new update ahoy!! i wrote this chapter yesterday but i didnt really like the direction it took so i rewrote almost half of it lol whoops

someone mentioned on the trailer on youtube that i included a little bit of spoiler-y content in it ;) they were right

hope you all enjoy this chapter, though! :^D

 *mood-setting music* 

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           The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and everything was alright for once in Lee Jihoon's miserable life. It had been a few wild days ever since the small man had installed the now forgotten game onto his laptop, and after finally beating it, he rested in his bed with nothing but contentment.

           Jihoon let out a small grunt as he stretched, finally leaving dreamland. Groggily, he rolled to his side to grab a pillow to hold.

           'Thank God mom bought these firmer kinds of pillows, they're so nice to hug...' Jihoon thought to himself as he snuggled back into sleep.

           "U-uh... uhm... excuse- excuse me...."

           ...Was that a voice? ...Oh well, old friend Sleep was calling and they were higher on the list of Jihoon's priorities.

           "Snrk... five more minutes... mommy... the stove will combust if you install the fire hydrant on it..." Jihoon muttered as he snuggled deeper into his pillow.

           "H-hey, uh-" The young man wrestled in his sleep as his pillow tried to break free of his grasp.

           ...it dawned on Jihoon that pillows were not supposed to do that.

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           Seungcheol never expected that he would wake up in someone else's bed before. Well- he never expected many things, like

           - waking up in what looked to be a child's bed

           - waking up in a male child's bed

           - waking up in a male child's bed with no clothes on

           - waking up in a male child's bed with no clothes on with said male child clinging onto him as drool slid from the child's mouth onto oneself's torso

           Did Seungcheol escape the labyrinth that was his high school? Did confessing to Woozi make time go by so fast that he forgot he graduated? Did graduating high school mean giving birth to child? He did sorta look like Woozi in some creepy sort of way. Is this his and Woozi's child? O-oh my God, oh my G-god, oh my god, what if he is!? Seungcheol was screwed, if he couldn't even remember his own child's name, what kind of messed-up high school graduate was he!?

           Panicking, Seungcheol didn't notice the small figure grasping on to him, rustling out of their slumber.

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           Rubbing his eyes gingerly, Jihoon looked up to see what terror happened to rudely replace his pillow during the night.

           Turns out, said terror was found in the form of a toned hunk looking towards the door intently.

           A , toned hunk.

           That somehow started snaking his arms around Jihoon's shoulders as he stared off into the door, searching for its answers.

           Jesus , was that game all a dream...? Did he actually end up hanging out with Soonyoung...? Did Soonyoung and Jihoon get wasted at the bar while picking up some sweet dreamboats to hammer before going home? Was this some kind of awkward post-one night stand situation Jihoon found himself in?

           ...Jihoon didn't even know he had it in him to do something like this.

           It took a while for the shock to set in as Jihoon inevitably let his eyes wander down... there.

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           Seungcheol felt a disturbance in the force as his eyes flickered back down into the now trembling little figure he had has arms mistakenly wrapped around. Little did he know, the trembling little thing he was holding onto was actually a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode.

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           "Wh....wh...w- wh.... wh---o-----wh---" Jihoon stuttered, feeling his face flush as the now-attentive pretty-boy looked down at him, eyebrows raised with attention.

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           The (assumed) kid bumbled with his speech, and Seungcheol couldn't help but let out a loving and appreciative grin. Children were precious, and although kids didn't go to highschool, Seungcheol believed they should, because they make everything so fuzzy and enjoyable. Remembering his this-is-my-son-theory, Seungcheol decided to channel his inner, never-before-seen fatherly self. His parents always told him that children needed constant reassurance and encouragement.

           "It's okay, baby. Take your time. Daddy can wait." Seungcheol whispered as he gave a reassuring smile, brushing the smaller's bangs out of his eyes.

....

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           "IM GONNA ING L O S E M Y S H I T !!!!!" Jihoon yelled as he throttled the man to the ground with the strength of a mother buffalo.

