Warning: ual harassment

          Jongin relishes in the chatter of the crowd right outside the tent. It’s amazing how big the festival is, considering the fact that it’s only set up by a school instead of some big corporation. Since the Director of the school had access to the amusement park in the area, the place has become a carnival too. There aren’t just students from this school, but from other places. The whole festival is open to the public. That’s what’s making Jongin so nervous in the first place.

He can handle the familiar faces, but the ones he’s never seen bothers him. He’s about to perform anytime soon, and he’d rather do so before a crowd that has already known him. At least he knows that if he messes up, they wouldn’t think much of it. They know him beyond just his performance. 

“Relax,” Sehun says in a soft, reassuring tone. Even though it’s supposed to calm him down, Jongin’s getting more aggravated. He directs the glare he already has on the ground up at Sehun. Seeing that, Sehun takes a cautious step back. “Woah, there. What’s wrong with you?”

“He’s a little sensitive.” Baekhyun waves Jongin’s murderous eyes away before turning to Sehun with a cheeky grin. The expression on Baekhyun’s eyes delivers a sense of foreboding down Sehun’s spine. “You, on the other hand. How are you feeling, cutie?”

There’s no way Baekhyun couldn’t have noticed Jongin looking at him as if he’s planning out the perfect way to throw Baekhyun off a cliff somewhere. On top of ignoring Jongin’s disapproving eyes, he even gives the side of Sehun’s arm a pat and squeezes. When he feels something solid, he twitches his eyebrows up in silence, fawning over it for a second. Jongin huffs a sharp breath out in annoyance.

Sehun doesn’t notice Baekhyun feeling him up—that, or he pretends not to—and answers with honesty. He talks about how being nervous right before the performance won’t do him any good, and Jongin’s trying his best to take note of that, but he simply can’t. He can’t help but think of the many possibilities of him failing. 

“What if I fall off the stage?” Jongin gasps. 

“That would never happen. Have you seen how massive the space is up there?” Baekhyun squints his eyes at Jongin, wordlessly telling him he’s dumb for thinking so. 

“Shut up. I’m not talking to you,” Jongin sulks.

“My God, you’re the same as Chanyeol.” Baekhyun rolls his eyes, pivoting on his heel to leave them be. “I’m getting a drink. My boyfriend’s outside, I’ll say hi to him for you.”

“Oh, tell him I’ll go see after—”

Baekhyun turns to Jongin with a smug grin. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

Jongin groans out loud, throwing the finger at Baekhyun’s disappearing back. “When is Jongdae arriving? I need him.”

“Why?” Sehun takes the seat next to Jongin, making himself comfortable by scooting close enough their thighs touch. “It’s going to be okay, and I mean it.”

“How would you know?” 

“I don’t, but that’s the point. You don’t know if anything’s going to work out the way it’s supposed to as much as you don’t know if you’re going to fall off the stage.” Sehun brings a hand up to fix the stray strands of hair curling upwards like static. “I’m nervous too, but there’s no use overthinking about it.”

“Oh, my God, what if I break my jaw when I fall?” Jongin gasps once more.

Sehun sighs, amused more than irritated at the way Jongin freaks out. He shakes his head goodnaturedly as he stands, his knees locking and his joints popping. Jongin stares into the distance, thinking of ways for him to avoid an accidental death on stage until he’s ripped back into the present by a smack on the back of his head. He blenches.

“That hurt!” He glances up at the figure looming above him before his eyes soften into ones full of gratitude. Jongdae deadpans. “Dae! I’m so glad you’re here!”

“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” Jongdae replies with a frown.

“Oh, no, what happened?” Jongin pats the space next to him on the bench, telling Jongdae to sit. 

“Jong, what if a sniper has an unreasonable grudge against you and shoots you down while you’re dancing?” Jongdae gurns, looking genuinely worried. “Or worse! What if the President was secretly at war with another country and they shoot a nuclear missile on stage?”

“What?” Jongin frowns. “What are you talking about?”

“I don’t think you should perform, it’s too dangerous!” Jongdae shakes him a little as he grasps him by his shoulders. “Don’t go up on stage!”

“I’m asking you this in the nicest way possible, okay? What’s wrong with you?” Jongin laughs, proceeding to ease Jongdae’s heart anyway, “Everything will be fine.”

“You mean that?” Jongdae gets teary-eyed. “You really think everything’s going to be fine? That you’re going to perform well and win that Representative election? That there’s nothing to worry about?” 

“Yes, I mean it. Everything’s going to be fine. Yes, I’ll perform well and I’ll win, and yes, there’s nothing to worry about.” Jongin offers his friend a wide, reassuring smile. He stands up from his seat and stretches his arms all about, as if to show that he’s relaxed so Jongdae should be too. “Sehun and I won’t lose. Ever.”

Jongin stalks out of the tent with newfound pride, shooting Sehun a cheerful smile on his way out. Once he’s long gone and is deafened by the roar of the crowd outside, Sehun turns to Jongdae with a perplexed expression smacked right on his face. Jongdae did what no one else could, and that was calm Jongin’s nerve down.

“No wonder Jongin wanted you to be here so bad. I don’t know what you did, but I’m pretty sure it’s magic.” Sehun cackles, not believing the fact that it took two stupid questions for Jongin to forget about his worries altogether. 

