~~~

10:39 PM

“I in’ hate Yifan,” Chanyeol mumbles, kicking a beer can with his foot. Next to him, he hears Junmyeon hum in approval. “And you really should stop,” he adds, zipping his jacket and wincing when his temple throbs in pain.

Raising a cigarette to his lips, Junmyeon takes a drag. “ off, Nationals are stressful as hell,” he mumbles, exhaling a cloud of smoke which, because of the breeze, hits Chanyeol square in the face. “And you know how Yifan can be sometimes. Not to mention I think just about everyone’s a little winded since there’s less than three weeks left.”

“Especially Sehun,” Chanyeol says, rubbing the sore spot on his head. “Sheesh, I can’t imagine how much pressure he must be under right now, it’s a good thing he’s so level headed.” He shoves his hands in his pockets after waving a hand in front of his face to get rid of the smoke.

“Level headed and idiotic as hell,” Junmyeon mutters, taking another drag and throwing the cigarette on the ground, and given the pitch blackness he’s surprised he’s able to step on it on the first try. In the corner of his eye, he can spot Chanyeol staring at him in wonder. “I mean, I worry about him sometimes,” he adds, coughing a little.

Chanyeol bites his lip. “Me too.”

“Have you noticed something about him lately?” Junmyeon asks, leaning against the brick wall of the building. “I mean, aside from the fact that he’s talking about love and all of a sudden, that is.”

Running a hand through his hair, Chanyeol sighs, his breath leaving his mouth in the form of a white cloud that quickly disintegrates into the air. “It’s a little hard not to notice,” he murmurs. “He acts like he’s got the FBI on his 24/7,” he adds, chuckling a little. “Yeah, speaking of that, whatever happened to that date of his? The one two-ish weeks ago?”

Junmyeon clears his throat. “He said it didn't work out," he says. “Even though I call bull.”

“Huh?” Chanyeol raises an eyebrow.

“As in, I don’t believe his little story about his date not working out,” Junmyeon says simply, resting one foot against the wall. He reaches into his pocket to grab his box of cigarettes but Chanyeol quickly slaps his hand away. “Asswipe.”

Chanyeol chuckles. “Not surprised,” he mumbles. “Sehun finding a date that lasts…” He shakes his head in amusement. “That’ll be the day.”

“No, lunkhead,” Junmyeon huffs, whacking Chanyeol’s shoulder. “I meant-”

“I mean, he’s sort of right, his date probably didn’t work out ‘cause they found out how overly dedicated he is,” Chanyeol interrupts, eyes roaming around his surroundings. Only darkness as far as the eye can see. “Won’t you-”

“Listen to me, you inbred,” Junmyeon hisses, kicking Chanyeol in the shin. “I think his date did work out.”

“Not for long it won’t-”

Junmyeon rolls his eyes before elbowing Chanyeol in the waist. “Let me finish,” he says in exasperation. He almost regrets staying back and talking to Sehun earlier, because if he’d chosen not to, he wouldn’t have missed his bus by thirty seconds and, even better, wouldn’t need to be stuck with Chanyeol for twenty minutes. “Anyway, I might just be pulling at invisible strings, but I have a pretty good idea as to who he’s, well...dating.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his lighter, closely followed by another cigarette. “Don’t you dare try to stop me.”

“You think he’s dating?” Chanyeol asks, apparently more bewildered by that instead of Junmyeon's smoking habits.

Putting his free hand over his lighter, Junmyeon nods. “I do,” he says simply, leaning back against the wall and taking a long drag.

“Seriously? What’s his name?” Chanyeol asks, and Junmyeon can practically see the stars in his eyes in the darkness.

Junmyeon opens his mouth and exhales deeply, a thick, gray cloud of smoke filling the air in front of him. “Okay, I might be imagining , but I don’t think I am-” He suddenly stills, cigarette a mere inch from his lips. “What did you say?”

Chanyeol blinks. “I said ‘what’s his name?’”, he says in confusion before he clears his throat. “That was weird, sorry, it’s just that I’ve always thought...uh...nevermind.” He scratches his neck.

“I agree.”

Chanyeol blinks again. “What?”

“I said, ‘I agree’, you dolt,” Junmyeon chuckles low in his throat before taking another drag. When he feels Chanyeol’s questioning gaze burning holes in his body, he rolls his eyes. “I think he's gay, too, Einstein.”

For a minute, Chanyeol is completely silent before he exhales in relief. “Jesus, I thought I was the only one who’s-” He quickly closes his mouth and awkwardly clears his throat. “Nevermind. Wait, so you’re a hundred percent sure or what?”

