FRIDAY

10:21 AM

Jongin nearly falls out of his seat when he hears his name being called, presumably for the hundredth time, and it takes him a minute to realize that every single head has turned to face him while he blinks the sleep out of his eyes. He doesn’t even need to turn his head to know that Baekhyun is most definitely laughing his chin off at the back of the room and Jongin makes a mental note to launch his best friend into outer space while he absently fidgets with his pencil. The worksheet in front of him is still as blank as it was when he received it at the beginning of the lesson, which has Jongin mentally preparing himself for yet another verbal beatdown from his teacher when she sends him a deadly glare.

Jongin isn’t entirely sure if he’s got the embarrassment of being the laughing stock, or simply his teacher’s loud voice, to blame, but he finds himself sneaking a glance at the middle row of desks, slightly to his right, at one point during her incoherent rant about how he needs to 'do a better job at paying attention during class'. Jongin successfully tunes her out while he watches Baekhyun mouth something to Sehun, who responds by whispering something Jongin can't hear. Jongin’s eyes roam around for a bit until he finds himself staring at the uneven strings on Sehun’s navy blue hoodie (the one that Jongin swore he ended up loving even more than Baekhyun did after Sehun wore it to school for the first time last month). Jongin watches Baekhyun (indiscreetly) texting Sehun under the table, presumably taking advantage of their teacher’s rambling to discuss whatever lovers tend to discuss, and it’s not until Sehun subsequently covers his mouth to stifle his laughter that Jongin feels the familiar feeling pooling in his gut, and he doesn’t even realize how fast his heart is racing until a dull thud s him back into reality.

It takes Jongin an embarrassingly long time to realize that he has, in fact, fallen out of his chair, and he quickly scrambles up off the carpet and back into his seat as he mumbles a low apology to his teacher (and everybody within a five foot radius, given that they’re all staring at him like he’s grown a second head). She only shakes her head and makes her way back to the front of the room. Jongin tries calming the pounding in his chest as he rests his head in his hand and hears the familiar sound of papers being shuffled up front. It doesn’t take him long to notice the two inch pile of brand new worksheets on his desk, and Jongin, despite having to hand it to his teacher for effectively waking him up as usual, figures that he’d rather live through another verbal beating than write down a single formula (especially with Baekhyun giggling like a schoolgirl behind him).

Stifling a yawn, Jongin reaches for his pencil in a meek attempt at looking productive after his teacher looks up, only to put it back down when she resumes grading essays. The silence of the room (save for the handful of girls whispering to each other) is nearly like a death trap as Jongin tries keeping his eyes open, but he resorts to listening to Sehun humming to himself behind him, a noise Jongin swears could light up the entire room. However, Baekhyun’s godawful snickering could not, and Jongin spins around in his chair to tell his best friend to keep his mouth shut. Jongin sort of really regrets it when he does, only to end up looking right at Sehun, who in turn looks up and sends him a sympathetic look. Jongin opens his mouth to reply, but he figures that his teacher’s profound yelling must have put his brain in lockdown, since he immediately whirls back around and scrambles for his pencil instead. The bell rings a minute later and Jongin nearly cries in relief when he figures that he won’t need to stay behind for detention, so he hurriedly shoves his books and unfinished worksheets in his backpack whilst avoiding his teacher’s piercing gaze.

Stretching out his long limbs, Jongin contemplates waiting out in the hallway for Sehun and Baekhyun as the two talk about something he couldn't care less about right now, but he quickly becomes distracted when Sehun proceeds to gather his papers, nearly choreographically, and places them in his briefcase. Jongin pretends to inspect his shoelaces, which are dangerously close to becoming untied, when Sehun ruffles Baekhyun’s fiery red hair after Baekhyun whispers something in his ear. Seeing Baekhyun’s hair only reminds Jongin of the fact that his own hair is in desperate need of another dye job, and he’s in the midst of contemplating asking Baekhyun to dye it for him when he notices somebody waving a hand in front of his face, which in turn causes him to jump five feet in the air.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” Baekhyun chuckles as he adjusts the strap on his bag. He mutters something about needing something sugary if he’s going to survive the rest of the day before he sends Jongin a sly smirk. “Again, huh?” He shakes his head when Jongin blinks and briefly moves out of the way for a group of girls walking towards them. A bright red lock of hair falls in his eyes as they make their way down the narrow corridor. “What do you keep thinking about, anyway?”

