Lee Min-ho's Story

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"Minho."

"Minho."

"Minho!"

"Tch." Lee grabbed the blankets from where they rested against his shoulders, pulling them up over his head before turning his back completely on whatever intrusion to his room had decided to wake him up. There was an unknown weight on his bed for a moment, followed by way too much squirming, and then Jin was leaning over him, trying to see his face. "Miinho," she whined again. "Jeoneun baegopayo."

Lee sighed deeply, reached up one finger to pull down the blankets covering his eyes. His sister was having upside down, blinking at him innocently, hair a mess like she'd just woken up. She probably had. "In English," he demanded, because they'd been working on this all summer. She got to talk to their mom in Korean, but him it was English.

She considered for a moment, then disappeared form off of him. A second later her feet were padding across his floor, and Lee rolled over one more time to arch an eyebrow at him. "I am hungry," she repeated, nodded proudly to herself, then picked up his alarm clock. "Dis was...noisy."

Lee arched an eyebrow, wondered why...and then he saw the time. 8:45AM. "Sibal," he swore under his breath, because at least she didn't know what they sounded like in Korean yet, before he pushed himself out of bed. He swiped his toothbrush out of the sink when he passed it, haphazardly covered the thing with paste, and shoved it into his mouth on the way to the kitchen.

There wasn't much to offer, but Jin followed him without a word, and didn't argue when he shoved a packet of uncooked poptarts into her hand. She busied herself with trying to open them alone while Lee threw the fridge open, poured her a glass of apple juice that landed more on the counter than in the cup, and passed it down to her before he slid back into his room.

He finished up his teeth, spat and rinsed, then dropped his toothbrush in his sink before throwing open his closet. His St. Jude's uniform and the few suits he owned were packaged up and hanging pristine in the back, out of the way of three year old grabby hands and his general disregard for cleanliness, but the first day back also meant he would be the only one wearing it. Everyone else used this day to rock whatever look they had just gotten from Malian. As usual, Lee's decision came down to a difference between not giving a shit and not wanting to stand out.

In the end he pulled a pair of black pants off the hanger and jerked them on while he debated if the black Pink Floyd shirt on his floor was still clean. He swiped it off the floor next, gave it a sniff, and pulled it on. He threw his jacket on after, slid by his full length mirror just to make sure that all three shades of black matched, and tugged on his shoes a little painfully. One last stop at poor excuse of bathroom for hygiene purposes, followed by running his fingers through his hair a few times so he at least didn't look like a twelve year old, and then he was rushing back to Jin.

Getting Jin ready was more of a fuss than it should have been. She complained about the first dress he put her in, saying it was itchy around her neck, and then threw a fit the whole time he tried to put her hair up in a ponytail because she wanted to eat rather than get ready. Lee finally told her she could either eat on the bus, or have messy hair all day.

In the end, she got to wear her blue dress and have her hair in a messy bun. Lee wanted to cut that damn hair off more than anything, it would make it easier to fix, but Jin loved it so he left it alone. She was probably too spoiled for her own good. At least in terms of affection.

They nearly missed the bus, which meant Jin ended up on his back while Lee ran the last block, messenger bag beating his side to death while he went. She got to daycare on time, but the ride to Manhattan would take longer. Lee sighed, sent a text to Isabela that simply read: >I really hate life before starting a new one to Sebastian, asking where he was so they could meet up the moment he got off the bus.

He was about to hit send before everything hit him in the center of the chest like a freight train. Right. They weren't friends. Lee was running surprisingly low on those lately. His jaw clinched as he canceled the message, then slowly slid his phone back into his pocket. It was fine.

Somehow, he wasn't too late when he finally made it off the bus. In fact, he was almost at perfect timing. The doors were open, but there were still people hanging around outside. Seniors, mostly. Lot's of familiar faces, which meant no one was going in without a posse. Lee rolled his eyes, hopped off the bus, shoved his hands deep in his pockets, and walked straight to the auditorium. He didn't have a posse.

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Even inside people had broken into cliques, guys and girls mixed as much as possible because there was going to be a full school year of being separated out side of social occasions. Oh, the absolute horror. Lee rolled his eyes just thinking about it, propped his knee up on the chair in front of him and slouched in his seat.

When his phone buzzed in his pocket he nearly had a heart attack, thinking maybe he had actually texted Sebastian on accident, but his face broke into a grin when he saw Isabela's name flashing at him. The text was simple, and he didn't bother replying to it, knowing she was probably driving.

