For New Year's Eve, Zitao insisted on a party, not only to meet new people, but to be with them all year. “Because they say the way you enter a new year is the way you will spend that new year. I want to spend the new year happy, and surrounded by good people.”

“Oh, hun,” Kris said, “we are a far cry from good.”

But Kris couldn't have been as bad a person as he thought he was because he went ahead and planned a party for Zitao.

“Everyone invite a friend. Invite two. Hell, invite the whole student body. They can't make us stop celebrating.”

No one pointed out that they could, in fact, make them stop celebrating, because they all wanted a party to happen.

So come the last day of December, Kris had set up the common room to be the perfect party place for their small circle.

He should have known they were in for trouble when the first ten people to show up were people he had never seen before in his life. He greeted them all with increasing curiosity. Eventually he asked how they heard about this event.

“Well, someone posted it on the SUA Parties Facebook group,” one of them said.

Kris mainly just blinked in response. Where had such a group been in his freshman year? Also, in that case, how many people were coming to this event?

Baekhyun and Chanyeol showed up with a bottle of cheap wine and gawked at the crowd that had formed. The music was blaring, but it was unintelligible beneath the chatter. They almost wondered if this was really their friend Kris’ New Year’s party.

“I mean, I knew he was popular, but this…” Chanyeol mused.

“Do you even see Kris?” Baekhyun asked.

One of the party goers heard this and pointed towards the punch bowl. “He’s been standing there for the past half hour.”

They walked over and went to greet their friend when the latter turned around abruptly and nervously whispered, “One hundred and sixty seven.”

Chanyeol took his former roommate by the elbow and dragged him over to the couch, almost collapsing already under the weight of the four people playing a video game. “Kris are you okay?” he asked.

“One hundred and sixty seven people have liked the post about this party on Facebook. The post included the phrase, ‘like if you’ll be there’. Over three hundred people have seen the post, but one hundred and sixty seven people have said they will show up.”

Kris was visibly shaken, so Baekhyun went to pour him a glass of their wine. Upon return he noticed that Kyungsoo and Jongin had entered the common room. “Hey the high school sweethearts are here.”

Baekhyun waved at his friends and called them over to the couch. Behind them trailed another boy he’d seen with Jongin before. “Hey,” Kyungsoo yelled in order to be heard, “I’d thought this was going to be a relatively low-key thing.”

Baekhyun pointed at Kris. “Touchy subject,” he shouted back.

The other man said something in Jongin’s ear that made the latter laugh and jokingly punch his arm. Kyungsoo saw this, and seemed to be reminded that Baekhyun might not know this man. “By the way,” he said, “this is Lee Taemin. Jongin’s friend.”

Lee Taemin must have heard his name because he glanced at Baekhyun and smiled before stretching out an elegant hand to shake. “Hi, I’m Byun Baekhyun.”

***

Sehun really didn’t want to go to Kris’ party because he knew for a fact that Luhan was invited too. However, Zitao would not let the subject go. It had been an hour since the party’s projected start, and the Chinese boy was still following Sehun around his dorm like a puppy, begging. “Please come. Maybe there will be arts students that you can introduce me to?”

“You’re a sociable person, Zitao, you can introduce yourself.”

“But how will I know who is an arts student without someone who knows the arts students there as well?”

“This night is for you to make new friends, is it not? Socialize with everyone! There’s no way there are too many more people than all the people you’ve met through Kris already.”

“Sehun, there’s like, no one my age in that group but you.”

“Um, not true. Jongin is our age, Kyungsoo is too.”

“No, they’re all older than me.”

“Well, in that case, so am I.”

“What? But aren’t you a first year?”

“I started late. I worked after high school to be able to pay for university. Just go to the party, Zitao. You’ll have fun.”

“But what will you do?” Zitao asked, a look of pity taking over his face. “Sit around, moping?”

“Moping?”

“I mean, that’s what you’ve been doing ever since I met you.”

“I’m not moping. I’m… relaxing.”

“Mmhmm. I may not be Korean, but I know all too well that you don’t listen to Dia, Hwayobi, Juniel, and Lee Hi on loop to ‘relax’. Everyone knows a playlist of female soloists is bound to make you cry.”

“There are males on my playlist…” Sehun defended.

“Yeah? Baechigi? Welldone Potato? 20 years of age? Mad Clown?”

“…No…”

“Don’t be so cooped up on New Year’s eve, Sehun seonbae!”

“You don’t have to be formal with me just because you just learned I’m older than you.”

“I can be informal?”

“Sure.”

Zitao took this as an invitation to link arms with the tall blond, and book it to the door before he could steady himself enough to stop moving.

“Whoa! Way too informal!” Sehun yelled, but it was too late. They were on their way.

***

Joonmyun was breathing heavily, finger hovering right over the enter key. He didn’t need this kind of stress in his life. Why was this even a stressor? It shouldn’t be a stressor. He should just send the message. What’s the worst that could happen? Just send the message! Why is this even hard? Why are you like this, Joonmyun? Just send the freaking message! Just hit send! Hit it! Send it! Send the mess-

He sent the message.

For a second, the world stopped turning, and the next it felt like it had begun spinning the wrong direction.

“Oh my God, I sent it. What have I done?” Joonmyun asked himself. “How could I have done this! Why did this even cross my mind?” He was nearly pulling his hair out with the anxiety of waiting for a response to a message he hadn’t meant to send in the first place.

But it was sent. There wasn’t anything that he could do to change that.

And if he thought sending it was stressful, he had only to wait for the three dots doing their little dance, meaning he was about to get a reply.

An hour later, he glanced at the clock and realized it had only been a few seconds since Yixing had started typing.

«Yeah, I mean, I have nothing else to do. Why not, you know? I’ll meet you there.»

Holy smokes. Holy cow. Holy guacamole. Holy everything that could possibly be holy.

What would he do now? After sending the invitation to the New Year’s party, he had hoped that Yixing would say he was busy or that he didn’t want to go, but no. He had said yes and now Joonmyun had to own up to the fact that if the New Year’s party went wrong tonight, it was all on him.

He looked down at himself. He was still in his pyjamas. He hadn’t showered in three days. The party had already started.

Oh boy, he was in for a fast-paced night.

***

Luhan hung up his apron and gave the manager a quick smile and bow before heading out back to his dorm. It was lonely at work ever since his coworker and roommate quit. His stomach tied and untied itself in knots at the thought of seeing Sehun in their room but not being able to say anything to him. The thought that he had ruined a perfectly solid friendship over a simple misunderstanding kept him up at night. He had been too rude. He had been too cold.

He opened the door to their room and was met with the warmth of emptiness. Sehun wasn’t in. It was something he had only started doing recently, leaving at night. It seemed like he was avoiding the older man, much like Luhan had avoided Sehun prior. He didn't see him at home anymore, or at work.

With a deep breath, he flopped onto his bed and started to scroll through his social media news feeds. He was too tired to go to Kris’ party, no matter how much he wanted to. He was physically, and emotionally tired. He hoped that maybe tonight would be the night Sehun came home early from wherever he went every night and they’d get a chance to talk. It was a slim probability, but Luhan could only hope. It was New Year’s, after all. Maybe it would prove lucky for once.

He got a message from Kris about an hour after he got home, asking if he was coming.

«sorry, i think i’m going to sit this one out. i’m exhausted. maybe i’ll wait for sehun to come home and we can celebrate together, idk. tell zitao i’m sorry, too.»

The reply came quickly. «dude, sehun is here.»

There wasn’t another sentence in the world that could get Luhan up to his feet as fast as that one. He didn’t even bother changing, he hastily stuffed his feet back into his shoes and made a run for the common room