falling in love (is hard on the knees) [PART TWO]
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~~
Yixing does still work there, and so does Kris, his (according to Lu Han) “less cute and more scary” friend. Watching them bicker is one of the things Sehun and Jongin do to pass the time on their “dates,” along with complaining about homework and telling each other stupid jokes.
“Hey, I got one,” Jongin says over Kris’ loud complaints (apparently Yixing had left the cap off one of the milk jugs again), a bright grin settled on his face. “What side of a cheetah has more spots?”
Sehun stares, thinking for a moment before giving up. “What?”
“The outside!” Jongin starts laughing before Sehun even has the chance to react. It then takes him awhile to even wrap his mind around the punchline, because Jongin’s laugh is really cute, and it’s distracting. When he finally gets the joke, he merely stares some more.
“Oh my god,” he says, shaking his head lightly. “That was really bad.”
“I know, right?” Jongin laughs again. “But hey, I’d like to see you do better!”
“Okay,” Sehun says, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table between them. “Hm...what’s brown and sticky?”
Jongin makes a disgusted face, causing Sehun to laugh. “Not what you think. Guess!”
“Uh...” The other boy scratches his head in thought before shrugging. “I don’t know. What is it?”
Sehun grins, feeling triumphant. “A stick!” he says, clapping his hands together for effect.
“A...stick,” Jongin says slowly.
“Yep!”
And then Jongin is laughing again, and this time Sehun is laughing along with him, and their laughter grows so loud that Kris even stops yelling at Yixing for a moment so he can yell at them, instead. But they aren’t listening, because Sehun is lost in Jongin’s deep bellow and Jongin is lost in...Sehun doesn’t know what, but they’re having a good time and that’s all that matters.
When they finally calm down and catch their breath, Jongin says, “Okay, you got me. Where did you even hear that?!”
Sehun shrugs. He honestly doesn’t remember where he heard it; his brain is just a warehouse of dumb jokes all thanks to his cheesy friends. “I don’t know,” he says. “I think my roommate told it to me. He always says weird things like that.”
“Oh,” Jongin says. Sehun isn’t sure but he thinks he hears a tinge of something like sadness in his voice. He has no idea why that would be, though, so he doesn’t mention it
“...what about you? Where did you hear that joke about the cheetahs?” he asks, trying his best not to let their conversation lapse back into the awkward feel of their first few encounters.
Jongin gives him a meek smile and a shrug of his own. “Not sure, actually,” he says, chuckling. “I must have read it online somewhere. I don’t have a roommate so I couldn’t have heard it that way, heh.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right,” Sehun says, nodding to himself. “I bet it’s nice not having a roommate...” He tries to imagine what it would be like without Lu Han and his snooping and lets out a wistful sigh. If only!
Jongin, however, seems to feel differently. “Eh,” he replies, shrugging once again. “It’s okay. Sometimes I get lonely.”
Lonely...well, Sehun hadn’t thought of that, probably because he was never really alone and it sort of bugged him. But he supposed living by himself would get rather boring, after a while.
“Oh,” he says, biting his lip. “Well, that’s what friends are for, right? You can just invite people over when you feel alone.”
Jongin stares at him for a moment before smiling again, his grin so bright that it almost hurts Sehun’s eyes. “Are you implying that I should invite you over? Because last time I tried that, you faked sick on me,” he says.
Sehun blushes. He hadn’t realized Jongin saw through his excuse. “Hey, I was really sick!” he protests, although he knows it isn’t true. He wasn’t sick. Love sick, maybe, but that was no valid excuse.
“Sure you were,” Jongin says, chuckling lightly. “It’s okay, I forgive you. But I really do get lonely, and I really do want you to come over. So will you?”
He doesn’t think it’s possible for his face to get even redder than it already is, but he can feel his cheeks heating up and so he plays with the straw of his drink nervously.
“Uh, yeah, okay,” he says, maintaining eye contact for about a second before ducking to take a sip of his drink. Once he’s calmed down a bit, he looks up again and smiles, hoping that the way his stomach is doing flips isn’t too apparent.
“Cool,” Jongin says with another grin, appearing one hundred times more calm than Sehun. “Are you doing anything today? I don’t have that much homework so we’d have a lot of time to hang out.”
Sehun is too busy freaking out over the idea of hanging out with Jongin in his apartment to properly form any more words, so instead he just shakes his head. Jongin then goes on to ramble about how they can play the dance game together, and eat lots of snacks (since he apparently has way too much food for a kid living by himself) and watch some movie he rented last week but never got around to watching.
Sehun thinks all of this sounds wonderful, but he’s too busy realizing that this “infatuation” might never go away to give an appropriate answer.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
Twenty minutes later, instead of going home, he walks with Jongin to his dorm and sends Lu Han a quick explanatory text message.
I’m gonna hang out with Jongin for a while at his place. Don’t wait up!!
Fortunately (or unfortunately, he’s not so sure), his crazy roommate’s response is only one word.
BOYFRIENDS!!!!
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
The next day, however, he has much more to say. As Sehun is busy making himself an english muffin for breakfast, Lu Han sneaks up behind him and pinches his sides, causing the younger to yelp and nearly drop his butter knife on the ground.
“What the hell, hyung?” he shrieks, stepping as far away from Lu Han as their small kitchen will allow. “Do you want to die?!”
Lu Han laughs. “No, I just want to hear about your time at Jongin’s place,” he says. “You didn’t tell me anything when you got home last night! Which leads me to believe that you were doing scandalous things and that I’m going to have to go beat him up or something -”
“Oh my god. We weren’t doing scandalous things!” Sehun blushes and turns back to his english muffin to distract himself from the glimmer in Lu Han’s eyes. “We played his dancing game, and then we watched a movie. That’s it.”
“You watched a movie? Did he try to make a move? Were the lights off? Did he put his arm around you?”
“Yes, no, yes, and no,” Sehun grumbles. “I hate to break it to you hyung, but nothing really happened. Not like that anyway. But it was...fun.”
“Fun? Are you sure he didn’t make a move on you?”
“I’m sure,” Sehun rolls his eyes. “I had a good time though. So you don’t have to worry.”
He did have a good time. A great one, actually. He and Jongin got along really well. They laughed at all the same stupid things and liked all the same weird foods and Sehun even discovered that he was pretty good at dancing. The worst part of the night had been when he saw Lu Han out of the corner of his eye, waving and making kissy faces from their apartment window across the way. Needless to say, they closed the blinds after that.
“Don’t have to worry?! I think it sounds like I do have to worry! If you start liking Jongin more than you like me, I might cry,” Lu Han says.
“Of course I like him more than I like you,” Sehun says, sticking his tongue out playfully. “You’re annoying and rude and he’s funny and nice. Plus, he’s hotter.”
Lu Han gasps, clutching his heart dramatically. “He is not! I am super hot.”
Sehun lets out a light-hearted laugh. “Don’t lie, hyung. You’re just a cute baby deer,” he says, reaching out to pinch his best friend’s cheeks. “And I’m sorry, but I prefer cool, sexy guys over ones that remind me of Disney animated movies.”
“Well,” Lu Han says, sniffling a bit. “I am heartbroken. But at least Minseok likes my cute Bambi eyes.”
“...Minseok?” Sehun asks, abandoning his english muffin out of curiosity. “You mean your lab partner?”
“Yes,” Lu Han says, a frown still settled on his face. “We are canoodling.”
“Ca...what? Who even says that anymore?” Sehun asks, shaking his head. “Wait...are you serious?!”
“Well, no. We aren’t canoodling...yet. But I did ask him to go on a dinner date with me tomorrow, and he said yes,” Lu Han replies. He says this with such a straight face that Sehun is stunned into silence for a moment, unsure of whether he’s being serious or not. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen Lu Han serious before. It’s kind of...scary.
“You...really? You asked him out?” Sehun finally asks, his jaw dropping in astonishment. Not that Lu Han liking somebody was all that radical (he liked a new person practically every week), it was just that he usually didn’t seriously date people unless they were really special. “Why didn’t you tell me you were planning on doing that?”
“Well I was going to,” Lu Han shrugs. “But you were so busy freaking out over Jongin and I didn’t want to spoil your cute crush with news of mine.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” Sehun exclaims. He feels a little hurt that his best friend wouldn’t tell him about this new development, especially since Lu Han’s the one who has been butting into Sehun’s business lately. “Hyung, you can tell me anything! Your crushes are just as cute and important as mine!”