Junmyeon shrugs casually. “Call me crazy, but I am. A hundred percent sure, that is,” he says, taking a drag. “Anyway, I think he’s dating that little dude,” he adds, tapping on his cigarette. “Y'know, the awkward kid who went from blonde to brunette in like, ten minutes.”

Chanyeol is silent for a few seconds before his eyes fly open in realization. “Wait, you mean the dude who constantly sits at the same table in the cafeteria? With his friends, that is,” he says, apparently deep in thought. “Yeah, I think I know which one you’re talking about.” He suddenly furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “You...you think Sehun’s dating him?”

“Like I said, moron, I don’t know for sure,” Junmyeon mumbles, taking a drag. “But you can’t blame me, can you? I mean, he gave him his number, stared at him like his life depended on it the first time he became a blondie. And we saw him chatting with him in the hallway before our meeting two weeks ago, remember? Not to mention he’s skipped like, three training sessions this week,” he says all in one breath and nearly chokes, slapping Chanyeol’s hand away when the latter pounds him on the back.

“Oh yeah, I remember that. Jesus, how could I forget, Sehun practically stared at him like he was the eighth wonder of the world,” Chanyeol sniggers before his voice turns serious. “But...I mean, I’ve never actually seen them, you know, together, so how can you be so sure that they’re-”

“And why do you think that is, ?”

Chanyeol blinks. “Uh.”

“Why do you think Sehun's been acting so paranoid lately?” Junmyeon asks as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. When Chanyeol doesn’t say anything, he throws his hands in the air. “Use what’s left of your brain, you dolt!”

“Because...because he’s ashamed of dating Blondie and doesn’t want to be associated with him anymore?” Chanyeol asks, scratching the back of his head.

“Try again, lunkhead.”

Chanyeol sighs. “Because,” he starts and closes his mouth. “I seriously don’t know, let me in.”

Junmyeon coughs into his fist. “I’m pretty sure he’s trying to protect his image,” he says, bringing the cancer stick to his lips again. “Which is en’ weird since it’s not like he’s a celebrity or anything,” he adds, exhaling. “Although one could argue that he is, in this school, at least, but still.”

Chanyeol is silent for a while. “So what you’re saying is,” he starts, kicking a plastic bag. “He hasn’t told us or anybody about him and Blondie because...he’s scared?” He blinks in astonishment. “That’s...wow. Okay.”

“It makes sense, though,” Junmyeon mutters. “I mean, if I was captain of the football team and known and treated like a celebrity by literally every single female in the school, I’d stay closeted ‘til the day I died.” He takes a drag and shakes his head. “Although my assumption is that he cares less about what they think and more about what, well, we think.” He throws the cigarette on the ground and steps on it, effectively putting it out. “When the ’s my goddamn bus coming, it’s been like six kabillion years.”

Chanyeol reaches into his pocket and retrieves a couple of pieces of gum. “I guess you’re right, but.” He pops them all into his mouth and begins chewing. “Why do you even care? I mean, not to sound like an or anything, but I thought you couldn’t give a about Blondie.”

“Because I have a feeling he’s making it up to Blondie by hanging out with him after school which in turn ends in him missing a ton of practice,” Junmyeon says, biting his lip. “I hope he gets his head out of his and realizes nobody gives a which way he swings, at least not us, ‘cause you can bet your I’ll be pissed if everything ends up ing itself over right before Nationals,” he adds, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Speaking of Nationals, he had better wake the up real fast since I bet he’ll be avoiding Blondie even more now that the day’s drawing close, so who on God's green Earth knows how many training sessions he'll be missing from now on. And his name’s Jongin, if I remember correctly, and he isn’t even blonde anymore, .”

“He probably thinks the girls will burn him at the stake if they found out, though, and I don’t blame him; you know how girls are,” Chanyeol mutters, blowing a bubble. “And how do you know? You’ve asked him?”

“I bet he thinks it’ll make a huge difference if they find out, which I doubt it will, since they only like him for his looks, anyway. So in a sense it’s totally idiotic of him to worry about what they’ll think since it won’t make a difference, and I’m pretty sure he’s aware of it,” Junmyeon says, clearly frustrated. “And he added me on Facebook for some reason.”

