Chapter Text
When Jeonghan bribes the floor technician into letting him use studio C04 after hours so he can get some precious shut eye before working through the night, he doesn’t expect to get woken up at 3’something in the morning by the invasive sound of someone unlocking the door.
He wakes with a sharp inhale, disorientated from the sleep still clinging to his limbs but quickly wills himself alert. Sitting himself up, Jeonghan stills at the sound of the lock twisting, bracing himself for some sort of consequence. (Trespassing during and after hours aren’t taken lightly at Pledis.)
The light switch is flipped on and Jeonghan’s hand instinctively flies up to shield his eyes from the offensive glare.
“Oh fu-” the person that enters startles at the sight of him, freezing in the doorway.
It takes a couple of seconds for Jeonghan to adjust to the brightness and when it does, his eyebrows raise ever so slightly.
“You don’t go here,” he says, gaze is latched onto the person with curiosity.
He’s immediately relieved that it isn’t school security. Jeonghan doesn’t think the university will let him off again. He sniffs a little remorsefully at the thought. The person who’s entered is the very opposite of school security.
In fact, it’s another student.
Jeonghan eyes said student with growing interest because he isn’t the student he expected to see. He supposes it’ll be weird to even expect a student to be around this late but Pledis has a rumoured genius hermit producer well-hidden amongst its student population. It is a well-known ‘fact’ that genius producer Woozi has an all-access key card and that he never leaves the building. Nobody has actually seen him, which is the root cause of the ridiculous rumour that Woozi is made up and is actually a ghost haunting the music department. Jeonghan knows better.
He knows better because he’s commissioned Woozi to produce a piece for him one assignment. It was perfectly within the marking criteria (mind you). Music students always collaborate and Jeonghan submitted his piece with the signature ‘produced by Woozi’ trademark. However, confirming that Woozi is in fact real just through email (that’s how the transaction was done) wasn’t enough to satisfy Jeonghan’s curiosity so he did the logical thing of tracking him down.
The student currently standing before him, Jeonghan can confirm, looks nothing like the small, sharp-eyed, lithe genius of a music producer Woozi is.
He actually looks wildly different from Woozi. For starters, he’s much bigger. Broad shoulders, strong jawline and substantial arms. His big expressive eyes are currently glued to Jeonghan’s face. No doubt weighing fight or flight options because Jeonghan’s pretty sure this guy was not expecting the studio to be occupied. Jeonghan notices the drawing tablet clutched protectively in the guy’s hands and tries to hide the curve of a smile growing on his lips. This guy isn’t even a music major.
“I have a key,” the guy replies slowly and pulling the last word out like a question.
When Jeonghan cocks a challenging eyebrow, he holds up the keys like its evidence. Jeonghan peels his gaze away from the guys face and eyes the keys curiously.
“It’s not yours,” his tone a little teasing.
“No,” the guy confesses. He flashes a lopsided, confident smile that Jeonghan doesn’t expect, “it’s not.”
“I didn’t think anyone would be in here,” the guy continues. He seems to have collected himself from his initial surprise because he pushes his way in and closes the studio door behind him. Jeonghan feels his eyebrows raise slightly as the student proceeds to put his drawing tablet on the computer desk. Bold.
“Evidently,” Jeonghan drawls. He watches as the guy proceeds to bend over the computer to turn it on. The not-music-major has on a full black outfit, it looks lazy but good on him. It starts with a simple black hat, continues with a very comfortable looking black hoodie and some black sports tracks and ends with …. Are those Balenciaga sneakers?
Jeonghan’s eyes snap to the back of the guy’s head as his mind races through the all the possible ways this student has gotten a key to one of the studios reserved for final year students. He narrows his eyes suspiciously. After a prolonged moment, Jeonghan decides that he’s very likely one of those rich, entitled kids who’ve bought their way into Pledis.
That would explain the complete disregard for school regulation on trespassing and the fearlessness of consequences.
“So…” The guy turns around to peer at Jeonghan over his shoulder, eyes friendly. “What are you doing here so late?”
“Working,” Jeonghan says as half his body remains reclined on the sofa. He commits a few seconds to memorising the guys face for insurance purposes.
There’s a brief moment of silence before the guy speaks up again.
“You don’t have a key to the room, do you?” His lips curving into a smile of growing realization.
“No,” Jeonghan flashes his teeth in a grin, a playful glint in his eye. The guy has turned to face him completely now, wearing on his face a mix of disbelief and amused.
Now that his eyes have had some time to adjust to the previously offensive glare of the ceiling lights, Jeonghan notes a little remorsefully that not-music-major is decidedly very handsome. He wouldn’t say that he is conventionally handsome. On a different person, those individual facial features may not have worked as well but for some unexplained reason, it works on this one.
Jeonghan leans back on the couch he was previously reclined on and ruminates over this information with pursed lips.
It takes him a while to realise the guy is staring at him. Jeonghan’s eyebrows move slightly, asking an unsaid question. What?
“What are you doing here then?” The guy laughs, like as if Jeonghan has tickled him. Jeonghan hasn’t. The student leans back on the computer desk and folds his arms over his broad chest. He seems determined to converse with Jeonghan.
“You’re going to stand there and ask me that?” Jeonghan laughs back, bewildered but entertained.
“You were here first,” the guy shrugs, a harmless smirk on his face. “In the timeline of rule breakers, you’re the sunbae here.”
