Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The park was lonely and quiet when Jaehyun arrived, which was unlike the usual energy that lingered the air when he arrived in the evenings. Two people sat at the far end on a funbox, legs crossed with a skateboard propped between them with a convenience store container of sushi on it. Jaehyun recognises the first person to be Kim Donghyun, while the person before him was unfamiliar.

Jaehyun drops his board as he neared them. "Park's quiet."

"Everyone went home early because Ginger came early," Donghyun replies as he places his disposable chopsticks to the side of the container. "No one wanted to deal with him, so Woonhak and Sungho left. Sanghyeok never arrived in the first place." Donghyun suddenly points his eyebrows at the boy in front of him. "Dongmin, this is Jaehyun hyung. Hyung, this is Dongmin."

"Hi," is all the boy ahead says as he waves his hand. Jaehyun smiles as he waves his hand, eyes flickering over the boy's face for a few seconds before he returned his gaze to Donghyun to avoid staring. "Donghyun told me about you — you skateboard?"

"Jaehyun hyung practically formed the group," Donghyun replies. "Sungho, Sanghyeok and Jaehyun were classmates and Woonhak is a kid that just fell over one time and cried, so Sanghyeok taught him how to ride his BMX without, like, breaking his wrist every time."

"And you?" Jaehyun asks with an amused tone. "How did your ass end up here?"

"Sanghyeok's my boyfriend, whatever."

Jaehyun grins brightly as he places his board on the ground. "I'm gonna do a couple rounds and I'll be back with you two."

"Let me join you," Dongmin says suddenly as he gets up from the funbox. "What type of board is that? I'm kind of new to skateboarding."

"Birdhouse 8.25," Jaehyun answers. "Wanna try it?"

"Birdhouse...? Tony Hawk?"

"Basic, I know," Jaehyun laughs rather heartily. "I've owned this thing for six years now, so she's got a bit of years on her."

"Hyung's been skating for as long as I've known him," Donghyun says as he picks up his Monster energy. "When I got here, we were still teenagers."

"Glad to have someone new join the group because Woonhak can never be here after 5pm because he's still a high-schooler," Jaehyun said with a chuckle as he invites Dongmin to his board. "You said you're new, right? I hope Donghyun taught you some stuff."

Dongmin steps onto the board, skating confidently down the pathway. Jaehyun uses the quiet between himself to ask more questions about the quiet park, but Donghyun senses the topic before he asks. "Ginger was looking for Luzhen," he says, earning an eyeroll from the older. "He's always here to beat Jeno's ass for being a complete loser. He didn't even steal her — he lost her."

"Loser," Jaehyun scoffed as he turned away, fiddling in his hoodie pocket before tossing a thin electronic device to the younger. "There's some juice left, so you can finish it."

"Sweet, I've been craving," Donghyun thanks as he closes the sushi container to take a pull from the vape in his hand. "Too bad they don't contain nicotine."

"Do you really have time for a nicotine addiction?"

Donghyun shakes his head. "Nah, don't think so. Sanghyeokie might get upset."

Jaehyun's eyes fall on the boy that had borrowed his board to ride around and smiled, watching him sink into the bowls and fall at the end as he was unable to ascend past the bowl rim. "He's good for a beginner."

"He started two weeks ago, but had only been practicing in our street and stuff," Donghyun says, eyes following Dongmin as he picks himself up from the ground. "I hope Ginger doesn't come around and start harassing him or some dumb shit. Dongmin's actually trying to become better."

"Where did you pick him up from, anyway?"

"We live in the same street," Donghyun begins. "He's a childhood friend."

"He's..." Jaehyun quickly stops himself, choosing to rather smile cryptically. "Did Ginger fight with anyone?"

"Jeno wasn't here," Donghyun shrugs, "so there wasn't really any reason to start a fight. Sungho hyung probably showed a bit of irritation with his presence so he almost started a fight, but not enough to break one out."

"Look, look, look. He's trying to get out the bowl."

"Go help him out," Donghyun says with a chuckle. "It looks like you want to hang out with him. He's excited to get the cuts and scrapes, though — says that they're evidence of growth."

"He's right, though." Jaehyun placed his backpack on the ground. "I have some spray cans there from my older brother. We can do the walls before we leave."

"Hyomin caught us last time and threatened to tell my mom, you know."

"Pussy."

"So what?"

"I'll take Dongmin with me, then," the older scoffs as he scurries over to the boy at the bottom of the bowl. Dongmin glances up at him as Jaehyun lies on his stomach, head leeching over the edge as he holds his hand out. For a moment, they made eye contact and Jaehyun notices how long his eyelashes are. Dongmin is more attractive than Jaehyun wants to admit out loud. He ignores the pooling heat in his chest and wiggles his fingers invitingly. "Wanna come tagging with me?"

"Tagging?" Dongmin asks rather innocently as his hand latches onto Jaehyun's, lifting himself out the bowl and sitting on the edge. "You got spray cans?"

"Yeah, my brother does spray paint customs on skateboards, so he gives me leftovers," Jaehyun replies as he takes his board from Dongmin's hands. "You're good for a beginner. Can't wait to see you fall another 100 times."

Dongmin laughs in response. "Thanks, I guess. Can't wait to experience it." Jaehyun quietly assesses the paint chipping at the bottom of his board and Dongmin quietly watches for a moment before speaking up. "Who's Luzhen?"

"Jeno hyung's girlfriend," Jaehyun replies simply. "Luzhen and Ginger dated a couple months back before she broke up with him because he's a piece of shit and Jeno is honestly better than any other guy out there when it comes to being a good boyfriend. And he's hot too. He really, really, really likes Luzhen and it's pathetic how he just falls apart for her."

"Guys that pathetically love their partners are good partners, though."

"True — it doesn't look like they'll be breaking up anytime soon," Jaehyun chuckles. "The only problem is that Ginger is a sore loser and keeps trying to get her back when Luzhen is not interested whatsoever. He called her fat and stuff and kept forcing her to lose weight or whatever."

"So... Ginger's a piece of shit, huh?"

"Basically," Jaehyun nods with a laugh. "But enough of that guy — are you gonna come spot hunting with me? Bring your board and I can show you how to do stuff."

"Is Donghyun coming with?" Dongmin stands up, walking over to where Donghyun still sat, occupying himself with his phone. "Hyun-ah, we're going spot hunting then tagging. Coming?"

"Sanghyeok wants to watch Inside Out 2, so I'm out," Donghyun hummed, picking up his skateboard propped up against the funbox. "I'll see you guys tomorrow with everyone else. Sungho's working until 2pm, though."

"He also fucked up his board yesterday, so I don't think he'll be skating," Jaehyun says, earning a look of confusion from the other. "We were practicing some nollie backside 360s and this idiot landed flat on the tip and cracked the entire end right past the truck."

"Oh, shit — I'll lend him my old board until he gets a new one, then," Donghyun hums. "Dongmin, don't catch on too much shit because my mom thinks you're with me right now and she'll think I'm a bad influence if you're caught tagging."

"Yessir," Dongmin calls out as he flips his board up into his hand. "I'll see you at home, then. I'll probably get home and show you if Jaehyun hyung is a good teacher or not."

"Hey, fuck you, I'm a great skateboarding tutor!"

Dongmin simply grins as he places his board down and skates out the park. Jaehyun bumps his fist against Donghyun's as he skates off, following the younger out the park. Dongmin's quite fearless already and has good push length to run himself forward. Jaehyun grins slightly as he pushes forward quite a bit to catch up with Dongmin, skating a few metres behind him as he waves through the few people walking the quiet streets.

"Careful for the grooves," Jaehyun warns as he crouches slightly to increase his speed. Dongmin makes a sound for acknowledgement, slowing down when they reached a corner. "Here's a 5-step — you wanna try?"

"A drop? I can't do those yet," Dongmin says quickly as he stops his board alongside Jaehyun. "Show me."

"You gotta start falling, dude," Jaehyun laughs as he runs up the stairs. "Watch traffic for me — if there's no cars, I'll ride the handrail."

Dongmin glances down the street as Jaehyun runs further back. "No cars!"

Dongmin hears Jaehyun's board on the concrete, watching as he ollies onto the handrail and grinds down, landing on the concrete beside Dongmin and skates off to the side. Jaehyun exclaims in shock that he managed to land the jump, laughing as his board skids off to the side. "I thought I'd go into the street!"

"That was good," Dongmin compliments immediately. "Do a straight jump down over all five, no rail."

"That's easier than grinding," Jaehyun says as he stops at the bottom of the concrete staircase. "Let's first find a spot with more ramps and stuff so that I can do some more flips. Can you do flat tricks yet?"

"I'm almost there with the ollie, but Donghyun said that I ride goofy and I don't know what that means, it sounds bad."

"Face the right when you push," is all Jaehyun says as he continues skating past. "I'd say you're past that extreme beginner stage because you're not afraid of picking up speed. Your balance is good, so we can skip the bottom steps of improving."

"I just want to eventually start doing tricks — I'm not scared of the reckless shit, either," Dongmin hums as he skates beside Jaehyun. "Y'know, I didn't think that Donghyun would have such attractive friends."

"You think I'm attractive?" Jaehyun asks with a laugh as he stops. "Well, I think you're pretty."

"Pretty boys know how to swing skateboards into people's faces."

"Damn, okay. Do that to Ginger tomorrow and you might settle well in Jeno's good books."

Dongmin's laugh was as pretty as his face.

Chapter Text

"So what do you think of him?"

Jaehyun kicks his board up before walking to a funbox and jumping up the ramp side. "Who?"

"Dongmin-ah."

"He's decent," is all Jaehyun says as he skates down, picking up speed before attempting to kick flip, but fail. "He's got potential as a skateboarder, I mean. He's eager enough to not fuck around and is actually serious about improving."

Donghyun watches as Jaehyun flips his board over with his foot and immediately skates ahead. "Well... he skated a couple years back and stopped because he broke his ankle. He recovered and his mom took away his skateboard because she thought that he'd get hurt again, and he didn't pick it up again until now."

"Dramatic much?"

"His mom? She always has been — well, 'dramatic' is an understatement. She smashed his bass guitar because she's literally crazy."

"... what the fuck, Donghyun."

"Never liked her," Donghyun concludes as he kicks his board off. "Dongmin and I knew each other since we were kids, but I could never drag him out because of his psycho mom. She thought I'd be a bad influence on him or something but I'm literally an angel, so I don't know what the hell her problem is. She let him have a board now, at least, but she completely shattered his love for music."

Jaehyun was quiet for a bit. "Is he okay...?"

"He's holding on," Donghyun answers honestly. "It's why I brought him here — to make a group of friends that'll become his best friends. I don't know how close he considers us to be, but I like to think that we're childhood best friends. I'll wait for him, though, because he's as introverted as what I am." Donghyun stops his skateboard, flashing a smile to the older. "You'll be his friend, right?"

"Obviously! Probably would've become his friend without your urging, anyway," Jaehyun laughs as he plops down on the concrete. "He's a chill guy. He's excited to catch on shit, I think. I understand why now, now that you explained the situation with his mom. He wants to rebel — he wants... freedom."

"Which is why we have to keep Ginger away from him," Donghyun speaks softly. "I can't forget what he did to Woonhak when he got here. That bastard needs to find a different damn skate park to harrass people at."

"Ginger won't do anything if I'm around, don't worry."

Donghyun was quiet for a moment before kicking himself off in a random direction, not really paying attention to where he was going. "Do you think he's attractive?"

"Wh—?! I'm telling Sanghyeok."

"Not for me, Bozo! Be honest!" he defends immediately as he stops his board.

Jaehyun doesn't think for too long. "I guess he is — why, does be like boys? Does he take or give when he's with boys?"

"I don't fucking know — you ask him, gay boy."

"You're literally dating a man! All of a sudden, I'm the token gay boy of the group?" Jaehyun scoffs as he crosses his arms. "And yeah — Dongmin's kinda pretty. No homo, I don't like boys like that. I hope he gets a boyfriend or whatever."

"Dongmin told me to tell you that he thinks you're hot."

Jaehyun smiles a little. "It's because I called him pretty last night before we went tagging. It's nothing serious, relax."

Donghyun's smile has fallen significantly as he crosses his arms. Jaehyun wonders if he did anything wrong, but Donghyun doesn't seem to be accusing him of anything. "Hyung..."

"Donghyun, we met yesterday, so relax! It's playful banter, I swear," Jaehyun scoffs as he gets on his board and rides off. "I'm getting him comfortable, okay?"

"Stop flirting with him! He just got here!"

"He flirted first!"

"Well, don't flirt back!" Donghyun scolded, his tone more serious than his expression. "I like you as much as the next guy, but he just got here. He's excited to finally be allowed outside, and I have no doubt that he's going to catch on shit — such as tagging with you."

"Are you saying I'm a bad influence?"

"Well, are you?"

Jaehyun falls quiet for a moment, glancing about as his face flared up with embarrassment. "I won't flirt with your friend, jeez! Stop talking shit about me. I won't take him tagging, either. I'll just teach him how to skate — okay?"

Donghyun just about prepares a snarky response, but is interrupted by the sound of another skateboard nearing them. Both look up and see a familiar black-haired friend that had recently become the topic of conversation recently. Donghyun's eyes brighten as the girl trailing not too far behind waves her hand brightly. "Jeno hyung, Luzhen noona...!"

"You two are here early," the girl calls out with a laugh. "Jen didn't think that anyone would be here so early."

"But of course it would be Jaehyun," Jeno chuckles as he bumps his fist with Jaehyun's and then Donghyun's. "I heard Ginger was here yesterday. What did he do?"

"Not much, thank God," Donghyun answered. "Sungho nearly fucked his face up, but we all separated them before anything bad could happen."

"Sungho? Jeez," Jeno winces as he walks past them. "Game of skate, Jaehyun? First to land a backside nollie 360 shuvit owes the other a Monster."

Luzhen sat on one of the benches at the far end of the park and Donghyun followed, sitting beside her with his legs raised to his chest. Luzhen sighed heavily as she watched Jeno fall to the ground almost immediately. "Why am I dating that idiot...?"

"Because he's horribly down bad for you and loves you so much," Donghyun laughs before taking a pull from the vape in his hand. "He fought for you."

"I'm glad he did, but someone like me doesn't deserve that effort."

"... someone like you?"

"Y'know... unremarkable. Uninteresting." She laughs slightly as she looks up to meet Donghyun's quietly fierce eyes. "Obviously you wouldn't think that—"

"Of course I wouldn't, noona," Donghyun says quickly. "I wouldn't think that and neither would Jeno. He's so obsessed with you and he likes you so much. He loves you more than Ginger ever would, and I hope you remember that. You're a close friend to everyone here and we don't care how many fights we have to get into to make sure you know that." He offers a smile. "Besides, I think we like fighting with Ginger because he's genuinely just a piece of shit."

Luzhen holds her breath for a moment before nodding. "I'm genuinely glad to have all of you around me. I've never felt so secure in my life. And I know that Jeno likes me a lot, too."

"You're very pretty, too, but I think his attraction goes beyond just finding you pretty."

"P-pretty?! No, no, no—"

"If Jeno heard you deny that you're pretty, he might actually lose his shit."

Luzhen sighs softly as she watches her boyfriend stumble off his skateboard after failing to land. "He's... he's crazy, isn't he?"

"For you, yes."

×××

It's just about 9pm when Dongmin arrives at the park, his skateboard placed between his back and backpack, waving his hand to Dongmhyun as a quick greeting before taking his bag off and dropping it on the usual funbox where they sat. "Sorry I'm late — my mom was being a hassle."

Jaehyun watches as introductions are thrown here and there, because Dongmin was only really familiar with Donghyun and himself, and Jeno is more than excited to have a new friend. Jaehyun watches quietly, smiling as he and Dongmin make silent eye contact for a moment before Donghyun practically drags him off to skate with him. Jaehyun contemplates joining them, but it feels odd to just insert himself between them, so he sticks to himself as he plays music through his earphones.

Jaehyun locks his phone suddenly, standing up and walking over to Jeno. "I've got some spray cans, you coming?"

"There's police near the Apgujeong train station, so I don't think it's safe tonight," Jeno says as he shakes his head. "We can place stickers and stuff, but tagging is out of the question tonight."

"I'll go with you," Dongmin says suddenly, earning both boys' attention. "I had fun with you last night, so I don't mind being with you again."

Jeno raises a curious eyebrow. "That sounds weird out of context. What did you two do last night?"

"We bonded," Jaehyun answered, meeting Dongmin's eyes with a stifled giggle as they quietly agreed to drive everything our of context. "We stayed together until the late hours of the night."

"We spent every moment together," Dongmin adds, clearly trying not to laugh. "It was fun with him — I really didn't think that my time would be so well spent with Jaehyun hyung."

Jeno frowns at the two. "Are you two...?"

"Are we what?" Jaehyun asks with a chuckle. "Friends? Yeah."

"No — more than friends."

"I'd never date this poser," Jaehyun quips as he finally laughs. "You know that you're my type, Jeno hyung. I'll only want you until the end of my days."

Jeno rolls his eyes. "You'll have to compete with Luzhen, and I'd have to compete with Sungho."

"Dongmin-ah, tell Donghyun you're coming with me," Jaehyun says as he places his board on the ground. "Luzhen! Jeno's leaving with me!"

×××

The alleyway that the three run down is dark , laughing as a particularly old lady starts yelling at them for speeding down the narrow pathway and nearly bumping into her. Dongmin still straggles behind, having to get off his board multiple times due to nearly falling over. They reach a quiet part of the alleyway and Jeno quickly jumps up, slapping one of the logo stickers he has against the brick wall above one of the doorways. Jaehyun does a similar action, sticking a few of the stickers in messy sequence on a garage door to their right.

"What logo is this?" Dongmin asks as slaps the sticker on a street light pole. "I thought it was just graffiti, but it says something."

"Dead Frequency — my brother's indoor skate park," Jaehyun answers. "We can visit tomorrow if you want. We can custom a board for you, too — on me, as a welcome."

"Customing boards for him already? You were supposed to do that for Sungho, " Jeno teases as he skates down the tarmac. "Jaehyun, you still owe me a Monster from our game earlier."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jaehyun complains as he drops his board. "Dongmin-ah, get on my shoulders and put some stickers up there above the doorway there, under the awning."

Jeno whips out his phone as Dongmin begins his giggling rampage while trying to stabilise himself on Jaehyun's shoulders. Jeno's laughing as he takes a video of them, turning his flash midway through to catch Dongmin slapping the stickers against the concrete walls of the building they stood beside. "Careful, careful!"

"Hand me a spray can," Dongmin says, holding his hand out to Jeno. "Quick! Before someone sees us!"

Jaehyun laughs as he feels Jeno scratching in his half-open backpack and tossing a random spray can up to the other. "Quick, I think there's people coming through...!"

Jaehyun hears the spray can and as soon as he stops, he helps Dongmin off his neck. "Dongmin-ah, you should wear a mask when we do this so close to people."

"Don't care," Dongmin laughs as he leans over Jaehyun to put the can back into his bag.

"Spot hunting," Jeno suddenly announces. "We can teach Dongmin some tricks in a parking lot. If you skate more on flat ground, you'll be able to do your first drop-in in no time."

"Dropping in looks so scary already," Dongmin says with a laugh. "Don't think I'll do it without a helmet or something."

Jaehyun scoffs playfully. "Pussy."

"Well, Donghyun taught me how to skate, so maybe I am one."

"Fall and get over it," Jeno says as he kicks himself forward. Dongmin and Jaehyun follow close by as they speed down the street. "You're supposed to fall, get cuts and get bruises. It's part of the fun."

"I mean, you should get better, too," Jaehyun quips with a chuckle. "I'm always down to help you get better."

"Jaehyun's always at the park, doing some fucking side quest or some shit," Jeno tells the youngest. "If you find yourself wandering and you end up at the park, Jaehyun is probably there."

Jaehyun smiles to himself as he meets Dongmin's eyes. "What can I say? I'm just a skateboarder."

Chapter Text

Jaehyun and Dongmin sit alone on the staircase, a shared Monster can and a half finished bag of Doritos between them on the younger's skateboard. Jeno had run off because it was almost 11pm and Luzhen was wondering where he was, so he returned back, leaving the two in a random business park together. They had jumped the fence to jump some ramps, so instead of encountering security, they decided to sit on a staircase and enjoy some snacks.

"Your phone has been ringing the whole time," Jaehyun says suddenly as he eyes the device on the skateboard beside the Monster. "Your mom?"

"I don't care about her right now," Dongmin mumbles as he eats another Dorito. "I want to run away so badly, but if I ever decide to return to her, she'll probably lock me up forever."

"That bad, huh?"

"Ever since she let Donghyun take me out of the house, I've had the most fun in my entire life," Dongmin says softly. "Being with you guys... is so much fun. There's no expectations. It's thrilling. Addicting, even. I'm drowning in these emotions and... I want them to take me over. I fear that these feelings will disappear if I ever let her lock me away again."

"Well," Jaehyun hums, "we enjoy having you around. Woonhak thinks you're really cool. He thinks it's cool that someone knows so many rock bands. Donghyun's boyfriend thinks you're cool, too." He offers the younger a gentle smile. "I think you're cool."

Dongmin returns the smile but looks down at his lap in embarrassment. "I think you're cool, too."

They meet eyes, and Jaehyun swears that time nearly stops. He's holding his breath, but he doesn't know why. Maybe it's that deep glint in Dongmin's eyes that keeps drawing him in. He's nervous, but he can't really voice why. He can't stop staring at Dongmin's long eyelashes, his lips, his neck, his eyes — but he manages to inhale a nervous breath before looking away. "I'm not trying to be cool, but thanks."

"Well, regardless..." Dongmin's voice is softer than usual, permeating Jaehyun's ears gently. "I still think you're really cool." Jaehyun holds his breath again, ready to talk, but stops when Dongmin's phone buzzes once more. Instead of an unsaved number, it's Donghyun's contact. Dongmin answers and puts the phone on speaker. "Donghyun-ah, what's up?"

"Yah, where the hell are you?! Your mom called me to ask where you were!"

"Seogyeong Business Park," Jaehyun answers quickly, smiling as Donghyun begins yelling like a concerned mother. "We'll be back at the park within half an hour, I promise."

"I had to quickly lie and tell her that you're sleeping over at my house for the night, so she's luckily not expecting you home tonight," Donghyun sighs. "Just come back as soon as you can because I'm knocking out for the night."

"Take Sanghyeok home — I'll drop him off at your place," Jaehyun says. "We have to get out soon before the security finds us, anyway."

"... Hyung, I told you...—"

"We didn't do anything bad, I swear," Dongmin interrupts. "We just found some rails and ramps, don't worry. We'll see you in a minute, promise."

Donghyun sighs as movement is heard on his side. "Fine, fine — I trust you. Sanghyeok hyung — they're in Seogyeong Busine—"

He hangs up, leaving the two alone together once more. Dongmin and Jaehyun make eye contact before bursting into warm giggles. "I think he's mad at me," Jaehyun laughs as he stands up.

"Why would he be mad?" Dongmin asks, stuffing the half-eaten Doritos into Jaehyun's backpack and picking up the Monster. "We were just spot hunting."

"He told me that I'm a bad influence — and look at us now," the older hums. "He thinks I'm gonna flirt with you or whatever. I had to promise that I wouldn't make you do too many bad things that would make your mom upset."

"It doesn't matter, though," Dongmin shrugs as they descend the stairs. "We're just hanging out. I don't care about my mom right now — heck, the angrier I make her, the better I feel."

"Oi! You two! You're not supposed to be here!"

Jaehyun turns his head in shock before quickly bolting. "Shit! Security!"

×××

The two arrive at the park fifteen minutes later, close to midnight, and are rather coldly greeted by an annoyed Donghyun and a sleepy Sanghyeok. Jaehyun grins sheepishly as he steps on the back of his skateboard to stop. "Are you mad at me?"

"Not as mad as I am at Dongmin," Donghyun says quickly. "We're leaving now, Jaehyun hyung."

"Give me a kiss goodbye, at least," Jaehyun pouts falsely, laughing as Donghyun glared flatly. "I'll make it up to you tomorrow at Dead Frequency, okay? I'll bring you a Mountain Dew."

Donghyun scoffs as he gets on his board. "Two — one for Sanghyeokie hyung."

"See you tomorrow, Jaehyun," Sanghyeok calls out, waving his hand as he rides out of the park with his BMX. Dongmin and Jaehyun meet eyes one more time before the younger waves his hand, smiling as he follows Donghyun out of the park. Jaehyun looks down, taking his phone out of his pocket to glance at the time. He sees a missed call from Sungho about ten minutes ago, which he couldn't answer because they were freeriding over the Hangang Railway Bridge.

He calls Sungho, and the other answers almost immediately. "Sungho — what's wrong?"

"Dude, are you alive?"

Jaehyun pauses as a smile forms on his lips. "Y-yeah. Doing great, actually. Where the hell are you? Are you staying away because you fucked up your board the other day?"

"Yeah, haven't gotten a new one yet, unfortunately. Do you think Jaesung hyung will give me a board until I'm able to pay it off at the end of the month?"

"Well, the weather's gonna be shit tomorrow, so we're all heading to Dead Frequency tomorrow," Jaehyun answered. "Come over for the night. I'm bored."

"You're always bored. It's midnight, and you're still awake."

"Well, I was skateboarding on the Railway Bridge..."

"... I'm not gonna ask any questions."

Jaehyun simply laughs. "We all made a new friend, and you're the only one that hasn't met him yet. You'll hopefully meet him tomorrow. He's a beginner, too, so you can show him how pro you are."

"Pro? Pfft — maybe. Is he handsome?"

"Hey, back off — he's mine."

"Damn, okay! I'll judge your taste tomorrow."

Jaehyun laughs. "I'm kidding! He just got here, but... maybe my flirting was too obvious because Donghyun scolded me out. I don't want to scare him off just yet. Besides... he's too cute."

"I bet I'm cuter than that poser."

"Of course you're cuter than him, Yeppi. My Yeppi."

"... I'll come over when you get home, Jaehyun-ah. Buy snacks along the way."

"Yes, sir!"

The call ends as the two laugh and bid their goodbyes, leaving Jaehyun all alone in the quiet skate park. He pockets the device, exiting the park with a kick of his board. The streets are quiet, apart from the occasional car here and there. He stops in place as he gets a KaTalk message from Dongmin.

han.dongminz

> https://open.spotify.com/track/6yCysJaY0lFqHnrHvaR4pF?si=5PUvsG1UQQmHHCBpVt3EqQ%0A

> listen to this

> since you said you want to listen to my type of music ;D

> check out all their songs

> wait

> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0ukAqiuTYOmfR4vkCkUpDr?si=WeGhXzL8TUG7z068BGlJYg%0A

> there's a playlist for you, ignore all the motionless in white

> lmk what you think of it :D

myungjae

> will do :D

> see you at Dead Frequency tomorrow :3

He's smiling a bit more brightly than he wants to.

