Jongin nearly breaks his legs when he scrambles to chuck the box underneath the bed, seconds before Taemin barges into his room without a warning. In a sense, Jongin wants to shove his face in the duvets in embarrassment, because even though Taemin has seen him countless of times (none of which being of Jongin's own accord), Jongin makes sure that every square inch of his body is covered when he proceeds to throw the duvets over himself. Jongin wishes the mattress would swallow him up while they continue to stare at each other in awkward silence, but he forgets all about it when he sees the steaming plate in Taemin's hand.

Noticing the glint in Jongin's eyes, Taemin places the plate of lasagna in Jongin's outstretched hands. "I was wondering why you didn't come and get it, so I...yeah--" He gestures at Jongin when the latter proceeds to delve right in. Taemin only watches Jongin stuffing his face before he wrinkles his nose in disgust. "Why does it reek of shame in here, anyway?" he asks, mainly himself, as he carefully fixes his smudged eyeliner. Taemin goes on to condemn Jongin for chewing with his mouth open before he eyes the window. "Listen, I-"

"Shouldn't you be practicing?" Jongin interrupts, not even noticing that the duvets are slipping off his shoulders as he shoves the plastic fork in his mouth. His entire head is still drowning in bliss, which, he figures, is why he hasn't evicted Taemin from his room just yet. Careful not to spill bright red sauce all over the white sheets, Jongin wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. A lock of damp hair falls in his eyes when he looks up at Taemin, a loud squawk of protest leaving his lips when Taemin plops himself down on the edge without a warning.

Taemin only grimaces when Jongin goes on to ask him to leave him alone with his mouth full of food, before he bends down and ties his shoelace (which has Jongin wanting to shove him down the stairs for not only barging into his room, but in boots, as well). Jongin finds himself growing annoyed at the way he takes his sweet time, until he finally sits up again. "Listen, I just wanted to--" Taemin coughs into his fist. "They threw me a solo at the last ing minute," he says after a few seconds of silence, and it's not until Jongin responds by loudly slurping his food that Taemin rolls his eyes. "I mean, Yeol did, to be exact...yeah."

Nearly biting down on his own tongue from chewing so fast, Jongin fixates his gaze on the half empty plate in his hand. "Okay," he mutters despite not having heard a word of what Taemin just said. Jongin eyes his closet across the room, which is still sitting wide open with clothes strewn about everywhere. It's not until Taemin deliberately reaches for his cigarettes that Jongin nearly kicks him off the bed. "I'm not gonna learn your for you if that's what you're-"

"Wasn't counting on it," Taemin interrupts as he retrieves a crumpled piece of paper from his jacket pocket. He unfolds it across the mattress, only chuckling when Jongin blinks in awe. "Can't even solve a single equation right, can't expect to figure something like this out overnight," Taemin hums before he reaches across and dips his finger in the gooey, cheesy mess in Jongin's hands. Inevitably, Jongin ends up handing the entire plate to Taemin, who doesn't look one bit apologetic as he shoves a spoonful of lasagna in his mouth. 

Jongin fights the urge to shove Taemin head first out the window, but he resorts to staring at the puzzle-like mess of scribbles, black lines and what he assumes must be musical notes scattered all across the sheet before him. Jongin finds himself absently eyeing Taemin's messy scribbles (and cheesy doodles) in the margin when Taemin goes on to complain about the food practically being stone cold at this point. Even though Jongin knows that Taemin definitely isn't the type to seek approval from others, he sort of feels obligated to let Taemin know just how utterly amazing his brain really is for being able to comprehend things like this. Come to think of it, Jongin wonders if he should sock Taemin in the jaw for complicating something as simple as music for him, but he opts against it when he grabs the duvets and covers his bare chest with it.

It's not until they fall into silence that Jongin huffs. A cool breeze slips through the cracks in the window and hits his back, making him audibly shudder. "A simple 'I'm sorry for being such an insufferable goddamn jackass every second of the day' would've sufficed," Jongin mumbles, fidgeting with a loose thread as he watches Taemin make himself comfortable a few feet away. As much as Jongin wants to ask Taemin how on Earth he agreed to accept a solo suggestion from Chanyeol, he opts against it when Taemin proceeds to prop his feet up on the mattress, which results in Jongin practically karate chopping Taemin's legs in half. 

