Christmas vacation ended all too early, in Jongdae’s opinion, when he woke up one morning to his Mother calling out to him to wake up or he’d be late. He grumbled and groaned the entire time he had to get ready and even more so during the freezing cold trek to school. Yixing hadn’t met up with him that morning, he’d sent a text saying he was too sick to go. Jongdae texted him back to feel better soon with a lump in his throat.

Neither of the two had talked about the kiss since it’d happened, but that didn’t stop Jongdae from thinking about it all the time. He spent nights lying in bed awake wondering if it really was just the mistletoe or if Yixing really liked him too. He touched his lips every now and then wondering if it’d feel the same when Yixing had ran his thumb over them. Sometimes, if he closed his eyes, he could almost feel the kiss still lingering on his lips. When he’d open his eyes, he was sad to see that he was just lying in bed by himself.

He sighed heavily before sitting himself down in his chemistry class. The science fair was coming up soon and everyone’s projects had to be ready for the end of the month. Jongdae mentally groaned and watched the faces of everyone in the room twist the same as his own. No one wanted to do this so early back from vacation.

“Partners?” Chanyeol grinned, throwing a ball of crumpled looseleaf at Jongdae to get his attention. It worked, Jongdae shooting him a deathly glare.

He rolled his eyes and sighed, “Yeah, partners.”

Chanyeol fist pumped and chuckled as he turned back around in his seat. Jongdae was unsure as to if this had been a good idea from all the stories he’d heard from Baekhyun about Chanyeol’s failed experiments. However, he figured being partnered with someone he knew (and, although he’d never admit, half liked) was better than nothing.

“We can meet at my house after school, if you’d like.” Chanyeol said after class as they walked down the hall, “I’ve got a ton of ideas for what we could do!”

“I’m sure you do,” Jongdae teased, “I just hope none of them involve blowing up the school like you did in-”

“Shut it!” Chanyeol hissed, “The school did not blow up.” Jongdae laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Baekhyun asked bouncing up the hallway.

“Chanyeol somehow managed to convince me to be his science fair partner and I’m laughing at the absurdity of it all.” Jongdae explained, opening his locker.

“Okay, that is rude.” Chanyeol pouted.

Baekhyun laughed, “No, that’s accurate. I’d laugh too, Dae.”

“Whatever,” Chanyeol grumbled.

Jongdae chuckled as the two best friends continuously squabbled, they were always like an old married couple and he constantly wondered if the two would ever date. He slammed his locker shut and reached down to pick up the stack of books he’d piled on the floor when a sleek silver chain slipped from underneath his shirt without his knowledge and he straightened back up to face his friends.

“Oi,” Baekhyun hummed, “What’s that?”

“What’s what?” Jongdae asked raising an eyebrow.

“Around your neck!” Chanyeol noticed and pointed, “It’s nice.”

“Oh!” Jongdae scrambled to shove the necklace back down his shirt when Baekhyun slipped the dogtag between his fingers and observed it.

“Yixing has one like this too,” Baekhyun noted, “They’re really expensive looking.”

Yixing has one too? Jongdae’s cheeks paled pink.

“I want one too!” Chanyeol huffed.

“Where’d you get it?” Baekhyun asked curiously, a knowing smile tugging on the corners of his mouth.

“I got it as a gift,” Jongdae said quickly, shoving the necklace back down into his shirt, “For Christmas.”

“Mhm,” Baekhyun hummed, “I’ll just ask Yixing where we can get one, Yeol, don’t you worry. We’ll get to the bottom of this,” he said with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes as he stared at Jongdae.

Jongdae already knew what Baekhyun meant by getting to the bottom of it. He wanted to know if Yixing and Jongdae were secretly dating. He’d be disappointed to find out that, no, they were not. Though, in the back of Jongdae’s mind, he couldn’t let go of the fact that Yixing also had one… Just like his own. The thought stayed in his head all day long and he could barely focus in class, his hand constantly playing with the dogtag around his neck.

