His throat is painfully dry, he tries to take a deep breath blinking confusedly at Sungjoo, arms out holding out all the dropped books Sungjoo keeps piling on him.

“Hey,” he says softly, “sorry about running into you,” he bends down for Wenhan’s biology book, “mum keeps saying I need to be more careful,” he mumbles at Wenhan’s shoes.

“Here you go,” he says louder, goofy smile blinding, Wenhan steps back a bit.

“Thanks,” he says, clears his throat, “for the help.”

His words die off after that, the birds from the courtyard squawk with the rustling leaves, and then there’s the shrill ring of the after school bell.

“So,” Sungjoo smiles, “you wanted me to meet you here?”

Wenhan grimaces, taking another half step back, arms starting to ache.

He can’t think of what to say, knows he’s meant to say something close to i like you but starts to come up with excuses, words that sound more like can i borrow your math notes?

He starts to sweat, he can feel the trail of it down his neck, dampening the collar of his shirt.  It feels like his heart has been set on fire, burning too bright inside his ribcage, spreading unpleasant warmth down to his fingers and toes, igniting a flush all the way up his neck and around his cheeks.  

He’s opening his mouth to say something, any word that will make this moment less excrutiating, when Sungjoo talks over him, loud as ever and with words crashing together.

“Do you want to get like a coffee or something?” Sungjoo steps closer, “like a date maybe?”

He can’t say anything after that, his arms buckle and his books fall again, hitting him on his foot, making him wince.

“Oh,” Sungjoo says, ducking back down, arms frantically trying to stack up all the books, “I mean, is that a no?”

Wenhan’s arms start to fill up with his books again and he has the mind to put them inside his bag before he says, “yeah.”

Sungjoo’s face falls and Wenhan puts his hands up, realizes what he says, blinks rapidly cheeks blazing red, mouth dry, “I mean yeah to coffee not yeah to the no...I will like to get coffee with you too.”

His voice cracks, dies out at the end but Sungjoo smiles at him, picks up the rest of the books and hold them close to his chest, “let me carry your books then, so you won’t keep dropping them!”

“Sungjoo you don’t have to…” but then there’s a sweaty hand pressing with his and the nudging of a shoulder.

“Would you like something sweet or bitter?” Sungjoo asks and Wenhan barely answers before Sungjoo starts listing off the most tooth rotting drinks he has ever heard about.

-

Sungjoo spills their coffees before Wenhan gets a sip of his liquid tooth ache, there’s a furious flush crawling up Sungjoo’s neck, hands flailing around dabbing at the coffee seeping through Wenhan’s uniform.

Sungjoo is holding a wet napkin, spreading the sticky coffee more than anything when the sun breaks past the gray winter clouds and hits against the window.  Wenhan’s breath stops for a second, caught in the way Sungjoo’s eyes just glitter, breaking into shades of rich caramels, golds.  The way his eyelashes catch the light, casting shadows over his cheekbones.

“Sungjoo, stop,” he says, soft, the quiet music of the shop has long been omitted from his ears, instead filled with static, the presence of the other patrons forgotten.

Sungjoo pulls back, looks stricken.  He starts to apologize faster, babbling, hands trembling.

Wenhan’s fingers curl along his palm, wrinkling his face in distaste before he says, “lets try again tomorrow.”