~~~

Sehun stills. "What?"

"You heard me," is all Jongin says before Sehun hears a deep voice in the background, certainly not that of Jungah.

Scratching the back of his head, Sehun clears his throat. If he's going to be completely honest, he appreciates Jongin's honesty, it's just that he would much rather prefer being dumped (again, he figures) over the phone or on Messenger or whatever. "Okay...about what?"

Jongin is silent for a little while. "You'll see."

Great lot of good that does me, Sehun thinks sourly. Might as well come clean right here, right now. "Can't you just tell me now?" he asks, wincing when he shifts, only for his numb behind to protest. A lump is forming in his throat, which only grows when he hears the same, manly voice in the background, saying something Sehun can't quite comprehend given the poor quality of the call overall. 

"It's better if we do it face to face, in my opinion," Jongin replies, definitely not doing Sehun's buzzing nerves any justice. He's silent for a while before continuing. "Hey, I actually talked to-"

Sehun blinks and waits for Jongin to finish his sentence, even though he doesn't want to, because Sehun doesn't want to know anything about Jongin and Yifan's relationship, and Sehun certainly doesn't want Jongin to (officially?) dump him face to face tomorrow, since Sehun clearly remembers how not so well he took Jongin's ill mannered (yet true) words a couple of days ago. One look at the wall across form him would prove that, and Sehun makes a mental note to get it patched up in the near future. On the other hand, he's surprised that his phone managed to survive the hit and not the wall. However, it takes Sehun a good while to realize that the dial tone is beeping on repeat in his ear, and he blinks in surprise before looking at his screen.

Indeed, he's greeted with the sight of his home screen and it takes Sehun a second to register the fact that Jongin either changed his mind and hung up or that the call simply got cut off for whatever reason. But, if Sehun is going to go out on a limb, he'd say that it's probably the former alternative, and he promptly turns his phone off before shoving it in his back pocket, ignoring the way it buzzes right afterwards, signalling yet another message from some desperate, female stranger.

As much as he wants to fling himself into the bottomless pit in front of him, Sehun can't bring himself to do so, because he realizes that doing so would be awfully weak of him, since he'd much rather apologize right off the bat and set things straight on his own, no matter how much it the thought hurts him. Not to mention he figures, no, knows, that it would be the least (not to mention most respectful thing) he could do for Jongin. Well, that, and because Sehun simply doesn't have the energy to physically throw himself into the black abyss before him, no matter how inviting the idea sounds, because it feels as if every last ounce of energy has been out of him. Now that Sehun thinks about it, for the past couple of days, it's almost like he's been walking around as a shell of his former self. He doesn't know if that's an improvement, however, because, if he's going to be frank, Sehun barely even knew his former self, and he doesn't know if he wants to, either.

Sehun could have remained sitting on the rock for the rest of the night if it wasn't for Vivi and his constant barking for attention, and Sehun lets out a low groan before slowly getting off the cold, hard surface and jumping down onto the grass below. On his way towards the front door, the thought of whether he should write and print out a ten page apology letter to use tomorrow when he meets up with Jongin hits Sehun, and the latter swallows before shoving his hands in his pockets. When he looks over his shoulder, nothing but the sky, as empty as before, greets him.

11:59 PM

Sehun taps his pencil against the surface of his desk impatiently. The bell signaling the end of class, and the start of lunch, is supposed to ring any minute now and he inwardly screams as he tries to focus his attention back on the worksheets spread out in front of him to no avail. For the past two hours, the papers in front of him, let alone Sehun himself, haven't moved an inch and Sehun can't blame himself because his brain is crowded to the brim with other things, things that happen to be much more important than the amount of work done on a barbell if a girl were to exert a certain amount of Newtons into it to lift it. It's not until the teacher promptly looks in his direction that Sehun abruptly stops his pencil tapping and proceeds to avert his gaze so he's reading the mundane words before him with the full intention of not caring. 

Behind him, Sehun can see Junmyeon staring out the window as the latter fidgets with the cigarette box in his pocket, and Chanyeol, who is looking right at him, although Sehun figures Chanyeol's stare is nothing to go by since the latter has a tendency to stare at just about anything when he's bored out of his mind. Yifan is wrapped up in trying to calculate God knows what two rows behind him and Kyungsoo is busy talking to the girl he's planning on taking to the prom tomorrow. None of them seem worried or anxious over the fact that their last practice match before they head off to New York is tomorrow and Sehun seriously wonders why that is. Sehun has always thought that guys his age would prioritize one of the biggest matches they'll ever play over some lame high school dance, but alas, he stands corrected.

Sehun puts his pencil down and crosses his legs under the table, wincing a bit when his knees bump against the bottom, ultimately reminding him of the fact that he has grown quite a bit since eighth grade. But the pain spreading across his knees is nothing compared to the heavy feeling that's been plaguing him ever since he woke up this morning. Sehun clearly recalls contemplating going to school after his alarm went off, but he decided to drag himself to the bus stop anyway, because Jongin wanted to talk. Sehun sort of figures it's safe and okay, however, because even though Jongin can happily beat him upside the head with the cold, bitter truth as much as he likes, in the end, Jongin will never be able to shatter Sehun's heart with it, the reason being that there is nothing left of Sehun's heart for Jongin to possibly shatter. Quite honestly, Sehun doesn't know if that's a good or bad thing.

If he's going to be honest, Sehun has no idea what to expect, but he hopes it won't include sledgehammers and black eyes (even though he won't rule that out as a possible alternative), because his insides are already feeling like they're about to blow and he certainly doesn't want to add to it. Sehun hasn't typed or written out an apology letter (or sermon), like he'd initially planned on doing, because he has no idea what to say. He blames it on the fact that he spent hours tossing and turning last night whilst listing every possible thing Jongin could do to him, ranging from punching him square in the face to kicking him in the groin and spitting on him before walking away. Sehun figures it's a good enough time budget.

The bell blaring through his ears nearly makes Sehun fall off his chair in surprise and he quickly grabs his empty and unfinished worksheets before stuffing them in his bag. He's about to pick it up and sling it over his shoulder when a baby pink piece of construction paper, with a little piece of candy taped on it, is suddenly placed on his desk and Sehun nearly cries in irritation when the words 'PROM?' stare back at him in big, bold letters. To his relief, the girl who placed it on his desk is out the door before he has a chance to look up and, for his own safety, Sehun opts to put the invitation in his bag instead of tossing it right away. Behind him, he hears Junmyeon and Chanyeol groaning under their breaths and Sehun turns around to shoot them a mutual look of pure agony, only to turn back around and be greeted with the sight of seven more colorful invitations on his desk, and Sehun figures this day just can't get any worse.

