martyrs & maniacs. | tbz jujae

O3.

From: chanhee ♡ (9:39 PM)
i don't think i can come. changmin is panicking bc of a project rn and i need to be here for emotional support. sorry, babe.

Saturday came faster than Juyeon expected. Nothing unusual happened the past few days. He still hasn't seen Chanhee, he still hasn't heard from him, he still hasn't received any messages from Hyunjae, and he still hasn't convinced his professor to round his essay score from an 89.98 to 90.

He swirls the... liquid inside the red plastic cup that Eunseo handed him. It's half-empty not because he drank some, but because one of the party-goers bumped into him while playing beer pong.

When Kim Younghoon throws a party, expect to see a party. His friend is a total party animal — a trait that one can not easily infer because of the "the responsible friend" vibes he gives. There are drinks, of course, but there are also drugs and people making out at almost every corner of the place. It's wild, really. The whole thing is wild.

Usually, Juyeon is down for getting blackout drunk and living the best of his college life. But knowing that Chanhee ditched a party — that Juyeon knows is something the younger rarely does — to stay behind with his best friend is leaving him a bad taste in his mouth. He knows he is just being paranoid and a bit hypocritical, because Juyeon will definitely do the same if it was Younghoon or Eunseo meeting an academic deadline, but he misses him. Juyeon misses Chanhee.

"Hyung! Why are you still not having fun?!" Haknyeon shouts amidst the loud music, approaching him with his own plastic cup in his hand. Upon closer look, Juyeon can see the boy's messy hair and swollen lips — things that are also obvious at the slightly-tanned boy Haknyeon is dragging. Juyeon definitely doesn't want to know what happened that made the two look like that.

Screw that, he already knows.

"This is so suffocating!" Juyeon shouts back, pertaining to the puffs of smoke lingering in the air. Why are Younghoon-hyung's smoke detectors not detecting all of these cigarettes yet? "If you find Eunseo, tell her I went outside."

Haknyeon lazily smiles before nodding. "Okay! Have fun!"

Juyeon squeezes his way out of the door, only to be blocked by some freshmen eating each other's faces. He pushes them away from the door, clicking his tongue disappointedly at how they're still so young yet are already doing something as daring as that. They should've waited until sophomore year, like what he and Chanhee did. He finally exits the loud apartment and he lets out a sigh of relief. He tries to inhale plenty of fresh air as much as he could before he goes back to the weed-smelling hell hole.

His unseen message of "okay, tell changmin i wish him good luck. i love you!" sent to Chanhee greets him the moment he opens his phone. Scrolling through their conversation, Juyeon can feel his heart ache. He just wants to feel Chanhee dote on him again. To cling onto him 24/7 again. To shower him with kisses again. Is that too much to ask? Did he do anything wrong for Chanhee to act so distant around him?

"Why aren't you inside?"

"Fuck!" Juyeon clumsily loses grip of his phone when he hears a voice beside him. Luckily, his other hand managed to catch it before it is too late. Juyeon turns around and behind him is the person that he has been waiting for for the past three weeks. Hyunjae smiles at Juyeon the same way he first smiled at him when they met back at the restaurant.

"Hey there. It's nice to see you again, huh?" Hyunjae starts and Juyeon can only give him a small wave. "Yes?"

"Back to the question, why aren't you inside partying with the others?"

Juyeon stares at Hyunjae, noticing the older's hair slightly disheveled than the last time he had seen him. The black and gold cardigan is still there, but it's hanging neatly on his arm. Hyunjae is both edgy and soft, with his leather jacket partnered with a white turtleneck and a really obvious blush on his cheeks. Looks like someone has been drinking.

"Could ask you the same thing but to answer your question, I'm not really in the mood to party right now." Juyeon answers.

The brunette only nods, as if he already knows the reason why Juyeon is unable to have fun right now. "Same. There are too many minors there, the fuck."

A chuckle escapes from Juyeon's lips. He looks back to the highschoolers that were playing beer pong in the lawn. Did Younghoon even bother checking who came?

"Never expected to see you here."

"Me neither." Hyunjae mutters. "Younghoon invited you over?"

"Wait, you know hyung?"

The older laughs lightly. "Know? That dude's practically my brother. We've been friends since we were in 2nd grade."

"I... never knew that."

"I have been very busy this year with, you know, school and family matters. Barely hang out with him anymore, though we still chat every other day."

"That's cool."

Lame way to terminate the conversation, Juyeon knows. The small talk died down and he stared at his shoes, closing his eyes to take some sort of rest. Honestly? He wants to ask Hyunjae why he never bothered asking for his number when he didn't even text him, but Juyeon's afraid that the older may deem him as clingy if he asks. But Hyunjae is too nice of a person for Juyeon to not be friends with, so he swallows his pride and takes a deep breath, preparing to voice out the question that has been slightly bugging him for days. Before he can even talk, Hyunjae already opened his mouth. "I'm sorry I never texted you. I had to buy a new phone when I accidentally threw my old one into the bathtub."

He looks at him. "...Bathtub?"

"It's embarrassing actually. Please don't ask any more questions."

"Alright." He replies, smiling. "Do you want to have my number again or never mind?"

Juyeon fails to notice Hyunjae's drunk blush getting more saturated. "I do."

And then the night resumes, more fun this time.

The both of them quickly catched up with each other, continuing the conversation they had from the restaurant and telling each other what happened to them during the past weeks. Juyeon feels himself smile widely at having created a new friend in the form of Hyunjae. The older gives off the same vibes that he always feels whenever he's around Younghoon or Eunseo — solace. He finds it easy to confide in the older and have hour-long talks with him. He feels so comfortable around him.

Although Juyeon's friends are not in their most wonderful states right now, with Eunseo being shit-faced and Younghoon tipsy as hell with kiss marks all over his neck, Juyeon still tries to introduce Hyunjae to them (specifically to Eunseo since Younghoon already knows Hyunjae). When Juyeon told them that Hyunjae was the one who helped him a few weeks ago, Younghoon only made a surprised Pikachu face, saying that "I didn't know that was you!" while Eunseo immediately passed out two seconds after shaking Hyunjae's hand.

Juyeon lays down on his bed that night feeling contented, bringing home newly-created memories and a phone number saved properly in his contacts.