#17writer-net

[kookiehao]

[SEVENTEEN] OT13 - The Thread That Binds Us (4/?) (7019 words)

Title: the thread that binds us Author: kookiehao (arashianelf on LJ and AO3) Pairings: OT13!friendship, hints of jicheol Genre: Fluff, fantasy, angst Rating: G Summary: A person's life can be deeply affected by tiny little things that occur far away from them; the butterfly effect, it's called. However, sometimes it's things that occur closer to home that can change a person's life forever.

For Choi Seungcheol, it begins with this: an old man comes to visit in a small town on the outskirts of Daegu.

Notes: If you follow this on AO3 as well, the one there gets updated a lot faster than the one over here! Just an FYI :)

one | two | three | four | five

With both Jeonghan and Jisoo present in the manor with him, Jihoon feels a lot more comfortable wandering the manor in search of more hidden rooms in the day. He didn’t tell Jeonghan any of this, but the older had seen the tension leave the younger when he’d arrived.

Most of the time, the three of them decide to split up to find anything out of place, but thus far, there has been no sign at all. No sign at all, up until Jeonghan spots something and calls for Jisoo and Jihoon to join him in the study.

“What’s the matter?” his darling boyfriend asks as he comes up to give him a quick kiss, before Jihoon pads into the room.

“I think I found something,” he says, pointing towards a slight indent in the wall. “What is it?” Jihoon peers at the oddly-shaped marked in the wall. “I’m not very sure, but all the walls in the various rooms in this manor are smooth, so I found it weird that this indentation was here.”

“Ah, you’re right.” Jisoo smiles, praising him, “I knew you’d be able to find something.” The familiar look of disgust is back on Jihoon’s face as he preens proudly at the words, and Jeonghan smiles as he makes to cuff the younger behind the ear.

Jihoon dodges quickly, holding up his hands in surrender. “No judgement from me, none at all.” Jeonghan smiles again, pleased at the easy capitulation, and Jihoon relaxes. As soon as he does so, Jeonghan reaches out lightning quick, whacking him upside the head.

“Hyung!” Jihoon whines, rubbing the back of his head. “Respect your elders,” he returns primly, leaving Jihoon alone to sulk and nurse his wounds. “It’s a triskelion,” Jisoo informs him upon sensing his approach. “A what?” Jeonghan asks.

Instead of clarifying, Jisoo tilts the screen of his phone towards his partner, showing him the various types of triskelions that had popped up upon searching it up. “It says here that the three arms of the triskelion, or triskele, represent different things to different individuals or organisations.”

“I wonder what it meant to Cheol,” Jeonghan muses. Jisoo nods, keeping his phone. “From the shape, I guess it means that we have to find something that is in the exact shape of the triskelion and that’ll trigger something.”

Jihoon makes a sound of understanding, having approached in time to catch the end of the conversation. “I’ll try and figure out where the key could be. In the meantime, I guess we could look for more hidden rooms,” he says.

“I feel like I’ve seen that sign somewhere before…” Jeonghan mutters to himself as they split up again.

To: AY BITCHES ITS THREE YEARS

say moo: who the fuck changed the group chat name again?

say moo: for that matter, who the hell changed my name again.

say moo has changed his name to jihoon

BABABANANAS: the chat name was one of the younger ones

jihoon: and my chat name?

BABABANANAS: heh that i have no idea at all

jihoon: whatever; I’m not here for that

jihoon: wonu when are you coming

im the DAWG: that’s what she said

im the DAWG: ayyyyyyy

I’M A CHICKEN: grow up

i hate carrots: I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning to make my way there. You can expect me by nightfall.

orange is the new black: that’s good news :) we’ll be waiting!

sneaky mf: it’ll be good to have more of us here

sneaky mf: wonu ya do you think you can get some stuff for me before you leave?

i hate carrots: Sure, hyung. Just send me a list of whatever you need and I’ll see about getting them for you.

sneaky mf: thanks! i’ll pm you the list in a bit

sneaky mf has changed jihoon’s name to i am COW hear me moo

Jeonghan walks into the recreation room. “Jihoon has already shown me the one hidden here… But it wouldn’t hurt to search through this room again,” he says to himself as he keeps his phone.

He examines the shelves of games carefully, looking through the board games and assorted puzzles scattered on the shelves. He frowns in confusion as he comes across a seemingly seamless box. He picks it up to examine it, eyes brightening when he realises that the triskelion symbol is etched into one of the corners of the box.

‘This probably has something to do with the one we found earlier in the study. I’ll keep it for Wonwoo, he probably knows what to do with this,’ he thinks to himself, bringing the box back to his room and placing it on his table.

He sets a reminder on his phone to remind himself to pass the box to Wonwoo, and sets off for the other rooms in the manor, hoping he’ll be able to find something relevant to their search.

At the end of the day, when they gather in Jeonghan’s room to discuss what they found, Jeonghan shows them the puzzle box. Jihoon fiddles with it for a while, before giving up and admitting that Wonwoo would be better suited for a puzzle like that, with no clues as to how to open the seemingly seamless box.

A few days later when Wonwoo arrives and has gone through the tour, as well as the gruelling experience of dealing with one Choi Minki, they head to Jeonghan’s room, upon which Wonwoo’s eyes light up when he sets eyes on the box Jeonghan takes out from a drawer.

It’s clear that he immediately knows what it is, grabbing the box with delight and running his hands along the sides of the box, as if looking for something. “You know what this is, Wonwoo-ya?” Jisoo asks curiously, and Wonwoo lifts his head to beam at his hyung, eyes shining in delight.

“It’s a himitsu-bako! A puzzle box!” The Japanese words roll off his tongue with ease, no doubt due to his linguistics major having required him to learn multiple languages in the past few years.

“I haven’t seen one of these in real life before, I’ve only watched videos about them. They normally require multiple steps to open, and all the mechanisms are very well-blended into the box itself, so you have to be very meticulous to notice them all,” Wonwoo explains even as he finds a slight groove.

Jihoon, Jeonghan and Jisoo watch with awe as he pushes the edge of the box slightly where he felt the groove, and a slate of wood along the box moves so that it’s protruding. “So… we’ll leave you to figure this out then,” Jihoon pats Wonwoo on the back, leading the majorly occupied man back to his room where the three leave the newly returned man to his puzzle box.

“Ah, hyung! Jeonghan-hyung!” Wonwoo calls suddenly, looking up from his puzzle box momentarily. “Hm?” The three of them turn around, and Wonwoo goes to his luggage, finally pulling out a plastic bag with a rustle.

“The things you asked me to buy!” Wonwoo smiles, before returning his attention back to the puzzle box, absentmindedly sitting on his bed cross-legged. “Ah, thanks!” Jeonghan grins, grabbing the bag, planning to return to his room to sort through the things his dongsaeng had bought for him.

Jisoo follows his boyfriend back to his room curiously, while Jihoon goes off to continue with his producing. With a loud rustle, the plastic bag is set on the bed as Jisoo closes the door behind him, Jeonghan settling down in front of the bag and upending it onto his mattress.

“What did you ask Wonwoo to buy?” Jisoo eyes the items curiously. “Nothing much, just some beauty products that I was running low on,” Jeonghan hums, sorting through the various beauty products.

“No wonder you were so excited to receive them from Wonwoo,” Jisoo shakes his head fondly at his forever make-up obsessed boyfriend. “It’s not my fault I’m the only one that appreciates the effects of good make-up,” Jeonghan retorts.

“I never said anything,” Jisoo holds up his hands defensively, laughing. “I just don’t like the feeling of having make-up on my face, but I do appreciate their effects on your face,” he says, to which Jeonghan whips his head around lightning-quick.

“Are you saying I’m ugly? Is that what you’re implying, Hong Jisoo?” Jeonghan complains, getting up to chase his laughing boyfriend around the room. “I said nothing to that effect!” Jisoo laughs madly, having toppled onto the bed after being caught, narrowly avoiding bashing his head against the bottles of beauty products.

“Your beauty products! Jeonghan-ah, remember your beauty products!” Jisoo reminds his grinning boyfriend between gasps as he’s tickled, writhing madly on the bed and making a mess of the products that Jeonghan had been sorting.

“Hmph! For the sake of my beauty products, I’ll let you off this once. Now get off, you’re crushing my babies!” Jeonghan tugs Jisoo off the bed, where he collapses in a madly giggling mess. Jeonghan staunchly ignores his boyfriend tugging on his pants for attention, choosing to focus on re-sorting his buys, complaining that it’s Jisoo’s fault the entire time.

Meanwhile, Jihoon settles down in his studio, the glee in Wonwoo’s eyes as he’d seen the puzzle box giving him inspiration for a new track. He slides on his headphones and wakes his computer up, the screens coming alive before his eyes. Cracking his knuckles, he bends his neck left and right, stretching for a quick moment, before getting to work.

Wonwoo remains in that position for a long time, fiddling with the box to try and figure out all of its secrets, not washing up and showering until late in the night, when Jeonghan and Jisoo have gone to sleep and Jihoon is halfway through with his track, not that he’s aware of it.

The Rabbit-bearer only tears himself away from the box for as long as is required for him to have a quick shower and brush his teeth, barely glancing at his phone.

To: AY BITCHES ITS THREE YEARS

im THE dawg: whats the sitrep over there?

BABABANANAS: …why are you up so late

im THE dawg: sleep is for the WEAK

I’M A CHICKEN: i take offence to that

why am i forever last: ah but does you taking offence mean anything?

hiss hiss mf: maknae got you there, seungkwan ah

hiss hiss mf: you take offence to everything your opinion has ceased to be relevant

size is irrelevant: why the heck are all of yall awake its 2am

BABABANANAS: why are you awake then

size is irrelevant: i have a final the day after tmr and im cramming obv

BABABANANAS: lmao mood my final perf is in three days

why am i forever last: need help hyung?

goatlamb: I need all of yall to go the FUCK to sleep the incessant buzzing is keeping me awake

goatlamb: I have a final tomorrow, if I’m affected in any way by you guys for my paper I’m coming for all of you

size is irrelevant: the boss has spoken all of yall go to bed

goatlamb: die in a ditch gyu stop making so much noise in the kitchen

Time passes in the blink of an eye, and before he knows it, Seungcheol is six months past his birthday. “I’ve been doing well in school!” he reports to Jungsu with a proud smile as they meet up after school, having just had his results returned to him.

Jungsu receives the report slip with pride, noting with a smile the excellent results Seungcheol has been getting in school. As Seungcheol waves goodbye to the friends he’s met over the past few months, his Cat-bearer bracelet gleams in the light, blinding the older Cat-bearer for a second.

“Let’s go, then. You’ve got much to learn today,” Jungsu tells him as he guides Seungcheol away from the school and back towards home. “What are we doing today?” Seungcheol asks curiously, tilting his head up to meet Jungsu’s eyes.

“You’ve been into coding recently, haven’t you?” Jungsu queries, smiling inwardly as Seungcheol lights up. The boy had stumbled across a coding website while he was surfing the net and had fallen in love with the process of coding quickly.

Jungsu and Yunho had supplemented the library with more books on coding and programming as soon as they realised that Seungcheol was serious about learning about it, but the boy had finished reading everything within two weeks.

Seeing as Seungcheol had so much passion for coding, the two of them had decided to get him a tutor specifically to teach him coding. Today would be the first day of his lessons, and Jungsu hadn’t told him before today on purpose, as a surprise.

“Yeah! But what has that got to do with what I’m learning today?” Seungcheol asks, blinking curiously. Jungsu’s eyes twinkly merrily as he adopts a playful expression. “Why, I’ve hired a tutor specifically to teach you more about coding!”

Seungcheol stares at his guardian in shock for a few, stunned, seconds before he gives a short scream and jumps into Jungsu’s embrace. “Are you serious?” he asks, hugging Jungsu tightly. “No, I’m Jungsu,” the older jokes.

Seeing Seungcheol’s glare, he laughs, nodding his head. “I’m being completely serious. Yunho and I decided to get you a tutor seeing as you are so invested in learning coding. We vetted him a while ago and he’s very experienced, so he’ll be able to teach you a lot.”

“Thank you thank you thank you!” Seungcheol near-vibrates with happiness, squirming from Jungsu’s embrace to hop excitedly, needing a way to get rid of the excitement.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s go home immediately!” Jungsu laughs and agrees, following the excited Seungcheol at a more sedate pace.

Yunho is clearly startled when Seungcheol bounds up to him to give him a hug, his happiness obvious, though he quickly realises the reason why as Jungsu follows behind the seventeen year old, laughing a little.

The butler laughs as well as he hugs Seungcheol back, ruffling his hair when he’s released. “Alright, you brat. You’ve got to listen to your tutor well, okay? He’s very good at what he does, so be sure to learn all you can from him.”

Seungcheol nods furiously, to which Jungsu says, “Go and get changed and wash up. Your tutor will be here in about half an hour. You can wait for him in the study.”

The younger does as he’s told, rushing into the manor to go and get ready. Yunho and Jungsu exchange a look, before breaking into laughter again. Jungsu shakes his head fondly as he says, “That boy really never changes.”

“Let’s hope he won’t. Maybe he’ll be the one to finally do it, after so many centuries,” Yunho replies, calming down a little, though the smile on his face never leaves. Jungsu’s fades a little though, at what Yunho mentions.

Yunho quickly notices the elder’s face change, and sighs. “You have to stop feeling guilty about that, Jungsu-hyung.” The latter shakes his head, refusing to accept Yunho’s words. “I could have done it,” he says, turning to look at the land surrounding the manor.

“I could have done it if I were braver, and more willing to give them everything I had.”

“Well, the past is the past, now. They’ve all gone to find their successors, just as you’ve found yours. All we can hope right now is that that boy in there,” and here Yunho gestures towards the manor, “is the one Hime-nim has been telling us about.”

“Besides, you know how I think about some of them,” Yunho mutters, but quietens at a look from Jungsu. “I’m just saying,” Yunho defends. “It’s not their fault, Yunho-ya. You know how they were brought up,” Jungsu sighs. Yunho, ever his stalwart defender, shakes his head defiantly. Jungsu sighs, but lets it go.

“Be sure to treat him well, yeah? Once I’m gone, he’s only got you left as a guardian,” Jungsu looks at his old, old friend pleadingly, changing the topic abruptly.

“Of course I will. I haven’t taken care of all of you all these years for nothing, Park Jungsu,” Yunho says, forgoing formal language for once, knowing Jungsu won’t mind it in this specific case.

Jungsu laughs a little and clasps Yunho on the shoulder. “Right, right. I shouldn’t be doubting you at all, my friend.”

“Right you are, hyung. Right you are.”

The two men stand outside for a long while, before Jungsu heads back into the manor with one last pat on Yunho’s shoulder, to which the latter smiles and nods at his hyung.

The tutor arrives after a few more minutes, earning a point from Yunho. “It’s nice to see you again, Yunho-ssi,” the man says with a slight accent. “And to you too, Zhoumi-ssi,” Yunho replies.

“Your student is currently waiting for you in the study, I’ll bring you to him,” Yunho says, leading Zhoumi into the house and towards the study. “I look forward to teaching him. From what you and Jungsu-ssi have told me, he seems very eager to learn,” Zhoumi says, beaming.

“You should have seen his reaction when we told him about you coming today,” Yunho replies, laughing a little at the memory. “I’m sure it was a sight to see,” the other returns, as they reach the study.

Yunho knocks on the closed door to the study, waiting for a reply before he opens it. “Seungcheol-ah, your tutor is here,” he says, smiling at the excitedly waiting teenager. He has his laptop and notebook with accompanying pen laid out neatly in front of him, with the books he’s been learning from by his side.

The teenager stands as Yunho leads Zhoumi into the room, bowing 90 degrees in greeting. “My name is Choi Seungcheol, seonsaeng-nim. I look forward to being taught by you,” he greets politely, before he breaks composure and beams at the two men.

“No need to call me that,” Zhoumi says, “You can just call me hyung. I look forward to teach you!” Seungcheol nods in understanding, before Yunho takes his leave with a few parting words with Seungcheol to pay attention to his tutor.

“Now, shall we get started? Let’s see what you’ve learnt so far,” Zhoumi settles himself next to Seungcheol, as the teenager quickly boots up his laptop, handing his new tutor the books he’s looked through thus far.

“Not bad, but let’s see what else you can learn by the end of today,” Zhoumi comments as he looks at the various books Seungcheol has read the past few weeks. “Okay, hyung!” Seungcheol replies, and they settle in for a fruitful lesson.

After the lesson, Jungsu allows Seungcheol to take a break for a short while before he has to finish his homework from school, while Yunho sits with Zhoumi to see what he thinks about his new pupil. “So, what do you think of Seungcheol?” he asks.

“He has a lot of potential,” Zhoumi praises, smiling. “He’s very eager to learn and picks up on the theory very quickly. Since he’s started on learning Python, I’ll continue teaching him that and see where that takes us. If he’s ready for it, once we finish Python I’ll get him started on some other languages.”

“It’s just a pity that he won’t be able to pursue a degree from the universities that have better computer science programmes,” the tutor mentions. Yunho sighs, nodding in understanding.

“He has a lot of potential, and he’s smart to boot. Since he’s trapped here, however, he’ll be enrolling in a cyber university once he graduates from the local school. It’s the one Jungsu graduated from as well, so at least we know he’ll be treated fairly,” Yunho explains, to which Zhoumi signals his understanding.

“I wouldn’t mind teaching him until he himself wants to stop, if I’m being very honest,” Zhoumi continues. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a student that is so eager to learn.” Yunho laughs, and nods. “Then we’ll continue this arrangement for the foreseeable future, then. Once a week works out for you?”

Zhoumi checks his calendar, nodding as he enters in the new commitment. “I’ll definitely be here on time. It’s such a joy teaching him, I’ll probably end up teaching overtime a lot,” Zhoumi jokes, not knowing how true that statement will be in the future.

“Ah, that means we’ll have to pay you more,” Yunho jokes, to which Zhoumi shakes his head. “Nah, I don’t mind being paid at my usual rate and not for overtime if it’s for a student like him. I would have said I wouldn’t mind not being paid at all, but well, I have to earn my money from somewhere!”

Yunho laughs, standing up and heading towards the door. “Well, I won’t keep you anymore,” he says. “I’m sure a busy person such as you has somewhere to go after this.” Zhoumi stands up as well, following Yunho as he is led back to the front door.

“I really don’t, but I get when I’m not wanted anymore.” he smiles to show that he’s joking, before continuing, “I’ll see you next week then.”

Yunho nods his assent, opening the gate for Zhoumi. “See you next week, Zhoumi-ssi.”

“Drop the honorifics! We’re going to be seeing each other a lot in the future after all,” Zhoumi calls out as he takes his leave, to which Yunho laughs, nodding. “You can do the same for me, then,” he replies.

When Yunho heads back into the manor in search of Seungcheol and Jungsu, he’s met with the hilarious sight of Jungsu trying to take away Seungcheol’s laptop. “You need to stop coding for now and get started on your schoolwork!” Jungsu exclaims, tugging at his charge’s laptop.

