Chapter THREE

“Isn’t that Taehyun?” Seungyoon somehow managed to mutter out loud. Completely drowning out his hyungs’ voices, he continued listening and admiring the one person on stage who had been the culprit of his darkening eye circles for the past week.

Seungyoon simply wanted to turn around and go for what he wants most for the past hour— food, a snack, or just anything to keep his hunger at bay. But his feet and body disallowed him to move and forced him to stay put so his eyes can feast on the sight of his roommate, accompanied by that angelic voice of his which was an absolute bonus to Seungyoon’s ears. Taehyun’s presence was definitely like candy to Seungyoon—something that is clearly bad for one’s health yet one would want it anyways since it’s too captivating. What’s even more confusing was that Seungyoon doesn’t know whether he likes the idea of it or not, and he found the fact a little too disturbing for his own good.

After God knows when, he finally snapped out of his trance when Taehyun, who also glanced at the brunette with an equally shocked expression, stopped singing. Seungyoon immediately averted his gaze elsewhere. Minho stopped waving his hand in front of Seungyoon’s face when the younger looked at his two friends. “What?” He asked, as if it’s the most common thing to say in that situation.

“Did you just say ‘what’?” Minho said, taken aback by his blunt reply.

Jinwoo nudged the younger’s arm and informed quietly, “just so you know, you were in a trance for like five minutes or so.”

“I was?” Seungyoon exclaims but shuts up as his hyungs nodded.

Embarrassed by his actions, Seungyoon blushed and dipped his head down, trying not to let his hyungs see his reaction. Turning away from the stage in an attempt to get away from Taehyun as quickly as possible, he stubbornly mumbled out, “let’s go. I’m starving.”

Minho and Jinwoo simply stared after their maknae and faced each other with a shrug.

---

That afternoon, Jinwoo and Seungyoon ended up in Minho’s apartment with nothing to do. The three of them are either lying across the couch or occupying the floor in front of the television. Their eyes simultaneously glued to the screen as they watched the food channel in silence. Jinwoo nibbles on his bottom lips while Minho munches on a bag of jalapeno Cheetos to which he claims was on sale so he had no choice but to buy it the other day. “Man, why are we always thinking about or eating food?”

“Pardon me? It’s just you.” Jinwoo reached over and patted the other’s tummy.

Minho frowned. “It’s okay. I’m sure I have abs lying somewhere underneath.”

Jinwoo shook his head and chuckled. “Guess what I heard the other day? Waffles are just pancakes with abs! Now I want waffles…”

Minho shot up from his seat and pointed at Jinwoo with an appreciative smile, as if feeling that sudden bond and connection between themselves. “That, my friend… that is words of gold.”

Seungyoon, on the other hand, simply ignored the duo as many things were occupying his mind. Actually, maybe just one thing, if you must put it precisely. And it involves someone he saw earlier that morning. Someone so close yet at the same time so far away from him. He sighed and adjusted his position on the floor so that he’s lying on his belly now.

“Can you pass the Cheetos?” He asked as he planked up onto his elbows and stared at his hyung.

Minho immediately grabbed a fistful of the snack before throwing the bag down onto the floor, just inches away from the younger male. However, several pieces of the spicy cheddar goodness flew out of the bag, resulting in a glaring Seungyoon and sheepishly grinning Minho. “Oops… sorry.”

It was also at that exact moment when the three heard the door knob turning and someone stepping in.

“Oh, Jiho is home earlier than usual.”

The said male walked in and stared at the two guests. “Oh Jinwoo hyung, Seungyoon-ah, you guys are over?” The two mentioned male immediately turned around and flashed the person a smile.

“Hey Jiho hyung. Long time no see!” Seungyoon greeted and plopped himself into a cross legged position on the floor.

Jiho walked over to Minho and kicked the area of the sofa directly underneath the lazy looking man. “Yah, why didn’t you bring any beverages out for our guests?”

“They can help themselves.” Minho simply stated and grinned up at Jiho, holding up a Cheetos and aiming it at the elder’s mouth. He flicked it and the elder caught it in between his teeth with no problem. Minho grinned even wider. “You’re home early today.”

“I’m just going to take a shower and then head over to the party tonight.” Jiho replied after swallowing the snack. He stopped talking and paused to take a look at the three who looked clueless. “You guys… are coming right?”

“What party?” Jinwoo immediately beamed up.

Minho’s grin from earlier turned into a frown. “Oh ! I totally forgot about it!” He quickly hopped off the couch and dragged his two friends up as well. “Come on now. You guys are coming with me!”