He only had to wait another couple of minutes before she was there suddenly, thrown together in a way that was both classy and telling. Lee arched an eyebrow her, but her mere presence already made his day better. He slid out of his seat to take the Slurpee from her, knowing the red color meant it was cherry and he could kiss her if she wasn't like sister. Or if they happened to be playing on the same team.

There was a cigarette in his pocket, a kiss to his cheek, and he really couldn't be happier once he sealed his mouth around the straw. Until Izzy spoke, and he recognized that tone in her voice. She was irritated at him for something. "What?" he asked. He hadn't flown off anywhere. The last time he'd seen her, they'd parted on good, normal terms...

Fly...

Lee rolled his eyes and crashed back down in his seat. It wasn't unusual for his best friend to have some kind of outrageous dream and be mad at him about it later. One time she hadn't spoken to him for three solid days she was so upset. [color]"What happened, Bells? Why did I fly away?"[/color]

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The morning passed rather uneventfully. Lee listened to his best friend ramble with a small smile on his face that was just for her before they settled in for the assembly that was less interesting to listen to...so actually, he and Bell spent a lot of time huddled close together whispering under their breaths.

He'd spent a lot of the summer with her, at least as much as he could get away with, because his mother worked twice as hard to clean up after parties and whatnot. Usually. Jane, oddly, was fairly absent from the activities that had gone on that summer...there were some rumors about camp or something, but Lee knew the truth.

Not that he would dare tell anyone. Or cared enough to, for that matter.

So his mother hadn't worked as often as she had in the past, but Lee still spent most of his time at the Monroe's place, little sister in tow. He liked her family. He liked it a whole hell of a lot better than his own.

The hardest part about the last couple of months had been not having Sebastian. He frowned as he pondered over the way his ex-friend had nearly spoken to him this morning. He missed his company, so much it ached. So, he'd spent a good amount of his time sleeping around when Jin wasn't in his care. A fact he admitted with a pinched expression because Lee had never really been known for being slutty.

He also apologized for flying away in Bell's dream, and promised he'd never leave her in real life.


Lee had never really been the one to go the parties thrown by his classmates. Sure, he liked to party, and he was well known for sneaking into clubs and bars with his good friends, but the stuff that Sydney and her posse threw were usually too high class for him.

But there was little to nothing Lee would tell Bell no to.

Jin was more than happy to see Isabela come home with him. She immediately took ownership of his friend, curling up into her lap and gibbering away in a mixture of Korean and English. Bella understood a good bit of it, but he always shot his sister looks to be considerate.

He sighed heavily, knowing he probably couldn't get away with denying the offer. Besides, Hyojin would more than enjoy the carnival and she deserved a little fun. "Only if we look fabulous," he joked.

A wide smile appeared on Bella's lips as she clapped her hands together. "Alright then, it's settled! Hyojin go grab your jacket, it may get a little chilly out tonight." she spoke in a cheery tone as Bell got to her feet and watch the child run out the room. A deep happy sigh was exhaled as she turned to face Lee with her hands out. "Come on, get up hun. Let's go have some much needed family time."

Isabela always preferred to her hanging out with both Hyojin and Minho alone as family time. She liked it when it was just the three of them. It wasn't crowded like with her family and plus them three by themselves meant they could get to rides faster than having to wait for her sisters to decided which ride they wanted to go on first. " We are going to have fun tonight, you'll see." With that Hyojin ran back into the room with jacket on and all. The child grabbed her brothers hand eagerly and Bell grabbed her keys off her best friends dresser.


The ride to the carnival was a good twenty minute ride. That time was spent singing along to songs on the radio like mad men and some laughing here and there along with the occasional seat-belt check Bell did every time little Jin would ride in her car. The carnival looked lively, bright colorful lights all over, the smell of popcorn and cotton candy floating through the air and the background chatter and laughter of people made the whole scene come alive."Hey Minho, play me in a game of skeeball. The loser buys cotton candy."

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Lee spent most of his Friday reflecting. The first week of school had, of course, passed by as uneventfully as it always had. He kept his head down, kept to his studies, practiced, took care of his sister. Thing was...Lee was bored. More bored than he had ever been in his life. He was starting to blame summer on that. He'd branched out for once...partied, slept around, done drugs he'd never considered before, drank until he was spending the night crashed out on the bathroom floor.

Now all of that was gone. He was back to being good, unbothered, out of the spotlight. Part of him missed it. With Isabela gone, and Sebastian no longer in his life...well, he was down to no one. Lee was really beginning to consider making new friends. Especially now that Jin was older...she didn't need his constant supervision, and she had after school activities to keep her busy.

