pre-performance and pineapple pizza
Apartment Block 17
[a/n]
yIKES sorry it's been so long ???
for a chapter meant to be written by the start of January i kinda at schedules lmao
school has hit harder than expected... >.<
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[ADORE U PARK]
“I’m open!” Seungcheol yelled, waving his arms in an attempt to pry Mingyu’s attention from the ball. His efforts proved futile; Seokmin immediately reacted and stuck his arm out, guarding Seungcheol.
Mingyu took a quick glance up; Seungcheol’s friend and Mingyu’s acting senior, Jang Doyoon, stood in front of him, blocking his line of vision from the ball to the basket. He debated whether to fake and pass to Seungcheol, or fake and shoot, or fake and lay-up...
His not-so-quick thinking proved advantageous to Doyoon’s quick hands as he swiftly stole the ball, dribbled across the court with lightning speed and sunk the ball in cleanly.
“That’s 5-3. We win,” Doyoon grinned, running up and meeting Seokmin in an enthusiastic high-five.
“Hey, hey,” Seungcheol waved his hands in protest, “You fouled Mingyu. It doesn’t count.”
“Did not,” Doyoon smirked. “I didn’t even touch his hand.”
“Did so,” Seungcheol argued.
“Did not,” Doyoon shot back.
Furious, the two of them turned to Jungkook, who was reading a book; the cover being a really creepy Medusa-like face, and Mingyu didn’t really want to know what kind of demonic ritual book he was reading; on the benches at the side of the court.
Jungkook was in the same year as Mingyu and Seokmin, while Doyoon was in Seungcheol’s year at Pledis University. The five of them all had different classes, yet they had all met at some point through common compulsory courses and around Apartment Block 17. Mingyu wasn’t sure how the five of them came to meet at Adore U Park’s basketball courts at 8AM on a Monday morning, but he was glad he had people to hang out with.
Jungkook put down his book and looked at them with an amused expression. “What happened?”
“Jungkook,” Seungcheol whined, “You were supposed to be refereeing us.”
“Was I?” Jungkook cocked his head innocently. Seungcheol sighed.
“Fine, you win this round,” he relented reluctantly. Doyoon and Seokmin grinned.
“You guys have been playing all morning,” Jungkook put his book down and stretched his arms whilst yawning widely. “By the way, don’t you have rehearsals, Mingyu?”
“Oh , yeah,” Seungcheol dribbled the basketball aimlessly as he spoke, “The play’s tomorrow, isn’t it?”
“Taehyung told me that Wonwoo’s taking Jun’s role,” Jungkook stifled a laugh. “Wasn’t it pretty last minute to switch roles like that?”
“We’ve had a few weeks to practise,” Mingyu said slowly. “It’ll be fine. As far as I know, we only have final rehearsals tomorrow morning.”
“I can’t wait to see it,” Seokmin slung a towel over his shoulder and hefted up his bag. “Anyway, I have training soon so I’ll see you tomorrow!” He walked off promptly, still struggling to keep his bag strap balanced on his shoulder.
“How is that boy still standing?” Doyoon wondered. “He must be exhausted.”
Mingyu was about to reply, but was stopped by his phone sounding out a message notification.
pleds #1 acting squad >
Today 10:55 AM
gong yoo-nim
> Hey everyone. Are you all free around 12?
me
> yes !!! why?
gong yoo-nim
> I’d like to invite you all out to lunch.
> To celebrate all our hard work so far.
seokjinnie-hyung
> hey director-nim!
> yes, namjoon and I can come~
eunji-noona
> that sounds great!!! <3
actor-hyung [a/n; Junhui]
> i’m free<3
me
> jun you’re in japan -_-
actor-hyung
> iM STILL FREE THOUGH
eunji-noona
> wait did we forget to delete jun off this chat
sohye-sshi
> lmao get out jun
> btw, i’ll come! :)
gong yoo-nim
> If you can make it Jun, we’d be happy to have you here.
actor-hyung
> i’ll buy a plane ticket back just for you guys!! <3
wonton
> shh my class ends in like, 1 minute
> btw i’ll come
me
> :O what are u doing on your phone hyung ????
wonton
> shhhhhh
seokjinnie-hyung
> oh yeah guys btw
> can I film parts of our lunch?
