Hongjoong was back in his room, putting the ingredients used for the cookie club back away when he heard a knock on his dorm. 

 

“Oh my god,” he muttered, making his way to open the door. “YEOSANG I TOLD YOU TO STOP- oh.”

 

When he opened the door, there had been Seonghwa standing on the other side, dressed up in a black suit, his hair combed back, silver rings adorning his fingers. 

 

And, in his hand, a bouquet of tulips. 

 

Hongjoong felt his heart skipping a beat, holding a breath. Seonghwa… at his door… holding flowers?

 

“Did you want these?” Seonghwa said, extending them out to Hongjoong. “I got them at the office from some company that I closed a deal with-”

 

Hongjoong sighed, pushing the door fully open to let Seonghwa in. “I’ll get a cup,” he said, stepping back inside his room. “I’ll have to go to the store to get a vase.” 

 

Once Seonghwa stepped into the room, he shut the door behind him, standing next to the door. It wasn’t rare that he came to Hongjoong’s room in his full corporate attire, but he still felt out of place every time he did. 

 

He watched Hongjoong step on his chair to reach the assortment of cups and water bottles he kept on the high shelf of his desk, jumping off gracefully once he got the one he wanted.

 

“We should go this weekend,” Seonghwa blurted out. He noticed how Hongjoong stopped in his tracks, standing still with the cup in his hand. “You always need stuff for the cookie club, right?”

 

Hongjoong set the cup down on his desk, uncapping the hydro flask next to his laptop to pour it into the cup. He had only taken two sips out of it, too busy stressing over his homework to hydrate himself properly, so it should be fine for the flowers. “I don’t know what to make next week, I’m stuck.”

 

Seonghwa sat down on Hongjoong’s bed, setting the bouquet of flowers down beside him. “I’m sure there’s recipes online,” he said. “Are you in the mood for anything? Doesn’t have to be anything.”

 

A pair of scissors in his hand, Hongjoong grabbed the flowers and took off the plastic holding the stems together, dropping the flowers into the cup. “I mean… honestly I’ve been wanting coffee cake,” he said truthfully, pushing the cup of flowers farther back on the desk so that they wouldn’t fall. “But I haven’t had a chance to buy some.”

 

“Well… maybe you can try a coffee cake cookie recipe?” Seonghwa suggested. “The cookies you make don’t have to be basic cookies that exist, a part of it is also being innovative.”

 

Hongjoong thought of the cookie butter they used earlier, and how despite their doubts, the cookies ended up being delicious. And, well… coffee cake did sound good right now.

 

“I don’t know why I didn’t think of that…” Hongjoong glanced at Seonghwa, grinning when they made eye contact. “You’ll be a good businessman, you know that?”

 

Seonghwa could feel how hot his neck was all of a sudden. “... That’s the goal, I suppose,” he said, laughing nervously. Hongjoong wasn’t really the type to compliment him like that. “Figured some of my classes must be useful.” 

 

Hongjoong grabbed his phone off of the desk, scrolling on it. “I am running out of butter… I’ve never tried making coffee cake from scratch, though, much less in cookie form.”

 

“Eh, shouldn’t be that bad, I mean, cake and cookies are both derivative of pastries-”

 

“OH I FOUND A RECIPE!” Hongjoong sat down next to Seonghwa on the bed, crossing his legs as he read his phone. “I have all of these ingredients, I think? Oh no wait, I need cake flour-”

 

“Field trip?” Seonghwa suggested. “I can take you right now, I have nothing else to do.”

 

Hongjoong stared at the clothes he was wearing - he hadn’t changed out of his outfit yet from the meeting earlier, so he was still wearing his dirty shirt and jeans. However, compared between the two of them, Seonghwa was more likely to stand out anyways with his business suit. 

 

“You’re going like that?” he asked him. 

 

Seonghwa shrugged. “You know I’ve done worse.”

 

***

 

“Damn, these noodles hit the spot,” Yoongi boasted loudly before taking another slurp of his noodles. 