Chanyeol blinks. “Hey, maybe he’s sick of not getting enough from Sehun and moving on to you instead,” he cackles, his laughter echoing through the darkness. He lets out a cry of pain when Junmyeon steps on his toe. “I was just kidding, , you idiot, can't you take a jo-”

Rolling his eyes, Junmyeon mumbles a ‘’ before leaning back against the wall and checking the time on his phone. Where’s the in’ bus already. He suddenly furrows his eyebrows. “I’m actually...kinda worried about that,” he says quietly and growls in irritation when Chanyeol stifles a chuckle. “Okay, first of all, I couldn’t give a about how much Jongin gets, and second of all, what I meant was that he might eventually grow tired of Sehun being such a blowhard and...you know.”

“And what? Start hitting you up instead?” Chanyeol cackles.

“No, you stain!” Junmyeon exclaims, whacking the sore spot on Chanyeol’s head, making the latter hiss in pain. “I meant he might grow tired and end up dumping Sehun, which I most ing certainly hope he doesn’t do before Nationals rolls around, or else we might as well start looking for a new captain,” he adds, biting his lip in worry. “Seriously, where’s the ing bus? How long have we even been standing here? Six thousand years?”

Chanyeol shrugs. “So basically, you don’t want them to break up because it might affect how Sehun performs during Nationals,” he deadpans and chuckles low in his throat. “Same ol’ Myeon, heartless as ever,” he mumbles and moves aside in the nick of time to avoid being hit in the face with Junmyeon’s lighter.

Lighting a third cigarette, and ignoring Chanyeol’s squawk of protest, Junmyeon rolls his eyes. “And you’re as clueless as ever,” he mumbles, turning on the lighter and bringing it to the tip of the stick. He inhales and removes the cigarette from his mouth before speaking. “And of course not, I’m obviously looking out for him, believe it or not.” He takes another drag. “He’s just making harder for himself and thus Jongin, it’s kinda saddening to see.”

“Stop smoking so much, you’ll die of lung cancer right before the game,” Chanyeol grumbles, running a hand through his hair. “And you? Looking out for Sehun? My, oh my,” he chuckles and promptly shuts up when Junmyeon threatens to burn him with his cigarette. “Anyway, what do you mean by 'saddening'? And exhale that way, you’re blowing smoke in my face, you dolt!”

Exhaling dramatically, Junmyeon zips his jacket when a cold breeze passes. “I’ve known him longer than you,” he mumbles, voice slightly muffled by the cigarette. “And haven’t you noticed how Jongin constantly tries to get Sehun’s attention, only for Sehun to turn away like a little ? I mean sheesh, I feel so sorry for the little one, he must think there’s something wrong with him, I know I would.” He takes another drag. “And I can tell he loves Sehun, maybe a little too much, so Sehun better man the up before he ends up ruining it for both Jongin and us,” he adds sourly.

Chanyeol slides down the wall when he feels his legs starting to get tired from standing. “Jesus Christ,” he mumbles, wincing when he cuts his hand on one of the red bricks. “Do you think we should uh, you know, tell Sehun we uh, know he’s gay?” he asks and furrows his eyebrows. “Wait, that’s weird since we don’t kn-”

“Of course we ing should,” Junmyeon says boldly, taking a drag. “Or else he’ll never learn and it’d if he ended up breaking Jongin’s heart because of his own stupidity,” he adds. He’s about to throw his cigarette on the ground when he chuckles. “He’s in such denial, it’s almost funny, you should’ve seen how he reacted when I brought up Jongin earlier.” He has to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing out loud and possibly waking up the entire neighborhood.

“Let’s hear it,” Chanyeol mumbles, wrapping his arms around his torso when a gust of wind passes.

“He was like--” Junmyeon widens his eyes to an impossible extent before smacking a hand on his chest in anxiousness. “‘There’s nothing going on between us!’”, he exclaims, mimicking Sehun’s voice, in a panicked tone. Unable to hold it in any longer, he bursts into laughter when Chanyeol emits an unattractive chortle. “You’d think I was holding a gun to his head,” he adds after a while, regaining his composure and taking a drag.

“,” Chanyeol wheezes, nearly choking on his own spit. “Someone really needs pull his head out of his . Jesus, if I didn’t know any of this I’d assume he was using Jongin as a distraction of some sort.” He blinks after a while. “...Do you think he is?”

Listening as a car drives by, Junmyeon shakes his head. “No.” He shrugs. “I mean, I don’t think so, at least. Why would he do that and risk being outed, which he’s trying so goddamn hard to avoid? It makes no sense. Not to mention he’d never, ever, ever miss practice unless he was deathly ill or hopelessly in love, so I highly doubt it.” He throws the cigarette on the ground and puts it out before running a hand through his hair. “Get up off the ground, you idiot.”

Slowly getting to his feet, Chanyeol brushes himself off. “So what you’re saying is.”

“What I’m saying, airhead, is that he loves Jongin for real, a lot, he’s just being stupid as hell,” Junmyeon says, patting Chanyeol’s shoulder and bending down to pick up his duffel bag. “But yeah, we’d better tell Sehun pretty ing soon, so could you call him and tell him to get the hell out here?” he asks, brushing himself off.

Chanyeol pulls out his phone and stills when he hears a buzzing sound. “Was that you?”

Nodding, Junmyeon retrieves his own phone and his eyes soften a bit when he looks at the screen.

“The hell’s with your face,” Chanyeol mumbles, craning his neck to see the words on Junmyeon’s phone.

iMessage

From: Baekhyun

How did practice go?  Hope you didn’t hurt yourself. You better get home safely!

/BH

“How cute,” Chanyeol coos before he blinks. “Who’s Baekhyun?” He takes a step back, scratching head before his eyes flash. “Wait, is he that short, hyperactive kid who always hangs out with Jongin and Jongdae? The kid with the cool hair color?”

Shoving his phone in his pocket, Junmyeon nods. “Yeah.” He gestures at Chanyeol’s phone. “What are you waiting for? Call Sehun,” he mumbles and bites his lip when he sees the -eating grin on Chanyeol’s face. “What?”

“Are you two texting each other?” Chanyeol asks, eyes glittering. When Junmyeon visibly tenses, his grin only widens. “Why, may I ask? I mean, I thought you didn’t want anything to do with ‘those meddling kids’.”

Shrugging, Junmyeon rubs his neck. “Just call Sehun already.”

“Hold your horses,” Chanyeol says, putting a hand in the air. He looks at Junmyeon with a knowing glare. “Do you like him?” he asks loudly, his grin widening even more when Junmyeon fidgets with the strap on his bag. “, man, you do!” he squeals way too loudly before squishing Junmyeon’s cheeks together. He knows the latter will probably slap his face off but he doesn’t care.

Grabbing Chanyeol’s wrists, Junmyeon forcefully shoves the former away before rubbing his sore face. “Nevermind that, Sehun’s ery is more important than...this,” he mumbles, although Chanyeol can tell he’s doing his best to hide his blush. “Call Sehun already before I shove your phone up your , I'm serious.”

“Who knew the heartless iceman would ever find love?” Chanyeol tuts in astonishment, yelping when Junmyeon harshly smacks him. “Does he like you back?” he asks, dialling Sehun’s number and putting the phone on loudspeaker. “Let’s hope he hasn’t left yet.”

“How would I know,” Junmyeon mumbles, clearing his throat to distract himself. “And we’d see him, we’re standing right by the exit, idiot,” he adds and listens to the monotone sound of the beeping signal for what feels like years. It’s not until Sehun’s loudspeaker comes on that he growls in frustration and he practically rips his bag off his shoulder before letting it fall to the ground. “Wait here.”

Watching Junmyeon reach for the door handle, Chanyeol ends the call and turns his phone off. “Where are you going?”

“Inside, what does it look like moron,” Junmyeon grumbles before swinging the door open with a little more force than necessary. “I’m gonna go get him, I’m tired of this,” he adds under his breath before storming inside the building, ignoring Chanyeol's remark of 'but you'll miss your bus, !', and letting the door slam closed behind him.

---

Opening the back door (he figures he'd much rather spend an extra three minutes locating another entrance than enter through the main doors, since he's at least 99% sure he heard "strange, creepy people" chit-chatting by the main entrance) Jongin steps inside the familiar building, hissing when the bright lights hit his eyes. The corridors are deserted and he thankfully spots a sign with the words ‘MEN’S CHANGING ROOMS’ written on it in big, bold letters and he walks towards it, feeling a little creeped out by the silence of the large building.

As soon as he turns the corner, Jongin is greeted by a large, terrifying stone staircase. He blinks, wondering if he’s been mislead when he spots the sign to the changing rooms hanging on the wall three feet away, and he swallows. He hurries up the stairs, every footstep echoing rather loudly and bouncing off the walls as he makes his way up. How does Sehun have the guts to train here alone at night???

When he arrives at the top of the stairs, Jongin exhales in relief when he hears the sound of running water, because that means he isn’t alone in this large, creepy godforsaken building and he rushes towards the noise. A sign marked ‘MEN’S’, with an arrow pointing towards a large door, leads Jongin to believe that Sehun, or at least somebody, is in there, and he makes his way towards it only to collide with some...thing when he turns the corner.

