Head spinning as he endeavored to digest Jongdae’s words, when Minseok deserted the room, he bumped into Joonmyeon.

“What’re you doing here?” They asked at the same time.

“Jongdae invited me.” Again, they answered in unison.

Shaking his head in irritation, Joonmyeon walked around Minseok to inspect the room he had just left.

“Where’s Jongdae?” Joonmyeon demanded moodily.

“He went downstairs with Yixing,” Minseok replied, frowning. “Why do you need him?”

“None of your business.”

Minseok shrugged and made to go, but Joonmyeon seized his elbow just as he turned.

“Wait – don’t tell my parents I was here, will you?” Joonmyeon pleaded, taking Minseok by surprise. Both his and his cousin’s families were against gangsters, so the fright was inevitable, he figured.

“If you don’t tell mine, I won’t tell yours,” Minseok acquiesced, looking pointedly at his arm which Joonmyeon had not let go of yet.

“Yeah, sure. Okay, I won’t.” Joonmyeon nodded and walked off.

In the end, Minseok wound up on the first floor, navigating his way through dense crowd in pursuit of a certain deer best friend of his. Girls and boys alike twisted their heads his way, gawping, when he slipped out of his jacket because it was sweltering hot there, what with the obnoxious illumination, perspiring human bodies. 

He tracked Luhan down in the seating area, at the side of Sehun.

Too lately did he realize that Luhan was drunk; his head was still reeling with the information he had obtained from Jongdae to notice it soon.

Sehun conspicuously relaxed when Minseok sat down next to them. Luhan was blubbering on the subject of the importance of trees or ther