neighbor ; verkwan

beer can

For Seungkwan, it was never easy to keep his feelings.

It was almost like ignoring a rattling bird in its cage, hopelessly wanting to free itself with its wings that forcibly clashed with the solid, golden metal bars that isolate it; reckless and vigorous.

He's a college student by now, of course, he's had his heart fancy few people here and there during his younger days. And, as he grew up, looking back on the memories makes him wonder why he had even bothered them when he had better things to do.

But as they say, falling in the moment can really take a toll on you. Love can blind you from stupid things, and Seungkwan just doesn't want to pry on that anymore.

However, as much as he enjoyed watching and reading heart-fluttering romances and is keen on the idea of holding hands, going on dates, kissing, cuddling, and such things that couples do, his expectations were not always how he hoped for it to be.

Grabbing on that one last string of hope to find true love like in those sappy Hollywood movies was a mistake. Such shitty things only resulted in pain.

What a waste to know that those kinds of romances were rare to have.

He hated to admit, love was an inconvenience; most especially if it involved those closest to him.

-

Joshua rose with a grumble, his back welcoming his not-so-pleasant morning as it ached. The slight reek of beer and the sharp scent of spices wafted to his nose as a wake-up call.

"What the hell?" he almost breathed out the words under his breath, his throat felt horse as he croaked a cough of pain, eyes adjusting to open.

He felt an arm weighing on his stomach as he sat up and looked to his side to see Seungcheol dead asleep and cuddling close to him, his head buried deep into the pillow. "Oh, Christ." he sighs incredulously, not even bothering to take off the latter's hand.

It was cold, the distant noise of the running ac continues to function for god-knows-how-long they've been sleeping. The only thing protecting him from almost freezing was the thick blanket that wrapped around his thin figure as well as the pizza-printed cotton sweater he pulled beyond the tip of his fingers that both brought him warmth.

The lights were still turned off as the darkness clothed over every inch of the room where the group had slept. But the occasional seep of yellow sunlight from the windows sifted through the little cracks between the curtains that covered it as it swayed slowly.

His eyes relaxed and fixate on the mess that was set before him; four other boys— including the oldest baby who was clinging onto him going by the name of Choi Seungcheol— scattered around the different mats set across the living room.

He sobered up from his drunk-like state of sleepiness after waking up.

Seungkwan, Cheol, Sol, Wonwoo...

"Mingyu?"

A head popped from the illuminated space behind the wall that separated the living room and kitchen. "Shua, you're awake," he said, a half-smile on his face. "It's around two in the afternoon and all of you seem to be enjoying your dream-states." he comments jokingly as he took off the pink apron he wore and set it on someplace Joshua's vision couldn't reach. The younger headed to him, helping him stand up, removing his older friend's arm in the process.

"Take it easy, we all got drunk in hell last night." He said to him as he briefly left Joshua standing in the middle of the hallway then came back to hand over a glass of water.

Before Joshua could ask where Mingyu was guiding him to, the latter stopped midway in thought. "Or perhaps was it this morning? We drank for hours."