Jongin bites the inside of his cheek as he keeps his gaze fixated on the pastel colored walls. His backpack probably weighs at least ten tons and he contemplates dragging it on the floor behind him when he figures that the excess amount of homework might permanently dislocate his shoulders. A certain foggines fills his head, which has Jongin cursing himself for getting little to no sleep as usual while he opens and closes his mouth like a goldfish out of water. Jongin suddenly feels the familiar coiling sensation returning to his gut and he doesn’t even need to turn around to know that Sehun has joined them and is walking hand in hand with Baekhyun. It’s not until they round a corner that Jongin (somehow) catches a whiff of Sehun's strong cologne, and he's barely able to save himself from colliding with a glass shelf two seconds later. 

Baekhyun only watches as Jongin goes on to accidentally headbutt an incoming female teacher in the chest. She only sends Jongin a dirty look as the latter stumbles around in a fit of apologies, before she walks off. It's not until Jongin looks like he's recovered from his minor meltdown that Baekhyun pats his shoulder. “You shouldn’t be nervous, y’know, I’ve told you that a million times already,” he says in a reassuring tone, to which Jongin responds with a half dazed look of pure puzzlement.

Jongin runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t--” He cuts himself off as he fumbles for his phone, which must have slipped from his pocket in the commotion. He spots it on the floor, and he barely gets a chance to internally groan over his screen getting cracked for the tenth time this week when he bends down to fetch it, only to recoil like he’s been burned when he sees a second hand reaching down to pick it up. Jongin sort of hates how much his face flushes when his phone is handed back to him, and he makes sure to keep his eyes fixated on Baekhyun’s bright red locks to distract himself. “Thanks.”

Sehun sends Jongin a friendly nod. “No problem,” he says before he resumes scrolling on his own phone.

Jongin clears his throat when he opens his mouth, only for nothing to come out, so he opts to pretend to inspect the (non-existent) damage to his phone instead. The tips of his fingers are still tingling - the same sensation that spread through his entire body after he and Sehun managed to grab the same ball during Phys Ed last week, which Jongin vividly remembers partially due to the ring Sehun wore that day. Jongin shoves the thought of whether or not he'll ever stop feeling this way every time his and Sehun's hands brush against each other out of his head, before his eyes automatically flicker to Sehun’s hand. Surely enough, the familiar piece of jewelry is in its usual place, on Sehun's index finger, whic has Jongin internally screaming. Its metallic color shines against the navy blue on Sehun’s hoodie, which Jongin ends up staring at perhaps a little longer than necessary and, for a second, he almost forgets about Baekhyun’s words. However, they soon come down like a bag of bricks when realization hits him. 

Jongin doesn’t know how or why, but he somehow ended up forgetting all about his upcoming dance tournament up until now, which honestly baffles him, because Baekhyun, his roommate, Taemin, and his dance partner, Krystal, have been doing nothing but pegging him about it for the past two months. Due to his head pretty much being clouded over at this point, Jongin blames it on the excessive amounts of homework and exams they’ve all had to do (none of which he did and or passed, but still) before he mentally smacks himself. Jongin has to force himself to snap out of it when he nearly gets his nose smashed into his skull when the cafeteria door swings open, and it’s not until he’s scrambled for a tray that he realizes that he should probably say something. Except nothing comes out, especially when he hears Sehun humming to himself next to him in line, but Jongin eventually emits an incoherent noise when Baekhyun turns to look at him.

Baekhyun wordlessly scans the menu to the right, which is written in such sloppy handwriting that it’s nearly illegible, before he turns to the left, grabs a sandwich and places it on his tray. “Like I said, you shouldn’t be,” he says after grabbing two milk cartons and asking Jongin to hand one to Sehun, before he zips his sweater after complaining about the cold. Jongin definitely doesn't miss that he’s wearing one of Sehun’s shirts underneath. “Is Taemin coming, by the way?”

Jongin chews on his bottom lip as he grips his tray with perhaps a little more force than necessary. Even though he isn’t entirely sure, he’s at least 99% sure that Taemin, just like Baekhyun, swore that he’d clear his schedule to make it to the tournament. Jongin weakly nods and wordlessly hands the carton to Sehun, who is in the midst of inspecting the rows of sandwiches before them (all of which look like they were thrown together and wrapped in plastic at the last possible minute). Jongin pretends to contemplate a meatball sandwich with an suspicious looking, neon pink sauce all over it as Sehun replies with a soft thanks. Baekhyun mention something about 99% of the food practically being death traps before he walks over to pay for his food. Jongin follows him with his eyes until he resumes picking out a sandwich, which turns out to be a rather difficult task, especially since Sehun seems to be staring right at him in his peripheral. Jongin mentally smacks himself for the nth time and quickly squashes the heat coiling in his gut, and he resorts to distracting himself by asking himself if consuming anything on the menu will lead to him dying of food poisoning. Despite the answer probably (no, definitely) being yes, Jongin ends up grabbing a random sandwich off the shelf anyway when his stomach grumbles loud enough for the entire cafeteria to hear. Jongin watches Sehun pick out a sandwich, with far too many leafy greens in it for his liking, before he practically flies over to the cashier.

