When Mino and Seungyoon enter the hall sporting bruises on their faces on Thursday morning, the rumours start anew.

"What happened?"

"Did he have a fight?"

"Mino-oppa, my Alpha, has a bruise on his face? What happened? Who did that to him? My Mino-oppa!!!"

"Kang Seungyoon also has a bruise on his face. Do you think they had a fight?"

"!!!"

"Wtf, ? XDDD"

" much?"

The last comment brings a laugh out of Mino in the middle of the class. The lecturer glares dagger at him. Seunghoon smacks at the back of his head. Ow, that hurts. Mino rubs the sore spot and smiles apologetically at the lecturer.

"What was that?" Seunghoon whispers as soon as the lecturer returns to her boring slides.

"Twitter."

Seunghoon raises a brow. "You still have that after what happened?"

"Most clients prefer to DM me via Twitter and Insta. Gotta keep in touch with them." Mino scrolls down the timeline, with a quirk of a smile.

While some are hurtful, most of the mentions are hilarious after the ' much' comment. Mino tries not to take it to heart. So long as Seungyoon isn't affected by those hurtful comments, Mino couldn't care less.

Mino glances over his shoulder to peek at Seungyoon.

As expected, Seungyoon has his bottom lip pursing as he goes through his note at the back. Mino's fingers twitch, tempted to tap those pouty lips. Seungyoon catches him staring and arches a questioning brow. Mino grins and then returns to his phone.

The notifications keep coming in. Mino closes the app then types a text.

how's your face? still hurting?

Mino receives a reply a minute later.

From Seungyoon: not too bad. how's your head?

From Seungyoon: jiho-hyung told me he hit you pretty hard

pfft. as if.

i barely felt it

From Seungyoon: why am I even surprised by your huge ego?

Mino suppresses his laugh. He types back, can we meet?

You still owe me the explanation about the skies.

From Seungyoon: you still hung up on that?

From Seungyoon: fine

cool. at 5.30? the usual place?

A minute passes but no reply from Seungyoon. Mino raises a brow. He sneaks a peek at the back. Seungyoon seems to be in thoughts, hinted by his frown and pouty lips. Then Seungyoon types.

From Seungyoon: 5.30 is fine. can we meet somewhere more secluded, tho?

Mino tips his head to the side. Then replies, sure. my studio?

From Seungyoon: cool

so cool. TTYL

From Seungyoon: you too

Reading the reply, Mino feels satisfaction suffuse his chest. He clicks his phone shut and focuses on the teaching, just to doze off just a minute later.

Well. He certainly tried his best.

...

On his way to the studio, he stumbles into Lisa of all people. Lisa perks up and waves at him, happiness radiating so bright that Mino's face is contorted into a grimace without him meaning to.

Lisa bounds her way to him. "Oppa, where are you heading to?"

"Studio," Mino mutters, hands shoved in his pockets.

Surprise crosses Lisa's face. Then melts into fondness. Like it's the best news she's heard in the world. She jumps in front of him, eyes hopeful. "Your project?"

Mino scratches the back of his head, not meeting her eyes. He shifts his weight to another foot. "No. I'm meeting someone."

"Oh," Lisa says. Mino knows she's trying her best to mask her disappointment. He prefers if she didn't, though. It would hurt him less. Lisa pulls at her bag straps. "Well, at least you're going back to the studio."

"Look, I'm trying," Mino assures her, even though it seems like he's assuring himself instead of her.

"I know. I know you're trying."

Urgh, Mino really hates this depressing conversation. He switches the topic. "Can you stop leaving your stuff laying around on my floor?"

"What stuff?" Lisa feigns oblivious.

"Your wires, for example." Mino makes an unimpressed look. "They cut Seungyoon's finger the other day."

Lisa stares at him. Opens . Shuts it closed. Then folds her arms under her . "Seungyoon who?"

"Kang Seungyoon, a guy from my class—" and Mino stops himself because he doesn't like Lisa's tone. He gives her a threatening look. "Are you gonna be mean? If you're gonna mean just because he's an Omega, I'll hit you. For real."

"No, no, of course, no." Lisa shakes her head, hands up to assure him. "I'm surprised, that's all. C'mon, oppa, I'm going out with an Omega too, remember? I didn't know you hung out with him. No wonder your studio smelt funny."

"Smelt funny?"

"You never brought anyone to your studio before, so the place reeked of your scent alone. But I smelt someone else's scent in your room," she says. Then Lisa smirks. "So. Kang Seungyoon, huh? The rumours are true, after all."

"What."

Lisa's smirk stays. "Nothing."

"We're not like that."

"Like what?"

Mino can see the twinkle of playfulness in her huge eyes. Annoyed, he swipes his index finger to the side, saying, "Piss. Off."

Laughter trails behind her as Lisa skips away into a corner. Her cheerful attitude is infectious. Mino can't help but quirk a smile.

The studio is unsurprisingly empty when he arrives. All left is the evidence of Lisa's presence prior; a rough draft of clay and sketch papers on the long table in the communal area, an used glass in the sink and empty take-out boxes in the bin.

Mino scratches the back of his ear. Seungyoon is gonna lose his if he sees this slight mess. He puts his bag on the bench and starts by cleaning the table.

He's tying up the plastic bag when Seungyoon pokes his head inside.

"Hey, busy?"

"Lisa was here."

Seungyoon dumps his bag on the table. "That doesn't explain ."

"She always leaves a trail of mess behind." Mino shrugs. He washes his hands once he's done with the trash, then wipes them on his pants.

"Ah. Like those wires?"

"Yes, like those wires." Then Mino adds, "That reminds me. How's your finger?"

"As good as new, I guess. No scar." Seungyoon examines his finger. He strides over to Mino's side. He tentatively runs his fingers along the side of Mino's head. "Your head, how's it? I can see the bruise. Oh, that looks bad. Does it hurt when I touch this side?"

Mino catches Seungyoon's wandering hand. "It's okay. It looks worse than it feels. Hey, your face looks less swollen."

"Ice helped."

Seungyoon seems to be melting into Mino's touch when Mino brings his hand up to Seungyoon's cheek. Mino blinks. He can feel the warmth radiating from Seungyoon's skin. He furrows his brows.

"You feel warm. Are you okay?"

"Do I really?" Seungyoon rubs his eyes. "Probably from the all-nighter that I did last night to finish the assignment. I've been feeling sluggish since morning anyway."

"Sit," Mino tells him. Seungyoon does as he was asked. Mino gets Seungyoon a glass of water. "Drink this."

"Thanks."

Mino studies Seungyoon's profile from across the table. Like any other day, Seungyoon wears a sweater hoodie—blue, this time. It's been bothering Mino since forever, and now, the nagging feeling heightens by the fact that Seungyoon is warmer than usual.

"I don't want to come off rude, but I really, really wish you could take off your sweater," Mino says, sitting down on the bench, with a grimace. Worried if it offenses Seungyoon somehow.

Seungyoon stares at him. Mino becomes flustered under the scrutiny.

"I can find something else for you to wear," Mino offers, "Uh—I have a long-sleeve in my studio. It's dirty, I mean, not dirty, but splashed with colours because I wear it whenever I paint. It doesn't stink too. You're way too warm to be wearing a thick sweater."

Seungyoon averts his gaze down to the drink in his hands. After a long while that Mino thinks he may have offended Seungyoon somehow, Seungyoon looks around, putting the glass o