“No,” Sehun repeats for the hundredth time. “I’m not asking him out.”

Baekhyun groans as they sit at their booth with their smoothies. “Why not?”

“Because it's so OBVIOUSLY a stupid prank. They probably had a good laugh when they left.”

“OR! One of the hottest guys in school might actually be interested in you.”

“OR!” Sehun mocks. “It’s like in those movies. You know, where the hot jock asks out the nerd and they end up laughing at her.”

Baekhyun snorts. “That stuff doesn’t happen in real life, Sehuna.”

“It does too!” He argues. “It happened to me in middle school! I had a crush on this boy and he asked me out a joke! After he asked me out, he started laughing with all his friends!”

His best friend makes a clicking noise with his tongue. “You never told me that!”

“Why would I?” He mutters before sipping his peach smoothie. 

“Speak of the devil,” His friend motions out the window Sehun looks out as well, noticing some boys across the street. His eyes go straight to Kai, laughing and hanging out with some other boys. Instead of a school uniform, he wears a blue jersey hoodie denim jacket paired with jeans and navy blue vans. There’s something cute about how casual he looks compared to their school uniform. He jumps a little when their eyes meet. Sehun clears his throat and looks away.

“So?”

“I think he’s checking you out!”

Sehun raises a brow as he looks down at his own attire; A loose black sweater with tight grey plaid pants and black converse. Who in their right mind would check him out? He rolls his eyes before bringing up his right knee to his chest. “As if,” he scoffs. “Do you have any plans for when Yeol comes back?” He asks. “Like going somewhere special?”

“Don’t change the subject, blondie,” Baekhyun hands over his smoothie for Sehun to finish; due to him being a huge sweet tooth. “What if he’s ACTUALLY into you?”

“I don’t care,” Sehun groans. “If he’s into me, it’s fake. He just wants to use me for his stupid games.”

“Then why is he coming in all by himself?”

“What?” He glances back, frowning when he sees Kai approach. “Oh, good,” he groans and rolls his eyes. He leans back, holding on his knee still, his left leg kicking the table’s metal pole.

“Hey,” Kai greets, smiling down at the two as soon as he’s at their table. Sehun looks out the window at his friends, confused when they don’t seem interested in whatever happened. They either keep talking with each other or playing on their phones. Weird. Baekhyun stares at the jock for a moment before clearing his throat.

“Oh!’ He giggles and quickly stands. “I’ll...uh, go get another smoothie Feel free to have my seat for a moment, Kai.” Sehun glares at him when he gives him a secret thumbs-up behind Kai’s back. 

“Thanks,” Kai laughs a bit, taking Baekhyun’s offer and having a seat. “Look, sorry if I’m a bit forward.”

“It’s fine,” He mutters and fiddles with his straw.

“Listen, I don’t usually do this,” Kai admits. “So I guess I’ll just get it out; do you think you’d wanna go see a movie sometime? With me?”

Sehun stares at him for a moment. “No.”

Kai looks a bit surprised. “Oh.”

“Sorry but I don’t trust you,” he admits. “I won’t be a dumb pawn for your jokes or a way to get into my stepbrother’s pants.”

“I’m not...using you for anything,” The jock says in confusion. “And not to mention, Kris is a close friend; why would I go after his boyfriend?”

“Close friend with Kris?” Sehun scoffs and leans back. He’s sick of Luhan’s damn friends trying to humiliate him. “Forget it. Just go, alright?”

Kai smiles weakly and slowly nods, standing up. “Sorry. Take care, alright?”

Sehun doesn’t watch him as he begins to walk off. But as soon as he does, he begins to feel extremely guilty. Nothing adds up. By the disappointed look on the guy’s face and how uninterested they seem, it doesn’t make sense. He lets out a heavy sigh. Why not? If this is all a joke, he might as well get something out of it. He quickly stands up and awkwardly turns in his seat. “Kai, wait!” Kai turns to look at him, his expression is hopeful. “I’ll...I’ll go. But one sign that you’re doing this as some prank, I'm leaving.”

The jock smiles and nods. “You won’t regret it.” Sehun shakes his head as he sits again, grabbing a napkin and writing his number on it. He scoots out of the seat and begrudgingly hands it to him. 

“I’d better not,” He mutters. His heart flutters at the confident smile Kai gives him and he has to look away. 

