Jongin makes sure to stay vertical as he approaches the gate, which is gradually becoming with one with the darkness. Something crashing and breaking inside the house makes Jongin tighten his hold on Sehun's hand, and he isn't sure if it's the cold winds essentially gluing his lips together that makes him unable to open his mouth.

It's not until another loud, drunken yell is heard from behind the walls that Jongin swallows the lump in his throat. "He's not letting me back in," he blurts out before he can stop himself. He hates the way his voice cracks at the words, but he knows that taking them back would be useless. A thought hits him when they make it past the gate, but Jongin remains silent, even though he can physically feel the words prying his lips apart.

God damn it.

God damn it all.

Sehun's exasperated sigh leaves his lips in the form of a cloud of fog, which is impossible miss in the dim glow of the streetlights. He keeps a firm, yet gentle grip on Jongin's hand, all while the fire in his eyes glows like a beacon in the darkness. "If you...I mean, for a little while, perhaps." Sehun rubs the back of his neck. "You could stay with me, if you'd like." He visibly swallows when he sees Jongin's lower lip quiver in contemplation. "Until he gets his together, that is."

"I want to, I want to," Jongin blurts out, ignoring the pain spreading through his scalp as he practically tackles Sehun in a bearhug. All he hears is the rushing in his head, which is preventing him from thinking straight when he scrambles for Sehun's hand. Even though Jongin sort of resents the idea of staying over at Sehun's house in worry of being a bother (and mostly because his anxiety over asking Sehun for a spare toothbrush is off the charts), the mere thought of spending the night under his own roof has him dragging Sehun in the opposite direction before he can process what he's doing.

9:50 P.M

Stretching his long legs, Jongin stuffs a handful of popcorn kernels in his mouth as he watches the cheesy soap opera play out before him with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm. Frankly, Jongin has no idea why he's even bothering filling himself up with even more food, given how much he complained after helping himself to four whole servings of kimchi spaghetti less than an hour ago. With Vivi curled up by his head (probably due to the salt staining his palms), Jongin attempts to catch a piece of popcorn that Sehun tosses at him from his spot across the couch, only to miss by more than five inches. Jongin doesn't even bother crawling across the couch and jabbing Sehun in the ribs when the latter bursts into laughter.

Jongin nearly drops the bowl when he averts his gaze and notices the bandage still snugly wrapped around his right hand. Frankly, he briefly forgets what it's even doing there to begin with, and a part of him wants to ask Sehun to remove it when he feels it itching his palm.

One thought leads to another, and the next thing Jongin knows, he's nearly choking on the kernels in his mouth when his brain is suddenly flooded with the blurred, albeit hectic events that played out under Jongdae's roof. Even though Jongin can barely recall any of them, he still feels his gut churn when he reminisces the soft beanbag beneath him, as well as slashing his palm open trying to make it out alive mere minutes later. It's not until Jongin manages to shove Chanyeol's drunken voice out of his head that he swallows the lump in his throat.

Not even Vivi salt off his fingers can distract Jongin from the way his stomach churns when he goes on to think about the blinding darkness of Jongdae's guest bedroom, and he nearly wants to cry when he realizes that he could very well have been under his own roof, with Taemin, right this very second. Somehow, Jongin manages to bite back the sob traveling up his throat while he watches Sehun toss a popcorn kernel at Vivi, who catches it in midair. The melancholic joy swelling in Jongin's chest is nearly suffocating, but Jongin knows for a fact that he wouldn't mind dying right here, right now, if he had to.

It's not until Jongin looks at his bandage again that his eyes automatically flicker to Sehun's right hand. To Jongin's relief, the rash-like redness all over Sehun's knuckles is beginning to fade already. Frankly, Jongin is less hung up on the fact that Sehun just so happened to see what went down (which makes a wave of shame wash over Jongin like a tidal wave), and more on why Sehun constantly seems to avoid talking about why he did it to begin with. Jongin is shaking to know, but he restrains himself from asking since he figures that he's probably already bothering Sehun enough by using his house as a hotel. Instead, Jongin opts to shove a handful of popcorn in his mouth, only to put the bowl on the floor when he worries he might die from eating so much.

Jongin figures that he should have been a little more discreet at staring his own hand down, because he nearly wants to scream when he notices Sehun looking at him in his peripheral. Knowing it's probably better to keep silent, Jongin attempts to focus his attention on the romantic scenes playing out on the screen until he worries he might explode from Sehun's gaze. In fact, it's not until Sehun clears his throat that Jongin opens his mouth to suggest that they resume their project, but he doesn't get a chance to do so before Sehun speaks.

