Nocturnal Buddies ✩ Yang Jeongin

Chapter 32

Laughter surrounded the younger boy as his members teased Felix, who made an obvious mistake during practice. Despite feeling tired from dancing for hours on end, their energy was unexpectedly high as the eight of them made their way to the cafeteria.

"No, no, because-."

Jisung stifled a laugh as he tried to compose himself, stopping in his spot. A string of laughter fell from some of the members' lips as they all stopped, already knowing what their friend was about to do. The contagious sound of their laughter bounced off the walls of the empty hall as Jisung dramatically reenacted Felix's mistake. Unable to contain themselves, some members stumbled into the wall to stabilize themselves.

"Yah, stop," Felix whined as he went over to his friend, who looked like he was about to pass out from laughter.

The freckled-faced boy took hold of the older boy's collar, shaking him lightly. Jisung proceeded to laugh his head off to the point he started to feel lightheaded. Despite trying to seem angry that his friends were continuously teasing him, Felix's lips had curved into a bright smile. He pouted at his friend, who was starting to sober up. Jisung cooed at the younger boy, reaching up to pinch his cheeks with a toothy smile.

Felix pushed the older boy away, whining a little, before proceeding to reenact his own mistake in a more depressing manner. Laughter erupted from all of the boys to the point that passersby believed they were going insane. After sobering up from the contagious amount of joy spreading from one member to the other, they finally started walking again. Conversations were held between the eight as they talked about anything that came to mind, laughter filtering in ever so often. They talked fondly amongst one another, smiles never seeming to fade.

As soon as they reached the cafeteria, they dispersed into different directions, going to find the food they were interested in having. Jeongin had ended up with Changbin, who was filling his tray up with various foods. They talked to one another as they moved along the options, getting lost in their seemingly nonsensical conversations. The younger boy ended up accidentally bumping into someone after turning around to find an empty table or one of his members.

He instinctively bowed in response, before recognizing the voice that apologized with him. When he looked up, he was met with Nayoung, one of the trainees he had become close friends with. She immediately recognized his voice as well, prompting her to lift her head up before they locked eyes. A smile spread across her face as she straightened her posture.

"You scared me there for a second, Jeongin. I thought I ran into JYP or something."

They shared a laugh at her joke, before she exchanged a brief greeting with Changbin, who was now standing beside the younger boy.

"How have things been going for you?" Changbin inquired.

Nayoung shrugged in response. "It's been fine, I guess. How have you guys been? Hopefully you guys haven't been overworking yourselves."

"We've been doing the best we can," Jeongin answered, Changbin nodding his head in agreement.

She hummed knowingly before someone called her name. They exchanged a few words of encouragement, before sharing a fairly quick farewell. The two watched as Nayoung hurried off to join a group of five other girls. Jeongin's attention shifted back to his friend after being nudged in the side. Changbin started to lead the younger boy to the round table that Chan and Jisung had secured. The two boys settled down with their friends and joined in on the conversation, despite their lack of knowledge of what was being discussed prior.

Shortly after, the other members joined the four, a new conversation forming between all of them. Their laughter rang throughout the cafeteria, the trainees and staff not minding their liveliness. Food was shared between the eight boys, as they tried to see if there was anything they liked amongst the various choices, making mental notes for future meals.