——
a/n: so, here’s the extra chapter! it’s basically the story (or, a summary of it) retold from sehun’s perspective, mainly because i was afraid ppl wouldn’t understand his character and his motives that well from the original fic (which is in jongdae’s point of view and he’s somewhat oblivious tbh. or maybe sehun is just good at hiding his emotions). this was supposed to be pretty short but things happened and it turned out this long. hope you all don’t mind.
(it’s probably an unnecessary thing to point out, but you obviously have to read the other chapters of the fic before you read this one! idk who would want to read the extra chapter without reading the actual fic, but whatever. just to be on the safe side)
hope you’ll like it!
——

It all started that day at the beginning of the semester. That very first drama lesson, where the teacher announced what play they were going to work with, and they all decided which roles they wanted. Sehun didn’t exactly get to decide for himself though, since he was the only one left at the end, not having any other option than playing the prince. It was okay with him, actually, he didn’t really care much. As long as he got to act and participate in a play with all of his friends, he was alright with any role.

Of course, he felt a bit uncomfortable when he got to know about the kiss scene. More than a bit uncomfortable. Actually, his stomach turned when Luhan shouted out his realisation. Sehun didn’t know what to do, he was feeling kind of speechless. He hadn’t kissed anyone before, and now he had to because of the dang play. It would be his first time and it was with Luhan, who was two years older and also a guy. Yes, he was fond of Luhan and looked up to him a lot, but he wasn’t too keen on kissing him. And everyone would be watching them, too. Really, saying that he felt a bit uncomfortable was an understatement.

He initially wanted to do something about it, maybe playing the prince was a bad idea after all. Would the teacher be mad at him for asking to change roles with someone else? He decided to try, but nothing comprehensible came out of his mouth. It was too difficult, he was too taken aback by the situation to be able speak properly. Sehun was embarrassing himself, and it was incredibly frustrating. Therefore, he was hit by relief when a voice from behind him piped up, speaking in his place.

Kim Jongdae. It was a complete surprise to Sehun, he was almost shocked by the other’s action, but also overwhelmingly grateful. Someone understood him, someone cared. He just didn’t expect it to be Jongdae, out of all people.

They usually didn’t interact, he and Jongdae. Sehun didn’t know why, but they just didn’t. They had different friends and came from different classes; Jongdae was a year older, after all. Sehun just knew him as this tiny hyung who was good friends with most of the other, older guys in the drama class, and always had a huge kinda adorable smile on his face whenever they talked to each other. Oh, and the fact that he seemed pretty thrilled when he instructed Sehun and Jongin to call him hyung when they joined the group, as he wasn’t among the youngest anymore. So Sehun’s view of Jongdae wasn’t bad, at least.

Another thing that surprised Sehun was how passionate Jongdae seemed to be about helping him. It was as if he felt personally attacked by their teacher’s decision as well, even though it wasn’t supposed to affect him at all. However, he still tried to convince the teacher to change the roles, and even attacked Chanyeol, which also surprised Sehun as he’d only seen the two as good buddies who wouldn’t lash out on each other like that.

Unfortunately, Jongdae only succeeded in creating a ruckus in the classroom, and Sehun had to accept his fate. It was okay, though, he would manage. It was only a tiny kiss in a play after all, nothing serious. And kissing Luhan felt a lot less awkward than having to kiss Jongin or Tao, for example, as they were both his close friends and not people he’d want to kiss even if someone would pay him.

He had to thank Jongdae for his attempt to save him though, he really had to. Therefore Sehun rushed out of the door after the older when class was over, stopping him as he was about to leave. After Sehun had expressed his gratitude, Jongdae flashed him that wide adorable smile, and Sehun left the school building feeling immensely happy. For some reason. Really, the fact that he had to participate in that one kiss scene didn’t even bother him anymore. Strange.

That evening, Sehun couldn’t stop thinking about Jongdae. The thought of the huge smile he’d given Sehun, and Sehun only, made the his stomach feel somewhat warm. That… that wasn’t important though, what actually occupied Sehun’s mind the most was the reason behind Jongdae being so passionate about defending him during class. What could it be, what were his motives? Why was he trying so hard to change the roles? If it had been someone else, like Baekhyun for example, Jongdae would’ve just laughed at his misery instead of helping him, Sehun felt pretty sure about that. So why was he being like that with him?

Maybe he was reading into it too much, maybe Jongdae just wanted to be nice. He had stated that his reason was that he didn’t want anyone to feel pressured to do something they’re uncomfortable with, after all.

As Sehun fell asleep that night, he couldn’t wait until the next week and next lesson.

It felt like ages until their next drama class, but after a week it was finally time for it. Sehun felt the urge to talk to Jongdae, interact with him more, but he didn’t know what to talk about. It felt really awkward to just walk up to him and randomly start talking about something. He could do that with his close friends, but with Jongdae it would just be strange. So in the end, Sehun didn’t do anything. He felt a little bit like a coward.

That lesson, something strange happened again. As the kiss scene was approaching, Sehun was nervous. Obviously (that wasn’t the strange thing). So he walked as slowly as possible up to Luhan, trying to calm himself down. Upon reaching him, he asked the teacher if it was important to kiss during rehearsals, and Miss Hwang answered him that yes, it was important. That’s when the strange thing happened: Jongdae raised his hand, coming to his rescue for the second lesson in a row.

“Y’know… Why does Snow White have to be saved by a prince, anyway? Isn’t that pretty old-fashioned and enforces stereotypical gender roles?”

Sehun had no idea why Jongdae would care about the portrayal of gender in an old fairy tale, it was old after all and it was hard to do anything about it by now, they couldn’t change a classic. He realised that it was probably Jongdae’s excuse to get rid of the kiss scene, but why did he care so much? Was he actually doing this just to be nice?

