Would you let me do it first?

Do it all in the name of love?

 

Yixing is excited when the following Saturday rolls around. He wasn't sure if he would be going anywhere today, but his fever broke for good on Wednesday and his health has been pretty stable since. So he's happy as he's trying to pick out what to wear to the school festival. He wonders what Joonmyun would like to see him. Something cool? Something casual? Something cute? He's not really sure. He figures Yifan probably knows. They have been best friends for a long time. He goes down the hall to his brother's room and open the door. Yifan, also in the midst of getting dressed, looks over in shock and tries to cover his bare chest with his shirt “Don't you know how to knock?!”

Yixing rolls his eyes “Yifan-ge, you’re not a girl. What are you even covering?”

“That's not the point!”

“That's definitely the point. Besides, I’ve unfortunately seen all there is of you to see.”

“What do you want Yixing?” Yifan asks through gritted teeth.

The younger boy leans in the doorway “What should I wear to the festival? What does Joonmyun like?”

Yifan glares “That's what you burst into my room for? How about you just ask Joonmyun?”

“Because I don't want to seem like I’m desperate for him to like me.”

“You are desperate.” Yifan pulls on his shirt “Look, just wear whatever.”

“I can't. I have to look good,” Yixing pouts. He knows Joonmyun isn't shallow, but he also doesn't want to look ridiculous. He wants to look like there was actually effort involved.

Yifan thinks this ridiculous. He knows his brother could show up in a burlap sack and Joonmyun wouldn't care. However, he sees that Yixing really wants his advice. He sighs “If you really want help, text Tao. He’s good at these kinds of things.”

“You’re right!” Yixing wonders why he didn't think of that. “Thanks gege,” he says cheerfully as he leaves the room, closing the door behind him. He quickly texts Tao as he heads back to his room.

As he reaches his closet again, he receives a text back from Tao.

TO UNICORN: Something cute for sure.

TO PANDA: Thanks ^-^

Yixing isn't sure this is  really much help, but he lets his instinct guide him. He opts for a long-sleeve pale blue knit sweater, white pants and light blue converses. He goes to the mirror to check out his ensemble and is pretty pleased with his choices. For good measure, he puts on one of his unicorn necklaces and sweeps his long bangs so they fall just above his eyes. Perfect. He doubts anyone will think he’s not cute.

“You look nice dear.” Yixing turns around and sees his mother, Liyin, standing in the doorway.

He smiles at her “Thanks mom. The school festival is today and I wanted to look nice.” Liyin nods and takes a seat on the bed. She has a worried looked etched onto her face and Yixing doesn't like it. “What's wrong?”

“Are you going to be okay?”

The boy has to resist the urge to groan. He should have known she would ask something like that. If Yifan was bad, his mother was worse. Granted she had insisted that he have a normal life, but that was after a lot of persuasion by their father. If it were up to her, he'd live in a bubble. “Mom, I’m going to be fine.”

“It's just that, with so many people there, you might contract something. Make sure you wear a face mask.”

“What? No! I’ll look weird if I wear one of those.”

“Everybody wears them.”

“No one’s going to be wearing them at the festival. I’ll look like a germaphobe or like I’m contagious.”

“Yixing, I just want you to be safe. Speaking of which, make sure you wear your medical bracelet and take a cloth with you just in case.”

“Mom, I’m prepared. Nothing is going to happen to me.”

Liyin sighs “I know, but it's best to take precaution anyway.”

Yixing understands that his mother is worried, but it doesn't make her nagging any less annoying. He looks away from her and crosses his arms “Fine, I’ll wear the face mask.”

“Thank you sweetie,” Liyin goes over to her son and kisses his cheek “Have fun at the festival.”

Yixing watches angrily as his mother leaves the room. He was going to have fun until she came in insisting that the worst was going to happen. He goes to his dresser and opens a drawer to get his purple face mask. At least it’s one he actually kind of likes. He puts it on and looks in the mirror. I look ridiculous.

“Xing! Come on, it's time to go!” He hears Yifan calling him.

