~~~

Furrowing his eyebrows, Jongin looks up and bites his cheek when he sees four girls walk towards him, Sehun, Baekhyun and Jongdae. They all seem to be staring at Sehun, obviously, and Jongin feels Sehun let go of his hand completely when the girls get within a six foot distance. He feels his stomach churn, and he doesn’t know if it’s because one of the girls is wearing a fragrance sweet enough to make his eyes water or because he notices Sehun send them a barely noticeable nod when they walk past each other. Either way, he hates it and his hand instinctively reaches for Sehun’s, but the latter only shoves his hand in his pocket as they continue towards the cafeteria.

Jongin looks to his right and is met with the puzzled faces of Baekhyun and Jongdae as they both shrug in his direction, apparently as confused as he is.

Biting his lip in both confusion and worry, Jongin feels his head spin. Did he check her out just now??? he thinks to himself, not daring to turn around in case the girls are still there and, worst case scenario, ogling Sehun’s backside. The thought makes the blond queasy.

He said he was gay, Jongin thinks, fingers itching to grab Sehun’s hand. Did he lie?? Am I actually dreaming???? He’s seconds away from asking Jongdae to pinch him for real this time when he feels a hand ruffle his hair, effectively snapping him out of his trance.

“You okay?” Sehun asks, playfully tugging on one of Jongin’s (matted) locks. “You look so distraught.”

Watching Baekhyun and Jongdae rush forward to get to the door before it closes, Jongin clears before looking behind him ever so subtly. The girls are nowhere in sight, thankfully. “Nothing,” he murmurs, swinging the door open and feeling water when the smell of food hits him.

“Come on,” Sehun groans, quickly catching up with the three, “you can’t just do that.” He grabs a tray and proceeds to stand in line. “Y’know, say that nothing’s bothering you when that’s obviously not the case,” he chuckles, grabbing a sandwich with way too many leafy greens in it for Jongin’s liking.

“It’s true,” Jongin murmurs, feeling himself blush. He hears a couple of feminine swoons behind him and raises an eyebrow when Sehun’s expression changes slightly, although it’s so subtle the blond barely notices. He grabs a sandwich off the shelf, a different one; one with almost no vegetables in it, and blinks in confusion when Sehun moves away from him a little bit. Not a lot, but enough for him to notice.

Jongin turns around and sees Baekhyun and Jongdae chatting at a table in the far corner, their usual table. He quickly makes his way over to the milk machines and grabs a glass before proceeding to fill it with milk, doing his best to balance his tray with his other hand.

He wholeheartedly expects Sehun to be standing less than three feet away when he turns around, which is why the feeling of deflation that settles in his gut when he looks to the right and sees Sehun chatting with a handful of girls, who look much too young for him, by their table as if it were a regular thing for him (and them). In fact, it almost looks like they’ve been best friends their entire lives and Jongin swallows the lump in . Sehun’s got a smile on his face, the one Jongin has grown so used to seeing (and loving) at this point, as he laughs along with the women surrounding him, his tray sitting on the table a couple of inches away. The girls all seem to ogle every inch of him and Jongin would rather not stick around and find out if Sehun is doing the same exact thing.

Jongin sees Jongdae (or Baekhyun, he can’t really tell) wave him over to their table in his peripheral and he decides not to walk up to Sehun in fear of interfering with their discussion, which he can’t hear, so he reluctantly makes his way over to the corner of the cafeteria, head reeling.

When he sits down, Jongin heaves a sigh before looking up. Sehun is still sitting (or, half sitting) on one of the stools in the middle of the cafeteria, talking to the girls who seem to be giggling at every little thing he says, much to the blond’s irritation. Even though Sehun looks awfully disinterested, not to mention distracted and annoyed, Jongin can’t quite squash the feeling of envy and dread expanding in his chest.

One of the girls, the tallest and, Jongin admits, prettiest one, seems to say something to Sehun before she reaches out and ruffles the latter’s hair, apparently not giving him a chance to reply before doing so. And as much as Jongin wouldn’t consider himself childish in the least, it takes every fiber in his being not to pout and mumble something along the lines of ‘only I'm allowed to do that’, and he bites his lip before turning his attention back to his food.