Jeonghan can’t hold back the chuckle that erupts from him. His eyes gleam as he plays along, “and who might be the hoobae asking?”
“Choi Seungcheol.” The guy introduces himself, holding his hand out for Jeonghan to take it. It is a friendly and completely non-provoking gesture. Jeonghan doesn’t take it.
Instead, he makes a little sound of acknowledgement at the back of his throat and lifts himself gracefully from the couch. He ignores the fact that Seungcheol is staring at him as he picks up his belongings from the room in a leisurely manner. When he is finished, he makes for the door.
“Don’t I also get a name?” Seungcheol asks curiously as Jeonghan reaches for the door handle. He’s retracted his hand now and it’s been folded back over his chest. Jeonghan pauses, throwing a mischievous grin in Seungcheol’s direction.
“No.”
Seungcheol returns Jihoon’s key card to him in the morning like he promised. His laptop had crashed on him five hours into progress on his final project that was due in a few hours. He had called his best friend in desperation, asking for a computer with Photoshop because let’s be real now, the only person who would be awake at 3am was Lee Jihoon.
He wasn’t expecting anyone to be in the studio Jihoon had told him to go to, especially after being informed that he could pull an all-nighter in there. Jihoon was always careful about these things, his studio access was on the line after all.
So, when Seungcheol casually mentions the frighteningly beautiful guy that was reclined on the couch in studio C04, Jihoon is disconcerted. Seungcheol doesn’t actually say the words ‘frighteningly beautiful’ though, Jihoon doesn’t need to know.
“Who?” Jihoon’s brow furrows so hard Seungcheol almost regrets mentioning it. He laughs it off as nothing, waving his hand as if to clear the metaphorical air but Jihoon has latched onto the topic now.
“Uh…” Seungcheol says stupidly and Jihoon asks him ‘Who?’ about six more times. The smaller boy sounds like an owl and Seungcheol holds an affectionate coo at the tip of his tongue.
“He didn’t tell me his name,” he shrugs instead, not forgetting to throw in an apologetic smile.
“Describe him,” Jihoon insists, abandoning his work in favour of leaning as far over his chair as he possibly can to press his face in Seungcheol’s space.
“He’s uh…” Seungcheol begins, tapping his chin thoughtfully, “tall but not Mingyu tall.”
“Use your words,” Jihoon says, frustrated.
“He’s kind of pretty-looking.” Horrifying beautiful, Seungcheol thinks to himself. He nearly wet himself when he saw him in C04. Seungcheol doesn’t think he’s ever been so floored at someone’s… well, someone’s face. That sounds terribly shallow but it’s true. He’s thankful he had his drawing tablet clutched to his chest because his heart was pounding like a drum. It doesn’t help that the little interaction they had only left Seungcheol feeling extremely unsatisfied. Like he’d been shown a full course meal and then been disallowed from being anywhere near it.
“He’s blonde, mid-length hair… Falls on his face like this,” Seungcheol makes hand gestures in front of his face. He’s picturing the guy in his mind and it only makes his gut twist in mild regret for letting him go without getting a name.
Jihoon’s brow stops furrowing for a second, face falling in realization before he narrows his eyes.
“Yoon Jeonghan.”
Seungcheol’s ears perk up at the words and his gut stops regretting. It is a pretty name.
“Figures,” Jihoon sighs after a moment, resigned. “He would.”
“Would he?” Seungcheol is intrigued.
Jihoon shoots Seungcheol a very pointed look and repeats.
“He would.”
The only time after that that Seungcheol sees Jeonghan again, is the last week of semester. His finals are all handed in and there is a pocket of time (a week of limbo if you will) before the semester ends and summer begins. For someone who doesn’t actually have scholastic reasons for being in the music department, he’s here a whole lot.
He’s always here because of Jihoon, of course. They have a routine of spending time with each other just hanging out in Jihoon’s studio. Sometimes, Jihoon lends Seungcheol a computer so he can work in peace, away from the crowded, stuffy IT suite that the graphic kids have to constantly fight over. Seungcheol is always grateful. The music department has mostly emptied out now. Most students are either at home for summer or really, out having fun in the sun. Seungcheol is staying around campus for baseball club reasons and Jihoon’s home is ages away so they’re both stuck together for summer.
Seungcheol jingles some change in his hand as he rounds the corner to the vending machine he’s grown familiar with. He wonders if he should have a green tea instead of his usual black coffee but that mundane decision making comes to a halt when he spots Jeonghan standing thoughtfully in front of the vending machine, lips pursed.
It takes a moment but the blonde feels someone behind him and stops what he’s doing to look at Seungcheol. His eyes flash with recognition and a small smile pulls at his lips. Seungcheol feels silly butterflies in his stomach at the smile and decides that he didn’t come prepared. He has to steel himself.
“For someone who doesn’t actually go here, you’re here a lot.” Jeonghan tilts his head slightly, a picture of angelic innocence.
“I am?” Seungcheol quirks a questioning eyebrow, smile already on his lips.
Jeonghan makes a little hmmm noise and directs his attention back to the vending machine. Seungcheol walks over to where the blonde stands and waits behind him. In-line, like a civilised adult. With Jeonghan’s back turned to him, Seungcheol finds himself appreciating little details like his unpierced ears and a little mole just shy of his cheekbone. Seungcheol presses his lips together, a little embarrassed with himself. He rocks on his heels for a second and then decides that Jeonghan is taking too long to buy a drink.
