activation energy - pt1
╰┈➤ˎˊ˗ a study on limiting reagents
university au | uni student!soonyoung x foreign exchange student!reader
part 2
genre: slow burn, angst, fluff, suggestive
synopsis: some reactions take time. others need the right amount of energy to begin. for you, that energy takes the form of kwon soonyoung — brilliant, infuriating, devastatingly attractive, and seemingly committed to pretending you don’t exist.
content warnings: chemistry (figuratively and literally LMAO), alcohol, kissing, suggestive moments, reader kisses multiple people, clubs, partying, academic stress, YEARNING, diabolical slow burn, mentions of being depressed/anxious, reader is foreign
notes: reader goes to UCLA, resides in LA (for the plot), reader’s native language is english, studied korean during school, but isn’t fully fluent due to not being in the environment. reader is gender neutral, reader experiences lots of culture shocks, uses 24 hour clock, reader switches back and forth between english and korean but it isn’t clarified — entire fic is in english though, reader and soonyoung are chemistry majors because i said so
chapter word count: 26.8k
full word count: 46.9k
taglist: @ateez-atiny380 @reiofsuns2001 @wooji @booseoksoonlover @therealmrsbahng @tastyluvr @keenfangchampion
a/n: hi guys! this is my first ever full length fic! i spent countless hours over the span of a month writing, rewriting, and editing this! as a uni student and chem major, i hope this fic is realistic enough but still makes everybody ache on the inside because it was genuinely so much time and effort to produce. any interactions — notes, reblogs, comments are deeply appreciated! i’m so excited to see how caratland reacts to this one! okay i think that’s all i have to say… comet out <3
[masterlist]
august 27th [12:01]
it’s pouring rain as you stand on the sidewalk, with nothing but a backpack and a suitcase. there’s supposed to be a shuttle that will take you from the airport to the university, but it won’t come for another ten minutes. the humidity fogs up your glasses, and your clothes stick to your skin uncomfortably. you’re the only one at the airport in sweats and no mask, judging looks being passed your way. a quick turn of your torso lets you know that you’re not alone, though. other foreign exchange students are also waiting nearby, wearing their university sweaters. after years of language classes, you jumped at the opportunity to study abroad in korea for a semester, hoping to build your language skills and experience a new culture.
although you aren’t the only student waiting, there’s nobody else from ucla, leaving you more alone than expected. perhaps the ones from your university are on a different flight? no worries, though, the wind almost blows your headphones off your head, causing you to drop your passport as you catch them. the tips of your ears burn bright red under your newly adjusted headphones, prompting you to change the song and stare blankly ahead, hoping to look cool or something.
the shuttle arrives no shorter than five minutes later, and you silently thank whoever is watching over you, loading your luggage into the undercarriage before getting on. you peel your hood off your damp hair, water dripping onto your seat and the one next to you. each student gets onto the shuttle one by one, assuming a row to themselves. there weren’t many of you anyway, so you all fit.
suddenly, the driver came onto the speaker, “good afternoon, students, and welcome to seoul! this shuttle will be taking you straight to the university, and you will have someone waiting for you to escort you to the residence halls. this ride will be around 25 minutes, so settle in and enjoy the view!” students cheered a few rows behind you, pulling at the corner of your mouth as you clapped along.
this was going to be a fun semester.
[12:47]
the wheels on the shuttle came to a gradual stop, and you felt the hard break set into place.
“welcome to your new home. once you step outside, please gather your belongings and look for the student guide holding the sign with your name. they will take you to your residence hall and give you a tour of the university. enjoy your stay, and good luck with your studies!” the driver cheers before opening the door. just a glance outside the window makes your heart palpitate with excitement, though you have to pull away to grab your backpack and slide out of the row.
the smell of rain lingers in the air, rays of sun peaking out through light gray clouds. your luggage slides out with ease, wheels rolling along the smooth pavement; it feels like a movie with how green and fresh everything is, which doesn’t help the excitement coursing throughout your body. you tense your legs to help rid the jitters before moving forward to the line of people holding signs, looking closely for your name.
he stood towards the end of the line, your name written in big bubble letters and your school’s colors. you grinned, approaching him, and he spotted you just moments later.
“hi there! i’m assuming you’re y/n from the ucla merch?” he asks with a wide smile.
“yep, that’s me!” you smiled back. you didn’t even comprehend that he greeted you in english, so flustered by his beauty.
“my name is joshua, and i’ll be your student guide for the next few days. fun fact, i’m also from la, so we can bond over that while you’re here,” he grinned once more, taking your suitcase.
“oh really? that’s so cool! also, you don’t need to take my luggage, i can bring it myself,” you attempt to reach for it, but he carefully swats your hand away.
“no way, it’s my duty to take care of you. so tell me, how’re you liking it so far here?” he quickly changes the conversation, leaving your ears to blush.
“well, it was pouring rain the moment i stepped outside of the airport, and i had to wait for the shuttle for a solid ten minutes in it. besides that, though, it’s beautiful, and i’m so excited to be here,” you babble, half talking to joshua and half taking in the environment.
“ah, yeah, it does that here. it’ll eventually get less humid, but since you’re here for the fall semester, it’ll keep raining,” he explains, but you’re barely listening, and he can tell.
“i’ll let you observe your surroundings. let me know if you have any questions,” he says with a slight chuckle, to which you murmur your thanks before spinning your neck to look in every direction.
[13:02]
“well, here’s your residence hall. it’s co-ed, so luckily i’ll just be down the hall if you need literally anything this semester. my roommate vernon is also from the usa, and once you’re all settled in, i’ll take you to meet him and the rest of our friends. does that sound okay?” joshua asks once you’re standing in front of your door.
“yeah, that sounds great,” you smile at him.
“oh, you should probably take my phone number too. can i see your phone?”
“oh yeah, probably. here,” you hand him your phone, watching him type in a number with a familiar area code.
“i’ll text you once i’m ready,” you nod, and he waves, walking straight down the hall to his room.
it takes you a minute to retrieve the room code from somewhere in your email, but once its found, you punch it in without difficulty, pushing the door open to reveal a single dorm room. furnished with a desk, chair, bed, and dresser, you lug the suitcase in, shutting the door behind you. the view outside the window was gorgeous, overlooking a field and an academic building. you could definitely get used to this.
[13:58]
the last hanger that remained in your suitcase was now used to hang the final item of clothing in the dresser, now mostly unpacked. your bedsheets were on, devices plugged in, clothes unpacked, and you really considered laying down for a nap. you needed to meet joshua and his roommate though — what was his name again? no, you really needed a nap. you reach for your phone, that’s currently on 14% and plugged in, pulling up joshua’s contact.
y/n: hi joshua, it’s y/n! i just finished unpacking, and i’m a little tired. is it okay if we meet for dinner or something?
you click off your phone, waiting for a response-
joshua: hey y/n! no worries, take your time. i completely understand, i’ve made that same trip multiple times throughout the years i’ve been at this university. how does 19:00 sound?
y/n: sounds great! i’ll see you then
joshua: cool! vernon and i will be waiting for you in the hall.
ah, vernon, that was his name. changing out of airport clothes and setting an alarm, you flop on top of the sheets, not even taking in the level of comfort, as anything is better than the airplane seat you sat in for sixteen hours. before you knew it, you were out like a light.
[18:30]
you groaned at the alarm, instantly shutting it off and regretting your choices. it’s not like you really had a choice, anyway, as joshua had to hang out with you today, it’s literally his job. you reach for your phone to text joshua again, asking him about tonight.
y/n: hey joshua i’m awake. is there any dress code?
joshua: hey! lol good thing you asked, some of our other friends wanted to take you out to a club tonight, but no worries if you don’t want to. casual is fine if you’re not going to the club
y/n: woah, that sounds like fun. i’m definitely in.
joshua: haha good to know, i’ll accompany you
y/n: ok cool! so… what’s the club attire here?
joshua: depends on what you have. my roommate has good style, want us to come over and help?
y/n: wait that actually sounds so good, yes please
joshua: okay lol be there in a sec
hey, this joshua guy is actually pretty cool. maybe he really is from la — not that you were having doubts, his accent is all you needed to hear to know where he grew up. there’s a patterned knock on your door that could only be joshua, and you open it to find him and his roommate, whose face card you got absolutely blinded by.
“hey y/n! this is my roommate, vernon. vernon, this is y/n” joshua wastes no time introducing you to his roommate, who at first bows, then sticks out his hand for a handshake.
“sorry, for a moment i forgot that you were also american”
“all good, nice to meet you vernon. are you also from la?” you asks, to which he looks back to joshua before looking back at you,
“what, no? did he tell you that-“
“nonono, i was just asking. sorry to offend you,” you rubbed the back of your neck. you’d already embarrassed yourself in front of joshua’s hot roommate.
“oh, you’re all good. i just thought josh was going around spreading lies again. i’m from new york, so you know, east coast west coast beef,” he assures you, hoping to make you less embarrassed.
“ah, i see. well, i heard you’re the style master, so feel free to come dig through my closet,” you stepped aside to let them in. the room wasn’t completely decorated; you’re going to have to fix that.
you sat on your bed as joshua occupied your desk chair, watching vernon thoroughly investigate every single item of clothing you owned.
“i feel like he’s heavily judging me,” you whispered over to joshua, who chuckles,
“he totally is.”
“i can hear you two back there,” he throws a playful look over his shoulder at you two.
“i’m not gonna lie, y/n. you need to go shopping now that you’re here. wear these, though,” he throws a small shirt and a pair of shorts at you.
“oh, and use these to cover up while we’re eating. you can leave them in soonyoung and jihoon’s dorm before we go, and then pick them up when we come back” he throws a hoodie and a pair of sweats at you as well.
“okay, we’ll leave you to get ready. see you in ten?” joshua asks, getting up to follow vernon out of your dorm.
“sounds good,” you give them a thumbs up before they leave, retreating back to their own room. you’d only been here for a few hours and already had two friends, one of whom raided your closet and judged every single life decision you made since you were born. life could be worse, though. you sat down at the desk, turning on the mirror lights to make yourself presentable.
[19:02]
slipping your phone into your pocket, you peek outside to see joshua and vernon on their phones outside their door, waiting for you.
“hey, are you guys ready?” you asked, and they both looked up with a grin.
“yeah, lets go. vernon, should we prepare them for our friends, or let them go in blind?” joshua asks, leaving you to look at him confused.
“i think it would be mean to let them go in blind,” vernon shrugs, making you slightly worried.
“what… does that mean?” you asked sheepishly, and vernon wastes no time deep diving.
“well, there’s kind of thirteen of us, including me and josh so-“
“i’m sorry, thirteen?!” you interrupted, baffled by the number.
“yeah… and unfortunately it gets worse…” he inhales sharply, adjusting his hat.
“what do you mean by worse?” you pushed, eager to know more details.
“well- okay, let me just describe the group. so every friend group has mom and dad, and for us, that’s jeonghan and seungcheol. then there’s me and joshua, the americans, jun and minghao, the chinese, and then… who else is there again?” vernon looks up at joshua, who’s rolling his eyes.
“next are the 96s, wonwoo, jihoon, and soonyoung. then there’s 97s, mingyu and seokmin, and then seungkwan and chan. chan is the only one in your year, so you’ll probably get close to him,” joshua pats your shoulder comfortingly, watching the horrified look on your face.
“oh yeah, also, soonyoung thinks he’s a tiger,” vernon chimes in like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“are you joking?” you ask, and he shakes his head while stifling his laugh.
“nope. now let’s go meet the crew, they’re waiting for us in the cafeteria near jihoon’s,” vernon waves you along, and joshua links his arm with yours to pull you with him.
this is going to be a long night.
[19:18]
the fluorescent lights remind you of a hospital, and you decide you don’t like the design of this cafeteria.
“i know, the lights suck, but the food here is the best out of all the ones on campus,” joshua notices the look on your face as vernon holds the door open for you. the area is different than how it is back home — there’s some tables out in the open, and some larger booths along the wall for bigger groups.
“let’s grab our food and see if we can flag down seungcheol, i just texted him that we’re here,” vernon slides his phone back into his pocket, picking up a tray. you follow his lead, joshua right behind you.
your knowledge of korean food is pretty good, but here, it seems like it’s not good enough. you’re unsure of what half of the food is, but you follow suit and grab whatever vernon grabs, hoping it’s good. as the two of you wait for joshua, he peaks over at your tray.
“you got the exact same thing as me,” he notes.
“i didn’t know what half of the food was, so i just grabbed whatever you grabbed and hoped for the best,” you shrugged, hoping he didn’t think you were weird for copying him.
“ah, i guess that’s fair. you coulda asked, though,” he nudged you, and you shrugged again.
“sometimes, you gotta learn the hard way.” it was your turn to nudge him, and he just nodded with a small smile while joshua approached you two.
“let’s go?” he asked, leading the way to where he predicted the rest of their friends were sitting.
joshua peaked his head into a booth, quiet chatter being interrupted with cheers and greetings. he waved you and vernon over, vernon going first and sliding into the booth next to the most intimidating man you’ve ever seen. joshua waved at you again, and you nervously stepped into view, and they went quiet, all eyes on you. what kind of drama was this?
“hi everybody… i’m y/n, an exchange student for the semester,” you spoke in… decent korean, and they all looked at each other. joshua tugged you to sit down next to him as the rest of the group overlapped each other with greetings that were hard to understand.
“i didn’t know you spoke korean,” joshua whispered to you, ears turning red from embarrassment.
“not that well,” you grinned embarrassingly, to which he playfully nudged you.
“no one can tell, you sound native,” he gives your shoulder a friendly pat before leaving you to fend for yourself against 11 curious men.
“nice to meet you, y/n. i’m seungcheol, i’ll make sure the rest of the group introduces themselves as well,” the man sitting next to vernon gives you a slight bow, to which you return.
the boys all go one by one, introducing themselves, and you can tell they’re trying to be as normal as possible.
“so y/n, are you coming with us to the club tonight?” someone — maybe seungkwan — asks, leaning forward to speak to you over joshua.
“oh, yeah. vernon picked my outfit for me and everything,” you grinned before taking another bite. the food was delicious, vernon really does have good taste in everything. seungkwan, maybe, claps before rambling on about the nightlife just off campus, asking about your favorite drinks.
“ah, i’m not of drinking age in the states, so i haven’t really tried much…” you admitted, and he looked at another man you believed to be seokmin, before looking back at you.
“don’t you even worry, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to try new drinks here!” seokmin chimed, leaving you to just smile and nod. it wasn’t exactly your plan to get fucked up tonight, but who are you to reject the opportunity to make new friends?
“so, where are you from?” seungcheol asked once the others were done harassing you about alcohol.
“i’m from la, like-“
“oh, like joshua?!” someone to his left cuts you off.
“yes, like joshua…” you chuckle awkwardly, and seungcheol flicks soonyoung on the forehead.
“ow!”
“they were talking, soonyoung! don’t interrupt them,” his brow furrows at soonyoung before returning to you with a smile.
“so, you’re from la? that’s so cool. what school do you go to? do you live there, or only go to school there?” seungcheol continues with his interview, and suddenly you feel safe in the presence of everybody.
“well,” you begin, fully prepared to answer and embarrass yourself.
[20:14]
you mostly talked to seungcheol, vernon, and joshua, the others chiming in every once in a while.
“hey, is everybody ready to head back to my room to pre-game?” a man you now know as jihoon pokes his head out to look at the entire group, giving a thumbs up. he makes eye contact with you,
“y/n, are you coming?” he asks.
“oh, yeah,” you smile awkwardly, giving him a thumbs up like the rest of the group.
“let’s go! jihoon got a lot of stuff to prepare for tonight!” soonyoung grins widely, passing a glance in your direction. vernon slides out of the booth, and you follow suit since you’re also at the end. unconsciously, you hover next to joshua as you watch everybody come out of the booth to put their dishes away.
“just follow me,” joshua whispers in your ear, and you nod and stay close to him. the two of you end up done first, waiting in the lobby of the cafeteria for the rest of them to finish so you can walk to soonyoung’s and jihoon’s as a group. someone whose name you don’t remember slides in next to you, swinging an arm around your shoulder.
