Jongin’s least favorite part of the day is sixth period, because that’s when he has Remediation.

 

It isn’t really a class, it’s more like a group therapy session that the problematic students are sent to in the school’s last-ditch effort to make them less problematic. It doesn’t work; in fact, the teacher doesn’t even really try anymore and they mostly just play games and watch movies, which Jongin really wouldn’t mind if it weren’t for the fact that he’s constantly surrounded by the biggest s in the entire school.

 

Jongin shouldn’t even be in Remediation. He’s not a problem child by any means; he’s quiet and reserved and he doesn’t do much besides sit in the library and do homework. Unfortunately for him, he was put on probation last year after the police drug dogs came in and found a bag of weed in his backpack that Huang Zitao had stashed there to avoid getting caught himself, and anyone with a criminal record is automatically required to be put into the class. So here he is.

 

“Alright guys, we’re gonna play a game,” Mr. Kim says to start the class, leaning back in his chair and propping his feet up on the desk in front of him. “I’m pretty sure none of you have ever said a nice word to anyone in your life, so today we’re gonna practice the art of compliments! Luhan, you try.”

 

Luhan cracks his gum loudly and glances once around the room. His eyes rest on Oh Sehun and he grins ferally. “Sehun, you have the thickest in the whole school.”

 

Sehun stands up and pulls out a pocket knife, his facial expression unwavering. “I will ing castrate you,” he says flatly. Luhan barks out a laugh.

 

“Sehun, put it away, I don’t feel like expelling you for breaking the weapon policy again,” Mr. Kim says with a tired sigh. He rubs his eyes. “Luhan, that was good, but try go for something less objectifying next time. Kyungsoo, give it a shot. Say something nice to Jongin.”

 

Kyungsoo is clearly not in the mood, as is evident by the still-bleeding scratch marks on his right cheek and the glower on his already-terrifying features. Baekhyun looks pissed too, and his face is much more ed up than Kyungsoo’s, so it isn’t hard to deduct what had happened. Baekhyun is annoying and Kyungsoo is easy to set off. “Who the is Jongin?” Kyungsoo replies darkly. Jongin sinks into his chair when everyone turns toward the back of the room and stares at him.

 

“Kai,” Chanyeol whispers, as if he’s giving Kyungsoo the answer to a problem on a test. Jongin isn’t really surprised that Kai is the only name that Kyungsoo knows him by, since that’s the nickname they had given him on the first day of Remediation. According to Sehun, just plain Jongin wasn’t “badass enough” and he at least had to pretend to fit in.

 

“I have nothing to say,” Kyungsoo says coldly, and Jongin sighs.

 

“I'll go!” Baekhyun says, suddenly raising his hand and setting down the makeup he was applying in an attempt to cover up the rapidly-purpling bruises on his face. “Kai, you somehow manage to be hot despite the fact that you have the stupidest hair color I’ve ever seen." Jongin pulls at a strand of white hair with a frown.

 

"Thanks."

 

"I wanna try!" Chanyeol says excitedly. "Jongin, I would totally not be opposed to having with you." The rest of the class murmurs in agreement.

 

"Alright, so we've established that all of you want to bone Jongin," Mr. Kim says tiredly. "Anyway, today you're all going to tape a piece of paper to your back, and then you're gonna go around and anonymously write compliments on each other."

 

Zitao raises his hand. "What if you hate every person in this class and have nothing nice to say about any of them?" he asks seriously. Mr. Kim closes his eyes and takes a drink of water.

 

"Try your best," he says with a strained smile.

 

Jongin doesn't really expect this activity to go well, and that's proven correct when he goes around the room and slowly realizes that they're all writing everything but compliments on each other's backs. He opts for actually following the assignment, because he's terrified that if he writes something rude they'll find out it was him and murder him in an alley or something.

 

You wear really cool shoes.

 

Your hair has a nice healthy gleam to it.

 

I like your fingernails they’re very neatly trimmed.

 

“‘Your braces make you look cute and approachable’,” Sehun reads off of his paper when they’re finished, a look of disgust on his face. “I know this was you Kai.” Jongin grins charmingly and Sehun flips him off.

