Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As a new semester was beginning in the Plan A college, Kang Seungsik, a senior student, was preparing his stuffs for the rough back to school. It was late at night when he finished everything. He was about to go sleep when he heard a message alarm from his phone. The student checked on his device to see who sent him a message. It came from a chat group of his friends. Interesting fact to notice is that all his friends were from younger grades than him. He couldn't believe that they were friends despite their age differences, but it didn't matter at the same time as long as they were happy. Anyway, the boy clicked on the chat group.

Byungchan: "Guys! The locker partners were assigned!"

Chan: "Nice! I'm with our little maknae again! :333"

Subin: "Whaaat? How could it be... O_O"

Sejun: "It must be fate rofl."

Hanse: "Even destiny ships you two kekekeke"

 

After reading the messages, Seungsik jumped to his computer to go on the college's website. He logged in into his account, a little bit thrilled to know who would be his partner. It wasn't something that matter much for him, but he wanted at least to know if he would deal with someone messy. As he was in his student account, he clicked the "Lockers Tab". The page was loading while many thoughts went through Seungsik's mind. Would he get his friend Hanse again as a locker partner? One thing was sure, it's that he didn't want to share a locker with his younger friend because of all his pranks. He thought that it would be nice to have Sejun or Byungchan as they weren't totally messy, but he knew he would like to have Subin as he was the less messy. Seungsik looked at the screen and his eyes went wide as he saw the name of his locker partner.

"Han Seungwoo?" he said in a questioning voice. He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Who the heck is he? I never heard of this name before..."

Seungsik couldn't understand why the system chose a stranger instead of someone he put in the "Preferences tab". He took his phone out and wrote a message.

Seungsik: "Ya, I don't understand why I've got someone that I don't know.... :/"

Chan: "Oh? U didn't get one of us???"

Seungsik: "Nah... I've got someone called Han Seungwoo."

Seungsik: "Does someone know him???? O_O"

Subin: "I can't help you, Ive just joined last year you know..."

Hanse: "Sorry you've got someone else.."

Seungsik: "But wait, who do you got guys?"

Sejun: "I'm with Hanse. Idk if its good or not."

Hanse: "U know it'll be great to be with me kekeke"

Seungsik: "And you, Byungchan?"

Byungchan: "Oh... I've forgot to tell you that since I'm in the student council, I don't have to share my locker..."

Seungsik: "Oh... :/"

Sejun: "WHAAAT. That's unfair..."

Byunchan: "Sorry... But, sikie if it doesnt work out with your locker partner I can ask to have you as my locker partner."

Seungsik: "Okok."

 

Seungsik closed the chat group and threw his phone on his bed. He was still wondering who "Han Seungwoo" could be and how it would be to share a locker with him. Was he a messy guy? A clean freak? A selfish guy? Those questions were just making Seungsik more curious. He even thought of searching the stranger's profile page on social media, but he knew that it was wrong. So, he just went to sleep, hoping that the meeting will turn out well. The next morning, Seungsik ate his breakfast and got dressed for school still wondering what kind of person is Seungwoo. He didn't even know if he'll meet him today because nobody (well almost no one) had the same schedules. During the first hours of school, Seungsik met with his friends and passed by his locker sometimes to meet with his locker partner, but he never appeared. Then, his Math class was about to start so he ran to not be late. While running, he accidently bumped into someone. Seungsik apologized to the boy. He took a closer look to the boy he bumped into. He was tall, slim and quite handsome...(?) Seungsik cleared his thoughts and apologized again to the guy. The latter just replied that it was okay and walked away. Seungsik was still fluttered by the boy he just bumped into... It was kind of a weird feeling for him though. But, he remembered himself that he was going to be late for his class. He continued to run.

-

After his class, Seungsik headed to his locker. As he was walking, he was texting his friends.

Byungchan: "So did u meet your locker partner sikie?"

Seungsik: "Nope... Im still wondering how he'll be like"

Subin: "Good luck with him! my potato"

Seungsik: "Wot did u call me?"

Subin: "Hehehe nothing eomma..."

Seungsik laughed at Subin's message and arrived to his locker hall. He was still looking at his phone as he headed to his locker. Some seconds later, he bumped into someone.

"Sorry..." Seungsik apologized until he realized that the person he bumped into was the same person he bumped into earlier.

"Oh it's you again. Seems like you like to bump into me." the person replied quite coldly.

"I'm sorry..." Seungsik replied.

Seungsik's eyes couldn't meet the other person's because he was too embarrassed. He looked around and realized that the unknown boy was using his locker.

"Umm... Excuse me.." Seungsik succeeded to say.

The stranger looked at him with an interrogative look.

"What's your name?" Seungsik asked.

"Han Seungwoo. Why?" the person replied.

Seungsik was a little bit surprised by the answer. He didn't know how he was feeling. Then, he realized that Seungwoo was still looking at him. Seungsik felt like the room became hotter, but he didn't know why.

"I'm your locker partner." he replied.

Chapter Text

"Ah ok. So, nice to meet you I guess." Seungwoo said.
 
And just like that, Seungwoo coldly finished packing his bag and left Seungsik alone. The smaller boy couldn't really do anything because of the awkward atmosphere. He wanted to know more about Seungwoo, but it didn't seem reciprocal. Trying to forget that moment, Seungsik packed his bag for his next class. Then, Byungchan came by surprise.
 
"Oh, Seungsikie!" he screamed.
 
The older boy was surprised and nearly hit his locker. "Byungchan?... You almost gave me an heart attack..." he replied.

"Oh sorry.. hehe" Byungchan said, walking towards Seungsik. "So, you still haven't meet your locker partner?" he asked.

"Yeah, I've just met him..." Seungsik replied, with an uncertain tone.

"Oh, did it go wrong?" Byungchan asked because of the older boy's tone.

"Hmm... That's not really it... It was just short I guess."

"So, you want to change lockers?"

After a little silence, Seungsik shook his head. "No, I think I want to take time to know him better."

Byungchan smiled and nodded. "So, how does he look like?" he asked.

"Hmm... He's quite tall, blonde..." Seungsik replied at first.

"Aish~ You know that it is not what I was asking for..." Byungchan interrupted Seungsik and gave him a smirk.

Seungsik was confused by Byungchan's words. He gave a questioning face to the taller boy. "I mean is he cute or not?" the younger asked.

Seungsik felt heat coming up to his face. "Yeah, I guess..." he replied even if he was kind of lying, because Han Seungwoo was basically one of the most handsome people he ever met in his life, but he couldn't admit it...  "Why do you want to know that anyway?" he retorted, coming back to his senses.

"Um for nothing.. hehe..." the younger boy replied, with a shy look. "Anyway, I'll let you alone now. I have to go to my Korean class soon. Good luck with your locker partner!" he said and quickly left.

Seungsik was still suspicious of Byungchan's question. But, he forgot about it quickly and went to his last class of the day. When he arrived to his class, he saw a familiar face. It was the face he met several minutes ago, Seungwoo's. The taller guy was alone : he didn't talk to anyone. Meanwhile, there were some girls checking on him, probably having a crush on him (well who wouldn't honestly...). Anyway, Seungsik wondered if he was going to sit next to his locker partner. He didn't want to look like a freak that desperately wants a friend. But, at the same time, he wanted to know more about the person he shared his locker with. So, he went to the desk near Seungwoo.

"Oh, we meet again!" Seungsik said to Seungwoo, trying to sound natural.

 Seungwoo lifted his head with a surprised look. "Oh... It's you." he replied, with a neutral tone.

Seungsik sat to the desk next to the taller boy. Seungwoo didn't react much. "So... In what major are you studying?" Seungsik asked suddenly, regretting the sudden question few seconds later.

"I'm in the music program." the other boy replied, not paying much attention.

Seungsik was surprised. "What a coincidence! I'm in the same program as you!" he said.

"Oh... That's probably why they've put us together for the locker." Seungwoo said, not really looking at Seungsik.

Seungsik nodded. He felt the cold reactions of the boy though. But, Seungsik felt, at the same time, something that wanted to know more about the guy. Suddenly, Seungwoo turned his head to Seungsik. Their eyes met. Seungsik was flustered, but he didn't understand why.

"Look... I know we're locker partners, but... It's not a reason to force yourself to befriend me, you get that? Don't worry, I won't get the locker messy if that's what you want to know..." Seungwoo suddenly told Seungsik.

The latter was surprised by Seungwoo's sudden answer. "But..." Seungsik started his sentence, only to be interrupted by the teacher entering the room. As the class was going on, Seungsik couldn't stop thinking about the boy next to him. He didn't pay much attention to what the teacher was saying, because he was only presenting the schedule for the semester and rules. Seungsik glanced several times at Seungwoo, only to see him being fully concentrated to the teacher's voice. "Was he the type of person who stresses out for his grades?" Seungsik thought. Several minutes later, the teacher announced  the end of today's class. As soon Seungsik heard the announcement, he wanted to talk to Seungwoo and clear the misunderstanding. As Seungwoo was about to leave, Seungsik suddenly grabbed the taller boy's sleeve. Seungwoo turned around.

"What?" he coldly asked.

"Look, I think you misunderstood my actions. I don't want to befriend you just because you're my locker partner or that I'm scared of you causing a mess in our locker. I want to be your friend, just because I want it." Seungsik replied.

Several seconds of silence passed and Seungwoo was still staring at the smaller boy. "I don't think it's a good idea... I'm not really the type of person to befriend people and I don't really care about it..." he replied.