"I'm too pizzazz for that and you know it, little one," Taemin chuckles, ignoring Jongin's words to the fullest as he scrapes cheese off the plate. "You try learning a five minute solo by heart four days before a gig and see how it goes." He raises a perfectly filled in eyebrow, to which Jongin responds with a defeated scoff. Taemin's silver piercing nearly blinds Jongin when runs his tongue across his bottom lip. "How'd things turn out, anyway?" He turns around and places the empty plate on Jongin's desk, missing the way Jongin's eyes flash by a second. However, Taemin forgets all about his question when he grins. "Right, speaking of which, you're all invited." He sends Jongin an expectant look, only to blink when the latter looks away.

Jongin shakes his head, fighting the urge to bury his face in his pillow when he feels a sharp tugging in his chest. Despite the words in his head weighing his tongue down like a brick, he would rather bash his head against the wall than endure Taemin ridiculing him for an hour straight. "Why do you even give a about what I do to begin with," Jongin hisses, blaming his incoming headache for coating his words with perhaps a little more bite than he'd intended. It's not until Taemin sends him a look that he gestures at the door. "Can you just-"

"Isn't the fact that I'm willing to listen despite your being out in plain view a good enough reason?" Taemin deadpans, to which Jongin responds by visibly reddening. Leaning back against the wall, signaling his interest, he whistles a low tune under his breath. "So go ahead before I make you put something on-"

"You're a real load to have around, I hope you know that," Jongin mutters, trying to control the raging heat in his cheeks as he avoids Taemin's glittering eyes. In a sense, Jongin figures he's lucky that Taemin's show is four days away, since he honestly doesn't think he'll be able to put up with Taemin constantly bugging him for much longer. "Let's just say that Baek won't be cheering you on, sorry to disappoint you." Jongin swallows the lump in his throat. His spine is threatening to split down the middle as a result of sitting up for so long, but he ignores it when he clears his throat. "I mean, as long as I'm there--" Jongin immediately regrets opening his mouth when Taemin raises a knowing eyebrow.

Taemin slowly nods as he crosses his legs. "Okay," he sing-songs, blowing a lock of hair out of his eyes. He remains silent, almost as if he's waiting for Jongin to continue, and it's not until he clears his throat that Jongin throws his hands in the air.

"Could you please just get out already?" Jongin huffs, blaming his frustration on the fact that he isn't wearing any clothes as he runs a hand through his tangled hair. It's not until Taemin rolls his eyes that Jongin flops down onto his stomach, not even caring that his entire backside is on full display as he orders Taemin to leave his room for the nth time. The air in the room has grown unusually cold and Jongin doesn't even realize how clouded his head is until he opens his eyes, only to realize that Taemin has left the room. Jongin opens his mouth to yell at Taemin for forgetting to close the door behind him as usual, but he forgets all about it when a wave of sleep comes over him like a tidal wave.

TUESDAY

11:21 PM

Slinging his backpack over his shoulder, Jongin flies down the stairs three at a time, making sure not to collide with any incoming students on his way to his locker. If Jongin is going to be honest, he honestly doesn't think he's felt this happy in a long while, given the fact that he's been bouncing off the walls ever since their principal came in this morning and introduced them to their substitute teacher. The only thing Jongin took away from her lessons is that he's severely underestimated his looks, since she immediately cleared him of his four upcoming detention sessions (all of which his math teacher scheduled for him this evening) as soon as he walked up and questioned her about them. Despite finding it sort of strange, it's not like Jongin is complaining, and he inwardly prays that his math teacher will be sick for the rest of the year as he stuffs his books inside his overflowing locker.  

Even though he's no longer going to be spending the upcoming five hours of his life stuck in detention, Jongin still can't bring himself to feel entirely overjoyed about it, mostly because Baekhyun hasn't spoken to him ever since they took their seats in homeroom earlier. Come to think of it, Baekhyun even went as far as to refused to look him in the eye, which Jongin noticed when he turned around to ask Baekhyun for an eraser during English. Jongin found himself dismissing it, though, and instead opted to question Baekhyun about it right after class. However, he didn't a chance when Baekhyun inevitably stormed out of the room the moment the bell rang, which had Jongin fighting an impulse to scream at the top of his lungs. Jongin ended up scrapping the idea when he headed for the cafeteria, but it wasn't until he'd halted outside the door that he came to the realization that he had nobody to join him, considering neither Baekhyun nor Sehun were in sight. Jongin opted to call them, an idea that he also ended up scrapping when he found himself unable to pull out his phone.

