It was another day of Ben dying in class. With exams coming up, Ben tried to focus, but everything bounced off his head. Ben sighed, staring at his notes in defeat. Numbers blurred together. Sentences became gibberish, and his brain was mush.

His plan had been simple: find Terrence before dance practice, beg him for tutoring, and maybe, salvage his rapidly sinking grades before the semester exams swallowed him whole. But the moment he stepped into the studio, all logical thought derailed.

Because there, in the middle of the room, was a giant human puppy. His tall frame and broad shoulders made him tower over most people, though he wasn’t particularly muscular. His skin was pale, almost porcelain, and his light brown hair fell over a face that somehow managed to look both boyish and pampered. His hazel-brown eyes peeked out from under long lashes as he clung to Terrence’s arm like a lifeline, whining in three different languages.

"Qiú nǐ le, qiú nǐ le... jiù yī cì! (Please please, just once!)”

“¿No puedes ayudarme aunque sea una vez, Terry?” (Can’t you help me just once, Terry?)”

“Oh my GOD, Terrieee, just one session, ONE tutoring session, I beg you!”

Terrence looked seconds away from committing homicide. "If you ever call me ‘Terriee’ again, I will personally make sure you fail every subject."

From the corner, Daniel cackled. “Awww, is our little brainiac too popular?”

Terrence shot him a withering glare. “Shut up before I tutor you in pain.”

Daniel only laughed harder. “Tsk, tsk. So violent. You should be kinder to your beloved childhood friend."

The giant puppy turned, and his eyes went wide when he spotted Ben standing there. “Oh! Who’s this?”

Daniel perked up immediately. “Ohhhh, right! Ben, meet our resident disaster child, Kai. He is in the Economics Department, too, like us all.”

The puppy, Kai, grinned, offering a massive hand. “Annyeong! I am Kai! Dance prodigy, music genius, and currently failing every subject known to man.”

Ben blinked, trying to process all of that. “Uh—”

Kai wasn’t done. “You dance too? Oh, wait, you must be Daniel-hyung’s new protégé!” He whistled. “Man, I really don’t envy you. Hyung’s a demon.”

Ben side-eyed Daniel. “Finally, someone said it.”

Daniel staggered back a step as if wounded. “How dare you, after all I’ve done for you, my precious child?”

“You literally made me run ten laps because I missed a beat.”

“EXACTLY. Discipline.”

Kai snickered. “See, Demon.”

Terrence sighed, rubbing his temples. “You both are equally insufferable.”

Ben tried to hide his laugh. “So, Kai, you really don’t study?”

Kai flopped back with a groan. “It’s not that I don’t study; it’s that I avoid it like the plague.”

Terrence scoffed. “Avoiding it for two months isn’t normal avoidance, dumbass. It’s academic suicide.”

Kai pouted. “I had a valid reason!”

“Oh, please, enlighten us,” Terrence deadpanned.

Kai straightened. “My mom was sick.”

Ben blinked. Oh, that was actually– 

Terrence immediately shot back, “Pneumonia. Two weeks recovery. Explain the extra six weeks.”

Kai deflated. “...I was vibing.”

Daniel wheezed. “Vibing?!”

Ben couldn’t help it. He laughed out loud.

Kai turned to him, scandalized. “Why are you laughing? You’re supposed to feel bad for me.”

“Dude, you just admitted to ditching college for vibes.”

Kai groaned, dramatically dropping onto the floor. “I hate it here.”

Daniel leaned casually against the mirror. “To be fair, you only got into this college ‘cause abeoji paid for the new media lab.”

Kai gasped in outrage. “It was a donation.”

Terrence snorted. “A donation that magically got you off the waitlist.”

Kai pouted harder. “Come on, nepotism is a family tradition!”

Ben blinked, confused. “Wait, abeonim–?”

Terrence gave a small shrug. “Abeoji’s a big-shot composer, basically a legend in the Hong Kong music scene, has credits in several tracks in the States, as well as half the Idol world. He plays more instruments than people can count on their fingers.” He looked down at Kai pointedly. “And so does this idiot, seven instruments, decent vocals… honestly, you should’ve just gone into music.”

Daniel chimed in with a mock sigh. “But nah, little rich boy had to pick Economics like he was born to suffer.”

Kai groaned, lying down on the studio floor. “I didn’t know, okay! I thought maybe I’d be good at it!”

Terrence raised a brow. “You can’t even spell ‘Macroeconomics’.”

Ben watched the banter unfold, amusement still lingering in his chest. But a strange feeling settled in, too. These three—Daniel, Terrence, and Kai—had history, inside jokes, memories, a bond that was built long before Ben ever walked into this studio.

And suddenly, Ben’s laughter faded. Watching them, he felt like he’d stumbled into a story that had already been written.

***

As practice ended, Ben lingered in the doorway while Daniel and Terrence debated over choreography. Kai was off in the corner, pretending to study (but actually doodling cats in his notebook).

Daniel glanced over, grinning. “Hey, Ben, you good?”

Ben hesitated before forcing a smile and nodding.

“Yeah,” he said, voice light. “Just… thinking.”

Daniel raised a brow but didn’t push. Instead, he slung an arm over his shoulder, leading him out. “C’mon. Let’s grab something to eat before Kai starves himself into another coma.”

Kai perked up. “Ooooh, rameyon?”

Terrence groaned. “Again?”

Daniel snickered. “You love us.”

Terrence let out a long, suffering sigh but followed anyway.

And as they walked together, joking, teasing, and bickering, Ben tried to shake the feeling gnawing at his chest.

Because, despite the laughter and the warmth of their friendship, he felt oddly out of place.