 

“Literally every single one of you just wrote ‘’,” Baekhyun says with a scoff. “Oh wait, someone said ‘ with nice skin’.”

 

Jongin pulls his own paper off of his back nervously, expecting the worst. Sure enough, the entire page is pretty much filled with drags on his hair color.

 

Who the hell dyes their hair white?

 

Please change your hair color Kai-ahjusshi.

 

You would be so much hotter if your hair wasn’t stupid.

 

You look like Kakashi. Kai-kashi. haha.

 

But Jongin forgets about all of these once his eyes fall to the bottom of the paper, where a note is scribbled in tiny handwriting that makes his heart temporarily come to a stop.

 

I think I’m in love with you.

 

---

 

“Oh my god, this is ing hilarious,” Sehun says through a mouth full of (Jongin’s) cafeteria food. His eyes are glued to Jongin’s compliment paper, like he’s afraid the confession will disappear if he looks away from it.

 

“What’s hilarious? Why does Jongin look like he’s about to pass out cold?” Jongdae asks as he sets his lunch tray on the table. Minseok sits beside him and looks equally concerned.

 

Junmyeon reaches over to feel Jongin’s forehead. “Stop, I’m fine,” Jongin insists, slapping his hand away weakly.

 

“Someone in Remediation is in love with Kai,” Sehun says with a wicked grin. “But we don’t know who.”

 

Jongdae’s jaw drops. “Holy . I didn’t know those guys were able to feel love,” he says.

 

“Me either,” Jongin whimpers. “They all scare the out of me.”

 

“Aw, come on, some of them aren’t that bad,” Sehun insists, nudging Jongin with his knee from his seat on top of the table. “Kris is super hot, you just have to look past his first-degree murder attempts.” Jongin lets out a sob.

 

“Do you have any idea who it is?” Junmyeon asks. Jongin shakes his head. Sehun taps his chin thoughtfully.

 

“It can’t be Chanyeol since he’s been obsessed with Baekhyun for like three years, or Zitao because he hates everyone except Kris,” Sehun deducts. “And it’s not me, obviously, I’m way out of your league. That leaves Luhan, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, and Kris.”

 

Jongin wrinkles his nose and frowns deeply. “I honestly can’t see any of them doing something like this,” he says, glancing at the paper and re-reading the words for the hundredth time. “It’s probably just a prank.”

 

“Seriously, who would fall in love with you? You’re just a loser stoner,” Jongdae says, and Sehun nods in agreement.

 

Jongin throws his hands up exasperatedly. “I’m not a stoner!” he insists.

 

“Says the guy who got arrested for having pot in school.”

 

“It wasn’t mine!”

 

“Yeah, sure Jongin.”

 

Suddenly, someone sets his tray on the table next to Junmyeon’s. “What’s going on?” a friendly voice says, and Sehun goes rigid.

 

Jongin watches amusedly as Sehun suddenly hops off of the table and takes off across the cafeteria at record speed. It never fails to satisfy him that Oh Sehun, who gets into knife fights on a regular basis, is terrified of the nicest kid in the entire school.

 

“Yixing, Jongin has a secret admirer!” Minseok says excitedly. Yixing’s mouth make a little “o” shape.

 

“Really?” he asks in interest. “Wow! Who is it?”

 

“Do you understand the concept of 'secret admirer'?” Jongdae says with an eyeroll.

 

Yixing blinks. “Oh. Right.”

 

Jongin grimaces. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter,” he says. “I’m not interested in dating anyone in Remediation.”

 

“I don’t know, Do Kyungsoo is kind of cute,” Jongdae muses. Jongin gapes at him.

 

“One time I picked up his pencil after he dropped it and he threatened to burn my house down,” Jongin recalls with a shiver. “They’re all crazy.”

 

“Crazy in love with you,” Minseok says, putting his hand over his heart dramatically as Jongdae starts humming the wedding march. Jongin lays his head on the table and doesn’t lift it back up until the end of the period.

