Baekhyun was in the kitchen looking for shot glasses because his boyfriend had the brilliant idea of playing poker with shots on the line. The idea of playing cards was fun and all, but Baekhyun thought the possibility of getting the others pissed drunk was far more appealing. Maybe he can even convince Luhan to play. Maybe. When Sehun's not looking...

 

“Where are they?” he muttered while scanning the top cabinet.

 

“Need help?”

 

Baekhyun whipped his head around, surprised to find Jinho standing there, eyes on him. The surprise on his face quickly disappeared, and he narrowed his eyes at the other male.

 

“Considering how this is your first time here, I don't think you'll be much help,” he said flatly.

 

Jinho sighed and walked over. With his arm reaching past Baekhyun's head, he said, “I just thought you may need help getting these down.” He took out the shot glasses and handed them to Baekhyun. “Since you're short and all.”

 

Baekhyun scowled. “I'll have you know, I'm average height.”

 

“Right.”

 

“What is it you want to say to me?” Baekhyun asked, ignoring that last sarcastic remark.

 

Jinho leaned against the adjacent counter and crossed his arms. “I want to call a truce.”

 

Baekhyun raised his eyebrow. He placed the glasses on the counter and also folded his arms across his chest. “A truce?”

 

“Yes. An agreement to stop fighting, you know, for the sake of peace.”

 

“I know what it means! I'm just surprised you would consider the idea first, you know, since you were the crazy one.”

 

“Were?”

 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes at how slow Jinho was. “Yes. Were. I figured you're not all THAT bad if you showed up to the cafe to personally apologize to Luhan hyung.” He gave Jinho a quick look over. “And considering how you knew I worked there as well, that must have taken a lot of courage,” he added with a smirk.

 

“Well, I had to do it. I was the one who did wrong.”

 

“Glad you figured that out. Took you a while, but it's better late than never because honestly, no one wants an obsessive psycho for a friend.”

 

Jinho chuckled. “You really do live up to your reputation.”

 

“My reputation?”

 

“Yeah. The whole school is under the impression that you can destroy people with just your words. No one can win against Byun Baekhyun.”

 

Baekhyun's eyes lit up. “Really? They're smarter than I thought.”

 

“And you're scarier than you look.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Welcome. Now how about that truce?”

 

Baekhyun fake sighed. “If you keep on insisting, then I guess yeah...”

 

Jinho smiled and held out his right hand. “Shake on it?”

 

“Only if you promise not to hurt Sehun and Luhan hyung again.”

 

“I won't. I know where I stand, and it's not in between them.”

 

“What changed your mind?”

 

“Having my best friend tell me that he rather be hated by me than to have his boyfriend get hurt. That was a much needed wake up call. And also, the thought of not being able to simply hang out with Luhan hyung again. It didn't matter anymore whether or not he'll return my feelings. It's a lost cause really – since the beginning. And I know you probably find it hard to believe, but I actually like the friendship that Luhan hyung and I have. I treasure it a lot because it brings me comfort.”

 

“Yeah, just don't get too comfortable.”

 

“I'm sure Sehun will keep me in check if I do step out of line again.”

 

Baekhyun nodded. “He will because we did a good job raising him. Besides –”

 

“Let me guess, he won't be the only one keeping me in check?”

 

“Damn right.”

 

“Sooo how about it?” Jinho wiggled his hand, which was still waiting for Baekhyun's hand.

 

“Fine.” Baekhyun gave Jinho's hand a firm shake. “But if you do anything to Luhan hyung again, I will cut off your limbs and disperse them throughout southeast Asia.”

 

“Why southeast Asia?”

 

Baekhyun shrugged. “I can't afford to go anywhere farther.”

 

Jinho laughed, and Baekhyun looked at him curiously. “So what are we now?” he asked while picking up the glasses again.

 

“I don't know. Acquaintances?”

 

“Hmm..That sounds decent. Who knows you might be lucky enough to be one of my friends,” Baekhyun said nonchalantly, handing Jinho a few glasses to take back to the others.

