For all his talk about how much girls loved him, Minsoo hadn’t been able to even get one to talk to him in months. He reflected on this while he cupped his hand to his stinging cheek, watching a slender girl retreat in the opposite direction.

“You absolute ert.”

Truthfully, it was the hardest he had ever been slapped. She had quite an arm on her. It had taken him fifteen minutes of stealing glances at her across the food court while she drank a smoothie and read her kindle for Minsoo to convince himself it was a good idea to approach her. Once she looked up at him, he panicked, and instead of telling her that she was pretty or he liked her bag or some , he choked out the first thing that came to his mind.

“Your dress would look great on my floor.”

 Hey, it had worked on girls at the clubs. Minsoo could use the charming line on anyone he danced with and score a memorable evening. He recalled a couple of them as he watched her hand fly in slow motion toward his head, pulling a stupid face before he could even brace himself for impact. 

“You know, you’re actually pretty cute. Try not to be such a .”

She stormed off, and it dawned on Minsoo that he should have complimented her shoes. 

He stared at his own shoes for a moment. Surely nobody around him had heard what he said to her, right? If they hadn’t, they had definitely all seen her slap him. His neck got hot and he clenched his hands into fists. He looked up when he heard Byunghun’s voice.

“What the hell did you say to her?” 

Minsoo sighed. “I panicked.” 

“Did you use your stupid dance club line on her? I’ve told you that doesn’t work on girls who aren’t drunk.” 

Minsoo gave a shrug. “Did you get the game you came for? I’m ready to get out of here. A lot of people saw her hit me.”

Byunghun let out a derisive chuckle. “It serves you right, you’re an . And yes, I did. We can go unless you want to scandalize all the rest of the girls in this mall.” 

They piled into Byunghun’s car and drove back to their shared apartment, Minsoo groaning as they boarded the elevator and he jammed his finger into the number six button. 

“I could have gotten her number if I wanted,” Minsoo assured his friend out of nowhere. He definitely hadn’t been thinking about the rejection this whole time. “It’s just that on a Friday night I’d rather play videogames and smoke weed with my best friend than possibly a really hot girl. my life.” 

Byunghun scoffed. “Please, you didn’t even try. I’ve seen you get a girl’s number with less effort. Is there something on your mind? Have you been sleeping?”

Minsoo opened his mouth,and he should have just said yes, but Byunghun would know he was lying anyway. He'd had four hours of sleep last night, and that’s the most this week. He sighed and shook his head. 

“Is it that same dream again?” Byunghun was eyeing him concernedly. It wasn’t the first time Minsoo had told his friend about his recurring dreams. He wouldn’t exactly call them dreams though.

“Yep. I’m starting to think I might need to see a doctor about…”

He would have finished his sentence; he really would have, if the smallest of events hadn’t happened at that exact moment.

The elevator dinged at floor four and stopped. A young man stepped into the elevator, eyed them with a smile, and greeted Byunghun as the doors closed. He was a bit taller than Minsoo, lithe and tan, with almond shaped eyes and a hundred watt smile. 

“Hey, didn’t I meet you yesterday getting my mail?” The guy’s voice was smooth and friendly. He had really shapely lips, Minsoo noticed, and then immediately wondered why he noticed. He should probably pay attention, because Byunghun was speaking words at him. Minsoo snapped himself out of it. 

“Hello? Earth to Minsoo. This is Niel, he just moved into this building last weekend. I met him getting the mail yesterday and invited him to go to lunch with me because I was meeting Chanhee, Jonghyun and Changhyun. You were working at the garage, I think.” 

“Nice to meet you, Minsoo. Byunghun told me about you yesterday, his roommate the genius mechanic. How do you know him and the rest of those guys?” Niel chirped at him happily, and it seemed to take years for his voice to reach Minsoo through the fog in his brain.

He thought for a moment that he shouldn’t be having trouble speaking right now, but he was terribly distracted by this kid’s mouth. He cleared his throat and tried to sound normal. 

“I’ve known Byunghun and Chanhee since freshmen year of high school, and we met Jonghyun and Changhyun freshman year of college because they had class with Chanhee. We’ve all been pretty inseparable since then.” 

He managed to pass this off as sounding conversational, informative even, but his chest felt tight and he was glad when Byunghun resumed talking. 

“Minsoo and I share an apartment on the sixth floor and Chanhee, Jonghyun and Changhyun share a 3 bedroom on the fourth,” he was telling Niel. 

