~~~

12:42 PM

A splitting headache that bears resemblance to the feeling of getting run over by a tractor, a jet plane, a missile launcher, a school bus and a train all at once is what wakes Jongin up the following day (or morning, or night, he really isn't sure), and he squeezes his eyes shut when he opens them, only for his headache to grow even more painful. Beneath his fingers, he feels something soft and after a few seconds of deduction, Jongin comes to the conclusion that it's in fact, sheets, and his fingers unconsciously grip at the material for a few moments as he tries soothing his headache with mental images of poodles. It doesn't work. Well, ing .

What time is it? Jongin thinks, trying to move his arm with little success, and without opening his eyes, he rolls over to his side and his arm blindly searches for his beloved poodle shaped alarm clock that he keeps on his bedside table. His hand blindly scatters across the surface of his bedside table, only for his palm to come in contact with something that roughly feels like a laced tablecloth and Jongin furrows his eyebrows, not daring to open his eyes in fear of his cranium splitting in half, even though he knows for a fact that he's never put down a table cloth on his bedside table, but he figures he must be losing his marbles.

Where the is it, Jongin thinks in frustration after he doesn't feel his alarm clock anywhere and he assumes Jungah must have taken it to show her friends or whatever, and he rolls over onto his back. Even though he doesn't want to open his eyes, since his head is already feeling like it's about to explode with them shut, Jongin figures he could open them just a tiny bit so he can look up at his glow in the dark star stickers, because they always make him feel at peace no matter the circumstance.

To his surprise, said stickers are nowhere to be seen when Jongin opens his eyes ever so slowly and he inwardly curses because did Jungah take those too??? He rubs his eyes before letting them slip shut again. He wonders where his phone is, but he doesn't bother looking for it since his bedside table seemed to be free of anything, for some odd reason, and Jongin prays to God he isn't late for his first lesson, only to realize three seconds later that it's Saturday (at least that's what he thinks, but he doesn't even trust his own head anymore), and he breathes out a sigh of relief because he figures he wouldn't have showed up regardless, the simple reason being that he feels like he's repeatedly being run over by an invisible train going at ten million miles per hour.

Jongin doesn't even know why his head is hurting, all he remembers is getting into Yifan's car at around six or seven in the evening yesterday, and perhaps his head is filled to the brim with events and memories, but as of right now, it hurts Jongin's head to even think, and the latter figures whatever happened can't be all that important, and he comes to the hasty conclusion that he must have fallen and hit his head on something on his way home from school last night, not that he knows what, but it's all he's got right now. 

Wondering where Jungah is and if she's at a friend's house, Jongin rubs his eyes again, only to emit a barely audible squawk when he notices a black and gold substance all over his hands. What the . He suddenly feels filthy, not to mention his stomach feels empty, and not in a good way, and now that he thinks about it, there's a nauseating feeling in the pit of his stomach. Man, do I need a shower. "Jungah, can you get my bathrobe? I think it's downstairs," he yells at the air, hoping Jungah will hear him since he's pretty sure the door is closed. "Jungah, get in here, the door's unlocked!"

When Jungah doesn't answer, Jongin inwardly curses and he wonders if he should stay in bed until she gets home. At first, he's a little worried if it's actually four or five in the morning, since he doesn't want his Father storming into his room and yelling at him for awakening the entire house. Even so, Jongin feels his headache pound even more for every second he isn't standing under the shower and cleansing himself, so, mustering the courage to move his leg, he proceeds to inch his way off the mattress and towards the bathroom, wherever the door is. However, Jongin doesn't get very far before he hears a voice.

"So I guess that's where the phrase 'You're sleeping on the couch tonight' comes from? My, oh my."

Now, at first, Jongin wouldn't be fazed in the least, because Jungah has a tendency to pretend like she's got amnesia every now and then, but what puts him off guard is the fact that the voice is completely unfamiliar, it's definitely not as high pitched and feminine as Jungah's, even if Jongin assumes it belongs to a woman, and the latter freezes before furrowing his eyebrows. In the end, curiosity gets the best of him and the next thing he knows, Jongin opens his eyes, and the pain he feels when the bright lights of the room hit him square in the eyes is promptly overshadowed by the overwhelming confusion (and mild fear) that engulfs him a second later when his eyes immediately land on a tall, young lady he's never seen before. She's got brown hair, just like him, and a perfect hourglass figure, and if it wasn't for the fact that she seems to have broken into his house, Jongin might have brought himself to get to know her better. But as of right now, all he can do is stare wide eyed and open mouthed at her, almost like a gaping goldfish, whilst nearly falling off the bed in shock. "What the fu- Who are- Why're you in my house?!"

The girl sends him a funny look. "Good afternoon to you, too, and I'm not in yo-"

"Get out of my house, you creep!" Jongin exclaims and instantly regrets it when a sense of pain erupts in his head. He doesn't know what's going on or if he's even fully awake but either way, his head hurts and he feels like vomiting and the last thing he wants is to have to deal with a random stranger in his house. 

"Breathe," she says with a chuckle, and she waits until Jongin has pulled himself together before continuing. "Take a look around you."

"Get out before I call the police on you-" The rest of Jongin's words instantly die in his throat when he looks up and actually gets a good look at his surroundings, for this is not his room. What the heck-

The floor is completely carpeted, unlike his own, and it's significantly cleaner and more well organized than his own dumpster of a room, and it's not until Jongin looks up that he notices a fan on the ceiling, and he seriously wonders how on Earth he could have missed it. What gets him, however, is not the fact that the room he's in is a cleaner (and bigger) version of his own, it's the surprise that rushes through his body when he looks to the side, where the bathroom would have been situated had he been inside his own house, because instead of a white door marked 'WC - Jongin ONLY!!!!!', there's a mirror that also acts as a sliding door for what Jongin assumes is a wardrobe. When he slowly gets off the bed and peeks inside it, careful not to touch anything, Jongin notices a handful of sneakers, a light blue piggybank and a row of T-shirts that definitely don't belong to him and he's about to question his sanity when the girl in front of him nods to her right, and when Jongin follows her gaze, he lets out an embarrassingly loud squawk when he sees a painting that takes up the entire wall by the bed. On it, Jongin sees a handful of football players he doesn't recognize standing together on a green field, and he feels his head pound as soon as he tries putting two and two together. "What even...what the-"

"Impressive, huh? I've tried persuading him to replace it with another, much cooler painting instead for years on end, but he just won't listen," the girl, who is still standing across the room in the doorway, says with a shake of her head, and Jongin's jaw nearly hits the floor at how mature her voice sounds. "But, once a football fan, always a football fan, I guess." She extracts her hand, motioning for Jongin to come closer. "Come here, I won't bite."

In his half dazed state, Jongin can do little except nod dumbly before walking (or rather, stumbling) over to where she's standing. "Uh...hi...?" he chokes out, confusion clouding his head as he takes her hand. It's warm in his own, and he makes sure not to cut himself on one of her many silver rings when he lets go. His stomach feels like it's about to burst any second and all he wants is some food to clear his head. He's so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he doesn't notice he's been staring at her chest area for God knows how long, and he immediately retreats with a blush. "Sorry, Jesus-"

"Nice to see you're up and at 'em, I'm Sara," the girl says with an amused nod. "Sehun's big sister if that wasn't obvious enough. And I'm assuming you're Jongin?" She sends Jongin a smile and the latter hopes his knees don't give in because that is the whitest smile he's ever seen in his life.

"Uh, yes, no, wait, yeah," Jongin babbles, running a hand through his hair. "Wait, how did you kn...nevermind." There's a million different questions swimming through his head right now and it's not until he hears Sehun's name that a red light goes off in his head and he flails his arms in all directions whilst attempting to choke out the words. Luckily, Sara beats him to it.

"Sehun is downstairs, in case you're wondering," she says, pointing behind her shoulder to a set of spiral stairs. "Walked in on him blowing chunks in the toilet an hour ago, so I gave him some ice cream and cereal before putting him in front of the TV," she adds with a laugh. "Poor soul was barely even awake during the entire thing. And well, I barely understood a word of what he said but he said something along the lines of not wanting to go back to bed in fear of 'waking Jongin' and that he'd take the sofa instead, isn't that sweet? Anyway, speaking of which, this is Sehun's room, since you look like you've seen a ghost." She dramatically gestures at the air. "If that wasn't obvious enough already."

Jongin nods. "I figured," he says, hoping his voice doesn't crack since his mouth is so dry. His gaze flickers downwards and he suddenly notices a red suitcase by her feet. "Is that yours?"

"Heard my boy made it to Nationals, so I just couldn't help myself," Sara laughs. "I was walking up the stairs with it to unpack when I heard you shouting something. Jesus, I thought you were being attacked or something," she says, raising a perfectly groomed eyebrow and Jongin figures killer eyebrows run in Sehun's family.

Jongin rubs his hands together in order to get rid of the makeup. "I thought I was in my own hou...yeah, nevermind." He presses his lips together and nearly jumps out of his own skin when he looks down and realizes he's wearing a black tee that isn't his own, as well as a pair of matching black jeans that seem to stick to his legs. He doesn't even want to know how the garments ended up on him. "Uh. Yeah."

Sara chuckles. "Well, you're probably dying to see him, and I've gotta unpack, but I'll go with you since I'm assuming you don't remember where the living room is, hm?" she giggles before moving her suitcase aside and motioning for Jongin to come closer. "Jesus, no offense, but you've got...yeah--" She gestures at her own face, mainly her eyes, and chuckles when Jongin only groans. "Alright, sorry, now come this way!"

Trying his best not to trip and tumble down the stairs, Jongin holds onto the handrail for dear life as he follows after Sara at snails pace. His head is still hurting, but for a different reason this time, this time because all he wants is answers and for somebody to fill him in because he honestly doesn't have a clue as to what's going on. What he does know, however, is that Sehun's house is awfully clean and organized, a giant contrast to his own, and Jongin finds himself audibly gasping under his breath when he lays his eyes on one of the most gorgeous crystal chandeliers he's ever seen in his life (besides in pictures and movies, that is) after he finally, after a brief struggle, makes it to the bottom step with Sara eagerly waiting for him a few feet away.

Upon placing his foot on the bottom step, Jongin instantly registers the sound of a TV somewhere in the distance and he blinks in surprise. He's still unable to stand vertically, so Sara offers to support him by grabbing his shoulder as she slowly guides him through a brightly lit hallway and towards a pair of sliding doors. The muffled sound of whatever talk show is being played on the other side grows louder the closer they get, and Sara wastes no time in reaching out and sliding the doors apart. After she does, Jongin hisses when an even brighter light hits him in the face and nearly melts his sensitive eyeballs, but all that is quickly forgotten when his eyes adjust a second later and the brunet nearly collapses in surprise.

