The familiar stench of alcohol and weed brought Junmyeon right back to his university days. Those were the days, hands-down the most colorful phase of his life, and he would love to relive the good old days with his pals. That was why he was currently at the 4-year reunion party with his hallmates, eager to reconnect with them, especially those that he had not had the chance to hang out with since their semester together at New Centenary Residence.

“Hey! You made it!”

Once Junmyeon entered the room he was immediately greeted by one of his closest friends, Jongdae. Junmyeon beamed widely and the two hugged.

“Wouldn't miss it for anything in the world! I'm so happy to be here,” said Jun blithely. “We have got to catch up. I heard you've found yourself a new…’special friend’?”

Jongdae chortled. “Yeah, that's a really complicated and long story. I'll explain it to you at some point, but first, drinks. We are getting wasted tonight and we are going to be unhealthy, irresponsible kids!”

“Sounds like a bad idea. Count me in,” Jun replied right away, heading to the bar with Jongdae.

“So, you're doing your Master’s now?” Asked Dae with a drink in hand.

“Yeah. International Relations.”

“And that's the path you've always wanted, right? Gah, I remember how determined you always were, and you were always so sure about what you wanted and how exactly you're gonna get it.”

“I knew all along I wanted to study Political Science. I've known it since I was 14,” Junmyeon answered.

“Man, that is such a long time ago. When I was 14 I had no idea what I was doing with my life. I mean, even now, I still have no idea. But I'm just doing whatever makes me happy and that's good enough for me,” Jongdae shrugged.

“Yeah, I see you've been traveling a lot. Where's your next destination?”

“Oh yeah. Crisscross the world, searching for fun, partake of the local attractions...you know what I mean,” Jongdae winked. “I'm gonna fly to Guangzhou next week. Can't wait.”

“Guangzhou? Isn't that where—”

“Speak of the devil— Wu Yifan! Hey! You're fashionably late,” said Jongdae enthusiastically.

Junmyeon turned around in surprise and found the tallest man in the room walking in their direction. Yifan had the audacity to show up in a lazy hoodie and sweats but still made it look like he was wearing expensive designer clothes. Even back in uni, this man was known for his unforgettable duality. At times he looked homeless, but the next day he could be dressed as if he were ready to walk the runway. Tonight he had his limited edition sneakers on, obviously something that he got through his wealthy parents.

As if the way he walked was not mesmerizing enough, laxly he removed his sunglasses, and then broke into a grin — the iconic gummy smile that marked his transition from cold city guy to cutie pie.

Junmyeon’s heart skipped a beat. Now that he came to think of it, it had been 3 years since he last saw Yifan, and almost 4 years since he developed a crush on the Chinese man. Junmyeon had never thought of it as anything more than a crush, really. It lasted a few months and then his feelings faded and he got over Yifan. And after that, he grew to like another. Even dated someone else for almost 2 years, although that relationship eventually had to end too.

“H-hi,” Junmyeon squeaked. "It's great to see you again." He was unexpectedly nervous, but no less genuine.

"Hello," said Yifan merrily. "It's been a while, huh? It's really nice to see you guys again. How have y'all been?"

"Oh man, I've been busy, but it's all good," Junmyeon replied. "Jongdae on the other hand..."

"I know what you're trying to say," Jongdae whined. "Don't even say it. I just have a lot of luck when I ask out the people I like. What can I say..."

"Well, you've got to teach me your ways at some point because I can't relate," Yifan guffawed.

Jongdae huffed. "Your standards are way up there, Wu. That's why you've been single since the dawn of time."

Junmyeon almost spat out his drink. "That can't be possible. How the hell are you single?"

Yifan went red in the face and glowered at Junmyeon. "What's your excuse then?"

"How do you know I'm single?"

Yifan shrugged. "Just guessed. Should I be happy I'm right?"

"You can be happy for me when I find love again," said Junmyeon. Inwardly he was hating himself because everything that came out from his mouth sounded wrong ever since Yifan walked into the room and back into his life.

