Kyungsoo’s favorite shift was the one between 10pm and 6am. He loved sitting at the front desk, doing nothing. Between Sunday and Wednesday there was never anything happening. With 8am classes, most of the students were in their rooms by 9 or 10pm, either getting ready to sleep or still studying (or doing whatever the hell kids do these days, Kyungsoo once thought, after have experienced what seemed like an occult ritual coming from one of the rooms. But, being the good church boy that Kyungsoo is, he decided to just mind his own business, because why the hell would he care if someone sold their soul to the devil?).

On Thursdays, Kyungoo used to usually enjoy the show of students coming in around 11 or midnight, completely drunk, from the new bar that had opened a few days before the semester started. Kyungsoo blamed all the American teenage dramas and movies for the thirsty Thursday culture. On more than one occasion was his peaceful shift interrupted by a fainting student or his vomiting college, which required Kyungsoo to get involved and call public safety. For the longest time he was cursing everyone deep in his soul, but after that one incident when a student puked all over him, he no longer worked the Thursdays shifts. It was just so not worth it.

For Kyungsoo, even Friday and Saturday shifts weren’t as bad as the Thursday ones. Although the only two nights not followed by any academic responsibilities the next morning, Kyungsoo never found himself in need of an ambulance or a public safety. Usually, the people he saw leaving on Friday evening, he would not see them ever again, unless he ran into them on campus over the week, or saw them the next week, leaving again. On Saturdays, on a contrary, he would experience quite a few cases of tipsy or drunk students coming back around 2 or 3 in the morning, however, he would never see them leave the building in the evening.

College students was a weird breed, Kyungsoo concluded.

He loved his night shifts more than he liked the day ones, that was why he worked most of them. After a few weeks, he managed to work around the clock and his schedule to fight exhaustion and lack of sleep. Spending six hours four or five days a week at the front desk in students dorms gave him enough time to do all his readings, write his papers, prepare for his exams, watch his shows, and most of all, take a break for socializing. Nothing could have ruined it for him.

“I hate my job,” Kyungsoo said one day.

He was sitting in an extremely comfortable chair in his favorite spot at a café near school. He has just finished his 4-8am shift, and was cuddling with a cup of warm caramel macchiato. Opposite from him sat Sehun, his sort of a friend, all well rested, nicely dressed, with a judgmental look on his face, as he was listening to Kyungsoo sipping on his pumpkin spice latte.

“And I hate your stupid pumpkin spice latte,” he mumbled, judging the younger back.

“And what has it done to you, now?”

“It’s not even a real thing.”

“As real as it can get. Someone’s defo stack the stick far up your this time, what happened?”

Kyungsoo signed, running his hands over his face and pushing his hair back, “Sehun… I am scarred for life,” he mumbled. The younger only rose an eyebrow, signalizing for the other to continue, “for the past four weeks I have been spending almost each and single one of my shifts listening to some asshats having …”

As if on cue, Sehun just burst out laughing. There was not even a lingering of sympathy for his friend. Just pure amusement at his misery.

“Midterms are coming, they’re just probably really stressed. Gotta let the steam out somehow,” he just shrugged.

“You’re acting as if it was nothing. It is not,” the elder barked, taking a sip of his coffee.

“It is, Kyungsoo. Breaking news, people do have . College students have . Probably even more frequently than anybody else. It is nothing, my friend. You’d know if you’d let someone help you let off some steam as well,” he winked and laughed maniacally at how red Kyungsoo suddenly became.

“I hate you so so so so so so so freaking much.”

“You love me, because I am your only source of information of your little crush,” Sehun cooed, mocking his friend.

“And now I hate you even more.”

“You hate everyone, Kyungsoo. At least make me feel  special once, please.”

Kyungsoo just rolled his eyes and looked outside the window, trying to focus on anything but the scaring memories of the gone morning.

“Chanyeol is throwing a party, are you gonna come?”

Kyungsoo looked up from his coffee, focusing his attention on the boy in front of him again.

“I don’t know, he never mentioned anything to me.”

“Well I am now, so?”

“Is this your party?”

“Jongin’s gonna be there,” Sehun said, giving his friend a challenging look.

Kyungsoo’s eyebrow twitched, but he didn’t say anything.

“I don’t know if I’m not working,” he smiled spitefully, finishing his coffee.

“Oh, you’re not, it’s next Thursday,” Sehun smiled victoriously, and placing his cup down on the table stood up to leave, “I gotta run, my class started 10 minutes ago. I’ll see you around, Soo, enjoy your night shifts,” he winked and ran away before an orange cup shattered against his head.

“You’ll have to pay for that, you know that?” Junmyeon, a mutual friend and a cashier said.

“It’s been a tough night, Myeon,” Kyungsoo mumbled, but it didn’t help.

“It’s the third one this week, Kyungsoo… and it’s Wednesday morning,” Junmyeon said firmly, giving the exhausted boy a side glance. “Sehun wasn’t that wrong, you know…”

“Oh my god, don’t even finish the sentence—”

“About you letting off some steam.”

“And you finished.”

♦

Kyungsoo’s Friday shift started at ten. He sat in the chair, prepared his snacks and drinks, the heated under the desk and took a deep content sign in.

“It’s gonna be good,” he whispered to himself, getting excited for the next episode of Supernatural. Because even tho Netflix has what seems like an infinite amount of tv shows, that unfortunately does not mean that all of them are good tv shows. Therefore, to avoid disappointment, Kyungsoo decided to stick with classics (which basically means starting with rewatching random episodes and ending up rewatching the whole of thirteen seasons, while hating himself to the core for doing it, but not being able to stop).

Kyungsoo was about to press play when someone knocked on the front door. Groaning silently, he opened the door for whoever it was and was about to scold the student for losing his id card again, when he realized he knew the intruder.

“Jongdae?” he asked beyond surprised upon seeing the boy in the lobby.

“Good evening, Kyungsoo, how are you doing? I didn’t expect to ran into you, here,” the boy sang cheerfully, grinning from ear to ear.