Baekhyun tears his milk carton open when he sees Jongin approaching, and he only chuckles upon the nervous flicker in the latter's eyes. "Like I keep telling you," he says after Jongin plops down in the seat opposite him, "you've got like, zero reason to worry." He groans when a few drops of milk dribble down his chin, but he simply wipes them away with the back of his hand as he continues to stare at Jongin. A small smirk soon creeps up his lips. "Let's just hope Miss doesn't schedule your detention for tomorrow, or else--" He shrugs and takes another sip, only to put the carton back down when Jongin doesn't say anything. "Has Taemin been keeping you up all night with that guitar of his-"

"He hasn't," Jongin blurts out before he can stop himself, to which Baekhyun responds with a slow nod. To be fair, even though he initially believed that Taemin's neverending practice sessions wouldn't ever bother him, Jongin wouldn't be surprised if has been losing sleep lately because of it, especially with Taemin's band's concert being just around the corner. Nevertheless, Jongin dismisses the thought as soon as he eyes his sandwich, briefly contemplating its authenticity before he slowly unwraps it. He quickly puts it back down when something hits him. "Wait-"

"Yeah, detention," Baekhyun says, making sure to emphasize the last word as he chuckles to himself. "You were staring into space as usual," he adds when Jongin sends him a crestfallen look. "Anyway, I forgot to tell you, but me and Sehun were planning this thing last night--" He cuts himself off and blinks when Jongin whips his head up. "Christ, what's with your face? You've been looking like an anxious wreck for months-"

Jongin forces himself to bite down on his sandwich when Baekhyun sends him a concerned look. He immediately regrets it upon realizing that he must have grabbed the meatball sandwich, given that the pink sauce staining his hands definitely wasn't meant to be eaten. The rancid taste is enough to distract Jongin from the fact that he'll probably never forgive his math teacher if she were to schedule his detention tomorrow after school, and thus cause him to miss his tournament. "I'm fine, it's all fine," he says after scrambling for Baekhyun's tissue. He wipes his mouth and blinks. "Planning what thing-- For what??"

It's Baekhyun's turn to blink. "Our one year anniversary," he slowly says and chuckles out loud. "Man, that tournament's really gotten to your head, hasn't it--" He shakes his head in amusement before he reaches out and pats Jongin's shoulder in an encouraging manner. He takes a bite of his own sandwich, clearly trying to mask his grimace, while Jongin internally curses himself for forgetting to buy a drink to wash it all down. "I actually forgot to tell you another thing--" Baekhyun cuts himself off when Sehun walks up to their table, and he immediately erupts in a face splitting grin.

Sehun sends them both a wink before he places his tray on the table and gracefully slides into the seat next to Baekhyun. "Sorry, I got a little caught up," he chuckles as he tries crossing his long legs underneath the table. He eventually succeeds, but not without bumping his shin more than once (which has Jongin biting back a series of loud giggles). It doesn't take Sehun long to notice Jongin's expression of pure suffering, and he subsequently picks up one of the two milk cartons on his tray. He slides it over to Jongin with a friendly wink before he kisses Baekhyun's hair. "What did I miss?" he hums as he unwraps his own sandwich which, thankfully, seems to be on the somewhat edible side of the spectrum.

Jongin keeps his eyes fixated on the (surprisingly) clean table as he stabs at the carton with the straw. Even over the chemically smell emitting from his food, Jongin easily picks up on Sehun's cologne from his spot across the table. Jongin is thankful that Sehun is giving his full and undivided attention to Baekhyun as the latter fills him in, since Jongin knows he's had enough people witnessing him internally freaking out for one day. Jongin resumes trying to poke a hole, only to give up when Sehun and Baekhyun both look up. Momentarily suffering a mental blackout, Jongin ends up glued to his seat before he opens his mouth to say something along the lines of 'Congratulations'. Except he only manages to croak out the first syllable before he erupts in a coughing fit, which has him making a mental note to sue the school's cafeteria forever.  

