Jongup huddled tighter under his bedsheets, blocking out the world around him. He'd wasted the weekend like this, hidden away from the world with his DS in his hands and ignoring the classes that he had the next day. Things were much simpler in his game: he had to defeat a huge evil organisation, catch the legendary and save the region. Simple. No boys trying to do things to him or anything complicated. Very simple.

The sound of his door opening caught his attention and it was shortly followed by Junhong's voice saying, “Uppie, Daehyun's at the door,” in a soft tone.

“Tell him to go away,” he groaned.

His door clicked shut and Jongup relaxed a little, thinking the younger dancer had left, but instead was surprised by a weight settling on his bed.

“What happened between you two? Did you have a fight?” Junhong asked, pulling back enough of the duvet to expose Jongup's face.

“No.” He grabbed the sheet and covered his face again, scowling.

Junhong pulled back the duvet again, holding it up so the older couldn't grab it back down. “He said he's been trying to contact you since you two went out the other day.”

Jongup tugged uselessly on his bedding.

“Come on, bro, spill. What happened?”

Jongup grumbled and saved his game, knowing he wasn't going to escape. “We got really drunk at Jackson's party...”

“Okay.”

“And we were dancing.”

“Uhuh.”

“And Daehyun asked me out.”

Junhong's eyebrows shot up. “Did you say yes?”

“I kissed him.”

Junhong's eyebrows managed to rise even more. “You kissed him? So... That's basically a yes, right?”

Jongup fidgeted with the buttons on his DS. “Yeah, I guess. That's what I meant by it.”

“Wow, you're actually dating someone. I didn't really expect- Not that I thought you wouldn't find someone, I just... You never seemed interested.”

“That's because I wasn't.”

“Right. Right.” Junhong nodded. “So... Wait, if you essentially said yes to dating him, how come you're not talking to him?”

“He tried to get into my pants.”

“Oh.” Junhong blinked. “Oh. Oh , you haven't told him?”

“Why would I have told him?” Jongup glared at the younger. “It's not something you say to someone when you meet. Hey, nice to meet you, I'm Jongup. By the way, the thought of makes me really uncomfortable and I never want to do it ever. Sounds a bit weird.”

“Okay, I get you.” Junhong sighed. “So why didn't you just tell him then?”

Jongup shifted to bury himself into his bed more, despite Junhong trying to stop him from hiding. “I didn't...Want to...”

“Why?”

“Because...” He groaned and yanked the duvet back over himself, and the younger let him. “I feel stupid.”

“Why?”

Jongup buried his face in his hands despite being completely hidden under the bedding. “Uuugghh, I don't know. Someone's actually interested in me and all I'm going to do is let them down?”

“Bro you're not letting him down.”

“Uuugghhhh.”

“Jongup.”

“Uuuuuuggghhhhhhh...”

“Bro I swear to God I will fight you on this. Look, you gotta tell him either way because all you're doing is making things more difficult for yourself. If he's not okay with it then you can go back to wallowing and we'll build a blanket fort and you can kick my on Street Fighter. Or, since this is Daehyun we're talking about, he'll be totally cool with it and you can build a blanket for with him and kick his on Street Fighter.”

Jongup huffed and rolled over to face away from his best friend, not that it made much difference.

“Dude, come on. Get washed and dressed. Or at least dressed. Daehyun's still at the door and he at least deserves some kind of response, right?”

Jongup huffed.

“I'll delete all your armour and weapons on League.”

Jongup flipped back the duvet to glare at his friend. “You wouldn't dare.”

“I might.” Junhong smirked.

“You don't even know my password.”

“Literally everyone knows its ShingekiNoJongup94. So get up.”

The older shifted himself up and gave his friend a few kicks until he'd got up and left, laughing. He sat in silence, hair a mess and feeling like a sick cat that was being forced to bath. With a heavy sigh he dragged himself up and poked around for clean clothes.

Daehyun waited in the doorway, nervously tugging on the hem of his shirt as Taehyung tried to calm him down.

“Hey, I'm sure he's just been forgetting to respond to you. He can really lose track of the real world when he's gaming.”

“I don't know. I think I really upset him. I can't believe I messed it up so badly.”

“If you're honest with him and stay true to yourself, then it will all be fine,” Taehyung said wisely.

“That's all well and good, Tae, but I think being true to myself is what got me in this mess.” Daehyun sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

At that moment, Jongup came into view, hair fluffy and looking tired. He'd pulled on a comfortable tshirt and shorts and was shugging a jacket on. Daehyun swallowed a little and shifted his weight from foot to foot.

“Can I talk to you?” Jongup asked, voice small and nervous.

“Yeah, of course. Here?”

Jongup glanced back where Junhong and Taehyung were watching them intently. “No. Let's go out.”

“Okay?” Daehyun stood back as Jongup slid on some shows and stepped out, closing the door behind him.

The two walked for a while, accompanied by a gentle breeze and the pleasant warmth of the late-afternoon sun. Their shadows trailed behind, long and distorted. Cars rolled past, rumbling and shiny, the heat baking the rubber and fumes. Somewhere someone was hosting a barbeque and a trickle of smoke rose overhead, filling their senses with bitter ash and cooking meat.

They remained silent as they walked, neither sure where to begin.