“You are not wearing that!” Ten said, scandalized as he saw Kun walk out of his room wearing a simple beige sweater over some pants. “You’re supposed to make Johnny jealous so he realizes that he loves me.”

Kun patted his sweater and buttoned shirt. “What is wrong with this outfit? Lucas said I look fine.”

“You look like someone’s aunt, not my hot date,” Ten said, beseechingly. “Please wear a choker, at least?”

Kun gave him a look. “First off, I’m not your date and secondly, a choker, really? Ten, you should be grateful I’m coming along on this foolish plan of yours.”

Ten nodded. “You’re right. I shouldn’t complain. This is your aesthetic.” He looked him over once again before lunging forward. “But at least let me open some of those buttons. And fix that hair!”

In the end, when the two of them reached the 127 dorm to pick up Johnny, Kun was wearing a denim jacket and his shirt was deprived of three buttons.

“Stop fidgeting,” Ten said. “You look hot.”

“I feel ,” Kun muttered, “and if I catch a cold because of you—”

“I’ll nurse you back to health,” Ten said, waving a hand. “Anyway, here’s the plan. You flirt with me. I act all aloof in front of Johnny. He goes mad with jealousy. At the end of tonight, Johnny professes his love for me. We get married and you will be our kids’ godmother.”

“Wild night. But just in case, your first child will be called Kun,” Kun added, ringing the bell.

Johnny opened the door within seconds, nearly as if he had been waiting for them to arrive.

Ten couldn’t help but smile when he saw Johnny grinning at him. It felt like he hadn’t seen him for ages. He could feel his heart constricting with how much it had missed this tall guy with the beautiful, warm smile. He launched himself at Johnny, hugging him. “John, I missed you so much.”

Johnny hugged him back, laughing. “You look great.”

Kun followed the two of them inside, muttering darkly at Ten’s back. “I’ll act all aloof, he said. Huh.”

Doyoung was nearly dozing on the couch but he gave the newcomers an enthusiastic smile when he saw them. “You’re here. Let’s go!”

Johnny gestured towards him. “Doyoung is coming with us. He couldn’t sleep and needed a night out.”

Doyoung hugged Ten and Kun, looking appreciatively at the latter. “Kun got a makeover?”

Kun shoved him, blushing. “Shut up.”

Ten said, “Oh right. Uh, that’s how Kun usually dresses when we go out.”

Kun reddened even more. “Yeah, what he said.”

Doyoung looked at his own oversized hoodie over faded jeans, then at Kun and finally at Johnny and Ten who had coincidentally worn flowery shirts and leather jackets, and shrugged. “Let’s just go.”

“Wait, we wanted to say hi to the others,” Ten said. “Where’s Taeyong hyung?”

“They’re all sleeping like normal people do at this ungodly hour,” Doyoung said.

Johnny nudged him with an elbow. “It’s just nine-thirty.” He smiled at Ten and Kun. “They haven’t recovered from jetlag, I guess. Let’s go, I can’t wait to try out this famed restaurant.”

The famed Jaeyong-handpicked restaurant turned out to be a cosy, side-street restaurant that Johnny immediately fell in love with. “You were right, Ten. It’s so pretty. I’m going to take a picture.” He placed his bag on the table, rummaging in it for his camera.

“Me too,” Kun said, taking out his phone.

“And I’m going to look at the menu,” Doyoung sighed.

Ten gave Kun a look and the latter hurriedly said, “But first, I’ll take a picture of prettiest person in the room. Give me a pose, Ten.”

Johnny looked at Ten posing and smiled. “I keep telling you, Ten, you are a total muse. See even Kun agrees. Wait, stand together so I can take a picture of you both. The background is really good here.”

Kun looked thoroughly confused as to what to do but the picture was taken with a scowling Ten looking angrily at the camera but soon they were all seated, waiting for their order.

Ten reached for Johnny’s bag. “What book are you reading these days?” Sure enough there was a book. He pulled it out and read aloud, “Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev.”

“I’m nearly done with it. It’s going so well,” Johnny said. “I was telling Yuta the story and he liked it too.”

“You’re still reading Russian Literature?” Ten asked. “I thought you gave up on it months ago. This one is a new one, though. What brought you back to the genre? Man, this brings back memories. Remember how you gifted me Crime and Punishment for my birthday? Dude, what were you thinking?”

Ten flipped through the novel, narrating his shock at seeing his birthday present this year. Opposite him, Johnny’s smile had dropped. If someone had asked him, he wouldn’t have been able to repeat a word of the conversation happening around him. His eyes were unfocused, signalling that he was somewhere else.

He nodded vaguely when Kun asked him something, pointing at his camera gallery but he only realized that the others were looking throu