“.” Jongin mutters, landing painfully on his right arm after his poorly executed turn.  He groans, lightly massaging the sore spot before standing up to attempt the move again.

“That looked painful. Are you okay?” He hears a familiar voice remark.  Jongin winces, trying to keep his face blank.  He turns to face Luhan, giving him a faint smile.  

“Nah, barely felt it. I’m okay.” Jongin murmurs, facing away. He keeps his eyes trained on his runners and not at the older, who he knows is either confused or amused.

“Okay then, have you done some stretches yet?” Luhan says, Jongin notes the puzzled tone of his voice. Confused, it is then. He grunts, preparing for some basic stretches and warm ups. Luhan laughs, and Jongin has to will himself not to blush at the sound.

This is frustrating, Jongin thinks as he pauses to watch Luhan stretch, arms exposed and a sliver of his flat stomach showing due to the tank top the older was wearing.   He wants to touch him, maybe make a teasing remark, or crack a joke. He can’t though, because according to the junior himself, he has been clingy.

//

Jongin really didn’t mean to eavesdrop on Luhan’s conversation with Yixing, but the moment he heard his name, he was hooked. Jongin had hidden behind the door to the dance studio, listening to their conversation.

“So, Jongin huh?” Yixing prompts, and Jongin imagines him waggling his eyebrows.

Luhan hums, “What about Jongin?”

“I saw you guys in the showcase three months ago, definitely had some chemistry there.” Jongin blushes, remembering the shivers that he barely suppressed every time they touched. It was his eye-opening moment, when he came to understand exactly what the shivers and the rapid heart rate around Luhan meant.

“So?”

“You guys are pretty touchy too.  I mean other than that showcase, you guys always hang around each other.”

“He’s good company.” Luhan says, and Jongin simultaneously wants to stop and listen to Yixing badger Luhan about this, the latter obviously winning when he doesn't move from his spot.

“Hmm, so is Sehun, but I don’t see you holding hands with him or whispering in his ear.” Yixing shoots back in a teasing tone.

“I actually do, just not as often as I do with Jongin.” Luhan sighs, exasperated.

“Jongin is clingy, you see?” He adds, and Jongin feels the hopeful expression on his face fall.  He doesn’t want to hear this anymore, and he steps away from the door.

Jongin walks a little further away from the dance studio quietly, before coming back with heavy footsteps purposely making his presence known before he feigns surprise when he enters the dance studio with Yixing and Luhan arguing.  

//

“...Jongin?” Jongin grunts in response to whatever Luhan was asking, too busy focusing on his thoughts rather than the person next to him.  Luhan looks upset, and Jongin moves farther away from him, practicing his moves in front of the full body mirrors.

The studio remains quiet for the rest of the session. The sounds of squeaking shoes, grunts, and colourful words after a loud thump were heard, until the intro to ‘Bad’ by Michael Jackson starts playing. Jongin stops, catching his breath before moving towards his gym bag and taking out his phone and a spare shirt. Chanyeol flashes across the screen, Jongin presses the answer button, and he holds it up to his ear.

“Hello”

“Jongin, I’m coming over to pick you up from dance in about two minutes, because that’s what experimental boyfriends do. Clean yourself up, okay? bye.” Chanyeol says, rushed and hurried, hanging up after the short phone call. Jongin chuckles, slipping the phone back into the pocket of his harem pants, walking to the doors of the studio with his spare shirt.

“Who..was...that?” Luhan asks, in between breaths as he continues dancing. Jongin shrugs, changing out of his sweat drenched tank top, into a loose, faded t-shirt.  

“You’ll see soon enough.” Chanyeol comes in just as Jongin finishes his sentence. He grins, pulling Jongin into a back hug. Jongin smiles, somehow Chanyeol always manages to make him happier, regardless of their relationship.

“Hey,” Jongin turns, reaching for Chanyeol. He pulls him down for an abrupt kiss, aware that Luhan has stopped dancing in order to greet Chanyeol, and that Luhan is most likely looking confused again.

“Hi to you too, ready to go?” Chanyeol laughs, when he pulls away. Jongin glances behind him in Luhan’s direction, noticing that the junior has gone back to dancing. He scowls, nodding then grabbing his gym bag from the other side of the studio. Chanyeol gives him a sly smile when he comes back, reaching for his hand.

“Bye Luhan,” Chanyeol says, Jongin echoing the words right after him.  They leave, and it isn’t until they’re outside the building, that Chanyeol starts talking, laughing really.  

“Ahahaha! Did you see his face?”

“What face? He made a face? When?” Jongin says, eager to hear the reaction he missed. Chanyeol looks down in amusement, nudging Jongin with his right shoulder.  

“Well, I didn’t know what it looked like when we were kissin-” Jongin punches his shoulder, muttering get on with it.

“When you were grabbing your gym bag sulking, and you were turned away from Luhan, he kept... I’m not sure if he was glaring at me or if he was giving me dirty looks, either way Luhan was doing one of those things, while he was dancing.”

“How is that even-”

“Through the mirror.” Chanyeol responds and Jongin simpers, somehow feeling content.  

//

To be honest, Jongin noticed that Chanyeol liked Kris way before he dyed his hair.  It wasn’t that hard to find out that Chanyeol liked Kris for Jongin who has known Chanyeol as long as he did. He also noted how Kris kept pulling away from Chanyeol, ignoring him , giving him the cold shoulder and yet somehow he manages to be around whenever Chanyeol was there, eyes lingering on Chanyeol’s form. Jongin wasn't sure if Chanyeol's feelings were returned, but he sure as hell won't take a chance in letting his best friend get hurt to find out.

He wasn't lying when he explained to Chanyeol that his relationship with Luhan was similar to his situation. His experience in relationships were minimal, and he really had no idea how to flirt.  So when he found out about how he felt for Luhan, he tried to flirt and it ended looking like he was clingy.

Jongin has known of the 'push and pull' cycle from friends who tried playing hard to get and he didn't really notice how much it applied to his and Chanyeol's relationship with Luhan and Kris until he looked at it carefully.

It was true that he hoped this experiment would make Kris and Luhan jealous, but he also wishes that he could prevent the pain that would come if either one of them gets  directly rejected.

-

A/N:  is this considered a fast update? because i tried :/ lol, thank you so much to those who commented both chapters (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ i'm sorry for such a short chapter D: but chapter four is written! ^^ i hope you guys would enjoy the next chapter as much as i enjoyed writing it ヾ(＾-＾)ノ thank you so much for subscribing and commenting, to the new subscribers and the old subscribers, the silent readers and  the people who commented, thank you! o(〃＾▽＾〃)o