Minseok was woken up on Sunday morning bright and early by his phone vibrating against his leg. He took a moment to silently despair over the fact that he’d walked across his dorm room in the dark the night before even though his phone had been in his pocket the entire time before untangling himself from Luhan’s death grip and took it out to see who was texting him at...7:34 in the morning.

From: 02-314-3291
To: Minseok
Yah its Baekhyun how did ur kiss w/ Zitao go yesterday???

Minseok attempted to say ‘what the ’ but all that came out was an incoherent mumble. From beside him, Luhan let out a wordless whine.

“Asdfghjklqwertyiuo,” Minseok told him, knowing that Luhan would understand what he meant.

“I can’t go back to sleep with you sitting there on your phone," Luhan replied, sitting up beside Minseok and stretching his arms out with a yawn. “What time is it?” He added, rubbing sleepily at his eyes as Minseok began typing out his reply.

“Early,” Minseok answered, temporarily grateful that he’d become coherent before remembering that he was awake at 7:34 on a Sunday. ing Drama freaks.

From: Minseok
To: 02-314-3291
Why are you awake? Why are you texting me? WTF is wrong with you?

From: Minseok
To: 02-314-3291
Also it went horribly. Thank you for asking.

“Looks like Jongdae’s already left,” Luhan said through another yawn, motioning wildly at Minseok’s empty bed.

Minseok glanced away from his phone long enough to see that his blanket and pillows were all over the place and frowned. “He didn’t make the bed,” he pointed out, affronted. “What a .”

Luhan shrugged as Minseok’s phone vibrated once more. “In all fairness, you’re like the only person in the entire world who does that.”

From: 02-314-3291
To: Minseok
Was it better or worse than mine??? & ur welcum ^.^

“Other people make their beds,” Minseok told him, distractedly typing another response. “Why the does Baekhyun keep texting me?”

From: Minseok
To: 02-314-3291
Worse, but only because he’s “straight”. You still .

“Maybe he was wowed by your exceptional kissing skills,” Luhan suggested, nudging Minseok’s shoulder lightly with his own.

Minseok’s phone vibrated.

From: 02-314-3291
To: Minseok
Awww luv u 2 bb :-D

Minseok sneered at his cell phone screen. “No, it’s because he wants to be irritating.”

Luhan scoffed. “Well if you already knew the answer why did you bother asking in the first place?”

From: Minseok
To: 02-314-3291
Go away.

When there wasn’t an immediate response, Minseok assumed his message had been well-received and life was normal once more.

He set his phone down and turned to look at Luhan for the first time that morning. For the most part, Luhan looked like he normally did right after he woke up - hair sticking up everywhere, bloodshot eyes, his cheek imprinted with red lines from his pillow...there were a couple of obvious differences, however.

Minseok clamped his lips together and quickly turned away to keep from laughing.

“What was that face for?” Luhan asked as Minseok grabbed his phone once more.

“What face?” Minseok asked, tone a little too curt to be normal, but he was trying his best. “I didn’t make a face.”

“You totally made a face,” Luhan whined, and Minseok felt him rest his chin on Minseok’s shoulder. “Is my hair that bad?”

“Your hair is fine,” Minseok mumbled, typing out a quick text and sending before Luhan got a chance to read it over his shoulder.

From: Minseok
To: Jongdae
Tell me honestly, Jongdae...are you a Jigglypuff in disguise?

Because it wasn’t even eight o’clock yet, Minseok didn’t expect a response. He tossed his phone back onto the bed and took a deep breath to control himself before turning back to face Luhan once more.

Unicorns and rainbows and butterflies and sparkles, all the way from his hairline to the neck of his shirt. To an acquaintance, Luhan would’ve been unrecognizable.

Minseok decided that it was only fair to not tell him.

“You’re still looking at me weird,” Luhan informed him, frowning suspiciously. “You didn’t just, like, realize your undying love for me or something weird like that, right? ‘Cause this isn’t a drama.”

Minseok scoffed. “I think I might’ve just fallen in love with someone, but it definitely wasn’t you.”

Jigglypuff was his second favorite Pokemon, after all (the first being Pikachu, because everyone said they resembled one another, and Minseok loved himself the most).

“Oh,” Luhan mumbled, looking strangely put out before suddenly brightening. “Hey, we should get coffee!”

“Don’t you want to take a shower first?” Minseok asked, because he wasn’t a completely terrible person and Luhan might murder him.

