Your 6am alarm blared loudly, jolting you awake. Today was the day of Sunghoon's competition, and possibly the day you finally confess your feelings.
Getting out of bed at 6am was a mission to say the least. You checked the current temperature: 35 degrees, with a peak of 42 degrees at midday. Time to message Sunghoon that you can't make it on account of your frigophobia that you completely made up just now.
You hear noises coming from outside your room. Was someone breaking in? At 6am no less. Burglars just have no decency these days. You force yourself to leave the haven of your thick duvet and quickly grab the coat that you had chucked on the ground last night to conserve body heat.
Rubbing your eyes to focus your vision, you opened the door to check who was outside.
No one. Well at least no one from the view of your doorway. You walked further into the room and smell a faint scent of alcohol, and then you find the culprit.
"Ning, what the fuck, you scared me!" You yelped out, finding Yizhuo lying on the ground next to the couch.
"Hush hush hush please, I'm gonna die," Yizhuo said faintly, eyes still closed in her half-asleep state.
"Did you go out drinking?"
"Mmmhmm, and did some weed, nothing crazy," Yizhuo muttered, chewing the air slightly. "Wonbin's sleeping in my bed and kicked me off it so I had to sleep out here."
"Wonbin's here?" You creep towards Yizhuo's bedroom door and crack it open softly to indeed find a sleeping lump of Wonbin snuggled up under her weighted blanket. "Why's he here?"
"It was late, and he said his parents would kill him if they smelt weed on him. Plus I needed someone to split the Uber with. Now can you please leave quickly, I'm gonna sleep in your bed."
"What?! No you're not. Go sleep in your own bed and kick Wonbin out."
"But he's gay," Yizhuo drawled. "Doing that would be a hate crime, he told me."
You rolled your eyes. You weren't in the mood for petty tiffs, especially at asscrack o'clock while the sun was barely starting to rise. You went back to your room and got ready quickly, seeing as your morning banter had you already running behind schedule.
Your eyeliner was severely uneven and the cold weather probably intensified your blush blindness, but it was already 7:45, and looking a fool was the only option if you wanted to get Sunghoon a proper gift and get to his competition on time.
When you finally left your bedroom looking somewhat put together, Wonbin was up. His hair fell into a wavy, messy bedhead style that you knew guys would spend hours in front of the mirror replicating, his naturally pigmented lips were slightly swollen from having just woken up and his cheekbones were somehow popping higher than ever. He looked fucking gorgeous. "Did you just get up?" You asked, a hint of jealousy creeping in your tone.
"Yeah, my parents want me home by like 9. What's the rush?" Wonbin asked, sipping on a glass of water, leaning on your kitchen sink.
"I need to get a present for Sunghoon's competition today, I still don't know what though," You replied, sitting at your dining table, hurriedly eating a piece of undertoasted bread with unevenly spread butter.
"The sex doll not good enough for him?" Wonbin smirked behind the glass.
"Oh so Ning showed you?" You replied, unimpressed.
"Yeah, unfortunate photo, I can't lie." You glared at him. "But, I have an idea."
You sighed. "Well it can't be any worse than giving Sunghoon a sex doll."
"My friend Sungchan works at a knock-off Build-A-Bear ten minutes from here. They open at 8, so you should get there in time. I'll text him to give you a discount."
"Oh my God, Wonbin, you're the best!" You embarrassingly jumped up from excitement and hugged him in an uncharacteristic show of gratitude.
"Alright, get off, I need to shower," Wonbin gently nudged you away.
"Hi, welcome to—oh hey, you're Y/N right?" the worker standing at the entrance asked. You were so caught off guard by a complete stranger knowing your name that the only thing you could do was nod slightly.
"I'm Sungchan, Wonbin told me that you were coming," the worker—Sungchan—clarified, "He told me to find the girl with the hair so slicked down it looks like an oily hard-boiled egg."
"Wonbin said what—"
"So anyways, you need to make a bear for your who? Friend? Boyfriend? Dada?"
"Um, it's complicated," was all you could use to describe your relationship. Your relationship was way more than friends, that much was obvious, but you weren't his girlfriend (yet) either, and you would never ever be caught dead admitting to being in a situationship.
You didn't even want to entertain dada.
"Complicated? Are you his side hoe or something?" Sungchan asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively. You were beginning to think this wasn't going to be a very good idea.
"Can I make a teddy or what?"
"Alright aggressive Amy—woah—alliteration—um, yeah sure, just right this way," Sungchan leads you to the plushie station. "Pick one,"
A large array of plushies sat before you. You weren't really sure which one Sunghoon would like, but you thought a penguin would be apt enough, considering the fact that he's an ice skater and penguins like ice?
"That penguin one?" You pointed towards the medium-sized penguin plush sitting on the second shelf from the top.
"Uh-uh, not that one. Too expensive," Sungchan refused. OK, what the hell was this guy's problem?
