Sehun eyes the bright yellow sign welcoming freshmen in front of the dorimitory.  The new academic year at SM High hasn't even started before it's already abuzz with rumors.  There's talk about a group of the new freshmen that are soon to enter.

Sehun asks Jongin about it as they pile into the cafeteria after practice, detecting some kind of peril to his maknae status, but that turns out to be a mistake because Jongin's not interested in how maknae-like Sehun remains nor does he care about the state of the new students. 

"I heard Yunho sunbae's little brother is attending our school now" Chanyeol tells Baekhyun.

"Really?  Daebak... is he going to join the swim team?" Baekhyun asks.

Chanyeol shrugs.  "No idea."

Sehun, sitting just a few feet away from them, scowls.  They're not a good source either.  Today had been their last practice and next week will mark the day when Oh Sehun has to move out of his dorm room.  More than club recruitment week, Sehun is dreading Moving day because Moving Day means he'll be separated from his hyung and long time crush, Kim Minseok.

"Kyungsoo hyung, is there no way that we'll keep our current roommates?" Sehun whines, hanging onto Kyungsoo's left arm like it's his last hope.

Kyungsoo shrugs Sehun off and adjusts his glasses.  Looking down at his clipboard, he shakes his head.  "Nope.  Oh Sehun, you're assigned to Kim Junmyeon."

Sehun groans.  

From somewhere in the cafeteria, Junmyeon calls out an affronted "Hey!" but Sehun doesn't register it.  It's not that he doesn't like Junmyeon hyung.  Kim Junmyeon is a good person.  But it's one thing to be living with your crush and one thing to move in with just a really nice sunbae - no matter how loaded that sunbae might be.  When Sehun staggers back to his usual lunch table, Baekhyun pokes him on the side.

"Yah, yah, yah!  I heard you get to bunk with Junmyeon hyung."

"Meh" Sehun answers, burying his head in his arms.

"What's the long face for?  He has a no limit credit card, Sehun-ah.  That means he can buy you food all the time."

Kyungsoo sighs wistfully.  Jongdae almost snorts his orange juice through his nose.  "Yeah right, Byun Baekhyun.  Like Junmyeon hyung's gonna finance Sehun's oddball appetite all year round."

Baekhyun shrugs, clapping Sehun on the back.  "I hear he has a soft spot for big babies like Sehun-ee here."

Normally, that kind of dig would have elicited some sort of response - something like low kicking to the shins or flapping slaps to the vicinity of Baekhyun's smug little face.  But Sehun's too depressed to react this time.  He thinks of Minseok and his cute little teeth revealing themselves when Minseok grins.  He thinks of waking up to Minseok lint-rolling his bed sheets and asking Sehun if he wants him to clean Sehun's bed too.  He thinks of how Minseok hyung always saves him the desserts he likes from the dinner runs even when he's trying to make weight and how Minseok hyung makes sure Sehun does his stretches before leaving for the pool together.  He thinks of how all of that is going to be gone, gone, gone when Sehun has to move out this year.

"Arghhhh" Sehun groans loudly.

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes.  "You're just moving down the hall.  It's not like you're immigrating."

 

 

SM High's swim team is kind of a Big Deal with a captial B and D.  Two years ago, the sunbaes had raised the phased out swim team from the ashes and last year, they had won in the relays and freestyle categories during Seoul Regionals.  They had been invited to Nationals, but had not been able to make it due to funding issues.  This year, they were the rising stars, the dark horses, expected not only to go to Nationals but to come home with medals to make up for last year.

Because of all this, it's not a huge surprise when the growing kids from the local swim club apply for SM High to join the swim team.  What Sehun doesn't expect is for Minseok's new roommate to be so cute.

"Hello sunbaes!  My name is Mark Lee or Lee Minhyung in Korean.  I'm from Canada!  But I moved here three years ago.  Nice to meet you hyungs!"

The freshman bows, folding his upper body so that his nose nearly bumps into his knees.

"Oh" Minseok remarks with raised brows.  "Flexible."

