By his third year in university, Park Sunghoon was sure of a few things.

For starters, he would have chosen to have Jake instead of Jay and Sunoo as his roommates in a heartbeat if he had the chance to choose again. Unfortunately, Heeseung had won their little group’s bet and naturally chose the room that would give him peace and quiet. Honestly, on that note, Sunghoon was also pretty sure he should have chosen a better group of friends back when he was a freshman, too.

When he voiced this out to his friends, he received a petulant pout from Sunoo.

“You love having us around,” the younger said, legs dangling off from the top bunk, smiling at Sunghoon who at least had the solo bed across the room.

“Yeah, you’re lucky to have us here,” Jay seconded from the bed below, despite his eyes being glued on the screen of his phone. “Right, Jungwon?”

Next to the boy, with wide eyes likewise glued onto his own phone, desperate to win against Jay in a mobile game for once in his life, Jungwon merely nodded. Maybe it was the effect of staying away from each other, but Jay stuck himself next to the younger boy a majority of the time, a bright blonde bur that just hung around. Meanwhile, Niki and Heeseung had made themselves comfortable on Sunoo’s bed as well, despite the small space that it had.

It wasn’t a particularly new sight to see; somehow, all seven of them just naturally convened in Unit 24, even if the other boys stayed just a few doors down. Sunghoon couldn’t exactly blame them either, since his own single bed was occupied by himself and Jake. The latter was the only one among them who was actually doing something important, fingers clacking on his laptop keyboard like there was no tomorrow. That wasn’t an unusual scene for them, too. Jake was juggling academics with extracurricular activities and a soccer varsity to boot.

Next to him, Sunghoon felt like a mediocre student, but it wasn’t his fault the university didn’t have an ice-skating team.

It was on days where Jake looked like he was having a mental breakdown that the dark-haired boy felt much happier about having less work to do.

The two were the first of their group to form a friendship, one that was only strengthened as the years went by. Through the years, Sunghoon went from the tall, shy, and awkward boy that he was into someone who smiled often and hugged his friends a lot more than the average boy would. He was touchy by default, people just had to get used to it; the same way they had to get used to seeing him fixing his hair constantly like his life depended on it.

Meanwhile, Jake didn’t change much, except he eventually lost that foreign aura he held around him the more he adjusted to his new life in South Korea. He was heralded in their batch as someone well-known though; friendly to a fault, smart, and extremely athletic, it was hard not to know who he was around campus. While that still remained his reputation here and there, to his friends he was just plain Jake, who would still scream at the sight of any flying insect.

While Sunghoon had fun with all of his friends equally, he was sure his energy meshed well with the brunette the most, like some sort of unspoken bond.

They were best friends. That’s how things were and how things will continue to be.

“How’s your paper?” Sunghoon asked, tuning out the way Jungwon was yelling about having lost again. He had his head resting on Jake’s shoulder since there was little space on his bed and his neck was getting stiff. The brunette merely grunted in response, glasses perched on his nose as he checked and double-checked what was written on his screen. There was a 13-page count already done, but he didn’t seem satisfied as he kept re-typing paragraphs.

“Your fingers are going to fall off,” the dark-haired boy said again.

Jake sighed, loud and exaggerated, “I can barely feel my entire left arm because of your big head.”

“I do not have a big head!”

“It’s been on my shoulder for an hour!”

“You’ve been on my bed for an hour,” Sunghoon shot back, raising his head as he pretended to look offended. “I would have more space for my big head if you weren’t here.”

In the end, Jake abandoned his laptop—after deeming his paper acceptable—in favour of further arguing with Sunghoon about how there was no other comfortable space in their whole room, but that the latter had a whole pillow he could have rested on instead. Sunghoon, pleased that he had managed to get the other’s attention, relented and moved over to where his pillow lay. He quickly tugged the other boy down with him as he brought his phone out.

“There’s a new game I downloaded, come play with me.”

“You could have just said you were bored,” Jake commented, amusement laced in his voice, but was shut up by the way the pale boy commented that he’s been trying to do so but the Australian nerd had been so focused on his paper; that just led to more squabbling, loud enough to the point that even Kim Sunoo told them to keep it down or else he was going to throw something at them. The two promptly kept quiet, but only because Niki had jokingly threatened the same, and they would much rather listen to Niki than the fox-eyed boy.

Freshman year was one large blur, except for the first day.

Sunghoon had a knack for being late no matter what the situation, so it made sense for him to be late on his first day in university. It wasn’t like he wanted to be late; who would, right? However, the goddess of being early to things was just never on his side. He had woken up early, gotten ready on time even, but then the only bus on his route decided to choose that day to run later than usual. Anyway, that wasn’t the point.

