~~~

Jongin hastily takes a step back, nearly colliding with his locker in the process, before squinting a little bit. Despite the hallway (and the rest of the building) being nearly pitch black, it isn't completely dark and Jongin vaguely makes out a (tall, very tall) silhouette before him. His head is reeling, both from the adrenaline rushing through his veins and because he's not a hundred percent sure if the person standing in front of him is, or isn't, in fact, a serial killer. However, when his eyes adjust even more he blinks in surprise. Is that-

"Hopefully you were kidding about my face being stupid," Yifan chuckles and even in the darkness, Jongin sees him running a hand through his hair. "Anyway, what-" His sentence comes to a stop when the brunet squawks. "Uh."

"Whatthehellareyoudoinghere," Jongin squabbles, flailing his hands in all directions, and this time he actually does (accidentally) strike Yifan, much to his embarrassment. He hopes that what he just hit wasn't the latter's face. "What are you- It's like, so late- Where'd you even come from, Jesus Christ," he breathes, leaning back against his locker for support. A scent of men's fragrance mixed with the fresh scent of cologne quickly fills the hallway and Jongin is surprised at how much he likes it.

Yifan raises an eyebrow, but his gaze is far from judgemental. "I could ask you the same exact thing," he says calmly, chuckling a little at the brunet's horrified expression. "I'll throw you the bone, though, I probably should've warned you beforehand," he adds sheepishly.

Ya think? Jongin thinks to himself before clearing his throat. As much as he'd expected to see a bloody murderer standing before his eyes, he'll admit that coming face to face with a serial killer would be less surprising than coming face to face with Yifan, and he scans his surroundings for any signs that he's being pranked or watched. He finds none.

When Yifan still doesn't walk away, even five minutes later, the confusion inside Jongin gets the best of him and he clears his throat awkwardly. "No seriously, what are you doing here?" he asks, fidgeting with the strap of his bag. Upon closer inspection, he notices that Yifan has a big bag slung over his shoulder, too, and everything suddenly clicks into place.

"I had practice, in case you're wondering where on Earth I came from," Yifan replies casually, nodding at his bag. He looks at Jongin with an unreadable expression and the latter feels himself blush a little for reasons unknown. "Now you tell me what you're doing here, hm?"

Jongin scratches the back of his ear. "I, uh...I had practice, too," he says dumbly. "I...uh, had to fetch one of my textbooks," he adds for clarification and shoots Yifan a casual smile. He hopes he doesn't look creepy. "By the way, you never told me!"

"I see, I see," Yifan hums before brushing some dust from his shoulder. "And well, this might sound kinda strange," he says, scratching the back of his neck, making Jongin blink in surprise (and curiosity). "But you know, uh...the other day. With Sehun." He looks down just in time to miss the way Jongin grimaces upon hearing Sehun's name. "It wasn't right of me- I mean, sorry, I know should've done something, it's just- Yeah- I didn't know what to- Sorry, it was a move, I know."

It takes Jongin a few seconds to even figure out what on Earth Yifan is talking about and, when he does, he feels his chest swell with happiness for reasons he can't explain. He knows he should feel hostile and angry, since it was the same moment that Sehun pushed him away, but Jongin finds himself smiling for some strange reason. He hopes Yifan can't see it, though, because he would have no idea how to explain himself. 

Figuring he should probably say something, instead of just standing there whilst looking like a dead tree, Jongin opens his mouth, even though he has no idea what to say. "Uh, it's okay, it's...fine." He looks at the floor and presses his lips together, barely able to make out a pair of classy black pants and matching...loafers? He isn't quite sure since it's so dark, but whatever it is, he likes it a lot. "It's fine."

Exhaling in relief, Yifan nods slowly, although there's a still a glint of disbelief in his eyes. "You...uh, I hope you're doing okay now, though," he mumbles, shoving his hands in his pockets. It's almost as if he's refusing to look Jongin in the eyes for whatever reason, much to the latter's confusion. "That was a nasty fall."

