Jinki had always liked to believe the universe didn’t hate him.

It was however getting harder to hold on to that belief as Minho kept finding him when he was alone (most likely Taemin's doing, if not Jonghyun's, who also seemed to think this was a great idea). He did the best he could of it though (he had promised Kibum after all) and found out that the tall, handsome young man’s dream was to be a math teacher, amongst other things. It honestly surprised him; because Minho looked nothing like a teacher, let alone a math one, with his long legs, impossibly perfect face and gentlemanly behaviour. He could be a model.

The other laughed when Jinki pointed it out to him five days into their Christmas break at lunch, smiling warmly and blushing the slightest which in turn made Jinki himself feel all bubbly and pink inside, blushing even more prominently, giving both Taemin and Jonghyun a reason to smirk knowingly. The boy would later not so subtly say that Christmas was one of the more important holidays for confessing and that he should be prepared. That led to Jinki almost locking himself in his room in fright of what could come.

To his relief, however, Christmas came and passed three days later without any bigger confessions, which Taemin had so kindly warned him of.

“He’s such a goddamn coward,” Jonghyun had muttered the day after to the black haired boy, when they waited for Minho to join them before going to the closest Starbucks.

Jinki pretended he had never heard it and continued his wingman duties with more determination. Although, his intentions were starting to slip out of focus as it led to him and Minho spending a lot of time together, mostly alone since Taemin and Jonghyun always found some excuse or other to leave. Taemin liked to call it their ‘alone time’. Jinki rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t find it in himself to complain.

In one of their more private moments by Jinki's (and now also Minho's) usual corner table in the library, where they were supposed to be studying but always somehow forgot about time and space and just talked about anything and everything, he learned that the younger man only had his father and four years younger sister left, his mother having died when he was fifteen in cancer. Jinki hadn’t known what to say upon seeing the sorrow in Minho’s eyes and his slightly hunched posture, looking unsure of if he had done the right thing by telling him. So he had simply reached over and grabbed the other’s hand without thinking. He couldn’t even say he was sorry, because he still had both of his parents and had no idea of what it must have felt like, and didn’t want to come off as insincere. Minho seemed to understand, though, because he turned his hand palm-up and let their fingers intertwine, his eyes softening and a small, blissful smile spreading on his lips.

Only then did Jinki realise, to his immense horror, what he was doing. But he couldn’t pull back his hand. He wouldn’t be able to take the disappointed look the other would most probably give him. He promised himself that would be the only time he would indulge his impulsiveness and let Minho continue holding his hand while they resumed studying in silence, Jinki hiding his red cheeks by looking down at the book and the other’s smile spreading from ear to ear.

He spent the days talking with the younger about all the things he could think of, answering the questions he received as well without reflecting over it, and somehow Kibum was pushed to the back of his mind as he drowned in the overwhelming feeling of being close to Minho, laughing and playing with him, listening to his stories. He inquired about favourite actors and actresses, past girlfriends and boyfriends, movies and music. He asked about colours, foods, places and animals, the answer to the last one making him double over in laughter.

“Owls!” Jinki managed to breathe out between laughs. “You like owls?!”

Minho scratched his neck sheepishly, glancing around at the poor students, who still had lectures during the break, hurry through the snow to their buildings as they headed to the library for a study session.

“Well,” he shrugged, “they’re cute. Especially the baby ones.”

Jinki smiled up at him. He actually thought owls were quite cool, too.

“Owls can be really pretty,” he agreed. “And they’re supposed to be the symbol of wisdom. But why?”

“It’s all because of the Harry Potter books,” Minho chuckled embarrassedly. “I kind of always wanted to get one like Harry’s and go to Hogwarts and all that.”

“You read Harry Potter?” Jinki couldn’t help but laugh. He would never have taken the other to be the reading type.

“Yeah, I was such a fan boy,” the taller sighed. “Jonghyun played a really evil prank on me and made a fake Hogwarts letter and put it in my mailbox when I turned eleven. I was so excited until he had to tell me the truth to stop me from buying tickets to go to London.”

Jinki laughed harder at that, which really hadn’t been a good idea. It caused him to slip on the icy snow and lose his balance momentarily, flailing his arms to catch anything that could help steady him and managing to hit Minho on the cheek in the process. They both lost their balance then, and fell into the mid-thigh high snow on either side of the small path, which had been shovelled out for the students going from the science building to the main building.

“I’m so sorry!” he almost yelled, sitting up and looking across at a laughing Minho with his hair full of snow.

And before he knew it, a snowball fight erupted, all plans of studying gone in favour of having fun. They ran around screaming and laughing, disrupting the otherwise quiet campus until early evening when a professor stopped them since Jinki’s aim went astray and a snowball almost hit him in the back of the head. They tried to stifle their giggles while he scolded them but did the mistake of sharing a look, making them break into full out laughter, apologising the best they could but only ending up laughing even more uncontrollably. The professor gave both of them a narrow-eyed warning before turning on his heel and leaving. They both chortled the entire way back to the dorms, deciding to call it a day in favour getting warm with a hot shower and changing clothes. They said good-bye at the first floor, since Minho's room was there, and Jinki continued up to the third.