Luhan’s eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head - ruffled hair swaying at the action. “No. It can wait. I want coffee. Why?” He added, looking suspicious once more. “Do I smell bad or something?”

Oh well, he’d tried.

“You smell fine,” Minseok answered, shrugging slightly.

“Good.”

----

From: Jigglypuff
To: Minseok
Im not a jigglypuff. Im obviously a jolteon. Or a zapdos. Yeah I’m definitely a zapdos. keke were both electrictype pokemon =P

From: Jigglypuff
To: Minseok
I bet luhans a clefairy XD

Minseok snickered, taking a large drink of his iced latte before Luhan got back from the bathroom. He was hoping to finish it before his best friend undoubtedly overturned the table in a state of fury.

Just because they were in public didn’t mean that Luhan wouldn’t throw a fit.

From: Minseok
To: Zapdos
No way, Luhan’s definitely a Stantler.

From the men’s bathroom came a feminine shriek. More than one patron turned in surprise and confusion. Minseok began gulping down his latte with fervor just as his phone vibrated again.

From: Zapdos
To: Minseok
is stantler gen ii or gen iii??????

Minseok grabbed Luhan’s mocha and began drinking it too, just in case.

“WHAT THE IS WRONG WITH THAT CHILD! WAS HE RAISED BY JIGGLYPUFFS OR WHAT!”

Minseok heard one of the baristas behind the counter ask another barista if they should call the cops.

From: Minseok
To: Zapdos
Generation II, I believe. Also, I think Luhan and I are about to get arrested. I hope you’ve got the money to bail us out.

Minseok got up to get a new latte, and maybe keep them out of jail.

“He’s having a rough morning,” he explained to the nervous barista’s as they heard Luhan let out another furious scream. There was the distinct sound of something shattering, and Minseok winced. “I’ll pay for that,” he promised.

From: Minseok
To: Zapdos
Are you near a computer? Find out how much a bathroom mirror costs.

Before Minseok could put his phone back in his pocket or the barista could even open to respond, Minseok’s phone vibrated.

From: Zapdos
To: Minseok
between 60000-200000₩. please dont ask how i know that.

Minseok had twenty bucks in his pocket. He sighed.

“I’ll need to write down my information,” he admitted, just as Luhan stormed out of the men’s bathroom looking furious.

He stopped short in front of Minseok, the wrinkles in his forehead making the word ‘’ that Jongdae had written out in big block letters crinkle into something illegible. “You,” he began, breathing hard through his nose and looking ready to break something. Well, break something else. “I...you just...ing...piece of...sparkles...couldn’t even...urgh!”

“Deep breaths,” Minseok reminded him calmly, glancing over to see if they’d finished his latte yet. “Short sentences. I believe in you.”

“Dead,” Luhan decided, nodding vigorously. “Coming?”

“I just ordered more coffee,” Minseok told him, giving an apologetic shrug. “But you go have fun.”

Luhan gave him a curt nod of understanding before storming out of the coffee shop.

Minseok turned back to the counter to see one of the baristas holding out his latte. He took it with a bright smile and a “thank you” before returning to his, thankfully upright, table.

He took a small sip to make sure it was to his liking, wrote down a way for the shop manager to contact him about that broken mirror on a napkin, and idly texted Jongdae a short warning before deciding to play Angry Birds on his phone.

From: Minseok
To: Zapdos
Run.

“Hey.” Minseok looked up a ten minutes later just in time to see Joonmyeon take the seat across from him. Minseok straightened up on instinct before forcing himself to relax his posture once more as Joonmyeon set two coffee cups on the table. “What are you up to? Where’s Luhan?”

“Angry Birds,” Minseok explained, waving his phone slightly before setting it down on the table. He studiously avoided the ‘Luhan’ question, deciding everyone was better off that way. “What’s up?”

Joonmyeon shrugged. “Jongdae ran into my room a few minutes ago. I figured I’d be nice and get us both coffee,” he explained, looking only a little confused. “When I left he was hiding under my bed. I don’t know why.” Minseok stared blankly at him, and after a moment Joonmyeon shrugged again. “So anyways, how go the Kissing Cards?”

“Alright,” Minseok replied, taking a drink from his half-finished latte. “Apparently I’m meeting ‘The Rhythm’ today,” he added with a wry smile.

Joonmyeon nodded thoughtfully. “So how did it go with Jongdae and Zitao? Were they nice to you?”

“Uhh,” Minseok replied intelligently.

