"We're left with only two days for the fest! Practice hard, guys! Put your blood, sweat, and tears into this!" Jeongin cheered for the actors in the auditorium. 

"Wonhae manhi manhi!" Felix hooted, and the crowd chanted after him, "WONHAE MANHI MANHI!" 

Seungmin sighed, "What the fuck." It was not a question, it was a statement. 

While Hyunjin and Jisung played their parts, Minho sneaked up beside Ava, snaking his arm around her waist. She lowly gasped, not having expected the sudden touch, but then melted into it, and she fit perfectly in his arms. 

Chan and Changbin watched it, and then shared a look, and then, standing on either side of Felix, they wrapped one arm each around him. Felix, not knowing what else to do, sat on their linked, muscular arms, and now it was a swing for him. 

"You know what," Ava told Minho in a shushed voice, "I'm gonna miss this." 

"Miss what?" he asked, his head turning to her. 

"The practices. And it's our final year anyway. Within a couple of months, we'll be out of this college, probably hunting for jobs," she turned to him, "We're lucky that we're neighbors, Minho. Or we would lose touch with time." 

That entire dialogue was the author crying over growing up, because she got to experience that. Growing up sucks, kids, don't do it. Actually, you're still a fourth grader, your parents just gaslighted you into thinking that you're grown. 

"We're lucky, yes," Minho nodded, and then looked at Chan, Felix, and Changbin, "You see them? I don't know what kind of relationship they have right now, but as Chan and Changbin graduate with us, Felix would still be here, since he's a first year. Seungmin and Jeongin would stay here too, because they are freshers, too. I think it would be harder for them." 

"Yeah... also, why is Felix swinging on Chan and Changbin's arms?" 

"I prefer not to question that for the sake of my own sanity," Minho remarked, and Ava chuckled. And if it isn't obvious by now, bro was a simp for her laughter, even though they were togethe- wait, were they? 

Lee Minho just realized that even though he had kissed her, he hadn't asked her out officially yet. Great job, Tsundere Edgelord 666! 

"Narrator! Your chance to shine!" Seungmin called out, and Ava rushed up to climb the stage to speak her dialogues. Minho watched her in awe, how she theatrized (the author just made up that word because so did Shakespeare, fuck thesaurus) her voice, and animated her facial expressions to match the words she spoke. Also, it made him want to kiss her more. But he won't say that out loud, because yikes. 

However, at the back of his mind, the stress of not having asked her out ate him up. He wanted to do it well, and soon... because more kisses, you know? 

And moving his gaze around, he knew just whom to go to. 

---

"Wait, so you two aren't dating yet?" Chan gaped, confused (insert his adorable mochi-like confused face wbdiwhbfoijboweijfb) (the author is not okay), "But you two came hand-in-hand so we thought...?" 

"We just kissed, okay?" Minho spoke in his defense. 

Jay started vehemently coughing, "You two kissed but aren't dating? Jake's mum would call it blasphemy!" 

"Thanks for that, dude," Jake sighed. 

"But what should we do now?" Jisung asked, sane for once, "We need to have you two fucking as soon as possi-" 

Hyunjin smacked his head, "That's my daughter you're talking about!" 

"Baby?" 

"I still love you, don't worry." 

"Cheesy," Seungmin and Jeongin grimaced. 

Apparently, all the boys, plus Jay and Jake, were present in the auditorium, and Minho had sneaked in the chance to discuss his issue with them while Ava had left the hall to use the washroom. Girl better be taking a big dump right now. 

"Okay! I think I know what to do!" Felix clapped his hands, "We need to set you two up for a pretty date, and you gotta leave the rest to me!" 

Changbin and Chan pat his head, and Changbin fondly spoke, "Such a smarty pants." 

That was when Ava walked into the scene, "Hi! What are we discussing?" 

Everyone panicked, seeing her walking in without a prior notice (obviously. She doesn't need to submit an application for flushing her shit bro), and chaos ensued. Minho bent over to tie his laces and fell off the chair he was sitting on, Jake and Jay posed candidly as they stared at the ceiling, Felix and Jeongin screamed and stuck to each other, Chan and Changbin randomly pretended to compare their bicep sizes, Seungmin stood like an NPC, and Hyunjin and Jisung started smooching. Now the author needs to count if anyone is missing. 

"Guys...?" Ava raised a brow, and Minho stood up, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leading her out, "Wanna have an ice cream? Let's go!" 

As she walked with him, Minho turned to mouth to Felix, "Text me!" 

As soon as they left, Felix gaped, "Did he just say 'sext me'?" 

(a/n: the book is about to end in a few chaps! I love writing this, i don't want this to enddddddd but we have to T_T 

thanks for reading! i love you!)