Juyeon wished he had a plan.

He texted later that night to remind Hwall of their meeting and took careful attention not to reply too quickly so that things wouldn’t be that obvious. It was only a few quick confirmation texts anyway. Juyeon also sent an update to the group chat he had with his friends, promptly muting his notifications afterwards so he wouldn’t be bothered by the onslaught of replies that was sure to follow. 

The next day came faster than expected, and Juyeon soon found himself sitting idly at the cafe as he waited, earlier than the time they were supposed to meet.

Hwall entered, surprisingly, just a few minutes after Juyeon got there. A shorter boy with blonde hair followed behind him—Sunwoo, probably—looking a bit put off by the entire situation. Hopefully he wouldn’t be a problem, right? The younger boy spotted Juyeon soon enough as the latter waved them over with a smile. He can deal with Hwall’s friend.

“Hi, Juyeon-hyung!” Hwall said brightly, sitting across Juyeon with Sunwoo sliding in next to him. “This is the friend I was talking about, Kim Sunwoo. I’ve already told him about your project.”

Juyeon smiled, noting that Sunwoo was introduced with what was definitely his real name and not his stage name. 

“Thanks, it’s nice seeing you again. It’s nice to meet you too, Sunwoo.”

He opted for his friendliest smile, but was surprised when Sunwoo only nodded in response, face still impassive. That wasn’t a good sign at all. Juyeon figured if he wanted to get into Hwall’s good graces, he had to get into his friend’s good graces as well. Clearing his throat, he handed the menu he was given earlier to the two newcomers. 

“Pick something out, it’s on me. As a thanks for helping,” he explained as an afterthought when he saw Hwall open his mouth to protest. Sunwoo didn’t say anything and just took the menu immediately. Again, a voice that sounded a lot like Chanhee’s nagging was telling him that spending for a fake project was doing too much. He ignored it, as always. It didn’t take long before the two decided on some cold drinks as Juyeon waved a waiter over to take their order.

Hwall glanced around, “there’s service water by the counter. I’ll go get some for us, since hyung is already paying and all.”

He got up before Juyeon could offer to go with him, leaving the two alone.

“Alright, sunbae, real talk. What’s this really about?” Sunwoo asked with raised eyebrows the moment Hwall was out of earshot. 

Fidgeting in his seat at the sudden question, Juyeon chuckled nervously, “w-what do you mean?”

“I’m a Fine Arts major. You probably never noticed, but we’re in the same class you and your other friends got as an elective,” the younger boy said pointedly, and Juyeon began to see where this was going. Dread filled him completely. “I’m pretty sure we don’t have a project that needed something like this. This is very elaborate, too. I’ll be straight with you—are you interested in Hwall?” 

There was only two things Juyeon could have done in that situation.

Lie or tell the truth.

Surprisingly, he found himself doing the latter.

“I am,” he admitted easily, touching his soulmate band by reflex as a way to calm his nerves down as he spoke. Juyeon glanced at Hwall to see him almost ready to head back. He regarded Sunwoo with a serious look, hoping the other boy would see that he actually was sincere about this. “Please don’t tell him? Not yet, maybe? I just wanna get to know him more at this point, that’s all.”

Sunwoo stared at him for a good few seconds.

“Fine,” the blonde relented. Juyeon released a breath he didn’t know he was holding in, stiff shoulders finally relaxing. “But, know this: Hwall’s a good friend of mine. As the cliche goes, if you break his heart, you answer to me. Even if I may be younger than you.”

Juyeon nodded, “I can respect that.”

“I’m back! Sorry for the wait,” Hwall’s bright voice cut through the tense atmosphere immediately as he appeared next to the table, balancing cups of water that he soon placed down carefully.  Sunwoo