Joonmyeon peered closely at his face, probably looking at the faded day-old remnants of Jongdae’s artistic inclinations. “Okay, was Zitao nice to you at least?”

“Uhh,” Minseok repeated, remembering the supposedly straight emo kid, and unfortunately getting the song ‘Tequila’ stuck in his head again.

Damn The Champs and their catchy drinking music.

Joonmyeon stared expectantly at him. Minseok shrugged.

“Jongdae’s an eight - he totally would’ve been a ten though, if the bastard had bothered to make my bed this morning.” Joonmyeon opened his mouth to interrupt (probably to question why Jongdae had been in his bed at all), but Minseok barreled on before he got the chance. “Zitao’s a one, for being ‘straight’-” Minseok made sure to use air quotes “-actually, give him a six or something - I don’t need him hunting me down and whining about getting a low score. He really wasn’t that terrible.”

“I see,” Joonmyeon murmured, scribbling in his notebook with a pink gel pen. Minseok wondered where the notebook had come from, since it was too large to fit in his pockets, and he hadn’t been carrying it when he sat down.

Maybe Joonmyeon was a wizard.

“Where did you-”

“Anyways,” Joonmyeon exclaimed, cutting Minseok’s question off with ease and closing the notebook with a snap, “I’ve gotta get this coffee up to Jongdae before the ice melts - would you like to join me?”

Putting Joonmyeon’s possible magical abilities out of his mind for the moment, Minseok instead imagined what must be happening back at the dorms. Luhan running around in a rage, searching fruitlessly for Jongdae. Possibly convincing Yixing and Jinki to help him. And perhaps Minho would be ninja-ing around the corridors in an attempt to foil their plans, and all the while Jongdae would be peeking out from underneath Joonmyeon’s bed and cackling evilly whenever they didn’t find him.

Was Minseok really ready to get involved with that? Especially on a Sunday?

“Yeah, okay,” he agreed with a shrug, grabbing his coffee and phone and getting to his feet. “I could go for some more chaos.”

Joonmyeon smiled brightly and stood up as well. “Great!”

Less than a minute and a half later, Minseok found himself in the alleyway between the coffee shop and a nail salon with Joonmyeon’s coffee-filled hands flung over his shoulders and his tongue in Joonmyeon’s mouth.

Minseok really didn’t understand how this kept happening. Not that he was complaining (he definitely wasn’t complaining) but he didn’t even remember walking outside. Had he pounced on Joonmyeon, or had Joonmyeon pounced on him? Was there some sort of mystical magnetism that just sort of shoved them together whenever they found themselves in a five-foot radius of each other? Was this the result of Joonmyeon’s possible magical wizarding powers? Did an afterlife truly exist?

Minseok didn’t really have any answers, but who the hell was he kick a gift horse in the mouth?

Smiling against Joonmyeon’s lips, Minseok pulled him closer and reminded himself that it was Sunday, and nothing ever made sense on Sundays.

“Fags!” Was the only warning either of them got before Minseok felt something sharp and painful smack into the back of his neck.

“Ow!” Minseok exclaimed, pulling away from Joonmyeon and immediately reaching to rub the spot while looking around to see what just hit him.

They were closer to the mouth of the alleyway than he’d realized (they should’ve gotten further in - public displays of affection were never okay no matter who it was with), a young child standing perhaps ten feet away with his middle finger raised high in the air, and Minseok saw a suspicious-looking rock by his foot.

Minseok looked at the kid in mild offense. “Did you just...” he began, not quite sure he was reading the signs right and not wanting to jump to conclusions. Joonmyeon didn’t let him finish.

He gave the kid a smile that was decidedly terrifying - Minseok took a quick step back before he could stop himself - and said “child, I will destroy you” in a threatening voice that dripped with sugary sweetness. Minseok decided that Joonmyeon was kind of scary.

The kid seemed to decide the same thing, because his eyes widened and he took off running. Minseok wondered if he would grow up having nightmares of Joonmyeon’s creepy smile. He could see how that smile might scar a child for life. There was a small chance that he would have nightmares about it too.

“Are you okay?” Joonmyeon asked, suddenly looking quite concerned as he turned to face Minseok. Minseok shrugged and nodded, still rubbing the back of his stinging neck.

“No one’s ever thrown a rock at me before. Who am I to deny new experiences?”

Joonmyeon gave him a blank stare, and Minseok shrugged again.

“But what do you want to bet that he’s gonna grow up to be on the right side of a love triangle?”