~~~

Sitting at their usual table at the back of the lunch room, Sehun anxiously plays with the potatoes on his plate as his eyes dart around the room. Only foreign eyes and faces, which all seem to be staring at him, as far as the eye can see, and Sehun exhales in both relief and disappointment. The food on his plate has turned cold and even the milk in his glass feels unappetizing, and Sehun puts down his fork as he keeps his eyes locked on the open doors thirty or so feet away whilst his leg subconsciously bounces up and down.

"Everyone's coming to practice today, right?" Kyungsoo asks, taking a sip of his own milk. 

Junmyeon rolls his eyes, although he seems much more relaxed than usual. "Don't be stupid, it's obligatory, including the meeting, you know that," he grumbles, taking a bite out of his sandwich and cursing when some lettuce falls out and onto his plate below.

"Why're you so silent? You that nervous?" Chanyeol asks between chews, although it's clear that he's sensing the tension in the air. When Sehun doesn't answer, he shrugs before pointing to Junmyeon. "Prom's tomorrow, remember?"

Junmyeon raises an eyebrow. "You think I'm an idiot?"

"You gonna ask Baekhyun out today? It's your last and only chance," Chanyeol blurts out before anybody has a chance to stop him, and he barely avoids getting scalped when Junmyeon practically pounces on him and tries grabbing his hair. "How about you stop acting like a dickhead for once in your life and actually man up and come clean, Jesus Christ," he mumbles after successfully shoving the shorter away.

