That Feeling

Something Flutters
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   9th Grade – Fall Semester

It was his first day of high school and Sehun couldn't be any more excited. People always say that high school memories can last a lifetime. He wasn't sure that was possible, but he was ready to find out.

 

Stepping into Gyeongsin High for the first time, Sehun noticed one thing – there were a lot of students, all of them dressed in the school's uniform - ivory vest or jacket, navy bottom, and the plaid tie with the school's gold emblem.

 

A few had haughty expressions on their faces at the sight of the incoming freshmen, but no one blames them. Freshmen were looked down upon all around the world, so a prestigious private school would be no different. Some didn't seem to care, apparently having better things to do than to intimidate new students.

 

“Friendly school,” Jongin muttered sarcastically from Sehun's right. “Those guys look like pro-wrestlers. Are they even teenagers? Look at the size of those biceps. How many times have they beaten an underclassman?”

 

Sehun looked where Jongin was pointing. “I'd say a lot,” he mumbled, not really looking forward to possibly being a victim.

 

Tao scoffed. “Nothing we can't handle.”

 

That brought a smile to Sehun's face. He turned to face Tao. “Always ready for a fight huh?”

 

Tao shrugged. “Only when necessary.”

 

Jongin laughed and wrapped his arm around Tao's neck. “Did I ever tell you how glad I am that you're on our side?”

 

Tao smiled. “I don't know if I can say the same for you.”

 

“Yah!”

 

Sehun and Tao laughed at Jongin, who scowled at his ungrateful friends.

 

Suddenly a group of girls ran past the trio, all talking animatedly about something. Sehun only caught a few words.

 

“Who is he?!”

 

“Why is he so cute?!”

 

“Is he a freshman?”

 

“I hope he's in my class!”

 

Sehun and his friends turned to see where the girls were headed to, but all they saw were a bunch of students (boys and girls alike) crowding around the building's entrance.

 

“I wonder who it is,” Sehun stated, craning his neck to try and catch a glimpse of whoever those girls were fawning over.

 

“A flower boy no doubt,” Jongin answered before grabbing Sehun's arm. “Let's go check him out – to see what all the hype is about. And hey, maybe you can make him yours,” he teased.

 

Sehun rolled his eyes. “Right. Like I would date the school's flower boy.”

 

“You'll never know,” Tao added with a sly smile.

 

“Well, I do know, and there's no way in hell I'm going to fall for --”

 

Sehun stopped mid-sentence when the supposed flower boy finally broke free from the crowd surrounding him.

 

“Sorry. Sorry. I really have to get to class. Sorry,” the boy said with an apologetic smile. He bowed several times before turning to leave, heading straight where Sehun was standing.

 

Sehun felt something caught in his throat when the boy turned out to be none other than Luhan.

 

But this wasn't the Luhan he'd known all of these years. It was a new Luhan. One with fluffy, bubblegum pink hair and white square-rimmed nonprescription glasses (Sehun knows Luhan has nearly perfect vision).

 

The boy was dressed in the school's uniform, the ivory jacket he had on contrasting vividly with his pink hair, making it stand out even more.

 

Luhan rushed forward, cheeks flushed from all of the attention. He stopped when he noticed Sehun and his friends were standing there. His eyes met Sehun's, and there's a moment of awkward silence between them.

 

Sehun realized that they have not seen each other since their middle school graduation.

 

Luhan has gotten a little taller, he mentally noted – although not as tall as Sehun himself. His hair was definitely different, but he still had the same baby face and those big, innocent eyes that were constantly moist. They were glistening almost.

 

For some reason, Sehun found himself blinking rapidly at the boy in front of him. Jongin noticed this and gave him a hard slap in the back.

 

“You were saying?” Jongin whispered next to his ear.

 

Sehun opened his mouth to reprimand Jongin for hitting him, but Luhan said something first. “Hey.”

 

Luhan's voice caught Sehun by surprise at first. It was no longer squeaky and childish. But that was to be expected, right? Luhan was bound to hit puberty, but Sehun wasn't sure how he felt about this new Luhan – if he felt anything at all.

 

He probably felt nothing. Yeah.

 

“Hi,” Tao answered when Sehun doesn't immediately respond.

 

Luhan tore his eyes away from Sehun to look at Tao. He flashed the boy a friendly smile.

