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Joohyun’s hands are soft, as soft as Seungwan has always imagined them to be. The older girl steps behind the singer and lets her palms fall on the latter’s shoulders, massaging them slowly. The red head cannot help but relax under the welcoming touch. She closes her eyes, relishing in the sensation.

‘You were so hot on that stage.’ Joohyun then leans in, whispering slowly right into Seungwan’s ear. ‘You got me all hot and bothered. You’re just so irresistible…’ She trails away and her hands slide lower. Seungwan’s hum turns into a quiet moan.

‘There, that’s right…’ The younger girl manages to say, her back muscles spasming in pleasure under the careful touch. It feels too good.

‘You know what else would feel good?’ Joohyun remarks at the last words that the red head involuntarily lets slip. ‘My tongue all over-‘

‘Seungwan.’

‘-all over your body. I’d start with your collarbones, and them until you’ve been covered with hickeys.’ Joohyun’s hand begins the light caress of the other’s neck.

‘Seungwan, come on.’

‘Then I would move to your stomach and hip bones. Your skin is so plump, I just want to kiss it until I make you all wet and needy.’ Seungwan gulps at the confession, trying not to show just how affected she is by the hand wandering lower and lower against her abdomen. ‘Then, for the grand finale, I’d go low and greedy your-‘

‘Seungwan Son, I swear to God! Stop and wake up, you disgusting homoual!’

The singer snaps her eyes open, blinking rapidly. The abrupt shaking is a harsh but efficient method of bringing her back to consciousness. She looks at Joy, who is still standing above her, the younger’s hands on her own hips in a sign of annoyance. She looks both exasperated and done with life.

‘Did you just call me a disgusting homoual?’ Seungwan repeats dumbly, running her fingers through her thick long hair, mostly to push it away from her face. She pulls herself up to sit on the bed, her eyes puffy and unwilling to cooperate.

‘So you are alive, after all. You bet your lazy arse i did. Don't get me wrong - I don’t really mind the gay part, but I do very much have a problem with the gross part. I never ever want to wake up to the sounds of you Joohyun Bae’s name. Ever. Again.’ Her roommate announces, before hastily adding. ‘Scratch that - don’t moan anyone else’s name, either. The sounds that you’re making are disturbing and make me uncomfortable.’

Seungwan merely hums in acknowledgement, still dazed. It was such a great dream, though. Joohyun was praising Seungwan and her music, and found her so y that she was about to go down on he-

Joy snaps her thumb and middle finger right in front of the older girl’s face in attempt to keep the latter’s attention on herself. Seungwan nearly fall back down in surprise.

‘Stop spacing out and get dressed. You have 20 minutes till the bell rings. Though a quick shower wouldn’t hurt you. Uh, that was disgusting.’ The younger shudders at the memory, picking up her bag and leaving through the door, shutting it with might.

‘Says the person who submitted a dirty gay fan fiction for the school’s literary contest!’ Seungwan mindlessly shouts out, not expecting an answer, but the door suddenly opens and Joy’s head pokes back in.

‘And won it.’ She grins devilishly before disappearing again. Seungwan can only gape, mostly because the other girl’s bold comeback rings true. Joy Park always needs to have the last word, and that’s what makes her even scarier.

Seungwan makes a mental note to stop trying to challenge her, because nothing good has ever come out of it. If the 15 year old has somehow managed to persuade the head mistress that the idiotic piece of writing that is The Adventures of Taemin and Minho greatly contributes to the ongoing discussion about uality and gender identity of contemporary teens, then she is capable of anything.

…But darn if it wasn’t a good dream. Seungwan groans for the last time and gets out of bed, picking up random pieces of her uniform lying on the floor. She can just tell that she’s going to be late for her first class anyway.

Fridays are good for one and one reason only – all students know that as soon as they are done with school, they can look forward to two days of doing nothing. Year 12 is that pleasant stage when the schedule is packed, but no actual work is done. So weekends do take the friends’ minds off studying but before that happens, they actually need to get through all those classes first and Fridays are always the longest and the most daunting in that respect.