"But, everyone needs friends."

"Oh no, not that shit again... Look, if you want to be my friend, fine, but, honestly, I prefer to be alone... Now, let me go..."

"Hmmm... ok..."

With that, Seungwoo left the class. Seungsik wasn't sure about how to feel about this situation. He was wondering why Seungwoo wanted to be alone. Out of the blue, the teacher coughed. Seungsik was back to Earth and he saw the teacher glaring at him. He smiled, embarrassed, said goodbye, and left the room. Seungsik rushed to his locker, but didn't see Seungwoo anywhere. He was a little bit disappointed. So, he took out his phone and logged on in his account. There were no new messages. He pouted for a second and opened his locker. He finished packing his bag and was about to close his locker.

"Seungsik hyung!" someone called him.

Seungsik raised his head to look at the person who just shout his name. It was his friend Sejun.

"Oh, Sejun!" he said as the younger boy was coming over. Then, both boys talked about school and other stuffs. Meanwhile, Seungwoo was approaching the locker when he saw Seungsik talking to Sejun. They were laughing. Seungwoo didn't know what he feel inside, but he was thinking that it would be better to come back later. As he was leaving, Seungsik noticed from a distance his locker partner leaving. Sejun noticed that his older friend was distracted by something. He turned his head around to see a tall blonde boy leaving. He looked back to Seungsik.

"So... You have a problem with this boy?" Sejun asked to Seungsik.

"Uuh-what?.. No-no.. He's just my locker partner" the older boy replied, not really knowing how to reply.

"Oh, it's him? You don't get along?"

"Yeah, it's him... It's not that we don't get along. He just doesn't seem friendly yet I still want to know him more before saying that."

"Uuh... If he doesn't seem friendly, why would you even want to befriend him?" Sejun asked, confused.

"I don't know. It's just something I feel like I have to do."

"Omo- Did you fall for him? I didn't expect you to like cold or tough types." Sejun asked and laughed later.

Seungsik was flustered and hit Sejun's arm. "Wh-what are you saying? I-I'm not interested at all... I-"

"Hahaha, looking at your reaction, it seems like it. Don't worry your secret is safe with me" Sejun said as he placed a hand on Seungsik's shoulder with a smirk on his face. Seungsik rolled his eyes.

"Whatever... I'll just go home."

With that, Sejun said goodbye to his friend and left him. Seungsik left the school and thought about what Sejun said. He couldn't be in love with Seungwoo. He barely knew him anyway... Then, Seungsik sighed and thought: "Why did I befriend a bunch of gays?..."

Chapter Text

It was about noon maybe a little bit more past it. Schedules weren't the same for everyone so there wasn't a fixed time to eat, but luckily for Seungsik most of his friends had their lunch break almost at the same time as him. He was definitely hungry after his philosophy class. His teacher already gave students a lesson for their first class and it must have been one of the longest ones he ever had, well he felt like it. He couldn't bear imagining how the rest of this class would be for the next weeks. Anyway, with his stomach growling, the boy stopped thinking about school and headed to the cafeteria. He looked at all the food displayed and chose what he liked. He paid the cashier and headed to the tables, searching for his friends. He spotted Sejun, Hanse, and Byungchan at a table. As he was about to head towards them, he noticed a tall blonde guy sitting alone. It was Seungwoo. The lone wolf was listening to music as he was eating and looking at his phone. "Should I sit with him?" was the first thought that came to Seungsik's head. At the same time, he thought that Seungwoo might be waiting for his friends to arrive. But, again, Seungsik remembered that the taller boy told him that he wasn't the type to befriend people. With an instant of hesitation, he decided to sit with Seungwoo. He arrived to his table and sat in front of the blonde boy. The latter was surprised by the sudden arrival of his locker partner.

"Hi, Seungwoo." Seungsik awkwardly greeted the other boy.

----

Sejun, Byungchan, and Hanse were talking at their table while eating. The topic was not much peculiar until it shifted to Seungsik, more precisely his locker partner. They didn't really know how they ended talking about him (me neither), but Sejun was already telling the other two boys that Seungsik might have fallen in love with his locker partner. Byungchan was shocked. "He must be hot then! OMG, I'm so jealous!" he added, making obvious surprised faces and putting his hand on Sejun's shoulder. Hanse just rolled his eyes.

"Wow, so obvious Byungchan..." he said to the tallest boy.

"What are you talking about?" Sejun asked, clueless.

"It-it's nothing, Sejun... Hanse!.." Byunchan replied, and made a gesture telling Hanse to shut his mouth.

The younger boy just smirked and rolled his eyes. Sejun was still clueless, but he didn't really give an importance to what happened. Then, Byunchan suddenly said: "Hey, isn't that Seungsik?", and pointed into a direction.

The two other boys led their attention to the direction where Byunchan was pointing. It was indeed Seungsik, sitting at another table. The boys were confused and asking questions about the other guy in front of their friend.

"Oh my, I think it's his locker partner!" Sejun exclaimed.

"Oh it's him? You're sure?" Byunchan asked.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure, but when I talked to Sikie that other day, I saw a blonde guy walking away and he told me that it was his locker partner." Sejun replied.

"Oh! But, that guy looks really HOT! Like why did I choose not to share my locker?" the tallest said, while glancing at Sejun to see his reaction.

Sejun didn't really pay attention to what Byungchan said, but felt a little bit weird from the bits he heard. Hanse just rolled his eyes again.

"Geez, why you have to be so loud? They might hear you... Anyway, if you really want to have locker partner, you can have Sejun." Hanse said, making evil smirks to Byungchan. The tallest boy blushed a bit.

"WHAT!? You don't like being my locker partner?" Sejun replied to Hanse's remark.

"Well... It's only been like two days since the beginning of the semester and I already found like three chocolate packaging in our locker.. Seungsik was at least clean." Hanse replied, expressing his disgust towards his friend's messy side.

"Ah sorry about that... hehe." Sejun gave an embarrassed smile to his younger friend. Hansee looked again at the tallest boy and asked again: "So, you want Sejun as your locker partner?" with a huge fake smile. Sejun looked at Byungchan and the latter, at the other two boys, still wondering what to do.

----

"Don't you have other friends to go sit with?"

Seungwoo gave a cold stare to Seungsik after asking the question. The smaller boy replied that his friend didn't arrive yet. Seungwoo just nodded and continued looking at his phone. Seungsik didn't really know what to do about this awkward situation. He tried to find a subject of discussion. He ate a bite of his lunch then paid attention to Seungwoo's earphones.

"What are you listening to?" Seungsik asked out of nowhere.

Seungwoo looked at the boy. "Uuhh... Just some Zico..." he replied.

"Oh, you like his music? Me too!" Seungsik tried to do a connection with Seungwoo.

 "Oh... It's nice I guess." the taller guy said a little bit emotionless.

"What's your favorite song from him?"

"Hmm.. I don't really know..." he just replied. Then, he noticed three people behind looking at Seungsik and him. He recognized Sejun from the other time he saw Seungsik with him.

"Uumm.. I think your friends are over there." Seungwoo told Seungsik, pointing with his finger at the three boys behind. Seungsik glanced at the back. He was a bit disappointed that his locker partner noticed them.

"Oh! Yeah it's them." Seungsik tried to act surprised. "Do you want to meet them? They're really funny, I'm sure they'll like you." he tried convincing Seungwoo.

"Um no thanks... I told you, I like to be alone and I don't care about having friends.." the other boy replied, feeling he told enough.

Seungsik sighed and let a little disappointed "Ok.." come out of his mouth. Then, he pouted. Seungwoo glanced at the smaller boy, he found Seungsik's expression a little bit cute(?). (Wait what?)

"Anyway, you should go see them. It'll be boring if you stay with me and I should be going to my class anyway." Seungwoo coldly said.

"Oh ok..." Seungsik said, feeling a little bit downcast.

Seungwoo put back his earphones and put his bag on his shoulders. He stood up while taking his tray and left the cafeteria. Seungsik, with a sad look on his face, watched the taller boy go. Then, he stood up and went to his friends' table.

"So, I see that our Seungsikie tried to flirt and failed." Hanse making fun of Seungsik as soon as the latter arrived to their table.

"What the heck are you talking about?" the older boy asked, confused.

"Well Sejun told us that you "like" your new locker partner hihi" Byunchan replied with an evil smile.

"Yah! Sejun! Why did you tell that nonsense to them?! I told you I'm not in love with him!" Seungsik reprimanded Sejun.

Sejun rolled his eyes. "Stop denying it, I know you love him from how you reacted. I'm sure you went there to seduce him." Sejun smirked at Seungsik.

"Yah! I'm really going to hit you. I barely even know him. Why would I fall for him? I just want to be his friend." Seungsik said as he sat down next to Hanse.

"Well that's the point of a crush.. Getting to know more about him or her." Hanse said. Seungsik rolled his eyes and ate another bite of his lunch. "Then, you get to fuck them." Hanse said with a nasty smirk. Seungsik nearly spat his food when he heard those words.

"Eww! Hanse! Why are you so dirty?!" Byunchan complained and gave an disgusted face to his younger friend (the same as Sejun's).

"Ohhh~ I'm not as dirty as you... Don't forget your nasty thoughts about..." Hanse was about to say when Byungchan put a hand on his mouth.

"What are you talking about?.... Don't say things like that or you're going to regret it." Byungchan said to Hanse with a demonic smile.

