for the Kai to my Soo,

Yujin, happy 9 months // ily rat, I apologise for the failed!crack, failed!humour, failed!fluff and failed!everything in general. I’M LITERALLY SCREAMING I DIDN’T MEAN FOR THINGS TO ESCALATE THE WAY THEY DID AT THE END AND I’M JUST GOING TO SOAK MYSELF IN HOLY WATER.

Notice Me (Senpai)

[WORD COUNT: 5.1K ]

The dining room in their shared dorm would’ve been considered spacious to others, yet the presence of twelve males pushing past each other in an attempt to get to the seats that they wanted meant that the space seemed cramped, too small to occupy the long flailing limbs and many voices that reverberated and bounced against the walls. Even for the rowdy group that had grown accustomed to being around so many individuals at once, it was hard to tell where things ended and sentences began, words getting lost between the many conversations that took place.

Jongin had been scowling as Sehun sat in the seat beside him – the same seat he had been saving for Kyungsoo – and had been taken it upon himself to patiently explain, in great depth, why Sehun would have to get up off of his backside and find another seat, rubbing his temples in exasperation as the younger remained stubborn and determined to stay seated as he was, when it caught his eye.

‘It’ being the sight of Kyungsoo standing at the kitchen counter smiling up at Chanyeol who, with what appeared to be familiarity and practiced ease, reached down to ruffle his hair and gaze into his eyes. Jongin’s eye twitched as he watched Kyungsoo barely contain his laughter as he slapped the taller’s hands away, only pausing to observe the damage he’d inflicted as Chanyeol whined about how it “hurts so much, is it possible to dislocate your hand, hyung?”

“Jongin?” His eyes were torn from the sight as Sehun jabbed him in the cheek, fingers causing Jongin to wince as they scrapped against his skin.

“You’re really pushing it, Oh Sehun.” Jongin hissed, closing his eyes to silently fume and deeply inhale instead of reaching across to smack Sehun’s head like he desperately wanted to. But doing so would only bring attention to them, and Kyungsoo seeing him in his current whiny state wasn’t something he wanted. Nodding to himself whilst muttering about how that would be a terrible idea, he was oblivious to the look of distaste Kris shot in his direction and the way Jongdae and Sehun snickered and elbowed each other as he sat up and puffed his chest, hands subconsciously reaching up to run through his (stylishly) messy hair. Unable to handle seeing ‘Kai’, the man who flittered across the stage rolling his hips, smirk tugging at the corner of his lips as he moved to the beat of the music , transform into the self-conscious mess in front of him, Sehun let out a laugh before slapping a hand over his mouth.

Jongdae, who after snorting at the sight broke off from his silent conversation (eye telepathy as he mentally referred to it as; because that was the sort of thing Jongdae did) with Sehun said, “Geez, Jong, what crawled up your ?”

Jongin was saved the trouble of answering as Jongdae continued, “Oh wait, that would be nothing considering Kyungsoo hasn’t been paying much attention to you these days, has he?”

Jongin’s eye twitched more severely than it had the time before as Jongdae cackled at his own crude comment.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jongdae, nor do I understand why that matters because I don’t even like Kyung-“

“Jongin, did your eye just have a spasm? Do you want some eye drops?” Jongin’s attempt to deny holding intimate feelings for his roommate was cut off as Junmyeon shouted at him from the other end of the table, causing the other members to stop chattering away and peer at him with obvious interest instead. He felt the tips of his ears burn in embarrassment as in his peripheral vision he saw Kyungsoo’s head turn towards him, and had it been any other time he would’ve internally gushed over how cute Kyungsoo became when his doe-eyes widened in amusement.

Unfortunately, Junmyeon’s remark led to Chanyeol skipping his way over to the trio, vaguely reminding Jongin of a gangly puppy with a wounded leg, with an excited yell of “Your eye twitched, Jong? Cool, mine does that too! I heard it was-“

Jongin slumped further down in his chair, completely missing the fond, heart-shaped smile upon Kyungsoo’s lips as he stared from afar before turning towards the dishes he had cooked for the members – something he found himself doing quite often these days when they all had time to sit down and share a meal together after having discovered how relaxing it was, and the knack he had for it.

“Would someone help me carry these over to the table?” he softly called, frowning as he realised he would face some difficulties trying to juggle all of the plates by himself.

Jongin almost tripped as he sprung out of his seat immediately to assist Kyungsoo, who thanked him and smiled so radiantly at him that Jongin’s heart palpitated and a strangled noise escaped his throat. He had every reason to because Kyungsoo was smiling so widely that his usually blank eyes had been squeezed into small crescents and Jongin had to fight the urge to scoop him into his arms and cuddle him right there and then.

The pair missed the high fives and slips of paper being shared around the table behind their backs – as well as the whispered “Who even mentioned anything about liking someone?” that coaxed out sniggers.

[~]

After that embarrassing episode at dinner, things had remained relatively quiet as members begun leaving at odd hours for their own individual appointments and schedules, sleep becoming the top priority once they set foot into the dorm before being shuffled out of the door once again by their managers. Yet, a week later they had gathered together in the room paneled with mirrors, dressed down in sweats and comfortable clothing for dancing. The choreographer’s counts flew above their heads, each member moving in perfect harmony to the bass of the music with light perspiration beginning to form across their faces. Jongin and Yixing led them at the forefront having learnt the choreography quicker than the rest. It wasn’t perfect but their dancing ability was more than enough to make up for their hardly noticeable slip-ups and mistakes.  It was tough, and once they were told they were they were able to take a break they slumped down, massaging their aching muscles and limbs in half-hearted attempts to minimise the pain they would feel at the end of the day.

