"Seungcheol if you don't go talk to him right now I'm coming back to personally kick your " Doyoon's voice came through the speaker and Seungcheol turned himself over onto his back. He stared at his white ceiling while Doyoon continued to rant over the phone.

"Doyoon, how is it that you got over the situation before I did and I'm the one in love with Jihoon?"

"Because you still think I'm lying about being okay with it. Seungcheol, it's been a week."

"It's been three days. Are you sure you were ever in love with me?" Seungcheol's back bent and he sat up, pinching the bridge of his nose when the blood rushed towards the rest of his body.

"I still care for you a lot." Doyoon's avoidance of the question caused Seungcheol to sigh. "Oh cmon Seungcheol, don't go all soap opera on me where you start to like me when I don't like you." Seungcheol stayed silent for a while, how was he supposed to reply to that.

"Seungcheol you're not really falling for me are you?" Doyoon's tone was serious and Seungcheol sighed again, rubbing his face, staring at the white wall in front of him.

"No, I'm not falling for you." He rubbed his eyes and tried to find the right words to describe the conflict going on between his brain and heart. "Your move was just really sudden and I feel like there's something that I need to know before I go talk to Jihoon. I don't even know why I like the guy."

"I don't know why you love him either," Seungcheol noticed the difference in words but let Doyoon finish, "What I do know is that you should just go talk to him. If you never tell someone how you feel they'll never know and if you don't ask him out he'll never be yours. It's been twelve years, it's about time you stopped suffering. I gotta go but you better at least see his face today."

The small tone ended the call and Seungcheol watched his phone screen light up from the difference in settings. He stared at Doyoon's number, organizing his thoughts. He was sure that he wasn't feeling anything romantic towards Doyoon, he did miss the other, but it wasn't romance.

The heat detecting surface analyzed his finger movements and he opened Jihoon's conversation. There weren't a lot of messages nor words that helped Seungcheol figure out who Jihoon really was or why he supposedly liked the other so much.

"Hey, Mom?" Seungcheol stuck his head through space he created between the door and its frame. His mother looked up from the book she was reading to focus on what Seungcheol wanted. He brought himself into the room and sat down at the edge, heart beating from nervousness caused by something he didn't know.

"Who's Jihoon?" He fumbled with the hem of his shirt when his mother's jaw dropped slightly. She closed her book slowly and set it on the table, reading glasses were set on top before the hands were brought together to rest in a lap. All the while, Seungcheol looked like a little kid admitting he did something wrong. Chin down, hands properly folded in his lap, and bottom lip jutted out in guilt. His mother's hand found it's way to the underside of his chin and encouraged him to look her in the eye as she explained.

"I was wondering when you would ask about him."

"You knew I forgot about him?"

"Of course, you're different when you don't remember him." The words, similar to the ones Wonwoo said before made Seungcheol even more curious about the person he was 'oh so in love with'.

"Jihoon's our neighbor and your childhood friend, you boys haven't spoken much throughout the years but I could tell that you've always liked him. I think he liked you too." She smiled when Seungcheol became flustered. He was mentally scolding himself, but those words didn't change the feeling of happiness he got when he heard Jihoon might like him back.

"You didn't get along well when you were little but you would both show ways of respect and affection towards each other without knowing. He would always hope you were well and brought over small gifts for your birthday or when you were sick. He bought you that jean jacket you got last year."

"You mean my-"

"Yes your favorite one, he signed it under his mother's name and when I thanked her for it, she told me that it was Jihoon's gift. The boy dismissed it like it was nothing but before I left he begged me not to tell you it was him."

"How did he even know my size?"

"He asked his mother who asked me. He's a clever boy." It took Seungcheol a while to process the information. Seungcheol's mother continued to smile, finding amusement in his own mental battle discussing what he should do. Even as a grown woman she felt jittery to imagine her son ending up with the person he's always liked. It was similar to a book she's read before, she'd have to think of the title later, she noticed Seungcheol asking another question.

"Is Jihoon usually home?" She observed his legs, they were already inching towards the floor, dragging Seungcheol's torso with them. She had to think about the day of the week before giving an answer.

"Yes, they should be home-"

"Okay! I'll be back soon!" Seungcheol made his way out of the room and the rest of the apartment. Before he knew it, he found himself in front of his neighbor's door, hand coming down from making contact with the maple wood. During the three seconds that passed after his knock, his brain caught up and he noticed the lack of self-restraint, he didn't even hesitate to come over. What if his mom got it wrong? What if he went to the wrong house? What if Jihoon didn't want to see him? The list of worries was cut short when the door unlocked and Jihoon's mother greeted him, bits of confusion in her smile. It took him less than 20 seconds to get to the door and he just noticed his lack of breath.

"Hello Mrs.Lee, is Jihoon home?"

"Yes," she replied slowly and opened the door even slower. Seungcheol didn't know whether he should feel frustrated at the pace or thankful for the chance to fully catch his breath. Choosing the latter he thanked her with an airtight breath then asked if he could go to him immediately.

Seeing the bedroom door caused all the courage inside his body to leave and his fingers shook as they made their way towards the knob. There was snickering at the end of the hall, Mrs. Lee covering her eyes were full of the same amusement his mother failed to hide while she was talking to him. All heat moved towards his face and his rationality left his brain once again, allowing him to enter the room without a second thought.

The room was plain, nothing too fancy and he felt familiar standing at the entrance. He scanned the bare blue walls and bookshelves, there were a few clothes and school supplies on the floor but it was cleaner than Seungcheol's room. He remembered the bed, bookshelf, and desk being the same places but he never remembered Jihoon's eyes looking into his own. Jihoon's fingers were halfway through his hair when Seungcheol came in, headphones were in his other hand playing a soft beat to supply background music as the two examined each other.

Seungcheol was looking at rolled up sleeves from a yellow jacket being held in place by the bend in slim, light elbows. His eyes roamed down to the white shirt peeking out from underneath the jacket and matching shorts. He was looking at Lee Jihoon, the person he's supposedly in love with and he was starting to think he knows why.

"H-hi." Seungcheol waved and the door shut behind him making him jump a little. Jihoon remained quiet but tilted his head down to let Seungcheol know that he's allowed to stay. Taking a step closer he felt Jihoon's gaze get harder. He took a deep breath.

"I'm just going to get straight to the point. I like you but I don't know why." He winced at his own words, not knowing how Jihoon would react. Through the squinting, he saw Jihoon place the headphones down on his desk and finish running his hands through his hair. The movement of soft locks allowed his ears to be seen and Seungcheol was able to notice the pink tint.

"I think you need to go to the hospital." The first words Jihoon said weren't the ones Seungcheol was hoping for but they were something and Seungcheol would take it. Jihoon wasn't looking at him, instead, he pressed the buttons on his computer to turn off the music he was playing. Maybe it was out of politeness but Seungcheol liked it better when they weren't in complete silence.

"I already went, they said I'm fine."

"No, there must be something wrong with you, you can't like me." Even though it seemed like Jihoon was rejecting him, something in the way his voice wavered got Seungcheol to smile and inch closer instead of moving away. He was looming over Jihoon's shoulder, not enough to see the words on the page but enough to know that Jihoon was just tapping his pencil in the same spot to make it look like he was doing something.

"You know," hearing how close Seungcheol's voice was, Jihoon stopped his pencil and set it down, he turned his head to look up at the older, using all his might to appear unphased, Seungcheol had seen through it, though. "You know," he repeated again, "I don't know how to explain it but I forgot about you when I was in the car crash," Jihoon's lips twitched to form a line, "yet you're all I've been thinking about for the past few days." Jihoon made a dismissing sound and turned away again.

"Yeah, you definitely need to go to the hospital to get another checkup. Make sure they test to see if you're mentally okay. I think you hit your head too hard and you're mistaking me for someone else. Don't you have a boyfriend-"

"We broke up." Jihoon furrowed his brows and looked up at Seungcheol again, the elder was looking down at him as if he were apologizing, Jihoon just stared for a while, making sure his expression wouldn't change. He hadn't looked into those eyes in so long, at least not so close, the last time he remembered looking into Seungcheol's eyes was back in middle school when they met across the lunchroom and even then it could have been the person next to him.

"How long ago?" He snapped himself out of his thoughts by shaking his head and standing up, he's being a horrible host, he stood to open the door, blushing when he saw his eyes only reached Seungcheol's shoulder. He kept his head down, too embarrassed to face the other with such a height gap, and headed towards the door. He tilted his head towards the hall once it was open.

"How long ago?" He repeated the question, they sat across the granite counter, sipping the iced tea Jihoon made. Seungcheol had been looking around for Mrs.Lee when Jihoon's asked the question. He took a lingering sip from his glass cup under the curious eyes. Finally bringing the glass away from his lips, the excess juice off his top lip, he met Jihoon's eyes again.