Finally, Lu Han’s ever present grin returns, and he pulls Sehun in for a tight bear hug. “You’re too good to me, Sehunnie!” he exclaims, ruffling his hair. “I’ll be sure to tell you all of the details of our passionate romance from now on, then,” he says, still not letting go.
“Oh, uh, that won’t be necessary,” Sehun laughs nervously, trying to pry himself out of Lu Han’s death grip. He manages to get away a few moments later, but only after his roommate has planted a wet kiss on his cheek.
“Ew, hyung,” he says, wiping his face off with the edge of his shirt. Lu Han then giggles and pokes the small bit of exposed flesh on Sehun’s stomach before disappearing into his room. Shaking his head, Sehun turns to go back to buttering his english muffin when he catches a glimpse of movement outside the window. Jongin.
He smiles and lifts his hand in a wave, but either Jongin doesn’t see or doesn’t care, because he turns around and walks out of sight before the two of them even make eye contact.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
Sehun doesn’t think much of Jongin’s strange dismissal until later, after class, when he doesn’t show up for their tea “date.” At first, he thinks maybe he’s just sick or busy or something, but then he doesn’t show up the next day, either. Or the next day.
He’s not answering Sehun’s text messages, either, and his blinds are always closed. By the middle of the week, it’s pretty apparent that Jongin is purposefully avoiding him, and Sehun doesn’t know what he did wrong. Was it something he said? Was it something he did when they hung out? Or did Jongin finally realize what a loser and a creep Sehun was and decide he wasn’t worthy of his time?
Whatever the reason, it leaves Sehun feeling dejected and...well, heartbroken. He doesn’t leave his room except to go to class and occasionally the bathroom, and he only eats whatever food Lu Han shoves into his mouth at night when he’s too weak to resist. He feels pathetic for being so hung up on a guy he truthfully didn’t know all that well, but he had really felt like things were going well with Jongin and this just didn’t make any sense.
“I don’t get it,” Sehun wails into his pillow one night. Lu Han has situated himself in Sehun’s desk chair, and has brought his new boyfriend Minseok along for a “therapy session.” “I just really thought he liked me, at least as a friend.”
Lu Han gives him a sympathetic look and pats the top of his head. “It’s okay, Sehunnie,” he says. “There are other fish in the sea.”
“Bubidunwahoduhfith,” Sehun mumbles, his face buried in his blankets.
“...I’m sorry, what?”
“I think he said he doesn’t want other fish,” Minseok says, looking to Sehun for clarification. Sehun merely nods lethargically, still not lifting his head.
The two older boys sigh and exchange looks before Lu Han tries again. “Well, you have to get over it sometime,” he says.
The insensitive comment doesn’t help, and Sehun just continues to wail into his bedding like a preteen girl.
“Lu Han, maybe you should let me handle this,” Minseok says softly, giving the other boy a look. “You’re not making matters any better.”
Lu Han wants to protest and say that he’s known Sehun much longer and is therefore better equipped to make him feel happy again, but he knows Minseok is probably right. He’s terrible at consoling people. So, with a resigned sigh, he gestures at the limp figure on the bed, giving his boyfriend the okay to try his hand at helping.
Minseok sighs before moving to sit on the edge of Sehun’s bed, awkwardly placing one of his hands on the younger’s back. “Just try to think about it for a minute,” he says slowly. “Did you do anything that could have made him want to avoid you?”
Sehun lays still for a moment before turning on his side to face Lu Han and Minseok. “I don’t think so,” he says, frowning. “The last time I talked to him was when I went to his apartment, and he laughed at my dumb joke about giraffes for like ten minutes before he walked me home.”
“Hm,” Minseok says, biting his lip in thought for a moment. “Well, it seems like he likes you, so there must be a good explanation for this. You just have to reason it out,” he continues. “Maybe he’s already in a relationship and feels bad about leading you on, or maybe he really is just sick and can’t move. Or, he likes you, but he’s just too scared to tell you so he’s avoiding contact.”
Sehun seems to think these options over for a moment, but he’s not so sure he even wants to believe them. “But...” he whines. “If he was sick he could still text me back, and...I don’t know if he’d ever do those other things...”
“Well, you did say yourself that you haven’t known him that long,” Minseok points out. “It’s completely possible that he didn’t tell you about a boyfriend or girlfriend for fear of hurting you. Or, the more appealing option, that he seems like the calm cool and collected type but actually gets shy when it comes to expressing his feelings.”
“......oh,” Sehun says quietly. “I guess that’s possible...”
“See? Not all hope is lost. You just need to make an effort to sort out the misunderstanding. Go over there and talk to him if you have to; just don’t stay holed up in your room like this. It’s not going to fix anything.”
“...okay. Thanks, sunbae. You’re right.”
Minseok smiles, and so does Sehun, and Lu Han is left flabbergasted.
“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” he says to Minseok, looking between the two with wide eyes. “You’re a miracle worker!”
Minseok lets out a sheepish chuckle and scratches the back of his head. “Well, I am a psych major, after all,” he says. “But thanks. I like you too.”
They then proceed to grin at each other like love-struck fools, causing Sehun to groan and hide his face in his pillows again. “Guys,” he whines, kicking his feet in protest. “I don’t need this right now. I already have to deal with Baekhyun and Chanyeol making googly eyes at each other all the time in my english class. YOU’RE NOT HELPING!”
Lu Han pries his eyes away from Minseok and laughs. “Sorry,” he says, patting his roommate on the head again. “Why don’t you go talk to Jongin? Then you guys can make googly eyes at each other instead.”
“...maybe later,” Sehun grumbles in response.
Because as nice as that sounds, he’s still not sure if he’s ready for that yet.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
Minseok’s pep talk did give Sehun a little bit of hope, but he still isn’t entirely sure about what to do. He’s afraid that Jongin won’t want to see him, and that he’ll only end up making things worse between them. He only wishes he knew why he was being ignored; then it would be a lot easier for him to try to fix it.
His opportunity arises a few days later, however, when he sees Jongin on the way back from class. It feels oddly like the first time they met in person, only this time Sehun is the one calling out to Jongin, and the mood is even more awkward than it had been back then.
“J-Jongin! Hey, wait up!” he shouts, quickening his pace so as to catch up to the other boy. He sees Jongin’s steps falter, but he doesn’t turn around, which makes Sehun frown. “Um,” he says, once they are standing next to each other, stalled in the middle of the walkway. “Hi...sorry if you’re busy...I just...haven’t seen you in a while.”
Finally, Jongin turns to look at Sehun, a mixture of guilt and apprehension on his face. “Oh, Sehun,” he says, biting his lip. “Yeah, hi. Sorry about that...I’ve been...sick.”
Sehun frowns, unsure how to respond to that, because...sick? The word makes his heart feel heavy; it’s same excuse that he used a few weeks back.
“O-oh,” he croaks, looking down at the ground. He is mentally beating himself up for ever thinking this would be a good idea. He should have just let Jongin go on with his day...it would have spared him a lot of sadness and embarrassment.
“Yeah...” Jongin says, scratching the back of his head nervously. “But uh, I’m better now. So...”
Sehun looks up, trying his best not to appear as pathetic and desperate as he feels. “You are? Well that’s good,” he says. “...do you want to go get bubble tea?”
His face turns red once the words leave his mouth, because wow, that was not what he meant to say at all. He does want to get bubble tea with Jongin, though, so he doesn’t try to rescind the offer. He just hopes he doesn’t get shut down, because he doesn’t know if he can handle any more disappointments today.
“Uh,” Jongin says. He seems taken aback by the question, as if he didn’t expect Sehun to make this much of an effort in preserving their friendship. “...yeah, okay,” he answers with a nod.
Sehun had been preparing for the worst, so the fact that Jongin has actually agreed causes a wide smile to form on his face. “Really?” he asks.
“Sure,” Jongin shrugs and gives Sehun a smile of his own. “Let’s go.”
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
Things are still awkward, but once they are sitting down at their usual table, listening to the usual banter of Yixing and Kris, Sehun starts to relax a little bit. He notices that Jongin has also slipped somewhat into a state of ease, and soon they are talking and laughing as if nothing even happened. Which, well, nothing really did...not that Sehun can remember, anyway.
