Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Sir, he’s here” one of the unnamed guards announced, staring into the depths of darkness that laid behind the desk.
“Let him in” the cold voice echoed through the room.

The blue haired boy confidently strut in, his bright red fur coat and black Doc Martens contrasting the simple and eloquent interior of the luxurious mansion-like home. The way he walked made it look like he was walking a fashion show, but in reality, he was casually on his way to meet one of the most powerful men in this city.

He stepped into the room, only to see blinding light spill through the windows and onto the floors. Everywhere but the center, back of the room. Now it just looked like a black hole was sucking all the life out of the room into that corner.

“Tell me about yourself” the man hidden in the darkness muttered, sounding as if he was disinterested in what the blue haired boy was about to say.
Nonetheless, he gave what he was asked. “The name’s Daniel Choi. I was born in San Diego, California, but I moved to Korea at the age of 8. I don’t have any siblings—"

“Oh come on, shut the fuck up. you know what I wanna know. Give me a body count, how many heads you got? Who have you worked with before?”

The young boy mockingly giggled, slowly removing his red fur jacket and hanging it on the coat holder behind the door, “oh i don’t know… I’ve only been doing this for about.. five years? and it’s not as easy as it looks, I promise you. personally, it’s gotten pretty boring I think. It was more like a night job for me before, but now it’s just eh, ya know? Like I’m only a 22 year old boy, what do you expect from me? Just go whoop whoop pew pew at strangers for the rest of my life? I have dreams too ya—"

The man of gloom started to silently chuckle, ruffling through the stack of papers on his desk, slowing the other boy's pace of words down.

“Choi Yeonjun. 22 years old. born September 13th, 1999 in Brooklyn, New York—
Yeonjun froze, his face losing color by the second. His arms dropped from his pockets and held the sofa chair conveniently placed in front of him.

Who the fuck is this guy? “Hey—“

“—but moved to Seoul, Korea at the age of two. mother died in a car accident at the age of 29 and father died in overdose at the age of 31—“

“HEY—“ Yeonjun’s voice rose, his hands gripping into the sofa chair. His knuckles were digging into the chair nwow, about as white as snow, for he was holding on for dear life.

“Shall i continue, Yeonjun?”

Hearing the dark voice say his name sent shivers down Yeonjun’s spine, but he held up his composure and put on a smile.

“About 34 people in the past five years, 28 Koreans, 2 foreigners, and 4—“
The dark voice chuckled and got up from the chair. he froze in the darkness and grunted
“4 people from the US, I am aware. I know more about you than you think, Yeonjun.” he stepped down and slowly walked into the light.
Yeonjun looked up to see a handsome, perfectly structured faced man walk toward him. His dark hair consumed his face, making his face look slimmer, yet more enchanting. He looked like a Greek god, but no, not like Apollo. Like Hades.

“Then why did you call me here?” Yeonjun murmured, trying his best to hide rising fear of the God of Death who stood before him.
“I already have a mission planned for you.” Yeonjun felt a sudden rush of adrenaline run through his body.

“What type of mission?” but by his small cheeky eyes smile and little giggle, it was clear the boy already knew what he meant.
“I need you to help me. help me get rid of some pests”
Yeonjun continued to giggle, but it was quite a petrifying sight. He stared at his rubber boots and suddenly threw his head back hysterically laughing

“I am seeming to miss the funny part of this conversation...”
“I don’t exactly DO those types of missions anymore. you see, i’m a changed man!”
“What do you—“
Yeonjun kicked his legs up and started to grab his red fur coat
“You see, i’m tired of not having anywhere to stay because i’ve either killed my neighbor’s mother or murdered my landlord’s husband... it’s not exactly fun” Yeonjun continued to giggle. “And don’t get me wrong, i loved doing what i did, but it just got so repetitive... kinda lame i think!”

Right as yeonjun’s hand came in contact with the door, he was suddenly choked back by a tug on the back of his collar.
“I’ll give you $500,000”
“What—“
“No, make it $1,000,000”

Yeonjun fell quiet. not only cause he was basically being choked, but because of the large number put right before his eyes.
The strong hand let go of his collar and spun him around.
There stood that face. He was beautiful, really, words couldn’t describe how he looked. He resembled an anime character, except one that hasn’t slept in ages. He was anything but horrifying to look at, but the fact that Yeonjun knew he held such immense power sent shivers down his spine.

“I guess I can do it one last time”
Yeonjun said, smirking, knowing he had just signed a contract with a devil.
The mortal Hades reaches out his hand, and almost psychotically, smiled.

“Kim Taehyung”
Yeonjun grabbed it as if he himself was holding the $1,000,000
“Choi Yeonjun”

Chapter Text

He stepped into the school with his signature look: squeaky clean Doc Martens and bright red fur coat. He had a blue raspberry lollipop sticking out of his mouth, making him feel even more intimidating than usual. Just the thought of people fearing him made his adrenaline rush.

And of course, everyone stared.

Maybe it’s because of my blue hair…

He kept walking down the hall, straight toward the main office.

Yeonjun could hear people whispering “oh my god” as he passed, but he couldn’t care less. In fact, he enjoyed all this attention. Every time someone made a sound in his direction, he made sure to look straight into their eyes and smile. Just to see their reaction.

He stopped in front of the door labeled general, not for dramatic effect, but because there was literally a boy standing right in front of the entryway.

To make it even worse, the boy stared back at Yeonjun in awe and froze. Just standing there. Frozen.

“Take a picture babe, it’ll last longer” Yeonjun smirked, moving uncomfortably close to the clearly frightened boy.

“What do you want?” the pale boy muttered, his voice cracking with surprise.

“Oh I don’t know, maybe to get through the door you’re blocking?”

The boy whipped his head around to look at the door behind him, almost as if he hadn’t noticed it had been there for the past three months he had been attending the university.

“Oh.. sorry,” he tripped over his own feet and shuffled over two steps, still standing uncomfortably close to Yeonjun.

“Daniel Choi?” the woman sitting at the desk chirped as soon as he walked in.

“The one and only,” Yeonjun smiled brightly in return.

“Your older brother called and confirmed all of your transferred credits from NYU. You really are a brilliant boy, Daniel. I look forward to seeing you around school,” she handed him a couple of papers for him to sign and he complied.

“Thank you for giving me the honor of attending this prestigious school; it’s really been my childhood dream,” Yeonjun giggled and handed back the papers.

“Oh? Did your parents attend this school when they were younger? I’d love to meet the people who birthed such a brilliant boy!”

Yeonjun’s hands went cold. His face suddenly darkened and he looked at the haggedy bitch in the eye.

“I’d love to meet them too, but looks like we both will have a problem trying to do so. They’re dead.”

“Oh I’m so sorry Daniel, I didn’t mean to—“

“Thank you for your help, I should probably check out the school a little bit before I start my classes tomorrow. It was great meeting you!” Yeonjun put on his bright, twinkly smile again and shot up from the chair.

“Leaving so soon? Well, good luck on your first day tomorrow! I look forward—“

By the time she finished, Yeonjun was already out the door.

You’d think someone whose been killing people his entire life would have no reaction to hearing about the death of his own parents. And you’re not wrong.

You’re gonna really have to change up your attitude though… you’re a little too stubborn, confident, and, no offense, creepy to mingle into a regular college group of friends. Take on some Gen Z child issue or something? You’re freaking me out.

What, you want me to pretend I got something like daddy issues?

He chuckled. Yeah, something like that...

Little did Taehyung know Yeonjun was being serious about taking on the part.

Yeonjun was aware he didn’t necessarily act like kids his age, but that didn’t stop him from pretending to play as if he was one of them.

He continued to walk forward, his mind ringing with Taehyung’s words.

Suddenly, he felt his shoulder make contact with somebody else’s and an unclear sense of rage jolted through his arm, and he grabbed the body attached to the other shoulder.

Yeonjun pulled the meek figure into his sight, only to groan with disbelief.

“Not again...” whispered the boy, shivering under Yeonjun’s grasp.

It was the same kid who had been in the way of the general office before, only this time, he wasn’t alone.

A cold hand was placed on top of Yeonjun’s, which still remained glued to the trembling boy’s shoulder.

“Something wrong, blueberry pop?”

Blueberry...pop?? Yeonjun didn't break eye contact with the deer in the headlights he held before him, hoping the dude bro voice would just scurry along. Suddenly, he felt a tug between his lips, and his blue raspberry lollipop was held right before his eyes.

Did this random, bitch ass dude bro just call me blueberry pop? And did he just touch my actual lollipop? My actual property?? He snapped his neck around to see who was idiotic enough to clown him. But right when he met the eyes of body attached to the cold hands, he broke into a smirk.

“I’m sorry, he was the only familiar kid I saw today! Saw him earlier and thought I’d say hi,” Yeonjun lies straight through his fake shining bright smile once again. He released his firm grip on the deer and faced the new boy.

“Well now, that's not how you greet a friend, is it... blueberry pop?" The taller boy wavered the blue lollipop just inches away from Yeonjun's face.

Yeonjun reached for the lollipop, but the visibly taller boy fully stretched his hand into the air, making it practically impossible for him to reach it now.

"Hueningkai, tell me. Is my friend blueberry pop here actually shorter than Taehyun? I didn't think it was possible..." the tall boy shouted to the deer boy still standing in fear behind Yeonjun.

"I am not short; you're just fucking tall." Yeonjun continued reaching, trying to grasp his prized blue raspberry flavored possession.

"Soobin hyung..." Hueningkai whispered behind Yeonjun, motioning as if he was about to take this chance to escape.

Suddenly, Yeonjun stopped frantically jumping and froze. Well... those names sound familiar.

Yeonjun turned around to look at Hueningkai, whose face lost even more color when they made eye contact. Yeonjun started toward the younger boy, but a large arm was tossed over his shoulders, weighing him down in place.

"That was pretty cute, blueberry pop, we should try that again sometime," The tall boy brought the lollipop back to Yeonjun's lips and waited for him to open. "But I'm assuming that isn't your real name ..."

The way the tall boy just glared at Yeonjun's lips until he opened them made Yeonjun feel uneasy, but he complied and opened them. 

"Yeah, it isn't. It's Daniel," Yeonjun grabbed the lollipop from the boy's hands, but the sicko just giggled.

The tall boy let go of Yeonjun's shoulders and stood in front of him, reaching out his hand out with a warm smile.

"Daniel? Eh, I was expecting Smurfette, Grumpy, or something like that ..." He giggled at his own joke, showcasing his dimples, almost as deep as a blackhole.

Cute. 

"I'm Soobin, by the way."

Yeonjun looked at him into his welcoming eyes and smiled, taking his hand.

Yeah.. I know.

Chapter Text

Chapter Three:

It was only 8:30 in the morning and Yeonjun had already made the biggest mistake of his life. He had smiled at the wrong boy.

“And then the guy went pew pew whoop whoop and then Batman went ‘not today, Satan’ and then fucking IRON MAN flew in and said ‘stop right there’ and then Elsa pulled up with her magic healing powers and sprayed all of them with water or something and—“

What the fuck is this kid going on about….

To start the day off, he slept through his alarm until he’d realized he had taken on the effort of going to school again. 

As Yeonjun got up and started rushing to get his clothes on, he accidentally knocked his can of opened beer over his red fur coat lying on the floor.

“What the FUCKKKK—“

“SHUT THE FUCK UP,” someone living on the same floor of the building shrieked in return.

Yeonjun hurried and threw his coat in the washing machine, grabbed his black leather jacket and rushed out the door.

After screaming at his close-to-death-aged uber driver to take him to Seoul National University, Yeonjun ran to his first ever class as a college student.

He jogged toward the room only to see a crowd of students standing outside the door. Several of the other students turned around to look at Yeonjun, but automatically turned back when they realized they didn’t know who he was.

But one blond kid glared into his eyes. His Louis Vuitton bag and MSGM jacket made him stand out right away. Even after studying his outfit for a good 40 seconds, the blond boy had not broken eye contact with Yeonjun. And he liked that, almost as if it was a challenge. He smiled at the boy, hoping it would break him. 

Unfortunately, it did.

The blond broke into a large smile and squealed, “You must be new around here! I’ve never seen you before and I know everyone in this school! Nice to meet you, I’m Beomgyu!!”

“I’m Dan—“

“I like your jacket, it suits your creepy dark vibe, but I know that’s not really your vibe vibe, ya know? Oh! You’re probably wondering why we’re all just standing here by the door… I don’t know either I just got here myself.” 

And that’s how the conversation about Beomgyu’s YouTube video adventure last night began. 

“You do know Iron Man and Batman are in two completely different worlds, right? Like… DC and Marvel?” Yeonjun sighed.

“Yeah, but it’s cooler that way. Speaking of Marvel, I want some ice cream. Wanna come to Carvel with me and my friends after class? My treat, since you’re new, Danny!” The blond boy nudged Yeonjun’s side and giggled.

What the fuck did ice cream have to do with Marvel??

“Only if you get me mint chocolate..”

Beomgyu’s smile dropped and dead seriously whispered, “Never say that again. Never.” 

Beomgyu’s serious face would normally put anyone in their place, since seeing someone so bubbly and friendly turn dark so quickly would scare people, but Yeonjun didn’t even flinch.

“What do you mean ?? Mint chocolate is LITERALLY the best ice cream flavor, period!” Yeonjun whacked the younger’s back, and he grunted in surprise.

“You're INSANE if you think any flavor could ever beat green tea, you weirdo.”

“They’re both GREEN, that’s basically the same thing???”

Beomgyu gasped and suddenly shouted “You SICKO?? They’re not the same at all???” and the entire class turned to stare.

Beomgyu’s cold stare returned and the other students suddenly went back to their conversations. Yeonjun smirked in response to his new friend’s talent and felt a rush of adrenaline run through his body.

“Why are they so scared of you?” he whispered, holding back his laugh of excitement.

Beomgyu faces Yeonjun and muttered, “I thought it was you…” and they both giggled, except for very different reasons.

Beomgyu linked his arm with Yeonjun’s and started walking them away. “W-where are we going?? We literally have class, blondie.”

“Oh god, you sound just like my hyung, calm down. Skipping Korean literature won't lower your IQ anymore than it already is mint choco lover 3000.”

Yeonjun whacked the back of the younger’s head and received a satisfying ARGHHh, hyungggg in response.

They sat in the window of Baskin Robbins, since the nearest Carvel was in Florida… hundreds of miles from where they were now. 

“Yes I got you Rocky Road, now tell them to stop arguing and hurry up already! I found Hueningkai a friend!” Beomgyu was shouting into the phone as Yeonjun happily continued to eat his mint chocolate ice cream. 

Hueningkai…? Where have I heard— oh.

Yeonjun’s eyes dropped when he saw the deer running toward Beomgyu with a cheeky smile and open arms.

“HE’S BACKKKK!!!” the deer shrieked while clinging onto the blond boy. To Yeonjun’s surprise, Beomgyu smiled back and caressed Hueningkai’s fluffy hair.

Next came running in a much smaller boy with the most beautiful smile and sparkling eyes. “Beomgyu!!” He jumped onto him and Beomgyu never tossed someone so fast the way he shoved Hueningkai out of the way. 

“Taehyun, I missed you,” the blond boy muffled into the smaller boy’s poofy jacket.

The small boy climbed off of Beomgyu, but the blond still had not stopped smiling, lost in the tiny boy’s eyes. 

“Soobin hyung is literally crawling here, so we just left him. But I was promised free ice cream so… where is it?” Hueningkai interrupted.

Taehyun turned to Yeonjun and greeted him, dropping a polite hello and warm smile. Just as Taehyun was about to speak to him, there was a loud thud on the entry door.

“No way… blueberry pop, is that you?” the voice at the door boomed.

Yeonjun’s eyes darted to the entrance, only to see Soobin standing in the doorway.

“Tall boy…. is that you?”

“That’s a terrible nickname what the fuck, blueberry pop! Mine is so cute!” Soobin snorted in response. 

“Are you just gonna ignore the man who came back from a three week vacation in Paris? And the man who bought gifts for you? And Rocky Road ice cream?!?!” Beomgyu’s tiny figure exclaimed behind the now towering Soobin next to Yeonjun.

Soobin spun around and squealed “BEOMGYUUUUU” picking up the small boy and twirling him around like a doll.

“Hyung STOP you’re embarrassing me!!” Beomgyu struggled to get out of Soobin’s grasp.

Behind them, Hueningkai looked at Yeonjun with trembling eyes.

Geez, I know I’m hard to look at, but this is kinda fucked up…

When Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Soobin all settled their “tossing Beomgyu around” quarrel, the bubbly blond exclaimed, “This is my friend Danny!! He’s really nice, I swear. I know a nice person when I see one.” He lowered his voice, “Or I’d literally never talk to you funky ass looking people.”

“What did you say??” “HEY you’re the ugliest one here!!” “ME??? I am literally the epitome of PERFECTION!” “Okay, but we can all agree I’m the cutest one here…” “Nobody asked you Hueningkai, shut up.” “You look just like my bird Toto.” “WHAT??”

Yeonjun couldn’t help but smile while watching the four boys quarreling with one another. But it wasn’t out of fondness, oh no, never that. 

So they’re all together now… all in front of my eyes. Finally.

He began to eye Hueningkai. It could be the deer… but what for? He seems too innocent and naive. 

Yeonjun moved on to the next possible target. The small one looks like he’s hiding something in his eyes.. suspicious, maybe. But worth my time? I think the fuck not.

He glared into the back of Beomgyu’s head. He’s rich. He’s loud and obnoxious. But he’s okay, my favorite character so far. I’d still do it if I had to, though.

And then he audibly sighed, looking at the tallest boy. He’s just fucking annoying, but I don’t see what’s wrong with him. 

Yet.