Which left Lee alone. On the upside, that made it completely okay for him to walk around his house in nothing but a lowslung pair of black basketball shorts and eat his weight in homemade ramen, but really, there had to be more interesting things to do with his life. He was walking from the kitchen to the livingroom when there was a knock at his front door.

Lee arched an eyebrow, stuck his chopsticks in his mouth, then opened the door with his now free hand. Sebastian. He blinked for a moment, looked between his old friend and his door, then stepped back and examined it closer before finally reaching up and moving the chopsticks so he could speak. "Sorry, I was trying to figure out how I opened the door to last year."

His phone went off then, a chirping from his pocket that made him once again stick his chopsticks in his mouth so that he could answer it. There was a text from Carolina, which made him grin despite himself. So, he wasn't completely out of friends.



He shot another glance at Seb then sighed, grabbing his chopsticks again before walking inside his house. "Well, come in then."

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Sebastian wasn't sure what to do when Lee opened the door. He had obviously been expecting to see him, but at the same time had kind of hoped that he wasn't home. So, instead of doing the normal thing and saying 'hey' or 'what's up', Sebastian stood their in silence and squirmed under Lee's sharp gaze. It wasn't until his old friend finally perked up and said something and Sebastian found himself being able to breath again. Even managing to smile a little at that familiar dry humour of Lee's. "Sorry this is kind of um - I mean - Sorry I didn't tell you I was coming over." Sebastian chokes out, stumbling over his words. If there was one person that could make him flustered it was Lee.

Sighing with relief when Lee moves out the way to let him into the house. Sebastian thought he might have just closed the door in his face - And he wouldn't have blamed him. Sebastian knew what he did to Lee was unfair, putting him in a situation like that and then ignoring him for years. Actually, he was a little surprised Lee hadn't just told him to get lost. But perhaps he had missed Sebastian as much a Sebastian had missed him. That thought calmed Sebastian a little as he stepped into the house that had once felt like a second home to him. "Is, um," Sebastian starts before losing track of what he was going to say and mentally kicks himself for being such a moron. Stop it, He chastises himself, Lee's gonna think you're such a weirdo.

Attempting to, once again, compose himself. Sebastian makes sure to keep his eyes trained on Lee's face, ignoring the boy's bare torso as he follows him into the living room. Oh God what have I done, Sebastian thinks as they sit in silence. How could this not have been awkward? Clearing his throat with a cough, he looks down at his feet, moving them about in his black boots before finally thinking of something to say. "You gotten any better at C.O.D or can I still easily beat you at it?" Sebastian asks, a small smirk forming at the corners of his lips.

After school, the two boys would always end up at one of their homes playing some kind of video game (usually Call Of Duty) and - Sebastian was never one for gloating but - after being beaten badly by Lee the first couple times, he'd decided to practice really hard; managing to get good enough to finally win some games. However, since Sebastian modelling career had seriously taken off, and he'd lost contact with Lee. He'd become incredibly rusty, barely playing on his PS4 once since him and Lee stopped hanging out. Not only that, but Sebastian found that when he played video games, he always felt a little sad. Like something was missing. Or more likely, someone was missing.

Being here, right now, with Lee brought up feelings within Sebastian that he'd struggled hard to keep buried. And he found that even after a long time, those feelings still remained. Which scared him. Not only because he wasn't one for real relationships but because Lee is, was one of his best friends and he's a guy! It was insane. Sebastian had to hide that side of him, he just had to. Going through what had happened with Vincent again would break him. Usually Sebastian was the sweetest, most easygoing guy but when he thought about Vincent and Lee and everything that happened, he felt stressed - and more than a little upset. He'd lost two best friends by being himself. He wouldn't let that happen again. How would Hailey react if she found out about him being bisexual? Or Piper, or Jane. God, he could never tell Jane and risk losing her. No, he'd keep these feelings bottled up inside and try to just be friends with Lee again. Try to mend their broken relationship.

Taking a moment to gather these thoughts, Sebastian places an easygoing smile on his face to hide the internal conflict going on beneath. "C'mon let's play, or are you too afraid of me beating your ass?" Sebastian teases, finding it so easy to slip back into their old ways.

Lee sat himself down on his piece of shit couch and focused on his food while he watched his old friend enter the room. It was odd, and awkward, and Lee wondered not for the first time how the hell they managed to get to this point in their life. Since when did he ever need Seb to tell him he was coming over? Or...not be able to hold a conversation with him.

Lee missed him. Lee missed him so much that sometimes it actually physically hurt. But he was still more pissed than anything. Sebastian had made his decision, Lee had just rolled with the punches. He could have fought, that was true, but...life took them in different directions and at the time being it had seemed like a good idea just to let go.