“What? Why?” Seungyoon whined, a little reluctant at the idea of going somewhere later. Somewhere he has to interact with strangers doesn’t sound very appealing to him at the moment. Don’t get him wrong, he wasn’t an introvert—in fact, Seungyoon is very extroverted but he was having a ‘moment’ and he really wanted to be alone this evening.

“Well, for one, it’s a party. How are we not going? As a matter of fact, it’s the last party before the new semester starts. Hello!?” Minho stated the obvious.

“Plus, it’s just down the block, on campus. So convenient right?” Jiho chirped in and stood beside Minho.

Minho’s smile turned even brighter if that’s even possible. “PLUS, we gotta drink ALL the alcohol!” He shot his arm up to prove his point.

“Yeah!!! So yes, you guys are coming with us, you have no other choices.” Jiho jumped up and down suddenly. The tan skinned male wiggled his eyebrows excitedly and gave his roommate a high five. Jinwoo and Seungyoon simply gaped at the two enthusiastic men. Seungyoon immediately noted to himself ‘so this is what happens to roommates after they have lived together for a year.’

Jinwoo nodded. “Sure. I’ll go!”

“Uh. I have work.” Seungyoon said, trying to sound as plausible as he can.

“No you don’t. I know your schedule!” Jinwoo squinted at the youngest with an accusing gaze. “I know all your schedules by heart.”

“… and that’s not creepy at all.” Minho commented. He turned his face to Seungyoon. “Come on. You’ve been out of it the whole day! You should just come instead of rotting away at home.”

Seungyoon pouted. His plan didn’t work. His only option was to succumb to his hyungs’ wishes. That’s the bad part of being the maknae of any group. “Aish. Whatever.”

---

“Hyung… Why am I even here?” Taehyun asked with a bored expression adorning his face as he turned another corner down the street.

“Why not? It’ll be fun!” Seunghoon encouraged with a pat on the younger’s back. Taehyun rolled his eyes but listened to his hyung anyways. He shifted the weight of the six packs of beer and bottles of hard liquor he is carrying to his other hand. The noise of glasses clinking echoed through the dark streets. Seunghoon stopped walking soon enough and walked into a comfortably big house just at the corner of the block. The younger man sighed and trailed behind Seunghoon’s footsteps.

Taehyun hated parties. He hated every single one of them that he attended. He wasn’t planning on going to this one but somehow Seunghoon successfully half persuaded and half dragged his dongseng over. The older reasoned that it only makes sense since many people liked his performance on campus earlier and it’s simply the perfect chance for the younger to make new friends.

However, Taehyun thinks otherwise. He didn’t need more friends. Heck, he is happy the way he is now. So why change it? But since he respected Seunghoon a lot, mainly because he was the only person that could stand Taehyun’s diva-like behaviour and personality and was the first person who reached out to the lost boy when he was young, Taehyun complied.

Cheers were heard throughout the building as the duo entered and many rushed up to the entrance to greet them. Taehyun tried his best to briefly smile at the guys and girls whom he doesn’t even know and have the least bit of intention to even acknowledge. Two shots were then immediately shoved into the newcomers’ palms. They said that they have to do a ‘one-shot’ in order to be granted admission into the party. Seunghoon simply laughed and drank his alcohol whereas Taehyun reluctantly downed the bitter liquid into his already dry throat. More cheers were heard before the crowd dissipated into the house. ‘Ridiculous…’ he thought as loud music blasted into his ears, deafening himself into the surge of people.

Taehyun visibly looked a lot tenser as he watched the popular Seunghoon being dragged away by a group of people. He bit his bottom lip and quietly found his way into the kitchen miraculously without tripping onto anyone en route. Placing down the heavy drinks he was carrying, he took a look around the living room and let out another sigh. Before him were groups of repulsively loud people playing beer pong, dancing, or groping each other and having full on make out sessions in the corners of the room. Taehyun made a disgusted face and rolled his eyes as he mumbles out, “why did I even come?” He tried to look for Seunghoon but the tall man was nowhere in sight.

Taehyun then squinted his eyes through the crowded area and the sight of a familiar person caused the shortening of his breath. “No way…” He muttered slowly but his body was suddenly pushed off to one side. Luckily, due to his quick reflex he was able to stumble back onto his feet without trouble despite the fact that his cheeks has turned a shade of crimson from the shot he just drank. Turning around to see who the culprit was, a pair of arms reached over his neck and a random girl began leaning in to kiss him.

