~~~

1:20 PM

Jongin grabs a sandwich off the shelf as well as a carton of milk. He stifles a yawn and fights the urge to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He hasn’t gotten much sleep the night before, to say the least, and it’s all thanks to a certain redheaded companion. Now that he thinks about it, he doesn’t even know why he’s eating in the first place since he isn’t hungry at all.

He mutters a low ‘thanks’ to the lunch lady before turning around and (reluctantly) walking towards his, Jongdae and Baekhyun’s usual table in the corner of the cafeteria. Looking up, he spots Sehun chatting away with his teammates about God knows what and it takes every fiber in Jongin’s being not to turn away from his table and walk over and join Sehun instead, but Jongdae’s beckoning glare changes his mind, for whatever reason.

“Jongin, could you help me review for the exam?” Jongdae asks when the brunet sits down next to him, wiping his mouth with a tissue.

Unwrapping his sandwich, Jongin shrugs casually before nodding ever so slightly. He’s keeping his head low on purpose in order to avoid Baekhyun’s eyes (and face, for that matter) because quite frankly, Jongin would rather look at anything but the redhead right now. As a matter of fact, as much as Jongin made sure to avoid taking a seat next to Baekhyun, he almost wishes he did, because at least then he wouldn’t get an eye full of the redhead each time he looked up.

“I’m so not ready for this,” Baekhyun groans while sipping his milk and Jongin clenches his jaw at the chirpiness in his voice. It’s always chirpy, but on this particular day the brunet finds it just as pleasant as nails on a chalkboard. “Are you?” he asks, gesturing at Jongin with his own sandwich, and pokes the latter’s head when he doesn’t reply.

“Stop it,” Jongin hisses, whacking Baekhyun’s hand away, and he lowers his head again when Jongdae and Baekhyun exchange puzzled looks. “No, I’m not,” he mumbles when it’s obvious Baekhyun wants an answer.

Jongdae is silent for a moment. “Neither am I, but that’s nothing new,” he chuckles humorlessly, still eyeing the brunet. “How’d you sleep last night, by the way?” he asks, nudging Jongin a little.

Resting his head on the table, Jongin watches a handful of students walk past the table before sighing. “Just fine, I guess,” he mumbles and closes his eyes, trying to block out the consistent murmuring all around him. In all honesty, he really isn’t that tired, but rather, on edge and slightly (to be precise, extremely) agitated, but he doesn’t bother telling Jongdae (or Baekhyun) about it.

It’s not until one of Sehun’s teammates - probably Chanyeol, Jongin assumes, lets out a loud laugh that Jongin notices Baekhyun’s head snap up, a glint, the one the brunet has grown to hate so much, apparent in his eyes.

“I wonder what they’re talking about,” Baekhyun says absentmindedly, sipping on his milk, and Jongin fights the urge to slap it out of his hand. “Hey, should I go over and say hi?” he adds, moving to stand up, but he quickly sits back down when Jongin growls low in his throat.

“Don’t,” Jongin says, resting his head on the table again. The last thing he wants right now is for Baekhyun to be anywhere near Sehun, no matter how awful or strange it sounds. He’s about to close his eyes again when he hears Jongdae’s voice.

“Why not?” Jongdae asks in confusion. “I mean, I guess it might be a little weird since we’re all the way over here and they’re all the way over there, but still, a small greeting wouldn’t hurt,” he adds with a shrug before also making a move to slide out of his seat. He stills when he sees the rather unfriendly glare in Jongin’s eyes.

Jongin takes a bite out of his sandwich, which tastes like cardboard. “No, don’t,” he mumbles with a rather hostile glare, mainly in Baekhyun’s direction, and the latter raises an eyebrow.

“But I want Sehun to sit with us,” Baekhyun says way too loudly and Jongin nearly chokes. “Come on, wouldn’t you like that?”

Yeah, but not with you around, Jongin thinks before taking another bite out of his (rather disgusting) sandwich and pushing his tray away. As much as he’ll admit that Baekhyun’s saddened expression (almost) makes his gut churn a little bit, all he sees in front of him is the image from when the latter playfully whacked Sehun in the chest yesterday, which is enough for his hostility to stay. He opts to say nothing and rest his head on the table again.