"Hahaha." Sejun laughed. "I can't imagine Byungchan being nasty." he said. Byungchan blushed a little bit. Hanse rolled his eyes and Seungsik just continued eating his lunch. He was still wondering about what he'll do with Seungwoo. "Maybe, I'm insisting too much about this..." he thought. But, something inside of him said that he shouldn't give up and that Seungwoo might hide a good person behind this cold face. Eww. Seungsik almost threw up from that cheezy stuff he just thought (well who wouldn't lol). Hanse noticed Seungsik's expression.

"See! Even Seungsik finds gross how obvious you are!" Hanse exclaimed to Byungchan. The conversation went somewhere else, well that's what Seungsik thought since he didn't pay attention to it. He had no idea what his friends were talking about. The boy looked at Sejun whose expression was blank. He seemed to not understand the discussion either, but at the same time Sejun was a little bit slow-witted sometimes.

"You'll stop saying those stuffs or I'll force you to play with Jaws!" Byungchan threatened Hanse.

Hanse gasped. "Oh no, you won't dare!" the younger boy replied in horror.

"You bet I'm going to do it." Byungchan gave a devilish smirk. Hanse and Byungchan were in a moment where they looked like real rivals, but their friends knew that it's only because they were close since a long time and that they liked to tease each other. It was pretty obvious that they knew each other's secrets for some reason, well for everyone except Sejun that was currently giving a tender look to the tallest boy. (But that was a story for another time) So, Seungsik just laughed a little bit and continued eating.

Chapter Text

It was about eight-thirty in the morning. Seungsik's singing lesson was about to begin: the students were waiting for their teacher to arrive. There were no desk in the room, only chairs and a big piano in the room. The class had about thirty students in it. Seungsik looked around the room. It was much bigger than his previous semester's one. About everyone was talking: those who knew each other were waiting by discussing. Meanwhile, Seungsik was sitting next to his friend Sejun, who was also in the same major as him. They would be busy talking together if Seungsik wasn't a little bit distracted by the man who was sitting some meters away from him. It was his locker partner (obviously). The blonde boy was next to three girls who were kind of surrounding him. They were most likely in love with the guy. Seungsik did feel something unpleasant from the sight he had. Sejun noticed Seungsik's sad expression.

"So, you're jealous of them?" Sejun asked Seungsik, waking him up of his thoughts.

"Uu-uh what? What do you mean?" Seungsik replied, embarrassed.

"You know what I mean... Your "beloved" locker partner is attracting a lot of flies." Sejun said, smirking at his older friend.

Seungsik hit Sejun with his elbow. "I told you! I'm not in love with him! And I'm far from jealous!" he whispered to Sejun, trying not to be heard by other students. The younger boy just giggled. Some seconds later, the teacher arrived. She greeted her students and asked them to forgive her for arriving late. Then, she explained how the lessons would work for this semester. Later, she presented briefly the final exam of the semester. It would be a project of about 7-8 weeks, in which students would form groups of 2 or 3. Each group has to choose a song from a list of songs chosen by the teacher which she'll present some weeks later. The song chosen will be covered by the group and the teacher will evaluate each person's singing and the group harmony. The last two classes of the semester would be dedicated to the presentation of the covers. She added that the students had till the last week before the break week to form groups to be able to choose songs: it would give enough time to students to get to know each other more from her opinion. Seungsik was wondering about one thing for this project. Will he try to form a group with Seungwoo? Then, Sejun patted Seungsik's shoulder. The older boy looked at him.

"So, I guess we form a group?" Sejun asked with a smile.

Seungsik nodded. "Sure, we'll be unbeatable." he added.

Both boys giggled. But, Seungsik looked back at Seungwoo. The girls around him looked like they were asking him to be in their group. They almost looked like they were fighting since only two people could be with him. Seungwoo seemed indifferent by them though. Meanwhile, Seungsik felt another uncomfortable feeling inside of him because of the girls. Then, Seungwoo's glance went directly to Seungsik. The latter felt flustered by the sudden eye contact. He immediately looked away and blushed. Sejun noticed the scene that was happening.

"Umm, maybe we should ask your "man" to join our group before those flies devour him alive." Sejun suggested Seungsik with a smirk.

"He's not my "man" oh my god...!" Seungsik whispered. "But, maybe I'll ask him..." he continued.

"You'll ask him out? hahaha." Sejun joked with a mischievous laugh.

"W-what!?" Seungsik hit Sejun. "You know that's not what I meant...." Seungsik stared at Sejun with a "threatening" face. The younger boy just giggled.

"The two boys over there! Are you finished interrupting the class?" the teacher yelled to Seungsik and Sejun, making both of them blenched out of surprised. They apologized to the teacher and she continued her class. Meanwhile, Seungwoo was looking at the scene from the whole time. And he did felt something deep inside of him, something uncomfortable. He sighed.

----

 It was about eleven minus ten in the morning. A boy was waiting, looking at his phone and leaning on a wall. He was at the dance section of the college. Looking at the hour, he lost a little bit patience. He sighed.

"Why is he late?" he whispered, making a frown.

The door near the boy opened, making the latter quite surprised. Plenty of students came out of the room, the boy was trying to look for someone. When his eyes met with the eyes of the person he was waiting for, he waved at him. The other guy smiled and approached him.

"Awww~ My little Subinnie has been waiting for me." The guy said to the boy who was waiting.

He wrapped an arm around Subin's shoulders. "Yeah... Now, I only have 40 minutes of break because you arrived late, Chan.." Subin said with a dark expression.

Chan scratched the back of his head because of the embarrassment. "Sorry, taking my shower took a little bit longer than expected. Hehehe.." the older boy explained. Subin just stared at Chan with the same expression. "But, now, we have time to eat together!" he continued, pecking Subin's cheek to live up the situation. The younger boy just blushed at the peck.

"Stop! I said that we shouldn't do these kinds of things here." he said to the older boy with a shy look. Chan just laughed.

"So, should we just go to my house?" Chan said with a nasty tone and laughed. Subin blushed even more and hit the older guy. Then, both of them headed to the cafeteria. In their way, they saw Seungsik by his locker. He was discussing with another boy. They never saw his locker partner, but they guessed it was him. Since both of them didn't want to be seen together (for some reason), they quickly left the room.

----

The singing class just finished. The teacher made some vocal training to the students. She seemed to hold a little grudge for people that were talking in class since she was a little bit harder on Sejun and Seungsik. Despite that, she told them, at the end of the class, that they really had great potential in singing. They both thanked their teacher and apologized again. She smiled and left the class. Both boys were relieved because they thought that they would have suffer like this for the rest of the semester. Then, as they were heading for their lockers, they were talking about the cover project. Sejun asked his older friend if he wanted to invite Seungwoo to the group. Seungsik wasn't sure yet. The younger boy said that Seungsik should try and that the worst case scenario would be that Seungwoo reject the invitation. Seungsik agreed with his friend. Some moments later, Sejun left Seungsik to go to take some stuff at his locker. Seungsik headed to his locker, hoping to find Seungwoo there. When he arrived to his locker's hallway, he didn't see Seungwoo. He felt a little bit disappointed, but he still had plenty of weeks to ask. He opened his locker and took out some of his stuff. Some seconds later, Seungwoo arrived to the locker. Seungsik saw the taller boy arrive.

"Hi, Seungwoo." he waved at the older boy.

"Hi, Seungsik." he replied to be polite.

Then, a silence filled the atmosphere between both boys. Seungsik thought that he should ask Seungwoo about the singing project now, but he felt too nervous at the same time. "Uuh..." Seungsik let slip this sound out of his mouth. Seungwoo's eyes met the younger's. "Do you have a group for the singing class project?" Seungsik asked insecurely.

"Hmmm, I don't know. Those girls from our class already invited me to their group somehow. But, aren't you already in a team with your friend anyway?" Seungwoo replied.

"Sejun? Yeah, but we want you in our team if it doesn't bother you..." the younger boy said.

"Why? It's not as if I had a good voice anyway..."

Seungsik was startled by this statement. He listened carefully to Seungwoo's voice during their singing class. Ok, that might have sounded a little bit weird, but anyway... From what he heard, Seungwoo had a really good tone and his abilities were quite great. So, Seungsik was a bit sad that his locker partner was kind of harsh on himself. "What are you saying? I heard you! Sejun heard you! We both think that your singing is awesome!" Seungsik let himself be carried away.

Seungwoo was a little bit surprised. It seemed like he wasn't used to compliments. Seungsik could see a little faint smile wanting to come out of the older boy's face. "Thanks, I guess..." Seungwoo replied a little bit shy. "I'll think about that." he continued.

"No problem. If you join us, our group will definitely unbeatable!" Seungsik tried to make Seungwoo laugh. The older boy just nodded. "So, what are you doing now? I'm on a break, but my friends have other class." the younger boy had this random feeling of courage and wanted to spend more time with his locker partner.

"I have another class starting soon. I should go." Seungwoo briefly replied. He took his bag and left the corridor. Seungsik was a bit disappointed, but he decided to go to the library. As he was on the escalator, he believed he saw two of his friends. So, he went back as soon he arrived to the other level. When he was back at the ground floor, the two people disappeared. Seungsik, disappointed a little bit, decided to go up again.

----

Chan and Subin were about to go to the cafeteria using the elevator, but then they saw a familiar face coming by their way. They quickly hid near lockers that were close by and waited till the person would go. Some seconds later, the couple got out of their hiding place.

"Phew, that was close... Seungsik could have seen us." Subin said

"Yeah, but I don't know how much time we'll be able to hide this from everyone." Chan said.

