~~~

6:59 AM

It’s the sound of an alarm clock ringing in another room that wakes Sehun up, and he sits up like a bullet in bed before blinking rapidly, eyes roaming around the room.

It takes him a few minutes to even process where he is when he realizes that he isn’t, in fact, at home and in his own bed, and it’s not until he feels movement next to him that reality hits him. He squirms a bit when a sharp sense of uncomfort surges through his bicep, and he makes a mental note to stretch properly after his training session tonight.

Lying back down again, ever so slowly as to not hurt his arm, Sehun rolls over so he’s lying on his side before looking at Jongin’s sleeping form next to him. Sehun’s eyes trail down the brunet’s hair and stop at his face, and he feels his breath hitch in his throat at the sight of Jongin’s lips, which are slightly pursed, and the way his long eyelashes cast a light gray shadow on his cheekbones as he sleeps soundly, and it takes every fiber in Sehun’s being not to reach out and brush Jongin’s bangs out of the latter’s face. His face is still shimmery and his eyeliner is slightly smudged but Sehun only finds it charming for reasons he can’t explain.

Because Jongin forgot to close his curtains before he fell asleep last night, the sunlight streaming through the window fills the entire room with a pleasant yellow glow and Sehun promptly stretches out his long limbs, careful not to move around too much in fear of waking the brunet.

Sehun checks his watch, which he forgot to take off before crawling into bed less than six hours ago, and sighs when he realizes his lesson starts in one hour. He doesn’t really know how long it will take for him to get to school from Jongin’s house, so, to buy himself some time, he opts to (slowly) get out of bed and grab his jeans on the floor, stumbling and nearly falling flat on his face when a sudden head rush overwhelms him.

He’s halfway through buckling his belt when he sees Jongin stir in his sleep, and Sehun keeps his gaze fixated on the brunet as his fingers mechanically work to fasten the buckle. The brunet looks just as gorgeous asleep as he does when he’s awake, especially last night while they were busy gazing up at the sky. Sehun doesn’t know if Jongin knows, he assumes he doesn’t, but the whole time Jongin was ogling the twinkling orbs in the sky, Sehun couldn’t help but stare at the brunet. He vaguely remembers seeing the reflection of the night sky in Jongin’s irises at one point and his chest fills with warmth at the memory.

Brushing his hair out of his face, which reminds him that he needs a haircut, Sehun promptly slides Jongin’s shirt over his head before neatly folding it up and placing it on the foot of the bed. He shudders when the cold air hits his bare chest and hurriedly walks over to the desk chair, where he left his shirt last night, and slips it over his head. His legs ache slightly from all the running up and down the hill and he winces a little on his way back to the other side of the bed.

Looking back at the door, Sehun makes sure he hears nobody on the other side before silently unlocking it. He looks back at Jongin’s (angelic, Sehun thinks) sleeping form one more time before turning around and reaching for the knob.

However, his hand stills in mid air, fingers hovering three inches above the door knob when Sehun is suddenly struck with the thought of where on Earth he left his bag. He scratches the back of his head and bites his lip. He most certainly remembers bringing it with him after leaving the changing rooms and he briefly panics at the thought of accidentally leaving it on the bench next to the bus stop. Despite that, his eyes roam around the room in search of it in case he dragged it upstairs with him last night and somehow forgot about it. God damn it.

When he doesn’t see it anywhere, not even on the chair, Sehun curses under his breath. He’s just about to bend down and look for his bag under Jongin’s bed (not that he knows why he’d shove it under there, but he’s honestly out of better options at this point) when he barely registers the sound of the door opening.

“Jongin, I found this giant freaking bag sitting in the middle of the hallway, you should really learn not to leave your stuff everywhere, you slob- Oh. Uh, who are you?”

Whirling around at lightning speed, Sehun blinks when he locks eyes with a girl, a young girl, who he’s never seen before. She looks to be no older than fifteen and she’s got an equally shocked and confused expression on her face, one that compliments her silly, yet adorable, hairstyle. When he averts his gaze, Sehun sees his sports bag hanging from her right hand and he hurries to regain his composure.

“Uh, hey,” he mumbles sheepishly, rubbing his neck, making sure to keep his voice down. He turns around and makes sure Jongin is still asleep before turning to face her again.

