Chapter Text
Soobin sometimes feels like he must be the only Hogwarts student to truly despise platform 9 ¾ but honestly, as a seventh year, the magical newness of running through a wall has long since worn off. Only seconds after the cabin door slides closed with a soft click he collapses into the lumpy comfort of the nearest seat with a sigh, casting a quick quieting charm for good measure. Soobin has made a swift routine of assuring his parents he has everything he needs, saying his goodbyes, and then fighting his way out of the raucous crowd whilst dodging the sobbing mothers of first-years with as much efficiency as one can.
Now that he’s had a moment to decompress and spell away his looming headache, he stands to tuck his luggage away on the overhead rack. The hufflepuff pulls a book out of one of the bags before settling back down and flipping through to his dogearred page. He makes it through about two paragraphs before the door to his cabin slams open with enough force to shatter his quietus as fluttering black and red robes appear over his pages.
“Really, Hyung? Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires by Eldred Worple? Are you trying to find the Edward to your Jacob?”
Soobin feels that headache from earlier rearing it’s ugly head again.
“The Edward to my–Beomgyu, that doesn’t even make sense,” he argues, eyebrows scrunching together. The brunette gryffindor makes his way into the cabin and plops down on the seat across from Soobin without bothering to store his luggage.
“Sure it does,” he replies with a grin. “I thought you bookish types were supposed to be good at recognizing homoerotic subtext?”
“What homoerotic subtext are we recognizing?” comes an amused voice from the still wide-open cabin door.
Soobin closes Blood Brothers and sets it aside as Taehyun saunters into the cabin, closing the door behind him–like the civilized person he is–and dodging Beomgyu’s scattered luggage before stashing his own and settling in next to the gryffindor. Beomgyu’s mischievous grin softens slightly around the edges, and Soobin can’t help but wonder if he’s the only one who noticed. Then he opens his mouth again and whatever warm-fuzzies Soobin had felt for his friend seem to vanish.
“I’m so glad you asked, my genius ravenclaw friend. Soobinnie-hyung and I were just discussing the enemies-to-lovers trope with Edward and Jacob in the Twilight saga, and making a gameplan for how he can reach their impressive level of sexual tension with his own sexy vampire,” he said.
The Hufflepuff just stares, unamused, as Taehyun tilts his head in consideration. After a few moments of glorious quiet, the ravenclaw turns his dark eyes on Soobin with (hopefully) mock seriousness.
“I’m not familiar with much muggle literature, hyung, but maybe asking out a vampire wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I’ve met one or two who’ve attended events at the estate, and they seemed perfectly lovely. And since they’re not human, they should be unaffected by your ‘condition,’” he explained thoughtfully.
Beomgyu’s eyes positively sparkle as he turns his full attention on the shorter man. “You’ve met a vampire?” he asks. “What were they like? Did they drink blood out of wine glasses? Were they hot? Could you see their fangs? Do they sparkle in the sunlight? Are they really afraid of garlic?”
“I believe father did mention that the kitchen staff was instructed to create a full menu excluding garlic,” the ravenclaw answers, choosing to ignore the former questions. Beomgyu’s face melts into an exaggerated pout.
“I can’t believe you got to meet an actualy vampire,” he whines. “That’s got to be some kind of pureblood privilege.”
Soobin tenses for a moment, eyes shifting over to the ravenclaw. The hufflepuff had know Taehyun since the younger boy started at hogwarts, and he could probably count on one hand the number of times the sixth year had talked about his life at his family’s estate without immediately icing over. Things had started getting better since Beomgyu transferred to Hogwarts from Mahoutokoro School of Magic during their fourth year and Soobin’s fifth; the gryffindor had immediately attached himself to the ravenclaw,and seemed to help thaw him out easier than Soobin ever could. Now, Soobin can’t help but feel warm with pride when Taehyun only huffs out a laugh at Beomgyu’s antics.
The ravenclaw quirks an eyebrow, unaffected. “If that’s the kind of pureblood privilege you want, you’re more than welcome to play the perfect son in my place at my father’s next little soiree,” he says, and Soobin can’t help but grin.
