“Friday, 7 o'clock,” Jisung said panting.

“Huh?”

Felix wiped the sweat off his forehead before it had a chance to reach his eyes. He had no idea what Jisung was talking about. The dance class was brutal. It was only the second week and they were knee-deep in the most complicated choreography he had ever witnessed.

He had always been a decent dancer. Born with a sense of rhythm, he easily copied the moves of famous singers in music videos when he was little. With his parents patiently watching his impromptu dance performances as he blocked the TV. The memories brought a smile to his face.

And look at him now, on his way to becoming a professional performer, he thought proudly. Only the smile quickly turned upside down as the tears came a-knocking. His mom had video-called him yesterday and he had bawled his eyes out the entire time. She nearly hopped on the next plane to come get him and bring him home.

“Are you okay?”

Jisung broke formation and tapped his shoulder.

“Heh, yeah. The sweat got into my eyes. It stings,” Felix said, quickly wiping the tears away. He had to be strong.

“You in the back, pay attention! Because of you, everyone has to do five more rounds. From the top!”

The professor resembled a drill sergeant more than a dance teacher. Everyone sent them an annoyed look and as a wave of sighs and grunts circled the room, the sergeant yelled “Six more rounds!”

“So what was that about Friday?” Felix asked, pulling out his clothes from the locker.

He was kind of hoping Jisung would invite him to do something non-school-related. He had barely done anything but sleep and go to school since he got here. Jisung was still his only friend in Korea. Making new friends was harder than it sounded, and he didn't quite dare to venture out on his own.

“Oh right, the meeting - 7 o'clock at the bar across the main gate.”

Jisung sent him an excited grin as he dried his hair energetically with his towel.

Before Felix had a chance to react to that disquieting piece of news, the guy two lockers over interrupted them, “Your head is going to fall off if you rub that hard. But maybe that's for the best, then you won't have to see your ugly mug in the mirror anymore.”

The guy sniggered.

Jisung actively ignored him and under his breath, he mumbled, “Ugh, I hate that guy,” in a voice low enough for only Felix to hear.

Still stuck on the fact that Jisung had actually gone ahead and set up the meeting without even checking if he was free on Friday, Felix barely heard him. When Jisung hadn't mentioned it again, he had assumed he had forgotten about the whole thing.

With only one arm in his shirt, Felix stood there, frozen. What was he going to do? How was he going to get out of it?

“Ehm... you know, eh... I...” he started hesitantly in a quiet voice.

Jisung looked at him like a puppy hoping for a walk in the park. He couldn't say no. But if he didn't say no, he would be giving some girl, who he had no interest in, hope. He wanted to be a good guy. Nobody was perfect, but at least he didn't want to hurt anyone on purpose.

Before he could find the right words, Jisung threw the rest of his stuff in his bag and waved, “I've got to run, see ya Friday!”

“Wai...”

Felix stretched out his hand but Jisung was long gone.

The rude guy scoffed at him as he passed him by on the way out. Only then did he realize it was the ace of their dance class. Ah, that explained the attitude. He could afford it and so much more. The teacher had made them study his every move in detail as if his movements were a work of art. And they were. That guy was the Einstein of dance. Perfect precision, every movement calculated to the hundredth decimal place. And yet he moved so effortlessly, like an angel.

Lee Minho. Yeah, that was his name. Felix had purposely memorized it. A few years in the future he would be telling people that he had actually gone to the same school as the great Minho. Heck, that he had talked to him! Or, Minho had talked at Jisung and he witnessed it. Technically that could be construed as sharing a conversation, right?

After racking his brain for what to do all the way to the dorm, Felix realized he could just send Jisung a message.

[Felix] Hey :)

[Felix] About the meeting...

[Jisung] Na-ah, not a chance! No backsies!

The message startled Felix. He didn't think Jisung would reply right away when he left in such a hurry. He thought he would have time to construct a foolproof argument before Jisung had the chance to object.

[Felix] Oh! How did you know I was going to bail?

[Jisung] You chicken, you! I knew you would chicken out hehe

[Felix] >.<

[Jisung] Don't worry. Jihyo said Nayeon was going to bring a friend of hers.

[Jisung] So Jihyo's going to invite another guy, so the numbers will match up.

[Jisung] The plan is to have a simple drink together. No assigned partners. No pressure.

[Felix] But...

[Jisung] Come ooon, please :)

[Jisung] For me ^.^

[Jisung] I don't even remember the last time I went on a date...

[Felix] Hey, that's not fair...

[Jisung] All is fair in love and war :D

Jisung was flat-out asking him for a favor. After all he had done for him, he couldn't say no. And if more people were coming, it wouldn't be such an obvious set-up. No assigned partners meant no hurt feelings. He was going to view it as an opportunity to meet some new people and make some new friends, hopefully.

[Felix] Okay! Fine! I'll go...

[Jisung] Yay, thank you~~ ♥

[Jisung] See ya Friday hihi (＾◡＾)

No matter how hard Felix begged the time to go slower, Friday still showed up. Right on time. He ran to the dorm straight after class to change and realized he had no cool clothes. Worse yet, he had no clean clothes. He threw the last clean shirt on and matched it with his favorite jeans, they went with everything.

