“Guh!” Sojin exclaimed as soju shot out of his mouth upon catching sight of his crush. The remaining alcohol went down the wrong way, causing the first-year to cough and sputter profusely. He could see Wonpil’s eyes widen slightly in concern, but his view was cut off as Brian moved in front of him. 

“Woah, woah, woah there,” Brian exclaimed, giving Sojin a look of concern as the younger boy continued to cough. “If you don’t know how to take a shot, you shoulda just told me! Are you okay?!”

Brian placed his shot glass on the counter and moved to Sojin’s side, wrapping his arm around the other boy’s shoulder. His view now cleared, Sojin looked back at where Wonpil was standing, making eye contact with the second-year once again. A look of surprise crossed Wonpil’s face momentarily, before he broke the gaze and headed out of the kitchen.

No! He just saw Brian and I take a love shot and now Brian has his arm around me! What if Wonpil thinks we’re together?! Sojin thought frantically, still coughing a bit. He looked up at Brian with a smile in an attempt to defuse the situation, knowing he had to go find Wonpil as soon as possible and make it clear that they were just friends.

“I’m fine! It just went down the wrong way! I know how to take a shot, gosh,” Sojin replied defensively, crossing his arms in a fake pout. Brian’s face lit up, entertained by the younger boy’s antics. He released his hold on Sojin and picked up his shot glass from the table, filling it back up. 

“If that’s the case, then show me what you can actually do,” Brian insisted, handing the glass to Sojin. For a moment, the younger boy considered refusing, but knew it would be too rude to turn down a drink from a senior. Without wasting a beat, he grabbed the shot glass and threw the alcohol back, cringing slightly as it burned his throat on the way down.

“Ahhh, so refreshing!” Sojin exclaimed, trying to think of a way to excuse himself. “Er...shouldn’t we get Sungjin hyung a drink, though? His was almost empty too!” 

“Aww, such a thoughtful kid,” Brian replied, patting Sojin on the head affectionately. He pointed to a fridge full of beer that was being raided by partygoers. “He’d probably want a beer, so just grab him one of those! I’m gonna say hi to my friend really quick, so I’ll meet you back at the table.”

Sojin nodded his understanding, then rushed off, not wanting to waste another second. Squeezing past some older looking boys, he grabbed a beer from the fridge then all but ran to Sungjin.

“Here you go!” he exclaimed, placing the beer on the table with hardly a look at Sungjin. Glancing around, he tried to locate Wonpil in the crowd, but there were so many people that it was hopeless.

“Woah, what are you so frantic about?” Sungjin asked, pulling a bottle opener from his pocket and opening the beer that Sojin had brought him. “Did Brian scare you that much?”

Sojin immediately stifled his emotions, not having realized he was acting so visibly strange. “Wha? No! He’s so nice...we did a shot together! I just thought I saw one of my classmates and wanted to say hi to him!”

“Hmmm,” Sungjin mumbled as he took a sip of beer, his eyes narrowing at the younger boy. “You’re that excited to say hi to your classmate?”

Sojin felt his face flush as he realized that Sungjin was onto him. How was the older boy so perceptive?! Or was he really just that obvious?

“Y-yes! You know I’m a friendly person!” Sojin shot back, trying to mask his embarrassment. Sungjin let out a laugh, shaking his head in disapproval. 

“Ahh, you can’t fool your hyung. I’ve had my share of crushes too. Tell me who it is! Maybe I can help you,” he responded, his large eyes gleaming with anticipation. Sojin was a bit taken aback by Sungjin’s capacity to gossip--he had never seemed like the type that would be interested in this type of thing. Still, after enough drinking, he supposed it was possible for anyone to turn into a gossip.

“I don’t think you know him! He’s a second year…” Sojin replied, hoping that the information would be enough to make Sungjin give up. “And I don’t like him like that! I just think he’s...nice!” 

“Aigoo, I’m hurt that you don’t think you can trust me enough!” Sungjin responded, giving him the ultimate puppy eyes. “It’s my job as a hyung to support you on these types of things…”

Sojin gave in with a groan, unable to deal with the guilt that Sungjin was serving. “Okay, fine! But you have to swear not to tell anyone. Anyone! Including Brian or Jae!”

Sungjin held out his pinky with a satisfied grin. “I promise!”

Sojin dropped into the seat next to the older boy and leaned in close, glancing around to make sure no one was listening. He had always believed that once someone other than oneself knew a secret, it wasn’t a secret anymore, but this time he would have to trust Sungjin.

“I may….or may not….think that a second-year named Wonpil is cute,” he whispered, feeling his face instantly heat up. 

“Oh? Wonpil? Kim Wonpil?!” Sungjin exclaimed quite loudly, his already large eyes growing even larger. Sojin resisted the urge to jump on the older boy and silence him, though the temptation was great.

“Yes! And don’t say it so loud!” Sojin hissed back in a whisper, bringing his palm to his forehead. 

“Ahh, I’m not too close with him, but I’ve heard he’s a nice guy,” Sungjin stated, taking a sip of beer before giving Sojin a more serious look. “But as your hyung, I should tell you that he’s definitely being pursued by someone else right now. Not to discourage you or anything! You should go for it, you can still win him over if you hurry!”