Jungah stares at Sehun with a confused yet curious expression in her eyes. “Who are you?” she asks, shooting Jongin’s sleeping form a glance.

Sehun bites his lip. “Who are you?” he asks, returning the question. A blast of strawberry scented hairspray and or perfume hits him in the face and he fights the urge to retch.

“Kim Jungah,” Jungah says loudly and Sehun fights the urge to cover with his hand. “No seriously, who are you?” she repeats. She doesn’t seem to fazed by the fact that there’s a total stranger standing in her brother’s room, much to Sehun’s surprise.

“Nice to meet you,” Sehun mumbles before gesturing to his bag. “That’s mine,” he adds, taking a step towards it.

“This is yours?” Jungah asks in confusion, glaring at the bag in her hands and grunting a little under its weight. It’s not until she rustles the bag a little bit, causing Sehun’s jersey number to become visible through the barely zipped up opening, that her eyes flash and Sehun feels a wave of dread wash over him. “Oh my God, wait-”

“Could you please give me that,” Sehun says hurriedly, reaching out and grabbing his bag before slinging it over his shoulder, ignoring how his bicep protests under the weight. He’s about to walk past her when something hits him and he stills. “Is your Father home?”

Jungah blinks. “No, he left for work half an hour ago,” she replies before a huge grin spreads across her entire face. “Lemme guess, you’re Sehun, aren’t you? Oh Sehun? Jongin’s told me so much about you, you have no idea, oh my God-”

“Do you like to play games, Jungah?” 

“Uh,” Jungah mumbles, raising a perfectly filled in eyebrow. “I...guess?” She blinks before going back to her usual smiley self. “Hey, I’ve heard it hurts to get tackled, like, really badly, is that true? Have you ever tackled anybody before?” she asks, eyes twinkling.

“You a fan of ‘Simon Says’?” Sehun asks, cocking his head to the side, eyeing her intently.

Jungah pauses for a minute before nodding. “Yeah! Me and Jongin used to play it all the time when we were kids,” she says and she’s so giggly Sehun nearly rolls his eyes. “He’d always make do really strange stuff, like-”

“Simon says, don’t tell a single soul what you just saw,” Sehun says lowly yet with a significant amount of bite in his voice. He doesn’t know if he’s imagining things but he swears he notices Jungah cowering a little at his voice, but he dismisses it and continues to stare at her while looming over her.

She opens to say something but quickly closes it again, and Sehun uses the few seconds of silence in which she’s completely silent to dart out of the room and past her, quickly making his way down the stairs and heading out the door.

8:00 AM

Jongin awakens an hour later, cursing audibly when he rubs his eyes, only for his hands to get covered in black and silver eye makeup. .

In his dazed, groggy state he gingerly removes the covers off his body before proceeding to stand up, careful to avoid touching anything with his hands.

On his way to the bathroom, he’s suddenly struck with the thought of why he’s even wearing makeup in the first place, and he struggles to open the door to the bathroom with his elbows before kicking it open and standing in front of the mirror, nearly letting out a scream of despair when he sees his reflection.

His hair doesn’t look too bad, but his face; dear God, his face - Jongin figures if you were to put a disco ball next to his face you wouldn’t be able to tell them apart and he reaches up and swipes his thumb across his cheek, coughing when he accidentally inhales some of the silver highlighter. He scrambles to turn on the sink before proceeding to wash his face with what he presumes is ten gallons of cold water, and when he opens his eyes he can barely make out a certain shimmery substance circling the drain through his blurred vision.

Jongin turns off the sink and dries his face with a towel, breathing out a sigh of relief when he sees the shimmer on his face has decreased by at least 90%. He grabs the nearest hairspray and proceeds to douse his hair with it, making sure to tame the frizziness in his hair before putting it back on the shelf, drying his hands and exiting the bathroom.

The second Jongin re-enters his bedroom, a strong, familiar odor hits his nose and he nearly stumbles backwards because he definitely didn’t smell that on his way to the bathroom earlier. He scratches his head and blinks, seriously questioning his sanity.

It’s not until he spots his hockey stick, which is lying on the floor (he assumes it must’ve fallen out of its own accord at some point during the night), that memories crash down on Jongin like a freight train, one by one, and he has to grab onto his desk chair to keep himself from collapsing from emotional overflow.

