Odera
"Holy shit all that planning was not at all worth it." Mingyu said, staring at the chaos before him. Jeonghan's origami swans were long discarded and most of the boys had turned to competitive drinking. He was the only fully sober one after being given the exciting role of supervising and driving to Pledis Central the next day.
Part of him really wished he could drink to ease his anxieties about the day to come but he was also extremely glad he wasn't drunk enough to be acting like the boys that were bouncing off the walls of their living room. He was thankful at least one of them was not extremely drunk, Minghao currently sat with him with a tasteful glass of wine that everyone was convinced he didn't actually like the taste of. "I don't get how they can do it, I'm not getting drunk ever again after that night." He said, taking another sip. "Yeah I don't know how you could want to get with that in any state." Mingyu laughed pointing over to Jun who was howling on the karaoke machine with Wonwoo. Minghao chuckled along with him but there was a sense of contentment in their voices, "Our boys will be fine, I'm sure of it." Mingyu said softly, he could tell despite his relaxation Minghao was also slightly apprehensive about the ceremony.
Before Minghao could reply a mouth landed on his cheek, Jeonghan pulled back with a crumpled smile, "You kids are so cute," He said before trying to kiss Mingyu as well who wasn't having it and swatted him away. Rubbing his cheek Minghao huffed, "I forgot how Jeonghan gets when he's drunk, it's been a while."
Mingyu managed to successfully send the older off to go harass another unfortunate victim. The victim Jeonghan chose turned out to be Soonyoung.
"Soonie have I ever told you you're my favourite?" Jeonghan hummed. "You've told everyone that." Soonyoung slurred, whacking him playfully, he too trying to drown out the prospect of the following day slightly too much. "No, he never tells me that." Seungcheol pouted from beside them.
"Can you get him off me, this actually hurts!" Chan screeched from under him, the oldest curled up in his lap and refusing to leave. "Cheol gets clingy when he's drunk, not my problem." Soonyoung shrugged but Jeonghan took pity and attempted to lift Seungcheol up.
As he pulled he realised he overestimated his strength and fell backwards but managed to take Seungcheol with him. The oldest let himself be flung to the floor, landing awkwardly on Jeonghan. "Heavy- Bitch- Fuck-" Was all Jeonghan could struggle out as he rolled the oldest off him, completely destroying any romanticised fantasy Seungcheol drunkenly had of softly falling in his arms.
Through their shouting, Chan and Soonyoung naturally took the opportunity to laugh at them. "Channie if by any chance I go to Healina please find a way to update me on how long it is until they bang." Soonyoung said making Chan grimace at the idea but nod anyway.
"For once in my life I'd like it if your fat ass wasn't the route of all my problems!" Jeonghan screeched, "What does that even mean?" Seungcheol said in a whiny voice, much more interested in getting hugs in his drunken state than having yet another unnecessary argument with Jeonghan.
"You have a nice ass." Jeonghan smiled, saying the first thing that popped into his head. Seungcheol just grinned. "This is not being potentially my last memory of you idiots, just join the karaoke." Jihoon huffed, appearing somewhere and dragging Seungcheol by the collar of his shirt.
They sang away for what felt like hours, particular highlights being Jun and Wonwoo executing a terrifyingly energetic rendition of Black Cat Nero and Jeonghan introducing the boys to the entire High School Musical soundtrack that he could recite from memory. Even Mingyu and Minghao who were quite content just watching eventually joined in the chaos, just avoiding the excessive amount of shots and other drinks that were intermittently passed around.
Maybe getting horrifically drunk and screaming at the top of their lungs wasn't the best coping mechanism for the day that faced them but it's all they had, no one wanting to get too serious anymore in hope nothing would come of it. All of their contention was left behind, the ceremony only mentioned in very brief ways despite being at the forefront of their minds.
The year prior it was easy, treated as a joke but after seeing how hard it was for Jeonghan and the fact it was over half of them going it just felt different, not to mention the new relationships that had been forged. The chances of change were low but not insignificant.
