Chanyeol stifled his urge to shout at something.

It is the final match to the championship and it is down between Chanyeol’s college and that other college from the next town. One minute left in the game and both teams has the exact same point. They need a goal. Just one. And then defend like mad.

There was a scuffle and the next thing he knew, the ball came flying over to him. Chanyeol reached out but the opponent snatched the ball away in mid-air and took off. Chanyeol hurriedly wiped the sweat above his eyes on his wristband and went off in pursuit. The ball was passed on twice, still in the opponent’s hands, and went through the basket. A two pointer, with just 5 seconds left on the time.

It was more of an out of frustration thing, but Chanyeol promptly pick up the rebound and threw the ball as hard as he could towards the general direction of the opponent’s goal.

4 seconds… The ball left his fingers, along with a quiet groan from his lips.

3 seconds… That midget who scored that last goal was drowning in the midst of all the hugs his teammates were giving him.

2 seconds… The ball crossed the midline and a couple of Chanyeol’s teammate followed the ball with their eyes with mild interest.

1 second… Something is happening. That’s the straightest ball anyone has thrown.

So straight that it fell so neatly in the basket, the net barely fluttered. A three pointer.

The buzzer went off. Buzzer beat.

There was a total silence of roughly 3 seconds, though it seems much longer to Chanyeol. When he became aware of the situation about ten years later (to him), he was already lifted on to his teammates’ shoulders and being tossed in the air, much to his amusement. Even the opponent team came to shake his hand. It was just that much short of being a miracle.

His coach handed him the trophy to lift in the air, towards the yelling crowd.

***

It seems like forever but the team was finally let off for a long awaited shower. Chanyeol took an extra long shower and when he emerged; his teammates were long gone already. Good. Most people enjoy a little more privacy of what is to come next anyway. Being the one who scored the winning goal, everyone quickly agree that Chanyeol may have the first pick. True enough, after he got dressed and picked up all his belongings and went out to the common benches in the changing room, there was a huge chart on the wall already. It was a chart of all the cheerleaders available for him to choose from, with their full length shot and three details; their names, classes and the phone numbers.

This poses a problem for Chanyeol. He had always chose Sehun previously since Sehun was someone he knew for as long as he could remember. They grew up as next door neighbours until Sehun’s family decided to move away when he was 10. Nothing much changed though, since they moved to somewhere close enough that they still managed to attend the same school since then, all the way to college now. Why did Sehun ever join cheerleading baffles Chanyeol but he always chose Sehun when they win a match and they spend the day chilling around, watching movies and whatnot. It is just that one of his teammate wasn’t that happy the last two times he chose Sehun.

The first time it ever happened was last year. The usually fun loving Luhan actually glowered at him when Chanyeol flamboyantly told Sehun to meet him the next day. The second time was during their last big match, three months back. Chanyeol swore that he saw Luhan tipping his bag in such a way that everything in his bag fell into the mud. Luhan fervently denied doing it and who has the heart to accuse the bright eyed boy any further?

So, he suppose, Sehun is out of bounds now. So who should he choose?

He eyed the chart and noticed three pictures with a ‘NEW!’ banner over the top. One of them caught his eyes, a rather surprisingly cute boy. Chanyeol doesn’t know him but the information right under his picture told him that this Byun Baekhyun is in the same year as him. Chanyeol took out his phone and started tapping in his number.

PCY: Hi, Baekhyun. My name is Chanyeol. Not sure if you know me, but I’m from the basketball team and I’ve decided to choose you. Are you okay with this?

The reply came back fast.

BBH: Hi, Channie~ You’re the one who scored that crazy three pointer right? I was watching the game. Sure, why not? Where do we meet?

PCY: Uh, I have to submit my timetable for the next semester so is it okay for you to come over to my dorm?

BBH: Oh, my slot is for tomorrow too. At 10. What time is yours? Can I do it over at your place?

PCY: Mine is at 9, the slot right before you. Sure. Come over anytime. I’m at the North block, third floor. We only have one corridor and my room is right at the end.

BBH: Sweet, I’m on the floor right above you. Okay. See ya tomorrow!

Chanyeol smiled. Looks like this Byun guy is pretty cool.

***

Chanyeol has logged into the school system and kept refreshing the page twenty minutes before his allotted time slot. During which, he only has half an hour to sign up for the classes he wants to take for the next semester, which starts in two weeks. Each batch of students in the same time slot is only allowed to view a random set of classes for all modules, not all classes, in order to ensure fairness for the students who have a later slot. Due to this, everyone wants to log in fast and snatch up the classes that are at a better timing rather than those starting at 6 in the evening.

The room is awkwardly quiet. Baekhyun has arrived at 7 with two bags of pancakes and juice. Chanyeol invited him in warmly and they quickly finished the breakfast between them. He now sat on Chanyeol’s bed, rearranging his ideal class schedule in his laptop to form a few backup schedule plans in case he didn’t get what he wants on his first try.

