Chapter Text
Mingyu walks up to one of the campus's restaurants and smiles when he sees a large group of people sitting inside at a bunch of tables pulled together that barely fit all of them. He rushes in and greets his friends, but they are all too preoccupied in a conversation to notice his arrival.
Jun walks up and puts his arm around Mingyu, gaining his attention. "They're all freaking out, I've never seen them like this, especially Vernon and Seungcheol."
Mingyu turns towards Jun with a curious look on his face. "Hmm?"
Jun laughs at the expression and continues, "Vernon just came saying he heard from his friend. You know that rich guy that's been abroad all summer that they're all friends with? Apparently, he's coming back to school in 2 days. They didn't know when he was coming back so they're all excited."
Mingyu loses the confused face and changes it to a bright smile. He has heard a lot about this mysterious guy and is excited to see his friends so happy. He gets startled as he feels a hand slap his back and turns to see Seokmin grabbing his arm excitedly while Jun joins the others.
"Mingyuuuuu!" Seokmin squeals while hopping up and down, still holding onto his right arm.
"Yes Hyung-"
"Seungkwan is coming back! In TWO DAYS, I am so excited, I missed him so much." He is swaying back and forth like a child who wants a toy.
"I just heard! It will be nice to finally meet him." He says as he laughs at Seokmin's actions.
"Oh yeah!" Seokmin yells, slightly startling Mingyu.
"You and Jun haven't met him yet! You're gonna love him, he's so funny and cute!" Seokmin exclaims while once again hopping up and down.
Mingyu sits down at the table with Seokmin and the others who are talking back and forth so loudly that the conversation is barely even audible. Mingyu laughs at everyone, he hasn't seen all of them react this way before, he's glad to see them so happy.
"I miss his cute little face. I can't wait to pinch his cheeks!" Jeonghan yells and stands up while pinching the air.
Seungcheol lightly pushes Jeonghan back into his seat and places his arm around him while smiling "He is going to get a hug for every day I missed seeing his face, then I'm going to kill him for leaving us like that all of a sudden". Seungcheol's smile slowly turns into a pout. Jeonghan notices and nods his head in agreement.
That's right...He just up and left, I think Chan was telling me that. And he didn't contact anyone and still hasn't. I wonder what happened? Mingyu thinks to himself while everyone murmurs amongst each other.
"What about his credits?" Everyone turns towards Chan who suddenly stands up. "I mean, he's starting two months late into the first semester of his second year. Won't he have to wait until next semester to start?"
"No, he completed all the necessary assignments and pre-requisites online." Vernon speaks up while sitting next to Chan to reassure him.
"That's a relief, you know how serious he takes his grades." Wonwoo says while stuffing his face with Spoonfuls of fried rice.
They continue to talk about the boy's awaited arrival while stealing each other's food.
Mingyu sits and keeps laughing at how dramatic everyone is, while also enjoying some fried chicken that he stole from Jihoon.
"Hyung, why do you look so worried?" Chan asks Vernon, who through all this excitement, has kept a sad expression on his face.
Vernon doesn't answer and just looks up, grabbing everyones attention.
"Well, what is it? You're obviously hiding something." Jihoon asks while everyone stares, silently.
Vernon sighs and looks up at everyone. "Well..." he sighs again; you can tell he is trying to choose his words carefully. With yet another sigh he speaks; "Well you see, Seungkwan may be a little different..." he says with his words trailing off.
Seokmin lets out a little laugh, "what do you mean, did he finally grow a few inches taller?"
Everyone laughs at the joke, except Jihoon and Vernon. Jihoon quickly shoots a glare at Seokmin, taking what he said personally.
Vernon looks up at everyone again then down at his hands and finally finished his point. "I just mean he may act a little different when he's back or seem different in some way."
Everyone is starting to catch on that it's serious, and Vernon isn't trying to be funny.
"If he seems weird, just give him some time when he comes back, I'm sure in a few weeks he'll be back to his old self." You can see the dark look over Vernon's face which has now transferred over to Seungcheol and Jeonghan's face.
Why is it so serious suddenly? Something must've happened. Mingyu thinks to himself while observing everyone and staying silent.
"What do you mean Vernon? Give him time for what? What happened?" This time Minghao speaks up.
Vernon quickly answers in a serious tone "He has a lot going on...and he's just..." He pauses again, worrying everyone even more. "He's just going through some issues. If he seems off, don't pester him, okay?" Vernon stands up and grabs Seungcheol's wrist, dragging him away. They head out of the restaurant. Jeonghan waves goodbye with a soft smile and quickly follows the two out.
Everyone's mood seems to have dropped a little after what Vernon said.
Mingyu looks at Jun who seems just as confused and remembered that Vernon is best friends with the guy, and they grew up together. So, he must know something that everyone else doesn't. He would be lying if he said he wasn't curious, but he knows it's not his place to ask.
Everyone just eats silently with an awkward vibe settling in.
Soonyoung is the first to break the silence "Why did Vernon drag Hyung away, and what's with all the mystery? Did something happen to Seungkwan?" he asks while putting his arm around Jihoon.
"Maybe he had some sort of family situation. You know Seungkwan doesn't like his family much. But don't worry, Vernon is closest with him, he would let us know if it was anything serious." Wonwoo says, trying to reassure the others with a smile.
"But Seungcheol and Jeonghan..." Chan pouts, and slowly points to the door that the three just exited.
"Although we're all his friends, you know they are the closest to Seungkwan. They are probably just trying to keep Seungkwan's privacy" Jihoon says this time, pushing Sooyoung's arm off of him and getting up to leave.
Everyone finishes their meals with light conversations here and there. They all get up to pay and each head out their own ways.
Mingyu leaves the restaurant full and ready to go home. He feels Minghao's hand around his shoulder, as they and Chan walked back to their shared dorm room.
Mingyu looks down at Chan who is staring at his phone. He doesn't mean to snoop, but Chan is intently looking at a photo of him and someone else with Seokmin, piquing his curiosity.
Chan notices Mingyu staring and lifts his phone up to Mingyu's face, zooming into one person's face.
"Isn't he the cutest?" Chan waves his phone in Mingyu's face.
Mingyu looks at the photo closely and smiles.
After a few seconds, he takes his phone back and opens a text chat. "Well, isn't he?" Chan askes again, while not even looking up at Mingyu.
"Yes," Mingyu says while laughing. He is pretty cute... Mingyu thinks and smiles while still staring at Chan.
Chan lets out a sigh and sends the long message he was typing up. "I hope Hyung is okay. He's always the brightest person in our group, but Vernon is making me worried." Chan looks down at his feet, kicking leaves as they walked.
Minghao stops and grabs Chan's arm. "I think Vernon must know of something personal that happened, and just didn't want anyone to ask Seungkwan when he got back. Don't worry, I'm sure he's fine. We should be excited that he's finally coming back!" Minghao smiles and ruffled his hair a little, making Chan feel at ease as they start to walk again.
They are almost at the dorms when Mingyu suddenly stops and looks at them excitedly "Hey! I know! Why don't we throw a welcome back party!"
The two look at him with questioning faces.
"I mean, I know I don't know the guy. But hey, who doesn't like a party!" Mingyu shrugs and smiles wide.
"Hyung! That's a great idea! I'm going to call Vernon right now!" Chan gets excited and runs away to call Vernon.
"That's a great idea, that way everyone can see him. I'm sure he will be happy to know how much we all missed him." Minghao wraps his arm around Mingyu's shoulder again and they walk on while discussing the party.