“I think,” Jae I said during lunch the next day. “That I-“

 

“Are in Love with a capital L, yes, we get it, so is half of everyone at this table,” Baekgyeol said, exasperated. “Can’t you guys talk about anything else?”

 

“Maybe we should talk about the donut theory of the universe,” Hwalchan suggested, only half paying attention to the conversation. He had one hand flipping the pages of his book, and the other holding onto Dongin.

 

“Good idea, I can always eat a donut,” Dongin agreed with his boyfriend.

 

Jae I pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, Baekgyeol, I was not talking about being in love.”

 

“Woah, a day without your rambling about Daun?” Baekgyeol asked sarcastically. “I’m all ears-“

 

“I will whoop your one of these days,” Uiyeon said, scooping another forkful of his chicken to pass to Haneul. “Here you go, best friend.”

 

“Try me, -“

 

“Jae I, ignore him,” Donghwi said, bored. “Let’s not waste another lunch period arguing.”

 

“Why not? Where’s the fun in that?” Dongin asked him. “God knows Baekgyeol needs a good roast now and then-“

 

“HEY!”

 

“ I think,” Jae I repeated again, making sure that the table could hear him. “That I am going to have a mid-life crisis this weekend and you guys are all invited.”

 

Haneul shook his head, still chewing on the piece of chicken that Uiyeon fed him. “Working.”

 

“God damn it, again?! ” Uiyeon yelled at him. “Working?! Can’t your parents let you do something else?”

 

“Make Hyogi do it for once in his life,” Dongin told him. “Come on, why do you have to sacrifice your high school years?”

 

“My parents think I don’t have a life,” Haneul said with a bored expression. This was a common topic of discussion in their friend group at least once a week and yet nothing ever changed. “So why sit around in my house when I could be doing something ‘productive’. You guys should know this by now.”

 

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Uiyeon muttered.

 

“We can still have an existential crisis at the ice cream parlour,” Donghwi suggested. “Over ice cream.”

 

“I’m broke , I can’t afford ice cream!” Baekgyeol yelled at him. 

 

“Gyeol, you do know the correct way is to say can you please buy me some?” Dongin scolded him.

 

“I’m not asking him to buy me ice cream, I’m not that heartless and rude!” Baekgyeol screamed. “Only to Jae I!”

 

“I’m being nice enough to invite you to my ongoing crisis,” Jae I reminded him. He crossed his arms across his chest, pouting. “You’re not invited anymore.”

 

“Good, cause I’m broke -“

 

“Can you guys not hang out there anymore, thanks,” Haneul said, interrupting them. He pushed away Uiyeon’s hand, who was still trying to feed him. “Uiyeon, I got my own food.”

 

Uiyeon poured as well. “But you’re my best friend.”

 

Dongin took a sip of his water with his free hand, rolling his eyes at the two who soon delved into their own little conversation. “Those two make me so mad,” he whispered to Donghwi.

 

Donghwi, who picked up a small piece of chicken, merely shrugged. “Like you and Hwalchan were any better,” he said, popping the chicken into his mouth. 

 

“Excuse me, who’s actually dating him, though?” Dongin reminded him. “Exactly, I’m not always stupid.”

 

Hwalchan, who had been seated on the other side of Dongin, closed his book when Jae I and Baekgyeol started screaming at each other again; he never got anything done during lunch. “I’m glad you asked me, though,” he whispered softly to Dongin, not wanting the others to hear. 

 

Dongin grinned. He knew Hwalchan didn’t like to be affectionate in public, so it must be a great deal if he was saying it during lunch. “Me too,” he said. “Speaking of which, Hwalchan, you’re good at math, who do you bet will ask the other out first. 

 

“Uiyeon,” Hwalchan said, leaning his head on Dongin’s shoulder. “From my past observations on Haneul, he buries everything and it’s highly unlikely he won’t do the same to Uiyeon, so if they were to date, Uiyeon would ask him.”

 

“I have no idea what you said but I agree,” Donghwi said. “But all I know is that those two are stupid.”

 

“Pfft, mood,” Dongin said. “But, I think everyone in this table is stupid, that’s what makes us such great guys.”

 

***

 

After school, Horyeong did the usual of waiting for Daun at his locker, but when he took out his phone to pass the time, he saw how the group chat was spammed with over fifty messages. 

 

What the hell are those two arguing about this time, Horyeong thought to himself as he opened the groupchat.

 

Everything is made of Chrome

 

I’m dating a different Woojin

Statistically speaking, the magnetic poles should be switching soon and the Earth will enter another ice age

 

I hate my real name

So we’re ed

 

I’m dating a different Woojin

In essence 

Yes 

 

Ice Cream 

What the hell are you guys up to right now 

 

“Hey, Horyeong, right?”

