"Do you have much homework?" Junhoe asked, leaning into his side. 

"Not too much," Jinhwan looked up from the essay he was finishing. "You picked an interesting day to miss though. Donghyuk made a new friend. He's a freshman. They made him one of mine, actually."

Junhoe quirked an eyebrow at him. "Oh? Is he cute?" 

Jinhwan snorted. "Yes. But not in the way you're thinking. And if you lay a finger on him I'll break your hand. He's... Sweet. Kinda innocent. Like a kitten."

The younger boy rolled his eyes. "Sounds like a bore."

"I like him."

"You would."

Jinhwan said nothing and took a sip of his coffee. 

"Hey, Jinannie." At the use of his pet name, Jinhwan looked up.

"What?"

"This apartment, you're allowed to have a dog, right?"

"One, yeah." Jinhwan looked over at Junhoe suspiciously. "Why?"

"I just don't like that you're always here alone." Junhoe replied. It was honest, which caught Jinhwan a bit off guard. Usually the younger didn't like sharing his concerns with the older. 

"Did something happen?" 

Junhoe sighed and ran his hand through his small hyung's hair. "I'm tired. Can we just go to bed?"

~

When he woke up in the morning, Junhoe was gone. 

This wasn't surprising. Junhoe never stayed. 

Jinhwan stretched, feeling the protest in his stiff muscles. There was probably fresh coffee in the kitchen, a small comfort as he showered and shrugged on a fresh sweater and pair of jeans. 

Taking out his phone, he checked the time and shot a quick text to Hanbin. He briefly wondered how early Chanwoo would be there and went to pour a cup of coffee. 

The apartment was cold, despite being so small. The warmth of his travel mug against his palms was comforting as he shrugged on a jacket. 

As he went to his car the air puffed around him from his breath. 

The drive was quiet, and leaves crunched under him as he hurried into the school. Chanwoo was already there, and Jinhwan happily took a seat across from him. 

The young boy gave him a small smile as they bent over his homework together. 

Suddenly, the classroom door banged open. 

Chanwoo jumped nervously at the sound, but Jinhwan just felt the beginning of a migraine. Footsteps made their way over and two completely unwelcome people stopped by them. 

"So this is Donghyuk's little playmate," Junhoe looked over the younger boy. Junhoe himself had another senior, Chaerin, hanging off his arm. 

"What do you want?" Jinhwan sighed. 

"Well," Chaerin smiled. "We were absent yesterday and just wanted to say hello to the new freshman."

She hadn't said it unkindly, and probably hadn't meant it unkindly. Chaerin was as friendly as she was beautiful. But Jinhwan couldn't help but tense up when her hand went to rub Junhoe's shoulders as she said "we."

"And he's not Donghyuk's playmate," Hanbin's voice cut through as he walked into the room followed by Bobby, as he often was. "He's our friend. Our maknae."

"Excuse me?" Junhoe sounded as shocked as Chanwoo looked. "I thought I was the maknae."

Chanwoo tugged on Jinhwan's sleeve and whispered softly, "We're friends?" 

"Did you not want to be?" Jinhwan whispered back. 

Chanwoo shrugged, but still looked a little lost. 

Jinhwan tried not to giggle. "Either way it's a bit too late. Hanbin's decided that you're one of us now."

Junhoe hadn't missed the exchange and glared venomously at Chanwoo. Chaerin seemed to finally sense that she did not to be in the middle of any impending fights and pulled Junhoe away. 

Hanbin sighed and looked at Chanwoo. "Well. That's Junhoe, a sophomore. You've officially met everyone."

Jinhwan's migraine was now full-bloom.  

Fun fact: A group of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope. It's pretty, right?

I had today off from school bc of snow, so I thought it would be good to get this up. I've been thinking that maybe I won't update much during the week, but try to update twice on the weekends. And on any day I have off of both school and work (like today). 

Im really curious about what you guys think. I know the chapters are short for now, but after these first six they should get longer and more in depth. Please feel free to comment. I don't bite. :)

Love,

Ink