Baekhyun carefully wipes the corners of his mouth with Jongin's (used) tissue. "Thanks!" he says with a bright grin, to which Sehun responds by sending Jongin a smile. He feeds a piece of his sandwich to Sehun before he shoves his tray aside. "You'll do great tomorrow, I promise," he says after Jongin successfully manages to poke a hole in the carton. "I mean, I know I couldn't make it to your rehearsals, but there's no need to be nervous, okay? Besides, didn't Taemin tell you that he contemplated having you as his choreographer after he saw you dance?" He sends Jongin a wink, to which the latter responds with a groan. "I'm just saying-"

"Yeah, he did," Jongin mumbles, absently chewing on the straw while he contemplates slapping or thanking his best friend. Even though Jongin eventually grew exhausted of constantly telling Baekhyun that he wasn't, in fact, into his roommate in the slightest, he still finds himself reminding Baekhyun about it every time the topic of roommates comes up, despite the fact that he doubts the latter will ever learn (or accept it, for that matter). Jongin internally panics when Sehun sends him a smile, which has him scrambling for his milk carton. "What was the, uh-- Y'know, the thing you said? That you forgot to...neverm-"

"Oh yeah, that," Baekhyun exclaims, a grin spreading across his entire face. "Speaking of dancing--" He pokes Sehun's cheek. "Sehun said he'd like to come and watch!" 

Jongin is silent for what seems like forever, and Sehun eventually clears his throat. "If it's alright with you, that is," he says after Jongin stares at them like they've both grown a second head.

As Sehun and Baekhyun continue to stare him down, Jongin continues to keep his mouth shut, and it's not until he sees the milk drops dripping from his bangs that he notices at the carton in his hand, which he managed to crush in surprise - to the point of its contents exploding all over his face and hair, much to his dismay. The heat spreading across his cheeks distracts him from the way his heart is threatening to leap out of his chest any second, but Jongin manages to distract himself by grabbing a few napkins, all whilst ignoring Sehun's amused expression. "That's-- It's fine," he croak-garbles, wiping his bangs dry. "It's-"

"Great," Baekhyun squees, clapping his hands together. "Don't let us down now, we're counting on you," he chuckles with a wink. He misses the way Jongin stills before he rubs his hands together, mentions something about needing dessert and gets out of his seat.

Jongin watches Baekhyun walk back to the counter before he clears his throat. If there's anything he hates, it's being left alone with Sehun, even for just a minute, mainly because of his tendency to suffer a complete blackout every time, which eventually became more and more apparent each time he tried telling himself otherwise. Jongin opens his mouth and tries to remember what he and Sehun (oh so) briefly talked about when Baekhyun left them alone yesterday (he figures that it must have been about their mutual hatred for their History assignment, but he isn't sure). However, Jongin finds it impossible to even utter a word with Sehun staring at him, with the usual polite expression etched on his face, so he scrambles for the nearest napkin when he worries that he might still have milk in his hair (mostly because he'd rather not talk about tomorrow's detention possibly interfering with his tournament).

Sehun's voice nearly has Jongin falling out of his seat for the second time that day. "I'm looking forward to it," he says with a smile, "Baek talks a lot about your dancing," he adds for emphasis and adjusts the strings to his hoodie. 

Jongin nods, unsure whether he should say thanks or act surprised, since he knows all about how Baekhyun tells (or used to tell) pretty much everybody he meets about his best friend's 'godlike' choreography skills. It's not until Jongin realizes that this is the very first time that Sehun has acknowledged his dancing that he finds himself opening his mouth. "Glowing reports, I hope," he blurts out, not even trying to mask the sarcasm in his voice. It's not until Sehun responds with a low chuckle that he internally panics. "Wait, I meant-"

"Of course," Sehun replies as he absently fixes a lock of his jet black hair. "You can trust me on that," he adds when Jongin visibly flushes. He absently fiddles with the plastic on his sandwich, which Jongin makes a mental note to order next time. 

Jongin croak-garbles something along the lines of 'Okay', hoping Baekhyun will return before Sehun can get a chance to question him about his face, which is probably on fire at this point. He absently rests his head in his hand while he keeps his gaze fixated Sehun's eyebrows, both of which Jongin swears must be newly groomed since yesterday, while Sehun continues to fidget with the plastic. The ring on Sehun's finger seems to glow even brighter than it did just half an hour ago, and Jongin finds himself staring, perhaps a little longer than necessary, until he, too, crosses his legs. A million different thoughts and questions pinball through his head, but Jongin finds himself unable to open his mouth as his eyes trail across Sehun's broad shoulders. In fact, Jongin figures that he probably would have remained staring forever if it wasn't for Sehun promptly looking up, right at him, a second later. 

