~~~

8:43 AM

Slinging his backpack over his shoulder, Jongin scurries down the eleven or so flights of stairs in the center of the school building in a hurried (and rather dangerous, given that he opts to take them three at once in an attempt to save time) rush as he makes his way to his third period. He isn’t quite sure if he successfully managed to zip his bag shut after having bolted out of the classroom mere seconds ago, but he blames the awfully short three-minute break between lessons.

As he enters the main hallway leading to his class, he stops outside the display case located between the teacher’s lounge and the women’s restroom. Breathing out a small sigh of nostalgia, Jongin quickly takes in the sight of his team, posing and smiling, everyone wearing the same shade of alarmingly bright red and blue. Jongin sees himself at the back (he’s always been a tall kid, even in 8th grade) and chuckles to himself when he realizes just how awkward he looks - over dramatic smile and awkward stick holding and all. He can’t help the latter, though; he’s always had a passion for hockey. He feels a lump form in his throat at the thought of quitting the team, but he barely gets a chance to feel sad and or guilty about it when he suddenly feels a hand on his back, nearly making him jump out of his own skin; all thoughts of his old hockey team instantly disappearing as he whirls around with a not-so-manly shriek.

Jongin stumbles back and nearly collides with the glass case when he loses his balance (he’s got a surprisingly crappy sense of balance for someone who used to be able to effortlessly skate around the rink six times a week; but then again, that was more than three years ago), eyes widening to the size of a hockey puck.

“Careful,” Jongdae chuckles with a dramatic roll of his eyes before breaking out into his signature feline-like grin. “Shatter that and you’re dead meat, my friend.”

Huffing in both relief and embarrassment, Jongin shrugs before adjusting the straps on his backpack. He quickly spins around to make sure no damage has been done to the glass box. Nothing, thank God. Turning to his best friend, he attempts his best evil glare. “Don’t scare me like that, you utter prick.”

Jongdae runs a hand through his wavy hair while shrugging nonchalantly. “Don’t act like you didn’t hear me coming,” he mutters. “What’re you gawking at, anyway?” he adds before shoving Jongin aside and bending down to get a better look at the contents of the glass case.

Stifling a yawn, Jongin mumbles a low ‘meh’ before turning around and proceeding to make his way down the hallway. Jongdae quickly stands up and jogs to catch up with the brunet and places a hand on his shoulder.

“Miss it?” Jongdae asks casually. Almost too casually for Jongin’s liking.

“I guess,” Jongin says simply as he shoves his hands in his pockets. “Hey, d’you know what’s for lunch today? I’m starving.”

“Nothing’s stopping you from joining again,” Jongdae says, (inevitably) ignoring Jongin’s question, “you know that. Just go to the front desk and request to join the men’s hockey team next term, they’re bound to accept you. You know, considering the fact that your team literally won first place six times in a row two years ago because of you, don’t deny it.”

Jongin scoffs. “I guess,” he repeats. Despite trying his best to keep it cool on the outside, he feels his chest swell at the memory of winning for the first time. The feeling of standing at the top of the podium seconds before accepting their well-earned award, all while hearing the ecstatic crowd cheering his name in all directions, is something he’ll most definitely never forget. Come to think of it, he still has bruises from slipping and falling so much on the ice. He’s quickly snapped out of his trance when Jongdae flicks his cheek.

“Pizza.”

Jongin blinks, rubbing his face. “The ’s wrong with y-”

“Pizza,” Jongdae repeats, adjusting his shirt. “Since you asked.”

“Oh.” Jongin coughs, mentally slapping himself in the face. “Right. Cool.” He sees his classroom in the distance and quickly tries to rid his brain of any hockey-related thoughts before coming to a halt. “So I’ll see you after class, I presume?”

Jongdae sighs but he nods anyway. “Don’t think I’m trying to force you or anything,” he says, putting his hands in the air in defense, “I know how much more you love dancing and that’s great and all. It’s just that you seem to...how do I put this...miss...hockey? A bit? I dunno though, you’ve just seemed kinda off lately but hey, don’t take my word for it.”

