"No."

Boos and woos came from the classroom. "Just give it up, Kai. Dude says no."

Jongin ignored the snickering of his swimming varsity team and the judging stares from outside the classroom. He only had his eyes to the guy in front of him, who gazed back in earnest refusal.

A simple but firm 'no.' The fifth one, to be exact.

In the past twenty days, he had been rejected that much. It hardly even matters what he asked. Lunch? No. A movie? No. A game, a study date, a short trip to Kyungsoo's locker? No, no, no. Jongin was beginning to think that 'no' was Kyungsoo's favorite word of the month.

The raucous yowling from the crowd was drowned out by Do Kyungsoo's quiet defiance. He was one difficult guy to woo.

But every story had a nice little twist, and this too had one. Everybody thought that Jongin was whipped like a puppy by a mere guy like Kyungsoo. But that wasn't the case.

Jongin slammed his hand on the desk and towered over him.

Sitting, Kyungsoo looked up, expression calm and unaffected.

Jongin was no longer sure what he was feeling anymore. This situation bothered him.

"But you like me," Jongin hissed with disbelief, not caring that they had audiences. He had never done this, but he was not above using such tactics.

"Kim Jongin, that is enough," the homeroom teacher Ms. Kim said.

Jongin ignored her.

A few weeks ago, he discovered that Do Kyungsoo had been harboring a crush on him for years.

Years.

The information had stunned Jongin. He wanted to confront Kyungsoo and demand why he turned down his offer not once, not twice, but five times.

Jongin didn't fancy himself dense, so what the actual ? Somewhere out there his ancestors might be laughing in their graves.

Leaning down, Jongin stared as hard as he could into Kyungsoo's eyes - the way he would stare down to his opponent. "Am I to understand that you have liked me since 5th grade?"

Like a miracle, the class muted, waiting for an answer.

Kyungsoo put down his ballpoint pen, seeing he was not about to accomplish anything with it now. But the slight tremor in his hand didn't escape Jongin's notice.

Good. It gave Jongin satisfaction that he was affecting Kyungsoo somehow.

"Yes."

"Kai, I said enough. You are to sit down-" Ms. Kim cut in.

"And that I've been the center of your daydreams, night dreams, and fantasies for seven years?" Jongin followed, paying their teacher no heed.

"Yes."

Somebody whistled at Kyungsoo's response.

"And you've written me love letters you were afraid or embarassed to give me?"

Kyungsoo swallowed, but his voice never wavered. "Yes."

"And that when Sunhwa cheated on me, you made a voodoo doll of her?"

A few gasps and snorts came from the classroom.

"Yes."

Jongin took a deep breath, forcing himself to chill, because God forbid Kim Jongin never loses his cool.

"You want to be with me, just as much, if not more than I want to be with you."

A flicker of something darted over Kyungsoo's expression.

"I'll get over it."

AN: There! I hope I hooked you in well enough. This is loosely based on a Pixar short animated film 'In a heartbeat.' Rated M for crude language. Credits to zezehfuh of Custom Collective Free Artworks for the wonderful poster. Subscribe to get updates on the story. I won't hold my story hostage for upvotes and comments or do something equally ridiculous, but I'm honestly going to be motivated to update faster if I get some. Hint, hint. ;-) Alabyu~