Sehun has his hands clutched tightly around the mug of honey ginger tea, letting the warmth of the beverage seep into his colder skin. Outside, the snow continues to blanket Seoul with white. Sehun buries himself a little more into the armchair and pulls the blanket a little closer to cover his toes.

Jongin is furiously typing across from him, eyes flitting back and forth along his screen to skim over his work. His eyebrows are furrowed, teeth poking out and latching onto his lower lip. Everything about him screams frustration, yet Sehun just sits and stares at his best friend work on the lab report that Jongin had conveniently forgot about until an hour ago and was, unfortunately, due tomorrow.

Sehun should be upset. Jongin’s lack of preparation had canceled their movie night, and Sehun was looking forward to it all week. But one look at Jongin’s sad puppy eyes and earnest apologies – not to mention the promise of a coffee after tomorrow’s chemistry class – and Sehun had acquiesced. It’s just that without the distraction of the movie, Sehun’s mind wanders into dark waters.

The air is thick with a sort of awkwardness in which Jongin knows Sehun is upset but won’t admit it, and the latter is sort-of-kind-of glaring at him with such intensity that Jongin feels like his skin is going to set on fire.

So he lets out a cough and glances up at Sehun, who doesn’t break eye contact. “Are you still mad at me?” he murmurs. Jongin’s brain tosses out all the chemistry knowledge he has and focuses his entire being on his best friend. “You can tell me honestly, and I’ll listen to you. I know I’m being a right now.” Jongin knows that Sehun is the type to hold a grudge and not let go until he milks out all he can from the guilty party, who usually happens to be Jongin. It’s a bad trait because it always ends up an argument and Sehun almost always cries. But because he’s Sehun’s best friend, and because of their six years of unbreakable friendship, Jongin takes it upon himself to be the bigger person and allow Sehun to wallow in self-pity but never lets him drown himself in his insecurities. Especially today.

Sehun blinks slowly – almost comically – and lets out a small sigh. He finally looks away, down at his tea. His tongue darts out to wet his lips. “No.” The two lettered word is short and simple, and Jongin thinks that maybe he should take it