{panic(king): changki}

2

The walk to the cafe is bubbling with chatter as Minhyuk starts telling Jooheon about some new video game he's been meaning to try out, Hyungwon silent at his side, smiling over at the two of them. Hoseok's arms are now bare, Jooheon wrapped in his jacket to get him to stop complaining about the cold. He and Hyunwoo laugh about it. All that's left is me and—

"Hey, are you paying attention? I've called your name at least ten times," Kihyun says with a slight huff.

"I'm listening, I swear. I just got distracted for a second," I tell him.

"Clearly. I was over here explaining how you patented the girlfriend walk and asking if you wanted to share a raspberry danish and you're not even listening." He huffs full on this time, letting his arms fall to his sides. "Why do I even bother?"

"Because I'm your favorite," I tell him with a smile, referencing the group chat this morning. He rolls his eyes and playfully pushes me away, a small smile curling onto his lips.

"That's it. You don't get to hang out with Minhyuk anymore."

"What?" Minhyuk asks, hearing his name. "You want to switch rooms with Hyungwon so I can be roommates with Changkyun?" Hyungwon hits Minhyuk's shoulder.

"That's the opposite of what I said, smartass," Kihyun says. He turns back to me as Minhyuk laughs. "You think Hyungwon would be willing to switch rooms?"

I laugh. If we were to switch rooms now, he might have a fit. Hyungwon and I's room isn't the neatest. I've been trying to get a little more organized recently, but the comfort of my bed and scrolling through my phone is too enticing. "Trust me, you don't want to do that," I tell him.

"Do I actually have to call you two and tell you to clean your room?" Kihyun asks, suddenly kicking into full mother mode.

"No! We've got it under control," I say. He eyes me like he knows I'm not telling the entire truth, but what am I supposed to do? He's Kihyun. You can't lie to him, he'll find out.

"I swear if you're lying and I have to come over there and clean for you, we're gonna have a problem." He puts his hands on his hips and gives me a stern look.

"You actually look like my mom, hyung," I tell him, and the word feels funny coming out of my mouth. Why? I'd just said it to everyone else this morning and now—

My thoughts are interrupted by Kihyun hitting me with the back of his hand. "I'm looking out for you."

"Thanks," I tell him. "Because honestly if it wasn't for you, I'd forget to eat sometimes." He raises an eyebrow at me. "My roommate is Hyungwon, remember? He sleeps almost all day."

Kihyun sighs and shakes his head. "He's lucky you're there to wake him up." I smile proudly at myself.

"I try." The others' chatter all melts into each other once Kihyun and I's conversation ends. We arrive at the cafe not too long after, and the jingle of the bell on the door silences everyone.

It's an unspoken rule we have here. We somehow all understand that we need to behave and not be too loud, especially this early in the morning. We all love this place, and if we do anything to get ourselves banned, none of us will forgive the ones who did it.

"Good morning!" a friendly brunette girl calls from behind the counter. We all greet her with a friendly good morning. I personally don't know her, but Minhyuk does. I can tell by the look she gives him before he shrugs in response. I wonder what that was all about.

"So who's getting breakfast first?" Hyunwoo asks, breaking me from my thoughts. We always go up to the register in pairs, so the others can save our spot since we're such a big group.