"Hyeong!" Cheol-seong grabbed Lan Yu's hand and shouted, his emotions slipping out of control. "That was way too dangerous just now!"

"Dangerous back in the restaurant when they were pushing drinks, or dangerous just now when the manager was chewing me out?" Lan Yu laughed, looking at how frantic Cheol-seong was.

"Both, hyeong. Both were dangerous." Cheol-seong's voice was tight with nerves. "That was my first time seeing the manager that angry. I was worried he'd pull out his phone the next second and tell the company to take you off schedules for a while."

"Feels like the manager is going to call the company in a bit anyway." Lan Yu shrugged, like it didn't matter.

"Hyeong!" Cheol-seong got even more worked up at that.

"It's not that big a deal. The manager said it too, right? There aren't any activities coming up. With or without all this, it's still going to be resting at home." Lan Yu paused, then changed the topic. "So, second round? At least all nine of us can go together. Looks like no one even got to eat properly because of me. I'll treat everyone to karaoke and some food."

"Okaaay—" the rest of them chorused.

"Then it's settled! There's a pretty good karaoke around here. Let's go together now." Lan Yu turned like he was about to walk off.

Cheol-seong tugged on Lan Yu's sleeve. "Actually... thank you for speaking up for me earlier, hyeong. I never thought anyone would step out like that for me."

Lan Yu stopped and turned back, ruffling Cheol-seong's hair. "That's nothing. I was worried everyone would think I dragged the whole group into something huge."

"Well... it kind of did turn into something huge." Jiho laughed. "Yu, how did you even dare to talk back to the manager?"

Hearing that, Lan Yu scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed. "No idea if it was the right thing. But seeing Cheol-seong look like he had a mouthful of bitterness he couldn't spit out... I couldn't help it. I wanted to speak for him."

"Huh? Was it that obvious, hyeong?" Cheol-seong panicked.

Lan Yu smiled. "Yeah. Expression management isn't exactly your strength."

"I'm done for, I'm done for. What about onstage then?" Cheol-seong got genuinely anxious.

"It's fine. Nobody's going to force you to drink onstage." Lan Yu laughed out loud. Teasing Cheol-seong like this was kind of fun.

"Hyeong!" Maybe it was the alcohol, but Lan Yu's joking only made Cheol-seong fluster harder, like Lan Yu was messing with him on purpose—one more poke and he might actually start tearing up.

"Alright, alright." Lan Yu pulled Cheol-seong into a hug and patted his back. "From now on, I've got you. Nobody's going to shove drinks at you."

"Yu's acting like some kind of boss." Luke drifted in close just then.

"Well, Leader-nim didn't even step in to break it up earlier, surprisingly." The moment Lan Yu said it, everyone seemed to realize it at the same time: Luke had been almost invisible through the whole incident, which really wasn't like him.

"Yeah. Leader-nim, where did you even go?"

Luke shrugged, like the question itself was strange. "Because I didn't want it to look like Yu did something wrong."

Lan Yu loosened the arm around Cheol-seong a little and turned to Luke, suddenly serious. "Actually... I want to thank you, Leader-nim."

"Hm? Why is Yu thanking me?" Luke looked genuinely puzzled by the sudden gratitude.

"Didn't Leader-nim say this before? When it comes to drinking—something Leader-nim doesn't want to do—it's just a straight refusal. Simply because Leader-nim doesn't want to. I've been thinking... maybe I can do that too. Refuse the things I hate."

"If someone at the company hears that, they'll think I corrupted Yu."

"Mm." Lan Yu nodded with a grin. "In a way... maybe Leader-nim did corrupt me."

Dohyeon asked, "Leader-nim, how come I don't remember you ever telling the rest of us that?"

"Because it was something Leader-nim said to Yu in private." Jiho chimed in. "Of course the rest of us wouldn't hear it."

Lan Yu shrugged. "One troublemaker in the group is enough, right?"

"So Yu is planning to block the drink-pushing for everyone from now on?" Nat laughed, looping an arm around Lan Yu's shoulder to tease him.

"Weren't Nat hyeong and the rest drinking happily at the table before the trouble started?" Lan Yu rolled his eyes at Nat. "Does Nat hyeong even need someone to block drinks?" Lan Yu leaned in and sniffed him on purpose. "Mm. Nat hyeong still reeks. One whiff and that's alcohol poisoning already."

"You brat." Nat laughed and pushed a knuckle against Lan Yu's head, grinding it lightly. "Picking on me now, huh?"

"Nat hyeong started it." Lan Yu shot back.

"You little brat—that mouth of yours never gives an inch, huh?"

"Why give an inch?" Lan Yu shrugged, perfectly casual. "Not giving it doesn't mean Nat hyeong stops liking me. Giving it wouldn't make everyone else love me more either. I never did any of this to be liked." Lan Yu glanced around. "Why is everyone just standing at the entrance like this? Keep standing here and it's going to turn into a spectacle. Let's go to the karaoke first."

"Alright, alright!" Nat agreed, arm still around Lan Yu as he guided him toward the karaoke. "Let's see what kind of performance our Yu is going to give tonight."

"Hey, hey, hey! Nat, why are you stealing Yu away like that!" The second Luke saw Nat hauling Lan Yu off, Luke panicked and hurried after them.

Nat looked at Luke with a grin, his hand still resting on Yu's shoulder. "Leader-nim, you flirt with our Yu every day—so how come it's not okay when I just throw an arm around him for once?"

"Hey, come on—at least save me a spot!" Luke complained loudly, trailing right behind Yu and Nat.

"I don't have anywhere to squeeze in either," Cheol-seong protested in a small voice.

"So Yu is a human plushie now? Everyone has to be holding him to be satisfied." Jiho watched them bicker in the middle of the street.

Lan Yu, boxed in by the whole group, couldn't help rolling his eyes. "Making this much noise on the street and still not getting recognized... only proves we're such a nugu group. If anything, that's what everyone should be fighting about."

"It's fine," Jiho picked up the thread. "With Yu's personality, collAGE will probably make the police blotter sooner or later."

"Jiho hyeong!" Lan Yu hadn't expected Jiho to be the type to crack deadpan jokes like that.

"What?" Jiho lifted a brow. "If Yu can say it, why can't I?"

"Fine, then. If we're going down, our group can just go down together." Lan Yu said, helpless. "How come there are ticking time bombs besides me?"

"Lan Yu hyeong." Eunwoo popped his head out from the side and looked at him. "Was that the first time you've ever said 'our group' in front of everyone?"

"Huh?" Lan Yu blinked, caught off guard. "Seriously?"

"Now that you mention it... yeah, kind of." Everyone started propping their chins on their hands, thinking it over. "It really does feel like Lan Yu only ever says 'our group' when it's on the record."

"Why are you all making me sound so cold-blooded?" Lan Yu said, feeling oddly guilty, like he'd been caught red-handed. "Could it not just be that I'm Chinese and I don't really use that phrasing?"

"Yu only plays the language card when it's convenient." Kaede tossed in, out of nowhere.

"niisan?!" That was not something Lan Yu expected Kaede to expose right now.

"Exactly. Yu's Korean is way better than mine, isn't it?" Nat poked Lan Yu's cheek with the arm still locking him in place.

"不好意思，我听不懂你们在说什么。Sorry for not understanding what you are talking about. 何を言っているのか理解できなくてごめんなさい." Lan Yu went all in, wearing a face that screamed, "Can't understand, not a single word."

"And you even threw in Japanese only Kaede can understand—on purpose, Yu." Jiho stabbed the point with zero mercy.

"Yeah. Exhibit A: my Korean is terrible. Everyone, please—have a little mercy and stop picking on a foreigner trying to make it on his own in a strange country." Lan Yu's face pretty much said, "Don't make me get down on my knees and beg."

"Yu is really good at flipping the situation. One turn and it looks like everyone else is bullying Yu." Jiho reached out and pinched Lan Yu's other cheek too.

"Yes." With both cheeks being kneaded, Lan Yu forced the words out. "If two hyeongs keep pinching like this, facial reconstruction surgery might be on my schedule tomorrow."

Nat and Jiho exchanged a look and burst out laughing at the same time. Neither hand loosened at all. They kept tugging Lan Yu's cheeks like that all the way to the karaoke, and the moment both hands finally let go, Lan Yu looked ready to swing at them.

Everyone else trailed along obediently behind, watching the chaos up front, including Luke, who kept protesting the whole time about not being able to squeeze in.