Luhan voiced his agreement after that, which was understandable since he was actually part of the kiss scene (unlike some other people). Unfortunately, the notion was taken less seriously as Tao started talking about his idea to add a fight scene between Snow White and her stepmother (Sehun had to try to not laugh out loud at that), and in the end, Jongdae again didn’t succeed. Maybe he would stop his attempts to help Sehun now.

Nope, apparently he wasn’t going to stop. During the next lesson Jongdae heard from Yixing that there’s no kiss in the original version of the fairy tale, and therefore tried to make them perform that version instead. Key word being tried, since he didn’t succeed this time either. A pity, really, he had looked so enthusiastic when he informed everyone about his discovery, and so disappointed when Miss Hwang told him they were sticking with the Disney version. Sehun might’ve even spotted him pouting a little. He didn’t understand how someone older than him could look so cute (okay, on second thought he could; Minseok was the oldest out of all of them and he was more adorable than the pet hamster Sehun had when he was in primary school). Luckily, Jongdae seemed alright at the end of the lesson as he joked around like he usually did, making Sehun smile.

When he was about to head home, Sehun saw Luhan drag away a flustered-looking Jongdae, from what he could hear they were practising together at Luhan’s place. It was completely normal, expected even since the two of them were good friends, but for some reason Sehun felt a little bit anxious. Wasn’t he a better option for Luhan to practise with, and wasn’t Jongdae fond of him since he was so passionate about helping him? Why would they choose each other instead of him? How close were they, even? For some reason, Sehun was a bit jealous. Of who, he didn’t know. He just felt that uncomfortable feeling in his gut when he saw the two leaving, Luhan’s arm hanging over Jongdae’s shoulders.

---

As the weeks went by, their practise sessions became more serious. Which meant that Sehun had to properly kiss Luhan. It wasn’t really something he’d looked forward to, but he had to get it done and over with, he supposed.

Before starting, though, he got the chance to interact a bit with Jongdae. Yes, he actually had the guts to do so! And it even happened as they were changing clothes in the props storage.

Jongdae seemed to have dressed up fast, because Sehun was in the middle of changing when he spotted said boy emerging from behind a clothes rack. With his eyes completely fixed on Sehun. Woah.

The fact that Jongdae was observing him gave Sehun somewhat of a kick, a rush, and as a spur of the moment he gestured to Jongdae to come closer. He didn’t even know why, but he just felt kinda thrilled over Jongdae watching him like that. And he felt even more thrilled when he saw Jongdae’s reaction. He looked nervous, bashful even, as he made his way up to Sehun, who tried to hold back a smile but probably failed.

What Sehun did next came as a complete surprise to both him and Jongdae (mostly to Jongdae, though). He asked Jongdae to hold his coat, and then turned around and switched shirts in front of the older. If it was in any other situation, Sehun would’ve been embarrassed over doing so, but at that moment he just felt confident. And - again - thrilled. He blamed that sudden kick of energy he’d gotten before. And also, maybe, his curiosity to see Jongdae’s reaction.

His face was definitely a shade redder, Sehun noticed when he turned around to face Jongdae again. That obviously didn’t have to mean anything, Sehun was sure that if someone did that to him he would react similarly. It was a strange action, after all.

Sehun was slightly nervous when it was time for the kiss scene. Just slightly. Somehow he’d ended up getting kinda used to the thought of kissing Luhan.

But he still wanted to do well, he had no prior experience after all. And since he was to do it on stage, being bad at kissing wouldn’t only embarrass him in front of Luhan, but also in front of everyone else. Including Jongdae.

Wait, what? Why was it so important to impress him all of a sudden? Well, Sehun did feel that he’d become a bit closer to the older throughout the past couple of weeks, so he was trying hard to get them to a stage of being friends. Yeah, he definitely wanted to become friends with Jongdae. For real.

Sehun still felt his heart beat a tiny bit faster as he bent down in front of Luhan, he was nervous after all. Alright. He had to collect himself. This was nothing, he could do this without any problems. He was just gonna take a deep breath, and then-

Darkness. Just as Sehun was about to let their lips meet. He cancelled his action as some of the others yelled (Luhan also shouted loudly, which startled him more than the actual blackout).

He didn’t think about it at first, but it was a convenient time for the power to go off. Especially since it took such a long time for them to get it to work again, so they ended up not doing the kiss scene. Very convenient. Sehun let that slide, though, it was probably a mere coincidence.

Except, it happened again the next lesson. Not the power going off, but something else that interrupted the kiss scene at the most important moment.

This time, Sehun started to get a bit suspicious. Because right after Luhan had received that phone call, he thought he saw Jongdae stuffing his cell phone down his pocket. What had he done with the cell phone during class, at that exact moment? They weren’t even allowed to use their phones during class. It didn’t feel like a coincidence anymore. It would also make sense for Jongdae to do it, as he had actively tried to get rid of the kiss scene before.

Sehun was almost one hundred percent sure that his suspicions were correct when something - or someone - cut the kiss scene off for the third lesson in a row. That someone being Jongdae. He had clearly ordered Chanyeol to do that prank (which was a pretty good prank, Sehun had to admit. It was basic but still had a funny outcome). But, seriously, why was Jongdae so keen on interrupting that scene? Sehun was still feeling puzzled, and for some reason he couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was somehow like a mystery he really wanted to solve.

And he did. Or, he might’ve figured it out during the lesson after that. That lesson, he and Luhan were pretty much forced to kiss, and out of all people it seemed to have upset Jongdae the most. He was noticeably grumpy, Sehun concluded after sneakily watching him for a while (only for curiosity, and desire to solve the mystery surrounding Jongdae, of course). Perhaps the older’s bad mood wasn’t because of the kiss scene, but with all the previous events considered, it probably was.

Oh yeah, the kiss scene. Right. It was… somewhat terrifying at first. Out of control. When his lips met Luhan’s, when they started kissing, Sehun didn’t really know when to stop. Luhan had been considerate enough to take control (as Sehun was, well, inexperienced), but Sehun was the one who was supposed to break the kiss after a while, and he felt unsure. Therefore, the actual kiss took a bit longer than it probably was supposed to. Not that most of the others seemed to mind, though.