✐✐✐

Weeks passed and much to Baekhyun’s disappointment, he discovered that Yixing and Jongdae were not dating. The conversation went something much like this:

“Where’d you get the necklace, hyung?”
“I bought it at the mall.”
“Why does Jongdae have one too then?”
“Oh, I bought it for him.”
“You got matching ones!”
“Yeah, because we’re best friends. They’re like friendship charms.”
“Oh.”

Baekhyun had let it go after that, but Jongdae couldn’t. Not even while he tried his best to focus on his science project.

“I don’t know why we’re trying so hard,” Chanyeol sighed in defeat after their experiment failed for the nth time that afternoon, “We all know who’s going to win anyway.”

“We do?”

“Yeah!” Chanyeol flopped onto his bed and groaned, “Oh Sehun.”

“Who?” Jongdae asked flopping right beside the giant.

“Sehun, he’s some science geek freshman or something. I don’t know. He’s already got a scholarship for university to some prestigious, oh, who knows and who cares. Baekhyun is covering the story for the newspaper.” Chanyeol grumbled in annoyance.

“You sound almost, jealous?”

“Hah!” Chanyeol sat up and hit Jongdae with a pillow, “Yeah right. I don’t care if Baekhyun thinks Sehun is hot and smart and tall. I’m taller!” Jongdae laughed under the pillow, the sound was muffled and Chanyeol ignored it in favour of shoving the pillow further into the elder’s face.

“Well,” Jongdae’s voice was still cut off by the plushy obstruction against his mouth, “Shall we continue?” he asked sitting up and letting the pillow fall to the floor, “So we at least don’t fail?”

Chanyeol sighed and shrugged, “Yeah, alright.”

✐✐✐

The science fair, Jongdae discovered, was an all day long event that started right when all the students participating arrived to the gym. He and Chanyeol arrived earlier to set up their chemicals behind glass to show the reactions they’d been studying diligently for the past few weeks.

Chanyeol had decided it would be a good idea to try an oscillating reaction in which the chemical reaction changes and then changes back to it’s original state. Jongdae thought it would be a bit risky, and he was correct in assuming so. Personally, he believed that Chanyeol spent too much time watching Full Metal Alchemist instead of paying attention to real scientific facts. With much trial and error, however, their experiment succeeded. They just hoped to replicate the results in front of the judges.

As soon as they had finished setting up their chemicals and going over the procedures for the hundredth time that morning, Jongdae noticed Yixing walking into the gym. Jongdae was quick to duck out of the experiment for a moment to catch up with his friend.

“You’re participating today?” Jongdae grinned as he walked up, “I didn’t realize you’d be here too. I would’ve asked for you to be my partner.” he chuckled.

Yixing laughed, “That could’ve been fun! But, Junmyeon is my partner.” he gestured to Jongdae’s cousin struggling to set up their project by himself. “I should probably go help him.”

Jongdae’s smiled faded, but not enough for Yixing to notice, “Yeah. Probably.”

“Drop by later and we’ll tell you all about light waves and their effect on the environment, okay?” Yixing laughed and then rejoined Junmyeon’s side, reaching above the shorter to help him with their backboard. Jongdae thought they were a little too close.

It was about this time when Oh Sehun walked into the gym and drew everyone's attention. He had an aura about him that made him seem so confident and entirely unapproachable. Jongdae couldn't help but notice that the boy looked tired, as if he hadn't slept in days, if not weeks. Sehun sleepily walked towards his booth and placed his project out on the table. Jongdae watched carefully as he set up, hands shaking and focusing too hard on what he was doing.

“Do you need help?” Jongdae was surprised when the words came from his lips, he hadn’t even remembered walking towards the freshman.

Sehun looked up from his project startled, “No, I’m fine. Thank you.” his voice was barely a whisper.

Despite popular belief, Jongdae thought Sehun was really very polite and just shy. Nothing stuck up about him in those few words the boy had stuttered. He also seemed to have a slight lisp that Jongdae thought was endearing.

While Sehun set up his project, Jongdae watched with concern. The boy’s hands were shaking quite a lot and nearly dropped his glass prism. He was definitely over-worked and in need of sleep.

