Chapter Text
Hyunjin’s head was tossed back at the force, and he tasted the metallic tang of blood on his tongue when he licked his lips. There was a voice yelling at him, but it sounded muffled and underwater as Hyunjin’s head spun.
“You’ll regret this,” Hwang Cheol- his father- hissed, voice coiled tight with anger and laced with venom. Like the true snake that he was. He wasn’t too large of a man in muscle mass- tall with a lithe form like Hyunjin himself- but he could pack a lot of hate in those punches of his.
Hyunjin wiped the crimson dribbling from his bottom lip. He must have bitten his tongue. “I’m going to regret, what, getting an education for what I truly love instead of business?" He scoffed, “yeah, right.”
The large foyer of the manor seemed to drop about ten degrees in temperature. Hyunjin had just been trying to leave- to check the mail for his forking assignment- but his father got to it first, the torn envelope in his hand. He shook it in front of Hyunjin like a taunt. “Art isn’t a real career! You won’t make money off of it! You’re the soul heir of my company!”
Hyunjin chuckled, but it sounded like the rustle of dead leaves against cobble stone. “If I owned your company, father, it would be burnt to the ground within the week. Leave me be.”
“Leave. You. Be?! You’re my son!” Cheol jabbed a harsh finger against Hyunjin’s chest, nearly backing him up against the wall. Hyunjin would beg to differ that he was not his parent’s property- especially now that he was turning twenty in just a month.
He didn’t get the chance to argue though, especially when the man backed off to gesture to Hyunjin’s cowering mother in the corner. She wasn’t fearful- no, she was ashamed. “Look at your mother! She’s so disappointed in you that she can’t even fathom speaking!”
It wasn’t like she hasn’t said more than Three words to Hyunjin for the past year anyway.
Hyunjin didn’t slump his shoulders to make himself look smaller. He didn’t shy away like he used to under his fathers predatory gaze. The man must have realized this, because something shifted as he slowly dropped his hand, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
“You…” his voice dipped off into shock, “you’re serious about this silly college?”
‘Well, duh’ Hyunjin would have said, if his cheek wasn’t stinging as much. He’d put his blood, sweat, and tears into creating an art portfolio for the application.
Hyunjin nodded shortly, wincing a little at the movement. It hurt his head.
He watched the way his father’s face twisted in disdain and disgust. “Leave then,” he said, his tone wavering. “Don’t bother to contact us or expect us to help you. Have your things moved out by morning. You’re no longer a part of the Hwang family.”
Hyunjin wouldn’t deny the fact that the words stung, even if he hadn’t felt like he was a part of his own family for years now.
His father turned heel without another word, dropping Hyunjin’s envelope to flutter to the marble floor. His mother wept, but Hyunjin couldn’t tell if it was out of relief or sorrow.
It was a good thing that Hyunjun had a go bag prepared sitting in the back of his closet- waiting for this very moment. He didn’t need to be told twice to leave the mansion that contained more low paid servants than residents.
Hyunjin folded a few more shirts and his paint brushes into the bag before he left right out the front door.
Their estate spanned a few miles on the outskirts of the city, so Hyunjin hiked down the long paved driveway without looking back, waving only to the maid at the front gate who had always been nice to him when he was little.
He hopped on the first bus out of town and into the next city over where the liberal arts college was located.
The sun was setting as he loaded onto the bus, finding a vacant row of seats in the back to rest his cheek against the cold window. He closed his eyes and willed the tears to not fall down his cheeks- these things shouldn’t affect him anymore.
His parents had always been like this.
When Hyunjin fell behind on his grades?- no dinner.
When he got himself art supplies instead of study books with his first paycheck?- locked in the basement for the night.
When he gave himself a homemade belly piercing and dyed his hair blonde? (One of which they found out about, the other remaining a secret)- he was kicked out for a week.
The bus rolled over a bump on the road, jostling Hyunjin enough for his already hurt cheek to smack against the window. Hyunjin winced and rubbed at it with his hand as the bus slowed to a stop to let more people on- most looking like they were traveling home from a hard workday.
One more stop.
He knew where he was going. When Hyunjin got his acceptance letter for the prestigious liberal arts academy in the mail- he had no one to celebrate with but himself.
It was a tedious process to set up a payment plan with the school using his own money, but at least the scholarship would pay for his dorm- he just needed to keep his grades up and get a job as soon as possible. He’d already sent out a few applications.
Unfortunately… Hyunjin left the mansion a little sooner than expected. He wasn’t scheduled to move in until the next day.
He didn’t have the money on him to rent out a motel room for the night.
When the bus rolled to a stop nestled inside of the city, a few miles away from the campus, Hyunjin stood and shouldered his bag. It was his stop.
A few of the businessmen on the bus eyed him wearily as he exited- they probably thought he was a pickpocket or even a dealer with his hoodie and shorts. It was getting warmer outside, but not quite warm enough to warrant wearing a short sleeve.
Hyunjin bowed politely to the bus driver before de boarding the bus. Outside, the night sky was quickly purpling to showcase the smatter of stars, only covered by the dark clouds. It looked like it would rain soon, so Hyunjin settled himself on the bench of the bus stop.
The city lights buzzed and flickered. Cars drove past, nearly wetting him in puddles by the curbs. A cool breeze ruffled his dark hair (that his parents forced him to change back to his natural color) and he clutched his duffle bag a little closer to try and block out the chill.
With the moon rising, it would only get any colder- and Hyunjin was not in the mood to sleep on a bench for the night.
Taking a hasty glance around, Hyunjin caught sight of the man that sat at the other end of the bench, hat dipped low, smoke curling in the air from the cigarette between his lips. He looked older- perhaps in his late thirties or early forties.
Perfect.
Hyunjin puffed his breath into his hand- just to make sure that it still smelled minty fresh- before sidling in right next to the man. He leaned close enough for their shoulders to brush as he plucked the cigarette right from his lips to take his own long drag. He didn’t cough- he was experienced, after all.
When one had oppressive parents, they did all that they could to defy them even if it meant menthol cigarettes.
Hyunjin puffed a ring of smoke into the air, and gave a sideways glance to the man. “Looking for some company tonight?” He crossed his legs, and those beady eyes moved to gaze at him appreciatively.
Hook, line, and sinker.
Hands roved up and down his body messily, breath mingling between the space of their lips every time they parted to breathe. Minho should have expected for the night to go like this, especially when Jisung was involved- but he wished that he could have at least taken a shower first.
They rolled around once again, Jisung practically shoving his tongue down Minho’s mouth- Minho parted his lips with a sigh of exasperation. He would have called Jisung over eager if his knee wasn’t currently an inch away from his crotch.
Minho felt a vibrating sensation and a warmth starting in his chest and spreading throughout the rest of his body like a wildfire. It was strangely familiar, and Minho pulled away with a sloppy smack of their lips. “Jisung?” He asked, wiping at his lips, “what’s that? Can you feel it?”
Numbness spread all the way to his fingertips, and Jisung from his place on top of him, only whined and pulled him closer to nip greedily at his neck. “Mmm. Whatever it is, ignore it. If there’s a problem- the others can handle it.”
Minho scoffed and whacked Jisung on the back. “That’s not how it works and you know it.”
Jisung hummed, but only continued to ravage Minho’s neck as he laid his back against a pillow.
Normally, Minho would scold him for leaving visible marks for the others to see- classes were starting up again in a few days- but he figured that their secret was probably out after Jisung cornered him on campus with roses and a radio playing ‘never gonna give you up’ after an argument.
It took Minho a while to finally figure out what was going on with his body- his ‘spider sense’ that Jisung liked to call it going haywire- and when he did, he pushed Jisung off of him by the chest.
His not-so-secret-lover toppled off of him unattractively, taking the sheets down with him as he hit the ground with a strangled yelp.
Minho stepped over him. He would have been more worried at the thudding sound of Jisung against the wooden floor if he didn’t know how resilient he was. “Minho!” Jisung complained, watching from the floor as Minho riffled through his backpack.
He unwrapped the satin cloth off of the jewelry box, unlocking it with the key he kept on his necklace. He hadn’t opened this box in a long while, so dust particles floated as he flipped the lid. Inside, sat the thin silver ring embedded with pink jewels like a constellation.
When Minho reached out to touch it, he pulled away with a noise of surprise. It was hot to the touch, and slightly more lustrous than normal.
Jisung hooked his chin on Minho’s shoulder to glance at the ring. “Wow,” he hummed, “does this mean that we finally found the fifth?” Jisung’s own green earrings glinted even in the dim lighting of the room.
Minho took a moment to consider. “I think the fifth is close. We should keep an eye out.”
“This is so exciting! Finally!” Jisung fell back down to the floor with an exasperated sound. His ruffled hair scattered around him like a halo, the remnants of their makeout session was still visible on his face. “It’s hard saving the world with just the four of us.”
Minho reached out to pat Jisung’s thigh. “Just a little longer…” Minho closed the jewelry box once again and tucked it safely back away into his bag.
Sometimes he felt that he wasn’t the one who should keep it- someone with actual powers like Chan, Jisung, Changbin, or Felix should, but they insisted that the ring rightfully belonged to him.
He’d found it what felt like just yesterday. He’d been clearing his grandma's basement after she passed away, heavy with grief, and a jewelry box was the last thing on his mind. Until, of course, it started to glow.
That had been a year ago.
And now, there was still so much that he didn’t know about the jewelry despite researching everything he could. Even contacting distant relatives and friends of his grandmas that he’d never spoken to before. He’d compiled a list of facts.
1- the five pieces of jewelry he’d found were previously in his grandmother's possession.
2- They were dangerous weapons that shouldn’t fall into the wrong hands.
3- The earth would have crumbled in on itself if not for them, and now they only had one piece of jewelry left that didn’t have an owner.
Minho himself had tried the ring on- but it rejected him as its owner. That was probably for the better, because Minho didn’t have any desire to prance around and kill weird looking demons while wearing a dress- that was more of his boyfriend's job.
“We’ll text Chan,” Minho decided, pulling himself from his thoughts. They were so deep he could have drowned in them. “We need to let the others know that the rings rightful owner is close by.”
Jisung once again draped his body alongside Minho’s back to languidly kiss along his spine. “Mmm, that’s nice and all- but can we continue with what we were doing before?”
