This was the fourth time Chanyeol had found a bar of chocolate on his desk in the library. His notes had been tidied up too and he couldn't help but chuckle a little at the gesture. It was the fourth time that week, and it was only Tuesday.

"Hey, Haneul, look what I was given," he said, poking you as you tried to look disinterested. "Congratulations, that's about a tenth of what Kris gets in a day. Now do your work and stop disturbing me."

Chanyeol nodded, immediately focusing again on the long dissertation he had to write. After a few minutes or so, he gave up trying and left, telling you to guard his things whilst he went to the bathroom. You agreed to, only half hearing his request because you were listening to a mixtape Chanyeol had made for you and carried on making notes. It wasn't long until you felt someone standing in front of you and you looked up. It was Jaemin, but in his hand was a bar of chocolate. You hadn't heard him arrive, and he hoped you wouldn't catch him but now he was in an awfully awkward position.

"O-oppa..." You whispered as quietly as you could. "Why are you holding chocolate?..."

"Haneul, I can explain."

"I should hope so," Chanyeol said, scaring the older boy out of his skin. "Have these all been from you then?"

Jaemin nodded and Chanyeol bellowed with laughter. "Hyung, do you like me?" 

He hit Chanyeol on the head with the bar of chocolate he was holding. "Yah, pabo. Not you! Your sister!"

"Jiyoungie?!" Chanyeol shrieked. He seemed more surprised to find out that Jaemin had a crush on his sister rather than him. "When did you even meet her?"

"The leaving party," Jaemin confessed, "she's really nice."

"So to get me to introduce you two, you're bribing me with sweets? Yah, what is this hyung? Hansel and Gretel? You didn't even tell me you were interested."

"Just think about it?" Jaemin pleaded, "I just want to talk to her one more time. Just one more. I'll owe you a favour, how about that?"

"Okay I'll consider it," Chanyeol chuckled. "But I'm warning you now, since she broke up with the last pig, she's not really looking for anyone. It's driving my parents nuts because they want her to marry soon. He snuck a look at you and winked, "but then again they want me to marry too so obviously their judgment is clouded. "

 

A few days went by and Chanyeol stopped receiving chocolate bars. He also stopped receiving cans of coffee and energy drinks and the thing he was most bummed out about was that he stopped receiving bread too. All the while, Kris' pile of foodie snacks from his admirers grew and grew.

"Is hyung angry with me about the whole thing with my sister?" He asked Jinri who shrugged in response. "Does he still like her?"

"Is the sky blue?" was her reply.

 

Another week passed and Jaemin had half given up on the idea. There was a big formal dinner coming up where he and a few other seniors would have to suit up and dress for the occasion. Past alumni would be present, ex-professors too, and the whole affair was bound to be big. Jaemin didn't have room in his brain to think about girls- all he could focus on was getting his suit cleaned in time.

"Jinri-ah! Can you come in here for a moment?"

"Oppa, I'm not stepping foot in your room! It's filthy!" his sister screamed back through the corridor. "We moved the laundry basket so that it'd be directly outside your door and you still can't be bothered to actually use it!"

"Please?! I'm begging you!"

Jinri gave up, knowing her brother was having a hard time coping with the stress. He had been told just a day earlier that he was required to give a talk about the team and how well they were doing, along with their future aspirations and what he had in mind for them. Naturally you'd been phoned at stupid o'clock by him and an hour of trying to get him to relax had ensued.

"What the hell do you want?!" Jinri shouted, storming into her emotional brother's room, "please don't tell me you're having a breakdown, Jaemin."

"It's worse. I don't know what tie to wear."

Jinri groaned, "are you serious?"

"I can't think, okay? I'm stressed out. Just tell me which tie?"

"Don't wear a tie, moron. You're a swimming captain, not class president."

"Okay, no tie," Jaemin said, throwing his two ties over his shoulder. Both were black anyway. He shouldn't have had a problem choosing. "What about the shirt? White or pink?"

"White's more you but pink might be cool."

"Will people think I'm gay if I wear the pink one?"

"Don't be ing ridiculous, everyone already knows you're gay for Chanyeol."

"Chanyeol's sister."

"Same difference."

"Wear the pink."

"Really?"

Jinri groaned, starting to shout as she stood up to leave. "You ask for my opinion and doubt it when I give it to you, you arse."

"God you're as scary as Haneul."

Jinri glared at her brother, slamming the door behind her. "Good!"

 

***

 

The lights were dim and the hall looked magnificent. There was something about the place that left it looking magical. Candles were lit and dotted around, flowers adorned the backs of chairs and every place had a name card. The guests of the charity gala filed in, dressed in their best, ready to celebrate another great year at the institute.

"It's great to be celebrating another year of fantastic education," one minister said.

