Chanyeol is waiting for him outside the studio when Sehun leaves. His silver hair is glowing in the afternoon sun, attracting a lot of looks from pedestrians. Sehun can see his classmates eyeing his friend curiously as he spots Sehun and walks over, smiling widely at him.

“So, how was it?” Chanyeol asks. “Worth your parents yelling at you, right?” Chanyeol has been Sehun’s best friend since preschool. Tall, lanky, and exceptionally smart, Chanyeol is a musical prodigy, excelling at every instrument he touches and proving to be a gifted singer and rapper as well.

In addition to being the biggest nerd Sehun knows, Chanyeol is also quite rebellious, frequently dying his hair unusual colors and unafraid of hiding his liberal attitudes. He’s a big believer of pursuing one’s dreams despite what anyone else thinks, which is probably why Sehun’s parents have despised him for as long as Sehun has known him. Most of Sehun’s rebellions against his parents, including this one, can be traced back to Chanyeol. He had convinced Sehun that his love for dancing is more important than his family’s desire for him to follow in his father’s footsteps - long story short, even though his parents had been furious, Chanyeol’s plan had ultimately worked.

“Definitely worth it,” Sehun agrees, his eyes glazing over slightly. “It was amazing. They’re all really nice! And so talented.”

“So are you,” Chanyeol reminds him. “You made it in, didn’t you? You’re right on their level.”

“Thanks,” Sehun laughs. “They’re a bit more experienced than me, though. I have a lot of room to improve.”

Chanyeol nods, but his eyes are focused on something behind Sehun. “Who’s the punk guy? He’s been watching us and it’s kind of creepy.”

Sehun turns to see Jongin perched on a bench a short distance away from the dance building, and sure enough, he’s looking directly at them. A moment later, a short boy with black hair and wide eyes approaches Jongin, who finally looks away. His mouth stretches into a genuine smile as he greets the boy, the first Sehun has ever seen on his face.

“Hello? Earth to Sehun,” Chanyeol calls, waving his hand in front of Sehun’s face. “Now you’re staring. Who is he?”

“Kim Jongin,” Sehun tells him. “Just one of the guys in the class.”

“His friend doesn’t seem to like you much,” Chanyeol comments.

When Sehun turns around again, he’s met with a distrustful scowl undoubtedly directed at him from Jongin’s friend. Before Sehun can do anything, the boy is pulling Jongin away. Neither of them turn around again. Sehun sighs. “I wish people wouldn’t do that. Am I really that repulsive, just because my father happens to be rich?”

“Of course not,” Chanyeol says faithfully before cheekily adding, “That’s not why you’re repulsive.”

“Shut up,” Sehun whines, shoving his friend playfully as they begin to walk to Sehun’s house. “Where are Baekhyun and Jongdae, by the way?”

“They’re meeting us at your place,” Chanyeol explains. “Don’t ask me why, I have no idea how to explain most of what goes on in their brains.”

Sehun laughs. “Don’t let Baek hear you saying that, you’d break his heart.”

Chanyeol looks at Sehun, confused. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Rolling his eyes good-naturedly, Sehun explains slowly, “He’s head-over-heels in love with you and desperately craves your approval.”

“He’s older than me,” Chanyeol replies, looking unconvinced. “If anything, I should be wanting his approval.”

“Hello, did you not hear the important part of that?” Sehun says incredulously. “He’s in love with you. Kind of like how you are with him?”

Chanyeol gives Sehun a look. “I heard you, I just don’t believe you. But anyway, I think they might have gone directly because Junmyeon-hyung is home.”

Sehun feels like he should be more surprised that Chanyeol is more knowledgeable about the whereabouts of Sehun’s brother than Sehun himself is. “Really? I thought he wasn’t coming back until next week.”

“Oh. I think he meant to surprise you,” Chanyeol realizes belatedly. “Whoops.”

“Guess I’ll have to pretend I’m surprised, then,” Sehun sighs.

“Sorry,” Chanyeol says sheepishly. He grins hopefully, dimples and all, at Sehun, who rolls his eyes and pretends to think about it before nodding to indicate that his friend is forgiven.

They make their way through the ornate gate that blocks the entrance to Sehun’s enormous, overbearing house. Ignoring the elaborately paved path leading to the front door, the pair cuts through the grassy expanse of the front lawn to enter through a side door.

“Sehunnie!” a cheerful voice calls as soon as they walk through the door.