> it’s about time for another eat jin~
eunji-noona
> oh, your mukbang broadcast thing?
> i have no problems :)
sohye-sshi
> i lowkey love eat jin just saying
> pls film my good side
seokjinnie-hyung
> okay~
me
> WE GET TO BE ON EAT JIN ?!?
gong yoo-nim
> I have no problems. It’s good publicity.
> Anyway, meet at Room #507 at around 12, and I’ll take you from there.
namjoonie-hyung
> wait whatts happenign
actor-hyung
> I WANT TO BE ON EAT JIN WTF ?
seokjinnie-hyung
> shut up, you’re in japan and you get to eat tonnes of great food ;-;
actor-hyung
> BUT
seokjinnie-hyung
> maybe we’ll do one when you get back~
> and joonie, we’re going out for lunch
namjoonie-hyung
> wait why?
> i’m not an actor lol do i belong here
eunji-noona
> you’re our narrator~
> of course you belong here!
namjoonie-hyung
> but i only joined like last week
> i say like, 10 lines in the entire thing
> and they’re like setting descriptions LOL
> but i won’t turn down free lunch?? thank you !
eunji-noona
> lol u have a nice voice thats why ur in the play
sohye-sshi
> It was all jin’s persuasion thooooooo;)
namjoonie-hyung
> oh cool thanks .-.
“Earth to Mingyu,” Seungcheol bent down and tried to make contact with Mingyu’s eyes, which were trained intensely on his phone screen as he tried to keep up with the messages.
“Oh, sorry,” Mingyu laughed sheepishly, seeing that all three boys were looking at him curiously. “Our director just invited us out to lunch.”
“Am I invited?” Seungcheol smiled sweetly, in a joking way. Mingyu rolled his eyes.
“Nope. Only cast members allowed,” he smirked.
“I didn’t want lunch anyway,” Seungcheol said, slightly disappointed.
Mingyu didn’t realise how hungry he was until the scent of frying meat invaded his nostrils upon arriving at their destined restaurant. He had said goodbye to Seungcheol, Jungkook and Doyoon, met up with Wonwoo after his class and roamed around the university until it was time to meet the others.
“You look kinda sweaty,” Eunji commented upon meeting up with them.
“Uh... I played basketball this morning?” Mingyu said, self-consciously wiping his forehead. Eunji gave him an expression that said ‘ah, okay’.
“That’s hot,” Sohye teased jokingly, her serious expression throwing Mingyu off a little. Somehow, the girl always managed to intimidate him.
Their director, Gong Yoo, had reserved them a table at the far back corner of the establishment. It seemed like a fairly large table; more seats than they really needed.
As they approached the table, Mingyu squinted and made out two figures already sitting in the seats on the furthermost right, previously hidden by the weird corners and walls in the restaurant. Upon closer arrival, he saw that they were both drop-dead gorgeous, literal model-material teenage boys (Mingyu really had no other words to describe them in his head at that moment).
One seemed shorter than the other; he had fluffy ebony-brown hair, fair skin and literal flower-boy features. The taller one was lounged in an extremely relaxed position, stretching out his long legs under the table, hands tucked in a black leather jacket. His dark hair was swept up, revealing thick eyebrows, strong features and pink lips set in a quirky expression.
Gong Yoo turned to the group of actors, and flourished an arm towards the two boys sitting at their table. “I’d like you all to meet these two.”
The boys stood up hastily and bowed. Mingyu considered himself pretty tall, but the tallest of the two definitely stood at the same height, though he was bowing his head politely and smiling, revealing a cute dimple in his left cheek.
“Hey, I’m Baekhyun,” the shorter one smiled and bowed one more time for good measure.
“I’m Chanyeol,” the taller one said, in a surprisingly deep, smooth voice. Even deeper than Wonwoo’s.
“Wait--” Seokjin started, confused.
“They’re the people our playwright based the main characters off,” Gong Yoo explained hastily. The actors all stared in surprise.
“Yeah, we graduated from Pledis a few years back,” the shorter one - Baekhyun, apparently - said, laughing at the actors’ confused expressions. “We’re friends with the person who wrote this year’s play.”
“I jokingly asked her to name the characters after us, but I didn’t think she’d actually do it...” Chanyeol chuckled.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Eunji began to introduce herself with unwavering confidence, the rest of them following after.