Sehun breathes slowly through his nostrils.  Everyone's there in the hallway of the dorm - an impromptu gathering to ogle the freshmen who'll be trying out for swim team this year.  Jongdae sideeyes Sehun who is blinking slowly and trying to control himself when Minseok tosses an arm around Mark's neck.

"You're so cute!" Minseok squeals, tugging at Mark's left earlobe.

Sehun staggers a little and Baekhyun has to support him from the small of his back.  Jongin walks up to the group, rubbing his eyes and looking sleepy as always.

"What's going on?" Jongin asks, frowning when he sees the stranger that Minseok giving a gentle noogie to.

Sehun, however, doesn't hear anything and cannot answer.  Instead, he squeezes his eyelids shut.  Because he refuses to believe what he's seeing now.  He can't stand seeing Minseok rubbing Mark's chest in that teasing way, like Minseok used to do to Sehun.  Even through closed eyes, Sehun starts seeing the edges of his vision turning green.

"Sehun-ah?" comes Jongin's voice.

He feels Jongin's warm fingers on his shoulder and Sehun suddenly feels like crying.

"What's wrong, Sehun-ah?"

Jongin's voice makes everyone in the group fall silent and turn toward the two boys.  'Don't look' Sehun wants to scream.  But as the other hyungs come closer, asking Sehun if he's ok, it hurts that Minseok's voice isn't among them.

"Do you feel like you have to puke?" asks Baekhyun.  "Because you should say if you're gonna puke."

"Don't you dare vomit on the carpet, Oh Sehun" Kyungsoo says sternly.  "Let's get you to the bathroom."

"Stop being so insensitive, Kyungsoo" chastises Chanyeol, but his voice sounds too jubilant for Sehun to believe he means it.  "Just because you're the new resident monitor, doesn't mean-"

"What's going on?" Minseok asks belatedly.

Sehun freezes at the sound of Minseok's voice.  "It's a secret" Sehun tells him unenthusiastically.

"Sehun's not feeling well" Kyungsoo explains.

Sehun can hear a soft "Oh no" coming from Mark, which makes Sehun scowl all the more.

"Oh Sehun" Minseok's voice sounds closer, but Sehun still hasn't opened his eyes.

Two sets of small hands cup Sehun's cheeks and involuntarily, Sehun lets out a breath he doesn't realize he's been holding in.

"Oh Sehun" Minseok repeats in a steady voice.  "Look at me."

When Sehun cracks open one eyelid, he sees the concern etched on Minseok's face.  Frown lines full of worry mar Minseok's perfect pale forehead.  Minseok's face is too close to Sehun's but Sehun doesn't move a muscle, too mesmerized by Minseok's twinkling irises.

"Do you feel sick?" Minseok whispers.  "Do you need to lie down?"

And Sehun knows why Minseok's acting like Sehun's fragile.  In the privacy of their shared room, Sehun's opened up about his anxiety and has been honest about his fears more than once.  Though Minseok was a crush, to Sehun, Minseok is also a confidante and best friend in a way different than Sehun is with Jongin.

"I'm-" Sehun opens his mouth, but instead of finishing his sentence, he sighs.

"Give him some space guys" Minseok tells the others in a commanding voice.  "Breathe, Sehun-ah" Minseok tells Sehun, softer than before.

"You're the one with his face pressed up against Sehun's" Junmyeon points out in a neutral voice.

But Minseok ignores Junmyeon's smart aleck comment.  Instead, Minseok carefully Sehun's face.

"Our maknae Sehun-ee" Minseok coos.  "Don't be sick okay?  You know I worry about you."

At the word 'maknae', Sehun feels a tiny weight lifting from his chest.  He wants to sneak a peek at Mark, but his line of sight is filled with Minseok's face.  Sehun can practically hear the rolling of eyes from the other hyungs while Jongin pouts audibly.

"Hyung, my tummy hurts too" Jongin whines, tugging on Minseok's sleeve.

Suddenly, the warmth of Minseok's hands leave Sehun's face and Minseok's eyes are turned to Jongin.

