Jongdae was walking back from class slowly, humming absently to a tune that had stayed persistently in his head the whole day, when he saw Junmyeon a few feet away. He picked up his pace, nearly jogging until he fell in step beside Junmyeon.

 "Hey," he said, smiling brightly at Junmyeon when the other turned to face him.

 "Hi," Junmyeon said, offering a small smile. "What are you doing here?"

 "Going back from class. Are you going back to the dorm too?"

 "You're going straight back the dorm? Don't you usually hang out with your friends after class?"

 Junmyeon had noticed. Jongdae wasn't sure why, but even though they'd been technically dating for nearly two weeks now, it had seemed nothing more than they usually did. In fact, if it wasn't for the label, it was like they were just friends or tutor and tutee. It almost made Jongdae feel like he had to prove something, do something more to get Junmyeon to notice. It was hard, sometimes, knowing what Junmyeon cared about and what he didn't. "Well, I can hang out with you," Jongdae said.

 "Really?" There was a doubtful furrow between Junmyeon's eyebrows.

 "Why? Aren't we friends?" It was a playful question, but when Junmyeon waited a few beats without answering, it made Jongdae's chest feel unexpectedly tight.

 "I think the fact that you have to ask says a lot," Junmyeon said eventually.

 Jongdae laughed, leaning into Junmyeon as they walked. It wasn't much of an answer, and sometimes, he wanted to stop Junmyeon and demand that he answer seriously. Jongdae never did, though; he didn't really want to know the truth, didn't want to see the implications behind Junmyeon's behavior. All he needed, really, was time. After all, what sane person wouldn't like Jongdae?

 "I'm hoping to get some work done, so you can't bother me the whole time," Junmyeon said eventually, breaking the silence that had fallen over them.

 "Don't worry, I brought my work too." Jongdae gestured to his backpack. "Why don't you believe me?" he asked, when Junmyeon turned his head to stare at him.

 "Because you usually end up distracting me anyway."

 "You work too hard," Jongdae said. He stepped closer, draping an arm around Junmyeon's shoulders. Being touchy with others was something that came easily to Jongdae, but with Junmyeon, he could never quite tell what the other was thinking.

 He certainly didn't expect Junmyeon to stop in the middle of the road. "Don't do that here," he mumbled, his voice barely audible. "There are people watching."

 "Why not?" Jongdae asked, but he didn't press any further. He let his arm fall from around Junmyeon's shoulders as they continued walking. Their hands were brushing with each step, and Jongdae almost wanted to reach out and hold Junmyeon's hand. He didn’t, though. Just a little at a time was enough for now.

Junmyeon didn’t answer, just continued walking. Jongdae wondered if he should say something to keep Junmyeon talking, but since Junmyeon didn’t seem bothered by the silence, he didn’t try to engage the other in a conversation. There was time later, after all, when they’d be in Junmyeon’s room. He didn’t need to start annoying him now.

It only took a few minutes for them to reach the dorm. Jongdae was immersed in his thoughts, barely paying attention to his surroundings as he made a mental list of the things that he had to do in his head. It was unnecessarily daunting, and he was already considering all the things that he could cross off—the classes where he could do homework the block before, classes where he didn’t have to do the homework at all, and classes where he could just copy off of Baekhyun.

He followed behind Junmyeon as the other walked into the dorm. Somehow, just as he was walking in, Junmyeon managed to trip over the top step. He would have fallen to the ground if Jongdae hadn't reacted quickly enough, catching him by the waist and barely preventing him from face planting into the ground.

  It would have been the perfect romantic moment—the moment when Jongdae managed to sweep Junmyeon off his feet, when Junmyeon was supposed to look up at him with starry eyed wonder—except Junmyeon wasn’t even looking at him.

Jongdae glanced over his shoulder to see who Junmyeon was staring at. As he did so, Junmyeon abruptly jerked from his grip, quickly arranging himself again, hiding behind his perfect shield once more.

“Yifan,” he said, and Jongdae cursed quietly. Of course it had to be Kris. Why was it always Kris?

Kris was sitting on the couch, his phone in his hand and several of his folders and various papers covering the coffee table. He was staring at them in a way that made Jongdae think that he was looking right through them.

It was a dazed expression, almost like the one Junmyeon was wearing, except Jongdae knew that Junmyeon’s was different.

It was hard sometimes, watching their interactions. Junmyeon would be laughing along to one of Jongdae’s jokes, indulging him by letting Jongdae lean in closer than usual, and then suddenly, he’d stiffen, his real smile fading and being replaced by a large, fake smile. Jongdae didn’t even know if Junmyeon himself was aware of it. It was obvious, now that Jongdae really looked, that Junmyeon hadn't completely gotten over Kris yet.

It’s been three years, Jongdae wanted to scream at Junmyeon, but he knew that it wouldn’t do any good.

He took a deep breath instead and reached out to touch Junmyeon’s arm. “Come on, let’s go,” he said, and Junmyeon glanced at him before nodding.

“Hey, Kris,” he said as they passed, and Kris responded, sounding distracted.

Jongdae followed Junmyeon into his room, and Junmyeon didn’t say anything until Jongdae had sat down in his usual position on the floor and had begun arranging his books in their usual stacks around him.

“Sorry about what happened,” he said, setting his backpack by his bed and starting to take out his books.

“Are you usually not that clumsy?” Jongdae teased, smiling triumphantly when Junmyeon looked away with a light blush. “Hey, it’s okay. I don’t mind catching you.”

“Yeah.” Junmyeon cleared his throat as he sat down at his desk, opening his books before him.

Jongdae stared down at his problems, but found that he couldn’t focus. He couldn’t stop thinking about Kris and how Junmyeon had reacted down there. Why was Kris so important that he was able to effortlessly break down all of Junmyeon’s shields, even now? Jongdae looked up from his paper, staring at Junmyeon as the other worked. He was chewing on the end of his eraser, a habit that Jongdae would have found slightly disturbing on anyone else but was oddly cute when combined with Junmyeon’s concentrated look.

After a few moments, Junmyeon seemed to notice that Jongdae was staring at him. He raised his head, letting the eraser fall from his mouth. “Do you want something?”

Jongdae smiled, trying to conjure as much cuteness as he could. “Can you help me with a problem? I’m stuck on this one.”

“You know I have my own work to do, right?” Junmyeon said, but he got out of his chair anyway, sitting down next to Jongdae. “Show me,” he said, looking over Jongdae’s shoulder.

Jongdae pointed to one of his problems and barely listened as Junmyeon started explaining the steps in solving the problem. He could do this, he thought as he stared at Junmyeon attentively. Even if it took months and years, he believed that he would be able to win Junmyeon’s heart one day.