falling in love (is hard on the knees) [PART ONE]
title: falling in love (is hard on the knees)
pairing: sehun/jongin (side luhan/xiumin)
genre: fluff/romance, college!au
rating: pg-13
words: ~12k (total)
summary: sometimes, instead of doing his homework, sehun likes to stare out his window and watch the boy in the apartment across the way.
notes: dedicated to the lovely kendall, because she motivated me to finish and gave me like half these ideas, so~~
“What are you staring at?”
Sehun jumps, startled by the sudden words and his roommate’s close proximity. “What?” he asks, feeling the heat start to crawl up his neck. “…Nothing.”
Lu Han frowns, not believing him one bit. He has never seen Sehun’s gaze fixed so intently on one thing before, and it’s suspicious. Completely disregarding any concepts of personal space, he leans over Sehun and looks out the window, hoping to figure out just what his best friend is so interested in.
He sees nothing.
Disappointed, the older boy lets out a sigh and steps back. “You’re weird,” he says. “Who stares at nothing? I thought maybe - “ Suddenly, a flicker of movement causes him to pause mid-sentence. Rushing back to the window, he catches a glimpse of something in the apartment window across the way. After a moment of squinting, he notices that it’s a boy.
He is dancing in front of a TV screen, probably playing a game of some sort, and if Lu Han moves to where Sehun is standing, his entire body comes into view.
A wide grin spreads across Lu Han’s face and he immediately turns to give Sehun a knowing look. “Checking out the neighbors now, are we?” he asks, a light chuckle in his voice. The younger reddens and turns away from the window, shoving Lu Han’s shoulder lightly.
“No,” he says with a scoff. “I just noticed that he’s been playing that game for like three hours. Doesn’t he get tired?”
Lu Han shrugs, still not entirely convinced that Sehun is only curious about the game. “Maybe he’s an athlete,” he says nonchalantly. “They have lots of stamina, don’t they?”
“I don’t know,” Sehun replies curtly. Lu Han gives him a weird look before retreating to his room to study. Sehun stays and watches the dancing boy for another hour before falling asleep on the couch.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
The next few days are much the same. Sehun has made a habit of doing his homework out in the living room, because “it’s less stressful out in an open space,” but not much of it gets done. Instead, he spends his time staring attentively into the window of the apartment across the way, where the same boy remains, dancing away his afternoons.
Sehun continues to wonder just why this guy, whoever he is, seemingly does nothing with his life but play some dumb dance game. From what he can see, it looks pretty boring, but every day without fail, the boy appears in his living room and turns it on. He’s pretty good at it, but that’s only to be expected - he does play it every day, after all. After three days Sehun stops wondering about his motives and decides to just be grateful he even has any.
It is also after three days that the boy notices he is being watched.
After finishing a routine and earning FIVE STARS!!! (according to the bright words on the screen), the boy turns to take a swig from the water bottle sitting on the table. As he leans over to set the bottle down, he notices Sehun, who hasn’t taken his eyes off of him since he sat down two hours previously. Instead of being utterly creeped out, however, the boy smiles, and it isn’t until he is waving with enthusiasm that Sehun even notices he’s been found out.
With the realization that he’s just been caught staring hanging in the air, Sehun blushes a deep red and quickly fumbles to close the blinds. He barely catches a glimpse of the way the boy’s smile falls before he is out of sight completely.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
The next day, Sehun considers actually doing his homework in his room for once, but ultimately decides against it. Most of the embarrassment from the previous day has more or less passed, and he figures his chances of being caught again are pretty low.
Unfortunately, he figures wrong. This time, when the dancing boy turns and sees him watching, his smile is more hesitant. But he smiles all the same, and when Sehun merely freezes (but doesn’t close the blinds) he lifts his hand in another wave.
His heart is beating fast and he isn’t entirely sure why, but Sehun does his best to ignore it and tentatively waves back.
The boy’s grin grows wider, and he begins to wave more frantically. Sehun watches curiously as he gestures at him to wait before moving out of sight for a moment, returning a few seconds later with a large piece of paper in hand. He then begins to scribble something on it with a dark pen, the smile never leaving his face.
Hello!!! My name is Jongin. What’s your name?
Jongin. What a nice name, Sehun thinks, as he squints to read the words properly. Biting his lip, he searches the living room briefly for something to answer Jongin with. His eyes settle on Lu Han’s old whiteboard (it had fallen off his door a few days ago and his dramatic self was so upset that he left it on the couch as ‘punishment’) and he figures that it will have to do for now.
Sehun, he writes, careful to make his handwriting as legible as possible. Jongin reads the words and grins even brighter. (Sehun didn’t think that was possible, but apparently it is.)
Nice to meet you, Sehun! his next message reads.
Sehun blushes before scrawling hastily, Nice to meet you too.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
They don’t really say much to each other, but they continue to communicate through their windows for the next week or so, waving and smiling and exchanging “small talk.” Jongin stops playing the dance game so rigorously in favor of writing messages to Sehun, and Sehun swears he failed his chemistry test because he forgot to study-but he doesn’t really care.
He likes talking to Jongin, if it can even be called that, and he quickly realizes that the funny way his heart feels whenever he sees the other boy waving through the glass might be more than just curiosity.
“Hyung,” he mutters one night, his head resting on Lu Han’s shoulder as they watch How It’s Made.
“Hmm,” the older boy replies offhandedly, too engrossed in seeing how bobble head factories work to give him a proper response.
Sehun hesitates before continuing. “…have you, um, ever liked somebody you’ve never talked to before?”
For a few seconds, Lu Han is silent as he watches one of the bobble head machines attach heads onto bodies. “Uh…no, not really?” he finally replies, obviously not interested in the question. After a few more moments of silence, however, he realizes what the question implies and abruptly whips around to face his roommate. “Wait, you like someone? From afar? Who is it?!”
The younger boy blushes. “No, I’m just wondering,” he says, not sounding convincing in the least. His gaze flickers to the window for a split second before he hides his face in Lu Han’s shoulder, too embarrassed to say more.
However short the glance had been, though, Lu Han doesn’t miss it, and immediately his eyes widen in realization.
“The dancing boy?!” he asks, physically grabbing Sehun’s head and removing it from his shoulder so he can look him in the eye. “Why didn’t you tell me? That’s so adorable.”
“No, it’s not,” Sehun says, pouting. “It’s pathetic. I’ve never even actually met him.”
Lu Han’s face lights up in a grin. “So you do like him! I knew it,” he says. “Aww, Sehunnie has a crush!”