“so, how are you liking it so far?” he grins at you, pearly white teeth near-blinding.
“uh, it’s been nice so far. besides the rain. it’s a little overwhelming meeting this many people, though,” you reply with an awkward grin, body slightly tense due to his contact.
“ah- mingyu! get your arm off of them!” joshua notices and shoves what is now known as mingyu’s, arm off of your shoulder. mingyu pouts and backs up a little bit, still eager to converse.
“how did you manage to learn korean so well?” he asks, curious as to how you’ve built skill without ever having actually been to korea.
“oh, i took classes for years when i was younger. i’m not fluent, but i think i speak well enough to get by,” you shrugged, and he nodded impressively.
“well, i think it’s really good. you’ll have no trouble finding a partner here… assuming you don’t already have one?” you can tell he’s testing the waters. unfortunately for you, you’d just broken up with your ex a month ago.
“no, i don’t have one. i broke up with them like a month ago,” you huffed at the thought of you ex, who’d emotionally cheated on you, claiming it wasn’t “real cheating” because they never had sex with anyone.
“oh i see… i’m sorry about that,” mingyu patted your shoulder before gently tugging you along, as jihoon had gotten impatient and started waving to those who were there to follow him.
[20:31]
the walk wasn’t long, however, their dorm was on the sixth floor, leaving only the lucky ones to take the elevator up. you were not a lucky one.
“it’s okay y/n… we’ll get them next time!” joshua panted from in front of you, pushing the door from the stairwell open onto the sixth floor. mingyu and seungcheol cheered from behind as joshua held the door open for all of you.
“i see you guys made it,” jihoon smirked, holding the door to his room open with his back.
“shut up,” seungcheol rolled his eyes, entering first. you followed him in, joshua following right behind. seungkwan wasted no time pouring shots, while jihoon brought up a shaker from under his bed.
“woah- jihoon, can you make drinks?” you asked, and he grinned at your question.
“yeah, anything you want.”
“i always tell jihoon he should be a bartender instead, but he’s really stuck on music,” soonyoung pops up over your shoulder, startling you for a second.
“sorry, y/n. i should’ve announced my presence," he grins at you, hands on your waist as he gently moves you out of the way to get to his bed.
“y/n, shua, come sit!” soonyoung pats the open spaces on his bed, and you obey, joshua trailing right behind you.
“by the way y/n… you’re not going to wear that to the club, right?” someone — minghao probably — asks, to which you decline,
“oh, of course not. i have something on under this, don’t worry!” you smiled at him, and he smiled back with a thumbs up.
“here, y/n. have you had soju before?” soonyoung asks, handing you and joshua plastic shot glasses full of a clear liquid.
“nope, is it good?” you ask, sniffing it.
“oh, it’s almost too good. it’ll sneak up on you and get you fucked up,” joshua intercedes, and you have no choice but to believe him.
“yeah he’s right, it barely even tastes like alcohol, mostly just juice,” soonyoung grabs his own shot glass before raising it to cheers with you and joshua.
“to y/n’s first night in korea!” soonyoung shouts, and the rest of them cheer and raise their drinks. for the first time that night, you smile out of pure joy, raising your little plastic shot glass with them before downing the sweet nectar of green grape soju.
[22:02]
jihoon and soonyoung’s dorm room was now unbelievably humid, sweaty, and full of tipsy college students, yourself included. mingyu had his arm around your shoulders, but this time you reciprocated, swaying with him as he sang a song from the early 2000s slightly out of tune.
“guys, it’s 10pm! should we start calling taxis to take us to the city?” jihoon turns down the music to shout at the group, which responds with “yes” and cheers.
“let’s group up into threes!” seungcheol calls, and mingyu pulls you closer to his side. you don’t question it, pulling joshua into your group as well.
groups of two to three are now drunkenly pushing their way out of the room, joshua leading the way as you stay glued to mingyu.
“i’ll call for us since i don’t think mingyu can do it,” he pulls out his phone while pushing the down button for the elevator. you were beyond thankful for vernon’s pick of your outfit, as the alcohol probably brought your body temperature up by at least half a degree, and sharing body heat with mingyu didn’t help, either.
this feeling of alcohol in your system was completely new to you, as there weren’t many opportunities to drink back home, with parties being near-impossible to get into during your freshman year. you step into the warm elevator with joshua and mingyu, and you spot soonyoung sprinting to catch the door before it fully closes.
“soonyoung i don’t think your group can fit in here as well-“ joshua begins, but soonyoung just presses a finger to his mouth.
“we’ll all fit, trust me,” he smiles drunkenly, waving over seungkwan, who skips over, and jihoon, who sighs before squeezing into the elevator. wow, talk about personal space. soonyoung glances over to see you’re squished between mingyu and joshua, but you can’t make anything of it. joshua’s body is slightly hunched over, protecting the buttons, so nobody is tempted to press all of them.
“is it usually like this?” you stand on your toes to whisper to him, and he smiles a bit before shrugging,
“sometimes. i think they’re particularly excited because you’re here, though,” he grins while looking back at you.
“because i’m here?” you ask, curious as to what he means.
“i’ll tell you tomorrow when we do our tour,” he notes while turning back around. the elevator hits the ground, and soonyoung is the first to stumble out the doors, the rest of our pouring out.
“let’s go this way, it’s quicker to where i ordered,” joshua grabs your wrist to tug you along, and you grab onto mingyu’s, making a chain of three people speed-walking to the closest street.
“we’ll see you there!” soonyoung shouts from the opposite direction, and mingyu yells back a “be quiet”, contradicting his own words. you giggle at this interaction, and mingyu giggles back at you while joshua rolls his eyes.
“quit flirting back there, i’m not here to third wheel tonight!” joshua playfully scolds, knowing that he’s only there to look after you.
“i’m not flirting!” you and mingyu declare at the same time, causing you to look at each other and giggle in unison again.
“this is going to be an interesting night,” joshua sighs. he’s way more sober than the rest of the group, which is probably a good thing, considering that this is the first time you’re getting drunk.
mingyu breaks out into song again, singing something you don’t recognize, as the car turns onto the street.
“mingyu, the car is here, knock it off!” joshua opens the door once it parks, directing you two into the back seat, then climbs in after.
[22:35]
the car comes to a stop, and joshua says a quick thank you to the driver for the three of you before hurrying you and mingyu out of your seats.
“we need to hurry, cheol says his group is already in line, and it’s building quickly,” joshua runs ahead, giving you no option but to chase after him, hoping you don’t trip or throw up.
thankfully, it’s only a couple of blocks before you see seungcheol and his group, and the line hasn’t grown nearly as much as you’d expected, if at all.
“hey, i thought you said the line was growing quickly?” joshua’s brows furrowed at seungcheol, jeonghan, and- what was his name again?
“chan said to tell you that the line was building, so that you’d come quickly. i texted it to jihoon and vernon, too,” seungcheol smiled apologetically, as chan was now hiding behind jeonghan.
the air of the night was cool and felt nice, contrasting with your warm skin. you leaned against mingyu’s side, taking in the way the street lamps lit the roads, the stoplights, the signs that differed from your native language. there was a purple neon sign just one or two blocks ahead that lit up the road to where you’re standing. the area was surrounded by small restaurants and convenience stores, probably open late to feed the hungry people coming from the club.
“hi joshua!” a loud voice called from behind, as the entire group turned around to see soonyoung skipping towards everybody, seungkwan and jihoon following closely behind.
“seungcheol, i thought you said-“
“he lied to you to make you hurry,” mingyu called over his shoulder, and jihoon rolled his eyes before pulling out his phone.
“wow, there are so many people here! i thought i was never going to see you guys again!” soonyoung gasped, going around to hug everybody in line, you included. you raised an eyebrow at joshua, who leaned in to whisper,
“he’s always like this when he’s drunk. don’t take it too personally.”
“ah- mingyu! you’ve spent too much time with y/n tonight, other people want to get to know them too!” soonyoung calls, nudging his way in between you and mingyu, swinging his arm around your shoulder.
“soooo… how are you?” his words are slightly slurred, and you don’t even get a chance to respond before seungkwan comes up on the other side of you, also sliding his arm across your back.
“ignore this weirdo, he gets so clingy when he’s drunk,” he whispers with a smile, making soonyoung pout at him.
“i’m just trying to make friends!” he stomps his foot a little, and you can’t help but laugh at his childish actions.
“see, this is what i mean! you have no consciousness when you’re drunk, and you always regret it in the morning!” seungkwan scolds back, and they suddenly break out into an argument right in front of your face. your head turns back and forth with a smile, entertained by their bickering.
“there you are! took you guys forever!” joshua calls out, and you see the last few members of the group trickling in, vernon included. you look back at the remaining five coming into line with you, and vernon points out your situation to seokmin and starts laughing.
“help me, they’re arguing,” you mouth at them, which has seokmin doubling over in laughter.
“sorry y/n, you’re on your own for this one. think of it as a rite of passage?” vernon shrugs with a way-too-wide smile on his face, and you roll your eyes before turning back to soonyoung and seungkwan’s argument. what were they even arguing about again?
“are you guys just gonna spend all night arguing?” you asked, breaking their spell of going back and forth.
“i don’t want to, but this guy-“
“hey, we can’t be claiming we don’t want to argue while accusing the other person. just say sorry and change the topic,” you cut off seungkwan, who was clearly not done proving his point. they both glare at each other and mutter a “sorry” before changing the topic to what drinks they were going to get once inside the club.
“y/n, you can add it to my tab when we’re in there. it’s on me tonight, since it’s your first night!” soonyoung grins at you, patting your shoulder.
“aw, thanks, soonyoung, you’re so nice!” you smile back at him, nudging his shoulder with your head.
“hey! how come you never treat me like that?” seungkwan is half pouting, half annoyed, and soonyoung just sticks out his tongue before kicking chan to get his attention, chatting away to him.
[22:59]
the humidity hits you like a laundry bag full of sweaty socks. the club smells like sweat and alcohol, but soonyoung’s smile just grows as he tugs you along to the bar to order a drink. the music is nearly breaking your eardrums, and you can’t hear a single thing he’s saying, just that he’s holding onto your waist tightly, almost knocking vernon to the ground when he also tries to place a hand on your shoulder.
“let me know if he gets too much!” vernon shouts into your ear, and you give him a thumbs up before he pushes his way back to the rest of the group. the bass of the currently-playing song sends vibrations through your body, and it’s unexpectedly pleasing. you turn back to soonyoung, who is finishing ordering with the bartender, and you raise an eyebrow at him, as you didn’t even tell him what you wanted yet. he leans in close to speak, almost too close,
“i got us the same thing, it’s pretty good, so don’t worry!” his lips are brushing your ear as he speaks, and you’re glad your face is already flushed from the pregame, or else he’d notice your blush.
“y/n, come dance! soonyoung will bring your drink!” chan appears on your other side, his bright smile tugging you away from soonyoung’s grip, and he waves you off to where the rest of the group is dancing.
“you haven’t been in this type of environment before, have you?” he asks with a teasing smile, and you shake your head, “there’s a first time for everything, though,” you playfully shrug, and he takes your hands to spin you on beat to the song. you catch a glimpse of mingyu and seungcheol on a nearby couch with big glasses of beer in front of their faces, joshua clearly babysitting, and you catch yourself smiling before turning back to chan, dancing with him.
“is joshua usually the group babysitter?” you ask, and he aggressively shakes his head,
“oh, absolutely not. i think it’s just because he feels like he needs to look after you tonight since it’s your first time here. he’s usually one of the worst ones, to be honest,” he giggles, clearly thinking of distant memories of drunk joshua.
“i feel like all of you guys are doing a good job, though,” you shrug, doing a small twirl, and chan’s hand on your waist supports you when you almost lose balance.
“careful, sometimes the floor gets slippery,” he shouts, and you nod in acknowledgement. another person from the group, you briefly remember his name to be jun, slides over, interrupting your dance with chan.
“how’s it going over here? enjoying nightlife?” his question is mostly directed towards you, but chan answers anyway.
“it’s going great, we’re still waiting on soonyoung to bring them whatever concoction he decided to order tonight, though,” chan replies, grabbing jun’s arm to drag him into whatever drunken dance moves the two of you were pulling.
“oh, good luck with that, soonyoung orders the nastiest stuff. sometimes i feel like he drinks for the taste, not to get drunk,” jun warns, and you laugh, half amused and half worried.
“i’m sure it can’t be that bad, i’m excited to see what it is!” you exclaim, and jun just shrugs with a smile before continuing to dance.
just over chan’s shoulder, you see soonyoung pushing his way through the crowd with two drinks in his hand. from what you can tell, they’re orange. is it supposed to be orange? chan waves a hand in front of your face, pointing behind you once he’s got your attention. you turn to look over your shoulder at jihoon and vernon with another member of the group, you’re pretty sure his name is wonwoo. you can see vernon gesturing over to another group of people, one of whom is throwing looks back at wonwoo.
“i’m pretty sure jihoon and vernon are trying to get wonwoo to talk to that person,” chan yells into your ear.
“this usually happens, he’ll stare at someone the entire night but won’t go up to them!” jun chimes in, and you laugh, looking over your shoulder again, and wonwoo now has his back turned to the person he’s obviously checking out.
“y/n! i got your drink!” soonyoung comes crashing into the small circle of you, jun, and chan. jun stabilized soonyoung, who almost tripped over his own feet.
“jeez, i’m surprised he even served you with how drunk you are,” chan chuckled nervously, and soonyoung shrugged it off, “i told him about y/n!”
“thanks for the drink, soonyoung,” you smiled at him, reaching to take a sip. you nearly spat it out. it just tasted like pure alcohol, something unreasonably strong for a casual night out. maybe you could taste the hint of lemonade, but other than that, it tasted like straight vodka. chan doubles over laughing at your reaction, pointing and using your shoulder for support.
“i told you so,” jun playfully winks, reaching down to pick up chan before he hits the floor.
“what, is it not good?” soonyoung pouts, and you don’t know if he meant to, but he’s playing puppy dog eyes on you.
“what- of course it’s good! thank you, soonyoung!” you reassure before he starts crying, and he suddenly jumps up, pulling both you and chan into his arms.
“you guys are so great, i can’t wait to have so much fun this semester, you guys are great people…” his speech is slurred as he trails off, and out of the corner of your eye, you see jun pulling out his phone to snap a picture.
“ah- soonyoung! quit suffocating the young ones!” seokmin appears from behind soonyoung to pull him off of you and chan.
“i’ll take care of him, you guys continue,” seokmin shouts, dragging soonyoung away to where he and seungkwan sat on another couch. before you even get to say anything, you recognize the first few measures of one of your favorite pitbull songs, and your eyes light up, dragging chan to the middle of the floor to dance.
“have fun!” jun shouts, retreating back to joshua, who is now conversing with a slightly sobered-up minghao.
august 28th [00:49]
“y/n, chan! we’re leaving now!” you whip your head to see joshua pushing his way to where you and chan are intermingled, sweaty, and having the time of your lives. you wear a small frown, turning to look at chan, who takes your hand in his, pulling you along to follow joshua.
outside the club embodies the feeling of a breath of fresh air — it’s cool, crisp, and soothes the sticky sweat lingering on your skin. you struggle to walk in a straight line, gripping onto chan’s shoulders tightly while he has an arm securely gripping your waist.
“jesus, what did soonyoung give you?” joshua jokes, a slight concern still peaking through his question.
“i have no idea, but it was SO gross,” you giggle in english, and he playfully rolls his eyes.
“i wish i could tell you i’m surprised,” he sighs, protectively placing his hand on your shoulder, especially because chan is equally as drunk and clumsy. you lean your head onto chan’s shoulder, taking a deep breath to help ground you. your head is spinning as you start leaning forward, but not before joshua catches you.
“shua, i’m hungry!” chan whines, and it gets the attention of soonyoung, who’s walking in front of you. he turns with a pause, and you can see his eyes flicker back and forth between you and chan before he speaks, “i’m hungry too! we should totally get something to eat!” he exclaims, and you can hear seungkwan groan.
“you do not need to be in public like this any longer, let’s get to the taxi,” seungkwan reassumes his position of looping his arm through soonyoung’s, seokmin on the other side, dragging him to where the car was set to meet them.