Out of the blue, Soobin’s eyes met with Yeonjun’s and he grinned, “I think my friend blueberry pop here looks more like Toto than any of us ever will.” He plopped down on the seat next to Yeonjun, not breaking eye contact for a single second.

“And he’s also the new friend I mentioned for Hueningkai! Isn’t he lovely?” Beomgyu tickled Yeonjun’s chin causing Soobin to burst into laughter.

Yeonjun’s cold eyes met Beomgyu’s, yet again, there was no reaction. I hate this kid.

“M-my friend?” Hueningkai stuttered from the background. Yeonjun just now realized how far he was standing from the rest of them now. 

“Do you like mint chocolate?” Yeonjun smirked, smacking Beomgyu’s hand away and turning his body toward Hueningkai.

The deer boy’s eyes suddenly brightened and the same cheeky smile he had on earlier returned. “I do!! And you, too?” Suddenly, he was inches away from Yeonjun, knocking Beomgyu over in the process.

Soobin looked at Hueningkai in surprise, then back to Yeonjun. 

“Hey, I think he likes you now, too.” Soobin winked at Yeonjun.

“Too”? Oh god.

Chapter Text

Yeonjun was a smart guy. He spent his entire life getting away with murdering people for fuck’s sake. But for some reason, ever since he stepped foot into SNU, he found himself in the worst possible situations.

“What about this one?” the blond boy looked at him eagerly, his eyes sparkling big and wide. He held a cream-colored, curly-haired teddy bear and jiggled him around.

“It looks just like you; it’s horrifying.” Yeonjun reached for the bear and fluffed its fur. “Toss it.”

“Taehyun, what do you think?” Beomgyu turned around to look at the tiny boy, but he was too busy standing in linked arms and giggling at dumb birthday cards with Hueningkai. Beomgyu groaned in response to the sight and turned back to Yeonjun. At this point, Yeonjun wasn’t an oblivious idiot anymore. “Why you mad? Isn’t the tall one dating Hueningkai?” Yeonjun muttered.

Just as he finished asking the question, a hard slap whack hit the back of Yeonjun’s head. 

“You SICKO, he’s literally my little brother!” Soobin’s voice boomed behind them. 

“Oh dead ass? Like for real, y’all live together and shit?” Yeonjun’s eyes widened and he began to giggle.

“YES? He’s literally my brother?? You sicko—“ Soobin grabbed Yeonjun and began putting him in a headlock until Beomgyu started shout whispering.

“You idiots this isn’t about you and your enemies to lovers rom-com drama, this is about me right now!” Beomgyu hissed as both boys in front of him continued bickering and trying to put one another in a headlock, only one had the advantage of his superior height. The blond sighed at the sight and started toward Taehyun and Hueningkai, who were still giggling and and squeezing the life out of each other’s arms.

Does he know I can literally strangle him to death… Yeonjun grinned as Soobin audibly giggled at the sight of Yeonjun pressed between his forearm and bicep.

Before Yeonjun could fully react, Soobin just let go. Soobin pat down the top of Yeonjun’s hair. “Sorry, kinda fucked up your hair,” he was holding Yeonjun’s entire face with one hand now and patting down the rest of the blue boy’s hair with his other hand. “There, fluffy as ever, blueberry pop!” Soobin giggled and showcased his dimple again. Before Yeonjun had time to respond, they heard an almost too familiar scream.

“Beomgyu hyung is gonna KILL me!” Hueningkai screamed running toward the awkwardly silenced blueberry and blackberry boys. 

“What did you do now? ” Soobin groaned, moving out of the uncontrolled running deer’s way, only causing Hueningkai to crash into Yeonjun.

Hueningkai, still scared shitless, grabbed Yeonjun in confusion and began explaining, “So Taehyun and I were reading these funny old people birthday cards and I saw one that looked like Beom—“

“I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU,” the blond boy came screeching behind Hueningkai, while tiny Taehyun was attempting to pull him back.

Hueningkai began dolphin screaming in Target and went running for his dear life. 

To Yeonjun’s confusion, Soobin just stood there laughing, watching the boys shrieking and ready to end each other’s lives.

“You’re not gonna do anything?” Yeonjun finally asked. 

“Nah, this happens all the time, I’m used to it.”

“You were ready to send me to the moon for touching your little brother and now that blond boy is about to literally murder him and you’re just standing here. I think you’re blueberryphobic.”

The last part made Soobin smile, “Yeah, Beomgyu would never hurt Hueningkai. He may despise him, but he also loves him.” Soobin turned to look at Yeonjun in the eyes, his eyes suddenly darkening, “As for you, I don’t even know your real name.”

The color from Yeonjun’s face slowly started to fade.

What the fuck… how did he know? Was it that obvious? Did I drop my driver’s license anywhere? How has he figured me out so—

Soobin bursted out laughing and punched Yeonjun’s shoulder. “You should’ve seen your FACE! It’s like I finally got you to surrender all your words for once, it was priceless…” He raised his hand for a playful high five.

Yeonjun chuckled in response and without another word, started walking away, toward the ongoing ruckus the younger boys were causing. 

“Hey! You can’t just leave your blackberry friend hanging like that!” Soobin chased after Yeonjun.

“Blackberry friend..?” Yeonjun looked at him, wrinkling his nose. “That’s even worse than tall boy.”

“No it’s not! It’s cute, we’re like matching or something. Besides, we’re gonna see each other a lot more often now, you are my best friend’s new roommate.”

Yep. That was the worst possible situation he had found himself in this hour. Beomgyu had a thing with words, or rather, a thing with whining. And money, especially money. 

“My old roommate left me because he thought I was too loud and obnoxious, can you believe him??” the blond boy whined.

“Yes, I would’ve literally believed in him before ever talking to you, too.” Yeonjun grinned at the sight of the distressed boy in front of him.

“Anyway, what I’m saying is, I want you to be my new roommate.”

“No.”

“But hyuUuUuUuUuuUngggggggggg! Nobody else likes me!! Taehyun commutes and Soobin and Hueningkai live 5 minutes away from school. Believe it or not, I don’t have many friends on campus!”

“Yeah no kidding Beomgyu… either way, I live 30 minutes from school, why would I dorm?”

“I’ll pay for your dorming fees. I’ll buy you food twice a week. I’ll do your laun—“

Yeonjun’s eyes lit up. It was like God (if there was any) was literally setting up this entire plan for him. Everything was falling right into his lap and he was here for it. 

And of course, with all the benefits Beomgyu was offering, he gave in.

“Yeah well, doesn’t mean I’m gonna be seeing you as often. Just your blond buddy over there,” Yeonjun motioned toward Beomgyu, who was still seconds away from ripping out Hueningkai’s luscious locks, hadn’t Taehyun been holding him back. 

“Every time Hueningkai pisses me off, I walk over to Beomgyu’s dorm and sleep on his floor. Little shit doesn’t even offer me his bed and I’m older than him…” Soobin huffed.

Finally, Yeonjun had seen enough of Beomgyu attempting to fake harm Hueningkai, so he grabbed the collar of his jacket and whispered, “Get the bear and let’s go . Roomie.”

Beomgyu’s eyes lit up with excitement after hearing roomie and squealed an “Okay!” grabbing Taehyun and Hueningkai to go stand in line with him.

Yeonjun smiles at the sight and started following them as well, but Soobin’s hand yanks Yeonjun back.

“O-oh shit, I didn’t mean to do it like that, sorry,” he pats Yeonjun’s shoulder and continues, “I just wanted to say thank you. Beomgyu’s had like, three different roommates in the past two years and he’s never really gotten along with any of them.. but I hope it’s different with you, Daniel. I’m pretty sure he hopes the same, too….” They both turned around to see Beomgyu looking back at them, grinning and winking. They both gagged at the same time. 

“Yeah, let’s never do that again.” Yeonjun swiftly turned on his heels and jogged to join the younger boys on the self checkout line.

But Soobin stood in place and couldn’t help but smile. Blueberry pop was a strange guy, but somehow, that’s exactly what intrigued him. 

“Is that all you have?” Beomgyu’s eyes widened as Yeonjun walked in with a single suitcase. 

“Yes Beomgyu, not all of us could be as privileged as you are, you know,” Yeonjun coldly responded.

Beomgyu laughed, taking it as a compliment, and continued to place his collection of Ryan stuffed toys across his bed. 

Yeonjun grabbed his suitcase and threw it on the empty bed beside Beomgyu’s. He began to unzip his suitcase and take out his belongings.

“But for real hyung, I just wanted to say thank you. I know it was really random of me to ask you and kinda creepy, too,” he paused and giggled at the thought of it. “I just don’t like living at home, you know? You see, my family’s got issues and—“

Suddenly Yeonjun’s phone went off.

Thank God .

He took it out of his back pocket and his breath hitched. 

“Sorry Beomgyu, I gotta take this. My brother…”

“Got it, don’t worry.” the blond replied, but Yeonjun was already out the door.

“Hey big bro!! How you been? Long time no see, right? Ahahaha…” Yeonjun cheerfully shouted through the phone as he walked down the dormitory’s staircase and out the door. 

“What the fuck are you talking about…?” Taehyung replied in a dull tone on the other end. “Yeonjun, where are you?”

“Sorry, I had to get out and away from all these people. I’m at the university, why?” 

“Have you met them?”

Yeonjun couldn’t help but grin. “I’ve done more than just meet them. I’m roommates with one now.”

“You dumb ass, who EVER said that was a good idea??”

“Calm down hyung—“

“Cut that bullshit out, call me Taehyung.”

“Listen boss, this job just got a whole lot easier. You told me to gain their trust and I’m literally LIVING with one of them now. If that isn’t trust, what is?”

“You’re a psycho, Jun. But you’re daringly psycho, I like that.”

“So which one is it?”

“Which one is what?”

“You know what I mean. Which one is it?”

Taehyung chuckled on the other end of the phone. “If I’d known any better, it’s most definitely not your roommate.” 

“How do you even know who—“ and the line cut.

What the fuck was that for?

He blankly stared at his phone, waiting for something to happen. But it just blankly stared back. 

He began to walk back to his new dorm, cursing the man who just hung up on him for “funsies”. Just as he reached his floor, Yeonjun’s phone dinged. He quickly reached for it and began to smile.

The time will come. Much sooner than you think.

Those nine words were enough to make Yeonjun’s adrenaline rush again, awakening his killer instinct, which had been dead for seven months, much too long.

Yeonjun quickly tucked his phone back into his pocket and realized he left his dorm key inside the dorm. 

“Hey, Beomgyu, open the door, I left my key inside,” Yeonjun exclaimed, banging on the door. 

“Uh… just a second.” There was a long pause. 

“BEOMGYU, I NEED TO TAKE A PISS.”

Beomgyu rushed to the door and opened it, awkwardly smiling. This concerned Yeonjun, he never smiled any less than his sparkling, bright, toothy smile. “What?” the older boy spit, almost in anger in seeing the younger like this.

“Oh it’s nothing.. you just dropped your wallet on your way out…” Beomgyu said, continuing to awkwardly smile, holding out the small blue object in front of him.

Yeonjun’s heart skipped a beat. Fuck no. Oh fucking hell no. 

Yeonjun grabbed for the wallet, but Beomgyu quickly pulled back. “Give it to me right—“

“Your driver’s license is kinda funny Daniel hyung…”

“I said GIVE IT TO ME—“

“—or should I say, Yeonjun hyung?”

Chapter Text

“So when were you gonna tell me your real name?” Beomgyu laughed, holding out Yeonjun’s driver’s license. “Yeonjun suits you a lot better than Daniel.”

Yeonjun finally snatched the ID and his wallet, “They’re both my names you dumbass. I was born and raised in California, of course I had some white ass name when I lived there.”

“So why did you tell us the white ass name ? We’re in Korea, hyung.”

Yeonjun was beginning to get irritated. The dumb blond was suddenly not as dumb as he had thought.

“All my transcript records transferred here from NYU had the—“

“You just said you were born and raised in California… where did NYU come from?”

Yeonjun’s ears started to turn red.

How am I slipping up this much?? What is this kid, an undercover genius?

“Beomgyu, I can’t think right now. I’m too tired, i was up all night contemplating moving in with a complete stranger and here I am. I just—“

“Don’t leave me PLEASEEEEE!!!” Beomgyu dropped to the floor and grabbed onto Yeonjun’s legs like a child. “You promised me, you CAN’T leave now! We’re roomies, besties!! I don’t care if you lied about your wack ass name, just don’t leave ME!” 

Beomgyu was a loud and consistent whiner, of course, Yeonjun had noticed this already. He smirked as he had successfully thrown the dumb blond back off the news he had just discovered. 

“As long as you let me sleep. Now. As in right now,” Yeonjun was using all his might to shove Beomgyu off of him, but he didn’t budge.

“Hyung, it’s only 4 pm…”

“Yes and? Let the old man SLEEP!!” He shoved Beomgyu off of his feet, where his butt had been resting and the younger dramatically tumbled.

“OW??!?”

Yeonjun giggled at his response and started settling into the bed full of stuffed lions. 

“Hey.. that’s my bed. HEY!!” Beomgyu got up and started toward Yeonjun, but he grabbed a Ryan plushie and launched it at Beomgyu’s face. 

“By the way, Yeonjun hyung, the guys are coming over in an hour…” but his voice already started to fade. Yeonjun wasn’t kidding when he said he was sleepy from the night before, but it had been for a much different reason.

He’s practically in the palm of my hands, he can’t even run away now. Yeonjun giggled at his own thoughts. 

“HE’S LITERALLY DEAD, WHO THE FUCK SLEEPS LIKE THAT? WHAT DID YOU DO?” Hueningkai was screaming at the top of his lungs at this point.

“I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING, I JUST WENT TO GO SHOWER??” Beomgyu shouted back, his voice rising with fear.

Soobin whacked the back of Hueningkai’s and Beomgyu’s heads and whispered, “He’s sleeping you idiots, stop SCREAMING.”

Soobin tiptoed closer to the blue haired boy, who was literally dangling off of the bed. This was definitely an amusing sight to see. His upper body was hanging off the bed, while hi legs sprawled across the bed. In all fairness, he really did look dead.

Soobin slowly bent down to check Yeonjun’s breath through his nose and suddenly the sleeping boy began groaning. Soobin moved back, but Yeonjun stopped within seconds. For some odd reason, Soobin was endeared by the sight. 

“Doesn’t Soobin Hyung sleep like that too? Taehyun chipped in from the back, munching on all the snacks they brought for movie night. “I remember almost having a heart failure seeing him in the middle of the night one time.”

“I do not sleep like that. My torso stays on the bed and my legs hang off. What he’s doing,” Soobin motioned at the sound asleep boy, “is just creepy”.

“It’s literally the exact opposite… oh my god you two are like a missing puzzle!!” Beomgyu squealed a little too loudly. 

Soobin, still inches away from Yeonjun’s face, violently shhed the obnoxiously loud blond boy. His eyes went back to Yeonjun, whose lashes looked so pretty when his eyes were closed. Soobin couldn’t help but smile again, but suddenly, the blue haired boy’s eyes shot open and he began to scream.

“I’M SORRY!! I WAS JUST CHECKING IF YOU WERE ALIVE!!” Soobin quickly moved back and his back hit the bed that stood on the other side of the room. 

“YOU WERE SO CLOSE TO ME THAT I LITERALLY COULD’VE DIED?? FROM AN ACTUAL HEART ATTACK??” Yeonjun shouted back, clutching his own heart and falling back onto the bed. 

“Did he just call him insanely cute or insanely hideous?” Hueningkai whispered to Taehyun, who shrugged and continued devouring the brownies Soobin had made for the group.

“Can you two stop flirting so we can start the movie already?” Beomgyu said, coming out of the bathroom in his pajamas and holding one of his many Ryan stuffed toys. 

“He just tried to ‘save me’ and nearly killed me, but you’re calling this flirting?” Yeonjun grunted in response.

“I don’t know, Yeonjun hyung, you guys are weird, can we just watch the movie?” Beomgyu said, grabbing a brownie from Taehyun’s hand. “Before he finishes all the good snacks…” 

Yeonjun’s hands went cold. 

I hope nobody noticed… they’re a group of dumb asses anyway….

The room remained silent. 

“I can't believe you made us call you Daniel when you had a Korean name the whole time.” Hueningkai casually said.

Okay maybe not a group of dumb asses.

Yeonjun shot up while still sitting on the bed. “Huh?”

Hueningkai turned around from the two boys bickering over brownies and looked at Yeonjun. “It’s okay, I have an American name too, but I don’t really use it here. It’s Kamal!” The young boy brightly smiled at him.

But why did none of them find this suspicious? Are they really as dumb as I think they are? 

“I think I still like blueberry pop the most, it suits you best.” Soobin said, looking up at the ceiling, still feeling awkward because of the earlier incident. 

Yeonjun grabbed one of Beomgyu’s Ryan bears and launched it at Soobin, who grunted in response. 

“DON’T HURT TTUBI!!” Beomgyu squealed, running to collect the bear, but Soobin was faster. He quickly grabbed it and threw it back to Yeonjun, which hit him in the face.

“Oh you little shit—“ 

“GIVE IT OR YOU DIE,” the blond screeched.

Yeonjun grabbed the bear and threw it back violently at Soobin, aiming for face, but he caught it. “Oh it’s on .” Soobin got up with the bear, grinning from ear to ear.

“You may be TALL, but that doesn’t mean I can’t END you!” Beomgyu jumped onto Soobin’s back, but the clearly larger boy ran after Yeonjun, who realized he fucked up and bolted out of the room. 

“Can you really believe we’re really the youngest ones?” Taehyun closed the bag full of freshly baked cookies to look at Hueningkai, but he was already out the door, hollering like a dolphin.  