"And hopefully we'll carry celebrating for many years to come."

Jaemin was backstage, his sweaty and clammy hands gripping his mobile phone as he made one final frantic call. The captain of the football team had spoken and now it was the running team up. Next would be him.

"Haneul-ah, I don't think I can do this."

"You can, oppa," you said reassuringly. Kai hadn't been invited to the event as it was only for adults so everyone had decided to have a night in movie marathon.

"No, I really can't," Jaemin said, "what if I mess up?"

"Just take a deep breath and carry on. Don't sweat over it too much. They won't throw tomatoes at you."

"Han-"

"Be cheerful and happy and jokey like you usually are, okay? Just pretend it's another one of our super boring team meetings you like to do."

"They're not boring!"

"You're never on the receiving end, oppa."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jaemin hissed down the phone, "now I'm doubting my ability to do public speaking."

"Just imagine it's us. You'll be fine," you said. "Okay, I have to go. We're watching The Hobbit now-"

"Wait!"

"See you!"

"Haneul, wait!-"

The line cut just as an applause erupted from the guests. Sliding his phone into his jacket pocket, Jaemin checked himself over one last time. He didn't need to be nervous. He was Jaemin, team captain and the university's funny guy. What the hell did he have to worry about? Walking out on stage, he bowed as he was passed the microphone. Holding his prompt card, he looked around the room.

"It's just Haneul and the rest of the team. It's just- oh ."

His eyes came to rest on a familiar face. She sat with her legs crossed, her hands in her lap and a smile on her face as she watched him, waiting intently for the speech to start. Catching his eye, she smiled a little, nodding her head slightly in acknowledgement, almost as if to say 'hello'.

, Chanyeol's sister is here. I should have guessed.

Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, Jaemin quietly cleared his throat, focusing only on the middle, far left and far right tables, just as his sister had suggested.

"We've had a great year this year. The new influx of students meant that we had a new team member added and she's been a real gem to us. Her name's Haneul Shin-" Jaemin could see Jiyoung smile. "-and she's an exceptional racer. I wish I could say the same about her training but she's often late. Med students, eh? Always got their head in a textbook."

The audience chuckled and Jaemin felt his confidence soaring.

"We haven't been able to race much this year which has been regrettable. A lot of our team were out with injuries. Our main -r injured his knee in a football match." Jaemin pointed to the football captain sitting in the audience at his table. It was a friend of his and their seats were put next to each others. "Thanks Junsu, I really appreciate it. This is your fault, hyung."

Everyone laughed again, especially when Junsu shouted back, "sorry, Jaemin-ah."

Jaemin shrugged, "but you know the saying- no pain, no gain. Given the amount of pain our teams been through this year, I'm guess we're going to do really well next year. And if we don't," he paused, glaring at Junsu in the crowd again, "hyung, it's on you."

 

For the rest of the evening, Jaemin spent the night in a state of utter happiness. He'd managed to survive the speech without breaking down and crying and he'd also managed to get a smile from Jiyoung. Things seemed pretty good. Now to just find her and make then even better. His new found confidence wasn't limiting, thank god. If anything, it brought the funny and handsome old Jaemin back from the dead. He straightened out his suit, flitting around and socialising with everyone he could. Some of the elders congratulated him and commended his entertaining speech, saying that it was nice to see young men with a spark to them and that he himself was also a rare gem to the team. Jaemin couldn't help but beam with pride.

On the other side of the room however, another was getting close to Jiyoung. It couldn't be blamed. A famous model like her was walking the halls of a university after all.

"Hi, I believe we've never met before," a young man said, bowing to her.

She reciprocated the gesture, smiling as she did. "Hi, I believe you're correct."

The man pulled out the seat beside her, "mind if I join you?"

"Not at all."

Smiling, the male sat down and made himself comfortable. Jiyoung felt herself watching him coyly. There was something slightly familiar about him but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. All the while, Jaemin was watching a safe distance away, trying not to let the slight jealous get the better of him.

"So what is a model like Park Jiyoung doing here?"

"Ex-alumni of the high school," Jiyoung replied, "and friend of Mr Park. My little brother's also here."

"Here?" The man turned around, "in the hall?"

"Oh no," Jiyoung laughed, "he's probably watching television in his dorm with the rest of them."

"Ah, a shared dorm? He lives here then?"

She nodded, "with a bunch of menaces." She laughed, "I'm only kidding. They're all lovely though- every single one of them."

"You must love your brother a lot. Does he make you proud?"

"Of course he does!" Jiyoung said excitedly, "Chanyeol's wonderful, even if he can be a bit lazy."

"He can't be as lazy as my brother. It's hard to even call him that-"

"Wait," Jiyoung wasn't sure if she'd heard correctly, "you're not proud of your own brother?"