“Uh-- I’m Mingyu. And I’m... playing... Baekhyun,” Mingyu stumbled over his words, not sure why he felt starstruck but still nervous all the same.
Baekhyun gave Mingyu a quizzical look but shook Mingyu’s hand firmly and smiled. “Didn’t expect the Baekhyun character to be played by someone so handsome.”
Mingyu blushed lightly at his compliment and sat down, praying he wouldn’t trip over.
Wonwoo and his counterpart - Chanyeol - seemed to be getting along perfectly. Chanyeol was extremely warm and welcoming, his and Wonwoo’s deep voices somehow melding together perfectly and Mingyu wondered what a duet by the two of them would sound like (surely, heaven).
Seokjin started a live broadcast using his phone camera and introduced them all briefly, saying he would just record for a short time while they ate. But to eat, they needed food; so they ordered quickly afterwards and fell into light conversation, ignoring the camera like Seokjin requested.
“Would you two actually perform as your characters?” Sohye asked Baekhyun and Chanyeol curiously.
Chanyeol broke into a nervous smile and glanced at Baekhyun. They both shook their heads furiously.
“We’ve acted before, but no thank you. We can’t pull off something of this calibre,” Chanyeol said.
“What are you doing now, then?” Mingyu asked. “Like, after you graduated from Pledis?”
“Chanyeol’s into composing,” Baekhyun said proudly. “I sing. We work together, and he has great vocals too.”
“But enough about us,” Chanyeol said, flustered, “How has practising this play been? I read through the script, and I was pretty shocked at the content...”
“It was a challenge, but I loved it,” Sohye grinned.
“They were both extras in the yearly production while they were still in Pledis,” Gong Yoo explained while chewing on a mouth of noodles.
“Back then, it was just your typical drama clichéd romance,” Baekhyun reminisced. “But it was really fun. I’m sure you guys had a blast practising together.”
“Definitely!” Eunji smiled warmly. “We’re like a big, disjointed family now,” she said, swinging her arm loosely around Wonwoo’s shoulders.
Mingyu noticed out of the corner of his eye that Seokjin his camera poised at a downwards angle towards their conversation. Knowing Seokjin, a lot of work had gone into perfecting that specific angle shot.
Mingyu waved shyly, still not too accustomed with being around a live camera, and Seokjin promptly brought the camera closer to his face.
“Woah, not too close,” Mingyu protested, trying to cover the camera before it got a shot at his post-spicy-hot-meal red-tinted tan skin.
“This is Mingyu,” Seokjin ignored Mingyu’s protests and zoomed in further. “He’s a little shy, but this guy... he cooks really well. Maybe he’ll cook just for me someday~”
The rest of the table soon learned that not only was Kim Seokjin a teller of bad jokes galore, but he had finally found his match; Jeon Wonwoo.
Seokjin handed his camera to his roommate, Namjoon - who seemed to be far too used to this - and poked at the potatoes on his plate. “You know, I actually have so many jokes about potatoes... but I just don’t know where to starch.”
Wonwoo scoffed, but maintained a playful expression. “Seriously? That was terrible... Lettuce talk about something else.”
When the whole table erupted into a groan so loud it attracted almost the entire restaurants’ stares, Seokjin laughed profusely and turned off the livestream after a cute goodbye.
“Doesn’t that get stressful?” Mingyu wondered. “Having to talk and entertain whilst still eat as prettily as possible.”
“You get used to it,” Seokjin said, “I really love doing it.”
“I bet you’ll be good at it, Mingyu,” Eunji teased, pointing a fork with noodles twirled around in Mingyu’s vague direction.
“Good at mukbang?” Mingyu asked, horrified. He felt rather self-conscious merely eating in front of others; he remembered the days when he would take dinner into his room just so he didn’t have to eat in front of Wonwoo.
“Sure. Or just a cooking show,” Sohye added. “Cooking time with Mingyu~”
“I’d watch that,” Seokjin nodded.
Mingyu gave them weird looks as if the idea was preposterous, but felt happy they believed he could do something as daunting as a cooking show. He wasn’t that great at performing in front of others as he tended to mess up more easily.