Sehun is lying in front of the TV a few feet away, his entire body covered in two sets of fuzzy blankets as he sleeps soundly. Inbetween him and the television is a white table, on which a bowl of cereal, a tub of strawberry ice cream and a half empty glass of milk sits, and the rays of sunlight seeping throug the rosy pink curtains bathe his socked feet, which are sticking out from underneath the blanket(s) in a white light. Jongin's eyes flicker around the room and soon land on two large sets of equally white bookshelves, in which a ton of books he doesn't recognize and probably hasn't read are stored, including a porcelain bird statue, and upon closer inspection, Jongin notices a fluffy white (seriously, is everything in this room the brightest shade of white, or what?) lambskin carpet, which Monggu definitely would have liked. All in all, Sehun doesn't even move a muscle when Sara throws the door open all the way, thus letting even more light into the room and making it even brighter, if that's even possible. It's a sight Jongin knows will be burned into his mind for good.

At first, Jongin has no idea what to do and he stands awkwardly in the doorway whilst Sara stares at him expectedly. He has no idea if Sehun is the type to smash your head in if you wake him up and Jongin seriously doesn't want to risk it, but when Sara gives him a little shove Jongin sees no other option besides walking forward and approaching Sehun with baby steps. Jongin figures he'll blame Sara to the fullest if Sehun ends up whacking him upside the head momentarily.

When he stands beside Sehun, whose face is completely covered by the blankets on top of him, Jongin bites his lip, not knowing what to do. He's convinced that Sehun is asleep, given the steady rise and fall of the latter's chest, and Jongin inwardly groans before slowly reaching out and poking Sehun with his index finger. He holds his breath afterwards, only to get no reaction and, figuring Sehun simply didn't notice, Jongin sends Sara a look of confusion before proceeding to poke Sehun again, a little harder this time, and the brunet nearly jumps out of his own skin and nearly crashes into the table behind him when Sehun suddenly stirs in his sleep.

"Sara...go away...I don't want more ice cream," Sehun mumbles, his words almost sounding slurred as he rolls over on the couch, and Jongin nearly chuckles in awe when the taller's black hair splays out across the pillow, his face still hidden under the covers. 

When Jongin shoots her a look that practically screams 'Help me, the hell do I do now?', Sara only rolls her eyes. "Hun, I'm way over here."

"I don't want more food...go away..." Sehun mutters into the pillow before groaning a little. Jongin has no clue what's going on but he sort of likes it.

Sara huffs. "Sehun, you have someone right here who'd like your attention," she says with a pointed look at Jongin, who blushes a little.

"It's your turn to walk him, I did it...uh...last," Sehun groans and Jongin honestly doesn't know if he's talking in his sleep at this point or not.

"Not Vivi, doofus, he isn't even here, you know that," Sara huffs in exasperation and when Sehun goes silent, she nods at Jongin.

Jongin blinks. 'I don't wanna bother him', he mouths to Sara, who only rolls her eyes.

"Sehun, if you don't get up right this instant I swear I'm fetching the bucket," Sara says loudly and both she and Jongin let out a giggle when Sehun practically throws the covers off of his body after he flinches like he's spotted a rat crawling next to him amongst the blankets.

Sitting up, Sehun instantly squeezes his eyes shut with a hiss when the brightness of the room nearly blinds him. "Ah, fuc- Sara, close the curtains," he groans, rubbing his eyes. "Seriously, stop- Oh." He lifts his head, only to lock eyes with Jongin, who smiles awkwardly. "Uh. Hey."

"So unromantic, Oh Sehun, but that's nothing new," Sara tuts before checking the time on her phone. "I'm gonna run off to the store and pick up something to eat, I'll finish packing up when I get back and then I'm heading off to Laura's, so two'll be on your own since I'm most likely gonna be sleeping over," she says before nodding at Jongin. "Would you like anything to eat? Drink?"

Feeling his stomach grumble, Jongin presses his lips before nodding shyly. "That would be nice, thanks," he says as politely as he can, head still a little foggy, and there's something about watching Sehun sleepily run his hand through his hair that makes the brunet feel awfully tired, too.

Sara nods before she chuckles and puts her hands on her hips. "Well? Oh Sehun, you better get your off the couch and fix your man some breakfast," she says loudly and only nods slowly when Sehun groans. "He's hungry, so hurry up since I'm leaving, the worst thing you can do is let your loved ones starve," she adds before smiling apologetically at the brunet. "Sorry about him. He's been a bumbling mess ever since you two stumbled in the door last night. Or should I say, since your nice friend literally had to drag you both in here."

Jongin scratches the back of his head. "We...what?" he asks dumbly, cocking his head to the side. He's trying hard to remember, he really is, although his goldfish like expression might beg to differ.

"Yeah, you must've been to some sort of party or something, since you both reeked of alcohol while your tall, scary looking friend dragged you in the door. I mean sheesh, I came downstairs after he rang the doorbell since Sehun apparently forgot where his keys were, and you both couldn't even stand upright," Sara laughs, gesturing between Sehun and Jongin, whose expression slowly morphs into one of rememberance. "Your other friend was also here, but I had to leave and meet our Dad like, two minutes afterwards, so I didn't really get a chance to say hello to him, but he seemed nice," she adds before checking her phone again. "I'm gonna unpack now, but make sure he gets up and walks around for a bit and makes you something to eat, it was nice meeting you, Jongin!" She turns on her heel before walking towards and up the stairs.

Eyes widening, Jongin stands glued to the floor as he stares into the distance for a good minute or so before he smacks a hand on his forehead. Right. He still doesn't remember everything that went down yesterday, but he definitely does remember Jongdae vomiting a handful of times (Jongin figures Jongdae must be feeling worse than him and Sehun combined right now) as well as all seven of them, including Yifan, getting kicked out of the building thanks to Sehun (Jongin doesn't remember what the taller did that caused them to get kicked out, but he's going to go out on a limb and assume that it must've been pretty funny). Jongin doesn't remember how much he had to drink himself, or Sehun, for that matter, but he kind of doesn't want to know, and the brunet clears his throat in an attempt to get Sehun's attention when he hears Sara shuffling about on the upper floor. "Hey."

Sehun stirs a little before rolling over onto his back. He stares at Jongin with a tired, yet prominent glint in his eyes before he sloppily gestures at the latter's clothes. "Nice."

Jongin huffs. "What's up with them, anyway?"

"You picked them," Sehun retorts before scooching over and making room for two. He doesn't elaborate on the clothes part and Jongin is sort of thankful for that. "C'mon, stop talking so much, it's like, so early," he practically slurs, voice barely audible as he slowly lifts up the blankets, and Jongin would have found the gesture rather inviting if it wasn't for the fact that his stomach feels like it's digesting itself from the inside.

Feeling a blast of heat, that smells just like Sehun, hit him in the face, Jongin shakes his head as he points to his stomach, his hunger (thankfully) greatly distracting him from Sehun's bare chest. "She said you had to make me something, come on, I'm starving, I don't think I've eaten for a long time," he whines with a pout, practically stamping his foot on the floor in exasperation when Sehun doesn't even move a muscle. "Sehun!"

"Later," Sehun simply says before closing his eyes. "I've been here for so long, and you've been in my room, I've missed you, so come here," he adds sleepily, his voice dropping two octaves (which definitely doesn't make Jongin gulp), and the brunet wonders if he'll end up falling asleep with his hand holding the blanket up.

Jongin's stomach grumbles again and the latter pouts a second time. "Can you at least tell me what's going on? My brain's all mushy and I'm hungry," he whines, bending down and poking Sehun's cheek. "Please?"

"I literally can't...think, of anything, right now," Sehun says groggily, almost like he's still intoxicated, and he sloppily nods at the empty space next to him. "Hurry, it's getting cold. Come here or you're on the floor, just saying."

Eyes roaming around the room, Jongin spots a tuxedo lying discarded on the floor a few feet away, as well as a navy blue sweatshirt, which is strewn across the armchair next to the couch. "Why can't you just tell m-" His sentence ends with a surprised squawk when Sehun suddenly grabs his wrist and, the next thing Jongin knows, a wave of heat is surrounding him like a cocoon, closely followed by the feeling of something soft and squishy underneath him. The painful cramping in his stomach briefly subsides when he feels Sehun kiss his neck behind him before the latter quickly places the blanket on top of them. All Jongin smells is Sehun and he worries his mind might go blank and thus erase every single memory from yesterday's events.

Pressing their bodies closer together, Sehun drapes his right arm over Jongin's waist. "You're so gorgeous, you were such a beautiful king," he mumbles into Jongin's hair before closing his eyes. The brunet has no idea what he's talking about and he blames it on the fact that he can feel every single outline of the taller's abs pressing flat against his back. 

"What do you mean?" Jongin asks, only to press his lips together when Sehun doesn't reply. Well then. Shifting a little, he winces when he feels a certain pressure in his back pocket, and he blinks when he (carefully, as to not wake Sehun) retrieves his phone. He's about to place it on the table beside him when he accidentally presses down on the Home button, causing the screen to light up.

 

Feeling his head getting fuzzier and fuzzier by the minute, Jongin nearly drops the phone when he briefly goes out, and, barely having processed one third of what he just read, he promptly turns his phone off before attempting to place it on the table top, only to miss, and Jongin watches as it falls and hits the carpet a second later. Behind him, Sehun gives him a squeeze and the last thing Jongin registers before he falls into a state of deep slumber is the faint smell of Sehun's fragrance.

2:31 PM

Jongin awakens two hours later to the sound of the front door slamming shut downstairs and he nearly falls off the couch in surprise after flinching and nearly hitting Sehun in the face. It takes him a good while to realize that Sehun’s house is not, in fact, being overrun by a group of masked burglars and he blinks in surprise when he soon realizes how clear his head is. He still definitely doesn’t remember everything that happened, but his headache is gradually disappearing and for the first time in a while, Jongin can actually hear his own thoughts.

Next to him, Sehun groans after nearly getting his face slapped by the brunet, and he stirs for a minute before slowly opening his eyes, which immediately soften the moment he looks at Jongin. “Mornin'. You look like a raccoon that's been run over by a bus."

And I feel like it, too. Feeling his stomach rumble in hunger, Jongin giggles a little. “Same to you, ,” he drowsily, ruffling Sehun’s coarse strands before kicking the blankets off of him since the window isn’t open and he feels like he’s about to die of heatstroke.

“How’re you feeling?” Sehun asks, rubbing his eyes and stretching his long limbs. He rubs Jongin’s back when the latter sits up and grabs his phone off the floor.

“Much better than I was earlier,” Jongin mutters before turning his phone on. His mouth feels dry and his stomach is dangerously empty and all he wants is to eat. “You?”

“Tired as hell, but since Sara brought me here I’m feeling much better,” Sehun replies before he slowly sits up, too. “You toss and turn a lot in your sleep, you know. I think you might've kicked me in the ribs at some point. And well, uh, I take it that you’ve met? You and Sara, that is,” he adds before pointing to the armchair a foot or so away. “Could you gimme that, please?”