Jongin blinks. He's been so caught up with trying to process Yifan's words that he promptly forgets about the pain in his shoulder, which becomes apparent when he loses his train of thought. "I'm uh...I'm fine, it's okay, I'm good," he murmurs, still looking at the floor. He's silent for a while, but he quickly clears his throat when the silence grows to an awkward point. "Um."

"Sorry," Yifan says quickly, clearing his own throat, before adjusting the strap on his bag and looking up at the brunet. "Do you, um, this might sound weird, but, I could give you a ride if you'd like," he adds, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a pair of silver car keys, which shine in the darkness. "Only if you want to, that is."

Scratching the back of his neck, Jongin bites his lip at the sudden offer. As much as he wants Yifan to go away, since the latter reminds him of none other than Sehun, Jongin would be lying if he said that he didn't want to hop in Yifan's car and get a (free) ride straight home, mainly because his lazy side is screaming with joy. Or so he tells himself.

"Sure," Jongin says, shooting Yifan his best smile. He clears his throat and blinks when a warm sensation erupts in his entire chest. "That would, uh, that would be nice, I'd like that," he adds, as if a simple and polite 'Sure' was too vague.

Yifan beams. "Awesome, let's get a move on before Chanyeol comes looking for me since he always asks me for money to buy fast food after practice," he laughs before patting Jongin's shoulder and walking towards the exit.

On any normal occasion, Jongin would be a hundred percent against the mere thought of getting inside somebody's car, especially a stranger's, but there's something about the honesty in Yifan's voice that leads Jongin to believe that the former is not, in fact, out to kidnap him and throw him into the trunk of his car, so he finds himself nodding in agreement before skipping after Yifan. 

Yifan is tall, even taller than Sehun (again, Jongin finds himself internally sighing at the thought of the latter's name), and as Jongin walks a few feet behind Yifan, he notices that the latter's shoulders are nearly as broad as a certain person's, as well, although Jongin would argue that the taller's shoulders are more toned, but he doesn't dare trust himself since it's so dark.

Yifan walks with confidence, but not forced confidence and, despite walking with slight attitude, he still looks as casual as ever with his hands shoved deep inside his pockets, and Jongin doesn't know how to feel about that. As they walk towards the doors, Jongin finds some comfort in the fact that it's not only his own footsteps that are echoing down the hallway, and quite frankly, he finds himself relaxing a little thanks to Yifan's presence. Jongin doesn't know if the reason why he's walking a little faster to catch up with Yifan is because of the fact that the deserted school is still just as (or at least to a considerable extent) creepy, or because the thought of running into Sehun makes Jongin want to upchuck.

"Here you go," Yifan says, opening and holding up the door for Jongin as the latter walks past. "Boy, is it cold," he adds lowly, shivering a little when he too steps out and lets the door slam closed behind them, while buttoning his coat. The cold air carries a whiff of dewy grass.

Nodding in agreement, Jongin shoves his hands in his jacket pockets while doing his best not to let his bag slide down his shoulder. It's a little less dark outside, but just barely, and it's enough for Jongin to make out Yifan's chestnut locks as the moonlight partially illuminates them. The latter's hair is messy, but in a good, natural looking way, and Jongin wonders how Yifan's hair isn't a complete, knotted mess from running up and down a hill for four hours straight while simultaneously having a heavy helmet weighing down on your head. The latter doesn't even realize he's been ogling Yifan (Yifan's hair, the brunet tells himself) until he nearly trips over a hole in the ground. 

Jongin blinks after a few seconds whilst seriously wondering why he isn't lying face down in the water filled hole while slowly drowning, and it takes him an embarrassingly long time to realize that there is a hand tightly gripping his forearm. He looks up and blushes ever so slightly when he's ultimately met with Yifan's eyes. The latter looks both amused and worried (and relieved, the brunet assumes).

Jongin, in fear of looking awkward, clears his throat and regains his composure as quickly as he can. "T-Thanks," he mutters when Yifan lets go and brushes himself off. As as much as his stomach is tingling for reasons unknown, he sure is glad Yifan came to his rescue because Jongin figures splitting his entire face open against the stone cold pavement wouldn't be very pleasant, to say the least.