“Coding is part of my schoolwork!” Seungcheol argues back, holding firmly onto his precious laptop. The two of them go back and forth for a while, even as Yunho starts laughing and doesn’t stop for a long while.

“Alright children, stop fighting.” After calming down, Yunho walks over and plucks the laptop out of both of their grasps.

“Jungsu-hyung, Seungcheol needs the laptop to do his schoolwork. And Seungcheol, you need to promise that you’ll focus on your schoolwork first before you can continue with your coding. I’ll be coming by to check frequently, so make sure you do as you’re told.”

The two Cat-bearers eye the laptop-holding Yunho with similar guilty looks, making Yunho laugh again. He returns Seungcheol’s laptop to him with a stern look, and tugs Jungsu away.

“Stop bothering the kid just because your partner is away,” he scolds his hyung, leaving Jungsu sputtering in the hallway as he goes off to do his job.

Jeonghan and Jisoo are met with a tired-looking Wonwoo and Jihoon in the kitchen when they come down for breakfast the next morning, with Minki and the others nowhere to be seen apart from Seokjin, Jaejoong and Jisung.

“Why do the two of you look so exhausted? Didn’t get enough sleep?” Jeonghan asks as the two of them take their seats, Jisung passing them clean plates and cutlery. Jisoo thanks him for the both of them, receiving them and placing them in front of the two of them.

“I spent almost the whole night on a track,” Jihoon mumbles through a mouthful of eggs and toast, barely swallowing in time before a huge yawn hits him. “Finished the box,” Wonwoo says in tandem, “Didn’t sleep.”

Jeonghan and Jisoo exchange looks and sigh as they keep watch over their two dongsaengs, making sure they finish their breakfast, helping them clear their plates before herding them to their separate beds, watching as they collapse face-first and not get up again.

The two older ones sigh, leaving the room and standing in the hallway after they’re done making sure the younger ones are comfortable. “What shall we do while they’re out cold?” Jisoo asks, tilting his head in query. Jeonghan shrugs in reply, walking into his room and grabbing a book from his bedside table.

“Up for some relaxing time? We can curl up in one of the alcoves in the library and relax,” the blond suggests, to which Jisoo readily agrees. “Sounds good to me.” The Tiger-bearer makes a quick trip to his own room to grab a book of his own, and the two of them walk quietly to the library.

Once there, Jeonghan sinks into one of the window alcoves after removing his indoor slippers, sitting so that he can stretch his legs across the entire seat. Jisoo sits opposite him, mirroring him in position.

Jeonghan settles a little lower into the cushions, getting comfortable. Once done, he sighs in satisfaction, opening his book to the bookmarked page to continue reading. Jisoo looks up from his book when his boyfriend sighs, smiling when he realises why the other sighed and turning back to his book.

The peace and quiet is maintained for the next few hours as the two of them make their way steadily through their respective books. Jeonghan was in the middle of a fantasy adventure novel, while Jisoo had picked up some books relevant to his field of study.

Just as Jeonghan finishes his book, hours after they first sat down, Wonwoo walks blearily into the library, rubbing his eyes with sweater paws as he tries to wake up fully. “Had a good nap?” Jisoo asks warmly as the two of them already in the alcove shift to make room for Wonwoo.

The youngest of the trio nods and yawns, sitting down with a soft thump between the two older ones. “The puzzle box was very intriguing,” Wonwoo explains once he is more awake. “Once I started figuring it out I didn’t want to stop as I was afraid I���d forget my train of thought if I fell asleep.”

“So you stayed awake until you finished solving the box,” Jisoo continues for him, to which Wonwoo nods. “It was pretty complex too. I’m pretty sure there are like, at least 50 steps to solve the box,” Wonwoo mentions, before hitting himself in the forehead with a sweater-clad palm.

“I left the box in my room,” he says, clearly punishing himself for forgetting. Jeonghan laughs, standing up. “Well, it’s understandable. You did just wake up, after all.”

Jisoo stands up as well, stretching a little. “Shall we go and get it, then?” he asks, turning to the other two. Wonwoo nods, standing up and following his hyungs out of the room as they head back to the residential wing.

When Jeonghan checks in on Jihoon, the latter is still out cold, so Jeonghan closes the door quietly and heads for Wonwoo’s room just as his boyfriend and the man in question emerges from his room with the box in hand.

In unison, they head for Jeonghan’s room, and Wonwoo makes sure to close the door behind him before he sits on the bed where Jisoo and Jeonghan are settled, waiting for him. “I reset the box after I opened it, to see if I still remember the steps,” Wonwoo explains, showing them the box.

He opens it slowly, occasionally cocking his head to the side as he tries to recall all the steps required to open the puzzle box. Finally though, he slides the last piece into position and opens the box, tilting it so that what is inside falls out.

He holds up the object to Jisoo and Jeonghan, and just as they’d thought, it’s a wood carving in the shape of a triskelion, the perfect match to the triskelion that Jeonghan had found in the study.

“We’ll have to wait for Jihoon to wake up before we try inserting this into the indentation in the study,” Jeonghan murmurs, taking the carving from Wonwoo and examining it closely. The other two nod in agreement.

“We should continue searching. There’s bound to be more,” Jisoo says, getting up from the bed. “Alright,” Jeonghan says, putting the wood carving back into the box and handing it back to Wonwoo for safekeeping.

Before they continue on to the main wing, they make a stop at Wonwoo’s room to allow him to keep the box, moving on once he emerges from his room empty-handed.

When Jihoon wakes up again, the sun has set and his room is dimly lit from the lights out in the courtyard. He sits up in bed, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He checks the time on his phone, ignoring the notifications, and climbs out of bed.

Stretching his arms high up into the air before twisting his torso left and right, he grunts as his back gives a satisfying and resounding crack as the bones pop. After he’s done, he shuffles out of the room in search of the other three, passing by Dongho as he walks down the staircase.

He doesn’t say much, just nodding in greeting to his fellow producer. Dongho returns the nod, clearly recognising the signs of having worked through the night and only just waking up. They continue on their separate ways, Jihoon off to find the boys and Dongho to wherever he’s planning to do.

Jihoon eventually finds the other three in the rarely-used ballroom, searching every nook and cranny in the large room. “Oh, Jihoon-ah. I see you’re finally awake,” Jisoo notices the boy, pausing in his search to ruffle the younger’s hair.

Jihoon hums in reply, giving another jaw-cracking yawn. “I remember Wonwoo saying that he managed to solve the puzzle box,” he says as soon as he finishes yawning.

“Yup,” Jisoo nods, “The box contained the key to the indentation in the wall of the study like we thought. It’s back in Wonwoo’s room though. We were waiting for you to wake up before we went ahead with unlocking whatever’s behind the wall.”

Wonwoo and Jeonghan approach the two, catching the tail-end of the conversation. “Should we go now, then? Have you guys had dinner?” Jihoon asks, to which the three of them shake their heads.

“We should go and eat first, then. We can continue later.” Jihoon decides. They make their way to the kitchen, where everyone else are seated, having dinner and chitchatting. There’s a brief pause as they walk into the room, but conversation resumes after a few seconds of awkward silence.

As usual, the few of them sit as far away as possible from Jonghyun’s group, trying to lessen the chances of them having to snipe at each other. The unofficial temporary truce is silently acknowledged, and they eat dinner without having to listen to Jeonghan and Minki’s barbed conversations for once.

Once they are done with dinner, they clean up their bowls quickly before they’re chased away by Seokjin. They amble down the hallway back to Wonwoo’s room in silence, enjoying the peace and quiet.

Wonwoo enters his room to retrieve the puzzle box and the key within it, then they head to the study. “Do any of you want to do the honours?” Wonwoo asks as he holds out the key to the others.

“Go ahead, Wonwoo-yah. You were the one that unlocked the box,” Jeonghan replies, nudging the younger ahead of him. The others nod in agreement, gesturing for him to do the honours. Listening to them, Wonwoo steps forward, pressing the triskele into the indentation on the wall.

A resounding click echoes around the room as he presses the key in, and they all take a step back in surprise when the section of wall in front of them retreats a little and turns in place. When the wall stops moving, they peer in only to see a staircase heading downwards.

Since there is no light, they turn on the torchlights in their phones and head down slowly. They follow the staircase down for a long while, each of them keeping an eye out for anything out of place.

“We’ve been going down for a while now,” Jisoo mentions after a while. Jeonghan hums his agreement. “I’m pretty sure we’re under the house now.”

The staircase ends in a long tunnel, clearly man-made. The tunnel has smoothed walls of concrete, and though weeds are already growing on the ground, it is clear that the tunnel was once used often. “Pretty sure that the tunnel leads away from the house,” Jihoon says.

As they walk, their footsteps echo throughout the tunnel, as well as their breathing. Eventually, however, the tunnel opens up into a large cavern.

With Jeonghan and Jisoo leading the four of them, Jihoon holds in a yelp as he nearly walks into them, the two older men having stopped in their tracks right at the entrance to the cavern. “What happened?” Jihoon asks, cursing his height not for the first time.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Jisoo’s deadpan statement echoes through the cavern, and Jihoon frowns as he hears water. “Here, look for yourself.”

Jisoo shifts so that the two younger men can see what startled both Jeonghan and Jisoo, and as soon as they catch sight of the Olympic-sized pool smackdab in the middle of the cavern, they’re speechless as well.

“You’re telling me we had a pool underground and none of us knew?” Jeonghan really doesn’t mean to yell, but this is just ridiculous. “How has it even been kept clean this whole time?” Wonwoo, as usual, asks the logical question.

“I have no idea.” Jeonghan walks to the edge of the pool, house slippers narrowly avoiding the water. “The smell of chlorine is strong, which means that someone has to have maintained this pool for a while,” Jihoon observes, wrinkling his nose at the chemical smell tainting the air.

“The holes in the roof of the cavern are probably for ventilation,” Wonwoo points upwards, and Jeonghan glances up to see the fading reds and purples of the sunset sky.

“There’s also a tunnel over on the other end of the cavern,” Jihoon notices, pointing the tunnel out to the others. “Should we continue exploring to see where it leads?” he asks.

“Why not? We have the time,” Jisoo decides, and the four of them walk to the newly-discovered tunnel. “Once more unto the breach,” Wonwoo mutters under his breath.

The tunnel is built similarly to the one leading from the manor to the pool. After a while, it starts sloping upwards, and Jeonghan points out that this could be an alternate entrance or exit to the pool and manor.

Eventually they reach the end of the tunnel, which is covered with hanging branches. Pushing them aside, they emerge from the tunnel into a clearing in the forest behind the manor.  Jihoon turns around again, observing how the entrance to the tunnel has been camouflaged by the large hanging branches of the tree just behind the tunnel entrance.

“That’s one way to do it,” he comments, sitting down on the grass next to the others, who decided to take a break before heading back. They lie there in the clearing for a long while, until the sun has set completely and the stars are twinkling across the dark sky.

After a while, Jeonghan pushes himself up. “We should head back. At least we found something, no matter how ridiculous it may be.”

They file into the tunnel again quietly, and they’re back in the study before they know it. Once Wonwoo emerges last from the tunnel, they turn to the wall, wondering how to move it back into position.

Wonwoo pushes one end of the wall slightly, huffing a laugh when the wall starts rotating. He grabs that end of the wall, pushing it so that the side with the indentation in the wall is facing outwards, and pauses, wondering how to lock it in place.

Jeonghan walks up to the indentation, pressing down on the key inserted into it. There’s another click momentarily before the wall starts moving, causing the two to backpedal quickly as the wall automatically moves back into place.

With one last mechanical click, the wall shifts back into place, returning the study back to normal. “Should we leave the key there?” Jihoon asks.

“It should be fine,” Jeonghan says. “It’s not like any of the others know what we’re up to, anyway.”

With that, they decide to head back to the recreation room to chill and update the others about what they’d found today.

To: AY BITCHES ITS THREE YEARS

sneaky mf: you would NOT believe what we found today

BABABANANAS: what is it??? an arcade??? a pool???

i am COW hear me moo: for once you’re correct.

i am COW hear me moo: oh ffs

i am COW hear me moo has changed his name to jihoon

jihoon: I am literally going to MURDER whoever is doing this.

the most glorious mane: anyway

the most glorious mane: what did you guys find???

orange is the new black: a pool.

I’M A CHICKEN: youre SHITTING me

orange is the new black: we’re not kidding

i hate carrots: There’s an underground pool connecting to the manor via a tunnel.

I’M A CHICKEN: what the actual fuck

sneaky mf: language, seungkwan-ah. but yes that is an actual mood

sneaky mf: at this point I wouldn’t even be surprised if we did find an arcade

why am I forever last: how did they even build it???

orange is the new black: we have no idea

BABABANANAS: is jihoon still here

i hate carrots: He went off to his studio.

i hate carrots: His phone is with us because he thinks you guys are too noisy.

BABABANANAS: great!

BABABANANAS has changed jihoon’s name to ITS COW TIME

im THE dawg: no but really why do we have a pool

Zhoumi does have to say, Seungcheol is one of the more pleasant students he’s had the privilege of teaching. Not only is the boy willing and eager to learn, he goes above and beyond whatever he’s given as homework, allowing Zhoumi to go faster and teach the boy more advanced material.

When asked, Seungcheol just replied distractedly as he tried to parse through his code to find what was preventing it from working. “I really like coding,” he says.

“The amount of energy I put into actually coding the program is exhausting, but when I run the code and it works, the satisfaction I get is immense- aha! I found it!” Seungcheol nearly shouts when he spots his mistake, editing the code and beaming when he runs it again with success.

“Well done,” Zhoumi smiles at his student. “Now, let’s see. Which other problem do you want to try?”

“This one looks interesting,” Seungcheol says after a while of reading through the questions that Zhoumi had prepared, pointing one out.

“Oh yes, that one. We can have a lot of fun with this one,” Zhoumi says, and starts teaching proper, Seungcheol typing along as he listens.

Yunho jumps a little when he feels someone nudge him from overhearing the lesson going on in the study, and turns to find Jungsu laughing at him quietly. “Curious about how our boy’s doing?” the older asks, to which Yunho sheepishly nods.

“I was actually looking for you, Yunho-yah. Have any of the others contacted you?” Jungsu asks after a while of listening to Seungcheol’s lesson by the door. Yunho starts, pulling the elder into the recreation room next door and shutting the door.

“Only Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, Siwon, Hyukjae and Youngwoon have yet to find their successors,” Yunho finally replies his question, taking a seat and nearly falling off the hammock they have in the corner.

Jungsu laughs at his struggles to stay on the hammock, before returning to the topic at hand. “The others… haven’t contacted you?”

“They only contacted me once to tell me that they’d found their successors, hyung. I haven’t heard from them since.”

“What did Youngwoon say?”

“He’s still trying to follow the feeling, so he isn’t sure how long it’ll be before he can come back.”

Jungsu remains silent for a while, eyes dim. “You can’t blame yourself, hyung,” Yunho says after a while, unable to bear watching Jungsu berate himself.

“I could have done it, you know that,” Jungsu starts, but Yunho cuts him off.

“You wanted them to stay with you. That’s understandable, hyung. They understand.”

“That doesn’t help the fact that they could’ve been free long before this year!” Jungsu exclaims, remembering at the last moment that if he yells Seungcheol would be able to hear.

“What’s done is done, hyung. The Princess says that there is a high chance that Seungcheol will actually succeed,” Yunho says in response.

“I didn’t want there to be a next generation, Yunho-yah. You know that,” Jungsu sighs, sinking into a beanbag in front of the hammock, shutting his eyes for a moment.

“I do know that. But I also know that it isn’t your fault you couldn’t do it.”

“Even if they won’t contact me? When they won’t come back? You saw the looks on their faces when I told them what they had to do, Yunho-yah.”

Yunho sighs, about to reply Jungsu, but the older man climbs out of the beanbag before he can say anything.

“Nevermind. I knew what I was getting into when I told them all. At least I had plenty of time with them,” Jungsu says, smiling sadly. “Now, I’ve to go into town to deal with an issue, so help me tell the others that I may be late for dinner and to not wait for me.”

Yunho sighs again, climbing out of the hammock.

“Alright, hyung. I’ll see you at dinner, then.”

23 May 2012, Wednesday

Today’s lesson with Zhoumi-hyung was interesting! I managed to learn a new way of manipulating the code to get what I want, but I think I’ll need more practice. It’s actually really tough to think out of the box sometimes. Yunho-samcheon and harabeoji seemed down today. I wonder if I can help cheer them up somehow?

I’ll think of ideas to make them happier tomorrow.

[chapter four end]

five

[17writer-net]

Welcome to 17writer-net!

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Apply HERE! (If you have trouble with the page, you may submit an application on the submit page instead!)

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The writings must be yours. Any writing submitted and claimed as your own that is identified as stolen or plagiarized work, you will be removed from the network.

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Lastly, be nice to each other and have fun!

We look forward to receiving applications for the network! If you have any questions, concerns, conundrums, queries, or violent reactions, please feel free to contact us here or on our main blogs.

[flowerkwan]

Vernon at McDonalds

Cashier: Welcome to McDonalds! What would you like?

Vernon: Hi, I'd like a Big Mac, please.

Cashier: Everything on that?

Vernon: Yup, Mac fully loaded.

[cheolhaos-archive]

can you imagine seokmin and wonwoo singing LR’s Beautiful Liar though

[17brightstars]

#4 Thirteen Reasons to Love

OT13 Drabble

S.Coups: Love hurts. You and Seungcheol dated when you were both young. Looking back at it now, you had never realized how destructive your relationship was. What they said is true, the more you hurt in a relationship the more you’re addicted to it. But you loved him so much. Even when he made you cry so hard you couldn't’t breathe, even after he told you to go away and never come back, hell even when he questioned why you both were still together after all this time. Despite all of that, he was the only one for you and you were the one for him. The sad thing? Years had already passed and you still haven't known love like you have known it with Seungcheol. 

Jeonghan: Love is beautiful. All cliche as it sounds it’s true. Love makes you see the beauty of things and make you more thankful for the simple things in life. Jeonghan may had been physically beautiful but for you, his personality outshined the beauty on the outside. But for Jeonghan, it was you that made his world more beautiful. Sure, the flowers were pretty but they looked even prettier when you were next to them. He’s just sad that you didn't see what he did. He wanted to show you how beautiful you looked when you smile, or how happy you looked when you were eating something that he cooked for you. “Y/N, do you know how pretty you look right now?” You cheeks instantly grew hot but today, you finally knew the answer to the question he always asked. “Yeah. Thank you for showing me how to accept myself.” Jeonghan smiled at your answer. He’s glad that you're seeing the world in a different way now.

Joshua: It’s simple. For you and Joshua your relationship ran so smoothly that it was so simple. Just because love is simple doesn't mean that you two didn't love each other enough. It just means that you two were puzzle pieces that was so easy to put together. Sure you two didn't fight as much as other couples did but that doesn't mean you both never fought. You two were smart, you understood in order to move on you would need to apologize and talk. That’s what you did and it worked fine. Your relationship might be viewed as “simple” but your love was more complicated; it’s something that cannot  be solved. Fortunately, neither of you want to ever solve this complicated problem that looked so simple. 