“Isn’t he handsome?” Baekhyun sighed dreamily, watching Sehun work with jittery fingers.

“Yeah, whatever.” Chanyeol muttered.

“I heard there’s going to be a few talent scouts coming to see his experiment. It’s for the scholarship.” Baekhyun hummed as he sat up on the table Chanyeol was ardently working at. He shooed him off as soon as he sat down.

“I thought he already had the scholarship?” Jongdae thought aloud.

“It’s guaranteed to be his if he can support his thesis with this project,” Baekhyun mumbled, fidgeting with his camera, “Something about the way we perceive light and whatnot. It’s actually really cool.”

“Whatever.” Chanyeol huffed.

At some point between Chanyeol and Baekhyun fighting over whether Sehun and science were actually cool or not, an alarm went off. It made Baekhyun jump and grab for Chanyeol’s arm like some kitten afraid of water. And perhaps he should’ve been afraid, he was holding his expensive camera after all. It didn’t take long for the sprinklers to go off in the gym one row at a time until the place was overflowing and the water was pooling towards the center of the room, swirling down the drain. Projects were ruined and Jongdae almost let out a sigh of relief as everyone in the room was shuffled outside.

Yixing and Junmyeon joined the three standing out in the wintery weather. Baekhyun, who was dripping wet and clinging to Chanyeol, frowned in the general direction of the school and cursed it under his breath. Jongdae couldn’t help it when he stifled a small giggle at the sight.

“Hey, partner,” Yixing called out to grab Jongdae’s attention, “Looks like we’ve got our headlining story.”

✐✐✐

The very next day the gym was closed. There were damaged projects soaking wet and lying spread out all over the room. The place looked like a crime scene, yellow tape blocking off the front entrance and side entrances to the large room. Jongdae managed to peer through a window after much squeezing past the large crowd of students. He spotted his own project, a few vials of their chemicals had been knocked over and smashed during the commotion and he cringed at the idea of what they might do.

His thoughts were interrupted when a hand slipped around his. Jongdae looked up and saw Yixing with a smile on his face and a warmth in his eyes, lips parted gently and all the younger could think about was leaning up to kiss him. He knew better than to do that in a room full of people though… And to do it to someone who considers him his best friend.

“Come on,” Yixing said tugging on Jongdae’s hand, “We’re interviewing an inspector.”

“Inspector?”

“Yeah, he came in this morning to check out the sprinkler system. I asked if we could get an interview and he said he’d be glad to! We’re getting the inside scoop,” he giggled.

When they arrived at the club room, Baekhyun was already inside with a rather quiet Sehun who fidgeted with his fingers nervously. Baekhyun was grinning from ear to ear at him, probably thinking about how cute the boy was. Jongdae opened the door and bowed towards them both, Yixing follow in suit.

“Sehun, right? I’m Jongdae.” Jongdae smiled extending out his hand, “We met the other day.”

“Oh, right.” Sehun whispered.

Baekhyun smiled and leaned back in his chair, “What can I do for you boys?”

“Don’t act like you own the place, Baek.” Yixing laughed and sat down at the table, “We have an interview in here shortly. What are you two up to?”

“Interviewing,” Baekhyun sighed scratching the back of his head, “Sehun here was supposed to meet with officials from this huge university, but it got cancelled, because of the sprinklers. He’s at a risk of losing his scholarship now, but they’ve agreed to view his project at another date!”

Sehun nodded along with every word, as if confirming the facts for himself.

“You must be pretty smart, huh?” Yixing asked in awe, “That’s too bad that the sprinklers went off though.”

“I’m almost relieved,” Sehun sighed quietly, “I was afraid I wasn’t going to meet their standards.”

“Nonsense!” Baekhyun exclaimed, “You’re a genius! Your grades are flawless!”

Sehun shrugged, “That’s what my parents expect of me. Just like my older brothers...”

Jongdae frowned and laid a hand on Sehun’s shoulder, “That kind of pressure must be awful. I can understand it. I’m always being compared to my cousin. It .”