Chapter Text

"Jaesung hyung!"

The man behind the counter shows an annoyed expression as Jaehyun skates into the park with Sanghyeok, Donghyun and Dongmin trail behind him. His messy black hair falls over the nape of his neck and over his eyes, blonde streaks here and there to compliment his handsome face. Dongmin notices the snakebite piercings a mile away, along with the numerous earrings littering his ears. "A new one?"

"This is Dongmin — he's a fresher, so we need to build him a board," Jaehyun grins as he hops onto the counter. The couple dismisses themselves as they head into the park to occupy one another while Jaehyun and his new friend choose to bother Jaehyun's older brother. "Dongmin-ah, this is Myung Jaesung — my really cool older brother who's shorter than me."

Dongmin bows his head politely to the man behind the counter. The man waves his hand but keeps his attention on Jaehyun. "You said you'd make a board for Sungho, so what gives? Moving on from him already?"

"It's not like that..."

"Who is this 'Sungho', anyway? I haven't met him yet," Dongmin asks suddenly. "Donghyunnie mentioned him a couple times, too."

Jaesung glances between the two with a chuckle. "Park Sungho's my brother's ex."

"Shut up about that!" Jaehyun yelps weakly as he crosses his arms. "Sungho and I are close friends, that's all. We skateboarded together initially so get closer and he ended up developing a hobby, too."

"He's not telling the full story," Jaesung whispers with a wink. "Come over to this side and we'll decide on a deck and trucks for you. Jaehyun, can you stock the shelves for me in the shop? We have new decks."

"Ooh, can I get one?"

"If you work for it, yes."

Jaehyun makes a face as Dongmin and Jaesung walk off to the shop section of the skate park, so he disappears into the backroom. Dongmin is quiet as his eyes fall on the display cabinets, eyes running over the rather colourful selection of trucks and screws that could be used. Jaesung stands behind the counter, arms rested on the wood as he watches Dongmin contemplate his decisions.

"When did Jaehyun start skateboarding?" Dongmin asks suddenly, piquing the older's interest. "He's really good at it — he falls less than the average skateboarder. And he lands tricks more than anyone else."

"Jaehyun and I attended X Games Barcelona in 2013," Jaesung began. "It started because of jealousy. Alana Smith was the youngest skatebaording medalist at 12 years old. They're far more famous than Jaehyun could ever hope to be, but he found that young kid at the time to be a role model. He admired them quite a bit, so he wanted to be like them as well. Well, we also witnessed Yuto Horigome's rise to fame."

"So he witnessed a kid achieve something and felt he could do the same?"

"At the age of 9, yes."

Dongmin admired the tenacity. "Wow." He looks up as he points quietly at a pair of standard trucks. "These ones." He's quiet as Jaesung takes them out of the display and places them on the glass. "You said that Jaehyun hyung is the ex of this Sungho person?"

"Are you interested in my brother, Dongmin-ssi?"

All he can do is glance down in embarrassment.

"Sungho and Jaehyun have... something of a history together," Jaesung hums as he watches Dongmin walk to the skateboards to choose a board. "They dated, but... Sungho preferred being friends and Jaehyun agreed because he didn't want to lose Sungho. This happened, like, 6 months ago, and he's obviously not over Sungho even though they're still friends."

"What a shame."

"So kiss him or something to convince him to get over his literal best friend."

"What?!"

Jaesung laughs heartily. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Let's finish up your board before Jaehyun gets her and becomes annoying."

×××

Dongmin didn't think that he'd be doing his first successful drop-in that day, but with the encouragement and urging of the whole group, he found himself standing at the edge of a four-foot drop-in. Sungho, whom had been extremely nice with him the whole time, stood beside him on his own skateboard. "I'm scared—"

"Scared of what?" Donghyun asks with a laugh as he skates past. "Dropping in? Just do it. Jaehyun will catch you."

Jaehyun laughs as he and Dongmin meet eyes. "I'll catch you, Dongmin-ah. C'mon — you know what I'll say."

Dongmin pensively presses his lips together. "That I shouldn't be a pussy?"

"Exactly," Jaehyun says as he kicks his board to the side. Dongmin still seems worried, and it causes the three skateboarders of the group to laugh. "Come on Dongmin. Worst that'll happen is that you'll fall and scrape your knee. Keep your feet on the board and fall on the other end."

"Don't go with speed," Sungho tells him. "Go with intention. You want to end up there after dropping in, right? So do it."

"But it feels like I'll get nowhere if I fail."

"Obviously you'll fail," Donghyun points out. "You're supposed to fail. Just fall and do it again until you succeed."

"Jaehyun hyung," Dongmin says, smiling as he meets Jaehyun's eyes, "if I succeed, what are you going to do for me?"

"Take you spot hunting," Jaehyun answers immediately.

Dongmin nods as he looks ahead. "Then it's a date."

Before anyone can even comment on the sudden statement, Dongmin drops down the ramp and skates down, successfully running himself forward. He stumbles after his board and turns back in excitement as his friends cheer him on. Sungho's expression is unreadable, however — he's smiling, but he can't stop thinking about Dongmin's sudden request. He couldn't ignore the sparkle in his eyes as Jaehyun practically bodies him into the floor in excitement of his first successful drop-in.

"Are they close?" Sungho asks to seemingly no one, but Woonhak hears him.

"I think so," the teenager naively answers. "He came here with Donghyun hyung, but he ended up disappearing with Jaehyun hyung every time he came here. Jaehyun hyung seems to like him — maybe he's excited to have a new friend. You know how hyung can be."

"Hm — that's nice."

Woonhak doesn't choose to cautiously dance about and reads the situation perfectly immediately as he lets out a laugh. "Jealous?"

"Of what?!" Sungho splutters, eyes widened in surprise. "Of Jaehyun? As if!"

"You wish he was so excited to be around you," Woonhak teases as he moves his BMX ahead. "You're jealous that he has someone new."

"They're not even dating," Sungho scoffs as he sits on the ledge of the ramp. "And I'm long over Jaehyun, okay? It's him that still likes me. Whether or not he moves on is none of my business."

"But it kinda is — he's your best friend... isn't he?" Sungho's clearly being childish and the younger cackles as he rides off. "I think you need to talk with yourself, hyung!"

Dongmin skates off with Donghyun and Jaehyun returns to the ramp where Sungho sat, watching Woonhak for a second before jumping up and sitting beside his friend. "I missed you these past few days."

"I didn't know that you replaced me, though," Sungho huffs as he playfully crosses his arms. "You seem to be really close with the new guy."

"Yeah, he's Donghyunnie's friend, and he's a beginner — and as the certified best skateboarder at this park, I have to guide the newbies down the pathway to greatness," Jaehyun says with a grin. "What is it? Do you want me to teach you how to skate, too?"

"I know how to skateboard already," Sungho scoffed. "Maybe we can go spot hunting together tonight..."

"You can come with me and Dongmin, if you want."

"No—" Sungho holds his breath as he meets Jaehyun's eyes. It's heavy and awkward, and both could tell immediately that they were each the cause. "It's fine. Go with him. I have work tomorrow, so... I'd rather head home early, anyway."

"Sungho—"

"I'm holding you back, anyway, aren't I?"

Jaehyun looks down guiltily, but he doesn't want to have this talk. They both don't want to bring it up, but it happened anyway. Jaehyun feels a rock settle in his chest, sinking into his stomach horribly — it hurt the entire way. "Sungho, you're not—"

"We broke up for a reason, okay? Because we can't like each other."

Jaehyun reluctantly gulps. "I know."

"So don't think of me anymore as you get closer to this new guy, okay?" Sungho says softly. "Whether we... like each other or not... we can't. It's better if we're friends."

"Is that really what you feel, Sungho? Or are you just telling yourself this so that you can cope with the mere fact that you fell in love with your best friend?"

"Jaehyun, you're my best friend—"

"Yeah, but even I can't ignore that we fucking dated for an entire year, Sungho." Jaehyun has tears in his eyes because he hates being so serious, especially with someone he tried so hard to forget that he once loved. "I never wanted to break up. You wanted to break up. I'm still in love with you — so what about you? Did you successfully convince yourself that you wasted your time with me?"

"It wasn't a waste of time—"

"Asking to be friends after you break up with me is a real dick move, now that I think about it. I knew I couldn't do it, but I still stayed with you because I couldn't bear the thought of losing you. God, I'm such a loser. And you know that I'm still in fucking love with you."

Sungho meets Jaehyun's eyes and the tension finally breaks as tears fall down Jaehyun's cheeks. "Don't cry..."

"Don't tell me not to cry — because you're the one that broke my heart and then asked to stay friends. Then again, I'm the fucking idiot that agreed, so who's really at fault for this conversation happening." Jaehyun slides off the ramp, grabbing his board. "Jaesung hyung approved the board loan until the end of the month. You can get the one you want when he's in shop."

"Jaehyun, where are you going?"

"Out — I need to clear my mind."

Sungho watches with a clenching heart as Jaehyun walks off past everyone, jumping on his board to get out the indoor park quicker. His sudden departure catches all their friends' attention, earning looks of confusion amongst them. Sungho looks down, knowing that he had messed up quite a bit this time. He was selfish and it caught up with him. When he chooses to glance up, Dongmin is running out the park.

×××

Dongmin knew exactly where Jaehyun was going.

The ground was still damp due to rainfall nearly an hour prior, but Dongmin still skated as best as he could. There were less pedestrians than usual, which he was glad for, because moving in a straight line still felt impossible. He eventually reaches the skate park, and sure enough, Jaehyun is sat on one of the funboxes on his skateboard, a white Monster can between his fingers as he stares ahead blankly with his earphones in his ears.

"Listening to my playlist, I hope?"

Jaehyun glances up, hearing Dongmin due to having one earphone in his ear. He smiles slightly before focusing his eyes forward again. "This music suits your image more, I think. It's still really good, though."

Dongmin skates over, leaving his board below the ramp and jumps up to sit beside the older. "What's your favourite so far?"

"Uhm... I cant remember the title, but I remember the album photo," Jaehyun says as he reaches for his phone in his pocket, scrolling through the playlist before landing on a certain song. "Dial Tone by Catch Your Breath."

Dongmin falls quiet as he looks at the older's face. "Can I listen to it with you?"

Jaehyun nods, offering the lonely earphone to the other. Dongmin listens quietly — he doesn't tell the older that it's one of his favourite songs yet. Dongmin's gaze matched Jaehyun's, staring off blankly into the distance as they merely listened to the instruments permeating their eardrums. Jaehyun glances at Dongmin for a mere second and a smile habitually forms on his lips. "Want to learn some tricks?"

"Yeah, but you're upset, so let me sit with you."

Jaehyun's smile falls as he looks down at the phone in his hand. "You didn't have to..."

"Do you want to explain it all, or is it okay for me to deliver a shoulder to cry on?" Dongmin asks softly, turning to face the other. "Because if it's about the fact that you're still in love with your ex, then I'm perfectly fine with letting you cry."

Jaehyun feels his grip on his phone tighten. "I shouldn't have agreed to stay friends..."

"So why did you?"

"... because I love him..."

"And why did he break up with you?"

"Because he didn't want a relationship and just wanted to be friends and I agreed because I'm too pussy to just fucking break ties with him." Jaehyun glances beside him, eyes teary all over again. "It hurts to like someone that much, Dongmin-ah."

Dongmin barely does any thinking as he places a hand to Jaehyun's cheek. It comes almost naturally to them as they lean closer, lips locking in a kiss both didn't expect. It's warm, inviting them closer for more. Jaehyun doesn't even take a moment to process anything and drops his phone to the concrete — he can only focus on the boy before him. They pull away for a mere second only to kiss once more, heads tilted as they share the heat between them. Dongmin is first to pull away, but their lips still hover close to each other, eyes hovering back and forth before a small smile forms on his lips.

"Hyung," is all he says, "do you like Sungho-ssi?"

"I-I... I do..."

Dongmin peppers a quick kiss to his lips. "And now?"

Jaehyun meets his eyes, yelping as heat creeps up his cheeks. "Y-yeah, I still like him..."

Dongmin closes his eyes as he presses their lips together once more, lingering a bit longer before pulling away. "Do you still like him?"

Jaehyun quickly flips the question. "Do you like me?"

"Maybe. Can I like you while you still like your ex?"

"Why do you like me?"

"Are you looking for an ego boost or something?" Dongmin laughs. "If you want to be boyfriends, we can be together. We can skateboard together, we can share earphones, we can go spot hunting together, we can... hold hands, kiss sometimes..."

Jaehyun's almost embarrassed to ask the younger the obvious question hanging in the air. Instead, he stands up, tugging Dongmin up by his hand. He makes sure to pick up his phone and near empty Monster can. "Do you want a boyfriend, then?"

"I'm down," Dongmin shrugs, a smile on his lips. "What else can I do except help the poor heartbroken fool that wants to move on from his ex?"

"So it's a pity case?"

"Do you like me or not?"

"Maybe."

Dongmin rolls his eyes as he hops off the ramp, hopping onto his board and pushing to the exit of the park. "Thanks for the board, hyung. I thought of you when I picked everything out."

Jaehyun follows him, dropping from the ramp and skating over to Dongmin. "Really? Already can't get me off your mind?"

"Don't get cocky — we just got together, I could easily let you run back to the ex that you can't get over."

Chapter Text

"It's strange that Sungho left so early — but to be fair, Jaehyun and Dongmin left quickly as well."

Donghyun hums, kicking his board up and walking beside his boyfriend. "Sungho's great, but it's been so awkward between him and Jaehyun for the past 6 months — despite them saying that they're best friends."

"It's so forced," Sanghyeok adds with a shake of his head. "I'm sure Jaehyun's feeling it by now — that it's practically impossible for them to be friends because he still likes Sungho and Sungho doesn't like him back."

"Yeah... but Sungho hyung still demands his attention."

"Because he's selfish. He needs to grow up."

Donghyun widens his eyes, a small smirk forming on his lips. "Didn't know you could get so feisty."

"They're working on my nerves," Sanghyeok scoffs with a playful eyeroll. "Stop smiling like that. Do you want me to start being mean to you?"

"Maybe I'm into that."

"Gross." Sanghyeok smiles nonetheless, taking his phone out of his pocket as it vibrates with a message notification. "Oh, it's Jaehyun. They're at the outdoor park, and he's asking if we want to come. Wait a seco—?! Look at his profile picture! That's Dongmin!"

"What the hell?! Show me!" Donghyun practically grabs his boyfriend's phone to check the photo on Jaehyun's profile picture. It's a selfie of Jaehyun, but his his head rested on someone's shoulder. Based on what everyone had worn this day, it was easy to say that it was Dongmin beside him. "What's Dongmin's profile picture?! Wait, I doubt he can make it anything crazy because he talks to his mom with this number."

"... it's Jaehyun's skateboard."

"This is crazy," Donghyun laughs breathily as he shakes his head. "Do you think they're dating? So fast?"

"Well, what type of person is Dongmin? We know that Jaehyun gets crushes easily," Sanghyeok said as he pockets his phone to continue walking. "I think that an opportunity to get over Sungho is needed, so this is okay for Jaehyun."

"Well, I told Jaehyun to not do too many dumb stuff such as flirting, but I guess I didn't specify dating," Donghyun sighs with a shake of his head. "The thing with Dongminnie right now is that he's excited to try more things. I don't know if he's acting irrationally or if he's actually thinking coherently because Dongmin often surprises me with his trail of thought."

"The same with you, really."

"Well, I'm just strange — he's oppressed at home."

Sanghyeok hums in response. "I see. Well, let's see how it plays out — maybe they're a good fit for each other. If you don't let Dongmin catch some shit on, how is he supposed to discover himself? I think Jaehyun will be a good opportunity to find things out about himself."

"I suppose," Donghyun reluctantly agrees. "In any case, I'm not going to the park. You can if you want, love."

"Nah — I'm going home, too. Maybe I can get away with bringing you over."

"Tonight? What do you have planned?"

"A movie, you suggestive loser. As long as you're with me, you're staying a virgin."

Donghyun laughs as he rests his head against Sanghyeok's. "Boring."

×××

It's nearly 11pm, and the streets were slowly becoming quieter — but the new couple were excited to spend every waking moment together. Jaehyun falls quiet as his eyes fall onto an easily accessible loading area. He turns his board, and Dongmin follows, looking around as Jaehyun stops just before a loading ramp.

"Are you sure we can be here?"

"You need to stop asking stuff like that," Jaehyun laughs as he abandons his board. "Do you think I can get up there? Do delivery trucks have flat tops? They should, right? One, two—!"

"Hyung, please don't climb up ther— hyung!"

Dongmin can only laugh as he watches Jaehyun hoist himself up the metal awning, thankfully light enough to not practically break it. He then opts for assisting him, holding the older's legs as he lifts him up, and Jaehyun manages to stand up, giggling as he tries to minimise the noises of his steps on the corrugated metal. "The truck tops are flat. Toss my board up."

"Are you going to skate over it?!" Dongmin asks in disbelief as Jaehyun grins in response. "I'm not coming with you if you break a leg or something."

"I might fall through the metal here," Jaehyun grins as he makes his way over to the main building roof and leaps over onto the long delivery truck. It makes an extremely loud hollow sound as he lands, and they both freeze in place. "Fuck, that was loud...!"

"There's no one here, make quick," Dongmin says as he whips his phone out to take a video. He's giggling all the while because the moment is thrilling — he's never felt such adrenaline in his life. He never dreamt of sneaking out at night to go skateboarding on delivery trucks — it's not even a rational thought to have. But here he was, waiting for his boyfriend to jump of a damn delivery trucks spanning nearly four and a half metres up.

His boyfriend.

Oh, his mom would kill him if she found anything out.

"I'm going!"

"Let's go!" Dongmin urges, laughing when the scrapes of the skateboard wheels echoed throughout the truck. Jaehyun reaches the end of the truck's roof and ollies off the edge, his board falling from below his feet as he tumbles to the concrete. However, he falls safely into a roll, laughing as Dongmin runs up to him. "Holy shit...!"

"You barely did anything but fall!"

Jaehyun blocks the camera with his hand as he pulls Dongmin down to him, a hand pressed gently to the back of the younger's neck as he tilts his head. Dongmin knows immediately to meet his lips halfway, crashing together in a rather messy kiss. Dongmin pulls away to stop recording, abandoning his phone to pay full attention to his partner. Jaehyun lets out a breathy laugh as they meet eyes, hands holding each other close as Jaehyun gently runs a thumb against Dongmin's skin. "Wanna sleep over tonight?"

"... my mom..."

"She's probably already pissed, so you might as well sleep over," Jaehyun shrugs. "I want to get rid of every trace of Sungho and replace it with you. Every single moment needs to have you filled in instead. I need to forget him entirely, but I don't want to hate him. I want to replace those strong memories with you instead."

"And to start that off, you want me to sleep over...?" Dongmin sounds unsure for a moment.

"Sungho and I slept together the night we became boyfriends," Jaehyun began, "but I don't really care about what happens. I just need you to be with me right now."

Dongmin nods, seemingly agreeing with the older. "I don't want to leave, either."

They kiss once more, lips locking in a heated kiss — a kiss Dongmin had never experienced before. It was truthfully Dongmin's first kiss, but admitting that at his age felt oddly embarrassing. Jaehyun was clearly more experienced than him — especially with boys. There was an unknown emotion lingering in the air — unfulfilled and tense, warm and thrilling. Both knew what they wanted, but maybe getting off eMart's private property was their first call of action before any security saw them and kicked them out.

×××

Dongmin was far more gentle than Jaehyun ever thought a partner could be. They had to sneak into Jaehyun's family home, quickly making their way to his bedroom before successfully locking the door behind them. They were a mess of giggles, hormones and excitement as they descended onto Jaehyun's bed. They were happy and carefree. They didn't know who would top for the night, so they literally played rock-paper-scissors — Dongmin ended up winning.

Dongmin had never gone so far with someone, and he was somehow glad it was with Jaehyun. He was pretty above him, seated on his lap as they faced each other as they locked their lips together in hesitant yet somehow excited kisses. Dongmin was glad that they felt so comfortable to share their bodies — nothing felt weird, and it didn't feel like it would last for just one night. Jaehyun's body above his, his hands on the skin of Jaehyun's waist, their breathy gasps of desperation, the mere fact that Jaehyun was phenomenal at riding someone — all of it added together was the greatest night Dongmin had ever experienced.

"F-fuck, I'm gonna c... Dongmin-ah, I— a-ah—!"

Their mixing heats was like nothing they have ever experienced. Jaehyun loved it. Dongmin loved it. Their interlocked hands spread the heat further between them, and unimaginable hotness and the sweet emotions that lingered in the air and the momentary lust-filled statements of love — for a moment, it was all addicting. Even as they reached their climaxes, the heat never died. It stayed as hot and overbearing as they wanted it to.

Truthfully, it was the best sex Jaehyun had ever experienced.

Jaehyun's body collapsed to his bed, chest heaving as Dongmin lied down beside him. Their bodies, clammy and hot, are pressed against each other as they simply lay together. The moment is happy, yet momentary. Jaehyun glances beside him, smiling as he meets Dongmin's gaze. "You're very pretty right now."

"Says you," Dongmin chuckles, leaning over to press a kiss to Jaehyun's cheek. "You're so fucked out, but I can't help but think that you're so pretty right now."

"You think I'm pretty...?"

Dongmin seems ready to make a joke, but overthinks it and and decides to rather snuggle into Jaehyun's side. "I didn't think you'd want to be with me, if I'm honest. I never acted this recklessly and thoughtlessly in my life. Maybe this newfound freedom is... exciting me too much. But I know I like you. A lot. I think. It seems like we would match each other well."

"I think so, too."

Dongmin finds himself reaching to the bedside table where his phone was, opening the selfie camera and finding an angle. Jaehyun doesn't mind, snuggling against Dongmin as he takes a selfie of their upper bodies. "It's just for Instagram. I need a new profile picture."

"You're obsessed with me," Jaehyun teases with a laugh. "I like it. Sungho wasn't this obsessed with me."

Dongmin smiles, pressing his lips to the older's gently. "I'd be obsessed with you every single day if it meant that you finally felt love."

Dongmin tends to ignore the numerous missed calls on his phone, since he knew most were from his mother, anyway. He couldn't care any less — all he wanted was to experience life's messiness alongside Jaehyun for as long as possible. He's beautiful enough to risk ruining his life. The risk of being with Jaehyun was more fun than he's ever had in his entire life. The risks of doing anything these days filled him with so much adrenaline that he anticipated getting addicted to it all.

"... I'll ask about this marks on your arms eventually, because there's no way a skateboard caused those scars in two weeks."

Fuck.

Dongmin remains silent, not knowing how to respond or what to say. It's almost instinctive, how he draws his hands away from the older — he always had to do the same with his mother. "They're nothi—"

"They're not nothing, Dongmin-ah—"

"Don't worry about them right now, okay?" Dongmin asks softly, meeting the older's eyes for a mere second before looking away. "They're not important for now. I haven't done anything since I started skateboarding, so..."

Jaehyun takes Dongmin's hand placing it on his neck as he turns his head to press a gentle kiss to his wrist. "You've made great progress over two weeks, Dongmin-ah. I'm proud of you."

"Your pride in me means nothing if I can't bring myself to acknowledge it."

"Well, I'm your boyfriend, so acknowledge it." Jaehyun continued kissing the small cut marks on his wrist but stopped when he noticed Dongmin trying to withdraw. "Am I making you uncomfortable...?"

"No, I'm just... not used to it..."

Jaehyun stops, smiling up at the other before moving closer. "Then we can take it slow."

Well, as slow as you could take it after sleeping together on your first night as a couple.

Dongmin sighs softly as his eyes flutter close. "I'd like that."

Chapter Text

Sungho hates how quiet the park was. He was hoping to see Jaehyun but couldn't bring himself to directly message the other. After he had practically run out of Dead Frequency the day before, they ignored each other on all forms of media and contact. Sungho didn't see him for the rest of the day, but the distance between them was needed. It had clearly become difficult to deal with them being friends while also being exes, and Sungho knows it was all his fault.

"Oh, it's just you."

Sungho pauses in place, and his expression sours immediately as he makes eye contact with the common enemy of the entire group — Ginger. The other is showing his signature smile that Sungho still finds to be quite annoying. "What the fuck do you want, huh?"

"Nothin' with you, that's for sure," Ginger snickers, leaning against the fence while still facing Sungho. "Your friends aren't here to stop me, so I could fuck you up if I wanted to."

"Well, you don't have your dumbass posse to hype you up, so if you can convince yourself to hit me, go ahead," Sungho scoffs as he turns away. "I've got nothing to lose, bitchboy."

"I'm not even being hostile right now and you still want to fight," Ginger chuckles as he pushes his hands into his pockets. "You and Myung Jaehyun..."

"What about us?"

"You two dated?"

Sungho thins his eyes into a glare. "Who told you?"

"Hey, all peace here, dude," Ginger quickly says, holding his hands up in surrender. "I'm not here to harrass you about it, if that's what you think. I just... I just think I'm really fucking good at reading the room. You two broke up, but you're still talking."

"We're not talking anymore — why do you think I'm alone?" Sungho snaps, still unable to relax his expression — Ginger was someone that he had grown genuine hatred for and having a casual conversation about his ex boyfriend was far too odd of an occurance. "And why do you care? Piss off, leave me alone."

"Sungho, I'm not here to fight. I only ever want to fight Jeno."

"Yeah, and he's my hyung, so I won't let you."

Ginger pauses for a moment, pouting falsely as he chuckles. "I miss the days when you would call me Huiwonnie hyung."

"Shut the actual fuck u—!"

"Say it. Huiwon hyung. You had no problem before."

"Fuck you," Sungho spits as he drops his board to the ground. "Actually fuck yourself. I fucking hate you."

"Sungho," Ginger says flatly, moving to stand directly in the exit of the skate park to block the younger's path out. Sungho stops right in front of him and Ginger can't help but smile at the flame dancing about in Sungho's eyes. "Is it too late to accept your confession?"

"Yes, you weirdo! I liked you when we were in high school! Before I found out what a piece of shit you are!" Sungho yelled. "I don't like you. I don't know why I even bothered trying things with you because you laughed at me when I told you how I felt."

