Jeonghan tied his shoelaces slinging his backpack on one shoulder and his bass on the other. He reminded himself to go get Mingyu before he left remembering the promise he made yesterday, only he didn't need to at all because the moment he opened his front door Mingyu was waiting for him. The boy looked pictureque until he put his full weight on the fence falling backwards onto his behind -- he was leaning on the gate portion of the fence. He got back up avoiding his hyung's eyes because of embarrassment.

"Good morning," Jeonghan greeted the younger boy, trying very hard to surpress his laugh.

"Morning," Mingyu replied as he dusted himself off.

As they walked Jeonghan noticed that Mingyu kept a reasonable distance between them, enough distance that they could fit another person in the negative space. The bus ride was interesting as well because Mingyu decided to give Jeonghan the same amount of personal space, it was like the boy was purposely trying to distance himself. They entered school grounds where Mingyu gave his hyung a simple 'bye' and walked away, Jeonghan stood feeling like he was missing something. Did he imagine what happened yesterday or did Mingyu suddenly just lose interest? Jeonghan didn't dwell too much on the matter because it was morning and it was way too early to be dealing with issues. Just as he was about to turn he saw a frantic Mingyu running back to him before quickly giving him a kiss on the cheek. The younger boy ran away again right after, his face burning red as he retreated.

"You really are confused about your feelings Mingyu," Jeonghan said in amusement.

He went to his locker putting away his bass and grabbed the history textbook he needed for the first class of the day -- in all honesty he was probably going to use the book as a pillow rather than for its intended use. Closing the door of his locker he was faced with Soonyoung and Wonwoo five lockers down looking rather angry.

"Oh my god! Why the are you so nosy?! Why do you have to know everything about my ing relationship?" Soonyoung gave Wonwoo's chest a hard shove.

"She's clearly just using you! It's not a healthy relationship! She only wants you back so you can keep spending money on her!" Wonwoo slammed his locker door shut, the sound echoing through the drafty hallway.

"I told you to stay out of it!" Soonyoung slammed his fist on his own locker door before walking away.

"Fine, go find yourself another friend while you're at it. I knew you were dumb but I didn't think you were this stupid!" Wonwoo yelled at the shorter boy.

Jeonghan leaned against the wall as he waited for Wonwoo to approach, he felt bad for his friend. Wonwoo looked up with tired eyes looking like he'd seen Satan himself. Jeonghan thought the boy needed either a good night's sleep or holy water, which ever one was easier to obtain.

"You saw it right?" Wonwoo asked his friend.

"I don't know if ramen and soft drink are going to help you this time, man," Jeonghan sighed.

"Why did it have to be him? I could've literally fallen for anyone but it just had to be that small eyed hamster looking bastard. He's in the same class as us yet the went in the opposite direction. He's going to have to come back this way," Wonwoo hit his head against a locker.

"If it makes you feel better, Mingyu ran away after kissing me on two different occasions," Jeonghan let out a groan.

"We ," Wonwoo concluded.

"We so much," Jeonghan agreed.

"Come on man, class is starting," Jeonghan draped an arm around Wonwoo.

"Why does the universe keep plotting against us?" Wonwoo gritted his teeth.

"Because we're ," Jeonghan said.

"We are, aren't we?" the sharp eyed boy didn't even try to defend it.

They sat together during history listening to Mr. Park who looked like a wrinkled up napkin. The old man loved talking about history but somehow he never managed to teach anything. He would start off with a topic related to the textbook but then go off on a tangent -- Jeonghan wanted to jump out the window just so he didn't have to look at the saggy bit of skin that wobbled at the man's throat every time he spoke.

"Gobble gobble," Jeonghan whispered over to Wonwoo who gave Jeonghan a smile.

Neither of them noticed Soonyoung from across the room who was watching their interactions. The small eyed boy sat slouched in his seat watching his best friend looking all too intimate with Jeonghan. Yes they just faught and yes he'd told Wonwoo to back off but did the guy have to replace him so quickly? When the class ended Wonwoo didn't even acknowledge Soonyoung as he exited the room, he was laughing about something that Jeonghan said.

"He never laughs at my jokes," Soonyoung was offended, how the did the blond sloth make Wonwoo laugh?

Stuffing his pencil case and notebook into his bag, Soonyoung followed the two boys. He silently shadowed the two outside where they sat in front of the fountain. Soonyoung took advantage of the large statue that sat in the fountain's centre giving him a hiding place. He did his best to stay concealed all the while keeping his ears open. Conveniently, Jihoon was also sitting by the fountain forcing Soonyoung to beg the boy to stay quiet while he eavesdropped.

"I think I should give up," Soonyoung heard Wonwoo sigh.

"Are you sure? Without even telling him how you feel?" Jeonghan asked.

