Heechul found a house he liked on the other end of town by the end of the month. Yongguk wasn’t sure he wanted to move there as it meant he’d have to transfer schools, but his friends told him they could secretly text each other in class, have webcam conversations and hey, it wasn’t that far by bus, was it?

“No, only twenty minutes and then five by foot,” Yongguk muttered. Kyuhyun chuckled.

“Dude, twenty minutes on a bus in exchange for some time with you and Zelo? No problem,” he grinned. The others agreed.

Yongguk was reminded how lucky he was to have such loyal friends when they invited themselves over later in the week and helped Yongguk, Heechul, Hankyung and Zelo to pack.

“So, when are you guys moving?” Kyuhyun casually asked Hankyung as the two attempted to wrap a rather ugly painting Heechul had insisted on buying two years ago in newspapers.

“Um… In about a month, I’m pretty sure,” he answered in his broken Korean.

“Half a month, Hannie dear,” Heechul corrected as he passed. “The owners wanted to get rid of it quickly. And for God’s sake, wrap the damn thing properly, will you!”

Yongguk just shook his head at his cousin. It was by pure luck that none of his friends had been scared away by him. It was a small miracle that Hankyung was still together with him.

After a few hours of packing and being yelled at by Heechul, they were all sweaty and exhausted. The teenagers decided to take a pause and have a contest of who could stuff the most biscuits into his mouth while Heechul and Hankyung fought over who’d shower first, but ended up showering together anyway.

Their pause was interrupted, totally unexpectedly, by Lee Sungmin ringing the doorbell. While everyone seemed shocked he’d come at all, Kyuhyun mainly stared at him, eyes wide and mouth open. This made Yongguk a little suspicious, but he quickly shrugged it off.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, trying his hardest not to sound offensive. Sungmin grinned.

“I heard you’re moving,” he said. Yongguk raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I didn’t mean it like that! I was just going to… well, apologize. Also to tell you something.”

“Go on then,” Yongguk said, successfully causing Sungmin to look extremely flustered.

“I… the reason I was so mean to you… I didn’t want anyone else to know that… I’m homoual as well.”

The kitchen went silent. Everything seemed to have stopped.

“Is that why you stopped being friends with me?” Kyuhyun asked then, seemingly out of the blue, and Yongguk realized there was a lot he didn’t know about Kyuhyun. With a sigh, he ushered the two out onto the balcony to talk. He wasn’t in the mood to listen to their most certainly interesting story right now. He had enough of them already.

The others went on as usual until, suddenly, Doojoon choked on his cookie.

“What’s wrong?” Yoseob asked, thumping his back maybe a little too hard. Doojoon, too busy coughing and with tears in his eyes, just pointed at the window to the balcony.

Everyone turned simultaneously except Zelo — Yongguk briefly wondered if he found the sight amusing until his brain registered what he was seeing. Sungmin had Kyuhyun pressed up against the railing, engaged in a passionate kiss. He reacted without thinking as he flew out onto the balcony himself.

“Hey!” he yelled, starting the two and some people on the street beneath. “No falling, okay.”

Sungmin and Kyuhyun shared a part embarrassed, part confused look before they started laughing as realization hit them.

“No worries,” Sungmin said. “I won’t let him fall.”

“You won’t fall either,” Yongguk said, giving Sungmin a stern look. The other just laughed and nodded, grabbing Kyuhyun’s hand and leading him back inside.

“But… Weren’t you in love with Zhou Mi?” Yoseob asked. Kyuhyun, Sungmin and Zhou Mi simultaneously froze. Yoseob looked around.

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

But Kyuhyun shook his head, as did Zhou Mi.

“It’s okay. Mimi was…”

“Just a temporary thing,” Zhou Mi filled in with a grin. “Kyuhyun was the same for me, and I knew it, which is why I never did anything about it.”

“Okay,” Yoseob said, nodding in understanding. “So you are you two like… a couple now?”

“We’ll see,” Sungmin said with a shrug. He left soon after that and the others continued fooling around as usual. The only difference was that maybe Kyuhyun’s smile was a little wider than before.