"Anytime," Yifan hums before shoving his hands back in his pockets as they both resume their short walk towards the parking lot. A dog barks in the distance and he chuckles a little when the brunet winces. "Not a dog person?"

Not even realizing that Yifan asked him a question until much, much later, Jongin emits a series of unattractive 'uh's before reality hits him and he presses his lips together. "I am, actually," he says, mentally smacking himself when he realizes just how stupid that sounded. "Because, uh, I have two dogs and...yeah," he adds, scratching the back of his ear awkwardly. Well then, he thinks, mentally preparing himself for Yifan to momentarily ditch him and leave him to fend for himself for being so weird.

Yifan, surprisingly, does not ditch him and drive off without him, much to Jongin's awe. In fact, the former only laughs. In a friendly way, of course. "Really?" he asks, nodding in understanding. "That's nice," he adds before retreiving his (or rather, his Father's) car keys from his pocket. "I personally am not a huge fan of dogs for some weird reason, probably because I was bitten by one when I was eight." With a small chuckle, he presses the 'Unlock' button on the keypad and Jongin hisses when two bright orange lights briefly flash and illuminate the darkness. 

Trying to blink the orange reflection out of his eyes, Jongin suddenly feels extremely relieved upon seeing what he assumes is Yifan's car come into view, because not only does Jongin not have to wait twenty minutes for his bus, but he also doesn't have to do it all alone. Again, normally he'd be over a hundred percent against getting inside somebody else's car, but there's a voice at the back of Jongin's head telling him that everything is going to be okay.

"Is it this one?" Jongin asks dumbly when he watches Yifan walk around a decent sized, black (or is it dark blue? He can't really tell). It's so dark that he can't make out the brand but he figures that, simply from the looks of it, it's something, alright.

When Jongin hears Yifan's hum of confirmation, he quickly makes his way over to the other side, the passenger seat. However, he stops dead in his tracks before he has a chance to reach out and open the door, because should he say something??? Jongin figures throwing the door open and climbing inside the car would be a little rude so he presses his lips together. "Uh, thanks."

Opening the door to the backseat, Yifan lifts the strap to his duffel bag over his head before proceeding to put it on one of the seats. "No need to thank me," he says with what Jongin thinks is a smile before closing the door and opening the driver's door. "Not a lot of people take the bus at this hour, so this is much better, not to mention less scary," he adds with a small chuckle before ducking a little, easily sliding behind the wheel. When Jongin doesn't even make a move to do anything, Yifan clears his throat before opening the door a little to make it easier for the former to hear his voice. "Please don't misunderstand, you're definitely don't have to feel forced to-"

"No, it's fine," Jongin blurts out before grabbing the door handle and throwing the door open with so much force it nearly breaks off its hinges. He mutters a quick apology before slowly getting inside the car, careful to avoid leaving footprints everywhere as he struggles to locate the seatbelt in the darkness. Once he's snug in his seat, he proceeds to carefully place his bag in the backseat, hoping he doesn't accidentally press any buttons or even worse, hit Yifan in the face with it. The inside of the car is just as cold as the weather outside and he visibly shivers.

Jamming the key in the ignition (on the first try, much to the brunet's awe), Yifan turns it twice and puts down the handbrake. "No need to apologize, it's alright," he says calmly before buckling his seatbelt with his other hand and putting the car in reverse. "Sorry it's so cold, by the way, it should get warmer soon," he adds, putting the car in reverse and slowly backing out of his parking space. 

Jongin watches (and hears) Yifan put the car in drive mode before he feels the car starting to move. His chair is vibrating a little due to the engine and he fights the urge to hold onto the armrest to keep himself still. He suddenly blinks because why on Earth would he feel the need to apologize for it being cold in here??? Jongin clears his throat to rid himself of the thought. As a matter of fact, as strange as what Yifan just said may be, Jongin can't help but find it rather...amusing. In a good way, of course. 