“I was actually just down at their place for coffee,” Niel informed them. “I wanted a place on that floor but the only flats that were open were on the sixth, so I guess we’re neighbors.” 

Byunghun told him that’s cool and asked what he was up to right now, and Minsoo vaguely thought he heard Niel say he’s going to eat, shower, and get some studying done before the party tonight, and thank you to Byunghun for inviting him, see you later tonight. Party. Wait, what party? Minsoo brought himself back to the planet again in time to realize that the elevator doors were opening, and that he should probably walk now. He gave a dazed smile and wave as Niel went into his apartment (directly across from theirs, Minsoo noted) and followed his friend into their own home.  

“Who’s having a party?” Minsoo asked as Byunghun plopped himself onto the couch. 

“Namjoon, he sent out a mass invite yesterday. Didn’t you get it? I’m surprised he didn’t just tell you at work.” Byunghun was busying himself pulling a baggie of weed and some rolling papers out of his backpack. 

“He’s been off the last couple days,” Minsoo mumbled absently as he checked his phone. He did have an unread message from Namjoon. He could only imagine what this party was going to be like. Namjoon had a reputation for being pretty wild. Honestly, Minsoo did too, although he hadn’t been feeling at the top of his game lately. He mused to himself that if he got drunk and wore himself out, maybe he’d be able to sleep. 

He sank onto the sofa next to Byunghun, who had sparked their joint and taken several generous hits. He passed it lazily to Minsoo, and he inhaled deeply and let the smoke trail out in languid tendrils, filling their small living room with a heady aroma. He took a few puffs before trying to hand it back to Byunghun. 

“Hold it for a sec, these game packages are a to open.” 

Minsoo busied himself making smoke rings while his friend struggled with the security tags. “Do you want to check this out with me? We have a few hours before the party; Namjoon wants everyone there around nine.” Byunghun took the smoking stub from Minsoo and held it between his two forefingers, trying to get a last hit before it burned too small. 

Minsoo’s head was pounding. “Nah, I’m going to try to take a nap before we go out. If I’m not up in two hours, just bang on my door or something.”

Byunghun nodded. “Good idea, I don’t want you falling asleep when you get drunk. No girls will talk to me if I have to carry a sleeping grease-monkey from Namjoon’s house.” 

Minsoo gave Byunghun a clap on the shoulder and stood up. There was a pleasant buzzing in the back of his brain as he shuffled his way to his bedroom and kicked the door closed behind him. His arms were heavy lead pipes as he lifted his shirt over his head and flung it somewhere across the room. His body collapsed with a dull thud onto the bed, and his eyes were closed before his head hit the pillow.

Minsoo was walking through a jungle, a tall canopy of trees and no visible sky. He could hear birds, insects, and animals moving throughout the underbrush but couldn’t see any of them. He came to a fork in the path. One went left and looked overgrown with vines and weeds, and the other one to the right was cleanly carved through the thick trees. He started to go right toward the clear path, but a voice called his name and made him turn around.

“Why are you going that way?” The Voice asked him. It was too dark to see anyone, and Minsoo couldn’t tell what direction the voice was coming from. It seemed to be all around him. “Answer me,” The Voice commanded. “Th-this is the way I’ve always gone,” Minsoo pleaded, though he didn’t know why he felt this path was familiar. “It’s the safest,” he reasoned out to The Voice.

“It’s wrong,” The Voice said. Why did it sound so familiar? “You know it’s wrong but you’re too scared to take the other path.” The Voice was mocking him. “I’m not too scared,” Minsoo defended, although he couldn’t breathe. “If I don’t go to the right I’ll be late for work.” The Voice gave a harsh laugh.

“Work is the least of your worries now,” It teased. Minsoo gulped. “No…not again...p-please, I’ll go left…I just need help! Please! Not again!” He was screaming, and the ground opened up at his feet into a wide, black pit. He tried to back up, tried to run, but his feet were concrete and he fell down into the abyss.

He could hear The Voice the entire time he was falling, taunting him, saying “You’ll never be free; you’ll always be in this trap. You will always end up here.” Minsoo landed on a hard wooden board and suddenly his hands and feet were bound, and there was a huge hulking figure in a grotesque metal mask with an iron-hot poker in its hand. “You will always end up here.” It pressed the infernal poker to his eyes. He screamed.

“Minsoo! It’s been over two hours. Are you still up for the party?” Byunghun smacked him palm against the door a few times. 

