"What's that you're marking off?" Jongdae asked, hopping off the kitchen counter. Taekwoon didn't bother shrugging him off when he rested his chin on his shoulder.

"The days until my friend comes." he replied, capping the sharpie. Only a few left . . .

He turned to the kitchen to grab his mug and Jongdae naturally moved off him. "So how long have you guys been friends?" he asked, leaning against the wall.

Taekwoon almost smiled to himself, a wash of memories overtaking his senses with the aroma of tea. "Since we were kids." He looked up at Jongdae whose hands were stuffed in his pockets. He looked uncomfortable, and before he could stop himself, he asked, "Are you alright?"

Jongdae looked up at him, eyebrows raised. Taekwoon's cheeks warmed; since when did he care if someone else that wasn't him was alright? Hurrying to hide his embarrassment, he dipped into the pantry for a snack.

It was quiet for a few moments before—

"Aww, you do care!" Jongdae slung his arm around Taekwoon, startling him. His head just barely missed banging the pantry door. "You're the best friend a guy could ever ask for."

Taekwoon bumped him off with annoyance as Jongdae wiped away fake tears. He rolled his eyes; there went the moment (not that he wasn't glad for it). It was a little weird that Jongdae looked upset to begin with though, but he rolled it off.

Honestly, he was just going to pretend like Jongdae hadn't been acting weird lately. It was easier for all of them.

Diligent as he was, Taekwoon couldn't stop yawning and he finally laid his head on his books, closing his eyes. Hopefully Minseok's boss wouldn't mind him napping here a few minutes . . .

"Taekwooooon!"

He groaned. Hakyeon slid into the chair across from him. Just when he laid his head down . . . "Taekwoon, guess what, Taekwoon, Taekwoon!"

He slapped his palm somewhere on Hakyeon's face without looking up. Hakyeon sputtered, slapping it away and whining.

"Shouldn't you be studying . . ." he mumbled into the pages of his notebook.

"I'm an efficient studier," Hakyeon claimed, puffing his chest. "Anyway," He waved his hand, and Taekwoon set his head on his chin. "Rumor has it that our little Chen-Chen has a crush,"

Taekwoon didn't fight off rolling his eyes. "What do I care . . ." he sighed, imagining flopping on Ravi's fluffy heaven bed and napping forever.

Hakyeon pushed his shoulder. "Don't you want to know who it is?"

"Why?" he shrugged. "I'm sure he'll tell us on his own . . ."

"You're zero fun." Hakyeon huffed, crossing his legs and arms.

Taekwoon just shrugged again and picked up his pencil. He tried to focus on the numbers and letters written down, but they all just blurred up. He blinked, rubbing his eyes and dropping his pencil with a sigh. Maybe he studied enough for today . . .

He wondered; if he failed his exams, would his parents even care?

. . . Seungho would care.

Hakyeon said something about getting a coffee and offered Taekwoon one, but he shook his head.

Sighing again, he began to put his school stuff away. He was studied-out to last a lifetime . . . If he could help it, he'd never look at another equation or complex passage ever again. He yawned.

"Tired?"

He jumped in his seat and then internally cringed at himself. A coffee cup was placed in front of him. "Hakyeon, I said I didn't—"

But it wasn't Hakyeon standing over him when he looked up—it was Ravi. He snapped his mouth closed, teeth clicking against each other.

New bandaids, neon-colored, were taped to his cheek and contrasted a darkening bruise under his right eye. His gray sweatshirt was splashed with paint and . . . a little blood? It was a good thing he never saw Ravi wearing a school uniform, those stains would be hard to get out.

"What happened to your face?" he blurted, and then automatically pursed his lips. I don't care, I don't care, I don't care . . .

Ravi laughed, full, amused, and deep. "Accidentally ran into a wall carrying some paint cans and one of them socked me in the eye." He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed.

