After all the stress of midterms, the boys of 127 decided to treat themselves in the best way possible: with a trip to Seoul. 

This time, it was on their terms. It was just the eleven of them, no girls, and no Hyungil. Just them, booking one giant airbnb together, having fun in Seoul. It was exactly what Taeil needed. 

The eleven of them took up two whole rows of seats on the long subway ride into the city; half of them fell asleep quickly on each other's shoulders, the other half laughed and talked loudly enough to get mean stares from the old ladies sitting next to them. 

And then they finally reached their airbnb, throwing all of their stuffed backpacks onto the ground and flopping onto the beds. After a period of groaning (being on the subway for a couple hours was exhausting, after all), they all got up and got ready. They had big plans for the rest of that night. 

With excited smiles they all got back on the subway, taking the short ride to Namsan tower. Although Taeil had been quite a few times, most of the foreigners had never been, and their excitement reached Taeil too. 

They all squished onto the elevator together, jam packed with tourists from everywhere, and the elevator started to rise. 

"Woah," Yuta said softly. 

This night time view of Seoul from so high was stunning: bright lights as far as the eye could see. It was amazing, really, and all of the foreigners seemed astounded to see it. They all had their phones out, filming something that seemed so normal to Taeil. Sometimes Taeil forgot how lucky he was to be able to see something so cool all the time. 

"These are cute," Ten said excitedly as they got off of the elevator, pointing at the multitudes of locks chained to every available area at the top of this tower. When he had come before, Taeil had spent an hour looking at the writing on these locks, all the couples who had wanted to leave their mark on the place. He looked up at Johnny; he had never expected that he would be here with a partner, that maybe he would be able to do the same thing.

After grabbing churros for dinner at the stand, the big group all filed into the gift shop. Johnny tugged Taeil aside, bringing him to the area with the locks. 

"What color do you want?" Johnny asked. Taeil slowly beamed and looked up at Johnny. 

"Maybe, red?" 

"Red it is then." Johnny grabbed the box with one lock and two keys, and paid for it. He and Taeil left the shop, sitting down on a bench to write their message. Taeil drew his and Johnny's name in a heart and passed it to his boyfriend. He wrote something quickly, and they to lock it on the one free spot they found. 

"What did you write?" Taeil asked. 

"You're mine and I'm yours, no matter what anyone else says," Johnny answered in English. Taeil blushed and smiled so hard he couldn't even look at Johnny, and after Johnny made sure no one was looking, he gave Taeil a kiss on the cheek. 

"Let's go find the others," Taeil said shyly and they got up, looking around. Taeil noticed Kun putting a lock on by himself. He remembered that Kun had a girlfriend, so far away in China. He hadn't even been with Johnny for very long, and he still couldn't imagine being a country away from him. 

Suddenly, Doyoung called out for them, and all of the couples came rushing over.

"We got one for all eleven of us," Jaehyun explained with a smile. He held it in his palm for everyone to look at; it was a light green and had all of their names on it on one side, on the other, it had their dorm number and said friends forever.

"You guys are so cute!" Yuta said excitedly. 

"This is so sweet," Jungwoo added quietly.

"All of you guys had couples to do your locks with, so we got jealous and wanted to do one too," Doyoung explained. 

"You guys will want your own soon enough," Ten said knowingly, but neither Doyoung nor Jaehyun heard. 

"Come on, let's go find a spot for it!" Taeyong said excitedly. 

"And take photos with it!" Ten added. Everyone laughed and Ten pouted. "Come on, I'm allowed to brag about being abroad on instagram!" 

"Plus, if we don't take a million pictures, our families will kill us," Sicheng added. 