“What’s with you today, Jesus,” Jongdae mumbles, sitting back down.

Baekhyun also returns to his seat, albeit reluctantly before pouting a little. His expression immediately changes into one of excitement when his phone buzzes next to him and he picks it up before proceeding to type.

Feeling red lights going off in every part of his brain, Jongin snaps his head up and tries his best to see what’s on Baekhyun’s screen (in the most subtle way, of course). He bites his lip in irritation when the redhead only angles his phone in the opposite direction, away from Jongin’s line of vision.

“What are you doing?” Jongin asks in the most neutral tone he can manage, which is awfully difficult.

Baekhyun keeps his eyes glued on the screen. “Texting.”

“Texting whom?” Jongin pries, feeling his gut churn uncomfortably.

“You never text,” Jongdae snickers, shaking his head in amusement. “Looks like somebody’s got their own Prince Charming, I guess,” he adds and Jongin doesn’t know if it’s the nickname that does it or the fact that Baekhyun, indeed, never, ever texts, but he nearly chokes on his food either way.

Looking behind him ever so subtly, Jongin swears to God he sees Sehun typing away on his phone as well, and Jongin checks his own phone under the table, only to see nothing new, and he bites his lip. What he saw on Facebook last night, as well as yesterday’s antics with the trash can and the eraser, clouds his mind and he shoves his phone back in his pocket. “Baek, who are you texting?”

Baekhyun raises an eyebrow and Jongin swears he sees something flash in his eyes. “Nobody in particular,” is all he says before turning his phone off and placing it in his bag.

Jongin doesn’t know if he’s hallucinating from the lack of sleep or if it’s something else, but when he turns around, he barely manages to catch a glimpse of Sehun also putting his phone away in his pocket. He swallows the lump in his throat.

“Hey, if Sehun came over here, maybe we could ask him to do the tossing thing again, huh?” Baekhyun says all too eagerly and Jongin nearly kicks him in the shin. “Wouldn’t that be cool?”

“Shut up,” Jongin mumbles but his voice is muffled by the sound of somebody dropping a plate nearby. He doesn’t know if he should be thankful or not.

“Wasn’t it so cool, though?” Baekhyun continues, eyes glittering. “I mean, Sehun like, did it so effortlessly while I failed big time,” he adds and blushes a little, which does nothing to soothe Jongin’s buzzing nerves.

“Jesus, do you talk about Sehun a lot lately,” Jongdae chuckles, scratching the back of his ear. “Hell, you talk about him even more than Jongin, if I do say so myself,” he adds and Jongin looks away.

Baekhyun shrugs. “I guess so.”

It’s not until Jongin notices Baekhyun avert his gaze so he’s staring at Sehun’s table, which would’ve been (sort of) fine by him on any other day, but it’s the way the redhead proceeds to groom himself; running a hand through his bright red locks and subtly fixing his shirt with a small smirk that causes Jongin to fly out of his seat, before he has a chance to stop himself, before slamming a hand down on the table.

Jongin doesn’t know if it’s the stress making him do it or something else; he doesn’t even know if he’s imagining things or not, but he finds himself unable to control his voice (or his actions, for that matter) anyway as he grabs the milk carton on the table and, before he registers what’s going on, Baekhyun is sitting in front of him with his hair (and phone) doused in milk.

“Cut it out, for God’s sake,” Jongin growls before not so gently - rather throwing, the (now empty) carton down on the table before quickly getting out of his seat and storming towards the exit.

2:53 PM

To: Sehunnie~

Baby where are you?? ❤❤❤

Head spinning, Jongin puts his phone back in his pocket. If he remembers correctly, Sehun’s last lesson, which he thinks is English, ends in three minutes.

Jongin's head is still cloudy and the coil inside his stomach refuses to go away, a feeling he's had to endure for the past two hours. He made sure to avoid looking in Baekhyun’s direction all afternoon up until now but despite that, the latter didn't seem to notice at all, given the fact that he seemed to be as touchy and vibrant as usual. It makes Jongin feel queasy.