With a nod, Jongin reaches across and grabs Sehun’s shirt before handing it to the latter, who quickly slides it over his head. “Yeah, she seemed nice,” he hums before typing something on his phone and putting it away. “I guess she doesn’t live here, though? Since she had a suitcase with her.” He rubs his stomach when it rumbles again and he seriously wonders if Sehun can hear it or not.

“She lives in Es,” Sehun simply says while running a hand through his hair. “I guess she must’ve arrived late last night since she said she was there when Yifan apparently brought us here,” he adds before groaning out loud. “God, what the hell happened.” His phone buzzes in his pocket and he quickly fishes it out.

“I must’ve gotten undressed and, uh, worn your clothes at some point,” Jongin says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he looks down at his unfamiliar attire. He won’t lie, though, the shirt is awfully comfortable even though the jeans he’s wearing feel like they’re suffocating his legs. “But I mean, I guess we must’ve crashed like, ten minutes later? I’m pretty sure we’d remember if we...uh...if we, you know...did something,” he adds and clears his throat awkwardly when a pang of heat spreads across his entire face. “Nevermind.”

“I remember that, though,” Sehun says, putting his phone away, and laughs loudly when Jongin’s eyes widen in horror. “No, not that, don’t worry, I doubt anything happened, I meant the clothes.” He gestures at Jongin’s (or rather, his own) shirt. “If I remember correctly, you basically cried about not wanting to sleep in your tuxedo so you started rooting through my closet for something to wear.” He chuckles a little before ruffling Jongin’s hair. “I don’t really recall what happened afterwards, but yeah, I guess you picked that. Jeans and a T-shirt. Perfect for sleeping.”

“Shut it,” Jongin mumbles, flicking Sehun in the face. He watches as the latter reaches into his own pocket before pulling out his phone. “Whatcha doin’?” he asks childishly, craning his neck to get a better view of the taller’s screen.

“Gonna text Sara and ask her where she is.” Turning on his phone, Sehun’s eyes widen slightly when his recently opened app, that being his photos, shows up on the screen before him and he stares at something Jongin can’t quite see, his mouth agape. “What the-”

Jongin blinks. “Lemme see!” he exclaims, practically crawling on top of Sehun to see what the latter is looking at, and when he does, he freezes. The hell-

              (12:03 AM)

Sehun is silent for a moment before he bursts into laughter. “Very nice, but if I remember correctly, that’s mine,” he wheezes, pointing to the crown on Jongin’s head. “And is that my shirt?” he adds, squinting as he brings the phone closer to his face. “It is! Where’d you even- That thing’s been in the basement since I was twelve!” He blinks in astonishment. “What the even-”

Running a hand down his face, Jongin leans back against the pillows and sighs. Knowing he must have stormed into Sehun’s basement at some point during the night in his far out state and raided it just for a shirt is horrifying for sure, but what horrifies him even more is the fact that his mind is reduced to a blank slate when he tries thinking back to it. All Jongin can do is picture it in front of him, how it must have gone down all those hours ago, but Jongin quickly dismisses the thought before mentally smacking himself in the face. Good Lord.

“What are you even doing in the background?” Jongin asks, leaning in and looking at the picture. “And oh my God, are you wearing pink sunglasses? How cute!” he laughs, taking a closer look at Sehun, who is barely even visible in the background doing God knows what. It’s enough to briefly make him forget about how red his face must be right now, thankfully. Now that he thinks about it, he doesn’t even want to know what sort of pictures await him on his own phone, and he’d rather avoid his photo album for the rest of his life than check it out.

Biting his lip, Sehun mumbles something incoherent under his breath before moving his thumb to the right across the screen, only for a different photo to appear in front of him, and he momentarily looks like he’s just seen a ghost for the first time as his eyebrows furrow in confusion. He doesn’t say anything, though, and he only angles the device so that Jongin can see, and the latter immediately bursts out laughing. "Good God, man-"

                   (1:00 AM)

“What the hell are you wearing?!” Jongin exclaims, nearly ripping his own hair out in frustration. "A bathrobe?!" It’s almost as if he’s staring at his doppelganger, or his own self from a parallel universe, and he doesn’t know if that’s cool or just plain weird. “The cat ears are cute though,” he adds with a chuckle before something hits him. “Wait, who the hell took the picture?”

Sehun bites his lip in wonder before he shrugs. “We must’ve set it on timer, it’s the only expl- Oh, Jesus Christ,” he mumbles after swiping right again and Jongin doesn’t know if he should look at what’s on the screen or simply dart out of the room and the house. He finally settles for the former and clenches his jaw before leaning in, a dreadful feeling looming over his head.

                          (1:43 AM)

"Why the is Baek's hair brown," Sehun cackles, nearly choking on his own saliva. His life seems to flash before his eyes as he stares at the screen in absolute awe (and mild terror).

Well, hello there, 'Other friend'. "He was freaking out over it this morning if I remember correctly," Jongin says, trying to control his own laughter, and he figures that Baekhyun is probably either crying about it or in the process of dyeing it back to red, unless he chooses to keep it this shade which, to Jongin's surprise, doesn't look all that bad (probably because he figured Baekhyun, if he chose to dye his hair, would choose something along the lines of either toxic waste green or every color of the rainbow). "Jesus, poor soul," he mumbles under his breath, seriously wondering why the entire house isn't smelling like chemicals and shampoo, but it's not like he'd jump at the chance to peek his head in the bathroom door and find out.

Sehun wipes his eyes with his free hand. "If Myeon's awake, he's gonna flip the hell out, I can feel it in my goddamn bones."

“...Well, at least that explains who took the picture,” Jongin says sheepishly after a long period of silence. Jesus Christ. He has absolutely no memory of Baekhyun ever stepping foot in Sehun’s house and he has no idea how Sara could have allowed it. “How...how could you sister-”

“She said she had to meet Dad after Yifan brought us here so I guess Baek took the opportunity, and I think Yifan was pretty done with us at that point, so I see why he let Baek stay, and I’m assuming Sara either kicked him out after she came back or he got bored and left before she returned home, since I’m at least 100% sure Sara would’ve noticed him at this point,” Sehun mumbles, Jongin nodding in agreement. “And I seriously hope Baek returned my shirt before he left or I’m gonna clobber him," he mutters angrily, as if Baekhyun forgetting to return his T-shirt is somehow worse of a problem than the latter possibly trashing and drowning his entire bathroom in putrid smelling chemicals and water.

“Are there any more pictures?” Jongin blurts out way too enthusiastically and mentally smacks himself. Even though he feels a small part of his soul die every time Sehun shows him a new picture that he has no recollection of ever posing for, he won’t deny that there’s a nagging sense of curiosity biting at the back of his head and he finds himself bouncing up and down in excitement when Sehun only presses his lips together in agony. “Please? I wanna see!”

Sehun sighs in exasperation. “My guess is as good as yours,” he grumbles before he quickly swipes to the right, only to mumble a ‘Jesus Christ on a stick’ before leaning back against the pillows. “Oh my God.”

                                (2:53 AM)

Jongin stares at the photo for what feels like a century before his eyebrows furrow. The first thing that hits him is the fact that they’re sitting behind a table full of food that he doesn’t remember eating (he figures his stomach wouldn’t feel like it’s in the midst of eating itself at the moment if that was the case, especially since he’d have no problem eating a giant birthday cake in one sitting), which in turn only makes him feel even hungrier. The second thing he notices is that there seems to be what looks like a heart shaped balloon in the background and he nearly chuckles. He’s heard a bunch of stories about people waking up to find a ton of unfamiliar photos on their phones, and said photos usually always involved either of plain embarrassment, and even though his face feels like it’s about to explode with heat, Jongin won’t deny that waking up to photos of Sehun and Baekhyun frolicking around inside the former’s house is way better than waking up to photos or videos of any of them running down the street. At least we can establish that we’re the type to bake random while under the influence, he thinks.

“I didn’t even know we had balloons at home,” Sehun chuckles before automatically swiping right and this time, he smacks a hand on his forehead.

            (2:59 AM)

“At least Baek had a blast taking these,” Jongin mumbles sourly and he makes a mental note to ring up Baekhyun and ask the latter all about what really went down earlier first chance he gets. “Who has this much energy at two in the morning, even?” he adds with a groan, resting his head on Sehun’s chest as they both ogle the photograph in front of them. .

So that’s what she meant by ‘Surprise party’. If only she knew. Sehun shrugs before kissing Jongin’s temple. “No idea, but you look adorable in it,” he mumbles against the brunet’s locks. “At least we can safely assure ourselves that we didn’t make a mess since Sara definitely would’ve beat my up over it by now if we did.” Swiping right, his album comes to a stop and he breathes out a sigh of relief before turning his phone off and carding his fingers through Jongin’s hair. “Christ.”

“Judging by what your sister said, Yifan must hate us right now,” Jongin chuckles. “I mean, it’s not like he didn’t hate us before all this, it’s just...yeah.” He stirs a little, trying to find a comfortable position. His stomach subsequently rumbles and he coughs awkwardly. “Sorry.”

With a laugh, Sehun throws the covers off of his body before sitting up and stretching. “What time is it? Eight?” he asks, shoving his phone in his pocket.

Checking his own phone, Jongin shakes his head. “It’s nearly three in the afternoon,” he says and his eyes suddenly widen to the size of quarters. “-” He nearly breaks his fingers off whilst scrambling for his phone and he feels his head clearing up at an alarming rate as he dials Minseok’s number, Sehun watching in curiosity.

Minseok picks up after the eighth ring. “Hey! How are ya? Not too conked, I hope! You on your way?” he chirps, the sound of sticks hitting pucks audible in the background. “The game’s in half an hour, Coach is talking to the other school’s coach, so hurry up!”

Well then. With Sehun’s fingers running through his hair, Jongin bites the inside of his cheek. Even if he were to leave the building right this second, it would take him at least thirty minutes to arrive home and fetch his equipment and twenty to get to the rink. “Yeah, about that…” His voice trails off as he rubs his neck sheepishly.

“Kim Jongin, I thought you knew better than to drown your face in alcohol the day before a game,” Minseok tuts. “By the way, Yixing's stumbling around on the ice like Bambi, he’s hungover as hell, so this’ll be interesting.”

A pang of guilt surges through Jongin’s gut at the words and he grips his phone tighter, avoiding Sehun’s eyes. “I’m sorry, damn it, it was moronic of me, I know, I didn’t know what I was thinking,” he rambles, running a hand through his hair. He feels his headache coming back and he doesn’t know if it’s due to the guilt or hunger he’s feeling. “Damn it, uh, I’m actually not at home right now, I’m pretty far from the rink, I don’t think it’s any use-”

“I get it, I was just testing you a second ago,” Minseok laughs. "I actually told Coach you were down with the flu last night since I had a nagging feeling you’d be too under the weather to drag your over here and, believe it or not, he accepted it,” he says and Jongin nearly cries. “Not to mention I figured you were still out cold when you didn’t reply to my texts, anyway, so.”

