(Youngjae's Perspective)

Youngjae dragged himself up to the third floor around 11:30 PM. It started a few hours ago if the loud music was anything to go by, but Youngjae had to mentally prepare himself before putting himself into any sort of partying situation. The last party he'd been to hadn't ended too pleasantly, but he was optimistic this one would turn out better!

Or he hoped so, at least.

He passed a man who stumbled drunkenly towards the stairs on his way to the door, and Youngjae watched for a moment as the man clumsily sat down and began to take the steps by scooting down each one and bracing himself on the wall. “That's... one way to do it, I suppose,” Youngjae mumbled before knocking onto the door of apartment 301.

One of the other party goers let him in, and Youngjae immediately set to find a familiar face. Mainly Jongup or Zelo, since those were his two familiar people. But they were currently nowhere to be seen in the mass of people, blending in with the various other adults around. Jongup not being easily found made more sense to Youngjae. The man was tiny and didn't give off that commanding of a presence.

But Zelo? It was impossible to lose him with how he towers over everybody and still wears heels to make himself even taller. That boy was legs for days and at least a head taller than everyone else around, so not picking up on his appearance meant one of two things. One, he was sitting down somewhere out of sight. Not likely because he couldn't sit still for five seconds before having to get up and do something. Two, he wasn't here. Also not likely because this was his apartment.

Well, it was Jongup's, technically. Even more technically, it belonged to Jongup's parents since they owned this apartment complex. But that's only if you're splitting hairs, which Youngjae wasn't.

“Hyung, you came?” The timid voice of Moon Jongup popped up at Youngjae's side, and he nearly shouted in surprise. He blinked innocently from behind his blonde bangs and pulled his lips into a grin. “Happy New Year, Youngjae hyung,” he cheered quietly, clapping his hands in front of him giddily.

Youngjae quickly recollected himself. “Happy New Year to you, too, Jongup,” he commented, reaching out and ruffling Jongup's hair out of place. “Figured I'd come up and join since I was going to be hearing the party anyway.” Youngjae also poked the little mole on Jongup's nose lightly, one of his favourite past times since the two had become friends.

Jongup pouted as he fixed his hair meticulously and scrunched his nose up. “I'm glad you're here, hyung. I lost Zelo,” he admitted in a whisper, eyes glancing around helplessly. “Hyunsik hyung actually came and wants to introduce us to his girlfriend, but I can't find Zelo...”

Youngjae's brows raised for two reasons. One, not even Jongup knew where Zelo was despite the fact he was normally clung to the giant. Two, Hyunsik had practically ghosted him since he moved out, so him being here was a shock. Maybe less of a shock since Youngjae wasn't sure if Hyunsik was just ignoring him or if he was also ignoring Jongup and Zelo...

That wasn't important right now, though. They had to find Zelo first. “When's the last time you saw him?”

“He said he was going to check on his friend a little bit ago,” Jongup responded slowly, tapping a finger on his chin. “Maybe he took him back to his apartment? Daehyun hyung looked pretty uncomfortable around all these people...”

Ah, yes. The friend of Zelo's who'd given the request yesterday and had also been invited to this party. “You said he lives where Hyunsik used to live, right? Maybe if-” Youngjae's words were cut off abruptly by loud singing, and he would've been at least a bit peeved in a normal situation. However, he really couldn't find it in himself to be mad because that voice?

It was ing amazing.

As whoever this mystery person was singing stopped, much to Youngjae's dismay, a different voice popped in. One that was familiar. “Oh, there he is!” Jongup pointed out, and he grabbed a slightly dazed Youngjae by the arm and back into the main room.

In front of the television, two people stood. One, the incredibly lanky silhouette of Zelo, shimmying around and twirling his skirt as he followed the words on the screen. Person number two was an unfamiliar man whose features couldn't be distinguished since their backs were facing them.

Youngjae wasn't contemplating about appearances for long, though, because the moment the unfamiliar man started singing again, Youngjae's mind completely blanked. He pressed a hand against his own chest in the vain hope of calming down his rapidly increasing heartbeat. “Be still my beating heart,” Youngjae muttered as his eyes were glued to the phenomenal singer, mouth drying when he held out a particularly long note. Zelo cheered, along with a handful of other partygoers.