Sehun did feel a bit proud afterwards, he was one experience richer now, after all. Even though it was somewhat overwhelming.

But what was more overwhelming was the realisation Sehun had after that.

As he looked up from having kissed Luhan he caught Jongdae’s reaction to it all. He looked pretty miserable. And when most of the others gathered around Sehun and Luhan, asking them questions, he just stood a bit away from them, not even joining the others when they clapped. When Sehun glanced over at him Jongdae caught his gaze and immediately looked away. It was in that moment everything was made clear.

Jongdae liked him. Or, well, he liked him. That had to be it. Sehun felt his heart beat a bit faster, and he swallowed. All the passion Jongdae had put into his attempts to get someone else to play the prince, the different ways he’d tried to get rid of the kiss scene, his flustered reactions whenever Sehun interacted with him, it all made sense. Holy .

Of course, he couldn’t be one hundred percent sure, but it felt like the most logical reason. So Sehun was maybe... ninety percent sure. And he really didn’t know what to do with this information.

He first of all felt very flattered that someone liked him enough to do all these things, and especially when that person was Jongdae, who was a pretty amazing guy (in Sehun’s opinion). And he definitely didn’t have anything against people who happened to like folks of the same , so that didn’t bother him. What bothered him was the fact that he now felt unsure about what to do. He couldn’t really say he had the same kinds of feelings for Jongdae… He liked him and all, Jongdae was nice and talented and adorable and everything, but… well. Sehun didn’t know. He hadn’t really been romantically interested in anyone before either, so he felt incredibly unsure.

He decided to just let it be for the moment, as Jongdae hadn’t really tried to make a move on him or anything (if he did that, Sehun wouldn’t know what to do). The situation right now was alright. He could just ignore Jongdae’s crush on him and go on with his daily life until he’ll figure out his feelings about this.

---

That one lesson when Luhan was ill was by far one of the most interesting lessons of the whole semester.

Sehun’s initial reaction to Jongdae awkwardly getting chosen as Luhan’s substitute was to smile. The way Jongdae looked a tiny bit conflicted and nervous over the situation was for some reason very cute. Sehun couldn’t stop the happy expression from appearing on his face.

That was, until he realised why Jongdae had decided to take Luhan’s role during the lesson. Sehun suddenly got this fluttering feeling in his stomach and chest at the thought of Jongdae… possibly choosing it to be able to kiss him. Yeah. It was flattering (really, what was it about him that made Jongdae want to kiss him???) but incredibly nerve-racking. Sehun didn’t know what to do. He could try to practise like he usually did, but… when the kiss scene was approaching it felt difficult to do so.

It was obvious that Jongdae was nervous. No kidding. He had been nervous throughout their whole rehearsal (not that Sehun had observed him the whole time - okay maybe he had) but now it was even more noticeable than before. He fidgeted a bit while he lay on the table, and when Sehun came closer he saw the apparent shade of pink colouring Jongdae’s cheeks. It was quite adorable, Sehun automatically smiled. Jongdae looked up at him just as he did it, and quickly averted his eyes. Why was that guy even so nervous, his only task was to lay down on the table. It was Sehun who had to do all the work.

Oh, right. The kissing. He should get to it. Sehun felt his heart beat louder and louder as he bent down. Or maybe it was because the sound of his heart was the only thing he could focus on at the moment. Thinking about anything else, Jongdae-related, was too much.

He was pretty much forced to think about Jongdae when he was centimetres from the older’s face, immersed in the land of long eyelashes and flawlessly sculpted cheekbones. And a pair of slightly parted, bowed lips. Holy , Jongdae was pretty. Especially up close, where Sehun could view his face in detail. This was going to be even more difficult now, since Sehun’s heart started to beat faster and his face felt hopelessly hot. He was probably gonna start to sweat like an idiot soon too, he really had to hurry up and get on with it.

Jongdae had closed his eyes and looked as ready as he could get (or something), so Sehun had no excuse to keep stalling. He mumbled an "okay” to himself to calm his heart down, and then moved his face even closer to Jongdae’s-

“Ahem, you know that you two don’t have to kiss if you don’t want to, right?”

Sehun immediately stood up straight again as he felt a wave of relief hit him. He didn’t have to do it. He didn’t have to go through the trial of kissing those pretty, inviting lips- wait, what was he thinking?! Sehun’s heart was still beating loudly in his chest and he looked around, trying to calm it down.

Jongdae was rising up from the table but Sehun couldn’t bring himself to look at him. He felt as if he’d disappointed the other, or something. That he wasn’t able to kiss him, because he was too much of a nervous wreck. But then again, pulling away was the natural reaction, right? Jongdae wouldn’t hold a grudge against him for that.

A couple of his classmates were shouting loudly, expressing different kinds of emotions. Some of them were surprised by the whole thing, some were disappointed that they didn’t kiss and some seemed more relieved. Most of them were highly amused, though. Sehun would’ve joined them, not being someone who had a problem with laughing at himself, but he couldn’t do that. This situation didn’t feel very silly. Images of Jongdae’s lips and thoughts of things he could’ve and shouldn’t have done made him feel almost frustrated.

Sehun felt like he’d let Jongdae down when he hadn’t kissed him, so he wanted to do something to make it up to him. Or, well, that was his excuse to go tease interact with Jongdae the next lesson. He’d discovered that he very much enjoyed his newfound power of being able to make Jongdae flustered. It was just something about Jongdae’s flushed face and apparent nervousness and the fact that it was Sehun who was the cause for it. A something that really captivated Sehun.

Therefore, Sehun decided to wait until most of the others had left the props storage, and then walked over to the place behind the clothes rack where Jongdae usually changed. Jongdae wasn’t entirely done changing so he was noticeably startled when Sehun appeared, seemingly out of nowhere (Sehun couldn’t help but find it a bit amusing).