“Right back at you. I’m good, thank you, just started the shift,” he shrugged, mentioning towards the desk, “what brings you here, Dae?”

“Oh,” the other laughed… nervously? Kyungsoo wondered, “just meeting with a friend, we were planning on going out.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo nodded, “I am not even surprised.”

“Yah!” Jongdae whined, “what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Only that I am warning you right here right now, if I find you puking all of my lobby floor, I will murder you.”

“Ohh, still holding a grunge against Baekhyun for that Thursday night?” Jongdae burst out laughing, but Kyungsoo only shuddered.

“Let’s not talk about it, please.”

“Don’t you worry, I’ll be going back to my place anyway, no need for me to be coming back here,” he shrugged, winking at his friend.

“I guess,” Kyungsoo nodded, slightly giving the elder a hint that it was high time for them to part. He just really wanted to watch the show.

“I get it,” Jongdae chuckled, “I’ll be going, and you enjoy your night. I’ll see you around!” He waved his goodbye and disappeared down the corridor.

And as Kyungsoo watched his friend turn the corner, it hit him.

“Yah, Kim, I cannot let you just go in!” he yelled, but to no avail. And this is what they warned him about during training. Friends will always make you break the rules. Next time, he’ll make sure that whoever Jongdae came to visit, will pick him up from the Lobby. After all, this is the policy... “but who would Jongdae even come to visit?” Kyungsoo wondered, looking into the direction where his friend disappeared.

He quickly took his phone out and sent a simple text:

To: Kim Junmyeon

Is Jongdae seeing someone, hyung?

Not a minute later did he get a reply:

From: Kim Junmyeon

WHAT?!?!?!?!!?!?!

Kyungsoo only rolled his eyes, and decided to change his source of information.

To: Baekpuke

Why is Jongdae coming all the way to campus on a Friday night to meet with someone?

Again, not a minute passed when Baekhyun texted him back

From: Baekpuke

Start from the beginning and tell me everything you know.

To: Baekpuke

He came in, said he was going out with a friend, disappeared before I realized that was not allowed to…

From: Baekpuke

You gotta stop daydreaming about that freshman, Soo! What do you mean “going out with a friend”?! Jongdae doesn’t have any friends!

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes

To: Baekpuke

You do realize that he knows way more people than you, right? You are getting off topic. Do you know anything or not?

From: Baekpuke

Ugh, now you’ve got me intrigued! And no, I don’t know anything, sadly. I’ll interrogate him asap tho!

Kyungsoo looked at his phone for a little bit, before a plan formed in his head.

To: Baekpuke

Don’t you dare! I’ll try catching him next time he does it. If he’s not back here until Thursday, I’ll let you deal with him.

From: Baekpuke

Ugh, okay, okay! Keep me posted!

♦

For the remaining of his shift, Kyungsoo kept an eye on the front door, to try and see if he could catch Jongdae again, even tho the boy said he would not be coming back. The only people that entered the building that night was a group of a few athletes and a freshman. A very particular freshman.

“Hello, Kyungsoo! You’re here again?” Jongin approached the desk around midnight, looking just a little bit tipsy.

“Feels like I’m always here,” the elder chuckled, pausing his show. “How are you doing, Jongin? Having fun?” he asked, smiling.

“Eh, just went out with Chanyeol for a drink, but I guess the whole week’s trainings wore him out, he passed out after the first one,” he laughed, shrugging.

“Any big games coming up?”

“Yeah, actually! We’re playing Wednesday. Will you come to watch?” Jongin asked, leaning against the desk.

The main door opened and a group of laughing athletes walked in.

“Hi Jongin!” one of them approached them, throwing his arm around the boy, and Kyungsoo sighed annoyed.

“Hey, Minseok, what are you doing here?”

“Going back to my room,” he laughed, “what does it look like? Come on, let’s go, the night is still young!” he said and pulled Jongin away from the desk. The younger turned to look at Kyungsoo with an apologetic smile on his face before he was gone.

To: Sehun

Your roommate just asked me if I’d come to the game next week. What does it mean?

From: Sehun

That he wants you to be there. Goodnight!

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, and looked at his reflection in the window opposite the desk.

What does it mean?

♦

When Kyungsoo opened the door, he was introduced to a scene of misery and pain. The whole apartment smelled of thai food, there were boxes littering the floor, and his two friends were sitting on a couch in nothing but their underwear, playing videogames.

“Can you be any more disgusting?” He sighed, passing by them to grab his takeout.

“Is this a challenge?” Baekhyun asked, pushing Jongdae off of the couch to distract him.

“Yah!” he boy whined, throwing his console at his friend.

“Have you even, like… moved today?”

“If you’re asking whether we went outside, then no,” Jongdae replied simply grabbing a bottle of beer, “so, what do you guys wanna watch?”

“How about we watch the Conjuring?” Kyungsoo proposed, but was met with dead silence and death glares, “okay, I get, you’re little babies.”

“How about we the Pirates of the Carrabean? We could do a marathon?” Baekhyun suggested, readjusting himself on the couch.

“I don’t think I can stay the whole night to finish the marathon, but I like the idea,” Kyungsoo smiled, sitting in an armchair.

“Do you work again?” Jongdae asked, connecting his computer to the TV.

“Not tonight, but I need a good night sleep, finally.”

“Then this will help you,” Baekhyun said, passing him beer.

Jongdae and Baekhyun ended up talking and commenting almost ever minute of the movie, probably a right bestowed on them by the 100^th time they watched it, but to their surprise, Kyungsoo didn’t say even one word. And when it came to complaining, Kyungsoo always had something to say.

“Soo, are you alright?” Baekhyun asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Huh?”

“What’s up? What’s on your mind?” he pried further.

Jongdae’s eyes shone, as he leant closer, “or rather, who’s on your mind, Soo?” he cooed, moving his eyebrows up and down.

“Omg, has anything happened between Jongin and you?!” Baekhyun exclaimed excitedly.

“Emm…” Kyungsoo only let out, his cheeks becoming slightly red, and the two other boys knew instantly.