The brunet reluctantly accepts his fate as he puts a jacket on and goes to meet his brother downstairs. He hopes Joonmyun can see past the face mask and tell he really tried to look cute today.

---

It doesn't take long for the two brothers to reach the school. The festival isn't even open yet, but the school grounds are already bustling with students putting the finishing touches on their work. Yixing looks around and is mesmerized by all the colors, the smell of food and the noise of all the students. He wasn't a huge fan of crowded places, but this felt different. Instead of watching life happen, he was actually a part of it. “Yifan! Yixing-ge!” Yixing looks over and sees Tao running towards them. He's dressed in his prince outfit for the cafe and his hair is dyed a deep blue. He looks really good.

“Hey Tao,” Yifan smiles “You really went all out, didn't you?”

Tao flipped his bangs “Of course. I wouldn't be me if I didn't. You look nice too.”

“I think we already established that.”

The younger boy rolls his eyes and turns his attention to Yixing “Hey gege, are you alright?”

“Yeah, my mom made me wear this for precaution,” his voice muffled by the face mask. He pulls it down to speak clearly “Anyway, how do I look?”

“Totally date-worthy. Although,” Tao pulls his BB cream out of his pocket and applies some to Yixing's face. When he's done, he takes a step back to look at his work “Perfect.”

“Wow, you look even more feminine than usual Xing,” Yifan teases.

“Do I?”

“No,” Tao punches Yifan's shoulder. He digs out a small compact mirror and opens it for Yixing “It just smoothed out your skin tone.”

Yixing looks at himself and his skin does look better than usual. It looks brighter and smoother. He blushes as he wonders what Joonmyun will think. He smiles and looks up at Tao “Thanks Taotao, you’re the best.”

Another hair flip “Why thank you.”

“So where are the others?” Yifan interrupts the love session before he gets sick.

“Uh Sehun is helping the Coffee Club finish setting up things, Jongdae-hyung is helping the ticket booth for a while, and Joonmyun-hyung…” Tao looked around for a moment before he spotted the Vice President. He pointed “He’s over there. He's making sure everyone has what they need.”

Yixing’s eyes follow Tao’s finger and right next to a game booth, is Joonmyun. He's dressed in white and gold and Yixing finds him more handsome than usual. He really did look like a prince. All he needed was a crown or a sword to make it complete. He was so handsome.

Then as if he could feel Yixing staring at him, Joonmyun turns around and stares right back at him. He looks surprised at first, but waves when he recognizes who it is. Yixing shyly waves back with a soft smile. He looks away to stare at the ground, staring at Joonmyun makes heat rise in his cheeks.

Yifan groans while watching his brother react to just seeing Joonmyun. “Could you be more obvious?”

Tao looks at Yifan “What? I think it’s cute to see gege all flustered.”

“Yah!” Yixing snaps “I’m not flustered!”

“Could've fooled me,” Yifan rolls his eyes.

“I’m not!”

“Don't worry Xing-ge,” Tao pats his shoulder “I’m sure there's someone Yifan gets flustered over.”

Yifan scoffs “Uh no. I’m smooth with the ladies. Speaking of which,” he spots Sana walking past “I’m about to go be smooth right now.” The blonde giant doesn't wait for an answer as he heads over to the girl.

“I’m sorry my brother's an idiot Tao,” Yixing says when he sees Tao’s face.

The younger boy watches Yifan chatting up Sana. He’s leaning close and smiling the same way he smiles at Tao. Except that it's not the same. Yifan doesn't flirt with Tao. He doesn't have to try to get Tao’s attention because he already has it. Yifan is just too stupid to realize it. He tears his eyes away from him and looked back at Yixing “Um, so did you want to wait for Joonmyun-hyung or you could help me pass out fliers for our cafe?”

Yixing does want to wait for Joonmyun, but he doesn't want to leave Tao alone. He looks back at Joonmyun who seems very into his conversation with another student. Well, they’ll see each other soon. He smiles at Tao “I’ll help you. Shohu looks busy anyway.”

