~~~

7:05 AM
 

Opening his eyes, Jongin blinks in surprise when he realizes he somehow managed to turn himself around in his sleep, and he scrambles to get away from the foot of his bed before sitting up and running a hand through his hair.

A mix of different emotions (mainly those of fuzziness) hit him like a bag of bricks after he rubs the sleep out of his eyes and lays his eyes on Sehun, who is lying on his stomach (partially, at least), one hand under the pillow, Jongin's favorite pillow with the cute poodle print on it, with his other hand hanging off the edge of the bed. His hair is splayed out across the pillow in a black, frizzy mess and the brunet gapes in awe because this is the first time he has ever seen Sehun when his hair isn't, well, flawless. Jongin watches Sehun's shoulder's rise and fall with every steady breath he takes, breathing out an audible sigh of relief when he notices Sehun's body is completely covered with the covers from the waist down. On the other hand, Jongin figures Sehun's bare body being the first thing he sees when he wakes up in the morning doesn't sound like a bad idea.

Jongin is about to crawl over and wake Sehun up when he remembers the latter said something about starting at two something today, so he promptly gets off the bed as quietly as he can before walking into the bathroom to wash his face, nearly slipping on one of his dirty socks in his half awake state.

After drying the cold water from his face, Jongin spots Jungah's hairspray in the corner of his eye and he bites the inside of his cheek. He knows for a fact that Jungah will tear him to shreds if she found out he's been using her most expensive hair product, however, the feeling Jongin gets whenver Sehun compliments his hair (and how good it smells) quickly wins over his head and he wastes no time in grabbing the baby pink can and dousing his hair in the sweet smelling substance. He figures he'll let Jungah do whatever she wants to him when she finds out and he promptly curses when he accidentally inhales some of it, praying to God it isn't toxic.

When Jongin walks out of the bathroom five minutes later, he smiles a little when he sees Sehun's unmoving, sleeping form on the bed, seriously fighting the urge to pull up the covers on the latter's body. He tip toes over to his closet, making sure to place his hands in front of his face to save his nose from being smashed into his skull when his hockey stick comes flying towards his face. He quickly picks a (clean) simple shirt in black before sliding it over his head and picking his pants up off the floor.

As he's struggling to put on his jeans, Jongin swallows when he realizes he'd much, much rather spend the whole day (or morning, at least) snuggled up next to Sehun than go to school, and he bites his cheek when he's suddenly reminded of the fact that he's got his Chemistry exam in an hour, for which he certainly hasn't studied for. He buckles his belt and bites his lip, figuring he'll have to wing it and pray to the high heavens afterwards.

With his hair thoroughly combed and sprayed, Jongin grabs his backpack and slings it over his shoulder before ripping the charger out of his phone. Checking his watch, he curses when he realizes he's going to have to choose between eating breakfast or arriving to first period (and thus his exam) half an hour late, and he mutters a ' it', figuring he'll have to find a way to stifle the grumbling of his gut one way or another, before sneaking another glance at Sehun, who is still out cold, and rushing towards the door.
 

Swinging his locker door open, Jongin stuffs his textbook inside of it before slamming it shut again. He's barely even functioning at this point, and not because he most definitely failed the exam, but because he's absolutely starving, and he pulls his phone out of his pocket to message Jongdae where the latter is.

"Heya, Jongin!"

Jongin blinks. Looking up from his phone, he feels like his entire world has been crushed to bits when he sees Baekhyun walking down the hallway, towards his locker. Jongin curses the redhead's entire existence before biting his lip and attempting his best smile, which probably doesn't look all that convincing.

"Here," Baekhyun chirps, dumping what looks like a video game, a war themed one, right in Jongin's arms. His hair is surprisingly proper today and, upon closer inspection, the brunet notices he has parted his hair differently. It almost reminds him of a certain person and he clenches his jaw.

Eyeing the box in his hands, Jongin raises an eyebrow. When Baekhyun continues to stare at him, he clears his throat before turning around and opening his locker, carelessly tossing the game onto whatever textbook before slamming it shut, locking it and turning to look at the redhead with an unreadable expression.

"Where's Dae?" Jongin asks, keeping his gaze fixated on the wall because to be honest, he'd rather not look at the redhead right now (or ever, for that matter), especially not when he's got his hair parted like that. All he wants is for Jongdae to come along and save him from his misery. Where's that fool when you really need him????