Sudden nervousness at this weakness of his overtook Mingyu’s senses as he realised that tomorrow was going to the first and final presentation of the play they had practised hard for months on. Casting agents, friends, family, and everyone in between were going to be there; and whether he liked it or not, their scrutinising eyes would make or break a good portion of Mingyu’s future afterwards.
If he felt this nervous, he wondered how Wonwoo was holding up. The latter looked relaxed and comfortable; casually engaging in conversation with Baekhyun and Chanyeol.
He hoped nothing would go wrong the next day.
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[APARTMENT #104; Yoon Jeonghan, Hong Jisoo]
“So you actually ended up rejecting her?” Hansol pushed, leaning closer to Chan, causing the younger to instinctively lean back.
“For the tenth time, yes,” Chan sighed, leaving the kitchen counter to help himself to juice from the fridge.
“What are you doing?” Jeonghan called out from his laid-back position on the couch, squinting suspiciously at Chan. He’d cut his hair slightly shorter recently; saying he wanted a break from the commitment that was long hair.
“Getting some juice,” Chan said innocently, already pouring himself a glass.
Jeonghan narrowed his eyes but buried himself back in his phone.
Chan and Hansol had just finished an impromptu maths session with Jisoo; with Jeonghan and Seungkwan watching warily from the living room. As Jisoo had been hospitalised for a few days, they hadn’t managed to catch up with him and consolidate in time for their exams.
Chan didn’t want to tell Jisoo that he’d barely passed his maths exam in fear that the elder would blame himself for it. He knew it was his fault Jisoo had gotten injured in the first place. He was sick of troubling others and wondered when it was his turn to actually give back instead of take everything like he’d done his whole life; from his parents, from his brother, and now from his friends too.
“I think I’ll head up to Cheol’s,” Chan said as he left his glass in the sink. He’d spent so much time in Jeonghan and Jisoo’s apartment that it was beginning to feel like a second home.
His third home was slowly become Seungcheol’s apartment. The elder, despite being a literal 5-year-old 90% of the time, was a good person to lean on and confide in. It’d started off as casual talks in the elevator, and had recently grown to almost daily visits and talk sessions. They supported each other; because Seungcheol had his fair share of problems, and whether petty or not, Chan tried to help.
Chan was glad he found an external source to confide in, since his brother had fixed opinions and couldn’t give a different view on the matter. He was thankful he got to meet Seungcheol, Jisoo, and everyone else around him; even Jeonghan (with whom he had a somewhat love-hate relationship with).
“Oh, can you tell him to answer my messages?” Jeonghan called. “He keeps ignoring me.” Chan couldn’t see him at eye level because he was far too sunken into the couch (his natural habitat).
“Uh, sure?” Chan laughed. “See you Hansol, Seungkwan. Take care, Jisoo!”
Jisoo hobbled into the kitchen from the bathroom; still somewhat struggling with his crutches. Chan felt a pang of guilt. “Come back anytime!”
The sound of the door slamming resounded in the quiet apartment, causing Jisoo to flinch slightly. He plopped himself down onto the couch with a sigh, resting his fractured leg on the coffee table, something he’d never do normally. Jeonghan started whispering about something, and they were soon engrossed in their own conversation.
Seungkwan buried his nose in his phone in an attempt to discourage conversation with Hansol. But Hansol was one of the friendliest and nicest people on Earth, so it wasn’t like the boy could keep quiet for longer than 5 minutes.
Hansol flopped down onto Seungkwan’s lap, acting rather cheerful for someone who was literally rejected by his ‘first love’. “What do I do, Kwan? About Chae.”
“You eat cereal and get over it,” Seungkwan blurted out bluntly.
Hansol sat up, surprised. “Hm. Okay. But I feel so awkward whenever I see her around school. We’re still friends...”
“Have you talked to her since?” Seungkwan raised an eyebrow. Hansol hadn’t brought up the issue for the past few days, and he thought it’d been forgotten.
“It’s just bugging me,” Hansol sighed, rolling over on the couch, shirt riding up slightly. His position was just 100 levels of unfair and Seungkwan scoffed in an attempt to hide his bashfulness. “She did text me lots afterwards, apologising because she couldn’t find me. I never knew she liked Chan though! And I can’t help but feel Chan turned her down because of me.”
