The hallways in the science hall were basically empty aside from a certain Boo Seungkwan who was was tearing down the hallway in a full sprint. He was currently 16 minutes late for his Biology Lab, and the only positive thinking he could do was hoping that the teacher didn't show up and that class might be canceled. He was a man with a perfect attendance to keep up, after all. The only reason he overslept was because there were a few stubborn customers at work the previous night who refused to leave until two hours after closing, much to Seungkwan's (and Junhui's) dismay.

 

Thank the heavens he put on some of at antiperspirant or else he'd have pit stains the size of a melon by now, as he busted through the door to his classroom. Out of breath, he noticed that his teacher was indeed there and that almost every lab table was filled with students. Just his luck.

 

"Mister Boo, you're late, but I'll let you off this one time," the professor turned to look at Seungkwan, disappointedly placing her hands on her hips before waving him away. "Find a seat."

 

Seungkwan sent the teacher an innocent smile before putting his hand up next to the side of his head, trying to avoid any eye contact as he scurried to the only empty seat at the back table. He placed his things on the table and sat down with a sigh, turning to the person next to him. "Can you catch me up- Oh, it's you!"

 

Next to Seungkwan was Soonyoung. To be frank, Seungkwan didn't even know that the guy was in this class, but he supposes that since the face is familiar now - he recognized him. Also a little thing called destiny (being late) played a part. 

 

Soonyoung tilted his head to the side a bit, as if he didn't know who Seungkwan was, before a look of recognition hit him. He snapped his fingers before pointing at the younger with a grin. "Seungkwan, right?" Seungkwan nodded.

 

"We're not doing much. Just examining some muscle tissues," Soonyoung continued, pointing down to the worksheet in front of him then the microscope on the table. "It's fun."

 

The last part was extremely sarcastic, and Seungkwan couldn't agree more. He was a History major after all. Anything science related . 

 

He propped his elbow up on the table and rested his head on his hand as he spoke casually. "I hope you're good at this science stuff because I'm ty at it."

 

Soonyoung simply smiled, holding on his hand for an affirmative handshake as he smiled. "Sweet. I at it, too. Let's be pals." To this, Seungkwan gave the other guy a look of pure confusion before hesitantly reaching up to return the handshake. 

 

The handshake awkwardly continued for a few more for moments before the teacher called them out to tell them to get back to working on the lesson at hand.

 

-

 

As the students filed out of the classroom, Seungkwan and Soonyoung were two of the last ones since they were seated at the back table. After Lab, Seungkwan had about 1 hour to kill - which normally meant early lunch. He knew Wonwoo was already there because the latter sent him a text earlier saying his class got out early and that there was no need to fetch him. 

 

Seungkwan headed out the door and was about to tear out towards the cafeteria, but he was quickly hooked back towards the door as Soonyoung slung an arm around his shoulders. "Where ya' going?"

 

"Uh, lunch?" Seungkwan spoke in an unsure tone, picking up Soonyoung's hand like it was a dirty rag then slinking out from under it. Really- Soonyoung was cool and all, but this friendship was progressing way too fast for Seungkwan's liking.

 

Soonyoung apparently didn't get a grasp of Seungkwan's uneasy aura because he clasped his hands together, blinking his tiny puppy dog eyes at Seungkwan. "Can I come? All of my friends are in class right now."

 

Those damn tiny puppy dog eyes. It was cute. And cute is Seungkwan's weakness. "Yeah, of course!" 

 

The older internally squealed before slinging his arm around Seungkwan's shoulders again and dragged them towards the cafeteria. After entering, Seungkwan somehow managed to direct him towards the lunch table where the squad normally sat at. 

 

Unexpectedly, only Wonwoo and someone else Seungkwan couldn't make out were at the table. Normally Mingyu would be the first one there since he kind of skips all his classes. He was on a basketball scholarship, and Seungkwan's sure the university 'cleans up' most of Mingyu's lack of attendance.

 

As the two approached the table, Seungkwan noticed that the mystery person sitting with Wonwoo was ing Lee Seokmin.

 

"Wonwoo, the 's this guy doing here?" he asked, half-shocked but still half-sassy. Soonyoung backed him up with a traumatized, strangled noise. Seungkwan wasn't entirely sure how Wonwoo could even get himself involved with a guy like Seokmin, seeing as their personalities completely didn't match.

