Sehun and Jongin were seated at the former's favorite bubble tea shop, none of them uttering a word. Saying it was awkward would be an understatement. It felt like the two simply didn't blend together at all. They were just way too different. Sehun kept contemplating how to start a conversation as he sipped on his bubble tea. 

He finally cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence, "Let's start over."

"Huh?" Jongin blinked.

"If we're gonna be at each other's faces all the time, we're never gonna come up with a good routine. So, as much as I dislike you, I'm gonna try to overlook our previous 'encounters' and be nice to you. But since I'm willing to go that extra mile, you're also gonna have to try and get your head out of your , too. You're my partner, not my boss."

Jongin took a sip of his own bubble tea and locked eyes with the blonde. "Alright then. Let's start over. Forget about whatever we choreographed so far and let's start again. This time with less fighting. We might as well try to get along with each other for the upcoming few weeks."

Sehun smiled, "I'm glad we agree on something. So, tell me about yourself." 

Jongin's eyebrow rose, "Excuse me?" 

"I'm not really the type to initiate friendship, so don't make this any harder for me." The blonde said, rolling his eyes.

"You want to be friends? With me?" Jongin asked in disbelief.

"As much as I don't fancy the idea I don't really have a choice."

"Eh... Okay. My name's Kim Jongin." 

"I already know your name." Sehun rolled his eyes.

"How the hell am I supposed to talk about myself? That's awkward as ."

"Alright, alright." Sehun sighed, "How old are you?"

"Eighteen. You?"

"Seventeen."

"Seriously?"

"I skipped a grade." Sehun shrugged.

"Damn. No wonder. Should I be offended that someone a year younger than me gets way better grades?"

"Probably."

"And very straightforward too. I can see why we don't get along." Jongin chuckled.

"I could pinpoint a hundred reasons why we don't get along." Sehun stated, "But I think for at least the upcoming few weeks we should try to set aside our differences." 

"You're right. But I gotta say- talking to you is like forcing out when you're constipated. It just doesn't flow."

Sehun scrunched up his nose, "That's a disgusting way to put it. But I guess you could say the feeling's mutual."

"Great," Jongin took a sip of his bubble tea, "Tell me about your future plans."

"Probably medical school. You?" Sehun preferred to keep it brief.  

"Performing arts," Jongin grinned, "I was actually thinking once of maybe auditioning for an entertainment label but honestly idol life and the pay is . So for now I'm thinking of becoming a dance teacher at a university."

Sehun smiled slightly. 

"Hyung will be the best dance teacher ever!" 

"Dance? Are you kidding? That's not an actual career! You're gonna starve! You are going to become a doctor whether you like it or not!"

Sehun was a little envious because Jongin looked so excited while talking about his future plans. It reminded him so much of when he was a kid. The only difference was that Jongin was actually living his dream now, doing what he loved without being ridiculed or forbidden from it. 

"Hellooooo? Earth to Sehun." 

"Sorry." Sehun cleared his throat, "I was just thinking about something."

"Oookay. This bubble tea is really good, by the way. I've never been here before." Jongin pointed out. 

"It's my favorite. I used to come here ever since I was a kid."

"Speaking of when you were a kid, did you always have that blonde hair or did you dye it?" 

Sehun lifted a brow, "What do you think?"

"Option two?"

"Yeah. I bleached it two years ago."

"But why?"

Sehun shrugged, "Just wanted to try something new."

"You don't look like the type that dyes their hair and does all that hipster bull."

The blonde didn't say anything and took another sip of bubble tea instead.

"I noticed you've been hanging out with that guy Luhan a lot these days." Jongin suddenly said, sounding a little amused. This caught Sehun's attention.

"Yeah? So?" 

"Did you know that this friend of yours is a ?"

Sehun's eyebrow rose. He didn't know that, but more impotantly he didn't like the way the word  rolled off Jongin's tongue.

"I see. So he didn't tell you." Jongin added.

"Does it matter?"

Jongin tilted his head to the side, "Doesn't it bother you?"

"No, not at all." Sehun wasn't lying. He didn't see what the problem was. Why would Luhan's ual orientation matter to him? "Wait... Are you a homophobe?"

Jongin didn't hesitate. "Yes."

Sehun remembered Luhan telling him that they used to be friends. What could have happened between them? It seemed to have something to do with the fact that Luhan was gay and that Jongin was a homophobe.

"Just be careful if he falls in love with you or something." Jongin chuckled.

Sehun didn't like the way Jongin was speaking about his friend. Luhan seemed to always speak good of Jongin. "He can be an idiot sometimes, well, most of the time, but he's a good guy." But the way Jongin talked about Luhan, it was as if he was talking about something that absolutely disgusted him. 

"That's ridiculous. It's like you're telling me not to talk to a girl so she doesn't fall in love with me." 