"No, it's okay, I've got my...jacket," Jongin mumbles, hoping he doesn't sound too snarky. The headlights of the car illuminate a small area in front of them and all he sees is the familiar crossing that his bus drives through every single day. He soon figures that he should probably say something, given that he had the pleasure of being offered a ride and all, and he fidgets in his lap. "Thank you for the ride."

Turning on the left blinker, Yifan chuckles. "You already said that, but you're very welcome," he says when they enter the main road.

They sit in comfortable silence for a while, and after a couple of minutes, Jongin finds himself gradually dozing off, and he doesn't know if the calmness he's feeling right now is due to the fact that riding home inside a car is a hundred times better than waiting half an hour for a bus or the fact that the smell Jongin had smelled when Yifan decided to make himself known, in the most terrifying way humanly possible earlier, lingers in the air and Jongin feels his nerves settle the second the strong scent tingles his senses. There's something about the scent that makes him relax significantly, and he promptly forgets all about Minseok's, or anybody else's, for that matters, words.

"So you had practice too, hm?" Yifan asks.

Jongin flinches as he's out of his sleep. "Huh?"

"Sorry," Yifan says quickly, guilt lacing his words. "I didn't mean to wake-"

"It's okay," Jongin mumbles, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he blinks. "And yeah, I did." He looks out the window, following the streetlights with his eyes as they zoom past. 

Stopping at a roundabout, Yifan hums in understanding. "Hockey, am I right?"

Jongin blinks. How did he- 

"Before you ask, I've seen your photo in the catalogue in the main hallway," Yifan chuckles, turning on the right blinker as he presses down on the gas. "Hopefully that doesn't sound too creepy, it's just really cool to see all the medals and stuff in there," he adds sheepishly before stopping at a crossing. "Alright, right or left?"

Jongin closes his mouth. He was on the verge of asking Yifan if the latter knew about his sport through Sehun when reality hit him like a freight train, and he has to bite back a loud, humorless cackle because if he's going to go out on a limb, Jongin would say that Sehun most definitely hasn't told anybody. Heck, he probably hasn't even told my anybody my name.

In his sleepy and mildly irritated state, it takes Jongin a whole minute to realize that he has yet to answer Yifan's question and, when he looks in the side mirror, Jongin's embarrassment only grows when he spots at least six cars lined up behind them. He mumbles a shy 'Right', fidgeting a little in his lap when he feels the car move, and he opts to look out the window as they make their way down the dimly lit road. The only thing Jongin hears is the rumbling sound of the engine all around him as well as Yifan's low humming next to him.

Jongin sits unmoving in his seat, not knowing what to do nor say after a few minutes pass. He wonders if Yifan is mad at him for the inconvenience a minute ago and he briefly wonders if he should apologize for being so unattentive, sinceh he figures it's the right thing to do. However, Jongin barely gets a chance to open his mouth when Yifan speaks. 

"Want me to turn on the radio?" Yifan asks, breaking the ice, eyes still focused on the (empty, but still very dark) road ahead. "You know, since listening to the wheels turning can get a little tiring after a while," he adds, a hint of caution in his voice, as if he's afraid of the brunet's reply.

Jongin blinks. A part of him definitely does not want music blaring through the speakers right now, because his head is already filled to the brim with a ton of other things, and he'd rather not add to it by having some cheesy, awful pop song on full volume. However, another part of him is in desperate need of some noise, because the silence is starting to pick his nerves apart, so he finds himself nodding ever so slightly, and he watches as Yifan reaches out and presses a button on the control pad, clicking it twice. 

When the word 'RADIO' pops up on the screen in capital letters, Jongin instantly regrets saying yes, because even though his head is threatening to explode with both overcrowdedness and awkwardness, he'll admit that he'd rather deal with the aftermath of it without Katy Perry or Justin Bieber's voices pounding into his ears, and Jongin contemplates asking Yifan to turn off the radio. Except he doesn't want to, in fear of coming off as rude, so he opts to it up and lean back in his seat in irritation, mentally bracing himself for pure agony.

Jongin is so busy trying to distract himself from whatever crappy pop artist that's about to blare through the speakers any second that it takes him a second to register that the car is no longer as awkwardly silent as it was only a second ago. 

At first, Jongin doesn't know what he's hearing, but it certainly isn't what he was expecting. In fact, when he focuses even harder, he recognizes what he's certain is the first few bars to 'Can't Help Falling In Love', and he finds himself relaxing significantly. Now that he thinks about it, Jongin is pretty sure that said song is one of Jungah's favorite songs and he smiles a little. At least my ears won't be bleeding, he thinks and blinks momentarily when Yifan suddenly clears his throat to his left.

"Sorry, um," Yifan stammers. "If this is too- Nevermind, I can change the station if you want-" He moves to press the 'Skip' button, although his hand freezes in mid air when Jongin shakes his head.

"It's fine, as long as it's not pop," Jongin hums, closing his eyes and resting his head on the headrest. The (heavenly, as he likes to call it) voice of Elvis fills his ears and he promptly feels his head clearing up, and after a while he's prretty sure he feels goosebumps forming on his skin at the sweetness (and deepness) of the latter's voice. He has listened to the song at least ten times before and he knows every single lyric by heart, but he doesn't have the gut to sing along for obvious reasons.

Yifan smiles a little before nodding, his hand coming back to rest on the wheel. "Good, 'cause this happens to be my favorite song," he says absentmindedly as he turns a corner. "You don't hear 'em playing gems like this anymore, it's kind of sad," he adds. 

Jongin is so absorbed in Elvis' voice that it takes him a while to realize that Yifan has asked him a question. On a side note, he never, ever would have thought that a love song from the fifties would be a footballer's favorite song, and he almost finds it...intruiging, in a way? "True, true," he mumbles, nodding a little, and for once he's grateful that somebody else shares the same music taste as him. He nearly jumps in surprise when he hears a voice; another voice - one that definitely doesn't belong to Elvis, at all. This one isn't as deep (and is almost a tad bit smoother) as the latter's, and Jongin is about to question his sanity when he looks to the side and-

"Sorry," Yifan mumbles quietly, cutting himself off right before the second verse, and he chuckles a little. "Couldn't help myself," he adds before they end up on a very familiar (to Jongin, that is) road. "So, which one's your house?" he asks, slowing down a little.

Jongin spares the familiar houses (and block) a glance, although his mind automatically goes back to replaying the taller's voice in his head. For reasons unknown, he finds himself more drawn to the sound of Yifan's calm, and surprisingly beautiful, singing voice as the short line he heard echoes in his head. Jongin finds it more appealing than Elvis' actual voice, which makes him blink in surprise because he convinced himself two years ago that nobody, absolutely nobody, can beat the king of rock. In fact, Jongin is just about to ask Yifan to sing again but he bites back his words because that would be a little creepy, if he's going to say so himself. Not to mention he'd probably end up missing his house, and Jongin clears his throat before looking out the window, trying to ignore Yifan's passionate 'Take my hand, take my whole life, too' which is still engrained in his brain and, much to the brunet's surprise, making his entire body fill with warmth.

"Um," Jongin mutters, praying to God Yifan hasn't driven past his house, and he exhales in relief when he spots it up ahead. "That one right there." He points to the familiar white building fifty feet away. Yifan's voice is still echoing in his head and he fights the urge to bash his head against the window to make it go away.

Yifan nods and drives towards said house before coming to a stop by the gate. When Jongin looks up, the latter notices that Jungah's light is still on and he makes a mental note to scold her for leaving it on before she left the house two hours ago. Inside his head, the taller's voice is still there, playing on loop, and Jongin has to clear his throat to distract himself.

The entire car falls into complete silence, save for the deep voice of Elvis, a couple of moments later, and Jongin sits glued to his seat. On any normal occasion, he'd happily open the door and get out, but there's something about the newfound atmosphere inside the car (or is it the fact that he never wants to stop hearing Elvis' voice?) that makes Jongin remain in his seat while he fidgets in his lap. However, he comes to the conclusion that not getting out of the car would be sort of really strange for the both of them, so Jongin mumbles something incoherent under his breath before facing Yifan so he can thank the latter for the ride.

