Tuesday is his luckiest day, since 2/3 of their trio is too busy to try and do something. Hongbin has classes and a shift on his part-time job on a veterinary clinic near their home and while Jaehwan doesn’t have any class to attend, he has a double shift on his own part-time job, an assistant on the University’s library.

Wonshik smiles to himself, pushing his hair back so the black strands won’t fall on his eyes; the look is good and y when he’s out in the night, but in broad daylight, he just looks like someone who passed out face down on essays, one side sticking up and the other obstructing his left eye’s vision. So okay, maybe he had passed out on top of some assignment the day before, but no one needs to know the moment they set their gaze on him.

Besides, he has to appear like a straight-out-of-a-fashion-magazine if he wants Hakyeon to spare him a glance; the older boy had proved to be a lot less sociable and nice, and Wonshik felt he could be worse. Not being one to give up – more like not wanting to lose for a flower boy prototype and an unassuming devilish artist – he made an special effort earlier on the day to wake up, putting a decent outfit when he normally went to the University on hoodies and jeans which have had better days.

Really, what he has do to win that marvelous massaging pillow and avoid cleaning duty… Aish, troublesome.

He checks his phone to see the time and his hair – worrying about his hair like this, he’s spending too much time with Hongbin – and notices that the first class for the fifth year dancers is to start in fifteen minutes; still, no sign of the dancer he wishes to see; using B1’s painted wall as support for his back, Wonshik sees groups passing through him, boys joking and girls giggling – some directed at him – but no Hakyeon, Sanghyuk or Taekwoon.

Oh, he hopes the dancer isn’t with them; that Taekwoon guy scares the hell out of him and the kid, Sanghyuk seems those types whose face begs to be punched. He wants to impress the oldest, and the two will sure be a hindrance to his plans.

Talking about plan, here comes Cha Hakyeon, walking towards the B1 with a bright smile and alone.

Yup, lucky.

“Hakyeon” he says, schooling his voice so it comes out a long, low drawl, ignoring the need for a suffix. Cool, cool, keep this tone, the girls love it.

The dancer stops walking, seeming to notice his presence; the smile on his face turn tight around the edges as recognition shines in his eyes. “Oh, it’s you again… Hyunsik-ah”

, Hakyeon couldn’t remember his name, not even the stunt he pulled on Monday with all the embarrassing tacky talking and slight flirting. Forget about being lucky.

.

“It’s Wonshik” he corrects, masking the aggravation with a soft smile.

“Of course” Hakyeon doesn’t appear fazed with his mistake, continuing to smile at the younger, a muscle jumping on his jaw the only signal of his true emotions. Negative ones at that and Wonshik curses mentally, panic rising up on his chest, mind working furiously to think of something, anything to ease the suddenly thick atmosphere “I thought we had already settled things between us– I don’t like players”

“I’m not a player” Wonshik says quickly – perhaps a bit too quickly – as he runs a hand through his hair, sheepish “I just… like you”

Brilliant Wonshik, now you sounded stupid, resembling a high school girl confessing for the first time to her crush. Congratulations, you finished ing up for real. Forget your pillow and your free time.

Hakyeon’s tight smile disappears and he openly frowns in the younger’s direction, confusion and suspicion taking over his features. He takes a few steps, stopping only when his face is centimeters away from Wonshik’s; up close, the literature student can see clearly the green highlights on the brown hair, the round eyes lined with a thin layer of black eyeliner and shiny – is that lip-gloss? – light pink lips in a small face. He doesn’t know why, but his face feels hot, and his heart starts to thump erratically on his chest.

The dancer’s frown turns into a knowing smirk “You like me?” his voice stretches the ‘like’ mischievously, and his mint smelling, warm breath hits the younger.

Woah, is today hot or it’s just him? His throat feels really dry, and could use a glass of water. Gulping down instinctively, he nods, once more cursing his lack of tact. So much for being cool about the whole situation; more like being a complete idiot.

“And why’s that? I don’t remember ever seeing or talking to you before yesterday, Wonshik-ah”

This wasn’t part of the plan, everything is going wrong.

Think fast damnit. Think.

“I’ve seen one of your presentations” Wonshik says, thankfully not stuttering “I– You were beautiful” it’s obviously a lie. Hakyeon’s skills as a dancer are known all over the campus and every time he has some presentation people gather up to see him work his magic; Wonshik’s worst personality trait is his laziness, so he never bothered to actually search some video to see if the guy right in front of him is all this make him to be. He hopes his phrase is enough to caress Hakyeon’s ego – which he notices, now that he started on the dancer’s bad side, is quite big.

Hakyeon blinks, mouth opening in a cute ‘o’. He steps back, the confused frown back on his face, the dark skin of his cheeks darkening more with a very slight blush; Wonshik is having trouble trying to grasp the older’s constant change of humor: bright, fake, confused, cautious, suspicious, mischievous, back to confused and then cute. He didn’t expect any of this when he picked the piece of napkin with the older’s name; he expected something relatively easier, since that on the B1 trio, Hakyeon is the one with the fame of being always gentle and polite, a helpful hand for teachers and a kind sunbae for all. Honestly, if he’s the best out of the trio, he can’t imagine how Jaehwan will deal with a kid with superiority complex and Hongbin with a scary guy who’s more a ghost than an actual person. His head spins, and he finds himself babbling.

