Length: 8k

Genre: romance, humor

Rating: PG-13

Summary:  Jongin ends up engaged to the Do he wasn't expecting, but sometimes people take you by surprise.

Kim Jongin has known who he was going to marry since he was six. Sure he hadn’t quite gotten the concept of marriage, let alone arranged marriage then, but he knew that when he was older he would end up with Do Miyeon.

He grew up knowing the girl that he’d eventually end up with. They didn’t see each other often but when they did their parents always made them play together. When they got into middle school they were put in the same private school and were pushed even more to spend time together.

And it got to the point that Jongin liked her, they were good friends throughout their high school years and things were looking promising to their parents. Because the more they liked each other, the better the marriage would work out, his noona had told him at one point.

Jongin wasn’t always so open minded to the idea of arranged marriage. When he entered his teen years and saw his friend’s going off and dating, he felt annoyed that he would never have the same freedom’s since he was promised to someone else.

But eventually when his grandparents explained how important it was and how much it meant to their family, he slowly started to come around. It was still a hard concept to accept but eventually he saw the benefits it presented.

And he grew used to it.

It’s been years since he’s met and gotten to know his fiancée and although they’re now in university they aren’t married just yet.

They aren’t planned to get married until they both graduate university, which won’t be for another two years.

Jongin is only twenty one now, Miyeon several months younger, so there’s still awhile before he has to grow up, get married and eventually give his parents grandkids.

Right now it’s currently late September and he’s just getting out of class. It’s Friday therefore he’s exhausted from the week and isn’t sure if he’s going to make the trip back home for the weekend.

He doesn’t have to but his parents, mostly his mom miss him and he doesn’t like to keep them worried.

With he and his sisters all out of the house now, his mom gets lonely and he hates knowing she’s alone most of the day while his dad works.

Sighing he goes to wait at the shuttle stop, sitting down on a bench and then pulling his phone out.

“Jongin!”

Startled he looks up, seeing his roommates he groans, giving a half-assed wave as Jongdae and Luhan make their way over towards him.

It’s not like Jongin hates either of them, in fact they’re his best friends, just a year above him. It’s the fact that they’re always attached at the hip, or rather at the mouth is what bothers him. They’re so sickeningly sweet to each other it’s kind of annoying.

They aren’t even engaged like he is yet they act like they’ve been married for years. He’s been engaged to Miyeon since he was born and she barely even likes holding his hand.

“Hi hyung,” he mumbles, getting his hair ruffled by Luhan as he and Jongdae take up the remaining space on the bench next to him.

“How were classes?” Jongdae questions him, leaning forward slightly to get a glimpse of the younger male.

“They were fine,” Jongin replies while shrugging his shoulders indifferently. “I’m thinking of going home for the weekend, what are you two doing?” he questions as the shuttle pulls up to the stop.

All three males stand and wait for the crowd of people to clear so they can enter the shuttle. When they do Jongin takes a seat two rows from the front, Jongdae and Luhan taking the one across from him.

“We were going home if you want to carpool,” Luhan offers, linking hands with Jongdae while the younger male scrolls through his phone.

Jongin contemplates it, knowing that they won’t be able to face while driving. So he won’t be the awkward third wheel if he says yes.

“Yeah, okay,” he agrees.

Going home for the weekend should be fun, he thinks.

♡♡♡

Jongin has lived in the same house his entire life. It’s a large two story house with too many rooms for him to count. There are maids and a chef, several gardeners and security all around. It’s more of a mini mansion and of course he’s used to the awed looks his friends always have on their faces when they come over.

“I honestly don’t see why you even live near campus when you could just live here,” Luhan mumbles out, looking around curiously  as if he hasn’t been here before, which he has.

Jongin just shrugs, used to all the extravagance that comes with your parent's being inheritably rich.

“I like having a normal apartment,” he reasons, smiling towards one of the butlers as he walks towards where his mother is bound to be. The garden.

“Yeah but imagine if you had a nice one!” Luhan continues blabbering, probably having the greatest time of his life.

“It wouldn’t make a difference,” he replies, twitching when he hears a dog barking.

They don’t even have a dog, but there’s a white and black puppy running up to them all right now, yapping as it waggles its tail. It looks like a mini wolf if Jongin’s being honest with himself and Jongdae is automatically bending down to play with him while Luhan inches away, never being a fan of dogs.

“Harang! Come back here!” a familiar voice shouts and the dog barks, running from where he came and up to a shorter male with pitch black hair. The boy notices them and his face starts turning pink.

Something Jongin will never understand about his future brother-in-law is that he’s constantly blushing, stuttering and tripping over his words. He also trips and stumbles over his own feet.

He’s known Kyungsoo since the boy was a baby and he still can’t understand how he’s related to his future wife. Even Seungsoo, their older brother acts nothing like the youngest Do.