 

He had taken Hoseok out to a restaurant off campus after the whole stalking situation. (No, it was NOT stalking, they were just… gathering information. Yoongi will die on this hill.)

 

Hoseok hasn’t said one word about the incident back there, and as much as Yoongi wanted to pry him, he wasn’t really the prying type; he trusted that Hoseok would always tell him what he wanted to say. So, attention on the noodles in front of him it is. 

 

“They’re pretty good,” Hoseok mumbled. 

 

Yoongi looked up from his bowl, watching Hoseok in front of him. He was resting his chin on his hand propped up, his other hand slowly stirring the bowl, which was still half-full. 

 

Well, . There went to no prying. “I thought you were starving?”

 

Hoseok sighed, pushing his bowl to the side so that he could cross his arms on the table. “I guess I wasn’t.”

 

Yoongi took another bite of his noodles, staring at Hoseok. He didn’t open his mouth again until he swallowed. “Want either of us to talk or just be here?”

 

“No, don’t- I just have a lot on my mind,” Hoseok muttered, grabbing a spoonful of the noodles. “I’ll be fine.”

 

Yeah, but Yoongi wouldn’t. He didn’t voice this concern, though. “Don’t overthink,” Yoongi reminded him. “Don’t doubt yourself too much. Just do it and then worry about the aftermath.”

 

“But the aftermath is what I’m afraid of,” Hoseok said. “I- I don’t know how it’s going to play out, I’m stuck…”

 

“You’ll be fine, Hoseok,” Yoongi said, partially to Hoseok, partially to himself. “I believe in you.”

 

***

 

Next week, when they had their next meeting, everyone showed up earlier than the start time- well, everyone except Hyunggu.

 

They had ten minutes though before the meeting started, so while Hongjoong and San were laying out the ingredients, everyone else was talking. 

 

“This week is going to kick my ,” Junhoe complained, groaning as he stretched his back. “I got so much to do.”

 

“Tell me about it,” Yuto muttered. “The Japan club has a lot of stuff going on-”

 

“Ah, , that festival is coming up, isn’t it?” Yuta glanced at Si Cheng next to him. “Do you want to go? There’ll be free food-”

 

“, can I go?!” Yoongi exclaimed. “I don’t feel like cooking this week-”

 

“I know this is a cookie club, but we should have some more food,” Bobby suggested. “There’s gotta be something we can eat with those cookies-”

 

At that moment, Hyunggu burst through the door, out of breath as he slammed his back against it to close, clutching tattered papers in his hands. 

 

The room had gone quiet, everyone watching him silently. He had a cut on his bottom lip, and his jacket was almost torn off of him. 

 

“I’m- I’m sorry,” he said between breaths, rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand which they could now see had a small bruise forming on the left side. “I didn’t mean to be late-”

 

“Holy are you okay?” Hongjoong asked, grabbing the papers from Hyunggu and setting it down on the desk. “Here, let me get a good look of you-”

 

“Did you fall?” Hoseok asked, standing up from his chair. “Does he have a concussion-”

 

“That wasn’t a fall,” Hanbin muttered under his breath.

 

Si Cheng frowned. “A what? What do you think it was-"

 

Yuto jumped out of his seat, the room turning quiet again as he walked up to Hyunggu, grabbing his wrist. 

 

Hyunggu winced, and Yuto immediately let go, instead choosing to hold Hyunggu’s chin towards his right, but once again, Hyunggu squeezed his eyes shut in pain. 

 

“Concealer.” He muttered. “Who hit you?”

 

“I- I-”

 

“Don’t interrogate him, he’s hurt!!” Hongjoong yelled at him, lifting his arm up to attempt to push him away, only for Yuto to catch it and push him back instead. 

 

Yuto turned to face the room, making eye contact with Yuta, who nodded. 

 

“We’re beating this up,” he said, getting out of his chair, ignoring Si Cheng beside him screaming we?!