Jun: Because love is full of silence. You and Jun didn’t need much words to know what each other were thinking. Just one look in the eyes and Jun would know that all you want right now is to be held. When Jun looks at you, you know that he wants a kiss and that’s what you give him. “Actions speak louder than words.” Have you ever heard that phrase? Well that is exactly what your relationship with Jun was. It’s nice to be honest. Sometimes all you need is to be heard and other times all you need is the company of another person to make you feel better. However, that doesn't mean your relationship is filled with silence. You and Jun talk all the time it’s just that you find more comfort in his silence. After all, it’s not the words coming out from his mouth that lead you to his soul, it’s his eyes.  

Hoshi: Love is full of wishes. When Sooyoung is with you, he is always wishing for something. Whether it would be for your wellbeing, your dreams to come true, even for you to always be happy even if it wasn't with him. Little did he know that you were doing the same for him. “What do you wish for when you see a shooting star?” Soonyoung suddenly asks you while you two were glancing at the night sky on the hood his car. “I wish for your wishes to come true.” He immediately turns his head towards your direction and takes a long look at your side profile. “Then I guess we're killing two birds with one stone. I always wish for yours to come true.” You laughed and linked your fingers with his. He doesn't know though... he doesn't know that all his wishes have been granted when he met you. 

Wonwoo: It’s everywhere. Everywhere Wonwoo looked he would be reminded of you. He loved you so much that he somehow started finding constellations of your eyes, nose, lips. Little things remind him of you and suddenly you were everywhere. In everything he saw you and that made him so happy. When Wonwoo couldn't see you all he had to do was look for something and be reminded of your smile. That’s what made Wonwoo smile just a little more brighter and get out of a bed with something to look forward to. “Goodmorning, the flowers have bloomed and the sun feels a little more warmer today.” Even after you were long gone, Wonwoo was glad to always be surrounded by your presence. 

Woozi: Love is slow. You and Jihoon have been stuck like glue ever since you met. The problem is that your glue somehow managed to turn into a different type of glue. As time passed and the more time you spent with him, your feelings developed. You found yourself stuck in a cliche plot of a movie and frankly you were tired. Tired from your main lead being so oblivious to your actions. “How long do I have to throw myself at you for you to understand my feelings?” Jihoon looked at you with a blank stare like he always did when he was confused. “You don't have to anymore... I understand you now, so please forgive me for never realizing my feelings for you.” Love might be slow, but the wait is worth it. 

DK: Because love can be the only exception. You were little when both of your parents divorced but you understood why they decided to split. The way you saw it was simple: your parents didn't’t love each other anymore. If love meant giving your all to someone so special and to have it destroyed in a second, then you didn’t want that. You don't want to cry like they did, no way. That was until Seokmin came into your life... oh boy did he make you fall. However, you were so damn stubborn. But Seokmin tried so hard to make his way to your heart. It didn't matter how high you built your walls he was always at the peak of climbing over. “I'm not going to promise you that you won't be hurt but I can promise you that I will stay by your side.” That was when you decided that Seokmin was going to be your only exception. 

Mingyu: Love isn't always romantic. Everyone thinks that soulmates are meant to fall in love and get married and start a life from there. That wasn't the case with Mingyu. Mingyu loved so much that he felt like his heart can burst. When he was with you, he would find comfort in your smile and be happy that it was him that made you smile. You and Mingyu have been friends for a very long time and never once has he felt something else between you. You obviously felt the same and proved it to him multiple times. (you did threw up after he kissed you in your 15th birthday party but that’s another story) True love may be hard to find but true friendship is rare and he just so happened to be lucky enough to have found his soulmate through friendship. 

The8: Love sparks interest. You were never interested in anything around you. For you, your world was pure black and white. Every day was the same routine over and over again. Even now when you want to change your life, you're scared of change. That was until you met Minghao during summer. When you saw him, you realized that the cherry blossoms were pink and that the sky was blue and not black. That boy glowed so much so when he inched closer you naturally closed your eyes to protect them. Nope, that wasn't something Minghao wanted you to be trapped him. It took a while but Minghao showed you the world and he showed you that life was filled with so many things that can spark your interest enough to drag you out of your monochrome world.  Your canvas right is now full of color. Though your eyes might hurt a little from the brightness you would eventually adjust. You're just glad that Minghao showed you the different hues of a rainbow. Now the real question is, does he know that he’s the one that made you start seeing all these colors? 

Seungkwan: It’s funny. You and Seungkwan were always laughing at every little thing. No matter how lame your jokes were he always laughed because it was you who were telling them. You and him knew better than to take life a little too serious. Why waste a whole day frowning when you could be smiling? And on top of that, why waste that day when he could be next to the person he loves the most while laughing. Believe it or not, Seungkwan used to have those days. There were times when he wouldn't smile at all or times when he would just crumble down and start crying himself to sleep. You changed him though. You showed him that no matter how sad he was or will be, there would always be a day where he can just laugh and laugh. People say that someone cannot heal you but that wasn’t true for him. You healed him and with the best medicine you could give: love with a side of laughter. 

Vernon: Love is full of understanding. Vernon has always been by your side even in your worst of times. He didn't care when you pushed him away while crying. He never left your side because he never wanted to see you alone ever again. Why? Because he understands the feeling. Vernon was so patient when it came to you that it didn't matter how long it would take him to finally calm you down... he just wanted to let you know that when your world starts crumbling down he would be there to kiss you and tell you it’s okay. He just hopes you would understand him too when he starts to break down and you did. 

Dino: Because love is innocent. Sometimes you would show each other your love simply by lacing your fingers together. You both are teenagers so you wouldn't know much about how romance works, so right now the feel the feels of his palms is enough for you to comprehend his love towards you. And to put it simply, you like this. You liked that neither of you were discontent with what you both have now. Neither of you were rushing to the kisses and long hugs, even the arguments. The feeling of his fingers tied with yours is enough for now. You know for a fact that he’s happy with this too. 

Sorry for all the grammar mistakes and misspellings. I'm a little tired c: Over the weekend I will publish my Seungkwan scenario so look forward to that! 

Tell Me What You Think~

[bo0seungkwan]

The crowd roars in cheers and claps, some were even screaming while others were in tears - afterall, 17 years is a long journey. Standing on stage, 13 members, whom are now, older but still very good-looking held each others hand as the each member takes turn giving a short speech to their fans. There’s no denying that the members themselves, regardless how old they are now, they still had tears in their eyes.

“This is it.”, the leader of the group, Seungcheol, speaks out. “17 years and we’re still together. We performed, we had good memories of joy and bittersweet sadness, we won awards, we still get hungry together. Most importantly, we lasted. And we still love you guys a lot. 17 years and you still are our fans, growing old with us. Some of you are probably married, some of you are working. But here we are, we’ve made it.”, the speech slowly dies down, the leader having his words choked up between tears and heavy breathing as he tries to recollect himself.

The fans shouted “please don’t cry” though they themselves had tears in their eyes. Seokmin, as he had called himself the moodmaker of the group ever since debut, tries to change the mood, making a foolish scene with Soonyoung, his partner in crime for years and Seungkwan, the ‘mc’ as he had claimed to be, tries to take over, talking about a video of some-sort they will be showing.

The venue darkens as the stage projector plays the said video; a compilation of their pre-debut activities in 17tv, wapop performance and special occasion events like the valentine and Christmas project. It continues on to when their debut, their first winning,them winning rookie awards, their first concerts and what-not the many promotions after. They even played about the most random things like their coming-of-age celebrations, birthday celebrations and other random but treasured moments of the members. Everyone in the venue had a little time-slot travel as they reflect to when they were much younger. The video ends with “Say the name. SEVENTEEN.”

The member by then had already taken place, the encore calls out for them. The few other members exchanged speeches with the fans before presenting Shining Diamond, a song that was pre-released before their debut. The stage comes to an end after their last performance, Adore U, which was their debut song.

This is the last time that they would be seeing their fans on stage. This is afterall, their last stage since it was time to grow up; to establish a strong future and to live in prosper of no longer being too young to be dancing so actively on stage. It was time they had to think about getting married and what not, trying to find ways to cope with being their age.

“17 years and we’re still together. Sure, we don’t wake up seeing each other anymore but that doesn’t mean the bond has broken, hasn’t it? We’ll still be in contact. We’ll still hang out. And if we could, we could still be singing our songs. Afterall, we’re bonded, have you all not forgotten? We’re SEVENTEEN. And this ring we still wear proves that our brotherhood still remained.”, Seungcheol spoke out when they went backstage, holding the ring that is still worn to his pinkies as he held it out. “Last cheer?”, he asked, holding his hand out as the others joined suit, linking their fingers around each other’s thumb.

“Say the name. SEVENTEEN!”

[kookiehao]

[SEVENTEEN] OT13 - the thread that binds us (3/?) - 7198 words

Title: the thread that binds us Author: kookiehao (arashianelf on LJ and AO3) Pairings: OT13!friendship, hints of jicheol Genre: Fluff, fantasy, angst Rating: G Summary: A person's life can be deeply affected by tiny little things that occur far away from them; the butterfly effect, it's called. However, sometimes it's things that occur closer to home that can change a person's life forever.

For Choi Seungcheol, it begins with this: an old man comes to visit in a small town on the outskirts of Daegu.

Notes: If you follow this on AO3 as well, the one there gets updated a lot faster than the one over here! Just an FYI :)

one | two | three | four | five

Jihoon decides to take a break from finding more secret rooms until Jisoo’s long-awaited arrival, which is heralded by a taxi stopping in front of the gates and his phone buzzing incessantly. Jihoon is there to greet his hyung when the latter texts the group chat to inform him that he’s at the gates, relief subtly threading through his voice as he speaks.

“Thanks for coming back so fast, hyung.” Jisoo smiles at him in that cat-like way of his, eyes quickly scanning his body to make sure he’s superficially healthy. “It was not good of us to leave you here alone against them for so many weeks,” Jisoo replies, pulling his luggage behind him as they make their way up back to the front doors.

Jihoon shrugs. “I can deal with it. We decided on me being the first one back for a reason.” Jisoo laughs, shaking his head as he hefts his luggage up the short flight of stairs and stops to look at Jihoon, suddenly solemn. “Just because you’ve dealt with tense situations like this during your career doesn’t mean we have to leave you alone to fend against them, Jihoon-ah.”

Jihoon stops as well, sighing as he stares at the front doors. “I know, and I’m very grateful, hyung. Anyway, fill me in on what’s been happening in your life,” he replies, taking the luggage from Jisoo and pulling it into the house.

“Not until you tell me what you’ve been doing to take care of yourself these past few weeks. I’m pretty sure you lost weight from when we last met up, Lee Jihoon.” Jisoo eyes him critically, even as they walk up to the second floor via the grand staircase, turning to walk towards the East Wing.

“I’ve been eating fine, hyung. Have to make an appearance at every meal, especially dinner, if not Seokjin-hyung will be knocking on my door,” Jihoon complains, and one of Jisoo’s eyebrows tick upwards. “What happened to Jisung-hyung?”

Jihoon snorts. “Jisung-hyung and Seokjin-hyung take turns to cook. I’m pretty sure if they combined forces to cook we’d never run out of food for a week.” Jisoo laughs at the image, stopping in front of the door with a tiger mid-leap carved into the wooden nameplate hung across it.

He opens the door and enters, leaving it open in an unspoken invitation for Jihoon to come in as well. Jihoon drags his hyung’s luggage in for him, leaving it in an empty corner. Jisoo heads for it as Jihoon seats himself on the roller chair at the desk, and watches as Jisoo crouches in front of his luggage to unpack.

“Give me a moment to freshen up, and then we can catch up properly, okay?” Jisoo stands with more comfortable clothes than the dress shirt and black slacks he’s wearing, and Jihoon nods silently, drawing out his phone from his pocket to entertain himself while he waits.

“Jihoon,” Jisoo calls, standing in front of the door to his attached bathroom. The younger looks up, internally shying away at his hyung’s observant gaze. “I saw you glance at the mantel as we walked into the house. We are going to talk about that.” Jihoon flinches mildly, and Jisoo turns to enter the bathroom, leaving Jihoon to his thoughts.

He emerges after a short while, having changed in more comfortable clothes. The younger looks up from where he’d been staring at the empty wall, watching quietly as Jisoo keeps his dirty clothes. When he’s done, the elder sits on the bedspread, facing Jihoon.

“Where’s his key?” Jisoo asks quietly when he’s finally seated comfortably. The mantel had been completely empty, a sight he had never seen before. Seungcheol had always been home.

Jihoon shrugs. “I asked around,” he murmurs after a few seconds. “They have their own sets, so no one is using his key.”

“Which means that wherever Seungcheol is, he probably has his key with him,” Jisoo continues his train of thought, to which Jihoon nods.

“And since his key isn’t hanging there, I’m assuming that to you there wouldn’t be any point in hanging our keys there,” Jisoo says, eyes narrowing, “because it wouldn’t be home without him.”

Jihoon’s silence and tense fidgeting is answer enough, and the brunet sighs. “Alright,” he stands up from his bed after sitting in silence for a long while. “Let’s go greet the others, shall we? I’m pretty sure they heard me enter the manor. After we’re done with formalities, you can show me what you’ve found these past few weeks since you arrived.”

Jihoon stands as well, following Jisoo as he walks out of the room, closing the door behind him. They pad quietly to the kitchen, which goes eerily quiet when the two of them walk in. The only two people from Jonghyun’s group that are present for lunch are Minki and Jonghyun, who are sitting at the far end of the table talking to each other.

Yoongi is in the kitchen as well, a rare sight to be seen, eating with the sourest expression Jihoon has seen on his face yet. Probably had his work interrupted and was pulled out of his room for lunch, Jihoon guesses.

Taehyung and Namjoon comes up to say hi to Jisoo, Taehyung more bounding along excitedly than walking, a direct opposite to Namjoon’s confident stride. Jimin stays seated, next to Yoongi, while Seokjin continues stirring the pot cooking away on the stove.

“Jisoo! Welcome back!” Taehyung greets happily, reaching out for a hug. “Hey Taetae,” Jisoo greets serenely, hugging the affectionate man back. Namjoon clasps his shoulder, bringing him in for a one-armed hug. “Good to have you back.”

Jisoo hugs the older man back, replying honestly, “It’s good to be back.” Namjoon opens his mouth, about to say more, but Taehyung interrupts by pulling Jisoo over to introduce him to Jimin and Seokjin, who came to the manor in the three years they were gone.

Jisoo nods a greeting to Yoongi as he is dragged past the hoodie-clad man, who grunts in reply. “Jiminnie, Seokjin-hyung! This is Hong Jisoo, or Joshua! He’s the Tiger zodiac bearer!” Taehyung introduces excitedly.

Jisoo bows, greeting them. “It’s nice to meet you both, Jimin-ssi, Seokjin-ssi.”

Seokjin smiles warmly, as does Jimin. “Just call me hyung, Jisoo-ssi,” Seokjin says, to which Jimin chimes in. “Yeah, you can drop the formalities. We’re the same age after all.” The pink-haired man thinks for a second, before mentioning cheekily, “Though if you want to call me hyung I wouldn’t object.”

“Alright, Seokjin-hyung, Jimin-ah. You guys can drop the formalities with me as well,” Jisoo laughs. “Now, have you had lunch? It was a pretty long drive from Seoul, correct?” Seokjin changes the topic quickly, ushering both him and Jihoon to the table.

The oldest in the room shoos Yoongi away as the man passes him to place his empty bowl in the sink. Namjoon, Taehyung, and Jimin sit down to continue eating as the resident handyman of the manor leaves the kitchen with nary a word to anybody.

“Ah, it’s fine, really. I had some snacks on the way here,” Jisoo says, even as he takes a seat as far away from Jonghyun and Minki, at the other end of the table. Jihoon sits himself down quietly next to him, avoiding making eye contact with either.

“I insist,” Seokjin says firmly, preparing two plates of food. “You too, Jihoon. I haven’t seen you come down to eat, even for breakfast.” Jihoon shrugs in reply to Jisoo’s frown, but the nursing student’s lecture is interrupted by Seokjin placing the plates in front of them.

Jisoo shelves the lecture about taking care of himself for later on, choosing to eat instead, and Jihoon takes the reprieve for what it is, starting to eat as well. Once they begin, Seokjin sits down with his own plate, humming happily as he savours his own creations.

Silence reigns in the kitchen as Jisoo and Jihoon focus on finishing their food, dead-set on ignoring the icy glares from Minki and Jonghyun’s steadfast silence. Thus, it comes as no surprise when Jisoo startles a little when Namjoon speaks.

“Sorry, what did you say?” Jisoo asks, and Namjoon obliges, repeating his question. “What have you been up to these few years?”

“Oh,” Jisoo smiles, choosing not to comment on the way Minki and Jonghyun subtly straighten up in their seats to pay more attention to the conversation occurring at the end of the table. “I’ve been completing my nursing degree in one of the universities in Seoul,” he explains, thinking back to the endless number of hours spent studying and suffering.

“Actually, I was thinking of asking Yoongi-hyung to help me build a frame for my certification,” the man makes to turn to face Yoongi before pausing, remembering that the older man had already left the kitchen.

“I’m sure he’ll agree,” Namjoon replies, grinning. Jisoo makes a point of ignoring the snickering coming from the other end of the table at his mistake, choosing to focus on Namjoon, who is still speaking.

“Congrats on finally getting your degree, Jisoo-ah. Nursing isn’t an easy field to get a degree in.” Jisoo thanks him gladly, before letting the conversation end, and focusing on finishing his food.

He notices Jihoon slowing down the pace of his eating, paying attention to the conversation starting up again where Jonghyun and Minki are seated. He follows suit, matching the pace of the younger man next to him.

Jihoon nudges his arm silently, to which Jisoo tilts his head in reply, looking at Jihoon out from the corner of his eyes. Jihoon crooks an eyebrow and glances quickly to the other end of the room, asking whether he intends to talk to either of the men in that corner of the table.

Jisoo shakes his head in reply, holding in an unflattering snort. He finishes off his food soon after their conversation, with Jihoon following him immediately after. The two of them stand simultaneously to place their plates and utensils into the sink.

Once they’re done with that, the once-Ox bearer nudges the elder out the door when he moves habitually to wash the plates. At Jisoo’s enquiring glance, he explains as they walk out of the kitchen. “Seokjin-hyung would have scolded you if he’d caught you trying to wash the dishes, and chased you out to rest.”

The mild-mannered man nods his understanding and remarks offhandedly, “The tension was particularly thick in one section of the kitchen,” to which Jihoon sighs. “I’m just glad Minki-hyung didn’t bother to talk to you directly.”

Jisoo chuckles softly, patting the shorter man on the back. “Just hold on for another two more days. Jeonghan will be here then.”

“Thank fucking god for that. Now come on, I’ll show you how to open all the rooms I’ve found already. Later on, if we aren’t interrupted by Minki-hyung, I’ll introduce you to Aron-hyung and Dongho-hyung,” Jihoon changes the topic, leading the brunette to the music room where he’d found the first hidden room.

