Oh Sehun doesn't realize how bad he has it for Huang Zitao until that night when said boy stuck his tongue down his throat. In retrospect, Sehun knows that the sloppy lip lock absolutely means squat to his 'hyung' because everyone in their group knows that whenever Tao is slam drunk, the nearest moving object becomes an avenue for stress release. But Sehun decides that it's probably fine and that if there was a thing such as fate, then maybe he was really supposed to be within Tao's immediate vicinity when he started downing vodka like it would be contraband the very next day.

In fact, he's thankful that Yi Fan and Luhan had eagerly excused themselves when their own inebriation had made them unmindful about how it was completely obvious to everyone at the table that they were hellbent on getting into each other's pants. Jongdae, perennial troll that he is, had excitedly followed the couple, probably to take a few juicy photos of the tryst. Joonmyeon was busy sulking near the bar, jealous eyes trained on Jongin who was openly flirting with a girl whose s were already shaking hands with her navel. Yixing was passed out drunk on the table, deep slumber undettered by the blaring music and collective noise of clubgoers. Not to mention oblivious to the patina of that hung thickly over the environment at that moment.

So when the drunken Zitao, with unfocused glassy eyes and breath smelling of alcohol and smoke, roughly grabbed Sehun by the collar of his shirt, pulled his body to him and crushed their lips together, the earth had ceased moving for Sehun. In fact, the sensation was like entering a bubble. All else had faded into oblivion. There was only Tao's mouth, coaxing and insisting. Nothing more. He knew that saying Tao was a great kisser would be a little invalid because he had no prior experience in the smooching department and had nothing to compare the kiss with but heck, Huang Zitao knew exactly what he was doing. His tongue was doing all sorts of things that were sending Sehun into knots of desire and passion, making him want to just go on without stopping. He had all too greedily responded, of course. An effort which may have been too eager and careless but was nevertheless conveying the zeal and desperation he never knew he actually possessed.

Then it came to him in a crazy rush of clarity. He had long wanted to do this with Tao. Ever since he had accidentally witnessed the tall Chinese guy, in his usual drunken state, pin an equally slammed Minseok to the wall and make out with him senseless during that party in Yi Fan's house two years ago. He should have left, really but the scene unfolding in front of him was enough to glue him to the ground and make him stay. There was something particularly stimulating about the way Tao imprisoned the smaller man in his arms and ravished his mouth, as if he had every right to do so, as if he was entitled to it even. Sehun wouldn't mind if someone dominated him like that. No, he actually craved for it. To have someone make him feel vulnerable and helpless; exactly how Minseok had looked as Tao gladly took liberties with him. Sehun wanted to belong to someone. And he wanted to belong to Tao.

He had suppressed that hankering, of course, pushed it out of his system so it would seem like it never existed at all. Tao was one of his closest friends and even if the rest of his comrades had no qualms about dating and yes, screwing each other, Sehun knew that something like that was a complicated set-up. Friendship and should never be intertwined.

The first thing Sehun thought of when the kiss broke was not about Tao remembering the encounter (although it was most likely that he wouldn't) but the question of his own willpower after everything that had transpired. After having a taste of what he unconsciously sought after for years, how can he not want more? To keep coming back until he was sated?

***

"Is there something on my face?"

Sehun blinked at Tao as the older man regarded him strangely.

Staring. He had been staring.

Smooth.

"Uh...what?" he deliberately acted dumb, scratching his head. Luckily, playing stupid always worked for him.

Tao just shook his head and giggled lightly, easily dropping the subject. "You're acting weird, Sehunnie."

Sehunnie.

Classic Tao. He had always called him affectionately by that nickname but ever since he practically mopped every crevice of Sehun's mouth with his dexterous tongue, the light term of endearment just sounded so askewed and ironic and was truthfully making Sehun more than a tad uncomfortable.

They were gathered at the back of the university, passively skipping their respective last periods for the day. Except for Yixing. In their ragtag group, he was the one who was slightly more determined to get a degree.

It had been four days since the incident at the club and as expected, whatever recollection Tao might have had about the episode had been completely wiped clean.