Tao raises an eyebrow and grins as they start walking to the cafe to get the fliers “Shohu? Since when do you call him that?”

Yixing blushes, not even realizing that he was calling Joonmyun that. He'd been doing it ever since the night he had that fever. “I don't know, it just seems to fit him,” Yixing shrugs.

“That's true. He is one for taking care of people. Does he know you call him that?”

“Yeah. He asked me what it meant, but I don't know what the Korean version would be.”

Tao rattled his brain, trying to think. Then a lightbulb went off in his head “Suho!”

“Ahh,” Yixing nods in understanding. He repeats the word to himself a few times and likes the way it sounds. “I’ll remember that. Thanks Taotao.” There is a moment of silence before Yixing asks “Do you want me to talk to Yifan?”

“What?!”

“I mean, I can give him a little push in your direction if you want.”

Tao’s face lights up like a Christmas tree. If Yixing helped, Yifan might actually pay him attention for once! However, he didn't want Yifan to go out with him just because Yixing told him to. “I don't want to force him…”

Yixing shakes his head “We’re not forcing him. Think of it as the power of suggestion. Don't worry, I promise I can do this.”

“Thanks Xing-ge,” Tao shakes his head “but I doubt he's interested. He has a crush on Sana. I’ll just wait it out and hope he chooses me next time.”

Yixing doesn't want Tao to have to wait. Why should he suffer because Yifan is too dense to see what's right in front of him? Nope, Yixing does not approve. “Alright,” he agrees. The brunet decides he’s going to help anyway, whether Tao and Yifan like it or not.

---

The longer his shift goes on, the more Jongdae regrets the idea of having a cafe for the festival. People were ordering drinks like they were at a real coffeehouse and he had to continuously remind them that they only made what was on the menu. Then the female students decided they were going to squeal every time Sehun or Yifan so much as looked in their direction. It was like listening to dolphin noises on repeat for three hours. On top of that, there were comments about how angelic Joonmyun looks and how military Tao looks. Honestly, Jongdae couldn't care less. He loves his friends, but hearing the girls fawn over them just because they were dressed different than usual was annoying. He gets complimented as well, but his feet hurt too much for him to care. Jongdae is tired. He just wants to sit for awhile and maybe go look at other students projects. He's glad when Joonmyun comes by and tells him that he can take a break if he wants. Jongdae immediately shoves his carrying tray into the older boy's arms and walks away. He doesn't see the shake of Joonmyun's head, not that it really mattered anyway. He goes over to the counter and lets his head drop on the wooden surface. It feels cool against his skin and it lets him imagine that his headache is actually going away. Jongdae is about to just close his eyes when the sound of ice in a plastic cup enters his ears. He looks up and sees him placing a cup of iced coffee onto the counter. How could Jongdae forget about the biggest reason that he was hating this cafe? It was standing right in front of him. He thinks all the other crap is bearable. He thinks the cafe would not be a bad idea if he wasn't here. Jongdae thinks he wouldn't have a headache if he wasn't here. He had been at the counter all this time and they had been forced to work together. At least Jongdae was forced, he doesn't seem bothered at all. Not that Jongdae is surprised. He is too inside own little world to even understand that Jongdae doesn't want him around. Jongdae reluctantly lifts his head “What do you want Minseok?” He almost feels sick at the sound of that name coming out his mouth.

“You looked like you needed energy, so I made your favorite,” Minseok gestures toward the cup.

Jongdae looks between the older boy and the cup. Minseok looks different. He's lost weight since the last time Jongdae saw him. Although, he should've expected that when the shorter boy started dating Luhan, soccer team captain. Yet, his personality hasn't changed at all. He still couldn't see beyond his own nose. “I’m not thirsty,” he pushes the cup back to Minseok.

“Did your tastes change? I can make you something else.”

Jongdae has to resist rolling his eyes. Why doesn't he understand that I don't want anything from him? “No, my tastes haven't changed.”

Minseok sighs “Jongdae, don't do this.”