"It's only because I liked Luzhen back then—"

"Yeah, and you fucked up and now you're making her current boyfriend's life absolute hell," Sungho glared. "I want nothing to do with you. Even if I suddenly went 'oh, Ginger likes me, I should date him!', I wouldn't be able to take anything seriously because I know you'd be using me to get closer to Luzhen again."

It didn't take Sungho long to realise that he's the only one yelling. Ginger's expression is far more different from how he usually. His bitterness dies down a little as Ginger steps forward but his defence spikes up as he has his hands up to push Ginger away. The taller doesn't step away, but instead grabs Sungho's wrists. "Sungho—"

"Let me g—!"

"Don't tell anyone, okay?"

Sungho widens his eyes as Ginger lessens the distance between them one more time, head tilted as he presses their lips together. He allows Sungho to pull away, spluttering in shock before smirking as he presses their lips together once more. Sungho seems less hesitant this time, but has yet to respond positively. Ginger slips a hand to Sungho's waist, pulling him closer as he deepens the embrace. It's with this that Sungho pulls away, face flushed red with emotions he didn't want to feel.

He attempts to talk, but Ginger plants their lips together again, exploring his options more as he presses his tongue past his lips. Sungho squeezes his eyes shut, still visibly tensed, but Ginger is so damn good at kissing that he finds himself losing concentration. He feels the older nip at his bottom lip, coaxing him into relaxation so that the kiss to deepen. Sungho hesitantly pulls away, releasing a heavy breath as he glances between them to see that the distance was rather pitiful.

"Why?" is all he can say as he gulps back his thoughts. "The only reason we have you is because you won't fucking leave Luzhen alone, so why...—?"

"I don't know," is all Ginger responds with softly. "But you can't tell anyone. Fuck, you can't tell anyone. I understand if you still hate me, but I'll still test the waters whenever we're alone."

"Are you experimenting with me because you know that I used to like you?"

"Well, it's not like you're dating anyone, right?"

Sungho pushes the other away, scoffing as he kicks his board up. "Still an asshole, huh?"

"I'll message you on Instagram."

"Don't try to get a hold of me — I won't answer. Get out of here before Jeno sees you."

Sungho pushes past him, dropping his board onto the sidewalk and leaving the park. He doesn't bother to look back at Ginger because he would rather not wonder what he's thinking about. His chest swirls with feelings he couldn't identify — he was largely confused by everything that had just happened, and he'd rather not confuse himself by tackling the situation. Ginger's supposed to be the guy he hates — the guy he gets into fights with the most. It definitely wasn't a change of heart — maybe he just felt like fucking around with Sungho's feelings because someone had told him that he and Jaehyun used to date.

Yeah, that had to be it, right? Theres no way that Ginger, of all people, is suddenly attempting to discover himself with someone he physically fights with.

There's no way Ginger had feelings for Sungho. It didn't feel that way, anyway.

×××

"Donghyun! Donghyun! Donghyun!"

"I can't do it!"

"If you land it, Sanghyeok will let you hit!"

"Oh shit, for real?"

"Don't listen to Jaehyun!"

The whole group stood at the bottom of the staircase of seven steps, encouraging him to run the rail down the entire staircase. "Sanghyeok hyung!" Donghyun called out as he picked his board up. "Straight to my room later if I land this."

"And if you don't, big boy?" Sanghyeok countered with a laugh. "Jaehyun, what do you want if he doesn't land this first T?"

"A big smooch," Jaehyun says immediately, bursting out in laughter as he earns a look of confusion from Sanghyeok and Dongmin alike. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

"Aw, I was actually down," Donghyun jokes as he runs back. "Okay, if I fail this, I'll skip weed for a week. If I land it first T, I get to make a baby with Sanghyeok."

Jaehyun clapped his hands excitedly. "Do it, Donghyun!"

"Wait, wait," Sanghyeok says as he abandons bis BMX to the side. "If you land it backside, then we can make a baby — deal?"

Donghyun points a finger. "Anything for you, baby."

"He's not landing it," Jaehyun whispers to Dongmin with a laugh. "We can go street skateboarding if you want."

"I want to get some ollie practice in first," Dongmin says, eyes still locked Donghyun. "He's coming, he's coming."

Jaehyun's eyes lock on Donghyun as he does his run-up from further down the corridor, lifting his board up far enough to turn his body and land on the railing about halfway down. He barely stumbles as he passes all seven steps, skating off to the side with a slight wobble. "Holy shit, that was a switch!" Jaehyun yelled loud enough for his voice to crack from excitement as he runs to body Donghyun into the ground. Woonhak runs over as well, shouting incomprehensible words of excitement.

"Did you see that shit?!" Woonhak exclaimed. "He jumped from frontside into backside and then landed back onto frontside!"

"Yah, Donghyun!" Dongmin laughed as he pointed his finger at his approaching best friend. "Yah, how the hell are you gonna—"

"Lee Sanghyeok!" Donghyun laughed as he took his boyfriend's hand into his own. "Let's go, time to go. Get your shit together, we're going to my place."

"Wh— now?!" Sanghyeok exclaims in confusion, face flushed as he laughs nervously. "We can't go now! It's 11am!"

"Don't care, let's go," Donghyun grins, placing his board down on the ground. "I landed a backside railslide, which you asked for, so let's go."

"Damn, imagine announcing that you're about to get railed," Jaehyun cackles as he runs up the stairs. "Dongmin-ah! Same deal!"

"Fuck off, we're not doing that," Dongmin shakes his head with a playful laugh. Donghyun seems determined and Sanghyeok's face is flushed red — clearly he hadn't expected his boyfriend to land the trick at all.

He's flustered, but he ends up waving his hand as he and Donghyun leave the park. "Are we really...—?!"

"Yes, yes we are."

Woonhak watches as the couple scurry off before his eyes land on Dongmin and Jaehyun as they speak to each other. They still have those flirty touches and glances that he had been noticing since he saw them meet for the first time. However, it seems to be more intimate this time. Woonhak frowns to himself before biking off to the side. "Hyung! Are we going to the park? Jeno hyung said he's coming today with Luzhen noona."

"Oh yeah, I owe that bastard a Monster," Jaehyun hums, kicking up his board. "Woonhak, don't you have school today, by the way? You have your uniform on, even."

"I'm skipping," the teenager answers simply as he rides past Jaehyun. "I got into a fight and everyone sided with the other kid and my mom got mad at me for fighting, so I stayed out."

"I didn't raise you this way," Jaehyun scolds, raising his board in a quick swinging motion as he pretends to hit Woonhak with it. "Why are you getting into fights, anyway?"

"Because he's full of shit," Woonhak snapped almost angrily. "He was bullying this gay kid and I got sick of it, so I punched him. Instead of sorting him out, I got into trouble for starting a fight! I'm gonna ride over the principal's phone with my bike the next time I see him."

"Punch him again," Dongmin says with a mischievous laugh. "You're already in trouble, might as well escalate it as far as you can. It's the first time you got into a fight, right?"

"Woonhak is usually passive, so to hear that he got into a fight is surprising," Jaehyun says with a nod. "Woonhak-ah, no more fighting, okay? Don't listen to this guy, he's going through a rebellious phase."

"Rebellious phase? In his 20s? I mean, I get it if I start fighting because I'm a kid, but you're... a grown man..."

"I'm not that old," Dongmin grunted playfully. "Jaehyun's older than me, you know?"

Jaehyun bumps his shoulder against Dongmin. "Thats 'hyung' to you."

"Whatever, loser."

Woonhak snorts as he bikes ahead. "You two should date or something. See you at the park!"

Jaehyun and Dongmin share knowing looks, bursting into laughter when Woonhak is far away enough. "Are we really boyfriends?"

"I think so," Dongmin answers with a small smile. "I mean, I fucked you last night and told you that I love you. And I asked you to be my boyfriend, so you can assume correctly."

Jaehyun stands right before him, head tilted as he waits for the distance to close between them. It never happens, unfortunately, because Dongmin places his board on the ground, grinning as he skates off. Jaehyun watches in confusion, but burst out laughing as Dongmin's board slides out from under his feet. "Dumbass! That's what you get for not wanting to kiss me!"

Chapter Text

"This guy listens to strange music..."

Woonhak pauses the song he's listening to with a shake of his head — it might be the last time he listens to a song Dongmin recommends on his Instagram story. He shudders as he remembers the screaming in the song, but any thought of the song is thrown out the window as he spots a few familiar faces down the street.

"I'm not afraid to hit you again, fucking bitchboy."

"Leave me alone—"

"Why? Your boyfriend isn't here to defend you, is he?"

"Fuck off!"

Woonhak immediately recognises the boy being pushed to the ground and makes a quick beeline to the three boys surrounding him. He's silently angry as he pushes his palms against the main instigator's chest. "What the fuck did I tell you, bastard?"

The boy scoffs as he pushes him back. "Oh, fuck off, Woonhak—"

"What the—" Woonhak balls his hand into a fist and lands a punch straight in the boy's face. "— fuck did I tell you?!"

"Holy shi—!"

Woonhak can only see red as he immediately swings his fists to the other boys that were accompanying. He kicks one of them to the ground, quickly connecting his foot to his ribcage to make sure he stays down. Woonhak glances at the sobbing boy on the ground, helping him up and pulling him against his chest. "Go to my bike."

"But—"

"Get to my fucking bike...!"

The boy nods shakily as Woonhak pushes the tall boy against the fence angrily. He laughs, wiping the spit forming on the side of his mouth. "Still defending the bitchboy, huh?"

"Fuck off, Sogeon—" Woonhak barely dodges a punch to the face before grabbing the boy by his shoulders, kneeing him in his stomach a few times and pushing him to the ground. He's groaning in pain, but Woonhak's out of breath. "Leave him the fuck alone. I'm not fucking scared to get into trouble."

"Fuck you," the boy spits as he tries to lift himself from the ground. "Fuck yourself."

Woonhak ignores him as he walks over to his bike. "Sit on the frame. You're coming with me." The boy's eyes waver for a moment, unsure of what to do, but Woonhak grabs his wrist. "Do you want to stay with this bastard?"

"N-no—"

"Then come on!"

"You're scarier than him!"

The boy's eyes well up with tears again. Woonhak sighs, tugging the boy forward so that he lands in Woonhak's arms. He holds him tight, gently, to convince him otherwise of his fears. "A scary person wouldn't hug you... okay? Now come on — I'm taking you to the skate park."

×××

"Shit... it's Ginger."

Sungho looks up from his skateboard, widening his eyes as Jeno stands up from the funbox, cracking his knuckles as he gets ready to near the tall boy. Sungho looks away, almost meeting Jaehyun's eyes, but his attention is pulled forward when Ginger stops right at the entrance of the park, gaze immediately locked on Sungho.

"What do you want?" Jaehyun asks flatly. "Piss off — no one wants you here."

"I'm just here to pick Sungho up," Ginger replies with a chuckle. "I need him to apologise for nearly fucking up my face the other day."

"And why would he need to apologise for that when you were the one that started swinging first?" Jeno asks as he crosses his arms. "I'm surprised you're not here for Luzhen."

"Oh, I'm gonna get her back," Ginger says with a snicker. "Sungho — let's go."

"Oi, leave Sungho a—"

Subgho silently stands up, picking his board up and facing Jeno. "Don't worry — I'll go with him."

Jeno widens his eyes in more confused anger than shock, watching as Sungho joins Ginger's side. "Sungho, what the fuck? Where are you going?"

"Be glad that I'm not here for that fat bitch," Ginger scoffs flatly as he steps back with Sungho next to him. "I'll return him later — promise."

Sungho avoids everyone's eyes as they leave the park together. Jaehyun and Jeno look at each other in confusion as they join each other to discuss what had just happened. "Sungho just left with Ginger," Jaehyun mutters, eyes still widened in disbelief. "What the fuck...?"

"Sungho's usually first to start swinging fists when Ginger comes here — now he's all pliant and quiet," Jeno adds as he crosses his arms. "That's fucked up. There's no way he'd actually apologise to him."

Jaehyun's quiet for a moment before lowering his head. "Sungho used to like Ginger."

"What?!"

"We went to middle school together," Jaehyun adds quickly. "During our final year in middle school, Sungho and Ginger kind of became friends and Sungho told him how he feels. Ginger laughed at him, called him the f-slur a couple times until graduation, and Sungho hated him since."

"That's kinda fucked... I can't believe Sungho liked Ginger..."

Jaehyun snickers for a bit. "He hates it when I bring it up. Anyway, I think he's listening to him because he used to like him. And we fought recently, so... maybe he's looking for excuses to not be around me..."

Jeno sighs as he shakes his head. "Thank God you two finally tackled that awfully toxic friendship. It was so unbearable watching you two pretend that you're still friends after you broke up with each other."

"We weren't pretending," Jaehyun defends immediately as he lifts his board up by the nose. "We were doing fine until it got weird. Sungho and I... couldn't really stop being a couple, either, because we still kind of liked each other after breaking up. He still came over. We still cuddled. We still... liked each other. He calls me Myungjae, I call him Yeppi."

"But you're with Dongmin right now... aren't you?"

"Yeah," Jaehyun nods with a smile. "We got together, like, two days ago, but so far, there's no problems. We went straight back to my place, too, so... we bonded."

"Gross. Luzhen and I haven't even done anything like that and we've been together for a while," Jeno chuckles. "I'm not looking to have that kind of relationship with her, anyway, but..."

"I think she wants to, but she's waiting for you," Jaehyun shrugs. "Use a condom, obviously, but you two have been playing it safe for too long."

"... you think she'd let me?"

"Your mom really likes her, so I don't think she'll mind if you bring Luzhen noona over to spend the night," the younger teases as he skates over to his abandoned Monster can. "My mom doesn't even know that Sungho and I aren't talking. She doesn't know that me and Dongmin are together. I'm not ready to tell her that I moved on already, because... she thinks I'm still in love with Sungho."

"Well, are you?"

"Kinda — but Dongmin is doing a goddamn amazing job at pushing thoughts of him aside."

×××

"You and Sogeon are friends?"

The boy sitting in front of Woonhak nods, sniffling slightly as he had just stopped crying. "Y-yeah. Well... used to be. He finds it weird that I wear girl's clothes."

"... do you want to be a girl...?"

"No! I'm still a boy!" The boy huffs slightly as he turns away. "You shouldn't be getting in trouble for me. You don't know me and I don't know you."

"Oh, right — I'm Kim Woonhak."

They meet eyes and the boy quickly looks away. "... Yoo Taewon. Nice to meet you... I guess..."

"I don't mind getting in trouble, by the way. I know why I'm fighting — Sogeon's always been a piece of shit," Woonhak scoffs as he helps the boy off the bike, walking beside the bike as well. "The girl's uniform suits you, anyway... you look pretty..."

Taewon smiles at the tall boy beside him. "Thank you, Woonhak-ah."

Woonhak's face flares up immediately. "D-don't say my name like that! It sounds weird!"

"Like how? Should I call you Woonhakie instead?"

"... s-shut up." Woonhak's cheeks are burning red as he avoids the boy's eyes. "I don't like boys, so stop flirting with m—"

"You called me pretty, though."

"Not like that! Jeez, can't even compliment a guy in peace these days, wow!"

Taewon resists laughing and Woonhak quickly realises that he's spluttering nonsense. Taewon bursts out in laughter and Woonhak's embarrassment only grows. "Okay, okay, I won't tease you anymore — otherwise you'll stop getting into fights for me. It's really fine, though — you don't need to beat him up anymore. It'll only make your situation with the teachers worse. You didn't even know me before this."

"I don't need to know someone to know that you're being bullied," the taller answers firmly. "Until Sogeon leaves you alone, I'm gonna keep getting into fights. No one should let themselves be bullied."

"Oi, Woonhak-ah! Is that your girlfriend?!"

"He's a boy!" Woonhak yells back to the person inside the park as he waves his hand. "Come this way, let me introduce you to everyone."

Taewon watches as Woonhak runs his bike up a ramp, stopping right on top and abandoning his bike to sit on the ledge. He feels oddly out of place, despite there being barely anyone at the park. The two boys inside the park look far older than what Woonhak is, so he feels weird following him. He's mildly encouraged when the tall boy sitting on the ramp invites him over warmly with a wave of his hand.

"Who's this kid?" Jaehyun asks as he pats Woonhak's back. "Your boyfriend? Girlfriend?"

"We're just friends," Woonhak answers with a laugh as he shoves Jaehyun. "Taewon-ah, this is Jaehyun and Jeno hyung — they're like older brothers. This is Taewon — the kid I got in trouble for fighting for."

"Ah, you're the gay kid," Jeno hums, laughing as Taewon glares at Woonhak. "No hate, no hate. Jaehyun's got a boyfriend, too."

"And he should be arriving any second now," Jaehyun grins as he picks his board up and skates down the ramp. "Woonhakie can teach you how to skate, if you'd like."

"No, I'm just here... because Sogeon is out there," Taewon answers with a small smile. "Is Woonhakie any good?"

"The best BMX biker in the park," Woonhak replied, confidence not quite mirroring his skill. "I'm still learning tricks from Sanghyeok hyung, though, so I'm the best beginner right now."

"Woonhak-ah," Jeno calls out as he kicks his board up the ramp, "show the kid how to balance on a board. Maybe he can join us here after school so that he doesn't have to encounter that kid you're fighting."

Woonhak and Taewon make eye contact and the taller shows a bright grin. "Wanna stand on a board, Taewon-ah?"

Jaehyun joins Jeno's side, looking back at Woonhak and the boy wearing the school's girl's uniform before chuckling. "So Woonhak likes femboys, huh?"

"Shut up, Jaehyun, they're literally 17-year olds," Jeno chuckles. "Besides, you like emo fuckers, so we all have types."

"Hey! My emo fucker is cute as hell. His music recs are a little questionable, but he's still prettier than any person alive."

Jeno rolls his eyes. "No one is prettier than my Luzhen."

×××

"What's your favourite song right now?"

Jaehyun's room had been quiet until he decided to speak up. Instead of answering, Dongmin turns onto his side and takes the loose earphone, holding it out to the older. "Here. It might sound a bit imbalanced with one earphone, but this is my favourite song right now — The Death Of Peace of Mind by Bad Omens."

"Yesterday it was that Pierce The Veil song," Jaehyun notes as he listens carefully to the song playing in his ears, turning on his side to face Dongmin as well. "It's different from the other songs you have in the playlist."

"You wanna know why I like this song?" Dongmin asks softly as he shifts closer to the older, smiling as he tilts his head. "I'll translate the lyrics for you. I miss the way you say my name, the way you bend, the way you break..."

Jaehyun's face flushes as Dongmin pauses the song, lifting himself to sit on Jaehyun's waist. "Th-the lyrics...?"

"The way you fuck, the way you taste..."

Jaehyun holds his breath as Dongmin leans forward, ready to press their lips together, but they're interrupted by the sounds of knocking on the front door of Jaehyun's house. Dongmin pulls away in disappointment, but he's still smiling as Jaehyun chases after his lips. "C'mon, at least one kiss," the older laughs as he lifts a hand to Dongmin's neck. "Before the others come up... please..."

"I love it when you want me like this," Dongmin speaks softly. "It's the first time that someone... wants me. I'm excited. I want you to keep wanting me. It makes me so happy, hyung..."

"I won't let you go any time soon, Dongmin-ah," Jaehyun says, soft and warm against his lips. "I want to cause trouble with you... get caught doing things with you... ruin someone's day with you..."

"Me too," Dongmin agrees with a smile. "I want to keep you as close as possible. I won't let Sungho have you, no matter what."

Their lips linger mere millimeters apart before Jaehyun lifts his head just enough to press their lips together, pliant and plush as their tongues barely make contact. Jaehyun's hand rests on Dongmin's thigh, pulling him closer ever so slightly before they jump apart at the sound of knocking on Jaehyun's bedroom door.

"Put your clothes on! We're coming to fetch you!"

The door swings open as Dongmin unmounts from Jaehyun's waist, causing quick and loud sounds of disgust from the three people entering. "Gross!" Jeno exclaims, making a mocking face of disgust. "Anyway, we're all spending the night at Donghyun's place."

"Get your shit together," Donghyun orders as they enter the room. "You're not catching on shit in my living room — no sex, no blowjobs, no handjobs, nothing."

Jaehyun groans in disappointment. "No handjobs? I'm out."

"I wouldn't have given you one, anyway," Dongmin teases as he hits Jaehyun's thigh. "It'll be easier to report back to my psycho mom if I'm right next door, too, so I'm in. You coming, baby?"

"We're all sleeping in the living room," Sanghyeok says as he sits on Jaehyun's desk chair. "You should clean up this place. You can't have your boyfriend over in this mess. Jeez, it's a miracle that Sungho didn't have a heart attack yet."

"I don't mind — I haven't gotten sick yet," Dongmin hums, watching as Jaehyun throws random clothes into a backpack. "I'll make a stop at my house before coming over."

"Your mom's gonna be pissed — you've slept over at my place every night of this week so far," Donghyun says as he places Jaehyun's skateboard on the floor carpet. "It has to be a quick in and out or she's gonna ask a bunch of questions."

"She's leaving me alone these days, but it's only because I don't really talk to her except to ask for pocket money," Dongmin replies, getting off the bed when Jaehyun zips his bag close. "Toothbrush, baby."

"He already has one at my place because he sleeps over so often — my mom loves him," Donghyun says as they all leave the bedroom. "Sanghyeok and I bought alcohol, you two can contribute to snacks."

"Will do," Jaehyun nods as they pass the kitchen where Jaehyun's mom stood. "Mom, love you! See you tomorrow morning!"

"I'm not bailing you out this time!"

"Yeah, yeah, okay! Love you," Jaehyun grins as he presses a kiss to his mother's cheek. "I'll tell Aunty Hyorin that you say hi."

"Wait, wait, wait, here's some peach for you lot," she says as she points to a bag on the kitchen counter. "You boys are always just drinking energy drinks and eating cup noodles — have some nutrition, why don't you?"

Jaehyun tosses a peach to each of them and they all exclaim words of thanks when they receive a fruit. "Thanks Mom, love you!"

"Love you too, dear. Have fun, boys!"

Chapter Text

"Take a shot if you're not a virgin."

The liquid burns as it slides down Dongmin's throat — the visceral change in his expression is enough to elicits a laugh from all his friends. It's his first time drinking, so he's not quite used to the alcohol's burn just yet. He can only laugh as he places the shot glass down, shaking his head before burping rather uncharacteristically. "Jeez, that sucked."

"You're not a virgin?" Donghyun asks as he lifts a chip to Sanghyeok's mouth. "I'm telling your mom."

"Oh please, no one here is a virgin," Sungho chuckles. "I didn't expect the new kid to be one, either."

"Jaehyun hyung's fault," Dongmin says flatly, causing everyone in the room to silently widen their eyes. Dongmin looks up, pressing his lips into a tight smile. "I have a prompt."

"Shoot," Sanghyeok nods as he takes a sip of the cold cider in his hands. "I'm not playing after the next two rounds I lose — I'm gonna head to bed."

"Are we making a baby tonight?" Donghyun asks with a small smirk as he leans in to Sanghyeok. The older makes a face before holding his palm out in denial.

"You said it first, big boy," he declines. "No sex, no blowjobs, no handjobs."

"Shot yourself in the foot," Jaehyun cackles. "Dongmin-ah, what's your prompt?"

Dongmin hums as he holds up the soju bottle, pouring a drink for himself and Sungho. "Well... drink if you fucked Jaehyun hyung."

Sungho meets Dongmin's eyes, frowning as he downs the glass of soju in front of him. Sungho drinks a glass as well, avoiding Jaehyun's eyes, but everyone watches as Donghyun begins pouring himself a glass as well. "Does a handjob count?"

"Ay— obviously not!" Jaehyun exclaims suddenly as Sanghyeok immediately delivers a glare. "It was when we were much younger, okay? Before I even dated Sungho."

"Yeah, I was wondering if I like boys, and Jaehyun hyung was alone with me in the locker room, so we... figured things out with each other," Donghyun explains far more calmly that Jaehyun would've. "It only happened once and we never really spoke about it apart from three or four times since."

"... and you never thought of telling me?" Sanghyeok asks, clearly trying not to be upset. "We only got together final year of high school — when did this thing between you two happen?"

"Sanghyeok, it's not a big deal," Jaehyun says with a slight scoff. "We were horny teenagers—"

"Look, it's not that you and Donghyun did things — it's the fact that I'm finding out years later through a damn drinking game," Sanghyeok snaps before turning to Donghyun. "What else, hm? Did you fuck around with anyone else before me? Or do I have to wait for the next sleepover to find out?"

"Oh my God, Sanghyeok," Sungho frowns, "relax—"

"Let's go talk upstairs," Donghyun interrupts as he stands up, holding a hand to Sanghyeok. The older's more upset than pissed, so he takes Donghyun's hand to stand up and follows him up the stairs.

"What the fuck was that?" Dongmin chuckles as he drinks another glass of soju. "Well, the game's paused. Do they always fight like that?"

"Only when Sanghyeok has something to criticise about Donghyun's decisions," Jaehyun replies. "Donghyuk smokes weed, he's got bruises and scars from skateboarding, he's gotten arrested before — Sanghyeok wants what's best for him, but his track record is worse than mine."

"Yeah, but you've always been reckless," Sungho says, glancing over at Jaehyun for a quick second before picking up the TV remote to change the song playing. "Making rash decisions and all..."

"And what is one of those rash decisions?" Jaehyun asks with a playful scoff. "All my bad decisions are carefully thought out, thank you very much."

Dongmin is quiet for a bit. "You're just living life... aren't you?"

Sungho looks between them as he stops scrolling through the songs on the screen. Jaehyun smiles at Dongmin, leaning back on his hands as he maintains eye contact with the younger. Sungho presses down on a song and immediately stands up. "I'm gonna go to the bathr—"

"You never told us why you went off with Ginger today," Jaehyun says suddenly, gaze quickly locked in on Sungho. "You know that guy's an asshole, so why are you hanging out with him?"

"I'm not hanging out with him, we just had a conversation," Sungho denies immediately. "I'm not an idiot, Jaehyun. I hate him as much as the next guy, so I'm not gonna try being his friend or some bullshit — even if he offers it."

"But what if he asks you out or something?" Dongmin asks, earning both boys' attention. "Hypothetically, if this Ginger guy... likes you... would you get with him if he has a change of heart?"

Sungho lets out an exasperated sigh as he turns away. "I'm just gonna use the bathroom, I'll be right back."

He leaves the two without another word. He's almost certain that they're already together — he just can't bear to ask them himself. Sungho reaches the top of the stairs, hearing murmuring from Donghyun's room. He can't help but become curious, so Sungho ends up standing right beside the door, focused on the mumbling inside the room.