Minsoo’s body jerked up with a start and he gasped. His sheets were soaked with sweat and his eyes felt itchy and dry. He called a weak “Yah,” to Byunghun and flung his feet over the side of the bed. His chest heaving, he rested his head in his hands. The clock read 8:17pm. With a deep sigh he hoisted himself up, and immediately had to sit down again with a fwump. “, so dizzy.” Minsoo uttered a soft curse and stood up slower this time, dragging his whole body to the door and flinging it open to reveal a startled Byunghun. 

“Whoa man, you look…really pale. Are you sure you’re up for going out?” His roommate had that concerned look again. Minsoo hated people looking at him like that, like he was a mental patient that forgot his meds. He was getting that look from his friends increasingly lately. 

“M’fine, m’fine, shower, food,” he mumbled unintelligibly as he scratched the back of his head. “Gimme thirty.” 

“Chanhee texted me to meet him and the guys in the lobby at 9, he figures we’ll take the bus since we’re all planning to drink,” Byunghun called to Minsoo as he ambled into the bathroom. “Can you be ready by then?”

“Yah, I told you, gimme thirty. Roll some joints while I’m in the shower. We should bring some with us.”

“Weed doesn’t grow on trees you know,” Byunghun sassed him, “Well, it kind of does but I’m not rolling in it here.” 

“Use some of mine then!” Minsoo called to him through the bathroom door. “S’in the top drawer of my dresser.” 

"You just want me to find your in there..." Byunghun's voice was drowned out by the hum of the shower head, and Minsoo stripped and stepped into the scalding water. This was going to be a long night. 

------------------------------------

When he followed his room mate into the elevator at nine, Minsoo's head felt a bit less clouded. He actually might have called himself excited. He looked sharp, he smelled great, he almost felt rested. Almost. He and Byunghun had hastily shoved some sandwiches down their gullets, locked up the apartment and met their friends in the lobby. They all exchanged brotherly handshakes in greeting and proceeded to exit the apartment building, their usual ridiculous banter commencing mere seconds after meeting up. 

 "You all look like you're going to a strip club," Chanhee smirked. "Especially you, Jonghyun. Get rid of that hat, it makes you look like a circus ringleader with that shirt." 

"That's not fair, Changhyun told me to wear it, he said it looked dashing," He blushed and hung his hat on a rack by the lobby door as they exited. 

"That's because he wants the girls to talk to him and not you," Minsoo added with a lighthearted laugh. 

"They're all going to talk to you, anyway," Byunghun addressed Minsoo. " Don't even try to pretend like you leave a chance for the rest of us." 

Jonghyun smoothed his hat hair. "Yeah, it's a curse. You're invisible to women if you're within ten feet of Bang Minsoo."  

That set all the guys laughing and clapping him on the shoulder, but it wasn't getting laid tonight that Minsoo was pondering. Especially because at the exact moment those words left Johnghyun's mouth, their group was exiting the building, and Niel was entering it with a bag from the convenience store. He definitely heard Jonghyun's stupid mouth too, but he smiled at them and greeted them with a grin anyway.

Chanhee practically attacked Niel with a hug and was still squeezing his shoulder when he pulled away. "Niel! Aren't you going to Nam's place? We're just headed out now for the bus. Don't tell me you changed your mind." 

Niel looked shy, but still smiled gracefully. "Yeah, I'm going. I just had to run out for a minute. I'm going to change first. I can't go to a party in my dorky school clothes." 

Minsoo thought he saw Niel throw a glance at him, or maybe it was him who glanced at Niel. Either way Chanhee still hadn't let go of him, and they both seemed to realize it because Chanhee giggled and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, okay, see you there." Minsoo noticed a red flush creeping up Chanhee's neck. Niel was gone in an instant. and Minsoo's head was starting to feel fuzzy as they stepped into the balmy nighttime air. 

"What does he mean school clothes?" Minsoo asked to no one in particular. He figured someone in the group would know what Niel had meant, since they'd had more time to get to know him and Minsoo had only felt confused and dazed around him in the hallway twice today. 

"He means the clothes he wore to work," Byunghun offered. "He's a music teacher, I think for sixth grade or something." 