They soon tired themselves out, Wonwoo having a surprising amount of energy left and being able to keep up with the antics of Soonyoung, Jun and Chan but all of them had died down. Seungcheol had finally trapped Jeonghan in his grasp, the younger begrudgingly allowing himself to be hugged an almost asphyxiating amount. Jihoon was tucked away in a corner asleep which seemed to be a common theme whenever he drank any amount of alcohol but no one bothered to move him from his comfortable spot, he had a long day ahead of him.
Mingyu was surprised when Wonwoo came over and flopped into his arms in a dazed state, reaching up to play with his hair. "You good?" Mingyu asked, already knowing the answer was no and the relaxed smile on the older's face was only temporary. He received a light hum in response as Minghao just watched, amused and only now feeling the warm buzz from his wine. Wonwoo then turned his head to Minghao, giving him a blurred wave which Minghao returned with an amused smirk. "When I'm gone you can marry Minghao." Wonwoo said with a smile, the faces of the other two falling at his strange drunken confession. "Wonwoo you're not going anywhere and even if you did I definitely wouldn't go to Minghao," Mingyu tried to laugh it off, glancing at Minghao to see how he took the comment. Minghao smiled back but he didn't take the comment well, he didn't need to get between another couple.
His thoughts were cut off when someone fell on him, almost spilling his wine. "Minghao is mine, back off." Chan said with a wide grin. "Wrong, mine." Jeonghan called from his place across them, causing Seungcheol to tighten his grip but not without adding a "Mine." As well. They looked around the room for someone else to pitch in, discovering Soonyoung had passed out in a similar fashion to Jihoon which just left Jun.
Instead of saying anything, he first approached Minghao with a strange expression. Chan moved off and Jun took his place but instead hooking his legs around so he was straddling the younger, moving his face closer until Minghao could smell the alcohol on his breath. He paused for a second to let Minghao's eyes widen, "He actually belongs to Aki." He whispered, pulling away as Minghao's heart was practically beating out his chest.
Wonwoo giggled from beside them, high-fiving Jun as Mingyu just shook his head. "Drunk Jun is much harder to deal with when you're not also drunk, he's just the same but somehow more bold."
"Might be my last chance." Jun winked.
"They're still going to be hungover for the ceremony huh?" Mingyu sighed, Minghao nodded in agreement, blocking out Jun and Chan using their last ounces of energy to playfully fight each other on the ground for some reason. "We should probably get them all to bed." Minghao said, unlatching the boys on the floor as Mingyu picked up Wonwoo.
A struggled "Help-" Came from Jeonghan, the blood flow cut off in his legs long ago. "You could've just told him to get up." Jeonghan shook his head, brushing his forehead against a now asleep Seungcheol's head.
They eventually got them up and sent everyone off, lastly picking up Soonyoung and Jihoon. Mingyu was surprised to find Soonyoung was actually not asleep at all but crying. "Soons?" He asked, letting himself be thrown into a desperate hug by the older, catching him off guard. "Ji's going to go I just know it and I can't- he can't-" Mingyu shushed him lightly as broken words fell from the older's lips and he tried to regain his stability.
"It'll be okay, whatever happens I'll be here for you when you come back, alright?" Mingyu was almost envious of the way Soonyoung could drunkenly cry out all his fears, having to stay reserved to not dampen the mood. "But-"
"Shhh no buts, it's time to sleep." Mingyu said carefully, taking his hand and guiding him to his room. He knew trying to have a party and lighten the mood was only going to be superficial, no one actually felt okay. Soonyoung was too emotional to resist as he was placed into bed, Mingyu trying his best to wipe away the older's tears when really he just wanted to cry with him.
They were acting like someone had already gone, as if everyone was already gone.
Mingyu managed to hold back his own tears, murmuring a soft "Goodnight," to Minghao who was just making sure Jihoon got to his room before joining Wonwoo in theirs.
He finally let himself cry silently, everything was going to go to shit and he knew it but it didn't make it any easier. Tomorrow he'd have to be strong for everyone but he wasn't sure if he could.