 

Wonwoo was sitting there, sipping on a boxed juice through a bendy straw as he looked at the two with his signature Wonwoo stare. A full two minutes passed - filled with the slurping noise of the juice box - before a word was said. "Oh. He bought me juice."

 

By now, Soonyoung had already detached himself from Seungkwan, went to buy lunch, and came back to see that Seungkwan had sat down, posed as if he was have an mid-life crisis. Which he technically was - at least in his mind. His son was associating with weird strangers who whip out their as a way to break the ice on first dates.

 

Wonwoo just shrugged as Seokmin passed him another juice after the former ran out. Despite the mid-life crisis, Seungkwan had the mind to unwrap the attached bendy straw and pop it in the juice box for his cherished child.

 

Before any kind of progress could be made out of the situation, Mingyu and his girlfriend plus one sat down at the table with their food, capturing all four of the guy's attention. Especially Seokmin's.

 

"Who're these guys?" Mingyu asked nonchalantly, cracking open his can of Sprite. Soonyoung was about to pipe up and introduce himself, but suddenly Seokmin stood up. His hand was already armed as he ped his pants. Seungkwan then reached across Wonwoo to grab ahold of the zipper and zip them back up, followed by the well executed teamwork of Wonwoo pulling Seokmin to sit the back down.

 

Seungkwan barely had time to regain his composure to give a real answer, but Yuna quickly butted in. "Did that guy just his pants at the lunch table?" 

 

"Damn right, babe," Seokmin answered, shooting finger guns at her. Seungkwan and Soonyoung simultaneously facepalmed. This wasn't going good at all- Or so they thought. 

 

Yuna gave a nod of approval then quirkily pulled a pen out of her purse, snatching a napkin from Mingyu's tray so she could scribble her number down on it. She slid the napkin towards Seokmin with a wink.

 

All five bystanders at the table watched in awe.

 

"That guy's got some skills," Mingyu said admiringly, giving a small applause, which Wonwoo joined in for some reason.

 

Seungkwan decided now was a better time than never to introduce the two table newcomers. "Okay, so before anymore ia is potentially flashed- this is Soonyoung and Seokmin. They're from that support group we told you about."

 

Mingyu and Eunbi both made oooo's of comprehension, but Yuna was too caught up in trying to flirt by batting her eyelashes at Seokmin at lightning speed. 

 

"I was going to ask if they were gay too, but it's obvious this guy ain't based on the game he's got." Mingyu gave another mini applause along with his sentence.

 

This time Soonyoung spoke up. "No, I'm scared of , and that guy-" he glared over at Seokmin, "whips his out every time he meets a girl." Wonwoo and Seungkwan just mindlessly nodded along as they sipped on the boxed juice (Seungkwan stole one when Seokmin wasn't looking).

 

Mingyu had this look of deep internal thought as he processed the newfound information. "Damn. You guys are kind of like Taco Bell sauces." Seungkwan choked on his juice.

 

"What the does that even mean?"

 

"Like," the taller tapped held his chin in concentration before pointing to each person as he spoke, "Soonyoung is mild sauce. You're hot sauce, and Seokmin is definitely fire sauce."

 

Wonwoo, who had been silent this whole time, suddenly cut in. "What about me?"

 

"Verde."

 

Seungkwan wrapped his arms around Wonwoo with a scowl adorning his face. "How dare you compare my son to some nasty green taco condiment." On the other hand, Wonwoo questioned curiously, "Why verde?"

 

Looking at the latter as if it was obvious, Mingyu opened his mouth to explain, but Soonyoung ruined the atmosphere by tossing his hands up in the air. "Sweet! Now we're the Taco Bell Sauce Squad."

 

"Hell yeah! Call us TBSS for short," Seokmin added, reach across to give Soonyoung a high five which he reciprocated. Looks like there was no ill feelings left anymore from the last meeting.

 

Mingyu's stupidity can do wonders, Seungkwan figured.

 

-

 

The night shift passed by fairly quickly and with only a few times of the pizza place being so busy that Seungkwan had to work as if he had at least 10 hands. It was better than it could've been for a Friday night, and Seungkwan was thankful for that. After last night, he just wanted to get out of there early.