The bus roared to the curb and they all clamored on. Public transport wasn't very crowded this time of night, so they spread out comfortably in two seats each, some with their legs on the back of other seats and some with their legs in the aisles. Namjoon lived in a large house in a suburban neighborhood about fifteen minutes away. It was a decent walk but not at 4 am when you're hammered and trying to navigate your way home from a party in the dark. The ride was uneventful, Chanhee was quiet but still in good form, they all joked and shot the while the bus rumbled slowly toward their destination. Minsoo was beginning to loosen up. Namjoon was a good friend and a gifted mechanic. He was known for his charisma and his wild house parties in the summertime. Minsoo recalled the last one their gang had gone to: the speakers in Nam's stereo had blown out; three girls got into a fist fight because one pushed the other one's friend into the pool; the toaster oven caused a small fire in the kitchen; and the cops showed up about seventeen different noise complaints all filed by different neighbors. 

Minsoo's stomach lurched as the bus stopped at a curb a block away from Namjoon's subdivision. He fell into step behind Changhyun as the group filed off the bus and began their walk to the three story cookie-cutter home that would host their entertainment for the evening. 

"Okay, guys look," Chanhee began as they approached the house, "I want you guys to make sure that any girls you're trying to get with tonight aren't too wasted, okay? If they can't walk by themselves then you don't need to be bringing them home with you." His tone and face were serious. 

"Always the big brother, Chan," Byunghun joked and he clapped a hand to Chanhee's neck. "I've got some advice for you too: make sure you at least talk to a girl tonight, never mind going home with one!" He pressed his forehead affectionately to Chanhee's for a moment and then gave him a smack on the back. 

Chanhee just looked at the sidewalk and blushed. "I came here to smoke, drink, and see friends I don't get to see much, not to scam on poor innocent girls like you lot. If a girl wants to talk to me, it's great, but I'm not going to hound them like some creepy stalker."

"That's the spirit, Chan," Changhyun added,"I'm there with you. Besides, like we said, they'll all be flocking to Minsoo anyway." 

Before Minsoo could say anything, Byunghun piped up. "Don't be too sure about that, you should have seen this girl slap him at the mall today. It was priceless. I don't think I've ever seen our infamous Minsoo get rejected that brutally before." 

This earned him lots of laughter from the group as they approached Namjoon's front porch and rang the doorbell. Minsoo elbowed Chanhee, who looked distressed. "Just relax, okay? This is a 'Joon party. You know, self-proclaimed 'Rap Monster.' There's not going to be a dull moment." 

Chanhee gave a weak smile and eyed the back of Byunghun's head, and Minsoo pretended not to notice for Chanhee's sake. 

"I heard Jackson Wang is going to be here," Byunghun said absently. "That guy is ing insane." 

The door opened and a blast of loud music accosted the still night air. Namjoon greeted them loudly and ushered them into the house. "I was starting to think you guys weren't coming! That other guy from your building is here, what's his name? Ned? The skinny fruity-looking one. Anyway, Jackson has been hitting on him for an hour so someone might want to go save him. Drinks are being served in the kitchen. Help yourself, my house is yours, all that . Don't behave guys!" 

He gave each of them a quick handshake or smack on the back and then disappeared when a girl came up to him and handed him a red solo cup. He winked at Minsoo, gave a thumbs up, and followed the girl. Minsoo rolled his eyes and grinned, typical Namjoon. 

The music was incredibly loud, so Jonghyun gestured to the kitchen. Minsoo and the others followed suit, aiming to grab drinks before they went to find some other guys to start a smoke circle. They'd brought all those joints, might as well share them. At the back of his mind was a strangely uncomfortable thought that somewhere in this house, Niel was cornered by Jackson Wang, and he wondered how Niel was responding. He pushed the thought from his mind as they approached the drink table, where a stacked girl with dyed red hair was enacting some semblance of bartending. She eyed their group and gave them a flirty smile. 

"Well, look at these handsome men coming to get a taste of Heaven's Nectar." She tossed her ruby hair behind one shoulder. 

Byunghun was the first to sidle up to the table and lean in, pressing his palms to the flat wooden surface. 

"Are you referring to the alcohol, or to yourself, honey?"

Minsoo heard Chanhee let out a breath behind him. "Oh please." 

The red haired girl smirked and replied, "It's too early in the evening to be giving away the answer to that, sweetheart. Stick around until the wee hours and you might be able to solve the mystery. What are you drinking?" 

Byunghun laughed and told her his poison, as did Minsoo and the rest of the gang, drinks in hand they filed out of the kitchen, which was growing more crowded by the minute. 

They merged into the bustling living room, and one by one his friends disappeared into the throng. Changhyun had grabbed Chanhee and steered him off in the direction of someone or another and Byunghun said he was going to try and infiltrate a group of girls who were dancing in the middle of the enormous crowd. Truthfully he had no idea where Jonghyun was, he had been there one minute and disappeared the next. Minsoo sighed and took a gulp of his vodka and orange juice. He took a joint from his cigarette case and sparked it for himself, if his friends were going to chase tail all night he might as well himself up twice as much. 

