“How was the art display?” Choi Youngjae asked as he pulled himself to sit on top of a work surface in the kitchen.

“It was good. They couldn't put up my three-piece though,” The older Youngjae replied, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“The one of the city-view right?” Choi asked, and frowned when Yoo nodded, “That . That was like your big masterpiece.”

“Yeah, but I guess I'll never get to display it any time soon.” The older sighed heavily and stirred his drink before tossing the teaspoon into the sink.

“Well... You had that other picture up, right? The one of that guy?” Choi asked, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Yeah. He showed up, actually...” Yoo trailed off, temporarily lost in the memory of the tall boy, sipping his coffee.

“Really? What's he like? What did he think of the picture?” Choi couldn't contain his excitement as he leaned down to open the cupboard beneath him and pulled out a box of dry cereal.

“He liked it, or at least he said he did. His name's Junhong. He's... Way taller than I thought he was. He's quiet, but he seems like a really sincere guy.” He smiled a little, thinking of the boy's nervous smiles.

“Aww,” Choi grinned as he ate small handfuls of cereal from the box.

“Oh yeah, and it turns out he's friends with one of Daehyun's friends, Taehyun. Small world, right?” Yoo shook his head in wonder as he drank his coffee.

“Whaaaaat?” Choi muffled around a mouthful of cereal before swallowing, “No way, what's so strange. You may have met before without knowing.”

“I don't think so. The guy's definitely over six foot tall. I thought because his friend was short it made him seem so tall, but Jesus he made everyone there look like toys.”

Choi giggled and nearly choked on his cereal. “No one is that...” he trailed off and his eyes widened, “Wait. Tall guy, short friend, friends with Taehyung, named Junhong... I think I met him.”

Yoo frowned. “He's in your year, right? Does he do English studies?”

“No, no. Not on my course. He was at Jackson's party. I think Taehyung tried to introduce us but it didn't go well. He seemed really shy. His friend went to go in a dance battle and he just talked to Namjoon the whole time.” Choi nodded, sure he'd recalled it all correctly. “I didn't get his name at the time but I bumped into Taehyung the next day and he asked me if I'd got a chance to speak to Junhong and what I thought of him. But, you know, we didn't really speak so I didn't have any opinion.”

“Did Taehyung tell you anything about him?” Yoo asked, keeping his eyes on his drink and trying not to seem too interested.

“Not a whole lot. He does the same course as Namjoon, but he also does dance with his friend. Uh, I can't think of much else.” Choi shrugged and munched on another handful of cereal before adding, “Oh! He speaks some English because he went to Canada for a while.”

“He speaks English? That's kinda cool...” Yoo quickly buried himself in the cup, hiding his face.

“Not much, but yeah! I think Taehyung thought he could help me with my studies, but I don't really see how. I guess just because he's been overseas already, but I'll be studying abroad next year anyway.” Choi shrugged and smiled.

“Guess there's more to him than I thought,” Yoo said, humming a little.

Choi narrowed his eyes a little, smile turning into a knowing smirk. “You seem really interested in this guy. You like them tall?”

Yoo's face flared red. “That's not it! He just... Offered to help me display my art. I was just interested to know what sort of guy he is. That's all.”

“Hmm, okay,” Choi slid off the counter top, “well if that's all-”

“It is-”

“Then I'm going back to my essay. Next time I see Taehyung around I'll ask more about Junhong.”

“I'm just as likely to see Taehyung around you know, I'm going to meet Daehyun tomorrow” Yoo muttered.

“Oh, so are you going to ask him about Junhong?”

Yoo stared silently into his cup.

“Exactly.” Choi smiled brightly. “I'll see what else I can find out for you. Anyway back to my essay!”

And with that, Yoo Youngjae was left alone with his nearly empty cup of coffee. He drained the cup, wondering what he'd got himself into. The smaller Youngjae had set himself a mission, and so at Junhong. He set the cup down and with a small sigh headed back to his own room, wondering what the tall boy was up to now.

“Please help me,” Junhong begged, hands gripping his housemate's shoulders.

“Um. Sure but, why? What's this got to do with anything?” Taehyung asked, wriggling himself free of the younger's tight hold.

“It's really complicated and there's probably a simple way to put it, but, if I can get Yongguk and Namjoon to work together then it means other stuff happens and... I just really need this, okay?”

Taehyung thought. Hard. Yongguk and Junhong are good friends, and if Namjoon and Yongguk become good friends then Junhong will be good friends with Namjoon who is one of my friends, and then become good friends with all of my friends. But also, Namjoon is good friends with Jackson,who is good friends with Youngjae. So, if Junhong makes Yongguk and Namjoon friends, he will by proxy become friends with Youngjae. He nodded decisively. “I will help you.”