When he assures himself that he isn’t going to pass out, Jongin gingerly lets go of his chair before swallowing thickly. A warm, longing feeling settles itself in his chest when he continues to inhale Sehun’s perfume with every breath he takes and his eyes scurry across the room in search of the taller, but Jongin soon realizes, after seeing the empty space in his bed as well as the absence of the taller’s clothes, that Sehun is not, in fact, in the room. He swallows.

Jongin’s legs seem to move of their own accord and before he knows it, he’s scrambling for his phone, which he made the mistake of leaving in his back pocket while he slept since it’s basically overheated at this point, and turning it on. He bites his lip in both worry and confusion when nothing but his wallpaper and Jongdae and Baekhyun’s usual texts of ‘can I copy your homework?’ greet him. Nothing from Sehun.

Jongin is halfway through questioning his sanity, whether or not he really is dreaming and living a lie, when he’s suddenly reminded of the fact that he’d asked Sehun at what time his first lesson started in the morning, to which he clearly recalls the latter replying with a ‘very early’, and Jongin audibly exhales in relief. He’s seconds away from placing a hand on his chest in relief but quickly stops himself because Sehun is the cheesy one, not him.

Shoving his phone back in his pocket, Jongin quickly removes his pyjama shirt before carelessly tossing it on his bed, above his pillow, and he hurries to slide a new, clean, shirt over his head while simultaneously (and half-assedly) removing his socks and replacing them with a new pair. In the commotion, he somehow manages to check his watch and he internally panics when he realizes Homeroom starts in half an hour. Not wanting to get scolded for the nth time that week for not paying attention and or coming late, which is awfully unlike him, Jongin picks up the pace and gets to his feet.

Grabbing his backpack and barely zipping it shut, Jongin hopes he didn’t forget to pack anything before hurrying out of his room and down the stairs. He stops for a quick drink of water in the kitchen and nearly jumps out of his own skin, nearly spitting out his drink when he sees the outline of a person to his right.

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Jongin promptly swallows before blinking in Jungah’s direction. She’s staring at him with her usual smiley expression but Jongin immediately notices something off about it, and it makes him feel uneasy for whatever reason. “Uh, hi?”

“Hey,” Jungah says lowly, walking up to the counter and downing the last of the water in Jongin’s glass. “Sleep well?”

“Don’t know how long I slept, but yeah, actually,” Jongin says, drumming his fingers on the countertop. He watches as she nods and furrows his eyebrows when he sees the distant look on her face. “Are you sick?”

Jungah blinks. “Uh, no?” she says in a semi weirded out tone, placing the glass in the washing machine. “Why would I be?” she adds, closing it rather forcefully and brushing her hands together.

Nodding awkwardly, Jongin inches closer towards the hallway. “Uh, my bus leaves in like, a minute,” he mumbles and he waits for her to nod her head before darting towards the front door, nearly forgetting to put his shoes on in the process.

12:43 PM

“Dae, could you pass me the salt?” Jongin asks, wiping his mouth with a tissue.

Jongdae shoots the brunet a suspicious look before nodding, grabbing the salt shaker and gingerly handing it to him. “You’re rather...chirpy today,” he says, eyeing Jongin intently. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Yeah, you didn’t zone out during class today,” Baekhyun adds, raising a questioning eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t give two s about Physics,” he mumbles, shoving a fry in his mouth before picking up his phone when it buzzes on the table.

Jongin shrugs, playing with his food. He’s been smiling non stop for the past three hours and he honestly doesn’t know why, although he’s got a pretty good guess as to why. “I slept extra well last night,” is all he says before proceeding to douse his french fries with salt, making Jongdae gag. “And you’re just moody ‘cause you got detention for throwing an eraser at Miss.”

“I thought you hated Astronomy and outer space and ,” Jongdae says, crossing his legs. “Your eyes were pretty much bulging out of their sockets while she was talking about stars and stuff,” he adds, downing the rest of his milk. “Since when did you give a about stars, anyway? And shut the up, I was tossing it to Baek, you know that! You even saw it!”