Jongin blinks, trying to organize his thoughts. “Wait so.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I..., Seok, you didn’t need to- Goddamn it, thank you-” With a clenched jaw, he bites his lip, a sense of guilt mixed with relief hitting him like a tidal wave. “I promise I won’t drink again,” he blurts out and coughs awkwardly. “Okay, I didn’t mean that quite the way it sounded-”

“It’s cool, it’s cool,” Minseok chuckles and Jongin can practically feel the smirk on the former’s face. “I’d wanna get faced and spend the night with my boyfriend, too, so I understand, but you gotta come to practice on Monday, okay?”

Jongin bites his lip. “Hold on.” He covers the speaker with his hand and turns to face Sehun, who is still running a hand through his hair. “Hey, when are you guys taking the bus to New York again?”

“On the 12th, I think that’s next Monday,” Sehun hums, his hand trailing down Jongin’s back. “Why?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute,” Jongin says hurriedly before putting the phone by his ear again. “Uh, I, uh...can’t, sorry,” he says, guilt lacing his words when Minseok goes silent. “Seok-”

“You planning on getting faced then, too, or what?” Minseok cackles.

“No,” Jongin blurts out. “It’s just...well, Sehun’s got Nationals in NYC that day and...I...yeah.” He bites his lip and fidgets in his lap, awfully aware of his lame he must sound. “I’m sorry, it’s just-”

“No need to apologize,” Minseok laughs. “I would’ve done the same thing if I were in your shoes,” he adds before Jongin hears the sound of his coach loudly yelling something along the lines of ‘Zhang Yixing, get up off the ice and quit moping around!’. “...Yeah, he's a walking reminder of why I'm happy I don't drink. Wait, when are you guys leaving on Monday? Are you coming to school or’ll you be gone all day?”

“All day,” Sehun suddenly says, nearly making Jongin drop his phone in surprise. He motions for the brunet to turn on the loudspeaker, which the latter quickly does. “Hey, Minseok,” he says, sitting up and braiding a lock of Jongin’s hair.

“Sehun? Hi!” Minseok says excitedly, his tone changing quite a bit. “How are you? Wait, so you’re with Jongin right now? Oh, and I apologize on behalf of Yixing last night, he was...I dunno, crazy, I guess-”

“It's alright, no harm done, and yeah, I'm with him,” Sehun hums, resting his head on Jongin’s shoulder. “And my head feels like it's been obliterated to hell and back but other than that, I'm pretty good, thanks. Anyway, what’re you talking about?”

“I saved your boyfriend’s from a harsh scolding from our coach, that’s what,” Minseok laughs and Jongin squawks in surprise. “And apparently he can’t come to practice on Monday since he’ll be busy cheering you on.” he adds. “Isn’t that sweet? I need me a man that loyal. And don't feel bad, I'm sure just about everyone feels that way right now. Hey, now that you mention it, I barely saw a single soul on the upper floor this morning when I walked to my locker to fetch my equipment. Aaand Coach just called my name, gotta go, don’t want Yixing to upchuck mid game, but I’ll talk to you on what, Tuesday, Jongin?”

Sehun chuckles. “We’ll be back on Thursday,” he hums, gaze fixated on the brunet’s long eyelashes. Man, are they beautiful.

“Thursday?! You’re just gonna chillax and whatnot for four days straight?! Man, take me with you,” Minseok huffs. “And do your teachers know about this, Jongin?” he adds and Jongin thinks he sounds a lot like a concerned mother scolding her child.

“I’ll tell them, don’t worry,” Jongin replies, his stomach rumbling for the nth time, the line going flat after he hears his coach’s (second) stern scolding of ‘Kim Minseok, your break time is up!’, and he shoves his phone in his pocket before turning to face Sehun. He’s about to threaten the latter with a series of tickles if he doesn’t get up and fix him something to eat when he suddenly thinks of something. “Wait, , don’t you have a game today, too?!”

With a nonchalant shrug, Sehun only stretches his legs. “A little late for that now,” he hums, lying down and pulling the blankets up to his chin. “We were supposed to be there at ten and the game’s four hours long, they’re probably cooling down right now anyway.” When he hears Jongin’s stomach rumble, he sits up like a bullet. “You got a dinosaur in there or what?”

With a squawk, Jongin throws his hands in the air. He does not want Yifan or Junmyeon to call him up and threaten him with murder for causing Sehun to miss one of their games, even if it means sacrificing precious time together with the latter, and Jongin quickly hops off the couch before grabbing Sehun’s wrist and attempting to haul the latter off of it like a slug. Inevitably, it doesn’t work so well and Jongin only huffs in irritation when Sehun sends him a funny look.

“Get your over there, Sehun, they’re probably wondering where you are!” Jongin exclaims, flailing his hands all around. “Haven’t they written anything? They’re most likely waiting for you on the field! You can’t keep them waiting!” He wildly gestures at Sehun’s pocket, in which the outline of his phone is visible.

Sehun stares at Jongin like he’s grown a second head. “They haven’t texted me anything, my guess is that they didn’t go, either,” he chuckles before reaching out and trying to grab Jongin’s hand, but the latter steps back. “I’m pretty sure Myeon would have blown my entire phone up at this point if it was really that urgent, just saying,” he adds and rolls his eyes when Jongin only pouts. “Fine, if it’ll make you feel better, I can call Yeol right now, want me to do that?”

As long as your friends don’t kill me, Jongin thinks before nodding slowly. He watches Sehun pull out his phone and dial Chanyeol’s number and, feeling cold from the lack of warmth, Jongin shudders whilst hurriedly getting back on the couch and covering himself with the blanket.

Putting the phone on loudspeaker, just in case, Sehun waits for the dial tone to beep a number of times before Chanyeol’s loud voice finally emits from the speaker below. “...Hello?”

“Hey,” Sehun says, hearing his voice echo on the other end of the line. “Just a quick question-”

“Tell Coach I’m dying and nearly gone,” Chanyeol groans and the tone of his voice is all it takes to convince Jongin that he isn’t, in fact, on the field.

Sehun chuckles low in his throat. “So you’re not there right now?”

Chanyeol emits an inhuman groan that almost sounds like an animal like snarl and Jongin cowers a little beneath the covers. “You’re kidding, right? Woke up face down in the toilet bowl when Baek messaged us,” he says and the brunet grimaces. “Are you there? Did Coach say anything about me? Did anybody tackle Yifan and give that er what he deserves?”

“I’m at home right now, I woke up not too long ago, so that’s a no for me as well,” Sehun hums, kissing Jongin on the forehead. “Man, what a night. Jesus.”

“Yeah. Hey, it’s like, super frickin’ scary, cause like, I barely remember jack of what happened, do you? I mean, I know Dae drank more than his own body weight since he’s been barfing up a lung since ten, and Myeon isn’t answering my calls, so he’s most likely still knocked out, and Baek...well, he's been texting me and freaking the out for hours since he can't complain to Myeon,” Chanyeol says and Jongin thinks he sounds rather stoned. “A game at eight the morning after prom...I’d like to talk to the genius er who came up with that idea cause I’m gonna tear him to shreds,” he growls.

“It’s a blur for me, too,” Sehun laughs, scratching the back of his head. “And since you’re obviously in pain, I’ll make this short. Do you know if Baekhyun made it home safely last night?” he adds, Jongin’s face with his thumb. “Cause he was apparently in my house with Jongin and I for a little while before we crashed and I haven’t heard from him since.”

Chanyeol groans again. “ing headache, man, ,” he seethes and it takes everything in Jongin’s power not to laugh. “And yeah, if I remember correctly, Dae told me he called Baek a while ago and he’s at home, although he claims to be on the brink of death because of his hair, so yeah,” he says and Sehun and Jongin audibly exhale in relief. “It looks surprisingly good, though, not like a fresh piece of roadkill like I initially thought. And I don’t recall him following you and Jongin to the door since I must’ve passed out in the backseat, but yeah.” His voice suddenly turns smug, real smug. “Wait, he was in your house? Together with you and-”

“It wasn't like that!” Jongin suddenly squeals, nearly knocking the phone out of Sehun’s hand as he flinches. He immediately feels his face growing hot and he doesn’t know if it’s due to Sehun’s hysterical laughter or the fact that doing, well, that together with Baekhyun is enough to make him want to grab a knife and disembowel himself with it. Jesus Christ. “Damn it, Chanyeol, God.”

“Jongin? Hey! Why didn’t you say anything earlier? I didn’t even know you were there,” Chanyeol chuckles lowly. “And calm down, Princess Peach, I believe you,” he adds before yawning loudly. “I’m gonna go back to sleep, hopefully I’ll feel less suicidal when I wake up in ten years.” After Sehun mutters a quick goodbye (Jongin doesn’t, since he’s too busy trying to control his blush), he hangs up.

Sehun smiles down at Jongin, who is hiding his face under the blanket. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” he hums, poking the lump under the covers lightly. When Jongin doesn’t move a muscle, he suddenly gets a (rather dangerous) idea and he wastes no time in poking what he believes is the brunet’s waist. His assumption turns out to be true, because before he knows it, he’s leaning away just in time to avoid getting whacked in the nose when Jongin flinches like the entire backside has burst into flames. “See? I was right, now come out and we’ll feed that pretty little mouth of yours!”

Weren’t you unable to get off the couch less than half an hour ago? Jongin thinks sourly before groaning and throwing the covers off of his body (not because he’s afraid of Sehun tickling him again, definitely not, but because he was in the midst of getting baked alive under the blanket). As much as he doesn’t want to look in Sehun’s direction in fear of blushing again, the mere thought of eating is enough to make him scramble to get off the couch at lightning speed. Once his feet hit the carpeted floor, Jongin extracts his hand for Sehun to grab onto. “Don’t be gross, and come on then!”

“I’m not gross,” Sehun retorts before reaching out and grabbing Jongin’s hand, easily pulling himself to his feet less than a second later, much to Jongin’s (un)surprise. “Your mouth is pretty, don’t even try to deny it,” he hums as he squeezes Jongin’s hand and guides him to the door. He doesn’t get very far when the brunet suddenly tugs on his sleeve. “Hm?”

“Hey, since we apparently never ate that stuff we made earlier, can we eat it now?” Jongin asks, bouncing up and down in excitement at the thought of cake and pastries. When Sehun only blinks, he pouts. “Pleeeeease? Why not? Please? Please?”

Reaching for the door handle, Sehun moves to slide the door open. “How about milk and cereal instead? It’s healthier,” he says and Jongin nearly groans (health freak much???) before tightening his grip. “No seriously, I don’t want you feeling even more sick, how about an apple or a banana smoothie?”

“No,” Jongin whines, grimacing a little. He doesn’t understand how anybody could enjoy eating raw fruit. At all. “I want the things we made, it only makes sense that we finish it since we made it, right? Please? Come on! I’ll eat slowly, I swear! I want the cake! Please? It’s not like you’re gonna eat it anyway, so please? Please???”