He’s actually thankful for the fact that both Jongdae and Baekhyun are in the middle of their Literature class right now because all Jongin wants as of right now is some peace and quiet.

To be exact, some peace and quiet with Sehun.

Since Sehun has been (awfully) slow at replying between lessons, to say that Jongin feels excited when he feels his phone buzz less than ten seconds later would be an understatement.

From: Sehunnie~

Just ended

Jongin blinks at the lack of...well, everything, in Sehun’s reply but he quickly dismisses it as the latter leaving his class in a rush. Nevertheless, he hurries to type out a reply.

To: Sehunnie~

I’m by my locker, where we were yesterday~ wanna come here?

Holding onto his phone in case Sehun replies just as quickly as before, only for his phone to remain as still as ever, Jongin bites his lip before shoving it in his pocket. He has his reasons.

His hand still hurts from slamming it against the surface of the table earlier and Jongin winces when he balls his hand into a fist, only for a sharp pain to surge through his entire palm. In all honesty, he barely had time to process what he did, it’s almost as if his arms (and head) acted of their own accord before he could register what he was doing. Either way, it doesn’t matter, because Jongin doesn’t care, and all he wants to do right now is spend some quality time with Sehun, who has yet to reply to Jongin’s text.

Whether or not Sehun noticed Baekhyun’s (obvious, at least according to Jongin) flirty mannerisms earlier plagues Jongin to the very core and he has to pull out his phone again and open one of the (crappy) games he downloaded ages ago, and never really plays, just to distract himself and to stop the coiling in his gut.

However, the game barely gets a chance to load completely before a familiar voice rings through the air.

“Why do you look so sad?”

Snapping his head up, Jongin blinks at the unexpected sound, a smile quickly spreading across his face.

Lazily shoving his phone in his pocket, Jongin rushes forward and practically tackles Sehun to the floor as he envelopes the latter in a bone crushing hug. Sehun comes dangerously close to losing his balance completely and toppling over, but thankfully he manages to steady himself in the nick of time before he has a chance to injure himself.

“What are you talking about, I’m not,” Jongin mumbles into the crook of Sehun’s neck. He’s lying and he knows it, but he doesn’t want to Sehun to worry, because the latter worrying would break his heart.

Sehun regains his composure before guiding Jongin around the corner and into the hallway, which is thankfully empty. Upon seeing Sehun’s light brown coat, Jongin curses inwardly for leaving his jacket at home. On a side note, Sehun looks awfully good in light brown and the brunet fights the urge to bury his face in the fuzzy material.

“I don’t always wear leather,” Sehun chuckles, apparently having read Jongin’s mind. Looking behind him, he shoots the brunet an expectant look. “Shall we go?”

Blushing a little, Jongin nods and opts to shove his hands in the pockets of his jeans when Sehun does the same thing with his coat. The brunet makes sure to look over his shoulder just in case he won’t be met with the ghastly sight of the redhead and Jongdae, and audibly exhales in relief when he doesn’t, in fact, see them anywhere.

They make their way down the hallway in a couple of seconds, and Sehun easily swings the door open and, just like yesterday, moves aside to give Jongin space to bounce through the door before stepping outside himself, letting the door close behind them.

The air outside is cold, surprisingly cold given that the sun is out, and Jongin shudders as they make their way down the familiar path leading to the bus stop. Knowing Sehun is going to spend the night with him for a second time is enough to spawn a handful of butterflies deep inside Jongin’s stomach and he’s just about to ask Sehun if he’s brought everything he needs to “survive” the night when-

“Where are you going?” Sehun asks, a curious look on his face when Jongin proceeds to walk in the opposite direction.

Jongin stills before turning around. “...To the bus stop,” he says but it comes out sounding more like a question than anything else. He blinks. “Why?”

Kicking a few leaves out of the way, Sehun smiles sheepishly. “It’s only ten past three.”

Jongin blinks again. “Yeah? So?”

