“Valentine’s day is coming up soon,” Baekhyun cooed as he leaned against Chanyeol, “Will you confess your undying love for me then?”

Chanyeol shoved Baekhyun off of him, “You disgust me.”

Minseok groaned, “You both disgust me.”

Sehun giggled and leaned against the table, “Are you two dating?”

“Yeah right,” Chanyeol huffed, "Baekhyun is like the older brother I never wanted."

Baekhyun scoffed, "More like you're the younger sibling I never asked for."

“Oh really?” Sehun beamed, his gaze never leaving Chanyeol.

Chanyeol shifted awkwardly, his face flushing just barely, “I guess we’ll need a new headliner…”

Jongdae looked up from his phone, “Yixing and I can come up with something, I’m sure.”

“You two always do,” Junmyeon chuckled as he folded up the fifth issue and placed it on his lap, “However, I’d like to change it up a bit this week. Jongdae, do you mind taking Sehun under your wing since you two seem already close? You guys can work on the headliner. Chanyeol and Yixing, you two can partner up to work on the Valentine’s Day popularity rank, like we do every year.”

Yixing frowned, “But Jongdae and I-”

“The two of you have worked well together, I know. But it’s good to change things up, right?” Junmyeon grinned as if he was entirely oblivious to the connection between his younger cousin and his closest friend. “Now, let’s get to it!”

Junmyeon dismissed the meeting and the boys were left rather befuddled with their new arrangements. Baekhyun complained about not being partnered up with Sehun and then not being partnered up at all. Junmyeon had to promise that during the next issue that he would get partnered up with whomever he wanted. Baekhyun glanced over and Minseok and winked. Minseok rolled his eyes and slammed his face down onto the table in annoyance, seemed the appropriate response at the time until he shot back up and rubbed his forehead that slowly turned red in colour.

Chanyeol linked his arm with Yixing and said that they could have fun if they tried hard enough. Yixing groaned and disagreed, working on the Valentine’s Day popularity rank was, in his opinion, the least fun in the entire universe. Chanyeol tried to convince him to lighten up as they walked out of the club room. Baekhyun straggled behind trying to get their attention, but it was all for not.

Sehun’s smile never once left his face since he heard he would be partnered with Jongdae. He kept staring at the elder and blushing whenever he would make eye contact with him. Jongdae cleared his throat and headed towards the door, a giddy Sehun following excitedly behind. As they left, Minseok turned to look at Junmyeon curiously, still rubbing the sore spot on his head.

“Why did you split up our headlining investigators?” Minseok asked with a raised eyebrow.

Junmyeon shrugged, “Could be interesting, don’t you think?”

The elder snorted, “Sure.”

Junmyeon giggled and pressed a small kiss against the corner of Minseok’s mouth, “Trust me, I know best, hyung.” Minseok hummed in approval.

✐✐✐

It was a Tuesday morning and if there was anything that Jongdae didn’t want to be doing on a post-monday, it was jumping jacks in gym class. Unfortunately, his desires and Coach Shim’s desires were on two very different playing fields and so there Jongdae was, huffing and puffing as he tried to complete his set of fifty. By the end of class, he was sticky and gross and couldn’t wait to shower. Coach Shim seemed to have different plans for him, however, and he groaned when he discovered that he had to lug all of the equipment to the storage room before he could hit the showers.

As he tugged on the net bag of soccer balls, previously used by the soccer team and he didn’t understand why Luhan couldn’t have done this before he had to leave for their tournament today, he could hear voices coming from inside the storage room. They were muffled behind the door, but Jongdae could tell that they were shouting. Or, rather, there was one voice shouting and the other was whimpering just barely. There were other sounds too, of a sickly thud as skin made contact against more skin and Jongdae stilled just outside the room, too afraid to see what could be happening behind the closed door.

Finally, he reached for the handle as it turned instead from the inside and the door swung open, almost knocking Jongdae over. Inside there stood a jock that Jongdae recognized from the freshman recruits earlier that year when Baekhyun forced him to help cover the story. Kim Jongin, a star athlete and great football player, according to Baekhyun and Chanyeol. He looked gruff as always, his face coated it a bit of dirt as he glared down at Jongdae, shoving him out of the way with a bruised hand.

