“It's so hot outside, and they want us to play volleyball? I swear, sometimes I think this school wants to see us dead,” Jongin laughed as he walked with one of his friends, Taemin, back to their separate rooms.
“It wouldn't surprise me. That's probably their ultimate plan, and that's why they took our phones, so we can't call for help,” Taemin said, making a spooky ghost noise to emphasize his point.
“Sure, Sherlock Holmes. I'll see you in our next class,” Jongin could only laugh more - Taemin was such a dork - and then broke away from the other one's side to go to his room.

Each student had their own room, and rather fancy ones at that. There was a lavish sitting area with a sofa, a table and a chair where students were expected to do their homework, all set on dark lacquered floors. The table and chairs had fine but identical carvings in them, and a large Persian rug laid underneath the sofa and a bit of the table. To the left of the room was the bedroom. The double bed took up a lot of space, but in no way did it take much space away in general. The sheets were cotton, with a plain white pattern - this wasn't great for stains, but the college believed the students weren't meant to be doing anything that would cause stains. In a way, they were setting a trap for those who ate (yes, eating wasn't allowed in the rooms, not even snacks) on the sly, and a few students had been caught doing so from the stains on their blankets.
There was a wardrobe to the left in the corner, and it had enough space to hold clothes for the whole year, even though there were summer and winter breaks.
On either side of the bed was a bedside table, each equipped with three drawers and a lamp on top of the table.
Towards the right of the bedroom (and living room), there were three windows which overlooked the green fields of the college. White curtains were draped here, but they did little to cut out the light in the morning. Jongin suspected the college did it like this so that students wouldn't oversleep due to having dark curtains which would stop the light from seeping in.

In no way was the bedroom or living room cramped, even with the lamps and statues and paintings everywhere. There were no bathrooms in the rooms, simply because the school believed the students wouldn't show up to classes on time if they had a bathroom all to themselves (thus, shower times were from 6 - 7 AM and 7 - 8 PM). This was no problem, though, considering the college only had a little bit over one hundred students in total. But it was a college, and a boarding school at that, so it wasn't surprising to find that all the students here came from extremely wealthy families.

Jongin put his key in the lock and turned it, only to find the door was already unlocked.
“Oh...?” This was alarming considering all the forbidden things he kept in his bedroom.
The college made it a regular thing to check the students' rooms, especially while they were in classes; that way, the students wouldn't be able to hide anything while walking around their room with the teachers which came to check their stuff. It was in the contract both parents and students had to sign that there would be regular checks of the rooms, so no one could claim it was against their need for privacy.

Jongin pushed the door open and went inside, shutting it behind himself afterwards. If there was no one in the living room, then that meant they were in the bedroom, which put him on edge much more than before.
He set his books down on the table, then went to the archway which led to his bedroom, seeing someone scratching around in his one drawer beside his bed.
“Sehun!” He exclaimed when he saw the other one straighten up, “you scared me!”
“I forgot my cigarettes here,” Sehun said with a disgruntled look on his face, and Jongin fished them out of his inner school jacket pocket with a relieved sigh. The teachers barely stopped the students to check them, mainly because they never expected to find anything. There was more of a chance that the teachers would check the rooms than the students.
“Ah, thanks! You're a lifesaver,” The other one said as he took them from Jongin, immediately sliding one out with his lighter to sit on the large windowsill which could hold books and other items, even people. It was comfortable to sit here during the first few days of winter when the snow would come, just before holidays.