With a chuckle, Jongin shrugs. “I do, I guess. But who wouldn’t? I played for four years, I’d miss it whether I enjoyed it or not. Not to mention the coach was an absolute nightmare,” he says with a low snicker before gesturing at the door. “Not but seriously, I can see the teacher shooting me dirty looks from here,” he adds with an internal sigh while turning the doorknob. “But text me after your fourth class, alright?”

“Late as always, Kim Jongin,” Jongdae tuts, but there’s no bite in his voice. Nodding slightly, he tightens his grip on his briefcase before shooting his best friend a quick salute, ignoring the brunet’s protest of ‘you made me late!’ before turning on his heel and walking down the rest of the hallway.

12:21 PM

Sitting down at their usual table, Jongin places his backpack on the empty seat next to him and wastes no time in ripping open his carton of milk, taking a generous sip (as in, half the contents) before setting it back down. He eyes the thick slice of pizza before him and ultimately feels his mouth water. He’s starving from Biology and having to clean numerous amounts of test tubes for an hour straight, not to mention dissection is his strong suit (he may have gotten carried away with tearing apart on of the lungs earlier, but he’d rather forget about that), which ultimately meant he stayed back for another half hour. He most likely (still) reeks of blood and guts but he shoves those thoughts aside before proceeding to pick up the dripping slice and shove it in his mouth.

“ damn it,” Baekhyun swears as he puts his phone away. “Another detention.” He huffs a sigh before resting his head on his hand. From his position across Jongin, he watches as the latter stuffs his face with the greasiest piece of pizza he’s ever seen in his life. Wrinkling his nose, he sticks out his tongue. “Gross, dude.”

“Yeah,” Jongdae chimes in, an equally grossed out expression plastered on his face. “You’ve got quite an appetite for someone who literally just finished tearing open and excavating the insides of a sheep,” he adds, shoving his own tray aside. He doesn’t know if it’s the fact that they’ve been dissecting for two hours straight or that the pizza they’re being served today looks exceptionally greasy, but what he does know for a fact is that he doesn’t want to spare it a single glance in fear of his breakfast coming back up.

“I didn’t know alveoli made a popping sound when you stab them with a straw,” Baekhyun adds before gagging, and slaps Jongin’s arm when the latter proceeds to chew extra loudly.

Wiping his milk mustache, Jongin shrugs before stuffing the last of the crust in his mouth. “I’m pretty sure anything’ll make a popping sound if you insert a straw into it,” he says casually before wiping his hands. “What landed you in detention this time?” he asks, reaching across the table and grabbing Jongdae’s piece of pizza, the latter not even making a move to protest.

Baekhyun runs a hand through his hair. “I dunno,” he says and yelps when Jongdae kicks him under the table. “You fuc-”

“He put a tack on the teacher’s chair,” Jongdae interjects and grabs Baekhyun’s arms when the latter moves to slap him. “No, really, you should’ve seen her face - she shot up and out of her chair like a goddamn bullet,” he adds with a chuckle, struggling to pry Baekhyun off of him. “It was hilarious, to say the least.”

Jongin sighs in exasperation before bursting into a fit of chuckles. “The are you, five?”

“What? It’s like,” Baekhyun scoffs, “one of those things you constantly read about in books and see in movies but have never actually seen happen in real life, you know?” He momentarily leans away from Jongdae and crosses his arms over his chest in triumph. “If anything, I’m a hero.”

“A hero?” Jongin chuckles again. “For being what, an idiot?” he snickers and instantly regrets doing so when Baekhyun kicks him in the shin under the table. He decides not to let Baekhyun have it since he walked right into that one. Just this once. “How’d your evening go?” He asks, rubbing his leg and turning to face Jongdae, who shrugs. “Less dramatic, I hope?”

Jongdae shrugs again before resting his head on the table. “Nothing much, got an A+ on my History exam, but that’s about it,” he mumbles, playing with a piece of plastic on the table. “How about you?”

