Chapter 9

Zitao had to admit, it was a bit lonely without having Jongdae around. But he didn’t really think it would be a good idea for him to live with Jongdae or vice versa. He needed to…sort things out, first. He still needed to figure out what Jongdae had meant about saying he liked Zitao. And why the older got so flustered when Zitao joked about being his boyfriend for having to walk him up to his door.

Did they have to do with each other? Or was Zitao just overthinking things? He bit his lip and walked into his bedroom. He was already tired, even though it was still really early. He sighed and sat on his bed. He couldn’t remember if he had homework or not. He was thinking too much about Jongdae that day he hadn’t been paying much attention.

Well, he’d be screwed then. If all he thought about was Jongdae…there went his grades. That was definitely a bad thing. Maybe for both things… Zitao hadn’t even realized Sehun had come back for no reason until he was whacked in the head with a piece of rolled up paper.

Zitao rubbed his head and pouted, looking up. “What are you doing here? I thought you left.”

Sehun shrugged. “Half way home I realized I had nothing to do. Plus…you seem like you forgot to do your homework. So here.”

Sehun handed Zitao a sheet of paper explaining what the task was. Zitao sighed in relief, suddenly remembering he was ahead in most of his classes because he had nothing better to do with his time. “I already did that. Thank god.”

“Lucky.” Sehun mumbled. He sat down on Zitao’s bed. “Also. I wanted to ask you something.”

“Okay?” Zitao looked at his friend curiously.

“You and Jongdae-hyung…” Sehun said. “Seemed different from when I first met him.”

“What do you mean?” Zitao asked, trying to sound innocent.

“Every so often…either you or he would act…uncomfortable. Or nervous.” Sehun explain. “Can you tell me what that’s supposed to mean? Did something happen?”

“Not really…” Zitao mumbled.

“Did he say something to you?”

“No…”

Sehun sighed. “You’re bad at lying sometimes. Just tell me, dammit.”

“B-but…” Zitao stammered. “I don’t know…”

“Don’t know what?” Sehun inquired. “You’re not giving me anything right now, hyung. What kind of friend am I if I don’t know what you’re thinking or what’s going on with you?”

Zitao bit his lip. He sighed and looked at his friend. “Sehun-ah. Can you tell me something?”

“Aren’t I the one supposed to be asking questions?” Sehun questioned. “But shoot.”

“How do you know…when you’re in love?” Zitao asked. “Like…how can you tell?”

Sehun stared at Zitao. “Wait, wait. Are you saying—?”

Zitao shook his head quickly, not letting Sehun continue his sentence. “No! I’m just…curious.”

“Well…” Sehun thought for a bit. “When you’re in love…you tend to think about your crush a lot. And will do anything to see them. Kind of. Oh, and you enjoy being around them.”

Zitao’s heart went into his throat. “And…what else?”

“I…” Sehun tilted his head. “Don’t know much else. I’ve never been in love.”

“What do you call your crush on Jongin?” Zitao asked, raising his eyebrows. “Or that other Chinese guy who graduated last year, Lu Han? Or—”

“Okay, I get it!” Sehun mumbled. “But besides crushes and mild infatuations.”

Zitao rolled his eyes. “Some help you are.”

Sehun slapped Zitao’s arm. “Shut up. You still haven’t answered my question.”

“Nothing happened, okay?” Zitao snapped. “He just said a few things and I don’t know what to do about it!”

His mouth was working faster than his brain when he was saying that sentence. He covered his mouth quickly. He really wished he’d accidentally said that in Mandarin so that Sehun couldn’t understand. But he wasn’t that lucky. He flopped back onto his bed and held a pillow to his face, thinking it would at least do something. And that something was really just hide his flushed face.

“Whoa, whoa, hold up.” Sehun said. “What did you just say?”

“Nothing…” said Zitao’s muffled voice.

“What did he say to you?” Sehun asked.

“Why would you ask me what I said when you already knew?” Zitao grumbled.

“What did he say to you?” Sehun repeated.

Zitao bit his lip from behind the pillow. “He…”

“He?” Sehun pressed.

Zitao moved the pillow down slightly. “The morning after he stayed over…he—he mumbled that he liked me. At the time I just took it as some half-asleep nonsense.”

“But…?” Sehun asked, sensing there was more to this story.

“B-but…” Zitao continued. “Later when I was making us breakfast, he said he meant it…”

“And…how do you feel about that…?” Sehun watched Zitao squeeze the pillow he was holding.

“I—I don’t know!” Zitao exclaimed. “I’ve been trying to forget it. And act like I always do. But in my mind…I’m trying to figure things out…”

“So you’re saying Jongdae likes you?” Sehun summarized. “And you don’t know if you have mutual feelings or not.”

Zitao sat up. “I—I guess…Sehun-ah, can you help me?”

“How?” Sehun asked. “I don’t know what you need.”

Zitao sighed. “Whatever, then. I’ll figure it out myself.”

“Well, while you’re doing that, I’m gonna go raid your fridge.” Sehun said, standing up.

Zitao rolled his eyes and watched out of the corner of his eye as Sehun left. Then he stared up at the ceiling. When you’re in love you think about that person a lot, enjoy being around them, and will do anything to be with them? Was it a good thing or a bad thing that all three of those things applied to how he felt about Jongdae? He sighed and rolled over to lie on his bed properly. This was really bugging him.

. . .