He knows he should probably do what Minseok suggested and ask about why Jongin has been ignoring him all week, but he’s scared. Hearing Jongin’s laugh again and seeing his smile feels too good, and he doesn’t want to screw it up. So instead, he just acts like he’s not still hurting inside - like he’s not still confused beyond belief.
It’s working, to some extent. It isn’t until Jongin asks if Sehun’s drink is any good that the illusion is shattered.
“Hmm?” Sehun’s eyebrows wrinkle up in confusion before he remembers that he ordered something different than his usual, this time. “Oh, yeah,” he says, nodding. “Here, you want to try some?” He holds out his drink to Jongin, who nods and casually takes a sip out of the straw before handing it back. Their fingers brush during the exchange, and it is then that both boys’ eyes widen with the realization that they pretty much just swapped saliva.
Oh my god, Sehun thinks, his cheeks beginning to burn red. That was like indirect kissing! We just indirectly kissed!
Jongin laughs nervously and says, “Yeah, that’s good...” trailing off awkwardly and biting his lip. “Actually, uh...”
Sehun’s heart starts to beat faster as he notices the shift in the atmosphere. Is Jongin actually going to explain himself? It seems like he is, and now that the moment has finally come, Sehun isn’t so sure he wants it anymore. He was having a good time pretending everything was fine and dandy, thank you very much.
“I, um,” Jongin continues. Sehun stares at him with scared, wide eyes and waits. “I don’t think I can do this anymore.”
What? Do what?
“...d-do what?” he voices out loud.
“I...I think I really like you,” Jongin finally says, laughing nervously and picking at the tablecloth in front of him.
Sehun’s eyes widen even further and he nearly chokes on his own spit. “You...huh?!” he spits out, unsure if he heard that correctly. Is he being serious? Jongin thinks he really likes him, Oh Sehun? His heart is racing and his face is probably the darkest shade of red it’s ever been in his life, but he feels...happy. Jongin likes him. No, Jongin really likes him.
But...then...
“I’m sorry,” Jongin adds hastily, looking away from Sehun’s embarrassed face. “Just...pretend I didn’t say anything. You have a boyfriend. I’ll leave you alone forever now.”
And then Jongin is gone, standing up from his seat and walking briskly out of the cafe before Sehun even has a chance to react. It isn’t until Yixing asks him if he’s okay that he even processes Jongin’s last words.
Hold on...did he say...boyfriend?!
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
“IT’S ALL. YOUR. FAULT!!!!” Sehun shouts as soon as he gets back home. An unsuspecting Lu Han is making food in the kitchen when Sehun suddenly lunges at his throat, trying to strangle him to death.
“What the - fuck - stop choking me!” Lu Han complains, swatting at the younger boy with the spatula he was using to fry their snack.
Sehun lets go but continues to glare at his roommate, breathing heavily and fuming with anger.
“I HATE YOU!!” he yells, pointing his finger accusingly in Lu Han’s direction.
“What the hell did I do?!” Lu Han asks. He knows he isn’t the best roommate in the world, but really, he has never seen Sehun this pissed off before. Not since their friend Jongdae borrowed his N64 and broke it, anyway.
“YOU MADE JONGIN THINK WE WERE DATING! HE THINKS WE’RE DATING!”
“He...what?”
“HE THINKS YOU AND I ARE DATING!!!”
“...ew. I would never date you.”
“THIS IS NOT ABOUT WHETHER YOU WOULD DATE ME OR NOT!”
“Okay, whoa, Sehunnie, calm down. Do you want to get another noise violation?”
“ANOTHER?! ALL THE PREVIOUS ONES WERE YOUR FAULT!!!!”
Lu Han reddens. He isn’t used to dealing with such an expressive Sehun. Usually, the younger boy is the quieter one of the two (hence the three noise violations that Lu Han has received from their RA, Joonmyun, and Sehun’s zero).
“I know, I know...” he says, trying his very hardest (which admittedly is not that hard) to calm his best friend down. “But still...shhhhhh...Kyungsoo isn’t here to warn us when Joonmyun is coming, this time...he switched dorms, remember?”
“YOU SHH! I DON’T CARE ABOUT KYUNGSOO OR JOONMYUN! JONGIN THINKS WE’RE DATING!”
Finally, Lu Han snaps, and starts yelling right back at Sehun. “THEN WHY DON’T YOU TELL HIM WE AREN’T?!”
This seems to do the trick, because Sehun says nothing for a while, instead merely staring at Lu Han with a frown.
“...oh,” he finally says, taking a deep breath. “Good idea.”
“You think?!” Lu Han says, rolling his eyes. “And you say I’m an idiot. How did you even find out he thinks that, anyway? Did you finally go talk to him?”
“Yeah, and it was really awkward,” Sehun replies. “Then our hands touched and he was like ‘I really like you’ and I was like ‘kdjflgj what?’ and he was like ‘sorry, you have a boyfriend, bye’ and then he left.”
“...wait, he told you he really likes you?!” Lu Han asks, his eyes lighting up in excitement. Sehun blushes; he was so busy freaking out about his fake relationship with Lu Han that he hadn’t really wrapped his mind around that yet.
“Yeah,” he says, nodding. “Well...he said he thinks he really likes me. But that’s really the same thing, right?”
“Yes! Oh my gosh, this is so cute,” Lu Han gushes. “I’m so happy for you!” He then flings his arms around the younger boy, but is pushed away a second later.
“Stop hugging me!!! This is why he thinks we’re dating in the first place!” Sehun protests, his face still a bright red. “And now I have to figure out how to tell him that we aren’t, and that it’s all just a big misunderstanding...”
“Just text him,” Lu Han says, shrugging. “Or call him. Be all, I don’t have a boyfriend. I’m single. Sexy free and single and ready to bingo~~!!”
“Hyung, this is not a time for your lame jokes!” Sehun says, swatting him on the shoulder. “Help me. I don’t know what to do.”
“I told you! Just - oh, hold on.” Lu Han pauses in the middle of his sentence to fish his ringing phone out of his pocket. “Hello? Ah, Minseokkie~!”
Sehun groans, realizing that all of Lu Han’s attention is now gone, and that he probably won’t get it back anytime soon. This thought is confirmed when Lu Han says “I’ll be there in a few!” into his phone before hanging up and skipping out of the kitchen.
Sighing, Sehun takes his own phone out and turns it around in his hands a few times before opening up the Compose New Message screen.
I don’t know what gave you that impression, but...I don’t have a boyfriend, he types slowly, pressing down on each key with thought and deliberation.
Biting his lip, he stares at what he’s written for a good five minutes before making a decision.
He hits send.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
You don’t? ...are you sure?
Yes, I’m sure.
............oh.
Yeah...
I’m sorry I avoided you, then. I thought you and your roommate were together.
No, we’re just friends. He’s like a brother. But it’s okay, it was an honest mistake.
Oh. Well that’s...good. I feel really stupid now...are we cool?
You’re not stupid!! But yeah. We’re cool.
...Cool. :)
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
Things between Sehun and Jongin are all smiles after that. With the misunderstanding out of the way, they return to being good friends that go out for bubble tea every day. Of course, now that Sehun knows that Jongin really likes him, it’s a little bit awkward. Not because he doesn’t feel the same way - of course he does. It’s just that he doesn’t know how to say that he really likes him, too, without sounding like a total idiot.
So instead, he just opts to say nothing and hopes that his shy smiles and deep blushes convey the message.
He is quite satisfied with this plan, but of course, Lu Han isn’t. “You need to tell him how you feel!!” he shouts one afternoon as he rummages around in the living room, looking for something.
“Why? And...what are you doing?” Sehun asks, giving his roommate a strange look.
“I’m looking for my whiteboard so you can write him a note and confess your love, because I have been waiting way too long for you to get a boyfriend or girlfriend and I don’t want to wait any longer!”
“What? Confess my love with the whiteboard? I can’t do that! Why do you even want me to be in a relationship so badly, anyway?”
“It has been my dream for years!! Now do it!” Lu Han says, thrusting the whiteboard (which he procured from behind the couch) into the younger boy’s hands.