It’s like the teachers are taking revenge on the younger generation for all the times that they themselves have been held back on Fridays during their school days.

After her Physics class that takes place just before lunch, Seungwan finally admits to herself that she urgently needs help. She has 3 weeks before midterms and she understands nothing. So far, she’s been quite good at ignoring the problem, but she knows that there is no getting away with this one. She’ll fail for sure, the school will have to contact her parents and then she’ll really be cooked.

If they call her father, he’ll cut her allowance and make her attend extracurricular class in town. If it’s her mother, Seungwan will be sent to the military academy in the US that she’s always been threatened with. The girl used to treat those empty words lightly, but the tables turned drastically when she was virtually expelled from Oakham. The red head knows that her mother is at her wits’ end and will not hesitate to do what she thinks is right for her daughter. Saving her from herself is the phrase that her parental figure has taken a special liking to.

Either way, it will mean the end of music, contact with friends and life as she knows it in general. And that prospect is terrifying.

‘Baekhyun. Hey, Baekhyun!’ She calls after her classmate the moment she spots him in the crowd. He’s walking towards the canteen with Jongdae Kim, an upperclassman. Chanyeol, who’s been checking his phone all this while, stiffens and immediately looks up.

Baekhyun Byun turns around, reciprocating the girl’s wave, albeit looking a bit surprised. Seungwan quickens her steps to catch up with the two boys and her tall friend has no other choice but to hesitantly follow.

Seungwan nods at Jongdae, before turning to her classmate.

‘I was wondering if you’d be interesting in helping me with Physics. I’ll pay you, of course. The midterm is coming up and I can’t afford to blow it. My life is already hanging by the thread as it is.’

‘Well…’ Baekhyun his lips unsurely, clearly taken aback by the sudden offer.

‘Come to think of it, this tall oaf right here might have to join us as well.’ The girl motions at the red head drummer, who continues standing by her side, appearing totally petrified. He gasps almost inaudibly at the mention of his own name, but gives no further indication of having heard the insult that his best friend just described him with. ‘We need help - desperately. Just name your price. Anything to keep my parents off my case.’

Baekhyun stares Chanyeol up and down warily, before turning to Jongdae as if seeking his silent approval. The latter shrugs and tilts his head in a why not? sort of encouragement.

‘I guess there is no harm in meeting up and seeing if we can make it work…’ The boy in question finally replies, smiling. Seungwan grins.

‘Brilliant. We’ll be the best students you’ve ever had. Since we’re desperate and all.’ They all chuckle good naturedly and part ways soon after, having exchange phone numbers.

Seungwan eventually enters the canteen, her thoughts still on the subject of tutoring, but also anxious to see if she can spot Joohyun anywhere - but the older either hasn’t come in yet, or she is otherwise occupied, which shouldn’t come as a surprise but is still disappointing. Sighing lightly to herself, she joins the queue in the cafeteria, completely missing her tall best friend’s bewildered expression and the frantic gestures that he’s been making to himself. When they sit down, the singer finally notices Chanyeol’s inner struggle.

He opens his mouth to say something, only to eventually close it again, being totally lost for words.

‘What was that?’ Seungwan guesses out loud and the boy nods, still agitated. ‘I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you. I sat with him at lunch two days ago, it was a complete accident. We talked for like 5 seconds.’

‘5 seconds that I should have known about two days ago.’ Chanyeol eventually recovers from the shock, whining in protest. Seungwan cannot help but chuckle – Baekhyun Byun really is Chanyeol Park’s only kryptonite, even if the chances of the former ever finding out about it are close to zero. Baekhyun might be a total nerd, but he’s also pretty funny and quite popular with their female classmates. But even his apparent heterouality does not prevent Chanyeol from pining after him.

Seungwan briefly wonders if she’s made the right decision by bringing Chanyeol along for the tutoring sessions, because the last thing that she wants is to creep Baekhyun out with the drummer’s disturbingly longing stares. She really needs to pass her midterm.