“I’ll text you when I get home. See ya,” Kai gives him a single wave before heading out off to his friends. He looks over and can’t help but notice how excited he seems. It just must be that he’s glad his plan to humiliate him is possibly working. He puts his hand on his stomach and lets out a shaky breath; he’ll admit he feels a bit shy about all this. What did he get himself into?

Sehun’s surprised when Kai does text him a few hours later; inviting him for a movie at the theater in an hour. Baekhyun was much more excited when he got the text. Sehun was kind of disappointed. He had hoped Kai wanted to go as far as asking him out and that’s it. But he guesses that’d be too easy. “Are you gonna try make-up?”

“No,” Sehun responds as he looks through his closet.

“Will you wear something hot? I have a pair of leather pants you could borrow.”

“No.”

“y perfume?”

“Nope.”

Baekhyun stomps his foot. “Sehun!”

“Ugh,” Sehun throws a pair of pants down. “Fine, okay? I’ll wear something tight. Happy?”

“But it can’t be too tight,” His friend says as he shuffles over, gently pushing Sehun out of the way to look himself. “You need a shirt that lifts up to reveal your stomach a bit when you reach for something.”

“What? Why?”

“Because your stomach and hips are some of your best features,” He casually answers. “Hm...It’s a movie so you have to look casual but cute as hell.”

“Why are we over complicating this?”

“You HAVE to look good.”

“You’re right,” Sehun sighs as he sits on his bed. “I have to look cute for when he humiliates me. Maybe his friends will jump out and snap photos for when I cry; post it on Instagram or facebook.”

“This will look great,” Baekhyun announces, ignoring his friend’s pessimistic comment. He sets down a white t-shirt and tight ripped jeans. “It’s simple but cute and it shows you’re a bit edgy.”

“I’m not edgy.”

“Tense, nervous, irritable…”

“Shut up.”

“See?” His friend pats the clothes. “Come on, soldier. At least try to enjoy yourself, okay? Just act as if you’re going on a real date and you don’t think it’s some elaborate scheme to publicly emotionally harm you. And if he tries to kiss you, don’t let him!”

Sehun gives his friend a weird look as he stands and begins to strip. “Not that he would but why?”

“Make him work for it,” Baekhyun says. “You have to make him looong for a kiss.”

“You’re crazy.”

“That’s what I did with Chanyeol,” his friend points out. “I did stuff to make my lips look all kissable. Likeee…” He stirs around in his pocket before pulling something out. “This organic lip balm that tastes good!”

Sehun stares at him and then at the tube in his hand. “I’m not using that.”

“You use lip balm anyway! Just switch it with this one.”

“No.”

“Sehun!” Baekhyun whines again. As soon as Sehun puts the shirt and pants on, he lets out a sigh and reluctantly takes the tube. He’s not planning on kissing Kai but if it’ll get his friend off his back, he’ll use it.  After applying it, he looks in a mirror in his closet. He rolls his eyes when Baekhyun quickly follows and begins messing with his hair. “Stylish and cute but comfortable, right?”

Sehun sighs again. “Yeah, I’m comfortable. Hey, why’d you lend me lip balm that taste good fi you said not to kiss him?”

Baekhyun grins sheepishly. “I don’t know. Just in case?”

“You’re HOPING he kisses me tonight, aren’t you?!”

“You caught me,’ He laughs and takes a step back, admiring his friend. “Come on! What if he does kiss you? Even if this is a huge joke, at least you had an amazing first kiss with a really hot guy.”

“I have a feeling you’d want me to that guy even if it was a joke.”

“That’s not true,” Baekhyun argues as he looks for some shoes. “A first kiss is really important but losing your ity more so. Okay? You need to be comfortable with that person and there HAS to be trust.” Sehun smiles as he listens. “While it took me the second date to kiss Chanyeol, it took me months to lose my ity to him; because I was in a place where I knew I was ready. I was comfortable and I trusted him,” He goes on. “Don’t lose your ity because it’ll make you cool or popular, okay? No matter how hot the guy is.”

Sehun decides to just go with moe comfort and slips on his regular black vans. “That was...strangely good and serious advice, Baek.”

“ is really important stuff,” His friend shrugs. “It’s fun but you gotta be careful. You can tell a lot from a guy if you say no to .”

“I’ll remember that,” Sehun huffs. “Let’s work out a plan in case this IS a joke, okay?”

“No need,” He hums. “I already have one.”

