Setting the Seed.
Of Soccer Balls and Broken Noses
At 2:45 Oh Sehun walks into the shop, stack of textbooks lodged under his arm, looking thoroughly pissed off.
"The , Jongin." He says, dumping the pile of books onto the table in front of Jongin.
The tanned boy had ended up staying in the café all day filling out forms and trying to harmonize with both Kyungsoo and Chanyeol as the latter practiced on his guitar.
"First you ditch me last night and leave me with Jongdae, which in its own is a pretty move, then you don't come to class today?" Sehun throws his arms up, "And, what kind of doesn't answer a text these days? I saw the blue ticks, you er."
Jongin snorts, resting his cheek on his fist as he flashes a brilliant grin up at Sehun.
"I was up all night ing Luhan," He says, voice sickly-sweet.
"What?" Sehun's face goes white and his jaw drops open, "You two slept together?"
"Yeah, we did." Jongin's tongue wets his bottom lip and even just watching from afar, a shiver worms it's way down my spine, "And it was spectacular, by the way, I must have felt so good for him that he started speaking Chinese, right gēgē?"
My face flushes from my cheeks to my chest immediately and I blink my wide eyes at the two boys who turn toward me.
"Listen, I don't know if you guys realize this, but we have a no drink no drama policy here." I say, quickly straightening my apron and turning to go into the back room.
"Hold up a ing second!" Sehun bellows.
"Shut the hell up." Kyungsoo growls, gesturing toward me, "If you're going to yell, get your asses back behind the counter."
I raise my middle finger in Kyungsoo's direction, silently thanking God for blessing us with an empty café at this hour, then disappear into the back and taking a seat at the table.
Jongin appears first, lazy smile on his face a great contrast to Sehun's tight lips and furrowed brow.
The tanner boy jumps up on the table, sliding his way over to me and taking my chin between his fingers, leaning down to kiss me. For a moment, I'm caught up in the memory of the night before, eyelids fluttering as I return his kiss.
Sehun whines and Jongin snorts, pulling away from me to cover his mouth and laugh heartily.
"Sorry, sorry." He says through his fingers, "You're really too easy, Sehunnie."
"What the , Jongin." Sehun huffs, folding his arms over his chest.
"Yeah, what the Jongin." I mutter, leaning back in the chair, "No playing with me when you're messing with him."
"Sorry, Lu." Jongin grins, nudging my shoulder with his palm.
Sehun's gaze flickers between us, lips pursing, "So you guys actually had ?"
Jongin slides off the table and takes a seat, looking up at Sehun and beginning to explain how last night happened.
I watch the pale boy's blank face, giving a small smile when he finally takes a seat at the table opposite me. As he listens to Jongin talk, his eyes turn to mine and the corners of his eyes crease. , he's actually really cute.
"So are you two like a thing then?" He asks when Jongin is finished talking.
I shake my head, "One night only."
"Yeah," Jongin chuckles, "Although I wouldn't exactly object to it happening again."
"Disgusting." Sehun snorts, rolling his eyes, "Why not? You both seem pretty perfect for each other."
Jongin sighs, looking over at me and I know instantly he's about to blow my secret to the suddenly very attractive kid in front of us.
"Well, you see, my dear Sehun--"
"Jongin, I swear to god."
"Luhan isn't into me like that, it would seem I'm not his type--"
"I'm not kidding."
"He happens to have a huge, hulking crush on Professor Wu."
"You motherer."
Sehun's jaw drops, "You mean my Literature teacher?"
"Yeah, hilarious right?" Jongin smacks my shoulder as he laughs, ignoring my glare.
"Why?" Sehun blinks, "What's so attractive about him?"
I sigh, sliding one leg over the other, "He's blonde, he's extraordinarily tall and he's got huge hands. You know what they say."
Jongin laughs loudly, smacking me again. Sehun lifts his right hand and stretches out his fingers.
"If you're not busy Luhan, Kris is here and he's asking for you."
Kyungsoo pokes his head around the door and before he can speaking Jongin is up and out the goddamn door, throwing himself over the countertop and welcoming Kris with a terrifyingly wide smile.
"Oh, Jesus Christ." I mutter, pinching the bridge of my nose until I can't take the pain anymore.
"You're ed." Sehun says.
~
Thanks to Jongin's inability to shut the up, the four of us end up sitting around one of the tables, knees bumping and leaving me desperately avoiding making eye contact with Kris.