“That was a pretty shitty movie…” Hueningkai mumbled as the ending credits began rolling. 

“You were literally holding my hand for half of the movie,” Taehyun stated, lifting up their still intertwined hands.

“Maybe I just like holding your hand,” Hueningkai blurted in defense.

“Me too, kid, you’re not special,” Beomgyu groaned, reaching for Taehyun’s other hand, but he swat him away. 

“Nah it was a pretty lame movie… who picked this one?” Yeonjun sighed, knowing they wasted about two and half of his hours he could’ve spent sleeping. 

They all accusingly pointed at Soobin, who was sitting in a curled ball, in fear of seeing the ghost from the movie in front of him.

Yeonjun grinned and taking the opportunity, he jumped and shouted in Soobin’s ear. The poor tall boy shrieked and grabbed onto Beomgyu in response. 

“Oh come ON, it was not even scary. Go back home and piss yourself, not in my room please.” Beomgyu pushes Soobin off of him and started picking up the empty chip bags and cookie crumbs. 

Soobin got up and tugged Hueningkai’s arm, “We gotta go before mom gets mad.” 

“But I’m gonna go over to Taehyun’s house tonight, we need to finish our stupid statistics presentation.” Hueningkai groaned and let himself fall onto the floor. 

Beomgyu grabbed his car keys from the desk and yawned, “Get in losers, I’ll drive you back.” 

Taehyun’s eyes lit up and Hueningkai shot up from the floor. “Finally, we don’t have to take the stupid bus!” and both boys went running out the door. 

Beomgyu giggles at the sight of the younger boys and slowly followed them out the door. 

Yeonjun looked at Soobin who still looked spooked out of his mind. He couldn’t help but smile, there was something about the way his cheeks puffed out in fear that made Yeonjun’s stomach feel funny. 

Yeonjun started to say something, but Soobin cut him off. “You don’t think ghosts are real… right?” He turned to him with his eyes wide and round, almost shaking with fear. His lips formed a pouty shape he held onto the edge of the bed Yeonjun was sitting on. 

Yeonjun had never seen the tall beanstalk boy this frightened, he always put on a cool front. Something about this new side of Soobin made him feel… funny. 

“Actually, I’m pretty sure there was a ghost in my old apartment in Gangnam… some insane shit happened to me.” The blue haired boy recalled, thinking back to the earlier years of when he returned to Seoul.

Soobin got on his knees and held onto the bed tighter. “Really? Did you see one, like, face to face?” He looked like he was ready to shit himself. 

“Yeah, there was this one time I was home alone, drinking or whatever, but of course, not exactly drunk, so I went to the kitchen to get another bottle of soju and there was this massive—“

“No, shut up shut up shut up shut up, stop it, I don’t wanna hear it anymore.” Soobin got up and walked toward Yeonjun, suddenly tugging at his arm to stop. 

“No for real, this shadow was—“ 

“STOP ITTTT I HAVE TO GO HOME ALONE AFTER THIS!!!” Soobin fell onto the bed, grabbed Yeonjun, and threw his hand over his mouth, pulling him down with him. 

Yeonjun began giggling at the amusing new sight of the fake tough boy ready to burst into tears in front of him. He didn’t bother trying to get Soobin to let go of his mouth, since he was so much larger than him anyway. 

“It’s not funny, you have to walk me home now. I refuse to die alone tonight.” Soobin said, moving uncomfortably closer to Yeonjun’s face. 

Yeonjun broke into even louder giggles, unable to comprehend how the same boy who was threatening his life for throwing a plushie at him hours ago was suddenly begging him to walk him home because he was scared of the dark. 

“You’re such a big baby, nothing’s gonna happen to you.” Yeonjun sat up on the bed again, but Soobin remained laying next to him. 

“You’re right.. I should just.. walk right out right now..” Soobin said, but didn’t budge at all.

“Unless… that Gangnam shadow comes back to meet my new friend instead of me…” Yeonjun grinned, looking deep into the frightened boy’s eyes. 

Soobin quickly grabbed Yeonjun’s waist and curled into him, squealing like a puppy, “STOPPPP…. you think it’s just waiting to get me right now…?” 

“Yeah, RIGHT when you walk out, he’s just gonna grab you and take you to your doom, Soobin. That’s his only job, just take you out,” Yeonjun smirked and looked down at the oversized puppy-like boy practically laying in his lap. 

“Please walk me home, you can’t just let me out like this at this time—“

“Soobin, it’s only 11 pm.”

“Exactly! By the time I get home, I’ll be murdered, dead, killed, soul eaten, my brownies all over the wet floor, my hair—“

Yeonjun got the sudden urge to squish his cheeks, and it somehow worked like magic, shutting Soobin right up. He looked up with his soft eyes and saw Yeonjun’s staring right back at him.

“Yeonjunnie hyung, please walk me home before I die.” 

Yeonjunnie hyung . 

Yeonjun smiled, and let out an exaggerated sigh. “I guess I could, not like I’m doing anything else at this time of day.” 

“My savior! Let’s go before my mom actually kills me,” Soobin shot up and started collecting his belongings. Yeonjun watched him for a couple seconds and leisurely started to follow him, putting on his own winter gear.

Yeonjunnie hyung . He smiled at the thought and picked up his keys for the dorm.

“Let’s go! I got all my things… I think,” Yeonjun turned around to see Soobin wrapped in a large white scarf, sinking into the softness of his cream colored coat. 

“Actually, Yeonjunnie hyung, do you want me to leave some brownies? I saw you eating a couple earlier.” Soobin started scrambling through his bags to find them.

He said it again. And it had the same effect on him every time. 

“No it’s fine, you can take them—“

But Soobin went “Ah” and dropped the bag of the remaining brownies on Beomgyu’s desk. “Okay, now we can go.” 

Yeonjun tried hard not to smile, but he did. Again. He didn’t like this new feeling, but he couldn’t stop it. 

As Yeonjun finished locking the door, Soobin held out his arm to him. “You’re not allowed to run away from me.” 

“What are you talking about Soobin?”

“Hueningkai goes screaming and running home every time we watch a scary movie. But you can’t do that to me or I’ll literally shit myself in the middle of the street. Now take it.” He offered his arm more aggressively this time, making Yeonjun laugh out loud. 

Yeonjun reaches out and pats Soobin’s cheek, which was covered by the white scarf. “You look so stupid in that scarf, you’re literally sinking.”

Soobin linked his arm with Yeonjun’s and smiled. “Oh yeah, blueberry pop? That red jacket you always wear makes you look like an oversized tomato with blue mold on it.”

“Hey, I was NOT that harsh with you, blackberry boy. I did NOT mention how you look like an oversized burnt marshmallow with that white scarf and black coat.” Yeonjun shot back.

Soobin started giggling and his little cheeks glistened in the dark. Yeonjun didn’t know how to explain it, but he felt strange. His stomach felt queasy, but at the same time, he didn’t want it to stop. 

Chapter Text

“You’re insane, Soobin.”

“No, I really hit my teacher with a fire extinguisher, ask Beomgyu! He was there!” Soobin giggled as they continued to walk in the darkness. His arm tightened around Yeonjun’s, which still remained linked ever since they left the dorm.

“So you’re telling me you have the courage to whack your teacher in the face with a fire extinguisher, but you can’t walk home alone in the dark?” The blue haired boy smirked, looking up at the starry-eyed tall boy.

“First of all, I did not purposely WHACK my teacher in the face, I just didn’t know how to use an extinguisher. Second of all….. yes.” The long silence made the boys burst into a fit of giggles, although it made no sense to them as to why they were laughing. 

Finally, Soobin stopped walking, “This is it.” 

Yeonjun looked up and couldn’t help but gasp.

“What the FUCK? You didn’t tell me your dad is the CEO of Google???” The house stood at least 4 stories tall, and it was as wide as half a football field.

“I don’t have a dad,” Soobin looked at Yeonjun in the eye with a cold, dead stare.

“O-oh. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—“

“I’m joking you dumb ass, he’s just not physically here right now, he’s in New York.” The mention of New York made Yeonjun’s heart skip a beat. The thought of his hometown made his heart ache.

“Thanks for walking me out here, you didn’t really have to…” Soobin whispered and looked at the floor.

“Did I really have a choice?” Yeonjun chuckled in response to the suddenly shy boy.

“Well it’s not like I dragged you out here and screamed at you to walk me home!” Soobin protested, scrunching up his nose.

“Soobin that’s literally what you did,” Yeonjun bluntly replied and Soobin pouted, muttering, “Okay and….”

The shorter boy suddenly reached up and squished the taller boy’s cheek. And at the worst possible time, the house door opened.

“Oh? I thought I heard your voice, Soobinnie!” There stood an older woman, smiling widely in the direction of the tall boy. As she smiled, her eyes shaped into a crescent moon, just like the boy who stood before Yeonjun. Her smile lines showed just how much she laughed -- almost every three minutes. But the dark circles under her eyes made it clear that there was more than what it seemed. She was tired, but not only physically.

Yeonjun’s hand remained stuck on Soobin’s cheek in shock and the older woman couldn’t help but laugh. “M-mama! I was just coming in! Hueningkai is sleeping over at Ta—“

“I know sweetie. he called me a while ago.” The woman smiled warmly, her eyes beginning to wander. They landed on the bright blue haired boy. “And who is this?” She smiled at him and then her eyes moved to his hand, which was still glued onto Soobin’s face. 

“He’s just a friend, mama, he offered to walk me home, so I couldn’t just say no!” Soobin peeled Yeonjun’s hand off of his face and unconsciously held it down. 

“That’s not true, you practically begged me to walk—“

“ANYWAY… thanks for coming, it’s been great, see you tomorrow!” Soobin lets go of Yeonjun’s hand after realizing how long he’s been holding it.

“Soobin!” His mother hissed, “Don’t be rude and invite him over for dinner, I still have food left over since both of my gumdrops decided to not come home for dinner.” She glared at Soobin for two seconds and smiled at Yeonjun. “Come on in, we have plenty of room and food here for you!”

What the fuck does she think I am, some sort of charity case? Yeonjun’s pride was taking hits by the second; it bothered him that she had just blatantly said that. 

Nonetheless, he accepted and walked into the mansion the tall boy called home. 

“What’s your name, sweetheart?” The woman asked, realizing they hadn’t even properly introduced themselves, quickly turning around to meet his eyes. 

“Da—“

“Yeonjun, Choi Yeonjun,” Soobin blurted before Yeonjun could lie about himself in front of his own mother.

“Now Soobunny—“

Yeonjun snorted so loud that both the mother and son stopped and looked at him. He quickly pulled himself together and whispered “sorry.”

They sat around the dining table, giggling and listening to the most random stories Mrs. Choi could recall from Soobin’s younger days and her own even more youthful days.

“Soobin’s father and I used to go swimming together at the beach at 2 in the morning!—“

“No way?? Isn’t that illegal though?” Yeonjun gasped and sat up in rising suspense.

Mrs. Choi grinned and replied, “So? Living by the rules is boring, make your own rules, new rules.”

“ New rules ? Mama I think Yeonjun’s gotta go now…” Soobin pretended to hold back his puke and covered his mouth.

“Oh, you’re right, your parents must be worried si—“

“My parents are dead,” Yeonjun looked up from his empty plate and smiled.

A silence began ringing through the room, the level of awkwardness just kept doubling.

“Yeonjun, I’m so sorry, I have no idea why I just assumed— it wasn’t right of me. Please—“

“Don’t worry about it Mrs. Choi, not like it really affects me anymore. They died when I was quite young anyway.” Yeonjun picked up his plate and started toward the sink.

Soobin got up halfway and tried to pry the plate out of Yeonjun’s hands, but he didn’t let go. “It’s okay, I can do it. I’m not a kid, you know.” Yeonjun pulled back the plate and set it on the side, looking for the dish soap. 

Soobin froze, not knowing how to move on from this situation. Just then, Mrs. Choi got up and walked over to Yeonjun in silence. She stood next to him and began washing the dishes with him. She motioned Yeonjun to scoot over and as she washed each plate, she handed it to Yeonjun, who dried it off. They all stood there in silence. 

Soobin walked over beside Yeonjun and began taking the dried plates and setting them back into the cabinets. And there all three of them stood, under the seeping bright moonlight that flooded into the kitchen, glowing onto their skin. And somehow, it felt right. Slowly, but surely, all three of them broke into smiles and giggles.

“Thank you for the wonderful food Mrs. Choi, I forgot what it was like eating a home cooked meal.” Yeonjun smiled brightly while sitting on the floor, struggling to put his black boots back on. 

“You can come over anytime. You’re always welcome here. And besides, Soobin seems pretty fond of you!” Mrs. Choi smiled at Yeonjun, then looked at Soobin, who was preparing a to-go container of food for Yeonjun to take back to the dorm with him. 

Yeonjun’s cheeks burned, but he just laughed it off, continuing to tie the laces of his boots.

“Mama, where are the rubber bands? I can’t let my precious brownies get destroyed, blueberry pop is kinda idiotic.” Soobin yelled from the kitchen.

“I’m coming sweetie!” Mrs. Choi yelled back, but she quickly turned to Yeonjun and whispered, “Blueberry pop, huh? He doesn’t really have cute nicknames for everyone, you know? He calls his own brother a rat!” She started walking back to the kitchen to help her poor son, who was now whining because a container fell on his head.

Yeonjun couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the mother and son. He finally got up and saw a whole wall dedicated to their family photos. There were baby pictures of Soobin plastered all over the walls. Not many of Hueningkai, but there were multiple pictures of both boys from a couple years ago. 

But there was something weird about one of the largest photos on the family photo shrine. There was another boy with them. A boy, clearly older, wearing baby pink, stood right in the middle of Hueningkai and Soobin. What was kind of off about it was that he looked like one of them. Soobin. But Yeonjun couldn’t remember either of the boys ever mentioning them having another brother. 

“Here, it’s all tied up now. You better finish all of this, my mom spent a lot of time on this food.” Soobin looked at Yeonjun with dark eyes, but then immediately started giggling. What a kid.

“Yeah, tell her I said thanks. Where’d she go anyway?”

“My dad called, said something’s up, so she had to go, but it’s whatever. He always says that.” Soobin shrugged and handed over the container in a canvas bag. “And don’t lose the bag, it’s cute, kinda want it back.”

“Yeah yeah I won’t, how could I forget to bring it back to my favorite blackberry boy?” Yeonjun’s eyes quickly flickered up just in time to see Soobin’s expression change within seconds. He went from serious to smiling like an idiot and back to serious in just five seconds.

“Okay get out now, get home safe, don’t drop the container or I’ll kill you, and good night! Leave! I’ve seen you too long today!” Soobin started shoving Yeonjun out the door.

“Okay, baby, I’ll text you when I get home. I know you’ll worry too much about me!” Yeonjun winked at Soobin and the younger boy’s eyes widened. 

“Please don’t text me! I’m gonna be sleeping and I don’t want you to ruin my beauty sleep!!!” Soobin shouted as Yeonjun started crossing the street.

“Good, you need it!” Yeonjun shouted back, waving goodbye for the fifth time.

“You little SHIT, get back—“

“Good night, baby!” And Yeonjun started running back. Not only did he want to go home and sleep, but he refused to let his own ghost story get to him, too. 

As the elevator opens, Yeonjun stepped out and his phone began to ring. He took it out and groaned. 

Call from Taehyung . 

He sighed and picked up. “Hey hyung, what’s up?”

“Let’s meet.”

“Right now…?”

“Yeah, sure, why not? Have you eaten dinner?”

“Isn’t it like 1 am?” Yeonjun double checked the time on his watch to make sure.

“Okay so no dinner, let’s get drinks.”

“I don’t know, kinda have class—“

“Yeonjun, we need to talk.”

Yeonjun’s heart began beating faster with excitement. Is it finally time?

“Send me an address, I’ll head out in five.”

Taehyung hung up and within seconds, a nearby bar’s address was sent to Yeonjun’s phone.

Yeonjun quickly dropped the food on the table near Beomgyu’s bed, only to see Beomgyu wasn’t even home yet. It was better that way, he wouldn’t even know Yeonjun came back and left again.

He grabbed his car keys and walked out the door. With each step, another rush of adrenaline ran through his body. 

This is what I live for. This is what I’ve been living for. This is exactly what I’m here for. 

His feet began moving faster and he was practically running to his car, eager to meet Hades on planet earth.

“Yeonjun, here, take one.” Taehyung shakingly handed a shot glass to Yeonjun. Clearly, he had a couple drinks before Yeonjun had gotten here.

His aura was as dark as usual, his dark black messy hair partly covering his eyes and consuming his face, yet he looked so handsome.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Yeonjun accepted the glass and shot it down his throat within seconds. 

“How have the boys been with you?” Taehyung responded, completely ignoring his question.

“They’re good… pretty easy to get along with, actually. They’re all kinda dumb, but not unbearably.”

“Yeah? Here, take another one.” Taehyung said, but instead of handing him another shot, he handed him a whole bottle of soju. “Did they ever suspect you?”

Yeonjun gladly accepted, knowing how high his tolerance was anyway. Not like he’d say anything stupid, but also not like he had anything stupid to say. “Nah, I told you, they’re kinda idiotic. But they’re so trusting, it’s kinda cute.”

“Cute, huh?” Taehyung looked like he was gonna pass out any second. He grabbed another bottle and instead of pouring it into the shot glass, he just started to drink out of it.

Yeonjun wasn’t an idiot, he wasn’t gonna reach over and stop him, but the sight was just sad.

“Yeah… pretty cute I guess.”

Taehyung looked up at him and grinned. “What do you mean ‘pretty cute’?” 

Yeonjun smirked back, “I don’t know? They’re kinda funny, but like, kinda idiotic? I don’t know. Whatever, why did you call me here?”

