Luhan roused when the morning sun shone through the window with a vengeance. The east-facing window was simultaneously his best friend and his biggest nemesis. The sun was a lot more pleasant to wake up to compared to the obnoxious high-pitched beeping of his old alarm clock but it also made the room way too bright and too hot to sleep in after sunrise. Not that that was really an option. Luhan pushed himself off the bed, padded out of what used to be the guest bedroom to the main bedroom, and was greeted with a very welcome sight from the open door.

“Good morning,” Minseok mouthed to him as he did every morning for the past six months or so, getting off the bed that he had been lounging on while he waited for Luhan to take his place.

“Morning,” Luhan mouthed back, giving Minseok a soft kiss on the lips before sitting himself down on the bed. He carefully rested his head on the pillow propped up against the headboard, watching as Minseok tiptoed out of the room, both of them being extra careful not to wake the person still asleep on the other side of the bed with his arms wrapped tightly around a pillow.

All things considered, they had agreed that this was the most reasonable arrangement when they decided to move in together. Letting Sehun sleep on the single bed in the guest bedroom was out of the question, and moving Minseok out of his own bedroom was obviously presumptuous. Not that Luhan was keen to share a bed with Sehun anyway. Being latched onto for six months was more than enough.

The pillow was Minseok’s idea. It was funny how none of them had thought of it before. It took Sehun a while to get used to it but now that he had, Minseok could go about his day as soon as the sun rose as he used to instead of floundering on the bed waiting for Sehun to wake up. Luhan stifled a yawn. It was great that they could split the bills and save money, see each other all the time, and rent his house out to give his mother some extra income, but the problem with this arrangement was that he had to get out of bed at sunrise too. Admittedly, it was a trivial issue but after six months, the bags under his eyes were starting to seem like permanent appendages. He was starting his second year of postgraduate studies in two months, he should be sleeping until noon right now while he still could.

Luhan shifted Minseok’s pillow so that it was flat on the bed, laid his head on it and closed his eyes, his face immediately scrunching up as the unavoidable glare of the sun hit it directly. Minseok’s dislike of curtains was something he would never understand. He moved to lie on his side, facing away from the window but ended up squirming when he felt the sun burning his back with sadistic glee.

“You’re moving around too much,” Sehun muttered, eyes still closed.

“Get up so I can sleep on that side,” Luhan said, sitting up on the bed and giving Sehun’s shoulder a nudge.

Sehun rolled over to lie on his stomach, burying his face in the pillow. “Go sleep in your room.”

“So you can cry for mum when you’re finally awake?”

There was a long pause before Sehun raised his head to look at Luhan, a frown on his face. “What do you want?”

“That’s a good question. Other than getting at least eight hours of sleep everyday, another thing high on my priority list is to get you to stop sleeping with my boyfriend.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Did Minseok tell you what’s happening tonight?”

“About the party?” Sehun asked, sluggishly moving into a sitting position on the bed.

Luhan nodded. “Knowing Yixing, he probably invited the whole student population, so we’ll have plenty of choices.”

“What choices?”

“People I can hook you up with.”

“I don’t need-”

“What do you think?” Luhan interrupted, directing his question at Minseok, who was walking back into the room after washing up.

“Think of what, sorry?” Minseok asked.

“I think we should find someone for Sehun at the party tonight.”

“That’s a great idea,” Minseok said with instant enthusiasm.

“But I don’t-” Sehun managed to say before getting cut off again.

“Who do you want, a guy or a girl?” Luhan asked.

Sehun frowned. “That’s not-”

“I guess you’re still stuck in the questioning stage,” Luhan mused. “We’ll just have to see when we get there.”

***

“I got it.”

Jongdae let his gaze travel between the ear-to-ear grin on Baekhyun’s face and the envelope he was practically shoving in Jongdae’s face, trying to think of a connection between the two. “Got what?”

“My Christmas card.”

Ah, Jongdae thought, belatedly noticing the address printed on the top left-hand corner of the envelope. St. Joseph’s Residential Care. That would explain why Baekhyun had been obsessively checking the mailbox every morning with an uncharacteristic anxiousness for the past few days.

“At least one of us got one,” Chanyeol commented, dragging a large suitcase out of his room.

“Do you know what this means?” Baekhyun asked, addressing no one in particular.

“That your parents are more loving than ours?” Chanyeol guessed.

“No, that she’s alive.”

“Who is?”

“Mary,” Jongdae said.

“I need to open this,” Baekhyun mumbled to himself, walking into his room to get a letter opener.

“Who’s Mary?” Chanyeol asked.

“His mum.”

“His mum’s name is Mary?”

Jongdae nodded. “Sister Mary.”