Minho smirked, “and what was that?” He asked, teasingly innocent.
“Yah!” Jisung shouted in misery and despair. Minho took pity on him and pulled him in for another kiss- this time, on the lips.
Hyunjin carefully weaseled himself out of the covers of the plush bed, swinging his legs over the side.
Golden sunlight peeked through the blinds to cast rays across the otherwise dark room, and Hyunjin sent a secretive glance behind him to see the man still slumbering. The framed photo of him and his wife was face down on the dresser.
Hyunjin blindly stumbled through the man’s large room, sliding on a pair of pants and his hoodie. Passing by a large walk-in closet, Hyunjin eyes the row of shoes before plucking a pair from the shelf to try them on.
He hummed appreciatively as he took a step in the name brand sneakers- they pillowed his feet better than the loafers that his mother used to make him wear.
Hyunjin placed his own old shoes on the shelf in their place. Whatever- the man probably wouldn’t need them anyway, and Hyunjin felt that he deserved adequate payment for last night.
Hyunjin didn’t really get a good glance around the house the previous night, so it took a lot of navigating and tip-toeing through the winding hallways of the house before he finally found the front door.
Luckily, when he pulled up the map app on the phone, he discovered that he was only a couple of miles away from the campus. He could walk without flagging down a taxi (and wasting the wad of cash in his pocket that he slipped from the man’s fat wallet.)
The morning sunrise was pretty enough for Hyunjin’s fingers to twitch with the need to paint. Hyunjin stayed to the side of the walkway, taking a slower pace and avoiding the heavy foot traffic of the morning commuters.
A small sound from the alley to his right caught Hyunjin’s attention. “Hmm?” He glanced down, expecting to see maybe a squatter or a bird- but instead, there was a small little black cat curled up on a stained newspaper. Hyunjin dipped away from the crowd to crouch in front of the small withered thing.
His heart swelled with pity.
“I know how you feel,” he told the shaking kitten, zipping his duffle bag to riffle through it until he found the half full bag of dried up jerky. Did cats even eat jerky?
He offered the meat anyway, observing the way the tiny creature scrunched its nose up in contemplation before licking at the food. After a taste- it quickly gobbled the rest up, so fast that Hyunjin reeled his hand back to avoid the cat's small fangs.
After inhaling the rest, the cat pawed at his new shoes for more. “Geez, okay, hold on. You can have the rest.” Hyunjin set the rest out onto the newspaper, but didn’t dare touch the prickly little creature.
He wished that he could take the cat in- but he wasn’t in much better shape than it at the moment, and the dorms had a strict no pet policy.
The rest of the walk to the campus was long and boring- the city was vast and full of idiots who didn’t know how to drive, just like any other. When he finally reached the campus, though, it was like a society of its own. A beacon of rolling grass and crystalline water from ponds amongst the city.
From a Birds Eye view- Hyunjin was sure that it looked beautiful compared to the industrial landscape surrounding it.
The campus was buzzing with back to school activities- students wore the school colors as they paraded around. School pride and whatnot. Whenever any brainwashed college seniors approached him, Hyunjin just smiled shyly and scooted away with his heart stuck in his throat. He really wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone.
Preferably- Hyunjun would make it through the rest of his college life with little to no interactions with the others. Just him and his art.
Hyunjin didn’t even need to look at a map to figure out where the dormitories were located. A large hulking building stuck out- lustrous and a white color painted over the smooth brickwork.
They weren’t shoebox dorms like some other colleges had- instead, they were apartments that had personal rooms and a shared living area. Hyunjin much preferred this to the alternative.
The banners by the glass sliding doors of the building were so bright that they assaulted Hyunjin’s eyes as he walked in. He hoped that he didn’t have a small concussion- not with classes starting so soon.
Once he got past the line of other students checking in and to the front desk, the RA eyed him wearily. “Hmm… is this all that you have for your dorm?”
“Yes,” Hyunjin nodded, not feeling as embarrassed as he probably should have. All around him, students with their parents shuffled around with suitcases. He stood solitary among them with a singular duffle bag.
“Here’s my room verification,” Hyunjin handed the woman his receipts he’d printed at a local computer shop. “May I have the keys to my dorm now?”
“Oh… okay,” the rooming assistant passed a key to him, along with his student ID. “You’re in room 15A on the first floor, down the right hallway.”
Being on the first floor felt like a privilege because no matter how fancy and well funded the college was- the elevators probably broke down every once in a while, just like any other campus.
Dorm 15A had a big ‘welcome’ rug with little kittens on it. Unfortunately- it looked like his roommate had already arrived and unpacked.
He’d already learned from his confirmation letter that he would be rooming with Lee Felix- but it was different to put a face to a name. Unfortunately- this ‘Lee Felix’ looked like an extrovert.
Hyunjin tried his best to silently enter through the front door and toe off his shoes to place on the rack- but he must have been too loud because one of the doors to a room opened and a student immediately poked his head out.
“Hello! You must be Hwang Hyunjin!” The sunny boy exclaimed, the smatter of freckles across his face becoming more visible as he skipped closed for a handshake.
Hyunjin winced at the word ‘Hwang.’
“You’re no longer part of this family.”
“Just Hyunjin,” He corrected the blonde boy, whose smile was blinding as he took Hyunjin’s hand to shake adamantly.
“Okay then! You can call me Felix or Lixie! Either is fine.”
“…I’ll call you Felix.” Hyunjin decided with a flat tone. His skin was itching- he just wanted to curl up in bed and sleep.
“Okay!” Felix chirped, and then looked behind Hyunjin curiously. “Where’s the rest of your stuff? You didn’t bring anyone else to help move you in?”
“I don’t need any help.” Hyunjin insisted, stepping further into the dorm. From Felix’s cracked door and the potted plants in the living room, mats in the kitchen, Hyunjin could tell that his new roommate had an inkling for decoration. There was even a worn down couch in the living area that did not look like it had been provided by the school.
“Oh…” Felix blinked in surprise, but it didn’t take long for his shock to fade to curiosity. “Okay… so! What year are you? What’s your major?”
Hyunjin sighed. This would be a long day.
Felix followed Hyunjin into his room like a lost puppy and continued to chat away as Hyunjin began to unpack his clothes. He covered up the lumpy mattress with a blanket until he could get a job and buy himself some sheets. Hopefully soon.
During his time unpacking, Hyunjin unwillingly discovered that his new roommate was a sophomore dance major who loved parties and men with big muscles.
Hyunjin, in turn, admitted that he too was a sophomore. A transfer student (from the prestigious academy close to home) and an art major. Hyunjin only said as much to get Felix to stop talking for just a second, because his head was starting to hurt.
Felix had a freakishly deep voice, a juxtaposition to his sunny demeanor and relatively cute appearance.
Felix was sitting on the mattress, kicking his feet as he handed Hyunjin folded clothes to hang in the closet. “You know, your long dark hair is really pretty,” Hyunjin’s skin tingled when his roommate reached out to caress his silky hair between his fingers.
Hyunjin was too shocked by the tender contact to pull away. “You know, you would look really pretty with some hair clips. I have a few that you can borrow, if you ask nicely enough.”
Hyunjin’s eyes lingered on the hair clips in Felix’s own blonde hair, tucking the strands out of his face. One of them had a shiny yellow jewel that was so lustrous it almost looked otherworldly.
Felix must have caught his gaze, because he patted the hair clip, “not this one though,” he wagged his finger with a wink, “this one’s mine.”
Before Hyunjin could comment that yellow wasn’t really his color anyway, Felix’s phone buzzed, and he (finally) pulled away from Hyunjin to look at the screen. His eyes glanced over the phone, and whatever he saw must have been shocking because his eyes widened.
“Oh! Look at the time! I have to go now. Sorry that I couldn’t keep you company and hang around longer to help you unpack!”
“It’s okay,” Hyunjin said, “really.”
Felix slid from off of the bed, nearly pulling the blanket along with him. “Well, it was nice to meet you! I’ll be back before dark! Classes start tomorrow, so I won’t be too late.”
Hyunjin hoped that maybe his new roommate was going off to party, and would leave him alone like this for the rest of the semester- but he knew that was wishful thinking.
As Felix happily skipped out of the room with a pep in his step, Hyunjin sighed heavily and returned to his work.
The wrapper of Minho’s hamburger crinkled, annoyingly loud, as he unwrapped it from its wrapping. Next to him, Jisung was already gorging himself on his own like a starving dog who hadn’t eaten in months. Across the booth, Chan and Changbin ate with much more class than Minho’s boy toy.
Jeongin and Seungmin were too caught up in their journalism clubs back to school fair to join them- but they weren’t really necessary for this meeting. Their nosey asses just so happened to be dragged into this mess when they stalked them around campus a few months back.
As annoying as they were- it was nice to befriend the chief editors of the schools newsletter. Instead of publishing ‘four men were reported running around campus in frilly dresses!’ They wrote- ‘four men reported running around campus in frilly dresses due to a collective hallucination caused by the moldy cafeteria bread.’
Plus- Seungmin was a medical student, which was always a bonus for their now accident prone lives.
Minho bit into his burger and did a head count of their table. They had Chan, Changbin, himself, and Jisung- this just left…
“I’m so sorry I’m late!” Felix announced as he burst through the doors to the campus burger diner, the bell above chiming cutely to signal his arrival as if his own voice wasn’t enough to do so.
“You’re always late,” Jisung commented with his mouth stuffed full of food. He crumbled up his burger wrapper and tossed it at Felix, who expertly dodged as he scooted into the booth next to Changbin.
“Mouth shut,” Minho ordered and reached over to close Jisung’s jaw for him. Smacking noises always made him go insane, and Jisung knew as much.
“So? What’s this about?” Felix asked curiously, “it sounded pretty urgent over the group text…” his stomach growled, and he quickly put a hand over it to silence the organ. “Hold that thought- maybe I should order my food first.”
Wordlessly, Changbin slid over one of the extra burgers that he ordered- just for Felix- and he blushed as he took it. “Thank you, Binnie. Always so thoughtful,” he landed a kiss on his cheek and Minho wondered, not for the first time, if the two were fucking.