Taekwoon snorted. "You should be more careful." he said more as an afterthought. Signals clicked in his brain and he looked around, remembering where they were. "Wait, you shouldn't be here, what if—"

"Taekwoooon!" Hakyeon sang as he neared their table. "I got you a past—Oh. Ravi."

Taekwoon looked up and saw Ravi grinning at Hakyeon and Hakyeon staring back at him.

"What do you want?" he asked coldly, appearing on Taekwoon's other side.

Apprehension lit through his nerves. No, no, no, not here, I'm not doing this. he thought.

Abruptly, he stood and slung on his backpack. It was one thing for Ravi to show up, but it was another for Hakyeon to confront him like he'd been doing something wrong. What were they going to do, fight in a cafe? Get real . . . He scowled to himself.

Without a second though, he wheeled right around and strode out of the cafe. He ignored Daehyun and Minseok's waves.

As he walked down the shop sidewalk, he glanced in. Hakyeon was stabbing a finger into Ravi's chest, snapping at him. Ravi was just taking it. Taekwoon shook his head. A nap sounded nice about now.

But when he finally laid down in his bedroom, all he could do was stare at the ceiling.

His phone already went off a few times but he ignored it. He could barely form three words together, let alone talk to anyone. Numbers and words and faces swirled in his head, trying to form something that wasn't a blob, but he was too tired.

He vaguely wondered if Ravi's face got more bruises from Hakyeon.

Why was he always wearing bandaids anyway? He didn't seem that klutzy and it really bothered Taekwoon. Was there actually any weight behind Hakyeon and everyone else's warnings? Ravi never came off as the bully type, but why else would there be so many rumors floating around him? Even that girl—Hyeri—had something bad to say about him. Something about commitment? He didn't know what that had to do with himself.

Groaning, he rubbed his eyes and sat up. There was no way he was napping now.

Maybe he could nap at Seungho's . . .

He walked out of his room and slipped on his slippers, considering changing from his white long-sleeved shirt and loose cream capris since it was cold, but it was only next door, and he wouldn't be outside for that long.

Reaching for his jacket, he pulled open his door—

"Oh."

Ravi was there, fist held up like he was about to knock. Taekwoon drew up short, staring wide-eyed, his jacket held midair. He opened his mouth, but Ravi hurried to speak instead.

"H-Hongbin, he's a teacher's p-pet—I mean assistant! He's a teacher's assistant . . ." As if that answered all the questions in the world. "S-Sorry, this is weird . . ."

Taekwoon closed his mouth, overwhelmed by both how cold it was and Ravi's nervousness—and, Right, Ravi being at his door. So much for Seungho's . . .

"You're going to get sick." he mumbled as he opened the door wider for Ravi to come in. He placed his jacket back on the coat hanger and took off his slippers. "What are you even doing here . . ." He turned to see Ravi looking around.

"You didn't take your coffee," Ravi answered, holding it out. Taekwoon hadn't even noticed it when he opened the door, and he hardly remembered leaving it at the cafe. "I got you another one."

He looked at Ravi grinning again, all his nervousness gone. He was so strange to Taekwoon; smooth charm one moment and then a stuttering, apologetic mess the next. It threw Taekwoon off and he didn't like it.

"You're weird." He shook his head and walked into the kitchen.

After grabbing a plastic baggie from the pantry, he reached into the freezer to bag up a few chunks of ice. He could feel Ravi watching him as he moved around but tried to ignore it. The baggie was wrapped in a paper towel and then he held it out for Ravi to take. "Your eye is still pretty swollen," he sighed.

Ravi still held out the coffee. "Will you take this if I take that?" he asked, and Taekwoon rolled his eyes. He reached for the coffee and satisfied, Ravi took the ice pack.

The coffee cup warmed Taekwoon's palms and the smell eased him a little, bringing on a wave of sleepiness. He looked at the clock to see that it was only 8PM.

Being half-asleep, it wasn't completely registering that Ravi was actually in his apartment. It just seemed like something that was bound to happen eventually, and between studying for semester exams and waiting for Yixing's winter break visit, everything melted together. He couldn't focus.