Minsoo winked at some passing girls, who giggled, but his heart wasn't in it. He was wandering around the house aimlessly, looking for Namjoon, but when he spotted his fellow mechanic he was pressed into a corner with a girl wrapped around his neck, so Minsoo decided not to bother him. He was just about to go outside to the patio to see who was hanging out there, when Niel came into his line of sight, followed closely by Jackson Wang. He made a beeline straight for them, even though he knew he'd probably walk in on Jackson saying something disgusting. He sauntered over to them, smiled in greeting to Niel, and placed a hand on Jackson's shoulder. He held the joint up to Jackson's face when he turned around to see who was touching him. 

"Well, don't mind if I do, Bang Minsoo," he drawled sensually. "Where's the rest of your adorable group this evening?"

" if I know, they ditched me to go make fools of themselves. Too bad for them, right?" Minsoo smirked and Jackson took a long pull off of the joint. 

"Too bad for them is right, because Niel here is so interesting."  He raked his eyes over Niel, who blushed but still looked uncomfortable. "I'm surprised you aren't looking for some yourself, Minsoo." 

Minsoo laughed weakly and took another swig of his drink. "I decided to go stag tonight, you know, let them come to me," he assured Jackson. I was actually coming over here to grab Niel, there's someone I want to introduce him to, if you don't mind me stealing him from you."

"I mind plenty, but I'll let it slide this time because you were generous enough to share your drugs with me. I'm taking this with me," he added, holding up the stubby remains of the joint. Jackson kissed two fingers and pressed them to Niel's cheek, "I'll see you later, sweet thing." He did an about-face and disappeared into the mass of writhing bodies. 

Minsoo looked at Niel awkwardly for a moment, begging any piece of conversation to fall out of his mouth. Luckily Niel asked, "So, who did you want to introduce me to?" 

"Oh, nobody actually. I just know Jackson can get pretty intense and you looked uncomfortable. Sometimes that guy doesn't know when to quit." 

Niel's face softened a bit and he laughed. "Wow, thank you. I mean he's extremely cute and all but...you can tell what kind of guy he is and I wasn't sure how to get rid of him without being rude."

Minsoo took a second to process this. Jackson was extremely cute? Okay, so Chanhee's greeting to Niel in the lobby made a bit more sense now, considering Byunghun...

"Well, don't worry, he'll have someone new held captive in about five minutes and forget all about you," Minsoo said, and Niel chuckled. Then Minsoo realised that he was an idiot and added "I mean, not that you're forgettable, it's just, you know, Jackson is...erm...promiscuous."

Niel crinkled his eyelids and gave Minsoo a sly smile. "From what I hear, you don't do so badly yourself." 

. 

Minsoo almost drowned in the swig of alcohol he was taking. "I, ah, well, sure, I've got a reputation but...no action lately."

"Oh yeah?" Niel had to be ing with him. "Why is that?"

Minsoo wished he could snatch a smooth answer from the atmosphere because he had no idea how to properly respond to that. He settled for the excuse that his game had been off. "You know how it goes with girls sometimes." 

"I'm afraid I actually don't," was Niel's reply. He looked at Minsoo in the most curious way. It made him feel dizzy and strangely comfortable. All he could do was ask Niel if he wanted a drink. His head was starting to spin and he was getting that fuzziness around his vision and warmth in his body that can only be attributed to booze. Well, mostly. 

Niel nodded at the request and hopped off the table, and, to Minsoo's infintie surprise, grabbed his hand and started leading him to the kitchen. Halfway there though, they passed a bottle of Captain Morgan sitting on a shelf. Niel grabbed the bottle by the neck and took Minsoo's cup out of his hand and placed it on the shelf. "Surely this is better than whatever you've got in here," he leaned very close to Minsoo's face to say this. Minsoo couldn't argue, so he just shrugged and continued to follow Niel. To where, he didn't care, because Niel hadn't let go of his hand this whole time. 

Niel pulled Minsoo into a corner and took a swig from the bottle, passing it to Minsoo, who hesitated. 

"Something wrong? I don't have cooties, I swear." He offered a grin. 

"Sorry, I know, it's just...from meeting you in the elevator the today you seemed so shy. I didn't expect you to...adjust so quickly to these guys."

