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‘Humph,’ is the sound that announces Chanyeol’s arrival at the lunch table. Seungwan, Sehun and Joohyun are already there. The two band mates are discussing changes to the bass line they’ve made in one of the songs; Joohyun is quietly eating by their side. ‘So I’ve already heard at least four theories as to what’s happened with Yixing and Joohyun, and it’s only lunch time.’

‘People talk about Yixing?’ Sehun looks up, apprehensively. Chanyeol shrugs.

‘I mean, after all he’s a wealthy heir of a Chinese media empire who became part of the local gang and got caught up in drug dealing in the neighbourhood, so they beat him up. Wait, or wasn’t he a drug dealer that stole a million quid from the king of the British underground..?’

‘Oh, sod off,’ Sehun grumbles, making his friend laugh.

‘Seriously though, have they even heard his Swansea accent? I almost laughed the first time he opened his mouth. Nobody with that accent would ever be taken seriously in the crime wor- ouch!’ He cowers when Sehun elbows him in the ribs.

‘Funny you should say that, with your indistinguishable Yorkshire mumbling,’ Seungwan mutters, but not quietly enough. Chanyeol sends her a mockingly affronted look.

‘Just because us, noble people of York, do not sound like we have ten overcooked minced meat balls in our mouths, does not mean-‘

‘My point being,’ Seungwan raises her voice right then, deciding it’s time to drown the complaints of her friend. ‘We have other things to worry about than what people say about Yixing. People in this school are not dumb – well, most of them are actually, but you know what I mean. They are not stupid, everyone will soon connect the dots. Sehun and Yixing suddenly dating, Yixing in stitches and Joohyun out of the Purity Club and suddenly hanging around us. Instead of encouraging them, you’d best just ignore.’

When Sehun and Chanyeol begin exchanging opinions on the matter, Seungwan looks at Joohyun who has been silent the entire conversation. The younger has caught the brunette casting uneasy glances towards the table that she used to sit at – the one in the right corner of the hall, just next to that one old vending machine filled literally only with Irn-Bru (although Seungwan hates Irn-Bru, she used to spend a significant amount of time - and money - on the soft drink, just so she could stare at Joohyun a few seconds longer). Today it’s only Seulgi Kang sitting there alone, mindlessly shuffling her broccoli around on her plate. Much like Joohyun, she doesn’t seem to have much of an appetite.

‘Are you and Seulgi not talking or something..?’ Seungwan leans in, trying to catch Joohyun’s eye. The older sighs into her pasta.

‘How would you react if your best friend prayed for her brother’s salvation one moment but then joined him at the sinners’ table the next?’

‘…This is the sinners’ table?’ Seungwan grins and Joohyun sighs again.

‘Figures that’s the only thing you’ve picked up on.’

‘No, I mean… you still live with her. Can’t you talk to her?’

‘I have, but it’s a bit more complicated than that. She’s my friend, but she’ll listen to Junmyeon, so there’s nothing more to say between us. I mean, I understand. Until literally yesterday, I was the one to tell her you will all rot in hell. I can’t blame her for being confused.’

‘Are you moving out of your room, then?’

‘No, she’s still my friend. It’s just that… my priorities are different now, so it’ll be quiet between us, I guess.’

‘What’s on your agenda for today, sis?’ Sehun asks, interrupting the quiet exchange between the girls. Joohyun looks at him with a small smile.

‘Not much - I’m done with class for today. I thought of going to the office and see what I can do about finding another room for… for your boyfriend.’ Seungwan thinks that only a light stutter to the word is some kind of start - if not the most promising one, then at least something. ‘He’ll be out of the infirmary by tomorrow and I just don’t think it’s safe for him to return to his room with Junmyeon.’

‘You don’t have to worry about that,’ a new voice interrupts them, Seungwan cranes her neck to look over her shoulder. Minseok Kim stops by their table on his way out of the cafeteria. He’d been seated with some of his friends from year 13 all this while. ‘I saw him moving his stuff to the third floor last night.’