When Jongin suddenly goes silent, both Jongdae and Baekhyun turn to stare at the brunet with raised eyebrows. At first Jongdae panics because what if the side effects of dissecting for hours are beginning to catch up to him??? Not wanting for Jongin’s barely digested pizza slices to hit him in the face and trickle down his clothes, Jongdae quickly grabs his (thankfully empty) tray and securely places it in front of his face, ignoring Baekhyun’s groan to his left.

When Jongin, thankfully, doesn’t throw up all across the table, Jongdae blinks before cautiously, and slowly, lowering the tray. It takes both him and Baekhyun three seconds to notice that Jongin is, in fact, not sick-looking in the slightest and when they both take a closer look, they realize the brunet is staring off into the distance, somewhere to their right. With a confused raise of an eyebrow, both Jongdae and Baekhyun turn around in their seats, all while following Jongin’s gaze. All three of them sit in silence before the sound of Baekhyun’s shocked (and amused) gasp breaks the ice and Jongdae’s lips curl upwards before the latter quickly heaves a sigh.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jongin asks, shooting Baekhyun a weirded-out look. “You l-”

“Okay seriously?” Jongdae chuckles, nodding in the direction in which Jongin just looked. “I forgot all about him, Jesus Christ,” he adds, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

“You’ve had a crush on him since what, ninth grade?” Baekhyun asks although he most certainly knows the answer. “I haven’t heard a peep from you about him for what feels like a century, did something happen?”

“Yeah, I miss the way you used to freak out over him 24/7,” Jongdae adds, shaking his head in disbelief. He soon claps and rubs his hands together before shooting Jongin a smug grin. “Thank God you wear your heart on your sleeve, otherwise I would’ve missed it. God, I’m suddenly remembering your constant yapping and whining of ‘God, he’s so handsome’ and ‘do you think he knows who I am?’”

Jongin growls in irritation before slugging both Baekhyun and Jongdae in the arm. Neither of them seem fazed in the slightest, much to the brunet’s annoyance. “Shut the up, for God’s sake. And that’s all in the past now, so shut it,” he adds before attempting his best ‘I-hope-I’m-convincing-you-right-now’ look. It most definitely doesn’t work.

“Judging by the way you used to whine about whether or not he’d like you back,” Baekhyun says as a matter-of-factly, “I’d say your heart still flutters every time you lay your pretty little eyes on him.”

Jongdae nods in approval before placing a hand on his chest for dramatic effect. “Jesus, it’s like I’m being resurrected.” He wipes at an imaginary tear. “No but honestly, what the hell happened? It’s like you were all up his for three years straight and then boom, nothing,” he says, eyes wide in curiosity as he leans across the table. Jongin squirms a little under his gaze.

“Yeah, you don’t just stop fanboying over your crush like that, out of the blue,” Baekhyun chimes in. “What happened? Did you have a fling at one point and he ended up breaking your heart in the en- ow, damn it!”

“No, as a matter of fact, we didn’t,” Jongin grits through his teeth and curses under his breath when he sees a couple of girls giggling in his peripheral. Rolling his eyes, he blocks out their existence before turning back to his best (although Jongin uses that term very, very loosely) friends. Doing his best to stop the evergrowing lump in his chest, he clears his throat. “Why do you even care?”

“Uh,” Jongdae says dramatically, a single eyebrow shooting up in false surprise. “Because you were literally crazy about him in ninth grade, up until eleventh grade? I mean, I’d say twelfth grade since you’re obviously still head over heels for him, but yeah.”

“And since we were there to witness every little ramble and every single squee of ‘holy lemme tell you guys what he did today, I think he looked at me!’ of yours,” Baekhyun adds, snickering, “I’d say you owe us an explanation as to why Prince Charming hasn’t been the topic of every single one of your discussions for the past year or so, wouldn’t you think?”

