jongdae stares at herself in the bathroom mirror, inspecting herself in her costume. she’s a cat. she pretty much half-assed it because she basically put together a black lace top with a black skirt and bought some cat ears she saw at the grocery store. she takes the eyebrow pencil and carefully draws on angled lines across her cheeks for her “whiskers.” she finishes the last line and tilts her head from side to side to test how they look on her. she grins at her reflection in satisfaction. she circles the pencil on the point of her nose to add to her cat makeup. with red lips and winged liner, she stands back to reassess her costume. she nods in approval and decides to pose like a cat, cocking her hip to the side and holding her hands out like she’s baring her “claws.”   

just then the bathroom door opens, “what are you doing?” baekhyun bites his lip to hold in his laugh as he’s caught jongdae posing.

she straightens herself out, brushing a strand of her hair (slightly curled) behind her ear. “nothing.” she goes back to look at herself once more in the mirror before facing baekhyun. she eyes him from top to bottom.

“and what are you supposed to be?” she crosses her arms and baekhyun doesn’t fail to notice how nice her arms look in the see-through lace sleeves.

“i’m a pirate!” baekhyun points to his eyepatch like it’s the most obvious thing. both of his eyes are lined with kohl, slightly smeared for that smoky, edgy effect, and he went so far as to add a few “battle scars” across his cheek and jaw.

“oh, i see it now.” jongdae nods nonchalantly. she moves past him to walk back into the living room. baekhyun follows.

she slumps into the sofa. “so what else do you want me to do?” she looks at baekhyun and baekhyun gulps because she looks really cute with her curled hair splayed about her head against the pillow of the sofa and the cat ears blend perfectly with her hair color and her thin red lips which were already cat-like in baekhyun’s opinion, she really does look like a ing cat. and baekhyun is starting to feel like he’s ing screwed.

chanyeol decides to come into the apartment at possibly the worst or best time possible. “guess who’s finished with midterms!” he shouts loudly as he closes the door behind him. “oh woah, you guys decorated the place nicely.”

“oh, hey chanye--” baekhyun starts to greet his roommate.

“park chanyeol!” jongdae says angrily as she stalks towards him but they both know she really isn’t.

“jongdae-ah!” chanyeol opens his arms wide in greeting. jongdae stops a few feet in front of him and puts her hands on her hips.

“what happened to ‘let’s catch up over lunch?’” jongdae mocks chanyeol’s casually happy tone.

chanyeol laughs. “sorry. i’ve been busy with work and studying and yeah. couldn’t find the time.” he closes the gap between him and jongdae and envelops her in a hug. he laughs even more when she doesn’t return the hug but she doesn’t move away from him either. baekhyun attempts to ignore the fact that jongdae and chanyeol were planning to hangout without him.

jongdae sighs. “okay. that’s enough. i didn’t miss you that much.” she pushes off his chest and walks to the candy bowl on the table to browse for anything she likes.

chanyeol then gets a good look at both jongdae’s and baekhyun’s costumes.

“oh! you guys are dressed up! wait, don’t tell me. let me guess what you are!” chanyeol glances between the both of them. they both look expectant of what chanyeol’s guesses will be.

“are you that one guy from avengers? the, uh...” chanyeol put his finger to his chin. “the fury guy! nick fury!” he points to baekhyun, like he’s just gotten the million dollar question right.

baekhyun drops his head and shakes it from side to side. “no, chanyeol. just no.” jongdae, on the other hand, laughs as she unwraps a hershey kiss.

“and jongdae, are you supposed to be.. black swan or something?”

now baekhyun laughs and jongdae face palms because she should have expected for chanyeol to completely miss the obvious.

“chanyeol, i have ears. cat. ears.” she points to the headband she’s wearing.

chanyeol steps closer. “ohh.. a cat. i didn’t see your ears til now.”

“and baekhyun here is a pirate.” she adds, pointing to baekhyun, who gestures at his ragged shirt, jeans and boots.

chanyeol just nods like this is all new information.

“you watch too many movies man.” baekhyun pats chanyeol’s shoulder and goes to the kitchen to finish putting snacks out into bowls.

-

“uhh, sehun... are you sure you gave me the right size?” kyungsoo keeps having to lift the straps of the white dress over her shoulder.

“yes. i did. i made sure. you asked me five times now.” sehun says as she holds a curling iron to kyungsoo’s head. “now stay still or i’ll burn you.”

kyungsoo makes a small yelping noise and sehun pats her shoulder. “just relax. i was just kidding. you’re gonna look so cute. well, more cuter than you already are.” sehun catches kyungsoo’s eye in the mirror and smiles at her.

kyungsoo sighs. “okay.”

she fidgets in her desk chair, that sehun pulled out to situate it in front of the mirror so she could do kyungsoo’s hair and makeup. even though she’s wearing white stockings, she keeps pulling at the hem of her dress. sehun opted to skip out on the stockings. she’s wearing a fitting white long-sleeve under her dress, which seems to fit her body more since sehun is taller and more leaner than kyungsoo.