"Of course," replied Yifan lamely. "I'm sure you will. I hope you do. Soon."

"Yeah...thanks."

"No problem."

"You too, man, you too."

"Yup."

Awkwardness ensued in this prolonged moment of silence. Both of them were too focused on each other to take notice that Jongdae had already silently backed out of the dialogue, and had gone to get more drinks as well as chat with his other friends. Unbeknownst to both of them, perhaps Jongdae had meant to give the two of them some time to be with each other and no one else. Dae knew a thing or two about Yifan's feelings, after all, and now that Junmyeon was single again...Jongdae did not mind being a matchmaker of sorts.

"So! Uh, are you working or, um, studying now?" Junmyeon blurted after taking a deep breath. He thought deep breaths would help calm him down, but he was wrong. Yifan just always seemed to take his breath away.

"Oh, no, I just can't with books and essays anymore. That is not what I wanna do with my life. I'm kind of working for my parents right now — they run this jewelry business. And I'm actually trying to launch my own subsidiary jewelry line."

"Oh, that sounds pretty cool! I hope it all works out for you," he said, still breathless, still tense. "I'm still studying. My life is really just about books and essays. Got it from my parents too. Boring, I know."

"You're not boring," Yifan asserted.

"No?"

"No, I don't think you're boring. Don't worry," he added with a grin. "Hey, is that —" he pointed in the direction of the entrance. "That the deer boy you guys keep gossiping about? The one who's apparently dated the daughter of the richest man in town?"

Junmyeon whirled and saw that all eyes were on Luhan, the talk of the town. Rumor had it that he used to date this socialite who was famous for all the wrong reasons. But whenever Junmyeon looked at or thought about Luhan, it was not the dating scandal that came to mind but rather, his own history with that man. Just one look at him was enough to bring Junmyeon right back to one of his most embarrassing moments in history.

It was freshman year, and Junmyeon was unsurprisingly a stupid kid who made stupid decisions, such as stupidly developing a stupid crush on Luhan. An even stupider decision was actually confessing his stupid feelings — Junmyeon was disappointed but not surprised to get rejected. Still, that had impacts on his ego and self-esteem, and till this day really affected his willingness to make his romantic feelings known, even when the object of his affections was no longer Luhan. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Hey, are you alright?!" Yifan asked urgently once he noticed that Junmyeon's hand was trembling.

Junmyeon laughed uncomfortably. "Yeah, I'm fine," he lied with a squeaky voice. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Man, you're shaking," Yifan pointed out. Decisively he took the empty glass from Junmyeon's hand, really concerned that it would fall. It was not his intent for his palm to touch the back of Junmyeon's hand, but of course that was what happened. Junmyeon was freaking out altogether and felt like screaming, but instead just chuckled as he thought to himself that he had already looked stupid once in front of Luhan. This time, he could not look stupid again and he had to redeem himself. He had to look cool, cooler than his old self and cooler than Luhan.

"No I'm not," Junmyeon insisted, his lips as he looked up at Yifan.

"Yes you are." Yifan sounded completely serious, and had one eyebrow arched as he eyed the shorter boy skeptically. "Don't tell me you're already drunk."

Jun snorted. "Do I look drunk to you?"

"Nah, you look fine," Yifan replied, pun intended. "I'm gonna go get something to drink. You want anything?"

"Yo, don't leave me here on my own," Junmyeon gushed as if his nerves were on fire. He noticed that Luhan and some others were approaching their general direction and that was enough for him to panic.

Yifan folded his arms. "Are you gonna start breakdancing if left unsupervised?"

"You don't wanna know."

Pursing his lips, Yifan grabbed Junmyeon by the forearm and dragged him to the bar. Jun tried to protest, but his voice got drowned out by the music that was getting louder now. There were faces that Junmyeon could recognize, but their names just could not be recalled. He protested again when he realized that this was not at all going well for him, considering Luhan was also getting closer. Jun was not sure if Luhan actually saw him. Maybe the deer boy would not even recognize him. After all, nobody was surprised to recall that Luhan had never had a shortage of admirers, so probably in his eyes Junmyeon was never attractive enough to leave an impression.

