Chanyeol and Hayoon fell into a rhythmic routine after the coffee bean incident. The two would meet up after class and head off to a newly discovered coffee shop. Occasionally Baekhyun joined them as he did not want to third wheel Soojung and needed to vent his frustrations over his tedious vocal training lessons where the professor apparently had set his heart on making life living hell for Baekhyun.

Despite their numerous outings, Hayoon had yet to find the origin place of the coffee beans that she fell in love with, nor did she find a coffee shop that fulfilled all her criteria. Nonetheless she enjoyed the time she spent with Chanyeol. Throughout the stress of their last months as third year students, Chanyeol brought her a sense of stability and security, giving her the strength to face whatever was to come.

The time the original four best friends spent together however decreased. To be more precise, Soojung was not willing to sacrifice the time she spent with Junmyeon or the time she spent with her friends. In her past relationships she was more than willing to ditch a date in order to spend quality time with Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Hayoon. She had no problem turning down a romantic rooftop dinner in order to join the other three for pizza and burritos. With Junmyeon however it was different. She wanted him to be integrated into their group, she wanted to prove to her friends that this time things were serious, that it was going to last.

Soojung’s decision to invite Junmeyon along however was met with resistance from Chanyeol. The male would actively ignore Junmyeon’s attempts at befriending him and was highly vocal about the older male’s intrusion. Baekhyun simply shook his head at his childhood friend’s stubbornness, not willing to meddle in the matter. Hayoon on the other hand tried her best to keep Chanyeol distracted. In her opinion, it was better to limit Chanyeol’s interactions with Junmyeon by keeping him busy rather than have the boy being blatantly rude and unwelcoming towards Junmyeon.

However, things never worked out as planned.

On one specific evening, in order to destress themselves, Baekhyun decided to organise a horror movie marathon and sleepover, thus renting the whole The Exorcist anthology. Hayoon was unsure whether this was Baekhyun’s attempt to torture them; Hayoon herself was rather indifferent towards horror films, though if she had a choice, she’d never watch one voluntarily. Soojung on the other hand abhorred horror films and Chanyeol had an innate fear of ghosts and demons. Or maybe this was all a sadistic plan to force bonding between Chanyeol and Junmyeon through emotional distress.

Since it was being held at his own place, Chanyeol had no way of escaping and thus the torturous night began. Junmyeon was sitting on the far end of the sofa with Soojung snuggled against him, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Hayoon positioned herself on the other end of the sofa, her back leaning against the armrest and legs propped on top of Baekhyun’s legs as he sat between her and Soojung. Chanyeol found himself placed on the floor next to Baekhyun’s legs, his back leaning against the sofa, using Hayoon’s thighs as neck rest. Fully equipped with popcorn and fizzy drinks, Baekhyun clicked play and the dark room lit up with the opening credits of the first film.

The films spread fear and terror incessantly. Despite having chosen the films himself, Baekhyun found himself snapping his eyes shut at every scary scene, his hands gripping tightly on Hayoon’s legs. Hayoon was a very ticklish person so Baekhyun’s actions would induce a fit of giggles that she had to stifle, thus distracting her from the film. On top of that, Chanyeol had an iron grasp on her hands, his palms sweaty from the fear that rushed through him at the horrendous sight displayed on the TV screen. Soojung was not faring much better, periodically letting out quiet screams of terror as she hid her face in Junmyeon’s chest. The male would then tighten his grip around her, caressing her arm and whispering words of comfort in her ears.

The couple’s actions managed to fully divert Chanyeol’s attention from the film. His hold on Hayoon’s hand loosened, eventually letting it go completely as he bit his thumb in frustration instead. With a rising sense of anger bubbling in his stomach, his eyes focused on the couple rather than the film. The final trigger was when Junmyeon kissed Soojung on her forehead in an attempt to