Figuring he should at least try to make himself look productive, Jongin resorts to sitting by himself at the back of the library, and he's surprised that he even makes it past the threshold with his entire gut feeling like it's being weighed down by a ton of bricks. Blaming it on the fact that he hasn't eaten since last night's dinner, Jongin tosses his backpack on one of the many beanbags lining the wall. He's thankful that he's basically got the whole library to himself as he plops himself down on a blue beanbag. Jongin absently trails his eyes over a couple of programming students sitting by the computers, fingers scurrying across the keyboards as if their lives depend on it. Jongin finds himself absently bringing his knees closer to his chest when he makes the mistake of staring at a young couple over by the fantasy shelf. Even the beanbag beneath him, which makes him feel like he's hovering on a giant, fluffy cloud, does nothing to soothe the buzzing in his head, to Jongin's dismay, as he gives up on making himself comfortable. To his disappointment, the few pieces of gum he finds at the bottom of his backpack do nothing to cure the sharp coiling in his gut, so Jongin eventually s his backpack, retrieves his Physics book and dumps it in his lap with the full intention of not reading it.

To Jongin's surprise, he manages to get himself to focus on the sentences before him, but he doesn't even make it past the first paragraph before a certain emptiness weighs his chest down like a brick, which in turn makes him put his book down. Jongin figures that he should probably grab something to eat, since the painful cramping in his stomach only gets stronger when he finds himself thinking about both Baekhyun and Sehun's absences. Or rather, Sehun's absence, and Jongin doesn't even realize that he's practically ripping his textbook to shreds when the thought of Sehun possibly going as far as to switch schools again, all because of him, hits him like a freight train. Jongin figures that if Taemin were here, the latter would (probably) propose the idea of Sehun and Baekhyun secretly reconciling somewhere to get back at him, and Jongin has to stare at the incoherent mess of words and formulas before him when he worries his heart might burst from the way it swells in his chest.

Even though Jongin knows that Taemin most likely isn't witty enough to conjure up such an idea to begin with, he finds himself anxiously biting the inside of his cheek. One of the female students gets out of their seat, and the sudden sound of her chair scraping across the floor nearly has Jongin shooting through the roof in surprise. It's not until she proceeds to send him a puzzled look that Jongin realizes he's pretty much reduced his book to a pile of shreds in his lap, but he simply runs a hand down his face as he fights the urge to bury his face in the beanbag. Jongin figures that Baekhyun is in no place to give him the cold shoulder, considering he wasn't one bit invested in hearing his apology. Hearing books being scanned in the other room, Jongin exhales a breath he didn't even he'd been holding before he fidgets with the hem of his shirt (which he didn't even notice was inside out up until now). For a few minutes, all Jongin hears is the pounding in his ears, as well as the sound of keys clicking all around him. It's not until the emptiness in his chest swells up like a balloon about to pop that Jongin contemplates calling Taemin, because even though the thought of Taemin's grating voice is enough to make him scrap the idea altogether, at least he knows that Taemin will pick up.

However, Jongin does end up scrapping it when he realizes that Taemin is probably too caught up with practicing for the show to acknowledge his hints to smother him with sympathy. Instead, Jongin stuffs his Physics textbook in his backpack after he comes to the realization that no matter how hard he tries, he's not going to make it past another paragraph. Fiddling with his phone, Jongin tries to dismiss his growling stomach when he recalls the project they're all going to be assigned during History class in a couple of hours. Even though Jongin doesn't remember a thing of what his teacher said, he's pretty sure that it's a group project, which has him wanting to bash his head against the wall, because the mere thought of his partner complaining about doing all the work is the last thing Jongin needs right now. Thankfully, his cramping stomach saves him from his mental agony, and Jongin scrambles up off the floor when he genuinely worries he might starve to death on top of the beanbag. 