“I just knew that you’d be late,” Changbin explained, not like it made his predicament any better, but Felix was now too busy stuffing the burger into his mouth to bother with shooting his bedroom eyes.
“I’ll cut to the chase,” Minho leaned forward against the table because he was beginning to feel a big disgusted with his friend's blooming relationship. Or whatever it was. “The owner of the ring is somewhere close by. It’s been reacting to a presence ever since last night.”
The others all gave each other looks of disbelief- because they’d never expected to find another one of them. Two years ago, if Minho had seen this conversation, he would have admitted all of them into a psyche ward.
“Are you sure?” Felix tentatively asked, stealing a small sip from Changbin’s drink. “I mean, the owner of the ring could be anywhere in the world… why here?”
“And why you four?” Minho retorted.
“…Good point.”
“So, what are we going to do?” Jisung asked, bumping his knee against Minho’s under the small table. “Do we just hold the ring up like a metal detector to every student that we see? How do we even know they’re on this campus?”
“The campus is like a city of its own. If they aren’t here, then they’re outside somewhere close,” Chan concluded. “When we meet him, we should ease him into the idea instead of just tossing the ring at him. We wouldn’t want him to pass out from the shock like Jisung did.”
“Hey!” Jisung squeaked, cheeks flaming firetruck red, “we said that we’d never mention that ever again!”
Minho hid a laugh behind his hand. Chan had been the first to bond with the blue necklace- at Minho’s grandma's funeral, nonetheless. That had been a disaster and a big learning experience for the both of them. After that experience, the rest joined their little team one by one.
Felix sighed exasperated and slumped back in his seat- always so dramatic. “How are we going to focus on fighting off cataclysms while passing classes all at the same time? I almost failed last year! Thank god Seungmin is good at statistics.”
Chan peered from over Changbin’s shoulder to give a chiding look. Always the responsible one of their group- “maybe if you partied less…”
“Partying is not a choice. It’s a lifestyle- they call to me.”
Jisung snorted, “yeah, okay. A lifestyle choice, maybe.” Though he couldn’t argue too much against Felix because he was the one who accompanied him to all of those parties to get shit faced and call either Chan or Minho to drive them home.
“Speaking of failing,” Changbin interjected before Felix could launch across the table to lovingly strangle Jisung. “How’s your new roommate? Did you meet him yet?”
Felix’s last roommate flunked out of all of his classes and moved away before the last semester ended. It was nice to have a vacant dorm all to himself, but Minho knew that Felix missed the company.
Felix instantly perked up at the question, “oh! I did meet him! His names Hyunjin, and he’s really cute. A little reserved and shy- but he has this edge to him like ‘don’t touch me or I’ll poke your eye out with a paintbrush.’ He’s got the doomed artist vibe.”
“That’s nice, Felix,” Changbin patted his back.
“You know, Jackson Wang’s back to school extravaganza is next week…” Felix eyed the group casually as he took a long sip, finishing off Changbin’s large soda. “We’re all going, right?”
“I don’t know…” Chan trailed off.
“Yes,” Jisung decided adamantly for all of them, “we’re all going to get shit faced and have some fun. Felix, you should bring your new roommate around so that we can meet Mr. Shy-and-brooding.”
Felix pulled a thoughtful face, folding his hands together on top of the table. In the distance, a group of students ordering food laughed loudly. “Hmm, it may be hard to drag him out of his room, but I’ll try!”
Minho felt bad for whatever poor soul was rooming with Lee Felix.
A sudden sense of vertigo and unease washed over Minho like an ocean tide, and he gripped onto the table in front of him to prevent from face planting forward into his meal. His face must have gone white as a sheet, because Jisung grabbed him by the arm to steady him, concern knitting his brows together. “Min?” He asked, “are you sensing something?”
‘Yeah,’ Minho wanted to say, ‘I sense that I’m about to throw up all over you.’ Instead, he kept a white knuckle grip on the table until the world around him finally stopped spinning.
“Something’s near,” he finally managed, wiping the sweat from his brow.
“Now what do you mean by ‘near?’” Changbin asked, “because the last time you said that- I had to hop my ass onto a train in full costume to reach the cataclysm.”
Minho wasn’t exactly an expert at figuring this shit out- he’d only been doing it for a year now, thank you very much. Not everyone knew what To do when they suddenly grew a radar for demonic ugly things. “It’s close enough… maybe forming outside of the campus.” Minho closed his eyes and concentrated.
He was cold and floating. Bubbles formed above and all around in a flurry. When he tried to breathe, he couldn’t. “I think it’s below the seabed of the lake.”
If not the lake- then the ocean miles away, though that was unlikely. The creatures always formed close to them, attracted to the energy of the jewels. Minho didn’t know what they would use them for- but it couldn’t be anything good.
“Do you think that Chan can just solo them so that I can order another burger?” Jisung asked, already attempting to wave their waitress down- but she was either ignoring him or couldn’t see.
Minho shrugged, “it doesn't feel like anything too big. Maybe class two at the most. One or two of you should be able to handle it while the rest of us stay here…”
They all exchanged looks, holding their hands out for a rock paper scissors match. Chan lost. “Okay, I’ll go,” he decided as he stood up and then looked at the next loser. “Felix? Are you up for a little fight?”
“Always!” Felix scooted out of the booth, tossing Changbin’s empty drink into the nearby trash can. “There’s this new move that I wanted to try. It’s called the sunny suplex…” his excited voice faded as he and Chan exited the burger joint, the bell above the door chiming once more.
Minho sighed and held his face in his hands to ward off the headache. This life would never get old.
Chapter 2
Notes:
I can’t believe I’m actually having to say this- but if you don’t have anything nice to comment, then don’t comment it at all. Thank you!
Anyway, if someone can guess which specific magical girl anime this is based on I’ll give you a gold star.
Chapter Text
First of all- he woke up to Felix’s loud singing in the shower at six in the morning, because apparently his roommate was a morning who liked to sing his own dramatic rendition of genie in a bottle with a few added embellishments.
At one point- as Hyunjin groaned and turned in bed to cover his face with a pillow- he was sure that he could hear a crashing noise of Felix slipping and falling on his ass.
Honestly, the entire scene would have been humorous, endearing, even, and if it wasn’t the ass crack of dawn.
Hyunjin’s morning was automatically made better, though, when his stomach rumbled to the scent of bacon sizzling on a pan. Drawn to the smell that wafted through the dorm, Hyunjin rolled out of bed and sleepily shuffled to the kitchen with half lidded eyes. There Felix was, in his bright pink booty shorts and an apron that read ‘kiss the chef or bend the chef.’
As soon as Felix noticed his presence at the doorway, he smiled so brightly that Hyunjin had to squint and cover his eyes, like he was looking at the sunlight. “Here!” Felix chirped, holding up a plate with strips of bacon while a few more sizzled in the pan. “I made some for you, too! There’s milk and bread set out.”
Hyunjin yawned and rubbed at his eyes, simply taking a morning to comprehend. He felt like a zombie in the mornings. From the window, it wasn’t even light outside yet.
“Why. Up. So. Early?” He managed, trudging close to grab the plate (bowing as he did so, because he was not a monster) and plopped down on a stool.
“You’re so cute!” Felix squealed- much too loud for the early hour. His voice was already all warmed up from Christina Aguilera. Hyunjin was too sleepily to bat his roommate away when Felix started to mess with his sleep mussed hair.
Hyunjin shoved a piece of bacon into his mouth in an animalistic way.
“You’re like a kitten!”
That only reminded Hyunjin of that little cat that he’d found in the alleyway just yesterday. Maybe he should go back to get the animal…
“M half asleep,” Hyunjin told Felix, as if he couldn’t already tell. It was more to point out the fact that Felix was wide awake. As far as Hyunjin knew- only psychopaths and old people woke up so early.
“Well, I have a busy day ahead of me!” Felix took a seat at the barstool next to Hyunjin. They didn’t have room in their dorm for a table, so the stools by the counters were where they ate.
Felix was drinking what looked like apple juice. “The only time I can get some dance practice done at the gym's studio is in the morning!”
Hyunjin watched, as he nibbled on his own bacon, the way that Felix inhaled his meal, feeling a bit impressed. Downing his apple juice and tossing the plastic cup in the sink, like a whirlwind Felix was already at the front door toeing his shoes on. “I’ve got to go! Have a good first day!”
Hyunjin could hardly wave a hand to say goodbye before his roommate was already gone. Body dragged down by sleep, Hyunjin picked at the rest of his meal before stumbling to fall face first on the couch. He went back to sleep, dead to the world and exhausted just from listening to Felix’s rendition of Christina Aguilera.
Which was how he ended up being late to his first class of the day. He woke up to sunlight streaming on his face, promptly looked at the time in fear, and scrambled to look decent. He was so rushed that he nearly left the dormitory building without any shoes on.
When he slipped through the lecture hall- after checking his schedule to make sure it was the correct room twice- he warned many glares from both the professor and the students alike as he claimed a seat in the very back.
Great- already off to a good start. Good thing it was only a color theory class, so he probably wouldn’t have to talk to the occupants in the room or the professor ever- unless for some reason there was a group color blending session. It was only a semester-long class- the second semester would divide it into art history.
Hyunjin escaped from the room as soon as the lecture ended and the projector flickered off, and was outside the building before anyone else. It was around lunchtime now, and Hyunjin’s stomach was begging for more food- he ate like a bird in the mornings, so bacon was the most he consumed.
However- when Hyunjin found the campus dining hall (because luckily his meal plan was also covered by the scholarship) it was so packed that he took one look at it, turned around, and walked to his next class. His chest was tight with anxiety Just looking at the swarms of students lining up at the doors to scan their cards for entry.
He was so overwhelmed that he ended up taking a seat with his back to a tree to provide him shade from the scathingly sunny day. He had about an hour until his next class- romantic era art appreciation- so he unzipped his bag and pulled out his beloved sketchbook to make a rough outline of the scenery. The college campus was pretty- prettier than even the ads in the welcome video.
As he absentmindedly sketched thin, and then overlaid even thicker lines, he winced from the forming headache. He covered his cheek that morning with concealer because the bruise as a parting gift from his father was starting to show. No doubt, it was the main contributing factor to his headache.
Hyunjin would have fallen asleep under the tree had he not set an alarm to pack his things away and get going.