“So they weren’t serving meat today or what?” Baekhyun asks between chews. “By the way, where’d your prince go?” he adds, raising a curious eyebrow.

“I heard they were, at like eleven.” Jongdae turns his head ever so slightly and sighs when he lays his eyes on the (rather sad, at least according to him) scene before them. “Over there in his usual place,” he mumbles, stuffing a tomato slice in his mouth. He looks up from his salad and pats Jongin’s arm reassuringly. “I’m sure he has his reasons, don’t worry.”

“Yeah, he was staring at you like you were the man of his life earlier,” Baekhyun says in a surprisingly serious tone. “I doubt he’ll be able to shake them off anytime soon, anyway, so I think you’re gonna have to live with that for a long time coming.” He nearly chokes on his water when Jongdae whacks him in the back. “You asswipe.”

“How reassuring, numbskull,” Jongdae hisses before patting Jongin’s hand. “I mean, you trust him, right?”

Jongin looks up. “What do you mean by ‘trust’?” he asks,  sauce off his bottom lip.

“You know,” Jongdae says, shrugging nonchalantly. “I mean, this isn’t set in stone or anything, so take this with a grain of salt.” He presses his lips together before continuing. “Anyway, the way I see it is that, well, you see, it’s not like his popularity’s gonna disappear and the girls are gonna leave him alone just because he’s in a relationship with you, especially since he probably hasn’t told anybody yet, you know?” He makes sure to look the blond in the eye the whole time. “Like, it’s probably not gonna change, just like Baek said, and that , it really does, but you know how fangirls are.”

“I mean look, I also don’t know how it is,” Baekhyun adds. “But like, he may be in a relationship with you, but he’s still Oh Sehun and girls will continue to go crazy over him no matter what. But hey, as long as he loves you, which he does, no doubt, then it should be fine, right?” He leans back in his chair and is dangerously close to toppling backwards, making Jongdae emit a squawk of terror.

Jongin crosses his legs under the table and plays with a wadded up tissue. Even though he can accept the fact that Sehun’s popularity is here to stay for good, at least until the latter graduates; unfortunately, he can’t help but feel envious, anyway. Jongin doesn’t even know what Sehun meant when he let go of his hand earlier and he’d rather not ask the taller about it. He opts to think back to how he’d felt when he was snuggled up in Sehun’s chest during the movie last night, and how Sehun had held him like his life depended on it, to make himself feel a bit better.

Sehun looks up from his spot a few tables away and Jongin half expects him to wave or at least shoot him a smile, and the blond feels the lump in grow even bigger when Sehun averts his gaze as quickly as he’d looked up before resuming his conversation with the overly jittery girls. The cafeteria isn’t too full at this hour, but Jongin vaguely remembers seeing a few girls sitting at the back and he doesn’t even have to turn around to know that they’re definitely gawking at Sehun. Jongin clenches his hands into fists when one of the girls sitting with Sehun, the one across from him, reaches into her purse before retrieving her phone and proceeding to snap at least ten different photos of him from different angles before gleefully putting her phone back in her bag. Sehun only raises a curious eyebrow in her direction to which she replies with a dramatic squee. All in all, it makes Jongin’s stomach churn uncomfortably.

“Is it just me,” Jongdae mumbles so nobody except Jongin and Baekhyun can hear, “or does he look different?”

Jongin blinks in surprise. “How so?”

“I mean, he was so different only ten minutes ago when we were standing by your locker,” Jongdae says with a shrug before discreetly pointing to the table behind him (and in front of Jongin). “He looks like a completely different person when he’s surrounded by girls. I mean, he went from soft and cheesy and squishy as to, well, Playgirl material in less than fifteen minutes, that’s remarkable,” he adds and shrugs again when Jongin squirms in his seat. “He’s got this weird predator look in his eyes, if I do say so myself.”

Jongin squirms a little bit while fidgeting with the rim of his glass. As much as he'd expected for Sehun to act pretty much the same as he always does as soon as he came to school again, Jongin certainly hadn't been expecting for him to return back to his usual self so soon. He blames it on the overflow of emotions still messing with his head.

