe’s musically uneducated brain.

He silently sat down next to Jinhwan, observing what the older man was doing. The sheets indeed looked to be music partitions on which were handwritten a few black dots at different heights.

“Assignment for my composition class.” Jinhwan said as an answer to Junhwe’s silent question.

Junhwe hummed in acknowledgement before raising his gaze from the sheet to Jinhwan’s face. The man’s eyes brows were furrowed from his intense focus and his mouth slightly parted from which occasionally poked out a pink tongue when Jinhwan wetted his lips mindlessly. A few strands of orange hair were falling in front of his eyes and Junhwe had to fight back to keep himself from brushing them away.

“You got everything you need?” Jinhwan then asked as he put his pen back down to look at Junhwe.

“Well, there’s a bed so I’ll be fine.” Junhwe said with a smile.

Jinhwan laughed lightly before speaking up once more. “I’ll lend you clothes for the night, Dongmin took all of his along when he moved out.”

“Yeah, thanks, I noticed.” Junhwe said as he stretched out his arms.

Jinhwan then resumed his work, picking his pen up and drawing black and white circles in a pattern that seemed to make sense to him. A small smile made his way onto Junhwe’s lips as he remembered how Jinhwan had tried to teach him a few things about the piano months ago. It seemed like such an old memory with all that had happened in between.

Just as Jinhwan put his pen down, stood up from the chair and made his way towards the main door, the doorbell suddenly rang, making Junhwe jump in surprise. He would never get used to Jinhwan’s sharp hearing.

Only a few seconds later, Jinhwan entered the living room once more, fuming boxes filled with very good smelling food inside.

Just like he had done the past week at the restaurant, Junhwe waited for Jinhwan to start eating to do so himself, more out of habit than respect. He knew that Jinhwan didn’t pay much attention to all those submissive behaviours.

The food was very good, so good that not much was said during the meal. Junhwe had been terribly hungry – he always was – and had thus been in such a rush to fill his rumbling stomach that he had not given much thought to making small talk.

After all, they had the whole evening to themselves.

Junhwe could feel his heart beat picking up at the mere thought of being able to sleep over at Jinhwan’s apartment again.

He had really missed being able to see Jinhwan that much and he was definitely going to make the best out of that evening.

(6227 words)