But all Youngjae could do was fan himself with his other hand.

“Youngjae hyung?” Jongup tapped his friend's shoulder, who only blinked stupidly at him in return. Jongup then playfully rolled his eyes and shoved slightly at Youngjae's shoulder. “You're so obvious,” he snorted.

The song ended, and the duo started to sing something else. “I can't help it,” Youngjae breathed out, leaning his weight onto Jongup. “I have a weak spot for the musically gifted.” He sighed dreamily, hand still over his heart and fanning himself as he struggled to rest his head on Jongup's shoulder.

“I'm kind of surprised though,” Jongup admitted. “I didn't expect him to have a voice like that with how quiet he is.” Youngjae simply hummed in question, not sure if words would work for him right now since his brain was struck stupid by the best singing voice he'd ever had the pleasure of hearing. “That's Daehyun hyung.”

“That's Daehyun?” Youngjae shot off of Jongup's shoulder and his lips nervously. After Jongup nodded in confirmation, Youngjae's brain short circuited as he thought about Daehyun's singing alongside his piano playing, more than likely to something Daehyun would request...

'Hot damn, what a fantasy...'

Jongup snapped his fingers in front of Youngjae's face, effectively disrupting his hopelessly gay brain's fantasizing just enough for Youngjae to register the knowing grin Jongup was sporting. He squinted at his friend. “Shut up,” he pouted.

“You know... I do need to drag Zelo away from there,” Jongup hinted. However, Youngjae had the gay fantasy land of a honey like voice harmonizing with piano keys at the forefront of his brain and didn't understand what his friend was getting at. “Daehyun hyung will probably stop singing once I drag Zelo away...”

Youngjae decided that would be catastrophic! “How can we keep him singing?” he wondered frantically, hand slapping at his friend's shoulder incessantly after Daehyun achieved another high note, eliciting even more cheers than he'd gotten last time. 'I guess I'm not the only one invested in this man's beautiful voice...'

“You could sing with him, hyung,” Jongup suggested with a tiny smile.

“Excuse me?” Youngjae huffed. “My voice could not compare to that...” He made a vague gesture towards Daehyun, who was giving Zelo his turn in the spotlight while lightly swaying to the music. His other friend was belting out the lyrics with no care in the world and really getting into it. “Magnificence,” he breathed out, tone dreamy.

Jongup sighed. “You're good at singing, too, you know. You used to sing along to your piano playing and to Hyunsik hyung's guitar playing all the time,” he recalled. “You don't give yourself enough credit.”

“I give myself plenty of credit!” Youngjae crossed his arms and raised his head a bit in defiance. “I know I have a good singing voice! I just can't easily focus on playing the piano and singing at the same time, and Hyunsik moved out. So I don't really have any reason to sing anymore! Besides, I'm one of Hyunsik's friends, too. Shouldn't I also meet his girlfriend?”

“Well...” Jongup started, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. “Hyunsik hyung only asked for me and Zelo, and when I asked about you, he kind of paled and shook his head...” Youngjae was about to try and and get further elaboration on that suspicious action, but his mind was wiped once Daehyun took over singing again. “You said you needed a reason to use your voice? Consider this it, hyung.”

He did have a point, and it was awfully tempting. 'Maybe if I sing with him, it could lead to us getting to know each other better?' Youngjae's gay heart leapt at the thought, so in the end, he nodded his agreement. “Fine, I'll do it.”

“Great!” Jongup breathed out a sigh of relief, and they went around the couch to interject the two once the song ended. “Zelo!”

The dolled up man blinked rapidly down at the two of them, towering like the skyscraper he was as he smiled brightly. His cheeks were flushed, and if the way he swayed despite standing still was any indication, he'd had a bit to drink. “Oh hey, Jongup!” He waved enthusiastically. His eyes moved to Youngjae, and they sparkled like the light dust of glitter on his eyelids. “Jae hyung, didn't expect to see you here!”