Hyunjin’s next class wasn’t much better. It was mind numbingly boring, filled with mixed majors of kids who just took the class for their fine arts credit.
The professor had such a thick accent that Hyunjin could hardly understand what she was saying. He heard a few of the students around him asking where her subtitles were- apparently it was a funny joke because the others laughed.
By the time the lecture was finally released an hour later, Hyunjun stumbled out of the art building feeling disoriented and wondering how he would do this college life. (He had to, no matter what- there was no turning back now, but even as he filled out the application he had second thoughts. What if he wasn’t good enough? What if he failed?)
Exhausted and out of sorts, Hyunjin sighed heavily and brushed dark hair from his face to tuck behind his ear because he didn’t have any fancy hair clips that Felix had and he certainly would not ask him to borrow any. Hyunjin probably had a few paint smears on his face from an earlier class, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.
He just wanted to trudge back to the dorm, defeated, and curl up in bed with the one singular blanket that he owned.
Hyunjin absentmindedly rubbed his bruised cheek as he pulled his phone from his tote bag (he wondered when he would need to start paying the phone bill) to look up the campus map. The battery bar at the top corner of the screen flashed in warning just once before the entire phone shut off and died.
Damn it.
In his frustration, Hyunjin didn’t realize that there was someone in front of him before it was too late. He ran smack dab into the person, his chin hitting a nose painfully.
The momentum sent him tumbling down onto the concrete, landing straight on his ass. Hyunjin hissed and rubbed at his lower back to ease the pain as the other person- his assaulter who should be in jail- recovered from the surprise.
“Oh my god,” his attacker said, “are you okay?” He had a thick accent- maybe Australian?- Curious, Hyunjin peered up, ready to make some excuse and scramble back to the safety of his room, but his tongue grew heavy in his mouth and stopped working when he looked up at the statue of the Greek god above him.
Maybe, his concussion was finally getting to him.
The statue who looked very real was saying something to him, but Hyunjin couldn’t comprehend as he stated uselessly. The man seemed to be expecting him to say something, so Hyunjin forced himself to say something- anything. “…no?”
The man knit his eyebrows tight in concern. That must not have been the correct response. Hyunjin scrambled to redeem himself. “Oh! I mean- yes. I’m fine. I must not have been looking where I was going.”
The man’s thick lips quirked into an uneven smile, and Hyunjin wished that whatever god was above, watching this for their own sick amusement, would smite him down already. “That’s okay,” the muscled Adonis offered his hand, “here, let me help.”
Normally, Hyunjin would stare at the hand for a solid minute before ignoring it, crawling away, and choosing a hole to die in. Instead, he grabbed the hand and let the stranger help wrench him up to his feet. The wind blew into his face, and Hyunjin tugged a stubborn strand of hair that somehow got caught in the corner of his lip.
The second thing that his eyes were drawn to was the man’s sculpted face. Big eyelashes like he put on mascara every day paired with a thick upper lip, and a slightly big nose.
The third thing that his eyes were drawn to was the blue jewel- a sapphire, maybe, attached to a chain looped spring his neck. The gem rested just between his clavicles. It glinted beautifully under the sun.
The stranger cleared his throat, and Hyunjin looked up guilty and pretended that he wasn’t just checking him out. “You look a little worried, is everything okay?”
“Hmm? Oh, yes…” Hyunjin hesitated, his fingers tightening around the straps of his tote bag. He should have walked away by now-
But…
He was here now. On his own- without his parents or anyone else breathing down his neck. He was no longer under any scrutiny and could do things of his own violation. He wasn’t forced to make small talk with other rich kids at the monthly gala fundraisers anymore…
But for some reason, Hyunjin wouldn’t mind making small talk with this man.
He bit his bottom lip and inhaled sharply through his nose. “Actually… I could use some help. The campus map on my phone died. Can you point me to the dormitories?”
The man’s face lit up pleasantly, like he wasn’t expecting such an easy response. “Oh! Well that’s simple enough. You’ll just follow this path-“ he pointed at the fork in the road to the one branching outward- “and keep walking until you reach the auditorium building. From there, you’ll veer to the left and keep walking. You’ll run into it eventually.”
Hyunjin felt a little swell of pride and satisfaction. He felt a little stupid at feeling so accomplished just for asking directions- he was almost twenty. (He quite literally slept with a stranger just so that he didn’t need to sleep on a bus stop bench. It was strange how his anxiety picked and chose when to rear its ugly head.) Still…
“Thank you,” he bowed his head politely in appreciation, and that annoying strand of hair made it back to his face again. “Im a transfer student, so I’m still learning the layout of the campus.”
“It’s okay, I lived in the dorms a year ago.” The beautiful man leaned closer, giving him a conspirative wink, “pro tip- invest in shower sandals. They’ll save your life.”
“Ah…” Hyunjin blinked. He hoped that his cheeks didn’t get too red with the close proximity. “I will, thank you.” (He would as soon as he found a job. He’d already looked into campus jobs, but they didn’t pay nearly enough to keep him afloat, so he would need to look into the city ones.)
“My name is Bang Chan, and you can always ask me anything if you have any questions. Doesn't matter how embarrassing.” The man introduced himself, and it was nice to put a name to that chiseled face…
“Do you always help transfer students so nicely?” Hyunjin asked coyly before he could stop himself- mentally slapping his own forehead and saying ‘stupid stupif stupid’ on repeat until Chan flashed him a flirtatious once over with his eyes.
“Only the pretty ones.”
Oh, this was flirting. Hyunjin was flirting. With a man. Who was way out of his league. His brain malfunctioned for a full minute, and he couldn’t even manage to squeak out a reply as Chan pulled a pen from his pocket and uncapped it using his teeth. He reached to grab Hyunjin’s wrist, but stopped himself before he could.
Why was everyone around here so touchy?
“May I?” He asked, and Hyunjin nodded numbly, offering up his arm. He wondered if Bang Chan was going to give him an autograph.
By the time he was done, Hyunjin didn’t realize that Chan wrote his phone number down until he pulled away. “I have to go to my next class now, but you should text me!” He sent a wave over his shoulder, and just like that- like he was a figment of Hyunjin’s imagination- he was gone.
Hyunjin stood still for a solid minute, wondering what in the hell just happened.
Hyunjin’s mouth only started to work twenty minutes later once he finally reached the dormitory. He realized that he had been so awkward that he forgot to tell Bang Chan his name in response when he introduced himself.
This time- he really did facepalm.
He’d hoped that he would face the dorm to himself for the afternoon- but that had been wishful thinking because the moment he entered, he was greeted with a loud- “Hyunjin-ah! Hi!”
Hyunjin wondered if Felix would go away if he just ignored him.
“How was your first day of classes?” Felix asked from the couch. His legs were folded under him and there was a giant bowl of ice cream balanced on his lap as he flipped through the tv stations. Hyunjin wondered if the dorms came with the television or if Felix dragged it along with him when he moved in.
“Did you have fun? Did you meet any new friends?"
Hyunjin placed his tote bag on the counter in an exhausted way and wondered if this was how kids felt when their parents grilled them.
“It was fine,” Hyunjin answered shortly as he bent to slide off his shoes, and then dragged himself to his room. When he reached his arm out for the door knob- Felix gasped loudly, and Hyunjin knew he’d made a big mistake.
“Did you get someone’s number?!” Felix exclaimed, looking like he was about to pounce from the couch, but Hyunjin quickly escaped into his room and shut the door with a hasty- “bye, Felix!”
When the blonde tried to poke his head inside, Hyunjin tossed a pillow at Felix, and he gave up on his nosey endeavors. Good. He needed a nap.
Hyunjin didn’t have dreams that often. Which was why he was surprised when, as soon as his head hit the pillow, his eyes opened again. He thought, at first, that maybe he just experienced one of those sleeps where he didn’t actually get any rest- but he was wrong.
He sat up in the bed, his measly little blanket fell down past his waist and a sense of wrongness filled his gut. Something was off, but he couldn’t place his finger on it.
Hyunjin scanned the bland dorm room for anything out of place- the basic furniture was still the same. The side desk, the lamp that didn’t work, and even all of his clothes in the wardrobe remained on their hangars.
So what…?
Suddenly, the blanket on the bed shifted and rustled, as if there was a small critter underneath it. Hyunjin (bravely) yelped, tossed the blanket across the room, and scooted back against his headboard. From the wooden floor, the blanket angrily chittered and scurried around while Hyunjin searched for anything that could be used as a weapon.
Before he could throw the lamp, a white little fluffy thing emerged from its blankety cocoon. It looked like a weasel, or maybe a mink, but moved with the agility of a cat as it jumped up onto the bed and clambered right into Hyunjin’s lap. He held back a scream when the thing looked up at him with impossibly pink eyes.
“What?” Hyunjin asked the thing, as if it would answer him. Instead, it blinked up at him, and then squeaked and nudged at his hand before hopping off. Its little claws clattered against the wood as it scampered over the floor and clawed at the door.
“You… you want out?” Hyunjin asked it.
The ferret-weasel-mink thing stared at him as if to ask ‘are you stupid? Yes, incompetent human.’ Hyunjin sighed. He could not believe he was about to follow a dream critter around his dream dorm.
Hyunjin’s socked feet padded lightly as he opened the door to let the little creature squeeze out of the crack he created. Hyunjin tentatively took a step out into the small living space. Felix, apparently, wasn’t available to bother him even in his dreams because his foot was closed- and he never closed his door.
“What do you want you… thing?” Hyunjin called it, and the ferret- he finally decided it was some kind of albino ferret with a freaky mutation- clawed at the curtain that covered the sliding door to their balcony.
“Promise you’ll go outside and stay outside if I let you out?” Hyunjin grumbled. The crested gnashed its teeth, and he took that as a yes, so he pulled back the curtain and opened the sliding door.
And then quickly shut it again because why the fuck did the sky look like that?
A multitude of colors swirled in the sky like the famous Van Gogh painting- crimson reds, Indian yellows, phalo blues, titanium whites… many other colors in Hyunjin’s palette that he could only hope to afford to use on his artworks. Hyunjin swallowed thickly and spared a glance to the ground below, a coral and foamy landscape that almost looked bouncy.
‘What the fuck’ didn’t quite cover this.