"I have my moments," Niel assured him, "and besides, how can you tell what kind of people I'm used to just by looking at me?"

"Well, Byung said you're a music teacher, so I just figured..."

"What, that I'm a nerd?" Niel was laughing. "Well, you're right. I am a nerd. But I'm new in town so I thought I'd have a bit of fun." 

Minsoo took a long gulp from the bottle and passed it back to Niel. He pulled another joint from his cigarette case and sparked it, taking long pulls and then offering a puff to his companion. 

"You know what? I don't usually, but it's a party, right?" He took the freshly lit joint and took a long pull. He tried to hold the smoke in, but coughed so much he had to take another chug from the rum bottle. 

"Easy there, Tommy Chong. It's strong stuff, especially if you don't smoke often." Minsoo's face was relaxed into a comfortable grin, and he took the joint from Niel and put it between his lips. 

Minsoo wasn't sure what made him do it, he really had no idea what had gotten into him. Maybe it was the weed or the alcohol or both, but he blurted it out all the same. "I might be ed in the head, but, do you want to dance?"

Niel looked Minsoo up and down. "Actually, I love this song," he answered. He took one more long chug from the bottle and set it down on the nearest surface. They joined hands once more and Minsoo was surprised at how comfortable Niel was. He was the new guy in town, how did he already know so many people? How did he manage to feel so comfortable amongst all these strangers when Minsoo could barely focus around his own best friends?

 All these notions were shoved from Minsoo's mind when Niel s his hands up and around Minsoo's neck and started moving his body in time to the bass of the music. The lights were low, and there were strobe lights and colored flashers sitting on top of every shelf and cabinet, creating a seizure-inducing light pattern that seemed to give the entire room a pulse of its own. Maybe that was Minsoo's own heart hammering in his head as Niel's chest was extremely close to his. Minsoo had never danced with a guy like this, and wasn't sure what to do with his hands. He pressed one to the small of Niel's back and used the other one to pull the joint from between his lips. His head was swimming, the bass was thrumming deeply through his ribs, and the flashing lights threatened to send him reeling at any moment. He lost count of how many times he had hit the joint, Niel's body still pressed against his, both of them getting jostled around by the many people dancing around them. Minsoo took another pull from the smoking stub, held the smoke in his lungs, and touched a thumb to Niel's bottom lip, signaling for him to open his mouth. His lips were incredibly soft, and Minsoo felt a jerk in his stomach. 

As if reading his mind, Niel opened his mouth and tilted his head to the left. Minsoo went right, and blew the smoke straight into Niel's mouth. Their lips were centimeters apart, and there went another jerk in Minsoo's stomach. Niel inhaled and eyed Minsoo through half-lidded eyes. He smiled and tangled his fingers into Minsoo's hair. It was incredibly warm tangled in between all of the gyrating college kids, and after a few songs Minsoo had to gesture to Niel that he needed another drink. Nied nodded and made another gesture for Minsoo to lead the way. He took Niel's hand without even thinking about it, it just seemed like that was what he should do. 

He led Niel out of the mass of squirming bodies and toward the kitchen. He spotted Jonghyun, leaning on his arm against the wall chatting up a pretty girl who was covering and giggling. No sign of Changhyun or Byunghun, but Minsoo did a double take when he saw that Jackson had a new guy in his snare- and it was Chanhee. Only he didn't look as uncomfortable as Niel had earlier when cornered by Jackson. His face looked relaxed and he was smiling, standing very close to Jackson and touching his arm. 

Minsoo could have sworn the next few events happened in slow motion, or maybe it was just his brain perceiving them with delayed reaction. Byunghun seemed to emerge from the crowd, said something to Chanhee and tried to grab his arm and pull him away, but Chanhee pushed him off. 

"Excuse me for a second, Jackson, I just need to tell my idiot friend here something, be right back," Minsoo heard Chanhee say sweetly to Jackson. They walked a couple of feet away, and Minsoo didn't hear what Chanhee said, but he looked angry. Byunghun spat, "Dude, do you know who that is? He's tries to get into everyone's pants, I was just trying to get you away from him." 

Minsoo moved closer to hear Chanhee's response.  "What if that's what I'm after, Byung?" His brow was furrowed and his mouth a hard line. He stared at Byunghun awaiting a response.

Byunghun stammered and looked abolsutely moritified. "I...uh, jeez Chan, okay, I just...I didn't know, okay? Sorry."

"Yeah, well, now you do. I'm just fine here, I know exactly what I'm doing." Chanhee turned around, walked back over to Jackson, grabbed his arm and hauled him off into the crowd. Jackson looked confused for a moment but then wrapped an arm around Chanhee's waist and followed him. 

Byunghun spotted Minsoo and caught his eye, mouthed "What the was that?" and then pointed at Niel holding Minsoo's hand and mouthed "What the are you doing?" 

Minsoo just shrugged and gave a tug to Niel's arm, putting them back on course for the kitchen. He caught a glimpse of Byunghun throwing his arms up in frustration as he turned away. 

"Wow, that was um...interesting," Niel giggled once they were in the kitchen. The red haired girl gave them each two cups of something, Minsoo didn't know or care what. 

"Yeah I had a feeling Chanhee was trying to work out some stuff," Minsoo began,  "I'm sure he and Byunghun will talk it out later, they're really close. Anyways, I think I need to sit down, can we find somewhere?" He laid a heavy hand on the other boy's slender shoulder. He didn't know when he got to be such a lightweight. Niel nodded and took his hand for the billionth time tonight, leading Minsoo to the nearest unoccupied sofa. They plopped down into in a fit of giggles, each taking swigs from their solo cups. Niel stretched out his legs over Minsoo's lap, set his drink on the coffee table, and folded his arms behind his head. He looked at Minsoo with those huge almond eyes. 

"I'm curious about you, Minsoo," he told him. "I haven't gotten to talk with you so much as your friends." 

"I'm not that interesting," Minsoo assured him. His mouth felt dry and he took a generous sip from his drink. He vaguely registered that he had his other hand on one of Niel's legs across his lap. Niel looked relaxed, and comfortable. 

"I don't think that's true," Niel teased and rested his head against the back of the couch. "I only know that you're supposed to be some gifted mechanic and everyone in town knows you for your way with girls." 

"I wouldn't say gifted, it's just I've always been into cars since I was young. My dad taught me all about them and we always fixed them together. He was a mechanic so I guess I wanted to be like him. I know an engine like the back of my hand but it's because I've been around them forever." 

Niel offered a smile. "That's sweet." 

"Why did you want to be a music teacher?" Minsoo asked. He wanted to avoid the subject of his record with the ladies.

"I love to sing," Niel said simply. "I wanted to make music my whole life. I did a lot of chorus competitions in high school and never really thought about teaching until my senior project, which was to write my own song and perform it with a group. I was teaching lower classmen my song so they could sing it with me, and it was just so inspiring, I knew it's what I needed to do." Niel's face positively lit up when he talked about singing. "My class has won the district choral contest four years in a row," he bragged. Minsoo thought it was endearing that Niel was so proud of his students. 

Niel shifted a bit, and Minsoo thought that maybe Niel's body was closer to him now. "What music do you love?"

Hip-hop and rap mostly," Minsoo answered. "I'm sort of into rapping, me and Byunghun and the guys do these rap battles at open-mic nights sometimes, it's um...it's how I know Jackson. He comes with some friends of his and our groups have this friendly competition going." Minsoo hoped he was being interesting, and took a long gulp of his drink to make sure he wasn't talking too much. He considered sparking another joint. 

"That's so cool! Where do you guys do that? I'd love to come see you rap." Niel sounded excited but still looked so immensely comfortable. 

"You-you would?" Minsoo almost couldn't believe that someone would be interested in seeing an amateur rap battle. Girls usually scoffed at him when he asked them to come see him perform. 

"Of course, why wouldn't I? It sounds fun." 

Minsoo said okay, he felt dazed. He shifted a bit and reached into his back pocket to pull another joint from the case. He offered some to Niel, who switched up his position to sit closer to Minsoo. A lot closer.

At midnight, they were talking about music in between puffs of a spliff. At two in the morning, they had switched to movies punctuated with sips from a bottle of Jack Daniels that had somehow appeared on the coffee table. At three-thirty they were discussing politics and philosophy and sharing yet another joint with some strangers who sat down near them. At three fifty-seven they were both knock-out drunk and lying useless on the couch, murmuring about passers-by and giggling incoherently. Minsoo wasn't sure when he lost consciousness, but he felt a glowing warmth in his abdomen and Niel's hand was resting on his chest, and he was glued to the couch. The music had been turned down significantly and there were abandoned cups and paper plates littering the living room. The crowd thinned out and was replaced by intertwined couples and passed out singles, but it didn't occur to Minsoo that he and Niel looked like one of the former. 

It was daylight when someone kicked Minsoo's leg and he jerked to consciousness. He looked around frantically, squinting his eyes in the light. He peered up at a grinning Namjoon. "It's six in the morning sleeping beauty. You and prince charming here might want to catch the bus back to the castle," He was looking at Minsoo with a cocked eyebrow, barely containing his laughter. "What happened to you last night Minsoo? I didn't see your for hours and then I find you like this? You must have gotten wasted."

Minsoo started to stand up but noticed there was something holding him down, no someone. He looked to his left where Niel was stretched out on the couch with his legs once again resting on Minsoo's lap. His hands were folded delicately over his stomach, his head perched on the headrest, breathing in and out softly. 

Namjoon still seemed to be waiting for an answer and Minsoo didn't know how long he'd been silent, so he just cleared his throat and answered, "Yeah, I must have. Where is Byunghun and the others?"

"Jonghyun and Changhyun left around two, Byunghun struck out with about four more girls after they left and called it quits around Three. He was asking where you were before he left, but he said you didn't sleep much so you probably already left."  Namjoon was still eyeing Niel sleeping peacefully on his couch. "I see you, ah, rescued the kid from Jackson." 

Minsoo gave a weak laugh and said "Yeah man, great party, sorry I passed out on your sofa..."

"It's cool, I just found three people asleep on the bathroom floor and got them out of here a few minutes ago. I expected as much. Be careful on your way home, yeah? I'll see you at the garage on Monday. I'm going to bed." 

Minsoo nodded and his friend retreated upstairs. He looked over at Niel, and felt some trepidation about waking him up. He didn't want to think that Niel would regret falling asleep here with him. He decided eventually that he had to do it, because they couldn't stay here on Namjoon's couch forever. He put a hand on Niel's folded ones and shook him lighty. 

"Hey, hey Niel, wake up man. It's like six a.m. or something," Minsoo said softly and Niel's face twitched and he snapped his eyes open, looking around in the same confused manner until he recollected the events of the previous night. He smiled at Minsoo though, and Minsoo smiled back, and said the only thing he could--"Morning." 

Niel lifted his legs off Minsoo's lap, sat up, and stretched. He didn't say anything at first, just gave the same curious smile from the night before. After resting his eyes on Minsoo's face for a moment, he asked "Did you drive here?"

"No, we took the bus, none of us wanted to drive." 

Niel nodded. "Have you got change for the bus?"

Minsoo nodded, unsure of what to say. Niel spoke smoothly, "I guess we should get going then," and he stood up and began smoothing out his clothes. Minsoo stood too, and made to follow him. He was hungover and his brain was still a mess. He wanted to say something, to tell Niel that he had enjoyed being with him last night and ask what was next, but his tongue was rubber in his mouth and he decided he should wait. 

They made it downstairs and halfway across the cul-de-sac together in silence before Minsoo couldn't take it anymore. Niel's mood was too hard to read and he didn't want him to be embarrassed. 

So he threw caution to the wind and blurted out his feelings. "I, ah, listen, last night was...I had fun. With you, I mean. It was fun being with you." Minsoo gulped and felt his neck flushing hot again, but Niel just smiled that smile of his and said that he had fun too. He walked close to Minsoo, their shoulders touching, and Minsoo thought Niel would grab his hand again, but he didn't. His stomach dropped. Maybe it had been the drink or the drugs that had made Niel act so friendly. Minsoo wondered why that was such a big deal to him, who cared if this guy he got drunk with last night didn't want to hold his hand today?

Minsoo did care though. He didn't know what would happen once they got back to their apartment building; he couldn't think about Niel going into his apartment while Minsoo went into his, into his empty bedroom with no one but Byunghun next door. They arrived at the bus stop a block from Namjoon's subdivision and sat down on the bench. Niel still positioned himself very close to Minsoo, their thighs touched as they sat next to one another. Minsoo's stomach was empty and fluttering and he felt dehydrated. Since he was already doing things that were out of character for him, he went ahead and asked Niel the question that was on his mind. 

"Should we, um...do you want to get breakfast? With me I mean. We should go have breakfast." 

Niel's face split into a wide grin. "I thought you'd never ask."

Minsoo let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. Niel wanted to stay with him a bit longer. He was considering why this made him excited when he realized Niel was talking to him again. 

"Do you know a good place?" He asked, leaning his head onto Minsoo's shoulder and (finally) twisting their fingers together. 

Minsoo tried to ignore the fluttering that surged up in his belly. "I know a great place."