“What are you going to do during the summer break?”

I the oil off my fingers and making a show of it just to see he cringes.

“I dunno. Going home, for sure. I want to go travel, but kinda short on money. Maybe I’ll beg my old boss to accept me again, even after I totally busted his car doing delivery last time.”

He snorts. “I couldn’t expect lesser from you, and you prove me wrong again. How attached are you to that job?”

I look at him like he has grown another head. “As much as I am attached to my backpack. It’s summer, man. I don’t want to be cooped up at house with my mom and hear her nagging all day. I love my mom, mind you, but if I have to spend 2 whole months with her, I might as well volunteer to stay at school.”

He laughs at me. “Then, you wouldn’t be opposed to the idea of coming home with me? I’m spending some time with my family, maybe two or three weeks. Then I’m visiting my grandparents for a while before heading north to our summer house. My family won’t be able to make the trip and I really don’t want to be alone there. So, you want to come with me? You can bring Jongin and Luhan, if they are around.”

Taking my last bite of the pizza, I chew slowly to give myself time to think. “You sure you’re okay with it? I mean, I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“Yeah, man. We’re just going to have to keep it low. Nothing to rowdy, or I’ll never hear the end of it from my parents.”

That actually sounds like a good idea. “I’ll think about it. I’ll ask Jongin and Luhan, too, if they’re up for it.”

“Sure. Just let me know a few days beforehand and we can make a plan to travel there.”

“Hey, is Kyungsoo home?”

I close the door behind me and settles on the couch that Jongin is sitting in.

“Not yet. He said he’s meeting with the TA today.”

“Oh. Okay. Hey, do you have plans for summer? It’s just, Kris has invited me to his family’s summer house, and he invited you and Luhan, too.”

He takes a sip of his Gatorade. “Kris, huh? You sure you want me and Luhan around?”

What? “What are you talking about?”

“Come on, Suho. Think about it. This is a perfect opportunity for Kris to get you, alone, and you think he would want anybody else around?” He raises an eyebrow and give me a -eating grin.

“What the hell are you on to? He was the one who invited us all, and I mean ALL, to his summer house. He wouldn’t say anything if he didn’t want anybody else around.” I take a breath. Jongin is still grinning. “Right?”

“You think?”

Typical Jongin to mess with my head. “Fine. I’ll just let him know you are not interested.” With that I left their shared apartment, not before I flip him the bird and get a loud laugh in return.

I walk back to my room in hope for a short rest before the party tonight. Everybody’s finished with their final papers and is so excited to finally get this year done.

“Hey Suho. You’re back.”

Luhan greets me at the door. Which is weird. He’s usually dead to the world after exams. Then, I hear footsteps and there Yixing is, carrying a… box?

“Hey, where are you going?”

“Oh, we have an early flight to catch to head home. Well, to my home to put all my stuff there and spend a few days with my family. Then, we’re heading off to Europe with a few of our old friends for a few weeks.”

Luhan cheerily answers while Yixing just nods his head in agreement.

“Oh man, everyone’s travelling and the only person available is Jongin. What even is my life?”

Luhan stops whatever he was doing. “Why? Do you need us for something?”

I step between the scattered boxes to settle on the couch. “Well, Kris has invited me and you guys to spend some time at his summer house.”

Luhan tilts his head. A questioning look on his face. “Okay. Then what do you need us for?”

I gape. “Didn’t you hear me? He invited me, you, Jongin, us to his summer house.”

Before Luhan gets to reply, Yixing chirps in, “Are you sure about that Suho? I mean, wouldn’t you want to spend the time alone with him?”

Oh, come on! Not them too.

“Am I the only one who is missing something right now? Why does everyone assume he wants to spend time alone with me? He invited us all, and I mean ALL, to his summer house, and you guys are just ting me with this ‘needing alone time’. Come on, guys. It’s not funny.”