"I don't think I want to waste my time any longer," Wonwoo sounded disheartened. "You saw what happened this morning. I'm just a nosy friend to him, hell, I don't even know if we're friends anymore."

"I don't really know what I can say to make you feel better but I can offer you an ear. You up for some barbecue after school? My treat," Jeonghan consoled Wonwoo.

"Sure, that sounds better than instant ramen," Wonwoo nodded.

"Let's get to the next class before Mr. Kwon does, I heard he's got a new stack of detention slips on his desk and the guy's been generous with handing them out," Jeonghan grabbed Wonwoo's hand helping him up.

"That balding son of a ," Wonwoo quickened his walking pace.

"He literally has three and a half hairs left, I'm pretty sure that is beyond balding," Jeonghan laughed as the two proceeded to their next class.

Soonyoung hopped out from his hiding place with his jaw hanging open. From what he gathered from Jeonghan and Wonwoo's conversation was that they were definitely talking about him. That was when he snapped his fingers, he figured out what it all meant. Wonwoo was definitely replacing him with Jeonghan; and here he thought friendships were the only ships that didn't sink.

"Wonwoo you cheater!" Soonyoung shouted as he stomped away, round cheeks flaring red from both anger as well as the betrayal of having his best friend snatched right from under his nose.

Jihoon who sat twirling his drumsticks shook his head as he watched Soonyoung walk a good ten metres before turning back realising he was going the wrong way. He passed by Jihoon again who gave him a nod.

"Dumb as dirt," Jihoon shook his head at Soonyoung, his conclusion regarding the boy's intelligence still unchanged.

By the time lunch rolled around Jeonghan was beginning to feel a little better about his situation with Mingyu after watching Wonwoo's tragic relationship with Soonyoung -- or lack there of. Him and his fox-eyed friend went to their usual table in the cafeteria where Jihoon sat alone with headphones on his ears and a laptop open in front of him. The shorter boy gave both his friends a nod and went back to what he was doing. Jeonghan looked around the cafeteria to find his dark haired dongsaeng and was rewarded with the sight of the tall boy sitting with a group of students in his grade, he'd made some friends that was nice...until Jeonghan saw the girl that was hanging off his arm. Jeonghan watched as Mingyu and the girl spoke to each other, the girl Mingyu's bicep and giggling up at him.

"Isn't that Mingyu being felt up by that chick over there?" Wonwoo followed Jeonghan's gaze.

"Yes it is," Jeonghan answered.

"Aren't you mad?" Wonwoo looked at his friend.

"I shouldn't be, we're not dating remember? I told him we can take things slow and if this ends up just being a crush we can go about our lives with no hard feelings," Jeonghan said trying to sound nonchalant.

"Doesn't it bother you just a little bit that he's chatting up a girl even though he kissed you?" Wonwoo pushed.

"It's not like I don't have any other candidates, if we don't end up together it's not the end of the world," Jeonghan reasoned.

"If only I had the same attitude towards Soonyoung," Wonwoo exhaled.

"It's been hard a little hard for me to think of Mingyu as a potential love interest if I'm being completely honest," Jeonghan rested his chin on his hand.

"Why is that?" Wonwoo asked pulling an apple out from his backpack.

"I've known the kid since he was a toddler and I just don't know if I want us to be anything more than friends," Jeonghan explained.

"You're scared you might end up hurting him because your feelings don't run as deep," Wonwoo guessed.

"Exactly," Jeonghan nodded.

The rest of the day was uneventful with Jeonghan keeping his mind occupied by doodling in the margins of his notebook during class. Occasionally he found himself thinking back to Mingyu and the girl he saw in the cafeteria. Maybe he cared more than he thought he did because Jeonghan felt his irritation build the longer he dwelled on the thought of Mingyu dating someone else. He shook himself and for the first time he began taking notes on what was being taught -- he didn't want to end up like Wonwoo who was constantly having issues regarding love. At the final bell Jeonghan pulled out his phone and messaged Wonwoo to meet him in front of the gates. He didn't have to wait very long before the sharp eyed friend of his came. Without saying anything Wonwoo took Jeonghan's bass by the strap and slung it on his shoulder before clinging onto his blond friend as they walked. Jeonghan was so confused, Wonwoo was acting strange.

"Play along, I'm trying something, this is my last ditch effort to get Soonyoung," Wonwoo whispered at Jeonghan as they headed for their promised after school feed.

"What are we doing?" Jeonghan asked.

"I think Soonyoung's following me," Wonwoo answered.

"What? Why?" Jeonghan was baffled.

"According to Jihoon, Soonyoung thinks I've replaced him with you as a best friend. I'll explain what I'm doing when we get to the restaurant, " Wonwoo promised.

They travelled the ten minute walk to the shopping district where they stopped by their favourite barbecue place; a nice little family owned place that had an equally nice waiter. They entered the