Both of them left the place quickly, but bumped into someone as they were in a rush. "Ah, we're really sorry!" Chan said to the boy they bumped into. It was a tall guy with blonde hair.

"It's okay." he coldly replied. Then, he went on his way while Subin and Chan tried to reach their destination faster to have their lunch time together.

Chapter Text

"So, you asked him to join our team?"

Seungsik nodded. "And what did he answer?" Sejun asked.

Both boys were at Seungsik's locker. They were talking about the project for their singing class' final exam. "He said that he will think about it since those girls already asked him.." Seungsik answered, a little bit bitter.

"Oh, don't worry... I'm sure he won't go near those flies soon.. Well, if he's not a jerk." Sejun said.

Seungsik made a "I don't know" expression. Then, he saw Seungwoo at a certain distance. Sejun noticed his older friend's sight shift. He looked back and saw the tall blonde boy. He smiled and waved at him. Seungsik realized what Sejun was doing and felt embarrassed. Seungwoo, with a questioning expression, approached the locker.

"So, Seungwoo, right?" Sejun asked as the older boy arrived to the locker.

"Yeah, it's me." Seungwoo replied coldly and awkwardly.

"It's nice to finally meet you, I'm Sejun!" he pulled out his hand to greet Seungwoo. The latter awkwardly shook Sejun's hand and greeted him. Seungsik felt really embarrassed by his friend's straightforwardness. He saw how Seungwoo looked uncomfortable probably since he didn't like to socialize.

"Sorry for my friend. He can be straightforward sometimes, but he's really nice." Seungsik told Seungwoo, trying to get rid of the awkward atmosphere.

"What a great way to introduce me." the youngest of the three sarcastically replied as he looked at Seungsik. Seungwoo looked at the boys in front of him. He could feel how close they seemed to be. It didn't really help him to feel less awkward. Suddenly, Sejun turned his head to Seungwoo.

"So, Seungsik told me that he invited you to our team. It would be nice if you could join." he told the taller guy with a smile.

"Thanks, I guess. But, I'll think about it." Seungwoo replied, then looked at Seungsik. Sejun could feel that something was going on between the locker partners (even though they are probably in denial). He thought he should let both boys some private time.

"Ok, you can take your time! But, I hope you'll accept." he said to Seungwoo. "I should be going to my next class. See ya later Seungsik!" he then said to his friend. Seungsik didn't expect Sejun to leave suddenly. He said goodbye to his friend and found himself alone with his locker partner. Some seconds later, Seungsik kind of realized the reason behind Sejun's sudden leaving. The fact that his friend thought that Seungsik had a crush on his locker partner annoyed him a little bit. Seungsik didn't even know why his friend would think that. He looked again at his locker partner who was currently taking some stuffs. Seungwoo was indeed handsome and seemed to have a great body, but Seungsik didn't really want to admit it. Also, he was still wondering why the older boy wasn't interested in having friends. Then, Seungwoo caught Seungsik staring at him: the younger guy was startled.

"Sorry, I'm just waiting before I can take my stuffs." Seungsik tried to improvise something. Seungwoo just nodded. He finished packing his bag and was about to leave when Seungsik called him. The older boy turned his head around, looking again at Seungsik. The younger boy seemed a little bit tensed.

"Nevermind, it's nothing.."  he contiued. Seungwoo nodded and continued his way, looking a little bit disappointed. Seungsik, alone at his locker, just sighed.

----

Seungwoo was waiting in his philosophy class. He sat at one of the back corners of the room so he wouldn't have to sit next to too much people. At the moment, there was about only five students who arrived since there was still 10 minutes left before the beginning of the class. He didn't really know what to do to kill time, so he just took his phone and looked through apps. Some minutes later, the class began to fill up. Suddenly, someone sat next to Seungwoo. The latter was a bit unpleased by it. He glanced at the boy who was next to him. The unknown guy was talking to someone else.

"Subin-ah, my class will begin soon! You should go before the teacher arrive." he said to the boy who was standing.

"Aish~ But we barely have time to spend together..." the other boy replied and pouted.

Seungwoo guessed that the two boys were a couple, but he wasn't the type to judge people or to jump to conclusions. So, he just decided to ignore that and look again at his phone. Some seconds later, the boy named Subin left the room. Then, Seungwoo felt someone patting his shoulder, he turned his head in direction of the person with a surprised look.

"Hi, I'm sorry to bother you, but do you have a pencil? I've forgot to bring my pencil case." the boy asked with a smile.

Seungwoo searched through his case for a pencil. Once he found one, he gave it to the boy. The latter gave a closer look to Seungwoo, he felt like he have seen the blonde guy somewhere.

"Thanks! My name is Chan by the way, what is yours?" the unknown boy asked, trying to find out where he saw Seungwoo before.

The blonde boy felt a little bit annoyed since he didn't want to socialize, but he didn't want to be disrespectful neither. "My name is Seungwoo." he replied coldly.

"Ah ok! Thanks for the pencil again! I'll give it back to you later." Chan said with a cheerful look. Seungwoo just nodded. "Seungwoo? I heard this name before..." Chan thought. "Wait a minute..." he said in his head. He took his phone and looked at his older messages. Then, he found out where he heard the name before. The boy who was sitting next to him was indeed Seungsik's locker partner. With this realization, Chan had a little feeling of fear growing inside of him. "Did he see me with Subin?" he thought.

----

"So, did you ask him yet?"

"No, I couldn't. It just feels so weird."

Sejun and Seungsik were having their lunch break together. The younger one previously asked Seungsik to invite Seungwoo to a cafe to know him better when they were alone at Seungsik's locker. The older boy didn't really like the idea, because it was too awkward and he knew that Seungwoo would refuse anyway. Sejun rolled his eyes.

"Why are you so shy though? If you're not going to do it, I'll do it myself." he said to Seungsik with a criticizing tone.

"Do it if you really want to.. I don't care." the older boy replied.

Sejun rolled his eyes again. Then, he saw someone approaching their table. Sejun waved to the boy. "Oh, Chan!" he said out loud. Seungsik turned around to see Chan arriving.

"Hi guys! I've been searching for you, oh my god..." Chan said as soon he arrived to the table.

"You could just have text us though." Sejun replied with an unimpressed expression.

"Oh true." Chan said and laughed at the embarrassment.

"And they say I'm the stupid one." Sejun whispered.

Meanwhile, Seungsik smiled because Chan saved him from that Seungwoo discussion he didn't want to continue. Then, he remembered that he didn't see Chan that much since the first day of school.

"By the way, is it normal that I didn't see you that much since the day the semester began?" Seungsik asked Chan. The latter replied that it was probably only schedule conflicts. Sejun got interested in the topic as he noticed Seungsik's point too.

"Also, it's weird how we haven't seen Subin much these days too." Sejun added. Seungsik agreed with his younger friend. Chan got a little bit nervous, but only said that it was coincidence. Then, Sejun joked around saying that Chan and Subin must have been hanging out together. Seungsik laughed at the jokes and teased Chan more. The latter tried to play along with his friends to not make his relationship uncovered. Later, the boy tried to switch conversation to discover something about Seungsik's locker partner.

"By the way, you met with your locker partner right?" he asked his older friend.

Seungsik was a little bit disappointed that the conversation came back to this topic. "Yeah, I met him..." he replied with a defeated tone. Chan was a bit surprised by his friend's tone.

"Seungsik's a little bit sensitive about that topic, because he has a crush on his locker partner, but the boy is kind of a stone to be honest." Sejun joked. Seungsik was upset about the joke and hit Sejun.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't have a crush on him...." the oldest boy said with a threatening tone. Sejun continued to laugh. Meanwhile, Chan didn't understand the reference of "stone". Seungsik explained that Seungwoo wasn't really open to socializing. Chan nodded. He felt relieved that Seungwoo didn't seem extravert, not that he liked the fact that Seungwoo wasn't socializing, but it did made his secret a little bit safer.

----

 "I told you. I'm fine with having no friends, so don't bother invite me to anywhere."

Seungsik and Seungwoo were at their locker. The younger boy just invited his locker partner to hang out in a cafe with Sejun, but he knew that Seungwoo wouldn't accept.

"I know, it was Sejun's idea. I knew it was stupid to ask." Seungsik replied and pouted.

Seungwoo looked at Seungsik. He could see a disappointed look on the younger boy's face. He didn't look really sad, but something about his expression made Seungwoo felt bad at some point. He never felt this way when he rejected people's invitations at his other college. Usually, he didn't really care about other people's feelings and was really cold to everyone. It was to a point where people didn't want to approach him anymore and he was "happy" about it. But, looking again at Seungsik, Seungwoo felt something he didn't since a long time ago. Somehow Seungsik's efforts were different from all those people who looked fake to Seungwoo. The taller boy sighed.

"Look, I'll think about it." he said to Seungsik.

The latter was surprised by Seungwoo's sudden answer. "Really?" he first said. "Thanks!" He couldn't hide the little smile of excitement that was inside of him. Seungwoo looked again at his locker partner. The smile on Seungsik's face gave a little feeling of warmth inside of Seungwoo. The younger boy looked at the blonde boy, the latter led his sight elsewhere. "Is there any way to contact you in case?" Seungsik asked.

"Hm. Give me your phone." Seungwoo replied. Seungsik took out his phone and gave it to his locker partner, not really knowing what Seungwoo intended to do with it. The blonde boy typed something on Seungsik's phone. Then, he gave it back. "Now, you have my phone number." he said.