There were more than a few moments of complete silence while Lee ate his soup and Sebastian stared at his feet. He was about to sigh, ask if he should put on a movie or something, when the other male finally spoke. "Heh," he muttered, dropping his chopsticks in his bowl. "You wish you could beat me."

Actually, Sebastian had gotten pretty good before they'd split, enough so that he was an actual opponent and Lee wasn't just completely destroying him. But he kind of had a feeling that Seb hadn't played in a really long time either. Just like that, it was like they were back to old times.

Lee hopped off the couch and went to pull the gaming system out from under his tv, hooking it up with practiced ease before tossing one of the controllers back to Seb. "You want a soda?" he asked as he grabbed his dirty dishes and circled around to the kitchen. His place was small, so it wasn't hard to carry on a conversation back there. "Cigarette?"

He already grabbed himself one, lighting up and taking a drag before balancing it between his lips while he went to dig for drinks. It was another habit he'd picked up over the summer.

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Sebastian was beginning to relax as he sat on Lee's old couch, smirking at the boy's comeback. "We'll see." Sebastian retorts, trying his best to put on an ominous voice but failing when he laughs softly. Watching Lee light a cigarette, Sebastian's smile fades slightly - Since when did he smoke? Sebastian thinks, confused. It really has been a long time since they last saw each other. Looking at Lee when he's offered a soda or cigarette. "I'll have a soda if you've got one," He says before shaking his head, "But I don't really smoke." It's then that Sebastian receives an incoming text, and whilst Lee is still looking for the drinks, he quickly checks it.

The text was from Jane, and she seemed incredibly upset. Sebastian tries to think of what to respond, he had no idea what happened. That was until he received another text from one of his junior friends, telling him to check out a post about Sydney Vale. Skimming it, Sebastian sighs. Of course. There always had to be some kind of drama going on in that friendship group, and no doubt Sienna and Sydney had managed to drag Jane into their mess. Quickly composing a new message, Sebastian sends it to Jane, hoping she's okay. But he couldn't exactly leave Lee's now. Not when they're starting to get along again.

To: Jane
What happened? Do you want me to come over?

Of course he didn't want to leave Lee's, but similarly, Sebastian was never going to ignore a friend that clearly needed comforting. However, he may as well stay with Lee until he knew whether Jane even wanted him to come over. And so Sebastian slips his phone back into his pocket and turns his attention back towards Lee - who was still very shirtless, which Sebastian found rather distracting. Focusing his gaze on the arm of the sofa (it is all he can do not to stare at Lee), his thoughts turn to the party tomorrow, and whether he should go or not. He knew Hailey would be upset if he didn't show up, especially since they'd grown so close over the summer. And he was kind of looking forward to it; but he also knew Jane probably wasn't, and Sebastian would miss it to stay in and watch movies with Jane, if that's what she wanted.

Wondering if Lee was going, Sebastian takes a breath, before shifting his gaze from the armrest to Lee's face, keeping eye contact. "Hey, are you going to Hailey's tomorrow? It sounds pretty fun." Which it did - and a lot more laid-back than Sydney's extravagant party. Besides Hailey had said there would be body paint which sounded awesome to Sebastian. He so hoped Jane would be going, or he'd feel guilty leaving her alone.

"That's cool," Lee offered when Sebastian turned down the offer of a cigarette. Honestly he was kind of grateful, they were expensive enough that even Lee didn't grant himself one often. But he needed a little something to calm his nerves. Sebastian's presence was...messing with his head. Putting him on edge. He had every right to kick the man out he just...didn't want to.

When he came back with two sodas his old friends attention was focused on his phone. Given his expression Lee could only guess at what was going on. He sat his own can down so he could pull the cigarette out of his mouth. "Trouble with the higher-ups?" He asked as he passed the other drink over. He didn't particularly care about the answer, so he busied himself with setting up the game. He still had his and Sebastian's old profile, will all their achievements and whatnot, so they could literally pick up where they'd left off. How symbolic.

He looked up in time for Sebastian to ask about a party and Lee arched and eyebrow before flopping back down next to him. "Don't exactly run in the right group to get an invite to that kind of thing," he pointed out. Especially these days, with Bella gone and Carolina just getting to town, his friend group was pretty small.

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Sebastian only shrugs in response to Lee's question about the 'Higher-ups', putting the mobile away. "There's always something going on with them, I'm sure it's nothing that important." Sebastian says, but couldn't keep the worry out of his voice. What was Jane so upset about? The posts had nothing to do with her.