Jongin’s breath caught as he saw Kyungsoo shrug out of his hoodie and was left standing in his fitted white tee, sighing contentedly as he pressed a towel to his forehead with his eyes closed.

Which wouldn’t have been a problem – had it not been for the muscles flexing in the elders arms as he moved. Jongin’s mouth gaped; he had been aware of the fact that Kyungsoo had been working out with Minseok and Baekhyun to prepare for the upcoming showcase and yet, he hadn’t expected it to produce such results.

Jongin shuffled uncomfortably as a sudden warmth rushed to his southern region.

Please no, not now…

Jongdae and Sehun had once again been observing the two, tearing up from containing their laughter as they watched Jongin seemingly debate on whether to move over to Kyungsoo or take care of his ‘little problem’. As he looked down at himself and sighed before moving to waddle over to the door, hands modestly clasped in front of his own crotch, Jongdae threw his head and howled with laughter. The other members hardly flinched, used to his unexplained outbursts.

“Jongin? Could you teach me how to do this step?”

Jongin’s great escape was put on hold as he was stopped by a frowning Tao who had been attempting to pop and lock his body despite the choreographer telling them that they could rest for the time being - only to fail miserably as he struggled to twist his limbs the way the choreography demanded. Afraid of being a burden on the rest of the group, he decided to turn to Jongin for help.

“Huh?” Jongin blinked at him, unable to comprehend how Tao could have such horrible timing.

“Could you demonstrate this part of the choreography for me one more time?”

Quickly remembering Kyungsoo mentioning he likes caring people that make an effort to look after others, Jongin loudly announced his agreement. He resisted the urge to fist pump as he peeked over at Kyungsoo and noticed that he was looking in their direction, momentarily forgetting the growing tent in his pants.

“This won’t do,” Jongdae muttered, his chin. “Chanyeol, get your over here.”

“Friendly reminder that you’re only two months older than me, hyung” Chanyeol sniffed with added emphasis on the ‘hyung’ part of his sentence.

“Shut up, I have a job for you, boy.”

“Jongdae, we aren’t in the mafia…”

Giving Sehun the stink-eye, Jongdae turned back towards Chanyeol and placed and motioned for him to come closer and squat.

“See that?” He jerked his head in the direction of Tao and Jongin who were going through the dance moves step-by-step. “Tell me what you see.”

“Tao and Jon- holy does he have a ?” An impish smile crept its way onto Chanyeol’s face. “Wow, I guess Jongin does have his priorities straight after all.”

“I’m not going to tell you how stupid you sound, just go over to Kyungsoo and make Jongin jealous or something.”

Chanyeol saluted Jongdae in mockery before sauntering his way over to Kyungsoo who was fidgeting around with his phone. Kyungsoo immediately greeted him with a smile and the two soon fell into easy conversation with the occasional laughter at Chanyeol’s antics.

Gaping at the sight of ‘that bloody noodle Pork Chanyerl’ once again hanging around his Kyungsoo, he quickly finished up with Tao and sent him off to bug Kris (or whatever it was Tao did with his free time) in order to snatch him away from Chanyeol. His line of vision was blocked, however, as Sehun and Luhan literally appeared before his very eyes (Sehun having recruited Luhan to join in on the fun.)

“I quite enjoyed seeing your ding dong down there flopping around.” Sehun casually mentioned as Jongin physically wheezed at such a statement, cheeks reddening as his face contorted in horror. With a squawk, he moved for the door with thoughts of where the nearest cliff was already circulating in his head. Or, if not, he could always move to Mexico, rent out a room in a village with a population count of 400 and change his name to ‘Juan Pablo’. Jongin bitterly thought about how it’s not like Kyungsoo would miss him anyway; the elder barely glanced at him these days.

He had only made it one step when he was tugged back by the pair – who he would now refer to as demons –  and was met with serious faces as opposed to the toothy grins he had bore witness to mere seconds before.

“I know a quick and easy way to get rid of your problem, though.” Luhan began and Jongin abashedly leaned forwards to hear more.

Luhan paused for anticipation, Sehun miming drum rolls over Jongin’s head, before he leaned forwards and whispered with all seriousness, “Junmyeon’s feet”.

Jongin’s deflated like a punctured balloon.

Head reeling and unable to form words that explained the way he felt at that very moment (though he did know it would consider a ton of cursing), he shot the pair a death glare and shoved his middle finger up at them before he stalked off out of the room. Jongdae giggled with glee from where he lay on the floor.

Kyungsoo, who had been watching the exchange with furrowed eyebrows but was unable to hear or make sense of whatever was said, frowned as he looked between the laughing trio and the door Jongin had just disappeared through repeatedly.

“When will you let Jongin live?” Luhan mused; though the smile on his face made it clear he found the situation just as amusing as Sehun did.

“Never.” Sehun replied, arms reaching forwards to wrap around the smaller’s waist as he rested his chin upon his head.

Jongin was still fuming when the choreographer entered the room once more and called for the members to get into the formation. In