The week dragged on as Taekwoon found himself at the cafe just about every day after school with Jongdae and Hakyeon, others occasionally tagging along.

Eventually, he got around to getting messages again from Yixing. Yixing could never stay mad or upset at him for long (Taekwoon didn't think he ever actually got upset with him), but it helped that Yixing wanted to make sure things with Seungho were alright and if his new daily life was alright.

Yixing was more than happy to hear how he started spending the nights before bed in Seungho's apartment, eating dinner and getting along with him. Taekwoon was surprised himself, wondering how Seungho eased his way onto his good side—but whatever helped him with his good behavior case against Yixing.

. . . It probably (definitely) had something to do with the tea.

Besides that, being around Hakyeon hadn't been as nerve-wracking or annoying as Taekwoon thought it would be. Those weird, almost judging glances stopped happening—though it didn't stop him from wondering what issues he had with Ravi and his . . . friends?

What was up there anyway?

While the teenagers sat around a table near the front counter (mostly so Minseok and Daehyun could chat with them while they drank their coffees), Luhan poked Taekwoon. "We should have a match after Minseokkie and Hyunnie get off work." The rest of the table started chattering in agreement without Taekwoon even replying. Hakyeon nudged him in the side with a good-natured smile before rejoining the conversation.

Somehow, they ended up back at the same park where Taekwoon met Ravi at and played at on Friday night. Luhan's team consisted of him as captain, Minseok, Himchan and Baekhyun while Taekwoon's team was him as captain (after too much prodding by Hakyeon), Hakyeon, Daehyun, and Chanyeol. Jongdae played referee (and unfairly jumped in to help whichever team he wanted at any time).

Taekwoon completely threw himself into the game, catching the first real fun he'd had since playing with the others on Friday. Luhan was every bit as good as Jongdae bragged but Taekwoon didn't give up and they battled, trampling over Baekhyun and Hakyeon while Daehyun and Minseok knew to stay out of the way.

Some younger kids settled excitedly on the sidelines to watch them and even joined once they started getting too tired to play seriously anymore.

While Taekwoon tiredly (this was a good tired) plopped onto the sidelines, watching Chanyeol, Himchan, and Hakyeon practically adore the kids on the field, a heaviness settled in his chest.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to stave off the whispers in the back of his head. Unease settled in his stomach while his throat grew tight.

These people weren't his friends.

He didn't want them to be his friends.

By the time he was letting Seungho know where he was when 10:30pm rolled around, everyone but he and Hakyeon had gone home. Being stuck alone with him wasn't as bad as he thought it would be (considering) but he'd known something he didn't want to talk about was going to pop up.

"So how come we never see your parents?"

Although he wanted to scrunch up his face and make Hakyeon disappear, his body was too tired to care about reacting. He shrugged. "Bad timing." he murmured sluggishly. It wasn't like that was entirely a lie.

"Bad timing, huh?" Hakyeon repeated, leaning back on his palms. "What are you doing tomorrow?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

Tomorrow . . . Tomorrow's Friday. His mind flashed back to the text from earlier that week from yet another unknown number that was likely one of Ravi's friends.

He wanted to pretend he forgot all about it, but the truth was, he was . . . almost looking forward to it. There was something about the house that both unsettled and fascinated him—not to mention, who else really lived there and how had they gotten a house like that? There were too many questions and not enough answers.

"My parents . . ." he suddenly responded, quiet and careful, "They work together . . . But tomorrow will be their first day off in a long time . . . I'm going to spend tomorrow with them. Maybe all weekend, if we're lucky." Hopefully, he sounded eager and genuine enough for Hakyeon to buy it.

It was quiet for a moment. Taekwoon's heart beat in his ears and his palms sweated.

"Taekwoonie's parents are coming to take him away from us, I get it." Hakyeon sighed dramatically and Taekwoon carefully let out the breath he was holding. "How are we going to survive all weekend without you?!" Hakyeon tried to bury his face into Taekwoon's chest, but Taekwoon wasn't having it and pushed him off and rolled over to stand up.

As he walked to gather up his stuff, Hakyeon whined after him. "But oh well, I'll see you again on Monday anyway. Make sure you tell me everything!"

Taekwoon rolled his eyes as he shrugged on his backpack. What would there be to tell . . .

Could it be déjà vu?

Taekwoon found himself staring at the clock again, shoulders tense and leg bouncing. Wasn't it the same last week too?

At lunch, he'd been firm that he wasn't going to the cafe and that no one was going home with him because "his parents would be tired and wouldn't want too much chaos while they all spent time with him" He guessed none of them had seen him be so "sincere" before because they actually backed off without question—a breath of fresh air with them.

Now there was only the matter of telling Seungho where he was going—and lying to him too, of course.

"Shut up, Yixing." he mouthed to himself when his best friend's words stomped through his mind.

The bell rang. Taekwoon clamped his white headphones on and upbeat music blasted, blocking out the rest of the world. He needed an excuse for not hearing anyone just in case any of the others tried catching him around the building.

