.

“Will you get the hell away from me!?”

Jaejin yelled at the top of his lungs when he couldn’t take it anymore, thrashing his arms in the air in a failing attempt to send Seunghyun flying into some wall away from him. The object of his irritation was currently standing comfortably to his side, his face leaning too close to Jaejin’s to be normal as he hovered over the older’s head of mahogany hair.

“Hyung, stop moving too much!” he yelled back when one of Jaejin’s hands smacked his nose. He caught his arms after much difficulty and managed to lock them at his sides, before reclaiming his previous position and resumed sniffing his head, much to Jaejin’s agitation. He pulled his arms from his grip and crossed them over his chest as he pierced holes through the chalkboard in front of him with his eyes.

Key, who had been quietly enjoying the scene before him with the most amused smirk on his face, snickered on the chair next to Jaejin, effectively earning him his best friend’s glare.

“What the hell Kim Kibum!? You are supposed to be helping me here!”

“What, you can’t blame me. This is too amusing to watch.” The blond shrugged casually before smirking at the lanky underclassman. “Hey, Seunghyun-ssi, what does Jaejin smell like, huh?”

Jaejin was so sure he smelled of sticky sweat since they had just played soccer during lunch break. The sun had been scorching and it was horribly hot outside the buildings as summer gradually approached. On usual basis, Jaejin would not even dare to stay under the heat for more than a few seconds; he deemed himself to be tanned and the last thing he wanted was for his skin to grow darker due to excessive ultraviolet treatment.

Before lunch break though, a light bulb suddenly popped over his head and he had the brilliant idea that the annoying Seunghyun would probably stop clinging to him if he started smelling sweaty and dirty. And so he himself initiated the soccer match under the blazing sun.

Although just thirty minutes later, his theory proved invalid as Seunghyun still sniffed him as thoroughly as ever. And now for some reason, he was feeling a tad too hot in particular areas as around his neck and face.

“Mmmm...” the younger inhaled deeply and Jaejin swallowed hard. “So sweet.” he murmured and that did it for both Key and Jaejin, the blond bursting in laughter while Jaejin turned beet red in embarrassment.

“Enough! I’m not taking any of this anymore!” Jaejin yelled again as he bolted up and out of the room in a flash, leaving Seunghyun who helplessly followed his figure until he disappeared through the door and Key who was barely containing his laughter behind.

It was supposed to be a passing phase, Seunghyun’s to his scent. That was what he and another underclassman who was apparently his childhood friend, Choi Minhwan, had explained about his weird fixation to scents.

It usually lasts for about a month, and then he gets obsessed with another smell. When that happens, he won’t bother you anymore.

But it had already been three months eversince Song Seunghyun started stalking him and sniffing him in every tiny opportunity he got and this of his hasn’t disappeared yet! He would sneak up behind him from out of nowhere, he would stick his nose close to his neck, he would hold on to him to make sure he doesn’t inch away. Jaejin was growing more and more frustrated because no matter how he looked at it, it was bizarre and it was such a erted obsession.

“Yo, Jaejinnie!”

While he treaded absentmindedly through the third floor corridor, Jaejin heard someone call his name and as he turned around, he caught two familiar faces down the door of the classroom he just passed through.

“You look scary, dude. What’s up with your face?” Jonghun asked as he and Hongki strode toward him.

“Isn’t it obvious, Jonghunnie? He’s vexed again because of a certain freshman.” Hongki piped in, amused smirk on his face.

Jaejin glared at him but thought it was pointless to retaliate; his older cousin just seemed to read him really well. He drew out a sigh and spat, “It’s so annoying.”

“What is? That Seunghyun keeps clinging to you?” Hongki asked.

“Seriously, Hongki? Are you really playing dumb games with me right now?” Jaejin snapped and shot another glare at the older who only shrugged his shoulders in response.

“You tell me, Jaejin. Did you ever really try to shed him off of you?” Beside him, Jonghun’s lips twitched upward, seemingly sharing the same train of thought with Hongki.

Not getting his point, or rather, pretending he didn’t, Jaejin avoided the two’s accusing stares and muttered, “What are you talking about?”

“See, that’s what you call playing dumb. You never really tried your best to, right? You yell at him for a few minutes, push him away for a few minutes, hit him for a few minutes, but let him do his thing for the remaining several minutes. I don’t know about you, but that’s not really what I would call shedding-a-clingy-underclassman away.” Hongki shrugged, and then added sweetly, “Right, Jonghunnie?”

Jonghun nodded in agreement and put on a nasty smirk. “To me it’s more like, ‘hey you’re annoying but I’m slowly enjoying this so I’m just gonna pretend to get mad while you do your business–’.” However before he could finish, Jaejin broke his sentence off with a loud “YAH!” followed by his entire face turning deep red for the second time that day.