“U-um, y-yeah... I-I'm here,” he stammered out, mustering an awkward smile. Why? Because the man who was next to Zelo turned to look at them, and Youngjae's brain stopped functioning properly again. Everything about Daehyun's looks struck Youngjae's fancy. Like, attractive looks and an incredible singing voice? Youngjae wasn't sure his gay heart could handle this right now...

“Perfect, perfect! I can introduce you two!” Zelo exclaimed, and he grabbed at the man next to him by the arm and pulled him closer. “This... This is my bestest friend to ever exist! Daehyun, my oppa-hyung,” he introduced happily as he draped a lanky arm over Daehyun's shoulder, having to lean in order to do so.

Daehyun let out a tiny giggle, and Youngjae's heart skipped a beat. The flush on Daehyun's cheeks was deeper than the one on Zelo's, indicating he'd had more to drink than his friend. Either that, or he didn't have a high alcohol tolerance and had only had very little. “Hello,” he got out, voice low and eyes avoiding contact as he gestured his hand in what was assumed to be a wave.

“And this man here... This is the piano man!” Zelo made a grand gesture towards Youngjae before patting his friend's back.

Daehyun's eyes twinkled and a smile graced his thick lips. “Piano man,” he breathed, grin spreading to the point his eyes, while trained on the floor, began to smile as well. “Your playing is... lovely...” His tone was shy as his hands made his way up to his face, trying to cup his cheeks gently. However, he instead ended up smooshing them, causing his lips to poke out cutely.

Youngjae internally panicked in gay at the adorable action, and also at the fact such a gorgeous man was here complimenting him. How he managed to speak in return was beyond him! “Thank you, um... You can just call me Youngjae.” He gave a slight bow in introduction.

“Are you guys okay?” Jongup asked, concern etched on his features. “You said you didn't drink, Daehyun hyung... and Zelo, you know alcohol never sits well on your stomach. What happened?”

The two friends looked at each other, Daehyun still smooshing his cheeks as his eyes swam around in sync with Zelo's. It was dizzying to watch, and Youngjae had to bring his focus elsewhere. That being the eye mole on Daehyun's bottom lid. He narrowed his eyes slightly, briefly wondering what would happen if he were to poke it like he did with Jongup's nose mark...

Then he shut that thought up because you can't just go and poke a stranger's eye, Youngjae.

Both Zelo and Daehyun shook their heads. “I don't remember!” Daehyun declared with a sharp nod, and then he extended his arms out slightly to balance himself better.

“Me either!” Zelo cheered, arms flailing into the air happily.

Both Jongup and Youngjae did an intake of a breath through gritted teeth. It had to have been something pretty bad if a man who didn't normally drink and a man who couldn't process alcohol well were plastered. “So...” Youngjae trailed, eyes meeting Jongup's for a moment before bringing their attention back to the duo.

“So... Hyunsik hyung was wanting to introduce his girlfriend to me and you, Zelo,” Jongup informed, grabbing the mentioned man by the arm.

“Hyunnie hyung came, too? Oh it's been ages since we've seen him!” Zelo exclaimed excitedly, patting at Jongup's hand on his arm. Then he looked conflicted. “Oh no, but... but... I wanna keep singing my heart out with my oppa-hyung,” he complained, crinkling his nose. “I don't want to leave him behind...”

“If you've got something to do, then it's okay,” Daehyun insisted, deep voice suddenly much more muted as he patted his hands against his friend's back. “I'll be fine...”

“But oppa-hyung, singing was making you feel better, and if I'm not here, then you'll stop singing!” he whined with the biggest of pouts and an exaggerated stomp.

Youngjae gulped as he glanced over to Jongup, who met his gaze with one that urged Youngjae to offer himself to the cause. He cleared his throat and piped up nervously. “I can sing with him? If you want?”

“You'd do that, Jae hyung?” Zelo grinned brightly as he happily clambered over and held Youngjae by the shoulders. “You're a lifesaver!”

Jongup gave me a thumbs up and a thankful grin.

Daehyun awkwardly shuffled in place and fumbled with his fingers nervously. “Oh, uh... You don't have to do that, I-I wouldn't want to impose...”

“It's fine, I don't mind,” Youngjae assured, offering a friendly smile. For a fraction of a second, Daehyun's eyes met his before quickly darting away, as if he'd been doing something forbidden.

