“This is hopeless,” groans Chanyeol, “hopeless, hopeless, hopeless!”

“Hey, quit it!” Soojung smacks him on the shoulder. “It’s not like you’re dying, okay, so just shut up and get back to work!”

Jongdae leans over to Baekhyun and says in a low voice, “You know things are bad when even the happy virus thinks it’s hopeless.”

“It’s not… that bad,” says Baekhyun, wincing every time he looks over at Chanyeol, who’s buried up to his elbows in books and papers. “Wasn’t his fault he drew the short straw this time around.”

“Mr. Shim’s going to give us failing grades if we don’t finish this,” sighs Chanyeol, nearly burning the paper in front of him, titled ‘PROJECT DRAFT.’

Kyungsoo glances up from the sofa where he’s finishing his part of his own Mad Science midterm project, an assignment on the creation of a teleportation device, and he carefully writes in the last equation to perfect the working code of the main controls, before stating, “I’m almost done with my own project, I could help you with yours.”

“It wouldn’t be fair, though,” says Jongdae, and he smiles. “It’s alright. We’ll puzzle this out.”

“But really, though?” Soojung stretches, and yawns, cat-like, and a snowflake drifts onto Baekhyun’s nose absently. “This is most boring project ever. A full history on a hundred different battles between heroes and villains? Why couldn’t it be something like Kyungsoo’s? And how in the world are we going to finish on time?”

“Because we’re sidekicks,” says Chanyeol slowly, as if he’s explaining it to a small child, “and we’re just supposed to know how to support the hero, not fight the battles ourselves.”

Jongdae frowns, but shakes the feeling off, and turns his attention elsewhere. “You’ve got something on your nose, here, let me get that.” He swipes his thumb over Baekhyun’s nose lightly.

Baekhyun scrunches up his nose in the most adorable way possible. Jongdae forgets to breathe.

Kyungsoo coughs helpfully. “I’m going to go get a snack. Jongdae?”

He scrambles up immediately, and ambles after Kyungsoo into the kitchen, pointedly not looking at Baekhyun.

On the counter, Kyungsoo spreads the beginnings of a sandwich, and as he’s slicing a tomato, he says, “You’re making it more obvious than it has to be.”

“Making what obvious,” says Jongdae, in what is definitely not a high-pitched voice. “Nothing’s obvious. Not at all.”

“You constantly look like you’re about to jump Baekhyun’s bones,” points out Kyungsoo, and Jongdae nearly hits his head on the cupboard when he twitches. “Here, butter this.”

Jongdae takes the bread slices from him, and starts buttering dutifully. “No I don’t,” he mumbles, pouting, and Kyungsoo just rolls his eyes so far back that Jongdae hopes they get stuck in the back of his head. “Besides, we’re just friends. He just sees me as a friend.”

“He glows every time you smile at him,” says Kyungsoo in his matter-of-fact, you’re-an-idiot-and-I-know-everything voice, moving on to placing cheese on ham, “you smile every time he glows. He lit up like a lightbulb the other day when you commented that his hair looked nice. Then you wouldn’t stop staring at him the whole afternoon. And he wouldn’t stop glowing. And my eyes hurt. And Chanyeol has the loudest voice in the universe and will not ever stop talking. The world isn’t fair, Jongdae, but the thing is, he likes you and you like him.”

They switch places to complete the sandwiches, and Jongdae says quietly, “I don’t want to make things awkward.”

“Then just wait until you both get a little older.” Kyungsoo loads the sandwiches on the plate he magically procured in the middle of his lecture, and hands it to Jongdae. “In the meanwhile, stop being so obvious. I don’t want to see your unfocused, dumb drooling ever again.”

“I do not drool!” exclaims Jongdae indignantly, but Kyungsoo’s already whisking himself out of the kitchen, and Jongdae just exhales melodramatically, footsteps following after him, snacks in tow.

The year passes immensely quick, and Jongdae is both glad and slightly upset for that. For one, it means that they’re finally starting more interesting studies for their second year. On the other hand, he hasn’t found his powers yet, and so this means that he’s still the bottom of the food chain.

Baekhyun has begun to come over more frequently now, even when Chanyeol and Kyungsoo aren’t over, and Jongdae honestly enjoys his company. He’s not the hyper, giant ball of fun Chanyeol is, or the reserved, good advice-giving Kyungsoo, but he’s Baekhyun. He banters easily with Jongdae, and seems to genuinely like his mother’s tuna lasagna, and trumps him thoroughly at all video games.