“I wanna go to the park,” Sehun says all of a sudden before pulling out what looks like a travel guide booklet out of his pocket, much to Jongin’s surprise. “Come on, please,” he adds when the brunet stays bolted to the ground.

Is he serious. “Wait, what?” Jongin scratches the back of his head. Not that he’d have anything against the idea, though. In fact, on second thought, the thought of spending the afternoon with Sehun at the park makes his heart flutter, as cheesy as it sounds.

“Yeah, you heard me,” Sehun chuckles before walking over and gently grabbing Jongin’s wrist with his free hand. He practically drags the brunet in the opposite direction before coming to a stop at the crossing. “So what do you say?”

“Do I have a choice?” Jongin asks sarcastically before his face erupts into a smile. “I’m kidding, ,” he laughs when Sehun blinks, grabbing the latter’s sleeve. “I’d love to.”

Whacking Jongin on the shoulder, Sehun mumbles a ‘you’re so cute’ before proceeding to walk down the gravelly path. “It’s only like, a ten minute walk from where we’re standing,” he hums, tilting his head up to get a face full of the sun. “So don’t worry, lazyass.”

“Watch your mouth,” Jongin grumbles, jogging to catch up with Sehun. He hears the latter’s pocket buzz and watches as the taller proceeds to retrieve his phone.

Typing something on his phone, Sehun slides it back in his pocket before ruffling Jongin’s hair. “Will do,” he chuckles when they approach the hill leading to the park. He halts when he sees the brunet shiver in his peripheral. “Are you cold?”

Jongin shrugs, trying his best to hide the fact that he’s absolutely freezing and probably seconds away from dying of hypothermia. “Nah, it’s cool,” he says casually, and he bites his lip when Sehun proceeds to remove his coat. “No seriously, Sehun, please, I’m fi-”

“It’s only gonna get colder,” Sehun says in concern before handing his coat to Jongin. “It’s not poisoned,” he adds with a laugh when the brunet only stares at the garment like it’s a bomb about to explode.

Jongin stares at the coat for a good minute or so before exhaling in defeat and quickly sliding it on, although carefully as to not accidentally wrinkle it, and he hurries to brush it off afterwards. The coat isn’t as heavy as he initially thought it would be and it smells just like Sehun - so much for the butterflies in his stomach biting the dust. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Sehun says with a smile. “And if you say anything along the lines of ‘that’s cheesy’ or whatever, I swear to God I’m gonna take it back,” he adds, patting Jongin’s head lightly.

Biting his lip, Jongin grabs Sehun’s hand when a group of girls walk past them. In the corner of his eye, he swears he sees Sehun’s features contort into one of pure discomfort but he’s beyond caring at this point. In fact, it only makes him tighten his grip around the taller’s hand.

“Is your exam this week?” Sehun asks as they approach the top of the hill. It’s not until they begin descending the (quite steep) hill that he visibly relaxes and gives Jongin’s hand a loving squeeze, the latter’s worries instantly subsiding at the gesture.

Trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach, Jongin nods. “It’s tomorrow,” he replies, nearly slipping on some gravel. Sehun catches him before he has a chance to hit the ground and split his face in half.

Pulling the brunet close, Sehun nods. “Have you studied?” he asks and laughs when Jongin clears his throat. “So that’s a no, then?” he adds before fixating his gaze on the small book in his hands.

“Whatever, I was busy last night,” Jongin mumbles into Sehun’s arm. “What is that, anyway?” he asks, squinting his eyes as he reads the paragraphs below him, careful to keep his eyes on the path at the same time.

“Busy with what, I wonder,” Sehun says smugly before handing Jongin the book. “There are a couple of cool statues in the park, it’d be cool to see ‘em,” he says simply when they find themselves on a path. “Look, there’s the lake I used to swim in when I was little!”

Turning his head, Jongin blinks when he’s met with the sight of a crystal clear lake ten feet away, that he definitely didn’t know existed. He pictures Sehun as a young boy, splashing about in the water during the scorching Summer afternoons and stifles a giggle. It’s a rather beautiful lake, regardless, and Jongin feels the sudden urge to throw himself in it.

