“God he’s terrible. I don't know him too well, but his reputation still precedes him.”

“No, he’s not that bad. Yeah he goes through relationships fast, but he’s a genuinely good person overall.”

“Would you even call them ‘relationships’ anymore?”

“He only started doing that recently, come on. Give a boy a chance.”

“Fine, so he started being a ‘ boi’ this year, but I hear he was a bully in middle school though. Now is that true?”

“Are you all just going to gossip about him right in front of me?” Jongwoon frowns, turning a page to his textbook grumpily.

“We’re concerned for you, Jongwoon. As your friends, we don’t want you to get hurt.” Ryeowook says lightly, reaching over to give his friend a light pat on the back. 

“Well, I was actually friends with him in middle school. Yes, he had one bullying incident in 6th grade, but that was it! Don’t judge him so harshly,” Donghae sighs, reaching over to give the raven a light pat on the head as well in reassurance. 

Jongwoon shakes the touchy hands off of him however as his frown deepened.
It has been a few days since his little coffee outing with Kyuhyun, and they’ve kept in contact through text mostly. They’d usually talk about their homework, or ask about each other’s day with some undeniable flirting here and there, but so far, there has been no red flags or warning signs of Kyuhyun being a bad person.
“You both called me out today ‘cuz you said it was a nice day, so I thought we were going to study, not gossip. I guess studying was just a red herring.”

“But we are studying!” Ryeowook huffs, gesturing at the textbooks spread out before them on the grass where they were attempting to study. 

“Okay, then tell me what the answer is to question 13 then?” the raven challenges, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.

“Oh , you’re on 13 already? I’m still stuck on 3!” Ryeowook exclaims in a panic, flipping through the pages of his textbook aggressively. 

“Wait Donghae, you said you were friends with Kyuhyun in middle school. Didn’t we go to the same school though?” Jongwoon says, seizing the opportunity of Ryeowook being distracted to continue the conversation without Ryeowook’s criticisms.

Donghae glances up from his book and gives the other a weird look.
“Jongwoon, we all went to the same middle school, Kyuhyun included.” 

The raven blinks once in confusion, having had no recollection of ever meeting the other.
“Wait, we all went to the same middle school?! Since when?”

The other couldn’t help but to laugh at the raven’s reaction and obliviousness.
“Yeah, don’t you remember that time when you—” 

“—Jongwoon?” A voice interrupts, bringing all of their attention away from their current conversation. 

Jongwoon turns around in surprise at the sound of his name, before his whole face suddenly lit up in glee.
“Oh my gosh! You’re here!” the raven says in excitement as he scrambled to get up onto his feet, running over towards the newcomer and jumping into their awaiting arms.

“Of course I’m here Jongwoon, I promised I would be.” the other laughed, embracing the smaller tightly and lifting him up. “I’m a week late ‘cuz the scholarship took awhile to process, but I made it!”

The stranger was tall and very well-built, his dark hair neatly slicked back, framing a handsome face— one that could even rival a model. Oddly enough, Donghae and Ryeowook found him very familiar, but they couldn’t quite place where they’ve seen him before.

Donghae and Ryeowook glanced at each other in confusion, hoping the other would have the answer to who this dashing newcomer may be, and why Jongwoon was so freely intimate with him, but they both simply shrugged in unison. Guess neither of them knew who the stranger was, save for Jongwoon. 

“Oh I’ve missed you so much!” the raven giggles, pulling away as the other finally set him back down. “Donghae, Ryeowook, this is Choi Siwon! We were friends in middle school, but he’s been studying in America for the past year and a half!”

“Oh!” Ryeowook exclaims, eyes widening in realization. “Choi Siwon! We went to the same middle school, but you left halfway through 7th grade to go to America! I hear you’re pursuing acting now, is that true?”

“Wow, looks like someone has been talking about me alot,” Siwon chuckled, ruffling Jongwoon’s hair affectionately. “Yes, it’s true. I came back to Korea because I got offered a scholarship from this school’s drama department, and I heard they’ve got a lot of connections to some major Entertainment companies, so I’ll be finishing my education here in Korea instead.”

“Hmm….Siwon,” Donghae murmurs in the background, scratching his chin lightly in thought. “You're Choi Siwon….? I remember you being much scrawnier in middle school. Puberty must’ve hit you hard in the states.” he says, directing his attention back to the other. 

Ryeowook elbows Donghae roughly in the ribs, giving him a ‘don’t-be-rude’ look.

Siwon laughs awkwardly at the other’s musing, rubbing the back of his neck in slight embarrassment. “Scrawny? Yeah I guess you could describe me as that back then. I wasn’t the most popular kid back then. But hey, that’s how I met Jongwoon, so I guess being the scrawny, unpopular kid wasn’t that bad.” he says with a grin. 

“Well, look at the time!” Ryeowook says suddenly, bringing his wrist up as if to check his watch for the time, only to realize that he wasn’t even wearing one. “Uh, I gotta go do some….grocery shopping! Yeah, I need some groceries for my fridge, so I can cook dinner tonight.”

Donghae gives the other an odd look, finding the subject change suspicious.
“Ryeowook, it’s only noon right now, and you were the one who wanted to study. You’ve got plenty of time to go grocery shopping later before dinner.”

“Shush!” the smaller hushes as he quickly packed up their books, keeping his voice quiet so that only Donghae could hear him. “Let them catch up! Siwon is much better than Jongwoon’s alternative!”

“Hey! As I said, Kyuhyun is not that bad!” the other whispers back in defense for the young man, but Ryeowook didn’t seem to be paying attention to him, or really even care to.