“Oh, um, h-hi,” Kyungsoo stutters, his wide eyes staring at the three of them before he hastily bows, the puppy in his arms yapping all the while.

“What are you doing here?” he questions, not meaning to be blunt about it but not knowing how to ask without sounding mean.

Kyungsoo never comes around in the first place. He’s in high school.  Five years his junior and from what he’s heard, the boy has some kind of issues going on with his studies.

“Dude you sound like an ,” Luhan whispers, nudging him on the shoulder and he flushes.

“I mean, shouldn’t you be studying?” he questions instead, watching as the sixteen year old struggles holding the puppy in his arms.

“N-no,” Kyungsoo stutters, squirming some more before he starts mumbling to himself, turning around and rushing in the direction he came.

“What a weird kid,” he mutters, shaking his head before following after him.

“Who was that?” Jongdae questions curiously as he trails after the younger male, Luhan sneaking an arm around his waist.

“Miyeon’s little brother,” Jongin replies, turning the corner and spotting his mother along with Kyungsoo, the sixteen year old looking almost as red as the rose bushes his mom is tending to.

When she spots him her eyes light up happily. She smiles at him before turning to turn the garden hose off and then taking her gardening gloves off. By the time he reaches her she’s turning towards him, holding her arms out expectantly.

“Hi mom,” he greets, giving her a big hug before pulling away. “You remember Luhan and Jongdae, right?” he questions and she nods her head happily, always one to love having guests.

“You should have told me you were coming so I could have dinner ready!”  she scolds lightly, moving to give both Luhan and Jongdae hugs.

His mother has always been an affectionate, touchy person. It’s something he inherited, but has learned to have more control of. People don’t like having someone cling to them all the time. Especially his fiancée.

“Figured I would surprise you?” he offers, watching as Kyungsoo continues to struggle holding the puppy in his arms. “What’s uh, Kyungsoo doing here?” he whispers as discreetly as possible.

The sixteen year old squawks when Jongdae walks over to him and Jongin doesn’t know if he feels bad about how socially awkward Kyungsoo is or if he thinks it’s hilarious.

“Oh, he comes over when no one’s at his home. Poor boy gets lonely you know,” his mother states, shaking her head and letting out a lethargic sigh.

“So he got a dog?” he questions skeptically. Kyungsoo had a goldfish once he remembers. Miyeon had to cancel a date with him when it died and the boy was inconsolable. He would assume pets weren’t meant for the boy if he cried over a fish.

“Ah, no. It’s his uncle’s, he’s watching him for the weekend.”  His mom smiles, laughing behind her hand when the puppy manages to knock Jongdae on his .

“I guess I should go rescue him, huh?” Luhan questions with a sigh, shaking his head as the dog starts his boyfriend’s face.

“Unless you want the taste of dog drool in your mouth later on,” Jongin replies, pushing the elder forward and smirking when the dog goes after him instead.

“They’re such a cute couple,” his mother boasts, watching the two with a bright smile. Jongin nearly rolls his eyes.

“If that’s what you want to call it,” he mutters, wondering if she would think they were so cute if she knew they’ve been caught ing around in the library.

Twice.

This semester.

“Maybe you can take Kyungsoo home and visit Miyeon and her family,” his mom speaks up and he nods obediently, cringing at the thought of being alone with the awkward sixteen year old.

“I didn’t bring my car though,” he speaks up, realizing he car pooled with Luhan and Jongdae. Maybe he can get out of taking the teen home.

“Just take one of your father’s,” his mother dismisses, calling Kyungsoo over and he groans before forcing a smile on his face.

It’s not like he doesn’t like Kyungsoo, it’s just, the kid talked to butterflies when he was younger and he’s pretty sure there are some lights not upstairs with him. He’d rather hang out with Seungsoo instead, at least the elder doesn’t stutter every two seconds, even if all he does is make snarky comments.

“Jongin ah is going to take you home,” his mother tells the sixteen year old.

Jongin gives him what he hopes is a friendly smile, but by the way Kyungsoo’s eyebrows furrow and his lips twitch into a frown resembling a pout, it’s not that friendly at all.

The shorter boy scurries off towards the backdoor of the house before disappearing leaving him alone with his mother.

“Why can’t one of the butlers take him?” he questions with a whine, already dreading twenty minutes of complete silence because although he’s known Kyungsoo since before he could even walk, Kyungsoo has only ever spoken about ten words to him.

“Kim Jongin!” his mother scolds, looking offended that he would even suggest such a thing.

“Mom, he’s weird,” he stresses, shoulders deflating as he gives her a pout.

His mother however is immune to begging and pleading, she is a mom after all.

“He’s also you’re future brother-in-law, so be nice. I doubt Miyeon would like you calling her baby brother names,” she states sternly, the wrinkles on her face more obvious as she frowns at him.

And since she’s a mom, she’s an expert on making him feel guilty.