Jongin ends up fetching a sandwich (which, to his surprise, actually looks edible for once) from the cafeteria, only to discard it after two bites after laying his eyes on the cups of strawberry pudding by the counter. To this day, Jongin still doesn't know why Sehun even offered him his dessert earlier this week, but Jongin has himself to distract himself in fear of the painful coiling returning to his stomach. At first, Jongin opts to mindlessly wander through the deserted building while he waits for his lesson to begin, but he quickly gives up when he fears he might die of boredom. The blackening sky is impossible to miss as Jongin trudges towards the classroom, and he doesn't get a chance to mentally prepare himself for another hour of brain melting boredom when he peeks his head in the door.

Despite wanting nothing more than to turn on his heel and bolt down the corridor, Jongin forces himself to step inside the room, which is essentially empty. As he finagles himself through the endless maze of desks, Jongin prays that Baekhyun won't notice his presence from his spot over by the window, back turned towards him as he talks on the phone. Even though Jongin can hardly make out a word of what's being said, he quickly picks up on the affectionate tone in Baekhyun's voice, which has Jongin regretting not running away when he sinks behind of the desks at the back of the room. All four walls feel like they're closing in on him by the second, but Jongin finds himself unable to move an inch as he stares at the uneven wooden markings on the desk. Jongin is lucky, because the monotone ticking on the wall clock effectively masks the harsh pounding in his ears, which only gets louder when Baekhyun unconsciously turns around.

Baekhyun's eyes immediately darken when he sees Jongin, which has the latter wanting to sink into the floor, but he resumes talking while absently fidgeting with his collar. Jongin low-key prays that somebody will enter the room, because he figures he must be sitting in a puddle of his own sweat when he hears a muffled, male voice emitting from the speakers, which is closely followed by Baekhyun giggling to himself. A part of Jongin wants to scream, because he can't help but wonder if Baekhyun is deliberately setting him up just to screw him over, and he's seconds away from marching up to the window and socking Baekhyun in the jaw when the latter hangs up the phone.

They fall into brief silence until Baekhyun raises an eyebrow. "Didn't think you'd show up," he mumbles while impatiently fiddling with his phone, almost like he's waiting for a text response, in his hand. It's not until Jongin remains silent that Baekhyun walks back to his seat, at the very front of the room, before he resumes texting under the table.

Crossing his legs, Jongin slams his backpack down on the table, only to regret it when the sound of something cracking fills the air. "Why wouldn't I?" he blurts out, sort of really thankful that Baekhyun only sends him a look over his shoulder before he resumes typing. Jongin soon finds himself biting the inside of his cheek at the fact that Sehun isn't here yet, given that Sehun always makes it to class ten minutes before the bell. Since Sehun hasn't texted or called him about it (not that Jongin knows why he would), Jongin's eyes flicker to Baekhyun, who is in immersed in a Kakao chat a few feet away. Even though he can't see anything, Jongin figures that it doesn't take a genius to know who Baekhyun is talking to, but he finds himself opening his mouth, anyway. "Where's, you know, Sehun?"

Baekhyun momentarily stops typing, thumbs hovering above the keyboard as he exhales. "Wouldn't you like to know," he mumbles without turning around.

Jongin blinks. "Yeah, I mean-- He's usually-- Never mind." Shifting in his seat, he shoves his hands in his sweater pockets. He tries his hardest not to curse himself for choosing to throw away his sandwich earlier when his stomach churns in response. "I mean, he's my friend," he says, blaming his hunger for the pang of irritation that shoots up his spine. "Look, you really don't need to do this--" Jongin tries keeping his voice down when he sends Baekhyun a pointed look, because he figures that if Baekhyun is going to attempt to taunt him every chance he gets, he has every right to question him about it.

Baekhyun runs a hand through his red locks with his free hand. "Do what, exactly"

"As in, you can lay off the 'rubbing-it-in-my-face' act," Jongin whisper-hisses, fighting the urge to slap a hand over his mouth when their principal walks by a second later. "I know about you two, so just quit being such a ing baby--" He looks away and grits his teeth, just in time to miss Baekhyun's eyes flashing, and Jongin is thankful that there's four whole rows of desks separating them when Baekhyun scowls. "You don't need to-- Christ, you absolute--" Jongin cuts himself off when his phone buzzes with an email, only to fight the urge to smash his phone against the wall when he's greeted with an invitation to Taemin's show on Friday. Jongin doesn't get a chance to read it, though, when Baekhyun turns around in his seat.