 

Jinho shook his head. “Only if I'm unfortunate enough.”

 

“Yah!”

 

Jinho walked away with a mysterious smile, and Baekhyun was left dumbfounded. That's a first.

 

When he caught up to Jinho, he found the other boy standing near the door frame, staring at something. Baekhyun came up behind him and realized that his eyes were on Sehun and Luhan.

 

Sehun and Luhan who were holding hands, talking to each other, faces just inches away from one another.

 

“Is there a problem?” Baekhyun asked.

 

Jinho remained silent for a few seconds. Across the patio, Luhan said something and grinned, and although Sehun rolled his eyes, Baekhyun could clearly see the small smile tugging his lips. Sehun leaned forward, and gave Luhan's forehead a soft peck before he resumed his grilling. Baekhyun found it absolutely adorable that Sehun's right hand was busy tending to the meat while his left hand held Luhan's hand tightly. And he almost squealed when Luhan returned Sehun's small kiss with one of his own – one that was on the lips.

 

“They really do look perfect together,” Jinho finally spoke, and though he sounded fine, Baekhyun could detect a hint of sadness.

 

“Yeah. They do..” Baekhyun turned his attention back to the beaming couple. “Are you really going to be okay?” he asked softly.

 

Jinho sighed and gave Baekhyun a small nod. “I'll be fine. Thanks for asking.”

 

“Baek?”

 

Baekhyun and Jinho jumped when Chanyeol appeared from behind the two of them. “Yeol!”

 

“Why are you standing here? With Jinho....” Chanyeol eyed the other boy suspiciously.

 

“It's alright, Yeol. We're no longer fighting – if you can even call it that to begin with.”

 

Chanyeol raised his brow. “Really?”

 

“Yes,” Jinho answered, holding out his free hand for Chanyeol. “I hope we can be more cordial with each other.”

 

Chanyeol smiled and immediately grabbed Jinho's hand and violently shook it. “Of course!”

 

Jinho laughed at Chanyeol's enthusiastic response. “He's a lot easier than you,” he said to Baekhyun. “Nicer.”

 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well that's why I love him.”

 

“I thought it was because of my --” Chanyeol was immediately cut off by Baekhyun, who smacked him in the arm and blushed because he knew full well what Chanyeol was referring to.

 

“Now if you would excuse us...” Baekhyun separated Jinho and Chanyeol's joined hands, and laced his fingers with his boyfriend's. “We have people we want to make drunk,” Baekhyun said, before dragging a smug looking Chanyeol away.

 

******

Sehun knew it was a bad idea from the beginning, but since Luhan had insisted that he'll only take one shot, Sehun didn't see any real harm in it. What he should have known was that as soon as he left Luhan's side, Baekyeol would somehow convince his boyfriend that he could handle three more shots.

 

“I left for 2 minutes!” Sehun stated incredulously when he came back from the bathroom to find his boyfriend hiccuping – a definite sign that Luhan had a few too many drinks.

 

Baekhyun shrugged, feigning innocence. “Two minutes too long?”

 

Sehun rubbed his temple in hopes of preventing an impending headache from appearing. “Why would you want him drunk anyways?”

 

“I'm not hic drunk, Sehun-ah.” Luhan smiled with his eyes closed. Baekyeol snickered.

 

Sehun glowered at the pair. “It's not funny.”

 

“We think it's funny,” Chanyeol said.

 

“Yeah. Shouldn't you be thanking us?” Baekhyun asked.

 

“And why would I do that?”

 

“Because drunk Bambi is amusing.”

 

Sehun groaned while Luhan giggled. 

 

“Is Luhan hyung okay?” Jinho asked when he came over to where they were. Unlike Luhan, (and the majority of the other boys) Jinho was still sober – the result of him being an excellent poker player.

 

“Yeah...” Sehun looked down at Luhan who kept blinking at him. “He can sleep it off.” I hope.