At the bar, Junmyeon decided to have whatever Yifan was having, and regrettably his thoughts were more on Luhan now than on the taller boy. The more nervous he got, the more desperately he clung to the drink in his hand, unaware of how quickly he was downing all of it. The rushed alcohol intake was making his heart race, although it was not as if the two Chinese men in the room that he was most attracted to had not had the same effect on his poor heart. He could hardly stay sane, and the only thought he could focus on right now was the urgent need to prove to Luhan that the stupid, spluttering freshman who once confessed to him had already upgraded from him to the breathtakingly gorgeous Wu Yifan. Take that!

Once Junmyeon had made sure that the proximity between him and Luhan, despite everybody else in the vicinity, had made it impossible for Luhan to not acknowledge his presence, he decided to put his plan into action.

Just like he did with everybody else, Luhan gave Junmyeon a friendly smile from a distance and waved. Junmyeon did not wave back but he did return the smile. Actually, it was more like a smirk, and he was getting excited about what he was going to do.

"I've been meaning to tell you," he said, turning to Yifan who was evidently much more relaxed and actually enjoying the beverage. "The reason why I was surprised that you're single, just now, is because I just reckon you're too handsome to not be taken."

Junmyeon could not believe he just said that. Nor could Yifan, but he just raised his eyebrows.

"Really?" Yifan uttered, but not unappreciative of the compliment. "That came out of nowhere."

"It came from my honest opinion. Since I have exquisite taste in men," Junmyeon stated, suddenly confident. Was the alcohol to blame for that?

Yifan was surprised, but amused too, and frankly Junmyeon was getting him in the mood to be daring and to shoot quick remarks. "Bold of you to assert that. Got proof?"

"Well then, I hypothesize that I have exquisite taste in men," said Junmyeon playfully, placing his finished drink back onto the counter. "And I don't really feel like being wrong tonight. Although you'll probably disagree with me on whoever I deem attractive since, in Dae's own words, 'your standards are way up there, Wu'."

"Funny you should say that." Yifan could not help but laugh at the irony of the whole situation that only he knew. "If only you knew the reason behind it."

"All I know is that your standards weren't always that high, or high at all."

Yifan arched an eyebrow, although not at all offended. "Know a lot about me, don't you?"

"I know enough. Back in freshman year you were always hooking up with random coursemates, or whatever. I ain't judging; I just find it weird that you consistently opted for mediocrity, but now you're completely different? What’s changed?"

"Nothing's changed, Jun," he insisted solemnly. "My preferences haven't changed, nor has your obliviousness to all of it. You know nothing, Kim Junmyeon."

"I wish there were textbooks about you so I could learn all about you and what goes on in your mind. But it doesn't work that way, does it. So why don't you show me instead," Junmyeon suggested.

"But why do you want to know? Why do you care?"

"What, I'm not allowed to be curious about a hot guy?"

"You—"

"Especially since he's not taken," he winked. "And it seems the more I look at him, the more attractive he is." Junmyeon even leaned in, as if for emphasis and for a closer inspection of just how good-looking Yifan was.

"Why...are you looking at me like that..."

"Because," he answered cheekily, deliberately slowing down to prolong the suspense for Yifan. Now that the Korean man seemed to have the upper hand in their conversation, he believed he had found the perfect opportunity to lure Yifan into his trap. The timing was impeccable, especially since Luhan was still nearby and got quite an unhindered view of the interactions between Junmyeon and Yifan even though he was not close enough to hear their exchanges. "Your lips are looking so kissable right now." And then, after a chuckle, he added, "at least, I hypothesize."

"A-and what are you gonna do about that?"