~~

Sungmin didn’t hang out with them in school, but it wasn’t like they minded. They were many enough already; they didn’t need any more outer reference. However, two of them would soon be missing. Yongguk sometimes wondered if Sungmin would eat lunch with the others once he was gone, but came to the conclusion that he probably wouldn’t. The table that had once held only four people barely had space for any more now that Seunghyun had transferred schools as well.

Yongguk, Yoseob and Zelo were always cramped together, almost sitting on the same chair. Doojoon sat next to Yoseob, sometimes so close the younger nearly sat on him. Yongguk was certain the two would soon become a couple. Shame he wouldn’t be there to see it.

Zhou Mi, Henry, Kyuhyun and Amber were also cramped together, mainly because Jiyong liked taking a lot of space and Seunghyun never tried to confine him.

In other words, the table that was only built for a maximum of six people kept ten teenage boys and a teenage girl, whereof one counted as two because he took so much space — thirteen in total. That was more than double of what it was made for, but it wasn’t like any of them minded. Receiving sharp elbow in the ribs and spilling food on each other’s plates were things they were all used to and wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

The day Yongguk and Zelo would move got closer and closer with every passing second, way too fast for Yongguk’s liking. On the day before they were moving, on a Friday, Zhou Mi insisted on dragging them all to the little town square in their area. He should have known that it was not a good idea. Even if Zhou Mi only intended for them to sit on the benches around the fountain in the middle of the square, talk and maybe eat some ice cream, Jiyong had other ideas.

“Oh my god, it’s hot,” he groaned, leaning on Seunghyun. Seunghyun chuckled and shook his head.

“Why yes, it’s summer. And you’re not making it better, you know, with the way you’re practically lying on me.”

Jiyong snorted and opened an eye to look incredulously at Seunghyun.

“Says the guy wearing two t-shirts and a hoodie. Jesus Hyun, I’m surprised you haven’t melted yet,” he retorted. Then he fell silent until an idea seemed to strike him and he sat up straight.

“I know!” he exclaimed and Yongguk got a little worried; Jiyong wasn’t known for having the world’s best ideas. “Let’s take a bath!”

Then he promptly got up and jumped into the fountain. The other stared with wide eyes. Zelo was the first to react as he let out a giggle and followed Jiyong into the water. It reached him to his hips. Yongguk wasn’t about to let Zelo slip on the God knows what on the bottom of the fountain and so, he was the third to join.

In the end, only Seunghyun and Zhou Mi were left on the benches, both looking at their friends as if they were crazy… which they probably were, but that was beside the point.

Once Jiyong managed to pull his boyfriend into the fountain and Henry said something in Mandarin that made Zhou Mi change his mind, the real fun started. They splashed water on each other, screamed and laughed and tackled each other into the water until someone yelled at them that they were idiots and not allowed to be in the fountain.

Still laughing, Yongguk grabbed Zelo’s hand with one hand and Jiyong’s with the other and started running away from the man, who immediately started chasing the growing chain of teenage boys as they did their best to avoid, most likely, the police station and a call home.

Eventually they stopped running and paused to take some deep breaths. Then they looked at each other and started laughing, effectively ruining their ability to breathe once more. Kyuhyun was the first to speak when they finally calmed down.

“That was fun,” he said, earning hums and chuckles in agreement.

“I think I live the closest from here,” Jiyong suddenly said. “Anyone wants to come along and dry up?”

Ten minutes later, they were all gathered at Jiyong’s place. Seunghyun had some spare clothes there and he and Jiyong got changed. Jiyong handed out dry clothes to anyone who could wear his size; Seunghyun did the same. In the end it was only Zelo, who was the smallest of them, who was left in dripping wet clothes. Yongguk watched him with a frown; he did not want the boy to become sick.

“Undress,” he said finally. Zelo looked up, eyes wide. “Just do it.”

