“Then cheers,” Yeonjun said, raising his shot glass.

Seojun froze for a second, watching him lick the salt from the back of his hand.

Seriously, Seojun… get a grip, he thought, then tilted back his shot.

Yeonjun set the glass back on the tray and cracked open a beer.

“Kinda thought you’d bring soju, but tequila works,” he said with a laugh.

Seojun was thrilled to see him smile. Yeonjun looked way more relaxed than when he’d first walked in. Now, Seojun couldn’t look away from him even if he tried.

Without saying anything, they both leaned back on their lounge chairs, gazes drawn upward to the scattered stars above Seoul.

After a while, Yeonjun spoke up.

“You know how I get sometimes? Like I’m stuck in the same loop, doing the same routines, feeling the same pressure. Everything just feels... empty.” 

He let out a quiet breath, almost like a laugh.

“I feel like I could stick with anyone forever, if they could just make me feel something real.”

His voice softened. 

“They don’t have to be good-looking, or smart, or rich. They could be totally average... even kind of weird. As long as they make me feel alive.”

Seojun avoided looking at him, not trusting the look in his eyes to stay hidden.

“So…” he said, glancing at the bottle, trying to sound casual. “One more shot?”

Yeonjun shrugged. “I’m down for anything. But you know we’ve got class tomorrow, right?” 

He looked at the bottle again and smiled.

“Though mine’s in the afternoon.”

Seojun leaned back in his chair as if he had all the time in the world, his voice carrying the kind of casual indifference that made it hard to tell whether he actually cared.

“Yeah? I’ve got Contemporary Painting Workshop in the morning.”

Yeonjun nodded. 

“I think we’ve got Interdisciplinary Visual Analysis together on Wednesday, right?”

Their eyes met. Neither of them felt the need to hide how much they liked having classes together. For two people who barely knew each other and whose friendship had taken shape almost overnight, this kind of ease felt strangely rare and quietly precious.

Yeonjun slowly pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapped his arms around them, and rested his chin on top. Then he turned toward Seojun, and this time he didn’t look away. He kept looking at him, more gently than before. A slight smile started to form on his lips.

“Tonight… I feel more at ease. Because of you,” he said quietly.

After a moment, he added,

“Because of Jia, I didn’t really talk to anyone during my first year. I didn’t make many friends. And honestly… I’m not the kind of person who makes friends easily. But you… you feel real. Thanks for tonight, Seojun.”

For a second, Seojun didn’t know what to do with the feeling rising in him. It was the first time Yeonjun had said his name. Just his name. No sarcasm, no hesitation. Only quiet sincerity. And somehow, that hit harder than he expected. Something pulled at his chest, but he didn’t show it. He just smiled a little and said,

“No big deal.”

Then, without getting up, he reached for the tequila on the coffee table and started preparing the next round. He poured the tequila, arranging the lemon slices with care, even though his hands were shaking just a little.

***

Yeonjun took it, and their fingers touched for a second when he grabbed the glass. He kept looking at Seojun’s hand for a moment, then they lifted their shots and drank at the same time.

The alcohol burned quickly. Yeonjun made a face and bit into his lemon. Seojun dropped his. The lemon fell from his fingers and rolled across the floor of the terrace.

Yeonjun laughed, the sound clear in the cool night air.

“You okay there? I think you’re drunk…”

“Oh, is it that funny?” Seojun said with a laugh. Then, scrunching his face into a pout, he added,

“You could’ve dropped yours too.”

Yeonjun laughed again, held out his lemon toward Seojun’s nose, and said, 

“Yeah, but I didn’t, Seojun.”

Seojun lifted his head and looked at him with an exaggerated eye-roll.

Oh, boy. Do you even know what you’re doing to me right now? he thought.

His eyes didn’t move. And while still watching Yeonjun, he ran his tongue slow across his bottom lip. It was too slow to be casual, too focused to be innocent. He didn’t seem to notice he was doing it.

Still watching him, Seojun leaned in and took the lemon straight from Yeonjun’s hand with his mouth. It was the same lemon that had just been in Yeonjun’s mouth, and he swallowed it whole, peel and all. He didn’t even look at him while doing it. It was so relaxed, so unbothered that it felt more intimate than it should have.

Yeonjun felt something stir, caught slightly off guard. But then again, this was Kim Seojun. So casual, so unapologetic. Like boundaries didn’t mean much to him.

He burst out laughing.

“You really ate the lemon I just had in my mouth. You really are something else.” And he suddenly wondered, 

Why did that feel... kinda nice?

Seojun turned red all the way to his ears. 

Don’t, he thought. Everything you do is turning me on. The way you talk, the way you smile, even the way you breathe. You’re turning me on so bad right now.

Yeonjun let out a breathy laugh and shifted slightly on the lounge chair, letting himself relax a bit more.

“I feel like I could pass out and never wake up,” he murmured, eyes still on the sky, his voice floating somewhere between thought and dream.

Seojun leaned back in his own seat. They didn’t talk for a while. The silence between them was quiet and full. It didn’t feel awkward. It simply held everything they couldn’t say out loud.

Yeonjun felt a little cold and pulled his blanket tighter around himself.

“Are you cold?” Seojun asked.

“A bit,” Yeonjun said.

“I’ll bring you another blanket,” Seojun offered.

“No, it’s okay,” Yeonjun said quickly.

He sat up, moved the coffee table between them to the side, and pulled his lounge chair next to Seojun’s. Then he lay back down and slipped under his own blanket again, this time also pulling part of Seojun’s blanket over himself. Their legs touched under the covers.

Seojun felt like he was about to lose his mind. His face turned red again.

“This feels much better now,” Yeonjun said. He turned to look at Seojun. Their faces were suddenly very close.

“Wow. Your eyelashes are really long.”

Seojun looked at him and just said, “Yeah? Thanks...”

Yeonjun turned his head back and kept looking up at the stars, but after a moment, he started fidgeting, one hand moving to the back of his neck.

“What the fuck…” he muttered, tugging at his collar.

Seojun turned his head toward him. 

“What’s wrong?”

“I think my necklace got caught in the seam, every time I move, it pulls.” He tried to fix it himself, fingers working blindly behind his neck. After a few seconds, he sighed and gave up. 

“I can’t reach it. Uh… can you help me take it off?”

Seojun hesitated for just a breath. Then he nodded.

“Yeah. Sure.”

Then he moved closer to him, closing the space between them without a word.