“The thing about Jongin is that he takes care of everyone around him very well. If someone else other than him is in a bad place, he’s suddenly the most comfortable shoulder to lean on. He steels himself up and, to some extent, believes his own words when he reassures someone else.” Jongdae scratches the back of his head, exuding a casual aura. Like all it takes for him to figure someone out is a short look followed by a lazy blink. 

“So you used that to your advantage.”

“So I used that to my advantage. That was easy, seriously.” Jongdae clicks his tongue. “You and Hyun should learn from me.”

“You remind me of my friend.” The corners of Sehun’s lips twitch up briefly into a titchy smile. 

“Really?” Jongdae skips to the entrance of the tent, stretching his arm out to gesture to Sehun it’s time to wait outside. “Introduce me to them. Maybe I can vibe with them.”

“If we win, then I’ll even set you up with him.” Sehun snickers. Before Jongdae could react properly, Sehun turns away. He takes the first step out of the tent only to squint furiously from the glare of a lamp right outside. “Well, wish me luck.”

“If you win, I’ll set you up with a friend of mine, too.” Jongdae follows Sehun out, twisting his body to the direction leading to the stage. 

Right now there’s another local band performing on stage to fill up the atmosphere with liveliness. But in a minute or so, the Representative election will take place. Since each of the five remaining candidates chose to do something performance-based, the school decided to set up a stage within the festival area. It’s convenient, and it allows the school to save up from hiring too many singers or bands. 

“I don’t need that right now, thank you very much.” Sehun waves Jongdae’s offer away, even deciding to snort at it. “I don’t want that.”

“You want it. The question is who. Who do you want?” Jongdae steels his eyes and locks it on Sehun’s, refusing to back down from their silent battle. Sehun’s a tough nut to crack, but Jongdae just might be the right tool to do so. 

“Nobody,” Sehun says, to Jongdae’s disappointment, 

Jongdae smirks. “You won’t back down.” 

“My baby!” Chanyeol’s voice overpowers everyone else’s as easily as he towers over everyone. His presence is just that big. He waves from the small group of people already gathered around him, beckoning Jongdae and Sehun over. “Come here!”

“Shut up!” Jongdae snaps. “I’m in the middle of an adult conversation with Sehun!” 

“Sehun has to go up stage soon! Come here quick!” Chanyeol scowls for a moment, but proceeds to beam and bounce excitedly like a puppy after seeing Jongdae begrudgingly coming closer. Once Jongdae’s within arms reach, he finally spots the petite lady standing next to Chanyeol. “Look! It’s Joohyun!”

“Oh, hey!” Jongdae greets her. They slip into a friendly conversation, easily tuning everything else out. 

“Hun, meet my friends. That’s Moonkyu, Taemin, Ravi and that’s Minho but we call him Blue.” Jongin pulls Sehun closer by his arm and positions him close by his side. Sehun greets them all politely before catching sight of Baekhyun tucked within Taemin’s hold. “And that’s a dickhead.”

“You’re mean, Jongin,” Baekhyun points out. 

Sehun snorts watching the exchange. Before anyone else could continue the conversation, the speakers blow up, calling for the candidates to come up on stage. Right away, Sehun’s heart starts to race over the ocean. He wants to dwell on this feeling, truly let it course through his veins and take over his mind. It’s been such a long time since he’s felt this way.

“Sehun,” Jongin calls out, taking Sehun’s attention away from himself, “whatever happens…”

“Whatever happens…” Sehun takes in Jongin’s fearful expression. He smiles fondly. “Let’s focus on each other. Whether you make a mistake or not, just keep going. We finish this together.”

          “That’s my best friend!” Jongin hears the shouts and whistles coming from Taemin and the others, smiling wide at the Professors sitting as judges before him. 

He then directs his gaze to his friends standing as close as they can to the stage, almost sandwiched between the barrier up front and the crowd that has gathered behind. If not for Ravi cursing at anyone who pushes them and Chanyeol glaring at anyone who comes close to even grazing a strand of hair on Joohyun, they would have been squished by now. Not to mention Moonkyu “accidentally” elbowing anyone who’s acting rude. 

Near where Jongin’s group of friends are, he spots Boa and her friends. Which translates to Sehun’s friends too. Looking at them from above, Jongin belatedly realises just how big of a group they are. They’re obviously going to merge later on. Jongin thinks neither him nor Sehun would leave to do their own things with their own friends. 

Once the Professors dismisses them from the stage, Jongin makes a beeline towards Taemin. He jumps into his best friend’s welcoming arms, hopping in excitement. It’s a huge relief to both Sehun and Jongin to be able to finally spend their days out of that terrible dance room. 

Sehun gathers his friends around and introduces everyone. It’s a sight to behold because they take up so much space. Sehun points to Boa, Minseok, Yixing and finally Junmyeon. Jongin has met everyone before, and he even gets along with them, but not Minseok. Jongin’s scared. Minseok has sharp eyes, calculative ones. It’s obvious he’s scanning everyone inside-out.

Jongdae thinks otherwise. He shoots a bright grin in Minseok’s way that goes unnoticed by most. Baekhyun stifles a laugh and Chanyeol turns his smile away, hiding it by kissing the top of Joohyun’s head.

“You were amazing up there, kid,” Junmyeon says, a faint teasing smile making its way up his lips. 

“And I still like you a little less,” Jongin quips back.

“Wait, how do you know each other?” Sehun asks, dumbfounded. 

“I don’t have any reason to tell you.” Junmyeon smirks, knowing he’s pissing Sehun off simply by existing. 

Sehun rolls his eyes. “I was talking to Jongin.”<