"Three days ago." Eye contact was kept for about another five seconds before the corners of Jihoon's lips curled up while he pressed both his lips together, turning away, he held his cup while resting his forehead on the back of his hand and let out a small chuckle, his eyes even closed slightly. Seungcheol took another sip of his drink.

"You broke up with the guy, three days ago," Jihoon pointed, drink still in his hand, ice making small noises while hitting the sides, "and now you're saying you like me." He put the cup down and scratched the back of his head. "I'm pretty sure that's not how it works." another laugh was let out and Seungcheol took a deep breath.

"Doyoon broke up with me..."

"That still doesn't help your case, when you end a relationship I'm pretty sure it takes you more than a few days to move on-"

"You didn't let me finish." Seungcheol didn't mean to sound threatening but he had the feeling his words came out harsher than intended. Jihoon was making hand gestures that immediately stopped when Seungcheol interrupted. "You didn't let me finish," he made sure to repeat it gently, he only spoke again after Jihoon put his hands down on the counter, "Doyoon broke up with me because he knew I was in love with you." Jihoon opened his mouth to say something but closed it again, rethinking it.

"You've been in a relationship with almost everyone in the school." He took a long pause, maybe he was waiting for Seungcheol to comment on it but he couldn't disagree and he didn't want to outwardly admit it either. "I remember this one time you were dating a different person every week, how do you expect me to trust your words?"

Seungcheol knew he was supposed to feel upset about the statement but the only fact he got out of all the sentences was that Jihoon's been paying attention to him. "How did you know I was dating a new person every week?" He finished his drink and swallowed with a smirk at the blink and blush Jihoon acquired.

"That's not the point!" Seungcheol's smirk widened when Jihoon leaned farther away to cross his arms, "Besides, rumors about you go around the school quick, anyone would know."

Deciding that the poor boy needed a break, Seungcheol munched on some of his ice before finally answering. "They've all come to me first, I don't know why - this is one of the things I forgot - but I couldn't say no to them. I was never the one to break up either, I have a feeling they all broke up with me the same reason Doyoon did, Wonwoo broke up with me because of that." Seungcheol surprised himself at how calm he's been the whole conversation, he was able to make Jihoon blush several times when earlier he was sure he wouldn't be able to utter a word from his own state of being flustered.

"Pft, still don't believe you actually like me." Jihoon grabbed the empty cup from in front of Seungcheol and brought his own to the sink to be washed, not wanting to be rude he walked Seungcheol to the door with a smile. "It was nice talking to you again Seungcheol, thanks for stopping by." The door began to swing closed to separate the two but Seungcheol pressed both his palms against it to keep it open.

"Jihoon," this was what he was expecting, the short of breath and the heat rushing to his cheeks, maybe it had something to do with hallways, "Jihoon my mom told me about the jean jacket."

The only thing he heard before the door fully closed was a small mumble he tried to figure out, the best thing he came up with was, "I might like you but that doesn't mean I'll trust you so easily."

-

"I can't believe you actually came." Seungcheol pushed himself off the wall, rubbing his hands together in nervousness. He had invited Jihoon on a date, telling him to show up at the park so they could just walk and talk, it was completely last minute, he spontaneously found extra time to waste and thought it would be nice to walk with Jihoon.

"I needed to clear my mind off some things," the shorter of the two was wearing a white snapback over his pink hair and blue sweater with black shorts. Seungcheol was wearing a simple static patterned long sleeve and black pants.

"Can I ask what?" He tilted down and received a smack to his arm.

"Don't crouch, I was just writing something for a class but it got frustrating and I'm glad you called, I think if I stayed in my room any longer I would have gone crazy." Jihoon's hands were shoved into the pockets of his jacket and he tilted his head back to bask in the sun with his eyes closed.

"Which class?" Seungcheol brought Jihoon closer so he wouldn't bump into the stroller passing by, "Maybe we could just sit and talk instead of walk and talk, plus you look like you'll fall asleep at any time."

"Don't let me fall asleep." A finger was pointed up towards Seungcheol's chin with not much ferocity but Seungcheol still flinched away. "I have to write lyrics for my producing class, I can't word this one part in a way that fits with the beat and I just noticed how awful it sounds." They found their way to an unoccupied park bench and connected their butts to the seat.

"I bet it doesn't sound that bad, can I listen to it?" Jihoon leaned to the opposite side of the bench, away from Seungcheol, and pulled out his phone with earbuds wrapped around it. He untangled the wire and gave one to Seungcheol before putting one in his ear. He scrolled through his music library for the most recent cut he saved. Once the music started playing both closed their eyes and listened to the beginning beats.