Things carry on like that for a while, the two of them bickering about anything and nothing, and Soobin finds himself zoning out. The ambient sounds of students chattering and shuffling around in the corridor begin to quiet a bit. A loud whistle signals that departure time is approaching, and it seems as though most everyone has found their way to their respective cabin. Somewhere further along, the creaking wheels of the trolley cart are steadily approaching, and for just a moment Soobin allows himself to appreciate that this will likely be his last time taking this train ride. Here he is, in his well-worn yellow and black robes, alderwood wand tucked safely in its pocket, surrounded by his annoying friends for whom he would do absolutely anything. The hufflepuff feels a small smile to settle on his lips and allows himself to think, This is going to be a good year.
“Hueningie’s cutting it a little close this year, isn’t he?” Taehyun’s voice pulls Soobin back out of his head and the train gives another pirecing whistle, as if to emphasize that Taehyun is never wrong. Soobin feels that tell-tale wrinkle pulling at his eyebrows again, and the corners of his mouth tug downwards.
Beomgyu huffs a laugh. “You’d think a fifth year would know how to find his way to the platform.” He leans forward in his seat a little, eyes shining in a way that has always made Soobin question whether the sorting hat should’ve put him in slytherin. “Lets make bets on what’s taking him so long. Two Cauldron Cakes says Bahiyyih coerced him into carrying her luggage to her cabin for her.” Soobin cringes in sympathy. The Huening siblings puppy-dog eyes were no joke, and even Kai had a hard time denying younger his sister anything.
Still, Soobin shakes his head. “He probably just got stuck behind a line of first-years who were nervous about running through the barrier to make it to the platform,” he says. Beomgyu looks at him expectantly and he sighs. “A pack of licorice wands.”
All eyes turn to Taehyun, who lets out an ambiguous ‘hm’ sound, which immediately sets off alarms in Soobin’s head. After another moment of allowing their curiosity to grow, the younger turns and says, rather cryptically, “I’ll bet three chocolate frogs that he got caught up talking to a slytherin seventh year and ended up walking him to his cabin. I’m sure he’s realized by now that the train is about to leave, and he’s rushing to meet us here as we speak.”
“Well,” Beomgyu says after they let that sink in for a moment. “That was somehow both vague and specific–” He’s interrupted by the sound of the train’s final whistle accompanied by hurried footsteps, and moments later a rather harried-looking Huening Kai slams open the door of the cabin.
“Hey guys,” he pants through a bashful grin. “Sorry I’m–WOAH!” The fifth year hufflepuff makes it all of two steps into the cabin before the tripping over Beomgyu’s wayward luggage and collapsing into a pile of long limbs and ruffled robes. The gryffindor laughs himself to tears as a worried Soobin ensures that Kai makes it off the floor and into a seat without serious injury. By the time all their bags are safely stashed away and their resident baby has settled in with only a slightly bruised ego, Beomgyu has managed to pull himself together enough to assume the air of a stern father.
“Kai Kamal Huening, you had us worried sick,” he starts, really getting into character. “And just where were you, young man? Please share with the class–in as much detail as possible, if you’d be so kind.”
A flush creeps up Huening’s neck that really makes Soobin want to reach over and ruffle the boys fluffy, platinum hair. The boy smiles shyly, not bothering to question the gryffindor’s dramatics.
“Sorry, hyung. I ran into Yeonjunnie-hyung down on the platform, and we started talking about dueling club. I got distracted and kind of ended up down at the other end of the train,” his hand came up to scratch at the back of his neck. A few moments passed, but no one said anything. “Guys?”
The unassuming smile that had settled on the Ravenclaws face never faltered. The train begins to lurch forward along the tracks vaguely in the direction of Scotland. A few doors down, the trolley wheels creaked.
Kang Taehyun is never wrong.
_____
Choi Yeonjun, like Beomgyu, was a transfer student from Mahoutokoro; he first came to Hogwarts during his fifth year. Korea doesn’t have a wizarding school of its own yet, so it’s not uncommon for young wizards to either learn at home from family or go abroad to study at one of the eight wizarding schools around the globe. It’s somewhat uncommon for students to transfer schools, but it does happen on occasion. Beomgyu transferred because his brother, who happens to be both his guardian and a muggle, was asked to move to london for work and Beomgyu chose to go with him. Nothing unusual.