 

It was now nearing closing time, so Seungkwan was in the back washing dishes as Junhui worked on mopping the kitchen floor. Jihoon was off somewhere doing manager-slash-boss things. Whatever that is.

 

Junhui walked over to the sink where Seungkwan was, dragging the mop with him so he could prop himself up with it for balance as he stood next to the other. Junhui had both hands resting on top of the mop and one leg crossed over the other as he stood. In Seungkwan's mind, he looked like some guy straight out of a manhwa with that kind of pose. 

 

His thoughts were interrupted when Junhui spoke. "Y'know. I haven't see Hansol around here in a while." A while being four days exactly. Seungkwan had counted. 

 

To be more precise, Seungkwan hadn't seen Hansol ever seen the support group meeting. Not on campus, nor at his work place - which is where Hansol made sure to hang out without skipping a single day.

 

If Seungkwan were being honest with himself, he'd admit that he may be a bit concerned. "Yeah, me neither."

 

"You think he's okay? It's weird for him to disappear of out the blue." Junhui sighed, rocking a bit where he stood before stopping and squinting at Seungkwan. "You didn't say anything mean to him did you?"

 

Seungkwan stopped washing the dishes as he thought. The last thing he even said to the guy was his confession about his uality and lack of at the meeting- Oh. Maybe I scared him off by telling him I was a ! He's had plenty of the...bowchikawowwow...anyways, so maybe he was scared off by my cooties!!!

 

It seemed as Junhui could hear Seungkwan's inner turmoil, so he placed a hand on Seungkwan's shoulder in attempt to comfort him. "If your sassy said something to him then I suggest you apologize. That kid is pure and needs to be protected."

 

Seungkwan snapped his head in Junhui's direction, face full of displeasure. "He ain't pure! He's a addict for 's sake- Plus, nothing about him needs to be protected. Especially his hair cut."

 

"You've got a point about the hair cut, but c'mon Seungkwan." Junhui had that 'do it or your grounded' mother-type look in his eyes, and Seungkwan was honestly very intimidated. Intimated to the point where he immediately took off his dishwashing gloves to fish out his cell phone (that he wasn't even supposed to have during shift hours). 

 

He held up his free in defense - and to also block Junhui's mom glare - and pulled up his chat with Hansol. Seungkwan typed in a quick 'u ok?' then pressed send, flashing the screen Junhui's way. "I checked on him- 'kay?"

 

Seemingly pleased with that, Junhui nodded with a hum then wandered off the go mop the dining area. Seungkwan waited until Junhui was out of sight before letting out a sigh, slipping his phone back into his back pocket. However, just as he did, he felt it vibrate causing him to whip it right back out and open the text. 

 

From: That addict guy named Hansol

oh wowzie! i wasn't expecting you to text me!

but no, i'm sick. : (

 

This is currently what's running through Seungkwan's head: one, who the says 'wowzie'? and two, the inner mom hardware built into Seungkwan's system is about to go into override mode. Whenever Seungkwan's friends or families were sick, he'd always be there to take care of him. In other words, Seungkwan's motherly instinct was hella there.

 

But this was some guy he barely knew, and seemed to be obsessed with making Seungkwan's life miserable by: buying his phone number off his best friend, constantly feeding him ty pick up lines (and gifts), and basically stalking him at his work place.

 

There ain't no way in hell Seungkwan is going to let take care of his guy.

 

To: That addict guy named Hansol

u want some soup?

 

Seungkwan internally and externally facepalmed.

 

From: That addict guy named Hansol

 soup!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i mean yeah. soup is cool.

thanks.

 

To: That addict guy named Hansol

give me ur address n ill be there in 30

 

Officially putting his phone away (for now), Seungkwan let out a deep sigh. He didn't know why he actually let himself be concerned for Hansol's wellbeing, moreover actually agree to go make him some damn soup.

 

He hung up the gloves and decided  the dishes as he grabbed his belongings, clocked out and started heading into the dining area, so he could leave.

 

"Yo, we still have stuff to do!" Junhui barked at him as Seungkwan passed his line of sight. Seungkwan's response was a simple wave of the hand paired with a 'please let me off this one time' look. He didn't even wait for Junhui's response before scurrying out the front door, checking his phone once more to see what stores were open, at this time of night, that sold ingredients to make some soup.

 

--

a/n: i apologise for any spelling mistakes because it's 2am and i