Sehun nodded eagerly, a small appreciative smile on his lips as he looked up at Jongdae, “Yes, exactly, Jongdae. It… .”

Baekhyun giggled, “You’re so cute Sehunnie.”

“Baekhyun, could you please stop-”

“Call me hyung!”

“Baekhyun-hyung…”

“Ah, Sehunnie is so cute! I could squish him!”

“P-Please don’t…”

Yixing laughed, “Don’t worry, Sehun, he won’t touch you while we’re here.”

“Hey!” Baekhyun pouted, “Don’t make me sound like some ert!”

“But, Baekhyun,” Jongdae said in mock appall, “You are a ert.”

“WHAT?!” Baekhyun yelled, “ You take that back, Kim Jongdae! I swear, if I get my hands on you, I’ll-”

Yixing gasped over-dramatically, “What will you do to our poor Jongdae, you ert?”

“Hyung!” Baekhyun whined.

Jongdae and Yixing couldn’t hold back their laughter and even Sehun cracked a smile, a small laugh escaping his lips. That’s when a knock came on the door, and it creaked open gently.

“You boys sound like you’re having fun,” the man in the doorway looked official, “I’m here for my interview?”

“Oh!” Yixing stood and bowed, “Please come in. These two were just leaving.” he gestured to Baekhyun and Sehun who bowed quickly and left the room.

The interview was mostly quick and sweet and to the point. The man had explained that the alarm had not been tampered with, but instead, the sprinklers had gone off as the smoke detector had sense it. The one in the gym, apparently, was burnt, as if someone had held up a lighter to it and scorched it intentionally to get the alarms to go off. The question was, who?

The suspects, Jongdae and Yixing assumed, could simply be narrowed down to the students who had presentations set up in the gym. Anyone who was in the room between 9:00 am and 9:15 am were automatic suspects. There was one person with a list of students who’d been in the room at that point, and it was the supervisor, Mrs. Yoo.

“I was ticking off student names as they entered the room, yes. I do it every year. And then those blasted alarms went off and ruined everything. I was so excited about this year’s fair with Sehun being chosen for a scholarship and all.” She explained as she sat behind her desk in the teacher’s lounge.

“Do you still have the list?” Yixing urged.

Mrs. Yoo nodded, “It’s a bit damp though.” she said as she pulled out a clipboard of names.

“That’s a lot of students,” Jongdae breathed out slowly, “Which ones would’ve had a lighter?”

“Let’s see,” Yixing sing-songed flipping through the soggy pages, “I have no idea.”

Jongdae groaned, “Maybe we should see if Coach Shim will let us into the gym.”

✐✐✐

“What can I do for you boys?” Coach Shim asked looking down at them over his spectacles.

Jongdae took a deep breath, but Yixing was quick to cut him off, “We need to clean up our chemicals. I saw a few of our vials knocked over through the window earlier today and if they’re the ones I think they are, your gym floor might be in need of even more repairs.”

Coach Shim bit his bottom lip as if to think this over, but then nodded, “Alright. Please be careful you too. I’ll be just here in my office if you need anything. And I’ll pop in every now and then to check in on you as well.”

Yixing bowed and Jongdae caught on, bowing in sync, “Thank you, Sir.”

“You know,” Jongdae whispered as they entered the gym, “You lie scaringly well…”

Yixing chuckled softly, “It’s not an ability that I’m proud of, but it comes in handy sometimes.”

“No kidding. So, I guess we’ll split up and search for a lighter, huh?”

Yixing nodded in response. Jongdae took to one side of the gym and Yixing took to the other, sifting through fallen projects and broken backboards. Jongdae sighed after about half an hour of searching and felt like giving up. The thought that maybe the culprit had pocketed the lighter passed through his mind and he began to doubt himself. This could’ve been a total waste of time.

“Oh…” Yixing breathed in sharply and looked over towards Jongdae, “You might want to come take a look at this.”

Jongdae padded over quickly, nearly tripping over an extension cord on his way. He squatted down next to Yixing and glanced at the object he was holding between two fingers. It was a small, clear lighter. The liquid levels looked like it had barely budged at all, as if it had only been used once if at all. However, this was not what Yixing was pointing towards, Jongdae noticed after about ten seconds of observing the lighter. He looked down and gasped.