“Thank you,” Junhong breathed out in relief. “If this works out then we need to make sure everyone knows about their performance and comes to see it.”

Taehyung nodded sagely. “I know just who to tell.”

“So you should come,” he finished explaining with a smug grin.

“Well, it's not really my sort of thing, but... I bet Chanyeol would really like it,” Baekhyun mused, “You'll be going, right Daehyun? You're a Jepp fan.”

“Ah, I wouldn't- I wouldn't say I'm a fan... I've listened to his stuff.” Daehyun shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets defensively.

“You asked me if I had him in any of my classes and if I could get his autograph,” Taehyung pointed out.

“Uh- Um. Distraction!” Daehyun shouted,pointing over the two boy's shoulders, “I mean, hey dude!”

Taehyung and Baekhyun looked around to see a fourth boy approach their group, eyebrows raised. Taehyung vaguely recognised the curved nose and soft cheeks, but couldn't put a name to him.

“Wow, great to know I'm just a distraction,” the approaching boy said, rolling his eyes. “Are you coming over or not, or do you have to say your tearful goodbyes to your wife and child first?”

“They're not my-” Daehyun began.

“My dearest, you'll comeback for us, won't you?” Baekhyun cut in with a soft, high pitched voice.

“Father, don't forget us. I'll be grown up when you return,” Taehyung joined in with a childish voice.

“No, stop.” Daehyun batted away their pawing hands. “Youngjae, don't encourage them.”

“Alas, I must steal your man away. Goodbye, sweet Hyun family,” the soft-faced boy said, grabbing Daehyun's arms and dragging him away.

Taehyun and Baekhyun pretended to cry as they waved them off. Once the two boys were out of sight, they looked at each other and laughed.

“That guy gets it,” Baekhyn chuckled.

“Daehyun knows a lot of Youngjaes,” Taehyung said slowly.

“Yeah, well there's a lot of Youngjae's to know,” Baekhyun said, then ruffled Taehyung's hair, “I gotta head off too, if I keep Kyungsoo waiting too long he'll tear me in half.”

“Which way? Downwards or through the middle?”

“I... Don't think he's picky about it.”

“He's got more of a chance going through your middle, it's softer,” he teased, poking Baekhyun's stomach.

“Hey! I tried abs once and it didn't work out,” Baekhyun huffed.

“Well, you better go or you'll have nothing to build your abs onto.”

“You rascal,” Baekhyun said fondly, already walking away.

Taehyung watched him go, then turned his head to look in the direction Daehyun and Youngjae had left in. Something niggled at him, but he couldn't figure out what.

Yongguk was silent, brow furrowed and head in his hand as he mulled the proposal over. Junhong sat across from him on the chair by his window, legs crossed and hands gripping his own legs. The tension and expectation hung in the air like ugly plastic party decorations.

“It's been a while since I worked with anyone I didn't know well enough,” Yongguk eventually said, voice slow and thoughtful.

“He- He's probably really good. He's a third year and it'll be really worth your time to work with him, I bet. He seems really excited about the idea.” Junhong could feel the sweat beading on the back of his neck.

“Hm. I can see that, but... You said you're getting a venue. As much as I consider you a good friend and a supportive classmate, I don't believe that you're doing this just to get me some extra curricular. What's this really about?”

Junhong swallowed. “Um. No,I swear it's-”

Yongguk raised his eyebrows.

Junhong crumbled. “Okay, I went to the art display that the guy across the road did. He has this huge masterpiece he wants to display but isn't able to get space to do it. I talked to the local venue owner and he said he'll only display it if there's a worthwhile event he can make profit from. If you perform there it'll definitely get people's attention.” He hunched over a little, feeling ashamed of his own exploitation of his friends. “I'm sorry, I just... I really want to do something nice.” He hung his head, ready to be lectured. However, to his surprise, Yongguk laughed.

“Well, that makes more sense,” the older man said, grinning, “next time just be honest with me. Sure, I'll do this collab. It'll be fun.”

Junhong brightened up. “Really? Thank you so much!”

Yongguk shrugged, still grinning. “It's the least I can do to help you out, and I gt something out of it as well. It's a nice win-win.”

Junhong opened his mouth, ready to agree, when he remembered something. “Oh... Um... There was something else I needed to ask of you, actually,” he said timidly, “the venue owner wants your number."