It wasn’t until Jongdae managed to stumble back into the storage room almost tossing the net of soccer balls on top of a shaking student, slumped against the tennis equipment, beneath some of the basketballs that had fallen from a nearby rack during the commotion. Jongdae didn’t recognize him, but he was quick to try and help the bloodied student to his feet. The boy coughed and sniffled, wiping at the dry tear stains on his face.

“Are you alright?” Jongdae frowned, looking back over his shoulder to see if Coach Shim might be around for assistance.

The boy nodded, “I’m fine. I promise.”

“Did Jongin do this to you?” Jongdae asked, pushing the boy’s bangs out of his eyes.

The boy shook his head, “No. I fell. I’m a bit of a clutz. It was all an accident.”

“You’re trying to tell me that this was all an accident?” Jongdae asked in disbelief, observing the mess of the room and the state of the boy’s face.

The boy nodded and tried to sit up, but fell weakly against the tennis rackets digging into his back. Jongdae frowned and reached out to steady the boy up on his feet, taking care to help him step around the fallen equipment.

“I’m sorry I’m kind of sticky from class,” Jongdae murmured as he pulled the boy out of the storage room, “Should I take you to the nurse, so you can get some attention for those cuts?”

The boy nodded, “Please.”

“What’s your name, kid?”

“Do Kyungsoo, I’m a freshman.”

“Listen here, Kyungsoo, I’m going to get you to the nurse’s office and then I’ll take care of all this mess, alright?” Jongdae said and Kyungsoo nodded in response, too quiet and certainly too tired to say anything else.

Once Kyungsoo, the fragile freshman, had been left in the capable hands of the school nurses (who had tsked at the sight and seemed to recognize the boy), Jongdae trudged back to the gym. He had to explain to coach Shim what had happened and then was left to clean up the storage room as an apology. He managed to miss his chemistry class due to this and Chanyeol was not happy about it…

✐✐✐

“You left me all by myself today!” Chanyeol frowned when Jongdae finally showed up at the club meeting Junmyeon had called.

“It’s not my fault!” Jongdae insisted, “I had to take care of a mess in the gym storage room!”

“Likely story,” Chanyeol huffed.

Sehun chuckled at their bickering, “I knew picking this club would be a good idea.”

Amidst the laughter and the jokes on a lazy Tuesday afternoon, none of the club members seemed to notice the gentle knock that came on the door to the club. It wasn’t until the third knock that Junmyeon hushed to room into a silence. Minseok was surprised to hear the knocking and quickly turned to open the door. Standing there, timidly, by the entrance was a young, freshman student by the name of Do Kyungsoo.

“I know you,” Jongdae said turning his attention to the small boy, “How are you feeling?”

“Fine, thank you, Sir.” the student bowed lowly, “I was wondering if I could ask you guys for a favour.”

“Does it have anything to do with that awful cut on your lip?” Chanyeol cringed at the sight.

Baekhyun gasped, “Or that bruise on your cheek? Are you okay, kid?”

Kyungsoo shook his head, “It’s not that. It’s this,” the boy reached into his pockets and produced nearly a dozen small letters, carefully laying them on the table with shaking hands.

“What are these?” Chanyeol asked observing them with interest.

“Love letters?” Sehun noted as he picked one up, “These are love letters.”

Kyungsoo nodded slowly, “They’re anonymous love letters that have been left in my locker all year long…”

“What can we do for you?” Junmyeon asked politely, an encouraging smile on his face.

“I want to know,” Kyungsoo sniffled, “If this person really loves me… Because-” his voice cracked and tears welled in his eyes, “Because, I don’t want to be alone anymore.”

✐✐✐

It took a while, but once everyone had settled down and Kyungsoo had stopped sobbing into Sehun’s chest, who had offered a shoulder to cry on, the truth of the story came out. Kyungsoo spoke of being alone almost all his life and going particularly unnoticed. Sehun admitted that he’d never even seen Kyungsoo before even though he’d been in both his English and history courses since the start of the school year. The story made the hearts of everyone in the room ache and hurt for the fragile creature in front of them. Kyungsoo smiled anyway, especially when he started to talk about the mysterious love letters he started receiving at the beginning of the school year.