The last thing that Hyunjin wanted was to go outside, but the door opened once again out of its own free will without him even pushing it. A rush of almost volcanic heat hit him like a freight train, and the stupid little ferret looped around his feet, forcing him to stumble forward onto the balcony.
Hyunjin knew that realistically, this was a dream and it could be over at any second, but it didn’t make it any less terrifying when he heard a creaking groan from just beyond the rails of the balcony.
Just like every white girl in the horror movies, Hyunjin stepped forward and wrapped his hands around the rails to support himself. The crackling groan intensified, and just when he leaned over to look down-
The noise sounded again- this time, right against the shell of his ear, directly behind him. With his heart in his throat, Hyunjin let out a strangled scream as he whipped around and instinctively brought his hands between him and the ugly grotesque creature.
It was so inhumane that Hyunjin couldn’t even describe it as anything other than a rotting corpse. Its breath smelled like decomposition, and when it opened its mouth to reveal a glowing core deep inside, Hyunjin’s skin itched. It lumbered forward, staring right down at him with gouged eyes, and the small of Hyunjin’s back hit the railing.
Before he could stop his momentum- he was falling over the balcony head first.
“Hyunjin-ah!”
Hyunjin sprang up from his bed, awakening with a gasp as he greedily filled air into his lungs. It was like he had been holding his breath in his sleep the entire time, because no matter how much he inhaled, it was never enough.
From his window- he could tell that it was sundown with the pruning purple sky. His singular blanket had been tossed to the floor at some point in his uneasy sleep. “Hyunjin-ah? Are you okay?” Felix asked from the doorway, eyebrows tight together in worry. He had a bag of takeout in his hands and it smelled delicious. “I didn’t mean to intrude, but I heard noises…”
Hyunjin sighed exasperatedly and ran a hand through his hair as he finally caught his breath. “I’m fine,” he assured his roommate who was too kind for his own good. “Just had a… weird dream.”
‘Weird’ was an understatement- but Hyunjin didn’t necessarily want to draw attention to the subject because he knew that Felix would and could talk about anything and everything. He probably owned those trashy horoscope cards that told him what his dreams meant.
“Well,” Felix shook the baggie in his hand like he was trying to bare Hyunjin out of his room with a treat. (He was, and it was working.) “I got some takeout from the campus ramen bar for us. Are you up to eating?”
Hyunjin’s stomach growled as an answer, reminded that he hadn’t eaten anything aside from a few pieces of bacon all day. Hyunjin wondered why Felix was so nice to him when he hardly talked to him.
Together, they set up their food on the bar countertop and reheated their separate containers. Spicy Ramen noodles- Hyunjin’s favorite. He slurped it down excitedly, and Felix cried a little next to him, drinking milk every few seconds. Hyunjin wondered why the guy got spicy when he had the tolerance of a baby.
Hyunjin watched in amusement, trying not to smile too hard as Felix panted and chugged down the rest of the milk straight out of the carton. “So,” Felix asked, wiping the milk mustache from his upper lip, “what I asked earlier before you so rudely threw a projectile at me-“
“-it was a pillow.”
“Dosnt matter. How were classes?”
Hyunjin simply shrugged and slurped some more noodles slowly, hoping that Felix would get the message and drop the subject. He didn’t.
“That bad, huh?”
“…Yes,” Hyunjin admitted with a sigh, nibbling at the end of his chopstick just to give his mouth something to do. A nervous habit. “I love art, but the classes can be boring.”
“Can I see your art someday?” Felix asked, clasping his fingers together, “pretty please? I’m sure that it’s amazing! Especially to get into such a competitive arts program here…”
Hyunjin instinctively shrank in on himself, because no one had ever asked him to see his art before. None had been interested enough- at best- and disapproving- at worst. But wasn’t this what he left home for? To be vulnerable and to be himself? To spread his branches…
“Okay,” Hyunjin finally agreed, after much deliberation. “Someday, yes.”
“Yay!” Felix cheered and smiled at him so brightly that Hyunjin was almost convinced he was someone important and worthwhile to his roommate.
Felix suddenly launched across the bar to grab Hyunjin’s hands- not unlike the way Bang Chan did earlier in the day to help him up. “I have an idea! I know how to make your night better.”
Hyunjin blinked. “…You do?”
“Yes! Let’s have a scary movie night! Scary movies always make me feel better.”
Hyunjin hummed in an unsure way because he wasn’t sure how a scary movie would make his nerves from his bad dream any better.
“Please?” Felix asked, getting into his personal space to show off his big eyes and pouty lips. Looking at his roommate- Hyunjin suddenly understood the allure of puppy eyes. Felix was hard to dislike- even when he woke Hyunjin up at dawn by singing in the shower.
“…okay,” he finally agreed once more, and like a violent whirlwind, Felix was already up to pop kettle corn popcorn in their small microwave. Suddenly, Hyunjin figured that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to branch out and make new friends with someone like Felix- especially when he was the one that he would be rooming with for the rest of the year.
They settled into the couch to watch Godzilla together- because apparently Felix’s definition of ‘scary’ was Godzilla- the popcorn held securely by Hyunjin’s thighs. Felix gasped and even closed his eyes at a few parts that ten year olds would probably laugh at, haunt the blanket to cover his face.
As Felix’s eyes remained glued on the screen in wonder, Hyunjin could feel his beginning to drift shut against his will because he’d already seen this movie so many times. Felix’s deep voice as he commented on the scenes in the movie turned from annoying to almost relaxing, pulling Hyunjin into a sleepy trance.
He couldn’t help it when he drifted off halfway through, just as Shin Godzilla was destroying Japan.
The next time Hyunjin woke up, his jaw hurt and his eyes were sore. The room was completely dark as the credits of the movie rolled on the television screen with some ominous orchestral soundtrack playing. It took a few moments for Hyunjin to register that he was lying down completely now with his head pillowed in Felix’s lap.
It was an unattractive angle to look up at his roommate who had his head leaning back against the couch, mouth hung open as he snored. His fingers were tangled in Hyunjin’s hair, as if he fell asleep playing with it.
Maybe his new loud, boisterous, sunny (and many other adjectives that could encompass Lee Felix) roommate wasn’t so bad.
Decidedly- the next day of class was much better than his first. He had less classes on a Tuesday- only two, one before lunch and one after.
Everytime he exited and entered the art building, Hyunjin glanced around his surroundings to see if he could catch sight of the muscled Adonis- Chan- from yesterday. He was disappointed only to see a few people, none of which looked like him or sported the familiar accent that only Chan and Felix seemed to share.
Hyunjin would ask Felix if he knew who Chan was (or if he, himself, was a transfer student from Australia) but he didn’t want to give his nosey roommate any lighter fluid to fuel the fire of his curiosity. Hyunjin would need to do some detective work of his own if he really wanted to find out more about Bang Chan.
In a way that did not involve texting him from the number Hyunjin saved in his phone- which he would rather die than admit to doing.
Maybe, he was just meant to be Hyunjin’s college version of a hallway crush.
After his morning quantitative reasoning class, Hyunjin dragged himself all the way to the dining hall- only to be met with the same problem from yesterday. The dining hall was absolutely packed and filled to the brim with other students.
Hyunjin decided on the spot that there was no way he was going to walk into that crowded ass building no matter how much his stomach grumbled in despair. He didn’t eat breakfast that morning, and Felix was already gone when he woke up.
Hyunjin expected to have quite a few enemies in college- he wasn’t very likable in high school because people got pissed when he kept to himself- but he didn’t expect for one of those enemies to be the dining hall.
Hyunjin scanned the crowd. All of the tables outside and inside were occupied. Hyunjin was about to give up and flee back to the dorm when-
“Hyunjin-ah!” A familiar deep voice called. “Over here!”
There was a lot going on, students buzzing around, some louder than others, but it was nearly impossible to miss Felix standing up from his own table to wave him over like he was landing an airplane. A few people stared at him, but Felix didn’t care. Hyunjin wished he was a little more like him in that manner.
The table that Felix somehow managed to claim was outside, a circular one. Another student who Hyunjin could only assume was Felix’s friend sat with him, his puffy cheeks stuffed with food like someone would take it away from him. “Hey!” Felix sat down once Hyunjin drew a little closer, moving his bag to pat the bench, “sit with us.”
Hyunjin bowed to the student he never met in greeting before sitting down. “This is my friend, Han Jisung. Jisungie- this is my roommate who I’ve been talking about, Hyunjin-ah.” Felix introduced, and Hyunjin decided that Jisung reminded him of a squirrel with the way that his big brown eyes darted over Hyunjin.
“Nice to meet you, Hyunjin-ssi,” the squirrel dude smiled, but his mouth was full so it looked a little intimidating. Felix pointed to his own lips, and Jisung quickly closed his mouth, a bit horrified.
Hyunjin covered his mouth to stifle his laugh, but his amusement was short-lived because Felix elbowed him. “Don’t you have anything to eat?”
Hyunjin shuffled in his seat and awkwardly eyed the bustling dining hall, the entrance just a few feet away from where they were sitting. The door was constantly open with the flow of students walking in and out.
He didn’t want to just explode himself and admit that he was uncomfortable with crowds- he was a full grown adult- but Felix seemed to understand him anyway because his expression softened. “Here,” he nudged his own tray a little closer to Hyunjin, “how about you share the rest of my food with me?”
Feeling a little touched, Hyunjin stared down at the half eaten meal. His stomach rumbled again cruelly. “…Are you sure?”
“Yup!” Felix proclaimed, even handing over an extra pair of chopsticks eagerly. “I’m not that hungry.”
Jisung must have caught on, because he perked up with wide eyes, “oh! Me too!” And combined their food into one big pile for him. Hyunjin grew a little red as they forked over their meals, showing his gratitude to the both of them.
“So, how have your second day classes been so far?” Felix asked conversationally. “Better than yesterday?”
“Mhm,” Hyunjin nodded, trying not to make it look like he was starved as he scarfed down the food. “Much better.” Except for the fact that he had yet to see his Prince Charming from yesterday. If Hyunjin asked, he was sure that Felix would tell him who Bang Chan was. He knew who everyone was.
Hyunjin, not wanting the conversation to rely solely on his day, looked across the circular table to Jisung. “You’re friends with him? Did the two of you meet here?”
