Seungkwan had had better days. Their class field trip had turned out to be six hours of after-school, hormonal induced torture at the museum of modern art, and by the time their teacher had finally led them through the still busy streets towards the train that would take them home, he was ready to do just about anything to get Soonyoung and Dino to shut up. Which was a shame, because he actually quite liked art. He wasn’t very good at painting or drawing, or doing anything that required holding a pencil, but walking around in a museum surrounded with things made by people who were was strangely satisfying to look at.

Despite the late hour, the train traffic wasn’t any less hellish than usual, much to Seungkwan’s great distaste. He had been looking forward to sleeping his way through the city and block out the incessant noises coming from his classmates for the first time since he entered the school building many hours ago. But that plan was slowly starting to disappear from his mind as he tried not to get killed or seriously injured on his way through the aisle in search of a vacant seat. It proved futile, however, because all he saw when he looked across the compartment was full seats, occupied by a lot of people that wasn’t him.

“I can call him over right now”

“You wouldn’t”

To Seungkwan’s right sat Jeon Wonwoo, resident pain in the and a thorn in Seungkwan’s side since the day he started in their class. He was generally well-liked by both teachers and students, but he suffered from the condition Seungkwan would describe as resting stupidity, since everything that ever left the guy was either really lame jokes or insults, even directed at his own friends. Said friends never said anything about it, other than that one time where Seuncheol had slapped him for a particularly lame remark about the former’s heavy crush, Jihoon. Jihoon had no idea Seungcheol existed, and, by the looks of it, would rather be at home by his keyboard or somewhere quiet and undisturbed, but Seungcheol was relentless. As far as Seungkwan knew, his efforts still hadn’t paid off, which was probably why Jihoon was currently trying to trick Soonyoung into giving him the remainder of his lunch, while Seungcheol sat stuck next to Wonwoo, trying not to look as tired as he was. But, Seungkwan supposed, it was hard to constantly babysit two idiots.

“I swear to God I will throw you out of this train if you-“

 “Hey, Seungkwan!”

Snapping out of his trance Seungkwan turned when somebody (that sounded suspiciously much like Wonwoo) called for him. And it turns out it actually was, he’s sitting in his seat with his smug grin plastered on his face, and Seungkwan really wasn’t in the mood for whatever it is he had to say – and no, he’s not bitter, he just had a zero tolerance-rule about people like Jeon Wonwoo (okay, only for Jeon Wonwoo, but it’s justified!)

“You little ” someone hissed, and Seungkwan looks down at the profile of Vernon Chwe, Wonwoo’s friend and partner in crime, looking at his friend the way Seungkwan looked at Mingyu when he was really irritated. Wonwoo just smiled.

“What is it?” He asked exasperatedly, noticing how Vernon tried and failed to kick his older friend underneath the table that separated them. He didn’t read minds, but he was pretty sure he saw murder in his younger classmate’s eyes. Honest to God he couldn’t really blame him.

“My friend Vernon here wants to offer you a seat” came the reply, and both Seungkwan’s and Vernon’s eyebrows shoot up to rest under their hair lines. Another failed attempt at violence. “He does?”

“I do?” Either Wonwoo didn’t see the way both Seungcheol and Vernon had turned to look at him, or he just didn’t care that much about his impending doom – the right guess was probably the latter, since, judging by his half-assed attempt to hide his own amusement, he was having the time of his life. “You do” the black-haired male confirmed. Seungkwan looked down at him.

They were only a few months apart in age, but Vernon and Seungkwan were from two very different worlds. Seungkwan liked performance, study sessions and being right all the time, and Vernon liked instant noodles, constantly messing up his school uniform and hanging out with the older guys from campus. And while they weren’t the best of friends they were some kind of civil, meaning that Vernon usually stayed away when something was up and Seungkwan in retaliation didn’t want to kill him as much as he would sometimes like to kill his friends. It was a perfectly good deal, didn’t require much talking, and so far it had been working out great.  

“Oh... I just meant that… you know… There aren’t any vacant seats in the rest of the compartment. Thought I’d save you the trip” Vernon said, shrugging his shoulders in an attempt to shake off the embarrassment his friend had not-so-subtly brought upon him. Seungkwan, deciding to be a good person despite his impending tiredness, nods. “I see. But while that’s a very nice thought, I don’t see any vacant seats here either.” Which was true, because Seungcheol and Wonwoo sat next to each other, leaving Vernon next to the window on the other side of the table, where, on his right, there’s an installment Seungkwan deduced is for strolls or trolleys for small children.

“You can sit on his lap!” Wonwoo then exclaimed, and even though he tried his best to hide it, he felt blood rushing to his cheeks. “What?” he blurted out, perhaps a little too loudly for his own liking, finding that Vernon had straightened up in his seat. “If it wasn’t illegal I would murder you on the spot, please keep that in mind next time you open your big mouth” he said lowly, but no matter how menacing it sounded it had little to no effect on his older friends. Seungkwan backed away slowly.

“I don’t want any part in homicide, so I’m just gonna go. Maybe I can persuade Jisoo to lend me a seat” he said, looking down at Vernon who had slumped back in his seat with crossed arms and a, midly speaking, irritated look painted on his face. He met the elder’s gaze for a short time and shrugged for the second time, as if to say ‘he asked for it’.

He was surprised when it was Seungcheol and not Wonwoo that hindered him in leaving the three guys. “When he’s finally got a shot at sitting with Jeonghan? Yeah, not in this millennium” the eldest said, resting his head against the moving window with a smirk. Now, Seungkwan wasn’t one to pry in people’s personal lives (yes he was), but the Jisoo and Jeonghan dating thing had been the talk of their grade the whole year, and even he didn’t want to ruin that. Especially not after the way Jisoo would just not. Shut. Up about the long-haired boy, no matter how hard both Soonyoung, Chan and Seungkwan himself had tried.  

“It’s that serious?” Seungkwan asked, and mentally made a note to grill his friend as soon as the class were back at their school, because if Hong Jisoo the Great was about to get a boyfriend, Seungkwan needed to know before the boys in question did so themselves. It was a rule. “Trust me on this, you do not want to be there” Seungcheol said. Seungkwan didn’t want to know why he knew that.

“And you’re sure you don’t mind?” Seungkwan looked at the boy in question, who had put on his headphones but seemingly not turned them on, since it was possible for him to hear what he said.

“He’s fine with- ouch!” Wonwoo winced audibly and reached down to massage his leg, where Vernon had succeeded in landing a swift kick. The action, though violent and usually something he should be doing, made him smile. “It’s no problem” Vernon assured him. “Besides, a two hour train ride? Not even you can keep standing for that long.”

“Was that a compliment or an insult?”

“Depends on whether it was accepted or not”

Seungkwan sighed audibly before caving in and sitting down. “You’re really something, Vernon Chwe”