Smiling slightly when he notices Lee kept their old profile, Sebastian grabs a controller, sipping his soda as he does so. When Lee tells Sebastian that they don't exactly 'run in the same circles', Sebastian frowns a little. He'd never really noticed who Lee hung out with, because it was usually just the two of them, occasionally Carolina would tag along but it tended to just be the two boys. But after thinking about it, Sebastian realised they were both very different. Sebastian usually hung out with the 'popular crowd' while Lee opted to stay out of the limelight. It worked like that even when they were best friends. "You could come with me?" Sebastian suggests nonchalantly, referring to Hailey's party, "Like, as a friend." He quickly adds in. Not wanting to give Lee the wrong message and scare him off. Sebastian wasn't definitely wasn't sure that his feelings towards Lee were completely platonic, and he had known Lee was gay since he came out to Sebastian years ago. However what he was sure of was that he didn't want a relationship - not with a guy. Or at least not right now.

Ignoring that thought, Sebastian is just beginning to get comfortable when he gets another text from Jane, skimming it Sebastian sighs, she seemed so upset. Leaning back against the arm of Lee's sofa, Sebastian turns to him. Looking at him while he decides whether he should leave. He really didn't know what to do. Jane hadn't stated that she wanted him to come over, but then again, she might still be expecting him to. Jane did that a lot. Sebastian guessed it was her strong sense of entitlement. While he really loved Jane, he knew that was your average Upper East Sider, thinking that people should come running to her when she needed them. Which Sebastian usually did. But not today, he couldn't and didn't want to leave Lee.

Deciding that if she texted him again, asking him to come over he would go. But for now, he wanted to enjoy Lee's company - for the first time in ages. Placing the soda on the side, Sebastian turns back to face the television his hands gripped around the controller. "Okay, let's do this." He grins, settling into his seat. Sebastian pulls his legs up onto the sofa unintentionally nudging Lee's thigh, quickly choosing to ignore the burning sensation in his cheeks and instead, attempting to recall how exactly it was that the game even worked.

He had a feeling he wasn't going to win this one - If any.

Lee's phone went off again, momentarily distracting him from whatever Sebastian was dealing with in his own group of friends. Carolina's texts were cracking him up. He couldn't imagine how it felt though, to be uprooted like that and just moved into a place like the Lynch's. Hell, he'd only ever been inside places that nice on a handful of occasions. He hadn't even been to Sebastian's that often in the past, because of Jin his house had usually been the center of activity.


It was very possible there wasn't anyone else on the planet Lee liked as much as Carolina. She just...understood him, on a level no one else could. On a 'Childhood Sucked, White People Everywhere, Once Poor, Not Putting Up With Your Popular Bullshit' level. He hated being short with her over text...half of him wanted to just catch a train and go see her ASAP. But...

He looked over at Sebastian and realized there was something he wanted a little more. Because it'd been so long since he'd had this and who the hell knew how long it would last. And then he remembered that damn party they were talking about. He arched an eyebrow silently, knowing he had a judgmental expression on his face, but honestly...why not?

He snorts and rolls his eyes. "Of course, as a friend," he muttered, more under his breath than anything else. He wanted to ask if Sebastian had meant a lot of things as a friend, but even Lee wasn't stupid enough to push his luck. He'd been handed an inch, there was no reason to stretch it out. "Yeah. Sure. Why not."

He took a few last drags of his cigarette before dropping the blunt on the coffee table and pulling his lefts up to sit criss-cross. It put them closer, his knee basically resting on Seb's thigh, but he didn't care, didn't make any attempt to move. Instead, he focused on the game.

Half an hour later and he was nearly crying with laughter, leaning over the arm of the couch and holding his side. "Oh my, God, Bastian you actually suck. See, this is why you can't be without me too long. What the hell have you been doing with your life? Spending too much time working on that pretty face of yours?" It was an old jab, one only enunciated by Lee's ever so rare grin. He trash talked with compliments and complimented with trash talk, that was absolutely nothing new. Somethings never changed.

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Sebastian smiles happily when Lee accepts his invitation, oblivious to the edge in his voice. "Awesome!" Sebastian was actually beginning to get excited for Hailey's party, "Oh and it's one of those Black Light parties, so try and wear something bright." Sebastian tells him, even though he knew full well that neon wasn't exactly Lee's thing and the boy would most likely just show up in dark colours - as usual.

