“i don’t want to scare you or anything…” sehun pauses, and takes a quick look behind his shoulder before continuing, “...but i think someone’s been following us for the past few days.”

“oh, that’s just chanyeol,” jongin informs him in a casual tone, as if it were a mundane occurrence.

the nonchalance throws sehun for a loop, his jaw agape as he gawks at his best friend. “you know him?”

jongin freezes in his tracks, and tilts his head as he gazes at the sky. with a pensive expression on his face, jongin takes a few moments before responding. “i wouldn’t say that i know him exactly, we’ve not been formally introduced. but we have some mutuals, like baekhyun hyung.”

sehun blushes at the mention of baekhyun’s name. he shakes his head, dispelling the thoughts of his not so secret crush and directs his attention back to the matter at hand. “how can you be so blasé about this? don’t you think it’s creepy that he’s been stalking you?!”

“i think it’s kinda cute, don’t you think?” jongin replies with a slight smile, resuming their journey onwards.

“cute?!” sehun pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head in disapproval. “no, i do not think it is ‘cute’. it’s hella weird. what if he wants to skin you alive to make a life sized jongin doll or something?”

“the fact that your mind is going to some dark places, speaks more about you than it does chanyeol. he’s harmless. in fact, the only danger he poses is to himself. he’s not exactly the most graceful person on this planet.”

“but you don’t know him, so you can’t be sure.” sehun stops and tries to locate the creepy admirer.

“he’s the one who leaves me hot packs in my locker after dance practice. doesn’t exactly scream ‘harmful’ unless he wants to hurt me with kind gestures.” jongin shrugs, as he walks on, not sparing a glance back.

still on the lookout, sehun hurries after jongin. “i still think you should be wary of his intentions.”

“i appreciate the concern, sehun, but you don’t have to worry. the thing you should care about is whether or not he spills to baekhyun hyung about your big fat crush on him.”

“HE KNOWS I LIKE BAEKHYUN HYUNG?!” sehun shrieks before covering his mouth with both hands.

“seeing as you just yelled it out, i would say it’s a safe bet that he knows, yeah.”

“yah!” sehun turns around to address his best friend’s stalker. he needs to make sure that chanyeol keeps his mouth shut. “i know you’re there so there’s no point hiding.”

he scans the bushes and discovers the man in question crouched behind it, his tall height disadvantageous to his attempt at camouflage. sehun rolls eyes and sighs in exasperation. “i can see you hiding behind the bushes, chanyeol.”

chanyeol quickly stands up, arms outstretched in the air. “oh, hey. i didn’t see you there. how’s it going?”

“how’s it going?!” sehun echoes, side eyeing his best friend. jongin, on the other hand, is in stitches, slapping sehun’s arm as he laughs.

“i’m just, y’know, chilling. counting how many leaves there are on this bush. nothing special. just chilling,” chanyeol answers, running his hand along the shrub before patting it gently.

sehun closes his eyes and tries to keep his cool. “stop following us, it’s creepy,” sehun says, his tone ice cold. he can’t risk chanyeol overhearing any more secrets about his feelings for baekhyun.

“you’re the one who sought me out, so…” chanyeol trails off, his gaze averting to jongin. sehun could’ve sworn he saw actual hearts shoot from chanyeol’s eyes.

“you can’t be serious?” sehun asks incredulously, his temper flaring and threatening to explode.

“i’m pretty sure i heard you calling me? wait, what’s your name again?” chanyeol asks, rubbing the back of his neck. he directs his attention back to the greenery in front of him and plucks a few leaves from the foliage. he holds it up to his face as he inspects the sample curiously, a pink tongue darting out between his lips.

sehun chokes on his saliva in disbelief. he feels outraged and insulted, how dare he not know who he is? the rage bubbling to the surface, sehun erupts and blurts out the first thing that pops into his head, “jongin already has a boyfriend!”

“wait, what--” jongin starts before sehun covers his mouth, unable to speak.

“and you’d better not say anything to baekhyun about anything that happened today or jongin will get really mad at you!” sehun sternly warns chanyeol. with a hand still wrapped around jongin’s face, he drags his friend away with force and leaves a jilted chanyeol in their wake.






“why did you drag me here with you?!” sehun hisses at jongin as the cower behind a parked car, a few feet away from chanyeol and baekhyun. they remain hidden as they watch baekhyun buy a portion of dukbokki from the elderly woman working the street food stall.

baekhyun takes a bite, blowing steam from his mouth as he tries to cool the piping hot snack. he then offers to feed chanyeol a fish cake slice with the same toothpick he had just used. not wanting the two to share an indirect kiss, sehun projects his voice and calls out, “ca-caw!”

“what the hell was that?” he hears baekhyun ask, his eyes widening in alarm. sehun frowns as he hones in on the sight of baekhyun clutching onto chanyeol’s arm. in an effort to remain anonymous, he makes the decision to throw his friend under the bus. “take one for the team,” he whispers before striking a swift kick on jongin’s left buttock.

jongin yelps in pain, standing up and revealing himself as he massages his arse cheek. “what the hell was that fo--”

“jongin?” chanyeol calls his name, his face quickly flushing a deep hue of crimson. he side steps to stand behind his best friend, not that it helps conceal him much, what with his taller height and everything.

