Hey guys! So remember when I said this would be a threeshot only? Welllll~ I kinda had this epiphany the other day and thought about making this into a triology. The first part, yadong story, second part, woogyu, and third, myungyeol. (sorry sungjongie T^T) so I'm going to be dragging this out one more chapter. (hopefully just one more xDDD) to introduce the greasytree! ;DD

Disclaimer: I don't own INFINITE. T^T <--- I'm in love with this emoticon atm.

This chapter is rated K.

~~~

Myungsoo reaches into his pocket, feeling for the familiar box of cigarettes only to realize that it wasn't there. Instead, his fingers curl around a slim packet of chewing gum, which he pulls out and examines under his bangs.

Strawberry-flavoured sensation designed to make your taste buds burst!

The corners of his lips curve into the smallest smile, and he unwraps a stick, taking a whiff of the strawberry scent before popping it into his mouth. As he chews tentatively, his mind wanders to the previous day.

Flashback─                                                                                                

It turns out that Sungyeol's a part of the student council, the external affairs department to be specific. Myungsoo ponders this and he comes to the conclusion that it does make sense sort of, since he did remember seeing a tall-ish guy giving some speech at initiation.

"You're not much of a chatterbox," Sungyeol points out suddenly, and Myungsoo shrugs.

Sungyeol's studying him, and Myungsoo wants to tell him to stop staring. The moment he opens his mouth to protest though, Sungyeol laughs and leans back into the roof walls.

"I like you," Sungyeol admits.

Myungsoo frowns a bit, resting his chin on his knees.

"No, you don't."

Sungyeol rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, I do. I should know who I like, shouldn't I?"

A pause.

"No. No, you shouldn't. You don't even know my name."

"What's your name?"

"See? This is what I mean."

"...I don't care. It doesn't matter."

Myungsoo thinks about the logic behind this, and concludes that Sungyeol's an idiot.

"You're an idiot," Myungsoo tells him.

Sungyeol laughs this loud, obnoxious laugh that startles Myungsoo, but he finds himself smiling along. Just a little.

"I don't care, I still like you!" Sungyeol declares.

"No, you don't."

They continue the verbal jest for a while, before Sungyeol quiets down and they sit beside each other in silence. Somehow, Sungyeol doesn't feel the need to speak anymore. It confuses him, because he's always hated silence his whole life. Silence and awkwardness came in a package, so Sungyeol would take advantage of any opportunity to crack a joke, start an argument, or babble nonsense.

Somehow, the need to speak vanishes when he's beside this strange, quiet boy.

He honestly has no words to describe his feelings at the moment, but Sungyeol knows that 'awkward' is definitely not one of them.

Suddenly, Myungsoo shuffles around for something, and ends up pulling a cigarette from his pocket. He holds the cigarette to his lips with one hand, cupping his other hand over the cigarette. With a few quick flicks of the lighter, the flame appears and Sungyeol watches as Myungsoo , his cheeks hollow as he easily lights the cigarette.

Sungyeol swallows thickly and reminds himself that he isn't supposed to get by devilishly handsome freshmen smoking a cancer stick. Clearing his throat, he musters his best authoritative voice.

"Yah! How dare you smoke in front of a student council member! You know smoking's against the school rules... and aren't you a minor?"

Myungsoo peers lazily at him, the most adorable dimples dotting his cheeks.

"What? You're going to punish me?"

Sungyeol flushes, reaching over to push Myungsoo's shoulder.

"Yah! What are you trying to suggest─!" he splutters helplessly while the younger boy smirks.

He's unable to tear his eyes away as Myungsoo wraps his pink lips around the tip, slowly and languidly, before pulling the cigarette from his closed lips. He leans towards Sungyeol and curves his lips into an 'o', forcing out smoke rings with small exhales. Suddenly, the cigarette is seized from his fingers, and Myungsoo barely has time to react before Sungyeol hurls it onto the ground and crushes it with the heel of his shoe.

"Hey─!" Myungsoo whines, only to receive a death glare from his senior.

"You were warned," Sungyeol shrugs, emphasizing his words with sharp jabs of his foot on the flattened cigarette. With one final stomp, he crosses his arms across his chest and turns to face Myungsoo.

"Go on, take 'em out. If you want the others to suffer the fate of... this one," Sungyeol threatens in his best manly voice and Myungsoo bursts out in laughter.

Sungyeol stares wide-eyed at the once-cold looking boy who now has his fist over his mouth, trying to suppress the giggles. There's a 'puahaha' that escapes, and soon, Myungsoo's hunched on the ground, laughing loudly. With a final wheeze, he clutches his stomach and straightens up.

"You're funny," he grins, and Sungyeol's heart is shot by cupid's arrow.

"U-uh-uh... I am? I-I mean, I am, aren't I?" he manages to stammer, only to find Myungsoo laughing harder.

There's a few shuffles, and something hits him on the shoulder. Sungyeol blinks and picks up the object, partly glancing at a smiling Myungsoo. It's an opened packet of Marlboro.

Why is this...?

"Since you insist so much, I guess you can keep it, Sungyeol-sshi," Myungsoo explains.

Sungyeol stares at the packet dumbfounded, then at Myungsoo, who's already stood up to leave. Quickly springing to his feet, he fumbles around in his pockets for something, only to pull out a packet of chewing gum.

"Hey, kid!" he calls, and Myungsoo stops in his tracks to look over his shoulder.

Sungyeol holds out the gum towards him, and Myungsoo stares.

"Well, are you going to take it or what? I'm not going to let you leave empty-handed."

"... It's a trade, then," Myungsoo smiles and takes the packet. Turning around, he makes his way to the roof door again, only to be stopped by Sungyeol's voice.

"That's my favourite gum! I won't forgive you if you never give it back to me!"

"Take it, then."

Sungyeol looks flustered.

"That's not what I mean! I mean, it's not like I want to see you again─ I mean, I do! Nonono, what I'm saying is─"

"I'm coming back here tomorrow."

Sungyeol blinks.

"Oh."

"Oh," he repeats, "oh, wellmaybeI'llbeheretooitreallydependsonhowbusyIambutifyouinsist─"

"I do insist. So, I'll see you again Sungyeol-sshi?"

 Sungyeol swallows.

"Yeah. Yeah, you will."

Myungsoo nods and leaves with that peek of a smile, and Sungyeol collapses onto the ground, releasing a built-up sigh. He runs his fingers through his messy hair, mentally scolding himself for acting like an idiot. Suddenly, he realizes something.

Aish! What was his name?!

─End Flashback

A small grin makes its way on his face when he thinks back to the tall choding, only to be jolted out of his daydream by a slap to the back. Myungsoo swings around, frowning as he looks up at Howon's sheepish grin.

"Hey, sorry. It's kind of rare to see you like this, what were you daydreaming about?" Howon asks, settling down beside him.

"I'm not," Myungsoo protests, a faint blush colouring his cheeks.

Howon grins, "Whatever you say, man."

Myungsoo shoots him a glare, before it turns into a quizzical look.

"What're you so happy about? Is it that amusing, ditching me every day for math class?"

"Well if you put it that way..." Howon starts, receiving a mock punch to the shoulder from Myungsoo.

"Don't be mean, hyung," A look at Howon. "Anyways, you look good. It's good to see you so happy."

Myungsoo thinks he's hallucinating when he sees a faint blush appear on Howon's cheeks.