Chanyeol paused, digesting that new piece of information. “How did that happen?”

“His dad’s name is Joseph,” Jongdae added. “He’s a carpenter.”

“Okay,” Chanyeol said dubiously.

“What’s the bag for?” Jongdae asked, gesturing at the suitcase. “Don’t tell me you’re going somewhere with Kyungsoo again. You just got back last week.”

“Didn’t I tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“I’m pretty sure I told you that I’m moving out.”

“What?” Baekhyun exclaimed, rushing out of his room. “You can’t do that.”

“Definitely not,” Jongdae agreed. “There’s no way we can afford half the rent.”

“Yeah, that’s why I told you-” Chanyeol hesitated. “Oh.”

“What?” Baekhyun asked.

“I discussed it with Kyungsoo but I forgot to tell you two.” Chanyeol shook his head. “But anyway, it’s all taken care of. Kyungsoo said he knew someone who was looking for a place to stay so that guy’s coming over today.”

“You’re letting a stranger move in with us?” Jongdae asked. “Without our permission, I might add.”

“I trust Kyungsoo’s judgement.”

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Baekhyun muttered under his breath.

“Where are you moving to anyway? We still have one year of uni left,” Jongdae pointed out.

“I’m moving in with Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol said distractedly as the doorbell rang. “I think that’s your new housemate.” He headed to the front door with his two soon-to-be-ex housemates in tow, all eager to know what their new housemate would be like, but the greeting he was prepared to give remained frozen as he opened the door and saw who was on the other side.

All four of them stared at each other before Jongdae broke the silence with an articulate “.”

“It’s great right?” Kyungsoo said, dropping the bags he was carrying on the doorstep, apparently failing to read the situation. “All of you know each other so-”

“Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol interrupted. “I think you’re having one of your absentminded moments.”

Kyungsoo looked at him questioningly. “What do you mean?”

“You can’t be serious,” Tao finally spoke, done running through all the possible options he had other than staying here and coming up with absolutely zilch. “I can’t move in with these people.”

“Why? What’s wrong with them?” Kyungsoo asked, still clueless.

“Yeah, what’s wrong with us?” Baekhyun asked.

“You’re the last person who should say that,” Jongdae said, trying to jog his memory.

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said, finally remembering.

“Exactly,” Tao said.

“Oh my god, I completely forgot about that.”

“We know you didn’t do it on purpose,” Chanyeol said, reaching out to give Kyungsoo’s arm a reassuring touch.

“That’s not the problem,” Tao said. “Where am I supposed to go? I turned in my keys and everything so now I’m practically homeless.”

“My room’s the furthest from Baekhyun’s, if that means anything,” Chanyeol said.

“Somebody remind me who that guy is,” Baekhyun said, confused. “He’s in Yixing’s club, right?”

Tao turned to look at Kyungsoo, jaws clenched. “Do you know another place?”

“He’s the rando who wouldn’t put out,” Jongdae said to Baekhyun.

“Like a failed conquest?” Baekhyun asked.

“He doesn’t even remember you. Isn’t that a good thing?” Kyungsoo said to Tao.

“Look,” Tao started. He glanced at the three people in the house: Jongdae still trying to remind Baekhyun who he was with Chanyeol awkwardly stuck in between, and decided to pull Kyungsoo slightly further away from the front door to speak to him privately. “I really can’t live here.”

“But that happened ages ago. You should try to let go of your grudge. Baekhyun’s really… not that bad…” Kyungsoo trailed off in a mumble.

“What if he tries that again?”

“Of course he won’t,” Kyungsoo said without conviction. “He was drunk that time, wasn’t he?”

“Wasn’t he completely sober when he tried that on you?”

“Well…” Kyungsoo faltered. “But if I can deal with him, then so can you, right?”

“You don’t live with him.”

“Please.” Kyungsoo could just see all the plans he had been making with Chanyeol ending up in the bin because of one slight oversight. “You get your own room so you don’t even have to talk to him.”

Tao sighed. “The only reason I wanted to move was because the bus fares were getting a bit too much from the last place I was staying at but I’m not sure if staying here will be worth it.”

“It’s not easy to find a place close to uni.”

“Isn’t your house close to uni?”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said, taken aback. Was that what it was? He glanced back at Chanyeol nervously. “I’m taken.”

Tao frowned. “I know.”

“And my boyfriend,” Kyungsoo stressed, taking cautious steps away from Tao, “is moving in with me.”

“I’m not hitting on you.”

“So that’s why there’s a room available here,” Kyungsoo continued, finally close enough to Chanyeol to slip an arm around his waist. “Because my boyfriend and I are going to live together.”

“Oh, for god’s sake,” Tao muttered. “Fine, I’ll move in here.”