The younger boy gets a sick feeling in his stomach at the sound of his name from Minseok’s mouth. “I’m not doing anything; I just don't want your coffee.”

“You’re being childish. When are you going to get over our breakup?”

When am I going to get over it? Jongdae repeats the question in his head. When am I going to get over it? He laughs dryly “When do you think I should get over it?”

“A long time ago. I don't understand why you're still upset about it.”

“You know what I like Minseok? It's the best part of me having to coexist with you in this school: both of us pretending like the other one doesn't exist. So instead of you trying to force your friendship on me, how about we just go back to the usual? I pretend you don't exist and you pretend that I don't exist. That should be easy for you, I mean, you did it for the whole latter part of our relationship.” By the shocked expression on the elder’s face, he knows he has hit home. The last month that they were together, Minseok didn't so much as spare a glance at him. No, he was too busy fawning over Luhan and having secret meetings behind the bleachers. Then Minseok kicked Jongdae to the curb. To make matters worse, he did it in public. Jongdae was the gossip around school for days. Just when the younger boy thinks things can get no worse, Minseok decides he wants to be friends. Jongdae rejects him. He continuously rejects his ex and his ridiculous offers.

Jongdae stands and leaves a saddened Minseok behind to take his words in. It feels like his headache has gotten worse. Luckily, he spots Sehun sitting on one of the cafe sofas, playing with his phone. He plops down on next to younger boy and drops his head into his lap.

Sehun groans at the sudden weight and glares down at Jongdae “You really need to warn me when you're going to do that.”

“But that wouldn't be fun.”

“Yeah and it's not fun every time you try to crush my man parts.”

Jongdae chuckles “You should be used to it by now.” He does this a lot with Sehun. For some reason or another, he feels especially comfortable with the younger boy than he does with the rest of his friends. Not that he’ll ever admit it though.

Sehun rolls his eyes and goes back to scrolling on Instagram as he habitually starts running his free hand through Jongdae’s hair. This seems to be a routine with them: Jongdae lays on his lap and Sehun just finger-combs his hair. He doesn't know when it started, but it hasn't stopped. “I saw you talking to Minseok,” the younger boy speaks after some silence.

“So?”

“What do you mean ‘so’? Are you two friends now or something?”

“Yeah I'm friends with the jerk that cheated on me then dumped me in front of everyone,” Jongdae scoffs.

“So why were you talking to him?”

“The same reason I ever speak to him: he insists that we try to be friends despite what he did and still hasn’t done.” Jongdae never expected Minseok to apologize for falling in love with someone else, and that’s not what he wanted. The older boy never apologized for cheating on him or breaking up with him in front of everyone in the cafeteria last year, that’s what kept Jongdae angry. He wanted Minseok to try and see things from his point of view. Jongdae would have forgiven him a long time ago if he had just apologized. That was all he wanted.

“Why don’t you tell him that you want him to apologize?”

“Because he won’t. He thinks I want him to apologize for liking Luhan over me. He’ll never see beyond his own nose to understand that I want him to apologize for not treating me with respect.”

Sehun shrugs “Well as long as it doesn’t make you irritable for the next week.” The last time Jongdae spoke to Minseok, he spent a whole week trying to kill anyone if they so much as looked at him wrong.

Jongdae chuckles “No it’s not going to be like that.” He looks up at Sehun who is still scrolling through pictures on his phone. “Are you even listening to me?”

Sehun turns his attention back to the older boy “Yes dear. Believe it or not, but I actually do pay attention when you talk.”

“Oh,” Jongdae says simply as he turns his head away to keep Sehun from seeing the blush that is spreading across his face. He doesn’t know why is face is heating up, but something about Sehun’s affirmative declaration of actually listening makes him feel good inside. “Well anyway,” Jongdae sits up and stretches “I should get going. I think Joon-hyung needs to be with bae before it gets too late. Thanks for letting me whine to you.”

“Anytime.”

Jongdae gets up and is about to walk away but stops and turns to the younger boy “Do you really mean that?”