           "Who are you and why are you !?" Continuing to yell, the angry 20-year-old skittered off his bed and started to beat the y stranger with a pillow.

           Right when Jihoon was about to grab his lamp to throw that the intruder, he held his hand up and dragged himself to the door.

           "I-I'll... let myself out..." Seungcheol's weak hand went to grab one of the blankets on the bed, ready to bolt, but the smaller piped him down.

           "Ew, at least put some clothes on, ! Your nasty will not contaminate my blankie- er- blankets!"

           The kid got the violence and swearing from his mom. Lovely.

           And that was how Seungcheol ended up hobbling down the stairs in a house he's never been in before, wearing way too tight clothes that were definitely not his.

           Trying to walk in sweatpants (and...underwear....(?)) that were nowhere near his size, he comes to a stop at the two pairs of eyes on him in the kitchen.

           "Er- h-hello.... I'm just..." Seungcheol pointed to the nearest door. "g...oing to be on my way...?"

           The woman and man look at each other in between glances back at the man. Seungcheol was forced to sit on a stool in the kitchen as the pair storm up the stairs, towards the disaster-site that was that little boy (?)'s room.

           Were they his in-laws...? Where's Woozi...?

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           Jihoon was about to go back to sleep, clicking the power button on his phone to check the time. 11:46. , his parents should be up by now. Whatever.

           Looking past the 608 notifications he got from the notification app- (all from, you guessed it, Soonyoung-) Jihoon noticed he had a voice mail in his inbox.

           'Hey, hyung! We were going to give you a refund and all, since we felt kinda bad about the prank, but seeing as it's been 24 hours, we're assuming you liked the game enough to keep it for the days you payed for! Thats sweet, so I'm sending this voicemail to remind you to return the disc and box by Tuesday, and remember.... you break it, you buy it! But we trust in you that you've handled the game well, just like how you have with past rentals! We still have the bits and pieces of that "Where Do Babies Come From?" for the DS cartridge that you smashed with a sledgehammer a few months back! Remember that? Good times. Oh- well, I'm rambling, so I'll leave you to it! Game on, hyung! Sister says hi! This is Chanhyuk by the way, of AKMU Game Renta- *Beep*'

           Jihoon recorded a simple response, for the sake of being polite. He did end up being scammed in the end after all, despite liking the game he got as a result. Speaking of game, where was the box, and where was his laptop...?

           Whatever.

           "You kids.....you scammer kids.... I'll get back at you... once I wake up..."

His phone beeped to show that it sent his message, and, plopping the phone onto his bedside table, Jihoon snuggled into his sheets.

           His drift into dreamland was interrupted by the loud slam of his door opening.

           "Sheesh, what the-"

           "Downstairs. Now."

           That was how Jihoon ended up being forced onto a stool at the breakfast counter next to the stranger from before, as his parents stared at the two-

           not even with disgust but... something... akin to interest...?

           "Hoonie, you never told us you had a friend over!"

           Honestly, Jihoon would've argued against that statement, but he never saw his parents so blatantly excited for him since the 7th grade.

           He didn't seem to notice the emphasis on "friend" as he muttered his excuses, much to Seungcheol's surprise. The larger was wearing the boy's clothes, bruises flowering underneath his collar. (The bruises were from the serious beating Seungcheol just got, but they could easily be misinterpreted as ..something else.)

           "I didn't want to bother you guys," Jihoon's parents continued to look at him with interest. Go on, their eyes say, tell us more.

           "He's one of Soonyoung's friends.... we got along so I invited him to hang out while you guys were out, and....uh- he's an orphan. Yeah. So I let him sleep over, and wear my clothes, because I didn't want to see him out in the cold at night."

           Wait, so this kid wasn't his son, and these people weren't his in-laws? More importantly, where is his girlfriend?

           Seungcheol was shell shocked, but kept quiet to see the parent's reactions.

           The elders shared looks before Jihoon's mother spoke up.

