Mingyu waits in front of the tall mahogany doors to will his heart to stop pounding. He runs his fingers through his hair for a last-minute clean-up and tugs at his blazer to smooth out any creases. He in a deep breath and knocks.

“Come in,” a voice calls out.

His stomach threatens to jump to his throat but Mingyu swallows it down and pushes open the heavy doors. He squints at first, adjusting to the sunlight backlighting the figure in the leather chair before the window. He feels like he’s fourteen again. He feels like he’s the chosen orphan out of his group of scraggly kids, the one that was lucky enough to find a home.

“What are you waiting for?” Headmaster Kim asks. “Come take a seat.”

Mingyu walks past the immaculate bookshelves and walls of certificates and achievements to the chair in front of Headmaster Kim’s pristine, black desk. He sinks down into the seat, eyes straying to the computer in front of Headmaster Kim. Mingyu’s grades are probably plastered on the screen.

“How’s your school year been going so far?”

Mingyu tries not to flinch, face already growing hot at the reminder of his below-average grade. He chooses to say, “It’s been difficult, but I’m improving.”

“I’ve heard. You’re doing well recently. Your average has increased to 93, which is exactly what I expected you to hold at the start of the year. I’m sure you understand that you have to work even harder to maintain this. University applications are due in three months.”

Mingyu nods, tongue heavy and dumb in his mouth.

“Is there a teacher you’re having trouble with? Physics, perhaps?”

The teacher’s nothing but annoying. She favours students, despite it being a course relying purely on numbers. But of course Mingyu can’t say that. “I just need to study more.”

“Alright. As long as you know how to improve. You’re attending your basketball practices regularly, as well?”

“Yes, we have a game tomorrow.”

“And you’re on the starting line-up, I presume?”

Mingyu nods again. He knows better than to ask if Headmaster Kim will come watch. He’s not allowed to show favouritism after all.

“That’s good. It’ll make up for your marks. That’ll be it for today.” Mingyu lets out a sigh of relief, but an inexplicable part of him wants their conversation to last a little longer, even if it’s more of an interrogation than an actual conversation.

“Okay, thank you,” Mingyu says for some reason, like he’s thanking the Headmaster for even allocating some time out of his busy day for Mingyu.

“I have a meeting in five.” Headmaster Kim shuffles some papers and Mingyu takes it as a cue to stand up. “I hope we’ll have another one of these chats soon. Have a good day, Mingyu.”

“You too, sir,” Mingyu manages out. He’s awfully aware of how he walks, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other until he’s out of the stifling room. He’s careful with his steps, with his words. It’s a ridiculously large room, but he’s never felt more confined.

Once he shuts the doors behind him, he turns to flash a smile at the receptionist, Jisoo. Mingyu’s supposed to call him Mr. Hong, but Jisoo’s probably the only person in the whole world to know all of the Kims’ secrets, so Mingyu thinks he deserves more than formalities.

“Another grilling session?” Jisoo says, smiling sympathetically. He pushes his jar of gummy bears towards Mingyu.

Mingyu picks out a white one, his favourite flavour. He pops the whole thing in his mouth. “Yeah, but I’m kind of glad. It’s the first time I’ve talked to him since school started.”

Jisoo gives him another one of those looks. On anyone else, Mingyu would find it annoying. “He’s just relieved that you’re doing well again.”

“Yeah, at least now I know he’s still invested in me. If I was still pulling below 80 marks, he’d never talk to me again.”

Jisoo frowns. “Don’t say that.”

“You know he’d give up on me, if I didn’t prove to him that I was worth something,” Mingyu says. He tries to keep his tone light, but it’s Jisoo and he’s looking at him with those kind eyes, so his voice comes out a little quiet, a little weak.

Before Jisoo can say anything, his phone beeps. Jisoo glances down at his phone before he shoots Mingyu an apologetic look. “You want to head down to class?”

Mingyu knows it’s coded language for Headmaster Kim is going to come out for his meeting and he won’t be happy seeing you loitering by his receptionist, but Jisoo’s too kind to say it point-blank like that. Mingyu just takes one more gummy bear before heading to the stairs.

He wipes his mind clear of any uncomfortable emotions and tells himself to focus on winning his next basketball game. That’s all that matters for now. After all, he has to hold up his end of the bargain.

♦♦♦

Mingyu spends the rest of his evening shooting hoops in the outside courts to make up for the practices he missed at the start of the season and to calm the nerves for their upcoming opening game. He’s finally satisfied when sweat drenches his back and the texture of the ball is ingrained in his palm.

It’s a little after midnight when Mingyu heads up to his dorm and is stopped by a security guard, but is excused on the basis of extracurriculars. Clubs and teams are allowed to run past curfew, although it’s not suggested in case students burn out. Mingyu feels the burn as he climbs up the torture that is four flights of stairs, knowing he still has to finish an essay for English tomorrow and textbook questions for Advanced Functions and Physics.

He stumbles his way into his room, not flipping on the lights in case he wakes Wonwoo, and beelines for the bathroom. It’s hard to keep quiet through his nighttime routine when his limbs feel like lead and he can barely keep his eyes open, but Mingyu still tries.

Turns out his efforts are for nothing when he exits the bathroom to find Wonwoo sitting upright, hair ruffled from sleep, with his bedside lamp on.

“Did I wake you?” Mingyu asks quietly.

Wonwoo glares at him, but his squinting, tired eyes makes him look more grumpy than angry. “No, Kim, I just thought waking up at one in the morning would be a blast.”

An apology perches on the tip of Mingyu’s tongue, but he knows Wonwoo won’t appreciate it. They’ve fought before about Mingyu coming in late, yet the tentative truce between them seems to keep the tempers at bay. They’ve argued countless times already, naturally, but it hasn’t escalated to the point where fists are thrown yet. The nurses have even set up a “__ days since Mingyu and Wonwoo were here” poster in the infirmary.

Mingyu drapes his towel around his neck, shuffling towards his desk. “I’d tell you to go back to sleep, but I still have work to do. I can… I don’t know, work in the bathroom, or something.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Wonwoo says. He lays back down and turns the other way, but he leaves the light on.

Mingyu stares at Wonwoo’s motionless frame, feeling a tug of guilt because he knows Wonwoo’s eye bags aren’t going away anytime soon and Mingyu’s definitely not helping. But Wonwoo will just snap at him if he does anything but work at his desk.

