snow ; changki ◯ ON HOLD

9

hello! sorry for being so long, I was/am with my last assessments and exams, but this chapter is a spicy 2650 words to make up for it ;)

"Hey. You might want to slow down. Failing a test isn't a good enough reason to drink yourself to the grave."

The bass of a pop song pulsed through the floorboards, it's origin being the huge speaker in the even bigger living room, however it's force rippled all the way to the kitchen, where Changkyun stood with a crimson-faced Jooheon. He eyed him with concern, his skill to neck shots like they were water quickly going from entertaining to worrying; the other didn't care so much, reaching for his third bottle of soju with such composure nobody would even suspect he was on the verge of blacking out.

Around him, nobody else seemed to care, either too drunk or drugged up to even notice. The blonde sighed, regretting even setting foot in the party in the first place - it was too early to celebrate, but he knew it was planned to lift their spirits, so there he was.

"Their" was a big stretch, since he hadn't seen his partner in the hour he'd been in Hyungwon's indoor maze of a house. He deflated slightly every time the door of the kitchen opened, hoping to see a pink head enter.

"It's not just the fact I probably won't ever graduate. It's also the fact that I'm here looking like a solid 17 out of 10 and Hyungwon is nowhere in sight," Jooheon sighed. "at least this soju bottle won't miss out on how good I look."

"You are far too drunk to even be in the presence of Hyungwon, you have no self control. And why not mingle? I'm pretty sure I saw Hoseok and Minhyuk, go say hey." He tried to reason.

"No-" he paused, and Changkyun took a step back for safety as he suddenly retched. "I'm good. I'll go look for them. You take this. Keep that bottle away from me."

"Good boy," he patted the top of his head, smiling. "text me if anything, I won't leave without you."

He couldn't help but grin at his tipsy friend, throwing him a series of hearts before disappearing into the thick crowd, only the absence of his smell proving he'd really left the kitchen. Changkyun sighed, smoothing down his t-shirt before setting across the masses, hoping to find a quiet room and drink in peace.
Involuntarily, his eyes scanned the crowd for Kihyun, but with no luck, so he continued upstairs, where the halls were less crowded and more foggy.

He fought through the haze, finding Hyungwon somewhere in between, unable to stop his jaw from dropping.
Ditching his usual comfortable attire, he was in fitted jeans and a loose silk shirt with so many undone buttons, it may as well be off. He smiled, hair styled up and away from his face. "Jooheon is going to combust when he sees you. And by combust I mean 'buss it op-"

"Oh, dear God," Hyungwon whined. "have you seen him? I'm trying to keep things in order but pathetically failing so I may as well enjoy my party," he said. "do I look like I tried too hard? I'm overthinking everything."

"Here," he pressed the soju bottle into his hand. "you need it more than me. And you look great; he's downstairs, probably dancing. But hey, be careful with him, okay? Drunk Jooheon is not Sober Jooheon in the slightest."

"What do you mean?"

"Sober Jooheon wants to sit on the beach with you. Drunk Jooheon wants to do other things at said beach-"

"Oof. Okay, solid. Sure, I'll make sure nothing happens," he grinned. "thanks. Oh, by the way, Kihyun's in there," he pointed to an ominously smoky room. Changkyun's eyebrows furrowed. "go collect him, his little shoulder angel has taken the night off."

He was left stood in the hallway with multiple questions, as Hyungwon disappeared towards the staircase. Regardless, he turned, entering the room to see a bunch of people thrown over the furniture and floors smoking, the door to the en suite open enough to show others hunched over the sink.
Kihyun wasn't hard to spot, sat near the middle of the bed with a blunt in his hand. On his leg rested the head of a short haired girl, who occasionally turned around to take a drag from his hand.