“……….. ……………… ………..huh?”

“Like I said! Please accept this!” Bowing deeper, Sehun his hands out even further, his fingers tightly grasping the edges of the delicate envelope he was holding out.

The borders of the soft pink paper covered in dancing hearts…

The gentle letters in the centre spelling out Tao’s name in polite, exquisite writing..

The faint wisp of some flowery fragrance wafting up as he pushed it even closer to Tao.

“……… huh?!?”    

This…
Ho..ly…., this was……. that, right?? A LOVE letter???!!

Eeeeehhhh!!?!?!??

But….

But……….. !

“C’mon, take it~”

“No way!”  Snapping up out of his frozen astonishment, Tao stumbled backwards, clutching his bag to his chest so it, and his desk, was between himself and the classmate who had apparently.. totally.. lost it.

“…eh?”

“I’m not taking that!!”

“…..HUH?!” looking… actually..ing outraged, Sehun snapped up himself, straightening out of his bow to snarl at him. “What!? Take it!”

“………NO!! Are you crazy? No way!”

“…..Take it!”

“I don’t want it!”

“The , just take it already!!”

“No!!!”

“Take it, you –” Glaring in absolute super villian-esque aggression, Sehun stepped forward, his knee jostling the desk as he slammed the letter into Tao’s chest.

“…………………..” Panicking totally now – what in actual is happening...! – Tao stumbled backwards hastily –taking a step back – and then another –

And before he knew it, he was sprinting his way out the classroom, indifferent to the desks and chairs he was banging into willy-nilly; hurtling into the corridor, pounding halfway through the window lined passage before he could slow down enough to catch his breath. There were still people hanging around though school had officially let out - the clubs and stuff were just getting started, so the hallways were filled with bunches of people and clusters of violins; guitars and paint-tins jostling for space on a convenient bench while the two rival Newspaper clubs fought for territory beside them; half-made busts of Einstein being totted around by kids gingerly high stepping over lacrosse sticks and baseball bats; the Janitor yelling at the Cooking club kids while a bunch of seniors marched past waving wooden swords- not to mention all the seemingly infinite mountains of assorted other paraphernalia Tao had to weave around, and definitely definitely not let anyone know –

Eh!? Wait.. hold on a moment… why the is it me?? Why should I care, I’m not the one who…

The guy who…

Wait, why am I even running, if anything-

Ah –

The sound of footsteps suddenly echoed out behind him – and out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the blond-red head tearing through the corridor after him, actually waving that damn letter in the air! “OY YOU!!  GET BACK HERE N TAKE- “ 

Without even waiting to hear the rest of Sehun’s yell, Tao took off again – what the is wrong with him! If anyone sees that, they’re gonna think…. Even about me!!!

------

“…ah…ha…..ha…  ha…”
Panting for breath, Tao crouched down on the stair, holding onto the railing for support. Damn.. he’d run all the way up to the fourth floor in panic, then across to the connecting block and down the East stairs to the ground floor again way at the other end of the school– ahh… well, there was no way that idiot would follow him right out here–

“Tao?”

“…ha….” Lifting his head, Tao looked up at his best friend, who was leaning down to prod a finger in his shoulder, curiosity and concern mingling in his expression. “What’re you.. playin’ cops and robbers or something?”

“….Fanfan… ah..eh-what…are you doing all the way here, I thought you were going to-”

“OYYYY!!!!!”

Gasping, Tao snapped up – no way!!! – The guy – no, the total wackjob, was peering down the stairwell at him from three storeys up, leaning out into empty space so his hair caught the sunlight to glint fiery. “!!” Leaping up to his feet, he grabbed Fanfan’s hand – “Eh??Er-oy!”- and, hoisting his bag higher up his shoulder he blasted off, dragging a protesting YiFan behind him. “Hey!! Wh- ouch – oy!! What the hell, why are we-”

“Just shuttup and RUN!!!”

“Huuuuuuuhhhhh!!??? Why the fu-”
“OOOYYYYYYY DON’T YOU DARE RUN AWAY YOU FREAK, GET BACK HERE!!!”

“YOU’RE THE FREAK!!! GO AWAY!! STOP CHASING ME!!” Without breaking stride Tao yelled back in reply to the bouncing cries and crashing footsteps that were thumping down behind them.

------

“Tao! What are you doing, that’s coffee!”

“…eh…? Ah- AH, sorry!”

“…..honestly, what’s with you today, are you feeling alright?”

“Ha! Tao-nii is just spacey as usual~~”

“You shuttup!! No, I’m fine, mom, just not very hungry…. May I be excused?”