 

And Sehun's not sure how he felt about that smile.

 

Just then a voice can be heard calling out for the pink-haired boy. “Luhan!”

 

Luhan's best friends came running over and pulled the boy into a tight hug, crushing him in between the two of them.

 

Sehun wasn't sure why he wanted to frown at the sight, but he does so anyway.

 

“We didn't know you were attending Gyeongsin,” Yixing said, smiling at Luhan after releasing him.

 

“I didn't know either until last week when my parents decided to stay,” Luhan replied, returning the smile.

 

“This is great!” Kyungsoo said excitedly. “The three musketeers back together and ready for high school!”

 

Jongin snorted. “You call yourselves that? How nerdy.”

 

Kyungsoo and Yixing widened their eyes when they finally realized who was standing there. Sehun assumed they were too immersed in reuniting with Luhan to notice.

 

“It's not nerdy,” Kyungsoo argued, eyes on Jongin, looking determined – as if he was silently daring Jongin to say something else about their nickname.

 

Jongin doesn't cower away from the challenge. “It couldn't be any nerdier. The three musketeers? Really? Don't be surprised when you're locked in a bathroom stall together with the words LOSERS stamped across your foreheads.”

 

“We are not losers,” Yixing defended. Sehun noticed that he was suddenly gripping Luhan's arm.

 

“Tell that to the upperclassmen,” Jongin said with a smirk.

 

Kyungsoo puffed his cheeks in annoyance. “Once a jerk, always a jerk,” he muttered.

 

“What?” Jongin asked, his smirk quickly disappearing as Tao stifled a laugh.

 

“Nothing,” Luhan said quickly. He grabbed Kyungsoo's hand. “Let's get to class. Wouldn't want to be late right?”

 

Kyungsoo gave Jongin one last disapproving look before nodding and allowing Luhan to take him away.

 

“He's gotten feisty,” Tao noted, smiling at the way Jongin was shooting lasers at the back of Kyungsoo's head.

 

“Pfft. Whatever. He's still a stupid munchkin,” was Jongin's very mature response. “Let's go.”

 

They walked to their first class, which happened to be Biology – Sehun's worst subject. It wasn't surprising to find Luhan and his friends already seated in the class because the freshmen all had to take the same courses.

 

That meant Sehun will be seeing a lot of Luhan this year.

 

He's not going to enjoy it. Not one bit.

 

Classes went on uneventfully, at least in Sehun's opinion. Luhan, on the other hand, couldn't look any more amazed at everything. He was always smiling and chatting and Sehun doesn't know why he even noticed this. He quickly turned to look elsewhere.

 

“Jeez, I thought Luhan was going to have a hole in his back,” Jongin said as he sat down across from Sehun at the lunch table.

 

“What?” Sehun asked, eyebrows knitted in confusion.

 

“Dude, you were staring at him all day.”

 

“I was not!”

 

“Well, you were always staring in his direction,” Tao stated before taking a bite of his sandwich.

 

“I wasn't staring,” Sehun corrected. “And certainly not at him.”

 

“Why not?” Jongin asked.

 

“What do you mean why not?”

 

“I mean everyone's staring at him.”

 

“Wha --” Sehun turned to look around the cafeteria and sure enough a majority of the students had their eyes on the small round table near the window where Luhan and his friends sat, happily eating their lunch.

 

“It's probably the pink hair,” Sehun answered, turning back to look down at his bowl of bibimbap. He took his chopsticks and stabbed the center.

 

“Or the face,” Tao said in between munches.

 

“Or the ,” said Jongin, and Sehun immediately glared at him. “Just kidding,” Jongin said, putting up his hands as a sign of surrender.

 

“Why does it matter anyway?” Sehun asked. “They can keep staring at him all they want. Doesn't concern me.”

 

Jongin and Tao exchanged glances, but they didn't press the issue any further.

 

Classes finally ended, and Sehun was making his way towards the tennis court where he was going to try out for the team. Jongin had left for basketball tryouts and Tao had martial arts training after school.

 

Sehun was all alone, but he wasn't afraid of facing the older boys, who were bound to give him and the other new members a difficult time just for the hell of it.

 

He was sitting on one of the benches, tying his shoelaces, when he overheard two seniors discussing a familiar topic.

 

“Did you see the new kid?” asked the one with glasses and long hair tied in a ponytail.