Which was the kiss of death for Sehun, in all honesty. He felt both agonized and insulted about having to deal with the fact that the person who almost mauled his lips could not even be bothered to recall what had happened.

"Not weird. Just stupid, as per usual." Jongin commented insouciantly as he lit another cigarette and placed the stick between his lips.

Sehun glared at him as he tried to think of a clever comeback. They were all used to Jongin's insensitive nature but the dilemma regarding Tao was weighing down heavily upon him and he certainly did not need anybody calling him a moron right now.

"Better stupid than unfaithful." Joonmyeon muttered, glancing up from the book he was reading to lay his eyes on Jongin.

"Oh, please. We're still talking about that?" Jongin shot back, locking stares with Joonmyeon.

"Seeing as how you haven't apologized yet, yes, we're still talking about that."

They had been having the same argument for days now and it was all because of Jongin's propensity to flirt with whomever he fancied even though he and Joonmyeon had been going out for two months already.

"I didn't realize you would be such a girl about the whole thing. It was a harmless flirtation. Get over it, will you?" Jongin said, voice and expression disinterested, as if the conversation was about nothing more than the state of the weather.

"Watch your words, Kim Jongin." Yi Fan warned, entering the crossfire. He had never been able to tolerate blatant disrespect. Which was a little bit ironic, considering that their group could easily fall into the delinquent category as far as the student body's opinions were concerned. But nevertheless, that was the exact reason why he and Jongin had plenty of opportunities to clash and fight.

"I’d stay out of this if I were you, three way." Jongin smirked at the taller guy.

Everybody was reduced to silence, their attention turned to the participants of the confrontation. Even Jongdae who was previously thumbing through a magazine.

"What the do you mean?" Yi Fan glared at him although the impact of his angry stare lacked intensity seeing as how he was still flabbergasted about the comment.

Albeit the fact that the taller man had once rendered him limp for a whole month during one of their many vicious dustups, Jongin was unfazed. He merely threw his head back in hollow laughter.

"The clueless act only works for Sehun. You doing it is just ing droll." He declared, the mocking grin still intact.

"You're being an again, Jongin." It was Luhan's turn to speak, standing up and sporting a particularly pissed off face.

"You know what, I don't need this right now. If I wanted to be lectured, I could have stayed home with my parents." Jongin spat at all of them, getting up on his feet from his position on the ground. "Losers." He spat the remaining cigarette stick from between his mouth and crushed it to the grass with his shoe.  As he sashayed off, Yi Fan turned to Joonmyeon. "What the hell was he talking about?"

Joonmyeon exhaled a long sigh, making it evident that whatever the explanation was, he didn't want to have to spell it out. Nevertheless, he did. "He's convinced that you, Luhan and Jongdae had a that last time we went to the club."

Tao and Sehun broke in awkward laughter. Yi Fan paled. Luhan turned tomato red. Jongdae choked on what was probably his own saliva.

"What?" Luhan asked in disbelief.

"You ended up joining the two of them that night? Man, Jongdae, that's ." Tao hooted, slapping Jongdae's thigh.

"I never did anything that time except hold the phone's camera and take a video of, you know, a piece of the action." He explained suggestively, swatting Tao's hand away.

Yi Fan transferred his deathly stare to their group's resident troll. "You bastard, I will kill you." He lunged at Jongdae with every intention of erasing him from the face of the earth. And he could have if Luhan hadn't gotten in the way.

"Move it. Don't even try to stop me." Yi Fan whispered menacingly to his boyfriend.

"You touch him and that video is going on Youtube before we can even say yeowza." Luhan told him.

"Why did you even do that? I mean, what's the point?" Ever the innocent one, Sehun broke his silence, directing the question to Jongdae.

The rest of them snorted their derision at his naivety and how anticlimactic the whole confrontation ended up.

"I'm outta here. I'll go look for Jongin." Joonmyeon started to walk away.

"He's whacked." Jongdae commented, thumbing at Joonmyeon's retreating and forlorn figure.

"He's in love." Sehun corrected him.

"Same thing." Jongdae shrugged nonchalantly, going back to his o.

Sehun wondered if that was true.

I discovered that this chapter was just lying around in my hard drive and I forgot to post it. Forgive me. 

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