 

“Righhttt,” Baekhyun drawled. “Sleep.” He gave Sehun a greasy wink before skipping off to draw obscene things on Kyungsoo's face – punishment for falling asleep on the coffee table. Chanyeol quickly followed behind.

 

“Sometimes I want to strangle them in their sleep,” Sehun admitted.

 

Jinho chuckled. “They're a great support team though.”

 

“Yeah, but most of the time, they're more trouble than helpful.”

 

“Sehun-ah, hic.”

 

Luhan tried to stand up, but he sat right back down – probably due to the dizziness Sehun knew he was trying to hide from him.

 

“Just stay there, Bambi. I'll carry you later.” Sehun turned to face Jinho. “How are you getting home?”

 

“Called a cab. Should be here any minute.”

 

“Oh I –”

 

“Hic.”

 

The two friends looked down at Luhan, who shyly covered his mouth as if embarrassed of his hiccups. Jinho smiled while Sehun shook his head.

 

“I'm going to kill them,” he stated, face determined.

 

“Before I wouldn't have stopped you, but now I'm seriously reconsidering that. They're actually not that bad.”

 

Sehun snorts. “You don't live with them.”

 

Jinho grinned. “Thankfully.”

 

“Yeah. Yeah. By the way, what did you say to each other? Are you guys friends now? I even saw Baekhyun hyung giving you a high-five when you beat Kris hyung in that last round.”

 

“Not friends exactly, but who knows? Maybe in the near future.”

 

“Well, whatever happened, I'm just glad to have you back –”

 

“Hic. Me too,” Luhan adorably added. “I'm happy we can still be friends, Jinho.”

 

“Me too, hyung,” Jinho said with a genuine smile on his face. “Guess I'll take my leave now.”

 

“I'll walk you out,” Sehun offered.

 

“Bye hyung,” Jinho said, waving at Luhan who happily waved back – hiccups and all.

 

When they got to the door, Jinho stopped and placed his hand on Sehun's shoulder. “Hey, I know you don't really need to hear this, but I do think that if Luhan hyung chooses to participate in the New York program, you two will work it out. Don't let what I said before get to you.”

 

Sehun smiled. “I know. We'll be fine.”

 

“Good.” Jinho squeezed Sehun's shoulder. “Take care, Sehun. See ya.”

 

“Bye Jinho.”

 

Sehun watched as Jinho turned to leave – the smile lingering on his face.

 

And when he walked back out to the patio to find Luhan sleeping on the table, an affectionate smile replaced the one previous. Without hesitation, Sehun made his way over and scooped Luhan into his arms, carrying him back into the house and up the staircase. When he placed Luhan on their bed, he could have sworn Luhan was really asleep, but as soon as he planted a kiss on Luhan's lips, the other opened his eyes expectantly.

 

“Were you even asleep?” Sehun asked as he pulled away, skeptical because this isn't the first time he carried Luhan under the false assumption that he was asleep.

 

Luhan nodded and looped his arms around Sehun's neck, pulling him down. “Sehun-ah, I love you so so so so much.”

 

“I know,” Sehun said, smiling with adoration clear in his eyes.

 

“Do you know hic that no matter how many hic times I tell you I love you, it'll never be enough? Like words can't express how I hic really feel.”

 

“I'm familiar with the idea,” Sehun mumbled while caressing Luhan's flushed cheeks. He couldn't tell if it was due to the alcohol or the love confession. 

 

“Some days I feel like I love you too much, and hic other days, I feel like I don't love you enough. It's confusing, but I like it regardless because you hic make me very very happy, Sehun-ah.”

 

Luhan shot him a lazy smile, and Sehun leaned in to nuzzle that lazy smile.

 

“I don't want us to separate,” Luhan confessed quietly.

 

Sehun stopped what he was doing to gaze into his boyfriend's sparkling, lovestruck eyes. “We won't.”

 

“I can't imagine myself without you, Sehun-ah,” Luhan said sadly with tears pooling in his eyes.