“That Beomgyu kid is pretty adorable, I wouldn’t be surprised if you fell for him. You know you don’t have to kill all of them right?” The second part was much louder than it should’ve been, but Yeonjun just continued to drink in response.

No… that’s not quite it. 

“One of them is actually adorable… he’s so soft…” Yeonjun’s finger dragged across the table in front of him, avoiding eye contact. He clutched onto the bottle and continued drinking.

“Yeah?” Taehyung responded, still looking like he was on the verge of falling out of his chair any second now.

“He gave me this wack ass nickname, but it’s only cute because he says it…”

Taehyung groaned in response, continuing to shove the bottle down his throat. 

“And he blushes so easily, it’s not even funny. And he acts like he’s never run a day in his life, he’s pretty unathletic, but I’m telling you, if he tried hard enough, he’d be ripped.” Yeonjun laughed out loud, still drawing circles on the table.

Taehyung slowly looked up, furrowing his brows. “Oh? Sounds familiar.”

Yeonjun continued chugging the bottle down his throat and his face started turning red. He never got drunk this easily, but he didn’t care. He felt great right now.

"He calls me Yeonjunnie hyung, and when he laughs, his eyes disappear, and he's so clumsy it's cu—"

"You don't mean Soobin, right?" The older put down his shot glass and glared at him, suddenly waking up from his daze. 

Yeonjun looked back at him with a blank stare. "Why?"

His cold, dead eyes looked back at his empty glass, beginning to fill it again, "Because that's the one you're suppose to kill."

Yeonjun’s heart dropped.

Oh.

Chapter Text

He didn’t know how to feel. The alcohol rushing through his veins made him want to explode. He had no idea how to react. 

“Yeonjun?” Taehyung has said for the third time now, audibly putting down his glass. 

Yeonjun’s eyes flickered up and smiled. “I figured, something about the others didn't seem to fit properly in my head…” 

Taehyung grinned, staring straight into Yeonjun’s eyes, as if they were burning straight through to his soul. 

“What has he told you about him? About his background? Family?” Taehyung folded his arms, but not once did he drop his intense eye contact.

“I don’t know, he’s got a brother. Hueningk—“

Taehyung chuckled, making Yeonjun uncomfortable. Yes, the undercover, 5-year experienced murderer, uncomfortable. Something about Taehyung was frightening. He was intriguingly beautiful, but it was hard to sit in his gaze. 

Taehyung noticed Yeonjun’s pause and grinned, that same old grin that he gave before setting off alarms in his mind. 

“That’s not his real brother.” 

Yeonjun froze. Soobin’s voice rang in his head. “ Hueningkai is literally my brother, you sicko!”  

Taehyung studied the look on Yeonjun’s face, as the younger’s eyes widened, staring at the half filled glass in front of him.

“His parents died in a fire like… eight years ago? He was in school or something when it happened, so I guess he became an orphan…” Taehyung smiled. What a fucking sicko. “But all I know is that the Choi family took him in after that. And ever since then, Soobin has never left that kid’s side.” 

Yeonjun opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off again. 

“What about Jin? Jinnie boy! Pink prince Seokjin?” Taehyung started laughing out loud, putting down the half full alcohol glass again. 

Yeonjun had literally never heard of that name come out of Soobin or Hueningkai’s mouths. He even went to his house, didn’t see anyone other than his mother, while his father was away for business a trip. Even then, they never mentioned anyone else—

Oh.

Yeonjun remembered seeing the boy with the pink cardigan in the pictures with Soobin. And no Hueningkai… it all made sense now. 

“That son of a bitch finally died two years ago… yet it still bothers me…” Taehyung was looking up at the ceiling, his Adam’s apple sticking from his neck as if it would pop out any second. “...how he took him .” 

“Who’s him?” Yeonjun finally was able to spit out a sentence before Taehyung could interrupt him again.

Taehyung slowly started to look back at Yeonjun and smiled, then began, “My brother. He took my brother a month before someone took him out.” 

Yeonjun bit his lip, unable to process what the fuck was going on.

Taehyung got the memo and sighed, leaning over the table to reach for Yeonjun’s half empty glass and drank it himself. 

“His name was Jungkook. He was a smart kid. He had big doe eyes, small pursed lips, the cutest little bunny teeth—“ Taehyung began to chuckle as he glared into now empty alcohol bottle. 

“You don’t have to—“ 

“But that son of bitch killed him. I never knew why, but he fucking did it. I couldn’t stand that piece of shit, but I couldn’t get back at him directly, everyone knew I hated him… so I hired someone else to do it for me.” After finishing the sentence, he looked up at the blue haired boy and smiled.

“Now me… that’s my job now.” Yeonjun whispered in return, playing with the water droplets on the table. 

“I should’ve gone after the boy from the beginning,” Taehyung sighed and massaged his Temple. “Now the bastard isn’t even here to see what I’ll do with his precious little bunny.”

Yeonjun winced at the sound of bunny , just now realizing how much Soobin resembled a bunny. 

“Especially after his brother took mine .” Taehyung said cooly, finally letting go of the empty shot glass and setting it aside for good. Taehyung’s gaze fell right back onto Yeonjun. 

“Yeah, I got it chief, just take him o—“

“Not that simple, you dumb ass. Especially since you’ve been seen with me recently now.” Taehyung motioned around them both. It’s as if Yeonjun has forgotten they were sitting in a partially filled bar. “And not so soon… get even closer to him. Find out his weaknesses. Take him out like THAT!” Taehyung snapped at the final word and giggled, getting up to leave.

“Hey, where are you going?” Yeonjun questioned.

“Yeonjun, it’s almost 3am, I gotta go home.” Taehyung pat his back and held his shoulder, getting uncomfortably close to his ear and whispered, “You should, too.”

Within seconds, Taehyung was gone. And Yeonjun sat alone at the bar bench for the next ten minutes, his mind still boggled.

He sat down in his car and put his phone on the magnetic grip. Seconds later, his phone lit up, only for him to realize he had 6 missed calls and 37 new text messages. All from Soobin.

Please respond to me, I’m getting really worried.

Do I call the cops? I’m scared.

Hey punk, this isn’t funny anymore.

I called Beomgyu too and he hasn’t picked up, please respond to me.

Yeonjun hyung?? 

Yeonjunnie hyung?? 

Daniel??

Yeonjun’s heart sank. He had forgotten to text Soobin back when he got to the dorm. He slowly began typing, but was interrupted by a phone call. 

Soobin .

He hesitated, but let out a loud sigh and picked up. “Hello?” 

“Where WERE you?? It’s been TWO HOURS since you left my house, I thought you fucking DIED!!” Soobin screamed on the other end of the phone, his voice cracking in between.

“Soobin, I’m sorry, someone else invi—“

“Don’t Soobin I’m sorry me NOW, I was gonna shit myself, yes, LITERALLY! Someone else is more important than telling your own friend hey I made it out alive and your food didn’t spill on the floor ???” 

Yeonjun started his car and started to pull out of the parking lot. “Soobin, I’m really sorry, I just got carri—“

“ARE YOU IN YOUR CAR??? Where are you driving at fucking 4 AM?”

“I went to meet someone, it was urgent..”

“You’re such an idiot, I actually hate you.” 

Yeonjun grinned to himself, luckily Soobin wasn’t able to see it. “No you don’t, you love me.”

“That’s disgusting you haggedy old man, I hate you.” Soobin blurted back, his voice becoming more clear than before. 

There was a silence, Yeonjun just chuckled and continued to back out of the parking lot. 

“Wait. It’s raining.” Soobin said, shuffling on the other side of the phone.

“Yeah, it’s so pretty…”

Soobin hung up. Huh??

Seconds later, Yeonjun got a FaceTime request and he couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear. Soobin. He accepted the request and stopped driving. “What do you want now?”

“If you crash while driving, I’ll be watching and know when to call 911.” Soobin bluntly said, but his face said otherwise. He was tucked in his bed with a fluffy white blanket and had a black hoodie on. So cute and soft…

“Oh so you just wanted to see me die in action?” Yeonjun glared into the phone screen.

“Yes, why else would I be FaceTiming you at 3 am?” Soobin said, his face sinking into his own hoodie. He cheeks looked so squishy and chubby, since he was leaning on his side. Suddenly he broke into a laughing fit and his dimples popped out for a surprise attack. His eyes turned into crescent moons and his bunny teeth began to poke out. 

The sight prompted Yeonjun to start laughing, too. Yet he had no idea why. 

So there they were, one sitting in his car, the other sitting in his bed, laughing over God knows what. But it didn’t matter to either of them, just the comfort of their smiles brought each other joy. 

“And this one time, Beomgyu tried to kiss Taehyun under a mistletoe, but Taehyun was so tiny that he didn’t even see it and just kept walking…” Soobin whispered, giggling into his fluffy blanket. 

Yeonjun bursted out laughing, imagining the entire scene in his head. 

“But it’s alright, Beomgyu was so drunk that he didn’t remember it the next day… so his ego isn’t completely deflated yet.” 

“That’s literally something I would do, except you’d just walk away on purpose.” Yeonjun grinned at the thought of it, taking out his car keys and climbing out of his car.

There was a long pause. Finally, Soobin spoke. “So you’re saying you’d try to kiss me…” 

What he said suddenly hit Yeonjun, making him realize what he had said a minute ago. 

“No I just— I was just saying what if— oh my god look at this.” Yeonjun turned the camera on his phone and lifted his phone to show Soobin the moon. 

“Are you changing— oh my god it’s beautiful…”

Yeonjun silently let out the breath he had been holding in relief. Thank God Soobin was an idiot.

“Hyung, tomorrow’s Saturday, right?” Soobin suddenly said, as Yeonjun flipped the camera back onto his own face. 

“Uh yeah, why?” 

Suddenly Soobin started shuffling and threw his blanket off of him. “Let’s go somewhere.”

Yeonjun stopped walking and just blinked. 

“What?”

“Let’s go somewhere. Right now. At 3 am.” Soobin said, his voice getting higher with excitement. 

“Soobin, aren’t you tired? It’s way past your bedtime…” Yeonjun mumbled, rubbing his own eyes. 

“Shut up, you’re the reason I’m still up, now you’re obligated to take me out.” Soobin suddenly started running down his stairs and putting on his shoes. Soobin our down his phone and the only thing in sight was his burgundy colored ceiling. 

Yeonjun’s eyes widened in confusion. “You’re.. serious??” He held the phone closer to his face, as if he was hiding a secret. 

Soobin quickly grabbed his phone and accidentally put it even closer to his own face, making his cheeks seem even squisher than before. “Let’s get ice cream! Or even bubble tea! But wait, what about cookies and—“

“We can get whatever you want, baby.” Yeonjun smiled at the sight of Soobin’s cheeks rising every time he spoke more about desserts. 

Instead of fighting back about the sudden new nickname, Soobin just giggled. His high pitched, little baby boy giggle that made Yeonjun’s heart do flip flops. But then it hit him. 

What am I doing…

“Hyung, you know I can’t walk alone in the dark…” Soobin whispered on the other end of the phone, still too close to his phone’s camera. 

Yeonjun snapped out of his thoughts and softly smiled. “I’m coming, you big baby,” and he started jogging. Then running. That didn’t matter right now, he had an ice cream date to get to.

Chapter Text

His hand was soft, like piles of fluff attached to one another. His laugh was like a warm hug. And his eyes shined brighter than the stars. 

He had stopped Yeonjun from trying to feed him mint chocolate ice cream, but his hand still hadn’t let go of the older’s yet. 

Yeonjun propped up his head with his right arm and sat in the window of Baskin Robbins, smiling from ear to ear. Soobin was telling another bizarre story of him and the boys, but the blue haired boy would be lying if he said he was still listening.

Maybe it was the alcohol still in his system, or maybe it was the fact that they were alone in the world together at 4 am, with the exception of the night shift Baskin Robbins’ employee. Yeonjun felt as if he was faded, on something other than weed. He didn’t know how to explain it, but he felt more than good. 

“And oh my God, when I tell you Hueningkai is the biggest idiot I know, I’m not lying. Beomgyu said he would pull up in a wig for Halloween and Hueningkai actually believed him, so when this blonde girl walked by, Hueningkai PULLED her hair,” Soobin burst into laughter, as if he hadn’t been giggling throughout the entire story. Automatically, this made Yeonjun burst into little giggles as well. 

Soobin stopped for a moment and shyly smiled, his cheeks tinting with a pink blush, but he quickly looked back down at his ice cream. 

“What?” Yeonjun said, half smiling, already knowing a hint of what happened.

“Nothing… I am just trying to eat my wonderful Rocky Road ice cream!” Soobin replied, biting on his lip to keep himself from smiling like that again.

Yeonjun grabbed his cheeks in one hand and forced Soobin to face him. “Tell me, I wanna laugh, too, you know.” 

Soobin grabbed his hand and put it back on the table, yet did not let go, again. This time, he looked directly into Yeonjun’s eyes and softly smiled. For some odd reason, Yeonjun felt flip flops in his stomach. 

“I just remembered how fucking scared I was when I first spoke to you…” Soobin grinned, loosening his grip on Yeonjun’s hand. “My heart was about to jump out of my chest.” 

“YOU? The same kid who came up to me and threatened to steal my lunch money and beat me up for talking to your little brother?” Yeonjun threw his head back and laughed, unable to fully understand what the younger was saying.

“I’m serious, you’re horrifying hyung. You’ve got this killer—“ haha funny “—look in your eyes. And you’ve got something about your stance that drives me insane. And you’re really pretty and that is horrifying!!” Soobin rambled on, trying to explain himself. “I may be taller than you, but your aura is so—“ he made this strange ostrich like hyena sound, making Yeonjun jumped a little, “—and you were just? Really horrifying. But here we are now, sitting in an ice cream store at 4 am…” 

Soobin leaned back into the chair and smiled, flashing his perfect teeth and black-hole dimples.

There was a long pause between the boys. They just sat in front of one another, staring. Almost as if one was waiting for the other to blink first. 

“Say something, I just poured out my entire heart to you!” Soobin whines and leaned over the table, pretending as if he had taken a shot.

“So.. you think I’m pretty?” Yeonjun grinned at the younger, making his ears turn red within seconds.

“T-that’s all you got from my speech?? What about the horrifying and hideous part—“

“You never said hideous, but I do recall you saying pretty…” Yeonjun lifted his spoon full of mint chocolate ice cream and waved it around as if he was spitting some fire lyrics.

Soobin quickly grabbed his arm and forcefully fed himself the mint chocolate ice cream. “That’s what you get you little shit.” Soobin teased, his mouth full of the nasty toothpastey ice cream. 

Yeonjun laughed, knowing three seconds later Soobin would process the so-called nasty, mint toothpaste flavor. And soon enough, Soobin was making gagging and puking sounds.

“Come here baby, open your mouth.” Yeonjun scooped up some more and started for Soobin’s mouth. Soobin let out a small shriek and kept pushing his hand away, but Yeonjun’s laugh and persistence simultaneously grew, trying to forcefully shove the ice cream into his mouth.

The only worker in the shop watched the two boys, giggling and play fighting at 4 am in Baskin Robbins. And he couldn’t help but smile. From his perspective, it looked like the boys had been dating for years, but little did he know they had only recently met. Young love….

At this point, Yeonjun had gotten up and was cornering Soobin in the store to get him to eat the ice cream, but the taller boy panicked and ran out the door squealing like a little girl. 

Yeonjun held back his laugh as he slowly followed Soobin out the door, turning back to apologize for both of them to the only worker, but he just smiled in response. 

“You’re a psychopath, Yeonjun!” Soobin shrieked and started running, as Yeonjun came playfully jogging toward him. 

“Hey! I thought I was Yeonjunnie hyung… the disrespect these days…” Yeonjun pouted and stopped in his tracks. Little did Soobin know he wasn’t completely wrong about the psychopath part.

“Aw, is Yeonjunnie mad?” Soobin started baby talking and sluggishly walked back to Yeonjun.

“ Hyung you little shit, hyung . I’m OLDER than you!” Yeonjun’s pout was gone and he was back to putting Soobin in a headlock. 

“I’m sorry! I promise I won’t say that again— HYUNG!” Yeonjun suddenly dropped his grip and tumbled backwards. He felt sick. Like… throw up sick.

“What’s wrong?? Are you alright?” Soobin’s sudden concern suddenly rose and he reached for Yeonjun’s face. The older, yet smaller, boy looked up and shook his head. “I think I’m gonna throw up…” He said, suddenly clutching onto Soobin’s hand, which was still on the side of Yeonjun’s cheek. His mind was suddenly feeling hazy. And then he remembered. He had drunk more than he had thought earlier that night and it was finally getting to him. 

What kind of weird drink hit me after so long...

“I’ll take you home, you don’t look so good.” Soobin bent down in front of Yeonjun and said, “Get on my back.” 

“...What?” Even if Yeonjun was dazed out, he had heard him perfectly clearly. 

“I said get on my back.” Soobin said in a much more demanding voice, patting his own back.

“No, I don’t want tooooo….” Yeonjun attempted to push Soobin away, but he felt so weak that he tumbled over his own feet and landed on his butt.

Soobin quickly turned around and rushed to the blue haired boy sitting in the floor whining. “You HURT me!” Yeonjun complained, trying to push Soobin away from him, but he didn’t budge.

Soobin grabbed his hand and pulled him toward him, leaving a 10 centimeter difference between them. “You won’t get hurt again if you listen to me. Get on my back—“

“No, you’re too small—“

“I’m literally a head taller than you, now get on,  blueberry pop.” Soobin said, his voice getting lower and more serious. 

Yeonjun’s eyes widened and he finally complied, accepting defeat. 

“Please don’t drop me, I’m precious.”

“Yeah, I know you are, blueberry pop.” 

