Jinki had a crush, a crush he could feel blossom into something else, a crush he couldn’t let get bigger, a crush that would only cause heartache.

He sat down against a tree as he watched Jonghyun play. Lately that was all he found himself doing, watching Jonghyun. Watching those puppy eyes, his funny nose and the most beautiful smile, watching himself lose a bit of his heart to the other.

He watched as Jonghyun ran around the field after he had scored, watched as Jonghyun was pulled into an embrace by Minho, watched as his heart ached. This was the reason why he knew his crush on Jonghyun didn’t matter. Jonghyun was miles apart from him, completely different to him. Jinki was what they all called a nerd and Jonghyun a jock, both of them unconventional.

Jinki thought Jonghyun deserved someone who had the same interests like him, someone who was on par with him, someone better than himself. Hence he kept this little crush to himself, it’s existence even hidden from his best friend Kibum.

-

“Hey.”

Jinki woke up to a gentle shaking and a warm voice. As soon he opened his eyes, his heart leaped only to be stuck in his throat.

“Aren’t you going home?” Jonghyun asked as he held out his hand for Jinki.

Jinki nodded as he took Jonghyun’s hand, he cleared his throat, “You?” he spurted.

“I was, then I saw you sleeping. You shouldn’t fall asleep like that. What if no one woke you up? School is a scary place at night.” Jonghyun informed.

“Where do live?” Jonghyun asked when he saw Jinki take the same path as him.

Jinki explained his address to Jonghyun to only find that Jonghyun lived in his neighbourhood.

“We should come and go together.” Jonghyun suggested as they stopped in front of Jinki’s house.

Jinki nodded. “Thank you Jonghyun.” he said shyly to receive the smile he adored the most.

-

True to his words the next morning Jinki saw Jonghyun waiting for him. They walked together silently at first but then Jonghyun spotted a puppy and that set him off as he began talking about his love for puppies. Jinki found him adorable, the excited gleam in his eyes making him forget about his nervousness and he found himself agreeing to Jonghyun.

As the days went by Jinki found himself getting more and more enticed by Jonghyun. He found himself freely expressing about his likes and dislikes, his current favourite rock band, his favourite books. They almost talked about everything.

-

One evening Jinki walked in on Jonghyun holding close a girl from his class. He apologised profusely when their heads turned in his direction. Jonghyun let go of the girl as he called out to Jinki. Jinki didn’t stop, he couldn’t let anyone see the tears, he knew he was fated for this, he knew his pain would only intensify when he had gotten close to Jonghyun, he had no one to blame as he was the one who had brought this upon himself.

“Jinki!” Jonghyun breathed as he caught hold of Jinki. “It’s not-”

“It’s alright Jonghyun, you don’t have to explain anything.”

“Jinki are you crying?” Jonghyun asked softly as he turned Jinki around.

“I brought this upon myself, you don’t have to be concerned.”

“Jinki...do you like me?” Jonghyun asked as he wiped Jinki’s tears.

Jinki stayed quiet for a few minutes as he looked Jonghyun straight in the eyes, “Yes. Yes I do like you. But, but you deserve someone better than me-”

Jinki’s words died in his heart when he felt soft lips press against his. He kissed back tentatively, the reality of the moment slowly sinking into him.

“You fool.” Jonghyun whispered against Jinki’s lips. “I like you too. I’ve liked you for a while now. I first noticed you in class, your smile, your laugh, your jokes too, then I saw you always sitting under that tree watching our games. Then one day I saw you asleep and I gathered up all the courage to come closer to you. After that evening I swear my life has never been the same.”

Jinki leaned in forward, capturing Jonghyun’s lips in a kiss as he finally let all his emotions surface, because now he didn’t need to hide them, because now his crush had blossomed into something else and he wasn’t alone.