Baekhyun shrugs. "He stayed behind and bombarded Miss with a ton of questions after class, you know how braniacs are," is all he says with a pointed look at Jongin before leaning against the wall and pulling out his phone, and Jongin has to close his eyes in an attempt to keep himself together.

Watching Baekhyun type, Jongin drums the tips of his fingers against the lockers anxiously. As much as he trusts Sehun and what the latter said yesterday, there's a small part at the back of his head that's still got red lights going off in every crevice of it. Baekhyun doesn't seem affected in the least, considering the fact that Jongin practically yelled in his face two days ago, and dumped a whole glass of milk on him, something that makes the brunet bite the inside of his cheek in irritation. Why doesn't he care? He balls his hands into fists when Baekhyun suddenly lets out a small chuckle, and Jongin has no idea what he's laughing at (it's not like he cares), but he's got a pretty good guess, nevertheless. The thought makes him bite his lip in anger.

After a while, the dreadful buzzing in his chest gets the best of him and Jongin clears his throat, the redhead looking up at the sound

"You've been texting quite often lately," Jongin says casually, scratching the back of his ear. He can feel Baekhyun staring at him with that godforsaken, dumbfounded expression of his and it takes every fiber in his being not to slap the redhead upside the head.

Baekhyun blinks before nodding. "Yeah, I guess," he says simply before turning his attention back on his phone. He's about to resume whatever he's typing when Jongin speaks again.

"That game thingy you just gave me," Jongin says, gesturing to his locker. "Who's it for? I mean, you know I don't play anyth-"

"Oh, I probably should've told you, silly me," Baekhyun chuckles, a disgustingly bright grin on his face. "It's for Sehun," he adds and the brunet promptly sees red.

Jongin raises an eyebrow. "What?"

"He told me he's a huge fan of that game and I told him I happened to have it, he said it'd be cool if he could borrow it since he lost his copy a while ago," Baekhyun says all in one breath and misses the way Jongin's eye twitches. "Why do you ask?" he adds, still typing.

"Who are you texting?" Jongin asks. He could care less about the godforsaken video game, all he wants is to squash the burning feeling in his chest. When Baekhyun stills a little, but doesn't say anything, he bites his lip. "Who are you texting?"

Baekhyun bites his lip. "Nobody," he says in a low voice, which doesn't do anything to ease the heavy feeling in the brunet's gut. "No seriously, it's nobody special, why do you-"

"Let me see your phone."

"What? Why?" Baekhyun furrows his eyebrows before moving to put his phone in his pocket. He momentarily lets out a loud squawk of surprise when Jongin takes a step forward and attempts to grab it out of his hand. "Jongin, what the are you doing," he exclaims way too loudly before placing a steady hand on the brunet's chest and giving him a shove.

Stumbling backwards, Jongin almost collides with one of the lockers and he swallows thickly when he feels the fiery feeling inside his gut bubbling and threatening to boil over. He trusts Sehun, he does, but there's something about the way the redhead is apparently doing all he can to hide his screen that makes Jongin's gut churn uncomfortably.

It's not until Baekhyun's phone buzzes inside the latter's pocket that Jongin sends him a look that promptly makes the redhead cower a little. "Who are you texting?"

"The hell's with you," Baekhyun mumbles, looking around for Jongdae, who is nowhere in sight, much to Jongin's relief and frustration. "Up all night studying for the test or what? Your under eye circles are pretty visible, if I do say so myself," he says, his words quickly dying down when Jongin growls in irritation.

Jongin doesn't know what it is, it's probably the stress of not knowing, or something else, but before he can stop himself, he opens his mouth. "Stop ing trying to impress him all the ing time, who the do you think you are," he growls, feeling his heart speed up, and the anxiety pulsing through his veins only increases when Baekhyun blinks in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Baekhyun asks, cocking his head to the side. "You're being wei-"

"Don't bull me," Jongin says, staring at the redhead with a dumbfounded look. The latter's cluelessness is doing absolutely nothing to calm the spinning in his head and the frantic beating of his heart, which is why he's barely able to process the few words that leave his mouth next. "Don't think I haven't noticed."