"Too expensive? I'm the one paying for it?" You remarked incredulously. Yeah sure, you were broke, but Sungchan couldn't know that from your thrifted faux fur jacket and cheap boots.
Sungchan simply sighed in response and tried reaching for the plush, but it was too high up, even for someone of ginormous stature such as himself. He groaned in laziness and went to fetch a small stepladder not even three feet away. No wonder him and Wonbin are friends.
"Cool, we got it, you want to record a message?" Sungchan asked. You weren't too sure as to what to say in your message, but you wanted the gift to be personalised, and giving a plushie with your voice on it was just about as personalised as you could make it.
"Sure, I don't know what to say though," you replied, scared of what Sungchan's diva reaction would be to your unpreparedness. You had only met this guy for like five minutes, but you were already fearing for the worst.
To your surprise, Sungchan simply nodded and started typing something out on his phone. "Say this."
"Happy Birthday Shotaro baby, let me slide up and down on it like threading lamb skewers—"
"Wait fuck, wrong thing," Sungchan quickly pulled his phone away from your face and fumbled around on the screen, looking for the note that he was typing out a mere thirty seconds ago. "Here."
"Hoonie, baby, you look so sexy—I can't say that, the fuck?" You cut yourself off mid sentence.
"Too bad, already recorded," Sungchan waved the sound chip that he was definitely not holding before and pushed the button, replaying your message with your self-interruption conveniently left out.
"Let me re-record, please," you asked with puppy dog eyes and your hands clasped together.
"Mmmm, no, I'm already doing you a huge favor by giving you a discount and now you're here telling me you want to re-record the message? Do you know how annoying that is?" Sungchan spoke in a slight ticked-off manner.
"Isn't it literally a single button push—"
"It'll be an extra $300 for a rerecording. I have arthritis so button pushing is painful."
"Um—"
"Plus, I'm doing you a favor. This message will get him to ditch his main hoe, trust me."
"He doesn't have a main hoe?"
"That's the spirit." Sungchan patted your shoulders encouragingly.
"I—what? I'll just take the plushie without the sound chip then."
"But I went through all this trouble? Why are you not appreciating my efforts?" Sungchan asked, his arms now crossed, singular eyebrow raised in a combative stance. "Do you, perhaps, hate gay people?"
"What? No. I just don't think that message is the kind of message I want to tell Sunghoon right now, y'know?"
"OK, then pay you'll have to pay full price."
"Hey, woah, what? Wouldn't it be cheaper to just give me the plushie without the sound chip?" You questioned.
Sungchan made a challenging face. "Mmm, it would be, buuuuut you wasted my time, and as Pitbull once said 'time is money', so you wasted my money."
"You're literally paid hourly. And the store is empty right now."
"It's either I put this sound chip in or you pay $700."
"$700?! That is not the full price, are you insane?" You raised your voice in bubbling anger. You were at your wit's end with this guy now.
"Told you you wouldn't be able to afford it," Sungchan shrugged smugly. "But, if you put this chip in, I'll give you a 95% discount, so $35."
You checked the price tag on the plushie, and holy shit, it was in fact $700.
"Why the fuck is this plushie priced so high? Did Hephaestus craft this himself or something?" You asked, cheeks warming up at the fact you might actually have to humiliate yourself in front of Sunghoon once again. "Are you trying to extort me? Also what would your boss think if you gave me a 95% discount on a $700 plush."
"Well first of all, I don't know who Hephaestus is. Secondly, I'm pretty sure this place is a money laundering front, so it doesn't really matter how much I sell this thing for," Sungchan explained. "So it's either get the plush with the message, or pay $700. Your choice."
You were no stranger to making horrible monetary decisions, and perhaps the past, less fiscally responsible you would have chosen to pay $700 just to avoid the embarrassment. However, times were getting tough. That night at Futuristic Mushroom did a lot more damage than you actually realised in the moment and your account balance was toeing the line to the red.
Gay people are evil.
"Here's $35."
thirty-one | thirty-two | thirty-three
masterlist
a/n → sorry for being away for so long! i have exams coming up so updates will still be quite slow i'm afraid
As soon as Sunghoon arrived back at his dorm, Jake and Jay immediately started stripping Sunghoon of his dignity (and clothes).
"Can you at least give me a few moments to put my stuff do—" Jay yanked Sunghoon's training bag from his arm and threw it on their couch before untying the knot on his sweatpants. "Geez can I at least change in the privacy of my bedroom?"
"No," Jake replied curtly.
Once Sunghoon had been derobed to a satisfactorily customisable level, Jay and Jake, who clearly went fishing in Sunghoon's 'party' section of his wardrobe, started fitting him up.
"A leather jacket? To the bar? Are you insane?" Sunghoon questioned, looking at the mound of matte black fabric draped on the couch.