"Is something the matter?" Sehun softly asks and Jongin wants to cry at the genuine concern coating his voice.

Nearly biting down on his tongue, Jongin vigorously shakes his head. All he wants is to tear his bandage right off, because all it's doing is making his brain flood with thoughts he'd rather repress right now. "It's nothing, it's--" He internally screams when Sehun's eyebrows knit together. "I mean, it's...thanks," Jongin mutters, hoping Sehun will pick up on the sincerity in his words as a blush creeps up his neck. "For...yeah." 

At first, Sehun looks like a (drop dead adorable, Jongin thinks) question mark from his spot across the couch, but his expression quickly shifts when Jongin goes on to gesture at his red knuckles. For a second, Sehun looks like he's peddling back and forth between smiling and tearing the couch cushions to shreds. The furious spark that flashes in his eyes is impossible to miss, even in the dimly lit living room, but it disappears as quickly as it came when he nods. "Don't mention it," he says, running a hand through his unstyled hair. 

Jongin swallows, figuring he probably owed Sehun an apology a long time ago. "I mean, I was going to ask-- I didn't know you were...I didn't even know you were there to begin with." He cuts himself off when Taemin's email pops into his head, and Jongin saves himself from exploding with rage by crawling across the couch and practically collapsing on top of Sehun, who groans low in his throat. "Why didn't you tell me???" Jongin absently hums as he watches the lead female cry her eyes out to her mother.

Brushing a lock of hair out of Jongin's eyes, Sehun sighs. "It's nothing, it's...it's kinda stupid," he mumbles, turning his head to look at the television screen as he pulls Jongin close. "I didn't know what was going on between you at first, and I just got...yeah." For the first time since what feels like forever, Jongin swears he makes out a certain pinkness tainting Sehun's cheeks in the darkness.

Jongin blinks before he erupts in a face splitting grin. "You were jealous?????" he asks, unable to hold back his giggle as he pokes Sehun's face. "You were--" He cuts himself off with a loud squawk when Sehun pokes his sides, which nearly has Jongin tumbling off the couch in surprise.

"I mean, you never said anything," Sehun squabbles, "so I-"

"I thought I didn't need to," Jongin squawks, not knowing if he should apologize to Sehun or slap himself as he yanks on Sehun's hoodie strings. "I thought you-"

"I saw you two," Sehun interrupts, only to clamp his mouth shut the second the words leave his lips. "You know, by your house the other day." He shrugs before he clears his throat, to which Jongin responds with a look of pure puzzlement. "It's fine, we don't have to talk about--" He cuts himself off when Vivi knocks the bowl over, causing popcorn to spill out all across the carpet.

Jongin only watches as Sehun proceeds to sweep up the kernels with his hand, all while Vivi repeatedly attempts to gobble up a few within reach. But Jongin would be lying if he said that he was paying attention, mostly because the strange flickering seems to have returned to his head. This time, it doesn't feel like his head is about to explode, though, which Jongin finds relieving as he attempts to string his thoughts together. Jongin honestly doesn't know what he finds more surprising, the fact that he was right about Sehun watching (or rather, spying on) him in the darkness the other day, or the fact that Sehun would even entertain the mere idea of him feeling anything whatsoever for Taemin. Despite wanting nothing more than to slap Sehun for not just walking up to them, Jongin ends up draping his arms around Sehun's neck as Sehun scolds Vivi from his spot on the floor.

Shifting into a more comfortable position, Jongin watches as Sehun sits back down on the couch with Vivi, and he can't hold back his mischievous giggle when he nearly tackles Sehun onto the cushions, making the latter squawk in surprise. The feeling of Sehun's warm body pressing against his own makes the painful coiling in Jongin's gut disappear, but he still finds himself quivering with curiosity as he nuzzles his face in the crook of Sehun's neck. Even though he knows that it's probably best to just keep quiet, the buzzing in his veins makes it impossible for him to focus on the television.

"Why were you even there???" Jongin blurts out, words entirely muffled as he turns his head to watch the screen. With his temple pressed against Sehun's shoulder, Jongin swears that he picks up on the faint thumping deep within Sehun's chest, but he dismisses it when Sehun places a hand on the small of his back.