Saying nothing when Lee rests his knee against his leg, Sebastian stares straight ahead at the Tv, trying to distract himself from it. His cheeks burned even redder but Sebastian tried his best not to let the contact phase him. He put all of his thoughts into trying to win the game instead. After a half an hour - that felt like an eternity - of losing, Sebastian dropped the controller, frustrated. That frustration only mounting as Lee tells him he sucks. "You're cheating," Sebastian concludes, eyeing Lee suspiciously and trying to work out how he could possibly have done, "You have to be, no one's that good!" However, even when annoyed and frustrated, Sebastian couldn't keep a smile off of his face and hearing Lee's familiar laugh only made it grow wider. He had so missed this.

Turning to Lee and pouting a little Sebastian says, "You couldn't even have been nice and let me win one?" Feigning hurt, but unable to sustain it. He was in far too much of a good mood to even pretend to be upset, and a grin kept creeping onto his face whenever he heard Lee laughing. It got to the point where Lee ended up laughing so hard at Sebastian inability to win even one game, that Lee was bent over and clutching his side. Sebastian remembered how rare it was to see Lee smiling, that to have gotten him to cry with laughter completely overjoyed, even if it was at the expense of himself. Sebastian could handle being teased for being rubbish at video games. As long as it meant Lee would keep laughing, Sebastian was happy. He loved Lee's laugh.

He had even found himself enjoying Lee's trash talk. Which wasn't exactly trash talk because it usually ended up complimenting Sebastian, and he didn't mind that at all. "I swear, one day I'm gonna get so good at this and win - then we'll see who's laughing." Sebastian pulls a face at Lee, despite knowing full well that even when he played video games practically everyday with Lee, he only occasionally won. Lee seemed to just have a knack with games. Or maybe it was just Lee's presence that put Sebastian off his game; he did often find himself drifting away from the screen to look at his old friend.

Finishing off his soda, Sebastian decides to send a quick text to Hailey, making sure that she was cool with him bringing a friend. Making sure not to spend too long on the message, as he didn't want Lee to think he was disinterested in hanging out with him, Sebastian swiftly types it up.

To: Hailey
Looking forward to ur party tonight. is it cool if I bring a friend?

Sending the text, Sebastian looks at the screen where the game was still up, and then back to Lee. "I'm not sure I want to keep playing," Sebastian says, while he didn't mind losing to Lee, it was getting a bit much. "Not unless you want to, y'know, let me win one?" He adds with a wink, nudging Lee's shoulder, "Because you're such a great guy." Sebastian attempts to butter Lee up a little, while still being incredibly teasing.

Lee had never been to a Black Light party, but he'd heard of them before. He very highly doubted he had anything appropriate in his closet...except jeans and possibly, possibly a white v-neck left over from summer. He figured that would have to do, because there was definitely no neon. He could use that as an excuse to back out though. Because really, what the hell was he thinking?

At some point Sebastian turned to him and asked if he could've been nice and let him win one, and Lee very literally had to bite down on his tongue to keep from asking you couldn't have been nice and talked to me for the last year or so? Part of him wanted to still, but there was a very delicate bridge they were standing on and Lee would be damned if he cut the ropes himself.

Thing was, Lee couldn't even stay passive-aggressively angry for very long. His best friend was in his house, sitting next to him and accusing him of cheating just like old times, grinning so wide it looked like his face might split in two or something. Lee loved it. He loved it so fucking much he was willing to step down off his high-horse long enough to enjoy it.

All of his laughing and squirming ended up with him sitting with his back against the arm of the couch, his feet propped up on the cushion next to him. It put his attention half on Seb and half on the TV, but he'd probably still win. They were talking more now than anything though, the screen still frozen on pause from when he first started laughing. "Whatever, you wish you could beat me. But it's never gunna happen."

He took a drink of his soda while Sebastian was busy with something on his phone for a moment, getting over his laughter and drowning half the thing at the same time. He put his can down and was just about to start another level with Sebastian mentioned not wanting to play anymore. He laughed again, especially when his shoulder was pushed at.

"Whatever," he laughed, using his foot to push at the other mans thigh in retaliation. "Fine, we don't have to play anymore." He smirked to himself as he thumbed through the menu options, saving their latest scores which took Sebastian's profile down quite a bit. He tossed the controller away before facing his friend completely, dropping his head against the couch and smiling. "What do you want to do instead?"

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Rolling his eyes playfully at Lee's cockiness, Sebastian only internally vows that one day, he's gonna beat him. And when he manages to - or more like, if he manages to - boy is he gonna gloat about it. Lee won't be able to a day without Sebastian bringing it up. Just as payback for Lee's arrogance today. Poking him right back in the chest, after Lee's retaliation, Sebastian laughs along with him softly. Almost completely forgetting that they'd ever stopped talking for so long. Sebastian found himself starting to believe that the whole incident never happened and that they were still the best of friends. Oh, how many times Sebastian had wished for that to be true.

