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"Mine!"
Chan groaned as the familiar battle cry rung from one corner of the classroom. Kwon Soonyoung, a particular child that's been giving him and all the other teachers gigantic headaches. It was common for kids their age to have problems with sharing, but Soonyoung was on a whole different level. For example, if someone tried to take his blocks -
"Mine!"
If they tried to have a bite of his food -
"Mine!"
If they tried to play with Junhui -
"MINEEEE!!!!"
Oh yes, if he was going to talk about Kwon Soonyoung, there was no avoiding talking about Wen Junhui - the only child who was free from Soonyoung's tantrums. Junhui was Soonyoung's neighbor, and ironically, the younger boy (though only by five days) had been strangely protective of the older since day one, possibly due to the fact that he came from a foreign family, and Soonyoung felt responsible in some way. That didn't explain why he wouldn't let any of the other children play with Junhui though.
After the fifth child had come crying to him regarding Soonyoung's mean behavior, Chan decided enough was enough, and he had to put an end to Soonyoung's selfish acts once and for all - by sitting him down nice and comfortably in his favorite stool, with his favorite teddy bear nestled in his arms. In the gentlest way possible, Chan tried to teach Soonyoung the importance of sharing. At first, the child appeared quite understanding, nodding his head and blinking his wide innocent eyes at Chan's every explanation, but just when the young teacher was about to breathe a sigh of relief and pat himself on the shoulder for a good job done -
"Wait... does that mean I have to 'share' everything with everyone?" Soonyoung asked, his eyes batting rapidly, an almost pleading look on his face as he awaited Chan's reply.
"Yes."
"Including with Wonwoo?"
"Yes." The child's nose wrinkled in what appeared to be disgust.
"What about my food?"
"Yes."
"My toys?"
"Yes."
"E-even Junnie?"
"...Yes, even Jun."
That was the last straw. Soonyoung fell flat on his face (thank god for carpeted flooring), his hands and feet stuck out like a starfish, and to be honest, he had pretty much suctioned himself to the floor like one, "No!"
Chan started to regret everything in his life, but nonetheless still tried to coax the child, "Jun needs to make new friends, it's what's best for him-"
"NO!"
"Maybe you could introduce him to some of the other children and you can all be friends together-"
"NOO!!!" Soonyoung had puffed out his cheeks at this point, now resembling a human star pancake, minus the occasional flapping of his arms and legs in defiance.
Later that day, Hansol and Seungkwan had to give their own respective classes extra play time just so they could come over and help Chan move the child. Even after they had managed to get him off the floor, the boy still stubbornly clung to the carpet.
"All right, how about this?" Hansol had sighed, putting koala!Soonyoung down on a chair and squatting down so that he was at eye level with the child, "Let's tackle our problems one by one. Do you think you can at least share your toys?"
Soonyoung's puffed out cheeks grew even rounder.
"Come on, let's give it a try!" Seungkwan's tone was cheerful as he pinched the small boy's cheek lightly, "I'm sure Junnie will be very happy to see you performing such a gallant act!" The sound of a red button being pressed went off in Chan's head as little Soonyoung flashed a glare at his co-teacher, biting down on Seungkwan's finger mercilessly. "OW! What was that for?!"
"Only I get to call him Junnie!" Soonyoung griped, clutching the stuffed bear in his arms tighter.
The two proceeded to have a glaring showdown so intense that Chan could have sworn he heard the air between them crackle. Hansol stepped in once more with another sigh, "Listen... Because you refuse to share, all the children here think you're mean." Soonyoung looked like he couldn't care less and merely puffed out his cheeks again. "And since Jun is always hanging around you, the children are starting to think he's a meanie as well, and that would make Jun sad, wouldn't it?"
Brilliant! Chan exclaimed internally as Soonyoung's shoulders slumped, imagining Junhui's sad and lonely expression, maybe he'd even cry, and it'd all be his fault.
The child was silent for a few minutes before quietly and with reluctance, slid off his chair. He waddled his way over to one of the taller kids of their play group, and without a second thought, kicked him square in the butt. "Yo, Dumbwoo, you can have my bear."
His victim, the child properly known as Wonwoo, turned around to glare at him, and threw a paper shuriken towards his attacker before watching the toy float down weakly onto the floor. He had folded it from a tissue paper. Sometimes Chan couldn't figure out whether the child was a genius or just had dumb luck.
"Soonyoung, that's not how you talk to your friends!" Seungkwan scolded sharply, "Apologize, right now!"
The hamster-like child lowered his head, almost burying his face into the stuffed bear, soft sobbing noises emitting from the tiny shaking figure. It was almost enough to guilt Seungkwan into taking his words back, but thankfully, before the tears could spread, Wonwoo spoke up, "It's okay. I know that bear's his favorite. Being able to offer it must have been hard." Moments like these made Chan wonder why the two children were constantly at each other's throats- "Especially for an idiot like him who's incapable of doing even the simplest of things. As expected of selfish Soonfish."
"Say that again, Dumbwoo!"
And moments like these made Chan want to quit his job.
But time had a strange concept in mind. Who would have thought that the young class bully would grow up to be one of the most popular characters on campus? People even described him as the very embodiment of the sun when he smiled. Albeit he still retained quite a temper, but at least it was no longer over something as small as sharing now. In addition, who would have thought "Soonfish" and "Dumbwoo" would grow up to be the best of friends? They even agreed to move into the same flat, along with two other residents.
Aside from Soonyoung and Wonwoo, the third resident was Lee Jihoon, someone whom had been forcefully clumped together with, in his words, Dumb and Dumber, thanks to his shared title as the "Three Crowned Jewels" of their university. He had thought these things only appeared in cheesy manga targeted towards female audience, but man, people really did like to give tacky nicknames, didn't they?
As for the fourth resident -
"Happy Monday!" A bright and cheery voice chirped, and Soonyoung couldn't help showing his famous sunshine smile that always got people swooning. Jihoon rolled his eyes at Soonyoung, but greeted Junhui with a nod. Actually, he was the official third member of the Three Crowned Jewels, Soonyoung was referred to as the Prince. As for the reason... well, he called himself one, and everyone else eventually rolled with it. But that was as a member of their dance club, in private, Soonyoung wasn't that shameless. Still shameless, but not that shameless.
"Morning, Jun." Wonwoo greeted as the brunette practically skipped to the dining table and plopped down into the seat next to his raven haired flatmate, "So, Jihoon, you have yet to tell us which one is Dumb and which one is Dumber."
Swallowing a mouthful of cereal, Jihoon glanced warily towards the other end of the table, "It changes everyday, but right now, you are Dumb, and he's Dumber." The shortest of the four jabbed his spoon in Wonwoo's direction, then towards Soonyoung.
"Hey! What about Junnie?" Soonyoung whined, even though he was already used to being dragged into one of Wonwoo and Jihoon's verbal tussles.
Jihoon glanced towards said flatmate, "He's a fool."
"That's not fair, you're always softer on Junnie!" Wonwoo complained. Soonyoung's hand did a sudden quiver, he quickly put down his cup and put both hands back against the counter, pretending to be nonchalant.
"Aw, Jihoon loves me!" Junhui declared cheerfully, looping his arms around the smaller boy. The latter made a disgruntled noise, but otherwise showed no signs of struggling or contempt towards the intimacy.
Soonyoung let out a cough. "Three seconds."
At this, Wonwoo and Jihoon both shared a look. Not this again.
While Soonyoung may have grown out of keeping his toys and food all to himself, there was just one thing he still had a shit ton of problems getting over with, and that was "sharing" Junhui. He even went as far as to limit Wonwoo and Jihoon's so-called "bonding time" with the guy. It was a wonder how Junhui hadn't caught on, then again, considering the fact that Soonyoung had done this since kindergarten, he was probably used to it.
"Junhui, do you need a ride to campus?" Wonwoo asked as the brunette finally unwound himself from Jihoon and was now rushing to the door, mumbling to himself about being late for his first class.
"All good, Jisoo's picking me up!"
"Okay then."
As Junhui disappeared out the door, Wonwoo lowered his head to take another sip of his coffee, and Soonyoung's plastic cup dropped to the floor. "Who's Jisoo?"
Jihoon shrugged, "Probably someone he met in one of his classes."
"You guys knew and didn't tell me?"
An exasperated sigh. "Soonyoung, we know as much about the guy as you do, and it's okay. So Jun has other friends, just like the rest of us." Jihoon may as well had released a grenade. Soonyoung was emitting a terrible atmosphere that suggested he would rip Jihoon's head off if he dared suggest further. There was no way Junhui had another group of secret friends, or rather, Soonyoung was having a lot of trouble accepting the fact that he didn't know everything about Junhui after all.
"No, it has to be a kidnapper!"
"All right, even you know that's crazy- Soonyoung, come back!" Jihoon quickly got out from his chair and ran after the blonde, but thankfully he didn't have to run far. Soonyoung had stopped abruptly on the porch, causing Jihoon to almost crash into him. Before the shorter male could open his mouth and scold his reckless companion, Jihoon's eyes traveled past the self-proclaimed prince's shoulder towards a car parked at the curb.
Sure enough, there was Junhui, standing outside the car, looking out of breath and as clumsy as usual, his bed hair pointing in every direction while a hand reaching out from the car attempted to smooth it down. The stranger's strokes were gentle, and a tinge of red colored Junhui's cheeks. As though that wasn't bad enough, the hand made its way around Junhui's neck and pulled the boy's head halfway into the window. It shouldn't take an honor student to figure out what they were doing.
Jihoon tore his gaze away and looked at his trembling flatmate. "Soonyoung, are you..." he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. He wasn't fond of questions with obvious answers.
Needless to say, Soonyoung and Junhui's relationship had become extremely strained, much to the latter's confusion. Although Soonyoung wasn't yelling at him or demanding answers, it was almost painfully obvious how he was avoiding every possible chance of meeting or confronting Junhui. He would even go as far as to come home after midnight so that he wouldn't have to eat dinner with the others.
From the way Wonwoo's lips tightened to a thin line whenever he heard the now familiar sound of Jisoo's car pulling up near their place, Jihoon knew that he had caught on. He wasn't sure how, but sometimes Wonwoo just knew stuff. Perhaps it just came from being a good observer. Soonyoung didn't tell him for obvious reasons, and Jihoon figured it was none of his business to blab either, but to be truthful, they were probably all just waiting for Junhui to break the news to them.
Except he never did.
So when one night, Junhui decided to come home later than usual, specifically at 3am, Jihoon figured enough was enough, and all he needed was a word of confirmation from the boy. After knocking softly twice, Jihoon went ahead and pushed open Junhui's door, planning to get straight to the point, "Wen Junhui, this has been dragged on for far too long, and- Why the fuck are you crying and who do I have to punch?"
When his question was only met with soft sobs, Jihoon let his folded arms drop to his sides, though far from being in a relaxed state, they were balled into fists. "It's that Jisoo guy, isn't it?"
"N-no, it's not that..." the taller boy shook his head frantically, but louder sobs blurred out the rest of his words until they turned to hiccups.
Quietly, Jihoon closed the door behind him, and sat down next to his normally cheerful and upbeat friend. For the longest time, they stayed that way, one trying to pull himself together, and the other one just listening, waiting patiently. By the time Junhui's trembling began to ease up, his face was drenched in tears, clear dark circles forming in addition to swollen eye bags.
As gently as possible, Jihoon wrapped an arm around Junhui's shoulders, "What happened?" It took everything in his control system to stop himself from sounding too menacing, but he hoped that whomever drove Junhui into this state was prepared to pack their bags to Hell.
"W-we broke up..."
"Got it." Jihoon immediately stood up with his sleeves already rolled up halfway.
"No, wait, that's not why I'm sad!" He felt Junhui's grip around his wrist, stopping him from charging out and beating the crap out of Jisoo, "I-I knew he wasn't serious, but-"
"Got it."
"Jihoon, just sit down!" With much difficulty, Junhui managed to dragged Jihoon back onto the floor. He sighed. Sometimes Jihoon was almost as overprotective as Soonyoung. "Listen, no one was serious, it was all just an act. He had someone he wanted to get close to through me, and I..." instead of continuing, Junhui looked Jihoon square in the eyes, "I wanted to get a reaction. Specifically, a reaction from Soonyoung."
The redhead scowled.
"I don't know, I was kind of hoping for him to snatch me away from Jisoo like one of those cheesy K-dramas, and say something like, 'He's mine!' or whatever." Junhui laughed, a strained and broken sound. "But he wasn't even upset."
Jihoon's scowl got deeper. It wasn't out of confusion, but over how dumb the whole situation seemed to an onlooker like him. "So... the person I have to beat up is Soonyoung. That's cool, it's been long overdue anyway." Junhui arched an eyebrow at him. "All right, but jokes aside... Soonyoung was upset, okay? More than upset, he was devastated. Furthermore, I can't believe you still need to be reminded when he literally spent your whole life telling everyone else not to get too close to you."
Junhui sniffled, and blew his nose into a tissue paper. "You know, I used to get teased a lot. People liked to make fun of my accent, and one day, I cried in public. As a kid, that was incredibly embarrassing, and I refused to go back to school. It was from that day on Soonyoung became 'Soonfish'."
Jihoon listened patiently, he had heard this story countless times before from Wonwoo. He knew of Soonyoung's childish ways of protecting Junhui from getting hurt again, even though he was terrible at expressing his motives. But, he and Wonwoo also knew that overtime, those motives had changed.
"So I know he's just worried about me as a brother, he probably just feels responsible because he's such a kind person, but-"
"Oh, please." Jihoon wasn't able to hold himself back from blowing a raspberry. "Okay, yeah, you're right, Soonyoung's 'kind' and all, but you really think he's been doing this for your sake all this time?" The redhead took a deep breath, ignoring Junhui's puzzled stare, "I've only known you guys for two years or so, but I can tell. Soonyoung is overprotective of you for his own sake, he just wants you all to himself, but he's too scared to confess so he keeps the others away from you instead. I bet the dummy doesn't even realize it- and yes, it's that obvious." Jihoon asserted when the latter looked like he was about to protest.
"T-then why didn't he-"
"Because he's a dumbass. A kind dumbass, like you said. When he saw you and Jisoo 'kissing', he immediately backed off. I guess he just wanted you to be happy, because, well, he's just that kind of person." Jihoon took another deep breath that came out as more of a heavy sigh. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is... you should talk to him."
The brunette looked deep in thought, and was silent for a while before responding slowly, "...I understand. Thank you, Jihoon."
The next morning, Wonwoo entered the dining room after Jihoon and Junhui, immediately commenting with no sugarcoating whatsoever, "You guys look terrible." His eyes then narrowed at the tear tracks along Junhui's cheeks, "Why were there tears? Jihoon, did you bite him?"
"You're the one who bites." Jihoon grumbled, "And no. Believe it or not, Jisoo and him broke up-"
"Got it. Oh hey, I think that's his car outside-"
"WONWOO, PUT THAT BAT DOWN!" Junhui and Jihoon screamed/ordered at the same time.
"What's with all the fuss?"
All three turned to look at Soonyoung, still very much sleepy and still in his pajamas. But the drowsiness immediately vanished once his gaze fell on Wonwoo's bat, and confusion was replaced with rage once he shifted his gaze towards Junhui and the absolutely terrible condition he was in. As though to make things worse, Jisoo chose that very moment to ring the doorbell.
"...Wonwoo, open the door."
"Don't hurt him-"
"Jun, stay out of this."
"No," Jihoon interjected as Wonwoo made his way to the door, the bat still in his hand, "Soonyoung, Junhui, you two go sort out your own separate shit in one of the bedrooms, I don't care which, we'll deal with this guy."
"But-"
"Room. Now."
Soonyoung opened his mouth, but one last glare from Jihoon made him close it again grudgingly. Glancing towards Junhui, the so-called prince disappeared into his bedroom, leaving his door ajar, an indication for Junhui to follow, which the latter complied to.
Watching as the door closed behind the brunette, Jihoon turned towards their unexpected and probably equally unwanted guest, "So they're probably going to be smoochy in a bit, you want to tell us why you're here?" And then get the hell out? He added mentally. He didn't have anything against the guy after Junhui's explanation, but they hadn't had the chance to fill Wonwoo in, and the guy's gripped hand around the goddamn baseball bat was practically screaming bloody murder.
To Jihoon's surprise, Jisoo completely ignored the murderous atmosphere coming from Wonwoo and took a brave step towards him, "We were never in a relationship, I swear, I've only ever loved-"
"You dumped my friend." Wonwoo replied coldly, but his gaze was fixed elsewhere.
"Wonwoo, please, it was all just an act! We made a deal, if neither of you made a move after one month, we'd break it off-"
"Excuse me, but should I even be here for this?" Jihoon hated interrupting all the time, but it wasn't his fault the people around him just loved to act out their K-dramas without surveying their surroundings first, "And more importantly, you knew Jisoo before, uh, this?"
His bespectacled flatmate shrugged as Jisoo buried his face into his coat collar sheepishly. The action made Jihoon's eyebrows raise. When Jisoo and Junhui were "dating", the older always seemed like the perfect gentleman, mature, gentle, and calm; nothing like the disheveled and flushed ball of fluff almost curled right up against Wonwoo. He wouldn't be surprised if Junhui had met him in the drama club.
"We went out for a bit in high school, until he flew off to America without so much as a goodbye."
"I wanted to tell you, but it was a really sudden decision! You know how overprotective my family is-"
Jihoon could piece out what had happened from there, and decided it was best to give the two some privacy. Seriously, why did all of his friends have to be so difficult or make simple problems overly complicated? It really wasn't rocket science.
After Jihoon vanished into the kitchen, Wonwoo stared down at Jisoo, who was now biting onto his lower lip, his body quivering under the younger's glare. Wonwoo's expression was unreadable. Honestly, he was more than willing to take back the cat-eyed male, as much as he hated himself for it. They were completely obsessed with each other in high school, had greedily sought for another, and of course, enjoyed the feeling of simply being in love. Naturally, it took ages for him to get over Jisoo's "betrayal", especially since Soonyoung was busy warding off Junhui's admirers and Wonwoo didn't even have the chance to tell him about their relationship. Needless to say, high school wasn't the fondest memory for any of them.
"Wonwoo, please."
Another lump lodged itself in Wonwoo's throat. Jisoo wasn't the type to beg, he really wasn't. It was one of the things he loved most about him. Gentle, but strong, he never needed anyone to fight for him, but now here he was, looking completely vulnerable in front of Wonwoo.
"It's hard for me to trust you again, and I need you to understand that." The raven haired male spoke slowly, he needed to choose his words wisely. "But I'm not saying that I'm unwilling to trust you again, I just need some more time."
Stepping back slightly, Jisoo finally met Wonwoo's eyes. Although disappointment was apparent in his gaze, the older nodded. "I'll wait."
Meanwhile, the duo in Soonyoung's bedroom had fallen into awkward silence. Junhui had come clean with Soonyoung regarding the dating act with Jisoo, and admitted to hoping it'd inconvenience Soonyoung in some way. The blonde's eyes had grown wide, though no other reaction came.
