TWO WEEKS.

two long, strenuous weeks.

that's how much time passed before they saw each other again.

chan's eyes immediately zeroed in on him as soon as he entered jyp café that morning with the intent of making a quick stop for breakfast before heading out. it wasn't hard to spot him, even amongst the café's filled tables and the large crowd. he was sitting amongst his leather-jacket clad friends and eating pancakes with vigor, laughing at something they were saying. his hair made him stick out like a sore thumb— a sore, adorable, attractive thumb.

the surfer had mentally prepared himself for this moment. he constantly stared at the photo jisung had sent him, studying every little detail he could and committing each strand of hair to memory. he was sure that he'd be fine if they ever ran into each other again. however, as he found out that morning, jisung's picture hardly did him justice. he was...

"beautiful," chan breathed out just as jeongin's eyes met his.

"channie!" almost instantaneously, the heads of his three friends whipped around from where they were seated on the table. their expressions reminded chan of a predator sizing up its prey: deadly. it was as if they were telling him don't come over here or we'll rip you to shreds. he gulped and tried to pretend like he didn't hear jeongin's voice calling his name, but it was too late, for the boy had already leaped out of his seat and bounded over to him.

as soon as he felt the younger's arms wrap around him, his brain short-circuited and he froze. he wasn't sure if he was supposed to hug back or not— was he even allowed to? judging by the menacing stares the bikers were giving him, he wasn't, but just as he was about to push himself away he heard jeongin's voice softly say: "i missed you."

screw it, chan thought, wrapping his arms around the younger. if this is how i die, at least i'll go out smiling.

after a while, chan could feel the other bikers burning holes into his back with their glares, so he forced himself to pull away; not too far, though. "i missed you too," he murmured, causing a smile to grace jeongin's face. chuckling, he added, "however, it doesn't seem like your friends missed me that much."

jeongin turned around and his friends quickly averted their eyes, pretending like they weren't staring at them. the redhead laughed, and chan didn't realize until then how much he longed to hear it. "ah, don't mind them. they're over what happened a couple of weeks ago, but they're still pretty wary around surfers. they won't even let me go anywhere by myself anymore!" he huffed, which chan found rather cute. "it's annoying. i'm eighteen! i should be out doing whatever i want, not be dragged around everywhere like i'm some sort of kid!"

chan laughed, and the anxiety in his chest eased. he had been worried that jeongin's friends hated him after what happened two weeks ago, so it brought him a bit of comfort knowing that they were acting strangely simply because that's what bikers did.

they're just being normal, he thought, like nothing ever happened. no sleepover. no beach day. no memories at all. we're back to square one. ...why does that make me sad?

chan blinked when he realized that jeongin was staring at him expectantly. "sorry, did you say something? i zoned out for a bit," the surfer said sheepishly.

jeongin looked down at his hands and began playing with his fingers. "um... i asked if you wanted to sit and eat with us? i don't think i'll be able to finish all of my food and i don't want it to go to waste... plus, it'd be good to catch up since we haven't seen each other in a while."

he's so shy! chan thought and fought to conceal his grin. "i'd love to, but what about your friends? i kinda get the feeling that they want me to leave." he glanced at them to find the three males trying (and failing) to spy on them inconspicuously. he bit back a laugh at their antics. "i also get the feeling that we're being spied on."

jeongin giggled. "don't worry about them, chan! just come on." without another word, chan was promptly dragged to the bikers' table and plopped down in an extra chair where jeongin informed his friends that chan would be joining them for breakfast.

"hey, guys," he greeted as an awkward tension settled over the table. changbin was glaring at him as he stabbed a piece of sausage; hyunjin was eyeing him with an unreadable look while pouring an unhealthy amount of syrup onto his waffles; and minho— well, he just pulled out a book and began reading.

after eating in silence for what felt like forever, chan opened his mouth to ask minho what he was reading when hyunjin spoke. "yo, chan. do surfers like to get laid?"

changbin's eyes grew larger than his plate. jeongin choked on a strip of bacon. even minho paused mid-page flip.

chan blinked. "uh... what?"

"you heard me." hyunjin stole a grape off of jeongin's plate and popped it into his mouth. "do surfers like to get laid?"

how can he say things like that so nonchalantly? "well, i guess it depends on the person," he said, struggling to fight the blush creeping up his neck.

"well, what about you, then? do you like getting laid?"

chan wanted to crawl into a hole and die. this was probably the most embarrassing conversation he'd ever had in his entire life. he had no idea what he was supposed to say— yes? no? he'd had sex a couple of times in the past but neither time was particularly good; however, maybe he just hadn't met the right person yet.

chan didn't know what to do, so he went for the safest option he could think of. "uh... why?"

hyunjin leaned forward, a mischievous smirk on his face. "well, i'm glad you asked. i'm trying to seduce a surfer and i need to figure out if the best way to their heart is through my hands or through my dick."

both of those things have very questionable connotations, chan thought just as changbin said, "aren't those basically the same thing?"

hyunjin smacked him on the head. "no, idiot! by 'my hands' i meant my actions. you know, like getting him flowers and stuff. and by 'my dick' i meant—"

"okay! i think we get it," chan quickly interrupted. "well, i know just about every surfer in town. if you tell me who it is, i think i could help you out."

the bikers all exchanged glances as if they were having a silent discussion. changbin shook his head slightly, but when jeongin sent him a pleading look, he stopped (although he didn't look too happy about it). when hyunjin glanced at minho, all he did was give the handsome male a slow blink, but apparently, that proved to be enough as hyunjin nodded and faced chan.