Chanyeol looked at Kyungsoo, impressed. “I don't know what you did, but it worked.”

***

“I think that’s everything,” Yixing said, looking around the bare flat that had been his home for the past four years. It was almost sad how little he had, all his possessions fitting into a suitcase, a duffel bag, and a backpack. The flat seemed even shoddier with all his things packed away, resembling an oversized cardboard box now more than ever. He sighed and bid a silent goodbye to the place synonymous with his youthful years as an undergraduate student.

Yixing’s possessions didn’t seem so little to Junmyeon, who was straining his back to the point of breaking to carry all of them as he waited for Yixing outside the flat. “Can we leave yet?” he asked, stretching his back slightly. He wasn’t looking forward to the long trip to his house.

“Yeah, I just need to hand in my keys before I leave.” Yixing stepped out of the flat and turned around to give it one final look before closing the door. “Okay, let's go.”

“You know, you can stay at my house for as long as you want,” Junmyeon said, adjusting the duffel bag on his shoulder.

“No, you live too close to that ,” Yixing said, contempt apparent on his face. “I don’t want to run into her.”

“I’ve told you this before, but I really didn’t date her. Not when I was dating you, not before and certainly not after.”

Yixing shrugged. “She’s still a .”

“So have you found a place that you like?” Junmyeon asked, quickly changing the subject.

Yixing shook his head. “The only houses I could find are all a few bus stops away and they’re not even nice. It’s stupid how I can’t live here anymore just because I’ve graduated.”

“But you’re still doing postgrad, right?”

“Exactly. Postgrads are students too.”

That wasn’t what Junmyeon meant but he nodded anyway.

“Wait, I need to see Jongin.” Yixing halted his steps when he reached the very familiar door and knocked that special knock he had devised with Jongin and waited.

Junmyeon silently walked a few steps away and turned his back to Yixing, dropping the heavy duffel bag on the floor and keeping his gaze on the unattractive view of the neighbourhood visible from the open-air corridor. The backpack weighing down his back was nowhere near as heavy as what he felt in his heart but he was used to this. In the eight months or so since Yixing had agreed to somewhat give him a second chance, he had been given front row seats to watch Yixing and Jongin’s relationship progress into something that he could have had but never did with Yixing.

Junmyeon sighed and closed his eyes, trying hard not to visualise what he knew was happening behind him as he heard the sound of the door of Jongin’s flat being opened. He knew exactly how Yixing would drape his arms loosely over Jongin’s shoulders, how his eyes would flutter shut as their lips met in a kiss that always seemed like it would last forever, how Jongin would have one hand running down his spine and another in his hair, as if they were the only ones around and as if Yixing had never said that he wouldn’t ‘publicise his love life.’

, why was he doing this to himself? But it wasn’t like his relationship with Yixing was at a complete standstill. He was promoted from pet to personal assistant, wasn’t he? Nonetheless, it was still frustrating how Jongin hadn’t lost his shine like Junmyeon thought he would after almost a year.

“Are you sure you don’t want to move out and find a place with me?” Yixing asked – purred, Junmyeon thought grudgingly. That was the kind of voice that Yixing would never use with him. He could just imagine the enamoured look Yixing was giving Jongin right at that moment, with his arms still around Jongin’s neck.

“No,” Jongin said. “I’m still trying to find ‘the golden mean.’”

“But I’ll miss you,” Yixing said in that whiny tone that Junmyeon knew was always accompanied by a pout.

“‘Even the phoenix uses its retirement for new adornment and turns absence into desire.’”

“I don’t think I can want you more than I want you now.”

Junmyeon only just managed to stop himself from sighing again, and yet his masochistically keen ears were still listening for more.

“‘The passion of desire increases with every increase of opposition,’” Jongin said.

Yixing laughed – a smothered laugh that told Junmyeon he had his face buried in Jongin’s shoulder. “What are you doing to me?”

“I could ask you the same question.”

“I’ll miss you too much.”

“Being missed by the wise is ‘the height of happiness.’”

Yixing chuckled, followed by a period of silence. Junmyeon didn’t have to turn around to look to know that they were staring into each other’s eyes, completely and utterly mesmerized, making him torn between wanting to rant and rave about annoying couples, and hurling himself to the floor and wailing about what he could have had.

“Are you coming to my party tonight?” Yixing asked after a silence that seemed to have stretched on for hours.

“Of course,” Jongin said simply.

“So I’ll see you then.”

“Okay.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Junmyeon lifted the duffle bag off the ground, more than ready to head to his house, but dropped it back down with a poorly suppressed groan when he heard the telling sounds of smooching behind him. It would be a while yet before he could rid himself of the weight on his back and even longer before he could rid himself of the weight in his heart.