~~~

"When I say Ho, you say Ya! Ho!"

Howon groans, pulling his bedcovers over his head in a futile attempt to block out the noise.

"Ho! Ho!"

'The whole neighbourhood can probably hear him,' Howon thinks, a wave of embarrassment overwhelming him. There's the ringing of the bicycle bell now, mixed with the hollers. Howon pulls off the covers, sitting up with his eyes closed. Breathing out a sigh, he rubs the sleep out of his eyes with a tired fist and swings his legs out of the bed.

He immediately shivers when his bare feet come in contact with the cold hardwood, scampering quickly towards the window─ as if he's walking on lava. His hands rip open the curtains, wincing at the bright light that spills into the room. Grumbling softly, he lifts up the window with a grunt, only to be bombarded by an earful of shouts and a flush of cold air.

"When I say Ho, you say Ya! Ho! Ho! Ho!"

Dongwoo's right in front of his front door, propped against his bicycle like one of those dashing cowboys in Western movies. He has that same stupid grin on his face, and his red tie that had escaped the blazer flutters gently in the breeze. When he sees Howon's face in the window, Dongwoo laughs and rings the bell on his bike a few more times.

"Rise and shine, Hoyaya!"

Howon tries to put on his serious face, but ends up smiling as he rests his elbows on the windowill, peering down at his senior. Suddenly, he sneezes and Dongwoo laughs. Shooting a mock glare at Dongwoo, he rubs his nose with the back of his hand and stifles a yawn.

"Pali, sleepy-head!"

Howon sighs, "Arasso, arasso," and ducks back inside his room, pulling down the window with a grunt of effort.

He quickly pulls off the t-shirt and sweatpants he wore to sleep, haphazardly throwing on his school uniform pants and hurrying to zip them up. Howon spends a few minutes hunting for his socks that he had carelessly thrown onto the ground the night before.

"Found you," he grunts as he picks up the white sock that was turned inside-out. From the corner of his eye, he catches sight of the other balled-up sock and pulls on the one in his hand before hopping over to retrieve the other. Just then, the door to his bedroom swings open.