Keeping his eyes locked on the entrance, only to see nobody of interest, Sehun sighs before resting his head on his hand. He knows he should be stressed because of the upcoming game as well as Nationals, but for some reason, he can't bring himself to care. He seriously hopes that Jongin chooses to talk to him during lunch because Sehun knows for a fact that he won't be able to skip neither the meeting nor trainnig later, no matter how strong the urge to do so is. Suddenly, a high pitched voice, closely followed by the sound of paper rustling, fills his ears and Sehun flinches a bit before looking up.

"We've never talked, I know, but I think you're really cute and I was wondering if you'd like to go to the prom with me," a short, blonde girl Sehun has never seen before asks in the most annoying voice he has ever heard. "Here's my number," she adds, sliding a piece of paper, a handmade invitation, across the table and towards Sehun.

Normally, Sehun would do the usual: Fake a smile, tell them maybe (to get their hopes up, but mainly so they'll leave him alone) before shooing them off. But today, right now, all he's feeling is agitation coursing through his veins and the sickenly sweet smell of her perfume isn't doing anything to help. His lips feel heavy and he can't bring himself to fake a smile and the longer he looks at the bright pink piece of paper with diamond stickers stuck to it (seriously, he probably has three hundred more inside his locker at the moment), the more his agitation grows. He knows that it probably isn't the wisest thing to do, given the circumstances and because the last thing he wants is for her to run off and create an entire blog dedicated to how awful he is, but Sehun doesn't have it in him to care at the moment, and he instinctively looks up, at the doors, only to see nobody, before slamming his hands down on the table so forcefully that Kyungsoo's glass falls over.

Keeping his eyes fixated on the table, because he knows that looking at her will only make him even more furious, Sehun grits his teeth. "I don't even know you," he seethes, averting his gaze so he won't have to look at the piece of paper. He hears the entire lunch room fall silent, which only makes makes him grip the edge of the table in frustration. "Seriously, I don't know what goes on up there in that empty head of yours, but what on Earth makes you think I'd like to go out with somebody whose name I don't even know? That's just stupid." He reaches out and grabs the pink paper and waves it in front of her face, finally mustering the courage to look at her rather terrified face. "This- What makes you think I want this-" He says, unable to form a coherent sentence due to the irritation clouding his mind. "Can't you people just let me live- Just let me exist, without demanding I take you to the goddamn prom every second of the day!"

"Dude, relax," Chanyeol interjects, reaching out and placing a hand on Sehun's shoulder, the latter only shaking him off.

"I swear to God, one more of these," Sehun growls before promptly ripping the paper in half before he has a chance to stop himself, "and I swear I'm gonna lose my ." He balls up the little pieces in his hand before running a distressed hand through his hair. "My goddamn life's already in ing shambles, the last thing I want is for you brainless idiots to up even more." With a pointed look at the girl next to him, who is apparently frozen in place, he smirks a little. "How about you ask someone you actually know, who you actually give a about, who you won't dump less than 24 hours later only to run off and tell your friends all about how you 'dated' the most handsome and popular guy in the school? Sounds like a plan to me."

Junmyeon bites his lip, clearly worried. "Sehun, I have something to tell you-"

The girl, who looks like she's about to cry, fidgets a little. "So, you're going with someone else?"

Sehun stills. "No," he mumbles, clencing the pieces of pink paper in his hand. Because it's true. He doesn't. And, truth is, he'd much rather go to the prom all by himself than force himself to go together with one of these...creatures. 

"So...I mean, what's the problem, then?" she asks, alarmingly unfazed by Sehun's reaction. People all around them are murmuring and Sehun would be surprised if they've all published blog posts about it by now.

You, . Honestly, Sehun just wants to ramble his heart out, but since he doesn't have one, he figures it's no use and he closes his mouth (not to mention he figures she, or anybody else, for that matter, will care, anyway). He's about to tell her to go away when a thought strikes him and his lips slowly form a small smirk. "Can I ask you something?"