Joonmyeon’s mouth opened and closed a few times before seeming to finally decide on actual words. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Minseok sighed. “Luhan would’ve gotten it,” he mumbled, pouting. Of course, he made sure not to say it loud enough for Joonmyeon to hear, because it wasn’t Joonmyeon’s fault that Minseok spent too much time watching dramas with his roommate. “Because nice guys finish last,” he explained when Joonmyeon continued to stare at him.

Joonmyeon nodded slowly. “Sure.”

Minseok sighed and turned around to walk away, the mood effectively ruined. “Nevermind,” he said as Joonmyeon began following him back to the dorms. “It’s not worth it.”

----

“It’s true,” Luhan agreed after Minseok told him about how he’d been attacked by a young child and Luhan had checked his neck to make sure the rock hadn’t broken skin. “And he won’t deserve the girl at all.”

Minseok nodded, grinning broadly. It was always nice to have someone around who understood.

“Unless the other guy is Kim Soohyun,” Luhan continued, beckoning Minseok to get into his bed so that they could watch the latest episode of You Who Came from the Stars. “Kim Soohyun always gets the girl.”

“Because Kim Soohyun is a god,” Minseok pointed out, pulling his pajama pants back on now that they were in the safety of the dorm room and obediently crawling into Luhan’s bed. “Though I can’t imagine anyone fighting Kim Soohyun for a girl’s affections, especially not some random homophobic kid.”

Luhan looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding in agreement. “Touché.”

“So, did you ever hunt down and murder Jongdae?” Minseok asked as they waited for the screen to load. Luhan really needed to invest in a new laptop, Minseok decided. If he wasn’t about to pay for a broken mirror, he would’ve started saving up to get him one for Christmas.

Luhan shook his head. “No,” he admitted with a small pout. “The little bastard managed to get away, but he can’t hide forever.”

Minseok reminded himself to text Jongdae later and suggest making Joonmyeon’s dormroom his new permanent home until graduation.

“We should take a nap after this,” Luhan added, and Minseok nodded in agreement. That’s what Sundays were for after all: chaos and extra sleep.

Finally, the episode began and Minseok and Luhan shrouded themselves in temporary silence, broken only when they recognized the background songs and felt obligated to sing along (the most prominent of these being “you are my DESTINYYYYYY”, always sung at the top of their lungs as they gave each other soulful looks until one of them broke and giggling transpired).

Near the end of the episode, Minseok got a text from Jongdae asking if it was safe to go get lunch. Minseok was watching Kim Soohyun being a badass, though, and didn’t want to have to pause it just so that he could text back. He figured Jongdae would make the right decision without his input.

“Why do we torture ourselves like this, Seokkie?” Luhan sighed after the screen went black and he’d thrown his laptop onto the floor beside the bed. “The injustices are so hard to deal with, it’s exhausting!”

“Maybe we’re masochistic,” Minseok offered as Luhan flung himself dramatically into Minseok’s arms.

The overhead light was still on and Minseok wasn’t even all that tired, but Luhan’s bed was warm and comfortable and Minseok was lazy, so he allowed himself to be manhandled into the perfect cuddling position.

“It’s a possibility,” Luhan agreed, voice muffled from where he’d pressed his face into Minseok’s chest. “Someone should get up and turn off the light,” he added, and Minseok closed his eyes and nodded his head.

“Yeah.”

Neither of them moved, and Minseok wasn’t even all that tired but he still found himself drifting off to sleep anyways.

----

“Minseok.” Poke. “Seokkie.” Poke. “Minseokkie.” Poke. “Baozi.” Poke.

“Uhhhh?” Minseok asked. Everything felt heavy and he was having trouble breathing, and he wanted to go back to sleep.

“I love you.”

“Uh,” Minseok replied, digging his nose further into whatever was obstructing his breathing and wondering when the bed got so bony.

“I need you to get off of me though,” Luhan continued, sounding apologetic.

Oh. Okay.

“Uhh,” Minseok agreed, obligingly rolling off of Luhan and back onto the bed. “Ikljankled?” He asked, pressing his face into what may have been the comforter in an attempt to block out the light that he was suddenly all too aware of.

“Almost six-thirty,” Luhan answered, sounding distracted as the bed began bouncing. “Chanyeol just texted me,” he added, and Minseok heard the tell-tale sounds of phone buttons being pressed in quick succession. “He wanted to remind us about his band’s show tonight.”