"It's weird that you're here." he admitted, sitting down on the couch, crisscrossing his legs. He listened to his heart beat faster than normal.

Ravi sat next to him without waiting to be invited. "Sorry, I must seem like a creep to you." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Bin sorta likes to snoop around. Since he's always kissing his teachers' asses, they let him help with assistant work and stuff like that. He found out where you lived and told me . . ."

Maybe Ravi wasn't a serial killer, but Taekwoon got the idea that Hongbin might be. Maybe he and Ken were partners.

"I like your house," Ravi commented after a few silent moments. "It's a lot like you."

Taekwoon glanced sidelong at him, wondering if that was a compliment or insult. He didn't really like it here. It was a place to live, sure, but it was stark and sterile and . . . It was a little lonely—but he wouldn't admit that out loud.

"My parents decorated it." he sighed, drinking from his cup. He wondered what kind of coffee this was, it was good.

Ravi hummed. "Are they here? Didn't even cross my mind . . ."

Taekwoon shook his head. "No, not right now." Not a lie, not the whole truth.

Quiet settled again.

Now that Ravi was here and they were alone, Taekwoon could actually ask him anything he wanted. There was so much before, so much he wanted to know, but he was spent. Nothing came to mind.

The coffee in his hands reminded him of the sun's warmth from that one day he napped on Ravi's bed. That was nice. What wasn't nice was waking up to Ravi—he still thought about it sometimes, still wondered why it even happened. If Ravi wanted to nap, their house was huge, he could have slept anywhere else, but no. He decided to sleep right next to Taekwoon. He wondered if Ravi thought about it.

Warmth tickled his cheeks again.

". . . Do you like the coffee?" Ravi asked.

Taekwoon hummed, drumming his fingers against the cup as steam rose from the spout. It was just the right amount of sweet and there was a hint of vanilla that didn't pass him. Even though he definitely preferred his weird tea, this was nice too. "It's good." he replied.

Ravi sighed, like he was relieved. "I'll buy you coffee whenever you want." he grinned, and Taekwoon ducked his head more. This guy really wasn't helping all his embarrassment, and saying things like that . . .

The couch squeaked when Ravi got up. He started stretching out and Taekwoon pretended not to see the sliver of skin peaking out when his stained sweater rose.

"Yongguk-hyung and Hyuk'll be wondering where I am, I should get going," he said, looking down at Taekwoon.

Taekwoon nodded and stood up too, placing his cup down. Maybe there'd be another time to ask all his questions.

He walked Ravi to the door and opened it. Cold wind blew in and he shivered, feeling good that he didn't have to walk home like this, but then he frowned at Ravi. He picked the bomber jacket he was going to use earlier and turned to Ravi with it.

"Huh?" Ravi raised his eyebrows at the coat being held out to him. He grinned, "You want me to use it?" He took it and Taekwoon watched him put it on.

"It's cold outside." he excused, shrugging. "You can give it back some other time."

Ravi cutely snuggled into it, pulling his beanie tighter over his curly white hair. Taekwoon still didn't know who dyed their hair white, but he figured that was another question for when he could actually think properly.

Before Ravi stepped out again, he grabbed Taekwoon's hand and squeezed lightly, offering a smile—a smile, a real smile— his eyes crinkling. "See you later, Leo-hyung."

Taekwoon's eyes widened as he watched Ravi turn and begin walking away, his face warm and his palm even warmer.

Finally burned out enough to sleep, Taekwoon laid in bed. While he drifted in and out of consciousness, everything that was happening swirled around his head. Exams, Hakyeon, winter break, Jongdae . . . Yixing, Ravi . . . So much was going on. When had his life gotten this full?

It wasn't a bad feeling, he didn't think . . . But something, he couldn't put his finger on it, weighed heavily and awfully in his stomach.

Whatever all this was, he knew it wasn't going to last forever.