09

                                    

                                          


                          
☽

                          


                          
8:08 pm.
                          
He's being irrational when, just as he's bent down to tie his shoelaces, Mingyu comes to him with a proposal. He's being irrational when he considers it.
                          
"A party?"
                          
"A party," Mingyu repeats. "You and I both know you won't be sleeping anytime soon, Jihoon, so you might as well."
                          
"I don't know ... "
                          
"Come on - Please? You haven't gone to one in ages, it'll be fun."
                          
"Why are you asking me? Would I really make a difference to you if I went?"
                          
Mingyu grins shyly, "Wonwoo wants to meet you. He said he's tired of hearing me talk about you all the time and not knowing who you are."
                          
"Right," Jihoon stands, rolling his eyes, "because I'm sure you talk about me all the time."
                          
"Only because I love you so much."
                          
Jihoon just watches the boy in front of him, swaying with anticipation, while he weighs his options. On the one hand, the café is warm and safe and comforting, and the only person Jihoon is bound to interact with is Soonyoung - on the other, parties are loud and sweaty and messy, and Jihoon's not so much of a people person and sometimes it's hard for him to breathe when it gets so crowded, but Mingyu's looking at him like that, all hopeful, and Jihoon knows this means more to him than he's letting on.
                          
"You really want me to go, huh?" Mingyu nods. Jihoon sighs.
                          
"Fine."
                          


                          
9:22
                          
Jihoon barely holds back another groan as Mingyu, quite literally, drags him by his arm from person to person. "When do I meet Wonwoo?" Jihoon says, having to strain his voice over the music, loud enough that he can feel it buzzing in his bones. "Isn't he the reason you wanted me to come?"
                          
Mingyu shouts something back, but Jihoon can't quite make it out. He's been doing good, so far, keeping his smile quaint and his words to a minimum with each person he was introduced to (how does Mingyu know so many people?) - but he can feel his head start to get full, too light and too heavy at the same time. Strobe lights dance behind his eyes and sickly sweet perfume clouds around his thoughts, bringing with them the distant throbbing of an oncoming headache. He should ask to step outside, just to get a breath of fresh air, before his throat starts to -
                          
"Wonwoo!" Mingyu's voice suddenly rings like an alarm bell, snapping Jihoon out of his thoughts and tugging him over to the kitchen with more force than necessary.
                          
Once he manages to focus his vision, Jihoon finds himself face to face - or rather, face to chest - with a boy who looks every bit as Wonwoo as Mingyu had described him to be. They've never seen each other before, but Jihoon finds him almost familiar; Mingyu had met Wonwoo, a study advisor at their university, less than a year ago - and he'd been head over heels for the boy ever since their first session, memorizing every quirk and feature to the point of obsession. Jihoon says it's weird, and Mingyu tells him he'll eat his own words, someday.
                          
He's nice enough, shaking Jihoon's hand with a smile that borders on bashful, and sure, he's handsome - but Jihoon can't imagine being so hung up on someone the way Mingyu is.
                          
But then, someone tugs on Wonwoo's sleeve when he's in the middle of talking - flirting? Jihoon can't tell - with Mingyu, effectively saving Jihoon from third-wheeling, but also sending him reeling when he realizes who it is.
                          
"Yeah?" Wonwoo says, turning, and Jihoon's eyes turn with him. 
                          
Soonyoung is pretty, Jihoon had decided long ago, with a nose cuter than Pluto and a face that would be all-too-easy to reach out and hold, but his breath catches in his throat nonetheless.
                          
He stands under the yellow halo of the kitchen light overhead, what may possibly be the least flattering lighting Jihoon's ever seen, somehow still managing to look ethereal. He isn't wearing his usual dark work apparel, opting for an adorably oversized hoodie and a pair of jeans that, really, he shouldn't be allowed to wear -
                          
"Jihoon?"
                          
Oh, he's looking at him. He's looking at Jihoon, and Jihoon finds his mind reaching in every possible direction - What am I wearing? What does my hair look like? Is my face red? Have I been quiet too long? Am I being rude? - and he splutters for maybe a moment longer, trying to think of what to say, but it's Wonwoo who speaks first.
                          
"You two know each other?"
                          
Soonyoung nods, his head quickly bobbing in time with Jihoon's heartbeat, "Yes, Jihoon and I are friends - aren't we?"
                          
He's not sure, but Jihoon thinks he feels himself smile, nod. A little too forcefully and a little too fast, maybe - but an agreement, nonetheless.
                          
Friends.