Seongcheol awoke the next morning with his alarm blaring in his ear and his mother yelling at him from downstairs to get up. He groggily opened his eyes, glancing at his phone and silencing the incessant beeping with a tired groan. Rubbing his eyes, he almost pulled the sheets back over his head until he heard his mother yell his name again and he pushed himself out of bed, stomping down the stairs and sitting down at the table in the kitchen. He looked around.

“... Is no one else up yet?” he asked, his mother turning to him and shaking her head.

“No, and they need to be. So I’ll make breakfast and you go wake them up,” she replied, Seongcheol staring at her for a second before sighing and trudging back up the stairs.

He usually hated trying to wake his sister up, because all she would do was whine. Either she’d already be awake and want Seongcheol to play with her or she’d be asleep and refuse to get up. No matter what happened, it was a losing scenario for Seongcheol.

So, he sighed softly, opening the door to his sister’s room just slowly enough so he wouldn’t blind her with the light from the hall.

“Seungah, it’s time to wake up for school,” he said, leaning in so just his head was in view. He paused, however, when he realized she wasn’t in her bed. Taking a step in, he looked around the room, brow raised in confusion.

She wasn’t anywhere in the room, and that generally meant she was in the bathroom. So he walked over, opening the door and looking in.

She wasn’t in the bathroom either, and Seongcheol sighed, deciding she was probably already somewhere downstairs and instead moving to wake Jeonghan up. Once again he cracked open the door, about to say something until he saw Jeonghan still fast asleep, Seungah curled up next to him and Jeonghan very gently holding her.

Seongcheol couldn’t help himself. He watched them in silence for a moment, leaning against the doorframe and smiling to himself.

Seungah looked so comfortable and Jeonghan looked so peaceful that Seongcheol almost didn’t want to wake them. Still, they had to get ready for school, so Seongcheol took a few steps forward, leaning down and picking Seungah up as gently as he could. She cracked her eyes open, holding on to her brother until they got to the hallway.

“Seungah, go downstairs and get some breakfast from mommy, okay?” he said, Seungah nodding while she yawned softly. He watched her walk away and down to the kitchen before walking back into the guest room and crouching down next to the bed. He reached out, his hand resting on Jeonghan’s cheek as he cocked his head a bit. “Jeonghan… Hey, you need to get up so we can go to school,” he murmured, Jeonghan taking in a deep breath and yawning as he opened his eyes.

“Mm… Good morning,” he said in a tired mumble, smiling and stretching a little. Seongcheol smiled, head resting on the bed. He let his hand rest there for a moment, Jeonghan almost closing his eyes again before Seongcheol patted his cheek and he opened his eyes wider instead.

“Good morning to you, too,” he nearly whispered, pulling his hand back and sitting up on the bed. Jeonghan pushed himself up as well, his hair fluffy and a mess. Seongcheol had to stifle a laugh, reaching out and trying to pat it down a bit. Jeonghan just shook his head.

“I need to run a wet brush through it,” he mumbled, voice just a bit hoarse as he looked to Seongcheol. “I slept on it and it was wet, so now it’s a mess,” he added, raising a brow. “You okay?” he asked.

Seongcheol was just staring at him, a little smile on his face before he ran his fingers through Jeonghan’s hair. Jeonghan closed his eyes, a little contented sigh slipping between his lips while Seongcheol continued.

He couldn’t help but notice how relaxed and comfortable Jeonghan seemed like this and it was a nice change. Seongcheol was used to seeing him so formal and put-together, so seeing him with his hair a mess, voice hoarse and just waking up in pajamas made Seongcheol realize just how good looking the other man was.

The moment the thought went through his mind he blushed, pulling his hand away and standing up. He offered Jeonghan his hand but Jeonghan shook his head, rubbing his face.

“I’ll meet you down there,” he said, looking up at Seongcheol with tired eyes. “I’m going to attempt to fix my hair first.”

Seongcheol nodded, walking out and down to the kitchen. He took a seat, Seungah sitting next to him and humming as she ate her cereal. Their mother turned to them, looking between the two and frowning.

“Where’s your friend?” she asked, Seongcheol opening his mouth to answer.

“I cuddled with him last night! He let me. He’s really nice,” Seungah sang, her mother turning to her with a smile. She walked over, cupping the little girl’s cheek and leaning down.

“Oh? Is he?” she asked, Seongcheol cutting Seungah off this time.

“His name’s Jeonghan,” he said, Seungah looking to him and nodding, “and yes, he’s nice.” Seungah just kept nodding, continuing with her cereal.

When he heard footsteps Seongcheol turned around, catching sight of Jeonghan and grinning. He had managed to tame his hair and had gotten it to lay calmly on his shoulders, face clean and looking much more awake than he had. He turned to Seongcheol as he sat down, smiling happily at him.