“Spill!” they shouted at the same time, after which the high fived each other.

“He just stopped by the desk last night and we chatted for a little bit—”

“Andddd?”

“He told me that they’d be playing on Wednesday and asked me if I’d come to watch—”

“NO HE DID NOT!” Bakehyun yelled out, choking on his beer.

“Well… yeah,” Kyungsoo mumbled, looking down at his hands.

“And what did you say?!” Jongdae asked, almost crushing Baekhyun with his body.

“Nothing, that guy, Minseok, came in literally the moment I opened my mouth and they just left,” he shrugged, looking up at his friends, and Kyungsoo could swore that Jongdae’s eye twitched and his jaw clenched.

“Ugh!” Baekhyun groaned, “okay, but that’s not bad, the most important is that he asked you! That means he wants you there. Therefore, you will be there! And you are so coming to the Thursday party! He’ll be there, too!”

“Will you guys come with me?” Kyungsoo asked a little bit hesitantly, “you know I don’t really like sports that much…”

“Of course we will! Right, Dae?” They both looked at Jongdae, who seemed to have been thinking extremely fast about something.

“Yeah, of course,” he said finally, “no problem.”

Kyungsoo exchanged looks with Baekhyun, and then they bother looked at Jongdae again.

“Dae, why were you on campus last night?” Baekhyun asked, getting comfortable.

“Excuse me?”

“A little bird told me,” and here Baekhyun looked at Kyungsoo, “that you happened to be visiting someone in the dorms. Who was that if I may ask?”

Jongdae looked at both of them for a moment, and then burst out laughing, “you may not, Baekhyun. What is this? An interrogation?”

“Just curiosity. I haven’t seen you going there since we moved out. So…?”

“Geez, I told you, Soo, I was going out with a couple of friends—”

“You said you were meeting with a friend and that you were planning on going out,” Kyungsoo corrected.

“… are  you seriously being picky about semantics? Are you really that desperate to make something out of nothing?”

“Then prove to me that it was nothing, Kim!” Baekhyun exclaimed, pointing his bottle in the other’s direction.

“Literally went out with the soccer team guys’ for a beer. That’s it,” Jongdae replied shortly and then stood up to throw his empty food box out.

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo looked at each other, confused.

“And since when, excuse me, are you hanging out with the soccer team?” Baekhyun asked, his face asking a thousand questions.

“Since Luna asked me if I wanted to out with her and a few of her friends,” Jongdae rolled his eyes.

“As in Sehun’s Luna?”

“As in Sehun’s Luna,” Jongdae mocked, taking a sip of his beer.

“You’re the worst, Kim Jongdae!” Baekhyun groaned, sticking his tongue out.

“And what the have I done this time?”

“You’re just so boring. I was expecting some juicy gossip!”

“Too much TV, Baekhyun, too much TV,” Jongdae sighed and they came back to watching the movie.

♦

On Sunday, Kyungsoo’s shift went smoothly. There were no incidents, no encounters, and most importantly, no noises. On Monday, unfortunately, he was no longer this lucky.

It was nearing elven. Kyungsoo’s shift started at ten, and since then, no one came in and no one came out. With a content smile on his face, Kyungsoo was about to start another episode of Sherlock, when it happened. The deadly silent lunge filled with moans and groans. And they were not stopping, and they were not getting quieter.

Kyungsoo’s blood boiled and he smashed his head against the desk, “who the built these walls so paper thin?!” He started praying in his soul for the phone not to ever start ringing, because that would mean having to deal with complaining residents, and then he would have to get involved by calling others, and… he just really didn’t want to deal with it. However, he couldn’t do what he would usually do in such a situation, which was to put his headphones on. He was at work, and he needed to be aware of his surroundings. And so Kyungsoo was stuck in the lounge, watching Sherlock, listening to excessively loud and not so innocent . Not even dear Watson was able to block the noise out.

♦

“I hate my job so much,” Kyungsoo groaned the next morning, this time eating breakfast with Beakhyun.

“y couple, again?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Two ing hours, Baekhyun. They were on it, for two ing hours!”

Baekhyun was slowly munching on his food, his face full of focus, “that is called skills, my dear Kyungsoo. We gotta give them that. Wish I had such a stamina—”

“Baekhyun!” the younger groaned, “please, not now! This is beyond disturbing!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. But what else can I tell you? I do feel sorry for you, Soo. Do you have any idea who that might be? You could always file a complaint?”

“I’ve no idea, Baek, and it’s not like I can just walk down the corridor and knock on all the doors.”

“It’d be funny tho,” the elder laughed, “’Excuse me, are you the one having obnoxiously loud ?’”

“Just imagine their faces,” Kyungsoo join in laughing.

“Oh, boy, if they’re fine doing what they’re doing, I think it’d be you who’d be more embarrassed, to be completely honest with you.”

“I am almost as certain as you, my friend,” Kyungsoo sighed, and his gaze travelled towards the door to of the café, were Jongin had just come in.

“Hello, hyung! How’s it going?” he greeted Junmyeon, who was behind the couter again, and send him a wide smile.

“Hello, Earth to Kyungsoo, you’re drooling,” Baekhyun joked, and Kyungsoo automatically threw a napkin at him, “Soo, I do believe you have anger issues.”

“Only when I’m around you.”

“Oh, good morning, Kyungsoo!” Jongin’s voice was now a lot closer to them, as when Kyungsoo looked up, he saw the younger boy standing right next to them.

“Good morning, Jongin, how are you?”

“Good, just incredibly exhausted, we’ve just finished our morning practice,” he smiled and then looked towards Baekhyun.

“Hello, hyung, how are you?”

“Not too bad. Ready for tomorrow’s game?”

“Oh, I cannot wait,” the boy chuckled, “the intense trainings are wearing me out, wish for it to be over!”

“Jongin!” someone called the boy, and when they turned towards the door, they say Sehun with his headphones one, “let’s go!” he yelled, probably louder than was necessary.

“Gotta go, it was great running into you, hope to you see at the game tomorrow, Soo!” he winked and ran out of the store.