“Well that’s a weird thing to dream about...” Sehun mumbles, reluctantly taking the object out of Lu Han’s hands. “But hyung, I can’t use the whiteboard. It’s really inefficient. That’s why we stopped doing that and just started texting each other, instead.”
“But you can’t confess to him via text message, that’s just tacky! If you do it through the window it will be romantic. Like Romeo and Juliet, except not on a balcony and you won’t die afterwards. Also hopefully you won’t have sex and get married within a few days, because you’re too young for that.”
Sehun blushes and says nothing, because Lu Han is sort of...right. Well, about the first part, anyway. The whole rant about Romeo and Juliet was probably (definitely) unnecessary.
“DO IT!!!” Lu Han shouts. “You already know he won’t reject you, so what’s the hold up?!”
“....I guess you’re right,” Sehun finally says, biting his lip. “But the whiteboard is hard to read from so far away. Don’t you have any better ideas?”
“You mean you’ll really do it?!”
“...yeah, I guess so...I mean...” Before Sehun can even finish his thought, Lu Han runs into his room. He emerges a second later with a giant stack of papers in his hands.
“Here,” he says, slamming the stack down on the table in front of Sehun.
“Uh...what’s this for?”
Lu Han rolls his eyes. “If you want your message to be big enough, then you’ll need lots of paper. And here, you’ll need these, too,” he says, setting some markers and tape down, as well. “Have fun! And call me over when you’re done; I want to see this.”
“What -” Sehun begins to protest, but Lu Han has disappeared into his room again, leaving him alone with his supplies. Realizing once again that the battle is lost, he sighs and uncaps one of the markers. “Well, here goes nothing...” he mumbles to himself as he begins to outline a large letter on the first piece of paper. Let’s hope this works.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
He spends nearly an hour writing out his “love confession” perfectly with thick markers on the sheets of paper, one character at a time. He knows Jongin probably won’t care whether his handwriting is nice or not, but he wants it to look good, so he labors over every mark until it looks just right.
When the entire message is finally written out, he stares at his work for a good ten minutes, making last minute touch-ups before calling Lu Han out of his room. “Hyung!!” he yells. “Come help me tape these to the window.”
Lu Han appears in a flash, a bright grin on his face. “You really did it? Hooray!” he says, running to examine what Sehun has written. “Cuuuuuute,” he coos, reaching up to pinch Sehun’s cheeks.
“Stop,” Sehun says, swatting his hands away. “Now help me put these up. I think he’ll be home soon and I don’t want him to see it before it’s all ready.”
“Fine,” Lu Han scoffs, picking up the first slip of paper and some tape. Five minutes later, the words ‘I think I really like you, too’ are displayed for everyone (but mostly Jongin) to see.
“Now we wait,” Sehun says, his voice shaky in anticipation. “...I’m nervous.”
Lu Han laughs and ruffles Sehun’s hair. “Don’t be,” he says. “It’ll be fine.”
“I hope so,” Sehun sighs, biting his lip once more. “...what if he doesn’t even look out the window?”
The elder rolls his eyes and holds out his hand. “Give me your phone,” he says.
“No!” Sehun shrinks away from him in defense. “...I’ll do it.”
Lu Han looks surprised, but pleasantly so, and shrugs as he watches Sehun compose a text message.
When you get home, look out your window!! :)
“...you should have used a winky face,” Lu Han says. Sehun merely glares at him in response before returning his attention to his phone, which has just informed him of a new message.
Okay...? I’ll be home in about five minutes!! it says.
Five minutes...just five minutes until Jongin sees his confession. Five minutes until he either rejects him or becomes his boyfriend. Or, Sehun supposes, nothing could happen. But he likes to think that won’t be the case. Anything is better than nothing.
Five minutes - that’s all. But it feels like more.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
The longest five minutes of Sehun’s life later, the lights in Jongin’s apartment turn on. Sehun’s heart immediately starts racing and his eyes widen as he stares anxiously at Jongin’s window, willing the blinds to open with his mind. Lu Han, still sitting out on the couch so he can watch, gives him two thumbs up and a grin.
Taking deep breaths, Sehun moves to stand by the window so that he can see Jongin’s reaction. Finally, the blinds open, and at first Jongin only sees Sehun. He waves and smiles, and Sehun waves and smiles back, then gestures nervously to the words taped to the glass.
Jongin’s gaze shifts, and after a few seconds where he is presumably reading the message written for him, his smile grows into a full-on, toothy grin.
“Really?” he mouths, looking Sehun in the eye again.
Sehun blushes furiously and nods. Jongin continues to smile as he pulls out his phone to type a quick message. Stay right there, it says.
Confused, Sehun looks up from his screen to find that Jongin is no longer standing at his window. In fact, he is nowhere to be seen.
“...what? Where did he go?” he asks, turning to look at Lu Han with a panicked expression.
Unsurprisingly, Lu Han starts laughing. “Oh my god, is he coming over here? He totally is. Someone’s eager!”
“What? Coming over here? But...he doesn’t know which room we’re in!”
Lu Han shrugs. “It shouldn’t be hard for him to figure it out. Our names are on the door and we’re the same floor as him, just the opposite building.”
“Oh...right...” Sehun is still blushing and his heart is still beating fast, and the fact that Jongin is most likely coming over to his apartment right now doesn’t help. What is he planning? An impromptu bubble tea date? Something else? Is he going to get down on one knee and propose?!
Okay, probably not, but Sehun still can’t help but freak out as he waits for Jongin to arrive. Lu Han is still laughing at him but he doesn’t even have the brain capacity to glare at the moment - he’s too busy trying to calm the frantic butterflies in his stomach.
When the sound of someone knocking on the door reaches his ears, Sehun’s heart leaps in his chest and he looks to Lu Han for guidance.
“Well, answer the door!” his roommate whispers angrily, getting up from the couch to physically push Sehun towards the door.
“Okay, okay,” Sehun whispers back, trying to shoo Lu Han away with his hands. He then turns to the door and takes a deep breath. With a shaky hand, he opens the door, revealing an exhausted looking Jongin on the other side.
“J-Jongin,” Sehun says, biting his lip to keep his smile from getting too creepily large. He notices the other boy’s heavy breathing and pauses. “...did you run here?”
“Sehun,” Jongin replies with a smile of his own. “...oh, yeah. Sort of. I just really wanted to see you.”
“Oh...” Sehun blushes. “Well...hi.”
Jongin chuckles and takes a step forward. “Hi,” he says.
And then his lips are suddenly pressing against Sehun’s, and Sehun doesn’t really know how to react. Stunned, he hesitantly closes his eyes and wraps his arms around Jongin’s neck, kissing him back. Jongin smiles against his lips and pulls him closer by the waist, causing Sehun to let out a small surprised whine. His head is pounding and his heart feels like it’s going to explode and he doesn’t even know what he’s doing right now, but it doesn’t matter because Jongin is kissing him and it feels really nice and - is that Lu Han’s laugh?
Mortified, Sehun breaks apart from Jongin and turns his head slightly to see that his roommate is literally doubled over in laughter.
“Oh, god,” Sehun mumbles, hiding his face in Jongin’s neck in embarrassment.
“...oops,” Jongin says, laughing nervously but still holding onto Sehun tightly. “Sorry...I forgot you don’t live alone like I do.”
“No worries!” Lu Han says, bright and cheery as he stands up from his previous position on the ground. “I was just leaving, anyway.”
Sehun emerges from his “hiding spot” to stare at Lu Han, wide eyed. “What? You were?”
“Yep!” The older boy grins and moves to clap a hand on each of their backs, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Have fun, kids! And remember to be safe~”
“What - hyung -” Sehun begins to protest, but Lu Han isn’t listening. A second later he’s out the door, closing it behind him and leaving the new couple by themselves.
“Um,” Sehun sputters a moment later, cheeks burning red. “Just ignore him. He’s really weird. I p-promise that won’t happen again.”
Jongin laughs. “It’s okay,” he says, pulling Sehun even closer. “But now that he’s gone, can I kiss you again?”
Sehun still hasn’t quite regained the ability to speak properly yet, so instead he merely nods. When Jongin leans in once more, he allows himself to melt into their second kiss even more than the first, a happy sigh escaping his lips.
He feels a bit creepy knowing that the only reason this is happening is because he used to watch Jongin through the window like a stalker, but he figures that doesn’t matter. After all, Jongin had to have been watching him, too.