"So," Jongin practically drapes himself across the table as he addresses Kris, "Are you single?"
"Oh my god." I sink lower into my chair, trying to disappear completely.
Kris' laugh is deep and melodic and I feel my blush spreading slowly, but surely, up my chest.
"Isn't that a little inappropriate to ask a teacher?" One of his thick eyebrows up.
"I'll be a free man by the end of the week," Jongin smiles, "Besides, I'm not asking for my sake."
Sehun shoots me a pointed stare, and I catch myself before I can tell him to off.
"I am single." Kris says. My heart soars.
"Interesting." Jongin taps his fingers rhythmically on the table, "So are you straight?"
I almost choke on my own saliva.
"Jongin, you can't just ask people that." I grumble.
"Sure I can." He replies, raising an eyebrow at me, "Everyone's free and entitled to their own uality these days, Lulu."
I want to kick him in the shin, but the possibility that I might accidentally hit Kris' leg instead keeps me from doing so.
"I'm not a big fan of labels, but I'm straight." Kris stops for a moment, "Well, I've only ever been with girls. Some guys are quite pretty."
"I get it. I feel the same." Jongin nods.
I have to cover my mouth to stop myself from bringing up the fact that Jongin bottomed for me last night. That's something I don't really want Kris to find out.
Ever.
"Wouldn't you say Luhan is quite pretty?" Sehun suddenly says, "For a guy he's got a very beautiful face."
I splutter, my face burning.
"He is very nice looking." Kris agrees.
Oh my god. Oh my ing god.
"Nice looking?" Sehun probes, his expression still flat, but his eyes seem to coax the words out of Kris' mouth.
"Okay," The taller man says, "Yes, he's just about the most beautiful person I've ever seen."
My mouth hangs open, eyes stretching wide as Kris winks at me and then stands up, bidding us all goodbye before leaving the shop.
"Phase one, complete." Jongin and Sehun high-five.
I could just about strangle them both, but my complete and utter shock has me at a loss.
"Jongin told me all about his plan to get you a date with the professor, you know, in order to make up for breaking your nose." Sehun says, "And I totally accept. It'll be a great challenge."
Finally, I manage to in a deep breath, turning my gaze to the two younger boys. It's not like I don't really want them to do this for me. If there's even the slightest possibility I could get a date with Kris out of this whole situation, I'm definitely not about to reject the offer. But somewhere deep inside of me, I feel like this could be a tad manipulative and I'm not quite sure yet if I want to be associated with that kind of behaviour.
"Look," I say, "If you want to do this for me because you feel it might lead me to actually forgiving you, then go ahead. But know this, if Kris asks me some weird story about something you made up, I'm not playing along. I'm not too keen on the idea that I'd end up dating a guy because he thinks I'm something I'm not."
Sehun purses his lips and nods slowly, Jongin sliding his arms around my neck as he leans into me.
"How decent of you." He says, pressing his forehead against my cheek, "We promise. No far-fetched stories. Right, Sehunnie?"
"If it'll get me in your good books again, then okay." The paler of the two nods, gaze sharp.
I don't ask why Sehun is so obsessed with the idea of me hating him. I don't think I'm ready to face the fact that this kid actually likes me and I don't want to be the one to crush him by telling him I'm not interested in emotionally distant, blank faced brunets.
"We got soccer practice in twenty minutes. A lot of people have been asking about you, you know." Jongin mumbles, his face pressed against my neck now.
"Ah, ." I mumble, "I keep forgetting to show my face."
"So you'll come and watch?" I feel Jongin kissing my skin and is it getting hot in here?
"Yeah, yeah, I'll come. Please stop trying to give me a hickey."
"Sorry."
The three of us stand and I tell Kyungsoo to close early today as the only customers are the odd student here and there.
He raises an eyebrow at the black haired boy who has attached himself to my side, but says nothing, slipping his phone out his pocket and dialing Chanyeol's number.
Both boys pick up their bags and we head out the café together, walking across the street toward the in front of the school grounds.
"Oh, and one more thing," I have to say it before I forget, "Try not to use my face as a goal this time."
omg you guys, this story just hit over 100 subscribers and I'm so happy!
Thank you to those who have been patient since the promised re-write in 2014, and to those of you who have just started this journey, thank you too!
I'm so hapoy to finally be getting somewhere. This story will probably have about 10 - 15 chapters and we've just touched the tip of the main plot!
Keep an eye out!
I love you all!
T x
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