He caught a glance of himself in the mirror and instantly got the urge to bail. This was his first date ever and it was nothing like he had imagined. For one thing, it was with a girl. Or technically two guys and three girls. But more than that, he looked like a total loser.

Every time he imagined his first date in his head, he was at his best. He was all cleaned up, wearing fancy designer clothes, being all handsome. And he was holding a bouquet of flowers he was going to give the guy he was madly in love with as they walked together into the sunset, hand in hand. It was so romantic, his heart could barely handle imagining it.

Life wasn't a romantic comedy, he knew that. But it didn't stop him from hoping it could be. Once again, his expectations were too high. He tended to put too much pressure on himself in situations that seemed within his control. Of course, he was never really in control, life always had other plans. But even so, wasn't it the bare minimum to have your first date with a person you had a crush on? Or at least liked?

Then this wasn't a date, not really. He decided to label it 'a friendly gettogether' instead. He was doing this for Jisung. He would still be a first-date after tonight. This was no big deal, he told himself.

Eight minutes to seven.

Felix was the first one there. The bar was on the second floor, but he didn't dare go up all by himself. He had never been to a Korean bar before, he had no idea what to expect. Jisung sent him a message saying he was on his way. His heart pounded on his ribcage, trying to escape. It made him dizzy so he leaned on the wall next to the door.

It was silly how nervous he was. This was not the first time he had gone out for drinks with friends. Back home it was a standard activity on a Friday night. If you weren't at the pub, you were at home, sick. Those were the only two options. He had never given any thought to whether he liked it or not. It was just something you did, so he did it too. Maybe this was what they called culture shock. Not just discovering the strange customs other cultures had, but discovering your own by not doing them anymore.

But here he was a foreigner. He had no confidence in his Korean skills when everyone was talking at the same time with music playing in the background. What if he looked like a total idiot? What if he couldn't understand anything?

His mouth was dry. Without success, he tried to swallow the giant lump lodged in his throat.

Jisung waved as he rushed over to him, grinning from ear to ear. His savior. He was always so bright. His brightness was infectious, scaring any shadows and ghosts back into the corners and cupboards from where they had come. Felix felt endlessly lucky to have met him. His light was so bright, it had started shining through the lining of his heart's closet, inside which he had hidden for so many years.

“Dude, you're shaking. You're too cute. Nayeon really did a number on ya, huh.” Jisung patted him encouragingly on the shoulder. “Jihyo said she'd arrive before me but... Oh, wait, there she... NO WAY!”

Jisung turned to stone, staring incredulously down the street. Felix followed his gaze. A bright and cheerful girl was skipping along the sidewalk. She kind of reminded him of Jisung, the female version. Wondering why Jisung was so shocked, he suddenly spotted a familiar guy on Jihyo's tail.

Lee Minho.

The only person in the universe Jisung disliked. It was funny because Jisung seemed to know every single student on campus and got along with all of them. All of them except Minho. Apparently, everyone had their own version of kryptonite, in one form or another.

Jisung grabbed Jihyo and dragged her aside.

“Why did you have to invite him?!” Jisung asked pointedly, sounding uncharacteristically annoyed.

What he didn't realize was that Felix and Minho could hear every word he was saying. They exchanged extremely uncomfortable glances. Felix considered telling Jisung about it, but that would just make it even more awkward.

“I just asked the guys if anyone wanted to tag along and Minho volunteered.”

Jihyo shrugged like it was out of her hands.

“Minho never volunteers for anything!”

“I know... weird, right?”

Jihyo's eyes lit up with intrigue.

“Ugh. This is going to be torture,” Jisung sighed, “Whatever, not much we can do about it now.”

They returned with a couple of poker faces, Jisung beaming as he introduced them, “Felix, meet my best friend, Jihyo. Jihyo, this is Felix, my new friend from Australia.”

“Oh, and that's Minho, but you've met him already,” he added listlessly.

He was looking at them, clearly expecting them to say something to continue the conversation. Nobody did. Despite the noise from the busy street, you could hear a pin drop.

“Hey, guys!”

Thankfully, Nayeon had the best timing in the world and saved them all from dying of an awkwardness overdose. She flicked her hair and smiled at them with her dashing smile. She looked like she was acting in a commercial for something really expensive you definitely didn't need.

The relief was short-lived. It was Felix's turn to be hit by a thunderbolt out of the blue. Out from behind Nayeon popped an even more familiar face.

Seo Changbin.

Felix had a visceral reaction. Changbin always had the strangest effect on him. With a shaky hand, he wiped the cold sweat pooling on his upper lip. How could it be him? Why did it have to be him? Felix was so distracted that he didn't spot the elephant in the room.

“You both brought guys?”

Jisung's jaw hit the floor.

“You said you were going to bring your friend,” Jihyo complained to Nayeon.

“Yeah, my friend, Changbin,” Nayeon said as if that had been obvious from the start.