Night had already fallen, dark and cold, by the time everyone had gathered back in the restaurant for dinner. It was a tiring afternoon - they had returned to the same bunny hill after lunch to run the slope again and again. Sungyeol's face had been flushed red and his legs were aching and his pants were full of snow after having fallen on his one too many times. Jongkook had said that there'd actually be assessments for this course, twice a week, to determine if they were advanced enough to progress to another class. There was also a certificate and medal up for grabs everytime they upped a level - most of the guys had snorted but Suji had laughed a little, deeming it as an achievement worth attaining and it was all for memories sake, anyway. Sungyeol had been unconsciously nodding along when Woohyun decided to so kindly inform him that he would be stuck in this class for the rest of their time in the mountains. That was also how Woohyun had ended up rolling down half the bunny hill.

"I should be so mad at you. When I got back to my room and ped my jacket so much snow fell out that Boohyun made me throw all of it - handful by handful - out the window."

Sungyeol simply continues spearing the fries on his plate, stuffing them into his mouth as he contemplates on what he should get for round four of dinner. He swallows down the fries in his mouth and points his fork at Woohyun.

"Hey Nam."

Woohyun glares. "Woohyun hyung."

Sungyeol really does not understand why Woohyun keeps insisting on being called hyung by him when they were born in the same year, so he ignores that. Plus he's never been one to get all worked up over age hierarchy, anyway, so he'll call Woohyun whatever he wants. "What do you think I should eat next?" 

Woohyun flings his hands up in incredulity. "Were you even listening to anything I was saying?"

Sungyeol nods resolutely, pushes his chair back with his calves and stands. "Okay then. I'm going to get the udon."

"Yah!"

Howon chuckles into his mouthful of soup as Sungyeol strolls back to the buffet spread while Woohyun is left to fume silently in his seat. "I like him," Howon says helpfully, canines showing when he grins. 

Woohyun scoffs and jabs at his salad. "Well I don't."

Howon lifts both brows in response, but just before Woohyun can toss out an angry and what is that supposed to mean, two plates are set down before them. Howon looks up and his smile is immediate, but Woohyun can only stare. 

It's Suji and Wooyoung, the former offering them her best smile whereas Wooyoung shifts next to her, gaze fixed on his plate, and it's Suji who speaks up first. "Is it okay if we sit here?" 

Howon nods with another of his boyish grins while Woohyun offers a small smile, but it's Boohyun who leans across their circular table and extends his fist to Wooyoung, who grins and bumps Boohyun's fist with a relaxed hey.

Suji rolls her eyes and lightly smacks the back of Wooyoung's head. "And you still said you thought it'd be weird to sit here. Who's the one already with a friend?" 

Boohyun laughs as Wooyoung fumbles. "I didn't know- I mean we talked a little on the slopes just now but- and- well yeah." 

Boohyun's face scrunches in mock-pain. "I'm hurt, Wooyoung-ah. And I thought we could be good friends since we were born in the same year and all." 

Wooyoung's perplexed expression has the whole table chuckling, and Woohyun is starting to understand why Sungyeol had said he found Wooyoung endearing. While he wasn't a timid boy per se, he was fun to tease simply because he was so easy-going and got so confused whenever he became the subject of everyone else's laughter. 

"I've been gone only three minutes and everyone is already laughing without me?" 

Woohyun looks up when Sungyeol returns, the younger's face breaking out into a smile when he sees Suji and Wooyoung sitting with them, and Woohyun could really kick himself for even feeling the least bit sour that he's not the cause of Sungyeol's smile and crescent-shaped eyes in this moment. In all the time he's known Sungyeol he's never cared for him, never given him a second thought; he'd always just been someone he could conveniently mock when he needed a way to release some of his anger, frustration, insecurities. And now, just after spending a few days with him, really with him, Woohyun can't understand why he's suddenly so drawn to the boy with the almond-shaped eyes, long brown hair and gummy smile that he's only come to see (and actually, genuinely like) since the start of this trip.

(As Sungyeol sits back down next to him, Woohyun looks back at his food and finds that the reason why he's so drawn to Sungyeol is because he now realises they could actually get along, really get along, if Woohyun didn't treat him like how he did in school.) 

Suji peers over at Sungyeol's bowl and her eyes widen when she takes in its contents. "They have udon?" 

Sungyeol slurps up a mouthful of udon and gestures behind him. "It's next to the soups. There's a chef who prepares it for you. And it's really good." 

Suji looks down at her plate of half-eaten food and contemplates on whether getting the udon now would be a wise choice, but just as she lets out a sigh and makes a move to get up, Wooyoung stands and gives her a look. "Finish your food. I'll get the udon. I want a bowl, anyway." 

Daeyeol looks at Wooyoung's clean plate uneasily. "He inhaled that." 

Suji rolls her eyes, but it's fond. "He's like a human garbage disposal. Whenever we have big dinners he eats all the leftovers of every dish." 