“It’s pretty,” Jongin says absentmindedly and blinks when Sehun suddenly lets go of his hand. He’s about to turn around and ask Sehun what’s the matter when he, out of nowhere, feels himself getting lifted off the ground at an alarming speed. The next thing he knows, Jongin feels something soft, yet solid, come in contact with his stomach and before he has a chance to utter a single word, he finds himself staring down Sehun’s backside. What the fu-

It’s not until Jongin feels one of Sehun’s strong arms wrap around his legs that his eyes widen in panic, and he pounds on Sehun’s (awfully toned) back with his fists while emitting a surprised squawk (or to be exact, a high-pitched, not so manly scream). “Sehun, what the hell, ing , put me down, no, no, no, nonononononono-"

He hopes to God nobody is around to witness what’s going on because quite frankly, as much as Jongin would hate for Sehun to dump him in the water with his clothes on, he’s pretty sure he finds the thought of somebody walking by and spotting them even more terrifying, and said thought is enough to make him squirm and emit another series of ‘no’s when Sehun takes a couple of steps forward. “No, Sehun, , come on, are you serious, put me down, I’m gonna catch a cold, damn it, you imbecile, nonononononononoonoonnonoonnono-”

To Jongin’s relief (and surprise), Sehun stills before quickly putting the brunet down, keeping a steady hand on his shoulder as he regains his balance. “I didn’t know your voice could go that high,” he cackles and he promptly doubles over in laughter, his guffaws echoing all around them. "And sheesh, for an athlete like yourself, you sure are light as a feather."

Fighting the urge to kick Sehun in the face, Jongin clenches his jaw and winces when a head rush suddenly hits him. “I hate you,” he mumbles, scanning his surroundings in fear of somebody watching them. Thankfully, he finds nobody. “I hate you,” he repeats, brushing himself off.

“You really thought I’d do it?” Sehun asks after standing up and wiping his eyes, and even though the urge to kick him is still as strong as ever, Jongin won’t deny that the taller looks undeniable gorgeous when he laughs, so he chooses to spare him. For now.

Feeling himself blush, Jongin fidgets a little. “Yeah,” he mumbles, turning to look at the water. It looks so peaceful that he momentarily forgets the fact that he was mere seconds away from being dunked head first in it (against his will, that is).

“Come on,” Sehun says, voice dropping two octaves. “I would never do that.” He runs a hand through Jongin’s hair when he takes a step closer, and the brunet shudders.

Biting his lip, Jongin avoids Sehun’s gaze. He suddenly feels really bad about wanting to kick the latter in the face a few seconds ago. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Sehun says with a nod. He proceeds to turn on his heel and resume his walk down the path. “Wouldn’t wanna get my favorite coat wet,” he adds and emits a squawk of surprise when Jongin proceeds to chase after him.

~

“Ow, dude, why’d you have to hit so ha-”

“Shut up and quit yammering, you asked for it,” Jongin grumbles with a roll of his eyes. They’ve been walking down the same path for what feels like years (which in reality is two minutes) and he seriously hopes Sehun isn’t pulling a ‘pretending-to-be-lost-just-to-tell-you-you’re-pretty’ move like he did yesterday. In fact, he turns around is about to tell the latter that he better not be trying to trick him again when-

“Look, there’s the statue I mentioned!” Sehun exclaims, still rubbing the (very) sore spot on his arm. Seriously, never in his life did he think Jongin could (and would) hit that hard. “See it?” he adds when Jongin remains silent.

Squinting his eyes, Jongin barely makes out a silver silhouette of a person and he bites his lip. “Yeah, I see it,” he says. Averting his gaze, he spots a large, green gate, too. “Why’s there a gate there?”

“What?” Sehun blinks and sighs in exasperation. “Damn it, don’t tell me they’ve got an entrance fee now,” he mumbles before jogging up to said gate. “They didn’t have it last time I was here.”

Jongin rolls his eyes. “And when was that?”

“Five years ago,” Sehun says under his breath, turning around and spotting somebody whom he assumes manages the park, or at least works in it. “Be right back, I’m gonna ask that guy over there if he can open the gate for us,” he adds before jogging over.