“Kilkane dioeakdsnklesi?” Minseok asked, causing Luhan to let out a scoff.

“I have no idea how he got my number,” he replied, sounding a little grumpy. “We all travel in the same circles, it probably wasn’t that hard to obtain. Now come on,” he added, shaking Minseok’s shoulder harshly. “Wake up. We have to get ready.”

“Uh-uh,” Minseok said, shaking his head against the bed. “Sleeeeee.”

He heard Luhan let out a long-suffering sigh before feeling fingers slip under the waistband of his pajama pants.

“Whaklljedis?” He mumbled, wiggling his hips in an attempt to get Luhan to stop. It tickled.

“I’m going to take off your clothes,” Luhan explained, voice devoid of emotion. “And then I’m going to take off my clothes.” Minseok’s eyes popped open in horror. “And then I’m going to cuddle with you until you get your lazy up and -”

“Fine!” Minseok shouted, rolling away from Luhan. There was a moment of weightlessness, and then Minseok found himself crashing onto the floor. “Son of a !” He groaned, pulling himself up into a sitting position and looking up at Luhan to see his roommate grinning evilly. “I hate you,” he mumbled, getting unsteadily to his feet. “Just for that, I’m getting in the shower first.”

Luhan let out an evil cackle as Minseok began slowly making the trek towards the bathroom. “I’ll join you in a minute, dear!” He crowed, causing a disturbed shudder to run down Minseok’s spine.

“I’ll stab you in the nuts,” he snapped before slamming the bathroom door closed and locking it securely.

Damn Sundays all to hell.

----

Minseok was really starting to regret his promise to go see Chanyeol and Jonghyun’s rock band. Though he didn’t actually remember promising anything - in fact, he didn’t remember making any sort of agreement, and he didn’t remember Luhan making any sort of agreement (he actually kind of remembered Luhan being told he wasn’t aloud to come, but maybe that had been a joke) which made him wonder why he was stuck at this random venue at all.

Crowded places were not Minseok’s friend - never had been, actually - but The Lame Pig was ridiculously packed. College students, most of which Minseok didn’t recognize, had flooded the place long before Minseok and Luhan had showed up, and the two had to link arms and squeeze past many smelly men just to make it through the door.

It was frightening, and Minseok already missed being able to freely breathe in fresh air.

“Can we go home yet?” He asked, hiding a sleepy yawn behind his free hand as Luhan shoved people aside in an attempt to get them closer to the stage where a group of girls were setting up instruments.

“You’re ridiculous,” Luhan stated, having to shout over the noise of the crowd. “There will be plenty of time to sleep later, I promise!”

Minseok pouted as a tall kid with a ten-inch electric blue mohawk and too much eyeliner bumped their shoulders together and sent Minseok a scary look.

He cowered, pressing closer to Luhan and giving Electric Blue Mohawk an uncertain smile. It was not returned.

“I feel terribly out of place and anxious,” Minseok admitted loudly, doing his best to hide behind Luhan’s back in case Electric Blue Mohawk decided to attack. Not that Minseok couldn’t take him, but then people might pay attention to him and he didn’t want that.

“You’re being a baby,” Luhan told him, looking amused.

Minseok glared at him and straightened up. “Shut up, you!”

“Don’t worry Baby Baozi,” Luhan exclaimed in a sing-song voice, “Lu Ge will protect you!”

Minseok stomped hard on his foot, and Luhan let out a cry of pain. Vindication complete.

The girls on stage began doing mic tests and after a few minutes spent giving Minseok cold looks, Luhan eventually began dragging him towards the bar.

“I don’t even like girl bands,” Minseok whined pathetically as Luhan ordered two beers. His eyes scanned the crowd for a familiar face, and while there were a few people he shared some classes with, he didn’t really talk to any of them.

He did see Sehun and Taemin at the other end of the bar, talking to some sleepy-eyed pretty-boy who looked as uncomfortable around people as Minseok felt, and for a second Minseok entertained the idea of pushing himself over their to remind his dongsaengs that they weren’t yet legal, and if he saw them with alcohol he would drag them back to the dorms by their ears and ground them for the rest of the week...but it was too much effort.

“Who are you looking at?” Luhan asked, handing Minseok a beer, which he greatly appreciated.

Minseok pointed at Sehun, Taemin, and their cute young friend in response, and Luhan nodded in understanding. He opened his mouth to say something - what, Minseok didn’t know - but the words were effectively drowned out by a sudden guitar riff and an angry chipmunk shouting into a microphone.