“Jae hyung will take good care of you, oppa-hyung!” Zelo ruffled his friend's hair, messing it up in a way that had him fixing it immediately with a pout. Before he could interject, Zelo grabbed onto Jongup and began dragging him away. “Okay, let's go! Have fun, you two!” The two of them waved before disappearing, Zelo adding on the comment of “This better be good!”

After a few moments, Youngjae brought his attention back to Daehyun right about the time Daehyun was bringing his attention away from where Zelo and Jongup had gone. Worriedly, he shifted his gaze back to the television. “So, uh... It's connected to...” His eyes swam around as he his lips nervously. “I don't remember. Um... Are you sure you're fine with this?” He asked quietly.

Youngjae would never have considered himself intimidating, but with how much of a nervous wreck Daehyun seemed to be, he figured he was somehow giving off an intimidating vibe. So he did his best to activate the cute, soft boy charm to hopefully put Daehyun more at ease! “Of course I am!” he reassured, hoping that Daehyun would glance over and catch his gentle and far from intimidating smile. He thankfully did, and Youngjae met his eyes with as much softness as he could muster. “I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't okay with it.”

Daehyun blinked rapidly, like he was processing the words he heard carefully. Something Youngjae couldn't place flicked through his eyes before he looked back at the television. “If you say so,” he whispered, barely loud enough to be heard. “Do you want to go first, or should I?”

The song that was currently playing was coming to an end. “I'll go first if it makes you more comfortable,” Youngjae offered. There was that flicker again, and without another word between them, Youngjae took the lead in the song that came next.

He absolutely refused to up in front of Daehyun, so there was no way in hell Youngjae wasn't going to give this his all. From his peripherals, he caught Daehyun's gaze lingering on him as he drew out his voice. When his turn came up, Daehyun fumbled a bit, forgetting that he was supposed to sing, too.

Youngjae's knees felt weak at first. Standing next to an attractive man with an incredible voice catching the tune didn't feel real. He definitely stumbled when he was supposed to go back to singing, having been too intensely focused on Daehyun's voice to pay attention to much else. As they continued, though, they both managed to get into the groove of things without getting tongue tied.

He wasn't sure how long the two of them sang together, back and forth and occasionally harmonizing in the most beautiful of ways. It felt timeless in Youngjae's head, and his poor gay heart was thriving!

In the middle of a song, Daehyun stopped suddenly and held a hand over his chest. “I think... I think the alcohol's catching up with me...” he slurred, the nervous of his lips slow as he scrunched his eyes closed.

“I'll help you to the bathroom,” Youngjae offered, and he gently guided his singing partner through the apartment and to the bathroom, allowing him to lean his weight against him and slightly cling to his arm.

He'd been here enough times to know where it was, and thankfully, no one was in there. Youngjae sat on the edge of the bathtub while Daehyun hunched over the toilet bowl. “I'm sorry,” he whispered, voice hoarse and scratchy from his stomach deciding that the things inside should be on the outside.

“It's okay.” Youngjae rubbed his back soothingly as he heaved again. Not wanting to watch someone throw up, he looked around the rest of the bathroom to distract his sight. The walls had been drawn on with what appeared to be copious amounts of eyeshadow. There was a pretty rad looking glittery picture of what looked to be a mix between a cat and a frog, but Youngjae couldn't be sure. The words by the picture were incoherent gibberish, trailing off at the last letter.

Zelo was going to be pissed when he saw this tomorrow.

A pathetic sounding whimper passed Daehyun's lips as he straightened his back and pushed his bangs off his forehead. “I'm sorry,” he repeated quietly, leaning back on his feet as he pressed a hand against his chest.

'Yeah, he's going to feel like tomorrow and probably won't even remember why.'

Which meant one of the most attractive men Youngjae's ever had the privilege to lay eyes on probably wouldn't remember him, either. He tried not to let that thought get at him, though. “It's fine.” Youngjae flashed him a reassuring smile. “We should probably get you out of here, though. Is that okay?”

Daehyun nodded slowly. “I... I need to tell Zelo... Then... Then I can leave. He'll... He'll panic if I just... just... vanish.”