           "Oh, well sweetie, we're glad you're making friends..." The woman looked at Seungcheol expectantly.

           "S-Seungcheol, ma'am. Choi Seungcheol. Pleased to meet you." Seungcheol stand up to bow, but was beat to it by Jihoon, who suddenly shot up.

    “Well, Cheollie, thank you for taking care of our son. You’re free to stay in our house for as long as you like.” Jihoon’s mother smiled tenderly.

           'Seungcheol. Choi Seungcheol. Now that I think about it...'

           Jihoon looks at Seungcheol with terror, eyes comically wide.

           "H-hey, mom... can me and- er, Cheollie go shopping?"

           Scittering to the door, Jihoon grabs his father's long trench coat from the coathanger and throws it at Seungcheol.

           "Sure Jihoonie, don't stay out too late!"

           "We sure won't."

           Jihoon scampers up to his room to grab his wallet and look for the game box that was previously on his bed. .

           He heard thumping from up the stairs, and soon he found Seungcheol meekly watching him from the door.

           "So... does that mean we're... roommates now..?" Seungcheol asks with a hint of fear, smiling to try and start friendly talk.

           "Shut up," Jihoon says while shoveling through piles of dirty clothes and junk. "What did you say your name was...?" Maybe he just heard him wrong. Maybe Jihoon was just going delusional, and this was all just a big misunderstanding where he really did pick up some disgusting hobo up from the bar last night.

           "Seungcheol."

           Jihoon exhaled, all hope lost.

           "And where are you from, exactly?"

           "Kissy High School Dreamville off the coast of Teenage Drama-"

           Jihoon sees the broken case buried underneath piles of underwear and grabs it quickly, pushing Seungcheol back outside of his room.

           "Right. Don't finish that sentence."

           Jihoon turns to the trench-coat wearing giant and huffs.

           "You're in South Korea now, boy."

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           Walking down the bustling streets of Seoul with a handsome trench-coat wearing 20-something-year-old in tow attracted a lot more attention than Jihoon would've anticipated.

           Maybe it was because Jihoon actually put effort into dressing like a functioning member in society for once, or maybe it was because Seungcheol looked quite dashing when the small-sized clothing he was wearing was covered underneath a trench coat.

           Anyways, first stop- Akdong VG Rental.

           Along the way, Seungcheol continued to pester Jihoon with multiple "Are we really going to the store"s and "Are we there yet"s and "Your grip is hurting me"s, and the glares from any female walking by in a 1000 mile radius made Jihoon's discomfort shoot through the roof.

           The welcome bell dinged and proceeded to almost get ripped off of the door as Jihoon slammed it open.

           "Welcome to- oh, it's hyung!" Chanhyuk greeted Jihoon as he wiped down the already dirtless counter he was leaning against.

           "What brings you he-"

           "Cut the ," Jihoon huffed as he pulled the shattered game packaging from inside his coat and threw it onto the counter.

           "Gee, why so angry? Who's your cosplayer friend?"

           Jihoon spoke over Chanhyuk's pained gasp as he held the fallen and empty videogame box in his bony hands.

           "This," Jihoon pointed at an uncomfortable Seungcheol.

           "Is all your guys' fault."

           Suhyun teetered out of the backroom, balancing a stack of cardboard boxes in front of her face.

           "What's our fault, oppa?"

           "This, this- weirdo ert who woke up in my bed, , is all your stupid kids' fault!"

           Suhyun and Chanhyuk confusedly huff in unison as the redhead crosses her arms.

           "How's the fact that you picked up some dude our fault?"

           Chanhyuk draws close to her ear and whispers just loud enough for everyone else in the room to hear;

           "I think the game we gave him...inspired him too much..."

           Jihoon stomps his foot like a child, and Seungcheol can't help but watch everything in bewilderment. He didn't want to add to the argument because, for once, he wasn't familiar with the outcome of the conversation; so he just stood there and watched from the sidelines.