"It's not the same thing."

"Listen, I didn't bring you here so that we argue again. And I'd really prefer it if we don't talk about Luhan at all from here on out." 

Jongin shrugged, "Suit yourself."

"We have three weeks left to choreograph and perfect the routine. So for the time being, let's set up some rules." Sehun changed the topic since the previous one was starting to piss him off.

"Alright. First, no fighting." 

"Okay. Second. no bossing me around. We're supposed to choreograph this together."

"But I've been in the dance club longer. Don't you think it makes sense that I come up with the moves?"

"Yes because that has worked beautifully this past week." Sehun rolled his eyes sarcastically, "How about suggestions rather than shoving your ideas down my throat? Maybe we could come up with something better if we combined our ideas."

"Alright, alright. Fine. We're equal partners. But you need to stop calling me an idiot and stuff like that."

"I will if you stop calling me a rod."

And on and on they went. They talked over practice room rules for another half an hour or so until they were both tired of each other's company. However, Sehun was still bothered by the way Jongin spoke about Luhan. And it didn't stop bothering him until he got home and took a nap. 

What actually happened between those two?

* * *

Surprisingly for the next week, things were a lot better in the practice room. They weren't at cursing each other all the time and were actually coming up with some good moves. Sehun kept his promise by being nice to the brunette and the other stopped bossing him around as much. They were almost done with the choreography and all that would be left then was perfecting it and making a few tweaks here and there. For the two days in a week that they had dance class, they'd practice the group choreography with the rest of the club members and then go to Jongin's place for an hour or so to practice their routine. Thankfully his mother was never home when they went there, so Sehun didn't have to explain himself. Plus, if by any chance she mentioned to his parents that he had been dancing, he would be screwed.

Sehun's last class was free so he was sitting cross-legged on the bench on the school terrace, headphones shoved in his ears and eyes closed. No one actually ever came up here, always opting for the hotspot that was the school cafeteria, which Sehun was a little thankful for. Here, he could have his peace and quiet. The last couple of days had been exhausting with all the dance practice and studies. He had to cut off a couple hours of sleep to finish homework and to get some studying done. Nonetheless, Sehun was happy. His dream was going to dance class with other students and it was finally coming true. But the thought that this was all temporary was always nagging at the back of head. It was just this last year of school and then that was going to be it. Medical university. No more dancing. If there was one thing he could be thankful for though, it was that he wasn't being forced to take over his father's business, because that would have been even worse that medical school. Sehun's father and his brother started up the company together twenty years ago and, fortunately enough, the latter had two sons who were more than willing to take the job.

"Of course you're here." 

Sehun pulled out one headphone and looked up to see his visitor. 

"Hey, Hyung." Sehun smiled, turning off the music and patting the empty spot next to him, "Sit down." 

Luhan was the only person in the entire school who knew about this place. He didn't mind his company anyway. Luhan had this way of making Sehun feel at ease, whether they were talking or just sitting in silence.

"How are things going?" 

"Pretty good, you could say. Jongin and I agreed to take a break today since things have been going rather smoothly."

"That's good to hear." Luhan smiled, staring ahead. There was a certain distant look in his eyes. Sehun noticed that look a lot but never spoke of it. He also noticed it only came when he was talking about Jongin or dance practice. 

"Hey, since I'm kinda free today, how about I invite you over to my place?" Sehun suggested. They'd never actually been to each other's houses before and he had been thinking about inviting Luhan over for a while.

The elder blinked, "Uh... Sure, I don't mind. I actually had a few things in Biology that need clarification so maybe we could do some studying too." 

"Sure." Sehun smiled at Luhan who was now looking ahead again. He couldn't help but feel a little captivated by his face. His soft features, his large doe eyes, his smooth nose. How could a guy be so pretty? It was ridiculous how good looking Luhan was.

Wait... Am I really checking him out right now?

Sehun quickly looked away, a slight blush on his face. He had just been shamelessly ogling his only friend. And not just that. Lately, or more specifically, after Jongin told him about Luhan being gay, he had noticed his eyes unconciously lingering on Luhan for a little longer than they had to. Sehun wasn't attracted to guys, or at least not that he knew of. But with Luhan it was just... weird. Different.

The thought of himself actually being gay was weird, not because he felt like it was wrong, but because he never actually thought of it before. 

Wait... Am I really thinking about whether or not I'm gay right now?

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" Sehun almost jumped at Luhan's sudden soft voice. "Your face is a little red."

"Huh? Uh no, I feel fine."

Luhan narrowed his eyes, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. Don't worry." 

Luhan didn't look convinced but he let it go anyway. Sehun internally sighed.

That was so weird. 

* * *

"Here the membrane is hyperpolarised because it goes below -70mV." Sehun explained, "And here the original resting potential is being restored as potassium ions start to leave the neurone."