“Let's go find him, and then I'll help you out of here.” Carefully, Youngjae stood up and leaned the drunk man against him after getting rid of the evidence in the toilet. It'd be impolite to leave it there. After all, Zelo was going to be angry enough at his walls come morning. He didn't need anything else added onto that.

Zelo wasn't hard to find. In fact, he found the two of them first right after they stepped out of the bathroom. “There you are,” he grumbled, looking tired of everything and everyone. “I didn't see you guys, so I got worried. What's up?” He dragged a hand down his face, effectively smudging his makeup down, but from the look in his eyes, he looked ready to kill something.

“Bathroom,” Daehyun muttered tiredly, cheek pressed against Youngjae's shoulder with his arms tightly clinging to the other's.

Zelo raised a brow, and Youngjae clarified, “The alcohol made him sick. I'm taking him out of here, but he wanted to tell you first.”

“Ah, right.”

“I'm kind of hesitant to leave him alone, though,” Youngjae admitted. “People aren't supposed to let others with hangovers be alone, especially while sleeping. That can be dangerous... Should I bring him to his apartment and stay to make sure nothing happens, or should I bring him down to mine?”

“I think... your place would be better, Jae hyung. Further away from...” He mumbled something incoherent at the end. Zelo waved a hand, a vague motion Youngjae interpreted as him being told to come closer, which he did. “Lemme help you, I need some fresh air after this bull or I'll ing strangle somebody!” He positioned himself on the other side of Daehyun after kicking off his heels.

The loud thunk that sounded out signified that it was an action Zelo would definitely regret come tomorrow.

The trio left the apartment and walked down the stairs, mindful to not take them too fast for the sake of the two of them that were drunk. “You seem really pissed off Zelo,” Youngjae pointed out.

Daehyun made some sort of noise, one that was probably him agreeing and inquiring why.

“Pissed off is an understatement, Jae hyung,” Zelo seethed through clenched teeth. “I. Am ing. Livid, hyung. I could ing throw a baby off a ing cliff and feel nothing but satisfaction!”

'Mental note, if I ever get to adopt a kid one day, I'm not letting them anywhere near Zelo when he's angry...'

Zelo continued ranting as they made it the rest of the way down the stairs, profanities thrown loudly into the air without second thought. Most of his furious ramblings were nonsensical, him spouting something about chickens as he helped maneuver Daehyun into Youngjae's apartment and sat him down on the couch while Youngjae got his guest a glass of water.

Daehyun, who didn't seem entirely aware of what was going on, sipped slowly at the glass in his hands.

Zelo muffled a groan into the arm of the couch, flopped over dramatically. “Ugh, I don't wanna go back up to that show, Jae hyung,” he whined, voice muffled as his makeup was rubbed into the fabric of the couch.

“Then... stay down here?”

“Can't,” Zelo grumbled as he flopped off the couch and dragged himself up with a grunt. “Gotta go back, it's my apartment,” he complained. “Also didn't tell Jongup what I was doing, and that kid will worry if I disappear for too long again.”

“Kid? Jongup's older than you, Zelo.”

He dismissed the notion with a flick of his wrist. “Details, details,” he sighed as he trudged on over to the door. Zelo spared one last glance to Daehyun before slurring out, “I'll leave him in your capable hands, Jae hyung. Take care of him good or I'll... I'll...” he paused, brows knitting together and pointing harshly at Youngjae as he tried to think of some form of punishment that would be suitable, but he lost the train of thought before he figured anything out. “See ya later, thanks, goodnight, happy New Year, all that polite ...” After mumbling that out, Zelo was out the door with a half assed wave.

After locking the door, Youngjae let out a tired exhale and brought his attention to Daehyun, who'd just spilled water all over himself while trying to take another sip. He looked confused as he stared at the wet stain on his shirt, like he couldn't fathom where it'd come from.

Yeah, this was going to be a long night.

--

A/N:

When I was coming up with chapter titles (since I'm not using song names like I normally would), I took a screencap of one that was called "1-800-SCHEMERS" and I have no recollection of which chapter this was for because whatever chapter it was is no longer called that.