“A party?” Hyungwon asks confusedly, glancing up from his books for the first time in the past four hours. Changkyun nods excitedly.

“Minhyuk-hyung invited us,” he goes on to explain. “He said it’s been forever since he’s seen all of us, and that if he has to kidnap us to take us to this party, he will.”

“When did you even see Minhyuk-ah today?” Kihyun questions, raising a suspicious brow. He crosses his arms over his chest, heaving a sigh. “Did he invite us yesterday and you forgot to tell us, Kyunnie?”

“I happened to be in the bookstore during his shift today,” Changkyun explains with a pout. “I’m not an airhead, hyung.” Kihyun coos, reaching over to pull at his boyfriend’s puffed-out cheek. Hyungwon sighs, rolling his eyes as he stands. He figures he’ll get much more work done in his room, where the couple can’t bother him.

“Wonnie!” Kihyun calls after him, causing him to turn towards him. “Did you want to go to the party, or not?”

“Not really,” Hyungwon mumbles without much thought. “I’ve got a lot of schoolwork to do.” He doesn’t actually have schoolwork to do, but it’s proved to be a good excuse for all the other parties he hasn’t wanted to attend, so he might as well use it. Kihyun clearly catches onto the lie, judging by his frown.

“Blow it off for a couple hours and come to the party,” he says, an air of finality in his voice. “You don’t even have to stay for the whole thing if you get bored. Just come and make an appearance so Minhyuk-ah won’t be all over me tomorrow about it.”

“I’m the only one that can be all over you…” Changkyun mumbles, his pout only worsening as he grasps Kihyun’s hand tightly. Hyungwon makes a silent retching gesture at the comment, which only causes Kihyun to laugh once again.

“Fine,” Hyungwon sighs, absolutely hating how easily he’s given in. But, he’d much rather concede than get into an argument about his lack of a social life. “Don’t bother me until an hour ‘till we need to leave. If you’re forcing me to go to a party tonight, I’ll need my beauty rest.” Kihyun hums in reply, and Hyungwon retreats into his room before the couple can start making out with him in the room.

“You sure do look nice,” Minhyuk compliments, eyeing his hyung up and down in appreciation. Damn, he loves having attractive friends. Hoseok blushes under Minhyuk’s scrutinizing gaze, shuffling from foot to foot. “You looking to impress someone in particular?” the younger continues, raising a teasing brow. Hoseok pulls his bottom lip in between his teeth, chewing on it as he pouts.

“It’s bad manners to make fun of your hyung,” is all he says, purposefully not answering the question. He doesn’t know exactly why he’s so dressed up, it’s just another party… but something feels different about tonight. Call it intuition, hopeful thinking, or whatever. But, Hoseok just knows something is going to happen tonight, whether it be bad or good.

Hyungwon fiddles absentmindedly with his jade pendant, biting on his lower lip as he follows his roommates into the frat house. He doesn’t know why he’s so nervous. It isn’t as if this is his first college party or anything… which is more than he can say for some people.

He glances over to see Changkyun clutching tightly to Kihyun’s arm, though their hyung doesn’t seem to mind too much. Hyungwon chuckles under his breath, taking a deep breath to ease his own nerves. His nervous energies won’t do either of them much good. He has to push them down for, say, an hour, and then he can scurry back home and continue his readings. He’s really improved at his tea-leaf readings, and he’s sure with just a little more practice he’ll be ready to begin reading other people’s.

He moves through the party, which is already raging despite it only having been going for a few minutes. He twists through the throngs of college students and makes his way to the kitchen. There, a plethora of liquor bottles litter the cabinets, punctuated randomly with scattered about solo cups. After surveying the scene, he sighs in defeat and dunks his hand into the nearby sink that’s apparently being used as a makeshift ice chest judging by the melting puddle filled with cans of different beverages. He doesn’t really like beer all that much, but it’s better than nothing.

As he turns to leave the room in search for a free spot on a couch or maybe a wall, he accidentally runs into someone… again. God, he really ought to look more at where he’s going.

“Oh, sorry,” he says immediately, his eyes drifting up from the floor to meet… Hyungwon can’t help but chuckle, shaking his head as he leans back slightly against the counter behind him. “Or not…” he mumbles, quirking up a joking brow at the somewhat-familiar man. The other man splutters out an apology very similarly to how he had in the store the previous day, and Hyungwon laughs again.

“We just keep running into each other,” Hyungwon muses aloud, finding the blush that paints the other’s cheeks oddly adorable. “Maybe it’s fate.”

“F-Fate?” Hyungwon gives the stranger a wink, to which he seems choke on the beverage in his hands.

“I’m Hyungwon,” the taller man informs him, sipping from his beer with a twinkle in his eye.

“I’m H-Hoseok,” the other tells him, the blush only seeming to worsen. God, this man is absolutely precious. Just where has he been all of Hyungwon’s life? Hyungwon’s heart begins to beat a little faster, and he has to take another drink to hide his growing smile.

“Wanna dance?” Hyungwon finds himself asking, already setting his drink down on the counter. Hoseok blabbers out an answer Hyungwon can only take as a yes, and he grabs the other by the wrist to pull him from the kitchen.

He wasn’t even planning to dance tonight, wasn’t wanting to stay long enough to find someone to dance with. He’s always prided himself on his flexibility and his ability to adapt to changing situations, and having now found someone so cute, the situation has very much changed indeed…