Before Kyungsoo could even think of the words that had just been said, he felt a terrible pain of Baekhyun’s nails being dug into his arm.

“He said he hopped to see you at the game, Kyungsoo,” he squeaked, “and he called you Soo! This is just so perfect!”

“Please, let go of my hand, or I’ll have to have it amputated,” he whined, but also smiled widely and his eyes shone.

♦

Kyungsoo hardly ever works daily hours, but being a good human that he is, he agreed to cover his friend’s shift on Wednesday, before the game. Working during the day was a lot different to working at nights. There were actually people around him, laughing groups of girls, crying freshmen, nervous juniors, overly confident seniors, happy couples, and the ones that weren’t so lucky. The whole array of social interactions. And Kyungsoo sat at the desk for four hours, getting more and more intrigued by everything he experienced.

It was around three in the afternoon, Kyungsoo had only an hour of work left, when something he least expected happened. As he looked around the lobby, his eyes caught a sight of Jongdae, who, as soon as their eyes met, stood dead in his tracks by the elevator.

“Jongdae?” Kyungsoo asked surprised, “what are you doing here?”

A phone started ringing, and Jongdae quickly took his own out of the pocket and rejected the call. It rang again almost immediately. But he did it again.

“Hah, hi, Kyungsoo. I didn’t expect to see you here today,” he laughed nervously.

“Didn’t expect? As in you usually expect someone else? As in you are actually here often enough to expect someone?!” Questions were running through Kyungsoo’s head, and he felt like he had just caught his friend red handed. Almost. At least now he was most certainly sure that Jongdae was, in fact, hiding something from them.

“Just covering a shift… What—What are you doing here, Jongdae? Meeting a friend?” he asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

“Came in to visit Jongin—” and the moment he said it, he knew he got himself in a web of lies, “I got—gotta go, still got a few errands to run, but I’ll see you at the game, right?” he said nervously, leaving without a second word.

To: Baekpuke

Jongdae’s on radar. Caught him in the dorm again.

From: Baekpuke

No.ing.Way. What an ! He’s up to something, I am sure of it!

Kyungsoo was about to text back, when a voice outside caught his attention.

A window to the balcony in front of the desk was open, and on the first floor, right below him, someone was on the phone, and was being rather loud… or maybe it just happened to be incredibly quiet in the lobby suddenly.

“Jongdae, please, don’t hang up!” someone exclaimed, “I’ve been trying to reach you—” then there was a pause and deep breathing, someone on the other side—Jongdae, Kyungsoo thought—must have been speaking. “I don’t wanna do it over the phone. Why did you leave like that? I thought –” and a pause again, “I thought we were good, we even—” and he was cut off once more. “Jongdae, you’re being unfair!” Kyungsoo couldn’t win with his curiosity and although he shouldn’t, he stood up and left the desk. “Don’t you think we should – oh come on!” the person yelled into the phone. Kyungsoo quietly walked onto the balcony and neared the bars. “I don't… I just don’t want to deal with this like this.. Please,” the person begged. Kyungsoo leant against the railing, looked down – “Let’s just talk about it—” and the air got stuck in his lungs, as he almost chocked on his saliva. “Yeah—” the boy mumbled, and put the phone down from his ear. He looked at the screen for a moment, and the turned around and walked into the building.

Kyungsoo needed a moment to regain his sanity. Now, that was some Gossip Girl type worth of gossip.

♦

“Okay, Soo, where do you wanna sit? We need to pick a good spot for you to see him and for him to see you,” Baekhyun winked, smiling at his friend.

“I really don’t care, Baek, you pick a place,” Kyungsoo laughed, looking around the basketball hall.

“Let’s sit here, it’s the best place for me to observe Yeol,” the elder said, sitting in the fourth row.

“And here I thought we were here for me,” Kyungsoo chuckled, sitting down.

“We are here mainly for you, but a little bit for me as well—”

“Don’t you know this game to the minute, anyway?” a new voice joined them, “I know for a fact that Chanyeol is explaining to you the strategy as they make it.”

“Shut your cakehole, Kim Jongdae, I have to support my baby always, no matter what I know and what I don’t know,” Baekhyun stack his tongue out, grabbing a box of popcorn form his friend’s hand. Both Jongdae and Kyungsoo gave him a look, and he almost spat the popcorn he had already in his mouth on the floor, as he quickly added: “about the game! I meant the game! Huh--?” Baekhyun cracked his head to the side, as he noticed that Jongdae was no longer paying attention to them, and was now looking straight ahead of him, somewhere in the distance. As he followed his gaze, his eyes landed on a group of students at the entrance, “Jongdae who are you –” he started, but got hit by Kyungsoo in the ribs. When he turned to whine, his friend only gave him a steady and hard look, nodding his head back in the direction of the door, as if trying to say “look harder you stupid idiot!” And so Baekhyun did, and when he realized that among the group of guys stood Kim Minseok, a captain of the school’s soccer team, equally paralyzed as their friend, looking in his direction, something started slowly clicking in his mind.

He looked back at Kyungsoo with a scandalized look on his face, and the younger only pursed his lips, shrugging. They both looked up at Jongdae, who was already sitting in his seat, looking at the score table.

“Jongdae?” Baekhyun started.

“Hmm?”

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, why?” he asked, turning to face them, and although his face was covered in a massive smile, his shoulders and an overall posture were still very tense.

“Just… asking…”

♦

Thursday evening, around seven, Kyungsoo knocked at Baekhyun and Jongdae’s doors. He was greeted by the former, this time thankfully completely dressed.

“Oh, you look good, Baekhyun, any special occasion?” Kyungsoo asked, walking further into the apartment.

“Oh, you know, just the whole school is gonna look at me tonight. No biggie,” the elder laughed, handing him a bottle of beer. “You don’t look bad yourself. Are you trying to impress a certain somebody?” he wiggled his eyebrows, giving his friend a look.

“Just trying to keep warm, Baekhyun, just trying to keep warm.”

“You tell yourself that. I know you too well!”