"My mom thinks I smoke weed because of you, you know."

"I'm sorry, baby."

"And throw away that stupid vape! It's doing nothing for you!"

"Yes, love."

A bit of silence passes.

"Hyung, are you mad at me?"

"... a little, yes."

"You know I never mean to hurt you, love. I don't ever want to be a bad partner."

"You never were a bad partner, Donghyunnie." Some silence passes again. "At least cut out the weed. And stop kissing me while I'm lecturing you."

"You look so cute when you're angry, though. Can I...?"

"What about the others downstairs, thought?"

"I want to make a baby, though."

"Stop saying that, oh my God. I'm a dude and you're a dude — we're not 'making babies'."

"A quickie, then. Sungho hyung might be thirdwheeling downstairs right now, so I can be quick."

Sungho shuts his eyes before moving away from the door, sighing softly to himself before truthfully going to the bathroom. His stomach is swirling horribly with an emotion he was too scared to identify. Were Jaehyun and Dongmin really dating? Sungho feels upset that Jaehyun wouldn't tell him directly, but then again, he's the one that asked to stay friends with his ex boyfriend.

"I didn't even want to break up with him..."

He remains where he is, because he knows that Jaehyun and Dongmin would probably be kissing downstairs as well. His heart clenches — it's not like he wants to get back with Jaehyun. He's long past still being in love with his best friend and isn't petty enough to want him back. Jaehyun might be happier with Dongmin — having Sungho around would probably cause second thoughts, especially based on what Jaehyun had told him the other day.

Sungho hesitantly leaves the bathroom after doing his business and is surprised to see Jaehyun and Dongmin leaning over the small table in the middle of the living room, giggling and laughing as Jaehyun attempts to paint Dongmin's nails with black nail polish.

"Wait, wait, hold still!"

"I am still! You're drunk!"

"Liar, I can tell that you're moving!"

Sungho smiles a little as his presence finally gets noticed. "What are you two doing?"

"Struggling," Jaehyun quips with a laugh. "Sungho-ya, a little help, please. I think I'm gonna be sick from focusing too hard."

Sungho's sure that he's a little drunk too, but he still sits across from Dongmin where Jaehyun once sat. "I can help, if you'd like."

Jaehyun lies off to the side, quietly singing along to the song that Sungho had chosen. Sungho takes Dongmin's hand to observe what Jaehyun had done so far and can only simper at the sight of the nail polish overlapping onto his skin on literally every nail he had done. Dongmin notices Sungho's hesitant smile and laughs. "It's fine — he's cute."

Sungho chuckles as he picks up the small nail polish brush. Before he manages to speak, he notices a flurry of thin, red scratches and old scars on Dongmin's left wrist. It's difficult to ignore, and he's not sure if Dongmin notices that he has shown a bunch of scars on his wrist that are only ever indicative of one thing. He's still drunkenly giggling at Jaehyun, so maybe he hasn't noticed yet.

Sungho takes his absentmindedness to stare at the scars for a bit longer. The red scars are fresh — new and very coordinated, as if cut with a blade. They were made recently. Sungho gulps nervously to himself before turning Dongmin's wrist over on his own and begins painting his nails. Dongmin has nice hands — Sungho remembers Donghyun mentioning that Dongmin could play the guitar, which would explain the callouses on his hands.

He can't stop thinking about those scars, however.

"Sungho hyung," Dongmin begins suddenly, eyes still locked on Jaehyun's slowly sleeping form on the floor, "I don't know what you did or how you did it, but... he will never like me in the way he liked you. He still has lingering feelings, and it's so damn obvious. I'm just distracting him — I don't think he actually likes me."

"Don't say that," Sungho sighs as he dips the brush into the nail polish bottle. "Jaehyun loves deeply. I'm rooting for you two, really. I know he'll make you happy."

"Will I make him happy?"

"Are you a bad person?"

"I don't think so, no."

"Then I think he'll be happy."

Dongmin smiles a bit. "I really like him, hyung. I know he's your best friend, but... he's still in love with you."

"He's not—"

"When we first had sex, he said your name. He thinks I didn't notice, but... I definitely noticed. I ignored it, but... it's difficult," Dongmin sighs, swapping hands when Sungho finished up his thumb. "It's dumb. Just not your fault, but... I don't want to blame him..."

"You have to keep in mind that Jaehyun and I have known each other for a long time, but I have no feelings for him anymore. No romantic feelings, at least," Sungho tells the younger. "You're on his mind — trust me. Maybe it starts as a distraction, but... I sincerely hope that he loves you as much as he loved me."

Dongmin smiles softly. "I can see why he still loves you."

"He doesn't love me anymore, Dongmin-ah. He's attached to what we used to have. If you don't want us to be friends anymore, I get it. I understand."

Sungho still seems awfully apologetic. Dongmin shakes his head. "No... it's not your fault that he still has feelings for you. I think you should've kept the boundary, though. Y'know... instead of asking to be friends after breaking up."

"It's such a fucking awful situation, though — knowing that your boyfriend is still in love with his ex." Sungho blows lightly on the completed nails before closing the nail polish container and putting it to the side. "It looks good. Maybe seduce him a little more and he'll forget me in no time."

"Can I ask why you broke up with Jaehyun hyung, though? No one really made it clear," Dongmin asks as he waves his hands back and forth to dry his nails.

"I never made it clear in the first place, but I guess I can tell you," Sungho agrees as he pours himself and Dongmin another glass of soju. "I regret dating him. I... I felt bad that he told me how he felt and I didn't want to lose him, so I agreed to be his boyfriend. We had sex the day we became a couple because... I thought it would help my feelings for him, but our relationship felt superficial to me because of it. We broke up because I never wanted to be a couple in the first place."

Dongmin's expression changes a little at those words. "You're being honest?"

"I mean... I liked him while we were dating, yeah, but... I preferred being friends. Jaehyun is my best friend — I don't have romantic feelings for him."

Dongmin glances at his boyfriend with a soft sigh. "I hope so — because I really like him."

Sungho wishes he could be as honest as his heart desires him to be, because he never wanted to break up with Jaehyun.

Chapter Text

"Throw him in!"

The day had been dedicated to recovering from their hangover, so the boys only gathered two days later when they all had time to convene. Woonhak was with them this evening, so Dongmin finally got to hang out with all his friends, including Jeno and Luzhen. He couldn't really voice how warm his chest felt being able to be around more friends than he's ever been allowed to have.

He happily joins in detaining Woonhak as they all force him into the shopping cart, Jaehyun taking a hold of the handlebars and pushing him as he runs forward. Woonhak is compliant as he laughs, taking Jaehyun's skateboard to hold it while he gets pushed in the cart. "Hyung, will you buy me a Mountain Dew?"

"Only if you let me tell the others about your new boyfriend," Jaehyun teases, earning noises of interests while Woonhak covers his face in embarrassment. "Don't tell me you two are actually dating!"

"I'm not dating Taewon!" Woonhak replies hurriedly, face burning red already. "I'm... just his friend."

"Who's Taewon? I didn't know you had actual friends," Luzhen says, laughing as Woonhak shoots a playful glare. "Look at our Woonhakie! Flirting with boys!"

"Taewon's really nice, but I don't think I like boys," Woonhak says, his tone changing to be more serious. The others listen, seeing as Woonhak seems to be talking rather sincerely. "If he likes me, I'll feel really bad because I don't want to be with a boy. I mean, no hate, of course — I'm surrounded by a bunch of you freaks."

"Freaks?! Fuck you!"

"Shut up!"

"Fuck you, Woonhak!"

Dongmin laughs, scurring over to Jaehyun and dropping his backpack onto Woonhak's stomach. "We know that you're teaching him how to skateboard."

"I'm not—!"

"Ew, you really like him," Jeno grimaces with a laugh. "That's how Jaehyun expressed his feelings for Sungho, didn't he? Taught him how to skateboard."

"It's because he asked me to!" Woonhak's back to hopelessly defending himself when he knows it won't work. "I barely ride my skateboard and he was curious, so we spent the afternoon at the park yesterday because none of you were there!"

"So you wanted to be alone with him?"

"That's not— stop it Sanghyeok hyung! I don't like boys!" He crosses his arms as he huffs. "I'm just keeping him company because he's being targeted by these guys that find him weird. He's a little weird — he wears skirts and stuff but he doesn't want to be a girl — but that doesn't mean he deserves to get picked on."

"Do you feel fluttery and warm around him?" Luzhen asks, posing the question as a joke, but gasps when Woonhak remains silent for a little bit too long. "You like him!"

"I don't like him!"

"Hey, everyone!" Jaehyun suddenly exclaims. "This guy likes femboys!"

"I don't l— hyung! Shut up!"

The groups finally arrive in the eMart, acting nonchalant as they push the Woonhak-filled cart. Jeno and Luzhen disappear on their own, while Sungho ends up following them due to having a conversation with Jeno. Jaehyun glances around — the place is practically empty because it's almost 10pm at night. "Donghyun."

"Hm?"

Jaehyun holds his fist out. "Rock-paper-scissors. Loser has to skate two aisles."

"No," Sanghyeok says quickly, causing Jaehyun to cackle. "Leave my boyfriend out of your shenanigans. He's a good boy today — aren't you, Donghyunnie?"

Donghyun nods rather blankly before a grin forms on his lips. "I'm high."

"Of course you are," Jaehyun chuckles, taking two Mountain Dews out of the fridge and putting them on Woonhak's stomach. "Dongmin-ah, which one do you want?"

"White Monster," Dongmin replies rather softly as he takes the can out of the fridge and putting it beside the other drinks on Woonhak.

"It's cold," the younger complains, but doesn't move the drinks. "Hyung, can I also get Pocari? I'll land an ollie tonight if you get me one."

"Shush, we're done with drinks," Jaehyun tells the younger as he pushes the cart. He looks beside him at Dongmin, bumping the younger with his shoulder. "You're awfully quiet. Are you okay?"

"I'm great, hyung." Dongmin offers a smile to the older to quell his worries — it seems to work. "I've never been to an eMart at night with friends. I'm happy."

Jaehyun hums, leaning over to press a soft kiss to Dongmin's cheek. Dongmin freezes in place for a moment as he processes the sudden kiss — right. He and Jaehyun didn't really advertise themselves as a couple. Jaehyun laughs a bit as he immediately notices the pink glow on Dongmin's cheeks. "Do you like being kissed, baby?"

"To be fair, we don't really do 'couple stuff'," Dongmin points out. "But then again, we only got together three days ago..."

"And I owe it to you, given my reputation," Jaehyun adds, slipping a hand around Dongmin's waist and resting his head on his shoulder. "You should stay over at my house. I want to introduce you to my mom properly. As my boyfriend."

"I wish I could do the same," Dongmin quips, taking his phone out of his pocket to glance at the screen. "My mom's calling again. Wanna ask if I can sleep over?"

"Really?"

"Go ahead."

Jaehyun takes the phone rather excitedly as he answers. "Mrs Han, yes, hello! This is Myung Jaehyun, Han Dongmin's greatest and closest friend, nice to meet you." Dongmin holds back his laugh, listening as he takes various snacks off the shelf and dropping them on Woonhak's torso. "Yes, I'm doing well, Miss Mom."

Woonhak nearly bursts out laughing, causing Sanghyeok and Donghyun to listen in as well. "Miss Mom—?!"

"Dongmin will be spending the night at my house, if that's okay. I'm very well-behaved, I promise. I swear. Yes, well-behaved. Very well-behaved, you can even ask my mom. Your son is in good hands, trust me. He's just sleeping one night, so I'll return him on my Baker skateboard tomorrow. Like, overnight delivery. Yes, yes, yes. Oh, thank you, Miss Mom. Can I date your son, please? Yes. Like a boyfriend, yes. Oh, okay, I apologise for asking." Dongmin almost bursts out laughing. "Thank you, I'll return him tomorrow. Have a good night. Yes, thank you. Bye-bye, have a good night! Love you!"

Jaehyun hangs up and the other four laugh loudly immediately. Jaehyun hands the phone over nonchalantly, but Dongmin is too busy laughing to take the device. "Hyung— what the—?!"

"She said that we can't date, sorry," Jaehyun says, resisting his laugh as he tries to be serious. "She said that I shouldn't be weird, so I don't think you can tell her that we're together. Just a feeling."

"Just a hunch?"

"Just a hunch."

"Well, you managed to drag him out the house again," Sanghyeok says, dropping a pack of Oreos on Woonhak. Jaehyun follows up by taking a box of Oreo-Os. "Where are we sitting, by the way?"

Woonhak moves the stuff off his abdomen as he takes his phone out of his pocket. "Jeno hyung said that he knows a spot."

Jaehyun places his skateboard down on the tiles, pushing himself down the ailse past the other four. "Ay, whatever — I'm gonna skate. I'll stop when the staff scold me out."

×××

"To the edge!"

The spot turned out to be the roof of his apartment building. Luzhen shines her phone's flashlight to guide everyone, remaining as quiet as they can while running up the stairs with skateboards in their hands. Woonhak throws his board down, skating ahead of the group while trying and failing to land a flip. Dongmin's the first to laugh when Woonhak slips to the ground, shouting a quick 'fuck!'.

"Game of skate," Jeno announces as he neatly places his backpack on the ground beside a seated Luzhen. "First to land 5 tricks wins."

"I can't do tricks yet, though," Dongmin says, rolling his board on the ground as he sits on the ledge of the building.

"We should've stolen that cart," Jaehyun hums as he jumps up to sit beside Dongmin. "I'm not playing skate. I'm on a date with my boyfriend."

"Sungho," Jeno practically orders as he flicks his board up with his foot. "You're playing with me."

"Sure," Sungho agrees, flicking open his Red Bull with a flick of his finger. "Woonhak, do you still have your markers?"

"I have spray paint," Jaehyun says, dropping his bag against the wall as he pops open his and Dongmin's Monsters. "Don't use it all — Jaesung hyung hasn't done any customs in a while, so I'm running dry."

Jaehyun's gaze follows Dongmin's, glancing out at the quiet yet noisy suburb they lived in. The night is still young to them. Dongmin glances to his right, smiling as he meets Jaehyun's expectant gaze. "And why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because I'm happy to be your boyfriend."

Dongmin scoffs playfully. "If you loved me, you'd listen to Pierce The Veil with me."

"I do listen to Pierce The Veil for you! I actually like some of your songs," Jaehyun whines. "It's the songs with the heavy screaming that throw me off, okay?"

"I told you to ignore the Motionless in White but you don't listen."

Jaehyun pouts as he drinks from his Monster. "I'm just trying to bond with you..."

Dongmin hums as he presses a soft kiss to Jaehyun's forehead. "I appreciate the effort, hyung."

"Donghyun told me that your mom wrecked your bass guitar."

Dongmin falls quiet. Jaehyun regrets bringing it up because it's suddenly awkward — tense. Jaehyun prepares an excuse, but he can't get it out because Dongmin is just so crestfallen that he feels awful. "Yeah," Dongmin half answers, not knowing really how to respond. "She, uhm... broke it. Because I yelled back at her."

"..."

"I don't really want to talk about it."

"I know. I'm sorry for asking."

Dongmin appreciates the lack of continuance, but he doesn't want Jaehyun to feel like he's at fault. "Donghyun knows all the details — I'm actually fine with him explaining it all to you. I just can't be the one to talk about everything that woman has done to me. Tch — parents will really do anything for their kids except let them be themselves."

"I'll wait until you feel more comfortable with telling me — or if you don't think it's necessary for me to know, then that's fine too," Jaehyun said, sipping from his Monster with a sigh. "I'm sorry if it doesn't feel like a relationship yet. Is there anything I can do to fix it?"

"It feels fine, hyung. It feels like I'm dating someone."

"Are you happy with me?"

Dongmin turns his head, pressing a soft kiss to Jaehyun's cheek. "Yes, hyung. Very happy."

"I like being with you," Jaehyun sighs, holding his hand out to the other. Dongmin takes his hand with a laugh, but Jaehyun immediately tugs his hand closer and observes the scratches on his wrist. "What the— more?!"

"They're nothing—"

Jaehyun mockingly slaps Dongmin's wrist, pointing a finger almost angrily. "Stop it."

"I'll stop."

"Don't lie to me!"

"I'll stop!" Dongmin laughs as he swiftly withdraws his wrist. "I was just feeling... out of it. I needed to distract myself, so... uhm... but I have you now to distract me."

"Exactly," Jaehyun nods firmly. "So no more of this — okay? The only scratches you'll have are from falling off your skateboard. I will personally break into your room and throw out anything sharp."

"Good luck with that."

Jaehyun takes his wrist again, eyes glazing over the scars one at a time as he observes each and every mark on his otherwise flawless skin. "I want to kiss each and every one better. I swear, Han Dongmin — I'll replace every horrible memory with a better one. I will love you for as long as you want me to and even longer."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Oi! Can you two stop being all lovey-dovey and come sit down here with the rest of us?!"

Jaehyun turns his head with a laugh. "Why don't you guys sit up here?"

"You know I'm scared of heights, you loser!"

"Not my fault, Sanghyeok!"

Chapter Text

Dongmin wakes up first the next morning — it was a regular, apparently, because Jaehyun often refuses to wake up. He feels weird though, being awake at 6am while everyone was still asleep. He could never sleep quite well, so it was a common occurence for him to be awake first.

Jaehyun sleeps far too comfortable for Dongmin's liking, his limbs spread everywhere but he still manages to hold Dongmin tightly, face pressed firmly into Dongmin's shoulder. It's awfully cute but Dongmin shakes loose from the uncomfortable position and reaches for his phone, smiling at the flurry of messages sent in the friend groupchat at 2am when they finally parted ways.

onetwo

> i love you guys so much

trickshot.hak

> lol loser

dongmins_love

> don't be so mean woonhak smh

wooriwoo

> he's just saying he loves us, why do you have to be a dick about it, woonhak

yeppida

> asshole omg

trickshot.hak

> i hate all of you

dongmins_love

> ok femboy enjoyer

trickshot.hak

> STFUUUUU

> I DONT LIKE FEMBOYS

onetwo

> i hope we all stay together forever

> you're all so precious to me

yeppida

> what's up with this guy tho

> you okay, buddy? :(

wooriwoo

> he's being emotional

> because he loves us

> one plus one, sungho

trickshot.hak

> im glad dongmin hyung is with us too :D

> he's literally so funny

> pls don't die

dongmins_love

> well, he's in the shower right now, so i'll pass the message on to him (i dont give a shit)

trickshot.hak

> are you guys mean to me because im 17

 

onetwo

> yes

> this gc is 19 up with a single teenager

yeppida

> you're the only virgin lol

trickshot.hak

> gross ! :D

> i literally don't care ! :]

wooriwoo

> go sleep, you have school in the morning

trickshot.hak

> i didn't do my math homework lol

> i'll just ask taewon for his workbook GOODNIGHT

onetwo

> i love you, woonhak-ah

> don't fuck up, please

dongmins_love

> goodnight!!

Dongmin puts his phone down after catching up with the groupchat, silently lifting his body from the bed and glancing over to their two skateboards propped up against the wall near the door. He takes the moment of silence to observe the small details of Jaehyun's rather messy bedroom — the clean pile of clothes precariously close to the dirty pile, the Spiderman boxers near the skateboard, the full-body mirror decorated with those same stickers from the night they first met, the broken skateboard deck on his desk, the Polaroids stuck to his bed frame of himself and Sungho—

The Polaroids of himself and Sungho.

Dongmin's stomach twists at the sight of the photos. He turns himself, eyes observing Jaehyun's face. It's unfair. It feels unfair, at least — that someone could love someone while loving another. He couldn't guarantee that Jaehyun was no longer in love with Sungho. Jaehyun was still unpredictable because they weren't extremely familiar with each other. He wanted to be more familiar with him, though — but who's to say that Jaehyun was really over Sungho?

"I wonder if he enjoys being friends with Sungho hyung..."

Dongmin slowly drags his fingers through Jaehyun's hair, eyes locked on every single one of the older's features. He's more beautiful than Dongmin would ever probably admit out loud. He's afraid of falling so hard for someone that was probably in still in love with someone else. He was afraid that Jaehyun would start to mean the world to him.

Jaehyun shifts in his sleep, causing the younger to quickly release him. Would he ever be able to love Dongmin? Or would he always think about Sungho? His heart twists inside him again — it's awfully discouraging.

But then he thinks of Jaehyun last night as he kisses the scars on his wrist, humming a sweet melody softly as he presses his lips against the cracks and cuts in his skin. He wanted to show his affection because maybe he could tell that Dongmin felt inferior to his previous relationship. Sungho had said that he should give it some thought, but Dongmin's impending, silent anxiety made everything worse.

Would it be worth it?

Sungho's nice, too. He doesn't particularly harbour any hatred except for Ginger, maybe, so even Dongmin quite enjoys having him around. He was there when Dongmin first dropped in at Dead Frequency, he laughs at all Dongmin's jokes, he did his nails for him — he's genuinely a good person. Dongmin can see why Jaehyun agreed to stay friends with him — Sungho doesn't even need to prove his worth as a friend because it already feels like being around him is worth every second of your time.

Dongmin lifts himself off the bed carefully, sitting in the floor beside his backpack and taking out the clothes he planned to wear for the day. His stomach still twisted and turned, putting a bitter taste in his mouth, but he really didn't want to overthink his relationship. They had just gotten together — it shouldn't feel this empty already.

'I sincerely hope that he loves you as much as he loved me.'

Dongmin scoffs to himself bitterly. "You're only saying that because you still like him."

×××

"You're here early."

Dongmin bows his head slightly as the familiar male approaches him, face still adorned with piercings. "Jaesung hyung."

"We only open at 9, kid — how long have you been here?" Jaesung asks as he puts the passcode into the door. "You look cold."

"Yeah, I forgot my hoodie at Jaehyun's place," Dongmin replies as he lifts his body from the ground against the wall. "I got here 20 minutes ago, so... not too long."

"I'll open the park in a minute — you can sit behind the counter while I get coffee for us," Jaesung says as he kicks the door open. "Behind the counter is another door — the passcode is 0325. There's a hoodie you can wear that should be hanging right there. It's got the Dead Frequency logo on the back."

"No, it's fine—"

"Oi. You're a friend of Jaehyun's — I gotta take care of you." Dongmin smiles as he bows his head in thanks. "I'll get ice coffee for us. Just a regular, right? Just watch the store for me — Lia should be arriving soon."

Dongmin nods again, unable to reply before Jaesung leaves the building as quickly as he had arrived. Dongmin glances about the store of the skate park — not much had changed since he first made his board. All the decks were the same, from what he remembers. He retrieves the hoodie from the back room behind the counter, slipping it on as he pliantly waits for Jaesung to return.

Barely two minutes pass before the door opens, but a girl steps in, hair dishevelled slightly as she stomps her very large boots on the 'welcome' carpet. "Sorry, Jaesung oppa! I got into an argument with a guy on a bike, so—"

The girl pauses, realising that the person behind the counter is, in fact, not her boss, but a lanky kid. Dongmin waves his hand awkwardly as the door slowly closes behind her. "... Hi."

"Hello," she greets, belatedly bowing her head in return. "Is, uhm... is Jaesung oppa...?"

"He went to get coffee," Dongmin replies, biting his lips together nervously. "I'm Han Dongmin — a... friend of Jaehyun."

"Ahh! Oh, okay — I'm Lia, I work behind the register," she replies with a grin. "You're the boyfriend he was so excited to talk about the other day. Don't worry, I know who you are. You're here early, though."

"Yeah, I... felt like coming early," Dongmin says, laughing at how awkward he sounded. "Sorry, I'm not used to people when Jaehyun hyung isn't with me."

"You're friends with all his friends, right?" Lia asks as she steps behind the counter. "Fun fact, I dated Park Sungho in middle school. We still talk now and then when he comes to the park. Is he doing well?"

"Uhm... I'd assume so, yes," Dongmin nods, holding his hands in front of him shyly. Lia turns on the computer and faces him, waiting for him to continue talking. "Uhm... I didn't see you when I first came here..."

"I was probably on lunch," she says with a smile. "Did you move in recently? I've practically seen every skateboarder in the district in this store — I've never seen you."

"Oh — I'm just friends with one of Jaehyun hyung's friends," Dongmin explains. "I only started skateboarding less than 2 weeks ago, so I'm quite new to it all. I can't even ollie yet, either, so I'm very fresh."

"So you met Jaehyun through this friend you have in common?" she asks as she logs into the computer. "That's so cute! When did you meet?"

"... five days ago." Lia merely states blankly, clearly shocked at the short time he had given her. "It was honestly on impulse, really. I'm sure you know about him and Sungho hyung, so... I still feel strange."

"Yeah, I never understood that — he's friends with his ex. That's insane to me," she agrees with a laugh as she opens the backroom door to place her bag inside. "I'm all for maintaining good relationships with people, but... it would be wiser to let go, wouldn't it? Jaehyun's a special case, though."

"How so?"

"He loves too easily," Lia explains loosely. "He's such a sweetheart — so full of love and happiness. He loves with his whole heart, from what I've seen. He's such a fool in love — and I'm sure that's what's happening right now. I think Sungho was his longest relationship, so letting all of that go must be like letting go of a part of himself. But I'm sure he's deeply in love with you — that's just how he is, really."

Dongmin remains quiet for a bit. "You know them well, don't you?"

"I've been here for almost three years," Lia hums, "so I've witnessed quite a bit. Jaehyun's a good friend of mine, too."

"Do you think Jaehyun would go back to Sungho?" Lia remains silent for a bit too long and Dongmin's confidence wavers again, his stomach twisting into an uncomfortable knot of fear. "Do you think he and Sungho...?"

"Don't say that, kid. I'm sure Jaehyun likes you a lo—"

"Jaehyun's a loser, but he's not a cheater." The door to the shop had been opened and a smiling Jaesung stood at the door with three cups of ice coffee. "Jaehyun likes you, Dongmin. He likes you so much — trust me."

"He's not very good at assuring me," Dongmin admits weakly. "He's so obviously still in love with Sungho that I feel obligated to get them back together. And Sungho's a liar — I know damn well that he regrets breaking up with Jaehyun hyung."

Lia and Jaesung look at each other quietly before Lia delivers a rather sad, apologetic smile to Dongmin. "Then tell him how you feel, kid. Jaehyun's a great listener. Given the scale if this situation, though, I think just you can actually... guilt him a little."

"He's being childish," Jaesung says flatly. "He's in a committed relationship — he should pick his damn feet up and realise that he has to dedicate himself to you and not to the guy that broke up with him. I'm gonna talk to him when he gets here—"

"No, don't," Dongmin says quickly as he shakes his head. "It's fine. I'll deal with it. Maybe I'm being dramatic."