“Hyung, stoppppp,” Sehun whines.
“Never!” Lu Han laughs. “It’s not so pathetic, Sehun. You just need to talk to him. Find out his name, what his hobbies are, and all of that. Then you won’t feel so weird about liking him.”
“I know his name. It’s Jongin,” Sehun says, biting his lip.
“Wait, how do you know that…you’re not like, hardcore stalking him or anything are you…because watching him creepily through the window is one thing, but - ”
“No! I’m not stalking him,” Sehun protests, flushing an even deeper red. “He told me. Well, he wrote it to me. On a piece of paper that he held up to the window…we’ve been, um…communicating that way since he caught me staring at him.” It all sounds so stupid when he says it out loud, he realizes, but it’s too late to turn back now.
Lu Han stares, taking in this information with an unreadable expression. “Wait, so you’ve been talking to him for days and you never told me?” he pouts. “I’m hurt!”
“Well…it’s not really talking…I mean I don’t know what his voice sounds like or anything like that…” Sehun scratches the back of his neck nervously, still very embarrassed by this whole situation.
“It still counts!” Lu Han interjects. “Hold on…is this why you asked me if you could have my old whiteboard? You’re using it to write love notes to the boy next door?!”
“They aren’t love notes! And he isn’t the boy next door…he’s the boy across the courtyard,” Sehun grumbles.
“Whatever,” Lu Han says, rolling his eyes. “Same difference. And anyway, if you really do like him, you should go talk to him. I mean he lives right there. It’d be easy.”
Sehun’s eyes widen at this proposition. It hasn’t ever crossed his mind to actually go talk to Jongin…even just the idea in itself is far too embarrassing. “No way,” he says, shaking his head vigorously. “I can’t do that. I’d make a fool of myself. Besides…I’m pretty sure this is just a stupid infatuation…it’ll go away soon.”
Lu Han gives Sehun a pointed look, clearly not believing this one bit. “Sure, if you say so,” he says. Luckily for the younger, the subject is then dropped for a good ten minutes as the show finishes up, and they go back to learning about the bobble head industry.
Just when Sehun thinks his hyung has forgotten all about his embarrassing crush (or whatever it is), Lu Han turns to him and says, “So I get to be best man when you marry dancing boy, right?”
Sehun gets up in a huff and goes to lock himself in his room, but not before throwing an empty water bottle at Lu Han’s head. The thudding sound followed by a whine tells him that he doesn’t miss, and with that knowledge, he heads to bed feeling slightly better about the days to come.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
By the time another week has passed, Sehun knows that Jongin is a freshman (just like him), that he has no roommate (lucky), and that he is a pre-med major. He also knows his phone number.
That last bit is all thanks to Lu Han, who can never seem to keep his nose out of anyone’s business for more than a few seconds.
It had happened like this: Sehun came home from class one day to find a piece of paper taped to the window. Written on it were the words, What’s your phone number? :D
Naturally, the young boy had freaked out a bit before ripping it off and crumpling it up. He realized too late, of course, that Jongin had already seen it and taped his own piece of paper on his window across the way, the digits of his phone number written clearly for all to see.
Sehun was a little surprised that he would publicly display his number like that, but then again, nobody ever really paid attention to what was going on in the other apartments. Well, nobody that wasn’t a total weirdo like Sehun, anyway. Blushing, he had saved the number in his phone, wanting to punch Lu Han in the face for meddling but also secretly glad that he had.
That was a few hours ago, and now, Sehun sits out in the living room waiting for Jongin to get back from class so they can write messages to each other again. He feels pathetic, just sitting and waiting for some guy he hardly knows to show up, but what else is he supposed to do? His “infatuation” hasn’t died down at all like he thought it would, and it is getting harder and harder for him to concentrate in class because he spends the whole time daydreaming. Lu Han’s constant teasing doesn’t help, either. His life suddenly seems to revolve around the beautiful Kim Jongin, and it’s both terrible and wonderful at the same time.
At the first glimpse of movement out the window, Sehun jumps up eagerly, but it’s only someone in another one of the apartments moving to turn their lights on. Sighing, he sits back down, a little embarrassed with himself for being so eager. He is busy mentally reprimanding himself for being a loser when Jongin actually gets home, so when he turns to see the other boy watching him with a grin, he lets out an audible gasp.
Cool, Sehun. Way to be smooth, he thinks as he waves at Jongin. A smile begins to creep itself onto his face despite his embarrassment, and it isn’t until Jongin gestures at the sign with his number on it that he even remembers his phone.
His face flushing red, Sehun pulls out his phone and opens up a new message to Jongin. Hi, he types, hesitating for a moment before pressing send.
He realizes a second too late that he never specified that it was him, but he figures Jongin will know. Just to be sure, though, he looks over at the other boy through the window and gives him a thumbs-up sign. A few seconds later, Jongin opens his phone and reads the message, a bright smile flashing across his face. Fingers moving frantically across the keyboard, he types up a reply, then looks up at Sehun to let him know he’s finished.
Sehun finds this whole ordeal a little strange, texting each other but watching each other at the same time, and yet he isn’t complaining. His phone vibrates and he braces himself for the message that will inevitably make his heart beat faster, regardless of what it actually says.
Hey! How are you? Good idea asking for my number. This is much easier than writing, plus it saves paper. We’re preserving nature and all of that, the text says.
Just as he had expected, his chest starts feeling jittery as he reads the words, but he does his best to ignore it. Really? You didn’t think it was creepy of me to ask? ^^;; he sends. Then, biting his lip, he adds, and I’m good. How are you?
Jongin is obviously less nervous about this whole texting thing, because he answers much faster than Sehun would have expected.
Naw, not creepy. We’re friends now, after all. And great!! I’m good, too. Just about to start some dancing, actually.
Friends? Sehun is glad Jongin is so straightforward, because he himself is so full of insecurities and uncertainties that he needs someone else to define the relationship for him. If he had to say, he probably would’ve chosen a different word...like, acquaintances...but friends sounds good too. Actually, friends sounds even better.
Ah, good. Well...if you’re going to be playing that game for a while, I guess I’ll leave you to that, then.
He’s a little sad that they won’t get to talk longer, but then he remembers that Jongin used to play all the time and it’s only recently that he’s been taking breaks. He realizes that this is his fault, and it makes him feel bad, so he doesn’t complain. He’s actually just about to move into his room so he won’t get distracted by feelings when his phone buzzes again, revealing a message that he honestly wasn’t prepared for.
You should come over and play it with me! It’s fun, I promise.