Mumbling an ‘okay’, Jongin stays glued to the ground. He briefly wonders why Sehun even bothered asking somebody considering the fact that there’s a small, red building right behind the brunet that looks an awful lot like a paying place, not that the brunet knows for sure, of course.

He has his reasons, Jongin thinks before he feels his back pocket vibrate. He pulls out his phone and feels his eye twitch.

Facebook

Byun Baekhyun to your group: jonginnnn why didn’t you wait for us???? where are you rn??? TT

Swallowing thickly, Jongin quickly shoves his phone in his pocket.

“Jongin!”

Jongin flinches, turning his face to the right. Sehun is standing on the other side of the gate, waving at him. The brunet curses under his breath when he jogs over to the gate and scratches the back of his head. He doesn’t even need to look up to know that Sehun is laughing his chin off and he clenches his jaw in irritation. “What are you-”

“The gate stood open for like, a whole minute before it closed again,” Sehun cackles. “I called your name like fifteen times!”

“How do you open this thing?” Jongin asks, looking around for a button of some sort, only to find none. He feels a handful of people glaring at him and he swallows. “Is there a button on your side or something?”

Sehun nods. “Yup.”

Jongin nods slowly and blinks when Sehun doesn’t make a move to open the gate. “Well?” he says, flailing his arms around. “Open it!”

“So feisty,” Sehun chuckles before leaning against the gate. “Hey, you look so freaking cute, you look like you’re in prison,” he practically squeals before extending his hand. “Hand me your phone!”

Jongin blinks and stares at Sehun’s hand like it’s a grenade. “...Why?” he asks dumbly, eyebrows furrowing. “Just let me in, damn it, people are staring!”

Reaching through the bars, Sehun proceeds to give one of Jongin’s locks a friendly tug. “Just do it,” he chuckles and takes a step back in the nick of time to avoid being whacked in the face when Jongin’s right hand comes swinging towards his face through the bars.

“Why? Just open the gate and let me in already, Sehun, dammit!” Jongin practically yells at the top of his lungs. He sighs when Sehun only continues to stare at him with that godforsaken smug look of his. “Fine,” he sighs in defeat before putting his hands up, pulling out his phone and handing it to Sehun.

Opening the camera, Sehun holds the phone up. “Pose,” he says and chuckles when Jongin looks absolutely horrified. “What? You that camera shy?”

“Whydoyouhavetotakeapicturejustpressthegoddamnbuttonandletmeinalready,” Jongin babbles, flailing his arms around. He drags a hand down his face. “Why can’t we just use your phone? That new battery that dude gave me .”

Something flashes in Sehun’s eyes and for a second Jongin thinks he looks rather...afraid, but it disappears just as quick as it came. “No, I think it’s better if we use yours,” he says in a slightly different tone before raising the phone again. “Now pose!”

Cursing Sehun’s entire existence, Jongin mumbles a low ‘ my ing life’ before proceeding to bend down and stick his face through the bars, contorting his features into a small smirk and grabbing onto the bars. He can see at least fifty people staring at him on the other side and he stands up maybe a little too quickly when he hears the sound of a camera click. Jesus Christ.

“Okay, can you let me in now, please?” Jongin asks in the most loving tone he can manage. It probably isn’t working, though. “Jesus Sehun, just let me in,” he practically sobs when a little girl suddenly points at him.

Continuing to stare at Jongin(‘s misery), Sehun nods before grabbing one of the bars and easily pulling the gate open. He lets out a loud cackle when Jongin’s entire face falls. God, is he adorable. “Come on now, it’s open, don’t just stand there with your mouth open!”

Closing his mouth, Jongin blinks in confusion. It’s not until he looks around and doesn’t notice a single button or lever anywhere that he growls in irritation, running over and whacking Sehun on the back.

~

Booklet in hand, Jongin’s eyes skim across the words on the page before he looks up and admires the large statue above him. Next to him, Sehun is mumbling to himself as he rubs his sore arm, and the brunet nearly chuckles. “You keep asking for it, it’s funny.”