He gulped and reacted just in time to push his palm against the girl’s forehead so that she couldn’t lean her body on him any longer. Her hands desperately reached out to grab for something and her eyes were closed with her lips pouting out, making smooching sounds. Taehyun almost had to turn his head around and empty his dinner right on the spot at the horrendous sight.

“Awwwww you don’t want a kiss from me?” The girl pouted, opening her eyes to stare at Taehyun. “You’re so cute!!!”

“You’re drunk,” was all she got as a reply. Taehyun was too busy searching through the crowd for that person he swear he saw for a split second. Or was it just his imagination? He shook his head. He’s been doing a lot of that recently. He shuddered at the thought.

She giggled and suddenly started to hiccup. “I remember you… I like your voice. Can’t you sing for me, babe?”

“Uh… Thank you for liking my performance but no.” Taehyun reluctantly replied with a smile while trying his best to scoot his way out of the kitchen to get away from the girl.

However, she held onto his arm stubbornly, not letting him go. She giggled again. “Why don’t you drink with me?” She smiled at him with the full on made-up cakey face of hers.

He cringed but suddenly considered the thought. “Fine, just a shot and I’ll take my leave.”

“Okay!” She beamed and quickly poured them a drink. They clanked their shot glasses together and Taehyun downed it in one go. The reaction on his face afterwards turned just as bitter as the alcohol itself. Ignoring the girl’s pleas, he quickly made a dash out of the kitchen. He carefully made his way into the living room, still eyeing the groups of drunk people while looking back to see if the girl had followed him. To his luck, he found the girl lying almost lifelessly on the ground just inches away from the kitchen area. He shook his head at the sight and exhaled judgingly.

As he walked with his head turned back, he managed to bump into another person. Cursing under his breath with a “, not again,” he whipped his head around to come face to face with the person he caught a glimpse of just moments ago.

“Oh, it really is you!”

“Seungyoon-shi?” Taehyun blurted out.

Seungyoon chuckled at his formality. “Wow. And I thought you never had manners.”

“Uh… Seungyoon hyung?”

“Hyung? Aren’t we the same age?” Seungyoon questioned. But music was blasting loudly and they were wasting energy shouting back and forth at each other. Simply wanting to get straight to the point, he asked, “Why are you here?”

Just as Taehyun was about to answer him, the girl he thought he managed to escape from appeared by his side and leaned her head on his shoulders. Seungyoon’s eyes bulged out in surprise as he looked at the two before him. “Oh sorry. Am I interrupting something? I should go…”

“NO!” Taehyun reached his hand out, barely touching Seungyoon’s shoulder. “Help me!” He mouthed the words in desperation. Taehyun began shaking the girl from his arm but to no avail. The girl continued leeching onto the poor boy and stared at Taehyun with ogling eyes.

Seungyoon was at a loss of words. Standing in front of him was his roommate, whom he somehow couldn’t get his mind off today, begging for help. His mind raced at full speed for something appropriate to do in this situation.

Where was Jinwoo and Minho hyung when he needed them? Actually, that was a lame question since he knew those two were off somewhere on their own. Minho is always the mood maker of the party and his positive presence can simply liven up any parties. Jinwoo, on the other hand, who seems to be the complete opposite of Minho, actually loves parties and is also named as a ‘tank’ due to his high alcohol tolerance. This leaves Seungyoon, the one who wasn’t even keen on attending the party in the first place, walking around by himself after having some small talks and drinking a little with a few friends he bumped into. Then out of nowhere, someone bumped into him who coincidentally appears to be his roommate. Just how small can this world be?

“Uh…” Seungyoon began stuttering as he watches Taehyun continue to pry off the girl’s arms. His sentence was interrupted when a tall and muscular male appeared in front of the trio. Taehyun stopped his movements, Seungyoon simply looked up at the man, and the girl suddenly stood frozen in fright, retrieving her arms away from Taehyun immediately.

“What are you guys doing with my girlfriend?” Damn, the guy wasn’t just tall and macho-like, his voice was hella intimidating as well. “Do I need to repeat myself?” He angrily yanked the girl by her arm and pulled her behind his back. She stayed silent.

Taehyun and Seungyoon glanced at each other, both having the same expression as if saying ‘, we are in trouble.’ Taehyun cleared his throat and took the chance to defend himself. “I didn’t do anything! She is drunk and clinging onto me!”

“Bull!” The man slammed his fist onto the table conveniently standing next to them. The loud noise caused the roommates to jerk upright, not even daring to swallow their own saliva.

“Oh no no no that’s not it! Um…” Seungyoon found his mind speaking before he even had a proper sentence formed in his mind. He looked over to Taehyun and rolled his eyes back to the front entrance. Taehyun’s eyes blinked at Seungyoon’s equally frightened ones.