“Good question,” Jongin hums absentmindedly, ignoring Jongdae's last remark. Now that he thinks about it, he doesn’t think he’s ever paid this much attention to a lecture in his entire life, and he’s pretty much an expert on stars at this point. Now I’ll have something to tell Sehun, he thinks to himself before picking up a fry and cursing loudly when he accidentally drops it on the floor.

Speaking of Sehun, Jongin remembers how happy he felt when he walked into the cafeteria fifteen minutes ago, and it took less than four seconds for his eyes to roam around the room and land on Sehun. To be exact, the latter’s teammates, too. To Jongin’s surprise, Sehun didn’t wave at him when their eyes locked shortly after; in fact, Jongin clearly remembers how Sehun seemed to avert his gaze almost instinctively upon seeing him before resuming his discussion with his teammates, but the brunet quickly dismissed it considering the fact that they were standing (and sitting) more than forty feet from each other. Not to mention Jongin figures it would be awkward if Sehun just stood up and ditched his teammates.

Spinning around in his chair, Jongin attempts to lock eyes with Sehun and get the latter’s attention, but he doesn’t seem to notice as he continues talking to Junmyeon. The cafeteria isn’t overly crowded but despite that, Jongin can practically feel every single female in the room gawking at Sehun from where he’s sitting, and the thought makes Jongin want Sehun to notice him that much more.

Jongin curses Sehun’s obliviousness before turning back around and shoving a fry in his mouth. For reasons unknown even to him, he chooses to sneak another glance at Sehun and bites his lip when he sees the latter typing something on his phone. Before he can think, his hands are reaching for his own phone in his pocket, and he furrows his eyebrows when he opens his and Sehun’s conversation only to find nothing new, not even the three bubbles at the bottom of the screen which indicate that he’s typing something.

In his peripheral, Jongin swears he notices Baekhyun, who is and has been on his phone for a while already, angle his screen away from both his and Jongdae’s line of vision but the brunet quickly dismisses it as his brain acting up.

Fighting the urge to pout, Jongin downs the remainder of his milk. Still feeling thirsty as ever, he stands up and makes his way to the milk dispensers.

As he’s waiting for his glass to be filled, Jongin subconsciously runs a hand through his hair when he realizes he’s standing in the middle of the cafeteria, where a certain somebody can see him perfectly. The thought makes the brunet run a hand through his hair again before he removes his glass from the nozzle and turns around.

Jongin bites the inside of his cheek when he sees a couple of girls walking away from Sehun’s table, wide smiles on their faces as they giggle uncontrollably. He half heartedly expects Sehun to shoot him a glance and Jongin bites his cheek even harder when Sehun resumes his discussion with his friends. Stop overreacting, moron!

“These fries tasted like cardboard,” Jongdae says with a disgusted look, shoving his tray aside when Jongin sits down again.

Jongin hums something along the lines of ‘I guess’ before looking at Baekhyun, who is still typing on his phone. “Jeez, Baek, put your phone down and converse with us for once,” he mumbles, crossing his legs under the table. His fingers itch to pick up his phone and text Sehun but he decides against it.

“Whaddya mean, ‘for once’?” Baekhyun squawks before putting his phone down on the table. “I do majority of the talking around here,” he adds, reaching across the table and swiping one of Jongdae’s fries. “By the way, Dae, I’ll be a good sport and wait for you outside the detention room, but you owe me.”

“Unfortunately,” Jongdae mumbles under his breath while he balls up his used tissue and turns around in his seat. “Hey, Baek, move out of the way,” he says, whacking Baekhyun on the shoulder. “And I don’t owe you , jackass.”

Jongin watches as Jongdae proceeds to toss the tissue right into the trash can, which the brunet finds quite astounding given that the trash can is thirty or so feet away. It lands with a dull thud at the bottom and Jongin tries to squash the feeling of warmth that buzzes in his head when he instantly thinks of Sehun and the latter’s expert aim. The thought of Sehun makes Jongin want to turn around and try to get the taller’s attention a second time but he chooses not to.

“, did you see that?” Jongdae practically yells at the top of his lungs, causing every person in the entire cafeteria to look at him, as he fist bumps the air. “God damn it, I’m a God! At this distance, can you believe it? You saw that, didn’t you?” He whacks Baekhyun on the back, making the latter sputter.

“Yeah, I frigging saw that,” Baekhyun grumbles, rubbing his back and picking up his phone again. “Lay off the fist punches, you .”