 

---

 

Kyungsoo is waiting for Jongin on a bench in the courtyard after school. They live right across the street from each other and they usually end up walking together anyway, so Kyungsoo has gotten into the habit of waiting for him when he comes out later than usual. Jongin doesn’t know why though, since Kyungsoo rarely speaks to him anyway.

 

“Want one?” Kyungsoo asks when they start walking, holding out his pack of cigarettes toward Jongin.

 

“No thanks, I don’t smoke,” Jongin declines politely, even though he’s told Kyungsoo that a thousand times.

 

Kyungsoo stares at him for a moment, his eyes narrowed into the glare that constantly graces his features. “I thought you were a stoner,” he says flatly, and Jongin chokes.

 

“I’m not!” he says a little too loudly. He clears his throat and settles himself down. “Zitao planted that weed in my backpack. I’m not a stoner.”

 

Kyungsoo pauses. “I know,” he says, his tone still unwavering. “I was joking.”

 

Jongin pales. “Oh, right,” he says weakly. “Of course you were.”

 

They’re quiet for the rest of the walk. Once they reach Jongin’s house, he makes to turn and leave without a word like usual, but Kyungsoo reaches out and grabs his arm before he has the chance to.

 

“Jongin,” Kyungsoo says, and Jongin raises an eyebrow because he’s never called him that. “I meant it. What I wrote on your compliment sheet.”

 

Jongin stops breathing.

 

“...That I look like Kakashi?” he tries weakly, but Kyungsoo doesn’t look amused.

 

“I love you,” he says seriously, and Jongin thinks he might actually faint. “I was too embarrassed to say it to your face before, but now I’m not. I’m in love with you.”

 

Jongin really doesn’t know what to say. He honestly would have believed Zitao was in love with him before he believed that cold, terrifying Do Kyungsoo was. Do Kyungsoo doesn’t even like anyone as a friend. Do Kyungsoo has threatened to murder him on several occasions. Do Kyungsoo should not be capable of falling in love, especially not with him.

 

“I…” Jongin starts shakily. “Are you sure?”

 

Kyungsoo’s eyebrows fall even lower over his eyes so that his glower looks even more menacing. “Yes, I am,” he says firmly. Jongin laughs once in disbelief.

 

“No way,” he says with a shake of his head. “, okay. Look, I'm flattered, but I can't return your feelings. I'm sorry.”

 

“Why?” Kyungsoo says with genuine curiosity. Jongin stares at him helplessly.

 

“Kyungsoo, you...” he says weakly. “To be completely honest, you scare the out of me.”

 

Kyungsoo’s features soften and Jongin thinks he almost looks surprised. “I do?” he asks. He reaches up to touch the scratch marks on his cheek subconsciously, which have been dressed in bandages since Jongin had last seen them. “I would never hit you.” Jongin laughs nervously.

 

“It’s not that,” he says shakily. “It’s just… how you are. Everything about you is really intimidating.”

 

Kyungsoo stares at him. He stares for a long time without speaking before he eventually turns around and crosses the street, disappearing into his own house without a word. Jongin watches him go with his mouth slightly agape.

 

“Holy ing ,” he whispers to himself.

 

---

 

“Where’s your boyfriend, Jongin?” Sehun asks cheekily, gesturing toward Kyungsoo’s empty seat. Jongin covers his face with his hands and whimpers.

 

“Leave me alone,” he mutters.

 

“I can’t believe you got Do Kyungsoo to fall for you,” Sehun continues despite Jongin’s protests. “You’re not even that hot.”

 

Jongin glares at Sehun and is about to say something that will probably get him stabbed, but he’s stopped by the expression on Sehun’s face. He follows the other’s wide eyes and sees Yixing coming toward them.

 

“Hey Jongin, thanks for letting me borrow this,” Yixing says with a bright smile, and Jongin swears he sees flowers floating around him like in the animes. He hands Jongin his textbook and Jongin nods once in thanks. Yixing looks up at Sehun, who is frozen in place on top of Jongin’s desk. “Hi Sehun!”

 

Sehun flushes deeply and holds up his notebook to cover his face. “Get out of here, you’re not in this class,” Sehun mumbles so quietly that it’s barely comprehensible. Yixing just grins even more brightly.