Jongdae was hiding out in his older brother’s bedroom. After being yelled at by his parents for not showing up at home, his brother quickly made up an excuse and lead Jongdae into his room. His brother was talking, but Jongdae wasn’t paying much attention. He was too occupied in his thoughts, only catching some words from what his brother was saying.

“Yah.” His brother called. “Dae-ah. Are you even listening to me?”

Jongdae looked over in the direction of his brother’s voice. “Huh? Oh…sorry, hyung.”

“Deep in thought?” his brother asked. “Care to talk about it?”

Jongdae fiddled with his fingers. “It’s kind of…awkward…”

Jongdae’s brother patted Jongdae’s head. “Too awkward to tell your own older brother?”

Jongdae sighed. The way his brother had patted his head made him think of Zitao. Even though his brother wasn’t even taller than him and they were both sitting down, so it wasn’t the exact same. But still. He pouted.

“What’s wrong?” Jongdae’s brother asked. “Come on, Dae-ah. You can talk to me about it.”

“Hyung…” Jongdae whined, grabbing his brother’s arm. “I don’t know what to do…”

“About what?” the older put his arm around Jongdae comfortingly. “I’ll try to help you as much as I can.”

“Have you ever been in love, hyung?”

“Well, I did have a boyfriend once…” Jongdae’s brother sounded a bit awkward. “It was a secret relationship though. Because for some reason, even though he had a lot of good traits, mom and dad didn’t like him. Maybe it was because it was a guy or something.”

Jongdae tilted his head. “What happened to him?”

Jongdae’s brother glanced at the door to his room before continuing. “Mom and dad found out. So we pretended to break up.”

“So…you’re still together?” Jongdae asked.

“Don’t tell our parents.”

Jongdae giggled. “You know I won’t.”

Jongdae’s brother smiled. “Of course. But why did you ask me that?”

Jongdae shrugged. “I was…curious. That’s all.”

“Could you…possibly be in love?” Jongdae’s brother asked teasingly, nudging Jongdae playfully.

“N-no…” Jongdae stammered his face flushed bright pink.

“You’re lying.” Jongdae’s brother said. “So…who’s the lucky man?”

“W-what makes you assume it’s a guy…?” Jongdae was tripping over his words now.

Jongdae’s brother laughed. “I can tell. Brother’s instinct. So who is it?”

“Someone I met at that music school you take me to in the morning…” Jongdae said quietly.

“So that’s why you were so eager to go after that first day.” Jongdae’s brother smiled.

Jongdae’s face heated up again. “S-shut up…”

Jongdae’s brother messed up his hair. “I knew you’d fall in love eventually. My baby brother’s finally in love~”

Jongdae managed to hit his brother lightly. “I told you to be quiet…”

Jongdae’s brother laughed. “You’re so cute, my dongsaeng.”

Jongdae pouted but said nothing. He went back to his thoughts. Did he love Zitao? He already confessed technically. But Zitao had just shaken the comment away. Jongdae still remembered what Zitao had said that morning. And it kind of made him sad.

‘F-forget it…I’ll forget you even said anything. You…you probably didn’t mean it.’

Was it wrong that he had actually did mean it? Did what Zitao say mean something? He pouted again and fell back against his brother’s bed. Then he remembered something. Zitao had given his phone number to Jongdae. Was it too soon to call him? Should he wait until tomorrow in the morning to talk to him again? He sighed.

“Hyung…” he mumbled. “In the pocket of the sweater I was wearing…there should be a piece of paper with a phone number on it…”

“Mm?” Jongdae’s brother looked at him. “Your pocket?”

Jongdae mumbled. “I—I want you to call the number. And give me the phone after.”

Jongdae’s brother smiled and went to grab the sweater Zitao had let Jongdae borrow. He dug around in the pockets for a second and pulled out the slip of paper. He looked at the number and smiled again, then pulled out his phone.

. . .

“Hyung. Your phone is ringing.” Sehun called from the kitchen. “Do you want me to see who it is?”

Zitao sat up. “No. Give me the phone.”

Zitao heard Sehun sigh and the screeching of a chair against the floor. Then Sehun appeared in Zitao’s bedroom doorway with Zitao’s cellphone in hand. He tossed it at his older friend, who caught it easily and looked at the caller ID.

Kim Joonmyeon? Who was that? Zitao wasn’t the type of person to think about surnames, since a lot of people in Korean had the same surname, just like it was in China, without being related. But for some reason…he had a suspicion of who it was. He answered the call with half eagerness and shooed Sehun out of the room.

  Word Count: 1,775

A/N: Sorry for such a late update, guys! School started, plus I have this monster of a oneshot to work on for someone. Plus I'm working on a diff fic for a diff site. I hope this is good enough for you all. Zitao's still trying to figure things out. But Jongdae already knows. 

I wonder why Joonmyeon was calling Zitao. (If you don't already know, you'll find out in the next chapter, I'm sure) c; 

I know this is probably annoying by now, but I'd just like to thank you all for reading this. All your positive comments make me so happy. I feel so warm inside whenever I read someone telling me how much they love my stories. Please don't forget to comment if you liked the story and do all that. It really makes my day/night/afternoon, seeing people subscribing to my stories or commenting. ^^

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And--OH. I just remembered something. I'm going to need your guys' help with something again. I made a new poster for this fic, but I want to know which you like better because...I care about my readers and I'd rather have an...attractive poster that people won't cringe when they see it.

The current one OR this one