 

Yoongi laughed, getting up from his chair. “Ah, these kids are stupid,” he said, rolling up his sleeves. 

 

“No, no- Yoongi NO-” Hoseok grabbed Yoongi’s shirt sleeve to pull him back but failed, grabbing both their bags. “YOONGI-”

 

“Ay, I’ll show you that uppercut move that I told you about,” Hanbin said to Bobby. “My illegal high school years will come in handy-”

 

“WE ARE NOT FIGHTING ANYBODY!!” Hongjoong gestured at San, who was watching the whole commotion silently. “San, DO SOMETHING!!”

 

San lifted his hands up in confusion. “I- uh… call Seonghwa?”

 

“WE ARE NOT CALLING SEONGHWA-”

 

“Ah , I got a business lunch in the morning,” Junhoe said to himself. “Eh, I won’t get hit.”

 

“If we’re fighting these people, it has to be somewhere without cameras,” Wooyoung said. “Or we will get expelled.”

 

***

 

Cookie Club

 

San

[video attached]

[video attached]

[video attached]

[video attached]

[video attached]

 

Hanbin

Damn I look fine af

 

Hoseok

Why would you record this

 

Yuta

Fight wasn’t even that bad

Expected them to hit me once but nah

 

Si Cheng 

Now why would you wish that upon yourself

 

Kino

You guys didn’t have to fight for me

 

Yuto 

I’ll do it again next time I see them

 

Junhoe

I’m surprised Wooyoung knew how to fight

 

Yoongi

Everyone should know how to fight

My bad self defense

 

Bobby

You guys are stupid

Since the cookie club turned into fight club today

What cookies are we making next meeting

 

***

 

Wooyoung was back at the cafe for his night shift, cleaning some glasses while Hyojong went on a break. 

 

There were a couple of students in the back working on some project, but other than that there were no customers waiting in line, so he soon delved off into his own little world mentally. 

 

He thought about the fight earlier. Many have stormed out, ready to hit whoever hurt Hyunggu, so the rest of the cookie club had no choice but to follow them to make sure their asses didn’t get caught for doing something stupid, which luckily, they weren’t. 

 

They figured out very quickly where the other bullies were at; from the information they forced out of Kino, Hanbin knew one of the bullies and that he lived in a frat house near campus, which is where they found him and the others before beating their . 

 

Wooyoung wasn’t one to normally engage in violence, but he recognized one of those bullies as the his freshman year who always purposely made Wooyoung trip in his literature class, so he couldn’t himself from throwing a punch or two. Or ten. 

 

He couldn’t afford to get kicked off of campus though, but considering he wore his face mask which he put on right before they entered the house, he knew they wouldn’t recognize him, so he’s safe. 

 

“Hi, Wooyoung.” 

 

Startled at the mention of his name, Wooyoung looked up and saw San, one of the group leaders, in front of the counter, waving at him.

 

Wooyoung finished drying the glass in his hand before setting it down on the drying rack, walking up to the register. “Oh hey… oh, , what can I get for you today?” 

 

San grinned, placing his elbows on the counter so that he could lean forward. “My… usual…- wait, does that bother you when customers ask you that-”

 

Wooyoung shook his head, ringing up San’s order from memory. The latter was always here every time he worked, sometimes showing up twice, so there was no surprise there. “Only if I’ve never seen that person in my life. But this place is usually filled with college students, so I don’t really get those comments.” 

 

San nodded, taking out his debit card out of his pocket and sliding it across the counter for Wooyoung, who hadn’t even said his total as he was still typing in the order. “Ah, I get it. I know some customers are condescending, so I always try to cause no issue.”

 

He watched Wooyoung softly hum to himself, swiping the card for San once the order went through. “I wouldn’t worry too much. Just don’t be rude and they’ll thank you.”

 

Sliding the card back to San, Wooyoung grabbed a glass and start making San’s drink, remaining quiet as San continued to talk for them. 

