Jongin sat in his first lesson of the day thinking of Kyungsoo. All he could think about was her beautiful owl eyes staring up at him innocently, her lips that formed a heart shape whenever she smiled and the way she smelled of vanilla. He could still remember the taste of the strawberry lip balm she was wearing when they kissed. He had hoped to meet up with her in the morning before classes started but then his stupid alarm didn’t go off making him late for school. He was tempted to message Kyungsoo after they had exchanged numbers the previous night but resisted the urge, not wanting to look desperate. But he was so desperate to see her, to touch her and if she let him even kiss her. Jongin had to suppress the urge to squeal like a fangirl to avoid drawing attention.

Jongin wished he had some classes with his girlfriend but since she was a year older than him they wouldn’t be able to spend much time together at school. It also meant that she would be graduating from school a year before him, leaving him all alone. He realised that besides Yixing, he didn’t know anyone else in the school that was his own age. He didn’t even share any classes with his best friend as Kris was also a year older than him. In fact, Kris and Kyungsoo would probably be in most of the same classes. “It’s not fair, why does Kris get to spend time with my squishy (don’t tell anyone that I call her when she isn’t around – she’s just so chubby and cute like a penguin, NOT FAT, definitely not fat just cuddly and…perfect) girlfriend instead of me?” Jongin thought. These thoughts bought Jongin’s mood down as a pout made its way onto his face. He tried to dispel the thoughts by picturing his Kyungsoo’s sweet smile. “That’s better,” he thought and a smile crept up onto his features and once again he was trying his best not to squeal that Kyungsoo was officially his girlfriend.

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Kyungsoo exited the classroom after her last class before lunch and she headed towards the cafeteria to meet up with Jongin. She heard someone call out from behind her “Kyungie, wait up!” Kyungsoo turned around and saw her best friend, Baekhyun, running from the classroom toward her. “Kyungie, where are you going? We have a vocal training session today. Remember coach said that he wants to make sure we’re ready for the show, especially since we both have solos.” The extra session had completely slipped Kyungsoo’s mind, her brain was preoccupied with thoughts of Jongin and their perfect date. She had barely been able to concentrate on her school work or club activities. “Sorry Baek, I completely forgot. Let’s go now.” Baekhyun looked at her friend in complete shock, how could her obsessive compulsive best friend that had her life and schoolwork so well organised forget one of her lessons? “What? I can’t remember everything Baek,” Kyungsoo said rolling her eyes. “Come on we had better hurry or we are going to be late,” she nagged Baekhyun as they headed towards the music rooms.

On the way there Kyungsoo pulled out her phone and sent Jongin a quick text telling him that she wouldn’t be available for lunch.

To: Jongin

Hey Jongin, sorry can’t make lunch today. I have a vocal lesson that I forgot about it. Maybe we could meet up later.

She then quickly put the phone at the bottom of her bag and entered the music room with Baekhyun and saw some of her other friends Suho, Chen and Xiumin already waiting. The teacher walked in shortly after and said “Right! Everyone warm up your voice boxes. Kyungsoo I want you to practice your solo first. Come on up.” Kyungsoo went to the front of the music room and began singing Fallin’ by Alicia Keys. The whole rooms was mesmerised, they would never get used to Kyungsoo’s velvety deep voice. For such a small adorable girl, she had so much soul when she sang “Good job Kyungsoo. Suho you’re up next,” the teacher said.

As Kyungsoo re-joined her best friend, Baekhyun whispered “Good job Kyungie. You sang that with a lot of passion. I guess that means your date with hot stuff went well.” Kyungsoo blushed which shocked her best friend because Kyungsoo was never shy, especially when it came to boys, she never really cared much about dating. “Yeah Baekkie, it was great. He’s so much more….I don’t even know how to describe it. I’ve never felt this way before,” Kyungsoo said curling up on herself while saying these embarrassing words. “Aaaaaaand? Did you kiss?” Alarm bells went off in Kyungsoo’s head. “How did you know?” and Baekhyun began laughing. “Kyungie, people saw you. You weren’t exactly hiding.” At this Kyungsoo began blushing once again and whined into Baekhyun’s arm out of embarrassment. “He asked me to be his girlfriend too,” she said quietly as her voice was muffled by her best friends shirt sleeve. Baekhyun’s eyes opened wider from the shock and she stared at Kyungsoo mouth open and lost for words – a rare occurrence for Baekhyun. So Kyungsoo continued “I couldn’t believe it at first and I know you’re going to say it’s too soon. But there’s something special about him Baek. I’m not even scared. I know that this is what I want. Is that really weird?” Baekhyun had recovered from her system failure by this point and responded “Yes – it’s weird,” causing Kyungsoo to pout but then Baekhyun continued “But you’ve always known what you’ve wanted Kyung. I trust your judgement and I’m so happy for you.” The best friends shared a long hug leaving the teacher and the other club members perplexed but they didn’t question it.