The couple exchange similar confused looks before turning their gazes back at me. It’s Luhan who finally speaks, “What do you mean we’re assuming? It’s you who wouldn’t come clean about your relationship with Kris. I mean, who are you kidding, Suho? You’ve been spending most of your time with him. You go to class together, you eat together, and now he wants to spend his summer with you together. It’s normal for couples to travel together, you know. You don’t have to use us as your excuse to go to his summer house.”

Wait, what?

“What are you even talking about? We are not dating. We’re just, well, buddies.”

Now the look of confusion turns into a very unimpressed look. “You just keep telling yourself that.” And they both shrug and resume their packing, leaving me frozen on the couch.

Seriously, what is wrong with these people?

Fine, if everyone is going to leave me then I’ll just go with Kris alone. Thinking about it makes my head hurt, and looking at my watch I can see there’s no time for me to take a nap before the party. Oh well. Might as well just get ready.

To say the party is lit would be an understatement. They house is packed with students in all states of drunkenness, with some opting to keep the minimum amount of clothing on their persons. I see some familiar faces as I make my way to the center of all attention – the drinks. I don’t think I’m going to get smashed tonight since I’m leaving early tomorrow, but a few drinks won’t hurt.

After acquiring some drinks of my own, I make my way through the crowd to the backyard, where a game of table tennis is happening. Well, not so much a game than people just hitting everything at random and giggling at everything. Just when I am about to turn, I feel an arm snaking around my waist.

“Hey, Suho.”

Turning around get me facing a very red, very drunk Chanyeol, a classmate in my Calculus class. Huh. I rarely speak to him so it’s kind of awkward having him so close to me.

“Hey, Chanyeol. Enjoying the party?”

He gives me a slow grin and pull me closer to him. “Was looking for you. Let me get you some more drink.” He physically hauls me through the crowd back into the house, where more suspicious drinks are being poured. He grabs one at random and shove it to my face.

“Uhm, thanks but I’m already leaving. I’ll see you around, okay?”

“No, no. You have to drink with me. Come on. I won’t be seeing your cute face for the rest of summer. We haven’t had time to hang out together during the year. Why don’t we get to know each other tonight, huh?”

I can feel him tightening his arms around my waist.

“It’s okay, buddy. I really shouldn’t drink that much tonight.”

“Come on. We can just talk. I know someplace we can have out private talk.”

, this is not what I signed up for when I agreed to come to the party. I try to remove his arms but to no use. I look around to find someone, just anyone, to help me get rid of this guy, but everybody is busy dancing and getting more drinks. I don’t want this!

“Hey baby. Where have you been? I thought you were getting more drinks.”

I spin around and thank God, it’s Kris! He must have seen the look of distraught on my face and the arm still firmly holding my waist. , this Chanyeol guy sure is relentless!

He moves his gaze towards Chanyeol. “If you are done holding my boyfriend?”

The arm tightens around me again, before finally Chanyeol releases his grip on me and puts up his hands in the form of surrender. “Chill, man. We were just talking.” With that, he grabs another glass and slithers back into the crowd.

“Let’s get you out of here.” I didn’t realize I was shaking, not until Kris puts his arms on the small of my back and ushers me all the way out of the house.

“!”

“Suho, are you okay? Did he do anything to you?” He grabs my wrist and immediately I feel more grounded.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. It’s just… I just want to go back.” He lets me take a few deep breaths, all the while still holding my wrist. “Sure, I’ll walk you home.” He lets go of my wrist and I almost grab his hand, but we’re not in that kind of relationship so I just put my hand in my pocket and start walking.

We walk in silence, even though I can feel him glancing at me every now and then. When we reach my apartment, I just stand there frozen.

“Are you sure you are okay?”

I spin around and like, it’s not one of my best moment, but hugging him is the only sensible thing I can think off. He freezes, before getting back to his senses and puts his arms around me. It just feels, complete, safe.

We are holding on to each other for quite some time until I finally let go.

“Thank you, Kris.”