The point was that Sunghoon was late for orientation, which meant he had to find a way to blend all 177cm of him into the crowd of students that were already seated once he finally reached the lecture hall. He knew the student instructors probably couldn’t care less, but his fellow batchmates were another matter. He could feel the stares that came from all around him, making him even more conscious of his movements.

“Hey,” came a hushed whisper when Sunghoon maneuvered himself past another row of students, making him glance at the boy who spoke.

“Empty seat right here,” the boy spoke again, pointing next to him at the glaringly obvious empty seat. How did Sunghoon even miss it when he first entered? He could have saved himself time and attention if he bothered to check the area first before bumbling around. Whatever, it didn’t matter, he figured he should just accept his fate as he made his way to the row just above where he was standing.

Once he was finally seated, Sunghoon turned to the boy who helped him out, “thank you.”

“No problem. I’m Jake, by the way,” the other replied, flashing a friendly grin that Sunghoon quickly returned, introducing himself as well. Jake gave him a quick recap of what was already talked about—nothing important, really—and soon after, the two were engaged in an easy conversation to drown out the boring speeches that were taking place. It was from that point that the two became fast friends.

Except, well, some constants change.

Like the way Jake had never failed an exam in their whole stay in university.

If there was anything Sunghoon noted about that day, it was that it was surely a Thursday. He knew this because Thursday afternoons were the only time of the week when he had peace and quiet in his room. His roommates both had class, along with most of the others. Sometimes, Sunghoon would be out, but most of the time he preferred to take a nap and everybody else knew that about him, too. All college students need a nap once in a while. So he had been in the room, on his bed, just about ready to close his eyes when there was a knock on the door.

“Who is it?” He called out, getting up from his spot with a sigh. “Niki, if you’re skipping class again, I swear—“

“Sunghoon,” came the reply from someone who definitely wasn’t the younger boy.

He opened the door to a weary-looking Jake, whose head immediately fell forward to rest against Sunghoon’s chest, almost as if it had been resting on the door just moments before.

“What’s the matter?” The taller boy asked, one arm instinctively coming up to wrap around the other’s shoulder. When did Jake’s form seem so small? He was supposed to have a good body, too, being an athlete and all. At that moment though, it was like the other boy was purposely trying to shrink himself into Sunghoon, which took the latter a few moments to realize and made him worry about things further. “Hey, Jake, what’s wrong?”

Somehow, the two naturally ended up on Sunghoon’s bed. Jake was still curled into the taller boy, practically hiding his face so his voice was muffled as he explained what happened, but the other heard him nonetheless. Granted, a failed exam was normal in a student’s life, but Jake had always been very particular about his grades and the scholarship that kept him going. If it was Jay disappointed about what he considered a low grade, Sunghoon would have made a few quick jokes to lighten up the situation, but this was different.

He would have shoved Jay right off his bed, but he could never do that to Jake.

“You did your best,” Sunghoon said instead, careful to keep his voice gentle. “You can always ace the next exam, right? Maybe ask Heeseung to teach you if he has time, it’s his major after all.”

“I guess,” the other boy mumbled.

There were a lot of things racing through Sunghoon’s mind, but none he could voice out without making the situation weird. Well, weirder than it already was. Jake never really shied away from Sunghoon’s hugs before, but he also never outright asked for it, was never really the type to seek touch. So while they were in a pretty comfortable position, the pale boy couldn’t help but feel like the whole thing was new to him. It was a new thing in itself for Jake to have failed an exam, to begin with.

“This is getting kind of embarrassing,” Jake ended up voicing out for the both of them after a few more minutes had passed, evidently feeling better as he pulled away, but just by a fraction. The distance was just enough for them to meet eye to eye, but Sunghoon’s long arms still rested around the other boy’s frame. Neither mentioned it, despite how glaringly obvious it was. Sunghoon didn’t feel compelled to mention it either, since it wasn’t like he cared much.

Instead, the taller boy scoffed, “we’ve been in much more compromising situations.”

“Like when we accidentally kissed in front of everyone?”

“Do you really have to bring that up?” Sunghoon asked dryly, rolling his eyes when the brunette’s chuckling turned into full-blown laughter. “That was your fault, anyway.”

Jake’s laughter died down, but there was still a mischievous smile on his lips that said he was still reminiscing about the said situation, which was better than the frown he had on earlier that afternoon. It was a welcome change, even if it was at the taller boy’s expense, but Sunghoon knew how to sacrifice his dignity for the sake of his friend’s happiness, after all. It really was funny, looking back. The rest of their friends gave him hell for it, but it was funny nonetheless.