“..Eh..okay… but are you sure you’re alright?..You skipped Wushu today too, didn’t you, and you never take a day off.... C’mere..” Gently, his mom pulled him down, pressing her forehead to his. “Hmm… you don’t seem to have a fever…”

“Hehe, see? I’m fi~ne, only kinda tired… I’ll just bathe quickly and go to sleep, ne~” Smiling reassuringly at her, Tao deposited his plates in the sink before sticking his tongue out and pulling a face at his little cousin Kwang, and padding his way upstairs.

------

Fwrruusshhh!!

With a thump, Tao slammed face first into his bed, letting the pillow and covers billow out to bury him.

Aahhh…..

Little icy trickles of water ran down his neck to soak into the towel he still had draped around his shoulders.

Dammit!! What the hell was with that guy!
Even though Tao and Sehun had been in the same class for almost half a year now, they really didn’t know each other all that well – they had totally different circles, different interests, different clubs…even their friends of friends of friends were different people! In all these months they’d been in the same class had they even exchanged a single word to each other? Maybe a nod of recognition in the hallways..or something, but they’d never ever had a single conversation, Tao was sure of that!

But even so, he ought to at least have known I wasn’t…well… gay, right!!??? Sure I don’t have a girlfriend right now, but that’s just coz I broke up with Mio last month…

Wait, for that matter, didn’t Sehun have a girlfriend too? Yeah..that’s right, what’s her name, Rina from the next class… ? Did they break up….

Aarrghhh but even so, why me!???

Do I give off gay vibes or something?! Why the would he just… He doesn’t even know me, how could he just..

And is he crazy???!! What if I told people, then wouldn’t everyone know he’s like… into…. That..

And what, he suddenly breaks up with Rina, decides he’s a homo, and then goes for ME??!!! Why me??????

Ahhhh just thinking about it…

Those fingers gripping that pretty envelope, trembling and white…

Ah, that’s right, I had to make up some story for Fanfan too, telling him he was chasing me coz I’d skipped out on Cleaning Duty…

Ehehe, damn though, that kid’s kinda fast…. And so persistent!!!! I wouldn’t mind scouting him for the Wushu Club, ehehe…

Ah!! That is, if it weren’t for…

Well….

The way he’d bowed so low at first, so polite and formal – and then gone total aggressiveness when Tao hadn’t taken it, honestly…

It was…just a bit…..cu –

WAIT, What!? What the HELL – no it wasn’t, it was NOT at all, it was just WEIRD and GROSS, WTF am I….

AAaaaarrrghhhhh! That’s it, I’m not thinking about this anymore, go to sleep, me!

------

Earlier that day [lunchtime to be precise]-

“Hmm..?” Sehun paused, slurping down the last of his juice, before crushing the carton in his fist. “Mai-chan, watcha doin’ here?”

“Ah!” Startled, the pretty brunette who was crouching by the door of his classroom jumped – before sighing. “What, it’s just Sehun… don’t scare me like that..”

“Eh, Whaddya mean ‘just’ .. and what are you doing, hiding there like that?”

“Please don’t mind me, continue on, shoo shoo.”

“….oohhh? Ehehe hehehehe – when you act that suspiciously like you’re hiding something, it only makes me wanna find out more~~”

“……..sdfhkadjj.”

“Ah! Ah ah ah are you waiting for someone? AHHH could it be~~~??? Possibly~~??? Do you like someone in my class!??”

“DFAKJSRRGGRRRRR!!” Almost roaring Mai sprang up to grab onto his collar – before hauling him at top speed right to the end of the hallway, to a vacant corner near the music room.

“Oyy, stoppit, you’re crumpling my clothes.”

“YOU!!! YOU ksjdhaksjhd blurting out something like that right where anyone could hear, do you want to die!!???”

“………. Bwahha hahahaaa hahahaha! I was right! Is that why you were hiding there ninja-ing like you were cosplaying naruto only without the costumes~~” Dissolving into laughter, Sehun bent double clutching his stomach - making Mai, long familiar with him, click her tongue and back away knowing full well her anger wouldn’t work.

“So..? Who’s the poor unfortunate?” Wiping his eyes, Sehun finally leaned back.

“arrmmm….ermm..”

“oh c’mon~~~” pouting, he bent down to flick a lock of hair off her forehead, making her yank backwards and stick her tongue out at him. “You know I won’t let it go till you tell me~~”

“it’s just….that….erm…”

“Yes~~~ yes yes yes yes???”

“……o”

“Huh?”

“Tao! Zitao, okay, it’s Tao!!”

“…..Eehhh, that Wushu guy??”

