JEONGIN IS in a harness.

that was the only coherent thought going through chan's head when he arrived at the booth with felix. even after sitting down while getting clapped on the back by his friends, the only thing he could focus on was the biker sitting across from him and his...suggestive clothing choice. suddenly he felt less embarrassed about the attire felix forced him to wear because clearly he wasn't the only one who was dressed to impress.

chan tried not to stare. he really did. but every time he tried to distract himself by taking a sip of his drink or listening to the conversations around him, his eyes slowly drifted their way back to jeongin and that goddamn harness. fuck. does he know what he's doing to me? no, he's too pure for that. but can i really call a boy wearing a literal sex harness "pure"?

"mate," felix whispered next to him, "you're staring again."

chan quickly looked away from jeongin. "shit. am i that obvious?"

"well... yeah?"

chan groaned and downed the rest of his drink. he really needed to get a handle on his feelings. "hey, would you mind getting me another drink?"

"sure thing." felix stood and looked around the table. "does anyone else want a drink before i go?" a chorus of yeah's and sure's sounded from around the table, with seungmin asking for a soda instead of alcohol. "jeongin? do you want anything?"

"nah, jeongin's not good with alcohol," changbin said with a wave of his hand. "we tried giving him some a few years back and he got drunk off his ass after one shot. he ended up—"

"okay, we get it! please shut up," jeongin pleaded, obviously mortified. "anyway, i was only fifteen. i'd probably be fine if i tried it now."

wait, his friends gave him alcohol when he was fifteen? chan thought just as felix brightly said, "well, there's only one way to find out! i'm gonna get you a big boy drink," and skipped away to the bar.

"...he's not serious, is he?" jeongin asked, anxiety lacing his voice.

"oh, he definitely is," seungmin responded, laughing when jeongin groaned and covered his face with his hands.

chan was feeling curious. "changbin, what were you saying before jeongin cut you off earlier?" he asked, ignoring the sharp glance that jeongin sent his way. "it sounded like the start to an embarrassing story."

"changbin! don't you dare tell him," jeongin pleaded, only to get a shrug in return.

"sorry, i.n. it's the birthday boy's wishes." the biker held a tantalizing glint in his eyes and grinned devilishly. "so, once upon a time, i stole a bottle of tequila from the locked cabinet in our house and gave it to some of my friends. i told them it was water and the idiots believed me! until they took a sip, that is." he smugly leaned back in the booth. "however, little jeongin had just come back from a bike ride and was thirsty as hell. so, he took a whole glass of the stuff and chugged it. five minutes later, he was more wasted than a waste disposal."

"what kind of stuff did he do?" jisung asked, finally lifting his head off of the table. changbin laughed.

"shit, man, the craziest stuff. he—"

"what's up, losers!" chan whipped his head around to find hyunjin walking up to them, looking not-so sober. "y'all started the party without the prince?"

"hyunjin, you ditched us as soon as we came in!" jeongin protested. chan noticed that he looked extremely relieved, probably because hyunjin's arrival stopped whatever changbin was about to say.

"not true! i was dragged away by a group of chicks," hyunjin drawled, only perking up when he saw seungmin. "minnie baby! i'm so glad i found you! let's dance!"

"absolutely not," seungmin said. hyunjin pouted.

"you're no fun. guess jeonginnie is coming instead!" with that, hyunjin grabbed a wide-eyed jeongin by the arm and stumbled to the outskirts of the dance floor before grabbing him by the waist and swaying drunkenly.

"dumbass," changbin muttered. "he can hold his drink pretty well, so he must've had a ton of alcohol already. anyway, back to what i was saying..."

but chan couldn't focus on changbin's story. all he could see was the way that hyunjin held jeongin's hips; how the two were dancing dangerously close to each other; and the fact that, at the moment, club levanter was blasting the weeknd, which was not really helping the turmoil that was going on within him.

fuck.

chan heard a sigh come from beside him and felt a tap on his leg. "chan," seungmin said with a low voice, "i'm about to do something for your sake that i'm going to hate, so you owe me big time." before the surfer could question what he meant, the brunette scooted around him, left the booth, and ran to the dance floor. chan watched him go up to hyunjin and say something to him that caused the biker to beam and pull him deeper into the crowd, leaving jeongin alone.

suddenly, chan understood what seungmin had done for him.

thank you, kim seungmin. i definitely owe you one.

"hey, i think i'm gonna go dance, too," chan said, leaving without waiting for a response. he pushed his way through a small throng of people before coming up behind jeongin, who was moving side to side in rhythm with the music. for a second, he stood there, unsure of what to do. should i grab his hips as hyunjin did? should i make myself known first? god, why is this so hard?

as chan was trying to make up his mind, a voluptuous woman sauntered up to jeongin. "hi, cutie," she cooed, trailing her tanned fingers up his chest and hooking them around part of his harness. "why don't the two of us leave and go somewhere else? i promise i'll make it worth your time." she winked flirtatiously.

chan didn't know what came over him. maybe it was the alcohol swimming through his bloodstream. maybe it was the way that the woman's face was getting increasingly closer to jeongin's by the second. maybe it was the way she was touching him so provocatively. whatever the reason was, it caused chan to pull jeongin into him, wrap his arms around his body, and growl: "sorry, but he's already with someone."

the woman gasped. "oh... um..." without another word, she quickly left, much to chan's satisfaction. and then he realized what exactly he had done, and blanched.

"uh... sorry, jeongin," he stammered, moving to retract his arms from the younger boy. "shit, i kinda just moved without thinking, but i didn't want you to get, like, kidnapped , but i might've just been the biggest cockblocker, fuck, i'm really sorry—"

"chan!" jeongin laughed. "it's fine! she was making me uncomfortable, but you stepped in at the perfect moment." he gave the surfer a warm smile. "you pretty much saved me back there. thank you."

the corners of chan's lips twitched upwards. "anytime, jeongin. i'll always be there." he cleared his throat. "although maybe— y'know, to make sure it doesn't happen again— we should dance together. just in case."

oh my god, chan internally cringed. that was the worst thing i've ever said in my life. but to his surprise, jeongin nodded enthusiastically. "yeah! that sounds like a good idea." he then turned so that his back was facing chan and pressed their bodies together before beginning to sway. "um, chan?"

"hm?"

"could you put your arms around me again? just so people think that...i'm already taken..."

chan felt like he had died and gone to heaven. "yeah, sure," he said, trying to keep his voice nonchalant and sliding his arms back around jeongin's slim frame. "by the way, i forgot to mention earlier, but your outfit..."

jeongin flipped around so that he was looking at chan with big doe eyes. "i wore it for you! do you like it...?"

oh my god, chan thought, this is it. this is where i die. "it's perfect, jeongin." you're perfect.

jeongin smiled and wrapped his arms around chan's torso. "i'm glad," he mumbled, almost too quiet for chan to hear. "happy birthday, channie."

it really is a happy birthday for me.