The final exam was within two months but there were still several tests coming up in a month. That’s why Zelo had started to gear up ever since the break was over. But as much as he wanted to utilize most of his time to study, it didn’t mean he had to wake up terribly early on Sunday, all because of his roommate who woke him up at unreasonable hour.

                Daehyun hurried him to wash up and have breakfast before beginning their study session. He couldn’t get mad at the older boy for interrupting his pleasant sleep when Daehyun was kind enough to be his tutor. Even though he really wanted to fulfill his promise to go outing with Daehyun today, Daehyun still insisted on helping him in his study. But actually, none of those things matter to Zelo because after all, he got to spend time with his precious roommate one way or another.

                Since the weather was good, Daehyun chose his favourite spot to tutor Zelo which was the school garden. They sat next to each other at the usual wooden table under the tall shady tree. Just as Zelo set his books on the table, Daehyun was already asking the younger which part he didn’t understand so that he could think of a detailed explanation for him.

                When Daehyun was showing him how to solve the math question step by step, Zelo willed himself to listen carefully to every word coming out from Daehyun’s mouth. The explanation wasn’t long but his brain couldn’t absorb a single point said by the older boy. He found himself staring through the book, not at the book. Daehyun’s soothing honeyed voice had brought him into a delightful daydream.

                “Did you get it or not?” Daehyun asked when Zelo wasn’t making any move after he told him to give the question a try by applying the method he mentioned earlier.

                Zelo blinked his eyes rapidly until he was back to reality. Looking up to the other, he pulled a sheepish smile. “Um… Maybe you could go a little bit slower?”

                Daehyun side eyed his roommate. He pushed the bridge of his glasses up before moving closer to the other. He wanted all of Zelo’s attention so that the boy would understand what he was trying to teach. His pencil kept pointing and sketching on the paper parallel with his slow and clear explanation.

                Zelo paid more attention to his tutor this time, resisting the urge to look up at the pretty face that was so close to his tense one. When he leaned forward to take a better look at the paper, his arm naturally went around Daehyun’s slender waist. Maybe it was natural for the latter too since he didn’t react negatively.

                They broke apart when Zelo had to solve the question on his own but there was barely an inch of air separating them. Zelo’s arm would automatically wrapped Daehyun’s body again as they continued with another explanation. And the same things kept repeating over and over again.

                After Zelo was done with the questions, he handed them to Daehyun for markings. The older of the two scrutinized every line of Zelo’s answer to find any mistakes while the other found it amusing to stare at the adorable focused expression.

Zelo was taking his time gazing from Daehyun’s pouting plump lips which looked so soft from his view to Daehyun’s beautiful eyes under the glasses. If he didn’t really like Daehyun wearing glasses before, he wouldn’t have any problem with it now. He realized that the glasses couldn’t hide the beauty underneath it. He just had to take a closer look.

                Gentle wind suddenly blew in their direction. Their opened books flipped a couple of pages by themselves but it didn’t bother either one of them. Daehyun still had his eyes fixed on Zelo’s answer sheet whereas Zelo noticed Daehyun’s fringe had fallen above the boy’s long eyelashes.

                Zelo instinctively brushed the hair to the side. Daehyun snapped out from a world full of numbers and immediately straightened his body. Zelo drew his hand back when Daehyun started to fix his hair on his own.

                “Your hair is getting longer,” Zelo commented, holding he urge to touch that soft hair again.

                “Really? Should I get a haircut?” Daehyun asked while pulling strands of hair down across his forehead to see how long it actually was which turned out to be almost covering his eyes.

                Zelo propped up his elbow against the table and rested the side of his head on his fist. “It isn’t necessary but maybe you can just trim your bangs a little. You’ll be a lot cuter that way,” He flashed a sweet smile to the other boy.

                Daehyun seemed to be captured by the flattering boy but he was quick to shake it off his mind. “What are we talking about? Let’s just focus on your study,” He resumed on marking Zelo’s answer.

                Zelo smirked before leaning closer to Daehyun’s pink cheek. “Do you want me to stay that much?” He teased, considering how determined Daehyun was in being his tutor.

                Daehyun promptly froze in his spot for a moment, as if thinking how random that question was from Zelo. He slowly turned to the younger and their gaze locked with each other. Daehyun then narrowed eyes. “Do you?”

                It was enough to cause Zelo a fluttering heart.

(｡◕‿◕｡)

                He really wanted to stay, didn’t he? He really did. That’s why he’s struggling to score in the exam, right? Zelo had never thought about the real reason he wanted to stay because as far as he remembered, he hated this boarding school when he first came here. Plus, on second thought, studying abroad was not that bad and pretty cool though.

                So maybe there’s something else in here that was holding him back from leaving. This issue had been lingering in his mind for the past few days. His eyes were staring at the whiteboard at the front but his mind was wondering about that something else. Not a single word from the teacher got into his head. He would totally get scolded if Daehyun knew about this.

                Yes, Daehyun told him to pay attention in class. Daehyun told him to jot down the notes. Daehyun told him to quickly ask the teacher if he didn’t understand.

                Zelo frowned. Why did every time that name crossed his mind, he would have this weird tingling of his heart. He slowly placed a hand on his chest.

               The boy with pretty face, pretty voice and pretty smile, Daehyun.

               Zelo’s eyes widened. His heart beat a lot faster as the images of Daehyun flashed before his eyes. He sat there with mouth agape, stunned by the sudden realization of his own feeling. He didn’t even stand up and thanked the teacher when she’s leaving the class.

                Jongup looked down at his seatmate. His brows furrowed at Zelo’s weird behaviour. The last class had ended and everyone started to go back to their dorm but Zelo showed no intention to move his .

                “What’s up with you?” Jongup nudged Zelo’s arm after sitting down again. He grabbed his bag and put it on the table to stuff his things into it.

                “How did you hook up with Himchan hyung?” Zelo asked out of a sudden, intently staring at Jongup.

                “Huh? What do you mean?” Jongup stopped whatever he was doing and turned to the other boy with knitted eyebrows.

                “Just how did you like someone who likes you back? How could it be so easy for you?” Zelo was full of interest to know the answer.

                Jongup scoffed. “Who says it’s easy? It took me a whole year to make him mine!”

                Zelo gasped. “Wow, really?”

                Jongup nodded with a smug smile. Seriously, this Zelo kid was so clueless in love. He slung an arm around Zelo’s neck to pull him closer before uttering in his ear. “If you wanna make the one you like likes you back, you have to steal their heart,” He brought up his free hand and seized the air in a tight fist.

                Zelo got the point but then no, not really. He pulled apart from the latter. “What if he likes someone else?”

                “Daehyun hyung likes someone else?!” Jongup exclaimed.

                “Where did Daehyun hyung come from??” Zelo was flustered.

                Jongup rolled his eyes. “You know that I know that you like Daehyun hyung. Don’t try to hide it from me,” He glared.

                Zelo was tongue tied for a second, as if he could deny it by keeping quiet. But he only released a long sigh after a moment. “What should I do then?”

                “So you really like him!” Jongup snapped his fingers in joy while laughing excitedly. Zelo was getting annoyed and slowly shuffled further from the loud boy.

                Jongup was quick to pull Zelo’s arm. “Tell me what you feel when looking at him!”

                Zelo hummed as he thought about it. “I don’t know…” He shrugged before crossing his arms against his chest, his eyes glued to the floor. “Maybe some sort of… I wanted to make him smile everyday…? Like he’s the one I wanted to see everyday…because of his charming smile…his twinkling eyes…his blushing face…his melodious laugh…his soothing voice…”

                “Oookay!” Jongup cut in when he realized Zelo was in too deep with Daehyun. “Just tell him that you like him!”

                “Just like that?!” Zelo asked in disbelief.

                “Yeah. That’s what I did to get Himchan hyung.”

                “What if he rejects me?”

                Jongup snickered while placing a hand on Zelo’s shoulder. “Bro, love doesn’t fear of rejection. If he rejects you, but you still really want him, don’t give up. Prove to him that he’s the only one you want and you’ll wait for him no matter how long it takes,” He advised sincerely and ended it with a genuine smile. “Just like what I did with Himchan hyung.”

                Zelo noted everything that Jongup said. He nodded and patted Jongup’s back. “It must’ve been hard on you, to get a very pretty boy like Himchan hyung.”

