“You make such a mess, hyung…” Kihyun chastises, reaching quickly for a napkin from his tray to pat at the older boy’s lips. Hoseok merely gives him a pure, lighthearted chuckle, and Kihyun can’t help but smile as well. He retracts his hand to let the older get back to his lunch, which he happily does so judging by how quickly he slurps down the noodles.

Kihyun returns his gaze to his own lunch, only to see their freshman friend, Changkyun, staring at them with a starry gaze.

“You two are so cute, hyung~” Changkyun comments without prompting, earning a knowing chuckle from Kihyun. He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose proudly, this having not been the first time he’s been told this. Hyunwoo approaches the table and slides in next to his same-age friend, glancing down at Hoseok’s arm questioningly.

“Got another one?” he asks, eyeing the white gauze around his bicep. Hoseok hums, setting down his chopsticks to pull up his sleeve.

“Yeah, last night,” he replies. “It’s a branch of a cherry blossom tree… to remind me of my Kihyunnie~” He says this as he looks over to Kihyun, an absolutely smitten look painting his face. Kihyun laughs so hard he nearly falls off the bench, his high-pitched yelps echoing through the open-aired courtyard. Changkyun and Jooheon make a retching sound simultaneously, and Minhyuk only rolls his eyes.

“Honestly,” Minhyuk sighs, “aren’t you supposed to be the school bad boy? Come on, hyung, live up to your street cred.” Hoseok nervously chuckles at this, pulling at his cartilage piercing with a ditzy sort-of smile. Kihyun grins fondly at the familiar sight, and does his best not to stare.

“What up, losers,” Hyungwon suddenly greets, taking a perch atop the table. He slings one lanky leg over the other, smiling contentedly at the beautiful weather. Kihyun inhales a steadying breath at this, the younger’s breaching of the rules setting his teeth on edge.

“Wonnie,” Kihyun says before anyone else can chime in, “how many times have I asked you not to sit on the table?” Hoseok reaches over to set a consoling hand on his knee, and Kihyun feels himself calm down. Though, he honestly would’ve rather stayed mad, as it’d have given him the dedication to keep nagging Hyungwon until he got his scrawny self off the damn table.

“I don’t know,” Hyungwon responds with a listless shrug, “I don’t really listen when you talk~” Jooheon and Changkyun share a chuckle at the typical response, but Hyunwoo only gives him a warning look. Hyungwon notes the gaze, and only sighs in defeat as he descends from his seat and instead sits down in the senior’s lap. Hyunwoo smiles genially at this, wrapping his thick arms around the boy’s thin waist as Hyungwon begins to feed him.

Kihyun watches the scene with a knowing gaze, looking again to his boyfriend of a year. Hoseok messily slurps up his noodles some more, seemingly unaware of the stare as broth splatters across his face.

The junior sighs tiredly, wondering just what he’s done to deserve such a hyung in his life.

Hoseok stays back after school, much to Kihyun’s dismay, claiming that he needs to remain behind for some extra study time. He uses the excuse, though, because he knows the younger would never argue with that, being the absolute hard- about grades that he is. So now, here he stands, at the back corner of the school, waiting for his appointment.

He hears footsteps approach from behind, and he takes a long drag of his cigarette before dropping it to the ground. He turns round to face the visitor, and blows out the puff of acrid smoke.

“You’re late,” Hoseok states simply, sliding his foot over the of the cigarette as he shoves his hands into his leather jacket. Chongsik merely chuckles to himself, the bulky young man’s gaunt face contorting in the most unpleasing of ways.

“Sorry to take up so much of your time,” he comments dryly, though his words are clearly sarcastic. Hoseok only stares wordlessly at him, waiting for the other to get to the point. Chongsik takes the hint, and slings his backpack forward. He zips it open and pulls out a stack of papers, and offers them. Hoseok takes them, and puts them into the messenger bag slung onto his shoulder.

“Anyone see you?” he asks, going for the wallet in his back-pocket, the one he has especially for his business expenses. Chongsik shakes his head adamantly in response. Hoseok takes it out and counts out the appropriate pay, one hundred dollars in cash—an absolute fortune to a high-schooler—and hands it over. Chongsik gladly takes the money and shoves it into his bag haphazardly.

“You know,” the boy says, zipping his backpack up and resituating it on his shoulders, “if that Kihyunnie of yours knew you ran this business, he’d have your head on a pike.”

“That’s none of your concern,” Hoseok tells him bluntly, being sure to throw enough acid into his voice to make the boy shudder. Chongsik throws his hands up, a nervous smile contorting his impossibly thin lips.

“Hey, man, I’m just warning you.” He then shrugs, already backing up. “But, like you said, it’s none of my business. Just don’t bring us down with you when this all backfires.” He then turns on his heel and jogs off, not giving Hoseok a chance to respond.

He releases a long exhale, pushing his blue-tipped white hair back in frustration. Chongsik is right, of course. Kihyun would absolutely kill him if the younger found out what he does with his spare time. But, then again, it isn’t as if he wants to do this. He has to, to keep them all safe from the torment that’s sure to follow his colorful little group without his protection.

With that in mind, he stalks off, away from the building, towards the bleachers circling the football field. There, he’ll meet his last contact, the spokesman for the other side of the status quo.

Chaeku is already there waiting for him by the time he gets there, looking incredibly peeved for having been kept waiting. Hoseok has to restrain himself from muttering an apology, reminding himself of how he has to look to these people.

The other boy says nothing. He only holds out the cash, and Hoseok takes it before handing over the answers to the school-wide exams he’d just received. Chaeku takes them and turns to walk away, and Hoseok takes the cue to go on his own merry way, as well. He quickly reaches into his pocket to retrieve another cigarette, very much needing to take the edge off. Even when the exchanges are as quick and quiet as that, they still stress him out to no end.

If something were to go wrong, if he were to so much as breathe wrong in front of Chaeku, he’s sure the deal would be over, and his friends would be open to the bullying they’ve been safe from for the past four years.

After all, seven adolescent boys very much out of the closet are just bait waiting to be picked off one by one, as Chaesuk had so eloquently put it at the beginning of junior year. Hoseok finds himself pulling his bottom lip between his teeth worriedly, playing with his snake-bite piercing with his tongue as he remembers the day he’d been ered into all this.

It’s almost over, though. He’s managed to make it through the past year like this. He only has to endure this year, as well, and everyone will be home-free. The top tormentors of the school are all seniors, so they won’t be a threat to any of his dongsaengs, and Hoseok can graduate and leave all this behind.

Just this year, he thinks as he inhales a lung-full of tobacco. Just this year, and it’ll be over. Just this year, and they’ll all be safe.