Jake wiggled his eyebrows. "It gives you an edge. Wonbin's classy—boring. You? You're gonna be the cool bad boy that sweeps her heart up and Wonbin's dusty ass in a corner."
"We aren't in a Netflix teen movie dude, I'll just wear appropriate bar clothing—like a normal person," Sunghoon stated, rolling his eyes and flicking the jacket off his back.
Jay widened his eyes mockingly, "Normal person with no bitches maybe."
Sunghoon gave him a strong kick in the shin.
Sunghoon was seriously regretting letting his friends drag him here.
He was sandwiched between his two friends, waiting in line to get his ID checked, so there was basically a near zero chance of him escaping. At least Jake didn't go through with his handcuff suggestion.
Once his ID was checked and he was permitted entry, he lingered at the doorway. Jake was still getting his checked, so he at least had a few more seconds before he would be embarrassed into oblivion.
Or maybe that embarrassment would come sooner than he thought.
"Jay! Good to see you my guy! Thought you weren't coming tonight?" A hyped up voice which can only belong to one Wonbin Park came bumbling up to Sunghoon's trio. He offered dap-ups for all three of the guys, with each of them unwilling to reciprocate the energy, although Wonbin didn't seem to care.
"I wasn't, but then Sunghoon saw the drinks on Y/N's story and decided it would be fun to come. I'm only here for moral support," Jay explained, although Wonbin was clearly not buying his half-baked lie whatsoever. Sunghoon was staring daggers into that back of Jay's head for throwing him under the bus.
Nonetheless, Wonbin took Jay's hand and led him to the table. Each step into the building felt like an earthquake to Sunghoon, his legs trembling with stress. What was your reaction going to be like when you see him? Were you going to be creeped out by the fact that he showed up at the exact spot you posted on your story a mere half an hour ago? Will you be so creeped out that you'll never want to see his face again? Will you kick him in the balls and spit in his face once he enters your vicinity? All very good and very likely scenarios running through Sunghoon's head.
Yizhuo and Manon noticed Wonbin holding Jay's hand and realised that his plan had worked. You, with your back still turned, were none the wiser to the cardiac shock trigger you were about to receive.
Yizhuo tapped your shoulder. "Hey Y/N, your best friend is here."
You turn around, confusion spread across your eyes. "Wha—"
Sunghoon Park was standing right next to you. Your eyes meet and quickly widen before you turn back around to nurse your drink again. What the fuck is he doing here?
Sunghoon would be lying if your reaction to seeing him didn't sting his heart a bit. He decided to sit next to you, and your heartbeat started to pick up in pace. Of all the nights to run into him, it had to be tonight.
"Um, hey Y/N," Sunghoon greeted shyly. You felt conflicted. Did this count as Sunghoon talk? You weren't technically talking about him, but rather to him.
You spare a quick glance at Yizhuo and Manon, but they seem to be of no help. Manon was locked into whatever bullshit ad game she's downloaded this week and Yizhuo was pretending to be interested too, but the smirk on her face was telling.
It had been a few seconds since Sunghoon's greeting, and the words still hung in the air. Any later and they would float away, missing the opportunity to say hi back before it becomes too awkward. "Hi Sunghoon," was all you offered.
Yizhuo was fully stifling a giggle at this point. You felt horrible. Was $50 really worth it? Sunghoon's dejected look was certainly not helping you decide.
You gave him a small smile. You could at least look at the poor boy, after all, looking isn't talking. Sunghoon smiled back, and you could swear a small sparkle came back into his eyes. "How's your nose? Still sore?"
You subconsciously start touching your nose bridge. There was definitely still a bruise under the full coverage foundation you slathered on. "It's still a bit sore, but nothing too dramatic," you replied out of politeness.
At this point you were eye-begging either Yizhuo or Manon to take over the conversation so you could still win the $50 and retain your dignity. Just one thing — your friends are evil, and would rather watch you squirm. Yizhuo probably also wanted to keep that $50 to herself anyway.
Wonbin seemingly picked up on your sudden awkward behaviour and decided to insert himself into the conversation. It was kind of perfect, he was acting like a middleman for the two of you, meaning you didn't have to directly interact with Sunghoon.
"Hey Hoon, how's it been?" Wonbin asked, leaning into the table to join the conversation. Behind him, you could see Jay silently seething. Maybe Wonbin was right.
"I've been good." Oh so now Sunghoon was the one giving quick replies.
Wonbin continued badgering Sunghoon with questions, occasionally chucking some your way, but never allowing the two of you to talk to each other directly. Fuck Manon, and especially fuck Yizhuo, Wonbin was your best friend now.
"Are you guys hungry? I'm so hungry. I could kill for a cheese pizza right now," Wonbin groaned, leaning his head onto the table.
"Didn't you literally eat all our fries, you fatass," you complained.
"That shrinkflationed basket of fries was nothing. I want a giant slice of cheese pizza right now," Wonbin whined, torso now fully on the table.