Showing Jisoo the protrusion at the back of the shelf he’d taken the notebook from, Jihoon remembers to lock the door before he asks his hyung to push the panel into the shelf. Jisoo watches in fascination as the wall containing the fireplace and mantel shifts. “That leads to the studio?”

Jihoon nods, smiling at the once-Tiger bearer’s amazement. “I’m usually in there when everyone has gone to bed, so that there’s less chance of any of the others finding out and I don’t have to worry so much about getting caught,” he explains, gesturing for Jisoo to enter the newly revealed stairwell.

Letting the door slide close behind them, Jihoon gives him a quick tour of the studio, refraining from rambling and gushing about the room too much. Jisoo beams when he spots the brand new guitars hanging on the wall, bringing one down to lightly strum the strings.

Jihoon moves to the computer set-up, showing him the song guides he’s made so far. “I’ve been consulting Dongho-hyung, Namjoon-hyung, and Yoongi-hyung for some of these, but coming back here really has helping me in my music production levels,” Jihoon tells him, playing one for him.

Jisoo frowns, playing close attention to the instrumental track littered with Jihoon’s light, airy vocals. “It sounds so sad,” is what Jisoo plans on saying, but decides not to say a word. ‘Of course it would sound sad,’ Jisoo thinks wryly to himself, watching Jihoon focus on the track to tease out any imperfections, ‘his muse isn’t here to watch him be a music genius.’

When the track ends, Jihoon scribbles some notes for himself on a nearby notepad and turns to the older man after he’s done, smiling. “Shall we move on? I’ll show you the movie theatre in the recreation room.”

Jisoo returns the smiles and follows the smaller out of the room, after placing the guitar back in its rightful place on the wall rack. Jihoon pulls the lever for them to exit when they reach the bottom of the stairwell, and make sure everything in the music room is put back to rights.

Turning off the lights and opening the door, they make their way to the recreation room, chatting lightly as they go. 

Seungcheol settles into life at the manor pretty easily, sending emails to his brother and calling his parents in his free time. He’s been trying to get his brother to teach his parents how to use online video calls, so that they can have a semblance of talking face-to-face instead of just through the phone.

He knows it’s not easy for his parents to travel all the way to his town just to see him, so he does his best to alleviate their burdens when possible because they can’t travel.

In the daytime, he learns more about the day-to-day workings of the manor from the various people that Jungsu had introduced to him. Other times, Jungsu brings him around town, where he is introduced to the friendly townspeople.

There, he learns the second function of the barrier, apart from it being the borders of their little gilded cage. Jungsu points out a car approaching town first, telling him to watch as the car slows down, before making a U-turn and driving away soon after.

“It keeps out any person bearing ill will on any of the residents in town, including the animals,” the older man tells him, “Only the zodiac bearers are exempt, given that they are essentially the Cat bearer’s responsibility. Any dissent amongst the zodiac bearers has to be settled by the Cat bearer.”

Seungcheol nods his understanding, watching the car disappear into the distance from where they stand at the edge of the border. “It isn’t easy,” Jungsu continues talking as they walk back to town, “especially when there are several hot-headed people in the zodiac bearers.”

Seungcheol watches as his mentor smiles at nothing in particular, even as he guides them to one of the closer parks in town. His voice takes on the particular tone that it gets when he’s talking about the other zodiac bearers. “But in the end, it’s always worth it.”

They walk through the park for a while, enjoying the rustling of the leaves in the wind and the faint shrieks of laughter from the children playing. “Where are all of them now?” Seungcheol asks after a moment of silence.

Jungsu sighs. “They’re all out hunting down their own successors, Seungcheol-ah. They’re going to bring your family home.” Seungcheol falls silent again, pondering. “What if they don’t like me? They aren’t pre-dispositioned to like me when they come. They aren’t given a choice either, aren’t they?”

The old man turns to look at his protégé, gesturing for him to sit on a nearby bench, cats winding around their legs and trailing them as they make themselves comfortable. A few jump up on the bench to make themselves comfortable on the Cat bearers’ laps and against their sides.

The tawny cat that was once Jungsu’s mentor lounges on his lap, purring like a motor as the old man pets it. Another nudges at Seungcheol’s hand, requesting to be petted, and he obliges, smiling down at the cat. Their purrs fill the silence comfortably, and it’s a while before Jungsu speaks again.

“I’ll be honest with you, kid. It depends on what their parents have brought them up to believe. It’s hard to convince someone that you’re not an evil person when that’s the only thing they’ve been taught about you all their lives.”

Jungsu ruffles Seungcheol’s hair, earning him a disgruntled look and a grumpy huff not unlike a cat himself, continuing, “However, when they open up, they’ll be the best family you can ever wish for. Even though none of us have any idea what it is that decides whether we’re a zodiac bearer or not, they are chosen because one way or another, they are the most suited to make you happy.”

Seungcheol peers up at Jungsu as a thought occurs to him. “How did you know that I was going to be your successor, anyway?” The old man shrugs. “I just… felt a pull in my chest… If I were heading in the wrong direction, I’d feel a tug in the correct direction right here.”

He places a palm against his sternum, feeling himself breathe. “I would have thought it would come from the heart,” Seungcheol mentions, frowning in confusion.

Jungsu laughs, petting the cat in his lap. “I thought so too, when I asked my mentor the very same thing. But when the time came, I knew the feeling definitely did not originate from my heart.”

The teenager hums his understanding, returning his attention to watching his surroundings absentmindedly, petting the cats around him all the while.

“Seungcheol-ah,” Jungsu calls him softly after a few minutes. “When we left your hometown, you didn’t get to finish your schooling, did you?” Seungcheol shakes his head, giggling as two cats jump up onto the bench to compete for his attention with the dozing cat on his lap.

“Alright then. I’ll enrol you in the local school so you can finish up your schooling. You’ll probably have to take some placement tests, first,” Jungsu decides, laughing softly at the cats’ antics. At the mention of having to go to school, Seungcheol pouts, and cries out mournfully. “I thought I’d be free of school!” he wails, causing his mentor to laugh again.

“Nope, no chance of that. Education is important, kiddo. Once you get your high school certificate, I’ll teach you how to enrol into a cyber university,” Jungsu tells him, and Seungcheol starts sobbing dramatically.

At his antics, the cats previously fighting for his attention jump off the bench, startled. Upon seeing Seungcheol’s apologetic face as he tries to coax the cats back, Jungsu can’t help but laugh again.

Jisoo stares at the four tiny switches arranged in the shape of a square on the floor, watching as Jihoon places a chair on top of them, the four chair legs fitting the dimensions of the switches perfectly.

The shorter man drops a book onto the chair, guiding Jisoo up the staircase and into the movie theatre. For a few minutes there is nothing but the sound of them sneezing.

“Fuck, I haven’t aired this room out yet,” Jihoon says a little nasally, and Jisoo nods his understanding, eyes watering. They don’t stay long in the room, shifting the chair back to its original location and watching as the hidden door disappears.

“That’s all I’ve found so far. I’ve been spending the days searching the rooms for any possible hidden switches or panels, and the nights focusing on my music,” Jihoon informs Jisoo.

“Great job thus far, Jihoon-ah. From what I’ve seen they can’t be easy to find. Hopefully with another pair of eyes and a fresh mind it’ll be easier.”

Jisoo’s compliment did much to soothe Jihoon’s stressed mind, reminding him that he was no longer alone in the manor, beset by two different parties that he had no idea how to interact with. “Thanks, hyung. Jeonghan-hyung is on the way, isn’t he?”

Jihoon’s question reminds the older to check his phone, scrolling through his messages. “Not just yet. He’s trying to rush, but his company just closed on a deal and he needs to deal with the paperwork before he can leave,” the Tiger bearer chuckles at the volley of complaints his boyfriend has left him on their private chat.

“Alright then. Shall we take the time to look around then? We have a few hours before dinner to search the manor,” Jihoon suggests, to which Jisoo agrees. “You can introduce me to Dongho-ssi and Aron-ssi,” he mentions.

Jihoon shakes his head, telling him, “That’ll have to be tonight. The five of them are probably out somewhere right now.” Leaving the recreation room, the two of them set off into the room next door, hoping to find something.

The two days pass quickly, Jisoo getting into the habit of accompanying Jihoon in the studio at night so that he can chase him to bed at a relatively early time to ensure that he gets enough sleep. He is also introduced to Dongho and Aron, whose introductions to Jisoo are a lot friendlier with Minki not present.

In the meantime, their interactions with the others living in the manor do not stray from the status quo. If anything, Jisoo’s presence causes Minki to keep his comments to himself, as if preparing himself for the upcoming battles that his arrival at the manor heralds.

Jeonghan arrives with little fanfare, Jihoon and Jisoo greeting him as the gates close behind him and his luggage. “Jeonghan-hyung,” is all Jihoon gets out before the older man is dragging him and Jisoo into a hug.

“Jeonghan-ah,” his boyfriend laughs into his shoulder, “you dyed your hair!” and is rewarded with a brilliant smile. Grabbing his luggage, the now blonde Jeonghan interlocks his fingers with Jisoo and grins at Jihoon.

“I did! Since I took leave for the next few weeks, I decided to take the time to get it done, since I’ve been thinking about doing it for a while,” he explains as the trio make their way up the driveway.

As they enter the manor, Jeonghan notes the empty manor, and opens his mouth to say something about it, but as Jihoon is distracted with carrying his luggage in for him, Jisoo squeezes his hand, shaking his head slightly.

He nods in reply, before asking, “What do you think, Jihoon-ah? Does hyung look good?” Jihoon smiles as he pulls the luggage over, commenting, “The colour suits you, hyung.” Jeonghan grins and pats him on the shoulder, praising him. “Such a good dongsaeng.”

They reach Jeonghan’s room in no time, the three of them filing in. Jihoon helps to place his hyung’s luggage down in an empty corner where he’ll be able to open it easily to retrieve his things, while Jisoo gets himself comfortable on the bed.

Jihoon joins the Tiger bearer after he’s done, both of them watching as Jeonghan gets settled in and washes up. “You came just in time for breakfast, hyung. Everybody will be in the kitchen,” Jihoon calls out as Jeonghan disappears into the attached bathroom.

“Minki’s definitely going to be going all out,” Jisoo comments, “he hasn’t said anything to us since we reminded them that you were on your way two days ago.”

“Well, I’m ready for him. What have they been doing since you got here, Jihoon-ah?” Jeonghan emerges from the bathroom in loose, comfortable clothes, folding his dirty clothes and placing them in the laundry basket by the bathroom door.

“Jonghyun-hyung’s group of five have been heading out daily, but to do what I’m not sure. Namjoon-hyung and his group have been working around the manor ensuring the upkeep of the whole place. Jisung-hyung I see rarely, as I’ve heard he’s been busy in town now that Seokjin-hyung is here to take over his duties in the kitchen,” Jihoon informs his hyung.

“If I have to say, Namjoon’s side has been neutral to the little battle of wills we’ve had going on. I’m not saying that we can trust them just yet, but they’ve been welcoming to us thus far. Jonghyun and Aron-hyung hasn’t said much to us, and Dongho has been talking to Jihoon more about his jobs.

Minhyun is cordial to us as well, but whenever Minki opens his mouth to speak, the tension noticeably increases,” Jisoo tells his boyfriend, who nods in understanding.

“They’re probably leaving it to Minki to try and figure out what we’re doing back here after not turning up for three years,” he says, to which they nod.

“As to the reason why they’re going out daily, maybe they’re trying to figure out any clues as to what happened to Cheol. I’m not sure what they’ve found out in three years, but still, they have to have found some information.”

Jeonghan transfers his neatly folded clothes from his luggage to the closet as he speaks, back to the two men lounging on his bed.

“Again, until they’re less confrontational and more willing to trust us, we’ll just not say anything about what we’ve been doing to them, alright? I’m pretty sure they believe we did something to make Seungcheol disappear, hence the mistrustful behaviour,” Jeonghan zips up his now empty luggage, turning to face the two men.

“Now then, shall we go and face the firing squad?” he jokes, and Jihoon snorts ungracefully. “No need to make it sound like we’re going on a suicide mission, hyung.” Jisoo laughs. “It’s definitely a suicide mission. We’re willingly walking into the lion’s den, Jihoonie.”

“It’s not a suicide mission if we go adequately prepared to kill the fucking lion. If not kill, then at least prepared to make it treat us with some respect,” Jihoon says smartly, to which his hyungs laugh.

As was the case with Jisoo’s arrival, the kitchen goes quiet when the three of them walk in. Jonghyun and his group are noticeably absent. “Jeonghannie!” Taehyung shouts, delighted. “You dyed your hair! It looks amazing!”

The aforementioned man laughs, opening his arms for the hug he knows is coming. “Hi, Taehyungie. Yes, I did, and thank you for saying that.”

“Good to see you here, Jeonghan-ah,” Namjoon walks up to them, and Jeonghan smiles at him as well, “It’s good to be back too, Namjoon-hyung.” Taehyung releases him from the hug, but remains by his side with an arm slung over his shoulders.

“Yoongi-hyung,” he greets as well, and the man nods in reply from where he’s seated. Seokjin and Jimin come up to them when Namjoon gestures for them to do so, and Jeonghan smiles at the two strangers.

“This is Seokjin-hyung and Jimin,” Namjoon tells Jeonghan, who bows to the two men slightly in reply. “Seokjin-hyung, Jimin, this is Jeonghan, the Rat bearer.”

“It’s nice to meet the both of you,” the blonde says. Seokjin smiles at the man he knows to be Jisoo’s boyfriend, and tells him, “I’ll tell you the same thing I told your boyfriend when he came: there’s no need to stand on formalities with us. Just call me hyung.” Jeonghan smiles, pleased, before he turns to Jimin.

“Just call me Jimin! We’re the same age, after all!” the shorter man beams, eyes crinkling up. Jeonghan laughs in reply, nodding. “That, I definitely can do.”

At that moment, Jonghyun walks into the kitchen, pausing minutely at the sight of Jeonghan, before nodding to him wordlessly and continuing to the far end of the kitchen table, where he sits down with little fanfare.

Minhyun follows suit with nary a word, Dongho and Aron taking the time to give Jeonghan their names before joining the couple. Jihoon tenses pre-emptively, as Namjoon, Taehyung, Seokjin and Jimin return to whatever they were doing before quietly, not wanting to interfere with the storm they know is coming.

Minki enters the kitchen with a slight smile that fades immediately upon the sight of Jeonghan. “Ah, and another one finally joins the party,” he sighs, moving slowly to the other end of the table and taking a seat casually, pausing for effect. “…three years late.”

Jeonghan’s eyes turn to flint, and his smile is icy. “Better late than not finding anything for the same amount of time,” he replies, and Minki’s expression turns to stone. The two stare at each other, daring the other to make another comment, before mutually deciding to ignore the other.

The meal is tense and filled with uncomfortable silence, and Jihoon has never eaten so fast since his arrival at the manor. He fiddles with his phone as he waits for his hyungs to finish eating so he can make an escape quickly, texting the group chat.

To: three years is up!!

say moo: oh god get me out of here its so fucking tense

say moo: jeonghan-hyung and minki-hyung are staging world war three

i love bananas: what i would give to be a fly on a wall there rn

say moo: you can take my place, I don’t want it

hiss hiss mf: oh man i can imagine what its like

hiss hiss mf: jeonghan-hyung and minki-hyung: best friends when they’re happy with each other

hiss hiss mf: but also the bitchiest of the bitches when they’re mad at each other

hiss hiss mf: wait whos heading down next

i hate carrots: me, I guess. I’ve been settling things over here. I’ll be able to head down in about four days or so?

size is irrelevant: good luck to you, wonwoo-hyung LMAO next one to face the ice wall that is choi minki

Jihoon looks up from his phone when Jisoo nudges him subtly. Eyeing Jeonghan from out of the corner of his eye as he finishes up his food, they quickly clear their utensils and plates, walking out of the kitchen. Jeonghan saunters out confidently, only dropping the act when they’re out of sight.

“Well, that went well!” Jeonghan says brightly, and Jihoon stares at him disbelievingly. “It could have gone worse,” Jisoo points out, and Jihoon switches targets to stare at him instead, “but it was very awkward.” Jihoon nods in agreement to Jisoo’s amendment.

“It’s over now, at least. Now come on, show me all the rooms you’ve found so far,” Jeonghan orders, and Jihoon sighs, nodding and leading the way to the music room, ready to begin the tour all over again.

Seungcheol is pleasantly surprised when he realises that he is able to do the placement tests with relative ease, and is placed in the better class. The school population is as small as it was in Seungcheol’s hometown. However, here everybody treats him like normal in spite of, and maybe because of, his title as the next Cat bearer.

He is pleased to find Taehyung and Minhyun in his classes as well, not surprised that the other boys are smart. As it turns out, the only reason why Taehyung, Namjoon, and the others had been at home when Seungcheol has arrived was because they had received special permission to be there to welcome him.

Other than that, they have been attending school in the mornings and afternoons, and spending time at the manor in the evenings and nights. Seungcheol learns that Taehyung, Namjoon, Yoongi, Minhyun, and Jisung’s parents all live in town, while they themselves spend alternate nights at the manor and their own homes.

In this town, it is seen as a privilege to be able to work at the manor, Taehyung tells him as they walk through the hallways to get to their next class. They have to be chosen by the previous generation after going through a series of tests that is compulsory for everyone when the time comes.

With Taehyung and Minhyun’s help, he catches up to the rest of his classes with ease, turning to Namjoon for extra help if he ever needs it. Namjoon is only a year ahead of them, while Yoongi is two years ahead. Jisung, who is a full four years ahead of them, isn’t very close to Seungcheol, though they get along when they are together.

As time passes, he realises that the people who live in the manor also hold important roles to the running of the town. Yunho, as the butler of the house, is not only responsible for the upkeep of the house, but also listens to any issues the townspeople might have on his daily trips to the town centre.

He then brings these issues up to Jungsu, and from there they discuss how they could help solve their problems. With the near unlimited budget that Zodiac Manor receives from the government, they normally use the money to help the residents in town if necessary.

Therefore, in a sense, the Cat bearer is essentially the mayor of the town, with the rest of the residents in the manor their council. The responsibility that Seungcheol would eventually inherit is enormous, and he makes up his mind to work hard on his studies so as to not disappoint everybody.

School gives Seungcheol a way to track the days that pass, and settles into a routine easily. In the mornings, he heads to school with the others, and in the afternoons returns with them. They get whatever homework that was assigned to them done as soon as possible, and then play a few video or board games.

In the evenings, they follow after their respective mentors, and learn via observation as they go about their own daily routine, and therefore familiarise themselves with what they would have to do in the future.

When night falls they gather in the kitchen for dinner together, and after the meal Seungcheol retreats to the library to read. He’s just started on a new fantasy book that is heavy and thick in his lap, and he curls up comfortably in one of the wall alcoves, immersing himself into an utterly unfamiliar world.

As he gets ready for bed, he writes an email to his parents, then a separate one to his brother, who he wishes he could see grow up every day. Instead, he satisfies himself with photos traded with each other, so he can still see how his family has changed throughout the days.