In the meantime, Junhui had resorted to nervously fiddling with his fingers to pass the time, occasionally glancing up at Soonyoung to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep standing up. It had happened before.
After what seemed like centuries, a sigh came from Soonyoung's direction. "Maybe it's time for us to revisit Blankey." Junhui looked up quizzically, but his eyes quickly widened when Soonyoung turned his head towards the bed.
It was something they did as kids. Whenever they got into an argument, their parents would force them to have a sleepover, and it'd almost always end in them making up by bedtime, and they'd share the bed, wrapped up in the same blanket like a burrito. Junhui had childishly commented that it was Blankey's magic that allowed them to make up.
"Soonyoung, I don't think-"
"Get in."
Although still reluctant and embarrassed, Junhui's mouth clamped itself shut. He then found himself sliding into his childhood friend's blanket just as instructed. It was far too small for the two of them, and the bed felt cramped, but something about it still brought nostalgia. His back was pressed against Soonyoung's, and he felt their breathing slowly matching. Another silence washed over them, but at least this time it was not as uncomfortable, in fact, Junhui felt quite at ease.
The younger was the first one to break the silence again, "I don't like it when you keep things from me. I don't like not knowing. But I understand, you have your own life, and you need your own space. I just... don't like it." Soonyoung licked his dry lips. "I don't want to be left out of your life."
"...I know," Junhui replied, feeling rustling behind him as the blonde turned around, arms looped around his waist, "It's the same for me. I try not to show it, but I get really jealous when you're with Wonwoo. You guys have your own inside jokes, and you always refer to him as your best friend. Not me." The last part was croaked out with difficulty, and he felt the arms around him tighten.
"But be honest, Junhui, would you refer to me as your best friend?"
The older paused. He had never actually thought about it before, mostly because no one ever questioned it. Everyone automatically assumed that they were best friends, he never had to say it outright. But was it really just because of that?
A low chuckle tickled his ear, "You see? At some point, we stopped seeing each other as 'friends', but... something else." Junhui held his breath as Soonyoung unhooked one arm and brought it down on the opposite side, hoisting himself up so that he was hovering above the brunette. "You wanted me to call you 'mine', right? Then I'll say it again, and again, and again, until you grow tired of it."
The older let out a laugh, weak from embarrassment. Why did Soonyoung have to be so cheesy? Then again, that was how he liked him. But he still had his own pride to hold onto. Before Soonyoung could even bat an eye, Junhui lifted himself up from the mattress slightly, his lips brushed past the younger's, stealing a kiss. Or more precisely, their first kiss.
Looking at the reddened cheeks and goofy smile that was starting to spread on Soonyoung's face, Junhui knew they owed Blankey again.
Jihoon should be happy that Soonyoung and Junhui were finally able to get their relationship straight, and he had thought now that Junhui was "officially" Soonyoung's, the blonde would stop acting so uptight about other people getting close to Junhui. But no, the "prince" was getting pettier than ever, he even carried a stopwatch around. Although this was mostly only used when Jisoo came over.
Other than that, Soonyoung had finally loosened up and didn't mind even when Junhui showered their flatmates with hugs. Though poor Jisoo still got glared at, and was constantly warned that his "10-second mark" was coming up.
To this, Jihoon had suggested that Wonwoo hurry up and make a decision on whether to dump the guy once and for all or man up and take him back. Should it be the opposite way around? Anyhow, Wonwoo always responded by dodging the topic, and continued to drag on the decision.
Until one night, Jihoon was woken up by the sound of beds creaking. That's right, not just a bed. Beds.
"Okay, you guys either come up with separate schedules, or I'm moving out."
"Wait, you really want us to draw up schedules?"
"Oh my, congratulations, Wonwoo!"
"I'm moving out."
And so, for the sake of Jihoon's sanity, a new bullet point was added to their flatmate agreement.