Kyungsoo appears a little while later, backpack on his shoulders and a puppy in his arms. He looks ten, not sixteen in Jongin’s eyes. It’s hard to even imagine the boy is in high school and will be graduating in less than two years.

“Uh, are you ready?” he questions after he’s bid his friends a goodbye with promises to meet up on Sunday.

Kyungsoo only nods his head, giving a timid smile at his mom when she tells him goodbye and to say hello to his parents for her.

Awkwardly he walks towards the garage, the sixteen year old trailing behind him silently. Opening the garage door he contemplates which car to take that his father won’t mind getting dog hair in. That puppy is bound to shed and possibly take a piss at some point, so he settles with the old Mercedes they don’t use quite often, grabbing the key from the rack and then moving towards the driver’s seat.

He startles when Kyungsoo ends up taking the backseat instead of the passenger side like he was expecting. Now it definitely makes him look like a chauffeur for some middle school student.

 “You know you can sit in the front, right?” he questions, looking at the sixteen year old through the rearview mirror and waiting for a response. All he gets is this wide eyed look. Sighing he starts up the car and begins the twenty minute journey towards the Do’s.

♡♡♡

The Do’s household is similar to his own, although their entire estate is a whole lot larger than his own family’s. The security around the home is a lot more advanced than his own, that’s for sure and he’s pretty sure they don’t have as much staff as the Do’s do.

Jongin can honestly see why someone would get lonely living in such a big house, even if everyone’s home. He can’t even imagine what it would be like when you’re the only one there.

Where his house is big and has plenty of spare rooms, it’s always felt like a home to him. The Do’s house feels like a mansion, impersonal and cold.

It’s been years and Jongin honestly still gets the rooms confused, always turns the wrong way when trying to find his fiancée’s room and couldn’t even tell you where the rest of the family sleeps at night.

Pulling up to the house takes forever and by the time he finally parks it seems the sixteen year old has gathered all his belongings because he shoots out of the car without so much as a goodbye leaving him wide eyed.

Frowning he slowly gets out of the car, watching as Kyungsoo speed walks towards the door, tripping over his feet several times but never actually falling.

But it does slow him down so that by the time he makes it to the door, Jongin is right behind him making the sixteen year old let out a shrilly yell, nearly dropping the dog in his arms.

They’re both staring wide eyed at each other when the door opens and then Kyungsoo’s rushing inside and tripping over his own two feet yet again.

Sighing he shakes his head, following after the sixteen year old while smiling politely at the maids he passes by.

As he nears the kitchen he smiles at the alluring smell, his stomach giving a small gurgle in response. Peeking his head into the kitchen he spots his future mother-in-law along with Seungsoo, the elder spotting Kyungsoo first and then him.

“Why’d you bring Jongin home with you?” the elder questions forcing him to put a smile on his face.

Seungsoo hates him.

Kyungsoo mutters something barely audible to anyone, but it seems the elder Do is used to it because his face lights up in recognition but he’s still sending him a tiny glare.

“I brought him home, you’re welcome by the way,” he comments, the last part being more aimed towards the sixteen year old who is now ignoring his existence.

Seungsoo gives him a look before ignoring him as well.

“How was school?” the older Do questions while he walks more into the kitchen to go say hello to his future mother-in-law, briefly he sees Kyungsoo shake his head.

He waits patiently for Mrs. Do to get off the phone, looking at the stove where one of the chefs is cooking some kind of meat that smells heavenly; maybe he can stay for dinner.

Although that would involve sitting at a table with his future brother-in-law’s who both are not very fond of him. For sure Seungsoo isn’t, which he gets, he is the big brother after all. He’s not sure what Kyungsoo’s problem is other than he never looks like he’s fond of anyone outside their family.

It could honestly just be his face, when Jongin thinks about it. He rarely ever shows any kind of emotion from what he’s seen. Although he looked like a rather nice toddler. If he remembers correctly he was always giggling at everything.

His thoughts get interrupted when they hear the front door open and since Mr. Do is always working until late, it can only be one person.

He expects to see his fiancée walk in with her suitcase; not with a boy and a ring on her finger.

Honestly, he should have stayed back home.

♡♡♡

Jongin sits on the couch with a frown on his face, eyes darting from Miyeon to the boy next to her and then back again.

There is a boy next to his fiancée. His ex-fiancée. His fiancée got married to another boy. The huge rock on her finger is all the proof he needs.

She got married. Without him.

He doesn’t even know what to begin to think right now as he stays seated on the Do’s couch. His parents have been called and they’re currently in a room with Miyeon’s parents, all who seem to be heatedly debating their future he supposes.

Or lack thereof. He can’t get married to someone who’s already married. There are laws against that kind of thing.

So now he’s fiancée-less. After twenty one year’s of being told he was going to marry the girl in front of him, he’s not.