Sehun managed to make Jongdae tie his cravat, not mentioning the fact that he could probably tie it all by himself by now. It didn’t really go as Sehun had expected though, since Jongdae actually tied it very well, without any troubles whatsoever. Sehun was happy with how the cravat looked, sure, but his main goal had been to make Jongdae all embarrassed and cute. So after they were done, Sehun turned to face Jongdae, scanning his face intently. He couldn’t find anything off on that flawless face, so he decided to just make something up.

“Hyung, you have something… here”, he uttered, and he could spot confusion on the older’s face. After intentionally telling Jongdae that his attempt at removing that something had been unsuccessful, Sehun ended up touching Jongdae’s face, his lips. The edge of those lips, right at the place where they kind of turned upwards. He couldn’t believe he had the guts to do that, but apparently he had. It was all totally worth it, he believed, when he saw Jongdae trying to keep calm afterwards. His embarrassed reaction was really charming, Sehun had to admit.

If Sehun had been 90 percent sure that Jongdae liked him before the lesson started, he was now 99% sure of it. Because of the thing that happened at the end of their lesson.

He and Luhan were dared to make out, and after Luhan had stated his conditions for it they were pretty much ready to go. Sehun didn’t feel too comfortable at first. He had kissed Luhan before, but that was kind of as far as he’d go. Making out felt a bit extreme and not something he was willing to do with someone he didn’t have feelings for, not even if he was given free ice cream and bubble tea after school.

But his brain was soon occupied with other thoughts. This was basically prime time to find out if his suspicions about Jongdae liking him were correct.

When Luhan grabbed his collar to pull him closer, all Sehun could think about was how Jongdae would react. Would he just look a bit heart-broken and frown, or would he actually attempt to stop their kiss? If it was the latter, would he come up with something clever like he’d done before or was he by now desperate enough to simply shout at them to stop? Maybe he would just stand there, poker-faced, masking his emotions. Or, perhaps, Sehun had been wrong about everything and Jongdae wouldn’t be affected at all because he didn’t have any feelings for him.

Sehun observed him right before leaning into the kiss, and at first Jongdae didn’t look that different than usual. Then he started to look a tiny bit distressed, and after that Sehun wasn’t able to watch him anymore as Luhan came close enough for the two of them to start kissing. And not long after they’d started, Jongdae finally did something that caught Sehun’s interest.

He first mumbled something inaudible and then stormed off. It wasn’t at all what Sehun had expected, and it seemed like he wasn’t the only one who was surprised. Chanyeol shouted after him in confusion and Luhan instantly broke the kiss, gaze following Jongdae’s leaving figure. What made Sehun even more confused was when Luhan then went after him, leaving Sehun and the others on stage while he exited the classroom not too long after Jongdae had done the same thing.

“Uh. Okay? What was that about?” Chanyeol voiced his (and probably most of the others) thoughts out loud. Sehun shrugged.

“I don’t know, but I think it’s better if we leave them to themselves”, he said even though he almost died of curiosity of getting to know what they were talking about. And the fluttering in his belly from earlier that day wouldn’t stop either, as he was now almost a hundred percent sure that Jongdae liked him. For real.

Sehun couldn’t sleep that night. It didn’t matter how hard he tried to think about something else, his thoughts would just bounce back to Jongdae. And the fact that he liked him. Holy , Jongdae liked him. Kim Jongdae from Sehun’s drama class had a crush on him. Un-fricking-believable.

Sehun rolled around, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in, twisting his blanket around him. He felt hot and decided to just get rid of the blanket instead, summer was approaching after all and having his window open didn’t do anything to change the temperature of his room. Did Jongdae have the same problem? He hadn’t ever visited Jongdae’s house, maybe Jongdae had a really nice air-conditioned room and-

Sehun rolled around again, settling on lying on his back. He put his hands up in the air on front of him, trying to distinguish the shapes of his fingers from the darkness of the room. He sighed when he couldn’t keep focusing on it, his state of mind could only be described as one word: Jongdae.

The thing was, that it was a completely new situation to Sehun. He didn’t know what to do. He had zero experience, he hadn’t ever had someone crushing on him (to his knowledge, at least). The mere thought of someone liking him in a romantic way made his chest tingle. And the fact that this someone was Jongdae was terrifyingly amazing.

Sehun realised that Jongdae was different. Like, if it was someone else who liked him, Chanyeol for example, Sehun wouldn’t at all be as thrilled. He would probably mostly feel bothered. But it was Jongdae who liked him, and that filled him with an extreme amount of happiness.

Jongdae was such a kind, funny, clever and caring person who was great at most subjects in school, a talented actor and from what Sehun had heard he was also a terrific singer. Not to mention how incredibly good-looking he was. And how cute he acted when flustered. Additionally, Jongdae was humble enough to not think all those things about himself. Did he even know how amazing he was? Sehun pondered over that for a while.

He finally fell asleep at around three at night, and that unfortunately didn’t last for long. He had a dream that made him wake up a lot earlier than he should. Sehun had read somewhere that if you think about something before you fall asleep, there’s a high chance of you dreaming about the same thing. And, go figure, he dreamed about Jongdae.

In the dream he found himself in Luhan’s shoes, playing the princess. However, the prince leaning down to kiss him wasn’t a second version of himself; it was Jongdae. When dream-Sehun saw that he immediately panicked and suddenly he was teleported to the props storage, without any explanation whatsoever (but since when did dreams make sense, really). He noticed that he was wearing his prince costume, and Jongdae was in there too. When he saw Sehun he flashed him that huge, charming smile.

“What was it that you wanted to tell me?” dream-Jongdae said and the dream version of himself fidgeted for a couple of seconds before saying:

“Well, I… I think I’m in love with you.”

Dream-Jongdae slowly walked up to him with an expression of pure sunshine, while saying something along the lines of:

“Oh, my prince. You won’t believe how happy that makes me.”