Still, he hopes that they’ll finally listen to him and get a smartphone, like the one he currently has, so that he’ll be able to talk to his family face-to-face, despite being it through a screen.

The days slowly trickle past Seungcheol, and he learns more about the curse from Jungsu. He remembers the first time Jungsu changes after Seungcheol’s arrival to the manor the month after he arrives, with Yunho is there to ensure that he doesn’t collapse from the shock or anything serious.

The zodiac bearers change on the first day of their respective months, Yunho educates him, even as Jungsu emerges from the collapsed pile of clothes that he had been wearing and shakes out his fur before approaching Seungcheol. Seven full days later, they change back to human, and there is a day’s grace before the Cat bearer changes.

Unlike the zodiac bearers, the Cat bearer remains in their animal form until the start of the last week of the month, upon which he returns back to human. “The curse had seemingly been put on hold when Jungsu-hyung actively started searching for you,” Yunho tells him, even as Jungsu bounds off to interact with the cats around the manor, after receiving a few pets on the head.

“For everyone involved in the curse, it seems that they don’t change when they find their successors. As you can see, when their successor has settled in, that is when they change. In animal form, all of you will retain your human minds.

“So you’ll be able to think normally, but you won’t be able to talk, of course.” Seungcheol observes Jungsu’s interactions with the other cats quietly, nodding as he listens. Seven days before the month of September begins, Seungcheol watches with fascination as Jungsu changes back to human, getting dressed quickly.

“If only we were able to not lose our clothes every time we change,” Jungsu laments playfully as he watches Seungcheol avert his eyes quickly as he puts his clothes back on. He’d changed back in his room, and Seungcheol is seated on his bed, cross-legged.

“Now, I have to mention something I haven’t told you before, Seungcheol-ah,” Jungsu settles down on the bed, back to the headboard. Seungcheol turns his body so that he’s facing the older man, and makes a noise to show that he’s listening.

“When you turn eighteen, the other zodiac bearers will start arriving. Since your birthday is in August, the September zodiac will arrive first, which means that the Monkey zodiac bearer is the first one you’ll meet,” Jungsu announces.

Seungcheol immediately starts paying more attention to the conversation, noticing that Jungsu looks hesitant. “I… won’t be there to help you receive them when they come, Seungcheol-ah,” the old man tells him softly. The boy he’s addressing frowns, asking, “Why?”

“The day after you turn eighteen… is the day I change for the last time.” The statement is loud in the silence of the room, as Seungcheol realises the implications of his words.

“You can’t leave me!” he flinches at the child-like words that emerges from his own mouth, but stares at Jungsu defiantly, as if he can keep Jungsu with him with his words alone. Jungsu smiles with a tinge of sadness, and opens his arms for Seungcheol to crawl into, giving him a big hug as the boy settles between his legs.

“I wish I could stay,” Jungsu whispers, and Seungcheol clings to him harder. “I’ll still be here, you know that.”

“But you won’t be you anymore,” Seungcheol says petulantly into Jungsu’s shoulder. “I’ll always remember you, just like my mentor remembers me still. Maybe I won’t remember the reason why, but I’ll still remember you,” Jungsu tries to pacify the upset teen.

All Seungcheol does is shake his head, keeping his head buried in the crook of Jungsu’s neck. They stay like that for long moments, unwilling to relinquish their hold on each other. For all intents and purposes, Seungcheol will lose his family come the day he turns eighteen. They’re allowed this.

After long moments of silence, Jungsu speaks again. “You’ll have to take care of the Zodiac bearers. They’ll have less time to acclimatise themselves to their new roles than you had, so you have to make sure they’re comfortable here.”

Seungcheol nods, listening without moving. “You won’t know how long they’ll be willing to stay. Some stay for the whole month, while others stay for only the week where they have to change. Just make sure to always treat them with kindness and an open heart, regardless of how they may act towards you.

“Some of them may be mean to you and avoid you. In that case, just let them be and they’ll approach you in their own time eventually. I won’t be there to give you advice anymore, so just go to Yunho for help if you need anything, okay? He’s been there for me plenty of times.”

Seungcheol nods again, tearing up a little. Jungsu kisses his temple when he feels wetness against his shoulder. “That day is still far off, kid. We have time.” The older man clutches the teen, who is for all intents and purposes, a son, if not a younger brother, to him, closing his eyes.

“We have time.”

A few days after that revelation, Seungcheol turns seventeen, and the party is large. He holds a public party and invites his classmates, issuing an open invitation to the townspeople.

That year, Seungcheol receives more presents than he has ever gotten, and when the party is over they head back home to the manor for a more quiet and private celebration. As it turns out, Jungsu had couriered over his presents from his family, and Seungcheol tears up at the sight and smell of his mom’s home-cooked food.

His brother has made a card for him, and his dad has sent him books that he’d mentioned wanting to read in their last conversation. Little gifts, but all the more meaningful for who had given them to him.

When the celebrations are over, he returns to his room, hands laden with all his gifts. He places everything on his bed to sort through them slowly, but before he does so, his phone rings, and frowns when he sees an incoming video call from an unknown number.

He turns off his own phone camera, before accepting the call, and is delightfully surprised when his family’s faces fill the screen. “Hello?” his father says, peering into the phone his brother is clearly holding. Seungcheol scrambles to turn the phone camera back on, directing it at himself.

“Appa! Eomma! Seunghyun!” he exclaims, grin splitting his face. “You finally got a smartphone!”

“Seungcheol-ah,” his father’s voice is warm and fond, and his mother is tearing up. His brother is grinning an identical grin back at him, and for a moment all Seungcheol can do is laugh delightedly. “A package for us came today, with this phone in it and a note,” Seunghyun explained.

“We were told to call later at night so that we could have more time to talk without being interrupted,” his mother told him. “What did the note say?” Seungcheol asked curiously.

“Nothing much, really. It just mentioned that they wanted you to have the best birthday. It came from a… Jung Yunho?” his brother read out from the note, and Seungcheol grinned again. He’d have to give Yunho an extra big hug the next morning in thanks.

“He’s the manor’s butler, and he’s one of the people that have been taking care of me since I came here,” Seungcheol explains, and his family makes a collective sound of understanding, so utterly familiar to him.

“I’ve missed you guys,” Seungcheol says, blinking away the tears trying to form. “We’ve missed you too,” his mother says lovingly. “Anyway, tell me how you’ve been! How’s school, Seunghyun-ah?” Seungcheol settles in comfortably, back against the bed headboard, prepared to catch up with his family.

8 August 2011, Monday

Today was my birthday, and I got to talk to my family via video call and eat eomma’s home-cooked food. I think I’ve missed seeing their faces real time the most. Nothing beats talking face-to-face.

I really have to think of a good way to thank Yunho-samcheon for the amazing present. I was wondering why he’d told me to wait until later tonight for my present from him.

I’m going to miss talking to the samcheons the most, I think. When harabeoji is gone, they’ll all eventually pass their duties on to Namjoon-hyung and the others. I wonder where they’ll go then. Will I still be able to visit them? I’ll have to ask harabeoji and Yunho-samcheon tomorrow.

[chapter three end]

four

[seventeendiary]

I Smell You

Soulmate!AU with Wonwoo; in which you can smell the things your soulmate is smelling starting at day 100. With just a few hours to go, Wonwoo is about to meet his.

Wonwoo breathes in through his nose slow and long on his bed while his eyes are still closed. His hands grip tighter onto the blanket lying over him, and pulls it closer against his chest, then he breathes out a long and quiet one. A light smile forms on his face.

Since the 100-day countdown appeared on his wrist, Wonwoo started to smell things out of nowhere. He wasn’t freaked out by it, but he knew it must have something to do with his soulmate. He told his roommates (Soonyoung, Mingyu and Seokmin) about it after a few days of getting hit by the scents and smells at random times.

“You can smell whatever your soulmate is smelling and vise versa.” Mingyu finally broke it out to the clueless Wonwoo, after the “smartass” Soonyoung had been fooling around with the poor kid too much.

“What?” Wonwoo thought Mingyu was crazy as he laughed.

“But once you meet that person, the smelling telepathy goes away, and you can’t smell what your soulmate is smelling anymore.” Suddenly thinking Wonwoo’s the dumb one, Mingyu asked, “Weren’t you listening when we talked about this last time?”

“He didn’t listen because he was too busy getting his paper done.” Seokmin laughed, remembering that Wonwoo had written his paper an hour before it was due. He had been lucky enough to get a good score on it too. Wonwoo frowned with his lower lips sticking out and glared at the three, wishing they would just tell him more or everything about this ‘I smell, soulmate smell’ thing.

Soon, Wonwoo started to keep track of when a certain smell would come to him during the day, like sometimes the smell of fried chicken when he’s eating something totally different with his roommates during dinner time, or sometimes the scent of flowers when he’s studying in his room usually in the evening, or the coconut scent every night. This one though (including the coconut scent), he didn’t need to write down: the savoring pizza smell every Friday at midnight; to be exact, 11:30pm.

To his conclusion, Wonwoo assumed you loved pizza and your bathroom washing items must be filled with coconut scents. He assumed you like flowers, though he couldn’t tell what kind you like. Then, he started to wonder how you would look like. He was surprised that he didn’t think of that before. It had been only a week ago when he finally did, but he realized, he didn’t need to because there was nothing that could stop you from being his soulmate.

On the other hand, there was this smell that he loves so much when he wakes up everyday to it: the aroma of coffee. It’s a fact that he doesn’t drink coffee, nor do his roommates (well, besides Mingyu but he doesn’t drink it every day unlike his girlfriend), but it does make him feel warm and much more cozy than the blanket that covers him from night until morning.

“Do you smell that?” Wonwoo asks, still with his eyes closed after hearing someone coming out of the bathroom and opening the closet.

“It’s her.” Soonyoung turns around from the mirror to look over at his lazy friend who is still in bed, before he sees Wonwoo’s smile turning into a big grin. “You must be crazy.” Soonyoung shakes his head then he turns back around, trying out an outfit for the day.

Ignoring his roommate’s words, Wonwoo gets up and stretches his arms in the air then letting out a soft moan. He puts his arms down, looking a bit dazed before he looks at his wrist. “6 hours, 42 minutes and 7 seconds.”

Wonwoo seems to be in a good mood as he hop off the bed and makes his way to the bathroom. Soonyoung glares at him, feeling a bit jealous. When the bathroom door closes, he frowns. Soonyoung looks at his no-countdown-yet wrist, “When will I get to meet my soulmate?”

Wonwoo is walking he smells the flowers in his hand. His lips widen with his eyes closed. Do you smell that? Wonwoo then looks at his wrist to see the countdown ending soon in just a few seconds before he continues his way through the sidewalk.

You, on the other hand, are taking a short break from working. You sit on an empty table outside of the cafe and set your refreshing cold drink down after taking a sip from it. You look around when you start to smell flowers. It’s quite odd to you since there’s no flower planted in the cafe garden. You stop and sigh softly from exhaustion then you fix your hair under the cool shade. You almost gasp when you see and remember about the countdown on your wrist. You look at your boss through the cafe window and wonder if you should tell him beforehand about wanting to leave, but you stand up quickly and make your way out of the place.

Without watching where you are going, you bump into a person and fall onto the floor.

“Oh, are you okay?”

You notice that the countdown on your wrist disappeared then you look up at the voice that is calling for you. Wonwoo blooms in your eyes as he repeats the question.

“A-Are you okay?” Wonwoo stutters while a shy smile forms, making it hard for him to ask.

You stand up slowly and shyly apologize. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“It’s okay.” Wonwoo slightly scratches the back of his head and looks back at you. He tip-toes a bit. “It must be you.” He giggles sheeply, “I’m Wonwoo, and these are for you.”

You slowly reach for the flowers in his hand and the touch shocks you, making you sweat a bit. You introduce yourself to him then slowly again, you look up at him. He is still smiling at you then he asks, “So… Where should we start?”

[jihoon]

title: from now on (look at me)

pairing: jisoo/jeonghan

“It’s 11:46PM. Jeonghan’s birthday is almost over, and he’s spent the majority of the day being comforted and fawned over by people that he barely knows. He’s been given more presents than he knows what to do with, and received more ‘happy birthdays’ than he has in his entire lifetime thus far, but nothing has been able to lift the weight off his chest that’s been built up over the time that’s passed since the confession.” [ crossposted to AO3 ]

a/n: this is shameless birthday!fic (even though i wrote it when jeonghan’s birthday was technically finished already otl). it’s also the first time i’ve ever posted one of my fics on here, so hopefully u enjoy ehehe

__

There’s a knock at the door.

Jeonghan doesn’t know why there’s a knock at the door. He’d made sure to be the last one to use the bathroom, waiting until everyone else had finished up and gone to sleep before quietly slipping into the tiny en-suite that they shared, a wave of relief passing through him at the fact that the day’s activities were finally over.

Beauty rituals haven’t always been Jeonghan’s thing, but lately he’s found solace in utilising the time he has to himself before bed, savouring it as a welcome respite from his otherwise hectic lifestyle.

“One minute,” he shouts, loud enough for the other person to hear but quiet enough that he doesn’t wake up the whole dorm.

He gently places his face cream back on the counter, taking a moment to make sure his hair isn’t tied back too messily. The bright light above him pales his complexion; when Jeonghan concentrates, he can see the purple hue around his eyes, built up over several weeks of getting on average 3 hours’ worth of sleep.

Today was Jeonghan’s birthday, but of course, there’s no time for birthdays when you’re working in the entertainment industry.

Wiping the corners of his mouth self-consciously he pushes away from the sink, tired legs carrying him the short distance towards the exit. Before pulling back the lock he pauses, listening out for any signs of movement that could possibly give away who the mystery knocker is.

Silence.

Reluctantly, he brings up a hand, metal scraping against metal in a tell-tale scrrrk noise, and opens the door up just enough to poke his head outside.

It’s Joshua.

“Hey,” says the other boy, wide eyed as he alternates between looking at Jeonghan and glancing at a point somewhere over his shoulder.

Jeonghan stares back blankly. “Hey.”

The air around them sparks with tense silence for a moment or two, and Jeonghan shuffles to stand closer to the doorframe, grip still firm around the handle.

“…do you need to use the bathroom?”

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

Joshua takes in a deep breath, finally lowering his gaze to stare at his sock-clad feet.

It’s been a while since they’ve spoken to each other directly. The members had asked him about it a few times, discreet – did something happen between you and Joshua? You know, the fans are going to start thinking something’s up – and Jeonghan had lied to them every single time, deflecting questions with shrugs of his shoulders and murmured don’t worry about it’s and it’s under control’s.

It’s not under control – Jeonghan knows this. Has tried to fix it, but ultimately, it’s Joshua who has been the one unwilling to let things go.

“Are you going to spit it out, or what?”

Joshua visibly flinches, right hand squeezing his left forearm in an increasingly tight grip, eyes still determinedly trained on the carpet beneath him.

He doesn’t look like he’s going to say anything soon, so Jeonghan sighs, stepping back from the door in order to close it.

“Wait—“ says Joshua, and Jeonghan stops, biting on the inside of his cheek to keep from having another outburst.

A bold hand reaches out to push against the wood. Jeonghan flounders, half enraged by the audacity Joshua has to be forcing himself into the small room alongside him and half too-shocked to do anything other than slowly back up to accommodate.

When the younger is safely on the other side of the doorframe he turns, pushing the door closed with a determined ‘click’.

“I’m sorry. I have to do this.”

“What do you mean—“ Jeonghan begins to ask, but his words fizzle out somewhere in the back of his throat when Joshua’s eyes finally reach his once more, expression and demeanour hardening with renewed vigour.

“I’m sick of this,” he says, and pushes a hand through his stylised orange bangs, already messed up throughout the course of the day.

Jeonghan wants to ask, sick of what, because Jeonghan knows that he’s done all that he can and he’ll be damned if the understanding, best-friend Joshua he used to know has disappeared altogether, never to return again, but before he can say anything the other boy is pushing him against the sink, burying both hands in the sides of his hair as he presses their lips together clumsily.

The elder startles, teeth clamping down less-than-gently against Joshua’s lower lip, and he pushes against his chest, trying to put as much space between them as possible under the circumstances.

Joshua stumbles backwards, an arm coming up to protect his injured lip.

“What the fuck, Joshua?”

He replies with a groan. The fierce determination from before has been replaced with a deer in headlights expression, and Jeonghan wraps his arms around himself, wary of each movement that the other makes.

“I thought—“ struggles Joshua, “—listen—“

“No,” says Jeonghan firmly, and he’s unconsciously touching his mouth with his fingertips, warmth still disappearing from the kiss they shared just moments ago. “No,” he repeats, “what the hell,” and his eyes are beginning to sting, and everything about this situation is just wrong.

“Jeonghan,” says Joshua, meekly, as if he’s just coming back to reality from whatever planet he must have been on to think that forcing himself at Jeonghan would have solved anything.

“What did you do that for? You know—“ starts Jeonghan, before cutting himself off, the unspoken you know that I like you hanging in the air, omitted but obvious. “Just leave,” he finally splutters out. “Please.”

Joshua doesn’t move. He swallows uncomfortably, wiping at what Jeonghan soon realises to be blood coming from his lip, all the while maintaining eye contact with the other. “I’m sorry.”

The elder feels his breath catch in his throat.

Every bone in his body is urging him to move forwards, speak up, do anything to get Joshua away from him, but it’s Joshua—he’ll always be weak when it comes to Joshua.  Always give the boy more chances than he deserves, and never, ever give up on him, even when eventually he knows it’s only going to lead to pain on his part.

So Jeonghan stays, and Jeonghan listens.

It’s 11:46PM. Jeonghan’s birthday is almost over, and he’s spent the majority of the day being comforted and fawned over by people that he barely knows. He’s been given more presents than he knows what to do with, and received more ‘happy birthdays’ than he has in his entire lifetime thus far, but nothing has been able to lift the weight off his chest that’s been built up over the time that’s passed since the confession.

It was a Wednesday when Jeonghan had first cornered Joshua in the practise room. It took another day to build up the courage to put his emotions into words, and by Thursday evening, Jeonghan had experienced what it was like to have your heart crushed by someone else for the first time.

He stares at the boy in front of him, who’s looking every bit the 17 year old he was when they first met, and, for the umpteenth time this week, Jeonghan is confused.

Joshua is chewing on the inside of his cheek, and any traces of the confidence he’d shown just seconds ago had dissipated into thin air. He inhales, mouth opening and then closing again, the younger seemingly searching for the right words before he begins.

“I—“ he starts, and then seems to rethink himself. He shuffles around, readjusting his stance and inadvertently bringing himself closer to Jeonghan, who wavers, but reluctantly stands his ground. “I came to say I’m sorry. You don’t have to believe me, but – you caught me off guard. What you said, it made me think. About a lot of stuff.” Joshua inhales shakily, hands twisting together in front of him as he not-so-discreetly pauses to gauge Jeonghan’s reaction.

Against his better judgement, Jeonghan remains quiet. His mind is whirring, still struggling to allow Joshua’s words to sink in.

He wonders if it’s obvious when he reaches a hand towards the counter behind him, in an effort to ground himself, just how much he’s trembling.

