Jongin was sitting on his bed, toweling his hair dry in his room when Sehun came in.

            “Jongin?”

            Jongin turned. Sehun was pale, paler than usual. “What? And why are you so pale? Is something wrong?”

            Sehun shut the door behind him. “I–that’s not how you’re supposed to towel dry your hair, Jongin. Have you seriously been doing that all your life?”

            Jongin rolled his eyes. “Well then, how do you towel dry your hair?”

            Sehun pushed Jongin back on the bed and kissed him, his lips hot on Jongin’s. “Just shut up,” he whispered, sending shivers down Jongin’s spine.

            Jongin didn’t bother saying anything back.

            Sehun kissed his way down Jongin’s neck, and Jongin gasped, gripping Sehun’s shoulders.

            “You’re so stupid, Jongin,” Sehun whispered, against Jongin’s skin. “So, so stupid.”

            “So I’m the stupid one?” Jongin breathed. “And not you?”

            Sehun pressed his lips to his again, and Jongin wound his fingers into the younger’s hair. “Why now?” he asked, against his lips.

            “Because,” Sehun said, “I felt like doing something extremely stupid today. And you won out.”

            “You’re hopeless.”

            “Which is why I need you.”

            “And cheesy.”

            Sehun smacked him. “I’m trying to be romantic, Jongin. Stop killing the mood.”

            “There wasn’t a mood to begin with,” Jongin said, under his breath. Sehun glared at him, and Jongin laughed, kissing him again.

            “But really, why now?” Jongin asked again, brushing Sehun’s hair away from his forehead.

            Sehun looked away. “I only left because you told me to.”

            Jongin was silent.

            Sehun turned to look at him. “Did you hear me? I said–”

            “I heard you.”

            “Well?”

            Jongin pulled Sehun on top of him. “Can we just,” he kissed Sehun’s throat. “Talk about,” Sehun’s collarbone. “Serious stuff,” Sehun’s eyelid. “Later,” Sehun’s lips.

            Sehun said nothing, just kissed him back.

            Sehun had a tendency to hold onto Jongin’s arm wherever they went, and Jongin didn’t mind. His hands were soft, and Jongin liked the way Sehun’s fingers wrapped around Jongin’s arm.

            “Afraid you’ll get lost?” Jongin whispered, so no one else would hear.
            “No,” Sehun whispered back. “You’re the one that gets lost.”
            Jongin rolled his eyes. “Do not.”

            “Remember when–”

            “Okay fine, you win this one.”

            Jongin thought the smile that lit up Sehun’s face was lighting up his heart, little by little.

            “So are you guys dating?” Luhan asked, when it was his and Jongin’s turn to make dinner.

            Jongin stopped chopping for a second. “What?”

            “Are you and Sehun dating again?”

            Jongin paused. “I guess so.”

            Luhan sighed. “Get it together, Jongin.”

            Jongin smacked him with the arm that wasn’t holding the knife. “Watch it, hyung. I have a knife.”

            Luhan snorted. “Like you could cut me.”

            Jongin laughed, because he was right.

            Jongin found Sehun typing up an essay in his room, the clacking of the keys the only sound.

            “Sehun?”

            Sehun looked up, and Jongin saw that his eyes were rimmed red from lack of sleep. “Hey, Jongin. Have you finished the essay for Language and Comp?”

            Jongin flopped onto Sehun’s bed. “God, no. Haven’t even started.”

            Sehun rolled his eyes. “It’s actually pretty hard. I would get started on it soon.”

            Jongin curled up, pulling his knees to his chin. “You sound like Joonmyun. Or Kyungsoo.”

            Sehun laughed and came to sit next to him, resting his head on his shoulder.

            “Sehun?”

            “Hm?”

            “Are we…” Jongin swallowed. “Are we dating?” He cringed when he realized that he sounded like a twelve year old girl with her first boyfriend.

            Sehun turned, pressing his lips to Jongin’s throat. “Does it matter?” he whispered.

            When Jongin was silent, Sehun kissed his way up Jongin’s throat to his lips. They were soft, and his hands were tangled in Jongin’s hair.

            “No,” Jongin gasped. “No, it doesn’t matter.”

            “He’s going to break your heart,” Joonmyun said, quietly, after practice.

            Jongin started. “What?”

            “Sehun,” Joonmyun said. “He’s going to break your heart.”

            “No he’s not,” Jongin said, trying not to sound too defensive.

            Joonmyun looked almost sad. “Maybe he won’t, then. Maybe he won’t.”

            Jongin forgot everything Joonmyun said when Sehun came up to him, smiling. There were still dark circles under his eyes.

            “Tired?” Jongin asked, wrapping and arm around Sehun’s waist.

            “Well, I’m the one who’s finished with the essay for Language and Comp,” Sehun said, laughing. “You’re going to be the tired one soon.”

            Jongin groaned. “But I don’t want to work on that essay.”

            “No, I’m not doing it for you,” Sehun said, rolling his eyes. “You could probably get it done in one sitting if you tried hard enough.”

            “How long is this one sitting?”

            Sehun thought about it, and then said, “Eight hours? Something like that.”

            Jongin buried his head in Sehun’s shoulder. “I’m so screwed,” he groaned.

            A couple hours later, when they were back at the dorm, Kyungsoo walked in their room, a book in his hand, to see Jongin sitting front of his laptop, typing.

            Kyungsoo’s eyes widened. “What are you doing?”

            Jongin looked up. “Typing my essay.”

            Kyungsoo stared. “…oh.”

            “What did you think I was doing?”

            Kyungsoo opened his mouth and closed it again.

            Jongin laughed. “Hyung, your eyes are half your face right now. You look like an anime character.”

            Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “I do not look like an anime character.”

            “Go look in the mirror.”