(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~~
Yixing does still work there, and so does Kris, his (according to Lu Han) “less cute and more scary” friend. Watching them bicker is one of the things Sehun and Jongin do to pass the time on their “dates,” along with complaining about homework and telling each other stupid jokes.
“Hey, I got one,” Jongin says over Kris’ loud complaints (apparently Yixing had left the cap off one of the milk jugs again), a bright grin settled on his face. “What side of a cheetah has more spots?”
Sehun stares, thinking for a moment before giving up. “What?”
“The outside!” Jongin starts laughing before Sehun even has the chance to react. It then takes him awhile to even wrap his mind around the punchline, because Jongin’s laugh is really cute, and it’s distracting. When he finally gets the joke, he merely stares some more.
“Oh my god,” he says, shaking his head lightly. “That was really bad.”
“I know, right?” Jongin laughs again. “But hey, I’d like to see you do better!”
“Okay,” Sehun says, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table between them. “Hm...what’s brown and sticky?”
Jongin makes a disgusted face, causing Sehun to laugh. “Not what you think. Guess!”
“Uh...” The other boy scratches his head in thought before shrugging. “I don’t know. What is it?”
Sehun grins, feeling triumphant. “A stick!” he says, clapping his hands together for effect.
“A...stick,” Jongin says slowly.
“Yep!”
And then Jongin is laughing again, and this time Sehun is laughing along with him, and their laughter grows so loud that Kris even stops yelling at Yixing for a moment so he can yell at them, instead. But they aren’t listening, because Sehun is lost in Jongin’s deep bellow and Jongin is lost in...Sehun doesn’t know what, but they’re having a good time and that’s all that matters.
When they finally calm down and catch their breath, Jongin says, “Okay, you got me. Where did you even hear that?!”
Sehun shrugs. He honestly doesn’t remember where he heard it; his brain is just a warehouse of dumb jokes all thanks to his cheesy friends. “I don’t know,” he says. “I think my roommate told it to me. He always says weird things like that.”
“Oh,” Jongin says. Sehun isn’t sure but he thinks he hears a tinge of something like sadness in his voice. He has no idea why that would be, though, so he doesn’t mention it
“...what about you? Where did you hear that joke about the cheetahs?” he asks, trying his best not to let their conversation lapse back into the awkward feel of their first few encounters.
Jongin gives him a meek smile and a shrug of his own. “Not sure, actually,” he says, chuckling. “I must have read it online somewhere. I don’t have a roommate so I couldn’t have heard it that way, heh.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right,” Sehun says, nodding to himself. “I bet it’s nice not having a roommate...” He tries to imagine what it would be like without Lu Han and his snooping and lets out a wistful sigh. If only!
Jongin, however, seems to feel differently. “Eh,” he replies, shrugging once again. “It’s okay. Sometimes I get lonely.”
Lonely...well, Sehun hadn’t thought of that, probably because he was never really alone and it sort of bugged him. But he supposed living by himself would get rather boring, after a while.
“Oh,” he says, biting his lip. “Well, that’s what friends are for, right? You can just invite people over when you feel alone.”
Jongin stares at him for a moment before smiling again, his grin so bright that it almost hurts Sehun’s eyes. “Are you implying that I should invite you over? Because last time I tried that, you faked sick on me,” he says.
Sehun blushes. He hadn’t realized Jongin saw through his excuse. “Hey, I was really sick!” he protests, although he knows it isn’t true. He wasn’t sick. Love sick, maybe, but that was no valid excuse.
“Sure you were,” Jongin says, chuckling lightly. “It’s okay, I forgive you. But I really do get lonely, and I really do want you to come over. So will you?”
He doesn’t think it’s possible for his face to get even redder than it already is, but he can feel his cheeks heating up and so he plays with the straw of his drink nervously.
“Uh, yeah, okay,” he says, maintaining eye contact for about a second before ducking to take a sip of his drink. Once he’s calmed down a bit, he looks up again and smiles, hoping that the way his stomach is doing flips isn’t too apparent.
“Cool,” Jongin says with another grin, appearing one hundred times more calm than Sehun. “Are you doing anything today? I don’t have that much homework so we’d have a lot of time to hang out.”
Sehun is too busy freaking out over the idea of hanging out with Jongin in his apartment to properly form any more words, so instead he just shakes his head. Jongin then goes on to ramble about how they can play the dance game together, and eat lots of snacks (since he apparently has way too much food for a kid living by himself) and watch some movie he rented last week but never got around to watching.
Sehun thinks all of this sounds wonderful, but he’s too busy realizing that this “infatuation” might never go away to give an appropriate answer.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
Twenty minutes later, instead of going home, he walks with Jongin to his dorm and sends Lu Han a quick explanatory text message.
I’m gonna hang out with Jongin for a while at his place. Don’t wait up!!
Fortunately (or unfortunately, he’s not so sure), his crazy roommate’s response is only one word.
BOYFRIENDS!!!!
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
The next day, however, he has much more to say. As Sehun is busy making himself an english muffin for breakfast, Lu Han sneaks up behind him and pinches his sides, causing the younger to yelp and nearly drop his butter knife on the ground.
“What the hell, hyung?” he shrieks, stepping as far away from Lu Han as their small kitchen will allow. “Do you want to die?!”
Lu Han laughs. “No, I just want to hear about your time at Jongin’s place,” he says. “You didn’t tell me anything when you got home last night! Which leads me to believe that you were doing scandalous things and that I’m going to have to go beat him up or something -”
“Oh my god. We weren’t doing scandalous things!” Sehun blushes and turns back to his english muffin to distract himself from the glimmer in Lu Han’s eyes. “We played his dancing game, and then we watched a movie. That’s it.”
“You watched a movie? Did he try to make a move? Were the lights off? Did he put his arm around you?”
“Yes, no, yes, and no,” Sehun grumbles. “I hate to break it to you hyung, but nothing really happened. Not like that anyway. But it was...fun.”
“Fun? Are you sure he didn’t make a move on you?”
“I’m sure,” Sehun rolls his eyes. “I had a good time though. So you don’t have to worry.”
He did have a good time. A great one, actually. He and Jongin got along really well. They laughed at all the same stupid things and liked all the same weird foods and Sehun even discovered that he was pretty good at dancing. The worst part of the night had been when he saw Lu Han out of the corner of his eye, waving and making kissy faces from their apartment window across the way. Needless to say, they closed the blinds after that.
“Don’t have to worry?! I think it sounds like I do have to worry! If you start liking Jongin more than you like me, I might cry,” Lu Han says.
“Of course I like him more than I like you,” Sehun says, sticking his tongue out playfully. “You’re annoying and rude and he’s funny and nice. Plus, he’s hotter.”
Lu Han gasps, clutching his heart dramatically. “He is not! I am super hot.”
Sehun lets out a light-hearted laugh. “Don’t lie, hyung. You’re just a cute baby deer,” he says, reaching out to pinch his best friend’s cheeks. “And I’m sorry, but I prefer cool, sexy guys over ones that remind me of Disney animated movies.”
“Well,” Lu Han says, sniffling a bit. “I am heartbroken. But at least Minseok likes my cute Bambi eyes.”
“...Minseok?” Sehun asks, abandoning his english muffin out of curiosity. “You mean your lab partner?”
“Yes,” Lu Han says, a frown still settled on his face. “We are canoodling.”
“Ca...what? Who even says that anymore?” Sehun asks, shaking his head. “Wait...are you serious?!”
“Well, no. We aren’t canoodling...yet. But I did ask him to go on a dinner date with me tomorrow, and he said yes,” Lu Han replies. He says this with such a straight face that Sehun is stunned into silence for a moment, unsure of whether he’s being serious or not. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen Lu Han serious before. It’s kind of...scary.
“You...really? You asked him out?” Sehun finally asks, his jaw dropping in astonishment. Not that Lu Han liking somebody was all that radical (he liked a new person practically every week), it was just that he usually didn’t seriously date people unless they were really special. “Why didn’t you tell me you were planning on doing that?”
“Well I was going to,” Lu Han shrugs. “But you were so busy freaking out over Jongin and I didn’t want to spoil your cute crush with news of mine.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” Sehun exclaims. He feels a little hurt that his best friend wouldn’t tell him about this new development, especially since Lu Han’s the one who has been butting into Sehun’s business lately. “Hyung, you can tell me anything! Your crushes are just as cute and important as mine!”