"Pizza sounds good," Jake chimed in, "I could eat some pepperoni."
"Sliced or unsliced?" Sunghoon teased before receiving a painful arm punch in response.
The pizza shop right next to your dorm was still thankfully open and empty. You decided to wait in line with Yizhuo, while the rest of them found places to sit.
The largest seating arrangements at this shop were booths, which could only sit four people each, so you were thankful that you wouldn't have to sit with Sunghoon here. You slide into the booth, sitting opposite Manon, with Yizhuo coming in after. Wonbin, for whatever reason, decided to sit with the guys instead.
"Yizhuo can I please have a little bit of grace? I mean, isn't it a little difficult for me to not talk about him when he's literally right there?" You pleaded.
Yizhuo pouted her lips dramatically. "Awwwww no."
You glared at her.
"Also I already spent the $50." Yizhuo shrugged.
"You what?"
"Um it's not my fault Jake's greedy ass wanted jalapeño poppers along with his 18" pepperoni pizza." Yizhuo said matter-of-factly. "If you've got a problem, take it up with him. Besides, you literally failed like as soon as we sat down at the bar."
"I thought that was only a warning," you protested weakly.
"I changed my mind," Yizhuo replied calmly with a smirk decorating her face.
"So you're telling me I've been rude to him all night for nothing," you whined, burying your head in your hands.
"Sorry for not realising that you wanted $50 that badly," Yizhuo retorted. "And didn't you literally drop like $600 to buy ice skates before you even talked to him? Like I thought $50 was nothing to you one-percenter."
"Please stop using logic, my head hurts," you cried out. Yizhuo simply laughed and pulled you into a rare side hug. She's probably being an affectionate drunk tonight.
"Also, Y/N. I've been observing you and him tonight," Manon started.
"Why are you talking like we're lab mice?" You asked light-heartedly. Manon made an unamused face at your horrible analogy.
"—and I can tell he probably likes you back."
"Wow very scientific wording Miss Bannerman, can I see your findings in report form ple—wait what?!" You sat up straight, breaking out of Yizhuo's arms.
"Yeah, he seemed kind of upset when you replied to him curtly. Also, he looked tense and was basically glaring at Wonbin anytime he was talking to you."
"Ooooo possessive," Yizhuo interjected.
Your mind was racing at the revelation. Sunghoon liked you back? You looked behind Manon towards the guys' table and could see that Sunghoon was already staring at you, although he quickly diverted his gaze when your eyes met. Huh.
You decided to take Manon's words with a pinch of salt, a large pinch for sure (after all she was the one who kept calling you out on your delusions, so you could trust her to be somewhat level-headed with her findings), but a pinch nonetheless.
Just as your pizza arrived, Wonbin came scrambling to your booth, looking extremely agitated and jumpy. "Um guys, we need to leave like now."
"Huh why? Our food just got here," you asked, hands dangling in mid-air, about to pick up a slice of pizza.
"My ex-situationship works here and he like just clocked in so we need to go," Wonbin explained, wide-eyed.
The three of you grumbled, but you close the lid and pick up the hot pizza box anyway. You did owe him one for what he did at the bar after all, even if it was meaningless. Besides, you preferred eating in your dorm anyway.
Jay, realising that you guys were packing up, asked about it. "You guys leaving?"
"Yeah, we're gonna eat this back at our dorm. You guys are welcome to join us," you replied, hoping that Sunghoon says yes.
"Oh it's OK, it's getting kind of late. I have a compulsory lecture tomorrow morning, and Sunghoon here has morning practice," Jake declined, dimming your mood slightly. You all walked out of the pizza place together and said your goodbyes, but not before quickly remembering what Manon presented about Sunghoon.
Before Sunghoon could leave, you quickly run up to him. "Hey, uh, sorry about tonight."
Sunghoon's face feigned confusion, but in his tipsy state, he was not very good at conveying it convincingly. "What do you mean?"
"I was being rude to you, but, um, the truth was that I had a bet going with Yizhuo that I lost," you let out, scratching behind your head in a show of embarrassment.
"A bet? What bet?"
"Yizhuo bet me $50 that I wouldn't talk about you tonight. Apparently I talk about you a lot," the words fell out. In your non-sober state, you hadn't realised what you actually said.
Sunghoon's face brightened up pretty much immediately. "You talk about me a lot, huh?" He teased. You quickly realised what you had actually said, but his reaction dissuaded any form of denial you were cooking up.
"Don't let it get to your head," you sassed instead, rolling your eyes, but smiling back anyway.
"Um Y/N, can we go now please? My ex is literally standing by the window. One look up and he'll see m—oh shit, Manon hide me," Wonbin yelled out, quickly ducking behind Manon's much smaller frame.
"Well, uh, talk to you later," you waved.
Sunghoon waved back, joining the rest of the group giddily.
