Campus was swarming with freshmen. Although to be honest, it was probably always swarming with freshmen. Today it was just more obvious because, seeing as it was the first day of class, said freshmen were all using maps to get around. Jongin was not a freshman. He was a senior. A fourth semester senior, which was basically just a fancy way of saying he’d ed around so much and changed his major so many times that he had put himself so far behind that there was no hope he was ever going to graduate. Or at least that’s how it felt sometimes.

 

Actually, this was his final semester, if he passed all of his classes. As it was turning out, his advanced course on abnormal psychology was extremely difficult and he was starting to wonder if he could even manage that. He turned down the hallway toward that hellish class that would take up an hour and fifteen minutes of his life that he would never see again, and so did the guy that he hadn’t even noticed who was walking close to him.

 

The guy was one of those speed-walkers, in a hurry to get wherever they were going, and Jongin didn’t blame him. If his class started at the same time as Jongin’s did, which was rather likely, he was already five minutes late. Walking a few feet behind the boy, he wondered if he was a freshman. He didn’t have a map, but from the view he’d seen of him, the boy had wide, innocent, youthful eyes. Something in those eyes screamed ‘young’. His backpack was cinched so tight around his shoulders that Jongin thought he’d probably have to cut the straps to get them off when he got to wherever he was sprinting to.

 

Jongin still had a ways to walk before he got to his class, so he took his phone out, intent on checking his texts one final time before he sealed himself in the room that would inevitably make him think that he was suffering from whatever psychological abnormality they would discuss that day. He heard a subdued squeak and glanced up to see the boy stumble a bit, as though the bottom of his shoe had caught on the tile floor as he walked. There was a quiet sigh, a shuffle, and the boy muttered “Four,”. Jongin’s eyebrow quirked, but he paid no heed to the unusual boy and his unusual blurt. Hell, maybe he should be in the abnormal psych class.

 

He’d tucked his phone away and continued on the path. They’d barely been walking for thirty-six seconds when the boy stumbled again, sighed, and mumbled “Five,”.

 

The corner of Jongin’s mouth twitched upwards as he figured it out. He sped up his walking slightly to get a bit closer. This time he was waiting for it, and at the stumble, sigh, and mutter of “Six,” he couldn’t hold in his chuckle. The guy jumped a bit and glanced around. It was, Jongin decided a lucky happenstance that he hadn’t tripped or something as he looked backwards. He seemed pretty clumsy.

 

He was also blushing bright red. Jongin tried to smile at him like he wasn’t making fun of him, but the boy just turned around, and with a duck of his head, sped up and turned into the classroom that was just a few doors down from his own. The kid was obviously a freshman.

 

Jongin, still chuckling to himself, quietly let himself into his classroom and crept to his normal table, where some of his friends were already sitting, staring wide-eyed at a video that was of a trans-orbital lobotomy that Jongin was glad he hadn’t seen in its entirety. Chanyeol looked like he was about to vomit, and Tao obviously saw it, too, because he grabbed his open Gucci manbag and tucked it safely away, as though Chanyeol was going to grab it and use it as a barf bag.

 

“Are you ever not going to be late?” Joonmyun mumbled as he passed Jongin his tablet with the notes that he had already taken on it. Jongin shrugged and started copying them down.

 

“Maybe when my roommates stop keeping me up until the early hours of the morning with their loud coital activities,” Jongin said dryly. “Yeah keep looking down at your paper like you don’t know I’m talking about you, Sehun.”

 

From the table behind them, a big pink eraser came flying at Jongin’s head, curteousy of Luhan, who was sitting with more of their friends, all of whom were attempting to stop laughing, lest they be caught and yelled at in class.

 

By the time class was over, the clumsy boy from the hallway had been all but forgotten, at least until Jongin was leaving the class and he saw him standing inside his own class, talking to a much taller boy. Both were standing near the podium. Both of them picked up their backpacks and headed out of the door. As he caught sight of Jongin, his eyes widened and his hip banged into the side of one of the hard wooden desks.

 

Jongin laughed a little, and the redness only darkened.

 

“You okay?” he asked when the shorter boy had left the room, walking deliberately while favoring the side that had not just tried to occupy the same space as a hard wooden object. He was obviously trying not to limp.

 

“Mhm, I’m fine, thanks,” the boy replied. Jongin smiled a bit to himself and tried to hide it with a careful brush of his lower lip.

 

“Looked kind of painful,” he said softly.

 

“Nope, just barely made contact.”

 

Jongin laughed a bit, making the boy turn toward him and glare pointedly as if to say ‘go away foul beast’. It would have worked a little better if the door to the bathroom they were walking past hadn’t opened suddenly and the boy walked right into it.

 

Jongin nearly collapsed with laughter as the girl who had flung the door open gushed an apology. The boy rubbed the side of his head furiously and took off down another hall while Jongin leaned against the wall, still laughing. That kid was cute.

 

 

There was a first time for everything, Jongin figured as he leaned against the wall between his class and ClumsyNamelessBoy’s class. He’d woken up half an hour early to wait for him outside. He figured he needed to apologize for laughing at his plight before. He kept stealing glances down the hall, and when the boy showed up, still about fifteen minutes early for class, Jongin nearly laughed again at the astounded look on his face as he stopped in the hall to make sure it was really the jerk from last time, come to laugh at him again.

 

Jongin smiled brightly and waved. The boy sighed and trudged over toward the classroom.

 

“Are you stalking me?” he asked in a huff.

 

“Maybe,” Jongin replied. “But I’m not a very good stalker yet. I still don’t know your name.”