“here, lets stop. i’ll just put the location here, because you two can’t seem to walk more than five steps without tripping,” joshua pulls you and chan to the side, whipping out his phone to order a ride.
“but i’m-“
“i already texted vernon, he’s getting food to bring back to our building. you two can hang out in our dorm for the night,” joshua cuts him off, and chan just smiles and giggles before getting distracted by something else.
“i’m so sorry about this,” you whisper to joshua, but he just smiles and shakes his head.
“don’t apologize, i expected this. it was exactly like this the first time we took chan out in our group, so don’t worry,” he squeezes your shoulder comfortingly. you’re relieved to hear you’re not being too much of a burden, and even more relieved when you see the car pull up, as your feet are starting to hurt.
“cmon you two,” joshua makes sure to tug you both along, and you slide in first, head resting against the window and chan squeezes next to you in the middle seat. you zone out as joshua politely chats with the driver, and you feel chan’s hand hold yours again, you don’t respond, though, your brain too fuzzy.
“hey, are you okay?” chan leans over to whisper in your ear, and you nod, readjusting so your head now leans on his shoulder. he nudges your head and you groan, telling him to stop.
“shua says you need to be awake to walk back to the dorms…” chan whispers, and you take a deep sigh before sitting upright, eyelids still heavy.
[01:11]
you crash into the side of the elevator, and joshua winces before picking you up, slinging your arm over his shoulder.
“jesus, y/n. we need to monitor how much you drink next time,” joshua sighs, but you can still feel his body vibrating from held-in laughter. chan is also leaning in the corner of the elevator, head lolled to the side, eyes closed. he’s clearly just as tired as you are. suddenly, you start giggling, pointing at chan, and joshua follows your finger, chuckling with you. the door opens, and you stumble out, holding onto the wall as joshua also drags chan out of the elevator. arms held open, chan wastes no time clinging to you in a hug, and joshua groans loudly before herding the two of you to his door, punching in the code. the door opens, revealing vernon lying on his bed, scrolling on his phone, next to a rather large bag of hot food.
“i got the two drunkards back,” joshua huffs, and vernon takes one look at you and chan before bursting out into laughter, wheezing and squeaks audible as he holds his stomach.
“shut up dude, take care of them while i go to the bathroom,” joshua shuts the door, and vernon directs you and chan to the couch, where you flop down, body slumped over in exhaustion. you still feel the movement of the elevator in your bones, an indicator that you’re due for a horrible hangover tomorrow.
“mmm… ‘m cold...” you murmur, and vernon curses under his breath, “shit, we forgot to go back to get your clothes from jihoon’s… it’s okay, we’ll get it tomorrow.” you feel his hand gently brush your hair out of your face, and chan perks up at your words, taking a moment to process.
“here, they can have my sweater!” he yawns, peeling off the article of clothing, tossing it over to your side of the couch. you waste no time slipping it on, curling into the warm sweater, eyes shutting once more.
“not gonna eat?” vernon hums, and you groan again. he chuckles, and you hear him get up and bags rustling. after a few moments, your eyes briefly open to see him sitting in front of you again. a straw nudges at your lips, “it’s just water,” vernon mutters, and you accept it.
“you two are gonna be so fucked tomorrow morning,” he snickers, and it’s followed with a thump and an “ow!”, and you can only assume chan hit him. the straw is removed from your lips, and vernon pats your head — although gentle, you can tell it has a teasing edge to it.
“sleep well y/n-ie…” he sighs, and that’s about the last thing you hear before fading into darkness.
[10:24]
“y/n?” a gentle voice calls, and you feel someone’s hand on your shoulder, lightly shaking you. you groan for a moment, eyes burning as you open them to the morning sun peering in from the window behind you.
“good morning…” vernon calls from his bed, and you verbally let out an “ugh”, hand flying up to your forehead.
“bet you’re pretty hungover, aren’t you?” joshua asks — you can tell he’s trying to be nice, but he can’t help hints of laughter slip into his speech.
“god, what do you think…” you groan again, covering your eyes.
“i’ve got some painkillers and water for you,” he sings, and you attempt to sit up, a sudden weight felt on your arm. you open one eye, noticing how chan is sleepily scrolling on his phone. “can i get up?” you nudge him with your elbow, and he just nods, slowly lifting himself up off you. joshua hands the pills and a bottle of water to you, and you mumble a thanks, downing them quickly.
“believe it or not, you two are the last ones up. the rest of the group wants to meet for breakfast in ten. are you guys gonna be able to make it?” joshua mentions, but you barely catch a word he says, eyes wide open, staring into the carpet like it’s going to jump up and bite you.
“yes, i’m starving!” chan calls, and you zone back into reality.
“yeah, ‘m hungry too,” you rub your eyes, trying to wake up more. vernon’s phone rings, and you instantly look up to see him pressing the phone to his ear, door opening and shutting quickly.
“okay… i’m gonna go brush my teeth, i’ll be back. don’t break anything!” joshua points his fingers at you and chan before also exiting the room.
“do you remember anything from last night?” chan asks, and you turn your body to face him.
“um… barely, to be honest. soonyoung made me drink something really gross, and then you and i went dancing for a solid hour…” you trail off, digging deep in your memory.
“is that all?” chan asks again, and you can see him awkwardly fidgeting with his fingers, his cheeks and ears flushed in a way that you suspect is not related to the hangover.
“i mean yeah… why? did something happen?” you asked, heart beating a little faster, worried you did something wrong. chan takes a deep breath, or five, before he finally speaks up.
“we kinda… like… made out yesterday… while dancing…” he admits, and your jaw drops. you cover your mouth with both your hands, gasping and eyes widening.
“you’re joking…”
“i wish i was” chan groans, head falling into his hands.
“not that you’re not attractive or anything, but i’m pretty sure i don’t like you in that way…” you confess nervously, and he immediately sits up, placing both hands on your shoulders.
“oh, thank god, because i don’t like you in that way either!” he sighs in relief, and you chuckle. you also sigh deeply from the near-heart attack you just had. after a few moments of silence, you can’t help but start laughing, growing from a small giggle to loud laughs coming from the pit of your stomach. chan looks at you like you’re crazy, then starts to slowly laugh with you.
“god, did we really do that?” you squeeze out, and his laughs are now matching yours.
“oh yeah… i just hope nobody got a picture or something…” he inhales deeply to ground himself, and you find yourself copying him.
“i’m so sor-“
“ready to go?” the door opens, and joshua pokes his head in, vernon peeking in behind him. you scramble away from each other, and you instantly stand to walk to the door, putting on your shoes.
“yep! all ready! chan, you coming?” you ask, poking fun at him dragging behind.
“yes, just give me a sec!” he huffs, and you laugh at him, joshua smiling and shaking his head at your antics. he and vernon were completely right when they predicted that you and chan would become good friends. you push the door open more, joining joshua and vernon in the hall, waiting for the elevator. chan emerges a few seconds later, and you all begin the trek to the cafeteria.
[10:50]
just like the evening before, you follow vernon through the breakfast line, grabbing whatever he does, with the addition of something that looks like it has a texture similar to oatmeal. instead of waiting for everybody, though, vernon beelines to the booth where jun, minghao, seokmin, and seungkwan already sit. you follow suit, taking a seat next to seungkwan, who greets you with a small smile, chewing his food. it’s not long before chan slides in next to you, and jun furrows his brows, looking back and forth between you and chan.
“is that chan’s sweater?” jun asks, and both of you just nod.
“i got cold, and i forgot to get my clothes from jihoon’s last night, so chan gave me his sweater,” you explained, and jun just nods, shoveling another bite into his mouth.
“damn, i also forgot my clothes too!” seokmin exclaims, chin resting on his palm out of slight frustration. the way jihoon and soonyoung show up makes you feel like you summoned them, soonyoung sliding in directly across from you, jihoon to his left. joshua finally catches up, sitting on the other side of chan. you make small talk with seungkwan and minghao, telling them details about your life back in la, and how you managed to score the opportunity to study abroad at such a prestigious university.
not long after, wonwoo, mingyu, seungcheol, and jeonghan show up with their breakfast trays, and the booth now becomes just as crowded as it was during dinner yesterday. although there were so many bodies and different conversations overwhelming your ears, it was oddly comforting.
“hey y/n, is that chan’s sweater?” jeonghan calls out from the other end of the table.
“of course it is, did you not see them last night? they were-“
“NO!” you and chan both shout at mingyu, instantly cutting him off, and the rest of the table goes silent.
“woah, what are you so defensive about?” seungcheol raises a brow at you two while mingyu smirks. you look at chan, who returns with a look that you don’t like. you sigh, leaning back into the booth seat while chan speaks up.
“uh- well- um… we-“
“they kissed last night!” mingyu clearly got impatient, finishing chan’s sentence as you cover your mouth and cheeks, hoping they can’t tell how red the rest of your face is. soonyoung’s eyes drill straight into you, back and forth between chan before he laughs in disbelief, “what?!”
“look, it was an accident! we were both incredibly fucked up, and already talked about it this morning. there are no romantic feelings between us! all clear?” chan explains, and jihoon gives him a thumbs up, trying not to get involved in the gossip.
“ANYWAYS…” seokmin clears his throat, and you silently note to thank him for changing the topics. you return to the conversation with seungkwan and minghao, embarrassment taking its time to fade out. every once in a while, you could swear that soonyoung is looking at you during quiet moments of his conversation with joshua and wonwoo. you catch his gaze out of the corner of your eyes, and he quickly looks away, intently focusing on whatever wonwoo is saying.
“y/n, seokmin, do you guys want to swing by after breakfast to come get your clothes?” jihoon asks, and you both give him a thumbs up.
[11:36]
you reenter the familiar room, just less humid and sweaty, seeing your clothes neatly folded on top of soonyoung’s dresser. next to them, you see seokmin’s hoodie sloppily thrown on top of the dresser as well. you chuckle at the difference in preparation, taking the neat stack of clothes in your arms.
“thanks for letting me get my clothes,” you thank jihoon, and he smiles,
“why would i keep them hostage? get your stuff out of my room!” he jokes, and you laugh along with him. you step out, seokmin right behind you.
“um… could somebody walk me to my building? i kinda forgot where it is…” you sheepishly grin, and you see soonyoung open his mouth, but any sound he plans to make is too slow for seokmin.
“oh, yeah, i’ll take you! i’m headed in that direction anyway!” seokmin chimes, and you turn to smile at him.
“yes, good idea, seokmin!” soonyoung attempts to match seokmin’s energy, but you don’t miss the way his fist clenched for half a second, body turning a little stiff.
“i’ll see you guys later!” you wave at jihoon and soonyoung, and they both wave back before shutting the door.
the elevator ride and half-walk towards your building is silent yet comfortable, before seokmin speaks,
“so, you and chan, huh?” he grins, nudging you a bit with your elbow. you playfully roll your eyes and groan.
“it was an accident, i don’t even remember it happening!” you claim, and seokmin hums, clearly unconvinced.
“no seriously — you should’ve seen the look on my face when he told me that we made out last night-“
“woah, made out?! jeez, i thought it was just one kiss. seems like someone has plans to go crazy this semester,” seokmin jokes, to which you half nod.
“i mean, i broke up with my ex for cheating on me just last month, so i’m just trying to get over it. still didn’t plan on making out with chan though…” you inhaled sharply at the last part, and seokmin followed up with a “yeah, that makes sense”.
the two of you approach a familiar building, and directions to your room come flooding back to you.
“here you go! let me know if you need anything, i believe i gave you my kakao last night?” seokmin double checks, and you nod.
“thanks for walking me. i’ll see you later!” you wave, scanning your card to enter the building, making your way back up to your room.
[13:41]
ruffling your freshly washed hair with a towel, you pick up your phone to see a text from joshua, and you sigh out of exhaustion.
joshua: hey y/n! i know you’re still tired and probably still hungover, but we need to do the campus tour today
joshua: also, vernon says him and hao wanna take you shopping after that
joshua: HEY IT’S VERNON, WE ARE DESPERATE TO GET YOU BETTER CLOTHES, HURRY UP AND DO THE TOUR
joshua: as you can see. lmk when you’re ready!
y/n: lol, i just got out of the shower
y/n: i should be ready in like 20
joshua: k!
you open your wardrobe, observing all your clean clothes, and then you realize vernon was right — compared to what everybody was wearing last night, your closet was weak. a pair of jeans and a t-shirt never hurt anybody though…
fighting with the power strip, you finally get it plugged in so your hair dryer reaches your desk, and you can style your hair in front of a mirror. just as you were about to power on the switch, there was a knock on your door. you paused for a moment, slightly annoyed, but got up to get the door anyway. outside stood joshua, wearing a sheepish smile.
“sorry, i got impatient… and vernon was being annoying…” he trails off while avoiding eye contact, and you just let him in, heading back to the blow dryer. joshua politely sits on the edge of your bed, and he notices chan’s sweater hanging in your wardrobe.
“so you and chan-“
“it was an accident! i don’t even remember it happening!” you exclaimed, turning on the hair dryer before he could ask any more questions. although, you watch him defensively throw his hands up, making you believe he was done questioning you. brushing through your hair, the reminiscence of water is expelled, and the dryer is turned off as you turn to joshua.
“ready to go?” he asks.
“as ready as can be!” you chime, and he smiles.
“great! student guide mode is being turned back on…” joshua performs robot moves, and you playfully roll your eyes, opening the door for both of you to leave so you can get the tour done and over with.
[15:31]
“oh thank god you’re back, i was worried we weren’t gonna have time!” vernon dramatically calls once you enter his and joshua’s room.
“did you think it was gonna take like ten minutes?” you asked, and he just rolled his eyes.
“lets go, hao is waiting for us,” vernon wastes no time grabbing your wrist and dragging you along back to the elevator. you wave a brief goodbye to joshua, feet following the direction your body is being tugged.
-
upon spotting you and vernon, minghao waves with a small smile, taking out his headphones.
“hey! ready to go?” minghao asks, and you nod excitedly. you were completely underdressed compared to minghao and vernon, and you hoped to change that today. you watch as minghao pulls up directions on his phone and starts walking, leaving you to follow suit.
“so, how was your first night in korea?” minghao breaks the silence, and you smile at what you could remember.
“it was really fun, actually. i’m usually not the type to go out, but i enjoyed the change of scenery,” you recalled, and minghao nodded in response.
“to be honest, i thought i was going to be completely lonely and have to fend for myself when i got here,” you admitted, and for some reason, minghao and vernon turned to each other to smile before turning to look at you.
“i think even if joshua wasn’t your student guide, we would’ve adopted you into our group at some point,” vernon chuckles, and you look over to raise an eyebrow at him.
“what’s that supposed to mean?” you asked, especially because joshua had hinted at something the night before as well.
“well…” vernon started, looking at minghao to finish it.
“when joshua got assigned as your student guide, he received a profile of you, like a picture and some information about you like your major and what you’re involved in and whatnot. about two weeks ago, he showed the group your profile, and a particular somebody commented on how cute you are… that’s really it,” minghao tried to say it casually, but he kept giggling in between his sentences.
“no don’t you remember? he was all like ‘oh my god who is that?!’” vernon added, his smile growing wider at the memory.
“wait… wait who?! i wanna know!” you stopped walking, eyebrows raised and jaw dropped. minghao and vernon look at each other again, before looking back at you.
“i think you’ll find out at some point,” minghao pokes, motioning for you to keep walking with him, “maybe…”
“what do you mean, maybe? why can’t you just tell me?!” you playfully shoved his shoulder, making him and vernon laugh.
vernon shrugs dramatically, clearly enjoying your suffering, “it’ll be more fun to watch it play out naturally than to just tell you off the bat.”
“plus, i know you-know-who would think it’s adorable to watch you get flustered if, or when, he eventually makes a move,” minghao winks, and you let out a dramatic sigh, feet dragging against the pavement.
“you guys are mean!” you playfully pout, and vernon chuckles, swinging his arm around your shoulder.
“you’ll thank us later.”
[16:20]
“here, try these next. i picked out the shirt, and vernon picked out the pants!” minghao wastes no time shoving another pile of clothes into your arms, the ones you previously tried on not even back on the hanger yet. you raise your brow at them, as these clothes seem different than the ones they’ve previously handed you.