‘At least it’s not any close to us,’ Chanyeol exhales in an exaggerated manner. ‘Imagine running into him every time you want to take a piss. Nightmare.’

‘He’s gonna share with Johnny Andrews from year 12. Rings any bells?’

‘Oh, yeah. That guy is pretty strange, never speaks to anyone,’ Sehun frowns. ‘He’s in my advanced Calculus class. I have a feeling he’ll drive Junmyeon crazy before the end of the week.’

‘Oh, great. I already like the guy,’ Minseok snorts. Then he turns to Joohyun. ‘Neither I nor Jongin want you in our house, just so you know. But if you and Sehun stop by tomorrow afternoon, we can go to the nearby coffee shop. Quite frankly I’m already tired of you, Joohyun Bae, but this dude over here,’ he points to Sehun. ‘He’s like my own younger brother, so I’ll give you one last chance to disappoint me. But I don’t know about Jongin,’ is the last thing he says, before he waves at the rest of them and leaves.

‘Ok, I’m missing something here,’ Chanyeol remarks casually after a brief pause.

‘Something that does not concern you, Chanyeol Park,’ Joohyun’s tone of voice leaves no room for arguments. She stands up, tray in her hands. ‘I guess I’ll go to the library to catch up with my readings, then. Or do you need me to take some food to Yixing?’

‘Oh, no need. He’s being well fed in there. The nurse loves him,’ Sehun responds awkwardly, scratching his head in embarrassment. It still hasn’t sunk in how casual Joohyun can be about the new situation she has found herself in.

She nods and grabbing her purse on the way, leaves the three friends. Chanyeol turns to his roommate right then.

‘Ok, I believe that I speak for both of us when I say, you absolutely have to tell Seungwan and I what you and Joohyun talked about. At this point, it’s like, vital that we know.’

‘I know you mean well, both of you,’ Sehun regards his two friends with a frown on his face. ‘But it’s a family matter. Please, understand.’

‘I’m worried what lies she fed you again for you to behave this way, is all,’ Chanyeol grumbles. Sehun shakes his head. ‘She hated everything about you, but then suddenly, she’s your best friend, tagging along everywhere and playing cosy with your gay friends and caring for your boyfriend. Do you see my point..? You’re too naïve, Sehun. I just don’t think that this will end well for any of us,’ he ends in a hushed tone.

‘It’s not about taking sides, Chanyeol,’ Sehun looks at him seriously. ‘You’re lucky that your family is not as dysfunctional as mine, but if you ever find yourself at odds with your older sister, you’ll understand that it’s not that simple. Joohyun doesn’t hate me – she used to, and probably still does, hate the idea of me doing things that she doesn’t believe in – but she doesn’t hate me. She’s worried about me. It’s just that after what happened between Junmyeon and Yixing, she’s decided that our relationship is more important to her than whatever she was holding on to before.’

‘That… does not persuade me one bit,’ Chanyeol admits and Sehun shrugs.

‘It doesn’t have to. You don’t have to believe her – just believe me, I know what I’m doing. I’m not that easily swayed, you know.’

‘Can you at least let us know what’s up with you and Minseok? Are you two going to visit him and Jongin?’ Seungwan chips in, looking at her friend apprehensively.

‘I asked her to try and make amends,’ Sehun admits and Chanyeol’s eyes narrow in distaste. ‘I know, it won’t be easy – and it’ll be completely justified if Jongin never wants to talk to her after this. I don’t want them to be friends again – that would be foolish to even wish for. I just want my sister to really understand what she did, and I want Jongin to get some sort of closure.’

‘And Joohyun agreed to this?’ Seungwan asks, not even hiding the surprise in her voice.

