Luhan scrunches his forehead when he sees how flushed Minseok looks when he emerges from the dorm building along with Sehun and Jongdae. 

The youngest introduced him to his roommate sometime last week when he and Sehun were hanging out together. 

He rushes to the three and asks Minseok immediately.

"Are you okay? Do you feel sick?" Luhan says, putting his palm on Minseok’s forehead to check his temperature.

"I’m okay, just…it’s so hot," Minseok fans himself with his right hand, feeling stupid about his idiotic excuse.

He sees Luhan open his back pack and gets a fan inside it and starts fanning him. 

"Here, I already figured that out. It’s really getting hotter by the day so I didn’t buy you any coffee today," Luhan beams as he continues fanning the elder.

"Oh, we better go now Seok-ah," Luhan sees the time on his wristwatch and puts an arm around Minseok’s shoulders.

"We’ll go first then, Sehun-ah, Jongdae-ssi," Minseok says giving a small wave to the two. Blushing yet again when Jongdae smiles brightly at him.

"See you hyung!" Sehun and Jongdae starts going to the opposite direction, steps a bit hurried as their buildings are a bit farther.

"Are they together?" Jongdae asks Sehun as he steals a glance behind every now and then, intrigued by Minseok and Luhan’s interactions. He sees the two almost having no space between them and Luhan’s arms still around Minseok. He can’t help but gape but he’s distracted when Sehun answered.

"No? I don’t really know. Luhan-hyung never said anything to me about them," Sehun replies nonchalantly.

"Eh? But you do see how Luhan-hyung’s hands are pretty much all over Minseok-hyung right?" Jongdae blurts, surprised by the seemingly lack of interest from Sehun.

"It’s just the forehead and the shoulder, not Minseok-hyung’s whole body," Sehun points out.

"It’s a figurative you idiot. I didn’t literally mean it," Jongdae counters, starting to get annoyed by the younger’s sarcasm.

"Meh, whatever," Sehun chuckles, amused by the fake anger of the older as Jongdae punches him in the arm.

"You brat. You’re not getting the point aren’t you."

"No, I totally get it hyung. Just that, they may not be together as in together but it’s obvious they’re not available either okay? So don’t even think about it," Sehun eyes the older warily and speaks again when he sees that Jongdae’s about to retaliate.

"And I know what you’re thinking. Don’t even think of denying it. Seriously, of all people to get advice from, you actually listen to Jongin," Sehun shakes his head, appalled by the ideas of his friends.

"Fine. It won’t work anyway. And Luhan-hyung looks so whipped," Jongdae says, cackling a bit while imagining Luhan’s eyes that should probably be just heart-shaped whenever he looks as Minseok. Sure, he may have only seen the two’s interactions for not even five minutes but Luhan was seriously being Captain Obvious earlier.

"Says someone who…" the younger trails.

"Don’t even…." Jongdae warns as he glared at Sehun.

And Jongdae watches helplessly as Sehun ran away from him after imitating the sounds of a whip. 

***

The group of friends are currently having their lunch together. The sight of Luhan feeding some of his food to Minseok ignored by everyone as they continue their mindless chatters.

"Sehun-ah!" a loud and shrill voice reaches their table and Luhan feels Minseok tense up a bit in his seat. 

Sehun looks up from his plate at the direction of the voice.

"Oh, Jongdae-hyung? Don’t you have classes right now?" 

"Got cancelled. Prof’s on leave for the day," Jongdae answers. The male then greets the other people in the table. He already knew Luhan, Minseok, Yixing and of course Sehun.

"Join us then," Sehun offers as he lifts his bag from a vacant seat. Jongdae sits between Sehun and Kyungsoo and offers a small smile to him.

"Oh, right. You haven’t met Kyungsoo-hyung and Chanyeol-hyung yet," Sehun says when he sensed the awkward atmosphere.

Greetings and introductions ensued and loud chatterings resumed. Luhan can see Minseok fidgeting a bit in his seat so he tries to trace the reason behind the elder’s uneasiness. He looks around the table to see Jongdae smiling at Minseok’s direction but the older is just looking at his plate and mindlessly moving his food with his fork, obviously trying to avoid any eye contact.

Luhan clears his throat, starting to get annoyed when Jongdae didn’t even bat an eyelash and continues to stare at Minseok. He was about to confront the other male when he feels Minseok grasp his arm.

"Luhan I’ll go first okay?" 

"Where are you going? I’ll go with you," Luhan immediately offers.

Minseok shakes his head no then explains “I just need to speak with one of my professors about a paper. I’ll be fine alone. See you later.”

Minseok stands up and reciprocates the light hug Luhan gives to him.

"Okay then. Text me later?" 

"Of course," Minseok smiles then says good bye to their other friends.

"Oh, where are you going hyung? I could go with you," Jongdae says, his voice ringing loud across the table. Luhan replies for the elder before Minseok even has the chance.

"He’s going to his professor. You don’t have to go with him, he can manage alone," Luhan tries not to grit his teeth. He and Jongdae are cool and he finds the other really fun to talk and hang out with but if he’ll be like this with Minseok then….Luhan shakes any rude thoughts in his head.

"I’m just saying," Jongdae defends in a joking tone, raising his hands in surrender. Mirth is clearly in his eyes but Luhan is blinded by his slight annoyance towards the younger.

"I’ll go then," Minseok says as he pointedly looks at Luhan to calm him down. He sighs in relief as he sees Luhan starting to relax and takes off.

***

During that week Luhan is not that pleased that Jongdae seems to not be getting any of his warnings. He’s constantly trying to get close to Minseok despite Luhan’s (and even Minseok’s) attempts to (subtly) ward him off. Jongdae’s too touchy and both are not really pleased. 

However one day, Minseok changed his view on the younger. He was at Luhan’s college building and since music and dance majors are in the same college, he’s not really surprised to see various instruments played by students inside the sound-proofed practice rooms. 

The rooms have small mirror windows where you can peek at but this one room towards the end has its door slightly ajar.

Minseok was actually trying to find Yixing because the younger forgot his notebook which he knows the other uses to note choreography ideas and formation. And Minseok, being used to the younger’s forgetfulness, decided to bring it to him. However, he can’t help but be curious so he approaches the room where a beautiful melody was flowing out but when he was closer, he noticed that someone was singing along to it. It was a very soulful voice. Minseok can’t hear the lyrics clearly but it sounds sad yet earnest and longing. 

He tries to be discreet when he peeks but the man playing the piano seems to be sharp-eyed and caught his slight movement and immediately stopped playing and singing. He was about to bow and apologize when Jongdae’s voice reaches his ears.

"Minseok-hyung! What are you doing here?" Jongdae inquires, curious as to why the elder’s even in their building. He stops playing the piano so the other male would hear him.

"Oh, I was actually trying to find Yixing. Perhaps you know where he is?" Minseok looks sheepish, embarrassed from being caught peeping but he tries to maintain eye contact with the younger.

"He’s on studio B-3 I think. I saw most of their batchmates there a while ago. That’s on the 2nd floor," Jongdae informs. 

"Oh, thanks. And uh, sorry for bothering you," Minseok smiles.

"It’s okay. I was just taken aback that’s all."

"And you have a really nice voice, by the way," Minseok says before he flees his spot, walking towards the direction of the stairs.

"Thanks!" He still hears Jongdae’s voice ringing along the silent hallways though he’s quite faraway.

***

Minseok got used to Jongdae’s presence after another week. He figures that there’s really no harm in hanging out with Jongdae and he admits he enjoys the other’s humor. However, he still shrugs the other’s hands off whenever he deems he’s being too touchy. He doesn’t think they’re in that level of closeness yet.

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo have been his friends for years, even as much as Luhan but the most skinship they have are having arms around each other’s shoulders. 

But then, they were both sitting a bench situated under a tree one day when Jongdae suddenly stops talking. They are waiting for the others to come as they scheduled a group movie date today.

"Hyung, just, please," Jongdae suddenly says as he scoots closer to Minseok. Since Minseok is sitting at the end of the bench, he has no space to get away to. He gives Jongdae a confused look but all he sees is desperation and…sadness?

Minseok is shocked to say the least when Jongdae suddenly hugs him sideways. It’s not that tight but can definitely send all wrong types of impression to anyone who will see them. Jongdae hides his face behind Minseok’s as if he’s trying to smell Minseok’s hair.

"What— what are you—-" Minseok protests. He feels so weird. He’s not used being hugged by other people. From the days they’ve been hanging out together, Jongdae actually toned down with the touches. But today, it looks like it came back on its highest level.

"Hyung, please. Just. Only for a few seconds I promise," Minseok was about to complain when he feels something wet in his nape. He was actually horrified with the thought that Jongdae might have kissed, or much much worse, him there but after a few seconds he realized that the wetness were a few drops of something. His eyes widen when he hears a sniff.

"Are you crying?!" Minseok asks, alarmed by the sudden change in the younger’s mood. A few minutes ago he was just telling funny stories about his younger years but now he can feel the other shaking.

"I—-. I just. Why can’t I stop it hyung? Why does it have to be so hard to have feelings for someone?" Jongdae says, voice shaking as he tries to control his emotions.

Minseok is dumbstrucked to say the least. Jongdae’s not talking about him right? Jongdae’s sharp, witty and smart. And with the way they’re spending more time by the day he knows that Jongdae knows that his heart is definitely unavailable.

Nonetheless, he puts his hand on the younger’s back and tries to calm him down.

"Nothing’s easy Jongdae-ah. Even loving someone is really hard," Minseok gulps. Somehow he can see himself in Jongdae’s place.

"I know that. It’s just that, I’m human too you know? I also get fed up by all the s the world throws at me and…" Jongdae trails but doesn’t continue what he was saying. He was still hiding his face behind Minseok’s head. Minseok thinks the younger must be uncomfortable to let anyone see him crying so he lets him.

"Ssshhh. Everyone got their own fair share of pains in life okay? It’s just a matter of how we handle it."

"But how do I handle unreciprocated feelings hyung? How?" Jongdae sounds desperate now. Minseok can actually feel the wetness at the back of his shirt. By this time, he’s sure that Jongdae’s not talking about him. He doesn’t think anyone would open up their heart like this to someone they’re planning to confess to so he relaxes a bit to that thought.

Minseok swallows and stays silent. He doesn’t know the answer to that question as well.

A few minutes passed and Jongdae has calmed down. His tears now wiped away though his eyes are still a bit red.

"Ah…that was so embarrassing, " Jongdae scratches his head while staring straight ahead, too ashamed to face Minseok.

He hears the other chuckle.

"That’s okay. Doesn’t it make you feel like we’ve become closer?" Minseok says, nudging the other by his shoulder.

Jongdae laughs hard in reply. 

"Yeah, a lot closer. And by the way hyung, just to clear things up…" Jongdae says but was interrupted when Chanyeol’s loud voice calls to them. He is with Kyungsoo and Jongin and the youngest waves to them before giving Jongdae a bro-hug.

"Ah, Jonginnie has really grown up," Jongdae says, ruffling the other’s hair.

"Yah hyung! Will you stop that? You literally do this whenever we see each other," Jongin huffs and fixes his hair.

"Tch. Just because you’re taller than me now," Jongdae scowls. "What an ungrateful cousin. Why do I even buy you food," he adds.

"Tss, you love me that’s why," Jongin replies and sticks his tongue out at the older. All of them laughs as his childish act.

***

And they indeed became closer to the point that Jongdae distracts him from the fact that his time with Luhan has greatly decreased.

Luhan’s really busy nowadays due to countless rehearsals aside from his other classes. Yet he always texts Minseok and still walks with him every morning and afternoon to and from his dorm. Minseok’s already used to this already though. He knows how busy Luhan could be when it comes to the preparation for their productions so he doesn’t interfere. 

During his hang outs with Jongdae, everything’s normal. They talk, sometimes they study together and to Minseok’s great relief, he's not the slightest but touchy. But then there would be times when he would be awfully clingy without any warning. Minseok’s instinct would be to pull away but then Jongdae would plead to him that it will only last for a few seconds. And even though he’s really confused to the younger’s behavior, he doesn’t confront him.

The younger is true to his words as well. He does not lie when he says it’s only for a few seconds because he really distances himself from Minseok after a while. He always mutters an apology afterwards and will look sheepish while looking everywhere but him so Minseok just shrugs.

***

They are in the cafeteria and having chats about their classes when Jongdae, who happens to have his supposedly class during that time cancelled again, suddenly puts his arms around Minseok’s shoulders carelessly.

Minseok ignores it and continues his chat with Chanyeol when somebody slapped Jongdae’s hands.

"Keep your hands off," Luhan says in a calm but cold voice.

"I— Luhan-hyung," Jongdae smiles in alarm as his eyes roam around the cafeteria. 

"I said off," Luhan sounds more serious now that even Minseok is scared. 

Jongdae drops his hand like he was burned and apologizes. Luhan takes the seat on Minseok’s other side and mentally counts to calm himself.

Minseok holds his arm and caresses his wrist, something he always do whenever Luhan’s a bit agitated which is not really often. Luhan smiles at the elder.

"Let’s go buy lunch," Luhan says, ignoring the apologetic look Jongdae is giving him. He’s still irked but he knows he can’t stay mad for too long especially when Minseok’s hand holds his when they make their way to the food stalls.

***

It was two weeks after that little incident in the cafeteria that something in Luhan just snapped. He was hurrying towards the studio where they’ll be having their rehearsals when he spots a very familar someone being pulled by another familiar someone

He stops in his tracks even though he’s gonna be late in any minute because he’s sure that those are Minseok and Jongdae. He’s on their building's 2nd floor and he can see that they’re walking towards the back of their building and he’s seeing red with the way Jongdae is holding Minseok’s arms. 

The elder looks so confused while his arms are being held by Jongdae who is walking backwards so he could face him. He can see how amused Jongdae looks at Minseok’s expressions and he can even hear Jongdae’s cackles.

Luhan does not like what he’s seeing even one bit. He does not waste any second and turns towards the stairs with hurried steps.

Hello. Just a heads up, the next chapter would be the final one and along with that, I'll be having a kind of a "spin-off" for this story. More details on that once this story is completed though. I just hope you'll also be interested to read it. :)

Btw, thank you for all new subscribers and the comments! Reading your comments brighten my day. Thank you everyone.