 

“Good. Now leave me alone.”

 

The guy tried to door and cursed when it was locked. “Wonderful. The one day I forget my keys. Okay I forget my keys every few days. Still. Now I have to call maintenance and- what are you doing?”

 

Jongin had pulled out his old ID, which he kept on his person for just such an occasion, and  began shimmying it into the space where the locking mechanism goes into the doorframe. With a triumphant smile, Jongin unlocked the door, opened it and looked back at the boy.

 

“I’m Jongin.”

 

“I’m calling the cops, that’s breaking and entering.”

 

“I did it all for you, “ Jongin replied dramatically.

 

The boy rolled his eyes and pushed past Jongin into the room. He set his things down on the table at the front of the room and started unpacking.

 

“Wait, are you the instructor for this class?” Jongin asked.

 

“Yeah. Dr. Do. Kyungsoo, please. My father is Dr. Do.”

 

“No way you’re a doctor of anything other than recess, what are you, twelve? I thought you were a freshman.”

 

Kyungsoo froze, glaring up at Jongin in annoyance. “I’m not a freshman. I’m 25.”

 

“I don’t believe it, show me your birth certificate. Anyway. I’m sorry about last time. I wasn’t trying to be rude. It was cute. You were cute. Until I found out you’re gross and old. But that’s all, I’m sorry I laughed at you.”

 

“Gross and old?” Kyungsoo said, grabbing a piece of chalk off the table and throwing it at Jongin’s head. “That’s it, I really am calling the cops you- you- breaker and enterer!”

 

“Clever insult, Kyungsoo,” Jongin said. “I won’t call you hyung because you look like you’re not even through puberty yet.” Jongin leaned over and ruffled Kyungsoo’s hair affectionately. “So adorable.”

 

Kyungsoo slapped at Jongin’s hands, flushing red with embarrassment. “I can write you up you know!” He tried to push Jongin toward the door, but Jongin was already leaving. “No respect at all.”

 

Jongin grinned to himself as he trudged into his classroom. He was the first to enter, and he’d be the first to leave. Kyungsoo was going to buy him a coffee, and maybe if he acted cute enough he could wrangle a pastry out of him too.

 

 

“Wait, you expect me to pay? You dragged me in here by force!” Kyungsoo said, flailing his arms a bit.

 

“Well you are the hyung here, why don’t you treat your dongsaeng?” Jongin said, sipping his latte and picking at the raspberry tart on his plate. “Besides, I forgot my wallet.” His wallet was in his pocket.

 

“You are unbelievable,” Kyungsoo said as he pulled his wallet out. “I don’t even know you and here you are kidnapping me and forcing me to buy you food.”

 

“Just wait until you walk me home, you’re probably going to try to kiss me, too.”

 

Kyungsoo sputtered. “I most certainly will not.” He flailed a bit more, spilling hot coffee  on his hand, as well as on the table. “You’re so not my type.”

 

“Please, I’m everyone’s type.”

 

“And so humble.”

 

As they left the café, Jongin full, Kyungsoo annoyed, Jongin steered them toward his apartment. He slid one arm across Kyungsoo’s shoulders. “Don’t be so negative. You got to go on a date with a hot young undergrad, you gross old ert.”

 

Kyungsoo grumbled and pushed Jongin’s arm away from his person. “Not what I’d call a date. You kidnapped me.”

 

“Stop saying that out loud. You look so young people will probably believe it.” Jongin replied, sliding his arm dangerously low around Kyungsoo’s waist. Kyungsoo froze on the sidewalk and he flushed bright red.

 

“If you think I look so young, why are you flirting with me like this? You do realize that makes you the ert, right?”

 

Jongin was spared the need to reply. They had arrived at his gate and he turned toward Kyungsoo with a smile. Minutes passed between them, Kyungsoo staring up at him in confusion as neither of the spoke a word.

 

“What the hell is wrong with you, didn’t I tell you that you were going to try to kiss me?” Jongin said in annoyance.

 

“What the hell! I am n-”

 

Jongin practically attacked pulling Kyungsoo against himself as he attached their lips with a violent crash. Jongin worked his tongue past Kyungsoo’s puffy lips, ignoring the frantically flailing arms that were waving around, trying to push Jongin away. When he pulled away and let go of Kyungsoo, he stumbled backwards and fell on his at Jongin’s feet. His eyes  were comically wide.

 

“You gross old ert,” Jongin said with a smirk as he trudged through the gate and up to his apartment.

 

One Semester Later

 

As with every other first-day-of-the-semester, Jongin was annoyed by the freshmen and their stupid maps. If he was asked where the bathroom was one more time, he was going to shove a map down someone’s throat.

 

His class was over, finally. It was definitely going to be the most boring subject he took, but he figured he’d get plenty of extra help, as well as incentive to do his absolute best. He waited until the rest of the class had left before he started down the stairs toward the professor’s desk.

 

“I’m looking forward to your class, Dr.” he said, setting his bag down and sitting on the edge of the table.

 

“Sure you are,” Kyungsoo replied, rolling his eyes as he slid his arms around his boyfriend’s waist. “Why do I keep you around again?”

 

“I’m too young for you and you’re a ert,” Jongin reminded him, kissing his temple softly.

 

It had taken a few annoying months, but Jongin had forced his way into Kyungsoo’s heart with his snarky humor and his cute cockiness. Kyungsoo had tripped, stumbled, and fallen countless times in his life, but falling for Jongin had been the best thing that had ever happened to him.