 

“Then don't,” Sehun said simply, cupping Luhan's face. “You'll always have me, so there's nothing to worry about.”

 

“Hic really?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Luhan blinked and the tears trickled down his flawless face as a result. Sehun's thumbs immediately brushed the tears away.
 

It was odd seeing Luhan cry while intoxicated because though Sehun had known that Luhan was an emotional drunk, he didn't expect this at all. In the back of his mind, he wondered if Luhan was confessing his insecurities, something that he hid from Sehun.

 

Luhan yawned, and Sehun's eyes studied him carefully. Luhan released his arms from Sehun's neck, and declared sleepily, “I'm going to sleep now, Sehun-ah. My head's spinning, and there's three of you, but I'm pretty sure I only love one of you.”

 

The older boy squirmed away from Sehun, and made himself comfortable on Sehun's side of the bed. He tucked one arm under Sehun's pillow and fell asleep immediately. A few seconds later, soft snores could be heard from the boy.

 

Not knowing what else to do, Sehun turned off the lights and laid down next to Luhan. Naturally, he brought his boyfriend closer, encasing his arms around Luhan's sleeping form, and pressing his chest against Luhan's back.

 

There were a lot of things going through Sehun's mind as he laid there with Luhan in his arms. One of them was the thought of them finally having some peace and quiet in their relationship – with Jinho not being a problem any more. He also thought about how he was going to deal with Luhan's hangover tomorrow. Should he wake up early to buy him hangover soup? Because there was no way Kyungsoo would be sober in time to make it. Or should he let his boyfriend sleep it off?

 

And even when he thought about these various things, he couldn't stop the nagging voice in his head from voicing what he was now starting to fear – the possibility of separation.

 

Is Luhan going to enter the New York program?

 

Are they really going to be on opposite ends of the globe?

 

Can Sehun handle that?

 

Sehun's head was already starting to hurt from just thinking about it. How was he going to stay strong when it actually happens?

 

He buried his face in Luhan's fluffy hair, and exhaled. Maybe he should take this one day at a time. He has to trust that they'll get through it. Whatever happens, they'll be fine like he said.

 

Yes, everything will be fine, he thought as he closed his eyes and held Luhan a little tighter.

 

******

“Lu?”

 

Luhan looked up from his spot on the carpeted floor. “Sehun, what – how did you find me?”

 

Sehun walked over and plopped down next to him, leaning his back against the library's bookshelf. “I followed my Bambi senses.”

 

“Ha ha,” Luhan said while trying to slip the pamphlet he's been reading back into his backpack without Sehun noticing.

 

Unfortunately, Sehun caught him trying to do so, and swiftly grabbed the pamphlet.

 

“Is this what you were doing alone?” Sehun asked as he skimmed through the information in the pamphlet.

 

“Yeah,” Luhan said nervously. “I –”

 

“So New York huh?”

 

Sehun turned to look at him, and Luhan found it slightly troubling that he couldn't decipher what Sehun was thinking.

 

“I think it sounds like a cool program. You should do it,” Sehun continued, eyes glancing back at the picture of the Statue of Liberty. “Besides, you've always wanted to travel. It'll be fun.”

 

Luhan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “You knew about it?”

 

“Yeah. I'm your boyfriend remember? I know every – almost everything about you.”

 

“Sehun-ah...” Luhan muttered, surprised that Sehun didn't talk to him about it even when he had known.

 

“Were you afraid of telling me? Scared about how I would react?”

 

Luhan looked down, feeling ashamed of himself because he could hear the hurt in Sehun's voice.

 

“It's okay, Lu. I'm not mad or anything. If you want to go, you should. I won't stop you because I really do think you should join. It's a great opportunity, and I'm –”

 

“Aren't you going to miss me?” Luhan asked, cutting Sehun off.

 

Sehun closed his mouth, and turned his attention back to the pamphlet on his lap. After a few silent seconds, he eventually said, “Of course, I'm going to miss you.”

