Kyungsoo was squatted down between the back rows of seats of the school auditorium. Quietly, he peeked over the top to watch a tall, handsome boy dance gracefully across the stage. There was no music and no sound, only the noise of his feet lightly hitting the floor with every flawless movement of his body. His dance was always beautiful, and it was enough to charm the small boy into coming back every day after school for the last three weeks.

Singing and acting were Kyungsoo’s passions. Maybe he wasn’t the best in the school, but that was okay with him. There was plenty of time to learn and grow from the other ardent teachers and students. However, when the school announced musical tryouts, Kyungsoo knew he had to snatch up a lead role. He picked out a few lines and a couple of songs to go over. Unfortunately, finding a place to practice alone was the challenging part.

He decided to sneak into the theater after school to try and test his luck there. Kyungsoo swung open the door, walked in, but stopped in his tracks almost as soon as he started. There in front of him was a tall, handsome dancer already occupying the stage. He swayed his body freely, without a care in the world, and Kyungsoo was amazed. The boy’s movements were beautiful yet unreserved; graceful, yet emotional.

He watched the dancer for a good ten minutes before he finally came to a complete stop. The boy fell to the ground, exhausted. He sat back with hands propped behind him and closed his eyes. His body gleamed with sweat, but the smile on his face beamed satisfaction.

Kyungsoo couldn’t look away. He was more than fascinated; he was utterly captivated. Whether it was the passion in his dance, the precision of his movements, or his undone physical appeal, the small boy didn’t know which one it was that grabbed his heart and knocked the air out of his lungs. But it kept him coming back day after day, week after week, to hide and keep watch.

Doh Kyungsoo never considered his self a stalker. He was just naturally shy and soft-spoken with people he didn’t know. All his friends told him that he was a lovable person and he should have confidence when confessing his feelings to the girl he liked. Because apparently, girls like real men who are brave. He didn’t want to look like a coward, but this type of situation was completely different. It wasn’t just anyone that enchanted his heart so quickly.

No.

It was a popular male dancer named Kim Jongin.

Jongin was known around the school for his impressive dance performance. He won several competitions, and, as rumor had it, he even had a scholarship to a fancy dance academy after graduation. All the girls loved him, and any other male wanted to be him. The confidence he exuded and his perfect smile made him even more attractive.

For all these reasons, Kyungsoo decided it would be best to cower off in the corner and stealthily observe his object of limerence. He had no chance in hell with the handsome dancer, and he certainly was not going to make a fool of himself so readily. But even so, he felt happy. No one else but him got to see this side of Kim Jongin. Kyungsoo somehow felt like this moment was theirs. Even if the dancer would never know he existed. Seeing him dance freely across the stage was just enough for him.

Satisfied by the end, Kyungsoo got up right when Jongin was walking off stage. He wasn’t paying attention when the book he carried had slipped out of his hand and fell on the floor with a loud bang. Kyungsoo stared wide-eyed for a moment and turned his attention to the stage. He had been caught.

Jongin stood there and looked a bit confused. The boy’s face turned beet red. “I-I-I’m sorry!” He bowed, grabbed his book, and ran off out of doors.

His heart raced, and his mind was in disaster. Jongin probably now saw him as a creep. A weirdo. A stalker.

Kyungsoo never planned on having his crush know of his existence, and now that he did, he probably only thought the worst. He didn’t even want to know what was going through Jongin’s mind right now.

Never again would he be able to watch the dancer from afar. Never again would he be able to show his face in front of him without worry. Never again would he even be able to look in Jongin’s direction without thinking of this humiliation.

The small boy ran out of the building and never again returned to the auditorium after school to quietly watch him dance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What is this psycho doing at our table?!”

Junmyeon stood there on the opposite side of them, arms folded, judging the situation as Lay and Baekhyun laughed and joked together.

“This ‘psycho’ helped me with my homework when both you and Kyung were too busy. Lucky for me, he’s smarter than you are, so don’t worry, I won’t be asking for your help anymore, Junnie.”

“He’s smarter than I? Ha! I doubt it.” He glared down at them before taking a seat.

“Doubt it all you want. All I care about is getting a decent grade in my class. I hate that Chanyeol with a passion.” Baekhyun balled his fists. His utter disgust for the kid built up even more after their last encounter. “See if I ever do crap for him ever again.”

“If you have a problem with him, maybe I can help?” Lay offered.

“Whaaa! You’re then best, Zhang! But you’ve already helped me enough! Plus, there isn’t really anything anyone can do. Thank you, though. You’ll make a great president!” Baekhyun clung to his arm and nearly hugged him in his animated fit of happiness. Lay only shook his head with a laugh and pulled away from the overly affectionate grasp.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually going to vote for this jerk!”

“So what if I do? It’s none of your business now, is it?” Baekhyun stuck his tongue out and winked at the other boy, who was starting to grow very angry.

“Baekhyun, you know better than to tease Junnie like that.” Kyungsoo came up behind Junmyeon and sat down with the group. He looked entirely emotionally beat. The usual pleasantly happy wide-eyed boy looked like a shameful criminal headed to the gallows, which concerned everyone.

“Hey, are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you, Yixing. I just had a hard time sleeping last night.” Kyungsoo bowed his head politely before starting on his food.

“Well, if you are having a tough time, then maybe you should go home and rest up.” Junmyeon followed up.

“I can’t. I have a test later today.”

Lay passed his coffee to Kyungsoo across the table. The smaller boy looked up at him, a bit confused.

“Here, I haven’t even touched it yet. So go ahead and have it. Maybe it will help.”

“AH! No, I couldn’t!”

“Don’t worry about it. Just focus on feeling better for your test.” Kyungsoo bowed his head once more before cheerfully taking a sip.

It would have been sweet if the gesture hadn’t come from the enemy and pissed Junmyeon the hell off.

‘Why is he being so nice to my friends? What is it that he really wants? He must be doing this just to get under my skin!’

No matter how much he thought about it, Lay really was charming and seemingly caring. That was the part that bugged Junmyeon the most. The more likable he is, the more it makes Junmyeon look like a jerk. They were in a competition, and he seemed to hold all the aces. The brown-haired boy decided to ignore his presence altogether and focus his attention on his real friends.

“Kyung, we need to go run the auction booth this week. You’re still helping me, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Auction booth?” Lay inquired.

“It’s an annual thing we do here. Every year the school puts on an auction event for a week and gives away prizes every day to whoever donates the most money to a certain charity cause. I think this year it’s towards a children’s hospital.” Baekhyun explained.

“Oh. So what are the prizes?”

“Umm, I think free passes to Lotte World or something silly like that.”

“That’s lame. They don’t expect that to work, do they?”

“Ha! Who knows?” Baekhyun laughed along.

“Yeah, well, I’m sure someone will want it!” Junmyeon bit off, sounding more irritated than he intended. He knew he couldn’t stick around without wanting to explode, so he merely grabbed Kyungsoo’s arm and lead him at the front of the cafeteria towards the said booth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, you.”

If there was one thing that annoyed Baekhyun, it was being addressed rudely as “You” by dickwads, who clearly knew his name.

“What?!” He looked up at the said dickwads who approached him during one of his very rare peaceful study sessions. He hated studying, but he was told by nearly all of his teachers that it was mandatory if he wanted to stay at the school. So here he was wasting the day away at a table in the school courtyard when he SHOULD be spending it out with friends.

However, the unwanted guests cared very little for his session, closed his books on him, and tossed them on the ground.

Baekhyun just huffed and rolled his eyes at these two wannabe thugs.

“Chanyeol