Joohyun Bae and Seulgi Kang live two floors above and five rooms to the left from Seungwan, and when the latter is not busy attending class, frequenting her friends’ basements to practice with her band or bumming around behind the school gym, she likes to spend her time, lying down on her bed and staring at the ceiling, imagining different scenarios involving herself and the upperclassman. If her own roommate is present, Seungwan keeps them relatively innocent (because she swears that Joy can somehow read her mind), but when she’s out, that’s when the red head lets her mind wander.

Unfortunately for her, the younger girl is seated at her desk, getting excited over something that she has found online. She’s on the phone with Yerim, no doubt, even though her best friend lives one floor below them. Seungwan calls that the ultimate sign of laziness. Apparently, Taemin touched Minho’s elbow again and Minho had that look in his eyes, and Seungwan badly wants to roll her own, except that mentions of physical contact bring her back to the glory that was her morning wet dream and she settles down again, forgetting all about celebrity a, because she has her own to re live.

If only she was allowed to go out and knock on Joohyun’s door. If only she had a reason to do so… But it’s ten o’clock and her head is empty. If she just goes and flashes the older girl her best embarrassed toothy grin, she will surely be snapped at and have the door shut in her face. Those three seconds are not even worth getting up for, in Seungwan’s humble opinion.

Then again, she’s probably feeling creepy enough to just stand at Joohyun’s door, trying to eavesdrop on what’s going on inside.

The singer makes a rapid move to get off the bed, new found energy in her step as she approaches the mirror to take a quick look at the state of her eye bags. She tries not to push the school’s strict regulations about makeup too much – seeing how the girl’s impossibly red hair has already crossed several of the head mistress’ personal limits – but it’s difficult sometimes, because it’s a fact universally acknowledged that there is no courtship without attraction, but in order for the attraction to happen, one must first get rid of those disastrous dark circles under their eyes.

Unless you are Joohyun Bae, you usually need to help the nature here and there.

‘If you’re planning on spending the night on your knees outside Joohyun’s door, can you, please, do me a favour and come back only after 7 ‘o’clock? You know that I’m a light sleeper.’ Joy calls after the older, not taking her eyes away from the photos on her laptop. Her voice seems devoid of any emotion, as if she’s reprimanding a five year old, but it doesn’t really offend Seungwan, mainly because the latter has long acknowledged her roommate’s intellectual superiority.

‘How do you know where I’m headed? I could be going to Chanyeol’s for all you know.’ Comes Seungwan’s baffled reply, mortified at being caught yet again. Joy snorts lightly and the red head can just tell that her affronted reply has just unnecessarily prolonged the conversation that the younger clearly doesn’t feel like having. Since she can see right through people and their lies only waste her precious time… and all that.

‘Please. Last time you went to see your idiot friend in a shirt that to my knowledge, had been lying underneath your bed for several weeks, and when I pointed out the smell, you told me that he would have to it up. So you understand that it’s hardly plausible you would suddenly start putting makeup on for his sake.’

‘Fine, you win. I’m gonna make a quick round and come back soon, don’t worry.’ Seungwan reassures Joy, to which the girl just shrugs.

‘I couldn’t care less. Just remember not to come back before 7. If I wake up any earlier, I’ll get cranky and I have a long day ahead.’

‘It’s Saturday tomorrow.’ Seungwan points out, feeling like she’s missing some vital information, and sure enough, Joy is quick to remind her.

‘Collective streaming of SHINee’s new video starts at 8 o’clock. Do you realise how time consuming and energy draining is simultaneously playing all those videos at five different devices? Don’t expect me out before dinner.’ Joy declares in the tone of finally that leaves Seungwan speechless. For a second or two, she actually wracks her brain for an answer to something so outrageous, before realising that there is nothing that she could possibly reply with, so she just huffs exasperated and exits the room. Joy’s gaze never leaves her favourite singers.

Fangirls.

