As some sort of initiation into your group, Kihyun had the bright idea of getting Sena to the nearest bar for drinks. He believed you could never really know a person unless you knew them drunk. Call you conservative, but it was Wednesday and you didn't think it was a good idea to get drunk in the middle of the week.

You also thought it would be nearly impossible to survive the rest of the night seeing as you were somehow sandwiched between the two, so... eh...

You settled with a beer. That wasn't so bad, right?

"You know, I think you're going to be a great addition to this group," Kihyun said as he gave Sena an impressed grin. "Anyone who irritates Minhyuk is a friend of mine."

Sena smiled, which convinced you she smiled at pretty much everything. "I don't know if that's a good thing, but any friend of Minhyuk is a friend of mine."

"What exactly is it about Minhyuk you like?" you asked, not able to help your curiosity. "I mean, you just met the guy, and he doesn't really have much... personality to latch onto."

You thought that was a harsh way of saying it, but then again, Minhyuk wasn't exactly delicate to begin with, so what did it matter?

Sena sighed with a dream of a smile. "I don't know. Minhyuk's just... well, I love romantic novels and-"

Well, that explained a lot.

"-and there's just something so appealing about a guy who's cold, but gets flustered easily when you say the right things to him. It's amusing to see him blush," Sena answered, so far up in her fantasy, you weren't sure if she could even recall what it was actually like back at the restaurant.

"Yeah... Minhyuk doesn't blush," Kihyun said, squinting slightly in confusion. "His face does get red when he's mad, though."

"As much as I'd like to see Minhyuk show his sensitive side, I'm not exactly sure he has a sensitive side," you replied, kind of horrified imagining Minhyuk blushing. You wanted to move on from the subject and get to know more about Sena, but you felt the need to troubleshoot when it was needed. "He's too focused on his schoolwork right now to care about anything."

"Oh, like I haven't read that a million times in a million novels," Sena said, laughing. "He'll come around. He'll definitely come around."

"Okay, I think you might need therapy," Kihyun interrupted, quickly elaborating after. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that as a bad thing, because I have one myself, but... you need to learn boundaries. It's like ual harassment but with feelings." He paused and looked up in thought. "Is there such a thing as romantic harassment? I have no clue about romance, so I'll pass this one on to ________."

You sighed, too tired to think that hard. "I think that's just under the category of general harassment, but then again you're the Psychology major."

Sena pouted. "I'm not harassing him, though. This is just harmless discussion among us three. Anyway, do you know his astrology sign?"

Just then, as if on cue, Minhyuk walked through the door and dropped down on the stool across of you with a tired sigh. He felt eyes on him, and when he looked over at all of you, he did a double-take. He sighed irritably, speaking under his breath, as he looked away. "Dear God... of course you'd all be here."

At least Sena was farthest from him, but since Kihyun was closest, it was hard to really see it as anything but a total nightmare.

"We missed you during dessert," Kihyun said, smiling amusedly. "I thought of you when I ordered cherry pie, because I know it's your favorite."

"I'm allergic to cherries, Kihyun," Minhyuk replied as he avoided looking at all of you, and instead motioned for the bartender to get him a beer. As much as he didn't want to stay, he also needed a drink, and the cab fare back was already a dip in his pocket.

"Must be Shownu then," Kihyun said, taken aback. He thought he knew his friends well. If he didn't know his friends, did he even know himself? He scratched his head. "Anyway, we were just talking about you. Sena wants to know your astrology sign."

Sena nodded, leaning over you so she could get a closer look at Minhyuk. "You seem like a scorpio. Are you a scorpio?"

"Astrology is a pseudo-science, so I don't know how I could look like anything," Minhyuk replied, now not able to just ignore everyone. He could never resist proving someone wrong. He looked at Sena directly, his expression in lecture mode. "Everyone is in control of their own selves, not the damn stars. I don't know even know what my sign is, but I know that much."

"He is a scorpio!" Kihyun blurted, finally done looking it up on his phone. He gave Sena an amazed gape. "Wow, you're good."

"Minhyuk's the definition of a scorpio man," Sena replied, completely unfazed by Minhyuk's argument, as she glanced at Kihyun shortly, before returning back to Minhyuk. "You're dark, moody, and very self-actualized."

"Moody?" Minhyuk blurted, squinting defensively. "I'm not moody. I just happen to encounter a lot of nonsense in my life worth being irritated over."

"Just drink your beer and cheer up," you mumbled, sliding his beer closer to him. "You've gone through a lot today."

You were just not in the mood to hear him yell.

Minhyuk pressed his lips in and took a sip of his beer. He didn't have to be told twice.

Kihyun took the opportunity to steal the silence. He sat up and looked around. "Man, I haven't gotten laid in forever. There must be a hot girl around here somewhere."

Sena raised an eyebrow, alternating glances between Kihyun and you. "I thought you two liked each other. I mean, I know I went on the date with Kihyun, but it seemed like there was some underlying tension. You know in most romance novels, this is when the best friend gets jealous and professes their love, because they can't imagine the one they love giving their attention to anyone else."

You grimaced. "I barely consider him a friend, let alone a best friend."

Kihyun's jaw dropped, his eyes flicking from Sena to you. "Now, that was mean. I thought we had something very beautiful going, so it breaks my heart a little to hear you say that."

You snorted. "It's an honor to break your loveless heart."

Sena kept quiet but gave you two skeptical looks. She was calling it now. Playboy who doesn't believe in love finds romance with chic pretty girl, who sees through his playful nature. This was glaringly obvious.

"My heart is full of love, just not romance," Kihyun replied with a shrug. "For instance, I love , but I hate love."

"Can we go one day, even one minute, without you talking about ?" Minhyuk huffed, a good quarter of his beer already gone. "It's like your personality is 90% -related."

"Says the walking encyclopedia," Kihyun replied, cocking his head to the side. "Talk about no variation. I bet you know nothing about , so let me supply that 1% and you supply the other 99%."

Sena blinked, looking at Minhyuk. "You're a ?"

"That's none of your business," Minhyuk said, glaring at her. "Your curiosity is offensive."

Sena held her hands up in defense. "A gave birth to Jesus Christ. I'm not saying it's a bad thing."

"I didn't say that your assumption was offensive," Minhyuk said, giving a heavy sigh before continuing. "It's your curiosity."

"Hey guys," Kihyun said, clearing his throat. "How about we, uh, lighten up?"

You ran a hand through your hair and nodded tiredly. "Good idea."

"You look really tired," Kihyun said, raising an eyebrow. "We can go home if you want."

"I'm fine," you said. "I'm just mentally tired, not physically. It takes a lot of energy to be your friend, you know."

Kihyun nodded understandingly. "Yeah, I try to tell my friends to be as carefree as me, but then I wouldn't be special."

"Trust me, you're special enough apart from the carefreeness," you said, leaning on your palm. "There's nothing to worry about."

Kihyun brightened. "I never know how to react to you being nice, but I'm happy with it."

Seemed like when you always spoke in a sarcastic tone, it took away the effect of actual sarcasm after a while. W