“…erm…mmrhm….” Blushing brilliantly, Mai slammed her face into her palms.

“Eehhh.. whaaahahahhaaa, I didn’t know you were into that type~~”

“….. Huuuhhhh!? What the hell’s that supposed to mean!!??”

“Whoa!! Chill, I didn’t mean it in a bad way, just, ya know… that jock-type…”

“…..he’s not..” pouting, she pushed her fingers together, looking away from Sehun. “He’s not like that, even though he…urmm..plays sports and stuff, he’s actually… really…sweet and…ermm….gentle -
kyyaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!”

“…Bwahhaaaaa what’s with that, you yourself said it, what’re you getting embarrassed for now?”

“aksjdhkjhasdkkd- asd- you – “

“Then? Why were you hiding behind the door?”

“Aarrrhh, that’s it exactly!”

“Huh?”

“See, I wanted to – ah..that is..…ermm…”

“Ya want me to call him out or something, tell him you wanna-”

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Flying at him, Mai slammed her hands over his mouth, steam almost visibly gushing out her ears.

Laughing even harder, Sehun pulled her wrists off. “Well, what then? Are you planning on stalking him all year or something~~Uwaaa~~~ Creepy!”

“No! No, I just… I was gonna confess, okay!! I came to school early today, coz he’s on classroom duty, right? I thought I could meet him in the morning before anyone else showed up… but… -”

“But?”

“But right then, right as I was about to go into your classroom, my stomach started growling… like..loudly… - OY! DON’T LAUGH! I was just too nervous to eat breakfast, okay! Shuttup!

Humph!

Well then, obviously I couldn’t go up to him right then, so I waited in the corridor after third period when you guys were changing to the music room, to waylay him? And I almost succeeded, but that friend of his was with him and…

And then at lunch, I was going to, I waited around the corner from the washrooms when he went in, and when I heard his footsteps I slipped out – I was so nervous I couldn’t even look at him, I just blurted out “I like you, please go out with me!!” – but I was looking at his feet, ya know, looking down, and it suddenly hit me, like, green tips? And then I looked up and it wasn’t even him, it was – “

“Omggggg – “

“Yeah, okay…. it was Suga Senpai…”

“OMGGGGGG BWAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHHHAHHAHAHAH HAHAHAHAHHAAAAAA-”

Sniffling, Mai raised a scowling, teary face at him. “Shuttup! It was so awkward, saying.. “ah…sorry… I thought you were someone else…” plus you know what he’s like – “

Sehun, literally rolling on the floor, nodded, hooting and howling with laughter.

“SHUTTUP!!! Honestly, it’s been like this all week..ahhhh…. It’s like Fate is just against us..” Tragically, she sniffed hard – and still grinning, but kinda serious now, Sehun sat up, reaching to pat her head. “Hey now, don’t give up so easily~~ Look, you just have to get him alone, right? And..er..make sure it’s the right person…. Like I said, I can go call him out for you if you want~”

“No…no I don’t have the spine to tell him to his face now, after..after….”

“Ah ah ah don’t cry, c’mon kid – look, if you can’t tell him, why don’t you write it down? I’ll even go give it to him for you~~”

“…..Ah…” lifting her head up from where she’d been sniffling into the oversized, pulled down sleeves of her pullover, Mai looked right at him, her eyes gorgeously dewy, her cheeks flushed so prettily Sehun beamed at her, confident no one could resist her cuteness – ha! That Tao guy’s so in the bag, if she could just tell him!! “You…you’d do that for me?”

“Haa!? Of course! What are you saying, what are childhood-friends for, huh~~~ Now stop crying, and go write a cute sweet loo~ve letter~~  and give it to me, I’ll give it to him~~”

“…Whaaa~~~ Sehun’s the best!” Happily, Mai threw herself onto him, squeezing him as tight as she could – making Sehun laugh again, reassuringly patting her back. “Yeah, yeah, aren’t I though~~”

“Booo~~” Pulling back at his superior tone, she stuck her tongue out at him, before skipping up to her feet. “Come out as soon as the bell goes after school, okay, I’ll give it you – you have to hurry up, before he goes to his club!”

“Yeah yeah~~”

“Don’t forget!!”

“Yeah yeah~~ Don’ sweat it~~”

“Um! Ehehe~~~ ehehe~~~ he he he~~~” Laughing to herself, she danced her way down the corridor back to her class, leaving Sehun shaking his head and grinning at her. Mai was always really cute when she was in love!!

Ehehe plus, now she’d totally owe him one, ohohoho~~

I wonder if I should make her treat me at that new doughnut place near the station… Plotting busily, Sehun got up too, making his way back to his own class.