Minseok wasn’t ist, but rock bands with female lead singers gave him a headache. To stave off the inevitable pain, Minseok popped the tab on his beer can and downed half of it in a few hard gulps.

It had the distinctive taste of cat piss, but Minseok was perfectly okay with that, because alcohol.

Luhan shouted something at him that he couldn’t hear, and he shrugged helplessly in response before Luhan gave an exaggerated sigh and grabbed his hand to pull him back towards the stage.

“Get the stick out of your !” Luhan screamed into his ear after they’d managed to make it as close to the stage as was humanly possible.

Minseok wasn’t claustrophobic, but there were too many sweating bodies slamming into him and the music was unbearably loud, the bass pounding out of time with his heartbeat and making his entire body vibrate, and the flashing stage lights made his eyes hurt. He almost wished he could get drunk just do deal with this , but unfortunately Minseok was a responsible adult and they had class in the morning.

Luhan wrapped an arm around his waist - Minseok’s only rock in a sea of psychotic punk kids - and began jumping up and down in time to the beat and banging his head back and forth. With an exaggerated sigh of his own, Minseok raised his beer high in the air and followed suit.

It was minutely easier to deal with when Minseok made himself participate - come to think of it, most things were - and he found himself waking up a little more with every bounce and body shoving against him. By the end of the girl band’s set, sweat was trickling uncomfortably into his eyes and dripping off his chin, and breathing felt impossible.

“I think Chanyeol’s band is next,” Luhan shouted, putting his lips close to Minseok’s ear so that his voice could be heard over everyone else’s.

“Chanyeol and Jonghyun’s,” Minseok corrected, and Luhan rolled his eyes in response.

Sure enough, a minute later four guys walked onto the stage.

Minseok had to down what little was left of his now warm beer and blink multiple times to make sure that what he was seeing was, in fact, real.

It was embarrassing, honestly. Four grown men wearing full body animal costumes so that only their faces and hands showed. Minseok recognized Jonghyun as the green dinosaur, and Chanyeol was either a wolf or a bear, it was hard to tell. Minseok had seen the bassist (a penguin) in a couple of his classes, but he didn’t remember ever seeing the guitarist (a tiger) at all.

As they began setting up their instruments and Chanyeol sat behind the drumset, Minseok half expected them to start singing children’s songs. Knowing Chanyeol and Jonghyun, it wasn’t that far of a stretch.

“What the is wrong with them?” Luhan asked, looking amused, and Minseok replied with a helpless shrug.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, “but I feel as though respect points should be administered.”

“Bravery, yo,” Luhan agreed, and Minseok nodded solemnly.

“Hello, lemmings!” Jonghyun shouted into the microphone, and Minseok had to take a moment to accept the fact that Kim Jonghyun had just called him a ing ‘lemming’ in a ing dinosaur suit, and what was the world coming to, for serious. “We are In Your Face!” Minseok squeezed his eyes closed in agony as the crowd roared in response. He heard Chanyeol hit the kickdrum a few times before they began their opening song, and wow...In Your Face was actually pretty good.

Luhan flung his arm around Minseok’s shoulders and began flailing around again, and it wasn’t hard for Minseok to get back into it as well. He allowed himself to be pushed on all sides by jittery strangers, gripping onto the back of Luhan’s shirt for stability as Jonghyun sang about back-stabbing es and the guitarist that Minseok didn’t recognize began screaming something unintelligible into the mic.

Adrenaline was pumping through his veins every time Chanyeol’s sticks banged rhythmically against a drum, and the inconsistent bass line pounding through his body was making him feel a little nauseated, but it was good.

Three songs in and Minseok was starting to seriously regret his earlier decision to never go to a rock show. Having stuck to K-Pop concerts for the majority of his long life, Minseok hadn’t realized how much fun this was. And maybe it wasn’t even the show itself, maybe it was because he was cheering on his friends rather than strangers, or maybe it was having Luhan clinging to his side like they were conjoined twins, inseparable no matter what.

By the end, Minseok didn’t even mind the copious strangers slamming into him from all sides, or the waves of dizziness that swept through him every time he allowed his eyes to close for more than half a second, because it was kind of worth it.

He and Luhan watched as Jonghyun said something into the mic - not that they could understand what that something was, his words being drowned out by the mind-numbing cheers coming from the crowd - and the four faux-animals bowed before leaving the stage.