“I was just joking, you bastard,” Sehun grumbles but he walks over and kisses Jongin’s temple anyway. “But you looked so damn adorable so I forgive you,” he adds and yelps when Jongin smacks him again.

“Shut it,” Jongin murmurs, turning the page. 

Despite the fact that he was nearly dunked in a lake an hour ago and humiliated in front of God knows how many people twenty minutes ago, by none other than Sehun, Jongin won’t deny that being all alone with Sehun in the park, like this, makes him feel oddly happy. Even though Sehun has been complaining about the pain in his arm for the past half an hour, Jongin is thankful for the taller for suggesting going to the park because all he’s wanted since this morning is to spend some quality time, preferably peace and quiet, with Sehun (and away from Jongdae and Baekhyun), which is what he’s got at the moment.

Jongin is so deep in his own thoughts that he nearly jumps out of his own skin when Sehun places a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, that dude looks like you,” Sehun exclaims, pointing to the statue.

Jongin looks up and blinks in surprise because come to think of it, the statue, which is of a man he hasn’t bothered learning the name of, is also holding a book, just like he is. But other than that, they don’t have that much in common, at all.

“I...guess?” Jongin says, scratching his head, and sputters when Sehun shoves him forward, towards the statue.

Pulling the brunet’s phone out of his pocket, Sehun holds it up in front of his face and walks backwards until he’s ten or so feet away. “Do something!” he calls before unlocking Jongin’s phone, which doesn’t have a code, just like his, and proceeding to look through the latter’s photo editing apps. He quickly finds one that just so happens to be one of his favorites, one with a handful of nice filters, and opens it up.

Sighing inwardly, Jongin subconsciously fixes his hair and straightens out Sehun’s coat before standing with his legs slightly apart. If somebody comes along and sees this, I’m gonna die, he thinks before putting his right hand up in the air to mimic the statue, the book in his other hand.

Sehun takes the picture after a painfully long time and Jongin practically scrambles to get away from the statue in fear of somebody possibly seeing him. He stands next to Sehun and is about to grab the latter’s hand when Sehun points back to the statue and Jongin almost cries.

“I want another one,” Sehun says as a matter-of-factly before shoving Jongin forward again, and he watches as the latter reluctantly walks up to the statue again before stopping six feet away from the camera. “At least walk up the stairs!”

“No way,” Jongin calls. “It’s bad enough I have to pose with this thing, now you want me to stand on those, as well?” he asks, shaking his head. In the corner of his eye, he sees an elderly couple walking towards them and he bites his lip. “Sehun-”

“It’s fine, they won’t care,” Sehun calls before raising the phone. “Do something!”

Not knowing what to do (honestly, he’s more focused on making sure the people to his right don’t spot him than anything), Jongin slowly inches closer to Sehun before running a hand through his hair. Damn it. “Okay, but this is the last one, promise me that,” he says before raising his right arm, pointing to the camera, and closing his left eye. He’s got absolutely no idea what he’s doing, but in all honestly, he’ll do whatever it takes to get out of having to pose with a bronze statue, any day.

So cute, Sehun thinks before pressing the button. He makes sure the photo has been saved before nodding at Jongin, who rushes forward before the couple has a chance to spot him. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?” he chuckles.

“It was awful,” Jongin whines, burying his face in Sehun’s arm. The sun is beating down on him and he fights the urge to remove Sehun’s coat, but he doesn’t in fear of hurting the latter’s feelings, so he opts to keep it on while hoping he doesn’t die of heatstroke. “Look, can we move on?”

Handing Jongin his phone, Sehun nods before kissing the brunet’s forehead. “Whatever you say,” he replies before making his way down the path, Jongin hot on his heels.

Blushing at the unexpected gesture, Jongin is about to put his phone in his back pocket when it vibrates and he shoots it a quick glance.

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Byun Baekhyun to your group: btw jongin is sehun still at school??????? :3

If Jongin was feeling agitated and on edge three hours ago, it’s nothing compared to what he feels right now, and he swallows the lump in his throat before hurrying to put his phone back in his pocket before Sehun has a chance to question him about it.