“No way…” Jongdae whispered, “There’s no way…”

✐✐✐

When Jongdae got back to the club room, the lighter in a ziploc bag that Yixing had found, he saw that Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Sehun were sitting at the long table. Jongdae opened the door and smiled awkwardly, keeping the lighter tucked away in his sleeve until the opportune moment to reveal his evidence.

“What’s up?” Chanyeol asked, stretching.

“Nothing too much,” Jongdae smiled, ”Are you busy right now?”

“Nope!” Baekhyun giggled.

“Good. Then get out.”

“What?!”

“Both of you, out.” Jongdae gestured to Chanyeol and Baekhyun. The two exchanged very curious looks before sighing and treading out of the room.

Sehun cleared his throat and shifted in his chair shyly, “Did you want to speak to me or…?”

Jongdae never said a word. Instead, he took out the bag and placed it on the table, sliding it towards Sehun whose eyes widened in shock.

“T-This… Where did you get this?” he stuttered.

“We found it in the gym while we were cleaning up our chemicals. Is there a reason why it was sticking out of your bookbag?” Jongdae asked as he took a seat across from the boy.

Sehun didn’t respond.

“It’s okay, Sehun. You can tell me the truth.”

“I… I was just under so much pressure… I couldn’t finish the project on time, I-” he choked and tears started to fall down his cheeks no matter how much he tried to bite them back, “I thought I could buy myself more time… But now I don’t even want the scholarship. I just want to be normal, like you guys! I want to have friends that I can joke around with too! I want to have fun too! I don’t want to force myself to study anymore! It’s not something I enjoy doing. I want to do well in school, but I just want to enjoy being a kid a little longer... I- I-”

Jongdae frowned, “I’m sorry you felt like this, Sehun.” he reached out and took one of the boy’s hands, “Shall we go talk to the principal together?”

Sehun sniffled, “You’d do that with me?”

Jongdae nodded, “This is what friends are for.”

“Friends?” Sehun asked wiping at his eyes, “Are we friends?”

“Of course,” Jongdae laughed and stood up, “Come on. Let’s get this mess fixed.”

✐✐✐

At the end of the week, the fifth issue of The Monarch Times was printed with the headliner (that Junmyeon had believed to be clever) ‘Science Fair Fear.’ Jongdae snorted at the title as he threw a copy across the table to his partner. Yixing grinned as he scanned the article.

“I can’t believe we’ve done it again!” Yixing sighed happily.

“Me either,” Jongdae hummed.

There was a knock on the door before it creaked open slightly. Jongdae and Yixing both looked over and raised to their feet with grins as Sehun walked in, bowing.

“How did the talk go over with your parents?” Jongdae asked hopefully.

“I’m grounded,” Sehun laughed rubbing the back of his neck, “I guess I should’ve seen it coming. I also lost the scholarship, but that was expected. They don’t want, and I quote, ‘miscreants ruining their reputation.’” he shrugged, “There will be other scholarships. And my parents agreed that they can wait for when I’m in my last year of high school.”

Jongdae laughed, “I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks,” Sehun blushed, “It’s nice to have someone to talk to and get this off of my chest. It’s hard when you don’t have friends…”

Yixing wrapped his arms around Sehun from behind and kissed his cheek, “We’re your friends now.”

Sehun blushed even more, “Thank you. But, guys... I was wondering, since I have free time on my hands now… Would I be able to join the newspaper?”

Yixing and Jongdae looked at each other in confusion before grinning devilishly at Sehun, “Welcome to the club!”

/whispers/ you all seem to be very awake during early morning/late night here, in which I am VERY asleep haha it makes for some pleasant comments to wake up to though ^^ thank you everyone for your constant kind words. I hope you enjoyed this update! Also, sorry this is so unedited... I haven't had much time to go back and re-read these things late since... University starts this week. I cry. Anyway, please comment and upvote if you want to or w/e idk ~ xoxo