Sungyeol's lips quirk a little because it sounds exactly like Myungsoo, and Daeyeol picks up on the similarity, too, giving Sungyeol a laughing look. "Just like Myungsoo hyung." 

Sungyeol snorts. "If Myungsoo were here, he'd probably take every dish from the buffet and finish his food faster than any of us." 

The image of the stoic, handsome photographer with the dark eyes and the black hair who sticks to Sungyeol's side like glue flashes in Woohyun's head. He'd always known they were friends, and Woohyun even remembers the rumour that was going around a year back, that Sungyeol and Myungsoo were boyfriends because of how much time they spent together, and how Myungsoo, who always tended to be in some sort of daze, was always so present, so there, in Sungyeol's presence, always smiling at his antics and laughing at his jokes. Woohyun also remembers mocking Sungyeol with this rumour before, nudging him teasingly in the ribs with the rest of his soccer friends and taunting him, maybe Myungsoo will come and save you now. There'd never actually been a verdict with that rumour, but just like how all the rumours in their school worked, when people lost interest then there was nothing left to talk about. Nobody ever saw Myungsoo and Sungyeol holding hands along the corridors or kissing behind the buidlings, so after a while they just left them alone. 

Woohyun snaps out of his jumbled thoughts when he feels someone tap his thigh. It's Sungyeol, and once he sees that he has Woohyun's attention, he leans in to whisper into Woohyun's ear. "Can you keep Suji occupied for ten seconds?" 

Woohyun leans back to glance at Sungyeol suspiciously. "What for?" 

Sungyeol rolls his eyes and slaps Woohyun's thigh. "You're too slow a prank-pulling partner. I'm speeding things up. Now make sure she doesn't look at me." 

"If you didn't realise, we're sitting at a circular table. There's no way she won't notice whatever it is you plan on doing- "

"Ten seconds!" 

Woohyun groans when Sungyeol waggles his brows at him playfully, but he picks up his fork and pushes himself out of his seat slightly anyway, leaning across the table to peer curiously at the food on Suji's plate. Thankfully, Suji's initial shock as to why Woohyun was suddenly examining her food so intently with his fork passes quickly enough, and instead she's laughing at Woohyun's ridiculous questions and letting him taste the things on her plate. Taking advantage of Woohyun's body blocking his actions, Sungyeol stretches out a hand and brings Wooyoung's glass of coke closer to him before carelessly dumping generous amounts of pepper and vinegar into the coke. Daeyeol lets out a sigh because he knew this was going to happen eventually, but Howon actually snorts and has to cover his nose before he can snort out some of his soup. Just as Woohyun sits back down on his seat while chewing something from Suji's plate thoughtfully, Sungyeol pushes Wooyoung's glass back with the tips of his fingers before picking up his chopsticks and helping himself to another mouthful of udon, right as Wooyoung returns with two bowls of udon. 

Suji smiles brightly when Wooyoung sets the bowl down in front of her. "Awww, you actually brought a bowl back for me without inhaling it yourself on the way back. I'm touched, oppa." 

Wooyoung lets out a long-suffering sigh and reaches for his glass, taking a long sip as he turns to Suji to toss back a reply. 

The moment he swallows, he spits. 

Suji doesn't even let out a sound, can only jerk back in shock as the black liquid lands on her chin, neck and shirt. Sungyeol and Howon are extremely quick to burst into laughter, whereas the two Nam brothers are still stunned into silence at the sudden rain of spit and coke from Wooyoung's mouth. Daeyeol rubs at his temples with his fingertips and mutters out an exasperated ohmygod.

It's Wooyoung's absolutely horrified expression that sends both Sungyeol and Howon into another bout of loud, uninhibited laughter, and when Sungyeol falls against Woohyun's side, eyes laughing and body shaking with the force of his mirth and incoherent did you see thats spilling from his lips, Woohyun finds his lips curling into a smile before he's chuckling, too, at the incredulity and hilarity of this entire situation, and at how crazily ridiculous (and perhaps even amazing) Sungyeol is.

And as blood paints Wooyoung's cheeks a crimson red, as Suji stares blankly at her friend before muttering out a dangerous don't say a thing when Wooyoung opens his mouth to try and explain, Woohyun can only glance down at Sungyeol still leaning against him, still laughing, still smiling, still talking loudly, before dipping his head and burying it behind Sungyeol's, smile stretching even wider across his lips when Sungyeol simply slips an arm around his waist to hold him against him as they chuckle together. 

And at the very least, in this moment, Woohyun can fool himself into believing that Sungyeol might not actually hate him. 

-

A/N: ... So... I'm back? /shot.

I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long! I had school prelims then finals then national exams to sit through in the past three months so everything was insane and maddening and stressful :( I'm finally on holiday, though (until I get my dreaded results back sobs), so I hope I can update more often! I've missed all of you, so feel free to drop a comment or wall post or message if you would like to talk! :') Thank you for your patience, I hope this chapter was an enjoyable read for all of you ♥