Seungsik blushed a bit when he learned what Seungwoo was doing with the phone. "Ah ok thanks." were the only words that could come out of his mouth. Seungwoo nodded. He finished packing his bag and left Seungsik alone. Meanwhile, the younger boy was still a bit shocked that he had Seungwoo's phone number. Then, Sejun appeared out of nowhere behind him. Seungsik almost fell from the shock

"Yah! What are you doing!? You nearly gave me an heart attack!" Seungsik said to his friend.

Sejun laughed. "Sorry, but I need to congratulate you for succeeding in inviting your crush and having his phone number as a bonus." Sejun said and smirked.

Seungsik hit Sejun because of the embarrassment. "I don't have a crush on him, ok? How many times do I have to tell you!?" he replied with an upset tone. "And how do you know that I have his number!? Were you spying on us the whole time?" he continued.

"Well yeah... I didn't want our Sikie to fail at inviting his crush." Sejun replied and laughed. Seungsik hit his friend again.

Chapter Text

"You're sure he just didn't type any number just to get rid of you?"

Seungsik was at the cafeteria with Sejun, Hanse, and Byungchan. Obviously, Hanse was the one who asked the question. Seungsik thought of that possibility though, but he didn't want to call the number Seungwoo gave him. He just didn't feel having the courage to do so.

"I don't know... Maybe, he did. I just don't want to talk about it." Seungsik replied.

"Why don't you call the number? At worst, it'll be a false number..." Byungchan said.

Seungsik said he didn't want to do so. Sejun smirked at the reply.

"You're just worried to be heartbroken, right? I knew you had a crush on him." Sejun said.

Seungsik hit Sejun again. It mostly became an habit as Sejun seemed to be teasing his older friend about his locker partner. Meanwhile, Seungsik looked elsewhere and saw a familiar figure walking in the cafeteria. It was Subin. They both made eye contact. Seungsik waved at him and made a gesture to come at their table. The others saw Subin and told him to come at their table. Subin looked a little bit disappointed, but he went to the table. They welcomed him with a warm hug.

"It feels like it has been ages since we saw our little Subinnie." Byungchan said.

"Probably cuz he was busy dating Chan..." Hanse joked.

Subin almost choked at what Hanse said, but he tried to act as if it wasn't the truth. Later, the four older boys were asking Subin about his whereabouts since they didn't see him since the first day of school. Subin replied that he was busy with his homework and his acting class since he had to practice a lot as an excuse. The rest of the gang didn't really believe him. They thought that their youngest member was hiding something, but they didn't want to bother him with that (well as long as it's not something making Subin sad). Some moments later, Chan arrived to the cafeteria. Subin saw him and made eye contact with him. Sejun caught the younger boy in the act and turned his head around to see where he was looking at. Then, Sejun saw Chan and waved at him. Chan awkwardly walked towards his friends. He was surprised to see Subin at their table. He sat next to his lover.

"Finally! For the first time, we are all reunited. It's been a long time since we were like this." Byunchan exclaimed.

"You have to sound cheezy though?" Hanse complained.

Seungsik and Sejun laughed at this comment. Byunchan pouted and hit Hanse. Subin and Chan gave a guilty look to each other. "Yeah, sorry, dance classes take a lot of my time.." Chan told the others.

Seungsik, Sejun, Hanse, and Byungchan felt that something was really going on between those two, but they wanted the both of them to tell what's going on first. Later on, the group just continued talking. The topic changed various times until Sejun just dropped: "Wouldn't it be nice if Seungsik's future boyfriend join us?". Seungsik almost choked with the spoonful of soup he ate. He almost wanted to strangle Sejun for randomly asking that question. Because of that, Byungchan and Hanse began to tease Seungsik. Meanwhile, Subin, the only one not really up-to-date, seemed confused. He asked about what Sejun said to the group.

"Oh yeah, you've missed that. Sikie has a crush on his locker partner." Hanse said, laughing.

"And why you have to tell such lies to the innocent one." Seungsik said, annoyed.

"Hey I'm not that innocent! Anyway, if you fall in love with your locker partner, there's no problem to it. I don't know why you want to hide that.." Subin replied. Chan had a surprised look at the youngest boy's last statement.

"You see? You corrupted the baby... I'm not in love with him, I don't know how many times I have to say that..." Seungsik complained to Hanse.

The group decided to talk about something else because they knew a storm of rant would be coming out if they continued. Meanwhile, Chan was still thinking about what Subin said in a confused way. He decided to talk to the younger boy in private. He stood up and told the others that he had a class coming soon. He made a sign to Subin to tell him to follow him. The younger boy understood and told the same excuse to the others.

"Oh, is that a code for you two made to go make out in private?" Hanse joked.

"More than that. It's a code to go make our little baby lose his innocence." Chan continued the joke and winked.

Seungsik, Sejun, and Byungchan protested against Chan's reply, saying that Subin should keep his innocence. Hanse just nodded in approval because he didn't expected that outcome. Meanwhile, Subin hit Chan on the stomach. Later, the two of them left the cafeteria. They went to a spot where there wasn't too much people (it was kind of hard to find because there's literally people everywhere in this school). When they found a clear area, Chan told Subin he something to ask. The younger boy made a sign that he was listening.

"You remember when you said to Seungsik, "I don't know why you want to hide that" when everyone was talking about his crush.." Chan began.

Subin kind of guessed what Chan was about to ask. "I know... But, it's two different things we're talking about." Subin replied.

"I know, but one day we should let them all know. I want us to be able to freely be happy together." Chan said, with a serious tone.

Subin looked at Chan's eyes and looked away. "I want the same thing too. But... It's just that I'm not ready yet... I'm scared." he said, with a guilty tone.

"It's okay, Subinnie. Take your time. I just don't want this situation to affect you badly." Chan said to his lover and hugged him. He put a hand on Subin's hair to get him closer. The couple stayed like this for some couple of seconds. Chan broke the hug when he recalled something else. Subin looked at Chan with a questioning look.

"You know I just remembered that I think Seungsik's locker partner saw us together." Chan said.

Subin looked surprised. "How?" he asked.

"He's in my philosophy class. He was just next to me when you were there." the older boy replied.

"Oh..." was the only word that could come out of Subin's mouth.

----

 It was the night and Seungsik was working on homework. At the same time, he was chatting with Sejun on his laptop:

Sejun: You should try to call the number

Sejun: Like everyone says, it's bad to live in the ignorance.

Sejun: LOL

Seungsik: Since when you get so deep lol

Sejun: Don't try changing subject! Just call him, it's not as if it was going to kill you..

Seungsik was a tired of Sejun or anyone else asking him to call the number. But, at the same time, they did have a point. Seungsik didn't know why he was so afraid to call the number. Maybe because of the feeling of rejection he will get if the number turns out to be false. The boy took his phone and looked at his contacts. He saw the one saved as "Seungwoo". He clicked it and saw the number appearing. It was so simple. Just one click and he was about to call the number. Seungsik sighed. His thumb pressed the number without Seungsik really wanting it. Once the boy realized what he has done, he began to feel a lot of stress coming from his body.

"The person you're trying to contact is unavailable at the moment..." the phone's voice said.

Seungsik had a sort of feeling of relief. He hung up the call. He was a bit disappointed, because he still didn't know if the number was truly Seungwoo's or not. Then, he returned to his homework. Some moments later, Seungsik received a call. The boy was surprised by it. He looked at his cellphone to see who was calling.

"Seungwoo" was the name that showed up.

Seungsik felt nervous at the moment he saw the name. He didn't know what to do. He was still hesitating about picking the call. He sighed again. The boy answered the call.

"Hello?" Seungsik answered with a nervous voice.

"Hello." the caller replied. It was a familiar voice. It was Seungwoo's voice. Seungsik felt happiness coming from his body as he recognized the voice.

"Who are you?" Seungwoo asked.

Seungsik snapped out of his excitement and quickly replied: "It's me, Seungsik."

"Oh.. Why are you calling me?"

Seungsik didn't think this situation would happen so he didn't plan what to talk about. He tried to think about a reason to call.

"Oh, it's about the cafe. Did you think about it?" Seungsik remembered quickly their discussion from yesterday.

There was a silence before Seungsik got an answer. "I'll go. What is the cafe?" Seungwoo replied.

Seungsik totally didn't expect that. He didn't know why, but he felt like he could scream of joy right now. He gave the address and the hour to his locker partner. Both of them hung up. Seungsik could only smile. He felt stupid for being that happy. Actually, he didn't know why he was that happy. He was about to tell the news to Sejun when..

Sejun: Actually, now that I think about it...

Sejun: You can try to search his phone number on the Internet lol.

 

Seungsik hit his forehead because he didn't think about that, but he knew that he did the right thing calling Seungwoo instead. Once again, he had a smile spreading on his face.

Chapter Text

The first week of the semester passed and it felt like so much things happened for Seungwoo. Right now, he was lying on his bed while listening to music. Usually, that's how he spent his weekends if he wasn't doing his homework. Since he preferred being alone, he didn't spend time hanging out with other people. But, today was different... Today was the day where he is supposed to go at a cafe with his locker partner and the latter's friend. They've decided to meet at 10 which was approaching. Seungwoo didn't know if he would be punctual anyway. Some minutes later, he got up and started to change. Once he finished putting his outfit, he left his room. Meanwhile, in the living room, his parents were silently doing their own things. His dad was reading the newspaper while his mother was knitting. They heard the sound of Seungwoo leaving his room. The boy passed by his parents. They gave him a surprised look since Seungwoo was clothed to go outside.

