The party had been Matthew's idea.

That alone should have warned Hao.

Now six people were squeezed into Jiwoong's apartment, snacks scattered across the coffee table while an old glass bottle spun dramatically across the hardwood floor.

"Seven Minutes in Heaven!" Matthew announced with far too much enthusiasm.

Gunwook laughed. "We're way too old for this."

"And yet nobody said no," Taerae pointed out.

The bottle slowed.

It stopped.

"...Hao and Hanbin."

The room erupted.

"No, no, spin again," Hanbin blurted, nearly dropping the textbook he'd somehow brought to a party.

His ears had already turned pink.

Hao couldn't help smiling. His roommate was adorable—painfully shy, constantly buried in books, and so awkward that he apologized to furniture after bumping into it.

"Rules are rules," Jiwoong said, already opening the hallway closet.

Hanbin looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole.

A second later, the door clicked shut behind them.

The closet was cramped and dark, forcing them to stand much closer than either had expected. Hao could barely make out Hanbin's face in the faint strip of light beneath the door.

For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.

Then Hanbin adjusted his glasses.

"...I, um..."

His voice was barely above a whisper.

Hao smiled gently. "Relax. We don't have to do anything."

Hanbin looked up at him.

Something in his expression shifted.

The nervous stammer disappeared.

His shoulders relaxed, and a slow, surprisingly confident smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"...Who said I didn't want to?"