He feels slightly angry, a little sad and a tad bit confused, but all in all he just feels numb to it all. He doesn’t know how to react so he settles with frowning and staring. The guy looks nothing like him. He’s pale and kind of scrawny, with red dyed hair.

The other male looks nervous and he should be considering Seungsoo is on the couch next to him glaring. If Jongin knows anything it’s that Seungsoo is going to give the boy hell for marrying his sister without any sort of permission and just for marrying her in general.

He supposes he should be happy that he’s off the hook now with the eldest Do but his happiness can’t be celebrated given the current situation.

The only thing helping lessen the tension in the room is the puppy running around, letting out the occasional bark. Kyungsoo’s trying to get him to learn how to sit, looking completely unaffected by anything.

When he hears the sounds of footsteps he looks up and sees all of their parents. His mom looks rather uncomfortable and his father looks indifferent. It’s the Do’s that look unhappy and he supposes it’s only proper. It was their daughter that screwed things up for them.

Maybe he’ll be set free and he won’t have to marry anyone anymore. The look on his parent’s faces tells him otherwise.

Kim Jongin just can’t catch a break.

♡♡♡

“Wait. You’re serious? She got married on her own?” Luhan questions incredulously, watching as his roommate nods his head before stuffing more popcorn into his mouth.

“And now you’re being forced to marry her little brother? The one that looked like a tomato the entire time we were at your house?” Luhan asks some more, taking a sip from his iced coffee while Jongdae starts prepping for dinner.

Again, Jongin nods his head, the twenty one year old looking like he just got dumped (which he technically did) while stuffing his face with more popcorn. He hasn’t even changed out of his pajamas, didn’t even bother going to class today from the looks of it.

“I’m officially engaged to a sixteen year old,” Jongin states plainly, staring down at his bowl of popcorn and realizing it’s not going to help. He needs alcohol. Looking at his phone he sees its five o'clock so he’s in the clear as he gets up and heads to the fridge.

“You’re not getting married right away are you?” Jongdae questions as he eyes the younger male, he sighs when he sees him grab the bottle of soju.

“No, thank god,” Jongin mutters before opening the bottle, taking a sniff before bringing it up to his lips and nearly choking.

“I mean, sure it that the girl you were supposed to marry dumped you but at least you already have a backup plan,” Luhan observes, trying to sneak a piece of the chopped veggies into his mouth but getting his hand smacked by Jongdae.

“A back up plan that’s sixteen!” Jongin snaps irritably, taking a bigger chug from the soju bottle and wincing as it stings his throat.

“You’re being overdramatic. Kyungsoo seems nice enough, unless you got a problem with him being a boy?” Luhan inquires, giving him this unreadable look.

For once Jongin actual realizes that yes, Kyungsoo’s a boy. It hadn’t even occurred to him yet.

“I don’t think I care that he’s a boy?” he questions, feeling buzzed because he’s always been a lightweight. He stares at the green bottle confused, the reality of the situation finally catching up to him.

He’s not marrying a girl anymore, he’s marrying a boy and that part isn’t what bothers it. That in itself bothers him though.

“I care that he’s sixteen and he’s Kyungsoo,” he stresses, taking a seat at the bar area next to Luhan, watching Jongdae work on dinner near the stove.

The entire situation is messy; Miyeon turned his life into a mess. And it’s not so much that he cares that she married someone else, although he probably should. It’s the fact that she ruined years of planning, years of knowing who we was going to marry and when. Years of getting to know one person down to the littlest detail, useless.

His entire life was planned around one thing and now it’s screwed up.

He doesn’t even want to think about how he has an exam this Friday to top it off.

“Okay, so if we completely forget the fact that he’s sixteen, what’s so wrong with Kyungsoo that you’re throwing a fit?” Jongdae questions plainly as he turns around from the stove where there’s some meat simmering in a pan.

Jongin frowns, staring at the granite bar top and not knowing what to say other than Kyungsoo kind of freaks him out. The boy is always stuttering and tripping, can’t even handle more than three people looking at him at once without looking like he’s going to cry. How is he supposed to eat, live and sleep in the same room as this boy? He honestly can’t imagine sharing the same room with Kyungsoo, let alone the same bed.

“He’s just so…different than Miyeon,” he settles with, taking a deep breath before folding his arms in front of him and then resting his chin on top of them. “I’m used to Miyeon. I know Miyeon. I don’t know Kyungsoo.”

Luhan sighs while giving the younger boy a reassuring pat on the back, not being able to empathize with him because he’s always had to free will to date whomever he pleased.

“Well, you’ll have the rest of your life to get to know him,” Jongdae says reassuringly before going back to cooking.

But the thought doesn’t make Jongin feel any better.

♡♡♡

Kyungsoo has never been like his older siblings. Seungsoo and Miyeon are both above average in everything they do. They’re smarter than most and definitely more attractive than the typical person you pass on the street.