"My boy, where are you going?" his father asked.

"Meeting some people at a cafe." he replied.

His parents looked at each other. "You're sure you can go there?" his father asked him with a worried tone.

"I... I can try..." Seungwoo replied knowing why this question was asked.

"Just be safe." his mother said to him with a soft smile. Their son nodded, said goodbye to his parents, and left the house. The parents look at each other once again.

"I think he's making progress. We should try to let him be for a little bit." the mother said to her husband with an hopeful voice.

The father nodded. "But I'm still worried... I don't want this to happen again." he replied with a sad face. His wife held his hands.

"It won't, I promise." she said with a smile. The father smiled back. They thought about the past and hoped that the future reserved a smile for their son.

---

As Seungwoo didn't go out a lot since a long time, he lost his sense of direction. It took him a while to find the cafe to a point where he felt like going back home and didn't understand why he was putting much effort for this. When he arrived to the address, he was in front of an exterior cafe. He was about 30 minutes late from the original plan. A waiter headed to the tall boy. The latter felt an uncomfortable and an annoying feeling rising up inside of him.

"A table for one, sir?" the waiter asked him with a smile.

"No, three." Seungwoo replied coldly.

"Ok. Follow me, sir."

Seungwoo followed the waiter to a table. The worker gave the boy a menu and greeted other clients. Meanwhile, Seungwoo looked at the other tables. Seungsik and Sejun didn't arrive yet. He sighed and looked at the menu.

"They probably ditched me. Whatever I shouldn't care." Seungwoo thought. He did feel a little bit sad, but he was used to be alone so it didn't affect him much. Some moments later, he heard a familiar voice.

"Oh, I'm here to meet someone." the voice said. Seungwoo looked up to the person who talked. It was Seungsik. Their eyes met and Seungwoo had a little surprised look on his face.

"He's here." Seungsik said to the waiter, pointing Seungwoo's table. The waiter looked back at Seungwoo. The latter didn't really know how to react and just nodded. The waiter conducted Seungsik to the table, gave him a menu, and left. The younger boy sat in front of Seungwoo.

"Sorry for being late... The subway got a little breakdown and I couldn't text you.." Seungsik said to Seungwoo with an apologizing smile. "I hope I didn't make you wait too much." he continued. The smile on Seungsik's face brought heat to Seungwoo's face somehow. The older boy swiftly shifted his gaze to the menu. "It's okay." he replied.

An awkward atmosphere was floating in the air. The two boys didn't really know what to say and didn't dare to look at each other. They each looked at what to order. Seungsik looked up. "Did you decide what you want to order?" Seungsik asked Seungwoo.

Seungwoo looked at Seungsik. To be honest, he wasn't much paying attention to the menu. He seemed too much distracted by Seungsik's presence to be able to choose something. "Hmm, I think I'll just take a regular coffee." Seungwoo finally replied as it was the first thing he saw.

"Yeah me too.. To be honest, Sejun likes to buy fancy drinks here, but I usually only take a coffee hahaha." Seungsik said with a smile again. Seungwoo only nodded. Seungsik's smile was really trying to mess up Seungwoo's heart. Wait what? Some seconds later, a notification alert made Seungwoo come back to his senses. Seungsik received a text message from Sejun.

- Sejun: Hehehe sorry sikie. Ill be late since I just woke up.

- Sejun: But at least youll have some time alone with your future lover hehehe

Seungsik was annoyed by the text messages. Somehow, he felt that Sejun was being late on purpose. He texted back: "Get your ass over here so that I can get you a beating...". Seungwoo looked at his locker partner with a curious look. The younger boy, realizing that Seungwoo was still in front of him, smiled of embarrassment.

"Sorry for that. Sejun just texted me that he'll be late." Seungsik apologized with a smile. Seungwoo just nodded. Some seconds later, the waiter came back to the two boys' table asking if they chose what to order. Seungsik replied that they'll have two regular coffees. The waiter noted down the order and went back to the shop. Meanwhile, the silence was back between the two boys.

"Hmmm so..." Seungsik started. Seungwoo looked at the younger boy. "I'm glad you accepted my invitation." Seungsik continued with a shy voice.

"Sure..." Seungwoo could only replied.

"I know you said you didn't want any friends, but I still hope we can build a friendship." Seungsik continued. "Fuck, did I just really say that? I screwed up..." he thought some seconds later as he realized what he just said. "I mean I don't want to scare you with that and I'm not desperate. It's just that I feel it would be better to get along hahaha." Seungsik tried to cover up his last sentence with a smile.

Seungwoo thought about the fact that he always acted cold in front of his locker partner because he didn't really want to befriend him. He just didn't want to accept any kind of affection. But... Now, he was here. At a cafe. With his locker partner. He never thought that it would happen. Seungsik seemed special in a way.

"Wait.. Did I just think that?" Seungwoo said in his head. He looked again at the boy in front of him who was still smiling. He seemed sincere, but Seungwoo thought that he wasn't ready for this. But....

"I... I can try..." those words escaped from Seungwoo's mouth without him even realizing it. Seungsik was surprised by Seungwoo's reply. His face stayed the same for a couple of seconds before feeling heat growing inside of him. Seungsik smiled.

"Thanks! I promise we'll be in good terms." Seungsik said to Seungwoo with a big enthusiasm. "Did I come out too weird?" he thought after realizing what he just replied.

Seungwoo just nodded. He felt a really faint smile trying to spread in his face, but it faded away as he saw two familiar figures behind Seungsik. He thought that one of them was Sejun, but it was someone else. He couldn't recall where he saw those two people. Meanwhile, Seungsik noticed that the older boy's attention was somewhere else. He looked back to see what captivated his locker partner. He recognized the two people that were walking behind him.

"Oh, what a coincidence! It's Chan and Subin." Seungsik said when he saw his friends walking.

"Chan? Subin?" Seungwoo thought. He knew he heard those names somewhere. He checked the boys walking again and remembered them. They were in his philosophy class.

"That's weird... I'm wondering what they're doing together?" Seungsik said bursting Seungwoo out of his thoughts.

"Aren't they dating?" Seungwoo replied as he remembered the scene he saw in his class.

Seungsik was surprised by Seungwoo's reply. Then, he giggled a little bit. "I knew it! They really look like a couple don't they? They're actually just friends... I would know it if they were really together." Seungsik said.

"Oh ok..." Seungwoo replied. He wasn't really going to continue this discussion because it wasn't his business even though he really thought that Chan and Subin were dating. Some minutes later, the waiter arrived with the drinks. At the same time, Sejun showed up. He apologized for his lateness.

"Hehehe... Sorry I woke up a little bit too late." Sejun apologized with an embarrassed face. Later, he ordered his drink. The three boys were discussing about random things though Seungwoo wasn't really joining much the talks. He was more looking at the two other boys while drinking his coffee. It was a lie if he said that his eyes weren't more focused on Seungsik. Meanwhile, Sejun noticed the little gazes Seungwoo had for his friend.

"So, Seungwoo..." Sejun started to say, getting the attention of the two other guys. "Did you think about our invitation to join our team for the singing class project?" he continued. Seungsik thought that Sejun was rushing a bit his locker partner even though he wanted to know the answer too.

"Hey... It hasn't been a long time since we asked him. You should let him more time to think." Seungsik complained to his younger friend.

Meanwhile, Seungwoo was still in his thoughts. He did think about their proposition, but not really seriously. He didn't really feel like joining them pretty much, but something in his head was telling him to join them while another one told him that he shouldn't trust them. He let out a sigh.

"Yes."

Sejun and Seungsik who were arguing diverted their attention to Seungwoo. They were a bit surprised by the reply.

"And I'll join your team." the oldest boy said.

At the moment he heard those words, Seungsik was trying to control the amount of happiness that was flowing inside of his body (he didn't know why his enthusiasm was big though). Meanwhile, Sejun smiled. "Well, welcome to the team." he said to Seungwoo, handing his hand to the older boy. Seungwoo, still awkward, shook the younger boy's hand.

Chapter Text

It has been about one week since Seungwoo accepted to join Sejun's and Seungsik's team for the singing class project. They've informed their teacher about their team. The girls that wanted to be with Seungwoo were deceived when they learnt that he wasn't going in their team. When Seungsik saw their sad faces and heard their whines, he couldn't really help, but feel a little bit happy inside of him. Sejun told him that he was happy because he had Seungwoo for him. The older boy eventually hit his younger friend for that comment.

----

Right now, Seungsik was talking with Sejun. They were at the younger boy's locker. They were discussing about what kind of songs they should choose for the project.

"It will probably be better to ask your future boyfriend." Sejun said to Seungsik with a devilish smile.

For the umpteenth time, Seungsik hit his friend. "He's not my "future" boyfriend. Oh my god, you're really annoying me with that... And we don't even know if he's gay anyway..." Seungsik replied, annoyed.

"Oh, so you're interested in him after all? Since you want to know if he's gay or not.."

"Don't change my words!" Seungsik said, hitting again his friend.

"I'm not. And anyway I'm 100% sure he is gay or at least bi." Sejun said, trying to look like a genius.

"How the heck can you know that? You barely know him." Seungsik asked with a doubtful tone.

"My gay-dar is always right." Sejun said.