Joshua inhales again, and there’s still tension, but whatever conclusion the younger has managed to draw has caused his features to soften somewhat. His lip is still bleeding, and he looks kind of ridiculous standing there, sweatpants paired with an old, washed-out Adidas polo, hair sticking up in different directions and hands still nervously pulling at each other. Jeonghan’s heart sort of melts, and he’s still mad, but more than anything he’s just exhausted.

“I guess, what I’m trying to say,” continues Joshua, “is that—I realised, afterwards, that I wouldn’t mind it? Trying, with you, that is.”

Jeonghan raises an eyebrow, and Joshua shakes his head hurriedly, struggling to right himself.

“Not that you said anything about, uh, trying anything. I just, you know, assumed—“ he cuts off, hands pausing mid-air from where they’d risen to form gestures, because, well, Jeonghan can’t help himself.  He’s giggling, shaky, awkward noises pushing their way past his lips, and it’s more out of disbelief than anything, but Joshua clearly takes it to mean something else, the corners of his mouth curling up into an entranced sort of grin.

Once Jeonghan’s impromptu laughing fit has died down, the two boys stand in silence, neither of them knowing how to continue.

“You know,” says Jeonghan after a while, steadfastly avoiding the other’s gaze. “I’m still mad.”

“I’m sorry,” says Joshua again, and Jeonghan doesn’t have to look up to know that he’s hurt, can hear it in the way that the reply comes almost within an instant, in the way that his last syllable trails off into a shaky, unsure breath.

He does, though, and the visual affirmation is enough to have him slowly moving forwards, arms opening up to beckon the other into his chest before he even knows what he’s doing, and Joshua follows suit, the pair melting into each other like clichés, Jeonghan burying his nose into the crook of Joshua’s neck and closing his eyes tight.

“So,” says Joshua, words coming out muffled against Jeonghan’s hair. “Does this mean we’re together?”

“Do you like me?” asks Jeonghan, and his response comes in the form of Joshua whacking his back lightly, neglecting to give a verbal reply. Jeonghan tries to pull back, “—no, seriously—“

“Jeonghan,” says Joshua, “shut up.” He brings an arm up to cradle Jeonghan’s face – “yes,” he breathes – and presses their lips together, gentler this time, shoulders sagging with relief when Jeonghan tentatively kisses back.

The moment only lasts for a few seconds, but both boys are reluctant to break apart, choosing instead to lean against each other and revel in the security that comes with it for a little while longer.

Eventually, though, the glaring light from overhead begins to make Jeonghan’s head hurt a little. “Alright,” he says, “that’s enough,” and steps backwards, somewhat regretful, but Jisoo’s beaming face comes into view and that’s enough to send his heart soaring, his own lips curving up into a shy smile.

It’s late, though, and Jeonghan knows that they can’t spend too much time staring into each other’s eyes, tempting though it may be.

He clears his throat, blushing slightly when he feels Joshua’s hand brush his face, pushing back a few stray strands of hair that have made their way out of his ponytail. “So, was that it? Did you need anything else?”

The younger boy purses his lips. He brings a hand up to stroke at his chin, hmm-ing and feigning a thoughtful expression as he ponders Jeonghan’s words.

Jeonghan is on the verge of reprimanding him when Joshua begins to speak, unexpectedly. “Actually, there was one more thing.”

“Huh?” says Jeonghan, resting against the countertop and blinking up at the other. “What is it?”

Joshua grins, catlike, and then takes a step towards him, slowly leaning forwards and putting an arm on either side of Jeonghan’s hips. The elder shifts and he braces himself for another kiss, but at the last second Joshua swerves to the side, head ducking down so that his lips are aligned with Jeonghan’s ear.

“Happy birthday,” says Joshua, and the breath hitting his ear causes an involuntary shiver to run down his spine.

Jeonghan bites the inside of his cheek, trying his hardest to force back the grin threatening to creep across his face.

For the first time since the day began, he agrees.

[flowerkwan]

Seventeen waking up

S.coups: Alright guys, get up. We've gotta to an interview.

Junghan: I need my beauty sleep. Go away.

S.coups: You're already pretty enough, now get up. Mingyu! Wake up!

Mingyu: Come on Hyung, I was having a good dream.

Wonwoo: *wakes up beside Mingyu* Was I in it?

Mingyu: Yeah, sure.

S.coups: Ugh... alright. Seungkwan! Wake Woozi up!

Seungkwan: Seeing I'm high quality, I'm the only one who can. *Starts to sing at the top of his lungs*

Dk: Hyung! We're out of toothpaste!

S.coups: Someone go buy some!

Vernon: Nah, I've only got a few dollars.

Seungkwan: *Still singing*

Dino: *Sitting in corner eating cereal*

Seungkwan: Mingyu hyung! Come here!

Mingyu: *Comes out of bedroom with Woozi on his back*

Joshua: Would someone PLEASE go get some toothpaste. We don't need another rebellion.

Jun: Minghao, time to wake up.

The8: *Rubs eyes* I'm still sleepy...

Junghan: *Hidden toothpaste in corner*

Dk & Hoshi: *Starts to chant Toothpaste*

S.coups: Everyone calm down!

Hoshi: This is very OTL

Vernon: I've still only got a few dollers, man!

Dino: *Still eating cereal*

Woozi: Grabs guitar* If SOMEONE doesn't get some toothpaste, someones gonna get hit.

17: *Looks at each other*

17: *Stampedes to the door*

[cheolhaos-archive]

Shh, It’s a Secret

pairing: Minkwan, Mingyu/Seungkwan | rating: g

a/n:  inspired by this and Seungkwan’s cute facial expression afterwards ;u; this is also unbeta-ed fyi! enjoy ^-^

It’s dangerous so walk on the inside

Seungkwan exhaled, fanning himself as he exited off the stage with the rest of his members. He still felt all tingly after the performance, partly from the exhilaration of being on stage, mostly because of that one part he had in the choreography with Mingyu.

One on hand he wanted to murder Soonyoung for coming up with that, but on the other, he couldn’t deny that Mingyu’s possessive hand on his waist was a really nice feeling. Seungkwan didn’t even know when the performance leader figured out his little crush; he never expressed it verbally and made sure that all contact with Mingyu didn’t arouse any suspicions. Besides the only other person who knew other than Soonyoung was Hansol, and he wouldn’t betray Seungkwan by spilling his secret.

“Seungkwannie!”

He screamed as someone tackled him from behind, lifting him up and off the ground. Thrashing around, he laughed giddily, shouting to be put down as the rest of Seventeen laughed at his predicament. Seungkwan kept giggling once he was back on the ground, looking back to see which member tackled him, and met the hypnotizing gaze of his crush.

“Hyung, why’d you do that?” he said, elbowing Mingyu’s stomach as the elder slung an arm around his shoulders. Mingyu shrugged, walking with Seungkwan back towards their waiting room.

“I felt like scaring someone and you were in front of me.” Mingyu grinned, squeezing the main vocal’s shoulder. Seungkwan made a face at the rapper, sticking his tongue out at him, running off to bother Hansol and Chan. He chuckled, waving a hand at the younger, falling in step with Soonyoung after lightly kicking the blond’s leg.

“Soonyoung hyung, I owe you one.” he smirked, watching Seungkwan laugh with the two youngest.

“Eh? You do? For what?”

“You know, for choreographing that part where I grab Kwannie possessively.”

Soonyoung let out an ‘ah’ in realization, nodding his head.

“Yeah you do, big time. Why haven’t you made a move yet? Literally everyone knows that he’s interested in you too.”

Mingyu shrugged as they entered the waiting room, not giving the elder an answer as he headed off in a different direction to change out of his stage clothes. Honestly, the only reason why he hadn’t confessed yet was because he found Seungkwan endearing in how he tried to cover up his crush on him.

“I’ll confess to him once promotions end.” Mingyu nodded to himself, shrugging off his blazer. For now, he’ll just secretly enjoy Seungkwan blushing whenever he got too close. 

[devilishhansol]

Over Your Head Pt 1

Pairing: JeongHoon (Woozi/Jeonghan)

Rating: Pt 1 - PG-13; Pt 2 - NC-17.

Prompt credit to @otpisms​. 

-Imagine your OTP have known each other through family since they were young. Person A is attending the university that Person B is a professor at, and taking all of their courses to purposely mess/flirt with them.

A/N: It is 2:30 am so i have to sleep. i will be writing and posting the next part (aka the actual smutty sexy time bits) sometime this week hopefully. no promises because classes start in two days and i might die.

This can’t be happening. This actually cannot be happening right now. There is absolutely no way in hell that the name on Jeonghan’s class roster is the name he thinks it is. Definitely not a chance that the name on his list is the same name of a certain twenty year old boy that he has literally know since said boy was in diapers. Definitely not a chance tha-

 “Oh hyung, this is your class?”

 A shiver travels down his body, head-to-toe, at the cheerful, nonchalant tone of the one and only: Lee Jihoon. Lee Jihoon, the same kid that Jeonghan babysat when he was in high school. The same kid that took his first kiss when he was a senior. The same kid that has been offering Jeonghan his virginity since he was sixteen. A kid that is getting extremely difficult to ignore and turn down.

 “Jihoon, you’re still so young, you don’t need to worry about something like that right now.” Except that was when Jihoon was sixteen and baby faced. Now he’s twenty and has grown into his features, round cheeks no longer making Jeonghan think of what a cute little brother Jihoon is, but instead of how beautiful they would look dusted red with flush in the middle of sex.

 “Jihoon, I’m not gay, you know that. I’m sure you’ll find a nice boy who is actually into boys.” Except Jihoon knows it’s a bluff now since Jeonghan was dating a guy in his senior year of college and Jihoon caught them in the act. He still remembers Jihoon telling him later that night that Jisoo was pretty, but Jihoon could make him feel a thousand times better and the thought has him blushing to this day.

 “Jihoonie, I’m twenty-six and you’re eighteen. Maybe when you’re older.” Except Jihoon is older now. He’s older and has grown into his looks so well that Jeonghan has trouble reminding himself that he has babysat Jihoon, that he has watched his mom change Jihoon’s diapers, that he was already in college when Jihoon was in middle school dealing with his first breakup and he wakes up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat with sticky boxers, the image of Jihoon beneath him with his face scrunched in ecstasy still fresh behind his eyelids.

 It does nothing to help his self-control when Jihoon purposely does things like this, either. Taking two of his classes, coming into class wearing one of Jeonghan’s old t-shirts that have stayed at Jihoon’s house for years, marking the wrong answers on tests so he has an excuse to hang around after class once the other students have left. It’s taken every single ounce of self-restraint he has in his body not to bend Jihoon over his desk and ravish him until he can’t walk on those days.

 And today is one of those days. It’s been almost two months since the first day of the semester and Jihoon has come in wearing Jeonghan’s senior sweatshirt. It’s too big for him, hanging low in the front and showing Jihoon’s collarbones, exposing the fact that he’s not wearing a shirt beneath when he leans over his desk to write down his notes. Jeonghan swallows hard, turning to face the board and taking a deep breath to calm his nerves before continuing with the lesson. It just gets worse though when his eyes catch on Jihoon once more, just barely catching the movement of Jihoon’s hand slipping down his stomach to rest on his thigh.

 Jeonghan almost chokes on his own spit when the hand goes higher, rubbing so obviously over his crotch that it’s a wonder no other students notice.

 “Seonsaengnim, are you alright?” one of his students ask. Jeonghan nods, only sparing the barest hint of a glance in Jihoon’s direction. It’s only a split second but he still manages to see the smirk on the younger’s face.

 “Yes, I’m just not feeling too well, today.” He looks to the clock on his desk, the thought of Jihoon touching himself in class just enough to send him over the edge so he calls back out: “Why don’t we all go home early today. Study hard and we’ll see each other tomorrow after I’ve rested, okay?”

 Jeonghan takes a seat at his desk as his students file out, only standing when he sees Jihoon approaching. He makes his way to the door, a few steps ahead of a smiling Jihoon.

 “Hyung,” Jihoon coos as he reaches Jeonghan. “I’ll bring you some soup later so you can get well soon, okay?”

 Any other day, Jeonghan would mutter out a ‘you don’t have to do that’ or an ‘I’ll be okay.’ Any other day, he’d ignore the wink that follows Jihoon’s words. Any other day he’d just let Jihoon walk right out of the classroom.

 But it isn’t any other day.

 Jihoon jumps as the door slams just a few inches from his face, Jeonghan reaching over to turn the lock on the knob before pushing Jihoon roughly against the wall. His eyes are so pretty as they flutter shut when Jeonghan slots their mouths together. Jihoon’s fingers tangle in his hair, pulling the professor closer as Jeonghan’s knee presses in between Jihoon’s legs and a moan slips free of the younger’s lips.

 It isn’t until Jeonghan’s lifts him up, Jihoon’s legs around his waist, and his fingers reach for the buttons of his pants that Jihoon stops him with shaky fingers curling around the elder’s wrists.

 “H-hyung.” Jihoon’s voice is small and his eyes are glossy and Jeonghan hates himself as he sets Jihoon back down, suddenly remembering every single reason why he’s never let himself do something like this. Jihoon is still young, still fragile, a kid who’s getting himself in way over his head messing with a man almost ten years older than him. And Jeonghan is the asshole that should know better but still let Jihoon get to him and ended up hurting him.

 “Jihoonie,” he says quietly, reaching out to fix the younger boy’s hair.

 “It’s fine, it’s fine. See you later, hyung.” Jihoon knocks Jeonghan’s hand away, hastily unlocking the door and leaving the classroom before Jeonghan can say anything more.

Jeonghan sighs, running a hand through his hair as he slides to the floor. Now he’s fucked it all up.

[kookiehao]

[SEVENTEEN] OT13 - the thread that binds us (2/?) - 7300 words

Title: the thread that binds us Author: kookiehao (arashianelf on LJ and AO3) Pairings: OT13!friendship, hints of jicheol Genre: Fluff, fantasy, angst Rating: G Summary: A person's life can be deeply affected by tiny little things that occur far away from them; the butterfly effect, it's called. However, sometimes it's things that occur closer to home that can change a person's life forever.

For Choi Seungcheol, it begins with this: an old man comes to visit in a small town on the outskirts of Daegu.

Notes: If you follow this on AO3 as well, the one there gets updated a lot faster than the one over here! Just an FYI :)

one | two | three | four | five

Jihoon approaches the doorway slowly, eyeing the hinges carved into the wood on either side of the doorframe, hinting at how the fireplace had disappeared. Jihoon squats to look closer at the wooden flooring, but the lines of the panel that now covers the fireplace and mantel are well-camouflaged amongst the rough lines typical of wood flooring.

He stands again, now examining the door that has been hidden behind the fireplace this whole time. Ignoring the way his phone is buzzing, he tries the door handle, which opens easily for him. The door opens with a loud creak, and Jihoon makes a mental note to get some oil for the hinges.

He takes a deep breath, coughing a little at the dust, and nudges open the door. Upon entering, he feels along the wall for the light switch, and looks up at the staircase curling its way up that is illuminated by the lights at the top landing.

Retreating from the stairwell, he grabs a random thick book from one of the shelves and places it along the doorframe in case the door shuts on him. He isn’t taking any chances at locking himself in until he examines the door and how it works. First though, he plans to explore the area the winding staircase leads up to.

He turns on the flashlight on his phone, frowning down at it with annoyance as it buzzes non-stop. He turns on silent mode, and turns his attention back to the staircase. He takes slow steps up, worried for the structural integrity of the staircase, but the wood holds his weight with nary a sound.

Aiming the light around, Jihoon observes that the walls are still made of wood, much like the rest of the house. He takes the last few steps up onto the landing, where another door waits.

Again, this door opens smoothly, and Jihoon searches for the actual light switch. Flipping the lights on, he stops in the process of turning off the flashlight and stares at the state-of-the-art producing equipment across the room.

He absently turns off the flashlight, locking his phone and slipping it into his back pocket, approaching the equipment reverently. Other than the large desktop computer screens and accompanying monitor, there’s an electric keyboard along the wall, along with an acoustic guitar in its stand.

A thin layer of dust lies over everything, and Jihoon makes a mental note to bring in some cleaning supplies as soon as possible.

Jihoon is pretty sure the computer has the best digital audio workstation downloaded without having to turn it on. He eyes the audio interface lying innocently on the table next to the one with the desktop screen, and the large studio monitors placed at the corners of the room, both on the floor and on the ceiling.

There’s two microphone stands with good quality microphones and pop filters in this room. Jihoon walks over to the door next to the whole electronic set-up and opens it, sighing in bliss at the second soundproof door and what lays behind it as he turns on the light for the next room.

There are bass traps, acoustic panels, and sound diffusers randomly scattered and built into the walls of the recording studio, meant for ensuring the most high quality recordings in the room. Jihoon walks back out of the recording studio and opens one of the cupboards along the wall, and damn near cries as he sees unopened, brand-new boxes.

Unopened, brand-new boxes of one of the latest models of MIDI controllers, the monitor isolation pads he’s always wanted… This is Jihoon’s studio dream come true, and he bounces a little, eager to set everything up.

He’s pretty sure if he looked through the other cupboards he would find other things needed for producing and recording, but he stops, putting everything back to rights and switching off the lights.

He closes the door behind him, slowly walking back down the staircase and examining the door that he had left open. Next to the door frame is a lever that is currently down, which answers his question about how to open the door when it closes behind him.

Just to test it out, he nudges the book out of the way, taking a deep breath as the door clicks shut. He hears the rumble of the fireplace moving back into place on the other side of the door, watching as the lever moves back up with a sharp click. When all is quiet again, he pulls the lever, holding his breath.

The rumbling starts again, and when it stops Jihoon tests the door, sighing in relief when it opens. Finally leaving the stairwell, he closes the door behind him, book in hand, and turns to watch the fireplace emerge from the floor.

‘Well,’ Jihoon thinks wryly to himself, ‘I know where I’m living out of for the foreseeable future.’ He places the book from where he took it from, picking up the notepad and book still lying on the piano. Walking out silently, he switches the light off, door clicking shut quietly behind him as he pads his way back to his room.

The group chat, when Jihoon deigns to check it, has exploded in the wake of his announcement. He sighs, scrolling all the way down without bothering with backchat, lounging in bed until he feels tired enough to sleep.

To: three years is up!!

say moo: i’m not even going to bother with backchat

say moo: i was busy exploring the fucking secret room in the music room okay i didn’t have time to reply anything

say moo: anyway, there’s a state of the fucking art studio behind that secret door.

say moo: it’s my new home now.

size is irrelevant: a studio? behind a secret door found in the music room?

size is irrelevant: wow i’m so surprised

say moo: shut up you ass. no wonder you were tiny when you changed.

size is irrelevant: that’s irrelevant, hyung. i’m still like, a head taller than you normally.

say moo has changed his name to jihoon

jihoon: who the fuck keeps doing that.

im THE dawg: does that mean there are other secret rooms in the house?

i hate being last: i’ve always said that the house looks bigger on the outside than it does on the inside! secret rooms would actually explain a lot. now if one of you would actually listen to me when i say things.