"Wait is this Soonyoung?" Seungcheol looked down at the same time Jihoon looked up, they locked eyes before Jihoon shied away.

"Mingyu is in Lyricist Club right? The producing class had to group together with them, he came up to me and brought some of your other friends to record the song." There was a yawn after the sentence, Seungcheol remembered the slight threat Jihoon gave a while ago but he couldn't deprive the younger of sleep.

He carefully listened to the next voice, it sounded vaguely familiar but he couldn't bring up a face, the speaker was a good rapper in Seungcheol's opinion, he punctuated his syllables clearly. A smile appeared on his face when he heard Mingyu's voice, he never really listened to the other rap, he was always wary about it and Seungcheol never got the chance. Soonyoung's voice came on again before Jihoon began to rap, Seungcheol's eyebrows raised slightly as he was taken aback, he's never heard Jihoon sing or rap before. Somehow, the way it sounded with Jihoon's voice didn't fit. The part where the rhythm leaves and beat slows down is where - Seungcheol assumed - Jihoon had trouble with the wording.

"I feel like I have a phrase that could work." Seungcheol thought back to the paper in his binder, it didn't completely match what Jihoon's originally saying in the song but he was sure it would sound nice. He looked to see if Jihoon was awake for his input. When the pink hair began to roll forward and almost fall to the floor, Seungcheol caught the sleeping boy and tried to get him to lean back onto his shoulder. He found it endearing that Jihoon didn't snore, something about the way the pink head's chest rose and fell silently needed to be appreciated.

"Mmyeah," Jihoon nodded against his shoulder, making a tasting sound with his mouth while his face contorted into a bothered state before slowly relaxing. The earbud had fallen out of his ear in an effect of the movement but Seungcheold didn't mind. He slowly lifted Jihoon's head to take out the other earbud before wrapping the wires around like Jihoon had them. He couldn't put it in Jihoon's pockets so he settled with putting the device in his own. He poked Jihoon's cheek gently, trying to get him awake enough to move some body parts.

"Jihoon, you said you didn't want me to let you sleep..." Said boy was nodding to Seungcheol's words but they went in through one ear and out the other. Deciding it wouldn't do too much harm, Seungcheol took Jihoon's arms and crouched in front of the other to wrap them around his neck for support. When Jihoon's weight was balanced enough he stood.

"I'm not sleeping, just resting my eyes," a small whine came in small puffs of breath that tickled Seungcheol's ear. Jumping slightly he fixed Jihoon's position before starting their walk.

"I'm pretty sure that if you were awake right now, you wouldn't be letting me do this." Seungcheol looked up at the sky again, when did he ask Jihoon to come out? It was getting dark and the wind was picking up, he probably asked on impulse again.

"If I were asleep I wouldn't be answering your questions." Every once in a while, Seungcheol would jump again and get Jihoon higher onto his back. The feeling of the other's chest rising and falling, pressing up against his back then retreating, knowing that Jihoon was somewhat voluntarily hugging him made him smile the whole way.

When Seungcheol knocked on Jihoon's apartment door, Mrs.Lee was shocked, to say the least. She covered to gasp and Seungcheol chuckled slightly, Jihoon whined from his back and from the way Mrs.Lee reacted after, Seungcheol could guess that Jihoon glared.

"What's the line you had?"

"What?" Seungcheol turned from setting Jihoon's phone on his desk to see him sitting up and obviously struggling to stay awake.

"You said you had a phrase you thought would work for the song, what was it?" He was speaking with his eyes closed and the thought of teasing him about it came to Seungcheol's mind but he held back, Jihoon was tired he could give the kid more than a break.

"When is the song due?" He was falling forward again and Seungcheol ran to aid him.

"I'm fine, it's due on Tuesday."

"I'll give it to you tomorrow, just sleep, for now okay?" Jihoon immediately fought at first but there wasn't much force to his argument.

"No, I have to finish it over the weekend-"

"It's due in 2 days Jihoon, you can take a break now."

"Seungcheol-"

"If you don't sleep right now, I'm leaving you to figure out that line by yourself."

"That's what I was going to do originally so that doesn't really phase me."

Seungcheol bit his lip, it was hard to take Jihoon seriously when he looked like he was just talking in his sleep but the last sentence bothered him.

"Please just sleep." Jihoon was quiet for a while, his lips formed a line and he was thinking about it thoroughly. He let out a sigh and gave into Seungcheol's pleas by taking the blankets and wrapping them around himself in a protective cocoon. He could almost feel the elder's smile before hearing the door close.