Seungsik just laughed sarcastically at the statement. Then, he stated that he thinks that those things are impossible. "Well, thanks to who do you think you're friend with a lot of gay boys now?" Sejun replied with a smirk. Seungsik rolled his eyes. It was true that it was Sejun that introduced him to Chan, Byungchan and Hanse, who was bisexual though. (Then, Chan introduced Subin to the group, but that's a story for another time). Seungsik started to believe that Sejun maybe could guess who's gay or not, but he didn't want to admit it.

"Seungsik!" a familiar voice screamed, making the called boy almost jump out of surprise. Seungsik looked at the direction where the voice calling him came from. and saw Byungchan approaching.

"Byungchan-ah, why do you always have to startle me like that?" Seungsik complained to his younger friend when the latter arrived to the locker. Meanwhile, Sejun smiled cutely as the tallest boy arrived. Byungchan apologized for surprising Seungsik and said that he wasn't expecting him at his locker. "Wait, your locker?" Seungsik said as he felt like he missed something. Sejun and Byungchan explained that the latter and Hanse decided to switch lockers since Hanse couldn't deal with Sejun's messiness. But remembering some past talks with the Hanse and Byungchan, Seungsik thought that they might have decided to switch lockers for another reason, but he didn't want to dig much about it. So, he just nodded to say that he understood. Some moments later, Sejun and Seungsik had to meet Seungwoo to discuss about their singing class project. Byungchan asked if he could assist them with an excuse that he had some hours left before the beginning of his class. The two older boys (especially Sejun) didn't mind, but Seungsik said that the youngest of the three might bother Seungwoo since the latter is still uncomfortable with them.

"Please..." Byungchan pleaded with a pouty face.

"Awwn~ How can you say "no" to that cutie face?" Sejun said to Seungsik as he couldn't resist his younger friend's aegyo. Byungchan just blushed at his hyung's sentence.

"Fine... You can come." Seungsik replied, worrying a bit about what will happen.

-----

At that moment, Seungwoo was peacefully eating his lunch at the cafeteria. His team for his singing class project planned to meet at around twelve thirty at the cafeteria since they were all free during at this time. What he didn't planned was that another friend of his teammates would join the table, sit next to him, and give him such attention.

"Sorry, that's our friend Byungchan. He insisted to assist our project meeting, I hope you don't mind." Seungsik apologized for his friends. He finished his sentence with one of his cute eye smile. Having a stranger to their table did bother Seungwoo, but it seemed like Seungsik's smile could make him change his mind somehow.

"It's okay I guess...." he replied a little bit shyly and awkwardly.

"Nice! Then, it means we can start this meeting!" Sejun announced with enthusiasm.

The group started to talk about what kind of songs they would want to perform and what could fit the group better. However, the talk was mostly Sejun and Seungsik arguing, trying to determine what kind of vibes were better. Meanwhile, Byungchan was either only looking at Seungwoo or trying to get the oldest to meddle in the conversation making sure that the two others heard it. Seungwoo was quite uncomfortable with the gesture the youngest was doing, but he just stayed as cold he used to be. Seungsik, noting that the meeting was going wrong, decided that they should postpone it to another day. Seungwoo and Sejun agreed while Byungchan pouted. Seungsik asked Seungwoo if it was okay if they could eat with him. The oldest did want to stay alone to finish his lunch, but the three pairs of eyes especially his locker partner's made him change his mind somehow again. Seungsik was a bit surprised by the reply, but he was glad that Seungwoo seemed to open himself more. Meanwhile, Byungchan had an unexpected reaction. He cheerfully grabbed Seungwoo's arm and hugged it. The three other boys were quite surprised by the youngest boy's sudden physical contact.

"Uuuuh.. Byungchan, what are you doing?" both Sejun and Seungsik asked, confused.

"Oh sorry haha.... I don't know what happened to me." Byungchan replied, making an embarrassed face. "By the way, your arm feels really strong. Do you work out?" he asked Seungwoo with a cute smile.

"Byungchan!" Seungsik yelled. "Sorry for Byungchan... He's not that weird usually..." he said to Seungwoo, giving a deadly glare to Byungchan. Meanwhile, Sejun couldn't help, but to feel a little bit tensed inside of him.

Later on, the lunch went more smoothly as Sejun changed subjects to make things less awkward. Even though Seungwoo wasn't really participating in the talk, he seemed a little bit less awkward than usual well that's what Seungsik thought. Couple of minutes later, Seungwoo said that he had to attend his class that would start soon. The three other boys said goodbye to him and the latter left the cafeteria. Seungsik quickly looked at Byungchan with a furious look.

"I told you, it was a bad idea to bring you here..." he said without really realizing what he said.

Byungchan pouted. "Calm down... It's not as if he wanted to steal your man..." Sejun joked to Seungsik, trying to calm the situation.

"I'm not really in the mood for that..." the oldest of the three said.

"I'm sorry, but I mean... He's cute and handsome.. What did you want me to do?" Byungchan shamelessly apologized.

 "Ummm... Byungchan, you better go... I think that a real beast will appear soon..." Sejun warned Byungchan as he noticed Seungsik's really gloomy expression.

"Oh yeah... But sorry for making him uncomfortable..." Byungchan replied with a nervous tone and an apologetic smile.

"Fine... Just go now..." Seungsik said. With that, Byungchan left the cafeteria. Meanwhile, Sejun tried to calm down Seungsik. He put his arm around Seungsik and asked him if he was angry because he was jealous or something. "I told you I'm not in the mood for your jokes.... I don't love him how many times I've got to say it to you?..." he replied. Then, Sejun asked why he was in a bad mood. Seungsik replied that he just didn't like how Seungwoo felt uncomfortable. Sejun just smiled, finding it cute that Seungsik worried about Seungwoo like that, but he couldn't say it to his friend since he was scared of causing another storm. So, Sejun just said to his friend to eat his lunch and tried to make him laugh. Seungsik's expression did brighten a little bit. That's why Sejun was his best friend : he always knew how to cheer Seungsik up. Even if Sejun really liked to tease his older friend like the others, he just had this bubbly personality that almost nobody could resist. So, the two just continued eating their lunch and laughing. Meanwhile, Seungwoo, who finished taking his stuffs for his class, passed by near the cafeteria to go to his class. As he walked, he saw Sejun and Seungsik still at their table and closer physically which gave Seungwoo an unpleasant feeling inside of him.

----

"Wait? So, he just put his arms around Seungwoo's like that?"

"Yeah!! I don't know what's up with him... He's just being weird lately..."

Seungsik was at Chan's locker since he still had some time before his class and that he saw his friend in the meantime. He talked about how Byungchan was being a little bit too much invading with Seungwoo.

"Hohoho, Seungsik is jealous?" Chan joked.

Seungsik hit his younger friend on the arm and said that Sejun influenced him too much. Then, he noticed a familiar figure behind his friend. It was Subin's. When the two boys made eye contact, Seungsik waved at him and told him to come over here. Chan noticed Seungsik's gesture and turned around. As he saw his boyfriend behind him, he felt a little bit nervous. Subin approached the the two other boys.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you.." Seungsik said as he patted Subin's head.

"It's been literally just one week though..." Subin replied, with a cold tone.

"Ah yeah true..." Seungsik said as he realized that the youngest boy was right. Then, Subin asked what Seungsik and Chan were doing. The latter just replied that they were chatting about how Byungchan made moves on Seungsik's locker partner and how Seungsik was jealous of it. After hearing those words, the oldest of the three hit Chan again. Subin couldn't help laughing. He asked about why would Byungchan randomly try to seduce someone he didn't know. The oldest boy agreed to Subin's statement. However, the discussion just ended up with the two younger boys teasing Seungsik. The latter knew that his two friends were really close and that he didn't have the power to retort them. Then, he remembered the day when he saw Chan and Subin near the café where he was with Seungwoo and he was curious about it. So, he just asked them what they were doing there. Chan just replied that Subin was a little bit bored and that he wanted to hang out with him at the arcade, which was true, but he tried not to hint about them dating. Seungsik nodded. Then, he chuckled as he said that even Seungwoo thought that both of them were together. Chan and Subin looked at each other since they guessed that Seungwoo knew about them, but tried to laugh about it to not look suspicious. They overreacted a little bit too much though, making Seungsik a little bit suspicious.

"Wait... You're not really dating, right?" Seungsik asked his friends with a suspicious tone.

"We're not!" Chan and Subin yelled as a reply.

Seungsik was a bit startled by the reply, but he just nodded. However, he was still suspicious.

Chapter Text

Seungsik was in his philosophy class. As always, it was boring (well for him). Some of the students in his class were almost sleeping. Seungsik was looking at them and felt a little bad for his teacher that seemed to try to be interesting in vain. The boy tried to focus more on the content of the class to end the semester with a good grade, but his earlier chat with Chan and Subin seemed to bother his mind instead. They really acted weirdly which made Seungsik think that they might have been dating all along without telling anyone. But why would they hide that from their friends? It's not as if they were shy about it since all their friends basically shipped them together and they didn't seem bothered by it. So, what was it? Seungsik didn't know why it was bothering him so much. It wasn't his business, but the fact that they hid something was bugging him. Sure, he knew that his friends had the right to have secrets, but he just didn't understand why they wanted to hide this kind of thing. At the same time, Seungsik thought that he was just being over suspicious and that they weren't dating at all. So, he told himself that he should stop thinking about this and get back to listening to his teacher. However, he recalled Seungwoo asking if Chan and Subin were dating. The older boy didn't seem to be the type of person to ask those kinds of questions out of nowhere. So, Seungsik thought that his locker partner might know something about them somehow. But, it would be weird to be asking him about his friends, no? Seungsik ended up not being focused during most of his class time and he worried about how his grades would be affected by this.