Pouting as he watches his score on his profile decrease a fair amount, Sebastian shrugs at Lee's question. "I don't mind," He replies, thinking for a moment. As he does, Sebastian finds that he stomach begins to rumble. Biting his lip embarrassedly, he looks to Lee, "Um, we could always make food?" Sebastian suggests, not wanting his stomach to rumble again. Lee glares at him for a moment, eyes narrowed like he may or may not actually answer, before finally sighing and rolling his eyes. "Sure, fine, what do you want?"

Sebastian thinks for a moment, he didn't exactly want to ask for something Lee didn't have, so instead, he asks, "Uh, well, what is there?" Slightly awkwardly, Lee's standoffish behaviour throwing him a little. Lee considers him for a moment, runs a hand up through his hair before shrugging slightly. "Korean shit, mostly. My mother still shops at Korea Town when she can get away with it. There...might be spaghetti. Possibly stuff to make pancakes..." Sebastian's eyes light up a little at the thought of pancakes, but he tries his best to conceal his childish excitement. Instead opting for a nonchalant, "Yeah, I don't mind - Pancakes sound good though, I mean, if you have the stuff for them." He adds a shrug for good measure, but can't keep a small smile from appearing on his lips. "Oh, my god, you actual adorable five year old." Lee rolls his eyes fondly before shoving his friend and pushing himself up off the couch. "We've got to make them from scratch so get off your ass and come help." Sebastian's smile widens into a grin when Lee calls him adorable, jumping up off of the sofa to follow him into the kitchen.

He couldn't help his childishness, there was nothing that Sebastian loved more than pancakes. They had always been his favourite food, ever since he was a child and as he grew up, they became almost a comfort food for when his father was being aggressive and his mother wasn't there. Taking in Lee's tiny kitchen, Sebastian opens the fridge and pulls out a carton of eggs and some milk, "You need these right?" He guesses, Sebastian had never actually made pancakes himself. In fact, he'd barely made any food in his life, which meant this was all the more exciting. Lee looks over his shoulder and nods before digging in the cabinets for the flour, baking powder, and other, little ingredients. "Yeah, grab the butter too, it should be on the top shelf. Also..." he sits the containers down and leans over, unscrewing the lid to the milk and sniffing at it before nodding in approval. "Yeah, just the butter, we're good to go. Do you want fruit? We can throw in some blueberries or strawberries...might have some chocolate-chips leftover..."

Doing as Lee asked and grabbing the butter off the top shelf, Sebastian leans against Lee a little to place it on the counter before replying, "Oh! What about both? Strawberries and chocolate chips!" The delight in his voice evident. Cooking seemed fun, especially with Lee, and Sebastian thought that maybe he should try and do it more often. Lee gives his friend a half amused look before rolling his eyes again slightly. "Switch places with me," he mutters, hands falling on Sebastian's hips as he pushes himself between the small amount of space between his friend and the counter behind him. "The chocolate chips are in that top cabinet. Do you mind?" Lee could reach the high doors if he climbed on the cabinet, but it just seemed easier to get Sebastian to do it while he searched for the strawberries.

Sebastian's eyes widen when Lee's hands land on his hips, but quickly relaxes again when he realises that Lee was only doing it to move past him. Reaching up to grab the chocolate chips from the highest cabinet, just like Lee told him to do, Sebastian again, leans over his friend to set them down, beginning to become much more comfortable with all of the contact. In fact, he kind of enjoyed it. "Okay when do we get to the eating part?" Sebastian then asked, however much he may enjoy this whole cooking process, he also wanted his pancakes. Lee arched his eyebrows comically, and gestures at the raw materials as a whole with his arms. "I mean, be my guest. How much plain flower do you think you can manage?" He kicks the fridge shut with his foot, adding the strawberries to their pile. Sebastian laughs at Lee's sarcastic comment, enjoying his friend's dry humour. "Okay, okay." Sebastian rolls his eyes, "I just want to eat pancakes..." He sighs, looking down at all of their ingredients. "We have everything - what next?" Sebastian then asks, truly lost as to what he was supposed to do now.