After a moment of consideration, Mingyu pulls out the candles Sunbin gave him for Christmas that he keeps in the cabinet of his desk. He’s never used them because he’s not certain if they’re allowed in the dorms, but for tonight, he’ll risk it. Mingyu squints at the packaging. Honey Pine. He shrugs to himself and lights the candle with a lighter. A small waft of a sweet, earthy scent drifts to him, and he feels his eyelids grow heavier already.

Shaking himself out of it, Mingyu pulls himself up and over to Wonwoo’s bed, where he flicks off the lamp. The room’s immediately cast into a warm, gentle glow from the candle, punctuated by the soft, sweet scent masking over Wonwoo’s cologne. Wonwoo's side of the room is relatively dark, and hopefully it’s enough for him to sleep through Mingyu’s late night endeavors.

Plopping down into his seat, Mingyu gets to work on his textbook questions first before he drifts off. Just in case he doesn’t finish, he sets his alarm for six o’clock to proofread the garbage essay he’s about to produce in his half-conscious state.

After wrapping up his conclusion sentence, Mingyu finally succumbs to his weariness. He rests his head on the table, too tired to even close his laptop, and falls asleep to the smell of pine and honey and the sound of Wonwoo’s even breathing.

♦♦♦

Mingyu wakes with a jolt. In a flash of panic, he scrambles for his phone and swears at the mocking 8:05 AM flashing in his face. He slept through his alarm, of course, and now he’s going to fail English and Headmaster Kim will be disappointed and never see him again –

A blanket he doesn’t remember grabbing falls from his body to the ground. Mingyu stares at it, confused, then finally notices the new additions to his desktop. A cooling cup of coffee sits beside his printed essay. Mingyu flips through his paper, and at the end, plastered over his conclusion, is a bright green sticky-note.

Go back to kindergarten and learn how to spell. But your points and evidence are clear.

Like the note suggests, the only modifications to his essay are spelling, grammar, and general, little mistakes caused by the late hour. Still woozy and sleep-deprived, Mingyu wonders if he’s still dreaming. Maybe his fairy godmother finally decided to show up and save Mingyu from failing school. Maybe he sleep-walked to the library and printed out his essay last night. Whatever reason his tired mind is trying to provide, the cramped, snarky handwriting on the sticky note is unmistakably Wonwoo’s.

Mingyu takes a sip of his unbearably sweet coffee. Only Wonwoo has a sweet tooth this terrible at 17 years old. He glances at his candle, wick already half burnt out. Another green note sits over the candle label.

Now we’re even.

Long after the caffeine has entered his system, the sugar still remains in his mouth.

♦♦♦

The one place where Mingyu can put away his thoughts is the basketball court. Any conflicting emotions, any pressing issues are drowned out by the rhythmic thumping of the ball against the gym floor. His focus is split between the position of his teammates around the court, the press of his fingerpads against the ball, and the squeak of his shoes as he makes sharp turns.

“Mingyu!” Minghao shouts, and Mingyu sees that he’s open. He makes a quick pass towards Minghao.

They both start sprinting down the court, chased by the opposing players from Lyon Prep. Following their familiar play, right as Minghao has his shot blocked, he makes a ground pass to Mingyu who makes a clean layup.

The audience in the bleachers start screaming louder than usual, chanting Mingyu’s name mixed with Eastridge Prep’s school cheer. Minghao shoots him a small grin as they resume their positions on court.

Off court, they may be at each other’s throats, but on court, they make a pretty good team.

Number 10 from Lyon Prep makes the pass towards Number 6, who takes it and sprints down the court. Hansol’s got him covered and blocks him cleanly, forcing 6 to take a shot. The ball tips past Hansol’s raised hands and is caught by 3, who takes a shot that goes in.

Wiping sweat from his forehead, Mingyu claps Hansol on the back. Their coach is pacing on the sidelines, a clear sign that he’s stressed. It’s a close game, and Lyon’s beat them the previous year, so every shot in their net brings down the whole team’s morale considerably.

Minghao takes the throw-in and makes eye contact with Mingyu, who’s covered by two people, then flickers to Chan. It’s a play they haven’t practiced before, but the team’s getting stressed.

Right as the ball leaves Minghao’s hands, Mingyu breaks away from his defenders and sprints down the court. Chan’s pass is as reliable as ever and makes it to Mingyu, who jumps to take a shot, and as if his body realizes what’s about to happen, he already knows his shot won’t go in.

Mid-jump, he feels someone slam into him, and his throw veers off course to hit the edge of the backboard. It’s an odd sensation, being suspended in air, knowing what’s to come. It’s happened before, when Wonwoo knocked him down the stairs or when Minghao pulled out his chair right as Mingyu was about to sit down.

He lands painfully on his arm, but not bad enough to have torn or broken something. From his position on the ground, he sees some members of the audience stand up out of concern, their cheers dying down. It’s hard to tell, but one person in particular, right by the exit, looks suspiciously like Wonwoo. His dark, floppy hair and his sharp features, although viewed horizontally, catches Mingyu’s eye.

Before he can make sure, hands are on him to help him back up. Everyone’s talking at once, and Mingyu’s head is still throbbing from the fall. As the ref calls for three foul shots, he sees Minghao shove past Number 11 from Lyon, probably the guy who fouled him.

Mingyu steps up to the foul line, palming the ball. Although he’s always the one to take the foul shots, the coach was hesitant for him to step up this time because he missed a couple practices and he just got knocked to the ground. Still, Mingyu feels the audience’s eyes on him (or one audience member, in particular), and makes his choice.

The familiar thrumming of his nerves settles in his stomach as Mingyu slows his breathing. The first shot’s always the worst. Most people try to imagine that they’re alone on court, just practicing, in fear that the pressure will get to them. But Mingyu has lived with pressure all of his high school career. Mingyu focuses on the one person who makes him nervous the most.

He throws, and it goes in.

The crowd from the bleachers screams. Daehyun fetches the ball and passes it to Mingyu, who dribbles it three times. High on the crowd chanting his name, Mingyu takes the next shot quickly.

It hits the backboard, a little too high, but it falls in.

