Arcane

TWO

"You look terrible," Jeno says, and it's a greeting of concern. He relieves Jisung of the gift box in his hands and gives him a hug that feels big and homey despite coming up only to Jisung's chin and being the approximate weight of one of Jisung's thighs. "Did you pull another allnighter playing Overwatch? I thought you told Jun you stopped doing that."

"God, I wish that's all it was."

And wish he does. Jisung remembers his nightmares today, and had woken in a cold sweat, though thankfully in the morning so the sun had already begun to peek through the crack in his curtains that he hadn't drawn completely. Little of it made sense, as most nightmares do, and shards of it linger like mismatched puzzle pieces from different boxes: a sprawling estate, someone's laugh, a dark hallway. The most vivid part of it still stands fresh in his mind: the muzzle of a pistol, pointed in his face. It had been a dull, mottled silver, cloudy sunlight glinting off the front sight. A click of the trigger, and Jisung had jolted awake.

"Sounds rough. Donghyuck and Mark are cooking a fucking feast, so we'll get you fed nice and good, at least."

"Mark-hyung?"

"Yeah, he's helping, I hear," Jeno says, placing Jisung's gift on top of a much larger present. Donghyuck is nigh impossible to shop for, but he hopes the studio-grade artist's headphones are a good bet. "Helping. I already heard Donghyuck shouting about slicing onions. Renjun's out buying alcohol with Jaemin. You want to stay over tonight? I don't want you going back home alone drunk."

"I'll be fine."

"You will be mincemeat. The couch's pull-out game is strong, you'll be sleeping here."

If only Donghyuck could be here to smack him, too.

Jisung eats better than he has since he—well, moved out. Renjun and Jaemin arrive in a parade of grapefruit soju and something in a fancy bottle that they say is a medicinal rice wine that's good for male stamina. It smells like the only legal use for it is strip paint off a car, but Mark simply reaches for it and says "Ah, thank you, I'll be taking this." Donghyuck shoves him out of his chair, red as cinnabar, and immediately takes three more shots of soju. Big mood.

Towards the end of the night, Renjun is fading fast, asleep in Jaemin's lap with color high in his cheeks. "That hangover's not going to be nice, make sure he hydrates," Mark says, sending them off with a Tupperware of extra food, thanking Donghyuck and Jaemin again for cooking. "And Jisung, you too. You haven't touched your water."

"The couch is nice," he says, voice muffled facedown into the armrest.

"It's nicer when it's set up, come on. Get off."

It takes some mattress-wrestling, but three fairly drunk guys manage to get a set of fitted sheets and pillowcases onto the mattress and the spare bedding, and Jisung tumbles into it, clothes and all. Oh, he's going to hate himself later. He feels grimy, and should probably shower, but the couch bed is so warm that he's loath to move.

"Good night, Sung, drink that water."

"Where are you sleeping?" he mumbles at Donghyuck, who hasn't yet left.

"Air mattress." Donghyuck beams, giving him two thumbs up over the foot of the bed. "We're going to be roommates tonight."

"Wow, cool," Jisung manages, and then the alcohol pulls him under.

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Drinking too much always does something funny if Jisung goes to sleep before sobering up. Sure, it's the hangover, but the headache that wakes him up feels as close to an out-of-body experience as Jisung's ever experienced.