“You complain, but we all know you liked it,” the brunette teased, earning him a whack on the shoulder that made more laughter bubble out of him.

“If you’re done sulking, get off my bed, I was going to take a nap,” Sunghoon said, releasing his hold on the other boy and making a point to lightly nudge Jake’s leg with his in an effort to make him leave. Of course, that just made Jake shake his head and adjust his position on the bed so that they were just barely touching. Again, the bed was small, so it took a very specific position to make sure they had just the exact amount of personal space available to them.

The smaller boy closed his eyes, “good night then.”

With a resigned sigh, Sunghoon closed his own eyes and mumbled something about how there were more beds available in the room before sleep overcame him.

It was an unfortunate occurrence in Park Sunghoon’s life; which meant it was a joy for the rest of his friends, especially Jake, though the other boy was mainly the cause. In their sophomore year, the two of them chose the same theatre acting elective, along with Heeseung, who was the only one required to take the class. The latter thought it would be the funniest thing if Sunghoon played the role of a tall damsel in distress with Jake as the shorter yet dashing prince charming who would save the day.

“I object,” Sunghoon said immediately, but it fell on deaf ears.

“I said,” he tried again, trying hard not to roll his eyes at the way his other two friends pointedly ignored him in favour of discussing the plot points. “I don’t see why I have to play the one who needs saving!”

The eldest among them, Heeseung, gave him a look that meant there was no use arguing out of the situation. They did choose him as their group leader—maybe Sunghoon’s first mistake since he suggested it so enthusiastically—so he had no choice but to follow. While he played the commoner boy who gets kidnapped by an evil wizard, Jake got the role of a knight instead of a prince, with Heeseung claiming it would lead to realistically fewer problems for their supposed relationship with royalty aside.

“I get to play the evil wizard,” Heeseung said, cackling in a way that made Sunghoon worry for him sometimes.

On the day of their performance, the rest of the friend group had freed their schedules so they could watch. Jungwon would have filmed the whole thing, but the professor of the class didn’t allow cameras around to distract his acting students. It wasn’t like everything was a surprise to them anyway since Sunghoon’s roommates were subjected to him loudly practicing his lines for a whole week. Niki, who was often busy with dance practice, was probably the one who knew the least about what was going to happen.

Still, Sunghoon should have expected that being group-mates with Heeseung meant that the older boy was going to bring his A-game.

Add Jake in that situation and their short skit could almost become a full-on Broadway play.

“Where did Heeseung even get these costumes?” Sunghoon asked in awe as he donned his commoner’s attire, the white and brown outfit fitting him perfectly. “This looks like it was taken right out of the medieval era.”

“It suits you,” Jake said thoughtfully.

“Thanks, but you’ve been complimented enough today,” the taller boy said with a laugh, catching on to the way Jake’s cheeks flushed at the accusation, dressed in his own costume. He looked good, tan skin and athletic figure making him look perfect for the part of a seasoned knight. Maybe it did make sense that slim, lanky Sunghoon was the one who got himself easily kidnapped by the equally thin wizard. Either way, all of their classmates had complimented Jake the moment he appeared backstage.

He smirked before Jake could defend himself, “oh, knight in shining armour, save me!”

“You’re one to talk,” the brunette shot back, before clearing his throat to recite one of his own lines. “Do my eyes deceive me? What a beauty you are to behold—“

“Okay, stop, I don’t need to gag before the show.”

“You started it.”

Before the two could bicker further, Heeseung appeared in his wizard robes, claiming that they were up next on stage in a few minutes. They were confident, of course. Heeseung was very good at helping them polish their acting, but that aside, the three of them also had good chemistry that showed even when they were acting. The short play went smoothly, up until the finale, where the knight finally won against the wizard to save the commoner that he fell in love with at first sight.

Sunghoon was kneeling on the floor, grasping Jake’s hands in his in fervent thanks as the knight assure him that everything would be fine, bent down on one knee himself so they were fairly level.

“Kiss me, my knight, to remind me this isn’t a dream,” Sunghoon said dramatically as the other began to lean down. They weren’t supposed to actually kiss, but there was a loud shout from the crowd that sounded suspiciously like Jay hollering that made Jake jump a little in surprise as he moved closer, the timing impeccable. The short jolt was enough to make their noses bump along with their lips, chapped lips brushing along Sunghoon’s own, making him freeze.