Letting slip a small, relieved smile, Mingyu grabs tightly onto his last shot. He thinks of expectations. He thinks of sneers and dark circles and round spectacles.

His last shot goes in with a clean whoosh.

The cheers from the audience send adrenaline running through his veins. Mingyu looks through the bleachers, searching by the exit for that one familiar face, but his coach yells at him to stop spoiling his fans and get his head back in the game.

It doesn’t make sense, anyway, for Wonwoo to show up at his basketball game, not when it contains all three things Wonwoo hates: basketball, crowds, and Mingyu.

The last quarter of the game passes by in snippets. Now that Mingyu’s sure nobody important is watching, he’s fine with letting the others take the spotlight. He makes the right passes, takes shots when the opportunity’s open, but he doesn’t fight for it. Chan scores their last winning two-pointer before the buzzer ends the game.

They head off to the change rooms after doing the traditional “Good game” high-five line with Lyon Prep. Minghao claps Mingyu on the back and shoots a quick “good job.” Mingyu’s startled at how Minghao doesn’t look like he wants to stab himself after complimenting him. Despite their teamwork on court, Minghao and Mingyu never talk right after a game, let alone acknowledge the other’s skill.

After they’ve changed and grabbed their bags, Mingyu returns the favour. “This was one of your best games, Minghao.”

“I know.” Minghao makes a face at him, more funny than unpleasant. Right as Mingyu turns to leave because wow, that was a bad idea, Minghao calls out, “Thanks.”

Mingyu faces Minghao again, slightly confused. “You’re welcome?”

“Ugh, this is awkward,” Minghao mutters. He runs a hand through his already messy hair, and Mingyu valiantly refrains from making any comments about the annoyingly bright colour. “You and I both know we don’t do this –” Minghao gestures between him and Mingyu, “– friendly thing. But it’s kind of thanks to you that Wonwoo’s back. So.”

Mingyu goes from vaguely confused to what-universe-am-I-in confused. “I’m not the reason he came back to school. I should be the reason why he left school.”

“No, you don’t get it.” Mingyu can tell Minghao’s holding back from rolling his eyes, which is a first. “You’re why he’s back to normal. To old Wonwoo, not silent, ghost Wonwoo.”

Mingyu thinks of Wonwoo eating meals regularly again, of mouthing off at their Physics teacher, of snapping whenever Mingyu pissed him off more than usual. He thinks of Wonwoo hanging out with the Snobs again, of proofread essays and overdoses of sugar and don’t be an idiot. He thinks of Wonwoo’s cologne greeting him like morning coffee.

“That’s a huge assumption,” Mingyu manages, tongue heavy in his mouth.

“Well,” Minghao shrugs. “Jihoon and I could barely get through to him the past week or so. And you’re the only one he interacts with besides us. So we figured it must have been something you did.”

It’s fair to say Mingyu’s head has probably exploded. He’s still riding the high from their first win of the season, he just got knocked to the ground, and he’s now currently holding the longest, most civil conversation he’s ever had with Minghao. Now, Mingyu has to wrap his mind around him having the power to affect Wonwoo that much. Wonwoo listened to Mingyu, not Jihoon or Minghao or any of the other Snobs, but his nemesis roommate.

“Hey, um,” Minghao shuffles, looking more uncomfortable than ever. “I know you and Wonwoo would rather drink bleach than exchange friendship bracelets, so how did you do it?”

“I don’t know,” Mingyu responds, somewhat helplessly. “I just asked him questions.”

Minghao raises his eyebrows, but probably sees the state of Mingyu’s brain, so he takes mercy on him and sails out the door with one last meaningful look.

Mingyu knows he excels under expectations, but the pressure on his shoulders now is immense.

♦♦♦

Mingyu pants as he reaches the top landing of his stairs. He glances up, and groans, “I’m too tired to deal with this.”

All the confusion and bumbling thoughts dissipates from his mind, leaving him with the same bitter feeling he had the last time he spoke with Soyi. The girl in question faces him from where she’s waiting in the lounge. Mingyu waits for an emotional reaction, a punch to the gut or an ache in his chest.

“Mingyu,” Soyi starts. Nothing. He feels nothing. Tired and annoyed that she’s here, but that’s how he feels about Minghao, too. She’s not special. Not anymore.

“I know you’re not waiting for me,” Mingyu says, making his way past her to his dorm.

She grabs onto his sleeve. “Don’t you think we should talk?”

“Don’t you think you’re a few months late?”

“I’m sorry, Mingyu.” Soyi bites her lip. Mingyu remembers when he used to find that habit cute, but now he just sees how uncertain and insecure she is. “You never gave me the chance.”

He gently pries her fingers off his sleeve. “Maybe you should have tried harder.”

“What was I supposed to do? You blocked all my calls and turned the other way whenever I saw you in the halls!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have hooked up with Wonwoo then.” Mingyu shrugs his shoulders. “That’s who you’re waiting for, right?”

Soyi drops her head. She’s cut her hair since their break up, but it’s still long enough to cover her face. Mingyu frowns at the sight. It’s not like she’s the first girl to date Wonwoo after Mingyu, so he expected that she would react the same way his other exes would: call Wonwoo a and move on. Yet she’s still clearly hung up on Wonwoo.

“Soyi,” Mingyu sighs. She looks seconds away from crying. Maybe they didn’t end on a good note, but Mingyu’s not going to turn his back on someone clearly hurting. “You want to talk? Let’s talk. I’ll give you the chance right now, so the least you can do is be honest with me.”

She raises her head, eyes wide, and watches as Mingyu sits down on a couch. At his pointed stare, she follows and sits at a diagonal from him, facing the fireplace. Mingyu waits until they’re settled before he fires, “Why did you date me in the first place?”

Like she’s held the speech inside her for months, she says without missing a beat, “I know you think I didn’t like you, but I did. Everyone likes you. I mean, look at you. You’re the headmaster’s son, all tall, dark, and handsome. I can go on and on about everything that makes you attractive. I really did like you.”

“But you liked Wonwoo more.”

Soyi’s chewing on her lip again. “You’re… you two are different. Some girls like you more than him, but for me, I just – I like you, but I’m in love with him.”

“Love?” Mingyu tries to stifle a laugh. She glares at him, but he can’t help it. “Sorry, but we’re in high school. Love’s a myth here.”