With a firm shake of his head, Sehun slides the door open. “You just need to learn to eat healthy, that’s all,” he simply says, chuckling when Jongin subsequently mutters a string of curse words under his breath as they make their way out.

~

“Gross, his cake tastes like candle wax!”

“Don’t eat it, then! And how could you miss it, anyway? The wax is frigging light blue and the cake’s white!”

“Want a slice? Here, gimme your plate!”

“Don’t touch my plate! You’ll get icing all over it!”

“Ech, why’ve you got so many shrimps piled on your plate?! Gross! Why’d we even make shrimp?!”

“Don’t ask me! You were involved in this just as much I was!”

“Could you make me some pancakes? You know, since I’m a terrible cook?”

“I let you eat the damn cake and that’s more than enough. Hey, could you pass me a plum?”

“I don’t wanna get fruit juice all over my hand! You take it!”

“It’s like, right next to you and I’m all the way over here!”

“I don’t wanna!”

“Jongin, please-”

“Since you’re the health freak here, use your big- muscles to reach across the table and get your plum yourself!”

“Man, I hate you more than anything.”

Jongin only shrugs before leaning back against the pillows. He eyes the birthday cake on the table, which is half finished, before shoving a spoonful of the white, spongy goodness into his mouth, practically about how good it tastes. Across the couch, Sehun is busy peeling one of the many, many shrimps on his plate and Jongin grimaces because the idea of eating a pink creepy-crawly looking thing with protruding, black eyes and a million legs is enough to make him feel nauseous (he figures he’d rather stick to birthday cakes and macarons). Jongin has to stop what he’s doing just to stare at Sehun in awe because he seriously wonders how a human being can look so ridiculously attractive whilst peeling the shell off a dead marine creature.

“You don’t actually hate me, right?” Jongin asks with the spoon in his mouth, staring at Sehun with wide, doe like eyes that nearly makes the latter drop his shrimp in awe. “Oh, and thanks for letting us eat all this! It tastes much better than alcohol and whatnot,” he adds, sending Sehun a bright smile that actually does make the latter drop the shrimp in his hands.

“You’re, uh...you’re welcome,” Sehun mumbles, picking up the pink, fleshy creature on his plate before resuming the tedious peeling process. They’ve been sitting on the couch in the second living room for an hour and so far, he’s only managed to successfully peel three shrimps. He blames it on the fact that he isn’t a girl and thus doesn’t have long, witch like nails. “And of course I don’t, you dolt,” he chuckles sincerely, running a hand through his hair and groaning in disgust. “Oh no, ing -”

“Your hair’s gonna smell like shrimp farts for the rest of the day,” Jongin titters, nearly falling off the couch in laughter. “And I like these clothes, you have great fashion sense, I like them, although these pants feel like they’re glued to my legs,” he adds, pointing to his thighs, which are spread wide open, and Sehun has to clear his throat to distract himself. “And your sister seems awesome, how old is she, by the way?”

Trying to process Jongin’s many questions, Sehun clears his throat to collect his thoughts. “Uh, she’s 18,” he mumbles, doing his best to focus and keep his gaze fixated on peeling the shrimp between his fingers to distract himself from Jongin’s rather...inviting posture.

“Really?!” Jongin’s eyes widen in amazement, his mouthful of cake nearly falling out from between his lips, much to Sehun’s disgust. “She talks so maturely! I thought she was like, 25 when I first saw and heard her! She's like, as tall as you! She could be your Mom!” he says before putting his plate down in front of him and grabbing a macaroon from the table. “Think I can stuff this whole thing in my mouth?” he asks, eyeing the green tea flavored treat in his hands like it’s a mineral from outer space.

Sehun nearly chuckles. “Sara? My Mom? Yeah, she’s mature and all I guess, but she can get pretty crazy when she wants to, so,” he says, shaking his head before furrowing his eyebrows. “And don’t do that, I don’t want you to choke- Hey! Don’t do that!” he squawks, immediately tossing his plate aside when Jongin proceeds to stuff the entire cake in his mouth, only for the latter to begin chewing a second later, much to Sehun's relief, and when the brunet subsequently bursts into laughter at his concerned expression, Sehun only sighs. “What on Earth am I gonna do with you?”

“Love me, feed me, never leave me,” Jongin sing-songs after swallowing and Sehun briefly wonders if they somehow managed to spill an entire bottle of vodka into the macaron and cake mix last night. “And did it feel good to get crowned Prom King?” he asks, shifting a little and thus closing his legs, much to Sehun’s relief.

Scratching the back of his head, Sehun shrugs. He doesn’t even bother picking up his plate again since he doesn’t want to get even more shrimp juice all over his hands, not to mention he isn’t even hungry for shrimp, anyway. “Good, I guess,” he says, nodding a little even though he remembers very little from before, during and after the crowning. He soon realizes that prom kings and queens usually tend to wear sashes, and since he hasn't seen one lying around as of lately, he figures he must have lost it at some point during whatever went down last night. “The girl they paired me up with looked a lot like you, if I remember correctly,” he adds and even though he doesn’t remember what said girl looked liked, the thought is enough to make him smile anyway.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Jongin asks, picking up a piece of fried chicken and stuffing it in his mouth. “And I’m thirsty, do you have any bubble tea?”

“Good, obviously,” Sehun says, staring at Jongin funnily. “She was beautiful, from what I remember, just like you. And of course not, why would I?” He knits his eyebrows together. There’s definitely something in that cake mix.

Jongin pouts a little. “Because I want it,” he huffs before looking down at his shirt. “Hey, it says ‘BERLIN’ on this thing, did you buy it in France?” he asks, eyes glittering.

Sehun blinks. “Berlin is in Germany,” he deadpans before shaking his head. “I don’t remember when or where I got it, I think it might’ve been a present from my aunt or someone, I don’t really know,” he hums, wiping his hands together and wincing when a strong stench of shrimp fills his nose. Ech. “But what I do know, however, is that it looks awfully good on you.” He sends Jongin a wink when the latter subsequently squawks in surprise. “You really should get used to that by now, you know.”

“I failed Geography, don’t blame me,” Jongin says before crossing his legs so he’s sitting like Buddha. “Yeah, but it’s still annoying and you’re still cheesy as hell and it’s just...weird,” he huffs before lying down and stretching his legs. “Where’s your dog, by the way?” he asks, looking around for any signs of Vivi.

“My uncle picked him up on Monday, he’s staying at his for a few weeks for whatever reason,” Sehun says, ignoring the way his stomach churns uncomfortably. “But-”

“Hey, did you know a dog's ear is controlled by 32 muscles?” Jongin asks, an excited grin on his face. “They can rotate their ears up to 180 degrees to locate the source of a certain sound, isn’t that cool?” He grabs another macaron and stuffs it in his mouth, ignoring Sehun’s squawk of protest.

“I think you’re mixing it up with cat’s ears,” Sehun says after a while and he fights back a laugh when Jongin’s eyebrows furrow in contemplation. “Nearly three dozen muscles rotate their pinnae to help them identify the precise direction from which-”

Jongin shakes his head. “It’s dog’s, I know it is!” He crosses his arms over his chest and nods at Sehun’s pocket. “Google it!”

Sehun blinks. “Jongin, I know I’m right-”

“Do it or I won’t believe you,” Jongin says as a matter-of-factly and Sehun can’t help but find his tone adorable.

Putting his hands up in defense, Sehun retrieves his phone from his pocket, only to be met with his photo album once again, and he’s about to click out of it when he accidentally taps the ‘Back’ button, which leads him to an overview of his photos and his eyes immediately land on a specific one. Feeling a sense of adoration swell in his chest, he wastes no time in clicking on it and showing it to Jongin. “Look.”

        (7:57 PM)

Jongin blinks before he squints a little. “Is that...is that me?”

“Duh, who else would it be?” Sehun cackles. "Myeon?”

“Why do I have a flower in my hair?” Jongin asks as if he’s trying to figure out the answer to life. He huffs before shoving Sehun’s phone away. “I don’t wanna look at it, my face looks weird,” he whines before his eyes light up. “And you’re still wrong, it’s dog’s ears!”

Sehun huffs before turning his phone off and putting it away. “Babe, no-”

“I’ll prove it!” Jongin exclaims before gesturing wildly around the room. “Where do you keep your books about dogs and cats?” he asks, eyes darting around the living room. A few bookshelves line the walls across from where they’re sitting on the couch, but none of the books in said bookshelves seem to be about animals and he huffs before hopping off the couch, his stomach feeling heavy from all the cookies and cakes (he seriously wonders how somebody could manage to bake such heavenly pastries while under the influence, but he figures he’s just talented that way) he’s stuffed himself with for the past hour.

Trying to grab Jongin’s hand to get him to sit back down, Sehun sighs in exasperation. “Forget it, let’s just-” He blinks when Jongin suddenly speeds off towards and door and out of the room, and Sehun barely has a chance to process what’s going on when the brunet’s excited squee of ‘I found one!!!!!’ fills the air and Sehun inwardly sighs before slowly standing up and following after the brunet. The smell of shrimp follows him on his way out the door and he wrinkles his nose in disgust.

5:59 PM

on the lollipop he “borrowed” from Sara’s room, Jongin flips through the 500-page book about cats and dogs (which Sehun happens to have stored in his house for whatever reason) with his eyebrows closely knitted together. There’s a pile of books strewn around him, also about cats and dogs, a result of sitting on the floor for nearly an hour trying to prove his point to Sehun, who is sitting on a chair a few feet away with his phone in his hands. No matter how intensely he reads each sentence before him about the hearing of said animals, Jongin can’t seem to find anything of interest and he huffs before promptly slamming the book in his hands shut and places it on the floor, careful to avoid dropping it on his foot. He’s about to reach for another book on the bookshelf, which is getting emptier and emptier by the minute, when Sehun suddenly stands up.

“I think that’s enough now,” Sehun says, putting his hands up, and he shakes his head when Jongin halts. “I think we’ve safely established that cats are the ones with 32 ear muscles by now and not dogs,” he adds for good measure before nodding at the books scattered all around the wooden boards. “And please tidy up before Sara gets home, I’ll have you know she’s a neat freak and that she’ll go all panther like on you if she walks in on this.”

Giving the lollipop a hard , Jongin pouts before shrugging. He puts the books back in their respective places except one, and he picks it up before standing up and walking towards Sehun. “Look at the puppy on the cover of this one- Hey!” He scrambles to cover his face with the book when he hears a camera click. “What’s the big idea?!”

“Sorry, you can’t blame me,” Sehun snickers, putting his phone away and patting Jongin on the head. “And I see, it’s awfully cute, just like you, now would you mind putting that one back, as well? Sara’ll be home any minute,” he says, running a hand through his hair and he inwardly curses whoever’s idea it was to add shrimp to the bunch last night because his hair still reeks of it.