He walked on beat to the music while focused on his phone and the message he was sending to Seungho about going to a "new friend's" house to study for a nonexistent test that was supposedly coming up. Seungho seemed to bite. Spending more time with him was clearly paying off.

Just one excuse after another, isn't it?

Instead of heading home or to the cafe like he had been doing all week, Taekwoon ambled along the vaguely familiar path that would lead him to the brick house.

If someone would have told him he'd be going back, he might've laughed.

Five pop songs, two soul, and a ballad later, Taekwoon found himself standing in front of the iron gate and tracing the tangled vines that ran up its bars. He glanced up to the windows and waited a few moments before thinking he saw something move in one of the larger first floor windows.

He could turn back. It would be easy. He could put these people and their house . . . behind him. He didn't need anymore "friends". No more people gathering around him and laughing and smiling and playing football. No more people to complain about how they didn't like omija tea. No more trips to coffee shops or parks.

He could go.

But the paint-chipped door opened and he didn't turn away.

Smiling brightly at the door was Hongbin and an excited Hyuk.

Hyuk raced down the broken steps and cracked pathway (was he barefoot?) He his hands onto the bars, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Hyung!" he sang, eyes crinkling and sparkling, "You came!"

Taekwoon drew up short when Hyuk called him hyung and took an uncomfortable step back. I . . . tried not to? he thought, but now he was just lying to himself too.

Light-haired Hongbin trotted down the beaten path and met them at the gate, the bright smile still decorating his face, dimples and all. "Don't mind Hyukkie, he's just excited."

"I'm going to tell everyone!" Hyuk announced and dashed all the way back up into the house. Taekwoon stood, baffled, on the other side of the closed gate. Hongbin seemed to find it amusing.

The gate creaked open and Taekwoon began following him towards the house.

The week had been longer than he thought; it felt like he was experiencing the place for the first time. The smell of polished wooden flooring, clean leather, and warm sunlight hit his nose as Hongbin told him to take off his shoes at the door. As he followed, he felt like he was gliding across the floors while his eyes glossed along the hallway walls of photos.

Smooth R&B reverberated throughout the living room and resonated through his body as soon as they walked in. On the far side, Ken and Hyuk were playing rock-paper-scissors on the loveseat adjacent to the television. Taekwoon watched them go five rounds before Hyuk cheered.

"Ken-hyung has to cook dinner!" he announced gleefully, punching a fist into the air as Ken deflated.

When Ken caught sight of Taekwoon, his brown eyes flashed to the staircase—where, if Taekwoon remembered right, the bedrooms were. Maybe Ravi was up there now . . .

"Don't look so stiff," Ken teased, appearing by his side. "Here, you can put your backpack and stuff over here." He motioned to a corner where a few other school bags were, but ended up taking Taekwoon's things anyway. It was like they had no perception of personal space in this house.

Ken walked past Taekwoon and to the other side of the staircase. "Are you thirsty? We just went grocery shopping Wednesday so we finally have a full kitchen."

But there was something so strange about all of this. About Taekwoon standing in the nice living room of this beaten down house with a fully-stocked kitchen and a group of actual teenage boys living here.

Hongbin laughed. "It can't be that crazy." he smiled, like he was reading Taekwoon's mind. "I think Ravi and Yongguk will be down soon. Ravi's probably going to want to give you a tour of the house, so hang out until then." Hongbin walked around the staircase to join Ken, leaving Taekwoon to awkwardly stand near the edge of the long leather couch.

He shoved his fists into his pockets and hunched his shoulders. It would be a whole lot easier to make himself at home if these punks were more accommodating—but he regretted thinking that as soon as he did.

Hyuk bounded out of nowhere and latched onto his wrist, dragging him down to the couch as he the TV. "I hope you play video games," he grinned while turning on the PlayStation. Taekwoon nearly smirked when he was handed the second player controller.

Hyuk insisted on playing a fighting game (Taekwoon played it with Jongdae at home before) with female fighters in skimpy outfits and stages with too many tiers.

After a few matches, Ken and Hongbin joined them and the loser started rotating out. Taekwoon couldn't help but feeling smug that he'd only lost once to Hyuk and beat him in their other two matches while Ken and Hongbin almost completely .

It wasn't until he realized that Hyuk wasn't using either of his usual characters anymore that he found he was playing with someone else.

Somehow, Ravi was the one sitting next to him instead of any of the others—and it scared the living hell out of him as his remote nearly dropped after two rounds of Rig vs. Brad Wong. Almost like Ravi knew he got one over Taekwoon, he smirked. Taekwoon narrowed his eyes at him.

Ravi shrugged. "It's nice to see you again too."

There was something a little off, Taekwoon thought, about Ravi's usual grin. He ignored it.

"You at this game." Taekwoon mumbled, shifting around and putting his attention back on the large screen. He felt Ravi chuckle and shrug next to him.

Ravi stood from the couch and gave a wide stretch while groaning in pleasure of loosening his muscles. Taekwoon blinked and shook the sound away. "So." Ravi started, grinning again. "You didn't get to see the rest of the house. Now that everyone's here, I can show you without feeling bad."