Jongin sighs. He’s practically repressed every single memory of Oh Sehun at this point. Well, not quite, since said memories are starting to crash down on him like a bag of bricks, but he does his best to keep his cool on the outside, even though he’s at least a hundred percent sure Jongdae and Baekhyun can see right through him. But all in all, he remembers very little. All that’s crystal clear to him at this point is the time when he accidentally hit Sehun in the crotch with a hockey puck while attempting a slapshot (fortunately, not only did Jongin stand a good sixty or so feet away, but he also managed to get away in time before Sehun could get up off the floor and yell at him) as well as the time towards the end of eleventh grade when he overheard some kid gushing about how ‘adorable Sehun and his new girlfriend look together’. Jongin clenches his jaw and exhales. That last one always makes his heart tremble, although he’d never show nor admit it. Not even to Baekhyun and or Jongdae, who are both staring at him like he’s grown a second head. It takes Jongin every fiber in his being not to reach over and whack them both upside the head. But that’s all he really remembers of the good old school football captain Oh Sehun.

Well, that and the fact that he’s extremely good looking.

Clearing his head, Jongin clears his throat before shrugging. “I’ve uh, moved on,” he says in the most convincing tone possible, but inevitably, neither Baekhyun nor Jongdae buy it.

“Bull,” Jongdae says. “You were, well, or should I say, are, so deeply in goddamn love with him that you were on the verge of a mental breakdown on more than one occasion, I’m dead serious.”

Baekhyun nods in approval. “Yeah, what happened?”

Jongin rolls his eyes. “I’m not in love with hi-”

“And that’s why I caught you ogling his backside less than two minutes ago?” Jongdae says before putting his hands up in surrender. “Right, right.”

Realizing Baekhyun and Jongdae aren’t taking complete and utter silence for an answer, Jongin puts his own hands in the air in surrender before swallowing. “He has someone.”

Baekhyun and Jongdae both blink in confusion. Okay, they hadn’t been expecting that. “Wait, what?”

Jongin rolls his eyes and huffs. “He’s got a girlfriend, remember?” he repeats, ignoring the odd feeling in his gut. “Look, can we lea-”

“Oh, right!” Baekhyun suddenly exclaims, way too loudly, before snapping his fingers together. “I think I remember that, actually,” he adds with a smile and a nod. But his smile soon fades and is quickly replaced by a somewhat irritated expression. “Look, wasn’t that-”

“Wasn’t that just a rumor?” Jongdae asks in genuine confusion, scratching the back of his head. “I mean, I hardly remember jack , but I’m pretty sure that turned out to be false. I dunno, though.”

Jongin swallows before brushing off his skin jacket. He still wonders why on Earth he made the decision to wear it despite being well aware of the fact that’s it’s at least two degrees below zero outside. “Well, it’s not like Sehun ever denied it, did he?”

Jongdae is silent for a couple of seconds before speaking. “Well...no. I mean Jesus, I mainly avoided it because I was 100% convinced it was a rumor. I don’t even know the dude. But now that you say it, I don’t think he ever outright stated that it wasn’t true,” he says and places a hand on Jongin’s arm when the latter visibly swallows. “But hey, it’s not like we’ve ever seen him with a girl before, right?”

“Are you guys for real?” Baekhyun huffs in annoyance before pulling out his phone and opening up his Instagram. “You’re all forgetting a very important fact here.”

“Which is?” Jongin and Jongdae both ask in unison.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes. “Sehun’s the goddamn captain of the school’s football team, you airheads,” he says, scrolling through his feed. “Not to mention one of the smartest students in the school; any girl would go crazy for him. Hell, he’s practically surrounded by girlfriend rumors everywhere he goes; I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s at least 34 rumors going on right this second.” He momentarily stops scrolling to point at Jongin with his phone. “Point is, a person like Sehun, who’s most definitely used to the constant dating rumors, wouldn’t bother denying any rumor about him dating some new girl since, you know, there’s no point given that there’ll most likely be a new one circulating before he even hears about the others. You know how rumors work, so him not officially denying this girlfriend of his isn’t anything to go by, since I doubt he feels like denying a quadrillion others he’s apparently got going on right now.”

“True, Sehun’s pretty much the ideal boyfriend for any girl. Or boy,” Jongdae says, nodding in agreement and fighting the urge to chuckle when Jongin swallows again. “It makes sense. And he’ll most likely have to deal with dating rumors until he graduates so I understand why he doesn’t bother denying them. Not to mention I think he likes the attention.”