“No ,” Baekhyun huffs with an eyeroll. “First of all, he’s Sehun, and second of all, you would’ve looked different too, surprisingly enough. I mean, you would’ve looked far more gay than he does, but yeah, you get my drift.” His eyes suddenly widen and he leans in uncomfortably close to the blond. “Hey, is he?”

Jongin raises an eyebrow, trying to swallow the large piece of bread in his mouth. “Who’s what?”

“Sehun,” Baekhyun hisses. “Is he gay?”

Dismissing the thought of why Baekhyun even cares in the first place, Jongin makes sure nobody is listening before nodding ever so discreetly. “M hmm.”

"Cool," Baekhyun squeals, making Jongin raise an eyebrow. "I mean, it was kinda obvious since he talked for like, half an hour, about his frikkin' hair, but yeah, good to know."

“What did you guys even do last night? You gotta hit us up since you made the stupid mistake of breaking your goddamn phone,” Jongdae asks impatiently, leaning in and shoving his tray aside. “Spill the beans, princess.”

“Oh, this should be good,” Baekhyun squees, eyes practically twinkling, and he quickly spins around in his seat. “Hey, Prince Charming, get over here right this instant!” he hollers before Jongdae and or Jongin can stop him while beckoning for Sehun to come over to their table, making the few people in the cafeteria lift their heads to look at him.

Jongin practically rips Baekhyun’s mouth off of his face while he scrambles to shut the latter up. “The , Baek,” he screeches, covering his entire face with his hands when Sehun only shoots all three of them a confused look, one that closely resembles that of ‘I don’t know them’ before resuming his conversation. “Damn it.”

“The hell’s wrong with you, you ,” Jongdae groans, although there’s quite the amount of amusement in his voice and Jongin makes a fifth mental note to dunk him into the nearest trash can the first chance he gets. “Is he coming over here, by the way? I ain’t turning around,” he adds, drumming his fingers on the surface of the table excitedly.

Baekhyun shakes his head. “He’s as boring as ever,” he says with an eyeroll before taking a sip of water. “Anyway, tell us now, Cinderella,” he squees, nodding at Jongin. “Or was it Sleeping Beauty? I can’t remember.”

Jongin sighs before reaching out and dunking his entire hand in Baekhyun’s glass of water before coating his burning cheeks with it in attempt to soothe the blush that’s threatening to set his face on fire. “Why’d you do that,” he hisses, ignoring Baekhyun’s squawk of protest. “You idiot.”

“I second that,” Jongdae mumbles before raising his voice. “Now, either you tell us what went on while you two were alone or I’m gonna get right out of this chair and march over to him and frigging drag him over here by the collar whether he wants me to or not,” he says in the most serious tone Jongin has ever heard him speak in.

“Fine, fine,” Jongin blurts out, putting his hands up in defeat. “I mean,” he starts, scratching his neck, “nothing really happened-” He nearly jumps out of his chair when Baekhyun forcefully places his glass back on the table.

“Bull,” Baekhyun and Jongdae say simultaneously and Jongin instinctively cowers in his seat.

Jongin is about to open to speak when movement in his peripheral catches his attention and he snaps his head up just in time to see one of the girls envelope Sehun in a bearhug, which the latter reciprocates, much to Jongin’s dismay, before she and her friends gleefully skip out of the cafeteria, giggling to each other about God knows what. He unclenches his fists when Sehun runs a hand through his hair, probably in an attempt to fix it, before turning around, and Jongin ignores the feeling of warmth that travels down his spine when he locks eyes with Sehun. The latter sends him a nod before proceeding to walk (or, to be exact, stride) over to Jongin, Baekhyun and Jongdae’s table.

“Room for one more?” Sehun asks with a slight smirk when he stops by the table. His hair is slightly messy and Jongin swears he sees flakes of purple nail polish amongst the black locks.

“Sure,” Baekhyun says with a grin, pointing to the empty seat next to Jongin. “All the room in the world right over there,” he adds with a cackle which Jongdae promptly cuts short by kicking him in the shin.

“Just a second,” Sehun says before turning around and walking back to the table he’d been sitting at only seconds ago. He grabs his untouched tray and walks back to Jongin, Baekhyun and Jongdae’s table, easily sliding into the seat next to the blond. “What’d I miss?” he asks, removing the saran wrap from his sandwich.

