Note: Okay, this first story is Sungyeol/Woohyun and the AU prompt is lab partners. I just have to say this took me forever to finish. And I started with it going in one direction, but then I got stuck for a while and I had to put it aside for a while. But nobody cares about all of that and it's done anyway.

Catch Me I'm Falling

Pairing: Sungyeol/Woohyun

Prompt: Lab partners

Sungyeol's eyes slowly blink open and his vision is immediately filled with the white ceiling of the nurse's office. There's a slight throbbing on one side of his head. He winces when he brushes his fingers over the lump right above his right temple. The last thing he remembers is attempting to dissect a fetal pig while trying not to pass out from the sight. Obviously he didn't do a very good job.

"Does it hurt a lot?"

Sungyeol feels the bed shift and he pauses in examining his head. When he looks down to the foot of the bed he sees Woohyun looking back at him. His breath catches in his throat at the concern in the other's eyes. He and Woohyun don't actually talk outside of Biology and their in-class conversations are usually only related to the class itself. Sungyeol thinks his stupid crush on Woohyun is to blame for their impersonal relationship. He gets nervous with Woohyun so close to him that he ends up at a loss for any casual or friendly words.

"Do you want me to get you an ice pack," Woohyun asks despite Sungyeol's lack of an answer. He's already half off the bed and Sungyeol guesses he'd probably get the ice pack even if he said no.

Sungyeol nods in response, still too confused by Woohyun's presence to say anything. He grimaces at the wave of pain that courses through his head from the motion. Some pain relievers would be more helpful at the moment than ice, but if Woohyun's the one fetching the ice for him he won't refuse it. While Woohyun goes to the front of the office to get the ice pack, Sungyeol sits up in the bed. He props the flat pillow behind his back and attempts to make himself look less like he fought with a tornado and lost. Although it doesn't really matter since Woohyun most likely carried him there in the first place.

Wooyhun comes back carrying one of those cushion-like ice packs that Sungyeol's sure he's only seen in movies. And maybe he hit his head harder than he thought because he finds that more amusing than it probably is. But the humor dies quickly once Woohyun comes to sit next to him. He watches silently, holding his breath, as Wooyhun gently rests the pack against his head. The numbing cold provides much needed relief from the throbbing lump on Sungyeol's head. He reaches up to take the pack from the other boy, ignoring the slight grazing of their fingers as Wooyhun lets go.

"What are you doing here?" The question slips out before Sungyeol can think of a better way to phrase it. He's just grateful it came out confused instead of rude. And he is confused because he and Woohyun aren't even friends but Woohyun's eyes are all soft with worry and he even sat and waited for Sungyeol to wake up. That has to mean something, but Sungyeol can't say he knows what that something is.

"Well, we are lab partners," Woohyun says with a small smile. Sungyeol is probably imagining the color that rises on the other's cheeks. There's no way he's actually blushing. "I should make sure you're okay. And it's a pretty good excuse to skip class."

"Oh." Sungyeol hopes he hid his disappointment well enough. He might have been hoping for a different answer. But he should've expected this. Because there's no way Woohyun, who's always been friendly enough in class, but doesn't even look in Sungyeol's direction in the hallways, can possibly have feelings for him. He clears his throat and adjusts the ice pack on his head. "Well, I'm fine now," he mumbles while avoiding Woohyun's eyes. He's already embarrassed that he couldn't even handle cutting open a pig; this only makes things worse. "So you're free to leave."

He expects Woohyun to run as fast as he can out of the room. There's no real reason for him to still be there and his friends are probably waiting for him anyway. But instead they sit on the bed with just a couple of inches of space separating their thighs (that's all Sungyeol can focus on) and a silence stretching between them. Sungyeol still can't bring himself to look at the boy next to him, but he really hopes he'd hurry up and leave so Sungyeol can wallow in the sad reality of a one-sided crush. Or maybe just say something. He finds it odd that Woohyun hasn't said anything yet. He takes the ice pack off of his head, setting it on his other side. His nervous fingers fiddle with the slowly melting cubes. The cold doesn't have quite the same effect on nerves as it does pain.

"Do you want me to leave?" Woohyun's voice is quiet, almost as if he was talking to himself. When Sungyeol risks a glance at the other he realizes that Woohyun must have been talking to him because he's looking right at him. And it's the kind of look that Sungyeol has only ever dreamed of getting from Woohyun. It makes his heart speed up, the pounding the loudest sound in his ears, and his breath catch in his throat. And he can't seem to look away. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe there's still hope.

He manages a small shake of his head, not trusting his voice or his brain to form sentences. He can already tell what's going to happen next when Woohyun shifts closer to him and closes the gap between their thighs. He holds Woohyun's gaze as the other slowly leans forward. His eyes have just closed in response to the gentle hand Woohyun places on the back of his neck when the loud clacking of the nurse's shoes interrupt them. Her even louder voice follows shortly.

"So, how are things looking in here?"

Sungyeol's eyes shoot open and land on the woman's chipper face behind Woohyun. The other student, with his hand still resting on Sungyeol's neck, is also turned around on the bed to look at her. The nurse doesn't seem at all fazed by their expressions, the smile on her face doesn't falter and her voice carries the same enthusiastic tone as when she first came in. (Sungyeol can't see Woohyun's face, but he assumes he's probably equally as mortified.)

"I can't vouch for how effective that is for mild concussions," she tells them. "But it might be best if you tested it someplace other than the school nurse's office. Just a thought." And with that she turns around and walks out of the room.

Sungyeol waits until the sound of her heels fade away before he slouches dramatically in the bed and places the ice pack back on the lump on his head. He squeezes his eyes shut as if that'll make the embarrassment (and the blush on his cheeks) go away. "Why is this my life," he groans to himself. The warm press of lips to the tip of his nose reminds him that he's not alone and that he was just inches away from having those lips against his own. When he opens his eyes once again, he's met with Woohyun's (gorgeous) grinning face extremely close to his own. If he passes out again it'll probably be from lack of oxygen because having Woohyun so close seems to have an adverse effect on his breathing capabilities.

"Do you know how cute you look right now?"

Sungyeol can only look back at Woohyun in silence. Between his breathlessness and his heart drumming way too loudly, he doesn't think he'll be able to say anything. So he does the only thing he can think of: he grabs Woohyun by the collar and pulls him in to crash their lips together. He doesn't know about Woohyun, but he rather likes that answer.