While both his siblings have been in the top five of their graduating class, Kyungsoo is in the middle, around number 75 out of a class of 150. He isn’t incredibly dumb but he isn’t incredibly smart either. He gets by with average grades, and sometimes those B’s turn into C’s, although he at least tries to keep his grades above what is considered failing.

He isn’t particularly handsome when he compares himself to his parents or siblings. Where his brother is tall, has broad shoulders and a killer smile, he’s short, his shoulders are narrow and he doesn’t like his smile at all.

Kyungsoo isn’t incredibly handsome, but he isn’t ugly. He isn’t incredibly smart but he isn’t dumb either.  All in all he’s pretty average. In everything he does he’s just plain old average.

Honestly, he doesn’t mind it; he’s content with being the way he is. He’s knows what he’s good at and he knows what he need to work on; even if the list of things he’s great at isn’t long and the things he needs to try harder in is vast, he’s okay with it.

And even if his parents don’t voice their discontent with him, sometimes Kyungsoo can just tell they expected more from him.

It’s hard living in the massive shadows of his older siblings but he lives with it and tries his hardest to please his parents even though he knows he won’t ever be as smart as Miyeon or as charming and handsome as Seungsoo, he at least tries.

So even though he doesn’t particularly want to marry Kim Jongin, he’ll try for his parent’s sake and hope it will be the one thing he’s good at.

Maybe being a husband will be easier than algebra, he thinks. It can’t possibly be as complicated as his math homework that is due after the lunch period is over.

It’s cool enough outside that he can sit outside without sweating through his uniform. He’s sitting under his favorite oak tree away from all the picnic tables and students where all the chatter always is. It’s not necessarily a secluded place, in fact its right out in the open where anyone can see it, but no one ever sits there except him and his small group of friends.

Kyungsoo doesn’t make friends easily; never being the one to initiate anything, most people he is friends with approached him first.

There’s Minseok and Joonmyun, who are somehow related although Kyungsoo isn’t entirely sure how. And then there’s Chanyeol, who didn’t even ask to be his friend, just declared himself as such sometime last year.

Ironically all three of them are popular in their own sense. Minseok is on the soccer team; so naturally the school adores him.  Joonmyun is on the student counsel and is well loved for it. Chanyeol has a band, he’s automatically cool.

And well, Kyungsoo’s their average looking friend with the glasses. Because it’s some kind of high school law that you can’t have a group made up of entirely attractive people; there’s got to be at least one average joe and Kyungsoo meets their quota.

Right now the three of them are discussing the latest party that occurred over the weekend. Joonmyun is currently nagging Chanyeol for doing something stupid probably and Minseok is stuffing his face to the point he looks like a hamster. Kyungsoo stays quiet and concentrates on his homework since he’s already borderline making a C in the class.

Even when they ask him how his weekend went he keeps his eyes on his textbook.

“I kind of got engaged,” he dismisses, staring at his calculator in confusion as it gives him an answer that isn’t available on his homework.

He doesn’t see Chanyeol spit out his drink but he does hear the annoyed yell Minseok lets out because of it so he looks up, his eyes widening when he spots several red blotches on Minseok’s white school shirt, luckily most of it ended up on his navy blue vest.

“You did what?” Joonmyun questions incredulously, looking just as shocked as Chanyeol.

Frowning he messes with his giant eraser, fidgeting in his seat, “I um, got engaged? But I also pet sat for my uncle, do you want to see a picture?” he questions, looking expectantly at the older boys who are silent.

When neither of them responds he looks to Minseok who has been more calm than the other two this entire time.

“They’re just trying to process the whole “I’m engaged” thing, give them a minute,” the brunet dismisses, wiping at his shirt and mumbling about how his mother is going to kill him for getting it stained.

Kyungsoo nods and begins counting to sixty but only makes it to forty three when Joonmyun finally speaks.

“What do you mean you got engaged, you don’t even know how to stare at boys without blushing,” Joonmyun stresses, looking at him intently like it’s the most absurd thing he’s ever heard of.

Chanyeol just looks like a wide eyed fish the way he keeps opening and closing his mouth.

“Miyeon noona kind of went out and got married on her own without anyone knowing,” he starts off with a sigh, feeling slightly ticked off at his sister but not being able to fully get mad because he loves her.

“Her parents and my parents threw a fit, because you know how keen my grandparents were about them getting married. So I was kind of obligated to take her place,” he explains plainly, shrugging before going back to erase the problem he just worked on.

All of his friends are well aware of his sister’s arranged marriage and the situation isn’t foreign to any of them. Chanyeol himself is engaged, but he and his fiancé have rules set up to let them still be normal teenagers.

The three of them are all well informed on the concept of arranged marriage, being part of the more wealthy side of society where it’s the norm.

So he really doesn’t see why they’re making a big deal about it.  He’s already accepted the fact that he has no say in who he’ll marry. Not like he was thinking about it in the first place.