“We were just about to ask Cinderella what she and Prince Charming did on their romantic night out,” Baekhyun hurriedly says before anybody can stop him. He leans in and rests his head on his hand. He’s about to open to speak again when he furrows his eyebrows, a smile quickly growing on his face. “Hey, I think you’ve got something here,” he mumbles, reaching out and ruffling Sehun’s hair and both Jongdae and Jongin stare in awe when an entire fake (at least Jongin hopes) nail falls out of Sehun’s hair and lands on the table, along with purple flakes of nail polish, just like the blond had thought.

Jongdae blinks. “Jesus Christ,” he mumbles in both amusement and disgust. “Christ.”

“What the hell,” Jongin groans, feeling more queasy over the fact that Baekhyun just touched Sehun’s hair than the used nail on the table. He subconsciously moves a little bit closer to Sehun for that very reason, careful to avoid touching the fake nail with his elbow.

Sehun shrugs. “It happens sometimes,” he says sheepishly. “One time last year, this chick put her bra in my locker, it was insane.” He proceeds to take an enormous bite out of his sandwich and Jongin only stares because he knows for a fact that if he’d found out he had a fake and, most likely, dirty fake nail lodged in his hair, he wouldn’t have much of an appetite, that's for sure.

“Really?” Baekhyun asks, jaw practically hitting the table. “That’s crazy,” he adds, way too much excitement in his voice for Jongin’s liking, and the latter’s fingers itch to grab Sehun’s hand.

“How’d she even access your locker?” Jongdae asks, scratching the back of his head. “Unless she blew it open with a grenade or something,” he adds only half jokingly.

“Beats me, I’m beyond trying to find out at this point,” Sehun chuckles, putting his hands in the air before pulling out his phone.

Jongin leans in so he’s practically resting his head on Sehun’s shoulder as he watches the latter type out a message to Junmyeon. In his peripheral, he can tell Baekhyun is staring at Sehun like he’s some sort of mythical creature and he fights the urge to kick the redhead under the table.

“What are you doing?” Baekhyun asks, craning his head as he tries to get a better view of Sehun’s screen. Jongin bites his lip in irritation.

Sehun mumbles something under his breath before shutting his phone off and placing it on the table beside him. “Just texting a friend,” he says before staring at Baekhyun and Jongdae expectantly. “What were you talking about before I came?”

Jongdae claps and rubs his hands together. “Right,” he sniggers, leaning in. “Like Baek said, we were talking about you and your princess.” He chuckles when Jongin squirms. “So, tell us everything and don’t leave out a single detail!”

“Well,” Sehun starts, patting Jongin’s hand slightly. “First we went out for bubble tea at a cozy little café I know of, I’m sure you guys know about that, don’t you?”

Jongdae and Baekhyun nod. “Of course,” they blurt out simultaneously.

“Right, and then we-”

“Hold on, wait,” Baekhyun blurts out, putting both hands in the air. “Don’t just say that and move on, tell us everything that went down in there!”

“I want my ears to bleed,” adds Jongdae.

“Damn you guys,” Jongin mumbles, resting his head on the table.

“We kinda just talked about life and such,” Sehun chuckles, shrugging a little. His phone buzzes next to him but he doesn’t check it. “And uh, then we went to the cinema,” he adds, scratching the back of his head.

“My first horror movie,” Jongin says proudly, lifting his head a little bit. Through his bangs he can barely make out Baekhyun ogling Sehun and his stomach churns uncomfortably. He’s about to put his head down again when Jongdae pokes his forehead. “What?”

“Liar,” Jongdae chuckles. “You watched one with us years ago, remember?”

“You screamed like a little girl,” Baekhyun adds, nearly falling off his seat with laughter.

“I didn’t,” Jongin retorts, swinging his leg under the table in an attempt to kick Baekhyun off of his chair. It doesn’t work. “Damn you all,” he mumbles when he hears Sehun chuckle beside him.

“Hey now, he didn’t scream at all during this one, so I’d say that’ some pretty good progress,” Sehun coos, ruffling Jongin’s hair. “Okay, you screamed like, once, pretty loudly, may I add, but still.”

