Surprisingly, you woke up the following morning after Kihyun. You imagined he'd have a brutal hangover keeping him in 'til at least noon, but no, he was up at 7:30 am sharp.

As you left your room and headed to the bathroom, you noticed Kihyun tying his shoes by the couch. Not only was he up at 7:30, but he looked great, better than last night even. His hair was combed nicely, his skin was glowing, and he didn't have that hangover hunch. "You're a robot," you exhaled, stopping in your steps. "Or a psychopath. Or both."

"Who? Me?" Kihyun replied as he straightened and began to roll the sleeves of his flannel up to his forearms. He called this the 'dress like I'm a skater even though I've never skated in my life just because girls find it hot.'

He noticed your bedhead, and dedicated it to memory. Maybe if he slept with you, he'd cuddle, even though he hated cuddling. Wait, no, Kihyun. Cuddling is disgusting. Cuddling is for lovesick teenagers who actually think they'll last more than a few month-

"There's no one else here, Kihyun," you replied, giving him a look. "Yes, you. How are you not hungover?"

Kihyun shrugged. "I don't like hangovers, so I don't have them. It makes people ugly. Me? Just a notch down from godlike, but it's still a risk I'm not willing to take."

You rolled your eyes, continuing on to the bathroom. "Anyway..."

He forgot he was supposed to be nice, so at the last second he gasped and tried to fit in a few more words. "You look heavenly yourself!"

You plugged your ears as you nudged the door closed with your foot. "Not this early in the morning, Kihyun!"

As soon as the door closed, Kihyun winced and grabbed his head. He had a case of a top-grade hangover. The first step in his plan was to never show himself in a vulnerable state unless it was all an act. Being vulnerable was something he had to carefully orchestrate, which meant showing it at the right moment. As of now, you hated him, so this clearly wasn't it.

He grabbed his bag and headed out. Time to meet up with his friends. He felt terrible.

///

"See what I mean?" Minhyuk blurted. "You're a con-man!"

"Ahem, con artist," Kihyun said, pausing a moment to force his headache away. He looked back at Minhyuk. "Con artistry is like comics. Still art, but no one considers it art because they're ignorant and don't understand the work involved to successfully execute-"

"Yeah, no..." Wonho replied, shaking his head. "Besides, you don't even like comics."

"That's because comics are for nerds," Kihyun snorted, and Wonho shook his head at the contradiction in his argument. "However every major love story involves conning!"

"You just realize you said love story, right?" Wonho replied, raising an eyebrow. "Are you saying you're planning to fall in love?"

Kihyun pinched the bridge of his nose. "No, Wonho. Are you that dense? I'm saying conning isn't all bad. Love is only bearable in movies, because it's fictional. When people bring love into reality, it's just embarrassing to see. My conning is-"

"It's bad conning," Wonho replied, squinting. 

"Just listen," Kihyun replied, glaring. "You talk way too much."

Wonho looked offended, but Kihyun moved on. "Conning is for justice! Self realization! Unlocking the true power of determination in one's soul!"

"Wait, go back to the love thing," Minhyuk replied, cocking his head to the side. "I want to hear this."

Kihyun smiled. Now Minhyuk was on the right track. "Romeo and Juliet! Romeo didn't tell Juliet he was a Montague! He lied! He was just a bad liar, who got caught early on."

Minhyuk blinked thoughtfully. "Wow, you're right. But he only did that because his life was on the line."

"So is mine! My pride is my life!" Kihyun countered, before rerouting his mind back to his argument. "Frank Sinatra had to pretend he and Dean Martin were equally good singers, when, I mean, we all know Frank was better. The only Dean Martin song people know is about the moon looking like pizza."

"What about the Christmas songs?" Wonho asked. "I like those."

"Hold on, Dean and Frank were not lovers," Minhyuk interrupted, giving a baffled look.

"Minhyuk, don't be homophobic," Kihyun replied, frowning disappointedly. "Never mind that. Edward conned Bella into thinking he was a regular human. By the way, terrible con man. I mean, how hard is it to convince someone you're not a vampire?"

"You watched Twilight?" Minhyuk snorted, finally breaking seriousness.