“You volunteered or were you forced?” Minseok questions while digging through his backpack.

“It was more like I’m the only one left so…,” he trails off before shrugging again, frowning at his notes as he tries to figure out where he went wrong.

“How are you not freaking out right now?” Chanyeol questions seriously. He threw a tantrum when he found out he was engaged to someone. Granted he was only nine, but still.

“I don’t mind,” Kyungsoo mumbles dismissively, looking up and rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “I mean, it would make my grandma happy…”

“What about you?” Joonmyun questions over a mouthful of rice, some of it managing to fly out and hit Chanyeol in the face, which Minseok calls karma for his ruined shirt.

“What about me?” he questions back, frowning in confusion. 

“What he’s asking is if you’re happy with it,” Minseok butts in. “You have the right to be upset you know.”

Kyungsoo sighs for the umpteenth time that day and shrugs his shoulders. He isn’t particularly excited to be engaged to a guy that’s probably kissed his sister at some point. But at least he knows who Jongin is, unlike Chanyeol who has only ever texted and called his fiancé. Jongin isn't particularly bad to look at, in fact Kyungsoo finds him quite handsome which is why he can never stop making himself look like a stutterfing fool while in front of the elder.

“Um, Jongin’s nice,” he replies honestly.

With that his friends let him get back to his homework, already knowing when he doesn’t want to continue talking and it’s one of the things he’s grateful for. He needs to focus on his schoolwork right now.

♡♡♡

Jongin spends the entire week moping and coming to terms with everything that happened over the weekend. If there’s one thing he prides himself in it’s the ability to get back on his feet when life knocks him down.

Jongin is an optimist and starts finding the positive things about the new arrangement. The first one being that he won’t be stuck with Miyeon when she clearly never liked him more than a friend. She would have been unhappy and he would never be able to raise kids in that kind of environment.

The second one being he doesn’t have to have children anymore. He can just adopt a bunch of puppies, and seeing how Kyungsoo took care of his uncles he doubts the boy would be opposed to puppies. Everybody loves puppies.

The third is that Kyungsoo is a boy; therefore he won’t feel awkward having to live with him when they eventually do get married in two years and move in together. It’ll just be like having a roommate…a roommate whom he’s married to. No big deal.

He’s spent a week convincing himself that it’s okay and he shouldn’t freak out but three weeks after he’s been told he’s engaged to Kyungsoo, he gets a phone call from his mother saying he’s supposed to pick the sixteen year old up from school and take him to the library.

Jongin’s come to terms with the situation, but he hasn’t quite realized that he might actually have to spend time with him before having to get married.

It throws him off guard and he spends the entire car ride home prep talking himself and thinking of things to say to the boy.

He isn’t even sure what sixteen year old’s talk about anymore. Or at least what sixteen year old’s like Kyungsoo would talk about. Does Kyungsoo even talk? He honestly couldn’t tell you a single thing about Kyungsoo other than his birthday and that’s only because it’s two days before his own.

When he pulls up to his old high school he sighs before shutting the engine off and getting out of the car, not knowing if Kyungsoo is aware he’s even picking him up.

Awkwardly he waits in front of the school gates, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet and looking around and trying to spot his now fiancé. He probably looks out of place and weird in the eyes of all these teenagers.

Well at least the boys, because the girls that pass him keep giggling making him highly uncomfortable. Scratching his head he looks around some more, finally spotting Kyungsoo among all the high school students.

He blends in really well and the only thing making him stick out is the fact that he knows who he’s looking for.

When Kyungsoo finally spots him he gives a tiny wave, watching as the sixteen year old’s face lights up like a lightbulb and he trips on his own feet and Jongin tries his hardest not to laugh.

Kyungsoo rushes the rest of the way and nearly falls again when he stops in front of him. Neither greet one another and it’s even more awkward than Jongin could have imagined.

“So uh, the library right?” he questions, getting nothing more than a nod from his fiancé. Sighing he turns to head back to the car and that’s when he realizes Kyungsoo still has his school uniform on.

And one of the reasons Jongin has not yet freaked out about having to marry Kyungsoo is because he won’t be marrying him when he’s still underage. He’ll be marrying the eighteen year old, the legal Kyungsoo.

But Kyungsoo right now is sixteen and wearing his school uniform, he looks like a high school student and Jongin probably looks like some weird predator. Oh no. He can’t have that.

“You should take off your uniform!” he shrieks, looking around nervously for cops. Oh god he probably looks like a kidnapper!

Kyungsoo jumps in surprise at the outburst, frowning while looking up at Jongin and then back at his uniform. What’s so wrong with his uniform?

“Um, why?” he questions, looking around and being thankful that most students are already loaded up on their bus or in their own cars.

“You have on a name tag,” Jongin huffs, point towards his chest where the yellow plate is pinned to his vest.

Confused he looks down and then back up at Jongin again, “It’s so the teachers know my name,” he mumbles, fidgeting in his spot. He has no idea what Jongin is going on about. He likes his name tag, and he quite likes his uniform too.

“I know that,” Jongin groans, grabbing Kyungsoo by the arm and leading him towards his trunk. He’s bound to have a sweater in there Kyungsoo can wear to hide the uniform. “Oh hey, you’re not stuttering,” he voices, turning back to look at Kyungsoo who’s face turns bright pink.

“Well, u-um, I d-don’t u-usually—

“Never mind,” Jongin interrupts his sentence and he frowns, his lower lip jutting out into a pout out of habit as they finally make it to Jongin’s car. When the elder opens the trunk he grows uncomfortable.

“Are….are you making me ride in the trunk?” he questions in a tiny voice, inching away from the elder.

Jongin blanches, shooting up from digging around in the trunk and bumping his head causing him to curse. Kyungsoo snorts, hiding his smile behind his hand as he tries not to laugh.

Jongin winces as he rubs at his head, looking at Kyungsoo whose shoulders are shaking, “Are you laughing at me?” he questions incredulously, not being able to recall ever seeing Kyungsoo laugh. He thinks he saw him genuinely smile once four years ago.

Kyungsoo shakes his head quickly, his eyes widening comically. Jongin eyes him a little while longer before reaching back in for the jacket.

“No, you don’t have to ride in the trunk. Why would you even think that? But here, put this on,” he replies, handing over an old university pullover he managed to find.

“Why?” Kyungsoo questions with furrowed eyebrows, eyeing the sweater skeptically before grabbing it and doing as he’s told.

“You’re kind of in a school uniform, I’m kind of not, do you get my drift?” he questions as he closes the trunk, turning around and looking expectantly at Kyungsoo who’s just got a confused look on his face.

“I don’t want to look like a cradle robber,” he states plainly when the boy doesn’t look like he gets it. That he gets, his eyes widening again as he turns pink in the face.

“So can you sit in the front too? Because otherwise I look like your chauffer,” he adds on, moving to rub at his head again, frowning when he thinks of how it’s going to be bruised now.

“Can, um, I keep it?” Kyungsoo squeaks out, his voice cracking slightly and Jongin almost laughs but he figures that won’t go over well with the teenager.

He sobers up pretty quickly, looking the younger boy over and smiling slightly when he notices how he drowns in the sweater, it being about two or three sizes too big for him. He looks kind of cute, Jongin concludes.

Never in a million years did he think he would ever have that thought, so it must be the heat getting to his head.

“Sure. You can keep it,” he replies, shrugging his shoulders before getting into the car, not missing the tiny smile on Kyungsoo’s face.

♡♡♡

For the remainder of the semester Jongin picks up Kyungsoo from school and takes him to study at the public library in town.

He learns that the sixteen year old isn’t a complete hermit like he thought. Kyungsoo actually has friends, although not many and he does know how to talk without stuttering.

He isn’t all that dumb like he initially thought as well. Sometimes when Kyungsoo has gone off to the restroom Jongin will sneak a peek at his backpack and find that he gets average grades, occasionally he’ll fail something but it’s always followed up with a good grade. He never really gets a chance to look at all the doodles on his paper before he fears he’ll get caught.

The more time he spends with Kyungsoo, the more comfortable he becomes with the whole arrangement. Kyungsoo is a whole lot nicer than Miyeon ever was to him. Although Miyeon and he were friends for the longest time, Kyungsoo actually puts in effort into their relationship.

It’s a nice change of scenery to actually be able to actually hold your fiancé’s hand. Although it was only one time because Kyungsoo had a cold and he had to make sure he made it to the car, and his hand was all clammy and Jongin got sneezed on, it was nice.

It’s been about five months since they’ve gotten engaged. Kyungsoo is no longer sixteen but seventeen instead and he’s turned twenty two. They didn’t celebrate together but Kyungsoo sent him a card which is more than he ever got from Miyeon.

Right now they’re in the library as usual for every other Friday night. He has no tests or assignments due anytime soon so he’s just watching Kyungsoo read over his history book.

“Do you have anything else you’re supposed to be working on?” he questions quietly as to not freak the boy out. The first time he tried interrupting Kyungsoo’s focus the boy shrieked so loud that they nearly got kicked out of the library for the week.

Kyungsoo looks up from his book and slowly shakes his head, “No…”

“Do you want to eat instead?” he questions sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck while clearing his throat. He looks expectantly at his fiancé who looks like a tomato, as customary.

“W-why?” Kyungsoo asks, looking confused. Most of the time he looks confused actually, Jongin thinks.

“Don’t you think we should spend time with each other outside of the library? I mean this is pretty boring,” he observes. If he has to spend one more minute in the library he might actually go crazy.

