Daniel distinctly reminded Seongwoo of peaches. He wasn’t all too fond of fruits if he was being perfectly honest, but he had developed a particular craving of them since that morning.

It must have been his scent, Seongwoo thought, as he had caught a whiff of Daniel’s citrusy perfume as he pinned him against the wall of their bedroom, and once more against the wall of the Right Wing corridor. Seongwoo himself knew that such a display of utter shamelessness was foolish and unnecessary, but there had been no helping it as he had a tremendous lack of self-control when it came to fulfilling the demands of his instinct.

They were back in their room, resting in the space of time between practice and promotions, the calm before the imminent storm. Seongwoo had taken the liberty of sprawling himself across Daniel’s bed as Daniel changed into his performance clothes inside the bathroom.

Daniel’s sheets smelled heavily of peaches and cream, and it made Seongwoo hungry. He hadn’t eaten anything all morning, and even as he made his way to the café during practice break he had gotten sidetracked by Hyunwoo’s attempt to destroy Jinyoung reputation, and Taejoon’s attempt to plagiarize Daehwi’s song. Seongwoo smiled at the memory of Daniel playing along with his plan to intercept Hyunwoo and Taejoon before things could spiral into chaos. The experience had left him in a state of breathless jubilation, and Daniel…

Well, he had no idea about Daniel.

Seongwoo might’ve been thoroughly enjoying himself as he cracked jokes at Daniel’s expense, but the discomfiting truth was: he was unsure of whether he had any special feelings for Daniel at that point, and whether those jokes were meant to craftily conceal half-truths. They had only known each other for a week, and Seongwoo’s usual self would take much longer to open up, much less get attracted to anyone in such short a span of time. He might’ve lived his entire life with reckless abandon, danger and mischief walking in his shadows like twins— but even then, he wasn’t foolhardy enough to try and enter into a relationship unprepared, as the consequence of such folly was sure to lead him astray.

But at the very least he couldn’t deny that Daniel had begun to mean something to him. Even his earlier efforts at pissing Daniel off with his constant flirtation had been feeble attempts at masking the profound effect Daniel was beginning to have on him.

Not for the first time did he regret starting a make-believe confrontation with Daniel, whose acting was much too convincing for his own good, because after that he could no longer stop himself from noticing how attractive Daniel was whenever he got angry.

Not that he tried to anger Daniel at every passing chance for precisely that reason.

But having to acknowledge such a thing felt bizarre to him, as he was entirely unused to being the first to fall.

Because he who falls first is the one who loses.

 And Seongwoo really, really despised losing. Especially at games he already knew he should never play.

But the cards had been dealt, and the dice kept on rolling.

The door to the bathroom swung open. Daniel stepped out of it wearing a white undershirt that hugged his figure, a denim jacket that seemed to broaden the width of his shoulders, and ripped skinny jeans that exposed the pale white skin of his thighs and legs.

Seongwoo decided that he needed to shake hands with the person who taught Daniel how to dress like that.

“So, are you really in the Actor track, or are you in the push-Daniel-to-his-extremes track?” Daniel asked, as he took in the sight of Seongwoo lying comfortably on his bed as if it was his own. “Because I honestly have no idea which one you’re better at.”

Seongwoo got up from his position to sit at the edge of the bed, resting an elbow against his knee and a cheek against his hand. He looked up at Daniel with an impish smile. “Guess I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “You take everything as a compliment.”

“That’s because I hardly think anyone would ever wish to insult me.”

“Well, I hate to break it to you, but I exist.”

Seongwoo shrugged, feigning cluelessness. “I’m not sure I know what your point is.”

Daniel grimaced at him, grabbing at the nearest pillow sitting at the foot of his bed, and chucking it in his direction. Seongwoo caught the thing in mid-air before it could ruin his perfectly-styled hair.

“Seriously, what brand of perfume are you wearing?” Seongwoo asked, breathing in the fresh hint of peach that wafted through the air. He sniffed at Daniel’s pillow tentatively. “And why do you wear it to sleep?”

“It’s Calvin Klein,” Daniel responded, looking conscious of himself all of a sudden. “Why? Does it smell weird?”

Seongwoo shrugged, restoring the pillow to its original place against the headrest. “No idea. But you’re starting to remind me of peaches.”

Daniel blinked. “I remind you of Peach?”