"You two just got together — if it's already a problem, sort it out," Jaesung says firmly. "Jeez, if I was in a relationship, I wouldn't let my partner fuck me around like this. I'm an ESFJ, though, so maybe my standard for relationships are too deep for you. Trust and mutual understanding is so important in a relationship — and that's something you two lack right now."

Dongmin knows that it's true. They don't know what they want from their relationship yet and it's making Dongmin anxious. 

Chapter Text

"You left me."

Dongmin laughs at the sight of Jaehyun's pouty lips as soon as they meet eyes, holding his arms open to hug Jaehyun, but the older just crosses his arms pettily. "Aw, come on, hyung."

"Why did you leave me?" Jaehyun asks as he drops his board to the floor and kicks it to the side. "My mom said that you just went for a walk because your bag and everything is still at my house."

"I just wanted to get some air — I didn't sleep so well last night," Dongmin replies, watching as Jaehyun jumps over to the counter to join his side. Dongmin offers another hug stance, laughing as the older drops into his arms for them to hug each other. "I'm sorry for not telling you where I was going."

"As long as you're safe, I suppose," Jaehyun hums, wrapping his arms around Dongmin's neck. "I thought you were mad at me."

"... well, I am, but not enough for me to talk about it."

"W-what did I do...?!"

Dongmin laughs, holding Jaehyun's waist as the older presses soft kisses to the top of his head. "You didn't do anything bad, don't worry. I'm just... overthinking things again."

Jaehyun hums as he lifts Dongmin's head with his hands, running his thumbs along the younger's cheeks gently. "Maybe you should sleep over again tonight. We should spend more time together."

"Then let's go spot hunting tonight," Dongmin suggests, tilting his head as a smile forms on his lips. "Just the two of us. We can jump a fence and you can teach me how to ollie."

"Oh! I drove with my mom to this logistics company the other day to pick up paperwork, and they have a lot of skateable spots. We can go there tonight," Jaehyun suggests excitedly, holding Dongmin's hands. "I mean... as soon as we get that ollie down, at least. We can work on it today, right?"

"..."

Dongmin wonders if he should bring up how he feels right now or wait until it all snowballs and becomes worse. Jaehyun seems to notice this hesitance, even as Dongmin very clearly holds his breath. Jaehyun releases his hands, looking at Dongmin's fingers before lifting his gaze to the younger's hesitant eyes. "Why did you leave so early, baby? What did I do to make you mad...?"

"Nothing major," Dongmin replies flatly as he stands up. "It's not something that really needs to be spoken about right now. I don't want to... make you sad."

"... is it about Sungho? Did you talk to Jaesung hyung?"

"So you know."

"Look, Dongmin, I don't have feelings for him at all—"

Dongmin looks at Jaehyun, and the older stops talking. "Hyung... I'm not blind."

"Dongmin—"

"I'm not fucking blind. I'm not stupid. I can see that you're still—" Dongmin stops, holding his breath again as Jaehyun gives him those stupid puppy eyes. It's not fair at all. "Hyung, I like you. I like you a lot. You shouldn't have agreed to be with me if you're not properly over Sungho hyung. I get it — he's a great guy. He's sweet, he's funny, he's nice. Sungho hyung is... the best thing you ever had."

"I am over him, Dongmin-ah."

"No. No, you're not," Dongmin has to resist the scoff-like laugh that passes his lips, but it does anyway. "I'm regretting it a little. Regretting us. It doesn't even feel like there's an 'us' yet because you're... still in love with him."

Jaehyun shakes his head, eyes glazing over with moisture. He doesn't want to cry just yet. "Dongmin, that's not true. I wanted to be with you because I like you. Sungho and I are already broken up, there's no feelings anymore."

"Well, if Sungho hyung wanted you back... would you choose him again?"

"No, I wouldn't! Why would I choose him?! I have you! You're my fucking boyfriend!"

"It doesn't feel like it, okay?! It feels like I'm an excuse!" Dongmin feels tears welling up in his eyes as Jaehyun's cheeks become stained with tears of his own. "I don't feel like I'm in a relationship! It feels like I was a last resort so that you could ignore your feelings for Sungho hyung!"

"I don't have fucking feelings for Sungho!"

"Yes, you do! Yes, you fucking do! God, I wish you liked me as much as you love him." Dongmin steps past the older, stepping on the tail of his skateboard to flick it up and picks it up on the nose. "Leave me alone for a couple days. I need to think about why I'm even dating you in the first place."

For a moment, Jaehyun sees red, angry tears falling down his chesks. "You're the one that wanted to date someone after knowing them for two days."

"Yeah, and you were right — it's because I pitied you." Dongmin walks around the counter to the leave the shop, stopping at the entrance for a second. "We can talk when you're sure about how you feel for me."

"Dongmin—"

He leaves the shop. Jaehyun's left all alone, and he immediately breaks down in tears. The entryway to the indoor skate park opens as a quiet Jaesung steps in, clearly guilty of hearing everything. Jaehyun can't even convince himself to look at his brother, but as he glances up at Jaesung, the older doesn't offer him any comfort. "Hyung..."

"Dongmin spoke with me about what he feels," Jaesung sighs, leaning against the wall beside the deck display behind the counter. "I'm sure he said what he wanted to say."

"W-what do I do? I can't lose him — Dongmin means everything to me—"

"No, he doesn't. Not yet, at least," Jaesung says with a shake of his head. "You're dating Dongmin to get over Sungho. It's blatantly obvious, too, because you still look at Sungho like you're in love with him. You two should've broken ties when you broke up — you're way too close for a pair of exes."

Jaehyun wipes his eyes. "I can't just not be his friend—"

"And that's the problem. Everyone and their mom knows that you still have feelings for Sungho. You're not the one that broke up with him, after all — you were the victim of a breakup. I get it, though — Sungho was the best thing that happened to you. It's difficult to let that go. But if you genuinely like Dongmin and you want to make this work, you need to learn to love him and stop seeing Sungho in everything he does. You can't be a year into this relationship and still be upset when Sungho finally moves on."

Jaesung finally steps forward, running a hand through Jaehyun's messy hair. The younger feels awful in that moment. "I didn't think he'd be mad at me so soon..."

"Talk to him a few days from now, okay? I'm sure he'll still talk to Donghyun, so ask him when it's okay to talk to Dongmin again." Jaesung sighs as he withdraws his hand. "I can't imagine how either of you feel right now. This must... really suck for both of you."

"I don't want to leave him alone — I need to talk to him—"

"You'll just come off as desperate to alleviate the tension rather than taking time to fix the problem. He's more reserved than you — let him take a moment to himself and overthink everything. You need to overthink too, I think. It'll help you figure out if you genuinely want to be with him, or if you're still okay with potentially getting back with Sungho." Jaesung smiles as he holds up a fist. "Fighting."

×××

"Bend your knees a little!"

"It's so awkward...!" Taewon laughs slightly as Woonhak shows him a disappointed face. "Woonhakie, I'm scared! I've never stood on a skateboard before, okay?! Encourage me a little."

Woonhak stands up from the a-frame ramp, stopping just at the board and kicking it up. "Okay, to be fair, I'm not great at riding a skateboard, either, so I might not be the best person to teach you." His cheeks flare up a little as he looks away. "And why are you so eager, anyway? You have better things to do..."

"Like what? I like hanging out with you," Taewon responds with a smile. "You're honestly so cool, Woonhak-ah. I like hanging out with you. And... you don't find it weird that I wear skirts sometimes, and that's a really important trait to a person like me."

"It's only because you're kind of girly, so it works out!" Woonhak yelps, clearing his throat when his voice almost cracks. "If you were, like, super manly or whatever, it would've been weird. But you're cute, so it's not... entirely weird..."

Taewon remains quiet for a moment before stepping forward and taking Woonhak's skateboard in his hands. "I've been meaning to ask you something, by the way. It might come off as a bit... weird..."

"Ask ahead."

"... do you like boys?"

Woonhak thinks about retorting, but pauses at the look of pure curiosity in Taewon's eyes. He clears his throat as he looks away. "I never really... thought about it. Or maybe I never wanted to think about it. I dunno, really. I don't think so."

"Oh.. okay," Taewon nods as he looks away. "Uhm... okay. Do you want to think about it? Like, have you ever wondered what it would be like to kiss a boy...?"

"Have you?"

"Obviously — I've always been curious about it, but could never find a boy willing enough," Taewon replies, finally meeting Woonhak's eyes again. The air is tense. "Do you...?"

"N-no! We can't kiss! That's weird!"

"You could've just said 'no'!" Taewon yelps, scoffing as Woonhak's face flushes up bright red. He's clearly embarrassed to ask it, but he asks anyway. "Are you sure, though? It'll just be once. If we don't like it, then we can forget it ever happened... okay?"

Woonhak hesitates, clearly, as he looks around to make sure that no one else was at the park. Taewon watches as Woonhak hesitantly steps forward after glancing about like a meerkat. For a moment, he doesn't know what to do with his hands, but Woonhak manages to lift his hands to Taewon's cheeks, closing his eyes as he presses their lips together for a quick second. Taewon tries to step back, but they meet eyes again and the taller boy tilts his head once more before kissing Taewon again.

It's quick, but they keep it that way. Taewon holds his breath as he meets Woonhak's eyes, stepping back when he realises how close they were standing. "U-uhm..."

"Was that okay? I've never kissed before," Woonhak rambles, voice cracking with nervousness. "I wasn't sure if girls and boys kiss differently, because I never thought about this kind of thing before, s-so I might be bad at it. Okay, I've never kissed before, like, at all, so I might be worse at this than I'm initially thinki—"

Taewon steps onto the tips of his toes, lifting his head to press their lips together quickly. "It's okay, Woonhak-ah."

The tips of Woonhak's ears are flushed red. "You're very pretty. I mean it this time."

"Then kiss me properly, you loser."

×××

"Jaehyun and Dongmin had a fight?"

Donghyun nods, barely looking away from the screen at the end of his room as he practically mashes his controller buttons to move the car. "More like a disagreement. Jaehyun's been crying and asking me to tell Dongmin that his sorry. I think Dongmin blocked him everywhere. Poor guy."

"It's about Sungho, isn't it?" Sanghyeok asks, lifting his phone to open Instagram. "I hate to put it on Jaehyun, but... I don't think he should've started dating Dongmin if he's not over Sungho."

"He's using Dongmin to get over Sungho."

"... Jesus Christ."

"I know, it's a little fucked," Donghyun laughs as he exits his game to head to the menu. "That map sucks. Anyway, Dongmin can see it just as much as we can see it, but he feels it. He can feel that Jaehyun has lingering feelings for Sungho, but for something like that, I blame Sungho. Like you said the other day — it was selfish of him to stay friends with Jaehyun."

"Jaehyun agreed to it, too, so it's sad that Dongmin got caught in all of this," Sanghyeok sighs. "Poor kid. Should we invite him over for a sleepover so that he can talk?"

"No, his mom is pissed with him, so he's gonna stay at home for a bit," Donghyun says, joining a new online game. "I think he needs some time to himself, anyway. Being around everyone would probably make him feel bad while he's ignoring Jaehyun."

"Do you think we could visit him?"

"If his mom leaves, sure," Dongmin hums as Sanghyeok feeds him a chip. "It's crazy how they just started dating and they're already fighting. When did we have our first fight?"

"A week in because you tried to make me smoke weed and I got mad," Sanghyeok replies, laughing as Donghyun closes his eyes apologetically. "It's okay, you big baby."

"I'm surprised that you would date someone like me," Donghyun says softly as Sanghyeok runs a hand through his hair. "I thought you'd hate my guts — that I wouldn't be your type."

"Why do you think so?"

"Because you're such a good boy and I've been arrested before."

Sanghyeok sighs, pressing a soft kiss to Donghyun's forehead. "I like big idiots like you. Even if you catch on illegal shit, you're still a pretty boy."

"You think I'm pretty?"

"Not as pretty as me."

Donghyun laughs as he lifts his head to kiss Sanghyeok's cheek. "Damn — Jaehyun wishes he had a relationship as good as ours."

Chapter Text

Just over a week passes, and Jaehyun had still had no contact with Dongmin. Any attempt to talk would either result in a firm 'leave me alone' from Dongmin or sheer ignorance. Jaehyun barely has any motivation to pick up his board and skate, really only finding worth in it if Dongmin is with him. Jeno, who had to be caught up with things by Donghyun, can only feel apologetic for a situation he can't really help with. He hates seeing one of the most extroverted guys he knows become so hollow and quiet.

He clearly feels awful.

"Let's take him out for snacks," Jeno suggests, patting Donghyun's arm to get his attention. "He looks terrible. Poor kid. I'll tell Luzhen that we took Jaehyun out to make him feel better."

"I think he deserves this silence between them," Donghyun mutters as his eyes fall on Jaehyun, sitting at the end of the skate park as he scrolls quietly on his phone. "It doesn't look like he's been doing any thinking, either — he's just been brooding and pitying himself. He's desperate to fix things between them, though."

"Do you think Jaehyun has spoken to Sungho yet?"

"Doubt it — probably stopped speaking to him to prove his point," Donghyun denies with a shake of his head. "We should actually ask him about it. Or better yet... we should speak to Sungho hyung about it."

"Why? Insight?"

"Nah — just to interrogate him about what's really going on between him and Jaehyun. We don't know if Sungho has secretly been giving him false hope," Donghyun suggests, to which Jeno gives a half-nod of uncertainty. "You think otherwise?"

"Jaehyun agreed to stay friends because he still had feelings for Sungho — I don't think Sungho would reconsider his decisions," Jeno begins as he stands up from the funbox. "He's uncertain right now. I think he likes both of them, but nothing makes him feel worse than having to let go of the first person he loved. We do have to ask Sungho why he broke up with Jaehyun in the first place, though."

"Yeah, that's true," Donghyun sighs as he stands up. "Let's take Jaehyun on a snack run, though. He's too sad, and I feel bad just letting him brood by himself."

×××

"You've been ignoring my messages."

"I thought it wasn't that serious between us."

Ginger smiles a little, head tilted as Sungho looks up at him from his seat on the bench. "Would it make you happy to become serious?"

"Not really — I still dislike you."

Ginger rolls his eyes, reading Sungho's eyes differently. "That Myung Jaehyun boy... do you still like him?"

Sungho's clearly caught off guard by the sudden question, a frown dancing on his eyebrows as Ginger smiles bemusedly. "No, I don't? What gives the impression?"

"Eh — just wanted to ask." Sungho pauses, licking his lips quickly before looking away. "You didn't miss me at all?"

"Am I supposed to miss you, Ginger? You terrorised me for years, and we've fought physically on multiple occasions. I don't like you, and I don't think I ever will."

"Then why do you make out with me?"

"Because I used to like you."

Ginger chuckles as he lifts a hand to lift Sungho's head, tilting his head so that they can meet eyes again. "What if I wanted to fuck?"

"No."

"No?"

"I'd sooner hit you with a skateboard in your fucking face — I don't fuck unless we're dating. I don't like you, Ginger. Like, at all. I just find it funny that you suddenly want to kiss me when I'm the one that hates you the most here."

Ginger kisses his teeth in irriation. "Stop saying you hate me."

"You never told me your deal, anyway — why you're acting like this with me all of a sudden," Sungho pointed out, deflecting Ginger's attempt to kiss him. "You don't like me, that's for sure. What do you hope to gain out of making out with me in secret? Do you still like Luzhen?"

"Does it look like I still like Luzhen? Look at her boyfriend — she likes that guy much more than she'll ever like me. I'm just being pissed for no reason, really. I like causing shit between you all."

"They'll be upset if they knew I was... doing stuff with you..."

"Doing stuff? Stuff like what?"

"Like kissing, and whatever. You know what I mean. Stuff I shouldn't be doing with you because you're not the type of person I'd typically go for."

"Well, what if I have feelings for you?"

"Tough luck, then."

"Why not, huh? Is it because you still like that fuckass Myung Jaehyun guy?"

"I don't—!"

Ginger stops his talking with a quick kiss, pressing their lips together for a few seconds before pulling away. Sungho's gaze flicks from Ginger's lips to his eyes, then back to his eyes before raising his head to plant a pliant, soft kiss against him. Ginger accepts the embrace, a hand rested gently on Sungho's neck as he runs his thumb against the reddening skin. His hands are practically shaking with nervousness, anxiousness spreading through his body as he feels Ginger's tongue poke past his lips to attack his own.

"I don't get it," Sungho mutters against his lips, barely having a chance to speak as Ginger rudely infiltrates his barriers. "You laughed at me when I told you how I felt. You're an asshole — so why...?"

"Because you're so fucking pretty. It worked on my nerves that I said no when we were younger. I was scared of getting laughed at, so... I had to. I regret it — I really do."

"Well, what if I still like Jaehyun?"

"No, you don't."

"..."

"You don't."

"Yeah... I don't." Sungho sighs softly as he moves away from Ginger. "My conscious isn't clear right now. I'm overthinking everything and if I'm with you, I'll lose my friends. I don't even want to be with you, I just feel bad."

"... really?"

"Ginger, you don't like me — I know you're using me to get closer to Luzhen."

"No, I'm not."

"Then why, huh? It's not because you like me or whatever."

Ginger seems to scoff in irritance as he steps away. "I don't have enough patience to try and convince you that I like you. If you want to think that I still like Luzhen, then fine — but I'm not gonna get on my knees and beg you to like me back. Get over yourself."

"I should get over myself?! You're the one that started kissing me out of nowhere!"

"Because I fucking like you but I feel like a piece of shit for rejecting you back then, okay?!" Ginger inhales sharply as he tries to relax himself. "I don't like Luzhen anymore but I have a shit track record, so I don't know how to prove it. I'm serious, Sungho — I like you. I'm personally not ready to... fuck, this is embarrassing... I'm not ready to date, even though I want to. I'm not out and I'm not honest with myself, either, so..."

"I don't trust your change of heart." Sungho stands up, meeting Ginger's eyes. "I don't know if I want to keep doing this with you. I don't want to end up actually liking you and hurting myself because this is some sort of sick prank. If you really like me, then... give me some time. I don't like you right now — but if you're genuine about wanting to be with me, then... give me time to like you back."

"I can help you get over your best friend."

"I am over Jaehyun. Don't worry about him... okay?"

"... okay."

×××

'thebest_jhyun has liked your story!'

"... forgot to block him on Instagram."

Dongmin sighs as he rotates his body so that he faced the ceiling. It's all he's been doing, really — conducting the same cycle of events from before he met Jaehyun and the others. He's only get up to use the bathroom or, in the rare instance, grab something to eat from the bathroom. He's tired, malnourished, exhausted, worn out, hurting — everything horrible that could ever happen to him occurred all at once. Everything he feared came to hurt him all at once. Everything that haunted him showed itself all at once.

He knew Jaehyun was too good to be true.

"Dongmin-ah. Your friends are here."

Dongmin stares up at the ceiling as he contemplates running off with his friends for even just an hour to clear his mind, but he can't let them see how mutilated his arms are. They would berate his coping methods and Dongmin didn't want to let them judge him for his decisions. The cuts on his left wrist are still fresh, since he had made them the night before, so he slowly pulls on a hoodie, avoiding the fabric touching his arm, and descends the staircase of his home. His mother is seated in her bedroom, focused on an episode of some reality dating show, so she probably wouldn't listen in on their conversation.

The door is already closed as Dongmin notices three people standing near the end of the corridor, unsure if they should take their shoes off after being invited in, or rather talk quickly. Dongmin's unable to meet Donghyun's eyes, and he feels even worse seeing Luzhen's sad eyes. "Dongmin—"

"Why are you guys here?" Dongmin asks, his voice cracking due to not really talking across the past week. "I said to give me some time."

"We just came to check on you," Jeno says softly, no malice in his voice whatsoever. "I suggested it. They were against it, so if you want to blame someone, you can get angry at me."

"No, I... I can see why you'd feel obligated to check on me," Dongmin mutters, still keeping his eyes on the ground. "I'm fine — see? You guys can go ahead now."

"Did you do anything?" Donghyun asks suddenly. Dongmin naturally freezes, knowing the nature of Donghyun's question, and it seems that he answers a second too late, causing Donghyun to step forward and grab his wrist.

"Ow—!" Dongmin immediately tries to push Donghyun away with his right hand, but his wrist is already stinging with pain. He looks up in horror at Donghyun's angry gaze, his eyes welling up with tears. "H-hyun-ah—"

"You said you'd stop doing that. You told me that you wouldn't do shit like that...!" 

"I'm panicking, okay?!" Dongmin yelps, instinctively pulling his wrist away and holding it against himself. Jeno and Luzhen are still largely confused, but it doesn't take much for Jeno's eyes to start assessing the situation. "I don't know how to cope anymore. I need to distract myself from everything, a-and...—"

"You're hurting yourself!"

"So what if I'm hurting myself?! I've done it many times before and I'm doing fine! The reason I'm alive is because I make myself feel this pain so that I don't fucking end up killing myself!"

The room is dangerously quiet. Dongmin wants to push them away and shut them out — but he can't. Donghyun had always been there and he knows why Dongmin feels the need to distract himself with other forms of pain. Jeno meets Dongmin's eyes as he puts the puzzle pieces together in his head. "Dongmin, are you...?"

"Just leave — please," Dongmin snaps. "Leave me alone. I don't need any of you right now."

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Donghyun practically yells. "You're stuck in your own head again — you don't need to fucking feel 'pain' or whatever! You're hurting yourself because of you boyfriend and I know it already."

"I said that I need to take some time away from Jaehyun," Dongmin mutters. "I don't want to think about him. I can't think about him. I don't want to waste away, crying about a damn boy, but I can't stop thinking about him."

"He's upset too, you know," Donghyun tells him. "He asks me at every moment he can if he can come see you or message you or talk to you. We're worried about both of you."

"Don't worry about me—"

"What the fuck? I can't not fucking worry about you — you're my best friend, you dipshit," Donghyun scoffs. "I hope you feel guilty about this — like, genuinely. I hope you feel horrible about hurting yourself for own self-gratification. You know how pissed I get when you do this shit. And you still have the fucking nerve to tell me not to worry about you? What the fuck, man?"

"I never asked you to worry about me. I never asked you to care, I never wanted any of this."

Donghyun stops in place for a moment, eyes glossing over with tears. Dongmin feels his stomach twist horrible as Luzhen looks away uncomfortably. Jeno, similarly, can't bear to witness the situation. The soulless laugh escaping Donghyun's lips make Dongmin feel absolutely horrible. "Right. You never asked me to do any of this. I never expected you to ask me to care — but some gratitude is a lot to expect from someone like you. Someone that hates being loved."

Donghyun turns around, leaving the house without another word. Jeno and Luzhen watch him before she walks after him. Jeno sighs, turning back to Dongmin with his lips pressed together. "It's not worth it, you know — doing stuff like that."

"You don't know me—"

"I'm talking about demanding loneliness. I know you're upset — maybe there's other factors that I'm unaware of, but... Donghyun wants to care for you." Jeno's eyes flick down to the arm that Dongmin held close to his chest. "I'm gonna turn up at around 10pm here — you need to get everything off your chest."

"... but—"

"You're right, Dongmin — I don't know you. I think that's why you can tell me all your problems."

Jeno offers a quick nod before leaving Dongmin standing all on his own again. Dongmin quietly closes the door, choking out a sob as tears fall down his cheeks. He needs to blame someone. He needs to blame something. But no one was at fault — so it had to be his own fault, right? It was his own fault that everything was falling apart. It couldn't be anyone else's fault but his own.

"... I shouldn't have met Jaehyun..."

Chapter Text

"Oi — Jaehyun."

The skate park is empty apart from a quiet Jaehyun occupying one of the ramps. He has an earphone in his ear, a song blaring loudly from Dongmin's playlist. As he looks up, he meets Luzhen's eyes, causing a smile to grow on his lips. "Noona — you okay?"

"Are you okay?" she reflects the question worriedly. "You and Dongmin are in... quite a mess. I figured that you'd need someone to talk to as well."

Jaehyun can only do as much as show a weak smile as Luzhen joins his side. "Yeah... thanks..."

"Let me ask the obvious questions first," Luzhen begins, picking up Jaehyun's Red Bull and taking a quick sip. "Do you like Dongmin?'

"Of course I do," Jaehyun replies, lifting his head. Luzhen feels her heart tighten at the sight of Jaehyun's puffy, red eyes, displaying every bout of sadness he could ever express. "I really started to like him. He still means a lot to me. I'm just... so stupid..."

"... okay, another obvious question," she continues. "Do you still like Sungho?"

"I don't know — I don't think so, at least," Jaehyun mutters. "It's the fact that I'm so unsure about my stupid fucking feelings that Dongmin thinks that I'm using him to get over Sungho. Admittedly, a part of that is true — but he can see why that would be the case. I don't want to let Sungho go because he's my best friend right now — and that's the problem. He can't be my best friend because he's my ex. We need to put a boundary in place."

"No, Jaehyun — you need to put a boundary in place. It's your responsibility to do so, because you're Dongmin's boyfriend. What he doesn't need is your words — he needs to see you be his and his alone. He needs to see you love him. It's not like you to half-ass something like this, Jaehyun-ah. Right now, you and Sungho can't be friends. If you so desperately want to maintain your friendship with him, though, then stop making excuses for him. Dongmin's genuinely a great guy, and to know that he hurts himself...—"

"H-huh? He hurt himself again?"

Luzhen watches as Jaehyun hurriedly stands up from the ramp, nearly falling off his skateboard as he jumps off and picks up his backpack. "Jaehyun, where are you—"

"I can't let him hurt himself," Jaehyun says, reaching for his board and dropping it to the ground. "You can have the Red Bull — I'm gonna go to Dongmin's house."

"Jaehyun, no, you can't," Luzhen says quickly. "Jeno already went over. I'm with you to talk, Jeno's with him to talk. Both of you haven't spoken about anything to anyone, so before you rush over, please — organise your thoughts."

"No! I can't stand by knowing that Dongmin—"

"We all know, okay?! We all know he's... doing that to himself." She hops off the ramp, but Jaehyun clearly isn't listening as he puts his backpack on his back. "Jaehyun, you can't go right now! I guarantee you that if you go to him right now, he's going to act irrationally. He's not just upset with everything — he's pushing everyone away in an attempt to be on his own. Let us knock some sense into him first, okay?"

"... but—"

"He will break up with you if you go to him now. Trust us this time... okay?"