He realised he had completely forgotten Kibum existed over the days, but got it smacked right back into his face when he tumbled through the door to his and Taemin's dorm room, his cheeks rosy and eyes shining, soaked through by the melted snow in his clothes, and found the blonde lounging on his bed, watching TV with the youngest on the other bed.

“Hyung!” he said happily and sat up. “It’s great to see you!”

“K-Kibum?” Jinki stammered, feeling guiltier than he should. Taemin looked at him suspiciously. “You’re back early. When did you return?”

“By noon.” He flopped down on the bed again. “I managed to get my mother to let me leave after Christmas day. I stopped by Minho and Jonghyun's room, but he wasn’t there.” Kibum pouted. “I talked to Jonghyun for a while since you and Taemin weren’t in either.”

“Oh…” Jinki said unintelligently.

“You’re soaking wet, Hyung,” Taemin pointed out, “did you roll around in the snow or something?”

Jinki blushed furiously and racked his brain for something other to say than telling them he had been with Minho. The boy’s eyes narrowed and Kibum looked over at him as well when the silence stretched out.

“I, uh…” he laughed nervously. “I slipped. And fell. On some snow.”

They both raised their eyebrows at him and he shrugged. He wasn’t technically lying; he was just leaving out some minor details. Although, those details seemed a lot more important than they should.

“Well, it does sound like something you would do,” his blond friend rolled his eyes amusedly and turned back to the show he was watching.

Taemin, however, narrowed his eyes even more and searched Jinki's face. He broke into a grin when he apparently found what he was looking for but didn’t say anything and looked back to the TV-screen as well. Jinki let out a silent sigh and left for the bathroom to take a warm shower, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do. He decided to worry about it later and let the hot water turn his cold skin warm, an unconscious smile spreading on his lips as scenes from his and Minho's snowball war played in his mind.

“By the way Hyung,” Kibum said when he joined them again, “did you talk to Minho?”

Jinki started slightly, his mind still a few hours earlier in time, and for a moment thought he had been caught, but then realised the blonde meant his promise to be a wingman. He cleared his throat, his heart sinking slightly.

“Yeah, actually, he wants to be a math teacher-”

Kibum waved a hand. “I knew that already! Anything else?”

“He, um, likes eating pizza, his favourite colours are orange and green and he thinks owls are cute.” Jinki couldn’t help the smile spreading across his face as he remembered their earlier conversation.

“Owls?” the other wrinkled his nose and looked to Taemin, who shrugged. “They’re kind of creepy aren’t they? I mean, they have huge unblinking eyes and their heads rotate.” He shuddered. “Anyway, thank you, Hyung! I owe you!”

Jinki nodded and bit his lip, contemplating on whether he should tell his blonde friend about his and Minho's ‘alone-time’ as well. A part of him suddenly really, really, didn’t want to let him know. It was so strong he couldn’t even open his mouth to utter the words. He was doing his job (although it could be slightly questioned on how well he was progressing) and he just wanted that little bubble of his and Minho's world stay the way it was. Theirs. Kibum would find out sooner or later, when he and Minho started dating anyway.

A lump settled in his throat and he tried his best to swallow it down, his mind spinning for the rest of the evening and late into the night.

He had let himself loose up around Minho, which was not a good thing. He realised that, yes, he had gotten information about the tall underclassman but he hadn’t really tried to make him realise Kibum was interested. Instead, he had told the other about himself and let him in. Jinki's insides went cold. That was not the plan! He had unthinkingly answered Minho's questions as well, too occupied by the way his hair fell in his eyes and how his smile made him melt to remember his blond friend. He couldn’t have that. It would only cause problems. And it was going to end right that instant, he vowed to himself.

So he started the next day by immediately getting to work, making up for lost time by cheerily announcing the arrival of Kibum and pushing him to stand beside Minho before he sprinted off after Taemin who had gone ahead, leading the way to their usual Starbucks. They had decided to take a break that day and meet up at the café. Jonghyun had gone ahead, not feeling like waiting with Minho.

“Hyung,” the boy sighed when he caught up and glanced over his shoulder at the pair behind them, “I already told you this will end bad. Stop making it worse.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Taemin,” Jinki sniffed.

“Seriously, he’ll think you’re playing with his head!” Taemin said exasperatedly. “You should see the look on his face right now!”

“Why would he think that?”

“Because you basically led him on! You two were spending so much time together, having fun, and now you’re pushing Kibum on him?!” Taemin growled. “He looks so confused and lost I can’t even- augh!” He threw his hands in the air in frustration.