Minseok felt Luhan tug insistently on his hand and ly to see his roommate in the middle of trying to tell him something.

“What?” Minseok shouted, and Luhan rolled his eyes, tugging expectantly on his hand again before attempting to lead them out of the mosh pit and towards the door.

Admittedly, Minseok was a little confused - was that it? Two bands, one beer, and they were already heading back to the dorms? - but he allowed himself to be unceremoniously pulled away from the stage. It didn’t matter how many people they crashed into, no one seemed to notice, and Minseok was just starting to think that there would be no end to the limitless bodies packed together right before the crowd broke and Luhan was practically shoving him outside.

It wasn’t cold outside in the slightest, but Minseok still felt an unexpected shiver run up his spine as the sudden burst of fresh air clung to his sweat-soaked t-shirt. “Now what did you say?” He asked as Luhan let him go long enough to reach over and begin fixing Minseok’s damp hair into something respectable.

“I said we should go find Chanyeol and Jonghyun and congratulate them on a job well done,” Luhan answered easily - red-faced and panting and he tucked a stray strand of hair behind Minseok’s ear before nodding slightly, like he was congratulating himself as well.

“Oh.”

“Hey!” Minseok glanced back to see Sehun and Taemin dragging their unnamed friend outside. “Have you guys seen Yixing?” Sehun asked as Taemin swung an arm over the pretty boy’s shoulders and began grinning a little crazily.

“No,” Luhan replied, looking at Sehun in confusion. “Did he say he was coming?”

Pretty Boy was staring firmly at the ground while Taemin began swinging the two of them back and forth and giggling cutely.

“He texted earlier something about meeting up with Baekhyun and Kyungsoo and that we should find them afterwards...” Sehun explained, trailing off and looking confused.

Minseok was drawn away from the sight of Taemin harrassing the pretty boy by the thought of Yixing, Baekhyun, and Kyungsoo hanging out together. That was unexpected and kind of disturbing.

“ it,” Sehun sighed, shaking his head in annoyance, “never mind. I think I saw Minho and Kibum inside, I’ll go ask them.” He turned, spotted Taemin whispering something into the pretty boy’s ear (Minseok was pretty sure he heard Taemin mention something about pop-locking), and rolled his eyes. “Stop screwing with Jongin and come on, Taemin,” Sehun snapped, grabbing Taemin by the back of the shirt and hauling him back inside with Taemin clutching onto the pretty boy’s wrist.

“Is it just me or did Taemin seem kind of drunk?” Minseok asked suspiciously as Luhan placed a hand on the small of his back to lead him away.

“Let it go, Minseok,” Luhan advised, and Minseok let out an unhappy sigh before doing as told.

Finding Chanyeol and Jonghyun wasn’t all that difficult. The two of them, along with their band mates, were exiting the back door with various pieces of instrumental equipment in their hands, headed towards a van parked a few meters away.

“Besties!” Jonghyun squealed upon seeing them, shifting a snare drum and symbol to one hand so that he could wave energetically at them. Minseok thought that there was a possibility that Jonghyun might be drunk, too. “You two look like !”

Minseok rolled his eyes and Luhan scoffed. “Thanks,” Luhan said sarcastically as Jonghyun kicked Chanyeol in the shin.

“Channie,” Jonghyun exclaimed, kicking him again as Chanyeol attempted to dodge it on his way to the back of the van. “Look who’s here! Luhan and Minseok!”

“There was voice inflection on my name,” Minseok muttered nervously as Jonghyun sent him a decidedly sleazy grin. “Why, Luhan? Why?”

Luhan pointedly looked away from Minseok’s questioning gaze and hurried towards the faux penguin with a loud “Here, let me help you with that!”

Strange.

Minseok started forward to help out as well only for Chanyeol to suddenly stop mid-stride, two amps swaying precariously in his arms as he stared at Minseok and shouted “Don’t move or it’ll eat you!”

Minseok froze, wide-eyed. The last time someone had said that, there’d been a spider on his shoulder. Minseok didn’t like spiders.

“Get it off!” He shrieked, entire body tense and eyes squeezed shut in terror. “Luhan get it off p-please - I can’t - I just -” Minseok was positive he felt things crawling on him and oh god the legs! Why did spiders have so many legs!

“Dude, what the hell are you talking about?” Luhan asked, sounding confused and much too far away.

“Get it off!” Minseok squealed in response, bouncing on the balls on feet in an attempt to dislodge any creepy crawlies that may or may not have been on him.