“okay…” you trail, turning on your heels to try on these clothes.
-
you sign while looking at yourself in the mirror. it’s clear minghao and vernon were just having fun now, not even trying to get you a better style.
“c’mon y/n, we don’t have all day!” vernon calls from outside the curtain, and you facepalm one last time before stepping out. instant regret. both of them already have their phones out, barely holding back their laughter. you put your hands on your hips, tapping your foot like an annoyed cartoon character.
“seriously, guys?” and that makes both of them crack, their cackles filling the shop, drawing the attention of other shoppers.
“oh, this is SO going on my story,” vernon giggles, sending you into a slight panic,
“hey! at least let me post first!” you turn around to face the mirror, crossing your arms into some basic pose, while vernon takes a mirror selfie from behind you. peeking at his phone, you notice he tagged you with the caption “rate my pick for y/n from 1-10” before posting it. your phone buzzes, and you smile, reposting it.
“you guys suck, i’m gonna go find something real,” you joke, turning to go back into the dressing room, putting on the clothes you came with.
[17:03]
you now sat in a restaurant near campus, vernon claiming it was one of the best ones. you’re telling them your life, everybody taking turns talking about funny stories about their childhood. while vernon was talking about a time he pressed all the buttons on the elevator, you whip out your phone to snap a picture for your instagram story, captioning it “first date, kinda nervous,” tagging them both and hitting post.
minghao instantly checks the notification, and he covers his mouth to laugh, showing it to vernon.
“oh man, someone’s not gonna like that post,” minghao jokes, and you groan, knowing they’re going to tease you about something you don’t even know about.
“can you at least give me a hint?” you plead, and they both instantly shake their heads.
“although, to be fair, i think even seungcheol is going to fuss at us for that, because he was very strict on ‘do not scare away the exchange student,’” vernon points out, and minghao just shrugs.
“as long as y/n posted it first, i think we’ll be in the clear. anyway, one time when i was a kid…” minghao begins, but you can’t listen to him because of a certain dm:
@kwonsoonyoung replied to your story: first date? without me? :/
your brows furrow for half a second before you shut off your phone, zoning back in to minghao’s words.
“…and i threw up all day for like three days. it was awful,” minghao sighs, and vernon just chuckles, “i mean, you kinda did that to yourself. somebody told you not to eat that, and you did anyway.”
“what’s with the look on your face?” minghao asks you, and you cock your head at him.
“oh nothing, just thinking about how no matter how stupid i thought i was as a kid, you outdo me,” you teased, and vernon burst out into laughter, minghao side-eyeing him.
“that’s it, i’m not telling you guys any more stories!” minghao huffs dramatically, and you laugh at his actions.
[17:55]
the walk back to campus was comfortably silent, content with a bag full of new clothes, bellies full, and a lot of bonding with minghao and vernon. minghao’s phone buzzes, and he pulls it out of his pocket to check.
“game night at the booseok dorm. hey, that sounds fun. you wanna come with, y/n?” minghao reads out while extending you an invite.
“oh, that sounds so much better than rotting in my dorm. for sure!” you reply, and minghao smiles before texting back.
“they said come asap, so we can drop off your stuff at your room, then head over?”
“lets go,” you smile, taking a turn to the building.
-
“ugh, soonyoung is whining in the group chat,” minghao groans. the three of you are on the way to seokmin and seungkwan’s building, and you peak over at minghao’s phone,
soonyoung: WHAT NO I’M GONNA BE BUSY FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER HOUR
soonyoung: DON’T START WITHOUT ME
seokmin: womp womp
you smile upon reading the messages, “he’s so dramatic. it’s almost cute.” minghao looks over your head to side-eye vernon, and you can’t quite understand their facial expressions. you brush it off, though, assuming they just find him annoying.
upon arrival, you run into mingyu and wonwoo, mingyu pounding on the door, pretending to be the police or something.
“KNOCK IT OFF!” seungkwan yells the moment he opens the door, and mingyu responds with a sheepish yet sarcastic shoulder shrug and a “sorry” before entering.
“hey you three, how’d shopping go?” seungkwan asks once he sees you, minghao, and vernon coming in right behind mingyu and wonwoo.
“it went well for the most part, although these two seemed to lose the plot halfway through,” you playfully scowl at them, referencing the atrocious outfit they made you try on.
“yeah that checks out, you can’t go shopping with these two for too long, or else they’ll get bored and make entertainment out of you.” seungkwan glares at them, and his sudden attitude tells you that they’ve also done that to him.
the room is cutely decorated, with pegboards full of polaroid pictures and photobooth strips hanging on the walls. they have matching bedsheets and plushies, and there’s a scented candle lit on seokmin’s nightstand. there’s a small tv placed on the reading nook, hooked up to someone’s computer. you recognize the game, jackbox party pack 7. your favorite pack.
“no way, you guys have party pack 7? that’s my favorite one!” you exclaim to seokmin, whose face lights up once he realizes that you’ve played this game before.
“it’s mine too! we also have party packs 3 and 5!” seokmin claps his hands out of excitement, and you waste no time sitting next to him on his bed.
“who else are we waiting for?” seungkwan asks, doing a head count.
“jeonghan and cheol are both at work, jihoon is on his way… both chan and soonyoung are at dance practice. i think soonyoung is gonna come late, i didn’t hear anything from chan, though.” seokmin recalls, and seungkwan just waves it off. the knock on the door has perfect timing, and seungkwan leaps up to drag in jihoon, who doesn’t even get to say a word.
you read the atmosphere of the room: seungkwan and minghao are politely sitting cross-legged on seungkwan’s bed, vernon leaning against the footboard of seokmin’s bed; mingyu and his long legs taking up almost all the floor space, wonwoo curled up right in front of the tv screen. jihoon flops into seungkwan’s desk chair, spinning a few times before pulling out his phone to play.
“yay! now we have the full eight players!” seokmin cheers, and mingyu lets out a loud “woohoo!” before getting lightly smacked by wonwoo, whose eardrums were just obliterated by mingyu.
“y/n, would you like to do the honors?” seokmin asks, finger hovering over the button to make you game master.
you smirk, ready to lead the best game night they’ve ever witnessed, “oh, absolutely.”
-
the group is on their fifth round of quiplash, and your stomach is so sore from laughing, you swear you’re gonna have abs by tomorrow. someone, probably mingyu, keeps making the most obscene sex jokes in his prompts and answers, jihoon keeps raging at the fact that mingyu’s cum jokes keep winning, and everybody is enjoying mingyu ragebaiting jihoon over and over again. seokmin is nearly in tears from jihoon’s current rant on mingyu,
“it’s literally not even that funny! it’s mean! he has absolutely zero creativity! it’s gross! and the fact that you all keep voting for it is worse! this is rigged!” he’s gripping at his hair, making you double over and face plant into the sheets, laughing so hard that nothing comes out.
*ping, ping, ping*
the sound of minghao’s phone interrupts the moment, and minghao groans at a dramatic volume upon reading the texts.
“…oh… my… fucking…god…” minghao flops onto seungkwan’s pillow, leaving the rest of the group to check their phones.
looking at him with a confused expression, you ask “what now?” minghao doesn’t even bother to respond, holding his phone up to show you the texts.
soonyoung: I’M COMING
soonyoung: DON’T PLAY QUIPLASH WITHOUT ME
soonyoung: I /WILL/ BURN THE CAMPUS DOWN
soonyoung: I AM S P R I N T I N G
you laugh upon reading the messages, “aw, he’s so cute,” you note, and everybody else is looking at each other with crazy eyes.
“what?” you ask, and jihoon mutters, “oh boy…”
“anyway… back to the game! y/n, it’s your turn-“
*THUD*
just as you’re about to read your answer, something slams into the door, and then opens it, and it’s nobody other than soonyoung.
“I’M HERE!” he near-screams, eyes instantly locking with yours. he slams the door behind him, instantly crawling onto seokmin’s bed, squeezing in next to you.
“seriously, guys! i told you to not play without me!” he complains, panting and out of breath. soonyoung is practically pressed up against you, and you can feel how warm he is compared to you. as he readjusts, his face comes closer to yours, cheek brushing against your head, and you can feel his breath on you.
“okay- okay, i’m ready now. go!” soonyoung commands. you open your mouth to speak, but you’re at a loss for words. he’s so, SO close to you, and you’re way too aware — the faint scent of his cologne, his pinky touching yours, his head falling onto your shoulder as he reads your phone. you’ve lost all focus, completely forgetting what you were about to do.
you make eye contact with vernon, who has to turn away and bite seungkwan’s blankets to mask his laughter. minghao is also pressing his lips together, hard, eyes slowly shutting so he doesn’t laugh. your eyes flicker to the other side of the room, seeing jihoon’s face in his hands, seungkwan and seokmin making eyes at each other, mingyu smiling widely while biting his lip, and wonwoo’s poker face breaking.
your heart is racing way faster than you’d like to admit, and your ears turn red as you begin to sweat — what the hell are you supposed to do? push him off? you look down at soonyoung on your shoulder, and he looks up at you with big doe eyes. holy shit he’s so cute — you’re beyond glad you aren’t standing with the way your knees went weak. you take a deep breath, finding your voice and reading aloud your answer, “what’s the best way to get rid of embarrassment? putting a gun up your ass and pulling the trigger”.
you’re pretty sure you just saved the entire group from exploding with the way they all simultaneously burst out laughing, soonyoung’s cackles almost sounding out of place with the way the rest of the group was laughing so hard.
[21:01]
“can we play mad verse city? PLEASE?!” vernon is on his knees in front of seokmin begging, and you’re wiping away tears just looking at the scene. seungkwan secretly pulls out his phone to take a picture, except the flash is on, and vernon notices instantly.
“hey! you little-“
“yes! okay, we will play mad verse city! but that’s gonna be the last game for tonight!” seokmin submits to the pressure from vernon, who stands up to do a heel click before sitting back down.
“i don’t wanna play this game, soonyoung take my spot.” minghao hands his phone over to soonyoung, who is overjoyed at the opportunity to actually play, not just watch you play. your shoulders slump in relief — you haven’t gotten a break since he got here. soonyoung has, whether it’s intentionally or not, been all up on you and in your space: head on your shoulder, fingers touching, his hand ‘accidentally’ brushing your thigh whenever he points at your phone. each action makes your breath hitch, and your heart skip a beat, and you hate it. you’re not even that attracted to him… hopefully.
seokmin transfers the game master position, and you load up mad verse city, waiting for everybody to join. once all eight people are in, you hit start, waiting for the match-ups to be revealed; everybody just about dies when they see it.
seungkwan vs seokmin
y/n vs mingyu
wonwoo vs vernon
jihoon vs soonyoung
“oh shit, the girls are gonna fight again!” vernon calls, pointing to jihoon and soonyoung, roommates. you watch jihoon whisper “yes!” before spinning in his chair and looking up at the ceiling,
“thank fucking god, somebody needed to humble soonyoung, and i am the perfect person to do it!” jihoon shouts to the room, causing everybody to laugh.
“guys, what do i even say about mingyu?” you complain, and seungkwan perks right up at your words,
“oh, there are a LOT of things you could say about mingyu,” he smirks, and mingyu turns around, brows furrowed and a pout, and hits seungkwan in the leg. minghao has to hold seungkwan back before he can actually hurt him, and you laugh at the scene.
“dude lock in, you only get so much time to write your rhymes!” vernon pushes mingyu back to his phone, who dramatically huffs before getting to writing something, probably stupid.
you finish first, placing your phone screen down onto the sheets, proud of your diss for mingyu. you watch as jihoon smirks to himself, thumbs moving dangerously fast, like he’s plotting something wild. it seems like soonyoung is also watching jihoon, as he curses under his breath, typing something before hitting the back button a million times.
seungkwan and seokmin are first,
“yo, i’m the best rapper alive, i’m spitting rhymes!
seokmin is going to jail for committing crimes!
i’m the captain of this ship, i don’t flee!
you’re barking up the wrong tree!” seungkwan reads his verse aloud with terrible, terrible flow, and minghao just places a hand on his shoulder, “i think you should stick to singing, sweetie”. vernon physically cringes, and you cover your face, laughing and embarrassed on seungkwan’s behalf. the atmosphere sits in an awkward silence with boos coming from the game before it’s seokmin’s turn to read:
“i’m not a doctor, but you look like a tangerine,
i bet you can’t even find the bean!” seokmin doesn’t even get halfway through his verse before the entire group combusts — laughs, howls, cackles, everything under the sun. seungkwan’s face turns red, clearly offended.
“HELLO? we’re just saying anything, now?!” seungkwan shouts, but seokmin puts his hand up to stop him before reading the next lines,
“i’m flying this plane, so creaky
every night, me and your mom, getting freaky!”
your jaw hurts from laughing, nothing even coming out of your mouth besides gasps and squeaks. your face is bright red from being unable to breathe, laughter consuming your entire being. you don’t even get a glimpse of everybody else’s reactions, but you can tell they’re the same. you barely even register that soonyoung is fully collapsed onto your side, heaving and laughing just as hard as you.
“well shit, i know who’s winning this round,” jihoon spits out, and you attempt to make a noise of agreement. tears blur your eyes, pressing seokmin’s name on your screen.
“the rest of this is going to be so boring if that’s what we’re starting off with,” you croak, and vernon looks back with his fist in front of his mouth, nodding. seokmin wins the round with a blackout, getting up and doing a stupid dance at seungkwan to rub salt in the wound.
next is you and mingyu, and mingyu goes first
“every day is like a dream, i’m gonna cream,
this exchange student is more korean than me!
i like looking at stars in the sky,
please don’t hit me, i’m gonna cry.”
your jaw drops at mingyu’s first line, wonwoo hitting his shoulder. seungkwan gasps dramatically, hand placed on his chest, while minghao hides behind him, dying of laughter.
“what on EARTH do you mean by ‘i’m gonna cream’?!” you stand on your knees atop seokmin’s bed, hands on your hips, playfully offended. seokmin’s mouth is wide open, pointing, laughing, hand holding his stomach. soonyoung is unreasonably still, making a confused face at mingyu. “why the hell would you put in the cream line?!” soonyoung scolds. he glances at you before dropping his shoulders, laughing.
“i don’t know, i just needed to put something!” mingyu throws his hands up in defense, before apologizing.
“you’re digging yourself a hole, like a rodent
please take a shower, you smell potent
my rap game is the best in the league,
no seriously, you smell like dog pee.”
“DOG PEE?!” seokmin doubles over, falling to the ground, muttering dog pee over and over again, gasping in between laughs. wonwoo genuinely laughs out loud, probably the loudest, and it surprises you because he’s usually quiet. the rest of the group is laughing alongside him, and vernon turns around to give you a high five. mingyu turns to face you, mustering up the cutest pout he can.
“i was so nice to you, and this is what i get in return?!” he whines, and you feel bad reaching out to pat his head.
“i’m sorry! i didn’t know what else to say, and it worked!” you defend, and he crosses his arms, dramatically sighing before facing the tv again.
“aww don’t fret, it’s not like you lost to the exchange student that isn’t even fluent in our language,” jihoon teases, and mingyu lets out a groan.
“hey i mean you said it yourself, ‘this exchange student is more korean than me’,” vernon tag teams. the votes go in, and just like seokmin did to seungkwan, you won with a blackout, giving seokmin a high five.
next is wonwoo and vernon, with wonwoo going first:
“your face looks like a pack of seaweed,
when you were bald, you looked like a kiwi
your flow is so calm,
pretend that i just dropped a bomb.”
wonwoo cringes at the end of his verse, and you overexaggerate your laugh to make him feel better, seokmin and soonyoung joining in.
“guys you’re just making it worse,” wonwoo groans from under his shirt, and vernon chuckles before getting to read his lines:
“the only good thing about you is your height,
even though i’m shorter, i could still beat you in a fight
i’m as strong as a chicken,
so delicious, i’m finger-lickin.”
the room fills with ‘ohhh’s during vernon’s verse, and you see wonwoo put his hands up, as if he’s gracefully accepting defeat.
“there’s no coming back from that,” he sighs, dramatically putting his phone to the side. for some reason, though, vernon only gets 75% of the votes, seokmin having voted for wonwoo.
“did you just pity vote me?!” wonwoo gasps, crossing his arms.
“yeah, but now i’m starting to regret it!” seokmin sasses back, but you shush them, wanting to see the battle between jihoon and soonyoung.
“wait i’m excited for this, especially because jihoon said he needed to humble soonyoung earlier,” you chime, nudging soonyoung with your elbow. you turn your head to look at him, and the tips of his ears are red, avoiding eye contact with you.
“oh believe me, he’s gonna be humbled,” jihoon winks over, and you giggle. out of the corner of your eye, you see minghao and seungkwan raising their eyebrows at you from across the room, looking at the tv when you turn your head to look at them. you look back and soonyoung, who is fidgeting with his fingers, still avoiding eye contact. he was just all up in your space a few moments ago, what happened? you don’t have time to ask, though, as the screen lights up, and soonyoung is up first.
“if you hate me, you’ll hate my chair,
jihoon only wears pink underwear,”
jihoon instantly stands up from his chair, shouting “THAT IS NOT TRUE!” as if vernon wasn’t already sitting on the floor, he is completely sprawled out, grabbing onto mingyu for support, whose hand is covering his mouth, trying so hard to pretend he isn’t laughing. soonyoung continues reading,
“knock knock whos there, your mom
i do her every night on my lawn”
you laugh at another classic your mom joke, playfully pushing his shoulder before leaning on him, casually returning his skinship. his laughter freezes for half a second upon contact, and you feel it, and then he wraps his arm around your shoulder, pulling you into his side.
“OOOOOOOHHHH!!” seungkwan stands and begins to shout, but minghao covers his mouth with his hand, pulling seungkwan back down onto his bed, whispering something in his ear. jihoon looks up at the scene, jaw dropping before turning into a smirk.
“i might be weak, but at least i don’t fall in love at first sight,
soonyoung plays ball like flying a kite,
smashing your dreams like they’re made of chips
i bet i know someone you’d like to hook up with”
seungkwan and seokmin both rise to their feet at the exact same time, and seungkwan’s hands fly to his hair, gripping and pulling dramatically. minghao just sits on the bed, jaw dropped, absolutely flabbergasted. vernon wasn’t even partially recovered from soonyoung’s verse, just to get absolutely demolished by jihoon’s. wonwoo, who has had minimal reactions since your verse, gasps and covers his mouth with his hands.
you feel soonyoung freeze, his arm falling from your body as you sit up to laugh. jihoon’s verse was funny, yes, but it was also confusing — what did he mean by fall in love at first sight? it must’ve been something big by the way everybody else is reacting, and maybe something you’ll learn as you get to know the boys later on.
“w-what?! what- NO! no it’s not like that, what?!” soonyoung sputters, stuttering over his words, arms flying as he looks back and forth across the room, trying to explain.
“you’re… so… fucked…” seokmin chokes out, leaning on the door for support. you almost feel out of place with how little you’re reacting compared to everybody else. was it really that funny? the voting screen appears on the tv, and you vote for soonyoung’s verse, purely because you don’t understand jihoon’s. the rest of the votes come in, and jihoon one, everybody except for you voting for him.
this somehow turns the group into the exact same mess it was before — screaming, laughing, hitting, and jihoon just sitting in his chair with the nastiest smirk on his face. soonyoung’s hand flies to his chest, as if he’s trying to feel his heartbeat.
“hey, at least you got one vote!” you poke him, and he’s near-panting when he looks at you.
“you thought it was funnier than jihoon’s?” he asked, clearly confused.
“i mean, i didn’t really understand what jihoon was getting at, probably because i’m pretty new to the group, so-“
“oh thank god,” soonyoung puts his hands on his knees, head hanging, and you sense he’s almost… relieved? maybe he doesn’t want you to know the backstory behind jihoon’s diss. you’re almost hurt at the fact that soonyoung doesn’t want you to get to know him better, but you brush it off as being new.
you catch yourself staring just a moment too long — taking in his messy hair, flushed face, the way his broad, broad shoulders heave up and down… you catch a glimpse of his back muscles through his t-shirt- this is wrong. you nearly snap your neck with how fast you turn away, looking back at the game.
“so, who’s ready for round two?” you called, locking back into the game.
-
after another agonizingly hilarious 20 minutes of mad verse city, seokmin comes out on top as the winner against vernon, doing another stupid dance to further prove that he’s just better.
you lean against the wall, yawning, exhausted. it was nearing ten pm, and you’d barely gotten enough rest from the night before. vernon catches you out of the corner of his eye, motioning towards the door with his head. all you do is nod, and vernon gets up, announcing your departure,
“alright guys, y/n and i are gonna head out, we’re beat. thanks for having us, though,” vernon extends you a hand to pull you up from seokmin’s bed, ignoring the side eye soonyoung gives.
“goodnight everyone!” you call and wave, hearing overlapping ‘goodnight’s back before exiting with vernon.
the air of the night was cool and fresh — just what you needed after laughing so hard you’d started sweating. the silence was comfortable, as it was clear both of you were exhausted. well, until vernon broke it,
“so, did you really not understand jihoon’s verse?” vernon asked, a small smile forming on his lips.
“i mean, like, i understood what he meant, but not what he was referencing, if that makes sense?” you replied, and he just hummed. the rest of the walk after that was truly silent, though, a small ‘goodnight’ passing through the air as he punched in the code to his room, leaving you to do the same.
as you get ready for bed, your mind replays the day you just had: learning you made out with chan, being outed by mingyu, campus tour with joshua, shopping with vernon and minghao, game night with half the group… you were beyond content with how your first few days played out.
picking up your phone for the first time in hours, you’re reminded of a notification that was long forgotten:
@kwonsoonyoung replied to your story: first date? without me? :/
you smile, unlocking your phone to reply
@y/n: next time, trust
setting it on the charger, you waste no time cozying up in your new bedsheets, falling into a blissful sleep.
september 2nd, [11:31]
the past few days have been relaxed, and you’re glad to have had time to really settle in. you went out and bought decor for your room to make it feel more… you — fairy lights, pegboards that wait to be filled, photos of you and your friends & family back in LA, and the UCLA throw blanket at the foot of your bed.
meals were shared daily with your friends, maybe not the entire group, but joshua insists that you eat breakfast with him every day, and it’s a routine you love. growing up as the eldest child, you’re beyond glad to have somebody like joshua in your life here in korea. seokmin and seungkwan asked to take you trinket shopping, and you now have matching clay fruits, yours proudly displayed on your desk. you can totally tell that seungcheol is the unspoken ‘leader’ of the group, as he’s been regularly checking in with you, asking if you need anything from him.
it’s the day before the first day of classes, and you’re beyond terrified. half of your classes are taught in english, but the one course you need for your major is taught strictly in korean, leaving you to brush up on science vocabulary. your typical language apps aren’t doing it, though. you stare at the ceiling, wondering what to do, who to call. both joshua and vernon were busy with pre-class prep, and something told you that seokmin and seungkwan wouldn’t be too much of a help, so you decided to text chan,
y/n: heyyy
y/n: u busy?
chan: if staring at the ceiling counts
y/n: deadass same
y/n: wanna come hang out
chan: YES
aside from joshua and vernon, chan has been next in line for a text recently, as he matches your energy perfectly. looking at the blank ceiling gives you an idea — one that sends you digging in your under-the-bed storage, finding exactly what you needed: a projector. what better idea than to whip it out and watch a show or movie? you’re sure you can introduce him to peak american comedy that he’s never experienced before.
the lens is pointed up at the ceiling, and you draw the curtains to make the room darker and the screen more visible. it’s perfect. what’s even more perfect is the knock on your door, that could be no one other than chan.
“hey, just in time. i just finished setting up my projector-“
“woah, you have a projector?! that’s so cool, what are we watching?!” chan wastes no time pushing past you, slipping off his shoes and flopping onto your bed.
“i’ve got this great show — peak american comedy — superstore. it’s my favorite, and we’re watching the entirety of the first season,” you smirk, and chan smiles, ready to settle in. shutting the door, you climb next to him on your bed, unintentionally putting your head on his arm — he doesn’t mind, though, just wraps it tighter like it’s natural. pressing play, you set the remote down on your nightstand and settle in, waiting for the giggles to commence.
-
“can i get the blanket at the foot of your bed? i’m cold,” chan whispered, and you say nothing and grab it for him, draping it over your bodies, snuggling in tighter for warmth. your phone lights up — a notification from joshua asking how your day is going.
“let’s take a picture for joshua,” you nudge, and he leans in, head leaning on yours, as you cozy up and smile for the picture before sending it off.
“ooh, i should post that, too!” you murmur, and he just hums in agreement, too focused on the episode. you post it on your instagram story with the caption “chan’s first time watching superstore! already on episode 6.”
you’re about to put your phone down, but it buzzes again — a notification from @kwonsoonyoung.
@kwonsoonyoung: binging without me? :(
you smile, deciding to invite him,
@y/n: pull up?
you keep your phone open for a few minutes to wait for a response, but he just leaves you on seen. weird. however, just as you go to put your phone down, again, soonyoung responds,
@kwonsoonyoung: just got out of the shower, omw
you turn the phone off, waiting for the knock at the door.
“soonyoung said he’s gonna come watch with us,” you whisper, and chan just hums again before laughing at the show. you wonder if he even heard what you said, but it doesn’t really matter — you’re warm and cozy, watching your favorite show, and in a completely different country. it couldn’t get better than that.
-
after around ten minutes, there’s a knock at your door. neither you nor chan moves, and you just call out, “it’s open!”, inviting soonyoung to let himself in. there’s a small moment of silence, and then the door is slightly pushed open. at first, you don’t even look at him, too invested in the show. but it’s a little too quiet, as if he’s not even moving, and that’s when you look over — he’s simply standing in the doorway, looking, maybe observing, you and chan snuggled up under your fluffy UCLA blanket.
“you gonna come in or just stand there?” you joke, trying to loosen him up. he fully steps into your room, door shutting behind him, and your breath hitches as you look at him. he’s dressed casually — white t-shirt and a pair of gray sweats; his hair is still wet and messy from his shower, and you can smell his shampoo from where you’re lying. your heart paces a little faster, and he avoids eye contact, sitting down in the chair you set in the corner, looking up at the ceiling to watch the show. your own neck hurts at the way he tilts it back to watch, but if he’s not complaining, then you won’t either.
“hi soonyoung. today i learned y/n’s got great taste in shows, and you’re about to experience it, too,” chan turns to smile at soonyoung, and soonyoung smiles back, “i saw y/n’s story, i’m excited!” he doesn’t seem too excited, though. just at that moment, both you and chan burst into a fit of giggles, facing each other, pointing at the ceiling.
“that- that was wild!” chan admits, and you just nod along. you peek over chan’s shoulder to see if soonyoung also laughed, but you catch him looking at you instead, instantly turning away and back to the show.
“soonyoung, do you want to come sit with us? we can make room for you if you want,” you call, feeling bad about soonyoung’s isolation. he shakes his head and then pretends to laugh at the show, practically ignoring you. your brows furrow a bit, as you look back at chan, but he’s also locked in on the show. if soonyoung doesn’t want your kindness, then why give it to him?
you decide it’s not worth your energy if he doesn’t want to be social, and you readjust your head to fit perfectly into the crook of chan’s neck, his arm subconsciously holding you tighter against him. he’s warm, cozy, safe — yet you couldn’t help but imagine, what if soonyoung was in his place?
september 3rd, [09:57]
taking a seat in the third row of the lecture hall, you feel the eyes of other students watching you. it’s silent, except for the chatter of people speaking with their friends. you can’t quite tell if the looks you receive are judgmental or curious — hopefully the latter, all schools have exchange students for the semester, right? it’s an upper-level chemistry class, so not only will the class be difficult, it’ll be hard to understand. conversational korean and academic korean are different, and you haven’t quite hit the ball on academic language, so you’ll only have to hope for the best. maybe somebody you know will walk in?
as if he read your mind, you watch soonyoung walk through the doors, and your heart skips a beat — he looks good. almost too good. he stands for a moment, scanning the room, maybe to see if he knows anyone, and his eyes land on you. you let your lips form a small smile as you wave, but he instantly looks away, beelining for the back of the room.
what the hell?
did he not like you? no, that can’t be true — he’s always replying to your instagram stories; soonyoung was literally in your room for almost two hours last night. given you were cuddling with chan and he refused to say much, but he was still there… right? your heart feels heavy, knowing he sees you and chooses to avoid you. what if he was only being friendly because other people from the friend group were there? what if other people in the group only tolerate you because they have to? your mind spirals so hard you don’t even realize the professor had already entered the room, about to start the lecture. whatever, you don’t need friends, you just need to pass your classes.
[12:02]
grabbing lunch, you glance over at the group in the booth — there’s only around half of them since the others have class right now, and that leaves you to sit without the two people you’re most comfortable with: joshua and chan. not that you don’t like the others, you’re just not sure if the others like you. you take a deep breath, heart beating a little faster as you slide in and take a seat next to jeonghan, who just gives you a nod and a smile.
“he totally hates me” your mind whispers. you attempt to shake off the feeling, but nobody else is looking at you, talking to you, or asking how your day went like they usually do. vernon, across from you, is completely focused on his phone, while the others are in a different conversation. suddenly, your favorite dish looks unappetizing, picking through it with your chopsticks.
“y/n, how did your first day of classes go? got any more?” seokmin finally acknowledges you. you spare a glance at soonyoung sitting next to him, who is clearly avoiding your gaze.
“oh, it was alright. definitely made me realize i don’t know as much korean as i thought i did, though,” you chuckled awkwardly, and he nodded before moving on to a different conversation. you probably should’ve asked him how he was back, maybe inserted yourself somewhere. but no, you couldn’t be desperate like that. keeping your mouth shut, you eat as quickly as you can without feeling sick, pick up your dishes, and leave. it was embarrassing to bolt towards the door like that, but you had no other option. what’s more embarrassing, though, is that not a single person called your name or said goodbye, and that was the final straw for today.
september 4th, [11:59]
seeing chan and joshua already sitting at the booth should make you feel safe, but noticing soonyoung next to chan is what retreats you to your dorm. the food is running cold in the to-go box, as you carefully sit at your desk, opening it to find bits and pieces of what should be a meal. they liked it better like this; you were just a clingy foreign exchange student who didn’t know how to make friends on their own. it was about time you’d separate from the rest of them. just as you were about to place a bite of plain rice into your mouth, your phone buzzed —
chan.
you did a double-take on the screen to make sure you were reading it right. chan was texting you first?
chan: hey, where’d you go?
chan: we saw you grab food but you never showed up to the table
no way.
y/n: you saw me?
chan: yeah, i was waiting for you to start eating so we could eat together
chan: but you never came
chan: where are you?
y/n: my room
chan: ok, otw
chan: wait for me
y/n: you don’t have to, i’m fine by myself
read at 12:10
you leaned back in your chair, confused by his words. you’d fully convinced yourself that he only hung out with you out of pity. your mind felt empty as you stared at your food, not particularly hungry. you were mentally preparing yourself for the worst — him asking how you found out, who snitched, maybe that he was sorry you had to find out so soon before leaving?
a small knock on your door interrupts your thoughts. you paused for a moment, debating whether to respond, but it seems like chan knows you too well with the way he opens the door, already knowing it’s unlocked.
“you know, you should really stop leaving your door unlocked. i might come in and take a nap on your bed,” chan jokes, trying to break the ice. he sighs when he doesn’t see you react, not even a slight smile. the door shuts itself behind him, and he sits on the foot of your bed, a few feet away from you.
“what’s wrong?” he asks, and you don’t respond, too nervous to speak. you know what he’s going to say. you’re just not ready to hear it.
“nothing,” you begin, and he’s already furrowing his brows at you, “just didn’t wanna make it awkward like yesterday,” you sigh, still avoiding his gaze. he shifts a little bit, and you’re unsure what that means.
“what do you mean by make it awkward? if anything, it was awkward without you. we’ve gotten used to you already.” his tone is soft, and you can tell he’s being genuine. you look up at him, blinking away tears from your eyes.