“I know, and I know how dumb it sounds because I barely talk to him and he probably hates my guts now. That’s why I decided to give it one more shot before I gave up and focused on school. So I confessed to you.”

“What do I have to do with this?”

“You haven’t heard the rumours?” Soyi sounds almost alarmed. She stares as Mingyu stares back, confused. “Haven’t you noticed the trend between your exes and Wonwoo’s exes?”

Mingyu feels a prickling under his skin. He hears Minghao’s voice again. You’re why he’s back to normal. “I never really – I don’t know.”

But he does. He has noticed.

“If a girl wants to score a date with Wonwoo, they should go after you first. That’s the rule.”

He just forced himself not to acknowledge it.

“That’s bull.”

“Well, bull works.”

“That’s why you approached me? To score a date with Wonwoo? Is that why I even got a date in the first place?”

Soyi leans forward, lips turning down, almost pityingly. Mingyu stops himself from recoiling. “I’m not saying all your exes dated you for Wonwoo. I’m just saying there’s this correlation. He’s always made a move on your exes.”

Despite Mingyu’s silence as he tries to let it sink in, Soyi continues, “I broke up with you not because you were a boyfriend, but because I was a person. I thought that the rumours were false and that Wonwoo wasn’t going to give me the time of the day, so I just ended things on the last day of school before I strung you along any further.”

“Turns out the rumours were true,” Mingyu murmurs.

“Turns out they were,” Soyi echoes, but glances back up at Mingyu. “I’m sorry. I really am. I’m not trying to dump my apology on you, and it’s long overdue, but I just want you to know that I’m sorry if I hurt you. I’m sorry that I used you like that.”

“Yeah, it was a pretty ty thing to do,” Mingyu says. “But I mean, you could tell I wasn’t invested anyway.”

Soyi nods, breaking into a small smile. “I remember you told me about how every relationship would end in marriage or a break-up, and that I shouldn’t have any expectations because you weren’t going to marry me because of your father. I still should have treated you better, though.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t regret dating you. It was very educational.”

“How romantic,” Soyi laughs.

“Hate to break it up, Romeo, but curfew’s in fifteen.”

Mingyu startles at the low, unmistakable voice and out of the corner of his eye, he sees Soyi freeze, smile melting off her face. Standing at the top of the staircase behind them is Wonwoo. Dressed in jeans and a casual grey hoodie with round spectacles perched on the bridge of his nose, the soft look contrasts with his sharp, cold countenance. He strides across the lounge to their dorm.

Mingyu sees Soyi’s face fall at how Wonwoo completely ignored her. That image joins the compilation of his exes ending up with Wonwoo at some point or another, forming an ongoing loop. Mingyu feels a flash of anger at the revelation that he’s always tried to repress. He gave Wonwoo the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they just had extremely similar tastes, or maybe the timing was just convenient. But the fact that girls had approached Mingyu on purpose to get to Wonwoo not only pricks his pride, but also destroys what little trust he gave to his roommate.

He stares at Wonwoo’s retreating back, a stupid plan forming in mind. He can prove the rumours wrong. He can show that this is just merely coincidence, that Wonwoo’s not trying to sabotage Mingyu’s relationships.

So Mingyu blurts out, “Soyi, can we get back together?”

“What?” Soyi physically flinches out of her frozen state, mouth dropping wide open. She glances over at Wonwoo, who’s stopped walking, but is still facing away. She glances back at Mingyu, who half-shrugs, half-smiles. Realization dawns, and she gives him a full-out beam, “Of course. Mingyu! You want to come to next Friday’s Halloween party as my date? It’s at my floor’s residence.”

“I’ll be there.”

And just like that, Soyi’s the fastest date Mingyu scored. By the time Mingyu turns around again, Wonwoo’s gone. Soyi takes her leave as well, and as Mingyu makes his way to his room, he wonders how he’s going to fall asleep with his heart beating so quickly. It’s impulsive and idiotic, but it’s not dangerous. For once, he did something purely out of instinct, and there’s no way Wonwoo’s going to end up chasing after the same ex twice, so he doesn’t even know why he bothered to suggest the plan. It’s just harmless stupidity.

He enters their room, eyes shooting to Wonwoo’s bed. It’s neatly made, with his bag thrown over the covers. He probably came back from the library, and Mingyu kind of hates how he can tell just from Wonwoo’s outfit, how he knows that the only time Wonwoo wears his glasses and hoodie combo is when he’s studying. He’s distracted by the sound of water running in the bathroom.

Mingyu sits down on his bed, trying to assemble a natural position. He ends up sitting against his headboard, feet stretched out in front of him, but that means he’s facing the bathroom. It’ll look like he’s waiting for Wonwoo to finish his shower, which he’s most definitely not doing. Frowning, Mingyu sits at his desk instead. He pulls open his binders, flipping through them without bothering to read any of his notes, feeling like a gigantic idiot.

Finally, the water shuts off and Wonwoo opens the door. Mingyu casually grabs his pajamas from his bed and stands up just as Wonwoo walks out, hair damp and dressed in sweats. Mingyu stares for a moment, waiting for some kind of reaction, but Wonwoo just ignores him and goes to his side of the room.

“Soyi wasn’t looking for me,” Mingyu feels the need to say. Wonwoo stills, hand on top of his bag. “Who else would she have come here for?”

He holds his breath, thinking Wonwoo is going to give him the cold shoulder. Instead, Wonwoo says, “The wrong person.”

“Won’t you hear her out?”

Wonwoo looks up, unimpressed. “I’m not fond of wasting my time or boring myself to death, so no.”

“Why did you –” Mingyu bites his lip, thinking better of it. “Did you even like her?”

Wonwoo stares at him for a heavy moment, face emotionless save for his tightened jaw. Then he turns back to his bag and takes out his work. “The bathroom light’s still on. Go take your shower.”

Mingyu takes it as the deflection it is. He turns on the shower with a feeling akin to relief pooling in his stomach.

♦♦♦

Sunbin kicks his shin under the table when Soyi plops her plate beside Mingyu at breakfast. She works fast, Mingyu thinks while avoiding Sunbin’s pointed glare.

“Good morning, Mingyu,” Soyi beams at Mingyu, like the past few months never happened.

