IT WAS a bit difficult for chan and jeongin to transport the damaged motorcycle back to the older's house, but with some struggle, they had finally arrived to his seaside home. gazing out onto the water's edge, jeongin was a bit jealous of chan. he got to wake up every morning to the sight of the sea, its waves glittering like a treasure that jeongin couldn't reach. he sighed, a melancholy feeling filling his heart and weighing it down like an anchor. 

the house itself was old but rather big, its pale yellow walls seeming to stretch into the sky like the palm trees that surrounded it. the paint was chipped and the wood was weathered down, but instead of giving off a rickety vibe, it gave off a more homey one. it was a bit odd, though, as chan had mentioned on their walk there that he lived alone— so why would he need so much space? jeongin never knew the concept of space since the rest of his gang constantly surrounded him, so the feeling of having more than enough space was foreign to him. but rather than it being annoying, it was somewhat comforting for him to be surrounded by people (even if it did get kind of cramped in the house at times) since he knew that they loved him, even if they had unique ways of showing it.

"here we are!" the elder exclaimed when he had unlocked his door, throwing it open with a grand flourish... only to get a pillow slammed in his face.

"chan's home! attack!" a voice cried from within the large house, and jeongin watched in shock as the older boy was violently yanked through the doorway, the door shutting with such force that the frame rattled. a flurry of screams and crashes were heard, and while jeongin would've customarily rushed inside to see if anyone was hurt, he instead stood stock-still on the porch, dumbfounded. there... shouldn't be anyone here... right? he thought confusedly as the noises quieted down— but only for a moment, for a voice began to shout a series of expletives that any biker would've been proud to hear. 

jeongin stood outside awkwardly for a bit, contemplating the pros and cons of ditching his bike and just booking it from this crazy house when the door whipped open again, chan greeting him with an overly angelic smile on his face.

"i apologize for that, jeongin. come on in," he said, opening the door a bit wider for the smaller boy to enter, albeit hesitantly.

taking off his black sneakers, the first thing jeongin noticed was how incredibly spacious it was. they were standing in a large living room, a soft blue carpet beneath their feet that the boy immediately sank his feet into, revelling in its fluffiness. a tv sat on a brown table against the wall, and next to that stood a skinny shelf overflowing with discs, presumably with movies on them. an entryway led to a kitchen that seemed relatively small in comparison to the living room, its flooring being brown tiles rather than carpet. jeongin could see an assortment of fruits strewn across the countertop and tried to ignore the low grumbling in his stomach.

he glanced at a staircase led to a second floor, but before he could look any further, a series of whispers distracted him.

"who's that kid with channie?"

"oh my god, he's such a lil bean!"

"do you think he'd let me poke his dimples?"

"nobody would want your sweaty hands on them, jisung."

"ugh! seungmin, you're so mean sometimes!"

don't they know that i can hear them? jeongin thought as he turned his head to see three people crammed together on a white couch in the living room, smiling widely at him.

chan stepped forward and jeongin jumped slightly. he had been so wrapped up in observing his surroundings that he had forgotten about the presence beside him! "jeongin, these are my...friends," he said, grimacing at the word "friends".

"hey! why'd you make a face when you said that?" one of the people on the couch yelled in mock anger, jumping up and pointing an accusatory finger at chan. jeongin thought he kind of looked like a squirrel. the boy grabbed a small striped pillow off of the couch and ran towards chan, holding it up like a weapon. "prepare to atone for your sins, you fake friend!"

chan sighed. "take one more step, jisung, and minho's photos get flamed."

minho?

that made squirrel boy— or rather, jisung— freeze in his tracks. "you wouldn't dare," he whispered, to which the silver-haired boy next to jeongin replied with a, "try me." 

jisung slinked back to the couch with a pout on his face, the other two boys laughing at his antics. chan rubbed his face tiredly and faced jeongin, who was confused as to whether he should laugh or feel bad for this "jisung". "i'm so sorry about them, jeongin," the older boy said. "i didn't know that they'd be here. apparently, they wanted to hold a surprise sleepover at my house, but without letting me know that i'd be the host." he glared at them, but the only things he got in return were three grins. "anyway, as i was saying, these are my friends: the annoying and obnoxious one is han jisung—"

"hey now, that was uncalled for!" squirrel boy cried, a look of utter betrayal on his face.

"— the sunshine with freckles is lee felix—"

"nice to meet you, mate!" felix said, beaming, and jeongin understood what chan meant by "sunshine". his smile was radiant like the rays of the sun, making the biker feel less awkward and more relaxed.

"wait, he gets to be called a sunshine while i get labeled as annoying? that hardly seems fair!" jisung interjected again, much to felix and the other boy's amusement.

"will you guys quit interrupting me? anyway, the last one is kim seungmin, who is usually pretty nice but can also be a cold-blooded savage."

"i'm flattered," seungmin said with a small smirk. jeongin was suddenly scared of him.

there was a moment of silence, and that was when jeongin realized that they were all staring at him expectantly. 

"oh! um, sorry. my name is yang jeongin. i'm eighteen and i'm...a biker..." his voice got quieter at the end and he suddenly felt self-conscious; here he was, a biker in a surfer's house, surrounded by people who were from a completely different world from him— one that he wasn't supposed to enter. why did i think this was a good idea in the first place? he thought embarrassedly. he could feel his face heating up and his body tensed, waiting for a negative reaction from the people in front of him.

but to his surprise, that's not what he got.

"yeah, i kind of figured that out when you first entered," felix laughed, which was a shock to jeongin. a laugh was not what he was expecting. maybe some looks of distaste or scornful words, but most definitely not this. "your clothes completely gave it away. but don't worry, dude, it's cool."

seungmin nodded in agreement while jisung piped in, saying, "anyone who has great fashion sense is all good in my book!"

chan clapped his hand onto jeongin's shoulder which made the smaller boy jump slightly, but he soon relaxed into the older's touch. "and anyone, regardless of who— or what— they are, are welcome in my house," he said, a comforting expression on his face.

jeongin was speechless for a few moments. "...don't you hate me?" he asked. "i'm a biker and you guys are all surfers. i always thought that we all despised each other. i thought that was how it was supposed to be. how it's always been."

now it was chan's turn to give jeongin a surprised look, but a warm smile soon took its place. "well," he said with a small chuckle, "that's just silly. why would i hate someone i just met?"

and yet again jeongin had no words, choosing instead to wrap his arms around chan in a big hug— one in which the three boys on the couch gleefully joined in on as well.

thank you.