“Which means you’ll have worried for a whole year for no reason whatsoever,” Baekhyun tuts, shaking his head in disbelief. “Since you’re his number one fan and all you’d think you’d at least put in some effort to find out the truth,” he adds with a snicker.

Jongin buries his face in his hands. A spark of what he assumes is hope suddenly ignites inside him when he realizes that, for once, Baekhyun and Jongdae are right. The happiness doesn’t last very long, however, and he quickly sits up, a look of agony written all over his features. “But still, okay, let’s say he doesn’t currently have a girlfriend. But that doesn’t automatically mean he’ll like me back,” he mumbles and blinks when Jongdae suddenly sends him a -eating grin. “What?”

“‘Like me back’?” Jongdae mimics in Jongin’s voice, much to the latter’s distaste.

“So I guess that little crush of yours never really went away, did it,” Baekhyun cackles when Jongin emits a groan of defeat. “I freakin’ knew it. Anyway, why the hell wouldn’t he like you back? You’re...cool.”

Jongin squawks. “That’s it?”

“You’re a straight-A student, like Sehun, and a sports fanatic, just like he is,” Jongdae says. “I mean, you already have so much in common!”

“Two things,” Jongin groans. “That isn’t-”

“Seriously,” Baekhyun interjects, “we barely get to see him around since he’s in 12th grade and all, but I’m pretty sure if he were in our grade he’d ogle you every chance he got, I’m certain.”

“That sounds...terrifying,” Jongin says with a shudder. Although he won’t deny that the thought of Sehun staring at him makes him feel...glad, in a way. “Why’re you talking about him like he’s gay, anyway?”

Jongdae rolls his eyes. “What on Earth are you saying?”

“We all know Sehun is straight,” Jongin exclaims, although quietly in fear of others in the cafeteria hearing. He sighs when he sees Baekhyun and Jongdae’s disbelieving looks. “Fine, I’ll admit the whole girlfriend thing last year might’ve been bull, but still, that doesn’t automatically make him gay. Now that I think about it, he had a girlfriend in ninth grade,” he adds and ignores the way his heart seemingly stills for a second at the thought.

“...Which was also proven to be a rumor,” Jongdae says flatly. “A rumor some crazy in eighth grade made up ‘cause she was either desperate for attention or hopelessly in love with him. Either way, it was all bull and I can’t believe you didn’t know.” He runs a hand down his face. “And why wouldn’t he be gay? It’s not like you know for a fact. Besides, a huge, burning passion for football doesn’t automatically make a man straight.”

“He hasn’t said it,” Jongin blurts out and instantly regrets it when Jongdae and Baekhyun emit mutual sounds of pure exhaustion.

“He’d lose his position in the team and like, 99% of all the attention he gets,” Baekhyun says, checking his watch. “You know that.”

Jongin pouts. “But he doesn’t look gay!”

“How does one ‘look gay’?” Jongdae exclaims in exasperation, throwing his hands in the air. “You’re gay, for crying out loud, and you’ve got chicks following you into the goddamn bathroom on rare occasions!” he adds and yelps in pain when Jongin reaches across the table and tugs on a lock of his hair.

“I guess there’s only one way to find out,” Baekhyun says before shooting Jongin a smug look.

The brunet crosses his arms over his chest. “Yeah? And what’s that?”

“Ask him out, birdbrain,” Jongdae says with a roll of his eyes and flinches slightly when Jongin lets out an inhuman, garbled noise. “And try not to make that sound or you’ll definitely scare him away forever.”

“I’mnotdoingthat,” Jongin babbles, flailing his arms in the air. “Never, no way, forget it.” He picks up his half empty milk carton and brings the straw to his lips. “Forget it. It’s not happening.”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes. “Why not? You obviously like him, you’ve loved him for years and you’ve got literally nothing to lose. Except maybe me and Jongdae if we catch you two making out in the hallways afterwards. Ech. But otherwise, nothing.”

“If he says no, I’ll be forced to live with the humiliation until I graduate,” Jongin groans, placing his head on the table. “Thanks but no thanks, I think I’ll opt to admire him from afar instead,” he says, sitting up. “Look, our lesson starts in te-”

“Your sappy- crush is way more important than Literature, ,” Baekhyun says as a matter-of-factly. “Speaking of which, where even is Sehun? Look for his giant- hoard of friends.”