“Things haven’t been so great this year… Around November… I… I started getting hurt a lot more… But then, these letters started showing up since September. And they’re all so sweet and nice, they’re made from clipped up letters like ransom notes, but I know that he cares about me…” Kyungsoo sighed, “I just want to know who it is…”

“And you want us to figure it out?” Yixing raised the curious question, “What’s in it for our newspaper?”

“We’ll help you,” Sehun smiled, cutting in, “Even if it’s just for the sake of helping you.” Yixing glared at Sehun.

“Really?” Kyungsoo smiled weakly, “You’d do that for me?”

“Of course,” Jongdae said ruffling Kyungsoo’s hair, “This is what we do. Leave it to us.”

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo whispered before walking out of the room on unsteady legs.

Jongdae frowned, “I’m almost certain I know who it is that’s hurting Kyungsoo. He won’t admit it though and it bothers me.”

“Who?” Sehun asked surprised, “Who hurts Kyungsoo?”

“That jock, Kim Jongin.” Jongdae spat.

“What, really?” Baekhyun seemed genuinely shocked, “How do you know?”

“The reason I didn’t show up for chemistry this morning was because Coach Shim asked me to take care of the equipment, but when I got to the storage room I heard shouting and something that sounded like a heavy punch. When the door finally opened, Kyungsoo was lying in the middle of the room, bleeding and Jongin left angrily with his hand bruised.” Jongdae explained, he became more angry as he recalled the situation, “But Kyungsoo said it was an accident and that he fell.”

“Now, why would he do that?” Yixing thought aloud.

“That’s for Sehun and Jongdae to figure out,” Junmyeon smiled and rested a hand on the younger’s shoulder, “Let them solve the case. You and Chanyeol have important work to prepare for this coming week.”

Chanyeol groaned, “I still can’t believe we got worked into that.”

Yixing glowered at Sehun, “Jongdae should be my partner.” he grumbled too quietly for anyone to really hear him.

“What was that?” Jongdae asked looking up from his phone.

“Nothing,” Yixing sighed before storming out of the room with Chanyeol in tow. Sehun watched suspiciously and smiled to himself, because he had just come to a very important realization.

✐✐✐

“It looks like our secret valentine leaves these letters in a bit of a pattern. They appear exactly eight days after an issue of our school newspaper is printed. Whoever it is, has been cutting up our papers and constructing these notes with words and random letters from various articles.” Sehun observed as he held a letter close up to his face.

“You’re right,” Jongdae sighed, “When did our last issue print?”

“Seven days ago.”

“So that means this person will leave another love letter tomorrow. The day after Valentine’s Day, go figure.”

“That’s what it looks like, hyung - oh,” Sehun blushed, “Can I call you hyung?”

Jongdae laughed, “Sure thing, dongsaeng.”

“Hyung?” Sehun whispered meekly.

“Yes, dongsaeng?” Jongdae asked, eyes still reading over each word of one of love letters.

“Jongdae-hyung,” Sehun took a deep breath, “Will you go out with me?”

The love letter fell from Jongdae’s hands and he snapped his head up to look at the younger student toeing at the ground with the tip of his shoe, a pretty blush across his pale cheeks.

“What was that, Sehun?”

Sehun’s cheeks reddened even further, “Will you go out with me?” he repeated slowly, “On a date?”

Jongdae blinked several times unsure if he was hearing his new partner correctly, “Did you just ask me out?”

Sehun nodded shyly, “Just one date, hyung. Please?”

“I,” Jongdae cleared his throat, “S-Sure…”

“Really?” Sehun’s eyes sparkled with excitement, “I-I’ll text you later then with the details then, okay?” he grinned and bowed before rushing out the door.

Jongdae at his bottom lip, the reality of what he’d just agreed to sinking in slowly. He sighed and reached down to pick up the anonymous love letter Kyungsoo had left for him to analyze, but didn’t pay much attention to it. His mind was a bit pre-occupied wondering what Yixing would think… And then it hit him. Why would Yixing even care? He frowned then and decided that maybe this date would help him get over his stupid little crush… He just needed to get back out there, right?