Sehun is silent for a minute. The glowing television screen reflects in his eyes as he watches the romantic scenes unfold, but Jongin easily picks up on the distance in his gaze when he clears his throat.  "I was just...coming to apologize, I guess," he lowly says. He opens his mouth to continue, only to close it after he kisses Jongin's forehead. "I mean, at first I decided against it, since I tried calling and you didn't pick up, so I assumed you'd gone to bed already, but...yeah, that's...that's it, I guess." 

It takes Jongin a minute to process Sehun's words, and he hopes that he isn't looking like a sleep deprived owl when he blinks in puzzlement. Jongin figures that if Sehun is simply trying to make him feel guilty, he's doing a terrific job at it, because Jongin fights an impulse to slap himself when Sehun pats his head. No matter how hard he tries, Jongin can't bring himself to choke out the words, leaving him sputtering like a goldfish as he prays that the darkness is doing a good job at concealing his reddening face. Sehun only tightens his grip around Jongin's shoulders, which does little to soothe the heat spreading across Jongin's cheeks.

Jongin isn't sure how long he attempts to keep his eyes open with Sehun's arms tightly wrapped around his shoulders, but the next thing he knows, he's nearly falling off the couch when his phone rings. At first, Jongin opts to ignore it and focus on the monotone faces on the television, only to inwardly curse when he worries the nerves in his legs might go numb from the vibrations. Figuring Luhan must be calling about Monggu, Jongin reluctantly fishes his phone out of his pocket, only to clench his jaw when he sees the contact photo on the screen. Despite the throbbing in his veins, Jongin can't bring himself to throw his phone across the room no matter how hard he tries, and he eventually ends up excusing himself before running upstairs to the bedroom.

It's not until the door closes that Jongin has to grip his phone to stop himself from screaming at the top of his lungs, and the thought of worrying Sehun makes him restrain himself at the last second. As much as he wants to turn his phone off and go back to the living room, Jongin's fingers seem to move of their own accord, and before he knows it, he's putting his phone by his ear. The hammering in his temples makes Jongin want to stumble over to the bed and lie down, but he forgets all about it when he hears shallow breathing on the other end of the line. Jongin is thankful for the sob clogging his throat, because it's all that's stopping the words inside his mouth from falling right out at this point as he grips his phone tighter.

For a second, there's only dead silence, until Taemin clears his throat. "Hey," he lowly says, and despite the obvious sobriety in his tone, Jongin still has to restrain himself from punching a hole in Sehun's bedroom wall.

Jongin keeps his gaze glued on his white socks to distract himself from the blood rushing in his ears, all while he prays that Sehun won't come running up the stairs to ask him what the matter is. Jongin can easily picture Taemin dwelling in his hangover in the darkness of his bedroom, and he would be lying if he said that the thought didn't make him soften his grip around his phone ever so slightly. The muffled voices coming from the television is all Jongin hears as he swallows the lump in his throat. "What do you wa-"

"Listen, I just wanted--" Taemin cuts himself off when his voice cracks, almost as if he's been crying for hours on end. "Look, I need you to listen, can you do that for me?"

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Jongin feels his head pound as he peddles back and forth between hanging up and screaming at the top of his lungs. A part of him wants to die at Taemin's obvious attempt at making fun of him, but Jongin restrains himself from telling Taemin to off while he tries to control his frantic heartbeat.

It's not until Taemin audibly exhales that Jongin audibly shivers, and it takes every fiber of his being not to rush downstairs so that he can feel Sehun's warmth again. "I don't-"

"Didn't I just say you had to--" Taemin curses under his breath, presumably due to his post hangover headache, before he huffs. "It's not-- Okay, look, from what I can remember, which isn't a lot, Yeol called me up at like, four, okay?" He makes sure that Jongin is silent before he continues, voice wavering ever so slightly when he speaks. "Said something about having broken up with this random guy-- I can't remember his name, but he was hella pissed, I could barely get a word out of-"

"Get to the goddamn point already," Jongin hisses, fighting the urge to smash the window when he worries his brain might combust. He can practically see Sehun's puzzled expression downstairs, and the mere thought is enough to make him move the phone from his ear. However, Jongin doesn't get a chance to hang up before Taemin speaks. 

"Point is, he went on to say that he no longer wanted to...well, you know the rest," Taemin mutters, not even bothering to mask his growl of frustration. "Anyway, I got...look, could you come over so we-"

"Just how dumb do you think I am?" Jongin sighs, not even realizing that he's practically curling up on the mattress until he unclenches his fists. The heat surging through his veins makes him unable to think about Baekhyun for longer than two seconds, and the next thing he knows, he's torn between laughing and crying out loud. A part of Jongin considers hanging up, since he'd rather not waste his phone's precious battery on Taemin, but he ends up opening his mouth, anyway. "You're out of your ing mind."