"How do you even survive?" Lee asks, rolling his eyes slightly. He moves around the kitchen easily, handing Sebastian a bowl at some point, arms brushing against his friends back when he has to step too close. "Here," he hands over an egg and cracks one of his own gently, dropping the eggshell in the sink before doing one more. After that he walks through the dry ingredients, showing Sebastian how to measure them out and throw them in after the eggs. Sebastian tries his best to keep up with Lee, but ends up quite confused. So he just waits for Lee instructions before doing else, not wanting to mess it up. While Sebastian measures out the flour, Lee begins to beat the eggs. However, as Lee brings his elbow out to whisk, he hits it into the bag in Sebastian's hand, causing a shower of flour to fall down upon him. "Shit!" Sebastian curses as the flour coats Lee's side and back, "I'm sorry." Grabbing a sponge from the side, Sebastian doesn't give himself time to think about what he's doing before he finds himself wiping Lee's bare back with the sponge, feeling incredibly guilty.

Lee goes stiff almost immediatly, looking down at the splashes of white covering his already pale skin, but more so the feeling of Sebastian literally cleaning him off. he clears his throat and tries to side-step out of the situation, but there really isn't a lot of room, while he wipes at what he can reach of the mess. "Um, it's fine, I can...it's fine, you don't have to..." When Lee says this, Sebastian blushes a soft pink colour. "Oh, um sorry, I-I, just uh.." He trails off, removing his hand from Lee. Seeing there's still some on Lee's back Sebastian sighs, "It's just you, um, you still have some on your - uh - on your back." Sebastian manages to get out, averting his gaze from Lee to the floor.

Closing his eyes, Lee's fingers tightening on the counter in front of him, breathing through his nose a couple of times before finally giving a little nod. "Okay...um, then, if you don't mind?" He says and Sebastian mimics his slight nod before placing the sponge back onto Lee's back and trying to get off the flour. It was probably the most awkward situation he had ever been in, and what made it worse was rather than the flour just coming off as he'd hoped, it seemed to cling to Lee's skin and Sebastian wiping a wet sponge over it, made it turn into some kind of paste and stick even more. It took him ages to finally wash off all the flour that had been spilled on Lee, and Sebastian found himself holding his breath for the most part. The tense atmosphere overwhelming. Once he had finished Sebastian took a big step back from Lee, "I, um...Think it's all gone now." Sebastian murmurs, his eyes still on Lee's back.

Lee does his best to keep still, to make the process as easy and as quick as possible, even though that didn't particularly seem to be happening. He kept his eyes closed, focused on breathing through his nose, definitely did not relate the situation to any he'd been in during more...intimate situations. "Thanks," he murmured, when it was finally all over, taking one more breath and clearing his throat awkwardly. "Alright, um, if you want to...remeasure the amount of flour we needed. We can, um...pancakes." Sebastian nods again, "Yeah, pancakes.." He mumbles, taking the flour and extra cautiously measuring it out again. After successfully doing so, he hands it to Lee, making sure that it doesn't spill again.

After Lee had finished mixing up the batter, Sebastian keeping his distance so they didn't end up in another, 'situation', they were finally ready to make the pancakes. The excitement of actually getting to make them overwhelmed Sebastian and he pushed what had just happened to the back of his mind. "Can I pour it into the pan?" Sebastian asks, excitedly. Lee just rolls his eyes and nods, handing the batter over to him. The first pancake Sebastian did was a mess, it was all over the place and thicker on one side. Lee watched him fail with a bemused smirk, before stepping forward and taking Sebastian's wrist. "You're not doing it right." He chastises, guiding Sebastian's hand so that the mixture is even and perfect in the pan. "Awesome!" Sebastian beams, watching the pancake cook.

When the pancakes were all cooked and ready, the boys retreated back to the living room, sitting down on Lee's old sofa and happily tuck into their pancakes. Ignoring what happened between them earlier and focusing on eating instead.

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I needed a little hiatus after all of the mayhem that our precious little Upper East Siders entertained us with this weekend, but don't worry, darlings; I'm back ;). We all know that this Friday is the annual party that Constance Billard's group of royals throw, and this year, our hostess is none of than Piper Vine! Trust me, I'm just surprised as you that she's managed to stay in that group for so long. Now, to help us all get in the spirit for what's destined to be an ~exciting~ party, I decided to dedicate the next few blog posts to the hostess with the mostess, and what better way to do that than to leave you with some fun facts about her?

• As you can see, she can deep throat just about anything! Ask the bathroom attendant at Sydney Vale's party, I'm sure she can personally attest to that ;)

• Sydney isn't the only one in the coveted inner circle that goes for the boys who are taken, so ladies, watch out. If you don't want your bf pinned to the bathroom floor, forced to make out with her, take this as a warning (or follow Charlotte's lead and pretend that you actually aren't dating your boyfriend! Apparently, Brent Barclay is one of the very few guys that Piper hasn't slept with yet!)

We've still got over 24 hours until her big party starts, so check back in for more. I'm saving the juiciest details for last ;)

xoxo
UES Eye