Baekhyun's mouth falls open a bit in surprise. "Jongin, are you feeling okay-" he starts and yelps in surprise when Jongin slams his palm against one of the lockers. "Dude-"

"I don't know if you're just naturally airheaded, but yeah, we've noticed, I've noticed, don't think you're subtle or discreet and whatnot because you most certainly aren't," Jongin says all in one breath before he can stop himself. He doesn't know if Baekhyun is toying with him or if the latter is just, well, naturally airheaded, but he doesn't care. All he wants if for Baekhyun to understand, which is apparently a downright impossible task. "He doesn't like you, you goddamn moron, so just lay off already and go hit on somebody else," he seethes, his frustration only doubling when a sharp feeling of pain spreads across his entire hand.

"What the hell are you ta-"

"I know you've been messaging each other back and forth, don't give me this 'the-hell-are-you-talking-about- bull of yours," Jongin says, seeing even more red than before. , is he clueless. "Don't think I haven't noticed, because I have, so just- God damn it, you clueless ing imbecile-" He briefly pauses to drag a hand down his face in frustration. Out of nowhere, the image from when Baekhyun had teased Sehun to hell and back while the latter taught him how to throw pops into his head, and he feels himself getting nauseous.

Baekhyun blinks. "I think you should go see the nurse-"

"Why don't you ing get it!" Jongin practically yells before he feels his eyes stinging and he curses under his breath. He hopes nobody chooses to walk down the hallway right at this moment or open the doors because he honestly wouldn't know how to explain himself if they did. "I don't know if you're just ing with me or whatever, but lay the off and leave both me and him alone already, damn it-"

"I literally have no idea what you're talking about," Baekhyun says and the (probably forced) sincerity in his voice makes Jongin want to vomit. "Are...are you crying?" he adds in awe, squinting his eyes a bit. "And holy , I don't know if it's really you or not, but you smell like a bakery."

"None of your ing business," Jongin grits through his teeth. A rock hard sensation coils in his stomach at Baekhyun's words because that's what Sehun said to him yesterday, and Jongin only wants to hear that he smells like a bakery from Sehun and only Sehun, regardless of how much he despises the remark. Out of nowhere, he notices his vision blurring but he chooses to ignore it. "Just, , how can you be so ing idiotic-"

"I don't know what you're talking about, I really don't!" Baekhyun exclaims, flailing his arms around. "Seriously Jongin, go get yourself a glass of water, your face is as red as a to-"

"Stop ing flirting with Sehun!" Jongin yells, not even bothering to keep his voice at a steady (and acceptable) level. He's seeing red and his eyes are b with salty tears and he's at least a hundred percent sure he looks like an absolute fool, but he's beyond caring at this point. "Just leave us alone and go flirt with Jun-whatever the his name is," he adds, swallowing thickly. He wants to run away; out of the building and straight home and lie under the covers with Sehun but his legs remain bolted to the floor, much to his distaste.

Baekhyun is silent for a long while. "I...what?"

Fighting the urge to strangle the redhead on the spot, Jongin growls low in his throat. "I know you're messaging him, ing cut it out or else." He clenches his fists when Baekhyun blinks. "You know what the I'm talking about, you goddamn ing-"

"I know what the you mean!" Baekhyun exclaims, throwing his hands in the air. "And Jesus Christ, Jongin, I haven't been flirting with him if that's what you're thinking, damn it, why on Earth would I-"

"Then who were you grooming yourself for yesterday, then?" Jongin asks, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. "A ghost?"

Baekhyun blinks. "What?"

"In the cafeteria, you idiot!"

"Grooming myself?" Baekhyun retorts, confusion written all over his face. He throws his hands in the air again. "I have no idea what's got you so worked up, but I haven't been flirting with him, get your facts straight and relax, !"

"Then why do you keep messaging him?" Jongin exclaims, clenching his jaw. He already knows the answer, and again, he trusts Sehun, he just feels the need to get the answer from both parties, for whatever reason.

Sighing in defeat, Baekhyun rolls his eyes. "Because messaging him about a video game we both like automatically means I want to him, right?" he huffs and jumps when Jongin slams a fist against the same locker, a loud banging sound echoing down the entire hallway. "Jesus, take it easy, you'll hurt yourself-"

"Shut the up, stop talking like that," Jongin growls. "Just learn to stay out other people's business for once in your damn life!" He runs a hand through his hair in frustration.