“sehun, when you said bunny costumes. i thought you meant, like a bunny suit. like those onesie pajama kinds.”

“oh. well, no. it’s just the dress and the ears, basically.” sehun releases the iron and smiles at how good she’s gotten at curling hair.

“yeah. i just-- i don’t want to get, uh, cold. outside. when we’re trick-or-treating.” kyungsoo avoids sehun’s eyes in the mirror.

“close your eyes.” sehun commands quietly.

“what?”

“close your eyes. i’m gonna use the hairspray now.”

after the aerosol has been applied to kyungsoo’s hair, sehun tosses the curls lightly so they stay bouncy.

“do you feel uncomfortable in your costume, kyungsoo?” sehun asks after she turns off the curling iron.

kyungsoo hesitates before giving in. “yes.” she frowns as she turns to look at sehun. “sorry, sehun. i just... can’t wear this.” she stands up and pulls at a piece of the dress. “maybe-- maybe i shouldn’t go with you guys after all.”

“stop right there, kyungsoo. i didn’t do your hair all nice just so you can stay inside on halloween night.” sehun points at kyungsoo’s nose. kyungsoo stays where she is and watches sehun go to her closet.

“here, wear this over your dress.” it’s a white sweater. sehun hands it to kyungsoo. she takes it but looks at it questioningly.

“wait, why?” kyungsoo peers at her roommate for the answer.

“you don’t want to be cold right? wear the sweater. at least it’s white and you’ll still have your ears to wear on your head. you’ll still be a bunny!”

sehun helps kyungsoo wear her sweater over without messing too much of her hair. kyungsoo tosses the curls out and sehun places the headband with adorning fluffy white ears on top of her head.

“there!” sehun pushes kyungsoo to look at herself in front of the mirror. “you look even cuter!”

kyungsoo blushes and holds herself. “thank you, sehun.”

“okay! it’s almost, like, 8. let’s meet up with the guys and get going then?” sehun goes to grab her purse and bag to hold her candy.

kyungsoo nods and follows sehun out their door.

luckily, jongin and tao were already on their way to knock on sehun and kyungsoo’s door, meeting them halfway in the hallway.

before they got too close, tao tugs on jongin’s arm. “dude, do you see what i see? oh my god. sehun’s a bunny of all things.”

jongin looks at tao with distaste as his roommate ogles at his old classmate.

“well, look at you jongin. what are you, a burglar?” sehun calls out from down the hall.

“i’m a ninja, thanks for asking.” jongin returns just as much sass back to sehun, as they walk closer.

“hi sehun! i, uh, like your costume!” tao cuts in brightly.

“thanks! i’m not the only one either.” sehun grins and proceeds to step to the side and pulls kyungsoo to the front. she makes a noise of disapproval at sehun and reluctantly raises her eyes to greet the boys.

“hi jongin. hi tao.” she says politely, while trying to subtly tug the hem of her dress down.

jongin can only stare wide-eyed as he takes in all of kyungsoo. the white bunny ears contrasted nicely with her dark hair falling over her shoulders. the white fabric of the skirt looks the same between her’s and sehun’s, but the sweater adds an even more innocent feel. she looks more like an angel than a bunny if you ask jongin. and lord help jongin if he doesn’t say something back to her, he might just pounce on this girl right now. but that would be unfair to kyungsoo and tao and sehun. jongin thinks his heartbeats and thoughts are having a race right now but he’s brought back to reality when tao claps a hand over his shoulder.

“you two look really good in the matching costumes!” he hears tao say.

“and you are...” sehun takes in tao’s costume.

“ninja turtle? rafael.” kyungsoo answers, pointing at her own eyes. “i can tell by your red eyemask. and i noticed the turtle shell on your back.”

“yeah!” tao smiles proudly and proceeds to turn around to show off his turtle shell, which makes kyungsoo and sehun laugh. in the midst of laughing, kyungsoo catches jongin’s stare.

“so, let’s go already! i don’t want all the good candy to run out.” sehun walks through them towards the exit. tao had somehow managed to get his arm dragged by sehun. kyungsoo follows with jongin at her side.

the dorms are situated near apartment complexes so most freshmen are found trick-or-treating there. the four run into a lot of their classmates while ringing doorbells and getting free candy.

they are about an hour in and so far, jongin and sehun seem to be the ones with the most candy. sehun may have a little more because she was actually the most brave of them to go up to a house that was extremely decorated with a horror and gore theme. they’re taking it slow now, going down streets they’ve already visited, just to get some more candy.

sehun is tugging tao with her to wait in a line in front of a house they’ve already gone through but sehun specifically remembers this house having her favorite: candy corn. leaving jongin and kyungsoo to wait for them at the sidewalk.

jongin looks to kyungsoo and nods up at the house. “do you want to get more candy?”

she shakes her head. “not really. i think i have enough.” she holds up her treat bag which is pretty lumpy at the bottom. “plus, i could never finish this amount of candy before it goes bad.”

jongin laughs. “that’s the point, i think. eat as much candy as you can before it or your teeth go bad.”

kyungsoo laughs at his corniness and jongin is hyper aware that her laugh may be the greatest sound he’s ever heard.

