opened his locker and put away most of his books. He kept a vocal training book with him because Mr. Jeon assigned them a lot of homework. He was relieved that the school day was finally over. The boy received a lot of judgmental and snarky comments and couldn't wait to get away from it all. He slammed his locker door shut and was about to leave when he felt someone tug on the back of his bag, causing him to almost fall over, "What the fu-"

"Watch your mouth," the other voice demanded.

Beomgyu turned around, "Oh Soobin!"

Soobin grabbed the younger's arm, dragging him somewhere, "We need to talk." Beomgyu wanted to object, but feeling the tension, he decided against it. When they reached behind the the main building Soobin threw Beomgyu's arm down and glared at him.

"So," Beomgyu rubbed his arm that was still hurting from Soobin's tight grasp, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Why did you do it?" Soobin asked, "Why did you have to pin that guy down in public? Why did you decide to cheat Jennie? Why did you think any of this was ok?"

Beomgyu gasped, "It wasn't like that!"

"I don't care what kind of nasty stuff you do on your own, but you're in part of a group now," Soobin raised his voice, "The things you do in public reflect on all of us. You could destroy all of our careers!"

"Soobin," Beomgyu paused, "You don't really believe all of this stuff do you? I already explained it to you guys this morning. I was set up! I was ill or drugged or something about me was off last night and I fell over."

Soobin rolled his eyes, "If you're going to lie about it at least make it realistic."

Beomgyu groaned, he was getting tired of people calling him a liar, "I'm not lying!" He grabbed onto Soobin's jacket, "You're my friend, I thought you would believe me."

"Who said I was your friend? I'm your band mate and leader, that's it," Soobin stated.

"Wow! What a great leader you are," Beomgyu scoffed.

Soobin pushed the shorter boy's chest, "Look, all I'm saying is to watch yourself because not only do you have your reputation to worry about, you have everyone's reputation on your shoulders now, understand?"

Soobin started to walk away and Beomgyu should feel sad, he just lost one of his closest friends, but all he could feel was anger. Taehyun's words rang through his head, 'He'll get over it.'

"Hey," Beomgyu called out, but the older just waved him off.

'He'll get over it. He'll get over it.'

"Hey!" he tried a little louder this time.

The brown haired boy stopped and looked at him, "Beomgyu I don't want to listen to your stories anymore."

"You're wrong!" he shouted, "We are friends! You're just mad, but you'll get over it, we'll get over it, the whole school will get over it! I'm not gay and I didn't pin that guy on purpose. Even if all of that was true I never would of done it to hurt Jennie like that. I cared about her a lot, Soobin. It's messed up and whether you believe me or not, I don't care, because we're going to use Mr. Park's plan and overcome this together, understand?"

Soobin just stood there, dumbfounded. He saw what happened this morning with Jennie and wasn't expecting Beomgyu to actually stand up for himself. He looked back at Beomgyu who had regret written across his face, he probably wasn't expecting it either.

"Soobin I-" Beomgyu started, when Soobin made his way back toward him.

"You have a lot of confidence," Soobin smiled, "You should show it more often."

"Huh?" Beomgyu looked up at him, "You're not mad?"

"I was at first," Soobin admitted, "but this was a test to see how strong you were." Beomgyu didn't believe him for a second. "I thought if I confronted you that you'd just sit there and cry like this morning, but you proved me wrong and I'm proud of you."

"You saw what happened this morning?" Beomgyu furrowed his brows.

Soobin nodded, "Yeah sorry I didn't say anything and I'm sorry about all of this. I need to work on my temper."

"It's fine," Beomgyu licked his lips, "but if you don't want me telling anyone what happened you have to do me a favor."

Soobin frowned, "Friends don't threaten each other."

"Sure they do!" the other boy laughed, pulling out his vocal workbook and handed it to the older, "Help me with my homework."

Soobin sighed, "Fine, but I'm not doing this by myself. Let's go to The Summer Cafe and work on it there."

The golden brown haired boy smiled, "Okay, but you're paying!"

-

"You go find a table while I order," Soobin instructed the younger, who nodded and did as he was told. He chose a table directly next to a big window so he could watch outside whenever he got bored. "One Blue Orangeade coming right up," Soobin smiled and placed the colorful drink in front of Beomgyu.

"Thank you," he cheerfully responded, before taking a sip of the zesty beverage, "I'm surprised we haven't been sued for using the same name."

"If anything they should be thanking us," Soobin laughed, "It's like free advertisement."