He mirrors her, giving her his well-worn smile. “Morning, Soyi.”

“What is she doing here?” Sunbin asks icily, pointedly not looking in Soyi’s direction. Jun’s frozen, spoon halfway to his mouth and Soonyoung and Seokmin exchange looks over Sunbin’s head.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Soyi leans her head on Mingyu’s shoulder, pretending like Sunbin isn’t this close from stabbing a hole into the table with her fork. “We’re back together.”

The whole table goes silent and, as if it’s contagious, the surrounding tables begin to look over at Soyi and Mingyu. By lunch, the whole school will probably hear about the star couple getting back together. Their school’s large, but he’s the headmaster’s adopted son, forever in the spotlight.

“Did I ask you?” Sunbin finally looks Soyi in the eye. “Don’t you know it’s rude to speak when not spoken to? But then again, you never know when to shut up, do you?”

Soyi’s smile immediately vanishes, and she straightens but leaves her hand on Mingyu’s arm. “What’s rude is talking about someone like they’re not even here. Then again, I don’t expect any more from a charity case like you.”

“Soyi,” Mingyu says warningly and pulls away, letting her hand drop between them. Her ability to fight and stand on her own, her ruthless pursuit of her ambitions, all this drew him to her before. But now, he just wants to duct-tape .

Sunbin’s mouth twists cruelly. “Going back to my scholarship, are we now? That’s the only thing you can pick on? I think you should worry about your 60 average before you judge someone else’s academic achievements.”

“You –”

“Oh, I’m the ? I’m not the one making everyone’s morning hell. Why don’t you run away to your other boytoys and stop leeching off of Mingyu?”

“Hey,” Soonyoung rests a hand on Sunbin’s wrist, a warning. He looks at Mingyu and nods towards Soyi. “You should probably go.”

Mingyu nods, swallowing hard as he grabs Soyi’s arm and leads her out of the caf. He passes by Wonwoo’s table and risks a glance, not expecting Wonwoo to be staring right back at him, with one unimpressed eyebrow raised. He heard all of it. Mingyu feels heat rush to his face and quickens his pace until they’re safely out in the corridor.

Mingyu wheels on her, wrestling his features into a pretence of apathy, knowing it won’t end well if he blows up at her. “If you’re going to keep this up, we’re done.”

“Wow, a relationship that lasted, what, nine hours? That should be a whole new record,” Soyi laughs, completely unruffled.

“I’m not kidding. When I asked you to get back together, that didn’t mean it was okay for you to antagonize my friends. You and I both know you need this more than me.”

“If your guard dog didn’t lunge at me, it wouldn’t have been an issue,” Soyi says, dropping the smile. “It’s not my problem she has a stick up her .”

“I don’t care, leave Sunbin alone. I don’t know why you two hate each other so much, but you knew to stay away from her even back when we were dating. You never joined us for meals, either. So whatever games you’re playing, knock it off.”

“It’s not – It was just for today. I needed people to talk about us, and there’s no faster way than to make a scene in the caf.”

“Wonwoo already knows. Shouldn’t that be enough?”

“He’s smart, Mingyu. You’ve never gotten back together with an ex before. He’s going to think something’s up, so we can’t just avoid each other until the party and pretend like we’re in love the day of.”

“You don’t think it’s weird that we’re arguing in the caf?”

“We didn’t argue.” Soyi crosses her arms. “We’re arguing now, but back there, it was just between me and your bodyguards.”

Mingyu lets out a frustrated huff. “At least give me a heads up before you spring something like that on me. You can’t just expect me to go along with anything you pull.”

“Yeah, that’s fair. But don’t worry, I know you’re a good actor.” Soyi has the nerve to wink at him before taking steps away. “You can keep up.”

Mingyu doesn’t bother watching her leave. His headache’s returning full force. It started off as harmless stupidity, but now it’s shaping up to be a major inconvenience instead. He can’t even blame her that much, because he was the one who offered to give her a hand, all the while meaning to use her to help him figure out what Wonwoo is really up to.

He started this mess, and he could call it off any second now. But at the thought of Wonwoo’s impenetrable, unimpressed stare, Mingyu can’t bring himself to cancel the plan. He’s willing to suffer a hundred more headaches and a hundred more Soyis to see a crack in Wonwoo’s walls.

♦♦♦

Mingyu should have prepared himself better. He knows what Soyi’s like when she has her mind fixated on one goal. Once upon a time, he was her end goal. He should have known that to make up for not hanging around him 24/7, she’ll find other ways to show off that he’s hers.

Such as visiting his dorm.

Mingyu is a second away from shutting the door in her face, if not for Wonwoo’s heavy stare on his back. He settles with whispering, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Oh, I just wanted to visit my boyfriend before Functions,” she responds loudly. She peeks over his shoulder at Wonwoo but knows better than to greet him.

“Sorry, but you can’t come in,” Mingyu says, leaning towards her in an attempt to crowd her out of his room. “Girls aren’t allowed here. You know that.”

“Okay, fine,” Soyi pouts. She opens her arms. “Give me a hug, at least.”

Mingyu risks a glance behind him at Wonwoo, who’s sitting at his desk, turned away from them, with his headphones on. He lets out a sigh and complies, giving Soyi a quick squeeze before pushing her gently out and closing the door on her smug grin. Ruffling his hair, he looks back at Wonwoo again. Frustration bubbles in his chest at Wonwoo’s complete disinterest.

“That won’t happen again,” Mingyu calls out, trying to force Wonwoo to acknowledge what just happened.

Wonwoo makes a non-committal sound, not turning around. So he heard everything Soyi said.

“I didn’t ask her to come.”

Finally Wonwoo shuts the book he’s reading and pulls off his headphones. He pins Mingyu with an undecipherable stare. “I didn’t ask you to explain.”

“So you don’t mind?”

Wonwoo ignores him and pulls on his headphones, which is response enough.

Whenever Mingyu’s girlfriends came to his dorm before, Wonwoo would go tight-lipped and leave the room as fast as he could. Now, he’s not even tensing up. If Mingyu doesn’t know any better, it could have been Soonyoung or Seokmin at the door instead of Soyi based on Wonwoo’s reaction, or lack of one.