Before dream-Sehun could utter another word, Jongdae had him against the wall and, well… kissed him. Right after that, Sehun - the real Sehun - woke up. He was sweating even though he had slept without his blanket.

Jongdae had kissed him in the dream, oh, alright. It was expected, maybe, but still. It felt kinda real, which was a bit scary. Sehun brought his fingers up to his lips. It had felt… nice. He wouldn’t mind having more dreams when that happened.

What bothered him was the fact that he had told Jongdae he loved him in the dream. What was that all about? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Because Jongdae was the one who liked him, not-

Sehun’s heart was pounding but before he could elaborate on that thought he fell asleep again.

---

Not long before the last class of rehearsals Sehun dyed his hair. It wasn’t a ground-breaking thing, he just wanted a change and after telling his friends about his idea they wouldn’t stop bothering him until he actually did it. So, the last drama class before the performances Sehun walked in with his newly dyed brown hair.

He was a bit worried about what the others would think, or more specifically, what Jongdae would think. But they seemed to like it. He had to agree with them, it suited his role in the play a lot. All of them had gathered around him, complimenting him, and the attention made him feel a bit embarrassed.

The one he actually wanted attention from, however, stood a bit away from the others. Why? Sehun thought (or rather, hoped) that Jongdae would be the first one to compliment him, but nope. What if he didn’t like it? Holy , what if Sehun had ruined all his chances to date Jongdae just because he dyed his hair?? It couldn’t be that serious, right…?

Wait, did he just… Did he just imply that he wanted date Jongdae…? Oh no. He totally did. He couldn’t even deny it. Well, he had kinda figured out by now that he… might… return Jongdae’s feelings? He had another dream after that one from before, a similar dream, except that he was the one kissing Jongdae in it. And it was something he’d thought about a lot.

Sehun was totally alright with the idea of kissing Jongdae. He wanted to, even. Imagine how happy that’d make Jongdae. Sehun would be happy too, he believed. He would very much like to do it.

However, things seemed to be going in the wrong direction now. Maybe he should do something about it.

On the day of the performances, Sehun was very nervous. As expected. He was always nervous before performances, it was only natural. But somehow he felt even more anxious about this one. Maybe it was because of that dreaded kiss scene. It felt as if it was the source of all of Sehun’s problems.

There was an additional thing that made Sehun as nervous as he was. He’d decided to maybe, uh, make a move. On Jongdae. Because by now he was pretty sure he’d like a relationship with the other, and he really had to do something before it was too late.

Sehun had come up with the plan to write a letter to Jongdae, telling him to meet up at the tree outside the building, and put it in his box after the first performance. It felt like a good plan, it would make Jongdae flustered and make him wonder who the person behind the letter was, and he would also be prepared for someone confessing to him. Sehun wasn’t too keen on just saying it out of the blue, he’d rather confess in a more meaningful way (besides, he was pretty sure Jongdae liked romantic stuff like that. Or at least he hoped so).

Even though Sehun had a clear plan he was still awfully nervous. The incident during their final rehearsal therefore felt like it was completely his fault. See, he wasn’t the one who dropped the framed glass but he was definitely the one who triggered it. It was horrible. Really damn horrible.

At that point, Sehun’s nerves got the best of him and after trying to clean up all the smashed glass from the floor, he ran towards the restroom in panic, locking himself up. If he was about to cry he’d at least do it where no one could see him.

Jongdae managed to calm him down. It was incredible how his appearance just made Sehun swallow his urge to cry, and relax. He doubted it would be the same with anyone else. There was just something about Jongdae’s soothing words combined with his apparent dorkiness around Sehun, they were probably Sehun’s favourite sides of Jongdae. The caring hyung side, and the flustered and embarrassed side. His reaction when Sehun truthfully told him that the prince role would fit him perfectly was too adorable. And his words when Sehun was worried about Luhan being mad at him.

Even though Jongdae was visibly jealous, he was still an honest person. So he told Sehun not to worry about Luhan, that Luhan liked him no matter what. Stuff that could probably ruin his chances with Sehun if Sehun had liked Luhan in that way.

Which was something Jongdae apparently couldn’t help but ask.

“Do… do you like Luhan hyung?”

It surprised Sehun, it actually did. He thought Jongdae would try to be at least a little bit more subtle than that. It was almost comedic, the fact that he actually asked that (and afterwards instantly looked like he regretted it). After confirming that Jongdae meant it in a romantic way, Sehun couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“No, I don’t. Why would you even think that?” he answered. It was honestly too absurd. When had he ever seemed as if he had a crush on Luhan?

There was a smile on his face when Jongdae explained that they were kissing and all, and that made him think they might like each other. Sehun couldn’t believe that this was a thing that had bothered Jongdae for so long. Good thing he cleared it up.

Sehun did consider confessing at that moment, since it felt like a perfect one. They were kind of touching the subject in their conversation. Besides, Jongdae had been so nice. Maybe he shouldn’t wait until the evening.

But then, his plan felt like the better alternative. It was more romantic. And he would really like to see Jongdae’s reaction to getting that letter. So Sehun settled on taking Jongdae’s hand, walking together back to the rest of the guys preparing for the first performance.

Which went really well, a lot better than expected. Sehun was happy with his acting, even though his role wasn’t that important. Or well, it was important, he was the one reviving Snow White after all, but he didn’t have a lot of appearances on stage. The only scenes he was in were in the beginning and at the end of the play. Therefore he had a big gap in the middle of it where the only thing he could do was to wait backstage.

It was during that time he went and put the letter in Jongdae’s box. It was when a scene with both Snow White and all the dwarfs was taking place, so most of the others were on stage. Sehun sneaked out to the hall and he was sure that nobody noticed him.

After the audience had left they went to see what they’d received in their boxes. Sehun found a couple of notes in his, some with small drawings of a crown or a handsome cartoon prince, others with compliments. They made him happy, they really did, but the way his heart was beating faster and faster wasn’t because of them.