Seungwan ascends the stairs slowly, taking her time to analyse the situation. She’s left their room on a whim and now she has absolutely no idea what to do. Is she really going to just stand outside Joohyun Bae’s door? More importantly, does she feel like annoying the older? Truth be told, the more time she spends with Joohyun, the more interest the red head loses in riling the other up. Because Joohyun Bae’s life seems more and more miserable with every minute Seungwan spends in her company and although the latter is a bit of a up, she has never thought of herself as unnecessarily mean.

That, and she doesn’t really feel that she has the right to meddle in whatever is going on between the president and Seungwan’s friends. At least that’s what she tells herself.

She needn’t have worried about her situation too much, though, because the moment she arrives at the top floor of the dormitory, a dull echo of somebody’s whispered conversation reaches her ears immediately. And not just anyone’s – Joohyun Bae is on the phone, her back to Seungwan and staring out of the corridor window. She’s already changed to her baby blue cotton pyjamas.

‘-him. You’ve met his parents.’ Joohyun calmly narrates, her free hand fumbling with the curtain. The decoration has been added by the building’s administration in hopes of creating homely atmosphere, but in reality it does little more than just catch dust. ‘I’ll properly introduce him when you come next Sunday, I promise.’

There is a shuffling on the other side of the receiver – Seungwan can just about hear it because of the abnormal silence surrounding the two girls. She knows she should probably leave now, but she can’t bring herself to. So as terrible as it looks, she just continues her accidental eavesdropping.

‘I don’t know, mother. I’ve been meeting him for less than two weeks. But he’s a gentleman and a good Christian, I promise. Ask Junmyeon.’

Seungwan frowns, now completely puzzled. Joohyun is meeting somebody? But when, what about that whole affair with Yixing..?

‘Oh, all right. Good night, mother.’ Joohyun’s hand no longer the curtain – now it involuntarily tightens around it. ‘Hello, father.’ She listens to the elder’s words for a moment before reply. ‘And with you. Amen.’

Seungwan slides down the wall, taking a seat just around the corner from the ongoing situation. If Alice, the dormitory rep, found her now, it would certainly mean more than just a few minus points for the red head, but she can’t bring herself to care. Instead, she just listens to the conversation intently.

‘You know Yixing, father. He and Junmyeon have been friends forever.’ Joohyun lowers her head, a sign of silent surrender. ‘Yes, sir.’ She replies to the question that Seungwan cannot hope to hear, but either way, she’s too dumbfounded to go past the fact that Joohyun and Yixing are apparently dating now?

When did that happen?

‘No, father… Junmyeon doesn’t want to be the president of the Union. He doesn’t need to be for us to be able to support each other. I’ve prepared everything carefully, I- Yes, yes of course. Junmyeon will lead the prayer on Sunday.’

Seungwan doesn’t really need to see Joohyun’s face to hear the bitterness in her voice.

‘Yes, Sehun has been good. He’s been attending church regularly and I think he’s trying to mend his ways.’ Big fat lie, Seungwan nearly snickers out loud, but stops herself at the last moment. Sehun is as close to proclaiming his respect for the Union as Chanyeol is to dating Baekhyun Byun. ‘I’ll keep an eye on him, no need to bother yourself.’ Seungwan nearly rolls her eyes, because if this is what  Joohyun calls supervision, she’s not doing a very good job of it. In fact, the girl doesn’t seem to know the first thing about her own brother. ‘Right. Good night, father. I will see you on Sunday.’

If Seungwan had any desire to expose herself right that moment, it would certainly disappear along with Joohyun’s haste steps and rather loud sniffing. So the red head waits a moment, until she’s absolutely sure that she won’t be discovered and goes back to her own room, lost in thought.

It’s 11 o’clock and the lights are already out, but the moment Seungwan puts her foot over the threshold, she gets struck by a flying pillow.

‘I hate you so much.’ Joy declares with a loud groan, her REM phase clearly interrupted.

Oops.

A/N: Sorry for being MIA, I thought I could handle AFF along with all the things happening in my life, but clearly I couldn't. I should be back to posting regularly from now on, about every 10 days or so. This chapter is a bit shorter, but I'll be back to my usual 4-5k words starting next chapter.Thanks for waiting and have a nice day!