"You can't stay there forever," Taemin interjects with an eerie calmness lacing his words. "Look, it's not my fault Yeol's losing his , I can't control what the he does, okay?"

Jongin winces when his cranium threatens to split down the middle. It's not until the earth shattering sound of Taemin's guitar coming in contact with the kitchen wall echoes like a mantra in Jongin's head that he grits his teeth, all while he bites back the sob in his throat. "You don't-- You never get it, you don't ing get it--" He forces himself to snap out of it when Sehun calls his name downstairs, but the fury coursing through Jongin's veins makes him unable to respond. "Keep believing he kicked your out because of Baek-"

"Can't you just come over?" Taemin scoffs, "I-"

"Yeah, no, that-"

"So now you're just gonna hide away like always?" Taemin chuckles in disappointment, tone shifting ever so slightly when he hums to himself. "Guess I should've charged you rent after all." He's silent for a minute. "Especially since you know damn good and well I've been more of a boyfriend to you than-"

"Don't you dare," Jongin growls, not even bothering to slap a hand over his mouth when his voice echoes in the small room. He's at least a hundred percent sure that Sehun heard, and he's also at least a hundred percent sure that Sehun will be scurrying up the stairs any moment, but Jongin can't bring himself to care as he angrily wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. He's wholeheartedly glad that he's in the comfort of Sehun's bedroom, because Jongin knows for a fact that he would have given Taemin a second black eye if they were to be standing three feet apart right now.

"But I'm right," Taemin sing-songs, voice darkening significantly. "God, I knew it, I knew you'd--" He chuckles to himself. "You've always been such a major ing disappointment, you know that? Ever since-- , ever since you chose to show your goddamn face in my house-"

"Won't happen again-"

"I mean, I always knew you weren't the sharpest, but screwing over the people who give a about you?" Taemin scoffs with an exasperated sigh, although Jongin easily picks up on the sheer desperation lacing his words. "You have some nerve-" 

"Can't thank you enough," Jongin interjects, running a hand through his hair. He doesn't even hear Taemin's response over the blood rushing in his ears, and it's not until he hears Vivi yapping downstairs, which is closely followed by Sehun's saying something he can't pick up, that Jongin swallows the lump in his throat. "Good luck, I mean it."

Jongin doesn't register what happens next, but the next thing he knows, he's gripping his phone for dear life as his fingers scurry across the screen. Inevitably, it rings less than five seconds later, and the sound is promptly cut off when Jongin wastes no time in blocking the number before he shoves his phone in his pocket. Despite the vertigo threatening to make him black out, Jongin scrambles out of the room when he hears shuffling downstairs, because the last thing he wants right now is to feel foolish for making Sehun worry about him.

It's not until Jongin turns the corner and sees Sehun cuddling with Vivi on the couch that he bites the inside of his cheek. Despite the wave of relief coming over, he can't help the anxious buzzing in his head when he inches towards the living room little by little. Jongin low-key regrets letting his anger get the best of him just now, because he figures that he doesn't even need to run outside to know that everything he owns is already scattered all across the street (which makes Jongin thankful that he doesn't own a lot of things to begin with). On the other hand, Jongin also knows that there's no way he's taking his words back just so Taemin will save him from having to sleep on the streets, so he dismisses the thought as he crawls back on the couch.

Jongin is thankful, because he feels every single muscle in his body go limp when he leans back against the cushions. No matter how hard he tries, he can't bring himself to focus on the movie on the television after he registers Sehun staring right at him in his peripheral. Despite the words in his mouth weighing his tongue down, Jongin figures that he would rather beg Taemin to let him back in than say the latter's name out loud. Instead, Jongin opts to stare at his lap while playing with his fingers. It doesn't last long, though, before he feels Sehun's gaze burning holes in his head.

Jongin ends up sitting unmoving until he genuinely worries his heart might explode. Before he can process what he's doing, he's whipping his head aside to apologize, only to blink when he sees the knowing glint in Sehun's eyes.

They sit in silence for a moment until Sehun clears his throat. "What did he want this time?" he hums, crossing his legs. 