Seungkwan flicked Hansol’s forehead. “How did you not know she liked Chan?” He didn’t want to admit that he had, in fact, never considered that possibility, but he was somewhat thankful it turned out that way. Fate worked in mysterious ways, and maybe just once, the universe decided to favour the boy from Jeju.
“Was it really that obvious?” Hansol asked, confused.
“Yeah. You’re just stupid,” Seungkwan tutted.
“Thanks,” Hansol grinned, not offended in the slightest. He always seemed to take Seungkwan’s insults as endearing compliments. “I guess that’s that, then.”
“Giving up so easily?” Seungkwan asked tentatively, heart rate rising dangerously. He always hated to admit that Seungcheol was right in that Seungkwan valued his relationship with Hansol as far beyond friendship; but just hearing it being said out loud all but confirmed his feelings.
Seungkwan guessed that acceptance was the key; his heart felt lighter, and he could talk to Hansol without stuttering, their random acts of skinship and 2AM bants returning in full force, just like it was before Seungkwan developed weird teenage hormonal feelings for his best friend.
“Yo, lovebirds,” Jeonghan interrupted, waving his hand in front of Seungkwan’s face. “We’re thinking pizza for early dinner before the play. Wanna contribute some cash?”
“Sure, but you’ll probably eat half of it,” Hansol rolled his eyes, sitting up and running his hand through his hair, sweeping his bangs up over his head and revealing his forehead in the process.
Nowadays, Seungkwan noticed these things. The little things that made Choi Hansol so beautiful. He wondered what entity allowed such a piece of perfection to befriend an awkward, bumbling, chubby-cheeked boy.
Jisoo began talking to Hansol in English, as he often did; all Seungkwan could catch with his limited knowledge was ‘let him be’ and something about cheese. Jeonghan pouted after hitting Jisoo on the head.
“After everything I’ve done,” Jeonghan sighed dramatically, tone indicating this was an ongoing issue, “I practically quit helping out with the prop preparations just to see you in hospital. I even brought you flowers and yet, you still--”
“Stop,” Jisoo bopped Jeonghan’s nose. “You didn’t even get paid. I’m sure you just used me as an excuse to ditch.”
“They needed me, Jisoo,” Jeonghan ran his hands through his hair, a gesture that was innocent enough but somehow looked y. “I ditched them for you. Yet every time Hansol is here, you two are off in your American world~”
“Sorry,” Jisoo didn’t sound apologetic at all, his voice teasing and mouth upturned, “I’ll teach you more English.”
“That’s not--”
“As much as I love you two, are we getting pizza or not?” Hansol said, rubbing his stomach.
“Yeah. I’ll pay,” Jisoo resolved, looking pointedly at Jeonghan who settled back on the couch in satisfaction. “But I get to pick what pizza.”
“No,” Jeonghan back sat up suddenly, “No, please, anything but pineapple.”
“I love pineapple,” Jisoo said nonchalantly.
“I’ll tell your parents,” Jeonghan pointed at Jisoo. “I have their numbers. I’ll call them.”
“What, and tell them I’m buying Hawaiian pizza? Wow, sue me.”
“Are your parents still here?” Hansol asked, diverting the conversation.
“Yeah, they’re leaving tomorrow. But they said they’d go to Mingyu and Wonwoo’s play later.”
“Cool, I’d love to meet them,” Hansol said excitedly. Jeonghan’s expression turned apprehensive and Jisoo laughed and pushed his shoulder.
Seungkwan silently took out his phone to order himself (because he really just wanted food, after thinking about pizza) but was stopped when it dinged; followed by three other different message ringtones from the others in the room.
All four of them looked at their phones as they received the same group chat notification; ‘OPERATION CANDY CANE’. Since most people in the thirteen-person group chat were friends, it was weird when four in the same room would be texting simultaneously.
OPERATION CANDY CANE >
Today 5:17 PM
beloved seokmin hyung [a/n; in Seungkwan’s POV]
> yo guys wassssuuuup
> beloved seokmin hyung renamed this group ‘SEVENTEEN SQUAD’ <
010-XXXX-0211
> ???
vernonie
> why seventeen squad
> arent there 13 people in this chat
soonshine
> HEY SEOKMINIEEEE
woozi hyung
> jfc what’s happening
beloved seokmin hyung
> tru but we live in apartment block SEVENTEEN
010-XXXX-0211
> OH LOL NICE
church senpai
> very nice !
soonshine
> yo who r u with the 0211 number
scoops
> wow srsly sungming why did u use this chat again
> i deleted it lmao
010-XXXX-0211
> i/m chan
> seokmin’s bro
jeongjeong
> my baby ~
soonshine
> oooo ok hey chan!
