Chapter 2

The warmth of Baekhyun’s hands on your back is seeping through the material of your uniform as he pushes you forward, your legs stinging at the pressure.

You let out a quiet groan from the pain and he eases up a bit, but only a bit, before he presses forward again firmly.

You really wish stretches were less painful.

You have your legs spread as far as they can go, leaning forward as Baekhyun sits on his knees behind you and just pushes you as far as your body will allow.

“You’re doing really well,” you hear his, now familiar, murmur from behind you and you feel your ears heat up.

Over the past few weeks you’ve come to terms with the fact that Baekhyun has some sort of affect on you and your blood circulation.

He quickly became a constant in your life, sometimes seeing him more consistently than even Jongdae.

But then again, Jongdae doesn’t run. Ever.

In contrast, Baekhyun and you have fallen into a comfortable routine of morning runs by the river. Most of the time there is barely any conversation during those and a lot of the time you bow out much earlier than Baekhyun due to your declined stamina, but there is a quiet understanding between the two of you. The kind of wordless communication that allows for a comfortable companionship without the need of constant meaningless waffle.

You’ve tucked away some of your fears about this developing acquaintance, in hopes that, if you don’t acknowledge those feelings, they will just not manifest in any shape and potentially threaten the peace of your daily life.

It’s suddenly time to swap positions and Baekhyun lets go, allowing you to finally relieve some of the pressure in your muscles. You carefully turn around, bringing your knees up and wiggling your legs to loosen up as you watch Baekhyun slowly drop to a split and lean forward, resting on his elbows.

Show off.

You grab your bottle of water and just sit in front of him.

“Mr Han told me you’ve signed up for the competition,” Baekhyun says, watching you gulp your water messily.

You bring your bottle down, feeling a little flushed.

“Yeah, I’ll give it a go,” you nod. “Although I might get knocked out in the first round, I think I want to try.”

Baekhyun smiles softly, nodding.

“I’m glad,” he replies.

Mr Han, claps loudly signalling the end of the session and everyone starts getting up slowly.

Baekhyun stands in front of you, still smiling as he nudges your cheek with his index finger.

“Let’s work harder,” he mumbles, before he walks away, leaving you with your hand on your cheek as a light blush creeps in.

~~~

“Wow, so you’re going to fight people?” Jongdae asks, one cheek protruding funnily as he keeps stuffing chocolates in his mouth. “Like, actually fight other people?”

“Yes, calm down you’ll choke” you grunt, taking away the box of sweets from him. “I’ve done it before, it’ll be fine.”

“But it’s been so long,” Jongdae says quietly and you see a flash of worry in his eyes. “And give me those back, I don’t even remember the last time you gave me homemade sweets.”

“I’ve been going to practice more and exercising more, besides I’m in the lower categories anyway,” you say as you slide the little box back towards him.

You sit in a momentary silence as Jongdae swallows his food, his eyes trained on you.

“Do you feel better?” He asks, his voice low and timid.

You meet his eyes, wide and filled with care and affection and your heart swells.

“Yeah, definitely.” You reply, smiling goofily at your friend. “Did making the sweets give me away?”

Jongdae giggles at your happiness, but shakes his head, “That was only a part of it.” He leans forward, pinching your cheek happily and making you whine.

“Do you want me to pick you up tonight?” Jongdae asks as he settles back in his chair.

“If you feel like it,” you shrug. “It’s just on campus anyway.”

~~~

“Well this is a bit over the top, isn’t it?” You ask, as you cling to Jongdae’s elbow.

“Minseok mentioned that Junmyeon is very pleased that they won this season, so I guess this is how that happiness manifested,” he says, his eyes still roaming the facade of the house you’re about to enter.

There is a giant hand written sign that reads ‘WINNERS!’ right across the entire first floor and it’s decorated with lights all over it. It’s the kind of thing that truly only Junmyeon would tolerate and even encourage and the team knows better than to oppose their captain when it comes to these things.

For a moment you’re a bit worried about what the party is going to be like, but your anxiousness is quickly dissipated as you walk in.

The music is not loud, but just a pleasant hum in the background allowing for the scattered little groups of people to have comfortable conversations. It’s not too packed and nobody is wildly drunk yet, which is always a good sign.

Jongdae takes you to the kitchen where you find Minseok, who looks like he’s trying to talk Junmyeon into opening the cupboard where he’s hiding the hard liquor. They both see you immediately and you can’t help but notice the thankful look on Junmyeon’s face as Minseok’s attention is immediately diverted.

Minseok gives you a quick hug before he’s swept into a conversation with Jongdae, discussing important things, such as why there aren’t any Doritos, even though Jongdae explicitly asked for them.

Junmyeon rolls his eyes, smiling at you, he hugs you warmly and you giggle happily.

“Hey there,” he greets you softly, before letting go. He keeps his arm around your shoulders as you slowly follow Minseok and Jongdae back into the living room.

“Congratulations on the win, captain.” You say, nudging him gently in the side and making him laugh loudly.

“Thanks sunshine,” he replies, his arm around your shoulders tightening its hold. “I heard you’ll be competing soon as well?”

“How do you know that already?” You ask, snapping your head to the side to look up to him.

He looks at you with the corner of his eyes as he smiles.

“I have my sources,” he says smugly.

This prompts you to pinch his stomach and he buckles over, both of you bursting in laughter. He calms down quickly and leans in slightly as you both watch Jongin tell the story of how Junmyeon scored the winning goal.

“Baekhyun and I have some classes together, I asked him how you’re doing.” Junmyeon says quietly. “You know, he never comes to these parties, but I’m willing to bet some serious money he’ll be here tonight.”

You scrunch your eyebrows in confusion and look at him questioningly. Junmyeon looks at you too, his signature blinding smile plastered on his face.

Just as you’re about to nag for some information, your phone buzzes in your hand and you look at the screen to see a text from Jongdae.

‘Hot guy alert’

As you try to figure out what he means by that someone behind you yells loudly and both you and Junmyeon turn to see Sehun walking in, arms in the air with bottles o