Thankfully, the latter was only dazed for a quick second before remembering their grade was at stake.

He found himself pressing forward slightly to make it seem like the kiss wasn’t an accident before pulling the other into a hug, which was the next move and also to hide his face.

“I would rather be nowhere else,” Jake, to his credit, also recovered quickly as he hugged back.

The good news was that the professor was so impressed by their dedication that they got the highest grade in the class. The bad news was that for some reason, the bunt of the teasing fell on Sunghoon, even if it wasn’t his mistake. Probably because he was the one whose face very clearly turned a blushing, bright red at the reminder of what happened. It registered in his head late that the whole scene happened in front of a crowd of people who were probably going to talk about it forever. At least, that’s what his mind supplied, fuelling his embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Jake had laughed it off, “they’ll forget about it sooner or later, we did great.”

“You don’t have Sunoo as a roommate,” Sunghoon deadpanned, as the younger boy took that exact moment to show up backstage along with the rest of their friends.

“I have to hand it to you,” Jay spoke first, trying his best to keep his composure, despite the slight upturn of his lips. “I didn’t know you’d take things that far for a good grade.”

“No thanks to you,” Sunghoon shot back, poking the other’s chest with his finger, which made the blonde erupt into fits of laughter that he could no longer contain. Thankfully, after that, the rest of them genuinely praised their acting. Jungwon commented that they must have had no choice, with Heeseung around, they had to be the best or else suffer the consequences. While the older boy argued against that, Jake and Sunghoon shared a look of agreement that was caught by everybody else.

“I wish we got it on tape,” Sunoo commented sadly.

Niki disagreed immediately, “I don’t think I need to see that kiss again.”

When the door opened and Jay entered, Sunghoon had already been awake, despite still lying down. He decided to not to wake Jake since the other looked like he needed rest; the stress he had over failing wasn’t around as he slept, so he looked peaceful as he slept. Jay merely glanced at the two on the same bed before moving on to whatever he was supposed to do, nothing new with the sight whatsoever. At least they weren’t still cuddling or something, Sunghoon’s mind supplied, although the smaller boy had inched closer in his sleep.

“So I was thinking,” Jay said, keeping his voice low as he sat on his bed across the room. “You know how we have that long weekend coming up?”

Sitting up on his own bed as best as he could, Sunghoon nodded, the silent question on his features.

“Let’s all go to the beach! We could rent a place and everything.”

The idea of a road trip wasn’t anything new in their friend group. Actually, it was something they had all wanted to do since last year, but things just never pushed through. Jay continued to explained that he really wanted to have one before Heeseung would graduate for the year. Not to mention, most of them also had to leave come next year, Sunghoon included. It wouldn’t be long till their little group won’t be together all the time; Jay had always been the sentimental type.

“The beach does sound nice,” Sunghoon agreed softly.

He glanced down when Jake had stirred in time to see the other’s eyes blink open.

“Did I hear something about the beach?” The brunette asked still half-asleep, rubbing his eyes awake as more words fell out of his mouth. “I like the sun. Sunghoon, let’s go.”

“Hey, I’m the one who said we should all go,” Jay complained loudly now that the other boy was awake, just in time for Sunoo to enter as well. With the latter around, it became more evident that their plan to go on a weekend road trip would finally happen since the younger boy began to rattle off all the things they could do and where they could go. He was also sentimental about things since Heeseung was one of his favourite people in the world, it seemed.

By some of bad luck, Sunghoon lost the room assignment game, again.

It was Sunoo who won first this time around, easily choosing both Heeseung and Niki to stay with in the largest room with the giant bed. Jungwon came next, but he didn’t really have much of a choice since Jay was already hanging off his shoulder before he was given the chance to decide. At least this time around, Sunghoon ended up with Jake by default, which meant his nights were going to be peaceful enough. Unless everybody decided to sleep in the living room, which wouldn’t be a surprise, either.

“I always lose,” Sunghoon complained, bringing his stuff in the room they had to share.

The smallest room, at that, so things still weren’t the best even with Jake around.

“I can’t believe Jungwon didn’t pick me over Jay, of all people,” the brunette complained alongside him, sounding extremely offended at the decision that was made, a small frown on his lips that didn’t look like it belonged there if Sunghoon had to be honest. He dumped his bag on one of the available beds and gestured dramatically towards the general direction of the other rooms. His voice was filled with disbelief, “who would willingly choose Park Jongseong as a roommate?”

“Jay helps him with assignments,” Sunghoon sighed, defeated.

Jake pouted, “we help him, too!”