Soobin held onto Yeonjun tight and began their journey back, his smile slowly growing from the sudden realization as to what was happening. Thank God Yeonjun was out of it. 

“Your idiot of a roommate still isn’t here…” Soobin said, unlocking the dorm door and walking in. “He probably fell asleep at Taehyun’s house again.”

“Thank you for bringing me here, it means a lot. I wouldn’t have been able to get here myself.” Yeonjun mumbled into Soobin’s ear, still hanging from his back.

Soobin walked toward his bed and slowly slides the clung on koala on his back. “After all my efforts to watch you die today, I think this was a nice change of heart, don’t you think?” He chuckled and ruffled the faded out boy’s hair, taking a seat down next to him on the bed.

Yeonjun looked up and pouted again. “But anyway, I’m gonna go now. See you Monday!” Soobin suddenly started getting up again, but Yeonjun weakly grabbed his wrist. 

“What do I do if I throw up after you leave? My idiot isn’t even here.” Yeonjun whined, hoping he had hinted at what he wanted enough.

“Well…” Soobin started with wide eyes, “You can always ask one of the students on your floor to bring you Gatorade.” 

I knew he was a fucking idiot, but not THIS much of an idiot?? ??

“Soobin, please stay here tonight. I don’t feel so good alone…” Yeonjun tugged at Soobin’s hand again, this time bringing out the puppy eyes.

Soobin softly smiled and started rubbing circles on Yeonjun’s hand, “Yeah, of course, I got you.” He sat back down and Yeonjun fell onto the bed into his sleeping position. “You have to watch me all night and give me Gingerale when I throw up and buy me snacks when I ask and—“

He was cut off by Soobin’s burst of laughter and seal clapping. “What? WHAT?” Yeonjun said louder than before, but whined as he felt sudden stomach pains. “Oh.. it’s coming…” and he ran to the bathroom, tripping over his own feet on the way. 

“W-wait!” Soobin began after him, spinning around to chase after him, but right then, Yeonjun’s phone went off. The vibration of it made it shake on the table, almost near the edge.

Soobin felt he might be invading his privacy, but he still quickly grabbed it and looked for another place to put it. Until he realized something. 

The name. Taehyung. 

Oh… that sounds weirdly familiar. 

And then it hit him.

Chapter Text

Taehyung . 

“Soobin! Where’s Jinnie hyung?” The olive toned boy came running toward Soobin, who was only 8 years old. He ruffled his hair and squished his cheeks.

“Hyung!! Seokjin hyung is inside, he’s getting ready to see Namjoonie hyung tonight!” Soobin smiled widely as Taehyung continued to ruffle his hair. 

“Ah… just wanted to remind him to come to my play tomorrow night, let him know, okay?” Taehyung brightly smiled back at the little boy, always left in awe with how adorable he was. “And you’re invited too little guy, bring your friends! You’re gonna wanna show off your favorite hyung!” 

Taehyung has already began walking backwards, back to his house, which was right next to theirs. “I will! Bye TaeTae hyung!!” Little Soobin shrieked and giggled, while waving back to the older boy. 

One of his favorite hyungs for sure. Forever!

Right?

“Soobin…” Yeonjun weakly whined from the bathroom. Soobin dropped the phone on the bed and rushed to the bathroom. 

Yeonjun’s head was hovering above the toilet and the color from his face continued to fade from his face.

Soobin gasped and rushed to hold up his hyung, but slipped on the bathroom rug and ended up face front in Yeonjun’s back. In the middle of his fucking back, his head just went in and wack .

“ I am the sick one, I don’t wanna be helping you heal from tripping over your own feet.” Yeonjun groaned, pushing Soobin’s head away from him. 

Soobin stumbled a little, but quickly regained his senses and straightened Yeonjun’s back. The older boy, suddenly alarmed, suddenly sat up straight and and his eyes widened. “What are you doing?”

“Moral support! Get it…” Soobin held back his laughter, but his cheeks were already turning red from holding it in. “Like back support, but—“

“Soobin, you’re gonna make me even more sick.” 

He snorted in response and started rubbing Yeonjun’s belly.

“Please stop…” Yeonjun groaned, leaning closer to the toilet, ready for his reflexes to kick in any moment now. 

“Shut up, it helps, you dumb ass.” Soobin sighed and continued rubbing his stomach. “Hueningkai does it to me all the time, I’d know.”

Yeonjun was too weak to protest, as he grabbed Soobin’s hand to remove from his stomach, but couldn’t. Just then, Yeonjun squeezes his hand as he rose up to puke into the toilet.

“Or not….” Soobin laughed out loud. Yeonjun may have been weak, but he quickly located Soobin’s face and gave his cheeks a hard squeeze, causing the younger to squeal. This time, it was Yeonjun’s turn to laugh. 

But he couldn’t, as more puke just came out of his mouth than laughter. Soobin was quick to hold on to Yeonjun’s hand as he continued. 

“I hate you.” Yeonjun meekly whispered, almost five minutes after he had finished puking, their hands still intertwined.

Soobin pouted and started to get up, but Yeonjun pulled him back down to his side and whined. The younger couldn’t help but smirk. “No, you don’t.”

Yeonjun had finally fallen asleep and Soobin could barely keep his eyes open. He smiled at the blue-haired boy just inches away from his face. Soobin sat on the floor while Yeonjun was sprawled on his bed, his head hanging off the bed. 

His eyelashes were long and pretty, and looked as delicate as soft little feathers. His cheeks puffed out every time he breathed from his nose, which slightly flared as he slept. His lips were formed in a permanent pout and his skin was glowing, but then again, Beomgyu’s nightlight shone across the room.

Soobin’s heart suddenly skipped a beat as the dorm room’s door unlocked, a sluggish Beomgyu walking in. 

“Soobin hyung what the fu—“ Beomgyu said, a little too loud. 

“SHHHUT the fuck up, he’s sleeping!” Soobin hissed. 

“What are you still doing here?” Beomgyu yawned, walking over to Soobin, who still remained seated on the floor next to Yeonjun’s bed. “Wait a minute, you didn’t.. did y—“

“NO YOU SICK FUCK.” Soobin kicked Beomgyu in the shin and he fell on the floor in seconds, squealing in pain. Soobin got up himself and lightly moved Yeonjun’s head back onto the bed with his free hand.

Oh.

Soobin had just now noticed he had been holding Yeonjun’s hand the entire time. He had fallen asleep.. holding his hand. Luckily it was dark, or Beomgyu would tease him for days for how fast Soobin’s face turned bright red. 

Without another word, Soobin grabbed his jacket and rushed out the door, completely forgetting his fear of walking home alone in the dark. He had other things on his mind. Choi Yeonjun. 

And Kim Taehyung.

Yeonjun woke up with a smack to his butt, only to see Beomgyu grinning widely above him with one of his Ryan bears in his hand and phone in the other. 

“It only took 4 times to get him to wake up!” Beomgyu explained to the person on the phone. Yeonjun heard a dolphin-like laughter on the other side. Hueningkai .

Yeonjun groaned and rubbed his ass, feeling the pain of the teddy bear’s buttons on his left cheek. He reached for his phone only to see his phone had 6 missed calls, all from Taehyun…??

Yeonjun’s heart skipped a beat. No, not Taehyun. 

Taehyung . 

Yeonjun threw off his blanket and jumped out of his bed. Beomgyu, still on the phone, side eyed him, motioning to ask where he was going. Yeonjun pointed at his phone and pointed at the door. Before Beomgyu could continue the game of charades, Yeonjun grabbed his red fur jacket and ran out the door.

Yeonjun dialed back while skipping steps to rush to the rooftop of the dormitory building. His heart was beating out of his chest. Sure he was basically a psychotic killer, but Taehyung was just a psychotic guy in general. So yeah, of course, he feared the guy. 

“It’s been a while, Choi.” Taehyung’s deep, dark voice said calmly on the other line. 

“Yeah… sorry, I just— yesterday was kinda wild for me. Or, last night, rather. It was just hectic, I ended up sleeping all ni—“

“How was your date?” 

He knows. Fuck fuck fuck, he KNOWS??

“With who?” Yeonjun’s mouth went dry, trying to hide the fact they both knew damn well who the fuck Taehyung was talking about. 

“Your little boy—“

Oh thank God, he thinks it’s BEOMGYU.

“—Soobin, of course.”

Fuck, never mind.

“N-no, it’s not really like that. You see, you told me I gotta gain his trust and a—“

“You’re such a clever kid Yeonjun, making him think you actually like him before you take him the fuck out. And not in a good way.” Taehyung chuckled on the other end, yet in a dark and hostile way. “It’s only a matter of time he’ll actually believe you’ve fallen for him and he falls for you…” 

The words made Yeonjun’s stomach churn in an unpleasant way. He’ll actually believe you’ve fallen for him.

“Yeah, just gotta let him think he actually... means something… to me. Now if only it would be as easy as me snapping his neck on our first date…” Yeonjun let out a quick fake laugh in return.

“That’s kinda sick, don’t you think?” 

You should be the last one talking about sick. 

“But anyway, he doesn’t know how to swim. Don’t ask how I know, but use it.” Taehyung blurted the last part and suddenly hung up. 

Yeonjun squinted at his phone and then put it back to his ear. “Hello??” But he was gone. What the fuck ?

Suddenly he got a call back and he quickly answered. “Taehyung?? Did you hang up??” 

“Taehyung? Yeonjun, this is Soobin??” 

Oh fuck.

“No, I said Taehyun. You guys have similar numbers.”

“His number is literally a foreign number, he hacked his own phon— wait a minute, don’t you have our numbers saved?!!? I thought we were FRIENDS now?!?!” 

Thank God Soobin is an idiot .

“You’re ruining the aesthetic!” Beomgyu whined, throwing his head back. 

“I just wanted to try the icing!” Yeonjun protested, licking the sweet substance off of his finger.

“Let me take a photo FIRST, then eat whatever you want.” Beomgyu slapped Soobin’s creeping hand that was heading toward the chocolate croissant. 

“Does he do this often?” Yeonjun whispered to Hueningkai.

“Even when we go to McDonald’s….” the younger boy sighed. “All the time… all the time…” 

Both Yeonjun and Hueningkai had gotten two mint chocolate cupcakes. Taehyun had even gagged and pretended to throw up while they ordered, but Yeonjun grabbed Hueningkai’s hand and tugged him closer, saying he was “protecting” him from the evil that is Taehyun.

Beomgyu’s 34th photo, Soobin and Yeonjun bickering over the taste of mint chocolate, and Beomgyu trying to feed Taehyun while he tried to feed Hueningkai, you’d think there was something much deeper going on between the trio and duo, but it was just them being a bunch of idiots.

“Hyung, you said you’d buy me ice cream too!” Taehyun whined, tapping through Soobin’s Snapchat story. 

Yeonjun looked up from stuffing his face with the cake Beomgyu had ordered, but only taken a bite of. “How do you know I bought anyone ice cream?” He questioned, his voice muffled because of the amount of cake stuffed in his mouth. 

“Uh, hello? Soobin snaps everything that happens in his life.” Taehyun half laughed, showing Yeonjun his phone. He quickly grabbed it, only for Soobin to snatch it out of his hands. 

“Hey, let me SEE something—“ Yeonjun whined.

“Wait, lemme just see something myself…”

“WHAT did you post of me??” Yeonjun got up from his seat and tried to reach over Soobin to grab the phone back, but the larger boy also got up and raised it above them both. 

“LET ME SEE WHAT YOU POSTED!!!”

“IT’S LITERALLY NOTHING, LET ME JUST DOUBLE CHECK!” 

“GIVE ME THE PHONE OLD MAN!”

“I’M YOUNGER THAN YOU????”

“What did he even post??” Hueningkai whispered to the other two boys. 

“I don’t know, I skip through everyone’s stories… Soobin isn’t special, the fuck?” Beomgyu said, as he was clearly watching Taehyun’s story right next to him. 

Taehyun rolled his eyes and looked back at the confused baby. “I think he posted a picture of Yeonjun sleeping… and called him—“

“You called me CUTE??” Yeonjun said, Taehyun’s phone in one hand and Soobin’s shirt scrunched up in the other. His mouth was still filled with cake he hadn’t swallowed or chewed up yet and Soobin broke into the biggest smile. Cute .

“Stop smiling or i'll make sure you never smile again.” Yeonjun moved closer to the younger boy and tightened his grip on his shirt. Little did Soobin know he was very capable of doing so.

But Soobin couldn’t help but laugh and lean even closer to Yeonjun’s face, leaving their faces inches apart. “But I think you’re cute.” Soobin whispered, squishing Yeonjun’s cheeks and giggling.

From a short distance, Soobin heard Hueningkai spit out half of his latte. He peered over to see the younger three all watching them, eyes wide and mouths open. 

The worst part was, Hueningkai just spit his drink into Beomgyu’s mouth. 

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” the blond boy said, turning to Taehyun, who burst out laughing the second Hueningkai’s backwashed latte went straight into Beomgyu’s open mouth.

Ironically, that was the same moment Yeonjun finally began choking on the cake that had been in his mouth for minutes now. Soobin grabbed the older boy to pat his back, but Yeonjun stumbled away, swatting his hands away from him. “Not yo—“ and his choking increased as Soobin giggled, his dimples deepening like his own soon to be deathbed.

Taehyun got up as Beomgyu held onto his arm, still sobbing over the free latte refill Hueningkai gave him. 

“Hyung spit it out, you’re going to die,” Taehyun bluntly said, putting his hands out in front of the blue haired boy, whose face was reddening by the second.

Yeonjun gave Taehyun a questioning look, but the younger nodded and he slowly started to open his mouth until a wild blond came rushing over to them.

“No, you shit, I paid for that, EAT IT!!” Beomgyu got out of his seat, grabbing Yeonjun’s jaw and slamming his mouth shut again. 

Yeonjun groaned in response, his choking resuming. Now Taehyun and Beomgyu were just fighting over letting Yeonjun either throw up or pass out, no in between.

Soobin, heading back to his seat, pushed his cup toward Hueningkai. “Here, you could take my hot chocolate, as long as you promise not to spit at me.” 

“Thanks hyung!” and the younger boy exclaimed and grabbed the full cup, inhaling it down.

Soobin watched him finish in silence and Hueningkai gave him a soft smile in return. “What’s wrong?”

“First you smile at me, then you ask if something’s wrong? Nice way to ease out the pain….” 

“I can tell there’s something wrong, it’s that brother connection, ya feel?” Hueningkai started doing a wiggly wave dance in his seat and Soobin bursted out laughing.

“Okay now tell me you giant ass bitch.”

“We’re basically the same height???!!”

“Get to the point, old man!”

Soobin played with the empty cup in front of him and stared deeply at the design, tracing it with his fingers.

“You remember Taehyung, right?” 

Hueningkai froze. “Yeah… what about him?”

“Well… turns out he’s not as gone as we thought.”

“What do you mean?? The cops said—“

“I might be crazy, but Yeonjunnie hyung got a call from someone named Taehyung yesterday—“

“That could be literally any other Taehyung.”

Soobin looked to his side to see his little penguin boy, softly smiling, but he couldn’t smile back at him. He had this burning feeling in his chest, he had to know. 

Finally, Yeonjun came back, holding Beomgyu’s ear in one hand and the other wrapped around Taehyun’s shoulder. 

“For the fifth time, I’m SORRY hyung… I just spent half my allowance on that fancy overpriced cake.”

“We all know you could buy this entire damn bakery if you wanted to,” Yeonjun hissed, pulling his ear harder. 

“You owe me much more than just ice cream for making me hold your fucking cake puke in my hands…” Taehyun sighed, still rubbing his hands off on Yeonjun’s jacket.

“I’ll spare your life in the future, I promise,” And he meant it.

“Now you .” Yeonjun stopped in front of the table and glared at Soobin. 

“My cutie is back!” Soobin dared to say out loud again, smiling from ear to ear.

“YOUR cutie?? I’m not— you— I can be sexy if I wanted to!” Yeonjun sat back down in his seat and grabbed Soobin’s face, forcing him to make eye contact with him. He then proceeded to “wink” with both eyes… which literally was just blinking.

Soobin threw his head back and burst out laughing. “That was the cutest attempt at being sexy I have ever seen in my life!” 

“Can you guys please stop touching each other’s faces like we aren’t sitting here?? Some of us are single,” Hueningkai groaned, slamming his head against the table. 

“We all don’t have to be…” Taehyun mumbled. 

Beomgyu quickly chipped in, “Yes we do! Haha kissing! Unless…” he reached for Taehyun’s hand, but the younger swat it away. 

As they walked home, the three younger boys squealed over a new drama that came out on Netflix, and the older two leisurely walked in the back. 

“Yeonjunnie hyung?”

“What do you want from me now?”

“ALL I SAID WAS HYUNG?!?!” 

Yeonjun burst out laughing and grabbed Soobin’s arm. “I’m joking kiddo, what’s up?”

“You’re really irritating, you know that?” 

He let go of Soobin’s arm and started walking faster to catch up with the younger boys.

“Now I can’t joke with you??” Soobin giggled, grabbing Yeonjun’s arm and accidentally pulling him way too hard. The older, yet smaller boy, went flying back into Soobin’s arms and they awkwardly froze. “I-I’m sorry…” 

Yeonjun felt weird in his stomach. That same feeling came back. Butterflies. Soobin’s hand was still wrapped around Yeonjun’s, and his hands were tingling, but he didn’t want to let go. 

Suddenly, he felt a rush of adrenaline run through his body. 

“Hey Soobin,” Yeonjun whispered, spinning around to face the tall boy, but still not letting go of his hand, “Let’s go somewhere tonight.. again.” 

Soobin’s cheeks slowly burned bright pink. “Where should we go?” he whispered back, like they were little children sharing secrets. 