The younger only rolled his eyes, looking around the place, “where’s Jongdae?”

“Still getting ready in his room.”

“Okay, Baekhyun, then can we talk about what the hell happened yesterday?” he asked quietly, sitting by the table, and taking another sip of the beer.

“Oh my, please let’s!” Baekhyun shouted quietly, joining his friend by the table, “what the was that staring contest about, Soo?”

“Did he tell you anything?”

“Of course he didn’t! You know him, he never tells me anything—but Kim Minseok?! Out of all the possible people… Kim Minseok?! Baekhyun whined, running a hand through his hair.

“Let’s not rush into judgement here…maybe we’re just reading it wrong… I mean… he’s our friend, he’d tell us if something was going on, right?”

“Pff, of course he wouldn’t, Kyungsoo! If there is anything between Minseok and him… he’d never tell us.”

“Why are you so sure?”

“Because then he’d have to listen to us tell him ‘told you so’…”

Kyungsoo sighed, leaning back in his chair. Baekhyun was right, if there was anything between Jongdae and Minseok, there was only one ending, and it would be both of them holding up a sign “Told you so” high in the air.  That was why Kyungsoo hopped for his friend to be smarter than this.

♦

“It’s almost nine, where the hell is Jongdae?” Baekhyun asked, looking up from his phone, “I’ll go check up on him, wanna check how long it will take for Uber to get here?”

“Sure thing,” Kyungsoo nodded, opening the app on his phone.

Baekhyun walked down the corridor and knocked at his friend’s door. Then again and again.

“Jongdae, open up, we gotta go. Jongdae?” he opened the door on his own, and as he walked inside the room, he found his friend asleep on the bed. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” he exclaimed, waking the other up.

“Baekhyun? What’s up?” asked sleepy Jongdae.

“The party is up, you jackass! Get up and get ready, you have five minutes before Uber gets here!” he yelled, throwing a set of random clothes at Jongdae.

The younger of two only huffed, covering his head with a blanket, “I’m not going anywhere, I wanna sleep.”

“What the actual , Jongdae, what game are you playing?! Get your fat out of bed, we’re going to get face drunk! KYUNGSOO!” Baekhyun yelled at the top of his lungs, calling the youngest in the room.

“Hmm?” Kyungsoo murmured, walking in, “what’s up? Jongdae? Are you alright?”

“He’s saying he doesn’t wanna go!”

“What the ? Since when do you not wanna go and get drunk, Jongdae? Are you feeling alright?”

“No, I don’t, now can you please leave me alone?!” the boy yelled back, turning to face the wall.

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo looked at each other, and the former took the bottle of beer from his friend’s hand.

“Jondgae,” he started softly, sitting at the edge of the bed, “what’s up, buddy?”

There was no answer.

“Is it your head or your heart that’s hurting?” Baekhyun asked again, slowly uncovering his friend’s face, “hmm?”

“Both,” Jongdae mumbled, looking at Baekhyun as if he had betrayed him.

“Then I know only one remedy for such a pain, my friend,” the elder smiled softly, giving Jongdae the beer.

The boy sat on his bed, looking at the bottle for a second.

“Whoever he is, Jongdae, he’s a total ,” Kyungsoo said, smiling at his friend.

Jongdae smiled back, putting the bottle to his lips, “oh, I know that very well, Soo, don’t worry,” he chuckled and chucked the whole bottle down, “let’s go get drunk!” he yelled, jumping out of the bed.

♦

“Baekhyun! Finally!” Chanyeol ran up to his boyfriend, hugging him tightly.

“Hey there, giant, how’s the party going?” he asked, looking around at the sea of people.

“I’d say amazing. And Soo,” Chanyeol smiled looking at his shorter friend, “there’s a particular someone outside, who’s asked a few questions about you.”

Kyungsoo turned red, and they all just started laughing.

“Let’s go, Soo, I know exactly what you need,” Jondgae smiled, pulling his friend in the direction of alcohols.

“I don’t know if I should be trusting you with this, Dae,” he mumbled, a little bit scared for his liver.

“I’m the master, you know that,” he laughed, mixing a drink.

“I know and that’s what I’m afraid of.”

“Stop whining, and let’s drink,” the elder said, pushing a cup into the younger’s hand, “cheers, Soo!” And before Kyungsoo even managed to bring the cup to his lips, Jongdae was already fixing himself another one.

“Jongdae,” Kyungsoo started, but the other interrupted him right away:

“Don’t, Soo. Don’t get involved, don’t ask questions, just… just don’t get into it, okay?” he smiled at his friend, but his smiled said it all.

Stay out of this.

“Noted,” he smiled, raised his glass and drank everything in one go.

“Here, let me fix you another one, and let’s find the rest,” Jongdae smiled, and a few moments later they found themselves outside, in the sea of people. “I think I see Jongin!” Jongdae yelled over the loud music, “the rest must be there, too, let’s go!”

“Oh, hey guys! You came!” Jongin smiled, noticing the two of them, “oh, and I see you got yourself well prepared,” he laughed, checking Jongdae up and down.

“Shut up,” he mumbled, nervously looking around, “Jongin, take care of Soo for me, please, I gotta… go,” he said, walking away just like that.

“Smooth motherer,” Jongin mumbled, watching his cousin disappear in the crowd.

“What was even that about?” Kyungsoo asked, also following the elder with his eyes.

“I saw you came to the game,” Jongin said, and as Kyungsoo turned around, he came face to face with a beaming Kim Jongin. Wow.

♦

Jongdae was pointlessly navigating through the sea of people, when he got inside the house to look for more alcohol. By the dispenser with Jungle Juice, he spotted one of his friends, a Chinese exchange student from Beijing. He smiled at him and was about to approach him, when he was bumped into. As he rose his eyes, he was met with none other than Kim Minseok.

“Hey, Minseok!” someone yelled after him, “are you coming?”

“Yeah—just… just give me a second, I’ll catch up with you guys,” he shouted back, and his friends left the room. “Jongdae—”

Jongdae only sighed.