Mingyu stares at Wonwoo searchingly, not exactly knowing if he’s looking for taut lines, tense muscles, anything, before he drops the conversation. Even a fight would have been more progress than silence.

♦♦♦

The rest of his week leading up to Friday passes in bursts of upset friends, academics, and Soyi. Every other day, Mingyu eats lunch or dinner with Soyi. He walks her to class, carries her books, waves to her during his games. It strangely reminds him of his past relationships, with the addition of a much angrier Sunbin and an underlying detachment.

“So I was thinking,” Soyi says, pulling out a folder. “We need to have couple costumes.”

Mingyu nods, completely zoning out. They’re sitting by the fountain in front of the school for lunch. Mingyu doesn’t like eating his meals out of the caf, but Sunbin thought it would make a cute date. He does admit that the water spraying behind them is refreshing, pretty, and drowns out Soyi.

“I can order them online today and it’ll arrive by tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“So all you have to do is pick, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Superman and Wonder Woman, Joker and Harley Quinn, and Jim and Pam. Which one do you want?”

“Okay.”

Soyi blinks at him, finally realizing that he hasn’t been listening. She whacks him on the leg. “Mingyu, this is important. Do you want to be the cutest couple at Halloween or not?”

“Not particularly,” Mingyu says. He stares at the poutine in Soyi’s hands. She’s not even half finished and he’s already done with his meal.

“Mingyu.”

“I just don’t see the point. We’re not even going to show up together, since it’s held at your residence. I can swing by wearing whatever, and we’ll hang out at the party with your friends. Then we’ll split up.”

“But we need to put on a show! If we’re going to screw with everyone, we should at least have fun doing it, shouldn’t we?”

Mingyu tries to keep judgement out of his tone, but it’s difficult. “And your idea of fun is dressing up in couple costumes?”

“Okay, fine,” Soyi huffs and crosses her arms. “Is this because I’ve been dragging you on dates all week long? Fine. Take some control in this relationship. What do you want to dress up as?”

Mingyu hesitates, “I don’t know. I haven’t dressed up in a while for Halloween. Something classic, I guess? Maybe Frankenstein, or Dracula, or –”

“Oh my god, you’d look so hot as a vampire,” Soyi cuts him off, hands clasping in excitement. She reaches out and traces a line down his mouth. “With little fangs and blood trickling down, and we can gel your hair back… You’ll let me do your makeup, right? It’ll be so fun!”

“Then what are you gonna be?”

“Dracula’s bride, of course!”

“He has three.”

“Smartass.” Soyi rolls her eyes. “I’ll be the hot one, of course.”

Mingyu chooses not to comment and lets Soyi continue on about where to get his cape and her Victorian dress. His mind’s drifting off to how he’s going to explain this mess to his friends in a way that’ll minimize backlash from Sunbin, especially. To her credit, she hasn’t brought up the relationship, but all of his friends are obviously uncomfortable with Soyi and are waiting on pins and needles for the eventual fallout.

He snaps back to attention when the front entrance opens to reveal the three Snobs straight out of Mingyu’s nightmares. Admittedly, when separated, they’re not too hard to deal with, but when combined, Mingyu always fails to block out memories of his freshman and sophomore years, of being shoved into walls and having his assignments stolen right before the class it was due.

As the Snobs walk down the stairs past them, towards the garden, he feels Soyi stiffen beside him, words trailing to a stop, while Minghao shoots them a death glare. Jihoon doesn’t even bother looking their way. Wonwoo, always in the middle, stares straight at them, bold and unfazed.

At first glance, he looks as emotionless as ever. But having been roommates for almost four years, there are certain things Mingyu can easily detect. Wonwoo’s not upset or vindictive or even jealous. He’s tired.

His dark circles are worse than ever, eyes drooping from lack of sleep. He still walks like he’s on ice, all grace and caution, but each step looks like it’s slowly the energy out of him. Mingyu can’t recall if Wonwoo’s eating regularly, since he’s been eating outside with Soyi so often.

As the Snobs pass them without so much of a sniff or an upturned nose, Mingyu feels something drop in his stomach. Not disappointment or regret, which is usually how he feels around Wonwoo. It’s more anticipation, almost ominous, in how he might have changed whatever is between them for good.

♦♦♦

Halloween arrives as it always does, the , the turning point, the end of weeks of hype, of the school plastered with orange and black, of students buzzing about costumes and parties and music.

Mingyu wakes up to The Monster Mash thrumming throughout the school. He coasts through the day, anticipation building through his body as he observes the streamers draped around the brick walls, the pumpkin stickers plastered over windows and the actual pumpkins perched on banisters. Only the teachers are dressed up during the day while they hand out candy, since the students are still expected to be in uniform. The students are allowed to change into their awaited costumes once the end of the the day bell rings.

As last period wraps up with a shrill bell, flocks of students rush for their dorms or for the washrooms. Mingyu never understood why the school loves holidays so much, but he enjoys it much more than the bland celebrations his previous public school held. Back then, normal students didn’t dress up, but at Eastridge, you stood out more if you didn’t.

Mingyu pulls out his phone to text Soyi that he’s making his way to her dorm, since she was so excited to help him with his costume. Someone snatches the phone right out of his hand.

He glances up to see his phone clutched in Sunbin’s hand. Mingyu says, surprised, “Hey. What are you doing here?”

Sunbin lifts her other arm, where a stuffed bag is dangling off of. “I’m responsible for making sure you transform into Dracula.”

“I thought – not that I’m upset you’re here, but –”

Sunbin scrolls through his unlocked phone and types something in it. She waits for a reply, then shows the screen to him.

Mingyu: why does sunbin have the costume?

Soyi: Oh, I gave it to her because I don’t think I’ll have time to work on yours. Mine’s taking forever!!

“I didn’t know you two were on speaking terms.”

Sunbin shrugs and starts walking, and Mingyu hurries to catch up to her. “She asked me for this favour in exchange for an explanation of why you chose to return to that harpy.”

“I was going to explain it to you, I swear. After Halloween.”

Sunbin gives him the side-eye. “Yeah, after you two broke up? Before I can tell you what a huge waste of time this is?”

Mingyu winces. “I knew you were going to react like that.”