‘She did. I told her that if she wanted us to work, she had to change. She approached Minseok last night and he said he’d think about talking to her. I guess he made up his mind.’ Sehun looks at Chanyeol pointedly. ‘I told you, I’m not stupid. I’m not going to let my family ruin me again. But Joohyun is my family still, and I can’t just cross her out like that when she’s the one who reached out to me first.’

‘All right, then. I guess we’ll give her the benefit of the doubt, but if she pulls one on us again, I’ll literally bite her head off,’ Chanyeol warns, making both Sehun and Seungwan snort. It’d sooner be the other way around.

‘And you,’ the tallest turns to Seungwan. ‘Stick to her like glue, got it? We need to keep an eye on her, just in case. But no funny business,’ he adds quickly, catching a grin forming on Seungwan’s lips.

Too late.

‘Hey, Joohyun!’ Seungwan catches the older girl just outside the library. The brunette turns around, frowning in silent question.

‘Is there something I can help you with?’ Joohyun’s voice is measured carefully, trying to keep up the kind appearances. Three days ago, she would have rolled her eyes and grimaced. Now she looks more like a person already resigned to her fate of having to associate with all of her younger brother’s derailed friends.

‘Yes, actually. You said you didn’t have anything particular planned for this afternoon… and you did such a good job on my hair last time…’Seungwan points to the bag she’s brought with herself, grinning widely. ‘Mind giving me a hand?’

‘Of all colours you could have chosen, you chose blue..?’ Joohyun should not be surprised, really, but she still is. Or more like, completely astonished. Yeah, that’s more like it. ‘This will look even worse that the red you had before.’

‘Can you not somehow make it look better, though? You seem to have magic fingers,’ Seungwan whines, not expecting Joohyun to actually chuckle.

‘Not even all the magic in the world could remedy this certain atrociousness. Are you absolutely sure about this? Aren’t there any other wild colours that you could try, maybe?‘

‘It wasn’t my choice, ok? I promised, and I always keep my promises.’

‘Do you now?’ Joohyun raises one eye brow sceptically, but still unpacks the bottle of the hair dye entrusted to her.

‘I do, to people that matter to me,’ Seungwan repeats, this time with more conviction. ‘I gave my word to Chanyeol, now I have to bear the consequences,’ she sighs dramatically. The sounds that escapes Joohyun’s lips is something between a scoff and a airy laugh.

‘I should have guessed it was Chanyeol Park’s idea. I really cannot fathom why both you and my brother like him so much.’ Seungwan shrugs.

‘He’s a good guy. You’ll see for yourself if you stick around longer.’

‘Does he also have a boyfriend I should know about?’

‘Ha! He wishes,’ Seungwan laughs before she can help herself.

‘What does that mean?’

‘…Nothing.’ Realising that she’s almost given away her best friend’s secret crush, she shrugs. ‘He’s a loser, who’d want to date him,’ she finishes lamely. Joohyun smiles, clearly not believing her.

‘Five seconds ago he was a good guy,’ she points out just for the sake of it. It’s strangely refreshing to see Seungwan Son flustered.

‘He is a good guy. He’s just a total loser when it comes to love,’ Seungwan insists, watching Joohyun mix the dye with conditioner and bleach. They have relocated to the dormitory bathroom on Seungwan’s floor.

Joohyun finishes in silence and takes place behind Seungwan, who’s seated in front of the long mirror. For a moment, it seems to the younger that the other will ask about Seungwan herself and her love prospects, but she quickly discards the thought as ridiculous. Why would the brunette even care? She certainly wouldn’t.

‘I’ll try to create a fading effect, it will look more like highlights. That should do the trick,’ Joohyun announces after she is done assessing the state of Seungwan’s hair. The latter merely nods lightly. She’s quite used to always dying her hair alone and has already resigned herself to the fact that with hair like hers, there are bound to be places she can’t reach. Usually, it looks like an artistic mess, so nothing that Joohyun does to her can possibly make Seungwan look worse than her usual routine does.