 

“Ah, yes, you’re right, I’ll be going then,” Yixing says with a nod in both of their directions. “I’ll see you guys later, have fun!” On his way out of the room, he makes eye contact with Kris, and he smiles brightly and sends him a wave. Kris looks momentarily stunned, but after a minute he returns a small smile. Sehun gapes at the encounter.

 

Jongin deadpans at him. “Are you gonna continue to make fun of me? Because you shouldn’t dish it if you can’t take it,” he warns. Sehun glares at him.

 

“Shut up,” he snaps. “Yixing is weird, okay? He just made Kris smile. No one should have that much power.” Jongin just rolls his eyes, but drops it.

 

Jongin doesn’t look up when he hears the door open once more, but he does when an unusual silence suddenly falls over the room. “Um, are you lost?” Luhan asks, and Jongin follows everyone’s gaze toward the doorway where someone only vaguely familiar is standing.

 

“Wait, holy ,” Chanyeol says, his jaw dropping open. “Kyungsoo?”

 

At first Jongin thinks Chanyeol is joking, because there is no possible way the boy standing in the doorway is Kyungsoo, but then the boy turns to make eye contact with him and there’s no doubt that Chanyeol is right. Kyungsoo looks like a completely different person. Instead of the all-black clothing that he’s usually adorned in, today he’s wearing a sweater vest and khakis. His hair that was once dark red and styled to the side to reveal his undercut is now shiny black and lying above his eyes in a thick curtain. He’s wearing thick glasses and his eyes are wide and innocent-looking, and Jongin wonders if the reason his eyes are almost constantly squinted into a glare is just because he’s ing blind.

 

The classroom just continues to silently stare at him for several beats. “You look ing ridiculous,” Baekhyun eventually says, and Kyungsoo’s eyes flash. Within half a second, Baekhyun has his head slammed down onto his desk and his arm twisted behind his back.

 

“Hm, I guess Kyungsoo is still dangerous even when he looks like a ing dweeb,” Sehun says in interest.

 

“No fighting,” Mr. Kim says tiredly. “Kyungsoo, take your seat.”

 

Kyungsoo ignores him completely and makes his way to the back of the room toward Jongin. “Hello,” he says quietly. Jongin stares at him.

 

“Hi.”

 

“Do I still scare you?”

 

Jongin never in a million years would have thought that he would ever find Do Kyungsoo cute, but he does now, so much so that his stomach is doing somersaults and he feels like his heart is going to explode. “No,” Jongin chokes out, and Kyungsoo smiles so vibrantly that Jongin thinks he’s going to have a heart attack and die. He’s never seen Kyungsoo smile, not once in the twelve years they’ve gone to school together.

 

“Go on a date with me then,” he demands, reaching out and hesitantly grabbing Jongin’s hand. “I’m really in love with you.” Jongin laughs nervously.

 

“You’re so weird, Do Kyungsoo,” he says exasperatedly. “You never even talked to me before. When did you even start liking me?”

 

Kyungsoo pauses, scrunching his eyebrows together in thought. His eyes drift to Jongin’s hair. “When you dyed your hair white,” he answers seriously. “I thought you looked really cool.”

 

Jongin’s face slowly morphs into a huge grin, and he lets out a loud burst of laughter as Kyungsoo just stares at him in confusion. “I dyed it this color because I lost a bet,” Jongin explains, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. “You’re seriously weird. But okay, Kyungsoo, I’ll go out with you. As long as you promise not to beat anyone up on our date.”

 

Kyungsoo’s eyes widen significantly. “I won’t, I promise!” he says eagerly. Jongin laughs again and squeezes Kyungsoo’s hand once.

 

“This is the weirdest thing that has ever happened,” Sehun says exasperatedly. The rest of the class nods in agreement. “I didn’t even know Kyungsoo was capable of feeling.”

 

Kyungsoo glares at Sehun. “You’re lucky I don’t hit kids with braces,” he says flatly. Sehun rolls his eyes.

 

“You’re one to talk, four-eyes,” he snaps back.

 

“Guys, I have a confession too,” Chanyeol says, suddenly standing up from his desk and moving to kneel beside Baekhyun. “Baekhyun, I’m in love with you!”