"Now, who is going to ask a stranger to take our pictures?" Doyoung asked. Everyone fell silent. 

~~~~~~~~~~

"Wake up, love," Taeil heard a deep yet gentle voice speak. 

His eyes fluttered open to see Johnny leaning over him, a soft smile on his pretty lips. Taeil felt himself melt a little. At the dorm, Johnny and Taeil never shared a bed. But they'd been forced to here in Seoul so all the boys could get a smaller (and cheaper) airbnb. It had been nice though, feeling Johnny's warm body against his own last night, and to be woken up so sweetly this morning. Taeil could get used to it. 

"Morning," Taeil mumbled back, and Johnny smiled wider. Without thinking, they both pressed together for a quick kiss. Johnny brushed Taeil's hair out of his sleepy eyes and rolled to his side to hold Taeil tight against his chest. They were still waking up, not really ready to speak, but they didn't have to. 

This was nice. It was so nice, Taeil thought he could burst. How nice was it to be held, to be loved, seemingly unconditionally?

Taeil remembered all those months ago, the last time he and Johnny were in Seoul, the last time they shared a bed. It had been so nice at the time, to wake up to Johnny's voice beside him. He hadn't thought things could get any better. But somehow, they had. Back then, Taeil thought a barely there friendship with Johnny was the closest he would ever come to love. But to his surprise he had gotten Johnny's full heart, and Johnny wanted to give it to Taeil. God he'd gotten lucky. 

"How did you sleep?" Johnny asked, barely above a whisper. He cupped Taeil's cheek and rubbed circles into his skin, and despite the fact that they'd been together for a bit now, Taeil still felt like he was going to die. 

Taeil hummed. "I slept perfectly. You?" 

"Really?"

Taeil nodded into Johnny's chest. "Why? What happened?" 

"Mostly I slept fine, but I heard yelling at like three in the morning."

"Wow, I slept right through it," Taeil said with a laugh. "Was it coming from outside?"

Johnny shook his head. "I couldn't tell who it was but it was definitely coming from in here..." 

"Taeil Johnny Taeyong Yuta Doyoung Ten Jaehyun Sicheng Jungwoo Yukhei!" Kun yelled from the kitchen, interrupting their conversation.

"What?" Ten yelled back. 

"I made breakfast! Come get it before I get mad and call you all ungrateful!" 

Johnny smiled. "That's our cue." 

The boys got up and went into the kitchen, where everyone was sitting around wherever there was room. Kun was passing around bowls of the most amazing soup Taeil had ever smelled, and Johnny and Taeil sad down on the floor. 

"Did anyone else hear that last night?" Ten asked, sitting on the kitchen countertop. 

Yukhei looked up from his food. "Hear what?" 

"Yelling...some sort of fight." 

"Yeah! What was that?" Yuta asked, and Jungwoo nodded along in agreement. 

Suddenly, Doyoung burst into the kitchen, his sour expression killing the general good mood in the room. He walked over to Kun as everyone fell completely silent, looking him over. 

"Can I have some food?" he grumbled. 

"S-sure," Kun answered, awkwardly putting some food in his bowl, and Doyoung sat at the one free chair left at the kitchen table. He ate silently. 

After a long silence, Taeyong spoke up. 

"Dude, are you okay?" 

"Yeah! I'm great," he answered as sarcastically as possible. Everyone fell silent again. 

Just then, Jaehyun walked in, looking somehow angrier than Doyoung. 

"Can I have some soup?" he growled. 

"Uh, yeah," Kun answered, pouring the rest of the soup into a bowl for him. Jaehyun took it and stood at the other end of the kitchen, as far away from Doyoung as possible. The two locked eyes and glared at each other. The rest of the room silently looked between the two of them, frozen in their spots. 

Yukhei laughed awkwardly. "What's going on?" 

Jaehyun took a sip of his soup and gave Yukhei a forced smile. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." 

Other than the sipping of soup, there was silence for another minute or two. 

"So, what should we do today?" Johnny spoke up with an uncomfortable chuckle. 

"I know Tennie wants to go to smtown, but I know Kun wants to go try on hanboks at Gyeonbokgung palace..." Taeyong trailed off. 

"Both sound fun," Sicheng mumbled. 

"We should split up," Doyoung suddenly spoke up. "Some of us go to the palace, some go to smtown." 