“You...do?” Sehun asks in confusion.

“You betcha! While you’re at the movies, I’ll be nearby, right? As you know, the movie theater is right next to a little diner so I figure I’ll just get dinner there. If it’s a joke, you’ll text me and I’ll be there in a jiffy. But if you send me a thumbs up emoji, I’ll know it’s going A-ok.”

“You really thought this through,” Sehun laughs as he grabs his zip-up hoodie. “That works for me either way.” He looks up when there’s a light knock on the door. “It’s unlocked.”

His mother steps in, smiling at both of them. “Hello Baekhyun, dear.”

“Hey, Mrs. Oh,” Baekhyun cheerfully greets her.

“Come now, I’m not Mrs. Oh anymore.”

“I met you as Mrs. Oh, so you’ll always be Mrs. Oh.”

His mother laughs a bit. “Sehuna, honey, a young man is asking for you?”

“That’s his date,” Baekhyun snickers.

His mother gasps. “A date? You have a date?!”

“You don’t have to act so shocked,” Sehun mutters.

That makes her laugh again. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I’m just so happy for you! I never thought this day would come!”

Sehun rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “You’re both being dramatic,” He huffs as he grabs his phone, keys, and lip balm. “I won’t be out too late, okay?”

“Oh, be out as late as you want, honey. How often do you go on dates?”

Sehun goes to the door and stops. “...Uh...this is my first,” he admits before begrudgingly heading down the stairs. He stops, however, when he hears his brother.

“Kai?” Luhan asks.  “What...are you doing here?”

“Oh...Luhan,” Kai laughs nervously. “I’m here to pick up your brother.”

“Sehun? But why?”

“I asked him out on a date.” 

There’s an awkward silence. “A date?”

“Yeah. Why? Is that weird?”

“A little,” Luhan admits. “I never see him go on them. Is this...a joke?”

“A joke? Why would this be a joke?”

Luhan goes quiet again for a few seconds. “No reason.” Sehun frowns as steps into view, hitting the last step. “Um...I hope you two have fun.” His stepbrother quickly slides past Sehun and heads up the stairs. 

He raises a brow and look back at Luhan and then toward Kai. “That was...weird?”

“I guess he’s still awkward around me,” The jock shrugs, stepping from the door to give him room. 

“Why? What happened?” Sehun asks as Kai leads him down the driveway and towards a silver car. It’s not a car a regular rich boy would have.

“Well uh…” Kai begins, opening the door for him. “There’s was kind of a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?” Sehun asks as soon as the jock rounds the car and gets in the driver’s seat.

“I guess Luhan got sick and needed someone to drop off the homework for him. So I offered to do it because why not? When I went to hand it to him the next day, he said ‘I’m sorry but I already have a boyfriend. I don’t want any more love letters.’.”

Sehun snorts. “Was he embarrassed?”

“I think so,” Kai laughs a bit. “I felt kinda bad.”

“You shouldn’t,” Sehun mutters but Kai didn’t seem to hear it over the soft music that plays on a low volume. He shifts around awkwardly, glancing over when he notices Baekhyun’s ty car drive past them. “I have to say...I’m kinda surprised.”

“Why’s that?”

“I figured a rich boy like you would have a more expensive car.”

“Well, I believe that someone’s first car should be kinda ty. And it’s nice because other rich kids don’t constantly bug me for rides.” Sehun smiles a bit at that. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, I guess.”

“Why are you so sure this is a joke or a prank? Like, someone being interested in you is impossible?”

“I…” Sehun sighs and looks out the window. He folds his hands tightly together, not wanting to answer. As if noticing his discomfort, Kai speaks up again.

“How about we trade?”

“Trade what?”

“You ask me something personal and then you answer my question,” He offers.

Sehun thinks about it for a moment before nodding. “Alright, that...sounds fair.” 

“Ask me anything.”

He already knows what he wants to ask but he isn’t sure if it’s inappropriate or not. Why would it be? “What’s...your real name?”

That, for some reason, makes Kai chuckle a bit. He looks over at Sehun briefly and smirks. “Well played,” he says. “You can’t tell anyone, alright?” He pauses. “It’s Jongin.”

“Jongin,” Sehun repeats. He smiles weakly. He kinda likes it. He likes it better than Kai, anyway. “I like it…”

“You do?” Kai raises a brow, “I hate it.”

