"So..." Yunho comes up to me on Monday, which catches me by surprise. "The offer still stands?"
"Um... what offer?"
"Duh." Yunho turns to Mingi who's standing behind him, "I told you he'd forget. There's no way of remembering everything of a night after two and a half bottles of soju – right, Wooyoung?"
I blink. "I drank that much?"
"Dunno", Yunho shrugs, "but you told us so..."
Okay. Wow.
"What did I offer you?", I finally ask and try not to cringe at how awkward the words sound coming out of my mouth. It could be really anything though – I want to prepare myself for the worst.
"You said that we could come and sit with you and your friends..."
"Oh." That's not half as bad as I expected. In fact – it's a pretty good idea. I didn't think of that at all. At least not while I was sober.
I'm also pretty certain that I wouldn't have suggested it without the alcohol.
"'Oh' means what?" Yunho grins.
"It means come on." I'm surprised how easy it suddenly feels to smile at both of them. "I didn't tell my other friends yet – for obvious reasons – but I'm sure it'll be okay for them too."
Oh. I said my other friends. Does that mean... Does that mean that I've just got new friends? Suddenly, it is a thousand times harder to keep my smile from transforming into a stupid, happy grin.
Hongjoong doesn't mind Yunho and Mingi joining us at all. In fact, once Mingi tells him that they're both both studying Performance and Aesthetics, Hongjoong's all over them: "I've seen your names on quite a lot on top rankings here around the uni already. What styles do you dance the most? What dancing courses did you take so far? And which ones are you taking this semester?"
Holy shit. This is borderline embarrassing.
Seonghwa is a little bit more leveled. He smiles at them politely, introduces himself shortly and excuses his over-enthusiastic boyfriend.
Thank you, Seonghwa. I send him a silent smile, to which he returns one of his reassuring everything's-gonna-be-alright smiles.
Only Yeosang behaves kind of reserved. He greets both Yunho and Mingi – then turns to me: "So... does that mean that San will come over too?"
"Yeah. Jongho will too."
"Oh!" Yeosang's frown lightens a bit. "Right. I forgot. I used to hang out with Jongho in high school, you know?"
"Not until now. But that sounds great." It really does. In fact, it sounds so great that I, just for a moment, bathe in the illusion that the eight of us eating lunch at one table could become a regular thing.
Though we're only six at the moment – two are still missing...
San and Jongho enter the cafeteria almost at the same time, and line up for food together. When San throws their usual table a look, he frowns at the empty chairs until Jongho pulls at his sleeve and gestures to our table.
I quickly avert my gaze to pretend I haven't been watching them.
"Hey Yeosang, Wooyoung." Hongjoong's voice from the other side of the table startles me.
"Yeah?", Yeosang and I reply at the same time.
"Have you already gotten the first update on the ranks in your dance courses?"
"I think we're gonna get them sometime this week", Yeosang answers dismissively.
"Why?", I ask.
"Oh, it's nothing." Seonghwa chuckles awkwardly and throws Hongjoong a warning look. Hongjoong sighs, then nods. "We were just curious."
"Okay..." This is weird. I exchange a look with Yeosang, and he seems just as bewildered and disbelieving as I feel.
"Are you sure?", I inquire.
Hongjoong shifts in his seat. "Yeah. Absolutely. We were just curious. I mean... you're gonna find out about it soon anywa-" He yelps. By the looks of it, Seonghwa has just kicked his shin under the table.
"Hi guys."
I look up at the quiet voice – as does everyone else at our table. San and Jongho are standing at the far end, both smiling; San nervously, Jongho calmly.
"Hey!", Yunho replies.
San's eyes meet mine. I clear my throat. "Take a chair and join us?"
"Sure thing." San smiles in my direction, and there's a weird pang in my chest at the look of genuine gratefulness on his face.
"D'you remember that time we wrote a rap for the Christmas fest in middle class?" - "Team of four... finances... fee for every participant... they have to audition first..." - "You still got sore muscles, Sannie?"
Our table is suddenly so loud and... cheerful. Sure, I enjoyed eating lunch with Yeosang, Seonghwa and Hongjoong – but this... this is an entirely new level. I like it even more than before, even though I'm not involved in any of the conversations going on around me. For the moment, it's enough for me to listen to them. Those are my friends – and how crazy and absolutely great is that??
"You okay, Wooyoung?" San leans past Jongho towards me, a teasing smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
I shake my head. "Nothing. I'm just... happy, I guess."
"That's nice to hear." He pauses, and when I don't speak up, he continues: "I've only got Songwriting every fortnight on Mondays, so I wanted to ask if I could maybe... watch one of your dancing courses today? You've got dancing classes in the afternoon, right?"
"I do." I'm glad that I at least manage to sound calm – because my palms suddenly feel clammy, and I'm afraid I might stumble over my own words soon enough. San watching me dance is one of the few things I really wanted, and yet... the prospect of this becoming reality is making me fidgety. "At what time do you wanna watch?"
"I've got time to watch the course that you've got from five to seven pm", he tells me. "Which one is that?"
"It's Choreographies – and most of the time the choreographies look really weird, because our teacher apparently thinks she has to merge every existing dance style into one choreo."
San grins. "I think I can deal with that. If not, I'll stay anyway and use it as blackmail material against you whenever I need it."
Now that sounds alarming. "You've got experience with that?"
"Oh, loads." His grin broadens – then he throws a cautious look over the table, in Yeosang's direction.
With Yeosang. Of course.
I bet the two of them had loads of fun when they were living together.
Yeosang turns away from his chat with Jongho and to us. "Yeah? What is it?" He avoids San's gaze. "You're both staring at me."
"Oh, nothing much", San speaks up. He suddenly sounds shy. "Just... remember when I blackmailed you into asking Hyejin out?"
Yeosang gulps, then nods. He even manages to make a small smile appear on his face. "Yeah. Was pretty mean of you."
"You were thankful for it though", San points out. "After she said Yes."
Yeosang snorts, which almost sounds like a little laugh. "Is that your excuse? Some 'the ends justify the means'-philosophy?"
"Nahh... maybe." San's smile turns sheepish. "I just wanted to see you happy..." He trails off, and Yeosang and I both tense.
Yeah. Seeing Yeosang happy again would be nice. Although we all know how well that worked out recently...
Recently, it was because of San. Now, though, I feel like it's me who's standing between Yeosang and his happiness; since I've basically taken his spot when it comes to San: I've got his room. I'm friends with San. And... I, too, might like San in a way that's not really platonic.
But I'm also selfish - which means I'm glad that, for most of the time, Yeosang acts like he hasn't been rejected. It makes everything so much easier.