Beomgyu grinned, "I guess so." It got quiet for a few seconds. "Should we invite the others?" Beomgyu questioned, trying to avoid awkward silence, "We can all work on it together."

The older pouted, "We always hang out as a group. I don't think the two of us have hung out by ourselves before."

"Oh okay," Beomgyu started flipping through the pages of his workbook.

"So what do you think about Mr. Park's plan?" Soobin suddenly asked.

Beomgyu looked up from his assignment, "Do you remember some of the things BTS did back when they were idols? The fans went crazy! I hope we get that much reaction too."

"Yeah," Soobin looked down and stirred his drink, "Have you thought about who you're going to flirt with?"

The younger scrunched up his face, "No, I don't want to think about you guys like that until I have to."

"Well we should still plan ahead," Soobin made eye contact with him, "So it won't be as awkward, you know."

Beomgyu slowly nodded, "Yeah, I guess so. Did you have someone in mind?"

"We should flirt with each other," the brown haired male suggested. Beomgyu looked out of the window to distract himself from the heat creeping on his cheeks. Almost as if on cue, a cheerful melody echoed through the lobby, distracting them both from their conversation.

"Oh sorry, that's me," Beomgyu dug through his bag and pulled out his phone, silencing it.

"Aren't you going to answer it?" Soobin asked.

"No," the other shook his head, "It's just Taehyun. I'll text him later." Soobin nodded. "Anyways can we talk about this later?" Beomgyu held his head in his hand, "I'm getting tired and we still have a lot of work to finish."

Soobin sighed, looking somewhat defeated, "Mhm, sorry for distracting you."

"No worries," the golden brown haired boy smiled, "Now, answer this question for me."

-

Taehyun sighed, he hoped Beomgyu was okay. It wasn't like him to decline his calls. For some reason the younger just couldn't get him out of his mind.

"Can't stop dreaming about your boyfriend?" Kai, who was hanging upside down on his bed, teased.

Taehyun jumped. "I thought you were sleeping," he hissed, "and he's not my boyfriend."

Kai laughed, now standing next to him, "Okay, but you still like him."

"That's not true!" he spat back.

"It's so obvious," Kai sang, "Every time someone even mentions his name you become instantly interested. Like at the bakery, or in class this morning, or that one time you-"

"Okay, we get it," Taehyun huffed and crossed his arms, "So what if I do? He's not actually gay so he'll never like me back."

"So it is true!" Kai's eyes lit up, "Yeonjun owes me five dollars."

"Hey!' Taehyun snapped, "My love life isn't a game!" The black haired boy ran back to his bed out of fear.

"Sorry," he paused for a moment, "How about we go to the bakery to get your mind off of things."

"Sure," Taehyun agreed, "but you have to pay for your own dessert."

"Or we can just walk down the strip," Kai suggested with a cheeky smile.

"That's what I thought," Taehyun laughed, "Let's go."

-

"Oh, are you cold?" Taehyun teased the shivering boy, as they walked down the street, "I told you to bring a jacket."

"I didn't know it was going to be this cold," the younger pouted.

Taehyun sighed, "Do you want to go back?"

The younger shook his head, "I want to help distract you."

"It's okay," Taehyun smiled, "I can always just watch TV or play games on my phone."

"Well that's no fun," Kai frowned.

Taehyun raised an eyebrow, "And this is?"

"How about we go get hot chocolate?" Kai tugged on the older's jacket, "It's been years since I've had any."

Taehyun rolled his eyes, "Kai, we literally had hot chocolate last month. Plus I didn't bring my wallet."

"I did," he sang, waving his wallet in Taehyun's face, "Come on!" Without waiting for a response, Kai ran towards the direction of the cafe.

"W-wait up!' Taehyun yelled, trying his best to catch up.

-

"Two large hot chocolates please!" Kai was already ordering by the time Taehyun entered the cafe. He leaned against the wall panting. He was a performer, not a runner.

"That little rascal," he muttered under his breath.

"Thank you," Kai took the drinks from the barista. He was about to make his way to where Taehyun was standing when he noticed another familiar face, "Soobin?" Kai went to go visit Soobin and Taehyun sighed following him. "What are you guys doing here?" Kai asked, placing his drinks on the table.