The older student is right – it does look rather nice. As nice as blue hair can look, anyway – but it’s not half bad. Her strands are so damaged though, that she will have no choice but to just shave it all bald at some point, is what Seungwan thinks in passing.

‘Your roommate is not back yet?’ Joohyun observes casually, cautiously looking around when the two girls are back in Seungwan’s room. Seungwan, who is furiously drying her hair with a small towel - immediately staining it blue-ish – follows Joohyun’s line of vision.

‘Joy? Yeah. She said she’d try to get the man of her dreams in the afternoon,’ the younger chuckles.

‘Huh?’ Joohyun frowns, not understanding.

‘I guess she fancies some bloke from our school? Wouldn’t tell me who and I didn’t exactly ask. I like both my arms attached to my shoulders, thank you very much.’ Upon Joohyun’s inviting gesture, Seungwan allows the other to brush her hair out to a presentable state, but gently dismisses the suggestion for a blow dryer. It’ll take care of itself. ‘Anyway, good luck to her. Dudes are too much hassle, they’re always in your personal space when you don’t want them to.’ Seungwan wrinkles her nose in distaste.

Joohyun snickers.

‘I believe that’s only the case with Chanyeol Park and your unusual friendship with him.’

‘What’s so unusual about it? We have each other’s back. Whether we sink or swim, at least we do it in good company. Isn’t that what friends are for?’

‘Not friends of different es. Not really,’ Joohyun hums, continuing the soft movements of the brush.

‘Well, they don’t know what they’re missing out on, then.’ Catching the older’s pointed gaze in the mirror, Seungwan sighs. ‘In all honesty, him and I are as far as we can possibly be from being attracted to each other. Even if we weren’t so gay, I could never see him like that. He’s a reliable brother.’ After a moment, she adds,

‘Now that I think of it, I should have guessed Sehun wasn’t as straight as I automatically pegged him for. I mean, he never once showed interest in a human being of any gender, but I kind of am a magnet for all things homo in this school…’ Seungwan muses out loud, letting out an airy snort. She stops upon noticing the serious expression on Joohyun’s face.

‘You didn’t know that Sehun had homoual inclinations?’ The slight disbelief in the older student’s voice temporarily takes Seungwan’s mind off the fact that Joohyun just called her entire identity an inclination.

‘No, how would I know? He’s literally never looked at anyone twice in my presence.’ Joohyun sends her an odd look, like she cannot comprehend why Seungwan would even say something like that, before finally responding,

‘Has he never told you why our father sent him to the Christian camp 3 summers ago?’ Joohyun lowers her eyes to her lap, momentarily forgetting the task at hand. Seungwan cannot help but stiffen. They’re suddenly entering a very sensitive territory, considering what she knows of Joohyun’s involvement in the case.

‘He did something that your family thought was wrong. He was punished for it,’ Seungwan recounts the little she knows as calmly as she can. Sehun wasn’t willing to share, and Chanyeol seemed to have known – and was furious about it – so Seungwan became equally mad. Chanyeol’s protective instincts were never wrong and his best friend had no reason to doubt him.

Joohyun looks like she might just let the topic hang between them, but then, to Seungwan’s surprise, she opens again.

‘That summer I came home from the service earlier than my family – Sehun had claimed to not feel well, so we’d left him behind. I came back, but he wasn’t in his room. I entered, intending to merely clean up a little, I think I saw some dirty dishes on his desk from where I was standing at the threshold… But there were some other things too, poorly hidden away between his sheets. They were…’ she clears up , looking utterly uncomfortable and reddening now. ‘You know, magazines.’ She adds with an edge to her tone.

It takes Seungwan less than three seconds to understand the implication.

‘Oh, popular science,’ she nearly leers, momentarily forgetting the topic of their conversation. Joohyun frowns, not following. ‘Jazz mags?’ Seungwan adds helpfully, to which the older girl suddenly blushes hot tomato sauce colour.

