Jongin walks at the front with Baekhyun and Chanyeol on either of his side. He glances back at Sehun who’s chatting with Jongdae before turning to the front. He’s not at all worried Sehun would talk about his embarrassing moments. Not at all. Jongdae has seen him as a crying mess anyway. 

“So where are you heading after this?” Jongdae asks Sehun. 

“Oh, um, back to his place. We have to settle the thing.” Sehun scratches the back of his head, expression morphing into something of sheepishness when he notices everyone’s eyes on him. He glances at Jongin, wordlessly asking for help. 

“Do you want to go eat and walk around the mall first?” Jongdae suggests, lips pulled taut into a welcoming smile. 

Sehun doesn’t miss the way Jongin nods as if to tell him it’s okay. That’s when he turns to Jongdae, Baekhyun and Chanyeol with an enthusiastic nod. They take a turn to the left instead of going straight, trusting Chanyeol to lead them to the mall. It’s become a normal hangout spot for the three idiots and Jongin but it’ll be the first time for Sehun. 

Jongin’s honestly surprised they haven’t asked him much earlier. Considering how many times they’ve met and talked because of Jongin, he would’ve expected Baekhyun and Jongdae to get along with Sehun just like Chanyeol did. Jongin supposes it’s fine even if it’s a little overdue. 

The mall is way colder than the outside world, the temperature getting to Jongin almost straight away. Summer’s a few months away and it’s technically spring now but it’s so cold sometimes. Especially now. Baekhyun adds a little bounce to his step, skipping over to the restaurant they wanted to dine in. He slides right into the queue, grinning up at his friends who could only shake their heads at his petulance. 

When Jongin’s about to tease Baekhyun for being in such a chippy mood, he hears his name being called from behind. His friends turn to the stranger, and he does too. He’s utterly delighted to see Ravi with a wide, welcoming grin on his face. 

“Jongin!” Ravi shouts again. 

“I’m not running away! Stop screaming my name, !” Jongin’s frustrated holler dies out when Ravi pulls him into a furious headlock. Or he tries to. Jongin twists his way out of Ravi’s hold and tries to get back at his friend. “Surrender now.”

“Ow, ow, okay fine!” Ravi taps out when Jongin really has him locked into position. “Let me go or you’re not one of my best friends anymore.”

“Go ahead and try to get rid of me. It won’t work.” Jongin retorts back with his witty remarks, sneering at the way Ravi whines in pain. “Say I’m the prettiest boy you’ve ever seen and I’ll let you go.” 

“You’re the ugliest piece of I’ve ever encountered,” Ravi says monotonously. 

“Fair enough.” Jongin preens, accepting Ravi’s insults as compliments to piss the other even more. He finally lets his poor friend go. 

“Anyway,” Ravi says after fixing himself to appear as prim and proper as before. Jongin does the same, throwing a sleazy grin in Ravi’s way when he received a glare. “Have you heard Moon got promoted?”

“Promoted?” Jongin asks, tone curious. “He was a soldier, wasn’t he?” 

“Yeah,” Ravi nods, “he’s apparently an enforcer now. For Blue. It really is weird how biased Blue can get.” 

“Well, being friends with Blue has its perks. Enforcers working under Blue are allowed to leave the group really easily with Blue’s approval.” Jongin shrugs. “Moon wanted to make sure he still has a way out.”

“But it works for us too.” Ravi runs his hand through his hair, his oversized sleeves riding up. Jongin notices a new tattoo. He squints at it, reaching for Ravi’s arm to look even closer. “Oh, yeah, that’s a new one.” 

He shows off a huge tattoo he has on his abdomen, his left arm and on his collarbone. Jongin realises then that he hasn’t seen most of his friends for a long time. He wonders how his other friends besides Taem, Moon and Ravi are doing. Jongin considers asking how everyone’s doing but stops himself from doing so. Asking now, when his friends are there doesn’t seem so appropriate. He doesn’t want them to feel disheartened in any way. That’s if they would even feel that way in the first place.

“Got a girl?” Ravi questions. Jongin shakes his head. “Got a boy?”

Again, Jongin shakes his head. “I heard Taem has a new partner in crime. And a boy too. How’s it feel to be replaced?”

Jongin watches Baekhyun’s reaction in his peripheral vision, amused at seeing the other tensing up at the mention of Taemin. Jongin grins, shrugging. Ravi takes that as an answer indicating Jongin knows more than he lets on. 

“Alright, I have a life to get back to while you do the same.” Ravi gives himself the cue to go but Jongin pulls him back. “What?”

“Wait a minute, what’s wrong?” Jongin frowns. 

“Nothing’s wrong,” Ravi admits. “Everything’s going well for me, actually.” 

“That’s nice,” Jongin replies. He grins. “Okay, I’ll let you go. See you around.”

“See you.” 

The minute Ravi disappears into the crowd, Baekhyun jumps on Jongin and clings onto him like a koala. He feels sorry for stealing Taemin away from Jongin and his friends, wailing on and on about how he won’t do it again. Jongin shrugs Baekhyun off with a laugh, telling him it’s fine before turning his attention to his phone. Seeing the tense expression Jongin’s harbouring on his face, Baekhyun leaves him to handle whatever problem he’s facing now. 

Jongin calls the closest friend Ravi has from what he knows, Moonkyu. Surprisingly, Moonkyu answers his call almost immediately, voice chirpy. Jongin raises a brow in silence at that, face shifting into disbelief.

“Hey, Moon, why are you so happy today?” Jongin snorts.

“It’s my day off,” Moonkyu responds, not minding Jongin’s rude tone.

“Ah, explains.” Jongin snickers. His laugh dies down, however, when he remembers why he called. “Hey, I need a favour.”