“Good morning again,” he said, Seongcheol chuckling. He paused, glancing down and pulling a hairband off of his wrist before handing it to the other. Jeonghan just looked at it, tying his hair back before looking back to Seongcheol. “Do you just keep these for me now?” he joked, chuckling to himself. Seongcheol just smiled.

“Yeah,” he replied, Jeonghan’s laughter fading. He kept his eyes trained on Seongcheol, still smiling before he turned his attention to his pancakes. Seongcheol shot the other a sideways glance, grinning down at his pancakes and moving his leg so that his foot was next to Jeonghan’s. Their knees knocked together, both of them grinning to themselves before laughing a bit.

They spent the rest of the morning joking quietly with each other, Seongcheol looking between the car and Jeonghan’s bike as they got ready to go. He pursed his lips, leaning up against the entry to the garage and crossing his arms.

“Jeonghan, is it easier for you to bike to school from here or your house?” he asked, Jeonghan thinking for a moment.

“Well, your house is closer to school than mine is,” he replied, Seongcheol already walking toward his car. He opened the passenger door, gesturing into it with his head as Jeonghan watched in a bit of confusion. Seongcheol just did the same thing once again.

“I’ll drive you, then,” he said, Jeonghan shaking his head.

“No, you don’t have to-” he started, Seongcheol laughing and opening the door a bit wider.

“I know. But I want to,” he said, Jeonghan rolling his eyes and getting into the car. He settled in, buckling his seatbelt and letting Seongcheol choose the radio station.

Jeonghan still sang all the way to school.

When they arrived together both of them ignored the looks and the girls following them with their gaze, only greeting people they knew with happy smiles and waves. They stopped by Jeonghan’s locker, the two still smiling and talking until someone dropped against the locker beside them. They both turned to look, Seungkwan smiling at them.

“Have a good sleepover?” he asked, glancing between the two of them. Jeonghan felt himself blushing but smiled, nodding and turning his attention back to his locker. Seungkwan watched his reaction for a moment, eyes narrowed but still turning to look at Seongcheol.

“Yeah,” he replied, leaning with his shoulder against the lockers. He quirked a brow. “How did you know he slept over?” he asked, Seungkwan shrugging.

“I was talking to Joshua and Mingyu about it,” he answered easily, Jeonghan standing in the middle of the conversation. “Joshua said he didn’t see your bike when he got here, Mingyu said you probably stayed over…” There was a pause, Seungkwan looking at Seongcheol before leaning over to Jeonghan, whispering something that Seongcheol couldn’t hear into his ear. Jeonghan listened, face moving between embarrassed, pleased, and laughter before Seungkwan leaned away, shooting him a thumbs up. “I’ll see you in class, Jeonghan,” he finished, walking off toward what Seongcheol assumed was his first class.

When he had disappeared Seongcheol leaned in close, looking at Jeonghan with a confused expression.

“What… did he say?” he asked, Jeonghan just shaking his head and turning to Seongcheol with a grin.

“Don’t worry about it. He was just teasing me,” he replied, shrugging. He chuckled to himself, pushing his bangs out of his face and holding one of his books close to his chest. “I’ll see you in history,” he said, waving and turning to walk toward his first class as well.

Seongcheol nodded to himself, absently waving hello to a few people as he turned into his classroom. He sat down in his seat, doodling little things in the margins like he usually did.

The day went slowly, Seongcheol sitting in the seat he sat in the day before next to Jeonghan and no one saying anything about it. A few of the girls switched their seats as well, sitting behind the two of them and simply watching them with smiles on their faces.

At the end of the day Seongcheol headed to the field, a practice taking the place of their usual game. The group of them seemed just as ready as ever to keep playing, and Seongcheol was personally enjoying the outlet. It was nice to get to the field and run, focusing on that and making sure that every person was just as focused as he was.

It worked until he saw a very familiar face in the stands and paused, nearly getting run over by a few of his teammates until he got out of the way. Jogging over to the bleachers, Seongcheol leaned on the little bit of fence separating the seats and the field, Jeonghan leaning forward a bit as well.

“You came to practice?” he asked, a smile on his face. Jeonghan smiled back.

“Yeah,” he replied, looking out at everyone on the field. “I figured I’d come hang out, if that was cool.” At that Seongcheol grinned even wider, nodding and watching the other.

It was nice seeing Jeonghan here, especially for something as silly as a practice, and it immediately made Seongcheol just that much more energized. Jeonghan grinned down at him, a bemused sort of distracted smile on Seongcheol’s face as Jeonghan laughed.

“Besides, even if I wanted to go home, you have my bike at your house. So…”

Jeonghan’s voice trailed off, Seongcheol staring at him before grasping what he had said and frowning.