----

Going back to his locker, Seungsik put his philosophy manual back in it with the thoughts of Chan and Subin still in his mind somehow. He thought that he should stop to be obsessed about it because it was making him just weird. But, because Seungsik was too much inside his mind, he didn't notice that his locker partner arrived. Seungwoo was standing next to Seungsik without doing anything. He couldn't stop staring at his locker partner somehow. When Seungwoo came back to his senses, he tried to warn his locker partner of his presence. He tapped Seungsik's shoulder with his finger. With this little touch, Seungsik was back to Earth and turned his head. As he saw Seungwoo, he smiled shyly.

"Sorry, I didn't notice you were here. I was lost in my thoughts haha, but I hope you weren't waiting for too long." he said to his locker partner, smiling again.

Seungwoo felt heat inside of him as Seungsik smiled again. He didn't know why his locker partner's smiles were giving him this effect. "It's okay.." he replied to the younger boy.

Seungsik nodded as he finished putting things for his next class in his bag. Then, the thought of asking Seungwoo about Chan and Subin travelled in his mind again. He could just ask his locker partner about the matter, but he thought that it would be weird at the same time. He zipped his bag and let Seungwoo use the locker. But, as he was about to leave, he thought again that he should ask the older boy. So, he turned around.

"Seungwoo." he called his locker partner.

Seungwoo, who was putting his manuals in the locker, looked at Seungsik.

"I know this is weird to ask... But, do you remember when we saw my friends Chan and Subin at the café?" Seungsik asked, showing an obvious embarrassed face.

"Hmmm yes... Why are you asking that?" Seungwoo asked back.

"It's just that when you asked if they were dating... Did you know something about them? I'm just asking because you don't seem the type of person to think that..."

Seungwoo was a bit confused about why Seungsik was asking about this kind of matter now, but he wanted to be polite so he talked about the day he saw Chan and Subin in his philosophy class. "Oh..." Seungsik replied as he started putting puzzle pieces together. The fact that Seungsik and his friends didn't see Chan and Subin often during the past few weeks must really have been because they were dating. Seungsik thanked Seungwoo for replying and apologized for the weird question. Seungwoo just nodded to say that it was fine. Seungsik smiled and said goodbye to his locker partner as he was heading somewhere else. But, Sejun was walking to their way.

"Oh nice, you're all here! I have something to ask." he said as he approached the two older boys. They looked at the younger boy with a curious look.

"Is it about the singing class project?" Seungsik asked.

"Yeah... I'm just suggesting this, but to talk better about it, we should go to your house." Sejun said as he placed a hand on Seungsik's shoulder.

"What? My house?" Seungsik replied, pointing a finger to himself with a confused tone. Sejun nodded. Meanwhile, Seungwoo felt shy imagining going to Seungsik's house.

"You're serious?! Why not yours...?" Seungsik complained.

"Well you have a piano in your room which I don't. And you said that your parents are usually working all day during weekends, so we can have more peace." the youngest boy replied and winked.

Seungsik was not really enthusiastic with the idea of using his house for having meetings, but Sejun had good points. Also, Seungsik didn't dare to propose Seungwoo's house as they barely met. So, ultimately, Seungsik was forced to accept Sejun's suggestion. "I knew you were going to like this idea." Sejun joked a little. Seungsik gave an annoyed face to Sejun.

"So, Seungwoo, is it fine for you to invade Seungsik's house?" Sejun asked the oldest boy as he put his hands on Seungsik's shoulders and shook them a little bit.

Seungwoo didn't really know how to feel about this idea. He also didn't know why he felt shy about the idea of going to Seungsik's house. He did feel a little bad for his locker partner as the younger boy looked reluctant to this idea. However, Seungwoo didn't feel ready to get people to his house. So, he just nodded to say that he was okay with the idea.

"Nice, so let's meet at Seungsik's house this Saturday." Sejun said with a peculiar excited tone.

"Why the hell did you drag my house into this...?" Seungsik thought as he looked at Sejun with a sulky face. Seungwoo looked at Seungsik at that moment and felt heat inside of him once again.

----

After planning the next meeting for their singing project, Seungsik was alone, walking in an hallway. He was texting Chan and Subin, asking them to meet him to talk, but none of them were replying. Seungsik thought about the possibility that they could be in class, but at the same time, he thought that they were avoiding him. Then, out of nowhere, Seungsik saw the two boys walking together a little bit ahead of him. He thought that he should follow them even if it felt weird doing so. So, Seungsik tried to follow them discreetly. Some minutes later, Chan and Subin were at the library. Seungsik was wondering why his friends were heading to this place. Inside of the library, his two younger friends weren't heading for the tables nor the bookshelves to find books. They were heading to a strange hallway that seemed to lead nowhere. Then, Seungsik recalled a rumor where there was a secret place for couples in the library. He couldn't believe that Chan and Subin were really heading to that place. As Chan and Subin arrived to the end of the hallway, Seungsik looked carefully at them behind a corner. The two younger boys held hands and smiled at each other. As their faces approached from each other's, Seungsik gulped. However, he forgot that the library was quiet and that sounds would be louder. After hearing the noise, Chan and Subin immediately looked at Seungsik's direction and were shocked when they saw their friend.

"Seungsik... What are you doing here?" Chan whispered loud enough so that Seungsik could hear.

"I'm the one who should be asking you this..." Seungsik whispered as he approached his friends.

"What do you mean?" Subin asked.

"You ARE dating, right?" Seungsik said to both boys.

"We told you were not!" Chan replied with an annoyed tone.

"So, what both of you are doing here then? Why aren't you replying to my messages? And why Seungwoo thought you two were dating when he saw both of you in his philosophy class?" Seungsik asked with a serious tone.

Both younger boys didn't know what to reply. They knew they were trapped. Chan looked at his boyfriend, the latter did the same. Chan showed an expression asking if Subin was okay revealing everything. The youngest boy just sighed. "Fine..." he began. Both Seungsik and Chan looked at Subin.

"We are dating." the youngest admitted.

Chapter Text

Seungsik never imagined having this kind of discussion with his friends. He never thought that dating would be something that his friends want to keep secret. However, here he was in this library. He busted two of his friends right in the middle of their "date". And now, he was asking for explanations.

"But why?... Why didn't you tell anyone about it?" Seungsik asked.

There was a little silence floating in the air. Chan put an arm around Subin's shoulder to comfort his lover knowing that the youngest boy wasn't feeling well. Meanwhile, Seungsik was still looking at his friends. Subin sighed again.

"You remember when Chan introduced me to you guys?" the youngest boy asked to his oldest friend. Seungsik nodded, wondering what was the link with the situation. "At that time, I said to you guys that I've transferred to this school just because my father got a job here... But, actually there was another reason to why I had to change schools..." Subin continued. Seungsik seemed more confused, but he asked what was the reason. "When I knew that I liked boys, rumors started to circulate in my old school about my sexual orientation somehow. I wasn't bothered by them because it was the truth, but my father on the other hand.... He didn't took it well." Seungsik began to feel sad for his friend. "Do you mean...?" Seungsik began to say.

"Yeah... My father made my family moved out because he wanted to avoid all those rumors saying that his son could be gay..." Subin guessed what Seungsik wanted to ask.

"But.. Did you come out to your parents?" Seungsik asked.

"I wanted to..." Subin replied, feeling some sadness boiling inside of him. "But... As I saw the reaction my dad had for those rumors, I just couldn't... I had to say to him that I was straight.. Also, I asked all of you how you came out, but I still didn't find a way to do it..." he continued.

"So, you two were dating in secret so that your father won't have a hint about your sexual orientation?" Seungsik asked as he understood more the situation.

Chan and Subin nodded. "We really didn't want to hide it from you guys, but we wanted to be safe. So, we just pretended to be friendly and close in front of everyone." Chan said to Seungsik. The oldest boy felt sorry for Subin. Now, he understood everything. He approached Subin and caressed one of his shoulders.

"I know how you feel. We all went through this. And you know the time will come when you'll have enough courage to come out." Seungsik said to his youngest friend to comfort him.

"But what if my parents reject me for this?" Subin asked with a sad tone.

"They are your parents. I'm sure that even if they don't show it, they'll accept you for who you are. If they don't... Well, you should know that you have us to support you. We all understand what you're living so you should come to us. Also, you already have Chan always next to you so you have someone to lean on if everything goes wrong." Seungsik replied with a comforting smile. Chan hugged Subin tighter to give him a peck. The youngest boy had a faint smile and nodded. "So, I know this might be too early but... you'll keep that as a secret? I'm sure that even if we know, we won't talk about it publicly. And it'll be nice to see you two more often." Seungsik asked the couple.

"Subin?" Chan asked his boyfriend for an approval while looking at him.

Subin nodded. "I think now it is for the better." Subin replied. Seungsik and Chan smiled and tried to comfort Subin again.

----

Some hours later, Seungsik was with his friends at a café near his school. Subin decided to tell everything to them after school. Sejun, Byungchan, and Hanse didn't know why Subin wanted to reunite everyone there, but they were happy to be able to hang out with Chan and Subin again.

"So, you two had time for us now?" Hanse asked jokingly to Chan and Subin.

The two boys giggled shyly to the question and nodded. "Well, we have something to tell you guys." Subin replied with a shy voice.

"You're finally telling us that you two are dating?" Sejun said, giggling.

"Actually... yes... we are..." Subin replied, slowly.

"WHAT!?" Sejun, