"College is going really well, Joonmyun," Jongin reassures. Sehun looks up briefly, rolling his eyes a bit. He sits at his desk, trying to make some sense of the damn notes Jongin had taken while he was distracted. It's not even the first week and he's already slightly confused? All of this stuff is familiar but-

"Eh? Chanyeol? Really?" Sehun gives Jongin a weird look but he wasn't paying attention. "He didn't in Japan?"
"Didn't what?" Sehun asks, whining a bit when he's ignored. "Jongin!"

Jongin waves his hand and turns toward the window, away from Sehun. "Alright, we'll be sure to....Yes..." Jongin laughs as he opens their mini fridge and pulls out two cans. "Yes, I'll tell him. Talk to you soon, hyung. Tell Jongdae we said hey." Jongin hangs up and tosses his phone onto his desk. He gives Sehun a smirk when seeing his friend's annoyance.

"You're on edge again."
"What did Joonmyun want?"
"His best wishes."
"Seriously."

Jongin tosses Sehun a can of cola before shrugging and opening his own.

"Chanyeol's gonna join."
"Join what?"
"The school, Sherlock."

Sehun lays on Jongin's bed, tossing over on his belly and opening his own can. He makes a face after the first gulp. Always feels like a punch in the throat.

"Didn't he graduate in Japan?"
"Yeah, high school."
"Oh."

"I never got over you, Sehun."

Sehun doesn't look back but he knows his heart aches just as well, he can hear it in his voice. He didn't know why but he just couldn't conjure up the courage to say anything like that...he was too pathetic.

"...Well, I got over you a long time ago."

"And I guess that's why he's applying here."

Sehun stares at his friend, surprised he didn't notice him talking before. "Oh...really?" He coughs a bit as he sits up and stands, setting his can on his desk. After grabbing his coat, he heads over to the shoes and decides on the new black high top sneakers Jongdae had bought him a few weeks ago; he remembers talking about how all of his shoes were inconvenient.  His Dr. Martens were pretty nice and comfortable but he found them a drag when going to dance class. He never noticed the pace he went through the last couple of years- when he ditched all of his old converse shoes and replaced them with boots or  bluchers. He still wears the bluchers but has long since discarded his temporary love of boots. he doesn't quite know where he had gotten the sudden desire for boots...

"We're almost out of ramen and tea, so I'll go get some."

Jongin looks up from his phone for a moment. "Okay, get some kimbap too."
"Triangle?"

"It doesn't matter. Oh, and can you get me some chocolate?"
Sehun rolls his eyes as he pulls on his sneakers.

"More? Didn't I buy some the other day?"
Jongin smiles sheepishly and shrugs.

"We still have a bit left but since we're stocking up..."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get some."
"Oh! Get some milk too and wear your scarf- it's cold."

Sehun smiles a bit before grabbing his red scarf and his bag; a few things he's never lost his love of.

"I'm leaving," Sehun announces, opening the door and peaking down the hall. He grumbles a bit, wondering where everyone else was. He checks his phone as he heads down the stairs and outside.

Noon.

So I guess everyone is at lunch or in classes. The dorms aren't very loud anyways.

Sehun shivers at the sudden cold air and curses a bit, putting his hands in his pockets as he walks. He ignores the stares he gets from women of all ages, and sometimes men. His younger self had never really been stared at. He figured it was because he looked so childish and didn't really stand out all that much- not like Jongin did. But after what had happened to him at the airport that night, he never really did feel the same.

Sehun had looked at things differently, acted differently, he even spoke differently. He was quiet for awhile, though. He mostly kept to himself but he never once strayed from Jongin's side, no. He had stopped talking and learned to actually listen. He respected Joonmyun and Jongdae, as well as Luhan and Minseok when they call every week from China.

But now Sehun feels that maybe he changed for the best. He started talking again and giving his friends trouble, but not like he used to. He discarded his childish mannerisms and learned how to be a man rather than a boy.

Sehun bows when he enters the shop, greeting the cashier. He feels a bit weird going to the candy aisle first, so he just goes to the back to get the kimbap; he'll just get the milk last even if he is sick of cereal.

Shouldn't I just triangle ones? They are quick...maybe I'll get the stuff to make-

"You're Sehun, aren't you?"

 Sehun jumps a bit and whirls around, sighing when it was only Baekhyun, Tao's new boyfriend. He observes him carefully, feeling a bit suspicious.

"Yeah," Sehun responds. "I might be. How did you-"
"Know your name? Tao talked about you a lot. Or...he did for the year after he left Korea."

"Ah..."
"But he suddenly stopped."
"That's great, really- Did you want something?"

Baekhyun chuckles a bit and shakes his head. He pushes his bangs from his face, causing Sehun to notice the black liner around his eyes.

"I was just here to pick up a few things and then I noticed you...so I thought I'd say hi!"

Sehun huffs and looks back at the kimbap filled shelves.

"Hi." He grabs a few of the triangles and tosses them in the basket, heading over to the candy aisle. Baekhyun follows beside him, humming a bit.

"Do you like the club?"
"Yeah, I guess."

 "Wanna go there tomorrow?"
"I have dance class."

"Oh, what about the next day?"
"Regular classes."
"Oh...Saturday?"
Sehun slams the freezer door close and turns to face Baekhyun with his hands on his hip. "What do you want to go to the club with me so badly?! You don't even know me!"
Baekhyun looks down and fiddling with the hem over his oversized white sweater. Sehun looks down at the guy's skin-tight jeans and cringes a bit, remembering when he always wore them; now it's just tight leather.

"Tao described you to be kind of a brat but in a kind of princely way. He said you always acted a bit spoiled but seeing you now- he said you haven't changed but didn't say anything about it so I thought maybe-"
"You thought maybe you'd go out to a club with me to see if it was all true?"

"...Yes."
Sehun groans and looks away, grabbing a few bags of different kinds of chocolate. Both Jongin and Sehun know they shouldn't have so much but with their dancing, they assume they'll just burn off everything they eat. It's been working pretty well so far...

Speaking of which, Jongin would probably kill Sehun for turning down an invitation to go out. A lot of their friends moved away, so they don't get to go out very often anymore.

"Fine, I'll go.""
Baekhyun jumps up a bit and claps- a weird sign of his excitement.
"Really?! Oh yay! bring whoever you want, okay? How many you want! You've been to the popular club in town, right? Here." Baekhyun expands a hand out. "Your phone."

"Why do you want my phone?" Sehun asks, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm going to give you my number, silly."

Sehun grumbles as he reaches into his pocket and grabs his phone. As soon as it's out, Baekhyun snatches it up.

"Aww! Is this you?" Baekhyun shows Sehun the screen and he immediately smiles. His wallpaper is of Jongin and him when they were fresh in high school. Sehun's hair was dyed rainbow while Jongin's was just his regular old brown. He remembers all the stares he got because of it and when his mother freaked out; of course she did, she freaked out when he got his stupid ear pierced. Okay, so he got three piercing on both his ear- it's not bad, is it?

 "I put myself under the name 'Baek-Hyung', since I'm older than you," Baekhyun practically hums as he hands over his phone. "Text me if you get lost. Bye for now," Baekhyun waves happily as he heads to the front, leaving Sehun alone in the aisle. He thinks about how odd the guy's behavior was and wonders if he's that friendly to everyone or just him; he's assuming to everyone, though.

Sehun decides to skip the milk for now since it was so cold out and hurries over to the front counter. He glances over to the frozen section, wondering if he should do what Jongin did and eat something this time before drinking.

Eh, We'll just grab a bite before hand.

Why does Baekhyun want me to go, anyway? It's not like we're friends or anything. It should be the opposite since I'm Tao's ex.

He should hate me, not dislike me or maybe that shows how much of a better person he is.

"Will that be all for you, Sir?"
"What? No, thank you."

Sehun bows before leaving the store, raising a brow when he sees Bakehyun waves to him and get in a car. In the front seat, Tao sits there and stares put the window. Not at Sehun but at his clothing.

He narrows his eyes and turns away, shivering slightly and not from the cold. Sehun turns back just in time to see the two pull away from a kiss; the smile on Tao's face is something he can't quite put his finger on but it makes him want to run. Something in Tao changed. Sehun isn't sure what it is and it scares him- excites him.

Sehun is about to call out when he gets home but hears the shower running, so he just remains silent. He sighs as he pulls off his shoes and takes off his coat, thinking of just throwing it on the ground but he knows better than that. Jongin always tells him to keep everything clean just in case Joonmyun does a random visit, as he often does; not that either of them mind but a small warning would be nice. it's probably all just a test, anyway.

"Sehun, is that you?"
"Nope."
Sehun huffs as he stocks the fridge with everything he just bought, glaring at the full jug of milk.

Why did he ask me for milk?!

Either Jongin isn't paying attention or he just likes to push and tell Sehun what to do. But it's most likely that he wasn't paying attention since he never did care for things like that. He always treats Sehun as an equal and somehow, he appreciates it.

Jongin steps out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around his waist. He pushes his platinum hair back and gives Sehun a small smile.

"Thanks, I really hate food shopping."
"I know."

"You're better at it, too."
"I know."
"Of course you do," Jongin smirks, leaning over to gently push Sehun's head. He bats Jongin's hand away, grumbling at the sudden affection from his friend.

"You're in a good mood," Sehun notes as he opens the fridge and pulls out a bottle of bubble tea. Jongin heads over to one of the drawer and searches through.
"That's because," Jongin starts, picking out a pair of Calvin Klein boxer briefs. "Kyungsoo will be coming back from American in a month or two."

Sehun internally curses but keeps a smile on his face, a forced one.

"Oh really?"
It's not that Sehun dislikes Kyungsoo, no. It's more of him being scared of the guy finding out about what he had done to Tao; It might have ruined Jongin's relationship and he doesn't want that. He hasn't seen Jongin this happy since his relationship with Luhan.

Jongin pulls off his towel to reveal his bare body but it doesn't faze Sehun. They used to shower together as kids, so why should it? Maybe it would bother anyone else but it just seemed natural to the two.

Sehun looks down at his phone when it vibrates, staring at the notification.

 Baek-hyung: since were friends now i can borrow your notes right? :)

Sehun scoffs and shakes his head. "Right."

"Hmm?"
"Nothing."
Sehun tosses his phone to the side and grumbles a bit.

What the hell is with this guy?

"Oh, I ran into Baekhyun today."

Jongin turns to stares at him and Sehun knows he's wondering if his friend is alright.

"Tao's boyfriend? What happened"
Sehun nods and shrugs a bit. "He invited us to go to the club on Saturday. Before you ask, yes, I accepted."
"Sweet!" Jongin raises his hand for a hive five and Sehun knows he can't refuse.

"Get dressed before I get sick," He jokes. Jongin smirks and turns around, smacking his own .

"You like it."
Sehun pretends to gag, earning him a gentle smack on the shoulder. He laughs and lays on his back, grabbing his phone to text back.

Idiot Hyung: im coming up to visit i brought chicken

Why the hell is Chanyeol visiting? Maybe I should invite him to the club with us...the guy WAS a lot of fun.

Wait.

Sehun closes his eyes and lets out a low groan as he rolls onto his side. He hides his face in the pillow and flails his legs around.

"Shiiittt!" Sehun muffles, ignoring Jongin when he asks if he's alright.

Of course Baekhyun isn't coming alone.

Of course he didn't invite me to the club with the intention of it.

There's a sudden sickening feeling in his stomach. He cringes at the realization.

Baekhyun isn't coming alone.

He's going to bring a long Tao and that...is not going to be fun.

...

"I forgot to get ramen!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gee, I wonder where he got his love for boots from.

Be gone the old, cute, and childish Sehun!

And welcome...

Um...a fine young gentlment with respectful intentions. Totally mature now, totally.

JONGIN'S BOOTY HE GOT THE BOOTY 

Booty.

Idiot hyung.