"I'm gonna prove myself right, of course," Junmyeon announced. Instead of standing on his toes to try to align himself with Yifan's ridiculous height, with one hand he pulled the taller man all the way down to his level. Everything seemed to happen so quickly, and somehow Yifan himself was also surprised that with his one brain cell he was able to swiftly figure out what Junmyeon wanted to do. Yifan's reflexes were not slow — slow reflexes did not make him the skilled basketball player that he was. Junmyeon paused for a moment although their lips were inches apart, but even without that pause Yifan would know that he would have enough time to push the shorter boy away, if that was what he desired. But that was not what he desired. Distance between himself and Junmyeon was the last thing he wanted. And in that moment Yifan was not thinking of his past with Junmyeon and all the feelings that he had kept to himself. He was thinking of the present, right this instant, and how absolutely irresistible Junmyeon was, just like he had always been.

"Kiss me, you clueless fool," Yifan urged impatiently. Amused by his reactions to being teased, Junmyeon obliged and did what he had been meaning to do anyway. Not just to prove his theory to be true, of course, but to actually kiss Yifan. That had been his desire since freshman year, and he could not believe it took him 4 damn years to make it happen. But at least it was happening at all and Junmyeon had no complaints. And damn, he was so right. Yifan's lips were kissable and boy was a good kisser. They were more hooked on each other and on the elation of getting to share this lip-lock than the alcohol they could taste on each other's lips.

Ironically, given Junmyeon's original intention behind his efforts to set this up, the whole time that they kissed he was thinking about Yifan and Yifan only. Not some other boy he felt the need to impress as if to compensate for the embarrassment he had suffered when he got rejected all these years ago. Junmyeon actually did not even care if Luhan was still around to witness it all. The Korean boy was no longer concerned with trying to change other people's perceptions of him. He wanted the kiss because of Yifan, enjoyed the kiss because of Yifan, and only truly cared about Yifan. So when they pulled apart, Junmyeon instantly became sober and it was like a wake-up call that made him realize who was really worth it and who was not.

Flustered, Yifan continued to stare at Junmyeon. Many thoughts crossed his mind, but none he dared say to Junmyeon. Especially not how he wished that what happened just now could have and should have happened a long time ago. Too bad he was just always under the impression that Jun was way out of his league, so throughout their time at New Centenary Residence, he did not even try to make his feelings known to Junmyeon. That was why Yifan kept emphasizing that Junmyeon was ignorant of a lot of things. And as Yifan believed himself to also be mediocre, he just settled for mediocrity and the weak satisfaction derived from random flings here and there. But even after all these years his feelings for Jun had not faded. Even till now, he had not been in a proper relationship, because whenever a potential partner came along, the first thing he did was compare them to Jun. Then all that he could see in them was how they fell short of his standards, which as Jongdae described had only been sky high since he met Jun.

"Now I have all the proof I need," said Junmyeon mischievously under his breath. His beam had Yifan mesmerized and still unable to say a word.

"Ya! Junmyeon! Junmyeon-ah!" A powerful voice pierced through the loud music and demanded Junmyeon's attention. Once he turned around he saw two of his old friends, Minseok and Jongin. "We have to recreate the iconic Kim line selfie! Come on, they're all waiting by the booth."

"I'll be right back!" said Junmyeon hastily to Yifan, who had immediately raised the glass to his mouth in an attempt to cover up how flustered he was. He wished he could make Junmyeon stay, but the other Kim boys were adamant and had dragged him to the other side of the room.

A hour later, Junmyeon had still not returned, evidently busy catching up with a lot of other people. Yifan was also sufficiently occupied though, as he reunited with some of his old friends who had challenged him to do something involving shots. By the end of the night, he was quite tipsy, and he figured he had better go home before he either passed out or had to throw up. He knew it was a bad idea to drink like this, but damn, maybe he had not been in his right mind ever since Junmyeon kissed him.

Yifan found, the next morning when he woke up, that he had fallen asleep as soon as he got back to his condo, and still had his coat in hand the whole time. Feeling gross, groggily he went to the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. Patting his empty stomach, he grabbed some pills for his hangover and then put on some clean clothes. He was still not fully awake, and the only decision he had to make right now was if he ought to eat or to continue sleeping. However when he once again glanced at the coat on his bed, his eyes popped wide open.