He peers curiously over Jeonghan’s shoulder to see him pushing the buttons on the vending machine in a cryptic pattern. It seems routine, the number pressing. It is casual and thoughtless. Jeonghan even does it in a little rhythm, unfazed by Seungcheol’s now obvious observing. It is odd and Seungcheol is confused. There doesn’t seem to be any credit in the machine and there definitely isn’t a card in the card holder.
“What are yo-” Seungcheol begins to ask when he’s interrupted by the sound of a drink dispensing. He jerks his head back in surprise.
“Assa!” Jeonghan cheers, bending down to retrieve his drink. It is a carton of strawberry milk. Seungcheol watches wide eyed as Jeonghan pokes a straw through the top of the carton before bringing it to his lips. Jeonghan sips at the pink liquid and looks at Seungcheol through his blonde locks, the ones that fall on his forehead.
“You…” Seungcheol starts but his voice trails off. Did Jeonghan just scam the vending machine?
The look Jeonghan gives him is gently patronizing but the soft smile attached to it has Seungcheol forgiving it quickly. He stands there dumbly as Jeonghan pats his shoulder before skipping off.
The excitement of summer sweeps Seungcheol up into a whirlwind of multiple events, all of which do very little to stop him from thinking about Yoon Jeonghan and his smile.
He throws five parties and of the five, two have been labelled legendary. Seungcheol is still getting tagged in random photos of drunk students on his property. There’s picture evidence of someone spilling wine on his favourite shirt at the Office Party and makes Seungcheol a little sad. But the picture of Mingyu completely wasted, half-naked and tie around his forehead as he lies on Seungcheol’s lawn hugging one of the inflatable pool floats makes Seungcheol feel better. There were always pros and cons to these things.
Seungcheol also managed to get Jihoon a part-time job at a convenient store. He went into that conversation pitch with a long list of reasons why it would be good for Jihoon to not malfunction due to a vitamin d deficiency. It went surprisingly well and Jihoon has grown interestingly fond of the place. His best friend has been working there for months now. He still feels a massive swell of pride in his chest when he thinks about it. Seungcheol’s also been crowned captain of the baseball team so all in all, it’s been pretty wild.
It’s not quite as wild as this party he’s currently trying to navigate through though. Seungcheol’s spent the past hour trying to make it to his fridge (which is literally 20m away) but has been stopped for friendly claps on his back, catch up conversations and just talking in general. When he sent out invites for a back-to-uni party he really didn’t expect this many people to show up. It’s probably a happy(?) consequence of the two legendary parties. He’s already had to order two extra batches of pizza but he really isn’t complaining. There’s nothing that makes him quite as happy than to be surrounded by people he loves having fun.
Speaking of the people he loves, he’s managed to convince Jihoon to come to this monstrosity of a party. Seungcheol makes an apologetic face to nobody in particular when he thinks of Jihoon sitting somewhere in this massively crowded house and decides to go look for him, ice cold beer in hand. He squeezes his way through dancing bodies and friendly faces to the living room where he last remembers seeing Jihoon.
What he doesn’t expect to see, is Jeonghan standing over Jihoon (who is sat on the arm of his couch looking exceptionally tiny as the blonde towers over him). Jeonghan has a devious smile pulling at his lips.
Seungcheol blinks twice, wondering if he’s just imagined the blonde to be standing in his living room in the midst of the student crowd. It’s been months, the whole summer actually, since he last saw Jeonghan and memories of him and his little vending machine scam is still fresh in Seungcheol’s mind. Seungcheol’s gone back to the same vending machine and spent hours trying to see if he can remember Jeonghan’s number pattern but to no avail. Every failed attempt only served to make him more determined to meet Jeonghan again.
His eyes flick from Jeonghan to Jihoon and back to Jeonghan again. His natural posture of relaxed confidence falters a little; which is hilarious because this is his house, his turf, his domain. The one place he’s meant to feel comfortable and here he was being unsettled by a boy he’s spoken to about twice. There was something about Jeonghan that unnerved him. It kept him on edge and seemed to coax him back every time he felt he was going to tilt over. Alright, he’s not making any sense whatsoever but that’s exactly what he’s trying to explain: Jeonghan’s effect on him.
Seungcheol brings his beer to his lips and takes a swig of it, eyes trained on the blonde. Jeonghan is surely a music major, of that Seungcheol is sure. He tries to think of other things he knows about Jeonghan but doesn’t come up with much. He’s in the middle of deciding how to rectify the situation when he notices Jihoon looking less than comfortable with Jeonghan’s presence. He vaguely recalls the resigned sigh Jihoon breathed when talking about Jeonghan and suddenly Seungcheol’s legs are propelling him forward.
He reaches the pair in a few long strides and manages to slot himself right in-between the two, like an iron wall.
“Yoon Jeonghan,” Seungcheol tests the name on his tongue, voice steady and protective. Jeonghan’s never actually formally introduced himself to him so he’s never had reason to use his name. If Jeonghan is wondering how Seungcheol knows his name, he doesn’t show it.