“Not the cat,” Seongwoo clarified. “I meant the fruit. The one that’s shaped like someone’s .”

Daniel’s eye twitched in irritation. “Are you saying that I look like someone’s ?”

Seongwoo snickered at him. “Who knows?”

Daniel chucked the pillow at him a second time, this time with twice the amount of effort. “.”

Seongwoo dodged the attack just in time, grateful for his reflexes as he was sure Daniel’s arm strength could knock the wind right out of him.

 “While we’re on the topic of lower extremities though,” Seongwoo said. “You should really do something about that blasted cat of yours. It’s developed a rather inconvenient habit of sitting itself comfortably on my laptop keyboard whenever I’m trying to write a script. If you didn’t know how writing scripts worked, well, let me tell you a secret: it involves me actually getting to see what I’ve managed to come up with, and I can’t do that with someone’s furry backside completely obscuring my vision of the screen.”

As if in acknowledgment of its newfound pastime, Peach walked lazily across the room from where it was resting on its bed across from Daniel’s. It strutted past Seongwoo, then began to paw gently at Daniel’s leg as if to say, aren’t you proud of me?

Daniel smiled fondly at the sight, picking Peach up from the floor and settling both of them down at the side of his bed next to Seongwoo, hugging the tabby to his chest.

“You’d do that for me, Peach?” Daniel said, beaming at the cat and its fur ever so lovingly. “How sweet of you to annoy Seongwoo in my stead.”

Seongwoo wondered how many levels of absurdity he had to cross before he managed to find himself jealous of an annoying feline. Daniel looked up at him triumphantly. “Don’t count on Peach doing you any favors any time soon. This boy just knows how to please his master.”

Seongwoo smirked at him. “Huh. That last line sounded kinkier than it should have been.”

Daniel blushed, and the undertones of his skin as he did so reminded Seongwoo of… well, peaches. He could hardly think of a more gratifying exercise than repeatedly attempting to bring that very same color to life on Daniel’s cheeks with every mischievous remark. Daniel’s reactions brought to him an overwhelming satisfaction, the source of which he couldn’t quite pinpoint, but he was supremely disinterested in such an endeavour anyway.

“Stop thinking of weird things,” Daniel said. “Otherwise I might think you have actual feelings for me. Which I know can’t be true, but I—“

“Why not?”

Daniel blinked, caught off-guard by Seongwoo’s casual retort. “Excuse me?”

Seongwoo looked him in the eye as if in challenge. “Why can’t I have feelings for you?” He inched himself closer to Daniel then, the sheets of Daniel’s bed crumpling beneath him.

What am I doing? Seongwoo thought to himself. He looked at Daniel, whose nervous expression only served to entice the dangerous feeling he had tucked away so carefully within the darkest hollow of his eager heart. He could almost hear the sound of it beating furiously, still unsure of whether it was his, Daniel’s, or both of theirs in perfect harmony.

He moved even closer, until only a few inches of space were left between them, leaning into Daniel and letting the scent of peach assail his senses. He tilted his head slightly as if to move in for a kiss.

Daniel just sat there motionless, the rise and fall of his chest pausing for a moment as he held his breath. He made no move to back away from Seongwoo’s advances. Daniel simply watched him, his eyes flitting briefly to Seongwoo’s lips. Was it in fear, or in anticipation? He couldn’t tell.

Seongwoo wished for something—anything—that would serve even as the slightest indication of what Daniel might have been thinking. He no longer had any idea how to proceed from there, because even as he felt an unbearable thirst only Daniel’s kiss could slake, he knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he entered them both into dangerous territory. The risk of not making it out was far too great.

With a defeated sigh, he moved his head sideways, resting it instead in the space between Daniel’s neck and shoulder.

“This isn’t fair,” Seongwoo said. “It really isn’t.” He felt the heat from Daniel’s body as it transferred slowly to him.

“What… what was that all about?” Daniel asked him, shaken. “Are you… are you feeling alright?”

“Sorry,” Seongwoo whispered. “I don’t think I know the answer to that either.” He felt Daniel’s hand as it found his cheek, each of Daniel’s slender fingers leaving a burning sensation that lingered as they touched him. Daniel moved Seongwoo’s head from where it rested on his neck to look into his eyes.

“I have no idea what’s gotten into you,” Daniel said. “Or myself, to be honest.”