“Hongki hyung! Jonghun hyung! You’re not helping at all!” He almost felt like crying in exasperation as he whined at the two snickering older boys. He felt like crying because what they said might just be the real and exact case.

Being the brainy kid that he was, he didn’t really need two gay-for-each-other seniors to point it out for him that he was in fact reacting differently to the annoying stimulus called Seunghyun. He wasn’t slow to not realize that his breathing which always hitched, his heart which always picked up in an unbelievably fast pace, and his skin which always burnt, all happening simultaneously whenever Seunghyun came within inches of his personal space, were enough signs that he was starting to feel so much more than he was supposed to for the younger boy.

And this scared him. One day Seunghyun would wake up and find another scent to get obsessed with. Who knows, it might even happen tomorrow. What would happen to him when it did? Would he be left at a corner completely forgotten like a near-empty bottle of perfume?

Seunghyun’s friend said so himself: When that happens, he won’t bother you anymore.

Jaejin felt a pang strike his chest.

He finds another person to get obsessed with. When that happens, he won’t bother you anymore.

“Jaejin, are you alright?” Hongki asked all of a sudden, disrupting his thoughts as the older noticed that Jaejin was flushing down to the tips of his fingers, his tone now concerned as he reached out and felt Jaejin’s forehead. “Holy, you’re burning up!”

Jonghun did the same, his hyung instinct already flaring up as he grabbed Jaejin’s arms, ready to support him if ever he fainted, and spoke in a stern voice, “I’m taking you to the infirmary. Hongki, go and inform his homeroom teacher.” Hongki nodded and was already on his way when Jaejin called out and stopped him.

“I’m alright hyung, I can go by myself.” Jaejin shrugged Jonghun’s hands off his arms. He suddenly thought about Seunghyun and wondered if he ever felt tired of him whenever he shrugged him off like that. He shook his head, deciding those thoughts doesn’t help him at all either. Sniffing, he glanced at the two who both had worried looks on their faces. “Don’t give me that look, as if you guys weren’t making fun of me just now.”

Hongki rolled his eyes. “Shut up and go to the infirmary! Tell the nurse you’re love-sick and ask for some kiss-pirin. Although I doubt the lady would have any idea where to get kiss-pirin specially made for Lee Jaejin.”

He knew Hongki was teasing him again but he couldn’t find the energy to refute any more so he just let it slip with a shake of his head and then headed off to the clinic. Hongki and Jonghun who were left behind glanced at each other, and at the same time murmured, “He didn’t even deny it anymore.”

When Jaejin came to the infirmary, the female nurse was nowhere to be found. He figured she must have gone out for lunch so he decided to look around the drawer of medicines for some antipyretics himself. He drank a tablet and laid down on one of the neatly made beds at the farthest side of the room. He almost felt bad having to ruin the perfectly laid out white sheets and thought of just heading back to class since he wasn’t that sick in the first place, but then he felt like his mind was so tangled up to be able to pay enough attention if he did went back to class, so in the end he chose to stay and rest for a little bit.

Seunghyun swam around his thoughts the whole time he lay there until he had fallen asleep without him realizing. When he opened his eyes again, Seunghyun’s head was resting on top of the sheets next to his arm. Or so he thought it was his head. He had been thinking of him too much, now he wasn’t sure if he was just imagining that messy stack of brown hair.

Blinking lazily, Jaejin reached out and lightly threaded his fingers through the wavy strands. It was soft and felt so nice around his fingertips he couldn’t help but smile faintly. The head shifted for a moment, and then slowly raised itself, revealing a momentarily confused-looking Seunghyun who looked like he had just woken up. Jaejin quickly withdrew his hand just as Seunghyun’s mouth finally pulled up into a wide grin as he recognized his face.

“Oh hyung, you’re awake! I’d been looking for you all over the school and found you here. How did you come down with a fever, hyung?”

“It’s the weather.” He avoided the younger’s ever melting gaze and smile and mumbled. Still grinning, Seunghyun propped his elbow on the bed and rested his chin over his palm, slightly leaning closer.

“Geez, that’s ‘coz you played around under the heat at broad daylight.”

“Whose fault do you think that is?”

Seunghyun chuckled, “I guess it’s mine.”

Jaejin frowned and heaved a resigned sigh. He was trying to look and sound annoyed but this boy was distracting him. This boy, who used to be just that lanky underclassman, was quickly maneuvering his way into every twists and turns of him, spinning him around, turning him upside down, inside out. Frustratingly, without even being aware of it.

A strong wind seemed to have blown outside, for the window behind the head of the bed shook slightly. Jaejin looked up and realized that it was still bright outside, he guessed it was most likely still around two in the afternoon. If it was still that early, that meant classes were still ongoing. Realizing that, he turned to Seunghyun and asked almost accusingly.