Her eyes seem to twinkle a little bit and for once, Sehun is glad he was blessed with a natural charm that apparently makes all the girls go crazy (he's never believed that simply staring at a girl could make her weak at the knees, but he stands corrected). "Sure!"

"I know this may be super difficult for you to answer," Sehun says in false sympathy, running a hand through his hair with his free hand. "But if you don't mind me asking, why exactly do you find the idea of going to the prom with me so remarkably intriguing? You know, since I'm pretty sure I saw you stuffing something similar to this in my locker just this morning, so I'm assuming you must be desperate," he chuckles, gesturing at the torn up invitation in his hand whilst he stares at her with wide, questioning (although he most certainly isn't questioning it at all) eyes, eagerly waiting for her to reply. "And I won't take 'You're handsome' for an answer," he adds and fights the urge to cackle when she visibly tenses. Of course.

She cards her long, slim fingers through her blonde locks, her black rimmed eyes darting around the room as she apparently racks her brain (if she has one, that is, Sehun thinks) for an appropriate response. When she remains silent for another minute, she simply shrugs. "I like football," she finally says, reaching out and patting Sehun's hair. The latter hopes she gets black dye all over her hand. "I think football players are y."

"Yeah, well," Sehun starts, his tone flat whilst carelessly smacking her hand away, "I don't find your superficiality y in the slightest, so do me a favor and go ask someone who you actually care for." Making a note to wash his hair with bleach when he gets home, he sees Kyungsoo wiping the table surface with a tissue, as well as Chanyeol and Junmyeon staring at him in awe in his peripheral. "And feel free to tell all your equally airheaded friends what I just said so I won't have to waste my breath later."

The girl rubs the sore spot on her hand whilst staring at Sehun questioningly. "Okay, well, give me a call if you change your mind," she says simply and Sehun nearly cries in frustration because how can somebody be so goddamn dense. She looks up and her eyes flash when she looks at Junmyeon, Chanyeol, Yifan and Kyungsoo, particularly Junmyeon and Chanyeol. "You know, I-"

"Not interested," Junmyeon deadpans, taking a bite from his sandwich. He momentarily tears his eyes off his food to send the girl, as well as pretty much the entire cafeteria (the females, that is), a stern glance. "He's right. Quite frankly, I, or, we, couldn't care less about your blatant shallowness so do us a favor and shove those cheap- invitations of yours up your goddamn asses and find yourself a man who actually gives a about you, and whom you actually give a about yourself."

"Yeah, I already got someone," Chanyeol says and something seems to flash in his eyes after hearing Junmyeon's words. "Hey, aren't you the same person who stuffed like, ten different prom invitations in my locker yesterday?" he adds, eyeing the crystal stickers on Sehun's invitation. "They all had those weird diamonds on them." He chuckles before shaking his head in disbelief.

Clearly irritated, the girl clenches her fists before pointing an accusing finger at all five of them, even though Yifan and Kyungsoo haven't even said anything. "They're right about you, all of you! Here we are, expressing our love and support for you and this is how you treat us! You're all jockish as hell!" she exclaims, causing every head in the room to turn and look at her. Sehun bites his lip.

"No, darling," Sehun chuckles dryly, balling his hands into fists. "You're all just misunderstood and desperate as hell, that's all," He's pretty sure he might have cut his palm on one of the crystal stickers and he winces. "But I don't expect you to get that, so don't take it too much to heart."

"Sweetie, we just don't want twenty different invitations from the same person shoved inside our lockers within the span of less than an hour when we clearly don't give a crap," Chanyeol chuckles, shoving a potato in his mouth. "That isn't too much to ask if you ask me," he adds and nearly bites down on his lower lip when Junmyeon emits a loud screech that almost sounds inhuman.