“You should start being more careful around me, you know,” Seongwoo said, meaning it. He removed Daniel’s hand gently from his cheek. “I’ve been interested in men before, and god only knows how deep my feelings run for you now that you’ve teased me to this extent.”

“I’m not kidding, stop saying those things,” Daniel said, his voice shaking anew. “It’s… It’s getting annoying.”

Seongwoo narrowed his eyes at him, entirely unconvinced. “Then why can’t you prove it?”

“What do you mean I—“ Daniel began, but his voice trailed off as he spoke.

“I know you can’t take me seriously half the time,” Seongwoo said. “But I meant what I just said. If you dislike what I’ve been doing, then push me away, punch me in the face, knee me in the groin, for all I care. I’ve given you a hundred chances to do so already, and the only thing I’ve gotten in response thus far is your insistence that I piss you off. If you must know, your words mean nothing to me if your body tells me a much different story.”

Seongwoo didn’t mean to say all of that in one breath, but he guessed he must’ve been piling up frustrations he hadn’t even known were there in the first place. “Don’t even begin to think I don’t notice the way you look at me when you’re under the impression that my attention is elsewhere. I’ve been looked at that way before, so I’m not as blind to these things as you might’ve been led to believe.”

“None of that means anything,” Daniel said defensively. “Just because I look at you a certain way… you’re probably just reading into it all wrong.”

“Oh yeah?” Seongwoo said. “Alright, then. I’ll believe you.”

Seongwoo stood up from where he sat on Daniel’s bed. He faced Daniel then, challenging him with his eyes. Daniel held his gaze, and Seongwoo could tell how much effort it had cost him to do so.

And then slowly, he began loosening his tie.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Daniel demanded, as Seongwoo relished in his wide-eyed surprise.

“Giving you a taste of your own medicine, that’s what.”

After his tie had come undone and slid unceremoniously to the floor, he began ing his polo shirt, observing Daniel’s reactions as he did so.

Daniel’s eyes were following his hand movements closely.

Why is it that you can’t even manage to look away?

Seongwoo set the last button free, and at that point Daniel’s hand began reaching for his other pillow.

Seongwoo smirked at him, moving his hand downwards to unclasp the belt around his waist.

“Seongwoo,” Daniel said, looking him in the eye this time. “There’s a bathroom in here, in case you’ve forgotten. Which means it isn’t necessary to strip in front of me for no reason. And if you’re trying to tease me again, it isn’t going to work.”

“Sure it isn’t. Whatever keeps you awake at night.”

Seongwoo detached the belt from the waist of his pants in one swift movement, promptly tossing it onto Daniel’s bed.

“Hey,” Daniel said, interrupting Seongwoo just as he was about to his pants. “Don’t just throw your stuff on top of my bed.”

A small smile tugged at the corner of Seongwoo’s mouth. He walked to Daniel’s side slowly, then began ruffling Daniel’s hair without incident. “I borrowed that belt from you this morning. I just forgot to ask for permission.”

“That’s what you call stealing,” Daniel said still blushing at the sight of him. He turned away in embarrassment, as if he couldn’t piece together a single coherent thought if all of them were going to be intercepted by Seongwoo’s distracting display of his bare torso. “Now just… go put on a shirt or something.”

“Ahh,” Seongwoo said, knowing full well that Daniel was trying to do his best not to make eye-contact. He moved his hand from Daniel’s hair to his chin, slowly tilting Daniel’s head upwards with one finger. Daniel looked up at him in surprise at the gesture, looking like his heart was about to jump straight out of its ribcage.

This is exactly the sort of reaction I can’t understand, Seongwoo thought. What am I to you, Kang Daniel? And why aren’t you pushing me away?

 “I found my newly-bought milk carton half emptied this morning,” Seongwoo said. “Should I call that stealing too, or does Peach know how to open a refrigerator?”

Daniel blinked at him. “That was yours? I thought I bought that for Peach.”

Again, Daniel made no move to pull Seongwoo’s hand away. Seongwoo did it of his own volition, placing both hands inside of his pockets. “Well then, I guess that makes us even. But that doesn’t mean it should happen again. I already told you what I’d do to you if you managed to upset me.”

“I thought it was a joke,” Daniel deadpanned. “You aren’t actually going to kiss me.”

A string pulled taut and tore apart inside of Seongwoo. “Is that so?”