Sehun doesn’t have to pretend to be surprised after all, because Junmyeon being at this exact entrance when there are a multitude of other ones they could have used is quite unexpected. “Junmyeon-hyung! I thought you weren’t coming back until next week!” He pulls his brother into a hug.

“The conference went more smoothly than we anticipated,” Junmyeon explains. “So Father said we could just come home.”

“Hi Junmyeon-hyung!” Chanyeol interjects. “We missed you!”

“Yes, I know,” Junmyeon laughs, pulling away from Sehun to hug Chanyeol too. “Baek and Jongdae just couldn’t stay away, apparently. They showed up less than ten minutes after I got back.”

“Told you,” Chanyeol mutters to Sehun, who playfully shoves him with his shoulder in response.

They walk through the east wing and the main foyer to get to Junmyeon’s room in the west wing, where Baekhyun and Jongdae are apparently waiting; Sehun has long given up trying to understand why his friends prefer his brother’s room to his own. They find the pair sitting against the wall outside Junmyeon’s room, bickering over some trivial matter as they often do.

“Hi Sehun!” Baekhyun calls, cutting short his banter with Jongdae and standing up to grin at Sehun. “How was dance class?” He does an awkward little dance to illustrate his words.

“Lovely,” Sehun deadpans, in response to both the question and the accompanying dance.

“Hi Chanyeol,” Baekhyun adds a second later, softening his smile and ignoring Sehun’s reply.

“We saw each other less than half an hour ago,” Chanyeol points out. Jongdae, Sehun, and Junmyeon all snicker in amusement. Baekhyun looks a little put out, so Chanyeol rolls his eyes fondly and replies, “Hi, Baek.”

“Anyway,” Jongdae interjects, drawing the attention away from Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s unnecessarily long eye contact. “We hope you enjoyed yourself, Sehun-ah.”

“I did,” Sehun tells them. “It was really fun, and everyone was super nice and talented.” They all nod appreciatively. Because Sehun is the youngest out of all of them, they’ve always been protective of him and his interests.

“Hello, did I miss the invitation to this party?” a new voice chimes in. Much to everyone besides Junmyeon’s confusion, it seems to be coming from within Junmyeon’s room rather than outside it.

Junmyeon, on the other hand, immediately flings open his door to find a tall, brunette boy grinning at him. The others all exchange confused looks, recognizing him at once but wondering how and why he was in Junmyeon’s room all this time. Somehow, Junmyeon’s wide smile gets even bigger as he takes in the boy’s presence. “Kris!”

Kris has been Junmyeon’s best friend since preschool. Wu Yifan (his real name and the one that Sehun’s parents insist on using) is the sole aspect of Junmyeon’s life that doesn’t fit into his “perfect son” image. Artistic, hipster, and entirely against big business, Kris is Junmyeon’s opposite in almost every way and represents everything their parents despise. He goes by Kris instead of Yifan because “it’s more memorable, how many people named Kris are you gonna meet in this part of the world?” Sehun has never understood how their friendship has lasted for so long, but he’s glad it has. Kris tries to act cool and aloof, but in reality, he’s just a really nice, frequently awkward guy who cares a lot about Sehun’s brother and makes him happy.

“Hi Junmyeonnie!” Kris replies, pulling him in for a quick hug.

“Do you really have to come in through the window all the time?” Junmyeon sighs, standing on his tiptoes and peering over Kris’s shoulder at the open window. “We do have doors.”

“Kris-hyung comes in through the windows?” Sehun asks gleefully. “Does this happen often?”

“Sure,” Kris says, waving his hand carelessly as Junmyeon reddens slightly. “When your parents don’t want to see me, which is essentially always, I just climb the tree and come in that way.”

“This is the best day ever,” Sehun declares before adding teasingly, “I always knew there was no way you never broke any rules, Junmyeon-hyung.” Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Jongdae nod in agreement, grinning.

Junmyeon rolls his eyes. “Whatever. It’s not like I was gonna let him sit out there in the tree every night.”

Kris puts his hand on his heart dramatically. “Keep saying things like that and I might start thinking the big bad businessman has a heart!” The younger boys collapse into giggles at the sight of Junmyeon trying to pretend that he’s not pouting. Kris wraps an arm around Junmyeon’s shoulders and pulls him in, laughing. “Aw, I’m only kidding, Junmyeonnie, I know you care.”