            Kyungsoo swatted him with his book. “Write your essay, Jongin,” he huffed.

            A couple days later, Jongin entered his room with a heavy backpack to find a sleeping Baekhyun sprawled on his bed. Confused, he poked him.

            “Baekhyun?”

            Baekhyun rolled around and buried his face into Jongin’s pillow. “Go away,” he muttered.

            “What are you doing in my room?”

            “Chanyeol is composing something and it’s loud and I want to sleep.”

            “He’s composing?”

            Baekhyun shrugged. “I don’t know. It was really loud though.”

            “Everything Chanyeol does is loud.”

            “True.”

            “You’re pretty loud too, you know.”

            Baekhyun half-heartedly smacked him. “Only when I’m awake. Chanyeol’s loud regardless of anything.”

            Jongin laughed. “So you’re spending your day off sleeping?”

            Baekhyun rubbed at his eyes. “What else? What are you doing?”

            “I just got back from school to get my homework.”

            Baekhyun laughed. “Oh, homework.”

            Jongin rolled his eyes. “Whatever. So do you want to procrastinate with me?”

            “I thought you had Sehun to do that with you.”

            “He went to visit his parents, after we left school.”

            “What about your parents?” Baekhyun asked.

            “They’re busy,” Jongin said.

            Baekhyun looked sympathetic. “Same here. I guess we need to stick together then.”

            “I guess so, yeah.”

            They were silent for a couple minutes before Jongin said, “So do you want to go break into Sehun’s house?”

            “I think the correct term is ‘visit’ Sehun’s house.”

            Jongin laughed. “You in?”

            “Yup.”

            Sehun and Jongin’s families still lived relatively close to each other, even after all the years. Sehun’s mother fussed over Jongin and Baekhyun, pinching their cheeks and asking if they got enough rest and food.

            Sehun just laughed when they showed up.

            “I had a feeling that you guys were going to come,” he said.

            Baekhyun laughed. “Well we need motherly affection, and Kyungsoo isn’t cutting it.”

            “It’s a good thing you kids have him though,” Sehun’s mother said. “Isn’t he the only one who can cook?”

            “I can cook,” Jongin said indignantly. Baekhyun snorted.

            “Okay, fine, I’m not very good,” Jongin admitted. “But still better than Sehun.”

            Sehun’s mother laughed. “Everyone’s better at cooking than Sehunnie. He couldn’t cook to save his life.”

            They ended up having dinner together when Sehun’s father came home. He smiled when he saw then, especially Jongin, because it had been a while since they had met face to face.

            “So how is it?” Sehun’s father asked, over the table. “You kids look pretty healthy.”

            “Not bad,” Baekhyun said. “It’s just crazy during the promotions.”

            “It’s crazy all the time,” Sehun said under his breath, squeezing Jongin’s hand under the table.

            “How’s school then?” Sehun’s mother asked, managing to squeeze multiple slices of meat onto Jongin’s plate. Jongin stared.

            “Fine,” Sehun said, trying not to laugh at Jongin. “I’m getting through my work just fine.”

            “How about you, Jongin?” Sehun’s father said.
            Jongin stopped staring at his plate long enough and said, “Good. It’s not so bad. I like it, actually.”

            Sehun’s mother smiled. “And you, Baekhyun?”

            Baekhyun flushed a little. “I don’t attend school right now. I think I’ll go back next year.”

            “Do you have a major in mind?” Sehun’s father asked.

            “I’m not sure,” Baekhyun said, shrugging. “I want to study composing, though.”

            “Chanyeol composes,” Sehun said.

            Baekhyun laughed. “Chanyeol composing mainly consists of him finding old files of music on his computer and blasting them in our room.”

            “Does he actually make new songs or what?” Jongin asked, genuinely curious.

            “God knows,” Baekhyun said, rolling his eyes.

            Sehun’s mother laughed. “Have you boys thought about what you’re going to do afterwards?”

            Sehun shrugged. “Not really. I mean, Jongin and I are going to school and everything, but I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do.”

            “So you haven’t thought about getting married yet?” Sehun’s father asked.
            Jongin froze. Marriage?

            “They’re still young,” Sehun’s mother said, nudging her husband and laughing. “They shouldn’t be thinking about things like that.”

            “Still,” Sehun’s father said, smiling. “Never too early to start. I ran into that girl you knew in high school the other day, Sehun.”

            Sehun looked confused. “Which girl?”

            “I can’t remember her name, but I remember she was graduated at the top of your class.”

            Sehun turned to Jongin. “Do you remember her name?”

            Jongin shook his head. “I remember what she looks like though.”

            “She’s gotten prettier,” Sehun’s father said, eyes twinkling. “And she said that she doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

            Sehun rolled his eyes. “Dad, stop trying to marry me off.”

            Sehun’s father held up his hands. “Hey, hey, it was worth a shot. She said that she was studying overseas soon, and she was going to think about marrying afterward. So there’s still time.”

            Sehun’s mother laughed. “I don’t think Sehun’s too concerned about marriage yet.”

            “No,” Sehun said, laughing. “I’m not.”

            “You will be one day though,” Sehun’s father said, playfully pointing his chopsticks at Sehun. “One day you’re going to fall in love and never look back.”

            Sehun rolled his eyes again. “When that happens I’ll make sure to not tell you.”

            “You’ll tell me,” Sehun’s father said cheerfully. “You’ll tell me and beg me for advice.”

            “We’ll see about that,” Sehun said, under his breath. He squeezed Jongin’s hand under the table again, and Jongin tried to focus on that and not the conversation that he just heard.

A/N: I hope this doesn't end up being a double post lol

>I already updated chapter 11 a couple days ago but it's not showing up so idk. But here it is, and if the other update shows up sometime then I'll just delete one of them.

kbye<3