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Parties weren't really Dylan’s thing. He just attends them to celebrate with his members everytime they successfully release an album. You know, for formality. He didn’t want an article about him to be released calling him a recluse again.
Unlike the other members, he usually keeps to himself by sitting on their table, content with just watching the people jump and dance around. Sometimes he was there to judge the DJ’s skills, but nobody needs to know that.
He was also the designated caretaker—alongside Pepper, the designated driver—when his members got too shit-faced to even remember whatever dumb shit they did the previous night. But it’s not like his bandmates got shit-faced all the time; they usually just ended up being tipsy at most.
Tonight, he finds himself seated again on his usual spot just at the corner of their table, gradually sipping the beer—now more water from melted ice than alcohol. It’s his subtle trick for teetotaling without drawing attention to the fact that he’s not really drinking, drinking .
His bandmates were talking over each other again, like they always do. This is typically the part where he would slowly slip out of the conversation as he struggled to catch up with whatever topic they landed on, only rejoining when he was pulled back in. Though this time, he failed to bow out of the conversation when a certain person’s name was mentioned.
“Wait, has anybody seen Jun?” Pepper asked as he surveyed the table. He took a quick scan too, looking for a certain brunette only to realize that Jun was indeed missing from their circle.
For a moment there, he felt proud of himself for finally failing to notice only Jun in a crowd filled with other people.
As embarrassing as it sounds, it was unfortunately real. He had (has, haha) a thing for Jun and he doesn’t know why.
Was it the proximity? Probably. He chooses to believe it is mainly because he can't find anything else to blame for the stupid feelings he's been keeping for quite some time now.
Jun wasn’t even his type. Not by a long shot. So when his heart betrays him over and over again by beating way too fast whenever Jun was around, he always feels like throwing himself off a cliff.
It was like palpitating over a cup of coffee you didn’t even drink.
"He went to the restroom," Po chirps as he guides drunk Thame's head onto his shoulder properly.
Well that explains it.
Only a blind person (and Thame) would fail to notice Jun’s glaringly obvious crush on Po. And no, it’s not like Jun announced it to the whole world or anything, it's just he's nowhere near subtle when it came to his actions. He was way too nice to Po.
Dylan thinks it's funny.
See, Jun wasn’t exactly the textbook definition of the word " nice, " but with Po around, you’d think he’d had a change of heart—like he was aiming for sainthood. He definitely noticed it—the change. He thinks the others have noticed too and confirms it when they all end up looking at each other.
Nano’s phone lights up, prompting him to look down on his phone.
“Phi Jun just texted me. He says he’s done puking his guts out and is waiting at the parking lot,” Nano shows his phone to Pepper who was leaning to read the text over his shoulders. “Aaaand now he says he wants to go home,” Pepper finishes.
Pepper and Nano both turn to him.
“What?”
“I can’t drive”
“I’m too drunk to drive”
He would have protested if it were any other day, but he’s been wanting to go home since the moment they set foot in the bar anyway, which is the only reason he says, “Fine.”
Not fine, he realizes a bit too late as he walks toward the car where Jun waits.
You’re such a fucking idiot, Dylan.
When you end up having feelings you don’t want to have, it’s perfectly normal to curse yourself mentally from time to time. Kind of a stupid thing to do, honestly, but Dylan blames it on human nature.
"What took you so long?" He really, really wants to throw himself off a cliff now for thinking Jun had been waiting for him to show up instead of Pepper. But then again, they were in the city, and no cliff was available, so he ignored Jun and continued walking to the driver’s seat of the car.
Jun follows him to the backseat and lies down.
“Sit properly,” Dylan says as he turns to look at his passenger. Jun looks up, meeting his gaze. “Stop telling me what to do.”
“I don’t want Pepper to kill me too when you end up puking in his car.”
“Nah, he won’t. He’s too nice.”
“And you like taking advantage of that.”
Silence. And then some more. And even more, before Jun finally gets up and gets out of the car. But before he can overthink it, the passenger door opens, and Jun takes a seat.
“Why do you hate me so much?” there was no hint of annoyance in the question. But he sounded desperate, like he just needed to know.
I don’t , he wants to say. Because he doesn’t—and he hates it.
“What makes you think that?”
"I don’t know. I just feel like you do," Despite not having started the car yet, Dylan has never wanted to take a U-turn so bad. He did NOT like where this conversation was going. “Did I do something wrong?” He knows it might be a weird time to thank Pepper for his gigantic rearview mirror, but he’s thankful nonetheless; otherwise, he’d never have noticed the wistful look plastered on Jun’s face.