“What do you want?” he asked, looking up at the boy.

“Come with me,” he whispered (or so he thought), and led them up the stairs to one of the rooms.

“That’s smooth,” Jongdae chuckled derisively.

Once the door was locked, Minseok wrapped his hand around the younger’s waist and pulled him in to kiss him tenderly. Jongdae kissed back, running his fingers through the other’s hair.

“Oh, Min,” he breathed out, pulling back after a few moments.

“Doesn’t it feel nice?” Minseok asked, placing another kiss on Jongdae’s lips, “doesn’t it feel right, Jongdae? Why cannot we just stay like this, huh?” he mumbled against the younger’s neck, leaving small bitemarks from his ear down.

“Because, Minseok,” Jongdae groaned, biting his lower lip, “although I feel like I’m going crazy whenever I’m with you,” he started, pushing his hands up the elder’s shirt, caressing his skin, “you also make me wanna set you on fire, at times—”

“Isn’t that what passion is, tho?” the other asked, and Jongdae felt him smirk against the skin of his collarbone.

Jongdae didn’t reply, he just proceeded to taking Minseok’s shirt off, as the latter was throwing his jacket to the floor.

And Jongdae realized he was gone.

♦

“Let’s go back down, they’re waiting for us,” Minseok whispered, running his hands over Jongdae’s back. They were sitting on the bed, Minseok was resting against the headboard, and Jongdae was on top of him, cupping his face with his fingers.

Jongdae’s hands fell onto his thighs, as he sighed heavily, “I cannot,” he only whispered, smiling sadly, “you know I cannot go with you,” he spoke softly, pushing a few lose bangs away from Minseok’s eyes.

“Is it about your friends again?” the elder asked, frowning. Jongdae only replied with a small, almost apologetic, smile. “Why are you so afraid of they will think? Why in the world would you even care, Dae, you know that what they’re saying about me is not true!”

“You see, baby,” he whispered, caressing the other’s cheek, and Minseok leant into the touch, content. “It is,” he said, and the elder opened his eyes, looking directly into Jongdae’s. He looked almost disappointed. “Pretty boys with pretty words,” Jongdae continued, drawing circles on Minseok’s chest, “the ones everyone warns you about, but you fall for regardless,” he chuckled.

“Jongdae—”

“Oh, please, Minseok,” the younger laughed, throwing his head back, “just stop playing… please. We both know what it is—” he chuckled, mentioning between the two of them, “you, the one who can have anyone,” he smiled, placing a kiss on his lips, “and me, the lucky one who can have you… until you get bored and exchange me for a better model.”

“Why are you saying such things?” Minseok asked, grabbing Jongdae’s face in between his hands, to make him look at him, “is it what you think of me?”

“This is what everyone else thinks about us.”

“Screw them, why do you care?”

“’You’re so lucky to be with him, Jongdae’,” he said, and Minseok frowned, confused, “there are so many amazing people around, and out of all of them he chose you’,” he continued, “’have you any idea what half of the athletes would do to be in your place?’, ‘Jongdae, you are so lucky, enjoy while it lasts’. This is what your friends and so many other people are saying,” the younger explained, looking Minseok in the eyes, “truth is, baby,” he smiled softly, “you’re the lucky one here. I’m just a fool,” he said and pushing away from Minseok he got out of bed, put his t-shirt on, and left the room.

Before closing the door, he looked at Minseok one last time, and said, “you’d better make up your mind real quick. I have no intention of waiting for you, Minseok. Life’s too short for that.”

♦

“Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo approached his friend, with Jongin following him closely, “have you seen Jongdae?”

“Hmm,” the other thought, “not really since we came here, no.”

“Oh, isn’t that him?” Chanyeol, who was baghugging Baekhyun, asked, pointing towards the back door. It was, indeed, Jongdae, leaving the house in a hurry.

“Jongdae!” Baekhyun yelled, waving at him. Once the younger spotted them, he approached the group with a smile.

“How’s it going guys? Having fun?” he asked, running a hand through his hair.

“Are you? Where’s your drink—”

“Where’s your jacket? It’s freezing cold,” Kyungsoo interrupted Baekhyun, realizing their friend was shivering.

“Oh,” Jongdae gasped, as if only realizing he did not have it, “I must have left it somewhere inside,” he mumbled.

“Oh? Hey Minseok, what up,” Chanyeol spoke, as the soccer player neared their circle.

“Found it in the house,” he said, raising the jacket he was holding in his hand, “do you have lost and found in here?”

“Isn’t it your, Jongdae?” Jongin asked, recognizing the clothing. He gave it to his cousing last year for his birthday.

“Oh, is it?” Minseok acted surprised, “here, there you go,” he said smirking, as he put the jacket over the younger’s shoulder, brushing his fingers over his uncovered skin, “wouldn’t want you to get sick now, would we?” he asked, winking at him. Jongdae sent him a murderous glare. “You’re welcome,” Minseok smiled cutely and left without another word.

“What was that about?!” Baekhyun asked, his mouth hanging open.

“Nothing,” Jongdae mumbled, trying to shrug nonchalantly.

“You could’ve cut the tension between the two of you with a knife. Literally,” Jongin pointed, for which Jongdae only growled.

“I’m going home, guys,” he spoke, pulling out his phone.

“Already?! Why?!”

“I’m tired and bored. And I have a meeting in the morning to which I cannot be late,” he explained, not paying attention to the weird and confused looks his friends were exchanging.

Kyungsoo frowned, and as his friend was walking away to his Uber ride, he looked around, and to his confusion found Minseok looking after Jongdae, also watching him walk away.

“Hmmm,” Kyungsoo wondered, trying to understand what was happening.

♦

It was next Saturday, and Baekhyun was sitting in the lobby of the dorm Kyungsoo was working at, waiting for his friend’s shift to end.

“I still have two hours to go, you know that, right?” Kyungsoo asked, looking up from the desk.

“I know, I know, I’m just so bored, I figured I could hang out with you instead of sitting home alone,” the elder whined, flipping a page in the book he was reading.