With a sad sounding ‘Fine’, Jongin trudges back to the bookshelf before carefully wedging the book with the cute puppy on the cover between two other books, and he brushes his hands together as he makes his way back to Sehun. In the corner of his eye, he spots a window and he blinks in surprise when he sees that it’s nearly pitch black outside. “Jesus-”

“It’s soon Winter, that’s why it’s so dark out,” Sehun chuckles before tucking a lock of Jongin’s hair behind his ear and planting a kiss on his upper lip. “Are you still feeling sick? Tired? Hungry?” he asks, pulling the brunet towards him and giving him a squeeze. He doesn’t smell like strawberry today, much to Sehun’s surprise.

Jongin shakes his head. “Nope, are you?” When the taller also shakes his head, he beams. “Well, whaddya wanna do now?” he asks, eyes gleaming, and he blinks in confusion when Sehun grabs his arm.

“We’re gonna count the stars,” Sehun says excitedly, not giving Jongin a chance to respond before they’re halfway down the hallway. Bouncing up and down, he motions for Jongin to put on his shoes. “Hurry! They’re usually a lot of 'em out at this hour!”

Grabbing the shoe horn, Jongin struggles to put his shoes on, which reek of alcohol and burnt rubber. Sehun’s sudden change in behavior is making him both curious and confused and he stands up after (half-assedly) putting on his shoes. He’s halfway through lacing his left shoe when he suddenly remembers that it’s most likely awfully cold outside, so he stands up straight before turning to face Sehun. “Could I, uh...change into something more...uh, warm? Please?”

Sehun stares at Jongin like he’s gone mad before nodding slowly, although Jongin can tell he’s growing impatient. “You know where my wardrobe is, right? I think I have a denim jacket and a pair of white jeans in there somewhere, and if that tee’s too cold for you, I also recall buying a turtleneck last week, so you could use that,” he says and he watches as the brunet scurries towards the stairs with a loud ‘Okay!!’.

Jongin returns ten minutes later, wearing exactly what Sehun suggested he wear and the latter nearly collapses on the spot as soon as Jongin comes down the stairs because the turtleneck hugs his hips and waist perfectly, and Sehun briefly wonders if all the clothes in his wardrobe were actually made for Jongin since the latter seems to look much more attractive in his own clothes than he does himself, not that Sehun minds. On another note, the jeans Jongin is wearing, the white ones, are quite baggy and not nearly as tight as his previous black ones, which honestly makes Sehun a little sad. All in all, Jongin making his way down the stairs in said attire, combined with his tousled chestnut locks, makes Sehun wonder if he’s witnessing an angel descending from Heaven and he has to clear his throat to snap out of it.

“Do I look nice?” Jongin asks, smiling widely when Sehun nods his head maybe a little too enthusiastically. “Good! Now, why’re we looking at sta-" He doesn’t get to finish his sentence when Sehun suddenly throws the door open and quite literally drags him outside and into the garden.

As Sehun drags him through the yard, across the grass, Jongin coughs and sputters when a blade of grass enters his mouth and he’s about to yell at Sehun to let him go since he’s a grown man and is perfectly capable of walking on his own when Sehun thankfully lets go, and Jongin nearly lands flat on his face momentarily. Trying to process what’s going on, he stands up and brushes himself off, shivering when a cold gust of wind passes. He sees nothing but darkness, and in fact, Jongin is having trouble distinguishing Sehun’s black hair from the pitch blackness around them, and Jongin finds himself blindly reaching for Sehun’s hand with his own a second later. When a couple of minutes pass, Jongin grows impatient and he’s about to ask Sehun if he’s being pranked just so the latter can watch him freeze to death when his gaze flickers upwards, and Jongin suddenly feels like the air has been knocked out of him.

Before him, an endless, field of dark blue is spread out across the sky and as his eyes roam around the scene before him, Jongin instinctively squeezes Sehun’s hand when he looks a bit closer and spots a handful of glittering orbs, bright enough to be visible to the eye, and it’s not until Jongin spots two stars in particular, that happen to be right next to each other, that he swallows. Despite his clouded mind preventing him from thinking straight right now, Jongin clearly recalls what Sehun had told him all those weeks ago, everything star related that earned the brunet an A+ on his exam on outer space and the universe, and Jongin unconsciously rubs Sehun’s hand with his thumb at the memories. Man, what a magnificent view.

When Sehun remains silent for a long time, presumably to really take in the view, Jongin looks up, but he wishes he didn’t, because he definitely wasn’t prepared to see Sehun’s face bathed in the pale, almost ghostly moonlight, his features perfectly accentuated as he stares up at the sky before him, a certain twinkle in his eyes. Even though Jongin would argue that Sehun looks irresistibly attractive no matter what he’s doing, he would argue that he’s never seen the taller look as breathtaking as he does in this moment. Feeling his heart speed up for reasons unknown, Jongin swallows before taking a small step closer to Sehun.

Sehun is quiet for a long time before he speaks. “Hey, Jongin?”

Nearly jumping five feet in the air, Jongin squeezes Sehun’s hand. “Hm?” When Sehun doesn’t reply, he only looks up again, his eyes immediately landing on the two brightest stars he saw just now, and a warm feeling spreads across his entire chest when he sees what must be-

“We’re aligned,” Sehun breathes out, his words barely audible as they’re subsequently picked up by the wind and carried away somewhere else. “Hold on,” he mutters before taking a large step to the left and pulling out his phone. He gestures for Jongin to stay where he is before opening up his camera and quickly snapping a photo. Jongin watches as he types for a minute before putting his phone away. “Not to sound corny as hell, but I always knew we’d align someday.”

Jongin chuckles. It’s so comical he can’t help but laugh. “Me too,” he mumbles, squeezing Sehun’s hand tighter and flinching when his phone suddenly buzzes.

Facebook

(Just now) Oh Sehun tagged you in a post.

Biting his lip, Jongin quickly unlocks his phone and opens his Facebook, only for his lips to curl into a wide smile a second later.

God damn, Jongin thinks clicking on the comments section and proceeding to type a comment.

After pressing ‘Send’, Jongin puts his phone away and looks at Sehun expectedly and, inevitably, a low buzz is heard from the latter’s pocket a second later and Jongin can only watch in amusement as Sehun smacks a hand on his forehead. “It’s true, though, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but,” Sehun mumbles, replying back with a simple ‘Shut it’ before shoving his phone in his pocket, “I was hoping you’d come up with something a little less hurtful.” Not giving Jongin a chance to reply, he looks up at the sky and takes a deep breath. “Which one’s the brightest?” he asks after a while of silence.

Jongin blinks, too busy ogling Sehun’s flawless side profile to notice the latter has asked him a question. “Uh.” He scratches the back of his head, as if he’s been staring up at the sky the entire time. “I guess that one?” he says after a moment, pointing to what he assumes is the most glittery orb of the bunch. “Why do you a-”

“It’s you,” Sehun says, walking a few feet and rubbing Jongin’s back. “And don’t you dare call me cheesy, you little jerk, or I’ll shove you down the hill over there,” he adds, pointing somewhere over to the right.

About to whack Sehun in the chest for being such a cheese master, Jongin blinks. “The hill? You mean--” He blinks again when Sehun nods before tugging on the latter’s hand. “I wanna see that rock you keep sitting on!! Pleeeeease? I wanna see if it’s as cool as you make it sound!” he squeals, nearly slipping on a wet patch of grass (much to Sehun’s amusement) as he tries dragging Sehun away. When the latter blinks, he pouts. “Why not?!”

“First of all, don’t talk with that thing in your mouth, you might choke,” Sehun chuckles, reaching out and plucking the lollipop out of Jongin’s mouth. "And second of all, I was just kidding, it’s too dark right now, but I promise I’ll show you it in the morning, okay? It’s not safe when it's so dark out,” When the brunet tries grabbing his candy back, he only holds it high above his head and, being a tad bit shorter, Jongin is unable to reach it.

Nearly tackling Sehun whilst trying to get his beloved lollipop back, Jongin promptly gives up a second later. “Whaddya mean, not safe?!” he squawks, his voice echoing and bouncing off every strand of grass within a twenty foot radius, ignoring Sehun when the latter tries shushing him. “You’re there all the time, if it wasn’t safe you’d be dead by now!” he adds, crossing his arms over his chest in protest. “Do you not trust me or what?”

Sehun shrugs. “The keywords being ‘all the time’, as in, I know my way around that thing without falling into the abyss by now,” he laughs but he shivers at the thought of Jongin possibly walking too close to the edge in the darkness and tumbling down the steep hill, and the mere thought is enough to make him grab the brunet’s hand, just in case the latter were to get another one of his crazy ideas again and attempt to run off. “Trust me though, I’ve come dangerously close to doing that sometimes, but I’ll show you it tomorrow, I promise.” He shoots Jongin a sincere look to which the latter replies by biting his lip eagerly. “And of course I trust you, don’t be silly-”

“I’m hungry and cold, can we go inside?” Jongin says, feeling his stomach rumble as he squeezes Sehun’s hand. “Since you won’t gimme it back,” he adds, gesturing at the red lollipop in Sehun’s grip, only for his features to morph into a look of confusion when the latter only smiles at him. “...What? What is it? What’s with you face???”

“I know I’ve told you this a thousand times, but since you never seem to understand,” Sehun says calmly, the adoration in his voice making Jongin shiver, “you know what’s drop dead gorgeous?”

Feeling himself blush for the nth time today, Jongin clears his throat, hoping the darkness is doing its magic in concealing his rosy cheeks. “Uh, no, uh...what?”

“The stars,” Sehun says dreamily and Jongin pretends like his ego hasn’t just taken a massive blow. “I mean, look at them, they just glitter on and on without a care, just like diamonds in the sky, isn’t it amazing? They’re so dismissable yet so beautiful if you just take the time to appreciate them." He stares up at the sky with hearts in his eyes and looks over at Jongin when the latter doesn’t say anything. “What?”

Goddamn it. Jongin clears his throat before scratching the back of his ear, not wanting to cause a scene over something as petty as Sehun calling the stars gorgeous instead of him. Because he doesn’t care. Not at all. “...Nothing,” he mumbles, eyes darting around the darkness. “Could...uh, could we go inside now? It’s getting awfully cold.” A gust of wind passes and he shivers even though he’s got Sehun’s jacket to keep him warm.

Instead of moving, Sehun keeps his eyes fixated on the dark blue canvas before him and Jongin is about to wave a hand in front of his face before he finally speaks. “Hey, you know what else is drop dead frickin’ gorgeous?”

Jongin bites his lip, looking away. “What, yourself?”

Sehun stills before he slowly, almost dramatically, turns to look at Jongin with a wide-eyed expression on his face, and the latter tries not to think about how good he looks with only one half of his face covered in the pale blue moonlight. “...No, I…I meant-” He suddenly closes his mouth, a small grin spreading across his entire face. “Hey, you know what, now that you mention it, yeah,” he chuckles, placing a hand on his chest for emphasis and proudly running his other hand through his hair. “How could I have- Oomph!”