It doesn't take Jongin long to figure out that he accidentally bumped his leg against Sehun's whilst crossing his legs, and he sort of wishes Baekhyun would return right this very second when Sehun chuckles. Jongin bites back an apology and clamps his mouth shut in fear of every thought rolling right off his tongue, but he finds himself speaking before he can process what he's doing. "Uh, congratulations," he says, hoping he doesn't look all too dazed as he (barely) manages a supportive grin.

Something flashes in Sehun's eyes, seemingly of puzzlement. It disappears as quickly as it came, though, and he soon erupts into a smile. "Thank you," he says and runs a hand through his hair. Jongin briefly catches a glimpse of his bleach blond roots, which only reminds him of how much Baekhyun pegged Sehun to dye his hair black three months into their relationship. 

Jongin clears his throat, careful to avoid nudging Sehun as he moves his legs, both of which have gone numb at this point. He hears Baekhyun place his order behind him as he picks up his now empty (and flattened) milk carton. "It's, uh-- It's no problem, really--" He clears his throat again. "I mean, it's-- One year, that's-- That's a milestone for many, uh...many people," he says whilst fidgeting with one of the corners. 

Sehun nods in agreement. "That's-"

"Are you planning anything exciting?" Jongin blurts out before he can stop himself. "I mean-- Y'know, most people tend to go out to dinner and stuff, and--" He clamps his mouth shut when he notices Sehun staring at him in his peripheral. "It's just-- Baek hasn't really said anything about-- I'm just-"

"I understand," Sehun chuckles before he shakes his head. "And, well, with everything going on right now," he says, gesturing at his briefcase, "I guess you could say that we decided to take the easy route." He chuckles sheepishly before he shrugs ever so slightly. "As in, you know, just your typical movie night, nothing special," he adds when Jongin blinks. He subsequently excuses himself to respond to a text message, and Jongin doesn't even need to ask to know that it's Baekhyun asking about dessert. 

Jongin hums to himself, albeit awkwardly, as he waits for Sehun to finish. At least a thousand words and sentences rest on the tip of his tongue, but he manages to keep his mouth closed when Sehun apologizes and puts his phone away. "I mean, it doesn't have to be, you know???" Jongin bites the inside of his cheek and mentally slaps himself silly when Sehun only sends him a look. "Special, you know-- Like, it doesn't have to be anything special, like you said--" Jongin eyes his sandwich, which is untouched and practically screaming at him not to finish it. Not that he was going to, anyway.

Checking his watch (which only reminds Jongin that they've got less than fifteen minutes until their next lesson), Sehun nods. He momentarily mentions something about the lunch line being abnormally long today before they fall into silence. Jongin's eyes roam around the room and, while he internally screams for Baekhyun to return, his gaze lands on a female student walking past. It's not until he notices the abnormal amount of shiny jewelry all over his arms and fingers that he remembers the silver bracelet that Sehun gifted Baekhyun on their six month anniversary. Now that Jongin thinks about it, he doesn't recall seeing Baekhyun sport, or hearing the latter mention, anything like it as of today and or lately. In fact, come to think of it, Jongin would be lying if he said that he hadn't heard Baekhyun mention anything about their one year anniversary up until today, but he dismisses the thought. 

"When, uh-- When're you planning on doing the, uh...you know, the movie night?" Jongin keeps his eyes fixated on Sehun's perfectly groomed eyebrows when Sehun looks up.

"This Sunday," Sehun replies with a smile, which gradually disappears when something flashes in his eyes yet again, and this time it's so brief that Jongin barely catches it. He's silent for a minute, even as he takes a quick sip from his milk carton, which is basically untouched. "Look, I was--" His eyebrows furrow ever so slightly, which has Jongin wanting to scream in adoration. "I was actually wondering if--" He doesn't get to finish his sentence before Baekhyun returns to their table. 

Jongin only blinks when he watches Baekhyun slide a bowl of pink puddling towards Sehun, who thanks him with a kiss. Jongin sort of hates how long he ends up staring at Sehun indulge in the brightly colored dessert, and he has to force himself to snap out of it when Baekhyun returns to his seat. "You took your goddamn time," he mutters and, given that he doesn't have any pudding of his own to distract himself with, he opts to fidget with the empty milk carton.

Baekhyun shrugs sheepishly. "They ran out, I had to wait for 'em to stock back up," he says and stabs at the squishy, pink mass with his spoon. He's about to open his mouth to speak when their teacher suddenly appears in the doorway, and his (and Sehun's) eyes automatically flicker to Jongin. Surely enough, she wordlessly beckons him to come with her, and Baekhyun simply presses his lips together when Jongin visibly sighs. "Don't it up, Einstein," he snickers.