Jaehyun can't stop the flow of emotion rising up his throat. Tears fall down his cheeks and for a moment, Luzhen feels helpless, rather allowing Jaehyun to experience his emotions for what they are, rather than stop him or comfort him just yet. "Noona, I can't lose him. Not so soon — not yet. It really looks like he's the one for me — I just want him to give me another chance to prove myself to him. I swear — I'll be the best boyfriend ever to him. He won't have any reasons to hurt himself again."

"Jaehyun-ah..."

Jaehyun quickly wipes his eyes, his expression firmer than before. "I'll talk with him tomorrow — I can't just sit by and let things fall apart between us already."

"You like him, right?"

Jaehyun nods as he puts a foot on his board. "And I'm going to show him at every given moment."

×××

"You like him, right?"

Dongmin smiles at the sudden question, staring ahead into the void of the street as he takes his time answering. "Should I be as honest as possible or can I lie a little?"

"I'd prefer that you're honest."

"I got together with him just because he was single — I initially didn't really have... feelings for him. But then he showed me that he's... a good partner. He does his best — and it was so endearing that I couldn't help but... find worth in it all. Jaehyun hyung is so adorable, so fun to be with, so... loving. So sweet."

"He genuinely likes you too, y'know," Jeno adds as he puts his hands behind himself on the slightly warm concrete pavement. "He voices it a lot. Look at his name on KaTalk — 'dongmins_love'. Gross. Why does he like you so much, jeez?"

"Dunno," Dongmin laughs as he shakes his head. "Someone as... unlovable as me doesn't deserve him, really. Maybe I'm trying to push him away because of how I've always thought of myself before meeting all of you. I don't know if it's obvious, but... I'm... clinically depressed. It got worse when my dad left and my mom... never offered any help. It snowballed and I hated feeling so... awful, so I started looking for methods of coping. The cutting helped a little — distracted me from other pains — but I grew dependant on it. I needed to hurt myself or I'd... y'know..."

Jeno nods quietly as he watches Dongmin lower his head. "Yeah... I know."

"I don't want Jaehyun to deal with me. Honestly, truthfully, it's not a big deal that he might have some residual feelings for his ex boyfriend. He's not the one that left Sungho, so it makes sense, really. I shouldn't be so demanding when we just got together."

"But he owes that dedication to you because he's your boyfriend," Jeno tells the younger firmly. "I think Jaehyun's ready to love you with all his heart. He's waiting for you to come back to him. Are you ready to let him back in?"

"Are we sure that Jaehyun... wants to deal with me?"

"Jaehyun would be more than happy to deal with you. He likes you enough to be blindly support you through everything."

"Do you think he'll get over Sungho hyung...?"

Jeno smiles slightly as he stands up. "Depends on him — I can't answer that for him." He dusts his pants off before kicking his board to the tarmac, stopping for a moment to glance back at Dongmin. "I know you two can work things out. And... I hope you fix things with Donghyun as well."

Jeno dismisses himself with a kick of his longboard, disappearing down Dongmin's street without another word. Dongmin is left on his own with nothing but his own thoughts to occupy himself. Dongmin sighs, choosing to empty his mind for a few minutes in favour overthinking everything. He misses Jaehyun — he genuinely does. He's only unnecessarily hurting himself by staying away from Jaehyun.

"I need to apologise to Donghyun."

×××

The next day is tense. Woonhak is blissfully unaware of the tension, however, because he's got news to tell the others. However, when he arrives at the indoor skate park, Ginger is there, standing in front of the counter. Woonhak stops in place, holding his breath as Ginger makes quick eye contact with him. "I'll be out of your way in a second, loser."

"Does Jaesung hyung know that you're here?" Woonhak asks suddenly. "Why are you—"

"I'm paying off Sungho's skateboard loan," Ginger says flatly as he taps his phone to the card machine. "Tell Sungho for me, hm? He's not answering my messages."

"What's going on between you two, huh?" Woonhak asks as he crosses his arms. "Last time he saw you, he nearly broke your nose. So what gives, huh?"

"To be honest, I want to be his boyfriend, but he's making it very difficult," Ginger hums after accepting the receipt from the girl behind the counter, thanking her and turning to face the teen. "Doesn't look like he still has feelings for that loser of a best friend, though, so you can tell Jaehyun to fuck off now. I respect Sungho's wishes, though, so you don't have to acknowledge me whenever he's around. I'm over Luzhen — Jeno can have her."

"He already has her, dipshit," Woonhak scoffs. "I hope he rejects you every time you try. You don't deserve him. Sungho hyung wouldn't date someone like you, anyway. You're not his type."

"I don't need to be his type," Ginger shrugs as he steps past the younger. "Sungho's still your friend, though. I hope you guys don't shut him out because he's with me. I have asked him to never mention me because I know you guys hate me. I don't like you guys either, but... I want to be with Sungho."

Woonhak wants to reply, but Ginger leaves before he can get another word in. He holds his breath, bowing to Lia before heading through the staff entrance to the skate park in the back. It's barely occupied, a few other people here and there, but practically empty. Woonhak places his barely used skateboard on the ground, taking his phone out of his pocket as he connects his earphones.

"You're supposed to be in school."

Woonhak looks up, smiling as a quiet Donghyun skates over slowly towards him. "Bunking again because I got in a fight, so I jumped the fence. You look like shit."

"Yeah — I was crying last night."

"Did you and Sanghyeok hyung get into a fight?"

"Nah — I went over to Dongmin," Donghyun explains loosely as he kicks his board up and ramp so that it lands on the flat top. "He yelled about not wanting to be cared and other edgy shit, but... it still hurt a little. So I got high on the rooftop and went to sleep at 2am."

"When will I be able to—"

"Never. I will personally beat your ass if I ever catch you considering doing what I'm doing," Donghyun warns as he points his finger. "I know Dongmin's problems, so I know he'll apologise in his own time for what he said. I'm used to him already."

"Yet you still cried?"

"Well, he said that he never wanted me to care for him, but I did anyway. All these years, through thick and thin — even when his mom started to hate me because of who I am," Donghyun mutters as he runs up the side of the ramp's slope, barely reaching the top with his hand to lift himself up. He helps Woonhak up as well, making space for the younger to sit next to him. "But it's fine, really — I'll always be Dongmin's best friend. I'm fine with being his best friend, too, so disagreements like this are necessary, I think."

Woonhak nods in understanding, eyes wandering to the park's main entrance. "And what about the couple? Are they okay yet?"

"Beats me — it's been two days since I spoke with Dongmin. Jeno spoke with him, but he and Luzhen didn't come to the park yesterday, so I couldn't ask them about it," Donghyun shrugs, putting his hands behind himself to balance. "I hope Jeno was able to speak to Dongmin and knock some sense into his thick skull. I care about him — it would hurt a lot to lose him."

Woonhak raises a hand and puts it to Donghyun's back. "It'll be fine, I think. He'll be okay."

Amidst the silence, the door opens again. Jaehyun steps in, waving a tired hand to the two. "Woonhak, you're supposed to be at school."

Woonhak practically ignores him as he hops of the ramp. "Hyung! Have you spoken with Dongmin yet?!"

"No," Jaehyun answers flatly, looking off to the side quietly. "I'm still blocked everywhere. I think I really screwed up this time around. Is this really all because I'm still friends with my ex...?"

"It's deeper," Donghyun confirms, "but that's an issue that can be resolved over time. For now, what you need to do is actively assure him — through your actions — that you're serious about him. Despite his... frivolous behaviour recently, I think he desires a real relationship. He wants to be cared and loved for, and I'm sure you can do that for him. Right, Jaehyun hyung?"

Jaehyun lowers his head in thought, sighing softly as he avoids speaking for a moment. Woonhak still seems largely confused as he glances between the two, but it's no longer as tense as what he had initially felt. Donghyun's smiling this time, so some progress must have been made in their conversation. Jaehyun looks up at Donghyun, nodding firmly. "I think I'm ready."

"Good — because he's waiting for you." Donghyun took his phone out of his pocket as it buzzes in his pocket, tapping the green 'answer' button before lifting the device to his ear. "Uh-huh, Sanghyeokie hyung? Mhm? Ah. Yes, yes. Jaehyun hyung's here. Yeah. Uhm... tell Dongmin that we can talk tonight or tomorrow — whenever he's ready. No pressure. Yeah — love you. Say it back, c'mon." Jaehyun laughs at Donghyun's pout. "Love you, hyung!"

"Where are we going?" Woonhak asks as Donghyun hangs up from the call.

"Jaehyun's going to the apartment block rooftop — Sanghyeok hyung and Dongmin are both waiting for him," Donghyun says. "We'll wait here until the coast is clear."

Chapter Text

The loud clang of the rooftop's heavy security door is the only sound that accompanies Dongmin for a mere moment as someone else joins him. He panics, in case it was security, but he turns away when he sees Jaehyun. The silence is loud. Jaehyun stands still for a moment before walking over to the wall, jumping up with his hands and hoisting himself up with as much strength as he can muster, eventually making a way to sit beside Dongmin.

"I got you a Mountain Dew," Jaehyun offers softly as he takes his backpack off. Dongmin waits for the beverage to be offered, thanking the older softly as he accepts it. He opens it immediately, taking a sip before closing it again. Maybe he took it for courtesy and not because he actually wanted it. "Uhm..."

"I'm sorry, hyung."

"No, no, I'm sorry," Jaehyun says quickly. "I'm the one that fucked up. I'm the one that... caused all the insecurity. I'm the one that was afraid of committing. I'm the one that... should've been more clear."

"No, it's fine, I took it way out of proportion as well," Dongmin interrupts, shaking his head. "It's not as big a deal as I'm making it out to be. We just got together, so I shouldn't have expected this groundbreaking new method of loving someone from you. When we first got together, I... I noted that you were still in love with Sungho hyung and I was okay with being a distraction, but then I genuinely started to, you know, like you, and it made me afraid of being the second option. A last resort."

"I never want you to feel that way, Dongmin-ah," the older resounds softly. "I should've been paying more attention to your feelings about things. I should've... realised immediately that it's unfair to you when you genuinely like me. I like you too, okay? A lot. A lot more than you think, too. I don't want Sungho to ever be an issue between us. I don't know how yet, but I'll show it to you — I'll show you how serious I am about you."

Dongmin's eyes visibly brighten at those words. "You will...?"

"I'll do my best."

The younger lowers his head, smiling gently at the condensation Mountain Dew bottle in his hands. "I'll do my best to read situations properly — instead of... letting my own mind formulate conclusions. It's a pressing issue that I'm sure I can fix with you. I enjoy being around you, after all."

Jaehyun holds his hand out to his side, clearly expecting to hold hands. Dongmin, although preferring not to, takes the older's hand into his own, intertwining their fingers gently before hesitantly lowering his head to Jaehyun's shoulder. The older clearly beams with happiness at the sweet action. "I'd rather not lose you, Dongmin-ah. With every disagreement, I just hope that we never ever think of breaking up. I'd rather work things out every time — losing you would be like... give me a metaphor here..."

Dongmin shakes his head. "Came with an apology but no pick-up lines. What a shame."

"Shut up, I'm just happy you forgave me."

"I didn't forgive you yet," Dongmin says as he lifts his head. "Make it up to me tonight."

"H-huh?"

Dongmin stifles a laugh before releasing the older's hand, turning around carefully to hop off the wall they were sat on so precariously. "Let's spot hunt. Hopefully, I can land an ollie tonight. And maybe you can help me with my apology speech to Donghyun."

"Huh? Apology speech?"

"... I'll explain later."

Jaehyun follows Dongmin, staring at his back as the younger gathers his things together. Should he kiss him? Maybe it's bad timing. Dongmin doesn't like doing that type of thing, anyway — not while there was company, at least. They were all alone, so it shouldn't be too bad, right?

Jaehyun gets off the wall as well, dropping his bag as he steps to the other. When Dongmin turns around to speak, Jaehyun gently places a hand to his cheek. Dongmin remains still as a smile forms on his lips, nodding softly as a small indication of permission. Jaehyun wholeheartedly accepts the invite, eyes fluttering close as he softly presses their lips together. They don't kiss often, but when they do, they make sure it's as warm and gentle as they hope a kiss to be. Jaehyun attempts to push his tongue past Dongmin's lips and it works, snaking his other hand to Dongmin's waist to tug him close.

Dongmin is first to pull away, but Jaehyun pulls him right back in. "I missed this."

"Dramatic — it's been a week."

"Nine days, but okay."

Dongmin can't help but giggle as they kiss again and again, lips locked for what felt like a moment and an eternity at the same time. When they part, their lips join once more, and this happens an unprecedented amount of times that they couldn't be bothered with tracking. They eventually pull apart one final time, hands still latched onto each other as they do no more than stare into each other's eyes.

"Should I call your mom and ask if you can sleep over?" Jaehyun asks, smiling as the other shakes his head. "Why? Is she being more lenient?"

"She's never lenient — I just stopped caring," Dongmin replies with a shrug. "She's never worried about me. She never cares about me. She just misses having someone to control. If I didn't ignore her a little, I wouldn't have met you. If I left with my dad instead of staying, I wouldn't have met you."

"And if I wasn't bored and wanted to vandalise private property, we wouldn't have fallen in love."

"I think I would've fallen eventually."

Jaehyun has to resist a cocky laugh as he tilts his head. "Am I that irresistible?"

Dongmin resigns for a moment as he nods. "A little."

×××

Woonhak remembers a little too late that he had kissed a boy the day before after telling himself numerous times that night that he'd seek the others' advice on what to do further, but by the time he remembers, he's only got Sungho with him in the indoor park to talk to. He can't bear to talk to the older, unfortunately, after what — or who — he had encountered in the skate shop that afternoon. Sungho seems preoccupied with his skateboarding, though, so he doesn't really get an opportunity to talk to the older.

"Can't even ask Jeno hyung because he likes girls..."

"Woonhak-ah, why didn't you go to school today?" Sungho suddenly asks as he skates over to the other. "You seem down in the dumps, too — you okay, kid?"

"Yeah, I'm okay — just got into another fight at school," Woonhak shrugs off. "Hey, uhm... Ginger was here."

"Oh, was he? Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah — he paid off your skateboard."

Sungho stops in place, eyes falling on the skateboard below his foot bitterly. "Oh." He seemingly forces a smile onto his lips. "I'll tell Jaesung to refund h—"

"I know that you two... like each other."

Sungho immediately frowns. "I don't like Ginger."

"He pleaded his case to me this afternoon when I saw him," Woonhak says further. "He said that you're still our friend and that we shouldn't hate you because you're with him." Sungho wants to speak, most likely to defend himself, but Woonhak stops him. "Look, hyung, Ginger has harassed all of us for a long time. He treated Luzhen noona like absolute shit during their relationship. He broke Jaehyun's first board that he got in Barcelona. He threw me into the river twice. He's instigated fights with you because he felt like it. He's done more than just... hate us, hyung. He despises us — yet you're going back to him?"

"I'm not—" It's almost like Sungho immediately gets tired of lying. "I haven't forgiven him — I don't think I will any time soon. It's only because I had a stupid kiddie crush on him back then and... I can't let him go. I hate him too — but I can't pretend that it doesn't make me happy that he's finally paying attention to me."

"Hyung, it's Ginger we're talking about here!"

"And?! I like him too! But I'm not any less of a friend to you all because I still have feelings for the guy that rejected me in high school!" Sungho exclaims. "I'm aware of what he's done and what he's still doing — but I haven't forgiven him for anything. He doesn't mean much to me, but damn it, I'm happy that someone likes me...!"

Woonhak gulps down his fear. "But Jaehyun hyung liked you. Why did you leave him?"

"Because I wanted Huiwon hyung. Jaehyun... wasn't supposed to last as long as it did. I didn't want to break up with him because he was the only person that gave me any semblance of... love. But I knew it wouldn't work out because we're just friends." Sungho looks down. "But it was selfish of me to keep Jaehyun back when I never loved him to begin with. Even if he likes me, I have to let him go because I don't love him. It's always been stupid Jang Huiwon and I actually hate that I like that bastard."

Woonhak thinks carefully. "Jaehyun hyung and Dongmin might reconcile today. I'm sure you know that they're fighting."

"Yeah, and it's stupid because it's not my fault Jaehyun can't let me go. Jaehyun means a lot to me, so... if I have to stop talking to him so that he can find happiness with Dongmin—"

"No. Before you make that rash decision, I think you should talk to Dongmin hyung," Woonhak says with a shake of his head. "I think it's possible for us to all be friends. As long as Jaehyun hyung tunnels his vision like the lovesick fool he is and keeps his heart eyes on Dongmin hyung, then I think we can all remain as we are. Ginger... is another story. I'm definitely not okay with it, but if the others can hear you out, I guess I can think about it too."

"I'm not exactly dating him, by the way," Sungho pouts as he folds his arms. "I'm still playing hard-to-get, so maybe I could get him to leave everyone else alone, or... apologise, you know? Like I said — I think I can change him."

Woonhak scoffs. "He said that he doesn't have to be your ideal type to date you." Sungho smiles a bit at the thought of Ginger. "Oh, by the way — I kissed a boy. What do I do?"

"You kissed a what?!"

×××

The last person Jeno expects to see in front of him is the one man who had once dated his girlfriend. However, Ginger seemed awfully calm — too calm, in fact. Ginger blew out the puff of smoke he had held in his lungs, tossing the cigarette off to the side and stepping on it. The park was quiet — quiet enough to make both of them uncomfortable.

Jeno opens his mouth first. "What do you want?"

"To talk," Ginger says flatly as he stuffs his hands into his pockets. A smile forms on his lips as he meets Jeno's firm eyes. "I have feelings for Park Sungho, and... I wanted to talk about it with you."

Chapter Text

Dongmin can smile this time as he wakes up beside Jaehyun, glancing beside himself to lay his eyes on his boyfriend's careless frame laid on the bed. He glances up — no Polaroids of Sungho were on the walls, apart from the friend group Polaroids. Dongmin's chest fills with warmth as he remembers the previous night — Jaehyun making sweet love to him as he kisses the cuts and scars on his wrist. They even cried together — Taesan doing so hesitantly because he wasn't very fond of being vulnerable in front of anyone. But it was Jaehyun — his boyfriend — so he owes it to him.

Jaehyun was adorable. A little bit of a clown, but cute nonetheless. Dongmin fears that he might grow to adore Jaehyun to an uncomfortable extent, but he knows that Jaehyun would enjoy all the love Dongmin gave him. He'd be happiest with Jaehyun, despite his lack of physical touch delivery. But not only was he such a sweetheart, but he was a monster in bed too, so Dongmin clearly didn't mind keeping him around.

Dongmin places a hand against Jaehyun's head, running his fingers through his hair gently as a smile forms on his lips. Jaehyun's beautiful in every way to him, and Dongmin is well aware that he'd only fall harder as time progresses. He loves being loved by Myung Jaehyun, and he has no problem delivering that love as well.

"Oi! Jaehyunnie, time to get up!" Dongmin quickly pulls his hand away from Jaehyun, closing his eyes as he pretends to be asleep when the door practically swings open. "Jaehyun, your father and I— goodness, me!"

Dongmin pretends to wake up, smiling a bit when he catches Jaehyun's mother turned away to face the wall behind her. "Pardon me," Dongmin greets nervously, stifling a laugh as she hesitantly turns her head. "Sorry for... this..."

"No, no, I'm quite used to it since Sungho," Jaehyun's mother laughs nervously. "Wake that boy up — his father and I are leaving in five minutes. We can talk about this tomorrow when we get back."

Dongmin nods, not aware of the context entirely, but he turns to Jaehyun when the door closes again. "Hyung." He shakes Jaehyun's shoulder lightly, and the older does wake up, but displays his discontent by whining childishly. Dongmin laughs a little, running his hand through Jaehyun's hair in an attempt to awaken him. "Hyung, c'mon. Your mom said that they're leaving in five minutes."

Jaehyun shoots up at those words. "Five?! Why didn't you say so?!"

Before Dongmin can even respond, Jaehyun had already jumped up and pulled on a pair of boxer and ran out of his room down the corridor. Dongmin rolls to his back, listening closely on the conversation downstairs, despite not being able to hear much. 

"You didn't tell us you had a new boyfriend...!"

"I meant to tell you, I swear."

"... Is he nice?"

"I'll introduce you when you come back. He's shy."

"I've met him before!"

"Yeah, but this time, he's my partner!"

Jaehyun's mother playfully clicks her tongue. "He looks nice enough..."

"He is nice."

"I hope so."

"He is! He's the best boyfriend I've had — trust me on this one."

"Hm..."

"Trust me?"

"I trust you, Jaehyun-ah! Your father's waiting for me in the car, now! Give me a kiss, mwah!"

"Mwah! Love you, Mom!"

"Don't make a mess!"

"Love you!"

Dongmin sits up when he hears the door close after a good few minutes, making his way to the bathroom beside Jaehyun's bedroom. He nearly steps on the skateboard tools thrown recklessly just beside the door, but manages to step over without falling. Dongmin stops in front of the mirror, yawning as he picks up the toothbrush he had left from last time, but he stops when he catches a glance of himself in the mirror.

"Wh...? Jesus..."

His neck and collarbones are littered with excited, temporary marks of Jaehyun's love, scattered all over his skin. Dongmin always gripes about the hickeys, but this time, he doesn't mind them. They've reconciled and the make-up sex was crazy, so he couldn't really blame Jaehyun for getting excited. After their rock-paper-scissors game, Jaehyun had gotten to top and maybe he had gotten a bit too excited.

"Hyung," Dongmin calls out as he puts toothpaste on his toothbrush, "I told you to not make hickeys! My mom's gonna kill me!"

"They'll fade before the end of the day," Jaehyun scoffs, walking into the bathroom and turning the shower on. "Jaesung hyung made a friend on Instagram — the owner of a skate shop in Seoul City. He's just gonna do what skate shop owners do when they meet up, but do you want to take the trip with?"

"To Seoul?"

"Mhm. As a date."

Dongmin quickly realises that he and Jaehyn had never gone out on a date yet — an official one, at least. Donghyun would probably laugh at him for thinking that hanging out at the skate park together was what Dongmin considered to be a date, but then again, he had little to no experience in relationships. Was this slow timing for them to finally have their 'first' date?"

Dongmin finds himself nodding. "I'd love to."

×××

Jaehyun's fast asleep on the backseat of Jaesung's car, choosing sleep over experiencing the tedious drive to Seoul City. Dongmin finds himself in the front seat, scrambling through his playlists to find something normal enough to play that wouldn't blow up Jaesung's speakers. He settles on some Arctic Monkeys, leaning back in his seat when Jaesung bops his head to the beat.

"So you and Jaehyun resolved things?" Jaesung finally questions, asking the lingering curiosities in the air before they become a fleeting thought. "Seeing that he was so happy getting into the car, I assume you did."

"We... spoke," Dongmin half-answers, staring out at the highway ahead of them blankly. I made the promise to do better and communicate properly instead of... frantically searching for my own conclusions, while he said that he'd do his best to not cause so many insecurities in our relationship."

"And Sungho?"

"... I want to talk to him as well, but let me reconcile with my boyfriend first."

Jaesung chuckles, eyes flicking over to Dongmin for a split second. "Fair enough. Take your time together. He... he missed you a lot, but he has to grow up a little. Learn to love seriously. I don't know what your stances on relationships are, but I guessing that you want it to last as long as possible, hm?"

"Of course — he's my first boyfriend," Dongmin smiles. "The second person to offer me a life outside my stuffy home environment. I don't know how long this will last, but hopefully, it's a damn long time."

"Knowing Jaehyun, it probably will be a long time. He won't let you go — he's going to hold on until you get tired of him," Jaesung says as he shifts gears to speed up. "In all of his relationships that I'm aware of, he's come crying to me because the other person broke up with him. He's too passionate when it comes to love — I'm glad he found his match."

Dongmin laughs a little. "I'm just excited to finally have a boyfriend. I'll become more 'passionate' a bit later, I think. My mind is still... childish. He's my first boyfriend, after all."

Jaesung remains quiet for a moment, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel to the beat of the song. Dongmin fiddles with his fingers for a bit, checking the queue to make sure nothing too intense would play, lifting his head quickly when Jaesung speaks up again. "You know, Jaehyun... has a lot of devotion traumas — if I can even use the word 'trauma'. Let me think of another word... issues? Suffering? Distress? He's scared to dedicate himself to someone in fear of... falling into the same situations as before. He's happy with you — he can see that you're ready to dedicate yourself as much as he's willing to dedicate himself to you. In short, he's in love — a bit deeper than 'like', I think."

"Well, I'll make sure to give him lots of love — because he deserves it. I probably made him really sad by ignoring him for that week or so," Dongmin chuckles, looking into the mirror on the sunshade at his sleeping boyfriend. "He's too cute. I don't think I could live with myself if I ever made him sad on purpose. He's such a sweetheart."

"It's why I'm still upset with Sungho — he indirectly hurt Jaehyun further and further by staying friends with him," Jaesung continues, his grip noticeably growing tighter on the steering wheel. "Sungho's great — he's sweet, gentle, and really kind. He almost doesn't fit in with this group of misfits. He's... great. But Jaehyun would never go back. I hope that you trust him enough to believe him."

Dongmin smiles softly to himself as he closes his eyes. "I do. I really, really do."

×××

"You don't seriously like him... do you?"

This moment that Ginger and Jeno shared was the first moment of peace that the two have ever had since meeting. Ginger holds a cigarette between his index and middle finger, blowing out an incredulous amount of smoke. "I do like him."

"Bullshit."

"Look, I'm figuring myself out, okay?" Ginger exasperates with a roll of his eyes. "Sungho's the best thing that has happened to me so far. I'm damn fucking happy when I'm with him and I'd like to figure that out as well. I've never liked dudes before."

"Yeah... but what you did to Sungho back then—"

"I know. I'm a fucking idiot."

"You're more than an idiot," Jeno scoffs, unable to turn to look at the man beside him. "You outed him to the entire school, called him slurs and made his classmates hate him. He hated himself for a while — and more than fucking over Luzhen's self-esteem for the rest of her life, I can't forgive you for ruining Sungho's life. I can't let you be with him."

Ginger bitterly remains silent. "I was a teenager—"

"Yeah, well, you're much grown now, huh?" Jeno asks, releasing a disbelieving scoff. "Luzhen still hates herself. She still starves herself and undereats. She still thinks that she's not as pretty as other girls. It's gonna take a while before that's fixed. Not to mention fucking Sungho—"

"I'll work things out with him."

"I don't give a shit. You've created wounds and dug your fingers in them," Jeno scoffs. "Why Sungho, though, huh? Why the one guy that actively stood up and punched you?"

"... he confessed to me in high school — dunno if you remember," Ginger explains softly as he raises the cigarette to his lips. "It's why I bullied the fuck out of him for being a little gay boy. It was a defence mechanism — I didn't have the reputation of a nice kid, so I did what I did best."