What is highly unusual is that Yeonjun is rumored to have transferred to Mahoutokoro from Durmstrang. Before Durmstrang, he was allegedly enrolled at Ilvermorny. There are also rumors that he spent his first year at Castelobruxo in Brazil. The rumors vary as to why Choi Yeonjun has attended five of the eight wizarding schools. Whispers will say that he’s failed out of every school he’s been to, or that he’s an unspeakable undercover. One of the more widely-known rumors is that he’s part-Veela, and was expelled for using his glamour to seduce the Durmstrang headmasters wife.
Here’s what Soobin does know: those rumors are clearly bullshit, but that still doesn’t mean he likes the guy.
“I can’t believe you guys made bets on me being late,” Huening whined, pulling Soobin from his thoughts.
“We didn’t,” Beomgyu says from where he’s struggling to apprehend an escaped chocolate frog that Taehyun so graciously gifted him. “We bet on why you were late, not whether or not you were going to be. Hey,” Beomgyu turned away from his sentient treat to address his seatmate. “How’d you know he was talking to Yeonjun anyway?”
“Magic,” deadpanned the ravenclaw—who has apparently had enough entertainment watching Beomgyu chase the frog around their tiny cabin, because he reaches for his wand and mumbles a quick wingardium leviosa, levitating the frog through the air and into Beomgyu’s waiting hands. The gryffindor beams, victorious at last.
Soobin doesn’t even have the bandwidth to marvel at how whipped his best friend is–Beomgyu could’ve just levitated the damn frog to himself–because he’s too busy trying to come to terms with the fact that sweet, kind Huening Kai is somehow in kahoots with his rival.
“So, NingNing,” he starts, trying for an air of nonchalance. “How did you meet Yeonjun?” Seeing the disapproving look Taehyun immediately sends his way, he must’ve missed the mark. Huening doesn’t seem to notice.
“He agreed to tutor me in dueling techniques over the break,” the young hufflepuff gushes, eyes practically sparkling. “I’m really serious about joining the dueling club this year, and Junnie-hyung agreed to tutor me since he’s going to be co-captain this year.”
Junnie-hyung. Soobin feels one of his eyes twitch. Across from him, Beomgyu snorts.
“Careful there, Hyuka. That’s Soobinnie-hyung’s arch-nemesis you’re talking about,” he says, leveling Soobin with a smirk. The hufflepuff answers it with a chilling glare–one that Beomgyu has always seemed miraculously immune to. Huening Kai quickly turns concerned eyes to his hyung, and Soobin huffs out a heavy sigh. He is, in his humble opinion, doing far more sighing than is reasonable for a quick train ride to Scotland.
“I don’t have a nemesis, as I am a young man in the prime of my youth, and not, in fact, a crotchety old man,” he states with finality. He raises a single eyebrow at the gryffindor, challenging him to press his luck, but the other boy just throws his head back in a laugh.
“Whatever you say, hyung,” Beomgyu says, before heaving a sigh of his own. “It really is too bad Yeonjun-hyung is a Veela and not a vampire–”
“--Anyway, NingNing, tell us more about your dueling lessons,” Soobin interrupts quickly, knowing good and well he wasn’t going to like however Beomgyu was going to end that sentence. As the fifth year starts regailing the cabin with stories about the new spells he’s been working on, not even Beomgyu has the heart to interrupt him. Everyone is weak for the Huenings.
The train ride goes on like that, the four of them swapping stories about their holidays and talking about plans for the upcoming year. Soobin is always a bit relieved whenever the four of them fall back into their normal routine like this. It’s not that he truly believes they would ever grow apart, but it’s still nice to see everyone joking around as though they had never been apart at all.Though he will admit that Choi Yeonjun’s name is coming up in conversation more than he’s entirely comfortable with. Not because Soobin considers him a nemesis or anything. He just dislikes him, for perfectly valid reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with him getting top marks over Soobin in nearly every class they’ve had together since the Slytherin transferred to Hogwarts.
The hufflepuff is almost certain that must’ve found a time-turner, because everytime Soobin has seen the older boy he has been surrounded by crowds of adoring fans begging for his attention. No one is so naturally proficient in every subject without any studying, and the only time Soobin has caught Yeonjun anywhere near the library was the time he’d found him pressed up against a shelf in the invisibility section by a Ravenclaw prefect. The hufflepuff is nearly certain that’s the only time he’s ever made eye contact with the transfer student, and he immediately wished that he himself were invisible afterwards.