Soobin took out one of his earphones, looking up at them, "We're supposed to be working on our homework, but he fell asleep." Taehyun turned his attention to Beomgyu who looked peaceful, unlike when he first saw him today. His head was placed in his arms and the sunset helped illuminate the features of his face. The only thing making Taehyun feel uneasy was that Soobin's black jacket was draped over Beomgyu's shoulders. Why was he feeling weird about it? It's just a jacket.

"It's creepy to stare at people while they sleep," Soobin stated, causing Taehyun to jump out of his thoughts.

"Sorry," Taehyun apologized, "I just thought it was odd he had your jacket." He pulled on the hem of his shirt, he wasn't supposed to say that aloud.

Soobin shrugged, "He was shaking in his sleep and I didn't want him to be cold, so I put my jacket over him."

Taehyun tilted his head, "He's already wearing his hoodie though. He shouldn't be cold."

The older glared at him, "Why are you being so weird about it?"

Kai hit the side of the dark brown haired boy and whispered, "Could you be any more obvious?" Taehyun muttered something inaudible under his breath and took his drink to find another table.

Soobin looked between the both of them, "What's going on?"

"Oh um you know, Taehyun just being Taehyun," Kai laughed, rubbing the back of his neck, "He's probably just tired and stressed and jealo-stuff! Yeah and stuff."

"Kai," Soobin sounded suspicious.

"Soobin!" Kai exclaimed, "Anyways I gotta go now, sorry!" Soobin opened his mouth to respond but Kai ran off before he could say anything. He sighed and wondered what they were hiding form him this time, but he wasn't worried because he will eventually find out. He always does. Soobin looked out of the window and cursed under his breath. It was starting to get dark outside.

"Hey Beomgyu," Soobin called, trying to wake him up. Beomgyu didn't budge. "Hey," he said a little louder, shaking the younger's shoulder. Beomgyu groaned and turned his head to face away from him. "Please, wake up," Soobin pleaded still shaking the boy, but Beomgyu just wouldn't budge. Soobin bit his lip, "I'm sorry." He scribbled a note on a napkin and grabbed his belongings. He tried calling out out to Beomgyu one more time, but of course he didn't get a response. Soobin sighed, feeling guilty, and left.

-

"Took you long enough to come home," Yeonjun addressed, not looking up from his laptop, as Soobin closed their dorm room door.

"I know," Soobin threw his books on the floor and laid down in his bed.

"Where were you?" Yeonjun asked, eyeing the mess his roommate just made.

"Out," Soobin stated.

Yeonjun closed his laptop, turning to face him, "Doing what, Smart Alec?"

"Studying, Mom," Soobin replied, holding out the last word.

Yeonjun took off his glasses, placing them on the bed stand, "By yourself?"

The younger boy shook his head, "With Beomgyu."

"You made sure he was back home safe?" Yeonjun questioned. Soobin just shrugged. "What do you mean?" Yeonjun imitated the younger's actions.

"He fell asleep," Soobin said defensively, "and it was getting dark."

"So you left him there?" Yeonjun raised his voice.

"You know how I feel about the dark," Soobin looked down at his feet.

Yeonjun sighed and rubbed his head, "Still you can't do things like that. Just because it's dark doesn't mean something bad will happen. Plus you wouldn't have been alone so nobody would of been able to hurt you."

"I'm sorry," Soobin gripped his legs, as tears started to roll down his face.

"Hey, hey, hey," Yeonjun ran over to Soobin, pulling him into a hug, "Don't cry. I'm sure if we explain to Beomgyu what happened he won't be mad," Yeonjun pulled back, "but we have to go back now and get him." Soobin shook his head. "Please," Yeonjun forced Soobin to look at him with his hand, "You can't be scared forever."

Soobin hesitated for a second and then nodded, "Okay." Yeonjun sighed as he put on his shoes and grabbed his umbrella, it had started raining once Soobin got home.

"Ready?" he asked.

Soobin nodded, "I guess so." When they stepped outside Soobin clutched onto Yeonjun's arm while Yeonjun held the umbrella with his other hand. The walk to the cafe was silent, almost awkward, but Yeonjun didn't mind. He figured Soobin was too scared to worry about holding a conversation.

When they arrived Yeonjun looked into the window and didn't see any sign of Beomgyu, "He's not here."

"What?" Soobin gasped, looking into the window himself.

"He's not here," Yeonjun repeated, "Call him." Soobin pulled out his phone and dialed Beomgyu's number.

"Hello?" Soobin answered after his call was picked up.

"What's wrong?" Yeonjun asked after Soobin got quiet.

Soobin blinked a few times, "Taehyun?"