Baekhyun gestures at his own phone, on which Taemin's email is clearly visible. "You going?" he asks, gaze flickering to the doorway when the loud sound of heels clacking against the floor fills the air.

Opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish, Jongin finds himself shrugging nonchalantly, and in his dazed state, he doesn't even realize that his History teacher is yelling at them for using their phones in class (despite the fact that their lesson hasn't even started yet). Jongin feels his response die in his throat when he scrambles to put his phone away, all while she watches him like a hawk. Even though Jongin has no idea if Baekhyun will actually end up going, Jongin doesn't need to ask to know that Baekhyun most definitely will, after he sees the latter discreetly emailing Taemin a response a few feet away. A part of Jongin envies Taemin's charisma, because he honestly didn't think that anybody would willingly pay ten dollars for a ticket to see somebody they've only met three or four times. Jongin dismisses the thought when the rest of their classmates start ticking in one by one, and he manages to squash the buzzing in his chest when he focuses his attention on the whiteboard up front.

1:32 P.M

Stuffing the mountain of new homework assignments in his backpack, Jongin waits until the classroom is empty to walk out the door, only to come dangerously close to getting mowed down by a hoard of law students upon crossing the threshold. On any normal occasion, at this time, Jongin would already be halfway down the road to his house, but this time, he finds himself unable to move when he stands glued to the floor in the empty hallway. Figuring his lack of breakfast (and lunch) must be taking a toll on him, Jongin forces himself to walk to his locker when his History teacher shoos him off. As he turns the corner to get to his locker, Jongin feels his phone vibrate with a text, and he feels his chest flutter when he fishes it out perhaps a little quicker than necessary. However, Jongin only ends up sighing when he's greeted with a text from Taemin asking if he can come to the show on Friday, which only makes him despise his roommate a little bit more as he puts his phone away.

The next thing Jongin knows, the thought of whether Baekhyun will actually attend the show is clogging his head. Jongin has to distract himself from the idea of possibly running into Sehun and Baekhyun in the audience by slamming his locker shut, only to regret it when he subsequently hears something falling over inside. Despite the fact that Taemin will belittle him for the rest of his life for skipping the show, Jongin knows that he would rather die than force himself to stand in the same crowd as Sehun and Baekhyun. Come to think of it, Jongin has a faint memory of Sehun saying something about wanting to watch Taemin perform live someday, and since he knows that Baekhyun will storm off with Sehun upon seeing Jongin in the crowd, Jongin figures that he would rather ditch the show altogether than risk Sehun missing Taemin's performance because of him. Jongin is unable to entertain the thought for another second when he worries he might topple over from lightheadedness, and he has to lean against his locker for support when a sudden head rush has him fearing he might pass out on the floor.

A high pitched voice snaps Jongin out of his trance, so forcefully that he nearly smashes his toes into his locker when he flinches, and it takes him a minute to process the fact that the entire hallway is pretty much deserted. Jongin goes on to babble a string of incoherent apologies to his substitute teacher (which has her blushing profusely) before he grabs his backpack and flies towards the main doors.

5:59 P.M

It's not until the cold air slaps Jongin in the face that he figures that he should have just asked Baekhyun about it, which he figures he would have done if it wasn't for Baekhyun heading out the classroom as soon as the last bell rang. Not wanting to interfere, Jongin simply watched Baekhyun scurry down the hallway, seemingly in a hurry, until he was out of view. As he approaches the first crossing, Jongin is careful to avoid ending up sandwiched between the cars that come flying down the road at impossible speeds, and while he waits for the green light, he figures that he might as well make up an excuse to give Baekhyun if they were to run into each other at the show. After rummaging through his brain, Jongin eventually settles for simply wanting to chat with Taemin's band mates, and it's not until a car loudly honks its horn at him that he scrambles across the road. After he makes it to the other side, Jongin finds himself peddling back and forth between the drummer with the ears and the vocalist with the striking feline grin, both of whom he's forgotten the names of (despite meeting them on one occasion, albeit very briefly). Jongin settles for the former, but he shoves the thought aside when he sees the familiar, white building come into view.

Except Jongin wishes he didn't just think of Taemin, because thinking of Taemin only reminds him of the show, which in turn reminds Jongin of the fact that Sehun and Baekhyun will be there, and the thought of Sehun only reminds Jongin of the project that they were assigned an hour ago. Frankly, Jongin had no idea that his History teacher was out to get him all along, given her tendency to pair couples up with each other, and he shoves his hands in his pockets in an attempt at squashing the warmth bubbling in his chest. Jongin vividly recalls the genuine fear that filled his chest when his teacher went on to read his and Sehun's names aloud, because the last thing he wanted was for Baekhyun to trash his entire locker in anger. However, Jongin figured that he was safe the moment he spotted Baekhyun waiting by the curb near the school building. Even though Jongin tried telling himself that he had no business in Sehun picking Baekhyun up in his car, he still found himself discreetly watching from his spot by the window as Baekhyun typed away on his phone. Jongin recalls the surprise that made his veins buzz upon seeing the slim, white Mercedes pull up in front of Baekhyun a minute later, which only had him wondering if Sehun was secretly a millionaire with a hundred different cars. However, it wasn't until the realization that Sehun hadn't, in fact, dropped off the face of the planet, and was seemingly avoiding him on purpose, hit him that Jongin forced himself to look away. Nevertheless, the thought of their project does little to soothe the coiling in his gut, considering that Sehun most likely won't be showing his face in the corridors from now on, and Jongin wants to scream at the thought of doing the entire project on his own as he approaches the patio.

The smell of food makes Jongin's mouth water after he slams the front door shut behind him, and he tosses his backpack on one of the chairs when he picks up on the faint strumming somewhere in the house. It's not until Jongin chucks his shoes off that he registers the sound of one of the pots boiling on the stove, and he's seconds away from yelling at Taemin for leaving the stove on when he walks in the kitchen, only to blink in awe.

Jongin ends up glued to the kitchen floor for an embarrassingly long time, but it's not like he blames himself, because he had no idea that somebody could be capable of strumming on a guitar, while simultaneously stirring ramen, until now. Inevitably, Taemin doesn't seem to notice his presence, but Jongin doesn't have the energy to care as he trudges over to one of the kitchen chairs. It's so dark outside that he figures that the entire kitchen would be pitch black if it wasn't for the dim ceiling light, and Jongin finds himself listening to Taemin's strumming, all while he rubs his stomach to get it to stop churning. Jongin blames the fact that he's pretty much starving to death for allowing himself to be lulled into a trance by the melodic tune, which subsequently makes him oblivious to the bowl of steaming ramen right in front of him. 

"Y'don't see that every day, huh?" Taemin chuckles as he gestures at his guitar in his lap, which he's customized with stickers to the point that Jongin has forgotten its original color. He makes himself comfortable before he tends to his own ramen, black hair falling in his face when he bends down and blows on it. "You're welcome, by the way." Taemin rolls his eyes, nearly tipping his chair over when he reaches across and waves a hand in front of Jongin's face. "Earth to-"

"Thanks," Jongin blurts out with a mouthful of noodles, to which Taemin responds with a disgusted look. "You can't live on this stuff forever, you know," he adds, turning his face away to avoid seeing Taemin's eye roll. Chopsticks in hand, Jongin goes on to tell Taemin all about his substitute teacher, to which the latter listens intently, and it's not until Jongin receives a notification reminding him about Taemin's show that the rest of his words die in his throat. Jongin finds himself struggling to swallow his food, only to give up when he subsequently feels like his entire throat has been stuffed with cotton. Not wanting Taemin to belittle him for being ungrateful, Jongin forces himself to finish, but he ends up shoving his bowl aside when he feels his stomach turn in protest.

Inevitably, Taemin huffs. "I'm no master chef or anything, but-"

 "There's nothing wrong with it," Jongin squabbles, "it's just--" He cuts himself off when his phone rings, eyebrows furrowing in puzzlement upon seeing the caller ID on the screen. Jongin blames the fog in his head for making him unable to even recognize the name, but he finds himself erupting in an ear to ear grin less than five seconds later. "Hel-"

"Heyo," Luhan chirps with the usual excitement lacing his voice. He doesn't even giving Jongin a chance to respond before he continues. "Listen, my brother's big day is next week and I promised I'd come over and help him sort out some stuff first thing tomorrow." He chuckles sheepishly. "All that pizzazz stuff, y'know?"