"There's no real reason to be-"

"Who is your brother?" There was an underlying thought in the back of Jiyoung's mind but she was trying everything she could to ignore it.

"Well I'm Kim Jongjae, I realise I never introduced myself." Jiyoung could feel her smile turning upside down. Oh god. That name. It had to be him, didn't it? "My brother is Kim Jongin," the man said, sipping champagne from the glass flute in his hand. Of course he looked familiar. With sun kissed skin and chocolate brown eyes, Jiyoung almost slapped herself over how she hadn't seen it before. It was just her luck to be chatted up by the one man she would never even dream of making conversation with. "Yeah, his name is Jongin but I think his friends here call him-"

"Kai? Yes, I know." Jiyoung's speech had slowed as her brain raced forward, trying to think of a way out.

"You know the kid? How do you know him?" Jongjae asked, "does he cause a lot of trouble for your brother, Chanyeol?"

"No, not at all," Jiyoung said, shaking her head.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to fake illness and leave before this conversation got any deeper. He was obviously interested in her, given his posture and overly excessive preening but she felt sick. His hand was also dangerously close to her, invading her personal bubble. Jaemin could have killed him there and then but instead, carried on listening. He wanted to see Jiyoung and how she'd react to finding out the man was Kai's brother. Jaemin lay ready in wait to swoop in and lend a hand if she were to need it.

Jiyoung had heard all about Jongjae and couldn't quite believe Mr Park had invited him to such an important event. However, it was Jongjae after all and he did have a name in the business world. She supposed that Mr Park had reasoned that since Kai wouldn't be coming, it wouldn't matter that his brother would be present. Quickly, and taking action before she changed her mind, she decided she'd try and stick up for Kai, just as Chanyeol had done the night the two of them had gotten into a fight.

"I do know Kai though," she purred, "I know him well-"

"Then you must know he's a right piece of-"

"I know him well enough to know that when you refer to him in such a negative way, really, it'd be better to refer to yourself." Jongjae was shocked. "Publicly humiliating him?" She pointed to the stage Jaemin had given his speech on just an hour ago, "how can you even feel comfortable being in this very same room? You're awful."

Jongjae laughed, "you must have a false impression of him. I think you're mistaken-"

"Jongjae-ssi, I am not mistaken," Jiyoung said, her words crystal clear, her tone sharp and icy. "Chanyeol and Kai live together, along with the others." She stood up, picking up her clutch bag from the table, ready to make an exit and leave despite the food not yet being out. She didn't want to be in the same room with someone she found utterly despicable. "Kai's a better man than you'll ever be."

Jongjae almost laughed, "that kid, a man?!"

He grabbed hold of Jiyoung's wrist, not wanting to lose sight of the pretty model and Jaemin sprung into action. He wasn't having anyone touching anyone if they didn't want to be touched, regardless of if it was Jiyoung or not and when he saw her eyes open just that little bit wider, also opening a slight fraction in shock, he figured it was time to make his long overdue entrance.

"Where the hell do you think you're touching?" Jaemin said sternly, his hand wrapped around Jongjae's as he pried him off of Jiyoung. Outraged, she snatched her hand away, instead resting it lightly on Jaemin's upper arm. He could have died with happiness had his blood not been boiling with anger instead. Jongjae only raised an eyebrow. "And you are... the kid with the pathetic speech earlier?"

Jaemin gritted his teeth, holding it in. He knew a little about Jongjae having heard excerpts of your night looking for Kai from Jinri. He stared long and hard at him, his heart almost wavering because of the two brothers' distinct similarity. Jaemin felt like it was Kai standing in front of him and being confronted and it was all a little unreal. On top of that, where was Jiyoung's hand? Around his toned, muscular biceps?

"I think you should leave," Jiyoung said. "There's no place here for people who can't see the good in someone like Kai."

"He's got you all under a false impression-"

"No," Jaemin said and Jiyoung clutched onto him tighter. For a woman as empowering as she was, it felt strange to be protected but she couldn't deny that she liked it. "You're in the wrong. You should never talk about anyone in that way, especially not your own brother and you should definitely never lay a hand on a lady."

"A-... Excuse me but do you know who you're talking to?" Jongjae couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was this punk really telling him what to do? A guy who was a few years younger than him and not yet even graduated?

"Yeah," Jaemin replied stealthily, "you're Kim Jongin's idiot brother."

"You have no right to talk me to like this-"

"And what right do you have to speak about Kai like that?"

"I'm his brother-"

"Are you?" Jiyoung said, "are you really his brother? Because I thought he was dead to you."