Luckily for him, Jisung was just as much of a chatter box as Felix was. He listened, content to nod along as he discovered that Jisung and Felix met through a mutual friend only a year ago, and that he was also a sophomore just like him. Apparently- he was also a music composition major.
“Oh!” Felix nudged Jisung excitedly, “tell him about the project that 3RACHA are working on.” Felix winked, and Hyunjin felt a little bit out of the loop because he frankly had no idea what a 3RACHA was. Just before he was going to bite the bullet and ask-
Hyunjin was shoved forward, his chest hitting the table so hard that he wheezed. The group of boys who had been playing around, tossing a ball around behind him, hardly even apologized for jostling him when one of them bumped him. Hyunjin glared at the food and rubbed at his chest.
“Hey!” Jisung’s voice cut through the chatter of the students all around, and much to Hyunjin’s horror, he stood from his seat to point a finger at the ball player. “Watch where you’re going! You hurt him!”
The group, obviously not expecting for someone to actually call them out, just scoffed and looked at one another. Hyunjin wanted to hide his face in his hands and melt into the ground.
“You should apologize,” Felix joined in, looking slightly more intimidating than Jisung when he glared. Hyunjin had never seen him do anything but smile before. It was a bit unsettling.
“Yeah dude, okay…” the one who Hyunjin assumed bumped into him looked down at him like he was gum at the bottom of his shoe. Just like the way his dad always looked at him. “Sorry.”
It wasn’t a very heartfelt apology, but Hyunjin didn’t care. Jisung and Felix looked at him- as if asking ‘should we beat this guy up?’ But Hyunjin just shook his head.
“Man, what a bunch of assholes,” Jisung grumbled as he sat down and angrily nibbled at his pea snap with loud crunching noises. “What were we talking about again?”
“Uhm… your music project?”
“Oh, don’t mind that.” Jisung waved a hand flippantly at him. “I have a more important question.” When he leaned forward to give him a gummy smile, Hyunjin knew that he was up to no good.
“…Yes?”
“Has our deer Felixie invited you to Jackson Wang's massive house party? It’s on Friday, and everyone will be there. Well, at least, all of the cool people.”
Hyunjin was afraid to admit that he didn’t even know who this ‘Jackson Wang’ was, nor did he have any interest in college parties. “…No?”
Jisung tisked at Felix disapprovingly, wagging his finger in the blonde's face. “Well, consider yourself invited now. You have to come.”
“I appreciate the offer, really, but parties aren’t my scene…”
Felix gave Hyunjin a tight smile that said ‘we’ll discuss this later.’ If Hyunjin was lucky- he would forget all about it. Before Jisung could pressure him any more (his parents said that he would be peer pressured to take drugs or drink alcohol- not join parties) like a saving grace, their phones buzzed.
Both Felix and Jisung scrambled for their phones to squint down at the screens- and then exchanged grim looks like someone had murdered their pet dog. Hyunjin watched, confused, as the two began to hastily pack away their notebooks and laptops they’d been using to study before Hyunjin came alone.
“We have to go, Jinnie-ah,” Felix pushed their shared tray a little closer, along with his own bottle of water. “You can eat the rest of our meal. Have a good rest of your day, I’ll see you later at the dorm!”
“It was nice meeting you, Hyunjin-ssi,” Jisung added before the both of them scrambled away. Hyunjin sat there, chopsticks still in his hand. What could have the two of them in such a rush?
He shrugged.
Whatever.
And dug back into his meal.
Chapter 3
Notes:
I have pictures of what skz look like in their magical forms here-
https://x.com/blowingurmind1/status/1959278391833636880?s=46
https://x.com/blowingurmind1/status/1959278402365460751?s=46
Chapter Text
Hyunjin finished the rest of his lunch happily by himself. No one bothered him and no one asked to sit with him- maybe it was because he scooted away anytime someone got remotely close.
He didn’t have any other classes that day, so he leisurely strolled back to the dorms, making a mental checklist of the things he needed to do. Read chapter one of his art history textbook. Sketch a rough draft to include in his next art portfolio. Memorize all of the artists of the American romantic period-
“Newsletter! Come pick up the campus's first newsletter for the semester!” A kid waved a bundle of brightly colored paper high into the air. Even despite doing so much and making a scene- no one was taking the offered paper.
“The journalism club worked hard! Be sure to pick up a newsletter for free! It’s got all of the best local places and future events!”
A flock of students walked right past him, all giggling to each other. Hyunjin sighed, looked left and then right, and decided to approach. Normally he would avoid any type of conflict at all cost- but he took pity on the poor student who looked like he was a freshman. He had slanted fox-like eyes and cute dimples even when he was frowning.
“May I have one?” He asked tentatively, holding out his hand. Despite his relative anxiety, it was well worth it to see the smile spread across the student's face as he nodded and handed the thick newsletter over. It weighed heavily in Hyunjin’s hand. They must have put a lot of work into this.
“Thank you!” The kid bowed, his dimples like craters with how wide his smile was. “Enjoy reading.”
“I will, thank you for the hard work.” Hyunjin bowed back, and then was on his way back to the dorm. He could also mark a good social interaction with a random stranger off on his checklist of things to do. On his way back, he flipped through the newspaper with interest.
Despite making plans in his head to get some work done- Hyunjin collapsed onto the couch and almost immediately fell asleep. It was a deep one, less flighty than the sleep he had the previous night with that weird ass nightmare. When he woke again- it was to the sound of the door opening along with a pained little hiss from his roommate.
Obviously, he tried his best to be silent as he tip-toed in and closed the creaky door slowly- but not even his diligence could escape Hyunjin’s light sleeping.
Hyunjin twisted around on the couch to squint from the blanket he was cocooned in. It smelled like Felix’s chocolate brownies that he made the first day and set in front of Hyunjin’s room as a peace treaty.
“Oops, did I wake you?” Felix asked sheepishly. He looked a little less like the embodiment of sunshine than usual as he shuffled through the kitchen to riffle through the cabinets.
“It’s okay,” Hyunjin kept his eyes narrowed as Felix pulled a medical kit from the bottom drawer that Hyunjin hadn’t even noticed before. Felix looked almost… grumpy. This was new.
Curiously, Hyunjin untangled himself from his blanket prison and sauntered on over to the kitchen. While Felix unpacked it, obviously in search of something specific, Hyunjin hopped up to sit on the countertop.
Felix shrugged his jacket off to reveal the relatively shallow cut that ran from his mid arm down to the elbow. It wasn’t too deep, and the blood was already dried, but Hyunjin wondered where he could have gotten such an injury from. “What happened?” He asked.
“Gah!” Felix dropped an alcohol pad to the floor, startled, and turned to look at Hyunjin. “When did you get there? I didn’t even hear you!”
Hyunjin shrugged unapologetically. He’d learned to take silent steps when he was just a kid, sneaking into the locker pantry for meals when he was forced to skip dinner. “What happened?” He asked again, tilting his head this time. A strand of dark hair untangled from the hairband holding it back.
“N-nothing!” Felix squeaked. “I just scratched my arm on a thorn bush outside! That’s all!” His face twisted up like he was constipated.
“You are a terrible liar,” Hyunjin pointed out- and Felix stuttered. “But I won’t push the subject if you don’t want to talk about the evil rose bush that shredded your arm.” Hyunjin patted his thigh, “here- you won’t be able to get that cleaned on your own. Let me help.”
Felix blinked, and his face melted back into a smile- one of his easygoing ones. “You’re so nice to me, Jinnie.”
“Not too much, now.” Hyunjin warned. Even so, Felix stepped close into his personal space and let Hyunjin take his arm. The cut had already stopped seeking crimson and closed up, so Hyunjin took the alcohol and disinfected the area before slapping a hello kitty bandage on top. Two, to cover the entire cut.
“There,” he patted Felix’s arm. It had a lot of freckles on it. “Good as new. You won’t die now.”
Felix looked up at him with newfound appreciation- maybe he just realized that his new roommate wasn’t such a deadbeat after all. “Thank you! Do you want to kiss it better?”
“Don’t mention it, really.” Hyunjin denied. “And no- but I do have a question.” Hyunjin reached out with his fingertips to grasp the newsletter before sliding it across the counter to Felix. He pointed to the picture on the back. “You never told me that this campus has femboy cosplayers?”
Felix’s face went so incredibly red, that Hyunjin was worried he stopped breathing. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, and then, after deciding that silence was better than stuttering, he turned around and walked away.
Hyunjin narrowed his eyes. Weird.
Very strange.
…
“Whatever,” he hummed and returned back to the newsletter that had job postings listed in the middle section right below the ‘welcome to campus’ events. He’d already marked off most of them after applying- but there was one in particular that caught his eye. A part time job in the city outside of campus at an art supply store- fifteen dollars an hour.
It was more than he’d earn from any campus jobs that paid ten an hour. Not bad. Hyunjin circled the phone number listed under the job in bright pen
Hyunjin thought that maybe he would be able to escape the Friday night party that Jisung and Felix had been raving about. While they were out- he planned to relax and get as much schoolwork done as he can while stuffed his face with convenience store noodles.
He was wrong.
Come afternoon, Felix barged into his room and dragged by the feet straight off of the bed. He had a bath towel wrapped around him- this time around he sang Niki Minaj in the shower- and a green face mask on that made him look a little scary.
“Hwang Hyunjin!” He shouted as Hyunjin struggled against his hold but to no avail, “You should be getting ready by now! We have a party to go to and you’re still in your night clothes. Hyunjin looked down at his Cheeto stained sweatpants.
“…I can’t just wear these?”
Felix gave him a scandalized look- like he was genuinely scared of Hyunjin, but also like he wanted to throttle him. “No! Get up! Now!” When he started to whack Hyunjin with the pillow, that was when he finally rolled off of the bed and stuffed his sketchbook under the blankets to be surprised about later when he laid down.
“You’re not going to make me put one of those on, are you?” Hyunjin pointed to Felix’s face mask, but the blonde was too busy ruffling through all of his clothing in the closet to notice the thinly veiled insult.
“Where did you come from? A rich private school that had no ragers?”
Hyunjin resisted the urge to reply- “yeah, kind of.”