As the Hogwarts Express rumbles it’s way through the moors, Soobin is suddenly recalling every brief-yet-disproportionately-irritating interaction he’s had with the Slytherin, and what it all boils down to is this: Choi Yeonjun is an arrogant, shameless arse.
Though apparently, in Heuning’s eyes, Choi Yeonjun hung the stars in the bloody sky.
“Hyung is honestly kind of a dork,” Huening giggles, and Beomgyu lets out a laugh that could almost be mistaken for a cornish pixie’s shriek. “He seemed so…sauve at first, but then during our first training session he accidentally cast a trip jinx on himself while trying to teach it to me. Nearly landed face-first in my mums fanged geranium, too.”
Soobin has a hard time picturing that, but he has to admit that the image his mind manages to conjure up isn’t entirely unamusing. Taehyun must think so as well, because his dimple finally makes an appearance.
“Yeah,” Beomgyu begins, still giggling. “He’s always been like that. In fourth year, we had a semester of potions together. He always got perfect marks and then one day, out of nowhere, he almost blew up his entire station trying to brew an Antidote to Common Poisons.”
Taehyun tilts his head. “I’m not actually sure I could make a detonation out of the ingredients for Antidote to Common Poisons if I tried…” he trails off. “Well, maybe if the bezoar was heated to extreme temperatures–but that would be difficult to accomplish with standard classroom brewing equipment–”
Soobin is preparing to change the subject and drag Taehyun out of his mind-palace before the ravenclaw starts planning an experiment that is likely to get him expelled, but Huening beats him to the punch.
“We should all hang out sometime!” the youngest interrupts.
Nevermind. Soobin would rather take his chances with their resident genius’ potentially deadly hypothesis. He starts to open his mouth and–kindly, gently–tell Huening exactly that when the younger quickly turns his hopeful gaze on Soobin.
“Please just give him a chance, hyung. Just try saying hello next time you see him. He’s really funny, and I think you guys would really get along if you just spent some quality time together!” And who could possibly refuse him anything when he looks up at them from under a fringe of snow white curls with his eyes wide and pleading. Soobin is weak.
_____
The next time Soobin sees Yeonjun ends up being a lot sooner than he’d hoped. As fate would have it he hears a familiar voice approaching just as he steps down from the train and onto the platform at Hogsmeade Station, luggage in hand.
“Wooyoung! Give that back before I kick your arse, you devious little–”
The hufflepuff feels something slam into him from behind with enough force to send him careening towards the cobblestone. The events of the next few seconds feel like an eternity.
His carry-on case escapes his grip as his arms fly out to brace himself against the impact. He hears a shrieking laugh as someone streaks past him. The old brass clasps on his case snap as it hits the ground at an odd angle, and its contents are scattered across the bustling platform: books skitter across the smooth stone, parchment flutters every which way, and quills roll their way towards freedom. More quick footsteps approach.
Soobin hears the unmistakable sound of glass shattering as an escaped vial of viscous purple liquid is crushed underfoot, and for a moment his heart stops pounding. In fact, he swears it stops beating altogether.
“Oh shit, sorry mate!” Choi Yeonjun calls over his shoulder as he continues to pursue his slytherin dorm-mate through the crowd. Somewhere behind him, he thinks he hears Kai call his name, but he can’t bring himself to move. All he can do is watch helplessly as a semesters supply of Wolfsbane Potion trickles uselessly across the platform.
Ah, he thinks. So this year is going to be a disaster after all.
_____
By the time Soobin makes it down to the hufflepuff basements, he can barely keep his breathing steady. He feels like he mostly floated his way through the rest of the trip to the castle. He and Kai had said a brief goodbye to Beomgyu and Taehyun on the train so that the two of them could co reunite with their housemates before the banquet. After the…incident with Yeonjun, Huening had found him on the ground and helped him gather his belongings. Soobin caught him multiple times flitting worried eyes towards the remains of his Wolfsbane potion, but he wisely chose not to open that particular can of flobberworms just yet.
He just passed the case back over to Soobin, who cradled it to his chest as though the damage hadn’t already been done, and sticks close by his side through the rest of the brief journey. The older hufflepuff tries not to feel too guilty for ignoring the worried glances his young roommate keeps sending his way through supper. He just lets his mind wander.