“er, hey there, guys,” jongin greets the two, still caressing his rear end.

“what’s with the…?” baekhyun gestures toward jongin’s hand and arches an eyebrow.

jongin quickly withdraws his fingers and laughs nervously. “n-nothing, i just sat on something sharp.”

chanyeol takes a few steps back, increasing the distance between the two of them. it’s discreet, but it doesn’t escape jongin’s cognisance. baekhyun, however, remains rooted in the same position, eyebrow still cocked. “but why were you even sitting down the in the first place? are you hurt?”

the mention of a potential injury causes chanyeol’s ears to prick up. he moves closer to jongin, slowly shuffling forward as he drags his feet across the concrete ground. “if you’re hurt, maybe you should call your boyfriend,” he says, barely audible. he avoids jongin’s eyes as he speaks, his eyes fixed to his feet.

jongin approaches chanyeol, each footstep tentative, not wanting to scare the latter away. “i don’t have a boyfriend, sehun was just being a when he said that.” he smiles as he imagines the look on sehun’s face. jongin wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if sehun is currently flipping him off from his hiding spot behind the car.

“you don’t?” chanyeol asks, his tone conveying a hint of disbelief. jongin finds his wide doe eyed stare adorably endearing.

“i don’t,” jongin asserts and shoots chanyeol a shy smile.

“you don’t.”

jongin catches a smile slowly creeping on chanyeol’s face, and his heart skips a beat. it’s the first time jongin has managed to take a proper look at chanyeol, he usually only catches the sight of his back as he flees before jongin can utter a single syllable. jongin notes his youthful features and protruding ears; he finds chanyeol captivating.

he suddenly remembers about the item he’s been carrying around in his bag, just in case such a moment arises. sliding the rucksack off his shoulders, he retrieves a small box and hands it to chanyeol. “this is for you.”

their fingers graze as chanyeol receives the gift, sending an electric current down jongin’s spine. jongin’s stomach does weird flips, his body feeling warm and fuzzy when he observes chanyeol’s face light up with the brightest smile he’s ever witnessed.

“band-aids?”

jongin can’t help but chuckle at the look of confusion cast on chanyeol’s face. “i’ve noticed that you have a tendency to bump into things,” he explains, his tone affectionate.

he hears baekhyun roaring his head with laughter in the background. chanyeol whips his head and scowls at his best friend. with his head still facing away from jongin, he leans in and whispers into chanyeol’s ear, “there’s also a post it with my number attached.”

chanyeol practically squeaks at the revelation and his hands begin to tremble slightly. jongin places his own hands on top to steady them. jongin hears baekhyun clearing his throat and he acknowledges the not so subtle hint. “i’ll be waiting for a text message,” he says, giving chanyeol’s hand a gentle squeeze before letting go.

giving baekhyun a wave, jongin turns back and hollers at the top of his lungs, “COME ON, SEHUN. TIME TO GO NOW!”

“sehun?!” baekhyun and chanyeol cry out in unison.

sehun grits his teeth before begrudgingly revealing himself. “hey guys, fancy bumping into you here. quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”

“you’ve been there this entire time, haven’t you?” baekhyun questions, the bluntness of his tone causes sehun to flinch.

as sehun tries to formulate a response, jongin feels a vibration in his pocket. retrieving his phone, he unlocks the screen to read the text message he’s just received.


unknown number
hey, it’s chanyeol. wanna get out of here?


jongin looks up at chanyeol, the male chewing nervously on his bottom lip. jongin nods his head and pockets his phone.

“change of plans, sehunnie. you should grow some balls and ask baekhyun hyung to take you out for food instead. i’ve just been asked out on a hot date.” jongin shoots a wink at his best friend, and slips his fingers in between chanyeol’s.

they walk off, hand in hand, leaving sehun practically foaming at the mouth.






“so, did you hear the news from baekhyun?”

chanyeol nods, swinging an arm around jongin’s shoulder. “can you believe our best friends finally got together? after six months of dancing around.”

“it’s cute though, how sehun confessed.” jongin feels chanyeol nodding as his cheek brushes the top of jongin’s head. “so when we tell the story of how we first started dating, do we want to leave the part out about you stalking me first?”

“but i wasn’t stalking you! i heard my name being called!” chanyeol protests, his long arms thrashing violently as he contends his innocence.

“it’s okay...” jongin smiles before leaning in and placing a quick chaste kiss on his boyfriend’s lips. “...i kinda stalked you back.”





a/n:
title taken from adam levine's 'lost stars'.
it pained me to write "band-aids" but i wasn't sure if people would've understood the term "plasters".
anyhoo, this is my first chankai fic and i dedicate it to my one and only, krys.
i promised you chankai a while ago; i hope this doesn't disappoint.
ily. always.