“Why are you here? Did you skip your classes?”

Seunghyun stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth and grinned innocently. It goes without saying that that alone caused a fatal jump in the feverish Jaejin’s heartbeat.

“Yep! You know I’m not doing a very good job at distancing myself from you, Jaejinnie hyung!” He sounded like he was even proud of himself for skipping classes.

Jaejin promptly broke eye contact, somehow suddenly looking dejected, although Seunghyun was dense enough to take notice. “It’s not from me, it’s from my scent.”

“That’s the same thing.” The boy shrugged.

“It’s not.”

Seunghyun chuckled again, “Guess so.”

The back of his eyes felt hot all of a sudden, so Jaejin closed them and lapsed into silence. Even behind closed lids, he could feel Seunghyun’s deep gaze melting his skin. And as if he wasn’t satisfied with that effect he had on him, the younger reached out and brought the back of his fingers over his cheek, lightly caressing his cheekbone, down to his jaw and a little bit of the flesh under his ear, causing Jaejin to timidly bite his lower lip as Seunghyun’s fingers pricked his burning skin like hot needles. He exhaled heavily.

Took you long enough to make a move.

Seunghyun didn’t say anything but his mouth dropped down to a frown, and Jaejin instantly missed his smile once he noticed.

The silence stretched on. Now that he thought about it, Seunghyun wasn’t the type to settle down quietly when he had every chance to talk. Usually he would chatter on and on about the most random things like the weather, foods, guitars, even lost pets of who-knows-who people. It was almost unsettling to not hear his voice. Why was he being quiet? What was he thinking about? The more the seconds passed without him talking, the more Jaejin itched to know what was going on inside his head.

But even more than that, something else was irking him. Why was he still keeping a distance between them?

“Seunghyun, turn off the aircon. I’m cold.” he ordered in a quiet mumble, breaking the crisp lack of sounds inside the room.

The boy tilted his head confusedly, “But this is the infirmary, hyung. Naturally there’s no air conditioning system in here.”

“But I’m cold.”

“Should I get you water? Medicine? I’ll go get it.” Seunghyun abruptly stood on his feet, alarming Jaejin who swiftly grabbed his wrist before he could turn around. Seunghyun looked down at his hyung curiously.

“Seunghyun ah.” Jaejin’s voice was low and almost a groan. Timidly, he shifted his body on the firm mattress so there was enough space for one more person to lie down on. Then pulling the blanket down, he motioned for the younger to lower himself onto the vacant space. Seunghyun looked utterly confused at the older’s behaviour.

Blushing furiously, Jaejin could only manage a small murmur. “Hurry. I’m cold.”

Seunghyun stopped wondering and hesitating and simply did what he was told. With an ecstatic grin on his lips, he lay down on his side and faced Jaejin. If the boy had more fat in him, he probably wouldn’t have fit since the bed was obviously only made for a single patient. The space was cramped for the two of them that Jaejin could feel their breaths intermingle in the little distance between their bodies. Their noses would probably brush if he wasn’t obstinately keeping his gaze down.

Halfway through the ear-splitting noise his heart was making inside his chest, he heard Seunghyun’s amused tone as he spoke near his ear, his breath fanning his face.

“I did hear that body heat was effective in reducing chills, but this is my first time ever trying it.”

“Shut up.”

The younger laughed. “Okay~.”

Jaejin kept his eyes locked down on Seunghyun’s neck. He was breathing labouredly and he could no longer tell if it was still from the fever or from the scent radiating off Seunghyun. Had he always smelt so sweet? Or was he just imagining it because of the fever? He was starting to think that this was a bad idea, because rather than him cooling off, he was burning even more.

“Hyung?” Seunghyun called softly, his voice a bit tentative, “Should I embrace you?”

Jaejin swallowed hard, hesitated, and answered just as quietly, “Just this once.”

Seunghyun moved closer and wrapped his arms around him without another word. He could feel himself slowly drift back to sleep against the other’s evenly heaving chest. For now, he could let his anxieties subside.

Don’t you dare get over me, Song Seunghyun.

He figured he had slept for a good three hours, since an orange-painted sky greeted him through the window glass when he opened his eyes again. The space next to him was empty of any warmth, so perhaps Seunghyun had already went home.

The nerve of you to leave me.

He couldn’t help feeling a little sad over it just as the curtain around his bed was drawn open and Jonghun, Hongki, and Key appeared with his bag and offered to take him home.

AN. I’m using the term ‘’ to simply refer to an extreme undeniable attraction towards a thing, but not necessarily denoting the stimulation of ual desire by that thing, which is the common definition found on the web or the dictionary. Hope it doesn’t confuse ^^

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