 

Baekhyun clucks his tongue in distaste. “Everyone knows that, Chanyeol,” he says with an eyeroll. “Sit your down.”

 

“I stashed the weed in Jongin’s backpack!” Zitao bursts out amongst the chaos. Everyone is suddenly silent.

 

Jongin lets out a huff. “I told you I wasn’t a stoner,” he mumbles.

 

Mr. Kim puts his head in his hands. “Let’s just watch a movie today,” he says tiredly.

 

---

 

“I can’t believe our Kai-kashi is graduating so soon,” Luhan says, wiping away the non-existent tears in his eyes. “I’m gonna miss you. You raised the overall attractiveness of this class by like 30%.” Jongin laughs dryly.

 

Since Zitao admitted that Jongin never brought illegal substances to school after all, Jongin was given permission by the school board to graduate from Remediation. The class had insisted on giving him a ceremony, and he didn’t mind because that basically just meant that Mr. Kim would order them all pizza.

 

“I heard there was food,” Jongdae suddenly announces, entering the room uninvited with Junmyeon, Minseok, and Yixing following behind him. Minseok is carrying a cake that says “CONGRATULATIONS ON NOT BEING A STONER!” in bright green letters with little cannabis leaves surrounding it decoratively.

 

“Look, Sehunnie, your crush is here!” Baekhyun stage-whispers, nudging the younger tauntingly. Sehun flushes bright red and scowls.

 

“He is not my crush,” Sehun hisses. “I hate him. He’s stupid and annoying and way too uncomfortably nice.”

 

“He’s coming over here,” Baekhyun warns, and Sehun jumps nearly a foot in the air and tries to look for an escape route.

 

“Hi Sehunnie!” Yixing greets with a sparkly anime grin, and Sehun abruptly turns his back toward him. “I brought you some cake! Mind if I sit next to you?”

 

“Yes,” Sehun says desperately, but Yixing completely ignores him and takes a seat, launching into a story about how he’d once saved a defenseless cat stuck in a tree or something.

 

Jongin walks to the back corner of the room where Kyungsoo is sitting by himself. He holds out a piece of cake. “Hungry?” he asks with a soft smile. Kyungsoo looks up, a small frown on his features. He had since gotten rid of his thick prescription glasses, but Jongin had insisted that he at least get contacts so that he can see two feet in front of him.

 

“I’m gonna miss you so much,” Kyungsoo says, ignoring Jongin’s offering. Jongin sighs and sits beside him.

 

“Hyung, I live right across the street from you. We see each other every day,” he points out. Kyungsoo shrugs.

 

“It’s not the same.”

 

“You’re my boyfriend, you can see me any time you want to,” Jongin says with a grin. “Stop sulking.” Kyungsoo looks up at him.

 

“But this is where I fell in love with you,” he says seriously, and Jongin lets out a burst of laughter.

 

“Ah, hyung, you’re so cheesy.”

 

“I don’t mean to be.”

 

Jongin smiles softly and reaches over to ruffle Kyungsoo’s hair. “I like it. It’s cute,” he says reassuringly. “I have to go an get a signature from the guidance counselor on my new schedule, so I have to go now. Walk me to the door?” Kyungsoo nods. Jongin gets up, and Kyungsoo makes to follow him.

 

“Bye, Jongin-ah! Have a good life!” Baekhyun says happily, and a chorus of goodbyes follow. Jongin grins and waves. He turns to say goodbye to Sehun, but the younger is blushing deeply and actively listening to a story that Yixing is telling, and he figures it’s best to leave them alone.

 

“Bye,” Jongin says to Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo still looks unhappy, so Jongin sighs, leaning over and scribbling something on a scrap piece of paper on Mr. Kim’s desk. He pulls a piece of tape off of the dispenser and slaps the sign onto Kyungsoo’s back. “I’ll see you after school, hyung.”

 

Kyungsoo watches him go, waiting until he’s completely out of sight before reaching back and pulling the sign off of his shirt. As he reads it, a soft smile spreads over his face.

 

I think I'm in love with you, too.