> what shall i name u in my phone ...
scoops
> if chan is ur baby who is jisoo
church senpai
> don’t anser that
channie
> dino~
minghow
> wassssuuuuppppppp
woozi hyung
> ... is there a point you’d like to make here, seokmin?
scoops
> no, answer me jeonghan
jeongjeong
> but you never answer my messages ???
soonshine
> oh sry chan
beloved seokmin hyung
> u guys all coming to gyu&woo’s play l8r???
soonshine
> i accidentally typed ‘dano’ instead of dino LOL IT’LL DO
> IS THE PLAY TONIGHT OMG
beloved seokmin hyung
> yep !!!
channie
> dano ???
beloved seokmin hyung
> chan where u at ???
channie
> at cheol’s
> we’re heading 2 pleds soon
soonshine
> DO U WANT ME TO CARYY U THERE JOSH
church senpai
> no need
> it’ll be a hard carry
woozi hyung
> get well soon.
soonshine
> hARD CARRYHAE~
junwho
> good luck, our minwon ♥
soonshine
> JUNEEEEEE
> how’s japan ??!?!? DID U GET ME YURI ON ICE MERCH
woozi hyung
> wait what time does the play start again
junwho
> um, im on set right now but
> i went to akihabara earlier w/ the cast and i found some posters of hella homo dudes
> they were pretty hot lolol
scoops
> i think doors open 6pm
junwho
> (but not hotter than me)
vernonie
> whats your drama about anyway jun-hyung ??
woozi hyung
> ok cool, thanks
scoops
> dont think about leaving this group chat hoon
woozi hyung
> i won’t. yet.
junwho
> not allowed to say~ secret !!!
church senpai
> congrats on landing the role btw, jun~
soonshine
> boooooo ur no fun:(
junwho
> lol thanks!!
> make sure to watch the drama
> airing this feb~
soonshine
> SEND ME PICCS
junwho
> wait... of the merch, or of me?
minghow
> the internet doesnt need more of your selfies, jun ㅜㅜ [a/n; in Chinese]
junwho
> oh but i guess one spoiler i could make ...
> my fellow cast member~
> junwho sent a photo.
soonshine
> WAIT HOLY ISNT THAT HEECHUL
> also send me merch pics pls
beloved seokmin hyung
> WAIT THATS KIM HEECHUL :O :o :O
channie
> are you guys long lost brothers or something !?!?
scoops
> #TWINNING
channie
> NEXT TO EACH OTHER, YOU GUYS SRSLY LOOK LIKE TWINS???
junwho
> IKR IM SO STARSTRUCK
> we arent brothers i swear but in the drama i play his (hotter) younger bro ;)
vernonie
> GET ME AN AUTOGRAPH OMG
woozi hyung
> what’s he like?
junwho
> i’ve asked him before, and he said he’ll charge me for a sign :(
> hmmmmmm
> he’s really....
> gay
woozi hyung
> ??????
junwho
> in the best way possible
> he’s one of the chillest guys ever
> vry fun
With a sudden pang of hunger taking over his curiosity in what was happening in the group chat, Seungkwan muted notifications and looked up at the other three as he remembered what he got his phone out to do in the first place. “So are we getting pizza or not?”
[a/n]
okokok so i know i said last chapter that this one would be meanie performing the play, but this is already 5000 words. so i just decided to post this first lmao
IT'S DEFINITELY THE NEXT ONE THOUGH, i've nearly finished it. but i have a physics test i'm so screwed for on tuesday so i'll see how fast i can upload the next chapter lol
(maybe this week???)
anyway thank you for reading <3
PS. GUYSSSS WHATS UP WITH SEVENTEEN BEING SO ACTIVE ALL OF A SUDDEN
ALL THE FB LIVES, IG LIVES, PICTURES,
ANOTHER SEASON OF ONE FINE DAY IN JAPAN ??!?!?!?
WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE I LOVE THESE BOYS SM
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