"it's seungmin," he stated, and chan's jaw dropped. he was confident that he'd know whoever it was, but he didn't think it'd be one of his closest friends! suddenly the events of the beach day clicked in his head. no wonder he was so willing to go to my house with seungmin! god, why am i so blind?

then, another thought popped in his head. wait... if i can get hyunjin and seungmin to date each other, maybe it'll be enough to end the years of hatred between the bikers and surfers! and it might also be an opportunity to get closer to his group of friends! i'm a genius!

"oh! well..." chan swallowed dryly. "um, seungmin isn't the kind of guy who likes to take things fast, you know? it might take some time for him to open up to you before you guys...uh..."

"fuck?" hyunjin helpfully supplied, and from out of nowhere, a fork flew through the air and stabbed the table in front of him. the biker yelped in fear. "wait, what the—"

"i won't hesitate!" a voice from the kitchen screeched, and hyunjin immediately shut his mouth.

"um... yeah," chan chuckled nervously. "what you said. you'd have to treat him well and show him that he can trust you. a good tip is that he likes small, subtle things rather than big, flashy things; for example, rather than a whole bouquet, he'd prefer a singular flower."

hyunjin scrunched his nose. "that's weird, man. all of the girls i've been with in the past told me bigger is better. but now i've gotta do the exact opposite?" he ran a hand through his hair. "the things i do for love. insane."

minho snorted like he found part of his speech amusing. chan was about to question him when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

fatass:
😢☔️💦🥵💧🌊🤧

what the heck is that supposed to mean? chan thought, sliding his phone back in his pocket. jisung (who he'd named "fatass" in his phone since he loved to eat) was known for sending him random things at the oddest times, so eventually, he learned to stop replying to him when he did. however, his phone buzzed again, and he sighed. what does he want?

fatass:
look outside dumbo

chan glanced out the window and was surprised to find that it was raining buckets— almost enough to qualify as a storm. well, that explains the weird emoticons. he groaned internally. he and his friends had planned an epic beach day for the four of them, but now it seemed that they'd have to cancel. man, this sucks.

chan:
damn
what do we do now?

fatass:
felix wanted to see a
movie so we going ✈️
tmt rn

chan:
alright
i'll be there in a bit

fatass:
you'd bettdjdnf ka

chan:
what

it was then that his phone buzzed once more, signaling that another person had texted him. damn, i'm popular today.

bitchass:
the rain made sung's
phone defective so he
told me to tell you
"you'd better"

chan:
thanks bitchass

bitchass:
yw gay boy

chan:
seungmin you're no het
either so don't even

well, i guess it's time to depart. chan's chair scraped against the tiled floor as he stood up, the eyes of the bikers following his movements. "my friends have made last-minute plans to go to the movies, so i've got to head out. thanks for letting me join you guys!" he gave them a little wave, receiving nods and a pout in return.

"you're going already?" jeongin asked, and the look he gave chan was almost enough to make him sit back down. but the surfer knew very well what would happen if he wasn't around to keep an eye on his troublemaking mates, so he held fast against jeongin's pleading eyes and ruffled his hair.

"sorry, jeongin. i can't trust my friends on their own. you're always welcome to come if you'd like."

before jeongin could open his mouth, changbin slammed his hand on the table. "no way! i.n. is staying with us, and that's final." he glared daggers at chan, who gulped.

"well, i mean, you guys can come too," he offered. just then, a feeling of déjà vu settled upon his shoulders. why do i feel like we've been here before? then he remembered the incident two weeks prior, where he had invited the bikers to go to the beach with him and his friends. oh shit. does that mean that something bad is gonna happen again? are we just going in circles here? maybe inviting them wasn't such a good idea after all. but after seeing jeongin nodding enthusiastically, chan's desire for him to come multiplied tenfold. screw it. i need to find a way to convince them all so that jeongin can go.

"hyunjin," he started, "if you come with us, i'll get you a seat next to seungmin."

"deal!" well, that was easy.

there was a slight pause before changbin sighed. "well, the only one that can keep hyunjin out of trouble is me, so i guess i'll go, too." he sounded so reluctant that chan almost felt guilty, but he was determined to not let his plan fail.

one left. minho had gone back to reading his book, seemingly disinterested in their conversation. "minho?"

the man was silent for such a long time that chan almost thought that he hadn't heard him. the only thing that gave him away was when his eyes flitted away from his book to a spot on the table, showing that he was giving thought to the surfer's words. finally, he spoke. "...i want to choose the movie."

chan smiled. "as long as it's not the titanic again," he joked, and the corners of minho's lips twitched upwards.

"alright."

jeongin and hyunjin cheered loudly, causing chan to grin. changbin told them to shut up (which the pair ignored, choosing instead to jump up and down, chanting, "movies! movies!"). minho rolled his eyes but there was a ghost of a smile on his face, which made chan feel satisfied. this might actually work out really well, he thought.

well, at least until hyunjin said:

"wait, we don't have any money."