Jeno nods. "Make other people's lives hell."

"Years later, I regret it a little," Ginger continues. "Seeing as I have these stupid feelings for him, I might as well try being nicer. I'm willing to change for the better for him. Even if we can personally never resolve the tension between us, I just want one thing from you — and the others, I suppose." Ginger raises his head to look at Jeno. "Please don't hate him because he chose to be my partner. He's still your friend. I rven asked him to not bring me up because I know that I'm not the most ideal person in the universe."

"We could never hate Sungho."

"Good — because that bastard is starting to mean a lot to me." Ginger drops the half-finished cigarette between his fingers, stepping on it as he stands up. "I didn't expect you to understand so soon, anyway. It just sucks that... sucks that it had to be me, huh? Stupid Huiwon, huh?"

Jeno frowns a bit. "Ginger—"

"I won't bother any of you again," Ginger concedes, turning to Jeno for a moment. "It's what Sungho would want for now, anyway. I don't want any tension, so... ignore me for a bit. I'll just come steal him once in a while, but I understand if my presence is still a nuisance. I'm rethinking a lot, so... I'd appreciate if we stop fighting, at least — for Sungho's sake. Please."

Jeno can barely formulate a response before Ginger is on his way, hands stuffed in his pockets as he cruises out of the park on his skateboard. Jeno sighs, crossing his arms in thought. He knows it's not his place to decide everyone's feelings about the situation, but even he feels conflicted. Luzhen might never allow him back into her life, but Dongmin might feel neutral about it all. Woonhak's response might be otherwise as well.

Jeno sighs to himself, kicking his board up as he leaves the park. "Why did it have to be him, Sungho...?"

Chapter Text

"Woah, Myung Jaesung — in the flesh, holy shit!"

Jaehyun and Dongmin occupy themselves with the content of the shop's shelves as Jaesung and the shop owner talk to each other, wordless for a moment as they observe everything. Jaehyun eventually steps back to stand beside Dongmin, leaning closer to whisper. "Everything is so... expensive."

"The designs are pretty dang neat, though."

"Don't ever say the words 'pretty dang neat' in my presence ever again."

Dongmin rolls his eyes for a bit, stepping away to look at more of the products. Even the shop stickers are pretty expensive. The cruiser boards are probably the cheapest boards up on display, but even those are more expensive than the boards back home. "Every design is different — cool."

"We could probably get one of these boards for Donghyun's birthday since he seems to collect decks," Jaehyun suggested, looking back and forth between the decks on display. "Just a deck would be fine, too, seeing as he always comes up to me to remove trucks and stuff from the boards he puts up on display in his room."

"I'd like to replace my board soon," Dongmin mutters softly. "This is my dad's old board from when he was a young adult. Wouldn't want to use the board anymore. I'll replace it eventually — not with anything here, though."

"Get one from our store," Jaehyun grins. "I'll get you one, promise. My first gift to you."

"Everything you get me is a gift to me, hyung — even the Monsters and Mountain Dews. Everything you do for me is meaningful."

"... that's oddly romantic."

Dongmin doesn't say anything further, but his cheeks are now burning a soft pink. Jaehyun considers teasing him, but Dongmin moves away too fast. He's embarrassed by his words, but he knows Jaehyun wants to tease him about it. Romantic sentiments are rare from him, of course. Dongmin clears his throat loudly as he stuffs his hands into his pockets, pretending that he hasn't said anything.

"Oi," Jaehyun says suddenly, bumping his hand against Dongmin's. "Let's scram. I'll tell Jaesung hyung that we're out exploring."

"Are you sure? What if we get lost?" Dongmin asks as he looks back at Jaehyun's brother behind the counter. "I'd rather not get lost in the middle of Seoul City, please."

"We won't get lost," Jaehyun laughs, facing Dongmin as he tilts his head. "C'mon, Dongmin-ah. Let's go on a date."

Dongmin's face flushes a clear pink, and Jaehyun decides that his silence is Dongmin's version of excitement. "I wanna go on a date."

"Jeez, you're so cute...!" Jaehyun laughs, putting his hands to Dongmin's cheeks, bringing him closer to press a soft kiss to his nose. "Let's get my board in the car, and we can find an alley to skate down."

×××

Woonhak finds himself nervously waiting inside the skate park, hands stuffed into his hoodie pockets as his eyes dart about, searching for the person he was waiting for. All of his hyungs and one noona all had plans for the day, so he asked the one new friend he had made to hang out with him.

Well, they had already kissed, but that wasn't important.

Woonhak truthfully wanted to discuss his relationship with Taewon since the day they had kissed because they had yet to clarify anything between them. Woonhak had never liked a boy before, and Taewon was one of the prettiest boys he knew — he absolutely could not fumble this opportunity.

Being wrapped up in his nerves prevented him from noticing the person who had stepped into the skate park. He didn't notice Taewon approaching him until he was practically just below the funbox. Woonhak's face flushes red at the sight of Taewon — he's got Kuromi hairclips in his hair to keep it out of his face, complimenting the lavender purple themed outfit he wore.

"T-T-Taewon—!" Woonhak immediately shuts his mouth immediately, in fear of making a fool of himself, but at the realisation that it was too late because Taewon was already giggling, he gave in to his embarrassment and looked down. "I, uhm—"

"I've never had a boyfriend before."

Woonhak falls quiet, fearing that he might say something wrong. He really does not want to mess up the chances he has with this unbearably pretty boy.

Taewon points his finger at Woonhak, in some sort of cartoonish determination. "And I want you to be my boyfriend."

Woonhak stifles a laugh, although his smile seems to have grown quite a bit. "What the hell...? You're kidding, right?"

"... do I look like I'm kidding?"

"You could've just said that you like me instead of pointing at me like a toddler."

Taewon sighs as he avoids the tall boy's eyes. "I like you, Woonhak." Woonhak supposes that he's being certain because he knows damn well that Woonhak feels the same. Maybe he's been more obvious this whole time than he thought. "And... I think it stemmed from the fact that you cared about me. The fact that you got into fights for me, nearly got suspended for me... you cared about my well-being despite us being complete strangers. I got outed by classmates, bullied for wearing a skirt... but you never cared. It never bothered you."

"... and being nice to you caused you to start liking me?"

For a moment, Taewon's expression contorts into one of horror. "You... you do like me back, right...?"

"Taewon, obviously I like you."

Taewon's cheeks flare up immediately, watching as Woonhak jumps off his seat on the funbox. "You're not messing with me, right?"

"You're, like, the only pretty boy I know."

Taewon can't help the smile building on his lips as he punches Woonhak's arm playfully. "You're such a loser, but... you're so cool at the same time."

Woonhak smiles brightly as he laughs. "Jaehyun hyung would make fun of me if you said that around them."

"But you are cool...! I don't understand why they make fun of you..." Taewon sighs as he crosses his arms. "I don't know why you hang out with those older boys, anyway. Are they... are they good friends...?"

"They're complicated," Woonhak says with a chuckle. "Sometimes I'm reminded that they're grownups and that I'm just a teenager. Like, Dongmin hyung and Jaehyun hyung got into a fight because Jaehyun hyung was still in love with Sungho hyung while dating Dongmin hyung, so they didn't talk for a week. Also, Sungho hyung is dating the guy that we all hate. Donghyunnie hyung is addicted to weed, I think. There's a lot of things that separate us... but they're still my closest friends."

Taewon hums in thought, nodding as he crosses his arms. "I see..."

"But they're beside the point," Woonhak quickly waves off the topic, a bright smile forming on his lips. "You really like me, right? You're not lying or messing with me?"

"Way to turn the tables on me — I asked you first if you're not kidding."

"And I'm not. Are you messing with me?"

"No, I'm not. So... you're my boyfriend now, okay...?"

Woonhak feels his heart nearly stop as he nods almost thoughtlessly. "Y-yes..." He's well aware of how pathetic he sounds, but he somehow knew that Taewon didn't mind. "So... I have a boyfriend now..."

"Let's go on a date."

"A-a date?!"

×××

"Get back here! Grab them!"

Jaehyun didn't think that riding on his skateboard into the loading bay of some random store would be that bad, but rather than giving him an opportunity to explain himself, he immediately got yelled at. Despite a quick warning from Dongmin, they still got yelled at for their skateboards and had to make a run for it once one of the staff started yelling. Jaehyun was a giggling mess as soon as they got far enough, stopping to grab Dongmin's hand.

"You seemed scared for a moment," Jaehyun grinned, picking up his skateboard once he started noticing annoyed looks from other pedestrians. He had to keep in mind that he wasn't in their quaint little hometown in the suburbs, and that he'd have to behave a little.

"I'm not ready to get arrested," Dongmin replies with a chuckle. "I'm... happy to be out with you, but I kinda wanna go home..."

"Oh my gosh, same," Jaehyun groans playfully as he swings their arms between them. "I miss the skate park, I miss the others! I wanna go home... they're probably having fun without us..."

"I doubt it."

"Sanghyeok sent a video of Sungho stealing his older sister's car, and they're driving around in it."

"... damn."

Jaehyun sighs lowly in complaint, holding Dongmin's hand a bit tighter. "But we're on a date now. Even though I'd rather be alone with you, I proposed this date, so I have to entertain you."

"Well, I'm quite entertained already," Dongmin says with a smile. "Even if we haven't really done anything, I... I just enjoy being with you."

Jaehyun blinks thoughtlessly for a moment, wondering why Dongmin was being so nice. He looks away for a split second before a smile forms on his lips. "I've never really been good at the whole 'date' thing, but being myself would be better, huh?"

"Let's just talk as we walk. There's a park over there."

Jaehyun pulls Dongmin against his side, a smile prevalent on his lips. The walk itself was quiet and uneventful — Jaehyun had learnt to adapt to Dongmin's habitual silence — but Jaehyun was almost certain that if they had auras, theirs would be pink and full of hearts. It was so silly, really — having such deep feelings for someone — but Jaehyun was so deep in that he really simply couldn't let Dongmin go. He couldn't let anything come between them ever again.

"I still have to apologise to Donghyun hyung." Jaehyun glances over at Dongmin curiously at his sudden statement. "Oh, I haven't told you yet. Well... I yelled at him. I told him that I... that I never wanted him to care for me. I never wanted him to worry about me or be there for me. Part of it is true — I'd rather not make anyone concerned about me any longer, but... from what I've gathered about you all, you'd do that anyway, huh?"

"Of course — we're not shallow pieces of shit, love."

"Don't call me that, you're gonna make me cringe."

"Okay, okay, Dongmin-ah," Jaehyun laughs, gently running his thumb against Dongmin's hand. "We care about each other deeply within our friend group. It's why we all stuck up against Ginger. We'll care about you regardless of anything — and I'm sure Donghyun would continue caring about you even if you tell him that you hate him."

Dongmin's heart feels heavy, glancing down at his intertwined hand with Jaehyun's. It hurts a little, knowing that he has been a horrible person toward Donghyun for the past few days. They were best friends — even as Donghyun grew up and fell into some questionable habits, he still stuck by Dongmin's side and remained his friend. Even now, after dragging him out of the house and introducing him to his friends — after their fight — he still wants to stay by Dongmin's side.

"... I really think that loser is my best friend, huh?"

"I think you're his best friend, too."

Dongmin finally presses out a genuine smile, leaning against Jaehyun to return the warmth that the older has been giving him the whole time. "I like you a lot, Jaehyun hyung."

"... gross."

×××

Donghyun holds his finger down on his screen, staring down at the photo on Dongmin's Instagram story as a smile grows on his lips. Sanghyeok glances at Donghyun's screen and chuckles, locking the phone so that the younger will stop staring. "He's doing fine, see? They're both doing fine."

"I'm glad," Donghyun sighs as he pockets his phone. The car suddenly goes over a speed bump at full speed, and everyone in the car bounces, earning noises of complaints from the passengers. "Yah, Sungho hyung! Drive properly!"

"I'm trying!"

"He clearly stole the car," Sanghyeok cackles as he watches Woonhak rub the top of his head in pain. "If you dont drive properly, we're gonna get in trouble!"

"Shhh," Sungho laughs as he changes gear. "I'll drive a bit slower, okay? Let's go to Seoul to pick up Jaehyun and Dongmin."

Taewon, sitting politely in the front seat beside Sungho, squeaks at the sudden suggestion as he frantically shakes his head. "My mom would kill me...!"

"Ayy, just say you were out with friends," Sungho chuckles. "I'm kidding, anyway. I forgot that we have two minors in the car."

"I've stayed out late before — but we might have to take Taewon home in time," Woonhak tells him. "Maybe Donghyun hyung as well — he's high right now, and I'm sure he'd like to just chill."

"I'm chilling right now," Donghyun says, displaying how relaxed he was by slouching in his seat. "My dealer got me something special, so I might actually shit my pants."

"Please don't shit in my sister's car, that's fucking gross," Sungho grimaces with a shudder. "I will actually murder you, Donghyun, don't you dare."

"What if I make a baby with Sanghyeok hyung in the backseat?"

"Gross!" Woonhak yelps immediately. "Stop that! You guys are weird!"

"I'd never let him, don't worry," Sanghyeok says calmly, rolling down his window slightly. "But he might want to make out later, so prepare yourself, Woonhak."

Sungho chuckles lightly, his eyes flicking over to Taewon. "Why did you choose this loser, huh? Does he even know how to kiss?"

"Yah!" Woonhak quickly defends himself. "I can kiss! Taewon, tell him!"

Taewon seems conflicted, even if he knows that it's just friendly banter. His cheeks burning bright pink, holding his breath as he considers being funny or honest. "U-uh... we only kissed twice, so..."

"Boring," Donghyun drawls, teasing the teenage couple. "Woonhakie said you only started dating today, though, so it kinda makes sense that you've only kissed twice."

"I'll kiss him again, don't worry," Taewon smiles, looking over at Woonhak through the rear view mirror. "He's too cute not to kiss."

Sanghyeok scoffs playfully. "It's a miracle that someone even likes this kid. Why him, huh?"

"Because I'm so amazing," Woonhak says immediately, a proud smile on his face. "We don't even owe you any reasons, either, so stop asking why he chose me."

"I chose him because he's the only person that cared for me when I was afraid of everyone," Taewon says softly. "My big brother finds me weird, too... for wanting to wear skirts or whatever..."

"It's such a surface-level thing to get angry at," Sungho laughs with a shake of his head. "If we put Donghyun or Jaehyun in a skirt, they'd actually like it."

Donghyun suddenly gasps a little. "Oh my God, I'd look so cute in a skirt. Sanghyeok hyung, let's get me a skirt."

Taewon's eyes brighten at little bit. "I have an extra in my bag — for emergencies..."

"Wait, let's head back to my place. I'll get some alcohol — the other two couples can join us later," Sungho says as he turns into another neighbourhood. "I have my ID on me, so I can get some stuff for us — maybe some sodas for the minors."

"Are we playing FIFA?" Donghyun asks with a grin when Sungho nods. "I'll fit the skirt on at your place. Maybe this'll be my femboy awakening."

Sanghyeok sighs as he shakes his head. "This guy really does everything when he's high..."

Chapter Text

It's nearly 6pm when Jaehyun, Dongmin, and his older brother leave Seoul, making their way to their suburb. Jaehyun is, once again, fast asleep while Dongmin provides good music for the ride. Jaedung yawns, leaning back in his seat. "Did you two have fun today?"

"Yeah, we just walked around and explored — we got to do some sightseeing, busking, eating snacks — we snuck onto a rooftop, and he rode his skateboard on the helipad."

"You snuck onto a—?! You're supposed to be his damage control! What if they caught you?!"

"But we didn't get caught!"

"That's not the— fine. Okay, fine, you didn't get caught," Jaesung sighs, shaking his head. "I'm glad you two had fun — but please don't sneak into buildings. Jaehyun already has a criminal record for sneaking onto private property. I can't be responsible for you getting into similar trouble."

"Okay, okay — but no promises."

Jaesung chuckles lightly, focusing on the road again. "I'm glad you're doing much better now, Dongmin-ssi. Jaehyun didn't tell anyone much, but I knew he was hurting. He knew he was hurting you. One day, he slept over at my house and cried his heart out. I couldn't figure anything out until he told me that he was hurting you — that you... were hurting yourself because of him."

Dongmin remains silent at that moment, knowing that he had somehow given himself away. He instinctively drew his wrist closer to his body — a habit he had picked up from his mother yelling about the cuts and scratches on his wrist. "..."

"... it's okay, kid."

"It's not okay... he's blaming himself for it," Dongmin said quickly. "I've done this before. It's not Jaehyun hyung's fault that I'm... hurting myself..."

"Well, because of your disagreement, he's blaming himself. I'm not sure if he's aware of you doing it for a while, but in any recent occurrences, he's taking it out on himself," Jaesung says flatly. "That kid loves you a bit more than he's loved any of his partners. He... he takes all your disagreements to heart, and he probably thinks that you can do no wrong. I don't know how much truth is in it, but... he's forgiving every mistake you've never made and is taking the blame for all your pain."

Dongmin holds his breath. "Why is he doing that...?"

"Because he really loves you, but at the same time, he doesn't understand you. You're complicated, but he's afraid of breaking your boundaries and hurting you any further. He's a sweet kid, but his airheaded personality makes it difficult for him to understand that people have complicated inner turmoils. He doesn't understand that people hurt themselves for self-gratification. He thinks everything can be helped — but in reality, the reason you're in pain is so much deeper than he can understand, which is why you cut yourself."

"... that does seem like something he'd do..."

"Jaehyun has one braincell, and it's, unfortunately, heart-shaped," Jaesung chuckles. "He's full of love, and he believes that simply being by your side is enough to help you feel better."

"... it works, too. He's right about that."

"He keeps questioning himself, wondering if he's the cause of your recent pains — I don't think that conversation was fulfilled, so... assure him, please. He's still a little confused — I can tell. He's my little brother, after all."

Dongmin can't help the smile that grows on his lips. "I really don't deserve him. Someone as... not to be edgy and emo, but someone as broken as me doesn't deserve someone so bright. Someone so... adorable. Someone so loving and caring... he means the world to me. I need to care for him with my entire heart."

Jaesung snickers slightly as Dongmin's remark. "Edgy and emo, huh? Nah — you're not doing it for any societal recognition. You're in your own little bubble, away from everything — hurting yourself in such an awful manner. The pain is for you and you alone... right?"

Dongmin pauses, but for some reason, he knows that he's in a safe space. That Jaesung, for some strange reason, understands him. He finds himself quietly nodding, wondering how Jaesung knew all of these things. "Have you gone through this as well...?"

"Uhm... well... it's a long story," Jaesung chuckles. "I had a partner — they weren't very happy with themselves, so I sought to understand my partner and work through their problems alongside them. My partner ended up taking their life, but through that arduous journey — through all those struggles — I learnt to understand why people do these things. Instead of berating them, you should help them. Most of the time, it's a distraction from current pains — so redirect the pain again." Jaesung glances over at him for a mere second. "I'm sure he'd be able to distract you... right?"

"... relapsing sucks."

"I know," Jaesung laughs softly. "But let him love you. Teach him about the pain — trust him. He'll love you for as long as the earth spins, kid. Siblings usually hate each other, but I can say with full confidence that Jaehyun is the best person you could've ever started dating — and I genuinely mean it."

Dongmin can't help but smile at the mere thought of his partner.

×××

"Jaehyun and Dongmin are here!"

Jaehyun closes Sungho's bedroom door behind himself, greeting everyone with a fistbump. Dongmin is about to do the same but pauses in shock when he sees Donghyun in a pastel purple skirt, mashing the buttons on Sungho's PS5 controller. "What... what the fuck..?"

"Taewon borrowed it," Woonhak said, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"You two gonna play?" Sanghyeok asks with a slurry voice, making space for Dongmin and Jaehyun on Sungho's bed as he passes two bottles of ciders to the two newly arrived pair. "I'm already a little drunk, so don't rely on me for anything, please."

Dongmin laughs lightly as he twists the cap off his drink. "Will do. I wanna play a round. Why is Donghyun wearing a skirt?"

"I wanted to try it," Donghyun replies, speaking rather slowly, which indicated that he was already high. "Is it cute, Dongminnie?"

"You should wear skirts more often," Jaehyun says with a laugh as he drinks. "Woonhakie — you brought your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, he wanted to be with me today," Woonhak replied, gritting his teeth as Sungho scores a goal against him. "Fuck... anyway, Sungho hyung took us to the arcade, Donghyun hyung got high in a back alley and then we came back here to play video games."

Dongmin frowns as he glances at Donghyun. "Got high in a back alley...?"

"Good shit," Donghyun replies with a chuckle.

Jaehyun glances at Woonhak. "Wait, you didn't deny that he's your boyfriend."

"We're dating," Taewon announces with a grin, laughing as Jaehyun's jaw literally drops. "I know, right? But he's nice to me, and he's very cute, so he's my boyfriend now."

"You've kissed this goblin? Ew!"

"Yah, hyung!" Woonhak exclaims. "Fuck you! You really think I can't pull anyone? Now I've got a pretty boyfriend!"

"Just a bunch of homosexuals in this room," Jeno chuckles from the beanbag across the room. "I miss Luzhen. She needs to hurry up. I miss my wife."

"She's dead," Jaehyun says with mock solemnity, laughing as Jeno glares at him. "You look out of it, dude. Are you already drunk?"

"Drunk? Drunk?! I'm not drunk! Fuck you!"

Dongmin laughs, leaning closer to Jaehyun. "Are we getting drunk tonight, hyung?"

"If you want to," Jaehyun replies softly, leaning against Dongmin gently. "I got enough sleep in the car, so I'll be able to handle it."

"Are we alone at your place tonight...?"

Jaehyun hums in realisation as as down a swig of his drink. "Oh, yeah! We're alone. What are we doing?"

"Making babies," Sanghyeok slurred with a giggle, clearly having listened in on their conversation. "Donghyunnie~ hyung wants kisses~"

"I'm playing soccer, hyung-ah," Donghyun replies calmly, not even looking over at his boyfriend. "Come sit here on my lap, baby."

"Are you still wearing the skirt?" Sanghyeok asks as he gets up from the bed to sit on Donghyun's lap. "Mmm, my Donghyunnie looks so pretty with a skirt~"

"This is so weird," Sungho grumbled as he glances over at the two sitting beside him. He watches as Sanghyeok snuggles into Donghyun's lap, facing him as he straddles his lap and rests his head on his shoulder. "If you're gonna do anything gross, do it on the bed and not on the floor, please."

Donghyun laughs as he meets Sungho's eyes. "Can't we make a baby right here?"

Sungho's face pales in horror. "What?! No!"

"Boring~" Sanghyeok drawls with a giggle. "It's easy access with the skirt, though..."

"Taewon-ssi," Jaehyun says suddenly, "just let Dongmin and I know when you have to head home, okay? We're still sober, so we can walk you home."

"I live two streets away, so I'll be fine," Taewon tells them with a small smile.

Jaehyun doesn't recede yet. "Let's us know if they're making you uncomfortable, okay? No pressure, kiddo."

Taewon looks over at the couple sitting on the ground and nods nervously. "No problem."

"This is a safe space," Sungho says, his speech surprisingly stable with how many bottles of empty alcohol were beside him. "Don't worry about looking like a couple — it's just Jeno and I that don't have our partners here."

Jaehyun glances over at Jeno, realising the guy is two seconds away from falling asleep despite holding a PS5 controller in his hands. "We're actually really late, huh? Everyone's piss drunk already."

"I'll get there — my tolerance is low, I think," Dongmin mumbles as he takes a sip of his drink. "I could be a bit drunk after a two or so drinks..."

"Don't drink too much, okay?"

"Mhm."

Jaehyun settles with Donghyun's controller in his hands after the match finished, watching for a moment as Sanghyeok fiddles between them, trying to seen inconspicuous. In case he sees something he shouldn't, Jaehyun quickly diverts his eyes. Dongmin shifts further up the bed, sitting against the wall beside Taewon as he watches the Sungho, Dongmin, Jeno and Woonhak all play FIFA together.

The next half an hour is pretty uneventful. Dongmin gets quite tipsy, humming to himself as he keeps his eyes on his boyfriend. Jaehyun is very passionately — and very loudly — playing against Woonhak alone, seeing as Jeno had passed out and Sungho was too drunk to concentrate on the screen. Taewon and Sungho settled on a game of UNO, leaving Dongmin on his own.

His eyes happen to travel over to Sanghyeok and Donghyun, whom had moved over to the far end of the bed but still sat on the floor. Sanghyeok sat on Donghyun's lap as they made out with each other. Dongmin wasn't too sure if the skirt, was lifted up or not, which it probably was, but he wasn't curious enough to find out. He's not sure why, but he feels lonely sitting on his own, despite being in a room of people.

Dongmin sighs as he stands up, tapping Sungho's shoulder. "Where's your bathroom?"

"Next room over to the right," Sungho tells him. "No one's home, so you can just go in."

Jaehyun notices Dongmin leave the room and turns to Woonhak. "I'm gonna go make out with my boyfriend, if you don't mind."

"What the—? Don't announce it, just go," Woonhak grumbles as he closes up the match, knowing that Jaehyun won't be back for minimum ten minutes.

Jaehyun pats his shoulder as he gets up from the floor, giggling to himself as he nearly walks into the wall. "Dongminnie~ are you in the bathroom, baby?"

"Peeing!"

"Hurry up, I want to kiss you!"

"While I'm peeing?!"

"I'm coming in!"

"Give me a second, jeez, hyung!"

Jaehyun giggles to himself, opening the door as Dongmin pulls his pants up, laughing as he shuts the door behind himself. "Did you enjoy our date today?"

"Very much," Dongmin smiles, lifting himself onto the bathroom counter because he knows exactly what Jaehyun has in mind. "I may be a little drunk, but... I love you, hyung. So... so much. I'm... glad... I'm glad I'm yours..."

Jaehyun smiles softly, standing in between Dongmin's legs as his hands rest lazily on his thighs. "You love me, baby. Hyung loves you too..."

"... I'm really fucking hot right now but I'm worried Sungho will be mad at us..."

"He doesn't matter. I'll turn the light off."

"Hm? For what?"

Jaehyun smiles lightly as he brings his lips closer to Dongmin's. "You know exactly why."

Chapter Text

"Where were you?"

"A friend's house."

"... a friend."

Dongmin knew his mother would blow her fuse sooner or later. She seems furious, blocking Dongmin from entering the house any further. He remains silent — he hasn't learned how to lie without Donghyun's intervention or help, so he doesn't know what to say.

She looks at him with firm eyes. "What friend?"