Jongdae had looked in his box, and by the looks of it also found Sehun’s letter. His eyes were wide as he read through the contents, mouth opening a tiny bit as if he mumbled the text out loud to himself. With rosy cheeks he then searched around the room with his gaze. After settling on Baekhyun, he walked up to him with the letter in his hand. No, no, no! Why was Jongdae showing Baekhyun that letter? It was a private letter for Jongdae, and Jongdae alone! Sehun felt a bit frustrated, this wasn’t going his way.

Apparently Jongdae thought it was all a prank, and that Baekhyun was the one behind it. Sehun wanted to tell him how wrong he was, but then he’d automatically reveal himself. It kinda . Just because Jongdae believed it was a joke, he wouldn’t go meet Sehun under that tree. Sehun had to think up another plan.

During the break, he wrote another letter and put it in Jongdae’s box. He knew that the person behind the letters would come off as quite persistent, coming to two of the performances and sending Jongdae these letters twice, but whatever. Hopefully he seemed dedicated and passionate. Sehun really wondered how Jongdae would react to this letter.

When the second performance was over they checked their boxes again, and Sehun intently watched Jongdae while he searched through his. He spotted him finally discovering the letter, but what Sehun also saw was Baekhyun coming up behind him. God damn it. This didn’t look good.

“Ooh, isn’t this from the same person as before?” Baekhyun shouted out, catching everyone’s attention and totally embarrassing Jongdae. The two of them whispered amongst themselves a little, Jongdae tried to get the letter back but failed, and Baekhyun started reading it. Again, loud enough for all of them to hear. Jongdae looked as if he was ready to die.

Sehun felt equally as embarrassed, but he tried not to show it. He hoped nobody would suspect it was him, even though he’d made it a bit more obvious this time since he’d addressed Jongdae as “hyung” in the letter.

He could hear some of the others start to discuss the letter, some of them laughed, but Jongdae was quiet. He certainly didn’t seem to have the time of his life. After clearing his throat he spoke up, still looking down at the floor.

“Can… Can the person who wrote this just stop? What have I ever done to you to make you wanna humiliate me so much? Seriously, who is it?”

He sounded almost emotional and Sehun felt so bad about writing that letter. He really should’ve confessed to Jongdae when they had that conversation in the dressing room, instead of doing this. It was obvious Jongdae didn’t believe that someone liked him, he just thought it was a prank. Sehun sighed, this was useless. He hadn’t come anywhere in his attempts to confess to Jongdae, he’d only made things worse. This really .

When they went on break Jongdae left to sit with Yixing, and Sehun just stood there in the hall, not knowing what to do. He supposed he should try to confess to Jongdae properly, but… If Jongdae got to know that he was the one who wrote those letters, would he be mad at him then? Would he reject him? Sehun felt incredibly worried and that didn’t make things easier for him.

All of a sudden, he felt a knock on his shoulder.

“Sehunnie?”

It was Luhan, and Sehun turned around to be met with bright yellow hair and a huge grin. Before Sehun had the chance to say anything, Luhan started talking again.

“You and I need to talk about something. Right now”, he then looked around, “and I don’t think you want anyone to overhear it, so let’s go somewhere more private.”

What was this all about? Sehun had his suspicions but, well, all he could do was to listen to Luhan and take them to a place where the others wouldn’t be able to hear them. So they ended up in one of the dressing rooms, the same room where he and Jongdae had talked earlier that day.

“So,” Luhan started before he had even sat down, clearly not wanting to waste time, “you wrote those letters Jongdae received, right?”

Sehun nodded hesitantly, he was too taken aback to say anything. It was surprising how Luhan had figured that out, and also somewhat embarrassing. But since Luhan already seemed to be sure about his theory it was useless to deny it.

Luhan grinned even wider.

“Thought so. Seems like things didn’t really go your way, though. I thought that maybe I could help you”, he said and Sehun lifted an eyebrow. What could Luhan do in this situation, and more importantly, why did he want to help Sehun?

Before Sehun could ask that question, Luhan answered it. It was as if he knew what Sehun was thinking, it was kinda scary.

“Ah, you’re probably wondering why I want to do this. Well, you see, Jongdae really likes you as well. A lot. And he’s been feeling kinda miserable because he thinks you don’t return his feelings. If you actually confessed to him, it would make him so happy… aw, you don’t understand how happy that’d make him.”

This wasn’t really news to Sehun, but his heart still started beating like crazy when Luhan told him that Jongdae liked him. It was like… a confirmation. Or something.

“Yeah, I’ve… noticed. He hasn’t really tried to be very subtle about it”, Sehun said truthfully. Luhan looked at him incredulously.

“Well, what are you waiting for then?! If you already know he likes you, what’s there to worry about?”

Sehun shook his head.

“I… I don’t know, but… I think he’s mad… Because of the letters. It was a really stupid idea, I shouldn’t have written them. I just wanted to confess in a meaningful way, and make him excited about it. I didn’t know it would turn out like this.”

“I don’t understand how that’s stopping you. He won’t be mad if he finds out that it was you who wrote them, that’s how head over heels he is for you. Don’t tell him I told you this, but, do you know what he did after we were dared to make out?”

Sehun was a little bit surprised by the question.

“Yeah, he ran out of the classroom… And you ran after him-”

“He cried. He was so over this whole kiss thing, and he was afraid that you and I liked each other. I don’t want him to feel that way anymore, I’m so relieved you like him back, you have no idea. But you should really go tell him.”

Sehun felt kinda shocked. Jongdae… cried? Because of him? Or, well, because of the whole thing about he and Luhan kissing each other, and how he didn’t think Sehun liked him back, but yeah… If what Luhan had said was true, then Sehun didn’t really worry that much about Jongdae rejecting him because of those dumb letters. He seemed to like him too much for his own good. (Sehun could relate.)

“Um… I’ll confess. I’ll do it. It’s just that… how? Should I just walk up to him and tell him?”

“Yeah, pretty much. But be more assertive! Tell him that you know how he feels. Don’t even mention your own feelings at first, just state the facts. See how he reacts. Oh! And corner him against the wall or something. Yeah, he’ll completely melt into your arms at that, that’s how in love he is.”

“I don’t - what??” Sehun felt his cheeks burning. Why was Luhan saying stuff like this?! This was so embarrassing. He cleared his throat.

“I… is that really a good idea?”

“Yeah, trust me, it is. Just do as I said!” Luhan persisted. Sehun couldn’t do that… could he? Well, he could at least try. It would be awkward if he failed but, well. Jongdae would (hopefully) like him anyway.

“Hyung… can you go get him for me?”

“What, why?”

“I’m too… nervous to go by myself. It’ll be embarrassing and he’ll know what’s gonna happen”, Sehun shrugged. “Can’t you tell him to come here, but not mention anything about me?”

“Well… okay? Sure.” Luhan stood up, walking towards the door. “Don’t take too long in here though, and remember that you need to be in a… performable condition when you’re done”, he said while leaving, winking greasily at Sehun.

“Oh my god, just go”, Sehun replied, feeling humiliated by Luhan’s implications.

While waiting for Jongdae to arrive, Sehun went through the plan in his head. It was a difficult task Luhan had given him, but okay. He was gonna try.

It didn’t take long until he heard footsteps outside the dressing room, so he immediately left to check if it was Jongdae.

Yup, Jongdae was there, looking around for something. Alright.

“Ah, Jongdae hyung! You’re… here. I was looking for you”, Sehun said and Jongdae looked startled, like he didn’t expect Sehun to be there. But that was the plan, so, things seemed to be going well so far.

“I… have to talk to you”, Sehun mumbled, a bit more silently than he had intended to, but he was nervous. He grabbed Jongdae by the arm and led him into the dressing room, Jongdae just following without uttering a word.

“Um, sorry, but Baekhyun… he was looking for me, I think. So… yeah. Maybe I should go-” Jongdae started when they were both standing inside the small room. Sehun was taken by surprise, what about Baekhyun? What did he have to do with this??

Then he realised that it was probably Luhan’s lie to get Jongdae here. Alright. Breathe. Things were still going according to plan.

"Baek-? Oh, no, no, that can wait! I really need to talk to you. Now.”

He was probably visibly nervous, but he took a deep breath and slowly walked towards Jongdae. Okay. Determination. Have some confidence, show some confidence. He knew Jongdae liked him, so he had nothing to worry about.

It wasn’t until he had put his hands on the wall on both sides of Jongdae, that Sehun noticed Jongdae’s reaction. He was trembling… and his cheeks were coloured with a pretty shade of red. His facial expression was like a mix between confusion and anticipation. It gave Sehun some more confidence, and he could utter the following without any signs of shakiness in his voice:

"You like me.”

At that, Jongdae just kinda… blanked. His eyes were wider than usual, and he stared at nothing. He didn’t even say anything, didn’t make a sound. No reaction.

…Holy , he broke Jongdae.

Sehun panicked a little in his head, what should he do, this is not what he’d expected. Well, what he could try to do was… repeat his statement. Maybe Jongdae would react if he heard it another time, perhaps he just needed some time to take it in.

It worked, thankfully. Jongdae snapped out of it, but despite that couldn’t seem to collect himself. He looked everywhere except at Sehun when he finally came up with something to say.

“I uh, I like… what? I mean- yes? W-wait, no! Or-”

Sehun couldn’t help but smile in the middle of this nerve-racking experience. Jongdae was too cute.

“You’re very obvious, you know”, he said, and then started going through all the things that made him suspect that Jongdae liked him. All the things Jongdae had done out of jealousy throughout the semester. As he did so, Jongdae looked more and more embarrassed, and when he was done, the older seemed to be deep in thoughts. It was hard to read on his face what he was thinking, even though they were standing so close to each other.

“Yes, I… I like you. I really like you”, he finally uttered, and Sehun felt as if fireworks were going off in his body. Jongdae admitted it, Jongdae admitted it, it was true, he liked him. Kim Jongdae! Liked!! Oh Sehun!!! Sehun was almost too into celebrating the fact to hear what Jongdae said next. Almost.

“What’re you gonna do about it?”

Jongdae suddenly sounded very confident, and looked up at him expectantly. . What was he gonna do about it? Should he mention the letters, or…?

Jongdae’s gaze was burning him and Sehun decided, alright, let’s just reveal himself as the idiot behind the letters.

“I… actually did something about it”, he bent forward to whisper, "but it didn’t work out. You… kinda refused to cooperate with my plan.”

Would Jongdae understand his hints? It was quiet for a little while, then Jongdae finally said something.

“It- The letters? It was you? I mean, was it you who put those letters in my box?!”

He was still being flustered, that was for sure. He also seemed very surprised. Sehun nodded, glad that Jongdae had caught on, at least.

Jongdae then attempted to ask about something else, but stopped himself. His facial expression said everything. He had understood.

Sehun realised that he had balled his hands into fists out of nervousness, and when he let them relax he saw that there were small marks from where his nails had dug into his palms. Okay. He needed to take a deep breath, relax.

"Wait. You. Y-you like me back then? ‘Cause the letters, I mean, yeah, the letters.”

Yup, Jongdae had definitely caught on. He wasn’t mad, Sehun realised with relief. He was instead somewhat… surprised. Sehun thought he’d been kinda obvious with the letters, but maybe not. After all, Jongdae had thought it was a prank by someone else.

Sehun nodded as a reply, and took yet another deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to say.

"I do. I… think I like you, hyung. As I said in the letters. I’ve come to realise it recently. I really… really like you.”

Jongdae gaped at him.

”Oh my god.”

“Yeah.”