Jongin absently hums to himself as Luhan goes on to apologize for calling on such short notice, and he bites back a squeal when he hears a familiar, high-pitched yapping in the background. "So?" he chuckles, despite the fact that he knows exactly what Luhan is going to say next. 

"So," Luhan sing-songs, "I'm kindly-and-sort-of-really-unsubtly asking you to take Monggu for his morning walk--" He cuts himself off to whisper something along the lines of 'Be quiet' when the yapping continues, before he chuckles sheepishly. "Like I said, short notice, sorry, but if it makes you feel any better, the park is usually littered with dog walkers at that hour, so you won't be calling me about getting lost, that's for sure." He goes on to emit an ugly guffaw, which threatens to shatter Jongin's eardrums, before he clears his throat and mentions where he's planning on hiding the key. "I mean, you'll do it, right??? It's not like Monggu doesn't love you already-"

"I know he does," Jongin blurts out, and he can almost see Luhan's -eating grin in front of him when he hums in approval. As Luhan goes on to talk about his excitement over his brother's upcoming wedding, Jongin finds himself reminiscing Luhan's eighteenth birthday celebration, during which Monggu seemed to take a great liking to him (which confirmed Taemin's claim of Jongin practically radiating dog loving vibes), considering Monggu proceeded to follow Jongin around everywhere (including the restroom). The joy swelling in Jongin's chest makes him oblivious to the fact that he's hung up the phone, which he fully processes when he sees the look on Taemin's face.

Looking away, Taemin goes on to tune his guitar while he keeps his feet propped up on the table. "I'm assuming you've seen it by now," he hums, seemingly uninterested in their conversation, before sends Jongin a blindingly white grin.

Staring at the (surprisingly clean) soles of Taemin's boots, Jongin shrugs. He sort of regrets eating just now, since he feels his stomach churning uncomfortably when Taemin sends him an expectant look. "I saw it," he mutters, only sighing internally when Taemin looks at him expectantly. "I don't...I mean, I don't know if-"

"I know you don't have any plans for Friday," Taemin knowingly says, a childish grin spreading across his entire face when Jongin huffs. "Jongdae's in the midst of fetching booze for the after party, so be a good sport and help a pal out-"

"I don't know yet," Jongin sighs, wondering why he isn't halfway up the stairs and under the covers at this point. It's not until Taemin goes on to inform him that Baekhyun will be coming that Jongin feels something ignite in his chest, and it's also not until Luhan's words sink in that Jongin finds himself wanting to cry for reasons he doesn't want to know. Despite the fact that Monggu definitely loves him more than Luhan, the idea of waking up at six o'clock, just to aimlessly roam the park in zero degree weather, is enough to make Jongin throw his hands in the air in exasperation. "I'll come if I feel like it, okay??? Quit forcing me to-"

"Did I say you had to?" Taemin interrupts, briefly looking up from his guitar to send Jongin a glare, to which the latter responds with a scoff. "The 's up with that surly attitude of yours, anyway? It's pissing me the off," he grumbles, automatically reaching for his pocket when Jongin runs a hand through his hair. He's taking a drag of his newly lit cigarette before Jongin can even blink. "I mean, you shied away our other concerts, so-- Look, I know you've never really given a about our music and all, but you could at least try to make it look like you give a -"

"That's not the problem," Jongin exclaims in exasperation, pulse racing in his ears as he anxiously bounces his leg up and down. He spots his backpack on the chair in the hallway, which does absolutely nothing to soothe his buzzing nerves. "And I never ing said-"

"I mean, Baekhyun's coming and I've met the guy like, what, twice? You literally have zero reason not to be there," Taemin says, not even trying to mask his irritation as he waves his cigarette around. "How'd things go last night, anyway?" he mutters, halting with the stick an inch from his lips when Jongin visibly stills. "Okay, fill me in-"

"Yeah, that," Jongin growls, fighting the urge to run upstairs and lock himself in his bedroom when Taemin exhales a cloud of smoke. The overwhelming smell of tobacco has Jongin absently running his tongue across his bottom lips, and he doesn't even realize that he's raising his voice until Taemin tells him to 'shut his goddamn mouth before the neighbors file a report'. "And wouldn't you like to ing know--" Jongin is surprised that his knees don't cave in when he gets out of his chair, but he barely makes it three steps towards the door when Taemin speaks.