Chanyeol burst through the door of the club and groaned loudly, Yixing following behind looking how Chanyeol felt. They both sauntered to the table and took a seat. Chanyeol buried his face in his hands, it was clear he was miffed by the article Junmyeon had assigned him. Yixing sighed loudly and stretched sleepily, eyeing Jongdae.

“I saw Sehun walking down the hallway, I guess he just left?” Yixing questioned.

Jongdae nodded, “Yeah…”

“What’s wrong with you?” Chanyeol asked raising an eyebrow, “Your face is awfully red.”

“Oh,” Jongdae cleared his throat, “Is it?”

Chanyeol nodded and stretched out his long limbs, accidentally knocking against Jongdae’s shin with his foot, “Sorry.” he mumbled, “This has been the worst Valentine’s Day ever. I can’t believe we had to stand out in the cold and ask every girl who they were giving their gifts to. It was ridiculous.”

“Wasn’t it?” Yixing sighed and rested his head against the table, “I could go for a hot chocolate or something right about now.”

Jongdae hummed, not paying much attention, “That sounds delicious.”

“What are you doing today after school?” Yixing asked, “We could get hot chocola-”

“I’m busy,” Jongdae cut it suddenly, his face flushed even more, “I’m sorry, hyung.”

“Ooooh,” Chanyeol smirked, “Got a hot date for tonight?” he winked and Jongdae rolled his eyes.

“So what if I do?” Jongdae sighed.

“Wait,” Yixing sat up straight and looked Jongdae dead in the eye, “Do you have a date tonight?”

Before Jongdae could even respond, a small ding noise sounded from his cell phone lying on the table. Chanyeol and Jongdae made slight eye contact before they both dove for the phone. The taller, using his long limbs as an advantage, managed to grab the phone first and read the text message out loud.

Oh Sehun-dongsaeng
Tonight at 6pm, meet me at Gong Cha for bubble tea?

“You’re going out with Sehun?” Chanyeol asked in surprise, “Oh Sehun? Why?”

Yixing furrowed his eyebrows as he stared Jongdae down, “Yeah, why him?”

“Well,” Jongdae coughed and snatched his phone away from Chanyeol, “He asked and I said yes. There’s nothing more to it than that. Besides,” he huffed, returning the glare Yixing sent him with a steady one of his own, “It’s not like anyone else would ask me.”

The room grew silent after that. Yixing was positively fuming and Chanyeol tried several times to clear his throat to fill the awkward silence to no avail. Jongdae simply ignored Yixing and eventually left the room in a huff of exasperation.

✐✐✐

Gong Cha was completely crowded with couples out trying to celebrate the day. It was cold, but not too cold with the way Sehun draped himself onto Jongdae. The younger grabbed onto the elder’s arm firmly and kept him close, giggling and smiling, nuzzling against his hyung. Jongdae tried to enjoy himself and he almost genuinely did until Sehun mentioned Yixing’s name.

“Were you two really kissing in the locker room at the beginning of the year?” Sehun asked shyly as he on a tapioca pearl from his chocolate bubble tea.

Jongdae shook his head, “No. But it looked a lot like it, huh?”

“Yixing-hyung seems to really like you.”

“Are you sure about that?” Jongdae laughed and took a long sip of his strawberry bubble tea.

“Jongdae-hyung,” Sehun smiled sadly after a few minutes of silence, “You like Yixing-hyung, don’t you?”

Jongdae nearly choked on one of the tapioca pearls in this tea, “W-What? W-Why would you say that Sehunnie?” he asked after swallowing the pearl down hard.

“It’s okay,” Sehun sighed and squeezed his cup a little tighter, “I’m not stupid, I know you do. I’m thankful for you coming out with me today, but maybe you should tell Yixing how you feel. So you don’t lose him.”

“H-How do you know though?”

“Oh please, anyone can see the way you look at him,” Sehun chuckled, “And the way he looks at you.”

Jongdae’s heart almost leaped up into his throat, “The way he looks at me?”

“And the way he looks at me like he’s ready to shoot,” Sehun scrunched up his nose, “I don’t think he likes me much.”