 

“Yeah, I saw him,” replied the bulky one with a cropped buzz cut that Sehun found incredibly ugly. “He's a pretty China doll.” 

 

Sehun felt his insides twist uncomfortably at the phrase – which no doubt was referring to Luhan.

 

He finished tying his shoelaces and stood up, his eyes trained on the two players.

 

“Whatcha think?”

 

The bigger one shrugged nonchalantly. “I think he'll be a nice toy. You know I like collecting things, and a shiny new doll is always great to have.”

 

Sehun's fists clenched when the players started laughing. He marched forward and –

 

The whistle was suddenly blown by the captain, who was calling them to gather around.

 

The two boys probably had no idea that they were saved by the whistle. Lucky them. 

 

Tryouts went fine as Sehun showed off his skills, thoroughly impressing the captain and the coach. He had just finished scoring his 7th point against his opponent when the captain blew his whistle and told him that he's made the team. Sehun thanked the guy, and was about to walk off the court when one of the players from earlier shouted at him.

 

“Hey you there! Play against me first.”

 

Sehun looked at the guy.

 

“Jiyong, what are you trying to do?” the captain asked, looking displeased.

 

The guy with the buzz cut smirked. “Just wanted to see if he was really good enough to join our team.”

 

“Come on, that's not fair, Jiyong. He's not --”

 

“Sure,” Sehun interrupted. “Let's play.”

 

Everyone gasped. The captain looked at Sehun like he was suicidal. Jiyong, on the other hand, couldn't have looked more smug.

 

“First to score 3 points wins,” Jiyong said as he grabbed a tennis ball and made his way behind the white line. “I get to serve first.”

 

Sehun gave Jiyong a blank expression, proving to him that he wasn't afraid of a challenge. He gripped the handle of his racket tighter and got in position.

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fantasy_seoul
SF coming soon! Can't wait for you guys to read it!

Comments

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xiaolin98 #1
Chapter 1: 2023 and I am re-reading this cuz why not!?
XiaoShixun #2
Chapter 1: Sehunnie a cute jerk
Kakshu
#3
Chapter 39: U literally gave me side couple addiction>< !!!! Absolutely adorable!!!!
HanDies20
#4
Chapter 18: I am most definitely, Tao but the sadder version <//3
tonnettie
#5
Chapter 2: My toes are curling because of their sweetness
Selulululuhunnie
#6
Chapter 39: There are so many feels in this last chapter 😭😭. I really can't. I really love your fics, from ICCL, AICA, then here in SF. Of course I also love Always Have, Always Will, and will be waiting for the new fic to update. All the questions on why Sehun bullied Luhan when they were too close since childhood was finally answered. And Yixing obviously knows or has the clue on what's the reason of Sehun's behaviour. I really love this 😭😭. This still remains my most favorite hunhan fic. That interaction of Baek and Sehun is such a gold, they will do everything for baby Luhan. As of Sehun, he really can't deal on his feelings towards his bestfriend that's why he behaved like a fish out of the water 🤦‍♀️. I remembered how that jar of stars gave him a nightmare during his jealousy fit towards Kris and Luhan. Poor, Sehunnie, that really hurts. And I really love sassy Tao 🤣 seriously. I will reread this fic again. I missed my hunhan so much and I'm so thankful to you, my favorite author for creating this masterpiece. I'm sobbing because this chapter is so precious 😭. Honestly, I've been hiatus for 2 years i think? I haven't read this last chapter when you posted it because life got me, and this is the first time I read the final chapter. And it still gave me butterflies on my stomach. I love youuu, author-nim.
baekbaekhyunie
#7
Chapter 39: Honestly I’ve left this site for about 2 years because i got busy with life (and manga) but then i came back and i just know that i need to reread this masterpiece because it makes me believe in love. Its so beautifully written and the storytelling is the only one I’ve ever seen done like that (and it’s beautiful to make it much more better) and I really admire how you can portray their friendship because it reach readers heart deeply. Whatever the author are doing right now, i wish they can be successful and happy with their life as a thanks for giving us this wonderfully written story. Thank you :)
Palak27 #8
Chapter 9: I loved this chapter! Kris being the president of art club has to be the funniest moment in this chap. And Yixing's dimpled smile can bring world peace.
Palak27 #9
Chapter 1: Damn you Oh Sehun!!!