           "Shut up!! You guys did your creepy-sibling technological magic or some , didn't you!? You brought this idiot outside of the game!"

           Seungcheol muttered a quiet "I'm not an idiot..." as he inched away from the fuming individual.

           The siblings gagged and started laughing, as if Jihoon had just said the most absurd thing in the world-

           he kinda did, though....

           "Hyung's gone crazy! Anyways, we'll just be..." Chanhyuk popped open the box to find nothing inside.

           "Where's the disc?"

           The laughing stopped.

           "Where's the what?"

           Chanhyuk's face distorted in realization, and Suhyun looks towards her brother, then back at Jihoon- to her brother, back at Jihoon, again and again.

           "Whoops...."

           "So what you're telling me is that you scammer kids gave me your little 'science-project' to test out, assuming that it wouldn't work; but then it did end up working, and now we have this?" Jihoon motioned towards Seungcheol, who was currently browsing the shelves.

           "You kids are the crazy ones. I must've just lost the CD. I can't find my laptop, I could've just left it in there." Jihoon grumbled as he stared at the frantic teens.

           "N-no, well- that could've been possible, but... he's there, and ..."

           "And what?"

           "We kinda planted other tests into other people's orders as freebies, and turns out- some of those ones worked, too."

           Jihoon rubbed his temples as he let out another disgruntled noise.

           "So you're telling me that there are basically a bunch of other rabid digital fantasy people on the loose outside, too?"

           Chanhyuk sighs in defeat, and Jihoon remembers the blubbering of the news anchor from last week. A renaissance in creative technology.

           "...yeah."

           Seungcheol wondered if people in South Korea normally yelled like this. The only person who could compete with Jihoon in a yelling competition would be Seungkwan. Damn, Seungcheol sorta missed that guy.

           "Is there any way we can put him back?"

           Seungcheol snapped his head towards the party of three at that.

           Put him back? Please please please please please...

           "Er.... I never tested. So, maybe. I dunno? Like... there’s a 50/50 chance."

           Neighbors would later knock on the door to complain about the loud "GOD DAMMIT!" that echoed throughout the neighborhood.

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           "Looks like it's just you, and me for now, Seungcheol."   Jihoon continues to strangle Seungcheol's wrist as he stomps down the street, into the shopping district. Girls won't stop ogling them, especially glaring at Jihoon with envy, and Jihoon is having a field day trying to glare back at all of them fast enough.

           Dumb and Dumber enter a chic and contemporary clothing store, and as soon as the welcome buzzer dings, swarms of female employees are already asking the odd duo if they are 'finding everything alright?'

           No. Jihoon can't even see past the sea of people, and he looks helplessly at the taller to help a fellow out. This isn’t alright at all.

           Seungcheol sees the small animal's distressed signals, but he's afraid to speak up. Would speaking break the space-time continuum? How does one speak without already knowing what the other would say back? Seungcheol holds his breath until he feels a tiny hand clasp onto the sleeve of his cashmere trench coat.

           "U-uh, we're alright. We're just window shopping." Seungcheol says awkwardly, but smiles nonetheless. The pack of clerks 'ooooh' and 'ahhhh,' in reply, and all retreat back to their stations.

           "Thanks, I guess. Who told those thirsty es that it was okay to tower over customers? I need to speak with their manager." Jihoon huffs as he tugs Seungcheol around the store, who is slightly taken aback at the smaller man's language.

           "Do you really have to insult everyone you speak about?" Seungcheol mutters under his breath.

           Jihoon shoves some racks onto Seungcheol’s arms without looking twice.

           "Yeah."

           While Seungcheol was in the changing room, Jihoon dialed up Soonyoung, preparing his eardrums for the abuse that was soon to come.

           "JIHOOOOONIEEEEEEEEE-"

           There it was.

           Jihoon listened to Soonyoung blubber about how sorry he was, and how equally pissed off he was about Jihoon ignoring him.

           "Look, I'm sorry too, a lot of things have been... happen... hha...."