Finally, Lu Han’s ever present grin returns, and he pulls Sehun in for a tight bear hug. “You’re too good to me, Sehunnie!” he exclaims, ruffling his hair. “I’ll be sure to tell you all of the details of our passionate romance from now on, then,” he says, still not letting go.
“Oh, uh, that won’t be necessary,” Sehun laughs nervously, trying to pry himself out of Lu Han’s death grip. He manages to get away a few moments later, but only after his roommate has planted a wet kiss on his cheek.
“Ew, hyung,” he says, wiping his face off with the edge of his shirt. Lu Han then giggles and pokes the small bit of exposed flesh on Sehun’s stomach before disappearing into his room. Shaking his head, Sehun turns to go back to buttering his english muffin when he catches a glimpse of movement outside the window. Jongin.
He smiles and lifts his hand in a wave, but either Jongin doesn’t see or doesn’t care, because he turns around and walks out of sight before the two of them even make eye contact.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
Sehun doesn’t think much of Jongin’s strange dismissal until later, after class, when he doesn’t show up for their tea “date.” At first, he thinks maybe he’s just sick or busy or something, but then he doesn’t show up the next day, either. Or the next day.
He’s not answering Sehun’s text messages, either, and his blinds are always closed. By the middle of the week, it’s pretty apparent that Jongin is purposefully avoiding him, and Sehun doesn’t know what he did wrong. Was it something he said? Was it something he did when they hung out? Or did Jongin finally realize what a loser and a creep Sehun was and decide he wasn’t worthy of his time?
Whatever the reason, it leaves Sehun feeling dejected and...well, heartbroken. He doesn’t leave his room except to go to class and occasionally the bathroom, and he only eats whatever food Lu Han shoves into his mouth at night when he’s too weak to resist. He feels pathetic for being so hung up on a guy he truthfully didn’t know all that well, but he had really felt like things were going well with Jongin and this just didn’t make any sense.
“I don’t get it,” Sehun wails into his pillow one night. Lu Han has situated himself in Sehun’s desk chair, and has brought his new boyfriend Minseok along for a “therapy session.” “I just really thought he liked me, at least as a friend.”
Lu Han gives him a sympathetic look and pats the top of his head. “It’s okay, Sehunnie,” he says. “There are other fish in the sea.”
“Bubidunwahoduhfith,” Sehun mumbles, his face buried in his blankets.
“...I’m sorry, what?”
“I think he said he doesn’t want other fish,” Minseok says, looking to Sehun for clarification. Sehun merely nods lethargically, still not lifting his head.
The two older boys sigh and exchange looks before Lu Han tries again. “Well, you have to get over it sometime,” he says.
The insensitive comment doesn’t help, and Sehun just continues to wail into his bedding like a preteen girl.
“Lu Han, maybe you should let me handle this,” Minseok says softly, giving the other boy a look. “You’re not making matters any better.”
Lu Han wants to protest and say that he’s known Sehun much longer and is therefore better equipped to make him feel happy again, but he knows Minseok is probably right. He’s terrible at consoling people. So, with a resigned sigh, he gestures at the limp figure on the bed, giving his boyfriend the okay to try his hand at helping.
Minseok sighs before moving to sit on the edge of Sehun’s bed, awkwardly placing one of his hands on the younger’s back. “Just try to think about it for a minute,” he says slowly. “Did you do anything that could have made him want to avoid you?”
Sehun lays still for a moment before turning on his side to face Lu Han and Minseok. “I don’t think so,” he says, frowning. “The last time I talked to him was when I went to his apartment, and he laughed at my dumb joke about giraffes for like ten minutes before he walked me home.”
“Hm,” Minseok says, biting his lip in thought for a moment. “Well, it seems like he likes you, so there must be a good explanation for this. You just have to reason it out,” he continues. “Maybe he’s already in a relationship and feels bad about leading you on, or maybe he really is just sick and can’t move. Or, he likes you, but he’s just too scared to tell you so he’s avoiding contact.”
Sehun seems to think these options over for a moment, but he’s not so sure he even wants to believe them. “But...” he whines. “If he was sick he could still text me back, and...I don’t know if he’d ever do those other things...”
“Well, you did say yourself that you haven’t known him that long,” Minseok points out. “It’s completely possible that he didn’t tell you about a boyfriend or girlfriend for fear of hurting you. Or, the more appealing option, that he seems like the calm cool and collected type but actually gets shy when it comes to expressing his feelings.”
“......oh,” Sehun says quietly. “I guess that’s possible...”
“See? Not all hope is lost. You just need to make an effort to sort out the misunderstanding. Go over there and talk to him if you have to; just don’t stay holed up in your room like this. It’s not going to fix anything.”
“...okay. Thanks, sunbae. You’re right.”
Minseok smiles, and so does Sehun, and Lu Han is left flabbergasted.
“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” he says to Minseok, looking between the two with wide eyes. “You’re a miracle worker!”
Minseok lets out a sheepish chuckle and scratches the back of his head. “Well, I am a psych major, after all,” he says. “But thanks. I like you too.”
They then proceed to grin at each other like love-struck fools, causing Sehun to groan and hide his face in his pillows again. “Guys,” he whines, kicking his feet in protest. “I don’t need this right now. I already have to deal with Baekhyun and Chanyeol making googly eyes at each other all the time in my english class. YOU’RE NOT HELPING!”
Lu Han pries his eyes away from Minseok and laughs. “Sorry,” he says, patting his roommate on the head again. “Why don’t you go talk to Jongin? Then you guys can make googly eyes at each other instead.”
“...maybe later,” Sehun grumbles in response.
Because as nice as that sounds, he’s still not sure if he’s ready for that yet.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
Minseok’s pep talk did give Sehun a little bit of hope, but he still isn’t entirely sure about what to do. He’s afraid that Jongin won’t want to see him, and that he’ll only end up making things worse between them. He only wishes he knew why he was being ignored; then it would be a lot easier for him to try to fix it.
His opportunity arises a few days later, however, when he sees Jongin on the way back from class. It feels oddly like the first time they met in person, only this time Sehun is the one calling out to Jongin, and the mood is even more awkward than it had been back then.
“J-Jongin! Hey, wait up!” he shouts, quickening his pace so as to catch up to the other boy. He sees Jongin’s steps falter, but he doesn’t turn around, which makes Sehun frown. “Um,” he says, once they are standing next to each other, stalled in the middle of the walkway. “Hi...sorry if you’re busy...I just...haven’t seen you in a while.”
Finally, Jongin turns to look at Sehun, a mixture of guilt and apprehension on his face. “Oh, Sehun,” he says, biting his lip. “Yeah, hi. Sorry about that...I’ve been...sick.”
Sehun frowns, unsure how to respond to that, because...sick? The word makes his heart feel heavy; it’s same excuse that he used a few weeks back.
“O-oh,” he croaks, looking down at the ground. He is mentally beating himself up for ever thinking this would be a good idea. He should have just let Jongin go on with his day...it would have spared him a lot of sadness and embarrassment.
“Yeah...” Jongin says, scratching the back of his head nervously. “But uh, I’m better now. So...”
Sehun looks up, trying his best not to appear as pathetic and desperate as he feels. “You are? Well that’s good,” he says. “...do you want to go get bubble tea?”
His face turns red once the words leave his mouth, because wow, that was not what he meant to say at all. He does want to get bubble tea with Jongin, though, so he doesn’t try to rescind the offer. He just hopes he doesn’t get shut down, because he doesn’t know if he can handle any more disappointments today.
“Uh,” Jongin says. He seems taken aback by the question, as if he didn’t expect Sehun to make this much of an effort in preserving their friendship. “...yeah, okay,” he answers with a nod.
Sehun had been preparing for the worst, so the fact that Jongin has actually agreed causes a wide smile to form on his face. “Really?” he asks.
“Sure,” Jongin shrugs and gives Sehun a smile of his own. “Let’s go.”
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
Things are still awkward, but once they are sitting down at their usual table, listening to the usual banter of Yixing and Kris, Sehun starts to relax a little bit. He notices that Jongin has also slipped somewhat into a state of ease, and soon they are talking and laughing as if nothing even happened. Which, well, nothing really did...not that Sehun can remember, anyway.
He knows he should probably do what Minseok suggested and ask about why Jongin has been ignoring him all week, but he’s scared. Hearing Jongin’s laugh again and seeing his smile feels too good, and he doesn’t want to screw it up. So instead, he just acts like he’s not still hurting inside - like he’s not still confused beyond belief.
It’s working, to some extent. It isn’t until Jongin asks if Sehun’s drink is any good that the illusion is shattered.
“Hmm?” Sehun’s eyebrows wrinkle up in confusion before he remembers that he ordered something different than his usual, this time. “Oh, yeah,” he says, nodding. “Here, you want to try some?” He holds out his drink to Jongin, who nods and casually takes a sip out of the straw before handing it back. Their fingers brush during the exchange, and it is then that both boys’ eyes widen with the realization that they pretty much just swapped saliva.
Oh my god, Sehun thinks, his cheeks beginning to burn red. That was like indirect kissing! We just indirectly kissed!
Jongin laughs nervously and says, “Yeah, that’s good...” trailing off awkwardly and biting his lip. “Actually, uh...”
Sehun’s heart starts to beat faster as he notices the shift in the atmosphere. Is Jongin actually going to explain himself? It seems like he is, and now that the moment has finally come, Sehun isn’t so sure he wants it anymore. He was having a good time pretending everything was fine and dandy, thank you very much.
“I, um,” Jongin continues. Sehun stares at him with scared, wide eyes and waits. “I don’t think I can do this anymore.”
What? Do what?
“...d-do what?” he voices out loud.
“I...I think I really like you,” Jongin finally says, laughing nervously and picking at the tablecloth in front of him.
Sehun’s eyes widen even further and he nearly chokes on his own spit. “You...huh?!” he spits out, unsure if he heard that correctly. Is he being serious? Jongin thinks he really likes him, Oh Sehun? His heart is racing and his face is probably the darkest shade of red it’s ever been in his life, but he feels...happy. Jongin likes him. No, Jongin really likes him.
But...then...
“I’m sorry,” Jongin adds hastily, looking away from Sehun’s embarrassed face. “Just...pretend I didn’t say anything. You have a boyfriend. I’ll leave you alone forever now.”
And then Jongin is gone, standing up from his seat and walking briskly out of the cafe before Sehun even has a chance to react. It isn’t until Yixing asks him if he’s okay that he even processes Jongin’s last words.
Hold on...did he say...boyfriend?!
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
“IT’S ALL. YOUR. FAULT!!!!” Sehun shouts as soon as he gets back home. An unsuspecting Lu Han is making food in the kitchen when Sehun suddenly lunges at his throat, trying to strangle him to death.
“What the - fuck - stop choking me!” Lu Han complains, swatting at the younger boy with the spatula he was using to fry their snack.
Sehun lets go but continues to glare at his roommate, breathing heavily and fuming with anger.
“I HATE YOU!!” he yells, pointing his finger accusingly in Lu Han’s direction.
“What the hell did I do?!” Lu Han asks. He knows he isn’t the best roommate in the world, but really, he has never seen Sehun this pissed off before. Not since their friend Jongdae borrowed his N64 and broke it, anyway.
“YOU MADE JONGIN THINK WE WERE DATING! HE THINKS WE’RE DATING!”
“He...what?”
“HE THINKS YOU AND I ARE DATING!!!”
“...ew. I would never date you.”
“THIS IS NOT ABOUT WHETHER YOU WOULD DATE ME OR NOT!”
“Okay, whoa, Sehunnie, calm down. Do you want to get another noise violation?”
“ANOTHER?! ALL THE PREVIOUS ONES WERE YOUR FAULT!!!!”
Lu Han reddens. He isn’t used to dealing with such an expressive Sehun. Usually, the younger boy is the quieter one of the two (hence the three noise violations that Lu Han has received from their RA, Joonmyun, and Sehun’s zero).
“I know, I know...” he says, trying his very hardest (which admittedly is not that hard) to calm his best friend down. “But still...shhhhhh...Kyungsoo isn’t here to warn us when Joonmyun is coming, this time...he switched dorms, remember?”
“YOU SHH! I DON’T CARE ABOUT KYUNGSOO OR JOONMYUN! JONGIN THINKS WE’RE DATING!”
Finally, Lu Han snaps, and starts yelling right back at Sehun. “THEN WHY DON’T YOU TELL HIM WE AREN’T?!”
This seems to do the trick, because Sehun says nothing for a while, instead merely staring at Lu Han with a frown.
“...oh,” he finally says, taking a deep breath. “Good idea.”
“You think?!” Lu Han says, rolling his eyes. “And you say I’m an idiot. How did you even find out he thinks that, anyway? Did you finally go talk to him?”
“Yeah, and it was really awkward,” Sehun replies. “Then our hands touched and he was like ‘I really like you’ and I was like ‘kdjflgj what?’ and he was like ‘sorry, you have a boyfriend, bye’ and then he left.”
“...wait, he told you he really likes you?!” Lu Han asks, his eyes lighting up in excitement. Sehun blushes; he was so busy freaking out about his fake relationship with Lu Han that he hadn’t really wrapped his mind around that yet.
“Yeah,” he says, nodding. “Well...he said he thinks he really likes me. But that’s really the same thing, right?”
“Yes! Oh my gosh, this is so cute,” Lu Han gushes. “I’m so happy for you!” He then flings his arms around the younger boy, but is pushed away a second later.
“Stop hugging me!!! This is why he thinks we’re dating in the first place!” Sehun protests, his face still a bright red. “And now I have to figure out how to tell him that we aren’t, and that it’s all just a big misunderstanding...”
“Just text him,” Lu Han says, shrugging. “Or call him. Be all, I don’t have a boyfriend. I’m single. Sexy free and single and ready to bingo~~!!”
“Hyung, this is not a time for your lame jokes!” Sehun says, swatting him on the shoulder. “Help me. I don’t know what to do.”
“I told you! Just - oh, hold on.” Lu Han pauses in the middle of his sentence to fish his ringing phone out of his pocket. “Hello? Ah, Minseokkie~!”
Sehun groans, realizing that all of Lu Han’s attention is now gone, and that he probably won’t get it back anytime soon. This thought is confirmed when Lu Han says “I’ll be there in a few!” into his phone before hanging up and skipping out of the kitchen.
Sighing, Sehun takes his own phone out and turns it around in his hands a few times before opening up the Compose New Message screen.
I don’t know what gave you that impression, but...I don’t have a boyfriend, he types slowly, pressing down on each key with thought and deliberation.
Biting his lip, he stares at what he’s written for a good five minutes before making a decision.
He hits send.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
You don’t? ...are you sure?
Yes, I’m sure.
............oh.
Yeah...
I’m sorry I avoided you, then. I thought you and your roommate were together.
No, we’re just friends. He’s like a brother. But it’s okay, it was an honest mistake.
Oh. Well that’s...good. I feel really stupid now...are we cool?
You’re not stupid!! But yeah. We’re cool.
...Cool. :)
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
Things between Sehun and Jongin are all smiles after that. With the misunderstanding out of the way, they return to being good friends that go out for bubble tea every day. Of course, now that Sehun knows that Jongin really likes him, it’s a little bit awkward. Not because he doesn’t feel the same way - of course he does. It’s just that he doesn’t know how to say that he really likes him, too, without sounding like a total idiot.
So instead, he just opts to say nothing and hopes that his shy smiles and deep blushes convey the message.
He is quite satisfied with this plan, but of course, Lu Han isn’t. “You need to tell him how you feel!!” he shouts one afternoon as he rummages around in the living room, looking for something.
“Why? And...what are you doing?” Sehun asks, giving his roommate a strange look.
“I’m looking for my whiteboard so you can write him a note and confess your love, because I have been waiting way too long for you to get a boyfriend or girlfriend and I don’t want to wait any longer!”
“What? Confess my love with the whiteboard? I can’t do that! Why do you even want me to be in a relationship so badly, anyway?”
“It has been my dream for years!! Now do it!” Lu Han says, thrusting the whiteboard (which he procured from behind the couch) into the younger boy’s hands.
“Well that’s a weird thing to dream about...” Sehun mumbles, reluctantly taking the object out of Lu Han’s hands. “But hyung, I can’t use the whiteboard. It’s really inefficient. That’s why we stopped doing that and just started texting each other, instead.”
“But you can’t confess to him via text message, that’s just tacky! If you do it through the window it will be romantic. Like Romeo and Juliet, except not on a balcony and you won’t die afterwards. Also hopefully you won’t have sex and get married within a few days, because you’re too young for that.”
Sehun blushes and says nothing, because Lu Han is sort of...right. Well, about the first part, anyway. The whole rant about Romeo and Juliet was probably (definitely) unnecessary.
“DO IT!!!” Lu Han shouts. “You already know he won’t reject you, so what’s the hold up?!”
“....I guess you’re right,” Sehun finally says, biting his lip. “But the whiteboard is hard to read from so far away. Don’t you have any better ideas?”
“You mean you’ll really do it?!”
“...yeah, I guess so...I mean...” Before Sehun can even finish his thought, Lu Han runs into his room. He emerges a second later with a giant stack of papers in his hands.
“Here,” he says, slamming the stack down on the table in front of Sehun.
“Uh...what’s this for?”
Lu Han rolls his eyes. “If you want your message to be big enough, then you’ll need lots of paper. And here, you’ll need these, too,” he says, setting some markers and tape down, as well. “Have fun! And call me over when you’re done; I want to see this.”
“What -” Sehun begins to protest, but Lu Han has disappeared into his room again, leaving him alone with his supplies. Realizing once again that the battle is lost, he sighs and uncaps one of the markers. “Well, here goes nothing...” he mumbles to himself as he begins to outline a large letter on the first piece of paper. Let’s hope this works.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
He spends nearly an hour writing out his “love confession” perfectly with thick markers on the sheets of paper, one character at a time. He knows Jongin probably won’t care whether his handwriting is nice or not, but he wants it to look good, so he labors over every mark until it looks just right.
When the entire message is finally written out, he stares at his work for a good ten minutes, making last minute touch-ups before calling Lu Han out of his room. “Hyung!!” he yells. “Come help me tape these to the window.”
Lu Han appears in a flash, a bright grin on his face. “You really did it? Hooray!” he says, running to examine what Sehun has written. “Cuuuuuute,” he coos, reaching up to pinch Sehun’s cheeks.
“Stop,” Sehun says, swatting his hands away. “Now help me put these up. I think he’ll be home soon and I don’t want him to see it before it’s all ready.”
“Fine,” Lu Han scoffs, picking up the first slip of paper and some tape. Five minutes later, the words ‘I think I really like you, too’ are displayed for everyone (but mostly Jongin) to see.
“Now we wait,” Sehun says, his voice shaky in anticipation. “...I’m nervous.”
Lu Han laughs and ruffles Sehun’s hair. “Don’t be,” he says. “It’ll be fine.”
“I hope so,” Sehun sighs, biting his lip once more. “...what if he doesn’t even look out the window?”
The elder rolls his eyes and holds out his hand. “Give me your phone,” he says.
“No!” Sehun shrinks away from him in defense. “...I’ll do it.”
Lu Han looks surprised, but pleasantly so, and shrugs as he watches Sehun compose a text message.
When you get home, look out your window!! :)
“...you should have used a winky face,” Lu Han says. Sehun merely glares at him in response before returning his attention to his phone, which has just informed him of a new message.
Okay...? I’ll be home in about five minutes!! it says.
Five minutes...just five minutes until Jongin sees his confession. Five minutes until he either rejects him or becomes his boyfriend. Or, Sehun supposes, nothing could happen. But he likes to think that won’t be the case. Anything is better than nothing.
Five minutes - that’s all. But it feels like more.
*✲ﾟ*｡⋆*
The longest five minutes of Sehun’s life later, the lights in Jongin’s apartment turn on. Sehun’s heart immediately starts racing and his eyes widen as he stares anxiously at Jongin’s window, willing the blinds to open with his mind. Lu Han, still sitting out on the couch so he can watch, gives him two thumbs up and a grin.
Taking deep breaths, Sehun moves to stand by the window so that he can see Jongin’s reaction. Finally, the blinds open, and at first Jongin only sees Sehun. He waves and smiles, and Sehun waves and smiles back, then gestures nervously to the words taped to the glass.
Jongin’s gaze shifts, and after a few seconds where he is presumably reading the message written for him, his smile grows into a full-on, toothy grin.
“Really?” he mouths, looking Sehun in the eye again.
Sehun blushes furiously and nods. Jongin continues to smile as he pulls out his phone to type a quick message. Stay right there, it says.
Confused, Sehun looks up from his screen to find that Jongin is no longer standing at his window. In fact, he is nowhere to be seen.
“...what? Where did he go?” he asks, turning to look at Lu Han with a panicked expression.
Unsurprisingly, Lu Han starts laughing. “Oh my god, is he coming over here? He totally is. Someone’s eager!”
“What? Coming over here? But...he doesn’t know which room we’re in!”
Lu Han shrugs. “It shouldn’t be hard for him to figure it out. Our names are on the door and we’re the same floor as him, just the opposite building.”
“Oh...right...” Sehun is still blushing and his heart is still beating fast, and the fact that Jongin is most likely coming over to his apartment right now doesn’t help. What is he planning? An impromptu bubble tea date? Something else? Is he going to get down on one knee and propose?!
Okay, probably not, but Sehun still can’t help but freak out as he waits for Jongin to arrive. Lu Han is still laughing at him but he doesn’t even have the brain capacity to glare at the moment - he’s too busy trying to calm the frantic butterflies in his stomach.
When the sound of someone knocking on the door reaches his ears, Sehun’s heart leaps in his chest and he looks to Lu Han for guidance.
“Well, answer the door!” his roommate whispers angrily, getting up from the couch to physically push Sehun towards the door.
“Okay, okay,” Sehun whispers back, trying to shoo Lu Han away with his hands. He then turns to the door and takes a deep breath. With a shaky hand, he opens the door, revealing an exhausted looking Jongin on the other side.
“J-Jongin,” Sehun says, biting his lip to keep his smile from getting too creepily large. He notices the other boy’s heavy breathing and pauses. “...did you run here?”
“Sehun,” Jongin replies with a smile of his own. “...oh, yeah. Sort of. I just really wanted to see you.”
“Oh...” Sehun blushes. “Well...hi.”
Jongin chuckles and takes a step forward. “Hi,” he says.
And then his lips are suddenly pressing against Sehun’s, and Sehun doesn’t really know how to react. Stunned, he hesitantly closes his eyes and wraps his arms around Jongin’s neck, kissing him back. Jongin smiles against his lips and pulls him closer by the waist, causing Sehun to let out a small surprised whine. His head is pounding and his heart feels like it’s going to explode and he doesn’t even know what he’s doing right now, but it doesn’t matter because Jongin is kissing him and it feels really nice and - is that Lu Han’s laugh?
Mortified, Sehun breaks apart from Jongin and turns his head slightly to see that his roommate is literally doubled over in laughter.
“Oh, god,” Sehun mumbles, hiding his face in Jongin’s neck in embarrassment.
“...oops,” Jongin says, laughing nervously but still holding onto Sehun tightly. “Sorry...I forgot you don’t live alone like I do.”
“No worries!” Lu Han says, bright and cheery as he stands up from his previous position on the ground. “I was just leaving, anyway.”
Sehun emerges from his “hiding spot” to stare at Lu Han, wide eyed. “What? You were?”
“Yep!” The older boy grins and moves to clap a hand on each of their backs, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Have fun, kids! And remember to be safe~”
“What - hyung -” Sehun begins to protest, but Lu Han isn’t listening. A second later he’s out the door, closing it behind him and leaving the new couple by themselves.
“Um,” Sehun sputters a moment later, cheeks burning red. “Just ignore him. He’s really weird. I p-promise that won’t happen again.”
Jongin laughs. “It’s okay,” he says, pulling Sehun even closer. “But now that he’s gone, can I kiss you again?”
Sehun still hasn’t quite regained the ability to speak properly yet, so instead he merely nods. When Jongin leans in once more, he allows himself to melt into their second kiss even more than the first, a happy sigh escaping his lips.
He feels a bit creepy knowing that the only reason this is happening is because he used to watch Jongin through the window like a stalker, but he figures that doesn’t matter. After all, Jongin had to have been watching him, too.
(part one) (part two)