* 𝕊𝕋𝔸ℝ / 𝔹𝕃𝕆𝕊𝕊𝕄𝔼𝔻 !

     jaehyun pulls them closer together, and taeyong only complains. he pushes back half-heartedly. a slurry of half-mumbled protests that it’s too hot, he’s too sweaty, he doesn’t want to smell jaehyun’s armpits. he means what he says, of course, but he also doesn’t hate it as much as he might claim. there’s a part of him that enjoys being close to his friend, though how large or small a part that it may be is harder to be determined.

     he likes the way jaehyun continues on his rambles of praise for taeyong, the way he wants to have him nearby despite taeyong being an utter stick in the mud until this moment exactly. if jaehyun wants to take him everywhere, in this moment he’ll go. let’s do something crazy, he almost says, a stupid grin on his face swallowing his words instead. let’s spend all our money and hop on a plane and see somewhere warm and tropical and forget about the world. but even as far gone as taeyong is now, he would never. there’s too many people relying on him here.

     "why should i?“ he challenges, deliberately withholding what jaehyun wants from him, but only for a moment. "just ‘cause you’re.. tall.. smile nice.. good hair..” there’s a lot of things to praise about jaehyun, most of them physical, but taeyong can say he enjoys him as a friend too. “what’s the prize even gonna be, huh? a brand new car?” the man laughs, pleased with his cliche game show impression. how useless would a car be? he doesn’t even have a license to drive it.

        he knows he’s not the kind of person that people go to when they need someone in the way that friends need a confidant, or a shoulder to cry on, or even just someone to ask a favor from (unless it has to do with social media and partying, the two things he’s decent at). jaehyun doesn’t know how to keep a secret or comfort a person without being awkward, and the last word anyone would ever use to describe him would be reliable. he’s not quite sure how he feels about it all; at the end of the day, he brings it upon himself. 

            people go to him for fun, who wouldn’t want to be that friend instead? sure, he wouldn’t have minded if taeyong wanted to spend the night differently, but letting go of his problems for a few hours is where he thrives, one thing that he’s actually great at. he wishes taeyong could do the same, so maybe this is the start of something good —  in moderation. jaehyun wouldn’t let taeyong get as bad as he is; not when he knows he has so much on his plate.

jaehyun has a certain addictive quality that ten almost resents. he’s handsome, and his voice is pretty even when he’s just talking. he’s interesting, and they have things in common, so ten finds it hard to drag himself away sometimes. tonight is one of the nights where he’s allowing himself a good ole dose of jung jaehyun - well deserved, he’d like to add. 

there’s liquor in his system, and he’s pretty sure theres some in jaehyun’s too, going by the way they’re both stumbling about, ten giggling as he clings to jaehyun’s forearm. he’s unconsciously pouting, brow tugged together in the centre in a slight frown, when jaehyun points out the tear in his shirt. ten stares for a moment, before breaking into a mischievous grin and giggling some more. 

“i think i’d prefer it if there was more skin on show, jaehyunie.” lifting a finger he pokes it in through the tear, grazing his fingertip over jaehyun’s skin. “now you look like a prince who narrowly missed death in a valiant sword fight as you were defending your poor cat princess - that’s me - who is desired by the whole kingdom!”

          he doesn’t expect anything less;  in fact, he’s learned that nothing should be unexpected when it comes to ten, just like others have learned to do with him. it’s nothing that he doesn’t enjoy, though, so jaehyun wonders why people have always complained about his own lack of boundaries, and how he unknowingly crosses lines that shouldn’t be crossed. he and ten don’t have that sort of conflict, though, so that’s always been refreshing. as honest as they are with one another (which obviously includes a bit of flirting here and there), they both know that neither of them take it to heart. 

yangyang is minding his own business, tugging his blond ratty wig back on as he seems to have lost hyejoo somewhere in the crowd. knowing her, she’ll find him and then blame him for leaving her– although it felt more like he turned around and she had wandered off. he’s eating a caramel apple which is undoubtedly the messiest thing he’s ever put in or around his mouth. 

his eyes move to jaehyun as he comes up next to him and before he fully even notices that he’s talking to him, he squints and only continues to eat his apple. he spots an open bench which will come in handy as he takes out his phone to text hyejoo and find out where she went. “what did you just do?” yangyang says without much variant in his voice, paying more attention to his phone than his friend. “rob a liquor store perhaps?”

           jaehyun is still stuck in his own head, much too focused on his own problems (again, if one could even call them that) to realize that yangyang’s obviously preoccupied with something else. once he does realize, he’ll definitely make a big fuss out of it, but for now, he’s just reeling. he sits beside yangyang, hands clasped around the edge of the bench and eyes set on the scene in front of them. 

     he had protested at first, as he always does. it’s irresponsible, it’s a waste of money, he has better things to do than this. but after so long of jaehyun’s whittling away at his better judgement, he finally gets what he wanted. taeyong, a few drinks he didn’t really count warming his stomach, just slightly unbalanced and grinning despite the way they’re a little too close to a speaker and the bass thrums in his chest. he rests a hand there idly, just feeling the beat. he leans against jaehyun, safe enough tucked under his friend’s arm.

     a short bark of a laugh escapes him when jaehyun speaks. everything is just so funny right now.

