Wonho stared at the TV and cocked his head to the side. "So... she's just pretending to be in a coma?"

Shownu nodded enthusiastically. Wonho may have not appreciated Shownu's shows as much as he did, but he always tried his best to at least understand them, which was enough to get Shownu excited. "It's how she evades the crushing stress of her responsibilities. It's what I'm doing if I can't pay back my student loans within four years, which let's be honest... I'm probably going to have to." 

Wonho shook his head, not convinced. "You'd never be able to do it. You move around too much. You know I can always tell when you're pretending to be asleep, so you don't have to help me around the apartment."

Shownu sighed, pretending Wonho had not said the last half of what he said. "You never believe in me. That's why you're at the bottom of my friend hierarchy."

Wonho's jaw dropped as he looked away from the TV and at Shownu. He was at the bottom of the hierarchy? For those reasons? Really?

"Isn't Minhyuk your best friend?" Wonho asked, giving Shownu a defensive look. "He's the most pessimistic person I know."

"Minhyuk gets mad when you call him a pessimist," Shownu replied, still focused on the TV. "He's a realist. Don't ask me to elaborate on that, because I have no idea what that means, but that's what he told me."

"He has you brainwashed," Wonho said with a concerned frown, his attention to the conversation cut off when the door opened.

Kihyun groaned as he helped you through the door. For as much as he was struggling, Wonho thought he'd be carrying in a dead body, but he had to admit he was more surprised with what he did see. You were leaning all of your weight on Kihyun, your arms around his shoulder and waist with your face pressed comfortably in his neck. The scariest thing was your smile. Your smile itself wasn't scary -- it was pretty, actually -- but the fact that you were smiling while attached at the hip with Kihyun was something Wonho didn't know how to react to. 

So this is what you were like when you were trashed. You were the exact opposite of sober you.

"You would not believe what I've been through," Kihyun said tiredly as he dropped down on the armchair, not acknowledging the looks he got from both Wonho and Shownu. You sat on one of the arms, your legs across Kihyun's lap. After being attached to Kihyun for so long, you found yourself giving into a little bit of separation anxiety. What could you say? He was warm.

It was a surprise Kihyun wasn't soaking up in the glory of having you so close to him. Shownu and Wonho looked to each other before looking back at Kihyun.

While Wonho remained mildly disturbed, Shownu broke into an amused chuckle. "Well, aren't you two cozy tonight?"

"I can't believe we even made it back," Kihyun said exasperatedly as he watched your head bob precariously from side to side. He sighed, looking back to Wonho and Shownu. "When she's trashed, she's trashed. I hardly recognize her."

Wonho raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you brought home the right girl?"

"I'm fine," you mumbled, hiccuping as you lifted your head towards Kihyun. "Stop acting like you're any better when you're trashed."

"She has a point," Wonho agreed. "At least she's quiet."

As Kihyun rolled his eyes, you leaned a little far left and fell to the side on Kihyun's lap, your head cushioned on the armrest. You laughed airily. Maybe you had spoken too soon. 

Shownu furrowed his eyebrows, not connecting the moment to reality. Even though you were clearly the drunk one here, he didn't feel like he could be seeing this with a sober mind. He looked at Wonho. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

Wonho shrugged, more uncomfortable than anything. Forget his crush on you. He was taking himself out of the equation as much as he could. "Wish I weren't."

Kihyun snorted slightly as he moved your hair away from your face. "And you were saying?"

"I swear I'm not that bad," you slurred, holding your hands up in defense. "I fell because I'm tired. It has nothing to do with me being drunk."

Kihyun cracked a smile. "I can't wait till we can talk about this when you're sober. You won't be able to look me in the eye tomorrow."

"When have I ever been afraid to talk to you?" you replied, crossing your arms over your chest. You were still stubborn, but there was a childish characteristic now that made it hard for Kihyun to take you seriously. 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kihyun said under his breath as he helped you sit up. You were now fully sitting on his lap, your back against his chest and Kihyun shrugged, thinking it was the best he could've done at the moment. He looked at Wonho. "You know, it may be a burden to take care of me when I'm drunk, but it's never this bad, is it?"

"Well, there was that one time we had to pull you up four flights of stairs when the elevator broke," Wonho replied. "That was hard."

You adjusted yourself on Kihyun's lap and his eyes shot open immediately. "Careful! I'm sensitive tonight."

"I don't know if that's a sign to go or a sign to stay," Wonho replied, still clearly uncomfortable. "Don't take advantage of her, Kihyun."

"I know. I'm not an idiot," Kihyun defended with a squint. "I'm just saying. The body reacts how it wants to react."

"In that case, we're going," Wonho replied in relief as he rushed up and tugged Shownu by the T-shirt along with him to the door. 