Inevitably, though, Sehun does notice and he does question him about it, because the next thing Jongin knows, the taller is stopping dead in his tracks before turning around.

“What’s the matter?” Sehun asks, eyebrows knitted together.

Avoiding Sehun’s gaze for reasons he can’t explain, Jongin shrugs as casually as he possibly can, although he doubt it looks very convincing. “Nothing.”

Shaking his head in disbelief, Sehun promptly walks over to the brunet. “What is it? Are you feeling sick?” he asks, his features quickly melting into a look of pure concern. Jongin doesn’t know how to feel about that. “Look at me.”

“It’s nothing,” Jongin mumbles, running a hand through his hair. He’s lying, for sure, because he’s doing all he can to stop himself from bending down and vomiting onto the ground. He doesn’t, though, because he figures he’d receive an enormous scolding if he were to hurl anywhere near the statue (not that a lot would come back up, but still).

Sehun raises an eyebrow, which is all Jongin needs to know to assure himself that he doesn’t believe him and, unfortunately, demands an explanation.

Clearing his throat, Jongin bites his cheek. “I’m just...tired,” he says. “I didn’t sleep well last night,” he adds and looks away when Sehun sends him a worried glance. “Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you just say so from the start?” Sehun asks, grabbing Jongin’s hand and guiding him towards the direction they’d come from. “I would’ve let you drag me right towards the bus stop if I’d known,” he adds, biting his lip in guilt. “What’s got you so tired all of a sudden, by the way?”

Fighting the urge to say ‘Baek’, Jongin shrugs before grabbing Sehun’s hand. He hates himself for making the latter worry but he’d rather choose to leave Baekhyun out of the conversation for obvious reasons. “Exams and all,” he mumbles as they quickly approach the gate.

Sehun throws the gate open and practically shoves Jongin forward, nearly making the latter drop the book in his hand. “Hey, tell me when you’re feeling or tired or just not into it next time, okay?” he asks, placing a hand on the small of Jongin’s back as they make their way down the path.

Jongin swallows. “Okay,” he says simply, the coiling in his stomach making him feel sick to his stomach. He grabs onto Sehun’s hand for support. “Why, though?” he adds, seeing the lake from before come into view.

“Because,” Sehun starts, promptly removing his hand from Jongin’s back to run it through his brown locks instead, “your discomfort would break my heart.”

Nearly choking on his spit (or rather, the bile that’s risen to the top of his throat), Jongin garbles something coherent before lightly whacking Sehun upside the back of the head. “Don’t be so cheesy all the time, Jesus!” he mumbles, face burning. “Imagine what your teammates would think if they knew what a cheesy sap you are majority of the time,” he adds with a small chuckle.

Sehun clears his throat. “It’s not my fault, it’s the truth,” he says simply, grabbing Jongin’s hand.

Gradually feeling the feeling of discomfort in his stomach disappearing at the touch, Jongin rests his head on the taller’s shoulder. “Hey, speaking of which, I wanna meet your teammates and see if they’re as cool as I think they are,” he hums and he swears to God he feels Sehun tense significantly. “Wouldn’t that be cool?”

Sehun is silent for a minute. “I...don’t think that’s a good idea,” he says in a slightly different tone than before, much to Jongin’s surprise.

“Why not?” Jongin asks, furrowing his eyebrows. Do 12th grade football players have a problem with 11th grade hockey players or something? “Am I not good enou-”

“It has absolutely nothing to do with you,” Sehun interrupts (alarmingly quickly) before he rubs his neck sheepishly with his free hand. “I mean, they’re kinda...uh, shy and sort of in their own world for the most part, um, especially Junmyeon and Chanyeol, I don’t think you’d click with them, to be honest. No offense or anything,” he says lowly.

As confused as he is, Jongin opts to not question Sehun any further in fear of annoying the latter (since they are his teammates, after all) so he shrugs casually, nuzzling his face in Sehun’s shoulder as they approach the hill. As strange as Jongin thinks Sehun's reasoning is, he figures he can live without clicking with Junmyeon and or Chanyeol.

~~~