The dinner was spent in silence, both of them only curtly replying to questions Joonmyeon's mother asked, much too busy with stuffing their mouth with heavenly-tasting food, its sheer smell making their stomachs growl and groan in complaint. The prepared stew was done so well that Jongdae could not put into words the way the peculiar spices not just enhanced the strong, spicy taste, but managed to bring the dish to a whole new level of cooking, contrasting his mother's bland and poorly cooked meals. They were eager to eat more, Jongdae himself eating for two. Afterwards, excusing both of them, Joonmyeon headed into his bedroom on the first floor, followed by Jongdae who happily patted his stomach, delighted with the fact it did not clench in hunger anymore, rubbing his palm over the shirt and crumpling it in process.

To say the rest of the evening was amusing would be a blatant and complete lie. More times than it could be counted on all fingers and toes Jongdae wished to throw all of his textbooks and notebooks out the open window, realizing it was futile to learn anything new when the previous matter did not sit down into his brain, having problems comprehending even the simplest of tasks they went through. At one point Joonmyeon showed his first sign of resignation as well, sighing in exhaustion as his fingers ran a swift path through his locks, his lips having barely any strength to utter the same question from the book for the fourth time, explaining in detail all over again what was Jongdae supposed to solve. Groaning, he closed the notebook abruptly, officially ceasing all tries of further torturing both of them, seeing it was past eleven in the evening and neither had any strength left to hold their eyes open, let alone learn anything new.

-"Sleeping over?" He asked, rubbing palm over his face, discreetly hiding a yawn behind his long fingers. Jongdae shook his head in denial, massaging the back of his neck to ease the strain accumulated there, feeling a dread headache approaching swiftly. 

-"My mom will be mad, it's not even weekend."

-"So? You only have one more bus." Interrupted him Joonmyeon, collecting other's pens and placing them back into the pencil case, piling the textbooks and notebooks onto one side of the desk before stuffing previously empty backpack with them and closing it. His fingers lightly flicked the small stuffed gray whale keychain dangling on the front, attached to the zipper. "You still carry it?" He asked, amused with the fact the other still found enough compassion to cherish that little, insignificant looking trinket. He would be greatly surprised if he found out that it was rather one of Jongdae's most treasured possessions, a gift that reminded him over and over again of Joonmyeon's kindness and thoughtfulness.

-“Yeah,” Replied Jongdae, grabbing the backpack for the straps and slinging it over his shoulders, books and rest of the contents clattering together as it rested against his back. A small, timid yawn escaped him, a sign it was truly time to retire from studying as his eyes watered from lack of sleep, circles around them growing darker with every minute he spent awake.

-“More reasons for me to catch it, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Nodding lazily in response, Joonmyeon got up to accompany his friend to the door, seeing it as a proper and courteous gesture, even though he was aware that the other could find the way out perfectly fine even on his own. Holding the entrance door open by leaning on them, he watched as Jongdae put on his jacket and passed him by, managing to hitch against him with his shoulder on the way out, a tingling feel of warmth left stuck on his sleeve when the other turned around to wave him goodbye, that pale face gaunt from tiredness suddenly alit with the brightest smile he had seen, thin lips pulled up with joy. Thank you, he saw them mouth, their languid moves appearing too alluring and attractive, making him inwardly groan from the sick feeling in his stomach, as if tiny desire bubbled in the pit of his soul and decided to poke him until he satiates its ferocious needs. No, he told his own heart when it started thumping faster, that delicate muscle deciding on its own accord to make him feel even worse, giving his mind many things to ponder on that night. Why does it beat so? He asked himself, flashing a coveting smile in other’s direction, seeing the boy awaiting a goodbye of sort, but ending up being satiated just by sheer smile. Another wave of that hand and he was off, hurriedly running down the street from the direction they came from that afternoon, eager to catch the last bus home, lest he stay out for too long.

Retreating to his room just a bit later, Joonmyeon decided to tidy up the desk, seeing as an empty bag of chips and two stained glasses ruined the image of a clean room, along with carelessly thrown bonbon wrappings and empty can of soda, quickly tossing the trash into the trash can and bringing the classes down into the kitchen, realizing it was very close to midnight by the time he was done with everything. Groaning in distaste, he quickly readied himself for school tomorrow morning, stuffing the books and notebooks in the bag and preparing a clean set of clothes that he placed on the desk so that he would notice them when he wakes up, red-eyed and with one foot still in dreamland. Just as he was about to strip and take a quick shower, tip-toeing quietly around the house, seeing his parents were fast asleep already, his phone gave out a loud cry, startling Joonmyeon with the intensity of the shrill sound. Cussing under his breath, seeing as Jongdae changed the sound for incoming calls yet again, he bothered not to look who decided to call at such ungodly hours and instead only pressed answer. As the phone neared his ear, the first sound he picked up was labored breathing and mumbled, incoherent whispers, instantly sending an anxious, unpleasant shiver down his spine, making him think it was one of those dirty prank calls. Disgusted at the idea of it, he was just about to end the call when he heard his name spoken over the line, other person’s voice strained and barely recognizable as a male.