“What about you, did you see that?” Jongdae asks excitedly, snapping his fingers in front of Jongin’s face. “Hey, Mr. Lovestruck, wake the up!”

Flinching a little, Jongin blinks. “Huh?”

“My awesome shot just now, did you see it?” Jongdae asks and rolls his eyes when Jongin remains silent. “Oh, come on, don’t tell me you mi-”

“I didn’t miss it, ,” Jongin hisses, whacking Jongdae’s hand away from his face. “I saw it,” he adds, still fighting the urge to text Sehun something, anything.

“Then why’ve you got that distant- look on your face?” Jongdae asks before shrugging, eyes on Sehun. “I mean, besides the obvious, of course,” he adds with a chuckle.

Jongin shrugs, biting his lip. Baekhyun is still typing on his phone and he swallows. “Nothing,” he forces himself to say when Jongdae continues to beat him with that godforsaken glare of his. “It’s just that Sehun did something that reminded me of what you did,” he says, scratching his neck.

Eyes lighting up, Baekhyun’s face erupts into a grin and he snaps his head up. “What’d he do?” he asks, irises twinkling, before putting his phone down on the table.

A bit taken aback by Baekhyun’s sudden change in behavior, Jongin clenches his jaw. “I...uh.” He instantly regrets even bringing Sehun up in the first place when Baekhyun continues to stare. “Nothing, uh...he just did the same thing Jongdae did just now,” he mumbles.

“Really? That’s so cool!” Baekhyun squeals, practically bouncing up and down in his seat. Jongin almost feels sick.

“I guess,” Jongin mumbles before turning around and blinking upon realizing the cafeteria is nearly empty. He spots Sehun’s gang in the corner of his eye and looks up, trying to get Sehun’s attention.

When the latter turns his face in the opposite direction, Jongin heaves a sigh and he’s about to ask Jongdae and Baekhyun if they’re finished eating, which they are, when movement catches his eye and he looks up just in time to see Sehun’s entire team stand up, trays in hand. Jongin feels happiness bubble in his chest when he sees Sehun walking closer towards him while talking to Junmyeon, who puts his phone in his pocket.

“Hi!” Baekhyun blurts out, making Jongdae and Jongin jump, when Sehun walks past their table.

Upon hearing Baekhyun’s voice, Sehun briefly halts before smiling a little, almost cautiously. “Hey,” he mouths, not giving Jongin a chance to say anything (nor sparing him a glance, for that matter) before he hurries to catch up with Junmyeon and the rest of his team.

When Sehun and his team exit the cafeteria, Jongin bites his lip in both irritation and confusion. “What the hell was that all about,” he mumbles under his breath, clenching his fists in his lap.

“Yeah,” Jongdae says, scratching the back of his head, a confused look on his face, “did you see the pants that dude was wearing-”

“Why wouldn't he sit with us?” Baekhyun interrupts, a small pout on his face. “I wanted him to joi-" He doesn’t get to finish his sentence when Jongin suddenly stands up, gets out of his chair and walks out of the cafeteria without a word.

4:01 PM

Tapping his foot impatiently, Jongin leans against his locker before shoving his phone in his pocket. He’s memorized Sehun’s schedule by now and if his calculations are correct, the latter’s last lesson is to end in ten minutes.

Jongin’s entire body is buzzing with a feeling of longing and he bites his lip before checking his watch for the nth time in the past five minutes. He’s lucky his Chemistry lesson got cancelled at the last minute because in all honesty, all he wants is some peace and quiet away from everything and everyone.

To be precise, all he wants is some peace and quiet away from Jongdae and Baekhyun, especially Baekhyun.

He pulls out his phone and pouts when he doesn’t see any new texts from Sehun, but, the feeling of loneliness in his chest quickly gets the best of him and before he knows it, he’s typing out a quick message.

To: Sehunnie~

where are you?? ❤❤❤❤

Pressing ‘Send’, Jongin shoves his phone in his pocket and awaits at least seven more minutes of brain melting boredom. He figures Sehun isn’t the type to text during class so he lets out a sigh before staring down the never ending hallway, hoping to God Jongdae and Baekhyun went home after detention.