 

“I don’t think I’m rude, but sometimes Hongjoong has me wondering…” San eyed the glass display where all the different treats were on display, including the cookies. One of them was toffee caramel crunch which sounded interesting; maybe they could try it for a next meeting or so. “He’s a little grouchy, in case you haven’t noticed. But he never means any harm, at least I think he doesn’t. Sometimes he gets mad at me but I always try to wonder what I did wrong, like-”

 

During the midst of his rambling, San didn’t even notice Wooyoung setting down his now-finished mocha. Yet Wooyoung made no move to interrupt, holding himself up on his counter as he paid attention to San.

 

It wasn’t for another minute when San finally realized his drink was in front of him, grabbing it in haste. “Ah, oh my god I didn’t even notice you finished it, I’m so sorry, I’m keeping you from working-”

 

Wooyoung shook his head, gesturing to the cafe around him. “Nah. We’re dead right now. I would just…” he pointed at the coffee in San’s hands. “Don’t let it get cold.” 

 

San took a sip of his drink, smiling once the sweet liquid went down his throat. “Ah. Thank you for the coffee, Wooyoung. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

 

***

 

No cookies today. Sigh. 

 

Junhoe found himself walking to insomnia cookie past midnight, desperate for his craving fix. He was getting spoiled by the club, he just knew. 

 

He ordered his usual, leaving the store with a box of a dozen caramel apple as he found a bench outside to sit. 

 

Even though it was midnight, there were still a couple of students roaming around the campus, some heading back from studying, others from partying, or those who are just awake at these odd hours. 

 

He found his usual spot where he sat at, and once again, recognized the student sitting there as well. 

 

Junhoe opened the box in his hand and held it out, waiting for the latter to notice. 

 

Jinhwan, who had been listening to music while being on his phone, looked up to see Junhoe and grinned. “Are we both insomniacs?”

 

“Good thing there’s a cookie place for that.” Junhoe motioned for Jinhwan to grab one. “Cookie club plans had a different course of action today, so Insomnia cookies will have to do.”

 

“You don’t have to feed me you know,” Jinhwan said, yet he grabbed two of the cookies in the box, munching on one of them. 

 

Junhoe sat down next to him, grabbing a cookie for himself before placing the box between them. “I mean, I ing love cookies myself but unfortunately I can’t eat a whole dozen by myself.” 

 

Jinhwan shrugged. “You wouldn’t know unless you try,” he said, a hint of teasing in his voice.

 

“I have tried, matter of fact. And- well, I have done it, just not proud of the times I’ve done it,” Junhoe trailed off, muttering the last part to himself. 

 

“Oh, a lot of us aren’t proud of things we’ve done,” Jinhwan said. He shoved his phone and earbuds into his pocket before crossing his legs on the bench, facing Junhoe. “This is college, you know. Prime time for mistakes.”

 

Junhoe shook his head. “No, I… I’ve done worse.”

 

Jinhwan eyed the cookies in front of him, contemplating whether he should grab another one. He hadn’t had dinner, but were cookies a good idea?

 

Eh, it. He grabbed two more. “Do you want to talk about it?”

 

Junhoe sighed, crossing his legs on the bench as well, matching Jinhwan’s position. “I’m supposed to take over my father’s company,” he muttered. “And I just… I’m not good at it.” 

 

“Is… is this something you’re passionately pursuing?” Jinhwan asked. His parents owning a company cemented the fact that Junhoe was a chaebol in Jinhwan’s eyes, but yet the latter had never been rude to him once during their meetings, so… it was unexpected, to say the least.

 

“Not really?” Junhoe explained. “Honestly, I don’t really care, it’s ing stupid. But it because like- I don’t know, you have to spend a lot of energy to be good at something and I’d rather spend my time doing other stuff, but I feel like I’m making a mistake.” 

 

Jinhwan brought his knees to his chest, hugging himself tightly. “Sometimes mistakes just have to be made.”