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Jongin’s phone went off in his pocket as he was waiting outside the cafeteria for Kyungsoo. He looked at it and his heart sank when she said that she was unable to meet up with him. He really missed her and desperately wanted to see her. He had no idea that Kyungsoo could sing let alone being in the choir and singing club. He really wanted to sneak into the music room to hear how good she was. “I bet her voice is angelic” he thought. Smart, artistic and beautiful, damn there was no way that he wouldn’t fall for her. Realising that he had no one to sit with at lunch, he lost his appetite and instead decided to go to the library and get started on some of his homework. As he walked in he realised why the tuition fees for the school were so high. While all of the buildings in the school were impressive, the library was something else. It was so grand with large floor to ceiling bookshelves and the room was made entirely of wood, it looked like something out of Harry Potter. He was never really one for reading and always preferred to be outdoors but he had no better plans as Kris had messaged him this morning to say that he would be attending some meetings with his Dad while he was in Korea. Jongin did not envy Kris’s life, while from the outside it looked perfect, the demands placed on Kris by his parents were immense and he didn’t know how he handled it. That was the reason why Jongin always tries to distract Kris from his stressful life whenever they hung out, never mentioning his parents or what was going on with the business. This meant that while they were best friends, there was a huge part of Kris’ life that Jongin knew nothing about. This made the younger uncomfortable but he knew that there was nothing he could do to change it.

As he walked through the aisles of books Jongin noticed a familiar girl sitting at one of the tables in the far left corner of the library. She looked completely entranced by the book that had an English title that Jongin couldn’t understand. He quietly approached Yixing remembering that he was in a library and took the chair next to her. “Hey, I just wanted to check on you after what happened in the maze yesterday. How are you doing?” She replied that she was fine and then referred to Kris as Yi Fan. This immediately caught Jongin’s attention as he knows how Kris feels about people calling him by his real name. He questioned Yixing about it and she started to panic which confused Jongin further. Then her face paled and she gradually became more and more upset. When he mentioned that Kris doesn’t tend to tell people about his family life she ran out and Jongin could tell that she was crying.

Worried that he had upset her, Jongin ran out after Yixing and waited for her outside the girl’s toilet. Fifteen minutes elapsed before she finally exited the bathroom and became stunned when she saw Jongin waiting outside. “What are you doing here Jongin?” she asked. From the look on her face, Jongin could tell that she had been crying. “I just wanted to check on you. You left so suddenly and I can tell you’ve been crying. I know that we don’t really know each other but I can tell that’s something is wrong. You can talk to me if you need a friend,” he said and then sent her a small smile which she reciprocated.

They decided to go outside onto the grass where they could talk in private. Both were silent for a while before Yixing got the courage to ask “How long have you known Yi-…Kris?”Jongin paused for a while, to think how long it had been and then responded “About…10 years. We met when we were kids when he used to live in Korea. Then when he left we stayed in touch and he would visit a lot since his Dad does a lot of business in Korea.” He watched as she absorbed the information and then he asked her “You really like him don’t you?” She nodded again and said “But he seems really secretive. Like he doesn’t want to tell me about his life. I know we haven’t been dating for long but I’m worried that in the future he won’t share anything with me. Like how he’s feeling or what he’s thinking.” She looked off into the distance, these thoughts clouding her mind and tears beginning to form at the corners of her eyes. “Kris is a complicated person. He has had to put up with a lot, from his family, from everyone. I can’t tell you more because it’s not my place. It’s better to hear it directly from Kris himself. But I will say that when he lost you at the festival, I have never seen him so scared or helpless in my life. He really likes you! And I know that it might be hard but please don’t give up on him. Kris is a really great guy.” Yixing nodded again still looking off into the distance.

“Thanks Jongin. I feel much better now,” she said and then stood up. Jongin followed her as they both prepared to head towards their first class of the afternoon. “Yixing, could you tell me where I can find the dance studio?” Jongin asked. Yixing perked up at this and asked “Why? Do you dance?” He nodded “Yeah. I wanted to join the dance club. I wanted to go to the show at the school festival and introduce myself but I missed it. I got….distracted.” Yixing replied enthusiastically “Me too! What with getting lost in the maze and all. I’ve been in the dance club for a long time. You should come after school and I’ll introduce you to everyone. Meet me by the library after last period and we can head down together.” He replied “Thanks Yixing!” he said before they made their way towards their English class. He smiled brightly at her and she could tell that he was super excited about dancing. She cooed at Jongin thinking that he was adorable. If only she liked someone more innocent and loveable like him, instead of Kris who was y and wonderful but super secretive, her life would be a lot less complicated. 

As they headed towards class Jongin decided to text Kyungsoo to let her know that he won’t be able to meet up with her after school.

To: Kyungsoo

Hey, I’m sorry but I won’t be able to hang out after school. I’m meeting the dance club members. I’m really excited and nervous. I hope they like me. Wish me luck.