“The beach!” Yeonjun exclaimed with sparkling eyes. “It’ll be fun, we can—“

“Hyung, I can’t swim…” Soobin pouted, unintentionally squeezing Yeonjun’s hand. 

“Don’t worry baby, I’ll teach you,” he let go of Soobin’s hand and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. 

Remember what you came here for, Yeonjun.

Chapter Text

Soobin stared at himself in the mirror, then turned back and sighed at the sight of all his clothes leaking out of the closet onto the carpeted floor.

He slowly started toward the mess, but a loud “HYUNG!!!” came ringing outside his bedroom door, suddenly flinging open.  

Soobin swung around and let out a squeak, raising his arms in defense. Hueningkai stood at the door, grinning, “Mom made— what are you doing?” The younger slowly looked around, scanning Soobin’s room. 

“What? Nothing to see here… get out.” Soobin shot up and started shoving Hueningkai out of the door. 

“Why are your clothes everywhere??” Hueningkai pushed past him, stepping deeper into the room. Suddenly he whipped around, eyes wide open, “You're going on a DATE!!” 

“NO?? NO??? NOT AT ALL?? We’re just— get out.” Soobin’s ears started turning red and he grabbed Hueningkai’s arm to throw him out. 

“It’s with Yeonjun hyung isn’t it?? I saw the way you two were giggling today, there is something fishy going on around here…”

“Wh— we were not giggling! Just go eat whatever mom made, I’ll be down in a second!!” and the older finally successfully kicked out the curious baby. 

He leaned against the door and let out a deep sigh. He was going out with Yeonjun tonight, but neither of them ever clarified it as a date. It was just… a friend gathering. Except only the two of them. Alone…

Sure it wasn’t a date, but that didn’t mean Yeonjun had to see him looking like a slob. Just thinking about it again made Soobin giggle, but he quickly stopped himself and started digging through his clothes for the third time. 

“What are you doing ?” Hueningkai walked in on Soobin laying on his bed, kicking his legs in the air and squealing. 

Soobin automatically shot up from his bed, “Hueningkai why don’t you ever KNOCK??”

Hueningkai ignored the question and fully charged in this time, moving so fast that Soobin couldn’t keep up. He grabbed Soobin’s phone and before the older could react, Hueningkai ran. 

“You little piece of shit, get BACK here!” Soobin jumped out of his bed and chased the little rascal down the stairs. He got down, but Hueningkai was nowhere to be found.

“ ‘you’re cute when you talk like that!’ ‘no I’m not, stop calling me that!’ ‘You’re just a baby! HAHA’—“

Hueningkai was reading Soobin’s texts with Yeonjun out loud. He was sitting on the kitchen counter in the dark, only the phone’s light illuminating his features 

“Give it back right now .” Soobin stormed up to him and gave Hueningkai the most horrifying look he’s ever seen from Soobin, especially in the dark.

Hueningkai felt shivers run down his spine, slowly handing Soobin back the phone. This resulted in the older breaking out into laughter, then causing Hueningkai to start giggling as well.

“So you’re gonna go see him right now, huh?” Hueningkai questioned, folding his arms together. 

Soobin looked down and began to draw circles on the counter, ignoring the question. 

“You like hi—“

“We’re just friends for fuck’s sake…”

“That’s not what your text messages look like.” Hueningkai snorted, hopping off the counter. “Tell me the truth, where are you going?”

Soobin sighed. He knew there was no way he’d be able to hide this from his own brother. 

“We’re gonna meet at 2 am tonight, then get so—“

“Hold on, TWO AM??” He looked at the clock above the fireplace and it read 12:42.

“Yes, what’s not clicking, Hueningkai wake up.” 

Soobin looked back at his phone to see the texts Yeonjun had sent him. 

SB: I don’t know what to wear :(

Blueberry Pop: you’d look cute no matter what you wore

SB: what

BP: soobin how slow could you get i just called you cute can you accept it and go

Soobin’s face lit up as if he was under a burning fire. He felt a spring of joy leap through his heart to his stomach. He looked up, only to see Hueningkai holding back his laughter, almost as if he’d burst any second now.

“Leave me alone...” Soobin covered his face with his fuzzy sweater paws.

Hueningkai tugged at Soobin’s bright green and blue sweater, walking toward the stairs and said “Okay.. but someone needs to fix you.” 

“Fix what?” Soobin groaned, following the younger. 

“You look like an oompa loompa threw up on you.”

Soobin grabbed his jacket and zipped it up, adrenaline pumping throughout his entire body. He had climbed out of his window before, but tonight was different. He was climbing out to see Yeonjun . He was breaking his mother’s rules and trust just for this blueberry pop boy he had just met. 

As he put one leg out, he heard a soft snicker. He quickly looked down to see his blue-haired boy friend watching him get down, leaning against his car. 

He was wearing his black leather jacket and a white shirt inside, and Soobin couldn’t lie… he looked good. His foot almost missed a spot and he nearly went flying out of his window and plummeting straight to his death.

“Hey, don’t die before we hang out! I stayed up late for this!” Yeonjun hissed, moving closer to directly stand beneath Soobin, making sure he’d be able to catch him. 

“I won’t f-fall, I’ll just swing around for fun ya know.. who doesn’t do that at 2 am??” Soobin whispered back, holding on to the ledge of his window for dear life. As he looked down, he saw Yeonjun standing beneath him with open arms and for some reason, the view sent shivers down his spine. 

“Do you trust me?” Yeonjun suddenly said, louder than before. 

Soobin studied the boy who stood below him. His fluffy blue hair acting as a shield over his face, his plump lips making it look like he had been pouting all his life, and his eyes… his eyes were deep with compassion and something else Soobin wasn’t quite sure of. Yes, I do.

Soobin nodded in response and slowly began to let go of the ledge.

“You won’t fall… you’ll be justtttt fine, baby…” Yeonjun suddenly began to squat and lift out his arms even wider to catch Soobin. 

Soobin squeezes his eyes shut and let go of the ledge, curling his body into a ball so it wouldn’t hurt too bad if he plummeted straight into the floor. 

Soobin opened his eyes to a loud grunt and a “please get off me now” from the older boy. There he was, sitting in Yeonjun’s arms, bridal style. Except Soobin was clutching onto his own sides rather than Yeonjun, who was holding Soobin’s entire body with two arms, trying hard not to fall over.

“OH! I’m sorry..” Soobin quickly jumped out of the boy’s arms and bolted toward the car. “Well, what’re you waiting for?? We have places to be!” 

Yeonjun turned around and grinned. “Don’t do that, I’m suppose to be the one being a bad influence on you, not the other way around.”

“I’m only excited because you said you’d teach me how to swim, let’s GOOO!!” Soobin grabbed Yeonjun’s arm and pulled him back toward the car. Yeonjun couldn’t help himself, he pushed the younger against the car and got uncomfortably close to his face. “Of course I will.”

And just like that, he walked around and into the car, taking his seat and starting the engine. Soobin was still frozen outside, professing what the fuck had just happened. 

“Are you gonna come in or what? We got places to be!” Yeonjun honked his car, which Soobin was still leaning on, causing him to jump two feet in the air and quickly opening the car door to sit inside. 

He grabbed Yeonjun’s jacket and pulled him toward him, hissing, “You can't just honk like that when my mom is sleeping, you idiot.” 

“Relax, baby, we’ll be fine. Nobody will ever know.” Yeonjun pulled out of the driveway and started zooming through the streets.

Soobin felt the adrenaline rush through his veins, excitement of breaking his mother’s rules consuming him. “I feel so FREE ! This feeling is insane? Literally nobody can tie me down!” Soobin got out of his seat and stuck his head out of the sunroof. 

Yeonjun couldn’t help but giggle at Soobin’s actions and words, now feeling a rush of serotonin himself. How odd.

“Soobin, get down, you’ll get hurt.” Yeonjun tugged on Soobin’s leg, trying to drag him down, but apparently “nothing could stop me now!” Soobin screams from the windy sunroof.

About thirteen minutes later, Soobin let him know he was most definitely not about that life, the death at 20 life. He plopped back into his seat.

“The bad ass life isn’t for you, huh?”

“It is! But if I stay out there any longer, I’ll end up with pneumonia…” Soobin crosses his arms and pouted.

Yeonjun smiled from ear to ear, endeared by the cute dimple boy’s reaction to being told he wasn’t a bad boy. Cute .

Suddenly, Soobin let out a quick gasp. He pressed his face against the car window and squealed. 

“I could see the clear, beautiful water glistening in the dark. And oh my god… it’s so beautiful…” Soobin took out his phone to snap this, but Yeonjun quickly grabbed it. 

“Hey—“

“Not today Soobin, today we just… relax. Let loose.” He put his phone in between them, where the cup holders remained unoccupied all year long until now.

Soobin’s smile softened and yet his eyes still shone brightly. “If that’s what you want hyung.”

He looked up and directly at Yeonjun, whose eyes were still focused on the road, scanning the premises to see where he could easily park the car. Yeonjun’s mouth was in a pout, grumbling about how the dumb asses who owned the beach had closed all the parking spots because it “wasn’t in season”. He continued to complain about the parking, but Soobin just smiled. How effortlessly cute could someone be?

Yeonjun finally found parking a whooping ten minutes later and they both sighed in relief as he finally set the car in park. 

“By the way, I was right.” Yeonjun throwing his head back on to the carseat.

Soobin looked at him, confused. “Right about what?”

“You do look cute in anything.” Yeonjun lifted his head again and grinned at Soobin, whose eyes looked like they’d fall right out of their sockets. “I was gonna tell you right when I saw you, but I was scared you’d fall down from your window and plummet to your own death.”

Before Soobin could respond, Yeonjun unlocked his door and hopped out.

“Please don’t let go of my hand… I’m scared.” Soobin squeezed Yeonjun‘s hand and moved back into his smaller frame. There they stood, on the 5 foot elevated dock, right before the great wide sea.

“Soobin, you have to learn how to swim. Either hold my hand and die or let go and die, simple.”

“Hyung, I’m scared…” Soobin reached for Yeonjun’s other hand and held it in his other one. Not only did his touch comfort Soobin, but he felt more secure knowing if it was possible, Yeonjun would throw him down the elevated dock.

“Soobin, do you trust me?” Yeonjun felt a lump grow in his throat saying these words. 

Soobin’s heart raced for a moment there and he let out a sigh. “Yes … Yeonjunnie hyung, I trust you.” 

“Just like we practiced five minutes ago.. you can do this.” Yeonjun slowly loosened his grip on Soobin’s hand.

“H-hyung, I’m not ready.. I’m too scared to try. Fuck, I can’t even look at it.” Soobin slowly started to back up and held his breath. Yeonjun sighed and climbed down the dock to the shorter dock, fully dragging soobin down with him. 

“Hyung, I can’t do thi—“

Yeonjun whipper around and cupped Soobin’s face. “Yes, yes you can. You’re a smart guy, you may be, kinda, slightly an idiot, but you’re capable of getting over your fears. You’re able to grow from the past and move on… you’re able to set yourself free. I will ask you this one more time, Soobin. Please, do you trust me?” 

Soobin’s face heated up, still being held between the older’s hands as a sandwich. Soobin had explained to him his fear of water because of his cousin, but that’s it. Nothing else, no details whatsoever. Just how his cousin’s experience traumatized him forever. But Yeonjun didn’t question it, he knew where to draw the line and here was definitely it.

Soobin reaches up to touch Yeonjun’s hand clasped on his cheeks and slowly nodded.

 “I trust you.” 

Yeonjun slowly let go of Soobin’s hand and let him drop into the water. The sudden sheer of panic that arose in the younger's face was seen within seconds.

“H-hyung.. I don’t think— HYUNG??” Soobin started drifting farther away from Yeonjun, slowly beginning to panic.

Remember what you’re here for, Yeonjun.

Soobin’s anxiety began to rise, his neck sinking deeper into the water, unable to properly breathe. At this point, he couldn’t even speak any coherent words, getting caught up in his throat like dry lumps. The only thing he could squeak out was “hyung”.

He stood at the dock and looked straight ahead. Yeonjun heard the younger struggle and cry for help. He watched his fear just grow greater in front of him within a matter of time. He felt shivers run down his own back. 

A growing lump settled in his throat. It didn’t feel right. 

Remember what you’re here for, Yeonjun.

Soobin was shrieking and trying his hardest not to panic, trying his hardest not to go down . But he did, slowly, yet surely. Seconds before Soobin’s mouth disappeared into the water, Yeonjun swore he heard him whisper “hyung.” The lump in his throat only thickened.

Remember what you’re here for, Yeonjun.

His throat began to burn. He continued to watch Soobin fall deeper into the water, vanishing farther in by the second. Yeonjun clenched his fist. 

No.

Not today.

And he ran.

Chapter Text

Yeonjun jumped in, a shiver running through his body the moment his body hit the water. He frantically looked around with blurred vision, unable to spot where Soobin was. It was so dark that even if the taller boy was right in front of him, he wouldn’t have been able to see him. 

Just then, he felt something grab his arm. Not something, someone.

There couldn’t be anyone else in the water at this time, so he wasted no time. Grabbing the larger boy’s waist, he pulled through with all his energy to make his way back to shore. But Soobin was heavy, heavier than usual. Maybe it was the water weighing him down, or maybe Soobin’s body had gone limp… maybe even… no.

The thought of that happening made Yeonjun grip onto Soobin tighter, and somehow, he managed to bring both their noses out of the water.

He let out a large breath, frantically breathing in and out, coughing out the water that had gone into his nostrils in the small amount of time he had been underwater. But Soobin didn’t. 

He made no movement whatsoever. “Soobin? Soobin answer me.” Yeonjun dragged them both out of the water and threw him onto the frozen sand. He quickly wiped his own face and grabbed Soobin’s. 

“Soobin please answer me. Please don’t do this to me.” Yeonjun smacked his head against the younger boy’s chest, and he could hear a faint heartbeat. But almost too faint. 

How could I have done this? He trusted me. He gave me his word… I betrayed his trust. Should I have just let him drown? 

No… I couldn’t watch that happen.

Not right now, not today.

He grabbed Soobin’s face and began screaming, “Soobin PLEASE answer me. This isn’t funny anymore, PLEASE ANSWER ME.” He rested his head on the younger boy’s chest again, suddenly feeling a burning sensation in his throat. 

He’s gonna hate me. He’s gonna realize I was trying to kill him. He saw me just watching him… watching him go down. He told me his biggest fear, and I let it happen to him. He’s gonna hate me.

He couldn’t help but be mad at himself. His throat was swelling up even more, he didn’t know why. It just burned . It hurt . He punched down on Soobin’s chest in anger, and suddenly he heard a groan.

Yeonjun shot up off of the younger’s chest and slapped Soobin. 

“What the FUCK?” Soobin rubbed his cheek, whining at the pain. “I nearly just died and you wanna slap me ?”

“I thought you were gone you fucking asshole! I thought you—“ he stopped himself realizing Soobin probably knew. He knew Yeonjun watched him drown.

Soobin began coughing and gagging, almost sounding like he’d throw up any second. He reached for Yeonjun’s hand, which the older easily allowed him to, surprised. Soobin’s coughing and gagging fit went on for a couple minutes, with Yeonjun pulling him up and holding his back for support, rubbing it like a baby. But the whole time, Yeonjun’s heart was racing. 

When is he gonna say it? Just tell me you hate me. Just tell me you want me gone. Spit on me. Kick me. Punch me—

Soobin grabbed Yeonjun and pulled him closer. He looked at him in the eye and whispered, “Thank you.” 

Yeonjun froze. Soobin couldn’t be serious. Yeonjun, who just watched him drown, was being thanked. He blinked twice, keeping an unwavering expression. “What?” he muttered in response.

Without breaking eye contact for a second, Soobin continued to talk, “You saved my life, I owe you one. N-not one life or anything, like one ice cream or like—“

Yeonjun could no longer hear his words. His entire mind was fazed. Had he.. not seen?

“You watched me, hoping I’d get up, right? Get over my fear, stop being a little bitch and finally grow up right?” Soobin chuckled, tightening his grip on Yeonjun’s arms. “I told you I trusted you…”

Here it comes.

“... and I meant it. And I still mean it. Thank you, Yeonjun hyung.” He wrapped his arms around Yeonjun’s small frame and hugged him. 

Yeonjun’s throat began to itch, he was past the burning stage. He wanted to push Soobin off. He wanted to slap him. He wanted to punch some sense into him. 

But he couldn’t move. He felt weak in the boy’s arms, unable to move, even though if he’d wanted to, he could have. Yeonjun just didn’t know how to handle this .

How could someone be so innocent? Not see the bad in people? Not see that I deliberately watched him plummet to his own death until I felt a speck of pity… 

How could he not want to strangle him? 

How could he be so pure? 

So kindhearted? 

So endearing?

So.. naive.

Soobin had not let go of Yeonjun’s hand until they got to the car and he had to walk on the other side to get in. Yeonjun didn’t mind though, it felt so soft. Neither of them spoke until they sat down comfortably in the car.

“You still didn’t take me to get food…” Soobin mumbled under his breath. 

Yeonjun looked at him in surprise and broke into a wide smile. “You nearly just died and all you can think about is food?” 

“What else would you be thinking about when you were about to die ten minutes ago??” Soobin grinned in response. 

“Do you want ice cream again? But we would have to get min—“

“Yeonjun, I nearly just drowned in frozen water… do you think I wanna see your clapped ass mint chocolate again?” Soobin said, letting out some fake shivers.

Yeonjun stopped and smiled, unconsciously reaching out to hold Soobin’s cheek. Soobin froze with the sudden action, but his breath audibly hitched. Yeonjun made no attempt to remove his hand, but just sat there, his fingers wrapping around the soft mushy-ness of Soobin’s cheeks. Amused by the new discovery of Soobin’s dough-like cheeks, Yeonjun burst into laughter. 