It happens so fast Jongin barely has time to process it. One second, he’s shoving Sehun in exasperation and the other, he’s lying flat on his back against the grassy surface after Sehun subsequently lost his balance and fell forward, only to land right on top of the brunet, and Jongin barely registers the sharp sense of pain shooting down his spine over the heavy weight on top of his chest. When he opens his eyes after squeezing them shut upon impact, Jongin nearly shrieks when he comes face to face with Sehun, so Jongin opts to avert his gaze so he’s looking elsewhere (mainly in fear of Sehun seeing how red his face is), only for his eyes to land on his right leg, which is bent outwards since Sehun is lying top of it, which in turn makes Jongin realize that his legs are spread wide open with no way to move his right leg to close them, which normally wouldn’t be an issue if it wasn’t for the fact that Sehun looks like he’s staring right into his soul. Even though it feels like it’s below zero degrees outside, Jongin wouldn’t be surprised if the person (or thing) controlling the weather is screwing with him because he’s dangerously close to dying of heatstroke on the spot.

“Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Sehun laughs, resting the left side of his head against Jongin’s chest while ripping out a few strands of grass with his fingers, only to shoot up like a bullet less than two seconds later. “Jesus, that’s a frantic heart rate, you nervous or something?”

Wincing when his chest feels like it’s about to implode, Jongin bites his lip before shrugging. “No, I...nevermind, it’s just...nevermind,” he mutters, clearing his throat and keeping his eyes on the sky above him. He seriously hopes his stomach doesn’t rumble because not only would that be embarrassing, but also because he just realized Sehun isn’t holding onto the lollipop anymore, and Jongin figures he must’ve dropped it during the fall. Damn it.

“No but really, though,” Sehun hums. “I am pretty freaking drop dead gorgeous, don’t you think?” He picks up a loose strand of grass and proceeds to tickle Jongin’s face with it, the latter squirming a little.

“I hate you, Sehun,” Jongin groans, feeling his hair getting splayed out across the grass beneath him. As much as he agrees with Sehun, he definitely doesn’t want to feed the latter’s ego any further (if that’s even possible), so he keeps his mouth shut whilst looking up at the stars above. The brightest one, that being himself, seems to move a little bit, but it’s still as bright as ever. “Why’d you decide to sign up for football?” he hums, carding his fingers through Sehun’s hair whilst ignoring the numbness spreading across his leg.

With the left side of his face pressed against Jongin’s chest, Sehun blinks, as if he wasn’t expecting the question. “Why do you ask?” he replies, shifting a little on top of Jongin. When a car zooms past three hundred feet or so away, he only dismisses it while Jongin groans in embarrassment, as if he doesn’t see anything weird or strange in using the brunet as a mattress in the middle of a grassy field.

Hoping the people inside the car didn’t (have time to) see anything, Jongin shrugs and he’s awfully surprised at how lightweight Sehun is on top of his torso (he honestly expected his entire frontside to cave in like a house of cards as soon as Sehun landed on top of him). “Just wondering,” he says casually, sighing a little when he waves a hand in front of his face to get rid of a bug, only to catch a whiff of Sehun’s perfume. “Your jacket really smells like you.”

“No crap, it’s my jacket,” Sehun chuckles, ignoring Jongin’s groan underneath him. “And I dunno, I just found it intriguing, I guess, I don’t really remember, to be honest,” he hums against Jongin’s (or rather, his own) shirt. “Since we’ve successfully managed to establish deep talk here, why’d you sign up for hockey?” He shifts the question over to the brunet, who only blinks.

“Uh.” Jongin tries racking his brain for a sensible reply, which is hard since Sehun’s resting his chin on his chest and looking at him like he’s the eighth wonder of the world. “I...I guess I also found it interesting? You know, something I wanted to do? Not to mention Minseok and Yixing persuaded me to join them so I guess I finally caved in,” he says after a while, inhaling the crisp air. “I mean, it’s not like I regret it, because I don’t, it’s just...well, yeah.” He bites his lip and accidentally tugs a little too hard on one of Sehun’s locks, apologizing profusely when the latter hisses in pain. “My freaking picture in that goddamn catalog, , I’ve been trying to live it down ever since it was taken.”

“Your Dad,” Sehun says as a matter-of-factly, only nodding slowly when Jongin clears his throat. “Well, I mean, have you told him about it? Y’know, you rejoining the team?” he adds, swatting a mosquito after it lands on the brunet’s shoulder.

Jongin is silent for a while. “No,” he says quietly, running his thumb across Sehun’s cheek as he continues to stare, perplexed, at the sky above him. It almost feels as if the stars and the entire galaxy is going to cave in and come crashing down on top of them any second, ultimately reminding Jongin of why he finds space terrifying. “I mean, I’m afraid he’ll...you know, when I tell him...that he’ll accuse me of trying to get out of taking care of Jungah, y’know? He’ll hit the roof.”

Sehun nods in understanding. He opens his mouth to say something, only to close it a second later, as if he’s choosing his words with great caution. “Well-” He shifts a little so his face is closer to Jongin’s and the latter looks away. “If I’m going to be completely honest, I don’t think he will,” he says after a few minutes, his tone calm as to not rile the brunet up. “Accuse you, that is.”

Jongin presses his lips together. “What makes you say that?”

“Because any fool would be able to notice how much better your relationship has gotten since, well, a month or so ago,” Sehun simply says, no hint of sarcasm or snarkiness in his voice as he eyes Jongin. The glimmering of the stars above is visible in the latter’s brown orbs and Sehun has to cough back a squeal of adoration. “Look, I don’t know how bad it was before, but based on what I’ve seen, you know, how you’ve been acting around each other lately, take Wednesday, for example, I’d say it can only improve from here,” he adds for emphasis, grabbing Jongin’s hand when the latter remains as silent as ever. “So I don’t think your Dad will care, since I’m sure he’s noticed by now, and if he hasn’t, that for him.” A gust of wind passes, making the leaves to every tree in sight rustle as the wind blows.

Not knowing what to say, Jongin only hums in reply. As he lies on the grass with Sehun on top of him, it slowly hits him that Sehun is, in fact, right (not that he’s taken the time to reflect on it for himself, but he’s willing to take Sehun’s word for just about anything, and he doesn’t know if that’s a good or bad thing). Now that he thinks about it, Jongin doesn’t think he’s felt any unease before and or after talking to Jungah lately, at least for the past couple of weeks, as opposed to how he felt before, where he’d practically run and hide in shame every time he’d see Jungah approach to try to talk to him and Jongin has to clear his throat to rid his brain of the memories since they make him feel queasy. One thought quickly leads to another and Jongin suddenly remembers how he’d embraced her a while ago, and how she had reciprocated, and how good it made him feel, not to mention he clearly recalls her practically squeezing him to death and breaking every bone in his body before he, Baekhyun and Jongdae headed off to Yifan’s car two days ago. As he watches a star falling God knows how many miles away, Jongin feels his lips curling upwards because maybe he doesn’t have to worry about telling his Father after all.

“Hey, you know what?” Sehun asks, flinching when Jongin flinches in surprise and nearly knees him in the head. “Careful. Anyway, I just thought of something.” He crushes an ant between his index finger and thumb and continues when the brunet only hums absentmindedly. “I’m actually kinda glad you joined the team and that they chose to put the catalog on display for everybody to see,” he says, flicking the dead insect away and into the grassy abyss a few feet away.

Jongin blinks, watching as the shooting star comes to a stop and disintigrates, permanently disappearing into the dark blue nothingness surrounding it. He honestly doesn’t think there’s any possible pros to having his awkward, lanky barely pubescent self on display for every student to walk past and ogle on a daily basis, ever. “Why?”

“Because I never would’ve recognized you in the cafeteria later on otherwise,” Sehun chuckles, reaching up and caressing the right side of Jongin’s face with his fingers. When the latter only stammers in embarrassment, he shrugs. “You'd just be another gorgeous face in the crowd. It's true, though! That wasn’t cheesy, don’t you dare!” He ducks just in time to avoid getting whacked in the temple. “Hey, listen, think about it! It’s true! If it wasn’t for the goddamn thing I never would have known it was you sitting there with Baekhyun and Jongdae while I asked to borrow the salt shaker ten billion years ago, right? Right? It’s the truth!” He briefly wonders if he should get off Jongin in case the latter decides to knee him in ungodly places.

Jongin doesn’t, in fact, and much to Sehun’s gratefulness, inflict permanent bruising on the latter’s groin and instead, he sighs deeply as he keeps his eyes fixated on the stars, even though there aren’t many of them left in the sky at this point. “I guess,” he says shyly, unable to think of a witty comeback, and he inwardly curses Sehun and his smoothness before he shivers. “, it’s cold.”

“You’re so adorable, you,” Sehun coos and Jongin promptly whacks his hand away when he tries pinching his cheek. “And you’re telling me,” he groans, slowly rolling off of Jongin and collapsing on his back onto the grass. “Jeez, it’s hard to get comfortable when the mattress you’re laying on is all rough and hard like cardboard,” he mumbles, watching as Jongin winces in his peripheral.

“Oh, is your body in pain? I’m real freaking sorry,” Jongin spits, trying to sit up, only for his leg and abdominal muscles to protest painfully and he ends up having to grab Sehun’s hand so the latter can pull him to his feet. Afterwards, he brushes a couple of blades of  grass from his shoulder, legs and torso before shuddering. It’s got to be at least ten degrees colder outside and he hurries to grab Sehun’s hand when another gust of wind passes, promptly messing up his hair. Great.

“It ain’t my fault your body’s as stiff as cardboard,” Sehun retorts and scrambles to place a hand behind Jongin’s back when the latter suddenly stumbles. “Jesus, are you okay? What’s the matter?” He eyes the brunet in concern, hoping he didn’t hit his head on a rock in the fall.

Jongin squeezes his eyes shut, a wave of both headrush and fatigue washing over him out of nowhere and he tightens his grip on Sehun’s hand so he doesn’t topple over. “Nothing, just...tired,” he mutters, taking a step forward in the direction they came from.

“That’s what you get for eating an entire birthday cake and God knows how many macarons,” Sehun cackles but he promptly shuts up when he sees Jongin’s droopy-eyed expression and he wonders if it’s best if he carries the brunet to and into the house before he collapses in sleep. “No but seriously, how much did you drink last night?” he asks, shaking his head in disbelief (and amusement, but he doesn’t dare laugh) as they make their way down the path. He doesn’t know if it’s Jongin’s tiredness that’s simply contagious (and apparently airborne), but all of a sudden, he’s feeling awfully tired as well and he has to blink multiple times in case his knees were to give in.

“I dunno,” Jongin replies drowsily. He doesn’t even want to think about what happened last night, let alone how much he drank. A part of him sort of wants to believe he didn’t have too much to drink, but after seeing the photos on Sehun’s phone, not to mention the fact that he seemed to have stolen Sehun’s crown at some point, Jongin figures he shouldn’t hold his breath. “Have they written anything in the chat, by the way?” he asks after a while, nearly tripping over a rock lying in the middle of the path.