In reality, Sehun would love nothing more than to go hang out with Jongin, but he absolutely cannot do that. Not now. The thought of actually being in the same room as him, alone, talking to him and playing the dancing game he’d watched for so long - it makes his head spin. Eyes wide and face burning red, he stares at his phone for a good thirty seconds before typing the first excuse he can think of.
Oh...that sounds nice, but...I’m sick. You don’t want to be near me right now.
He then proceeds to get up off the couch and practically run into his room, too flustered to even look out the window for Jongin’s reaction.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
“You told him you were sick? Why didn’t you just go over there and hang out with him?”
“...I got scared.”
“Idiot.”
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
As much as he isn’t ready to face that monster yet, Sehun can’t avoid meeting Jongin forever. The “fateful” encounter catches him by surprise, when he is on his way back home from class one (otherwise painfully normal) day.
It’s the deep, unfamiliar sound of someone calling “Sehun!” that starts it.
The first time he hears his name, the young boy’s step falters, but the voice isn’t one he recognizes and so he quickly dismisses it. But then it comes again, loud and clearly not a figment of his imagination, so this time, he turns around.
His eyes widen to the size of saucers and he freezes in place when he sees Jongin.
“Sehun!” the other boy says once again, a smile dawning on his face as he comes closer and his steps slow. “It is you! I wasn’t entirely sure, since you look a bit different up close, heh.”
Sehun is still staring, not saying anything, because wow, Jongin is even more ridiculously attractive up close, and holy shit, his voice.
“J-Jongin!” he finally manages to sputter, still completely floored by how stunning the boy before him is. “Ah...hi!”
Jongin laughs, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “Hi,” he says, grinning. “Are you...feeling better? Where are you headed?”
Sehun still can’t get over how deep and...well, sexy his voice is so it takes him a moment to compose himself and actually answer. “Uh-m,” he starts, the heat beginning to crawl up his neck and onto his cheeks as he remembers his lie from earlier in the week. “Yeah, much better, thanks. And...I just got out of my last class so...home.”
“Oh, cool,” Jongin says, shuffling his feet. Sehun realizes that he isn’t helping the awkward atmosphere any by looking down at the ground, so he tries his best to not be a blushing fool and gives Jongin a smile.
“Yeah...what about you?” he asks.
The other boy grins again and Sehun thinks he might melt into a pile of goo. “Well, I was thinking about going to get something to eat,” Jongin says. “...do you want to join me?”
Oh god, oh god, OH GOD, Sehun thinks, because he feels like he’s already embarrassed himself enough for one day. But of course, the fact that Jongin is even asking him to have lunch with him makes him feel incredibly giddy inside, so he blurts, “Yeah!” before realizing he probably sounds a little too eager and proceeds to stare at the ground some more.
“I mean, uh, sure.”
Jongin seems unfazed by the incredible social ineptitude Sehun is displaying and instead of being totally turned off by his awkwardness, just continues to smile. “Okay, great!” he says. “Do you like bubble tea?”
“Do I ever!” Sehun thinks he’s getting a little too excited now, but he really does love bubble tea. He and Lu Han get bubble tea practically every day. He knows all the best places on campus to get it, and his superior knowledge on the subject makes him feel like a little bit less of a loser (although really, it shouldn’t).
“Awesome,” Jongin laughs. “I know just the place.”
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
It feels a little bit like a date, but Sehun knows better than to start thinking like that.
As they drink their tea, they talk about the one thing they have in common - school. Sehun doesn’t like talking about school, really, but he is curious about Jongin’s major. He’s never met anyone in pre-med before, and he wants to know what it’s like.
“I don’t know,” Jongin shrugs. “It’s alright.”
Sehun frowns a bit; this was not really the answer he was expecting. “You don’t like it?” he asks. He doesn’t like his major, either, but his major is lame and not as intelligent sounding as pre-med.
Jongin’s cheeks turn a little pink, and Sehun is almost surprised because he doesn’t think Kim Jongin should ever be embarrassed in front of him. Sehun suffers enough embarrassment for the both of them, that’s for sure.
“I wanted to be a dance major,” Jongin admits, laughing nervously. “But my parents are both doctors and wouldn’t have their son in some fruity, useless major like that.”
Ah, of course. Dance. Sehun supposes that this explains the game Jongin is always playing...but only a little bit. “Oh,” he replies, feeling both impressed and sympathetic at once. “I’m sorry. That...sucks.”
Jongin shrugs once again, and Sehun hopes he hasn’t made him uncomfortable or anything like that. Jongin continues on, though, so he figures he hasn’t. “It’s okay,” he says. “No big deal. They just won’t pay for dance classes, so that’s why I play that game all the time. So I can practice and learn on my own.”
“I see,” Sehun says. He’s curious about just how effective a video game is in teaching dance, but says nothing about this. He’s honestly too impressed with how Jongin seems to know exactly what he wants out of life and how to go about getting it, while Sehun’s switching his major every few months and getting flustered over some guy he barely knows.
It’s a little unfair, how perfect Jongin is, but Sehun decides it’s not such a bad thing. He certainly makes better company than Lu Han, anyway.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
“HIS. VOICE. IS. SO. SEXY.”
Sehun bursts through his apartment door, overcome with emotions and fully prepared to go into recap mode for Lu Han. It isn’t until he has flung his things down on the ground and thrown himself onto the couch dramatically that he notices his roommate has company over...and that said company is currently looking at him like he’s just seen some sort of mythical creature.
“Oh...uh...hello,” he mumbles, once again embarrassed by his own stupidity.
Lu Han laughs and gets up from his spot in front of the coffee table, where he and his friend are crouched over thick textbooks. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?” he asks, a sly smile on his face.
“Um...” Sehun glances at the stranger still sitting on the ground and blushes. “I said...hello, my name is Sehun, and who might you be...?”
“Nice try,” Lu Han says, rolling his eyes. He glances back at his friend and smiles before looking back to his roommate. “This is Minseok,” he explains. “He’s my lab partner in physics. Minseok, this is Sehun, my idiot roommate.”
“Ouch,” Sehun mumbles, but he extends his hand out to Minseok nonetheless. “Nice to meet you,” he says, managing a meek smile.
“Likewise,” Minseok says. Lu Han sits back down and Sehun thinks he might go back to his studying now, but of course, he doesn’t.
“Now what was that you were so eager to tell me when you came bursting in here? Whose voice is what now?”
The younger sighs. He knows he’ll never get out of this one, so he might as well just accept his defeat now and get it over with.
“Well...” he begins, biting his lip. “Jongin’s voice. Is sexy. Like, really sexy. I think I might die because it’s so sexy, actually-”
“Wait, hold up, you mean you actually talked to him?” Lu Han interrupts.
Sehun’s face reddens and he glances at Minseok shyly before continuing. “Yeah,” he says. “We ran into each other on my way back from class and then we got bubble tea. But hyung, his voice-”
“YOU GOT BUBBLE TEA WITH ANOTHER MAN?” Lu Han interrupts once again, this time making Sehun wince with his loud shrieks. “I’m hurt, Sehunnie.”
“You’re stupid,” Sehun says, because it’s the only thing he can really think to say at the moment. “It’s Jongin, hyung, of course I’m going to get bubble tea with him if he asks me.” With that said, he gets up off the couch and begins moving to his room, ignoring all of Lu Han’s demands for details.
“Who’s Jongin?” Minseok asks once Sehun has retreated most of the way into his room.
“Some guy that lives across the way. Sehun pervs on him every day after class. It’s quite pathetic, really,” Lu Han answers.
“I HEARD THAT!” Sehun shouts, peeking his head out from behind his partially closed bedroom door. He then proceeds to ignore Lu Han’s snickers because hey, he’s just jealous. After all, he doesn’t have a sexy voice like Jongin.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
Sehun wakes up the next morning to a text that reads:
Haha, thanks! Your lisp is cute. ;)
Groggy and disoriented, he stares at the message for a second before realizing what it says (and subsequently freaking out). Eyes widening in shock and confusion, he scrolls up in the conversation history, only to see a text message that says it was sent “from you to Kim Jongin” but that he is almost positive he never typed.
Your voice is much different than what I expected. It’s sexy!!
Fucking Lu Han.
Groaning, Sehun rolls off of his bed and onto the ground, where he lays in misery for a few moments, too embarrassed to even get up. He really needs to stop leaving his phone around where his crazy roommate can get to it. The fact that Lu Han has meddled in his (love?) life once again is infuriating, but at the same time, Jongin said his lisp was cute, so...there’s that.
Sehun is certain that his (slight!!!) lisp is most definitely not cute, but the fact that Jongin thinks so is enough to get him through his painful history exam without wanting to die.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
“His hand probably slipped or something,” Sehun says, nodding vigorously and mumbling to himself during math class. “Yeah, definitely. Why would he type a winky face? It was probably just meant to be a regular smiley face. No winking involved.”
“What are you going on about now?” the boy next to him asks, giving him a strange look.
Sehun turns to his deskmate and sighs. “Nothing, Zitao,” he says, waving him away. Zitao shrugs and turns back to his integrals, clearly not interested enough to pester him further.
Of course, Sehun doesn’t really care if he’s interested or not.
“But hey, what do you think of this text message???”
He then proceeds to shove his cell phone in Zitao’s face, desperate for a second opinion. Scoffing, the dark haired boy leans away, but reads the words on the screen anyway.
“...I think whoever sent it is clearly insane, because your lisp is not cute,” he says.
“Hey!” Sehun begins to protest, then he remembers that Zitao is totally right. If anything, his lisp is only mildly entertaining. “Okay, fine. But seriously, even if he is insane, what do you think it means?”
Zitao gives him a blank look, as if he is astounded by Sehun’s stupidity. Which, you know, it’s pretty hard not to be.
“I think he’s flirting with you,” he states, as if this is the most obvious thing in the world.
“What.” It’s not a question, but a flat statement, because Sehun really does not understand why anyone, especially Jongin, would be flirting with him.
“Look, he said your lisp was cute, which is a pretty obvious lie, and he sent you a winking emoticon. If that’s not flirting then I don’t know what is.”
“I...”
Shit, that actually makes sense. Sehun can feel his face turning a beet red and he doesn’t need this right now, not in the middle of fucking calculus where everyone will hear if he can’t hold in his girlish squeals any longer. Luckily, he manages to make it through the rest of the class without having some sort of breakdown, but inside he’s freaking out.
Because if Zitao is right, and Jongin really is flirting with him, then he thinks this might actually be the best day of his life.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
So maybe he was exaggerating a bit, because while one flirty text did make his heart beat at the speed of light, the days to come are even better. He and Jongin have started going out to get bubble tea together nearly every day after class, and Sehun has finally stopped being awkward around him. Or at least, the awkwardness level has reduced quite a bit, and Sehun is beginning to think that maybe Jongin might even like him a little bit.
He tells this to Lu Han, partially because he’s really happy and partially because the elder wouldn’t stop asking him where he’s been running off to lately.
“Boyfriend!” Lu Han shouts, pointing his finger at Sehun and jumping up and down. “He is so your boyfriend!”
Sehun blushes and shoves at Lu Han’s shoulder lightly. “No, he’s not my boyfriend,” he mumbles (somewhat remorsefully). “He probably doesn’t even like me that way.”
“But you just said -”
“I know what I said, but...I don’t know, hyung, maybe he’s just a really nice person.” While being a really nice person is certainly a good thing, Sehun secretly hopes this isn’t the case. He hopes Lu Han is right, and that Jongin really is his “boyfriend.” He knows he’s not, but he’d like to think that he could be...someday. Potentially. If Sehun ever grows the balls to make a move.
“You can’t think like that,” Lu Han says, shaking his head in disappointment. “You have to be optimistic! Be a go-getter! He probably has dreams about making out with you and you’re just wasting your time by being whiney and uncertain.”
“But what if he doesn’t like me? He probably doesn’t. He probably likes girls. What if he thinks I’m gross-”
“He doesn’t think you’re gross! Why in the world would he put up with you so often if he thought you were gross? You guys go on dates all the time. He likes you.”
“Dates? They aren’t dates,” Sehun protests, blushing even deeper. “Who knows, he could only like going to get bubble tea because he thinks the barista is cute. That’s why you always dragged me there with you. You liked that guy with the dimples, remember?”
“No, I always dragged you with me because you’re my best friend and we both know you fucking love bubble tea,” Lu Han says. “Yixing’s cute dimples were just a bonus.”
“Whatever,” Sehun says, rolling his eyes. “That doesn’t mean Jongin has the same reasons as you.”
“Of course he doesn’t. I went with you because I love you in a perfectly platonic way. But the way he loves you is definitely not platonic.”
“You don’t know that!!”
“I bet I’m right though!”
“Ugh. You’re not helping. I’m going to go curl up in a ball on my bed and die now.”
“Okay,” Lu Han says, a cheeky grin on his face. “...Hey, does Yixing still work there? I never got his phone number.”
Sehun glares.
“...I hate you.”
(part one) (part two)
pairing: sehun/jongin (side luhan/xiumin)
genre: fluff/romance, college!au
rating: pg-13
words: ~12k (total)
summary: sometimes, instead of doing his homework, sehun likes to stare out his window and watch the boy in the apartment across the way.
notes: dedicated to the lovely kendall, because she motivated me to finish and gave me like half these ideas, so~~
“What are you staring at?”
Sehun jumps, startled by the sudden words and his roommate’s close proximity. “What?” he asks, feeling the heat start to crawl up his neck. “…Nothing.”
Lu Han frowns, not believing him one bit. He has never seen Sehun’s gaze fixed so intently on one thing before, and it’s suspicious. Completely disregarding any concepts of personal space, he leans over Sehun and looks out the window, hoping to figure out just what his best friend is so interested in.
He sees nothing.
Disappointed, the older boy lets out a sigh and steps back. “You’re weird,” he says. “Who stares at nothing? I thought maybe - “ Suddenly, a flicker of movement causes him to pause mid-sentence. Rushing back to the window, he catches a glimpse of something in the apartment window across the way. After a moment of squinting, he notices that it’s a boy.
He is dancing in front of a TV screen, probably playing a game of some sort, and if Lu Han moves to where Sehun is standing, his entire body comes into view.
A wide grin spreads across Lu Han’s face and he immediately turns to give Sehun a knowing look. “Checking out the neighbors now, are we?” he asks, a light chuckle in his voice. The younger reddens and turns away from the window, shoving Lu Han’s shoulder lightly.
“No,” he says with a scoff. “I just noticed that he’s been playing that game for like three hours. Doesn’t he get tired?”
Lu Han shrugs, still not entirely convinced that Sehun is only curious about the game. “Maybe he’s an athlete,” he says nonchalantly. “They have lots of stamina, don’t they?”
“I don’t know,” Sehun replies curtly. Lu Han gives him a weird look before retreating to his room to study. Sehun stays and watches the dancing boy for another hour before falling asleep on the couch.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
The next few days are much the same. Sehun has made a habit of doing his homework out in the living room, because “it’s less stressful out in an open space,” but not much of it gets done. Instead, he spends his time staring attentively into the window of the apartment across the way, where the same boy remains, dancing away his afternoons.
Sehun continues to wonder just why this guy, whoever he is, seemingly does nothing with his life but play some dumb dance game. From what he can see, it looks pretty boring, but every day without fail, the boy appears in his living room and turns it on. He’s pretty good at it, but that’s only to be expected - he does play it every day, after all. After three days Sehun stops wondering about his motives and decides to just be grateful he even has any.
It is also after three days that the boy notices he is being watched.
After finishing a routine and earning FIVE STARS!!! (according to the bright words on the screen), the boy turns to take a swig from the water bottle sitting on the table. As he leans over to set the bottle down, he notices Sehun, who hasn’t taken his eyes off of him since he sat down two hours previously. Instead of being utterly creeped out, however, the boy smiles, and it isn’t until he is waving with enthusiasm that Sehun even notices he’s been found out.
With the realization that he’s just been caught staring hanging in the air, Sehun blushes a deep red and quickly fumbles to close the blinds. He barely catches a glimpse of the way the boy’s smile falls before he is out of sight completely.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
The next day, Sehun considers actually doing his homework in his room for once, but ultimately decides against it. Most of the embarrassment from the previous day has more or less passed, and he figures his chances of being caught again are pretty low.
Unfortunately, he figures wrong. This time, when the dancing boy turns and sees him watching, his smile is more hesitant. But he smiles all the same, and when Sehun merely freezes (but doesn’t close the blinds) he lifts his hand in another wave.
His heart is beating fast and he isn’t entirely sure why, but Sehun does his best to ignore it and tentatively waves back.
The boy’s grin grows wider, and he begins to wave more frantically. Sehun watches curiously as he gestures at him to wait before moving out of sight for a moment, returning a few seconds later with a large piece of paper in hand. He then begins to scribble something on it with a dark pen, the smile never leaving his face.
Hello!!! My name is Jongin. What’s your name?
Jongin. What a nice name, Sehun thinks, as he squints to read the words properly. Biting his lip, he searches the living room briefly for something to answer Jongin with. His eyes settle on Lu Han’s old whiteboard (it had fallen off his door a few days ago and his dramatic self was so upset that he left it on the couch as ‘punishment’) and he figures that it will have to do for now.
Sehun, he writes, careful to make his handwriting as legible as possible. Jongin reads the words and grins even brighter. (Sehun didn’t think that was possible, but apparently it is.)
Nice to meet you, Sehun! his next message reads.
Sehun blushes before scrawling hastily, Nice to meet you too.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
They don’t really say much to each other, but they continue to communicate through their windows for the next week or so, waving and smiling and exchanging “small talk.” Jongin stops playing the dance game so rigorously in favor of writing messages to Sehun, and Sehun swears he failed his chemistry test because he forgot to study-but he doesn’t really care.
He likes talking to Jongin, if it can even be called that, and he quickly realizes that the funny way his heart feels whenever he sees the other boy waving through the glass might be more than just curiosity.
“Hyung,” he mutters one night, his head resting on Lu Han’s shoulder as they watch How It’s Made.
“Hmm,” the older boy replies offhandedly, too engrossed in seeing how bobble head factories work to give him a proper response.
Sehun hesitates before continuing. “…have you, um, ever liked somebody you’ve never talked to before?”
For a few seconds, Lu Han is silent as he watches one of the bobble head machines attach heads onto bodies. “Uh…no, not really?” he finally replies, obviously not interested in the question. After a few more moments of silence, however, he realizes what the question implies and abruptly whips around to face his roommate. “Wait, you like someone? From afar? Who is it?!”
The younger boy blushes. “No, I’m just wondering,” he says, not sounding convincing in the least. His gaze flickers to the window for a split second before he hides his face in Lu Han’s shoulder, too embarrassed to say more.
However short the glance had been, though, Lu Han doesn’t miss it, and immediately his eyes widen in realization.
“The dancing boy?!” he asks, physically grabbing Sehun’s head and removing it from his shoulder so he can look him in the eye. “Why didn’t you tell me? That’s so adorable.”
“No, it’s not,” Sehun says, pouting. “It’s pathetic. I’ve never even actually met him.”
Lu Han’s face lights up in a grin. “So you do like him! I knew it,” he says. “Aww, Sehunnie has a crush!”
“Hyung, stoppppp,” Sehun whines.
“Never!” Lu Han laughs. “It’s not so pathetic, Sehun. You just need to talk to him. Find out his name, what his hobbies are, and all of that. Then you won’t feel so weird about liking him.”
“I know his name. It’s Jongin,” Sehun says, biting his lip.
“Wait, how do you know that…you’re not like, hardcore stalking him or anything are you…because watching him creepily through the window is one thing, but - ”
“No! I’m not stalking him,” Sehun protests, flushing an even deeper red. “He told me. Well, he wrote it to me. On a piece of paper that he held up to the window…we’ve been, um…communicating that way since he caught me staring at him.” It all sounds so stupid when he says it out loud, he realizes, but it’s too late to turn back now.
Lu Han stares, taking in this information with an unreadable expression. “Wait, so you’ve been talking to him for days and you never told me?” he pouts. “I’m hurt!”
“Well…it’s not really talking…I mean I don’t know what his voice sounds like or anything like that…” Sehun scratches the back of his neck nervously, still very embarrassed by this whole situation.
“It still counts!” Lu Han interjects. “Hold on…is this why you asked me if you could have my old whiteboard? You’re using it to write love notes to the boy next door?!”
“They aren’t love notes! And he isn’t the boy next door…he’s the boy across the courtyard,” Sehun grumbles.
“Whatever,” Lu Han says, rolling his eyes. “Same difference. And anyway, if you really do like him, you should go talk to him. I mean he lives right there. It’d be easy.”
Sehun’s eyes widen at this proposition. It hasn’t ever crossed his mind to actually go talk to Jongin…even just the idea in itself is far too embarrassing. “No way,” he says, shaking his head vigorously. “I can’t do that. I’d make a fool of myself. Besides…I’m pretty sure this is just a stupid infatuation…it’ll go away soon.”
Lu Han gives Sehun a pointed look, clearly not believing this one bit. “Sure, if you say so,” he says. Luckily for the younger, the subject is then dropped for a good ten minutes as the show finishes up, and they go back to learning about the bobble head industry.
Just when Sehun thinks his hyung has forgotten all about his embarrassing crush (or whatever it is), Lu Han turns to him and says, “So I get to be best man when you marry dancing boy, right?”
Sehun gets up in a huff and goes to lock himself in his room, but not before throwing an empty water bottle at Lu Han’s head. The thudding sound followed by a whine tells him that he doesn’t miss, and with that knowledge, he heads to bed feeling slightly better about the days to come.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
By the time another week has passed, Sehun knows that Jongin is a freshman (just like him), that he has no roommate (lucky), and that he is a pre-med major. He also knows his phone number.
That last bit is all thanks to Lu Han, who can never seem to keep his nose out of anyone’s business for more than a few seconds.
It had happened like this: Sehun came home from class one day to find a piece of paper taped to the window. Written on it were the words, What’s your phone number? :D
Naturally, the young boy had freaked out a bit before ripping it off and crumpling it up. He realized too late, of course, that Jongin had already seen it and taped his own piece of paper on his window across the way, the digits of his phone number written clearly for all to see.
Sehun was a little surprised that he would publicly display his number like that, but then again, nobody ever really paid attention to what was going on in the other apartments. Well, nobody that wasn’t a total weirdo like Sehun, anyway. Blushing, he had saved the number in his phone, wanting to punch Lu Han in the face for meddling but also secretly glad that he had.
That was a few hours ago, and now, Sehun sits out in the living room waiting for Jongin to get back from class so they can write messages to each other again. He feels pathetic, just sitting and waiting for some guy he hardly knows to show up, but what else is he supposed to do? His “infatuation” hasn’t died down at all like he thought it would, and it is getting harder and harder for him to concentrate in class because he spends the whole time daydreaming. Lu Han’s constant teasing doesn’t help, either. His life suddenly seems to revolve around the beautiful Kim Jongin, and it’s both terrible and wonderful at the same time.
At the first glimpse of movement out the window, Sehun jumps up eagerly, but it’s only someone in another one of the apartments moving to turn their lights on. Sighing, he sits back down, a little embarrassed with himself for being so eager. He is busy mentally reprimanding himself for being a loser when Jongin actually gets home, so when he turns to see the other boy watching him with a grin, he lets out an audible gasp.
Cool, Sehun. Way to be smooth, he thinks as he waves at Jongin. A smile begins to creep itself onto his face despite his embarrassment, and it isn’t until Jongin gestures at the sign with his number on it that he even remembers his phone.
His face flushing red, Sehun pulls out his phone and opens up a new message to Jongin. Hi, he types, hesitating for a moment before pressing send.
He realizes a second too late that he never specified that it was him, but he figures Jongin will know. Just to be sure, though, he looks over at the other boy through the window and gives him a thumbs-up sign. A few seconds later, Jongin opens his phone and reads the message, a bright smile flashing across his face. Fingers moving frantically across the keyboard, he types up a reply, then looks up at Sehun to let him know he’s finished.
Sehun finds this whole ordeal a little strange, texting each other but watching each other at the same time, and yet he isn’t complaining. His phone vibrates and he braces himself for the message that will inevitably make his heart beat faster, regardless of what it actually says.
Hey! How are you? Good idea asking for my number. This is much easier than writing, plus it saves paper. We’re preserving nature and all of that, the text says.
Just as he had expected, his chest starts feeling jittery as he reads the words, but he does his best to ignore it. Really? You didn’t think it was creepy of me to ask? ^^;; he sends. Then, biting his lip, he adds, and I’m good. How are you?
Jongin is obviously less nervous about this whole texting thing, because he answers much faster than Sehun would have expected.
Naw, not creepy. We’re friends now, after all. And great!! I’m good, too. Just about to start some dancing, actually.
Friends? Sehun is glad Jongin is so straightforward, because he himself is so full of insecurities and uncertainties that he needs someone else to define the relationship for him. If he had to say, he probably would’ve chosen a different word...like, acquaintances...but friends sounds good too. Actually, friends sounds even better.
Ah, good. Well...if you’re going to be playing that game for a while, I guess I’ll leave you to that, then.
He’s a little sad that they won’t get to talk longer, but then he remembers that Jongin used to play all the time and it’s only recently that he’s been taking breaks. He realizes that this is his fault, and it makes him feel bad, so he doesn’t complain. He’s actually just about to move into his room so he won’t get distracted by feelings when his phone buzzes again, revealing a message that he honestly wasn’t prepared for.
You should come over and play it with me! It’s fun, I promise.
In reality, Sehun would love nothing more than to go hang out with Jongin, but he absolutely cannot do that. Not now. The thought of actually being in the same room as him, alone, talking to him and playing the dancing game he’d watched for so long - it makes his head spin. Eyes wide and face burning red, he stares at his phone for a good thirty seconds before typing the first excuse he can think of.
Oh...that sounds nice, but...I’m sick. You don’t want to be near me right now.
He then proceeds to get up off the couch and practically run into his room, too flustered to even look out the window for Jongin’s reaction.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
“You told him you were sick? Why didn’t you just go over there and hang out with him?”
“...I got scared.”
“Idiot.”
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
As much as he isn’t ready to face that monster yet, Sehun can’t avoid meeting Jongin forever. The “fateful” encounter catches him by surprise, when he is on his way back home from class one (otherwise painfully normal) day.
It’s the deep, unfamiliar sound of someone calling “Sehun!” that starts it.
The first time he hears his name, the young boy’s step falters, but the voice isn’t one he recognizes and so he quickly dismisses it. But then it comes again, loud and clearly not a figment of his imagination, so this time, he turns around.
His eyes widen to the size of saucers and he freezes in place when he sees Jongin.
“Sehun!” the other boy says once again, a smile dawning on his face as he comes closer and his steps slow. “It is you! I wasn’t entirely sure, since you look a bit different up close, heh.”
Sehun is still staring, not saying anything, because wow, Jongin is even more ridiculously attractive up close, and holy shit, his voice.
“J-Jongin!” he finally manages to sputter, still completely floored by how stunning the boy before him is. “Ah...hi!”
Jongin laughs, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “Hi,” he says, grinning. “Are you...feeling better? Where are you headed?”
Sehun still can’t get over how deep and...well, sexy his voice is so it takes him a moment to compose himself and actually answer. “Uh-m,” he starts, the heat beginning to crawl up his neck and onto his cheeks as he remembers his lie from earlier in the week. “Yeah, much better, thanks. And...I just got out of my last class so...home.”
“Oh, cool,” Jongin says, shuffling his feet. Sehun realizes that he isn’t helping the awkward atmosphere any by looking down at the ground, so he tries his best to not be a blushing fool and gives Jongin a smile.
“Yeah...what about you?” he asks.
The other boy grins again and Sehun thinks he might melt into a pile of goo. “Well, I was thinking about going to get something to eat,” Jongin says. “...do you want to join me?”
Oh god, oh god, OH GOD, Sehun thinks, because he feels like he’s already embarrassed himself enough for one day. But of course, the fact that Jongin is even asking him to have lunch with him makes him feel incredibly giddy inside, so he blurts, “Yeah!” before realizing he probably sounds a little too eager and proceeds to stare at the ground some more.
“I mean, uh, sure.”
Jongin seems unfazed by the incredible social ineptitude Sehun is displaying and instead of being totally turned off by his awkwardness, just continues to smile. “Okay, great!” he says. “Do you like bubble tea?”
“Do I ever!” Sehun thinks he’s getting a little too excited now, but he really does love bubble tea. He and Lu Han get bubble tea practically every day. He knows all the best places on campus to get it, and his superior knowledge on the subject makes him feel like a little bit less of a loser (although really, it shouldn’t).
“Awesome,” Jongin laughs. “I know just the place.”
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
It feels a little bit like a date, but Sehun knows better than to start thinking like that.
As they drink their tea, they talk about the one thing they have in common - school. Sehun doesn’t like talking about school, really, but he is curious about Jongin’s major. He’s never met anyone in pre-med before, and he wants to know what it’s like.
“I don’t know,” Jongin shrugs. “It’s alright.”
Sehun frowns a bit; this was not really the answer he was expecting. “You don’t like it?” he asks. He doesn’t like his major, either, but his major is lame and not as intelligent sounding as pre-med.
Jongin’s cheeks turn a little pink, and Sehun is almost surprised because he doesn’t think Kim Jongin should ever be embarrassed in front of him. Sehun suffers enough embarrassment for the both of them, that’s for sure.
“I wanted to be a dance major,” Jongin admits, laughing nervously. “But my parents are both doctors and wouldn’t have their son in some fruity, useless major like that.”
Ah, of course. Dance. Sehun supposes that this explains the game Jongin is always playing...but only a little bit. “Oh,” he replies, feeling both impressed and sympathetic at once. “I’m sorry. That...sucks.”
Jongin shrugs once again, and Sehun hopes he hasn’t made him uncomfortable or anything like that. Jongin continues on, though, so he figures he hasn’t. “It’s okay,” he says. “No big deal. They just won’t pay for dance classes, so that’s why I play that game all the time. So I can practice and learn on my own.”
“I see,” Sehun says. He’s curious about just how effective a video game is in teaching dance, but says nothing about this. He’s honestly too impressed with how Jongin seems to know exactly what he wants out of life and how to go about getting it, while Sehun’s switching his major every few months and getting flustered over some guy he barely knows.
It’s a little unfair, how perfect Jongin is, but Sehun decides it’s not such a bad thing. He certainly makes better company than Lu Han, anyway.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
“HIS. VOICE. IS. SO. SEXY.”
Sehun bursts through his apartment door, overcome with emotions and fully prepared to go into recap mode for Lu Han. It isn’t until he has flung his things down on the ground and thrown himself onto the couch dramatically that he notices his roommate has company over...and that said company is currently looking at him like he’s just seen some sort of mythical creature.
“Oh...uh...hello,” he mumbles, once again embarrassed by his own stupidity.
Lu Han laughs and gets up from his spot in front of the coffee table, where he and his friend are crouched over thick textbooks. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?” he asks, a sly smile on his face.
“Um...” Sehun glances at the stranger still sitting on the ground and blushes. “I said...hello, my name is Sehun, and who might you be...?”
“Nice try,” Lu Han says, rolling his eyes. He glances back at his friend and smiles before looking back to his roommate. “This is Minseok,” he explains. “He’s my lab partner in physics. Minseok, this is Sehun, my idiot roommate.”
“Ouch,” Sehun mumbles, but he extends his hand out to Minseok nonetheless. “Nice to meet you,” he says, managing a meek smile.
“Likewise,” Minseok says. Lu Han sits back down and Sehun thinks he might go back to his studying now, but of course, he doesn’t.
“Now what was that you were so eager to tell me when you came bursting in here? Whose voice is what now?”
The younger sighs. He knows he’ll never get out of this one, so he might as well just accept his defeat now and get it over with.
“Well...” he begins, biting his lip. “Jongin’s voice. Is sexy. Like, really sexy. I think I might die because it’s so sexy, actually-”
“Wait, hold up, you mean you actually talked to him?” Lu Han interrupts.
Sehun’s face reddens and he glances at Minseok shyly before continuing. “Yeah,” he says. “We ran into each other on my way back from class and then we got bubble tea. But hyung, his voice-”
“YOU GOT BUBBLE TEA WITH ANOTHER MAN?” Lu Han interrupts once again, this time making Sehun wince with his loud shrieks. “I’m hurt, Sehunnie.”
“You’re stupid,” Sehun says, because it’s the only thing he can really think to say at the moment. “It’s Jongin, hyung, of course I’m going to get bubble tea with him if he asks me.” With that said, he gets up off the couch and begins moving to his room, ignoring all of Lu Han’s demands for details.
“Who’s Jongin?” Minseok asks once Sehun has retreated most of the way into his room.
“Some guy that lives across the way. Sehun pervs on him every day after class. It’s quite pathetic, really,” Lu Han answers.
“I HEARD THAT!” Sehun shouts, peeking his head out from behind his partially closed bedroom door. He then proceeds to ignore Lu Han’s snickers because hey, he’s just jealous. After all, he doesn’t have a sexy voice like Jongin.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
Sehun wakes up the next morning to a text that reads:
Haha, thanks! Your lisp is cute. ;)
Groggy and disoriented, he stares at the message for a second before realizing what it says (and subsequently freaking out). Eyes widening in shock and confusion, he scrolls up in the conversation history, only to see a text message that says it was sent “from you to Kim Jongin” but that he is almost positive he never typed.
Your voice is much different than what I expected. It’s sexy!!
Fucking Lu Han.
Groaning, Sehun rolls off of his bed and onto the ground, where he lays in misery for a few moments, too embarrassed to even get up. He really needs to stop leaving his phone around where his crazy roommate can get to it. The fact that Lu Han has meddled in his (love?) life once again is infuriating, but at the same time, Jongin said his lisp was cute, so...there’s that.
Sehun is certain that his (slight!!!) lisp is most definitely not cute, but the fact that Jongin thinks so is enough to get him through his painful history exam without wanting to die.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
“His hand probably slipped or something,” Sehun says, nodding vigorously and mumbling to himself during math class. “Yeah, definitely. Why would he type a winky face? It was probably just meant to be a regular smiley face. No winking involved.”
“What are you going on about now?” the boy next to him asks, giving him a strange look.
Sehun turns to his deskmate and sighs. “Nothing, Zitao,” he says, waving him away. Zitao shrugs and turns back to his integrals, clearly not interested enough to pester him further.
Of course, Sehun doesn’t really care if he’s interested or not.
“But hey, what do you think of this text message???”
He then proceeds to shove his cell phone in Zitao’s face, desperate for a second opinion. Scoffing, the dark haired boy leans away, but reads the words on the screen anyway.
“...I think whoever sent it is clearly insane, because your lisp is not cute,” he says.
“Hey!” Sehun begins to protest, then he remembers that Zitao is totally right. If anything, his lisp is only mildly entertaining. “Okay, fine. But seriously, even if he is insane, what do you think it means?”
Zitao gives him a blank look, as if he is astounded by Sehun’s stupidity. Which, you know, it’s pretty hard not to be.
“I think he’s flirting with you,” he states, as if this is the most obvious thing in the world.
“What.” It’s not a question, but a flat statement, because Sehun really does not understand why anyone, especially Jongin, would be flirting with him.
“Look, he said your lisp was cute, which is a pretty obvious lie, and he sent you a winking emoticon. If that’s not flirting then I don’t know what is.”
“I...”
Shit, that actually makes sense. Sehun can feel his face turning a beet red and he doesn’t need this right now, not in the middle of fucking calculus where everyone will hear if he can’t hold in his girlish squeals any longer. Luckily, he manages to make it through the rest of the class without having some sort of breakdown, but inside he’s freaking out.
Because if Zitao is right, and Jongin really is flirting with him, then he thinks this might actually be the best day of his life.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
So maybe he was exaggerating a bit, because while one flirty text did make his heart beat at the speed of light, the days to come are even better. He and Jongin have started going out to get bubble tea together nearly every day after class, and Sehun has finally stopped being awkward around him. Or at least, the awkwardness level has reduced quite a bit, and Sehun is beginning to think that maybe Jongin might even like him a little bit.
He tells this to Lu Han, partially because he’s really happy and partially because the elder wouldn’t stop asking him where he’s been running off to lately.
“Boyfriend!” Lu Han shouts, pointing his finger at Sehun and jumping up and down. “He is so your boyfriend!”
Sehun blushes and shoves at Lu Han’s shoulder lightly. “No, he’s not my boyfriend,” he mumbles (somewhat remorsefully). “He probably doesn’t even like me that way.”
“But you just said -”
“I know what I said, but...I don’t know, hyung, maybe he’s just a really nice person.” While being a really nice person is certainly a good thing, Sehun secretly hopes this isn’t the case. He hopes Lu Han is right, and that Jongin really is his “boyfriend.” He knows he’s not, but he’d like to think that he could be...someday. Potentially. If Sehun ever grows the balls to make a move.
“You can’t think like that,” Lu Han says, shaking his head in disappointment. “You have to be optimistic! Be a go-getter! He probably has dreams about making out with you and you’re just wasting your time by being whiney and uncertain.”
“But what if he doesn’t like me? He probably doesn’t. He probably likes girls. What if he thinks I’m gross-”
“He doesn’t think you’re gross! Why in the world would he put up with you so often if he thought you were gross? You guys go on dates all the time. He likes you.”
“Dates? They aren’t dates,” Sehun protests, blushing even deeper. “Who knows, he could only like going to get bubble tea because he thinks the barista is cute. That’s why you always dragged me there with you. You liked that guy with the dimples, remember?”
“No, I always dragged you with me because you’re my best friend and we both know you fucking love bubble tea,” Lu Han says. “Yixing’s cute dimples were just a bonus.”
“Whatever,” Sehun says, rolling his eyes. “That doesn’t mean Jongin has the same reasons as you.”
“Of course he doesn’t. I went with you because I love you in a perfectly platonic way. But the way he loves you is definitely not platonic.”
“You don’t know that!!”
“I bet I’m right though!”
“Ugh. You’re not helping. I’m going to go curl up in a ball on my bed and die now.”
“Okay,” Lu Han says, a cheeky grin on his face. “...Hey, does Yixing still work there? I never got his phone number.”
Sehun glares.
“...I hate you.”
(part one) (part two)