Jongjae turned to Jaemin, resisting the urge to grab hold of his collar and settle this the old fashioned way. "I'm Kim Jongjae. I can ruin you. There'll be no place for you in the business industry-"

"I've got Kai," Jaemin shrugged, "and besides..." He took hold of Jiyoung's hand, hoping she couldn't tell how sweaty he was from nerves. "I'm a swimming captain, not a business man. Try as hard as you like."

 

***

 

"I'm glad we're out of there."

Jiyoung's hand was still wrapped in Jaemin's as they walked through the streets, stopping when they came to a bench. She let go of him, planting herself down and Jaemin had to stop abruptly when she reached out and tugged at his jacket to catch his attention. For the past few minutes his mind had gone into overdrive. What had he just done? Did he really just give Kim Jongjae a piece of his mind? Did he really do it all in front of Park Jiyoung? Was he really holding Park Jiyoung's hand? Was this not a dream he'd wake up from and probably sob about because it wasn't real?

"Thank you for that, Jaemin-ssi."

Jaemin felt a part of his sanity die. She knew his name? She had actually remembered his name?

"You know, for someone who can captivate an audience and shut Kim Jongjae up you're awfully quiet," Jiyoung said, "are you okay? Feel sick? Worried about what he said?"

"Worried about Kim Jongjae?" Jaemin said, surprised she was asking about how he was feeling, "that bastard?" He quickly cupped his hand over his mouth. "Oh god, . I shouldn't have called him that-"

Jiyoung laughed, "it's the truth though, isn't it?"

Jaemin peered at her as she grinned, almost chuckling to herself quietly. "Yeah."

"You're Jinri's brother, aren't you?" 

"You know Jinri?"

"I've been trying to recruit her for ages now!" Jiyoung exclaimed, "your sister's gorgeous."

"Do you think her good looks are down to genetics?" Jaemin asked.

Jiyoung blushed. "Aren't you basically asking if I think you're attractive too?"

"So you don't think I'm good-looking?"

"I-I didn't say that!"

This was strange for Jiyoung. It'd been ages since someone had managed to make her fall and crumble into a silly love sick teenager again. She told herself she wasn't looking for anyone but something about Jaemin was not only enticing and inviting, but he also made her feel safe and protected. Getting her out of Jongjae's grip was one thing but giving him the same attitude he had shown her left her with the impression that Jaemin wasn't scared about sticking up for someone he cared about.

"You know, Chanyeol's told me about you, Jaemin-ssi." Her eyes flickered up to Jaemin's surprised and slightly horrified face. She couldn't help but bite her bottom lip like a shy school girl, seeing him act so worried. "You've been feeding him too much chocolate, haven't you?"

"Is that code language for "you've been harassing my little brother to get me to go on a date with you" by any chance?"

Jiyoung laughed, leaning forwards and pushing her hair out of her face. "Do you really like me as much as Chanyeollie says you do?"

"Well," Jaemin coughed nervously, his hands suddenly getting sweatier, "I don't know you very well but I'd definitely love to get to know you more?"

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Are you teasing me?"

"Would you like to have dinner with me?"

"Yes," Jaemin said, "I wouldn't have fed Chanyeol that much unless I really wanted to have dinner with you."

"Then yes," Jiyoung whispered, satisfied with his answer, "I am teasing you."

"Wait... So... We're going to have dinner together?" Jaemin's mind was slow to keep up and just like before, his cognitive functions were turning to mush. 

Jiyoung? Dinner? Date? Was this real?

"I'm really going to go on a date with you?"

"You sound so surprised," Jiyoung purred.

"Well Chanyeol said you weren't looking for anyone."

"Do you feel special?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

Jiyoung shrugged, "it might be."

"Even if it is: yes, I feel special."

"You are special," Jiyoung said, leaving Jaemin struggling to breathe. The girl of his dreams was sat next to him looking beautiful as ever and added to that, she was complimenting him. "You seem like you're funny and caring. You're cute-"

"In looks or personality?"

"What would you do if I said both?"

"Collapse?"

Jiyoung laughed, "you're truthful too- which is everything I want in a guy."

With nothing but the rumble and screech of police cars and ambulances hurtling past, Seoul at that moment seemed somewhat empty. The sky was dark and the night was young. It made it so much easier for Jiyoung to muster up some courage and speak her mind, in the same confident manner that Jaemin had impressed her with before.

"And do you know what else makes you special?" she said, "I think I might like you too."

 

 

 

---

Took a hiatus and never warned you about it. I apologise! But anyhow, here's a fab bonus epilogue I thought would be perfect as a filler. Kyungsoo's epilogue is next and then I'll start on the third and fourth alternate endings which you can find here~

On a different note: I leave AFF for 2 weeks and I come back to find they've changed the chapter writing interface. I can't cope.