“What devious plan do you have with my ward and how may I be of some assistance?” Seungcheol doesn’t mean to sound teasing or cautious but somehow it comes out as both. Seeing Jeonghan up close again does things to his heart. Like damn. Is anyone else at this party looking at the guy? Seungcheol wants to glance around to confirm that he isn’t the only person affected by this, but he cannot find it in himself to look away.
“Choi Seungcheol,” Jeonghan says slowly, deliberately, eyes locking onto Seungcheol’s. Seungcheol takes a small intake of breath, completely involuntary. He decides there and then he likes how his name sounds when Jeonghan says it and would very much like him to say it again.
The blonde brings a hand up to cradle his face as he tilts it to the side.
“I didn’t know he was under you care,” Jeonghan plays along like Seungcheol knew he would. Jeonghan momentarily breaks eye contact with Seungcheol to smile sweetly at Jihoon. The smile is arrestingly beautiful and Seungcheol wishes it was directed at him. “I was just curious, I haven’t seen Jihoon in a while.”
“How about we-” Seungcheol begins, mind running through suggestions to maybe, prolong conversation but he’s cut off by a soft, firm voice.
“Hannie,"
Seungcheol and Jeonghan both turn to look at the owner of the voice. Hannie?
“Joshuji!” Jeonghan chirps happily, linking his hand around the boy. Joshuji?
Seungcheol doesn’t think that’s his real name but he’s wasn’t going to judge if it happens to be. The boy that’s interrupted them has a soft, ethereal feel to him that Seungcheol can’t quite place. He looks like he’d been fashioned from good-intention and grace. He also looks the kind of guy that would know how to play Sunday Morning by heart. It is significantly different from Jeonghan’s blindingly intimidating beauty.
“Hey Jihoon,” Joshuji smiles, “Vernon’s out back by the ping pong table. He told me to tell you he wants a rematch.” He pauses for a moment to smile at Seungcheol and Seungcheol wonders exactly who these beautiful boys are and how they found their way to his party.
“Thanks,” Jihoon’s voice comes from behind Seungcheol. He’s almost forgotten about Jihoon altogether.
“Come on,” Joshuji says softly to Jeonghan, nudging him away from Seungcheol and Jihoon.
“Aww, let me just-” Jeonghan whines, voice a little higher than usual as he gets dragged away. Seungcheol watches as the pair disappear into the crowd and wonders if he should go after them. Introduce himself, perhaps. This after all is his house. And he takes pride in being a good host. He shoul-
Jihoon clears his throat and Seungcheol snaps out of it.
“He knows,” Jihoon says matter-of-factly.
“He kno- What!” Seungcheol furrows his brow. He flashes back briefly to the conversation he watched Jihoon exchange with Jeonghan and suddenly feels worried. There aren’t many people in Pledis who know that Jihoon is Woozi and as far as Seungcheol knows, Jihoon would like to keep it that way.
“How does he know?” Seungcheol’s face is the dictionary definition of concerned, already mourning his attraction to the blonde.
“It was an accident.” Jihoon shrugs, “He doesn’t seem to have told anyone though.”
“Huh,” Seungcheol says thoughtfully, blinking in the direction Jeonghan was dragged away. He feels a wave of relief that he can continue to quietly pine but more than that, he feels like there’s a little more to Jeonghan than he’d previously thought.
“Yup.” Jihoon nods.
“We said we’d leave him alone,” Joshua says as soon as they’re out of sight from Jihoon. His voice is gentle but there’s a hint of reprimanding that Jeonghan picks up on from years of practice. He makes a defiant noise in response, eyes looking everywhere but at Joshua. He reaches for an unopened can of beer sitting on a counter.
“You said you’d leave him alone,” he sniffs indignantly, opening the can. “I just wanted to say hi. I haven’t seen him in so long. Since like, last whole year.” He waves his free hand for emphasis.
“Mmhmm,” Joshua smiles knowingly, shaking his head when Jeonghan pushes the beer at him in question. “You said hi when you tracked him down by his student ID.”
“To give him food,” Jeonghan gasps, affronted and retracting his beer offer, “to say thank you for writing our song!”
At Joshua’s deliberate silence, Jeonghan crosses his hands over his chest.
Joshua chuckles, shrugging.
“Ok I didn’t think we’d see him here either,” Joshua gives, eyes crinkling in a smile. “I’ve never seen him outside of the studios.” His voice hints at his playful nature.
Jeonghan giggles into his beer for a moment before deciding to hide behind Joshua as he peers back into the room they’d just left.
“I can’t see him, he’s so small,” Jeonghan whispers, straining his neck whilst Joshua stands there and lets himself be climbed like a tree. He even helps hold Jeonghan’s beer like the sweetheart he strives to be.
It was Joshua that invited Jeonghan to this party. And it was Vernon (Joshua’s childhood friend from back home), who had asked Joshua to come. Vernon is nowhere to be seen and Jeonghan hasn’t actually seen him since he high-fived Joshua at the start of the party.
Jeonghan cannot say he’s that big a fan of parties, he’s had some real nasty hangovers that have just about scared him off ever drinking again. He thinks this to himself as he sips at his beer, unfazed by irony. He was ready to turn Joshua down in favour of lounging in bed but then Seokmin asked him to the exact same party and it was starting to seem as if everyone was going to be here. He wasn’t going to pass up on that.
When they arrive at the address, Jeonghan stands with his mouth slightly agape at the house. It is lush. There’s a whole ass garden in front of the house and a drive way. Jeonghan is pretty sure there’s a pool somewhere behind and he scrunches up his face in disbelief.
“Is this a student house?” He asks Joshua, tone cracking a little above average, “This is not a student house.” He decides for himself. “We’re leaving. I’m not drinking up whilst someone’s mother watches me pummel my liver into the ground. If I’m going to be lying in a ditch somewhere, I want it to be very far away from parental supervision.”
Joshua snorts a laugh at that, ignoring him in favour of thanking their uber driver and wishing him a safe drive back.
“Seriously,” Jeonghan raises his eyebrows, tone demanding an answer.
“I’m pretty sure Choi Seungcheol’s parents aren’t in there, so you can pummel your liver for all anyone cares, but I won’t stand for you lying in a ditch.” Joshua finishes teasingly like as if he just didn’t OK Jeonghan a bitch-ass hangover. That’s not what Jeonghan’s concerned about now though.
Choi Seungcheol huh.
Seokmin finds Jeonghan and Joshua where they’re stood huddled in a corner and excitedly informs them that there’s a karaoke machine. ‘Next someone is going to tell me the guy has a goddamn in-house theatre’, Jeonghan sniffs to himself as Seokmin latches onto him. They agree to have a few rounds of singing though, only because Jeonghan is curious about this machine and because he has a public soft spot for Seokmin.
They’re in one of the rooms singing their lungs out. Seokmin is harmonizing with every single person he possibly can and Jeonghan busies himself videoing it down. He watches Joshua sing a girl group song with Seokmin and Seungkwan and laughs himself into a stich when Seokmin and Seungkwan start crumping. They scare off a few non-music majors and Jeonghan revels in it.
“This is our territory now,” Seungkwan announces, twirling and making an exaggerated face before squatting and jumping back up. Jeonghan laughs so hard he heaves and has to sit down for a second.
“I can’t,” he manages, breathless and shaking his head at Seokmin who is wiggling his way over to coax Jeonghan back up.
“I need to sit down,” Jeonghan insists, already seated, “maybe take a nap.”
“Hyung your age is showing,” Seungkwan teases but Jeonghan waves a hand of surrender, falling into another fit of giggles when Seokmin starts dancing up on him.
“I need a drink,” Jeonghan shakes his head, “another drink.” He playfully shoves Seokmin off him and looks to Joshua.
“Let’s go,” Joshua nods easily, handing his mic to Seungkwan.
“I can’t keep up with them,” Jeonghan wheezes when they leave the room, hand over his chest. Joshua laughs in agreement.
“I don’t know where they get all that energy from.” Jeonghan continues, raising his voice as the crowd around them seems to only get louder, “It’s the shots you gave them, I told you not to give children alc-”
Jeonghan’s sentence gets cut off when he slams his face into something hard and warm. It jolts him and he loses his balance, falling onto a warm human weight and taking it down with him. He hears Joshua exclaim at him mid-fall but he’s too busy trying not to fall wrongly onto the floor, limbs a mess.
“What the fuc-” Jeonghan exclaims when he and the human weight hit the floor with an unceremonious thud. There is consensus gasping and the once noisy room now quietens to soft murmuring. He hears someone groan beneath him and he struggles to push himself up.
“Are you oka- Ow, ow, ow” The person below him starts but quickly grimaces when Jeonghan jams a hand onto his stomach to try and leverage himself back up.
“Oops,” Jeonghan removes his hand immediately, apologetically. He struggles to remove his other hand from under the person.
“You’re lying on my,” Jeonghan gasps, struggling a little before looking up to shoot the person an exasperated look. He stills, eyes widening because Choi Seungcheol is staring at him from beneath him, eyes equally wide and lips slightly apart. Jeonghan’s eyes flick from Seungcheol’s face to his chest, where Jeonghan had slammed his face into. Oh.
“My hand,” Jeonghan finishes, swallowing. He’s trying not to focus too hard on Seungcheol’s very firm, broad shoulders so his eyes flick to Seungcheol’s stomach but Jeonghan quickly regrets that too because he’s greeted with a perfectly toned torso. O h.
“Sorry,” Seungcheol says-whispers and sounding a little breathless. Jeonghan opens his mouth to reply but he’s flipped on his back in one swift motion, locked under Seungcheol’s body. His hand is now free but it’s no use because he’s completely trapped. Jeonghan stares at Seungcheol, eyes wide and slightly questioning.
The moment is brief. Seungcheol’s face is inches from him, staring at him with an unreadable expression. Jeonghan blinks back, trying to decide how he feels about this suggestive position. He notes that Seungcheol is covered in a light sheen of sweat, which really, should be off putting especially when he’s stuck underneath him but who knew this was exactly up Jeonghan’s alley. Guess that decides how he feels about the position. Seungcheol’s tongue darts out briefly, licking his bottom lip as the pair remain unmoving.
Then the moment is over.
Seungcheol pushes himself off Jeonghan in one languid movement, picking him up as he does. The firm grip of Seungcheol’s hand lingers long after he’s let Jeonghan’s arm go.
“Were you just…?” Jeonghan’s face is teasing, a smile curving up his lips. Seungcheol laughs, embarrassed. He’s rubbing the back of his neck and Jeonghan chides himself for finding the action kind of cute.
“I was uh,” Seungcheol glances around the room, a shy grin on his face, “I was challenged to pull ups.”
Jeonghan raises his brows and follows Seungcheol’s line of sight to the door frame he was previously hanging from. A snort escapes Jeonghan’s lips and he brushes himself off. Someone in the room yells a rematch and Jeonghan crinkles his nose. He looks around the room and stills when he realizes that multiple sets of eyes are trained on him. Joshua steps forward from where he’d been standing, watching, and puts a hand on Jeonghan’s shoulder.
“You ok?” He asks softly. Jeonghan nods, still looking at Seungcheol. The room has started to buzz back to an acceptable party-volume and people are resuming conversation.
“You any good?” Joshua smiles at Seungcheol, eliciting a surprised laugh from the dark-haired boy. Jeonghan watches their interaction quietly but no less attentively.
“Not really,” Seungcheol shrugs with an embarrassed smile, “Mingyu is way better than I.” He jerks his head towards the tall, handsome boy leaning against the wall talking to a shorter boy with glasses. Jeonghan begs to differ but he keeps it to himself.;
“He’s modest too,” Joshua gasps playfully, looking at Jeonghan. The look on Seungcheol’s face makes the blonde chuckle. It’s funny how he manages to look completely clueless and pleased at the same time.
“We’ll leave you to it,” Jeonghan waves a hand at the crowd in the room before walking off with Joshua.
When he stops to steal a backwards glance, he finds Seungcheol still looking at them.
They escape outside to the backyard for some fresh air. Yes, backyard.
And just like Jeonghan mocked in the beginning, there’s a pool.
Jeonghan eyes it with disbelief. He looks at Joshua, then to the pool and then mouths a what the hell? Joshua only chuckles, shrugging his shoulders.
“Maybe we should have brought swimwear?” Joshua offers, both hands in front of him.
“No need for that,” Jeonghan announces, “I’m going to be swimming in alcohol by the time the night ends.” He marches right up to the make-shift bar table at the corner and proceeds to make himself a drink. “Someone explain this to me,” he says, voice purposely loud and probably meaning to embarrass.
“Shhh,” Joshua covers Jeonghan’s mouth with a graceful hand before he can say anything incriminating. Jeonghan’s speech muffles and he struggles in his best friend’s grasp before going slack and licking Joshua’s fingers.
“No,” Joshua chides with a gasp, removing his hand immediately with a look of horror. Jeonghan grins and makes a little triumphant twirl before his eyes turn serious. “Who is he?”
“What are you on about,” Joshua is wiping his hand on his jeans, sighing.
“Who is Choi Seungcheol?” Jeonghan clarifies, pouring vodka into a plastic cup. “Why does he have this large not-student house? Why is there a front yard?” He gestures dramatically, “and a backyard.” He waves his hand in a circle, addressing his immediate surroundings. “And a… boooooddyyy of water.” He finishes gleefully, punctuating his sentence with a huge gulp of his drink.
“You mean a pool,” Joshua’s face is a picture of indifference but his eyes say otherwise. He watches Jeonghan with amusement and fondness.
“Yes,” Jeonghan nods, pointing to it, “a pool.” He looks at it and then to Joshua and then he stumbles a little. "Swimming fool." He giggles.
“Woah there,” Joshua is immediately holding Jeonghan, supporting him. “I think you’ve had enough to drink.” He says with a little chortle.
“No, I’m going to drink all of this rich boy’s alcohol,” Jeonghan insists, lips pressed together. Joshua stills at that and Jeonghan stares at him with determination. Then, Joshua’s face softens, the initial disapproval he had melting away from something of sympathy. Jeonghan holds a finger up.
“No,” the blonde sniffs, aiming to cut Joshua’s train of thought off.
Joshua holds his tongue.
“Alright then.” He says after a pause, “Let’s drain him dry.” Joshua grins agreeably.
Jeonghan clasps his hands together gleefully before turning back to the table to make both of them drinks. He’s in the middle of pouring cranberry juice into his vodka when Vernon makes an appearance.
“Josh!” Vernon pulls the older boy into an embrace and Jeonghan peers over his shoulder. He notes the younger boy and gleefully pulls out another empty plastic cup.
“Where have you been?” Joshua laughs, shaking his head, “Join us. That one is making drinks. Hey- Hannie, go easy.”
“Mmhmm~,” Jeonghan replies cheerily, pouring more vodka into his cup.
“Did you catch Jihoon for ping pong?” Joshua asks conversationally and Vernon begins to tell him rather animatedly how that specific match went. Jeonghan tunes out when the pair switch to English, wondering if he should also make some shots.
“Hey,” someone says a little too close to Jeonghan. He flinches backwards to look at the person. It’s a guy he’s never seen before. He looks a little drunk but not drunk enough to not know what he’s doing.
“Hey,” Jeonghan replies easily despite his discomfort. He moves a little to give him space but the guy doesn’t take it.
“I know who you are,” the guy drawls out, his breath at Jeonghan’s ear. It makes him shrink away slightly but the guy reaches out to grasp his arm. “How about we go somewhere and you can-”
“Excuse me,” Joshua intercepts the guy, his voice is friendly but his eyes aren’t. He’s got a hand on the guy’s, prying it off Jeonghan. “Can I help?”
“You a fuckboy too?” the guy eyes Joshua up and down.
Jeonghan sees a flash of anger in Joshua’s eyes but it disappears as quickly as it appears. He swallows, forcing out a laugh. He makes to move forward to say something but Joshua holds him back with a gentle but extremely firm grip. Vernon is standing beside him, eyes trained on the guy and frowning.
“My friends are I are going to go over there,” Joshua says, enunciating each word with purpose, “and you are not going to follow us.” Jeonghan sees his best friend exhale slowly before giving the guy a tight, polite smile. Then he is dragged away by Joshua.
“Come on, Vern,” Joshua signals with his head at the younger boy and he follows the two older ones away from the make-shift bar.
When they’re well out of sight from the guy, Joshua takes the cup of alcohol that Jeonghan is holding and downs it. Jeonghan and Vernon exchange a look. Joshua gives the now empty cup back to Jeonghan (who pouts a little at it) and inhales a deep breath.
“I want to dance,” he announces firmly, shooting a look at Jeonghan to join him.
“Yessssssssss,” Jeonghan throws his head back and pumps a little fist in the air.
“Did someone say dance?” a familiar voice calls from behind them and all three of them turn in its direction.
“Seungkwan!” Jeonghan coos, throwing himself into the arms of the younger boy. “Where’s Seokmin?”
“Oh, Vernon, this is Seungkwan.” Joshua waves his hand from Vernon to Seungkwan, then back again. “And, Seungkwan, Vernon. You guys are the same age!”
Jeonghan peers at Seungkwan’s face curiously because younger boy has frozen up beneath is embrace. He looks at Joshua, who’s now got a confused but amused expression on his face. Vernon and Seungkwan are staring at each other stupidly and Jeonghan detaches himself from Seungkwan in favour of standing next to Joshua to whisper, “Are you seeing this?”
“Uh, hey.” Vernon clears his throat to hold out a hand in Seungkwan’s direction.
“Hi,” Seungkwan smiles albeit shyly, taking it.
Jeonghan smacks Joshua on his shoulder multiple times like the subtle gentleman he is.
“Let’s dance!” Jeonghan cheers gleefully, shoving the two together and grabbing Joshua to dance with him. Joshua shoots him a reprimanding look but goes along with the ride. They spend most of the time whispering and gushing about how Vernon and Seungkwan interact with each other.
“I have a feeling they’ve met before,” Joshua cocks his head thoughtfully. Jeonghan gasps exaggeratedly at the comment.
“Wild,” his whispers, wagging his eyebrows up and down. Joshua shoves at him playfully and they spend what seems like hours just dancing with each other, with verkwan (Jeonghan decides to name the pair) close by. Even Seokmin finds himself in the middle of this growingly adorable dance party and he brings with him Soonyoung, his dance major friend. Together they create little dance circle. Jeonghan laughs so much his face hurts. His head is swimming a little, no doubt that bitch-ass hangover Joshua had allowed him to have is making its way forward. He has a hand on Joshua’s arm as he decides to do away with his cup.
“We good?” Joshua raises his eyebrows at his best friend and Jeonghan nods cooperatively.
“I’m going to,” Jeonghan hiccups, “go to the loo.”
“Ok let’s go,” Joshua makes to go with Jeonghan but the blonde shakes his head, pushing Joshua away.
“Noo, no,” Jeonghan insists, patting Joshua’s head, “You stay and have fun. I’m gona be reaaaaaaaal quick.”
Joshua makes an unimpressed face but he doesn’t make to go after Jeonghan. The blonde takes a few steps away from him and pauses to say, “Stay.”
I know, Joshua mouths, rolling his eyes but they are a little concerned.
Jeonghan looks back about five more times just to make sure that Joshua is not following him and every time he does he sees Joshua staring back at him, hands on his hips as if to say go on then. Jeonghan giggles and weaves through the crowd that has now started to move outside to find a bathroom. He wanders through the house, now quite a mess with plastic cups, all sorts of trash on the floor. Jeonghan purses his lips at a wasted pizza slice fallen onto the floor.
He opens about four different doors to look for a bathroom. One of which was a broom closet with a very drunk and horny couple making out in. Jeonghan’s eyes widen and he makes a sheepish face, closing it quickly. He finds the bathroom after much struggling through the crowd and the multiple doors in the house. Like, why does this house have so many doors?
The bathroom he finds is upstairs and thankfully, unoccupied. Whilst in there he decides that he’s had enough alcohol because the floor is moving and the basin is on the ceiling. He laughs to himself as he makes his way back out to where Joshua is. He’s almost back to the cute dance circle of people he really likes when someone blocks his view.
It’s the guy that approached him before. Jeonghan’s blood runs a little cold.
“There you are,” the guy grins, inching closer to Jeonghan. “You’re not going to run away again, are you?” Jeonghan makes to move out of his way but the guy reaches behind him and grabs his ass. The feeling of sick that had been building up inside him threatens to explode over.
“Don’t touch me,” Jeonghan shoves the guy’s hand away firmly, eyes flashing. The guy stumbles backwards with an offended glare.
“Did you just,” he starts, head tilting to the side in an intimidating way that makes Jeonghan feel like running away. His legs though, seem to be planted completely firmly to the floor beneath him, against his will.