                “You bet but I tell you, it’s worth it,” Jongup winked.

(｡◕‿◕｡)

                The student council room was busy again. The members with the highest positions were gathered there to make brochures for the school’s upcoming event. Surely, Daehyun too was there and he was assigned to type the contents of the brochures. Youngjae who was sitting next to him, was in charge of writing the president’s speech using his own laptop.

                The other members were scattered around the room doing their division’s tasks and the vice president, Himchan was busy monitoring all of them while Yongguk was finishing the other stacked important works in another smaller room.

                Daehyun’s fingers stopped tapping the keyboard when he got to a certain part. His brow furrowed as he took the reference paper for a closer look. But he still couldn’t understand how to do it so he decided to ask Youngjae.

                “I’m not really sure about it,” Youngjae said after he took a look at the paper. “Maybe we should ask Yongguk hyung.”

                Upon hearing that name, Daehyun’s face immediately changed. He slowly pulled the paper away from Youngjae’s view and unwittingly stared at it longer than he should. With his obvious act, Youngjae was fast to notice it.

                “I’ll go,” Youngjae volunteered, holding his hand out to take the paper.

                Daehyun looked up, his eyes wide as if he was just came back to his own self. Youngjae was giving him a thin smile and Daehyun contemplated whether he should let Youngjae go instead of him. He figured it must be harder for his best friend to meet the president because of their complicated relationship. Besides, this was his job, not Youngjae’s.

                “Youngjae!” Himchan suddenly called, making both of them turned their heads to him. The older boy beckoned the secretary to come to him. “I need your help here.”

                Youngjae turned back to Daehyun. “I’ll go help Himchan hyung first, then I’ll see Yongguk hyung after that,” He stated.

                “No,” Daehyun quickly shook his head. “I can go ask Yongguk hyung myself,” He said and before Youngjae could say anything, he jumped off his chair and walked straight to the president’s room.

                His feet spontaneously stopped in front of the door. His heart was beating so fast but he was certain it’s not because of the excitement of meeting his crush like he previously would feel. Right now he’s not sure how he would face Yongguk again after everything that happened. They didn’t even have a proper talk in a long time.

                Daehyun closed his eyes and heaved a deep breath, finally gathering the courage to knock the door. After getting a distant ‘come in’ from inside, he opened the door before walking directly to Yongguk’s desk without trying to make an eye contact with him.

                Daehyun laid the paper on the table in front of Yongguk and pointed to the part that he didn’t understand. “Are these two things the same?” He asked frankly even when Yongguk hadn’t said anything.

                Yongguk nodded, holding the other side of the paper. “Yeah, they are.”

                “Then I won’t have to separate them?”

                “Just do whichever you think the best, but don’t let the people reading it get confused,” Yongguk explained in monotone.

                Daehyun could feel Yongguk’s gaze on him but he ignored it. “Okay,” He simply said just because he wanted to get out of the room as fast as possible. However when he tried to take the paper back, Yongguk tightened his grip on it.

                Daehyun’s eyes landed on the other pair at last. Yongguk was staring intently at him and he actually understood the meaning behind it. Though he could ask the older boy what did he want, Daehyun was not in the mood to do it. So he harshly tugged the paper off Yongguk’s hold before rushing to the door.

                “Daehyun, wait!” Yongguk shouted, scrambling up from his chair and rounded his table to chase Daehyun. When Daehyun’s hand was ready to twist the knob, Yongguk was barely able to push the door to prevent the younger from opening it.

                Daehyun froze in his spot. Yongguk’s body was pressing against his back and he was surprisingly uncomfortable with that. They stayed like that for quite a while since none of them had any idea on what to do next. But Yongguk was the one who held Daehyun back, so he chose to break the tense silence.

                “What happened between us?”

                Daehyun gulped as Yongguk’s deep voice was so close to his ear. “Actually…” He spoke up, trying hard to not let his voice quiver. “…nothing.”

                Yongguk sighed, causing Daehyun to squirm at the feeling of Yongguk’s breath at his neck. “So why didn’t you talk to me since the school break?”

                Daehyun fixed his eyes on the door before him as he thought of a good return. “It’s not like you make any effort to talk to me either.”