At the end of her vocal training session, Kyungsoo pulled out her phone and read the message from Jongin. She rolled her eyes thinking “Who wouldn’t like him? He’s so loveable…and hot. I hope no one flirts with him. All of the girls in that club are so pretty and thin. I hope Jongin doesn’t leave me for one of them.” She started to get upset wondering why Jongin wouldn’t invite her to go with him so at least they could see each other. Noticing the pout on her friends face Baekhyun asked “What’s wrong? What happened with lover boy now?” Kyungsoo just stared at her with big owl eyes looking like a kicked puppy and said “He didn’t invite me to watch him at dance practice, even though I really wanted to see him.” It was Baekhyun’s turn to roll her eyes, she looked at her squishy friend and said lovingly “Kyungie~~ you have a student council meeting after school, remember? You don’t have time to meet Jongin anyway.” Realisation hit Kyungsoo like a tonne of bricks “What’s happening to me Baek? How could I forget a student council meeting? I’m the fricking president! What is this boy doing to me? I can’t concentrate on anything. All I can think about his his tanned skin and his smile. Baek, I’m screwed. His beautiful, beautiful smile. You don’t even know.” Baekhyun rolled her eyes again, this time all the way to the back of her head. “Relax Kyungie. That’s why you have a best friend like me. I will take care of you. Now let’s go to class.”

Kyungsoo quickly messaged Jongin back,

To: Jongin

Don’t worry about it. I forgot I have a student council meeting after school which I can’t miss anyway. Maybe we could meet up after that…if you’d like.

She received a response almost immediately.

To: Kyungsoo

Awesome! I can’t believe how clever you are! You can sing, you have good grades and you’re the student council president. You’re so amazing. I can’t wait to see you after dance, meet me by the school gate at 6:30 J

Kyungsoo smiled at her phone, glad that she would still get a chance to see her boyfriend. She still can’t believe that Jongin is her boyfriend. These thoughts occupy her mind for the rest of the school day. “This maaaaay affect my grades,”Kyungsoo thinks. Kim Jongin should come with a warning label.

Afterschool Jongin met up with Yixing and they headed over to the dance studio together. As they entered the practice room Jongin was amazed, he had never seen such a large practice room. There were full length mirrors on all of the walls with a ballet bar fixed at the centre of the room. The wood flooring was freshly polished and seemed to be heated. “Dad would love it here,” Jongin thought, recalling his Father’s run down studio at the back of a seamstress’ shop that he rents for a cheap price in a very run down part of the city. Jongin gravitated towards the ballet barre, attracting the attention of the others that had just entered the room. “Guys this is Kim Jongin. He’s interested in joining the dance club,” Yixing introduced Jongin to the small group. “Jongin, this is our leader Taemin and next to him are Sehun and Hyoyeon.” Yixing continued naming the other members of the group. Jongin noticed that the Taemin guy had kept staring at him, he looked him up and down, analysing his physical features. The intense gaze made Jongin very uncomfortable but he tried his best to ignore it and focus on the names of the members. When Yixing was done, Taemin finally spoke up “So let’s see what you’ve got. I see you like ballet. Give us a step. Cue music.”

Jongin was taken aback. He hadn’t expected to be asked to dance so early on but he was confident in his skills so with everyone watching Jongin took a deep breath and approached the barre. As the music began playing, he started with a simple plié and then followed with a twirl landing gracefully. As the pace of the music sped up, he stretched his body as though reaching for something unattainable, he then twirled once more, grabbing hold of the bar. He lifted himself off the ground and once he landed he immediately performed a flawless pirouette, leaving everyone speechless. He continued to dance freestyle for the remainder of the song, smirking with an air of confidence as though the dance had been choreographed. Jongin completed the routine with a final pose once again reaching out to grab the object of his affection that was just out of his reach.

Yixing was awestruck along with everyone else. Taemin was the first to speak, clearing his throat he began “That was amazing Bro! I didn’t expect you to dance like that. You were so graceful man like a true ballerina. Yixing is good at ballet too. You guys should pair up. I think you would have great chemistry together.” At this Yixing and Jongin both smiled at each other and replied “Sounds great.” Taemin then continued “Welcome to the team Jongin! With you I think we stand a good chance at winning the Regional competition this year.” Jongin nodded, grateful for the compliment and one by one all of the members patted him on the back in recognition.

Taemin suggested that they all go out to officially welcome Kai (Jongin’s new nickname) to the club. Jongin regretfully declined, remembering that he had a date with Kyungsoo that he was eager to get to. Leaving the studio Jongin sprinted to the school entrance, excited to meet Kyungsoo. When he arrived, he saw his girlfriend leaning against the wall playing with her phone. “Hey!” he called out, startling Kyungsoo from what she was doing. “Have you been waiting long? Sorry I took so long,” Jongin said. “Don’t worry about it. My council meeting finished early and you’re not late….I was just excited to meet you so I came extra early,” Kyungsoo confessed, a blush rising on her pale skin. Jongin wondered if he would ever get bored of staring at her face. Without saying a word he took her by the hand and guided her away from the school. They had no particular plans and nowhere they wanted to go but they were happy to just wander around aimlessly, as long as they did it together, hand in hand. This was going to be another great date, Jongin was sure.