"Donghyun."

"Donghyun's mother said he was out."

"..."

"Where the hell were you, Han Dongmin...?!"

"A friend, okay?!" Dongmin almost yells back, his patience wearing thin almost immediately. "God, leave me alone!"

She looks back at him with widened eyes, clearly surprised that Dongmin would even think about talking back. "Leave you alone...? Leave you alone?! What has become of you?! You're staying out late, you're never at home, you've got this stupid new hobby of yours, you're suicidal—!"

"It's your fault! It's all your fault!" Dongmin finally breaks, his eyes filling with tears. "I stopped wanting to live a long time ago because of you! I couldn't have friends, I couldn't be myself, I couldn't experience life! You blamed me for everything! Blamed me for the fucking divorce, blamed me for your alcoholism, blamed me for hating myself! You never helped me! You never loved me! You never wanted me. You never taught me love. I tried to fucking kill myself and you got angry at the fact that you were out fucking guys and I interrupted it, instead of being concerned about the potential loss of your only fucking son!"

His mother watches as Dongmin breaks down in front of her, sobbing as tears stream down his cheeks.

"I hate it here," he mutters as he wipes his tears away. "I'd rather die than be here!"

"Then leave!" his mother finally yells. "Get out! Go to your father! See if he still loves you!'

"Anyone will love me more than you have ever loved me!" he yells back, seeing red with every word he spits out. "No one has hated me as much as you do! I've never felt so... unloved..." He wipes his tears again. "Is that why I'm here? So that you have someone to hate that isn't yourself? Will it make you happy to see me take my life, huh? Does it make you happy to see me hate myself?"

"Don't—"

"No, answer me! Why are you like this?! Why do you hate me?!"

Before she can even respond, Dongmin walks to push past her, making his way to his bedroom. He tosses his bag to his bed, opening his closet and taking out the clothes that he wore often. His mother makes her way up the stairs, watching him with widened, confused eyes.

"What are you doing?" she questions immediately.

"Leaving."

"Leaving?!"

"Leaving you!" Dongmin yells. "I'm sick of you! Blaming me for everything when I'm literally just your child!"

"You're going nowhere!"

"Why not?! I'll do whatever the fuck I want! It's not like you really care! You just need someone to control, and now that Dad isn't here—!"

The sound of a slap rings through the room. Dongmin's face has been pushed to the side by the force of his mother's angry hand. Tears fall down Dongmin's cheeks — the ones he worked so hard to prevent from falling — but he refused to look at her. "Give me your phone," she says flatly. "You're nothing more than a disrespectful child."

"I'm still leaving."

"You're not—"

"I'm leaving!" Dongmin yells back. "Take everything! Take my phone! Take Dad's skateboard! Be the reason I fucking take my life! Do it!"

"Your father never wanted us! He never wanted to have a child with me!"

"And I asked to be here?! I asked to be born?!"

His mother pauses, tears streaming down her own cheeks. "If you leave, don't you dare come back."

Dongmin scoffs as he turns away, continuing to throw clothes onto his bed to stuff into the bag. "I don't care. I never wanted to be here, anyway." His mother watches for a few moments as Dongmin stuffs things into his bag, pulling the zip closed before making his way to the bathroom for his toiletries, pushing past her again. "I'll fetch my other stuff tonight. Take the stupid fucking phone, I don't care."

His mother has tears in her eyes again. "Dongmin, son, please think carefully—"

"I'm not your son," Dongmin mutters coldly, walking down the stairs to pull his shoes on. "You've never treated me like a son. I'm an object for you to throw around — to pin the blame on every time something goes wrong. I'll get out of your way."

"Han Dongmin—!"

"I have a boyfriend, by the way," Dongmin says suddenly as he ties his shoelaces. "He's the best thing to happen to me in my entire life, and I'm not going to let you get in the way of us. You'll undoubtedly disapprove and make my life worse, so I'm going to run away before I start to hate myself even more than I already do." He stands up, picking up the skateboard. "Do you want this, too? Because Dad left you nothing else?"

"..."

"Right. You never loved him to begin with." Dongmin takes his phone out of his pocket, placing it on the shelf with the car keys. "Manual password is your birthday."

"Dongmin—"

"No, Mom. Bye."

Dongmin has tears pricking his eyes as he leaves the house, knowing that his mother will probably break down in anger behind the door. He doesn't know where to go, placing his skateboard down on the ground and just leaving. His heart feels heavy, threatening to burst out of his chest as he pushes himself through the light drizzle outside. He doesn't know where he's going yet, but the skate park would be his first bet to find someone. Jaehyun was probably at home, because he had walked Dongmin halfway home, but he had no idea where anyone else could be.

Upon arrival, the skate park is empty. "Fuck..."

So he keeps skating.

He makes his way to Jaehyun's house, seeing a car in the front parking spot, which meant that Jaehyun's parents were home. His eyes are too muddled with tears and blurred by the falling rain, but when he pulls up beside the car, he notices that it's Jaesung's car. Dongmin pauses, widening his eyes as he rushes in through the manual front gate, soaked wet from the rain already, and waits patiently as he knocks on the door.

After a moment or two, the door is finally opened by a confused Jaesung. "Dongmin? What are you—"

"I left home," Dongmin says softly as another bout of tears falls down his cheeks. He's shivering from the cold, his goosebumps almost painful because he doesn't have a jacket or hoodie on. "I fought with my mom, so... I left. I didn't know where else to go..."

"Come inside," Jaesung urges, stepping aside and taking Dongmin's backpack. "Jaehyun! Dongmin's here!"

"What?!"

Dongmin's still shivering, his hair dripping as he glances up at the staircase where Jaehyun quickly slid down the railing to get down faster. Jaehyun doesn't even think for a second before pulling Dongmin into a hug. Dongmin hugs back, choking out a sob as he breaks down in his boyfriend's arms, tears and rainwater staining his shirt. "Hyung... I can't do it anymore... I'm so tired of her..."

"Why, why, why? What happened? Are you okay?" Jaehyun rapid fires questions, lifting Dongmin's face to glance into his teary eyes. He's never seen Dongmin cry so hard before — it almost feels uncomfortable. "You skated in the rain...?! Are you insane?! Why didn't you take the bus or something—?!"

"I left home," Dongmin repeats, sniffling as he feels a towel fall over his shoulders. After giving the towel, Jaesung steps away to go to the kitchen. "My mother and I fought. She, uhm... she slapped me and I kind of lost it. I just packed my shit and left. I-I didn't know where else to go, I didn't know if if I could even come here—"

"No, no, you made the right call," Jaehyun affirms immediately, taking the towel and dabbing Dongmin's face dry. "Go upstairs. Go take a warm shower and put on a pair of pyjamas — you're not going out today. Stay in my room, okay?"

Dongmin feels too weak — emotionally and physically — to do anything else, so he begrudgingly agrees to step away from Jaehyun, sniffling as he walks up the stairs. Jaehyun glances over at his older brother, holding his breath for a moment before Jaesung speaks up first. "Go to him. Go talk to him."

"Hyung, I don't think he can stay here — Mom and Dad will blow a fuse," Jaehyun whispers. "I can't believe he was kicked out... with so little on him, too..."

"I'll help if I can," Jaesung confirms with a cross of his arms. "Go up there. Let me know what happened, okay? He seems distraught."

Jaehyun nods, hurriedly making his way up the stairs. Dongmin's expression is one that he never thought he'd ever see — more than just distraught, he seems lost and upset. His heart is visibly heavy — he's in pain. "Dongmin, are... are you okay, baby?"

"... kinda? Just shaken up, I guess," Dongmin muttered. "I didn't think I'd have it in me to just... leave. I'm scared — I... I don't know what I'm going to do..."

"Shh, shh, shh, it's okay," Jaehyun says softly, raising a hand to gently push Dongmin's soaked hair out of his face. "Don't worry, don't stress. I'm here — I'm sure my parents will let you stay here for a bit. I'll help you — I promise. It's okay, love — don't stress."

"Hyung, I... I'm so scared..." Dongmin mutters, tears falling down his cheeks. "I can't go back. I mean, I said I'd come back for my other stuff, but... where am I going...?"

"I'll sort you out, okay? Don't worry," Jaehyun assures hun gently, pressing a kiss to Dongmin's forehead. "Stay here with me for now — we can talk when you're doing a bit better. Just warm up — take anything in my closet, I'll be downstairs waiting for you."

×××

"So apparently, you and Ginger are officially together."

Sungho and Jeno are all alone in the former's room, playing a quiet game of FIFA after Jeno had passed out and slept over the entire night due to being too drunk to walk home. Sungho hums in response to Jeno's statement, not saying much because not much was required for a response.

Jeno speaks up again. "And you're happy with him?"

"For the most part, yes," Sungho replies rather softly. "He's nicer than I thought he'd be. He, uhm... he invited me over the other night, a-and... well... we... y'know..."

"Okay, got it," Jeno chuckles, reaching for a chip in one of the packets when Sungho has to do a free kick. "Well... it's none of my business, I guess, but... does that guy really have the capability to change?"

Sungho is quiet for a bit, sighing softly. "He's... willing to get along with all of you. He's not stuck in the perpetual state of being an asshole. I think his frontal lobe is developing. Also, I think he knows that we'll be a safe space while he figures out his sexuality, seeing as a bunch of us are homosexual. Even you, Mr. Bisexual."

Jeno chuckles as he rolls his eyes. "I'm happy with my girlfriend, okay? Oh, speaking of Luzhen — I don't think she'll ever be comfortable with him, so... maybe keep the distance between them. Keep him tied down for now — make sure that he's genuinely in it to be with you, and maybe they can get used to being around each other."

"I don't expect them to become besties," Sungho shrugs, "but I'd like for her to at least accept that Huiwon hyung and I are together. I... like him a lot, and I wouldn't want too much tension, you know?"

"... you really like him, huh?"

Sungho smiles lightly. "I suppose I do."

"Is he good in bed?"

"Oh, extremely. He knows exactly what he's doing."

"... I shouldn't have asked."

Chapter Text

"He fell asleep."

Jaehyun's chest feels heavy as he recalls the events Dongmin had spoken about, sitting across from his brother in the living room. Jaesung crosses his arms, humming as he thinks carefully. "I'll clear up that second room in my apartment, and maybe he can move in with me. I'll help him get a job, too, so that we can start supporting each other."

"Wait, really...? You mean it...?"

"I say it time and time again — I'm your older brother, so I'm automatically your friends' older brother, too," Jaesung chuckles lightly. "That spare room is kind of a storage area for now, so... I'll fix it up first. I'll talk with Mom and Dad about keeping Dongmin here for a couple of days until I fix up that room."

Jaehyun can't help the glow that grew in his eyes. "... th-thank you, hyung..."

"Don't mention it. He got kicked out by his only parent, so I kind of feel obligated to help — I don't mind it, either, so don't worry about it," Jaesung smiles softly. "I have to get back to the park. I'll drop off dinner for you tonight, or I'll just transfer some money to your account so that you can order whatever you want for yourself and Dongmin."

Jaehyun nods, watching as Jaesung stands up from his seat on the couch. "Thanks again, hyung — I owe you big time."

"Yeah, come work a couple shifts at the park."

"Okay, okay — once Dongmin gets settled in. I think... I think I'm gonna stick around him for a little bit," Jaehyun smiles, glancing up the stairs to his bedroom door that stood slightly ajar. "He cried his heart out while we were talking — poor kid..."

"Support him, okay? He might do things he regrets if your support wavers even a little bit," Jaesung tells his younger brother as he picks his coat up. "Don't forget to eat something, okay? Love you, dude."

Jaehyun waves his hand as Jaesung leaves, slouching in his seat as he sighs. He stands up from the couch, hurrying up to his bedroom to get his phone and contact his friends — perhaps the company will help Dongmin cheer up. "Oh yeah... Dongmin said he wanted a moment to talk to Donghyun while he's sober..."

×××

Woonhak doesn't know why, but something inside him wants to be more confident in the fact that he has a boyfriend. He's more likely to swing a fist, and most students know this, so even if he came out, no one would really do anything to him about it. He had seen Taewon around, but it almost seemed like he was avoiding Woonhak. He didn't want to see it that way, so Woonhak tried looking for him.

Woonhak eventually spots him walking down the stairs, and a bright smile forms on his lips as he runs over to Taewon. "Taewon-ah! Wait for me!"

Taewon pauses in place, looking around nervously as he stands still. "W-Woonhak...?"

Woonhak frowns, pausing at the top of the staircase as Taewon practically avoids his gaze altogether. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Taewon smiles weakly, but it's clearly forced. "Uhm... what's up?"

"Uh... I wanted to have lunch with you," Woonhak says, his voice wavering slightly when he realises that Taewon didn't want to be with him at that moment. "Seeing as I'm your boyfriend and all—"

"Woonhak!" He closes his mouth quickly, his heart nearly stopping. "Not now, okay? I'll see you after school."

"... but—"

"If you want to talk, do it after school. Not now."

Taewon clearly seems to regret being so agitated, but he manages to step away and continue walking down the stairs. Woonhak's expression falls significantly, but his heart rate speeds up quickly. He wants to run after Taewon, but his thoughts are interrupted by the sound of his best friend Yujin calling out to him. Taewon doesn't even spare him a second glance, leaving as quickly as he can. Woonhak's stomach is turning — that's not normal, right? Yelling like that at someone you've literally only been dating for a day isn't normal, right?

Woonhak knew something was wrong, so he ran after Taewon.

The corridors were slightly empty because everyone was in the cafeteria for lunch due to the bad weather, so Woonhak easily caught up with his boyfriend. "Taewon... Taewon!"

He grabs Taewon's wrist, but the other quickly flicks his grip away. "Woonhak, what are you—?!"

"No! What are you doing?!" Woonhak yells back, his expression softening immediately when he manages to make Taewon close his mouth. "Why are you being like this to me? I... I thought...—"

"We are," Taewon confirms flatly. "But not at school, okay? There's too many people that'll judge you—"

"When the everloving fuck did I ever care about what people think about me?" Woonhak snaps with a scoff. "I knew it was because you were anxious about it. Look — stuff like that doesn't matter. It's okay — I don't care. My friends probably don't even care. I'm not scared to fight, Taewon — it's okay. I promise. I'm being as mature as I've ever been in my entire life right now when I'm telling you this — I don't give a shit. I like you too much to care about what other people think... okay?"

Taewon still seems unsure, but pauses in place when Woonhak puts both his hands to his cheeks, turning him to look up. "What are you...?"

Woonhak presses a quick, shy kiss to his lips, looking around unsurely before strengthening his expression. "I'm your boyfriend, Taewon — don't push me away."

Taewon's face visibly turns bright red, stuttering out incoherent sentences as he struggles to say a proper sentence. "Wh-what thw— y-you can't j— why di— Woonhak—"

"Do you want another kiss?"

"N-no! There's so many other people here!"

Woonhak rolls his eyes, smiling as he kisses Taewon's forehead. "Don't care."

"But—"

Another kiss. "Don't care."

"... Woonhak—"

The taller quickly shuts him with a firmer kiss to his lips. Woonhak is obviously blushing as well, but not because he's shy — he's just happy to be giving his boyfriend kisses. "Don't care. I'll kiss you again."

Taewon looks as if he's about to cry, but he's clearly happy because of the bright smile on his lips. "You're such an idiot, oh my God...!"

"Well, you asked me to be your boyfriend, so who's the real idiot, huh?" Woonhak grins. "Come — come with me. It's okay to spend time together during school. It'll keep those stupid boys away from you, too."

Taewon ends up nodding, his cheeks flaring up all over again when Woonhak grabs his hand, lacing their fingers together as he pulls him along. For a second, the air feels like the stupid teenage love he hoped to have with Woonhak — fluttery, shy, bright. Innocent.

It's at this moment that he realises that he actually really likes Woonhak.

Chapter Text

Jaehyun stands at the entrance to his bedroom, eyes locked on his sleeping partner. It's already the following day, and Dongmin hasn't eaten yet. With how bad the weather was (although not as bad as the day before), Jaesung told Jaehyun to stay at home and take care of Dongmin — but Dongmin hadn't even stood up from the bed since his arrival, so Jaehyun let him rot in bed for as long as he needed to. It was so worrying, however — naturally, because Dongmin hadn't eaten at all.

"... Dongmin, I know you're awake."

He remained still, but Jaehyun knew he was awake. He sighs softly, tapping his fingers against the side of the door as he waits patiently for any sort of response from Dongmin, even with more blatant silence. It hurt a little more than Jaehyun was comfortable with admitting out loud, but one thing he learnt through Dongmin was to hold on.

To hold on very, very tightly.

"Should I call Jeno to come over?" Jaehyun asks quietly. "I figured that you could use someone you're comfortable with talking to. I know you and Donghyun still need to talk, so..."

"... can he come over? Donghyun, I mean."

Jaehyun nods, even though Dongmin can't see. "He's usually free, so... shouldn't be a problem." Jaehyun pauses, wondering if it's okay to continue. "Jaesung told me not to come in to work today — told me to stay home and take care of you. Do you, uhm... need me to do anything, Dongmin-ah?"

"No, it's fine," Dongmin tells him softly, his voice croaky. "I, uhm.... I just need some time to myself."

"... I can boot up my old-ass PS2 so that we can play Pro Skater 2, if you'd like."

Dongmin lets out a soft huff-like laugh, slowly raising his body from the bed. "You really want to keep me company, huh?"

Jaehyun smiles, detecting the invitation to come closer and does exactly so, sitting on the edge of his bed as he rests a hand on Dongmin's thigh. His eyes catch sight of the scratches, cuts, and scars on Dongmin's forearm, and he tries to ignore them, but Dongmin immediately catches how his eyes flick over to the wounds. He visibly tenses, avoiding Jaehyun's eyes.

Jaehyun gathers the courage to lift a hand to his left arm, sighing softly as he runs a thumb along the scars. "How often do you do this...?"

"Not very," Dongmin answers truthfully, watching as Jaehyun gently caresses the damaged skin. "When I'm sad or overwhelmed, mostly, which has occurred more often a few months back. I haven't developed any other destructive methods, so don't worry."

Jaehyun smiles softly. "Being okay with falling off your skateboard and injuring yourself counts as a destructive method." Dongmin's slight glare causes him to laugh heartily. "I won't say anything cheesy like you should stop for me, but... I'd like to be a motivator, you know? A motivator to help you stop. I don't need to be your reason to find the ultimate peace, but... I'd like to help convince you to at least slow down the self-harm... okay?"

"Hyung, I'd feel guilty as hell if I do this, but... it's a coping method," Donfmin says softly. "Donghyun still gets mad at me for doing this, but I do it do it to cope. It's the closest I got to the edge."

Jaehyun's stomach turned at those words. He holds his breath, his thumb stopping its gentle movements over the scars. "Put some clothes on — let's go out."

"Where to? I don't wanna go out," Dongmin complains immediately, laying down again and pulling a pillow into his chest.

"To get snacks! Just run an errand with me!" Jaehyun whines playfully, standing up and pulling Dongmin by his legs to the edge of the bed. "Go take a shower or a bath — let's get snacks and stuff."

"Jaehyun..."

Jaehyun sighs, leaning over Dongmin and placing his hands on either side of his head. The younger glances up at him, a hand rested gingerly on Jaehyun's forearm. The older smiles, his head tilting as he leans down slightly. "Why are you so pretty?"

"I am?" Dongmin asks softly, his gaze becoming ever so gentle as he looks up at the older. "I'm glad my boyfriend thinks I'm pretty..."

Jaehyun locks his eyes with Dongmin, lifting a hand to run it through the other's dark, messy hair. His blinks are so cat-like, cute, and innocent — for a split second, Jaehyun almost forgets what a tragic life Dongmin is living because of how utterly adorable he is. Jaehyun actively resisted kissing him, choosing to respect the boundaries that Dongmin had worked hard on establishing.

However, Dongmin could tell what he wanted.

"Hyung, do you want to kiss me?"

"So badly," Jaehyun replies softly, smiling at the glint in Dongmin's eyes. "But I have to hold back. We're going on a snack run, and then we're going skateboarding — okay?"

Dongmin hesitates before nodding. "I don't have a skateboard, though."

"I should have an old one before getting you a new one today."

His eyes widen immediately. "Hyung, no—"

"It's a new beginning," Jaehyun says quickly, interrupting the younger male. "There's so much pain attached to your old life. Your mom, your dad... like I said, I want to be a motivator to help you stop hurting yourself. I have... very deep feelings for you, Dongmin-ah." Those words cause Dongmin's heart to soften ever so sightly. "I don't think I'll be able to function without you. You're my youth — I've found myself through you."

Dongmin's eyes manage to light up a bit more, and Jaehyun's noticeably happy that he's gotten through.

"I'll be the best boyfriend ever," Jaehyun continues, his tone becoming more playful. "So hold on a little longer for me... okay? I'll prove myself to you. I'll keep you happy — to the absolute best of my abilities."

Dongmin nods, pushing Jaehyun away by his chest as he sits up from their risqué position on the bed. "Fine, fine, loverboy. I'll trust you... okay?"

Jaehyun grins, kissing Dongmin's head softly. "Great. Now, let's get everyone else at the skate park."

×××

Sungho sighs to himself in mild disappointment as he witnesses a hazy-looking Donghyun standing just outside the skate park. "This guy... oi! Lee Donghyun!"

At the mention of his name, Donghyun turns around and waves his hand almost automatically. "Sungho hyung!"

"Where's your tail?" Sungho jokes, placing his skateboard on the ground and skating past the fence. He catches the faint scent of weed on the younger but doesn't mention it for the time being. "Sanghyeok staying at home today?"

"I think so," Donghyun replies, following after with hus skateboard as well. "He ate shit on his bike yesterday after the rain because the ground was still wet. He stayed over but went home this morning, telling me that he was gonna go out with his mom."

"Amd you're already smoking, it seems," Sungho quips, stopping at the edge of the bowl. "Ground is still damp... shouldn't we head to Jaesung hyung's park instead?"

"He gets mad when I stink up the place with weed," Donghyun mutters, hoisting himself up onto one of the higher ramps. "I'll wait it out. Jaehyun hyung told me to come here, anyway — he said that Dongmin wants to talk to me."

Sungho smiles slightly, jumping up the ramp to sit beside the younger. "Working out your differences?"

"Well, more like him realising that he has a support system and he's not really as alone as he thinks he is," Donghyun mutters. "Stop making me think, I'm high because I want to chill."

"Fair enough," Sungho smiles, fiddling with his fingers. "It's fucking up your appetite, though. I thought people get the munchies or whatever, but... you've lost weight."

Donghyun covers up the sudden dip in the atmosphere with a laugh, flicking his head away from the older. "Thanks for noticing. I'm keeping an eye on my figure."

"Bullshit. You avoid eating when you're sober, too." Donghyun's playful smile becomes hesitant, still avoiding the older's perpetuating gaze. Sungho immediately stops the topic, however, lifting his head to look up at the cloud cover. "It's okay, Donghyun. We all have... a lot of problems, it looks like. I'm dating a potential felon, Sanghyeok's doing okay, Jaehyun and Dongmin... have each other..." Sungho chuckles slightly. "... and Woonhak's partner dresses up like a girl."

"Oi, I wore one of his skirts already. He's doing the right thing— that shit's breezy as hell," Donghyun tells him with a laugh. "He's figuring himself out. He's courageous."

Sungho nods in agreement, a silence falling over them for a second. Sungho clasps his hands tightly as he glances over at the vape in Donghyun's hand. His eyes wander over to Donghyun's slim wrist, aighing aoftly before biting the bullet. "Donghyun, do you have an eating disorder?"

"Nah." The answer is instantaneous, as if he's been asked this multiple times already. Donghyun takes a long drag of the vape in his hand, blowing out a big cloud of smoke that blends with the overhead clouds almost perfectly. "Fast metabolism alongside a really low appetite. I don't mind eating and I can eat a lot when I do eat. I'm not crazy about maintaining a low weight, or counting calories or all that shit."

"Sounds like you know what to do, though."

Donghyun merely chuckles.

Sungho stretches his arms forward, groaning as his joints pop. "None of my business, though. I'm here when you wanna talk about it. Everyone seems to be going through a lot, and... I miss being the one that everyone turns to for comfort or help. Maybe it's because of Ginger, but I would never turn my back on anyone. You're all my friends, and... nowadays, I'm feeling a bit left out."

"Hyung..."

"Maybe I'm being dramatic or whatever, but it feels like you're all pushing me away — and I know exactly why."

Donghyun's frown grows, but he somehow finds the sydden silence to be more favourable. Sungho glances over, his heart hammering unfairly in his chest. He doesn't seem as hurt as he is sad — because even Donghyun knows that everyone still has mixed feelings about Ginger.

Sungho sighs softly, standing up from the damp ramp and picking his skateboard up. "I'll meet you at Jaesung hyung's park later, then. I'm... sorry, okay? For choosing him."

"There was no ultimatum, hyung — you didn't have to choose between us and Ginger," Donghyun mutters, keeping his eyes faced down. "It's just... we haven't had the greatest understanding of who Ginger really is because all he's ever done to us is be a dick. Maybe he's nice to you — we don't know that. He's always been a piece of shit."

Sungho's expression shifts. "I know he's not the greatest, but... I...— I want you guys to get along."

"Is 'getting along' with Ginger going to fix everything he's done to us? To Luzhen noona? Face it, hyung — your boyfriend is a bad person."

Sungho's heart clenches for a second. Donghyun seems apologetic, but doesn't regret his words. Sungho's shaky expression tightens with pain as he glances off, unsure of how to respond. Donghyun groans loudly as he lifts his legs up to his chest.

"Whatever! People change, right?" he sighs loudly, smiling as he glances over at Sungho. "I'm trusting you, hyung. I'm trusting your judgement of... him. God, I hate him. Whatever, maybe he actually changed." Donghyun goes through the motions of inhaling his vape, flicking his slightly red, hazy eyes over at Sungho. "Do I look high?"

Sungho smiles at the very sudden subject change. "A little. Do you need eye drops?"

"I have, but... only at home," Donghyun mutters, sniffling slightly as he pockets his vape. "I need a Monster. Do you think Jaehyun hyung has a Monster?"

"More than likely," Sungho nods, "but I'll get a couple for the group." He holds his breath for another second. "I'll meet you at the park. I think... I think I should talk to Huiwon hyung. You can sober up and... talk to Dongmin. You two have to have a serious conversation."

"It's just about his self-harm," Donghyun shrugs. "It's the first time it got so out of hand, but... I know how it'll go. He's my best friend — I'll take care of him."

Sungho smiles, hopping off the ramp. "I'll join you guys soon."