Minho walked to class early, deciding to be punctual for once, as there was another who had been doing so nowadays. 

It had been a week since Taemin had gone ‘good’, and Minho was enjoying it way too much. 

The boy smiled at everyone who approached him; his tone had gotten immensely sweet, and he volunteered to run every errand the lecturers mentioned. His desk was neatly arranged, and Minho no longer found new pieces of blue gum stuck in wall crevices. He came dressed so simply good each day, that Minho found himself controlling his urge to grab the soft squishy boy and drag him to a quiet deserted place and let all his urges go. 

Minho had peeked in early one morning, to check up on the good boy, and found him yawning and grimacing as he erased the black board reluctantly and wrote down the date. He was clumsy- dropping the duster or the chalk box, stumbling over the unarranged desks and getting startled at every squeak. 

Such peeks kept Minho smiling or chuckling to himself all day. 

The boy was trying too hard, even when no one was looking; and this tempted Minho to just drop all his airs, go to Taemin, hug him tight and confess. But his mind would give him one reason or the other to not to do so. 

Seeing Taemin turn good was definitely fun- after all it was a sign of his antics succeeding-but there was one hesitation, one insecurity, one possibility he feared.  

The one Taemin was reacting to…was it really him? He wasn’t badass, or anything Taemin wanted. He was putting up pretence of what Taemin wanted, and he did enjoy doing so…but…yet he was so unsure. 

He sighed. 

His life had revolved around nothing but grades; he blew off steam with sports; and his high school years weren’t all that rebellious. 

His life was perfectly nice, yet dull, until his eyes had caught a sight anyone- even he- would frown upon. But, strange…frown was the last thing he did. 

It was just a glimpse; he was hooked; his interest deepened, and he found himself starting to fall for this sight named Taemin. 

Everything was such a rush, yet he understood it; and yet it had been hard to believe; but the days that passed by him made it believable. 

He was smart; he had read books, watched movies, listened to music; stuff made more sense to him than others, and he knew right away what he was feeling. 

Love was complicated, but not rocket science. 

And for a certain straight A student, it did not take more than a series of rushed heartbeats to realise that he had fallen in this complication. 

In love. 

In spite of all his fears, that was one thing he was so sure of. 

“Minho? Are you alright?” Said boy’s soft voice shook Minho from his thoughts. He blinked and looked up, finding Taemin in his seat, looking at him with worried eyes. 

“Yes. Why?” 

“You have been standing at the door for quite sometime now.” 

“It’s nothing.” Minho walked to his seat and flopped down, his eyes instinctively finding Taemin. 

The boy had turned back to his notebook, humming as he drew creepily cute skull doodles in the corners. Minho could notice how Taemin’s eyes secretly found him too. He also noticed the tinge in his cheeks, and his humming halt to give way to an awkward silence. 

“W-What are you looking at?” Taemin asked. 

“You.” Minho replied simply. 

“Don’t look.” He said, his face getting pinker. 

“Why can’t I?” 

“Just…don’t…” Taemin turned away. 

Minho straightened up and pulled Taemin’s chair towards him. The boy grabbed onto Minho, startled with the movement. 

“What are you doing?” He breathed. 

Minho did reply, but not with words, as the next moment, he had gently grabbed the boy and pulled him into a kiss. 

In love? 

Scratch that. 

Deep in love. 

And all those fears were worth it. 

Taemin sat at the lunch table, alone and lost in a daze. 

Jongin was the first one to join him and he looked at Taemin, smirking. He snapped his fingers in front of the boy’s face, startling him. 

“Daydreaming about Choi?”  

Taemin’s dreamy expression became warmer as he finally came to his senses; and he dropped his head to the table, covering his face within his arms. 

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Jongin declared. “What happened?” 

“Nothing.” Taemin replied in a muffled voice. 

“You wouldn’t be red till your ears then. Come on, spit it out.” 

Taemin straightened up, looked around, and finding no one watching, he raised his middle finger and stuck his tongue out. “I am not telling.” And with a giggle he was out of the canteen. 

Right then Sulli placed her tray on the table and finding Jongin staring with amusement at the door, she asked, “What’s up?” 

Jongin smiled to himself. “Someone’s deep in love.” 

Kibum was stuffing books in his locker, the scene from his previous class doing a replay in his mind. He smiled smugly, stuffing the last book in his locker. 

He had known Minho since middle school, and he had observed him for far too long to guess what’s going on with him even when he doesn’t show it on his face. But Kibum didn’t need sharp observation skills in the classes he shared with Minho, as those were the ones which were Taemin-free. Taemin-free classes meant Minho’s guard and act- both would be down, and he would be oh-so vulnerable to his gaze.  He would glance beside him, to see Minho usually in a daze, his eyes twinkling so brightly, that Kibum could have easily imagined them to have turned into hearts like they did in cartoons. 

Oh, and this was the situation Mr Perfect had been in since the first day of college…and now on the nth day of college, Kibum was only sure of one thing…that this situation just got intense with every passing day. 

Especially today. 

The twinkling eyes remained, but what accompanied them was a very suggestive goofy smile, and modest rosy cheeks. 

It was a rather cringing sight, and Kibum had to admit Taemin was indeed one hell of a boy to turn his friend into a mushy Romeo. 

He also felt smug, seeing how his efforts had paid off. Well not in the way he had expected, though. 

He had expected Minho to finally call his badass-ness quits, succumb to Taemin’s charm, confess and for them to get together for good; but oh well, damn all those possibilities. Real life wasn’t as smooth as butter, and Minho managed to figure out what Taemin was up to; and on top of that he did not look like the one who was gonna quit his so-called "badass-ness" anytime soon. 

His phone rang right then, and he shook himself off his thoughts to read the caller id. 

Taemin. 