“I think he left, “Jongdae shrugs. Jongin doesn’t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. He settles for both.

Jongin finishes the remainder of his milk before placing it back down on the table. He looks around and is relieved to see that there’s only five or six students left in the cafeteria. His head is spinning and he’d greatly appreciate it if someone could open the nearest window so he doesn’t suffocate. The thought of asking Sehun out sends a cold shiver down Jongin’s spine, the mere thought of Sehun rejecting him in any way, shape or form is enough to make his heart tremble, and not in a good way. Come to think of it, he doesn’t think he’d ever be able to get over it and the thought haunts him. The good thing, however, is that Sehun is a full year older than him which means that if things were to go South, Jongin could wallow in both misery and humiliation in peace, all by himself after Sehun graduates, without having to worry about them running into each other. Despite that, there’s something about the thought of asking Sehun out on a date that makes Jongin’s heart swell with happiness.

One thought leads to another, and suddenly everything comes crashing down on Jongin all at once; Jongin had never forgotten about Sehun for the past year, as Baekhyun and Jongdae think; he had simply shoved him aside, repressed his existence in fear of getting hurt. He’s well aware of the fact that a guy like Sehun must have rampant dating rumors with at least twelve girls simultaneously, but there’s something about the thought of simply not knowing for a fact that makes his gut churn. He’s immediately out of his trance when Baekhyun suddenly waves a hand in front of his face and he jumps in his seat.

“Earth to Mr. Lovestruck,” Baekhyun says, snapping his fingers in Jongin’s face. He blinks when the latter’s gaze turns distant again. “The ?”

“Cupid must’ve hit him in all the right places,” Jongdae snickers before placing a hand on Jongin’s shoulder and giving him a rough shake, effectively bringing him back to life. “Man, you’re hopeless.”

Jongin blinks again before clearing his throat. “I can’t ask him out, I can’t.”

“Why not?” Baekhyun practically yells and huffs when Jongdae instantly places a hand over his mouth.

“Because, first of all, not only will I end up looking like a desperate, idiotic fool if he were to say no, and second of all, he doesn’t even know who the hell I am; hell, I’ve never even heard his voice,” Jongin mumbles, playing with a balled up tissue. “Besides, I’m still not sure if he has a girlfriend or not. And I know they’re rumors and that they’re most likely not true, but-” He’s cut off when Baekhyun heaves a sigh before the latter extends his hand. “What are you do-”

“Give me your phone,” Baekhyun demands.

Jongin blinks. “Why?”

“Mine’s dead,” Baekhyun says and rolls his eyes when Jongin furrows his eyebrows. “Just do it.”

Reaching into his pocket, Jongin reluctantly places his phone in Baekhyun’s hands and watches as the latter opens up the Facebook app before tapping on the search field at the top of the screen. “Settling this once and for all is what I’m doing,” Baekhyun says, a bit of triumph in his voice as the keyboard shows up. When Jongin only stares at him like he’s grown a second head, he sighs. “Look, you’d think someone like Sehun would be quick to officially announce a relationship, right? Especially given the amount of - probably unwanted - attention he gets on the daily from chicks, right?”

“Clever,” Jongdae hums, an impressed look on his face. “Can’t believe you came up with that all on your own.”

“What are you implying?” Jongin asks, a sense of confusion overwhelming him.

Typing ‘Oh Sehun’ into the search bar, Baekhyun presses the first suggestion that comes up. Jongin swallows when Sehun’s page pops up on the screen. His heart flutters when his gaze lands on Sehun’s profile picture, the one he’s seen so many times before. In it, Sehun is blond with quite an unattractive side parting, if Jongin does say so himself. But he can’t help but find it somewhat lovable for reasons he can’t explain.

“Holy , 1,043 friends?” Jongdae exclaims, jaw practically hitting the surface of the table as he keeps his eyes on the screen as Baekhyun scrolls down a bit. “How.”

