He walked Hana to class in silence, neither of them too keen on making conversation, which was rare. Hana also thanked him at the door, which was another rare thing – not unpleasant, but out of habit, and things that were out of habit worried Haechan. He brushed it off and gave her an awkward one-armed hug, then bade her good luck and headed back the hall to his own class.

Along the way, he received a couple nods from his teammates, and a couple girls gave him grins as they passed, but otherwise he didn't meet up with anyone. It wasn't until he was at the door of his Geography class that he realized he'd been looking for Mark in the crowd of traveling students. But before he could think too much about why somebody shoved him through the door – hard.

"Captain, you're in the way."

Haechan stumbled into the nearest desk, balanced himself, then turned around with a grin. "I'd be a good goalie huh, Jeno?"

Jeno laughed, a y sound that, combined with his lean and strong build, made him seem way more mature than he actually was. "Maybe, if the goal was the size of a doorway."

"You think I can't?" Haechan challenged mockingly, jumping up and blocking Jeno as the boy tried to get past him.

Jeno raised an eyebrow and, laughing, shoved Haechan easily aside. "Sit down."

"Foul!" Haechan shouted after him, and the teacher promptly told him to shut up.

Taking his seat next to Jeno, they were consequently drilled with an hour of intense notes and lectures, so much that even their after-lunch long-block of an hour and forty-five minutes passed in a flash. For the last forty-five minutes of class they had work block and Jeno, being an independent goody-goody, worked quietly by himself, forcing Haechan to do the same. It wasn't until half an hour later when he turned a page in his notebook to see that Hana had drawn a panda with a purple pen, that he remembered.

"Hey, Jeno."

Jeno looked up reluctantly from his calculus homework. "What?" He said, sitting back and stretching. 

"About Hana…" Haechan trailed off, smiling sheepishly. The annoyed look on Jeno's face enough to tell him that they knew what was going on.

"Look, it's none of your business."

"It is if she asks me for help," Haechan said, struggling to keep his smile up. With Jeno, it was difficult sometimes. He was a good guy, but he thought he was the best of the best. And he wasn't far from it, technically speaking.

"Doesn't mean it's any of your business," Jeno said stiffly, looking at his workbook.

"Look, man, I don't want to sound rude, but…" Haechan counted with his fingers. "She rejected you one, two, three… four times? And she's come to me for help… twice now? This is getting kind of creepy, you know. Why do you like her so much?"

"Okay, I know you're just worried because you like Hana too." Jeno sighed, turning around to face him. "But she doesn't hate me, and we have a good time together. Maybe you should let her go and give me a chance."

"I would if I thought you had a chance," Haechan said before he could stop himself. But he didn't take it back and met Jeno's cold brown eyes challengingly.

Jeno's eyebrows knitted together and he frowned deeply. "You know what, I don't want to talk about this with you, it screws up the team. Just leave us alone." He said finally, turning back to his homework.

Sighing, Haechan placed a hand on Jeno's shoulder and felt the boy tense up. "You're a good guy, Jeno."

"Got it. You can shut up now." Jeno said, shrugging his hand off.

Thankfully, they only had to spend five awkward minutes together before class was dismissed. Haechan, already packed and ready to go two minutes before the clock struck three, stood up and stacked his chair at the back, bolting out the door.

"Haechan!"

Haechan promptly skidded to a freeze, one hand on the doorframe, staring at the attractive face smiling at him from the opposite end.

Mark uncrossed his arms and stood up from where he'd been leaning against the wall. "You, uh, might want to move." He said, grinning crookedly, gesturing behind Haechan.

"Huh?" Haechan glanced over his shoulder and saw a mini-horde of tired students glaring at him. "Oh, sorry." He stepped to the side, and Mark came up to join him.

"I saw your timetable, sorry if it's creepy, but I wanted to make sure I wouldn't get lost on my way to practice," Mark said gently. "Is it out in the fields or in the gym?"

"Out in the fields usually, we meet in the gym, though," Haechan said, unable to shake off the tingly feeling he was getting. It felt warm, and after a moment Haechan realized that they were almost nose-to-nose from each other.

Isn't he kind of… close…?

Haechan turned away with a laugh. "It's weird, though, for a second it felt like I was being picked up by my boyfriend."

Idiot! Why would you say that?! He kicked himself mentally right after, but Mark just laughed with him.

"You've been around girls way too much, Haechan." Mark's gaze flickered somewhere else and Haechan followed it to see Jeno looking at them from the middle of the hallway. When the boy saw them looking, he nodded.

"I'll go down first and change, Capta-chan."

"Don't call me that." Haechan forced himself to grin. "Tell Coach that I'll be there soon, I'm bringing a new kid in."

"Yeah, sure." Jeno glanced at Mark skeptically before he turned and disappeared in the mass of students down the hall.

Turning back, Haechan caught Mark staring after Jeno with bright eyes. Amused, he gave the dazed boy a small shove on the shoulder. "Excited?"

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