-

"That's good. Thanks. You can come out now." Jihoon took his hand off the white button before looking back at the screen, dragging a few colored bars in order, he didn't bother to watch Seungcheol come out of the room but he heard the soft opening and closing of the door while Seungcheol's aura sent a tingle through his shoulder. He put the song on playback once, skipping over to the part Seungcheol just recorded. Nervously, the other stood and watched the pink head move back then stopping a few seconds before the mouse was clicked again and headphones were taken off.

"How does it sound?" Jihoon didn't answer, he just unplugged his headphones and played the song again, he coughed and stood from the chair, gesturing and making sure Seungcheol sat before he left the small recording room. Seungcheol watched him leave with a puzzled expression but dismissed it before he could get too worried. Instead, he focused on the song and smiled at the familiar parts he heard. The beat got overly familiar and he bounced waiting to hear how he sounded. It was his first time being recorded and he had a feeling it would have been a lot harder if it weren't Jihoon producing, he could tell the younger was holding back some comments.

Hearing his own voice felt interesting, he's heard himself in videos and such but something about being in a recording studio made it different. When the beat dropped and he heard the line he had written, he made a victorious gesture before focusing his attention on Wonwoo's voice. He hadn't heard this part of the song, he paid extra attention to the beat and lyrics before Soonyoung began to sing again.

"Baby it's alright~ I'll call you mine. At the night, the moon is shining on us, through the dawn, I want to try and stay up all night." Seungcheol was taken aback at the first three words, hearing Jihoon sing made his adrenal glands release their hormones. At the end, he heard the small moments were Jihoon would harmonize with Soonyoung. Before he was able to regain a calm state of mind, Jihoon came in.

"I love it."

"Thanks, for the lyrics and the compliment." When Seungcheol swirled the chair around, Jihoon was holding two cups of coffee, he took a sip from one hand held the other out to Seungcheol.

"Thanks for the coffee, which parts did Mingyu write?"

"Well, all of them wrote a few of their own parts, they helped a lot. He wrote his whole rap and part of Wonwoo's. Soonyoung had the idea to add the age, he thought it would appeal to more people and even though I said no one else but us and the teacher was going to hear it, he insisted."

"Why don't you post it on Youtube? I bet it'll be a hit."

"I never said I told Soonyoung the truth," Jihoon looked up innocently, sipping his coffee at the same time.

"What do you mean?" Seungcheol tried the black drink, it was more bitter than he would usually get but he figured it would be rude to ask for more creamer after the other went through all the trouble.

"I do, but from what I know about Soonyoung, if he knew more people are bound to hear it too. He would want my channel name then spread it all over the school. Soon enough, everyone will know and I'll be bombarded with requests and questions like 'Jihoon when are you going to come out with another song??' 'Jihoon can I sing in your next song?' 'Jihoon write me a song!'" He grumbled after mocking the student body then chuckled.

"Can I know your Youtube name?"

"It's Woozi, both the 'o's are zeros."

"Woozi? Finding ideas?"

"Yeah, my teacher gave it to me when I auditioned for the class, I sent him a remix I made and he asked me if I had a pen name, I like the one he gave me so I stuck with it. Before I told you, he was the only one that knew."

"Have you had any offers from companies?"

"A few, but I haven't thought about going. I feel like I should get more experience before taking up the offer. Are you searching up my channel?" There was a grin on his face when Seungcheol nodded enthusiastically.

"Jisoo told me that you two had to do a project together, did you post it on here?" He scrolled through the number of videos, most of them had the word instrumental next to it and guessed they were drafts for later work.

"Because of You Acoustic." Jihoon shooed Seungcheol off the chair so he could take the flash drive out of the computer. He made sure to delete everything before walking towards the door again. "Seungcheol we have to get out," he mentioned to the elder who was currently holding the speaker end of his phone to the shell of his ear, "you can get cancer from that."

"You can get cancer from anything," Seungcheol countered, "Is this Jeonghan? Is Jeonghan singing?" Jihoon shrugged and held his hand out so he could listen to the song as well.

"You're talking about Jisoo's boyfriend right? I actually forgot his name but Jisoo brought him along because we needed another vocal, none of our voices fit the part and his worked fine."

"Why don't you hang out with us at lunch? We don't bite and you know almost everyone. You just need to meet like," Seungcheol counted on his fingers and threw the empty coffee cup away,  "three more people."

Jihoon's shoulders bobbed at the offer and he threw away his own styrofoam cup, "I'm fine. I spend time in here during lunch since no one really uses it. If I hang out with you guys I don't think it would make a difference. I don't talk a lot."