Zelo did as he was told and Yongguk left him to search for a blanket. He came back with two of them, which Jiyong had happily handed him once he told him what he’d do. Zelo was down to his underwear when he came back, shivering and still dripping wet. Yongguk wrapped the first blanket around his shoulders.

“Underwear, too,” he ordered. Zelo did as he was told, but not without hesitation. Yongguk handed him the second blanket. “I just don’t want you to get sick.”

Zelo went into the living room to join the others who were watching a movie, very careful about not letting his blankets slip, while Yongguk put his clothes to dry on the radiator in the kitchen before he joined the others as well. Zelo wasn’t slow on creeping into his lap when he sat down on the only free spot on the couch and Yongguk welcomed him with open arms.

~~

Only Yoseob and Kyuhyun were able to wake up early enough to say goodbye to Yongguk and Zelo when it was finally time to move. Yongguk didn’t mind though, he knew the others would call him, send a message or come over and find a way to wish him luck in his new school sooner or later.

Most probably later.

While they were packing they’d found Zelo’s old notebook, the big one, and the boy immediately continued writing in it. Yongguk was now more curious than ever and on the first night in their new house, he sat down next to where Zelo was lying on his stomach on the older boy’s bed, writing furiously.

“What are you writing?” he asked. Zelo paused, the pencil he used mere millimeters from the material of the paper. “A fairy tale?”

“Sort of. You’ll know eventually,” Zelo replied and continued writing. Yongguk was a little disappointed, but said nothing. Patience was the only thing that ever worked with Zelo.

Their new house had two floors. It was quite a lot bigger than their previous apartment, which Yongguk was very thankful for, especially if his friends were going to continue their pattern of randomly inviting themselves over, not caring about whether they were welcome or not.

The bottom floor started with the hallway, which split into three corridors; the one to the left led to the bathroom and Heechul’s and Hankyung’s bathroom, the one to the left led to the spacious, light kitchen and straight forward was to the living room. The stairs to the second floor were also placed in the living room.

Heechul’s and Hankyung’s bedroom was probably the third biggest room in the house, after the living room and the spacious, light kitchen. The kitchen had an island in the middle which Zelo had had great fun chasing Yongguk around when they first entered, until they were shooed away by Heechul as he attempted to unpack their kitchen utensils.

The living room was definitely the biggest room. It had a warm colored wooden floor and huge windows with white curtains. The couch Heechul had bought was white as well and rather big. The huge TV Hankyung had bought already when he moved into their apartment fit in perfectly on the wall opposite from the couch.

The upper floor was a bit more spacious and light than the first floor. Once up the stairs, there was a rather big open space with four doors in a half circle on the wall; two bedrooms, another bathroom and a laundry room.

The door on the far left was Yongguk’s and Zelo’s room. Heechul and Hankyung had tried to separate them, give the other bedroom on the second floor to Zelo, but both boys stubbornly refused. Heechul and Hankyung had eventually given in, but they did not allow them to refuse the new bed they bought for Zelo.

The second bedroom was right next to the first with maybe three meters between them. They had decided it should be a guest room and placed Zelo’s old bed in there. They’d decided they’d buy a desk and a decent wardrobe and maybe a rug later.

The third room from the left was the bathroom. It was quite big, but Yongguk wasn’t sure whether he should be happy for that fact or a little worried. Any kind of sound in the empty bathroom had a tendency to echo. The last room, the laundry room, was quite simple. It was smaller than any other room in the house and held only a washing machine and a tumble drier.

On the first night in their new house, Zelo went to bed in his own bed, which was across the room from Yongguk’s. It didn’t take long, however, for him to ask if Yongguk was still awake in a loud whisper.

“Yeah. What is it?” Yongguk murmured back. There was a small pause.

“Can I sleep with you?” Zelo asked then. Yongguk wanted to kick himself when his heart nearly skipped a beat as the words left his mouth. He’s a kid, of course he doesn’t mean it like that!

“Of course. C’mere,” he said, reaching his hand out and pulling Zelo into bed by his pajama shirt once he was close enough. Zelo fell next to Yongguk with an oof and a soft giggle.