Felix tossed clothes around and the projectiles almost hit Hyunjin square in the face. “You don’t have anything that’s wearable at parties here!” Felix poked his head out from the closet to scrutinize him. “I think you’d be able to wear my clothes- you’re thin, but the shirts will just be crop tops.”
“Felix, no.”
“Felix, yes! Come on!” Felix put Hyunjin into an unbreakable headlock and dragged him all the way across the dorm and to his personal room.
Hyunjin had never seen the inside of Felix’s room before- but it was everything that he expected it to be. Posters decorated the walls, potted plants hung in the ceiling by the window, and stuffed animals were piled high on his bed. It looked like a great place to nap.
Felix’s room had all of the comforts that Hyunjin’s bland dorm did not have. He tried not to stare at the comfortable scenery as Felix shepherded him in front of his vanity, forcing him to sit down on the chair. Felix pressed his hands down on his shoulders, holding him captive. “If I leave you alone here for ten minutes while I get myself ready, will you run away?”
Hyunjin glanced at the window and wondered if it was locked. Felix continued to stare at him and eventually he shook his head. “Good! I’ll be right back.”
Once again, Felix resumed his rendition of ‘Superbad’s’ as he took his time in the restroom. By the time the thirty minute mark passed, Hyunjin was heavily considering curling up on the bed to fall back asleep. He would have, if Felix didn’t escape the restroom with a billow of smoke on his trail looking like some kind of dramatic runway model as he turned in every direction to show off his outfit.
“So?” He asked expectantly, popping his hip. The belts around his waist jingled. Yes. Belts- plural. “What do you think?
Hyunjin swallowed thickly and tugged at his collar, trying his best not to make eye contact with the endless planes of Felix’s exposed skin. “What kind of party is this…?” He asked suspiciously, because from where he was looking- this was starting to look a little like a BDSM party.
“Oh, don’t you worry my Jinnie-ah,” Felix took Hyunjin by the chin, squishing his cheeks, and twisted his head so that they were staring at their reflections in the mirror. Hyunjin felt like a bug under the observation of Felix’s smokey eye. “I’m just trying to impress a muscular man who likes an edgy look. I won’t turn you emo.”
Felix leaned down to squish Hyunjin’s cheeks some more and consider him. “Hmm, I want to see you in something cute! I have this skirt-“
“-No skirts.”
“…Or not. Hold for a moment.”
Felix enjoyed playing dress up more than Hyunjin did, but his roommate looked like he was enjoying himself so much that Hyunjin didn’t have the heart to protest. He simply followed along and did as Felix told him- except for when Felix tried to get him into the pink skirt for the second time.
The outfit that Felix decided to wrap Hyunjin in was thankfully much more tame. A tight white halter top that rode up a little higher than it should have, and leather shorts (that also rode a little higher than they should have. The only reason that Hyunjin didn’t take off the death trap that was Felix’s leather shorts was because they made his ass look good.)
He felt vulnerable with showing so much skin- a lot less than Felix, maybe if he kept him by him the rest of the night, Hyunjin could feel like a good Jesus loving boy- so he finished the look off with a black zip up jacket. Felix didn’t protest the addition to his outfit, so Hyunjin assumed that he pulled it off just fine.
“Okay,” Hyunjin squirmed from his seat on the vanity chair, ready to get up. “So how are we going to get there-“
“Nuh uh, Hyunjin-ah! You sit back down right now!” Felix shoved him back down and dropped a heavy looking box in front of him. “We’re only halfway done. You still need to pick out some jewelry and let me do your makeup.”
Jesus Christ. Hyunjin wasn’t sure how much longer he could sit still for- his ass was starting to hurt- but he let Felix take his face and decorate it. His roommate was a bit too close for comfort, but in the few days of knowing him, Hyunjin was starting to grow much more accustomed to it. It wasn’t… so bad.
Felix made Hyunjin’s makeup less dark than his own- some concealer, a small winged eyeliner, mascara, a touch of glimmery eyeshadow, and lip gloss. Hyunjin was pretty sure that Felix was wearing the type of fake lashes that people had to glue on.
“There- very pretty.” Felix patted his cheek endearingly and then pulled away to look in the mirror and see a pair of earrings in his earlobe that Felix confessed he pierced with a thumb tack when he was twelve. In his hair glittered many hair clips- but one in particular stood out.
“You wear that yellow jewel everywhere,” Hyunjin gestured to the hair clip holding back Felix’s platinum bangs. Felix cupped a hand over it and laughed to himself- a secretive giggle like he knew something that Hyunjin didn’t.
“Oh, this hair clip is very important to me. You never know when you need it.”
Hyunjin didn’t have any time to ask what that even meant before Felix’s phone was buzzing adamantly in his hand. He happily sprung up from the vanity and grabbed his purse with one hand and Hyunjin with the other. “Jisung and Minho are here to pick us up! C’mon, let’s go!”
Hyunjin only had the time to grab his phone and tie his hair back into a half up half down hairstyle before Felix kicked him out of the dorm. Outside along the back entrance of the dorm building that didn’t face the campus- there was a giant parking lot for the students who owned cars. Felix didn’t- but apparently, this ‘Minho’ guy did.
“Felix-ie! You got Hyunjin-ah to come along!” Jisung shouted, practically hanging outside the passenger window of a sleek looking black car. He wore the glitteriest green eyeshadow that Hyunjin had ever seen.
“I told you I could do it!” Felix said proudly as he opened up the back door and practically shoved Hyunjin inside of the strange car. He felt like he was a prisoner being led to his execution.
The car smelled like fresh laundry and had such a fancy leather interior that Hyunjin was afraid he would stain it just by sitting on it.
The driver turned around to glance at Hyunjin- he was classically handsome with cat like eyes and an upturned nose. Hyunjin wondered if he and Jisung had something going on, because Jisung’s ass was awfully close to his face as he turned his body around to ooo and ah at Felix’s outfit.
“I’m Minho,” he said shortly.
“Hyunjin,” he said back with a nod, and Minho turned back to face the road and navigate the car out of the parking lot. That was that. Minho was a bit intimidating, but Hyunjin appreciated his promptness.
Minho and Hyunjin remained relatively silent while Felix and Jisung chatted back and forth to one another across the car. Hyunjin pressed his forehead to the window and watched the campus, and then the city, blur by. He hadn’t even thought to ask where the party would be.
Sending a look to his phone for the time, Hyunjin could see that it was a half hour drive before they finally reached a lavish three story manor tucked away in the outskirts of the city. The large trees separated the manor from the view of the city.
A sea of cars lined up in front of the house, most parked in the grass. A few stranglers sat in the tailgates of trucks, smoking something that did not smell like smoke. The door was open, welcoming visitors, and Hyunjin could feel the bass of the music in his feet when he stepped out of the car.
“Jackson Wang throws the best parties,” Jisung nudged Hyunjin’s side to keep him walking with their group. Hyunjin must have frozen to stare at the scene in apprehension. Jisung and Felix took either of his arms, so he couldn’t escape now.
The inside of the house was just as hectic as Hyunjin expected it to be. In the main room, tables and sofas were pushed aside, to create a dance floor. A rug was rolled up to avoid people spilling alcohol on it (or vomiting) and led lights across the ceiling flashed along with the beat of a heavy trap song.
People’s bodies rubbed against one another as they danced enticingly, and Hyunjin scrunched his nose up in disgust. It smelled like sex, sweat, and alcohol with a touch of weed. The ceiling was hazy with smoke and Hyunjin coughed into his elbow as he was led through the rest of the house.
There was a smaller room- the kitchen where people dug into coolers for drinks and discarded empty bottles of Vodka. Like Felix owned the place, Felix grabbed a bottle by the neck and chugged the vodka straight up. Some spilled down his chin and he wiped it away with his wrist as he passed it to Jisung who did the same.
Minho, a bit less unruly, distributed red solo cups between the four of them and filled it halfway with vodka for the rest of them to decide what they wanted to mix with it. Hyunjin found a can of Red Bull in the large industrial refrigerator to add.
“They don’t have orange cream soda!” Jisung complained, riffling through the fridge impatiently.
“You should have brought some for yourself if you wanted some that bad,” Minho commented, sounding unimpressed. Even so, he handed his car keys over to Jisung. “There’s a six pack of Fanta in the trunk.”
“I knew you loved me!” Jisung planted a quick kiss on Minho's cheek before disappearing through the thick crowd of students. Oh. So they really were together.
When a couple started to make out passionately against the cabinets, they vacated the area to walk through the next room- calmer, a group of smokers trading a bong around. And then the next room where a heated game of pool took place.
Like a routine, each time Felix ran into someone that he knew- he introduced Hyunjin to them and dove into a conversation, occasionally nudging Hyunjin or Minho to join in even if they obviously didn’t want to. Hyunjin met so many people that he was sure he wouldn’t remember a single name come morning time.
Eventually, they reached the outside pool area where Hyunjin spotted someone that he actually recognized- the newsletter kid. “Innie-ah!” Felix tugged Hyunjin to the edge of the pool where the newspaper boy was chatting with someone else who resembled a puppy.
“Felix-hyung!” The kid bowed politely, though his friend didn’t do the same even if he looked around the same age. “You made it!”
“Of course I did! I never miss a party,” Felix reached to ruffle the other's hair drunkenly in a haze of cute aggression. He pulled back to look at the other- “and Seungmin-ah, you really should try to wear different outfits other than jeans and a shirt.”
Seungmin shrugged shamelessly, and then his eyes landed on Hyunjin. Hyunjin shrank back, suddenly remembering that he was a fly on the wall. “Who are you?” He asked straightforwardly, and Felix whacked his shoulder with a hiss of- ‘be polite.’
“This is Hyunjin-ah, and he’s my new roommate! He looks quiet but he’s a nerd. His favorite movie is Godzilla.” Hyunjin went red with embarrassment as Felix wrapped an arm around his neck. “Hyunjin, this is Jeongin-ah and Seungmin-ah, my two young friends!”
“We’re not that much younger than you,” Seungmin reminded him with an eye roll. He was possibly the only one in the party without a red solo cup in his hand- which reminded Hyunjin that he needed a refill soon.