“I don’t know why though…”

“Silly, hyung,” Sehun hummed before kissing his cheek sweetly, “You owe me now. Pay for my bubble tea!”

Jongdae blinked in confusion before a small smile grew on his lips, “Alright, my favourite dongsaeng.” Sehun giggled at that, letting his fingers intertwine with Jongdae’s for the last time that night.

✐✐✐

“Today is the day that our mystery lover shows up,” Jongdae noted looking at the time on his watch, “Should we get going?” he asked looking at Sehun.

Sehun shook his head, “I think we should switch today!”

“Switch?”

“Yeah!” he grinned and grabbed Chanyeol’s arm, “I want to go with Chanyeolie-hyung.”

Chanyeol’s cheeks tinted red almost immediately at the name, “W-What?”

“Mhm,” Sehun hummed, “I want to be your partner today, hyung.” he mused resting his chin on Chanyeol’s shoulder who was, for once, left speechless.

“Then,” Yixing cleared his throat, “I guess we’re partners again.” he said barely looking in Jongdae’s direction.

“I guess so.” Jongdae muttered in reply.

Almost an hour passed while Yixing and Jongdae sat in silence watching the lockers from under a staircase. They hadn’t said a single word to each other, the sounds of their breathing filling the air. It was almost 4 pm before either of them said anything.

“So,” Yixing whispered, “How was the date?” his teeth were obviously clenched by the way his voice sounded so harsh.

“It was fine,” Jongdae sighed quietly, “We probably won’t be going out again anytime soon. Or ever.”

“Why’s that?” Yixing’s voice changed in pitch as if he suddenly sounded happier.

“Apparently,” Jongdae muttered running his fingers through his hair, “It’s inappropriate to go out on a date with someone when someone else is clearly on your mind.” he nudged Yixing’s shoulder with his own.

Yixing cleared his throat, “Who else was on your mind, Jongdae?” he asked looking at his partner.

It then occurred to Jongdae how close Yixing and he were. His breath hitched and his heart beat so hard against his chest that he thought for sure that Yixing could hear it. He really couldn’t help it when his eyes dropped down to look at Yixing’s lips, parted as if to say something, but instead a small, tip of the elder’s tongue poked out to wet them. They leaned closer together, Jongdae resting his hand on Yixing’s knee for purchase as he let his breath ghost over the elder’s lips. Yixing shivered under the touch and the sensation and Jongdae couldn’t stop the noise that came from the back of his throat at the sight of Yixing’s flushing face. However, before Jongdae could respond and well before their lips could meet, there was a creaking of a locker door that startled the two back to reality.

The two bolted out from under the stairs, Yixing took to the left and Jongdae to the right until they had the culprit by Kyungsoo’s locker surrounded. The student tried to make a run for it, but Yixing’s reflexes were faster and he effortlessly captured the unknown boy by his forearm and spun him back around. Jongdae was the first to gasp, recognizing the student almost immediately.

“Jongin,” the words came out in a whisper from Jongdae’s lips, “You’re the one.”

Jongin looked up from beneath the hood of his sweater, a pout on his lips and eyes resembling those of a puppy, “D-Don’t tell Kyungsoo…”

“You’ve got quite a bit of explaining to do,” Jongdae sighed as Jongin slumped to the floor against the lockers. The duo joined his side and Jongin rested his head against his palms.

“I don’t know what to do,” he whined, “Kyungsoo was my best friend for years and then… Then high school happened.” Jongin looked to Jongdae with tears in his eyes, “I’m in love with my best friend, but I beat him almost every month… What do I do?”

Yixing reached out to gently pat Jongin’s arm, “Why do you do it, Jongin? Why do you beat him up?”

Jongin sighed and let his head fall back against the lockers with a bang, Jongdae winced in pain for him, “The captain of the football team found out that I’m… That I’m gay.” he whispered the last word like it was some kind of curse, “And he doesn’t approve of it. He said he’d kick me off the team if I am. So I told him that I’m not. And to prove it, he makes me beat up Kyungsoo-” he choked on his words, “Kyungsoo… My best friend…”

“Is football that much more important to you?” Yixing frowned, “If you love someone, you should let the whole world know. Don’t hide it, especially not from the person you love.”

