genre: hs!au/college!au ; Is this fluff? Slice of life? Slight angst? Who knows

Warning: age switch; tiny

word count: 1k, drabble

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A bloodcurdling scream could be heard in the background, Kyungsoo too panicked to notice that the source of the sound was coming closer to where he was.

Kyungsoo kept tapping on the car’s window, tugging on the door handles but it just won’t budge. A scared pup’s muffled whines could be heard from inside the car.

“Don’t worry Droopy, I’ll get you out!”

But Kyungsoo’s movements stilted to a halt as a screaming college student pulled him away from the car. The man grabbed him by the arm and screamed into his face, shaking him a little. “What do you think you’re doing to my car? This is brand new. BRAND NEW!I had to hold off paying student loans for this!”

Kyungsoo winced and cowered a bit under the older man’s hold. “I’m sorry!” he said, eyes tearing up as he forced himself to look the other man in the eye.

“I didn’t know what to do! My puppy is trapped in there—he jumped in when you got out—and I think he’s already suffocating!” Kyungsoo heaved, a shaky breath leaving his mouth. “Just please open the door and I won’t bother you or your car anymore.”

The man stayed silent, keeping his eyes trained on Kyungsoo’s face. The younger boy finally looked away when his intense eyes scanned over his face, as if looking for a flaw to call out. Kyungsoo balled his hands into fists, wincing when he felt the faint sting of the man’s stronghold on his arm. He bit down on his bottom lip in an attempt to prevent a sob from escaping.

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The boy’s eyes were shiny with unshed tears, some of his side fringes sticking to his temple from sweating so much. He looked like he belonged in middle school, but the uniform he was wearing indicated that he was already enrolled in Seoul National High School.

He frowned, surprised to learn that this kid goes to the same school he went to three years ago. Suddenly feeling a strange connection to the boy because of their alma maters, he let go of his arm.

With a sigh, Jongin walked towards his car, took out his keys and pressed a button. The car unlocked and the moment Jongin opened the door a tiny Basset Hound rolled out and flopped on the sidewalk next to his tires, panting.

The boy immediately ran over to his puppy, petting him while he knelt on the ground.

Jongin sat on the floor of his car, watching the younger boy curiously.

“Hey kid. What’s your name?”

The boy in question looked up, eyes still shiny but no longer looking like he wanted to cry. “Er, um I’m Kyungsoo.”

Jongin smiled a little, noticing for the first time that the boy had huge eyes and a small stature that reminded him so much of stuffed toys. “And your puppy? What’s his name?”

At this Kyungsoo smiled— all teeth, curved eyes and scrunched cheeks, Jongin jolting a little as a strange feeling crept up his chest. Kyungsoo proceeded in picking his puppy up gently under its arms and showing it to Jongin. “This is Droopy.”

“Droopy?” Jongin questioned, the strange feeling continuing to swirl somewhere below his chest.

“Yeah!” Kyungsoo quipped, adjusting his hold on Droopy so he can hold the puppy’s ear. “See how his ears droop?” He bounced the ear lightly in his hand. “Genius right?”

Jongin chuckled, shaking his head as he watched the kid. “Don’t you have classes?”

At this Kyungsoo winced, keeping his eyes on his puppy as he continued petting it. “I kind of missed first period since Droopy decided to play hide and seek in a stranger’s car…”

“My name’s Jongin.”

Kyungsoo turned to him, surprised that the other told him his name.

Jongin fumbled, feeling stupid and shy because his mouth filter seemed to be broken. “You know…it’s only fair since you told me your name.” He cleared his throat and heard Kyungsoo’s faint chuckle.

“Okay, Jongin-hyung.”

As his name rolled off the other’s tongue in the nicest way possible Jongin felt the strange feeling filling his chest up, making it hard to breathe. He forced out an exhale, standing up and closing his car door from behind him.

“Well then, um, Kyungsoo. I have classes in—“ he glanced at his wristwatch, “—10 minutes so I really have to get going.”

He turned sideways, pressing on the button on his car keys so the doors would lock. He glanced at Kyungsoo, catching the boy staring at him. He gave him a warm smile, the boy’s cheeks tinting pink as he looked away.

“Don’t go banging on stranger’s cars again, okay? You’re lucky it was me and not some meaner college stud. Who knows what you would’ve had to get out of.”

He pocketed one hand and reached out to ruffle Kyungsoo’s hair with the other. “Now go back to school before SNHS decides to call your parents for playing hooky.”

Surprised, Kyungsoo leaned his head away from the touch. “How do you…”

“I went there.” Is all Jongin says with a wink before walking back to his building and leaving the high school boy by himself in the parking lot.

Kyungsoo clutched Droopy to his chest, staring at the back of the man whose car he almost broke into.

a/n: I wrote this today in hopes of getting the brain juice flowing. This is sort of a reverse meet cute? With little bits of angst instead of the usual cheesy bump and eye contact? Anyway this is unedited so I apologize. And to anyone who reads this, thank you and I’m sorry if this ! My writing mood is a little unstable and so is the quality of my writing L

p.s will this fic be a precursor to my other fics? Hmmmmmmmmm? Hehe

p.p.s this is also a little thank you fic to everyone who still reads my stories, still subscribes, still upvotes even though I’ve been on hiatus for nearly a year. You’re all the real MVPs. Bless.