“Is that why you go by Kai?”

“Pretty much.”

“I don’t know,” Sehun shrugs. “I like Jongin better,” He says honestly.

Kai parks the car and raises a brow. “Really?”

With another shrug, Sehun doesn’t wait for the jock to open the door for him. He steps out into the cool night air and hugs his ped hoodie closer to his body. He looks around the parking lot, sighing when he sees Baekhyun heading in the diner next door. “So what do you feel like watching?” Kai asks as they head inside together. “Romance?”

“Ew, no,” Sehun wrinkles his nose.

“Thank god,” The jock laughs, seeming relieved. “How about horror?”

“Yes,” Sehun nods. “Horror is my jam.”

“Really?” Kai asks as they approach the counter. “I figured you’d like stuff like...I don’t know, sappy stuff. Just not horror.”

“Why? Can’t stand it?”

“I prefer it, actually; want any snacks?” 

Sehun opens his mouth to refuse but he remembers what Baekhyun; about how he might as well enjoy himself if it’s a joke. “Um...just an ICEE and a pack of sour patch kids.”

“Sweet tooth, huh?” Kai grins as he pulls his wallet out. He orders himself nachos, a cola, and then the two tickets. He’s happy when the jock requests for balcony seats. His favorite movie seats. “You never answered my question.”

“What question?” Sehun asks dumbly, accepting when handed his snacks.

“Come on, you know.”

Sighing, he fiddles with his movie ticket, glancing down at it. “Let’s...just say I have a lot of experience in that.”

Kai frowns at him. “You mean...people do that? Did someone ask you out? As a joke?” He asks, seeming disgusted.

“Yes,” He whispers. “A...few times.”

“God, people can be serious ing jerks,” Th jocks fumes. But he seems to quickly calm back down and replace his angry expression with a smile. “Sorry. Hey, you wanna pick our seats?”

Sehun shyly rubs his ticket between his index and thumb. “You don’t mind?”

“Not at all; I’m not picky.”

With his mood suddenly picking up a bit, he tries not to run as he leads them to their designated theater. He quickly goes up the stairs and misses some steps in his excitement. He’s a er for the movie theater and he doesn’t know why. He immediately picks the middle seats on the balcony and quickly makes himself comfortable. 

All through the movie, Sehun expects Kai to make a move or try something. But he doesn’t. They peacefully watch the movie; eating their snacks and laughing when the main characters make a stupid move. Sehun stays guarded the whole time but he does enjoy himself a bit. “Did you like the movie?”

“It was kind of cheesy,” Sehun admits. “And not scary at all but it was still funny.”

“Good,” Kai chuckles. He stops before they reach the car and seem to think. “Hey, uh...are you hungry?”

“I ate before we left,” He lies.

Kai hums a bit. “Then how about I take you for dinner? Make it a second date?”

Sehun squints at him. “What makes you think I want a second date?”

The jock grins and shrugs. “How about this; we’ll have a competition.”

“A competition?”

Kai points to what seems to be a park across the street; a grassy field attached to it. “There’s a store nearby that sell soccer balls,” He begins. “How about we play a friendly game of soccer? If I win, you go on a second date with me.”

Sehun crosses his arms. “And if I win?”

Kai shrugs. “Say the word and I never bother you again. Deal?”

Sehun thinks about before nodding. “Deal.”

“Alright! Stay here, alright I’ll be back.” He watches as the jock jogs off, toward the direction of said store. He stares for a moment before taking his phone. Soccer? He already knows he’s gonna win. He begins to text Baekhyun.

Sehun: We just finished the movie. Now he wants to play a friendly game of soccer.

Baekhyun: what??? why???

Sehun: A competition. If I win, he’ll leave me alone if I want. If he wins, we go on a second date.

Baekhyun: okay, does he remember what you DO every day? Soccer is our JAM.

Sehun: I know. Talk about an easy win.

Baekhyun: ...so you enjoying yourself? :P

Sehun rolls his eyes as he leans against Kai’s care. He bites his lower lip a bit before sending a thumbs-up emoji. He stuffs it back into his pocket when Kai comes back a few minutes later; ball in hand. “You ready to lose?”

“Cocky,” Kai laughs. 

“You know I'll win, right?”

The jock shrugs as they head for the park. “We’ll see.”

----------------------

Did you have fun, Sehuunnn? ;) Baekhyun knows you did~