-“Joon…Joonmyeon…” there was a slight, uncomfortable pause in between after which a clear voice spoke, obviously more relaxed than before, “I was late for my bus.”

Feeling as if a tremendous burden was dropped from his back that very instant, Joonmyeon let out a warm chuckle, berating himself inwardly for even thinking of such deviant thoughts, hearing other’s voice stutter in shaky response. “Sorry for laughing.” He quickly added before Jongdae could think wrongly of it, “I thought it was a prank call, hearing you huff.”

-“Well excuse me for running. Shouldn’t it say my name when I call you?” He heard other mutter, obviously displeased by the mock tone in Joonmyeon’s voice.

Swiftly, Joonmyeon changed the direction of the conversation.

-“So, you were late for it?"

-“Yeah, I watched it leave. Irony, huh? What do I do now?”

The resignation etched in those words was so painful it made Joonmyeon cringe unpleasantly, his lips tugged downwards in an ugly frown. For a while he stood dumbfounded, trying to take in all that Jongdae said and process it, not left with many courteous options. Sighing, he tiredly leaned against the cold wall before slowly retreating to his room, his feet shuffling softly over the hallway carpet as to not wake his parents up, hearing soft snoring noise from behind their door, too afraid he will be profusely berated if they catch him awake at such late hours of the night, talking on the phone to make it even better. Without anything else to say, he suggested:

-“Do you want to sleep at my place, then? I’ll prepare something for you to sleep in, you just send your mom a text message so that she won’t be worried, that’s all.”

Jongdae took his time deciding on the answer, seeing as the other offered him sanctuary so late at night, even though he had the option of ringing his mom, most likely asleep now, and ask her to pick him up from the station herself, rather than to trouble his friend for the night. Joonmyeon heard soft humming from the other side and piercing, scratching sound he could only connect with dragging of feet over the concrete, small stones dragged by those feet, waiting for other to reply, either denying the offer or agreeing to it. In the end, the little elfish spunk in him drove him headless into the option seemingly easiest, deciding onto staying the night in Joonmyeon’s home where he knew was welcome, despite the owl hours of the night.

-“I'll come back to your place then. If it’s clean, pull that gray track suit out I slept in last time. Everything else was too big for me.” He quickly said, trying to sound unaffected with the idea of sharing the room with the other, or to even appear grateful for being invited, despite his heart beating quick like bird's at the thought.

-“Do you want something warm to drink?” Joonmyeon asked, seeing as the question was fitting since it was quite cold outside.  “There’s tea left in the kitchen I can warm up if you want.”

-“Cocoa.”

-“Huh?”

-“I want cocoa.” Demanded the younger one, fixing his bag straps as he slowly started trudging back, his gait relaxed and slightly limping from exhaustion.

It took Joonmyeon a moment of self-restraint not to say something to the other, ready to gnaw at his head at how demanding and spoilt he could be at times, let alone feeling like home whenever he visited, but he disregarded it, waving his hand languidly in dismissal at the thought.

-“Fine.” He spat out seconds later, “Track suit and cocoa. Is there anything else Your Majesty desires from this lowly servant?”

He heard the faintest of chuckles from the other side, obviously animated with the ongoing conversation, causing Joonmyeon to roll his eyes at the loose feeling it emitted, slightly unnerved with the fact that he found that soft rumble quite attractive, seducing almost.

-"Just cocoa." Assured him Jongdae, finding it quite endearing how Joonmyeon sarcastically lashed back at him, those cold words doing naught of harm. 

-"Oh, but if you have those cookies--" 

-"Cocoa it was!" Cut him off Joonmyeon before his friend could think of any other means to exploit his generosity, as if he had never done that before, and in much worse extents than just eating his food or sleeping over. “And hurry before I go to sleep, because I won’t go downstairs to open the door for you.”
-“Yah, you devil! Don’t you dare do that again!”

Joonmyeon couldn’t suppress his laughter at the panicked tone over the line, very well remembering the last time he did it, mad at Jongdae for being late over an hour for their meeting and the next time Jongdae came to visit him home, he purposely locked the door and the boy outside, letting him freeze for an hour in the cold just as he previously did the same, a painful and icy payback.

-“I won’t if you hurry.” He said in a slightly sneering tone, ending the call when it became obvious that Jongdae started running, his voice shaking and cut by heavy, throaty gasps emitted, his legs smashing against the concrete as the backpack on his back wildly tossed around, sudden will to run igniting his tired limbs, fueling them with adrenaline.