 

As soon as he heard his name, Horyeong looked up from his phone to see Dongin talking to him, his friend Donghwi right next to him, the two that invited him to play Nintendo switch yesterday.

 

“Yep, that’s me,” Horyeong agreed. “You metaphorically kicked my yesterday.”

 

“Oh, I kick everyone’s ,” Dongin explained. “Especially Baekgyeol’s, that loveable deserves it.”

 

“You let Hwalchan win, though,” Donghwi pointed out.

 

“Despite me being his boyfriend,” Dongin argues, “and as much as I would love to be able to lose on purpose, I don’t not let him win. He has mph and trajectories calculated and all that in his head.”

 

“ Someone sounds like a sore loser,” Horyeong said.

 

Donghwi rolled his eyes, smiling. “Yeah, he’s a sore loser when someone beats him-“

 

“I am not a sore loser!” Dongin interjected, causing his best friend to laugh. “What?! It’s true! ”

 

“No, you’re a sore loser,” Donghwi said again. “Sore, sore loser-“

 

“I am not ,” Dongin repeated. “I am really proud of my boyfriend beating my during Mario Kart and I don’t deserve to be made fun of for it.”

 

As the two continued to argue amongst themselves, Horyeong look at his screen again to see what response his friends from back in Seoul responded with. 

 

I’m dating a different Woojin 

Contemplating life 

 

I hate my real name 

Mood

 

“You’re glaring again.” Horyeong looked up and saw Donghwi staring at him, lifting up his backstrap up higher. “I’m telling you, this is a consistent thing with you.”

 

“Donghwi, this is how you make public enemies,” Dongin scolding him. “Wait until you’ve known them for a year until you point out their flaws.”

 

This Donghwi guy had an obsession with him glaring, Horyeong thought. “No, it’s fine,” he told them. “I’m texting my friends from back home and they’re idiots, so I’ll believe you this time.”

 

“So he isn’t completely blinded,” Donghwi said. “But if it bothers you, I’m sorry for attacking you about it. I just- I hate people glaring.”

 

“However, we are immune to our friends glaring at each other,” Dongin said, wrapping his arm around Donghwi. “Speaking of which, we’re heading over to the ice cream parlour after school, you should come hang. I’m pretty sure Jae I invited your brother too.”

 

“Daun’s pretty cool,” Donghwi mumbled. “I just feel bad for Haneul.”

 

“Haneul is… the guy who works there, right?” Horyeong asked, turning off his phone. The last thing he wanted to read was his two friends get into another existential crisis this week. “Doesn’t he have a younger brother-“

 

“Hyogi who is the literal devil,” Dongin finished for him. “Though I don’t blame him, it’s probably how their parents raised them.”

 

“At least their parents raised them, though,” Donghwi muttered under his breath.”

 

Dongin turned to look at him. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

 

“Hm? Nothing and we should probably head to the ice cream parlour,” Donghwi said quickly, getting out of Dongin’s grasp. “You, get your boyfriend,” he said at Dongin, and then to Horyeong “-and you, your brother, no doubt Jae I is hanging off of him and I’m buying Jae I his ice cream.”

 

“And what are you going to get?” Dongin asked him rhetorically.

 

Donghwi crossed his arm over his chest. “Whatever little bit of patience and dignity I have left,” he answered. “And I also need to give my history teacher my project, I forgot to hand it to him earlier.”

 

“Haha, good luck!” Dongin said. “You’re gonna need it.”

 

“Not funny.”

 

***

 

And so, this is how nine great guys found themselves at the ice cream parlour after school.

 

Daun and Horyeong day next to each other, despite each having been invited by different sets of people, as they were still not used to the closeness of the group.

 

“How was your intro to engineering class,” Horyeong asked him, taking another bite of his plain, normal chocolate ice cream. Damn everyone’s need to be unique. “The one with Jae I.”

 

Daun scooped up some more of his five-scoop sundae and gave him a glare. “Why are you so concerned with him, again?”

 

“I am not,” Horyeong reiterated. “I am trying to make conversation with you.”

 

“Mhm, okay,” Daun drawled our, scooping up some more ice cream, pointing it at Horyeong. “Then pick a different topic of conversation, if that’s all you’re interested in.”

 

Horyeong took out his phone with his free hand, opening the group chat with his friends again. They were on a different type of crack.

 

Everything is made of Chrome

 

I’m dating a different Woojin 

I’m not R E A D Y you nimwit 

I’m not ing anyone!

 

I hate my real name 

Lies 

You and your woojin gave each other a look!! 

 

Huh. That was odd. Seulchan didn’t trust men in the slightest and had a hard time opening up to people. There was no way he would have already slept with his boyfriend.

 

Plus, they were the type to tell each other everything, or in Horyeong’s case, almost everything; he hasn’t exactly been vocal with them about a lot of stuff since coming to Jeju.

 

He sent a quick reply to the chat. “Do you think I hide stuff?” he told his brother, changing the conversation like Daun asked. “Be honest.”