“Sure thing. What do you need?” 

“Can you check up on Ravi for me?” 

Jongin waits for the silence to end, for Moonkyu to get what he’s trying to say. Whenever Jongin says someone needs to be checked up on, it usually means that someone really is going through something. Ravi has gone through a lot, but he hates showing it. Even to Jongin who everyone pretty much trusts with their life. Ravi’s the type of guy who needs to be cracked open with a rock to get him to open up. It’s not easy. Which is why Moonkyu gets the job done the fastest. He’s the most persistent, the most stubborn person Jongin’s ever met. 

“Sure,” Moonkyu sighs out. “Take care, Jongin.”

“Yeah, same goes to you.” Jongin smiles. 

The call ends with a click just in time for the line to shorten. Jongin and everyone else gets their table for 5 at the back of the restaurant. They spend a minute or two listing their orders out before the waiter walks away with it. Chanyeol and Jongdae then bickers about whether The Shining really is scary. Baekhyun interjects with his usual snark, siding with Jongdae who thinks the movie has too much dialogue.

“What do you think, Jongin?” Chanyeol asks.

“About The Shining?” Jongin voices.

“Yeah, is it scary? What’s your opinion on it?” Baekhyun’s eyes twinkle in the light, practically lighting up in expectancy. He wants Jongin to side with him.

“I don’t really remember much about the movie,” Jongin admits, “except for the fact that Sehun cried when we watched it.”

All eyes turn to Sehun who’s been quietly listening in to the conversation. His face turns red in a matter of seconds, darting his eyes from each of the three to Jongin then back to the three. He folds his arms atop the table before burying his face within them. Everyone bursts out laughing while he shoots back up to defend himself.

“I-It was sad!” Sehun claims.

“But he was plunging the axe into the door and you were sobbing your eyes out.” Jongin cackles, loud and easy, as Sehun whines under his breath. “He was crying out ‘No!’ because—”

“Because he’s not supposed to kill his loved ones,” Sehun mumbles. 

“It’s fine.” Chanyeol tries to make Sehun feel better. “That one time Baekhyun got nightmares about Casper The Friendly Ghost and was screaming in his sleep.” 

Sehun tries his best to hold back an amused grin but fails when Baekhyun shoots him a glare as a warning. Jongin snorts, reaching over the table to smack Baekhyun’s head, calling him a loser too. Jongdae leans back a little, trying to get away from Baekhyun who’s trying to climb over the table to reach for Jongin. 

Baekhyun huffs when Jongdae pulls him down to sit. Chanyeol’s still laughing at the side, loving the uproar he’s caused within the restaurant. Jongin laughs along. He can’t help noticing just how easily Sehun fits in, the smile of his now displayed partly in pride. 

“Let Sehun have his moment to shine, Baekhyun. You having nightmares about a friendly ghost can’t beat him crying over a possessed father trying to cut down a door.” The focus shifts back to Sehun, Jongdae now clapping and laughing gleefully at the way Sehun’s face reddens once again. 

“Nini, stop it,” Sehun whines, curling in on himself as he leans his full weight on Jongin. 

The cheerful atmosphere dims when a waitress comes by with a tray of dishes. There are remnants of a giggle coming from mainly Jongdae, Chanyeol and Jongin but they manage to collect themselves in the end. She announces the dishes aloud as she sets them down on the table. They pass the food around to whomever ordered it. She disappears behind the counter and into the kitchen before reappearing with their drinks. 

They resume their chatter, now a lot quieter than before. Sehun glances at Jongin, then down at his food. He pokes his fork through the tomatoes and brings it over to his plate. Jongin doesn’t even flinch, too used to his food being stolen by his friends, and because he hates tomatoes. 

Chanyeol watches the whole exchange, face impassive as he tries his best to ignore it. He looks down at his own food right on time as Jongin looks up. 

          They decide to head to the shops after eating, following Jongdae and Baekhyun to every clothing shop they could find. Chanyeol stops at a shop for shoes while Jongin stops at a variety store that caught his eye. They hurdle in after him, looking through the irrelevant stuff they probably would never need. 

Sehun goes to the back, where all the plushies are stored and eyes a small one in the corner. It’s a little broccoli with a pair of eyes and a cute smile. Sehun picks it up almost right away, heading towards the cashier to pay for it. Jongin pays no attention to him, turning back to the cute house slippers they have. He grabs a pair that’s shaped like a shark and goes to where Sehun’s standing in the queue.

“You love plushies too?” Jongin asks, eyeing the smiley broccoli.

“Oh, this? Nah, it’s for Romeo.” Sehun grins. “He’ll love it, don’t you think?”

“Suddenly, I’m very self-conscious about whether or not my dog still loves me,” Jongin shakes his head, willing himself to stop thinking about Romeo loving Sehun more. Sehun can only laugh as a response.

The line shortens and it’s their turn to pay. Sehun pays the full amount along with Jongin’s house slippers. They shuffle out of the shop to find Chanyeol and Jongdae had been buying drinks at the convenience store right across. Baekhyun pops back into the conversation with a Vans bag in his hands. He grins sheepishly at Jongdae who glares at him.

“He spends too much,” Jongdae explains when Sehun asks why he’s glaring. 

Chanyeol ushers everyone out of the mall, saying it’s too cold for him in shorts. Everyone begrudgingly leaves the mall. Once outside, they all decide to linger around to chat.

“So where are you headed to after this?” Jongin asks Chanyeol. 

“Their place.” Chanyeol points at Baekhyun and Jongdae. “It’s movie night.”

“You guys want to come too?” Baekhyun offers an invitation to Sehun and Jongin.

Sehun looks at Jongin, lips seal