“I’m sorry for yesterday, I know I acted kinda like a douche but I thought you liked confident people the best, I mean, I–”

Hakyeon smiles, this time a real, if small, smile “I don’t get you, Wonshik-ah” he says, walking towards B1’s inside, movements hypnotic and gracious and without looking back.

Wonshik stands still like a statue – a scene endearingly similar to the one on Monday –, dumbfounded.

That’s good right? Right?!

.

.

“You can go now, Hongbin-ah”

“Yes boss” finally.

Hongbin grunts as he throws the last 10kg sac of dog food on the pile, elongating his back and listening to the sick crack they make. He didn’t sign up for this thing, he signed up to take care of cute little puppies and kittens. Instead, in the eight months he’s been working on this place, all he managed to do was to take care of an enormous snake that had gulped down a phone, two iguanas that couldn’t stop fighting a chameleon, a dozen of birds who thought his hair was their nest, a couple of police dogs infested with fleas and several crazy cats, inclusive his last one, a fat black and beige thing that tries to mar his perfect face every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday with needle-like nails. He’s not counting having to carry heavy bags of food every other day.

His life can’t be more difficult.

Except it is.

And he’s not even thinking about the Mission Impossible of Seducing Jung Ghost Taekwoon. Nah, he’s thinking about possible things on his life.

Like studying and working. Like dealing with Wonshik’s and Jaehwan’s craziness. Like trying to think in a way to see that girl, Heo Youngji, once more.

Oh, because she’s like the light in the end of the tunnel, with her flow-y long hair and long eyelashes; she’s his ideal type and he can’t miss his chance in attempting to know her better.

While simultaneously attempting to seduce Jung Taekwoon. To win a bet. So he can see Park Hyo Shin’s concert and get a kitten.

Hongbin groans loudly, running his hand through his damp hair until it’s a mess, black strands pointing to all directions. He can’t care less right now, mind machinating all his options; his only one as he concludes: be a jerk and go after both Youngji and Taekwoon. It’s not like he’s serious about the male, and he can always explain the situation to the girl later, if they start to date. And Hongbin needs to stop fantasizing and plotting his uncertain future and leave before his boss can give him another shift.

He walks to the balcony full of pet jewelry – seriously, why would a dog need a pink amethyst on its’ collar? Or a cat need its’ identification to be written in a strap made of pure gold? – where his phone is, together with a piece of whipped cream cake and the latest edition of Céci, featuring his beloved Park Hyo Shin, his favorite distraction on days like today, where there’s no crazy cat aiming for his face. Hongbin eats the cake remnants in one big bite, as the taste explodes on his mouth, sweet and light, the strawberries adding a sharp contrast Hongbin appreciates on his sweets.

He could kiss whoever makes these cakes, the inconspicuous cake shop near the University hiding possibly the best confections of the whole Seoul.

“You’re still here?” his boss, a thirty-something small woman appears from between the shelves with cat-accessories “Want another shift?”

“No!” he’s quick to grab his things, scurrying to the clinic and petshop’s backdoor, going straight to the lockers where he keeps his bag and shoes. On his hastiness, Hongbin fails to see the front door opening, the wood creaking to reveal a client and on his case, a person that would be very useful, considering the bet and his wish to win.

A young man with dyed blond hair and feline eyes watches silently as the place’s functionary ignores him – and the cute little orange cat he’s holding close to his chest – and vanishes, dark eyebrows setting on a subtle frown. The kitten on his arms mewls unhappily, and he shushes the animal quietly, rubbing its’ back with a sweater-covered hand, receiving a purr in exchange.

He looks back to the door behind the balcony, seeing that the employee indeed went away without bothering to attend him.

“Rude”

.

.

Jaehwan drops his keys on top of the kitchen’s countertop, his backpack following, as well as his shoes. The small living room is dark, the television the only source of light altogether; Wonshik is sprawled on the couch, munching loudly some snacks – they better not be the ones Jaehwan saved for himself, or else, the younger boy will suffer – and wearing solely black sweatpants, tanned – and toned – chest exposed for everyone to see, a faint trace of black from his tattoo visible from this angle.

Smug little dongsaeng.

“I’m home!” he sings happily, dropping his entire weight on top of Wonshik – a subtle vengeance for his indiscretion and for eating without him – who chokes on his snack and squeaks stridently.

“Get off hyung! You’re heavy!” the younger complains with his mouth full.

Just to annoy Wonshik further, Jaehwan wiggles on top of him, making sure to force his mass down on him, gaining another loud squeak as the literature student tries to escape from beneath him, trashing limbs and all “Nooope, I’m satisfied here, on top of your comfortable, soft little tummy. Have you gained weight Shikkie? It’s kind of too soft here” he snickers, when in truth the other’s belly is still just as defined as before, chocolate abs, like the girls call it.