Pounding on the table surface with his fist, Junmyeon looks like he's struggling to breathe and Sehun is just about to reach out and ask the former if he's okay when he speaks up. "Love and support, are you ing ting me," he wheezes and honestly, Sehun doesn't know if he's crying or laughing (he figures Junmyeon is probably crying from laughter). Right when it looks like he's about to explode in a fit of rage, he simply goes back to chewing on his sandwich. " outta here, you cretin."

To prevent a full blown argument from possibly breaking out, since he knows how unstoppable Junmyeon can be once the latter is fully riled up, and because the eyes on them from every direction is starting to make him feel uneasy, Sehun looks up and shoots the girl a bright, over dramatic grin. "I'm afraid your time's up, Barbie, so if you'd please-"

"You think you're so cool because you play football?" she interrupts, putting her hands on her hips, and Sehun wants to scream. 

"No, but you apparently do, since it seems to be the only reason as to why you wanna date us," Sehun says before he can stop himself and hears surprised noises emitting all around him. He knows he shouldn't be saying this, and that it's probably best he keeps his mouth shut, because God knows what these people are going to cook up using his words, which they will inevitably twist beyond oblivion by morning come. But Sehun can't bring himself to care, and he doesn't know if it's because the subject of prom automatically makes him feel anxious or because the bottled up, inhumane levels of frustration that's been plaguing him for almost four years are pretty much begging to be let out at this point. As much as Sehun wants to settle for the latter, he low key knows that it's most likely due to the former. He hears Chanyeol mumble a low 'Oh, ' next to him and he chuckles a little.

"Honestly, I'd rather fling myself into a pit full of dynamite and bloodthirsty sharks than go out with any of you," Chanyeol mumbles into his glass before he takes a big swig.

The girl pouts in annoyance (on the other hand, Sehun has to throw her the bone for not running off in humiliation). "You s are never gonna get a girl with these surly attitudes of yours," she huffs. Junmyeon only clenches his jaw at her words and Sehun nearly laughs because it's obvious that he's doing everything he can not to stand up and slap her.

"Again, I'd rather fling myself into a pit full of dynamite and bloodthirsty sharks than go out with any of you," Chanyeol says again and checks his watch. "Well, show's over, I'm afraid, our lesson starts in two," he says with a hint of agony in his voice.

"Since you seem to be so set on not wanting anything to do with any of us," the girl interjects, much to Sehun's annoyance, before she crosses her arms over her chest. "Then who're you going to the prom with? Huh? Let's see her." She sends Chanyeol a sickenly smug look and Sehun (and Junmyeon) nearly retches.

Chanyeol eyes her for a long time before rolling his eyes. Sehun fully expects him to say something like, 'She isn't here right now', so he's awfully surprised when the former suddenly looks up, a small smile spreading across his face. "Over there," he says, eyes glittering, as he points.

Furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, Sehun follows Chanyeol's gaze and nearly falls right out of his chair when his eyes land on none other than Jongin, and it takes Sehun a good while to realize that he's accompanied by Jongdae and, surprisingly, Baekhyun as all three of them walk through the doors. Sehun struggles to tear his eyes off the brunet's skin tight clothing before he feels a lump forming in his throat, the adrenaline practically getting out of his veins as he follows Jongin, who has yet to look in his direction, with his gaze. Baekhyun skips happily in front of Jongin and Jongdae (and Sehun doesn't miss the way Junmyeon's eyes twinkle at the sight) and Sehun watches as the three of them eye the menu intently.

At first, Sehun breathes out a sigh of relief when it looks as if Jongin (and Jongdae and Baekhyun) is going to proceed to get in line, only to nearly choke on his own spit when the brunet leans in and whispers something to Baekhyun and Jongdae before all three of them turn around and seem to stare right into Sehun's soul, and the latter promptly feels the air getting out of the room when they slowly make their way towards the table. God ing damn it.