Before Daniel could register what was happening, Seongwoo had pushed him against the bed, pinning both of Daniel’s wrists to the mattress on either side of his head, his legs on either side of Daniel’s waist.

“That’s it,” he whispered, leaning closer to Daniel. “You’ve already gone and done it.”

“Seongwoo? What are you—“ But Seongwoo didn’t let him finish his sentence, giving him time only to close his eyes as Seongwoo planted a kiss on his forehead.

Seongwoo let his lips linger for a moment against Daniel’s skin. After a few seconds had elapsed, Seongwoo looked at him, and the expression Daniel wore was almost enough to push him over the edge.

“Whoops,” Seongwoo said, trying to interrupt his own train of thought before it led him to dangerous places. “I was aiming for your lips. Guess I missed.”

He released Daniel then, sitting himself back down on Daniel’s bed. Daniel immediately shot up from the position Seongwoo had forced him into, still wearing a dazed expression. He looked at Seongwoo in utter confusion.

“Did… did you just kiss me?”

‘I thought I made it clear that I would.”

“You… you didn’t have to do it like that.”

“Why? Did you want me to do it more gently? Or perhaps you wanted me to kiss you elsewhere?”

Daniel turned away from him. “I never said anything.”

Seongwoo heard a strain in Daniel’s voice, and it sounded to him like disappointment.

“Sorry about that,” Seongwoo said, realizing belatedly that he may have gone overboard. “I didn’t mean to do it that way, either.”

“What… what’s up with an apology all of a sudden?” Daniel regarded him in puzzlement, as if Seongwoo’s concession made him sound as if he was speaking in an obscure, entirely foreign language he neither understood nor thought existed. Seongwoo supposed he couldn’t blame Daniel, as he was the farthest you could get from the remorseful, apologetic type. But still…

Seongwoo moved away from Daniel slightly, as any nearer than that would have tempted him to finish what he had started. “The way you react to me… Sometimes, it fools me into thinking you want me to do the exact same things I’ve been meaning to. If you behaved just a little differently around me, I don’t think I would enjoy teasing you this much.”

But before Daniel could ask him to explain what he meant by that, a knock came sounding from the other side of the door.

“Were you expecting company?” Daniel asked him, bewildered. His face flushed a familiar, reddish color. “And you had the audacity to do that sort of thing to me while you were expecting company? I mean, you did apologize, but… oh god, what if you had accidentally forgotten to lock the door? Then they would have seen… OH GOD NO.”

Seongwoo looked at Daniel, just as confused as he was. “What are you on about? I never said I was expecting company.”

Daniel glowered at him, entirely unconvinced. He shot a nervous glance at the door. “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Daniel. Please open the door,” a familiar voice responded, and it took three seconds for Seongwoo to recognize it as belonging to the barista who owned and ran the Imugi café. “Someone else here wants to see you , too.”

“HEY, KANG DANIEL! OPEN THE DOOR, GODDAMNIT!” Another angry, and entirely unfamiliar voice yelled a split-second later.

Seongwoo looked to Daniel then, who visibly shuddered at the sound of the second voice. “Should I open the door for Jisung-hyung, or keep it closed and pray he’ll return without his satan-spawn boyfriend, who clearly intends to murder me the moment I answer the door?”

“Is he that scary?” Seongwoo asked.

“Not at first sight, no,” Daniel said. “But you have no idea how much he orders me around. It honestly feels like I’m in bootcamp whenever I’m with him. And the never-ending accusations… I think I’m developing a migraine just thinking about it.”

Seongwoo rolled his eyes. “Just answer it, or else he might just kick the door straight out of its hinges with brute force. Don’t worry, I’ll be here praying you come back alive.”

Daniel gulped nervously, then stood up and walked over to the door. Seongwoo followed soon after, in case he needed to be near enough to prevent Daniel from getting hurt. As soon as he heard the click of the lock, the door flew open, and Seongwoo thanked his intuition for the accurate forethought, as the door would’ve collided with Daniel’s nose and broken it had he not been there to cushion the blow with his left arm.

The blow left a stinging sensation against it, but Seongwoo didn’t particularly mind. “Are you alright?” He turned to Daniel.

“Thanks, that seriously saved a life just then,” Daniel responded. His expression soured as Jisung walked through the door, with a much shorter boy in tow. “Or not.”

