“Are you sure you want to go?” Yookwon asks. It’s Friday night and he, Sehun, Junhong, and Taemin have gathered in the lobby of the castle.

Sehun claps his roommate on the back. “Definitely,” he says. “Junhong is overworking himself. He’s going to have a mental breakdown soon. A party is just what he needs.”

“I’m not going to have a mental breakdown,” Junhong snaps, brushing his friend’s arm off. Despite Sehun playing everything that had happened before as one big joke, Junhong is still really freaked out.

Taemin laughs. “It’s cool. Mental breakdown or no, this party is supposed to be off the hook.”

“Sehun only wants to go because Luhan is going,” Junhong says under his breath. Sehun turns bright red, but he’s the only one who seems to hear it.

“Let’s get going then,” Yookwon says with a big grin.

The party is another being held off campus. Most first years aren’t invited to off campus parties, but they’ve managed to snag invitations because of Minho and Baekhyun, who invited Junhong since he’s Junhong’s second year shepherd. It takes them about a half an hour to walk there, shivering, coats turned up against the chill April evening.

“This seems like a really stupid idea,” Junhong says flatly as they walk, shivering. He doesn’t have a lot of body fat to ward off the chill, and his toes are starting to go numb by the time they’re halfway there. “We’re just going to get really drunk and probably get lost on the way back to campus.”

“Oh my god, quit being such a whiner,” Yookwon groans. “We’ve really gotta find you a girl. Or a guy. Or whatever floats your boats.”

“Glad to see you’re so accepting,” Junhong says dryly.

The party ends up being at somebody’s parents’ house. It’s already raging when the four of them get there, and Junhong is a little surprised at how many people he knows there. He’s never been a very social person – mostly because everyone back home was afraid of him – so it’s surprising that he’s made as many friends as he has here at Peritia Academy.

Taemin ditches him almost immediately when he spots Minho, hanging out with some of his friends near the coolers. Sehun disappears almost right after, claiming he wants a drink but with eyes that are obviously seeking out Luhan. Junhong is left with Yookwon, scanning the party.

“Guess it’s just the two of us,” Junhong says flatly.

But Yookwon has spotted one of his friends and is waving madly. “See you in a bit, buddy,” he says, and he slips off into the crowd.

“ing great,” Junhong mutters to himself.

“Junhonggie!” Baekhyun appears beside him, followed by a giant of a guy with too big ears and a scary smile. They’re both clearly drunk off their asses already. “Glad to see you made it!”

Junhong can’t help but smile. His shepherd’s eyeliner is smeared and he’s smiling this weird, square-shaped mile that somehow makes Junhong like him more. “Yeah. My friends dragged me here.”

“Good thing they did,” Baekhyun grins. “This party is awesome. You want a drink?”

Junhong gives him a flat look. “I’m a first year, hyung. And you’re my shepherd. Aren’t you supposed to be a role model or something?”

Baekhyun snorts, and his tall friend practically roars with laughter. “I am a role model! And my goal right now is to teach you how to get drunk!” He grabs Junhong’s hand. “So come on already!”

Junhong lets Baekhyun lead him over to the drinks. He doesn’t mention it, but he’s actually pretty experienced with alcohol and, if it came down to it, he could probably out-drink both his shepherd and Baekhyun’s tall friend with the big ears. Baekhyun pours drinks for each of them and they down them in a matter of seconds. It’s just beer, so Junhong barely feels it.

Baekhyun is dragged off to dance by his friend after that, so Junhong is left to lean against the wall in the corner and people watch for a while.

“You don’t look like you’re particularly enjoying yourself.” The deep voice is unmistakable, even though Junhong has only met him twice before.

He smirks up at Yongguk, hands shoved deep in his pockets. “You too, hyung. I didn’t peg you for a party sort of person.”

Yongguk shrugs, holding his bottle of beer negligently between his fingers. “I’m not, but what else am I going to do on a Friday night?” He flashes a lazy grin. “But what do you know? Someone interesting showed up.”

Junhong blushes at the implication that he’s an interesting person.

Sehun passes them at that moment, but he appears too preoccupied to notice the blush dusting Junhong’s cheeks. “Hey, have you seen Luhan?” he asks uncertainly.

“No, sorry,” Junhong mutters. “I haven’t seen him.”

Sehun frowns and hurries on. He’s starting to get worried. The only reason he’d wanted to come to this stupid party in the first place was because he distinctly remembers Luhan saying something about it. He’d only wanted to see Luhan. He hasn’t really gotten to see Luhan since last weekend, when they’d worked out together in the dance studio, and he’s dying for some alone time with his hyung.

He’s so busy looking for Luhan that he’s not really watching where he’s going, and he stumbles right into a pair of inordinately tall guys with plastic cups of beer.

“Oh, I’m so sorry-” Sehun begins, but then he catches sight of the taller of the two, who has y but familiar face. “You’re Luhan’s roommate, aren’t you?”

The boy, Yifan, squints at Sehun as if he’s trying to place the first year. A look of recognition finally dawns on his face. “Ah, yeah. You’re his friend from the dance club, right? Seho?”

“Sehun,” Sehun corrects, but he’s not really interested in semantics. Yifan could call him Bozo the clown for all he cares.

“Right, right. Sehun,” Yifan nods. He’s obviously well on his way to being drunk as well. He gestures to his friend, who is dark and shy. “This is my friend Zitao. We’re on the basketball team together.”

“Right on,” Sehun says distractedly, hoping it’s not too obvious that he gives zero s right now. “Have you seen Luhan?”

“Last I saw, he was out on the back deck,” Yifan says, taking a sip of his drink.

Sehun barks out a quick thanks and scurries out to find Luhan.

Like Yifan had said, Luhan is out on the back deck, a bottle of beer in hand, face turned up to the stars. Even better, he’s alone. It’s cold enough that no other party goers have ventured outside.

“Hi, hyung,” Sehun says softly, walking over to stand beside his friend.

Luhan glances at him and then looks down. “Hey, Sehun-ah. I didn’t know you were coming. First years don’t really get invited to parties like this.”

Sehun tries to pretend that doesn’t hurt. “Well, my roommate’s shepherd invited him. And my friend is dating a second year, and he invited us as well. So it’s not a big deal. And I’m used to partying anyway.” He doesn’t know why he said that. He’s got about as much experience partying as he does with astrophysics.

Luhan sort of smirks at him. “Is that so?” But it’s a rhetorical question so Sehun doesn’t answer.

Now that he’s found Luhan, Sehun doesn’t know quite what to say. The atmosphere between them is strangely tense, thick with something Sehun can’t really identify. He’s nervous and he’s shy and he’s frightened by what Luhan’s strange behavior might mean, so he just stands there getting colder and colder, watching his nervous breath puff out into the cold night.

Eventually Luhan finishes his beer and turns to go back inside. “See you around.”

Sehun panics. He doesn’t want Luhan to go – especially not after he’d spent so much time looking for him – but he doesn’t know what to say. So he watches helplessly as Luhan disappears back inside.

He suddenly doesn’t want to party anymore.