Dongwoo's head pops in, before he catches sight of the half- Howon. There's an embarrassed squeak followed by a string of apologies and Dongwoo's bowing so quickly that he bonks his forehead on the door and the door immediately shuts.

Howon just stands in place, completely frozen.

With a million thoughts processing in his mind, all Howon could do was pull on his other sock. Then, as if suddenly realizing the situation, he collapses onto the ground with an embarrassed half-smile. There wasn't supposed to be anything awkward about situations like that, they were both guys anyways. But what really flustered him was Dongwoo's expression.

The blur of shiny eyes and heated cheeks before the door closed.

Howon shakes his head to get rid of the images, shifting slowly to his feet. Suddenly, a shout from his mother jolts him from his trance and he scrambles to throw on his dress shirt. He forces his hands through the closed cuffs, haphazardly throwing on the blazer─ not bothering to button it. Howon manages to grab his tie on his way out of the bedroom, fixing it around his neck and fastening it in place.

He almost breathes a sigh of relief when he realizes that Dongwoo's already gone downstairs.

"Lee Howon! How long are you going to make poor Dongwoo-goon wait?"

Howon rakes a hand through his bedhead.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

He stumbles downstairs, quickly making his way into the kitchen. Dongwoo's standing by the door, wringing his hands nervously and when their eyes meet, the senior flushes a bright pink. Howon rubs his neck awkwardly, before being scolded by his mom to hurry up. Nodding, he grabs the toast just as it pops out of the toaster, earning him a protest from his older brother.

Howon's barely able to escape out the door without being throttled by Hojin* and he swings on his backpack, jumping onto the back of Dongwoo's bike just as Hojin bursts out the door. Dongwoo's laughing so hard, pedalling like crazy with his eyes squeezed shut.

"Yah, open your eyes, pabo! And pedal faster!" Howon laughs.

They very nearly miss a mailbox before Dongwoo swerves onto the road again. Howon instinctively grabs onto his shoulder to steady himself and he almost immediately lets go, embarrassed at the contact. Dongwoo reaches a hand behind and grabs Howon's arm, pulling him flush against his back. Howon's chest hits Dongwoo's backpack, and he attempts to move away, only for Dongwoo to pull him harder.

"You're going to fall off if you don't hold on," Dongwoo warns in his bright voice, and Howon blushes.

The bike suddenly picks up speed as it rolls downhill, and Howon's grip on Dongwoo's waist tightens. He closes his eyes, listening to his senior's tinkling laughter.

~~~

"Hey, you finally decided to show up, huh?" Howon grins, setting his backpack down and lifting himself to sit on top of his desk. A handsome, raven-haired boy smiles back at him, rubbing the back of his neck. The sleeves of his school uniform are rolled up to reveal his forearms, and the top buttons of his shirt are ed.

"What are you talking about, Howon?" he tries to act innocent, a greasy smile playing at his lips.

Howon rolls his eyes.

"You know very well what I'm talking about, Nam Woohyun."

Woohyun bites his lip, then releases a sigh. His expression doesn't seem so bright anymore, and the boy fidgets around before a sort of anger flickers in his eyes.

"I lost the job."

Howon frowns, "At the host club? They found out you were underage?"

A bitter laugh. "No, not the boss─ but some prick did. Came to the place and completely messed up."

Howon clears his throat.

"You know you can stay over at my place anytime. My parents won't mind, you know my mom loves you."

A pause. "She does, doesn't she?" Woohyun laughs after a brief moment, "but it's cool. I'll crash at my girl's place."

'Which one?', Hoya has the urge to ask, but he bites the inside of his cheek.

It's not fair to judge Woohyun like that. You know perfectly well what he has to go through.

Howon nods, meeting Woohyun's easy smile. He opens his mouth to ask about what had happened, only to be interrupted by a high-pitched squeal and the pitter-patter of footsteps. Woohyun's immediately surrounded by a swarm of pretty girls in short skirts, clutching onto his arm like leeches and pouting at him with their wide eyes. Howon wonders if he would ever get an opportunity to speak to Woohyun seriously.

"Oppa, why are you being like this? Do you know how much I worried about you?"

"You said you would come back to school, so why'd you disappear like that?"

"Woohyun-oppa, you can stay over at my house today..."

"Mwoh? You?! Oppa's coming with me."

Woohyun sugars them up easily with sweet words, throwing his aegyo all over the face and shooting them dead. He catches Howon's eye in the process, and the latter smirks, unfazed at his greasy friend's usual antics. Woohyun mouths an apology and Howon shakes his head, assuring him they had all the time in the world to catch up.

The bell rings, marking the start of first period.

~~~

Author's Note: * Hojin is the name I came up with for Howon's older brother.