“What about Chanyeol?”

“Practice.”

“What about Jongdae?”

“Gone. I swear this kid was born with wind in his .”

“I thought Saturdays were his days off?” Kyungsoo asked, feeling intrigued.

“So did. Apparently, something has changed. I tell you, just listening about all his meetings and trainings and classes and then about all the times he goes out to “hang out” with people makes me tired and overwhelemed with the amount of socializing. And you know I like socializing!”

“Yeah, he’s been incredibly on top of everything recently.”

“Do you know what his problem is?” Baekhyun looked up from his book and Kyungsoo only shrugged, “he’s too go for people. He wouldn’t be in half on the clubs and organizations and other commitments had he not agreed to help someone at one point or another.”

“You’re too harsh on him, he obviously enjoys it…or!” Kyungsoo gasped, realizing something, “or are you just jealous that he has more friends than you do?!” he exclaimed, laughing hard upon the change on Baekhyun’s face. Yes, that was it. “You’re impossible, Baekhyun.”

The elder only mumbled something, going back to reading. There was a knock at the main door, and once they looked up from their respective reading, there was Jongdae standing on the other side, with his phone in his hand, earphones plugged in and a gym bag over his shoulder. Baekhyun stood up to open the door for his friend, and they both sat down opposite Kyungsoo and started annoying the living out of shim.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever,” Baekhyun said, looking at his friend, “what have you been up to?”

Jongdae turned off the music and put his phone on the table. “Baekhyun, we talked over breakfast tomorrow,” he laughed, leaning back in the chair.

“You said good morning and left,” the elder pointed.

“Oh. Well, aside from the fact that I’ve been a little bit busy, everything’s fine. And!” he exclaimed, raising his finger up, “we did see each other just two days ago at the party, didn’t we?”

“Jongdae. We live together. In the same small apartment. I should be seeing you every day when you’re here…”

“Oh, Baekhyunnie, do you miss me?” Jongdae cooed, leaning across the table to hug his friend, “I promise I’ll hung out with you more!”

“You guys are so cute,” said Kyungsoo, “now can you please stop before I vomit?”

Jongdae chuckled and got up, “Soo, give me your ID, I gotta go to the bathroom, please,” he smiled extending his hand. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, but gave him the card.

The moment Jongdae was gone, his phone started buzzing. Then again. Then he got a text. And another one. And another one.

“Who the hell is blowing up his phone?” Kyungsoo asked, annoyed at the constant sound of messages.

“Let’s see,” Baekhyun took up the phone and frowned.

“What’s up?” Kyungsoo asked curiously.

“Hmmm, interesting. He doesn’t have the number saved…”

They both looked around, checking if Jongdae wasn’t coming back.

“What does the last message read?” Kyungsoo asked, leaning at the desk.

“’Please, pick up’,” he read out loud, “who the hell is it?”

“Check the his—” Kyungsoo started, but then he spotted Jongdae walking down the corridor, “abort mission!” he shouted quietly, and Baekhyun immediately put the phone back.

♦

They first went to the cinema, and after than stopped at a street food place, getting bulgogi and beer with soju. They spent the early night eating, drinking, laughing and  enjoying each other’s company.

“Oh, my,” Jongdae sighed, “it’s been a while since we got out.”

“Well, let’s drink to that!” Kyungsoo chuckled, and raised his glass. They cheered, and laughed some more.

“Kyungsoo,” Jongdae cooed, “wanna tell us about you and Jongin?” he wiggled his eyebrows. This seemed to have caught Baekhyun’s attention as well, as he straightened his back and smiled from ear to ear. Kyungsoo wriggled his nose, but then his eyes shone.

“I will spill the tea, only if you do so, too,” he said, looking his friends up and down.

Baekhyun caught up on his friend’s plan, and jumped in his place, “of course we will, there’s nothing we’ve got to hide, right, Jongdae?” he nudged his roommate, smiling like a maniac.

“So, Kyungsoo, what happened after I left you with Jongin on Thursday?” Jongdae asked, disregarding the other’s questions.

Kyungsoo took a few big sips of his beer, and smiled “we talked,” he answered, smiling uncontrollably.

“What did you talk about?” Baekhyun asked, but Kyungsoo shook his head.

“It’s my turn. One question per round,” he winked and looked at Jongdae, “Jongdae, where did you disappear when you left me with Jongin on Thursday?”

The boy chuckled, “I was just walking around,” he shrugged. “Baekhyun,” he looked at the other, “where does the hole in the wall really comes from?”

Baekhyun went red and quickly looked at the ground, “Chanyeol and I were having in the kitchen ones—” he mumbled, and then looked up at Jongdae’s disapproving glare, “a few times,” he confessed, embarrassed that his secret was out.

“Ouch, Baekhyun!” Kyungsoo exclaimed, pulling a disgusted face.

“It’s not like we did it when Jongdae was home!”

“I cook food there, Baek,” Jongdae just pointed calmly.

Jongdae’s phone rang, but he rejected the call.

“Okay, Kyungsoo, are you ever gonna tell Jongin that you like him?” Baekhyun asked, wanting his friends to get off of his case.

“Probably not. Jongdae, why exactly didn’t you wanna go to the party on Thursday?” It was Kyungsoo’s turn again.

“It was just such a weird week—”

“Oh my god, on the topic of weird, you’re not gonna believe what happened after you left the building!” Kyungsoo suddenly exclaimed, excited that he could exposed his friend in such a natural way. Both Baekhyun and Jongdae raised their eyebrows. “I heard Kim Minseok talking on the phone with someone named Jongdae! What are the odds!” he laughed, falling back in his chair.

Baekhyun’s jaw dropped, and Jongdae only chuckled quietly and nervously, “yeah, what are the odds.”

“Okay, I’ve got a question,” Baekhyun started, but Jongdae’s phone rang again. He turned it off, “first, who the hell keeps blowing up your phone with calls and messages?! I mean, I know you know like probably everyone on campus, but it’s too much! And second, why the hell have you been visiting the dorms so much lately?”