I’M A CHICKEN: the maknae’s suffering: an excerpt

I’M A CHICKEN: wait it’s like super late why the frick is the maknae awake

I’M A CHICKEN: actually why are we all awake

hiss hiss mf: i’m almost done with filming soon, so i’ll be able to come down after that. in the meantime, try finding more rooms? there has to be more.

hiss hiss mf: channie, go to bed.

jihoon: yeah, i’m planning to do so. come asap please. this manor is fucking big.

i’m a horse and look like one: why not ask the others in the manor to help you?

i hate being last: yeah yeah i’m going now good night hyungs

jihoon: they’re hiding shit from me. and minki-hyung nearly ripped into me, so clearly they don’t trust me.

jihoon: i’m not asking anything from them until i absolutely have to.

I hate carrots: Smart idea. I’ll be able to make my way down soon as well. Give me a few weeks to settle my book.

I hate carrots: Good night, Channie.

goatlamb: got a few more weddings to cover, before i can come down. why do people like to get married immediately after the new year?

goatlamb: rest well, chan

jihoon: fuck knows why. just come down as soon as you can.

jihoon: i’m off to get more work done.

orange is the new black: i like how casually everyone just ignored jihoon’s questioning about who changed his name again.

i’m a horse and look like one: avoidance is the key to not getting killed, jisoo-hyung. as long as no one rats us out, we’re safe.

supposed to be tiny but not: someone called me? give me a moment to read backchat

hiss hiss mf: of course he chooses to appear now.

supposed to be tiny but not: what do you mean by that, moon junhwi?

hiss hiss mf: nothing, hyung.

supposed to be tiny but not has changed jihoon’s name to say moo

orange is the new black: you’re just courting death, hannie.

supposed to be tiny but not: nay, death’s courting our missing cat. i wouldn’t court jihoonie even if my life depended on it. besides, i have you, don’t i?

orange is the new black: okay, hannie. I’ll be home late today. i have a few patients coming in a few minutes.

supposed to be tiny but not: okay~ I’ll leave the food for you in the microwave!

goatlamb: ugh, domesticity

size is irrelevant: really? you’re saying that? you??? seo myungho you’re going to break seokmin’s heart.

i’m a horse and look like one: just mine?? gyu don’t lie your heart is broken too

size is irrelevant: my heart was broken from the beginning. I never expected anything going into this relationship. It just means he isn’t getting dinner tonight.

goatlamb: …

goatlamb: just because it’s gross doesn’t mean I don’t like it…

I’m a horse and look like one: you’re just saying that because you don’t want to go without mingyu’s food, aren’t you.

goatlamb: in my defense, it’s really good

I’m a horse and look like one: …true

size is irrelevant: you two shut up and get home already. the food is getting cold.

Jihoon grabs the music score notepad that started the whole thing, and flips to the first open page, inspiration having struck him.

The notes flow from his pen to the paper easily, and he hears the music playing in his mind as he scrambles to record down as much as he can before it slips from his fingers. Already, the exact notes are fading, and Jihoon hums a bar a few times to try and remember what came next.

He spends the next hour like this, bent over the notepad and trying to remember the music that had come to him all of a sudden. He throws his pen across the room, frustrated at the fleeting inspiration that strikes him at the oddest hours.

Sighing, he gets out of bed to pick up the pen and places both pen and pad on the table, switching off the lights, figuring that since his muse has once again left again, he might as well get some sleep.

“I’ll show you the way to your room first,” Jungsu says, even as the oak doors creak open. “I’m currently staying in the Cat bearer’s room, but once I’m gone that room will be yours. For now, you’ll be taking one of the guest rooms, next to Taehyung, the gardener that will be taking over the current one when it’s time.”

Seungcheol nods in understanding, walking up to the man and boy now standing on the porch. The boy observes his approach with cool expressive, intelligent eyes, and Seungcheol shrinks back a little.

Then the boy smiles, and his eyes crinkle up, giving Seungcheol the best smile he can muster. While the two older men greet each other, Seungcheol approaches the boy, who greets and introduces himself quickly.

“Hello! I’m Kim Namjoon, and I’ll be your butler for the future, I hope we can get along well,” he bows, and Seungcheol bows on instinct as well, returning the greeting. “I’m Choi Seungcheol, please take care of me!”

“Seungcheol-ah, I see Namjoon-ah has made your acquaintance. This is the current butler of the house, Jung Yunho,” Jungsu introduces the tall man next to him, and Seungcheol is struck by how good-looking he is.

He bows deeply, greeting him. “Nice to meet you, Yunho-ssi. My name is Choi Seungcheol, please take care of me.” Yunho laughs, ruffling Seungcheol’s hair. “You’re so polite! Maybe you’ll be a good influence on Taehyung. God knows that boy doesn’t have any respect for elders unless absolutely necessary.”

Seungcheol smiles shyly, ducking his head in embarrassment and thanks. Jungsu smiles as well, leading the way into the house. “Come on, I’ll start the tour with the entrance hall. Leave your shoes there,” Jungsu instructs, removing his own shoes and placing them in one of the shoe cupboards, holding it open for Seungcheol to do the same.

Behind them, Yunho and Namjoon bring in their bags for them, Seungcheol having reluctantly relinquished his to Namjoon as Jungsu led him past.

The entrance hall doesn’t look like much, apart from the table along a wall next to the shoe cupboards. It is this table that Jungsu leads Seungcheol to, where a large, old leather-bound book lies on the table top.

The table comes with a small mantel, where there are three rows of hooks carved from the wood. The first two rows of hooks are empty, but the third has keys hooked on them, with plain keychains. Jungsu removes a key with a cat keychain hanging from it from his pocket, hanging it on the first shelf.

“The other twelve hooks in the first two rows hold the keychains for the other zodiac bearers. They’re currently all out, so they’re empty,” Jungsu explains upon noticing Seungcheol’s curious glance. Seungcheol makes a soft sound of understanding, turning his attention to the book lying on the table top.

“This book is one of the more important ones in the manor. No one that isn’t supposed to can open it, and it is only ever on this table top for two occasions: when a new zodiac bearer arrives at the manor, and the first time that zodiac bearer changes,” Jungsu says, tapping the book cover, where the words ‘The Zodiac Register’ are embossed in gold.

Seungcheol is passed the book, and he opens it to the first page to find a table of names. Thirteen names, to be exact. The first column, titled ‘Names’, lists down the zodiac bearers’ names, the second the zodiac they represent, the third the date they first arrived at the manor.

The fourth takes up most of the page, titled ‘Description’. In each row, a detailed description of the animal they change into is given. Seungcheol makes a soft sound of amazement at the details, looking up at Jungsu with wide eyes.

The old man laughs before taking the book gently from the boy’s hands. He flips it to the middle, where an empty table lies, waiting to be filled in. “Go on then,” he then says, handing Seungcheol the book back and a pen he pulls out of his pocket, “fill in your name and zodiac.”

Seungcheol does as he’s told, filling in his name and the zodiac he represents in his best handwriting. He stops to stare at the row he’s half-filled in when he’s done, before passing the pen back to Jungsu, who keeps it. He’s about to reach out to flip to the previous pages when Jungsu speaks.

“Alright, you’ll be able to look through this book later when you’re free, all right? Let’s move on with the rest of the manor,” Jungsu leads him further into the manor, Yunho and Namjoon having moved along to put their bags in their respective rooms a while back.

“The only ones that can open it are zodiac bearers, isn’t it?” Seungcheol asks, and Jungsu nods, grinning down at him. “Smart child. Yes, only zodiac bearers can open that book. When there’s no need for it to be out, I tend to keep it in my room. It’s one of the safest places in the house, you see,” Jungsu explains, leading him down the hallway.

The hallway opens up to another hallway running perpendicularly, as well as a grand staircase leading upstairs. Jungsu tells him as they turn right, “This is what we call the Central Wing, and it’s where everything is. That staircase over there leads to the second floor, where we have a recreation room and other various rooms.”

Seungcheol’s head whips left and right as he tries to take in everything that he sees as they walk past. “The first floor of the Central Wing has the kitchen and the reception room, which really is a ballroom or occasional dining room. There are other, less important rooms here as well,” Jungsu lists.

“As you’ve probably noticed, the walls have platforms protruding out from them, and the ceiling beams have platforms as well. The ceiling has horizontal beams for cats to perch on and rest, and the platforms give them places to relax,” Jungsu points them out to Seungcheol, who is watching as a striped cat makes his meandering way up a series of platforms.

All around them are cats dogging their footsteps, occasionally getting distracted with the empty cardboard boxes and circles formed with string lying around. “We employ any and every tactic here to keep the cats occupied,” Jungsu relays to the younger drily.

Jungsu opens a door, which leads to yet another hallway, this time with a staircase smackdab in the middle. “This is the East Wing, where all the bedrooms are. First floor is the guest bedrooms, second is the Zodiac bearer bedrooms. There are thirteen on each floor, as you would expect. Currently, four of the rooms are occupied, now five with you,” Jungsu says, leading him to a door.

“For the guest bedrooms, there’s a whiteboard next to each of the doors, so you can write your name there so people know that the room is occupied,” Jungsu tells Seungcheol, bringing down the portable whiteboard and marker for him to write his name.

“Now, Taehyung stays next to you,” Jungsu points out the name on the whiteboard of the room next to his, messily decorated with whiteboard magnets and doodles, “he’s the gardener of your generation, so he’s probably in the woods right now.”

Next, Jungsu opens the door to Seungcheol’s new room, and enters. Seungcheol follows with some mild hesitance, emitting a soft noise of shock at the cosiness of it all. There’s a bed in one corner, and a closet in the other, on either side of the large windows framed by curtains.

There’s a light breeze blowing into the house through the open windows, and the soft blue curtains rustle in the wind. There’s a cat perched on the windowsill, enjoying a stray patch of sun, and opens an eye a slit when Seungcheol approaches.

His bag is at the foot of his bed, and he sits down on the bed, testing the mattress. Next to the closet is a desk for him to put whatever he wants, as well as a laptop that Jungsu picks up and hands to him. “Welcome to Zodiac Manor, Seungcheol-ah. This is your welcome gift from the staff here, as well as me.”

“I can’t accept this, harabeoji,” Seungcheol starts, but Jungsu waves him off. “It’s already been bought, they threw the receipt away too. You have zero chance of getting us to return it. Also, you’ll need it in the future. Trust me, kid. I know what I’m talking about.”

Seungcheol quietens, running his hands across the smooth surface. “Thank you for this, harabeoji,” he says after a few seconds, placing the laptop on the bed next to him. “It’s my pleasure, so no need to thank me,” is all Jungsu says.

“This door over here leads to your personal washroom. Each bedroom comes with their own washroom, so no one has to worry about fighting over who gets to use the bathroom first and the like,” Jungsu continues after a moment of silence, clearing his throat.

“If you need any supplies for the bathroom, just tell Yunho or one of the other staff, and we’ll get it for you when we go into town next. I’ll let you get settled in for a few days before we bring you into town to get you acquainted with the people living there,” Jungsu tells him, and Seungcheol nods gratefully.

“I’ll leave you to wash up now, that drive was long enough that I want to take a shower,” Jungsu says. “When you’re done washing up, just head up to my room via the staircase in the middle of this wing. The Cat zodiac bearer’s room is all the way at the end of the hallway.”

Seungcheol nods his understanding and Jungsu leaves the room, closing the door behind him. Seungcheol takes a deep breath when he’s finally alone, letting the situation sink into him. This is going to be his home for the foreseeable future, and these are the people he’s going to have to live with for the rest of his life.

It’s a daunting thought, but Seungcheol steels himself for it. He at least hopes he’ll be able to get along with everyone else.

The time passes quickly when Jihoon is able to settle into a routine. He wakes up in the mornings, feeling like death personified, and goes to the kitchen for breakfast, where he warms up his brain by deflecting probing questions asked by the others and staunchly not reacting to the thinly veiled barbs shot his way.

He exchanges polite conversation with everyone as much as he can, the Jimin mentioned the first night being Park Jimin, Taehyung’s best friend. He learns that along with Namjoon, Seokjin, Yoongi, and Jimin, Taehyung is part of a budding coven, which normally has ten people.

He’s pretty sure that Jonghyun, Minki, Aron, Minhyun and Dongho are part of some secret group as well, but doesn’t want to risk Minki’s wrath to ask until he has Jeonghan here to buffer as well as Dongho.

Speaking of Dongho, Jihoon has gotten into the habit of sending him snippets of audio, and the older does the same, exchanging advice and criticism about their work. It has helped him improve the standards of his tracks a lot, and Jihoon is pleased.

After breakfast, he holes himself up in the studio, closing the secret door behind him so no one knows where he is. He works in the studio until dinner, when his stomach drives him back to the kitchen after he forgets to eat lunch, as usual.

After dinner, he explores the manor, trying to find more secret rooms. So far, he’s been in the music room one, and he’s pretty sure that the recreation room has one as well. He knows that there should be some kind of sign telling him where the secret rooms are, but he hasn’t found it yet.

When he’s tired, he goes to any place with a high concentration of cats, playing with them to pass the time. Gongju and her mate come up to him often, meowing and pawing at him until he plays with them. The chocolate brown cat with white markings that Jihoon always saw around Seungcheol keeps his distance, and is usually perched on one of the platforms close by, observing Jihoon.

The days pass like that, and before he knows it, Jisoo is about to arrive.

To: three years is up!!

orange is the new black: jihoon, i’ll be heading down in a few days. jeonghan’s still busy closing a deal but he’s coming a few days after i am.

say moo: thank fuck

say moo: i need jeonghan-hyung here to buffer minki-hyung. i’m about to go insane.

I’M A CHICKEN: minki-hyung still isn’t happy, huh?

say moo: apparently he’s going to remain unhappy until we give him an adequate explanation, but i don’t know if we’re allowed to talk about that yet.

orange is the new black: …i think we’ll withhold that information for now, yeah? i don’t trust them fully yet. there’s new people too, so god knows what they can spread with that information if they have ill intentions.

say moo: alright. it’ll be good to finally have people on my side in the manor. i’ll inform them tonight about you guys arriving soon.

That night, Jihoon does as he said, informing the table at large that Jisoo and Jeonghan would be arriving within the next few days. Jonghyun and Minhyun exchange glances with each other, as does Taehyung and Namjoon, which does not go unnoticed by Jihoon, but he chooses to remain silent on the matter.

“Finally. I was wondering whether what you told us that first night was a lie. Good to see I’m wrong,” is all Minki says on the matter, and Jihoon is once again out of the kitchen as soon as he is able, hearing the kitchen break out into low whispers when he’s gone.

He briefly wonders if he should stay by the door to listen about what they’re talking about, but rejects the idea. One of the witches would probably sense him, or something. He’s pretty sure Jonghyun’s group is hiding some power as well.

From the past few days he’s been able to observe that whatever Namjoon’s growing coven knows, Jonghyun’s probably doesn’t, and vice versa. Everyone’s keeping secrets from each other because they don’t know what each other’s exact goals are apart from finding out happened to Seungcheol, and because they don’t know how much they can say.

However, in terms of interactions, Jihoon would have to say that the coven is maintaining a rather neutral stance, while Jonghyun, Minhyun and Minki are more standoffish towards him.

Still, the manor is filled with tension, and Jihoon doesn’t like it. He misses the times when Seungcheol was there, tying everyone together. He remembers letting Seungcheol bug him when he was trying to compose, or when he was trying to read a book in peace.

He thinks of Seungcheol’s bright eyes when he beams at someone, and the way the townspeople always greeted him with love whenever they wandered into town. He thinks about the quiet times spent together just lounging on the couch while the others made a mess of the recreation room.

He thinks about anything and everything that Seungcheol reminds him of, and in that moment, he is filled with the most intense longing and grief, all the more determined to find out what happened to Choi Seungcheol and give that man a piece of his mind for causing them to worry so much.

Shaking his head to free himself from his thoughts, he continues down the hallway and going up the grand staircase, walking to the recreation room, where he’s been concentrating his efforts for the past few days.

He enters the room, switching on the lights. He’s been combing through the room inch by inch, and has yet to find anything out of place or hidden. The recreation room is filled with bean bags and the most comfortable couches, along with every game system currently on the market.

Jihoon continues on to the shelves places between the windows, where rows of game CDs and board games and card games are lined, and continues what he’s been doing for the past few days. He removes the things on each shelf one by one, making sure there’s no protrusions from the wall.

As he does so, he grumbles to himself, “Why did I have to find that secret room? I have to lug a chair every-fucking-where now because I’m not tall enough to reach the fucking top shelf. I should wait until Mingyu comes and make him do the rest of the shelves.”

He’s moved onto a bookshelf that has books concerning tactics about different games (he saw a few Minecraft books that he’s keeping in mind to read for later) when the chair tilts after he climbs onto it. He stumbles and jumps off just as he’s about to fall back first.

Kneeling down onto the floor, and moving the chair away, he sighs when he notices a small circular panel on the floor. Seeing as just pushing that one switch didn’t do anything, he heaves the beanbags around the chair away.

Just as he’d thought, he spots three more small circular panels in the floor, forming a perfect square with the one panel pressed down by the chair. He carries the chair over, placing each leg over each panel.

Going over to the shelves, he removes a thick hardcover book and drops it onto the chair seat, smiling in satisfaction as the chair sinks into the floor and a loud click echoes around the room. The wall opposite the one with the television mounted on it shifts backwards and to the side, revealing a door.

Just to make sure, Jihoon goes over to the door leading to the Central Wing hallway and locks the door, before returning to the now revealed hidden door. He removes the book from the chair just to see what happens, watching as the chair slowly rises and the wall move back into place.

Nodding to himself, he places the book back on the chair and waits for the door to appear again, before he opens it and enters. Just like the one in the music room, there is a staircase winding up, and the stairwell is dark and dusty.

He turns on the light and makes his way up the staircase, observing that just like the one leading to the studio, the wood of the staircase is in very good condition, despite all the dust. Opening the door at the top of the staircase, Jihoon notices that just like the studio, this one has a second door for soundproofing as well, and opens it and turns on the lights as well.

He then just stands there, gaping at the miniature theatre that greets him, with a large wall-to-wall viewing screen on the opposite wall. The seats are couches, the same ones as those in the recreation room downstairs, and when Jihoon looks up, there’s a projector mounted on the ceiling to project the films on the screen.

There’s dust everywhere, like he’d expected, but a fucking movie theatre? This was nowhere near whatever he was expecting to find in a hidden room. “Fuck, at this rate I’m going to need to carry a portable vacuum cleaner,” Jihoon says to himself, after sneezing thrice in a row.

He leaves the room, turning off all the lights behind him. When he’s out on the staircase landing, he pulls out his phone, typing as he walks down.

To: three years is up!!

say moo: I found a movie theatre this time.

i’m a horse and look like one: say what?

say moo: a fucking movie theatre

i love bananas: they had a movie theatre at home and we didn’t know???

say moo: yes

I’M A CHICKEN: oh my god

im THE dawg: what happened why is kwannie yelling in my ear

im THE dawg: oh what the hell are you serious

orange is the new black: language, choi hansol. but yes, the sentiment is the same for me.

