This chapter is unbeta'd because Nai is off gallivanting in Croatia or whatnot without wifi, so please excuse any mistakes!

When Yuta steps back into his apartment, Johnny is leaning against the counter, stirring a cup of tea. He looks up at the sound of the door. Yuta’s hair is still damp. Johnny keeps stirring.

“Hey.” Yuta waves, shutting the door behind him with a click.

Johnny is uncharacteristically silent for a few seconds, then hums his acknowledgement. The shuffling of Yuta’s clothes as he makes his way across the room seems uncomfortably loud in the absence of other sound. He picks his laptop up from the coffee table. It’s clacks loudly. “It’s already done though, I just haven’t revised yet. But to be realistic, it’s just a typo and grammar check.”

Johnny chuckles. “No one fixes their content after they just finished bullting the entire thing.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” Yuta replies, skittering into his room, slightly perturbed by Johnny’s off-kilter demeanor.

The paper get submitted at 11:20, because Yuta lives life on the edge, but like, not that on the edge. By then, he’d forgotten completely about the strange vibes Johnny was exuding.

When he comes out to the living room, Johnny is sitting cross legged on the tiny kitchen counter, back hunched and pressed against the cabinets, reading a cookbook, mug of tea in the middle of his legs.

“You remind me of those cats that insist on sitting in boxes that are way too small for them.”

“Are you calling me fat?”

“Fluffy, probably. Also, is that the ramen cookbook Jaehyun got you for your birthday as a joke?”

“Yeah. It’s actually kind of impressive how creative these recipes are, for a joke.”

“Maybe it’s his way of telling you to stick to ramen, after the dinner incident where you burned the rice.”

Johnny snorts. “That passive aggressive little .”

“Seriously, do you think Jaehyun and Taeyong have like 5 star home cooked meals everyday?”

“Oh, Taeyong can cook too?” Johnny doesn’t really know the guy.

“Probably better than Jaehyun. And more often too.”

Johnny looks scandalized. “That amount of cooking ability in a college student household is preposterous.”

“Right?”

There’s a moment of silence when Yuta aimlessly roots around the fridge for snacks.

“Hey.” Johnny says, finally putting that ridiculous cookbook down. He chews his words carefully, like he’s eating fish that hasn’t been deboned. “I hate to be nosy but, what exactly are you doing?”

“Contemplating whether or not I should risk this expired yogurt.” Yuta answers quickly.

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

Yuta looks up quickly. He tilts his head about, not really knowing how to answer such an open ended question.

“Are you dating her?”

“Not-” He replies hastily. “I mean. I don’t know.”

Johnny stares at him like he’s stupid.

“We… Go on dates and stuff. Text occasionally. And I don’t plan on seeing anyone else. But. I don’t think we’re together together?”

“Is that a question? What is that? Like dating with no strings attached?”

“More like with decorations.”

“You’d be the type to be really obnoxious about being in a relationship.” Johnny says decisively. “So I don’t think you count this as dating.”

Yuta sticks his tongue out childishly. “Joke’s on you, you’re obnoxious even without a relationship.”

For once, Johnny doesn’t rise to the bait of an insult trading opportunity. “Stop me if you feel like I’m prying too much, but. Are you going to date her?”

If Taeyong is the closest they get to a dad friend, then Johnny is the closest they get to a therapist friend. English majors get philosophical about people easily, and Johnny (unlike Jaehyun) usually isn’t shy to speak up about it.

Yuta stutters on a sigh and shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“Do you want to date her?”

“I don’t know. Kind of.”

“Kind of?” Johnny raises his eyebrows in a characteristic way. “Does she want to date you?”

“I don’t know. Didn’t ask.”

“Cuz you’re afraid she’ll say no?”

“I... know she’ll say no.”

Johnny gives him a last measuring look as Yuta sniffs the yogurt experimentally. Then he sagely sips his cold tea and mutters, “A really posh booty call, huh?”

Yuta shrugs and deems the yogurt edible. “She’s fun. Makes me feel giddy, you know? Just bright all the time and up for a laugh and a good time.” He pulls a plastic spoon from the box above the fridge. “It’s working out well, you don’t need to be concerned.”

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter