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White Day: Shower Afterglow
Author: dyorayaki
Title: Shower Afterglow (AO3 mirror)
Base fic: Shower Thoughts by zyxisagod
Rating: PG-13
Focus: Chen/Suho, OT3
Side Pairing: minor!Chanyeol/Baekhyun
Length: 2.9k
Summary: Jongdae thinks college isn’t that bad after all
Tags: college!au
Notes: i really really liked the fic because it was just so cute and endearing, but i hope i did it justice- i think i love writing about kim jongdae too because he’s such a cutie.
Jongdae's unbelievably jealous.
Yes, he's jealous that Yixing and Joonmyeon has met outside but he refuses to come out of the shower when they offer it because he's a romantic. It's a ridiculous idea, he knows. But he thinks he should follow his heart, and not his mind. He really really wants to see both his shower buddies and he's getting restless.
He's sitting in the lecture theatre, listening to the professor in the front droning on and on about philosophy. Then the professor digresses into his personal story and the students around groan again. This professor has had a reputation for veering off course, and it's blatantly obvious that it's not just a rumor. For now though, Jongdae thinks it's a good thing. He's daydreaming - not on purpose. But he can't help but think how sad his life is in college. He expected college to be parties after parties, and interesting lectures and such. He was and still is more than just a little disappointed.
Instead, what he does have are boring lecturers and two anonymous shower buddies who have had the pleasure of meeting each other already. Yes, his life sucks.
And yes, he's really really jealous of a certain Zhang Yixing and Kim Joonmyeon. How could they have met without him! He huffs silently and pouts. Even if Joonmyeon and Yixing aren't there. They're probably meeting again somewhere else, he thinks and then he huffs again.
The professor is still going on about his twenty year old daughter, and his dog, even if it's painfully obvious that no one is listening. Bored, Jongdae lets his eyes wander and it zeroes in on a pale guy who's listening attentively to the professor. He's weird, Jongdae thinks, and furrows his eyebrows. Is he really listening? Or is he just good at pretending? Jongdae isn't really sure, but he's not curious enough to poke around and find out.
What he does notice though, is that the guy is absolutely flawless. Jongdae can only see a side profile but everything falls into proportion, and he's amazed at just- the perfection of everything. His skin is pale. Not the sickly pale, but the pale kind of skin where everything is crystal clear. His cheekbones are high and eyes, focused. When the professor says something remotely funny, that guy's face breaks out into a smile. Jongdae is both blinded and mesmerised. The smile is genuine, and wide and it just shows both rows of completely-white teeth. More than pleasant is a complete understatement when Jongdae takes a look at his face. Why hasn't he noticed that guy before?
But this is a lecture and he's bitterly disappointed to remember that not everyone in the lecture gets to be in the same tutorial class. He's probably not that lucky to end up with him. And Jongdae falls back into his semi-depressed state. He's not even lucky enough to catch Yixing or Joonmyeon outside. Oh. He's thinking about them again. He must be very bitter about it, he muses. Jongdae then reasons with himself that if he really wanted to, he could always "accidentally" bump into them in the shower, but he's Kim Jongdae. And that isn't what Kim Jongdae does. He's going to wait to bump into his two faceless friends, all in the name of romance.
☆
An hour and a half later, lecture is over and it's Jongdae's last class of the day. He's unbelievably exhausted and he can't wait to just get back to his dorm and curl up on his bed. He shuffles along the crowded hallway, teeming with students who end the lecture as well. There's a lot of buzzing going around, but Jongdae doesn't have that much energy to do anything but sleep. Which is his last destination for the day. He doesn't even need to have dinner. He's so worn out, he'd rather sleep than eat. He'd also like to get rid of his prominent eye bags so that when he meets Yixing or Joonmyeon, he wouldn't be unpresentable. He hopes he meets them soon.
But as luck would have it, he bumps into another person and all the papers in his hand go flying up into the air and then onto the ground. He's kind of frustrated, but he can't really say much. He looks up and is surprised to see an apologetic, but good-looking nonetheless, face peering over at him. The other bows slightly and apologises in a quiet voice but Jongdae's too shocked to give a reply. Someone shoves him from behind and he snaps back to reality. Jongdae stares at all his papers lying on the floor and hurriedly gathers them together, not really paying much attention to the other. The shadow looming over him is gone and Jongdae looks up, now even more surprised to see that person picking up Jongdae's notes too.
And to be honest, Jongdae can't really believe it. He's seen these kind of scenes in movies, but he didn't believe it could happen in real life, much less his own life. It’s just so cliché, but Jongdae feels everything around him stop, and his world stops revolving around the sun on its axis. He's just so entranced and he's starting to believe that yes, the choir singing is real. It's just so surreal but wait, is there someone talking to him?
Jongdae looks up into those beautiful eyes once again and stammers incoherent words in reply to what he didn't even hear. Good going, Kim Jongdae. But Mr. Beautiful Stranger just chuckles good-naturedly and repeats his sentence again. Jongdae can't keep his eyes off the other's lips. They're just so plump, and- The latter shivers, he shouldn't be thinking about that.
"Sorry," he squeaks out, before clearing his throat and repeating himself because his mouse impression was clearly embarrassing. His cheeks feel hot and this is definitely the first time in ages someone has gotten Jongdae feeling this way. He doesn't like it but oh wait, he does. He catches himself before his thoughts start wandering again. "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." Beautiful Stranger shakes his head, though, and denies it, taking blame of what had happened instead.
"It's mine," the other says, slipping Jongdae's notes back onto his arm. "Sorry about that." Jongdae's shell-shocked and too amazed to move. Not only is this stranger beautiful, but his personality is too, and Jongdae's just so, so swayed by this man. "O-oh," he replies unintelligently. "It's okay." And they say their goodbyes and leave.
☆
"That's anticlimatic," Baekhyun snorts from his bed once Jongdae has related his experience and Jongdae has half the mind to throw a pillow at his so-called best friend, Byun Baekhyun. Byun Baekhyun is curled up on his boyfriend, Chanyeol’s chest and is clearly shoving the fact that he has a love life in Jongdae’s face. Which makes Jongdae question his life choices. And best friend choices. However, he doesn’t throw the pillow, opting to hug it closely to his body because sadly, the pillow is his other half.
☆
And then Jongdae relates it to his shower buddies the next day when he arrives at six in the morning to avoid everyone else. No, he doesn’t feel tired and no, he’s not embarrassed about sharing it because they don’t know what he looks like anyway. Which he’s still bitter about, evidently. Yixing bursts out in laughter, and Jongdae can hear his seal claps from a shower wall away and Jongdae wants to punch Yixing’s pretty face. In a friendly way. And Joonmyeon? He’s quiet but Jongdae knows that he’s just polite enough not to laugh in the other’s face, choosing instead to chuckle under his breath. Oh yes, he has such great friends.
“Did you get his name?” Joonmyeon asks from Jongdae’s left, after Yixing has calmed down from his high, no longer slapping the walls in amusement. Ah, the ever practical Kim Joonmyeon. But sadly, Jongdae’s answer is a miserable ‘no’, and that makes him feel even sadder than before. He pouts and slumps his forehead against the shower wall, water still flowing from the shower head. He whines loudly because he’s the youngest and Yixing coos at him. “But he’s in your lecture, Dae. You’ll see him again.” Jongdae whines again and laments that ‘luck has never been on his side’. Yixing chuckles and that’s the end of that topic. Joonmyeon, though, is uncharacteristically quiet today, opting instead to have useful input, rather than to take part in the playful banter the three usually have. Jongdae frowns for a moment. Then he thinks, it must be finals that are stressing Joonmyeon out, and leaves it as that.
“Yixing? Jongdae?” Joonmyeon calls from his stall where the water has stopped running. Both Yixing and Jongdae reply with a hum. “I’m gonna go first, okay?” Joonmyeon mutters and they hear a squeaking sound of a door opening and the rustling of a bag. Jongdae is doing his best to not burst out of his own cubicle to see the other, or just peep out of the stall. He really really wants a look at Joonmyeon, or Yixing, because he doesn’t want to be the only one stuck with having to imagine what they both look like. But Jongdae thinks for too long, hesitates just a second too much, and he hears the door of the toilet close.
“He was quiet today,” Yixing muses and turns off his shower. Jongdae is left alone once again, and his thoughts envelop him.
☆
Now Jongdae’s seated at his own desk, clock showing 11:30 at night and it serves as a painful reminder to Jongdae that he’s got to study because his test is two days away and he needs to pass if he wants to stay in his acapella group. He flips through stacks and stacks of worksheets piled up at the side of his study desk, and he’s gotten through half the content in five hours. He thinks he’s making good progress in good time, but wait. Where’s worksheet thirteen for his Physics class? He swears he had done it, had it marked and returned but it’s really nowhere to be seen. He goes through the neatly stacked pile paper by paper, three times, but finds nothing at all. He creases his eyebrows and is thoroughly disappointed and frustrated. He shouldn’t be wasting time on looking for his work.
Annoyed, Jongdae runs his fingers through his hair and tugs slightly on the edges, not wanting to kick up a big fuss because Baekhyun is already sleeping. He looks up at the ceiling and huffs silently before calming himself down to look through the stack again. It has to be somewhere. But what he finds is even more interesting. He finds a worksheet that’s graded and marked and it has a perfect score of twenty out of twenty. It’s definitely Physics because there are just so many equations written on the sheet but the name on top reads Kim Joonmyeon. Jongdae is just so, so shocked. How did he end up with Joonmyeon’s paper in his hands? His stack of worksheets? It doesn’t make sense and Jongdae can feel the wheels in his brain turning furiously. Did Joonmyeon accidentally put his worksheet in Jongdae’s bag? But the paper is from just a few days ago and he swears he didn’t bring his bag into the shower room.
He stares at the worksheet, fingers tapping restlessly against the tabletop. He can’t fathom how he ended up with this. But this makes chills run up Jongdae’s spine in a good way. Wouldn’t this mean he’d have to pass Joonmyeon his work? Wouldn’t that give him reason enough to finally be able to recognise the man called Kim Joonmyeon? Now Jongdae is delighted and he can’t keep the smile off of his face. Not even unthinkable laws of physics can bring down the mood of Kim Jongdae.
☆
The next time he goes to the shower room, he doesn’t head to the cubicles immediately. Instead, he sits on the bench outside, earphones plugged in and playing with the games on his phone. He’s arrived twenty minutes earlier today, because he really wants to give Joonmyeon his paper back, and he can’t afford to miss him this time. Though, he hopes he doesn’t look that bad with bed hair and his night clothes. His only saving grace is that his sleep clothes - a baggy shirt and shorts - are new, and don’t stink because he did his laundry last night. Anyway, Jongdae sits cross-legged on the bench and waiting for his two shower buddies to show up, although even if they walked past, he wouldn’t know.
But today, luck is on his side because he hears laughter from outside and can immediately recognise Yixing’s. Yixing’s laughter is cute and all and so, so distinct. So Jongdae busies himself with his phone, opening and closing and opening and closing his chat groups. He fumbles with his phone and changes his song choice multiple times because what if they can hear it and don’t like it? But then he remembers how they met, and panics a little less. He sang on the first day. He’s amazed at his past self for being so willing to belt out lyrics to songs.
So two boys stroll into the shower room and Jongdae can’t believe his eyes because it’s him. It’s Mr. Beautiful Stranger, and he’s staring right at him. Jongdae immediately uncrosses his legs and stands up as stably as he can. His heart is palpitating so quickly and his heart rises to his throat. Did he sign up for this when he was trying to give justice to shower singers? Oh shit, he mutters under his breath and grasps the worksheet tightly in his hand. Both of them are staring straight back at him and he’s so close to wetting his pants. Is this really happening? He asks himself and proceeds to pinch himself on the thigh where he supposes is the most inconspicuous place. He feels pain and yep, this is reality.
“Jongdae?” Mr Beautiful Stranger says quietly, looking into Jongdae’s eyes for some sort of confirmation, as if he’s not sure if it’s him. But who else comes to the shower that early in the morning? It can’t be someone else. Oh shit, the realization hits him. He was talking to Joonmyeon about Joonmyeon. He wants to crawl in a hole and die. Jongdae nods because he can’t say anything else and moves the hand holding the paper. “T-This is yours,” he mumbles, eyes still widened in shock and slightly shy. Kim Jongdae is never shy, but in front of this man, he is totally entranced.
“Oh,” Joonmyeon says and steps closer to the other, pulling Yixing along by the arm. Jongdae puts in all his effort again to not step back. This seemingly ethereal person is Kim Joonmyeon. He can’t wrap his mind around it. He’s the Kim Joonmyeon who thinks he has a weird smile, he’s the Kim Joonmyeon who makes lame jokes in the shower. He’s Kim Joonmyeon And belatedly, Jongdae realises how good he looks in a pair of sweatpants and a pullover. So does Yixing but Joonmyeon is just-
Jongdae lets himself be pulled into the shower area and still isn’t thinking right. He’s not sure if this meeting was romantic or not, but he guesses schoolwork takes priority over being romantic. Yixing and Joonmyeon both look good and they’re all seated on the benches outside the cubicles. Jongdae’s subconscious continuously reminds him that his knee is brushing against Joonmyeon’s and heat rises up to his cheeks all the time. Joonmyeon sneaks glances at Jongdae and sends him a blinding smile once in awhile and Jongdae can’t help but think that college isn’t that bad anymore.
☆ ☆
Jongdae’s snuggled up in Joonmyeon’s sweet-smelling blanket, head leaning unconsciously on the other's chest. Yixing sits on the other edge of the bed, idly strumming his guitar and Jongdae can't help but think that everything's just so perfect. Until Yixing starts to strum a tune that Jongdae recognises as the song that had brought the three together. He laughs and nudges Yixing's knee with his foot, whining under his breath. Both Joonmyeon and Yixing have started to take a liking to teasing Jongdae to no end but he knows it's endearing. Yixing then proceeds to imitate Jongdae's singing expression. Jongdae is amused and mildly irritated. He lifts himself from the comfortable position on Joonmyeon’s chest to flop himself onto the Chinese man, chuckling.
He hears Joonmyeon laughing from behind him, still under the blankets and whips his head around. “Myeon, aren't you going to help?” He says and that's all it takes for Joonmyeon to pile up on the two. Joonmyeon wriggles about and pokes Jongdae in the stomach which makes Jongdae squeak again and squirm out of the human pancake they've made.
Jongdae slips back under the blanket and glares at the older man,a whiny undertone slipping into his voice. “That's not how you help your boyfriend!” He exclaims, reaching forward to poke the other two in the same way but none of them react. Right. He forgot that they were both not ticklish. How unfair. Jongdae pokes several places but yet again, gets nothing but amused smiles and a knowing look from Joonmyeon. He can't believe he's stuck with these two dorks, who aren’t ticklish (which he gets jealous about again) but he does think that yes, this is what college is supposed to be.
Title: Shower Afterglow (AO3 mirror)
Base fic: Shower Thoughts by zyxisagod
Rating: PG-13
Focus: Chen/Suho, OT3
Side Pairing: minor!Chanyeol/Baekhyun
Length: 2.9k
Summary: Jongdae thinks college isn’t that bad after all
Tags: college!au
Notes: i really really liked the fic because it was just so cute and endearing, but i hope i did it justice- i think i love writing about kim jongdae too because he’s such a cutie.
Jongdae's unbelievably jealous.
Yes, he's jealous that Yixing and Joonmyeon has met outside but he refuses to come out of the shower when they offer it because he's a romantic. It's a ridiculous idea, he knows. But he thinks he should follow his heart, and not his mind. He really really wants to see both his shower buddies and he's getting restless.
He's sitting in the lecture theatre, listening to the professor in the front droning on and on about philosophy. Then the professor digresses into his personal story and the students around groan again. This professor has had a reputation for veering off course, and it's blatantly obvious that it's not just a rumor. For now though, Jongdae thinks it's a good thing. He's daydreaming - not on purpose. But he can't help but think how sad his life is in college. He expected college to be parties after parties, and interesting lectures and such. He was and still is more than just a little disappointed.
Instead, what he does have are boring lecturers and two anonymous shower buddies who have had the pleasure of meeting each other already. Yes, his life sucks.
And yes, he's really really jealous of a certain Zhang Yixing and Kim Joonmyeon. How could they have met without him! He huffs silently and pouts. Even if Joonmyeon and Yixing aren't there. They're probably meeting again somewhere else, he thinks and then he huffs again.
The professor is still going on about his twenty year old daughter, and his dog, even if it's painfully obvious that no one is listening. Bored, Jongdae lets his eyes wander and it zeroes in on a pale guy who's listening attentively to the professor. He's weird, Jongdae thinks, and furrows his eyebrows. Is he really listening? Or is he just good at pretending? Jongdae isn't really sure, but he's not curious enough to poke around and find out.
What he does notice though, is that the guy is absolutely flawless. Jongdae can only see a side profile but everything falls into proportion, and he's amazed at just- the perfection of everything. His skin is pale. Not the sickly pale, but the pale kind of skin where everything is crystal clear. His cheekbones are high and eyes, focused. When the professor says something remotely funny, that guy's face breaks out into a smile. Jongdae is both blinded and mesmerised. The smile is genuine, and wide and it just shows both rows of completely-white teeth. More than pleasant is a complete understatement when Jongdae takes a look at his face. Why hasn't he noticed that guy before?
But this is a lecture and he's bitterly disappointed to remember that not everyone in the lecture gets to be in the same tutorial class. He's probably not that lucky to end up with him. And Jongdae falls back into his semi-depressed state. He's not even lucky enough to catch Yixing or Joonmyeon outside. Oh. He's thinking about them again. He must be very bitter about it, he muses. Jongdae then reasons with himself that if he really wanted to, he could always "accidentally" bump into them in the shower, but he's Kim Jongdae. And that isn't what Kim Jongdae does. He's going to wait to bump into his two faceless friends, all in the name of romance.
☆
An hour and a half later, lecture is over and it's Jongdae's last class of the day. He's unbelievably exhausted and he can't wait to just get back to his dorm and curl up on his bed. He shuffles along the crowded hallway, teeming with students who end the lecture as well. There's a lot of buzzing going around, but Jongdae doesn't have that much energy to do anything but sleep. Which is his last destination for the day. He doesn't even need to have dinner. He's so worn out, he'd rather sleep than eat. He'd also like to get rid of his prominent eye bags so that when he meets Yixing or Joonmyeon, he wouldn't be unpresentable. He hopes he meets them soon.
But as luck would have it, he bumps into another person and all the papers in his hand go flying up into the air and then onto the ground. He's kind of frustrated, but he can't really say much. He looks up and is surprised to see an apologetic, but good-looking nonetheless, face peering over at him. The other bows slightly and apologises in a quiet voice but Jongdae's too shocked to give a reply. Someone shoves him from behind and he snaps back to reality. Jongdae stares at all his papers lying on the floor and hurriedly gathers them together, not really paying much attention to the other. The shadow looming over him is gone and Jongdae looks up, now even more surprised to see that person picking up Jongdae's notes too.
And to be honest, Jongdae can't really believe it. He's seen these kind of scenes in movies, but he didn't believe it could happen in real life, much less his own life. It’s just so cliché, but Jongdae feels everything around him stop, and his world stops revolving around the sun on its axis. He's just so entranced and he's starting to believe that yes, the choir singing is real. It's just so surreal but wait, is there someone talking to him?
Jongdae looks up into those beautiful eyes once again and stammers incoherent words in reply to what he didn't even hear. Good going, Kim Jongdae. But Mr. Beautiful Stranger just chuckles good-naturedly and repeats his sentence again. Jongdae can't keep his eyes off the other's lips. They're just so plump, and- The latter shivers, he shouldn't be thinking about that.
"Sorry," he squeaks out, before clearing his throat and repeating himself because his mouse impression was clearly embarrassing. His cheeks feel hot and this is definitely the first time in ages someone has gotten Jongdae feeling this way. He doesn't like it but oh wait, he does. He catches himself before his thoughts start wandering again. "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." Beautiful Stranger shakes his head, though, and denies it, taking blame of what had happened instead.
"It's mine," the other says, slipping Jongdae's notes back onto his arm. "Sorry about that." Jongdae's shell-shocked and too amazed to move. Not only is this stranger beautiful, but his personality is too, and Jongdae's just so, so swayed by this man. "O-oh," he replies unintelligently. "It's okay." And they say their goodbyes and leave.
☆
"That's anticlimatic," Baekhyun snorts from his bed once Jongdae has related his experience and Jongdae has half the mind to throw a pillow at his so-called best friend, Byun Baekhyun. Byun Baekhyun is curled up on his boyfriend, Chanyeol’s chest and is clearly shoving the fact that he has a love life in Jongdae’s face. Which makes Jongdae question his life choices. And best friend choices. However, he doesn’t throw the pillow, opting to hug it closely to his body because sadly, the pillow is his other half.
☆
And then Jongdae relates it to his shower buddies the next day when he arrives at six in the morning to avoid everyone else. No, he doesn’t feel tired and no, he’s not embarrassed about sharing it because they don’t know what he looks like anyway. Which he’s still bitter about, evidently. Yixing bursts out in laughter, and Jongdae can hear his seal claps from a shower wall away and Jongdae wants to punch Yixing’s pretty face. In a friendly way. And Joonmyeon? He’s quiet but Jongdae knows that he’s just polite enough not to laugh in the other’s face, choosing instead to chuckle under his breath. Oh yes, he has such great friends.
“Did you get his name?” Joonmyeon asks from Jongdae’s left, after Yixing has calmed down from his high, no longer slapping the walls in amusement. Ah, the ever practical Kim Joonmyeon. But sadly, Jongdae’s answer is a miserable ‘no’, and that makes him feel even sadder than before. He pouts and slumps his forehead against the shower wall, water still flowing from the shower head. He whines loudly because he’s the youngest and Yixing coos at him. “But he’s in your lecture, Dae. You’ll see him again.” Jongdae whines again and laments that ‘luck has never been on his side’. Yixing chuckles and that’s the end of that topic. Joonmyeon, though, is uncharacteristically quiet today, opting instead to have useful input, rather than to take part in the playful banter the three usually have. Jongdae frowns for a moment. Then he thinks, it must be finals that are stressing Joonmyeon out, and leaves it as that.
“Yixing? Jongdae?” Joonmyeon calls from his stall where the water has stopped running. Both Yixing and Jongdae reply with a hum. “I’m gonna go first, okay?” Joonmyeon mutters and they hear a squeaking sound of a door opening and the rustling of a bag. Jongdae is doing his best to not burst out of his own cubicle to see the other, or just peep out of the stall. He really really wants a look at Joonmyeon, or Yixing, because he doesn’t want to be the only one stuck with having to imagine what they both look like. But Jongdae thinks for too long, hesitates just a second too much, and he hears the door of the toilet close.
“He was quiet today,” Yixing muses and turns off his shower. Jongdae is left alone once again, and his thoughts envelop him.
☆
Now Jongdae’s seated at his own desk, clock showing 11:30 at night and it serves as a painful reminder to Jongdae that he’s got to study because his test is two days away and he needs to pass if he wants to stay in his acapella group. He flips through stacks and stacks of worksheets piled up at the side of his study desk, and he’s gotten through half the content in five hours. He thinks he’s making good progress in good time, but wait. Where’s worksheet thirteen for his Physics class? He swears he had done it, had it marked and returned but it’s really nowhere to be seen. He goes through the neatly stacked pile paper by paper, three times, but finds nothing at all. He creases his eyebrows and is thoroughly disappointed and frustrated. He shouldn’t be wasting time on looking for his work.
Annoyed, Jongdae runs his fingers through his hair and tugs slightly on the edges, not wanting to kick up a big fuss because Baekhyun is already sleeping. He looks up at the ceiling and huffs silently before calming himself down to look through the stack again. It has to be somewhere. But what he finds is even more interesting. He finds a worksheet that’s graded and marked and it has a perfect score of twenty out of twenty. It’s definitely Physics because there are just so many equations written on the sheet but the name on top reads Kim Joonmyeon. Jongdae is just so, so shocked. How did he end up with Joonmyeon’s paper in his hands? His stack of worksheets? It doesn’t make sense and Jongdae can feel the wheels in his brain turning furiously. Did Joonmyeon accidentally put his worksheet in Jongdae’s bag? But the paper is from just a few days ago and he swears he didn’t bring his bag into the shower room.
He stares at the worksheet, fingers tapping restlessly against the tabletop. He can’t fathom how he ended up with this. But this makes chills run up Jongdae’s spine in a good way. Wouldn’t this mean he’d have to pass Joonmyeon his work? Wouldn’t that give him reason enough to finally be able to recognise the man called Kim Joonmyeon? Now Jongdae is delighted and he can’t keep the smile off of his face. Not even unthinkable laws of physics can bring down the mood of Kim Jongdae.
☆
The next time he goes to the shower room, he doesn’t head to the cubicles immediately. Instead, he sits on the bench outside, earphones plugged in and playing with the games on his phone. He’s arrived twenty minutes earlier today, because he really wants to give Joonmyeon his paper back, and he can’t afford to miss him this time. Though, he hopes he doesn’t look that bad with bed hair and his night clothes. His only saving grace is that his sleep clothes - a baggy shirt and shorts - are new, and don’t stink because he did his laundry last night. Anyway, Jongdae sits cross-legged on the bench and waiting for his two shower buddies to show up, although even if they walked past, he wouldn’t know.
But today, luck is on his side because he hears laughter from outside and can immediately recognise Yixing’s. Yixing’s laughter is cute and all and so, so distinct. So Jongdae busies himself with his phone, opening and closing and opening and closing his chat groups. He fumbles with his phone and changes his song choice multiple times because what if they can hear it and don’t like it? But then he remembers how they met, and panics a little less. He sang on the first day. He’s amazed at his past self for being so willing to belt out lyrics to songs.
So two boys stroll into the shower room and Jongdae can’t believe his eyes because it’s him. It’s Mr. Beautiful Stranger, and he’s staring right at him. Jongdae immediately uncrosses his legs and stands up as stably as he can. His heart is palpitating so quickly and his heart rises to his throat. Did he sign up for this when he was trying to give justice to shower singers? Oh shit, he mutters under his breath and grasps the worksheet tightly in his hand. Both of them are staring straight back at him and he’s so close to wetting his pants. Is this really happening? He asks himself and proceeds to pinch himself on the thigh where he supposes is the most inconspicuous place. He feels pain and yep, this is reality.
“Jongdae?” Mr Beautiful Stranger says quietly, looking into Jongdae’s eyes for some sort of confirmation, as if he’s not sure if it’s him. But who else comes to the shower that early in the morning? It can’t be someone else. Oh shit, the realization hits him. He was talking to Joonmyeon about Joonmyeon. He wants to crawl in a hole and die. Jongdae nods because he can’t say anything else and moves the hand holding the paper. “T-This is yours,” he mumbles, eyes still widened in shock and slightly shy. Kim Jongdae is never shy, but in front of this man, he is totally entranced.
“Oh,” Joonmyeon says and steps closer to the other, pulling Yixing along by the arm. Jongdae puts in all his effort again to not step back. This seemingly ethereal person is Kim Joonmyeon. He can’t wrap his mind around it. He’s the Kim Joonmyeon who thinks he has a weird smile, he’s the Kim Joonmyeon who makes lame jokes in the shower. He’s Kim Joonmyeon And belatedly, Jongdae realises how good he looks in a pair of sweatpants and a pullover. So does Yixing but Joonmyeon is just-
Jongdae lets himself be pulled into the shower area and still isn’t thinking right. He’s not sure if this meeting was romantic or not, but he guesses schoolwork takes priority over being romantic. Yixing and Joonmyeon both look good and they’re all seated on the benches outside the cubicles. Jongdae’s subconscious continuously reminds him that his knee is brushing against Joonmyeon’s and heat rises up to his cheeks all the time. Joonmyeon sneaks glances at Jongdae and sends him a blinding smile once in awhile and Jongdae can’t help but think that college isn’t that bad anymore.
☆ ☆
Jongdae’s snuggled up in Joonmyeon’s sweet-smelling blanket, head leaning unconsciously on the other's chest. Yixing sits on the other edge of the bed, idly strumming his guitar and Jongdae can't help but think that everything's just so perfect. Until Yixing starts to strum a tune that Jongdae recognises as the song that had brought the three together. He laughs and nudges Yixing's knee with his foot, whining under his breath. Both Joonmyeon and Yixing have started to take a liking to teasing Jongdae to no end but he knows it's endearing. Yixing then proceeds to imitate Jongdae's singing expression. Jongdae is amused and mildly irritated. He lifts himself from the comfortable position on Joonmyeon’s chest to flop himself onto the Chinese man, chuckling.
He hears Joonmyeon laughing from behind him, still under the blankets and whips his head around. “Myeon, aren't you going to help?” He says and that's all it takes for Joonmyeon to pile up on the two. Joonmyeon wriggles about and pokes Jongdae in the stomach which makes Jongdae squeak again and squirm out of the human pancake they've made.
Jongdae slips back under the blanket and glares at the older man,a whiny undertone slipping into his voice. “That's not how you help your boyfriend!” He exclaims, reaching forward to poke the other two in the same way but none of them react. Right. He forgot that they were both not ticklish. How unfair. Jongdae pokes several places but yet again, gets nothing but amused smiles and a knowing look from Joonmyeon. He can't believe he's stuck with these two dorks, who aren’t ticklish (which he gets jealous about again) but he does think that yes, this is what college is supposed to be.