Soobin felt his face heat up, but luckily it was so dark, the one making his cheeks heat couldn’t tell. Yeonjun continued to pull at Soobin’s cheeks and suddenly let out a loud gasp.

“Soobin this shit isn’t normal , your skin is literal Play-doh… oh? OH???” Yeonjun’s expressions got more dramatic as he realized just how stretchy Soobin’s face was. Soobin watched his hyung play with his face, his own cheeks puffing and huffing every time he discovered something new. Soobin bursted out laughing at the sight, making Yeonjun let go.

“What? Say it to my face, coward!” Yeonjun unconsciously puffed his cheeks again, making Soobin laugh even more. He was so amused that he began clapping along with his laughs as well. 

Yeonjun reached out and grabbed Soobin’s face, cupping it with both his hands. “Tell me or—“

“Or what?” Soobin grinned, moving his face closer to Yeonjun’s.

Yeonjun’s heart skipped a beat as the younger let out a toothy grin. How could one be so… endearing?

“Or I won’t get you food tonight.” Yeonjun suddenly had all the power between them.

Soobin settles back into his seat and groaned, crossing his arms like a child.

“Fine, we can still go to the 24 hour bakery… for your bread needs.” 

Soobin’s mood changed within seconds and he turned back to Yeonjun, eyes glistening with excitement. “What’re you waiting for? Start driving!”

Yeonjun gave Soobin’s cheek another quick squeeze and turned back to start the car. He avoided any more eye contact the whole ride, since he could feel his ears and face reddening every time Soobin did something remotely adorable.

It was as if he hadn’t tried to kill him 20 minutes before.

Or maybe it was that he wanted to forget.

“Don’t you think I should be going?” Soobin whispered into Yeonjun’s ear as they walked up the last flight of stairs. The plastic bag filled with their leftover bread from the 24/7 bakery rustling in Soobin’s hand, constantly smacking against the stairs’ railing.

“ You’re the one who insisted on scaring Beomgyu at this hour.” 

“Yeah, but will another one of your suitemates get me expelled…” 

“No dumb ass, they couldn’t care less who walked into this building. You gotta be quiet though, everyone else is probably sleeping at this hour…” Yeonjun stopped Soobin in the middle of the hallway.

The tall boy frantically nodded and gave him a thumbs up, but as they both continued down the hall, Soobin tumbled over the rug and fell with a loud thud.

Yeonjun whipped around and saw Soobin laying on the floor, face front. Funny thing was, the arm holding the bag full of bread was raised high above his body. Yeonjun snorted and took the bag from him, then pulled him up with one arm.

“You’re a clown, you know that?” Yeonjun whispered.

“You know you love me!” Soobin giggled a little too loudly, earning a punch from Yeonjun on the shoulder.

Soobin dramatically fell back down onto his knees, clutching his arm and whined in pain. 

“I’m leaving you here for the dorm ghosts to get you.” Yeonjun groaned and started walking away.

“Hyung STOP, don’t do that to me!!” Soobin quickly got up and chased the older boy, grabbing his hand in fear. 

Yeonjun grinned to himself in the dark, he liked knowing that Soobin would come running to him when he was in fear. Or maybe because he was the only one there right now, but still.

They walked to Yeonjun and Beomgyu’s shared dorm and creaked the door open. Adrenaline began rushing through both their bodies, excited to make the younger blond boy shriek in terror.

But right when the entire door swung open, both boys froze. The lights were completely out, but there was a clear figure in the center of the room, staring out the window.

No way. 

It couldn’t be …. him?

Right? There was no way he knew….

Right?

Before Yeonjun could speak, Soobin did.

“B-Beomgyu?”

The figure slowly turned around and shook its head. 

Yeonjun gulped. It was him. He had found them. 

Chapter Text

Yeonjun reached for Soobin’s hand and slowly began to back out of the room. 

“Hyung?” Soobin whispered, clutching on to Yeonjun’s shoulder from behind. 

“When I say run, you run ,” Yeonjun mumbled under his breath, squeezing Soobin’s hand. He hadn’t dropped his gaze from the dark figure in the room for a second. It had to be him, he knew it was him. 

His eyes darted toward Beomgyu’s bed, clearly seeing the moonlight shine through the window and onto the boy’s blond locks. There was definitely an intruder in their dorm and he could recognize that form anywhere.

Yeonjun felt a shiver come from Soobin, who still clutched onto the older’s shoulder for dear life. They continued to slowly walk backwards toward the door.

The way the hair dropped to one side, the lanky and tall physique, the dark aura he felt as soon as he walked in the door, the—

“What are you guys doing ?” a familiar voice suddenly cut through the room. 

Wait.

The dark figure walked toward them and Soobin squealed, grabbing Yeonjun’s waist and sinking behind his neck in fear. Yeonjun didn’t budge.

The dark figure shifted past them, earning another squeal from Soobin, tightening his grip around Yeonjun. 

“Soobin, I think—“

The light turned on and the mysterious dark figure stood before them.

Well… I wasn’t that far off .

“You guys are idiots,” Taehyun snorted, smacking Soobin on the back.

Soobin quickly shot up from behind Yeonjun and exclaimed, “Who the fuck stands like that in the dark this late at night? And why are you here??” 

“I could ask you the same question, bunny boy,” Taehyun shot back, sitting on the edge of Beomgyu’s bed, who still remained fast asleep. In fact, they could almost hear a faint snore coming from his direction. “But I guess, I can assume…” Taehyun gestured toward the older boys, who still had their hands and arms wrapped around one another. 

Both boys simultaneously pushed off of the other and Yeonjun began, “It’s really not—“

“I don’t really care what you guys do—“ Taehyun began to play with the sleeping boy’s hair.

“That’s gross , shut up Taehyun.” Soobin stopped him midsentence.

“So you guys didn’t come here to cuddle?” The bright-eyed boy looked up. 

Oh, what a naive little boy…

“I came here to scare the shit out of Beomgyu, but clearly his boyfriend beat me to it,” Soobin grumbled, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets.

Yeonjun snorted at his remark. “Boyfriend—“

“Oh shut up, acting like you guys didn’t just come back from a cute and cuddly date at 6 am. Besides, he’s not my boyfriend. He only called me here because he felt lonely for the third time this week, since someone ,” Taehyun shot a cold glare at Yeonjun, “decided to ditch him for the third night in a row.” 

“It wasn’t very cuddly, he nearly drowned in—“

“You took him swimming?” Taehyun suddenly jumped up from Beomgyu’s bed, making the boy shuffle on the bed. 

“Taehyun, he didn’t—“ Soobin began, but the anger in the smaller boy’s voice began to rise.

He stormed up to Yeonjun, who stood there unfazed. Not like I have any reason to fear him, right?  

“Literally WHY would you do that? Why?? Do you not know —“ 

“He doesn’t,” Soobin walked up and stopped Taehyun in his tracks. “Not yet..” 

He had mumbled the latter part, but Yeonjun still heard him clearly. Before Yeonjun could question anything, Soobin turned around and smiled at him. 

“I think I should go now, thank you for eve—“

“You can stay! It’s kinda dark out, you’re afraid of walking alone at night, aren’t you?” Yeonjun blurted.

“What? Soobin’s the one who always walks Hueningkai and I to the train station at night so we don’t shit our pants,” Taehyun chimed in.

“A-anyway! It’s fine hyung, I’ll get home safely, don’t worry about me!” Soobin shyly smiled, his ears slowly starting to burn bright red. 

“No really, I don’t mind sleeping on the floor, if you wanna take my be—“

“Can you please just stay so he shuts the fuck up and I can go back to SLEEP? And turn off the light for fuck’s sake!” Beomgyu groaned in a raspy voice, even startling Taehyun, who had gone back to caressing his hair. The blonde’s head was still buried in his pillow and just as Taehyun began to move his hand from his hair, he quickly grabbed it and dragged it back to continue playing with his fluffy locks.

“You can take the bed, seriously, I always fall off anyway…” Yeonjun motioned Soobin toward his bed, stepping away from it himself. 

“No, it’s really fine hyung, I don’t mind the floo—“ Yeonjun shoved Soobin toward the bed and watched him fall flat on his face straight into his pillow, letting out a tiny ow.

“Now stay there. I’m gonna go wash up, you can go after me,” Yeonjun cracked a smile, watching Soobin just lay flat on the bed, mumbling a “fuck you” into the pillow. The older walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind him. 

And there he looked in the mirror and sighed at the sight of himself. 

Deep blue hair. 

Dark eyes.

Blush pink tinted cheeks.

Large plastered smile.

Who was he?

Yeonjun held onto the sink and continued to stare at himself. Who am I? Why do I look like this now?

Deep down inside, he knew why. He let his head fall forward, facing the sink and couldn’t stop his grin from growing. Even if he tried to stop it, it just continued to grow. 

Yeonjun washed his face and quickly changed into his pajamas, almost forgetting there was someone else who needed to use the bathroom. He rushed out and walked toward his bed. “I’m out, you ca—“ he stopped.

His heart dropped. The big bunny boy’s eyes fluttering, his breathing slowly becoming heavier, his large body curled into a ball, hugging one of the bears Beomgyu had given Yeonjun to put on his own bed. Yeonjun covered his mouth, trying to hide his giggle at the sight of Soobin. 

“You didn’t even change your clothes…” Yeonjun whispered loud enough for only himself to hear, kneeling down to sit in front of Soobin’s pretty little face. He reached out to caress the real life angel’s face, but his hand just wavered above his cheeks. 

It’s him. He’s the reason I’m like this now.

Right at that moment, Soobin’s eyes fluttered open, staring straight into Yeonjun’s. “What’re you doing?” Soobin blinked a couple times, not breaking eye contact for a split second. 

When Soobin reached up to rub his eyes, Yeonjun quickly dropped the floor and laid down as if he was already sleeping. Maybe he’ll think he’s dreaming.. he’s pretty dumb isn’t he…

“Yeonjun, I’m not an idiot, I literally just saw you—“

“Good night!” Yeonjun squeaked in response, clutching the pillow on the floor, hoping he’d move on. 

Soobin chuckled, reaching down to squeeze Yeonjun’s cheek and got up to wash up in the bathroom. 

Yeonjun’s entire face turned from blush pink to bright red within seconds, burying his face into the pillow and letting out a small giggle. 

Suddenly, Taehyun turned around and groaned, “You two are so annoying, let me sleep in peace. ” Yeonjun shrieked, not having noticed Taehyun had been laying on the floor right next to him the entire time. 

“Why the fuck are you sleeping right next to me??” Yeonjun whispered, shoving Taehyun away from him. 

“A-aah!?? Beomgyu insists if I don’t sleep on the bed, I have to sleep as close to him as possible because… well.” Taehyun raised his other hand into view, which Beomgyu was holding from on top of the bed. 

“And you call us gross…. you guys are literally dat—“

“No we’re not ! I like someone else! ” Taehyun angrily whispered back. 

“He’s lying!! He’ll fall in love with me one day, just watch,” Beomgyu suddenly blurted from on top of the bed, pulling Taehyun’s hand up, causing him to hit his head on the side of the bed.

“Oh you dumb fuck, this is NOT how you get someone to fall for you!” Taehyun groaned, sitting up, slowly rubbing the forming bump his head. But Yeonjun could see the small smile hiding beneath his hand. 

“You two are worse than Soobin and I, now shut up, move over , and let me—“ Yeonjun dropped back down right when the bathroom door knob turned and opened.

“Soobin, please tell your boyfriend to stop being a little bitch and let me and my Taehyun sleep !” Beomgyu hissed, falling down on his bed, which just led Taehyun to fall back down on the floor. 

Soobin didn’t respond to Beomgyu, but rather, walked over to Yeonjun and whispered, “You can still take the bed, you know, I don’t mind sleeping next to Taehyun…” 

Yeonjun got up from his pretend sleep and propped himself up on his elbow. “No no, he’s joking, I’m totally fine here! I love the floor, the floor is my frie—“

“I can hear you from the bathroom Yeonjunnie hyung.” Soobin broke out into a giggle, squishing the older’s cheeks again. 

“Stop it, I’m older than you, you shouldn’t be making these sacrifices, nor should you be squishing my cheeks like this,” Yeonjun’s cheeks burned bright red, but luckily the lights were still off in the room.

“But you’re so cute! And small! Please just sleep on the bed, I’m fine with sleeping on the floor.” Soobin pouted, making himself comfortable in the small amount of room between Yeonjun and Taehyun.

“On God Soobin, if you don’t sleep on the bed right now, I will kiss you. And you will not enjoy it.”

Soobin froze in response and mumbled, “You wouldn’t, I know you wouldn’t.” 

“Five… four…”

“Are you really counting down right now?”

“Three…….”

“I’m a bad bitch, you can’t kill me!” 

“Two……. one. Come here you little shit!” Yeonjun bolted up to grab Soobin‘s face, but the younger screamed and jumped back, scrambling to get back on the bed.

“I’M ON THE BED, DON’T TOUCH ME NOW!!” Soobin shrieked at Yeonjun, who was still coming at him with puckered wet lips. Soobin covered his face with the pillow and shrieked every time he felt the bed sink on the other side. 

“Fine, I’ll spare you this time, but next time…” Yeonjun made kissy sounds and hopped off the bed. 

“Also, kinda funny how you didn’t object to us being boyfriends when Beomgyu said it, but—” Yeonjun continued, but Soobin interrupted.

“But did he lie though?” The younger boy peaked from above, looking down at Yeonjun, whose suddenly began choking on air.

“I’m kidding you old man! I just didn’t notice, but funny how you did…” Soobin whacked Yeonjun with the teddy bear on his bed, receiving an audible shriek from Yeonjun.

“We GET IT, you guys are dating now! Now for the love of GOD, Jesus, Allah, Buddha, Moses, Beomgyu, and Aphrodite, please let us single people SLEEP! ” Beomgyu cried out, launching a pillow at Soobin across the room.

The pillow hit Soobin in the face, which he let knock him down flat on the bed, not letting out a word for the rest of the night. 

“Good night, dumb ass.” Yeonjun said out loud, which in all honesty, could’ve been to anyone in the room.

“WHO THE FUCK SLEEPS IN THE CLOSET??” Soobin screamed, his voice ringing through Yeonjun’s ears, interrupting his sleep. 

“I just wanted to lower the amount of carbon dioxide being released in the room right now… there were four of us sleeping in here ya know!” Beomgyu grumbled from their walk-in closet.

Yeonjun lifted his head to see the clock. 

12:38 PM.

Six hours is enough, right?

He turned to look for Taehyun, but now he wasn’t right next to him. Instead, he was curled into a ball on Beomgyu’s bed, in between all his Ryan plushies.

Oh , makes sense why Beomgyu moved to the closet….

He turned his attention back to Soobin, who was suddenly laughing like a madman. 

“HEY!! You can’t lock me in here, this is my own dorm!!! Let me OUT!!!” Beomgyu’s high and frightened voice echoed throughout the room. Soobin laughed even harder than before, holding tightly onto the closet’s door knob.

Yeonjun sighed and got up, walking toward him. “You guys are literal children… it’s way too early for this.” He slowly removes Soobin’s hands from the closet door and looked at Beomgyu inside, his face bright red from screaming.

“It’s not our fault you’re almost about to be a regular in the retirement home, normal people wake up by now!” Beomgyu said, getting up from the pile of clothes and scrambling to get out of the closet.

Yeonjun gasped and shoved Beomgyu back into the closet, grabbing the door knob with Soobin this time. “Who’s the weak old man now?” Yeonjun shouted, letting out a louder laugh.

“This is BULLYING!! I am a small, petite, very pretty boy and you guys are BULLYING me!!” Beomgyu exclaimed from inside the closet, banging on the door.

Out of nowhere, Taehyun walked up to them and slapped both of their necks from behind. “You’re all so childish…” he slowly waddled toward the bathroom as Soobin and Yeonjun let go of the closet door to rub their necks in pain.

“Thank you ! Tell these idiots just how childish they are!” Beomgyu shoved past the taller boys and escaped the closet.

“ You’re the most childish.” Taehyun yawned, slamming the bathroom door behind him. 

Beomgyu dramatically let his jaw drop and gasped. “How could you!”

Soobin suddenly began collecting his stuff, including his jacket. 

“Where are you going? There’s no school today? You can stay with us…” Yeonjun watched his every move, almost in fear that he’d disappear into thin air any second now. 

“I’d love to, but I have to go to practice.” 

“Practice? Since when do you play sports??” Yeonjun snorted, sitting down on his bed. 

Soobin grinned, but Beomgyu came flying in to interrupt, throwing his arm around Soobin’s shoulders. “Don’t be fooled by his squishy, warm, and welcoming body, he could knock the living shit out of you if he wanted to! This big guy goes boxing every weekend… kinda insane.” 

What the fuck…  

Soobin chuckled at Yeonjun’s obviously shocked expression. “What? You didn’t expect someone like me to be into boxing?” 

“No no… it’s just that…. you’re….” Yeonjun furrowed his brows, still staring intensely at Soobin.

“I’m what? Little ol’ Soobin?” 

“You’re definitely not little, but… you’re tiny? You know?” Yeonjun tried to explain, but clearly failed.

“Ah yes, I totally see what you mean.” Soobin glared back at Yeonjun, suddenly making the blue haired boy tense up. 

“No wait, I didn’t mean to offend you or anything, I promise! It’s like… you’re—“

“Why don’t you come with me today? Just… watch?” Soobin looked up from tying his shoes. His gaze from this angle was absolutely horrifying, even Beomgyu audibly shivered and let out a “ yeesh, what the fuck” . 