“Hey.” Kibum said, answering on the second ring. 

“Yeah, hi.” Taemin replied hurriedly. “You know…I went all kind, tidy and cute…but now what?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“It’s been a week! Why hasn’t Minho said anything?!” 

“Whoa. Calm down.” Kibum said, flinching at the rising volume at his ear. “What did I tell you? No shouting, no cursing and no tantrums.” 

“Yeah.” Taemin’s volume reduced. “It’s just that…a week-long of no certain response has got me irritated.” 

“Well, do what he did to you.” 

“Huh?” 

“How does he get you so worked up?” 

Silence prevailed over the line for a while. 

“Elaborate?” Taemin asked. 

Kibum sighed. “Apart from flooring you with his looks and all, what does he do?” 

“Ignore me?” Taemin started. “Stand me up?” 

“Exactly.” Kibum smirked. “Return the favour. Play hard to get.” 

“And how will I get about doing that?” 

“I need to spoon feed you, or what?” Kibum snapped at him. He took a deep breath, calming down. “Okay, listen up. Playing hard to get has two steps…1. Ignorance, and 2. Rejection.” Kibum paused, and before Taemin could reply, he continued, “Dare you ask more. Bye.” And he hung up. 

Kibum stuffed his phone inside his pocket and got back on his way, grumbling at what a drag real life romance was. 

The next morning, Taemin finished off his good duties and took his seat, making sure not to sit in a way that he would have to view Minho. 

Step 1: Ignorance. 

That was what he was gonna do. 

When Minho walked in, trying to meet his gaze with Taemin’s, Taemin turned away further, continuing his doodle from last time. 

Minho’s brows furrowed in the lack of the cheery response he had been getting all week, but he just shrugged it off, and took his seat. 

But it happened…again…and again. 

No cute smiles, no meeting of gazes, no little pecks, and Minho was in quite a frustrated mood by the time it was time for his last class. 

He headed to class a bit early, determined to break Taemin’s ignorance. 

He waited at the door, and found Taemin walking casually towards class. The boy just went past him, not sparing him one glance, and Minho lost it right then. He grabbed onto Taemin’s arm, pulling him towards himself. 

“What?” Taemin asked, irritated. 

“Let’s go on a date.” Minho said simply. 

Taemin saw his chance. 

Step 2: Rejection. 

“We have class, and anyway I am busy.” Taemin said. 

“Yeah, right.” Minho rolled his eyes. “Cutting class once in a while is fun.” He said, dragging Taemin out before a lecturer saw them. 

“But…no!” Taemin almost shouted, trying to wriggle out of Minho’s hold. 

“Playing hard to get?” Minho asked, smirking. 

Taemin’s struggle stopped, and he looked at Minho, eyes wide in shock. 

Minho stopped, and stepped towards Taemin, leaning in towards his ear. “I am too smart for your own good, bad boy.” 

“ing smartass.” Taemin cursed, as he sat alone at a bar table, fuming as he saw his boyfriend fraternise with the other on the dance-floor. 

Not only had he gotten him out of class, but had also dragged him to a club. Taemin refused to dance (Step no.2 Rejection!), and now he sat on a stool, clutching his glass of fruit punch tightly, regretting his decision. 

Minho wasn’t exactly dancing; just swaying lightly to the music, drink in hand, and chatting with the es girls. 

Taemin’s anger kept surging, and so did his giddiness, and he glanced ahead of him, realising the number of glasses he had drunk. 

He decided to stop, since his giddiness only hinted at the punch to be alcoholic, but one glance at his jerk boyfriend, broke his resolve. 

A couple of glasses later, he got up and headed towards Minho. 

“I am going.” He shouted over the music, and Minho turned towards him. 

“Where?” 

“To die, you !” Taemin shouted, and turned to go, but he felt Minho grab his arm, and rushed heartbeats followed. Finally, some- 

“How are you gonna die?” 

Taemin puffed up his cheeks. “I am gonna jump in the river for all you care.” He turned again, but Minho’s hold on his arm tightened. 

“Don’t go, Taemin.” He said, and Taemin's face softened. 

Minho drew a little closer, “The water might be cold in the night. How about you jump tomorrow afternoon? The water will be nice and warm.” A smirk followed his words, and Taemin found himself shaking in fury. 

Loveable? 

 Adorable? 

Perfect? 

Scratch all that. 

Choi Minho was a ing devil. 

A loveable, adorable, perfect devil. 

He pursed his lips at his thoughts. He was totally screwed in love.  

The fact that he actually couldn't think any bad of his boyfriend no matter how he treated him, made him upset; and he felt his heart fall thinking that maybe he was the only one actually having any feelings in this relationship. 

His mind was filled with unnecessary thoughts, and he knew he would turn into a mess if he heard another word of taunt from his jerk boyfriend. So he turned to leave and he had taken only two steps ahead, when his giddiness smudged the view ahead of him entirely. 

Minho groaned, finding another flight of stairs ahead of him. Taemin was not exactly as light as he seemed, and the damn elevator was broken. Great. 

He had chosen a club randomly, attempting one last time to break Taemin’s arrogance. But the boy collapsed, but didn’t give in. 

Just how much did it hurt for him to admit that he liked him? 

Serves me right to have fallen in love with an idiot, he thought to himself, finally entering into the parking lot. 

But it was his fault as well; he shouldn't have ignored him entirely, and instead of teasing him, he should have supported him in his drunk state. Was that punch alcoholic or something? Because he wouldn't have stretched this out if he wasn't drunk or something. Besides Taemin seemed heavy, and so did his head, so most probably he was indeed drunk. But a better drunk than his boyfriend.  

He helped Taemin onto his bike, and seeing him sway cutely, all his aches and regrets flew away, and that goofy smile came back. 

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