"Aw, is our little Jongin-ee needing a tum-tum rub?"  Minseok asks in a sickeningly mushy voice.

Jongin nods.  But before Jongin can say anything else, Baekhyun is hanging off Minseok's back.

"Hyung!  I got a paper cut right here!  Kiss my boo-boo?" Baekhyun complains, pointing to the tip of his right pointer finger.

"Hyunnie got a boo-boo?" Minseok asks in that same babbling voice.

But Minseok is smiling now, teasing in a way that has Sehun frowning.  

"Hyung~" Jongdae calls out, laughing and joining in on the joke.

"Hyung!  Hyung!" Chanyeol adds, forcing everyone into a group hug.

Kyungsoo sighs while Junmyeon bunches his shoulders and widens his eyes, pretending to be cute.

"Ming Seokee hyung-ah!" Junmyeon calls out in a baby voice.

Minseok's grinning face falls into an icy glare.  "Don't you dare Kim Junmyeon."

And while Sehun's still scowling and glaring daggers at the rest of the swim team, Minseok's back to Mark, smiling at the younger boy and apologizing.  Mark's awkward smile twitches off the corner of his lips as his eyes widen, looking down at Minseok's face.

"It's okay, sunbae" Mark's telling Minseok with a pink blush spreading on Mark's face.

Sehun's knuckles go white from making tight fists at his sides.  The other hyungs are snickering behind Minseok's back and Jongin's still pouting.  But Sehun really can't handle it anymore.

"Let's go, Kim Jongin" Sehun says, grabbing Jongin's arm and turning them around.

He doesn't need Minseok anymore if this is how it's going to be every time a new freshman comes into Minseok's life.  He decides he'd rather be the one leaving rather than the one left behind.

"Aw, but I wanted to hang out with Minseok hyung today" Jongin complains as he's dragged down the hall.

"Shut up" Sehun growls.

"I mean, this is his last year with us and I'm gonna-"

Sehun stops in his tracks, jerking Jongin's arm.  His mind goes blank at Jongin's words, the ugly green  tint to his periphery blending into nothingness.

"What?"

"Did you forget?" Jongin asks.  And Sehun hates how there's a tinge of amusement in Jongin's voice.  "This is Minseok hyung's last year of high school.  Next year he's gonna-"

"Hyung!" Sehun screams, abandoning Jongin and running back the way he had come from.  "Minseok hyung!"

This isn't a time for being prideful, Sehun decides quickly.  He was going to stick to Minseok like glue this year, he concludes, if it's the last thing he does.  He eyes Mark who's still looking down at Minseok like he's a fairy prince come alive from a book.  Sehun lets out an injured sniff, moving to hang on Minseok's back like a koala.  He just had to oust this newbie, who was vying for Minseok hyung's affections and trying to replace him of all people.

"-and Sehun's specialty is the butterfly" Minseok's explaining to Mark.  

"Oh cool" Mark comments, eyes lighting up.  "That's my favorite too!"

Sehun stiffens, smile hardening on his face as Mark's eyes turn to his.  So this is how this kid wanted to play.  'Game on' Sehun thinks.

Aloud, he says, "What a coincidence.  Minseok hyung is mine."

Mark's eyes turn wide and Minseok frowns, turning his head to look at Sehun.

"My roommate" Sehun corrects himself, smiling like the cat who ate the canary.  "He was my roommate last year and he'll be mine this year too.  Yours is Kim Junmyeon over there.  He likes the stroke.  You'll like him.  He's famous for always buying hoobaes food."

"Oh" Mark says in a confused voice, eyes flickering to Minseok's then back to Sehun.  "I thought-"

Junmyeon sputters in the background and Sehun can see Kyungsoo glowering at him from a distance, shaking his head.

"Oh Sehun" Minseok's voice contains a wanring.

"It's gonna be great" Sehun continues, ignoring everyone else and grinning at Mark's perplexed face.  "Oh and hope you make the team.  You know that the decision for new members has to be unanimous, right?"