“what?”
“yeah, we like, instantly noticed that you never came to sit with us. seungkwan pointed out that you’d entered the cafeteria to get food, but you never came,” chan explained, and your cheeks heated from embarrassment. no, you couldn’t be totally wrong, though, soonyoung still hates you-
“what’s wrong, y/n? tell me,” he pleads, and you look away again.
“it’s soonyoung…” you admit, and chan’s visibly confused.
“soonyoung? why? did he do something?” chan asks, and the tone of his questions makes you realize this is out of character for soonyoung, he just really hates you.
“well, we had a class together yesterday, and we made eye contact, and i waved at him to come sit by me, but he just ignored me and sat at the back of the room. and then at lunch, he also completely ignored me with no explanation…” you sighed, cringing while remembering that moment. chan sits up, brows still furrowed, eyes widened.
“really?!” he asks, and you just nod. he sits back with a small ‘huh’, staring at your wall like he’s trying to come up with a justification.
“and then nobody else in the group would talk to me yesterday, so i just ate really quickly and left. nobody said bye to me either, so i just assumed they also hated me-“
“y/n, they just thought you were tired and had to go. seokmin brought it up today that you seemed out of it and left really quickly yesterday,” chan adds, and you hang your head in embarrassment.
“i don’t know, i guess i just assumed nobody else liked me because of soonyoung…” you mumble, and chan hums.
“oh come here,” he calls, opening his arms up. you stare at him for a moment, considering it. you get up from your chair and sit next to him on your bed, leaning into his chest, arms loosely wrapping around his waist while he pulls you in tight.
“we all really like you, i promise. just because you’re new doesn’t mean that you’re an outcast. most of them are still getting to know you because that takes time, okay? we’re just lucky that we clicked really fast. that doesn’t usually happen, so don’t be sad when it doesn’t, okay?” he comforts you, hands rubbing up and down your back. you nod slowly, knowing he’s completely right, and you let your emotions get the best of you today.
“lets eat now, okay? i brought extras just in case you were still hungry,” he pulls out food from his backpack, still keeping one arm wrapped around you.
“you’re the best, chan.”
he smiles, “i try to be.”
september 5th, [12:03]
chan walks into your room with a smile, holding two containers. he sets them down on your desk, huffing, “had to run from the guys, seokmin asked where i was going with two portions of food.”
“you know, you didn’t have to, chan,” you smile at his antics, and he just shakes his head.
“well, i wanted to. that’s what friends do,” he nudges you before opening the food, diving in. in the middle of conversation, your phone buzzes.
seokmin: y/nnn where are you?
seokmin: are you with chan?
you don’t say anything but show chan your phone, who rolls his eyes before taking it to type something,
y/n: yep what about it
y/n: *image attachment*
seokmin: damn ok don’t gotta tell me twice
seokmin: u guys are sus
chan dramatically gasps before handing your phone back to you, showing the message.
“jeez, he’s really stuck on this idea of us dating.” you’re amused at his certainty, but you also realize how weird this looks to the rest of the group.
“maybe we should just eat with the group tomorrow, you know, now that we know not everybody hates you?” chan suggests, and you consider it — soonyoung holds you back though.
“but what about soonyoung?”
“who cares? he’s one person out of a group, i doubt he has the audacity to treat you like he did in front of the guys,” chan shrugs, shoveling another bite into his mouth.
“i guess you’re right…”
“and if he does, i’ll be there to defend you. and i’m sure joshua will too.”
september 6th, [11:59]
you take a deep breath, and chan is already looking at you before you can even begin walking towards the booth. you haven’t eaten with them in two days, and the thought that maybe, just maybe, they do think you’re annoying still lingers in the back of your mind. you hope to make your appearance quietly, but seokmin has other plans,
“hi y/n! we missed you!” he calls, and you smile at him.
“aw, i missed you too!” you reply, and you almost feel safe until you see soonyoung stealing glances at you. taking a seat next to chan, you pretend to get really invested in a conversation with him.
“so, when is the next time you’re coming over to watch the show? we have so many seasons to get through-“
“okay you two, spit it out. you’re dating!” mingyu leans over the table, not even having sat down yet, accusing you and chan. it doesn’t help that the two of you freeze like deer in headlights.
“uh- WHAT?! NO!” you both stutter out at the same time, and at this point, you’re digging your own grave.
“okay, but like, seriously, no. why do you keep thinking that?” you sigh, trying to take a bite of food to seem unaffected by his words. mingyu scoffs for a moment, finally sitting down next to seungkwan,
“it’s not just me! we all think it!” he points to the rest of the table, and you turn and look at everybody, avoiding your gaze.
“we’re not dating. we’re just FRIENDS!” chan throws his hands up in frustration, and the rest of the group mutters acknowledgements, although they clearly don’t believe him. whatever, one day they’ll figure it out.
“chan, are you coming to practice tonight?” soonyoung calls, and chan pauses for half a second, something only you catch.
“yeah, of course,” chan’s tone is flat, something that soonyoung seems to catch on about. chan wastes no time returning to your conversation, asking the times you’re free. upon responding, you watch soonyoung’s eyes sway back and forth between you and chan before turning the other way. how interesting.
september 7th, [09:58]
the lecture hall is awfully cold today, and you regret not bringing a thicker jacket. it doesn’t matter, though. you’ll end up having to concentrate on the professor’s words so hard you won’t even notice it. out of the corner of your eye, you see soonyoung walk in, and your heart does a mix between a palpitation and a drop; he looks good, but you’re still mad at him- wait- why is he coming to your row?
not looking up quite yet, the seat next to you swivels, and soonyoung sits down in it, unpacking his stuff. the air physically feels thicker, and it feels like you’re trying to breathe through a pillow.
“hey,” he mutters, and you can tell something is on his mind. a sound of acknowledgement escapes yours, not quite a greeting, but showing you know he’s there. his hand falters, accidentally dropping the pen he was holding on the ground. you spare him a glance as he leans to pick it up, cheeks tinted pink.
“how are you?” he asks, and you shrug again. it’s not like you’re trying to be cold to him; there’s just not a lot you can say to him right now, not after he hurt your feelings.
“i’m sorry if i made you mad by not sitting with you on monday,” he whispers. if you were a cat, your ears would’ve shot straight up, intrigued about where this is going.
“i’m not mad.” you lied, but you knew that he could tell you were lying. unfortunately, your emotions come with subtitles, known as facial expressions and body language.
“then why did you avoid me?” he asks, and you pause, tension building in your arms. you slowly turn your body to look at him, and you watch as his expression changes from confused to terrified.
“i… ignored you?” you ask in disbelief, and you can tell he’s about to double down on his question, hands coming up to defend himself, but you’re too quick,
“if anything, you ignored me! you refused to sit next to me, to talk to me, you didn’t even try to text me. you didn’t acknowledge me ONCE this week,” you whisper-scolded, turning back to the front of the room, where the professor was about to begin lecture.
“okay, you’re right, i’m sorry-“
“just pay attention to the lecture,” you shoot him a glare, and he listens, turning his attention to the professor.
[10:21]
the whole class was rushing to get out of their seats, but you stayed, taking your time to pack things up slowly.
“i’m sorry. i don’t want you to be mad at me…” his voice is barely above a whisper, quiet enough for only you to hear. your shoulders droop upon hearing his words. they sound — feel — genuine. your mind rushes to replay the look he gave you before deliberately avoiding you. he could’ve chosen you, as chan did… but he didn’t.
“‘m not mad, just thought we were friends,” you respond, zipping your pencil pouch.
“wha- we are! we are friends!” soonyoung panics, and you turn to look at him.
“if we were friends, you would’ve sat with me, or apologized for upsetting me instead of shifting the blame to me. you chose to defend yourself instead of telling me the truth.” his mouth opens to respond, but nothing comes out. so you talk for him,
“chan wouldn’t do that. he chose me instantly when you made me feel unwelcome at lunch. i just need to stick with him and josh…” you knew your words hurt; you could see it in his eyes, losing the sparkle, being replaced with a dark look. god he’s so hot, you have to look away, or else you’d be taking back your words.
“let me know when you pick our friendship over your ego,” you stand, slinging your bag over your shoulder, and walk out, not turning back once, even though you wanted to so bad.
[17:18]
“and then, he has the audacity to ask me why i was ignoring him! isn’t that crazy?!” you rant, popping another chip into your mouth, chan sitting next to you. you shut your eyes to ground yourself, but being greeted by the bare ceiling doesn’t exactly help.
“that’s actually kinda crazy, i wonder why he’d say that…” chan ponders out loud along with you, and all you can do is turn and nod your head.
*knock knock*
“it’s unlocked, come in!” you called, turning your head to look at the door. joshua’s head pokes in, and you can see vernon peeking through behind him.
“what’s up?” you ask, now crunching on an almond. joshua raises an eyebrow, fully pushing the door open, letting himself and vernon inside your room.
“we just wanted to check in on you… what’s going on here?” he asks, crossing his arms playfully.
“we’re shit talking soonyoung,” you say bluntly. it’s not entirely true, but it’s also not entirely wrong.
“what- okay, we’re not shit talking him per say, y/n’s just frustrated with him right now,” chan quickly clarifies before joshua and vernon get the wrong ideas.
“well? fill us in?” vernon wastes no time sitting in your desk chair, wheeling it over to the side of your bed, and you sit up, knowing they have a lot more to catch up than chan did.
-
“so then i told him to talk to me when he can choose our friendship over his ego,” you finished explaining the story, and vernon and joshua both made an “oooh…” noise.
“damn y/n, that’s cold. i fuck with it.” vernon gives you a high five, and you respond with a small “thanks”.
“i just can’t comprehend any reason for him to do that, though,” you sigh, staring back at the ceiling. you hear a small giggle from vernon, and you turn your head to look back at him. he’s glancing between you and joshua suspiciously, and joshua just places his hand over vernon’s mouth.
“don’t mind him, he doesn’t know how to take things seriously sometimes,” joshua gives a hearty smile, something that almost seems… robotic? as if on cue, his giggles turn into laughs, and he nearly walks into the door trying to get out. he shuts the door with a slam, and you sit up, looking at joshua confused. joshua’s not looking at you, though — he’s looking at chan, so you also turn to look at chan, who’s clearly trying to bite back a smile.
“what’s going on with you two?” you ask, mostly concerned about all these glances you can’t quite understand.
chan turns to you with a slight smile, “oh nothing, soonyoung always acts like this when he’s trying too hard to impress someone-“ he abruptly stops upon making eye contact with joshua again.
“he was like this with chan too,” joshua clarifies, and you turn to look at him. you observe the way his eyes shake, moving between you and chan. his face comes with subtitles — microexpressions like slight muscle twitches giving away his thoughts. they’re not telling the full truth, but you don’t have enough proof to accuse them of that, so you take their explanation and keep quiet for now.
september 8th, [13:34]
minghao: drinking party and bad karaoke in mine and jun’s room tonight
junhui: start time like… 10pm
minghao: we have some alc but if someone can bring more that’d be great
jihoon: i gotchu
you look at group chat, smiling at the thought of drinking with your friends again. it’s saturday, and the perfect stress reliever you need after the week you’ve had.
chan: we’ll be there!
jun: “we”? who u bringing
chan: y/n, duh
chan knows you too well, already rsvping for you. just then, chan’s name pops up, signaling he’s texting you individually.
chan: we still on for pizza and season two of superstore tonight before going to junhao’s?
y/n: duhhh
y/n: tonight is gonna be so great
chan: we’re getting fucked up again, right?
y/n: is the sky blue?
chan: lmao, see u in a few hours
[18:49]
you’d just finished putting on a new shirt after your shower, and chan walks in, leaving you to jump.
“jeez! any earlier and you would’ve seen me naked!” you shout, and he just laughs.
“i’ve seen you black out drunk, which is arguably worse,” he retorts, and you roll your eyes. you sit next to him on your bed, setting up the projector for a binge watching session.
“we should leave at like… 9:45 right?” you ask, and he shrugs.
“we should leave when we finish the episode closest to 10pm.”
you look at him, lips pursed for a moment before shrugging with him,
“sure, sounds good!” you hit play, grab a slice of pizza, and lean back to watch the show.
[22:09]
“do you think they’re gonna be mad at us?” you ask, tugging on your left shoe.
“nah, it just started. doubt they’re all completely fucked up already… i hope,” chan holds the door open, waiting for you to grab your keys and leave.
“okay, cool. ready for this?” you ask, locking your door and walking to the elevator.
“so ready, i needed this, no, YOU needed this after this week,” chan nudges you, and you just nod dramatically, pressing the down button.
-
“okay i think this is it, i’ve only been here like once,” chan stops in front of a door. you can faintly hear music playing from behind the door, and you nod, confirming it yourself.
“i’m pretty sure that’s seungkwan singing,” you note, and chan steps forward, opening the door. it’s unlocked, so he pushes the door open, and the noise and humidity hit you like a truck. everybody stops to turn and stare at you two, like you’ve just kicked a puppy. their voices are silent for a second before seokmin shouts,
“chan! y/n! you’re late!” he pulls both of you in, leaving the door to shut behind you.
“damn, it’s huge in here! why is your guys’ dorm so big?” you turn and ask jun, who’s already pouring you a drink.
“it’s supposed to be a triple, but our other roommate dropped out, so we got it to ourselves,” he turns and hands you a clear cup with a light-yellow liquid.
“what’s this?” you ask, and he says nothing, just clinking his cup with yours and drinking. oh well, hopefully it doesn’t kill you. you also take a sip, and it’s delicious. your eyes widen, looking at jun, who laughs at your reaction.
“i know, right? you can’t even taste the alcohol, it’s so dangerous,” he goes in for another sip, and you mimic him before walking off to socialize with other members of the group. chan waves you over to where he’s squeezed onto a couch with vernon and seokmin, pulling you into his lap like it’s the most natural thing ever. it’s new, but you don’t think twice, deeming any skinship with chan as normal, now. seokmin pops his head out to look at you two, and you can tell he has something to say, but he leans back, refocusing his attention on mingyu, who is doing a horrible job at singing a mariah carey song.
you offer chan a sip of your drink, to which he accepts, trading his with yours. out of the corner of your eye, you catch soonyoung, who’s nursing a bottle of beer, staring at you. you can’t pinpoint his facial expression, but you chalk it up to being a little tipsy.
“damn, this is good. it’s better than mine,” chan takes another sip, and you switch your cups back, becoming defensive,
“nuh uh, get your own if you want more!” you tease, sliding an arm around the back of his neck, leaning into his body.
“someone better keep an eye on them so they don’t make out again,” mingyu teases, and your head instantly snaps towards him, wearing a grumpy expression.
“hey! that was once! it’s not happening again!” you point your finger at him, and chan nods. you can tell he’s about to retaliate, but seungcheol kicks him in the shin, distracting him from you and chan. you drink again, and it has your brain fuzzier than it was before. your cheek lands on top of chan’s head, his fingers dancing around your waist.
“y/n, chan, one of you guys sing something!” seokmin calls, handing the mic in your direction. you aggressively shake your head, getting up to shove chan towards seokmin’s extended hand.
“what- why me?!” he complains, taking the microphone anyway.
“because i can’t sing!” you stick your tongue out at him, stealing his spot on the couch. he sighs, scrolling through the catalog before landing on a ballad, and you sink in, getting ready to enjoy.
-
your arms flail around with seungkwan’s, dancing embarrassingly to a christmas song after losing a drinking game. you lose your balance, gripping onto seungkwan’s shoulder for balance, but he’s just about as drunk as you are, and you both go down, hitting the floor with a thud. you hear the rest of the group cackling at your faceplant, and you’re not quite sure if you have enough strength to get up.
“oh my god, y/n, you’re so bad,” chan calls from behind you, arms around your waist to get you back onto your feet. you stumble backwards into his figure, and you take a deep breath. and then you gag.
“oh shit- someone get her a trashbag! preferrably a new one that mingyu didn’t throw up in!” seokmin calls, rushing over to help hold back your hair. you were about to be the third person to throw up tonight, which probably isn’t a good thing.