"Agreed," Jaehyun said. The rest of them looked at each other. They weren't sure if they wanted to split up, but it seemed for the best, if only for their own sakes. 

"Alright, sure," Taeyong answered. The boys divided themselves into two groups, Doyoung and Jaehyun making sure to be separated, and started to get ready for the day. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Despite the morning weirdness, it had been a good day. Johnny and Taeil decided to go to the palace, getting done up in traditional Korean outfits and making their way to the palace. The walk over had for sure been awkward, but the pictures they had gotten at the palace were definitely worth it. Plus, Johnny and Taeil had even managed to get a few couple photos when no one was looking (and while a stewing Jaehyun kept watch). 

The other group was already back by the time they got to the airbnb, the kitchen stocked with groceries and everyone sleepy and joyous (except Doyoung and Jaehyun, of course). 

Kun volunteered to make dinner, enlisting Ten and Johnny to come help him. With the threat of having to do chores, Yuta and Sicheng snuck off to their room, and Yukhei volunteered to do some laundry. Taeil noticed Taeyong pull Jaehyun aside, and Jungwoo take Doyoung into his and Yukhei's room. 

"What are you gonna do Taeil?" Ten asked. 

"Help us cook," Johnny said, pulling Taeil into a hug and kissing his forehead. Taeil blushed and Kun gagged. 

"There'll be too many people in the kitchen," Kun whined. Johnny pouted at him. 

"It's alright. I can go help Yukhei with the laundry." 

"Fine," Johnny answered, reluctantly letting Taeil go. "But you ," he directed at Kun. 

"I'm sorry that you two have to spend half an hour apart. Sooooo sorry. It must be really hard," Kun teased. 

Taeil laughed and waved goodbye, walking toward the back of the airbnb where the washer and dryer were. 

But being the consistently nosy person he was, Taeil stopped outside Ten and Taeyong's room when he heard voices coming from behind the locked door. Taeil didn't quite put his ear up against it, but he came close and listened. 

"Jaehyun, you like him. Why are you doing this?" 

Jaehyun sighed and spoke so quietly Taeil almost didn't hear. "He's too good for me. If I don't keep my distance he'll break my heart. And you know? I'll have it coming." 

"That's absolutely not true. I can't believe you don't think he likes you back..." 

Taeil smiled to himself; he was sure Doyoung and Jaehyun would get together really soon. But it was time he stopped eavesdropping, so he walked further down the hall. 

But again he was stopped by voices coming from Lucas and JUngwoo's locked room, and he listened in. 

First was unintelligible mumbling. 

"Jungwoo I know I said some things, but Jaehyun really hurt me." 

More mumbling. 

"If he liked me back, then why would he say that stuff to me?" Taeil could hear Doyoung ask with pain in his voice. 

Another round of mumbling. 

"Jungwoooooo," Doyoung clearly whined. 

Taeil hummed and finally tore himself from the door. He knew eventually he would find out all the details of Doyoung and Jaehyun's relationship. 

He finally got to the laundry room and knocked on the door. 

"C-come in," Yukhei answered nervously. Oh god. 

Taeil pushed open the door and immediately grimaced. Every available surface was covered in lint, including Yukhei himself. 

"I don't know what happened...the dryer won't even run now." 

Taeil facepalmed. "Look, let's try getting all the lint out of the dryer and see if it'll work then." They both kneeled down and began to tug the lint out, Taeil grabbing a plastic bag for them to put all the lint into. 

"Yukhei, what did you even do?"

"I don't know..." 

Taeil sighed deeply. "Did you clear the lint trap?" 

Yukhei looked at Taeil, confused, panic growing in his eyes. "What's a lint trap?" He asked in a tiny voice. 

Taeil grabbed the lint trap out of the dryer, hoping to god he didn't know what it was because of the language barrier. "This thing." It was so covered in lint that Taeil couldn't even brush it all away. 

Yukhei's eyes grew impossibly wide then. "I've never seen that thing in my life," he whispered. 

Taeil stared at the ground in shock. "Oh my god," he breathed out, more to himself than anything. He finally looked up at Yukhei. "Is this your first time doing laundry?" 