Jinki didn’t dare to look back and see for himself if it was true and he didn’t acknowledge the cold lump in his stomach either.

“I-I didn’t lead him on!” he protested as they entered the café. “I just… forgot…”

The boy scoffed. “Forgot our friend, who we’ve known since we were kids, existed? Yeah, I noticed!”

Jinki looked at him in terror, panic rising in his chest, and he gave him a look that said ‘you brought this upon yourself’ before spotting Jonghyun at a table and angrily stomping over to him, the older following quietly behind. Jonghyun looked between them with a puzzled frown.

“What’s up with the bad aura around you guys?”

“This stupid moron here basically led your best friend on, had a great time with him and then pushed Kibum right onto him as soon as he got back!” Taemin spat angrily and Jinki flinched.

Jonghyun's eyes widened in understanding. “Oh, right! Kibum came back yesterday.”

“Yes! And now Jinki-Hyung's too chicken to really do what he should!” The boy slammed his bag on the table and threw himself into a chair beside the other.

“Jeez, Taem,” Jonghyun held up his hands in a surrender pose, “take a chill-pill.” Taemin growled at him and the other shook his head. “So, you’re sending mixed signals?” he asked, looking up at Jinki who was still standing unsurely by the table.

“I…” he swallowed. “I really don’t know. We just ended up talking a lot over the days and I kind of forgot about Kibum and then he appeared and now I…” he groaned, collapsing into the chair opposite the other two. “This is so messed up!” He buried his head in his arms on top of the table.

Taemin scoffed again and Jonghyun sighed.

“You know Jinki, Minho isn’t easily swayed,” he said seriously. Jinki turned his head upwards slightly to look at him. “If he decides he wants to do something he will work hard to accomplish it and there really isn’t much that can stop him.”

Jinki groaned again, once more hiding his face, looking down at his own feet. “So what do I do?”

“Well, if you properly let him confess and reject him… he’ll move on.”

His heart skipped a beat and his breath hitched. Confess? Reject? He wasn’t entirely sure he could handle either of those things. He didn’t trust himself enough to be able to hear Minho tell him his real feelings and then say no. He knew that right now his wavering resolution would make him fall into the other’s arms instead of turning on his heel and walking away.

“I don’t know…” he mumbled miserably, squeezing his eyes shut. “I just don’t!” his voice sounded broken and lost.

He heard Jonghyun take a breath, about to say something, when a pair of sneakers he hated to admit he knew at the moment appeared beside his feet and heat radiated into his left side because of the owner’s close proximity.

“What happened?”

A hand landed on Jinki's shoulder, sending an electric jolt through him, and he got startled into looking up at Minho's worried face, Kibum just right beside him looking equally concerned.

“Are you feeling unwell?” the taller asked, the lines on his forehead deepening.

Jonghyun and Taemin silently watched them and he started panicking again, cold sweat forming on his forehead and what seemed like snakes twisting around in his stomach uncomfortably. He caught Kibum's eyes, seeing the confusion and worry. But the worry was not for him anymore, it had turned into uneasiness over the concern and attention his love interest was showing Jinki.

“I-,” he squeaked and cleared his throat. “I’m fine!” he waved a hand, forcing a laugh. “I was just feeling a little tired!” They all looked at him, unconvinced, and his smile turned nervous. “Well, I’m gonna go order some tea!”

He stood up so fast his chair fell over and blushed while mumbling an apology. He was about to bend down and pick it up when Minho's hand shot out and grabbed it instead.

“I got it,” he said and smiled gently at him.

Jinki could only nod before turning on his heel. In the corner of his eye he saw Taemin push Jonghyun's shoulder and soon he was joined by the shorter while the boy forced the other two to sit with him by saying he wanted to talk more to Kibum, thus making Minho stay as well since the blonde wouldn’t stay without him.

“Minho has been looking at us the entire time,” Jonghyun commented in a ‘by-the-way’ tone after they had spent their time queuing in silence and now stood waiting for their orders to be finished.

Jinki just sighed. He had felt the taller’s gaze burning into the back of his head, but he hadn’t dared turn around and meet it.

“Jonghyun, just… please,” He said tiredly, rubbing his forehead with two fingers.

The other shrugged. “Just saying.”

Jinki spent the rest of that day in his dorm room (after they had decided to leave the café and he had come up with some excuse to not go with them to the nearby lake and ice-skate) trying to set his focus on what exactly he was supposed to do, writing down reasons and benefits of working towards getting Minho and Kibum together to get the path he had set before the Christmas break straight again.

He really wished he could make it straight, without feeling like he was lying to everyone and himself.

A/N: I hope this makes sense :/ Because I'm not really sure it does and right now I'm too lazy to really look it through properly again... it took some time...

Jinki and Minho got some time together at least! Only to have Kibum coming back and make Jinki run away agan *sigh*

So, I hope you liked this chapter!

I love you all!

Bye~! <3