Soobin doesn’t actually remember the night that changed his life—the mind of an eight-year-old has trouble processing the trauma of a rogue werewolf attack—but he knows that if his father hadn’t had quick access to the silver and dittany needed to close the bite wound then he would’ve died. Perks of being the son of one of the most successful potions masters in Diagon Alley.
They never registered the attack with the Ministry, deciding it was better to spare Soobin from wizarding society’s prejudice towards magical creatures so long as they had a way to make sure he was never a danger to himself or others. His parents have never had any problem keeping their apothecary stocked with some of the rarest ingredients from around the globe; which, conveniently, means that they are one of the few suppliers of Wolfsbane potions to Wizarding London.
Damocles Belby first invented the potion, which allows drinkers to keep their own minds during transformation. However, a full goblet had to be drunk every night during the week preceding the full moon or the potion lost all effect. After he was afflicted with lycanthropy, Soobin’s parents altered the original formula to create a concentrated version of the potion—one drop of Wolfsbane concentrate could be added to a goblet of water, and would give the same effect as a full dose of the original. And it tastes just as foul.
The only drawback is that each vial is incredibly difficult to brew; the ingredients are expensive and difficult to acquire, and the brewing itself is tempermental and can take months to complete successfully. Usually one vial can last Soobin through to Christmas…but, well.
“Could your dad send you another vial? The moon is only just now waxing crescent; we have time,” someone asked, startling him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Taehyun across from him, perched on an old, clay-colored armchair. He and Huening had found themselves a little nook in the Hufflepuff common room, tucked away by the stairs. Apparently Huening had filled the ravenclaw in on the situation at some point—Soobins not sure when he would’ve had time, what with the way he’s been glued to the older’s side—because now Taehyun and Beomgyu are both staring at him, grim.
Soobin blinks. “How did you two even get in here?”
“Not exactly maximum security, are they, the Hufflepuff basements?” The ravenclaw rolls his eyes. “Right-hand side of the kitchen corridor, tap the barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second row, in the rhythm of ‘Helga Hufflepuff,’ and you’re in.”
“I just followed him,” Beomgyu adds around a mouthful of something he clearly swiped from the kitchens. On a normal day, Soobin might scold him—or at least ask for a bite—but he’s not quite feeling up to it at the moment. He shakes his head, slowly.
“There was a shortage of monkshood in the market this year,” he sighs out, rubbing the heels of his hands into tired eyes. “He barely had enough in stock to make the vial I had, and he won’t get another delivery until November.” Taehyun just nods to himself, clearly wracking his brain for solutions. Somewhere across the common room, a first year squeals as a sentient polypody fern reaches down from the ceiling to ruffle her hair.
“Have you ever transformed without your potion?” Beomgyu asks, lowering his voice more than Soobin knew he was capable and leaning forward in his seat. Soobin shakes his head, trying to rid himself of thoughts of gnashing fangs and shredding claws. The Gryffindor clears his throat. “Well, maybe the rest of us could start working on becoming Animagi. Then we could stay with you and make sure you don’t hurt yourself or destroy anything when you wolf-out.” Soobin grimaces. “It’s been done before, right?” He turns to Taehyun for confirmation, but the Ravenclaw just shakes his head.
“It has worked before, but it’s much easier said than done,” Taehyun says softly. “Not to mention the ministry really started cracking down on unregistered Animagi after the whole Peter Petigrew incident. We could try to go through official channels, but even if we were approved it would take far too long—and it might bring unwanted attention to Soobinie-hyung.”
Beomgyu deflated, collapsing back into his armchair. They all stay silent for a few long moments. Soobin distracts himself with watching a group of fourth years try to teach the dancing cacti around the room how to do TikTok dances with varying degrees of success. It almost succeeds in lifting his mood from where it lies, lifeless on the floor.
Then Taehyun jolts forward, reaching into his robe and retrieving a worn book. The other three wizards share a look before leaning forward themselves, mesmerized by the swift way he fingers through the yellowed pages, searching for something. No one says a word; knowing better than to break Taehyun’s train of thought when it could potentially get them out of their current mess.
“Ah, here it is,” he begins. “I thought I remembered reading this somewhere, but I wanted to be sure.” Soobin has always thought he looks about like a mad scientist when he gets like this—eyes wide and joyful, grin toothy and, maybe, slightly manic. It seems like he’s covered in a fine layer of static electricity, and it’s almost as if his unkempt pink hair starts to stand on end a bit more than usual.