“Did you just shove at me?” the guy questions, tone mocking and threatening. Jeonghan swallows and clenches his fists. His mind is racing and his flight reflexes are screeching at him to move but he stays where he is. Jeonghan feels the motion before he sees it. Two large arms shoving at him till he falls backwards. He expects to feel the floor and the hard impact but instead, he feels the icy cold of water enveloping his body.
Ah, the pool, he thinks to himself.
Seungcheol and everyone around him turn their heads towards the pool when they hear someone yell. The angry yell is followed by a loud splash and Seungcheol is already pushing past the crowd to get to the centre of the commotion. He freezes at the sight of Jeonghan submerged in his pool and his eyes snap to the guy standing next to the edge of it.
“What’s going on here?” The words spill out of his lips. A general question to everyone who’s watching and not doing anything. Nobody replies him. Seungcheol spots Joshuji push past the crowd from the corner of his eyes. The leaner boy has on a well-controlled look of mild panic on his face and it sends a jolt of discomfort up Seungcheol’s spine.
Jeonghan’s head bops up the surface of the water comically but Seungcheol does not find it funny. In fact, he bristles at the way Jeonghan seems to find this amusing. They’re the centre of everyone’s attention and the air is heavy with tension. Tension that Seungcheol doesn’t comprehend and it frustrates him.
Deciding to deal with what he can first, Seungcheol drops to his knees to bend over to grab at Jeonghan’s shoulder. He pulls the blonde, soaked, boy out of his pool in one controlled movement. Jeonghan looks at him through his wet bangs, water droplets running down his cheeks. He has a smile on his face that Seungcheol cannot place and he doesn’t say anything, choosing to busy himself ruffling the water out of his hair.
Seungcheol takes a tentative step towards Jeonghan, unsure. It is a silent question: are you okay?
The smile is still on Jeonghan’s face when he looks up at Seungcheol but it doesn’t reach his eyes. It scares Seungcheol a little. He feels a sudden surge of protectiveness over the blonde and it is followed closely by brewing anger.
Seungcheol spins to square the guy up, jaw tensing and eyes flashing.
“If you have a problem, let’s take it outside.” He says evenly but there’s a dangerous bite to it, “I would like to deal with this in a civil manner.”
“I didn’t do shit man,” the guy puts both his hands up in quick defence. Seungcheol’s gaze hardens. Joshuji is next to Jeonghan now, saying something too soft for Seungcheol to hear. Every second that pulls past only makes it more difficult for Seungcheol to remain calm.
“I think you should go.” Seungcheol says to the guy, voice low. When the guy doesn’t move, Seungcheol just about growls. “Now.”
From the corner of his eye, he sees Jeonghan staring at him but Seungcheol trains his eyes on the guy until he backs off with an incoherent mutter, seeing himself out. It is only when the guy is out of sight does Seungcheol relax slightly, turning to Jeonghan with a furrowed brow.
“What happened?” He asks quickly, voice shaking a little from anger. “Did he hurt you?”
“I fell.” Jeonghan says with a nonchalant shrug, looking Seungcheol right in his eye. Something about it doesn’t sit well with Seungcheol but he cannot identify what. The hardened expression that Joshuji is sporting tells Seungcheol Jeonghan didn’t fall in.
The crowd that has gathered around them has started whispering. Seungcheol sighs. Pledis has an awful gossiping reputation and it’s been one that Seungcheol has managed to stay very far removed from. Now that it’s rearing its ugly head right in front of him, it’s a bit difficult to ignore.
Seungcheol hears someone whisper ‘cursed prince’ and he stills. What? He turns to the direction of the voice but everyone is looking at him and no one is saying anything anymore. He turns back to Jeonghan and the blonde has on an indifferent expression. Seungcheol turns back to the crowd, confused and frowning. He sees Mingyu in the crowd with the other baseball boys. His junior’s handsome face is twisted with worry. Seungcheol manages to offer him a small shake of his head, it’s okay. He turns back to where Jeonghan is standing with Joshuji and gestures to his house.
“I have towels inside,” he says softly, “I have fresh clothes you can borrow too if you like.”
“Thank you, but I think we’re going to head home” Joshuji cuts him off but it is not unkind. Seungcheol watches the boy shrug his jacket off to put it on Jeonghan. The blonde shivers a little.
“I’m sorry,” Seungcheol says to them both, unsure of what to do really. Joshuji shakes his head at Seungcheol, an effort to relinquish Seungcheol from any responsibility. Jeonghan looks down at his clothes and makes a little disappointed noise.
Is he… is he really focusing on his clothes right now?
Seungcheol watches as the pair take their leave, Joshuji giving Seungcheol a small smile as he ushers Jeonghan away. Jeonghan makes an exaggerate face, mouth pulling at the sides like he’s upset the other boy is taking him home.
“Cheol?” a tentative but familiar voice calls to Seungcheol and he turns to see his best friend looking at him with concern. He takes a sobering inhale before smiling at the crowd.
“It’s fine guys, I’m sorry.” He says, “It’s okay, don’t worry.” He holds his hands up at the concerned faces watching him. He walks up to Jihoon, thankful for his presence and drapes an arm over the smaller boy.
“It’s nothing,” he whispers easily with a grin at Jihoon’s questioning gaze. He pushes the younger boy towards the house, away from the crowd.
“Let’s get a drink and then get on that Karaoke machine because the boy with the lungs has been hogging it for too long.”