“He’s Oh Sehun, duh,” Baekhyun says, biting his lip as he continues to scroll. He finally stops and breaks out into a huge grin before practically shoving the phone in Jongin’s face. “See? Look!”

Jongin blinks. Attempting to tear his eyes away from Sehun’s gaze that’s threatening to make him break out into a sweat (he honestly didn’t know photos could have that effect on people), he furrows his eyebrows. “What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes. “Look at his relationship status!”

Oh. Jongin furrows his eyebrows even more as he leans in and scans the area beneath Sehun’s profile and header picture. There’s his hometown, his school, his occupation… “What relationship status?”

“Exactly!” Baekhyun beams, taking the phone back. “There is none, which means you’re good to go!” He taps on the screen once or twice before handing the phone back to Jongin, who accepts it without a word. “Thank me after the date!”

Jongin stares at the phone in his hand for a solid minute before replying. “Not everyone chooses to publicly display their relationship status,” he mumbles before stuffing his phone in his jacket pocket. “It doesn’t necessarily have to mean any-”

“Didn’t you hear what he just said?” Jongdae asks. “Since Sehun’s so popular and all, and especially since practically every girl in the school wants him, you’d think he’d choose to display his relationship status officially, you know, to end rumors and stuff. Although I think it’s interesting that he’s single, since there are so many options out there,” he adds with a shrug. “But hey, even better, right?”

Ignoring the beating of his heart, Jongin casually shrugs. “I guess. He’s so out of my league, though.”

“Hey,” Baekhyun says, “did it say where he works? Because I think my cousin works there, if I’m not mistaken.” He nods at Jongin. “May I?”

With an annoyed huff, Jongin hands the phone back to Baekhyun. “Look, our lesson started fifteen minutes ago,” he says, craning his neck to get a better view of whatever Baekhyun is doing on his phone. “It’s probably best if we-”

“Damn it, not the same place,” Baekhyun pouts in disappointment. He’s about to turn off the phone and give it back to Jongin when Jongdae speaks up.

“Wait, did he have a frikkin’ middle parting in his profile picture?” Jongdae asks in amusement, gesturing for Baekhyun to click on Sehun’s picture. “Lemme see, lemme see!”

Jongin rolls his eyes. “Guys, we have a le-”

Baekhyun snickers before clicking on Sehun’s profile photo. “I think so,” he hums, completely ignoring the brunet, and does his best to stifle a laugh when said picture pops up on the screen. “Jesus Christ, he looks like a labrador retriever,” he chuckles into his fist. “To think that the school’s entire female population drools over this guy is amazing, honestly.”

“Watch it,” Jongdae says, although doing his best not to burst out into a fit of cackles himself, and points to Jongin, who looks less than amused. “You’ll piss off his princess.”

Running a hand through his hair, Jongin heaves a sigh. He really needs better friends. “Baek,” he says, doing his best to filter out the excessive giggles emitting from his best friends, “give me my phone back so we can get to cla-”

“Jeez, that picture’s super old. I really do need to update it soon.”

Jongin’s head snaps up at the sudden, not to mention unfamiliar, voice and momentarily feels his heart still, his brain going completely numb before a sound that roughly sounds like the brunet almost falling off his chair fills the air. His head suddenly starts to spin as he takes in the sight of Sehun; the Sehun, who is standing behind Baekhyun and chuckling in amusement as he stares at his own picture. Even though Sehun isn’t staring directly at him, Jongin still feels extremely watched, and he fights the urge to remove his jacket before he can break out into a gigantic sweat. Sehun is just as handsome up close as he is from afar, and a warm feeling surges through Jongin’s whole body when he sees Sehun’s broad shoulders, his perfectly styled (black) hair, his gorgeous smile; traits which he learned to admire from a distance and seeing them up close for the first time feels absolutely surreal. It almost makes him lightheaded. While Sehun’s looks are enough to sweep him off his feet (Jongin sure is lucky he’s sitting down), what catches him off guard is when he hears his deep voice. Jongin had always figured Sehun’s voice would be somewhat deep, but definitely not this deep, and he hates the way it makes him feel all fuzzy on the inside.