“Get what off?” Luhan cried, starting to panic as well and voice only a little closer. “I don’t see anything!”

Minseok whimpered helplessly.

“Is he tripping on acid or what?” An unfamiliar voice - probably belonging to the guitarist, because guitarists - asked, sounding distinctly amused and most probably evil.

“Hold on hyung, I’ll save you!” He heard Chanyeol exclaim valiantly. There was a low a grunt, slamming metal doors, shoes pounding on pavement, and then Minseok felt two furry arms wrap around his waist. Minseok had just enough time to let out a surprised squeak before something pressed firmly against his lips.

Minseok’s eyes popped open in shock. Chanyeol’s face swam across his vision, much closer than expected, and maybe he wouldn’t have minded so much except spiders! Without further ado, he shoved Chanyeol away. “What the , man!” He exclaimed, practically vibrating in his effort not to flee in terror. “Did you get it? Is it gone? KILL IT WITH FIRE!”

Chanyeol grinned broadly, and Minseok felt himself relaxing minutely. “Of course I got it, hyung, I’m your knight in shining armor!”

Minseok let out a sigh of relief, body going limp now that the danger had passed and ignoring the guitarist who said “but there wasn’t anything there!” in a whiny voice. Then the double meaning behind the words penetrated through Minseok’s thick skull and he straightened up in realization.

Oh. Kissing Cards. The Rhythm. Chanyeol was a drummer. Ridiculous.

As if Chanyeol could read Minseok’s mind, his smile widened to creepy proportions.

“Alright then,” Minseok agreed loftily and putting on his most regal expression. “You may proceed.”

Chanyeol grinned. “Much obliged, your highness,” he said before swooping back down to capture Minseok’s lips once more, and Minseok took a moment to appreciate the fact that he didn’t sound sarcastic at all (because Minesok was a ing princess goddammit) before grabbing Chanyeol by his sweaty wolf onesie and pulling him closer.

“Is he always that easy?” Someone (most likely the bassist) asked quietly, sounding surprised.

“Minseok’s not easy!” Jonghyun hissed, and Minseok heard the distinct sound of a palm hitting flesh.

“Actually,” Luhan began, not bothering to lower his voice at all, “he’s kind of easy.”

Minseok pulled away from Chanyeol long enough to look past him and nod at the four onlookers solemnly. “I’m pretty ing easy, for reals,” he agreed, never one to deny the evidence.

He let out a yelp of surprise when Chanyeol’s large hands suddenly dropped to the backs of his thighs and pulled him up insistently. “Stop paying attention to them,” Chanyeol demanded as Minseok obligingly wrapped his legs around Chanyeol’s waist and allowed himself to be carried away. “Pay attention to me, or I’ll get all up in your face.”

They entered the small alleyway between The Lame Pig and another bar, and Minseok looked at him in confusion. “But they’re In Your Face,” he pointed out, motioning towards the four men currently hidden from his view.

“I’m In Your Face,” Chanyeol replied, giving Minseok a teasing smile. Minseok pouted.

“We’re all In Your Face!” Jonghyun’s disembodied voice shouted, followed by multiple groans and Luhan’s defeated “This is not the reality I wanted.”

“But-” Minseok began only to have Chanyeol capture his lips again and Minseok realized that it was kind of hard to pay attention to what was going on because Chanyeol.

“Focus,” Chanyeol murmured, keeping his hands placed firmly on Minseok’s upper thighs and pulling Minseok’s bottom lip between his perfect teeth.

Minseok did focus, clenching his fingers into Chanyeol's furry hat and letting an appreciative noise leave the back of his throat when Chanyeol into his mouth. He felt his back hit a distinctively brick wall, Chanyeol’s hands sliding up to cup his cheeks before rocking their hips together hesitatingly - almost like a question - and the answer was a resounding hell yes, because Chanyeol was hott, and a drummer, and Minseok had skewed morals.

Sundays were blessed days.

Minseok breath hitched when Chanyeol repeated the motion, the brick behind him scratching his lower back as his shirt began riding up and this was just a great day, really, why couldn’t all days be like this -

There was the distinctive sound of a rock hitting a wall and Minseok’s hand flew to the back of his neck on instinct, pulling away from Chanyeol and looking around wildly for the culprit. He saw a shadow receding past the mouth of the alleyway and what may or may not have been the sound of Luhan’s too-innocent whistling.

Mood effectively ruined.

“Son of a !”