“Right here,” he continues, speaking fast and low. “‘There are no known reports of unprovoked werewolf attacks on other magical creatures. The effects of lycanthropy seem to create an aggressive response only to humans—muggles and wizards alike…’” He looks up, grinning in the wild way he does when he solves an unsolvable problem.
Soobin is pleased that Beomgyu and Huening are also finding it difficult to share in his joy.
“Umm…no offense, hyung,” Huening starts. “But how does that help us?” Taehyun turns to the young hufflepuff.
“We don’t need to become Animagi. We just need to find someone with magical creature blood to stay with Soobin during the full moon,” he says, turning his grin back down towards his book and flipping through a few more pages. “I’ll need to do some more research, of course, to make sure everything’s safe. Or at least safe as it can be…”
Soobin doesn’t care for that. He doesn’t care for that one bit.
“Where do you plan on finding a magical creature willing to hang out with me for a few nights while I try to rip everything around me to shreds?” He deadpans in a whisper.
“We could try the forbidden forest,” Beomgyu speaks up. The older hufflepuff gawks, but Taehyun just hums thoughtfully.
“Maybe the centaurs?” It seems as though the ravenclaw is mostly speaking to himself at this point. “But, no, that won’t do. While they have been known to help out on occasion, they might perceive it as us trying to subjugate them if we ask them for a favor. They might end up more likely to kill Soobin than protect him if we do anything that they find offensive or disrespectful. They’re very prideful beings.”
This conversation needs to come to a swift conclusion, Soobin knows that much. Unfortunately, Taehyun is very difficult to stop once he gets on a roll like this.
“Okay,” he starts. “Can we please just—“
“Why don’t we just ask Yeonjun-hyung to help?”
Huening Kai has been mostly quiet throughout their deliberation, if you can call it that, but now his voice freezes Soobin in place.
“What do you mean?” Beomgyu asks, tilting his head 45 degrees to the left like a confused puppy. “Because he’s allegedly part-Veela?”
Huening Kai turns his eyes down towards his lap, eyebrows scrunching together. Taehyun turns his full attention on the fifth-year, but waits patiently for him to speak. Finally, he lifts his head.
“I didn’t want to say anything, because it really isn’t my place…but Yeonjun-hyung really is part Veela,” he explains. “He doesn’t like to talk about it much, but his mother is a full-blooded Veela, and his paternal grandfather was one as well.”
“That’s…rare,” Taehyun comments. Huening just nods.
“Yeah, it is,” he confirms. “He only told me because I mentioned that Hiyyih was nervous about coming back to Hogwarts this semester because our great-grandmother's Veela blood was starting to manifest in her. She was scared of attracting too much attention…”
That…wasn’t exactly surprising. The Huening’s lineage was fairly well-known, and having a bit of magical creature blood down the line is common unless you’re from a family of blood-purists. Soobin could understand how Bahiyyih might be uncomfortable with the attention part-Veelas usually attract.
“He told me that he understands completely,” Huening continues. “And promised that he’d help me keep an eye out for Hiyyih this year.”
That’s very sweet and all, but Soobin still has some major issues to discuss.
“I wouldn’t be in this mess at all if it weren’t for him,” he huffs, but it comes out as more of a pout than he was going for. Taehyun eyes him warily.
“Even if that’s true, hyung, I think he’s going to be your best bet if you want to keep your condition quiet,” he says pointedly. “He’s got more magical blood than human blood, and his Veela glamour might come in handy with keeping you calm during your transformation.”
“And besides,” Huening adds, “if he knows that this is kinda his fault I’m sure he’ll want to help make it right.” Soobin has some serious doubts about that, but there’s Huening Kai, giving him that look again.
When he voices no further complaints, Huening grins victoriously and Taehyun switches into gameplay mode.
“Alright,” he says. “Beomgyu, you’re going to help me do some more research on recorded interactions between Veela and Werewolves—don’t complain, this is important and I need a second pair of eyes.” He turns towards Huening. “You should probably be the one to bring this up to Yeonjun, since you two seem to be on good terms.” The unlike other people here goes unsaid. “If he agrees to hear us out, we’ll all meet in the library in a few days to discuss logistics.”
That night, as Soobin dips under his yellow duvet, he buries his face in both hands. He cannot seriously be considering placing his life in the hands of Choi Yeonjun.
_____