Seongwoo looked at the boy standing next to Jisung, whose right hand was interlocked with Jisung’s, and whose left was clinging onto Jisung’s arm right arm fiercely, as if it were his source of lifeblood. He had soft features, and honestly looked like he would never hurt a fly, and even the way he was attempting to stare daggers at Daniel made Seongwoo want to pet him and stuff him with treats.

He reminded Seongwoo of a miniature puppy, and Daniel was the jumbo-sized Samoyed pup who was deathly afraid of him.

“Hey there, Sungwoon-hyung,” Daniel said in greeting, trying to sound casual. “Long time no see.”

“Care to explain to me why you and Jisung were alone in your room this morning?” Sungwoon began with no preamble. “And don’t think I didn’t see you trying to sidestep me by rushing through the back door. I could spot you with my thief-radar from miles away.”

Daniel sighed in exasperation, as if to say not this spiel again.

“He followed me here because I forgot to feed my cat,” Daniel explained. “And for the quadrillionth time, hyung, I didn’t try to steal your boyfriend, so I have no idea why that thief-radar of yours still works on me.”

“Rather than a thief-radar,” Seongwoo cut in, perfectly amused by the turn of events unfolding before him, “I think that radar of yours just alerts you to the type of guys who could steal anyone’s boyfriend. Or girlfriend, for that matter.”

Sungwoon looked at him, then began scanning him from head to toe, regarding him in his half-undressed state. “Have we met before?” he asked, then turned to Daniel. “Where’d you manage to find this absolute hunk? He looks like some western movie actor.”

“What’s with complimenting other guys in front of me all of a sudden?” Jisung asked, pouting at Sungwoon in mock offense. “Ah anyway, this is Hong Seongwoo, and he’s Daniel’s roommate. Daniel forgot to feed his cat because this guy tried to kiss him.”

“I did not,” Daniel said, looking alarmed. “I mean, he did try to kiss me but I wasn’t so distracted that I—“

“Wait,” Sungwoon interrupted. “He tried to kiss you? Are you two dating?”

Sungwoon didn’t miss the change of tone in Sungwoon’s voice, as if he was all for the idea of him and Daniel dating.

“We’re not dating,” Daniel clarified. “We just sleep in the same room.”

“I approve of you, Gong Seongwoo,” Sungwoon said, completely ignoring Daniel and releasing Jisung’s arm from his vice-grip to give Seongwoo a thumbs-up. “You have my permission to date Daniel.”

Seongwoo grinned at him. “Thanks, hyung, but I don’t think dating Daniel is possible at the moment. That would be like dating a brick wall considering how rigid he is around me."

Sungwoon’s excitement level seemed to drop considerably. “Is the not good?”

The offhand remark astonished Seongwoo, and he felt his own cheeks start to burn aflame.

“IT ISN’T LIKE THAT BETWEEN US OKAY,” Daniel bellowed, completely scandalized. “We’re not dating, we’re just roommates, and we sleep on separate beds. Not in each other’s arms, or stacked on top of each other, or whatever else it is that you’re thinking.”

Seongwoo laughed nervously, trying to fend off the barrage of inappropriate thoughts trying to force their way into his head.

“What’s this conversation I’ve just walked into?” another voice cut in, all heads turning to the source. The guy who materialized at the door looked familiar, and Seongwoo wondered if he was a member of the faculty. Or was he a model, too? He could well have been both, as he carried both an aura of intellect and sophistication about him.

“Stop it with the talk of such things already,” the guy said. “This is a sacred institution of learning.”

“Sorry about that, Minhyun-hyung,” Daniel said. “These guys were being unruly.”

“Minhyun-ah,” Jisung said then, clapping Minhyun on the back as he walked in. “Didn’t know you were in the area.”

“I haven’t seen you around in so long, either,” Sungwoon observed. “What’s this dongsaeng of mine been up to?”

“I came to see how my students were doing,” Minhyun replied, cocking his head at Daniel. “I’ve simply been roving around the dormitory, and happened by your door as it was left slightly ajar.”

A lightbulb switched open in Seongwoo’s head then, as he began to remember why Minhyun was so familiar. He was a student of the same year as Seongwoo before his temporary leave of absence, Mireu’s Kang Daniel at the time: ranked first throughout the school, popular with the ladies, and expected to make his debut upon graduation. Not even the current members of NU’EST W, all of whom were ranked below him, were as beloved as he was at the time.

For years, the ‘W’ in NU’EST’s name that the members themselves insisted up