It all feels so unreal that it takes Jongin more than ten whole seconds to realize that Jongdae is waving a hand in front of his face.

“Earth to Mr. Lovestruck, again,” Baekhyun says, cocking his head to the left. “Jongin, dude, wake the up.”

Blinking, Jongin clears his throat and furrows his eyebrows when he doesn’t see Sehun anywhere, and a wave of disappointment hits him, the warm, fuzzy feeling he’d been feeling only seconds ago instantly disappearing when he looks around and doesn’t see the tall, black-haired man anywhere in sight. Biting his lip, he clears his throat again before turning his attention back to Baekhyun and Jongdae. Damn it.

“Either you’re contemplating re-joining the hockey team,” Jongdae says, eyeing Jongin’s backpack, “or you’re dazed out of your mind because of Sehun. Either way, I’m not surprised.”

“Since you seemed pretty darn out of it,” Baekhyun chuckles, a -eating grin on his face, “Prince Charming just came by.”

Jongdae nods before groaning. “You literally just missed a golden opportunity to talk to him,” he moans before handing the phone back to Jongin. “, man.”

“At least now it’s safe to say he’s aware of your existence,” Baekhyun chuckles. “Plus you’ve heard his voice. What are you waiting for?” he adds with a snicker. “Go get 'im, tiger.”

Jongin groans loudly, his heart still racing. “He wasn’t even looking at me,” he mumbles, a new wave of disappointment crashing down on him. “What did he even want?”

“He wanted the salt shaker,” Baekhyun says. “Well, that and to comment on how much he should ‘change that damn picture already’, it was pretty funny. you missed it,” he adds, sticking out his tongue.

“What are the odds,” Jongdae tuts, shaking his head in disbelief. “The man of your dreams stops by your table for the first time ever and you choose to zone the out and enter your own little world instead of striking up a conversation.”

“Shame,” Baekhyun says but he quickly places a hand on Jongin’s arm when the latter sighs in agony. “Hey, we’ll make sure to let you know when we see him around, alright?”

“All isn’t completely lost,” Jongdae says, nodding in agreement. Standing up, he walks around the table and places a reassuring hand on Jongin’s shoulder. “At least now you know he eats lunch in our cafeteria on Mondays at 1 PM, right?”

Jongin sighs before slouching a bit in his chair. “You don’t know that, the 12th graders usually eat in the cafeteria two doors down.”

Shrugging, Baekhyun shoots Jongin a thumbs up. “Don’t you worry, Kim Jongin, we’ll help you get the man of your dreams,” he says confidently before shooting Jongdae an enthusiastic nod, to which the latter replies with his signature feline grin. “You saw him, he stood like three feet away, there's no backing out now! We’ll keep our eyes peeled; you can trust us!”

Barely managing a weak nod, Jongin stands up and nearly chokes on his own spit when Jongdae delivers a friendly thump on his back. Jongin scans the cafeteria one last time and swallows when he doesn’t see Sehun anywhere in sight. So he doesn’t eat here. Not that I remember, anyway. Sighing, he picks up the balled up tissue, his empty tray and milk carton before trudging over to the garbage cans in the far left corner of the cafeteria, Jongdae and Baekhyun following close behind.

As he’s dumping his leftovers into one of the trash bins, Jongin thinks he feels his back pocket buzz but he thinks nothing of it, instead choosing to focus on the fact that they’re all at least forty minutes late to their Literature class. Jongin figures their teacher’s inevitable scolding is a tad bit more important than whether or not Sehun (and his friends) usually eats in the same cafeteria as him. At least as of right now.

Rubbing his hands together, Jongin rids his brain of any Sehun-related thoughts while he waits for Jongdae and Baekhyun to finish throwing their food away. It takes ages, as usual, and Jongin has time to count every little thing he loves about Sehun before Baekhyun and Jongdae finish up; and there’s quite a lot of them, so Jongin figures his best friends are naturally slow as snails.

Jongin runs a hand through his still spinning head, chest still heavy. He really needs both a hockey and a dance session the minute he gets home.

~~~