‘They looked so obscene and then Sehun came back from his shower and begged me not to tell anyone,’ Joohyun finishes quietly. Seungwan hums.

‘But you did, didn’t you? Eventually.’

‘I-I told Junmyeon.’ When the singer remains silent, Joohyun looks up. Seungwan’s eyes are trained on what appears to be the most interesting wallpaper stain in the universe. ‘I was so scared. Sehun has just turned fourteen and I was scared that he was going straight to hell. I told Junmyeon the same night and asked him to pray for Sehun together. He said we should. The next morning when I woke up, it was to the sound of my father’s shouting. Junmyeon repeated everything that I confided in him.’

‘So it wasn’t you. It was your brother that ratted Sehun out to your parents,’ Seungwan bites her lower lip, nervously. She was certainly not prepared for confessions of this calibre when she brought the older to her room.

‘It was me. I should have known that the moment I betrayed his trust, it would be out in the open. I did this to him. I didn’t know any better – I thought I was doing him a favour, but I’m not going to blame Junmyeon for my own wrongdoings.

‘Seungwan, if there is one thing that you should know about Junmyeon and I is that I don’t intentionally hurt people. It took me a while, but eventually I did realise that what I thought was good for Sehun wasn’t in any way helping him. But Junmyeon goes ahead and inflicts the pain in the name of the greater good. He’s not going to be persuaded to stop persecuting Sehun, just because they happen to be related. That’s the difference between us.’

‘Why are you telling me this?’ The vocalist finally dares ask when it seems like Joohyun has finally finished her story. We’re nowhere near close enough to be talking this intimately, is what she wants to add, but doesn’t really need to. Joohyun sees right through it immediately.

‘Because I want you to understand that I’m not going to do something like that to him again. Not now when I’ve realised it causes him suffering and nothing else. I know none of you really trust me with him, and you have every right. But please don’t antagonise him against him, I’m really trying to do right by him this time.’

‘I wasn’t going to,’ Seungwan admits quietly. ‘And I think Sehun knows it as well. He knows you didn’t do it intentionally. At least, not because you liked seeing him being tortured. You’re literally the only person in your family that he still even bothers to acknowledge in any way these days.’ Seungwan takes a deep breath, not really wanting to talk about it, but feeling like she needs to. ‘But… like. You do realise that he’s gay, don’t you? No amount of patience and Christian care will change that. Quite frankly, I don’t know how you can approach him and declare your support for him when he represents everything that your religion is against. He’s not going to change, Joohyun. When Yixing gets out of the infirmary, you’ll most probably have to see them snog every once in a while, there’s no avoiding that. We’re all going to be the exact same people that we were at the beginning. If you hang around your brother but keep thinking that he’s sinning, I don’t see you go very far with this. Do you know what I’m talking about?’

‘God tells us that we should love everyone,’ Joohyun responds quietly, voice strained. It’s clear that she’s nowhere near making such a big decision regarding her beliefs.

‘But he doesn’t tell you to love sin,’ Seungwan responds right back, echoing the older’s words once voiced out in the chapel. Joohyun looks conflicted, but she eventually declares,

‘I’m going to be there for my brother no matter what. This is something between God and me. I’ll have to leave the judgement to Him.’

Before the younger has a chance to reply, the door to their room abruptly opens and reveals fuming Joy Park who looks like she’s been crying. The death grip on her textbooks turns her knuckles white and only the thickness of the volumes prevents her from snapping them in half, she looks this mad.

‘Seungwan- Oh, and Seungwan’s lady friend,’ she mindlessly greets, rendering Joohyun into speechlessness. ‘I need a drink. Now.’

Seungwan opens and closes several times, before she ultimately stands up and takes out two small wine bottle from her drawer. Joohyun shakes her head frantically, gesturing at her like the younger has gone crazy.

