↱TOUCH↲ ⇾seongjoong⇽

열

By the time they arrived, the house party was in full swing.

The bass thundered in Seonghwa's chest like a second heartbeat as he climbed the stairs, following Jackson and Mark as they weaved their way through the crowd of drunken college students.

Once they'd greeted Kris – a guy taller than Jackson, with sharp features and a cold expression that, surprisingly, didn't hesitate to crack into a smile once he saw them – Mark seemed to melt away from the pair, heading towards the cluster of people dancing in the center of the room.

Seonghwa stood on his tiptoes to yell in Jackson's ear, watching the boy leave.

"Where's he going?"

Jackson shrugged, eyeing Marks rapidly disappearing back, before he dipped his head to answer.

His lips brushed Seonghwa's ear as he spoke, and he could barely hide his shiver.

"Probably to find his boyfriend," explained Jackson. "You want a drink?"

Boyfriend?

Seonghwa blinked, taken off-guard.

He hadn't even known Mark was gay, or at least attracted to guys.

But it did explain why he was so easy-going over being constantly locked out of his own dorm – he probably used all that extra time as an excuse to go visit said boyfriend.

But Jackson was waiting for an answer and so Seonghwa shook the thoughts out of his head, giving his friend a quick smile.

"Yeah."

In no time at all, Jackson was pressing a red cup into his hands.

Whatever was inside sloshed over the edges and Seonghwa swore, but Jackson simply steered them both to the sides of the room where it was less crowded.

He looked around the room, dark gaze searching the faces of people around them as Seonghwa took his first sip of the drink.

As he swallowed, Jackson dipped his head until his lips were brushing the shell of Seonghwa's ear.

"I'm gonna go find Kyungsoo," he said, naming one of his friends that Seonghwa only knew in passing.

"Are you good?"

Seonghwa hesitated, his gaze flicking upwards to meet Jackson's.

They'd only just gotten to the party, and he was already being abandoned?

But Jackson was his fuckbuddy, not his babysitter, and after a moment to absorb the blow, Seonghwa forced his lips to twitch upwards into a smile.

"I'm not a baby, Jackson," he drawled, ignoring the sudden emptiness in his chest.

"I can take care of myself. Go talk to your friends."

Jackson glanced at him sideways, as though he'd caught the unexpected sharpness of Seonghwa's words – but whatever he thought, he didn't pursue it.