Chapter Text
The five boys met, as they always did, in a booth at the coffee shop on campus.
“Where’s Beomgyu-hyung?” Hueningkai asked, taking a tentative sip from his cup. “I can’t believe I had to buy my own drink this morning.”
“I called him fifteen times, and he only answered once to moan about being tired,” Taehyun said, shrugging. “I can’t babysit him if he doesn’t want to wake up.”
“No, you’ll only call him fifteen times,” Yeonjun teased, arm slung easily over Soobin’s shoulder.
The morning sun shone brightly into the shop as students milled about and the occasional sound of steam from the espresso machine zipped through the store. From the outside looking in, it would be hard to tell that two weeks had passed since the last time they were here. That a lot had changed, too.
“Don’t act like you didn’t have to practically carry Soobin-hyung here; I know how hard he is to wake up,” Taehyun said.
“I woke up on time today,” Soobin mumbled around his croissant.
“Are you guys living together now or what?” Hueningkai asked, never one to beat around the bush just like Taehyun never let a barb go unreturned.
“No, I, uh, have my dorm key now, so I’m still staying there,” Soobin said, despite the fact he’d only been back to grab a spare change of clothes and some toiletries in the past week.
“Okay, hyung,” Kai mouthed in an exaggerated fashion, a look of absolute disbelief on his face. “Can you just say you’re living together already, so I can make more money off Beomgyu-hyung?”
“How much did you bet?” Yeonjun asked playfully, eyebrows raising.
“Why do you wanna know?” Kai returned, suspicious.
“I want a cut, duh,” Yeonjun said. “I’m not going to let you rob Beomgyu alone.”
“I can’t believe you’re all conspiring against me,” Beomgyu’s voice drifted from behind the booth, and they all turned to look at the blond who had a mock look of dismay on his face.
“This is what you get for oversleeping,” Taehyun said, grinning and getting up from the booth to hand Beomgyu a cup. “Let’s go, we’re going to be late.”
As Hueningkai waved goodbye — not before whispering “30,000 won” to Yeonjun — Soobin turned to leave, too, but was quickly pulled back.
“Not so fast, baby,” Yeonjun said, placing a quick peck on Soobin’s cheek. “See you later.”
Soobin felt his ears turn pink, but he didn’t really mind.
✧✦✧
“I thought you said the weather would be nice,” Beomgyu grumbled, as his arm tightened around Taehyun’s.
“Not nice enough to go without a jacket,” Taehyun said, giving Beomgu a look that screamed ‘you’re an idiot.’ “It’s still March.”
“I wanted to look good for the photos,” Beomgyu whined, pouting for Taehuyn’s benefit. “A good boyfriend would give his to me.”
“Not if said boyfriend doesn’t want to freeze to death,” Taehyun shot back, though he did disentangle his arm from Beomgyu’s to place it around the blond’s shoulders.
“Wait, this is a good spot,” Beomgyu said, halting in the middle of heavy traffic to point at a few trees with bright pink blooms speckled on its branches. Taehyun tugged Beomgyu out of the way so they wouldn’t get run over by the steady stream of people on the sidewalk.
As Beomgyu bounded towards the trees, Taehyun pulled his phone out, taking a few surreptitious shots. Even candids of him were beautiful.
“Make sure to get a good angle!” He heard Beomgyu yell. Taehyun gave the ‘OK’ sign, though Beomgyu was too far away to see him rolling his eyes, too.
The first time Beomgyu asked for photos, he’d instructed Taehyun for twenty minutes on what his best angles were and how to get good lighting. Taehyun wished he could forget. Even through the camera lens, Beomgyu’s smile was infectious though, and Taehyun could feel a grin creeping up on his face as he took photo after photo.
After maybe fifteen minutes of posing, Beomgyu yelled, “I’M SO COLD, TAEHYUN, HELP!” before rushing the younger boy.
Beomgyu’s high-pitched yell caught the attention of those walking past, but Taehyun only had eyes for the blond hurtling towards him at an alarming rate.
They crashed into each other — with Beomgyu immediately diving in between the opening of Taehyun’s coat. Taehyun felt the breath knocked out of him, a smile splitting his face as he wrapped his arms around Beomgyu.
Somehow in the mess, Beomgyu must have taken out his own phone, because Taehyun suddenly heard the click of a camera shutter.
And then a photo of them, laughing, heads pressed closed together, was shoved in his face. “I’m going to post this one,” he heard Beomgyu say.
✧✦✧
“Kai, get back here; we’re losing!” Yeonjun yelled, as Beomgyu’s incoherent screeches rang in the background to further prove his point.
“My ice cream is melting; why are you both so bad at this?” Hueningkai complained, setting down his bowl to pick up his discarded controller.
Taehyun’s dorm room had been punctuated with yells — “You’re literally going in the wrong direction!” and “Who let Taehyun pick Lucario??” — for the past four hours, as the boys had piled in with snacks and movies and video games after a long week.
