Do Kyungsoo hadn’t changed his mind.

The following morning after emailing the man his weekly schedule, Jongin had awoke to a very detailed response regarding his new “job”. He would be expected to arrive at Do Kyungsoo’s apartment as soon as his classes ended every Monday (yes, that day-Monday), Wednesday, and Friday, and would absolutely not be late. Jongin really didn’t appreciate the last minute scheduling.

I’m certain you still remember where I live, seeing as how you put forth a lot of effort to attempt to break in, Kyungsoo had added at the end of his email much to Jongin’s chagrin.

Jongin banged his head against his desk, irritation bubbling within him. Why couldn’t he start tomorrow instead? .

Stupid, attractive .

From the kitchen, Jongin heard a small bang as assumed it was probably Sehun running into the table again, something he’d been prone to doing for the past week due to the lack of awareness of everything around him.

Peeking into the kitchen, he saw Sehun sitting at the table like he always did, his face pale and his eyes bruised from lack of sleep. , the guy looked almost ill and it was worrying to Jongin. And again, like every morning for the past week, Sehun paid him no attention and continued to skip out on meals.

He looked pathetic.

This is too much, Jongin thought to himself helplessly as he watching Sehun walk aimlessly around the apartment, the next couple of days, void of any emotion as he lived closed off inside his head. All the time he usually spent talking about or texting his girlfriend now replaced with endless moping. And there was nothing Jongin could really do about it since he didn’t know the root of the problem, and it wasn’t really his place to meddle with his friends’ relationship.

Except he threw that thought out the window upon hearing Sehun sigh for the thousandth time just that morning.

“Okay, dude,” Jongin asserted, plopping himself down into the chair across his friend with a bowl of cornflakes. “I’ve been quiet all week, I’ve given you your space, but I just can’t stand by anymore. Now I don’t know what’s going on between you and Lu Hu—”

“Don’t please,” Sehun interrupted, pleading to Jongin with his eyes. Jongin noticed Sehun drawing invisible circles with his finger on the tabletop.

Jongin gave him a pitying glanced. “Alright, fine, no names,” he negotiated with a shrug. “But seriously what is going on between the two of you? I’ve never seen you so sulky before.”

“I’m not sulky,” Sehun argued.

“You’ve been sulking all week!”

“…Not that much,” Sehun mumbled, looking away. “And I’ve just had a lot on my mind, is all.”

“Thinking about her?”

Sehun sighed (one thousand and one), nodding in surrender. “Yeah.”

Jongin sat quietly for a moment before trying once again. “Like I said, I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you,” he reiterated, watching Sehun closely. “But I am confident that this little rift is all that it is. A bump in the road, and you’ll survive, because all these years you two have been together, you’ve never let anything trivial get in between you two.”

Sehun knew Jongin was trying to help him feel better, he appreciated it, but he shook his head in denial. Jongin couldn’t possibly understand. “This is different,” he whispered helplessly.

“How is it different?” Jongin inquired, wanting to understand. “I’m assuming you two have had an argument. Okay. You’ve had those before. What did you do the other times?”

Sehun sat silently.

Jongin answered for him, “You recognize the root of the problem. You figure out how to work it out, you do it, and then you go back to loving each other. It’s worked for the past three years, I’m sure you can do it again, because that’s part of who you are.”

Jongin watched Sehun draw invisible designs on the table, looking anxious over the discussion and Jongin felt a bit regretful over insisting they talk, but Sehun needed to hear this.

“Look,” Jongin added, his tone much more relaxed as he attempted to get through to his friend a final time. “You’ve loved each other for a long time, anyone can see it. If you really love each other as much as I suspect you do, nothing else really matters. Whenever I see you two together, you’re like the happiest people ever and sometimes it’s a little gross how much you like each other, but it’s a wonderful thing. Now try to make it work, like you always do.” Jongin shoved a spoonful of corn flakes into his mouth before grabbing his bowl and trotted to his room, leaving Sehun alone with his thoughts.

It wasn’t for another twenty minutes later when Sehun finally budged from his spot in the kitchen, bustling around the apartment retrieving his shoes and his keys before running out the fron