Sojin felt his heart drop a bit. He’d been talking with Wonpil for a month now and he still knew so little about the other boy. Not only that, but how was he supposed to compete with someone that was likely much closer with the second-year?!

“Who? Who’s the person that’s trying to win him over?!” Sojin exclaimed, desperate for any information that could give him an advantage. Sungjin paused in thought for a moment, tapping his chin with his beer bottle, then pointed it towards the first-year.

“Yoon Dowoon! He’s a second year like Wonpil,” he responded. Sojin could basically feel his heart break inside of him. He had heard that name before. Many of the first-year girls that he had befriended spent their time swooning over this Dowoon guy, enamored by his good looks and deep voice. There was absolutely no way he would be able to beat someone in Wonpil’s own year, especially someone supposedly so supposedly good looking. Sungjin seemed to notice that he might have accidentally dashed the younger boy’s dream and did his best to recover.

“Ah! Don’t look like that! You’re just as good looking, Sojin,” the third-year stated, as if reading his friend’s thoughts. “Also, we didn’t invite Dowoon to this party, so this is your chance to go talk to Wonpil. Go on and find him!”

Sojin nodded and rose from his seat, a look of determination on his face. Even if Dowoon had a headstart, this was a prime opportunity to get much closer to his crush, even if he had sent the wrong message earlier in the kitchen. 

“Thanks, Sungjin! I’ll buy you a coffee next time we meet up,” Sojin exclaimed, running off in search of his target. Brian emerged a few moments later, taking a seat across from Sungjin and sipping his mixed drink.

“That Sojin kid is pretty cute, not gonna lie,” he stated, winking at Sungjin. “Thanks for the intro!”

“Uh…” Sungjin began, before getting cut off.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, I’m not gonna do anything...yet,” Brian interrupted with an innocent smile. 

After searching the apartment twice over, Sojin let out a sigh of defeat, convinced that his crush had left already. Why did he have to look over at the exact moment that Brian was flirting with him?! Finding an unoccupied corner, he gave the crowd one last glance over, his eyes falling on a glass door to his right that led outside. With the last of his hopes, he made his way to the door and pulled it open, revealing a tiny balcony looking out over a garden. 

Wonpil stood at the balcony’s railing, leaning on it and gazing at the garden pensively. Sojin’s heart skipped a beat, shocked that he had actually found the other boy here. As he stepped outside and closed the door behind him, he could feel nervous butterflies overtake his stomach. This was like something out of a drama. The garden, the stars, and just the two of them in the silent night. As the door closed, Wonpil glanced behind him to see who the newcomer was. Catching sight of Sojin, he pushed himself up from the railing and turned to face the younger boy, his hair styled handsomely to reveal his forehead. The sight was so beautiful that the first-year opened his mouth, but was truly at a loss for words. Fortunately, Wonpil took the initiative, offering a slight smile.

“Ah, Sojin…I didn’t know you’re friends with Sungjin,” he stated in his soft voice. Sojin nodded, walking over to the railing where Wonpil stood and doing his best to keep his face from turning red.

“I was lucky to meet him! Actually, I met him on the same day that I met you...the day I was late to class,” Sojin responded with a shy laugh. He could feel his palms beginning to get sweaty. Talking to Wonpil in a normal school scenario was already hard enough, but this romantic setting was making it ten times more difficult to keep his cool.

“I see! I’m actually not even close with him, I just saw the invite on my friend Jae’s Instagram and decided it would be good for me to socialize for once,” Wonpil replied with a genuine grin, overwhelming the first-year with cuteness. “I saw you with his friend, Brian! Are you two...together?”

Sojin’s honey eyes widened, the moonlight glinting off of them, as he was completely taken aback by the direct question. 

“W-wha?! No! We’re not. We’re definitely not! I literally just met him, it’s not like that!” Sojin burst out, waving his hands in front of him. Feeling a sudden pang of courage, he added, “What about you? Are you seeing anyone?”

Wonpil brought his finger to his chin, tapping it lightly in his typical thinking pose. After a moment, he tilted his head, glancing to the side awkwardly.

“Well...I’m not seeing anyone officially, but there’s someone I’ve gone out with a few times,” he responded, glancing at Sojin to see his response. The first-year did everything in his power to play it cool, though he felt a wave of despair wash over him.

“Ahh, I see, I see! I--” The boy’s response was cut short as the same nauseous feeling as earlier hit him, but even worse. Sojin let out a gasp, grabbing the railing to steady himself as the vertigo overcame him. Wonpil’s puppy dog eyes widened in concern at the sudden outburst.

“What’s wrong?! Are you okay?” Wonpil asked, reaching out and grabbing the first-year’s shoulder to help steady the boy. Sojin felt the same suffocating feeling as he had in his room, but this time it gave way to an intense bout of coughing. The first-year grabbed at his chest, trying to stop the cough, horrified that this was all happening in front of Wonpil. 

“Sojin! Sit on the ground and let me get you some water!” the older boy exclaimed worriedly, helping Sojin to sit before running into the apartment to find a drink. The coughing continued for a few moments, intensifying to the point that the first-year thought he might just pass out, until something came out of the boy’s mouth, floating lightly to the ground. The coughing and pain finally subsided and Sojin picked the object up, examining it with his light brown eyes. A pale pink flower petal.