“i like your costume by the way, jongin.” kyungsoo adds.

“it’s not much. i could be any guy who’s just wearing all black to be honest.” jongin shrugs but is elated on the inside to hear the compliment from kyungsoo.

“same for me. i could just be any girl who’s wearing all white.” she looks down at her costume.

“no!” jongin counters, accidentally raising his voice. “i mean, i could tell you’re a bunny.” he raises his hand to tug at her ears, misjudging how much force he used because he manages to make it fall off the top of her head.

“oh, oops. wait, let me--”

they’re a bunch of fumbling hands as jongin attempts to set the headband upright and kyungsoo tries to fix her hair around it. jongin’s hands brush against kyungsoo’s and he really looks at her now and she’s looking back at him and when did they get so close? jongin moves his hands down from the top of her head to her face. only his thumbs are slightly grazing her upper cheeks. he gulps and kyungsoo notices.

“oh my god!” sehun’s shriek startles them both. kyungsoo turns and jongin drops his hands behind his back.

sehun shines her phone in kyungsoo’s face.

“what.. am i supposed to be looking at?” kyungsoo holds onto sehun’s wrist to keep the phone still.

“it’s luhan. she’s one of my sorority sisters. she took a picture with zhang yixing!”

“who?” kyungsoo asks as sehun takes the phone away from her face to text furiously on it.

“yeah, who?” tao repeats.

“yixing. he’s a 3rd year. he’s on one of the dance teams here. and he’s sooo good. luhan knew i’ve wanted to meet him for a while now.”

kyungsoo goes to sehun’s side to see what she’s doing on her phone. jongin and tao look at each other, jongin pats his roomie on the back.

“okay, we’re going.” sehun announces, still looking at her phone.

“what?!” all three of them say in unison.

“the party. luhan said she’s at a halloween party. and we’re invited. we just have to have a costume. which we all do, so yeah, let’s go.”

“wait, sehun. we can’t just go to this party. we don’t even know anyone there.” jongin points out, thinking he’s probably the only one who could talk some sense into her.

“come on, jongin. upperclassmen will be there. it’s freaken halloween. you’re in college. live a little, yeah?”

jongin rolls his eyes. he glances at tao, who just shrugs back at him. “hey, i’m down. if we go back now, i’d just be sitting in my room anyways.”

“exactly!” sehun adds.

jongin looks to kyungsoo, whose eyes seem to have brightened up a little. she’s only facing towards sehun.

“kyungsoo, do you really want to go t--”

“will there be alcohol?” she whispers, holding a hand over .

jongin’s mouth drops. wait, did he hear that right? did kyungsoo just ask if there would be alcoh--

“oh my, kyungsoo! i didn’t know this side of you.” sehun links her arm around kyungsoo’s excitedly. “yes, i believe so. is that okay with you?”

jongin gapes at both girls, even more when kyungsoo nods.

“i guess.. i just wanted to try it? plus, i’ve been really stressed by this week. i think i want to let loose just a little, at least for tonight.” kyungsoo smiles like she didn’t just basically say she’ll be compliant in committing a small sin.

sehun nods. “i get you girl. trust me, i’ll make sure you have a lot of fun tonight.” sehun looks at jongin now. “so what will it be jongin? you gonna go back and mope around by your lonesome or are you gonna come with us?”

kyungsoo turns her head expectantly at jongin with a hint of a smile.

jongin groans but concedes. “fine, i’ll go.”

“yay! okay. follow me. luhan sent me the address and it’s pretty close by. about a 10 minute walk away.” sehun leads them, tugging kyungsoo along as they’re still linking arms.

kyungsoo peers up at jongin. “i’m glad you decided to go.” he blinks back at her before saying “yeah.” then her attention is taken away from sehun showing her another picture.

“these girls are crazy, huh?” tao comments as they walk behind the pair ahead of them.

“yeah.” jongin agrees half-heartedly.

“i don’t know about you, but i love it.” tao snickers jokingly.

“yeah.”

-

a/n: helloooooo~ so i'm super excited to post this chapter because finally halloween night is upon us (in this fic)!!!

lots of hints at different pairings right? heeehehehe all in good fun (mostly my fun as the writer but you know, i want it to be fun for the readers as well!)

we'll see who ends up with who at the end~

also, i've been thinking about this since i first started writing this fic and well, should i add to this or what?

okay please comment on what you think of the story so far~ i really love reading your comments (:

thanks for reading~~~