Wooyoung held his breath, taking a step into the noisy, packed lunchroom.

This definitely wasn't his preferred environment, yet for San, he wanted to brave the crowd for once and leave his normal corner.

The thought of how San had greeted him that morning stuck in his head as he looked around, the boy having come up behind him and put an arm around his shoulder, greeting him brightly.

The sight of a handsome blonde excitedly waving from a nearby table caught Wooyoung's attention. Wooyoung found an embarrassed smile work its way onto his face as he began walking towards the group.

He quickly reached the table, noting the presence of two other boys sitting across from San.

Wooyoung gave a small wave to the other two as San patted the seat next to him eagerly.

"Hi," Wooyoung said quietly, momentarily distracted from San as he sat down due to the fact Mingi was now staring at him, a knowing smirk on his face.

"So uh as you probably know this is Mingi and Yunho," San reiterated, pointing at each individual as their name was spoken. Both gave small greetings.

"Ahh San, when are you gonna pay me back for the ice cream," Yunho complained, in a joking manner.
Yunho reached across the table and put his hands on San's shoulders, as if begging.

San shook him off. "Listen you're the one who wanted to go at 6 fucking AM... oh shiT" San blurted as his movements knocked a small bottle of tea over, spilling a growing puddle onto the table.

"Hey!! My tea," Mingi whined, Yunho quickly moving his stuff away from the spill.

"I'll get napkins, fuckk," San immediately stood up, dashing off to god knows where.

"He's so dramatic," Mingi whined, wiping a fake tear from his cheek.

Wooyoung merely stayed quiet, a content smile on his face.

"One day he'll let us touch him. One day," Yunho shook his fist, the sentence grabbing the younger boy's attention.

"Does he not... let you?" Wooyoung replied, a highly confused tone lacing his words.

His tone didn't go unheard by Mingi and Yunho, both instantly focusing their gaze on Wooyoung.

"He lets you???" Yunho questioned, the boy giving a wary nod in return.

"He normally hates when we do it. He says we're gross," Yunho explained, slightly sticking his tongue out to emphasize the last sentence. Wooyoung almost laughed.

"Are we talking about the same San? He's so..."

He came to an abrupt stop as their current topic came walking back to the table, a fat wad of napkins in hand which he promptly shoved onto the spill.

"You guys good...? Why did you get quiet??" San inquired as he noticed their sudden silence, oblivious as to the reason. All shook their heads, signaling it was nothing.

San sat down again after sufficiently cleaning up the table.

"Mingi..." San muttered after a moment, sending a glare to the boy across the table.

Mingi gained a guilty smile on his face, making eye contact with Yunho.
"Tried to squeeze his thigh," he whispered across the table to Wooyoung, not really caring if San could hear.

This got Wooyoung thinking. He seemed to despise his friends touching him, and yet Wooyoung had thought San to be a very touchy person from their interactions.

Wooyoung decided to test something out.

He shifted in his seat a bit closer to San, the other boy unaware of the action. However, he did glance over instantly as he felt Wooyoung lay his head on his shoulder.

"You okay?" San spoke softly, looking towards the younger. Wooyoung gave no reply.

San habitually brought his hand up to Wooyoung's head, caressing the back of it as he repeated the question. "Hey, Woo, you good?"

Wooyoung lightly nodded, a small smirk rising to his face as he noticed the shocked faces of Mingi and Yunho, sitting across from him. The other boys shared a confused look.

Something about the situation made Wooyoung feel a bit powerful, although he didn't know why.
Just as he opened his mouth to say something, he felt San's hand move away from his head, lightly trailing down his back.

San stopped at Wooyoung's waist, casually wrapping his arm around it and holding him securely.

Wooyoung didn't know whether to scream or smile. He chose the latter, thankfully, still observing the expressions of the pair across the table. Wooyoung took the opportunity to shift closer to San, essentially now cuddled up to him.

San, meanwhile, felt like he was internally combusting at the contact. San didn't know what the hell he thought he was doing; all he knew was that the urge to pull the other close overwhelmed him.

San glanced across the table to make eye contact with Mingi, who gave him a sort of evil smile and a thumbs up.

San subtly flipped him off from the edge of the table, causing Yunho to crack up laughing.

The lunch proceeded normally, the group making jokes and bonding with the newcomer, all having quite the good time.

While San was distracted, talking to Yunho, Wooyoung pulled out his phone, seeing a new message appear on it.