“How else am I supposed to react?” Sunbin stops and whirls around to stare incredulously at Mingyu. They’re in the outside corridor leading to Sunbin’s dorm, and Mingyu decides to examine the colourful leaves behind Sunbin’s head instead of meeting her judgemental eye. “My idiot best friend decides to get back together with his crazy ex to do what? To make Wonwoo jealous? To play matchmaker?”

“Okay, okay, hear me out,” Mingyu holds up his arms defensively. “I just, it’s an experiment. I was curious.”

Sunbin continues to stare, eyebrows furrowed. He knows that look. She’s upset because she can’t figure him and his motives out. “About what?”

“About –” Mingyu runs a hand through his hair, frustrated that he can’t word it any better, that he didn’t have more time to practice the explanation. “I know how this is going to sound, okay? But, I just, I want to know if he actually dates all my exes on purpose.”

“Of course he does,” Sunbin says immediately.

“What?”

“Why are you so confused? It’s obvious he’s doing it on purpose. You can’t explain the pattern otherwise. I thought you knew that.”

“No, I. I thought we just had similar tastes?”

Sunbin glances away, pulling a Mingyu to stare at the trees behind his head. “I don’t think his tastes are like yours at all.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Sunbin starts walking again, forcing Mingyu to trail after her. “I mean, I don’t know what you expect to achieve from doing this. What’s the point?”

“I want to do this so I know that it’s possible for us to be on good terms. If all this time, he’s been messing with my relationships, then it’s clear that he really hates me. Why else would you chase after someone else’s exes?”

Sunbin glances at him, expression softened now that she knows where he’s coming from. “I’m not sure doing this - tricking him - would make you two friends. It might just make things worse.”

Mingyu doesn’t respond. He can’t, because he knows that this is why he avoided talking to Sunbin about it. She always tells him what he’s failed to realize until it’s too late.

♦♦♦

The song blaring through the speakers is more bass than anything, and Mingyu can feel the thrumming under his skin increase with every beat. He downs another cup of whatever alcohol they’re serving – something expensive but still tastes like . Everything about this party is , but that’s kind of why Mingyu likes it. It’s comforting to know even the rich kids throw lame parties, just like regular teenagers.

Some people stop by to comment about his Count Dracula costume. Sunbin did a great job, as always, but Mingyu knows he’d receive the same number of compliments if he chose Joker or Superman. The people coming up to him care less about the costume and more about who’s wearing it.

“How do you make ruffles look good?” The girl in front of him laughs, reaching out a hand to finger the ruffles on his collar. She’s dressed up as the sixth black cat Mingyu’s seen.

He tosses back, more a reflex than anything, “How do you make cat ears look good?”

She covers , and the lighting’s dim, but Mingyu can tell she’s blushing. He glances over her through the crowd, looking for Soyi. Eventually, he catches sight of brunette waves in the crowd. He pats the black cat on the arm, utters some lame excuse about getting air, and makes his way past flailing arms on the dance floor, through a doorway, and finds himself in a bathroom. It’s just a room away, but everything here is muted.

Mingyu takes the opportunity to clear his head. He rinses out his cup and fills it up with tap water, before gulping it all down. He was never a party person - not the lukewarm beer and forgettable EDM kind, at least - and although he knows he can walk out and find someone to talk to in five seconds, he feels like he shouldn’t be here. This whole thing was his stupid idea and he always sticks through with his dumb decisions to the bitter end, but this has got to be the fifteenth time he’s wanted to ditch the party and go back to Soonyoung’s dorm where his friends are camped out watching The Addams Family and eating questionable amounts of chocolate.

Just as he’s refilling his cup again, he hears giggling and footsteps, a knock on the bathroom door. Mingyu opens it to find a couple making out. Wow, my night cannot get any better.

There’s brown mixing with black and something drops in his stomach, but Mingyu ignores it and tries to inch past the couple, only to get an eyeful of who else but Wonwoo with his tongue down Soyi’s throat.

“You’ve got to be ing kidding me,” Mingyu breathes out.

Of all the endings he entertained that his poor decision-making skills will lead to, he thought this was the least likely outcome. Wonwoo hadn’t given a sign that he even knew Soyi existed all week, and sure, everyone’s been telling him that it’s a pattern, but Mingyu thought Wonwoo wouldn’t bother with the same girl twice if he didn’t actually have a grudge against Mingyu. Or maybe, that’s just wishful thinking.

Wonwoo blinks open his eyes, locks eyes with Mingyu, and takes his sweet time pulling away from Soyi. He’s dressed in all black, hair slicked back and dark lining his eyes. What the is he even supposed to be? Mingyu can’t align this Wonwoo, all sharp lines and smug smirks, to last week’s Wonwoo, who held through a truce and brought Mingyu coffee. Vaguely, Mingyu wonders how much of the change is his fault.

“Mingyu,” Soyi exclaims in surprise as she turns to him. She’s out of breath, but she doesn’t sound ashamed at all. The blood streak down her lip is smeared, a sign of her goal achieved. “You came.”

“Is that tap water?” Wonwoo has the nerve to ask as he eyes Mingyu’s drink. “That’s unsanitary.”

Mingyu stares at the hand Wonwoo still has around Soyi’s waist. The accumulated pent-up frustration at Wonwoo all these years paired with the tension this past week comes spilling out with the “unsanitary” tap water Mingyu dumps over Wonwoo. “Oops. My bad.”

Mingyu doesn’t bother staying to hear Soyi’s gasps and Wonwoo’s sputtering. He shoves his way past the rich kids grinding on each other until he finally reaches the front door. The cold air greets his burning face with a whoosh, and he’s almost at the fountain when a hand clamps around his wrist.

It’s Wonwoo. Of course it is. It’s always Wonwoo.

“What the do you want?” Mingyu shouts, wrenching his wrist away.

Wonwoo glares back at him, hard. Mingyu’s always been taller since sophomore year, but Wonwoo fills out every inch of his body, all rigid, hard muscle, that Mingyu never feels the height difference.

“What the was that back there?” Wonwoo hisses. Locks of his hair has escaped the gel to cling to his forehead and drops of water is spattered on his black suit.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I ruin your night?” Mingyu leans in, eyes narrowing, as he plucks at Wonwoo’s shirt. “Thank god it was water and not juice, yeah? Or that would have been five hundred down the drain.”

“You got that worked up over a girl?”