                Yongguk scoffed. He then backed away to grab Daehyun’s arms and turned the younger boy around. When they were finally face to face, Yongguk placed a hand beside Daehyun’s head again. “Ain’t I making one right now?” He asked, his gaze piercing into Daehyun’s.

                Instead of saying anything, Daehyun just kept quiet with his back glued to the door. Thus, Yongguk asked again. “Why did you run away that night?”

                “Everyone knows that I didn’t feel well when I suddenly went home during the trip,” Daehyun answered in irritated tone.

                Yongguk dropped his gaze to the ground while letting out a long tired sigh. “Daehyun,” He looked up and a dubious expression was shown on his face. “Do you possibly…have feelings for me?”

                Daehyun’s eyes bulged and his cheeks immediately reddened. He obviously seemed so flustered by Yongguk’s statement. “W-what?” He stuttered out timidly, feeling like his heart would jump out of his chest. “Don’t jump into conclusions on your own!”

                “You can’t lie to me. Your expression is exactly the same as Youngjae’s when I asked him the same thing.” Yongguk narrowed his eyes, purposely leaning his face closer and closer to Daehyun’s.

                Even though his body was plastered to the door from head to toe, Daehyun still tried to back away from Yongguk as if he could penetrate the door by doing that. He wondered if everything Yongguk said was true, if this was how Youngjae started his one sided love relationship with Yongguk.

                Yongguk abruptly gripped Daehyun’s face to bring it closer to his. “And when I kissed him, he didn’t push me away,” He smirked before closing the gap between their lips.

                Daehyun gasped, instinctively lifting his hands to Yongguk’s chest to push away the older boy who was trying to kiss him. Yongguk moved his other hand from pressing the door to clench Daehyun’s arm and tightened his grip on Daehyun’s jaw, hoping that the struggling boy would stand still.

                Daehyun groaned in protest. His arm hurt, his jaw felt like it would get dislocated and he was ridiculously angry at Yongguk right now. Using the strongest force he got, Daehyun managed to make Yongguk stumbled back. The president menacingly looked at him but that got nothing on him since he was so mad. Instead, he stepped forward before slapping Yongguk real hard on the face.

(｡◕‿◕｡)

                Zelo tried so hard to keep his focus on studying. His mind kept replaying the conversation he had with Jongup earlier instead of the mathematical formulas that he should memorize. He was studying at Daehyun’s desk tonight, with the older boy sitting next to him.

                Daehyun was doing his own revision on what he had learned at today’s lessons. He flipped his textbook from page to page but a little too quickly than he should be. So when Zelo glanced at him, he received a weird look but of course he wouldn’t notice it.

                “Are you okay?” Zelo asked cautiously. His roommate obviously had the same issue as him. “You seem to have a lot going in your mind right now.”

                “I am...?” Daehyun asked back in daze, his eyes didn’t leave the textbook.

                Zelo frowned. The way Daehyun answered seemed like he didn’t want to go further than that. Zelo wondered what he was actually thinking about. If something’s bothering you, you should talk to someone about it. You should just let it go, right?

                Zelo shifted his gaze to his work sheet again, thinking back to Jongup’s words. He had created so many possible outcomes if he confessed to Daehyun. And that made him feel very curious to know how Daehyun would actually react to it in real life. If Daehyun ended up rejecting him, he should be okay with it because Daehyun was settling with his complicated feelings towards Yongguk. But they had kissed twice and Daehyun didn’t push him away. That’s enough to give him some hope.

                So maybe he really shouldn’t fear of rejection. He wouldn’t give up, just like Jongup, until Daehyun said that ‘I hate you’ or ‘I don’t want to see your face again’ or ‘go die’. Yes, he really should confess. He couldn’t focus on his studying, this thing was bothering his mind so much that he had to let it out right this instant.

                Zelo gulped, braving himself to admit his feelings towards his roommate. “Um…hyung, I have something to tell you…” He muttered nervously.

                “He’s such a jerk!!!” Daehyun suddenly shouted.

                Zelo jumped violently in his seat, almost tripping himself down if he didn’t hold to the table strong enough. His wide eyes stared at the older boy who was fuming with anger at… his textbook?