Jongin rolls his eyes and sends Baekhyun a tired look. "Shut up," he groans before he gets out of his seat, picks up his backpack and trudges towards the doorway.

5:21 PM

In his tired state, Jongin ends up shoving the wrong key in the keyhole twice after he ascends the patio step, and it's not until he swings the front door open that he practically tosses his backpack on the welcome mat. As he toes his sneakers off, Jongin ponders either sleeping the rest of the day away, or being a productive student for once by hitting the books and studying for longer than ten minutes. On one hand, he figures that the former would be rather useless, anyway, given his teacher's verbal beatdown earlier, during which she informed him that if he didn't complete every single worksheet by tomorrow morning, she would be keeping him after school until eight o'clock. Jongin recalls not even lifting a finger to protest, despite internally dying throughout the whole ordeal, and he runs a hand through his hair as he fumbles for the light switch. He doesn't hear anything that would signal Taemin being home (as in, no wall shattering strumming), which Jongin finds rather relieving, since all he wants is to pack up for his final dance recital in peace. 

Jongin picks his backpack up off the floor, not even caring that his right sock is slipping off his foot as he enters the kitchen and heads straight for the fridge. Much to his dismay, Taemin seems to have polished off just about every piece of junk food, and Jongin pouts to himself before he eventually settles for a bowl of ice cream. It's not until he closes the freezer door, though, that he catches a whiff of cologne, so strong that Jongin ends up inhaling it for a good thirty seconds before it disappears. If Jongin is going to be honest, he had no idea that his and Sehun's brief hug, before the three of them parted ways earlier, would result in Sehun's cologne clinging to his clothes like glue (unless Sehun happened to embrace him a little tighter than usual, but Jongin figures that he's much too sugar deprived right now to even think about that). On the other hand, it's not like Jongin is complaining. In fact, he doesn't even realize that he's been standing unmoving in the same spot for a full minute until he notices that his snack has been reduced to a white puddle in his hand. 

Putting the bowl in the sink, Jongin mentally recites his upcoming steps to distract himself, but he gives up when he's unable to get past the first three. Frankly, he figures that snacking would be useless, anyway, given that he's still full from the pudding he ate earlier. To be precise, Sehun's pudding, which Sehun ended up offering after Jongin jokingly asked Baekhyun why the latter did get him one, as well. At first, Jongin had protested, but he eventually gave in when Sehun went on to remind him that he'd only taken a single bite of his sandwich. The faint taste of strawberry still lingers in his mouth and Jongin finds himself sinking into the nearest chair when he worries his knees might give in. He stares at his backpack, lowkey wishing that his worksheets would complete themselves as he reaches for it. However, Jongin doesn't a chance to prepare himself for at least twenty minutes of brain melting boredom when the front door opens, and he briefly nods at Taemin after the latter walks in. A part of Jongin wants to scream, because if Taemin is planning on proceeding with his daily session, he can officially kiss working in peace (and thus tomorrow's tournament) goodbye. 

"Einstein at work, I see," Taemin chuckles after chucking his shoes off and walking into the kitchen. Due to the earphones in his ears, he misses the way Jongin groans in response, and he absently whistles a random tune as he opens up one of the cupboards. "My SATs start tomorrow morning, so you're free to do whatever until then," he says after retrieving a packet of instant ramen. He goes on to complain about Jongin wasting food when he spots the bowl in the sink, but he soon grows silent. "What's that smell?" 

Jongin watches as Taemin fetches the kettle with tired eyes. He blames the worksheets in his bag for every ounce of energy right out of him, and he simply raises a puzzled eyebrow. He doesn't even bother protesting, though, and only presses his lips together when Taemin sends him a knowing smirk.

Taemin simply stares at Jongin for a second until he shrugs and turns on the stove. "You know this is an Axe free household," he says whilst ripping the packet open. He hums to himself for a moment. "I mean, I know you've told me all about how much you like how he smells and all, but this is certainly something else," he says and carefully fixes his newly dyed hair. Its jet blackness perfectly contradicts his bright red leather jacket, and Jongin sort of hates how good it looks. "Are they planning on doing anything exciting or what?"

