No matter how much he had wanted to sleep in today, it seems that it would become an impossible task. Especially since Wonsik had showed up at his door with Jaehwan in tow to bother him. Both of them attend his university. Wonsik, or Ravi as he prefers to be called, is a music major. Hongbin rarely gets to see him because he always has some big performance to do or song to compose. The hours music majors had to spend on classes was insane. Jaehwan, or Ken, was a graphic design major and minored in fine arts. He also spent some time in the music building for singing lessons and he is a part of the school’s chamber choir even though he isn’t majoring. His voice was truly amazing.    

    But as much as he’d like to gawk at his friends’ talents, he has to get ready to go because after they used their key to get inside his house, they insisted they go to the mall in the next town over. Hongbin initially said no, because with all the crazy going on this week the last thing he wanted to do was go to the mall, but the two child-like hyungs began to jump on his bed and pout and Ken even fake cried. That’s how Hongbin found himself cursing his hyungs out the door and trying to decide on what to wear. He finally settles on something rather casual, a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt. He slips on his sneakers and glasses—because he was not going to poke around his eye with contacts while he was this tired—and heads out to meet his friends who were currently raiding his fridge.

    “If you’re going to bug me this early and then eat my food, you could at least cook me some breakfast.” Both of the older boys laugh and lead Hongbin out to Ken’s car. Hongbin sits in the back, Ravi in the passenger seat while Ken drives them to the neighboring town. It’s not much bigger than the college town they’re always in, but it’s the center of all the nearby towns, so it’s got a lot more things to do and places to hang out, like the mall. It’s a short drive, probably fifteen minutes, and the boys are walking into the large shopping center. It’s filled with all kinds of shops and restaurants. Ken and Wonsik head to the music shop first because Wonsik needs some staff paper and some special kind of mallets that Hongbin didn’t care enough to remember what kind exactly. He and Ken admire the instruments while Ravi scrutinizes each brand of mallet. There’s a flute on display, obviously for professionals because of the high price, more than anything that Hongbin owns combined. It was solid silver and shiny, most likely never played. 

    “Don’t you play something, Ken?”

    His hyung laughs. “I used to play the piano and the clarinet. I probably haven’t played my clarinet since middle school.”    

    Hongbin nods. Ravi returns with a bag indicating that he had finally decided on a pair of mallets. “Sorry about that you guys. These mallets have to be perfect or else I might sound like crap during the performance. Ken and Hongbin nod, although Hongbin doesn’t really understand the difference between the pair he got and any of the others, but he doesn’t really care to either.

    They continue to explore the mall, going in and out of shops. Inside one clothing store, Ken tried to get Hongbin into some sheer clothing that was ripped everywhere. He denied of course, because his hyung always picks out weird things for him to try on. He does get a new sweater and boots while in that same store though. 

    After all that shopping they stop in the food court to eat. While his friends eat, Hongbin sips on a milkshake instead. His watch beeps and he excuses himself from his friends.    

    “I wonder where he goes every time his watch goes off?” Ken asks as they watch him disappear from their sight.

    “Maybe he’s some kind of spy and he gets a new mission each time it beeps.” 

    “Or maybe he’s a hit man and some mobster is calling him to take somebody out.”

    They both exchange a look and laugh. 

    “Our little Hongbinnie is too soft to be a spy or assassin.” 

~

    Inside the restroom Hongbin pulls out his medicine and stares at it. He really didn't want to take it, it always makes him so tired, not that that’s any different from his usual personality. He’s always tired, but still. He sighs and pops the caps off, taking a few into his hand before replacing the cap. 

    “Whatcha doing?”

     The handsome boy jumps, dropping his medication as he does so. The pills and bottles scatter across the restroom floor. He looks up in the mirror to see the pretty boy.

    “Luhan?” Said boy smiles at him as per usual.

    “Sorry about that, I thought you saw me in the mirror, but I guess you didn’t.” The pretty boy bends down to pick up the wasted medicine. “May I ask what this is?”

    “No.” Hongbin grabs the pills from his hand and tosses them down the sink.

    “Sorry.” He hands Hongbin the bottle that fell to the floor. An anti-anxiety, huh? Makes sense, he gets scared so easily. I wonder what the other one is?

    Hongbin snatches it from his hand and swipes the other one from the floor before Luhan could get a look at it. “See you Tuesday.” With that, he hurries out the door and back to his two hyungs. They greeted him happily and returned to the car to leave. Hongbin glances over his shoulder as they enter the car. No Luhan. He sighs and sinks down into the seat.

    “Are you alright, Binnie?” Ken glances back at him through the rear-view mirror.

    “Just a headache. Thanks for taking me out today.”

    “No problem. We can’t just let you sleep around all the time.” Ravi laughs and Hongbin does too. My hyungs are great! If only they knew…

~

    Well here you go. Some interaction with friends, because like I said, he’s not a loner. Ken and Ravi don’t know about his DID so they are always making up stories about his watch alarms.