He was there by the time Joonmyeon reached his kitchen and warmed up the milk, smashing the tea spoon violently against the poor metal pot, looking at the bland milk slowly simmering and wondering why he was so docile as to do everything the other asked for. My, if Jongdae asked for the whole wide world, he was almost certain a part of him would do everything in its power to give it to the younger one. He was a breath away from spitting into the pot in revenge for being tortured so late at night, but the faintest of knocks fixated his attention to the entrance door, making him quickly turn off the fire and hurry to let Jongdae in before those knocks turn maniacal in loudness and frequency.

Before he even opened them fully, a huddled appearance and a gush of winter air brushed his side, muffled coughs and fast breathing filling the once silent hallway.

-“Hello again…” Choked out Jongdae, his face scrunched up in searing pain filling his lungs, like thousands of burning needles piercing the trembling flesh.

Joonmyeon closed the door and locked them before helping the other take the heavy backpack from his back and help him the jacket, caught frozen in tracks when those mellow eyes cleared, turning piercingly beautiful in their clarity, their beauty chaining Joonmyeon to the ground. Time caught still, his fingers lingered over the first pair of buttons, pushing into the fabric as his eyes caught other’s gaze in a vehement grasp, their glances interlocked with sudden, ear-piercing silence that only spoke of damnation, the beating of their hearts so loud it deafened them, a drumming noise so obnoxious they loathed it. Tentatively, Jongdae’s hands ran up to meet other’s long fingers still ghostly touching his jacket, prying them off as he ed the rest himself, his gaze turning doleful for a blink of an eye as he directed his gaze towards the floor, unable to keep contact with other’s curious, albeit startled gaze. Joonmyeon took a step back, noticing there was something indescribably wrong with that gaze.

-“Where’s my cocoa?” Jongdae asked, hanging the jacket on the wooden hanger in the hallway closet, taking his shoes off and picking up his bag, dragging it towards the kitchen.

-“It’s still not done. Give me a second; I just have to mix the milk in with it.” Joonmyeon was afraid to meet that gaze again, wondering what was the origin for that sudden change in expression, unnerved with the fact it made him feel strange, his heart slowing down to a stop before maniacally pounding against the ivory confinement of his chest as the image, like a mirage, of those eyes, sharp and piercing just like other’s facial features, haunted him, a flash of longing suddenly bolting through them akin to lightning.

He scurried back to the kitchen, quickly pulling out a clean tea cup from the dishwasher and filling it with several spoons of chocolate powder from the plastic container he already prepared, pouring the milk over it and stirring it quickly, dissipating the powdery substance in the liquid and creating a warm, heavy in chocolate taste cacao for the other. Jongdae wordlessly walked back to other’s room, dropping the bag off beside the other’s desk and walked carefully downstairs, feeling Joonmyeon’s gaze plastered for his posture as he softly tapped down each stair, quickly turning away when he drew closer to the kitchen, the delicious, inviting smell of chocolate wafting in the air.
-“Thank you.” He expressed his gratitude and went to the counter to grab the cup himself, shivering in delight as his tongue experienced the sensation of warm, fulfilling taste of chocolate exploding in his mouth.

-“When you’re done…” He heard Joonmyeon trailing off, the man slowly disappearing from his sight, “Get changed into what I pulled out for you and set on the bed and go to sleep. I’m tired, so I’ll go upstairs first.”
There was a hint of fear in those words, albeit naught of it with Jongdae’s appearance in itself; more, it was the fear of what his body would do to him if he were to sit in silence as other sipped his drink, warming up his frozen limbs, without any other sound but those lips parting and that throat gulping down to distract him.

Unusually hurriedly, he stripped himself of his clothing and changed into his cotton pyjama, briefly opening the wardrobe and already locating the gray track suit that was neatly set atop his shirts, as if it were already long prepared for the other. Frowning at the thought of it, he pulled it out and set on the edge of the bed before drowning himself beneath the covers on the left side, pushing himself to sleep on the very edge of the bed, lest he ends up being too close to the other. The covers proved to be cool enough to calm his beating heart that finally settled into a constant pace when he heard the door of his room barely creak open, a shaft of light breaking through the encasing darkness of the bedroom, casting eerie shadows over the objects placed still on the shelves and desk, their appearance strangely interesting, rather than ominous.

-“Joonmyeon?” He heard other calling caringly, as if he were afraid to wake him up, before slipping between the open crack between the door and the doorframe, shutting them swiftly and engulfing the room in odious darkness once again.
-“Are you sleeping?”