Jongin swallows as he peddles back and forth between keeping his mouth shut and letting the words fall out. "He's not letting me back in," he mutters, mostly to himself, and he mentally smacks himself when he feels his eyes well up. A lock of hair falls in Jongin's face when he audibly exhales, and he forces himself to dismiss the thought in worry of boring Sehun to death. "Thanks for letting me stay over tonight," he blurts out and inwardly curses when Sehun shifts next to him.

For a second, Sehun doesn't say anything, and Jongin is seconds away from running out of the house when Sehun finally speaks. "It's no problem," he hums, reaching over and Jongin's cheek. He opens his mouth to continue, only to close it again when Jongin looks like he's on the verge of a mental breakdown. "Look, I was actually-"

"Sorry for disturbing," Jongin croak-garbles, mentally preparing to get evicted when Sehun visibly swallows. "I can call Krystal, I can ask her if she's-"

"-wondering if you'd be willing to stay here." Sehun rubs the back of his neck. He clears his throat when Jongin only blinks. "You know, for a while...like, until you...yeah." Chuckling ever so slightly, his eyes briefly flicker back to the screen before they land on Jongin again. "I mean, it's-- I really don't want you going back to...if it's alright with-"

"Here???" Jongin squawks, eyes wide as quarters as he stares at Sehun like he's grown a second head. It's not until he realizes that he probably looks like a dazed and confused owl that he forces himself to clear his throat. His face splitting grin briefly distracts him from the warmth bubbling in his chest when he sits up like a bullet. "Like, forever???"

"Only if it's alright with you," Sehun says before he blinks. "I mean, that, too, if you'd be up for--" His sentence ends in a low 'Oomph!' when Jongin goes on to tackle him onto the cushions in a fit of joyful squeals.

11:32 P.M

MONDAY

Even though Sehun has assured him at least a hundred times that he's done an excellent job, the idea of his History teaching locking him in the detention hall for doing a crappy job makes Jongin flip through the pages in his textbook at the speed of sound. All the while, Jongin tries (and fails) to mask the loud growling in his stomach by tapping his pencil on the table, only to give up when he comes to the realization that he's definitely going to starve to death if he doesn't eat something in two minutes.

Come to think of it, Jongin doesn't even know how long they've been sitting in the library, but he figures that his numb legs both speak for themselves as he gets to his feet. Jongin sort of regrets running a hand through his matted hair, because the blast of Sehun's natural scent that tingle his senses only adds to his head rush. No matter how much Jongin tries convincing himself otherwise, he doesn't think that anything will ever top the absolute joy that swells in his chest whenever he wears one of Sehun's hoodies.

Slamming his textbook closed, Jongin looks at Sehun, who is humming to himself while flipping through one of the magazines by the beanbags. Jongin doesn't even bother squashing the warmth coiling in his gut when he notices that Sehun's eyebrows are knitted together in concentration, and a part of Jongin high-key wants to surprise Sehun by scaring him from behind. However, Jongin scraps the idea when he realizes that he would definitely be taking an elbow to the eye in that case, so he simply stuffs his textbook in his backpack before skipping over to the purple beanbags.

Sehun immediately erupts in an ear to ear grin when he looks up and sees Jongin approaching. Tossing his magazine aside, he wraps his free arm around Jongin's shoulders after Jongin proceeds to plop down next to him. "How's it going?" he hums, kissing Jongin's forehead.

It takes Jongin half a minute to rack his brain for a reply, mainly because the spark of electricity that travels up his spine makes him unable to choke out a single word. "Good, I guess," he chuckles, poking Sehun's cheek with each word. Jongin sort of hates that they have a project to turn in in less than twenty minutes, because he honestly wouldn't mind sitting here, drowning in Sehun's warmth, for the rest of his life.

It's not until his stomach growls for the nth time that Jongin regrets skipping breakfast to run three blocks to his house, mere minutes after waking up this morning. To his utter surprise, he didn't find his belongings scattered all across the pavement, but it's not like he was going to ask Taemin to hand his things over, so Jongin simply his heel and walked back to Sehun, who sat waiting in his car with the engine on. A part of Jongin sort of wishes he'd skillfully broken in through a kitchen window, tip toed upstairs and grabbed himself a few pairs of shirts, considering that he feels sort of guilty for wearing Sehun's clothing every day (despite Sehun repeatedly reassuring him that it's completely fine).

Jongin snaps out of his trance when Sehun says something about getting to class early, seconds before he bends down and pulls him to his feet. To say that Jongin nearly sprains his tongue apologizing when he accidentally steps on Sehun's toes in the process would be a vast understatement.