           "Jihoon?"

           Jihoon almost dropped his phone as Seungcheol peered out of his changing booth wearing a tight graphic t-shirt and slim-fitting jeans.

           He wouldn't say that the look made him want Seungcheol to him down right then and there, because that's kinda gay, but....

           He kinda wanted Seungcheol to him down right then and there. After saying 'no homo', of course. Jihoon wasn't at fault here; Seungcheol had thighs that could rival chicken wings. (in a good way)

           "Who're you talking to on the phone, Jihoonie?" Seungcheol mimicked what he heard other people call the small, now flustered man, while patting down his shirt.

           "Who's that?" Soonyoung asks suspiciously at the sound of a faint voice on the other end.

           "No one." Jihoon insists, a little too quickly.

           "Tell them that Seungcheollie said hi!" Seungcheol, oh, you pure, pure specimen. All those years of anime highschool must've been what kept him in this grown-up, but still childish state.

           "What was that?" Soonyoung presses further.

           "N-nothing."  Jihoon shakes his head furiously at Seungcheol, who is looking at the man expectantly.

           "Why not? Can I not greet Jihoonie's other friends?"

           Jihoon was about to have an aneurism. Every time Seungcheol called him Jihoonie, he felt moments of his life flash through his eyes. This boy was gonna die.

           Seungcheol's puppy eyes bore through Jihoon's skull, and it was at that moment, he realized that his life was already an irreparable mess to begin with.

           "Uh, Seungcheollie said hi."

           Seungcheol beamed as he went back in to change into his trenchcoat and hand-me-downs.

           "Seung-whooey?"

           "Seungcheollie- er, Seungcheol." Jihoon mumbled against the palm that covered his face.

           "You never told me you knew someone who had a voice like that past first-name basis!"

           "I told you, a lot of stuff happened." Jihoon gathers his things as Seungcheol opens the door to the changing room. "I gotta go, I'll explain later. Probably."

           "Jihoon, you , you better expla- *click*"

           Jihoon hangs up and drags Seungcheol to the checkout.

           Jihoon wonders how the cashier can manage to scan all the items in their basket without taking her eyes off Seungcheol for a second, but that's a question he doesn't want the answer to.

           "What's your name, cutie?"

           'Eugh, God- please not this,' Jihoon clenches his face in disgust, knowing that the girl would pay no mind to his sour expression.

           Seungcheol is used to being flirted towards, but only in a high school environment. This new situation was making him somewhat uncomfortable, and Jihoon looking like he just got a mouthful of soap and lemon juice didn't help.

           "Seungcheol..."

           "Are you two together?" The clerk tilts her head coyly, looking down at Jihoon.

           Seungcheol assumes she was just trying to be friendly, so he lowers his guard.

           "Yup."

           Jihoon cringes and glares at Seungcheol, knowing fair and well that Seungcheol didn't understand what the girl meant by together.

           "O-oh."

           "Hahahahaha, oh Seungcheol, dude, bro! You silly guy! My man, my dude, my bestest friend in the entire world, you, my dude, are hilarious!!" Jihoon panics as he grabs some clothing to stuff into their plastic bags, to speed the process up.

           The girl looks at Jihoon confusedly, but hope grows on her face as she realizes she still has a chance.

           "Oh, so you guys are friends!" Seungcheol nods.

           "Well, would you like to go out for coffee sometime?"

           No, Jihoon wants to say, but he knows the question wasn't directed at him.

           "Sorry, I'm taken!" Seungcheol says as Jihoon forks over some cash.

           The two waltz out of the store without another peep from the speechless cashier, and Jihoon can't help but want to punch Seungcheol.

           "! Why did you have to say that?"

           "What do you mean?" Seungcheol quizzicaly looks at Jihoon.

           "That you're taken, why did you have to lie about that?" Jihoon grows more confused as Seungcheol laughs.

           "But I’m not! I have a girlfriend."

           .

           "...really? What's her name?"

           "Woozi!"