“god, you really are drunk.”
“You won’t even look at me,” Jun says, meeting his gaze in the mirror. His grip on the steering wheel tightens, mustering up the courage before finally looking at the real one in the eye.
“Hi.”
He has no idea why he chose to say that—but it got Jun to smile—so he thinks he did the right thing.
“Hi.”
Unable to hold the eye contact longer, Dylan shakes his head as he prepares to start the car. Jun, however, stops him.
“You won’t ignore me again, right?” His traitor of an organ stirs in his chest again. But was his heart really the one to blame when Jun was the one getting too close?
"I wasn’t ignoring you. But I will be if you don't get your face away from me."
Still not moving away, Jun says, "Harsh."
Dylan doesn’t back down. "And you like that, don’t you?"
Jun clearly didn’t see that coming, which explained the look of shock on his face. He was quick to change his expression, but Dylan noticed it, even if it lasted only a split second.
“So you do know how to play along”
“I also know how to use my fists. Move.”
"oooh I'm scared," Jun moves his face closer, clearly taunting him.
Oh he’s crazy.
Jun had no idea how much this was affecting poor Dylan’s system. His stomach was now added to the list of traitors. Up until a few seconds ago, he was sure he was free from parasites and worms. It was unfair how nobody had warned him about the goddamn butterflies .
They were so close . One wrong move and they’d end up— "Are you scared?”
He didn't know what game Jun was playing, but despite his heart racing, he wanted to win, and so he inched even closer.
“No,” he ended up sounding contradictory—his voice barely came out as a whisper.
“You know, this is probably the longest conversation I’ve had with you since our debut. Why do you talk so little?”
Jun was dangerously close now—clearly challenging him—but all Dylan could think about was the smell of his perfume—wood sage and sea salt.
Shouldn’t you smell like alcohol and vomit if you claimed to have puked your guts out? He wants to say, but Jun beats him to it, always needing to say something like he’d die if he so much as spent a second in silence. “Do you really hate me that much? Do I annoy you? Am I not worth your time—”
Dylan shuts him up with a quick kiss.
Silence greets them for a second— the faint music from the party inside the bar and the hum of the car’s AC being the only source of noise surrounding them.
“You talk too much, Jun.”
Jun stills.
Dylan couldn’t tell what the other boy was thinking, but he was prepared for Jun to push him and walk away, leaving him to go back to the dorms by himself. It was quite a sad thought, but if he’s being totally honest? He’d rather deal with the consequences than face his fuckass feelings. Jun might not bother him again after this, and he’d finally have time to sort his feelings out alone somewhere in a ditch and move on.
This should change nothing, right?
Wrong.
He totally forgot that Jun and unpredictable were basically synonymous, which is why he gets pulled into another kiss. The drumming of his heart became too loud, drowning everything out. If an asteroid were to hit them at this very moment, he doubts he would notice it before it kills them both. They kiss like they fight—each move a calculated strike, both trying to one-up the other as if victory lies in surrendering last.
Then Jun’s phone rings—breaking them apart.
“Per,” Jun says, his voice a little unsteady as he tries to catch his breath.
( Are you okay?)
“I’m fine. Don’t worry”
( O...kay? Uhhh did you meet Dylan already?)
“I did. We’re in the car now”
( Great. Can you tell Dylan to come back for us later? I don’t think me and Phi Po can handle two drunk kids by ourselves— Nano don’t— ohshitgottagobye )
Pepper ends the call, and now Jun’s focus is back on Dylan.
“Well don’t we look like two ending fairies”
“Don’t you ever shut up?”
“No. Want to shut me up again?”
Safe to say they both opened a can of worms that night.
Dylan ended up calling Pepper back after his and Jun’s…. uhh… car ending fairy activities, telling him they haven’t really left the parking lot yet. Soon after, they found themselves walking back inside the bar with a random song playing in the background—the Dj must’ve joined in the fun himself and abandoned his post, or had simply given up.
Pepper gave them looks once they got back but soon got distracted when Nano started another attempt at climbing the table again.
See? Everything is (back to) normal.
You know I talk too much (Too much)
Honey, come put your lips on mine
And shut me up (Shut me up)
We could blame it all on human nature
Except Jun can’t really take his eyes off Dylan now. Oh Fuck coin and their stupid song
Stay cool, it's just a kiss
Oh, why you gotta be so talkative?
I talk too much, we talk too much