Minsoo watches as people begin to walk through the bar’s door.  Jinwook and Sooil are arguing over what to get alongside their drinks.  Minsoo’s eyes catch on the flash of red hair, followed closely by pink curls.  

But as he looks down the group of boys happily trailing to a table his eyes land on the third boy.  Hair a soft brown, curling as well.  His eyes curve pleasantly, catlike, sharp at the edges.

He’s loud, Minsoo wrinkles his nose with the sound of the boy whining, clinging to the redhead.

Hyung, he stretches out, laughing when the other boy punches him before letting him finish the sentence.

The pink haired boy turns to look at them, smiling wide, before poking his lip out, shimmying his shoulders, hyung he echoes.

“Minsoo-ah,” Jinwook calls softly, hand on his shoulder startling him away, pulling his gaze from the group of boys, “we’re ordering the usual.”

Minsoo snorts, rolling his eyes, “this is what you two were arguing about?”

Sooil waves down a waitress, leaning on his elbow, “shut up or you’re paying.”

Minsoo is quiet for the most part, it’s not out of the ordinary.  He watches Jinwook and Sooil eat pork belly and swing back beer happily, talking about their upcoming classes, the upcoming games they have for the starting season now that the new semester is about to begin.

The air outside is beginning to cool, summer fading into breezy evenings, cold mornings.

Jinwook jabs a piece of pork belly into Minsoo’s face, mouth chewing, eyes questioning.

“You ok?” it’s Sooil who asks, refilling Minsoo’s cup, “school hasn’t started yet, relax.”

Minsoo pushes away the meat, shaking his head.  Jinwook doesn’t blink as he eats it, flipping more pieces on the grill.

“They’re just being so loud,” Minsoo says, eyes flickering to the table at the corner, where the boys from earlier sit, “kind of distracting.”

Sooil turns to look, not bothering to be subtle, turning around after a second, “haven’t seen them around,” he takes a sip of his drink, “I would know if there was a kid walking around with pink hair.”

Jinwook frowns, “probably freshman.”

Minsoo lets his eyes trail back to the corner, where he watches them make a sloppy toast, glass cups spilling with their clash.

“Probably won’t see them again after this,” Sooil adds.

Jinwook, who is one of the only decent people Minsoo probably knows, pays for all of them.  It’s late and the bar is empty besides them.

Minsoo has drunk more than he probably should, letting Sooil distract him from the loud corner with glass after glass of beer.

His legs are a little weak and his head buzzes unpleasantly with the night sounds.  Even through his blurry vision he can make out the red and pink hair at the corner streetlamp.  Jinwook’s small hands guide him through the street, Sooil laughing quietly to himself.

He knows the brunet has to be with the other two but can’t make him out, even as they get closer, he can’t see him.  It frustrates him and he lunges forward, away from Jinwook’s warm grasp, closing his eyes ready to hit concrete.

But his body meets warmness, it gives out under his weight and he stumbles forward, hands grabbing thin shoulders, eyes blinking as he barely stays upright.

“Wah,” a familiar voice says, closer than Minsoo expects.  Hands reach up to touch his face, cupping under his chin, thumbs rubbing circle on his cheeks.

“Are you an angel?” Minsoo blinks and his vision refocuses enough to make out soft brown curls, sparkling eyes, high cheekbones.

“Am I in heaven?” the boy asks, awed, “can I kiss you?”

“Hwanhee!” someone calls out, Minsoo sees the blur of pink, moving towards them.

Minsoo thinks its too late, watching as the boy leans closer.

His gut feels like it’s being ignited, burning up his body, sending shivers down his skin as his fingers curl into fists.

“What the ?” he snarls, a sobering feeling settling as he takes a step back, raising his fist and rearing back.

The impact rings loudly between both groups, Minsoo’s knuckles landing neatly on the other kid’s jaw.  

He watches as the boy stumbles back, hands going to automatically reach for his jaw.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Minsoo flinches at the new voice, but doesn’t let himself back down.

“What’s wrong with him?” he slurs, “he’s not normal.”

“Hold Hwanhee for me,” the pink haired boy sounds too serious, threatening, “I’ll beat sense into him.”

Minsoo snorts, the kid is shorter than him, looks small under his sweater, he tries to take a step forward.

“Minsoo stop,” Jinwook’s hand is pulling his elbow back, harsh and firm.

Sooil steps forward, hands raised.

“They’ve both had a lot to drink,” he offers a smile, “Minsoo isn’t really like this, he’s been weird all night.  He didn’t mean it.”

The pink hair boy shoots a look at the redhead, holding their limp friend.

“Your friend is a ,” the boy finally says, beckoning for the other boy to get away from the other boys, “let’s go Dongyeol, we need to get Hwanhee home.”

Dongyeol throws a glare of them, hurrying up to help carry their friend.

Jinwook stands holding Minsoo until the others turn the corner, sighs and beckons Sooil to help.

“What is wrong with him today?” he asks, knowing he won’t get an answer.

Sooil shrugs, “drank too much.”

They drag Minsoo back to campus.

-

When he wakes up, a groan catches in his throat, feeling like someone’s jammed sand down his mouth.

His eyes can barely open, his body feeling heavy.  His stomach feels like its two seconds away from emptying itself all over the room.

“Here,” Jinwook’s voice is a little too loud and Minsoo is too sluggish to do anything but let the foil pack of aspiring hit his face.

He swallows them with the small paper cup of water Jinwook offers and sits up, holding his head between his knees, willing the room to stop spinning.

“I punched a guy,” he says, weakly, “right?”

Jinwook rubs his back, pausing, “yeah, you were a big .”

“Thanks,” Minsoo grimaces.

Minsoo sighs when Jinwook leaves again, none of them saying anything, Minsoo too tired to talk, Jinwook too nice to push.

He holds on to his pillow, staring at the cracks on the concrete ceiling, trying to figure out what had happened.

Something about the other boy had rubbed him the wrong way, brough heat through his veins.  Too close to comfort, too loud.

Just thinking about it has Minsoo digging fingernails into the old pillow.  

He's working himself up over a boy he had only seen for one night, no one important.

Minsoo didn’t have to like every person he met and he definitely did not like the other boy.