Jongwoon frowned a little, watching as the two started packing everything together quickly after whispering something to one another.
“Donghae, you’re leaving too?”

“Uhhh…...yeah I-I’ve got um—” 

“—he knows the recipe for the dish I want tonight, so he’s helping with shopping for ingredients!” Ryeowook interjects quickly for Donghae, grabbing the other boy's arm and tugging on it eagerly. 

“Okay, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow in class—”

“—bye!” the two friends said in unison before hustling off, leaving Jongwoon and Siwon behind in confusion. 

“Well,” Siwon starts, turning his attention back to the baffled raven. “Seems like you’re free for the rest of the day then?”

“Seems like,” Jongwoon laughs lightly. “What would you like to do today, Choi Siwon? A tour of the campus mayhaps?”

Siwon smiles fondly down at him as he reaches up with one hand, gently caressing the smaller’s cheek. He was genuinely happy to see the other’s kind and beautiful face again, missing his best friend from middle school.
“I’ve missed you, I really have.” he whispers quietly. 

The raven reaches up and gently wraps his arms around the taller’s neck, pulling him into a hug.
“I’ve missed you too, Siwon. I’m glad you’re back,”

The taller tightens his hold around Jongwoon as he pressed his face into the raven’s shoulders, taking in the comfortingly familiar scent and relishing in the warmth and nostalgia of it all. 
“I’d love for us to grab dinner tonight together.”

“Who’s that?”

Changmin turns to look at his friend with a confused look, finding the question too vague.
“Who’s who?”

Kyuhyun gestures with a jerk of his chin to someone across the street from them, brows furrowing together curiously as he leaned back against a light pole, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Him, in front of the restaurant.”

Changmin and Kyuhyun had gone out to the convenience store to grab some drinks and snacks before returning to their intense gaming session. It was meant to be a quick trip, to and from the store, but a peculiar young man caught Kyuhyun’s attention.

Changmin takes out a banana milk from the bag, glancing back up at the man across the street as he stuck a straw into the drink.
“The tall guy with dark hair?”

“Yeah,” the other confirms, still staring intently at the other. “He seems familiar.”

“Choi Siwon, he transferred in today from the US.” Changmin answered shortly, taking a small sip from the banana milk in hand. “He’s in the drama department like me, and I hear he has played a few supporting roles in Hollywood before. Popular with the girls here already too....” he responds, but pauses when he notices someone familiar walking up to the young man they were talking about. “.....and popular with Jongwoon too,” he adds, watching as the raven haired boy skips up to the other happily. 

Changmin takes another sip from his drink as he spared a glance at his friend to gage his reaction, looking away quickly when he saw the noticeable scowl stretched across Kyuhyun’s face.
“I’m guessing gaming will have to wait for another day, and you wanna eat out for dinner now?” he says, watching as Jongwoon and Siwon entered the restaurant together. 

“Yes,” Kyuhyun answered bluntly, his eyes still glued to the two as he straightened back up again and crossed the street, followed closely by his friend.
Is this jealousy he is feeling? Or just curiosity? Whatever it is though, it’s making Kyuhyun uncomfortable. 

“Only if you pay,” Changmin replied cheekily as he followed his friend into the restaurant.

Kyuhyun sends the oher a look of judgement. “Changmin, you’re as well off as I am.”

The taller simply shrugs.
“Nothing beats free still,” he laughs, watching as the other shook his head. “So, what’s your plan now?” he questions, lowering his voice a little as he watched the other two interact, waiting to be seated. 

“To be honest, I don’t know. I came in here without a plan. Should I just watch them from across the restaurant? But then that might be creepy, especially if he sees us. What if I—”

“—Kyuhyun?” a voice interrupts, drawing the two friends attention away from their current predicament. 

“Uh, hi Jongwoon.” Kyuhyun responds awkwardly, turning to face the other who was now looking at him questioningly, embarrassed that he was probably caught stalking the other.

The raven smiles though, stepping towards him happily. “Grabbing dinner here with a friend too? I hear this restaurant has really good jajangmyeon.”

Kyuhyun blinks once in surprise. Yes! The other was unaware he was attempting to crash his date stalk him!

“Y-yeah! Changmin actually recommended me to come here!” he says quickly with a grin, elbowing his friend sharply when Changmin mutters out a confused ‘Did I?’. 

“Oh! I’m Kim Jongwoon by the way,” the raven says as he put his hand out to greet Changmin formally. “I remember seeing you at the cafe last week when I uh…..had that unfortunate accident with Kyuhyun here.”

“Max Changmin,” the taller greets, taking the smaller’s hand. “I’ve heard many things about you.” he says, giving Kyuhyun a cheeky grin.

“It’s nice to formally meet you, Changmin,” the smaller says, either not hearing what Changmin added or choosing to ignore it, before gesturing at the young man beside him who was watching their interaction quietly. “This is Choi Siwon by the way! A close friend of mine from when we were younger.”

“Nice to meet you,” Siwon says with a dashing smile, reaching forward to shake Changmin’s hand before moving onto Kyuhyun, his smile suddenly dropping with an unreadable look in his eyes.

“A friend, huh?” Kyuhyun says, taking the other’s hand as he stared at him intensely. 

“Kyuhyun, right? You don’t happen to be that Cho Kyuhyun, are you? The heir of Cho Industries?” Siwon says, matching the other’s unwavering stare. 

Kyuhyun didn’t like the way Siwon was suddenly looking at him, his gaze full of hidden disdain and disgust as Siwon’s grip tighten