Jongin blinks. The smell of ramen makes his mouth water, despite his stomach being full to the brim. "What do you-"

"Y'know, Romeo and Juliet," Taemin responds as he takes a picture of his dinner. He puts his phone away and turns to face Jongin. "Or, should I say, Romeo." He goes on to mention something about the smell of cologne being 'uncomfortably overwhelming' as he stirs the pot. "Stop pouting like that all the time, it doesn't suit your adorable face-"

"He's fine," Jongin blurts out, only to clamp his mouth shut when Taemin smirks. "I mean, they're fine-- It's their one year anniversary so they're both fine-- God, just shut your face already." He stubbornly crosses his arms over his chest (which definitely does nothing to disprove Taemin's words) and partially tunes Taemin out when the latter proceeds to ramble about his newly bought plectrums, and it's not until Taemin goes on to describe every single one that Jongin retrieves the mountain of worksheets from his backpack. "How about you spend your money on useful things," he grumbles as he slams them down on the table with the full intention of not doing them.

Taemin nods. "A year, huh? Well, what's the plan?" he curiously asks, adjusting one of his many earrings. "Man, to think that it's been a whole year since he joined you guys." He blinks. "Wait, does that mean that this marks the six month anniversary of your ever growing boy craziness?" he asks (probably in an attempt to avoid justifying paying thirty dollars for a few pieces of plastic, Jongin figures), stirring the pot with his free hand. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd definitely prefer you fawning over some handsome guy with godly eyebrows than listen to you about your math teacher every night-"

"Forget I told you," Jongin huffs. For a second, all he can think about is how Taemin literally spent two whole months trash talking every single member of the the group that his band lost against, during a music contest last year, but he decides not to comment on it. "You've never even met her," he mutters and feels a shiver going up his spine. "She wouldn't give two s if you were a straight A student or not, just saying."  

Taemin rolls his eyes. "Anyway, you better not disappoint tomorrow, just saying," he hums, turning off the stove. "I had to cancel our last practice session before the show, so make sure to impress me," he adds for emphasis with a less than discreet wink. "You will, though--" He blinks when he notices the distant look on Jongin's face. "Alright, I'm listening, what's the matter?"

Jongin fidgets with a lock of his hair as he absently watches Taemin blow on his noodles, all whilst he fights the urge to remind Taemin that the latter has known about the tournament for months now. "I left my pencil in my locker," he mumbles, mainly to himself. If he's going to be honest, he wishes that Taemin wouldn't bring up the tournament, because thinking about the tournament only reminds Jongin of Sehun telling him that he's looking forward to it, which in turn reminds Jongin of the fact that Sehun will be watching him dance for the first time in his life. Jongin sort of hates the way it makes his gut tingle as he chews on his bottom lip, but he decides to keep his mouth shut. However, it's not until Jongin notices Taemin's -eating grin from across the table that he mentally smacks himself. He really, really needs to learn to not say things out loud. "Wait, it's-"

"Okay, so--" Taemin shoves his chopsticks in his mouth before he gives Jongin his complete and undivided attention. "Lemme get this straight, 'kay?" He crosses his legs, which has Jongin worrying that his skin tight jeans might rip right down the middle. "The love of your life willingly offers to watch you dance, on stage and everything, despite usually never speaking more than a single sentence to you on a daily basis--" He sends Jongin a pointed look. "And you sulk like you've just had your heart torn in two?" He raises a questioning eyebrow, only to scoff when Jongin pouts. "Kim Jongin, you're cute and all, but you're definitely not stupid-"

"He's not the love of my life," Jongin sighs and stares at the green pencil in front of him, which Taemin must have slid over without him noticing. He doesn't even bother concealing his reddening cheeks when Taemin simply sends him another look. "Besides, what difference does it even make?" he exclaims, throwing his hands in the air. "What do you expect me to do? He's got Baekhyun--" He cuts himself off and picks up a worksheet, which he immediately regrets doing after he suffers a mental breakdown upon seeing the mathematical formulas scattered everywhere. 

Taemin puts his hands up. "I never said you had to do anything," he says with a mouthful of noodles. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to impress, though, is there?" He raises an eyebrow, to which Jongin responds with a sigh. Taemin wipes his hands on his jeans as he hears Jongin condemning his homework to all eternity, before he clears his throat. "Y'never answered my question, by the way."

Jongin looks up, but his head is much too clouded for him to even bother pretending like he doesn't know what Taemin is talking about. "Nothing special," he says, toying with the pencil in his hand. Quoting Sehun only makes Jongin think of Sehun's sheepish expression when said words left his mouth earlier, which has him gripping the pencil until his knuckles turn white. 