“I think you asked too many questions—” Jongdae pointed, but his phone started ringing again. Baekhyun took it from in front of Jongdae, where it was being placed on the table, and before the younger managed to stop him, he picked up, “Baekhyun!” Jongdae yelled.

“Stop calling Jongdae, he obviously doesn’t wanna talk to you!” Baekhyun just yelled into the phone and disconnected the call.

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae sighed, “that was uncalled for.”

“Oh, it was very much called for. There’s obviously something, or someone, troubling you. So spill, Dae, what is going on?”

“Literally, nothing guys—”

“Does it have anything to do with Minseok?” Kyungsoo asked, for some reason feeling sympathetic.

Jongdae only sighed, looking at his bottle of beer, and the two boys already knew.

“Why don’t you just tell us what happened, hmm?”

“We’ve been kind of seeing each other lately… then we had a little bit of a fall out last weekend… then we argued on Wednesday, and then it just continued into Thursday… and now I just don’t wanna talk to him,” he shrugged.

“Last weekend? But we were watching—” Baekhyun started.

“Friday,” Jongdae mumbled, “we I ran into it in the lobby. I was going to see him.”

“You said that you’ve been seeing him recently… how long is recently?” Kyungsoo asked.

“I don’t know, around two months? Maybe three?”

“What?!” they both exclaimed at the same time. “And you’re only telling us now?!”

Jongdae was quiet for a moment, before he explained, “I didn’t want you guys to be right. I just didn’t want to listen to you giving me for seeing him and all.”

“What did he do?” Baekhyun asked quietly.

Jongdae chuckled, “he didn’t do anything. I think it’s actually my fault.” His friends gave him confused looks, so he continued, “I think I let myself get too… involved. Emotionally. I never expected anything when we started… but it’s been some time, and I think I just—” he sighed again, fallng back in his chair. “I think I just fell for that idiot, like a fool.”

“Oh, Jongdae,” Baekhyun groaned, putting his hand over his friend’s.

Jongdae’s phone rang again.

“He wouldn’t be calling you like crazy if he didn’t care,” Kyungsoo pointed, looking at the ringing phone. “I think you should answer.”

Jongdae nodded, and picked up the phone, resigned and tired.

“I’m with my friends, I cannot talk now,” he said into the phone, and his voice sounded monotonous.

“I miss you,” Minseok whispered into the phone, “I miss you so much.”

“You’re drunk,” the younger mumbled, drawing shapes on the table with his finger.

“I feel like it,” the other said, “can you come over, Jongdae? Can we talk?”

Jongdae bit on his lip, “I can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Both—”

There was silence on the line, and Jongdae was just listening to the other’s breathing.

“I’ve been feeling really weird, you know. Knowing that you hate me—”

“I don’t… hate you, Minseok,” Jongdae said, running a hand through his hair.

“I miss talking to you, Jongdae. I miss laughing with you. I miss bantering with you. I miss holding your hand. And I miss he touch of lips on mine. I miss being with you… listening to your voice… looking into your eyes… I miss you, Jongdae.”

Jongdae felt a gulp in his throat, and his breathing got sharp.

“I miss you, too—” he whispered finally, hiding his face in the oversized sleeve of his sweater that was covering his hand.

“I know you said you wouldn’t wait for me… but do you think you could wait a little bit longer? Until we meet? I would really like to talk to you—”

“Of course,” he chuckled.

“Could I maybe see you on tomorrow? For coffee or beer?”

“Tomorrow sounds good, just text me the address and time…” he smiled slightly, and spoke again a few moments later, “alright, goodnight.”

♦

“That was intense,” Baekhyun said after a good five minutes of silence.

“What are you gonna do about him?” Kyungsoo asked.

“I guess I gotta wait til tomorrow to figure it out,” Jongdae said, finishing his beer, “wanna take bets?” he chuckled, masking his nervousness with humour.

“Bets?”

“Over who’s win it is gonna be tomorrow. Mine or yours,” he wiggled his eyebrows.

“Is there anything you take seriously, Jongdae?” Kyungsoo asked, rolling his eyes.

“What if he suddenly decides that he doesn’t—you know,” Baekhyun started, looking directly at Jongdae.

“That he’s bored with me?” the younger asked, and his friend confirmed, “if he says it tomorrow, then I’ll just have to deal with it,” he shrugged, “I knew what I was getting myself into, I mean he doesn’t have the reputation of a boy for nothing. But if he decides that he can deal with me for longer, and then gets bored… I’m just gonna destroy him,” he laughed lightly.

“And this is why I became friends with you,” Baekhyun chuckled, and they cheered.

♦

“Have you heard from Jongdae?” Kyungsoo asked Baehyun on Monday morning over coffee. They were sitting by the table at Baekhyun and Jongdae’s apartment, joined by Sehun, Chanyeol and Jongin, sipping on their drinks and eating crapes and croissants.

“Well, he never came back home for the night,” he replied, looking at his friend with a mischievous glow in his eyes, “so I can only assume it speaks for itself, doesn’t it?”

“Huh?” Chanyeol looked between the two of them, “what do you mean? Who is Jongdae sleeping around with?”

Baekhyun smiled manically, “oh, with someone you know very well.”

“Who?!” Sehun and Jongin asked simultaneously.

“Minseok,” Kyungsoo said, stuffing his mouth with a pancake.

“MINSEOK?!” the three of the boys yelled out.

“Wow, and I suddenly don’t need coffee anymore,” Kyungsoo mumbled, covering his ears. And then it hit him, “WAIT!” he yelled as well, almost chocking, “are you suggesting that Jongdae spent the night with Minseok?!”

“Yhy, exactly.”

“Do you think—” Kyungsoo started, and his eye started twitching, “that they might have stayed in his room? In the dorms?”

No one answered.

“Soccer team’s got the practice early mornings on Monday,” Chanyeol said finally, “so I would assume?”

“I am going to ing kill him. Them. Both of them!”

“Why? What have they done?”

“IT WAS THEM HAVING ALL THIS TIME!”