“Can I ask you something?” Yongguk asked after a few minutes. Zelo was curled up against his chest, one leg over his hip, face buried in Yongguk’s neck as the older carded his fingers through his hair. The boy let out a hum in response.

“How did you notice that your parents were coming?”

Zelo stiffened a little against him, but soon relaxed again. Yongguk could feel his lips move against his skin as he spoke.

“I woke up a little earlier than usual. I saw them through the window,” he murmured.

“Okay. I was just curious. Now sleep.”

~~

Monday morning was hell. Partially, it was really stressful. Zelo was half asleep the entire morning as he’d stayed up half the night, writing in his notebook, so Yongguk had to help him eat breakfast, brush his teeth and get dressed as well.

Hankyung was nice and offered to drive them to school as they weren’t sure where it was. Heechul promised he’d pick them up when it was over.

Everyone at their new school stared when they entered school grounds. Well, who wouldn’t? They were new. Yongguk was fifteen and was accompanied by a boy that he was certain wasn’t older than eleven. The two stopped and looked around at the students staring at them for a moment before Yongguk gently jerked the hand that held tightly onto his.

“Come on, let’s find our teacher.”

It was pretty easy to find his new teacher. Unfortunately, she did not accept Zelo as well as Yongguk’s previous teacher had.

“Explain to me again why he has to be around, please,” she demanded, unpleased eyes glaring at Zelo. Zelo hid behind Yongguk’s back.

“He’s my cousin,” Yongguk said. “His parents are dead. He needs me, okay?”

All of the teachers in the room stared at him. The silence was heavy. Yongguk stared at the ground. Zelo’s arms tightened even further around his waist, nearly suffocating him.

“Give me his full name, age, previous address,” his teacher finally spoke up, “and I’ll allow him.”

“Choi Junhong,” Yongguk murmured, biting his lower lip. “That is all I know.”

Thankfully, he was saved by the bell and his teacher had no time to stop him from pulling Zelo into the classroom with him. He was immediately pulled to the front to introduce himself.

“Hello everyone, I’m Bang Yongguk,” he said with a small bow. “And this is Zelo. He doesn’t speak. I hope we can all become good friends.”

Some of the girls giggled and whispered until a particularly brave one stretched her hand into the air. The teacher nodded for her to speak.

“What’s your type of girl?” she asked and Yongguk felt his heart drop to his feet as his cheeks heated.

“A-ah… I don’t… I don’t like girls,” he stuttered finally. The classroom fell silent. Everyone stared at him with wide eyes. Some of the guys looked disgusted.  A few of the rebellious-looking ones in the back had interested expressions on their faces.

“That’s okay,” the same girl eventually broke the icy silence with an unsure smile. “I’m sure we can be good friends.”

Yongguk was shown to a seat next to a girl that had surely broken the rules by adding a leather choker and lots of black makeup to her school uniform, not to mention the streaks of color in her black hair.

“Nice to meet you, Yongguk-sshi,” she said with a surprisingly friendly smile as Yongguk sat down next to her. “People call me Allie.”

“Nice to meet you, Allie,” Yongguk responded, offering a smile of his own. Before the lesson started for real, he managed to find an empty chair so Zelo could sit next to him.

Allie proved to be really nice. She introduced him to her friends, all scary-looking but nice punker kids. Most of them were at least one or two years older, but the youngest in the group was Allie’s little sister, who was twelve.

She also showed him around the school and told him about what rules there were.

“It’s okay if you’re gay,” she told him, “but I don’t think the teachers would appreciate it if you made out with your boyfriend on school grounds.”

“It’s okay, I don’t have a boyfriend,” Yongguk assured with a grin.

“Aw, that’s too bad. Have you ever had any then?” Allie asked as she sat down on the grass. They were on their lunch break and the lesson wouldn’t start in another twenty minutes. Zelo and Yongguk sat down next to her, Zelo with his notebook in his lap. He didn’t seem to pay much attention to anything, but Yongguk knew he heard and saw most things that passed between him and Allie in terms of communication.