_

min.gi_xo:
dude
I think he likes you too

young.blood:
SHSHH HES RIGHT NEXT TO ME
And also no wayyy

min.gi_xo:
No I'm serious
Like damn if he acted the way he acts towards you to me I'd like him too 😳

young.blood:
I-
HISS no ur too late

min.gi_xo:
I'M KiDding
ion swing that way
I mean I didn't even know San swung that way before today

young.blood:
see exactly that's why
I'm like hnnng
and it'd be weird at this point to ask

min.gi_xo:
I'm getting invested in this
Okay okay so
Just because he never came out to us doesn't mean he's straight;;

young.blood:
you're his best friend I
haven't you even gotten like,, vibes?

min.gi_xo:
LMAO VIBES?
nahh so you could try uh
coming out to him and seeing how he reacts?

young.blood:
Good idea
Except for the fact that I can't do that

min.gi_xo:
but why

young.blood:
Because he already knows I'm gay

min.gi_xo:
HE KNOWS?
And he still-
Okay well how did he find out
Did you tell him??

young.blood:
See idfk actually
He thought that I was dating one of my friends (a guy) and acted kinda weird about it

min.gi_xo:
Wym weird
Like,,, kinda distant? Calm?
When he's upset he becomes very unassertive and strange

young.blood:
i
please elaborate

min.gi_xo:
San when someone does anything

young.blood:
AISJAA why do you just have thAT
But okay ur right I'd try to explain things and he'd be like it's okaY it's fine u don't gotta tell

min.gi_xo:
This man really out here
San said: we runnin away lmaO
BUT HEY
THATS GOOD??? For u anyway

young.blood:
WYM ITS GOOD

min.gi_xo:
We've established the fact that u like him yeah

young.blood:
SHUT UP
It's a possibility

min.gi_xo:
Right.
So ur saying that
As someone who likes San
Him being upset at you dating someone else doesn't bring u any joy?

young.blood:
HHHH
Mingi I get what ur saying but
That's a very far reACH
For all I know he could've just been mad that I wasn't honest with him or something idk
People don't like it when their friends hide shit

min.gi_xo:
Istg y'all are a perfect match if you're this dumb too
Wait fuck close this conversation I think him and Yunho are done talking

young.blood:
fuCk lmao imagine he sees us texting
BYE MINGI
Read
_

Wooyoung shoved his phone in his pocket a mere few seconds before San glanced over at him, a smile rising to his face as he caught his gaze.

San, thankfully, didn't notice Wooyoung's relieved expression, nor Mingi's exhale from across the table.

"So guys, I'm meeting some friends at a bar in a few days," Yunho announced, hitting the table to get the attention of all its occupants.

"Damn, so noisy. Okay, you're going out, and?" Mingi jested, Yunho lightly shoving him in reply.

"Y'all should come," he continued, intentionally making eye contact with Wooyoung, who gained a surprised look as he pointed questioningly to himself.

San groaned. "Yunho, if this is another one of your attempts to find some hot chick to date, it won't work," San complained.

"Yeah, we're tired of being your wingmen," Mingi chimed in, both clearly having been through some shit in the past.

"Hey!! Maybe I'm trying to help your lonely asses hookup," Yunho retaliated, laughing at how serious the other two were.

"Trust me, I don't think either of us need that."

Yunho rolled his eyes at what Mingi had said. "Maybe you don't need it, but our Sannie... needs some work," he teased, San pouting at the boy's statement.

"I do not, thank you," he retorted, crossing his arms.

"Mhm, really? You're afraid to even touch girls," Yunho commented, thinking back to previous attempts at parties and such.

"Maybe I just don't want to touch them?" San threw back, feeling himself grow slightly defensive. San noticed Mingi's expression shift to surprise. "At least some of us don't like being creepy," San added, in an attempt to make his statement sound less exposing.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Yunho said, mock offended, "I mean like holding hands and shit, you pervert."

San tried to think of something to say, not knowing why he was beginning to feel flustered at the conversation.

Wooyoung, seeing San begin to look
stressed, rested his hand on San's under the table, lightly holding it.

San seemed to instantly calm down upon feeling Wooyoung's hand on his, taking a moment to intertwine their fingers. San gave him a gentle squeeze as he gathered his thoughts.

Yunho, gearing up to say something else, was promptly stopped by an elbow to the side from Mingi, who leaned over to whisper something in Yunho's ear. San, not knowing what it was, felt a small concern arise as Yunho, looking startled at the news, glanced quickly between San and the boy sitting next to him.

"Anyway," Yunho started, now seeming a bit awkward, "you guys can still come. I'll text you the details later, I've gotta get to my next class early," he said, standing up and fumbling as he gathered his stuff.

The others nodded, San and Wooyoung sharing a mutual confused look as Mingi only sighed, the fourth table member swinging his bag over his shoulder and walking off.

San didn't know whether to be relieved or worried.