"I literally just said I wasn't flirting with him," Baekhyun deadpans. "Why do you even ca-"

"Because," Jongin hollers, "he's been avoiding me all ing week 'cause of your ery, but y'know, I don't expect you to notice since you're too busy trying to look good for him and all." He swallows the lump in his throat, blinking back the tears in his eyes.

"If you're referring to that time two days ago in the lunchroom, I wasn't messaging him," Baekhyun says, but only because he fears Jongin might pass out from all the pent up anger and passive aggression that's radiating off of his body. "I'll admit, fine, I messaged him three days ago when he asked me for your number so he could text you, as well as two days ago in the cafeteria, I'll admit, I texted him, but only because he thanked me for supplying him with your number, and nothing else," he adds, eyeing Jongin intently.

Fighting the urge to wipe his eyes, Jongin bites his lip. "What about the day after that, then?" he asks, trying to control his racing heart. "You were holding onto your phone for dear life," he adds and exhales shakily when Baekhyun goes silent. "Thought so."

"No, look, I wasn't messaging him," Baekhyun retorts, trying to get Jongin to look at him with no success. "I wasn't, I swear to God-"

"Then who?" Jongin spits.

Baekhyun opens his mouth to speak but he quickly closes it. "I...I can't, I don't- I can't tell you," he says quietly, fidgeting a little. "But I can assure you it wasn't Se-"

"Just do me and every single of us a huge ing favor and never message him ever again, don't even talk to him," he adds, nearly stumbling backwards because of how much his head is spinning. Baekhyun admitting to being head over heels for Sehun is one thing (even though Jongin still hates it, nonetheless), but Baekhyun lying about it makes the brunet all that more furious and he has to bite back a growl.

Baekhyun blinks. "Whaddya mean, I saw your post last night, it sure as hell didn't seem like he was avoiding you to me," he grumbles before his eyes fly open in surprise. "And what the hell? He's my friend and I think he's super cool, who are you to decide who he gets to talk t-"

"Do it if you know what's best for you," Jongin spits, feeling his throat constrict from the sudden increase in temperature in the building. He turns on his heel the very second he feels a tear rolling down his cheek, storming down the hallway while wiping at his eyes angrily, not even bothering to turn back and fetch his backpack.

 

~

 

Muttering a ' my life' when he hears a ringing sound somewhere to his right, Sehun sits up and rubs his eyes before grabbing his phone off the floor. "Hello?" he asks in a raspy voice, lazily placing it by his ear. He figures whoever's calling him and essentially robbing him of at least two more hours of beauty sleep better be calling for a darn good reason, or else.

"Sehun?"

Sehun's senses immediately spring to life when he recognizes the voice as Jongin's voice and he blinks. "Jongin?" he asks, checking his watch. 11:20 AM. What could he possibly want? He's about to open his mouth and ask Jongin if his last lesson got cancelled for whatever reason, and if he's on his way home, when he hears Jongin's voice crack, which is closely followed by a sob, and Sehun sits up like a bullet in bed. "Are you alright? Where are you? What's the matter?"

"It's nothing," Sehun hears Jongin say, and the former hears the sound of the wind blowing in the background, promptly distorting the brunet's voice. "Hey, um, listen, could we grab something to eat, like right now?"

Blinking in surprise, Sehun stretches out his long limbs. "I literally just woke up," he chuckles, voice quickly turning serious. "Where are Baekhyun and Jongdae? Can't you eat lunch with them? Are they both sick today?"

"I wanna eat with you, damn it," Jongin exclaims and Sehun blinks when he senses a hint of desparation in the brunet's voice. "Please Sehun, I need to see you, can you please come-"

"Wait, hold on," Sehun mumbles, getting out of bed and stumbling a bit in his half dazed state, before scrambling for his clothes. "What's the matter? Why are you crying?" he asks, biting his lip in worry as he proceeds to pick up and put on his jeans. He remembers just how teary eyed Jongin had been the night before and he feels his brain clouding with concern. "Where are you right now?"

Jongin clears his throat, but his voice still cracks when he speaks. "Uh, can we meet up at that cake place thingy near the library?" he asks and Sehun hears the sound of a door closing in the background.

Struggling to slide his shirt over his head while keeping the phone close to his ear, Sehun is about to make a witty remark about Jongin's constant craving for junk food, but he quickly decides against it when he hears the latter sob again. Probably isn't the right time for that. "Sure, just uh, lemme just brush my teeth and get ready first," he mumbles, making his way to the bathroom. He hasn't brought his toothbrush or comb or perfume or, well, anything, but he figures Jongin won't mind if he uses his stuff.

However, Sehun barely even makes it three steps when he hears a loud sob on the other end of the line and he stops dead in his tracks.

"Nevermind, I'll be right over," he says quickly before hanging up.

Figuring he'd rather have morning breath than keep Jongin waiting, Sehun wastes no time in heading towards the door and unlocking it, and nearly gets the wind knocked out of him when he collides with what he assumes is a steel wall.

Rubbing the sore spot on his head, Sehun mumbles something incoherent under his breath before sitting up, praying he doesn't have a concussion. He gets to his feet, struggling to regain his balance before looking up and-

"Oh, it's you," Jungah says, eyeing Sehun cautiously. She doesn't seem hurt in the least, and now that Sehun thinks about it, she hasn't even fallen over, which blows his mind. "What are you doing here? Is Jongin in his room?"

Oh . "Uh," Sehun mumbles, "he's...not here." He bites his lip, cursing inwardly, the pain in his head long forgotten. "Listen, you haven't told anybody, have you?"

"So those were your shoes and your jacket in the hallway," Jungah says before she presses her lips together. "And no. I haven't."

"Good," Sehun says lowly, exhaling in relief. He doesn't hear the sound of a coffee maker anywhere and assumes Jongin's Father has gone off to work already. He's about to turn on his heel and head down the stairs when Jungah speaks up.

"What's with you?" Jungah asks, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're weird," she adds and Sehun almost facepalms.

Nodding awkwardly, Sehun scratches the back of his head. "Um."

"Why do you not want me to tell people? I mean, it's not like I will, but still," Jungah says, raising a badly filled in eyebrow. "It's just...weird. I mean-"

Sehun bites his lip. He wants to keep his mouth shut and run straight for the front door but there's something about Jungah's piercing gaze that keeps him nailed to the floor. "I don't want people to know," he says simply after a few minutes of carefully choosing his words. He looks up when Jungah doesn't say anything, feeling his nerves buzz a little.

"...Why not? Isn't it natural for people to want others to know about their relationship?" Jungah asks in confusion. When Sehun remains silent, she huffs. "Jongin talked to me about it a couple of days ago, about how you were basically ignoring his existence all day at school. He sounded pretty upset," she adds, gaze not even faltering as she looks up at Sehun. She huffs when the taller doesn't reply. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

Scratching his neck, Sehun shrugs. "I... feel bad," he says simply, shooting her an apologetic smile. In all honesty, he's (sort of) lying and he knows it, because on the inside he feels like his insides are being beaten with a mallet. But he chooses to keep his head high and continue to shrug.

Jungah blinks in astonishment. "That's it?" she asks, mouth hanging open. "I mean, you must be dead serious since you feel the need to remind me to keep my mouth shut every time I run into you," she adds. "I mean, he's not very talkative, at least not with me, which is why I'm asking you, since he sounded genuinely upset."

Swallowing, Sehun presses his lips together as if to say 'I have no idea'. "Look, I'm kind of in a rush-"

"Tell me first," Jungah says and Sehun curses at the confidence and determination in her voice. "I refuse to let you go see my brother two days after he practically cried about you ignoring him and treating him like, and I quote, 'a nobody'." She shrugs as if to say 'you're not going anywhere'. "So don't even think about it, mister."

If only his heart weren't beating so incredibly fast right now, Sehun would actually find Jungah's words pretty sweet and he almost decides on telling Jongin, but that would mean having to inform Jongin him about what he and Jungah are currently discussing, so he quickly scratches that idea. "Uh."

"You enjoy spending time with him, don't you?"

Sehun blinks. "Of course I do," he says, tapping his foot impatiently. The thought of Jongin, teary eyed and anxious, waiting in the cold for him makes his heart tremble and he bites his lip.

"Then why avoid him like the plague? Are you ashamed of him? Is he not good enough for you or what? This is weird, this isn't right," Jungah mumbles, mainly to herself and, in her contemplative state, she doesn't realize Sehun isn't standing three feet away anymore until the front door slams shut downstairs.

~~~