I’M A CHICKEN: if you find a karaoke room i don’t care where i am or what im doing, im coming down immediately

He snorts, exiting the secret room after switching off the lights, removing the book from the chair and putting everything back to rights. He unlocks the door and exits the recreation room entirely, making his way back to his room, scrolling through social media as he walks.

After Seungcheol is done washing up, he exits the room, climbing up the staircase slowly and finding himself in a hallway similar to the one on the lower floor. Only, instead of just whiteboards hung on the walls on the right of each door, there are wooden nameplates nailed into the doors, with an animal intricately engraved on each one.

He walks down the hallway, darting left and right to look at the different nameplates and whiteboards. At the end of the hallway is a door with a cat nameplate, as well as a whiteboard that has Jungsu’s name on it with angel wings as a backdrop.

He knocks on the door with trepidation, and after a moment the door opens. “Come in!” Jungsu calls, and Seungcheol peeks his head around the door. Jungsu smiles when he sees him, closing a leather-bound book and placing it on the table.

“What’s that?” Seungcheol asks curiously. “Oh, this?” Jungsu looks down at the journal. “It’s a journal, where I write my thoughts in whenever I have time,” Jungsu explains. “Each generation of Cat bearers tend to keep journals because sometimes it’s good to write things down,” Jungsu says, gesturing to the rows of shelves that are along a wall.

“Because a lot of them are old, they fall apart easily under direct sunlight, so I keep them in these cupboards with no glass, so they don’t get damaged. I also have a dehumidifier in each cupboard to make sure they don’t become mouldy,” Jungsu tells him.

“It’s weird, though. I only have the journals from the Cat bearer five generations back to now. I can’t seem to locate the journals prior to that generation’s. Anyway, here, these are the ones I’ve filled in in the years I’ve lived here,” Jungsu says, opening one cupboard, showing him the row of leather-bound books slotted in neatly next to each other.

“Woah,” Seungcheol gasps, looking to Jungsu for permission before taking one. He flips through it quickly before putting it back, feeling as if he’s intruding on Jungsu’s privacy. Jungsu closes the cupboard after he makes sure everything is in place.

“Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the manor. The East wing is simple enough, all of the rooms are similar to the ones you’ve seen,” Jungsu leads the way out of the room, and Seungcheol dutifully follows, trailing the old man.

They head out into the hallway and through the door that leads to the Central Wing, and Jungsu points out the various rooms to him as they pass. “There’s the music room, and that one is the recreation room. The one opposite the music room is an office to do work in, and the one opposite the recreation room is an art room.”

“The other rooms, you can discover on your own,” Jungsu tells him. “I have to show you some other stuff later, too.” They walk to the other end of the Central Wing’s main hallway, where a door is closed.

“Welcome to my pride and joy, the West Wing of Zodiac Manor,” Jungsu says proudly, opening the door to reveal the largest library Seungcheol has ever seen inside a house. Well, granted, it was a manor, but still.

“Woah.” Seungcheol walks into the West Wing, eyes darting in all directions as he beholds the sheer number of shelves in the wing. Instead of rooms, the entirety of the wing is a library, with three floors. In between shelves, there are numerous reading nooks along the wall, framed by large windows to let in the sunlight.

There is a staircase leading up to the third floor and another down to the first floor in front of the door, and another across the wing. There is also one in the middle of the wing, and each row of shelves has a mobile ladder.

“The books are all arranged depending on whether they’re fiction or non-fiction, then by author. The non-fiction books are arranged according to topic as well,” Jungsu tells him, smiling at the younger’s reaction.

“We also have a section focusing on all the lore anyone has ever collected regarding the zodiacs,” Jungsu informs him in a more serious tone, catching Seungcheol’s attention. “You mean…” Seungcheol trails off, to which Jungsu nods, understanding the unsaid question.

“Yes. This is the largest collection of books regarding the curse. Whatever anyone has ever published, be it in a research paper or in a book, fiction or non-fiction, we have it. No matter how ridiculous the things they write are, we have it. After all, even the most nonsensical things can have kernels of truth in them.”

Jungsu points out the section to him, all the way at the other end of the wing. Seungcheol itches to go and check out what books the library has to offer, but refrains from it for now. He has all the time in the world to explore the West Wing.

“That’s all for the inside of the house, now I’ll give you a tour of the outside,” Jungsu says, leading Seungcheol back out of the library and down the grand staircase. Seungcheol remains quiet, a thought having occurred to him.

“Harabeoji, what would have happened if I’d refused the bracelet? If I’d refused taking on the curse as the Cat zodiac bearer?” Seungcheol asks, and Jungsu halts in his tracks. “…you would have changed anyway when the time came. Once you’re chosen, there’s no stopping the curse. All I would have had to do was wait for you to change, inform your parents, then take you away.”

Seungcheol stares at Jungsu in shock. The old man turns to him with a sorrowful expression. “I wouldn’t have gotten to say goodbye?” Seungcheol asks softly. Jungsu nods, and elaborates.

“The best time to take someone who doesn’t want to accept the curse is when they’re changed, because it’s harder for them to run away when they’re not used to their new form. And once they’re within the barrier, they can’t escape.”

“That- that’s just cruel!” Seungcheol exclaims, to which Jungsu sighs and says, “Well, a lot of the world doesn’t care if they’re cruel to Cat zodiac bearers or not. It’s partly for their own protection as well. Cat zodiac bearers aren’t treated well outside of this town, Seungcheol-ah. You’ve heard of the reputation we carry.”

Seungcheol falters, recognising what Jungsu is saying to be true. He’d heard the townspeople talk about harabeoji when they’d recognised the bracelet he wore. With no argument, Seungcheol falls silent again, and Jungsu continues walking, Seungcheol following quietly.

“This is the kitchen,” Jungsu tells him softly as they enter, and Seungcheol looks up from his thoughts, observing the happenings of the kitchen. “That man manning the stoves over there is the chef for my generation, Kim Jaejoong. His protégé, the one rolling the dough at the counters, is Park Jisung.”

Upon hearing their names, the two look up from whatever they were in the process of doing. “Jungsu-hyung! Giving the tour, I see,” Jaejoong says, wiping his hands clean and turning the fire on the stove low. Jisung does the same, patting his hands clean of flour and washing them.

Seungcheol bows low, greeting the two. “My name is Choi Seungcheol, please take care of me!” Jaejoong laughs and replies, “No need to stand on formality, kid. We’re all family around here.” Meanwhile, Jisung bows back as well, introducing himself. “I’m Park Jisung! Let’s get along well!” Seungcheol nods to both replies, smiling.

“Alright, alright, I’m sure the two of you still have a lot to do. I’ll continue on with the tour and let the two of you get back to your work, eh?” Jungsu says, to which the chef and chef-in-training nod in understanding, going back to their work.

Jungsu leads Seungcheol across the kitchen to the back door, which connects to the gardens and beyond that, the woods behind the manor. “This is the gardens of the manor, where we have all kinds of things growing here, from herbs used in cooking, to those used in potions, as well as flowers and fruits.

“The current gardener is Kim Junsu, and his protégé is Kim Taehyung. They’re probably somewhere in this maze right now, I’ll introduce you to them later during dinner,” Jungsu tells him, showing him the hedge-maze that was Taehyung’s idea, who is, apparently, a witch that specializes in plants and potions. They walk through the well-worn paths of the gardens to the iron-wrought gate built in the brick wall.

“Remember when I mentioned the lands surrounding the manor in the car? That treeline over there is the beginning of the woods,” Jungsu says as he opens the gate, “The manor lands extend all the way until the barrier, which is the town boundary. Of course, the woods extend past that, but we only own the land up until the barrier.”

They stand at the treeline, enjoying the breeze and the sounds of nature. A cat emerges from deep within the woods, coming up to them for scratches. Seungcheol obliges gladly, squatting down to stroke down its back and between its ears.

“That about concludes the tour, I should think. There are rooms I didn’t tell you much about, because those are mainly for witches and practitioners to use, but there’s two more things I have to tell you. There are many hidden rooms in the manor, some of which I probably haven’t found yet.

If you find them, you get to do whatever you want to them. Contractors and builders are always sworn to secrecy via confidentiality agreements as well as the best lawyers we can find. Of course, you can try building whatever you want by yourself as well.” Jungsu leans against a tree, looking at the view the manor presents against the backdrop of the setting sun.

“Lastly, I have to show you how to open the Cat’s bedroom door. I opened the door for you earlier, but this is a trick all Cat zodiac bearers have to learn. No one else knows how to open our door, so keep it that way, alright?” Jungsu tells him, moving back in the direction of the manor.

Giving the cat one last scratch, Seungcheol stands up, following Jungsu back into the manor and to the door of the Cat zodiac bearer’s room. “Why does the Cat zodiac bearer’s bedroom door require so much effort to open it?”

Jungsu shrugs at the question. “I think one of the previous generations must have been very paranoid. It’s been like this for three generations at least.” Seungcheol frowns, dissatisfied with that explanation.

They come to a halt in front of the bedroom door in question, and Jungsu changes the topic, focusing on teaching Seungcheol how to open the door. “You can’t open this door in the usual fashion,” Jungsu shows him, pushing the door handle like they do for other doors. It doesn’t move, indicating the door is clearly locked.

“What you need to do is to push this panel here, which has this symbol etched into it,” Jungsu points out a panel on the door itself, which has a triangle-shaped triskelion when Seungcheol looks closer at the symbol about half the size of the nail of his pinky.

“Then nudge the one on the doorframe over here with your elbow, and push the door handle upwards,” Jungsu continues, showing Seungcheol each step in detail. With a click, the door opens.

“If you’re inside the room, there’s a button on the floor you can step on to the left of the door. To exit, just step on that button and open the door normally.” Jungsu points to the button on the floor, almost indistinguishable from the regular wood flooring if not for its odd shape, then closes the door, the locks engaging once again.

“Now you try.”

10 August 2010, Tuesday

Apparently all Cat zodiac bearers start a journal, so this is me starting one.

I’ve met almost all of the people living in the manor permanently, I think. There’s the previous generation, Park Jungsu, Jung Yunho, Kim Jaejoong, Kim Junsu, Park Yoochun and Shim Changmin, and then there’s my generation, which has me, Kim Namjoon, Park Jisung, Kim Taehyung, Hwang Minhyun and Min Yoongi.

If there’s regularly so many people living here, an outhouse may be a good idea.

Maybe a treehouse?

[chapter two end]

three

[seventeendiary]

Wonwoo - 18 (pls and thank you)

Wonwoo // 18. “Are you flirting withme?” 

You got intothe café in the evening like the usual to grab your favorite cold drink. Yousmiled at Wonwoo, who was behind the counter where he smiled back.

“Hello, whatcan I get for you?” He asked. “The usual?”

“Yes. Thank you.”You grabbed your wallet out and paid for your drink.

You walkedto the side and waited at the pick-up counter. You looked around and realizedthere weren’t a lot of people in the place. You looked down at your feet andstretched your sore ankles around.

You didn’t realizedthat Wonwoo had been watching you while he was making your drink. He looked down then back at you and asked, “Are yourlegs tired?”

“Kinda.” Yousaid then you asked, “Why?” 

“Becauseyou’ve been running through my mind all day.” He smirked a bit.

“I can’t run in heels.” You proclaimed, butthen realizing where he was getting at. “Wait, are you flirting with me?”

“Yes I am.”He said as he closed the lid of your drink. He poked a straw into it then hehanded it to you with a smile. “See you tomorrow, (y/n).”

“How do youknow my name?” You asked.

“Well,” Heset your drink on the counter then he leaned into it. “You are a regularcustomer here so…”

“Thanks.” Yousaid after you took you drink. You walked away from him when he got back up. Hewatched you leave until you stopped in your steps. You turned back at him, “I’llconsider it if you are going to ask me out.”

“Give me acall!” Wonwoo yelled across the café and grinned happily then you walked out.

You wereconfused because you don’t even have his phone number. You took a sip of yourdrink then you looked at the scribbles on it and saw his number there. 

[devilishminghao]

It all started...

Part 2

[the1the8]

Half Right

Gyuhao (Mingyu x Minghao), fluff, College!AU  

Summary: Minghao does a last minute studying session for an exam and meets a student who happens to be studying for the same class. Length: 1454  A/N: HI MAJA @minghaon // Half of this happened to me while the other half didn’t. yes laugh at me for having no friends who I can study with bye

It has probably been 30 minutes into studying at his usual place on the second floor of the student union building where most student clubs are at before Minghao sighs again. He leans his forehead onto his scribbling notes above his opened textbook, almost making a thump on it. His eyes are closed as he tries to memorized his notes into his mind, but instead, he hears the other loud students around him, which makes him a bit more annoyed than he is now. He gets back up quickly his back lazily curved, not keeping it straight as he dazes at the paintings on the wall in front of him. They are colorful in shades of green, blue and yellow, to which he has seen them before but he never realize how beautiful they are. They don’t satisfy him though  as he thinks about his exam that is going to happen in two hours. His lips move to the side in disbelief as he knows he needs to get back into studying even though he probably won’t do well due to the lack of motivation studying in the past week. He slowly looks back at his notes and his opened textbook, widening his eyes and blinking a few times to refresh his eyes.

Only a minute has passed since getting back into studying when a student comes to take the empty seat beside him. The shuffles and noises make Minghao roll his eyes in annoyance. At this moment, he really wants to determine that there’s no point of studying now. He thinks he’s just going to fail anyways.

“Oh, you’re in that American Democracy class too?” Minghao hears the student beside him asking, making him turn to him quickly without realizing it. The student points at Minghao’s textbook. “It’s the same textbook.”

Minghao looks at his textbook and nods back at the student again and doesn’t realize he’s replying back so fast. “Yeah, I’m in that class.”

“I don’t see you in there at all.”

“Well, we do have a lot of students in that lecture hall so…” Minghao shrugs obviously, not meaning to outsmart the him. The student nods, understanding him as he sets his bag down by his seat.

“Are you ready for the exam?” He asks as he settles down on the seat.

“No, not really.” Minghao responds honestly, pressing his palms against his seat with a little frown plastered on his lip. “ I’m just scared about the essay part.”

“Me too.” The student flips a page of his note, hanging it in the air as he tries to read them before he looks back at Minghao.

“Not knowing what the prompts are going to be, I’m like, scared as fuck.” Minghao confesses. His words make the student laugh as he doesn’t realize he’s turning a bit pink at the sound of it.

“By the way, I’m Mingyu.” Mingyu smiles at Minghao, making him more flustered.

“I’m Minghao.” Minghao smiles shyly back, trying to avoid eye contact.

“If you have any questions, feel free to ask me, okay? I’ll try my best to help.” Mingyu says before he starts to study. Minghao nods once and turns back to stare at his notes again, but he doesn’t go back into it before he smiles a soft one.

It is quiet for the two as they don’t get distracted by the noises around them. Mingyu makes a few glances at Minghao and Minghao does the same, realizing Mingyu is watching some stuff on his laptop while studying on the side. It confuses him but it makes Mingyu seems smart. He probably knows the materials so well that he doesn’t even need to study.

“What do you think the essay prompts would be?” Mingyu asks out after the long quietness that lingers around them. Minghao turns and looks at him with a surprising and wondering face. Mingyu glances at his notes again, “I think one of the prompt could be about whether we think our government has a dynamic or constrained court view.”

“Ohhhh,” Minghao looks back at his notes and responds, “I think it could be something about the federalist papers since we talked about it so much during the lectures.”

“That could be too.” Mingyu nods with his hand rubbing onto his chin. “Okay, sorry about that. Now, back to studying…”

Minghao finds Mingyu cute when he’s focused. Knowing someone he can relate to makes him feel a bit better about doing well on his exam. His lips curve again before he goes back into studying.

About an hour later, Mingyu’s friends decide to bother him. Minghao just smiles at them when Mingyu is talking about how he’s studying for his exam.

“In an hour? Wow, man. Good luck.” Soonyoung, to which Minghao hears Mingyu call him a second ago, says.

“Thanks, I will try.”

“Well, you don’t sound enthusiastic.” Wonwoo, his other friend, sounds surprised as he slightly covers his giggling mouth with the back of his hand.

“Of course. Who is ever excited over exams?” Mingyu sarcastically laughs.

With only 20 minutes left before their exam starts, Minghao realizes he was distracted by Mingyu and his friends’ conversation about their classes. Well, it did sound more interesting to him than the governmental terms that is written on his notes. Mingyu has already packed up and he takes a glance at Minghao, who is still studying, before he takes his leave since the building of their exam is about a 10 minute walk. Minghao kind of wishes Mingyu asked him to go there together when he starts to pack up too after Mingyu left. Minghao sighs again, leaving Mingyu’s two friends there as he tries to study the terms in his head on his way to the exam site.

When Minghao gets there, he doesn’t look for Mingyu. He doesn’t see Mingyu looking over at him from a seat far from him. Minghao is probably too distracted with studying with his mind. 

Minghao is one of the last to finish though he didn’t really finish the exam. He feels a bit sad yet regretful but at least he tried his best. With the thought of not being able to finish the essay section, he frowns on the walk back to the same studying place. He sighs as he can see his breath in the cold. Suddenly, he feels someone tapping his shoulder. He turns to his side to see Mingyu walking with him. The sight of him makes Minghao smile in the inside.

“Hey, how did it go?” Mingyu asks out of curiosity.

“Not so well. I didn’t get to finish the essay part, probably because I took too long on the term defining part.” Minghao’s lips twist but he leans closer to Mingyu to ask the same. “How about you?”

“It was okay. I think I got most of them?” Mingyu says it like a question but he looks back at Minghao with a smile. “But you know, you were right about the essay prompt.”

“You were too!” Minghao’s face is filled with much surprise.

“Okay, we’re both half right.” Mingyu chuckles in the cold.

“I was actually really surprised when I saw the prompts.”

“Me too.” Mingyu nods, agreeing with Minghao. “We must be smart then.” They both giggle then they continue to walk together quietly until Mingyu decides to break the silence again. “So Minghao.”

“Yeah?” Minghao looks at him after admiring their walk.

“Do you want to study together before class now? We could study for our next exams too and if you also want, we can also sit together in class too. What do you think?” Mingyu blinks at Minghao after saying so much as he wait for his response.

Minghao flashes a grin away from him, leaving a white breath in the air before he answers, “I like it.”

“Do you want to go eat something too?” His happy voice makes Minghao glance at him, astonished again. “I mean, my roommate (Seokmin) is ordering some pizza tonight for dinner so I was just wondering if you’d like to come join us. We’re having some other friends over so I just thought you might want to…”

Minghao thinks for a while but Mingyu laughs out of awkwardness. “Ah, forget what I said-”

“It’s okay.” Minghao giggles a little then he flashes a firm smile at him, “I’ll come.”

It makes Mingyu smile too as they continue to walk in the cold together. Mingyu looks Minghao, who is shyly looking at his feet, then Mingyu follows as he watches their feet moving in sync.

Minghao sighs once again, but this time, it is a sigh of relief. Walking to class and back, he won’t feel lonely anymore now.