After Hueningkai complained for the eleventh time that they wouldn’t let him eat his snacks, they opted for putting on a movie. The five of them gathered together in a makeshift fort on the bottom bunk bed — Yeonjun’s head on Soobin’s stomach with the younger idly playing with his hair.
Suddenly Soobin remembered something he’d meant to ask earlier. “How were your dance classes today, hyung?” he murmured as the opening credits started.
“Hmmm? Good,” Yeonjun hummed, his eyelids already half-lowered, a content expression on his face as the movie started. “They were really good.”
✧✦✧
The sound of wheels crunching on gravel was unusual yet comforting. As the car came to a stop, Hueningkai opened the door, letting the warm summer breeze whip through his hair. It was getting longer now; he’d let it grow through the winter and spring months — ignoring his parents' and Soobin’s nagging of “you can barely see.”
The five of them shuffled out of the car, with Taehyun shaking Beomgyu awake with a “Yah! Get up!” Hueningkai guessed that’s just how they showed affection.
It took Beomgyu three tries to jam the key in the lock he was still so sleepy, and when they finally walked in, it was like nothing had changed.
Hueningkai glanced at the plush cream carpet of the living room; the stately fireplace which he’d almost used to set the whole cabin on fire; the marble kitchen counters Beomgyu had made them wipe down more than five months ago.
It was good to be back.
✧✦✧
“HAPPY NEW YEAR!” Beomgyu yelled from the middle of his crowded apartment, his voice shrill enough to be heard clearly above the loud music.
“Who’s going to tell him midnight passed forty minutes ago?” Soobin asked, snickering with Hueningkai as they sat on the couch.
“He’s just using it to get Taehyun drunk again,” Hueningkai said, leaning forward to get a better look at the disgruntled brunette in the crowd.
“Someone needs to save him, because Beomgyu won’t stop,” Yeonjun said, appearing behind the couch, throwing both arms over Soobin’s shoulders.
“Hyung, are you drunk?”
“Hmmmm, no,” Yeonjun said, sounding very drunk while leaning his cheek on Soobin’s head.
“I will not be the last sober one,” Hueningkai said, immediately taking Soobin’s untouched cup — courtesy of Beomgyu, again — and downing it.
Suddenly Beomgyu himself appeared from the crowd, tugging Taehyun along with him, “Happy new year!”
Yeonjun gave him a wry smile, “Happy new year, you ass, it’s almost 1.”
His words seemed to go over Beomgyu’s head though as the blond quickly laid shot glasses down on the table and a handle magically appeared for him to pour.
Taehyun sat down on the other side of Soobin, shoulders slack, “Happy new year, someone tell him he’s not allowed to take another shot.”
“Happy new year, I can take his,” Hueningkai said, nabbing the bottle out of Beomgyu’s hands, though it was too late.
“Happy new year, I am not taking care of any of you,” Soobin said, as he watched with wary gazes as the rest of them picked up the glasses.
“You have to take it!” Beomgyu yelled, far too loud for how close they were.
Soobin grimaced as he downed the shot, lips pulling back and nose scrunching.
“Happy new year,” he heard Yeonjun whisper, feeling him press a light kiss into his temple.
Soobin smiled.
✧✦✧
Yeonjun leaned against the wall outside his lecture hall, the murmur of students steady in the background as he peered down the corridor. Still no sign of him. Checking his phone, Yeonjun bit his lip when he saw there were no new messages.
It’s okay. There was still time.
Just as the thought entered his mind, he heard a familiar, endearing shout, “Hyung!”
His favorite voice in the world. Turning his head, Yeonjun saw Soobin’s tall figure hurtling towards him.
Soobin came to a stop in front of Yeonjun, purposefully too close, so Yeonjun had to cling onto Soobin’s elbows to steady himself, the two of them standing only inches apart.
Yeonjun let out a giggle, “Baby, why are you rushing? There’s still five minutes before class starts.”
“I was out with Hueningkai, so I had to go home to get it, and then I forgot my phone there, so I didn’t know what time it was,” Soobin panted, taking deep inhales between every few words.
Yeonjun threw his head back, laughing at how thoughtful his boyfriend was. “Well, take a break, you sound like you’re going to hack up a lung.”
“Here, hyung,” Soobin passed his calculator over. It was warm from being in Soobin’s grip.
“Thanks,” Yeonjun said, giving him a dazzling smile.
Soobin’s breathing stuttered, “Hyung, if you want me to catch my breath, that is not the way to do it.”
“Then you better get going before I do something to really take your breath away,” Yeonjun teased, eyes still sparkling. “Hueningkai must be waiting, too.”
Soobin nodded, returning Yeonjun’s bright look, “Good luck on your exam, hyung.”
“I’ll try extra hard, just for you,” Yeonjun said, winking, before opening the lecture hall door and disappearing inside.
Soobin stood staring at the closed door for just a moment longer — a weird sense of recognition coursing through his chest in beat with his rapid breaths. But if he remembered that they had met for the first time, one year ago, in this exact hallway — or thought that it might have been fate that returned them to this same spot — he stayed silent.
After a beat, Soobin's soft footsteps carried him back down the hallway.