Jongin let out a shaky breath, “I’m too far gone in this now… He’ll never forgive me… He… He probably hates me. I can’t look him in the eye and tell him I love him like this.”

“You’ll always live in rejection if you never ask. Who knows what his answer might be?” Jongdae asked, looking more so at Yixing than at Jongin.

Yixing gulped, “He might love you back.”

“He hasn’t told anyone that it’s you, by the way. He told me that he’s just a klutz, that everything that happens to him is an accident.” Jongdae recalled the way Kyungsoo had blatantly lied to his face that day in the storage room.

“R-Really?”

“He doesn’t want you to get in trouble.”

“That sounds like love to me,” Yixing noted.

“What if he doesn’t love me though?” Jongin frowned, “What if-”

“J-Jongin,” the weak voice came from behind Jongdae somewhere.

Jongin raised on his feet quickly, “Soo,” he gasped, “You’re usually in the library until 5… W-What are you doing here so soon?”

“Is it you?” Kyungsoo hiccuped, “Are you the one who writes those letters?” his tears were b again and slowly trickling down his face.

“I- Soo, I-” Jongin bit his bottom lip hard, “Soo, I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry, Soo… Please forgive me…”

Kyungsoo frowned, “Jongin, why?” he croaked, “Is this some kind of joke to you?”

“N-No! Soo, you don’t understand, the boys, they made me do it… But I won’t- I won’t do it anymore,” he sniffled, “I’m going to let everyone know that I love you. I won’t hide it. I don’t want to. I don’t care what anyone says, Soo. I love you.”

Kyungsoo choked on his sobs, “You mean it, Nini? You love me?”

Jongin couldn’t help it when he started crying, taking a step forward to embrace Kyungsoo. He let his heavy tear drops fall onto the boy’s face and left sweet kisses all over the crown of his head. Yixing and Jongdae looked away embarrassed to be witness of the scene. When all was said and done, Jongin and Kyungsoo were left to make out in the hallway, Jongin’s last love letter falling from his clutches and onto the floor as he pushed Kyungsoo up against the lockers gently. This time, though, it was to kiss him with every bit of love he could manage.

✐✐✐

Sehun hummed, “They really are an unstoppable team.”

“I don’t know why you split them up in the first place, Myeon.” Chanyeol sighed, folding up the newspaper and letting it slide across the table.

Junmyeon chuckled, “I have my reasons.”

Sehun raised an eyebrow, “Oh. You did that on purpose did you?”

“What?” Baekhyun asked, “What did he do? What did I miss?”

Minseok laughed, “Yixing would only come to his senses if he saw Dae slipping through his fingers.”

“You used me,” Sehun frowned in mock sadness.

“I’m sorry,” Junmyeon twisted up his face, “I owe you one.”

“Buy me bubble tea?” Sehun asked with a smile.

“Whatever settles it,” Junmyeon laughed.

Outside the door to the club room, Yixing and Jongdae could just barely hear the faint laughter of their friends. They managed to ignore it, however, lost in each other’s sparkling eyes and cute smiles.

“You did it Jongdae,” Yixing whispered, his hand trailing up the younger’s side to caress his face with soft touches of his fingertips.

“We did it, hyung,” Jongdae corrected, letting his fingers slip between Yixing’s.

Of all the silences that ever fell over the two friends, this one was Jongdae’s favourite. It was Yixing’s favourite too. The words didn’t need to be exchanged out loud for them both to know or to understand. The elder cupped Jongdae’s chin in his hand, leaving a small peck against the younger’s lips. Jongdae shuddered at the feeling and pulled Yixing closer to him as the two exchanged in their first kiss that, without either having to say it, spelled out the phrase, ‘I love you.’

Okay, so if you're wondering why some of this doesn't flow together properly, it's because you guys had this idea of Sehun making Yixing jealous and I wanted to deliver on that even though it wasn't my original plan - things change and I wanted to make you readers happy ^^; I hope that this chapter, though a bit lacking, brings you what you wanted! Also, terribly unedited... Sorry... Updates may start to get slower now too, because my classes begin tomorrow... Please forgive me in advance! xoxo