 

“Then why do you want me to go?”

 

“I don't want you to go. I just don't want to keep you from going. I'm not going to hold you back, Lu.”

 

“Because it's best for me?”

 

Sehun sighed. “Yeah..”

 

“What are you going to do when I'm away?”

 

Sehun shrugged and flipped through the pamphlet once more. “I don't know. I'll find a way to survive. Don't worry about me.”

 

Luhan could see the tiny frown on Sehun's face as he spotted the picture of the resident hall where new students would be staying. He tried not to laugh at how adorable Sehun looked when he was trying not to express how he felt.

 

“That's not fair,” Luhan said as he scooted closer to his boyfriend. “How am I supposed to not worry about you when you're going to definitely worry about me?”

 

“I'll try not to worry about you too much then,” Sehun reasoned, all while avoiding eye contact with Luhan.

 

“Really?”

 

“Well, I won't worry more than what's necessary.”

 

“Oh. And what exactly is considered necessary?”

 

“I'll just make sure I hear from you everyday for safety reasons. You know, New York City has the highest mugging rate in the United States, and they're second to Chicago for armed robbery. You don't have to tell me everything that happens, but I just need to know how your day went and if you're being stalked or not. If someone is giving you a hard time, take a picture of him, so I'll know whose I'm kicking. I guess I should get you a safety whistle and an electric taser before you leave – for emergency purposes. And I'll --”

 

Sehun stopped when Luhan started laughing. “What?” he asked.

 

“You're amazing,” Luhan said breathlessly.

 

When he stopped laughing long enough to notice the confusion Sehun was sending his way, Luhan quickly replaced the pamphlet and settled himself on Sehun's lap.

 

“I'm not going to New York,” Luhan stated, smiling as he saw the way Sehun's eyes lit up with relief. “Originally, I was considering it, but since it wasn't a sure thing, I didn't want to worry you over it.”

 

“But what about --”

 

“There's a better Sociology graduate program somewhere else. It's extremely near.”

 

“Where?”

 

“Seoul National University,” Luhan said with a grin. “I'll be applying there soon, and if I get in, then I'll be about 20 minutes away from home and from you essentially. Twenty minutes isn't so bad, is it?”

 

Sehun shook his head. “It's not,” he said, wrapping his arms around Luhan's waist. “But why did you let me go on and on about New York?”

 

“Because it was fun. Seeing you try to sound calm and cool while internally, you're filled with grief and heartbreak was extremely entertaining.”

 

“You're a horrible person,” Sehun accused.

 

Luhan laughed at his boyfriend's unamused expression. “It was really cute when you said you wanted me to call in and --”

 

“Yeah. Yeah. We got it.”

 

“You love me very much, don't you?” Luhan asked as he cupped Sehun's face.

 

Sehun scoffed. “Are you really asking that?”

 

Luhan smiled, and Sehun took that opportunity to capture Luhan's lips in a slow, passionate kiss.

 

Many kisses later, Sehun pulled away, ignoring the soft whimper from Luhan.

 

“Why were you looking at the pamphlets if you weren't even going to go there?”

 

“It had nice pictures?”

 

“You got to be kidding.”

 

“Nope.”

 

Sehun groaned. “One of these days, loving you wouldn't be so stressful.”

 

“What's the fun in that?” Luhan teased, bumping his forehead against Sehun's.

 

“Shut up,” Sehun snapped back before pressing their lips together once more.

 

 

 

 

~~~~~~ I'VE UPDATED! YESS!! YAY!! PARTY. FINALLY. Sorry for the long wait. School happened. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Jinho and Baekhyun are on good terms now. Or good according to Baek's standard. Hhaha. The NY thing is settled. Lol. Just wanted to worry you guys for no reason. Hunhan will stay together. YAY! And the next chapter is the last. Look forward to it. Subscribe. Comment. Thanks! 

P.S. Sehun looks SMOKING HOT with his new haircut. Let's take a moment to appreciate it. Ahhh..Oooohh.