Chanyeol sat on his chair, facing his laptop while Baekhyun tapped away on his bed behind him. He didn’t know what to talk about with Baekhyun. They’ve figured out that Baekhyun was new to the cheerleading team as he just transferred over this year. Both of them are majoring in Music and will be taking several same modules together when semester starts.

Time ticked away and this time, the page took a little more time to load when Chanyeol refreshes it. He quickly submitted his ideal schedule and crossed his fingers. He groaned when the next page loaded informing him that all his classes are accepted, except for History of Classical Music. There were only two classes, Tuesday or Wednesday, and he preferred Wednesday, as the Tuesday class starts in the morning and he would have a 4 hours break until the next class. Just his luck that he was only allowed to pick Tuesday.

“Why, what’s wrong?” asked Baekhyun. Chanyeol gestured at the page for Baekhyun to read. Baekhyun thought for a while and glanced at his own schedule.

“I wanted the Tuesday slot. Tell you what. Take the Tuesday one first. If I’m allowed to take the Wednesday one, I’ll swap with you. If I’m allowed the Tuesday one, well, then at least I’ll have a friend in class.”

Chanyeol nodded. Swapping time slots is easy. Much easier than queuing at the academics office, requesting for the Wednesday class.

It wasn’t long before it was Baekhyun’s turn. He was allowed the Tuesday class and his first choice schedule was accepted; everything done under 2 minutes. He put his laptop away and looked at Chanyeol, who was staring into space and, literally, twiddling his thumbs.

“So. I didn’t know you’re gay,” Baekhyun started casually.

Chanyeol spluttered. “What?”

“Well, you chose me,”Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “So I figured you must be gay. Plus, you have always chose Sehunnie right? The others told me. So I was really surprised when you texted me.”

Chanyeol gaped at him for a moment. “I don’t understand. Why is it that I must be gay to choose you? And Sehun is an old friend of mine. That’s why I chose him.”

“Wait…” Baekhyun narrowed his eyes. “What have you been doing with Sehun all these time?”

“Um, stuff. Like, movies or just chilling at home or something.”

“Channie, dear, I hate to break this to you but you must be the most innocent one in the entire school,” chuckled Baekhyun. “Do you even know what your teammates are doing with their cheerleader?”

Chanyeol frowned. “Um, I don’t know. The same as me, I suppose?”

Baekhyun cleared his throat. “’All cheerleaders who signs up for this are informed that any activities should only be done with their consent. Every participant reserves their rights to reject….something or some other.’ I don’t remember exactly the words but what does this sound like to you?”

Chanyeol blinked. “Um… Something out of Fifty Shades of Grey. No offence.”

“None taken. Exactly. So what do you think other people do on their day together?”

Chanyeol felt his face getting redder and redder.

“Ah. Now you get it.”

Chanyeol looked up, right at Baekhyun. “So you were expecting to sleep with me? And… stuff?”

“Stuff?” Baekhyun snorted. “You don’t have to go all Christian Grey on me, I’m just telling you that what you did Sehun must be the most innocent thing ever. You don’t have to sleep with me, I’m just saying that some, if not most, of your teammate must be banging someone right now, and all you’re thinking about is… Netflix and no chill.”

Chanyeol remained silent. Suddenly, all of those hostile looks from Luhan makes sense. But wait… Why, though? Not like they are together or Luhan actually likes him so- Oh. Uhm. Right. Okay. I see

Baekhyun stared at Chanyeol, head tilted to a side. It was actually quite funny to watch the boy thinking and he could almost see the cogs and wheels turning in Chanyeol’s head. When Chanyeol finally met his eyes again, he could see that the basketball player’s gaze was determined and also guarded.

“Despite what you might think, Baekhyun, I don’t sleep with someone on the day I met them. I was thinking of going for some show somewhere. I think they have a new musical showing in the theatres. But if you were expecting some… bed action, then I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you,” Chanyeol said.

“That’s fine by me,” Baekhyun shrugged. “I signed up for this not because I’m but rather, very curious about this. Like, how it goes and stuff. If,” Baekhyun smirked a little at this, “going on a sweet date is your thing then, it is fine by me.”

***

They cycled to the musical Chanyeol mentioned, followed by an early dinner and then cakes at a newly opened café. They had a jolly time and by the time they are heading back to Chanyeol’s room for Mario Kart, pushing their bikes along as they walked, they had their hands linked, swinging merrily between them.

Baekhyun wanted to get some venti frappe from Starbucks so Chanyeol was standing outside to watch over their bikes when someone clapped him on his shoulder.

“Chanyeol hyung!”