Stumbling backwards a bit, Jongin blinks as he tries to process what happened, only to almost emit a loud squawk when he looks up and comes face to face with a man he’s never seen before; a tall, sharp eyed man with bushy eyebrows who seems to be staring right into Jongin’s soul and the brunet visibly gulps because there’s something about this man’s piercing stare that’s really off-putting.

Jongin stares at said man for what feels like forever, the strong smell of men’s deodorant tingling his senses with every breath he takes and he gulps again. “H-hello.”

“Evening,” the man replies, and his voice definitely doesn’t match his looks, and the brunet finds himself relaxing significantly upon hearing it. “Who are ya?”

“I, uh.” Jongin bites his lip, and it’s not until he sees a sticker with the word ‘STARDIUM’ written on it, on the man’s duffel bag, that he exhales in relief because if he remembers correctly, that’s the name of Sehun’s team. “I’m Jongin,” he murmurs, scratching the back of his ear awkwardly. Well then.

Extracting his hand, the taller nods. “Yifan,” he says boldly, before scanning Jongin up and down for any signs of a duffel bag or sports equipment. “What're you doing here?”

Jongin blinks. For a second he forgets why he even came here in the first place. “Uh, I’m here to see Sehun,” he says quietly, avoiding Yifan’s eyes because dear God, are they scary. It's like they're piercing my soul.

Yifan raises a bushy eyebrow. “Oh Sehun? Our captain?” He asks and blinks when Jongin nods. “He’s in there somewhere, probably showering,” he adds, gesturing at the door behind him. “If you don’t mind me asking, why exactly do you have to see him?”

“I’m his bo-” Jongin’s sentence is abruptly cut short when he hears an unfamiliar voice yelling something along the lines of ‘Yifan, get the hell over here and gimme back my bus card before I break every bone in your body!’, closely followed by Yifan rushing past him, the latter mumbling something along the lines of ‘Sorry, gotta run, he’s in there, though!’.

Blinking in surprise, Jongin stands glued to the floor for a good ten seconds before he quickly makes his way towards the door. Yifan’s cologne lingers in the air and he almost sneezes.

When his hand is three inches from the door handle, Jongin stills. For some reason, Jessica, Jungah and Jongdae’s words all hit him like a freight train and he has to shake his head to get them to go away. Their words have been plaguing him all evening and he has no idea why, since everything is back to normal now. Even so, Jongin finds himself biting his lip with his eyebrows furrowed in contemplation, because there’s a voice at the back of his head that’s telling him not to go inside and take the bus home instead, but Jongin promptly tells that voice to shut the hell up before pushing down the door handle and swinging the door open.

Only for his hands to fly up and cover his eyes.

“See, this is precisely why I wonder if you’re gay or not sometimes,” Sehun chuckles before grabbing his towel off the bench and proceeding to dry his hair with it. A handful of water droplets trickle down his chest and he quickly wipes them away. “What took you so long?” he asks when he’s finished, tossing the towel into his bag and walking towards Jongin, who takes a step back with a small yelp. “What’s the matter?”

“Put something on, for Christ’s sake!” Jongin croak-garbles, pressing his hands against his reddening (and very hot) face. Not that he’s got anything against seeing Sehun’s...parts, it’s just that they’re the last thing he expected to see the first thing when he opened the door and walked in. “Your underwear, goddammit, put them on!”

Sehun laughs a little. “Fine, if it’ll make you feel be-” He doesn’t have time to finish his sentence when the door suddenly opens, and he watches as Jongin scrambles to stand behind the door, and out of view, to avoid it slamming right in his face.

“Hun, there you frigging are, look, me and Yeol need to ta- Oh, God, Jesus Christ, sorry, um- , , sorry,” Junmyeon babbles, nearly falling over in surprise when he lays his eyes on Sehun. He quickly tears his eyes off Sehun’s exposed lower region and blinks. “Sorry, , nevermind, uh, see ya.” And with that, he slams the door shut and Jongin and Sehun listen as his footsteps scurry away from the door with inhuman speed.

---

Checking his watch, Chanyeol taps his foot impatiently. He’s about to pull out his phone and call Junmyeon when the door suddenly flies open, missing his face by a mere inch. He scrambles to the side and watches as Junmyeon steps out, the door closing behind him. Man, that was fast.

“So?” Chanyeol asks hopefully, eyeing Junmyeon, who looks as white as a sheet. “Is he ready to confront reality now or what?” he adds, watching as Junmyeon trudges over to his duffel bag before picking it up. Chanyeol thinks the shorter looks like a zombie.

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Junmyeon stands upright, a blank look in his eyes. “No, but I’m ready for therapy,” he says in a monotone voice before brushing past Chanyeol and descending the few steps leading to the building.

~~~