“You’re just trying to show off, aren’t you!?! We’re strong too you know! I can fight you if I wanted to, square up!” Beomgyu started hopping around Soobin in circles, lifting his fists up. 

“Move,” Soobin flicked his finger at Beomgyu’s forehead and he pretended to collapse right then and there, “I was only inviting Yeonjun, all of you have seen me boxing before.” 

“Did you see that? He g-got me… tell my mom I loved her….  and Taehyun.” Beomgyu croaked from the floor, just as Taehyun opened the bathroom door and sighed at the sight of Beomgyu sprawled in front of him.

“He’s not wrong though, Soobin technically could kill you, even without trying. Accidentally, even,” Taehyun added on, grabbing onto Beomgyu’s hand to lift him up. 

“Uh, sure. We can invite Hueningkai, too.” Yeonjun awkwardly laughed.

“Invite? He’s already there.” Soobin chuckled, opening the dorm door.

Yeonjun’s face lost a sting of color. Did Taehyung set him up to murder a family of fighters, not lovers?

“Wha—“

“Are you coming? I’m gonna be late if you don’t hurry up! And my instructor is kinda scary as shit.”

“Yeah, let me just get my jacket and we’re outta here. Wait for me downstairs.” Yeonjun snapped out of his daze and rushed to put his jacket on. 

“Sorry I’m late, this one insisted on driving me here and found parking four blocks away…” Soobin came jogging in with Yeonjun casually strolling behind him.

“Soobin got a boyfriend now? Well, there goes my shot!” a taller, muscular boy grinned at Yeonjun. 

“Shut up Byungjae, he’s not my boyfriend.” Soobin knocked over one of the boy’s weights, but he just chuckled in response. 

An odd feeling inside Yeonjun made him wish Soobin hadn’t said that in front of that feen .

“But that still doesn’t mean you have a shot with him, dumb ass.” Hueningkai came walking in with a stack of paperwork. “Hey Yeonjun, are you here to sign up, too? I can get you a paper—“

“Nah, it’s cool, I’m just here to see bunny boy fuck shit up.” Yeonjun shoved his hands into his pocket, making his way toward Soobin, who had just dropped his bag and started emptying it out into a locker. 

Yeonjun could feel that Byungjae guy staring straight into his soul when he called Soobin “bunny boy” and Yeonjun would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a sense of pride rise within him. 

“Do you need help, baby? I can—“

“ Don’t call me bunny boy here. Or baby. I can’t look like a weakling here, or I’ll literally be eaten alive,” Soobin mumbled, not even stopping to make eye contact when talking to Yeonjun. 

For the first time ever, Yeonjun actually felt struck by Soobin’s words. Sure, it wasn’t that deep, but it wasn’t like him, either.

“Hueningkai, did my instructor show up yet? He’ll literally chop my arm off if he finds out I was late…” Soobin said, taking off his outer shirt, only to be left standing in his tank top, then shoving the shirt inside the locker.

Hueningkai didn’t respond. Soobin slammed the locker shut and Yeonjun’s breath hitched, unconsciously stepping back.

“Kai, wake up. Is Namjoon here yet?”

Yeonjun nearly choked on air (again), there was no way he heard that correctly. 

There’s gotta be multiple Namjoons out here. This place is huge… right? 

“Yeah, he got here a while ago, actually. But guess who just now got here?” a booming voice came from behind them. 

Yeonjun was afraid to turn around. That couldn’t be the same Namjoon, right?

“I’m so sorry hyung, blame my friend. It’s all his fault, not me please.” Soobin said, twirling Yeonjun around to face the loud voice.

The man smiled. “It’s okay, I’ll let you off this time, since your friend is cute.” 

Soobin thanked him and went scurrying away to his post, setting up for his daily practice routine.

Yeonjun audibly gulped. It was him. The same boy Taehyung told him about, who Jin had dated years ago. The same boy who Soobin has told him stories about, the one who practically raised him.

Namjoon put his hand on Yeonjun’s shoulder. “You look… oddly familiar.” 

“I’ve never seen you in my life.” Yeonjun bluntly said, as if his entire lower body wasn’t struggling to hold up.

“No no, I’ve most definitely seen you before… have you been to that club recently… Octagon?”

Damn, how did he— oh.

OH.

“M-maybe! It’s been quite a busy week, even i don’t remember where I have and haven’t been ahaha…”

“No, I’m almost certain I saw you there… with someone I know, actually.” His grip on Yeonjun’s shoulder tightened.

Maybe he didn’t mean him, maybe he mistook someone else to be with me at the time, maybe—

“Who are you? How do you know him?”

“How do I know who?”

His eyes hardened as he stared into the depths of Yeonjun’s soul.

“Oh, you know who I mean.” 

Chapter Text

“Taehyung. You know I mean Taehyung.” Namjoon’s voice became more hoarse, raising the hairs on Yeonjun’s arms. 

“Well… we met quite recently actually. You see—“

“He told me you guys are cousins.”

What? So he spoke to him? What else did he tell him?

“Yeah! He’s my older cousin, that old man! Ahaha…”

“You just told me you met him recently.”

“Y-yeah, I lived in America, of course this was the first time—“

“He said he stayed with you and your parents last year, though.”

“He did! I was just.. so busy studying we barely spoke! So this time felt more like the first time meeting…”

Literally what the FUCK did he not lie to him about? On God, that Taehyung is crazy.

He waited for the older boy to add something else, feeling a rush of heat through his body. 

Suddenly, Namjoon broke into a cheesy smile and threw his arm around Yeonjun. “Well you should’ve told me you were related to one of my best buddies! So what now? Are you and Soobin d—“

“NO! We are not dating.” Soobin exclaimed from across the boxing rink, suddenly sitting upright and glaring at Yeonjun. 

Best buddies? Huh?

Namjoon laughed at Soobin’s remark and winked at Yeonjun.

 “He clearly likes you, don’t let him get to you,” He started, but suddenly his eyes went dark and cold, plopping his hand down onto Yeonjun’s shoulder, giving it a hard squeeze. “But if you ever hurt him or Hueningkai, I will personally chop your little friend off. These two are like my own, you mess with them, you mess with me. ” 

The blue haired boy gulped and nodded. I don’t plan on dating either of them, ESPECIALLY the younger boy. Most definitely not that—

He looked to the side only to see Soobin staring straight back at him. And for some odd reason, it made Yeonjun’s heart jump. Soobin paused his practice and smiled. Yeonjun felt butterflies in his stomach, and in all honesty, he found it to be a familiar, almost comfortable, feeling. He took his hand out of his pocket to wave at the boy, only to see him knocked down within seconds.

“What the FUCK, Byungjae??” Soobin groaned from the floor of the rink. “That shit hurt, I wasn’t even paying atten—“

“ Exactly . You should be paying attention at all times, not intensely staring at your boyfriend for five minutes straight!” The larger boy spit in defense.

“He’s not my boyfriend! All of you, write this down if you have to, he is not my boyfriend!“ Soobin shot up from the floor and back onto his feet.

“So you’re not denying the fact that you were staring at me for five minutes straight??” Yeonjun suddenly chirped in.

Soobin turned back to look at him, face red and pouty. “I just wanted to hear what hyung was saying to you…” he looked down at his feet, admitting defeat. Yeonjun grinned and started walking toward the taller boy, only to see him knocked down again .

“On God, Byungjae, I’ll fucking KICK your ass!” Soobin groaned from the floor, his partner letting out a high pitched shriek, despite his contrasting appearance. Soobin ripped off his helmet and Byungjae gasped, realizing he was a little more fucked than he had thought he’d be. They both ran, leaving Yeonjun and Namjoon to sigh and watch the idiots chase one another.

“Aren’t you gonna do anything? You run this place..” Yeonjun sighed, sitting down at the weight lifting bench. Namjoon groaned and took a seat next to him, “This is the only way they actually fight and learn something here, I usually leave it.” 

Yeonjun snorted at his comment. Namjoon dug in his pocket and took out two small objects, or what looked small in his hands. Yeonjun tried to mind his own business, but couldn’t help being curious. Thankfully, Namjoon stretched out his hand and offered it tohim. 

“You want?” Yeonjun looked down to see two lollipops in his hand. They were both pink.

“What flavor is that?”

“Strawberry pop, it’s good, I promise.” 

Yeonjun took the lollipop and began to unwrap it. Then he stopped. “It says strawberry blast here, what the fuck is strawberry pop??” 

Namjoon looked down and let out a deep laugh. “That’s what my boyfriend used to call it. Or that’s what he used to call me… strawberry pop.” The older continued to stare at the floor and smile, almost as if a rush of sudden memories flew through his mind. That big old smile didn’t leave his face for a single second.

Strawberry pop… sounds a lot like blueberry pop ..

And then it was Yeonjun’s turn to start mindlessly smiling at the floor.

“Please!! I don’t want to pay $300 for that shit! Please just do it for me hyung!” Soobin was tugging on Yeonjun’s sleeves, and wailing directly into his ears.

“Soobin, I won’t do it if you don’t shut the fuck up about it.” Yeonjun attempted to shove him off, but the younger was just too strong. 

“Dye my hair pink for me, please hyung! You have experience with the bleachy and the color shit, you HAVE to help me!” Soobin said, shaking Yeonjun back and forth. 

Yeonjun grabbed both of his cheeks and pulled him to meet his own face, forcing him to a halt. “I’ll do it if you get out of my dorm after this… I see you way too often nowadays.” 

Soobin giggled in return, a reaction Yeonjun didn’t expect from his snotty remark. But little did Yeonjun know Soobin was giggling because of how cute Yeonjun looked agitated.

Soobin put Beomgyu’s art stool inside the bathroom and in front of the mirror, plopping down with his box of pink hair dye in his hand. He watched as the older blue haired boy walked in, snorting at the sight of Soobin’s enthusiastic face. 

“What? I’ve never dyed my hair before, this is actually exciting to me!!” Soobin pouted.

“Isn’t everything exciting to you at this point?” Yeonjun stopped behind Soobin and started doughing his cheeks again. The younger laughed at the sight in the mirror and yet again, Yeonjun was taken aback by his reaction. 

Or maybe he had never noticed it before. But Soobin was a very positive, happy-go-lucky kind of guy. And maybe it gave Yeonjun feelings … but what type of feelings was the question.

“Hyyyungg please stop, my cheeks are gonna fall off…” Soobin mumbled through all the mushing his face was going through. 

“But your cheeks are so addicting, Soobinnie, I can’t help myself.” Yeonjun began to aggressively stretch and squish his cheeks, but again, the younger burst into laughter.

Soobinnie . Soobin’s heart fluttered at the nickname. Yeah, a lot of people have called him that, but were they Yeonjun? No, not at all. There was only one Choi Yeonjun, and he was the only one Soobin could see.

“IS MY EYE SUPPOSED TO BE BURNING???” Soobin squeezed his eyes shut, suddenly yelling in fear.

“I promise you nothing went into your—“

Soobin shot up from the stool and started waving his arms around. “HYUNG I THINK I’M GOING BLIND? I CAN’T SEE ANYMORE, I’M—“

“Soobin, your eyes are closed. For fuck’s sake, if you didn’t trust me, why did you ask me? ” Yeonjun pulled Soobin back onto the stool and the taller boy stumbled over, nearly falling right off again. 

“Ok ok, I trust you. Please don’t let me go blind, hyung.” He grabbed for Yeonjun’s hand and gave it a squeeze. Yeonjun smiled, looking down at Soobin, who was clearly still frightened, but concealed it for his sake.

“All we did was wash out the bleach, baby, you can open your eyes now…” 

“Okay, but why does it STING?? And—“

Soobin froze to stare at himself in the mirror. 

There was a ten second pause. 

Then intense screaming followed.

“Blond is NOT MY COLOR!! FIX THIS SHIT RIGHT NOW!!! FIX THIS SHITTT!!!” Soobin shrieked, grabbing his golden locks with rising fear.

“Relax Soobin, I didn’t even use your pink hair dye yet, we just bleached your hair dumbass, relax.” Yeonjun bit his cheek to hold back his smile, but he couldn’t help and laugh at the frantic boy in front of him.

Soobin paused and quietly sat back down. “I’m not a dumb ass… I am just new to this!” Soobin grumbled, making an ‘angry’” face at Yeonjun in the mirror. 

“You better stop pouting before I end your cheeks’ life again,” Yeonjun squeezed the hair dye out of the tube and started to slather it with a brush all over Soobin’s hair.

Soobin’s pout grew even more pronounced than before, glaring at Yeonjun in the mirror. “You’re really annoying, you know that, blueberry pop?” 

“Yeah,” Yeonjun bent down in front of Soobin and grinned, “but you still love me.”

Soobin’s cheeks burned as pink as the dye on his head within seconds, trying to hold his cheeky smile back. He turned to face the older boy, meeting his intense gaze and charming smile.

“I knew you were delusional, but not to this extent.” 

Yeonjun moved even closer to Soobin, their noses almost touching. He could hear the younger’s breath hitch, which boosted Yeonjun’s ego even more. His smile widened, making Soobin’s heart fall straight out of his chest, right down to his stomach.

“Hey, Yeonjun hyung, did you— man what the fuck?” Beomgyu stopped at the door, only to see Yeonjun and Soobin nose to nose with one another.

Yeonjun quickly jumped back up and continued to plop the pink hair dye onto Soobin’s hair, acting as if nothing had happened. 

But Soobin’s bright pink face and burning ears couldn’t hide from Beomgyu.

The blond boy slowly walked closer and began, “Why is the cornstalk always in our dorm nowadays? I thought we were best friends!” 

“We are!” Soobin and Yeonjun said simultaneously, both awkwardly looking at each other’s reflections in the mirror.

“Couples sicken me ! And now you guys are about to have matching HAIR too??” Beomgyu frantically waved his hands around the two older boys in front of him.

“We’re not dating dumbass, we’re just—“

Soobin paused mid sentence. What were they?

“What did you come in here looking for?” Yeonjun decided to save their asses and divert the subject.

“Did you see my furry brown sweater anywhere? I remember throwing it on your bed one time, but I never saw it again. And Taehyun says I look the cutest in that sweater and I cannot afford to miss out on the compliments he gives me because he only gives out 3 to me per week and that’s the only way I can lure him into falling in love with me and I’m scared he won’t like me without my furry brown—“

Yeonjun threateningly raised the hair dye brush toward Beomgyu and signaled him to shut up.

“You idiot, if he ever even falls for you, it won’t be because of your fucking sweater, dumbass—“

“You called me an idiot and dumbass in the same sentence—“

“—he’ll like you for your wack ass personality. And I hate to break it to you, but I think he likes someone else.”

Beomgyu paused, his eye practically twitching. Even Soobin unfroze to look up at Beomgyu’s blank expression. 

“Well his crush likes someone else.” Beomgyu gritted through his teeth, glaring deep into Yeonjun’s eyes. 

“How are you so sure? Did you go—“

“He likes another boy. That other boy is my friend. Hueningkai specifically told me, because he’s afraid to talk to my friend. And he specifically told me not to tell Taehyun. Wanna know why? He really does love that boy, but not in the same way Taehyun loves him. He cares for and cherishes him like a brother. And Taehyun has no clue.” Beomgyu suddenly began word vomiting, his face reddening as his voice grew louder.

There was a pause in the hollow bathroom, an uncomfortable silence fell in the room. The three boys awkwardly stood in each other’s presence, hoping one would speak before another.

Finally, Soobin broke the silence and muttered, “Who does my brother like?”

“Jeongin. You probably don’t know him, he’s in my major. He’s one of my closest friends, a soft, fluffball of constant energy and happiness. Hueningkai met him in their lab class and he swears he’s the one for him.” Beomgyu continued his word vomit. The younger boy’s face slowly returned back to its regular color and he slowly smiled.

“That’s why I want to make him happy, I don’t want him to lose hope in all love because of one single boy who doesn’t love him back. He deserves so much more. And I can love him, give him everything he deserves. And he deserves nothing less than the entire world,” Beomgyu continued, his eyes continuing to brighten as he speaks.

All Yeonjun could do was blankly stare, but Soobin got up and grabbed the small boy. He pulled him into a deep hug and squeezed him tight.

“And I’m certain you’ll be able to give him much more than the world, Beomgyu.” Soobin stepped back, his eyes looking glassy.

“Hyung, are you crying ??” 

“NO? Yeonjun just got bleach in my eye, I swear he wants me dead…” Soobin let out a chuckle and began rubbing his eyes.

I wouldn’t say want, but more of a must…

Beomgyu giggled and pulled back his best friend for another hug. Then he whispered, “Maybe it’s time you realize just how much you care about a certain someone, too.”

Soobin lightly pushed him away and the smaller boy let out an ear shrilling laugh, running out of the bathroom.

Soobin sat back down on the stool, no words exchanged between the two boys remaining in the bathroom. Yeonjun continued to add more dye to his hair, but he felt a set of eyes staring at him.

Soobin’s eyes met his in the mirror, but instead of blushing and turning away like the younger usually would, he just smiled. 

“Thank you, hyung—“

“Please stop thanking me every ten minutes, I get it, I’m an amazing guy and all, but sometimes even I get overwhelmed!”

Soobin giggled, reaching for Yeonjun’s free and clean hand, giving it a little squeeze. 

“Maybe after this, you can call me your strawberry pop!” Soobin’s cheeks puffed up as he broke into a large, dimple-filled, bright smile.

Your strawberry pop. Why did that sound so familiar? But that wasn’t even the worst part. 

Your strawberry pop.

“Soobin, you’re making this harder than it should be…”

“Hard? Yeonjun, this is just hair dye.” Soobin blankly stared in the mirror.

Yeonjun let out a small laugh.

If only he knew just what exactly he meant.