“jun, this is your fault! you insisted on creating that concoction to get people incredibly fucked up!” minghao shifts the blame onto jun, who just smirks and shrugs his shoulders.
“hey it worked, it’s not like i said ‘hey this is all juice no alcohol’, i said it was dangerous!” he retaliates.
jihoon rushes over with a new trashbag, holding it under your face as you continue to gag, just hoping to get it over with at this point. after a few moments, you take a few deep breaths, grounding yourself.
“okay i don’t think it’s gonna come… i need to get back, though,” you groan, leaning back into chan’s chest, and he holds you tightly.
“i can take her-“
“no, you’re equally as fucked up.” jihoon points, and chan just shuts his mouth, not even bothering to argue with jihoon.
“soonyoung, go walk the kids home,” jihoon volunteers his roommate, who gets up with a sigh, tossing his third beer bottle into the recycling.
“let’s go, you two,” he tosses an arm around chan, moving you two as a unit.
september 9th, [00:36]
it’s late into the night, and you’re beyond grateful to get out of jun and minghao’s room, taking more deep breaths with the cold and crisp air. even though it’s cold outside, it soothes your skin, which is hot and sweaty from drinking and dancing. you’re still glued to chan’s side, and he’s holding onto you just as tightly, making sure you keep up with his and soonyoung’s footsteps.
soonyoung still hasn't said anything or even looked at you — his focus is on the ground or the environment in front of him, never on you.
“let’s go to chan’s first,” he mutters. you can’t quite pick it up, but chan hears it, redirecting you to his building. it’s the opposite way of your building, but that’s okay, you probably need more time outside before going into hibernation inside your dorm.
“do you think you can make it to your room by yourself?” soonyoung asks once you’re inside the lobby, and chan nods,
“yeah, i’m on the first floor anyway.” he turns to you, knowing he’ll have to part ways.
“mmm, i’ll text you tomorrow when i come back to life,” he leans down, pulling you into a big, drunk bear hug. you hug him back, rocking back and forth, leaning into him. your eyes open for a split second, and you can see soonyoung just watching with his arms crossed. after a few moments, he finally lets go, taking a deep breath.
“take care of them, don’t let them die!” chan playfully scolds soonyoung, who just throws his hands up in response, “noted.”
you stumble over your own feet, almost running into a glass door. luckily, you catch yourself before you break your nose. soonyoung winces, hesitating, wondering if he should touch you and hold onto the way chan was.
“you ready?” he asks, and you just glare back at him. you stand up straight, making sure to move one foot in front of another, as a way to protest soonyoung babysitting you.
“more than ready!” you announce. he just stands there, watching you pull on a push door.
“i think it’s stuck,” you turn to him. he just smiles and shakes his head, pushing the door open. you curse yourself in your head, following him out. you only make it a few steps before almost falling on your face, grabbing onto soonyoung’s arm for support. he freezes, watching you. he’s significantly more sober than you; he knows this.
“are you gonna help me across campus, or just stand there and let me stumble?” you shoot at him, and it awakens something in him he was trying so, so hard to bury. he pulls you into his side, arm wrapping around your waist tightly. you’re unsure if your heart palpitations are from the alcohol or your proximity to soonyoung. he looks so good under the moonlight right now — hair messy, plain shirt and jeans, and his usual cologne you’ve now grown to associate with him.
you can see his eyes flicker down to you for a moment and you instantly look away, hoping he didn’t catch you staring. he doesn’t say anything, though, leaving you to drunkenly spam him with questions.
“soonyoung, why do you hate me?” your words are slurred, and his steps falter for a moment, “i don’t.”
“why do you act like it?” this question actually makes him pause, cocking his neck to look down at you.
“do i?” he asks, and you just nod, head leaning on his chest. you’re not sure whose heartbeat you’re feeling right now, but it’s pretty fast, and you assume it’s yours. he picks up the pace again, and you walk with him. he never answered your question. you feel his chest rise as he sighs deeply, and your building comes into view. he doesn’t speak, not even when you try to pull away to go up the elevator by yourself. his grip on your waist is loosened, and you feel giggles building in your throat as the elevator starts going up.
“what’s so funny?” he asks, unable to conceal his smile of endearment towards you.
“you don’t hate me!” you conclude, and he just nods his head.
“and how’d you figure that out?” he raises an eyebrow, amused at your giggly state.
“cause you’re in the elevator with me…” you trail, following it with another giggle. you’ve reached the state where you can’t quite feel anything anymore, and you know you’re either gonna go to bed in these clothes or completely naked. the door to the elevator opens on your floor, and you skip out, soonyoung trailing after you.
you’re walking against the wall until you get to your door, leaning your back against it.
“you’re not allowed in without the secret password!” you proclaim, and he smiles, hands in his pockets.
“it’s okay, i wasn’t going to come in. just had to make sure you actually made it to your room,” he assures you, and you smile widely, shoulders swaying a little bit.
“you know, you’re really quiet tonight…” you note, subconsciously reaching your arms out to pull him a little closer. he only lets himself take a step, careful not to get too close.
“just been thinking… didn’t wanna get too drunk tonight, anyway…” he trails off, avoiding your eye contact. you decide you didn’t like that, and you reach up to grab his chin, making him face you. you pull him in a little closer, and he stumbles a bit, catching himself on your door, one arm right next to your head, the other hand remaining in his pocket.
you lose all ability to breathe with the way he’s looking at you, the way he’s so close to you, he’s so close you can count the faded freckles he has on his nose. it feels as if you’ve been thrown underwater with how thick the air is between you. he hovers above you, eyes locked onto yours. you realize you’re mouth breathing and quickly fix your jaw, gulping.
you’re so conscious it almost feels like you’re sober. you watch as soonyoung’s facial expression changes, and he breaks eye contact, hanging his head. you get a whiff of his shampoo, and your knees go weak. just as you’re about to speak, he beats you to it, voice deep and controlled,
“i think you should go inside. goodnight, y/n.”
he pushes himself off your door, heading towards the elevator. you don’t say anything back, you can’t, as you watch him step in, avoiding your gaze. the doors shut, and your heart drops. you turn around, unlocking the door, flopping onto your bed. you check your phone, a text from joshua,
joshua: i saw that
you grin at it, saving it to reply to tomorrow. you change out the clothes you went to jun and minghao’s in, putting on something light, as you had a feeling you were going to be sweating all night. the bed felt empty, though, and you wish soonyoung were here to be sweating with you.
[11:58]
you wake up full of regret and pain to a knock on your door. you mumble something between a grunt and a “come in”, hoping it’s loud enough. you open one eye to see joshua poking his head through the door before coming in, kneeling next to your bed.
“good morning… or should i say afternoon?” he says, and you can hear his shit-eating grin through his voice.
“ugh, what time is it?” you ask, covering your eyes from the sunlight.
“almost noon. jihoon’s worried that you died, so i had to come make sure you’re alive,” he sighs, putting his phone in front of your face. you read the messages,
jihoon: hey, dyk if y/n survived
jihoon: haven’t heard from them yet, and they were in pretty rough condition last night
jihoon: made soonyoung walk them home but didn’t hear anything after that
jihoon: can you check on them
joshua: lol ok
“woah, jihoon cares about me?” you look up at joshua, who’s just smiling.
“he cares about everyone, he just also hates when people know about it,” he shuts off his phone, slipping it into his pocket.
“got you some pain killers,” he pulls a ziploc bag out of his pocket, placing it on your nightstand.
“mmm thanks, how’d you know?” you ask, momentarily forgetting the trauma you caused him during your first night here.
“uhh, when we went to the club like two weeks ago?” he deadpans, and you remember with an “ohhhh, sorry.” he chuckles, grabbing your water bottle from the other side of the room.
“did you see my text last night?” he asks, and you pause, trying hard to remember seeing a text from joshua. you slowly look up at him, shaking your head while sipping your water.
“i don’t remember anything from last night, to be honest,” you take a break, going back to your water bottle. his eyes widen at you, and his mouth parts before covering it with his hand. your eyes also widen at his reaction, instinctively moving back a little.
“what- why? did i do something? did i kiss chan again? please don’t say i kissed chan again-“
“NO! no you’re fine, you did not kiss chan again… at least that i know of,” joshua places his hands on your shoulders to calm you down.
“then what happened?! why’d you react like that?” you ask, still not fully settled down. something happened.
“uhhh jihoon just said you almost threw up on him and seungkwan, so i texted to let you know i saw a picture that mingyu took of it!” you can hear the panic in his voice, but that doesn’t really matter because your face instantly flushes red, embarrassed to hear about your actions from last night.
“you’re joking…” you groan, covering your face.
“nope!” he says instantly, and you roll to face the other side of the room.
“well i’m gonna go now! you should text jihoon, soonyoung, chan… and probably jun or minghao too to let them know you’re alive,” you hear joshua get up and open your door.
“see you at dinner!” he chimes, leaving and shutting the door. you groan again, wondering if you should just dig yourself a hole and hide from the world.
[18:05]
you and chan make your way over to the usual booth, sliding in next to each other, talking about your days since you spoke yet today.
“so, how bad was your hangover?” you ask with a grin, and he just playfully rolls his eyes before giving you a little nudge.
“dude, i was out like a light. my head didn’t hurt as bad when i woke up this morning, though.” he takes a bite of his food, and you let out a surprised noise.
“really?! it felt like i was being crushed by something this morning! i slept for so long that joshua had to come wake me up at like, noon,” you confess, and chan’s eyes widened at you.
“damn, that’s insane,” he says, shoving another bite into his mouth. you just nod, looking back to your plate, and out of the corner of your eye, you see soonyoung walking over with his food. you give him a small smile and a wave, unsure of what’s to come for tonight.
what you definitely didn’t expect was for him to slide in right next to you, despite the opposite side of the booth being completely empty. chan gives you a look out of the corner of his eye, trying not to be obvious. you’re probably just as confused as he is.
“hey y/n, chan,” soonyoung greets once he gets settled. his knee brushes against yours, and your heartbeat spikes for a moment, the area where you touched almost tingling.
“hey,” chan mumbles, sparing a glance at him for half a second. you don’t even get the opportunity to green soonyoung back before chan starts talking again,
“so, how much of last night do you remember?” he asks, wearing a shit-eating grin on his face. you groan and roll your eyes, already knowing where this is headed. out of the corner of your eye, you can see soonyoung suddenly pause for a moment, but you pay no mind, regretfully answering chan’s question,
“fortunately, basically nothing. however, joshua did tell me he heard about me almost throwing up all over jihoon,” you sighed, and chan lets out a hearty laugh, having to look away or else he’ll choke.
“and what’s worse is that joshua said mingyu took a picture and sent it to him,” you groaned more, covering your face. chan’s laughter suddenly dies down, and you look at him, curious as to why that part, which was supposed to be the punch line, isn’t funny.
“what do you mean mingyu took a picture? y/n, he was the first one to throw up! he was gone like fifteen minutes before you started gagging,” he chuckles, clearly confused. you raise an eyebrow at him, shaking your head,
“that’s not what joshua told me. he even showed me the texts between him and jihoon this morning; jihoon wanted to check in because he said i was in ‘rough condition’ when he sent me home with soonyoung last night.” you point back at soonyoung, whose breathing is awfully shallow for someone who didn’t do a whole lot. he shrugs, going back to his meal.
“i’m just telling you what i know, and i know mingyu was gone before you even started dancing with seungkwan.”
there’s movement across the table, and you look up to see minghao, vernon, and jihoon all sliding in across you. minghao makes a face at you — something in between surprise and confusion, eyes flickering back and forth between you and soonyoung. you cock your head at him, but he doesn’t say anything — just passes vernon a look before digging in.
“you’re alive,” jihoon states, and you nod.
“surprisingly,” you chuckle back, and he grins.
“i’m not gonna lie, i was regretting sending soonyoung to walk you and chan back. i should’ve just done it myself,” he admits, taking a rather large bite of food. you furrow your brows to ask him why, and he clocks it, making a motion to tell you to wait.
“i knew he was gonna be able to take chan back, i didn’t know if you were going to survive, though,” he snickers a bit too hard, and there seems to be some type of inside joke with it, as minghao snorts, turning away as vernon tries to hold back his grin.
“what, why? he got me back just fine! i woke up in my pjs with not a single scratch!” you profess, and this sends vernon under the table, trying to conceal his laughter, minghao gently hitting him in the head. you can also see chan wearing a sly grin as well, trying not to pay attention to the conversation. as jihoon is about to respond, seungcheol and joshua slide into the booths, greeting everybody like normal. well, as normal as it can be when vernon is under the table, and minghao is near-choking on his food.
“what’s going on...?” joshua asks, and it seems like he’s scared of the answer.
“oh, we’re talking about these two,” jihoon points between you and soonyoung with his chopsticks, and joshua’s jaw drops, and he covers his mouth.
“oh my god, did they find out?” he gasps, and you look at him, so confused. you spare a look at soonyoung, who is bright pink and as still as a rock.
“find out what?” jihoon asks, and it’s joshua’s turn to go pink.
“uh- um- hey i actually need to go take a really big dump, be back never!” he exclaims, taking his food and sprinting elsewhere. you look at the entire table — minghao and vernon still wear grins, but are confused, jihoon is so beyond confused, chan is tuned out, and soonyoung looks like a tomato.
“what…?” you ask, and jihoon just shrugs.
“no idea.”
[20:10]
chan studies at your desk while you’re lying in bed, quietly scrolling through tiktoks on your phone. you’re mindlessly tapping on the screen, not really absorbing any of the content you’re consuming. you mind wanders back to the weird dinner that happened tonight — joshua claiming mingyu took a picture of you, but jihoon saying mingyu left before that moment. your curiosity is clawing at you, and you decide to text joshua,
y/n: heyy
y/n: do u happen to have the pic mingyu took of me?
y/n: i wanna laugh at it lmaoo
joshua: lmao no sorry, i deleted it bc i didn’t want you to be embarrassed
y/n: oh no worries, i’ll just text mingyu!
you pause, waiting to see if he responds. his typing bubbles appear, then disappear, appear, then disappear again. it goes on three more times before you finally get a response:
joshua: omg no i think he deleted it already
joshua: i told him to since i thought it was disrespectful
your brows furrow slightly, pulling up mingyu’s contact
y/n: hey mingyu! joshua said u took a picture of me almost throwing up on jihoon last night LMAO
y/n: i was wondering if i could see it
mingyu: LMAO WHAT
mingyu: you also threw up last night?
mingyu: i wasn’t even there for that so i don’t have the picture
mingyu: i don’t think there’s a picture bc if there was one, it would’ve been shown at dinner
y/n: lol no worries thanks!
you switch back to joshua’s contact, wondering if you should respond.
“hey y/n, do you know how to do this problem? i’m stuck,” chan calls out, and you get up, looking at the calculus problem over his shoulder.
“dude, just find the derivative and test the points,” you tell him, and he groans, dramatically flopping his head onto the desk.
“i shouldn’t be a stem major…” he mumbles, and you just pat his head, giving him a hug.
“it’s okay, me neither,” you chuckle, reminiscing on the first time you took a calculus class. your phone buzzes, and you move back to your nightstand to pick it up.
joshua: did you… ask mingyu for the picture…?
y/n: yep! he sent it to me, it’s just as embarrassing as i thought :(
joshua: oh! okay well… now you know… with your own eyes…
y/n: LMAO yeah, i’m never drinking jun’s magic juice ever again
[20:27]
joshua is lucky vernon is out at the studio with the way he’s pacing back and forth in his room. he has absolutely no idea what to do — he knows y/n is lying about receiving the picture from mingyu, but he can’t confront them about it because then he’s admitting to lying. part of him wishes he just told the truth, but he also knows he can’t spoil soonyoung’s growing feelings for them. he picks up his phone from his bed, texting someone:
joshua: SOS
joshua: meet me outside ur building
soonyoung: ok…?
joshua wastes no time throwing on a jacket, not even bothering to take the elevator down. he nearly sprints over to the building where jihoon and soonyoung reside. what on earth is he going to say? soonyoung must’ve been there when the picture thing went on — soonyoung was literally sitting right next to them for the first time! a million thoughts raced through joshua’s head as he approached the front doors, soonyoung standing outside, bundled up in a big jacket.