"It would make a difference to me." Jihoon looked away but Seungcheol could tell he appreciated the words from the blush greeting him from the shorters cheeks.

"How cheesy. I guess if you want it so badly, I'll sit with you guys at lunch. I don't promise any talking."

-

"So..." Seungcheol spoke up, it's been two weeks since Jihoon's been sitting with them and everyone knew Seungcheol was loving every minute of it. They hadn't figured out whether Jihoon was, though. Every day, Seungcheol would gush at him and stare while Jihoon ate in silence, actually paying attention to the rest of the group. The rare times Jihoon did talk, it was during their arguments, usually countering whatever was said last which ends the argument right away. Just the day before, Jihoon showed signs of enjoying their time together, getting to the table before Seungcheol did and helping Mingyu with some lyrics. 

Alone, the two would continue to catch up, Seungcheol went to Jihoon's house every day and Jihoon never seemed to mind, in fact, he was caught waiting for Seungcheol one day, when his mother slipped the conversation the two had before she opened the door. Seungcheol didn't mention it to Jihoon but Mrs. Lee wasn't the quietest person and when the elder walked into the room, Jihoon's entire face was red and he was frozen in place as he faced his desk.

Slowly but surely, Jihoon was becoming more comfortable with the other, asking him about how his past relationships ended only to blush when Seungcheol mentioned it was because of him. Jihoon would bring him lunches because he knew Seungcheol didn't bring his own and he would do the little things for the elder, reminding him about an assignment he would complain about during lunch or reminding him to sleep, then telling Seungcheol to shut up when the elder would point out how late Jihoon himself sleeps.

Jihoon hadn't shown up yet and Seungcheol took it as his chance to ask the questions he's been meaning to ask for a while. "Why didn't you guys tell me you were working with Jihoon?" He held no accusation, just heavily sarcastic innocence.

"I told you I was working with Jihoon," Jisoo raised his hand to defend himself which made Jeonghan speak up as well.

"I was the one that told Seungcheol you were in the same class as him."

"Jeonghan why didn't you say anything?" Seungcheol targeted the silver haired male, raising his eyebrow with amusement. Jeonghan laughed it off.

"How did you even know about that?"

"He told me. I also helped him on his latest project, so you three," he looked to Soonyoung, Mingyu, and Wonwoo, "I'm curious." He tapped his foot underneath the table, waiting for their replies.

"Are you talking about the Because Of You thing? I forgot I was in it." Jeonghan shrugged, "Honestly I did, but I remembered after lunch ended, plus I don't know much about him so there wasn't any reason for me to tell you. Jisoo's the one in the same class as him."

"I forgot too, we were just helping him on a project and he never spoke unless it was to tell us to fix something, I thought he didn't like me." Seokmin raised his hand, looking to Jeonghan so the other could approve of what he was saying. Seungcheol wanted to explain Jihoon's manner but he was still waiting for three other explanations.

"And the three just recently working with him, you never told me because..." He watched them exchange worried glances, all except Wonwoo, who was blank as ever. Mingyu played dumb.

"What do you mean?" Wonwoo rested his forehead on his two fingers and looked down at the table, sometimes his boyfriend wasn't the smartest.

"Jihoon showed me the song he was working on and you were rapping with Wonwoo, and Soonyoung sang the chorus." There was the tiniest bit of irritation and Wonwoo decided that he better clear everything now before Seungcheol threw a fit in the cafeteria.

"He told us not to tell you."

"Wonwoo-" Said boy shook his head.

"Soonyoung, I'm pretty sure Jihoon won't kill us if we tell Seungcheol now."

"But he chased me around with Jisoo's guitar that one time."

"What??" Jisoo spoke up, Wonwoo sighed again at his boyfriend's lack of understanding the situation.

"Your guitar is fine, right?  Moving on, we couldn't tell Seungcheol before because that was when Jihoon didn't know Seungcheol liked him. Now that he knows, I'm sure we can tell him now."

"What was Mingyu going to tell me... before Jihoon started chasing him?"

"That's something for you to ask Jihoon."

-

"Mrs. Lee, where's Jihoon? I didn't see him at school today, is he sick?" Seungcheol stood outside his neighbor's door, after Wonwoo had told him to go ask, he's been searching the whole school. He checked the recording room, the bathrooms, the music room, the other bathrooms, behind the school and in the office and it was almost like Jihoon was avoiding him.

"He went to school today..." The woman shifted her weight to one leg and thought about where her son would usually be.