                “I can’t believe I like him all along!!” Daehyun pounded the textbook with his fists.

                “Um… Who - who’s a jerk again?” Zelo asked timidly since he had never seen this quite interesting side of Daehyun.

                “Bang yongguk!!” Daehyun snapped as he turned to his roommate with a scowl on his face, making Zelo flinched in his seat again. “He thought that I like him but I didn’t admit it so he tried to kiss me and then I – ” His rant was stopped abruptly by himself because he needed to take a breath. Zelo’s yes kept blinking at him in disbelief.

                Daehyun then continued. “How could he do that to me when he’s doing those ert things with Youngjae?! How can Youngjae even like that guy?!” He threw his hands up, asking Zelo in an unbelievable tone like it was the most ridiculous thing ever.

                Zelo wanted to roll his eyes but he didn’t want to be so rude to someone he liked. “You should ask that to yourself,” He remarked.

                “That’s not funny,” Daehyun glared. “I slapped him in the face when he tried to hit on me, you know.”

                Zelo gaped at that because he didn’t know Daehyun was quite feisty. “So…you don’t like Yongguk hyung anymore?” He raised his eyebrows at the other boy.

                Daehyun stared at Zelo for a moment before sighing deeply. “Deep feelings like that don’t just disappear, Zelo. It takes time,” He said in reluctance, feeling frustrated at himself when he realized he couldn’t give a definite answer to that question.

                Zelo pressed his lips together, pondering about Daehyun’s words. His chair swiveled to make him directly faced the older boy. He placed his hands on the edge of the chair in between his legs before smiling whimsically.

                “Maybe you should hurry and fall in love with someone else to get over it,” He didn’t even know where did that come from but he remembered seeing it on the internet.

                Daehyun scoffed loudly. “Easy for you to say. Does someone like you even know about love?” He asked mockingly.

                “Oh believe me, I know,” Zelo smirked, feeling confident all of a sudden.

                “What? You have someone you like right now?” Daehyun was annoyed and curious at the same time.

                Zelo nodded. “I do.”

                Daehyun’s face immediately changed. “Who?”

                “You.”

                Daehyun looked surprised for a second. His eyes large under the glasses as he stared at the younger boy. But then his lips slowly curling upwards until he let out an awkward laugh. “You’re kidding me!”

                Zelo’s expression turned into a smug one. He reached out to spin Daehyun’s chair before pulling it closer to him. “Want me to kiss you again to prove it?” He asked when their faces were only inches apart. “For the third time?”

                Daehyun’s eyes were wide as they looked straight into Zelo’s too close ones. His tongue was somehow tied to give any return. He remembered the kisses he had with Zelo and his face started to turn red. He was so embarrassed and he was speechless. Great, just great.

                Zelo laughed out of nowhere. He slowly backed away to his initial position. “Don’t worry, hyung. I’m just letting you know about my feeling for you,” He explained honestly. “I’m not asking for you to return it. But I’d be glad if you do,” His lips pulled a thin smile, just like the thin hope he had for his feelings to be returned.

                Daehyun began to relax in his seat but he didn’t say a word. His body remained frozen while his eyes were glancing here and there to avoid Zelo’s gaze.

                “Don’t think too much about it, hyung,” Zelo spoke up again when Daehyun wasn’t giving any response. “Like you said, feelings don’t appear disappear just like that. It takes time.”

                Daehyun just nodded his head before turning back to the table. He sat there like a statue, not knowing what he should really do right now.

                Zelo too swiveled his chair around and grabbed his pencil. He stared and stared at his work sheet until he couldn’t take the intense atmosphere anymore. “Well, it’s getting awkward. Should we stop here and continue tomorrow?” He suggested bluntly without looking at the other boy.

                “I… I think…we should…” Daehyun murmured.

                “Alright, let’s just go to sleep,” Zelo quickly gathered his stuffs before getting up to go to his side of the room.

                And Daehyun could finally breathe properly.

(｡◕‿◕｡)ﾉ

A/N :

Helloo daelo shippers! It's nice to see you again! It's been a long time isn't it. I apologize for that ^^'

Thank you to all upvoters, subscribers, readers & comments!! ♥♥♥