“I thought the teachers came to look through my stuff again. How did you get in?” Jongin questioned as Sehun opened the window and lit a cigarette.
“I picked your lock,” He responded with a shrug and then grinned at Jongin as he blew some smoke towards the open window, “it's a new hobby I've picked up,”
“I'm sure it is,” Jongin clicked his tongue as he sat down by Sehun, laying his head on the taller one's lap. Even though he was annoyed, he couldn't stay mad at Sehun for long; he was just too happy to be around the taller one.
“I think it's a good thing. Now I can stay by you even during the night,” Sehun said as he patted Jongin's hair softly, then the black strands as Jongin held his thigh absent-mindedly.
“Or you could just ask me to keep the door unlocked until you come. You know they only check whether the doors are locked or not around 10 PM. That gives you two hours to get here after shower time...and you know the teachers never check if we're in our rooms anyway,” Jongin spoke with a smile, his cheek pressing some more against the denim which hugged Sehun's thighs.
“I prefer being a rebel. But does that mean I can ask you to wait for me ?” Sehun joked, and Jongin slapped his one leg before he sat up with a laugh, “yah! Don't get ahead of yourself now,”
“I just like testing your patience. You're cute when you try to stay mad at me,” Sehun cupped Jongin's face with his one hand, squeezing his face enough to make the other one's lips turn into a pout before he smooched them.
“That doesn't mean you're allowed to make me angry on purpose,” Jongin complained, his face still squished.
“I would never! Except for the day we're allowed to have make-up ,” Sehun grinned, then let go of Jongin before he could harm the taller one any more as Jongin laid down again.
Sehun knew that his boyfriend wanted to stay a until marriage, and thus often about it. It was all playful banter - Sehun wasn't as interested in as he made it out to be - but he did have the faintest hope that he'd be Jongin's first. He doubted that would ever happen, though.

They sat in silence for some time. It was only with one another that that could do so and still feel comfortable instead of an awkward feeling creeping up their spines. Not even Taemin provided that sort of comfort for Jongin.

“What are you going to do for the holiday?” Jongin eventually asked. Sehun had just stubbed his cigarette out carefully and thrown it into the trash which was taken out by Jongin every week along with all the other students.
“No idea. My parents haven't said anything yet, but I'm hoping they'll let me go away on my own. Maybe to a beach somewhere...”
“A beach? Do you think we could go together sometime?” Jongin asked as he looked up at Sehun, his cheek still against the other one's thigh. The students at the boarding college weren't allowed to leave the premises unless it was holidays, and while Jongin liked sneaking around with his boyfriend, these same old four walls grew boring after some time.
“Sure. I don't see why not,” Sehun hummed out as he patted Jongin's one cheek softly, then leaned down to peck it quickly.
“It's almost time for the next class, isn't it? Volleyball?” He continued speaking, and Jongin nodded as he sat up to let Sehun get up.
“Poor you. But at least I'll get to watch from up here,” Sehun chuckled before he slapped Jongin's behind, “your looks good in the school trousers anyway,”
“Ha ha, very funny. You know how much I hate the gym uniform,” There was nothing wrong with it, it was just so plain; a white t-shirt with black sweatpants. It wasn't nearly as nice as what the students could come up with themselves.
“I think you look better in the gym uniform than the normal one. You're always hiding in that cardigan of yours,” Sehun said as he watched Jongin take the mentioned dark red college uniform cardigan off, as well as his white polo shirt and black trousers to replace them with the awful gym uniform.
“Why is that a problem? I thought you liked how I looked in the cardigan,” Jongin laughed while he put on his shoes by the door.
“I do like it, but you've gotten more muscular over the past few weeks, so you should ditch the cardigan sometimes...especially in the heat like this,” Sehun said, fanning himself dramatically. Jongin was envious of him, really, since he got to wear normal clothes now that his classes were done for the day. Students got the chance to wear their own clothes on weekends and the moment classes ended for the day, but Jongin wasn't that lucky yet.

The heat outside was something near to unbearable, especially since the volleyball court was in the gaze of the sun. It wasn't sports period if some of the students didn't complain, but today it seemed even worse than usual.
“We could fall over right on the spot. Why can't we go inside? We'll faint in this heat!” Taemin was one of the students that had a lot to say as he sat on the grass with majority of everyone else, Jongin included.
“Who needs sports anyway? Personal trainers exist for a reason,” Someone else commented, and while there were still some more unhappy mumbles, Jongin had long stopped listening.