“Shut up you two. How dare you lay your hand on my woman?” The male was getting impatient. He lifted his hand up and signaled with his index finger. Suddenly, two other men appeared out of nowhere and walked up to the duo.

The two simultaneously backed away carefully, trying not to stumble on their own path.

“One, two… Three!” Seungyoon counted and turned around, pulling a dazed Taehyun with him as he ran for the door. Exiting into the dim street, the two ran as fast as they can away from the house and towards the direction of their own apartment.

“What did we just do? I can’t believe we’re doing this!” Taehyun began complaining as his legs starts slowing down.

“Dude, I just saved your in there… Kind of! You could be suffering from a black eye and broken jaw right now!” Seungyoon retorted, panting heavily as they turned another corner. He turned behind to check and sees the two men still trailing after them. “Oh they’re still chasing us!”

“They’re going to be even more pissed when they catch up to us!” Taehyun shouted with all his might, still trying his best to run for his life.

Seungyoon became a little frightened by Taehyun’s words. “Well, let’s just not let them get to us then!”

Taehyun suddenly grabs onto Seungyoon’s arm and pulled him aside to jump over a low fence. They immediately crouched down and hid behind a bush. “I can’t run anymore.” He whispered. “Let’s hide for now.”

Seungyoon was about to argue back that they should keep going but Taehyun slammed his hand over Seungyoon’s mouth and widened his eyes when they hear the two man stopping right in front of their bush.

“I swear I saw them turning into this street!” The man panted angrily.

“Crap, did we lose them?” The other asked, walking a little further away. “Let’s go check out that alley.” The other man agreed and their footsteps were getting fainter by the second.

When the two were sure that no more sounds were coming from the road, Taehyun finally released his grasp on Seungyoon’s face.  The elder immediately inhaled a gulp of air.

“I thought I was gonna die if I don’t breathe for another second.” Seungyoon choked out, coughing.

“Sorry.” Taehyun did look apologetic, surprisingly. He stood up and helped his roommate onto his feet. “Seems like the coast is clear.”

“That was crazy. Let’s just head home.” Seungyoon suggested, seemingly exhaustedly from all the running.

“That sounds like a good idea.” Taehyun agreed and began to lead the way towards their apartment.

“I didn’t expect to see you at the festival today.” Seungyoon suddenly spoke up, tilting his head to glance at Taehyun and then refocusing his gaze on the path again.

The younger smiled, “Why not?”

Seungyoon shrugged. “You have a much better voice than I do.” He commented wholeheartedly. “And just so you know, you sing way better than I do too.”

Taehyun simply chuckled while shaking his head, nonetheless appreciating the compliment. “And just so you know, I’m not shy in receiving compliments.” Seungyoon rolled his eyes at his roommate’s outburst. “But thank you Seungyoon hyung.” The brunette was about to comment on his use of ‘hyung’ again but decided against it. Frankly, he didn’t dislike the idea of it and he somehow liked the sound of it coming from Taehyun. “Maybe we can sing together one day.”

Seungyoon thought about his words deeply. “Sing together… one day…” He repeated out loud but trailed off, not knowing what to continue saying anymore.

They then trudged on the crosswalk in silence. No one knew what else to say. Everything that had happened in the last half an hour was still a blur in their minds. Taehyun gazed upon the sky and began counting the constellations he can make out with his eyes while Seungyoon had his hands in his pockets, concentrating on the lines along the cement as they continue walking. They were simply focusing on their steps to walk properly, despite what they have been through earlier.

They weren’t in a hurry to go home either. They were simply enjoying the other’s presence and acknowledging the other’s footsteps. The silence was comfortable and they began to understand and appreciate the other a little more… just so that they didn’t have to walk alone that dark night back to somewhere they can both call home. 

Author's Note:

dang, i'm sorry readers. it's been a while since my last update but WHOA?! 60+ subscribers already? *victory dances* i'm so happy you guys like the story so far!! i hope i won't disappoint you all!

to be honest i had a bit of trouble writing this chapter. its hard to write how the roommates are trying to know each other better and i didn't want to post something i wasn't satisfied with. overall, i hope i was able to bring out that 'mood' out from this chapter. oh yeah and Jiho, Minho's roommate, is actually  Block B Zico's real name. I was about to write his character as Zico but decided against it last minute and used his real name instead. 

thank you all for your comments and words of encouragement! I don't think i can go on without you guys! 

hope you enjoyed this chapter. until next time :D