Felix sighed as he dropped his bag onto the bed and started the short but tiring walk to the kitchen. 

"I'm home," he yelled, and was greeted by a lazy, dragged-out "hello!"   

Christopher, or Chan as he preferred to be called, had been Felix's best friend for eight years. They had moved in together last year, and a few months ago Chan's boyfriend Kim Woojin had joined. Felix adored both of them, but they were just like embarrassing parents sometimes. 

Across the street from them was a little book shop run by a short, unique-looking, very friendly young man who always had some kind of interesting story to tell. Felix dragged himself over to the shop and flopped into a chair near the counter. 

"Hi, Felix." Hongjoong smiled at him. "I assume you're not planning to buy anything today?" 

"Nope." Felix yawned. "I needed to talk to someone besides my overbearing parents- aka my best friend and his boyfriend." He grinned. 

"So you came to me." Hongjoong took a long drink of coffee. "Good choice." He hoisted himself up to sit on the counter and announced, "Guess who was getting another piercing while I was buying earrings?" 

Felix gasped. "No way!" 

"Yes!" Hongjoong nodded. "That makes eleven, can you believe it? He's so badass." 

Felix suddenly remember something. "I had a weird encounter at the ice cream shop earlier." 

"Ooh, tell me!" Hongjoong, Felix had discovered on their first meeting, loved to talk, but he also loved to listen. That was what made him so much fun. 

"So I was just buying my ice cream, minding my own business, right? But I was getting all nervous because there were people there. And this cute guy was there! And I was literally outright staring! And then he goes 'take a picture, it'll last longer,' but I honestly don't think he planned on saying that, it just slipped out. And then his friend actually offers to take the picture and pulls out an actual camera. I was so embarrassed." 

Hongjoong dumped the remaining contents of his coffee cup down his throat. As soon as he'd swallowed, he whistled. "So you finally saw a guy you think is cute, huh? Tell me all about him." 

"Well...." Felix blushed. "He had dark hair. And an 'X' slit through his eyebrow. And he had these really intense eyes? I don't know. And..... I'm sorry, you know I'm not good with details. He was wearing all black, if that helps." 

Hongjoong thoughtfully tossed his empty cup in the air. The lid fell off, but neither of them moved to pick it up. "Hmm. Describe his friend." 

"There were four friends." Felix sighed. "Uhh... a really handsome boy. Like really good looking. Not my type, but like, God did good on him. Anyways. Camera boy has like, dimples, and he's sort of just super energetic? Like natural energy, not coffee energy." Hongjoong looked so guilty Felix had to laugh. "Then there's a cute blond who definitely likes camera guy, and last of all this cutie- not my type but really cute- with the squishiest cheeks... like a squirrel. He looks like a squirrel. Yeah." 

"Oh my goodness, a squirrel? I know him!" Hongjoong exclaimed. "I've seen these kids! They come in here sometimes." 

"If they come in right now that'll be the stupidest, most cliche-" Felix began, but the door opened before he could finish. 

"Hi," a voice said casually. Camera boy. No way. They had actually just walked into the shop. No way. 

"Yo!" Hongjoong said cheerfully. There was a smacking noise that Felix hoped was a high-five. He stood up hoping to make his exit without being noticed, but Camera Boy was having none of it. 

"Hey! You're the kid from the ice cream shop!" He practically yelled. 

Felix's cheeks burned. 

The cute boy, the one Felix had stared at, was blushing too. "San, don't," he hissed. "Look how embarrassed he is now." 

Camera Boy- San- looked disappointed. "I was just saying hi." 

"Hi!" Felix responded as cheerfully as he could. 

It wasn't all of them, he realized. The really handsome boy and the cute blond weren't there. He didn't have time to wonder where they were, though, because the squirrel had just skipped up to talk to him. And he, Felix quickly discovered, talked a lot. 

"Hi! I'm Han Jisung! That's San, he's really fun, and that's Changbin! Are those freckles real? How do you know Hongjoong? You're really cute, wow. Do you like rap music? Me and Changbin rap, sometimes Chan joins us-" 

"You know Chan?" 

"You know Chan?" 

They both shrieked. 

"Inside voices, kids, please," Hongjoong cut in. 

"Okay, auntie," Felix teased. 

Hongjoong gasped. "Oh, how dare you. I am not your aunt, you brat." The smile on his face flatly defied his words. 

Felix grinned at him and turned back to Jisung. Having discovered a mutual friend, they were both completely in their element. San looked lost and Changbin looked somewhere between embarrassed and very attracted. 

"Can I go home?" San asked. 

That snapped Felix back to reality. "Oh my- I have to go. Chan and Woojin are going to freak out." He raced out the door before anyone else could say another word. 

"He really is cute," he heard San say, before the door slammed shut behind him.