Taemin blinks. "Jongin, come on-"

"That's what he said," Jongin blurts out childishly, fighting the urge to slap a hand over his mouth when Taemin sends him his trademark overly-disappointed-mother look. "I mean, that's exactly what he told me, Sehun, that is--" He attempts to complete the worksheet, only to give up after seeing the first question. "He basically just said that they'd, like, watch movies and, y'know...stuff," he says, so quietly that Taemin barely catches it, and Jongin hates the way his entire face explodes with heat the moment the last word leaves his lips. It's not until he checks the time on his phone that he figures that he should probably head upstairs and prepare his duffel bag if he wants to get out of the house and to practice at all. 

Jongin doesn't get a chance to, though, before Taemin speaks. "Interesting," Taemin hums, picking up the bowl. "I'll be in the very front row so maybe I'll run into him, who knows," he adds, barely audibly as he loudly slurps. "Don't get too riled up, though, 'kay? I've seen you, you got this." He sends Jongin a confident smirk before he gestures at the untouched worksheets on the table. "Doesn't your practice start in half an hour?" he asks, checking his phone.

Running a tired hand through his hair, which causes a blast of Sehun's cologne to hit him in the face, Jongin nods in defeat. He doesn't even bother telling Taemin that, since Baekhyun could only get tickets to the middle row, Sehun will most certainly be in the middle row, as well. Staring at the worksheets before him (which seem to be taunting him), Jongin is seconds away from conjuring up some witty excuse when his phone rings, which causes both of them to jump five feet in the air. It takes Jongin ten whole seconds to even bring himself to respond, and he doesn't even bother checking the caller ID before he puts the phone by his ear. "Hello?"

"Heyo," Baekhyun sing-songs into the receiver. A certain shuffling noise in the background momentarily snaps Jongin out of his trance. "Listen, are you busy?" he asks with a certain excitement in his voice. 

Jongin automatically looks up at Taemin, who is absently filling out every single worksheet (like the math nerd he is,Jongin thinks) like it's nothing. "Not really," he mumbles, fixing his sock, which has nearly slid off his foot entirely. "I mean, I'm gonna head out to practice soon, but yeah--"

"Okay, great," Baekhyun chirps, not even giving Jongin a chance to respond before he continues. "Okay, so like, we haven't told you yet, but me and Sehun were planning on like, just chilling on Sunday and watching movies and whatnot, and we wondered if you'd like to, y'know, tag along." He clears his throat. "I mean, it's fine if you don't want to, but we figured since Taemin's always busy with rehearsals and you won't be having that many practice sessions of your own after tomorrow--" He cuts himself off with a sheepish chuckle. "Sehun says it's alright with him, by the way."

It takes Jongin a full minute to process Baekhyun's words, and it's not until Baekhyun eventually asks him if he's still there that he hurriedly nods. Jongin ignores Taemin informing him that Baekhyun can't see it as he chews on his bottom lip. "Tomorrow???" The idea of being alone with Baekhyun and Sehun both enthralls and terrifies him at the same time, and Jongin doesn't even realize how tightly his stomach is coiling until Taemin sends him a funny look. "Wait, like--" Jongin mentally smacks himself to pull himself together. "Just the three of us???" He feels his heart racing impossibly fast when Baekhyun replies with a confused 'Yeah, so?'.  

"I know how much you probably don't like being the third wheel and all, but we can do other things as well," Baekhyun says sheepishly. "I just want us all to be together and, y'know, be happy together-- I mean, you could catch up on your assignments if you feel like it," he adds and audibly groans when Jongin snickers. "Shut up-"

"You ing at being deep," Jongin laughs, causing Taemin to look up from the worksheet he's filling out (which happens to be the last one, to Jongin's awe). He swallows a lump in his throat that he didn't even know existed as he keeps his eyes glued on the pencil in Taemin's hand - how it gracefully glides across the paper as he casually scribbles out equation after equation. It's not until Jongin realizes that he has yet to reply that he clears his throat. "Yeah, I'll...I'll be there--" He doesn't bother ignoring the heat bubbling in his gut after he hangs up and puts his phone away. Inevitably, Taemin is staring at him like he's gone mad, but the warmth spreading through his entire body is enough to make Jongin bite back the sarcastic remark lingering on the tip of his tongue.

Taemin sends Jongin a puzzled look. "Has anyone ever told you just how smitten you look whenever you're fawning over some guy?" he mumbles, tossing the pencil across the table. "I saved your from five hours of detention, the very least you can do is fill me in on your love life," he adds with a huff. "Well? I heard you say 'tomorrow', what's going on tomorrow??"

Jongin remains glued to the chair for what feels like forever until he finally gets up. He mutters an absent thanks as he gathers up the worksheets and carefully places them in his backpack. "Nothing special," he says before he heads upstairs to pack his duffel bag.