“Doesn’t surprise me, he’s a real wimp when it comes to that sorta stuff. He may have strong- biceps but he sure as hell doesn't have a strong- heart, but maybe that's just the horror fanatic in me talking,” Baekhyun says, shaking his head in disbelief. “But on the other hand, he’s usually gentle and quiet for the most part, but once you get to know him he can be pretty loud so you’ll need to go out of your way to shut him up,” he adds with a not so subtle wink in Sehun’s direction which is quickly followed by a -eating grin. “If you know what I’m talking about, that is.”

Jongin bites his lip. How he’s managed to endure having Baekhyun by his side, or to be precise, as a best friend, for eight whole years is a complete mystery to him. “Baek, ing stop,” he hisses. He half expects Sehun to wrap an arm around his shoulders to console him so to say he’s surprised when he doesn’t is an understatement, to say the least.

“I probably should’ve introduced myself differently,” Jongdae says, extracting his hand, which Sehun takes. “Hello, I’m Kim Jongdae, and I’m the one you need to impress to get into Jongin’s pants, if you need any help or advice or anything, just come to me and I’ll see what I can do.” He shoots Sehun a wink before letting go and sitting back down. He looks awfully pleased with himself and the blond wants nothing more than to slap the grin off of his face. "I'll certainly do my best."

“Again, nice to meet you, and I’ll keep that in mind, although I think we’ll be fine,” Sehun chuckles when his phone buzzes again and he hastily picks it up before proceeding to type.

Watching as the girls behind them exit the cafeteria, while shooting Sehun suggestive looks, Jongin rolls his eyes. Seriously questioning what’s wrong with the female gender, he turns to face to Sehun, in desperate need of attention. “What are you doing?” he asks, resting his head on his hands and inching closer to Sehun, and the blond doesn’t know if he’s just imagining things, but he swears he notices Sehun lean away ever so slightly.

“Just answering Junmyeon,” Sehun hums, although he doesn’t get a chance to press ‘Send’ when the door swings open. He looks up and beams before putting his phone away. “Hey.”

“Heyo,” Chanyeol calls from the other side of the room, saluting Sehun and walking towards the table. Jongin nearly cackles when Jongdae visibly swallows and looks away.

“Jeez, is it empty in here,” Junmyeon mumbles when he closes the door behind him. He looks up and stills when he sees Jongin, Baekhyun and Jongdae. “Uh. Hello.”

Dragging a hand down his face, Sehun shakes his head in disbelief. “I thought you got over your awkward-as- phase at the end of eighth grade,” he chuckles before sitting up a little straighter in his chair. “Anyway, these are my friends Jongin, Jongdae and Baekhyun,” he adds, pointing to each person. He misses the way Jongin blinks in surprise.

“Charmed,” Chanyeol says, bending down and shaking Jongdae’s hand, apparently missing the way the latter squirms at his touch before moving on to do the same thing to Baekhyun. “Park Chanyeol, nice to meet y’all. Don’t mind my embarrassment for a friend over there, he doesn’t like to shake hands for whatever reason,” he adds and doesn’t even flinch when Junmyeon punches him in the arm.

“Hi,” Jongin says, grabbing Chanyeol’s hand and shaking it firmly. His hand is much more stiff and not nearly as warm and inviting as Sehun’s, not to mention he’s got an iron grip and he nearly breathes out a sigh of relief when Chanyeol finally lets go. “Jongin.”

“Congratulations, by the way,” Sehun chuckles, running a hand through his hair. “Looks like I can finally start to breathe a little easier,” he adds and yelps when Junmyeon whacks him upside the head.

“Shut the hell up, at least I didn’t ditch one of the most important games for a date,” Junmyeon says way, way too loudly and Chanyeol scrambles to cover his mouth, much to Sehun’s relief. “ off,” he mumbles, grabbing Chanyeol’s wrists and successfully prying them off his face. “I don’t see a single chick around, you’re en’ safe, damn it.”