     “me? fun?” what a good joke jaehyun just made. taeyong laughs with his full chest, leaning further on his friend through his fit of giggles. “i don’t think you’ve ever called me fun!” perhaps it’s something he could do more, let loose. he rather likes the way jaehyun talks about him right now, even if he doesn’t make as much sense as he usually does.

     “you know what you are?” taeyong continues speaking, even though no one asked him to. his voice isn’t particularly strong, but raised loud enough to at least hear himself over the music. “you’re…” he looks jaehyun over once, or at least as much as he can while sticking so close to him. “handsome… and kinda an ass,” he laughs again, thinking he just said something very clever.

            he doesn’t have much sense in him as is, so now that he’s here, all of it has inevitably been tossed away in favor of this state of bliss (which will surely come with downsides tomorrow). if he had a couple less shots in him, maybe he’d realize just how far gone they both are, but it’s difficult enough to form a proper thought beyond the confines of the conversation they’re having. it’s short and to the point, and yet it’s all he’s focused on. everything else is background noise. 

             taeyong’s giggles make his smile grow wider, full of more genuineness than he’d ever like to admit. sober or not, he wants taeyong to be happy. this is jaehyun’s version of that, so he’s basking in the results, even if he won’t remember them properly once the night is over. 

Honestly Hwanwoong wasn’t sure he agreed with the stranger’s words – at least it was possible to ignore the obvious stares of amusement at his expense and pity, but someone outright laughing at him was simply too much. It also bothered him how indifferent the guy seemed about it all, but the last thing Hwanwoong wanted to do was start a fight – that would just make his day even worse and, like it or not, he had a reputation to uphold. Be the bigger person, Yeo Hwanwoong, he had to say to himself. There was no point in letting himself get pulled into the other’s pace and be rude in return.

“At this rate I genuinely don’t know,” he commented in return to the other’s concern… if he could call it that. It seemed more like he was trying to tease him, but Hwanwoong decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, at least for the time being. Fighting with the paper napkins, he did his best to try wipe up the spilled coffee, at least praising the fact that it had miraculously avoided his clothes. “Who knows, this might be my cue to go back to my bed before I actually end up getting myself killed.” He surprised himself that he actually had it in him to joke around at a time like this.

          even if he hadn’t gotten a good reaction out of the other, jaehyun wouldn’t have minded. as much as... well, himself as he is, he can be perceptive from time to time, particularly if his interest is piqued. this is a cute coffee shop and whatnot, but this is the only entertaining event that’s been offered to him, so he’s particularly attentive. (if he were just a little more so, he may even consider helping, but the thought doesn’t even cross his mind.) 

An #lmscreamtacular starter for @lmxjaehyun 

When he’d first caught sight of Jaehyun, Sicheng had been standing outside of the haunted house by himself, twiddling his thumbs; Xuxi and his cousin having disappeared beyond the decorative gate nearly five minutes prior. He’d chickened out at the last second, having assumed that his hatred of scary movies would roll over into this experience, but he’d begun to regret his hesitation as the sixty-second loop of shrill gayageum, ghostly moans, and lady screams that played over the speakers had started to whittle away at his sanity. 

Relieved to see a familiar face, though, he’d called out a very friendly “Hey, asshole!” and although he knows that Jaehyun probably only looked because he recognised the voice, as they step into the first section of the attraction together, Sicheng, even as he clings nervously to Jaehyun’s sleeve in anticipation of the first scare, offers him a soft chuckle. 

“When did you start answering to asshole?”

           he always enjoyed halloween, even as a kid; it was a day full of an abundance of candy and thrills, the perfect combination for any bratty kid who insisted on collecting enough pails of candy to last him the year. his priorities have obviously shifted since then (he doesn’t even eat candy anymore), but he’s still just as full of halloween spirit. he’s all for having a valid excuse to have a few nights of fun.           

            one of his favorite things to do now is visit haunted houses, but he never fully remembers the visit itself. (jaehyun wouldn’t be jaehyun if he were sober, would he?) so, really, he thinks he enjoys them, since he always has a need to visit them whenever the opportunity arises. that’s led him here, and as usual, he’s not completely present in the moment, but that’s part of the fun.     

@lmxjaehyun​

Honestly today wasn’t a good day. Hwanwoong had never been fond of winter, and with the days growing steadily shorter and colder, his mood worsened day by day and it took less to set off the otherwise very patient and calm boy. His phone had died during the night due to a power outage killing his charger, and thus his morning alarm hadn’t rung. He was running late to training, only briefly stopping at a starbucks to get a morning coffee and a quick sandwich to have some energy for the day to run on, and of course dropped all his coins when trying to pay. And last but not least he had spilled the coffee all over the counter when trying to add his extras.

To make matters worse he could hear a snicker from somewhere next to him.

“That’s right just laugh at my misery,” he snapped unintentionally, but he was really losing his patience right about now. “Geez… I can’t believe this stuff actually happens in real life…”

          jaehyun’s day had been going moderately well thus far; not spectacular, but how good can a weekday full of errands really be? he knows that some people enjoy days like this, but for him, it’s all a bore. the only thing that can get him through it is a nice, big cup of coffee while he sits alone and looks out of the cafe’s window and pretends to be in a cheap indie movie for his own entertainment. call it a warm up of sorts, the beginning of a surely uneventful day. as usual, though, jaehyun has gotten too ahead of himself and forgotten that even the most mundane tasks can come with their own bit of fun, like watching the person in front of him having his own version of a bad day.