 

Daun raised an eye. “What brought you up to that?”

 

Ice Cream

Hold on, you’re dating Park Woojin right?

 

I’m dating a different Woojin

Read my ing username pal

 

Classic Seulchan. 

 

Daun leaned over to see Horyeong’s screen, where he could see the chat. “What did your friends say to you this time?”

 

Horyeong quickly turned off his phone again, setting it face down on the table as he took another bite of his ice cream. “Nothing.”

 

“O kay ,” Daun said, staring at his spoon. “But I do think you’re more reserved-”

 

“Do you think I glare too much?” Horyeong interrupted him. “Be honest.”

 

“Are you having a meltdown?” Daun said. “Tell me if you're having a meltdown like last year.”

 

“I’m not having a meltdown,” Horyeong told him. “I am merely panicking. There is a difference.”

 

“You’re melting like that ice cream cone in your hands,” Daun said, pointing at his cone. “Horyeong. Come on-”

 

“SO! DAUN!” Baekgyeol came and slapped the back of Jae I’s head, who was seated on the other side of Daun. “Scoot over, hoe, I want to sit with him.”

 

“You were perfectly fine with Dongin over there beating your in whatever game you were playing,” Jae I said. 

 

“He was not beating my !!” Baekgyeol yelled at him. “He’s a loser-”

 

“He’s a sore loser,” Donghwi, who was next to Horyeong, said. “But not a loser.”

 

“Out of all the games that you guys played, Dongin won around 90 percent of them,” Hwalchan added, not looking up from the book he was reading. “So I wouldn’t call him a loser.”

 

“You’re his boyfriend, ” Baekgyeol pointed out. “And you’re not even looking at the screen, how do you know which games he’s won or not?”

 

Hwalchan closed his book and made eye contact with Baekgyeol, titling his head. “It’s an approximation from everytime I heard you complain about him winning,” he explained. “And Dongin being my boyfriend doesn’t mean I’m going to go easy on him in a video game.”

 

“Oh, he exposed your lying !” Uiyeon yelled, having eavesdropped the end of the conversation. He had been busy with Jae I trying to make the biggest tower out of water bottles. “Hwalchan, continue roasting him!”

 

“If I weren’t broke, I would pay mad money for him to keep going,” Jae I agreed. “Hwalchan, how did you end up with some like Dongin?”

 

“Shut the up, you stupid crying hoe,” Dongin interrupted him. “And you should pay him! He’s smart and Baekgyeol deserves a good roast!” 

 

At that moment, Haneul appeared right next to the table, still in his work uniform. “Did I hear Baekgyeol getting roasted by Hwalchan?!” he exclaimed rapidly. “Someone pay Hwalchan to do it again!”

 

“Why do you guys keep mentioning paying?” Hwalchan said, puzzled. “I just told Baekgyeol the truth-”

 

“You- Hwalchan, I hate you,” Baekgyeol pouted, crossing his arms. 

 

“You guys are on crack,” Daun said under his breath. 

 

Jae I, though, heard it. “See, Baekgyeol, Daun thinks your stupid.”

 

“I- don’t put words in my mouth!” Daun yelled, whacking Jae I with his spoon. “You’re going to pay for that!"

 

During the middle of the whole commotion, Horyeong his phone again to see the group chat. Zeth had moved past the conversation of Seulchan ing and was now arguing of whether or not the Earth will be able to replenish its natural sources after the extinction of humanity.

 

“Are you okay?” Horyeong looked up to see Donghwi, who had been next to him, looking at him. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

 

Horyeong shrugged. “What- what do you mean?”

 

Donghwi sighed. “I heard your conversation with your brother and I heard your glaring comment,” he said. “I’m not stupid.”

 

“I- don’t worry about it,” Horyeong said. “I just hope it’s not a… defining characteristic or something.”

 

Donghwi shook his head, crossing his arms over the table. “No, it’s not,” he said. “You have other defining characteristics anyways. I just really hate people glaring.”

 

“Why, is there always someone glaring at you or something?” Horyeong asked him. “I didn’t take you to have a mortal sworn enemy or something of the sort.”

 

“I- pfft,” Donghwi said, rolling his eyes. “No, dude, it’s just my dad who glares all the time, I am a high school student, I don’t have time for ‘mortal sworn enemies’.”

 

Horyeong looked over at the table again, where Baekgyeol held up a full water bottle and was pointing it threatening at Hwalchan, with Dongin yelling at him to stop whining like a . “No, but it looks like your friends do.”

 

“Ah, yes, friends,” Donghwi muttered. “The price of having friends.”

 

AN//

Anyways, so all of my fics are up on this site now!! I finished transferring them, thankfully, and this chapter is the last thing that i had updated with at ao3. A new chapter should be next week! I hope you guys enjoy this fic