Kihyun rolled his eyes. "It scores points with the ladies. Okay, Superman conned Lois Lane into thinking he wasn't Clark K-"

"Okay, enough, enough!" Minhyuk said, waving his hands in surrender. "I get it."

"Okay, but I don't think conning will work with _______," Wonho replied. "She sees through the lies. All of them. She said you aren't even her type, so you should just give up now."

Kihyun straightened and gave a nervous smile. "Um, I'm everyone's type."

"Yeah, she only likes musicians apparently," Wonho replied. "It's a model thing, I guess. So, unless you're going to break out your guitar anytime soon, lover boy, I guess it'd be better if you let her go."

Kihyun shook his head. "No, that would be a cop out. I don't need a guitar to seduce her. I will need a guitar, however, to break on your head when I prove I can."

"My God," Wonho said with a horrified gape as he put his palm on his head as though Kihyun had a guitar hiding somewhere, ready at any moment. "Why are you extra mean today? I thought you were supposed to be a nice!"

"That was a con, Wonho. Wake up!" Kihyun blurted, slapping Wonho's cheek. "I'm not a nice guy! Being nice is for ugly people."

Minhyuk groaned, closing his eyes. "Seriously?"

"Why are we his friends again?" Wonho mumbled, looking over at Minhyuk.

"It's fun laughing about him behind his back," Minhyuk guessed. "I don't know."

Kihyun gave them offended looks. "Excuse me? The jesters don't laugh at the King! The King laughs at the jesters."

"King?" Wonho repeated exasperatedly before nodding slowly. "No, that sounds right, actually. Most kings were tyrants."

Kihyun smiled fondly as he pressed a palm to his chest. "That is the sweetest thing you have ever said to me."

Wonho rolled his eyes and then Minhyuk sat up and looked somewhere behind Kihyun. "Hey, it's your roommate."

You were walking by, a good half of your face covered by some large dark sunglasses. You were wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. It seemed you dressed plainly, but Kihyun still thought you were hot. He always knew a hot girl when he saw one. He turned around in his chair and slid his glasses down the bridge of his nose. "Why so covered up?"

"You're creepy," you replied, not stopping. "Stop saying things like that."

Kihyun frowned. "It's a sunny day. I'm wondering why you're so covered up. It must be hot."

"Says the guy wearing a flannel," you mumbled, your back now to Kihyun as you walked up the stairs toward the science building.

Wonho nodded, turning back around. "I like her."

"Yeah, me too," Minhyuk said with a pleased grin.

Kihyun grinned, wiggling his fingers playfully. "Kitty has claws."

"You missed the entire point!" Minhyuk blurted, slapping his palm on the table. "If she's a cat, you're a dog, Kihyun! A dog that needs to be hosed down and sent to the pound!"

"Hey!" Wonho argued. "I like dogs! Don't compare him to a dog! It's defamation!"

Kihyun shook his head and got up. "Look, you two make me tired. I have to get to class."

And by get to class, he meant go to class and pretend to take notes while he rewrote his plans. Why was it that every time he tried to say something nice, it was perceived as arrogant or creepy?

Eureka.

Then it hit him. Like fireworks shaking in his skull.

"So, what? You're just going to stand there like a statue?" Wonho asked.

"Marble statue, but no, I'm going now," Kihyun replied with a grin.

"Creepy," Wonho replied, pointing at Kihyun's grin. "Very creepy."

///

Kihyun sat down in his class, which just so happened to cater to his needs. Psychology.

Some blonde sat down next to him, and while she was at least an 8, Kihyun was pursuing a 10 so he barely paid attention to her. He raised his hand as soon as the professor started class.

"Uh, yes, Kihyun?" the professor asked, looking surprised. Of course he was. Kihyun never asked questions.

"See, I have this problem, and I have a plan to solve it, and since we're in psychology, I thought it'd be good to run it past you," Kihyun replied as he folded his hands on his desk.

The professor paused for a second and then nodded slowly. "Okay. What is it?"

Kihyun cleared his throat and pursed his lips. "Well, there's this person," he began. 'Person' was a good placeholder because if he said girl, then all of the hot girls in his class would be discouraged and he didn't want that. "I'm obviously a charming guy, but that person doesn't see it. They think my intention is to charm them, when obviously I can't help it. It's human nature, Professor Son."

The professor nodded. "My name is Professo