Jeongin’s eyes widened when he realized who Hyunjin was, but luckily didn’t point him out as being ‘the only one who took the newsletter that day.’ “It’s nice to meet you, Hyunjin-ssi,” he bowed his head once more.
“Where are thing one and thing two?” Seungmin asked, scanning the crowd with narrowed eyes and hardly sparing Hyunjin a second glance. Hyunjin couldn’t decide if he liked that or not.
“Oh, Minho-Hyung and Sungie?” Felix asked, “probably making out in the car. Hopefully not the backseat- I just sat there.”
After talking to the two younger journalists- Jeongin a literature student and Seungmin a pre med- the night wore on.
Hyunjin met more people- one who was heavily muscled and talked louder than anyone else in the party house. Even the music. Felix hung off of his arm like a snake who’d found their prey, giggling at anything he said even if it wasn’t very funny. Or maybe he was just incredibly drunk, judging by his flushed cheeks.
Once Hyunjin hit his fourth drink, the heady buzz spreading through his entire body, he decided that he needed a breath of fresh air. He departed from Felix and his arm candy to stumble up to the second floor balcony that was thankfully empty.
The stars above were clearly visible by the absence of clouds in the sky- and Hyunjin breathed in heavily through his nose as he leaned against the terra cotta railing of the fancy balcony. He dug through his jacket pocket- one of the sleeves had fallen off of his shoulder a while ago- to produce a menthol cigarette and lighter.
He sighed in relief as soon as the menthol filled his lungs, and exhaled as his shoulders slumped in relief. The smoke puffed into the night, blending with the inky black, and a clump of ash fell to the stone balcony floor.
Much better.
Hyunjin watched all of the idiots down below try to do gainers into the pool and wondered when one of them would slip, fall, and crack their head open.
“That’s not a very good habit,” a sudden voice startled Hyunjin out of his peaceful headspace. He jumped, choking a bit on his smoke as he turned to look back at the intruder because he would recognize that voice from anywhere.
The handsome upperclassmen that Hyunjin fell on his ass for (literally) sauntered forward to lean against the railing next to him. “What?” Hyunjin asked dumbly.
“The smoking,” Chan gestured to the cigarette hanging loosely from Hyunjin’s lips. “Bad for your lungs. Could ruin that sweet voice of yours, too.”
Hyunjin took another puff- one last one, he told himself- and turned away to not blow it in Chan’s face. “It’s a good thing I don’t sing.”
Chan tilted his head considering, making a humming noise that should not have sounded attractive as it did. “I dunno- you have a melodious voice. Could sound nice and smooth on a recording, if only a little nasally.”
Hyunjin wanted to ask who this Australian hunk of man really was and why he was waxing poetic about his voice- but he didn’t get the chance because down below a rush of cheers erupted from the crowd when someone finally managed to land a decently looking backflip into the pool.
“Did you make it back to the dorm okay?” Chan asked. Hyunjin usually wasn’t one to involve himself in small talk, but he decided that he would make an exception.
“I did. Thank you.”
“You never texted me,” Chan pointed out with a glint of amusement in his brown eyes that seemed to shine just like the stars above. Hyunjin anxiously avoided his eyes as he dropped the cigarette and stubbed it out with his shoe. He was sure that whoever owned this place was rich enough to hire someone to power wash the soot stain out.
“I’m sorry… I accidentally washed the sharpie off when I showered.” Hyunjin lied, of course, because he saved Chan’s contact and rolled around in bed until midnight, ruling and deleting messages that progressively got creepier and creepier.
“I suppose that’s okay,” Chan replied and brought his drink up to his lips. He stared at Hyunjin over the rim of the red solo cup. “I never caught your name?”
Right. Because Hyunjin made a total fool of himself and forgot to even introduce himself to his senior. “My name is Hyunjin.” He admitted, and Chan’s eyes flashed with recognition. Or maybe with every drink that Hyunjin took, he was growing more and more inebriated.
“Ah- you must be Felix’s new roommate."
“You know Felix?” Hyunjin asked, dreading a bit that the two knew each other. He could only imagine the stories that Felix had come up with about him- none bad, just embarrassing. Like that time he almost fell off the balcony when he dropped his cigarette. Or that he had no sheets on his bed.
Chan’s lips formed into a fond smile, “I do. We grew up around the same area before we moved here for college-“
“Chan-hyung!” A voice cried from the door. Hyunjin was both relieved and a little disappointed for his time alone with Chan to be cut short, but Jisung looked pretty serious from his place at the doorway. When he noticed Hyunjin, his expression shifted to guilt. “Ah- sorry to interrupt, Hyunjin-ah. Is it okay if I borrow Chan-hyung for a second?”
Hyunjin’s tongue felt too leadened to reply, and he was scared that he would blurt out something that sober-Hyunjin would otherwise not say, so he just nodded with a mere shrug.
Chan gave Hyunjin an apologetic look, “we’ll talk later, I’m sure.” And then, a gesture to his pocket where the packet of cigarettes poked out. “You should try to quit that habit.”
And then, he and Jisung were gone amongst the crowd or partygoers. Hyunjin took one last look at the half empty cigarette packet before dropping it over the balcony for some poor student to get hit in the head with.
Drowning in his own misery of not getting to talk to the handsome man more, Hyunjin promptly downed the rest of his Red Bull vodka in one gulp. The world around him spun in a good way and his face felt hot against the cool night breeze. Winter would be coming soon, already whispering a promise of snow in a few months.
When Hyunjin opened his eyes once again, he caught sight of a glimpse of light in the forest. So bright that he drunkenly thought it was the sunrise until it disappeared again. Hyunjin blinked and leaned a little forward over the railing, wondering if he was hallucinating before the light flashed again twice.
A flashlight?
Had someone fallen in the forest and needed help?
No one down below seemed to take notice, so Hyunjin decided that he would need to be the one to check it out. Sluggishly, he stumbled down the stairs. He didn’t catch sight of Felix, Jisung, Chan, or anyone else that he knew- but everyone was beginning to look the same in his drunken mind.
Hyunjin pushed past the crowd blocking the doorway of the back porch and struggled to get his phone out of his pocket to use his flashlight app to illuminate the forest. There was no clear path, but Hyunjin stepped into the darkness and shrubbery and no one seemed to notice.
“Hello?” Hyunjin called as he pushed past a thick shrub, some leaves smacking him in the face and getting in his mouth. “Can anyone hear me?”
There was no other flashing of lights, so Hyunjin tried his best to make his way over to the position that he estimated it to be. He stumbled over a root below him that would have sent him face first to the ground (where he probably would have fallen asleep) if he hadn’t steadied himself on a tree.
The rustle of bushes- not caused by the wind- startled him enough to momentarily sober up as he squinted through the darkness. “Hello?” He asked, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. It felt as if something was breathing down his neck. The moonlight hardly filtered through the thick trees.
“…Hello?” Hyunjin asked again, his voice thinner and more weak this time around. Another rustle of bushes, and Hyunjin’s eyes farted to follow the shadowy figure that darted in front of him before promptly disappearing again. Hyunjin’s head spun like he was on a tilt a whorl.
He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, and when he reopened then, the shadowy figure was directly in front of him. It would have been humanoid if not for the fact that it easily scaled above Hyunjin at seven feet tall. Thin and spindly. Arms like a centipede.
Hyunjin’s stifled scream didn’t even make it out because shadowy tendrils were wrapping around him, pushing him back to the tree and covering his mouth with a slushy substance that he could drown in.
‘This isn’t real’ he told himself, even as he struggled and tree bark scratched against his back painfully. ‘This is a hallucination. You forgot to take your meds last night.’
He choked on the inky black liquid once it finally found entrance into his mouth. How was this possible? Hyunjin didn’t even remember drinking that much…
Just when his struggling became futile and he felt his eyes roll to the back of his head as his breath was stolen from him- “stop!” A familiar deep voice yelled. Suddenly, there was a ripple of light- it was yellow and blinding, but the figure let him go.
Immediately, Hyunjin crashed down to his knees and began to cough, clawing at his throat and panting desperately to regain his breath. His vision was blurred and he felt incredibly dizzy as he struggled to get up on his hands to assess the situation.
“Are you okay?” Someone- someone who sounded like Felix asked. Except, it wasn't Felix because last time Hyunjin checked, his roommate wasn’t dressed like he was about to go to a cosplay convention as some maid. Felix crouched down in front of him, the riffles of his yellow frilly dress collecting at the knees.
Hyunjin really must have been more drunk than he thought.
“Is he alright?!” Someone else from behind Felix asked, and Hyunjin swayed in place. Felix placed a hand on his shoulder to steady him, his eyes sharp with concern.
“He’ll be okay! I’ll stay here with him and you guys can handle the rest!”
“Alright!” The distant voice responded, and a sudden burst of colors appeared from behind Felix in a puff of glittery smoke- and the other noises quieted down. Just him, and femboy Felix staring back at him.
‘Whah the fuck?’ Hyunjin tried to say- but he couldn’t. His throat was tight and he still couldn’t breathe.
“It’s okay,” Felix reassured, but he was quickly disappearing before Hyunjin and his voice was fading “jus…”
Hyunjin closed his eyes and unwillingly shivered as he collapsed forward. Warm arms caught him before he could hit the forest floor.
Annsta on Chapter 1 Tue 19 Aug 2025 01:01AM UTC
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Love_Hyuneee on Chapter 1 Tue 19 Aug 2025 01:14AM UTC
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Mirellesky on Chapter 1 Tue 19 Aug 2025 04:44AM UTC
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Love_Hyuneee on Chapter 1 Tue 19 Aug 2025 05:27AM UTC
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Cocochip on Chapter 1 Tue 19 Aug 2025 12:03PM UTC
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Love_Hyuneee on Chapter 1 Sat 23 Aug 2025 07:06PM UTC
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jinniebinnielixie (Black_Barbie17) on Chapter 1 Thu 21 Aug 2025 06:06AM UTC
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Love_Hyuneee on Chapter 1 Sat 23 Aug 2025 07:06PM UTC
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Draconis86 on Chapter 1 Sun 31 Aug 2025 10:26PM UTC
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Cocochip on Chapter 2 Sat 23 Aug 2025 04:35PM UTC
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D0LLY_N1X on Chapter 2 Sat 30 Aug 2025 06:27AM UTC
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