“Remember last year,” Chanyeol deadpans. “The-”

“I know, I know, the crazy bimbo who some-ing-how managed to attach a goddamn microphone to Sehun’s jacket last month, you’ve told me a zillion times already, cut it out,” Junmyeon huffs with an eyeroll. “I could check you for recorders and mics right now, by the way, just to prove my point,” he adds, gesturing to Sehun, who shakes his head. "Exactly."

“You have no idea how much praise Coach gave me,” Chanyeol says to Sehun in a triumphant tone, apparently forgetting that Jongdae, Baekhyun and Jongin are sitting less than a foot away. “Like, he said he’d move me up to the front if I continue to perform as good as I did yesterday, isn’t that frikkin’ awesome?” he asks, eyes twinkling.

“Yeah, you’re better off as a quarterback,” Junmyeon snorts. “Speaking of which, you nearly broke your hip because you weren’t-”

“Shut up,” Chanyeol growls before his eyes flash. “Hey, speaking of us winning thanks to me,” he starts, ignoring Junmyeon’s cackle, “how’d that date thing of yours go? I mean, I don’t know jack about what went down since I was cheering on the bleachers with this thing.” He gestures to Junmyeon, who’s still laughing. “But yeah. How’d it go?” He turns around and rolls his eyes when he spots a few girls, presumably in the 9th grade, watching them by the door while giggling their faces off.

“You weren’t cheering, you moron,” Junmyeon wheezes, “you were kissing the goddamn tro-”

“It uh, went fine, I guess,” Sehun says nonchalantly, running a hand through his hair. Stuffing the remaining piece of his sandwich in his mouth, he rubs his hands together. He misses the way Jongin’s face falls, as well as when Jongdae and Baekhyun exchange confused looks.

“So, a no-no, I guess?” Chanyeol asks, bending down and stealing a napkin lying on the table before proceeding to wipe his hands with it. He nods in understanding when Sehun nods. “I see. That , man.”

Junmyeon furrows his eyebrows. “Wait, didn’t you tell me it was a gu-”

“There are plenty of chicks to choose from around here, so don’t you worry,” Chanyeol interrupts and all five of them miss the way Sehun visibly exhales in relief. “Hun, Coach wants a word with you, by the way,” he adds, placing the napkin back on the table. Baekhyun eyes it with disgust.

Sehun raises an eyebrow. “Why? And what'd I tell you about calling me th-”

“You’re not in trouble, big buy,” Junmyeon chuckles, rolling his eyes dramatically. “You just need to catch up. Hey, are you coming to training today or have you got another date with some other chick?” he asks, shooting Sehun a dramatic wink. "That is, unless you haven't already met her," he adds, gesturing to the fake nail lying neglected on the table. Chanyeol retches upon seeing it.

“No date today, I’m afraid,” Sehun says, shrugging. “And I’ve got a ton of work to do tonight so I think I’ll be heading to the stadium by myself.” He balls up the saran wrap in his hands before quickly standing up, not even sparing Jongin, Jongdae or Baekhyun a single glance, much to their confusion, especially the blond’s.

“What time?” Junmyeon asks, pulling out his phone. “I think I need some help with tossing,” he mumbles absentmindedly, turning on his heel.

“On one condition.” Sehun grabs his tray and dumps it in Junmyeon’s hands, much to the latter’s unamusement. “And ten or half past eleven, probably,” he replies before walking over to join Chanyeol. Once he’s standing in front of the table, he shoots Jongdae, Jongin and Baekhyun a quick nod. “See ya around.”

Jongdae blinks. “....Bye?”

Baekhyun’s face looks like a question mark. “Um. See ya? Wait, what’s-”

“The cafeteria closes in like a minute, by the way,” Junmyeon says, not looking up from his phone, but Baekhyun figures it doesn’t take an idiot to know that he’s talking to them. “You should leave before they kick you out,” he adds before walking towards the door after dumping Sehun's leftovers in the trash can, Sehun and Chanyeol following suit.

When Sehun follows after Chanyeol and Junmyeon, Jongin opens and attempts to say something but he doesn’t even get a chance to utter the first word before the door closes with a bang. Mind clouded, he slowly spins around in his chair to stare at Baekhyun and Jongdae, who both look like they’re contemplating their entire existence. “What. The-”

“-,” Jongdae finishes, running a hand through his hair. “What the actual  was that."

~~~