Luhan nodded in understanding, "Yeah, I get it now. Thanks."

They had been seated in Sehun's room on his bed for the last hour or so, doing some homework and studying together also since Luhan needed some help with biology. 

"I think that's enough for today." Luhan said, shutting his text book with a loud sigh.

"Yeah." Sehun sighed, lying back on his bed, not feeling like studying anymore either. It was surprising how efficient study groups were. He never actually studied with anyone else before and it was a lot more fun yet productive than he had expected.

"By the way, I like your room." Luhan said, looking around. It was neat, there was a place for everything and everything was in its place. It was a lot like Sehun.

"Thanks," The blonde replied. Luhan caught sight of a medium-sized photo frame on the bedside table. In it was a picture of two young boys, probably ten to twelve years old, smiling at the picture. Luhan instantly recognized the older-looking one as Sehun.

"I was twelve back then." Sehun suddenly said, smiling at the picture.

"Yeah? You were pretty cute," Luhan smiled, "And who's this?"

"That's Changjo," Sehun muttered, smiling distantly, "He's my little brother."

Luhan's eyes widened slightly, "You have a little brother?"

"Had," The blonde corrected, "He passed away two years ago."

"Oh... I'm sorry." Luhan whispered, placing a comforting hand on Sehun's shoulder.

"It's okay," Sehun smiled, "You know... He also loved dancing a lot. And he was very talented, too."

"I'm sure he'd be proud if he saw you now."

Sehun looked up at the older male and saw a genuine smile on his face. "I hope so," He whispered.

Sensing that the atmosphere was getting too serious, Sehun quickly got up from the bed, "Come, Hyung. I want to show you something."

Sehun led the elder male towards the large balcony in his room. Once he opened the sliding glass door, they were instantly met with the cold air and a beautiful view of the city and the sky. Luhan walked out into the balcony and gasped slightly, "Wow. The view from up here is amazing."

"I know, right?" Sehun leaned against the railing, "This is one of those places I like to go to when I just want to relax." 

Luhan stood next to Sehun and looked at the city lights. "First the school terrace, now here. Why are you showing me all these cool places?" He chuckled. 

"I don't know. It's always just been me alone with my thoughts here. But since we're friends now, I should share what I find, right?"

The smile quickly disappeared from Luhan's face, "Friends?"

"Uh, yeah... I mean, I just assumed that..." None of them have ever actually said the word before, even though they hung out quite a few times now. "It's okay if you don't want to be-"

"It's not that," Luhan sighed, "I don't know if you know this but I'm gay, Sehun. Are you sure you wanna be friends with someone like me?"

Sehun was taken aback by the question but Luhan looked serious. 

"Why not?"

"Aren't you scared people will judge you for being friends with me?" 

Sehun rolled his eyes, "I don't care what people think. All they can do is judge from afar."

Luhan tilted his head to the side, "So you're saying you don't mind the fact that I'm gay?" His big eyes were staring up at Sehun expectantly.

"Why would I, Hyung? It doesn't change anything. I mean you're still one of the nicest people I've ever met."

"Thank you, Sehun," Luhan stared up at the sky, "You know... I was thirteen when the thought first occurred to me. And it scared me to no end. I was so afraid because I knew my parents would never accept me... and I knew it went against our traditions and cultures. I would stay up all night thinking, crying, wondering why I couldn't be normal just like everyone else. I was so, so scared of coming out. The first person who got to know about it was Minseok, my best friend back then. He was the first to accept me. He supported me and told me it was all gonna be okay." Luhan sighed, "When I was fifteen I came out to my parents. Dad didn't speak to me for six whole months. Mom hardly talked to me, always giving me one-word answers. She wouldn't even look me in the eye. It got better with time though. I think they've finally come to accept the fact and are okay with it now."

Sehun smiled, "There's nothing wrong with you, Hyung. In the end it's love and it's between two people. I don't see what makes it all that different."

"People are yet to open their minds to it... Especially here."

"I know." The blonde sighed, "It'll get better though, I'm sure. They just need time to warm up to the idea. So where is this Minseok now?"

Luhan chuckled, "That's a story for another time." He lightly patted Sehun on the shoulder, "I should probably get home now, or mom will throw a fit."

"Alright. I'll walk you downstairs."

Sehun was lost in his thoughts as he lay down in bed. Every time he tried to fall asleep, he found himself unable to. His thoughts always carried him back towards a certain doe-eyed male. They had gotten considerably closer over the past few weeks. Maybe he was just feeling like this because he was so overwhelmed with the fact that he now had a friend. 

No. That's not it. 

He looked at the picture of his brother and him on the bedside table and sighed. 

Changoo-yah... What is this feeling?

I don't even know if this was the original plan but this is where I ended up...lol. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and see you guys next time!