Chanyeol whirled around to see Jongin staring at him. Jongin is his junior in the basketball team but he didn’t play in the match before as he has injured his leg. True enough, Jongin had his crutches under his arms.

“Hey, Jongin. Whatcha doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in bed resting?”

Jongin raised an arm to show the cup of hot chocolate he got. “What about you, hyung? Aren’t you supposed to be getting some action in bed?” Jongin wriggled his eyebrows mischievously.

Chanyeol bit his lip at that. Jongin’s smile faltered. “What, hyung, you didn’t choose one? Word is going around that you’ve chose that new Byun guy. He doesn’t want to do it with you?”

He didn’t know what to say, but at the same time, it kinda broke his heart to see Jongin’s smile fallen off his face completely and slowly had this face that epitomes Awkward. Chanyeol couldn’t help but to chuckle.

“Listen, Jongin, does everyone does that with their cheerleader?”

“Well… You don’t have to? But this whole thing, the chance to choose a cheerleader when you win a match, is basically a nice front for you to choose who you wanna bang, at least for a day, right?” Jongin looked as if he wished that he never said hi to Chanyeol in the first place. “Look, hyung, I know you didn’t do anything with Sehun but not many people know that. Everyone thinks that you guys are… are… like, friends with benefit kind of thing. Anyway, it is fine if you don’t but I’m just saying that a lot of people are doing it, okay? It doesn’t make it a social rule or but that’s just what people think.”

***

After a million rounds of games, they agreed that they are as good as each other and declared a tie.  It was already late into the night but neither wants to call it a day and so, they decided to snuggle up in bed for a movie. Somehow, they ended up with Titanic.

Chanyeol set it up while Baekhyun arranged the pillows to make a fort and placed a package of nachos between them, singing My Heart Will Go On softly. Chanyeol smiled when he joined the cheerleader in bed, singing along to the last chorus.

All too soon, it came to the heat filled in the car scene. Chanyeol gulped audibly, much to Baekhyun’s amusement.

When Rose released Jack from his grip, Baekhyun heard a quiet sniff. He looked up to see tears streaming down Chanyeol’s face, lips pursed in such a way to minimise noise. Baekhyun smiled and moved closer, face equally as wet.

As credits rolled, neither made any move to switch it off, merely lying in the dark, in each other’s arms. The last thing Baekhyun remembered was the clock beeping out to announce that it was 3 in the morning.

Baekhyun woke up the next morning with the two suns shining in his face. One of the actual solar sun and another in the form of Chanyeol’s beaming face.

“I took the liberty to go to your room for some fresh clothes and your toothbrush,” Chanyeol waved the pink crystals studded key fob he stole from Baekhyun. “Thought you might like to freshen up before going for breakfast. Unless you have plans for breakfast already?”

Baekhyun yawned sleepily and grabbed his clothes and toiletries. “Thank you, sunshine. Give me ten minutes and then we’ll go for breakfast.”

Chanyeol heard a chuckle from his ensuite bathroom about five minutes before Baekhyun emerged, all dressed up and ready for the day.

“I was just about to complain that you didn’t get my eyeliner for me. Not that it matters that much since I look so fine anyway. But I took the liberty to rummage in your shelves and it seems like you have quite a stash of make up too.” Baekhyun grinned. “Wouldn’t peg you for an eyeliner kind of guy.”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes. “We all wanna look good every once in a while. By the way, I’ve had that eyeliner for about 2 years now so don’t blame me if you got an eye infection or something.”

They opened the door to about ten camera phones going off at the same time.

“What the-“

“Park Chanyeol! I knew it when I saw you coming out of Baekhyun’s room with his stuff!” the basketball team captain, Kris, yelled.

“Yeah, hyung! You’re only allowed a day, which means 24 hours max! Why did you make him stay the night?” Jongin chimed in, still snapping away, crutches swaying dangerously under his arms.

Sehun moved right into their faces. He seemed to be recording a video. “That good, huh, hyung? Overnight? Can Baekhyun hyung even walk today?” He winked at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol groaned. He even spotted their basketball coach lifting up his iPad with a ‘Long live Baekyeol!’ scrolling across it.

Baekhyun laughed. He waved his arms to quiet the crowd. When he has gotten their attention, he smiled mischievously, “If anyone can’t walk, that has got to be him.” He prodded Chanyeol in the ribs.

It took the crowd a few seconds before they roared in laughter and started bombarding Chanyeol more question.

“What?! What did you guys do, Chanyeollie?”

“You know what, I stay in the next room and I swear, the entire building was shaking last night!”

“I didn’t know you are the one taking it, Yeol!”

Chanyeol looked down incredulously at the laughing Baekhyun, who wrapped an arm around his and dragged him away for breakfast.

I'm not sure about others but this is basically how we sign up for classes in my university. The system is called STAR and we call the entire process STAR Wars.