"The 's the matter with you?" Taemin scowls, words muffled as he takes a long drag. He taps his cigarette twice, dark gray ashes falling to the floor in a heap when he sends Jongin a sharp glare. "I just thought this would be a fun thing between friends, y'know, since I've dragged myself to your shows and all, but fine, don't show up, see if I give a ." His heavy eyeliner nearly gives his eyes a sunken appearance, which becomes apparent when he walks towards Jongin and blows smoke right in the latter's face, and he moves aside in the nick of time to avoid getting his face smashed in by Jongin's incoming fist. "Watch it, big guy-"

"Just shut the up," Jongin hisses, fighting the urge to remind Taemin that the latter chose to come to his dance tournament of his own free will, but he opts against it. Despite the fact that a part of Jongin knows that Taemin has been practicing his solo day and night for a whole week, he can't help the scowl that escapes his lips when he finds himself bolted to the floor and unable to move an inch. "Why do you even give a , anyway? You've never given a about me or anything I say or do, so--" He cuts himself off to stifle the growl threatening to escape his throat. "You know it wouldn't make a difference if I'm-- You know that Baek and the rest of your hooligans will be there, so just--" Jongin runs a tired hand down his face, because he knows for a fact that Taemin hasn't been pegging Baekhyun (or Sehun) about it, and he suddenly hates Taemin for deliberately screwing with him that much more. "Why am I so goddamn important to you all of a sudden? Why do you even give a if I'm there or not?" Jongin looks away, just in time to miss the way Taemin's eyes briefly flash, and he opts to keep his eyes glued on the cyclists outside when he worries his head might explode.

Taemin is silent for a minute, and for the first time in a while, he's seemingly unable to respond as he opens and closes his mouth. It's not until Jongin emits a tired chuckle that Taemin reaches for one of the tunes on his guitar, but he doesn't turn it as he remains silent for what feels like forever. "Because it would mean a lot to me if you did," he says, so quietly that Jongin barely catches it. They fall into silence for a brief moment until Taemin drags his finger down one of the strings, and the sudden, prompt noise nearly has Jongin jumping out of his own skin with a shriek.

Trying to control the surging in his veins, Jongin keeps his eyes glued on Taemin as the latter quickly takes a drag of his cigarette. Even though he figures he didn't hear Taemin properly, Jongin still finds himself groaning in irritation, because the last thing he needs right now is Taemin's false sympathy. "Are you really doing that?" Jongin blurts out, but he doesn't bother masking his scowl when Taemin promptly looks up. "I don't need-- I don't need this, why're you-- I don't need your false goddamn sympathy, you utter-"  

"You asked and I answered, so lay off the infernal shouting already," Taemin hisses with his lips locked around the stick. "Also, you better not go too hard on the drama right now." He sends Jongin a serious glare. "I've already got my hands full with Drummer Boy's broken goddamn heart, I don't need yours, too-"

"Oh, I'm real ing sorry," Jongin exclaims, not even bothering to keep his voice down when he feels like he's been kicked square in the chest. "God, you're--" He ignores the fierce pounding in his chest, which only gets louder when Taemin rolls his eyes. Two cars come to a screeching halt outside, but Jongin tunes them out when his entire face explodes with heat. "I messed up, I messed the up last night, is that what you wanted to hear? Well, there you ing have it, I hope you're ing ecstatic--" Jongin sort of wants to die when his voice audibly cracks at the last word, and he misses the way Taemin's eyes soften when he quickly turns his face away. Even though he knows that Taemin will hold it against him to the grave, Jongin doesn't bother stifling the loud sob that escapes his throat, and he doesn't even realize that his entire face is drenched with hot tears until he feels Taemin's hand wiping them away. "Don't ing touch me-"

"Man, you sure aren't an ugly crier, that's for sure," Taemin hums, but there's no bite in his voice. He puts out his cigarette on the bottom of his shoe as he watches Jongin running a hand down his face. "I mean, I figured as such." Eyes softening, Taemin reaches out and tries to pat Jongin's shoulder, only to recoil when Jongin flinches like he's been burned. "At least you can't say I didn't warn-" He doesn't even get to finish his sentence before Jongin turns on his heel, shoves past him and runs upstairs.