Jongin doesn't seem to be carrying a sledgehammer (or not that Sehun can see, at least) or a cattle prod or anything like it, which makes Sehun relax a little, but not much, and the latter holds his breath when Jongin, Baekhyun and Jongdae stop at the table. Every pair of eyeballs is already looking right at them and Sehun clenches his jaw, seriously regretting not choosing to just simply fake a smile and nod earlier. He watches as Jongdae quickly makes his way over to Chanyeol, the latter greeting him by letting him sit in his lap, which in return causes a sea of surprised noises to fill the room. Sehun also watches as Baekhyun walks over to Junmyeon, the latter rubbing the back of his neck when the redhead gives him a friendly, yet low key loving, pat on the shoulder. And then there's Jongin, who's standing across from Sehun with his hands in his pockets. Jongin doesn't seem at all fazed by literally the entire room staring at him (as opposed to Sehun, who feels like he's going to break down any minute, which he finds odd considering the fact that he clearly remembers feeling like vomiting when he was ogled like this for the first time) and Sehun unconsciously clears his throat, not knowing what to do. He doesn't have the guts to look over at Yifan and Sehun fights the urge to lower his head so he won't have to see Jongin greeting Yifan in God knows what manner.

The girl, who is still standing by their table, and who hasn't moved an inch since Jongin and his friends came over, eyes Baekhyun and Jongdae curiously. "What's-"

"Let's just say that y'all can lay off with the prom invitations," Chanyeol says simply before he picks up his fork and proceeds to feed Jongdae a piece of his meatloaf, at which the latter blushes furiously. 

Junmyeon clears his throat and Baekhyun looks away slightly. When he feels Chanyeol (and Sehun) staring at him, he huffs in defeat before opening his mouth to speak. "Damn it, Christ, uh... it, Baekhyun, will you go to prom with me?" he asks boldly yet barely audibly, and Sehun doesn't know how to feel when Baekhyun nearly tackles Junmyeon to the floor whilst emitting a loud 'Yes'. Sehun has to look away.

Now, Sehun would find the scenes playing out in front of him rather romantic, or even adorable, if only he wasn't feeling as if his chest was being crushed by a hydraulic press thanks to Jongin's piercing stare. Listening to Baekhyun complain about how 'Smokey' Junmyeon smells, Sehun feels his anxiety grow because the topic of prom, combined with the brunet's unreadable glare, really isn't doing much to calm his nerves. Sehun suddenly feels extremely awkward, not because he feels like the third wheel (which he definitely does), but because he has no idea what to do nor say. He doesn't even know if he's obligated to say anything to Jongin, perhaps a casual question of why the latter chose to end the call so abruptly yesterday, but Sehun doesn't have to, because the next thing he knows, Jongin is walking towards him. Now, if Sehun could still feel his heart (or his own pulse, for that matter), he figures it would be threatening to leap out of his chest. 

Just hit me, hit me with the hard truth and let Yifan ask you out to prom already, Sehun thinks, swallowing the lump in his throat when Jongin stops a mere inch away from him. Sehun doesn't know if Jongin feels nearly as awkward as he does, and the former has to look in the opposite direction when he gets an eye full of Jongin's chest as soon as he looks up. Not that Sehun has anything against it, it's just that he really does not want to get distracted at a time like this. On the other hand, Sehun is kind of disappointed that Jongin didn't choose to bring a cattle prod with him to school, because getting struck repeatedly with said object would hurt much, much less than having to go through what he's currently going through. As crazy as it sounds, Sehun would happily lie down and let Jongin strike him over and over with the prod, right now. Hit me.

Another minute, although it feels like six years, passes and the entire cafeteria is dead silent, and even though Sehun knows that people probably aren't staring at him, considering the fact that Chanyeol is busy literally feeding spoonfuls of potatoes to Jongdae, who is sitting in his lap, Sehun certainly feels watched (seriously, the blonde's dumb, wide-eyed stare next to him isn't helping matters) and he fights the urge to slide deeper into his chair when Jongin doesn't move nor say anything. Again, he doesn't know what Yifan is doing right now and Sehun doesn't want to know.

Another minute (yes, Sehun counted all the way to sixty) slips by and Sehun is on the verge of a complete mental breakdown when he hears a loud, bold voice break the ice.

"Oh Sehun, will you go to prom with me?"

~~~