“Mean what?”

“That I can come and whine to you whenever I want.”

“Yeah if you want,” Sehun smiled “I like hearing you whine.”

Jongdae smiles and rolls his eyes “Thanks Sehun.”

“Like I said, anytime.”

---

Yixing absently scribbles on the napkin at his table. His coffee cup is almost empty at this point. He didn't realize that waiting for Joonmyun to be done at the coffee shop would be so difficult. He had walked around a little bit, but without his friends, it wasn't very exciting. He leans his arm on the table and watches as Joonmyun walks around, making sure everyone is happy. Yixing thinks he looks so handsome in white and gold. He looks like an angel. On top of that, he is kind and thoughtful and a sweetheart. Suho. Yixing thinks the older boy’s new nickname fits him perfectly. He is so caught up in his own thoughts that he doesn't even realize when said boy comes up to talk to him.

“Yixing?”

“Huh?” The brunet jumps back, startled “Uh oh hi. What's up?”

Joonmyun chuckles “Jongdae says he’ll cover the rest of my work. So I should be ready to walk around with you soon.”

“Great!” Yixing cheers a little too loudly. He clears his throat “I mean, uh, take your time.”

“Five minutes,” Joonmyun promises. Yixing nods and the older boy pats his head “Thanks for being so patient.”

Yixing blushes cherry red and doesn't pull himself together in time to respond before Joonmyun leaves. He smiles because he can still feel the other’s touch on his head. So gentle.

 

Just as he promised, Joonmyun is back in a few minutes. He has changed from his white uniform to a button-up under a sweater and light jeans. Yixing has to admit that he's mildly disappointed about him not wearing all-white, but he still thinks Joonmyun looks handsome nonetheless. “Shall we?”

“Yes,” Yixing eagerly takes Joonmyun's outstretched hand and gets up from the table. They head out of the cafe to go explore the rest of the festival. “Ah, I learned something today!”

“Oh? What did you learn?”

“Well you remember when you asked me what Shohu meant?”

“Yes,” Joonmyun asked immediately the next morning. Yixing had told him he didn't know the Korean word for it. The older boy understood and dropped the matter. He figured it meant something good or else Yixing wouldn't call him by it.

“It means Suho!”

Suho? Guardian? Joonmyun wonders why Yixing would call him that. He doesn't really guard anyone. “Suho? Who am I guarding?”

Yixing has to think for a moment. Then it comes to him like a smack on the head “Everyone! Well not everyone, but you take care of your friends, the students and you take care of me.”

Joonmyun had never thought about it that way. He's always figured that he was just doing his job. He’s never thought there was anything special about how he always helped people. “Well, now I feel the weight of all that responsibility.”

Yixing's eyes widen and he quickly shakes his head “No, no I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted you to know why I call you that!”

“I know,” Joonmyun smiles and kisses the younger boy's hand “I like it. I’ll do my best to live up to it.”

Yixing blushes and nods “You're already doing a good job.”

“Step right up! Make three shots, win a big prize!”

Yixing looks over at a stand where there are old milk jugs set up like bowling pins. He pulls Joonmyun over to the stand and recognizes the game attendant as Yan An, a first-year. “Yan An! Hi!”

The tall Chinese boy waves cheerfully at his sunbae “Hi Gege, would you like to play? Only 3000 won for five ping pong balls!”

Yixing looks at Joonmyun “Can we play?”

“Of course,” he smiles as he hands over the money to Yan An.

“Thanks,” the freshman smiles as he takes the money. He pulls five ping pong balls from his apron and hands them to Yixing “It's easy, just throw and try to get them into the milk jugs. Make three and you can win a big prize.” Yan An points to the stuffed animals hanging from the top of the stand.

Yixing looks up at all the stuffed animals. They are all really cute, but one in particular catches his eye: a purple alicorn. “I want that one,” he points to it. Joonmyun follows his finger. Figures. He pats Yixing's shoulder “You can do it.”

“Well try your luck gege.”

Yixing nods, determined to win. He through the first ball and missed completely. The second toss resulted in the ball rolling around the rim and luckily falling in. Yixing cheers “That’s one!”

Joonmyun applauds and smiles at how cute and excited Yixing is. He watches as the younger boy throws again and makes a clean shot. “Two,” he says proudly. The younger boy throws again and misses. Joonmyun feels bad knowing that Yixing only has one more shot to win the plush. He steps up next to him “Can I take this shot?”

Yixing blinks then looks at Yan An “Can he do that?”

“Yep,” the freshman nods.

Yixing hands Joonmyun the last ping pong ball and steps back. The older boy tosses up and catches the ball a few times then takes a deep breath. He hopes that he won't miss. He tosses the ball and it rolls around the edge of a jug, Joonmyun biting his lip and he closes his eyes. He only opens them again when he hears a sharp “clink!” and realizes the ball has fallen in. “You did it!” Yixing cheers and hugs him tightly around the neck.

Joonmyun relaxes and hugs him back. Usually not good at these things, but he's happy some divine spirit had helped him today. Yan An pulls down the stuffed alicorn and hands it to him “Congratulations!”

“Thanks,” he takes the plush and gives it to Yixing “I believe this is what you wanted.”

Yixing smiles and holds the plush tight against his chest “Thank you Suho.”

“No problem,” he awkwardly rubs the back of his head. “Thanks Yan An.”

“No problem,” the giant waves at them as they continue their walk through the festival.

 

Yixing is feeling a little tired after fifth or so stand they play at. Joonmyun suggests they sit and he agrees. They take a seat on a bench and Yixing sets his alicorn next to him. “Sorry, I’m just feeling a little dizzy.”

The older boy puts a hand on his shoulder “Don't worry, besides I was getting worn out too. Playing games takes a lot of energy out of you.”

Yixing looks at Joonmyun skeptically but smiles anyway. He knows the other boy isn't tired, yet he's willing to wait for him to recover his strength. Yixing appreciates that.

“So are you enjoying your first school festival?” Joonmyun asks after some time.

“Yes, it's been fun. I think the carnival games are the best part.”

“Or maybe the prizes are the best part?” Joonmyun says referring to Yixing's plush.

“That part is good too!” The brunet laughs and leans on his date’s shoulder “This was a fun first date.”

Joonmyun had essentially forgotten that this was a date. He was more concerned about just having fun with Yixing that he didn't really think about that part. He looks at Yixing “Me too.” He debates his next move, but decides to go through with it: he moves Yixing's bangs and kisses his forehead. A wide cheesy grin spreads across his face as he leans his head on the younger boy's.

Yixing blushes, but doesn't move away. He's glad to have Joonmyun so close. He holds onto his date’s arm and closes his eyes. Joonmyun will watch over him. His Suho will make sure he's okay.

---

Yifan is happy that people are finally clearing out of the cafe. Now that the sun is going down, everyone is getting ready for the Theater Club’s play and the fashion show. Unfortunately for him, he's stuck on cleanup duty. Granted Tao’s stuck with him, but he really wants to watch Sana strut up and down the stage in the dress she showed him before. Joonmyun promised he would let him know how it went before he and Yixing went off to watch. Yifan is thankful for that too because even though he can see from here, the crowd is getting bigger and he knows he won't be able to see for much longer. He sighs as he rests his head in his hand that's leaning on the table. “Tao, don't you wanna see the fashion show?”

Tao doesn't look up from his sweeping “Not really. Those girls don't look half as good as I would on that runway.”

Yifan rolls his eyes in the younger boy's direction “Yeah but I mean, there are some pretty girls over there. We could watch and still finish cleaning on time.”

Sana, Tao thinks as he finally stops sweeping and turns his attention to Yifan “You just want to see Sana. Well I'm not interested. Go if you want, but I will tell on you to Joonmyun.” He may be being childish, but he’d rather have Yifan here with him than with her.