"Are you sure he's not at school? He said that he would be performing at Friday Frenzy today, he should be there practicing right?" This time, Seungcheol was the one to think, he checked all the music rooms and Jihoon wasn't in any of them but if he really was being ignored then Jihoon must've been moving around.

"Thanks, Mrs.Lee! I have a feeling I know where he is now!" He ran down the hall and pulled out his phone, opening his messages to the muted group chat and ignoring all the unread messages.

'Guys help me with something please?'

-

"Found you!" Seungcheol's voice boomed throughout the whole performing arts center, Jihoon was sitting behind the grand piano while playing with the keys when Seungcheol walked in.

"Pft, I was never lost." The comment came before he began to play again. Seungcheol made his way down the velvet rows, checking the time and texting his friends that he found Jihoon. They'd been searching for an hour and Seungcheol told them they would meet up at the Frenzy, he'd save them seats.

"Why didn't you sit with us at lunch today?" He sat his own in the spot next to Jihoon, the smooth seat cool against his feverish skin and he looked at what Jihoon was wearing - a pink sweater and ripped jeans. He watched Jihoon's fingers move across the keys, never applying pressure, just lightly tracing the notes to a song.

"I wanted to practice for tonight. Don't ask what song, it's a surprise." Seungcheol's lips closed, the action made Jihoon chuckle before he asked, "Hey, tell me if you remember this song or not." He began to apply pressure to the keys before singing.

"Good morning - that's what I texted you. I think I'm into you, it's dangerous. Oh no~" He looked to Seungcheol and surprisingly the other found himself able to sing along.

"The things that I said last night, you probably won't remember it at all. Wherever we go restaurants get ready to close, after that it was just you and me, just like Jun Lam Hwae's song. I made a tacky and awkward confession I clearly remember your face." Seungcheol smiled with his eyebrows brought together, it was like he didn't even have to think about the lyrics, as Woozi began to sing he felt a familiarity in the situation.

They continued to sing and even as he could easily recite the correct lyrics, he tried to figure out why he felt like it happened before. He remembered this song, and crying, the song was playing as a commercial on television, he was eating Funyuns and he found one more left in the bag. His eyes widened with every word Jihoon sang.

"I want to express this feeling before it's too late."

'Will you marry me?'

"Jihoon." The piano stopped playing and he looked up to have his lips covered by Seungcheol's own for a split second before they were free again. Heat rushed to his cheeks and he was rendered speechless as Seungcheol continued with a smirk, "I got my memory back."

"Did you... Just.... Kiss me?" Seungcheol's smile grew even wider at Jihoon's passive habit. The younger held the back of his hand to his lips but didn't dare wipe them.

"Yes, I did."

"Why?" Seungcheol felt a bit of the memory coming back to him, the rejection, but Jihoon liked him too, right? So why would he reject him again? Jihoon was staring at him, there was slight confusion like Jihoon was wondering if Seungcheol was telling the truth and as much as Seungcheol wished he could explain at that moment, the door to backstage opened.

"Jihoon! Rehearsal is starting! You have to get off now! Seungcheol is that you?" Mr. Bumzu's voice could be heard from the sidelines, "Seungcheol only students performing are allowed on school grounds during rehearsal, this is the only time I'll kindly ask you to leave before I get you a write-up."

Seungcheol looked to Jihoon for a moment, the other didn't move his head from where he was looking at Mr. Bumzu but he could see the red on his ears and it was enough for then.

-

"Everyone please quiet down, I swear you guys get louder and louder every Friday, don't you guys get tired?" Screams of disagreement roared over the field, "Okay, okay. There's only one more act. You all remember Jihoon right?" Seungcheol's eyes widened from screams the name got, the speaker, Doogi PD, met his eyes and his eyebrows raised suggestively before he shushed everyone again. "He'll be singing again tonight, please give it up for... Lee Jihoon!"

The crowd went wild and Seungcheol wondered how loud it must have been the first time. He watched Jihoon drag out a chair in one hand and carry a guitar in his other while two other people brought microphones connected to respective stands. Once he was settled he leaned forward to greet the crowd.

"Nice to see you all again, from this angle at least." He tilted his head to the side with a nervous smile when the crowd cheered his name. "I'll be singing an acoustic version of You and I by Park Bom. I uh... I actually want to dedicate this song to someone. He and I uh..." He laughed and tilted his head down in embarrassment, ears completely pink. Cheers waved through the audience and encouraged him to continue, "He and I have known each other for most of our lives but we never really started talking till now and I thought this would be a good message for him. He uh..." Jihoon his lips, "He's pretty important to me- Oh god..." He put his head down again and willed himself to continue.

