Again, many thanks to my best bro NyanNai for being my beta!

Summary of characters from the last chapter: Ten is clueless and lives in a constant state of denial about most things. Hansol is a hoe and Johnny thinks he's funny. Yuta is a cinnamon roll and Taeyong is a hard- and Jaehyun tries to defend him.

The thing about Jaehyun, is that Taeyong has known him for ages, and yet didn’t really know him until this year. Their fathers were colleagues, and any time one of the guys in their office had a get-together, everyone else took their wife and kids. The first time they met was actually at neither of their houses. The Choi’s were throwing a party for no apparent reason, and Mr Choi is obsessed with ping pong.

“I bet you kids can’t put a backspin on your ball!” He says loudly, waving extra paddles at them.

Taeyong spends the next 10 minutes trying to beat Mr Choi in a game of ping pong with the utmost concentration.

“Jung’s kid, here, you come play too.” He booms, ing a paddle at the small kid in the corner. Jaehyun smiles shyly and shrinks behind his mother, who was engaged in an urgent conversation about which grocery store carries the freshest meat with Taeyong’s mother, and is quickly forgotten by the over-excited man.

Taeyong eyes him curiously, and deems him too young to be of interest. He must still be in elementary school. Middle school boys like Taeyong don’t necessarily mingle with the younger kids.

When they go out to a fancy restaurant because someone got engaged, Jaehyun and Taeyong’s mothers leave them at the ‘kids table’ and says, “Taeyong-ah, take care of our Jaehyun, ok?”

Later Taeyong helps him reach for the jug of water and Jaehyun’s dimples peek out at him even as he tries to duck his head down in an attempt to bow, muttering his thanks. Taeyong forgets if he even said anything back.

Their fathers’ boss has a habit of always exclaiming in great surprise at how much the boys have grown every time he sees them, even though it’s at least twice a year. And when Taeyong goes through his truly rebellious phase in high school, his mother chides, “Look at Jung Jaehyun, he listens to his parents so well even though the two of you are almost the same age.”

Taeyong usually growls something along the lines of “Well, I’m not Jung Jaehyun”, but when she says it in the presence of the usual company, he just squints sourly and turns away. Jaehyun nudges him when they’re eating, and mumbles “Sorry” as if it was even remotely his fault.

Likewise, the parents often comment on how handsome Taeyong is growing and touch his face, and Taeyong darts glances at Jaehyun, because it’s a bit rude to comment on one and not the other. Almost like comparing them indirectly. They’re the closest in age, so they’re always being compared, sometimes outright and sometimes in a neglected comment. Taeyong’s not sure if he’s hoping Jaehyun isn’t paying attention, or if he’s making sure he is. Either way, Jaehyun always hears, and always has that perpetual smile that makes it seem like everything is a fun time to him. He doesn’t seem to feel left out, but Taeyong knows how he gets all glowy when the adults do say “Jung, your son must be so popular with the girls!”, and then Mr Jung says something like, “Probably not as popular as Lee Taeyong over here” and the moms and dads laugh and the boys mutter their usual thanks. Taeyong denies it politely.

Jaehyun soon takes to following up such comments with “Probably not as popular as Taeyong” type responses himself, and Taeyong is always too surprised by the tone of his laugh to properly deny it as usual.

Which may be why Taeyong is a little bitter when he realizes that Jaehyun is actually more popular with the girls than he is — by far.

Taeyong’s parents buy an apartment just off of campus, and when Jaehyun gets into the same university, it’s only natural that the other room is offered to him for free. The Jungs, of course, insist on paying rent, to no one’s surprise. Taeyong is both apprehensive of how awkward it might be to live with a childhood non-friend, but at the same time, morbidly curious of Jaehyun outside of the parent bubble. He knows how unbelievably different he himself is. So maybe he’s also a bit nervous about shock