Baekhyun’s last words to him in the cafeteria play on a loop in Jongin’s head and he swallows the lump in his throat. Not that Jongin would have anything against Baekhyun greeting Sehun on any normal day, but there’s something about the way the redhead’s eyes flashed with a certain glint when he laid his eyes on the taller that really makes Jongin’s stomach churn uncomfortably and it takes every fiber in his being not to kick the locker behind him in frustration.

Blaming his actions (and feelings, and thoughts) on the lack of sleep he’s been getting lately, Jongin takes a deep breath before running a hand through his hair. For some reason, he’s suddenly struck with the thought of why Jungah acted so strange this morning, but he quickly dismisses it as his brain making things up, since it tends to do that a lot.

“Hey.”

Snapping his head up, Jongin feels all his worries briefly subside when he sees none other than Sehun walking towards him down the hallway, and the brunet practically throws himself at Sehun when the latter stops by his locker.

“Hey,” Jongin says with a wide grin, enveloping Sehun in a bone-crushing hug, making the latter stumble so he collides with the wall with an ‘oomf!’. “Sorry.”

Wincing a little, Sehun mutters an ‘it’s okay’ before regaining his composure. “You’re still here?” he asks, furrowing his eyebrows. “I thought your last lesson ended two hours ago."

Jongin shrugs. “I chose to wait,” he says simply before hugging Sehun closer. It’s not until he leans in to plant a kiss on Sehun’s cheek that he swears to God Sehun leans away ever so slightly, and he blinks in surprise. In fact, now that he thinks about it, it’s almost as if Sehun is trying to push Jongin away and the thought makes the brunet take a step back, stomach churning.

“How thoughtful,” Sehun chuckles, ruffling Jongin’s hair, which instantly makes the latter feel a tiny bit better on the inside. A buzzing noise rings through the air and he reaches into his pocket before pulling out his phone. “Just got your text,” he says sheepishly, holding up his phone in front of Jongin’s face.

With a playful roll of his eyes, Jongin turns around and opens his locker, retrieving his jacket and putting it on before slamming his locker shut. His locker still smells like spinach pie and he curses inwardly. “Okay,” he says after turning around and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. He reaches for Sehun’s hand, only for the latter to shove his hand in his pocket.

Dismissing it as Sehun simply not noticing, Jongin tries again, this time he links their arms together and he doesn’t miss the way Sehun visibly tenses at the touch. Jongin dismisses that too, though, and rests his head on Sehun’s shoulder as they make their way down the hallway. He feels his phone buzz in his pocket and quickly retrieves it, immediately clenching his jaw upon reading the few words on the screen.

Messenger

Byun Baekhyun to your group: dae just got out of detention!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 wooo we’ll meet you by your locker in a sec jongin ~

Feeling his gut churn all over again, Jongin quickly puts his phone away before tugging on Sehun’s arm a little. The latter tries (not so subtly) to pull away, which only makes the brunet tighten his hold.

“Let’s hurry,” Jongin says and growls in irritation when he hears footsteps approaching behind them, and he blinks when Sehun forcefully tries to pull away. “What’s the matter, come on,” he adds, picking up the pace. He does not want to stick around and talk to Jongdae and Baekhyun right now.

One thought leads to another, and all of a sudden, Jongin’s brain is bombarding him with images of Baekhyun’s mesmerized stare when he greeted Sehun a couple of hours ago, and the thought is enough to make Jongin tug on Sehun’s arm, practically dragging the latter along. “Come on!” he huffs when he hears the footsteps getting louder and louder. All we have to do is turn that corner-

“Jongin, let go,” Sehun says when a feminine sounding (although Jongin thinks it sounds too deep for it to be a female) chuckle emits from behind them. “Let go,” he repeats, voice slightly more distressed, before quickly turning around to look behind him.

When they’re less than six feet away from being able to turn the corner up ahead, Jongin feels his phone buzz thrice in a row and he clenches his jaw in irritation before subconsciously pulling Sehun closer, ignoring how Sehun practically rips his own arm off trying to free himself from Jongin’s grip.

“Hey!”

Jongin stills. It’s not the annoying, high-pitched voice of a female, but it’s pretty darn close, and Jongin squeezes his eyes shut in irritation when he hears his name being called behind him.

~~~