“Two,” he replied, almost regretting it when he saw the way Allie’s eyes lit up.

“Oh, tell me about them?” she asked.

“First was Yoseob. He was my best friend, but then we sorta started liking each other. However, he fell for this other guy when he started our school. Then there was Himchan. Himchan was… special.”

He didn’t know how to explain it all; how Jiho had given him Zelo, how Zelo had disappeared, how Himchan had saved him from the depths of depression… Yongguk took a deep breath.

“Do you have anything against long, complicated stories?” he asked. Allie laughed and shook her head. Yongguk grinned. “Good, because if I’m gonna tell you my story with Himchan… I’ll have to tell you mine and Zelo’s story as well.”

He thought for a moment, before he began; he told her how Jiho had come over with Zelo, begging his friend to take care of him. He told her how there was something about Zelo that just drew him in and how he studied him and learnt his language. He told her how he disappeared and how he a few months later literally stumbled into Himchan; the only one who could make him feel better. He told her how he found Zelo again almost a year and a half later and that he and Himchan had grown more distant and eventually broken up when Himchan decided to move abroad with his parents.

The silence when he finished was long. Allie looked like she was deep in thought. Zelo kept writing with the speed of lightning.

“It’s a very interesting story,” she told him finally. “And I’d very much like to meet your friends someday, they seem interesting, too. Now we have to go back though, class starts in five.”

Yongguk nodded and followed her back inside, Zelo’s hand securely clasped in his own. They only had about three lessons left and they passed rather quickly.

After school, Yongguk knew Heechul would come pick him up; he had not expected half of his friends to come as well. Allie followed him to the school gates, but suddenly stopped short.

“Who are all those people?” she asked, sounding genuinely confused. Yongguk looked in the direction she was staring at.

“Oh God,” he said when they waved obnoxiously at him. “They’re my friends.”

Allie gave him a look before she let out a laugh.

“Come on, introduce me to them!”

As soon as they came close enough, Jiyong tackled Zelo to the ground and started tickling him, wringing those adorable giggles from him. The others watched them for a moment before they turned to Yongguk and Allie and started introducing themselves.

Seunghyun was first up and he introduced himself as well as Jiyong, considering the fact that his boyfriend was way too busy with his tickle fight with Zelo to pay attention to much else.

Yoseob followed soon after. Then there was Zhou Mi, Kyuhyun — who introduced himself as the town’s resident genius, which made them all groan and roll their eyes — Doojoon and Henry. They also told her all about Amber, the only one who hadn’t come.

Last was Heechul. He looked at her over his sunglasses and she laughed at him.

“You’re one of those diva guys, aren’t you,” she said, but it wasn’t a question. “You’d fit as an entertainer.”

“Kim Heechul,” Heechul said, completely ignoring her words. “Yongguk’s supposedly crazy cousin.”

Jiyong finally ended his tickle fight with Zelo and noticed Allie.

“Oh!” he exclaimed, pulling himself up from the ground with the aid of Seunghyun’s jeans and brushing the dirt off his pants. “Are you Yongguk’s new friend? You better look after him, okay. He’s a little… special.”

“Jiyong!” Yongguk and Seunghyun yelled in unison. Jiyong looked between them with wide eyes and pouty lips.

“What? It’s true!”

Seunghyun just sighed and shook his head. Yongguk rolled his eyes and said goodbye to Allie before climbing into the car which actually was way too small to keep all of them; Jiyong sat in Seunghyun’s lap, Yongguk sat next to them with Zelo in his lap, Zhou Mi and Henry sat on the other side and Doojoon was squished against the window while Yoseob stuck his tongue out at them from the passenger seat in front. He seemed to regret it when Henry immediately freed himself from Zhou Mi’s grasp and climbed forward to share his seat.

Allie laughed at the sight as they took off and Yongguk waved at her, smiling best he could as he felt like he was being turned into human potato mash in between his friends.

All in all, the day had been better than he’d dared hope for.