Using a string of very bad, colorful words, Wonshik kicks Jaehwan off of him, sitting and scowling “You’re just envious because you’ll never have this y six pack”

“And you’ll never have this set of wide, powerful shoulders” he singsongs, moving his arms so the blue, green and yellow shirt molds to the mentioned body part, stretching against the muscles under it. “I don’t need to have silly depressions on my tummy to impress girls when I have those. You, on the other hand, tsk tsk, can’t be helped”

“Bastard”

“Oe, respect your hyung!”

A mocking smile spreads on Wonshik’s face, sinister with the TV’s lighting “Bastard-nim”

“Aish, you–!” Jaehwan tackles him, the rough movements making Wonshik’s snack package fall to the ground, dirtying the rug – Hongbin will talk their ears off later, in his ‘don’t-mess-the-house’ ahjumma tone – with barbecue flavored crumbs; Wonshik squeals like a girl, flailing his hands uselessly in a pathetic attempt to stop Jaehwan’s nimble fingers to tickle his sides, where he feels it the most, his desperate laughter surpassing the noise from the drama currently on. “Say you’re sorry!”

“I- hahah- I’m s- ahhaha sorry!! Wuahaha”

“I’m sorry hyung-nim” unsatisfied, and taking lots of pleasure with the younger’s desperate situation, Jaehwan pushes more, his fingers going all the way from the boy’s armpits to the loose waistband of his sweats. “Say it!”

“I’m sorry hyung-nim! Stop, STOP!”

Laughing, Jaehwan does stop – his victory chart marking a point for him; 12 for him x 8 for Wonshik x 9 for Hongbin, his leadership not threatened – resting his hands on Wonshik’s chest to recover his breath, legs on each side of his waist, on a straddling position to pin the loser down; Wonshik’s breathing is harsh as he recuperates his ability to breathe properly, hands falling by his sides and posture as a whole indicating his defeat. His small but full lips are open as he wheezes and his eyes are closed, drops of perspiration blooming on his forehead.

“I’m h– WAH!” he hears the sound of Hongbin’s screech – this household is so hysterical sometimes, his dongsaengs should learn how to relax – and the clicking of the door, locking it “It is safe to proceed or I must suddenly realize I forgot something and come back in thirty minutes?” he suggest with malice, opening his fingers, which covered his eyes instants before, to peek at them.

“… you” Wonshik rasps, still out of breath.

“I wouldn’t be saying this in your position” a suggestive wink, and Wonshik flushes, appalled with the maknae’s remarks.

Jaehwan slaps Wonshik’s chest, and shows Hongbin his middle finger, smiling cutely.

.

.

A shift makes the couch squeak, and Sanghyuk’s voice breaks the comfortable silence – not considering the dance competition Hakyeon’s watching on the television “Taekwoon-hyung, you know we can’t keep her here”

Taekwoon takes his eyes off the sheet with lyrics he’s been mouthing soundlessly; his hand stopping with the caress on the younger’s platinum hair as he looks down to his lap, which Sanghyuk uses as pillow, his legs dropped on top of Hakyeon’s. He sighs, diverting his eyes to the small kitten curled on top of covers, sleeping soundly. One of its’ orange n’ white paws is bandaged “I know”

“I wish we could, she’s really cute” Hakyeon says, massaging Sanghyuk’s calves absentmindedly “But if our landlord finds out–”

“–We’re as good as dead” the youngest finishes, pushing his head further onto the compositor’s lap, whose fingers resume its’ . “Guy’s freaking crazy”

Taekwoon pouts, his already pouty lips jutting out childishly, showing his displeasure with the current situation “She’s hurt and doesn’t have a family”

“We can look for a place for her to stay until she’s adopted” Hakyeon touches his shoulder reassuringly, squeezing it lightly “Maybe go to the B5”

“The Veterinary department will accept her, they have lots of pets” Sanghyuk practically purrs with the soft caresses on his hair and the massage on his legs. Taekwoon lips curve upwards, in a subtle smile; the maknae can be very cute when he’s not posing as the threatening director.

So he nods “Hm”

“We can go there tomor–” sheepishly, Hakyeon halts his suggestion “I have to help Junho with the freshmen, sorry”

“I will go with hyung” Sanghyuk purposefully kicks Hakyeon, ignoring the outraged ‘hey’ and the slap on his thigh, smiling at Taekwoon with all of his maknae charm “Because I’m a good dongsaeng”

The small smile on Taekwoon’s lips turns a tad more open “You are, Sanghyukkie”

“What about me?! I’m the best hyung in this world!”

“You’re annoying”

“Taekwoonnie!”

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Hello Starlights~

I'm sorry I took so long in updating, but I was really busy with college stuff (getting ready and etc) and with my EXO Valentine's Day one-shot, an 8k angsty monster I'll probably never write again ^^

So, I know people are like: Is this Leobin or what? Why they don't meet once for all so the fic can progress??

This is me when I'm writing multi-chaptered fanfics with no chapter limit. I tend to go with my mind's flow~

I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and subscribed, see you in the next chapter~

Oh, my mistakes are my own, please tell me if I need to change something~