‘You can’t give her alcohol, she’s only fifteen!’ Then she looks around, taking in their surroundings. ‘You can’t drink in here at all. And it’s broad daylight, too,’ she tries to reason, but Seungwan shrugs hopelessly and hands Joy the bottle. Joohyun stands up in indignation. ‘Seungwan, your roommate is a minor!’

‘She’s also Joy Park and she’s dangerous. You don’t say no to Joy Park.’ That much Seungwan has managed to learn over the past few months.

‘Joy, you shouldn’t drink. Has something happened? You can tell me.’ The eldest refocuses her attention on the newcomer, hoping to distract her, but her attempts are futile. Joy pours herself a tiny amount of wine into her signature SHINee mug and having her laptop, faces Joohyun, expression quizzical.

‘Unless you’re ready to beat somebody up for me, there is no point,’ she announces, to which Joohyun can only gape stupefied.

Perhaps Seungwan should offer her own services – if that earns her any cookie points, that is.

‘Did you-‘ Seungwan clears awkwardly. ‘Did you confess to the guy you liked?’

‘He’s a . He rejected me in front of all of his friends. I’m over him – I don’t need to like a bloke who’s a total moron. Clearly, he wouldn’t be able to recognise what’s good for him if it slapped him in the face. Which I did.’

‘You slapped somebody?!’ Both Seungwan and Joohyun nearly shout in unison, looking at the youngest incredulously. ‘Who?’ Seungwan demands to know.

‘Jongdae Kim,’ Joy replies casually, her attention already on her open tumblr page.

‘Jongdae Kim… Jongdae Kim from Joohyun’s year?!’

‘…You’re fifteen.’ Joohyun’s astonishment is so raw that Seungwan would have laughed if she weren’t so mortified herself.

‘Yeah, so?’

‘So he’s eighteen. He’s too old for you. And he already has a girlfriend in another school,’ Joohyun’s attempts at making Joy understand the inappropriateness of the situation fall on deaf ears. The girl merely shrugs.

‘So? He can always break up with her. Anyway, It’s not such a big deal, I’ve already had , that’s what matters. Dudes are-‘

‘You’re already ually active?’ It’s Seungwan’s turn to act surprised, while Joohyun furiously blushes at such open manner of talking about intimacy.

‘-only after one thing, I could do it again if he wanted to,’ Joy continues, completely ignoring Seungwan’s outburst. ‘But Jongdae Kim is number one in his year, so we could have long intellectual discussions about maths and physics. He’s really smart and I need mental stimulation,’ she finishes.

‘You need to skip grades and start attending university, that’s what you need to do – you don’t need a boyfriend,’ Seungwan deadpans.

‘You’ve already been intimate with a man..?’ Joohyun repeats quietly, sitting down. She cannot find words, gawking at the youngest.

‘Yeah. Haven’t you, Seungwan?’ Joy asks, obviously ignoring Saint Joohyun and her virtue.

‘I’m nearly eighteen, so duh.’

‘You’ve been intimate with a man..?’ Joohyun turns to Seungwan, frowning. ‘But I thought you.. you know…’

‘Preferred ?’ Joy prompts, which earns her an outrageous scream from both upperclassmen – embarrassed from Seungwan, and indignant from Joohyun.

‘Don’t be vulgar, Joy Park,’ Joohyun scolds, to which the youngest only smirks.

‘You should see Seungwan in the morning, her wet dreams sure are filt-‘

‘Joy, I will murder you!’ Her roommate announces, no longer mindful of her own safety in case Joy decides to end her in her sleep later, and proceeds to tackle her. Joy fights her off, laughing hysterically.

‘All right, all right,’ she raises her hands in surrender. ‘Stop it. Want to have a drink instead?’

Seungwan shrugs and take a small sip. A few drops won’t kill her.

‘Wanna hear about the guy that I had with last summer? His looked so flat, like it was about to fall off.’ The two older girls scream again.

A/N: Who's excited for some wine and stories and Joohyun's reaction? I know I am. >.>