"N-no! I-I've just never done this many loads at once." 

"You've... you've never cleared out the lint trap?" 

Yukhei pouted and shook his head. Taeil sighed. 

"Well then. I guess let's just...keep clearing out this lint and hope it runs after that."

"Thank you," Yukhei said sheepishly, and they silently got to work. 

"You know too much lint in the dryer can cause a fire, right?" 

"No I didn't know that!" 

Taeil sighed, for the millionth time. "Now you know, alright?" 

Just then, Kun yelled out loud enough for everyone in the airbnb to hear. "Dinner!" 

Taeil and Yukhei looked at each other. "We're not done yet..." Yukhei said worriedly. 

"If we don't hurry we will face the wrath of an underappreciated Kun." 

"But if we leave it we'll face the wrath of Doyoung seeing something messy...and he's already on edge enough," Yukhei countered. 

Taeil sighed. "True." 

Suddenly, the giant beside Taeil perked up. "Let's lock the door. Then no one will know." 

Taeil smiled slowly. "Good idea. Yukhei, thank you for using your brain this time." 

~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning had been almost as wonderful as the previous; waking up with Johnny by his side, cuddling, whispering, comforting each other. But, it was twinged with sadness: it was Sunday; so they had to go home at some point. Taeil was loathe to go back to the daily grind of classes and homework, but this little respite had been nice. 

The couple was torn, again, from their sweet bed by the call of delicious breakfast from Kun. They walked in, got their steamed buns, and sat on the floor to go eat it together. They were all there, other than Jaehyun and Doyoung, chatting happily and trying to ignore the sadness of having to go home (and the worry that Doyoung and Jaehyun might still be fighting). 

"Did anyone else hear that last night?" Ten asked, sitting on the kitchen countertop. 

Yukhei looked up from his food. "Hear what?" 

"Weird noises...sort of like, ..." 

"Yeah! What was that?" Yuta asked, and Jungwoo nodded along in agreement. 

Suddenly, Doyoung burst into the kitchen, his joyful expression leaving everyone else in the room very confused. He walked over to Kun as everyone fell completely silent, looking him over. 

"Can I have some food?" he asked in the most high pitched voice Taeil had ever come out of Doyoung's mouth. 

"S-sure," Kun answered, awkwardly putting some food in his bowl, and Doyoung sat at the one free chair left at the kitchen table. He ate silently, looking towards the kitchen door every so often. 

After a long silence, Taeyong spoke up. 

"Dude, are you okay?" 

"Yeah! I'm great!" he answered as sincerely as possible. Everyone fell silent again. 

Just then, Jaehyun walked in, looking somehow happier than Doyoung. 

"Can I have some soup?" he asked, punctuating his words with a giggle at the end. 

"Uh, yeah," Kun answered, pouring the rest of the soup into a bowl for him. Jaehyun took it and walked to the other end of the kitchen, as close to Doyoung's chair as possible. The two locked eyes and shared a bright yet shy smile, quickly turning away to eat their food again. The rest of the room silently looked between the two of them, frozen in their spots. 

Yukhei laughed awkwardly. "What's going on?" 

Jaehyun took a sip of his soup and gave Yukhei a secretive smile. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." He and Doyoung looked at each other and giggled. 

"Okay, fess up guys," Ten finally spoke. "Did you or did you not last night?" 

Jaehyun and Doyoung shared a sheepish smile and another giggle, looking into each other's eyes, as if trying to figure out how to phrase things. 

"Well," Jaehyun started with yet another little giggle. "What else are you supposed to do after a confession?" 

Everyone was silent for a minute before Jungwoo literally squealed. Everyone laughed, and then stood to hug and congratulate their friends on finally getting together. 

But after Yukhei gave Doyoung and Jaehyun a tight hug, Taeil noticed him trying to sneak off. 

"Yukhei, where are you going?" Taeil asked as everyone else cooed over Doyoung and Jaehyun. 

He looked around and leaned in close. "I'm gonna go make sure the dryer's okay. While everyone's distracted." 

Taeil gave him a firm stare. "It better be fixed. We don't want yesterday Doyoung coming back." 

"He won't. I'll make sure of it," Yukhei answered with a smile.