Wait—did Wonbin just say he?
twenty-seven | twenty-eight | twenty-nine
masterlist
a/n → crazy what one night can do for relationship progress
break the ice | 27. new side hustle method dropped
word count - 1.5k
"What the fuck are you wearing?"
Your little business quartet was standing outside your workshop room, ready to present all the gruelling information Yujin had forced the rest of you to perfect, and Wonbin had to ruin it by showing up in jorts.
"You don't like my outfit?" Wonbin asked, feigning cluelessness. In addition to the horrible jorts, he had on some studded red cowboy boots, an ill-fitting loose t-shirt and a bright pink belt tied around his shirt to round out the outfit.
Yujin looked at the fit in disdain. "I specifically said to wear something presentable, and no jorts."
"Um actually, you were never clear on the jorts so I stand corrected," Wonbin argued, nose turned up.
"If we get marked down because of you, I'm never letting you eat properly again," Yujin threatens, opening the door to the workshop. There were five other groups in your workshop, and everyone had the decency to wear something at least semi-formal. Wonbin's attire stuck out like a sore thumb.
"So after this presentation what's the haps? We going to a bar and getting wasted right?" Wonbin whispered to your group.
"Let's try and get through the presentation first, how about that?" Jay snarked.
The TA entered in soon after, announced how today was presentation day, and then proceeded to stare at Wonbin's outfit for a full 5 seconds before quickly recalibrating.
"Right. So, um, which group wants to go first?"
Yujin's hand shot up immediately. You weren't that keen on going first. Perhaps a second or third in the rotation would have been better but you suppose it's better to get it over and done with than to wait in anxiety.
"Alright, Yujin's group, please go ahead."
The four of you make your way to the front of the class. Wonbin swaggered his way up, his cowboy boots were clearly two sizes too big for him.
Throughout your entire presentation, you could tell the TA was far too distracted by Wonbin's outfit than anything the rest of you were saying. Yujin was trying her best to bring his attention back to your hard thought-out presentation, using as many forms of hand gestures and inflections in tone as she could, but to no avail. The TA's eyes kept darting over at Wonbin's hideous outfit despite trying his best to focus on the content.
"And that was our presentation on how employee management affects a corporation's culture, any questions?" Yujin finishes off.
"Um yeah, so where did you get that belt, Wonbin?" The TA asks, hand scratching his chin, eyebrows furrowed in deep curiosity. Yujin's facial expression was priceless.
Wonbin gave a shy smile. "Oh this old thing? I thrifted it at like a store three blocks away from my house. You like it?"
"No," The TA said flatly, "I hate it. Please never wear that again."
Wonbin's smile dropped. Yujin's face lit up slightly, then dropped.
"Right which group wants to go next?"
The Futuristic Mushroom was black, save for the several neon lights that lit up the room in a colorful frenzy. The room felt like a controlled disco rave. A soft yet upbeat track was playing in the background, tying in the ambience of the bar.
After ordering your drinks and snacks you kickstarted the conversation: "So, as a hypothetical, if someone were to invite someone else to like a, um, dance recital or something, would that hypothetical person bring anything? Like flowers or something?"
"This is so clearly Sunghoon talk," Yizhuo immediately clocked. "You want that $50 right?"
"I am not talking about him," you firm.
"You are, girl. Do you have nothing else going on in your life?" Manon asked, head leaning on her hand.
"Well I highly doubt you guys wanna hear about our group project today," you retort, hands clasped together on the table.
"Yeah, you're right, we don't," Yizhuo says flatly. "Oh my God, bro, the residents in nursing homes are so sweet. I had an old guy give me $100 and another old lady give me her medication because she didn't want to take it, like free money and drugs? Sign me the fuck up."
"I'm pretty sure the medication those residents take aren't going to give you a trip, Ning," you point out.
"Hey, who's the med student here?"
"None of us," you spit back quickly.
"Harsh, L/N," Yizhuo scrunches her nose at you.
"Oh, hey Y/N, didn't know you were gonna be here." A familiar, grating, male voice comes up from behind you. Just the person you wanted to bump into on girls' night.
"Hi Wonbin," you greet quickly, hoping he'll leave. Instead, the opposite occurs, he pulls up another chair and squeezes in between you and Manon.
"Man, I've been dying to come here. Yujin and Jay didn't want to come, boring ass bitches, so I'm so glad I ran into you here," Wonbin claps his hands together, giving the rest of you a big smile. Manon smiles back uncomfortably, but Yizhuo looks thoroughly entertained.
You look at his outfit. Dress shirt on with one button undone, sleeves rolled up to ¾ length, and slacks with dress shoes on.
"Why the hell did you not dress like this for our presentation?" You ask, eyebrows furrowed in a cross.
"Because the Futuristic Mushroom is a classy place, so it would have been wrong of me to dress up inappropriately," Wonbin replies smugly, "and also because ragebaiting Yujin was the only thing keeping me sane throughout that project."
You roll your eyes.
"What'd you order, Wonbin?" Yizhuo asks from across the table.
"Oh I just got a cosmo. Figured to let my liver take a break after Saturday's unfortunate mishaps," Wonbin shrugs, "but anyway, what's going on with you guys? Y/N, still trying to fuck Sunghoon?"
You sputter in response. Yizhuo and Manon start giggling softly.
"Uh, um…" You couldn't mention his name whatsoever or else that $50 Yizhuo so surrepitiously earned for you would vanish. It was probably time to cut back on the DoorDash and 2am impulse purchases.
"Yeah Y/N, still trying to fuck Sunghoon?" Yizhuo asked seemingly innocently, but you could tell there was a glint of evil in her eyes.
You glare back at her. "Shut up Ning, you figured out whatever's going on with you and Jake yet?"
"Nothing's going on, nothing was ever going on, and nothing will ever go on," Yizhuo replied, eyes staring back at you, challengingly.
"Jake? As in pre-law Jake?" Wonbin piped up.
"Yeah…" you reply unsurely, "Why?"
"Nothing, he's cute," Wonbin shrugged. You widen your eyes slightly and quickly glance at Yizhuo and Manon, who seem to have nary an expression painted on their face. Before you could question him further, your drinks arrive.
"Wait!" Manon shouts before you can even lift the glass, "Let me take a pic."
Yizhuo grumbled under her breath, but nonetheless allows Manon to rearrange the drinks on the table.
"The lighting in here is a mess," Manon complained, trying to find a good angle.
"Here," Wonbin turns on his phone's flashlight and angles it. The drinks seemingly sparkled under Wonbin's shitty iPhone torch, as if given new life.
"Woah thanks," Manon appreciated graciously, quickly snapping a photo before Yizhuo's snappy hands yanked her drink away from the table.
"You should post that on your story and tag me," Wonbin suggested.
"Why?" Manon questioned, but opens the Instagram app anyway.
"I have a hypothesis that I want proven," Wonbin smirked. Manon immediately caught onto Wonbin's subliminal inference and tagged everyone in her story. You all go on your phones to repost the story.
"Oh my God, why is Sion texting me again asking for quiz answers. I'm genuinely going to rip his head off soon," Yizhuo complained, seeing a notification pop up on her phone.
"Sion? As in molecular biology major Sion?" Wonbin asked.
"Yeah, why?" Yizhuo replied.
"I hate that guy. He's such a slut," Wonbin rattled off, feeling riled up. "I feel so bad for his current boyfriend."
"Isn't he dating that Japanese transfer student? Riku, I think?" Yizhuo pondered.
"Yeah, poor guy. Probably doesn't even know that half the guys in this school has seen his boyfriend's dick."
"Why do you care so much?" You questioned. Why was Wonbin so invested in this random guy who doesn't even share the same major's love life?
"Um I literally dated him in my second year?" Wonbin replied, as if it was the most obvious thing to have ever happened.
"Wait what?" You exclaimed, but a lot of things were seemingly clicking in place about him.
("Yeesh, 19th love theory proves accurate again," Manon commented under her breath.)
"I thought it was pretty obvious I was gay?" Wonbin's face was contorted into a confused look.
"Manon and Yizhuo didn't know either?"
"I knew," Yizhuo quickly said, hand shooting up.
"We both did," Manon added on. You give them both a dirty look. They did not know.
"But what about Jay and Yujin?" You ask.
"I guess they're both just dense as fuck." Wonbin shrugged. "Besides, cosplaying as straight in front of Jay is so funny. I'm pretty sure he thinks I like you or you like me or both, and he crashes out like everytime we're within a six feet radius of each other."
"He thinks I like you?" You sputter, tone coming off much more offensively than you realised.
"Hey what's wrong with liking me? I'll have you know my DMs are packed."
break the ice | 4. why are there red and blue lights flashing
warnings - sex (nothing too explicit)
word count - 2k
"This better be worth it. I'm giving you the rest of my paycheck here," You reluctantly hand over the last $20 bill to Yizhuo, her hands already drowning in a pile of your tutoring money.
"Oh please, that kid you're tutoring is so rich. She can fork over another $500 easily next time she learns about compound interest or whatever," Yizhuo says casually, counting the bills.
"It's $25 an hour, Ning. I don't think her parents are swimming in coins per se."
"$25 an hour?! My parents used to spend like $15 an hour for someone to tutor me Bio. Damn Y/N, you ripping these people off? In this economy? Not OK. Right, Manon?" Yizhuo asked, turning her head to look at Manon, who was still trying to figure out why you thought giving Yizhuo $600 to ask her friend if you could have her ice skates was a good idea.