All of Seungcheol's friends were attacking his shoulders, shoving him excitedly and telling him that Jihoon was talking about him - like he didn't already know. He couldn't bring himself to mind, he just  watched how Jihoon picked his head up one last time, looked directly at him, and said, "Now that you're by my side again, no matter what happens, even when the sky is falling down, I promise you that I'll never let you go."

The performance hadn't even started yet and Jihoon had everyone riled up. He beamed at Seungcheol who stared back in awe. Several sushing sounds could be heard when Jihoon began to strum the guitar, closing his eyes to get a feel for the song. 

"You, when I fell, you held be back up with an unfaltering gaze. And you, through those sad times, held my hands till the end of the world. I might be a shabby person who has never done anything for you but today I'm singing this song just for you. Tonight, within those two eyes and a smile, I could see the pains from protecting me. You and I together it just feels so right even though I bid you goodbye, to me this world is just you. You and I together, don't ever let go of my hands even though I bid you goodbye, to me this world is just you."

Jihoon played a small interlude while everyone cheered and Seungcheol remembered events similar to ones the song was talking about. He remembered helping Jihoon with the blocks. He clearly remembered the entire time Jihoon never spoke to him. He remembered arguing about his love for Jihoon with all his previous relationships and he's remembered the past week with Jihoon, how everything felt natural like they had been doing it their whole lives.

"I close my eyes slightly whenever I feel lonely again. I no longer fear when your breath holds me. No one in the world could replace you, you're the only one and I'll be there for you baby. You and I together it just feels so right even though I bid you goodbye, to me this world is just you. You and I together, don't ever let go of my hands even though I bid you goodbye, to me this world is just you~" He slowly opened his eyes again, looking at Seungcheol, singing some adlibs at the end before strumming one last chord.

Just as the music stopped playing, people all around Seungcheol stood and cheered for a good minute before Doogi PD came out again to quiet them all. Jihoon left the stage and Seungcheol left his seat to go meet him.

"Jihoon!" He called, the sounds of Doogi's closing speech could be heard as the short boy moved from the guitar case to meet Seungcheol, he didn't know which to blame for his flushed demeanor the heat coming from the lights or the fact he had really just done that.

"Seungcheol." Jihoon greeted before he was bound between Seungcheol's chest and arms, his own slowly wrapped around the elders and they swayed side to side.

"Jihoon can I tell you something?"

"Depends on what it is." Jihoon felt himself grinning and hiding his face in Seungcheol's chest, anticipating his next words.

"When I was four, you were three and that commercial came on with Verbal Jint's song. You let your guard down. You were so into the music, you let yourself go, the way you wholeheartedly sang the entire commercial confidently despite your mistakes, something about that made the four-year-old me fall in love." He rested his nose in Jihoon's hair, taking in the moment. Jihoon was hugging him back, and hiding his face in his chest.

"Jihoon I've loved you since I was four and I never really stopped, I thought you hated me and this was all just one sided. If you don't love me back that's fine-"

"Me too," the mumble came from Seungcheol's chest and he finally let go to hear what Jihoon had to say. "I didn't fall in love with you as early as you fell in love with me, I kind of fell for you after overhearing a rumor that you would never reject anyone... I thought it was really nice of you but I also thought that - or well I knew - you were going to get hurt at some point. I asked Wonwoo to go out with you... but then I asked him to stop because it looked all too real, you love Wonwoo-"

"Not as much, nor in the same way, as I love you," Seungcheol interjected.

"But I continued to ask him about you and I told him to keep it a secret because I thought you hated me and this was all just one sided..."

"So I thought you hated me, when this entire time, it was the opposite?" Seungcheol laughed, brushing the side of Jihoon's face with the palm of his hand like they would in the movies.

"And me to you, but it only took us five years to figure out." The reply led them to a comfortable silence despite the congratulatory greetings the students were giving each other. Only when they were walking through the hallway of their apartment complex, hand in hand did they speak again.

"Hey, Jihoon," Seungcheol mentioned in front of the two doors.

"Yeah, Seungcheol?" In a similar moment to the one in the performing arts center, Jihoon looked up to have his lips captured by Seungcheols but this time, it lingered long enough so both of them were content.

"Be my boyfriend?" He asked, moving Jihoon's hair out of the way so he could kiss the other's forehead.

"I didn't perform a song in front of our entire school dedicating it to you for nothing."

"I'll take that as a yes."