However, Jongin barely has a chance to turn his head when the words, 'But I can't help falling in love with you' fill the air and, on any normal day Jongin would think nothing of it. However, it's not until he notices what he thinks is Yifan looking straight at him in his peripheral that he bites his lip. Unable to stop the strange feeling in his gut, Jongin mentally slaps himself for being so immature when he feels a blush creeping up his neck. What's wrong with me. Christ.

As much as he would like to, Jongin can't bring himself to open the door for reasons he can't explain. It could be because his arms feel like they're filled with cement or simply because he doesn't want to. So he sits there, unmoving, as Elvis' voice continues to play, and Jongin half-heartedly wishes Yifan would turn the radio off because the latter's (presumed) gaze is doing nothing to stop the brunet's gut from churning. 

It's not until a few more minutes of silence pass that Yifan clears his throat (much to Jongin's utter relief, because the latter's throat is dangerously close to constricting) and turns the radio off. "You should probably go on in, I don't want to hold you up in case your parents are wondering where you are," he chuckles, running a hand through his hair. 

"My parents aren't home," Jongin blurts out and mentally beats himself up afterwards. If time had a rewind button, he'd slam it in a heartbeat. Christ on a stick. He looks at the floor, drowning in humiliation as he braces himself the weirded out glare he's sure Yifan is going to send him momentarily.

It's not until he hears a low sound that closely sounds like Yifan clearing his throat beside him that Jongin nearly cries in embarrassment, and he's about to babble a string of incoherent, mindless apologies when Yifan speaks up.

"I see, well, be safe and take care of yourself, then," Yifan says, his voice a little softer than before. He's silent for a minute before continuing. "And, um, sorry to sound nosy, I definitely don't mean to be-" He pauses to run a hand through is hair as he seemingly tries to find the words to say. "I know that I don't know much about all this, and I'm sorry if this sounds strange, but." Averting his gaze, he looks ahead, at the deserted road before them. "You deserve better," he finally says, nodding a little. When Jongin doesn't say anything, he clears his throat. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," Jongin says quietly, gaze fixated on his hands in his lap. He doesn't know how to feel, or what to say, all he knows is that his shoulder is hurting and that Yifan's voice is awfully soothing. "And yeah, I've been told," he adds, brushing a few locks of hair out of his face. Upstairs, he sees Jungah's light flickering as it comes closer to burning out. 

Yifan nods in understanding and, deciding not to pry any further when he sees (and senses) Jongin's discomfort, he adjusts his seatbelt. "Alright," he says simply before sending Jongin a kind smile. His eyes are filled with sympathy (and concern? Jongin can't really tell), as Jongin notices. "Well, have a good night."

Nodding, Jongin runs a hand through his hair. Even though he doesn't want to, he quickly pushes the door open, shivering when the cold air hits his face. His head feels a little dazed and he hopes he doesn't topple over and split his head open against the concrete. He bends down and mumbles a quiet 'Thank you for the ride', while avoiding Yifan's eyes for some reason (which is pretty pointless considering the fact that it's so dark that he can barely even see Yifan to begin with).

"Anytime," Yifan replies before turning on the left blinker. He shoots Jongin a small smile that apparently glitters in the darkness, given the fact that it makes the latter's jaw nearly hit the ground because wow, does he have a nice smile. 

Jongin doesn't even realize he's been staring for a whole minute until he hears Yifan clear his throat (probably in amusement, but Jongin is going to be realistic and assume that it was most likely out of uncomfort, knowing his luck), and he babbles a half-assed apology before proceeding to close the door as gently as he can. He waves as he watches the black (it wasn't navy blue, like he initially thought) vehicle, which he just noticed is quite large for one person, slowly drive off down the street, its left blinker flashing repeatedly, before it disappears from view.

~~~