“When are you going to tell your parents about Sehun? You guys have been dating since last year, isn't it?” Taemin questioned as he glanced at his friend. The sun pinched his skin, but there wasn't much he could do about that unless the teacher told them it was alright to take the sports period off today.
“Yeah, something like that,” Jongin nodded as he turned his head to see Sehun still sitting by the window, observing everyone, but mostly looking at Jongin.
“I don't know what I'd say to them. You know, they're still going on about the arranged marriage thing. I don't know whether it'll happen for sure or not, they don't want to tell me anything whenever I ask,” He said as he turned back to Taemin with a sigh.
“And you're worried about their reaction if they know you're dating why...?”
“They're my parents! I haven't done anything on purpose to let them down. I'm not supposed to be doing things now that would sabotage my chances for finding a good match. If the other family somehow finds out I'm messing around in school, they'll stop the match right away. There's just too much at stake,” Jongin continued, sending himself into a spiral of distress as usual when this topic came up.
Taemin stared at him with a blank look for some time, then shrugged and looked somewhere else in the distance, “what do you think we'll have for dinner today?”
It wasn't that Taemin didn't care, it was just that he couldn't relate. He had all the freedom in the world to do what he wanted, mainly because his parents didn't care what he did or when he did it as long as it didn't reflect negatively on the family's image.

The volleyball ended up being postponed since most students brought up the fact that heatstroke was a strong possibility. Most loitered around in the sun afterwards anyway, but none of the teachers said anything. They didn't care enough to make a big fuss about something like sports being postponed. Science and math, yes. The other subjects? Not really.

“Your room is much neater than mine. I have stuff laying everywhere,” Sehun commented as Jongin entered his room, and he found the taller one lounging on the loveseat. He was so tall that his legs hung over the one side by his knees, but he didn't seem to mind much.
“Of course you do, you just throw your things on the floor when you're done with them,” Jongin answered as he took off his shoes. For a single second, it felt like he was coming home to the man he had married after a day of work. Honestly, he liked that thought. But it vanished as fast as it came when he remembered his parents were already setting him up with someone he didn't even know.
“Does that mean I can use you and then leave you on the floor when I'm done with you?” Sehun questioned, wagged his eyebrows to indicate the ual innuendo, and Jongin rolled his eyes with a playful smile before he climbed on top of the other one roughly.
“No, I think it means you need a cold shower. You should get your mind out of the gutter!” He teased Sehun just before Jongin started twisting his s, making the taller one grab his wrists and turn them over so they'd roll onto the floor instead.
“Yah, what do you think you're doing? You know that's off-limits!” The taller one began pinching his boyfriend's sides then, poking and prodding them as well to get a few laughs out of Jongin. It was the one thing that got him worked up the most, so Sehun always resorted to it as a way of playful revenge for something. Besides, he got to hear the other one's giggles, and that was always something he liked to hear.

After some thrashing and kicking, Sehun eventually stopped tickling Jongin and gave him some time to breathe. His slightly long hair was disheveled now as he held his sides and panted out softly, but he still grinned at Sehun who loomed over him. Jongin had the prettiest lips to Sehun, and even prettier brown eyes that seemed to grow into a light chocolate color in the sun. Seeing him in one of the most natural positions made Sehun's heart jump - really, Jongin didn't have to wear fancy clothes or have gelled hair to make butterflies fly around his boyfriend's stomach - and he leaned down to smooch the shorter one's lips so hard, it made Jongin complain playfully.
“Fish face,” Sehun said afterwards, then quickly got up as the other one launched his foot to kick the taller man on his behind as retaliation.
“I should go back to my room and clean up before dinner, but I'll be back, okay?” Sehun said as he put on his shoes by the doorway, in a much messier position than Jongin's neatly arranged ones, and he grinned at the shorter man who still sat on the floor.
“Okay. But I'll lock you out,” He warned, then laughed afterwards; even if he wanted to, he knew he'd never do that.
“And then I'll pick your lock again. Maybe I'll catch you ,” Sehun winked as he opened the door. When Jongin reached for a book to throw at him, the taller man quickly left the room with a loud laugh, and then leaned against the closed door from the outside. As cheesy as it was, he couldn't help but think, 𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟.