“Okay, I’ll see you after school.” Hakyeon waved at Hongbin before turning to look at Sanghyuk who had his jaw dropped and his eyes following Hongbin’s figure until the latter disappeared in the crowd of students. “What are you looking at?” Hakyeon asked as he nudged Sanghyuk’s shoulder. The younger boy looked dazed as his eyes followed Hongbin that it took Hakyeon a couple more nudges to bring him back to reality. “Do you know him?” Sanghyuk asked, his cheeks turning red. “Who? Hongbin? Of course I know him, idiot.” “Introduce me to him.”Sanghyuk said, completely ignoring the insult – or rather admitting to it. He is definitely an idiot. He’s been having feelings for Hongbin ever since he bumped into him at the school’s cafeteria. The older boy didn’t seem bothered by Sanghyuk’s clumsiness, and instead helped him pick his things up with a bright smile, to which Sanghyuk’s heart melted. Last time he bumped into someone, he was left with a bruise on his left arm and his books scattered on the floor. To have Hongbin smile at him and even wave at him as he walked away was an extra factor leading the boy to follow the stranger from a distance for the following 2 weeks. He later came to know that the charming stranger was none other than Hongbin, the school’s most handsome, most popular student.  

“Why should I?” Hakyeon asked, enjoying the temporary power he had over his giant friend. Although Hakyeon was a couple of years older than Sanghyuk, the younger had an enormous power which he’d employ solely to bother Hakyeon. Sometimes Hakyeon wondered why he had this giant baby as his friend. Sanghyuk tugged at Hakyeon’s sleeve as he begged “Hakyeon please! I… I really want to talk to him!” Hakyeon raised an eyebrow as he pushed Sanghyuk’s hand away. “Why? Do you like him?” The younger boy was blushing heavily as he averted his eyes away from Hakyeon and nodded lightly. Hakyeon jumped in his seat, bringing his face closer to his friend’s, completely enjoying his vulnerability, as he said “You’re kidding, right?” Sanghyuk left his head and looked Hakyeon in the eyes as he shook his head ‘No.’

“I’ll do anything you ask for.” Hakyeon’s eyes glimmered while he thought of a perfect plan to avenge himself of everything Sanghyuk did to him in the past couple of months. He stared at Sanghyuk for a few seconds, his mind busy remembering the number of times Sanghyuk popped out of nowhere, scaring the sh*t out of him on purpose causing him to let out a loud, embarrassing scream in the middle of the library, the number of times Sanghyuk slid a fake love letter in his locker pretending to be a female student having a crush on him only to laugh at him at the end of the day, how many times he told him the class was canceled suggesting they should just go home when the class was running without them, the number of times…

“Please!” Sanghyuk interrupted his thoughts when he tugged at his arm again. “Fine.” “What shall I do?” Sanghyuk asked eagerly and Hakyeon answered after a few seconds “Well, we’re missing one actor for our Romeo and Juliet play. Can you fill in his place?” Sanghyuk paused for a couple of seconds before saying “Will I be Juliet? Cross-dressing isn’t difficult for me. I can pull it off!” Hakyeon snorted before saying “Solji is doing just fine.” “But I really want to be close to him.” Sanghyuk whined and Hakyeon answered “Don’t worry. You’ll be closer than you think.”

Sanghyuk huffed in annoyance as he was on his hands and knees under Juliet’s balcony, waiting for Hongbin to get on his back. Closer than you think… It definitely didn’t come to his mind that he’ll be under Hongbin’s feet, carrying his weight as he kissed Juliet and sneaked into her room. He took a deep breath when he noticed Hongbin walking in his direction and sighed when he heard Hakyeon announcing the beginning of rehearsals. Hongbin waved at him before adjusting his position under Juliet’s balcony. Sanghyuk’s heart was pounding in his chest as he looked at Hongbin talking to Juliet. He wished he was the one talking to him, hearing his voice and his laughter, sharing eye contact with him instead of being on the floor, completely forgotten as Hongbin talked with – and was about to kiss – someone else right in front of his eyes. He closed his eyes when he felt Hongbin’s weight on his back. Hongbin wasn’t very heavy, but Sanghyuk closed his eyes because he was afraid of what to come. He read the script at least ten times even when Hakyeon told him there was no need to read it, after all your character is silent… A silent step… He listened to Hongbin recite his lines and knew the kiss was only a sentence away. He suddenly opened his eyes when he felt a tickling on his hand only to see a bug finding its way up his arm. He instantly started shaking his hand to get the bug off, completely forgetting about the boy standing on his back.

Hongbin was leaning forward to print a chaste kiss on Solji’s lips when he lost his balance and fell over Sanghyuk who was now regretting his life choices. He cursed himself, the bug, and Hakyeon for putting him in this situation as he moved slowly allowing Hongbin to stand up and helping him up as well. His face was burning and he apologized at least 15 times until Hakyeon was on the stage checking on his main actor before turning to Sanghyuk and checking on him. Both Sanghyuk and Hongbin confirmed that they were fine and Hakyeon decided he’d rather use a chair for Hongbin to climb on. He looked at Sanghyuk apologetically and the younger nodded before leaving the stage and heading toward the dressing room.

Hakyeon walked up to him when the rehearsals were over with a smirk on his face. As much as he felt sorry for the boy embarrassing himself in front of his crush, a part of him was happy he was finally able to avenge himself. But then, being older and knowing Sanghyuk did everything he did because he liked him and enjoyed teasing him made Hakyeon change his plans. Sanghyuk let out an audible sigh as soon as he saw Hakyeon. He looked at him for a second before saying “I can’t believe you talked me into this!” “What? You don’t like it? You’re the closest to him. Isn’t that what you wanted?” Sanghyuk stared at Hakyeon for a second before saying “Do you really think this is what I meant when I said I wanted to be close to….” His sentence was interrupted when he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Hongbin standing behind him. “I have to go now. You’ll thank me later!” Hakyeon said before disappearing completely, leaving the two boys alone.

“Hi!” Hongbin said, with a bright smile on his face showing his dimples, which happened to be Sanghyuk’s weakness. He was left in awe that he didn’t answer the boy’s greeting immediately. It took him a few minutes of staring and swallowing before he stuttered out a ‘Hello.’ Hongbin giggled when Sanghyuk was back to apologizing over and over again. In an attempt to stop the younger’s continuous apologies, he said: “Hakyeon told me… He told me that you like me. Is it true?” Hakyeon is dead meat…. Sanghyuk’s jaw dropped and he was stuttering again. “I… I’m… sorry…” “Will you please stop apologizing? I think you’re cute… I mean… I asked him why he hired you when we could simply use a chair or something so… he told me you asked him if you could work with me… I… I am sorry things turned out like this” It was Sanghyuk’s turn to interrupt Hongbin as he printed a quick peck on his lips before backing away and averting his eyes away from him, heart racing and face turning bright red. Hongbin asked “So… it’s true? Do you really like me?” Sanghyuk looked up at him. It took him a couple of seconds to nod ‘Yes.’ His heart almost skipped a beat when Hongbin sighed in relief before saying “I’m glad you do.” Sanghyuk looked at him in disbelief as he thought to himself: I still can’t believe Hakyeon talked me into this!