“Aw man, I’m sorry,” he replied, dropping his forehead to rest against the metal bar at the top of the chain link fence he’d been leaning on. “I didn’t even think about that. Now I feel like an ,” he added, Jeonghan laughing and rolling his eyes. He reached down, patting Seongcheol’s head. There was a little hesitance before Jeonghan let the pat become something more like his fingers running through Seongcheol’s hair and Seongcheol looked up, relaxing into the touch and nearly closing his eyes.

“Hey, I said ‘even if I wanted to’,” he said softly, Seongcheol cracking his eyes open just a bit more. “I’m enjoying myself. Don’t worry about it.” Seongcheol watched the other student in a daze, smiling softly again as Jeonghan continued playing with his hair. But just as soon as it had started he stopped, Jeonghan instead ruffling his hair and gesturing out toward his teammates. “Now go practice.” Seongcheol nodded and turned to leave before he paused, turning back around to Jeonghan with furrowed brows.

“... You promise?” he asked, Jeonghan immediately laughing.

“Yes. Now go. Be productive,” he replied, pointing onto the field.

Seongcheol grinned up at him happily, biting his lip as he turned and ran back onto the field. Jeonghan stayed there the whole time, simply enjoying watching everyone, though he mostly kept his eyes focused on Seongcheol.

After practice Seongcheol gave Jeonghan a ride back to his house, Jeonghan picking up his bike and riding home after grabbing a snack. It became a habit, Jeonghan getting to Seongcheol’s house right before he left for school and simply hopping in the car with him because the ride was so much quicker than it had been for Jeonghan. Sometimes he would stay at Seongcheol’s only for a snack, sometimes for dinner - which Seungah loved - but either way the two of them kept it up for weeks. Without fail, every Friday Jeonghan would watch their practices and Seongcheol would try not to run off to talk to him too much. Mingyu kept an eye on him, dragging him off when he was gone for too long and generally poking fun at him.

A few weeks later, Seongcheol was driving home with Jeonghan in the passenger seat and he turned to him, opening his mouth to say something but pausing. Jeonghan had already taken his hair down for the day and he was looking out the window, mouthing the words along with the song on the radio. Seongcheol just stared, waiting until they were at a stop light to reach over and rest his hand on Jeonghan’s shoulder. He gave him a little squeeze, Jeonghan turning and shooting him a little smile.

“What’s up?” he asked, Seongcheol turning back to the road as the light turned green but still smiling to himself.

“You should spend the night again tonight,” he said, Jeonghan blinking. “I can drop you off at school tomorrow again, and it’ll be nice to spend the night together without having to think about school projects for the first part,” he finished, Jeonghan nodding in agreement.

“Sure,” he replied, “but this time, can I get a change of clothes from my house first?”

Seongcheol laughed, glancing at the other and humming in thought.

“Yeah, but you’ll have to direct me to your place.”

Seongcheol ended up driving past his house to get to Jeonghan’s, Jeonghan in the passenger seat pointing out directions as they went. When they got there he pulled into the driveway, both of them getting out and walking into the house.

They were immediately greeted by Jeonghan’s mother, who was about to say something when she realized that Seongcheol was there.

“Oh,” she said, looking to him in slight confusion. “... I didn’t know we were going to be having guests,” she added, turning to Jeonghan with her eyes narrowed a bit. Jeonghan shot her an almost awkward smile, shaking his head and looking down.

“No, I’m just getting clothes. This is Seongcheol, he invited me to hang out and spend the night at his place,” he responded. His mother continued looking at him curiously for a moment, mainly eyeing the fact that his hair was down, before turning to Seongcheol with an almost sweet smile.

“Right. Your name has come up a few times,” she said, Seongcheol nodding and deciding not to say anything. She simply continued. “Take care. Make sure to have a good dinner and get to school on time.”

Jeonghan had already slipped into his room, grabbing a few things and leaving Seongcheol to stand in the entry with his mother in awkward silence. When Jeonghan finally came back he was in different clothes with a bag over his shoulder and he smiled to Seongcheol, opening the front door.

“I’ll be back tomorrow after school,” he said, turning back to his mother with a wave, Seongcheol turning after he waved as well. They both got to the car before they said anything, Seongcheol starting it and turning to Jeonghan.

Now he was adding to how many times he’d seen him out of school uniform. This was the first time Seongcheol had seen him in normal clothes, just jeans and a t-shirt, and he couldn’t help the smile.

“You look good dressed like that,” he said, backing into the street. Jeonghan turned to him as he put on his seatbelt, almost taken back by the words and pausing before Seongcheol heard the telltale click of the belt locking. There was another short pause before he heard Jeonghan almost chuckle to himself.

“Thanks,” he said softly, Seongcheol shooting him a glance. He reached over, patting Jeonghan’s thigh gently.

“No problem,” he murmured in response.

Seongcheol didn’t even realize that he never moved his hand from Jeonghan’s leg the entire drive to his house, and Jeonghan had to look away through the window and cover his mouth with his hand to hide the smile on his face.

Seongcheol didn’t stop smiling either.