“You w-want to?” Kyungsoo questions, staring at him with a hopeful look on his face. When he nods his head he decides he needs to make an appointment with the doctor, because his heart shouldn’t be doing that weird flip thing just because Kyungsoo smiled at him.

♡♡♡

Today Jongdae and Luhan are being a little bit more disgustingly sweet with each other than normal, Jongin notes. They’re doing that gross couple thing where they feed each other and it’s making him feel awkward. Especially since Kyungsoo’s sitting next to him.

It’s summer and since neither of them have classes to go to, Jongin thought it was only appropriate that they spend more time together. Jongin wants to spend more time with Kyungsoo. And he thought it would be nice for Kyungsoo to meet his friends, but now he’s really second guessing himself.

He didn’t think they would be this lovey dovey with each other while Kyungsoo was with them. He was dead wrong.

“Sorry they’re being gross,” he apologizes, shaking his head and kicking Luhan on the leg harshly to get him to stop.

“It’s fine…that’s what couple do,” Kyungsoo mutters, messing with his hands underneath the table and looking away awkwardly.

“Yeah, Jongin, this is what couples do!” Jongdae boasts, sticking his tongue out at him childishly but Jongin’s just glad he’s not sticking it down Luhan’s throat like he normally does.

“You two are honestly the worst friends in the entire world why did I even invite you two?” Jongin whines childishly, shaking his head before ruffling his hair.

“I like them,” Kyungsoo speaks up and it only causes both Luhan and Jongdae to smile and ignore his complaining.

Pouting he stares at his drink, messing with straw while Luhan and Jongdae steal all of Kyungsoo’s attention. He supposes he can officially declare that he might like Kyungsoo because he feels jealous when Jongdae cracks a joke that makes Kyungsoo smile.

It took him forever to get Kyungsoo’s smile directly aimed at him. And it honestly doesn’t make much sense to him that he can become infatuated with someone over the span of nearly a year more than he ever did with Miyeon when he knew her his entire life.

And it doesn’t make much sense because Kyungsoo is really, really weird. He bites his nails too much and chews his food like a dinosaur. He stutters when he’s uncomfortable and trips over his own feet for no reason.

But Kyungsoo is the only one that laughs at his jokes when everyone else is giving him weird looks and wears his old sweater even though it makes him look like he’s ten. He actually lets him hold his hand and let’s himself be the brunt of his hits when he laughs.

Jongin doesn’t really know what love is, and he really wishes there was a straight answer to the concept but there isn’t. But he knows Luhan and Jongdae are in love. He knows that his parents are in love and by looking at them he knows one thing.

He’s not quite there yet with Kyungsoo.

♡♡♡

Kyungsoo’s never had a valentine. In his entire life no one’s asked him to be their valentine. He’s never gotten flowers or chocolates from a secret admirer. The only thing he ever gets are cards from his friends or when he was little the mandatory Valentine’s Day chocolate from his classmates.

He’s eighteen now and he supposes he can call Jongin his valentine, although he's not quite sure because Jongin technically didn't ask. They have a date planned but Jongin’s being weird about it.

His fiancé hasn’t talked to him at all this week, only texted him once this morning telling him he’ll pick him up from school.

It’s not normal for Jongin to not bother him once every five minutes when he isn’t in class. Jongin is always sending him texts throughout the day saying he’s bored followed by ten different emoji’s.

In the past two years that Kyungsoo's been engaged to Jongin, he's learned his fiance's habits and has grown accustomed to all the attention Jongin gives him. Jongin takes him on dates and snuggles with him. When he fails a test Jongin cheers him up and helps him revise his tests. When he doesn’t particularly feel like talking Jongin won’t force him, just stares at him making his stomach feel light with butterflies.

Kyungsoo doesn’t really know why he likes Jongin, because the elder is weird. He laughs like a lunatic and always hits him in his crazed fit. He tells dumb jokes that he finds himself laughing along to even if he has no idea what Jongin even said. Jongin has a weird habit of staring at him and when he looks up he gets this dumb look on his face before he moves his eye sight someplace else.

He supposes it’s the same reason Chanyeol likes his fiancé Sehun so much even though they just met last week. Or why his noona likes that husband of hers so much.

Kyungsoo isn’t sure if he loves Jongin, but he’s pretty sure his irregular heartbeat when Jongin kisses him for the first time on their valentines date isn’t normal, and he’s not supposed to get jealous when Jongin pays more attention to his food than to him.

The thought of marrying Jongin isn’t supposed to sound so damn appealing to him. The thought of sharing the same bed with Jongin isn't supposed to make him feel like he can't breathe in a good way. He's not sure he's supposed to be so happy to be someone who Jongin got stuck with.

Kyungsoo wasn’t expecting to be so happy but he is.

He isn't sure if it’s love. 

But he has the rest of his life to find out, and the thought is enough for him.