Pulling out his phone, Sehun shakes his head. “Nope, guess they’re still out. That is, unless Myeon's hyperventilating over Baek's hair and Baek's busy trying to get it back to red, which might be only slightly difficult,” he laughs. “Seriously, drinking a ton is one thing, but not being able to get your out of bed nearly 16 hours later is a whole ‘nother matter,” he adds, seriously praying for both Chanyeol and Junmyeon’s performances during Nationals in couple of days. “I doubt we’ll see them drinking anytime soon, to say the least.”

Seeing Sehun’s house coming into view up ahead, Jongin nods sleepily. “You don’t say,” he mumbles, practically throwing himself in the door a few minutes later. As disappointed as he is that he didn’t get to see Sehun’s special stargazing rock, he’s sort of thankful he didn’t go anywhere near it because he’s at least 100% sure he’d end up falling off the edge of the hill nearby and tumble down it in his exhausted state. “What do we d-” He lets out a not so manly scream when he looks up and practically jumps into Sehun’s arms after a figure suddenly emerges from one the rooms.

“Nice seeing you, too,” Sara chuckles, standing in the middle of the hallway as she eyes Jongin, who is practically shaking like a leaf in Sehun’s arms. “Where were you two? I thought you’d gone off to Jongin's place or something,” she adds, shoving her hands in her back pockets. "Although the door was unlocked, so I figured you'd come back, but still."

“Sara, what are you doing here,” Sehun says, patting Jongin’s shoulder while the latter tries calming himself. “I thought you were-”

“I chose not to sleep over,” Sara hums before eyeing Sehun. “Since y’know, now that I’m finally home to see my boy I figured I’d better stick around and keep him company.” She shoots Sehun a wink to which the latter replies with a long, drawn out groan of agony. “Hey now, wipe that surly look off your face, young man, I visit you once in a full moon and this is the reaction I get?!” she squawks, walking over and tugging on Sehun’s hair, making the latter yelp in pain.

Jongin watches in amusement as Sehun emits a string of inaudible curse words whilst he rubs at the sore spot on his head. “You’re gonna be here all night, then?” he asks, turning to face Sara, who is in the process of putting her hair up in a long, brown ponytail.

“You bet, my friend, and Jesus, you look even nicer in Sehun's clothes than Sehun does,” Sara says happily before tightening her ponytail and putting her hands on her hips. “Come on, you look as sour as a lemon, lighten up a little, you look even madder than you did that time when you lost at Monopoly,” she adds, rolling her eyes at Sehun when the latter grumbles something inaudible under his breath.

“Please don’t bring that up,” Sehun groans, fixing his hair. “And that was what, six years ago?!” he adds, removing his shoes and half-assedly placing them on the shoe rack by the door. When he stands up, only to see the curious glint in Jongin’s eyes, he sighs. “It’s nothing, don’t worry-”

“During one of our family nights, he lost at Monopoly since he had to sacrifice all of his money by giving it to our Mom and he totally flipped out,” Sara cackles, eyes glittering as she clearly recalls the event in her head. “Like, picked up the board and kicked the game pieces clear across the room and everything,” she adds, doubling over in laughter. “I’m glad he hadn’t started football at the time because that definitely would’ve left a permanent dent in our wall.” It’s not until Sehun emits a pained groan that Jongin chuckles because Sara and Jungah would definitely get along.

Taking off his shoes, Jongin carefully sets them aside before laughing a little. He can definitely imagine Sehun flipping out over losing a game of Monopoly and throwing the board and the little metal game pieces everywhere while muttering a string of profanities under his breath before storming off to his room, and the mere thought is enough to make Jongin laugh out loud, much to Sehun’s dismay. In fact, Jongin almost wishes he’d known Sehun back then because that’s a sight he wouldn’t want to miss for the world. 

 "Stop embarrassing me in front of my boyfriend," Sehun growls in humiliation and swatting Sara's hand away when she tries tugging his hair playfully. "At least I don't bawl my eyes out whenever Kim Kardasian shows up on TV," he adds, sending her a look, and Jongin bursts into laughter.

"Can't a woman appreciate another woman's beauty without being judged for it?" Sara chuckles before winking at Jongin. "News flash, he covers his eyes whenever he sees her s up close," she whispers loudly and Jongin giggles so hard that he nearly cries because he can definitely relate. 

"Yeah, wow, news flash, I'm ing gay and don't particularly enjoy ogling mammaries, now move," Sehun grumbles, trying to push past Sara, only for her to continue speaking like nothing happened.

"You got any siblings?" Sara asks Jongin and it's not until she looks at him that he realizes how tall she is (she's got to be at least three inches shorter than Sehun, he thinks) and despite being over six feet, he still feels like an ant. 

Jongin nods, ignoring Sehun grumble next to him. "One sister, which is more than enough and more than I can handle," he replies, laughing a little.

Sara nods before picking up a framed photo sitting on a drawer a few feet away and dusting it off. "Lookie, isn't he just adorable?" she coos, pointing to a chubby baby, that Jongin can only assume is Sehun, who is wearing a light blue bathrobe and has got quite a grumpy expression on its face. "And a sister, huh? What's she like?" she asks, holding the photo above her head as Sehun tries grabbing it out of her hand.

"Jungah? She's...uh, short, sort of pretty, hyper, laughs at everything and everyone," Jongin says, smiling a little.

"Oh, so like you, then?" Sara laughs while shoving Sehun away with her free hand. When Jongin squawks in surprise, she only shrugs. "Sorry kiddo, but it's true." She gives Sehun another shove when the latter threatens to tackle her to the floor if she doesn't put away the photo. "And hey now, big guy, I'm the oldest around here so you better obey me!"

"By like, five months," Sehun grumbles before giving up and running a hand down his face. "And-"

"I am not short!" Jongin blurts out, nearly covering his mouth at how childish that sounded. "And I'm not a thing like her! She...uh, she likes Katy Perry and I don't!" he adds, mentally smacking himself when Sara's eyes suddenly fly open. Well then.

"Katy Perry!" Sara squeals, grabbing Sehun's arm, ignoring the latter's attempts at freeing himself. "Remember? My birthday? Man, what an experience that was," she says dreamily, almost as if she's imagining Katy Perry standing in front of her right now. "You should've been there, Jongin, man, Sehun was smitten as hell and he technically wasn't even invited," she giggles with a pointed look at Jongin. When Sehun sends her a look that practically screams 'If you don't shut up in two seconds I'm gonna murder you and hide your body so well nobody will ever find it', she chuckles, seemingly unfazed. "Well-"

"Could you please leave us alone? You're so irritating!" Sehun groans and quickly shuts his mouth when Sara sends him a look. "Sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean that quite the way it sounded, I'm sorry, I'm happy to have you here-" He promptly takes a step forward and embraces her and Jongin pretends like his heart hasn't just erupted in awe.

Leaning away a second later, Sara shakes her head in disbelief. "You've always been awkward, but that's why I like you," she laughs before patting Sehun on top of the head like a dog. "Anyway, I promised Dad I'd FaceTime him at seven, so I'd better be off," she adds, gesturing up the stairs before sending them both a stern look. "So no pillow fights or you'll disturb my call," she says strictly, making both Sehun and Jongin blush a little. "Not to mention you both must be worn out as hell so I think it'd be best if you went to sleep."

Sehun blinks. "Bed? At seven?!" he squawks, cocking his head to the side. "But-!"

"You heard me, mister," Sara says, pointing a finger at Sehun, who cowers a little under her strict gaze. "I don't want you two waking at up three in the afternoon tomorrow, so, both of you-" She moves her finger so she's pointing at the brunet, who blinks. "-in bed right now. I'll make you breakfast and if you ask nicely, Jongin, Sehun might lend you one of his toothbrushes with the yellow duckies on it and one of his football print pyjamas, how does that sound?" She sends Jongin a wink while ignoring Sehun's deep inhale as the latter tries keeping it together.

"That sounds great!" Jongin squeals, practically bouncing up and down. 

Sara nods before her voice turns serious. "And since Jongin's our guest and looks like the type to enjoy urban legends, you better read him some before you hit the hay," she says with a pointed look at Sehun, whose mouth falls open in surprise. However, when Jongin's features morph into a look of pure discomfort, she presses her lips together, apparently deep in thought. "Not your thing, I take it? Alrighty, well, how about fairy tales then?"

Sehun sighs. "Sara, he's eighteen, he's not a child," he mumbles even though he doesn't believe a word he's saying for obvious reasons, one of them being the fact that Jongin subsequently squeals like a five year old girl recieving a giant, teddy bear shaped gift for her birthday. Well then.

"I like 'Goldilocks And The Three Bears'," Jongin says excitedly, eyes twinkling as they dart back and forth between Sara and Sehun.

"Just because it's got bears in it, or what?" Sehun mutters, mainly to himself. As much as he enjoys reading, especially to children (growing up with four sisters, reading them bed time stories every day until they turned ten gradually became a hobby), he doesn't know how to feel about reading a story about a young girl and three anthropomorphic bears, out loud, to an eighteen year old male. However, given the brunet's behavior, he figures it shouldn't be too strange after all, or at least that's what he hopes.

"There you have it," Sara says as-a-matter-of-factly before snapping her fingers together, making Jongin believe that she's the type to not change her mind once it's made up no matter what. "Now, Dad's waiting for my call, so upstairs and in bed, now, and crank open the books! You've still got that book about fairytales in your bookshelf, don't you, Sehun?"

Opening his mouth to protest, Sehun quickly closes it again when he realizes there's no use in trying to talk back to her, so he wordlessly nods before grabbing Jongin's hand. Damn it. "Fine, fine, we'll, uh...we'll...go up and...uh...read, then, I...guess," he mumbles awkwardly before shuffling over towards the staircase, Jongin hot on his heels. However, they barely make it three steps when they hear Sara's surprised gasp behind them.

"What the-" Sara stares at the bookshelf Jongin had been sitting by earlier, her eyes wide. "What...what happened with...I mean, the books weren't placed in that order before, were they?" she asks, mainly herself, and since she's got her back turned she doesn't see Jongin bite his lip. "I mean-" Her gaze shifts to the right and her jaw nearly hits the floor when she looks into the living room. Particularly, the couch and the table. "Good God! Sehun, what the he- What on Earth have you done to my frickin' surprise party?! You trashed my homecoming party?! Oh Sehun, you pig! Aye, there's freaking macaron crumbs on the sofa and shrimp shells on the floor! ...And the bathroom! What on Earth have you guys been doing?! It looks like a bomb's gone off in here! Look at the bathtub! Everything's brown! You're cleaning this up, Sehun! Jongin, you too-!" She turns around in the nick of time to catch a glimpse of Sehun and Jongin's silhouettes as they both charge upstairs at inhuman speed (while also failing to stifle their not so subtle giggles, especially the brunet), before she sighs in exasperation.

~~~