"Y/N, did you seriously just give Ning $600. You know ice skates are like $400–"
"Hutututut," Yizhuo quickly interrupted Manon before she could expose her business opportunity. "What's done is done. No refunds, my friend." She stuffed the cash in her jacket pocket.
"You didn't bring your wallet to put your money in?" Manon asked, watching Yizhuo struggle to stuff the crimpled notes into her very shallow jacket pocket.
"OK, well how was I supposed to know Y/N was a tax evader and only deals in cash? I use Apple Pay everywhere anyways. I don't even know where my wallet is."
"I'm not a tax evader," You defended. Sure, you're a business major and, and sure basically every single billionaire tax evades, but that doesn't mean Yizhuo can just lump you in with them.
"I'll hold onto the money for you to keep it safe," Manon unzipped her wallet.
"Hell no! There's $600 of pure hard-earned American cash here. I don't trust you. Everyone switches up when people win the lotto," Yizhuo said, eyes narrowing and her grip tightening around her jacket pocket. "Now hurry up, I wanna go home soon, it's so cold."
"Would've been warmer if someone drove here by the way," You thought out loud, although clearly directing your frustration at Yizhuo, seeing as she was the only one with a car.
"I told you, a gazelle ran into the student carpark and just completely messed up my car's front end," Yizhuo sighed. You smirked at her lie. "Now shut up, do you want your skates or not?"
"Yes, yes, my bad Ning Yizhuo," You throw your hands up casually in a faux surrender move.
"God, this better be worth it. All this for a guy you saw once and called an attempted murderer, by the way," Manon commented quietly, which earned her a slight growl from you.
Yizhuo knocked on the door.
A beat.
A second beat.
Yizhuo knocked on the door harder.
A beat.
A second beat.
Yizhuo slammed on the door.
A beat.
A seco—
"I'm coming! Jesus Christ," A loud voice was heard from inside, and equally loud footsteps soon followed. The door was flung open. "Try that shit again, and I'll knock you—oh, it's just you. What do you want, Ning?"
"Minjeong, so good to see you. How long has it been again? Like two weeks? Gosh you have not aged a day!" Yizhuo lilted, a phoney smile accompanying the change in tone, and you and Manon shared a quick glance at each other as if to say "what-the-fuck".
"Ha, right. What do you want?" Minjeong asked flatly.
"For you to stop being such a Miss Grumpy Pants and let us in, we're freezing!" Yizhuo spoke in an almost kid-like tone you had never heard from her before. It sounded too positive, too fake.
Minjeong, nonetheless, opened the door wider, letting the three of you in and into her large and well-heated lounge.
"Alright, what do you want. More weed? Ketamine? Cocaine?" Minjeong asked.
"Ooo, ket sounds nice. What are we thinking? Ketamine?" Yizhuo asked, looking at you and Manon as if you had any idea what was going on.
"Huh?" Was all you could let out before Yizhuo could tell Minjeong her narcotics order.
"How much ket can I get for $600?" Yizhuo inquired. It finally occurred to you and Manon as to what was going on.
"What? I thought we were here about the ice skates?" You exclaim.
"Ice skate? Oh, that's the good stuff. New blend. Crazy what people are able to mix these days," Minjeong grinned. "$600 worth of ice skate will be about half an ounce."
"What?!" You interject quickly before Yizhuo could say yes to the offer.
"Yeah, honestly, that is ludicrous. Half an ounce? Minjeong, how long have we been friends for? Make it at least an ounce and you've got a deal," Yizhuo stretches out her hand for a handshake.
"You want me to give you over $1000 in drugs?" Minjeong asks, with a menacing undertone that the three of you did not like the sound of.
"Um, or an extra quarter ounce might be fine," Yizhuo shakily replies, clearly hearing the difference in tone.
Minjeong shakes Yizhuo's hand lightly. "You've got yourself a deal. Since you've been such a loyal customer." Yizhuo hands Minjeong the big wad of cash from her jacket pocket, prompting Minjeong to, presumably, measure out a three-quarter ounce of "ice skate".
To think, all your hard work trying to teach poor Sammie how to calculate binomial distributions going to some stuff that was probably cooked up by methheads with their unsanitary lab equipment.
"What the fuck, Ning? I thought you were going to ask her about actual ice skates, hello?" Manon asked, exasperated.
"Oh," was all Yizhuo could answer, followed by a nonchalant, "You should've been more specific then."
"What do you mean specific? What other ice skates could we have possibly been talking about these past few days?" You cry out.
"OK, my bad."
"I want my money back."
"I've got that bagged for you," Minjeong returns with a mini ziplock bag adorned with pink hearts and filled with a white powder. Yizhuo grabs the bag and holds it to eye-level, eyes glistening as though she had found the love of her life.
"Look, I'm sorry Minjeong. You seem like a reasonable person. We came here because we had wanted to ask you about actual ice skates. Yizhuo said you might have a pair lying around, and that's why we came here in the first place," You explain timidly, fearing for what Minjeong's reaction could possibly be.
"Actual ice skates? Honey, I'm a drug dealer. I don't twinkle my toes on a one-inch blade on a block of ice. Also, no refunds, I'm afraid. But try ice skate, I've had a lot of good reviews on it so far," Minjeong smiles, a little too wide for your liking, and you don't want to know what would happen if you challenge her.
"OK, thanks Minjeong, always glad to do business with you. Bye!" Yizhuo quickly says, pushing you and Manon outside.
Once you're outside, you immediately turn to Yizhuo.
"What the hell was that?! I gave you $600 to ask your friend if she has ice skates, not to get drugs?"
"It's fine, it's fine. We can just get the money back," Yizhuo shrugs.
"How?" You ask. "Didn't she say no refunds?"
"We can just break into her house."
"Excuse me?!" Manon interrupts. "I am not breaking into anyone's house. Sorry for your $600 loss, but I'm not risking jail time for this."
"It's fine. Minjeong's downstairs, I'm pretty sure her room is upstairs since I heard her run up to get me the drugs. Someone just stay down here and keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't go up, and the other two just climb into her room and get the money. Easy peasy," Yizhuo devises. "Manon, you stay here, since you're a massive pussy, and Y/N and I will go up and fetch her Benjamins."
"Hell no. I'm leaving."
"Come on Manon. For love?" You plead.
"You barely know the guy," Manon fires back, a cannonball towards your wobbly wall of delusions.
"I'll split the cash with you," Yizhuo offers. "70/30."
"50/50."
"60/40."
"50/50."
"55/45."
"50/50."
"Fine," Yizhuo gives a small smile. "I love how easily corruptable you are."
Manon stood by the window, angled in a position where she could see in, but no one would be able to see her outside.
"I'm pretty sure that's her room," Yizhuo points to an arbitrary window.
"You're pretty sure?" You ask, your single eyebrow raising in concern.
"Like 70% sure. That's the correct terminology, right, stats major?"
"Shut up, let's just go before she goes upstairs."
"How good are you at scaling buildings?" Yizhuo asked, as if this was supposed to be a completely normal life-skill that everyone should have.
"Considering my collective experience of scaling buildings is at a whopping zero years, I would say, not that good," You reply, tone reflecting the perplexity of being asked that question.
"Fuck. OK, try climb onto that tall round tower thing," Yizhuo instructed. You used the edge of the plant box next to it help prop you up easier.
Following some more grunts and shaky arms (never skipping arm day again), you finally made it onto the roof tiles covering the first floor.
"Come on," Yizhuo directed you towards the window with the curtains shut. It was an outward opening and unlocked window. "Minjeong has to have like a million dollars in here and she keeps the window open? Score."
The two of you slowly crawl into the space until your feet touch the soft, carpetted ground. You let out a sigh of relief before realising you weren't alone in the room.
"Fuck, just like that."
There was a moan and whimper that followed.
Before you could even comprehend what was going on, a loud thwip sound rang against something soft, probably skin.
Oh my god.
There were two people having sex in Minjeong's room.
"Ning what the hell! Are you sure we're in Minjeong's room?" You whisper frantically, desperately trying to not get caught. Yizhuo, just as terrified of the situation that you're in, gives you a quick shoulder shrug. "Oh my god, oh my god, I can't breathe."
"Let's just try and leave now," Yizhuo grabbed your arm and turned you around towards the window so you could leave before the two people in "Minjeong's" room could catch you. Just as you put your foot onto the window sill, a loud ring came from Yizhuo's pocket.
Your sad excuses for trying to be sneaky, alas, came in vain. The loud ringtone resonated around the room, as if the music was trying to be extra loud to snitch on your presence (or it just felt like it was). The moaning and shadowy humps stopped, and the duvet covers opened to reveal two very middle-aged and very naked people in the bed, staring straight at you two.
"What the fuck. Who are you?" The man, who you now presume to be Minjeong's father, shouts out.
"Um, we're very sorry, we'll be leaving now," you say quickly, trying to duck through the window, which was now apparently impossible to open due to the high wind speeds outside that came with the season. Just great.
"Oh no, missies, you're not going anywhere," the woman says, getting off her husband and brandishing a whip, which was likely the source of the loud thwip before.
You and Yizhuo could just gulp.
"We swear, we came up here by mistake. We didn't mean to intrude on your, uh—"
"Moment of intercourse," Yizhuo adds, unhelpfully. You give her a side-eye.
"We're calling the police, and don't you dare think about going anywhere," Minjeong's dad says, sitting up and grabbing his cell phone. Her mom was still standing menacingly, with her full naked body on display, holding the whip.
Yizhuo checked her phone to see who was calling her.
1 missed call from IRS (daylight robbers).
three | four | five
masterlist
a/n → any notes are much appreciated! tysm for all the love so far <3
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