Shownu frowned as he looked back. "I want to see how it ends!"

Wonho really hoped he was talking about the TV show they were watching, but he didn't want to ask. He really didn't. Sometimes it scared him how invested he was in his friends' lives.

When the door closed, Kihyun looked down at you and realized your eyes were closed. He pressed his lips in for a few moments before speaking, deciding this question was worth waking you up for. "Are you really going to fall asleep here?"

"I'm resting for a few minutes and then I'm getting up," you mumbled, your face in the crook of his neck. "It's my turn to be the overbearing one tonight."

Kihyun nodded and decided to close his eyes in that case. It wasn't so uncomfortable here. He wouldn't complain.

///

Minhyuk squinted down at you and Kihyun. He had come to your apartment to study, and instead this fell in his lap. Well, technically, you fell in Kihyun's lap somehow. You were scrunched up in a fetal position, your hands wrapping around Kihyun's shirt. Kihyun had his arms around your shoulders, his cheek pressed in your hair. The contradictions were endless.

Why did he have to always come across the worst things? Just last week, he found Shownu doing karaoke in his underwear. Minhyuk hated that he still remembered that.

He scoffed irritably and nudged Kihyun's leg with his foot. A moment later, Kihyun stirred awake, pressing a hand to one of his eyes as he stretched his other arm out. "Hm?"

"What the hell is going on here?" Minhyuk replied, loud enough to wake you up in the process.

You stretched out and looked at Minhyuk, before looking down at Kihyun, who was just as confusedly looking at the position you two were in and more so the positions arms rested back on. The two of you jumped away as soon as you noticed just how wrong it looked... and actually was. 

You stumbled onto the ground and winced at the hammering in your skull. "Jesus," you hissed, grabbing onto the couch for stability.

Kihyun grimaced as he shook himself out of the funk he had been in. Cuddling? Had he had enough alcohol on his system to pass that off as a drunk mistake?

"In my defense, I had no place to put my arms and it was cold," Kihyun said, holding his hands up in defense. For once, he was actually innocent... at least, he thought so.

You winced, crouched over with your head in your hands. You were more so focused on not dying than what was actually being said. You never handled hangovers well. 

"See, I knew there was something weird going on between you two," Minhyuk stated as he gave you two a disgusted look. He shook his head, sighed, and massaged his temples. "Never mind. I don't want to know anything. I'm going to Wonho's place."

For once, you thought he was leaving at a good time. You had too much of a headache to have him yelling at you. 

"Please don't tell them anything!" Kihyun blurted quickly just before the door shut behind Minhyuk's back. He sighed irritably. Shownu and Wonho would not him live it down if they found out he had been... cuddling. 

He cringed, scruffing up his hair. 

"I'm going to take a shower," you mumbled, deliberately heading to the bathroom without looking at Kihyun.

Kihyun fell back on the couch and puffed his cheeks. 

///

You sat in the back of your class, your head in your arms. The lights, the speaking, the air conditioning... it all made you feel like dying. This is probably what vampires feel like when they try to go out during the day.

As though your memories and sinking regrets weren't enough of a warning to keep you away from alcohol...

Well, actually, maybe you needed more of it. Who knew?

As soon as class ended, you got up and carried yourself over to the door. 

What were you going to do with Kihyun? Were you going to ignore him? Were you going to dismiss what you had said as a complete product of you being drunk without a shred of truth? Were you just going to own up to it?

Were you going to think of him any differently now?

You clutched your head and groaned. You could think of a million questions, and not a single answer. 

It irritated you, anyway, that you had to think about that. You and Kihyun were always honest with each other, and acted with what came to you, so why did you have to make this seem any different?

Whatever. 

Well, maybe if you were completely honest, you wouldn't be in this position.

"Oh, hey!" a voice said, immediately triggering some sort of fresh post-traumatic stress. You almost wretched. Sena. How was it you had never seen her before last night, and suddenly, you were randomly running into her?

"Hey, Sena," you said, pressing a flat line of a half-grin, half-frown. "Funny how things happen."

"Right?" Sena said, looking surprised herself. "Man, you look like you took a beating last night. You should've told me you couldn't handle alcohol."

You raised an eyebrow. "I don't think that's it. I think you're just extremely resilient."

"Yeah, well I don't like hangovers, so I don't allow myself to get them," Sena said with a shrug, as though you could've helped the way you felt. 

You blinked confusedly. "You know, that's something Minhyuk would say. He doesn't get tired, because he doesn't like it."

"Speaking of Minhyuk, I think I came on a little strong last night," Sena said, cocking her head to the side in thought. "I'm usually not that energetic. I guess I just got excited."