“What kind of question is that? She’s my ing ex, Wonwoo! You were there when I asked for her back!”

Wonwoo glances away, eyes fixated on a spot on the grass somewhere, face carefully blank. He swallows. Mingyu wrenches his eyes away from Wonwoo’s throat bobbing. It takes a while before he says, “I didn’t think you were that interested in her. She definitely wasn’t into you anymore, given how easily she threw herself at me.”

Mingyu gives Wonwoo a small shove, nothing major, just a warning to back off. “Don’t talk about her like that. You were just ramming your tongue down . Have some decency.”

“Decency?” Wonwoo manages a humourless laugh. He steps closer to Mingyu, taunting. “You want to talk to me about decency? How about that girl who agreed to go back to you yet stuck her tongue down some other guy’s throat after a ty pick-up line? For the second time in a row, might I add? You want to preach about decency? You really think all your exes were decent ers?”

“No, but that’s why we broke up!” Mingyu refuses to step back, despite the discomfort growing in his stomach at the proximity. He can just feel the two of them reaching the brink. One of them’s going to end up bleeding by the end of the night. “And they’re not the problem. You are. I thought we were – I don’t know, fine. But I never know where I stand with you. One day, we’re perfectly fine. Friends, even. The next, you’re going after my girlfriend and insulting me with every breath you take.”

“You thought we were what?” Wonwoo asks quietly.

“I don’t know, I was being dumb.”

“What did you think we were?” Mingyu waits for the sneer. It never comes, which scares him even more.

“I tried, Wonwoo. I tried so ing hard to be nice to you. But it’s always an uphill battle with you, isn’t it? It’s our last year together as roommates before we leave this hellhole, and I thought we were fine, but then you go around and pull this kind of .”

“What a pity you weren’t rewarded for your kindness, Kim.” Ah, there’s the sneer. “Are you going to throw a tantrum now that you didn’t get everything you want? Oh, boo hoo, there’s someone who’s not tripping over their own feet trying to please the Golden Boy. There’s someone not falling for the tragic orphan, the pauper-to-prince success story.”

Mingyu takes deep breaths, but it’s hard to rein back his anger when Wonwoo’s radiating fury inches away from him. He almost forgot how easily Wonwoo riles Mingyu up, picking on his past and privilege. “Like you’re not a spoiled living off of your parents’ money, too. Did Mommy Dearest pick out your costume for today?”

Wonwoo flinches, before catching himself and shutting down. He bites out, ice cold, “Careful, Kim. That’s not very nice of you.”

“I didn’t know you had mommy issues,” Mingyu sneers.

He barely catches a flash of tight-lipped, white anger before Wonwoo swings.

Mingyu reels back, hand shooting up to his left eye. His vision goes red, until he pries his eyes open, pushing down the throbbing pain. He doesn’t care anymore. He pulls his arm back to punch Wonwoo in the gut.

“Oh,” Wonwoo wheezes out, bent over. “If Headmaster Kim can see his investment now.”

Mingyu bends to his level, shoving Wonwoo’s shoulder hard. “Do you need another punch to shut up?”

Wonwoo rams into Mingyu, sending the two of them sprawling to the ground. Wonwoo’s bony shoulder digs into Mingyu’s chest painfully. Without a pause to recuperate, Mingyu gets an elbow to the face, and he lands a solid punch or two, and yup, that’s blood he’s tasting in his mouth. Their previous fights haven’t escalated to this level yet, usually ending after a punch or two before someone intervenes. But it’s night, and everyone’s at the party or in their dorms, so nobody’s outside watching the two idiots throttle each other into the ground.

Eventually, Mingyu kicks Wonwoo off of him when he can’t breathe without feeling pain. The two roll onto their backs, staring up at the endlessly black sky, silent save for the desperate gasps for air. Mingyu’s nose is bleeding, but not broken, and he probably has bruised ribs and scratches all over. He lets his head fall to the side, staring at Wonwoo’s profile. He feels empty. All the anger has been spent, leaving behind a gap of nothing for now, just waiting for regret and humiliation to pour in.

Wonwoo has his eyes closed, his right eye a blotchy ring of purple and blue. There’s blood dripping down his mouth and his black shirt is ripped in a few places, bruises splattered across his skin and chest heaving. Mingyu can’t bring himself to regret anything yet.

As if he feels Mingyu’s eyes on him, Wonwoo’s jaw clenches and he forces himself up, body straining with pain.

Mingyu starts to get up too, but winces. “Wonwoo –”

“Don’t.”

After a couple tries, Mingyu manages to stand, watching as Wonwoo walks towards the front entrance. He calls out again, “Wait, stop, we need –”

Wonwoo stops. He almost fades into the night in his all-black attire, but his pale skin seems to glow as he turns to stare blankly at Mingyu. He looks like a ghost, all battered with a dead look in his eyes.

“You’re right. We need to stop. I’m done. I’m tired and I’m done and if I have to stay in the same room as you for another minute I will set this whole school on fire.”

Mingyu opens his mouth and closes it, feeling like his words have been er punched out of him. He tries again, voice small and desperate, like tossing a penny in a well, “We’ve been living together for three years.”

“Yeah, and I hated every moment of it.” It’s impossible to make out Wonwoo’s expression in the dark, but Mingyu can see the rigid set in his shoulders, can hear the hardness in his voice. “I hate living with you. I hate dealing with our families’ bull. I hate that your father’s the Headmaster, that he was the reason my father lost his job. But this isn’t just about family politics, not anymore. We almost killed each other tonight, Kim.”

“No, it was - I shouldn’t have said -”

“We’re both bleeding and I might have broken your nose. Every step I take hurts. This is living proof of why a Kim and a Jeon is a disaster. This is why nothing will change between us. You can fall for all the nice pretenses you want, but we’re always going to hate each other.”

Wonwoo doesn’t bother waiting for a response and walks up the stairs into the school, which is fair because Mingyu doesn’t have a response to give. Everything Wonwoo said landed harder than any hit. After a few minutes of standing outside like an idiot, Mingyu heads in. He goes to his room instead of the infirmary and isn’t surprised to find it empty.

It’s obvious Wonwoo’s not coming back tonight. Mingyu still stays up, waiting for the unforgiving door to open, wondering how he managed to things up irrevocably.