After a while of (awkward)(but lovely) talking, and some hair petting (Jongdae!! had complimented!! his hair!!!! Sehun had been so worried about him not liking it, this was such a relief), Jongdae asked something very important.

“Oh Sehun, will you be my boyfriend?”

Sehun had no idea if it was important to say it in such an… official way (they’re weren’t getting married or anything… oh god, just the thought made Sehun’s face hot) but it was an important question nonetheless. And there was only one answer for it.

“Yes”, he replied, trying to look Jongdae in the eyes but failed after like half a second.

“Kiss me, then.”

Holy . Well, how the roles had reversed. One wouldn’t believe how Sehun had cornered Jongdae against the wall before with the way the older took control of the situation right now. He seemed so confident. With reason, probably. Sure, Sehun had kissed Luhan a couple of times in the play, but he still felt like Jongdae was about 100% more experienced at this than he was.

He couldn’t look Jongdae in the eyes, and he was shaking a little. He still attempted to bend down a bit though, to make it easier for the short Jongdae to reach him.

Sehun then swallowed anxiously. He wanted to kiss Jongdae, he did, but …damn. He was incredibly nervous. There was a big risk that he’d disappoint Jongdae with his crappy kissing skills. But alright. He was gonna do this.

Jongdae seemed to sense his nervousness and actually managed to calm him down (for the second time that day!). So Sehun bent down a bit more, focused on Jongdae’s lips, the shape of them, the beautiful curves at the edges.

“Alright…” he mumbled to reassure himself that it would, in fact, be alright. Then, their lips finally met.

It was more than alright. Alright was an understatement. Sehun felt as if his heart was going to jump out of his chest, it was so surreal. It was different from Luhan, too, because kissing Luhan sure didn’t make him feel like this. Woah.

They had both tilted their heads a little to not make their noses meet, and they stood so close to each other, their hands were interlocked, their lips fit so perfectly together, Sehun could just explode. It was better than in the dreams he’d had, even.

Jongdae tilted his head down a little bit, catching Sehun’s lower lip between his, and-

He couldn’t continue doing what it was that he was about to do, because of course Luhan thought it was a great moment to enter the room.

“Guys, it’s only ten minutes until the next- Oh my god, Jongdae!!!”

Why was he even so surprised, didn’t he expect something like this? Okay, maybe he hadn’t thought he would walk in on them pretty much making out. Heck, Sehun hadn’t expected to do this either. It was nice, though. Bad thing Luhan interrupted it. Jongdae looked a bit irritated too, Sehun noticed.

After Luhan ran away to tell the others, Jongdae surprised Sehun by laughing.

"What is it?” he had to ask, hadn’t Jongdae looked kinda annoyed a minute ago?

“I’m just happy. I finally got to kiss the prince”, Jongdae replied and snickered again. Ah, it was just that. Sehun felt a warm feeling in his stomach, this made him immensely happy.

"Does that make you the princess, then?” Sehun asked, playing along.

“Sadly, no. I’m just a simple dwarf with a hopeless crush on the handsome prince”, Jongdae muttered, utilising his acting skills. This was too flattering, seriously. Sehun didn’t deserve it.

"Well, there has to be something special about that dwarf since the far-from-handsome prince would pick him over the princess any day”, he said truthfully, taking Jongdae’s hand. If Jongdae was one of the dwarfs, then, well, people had to accept that the prince was in love with a dwarf instead of the princess.

“That was incredibly smooth.”

“I know”, Sehun replied, happy over having made Jongdae smile.

Sehun knew that the last performance was to start soon, but there was just one thing he had to do. And it was very important. Urgent, even. While they were getting ready, Sehun looked around. Where was Luhan when you needed him?

When Sehun finally found Luhan, the older was sitting in front of a mirror, getting makeup retouches by Miss Hwang. So he had to wait. He couldn’t have their teacher overhearing this.

It wasn’t at all long until the performance was starting when Luhan was done and Sehun could finally talk to him, so he had to be fast. Get to the point.

“Hey, hyung, I need to-”

“Ah, Sehunnie! I’m so happy for you and Jongdae! You did as I told you, right? Although it seemed like he was the assertive one when I opened the door…”

“I… tried. I ended up telling him my feelings, at least.”

“Yeah, you did, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have caught you two making out…”

“We weren’t making out! We were just kissing!” Sehun exclaimed, feeling embarrassed when he noticed the some of the others in the room turning their heads towards him.

Luhan snickered.

“Whatever, hyung, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about”, Sehun said, realising he only had a short time to get his message across.

“I need you to… Well, there’s a thing I want to do. Or rather, not do.”

Luhan looked back at him with interest.

“It’s just… You supported me and Jongdae hyung, right? I want to do this for him. Because he’s been dreading that kiss scene for the whole semester, and… could we not do it? I mean, I could lean down and stuff to make it seem like I’m kissing you, but I’m not actually doing it? I just… I’m with him now and I don’t want to kiss someone else.”

Sehun nervously looked at Luhan, awaiting his reply.

“Aw, Sehun… You’re too adorable, you know that?” Luhan grinned widely. “Of course I can’t say no to that! And, if you’re standing with your back to the audience, they won’t see if we’re actually kissing or not.”

Okay, so they had to shift their positions a little bit, but it would be alright. Sehun was just about to thank Luhan when Miss Hwang shouted for them to all get into their positions, as the performance was starting.

When they reached the final scene, Sehun did just as he had planned. Or, well, right before leaning down to not kiss Luhan, he found Jongdae with his gaze and smiled at him. And when Sehun smiled at him for a second time, as Snow White was waking up, Jongdae blissfully smiled back. Nothing could compare to the feeling Sehun got in his stomach at that moment.

Except maybe how he felt when the performance was over, when Jongdae took his hand, and flashed him the most gorgeous smile. Sehun couldn't help but do the same. And as the audience showered them with the biggest applause yet, he realised that, goddammit, he was in love with the boy at his side.

~The End (for real this time)~