“shua, what’s the matter?” soonyoung asks in a slight panic, but joshua is too out of breath — too distressed to answer.
“y/n… texted… mingyu… picture…” joshua hunches over, hands on his knees to catch his breath. soonyoung panics a little, placing his hands on joshua’s shoulders.
“woah, breathe. what about y/n and mingyu?” he tries to conceal the concern in his voice, but he’s not doing a great job at it.
“the picture… that mingyu supposedly took of y/n last night…” he huffs, slowly getting his act together.
soonyoung nods, “yeah… except mingyu left before y/n almost threw up, so there was no picture…”
“i know! i made up the lie!” joshua exclaims, and soonyoung jolts in surprise.
“you did? why?” soonyoung is beyond himself, as it was so unlike joshua to lie.
“because i saw you and y/n outside their dorm yesterday!” joshua whisper-shouts, and soonyoung’s jaw drops. he quickly covers his mouth, completely in shock.
“exactly! that’s exactly why i lied! i texted them “i saw that” last night expecting them to respond immediately, but they didn’t! and when i went to their room this morning and asked if they remembered anything, they said they didn’t, and then saw my text and asked what it was about! i wasn’t going to tell them what happened — that’s your problem, not mine!” joshua rants so quietly and so fast that soonyoung can barely understand him.
“oh my god… so they don’t know-“
“that you had them pinned against their door and almost kissed them? no! they don’t know! i wasn’t going to be the one to break that news!” he huffs, and soonyoung goes silent.
“well?”
“do i have to tell them?” soonyoung groans, hiding his face in his hands.
“i mean.. i guess technically not. if we’re the only two people who know it happened, then we don’t have anything to worry about? you can continue being friends with y/n, and nothing will be awkward…” joshua thinks out loud, and soonyoung likes this idea.
“yeah, we’re not telling them. deal?”
“deal.”
october 3rd [10:17]
“and just a reminder that we won’t have class on monday in respect for the exam on wednesday. that’s all i have for today, have a nice weekend,” your professor ends the lecture, and your shoulders drop, letting out a breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding.
these few weeks have been insanely stressful — between classes and joshua sometimes acting awkward around you, it shifted the group dynamic a little bit after he ran away from dinner that one time. soonyoung’s also been awkward, but he’s always been like that. it seems as if he’s finally warming up to you after love-bombing you your first week here. it’s mainly been you and chan these days — you’ve grown really close, between binge-watching your favorite american tv shows and being his personal calculus tutor.
soonyoung lets out a quiet groan next to you, and you can tell he’s just as miserable as you are.
“hey, do you wanna study together for the chem exam?” you ask, and his eyes light up in ways you can’t explain. his body language does a complete 180 — like you’ve just made his year by asking.
“oh my god — YES, you’re so good at chemistry and i have absolutely no idea what i’m doing!” he instantly agrees and you giggle.
“do you wanna meet in the science building? fourth floor, room 427?” you ask, and he nods aggressively, adding it to his phone calendar.
“great! i’ll see you then,” you wave, picking up your bag to exit the room. you’ve started to accept the fact that soonyoung will forever be a museum to you — you can look, but you can’t touch or have it. at the beginning of the semester, you had a feeling that he might be into you or something, but as time went on? he’s just been hot and cold, awkward on some days, your best friend on other days. you’ve confessed your theory to chan, but he disagrees, saying that if soonyoung were into you, he’d have asked you out long ago.
[october 4th, 21:02]
you switch on the lights halfway, setting the mood for a late-night study session. soonyoung said he was going to be running late from dance practice and that he’ll meet you as soon as possible, but you forgot to respond to his message. if there’s anything that makes you feel like a genius, it’s brain-dumping on chalkboards.
hitting play on an r&b playlist, you grab a piece of chalk and go crazy on the first empty board you see.
-
“y/n! sorry i’m late- woah… what’s all this?” soonyoung rushes in, and you turn to look at him, slightly startled.
“oh hey! i’m studying,” you respond, and soonyoung sets his things down, shooting you a confused look.
“studying?” he asks, coming up over your shoulder. you can smell his shampoo, a drop of water from his wet hair dripping onto the skin of your shoulder left exposed by your shirt. it’s cold, rolling down your shoulder and getting absorbed by your shirt.
“yep.”
“it looks like you’re writing down the entire course syllabus,” he jokes, and you turn to smile at him.
“this is the technique that got me through last year,” you admitted, setting down the piece of chalk, admiring your work.
“technique?”
“yeah, brain dumping. writing down everything you can remember about the subject. it’s a good baseline of what you need to review the most,” you shrug, returning to your pile of papers, worksheets and half-done practice problems.
“that’s impressive,” he says under his breath, but you catch it anyway. soonyoung sits a chair away from you, almost cautious of being too close. you don’t mind though.
-
you feel your face heating up, getting frustrated at this problem. it seems as if no matter how many times you rearrange the formula, you can’t solve for the needed variable without the units getting messed up. you huff, standing up out of your chair to take a few laps around the room. you’re sweating, brain feeling fried.
“whats up?” soonyoung asks, noticing you get up from the chair. as he’s about to speak again, he looks up, and then his eyes widen, mouth falling slightly ajar. you’re mid-taking off your sweater, shirt catching on the wool and lifting up with it. you don’t see it, but you can feel his eyes on you as you use one hand to pull your shirt down, the other one effortlessly lifting the sweater above your head. soonyoung’s pupils are dilated and his cheeks are pink, but you pay no mind, chalking it up to being a young man with reckless hormones.
“i can’t solve that stupid problem on the page — i don’t even know what half the words mean!” your tone of voice is mixed with a groan and a whine, soonyoung audibly gulps. you make eye contact with him, but it barely lasts a second because he’s instantly looking away, moving closer to your stuff, looking at the problem you’re stuck on.
you circle around the table, standing right next him. he looks back and regrets it, instantly looking back down at the problem.
your frustration grows just looking at it, asking him, “do you know how to do it?” he inhales shakily, “yeah, want me to explain it?” he responds, not even glancing at you.
“no, i just wanted to know if you knew how to do it so you could sit there and watch me suffer. YES, i want you to explain it to me!” you exclaim, and he’s muttering under his breath, knowing he’s digging himself a grave.
he shifts in his seat, “s-so basically, you move this number down here and take the mole fraction…” his voice trails off, as you lean on the table, hovering over him, one hand on the table and the other on your hip, trying to listen to what he’s saying. he looks up at you again, eyes slightly widening as he begins to breathe through his mouth. you’re slightly confused as to what’s going on — it’s not like you’re ugly, but there’s no way soonyoung, of all people, is into you? he’s way too out of your league.
“and what do i do with the mole fraction?” you ask, reminding him of what he was supposed to be doing.
“oh- right!” he snaps out of it, further explaining the problem to you.
-
“see, you’re basically better than me now,” soonyoung smiles over at you a bit, breezing through the review sheet now that you understand it.
“all thanks to you,” you playfully wink at him, and you could’ve sworn you saw him flush pink for a moment.
“i think i’m gonna call it tonight. do you want to study again tomorrow?” soonyoung stands up quickly, shutting his laptop and text book. you look up, confused. he’s only been here for like, what, 45 minutes?
“uhhh.. yeah sure. here, same time?” you ask, and he just nods quickly, shoving items into his bag with no care.
“okay, sounds good, see you tomorrow!” he mumbles before nearly sprinting out of the room. the playlist ends, and you’re left in silence, and without soonyoung. you let out a deep breath, convincing yourself you have bigger fish to fry, like what kind of ick you gave him in order for him to leave so quickly?
october 5th, [21:04]
you’re slightly late, but you could care less, the looming dread of the exam hovering over your head. as you open the door to the same room you spent hours in last night, you’re surprised that soonyoung is already there. he looks up from his computer, waving at you with a slight smile. you nearly sigh in relief when he doesn’t frown or leave; why would he, though>
“hey y/n!” he chimes, and you greet him back.
“hey, you’re here before me. did i keep you waiting long?” you ask, taking the seat right next to him. you hear him take a deep breath, and you consider sitting one seat away like he did yesterday, but you’re already in too deep.
“no, i’ve only been here for like two minutes,” he admits, and you give an amused chuckle, setting out all the materials you need for tonight’s session. once you find the paper you want to work on, you head on over to the chalk board, and you write like it’s the end of the world.
“jeez, you really do like your brain-dumping, huh?” soonyoung points out, and you shoot him a playful glare.
“if it works, it works.”
your phone buzzes, and it’s a message from chan,
chan: wya
you grin at the message, knowing he walked into your dorm room, surprised to have not found you there.
y/n: studying :(
chan: for that chem exam?
y/n: what else
chan: good luck
“who’s that?” soonyoung asks, and you playfully roll your eyes, “guess.”
“chan?”
“bingo.”
soonyoung says nothing more, returning to his assignment. you slip the device back into your pocket, returning to the chalkboard, ready to cover yourself in glorious calcium carbonate. you see soonyoung glancing at you out of the corner of your eye, yet you pay no mind to him. the numbers come to you effortlessly, and you find yourself lost in a rhythm — something you hope to recreate during the exam in a few days.
-
minutes turn into an hour, and you’ve about used up the end of the chalk. deciding you need to switch topics, you sit back down in your chair next to soonyoung, digging for another topic you struggled to understand. you spare a glance at soonyoung, who seems like he’s locked in on an assignment on his computer. the song playing off your computer ends, and it’s silent aside from his typing, something that is too rhythmic for working on an assignment, but whatever. you’re the one putting in the work.
the door opens, and at first you don’t look, assuming it was soonyoung, until you realize the typing noise was just beginning to falter. you look up, and chan is gently shutting the door behind him, holding a drink and a plastic bag.
“hi y/n!” he chimes once he realizes that you noticed him.
“hi chan! what’s all this?” you ask, and he walks straight towards you, barely sparing soonyoung a look. out of your peripheral, you see his eyes are trained on chan, almost violently.
“i checked your location and saw you were still drowning in chem, so i decided to bring you a drink and some snacks!” he smiles, setting down the items right in front of you.
“sorry soonyoung, i didn’t know you were gonna be here,” chan apologizes sheepishly, and soonyoung clears his throat before replying,
“no it’s okay! don’t worry about it!”
chan turns back to you, taking you in his arms to hug you comfortingly.
“you’ve got this, y/n. let me know if you need anything,” he mumbles before placing a kiss on the top of your head, something he’s gotten used to doing over the past few weeks. you swore you could hear soonyoung take a deep breath, but it doesn’t matter to you while in chan’s safe, warm hug.
“i’ll let you focus, now. text me when you get back to your room,” he says, pulling away and leaving for the door.
“i will, thank you chan!” you call, and he just smiles and waves, the door shutting behind him.
you poke the straw into your favorite fruit tea before returning to the paper, clicking the lead out of the pencil. soonyoung still hasn’t gone back to typing, and the air between you hangs thick — you can feel it encasing your body and the atmosphere of the room. you hear him inhale, like he’s going to say something, but you don’t hear anything else. he does it again, and you wait for his words that finally come,
“does he always act like that?” his tone is low and his words are barely audible; you feel your heart beat as you comprehend his question. it feels weird, but you shake it off — chan is just your best friend.
“oh, yeah, all the time. he’s so good to me,” you smile, holding up your drink for him to see before following up, “isn’t he just the best?”
“you didn’t tell him we were studying together.” his brows furrow, and you struggle to read his expression; every muscle twitch could also be chalked up to exhaustion.
“i didn’t think it was important,” you mutter, and he inhales deeply, shutting his computer.
“i’m really tired. goodnight, y/n.” his words are sharp as he quickly packs his things, papers being crumpled at the bottom of his bag. your mouth hangs open, trying to respond to him, yet you can’t. here, for the second night in a row, he abruptly leaves with no explanation. as the door swings open, he doesn’t look back like he did yesterday. you feel a pang in your heart, yet you shove it to the back of your mind. taking a healthy gulp from your drink, you refocus on the sheet, continuing with your practice problem.
october 14th, [18:49]
you walk with a skip in your step, heart full of excitement due to receiving the grade on your chemistry exam — a 96%. you’d worked your ass off and were absolutely delighted, knowing that’s a score you deserved. you approach the booth, and chan has saved a seat for you next to him, waving you over. you see soonyoung sitting across from chan; the tension in his shoulders is physically gone, and you can tell he got a good score.
“hi y/n!” chan greets, slipping his arm around your waist to pull you close to him. you quickly lean your head on his shoulder as a word-less greeting, and you see seokmin across the table glancing at the two of you before turning back to wonwoo, who’s smiling a little too wide at his phone
“soonyoung, how did you do on the chem exam?! i can tell you’re physically less stressed,” you instantly turn your attention to him, and mingyu snorts before he even speaks, “that or he got cracked last night,” soonyoung dramatically gasps, kicking him under the table. while mingyu cowers in pain, soonyoung turns his attention back to you with a slight smile: “yeah, i got an 88%. what about you?”
“oh, that’s great! i got a 96%!” you chime, and he frowns at your answer, to which mingyu bursts out laughing again. you look between them before speaking again, slightly panicked: “an 88% is still great, though! our professor said the average was like a 60, so it’s still really good!”
“no i’m not laughing at his score — soonyoung and junhui are both chemistry majors, and soonyoung has always claimed to be the better one, but now there’s clearly a better chemistry major sitting at this table,” mingyu snickers, and junhui joins in, making soonyoung sulk in his seat. jihoon, who is sitting next to soonyoung, spares him a glance, chuckling before taking a bite of his food.
just as soonyoung was about to speak, seungcheol mades his grand entrance, almost slamming his tray down on the table, standing at the end of the table, hands gripping the ends as he leans into the group,
“guys, i got us into THE halloween party this year!” he announces, and the rest of the group cheers. although you’re a tad lost, you cheer a little anyway, and chan notices this.
“every year, one of the rich kids rents out a club for university students, and it’s exclusively invite-only!” chan explains, smiling wider than the scallion pancake on your plate.
“yeah, we didn’t get into it last year, but seungcheol said he was gonna pull some strings for all of us this year,” seungkwan adds on, and you nod along.
“so it’s basically like a rich frat party?” you ask, but it seems like joshua and vernon are the only ones who get your comparison — obviously.
vernon looks around before speaking up, “yeah, basically.” you nod as seungcheol sits down, asking everybody about their costumes.
“well, everybody knows what i’m going as,” mingyu smirks, to which jihoon rolls his eyes.
“mingyu, you can’t go as a slutty firefighter every single year,” seokmin chimes in, and mingyu just shakes his head: “watch me.”
“well if mingyu gets to go as a slutty firefighter, then i get to go as a construction worker this year!” junhui chimes in, and minghao groans, “i’d rather carve my eyes out with a spoon than see you like that.” junhui opens his mouth for a rebuttal, yet nothing comes out.
“well, y/n and i are going to be matching this year!” chan exclaims, and just about half the table turns to look at him, and then you, and then back to him…
“what are you gonna go as?” seokmin asks, with a hint of humor in his voice.
“i dunno yet, maybe like mario and princess peach?” he’s basically asking you at this point, and the light bulb goes off in your head: “oh, yes! that’s perfect, i have the perfect peach-colored skirt i could wear!” you gasp, turning your entire body to face him. chan opens his mouth to respond, but he can’t say anything before
*snap*
you look to where the sound is coming from, and your eyes land on soonyoung, more specifically, soonyoung’s hands, as he holds two parts of a broken spoon. your eyes trail over to jihoon, whose mouth is wide-open in a silent laugh, completely leaning on vernon, whose eyes and lips are tightly shut, silently convulsing. you hear jihoon gasp for air as the rest of the group also turns away from soonyoung, who is now burning bright red, more than you’ve ever seen.
“uhhh… are you okay?” you ask, and jihoon dips under the table, but you can still hear his dramatic gasps for air.
“oh, yeah. i’m perfect!” he attempts to sound upbeat and cheerful, but it just comes out scary.
“so, i think seokmin and i are gonna go as traffic cones…” seungkwan begins, and your jaw drops at the awful words coming out of his mouth.
“no, i did not agree to this?!” seokmin gasps dramatically, and they begin to bicker, taking the attention off of soonyoung.