In spite, Joonmyeon decided to ignore him and pretend to be asleep, lest he ends up troubling himself with the other who clearly had no desire to sleep just yet, closing his eyes before that face could shift in his direction and see a pair of glinting orbs darkly glaring at him from beneath the covers. Just go to sleep already, he cried in himself, feeling his eyelids droop heavier and heavier the warmer the covers around him became, lulling him to much desired sleep.

Barely audible shuffling of feet made his nose scrunch in displeasure, hearing other’s hands roam blindly over the covers in search for the clothes he left for him, with a muffled exclamation announcing the retrieval of the prey. He allowed himself a single, sinful glance at the boy, seeing him undress in the pitch darkness of the room, his contours illuminated by seeping moonlight cast from the window staring directly at him. Joonmyeon’s gasp was caught still in his throat, his eyes widening as he drank in the fine complexion of other’s back, those muscles visibly flexing underneath the velvet looking expanse of pale, ivory skin, his shoulder blades coming close together as he raised his long, lanky arms, taking off his shirt and turning around, eyes cast low as he folded the item in his grasp.

Doing so, he allowed Joonmyeon a clear, perfect view of his defined chest, his abs contracting as he bent low, taking off his pants and revealing the most perfect legs Joonmyeon had seen, be it a woman or a man. They were defined by muscles, albeit not too bold, and had the perfect, pictorial proportions compared to the rest of the body. The sight ahead of him, he concluded, was truly a deviant one, but Joonmyeon could not suppress the fire growing animalistic in the pit of his stomach upon the single glance of a thin line of hair tracing down from his navel, leading lower, below the rim of the boxers that shielded other’s privates from the sight. His mouth grew indescribably dry as he trailed in mind his shaky finger down that line and tugged at those irritating boxers, loathing their existence, and before he was even aware of it, he grew aroused by mere sight of Jongdae’s bare chest.

His jutting hipbones caused Joonmyeon to groan inwardly, as he watched the other pulling the clean set of clothes onto himself with much regret, his eyes greedily taking in the last sight of that masculine chest that caused his body to burn in damned fire of hell he knew he was headed towards to, realizing what thoughts haunted his mind.

, he wished to hit himself with a hammer, hopefully breaking that thick skull of his own in hopes that it will cause a deep hole through which all of such thoughts could leak out and leave his mind unmarred and unscarred by the devilish idea of touching Jongdae in an inappropriate manner, one that was fit for lovers, certainly not friends.

Burying his head deeper into the pillow, hopefully muffling all other sounds, his heart stopped beating as he felt his bed shifting, his mattress leaning to the right as a newfound weight shifted and lifted the covers, a body from which radiated cold suddenly pressing rather close to his own, even though there was plenty of space for him to lay onto, but he chose to press closer instead, trying to warm up faster by other’s body heat.

-“Hey Joonmyeon, “He heard the other whisper in a way it was not a call or a question, merely voicing out of his thoughts, “you don’t think I’ll fail the exam tomorrow, right?”
He opted for replying, but quickly reminded himself he was supposed to be asleep, and thus, replying was not an option he could choose at that moment. Soft mumbling and light breathing lulled him closer into sleep, it being unknown to him all until he felt warm breath ghosting over his cheek that Jongdae pulled next to him, his eyes closed as he was slowly being taken over by dreams, his lips pursed as he breathed in every small breath.

Joonmyeon’s eyes fluttered open in shock, staring directly at the other who nuzzled closer, pulling Joonmyeon into his tender grasp, causing his poor, trembling heart to shiver inconsistently, switching from being dead to suddenly beating unhealthily fast.

-“I’m not stupid.” Jongdae muttered, half taken by the dreamland as he buried his head deeper into the pillows. “You’re not.” Quietly replied Joonmyeon, unknown to him whether the other perceived the answer or not.
-“Thanks.” It was all he received in response, Jongdae being completely oblivious to the fact that the man in his grasp shivered uncontrollably, his sane mind betraying him and giving way to insanity; madness that overtook him like corroding poison, gnawing at his flesh and staining his soul with desire. His needy gasp brushed the crook of other’s neck, the chest that cradled him gently expanding with every intake of breath.

Joonmyeon hated himself for actually liking the feel of those arms sneaking elfishly their way around his lithe waist and those lanky legs wrapping around his own, the body devoid of warmth desperately seeking salvation in the other by latching at him. It felt…fulfilling? Satiating? He couldn’t determine exactly, but it made him breathless, wordless at the fact he found it enjoyable, almost addicting. Jongdae’s touch was like the most poisonous of venoms – it penetrated his skin and entered his pulsating blood vessels where it spread odious disease he will later call as love, love that will pull him into an abyss of madness and desire, and he will find his salvation in none other than Jongdae. Man that will be his utter downfall.