That was not his coat.

It looked a few sizes smaller and definitely could not fit on someone of his stature. His jaw dropped and after a moment of shock, he grabbed it and checked the pockets and everywhere else, desperately hoping for some identification that could point him to its rightful owner, but nothing.

Gulping, he reached for his phone and clumsily gave Jongdae a call.

“Hey, Wu!” said Dae cheerfully. “You wanna come join me and Zitao for brunch?”

“Uh, sure,” Yifan answered blankly, and then tried to explain his recent discovery to Jongdae, who cackled.

Zitao’s voice could be heard in the background, saying something to Jongdae that sounded like, “I told you he doesn’t use his head…”

When Jongdae had finally recomposed himself, he replied, “I think I know who that coat belongs to. He’s also holding your coat hostage, so if you want it back, you’ll have to go begging.”

Yifan groaned and shut his eyes. “This is embarrassing. Whose is it?”

“Come to brunch with us,” said Dae blithely. “Then you’ll find out.”

Glumly but not reluctantly, Yifan showed up to brunch at Dae’s place, sat his down, and ate. Jongdae asked him stuff about Guangzhou, and he answered with enough enthusiasm. Zitao then talked about his ankle injury, and Yifan responded with sufficient sympathy. He looked so out of it the whole time though, and he felt bad about it too. But he was just so selfishly absorbed in his own thoughts about not just the mysterious owner of the coat but also the kiss that he had shared with Junmyeon last night. Absentmindedly, Yifan’s fingertips went to his lips, nudging and touching them tantalizingly but he barely looked aware of what he was doing as he just kept reliving the moment in his mind.

It was when Zitao clicked his fingers and waved in Yifan’s face that the tallest boy finally snapped to attention and uttered a gloomy apology. It was evident that Zitao was about to whine, but was stopped when the doorbell rang — and in walked Kim Junmyeon.

Yifan almost choked on his omelette.

When Yifan offered to do the dishes afterward, Junmyeon hardly had the intention to help out, but he joined the taller boy in the kitchen anyway, certainly with the mind to endlessly.

“Don’t say a word,” Yifan warned, able to tell from just one look at Junmyeon’s impish facial expression what the shorter boy was up to.

“You were really that drunk last night, huh,” Junmyeon commented mischievously.

Yifan sighed. “I swear you have a kink for making me flustered and awkward.”

“That’s not on me; you are just naturally like that.”

“No I am not.”

“Yes you definitely are. Effortlessly too. You ain’t even gotta try.”

Yifan merely pouted, but that made Junmyeon melt like the slab of butter on sizzling hot pancakes. Seeing as nobody else was in the kitchen, as Jongdae and Zitao could be heard bantering outside, Junmyeon made the decision to sneak his arms around Yifan’s waist.

Yifan froze and the fork slid out of his hands, causing a small splash but he did not even flinch. The water kept running and he was still wondering how he was supposed to respond. He was taken aback not just because of Junmyeon’s sudden affectionate gesture, but also because of the smile that Junmyeon wore on his face — puckish, yet so sweet and infectious. Yifan caught himself smiling like an idiot, unable to react otherwise.

“Ugh, you’re so cute when you smile like that,” Junmyeon cooed, unhanding Yifan momentarily just to reach up to pinch the Chinese man’s cheeks. “The cutest.”

“I’m not cute,” Yifan complained cutely, but not shying away from Junmyeon’s touch. “I’m supposed to be cool.”

“Hmm, I don’t think so.” Junmyeon shook his head and giggled. “Just cute.”

Yifan wished he could touch Junmyeon too, but his hands were still soaked in dish soap. So he merely snorted in disagreement and leaned even further into Junmyeon’s hand.

“Not to sound desperate, but I’m waiting for you to call me a clueless f