“Tao you are so cruel,” the giant blonde whines. It's not that he's particularly afraid of Joonmyun, but he knows the other boy could make his life a living hell if he wanted to. Angel my , Yifan pouts. He sighs and turns to help Tao “Fine, what do you want me to do?”

“Finish wiping down the tables and stacking the chairs so we can carry them back inside,” Tao smiles. “If you do a good job, I’ll let you go see Sana.”

“Tao, you’re the best!” Yifan quickly goes to look for a rag to wipe the tables down with.

Tao smiles seeing the older boy finally motivated to do his work. Too bad he won't get done in time. Once again, he knows it's childish, but he really likes having Yifan by his side. Having the older boy, deal with the chairs pretty much guaranteed Yifan would be around the rest of the night. As long as the blond doesn't figure out what he's doing, which he won't, then things will be fine.

Tao is broken out of his thoughts when Yifan comes running back with a rag in hand. He starts wiping down the tables and the younger boy reminds him to make them spotless or he’ll have to do them again. “Yeah yeah. I’ll make the most clean tables you’ve ever seen Taozi.”

Tao flinches at the sound of his nickname. It's something only Yifan calls him and it's very rare that he does so. It's usually when they're alone and Yifan wants Tao to do something for him. There was no purpose behind him calling Tao that. He did it just because. He blushes as he continues to sweep “Why do you call me that?”

“Huh?”

“Why do you call me Taozi?”

Yifan shrugs his shoulders “I don't know. I mean, I thought it was cute and I figured it fit you. Especially since you act all sassy and cool, but you jump at the sight of a bug. It's cute.”

“Oh,” Tao can't control his face. He especially can't control the smile that's tearing through his cheeks.

“Besides, until you get a boyfriend or girlfriend, who else is gonna give you awesome nicknames?”

The smile drops. Why did he have to say that? Why couldn't he have said that they are close or something along those lines? Why did he have to mention dating? Sometimes Tao wishes he didn't have a crush on someone so dumb. “I don't plan on having one of those anytime to soon.”

It's Yifan's turn to look up and stop to look at Tao “Why not?”

The younger boy shrugs his shoulders “Because the person I like, doesn't notice things even when they're right in front of his face.”

“Oh, well what have you done to get him to notice you?”

Tao thinks. He always gets Yifan a Valentine's Day gift, he shares Pepero on pepero day, he always covers for Yifan when he doesn't do what Joonmyun says, he dresses Yifan when he doesn't know what to wear and he always listens to the blond's problems no matter what. He tells these things to Yifan without mentioning his name.

“Ah but he might see those things as just what friends do,” Yifan starts wiping down his tables again.  “Have you ever tried openly flirting with him? Or dressing different when it's just you two together? You know, stuff like that.”

“No,” Tao says simply. He's never done any of those things. He very easily could have, but he had never thought about in his situation. He's so used to giving other people relationship advice that he never took it himself. “Yifan-ge, you’re a genius!” Tao now realizes what he needs to do. He just hopes Yifan isn't too dense to notice. He drops the broom and runs over to hug the older boy “Thank you.”

The blond is shocked, but puts down the rag to hug the younger boy back. For the first time, Yifan notices the pleasant smell coming off of Tao. He smells like the scent of the air right before it rains. He breathes in deeper and holds Tao a little longer than necessary. He slowly pulls away and smiles “Happy to help.”

“Yifan-sunbae! Yifan-sunbae!”

Both boys look around to find the first-year Hyuk running up to them breathless. Something is wrong. Yifan can feel it. Tao speaks up first when he looks past Hyuk to see that the theater club’s play has stopped and everyone is crowded around something or someone “What's going on?”

“Yixing-sunbae passed out!”

---

A/N: Whew, it's been a while. Sorry but trying to get a degree and writing fanfiction is really hard (I have so much homework I should be doing). Anyway, I finally got enough energy and inspiration to finally finish this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing. I'm trying to get a cover for this story, but it seems like every time I make a request, the artist falls off the face of the earth. ㅠ_ㅠ Until next chapter, subscribe, comment, etc.

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