Jongdae even goes over to Baekhyun’s place a few times, and they kick each other soundly at FIFA’13 several times, until they call it a draw, and they’re laughing at each other, and for a second, Jongdae forgets to breath a little, staring at Baekhyun and the way his smile lights up his face even without his powers in use, but then the moment is over, and they’re back to arguing over the controllers.

(He does go home and relive the memory of Baekhyun laughing many times over, though.)

It’s near the end of the year, and Baekhyun is half-lying off his bed, half-draped over Jongdae’s legs, as he reads a book on the theory of time machines. Jongdae has his back against the headboard, homework propped on his lap as he pencils in the answer carefully to the question on contrasting powers.

“Hey,” says Baekhyun suddenly, “Jongdae.”

“Mm,” hums Jongdae, “what?”

“Do you ever wonder what it’d be like to be a real, proper hero?”

And the question stops Jongdae in his movements.

Of course he’s thought of it, he’s thought of it every single day since he found out that his mother fought bad guys and crime and saved kittens stuck on high-rise building balconies, and he’s thought about it ever since he watched his older brother fuse all the lights in the house with just one touch, and he’s thought about it every single day since starting at Haneul High.

But it’s really no use thinking about it, when it’s never going to happen.

And it’s only when Baekhyun sits up and says, “That’s not true,” that Jongdae realises that he’s just said all of this out loud. “You could be a hero.”

“I’m a sidekick,” says Jongdae, fingers curling around his pencil, nails digging into the wood lightly, “and I’ll probably end up a regular civilian if my powers don’t show. Which they most likely won’t, unless I fall into a vat of toxic waste, but that would most likely result in my death, as Kyungsoo has stated, repeatedly.”

“You’re so pessimistic,” mumbles Baekhyun, and he’s pretty much sitting on Jongdae’s knees by now, but Jongdae doesn’t realise until Baekhyun is talking again, and by then the distance between the two of them is way too close to ignore. “I mean, you could! You have a chance. Not like the rest of us. Why won’t you believe it?”

“I don’t know, Baekhyun,” says Jongdae in exasperation, “I don’t know, okay!”

He pauses then; Baekhyun has gone quiet, and his gaze is fixed on Jongdae’s face. “Baekhyun?” asks Jongdae, but he’s staring back at Baekhyun’s face too, and the gap between them is barely a hand’s breadth, but Jongdae doesn’t know whether it should be more or less than that. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Uhm?” Baekhyun says, very eloquently, “I think I might have a crush on you, Jongdae.”

That, he wasn’t expecting.

“Mmmghaafdfsf?” goes Jongdae incoherently, because his thoughts are going haywire, because Baekhyun likes him, like likes him, and Baekhyun is sitting on his knees, hair glowing three times brighter than usual, eyes wide and teeth chewing on his lip nervously and oh god, Jongdae likes him too. “I think I was trying to say I might too?”

Baekhyun’s expression is surprise and relief all rolled into one, and he breathes, “But, you know, we’re fifteen and all, so…”

“Yeah,” says Jongdae, and he sits up straighter, leaning nearer to Baekhyun. “Sixteen next year though, but you’re right, I guess. Wouldn’t be too smart to try anything right now. My mum would probably have a coronary if she found out I was dating someone at this age.”

Baekhyun’s lips quirk up into a wry smile. “You want to date me? For real?”

“Of… course?” Jongdae blinks. “Isn’t that what usually happens when people like each other?”

Baekhyun’s entire being glows, and Jongdae takes that to mean that he is very pleased with the idea of dating Jongdae. “Definitely.”

“Oh no! Yixing was right, we are getting together after all,” says Jongdae, gasping mock-dramatically.

Baekhyun throws an eraser at him, and Jongdae pouts. “Well, you know, long time coming and all. I thought you were cute on the first day of school.”

“So did I.” Jongdae grins lazily. “You’ve got nice eyes.”

Baekhyun smiles appreciatievely, and leans down to press a light kiss against Jongdae’s lips, and it’s fleeting, but the feeling of Baekhyun’s warm mouth against his is lingering, and Jongdae exhales happily, “Can’t wait to do more of that.”

“A test of your discipline,” says Baekhyun in amusement, but then he’s rolling off the bed, and to his desk. “Homework time.”

Jongdae sighs, and returns to his own books, but he doesn’t bother hiding his smile.

When he glances at Baekhyun, he’s got a smile on his face too.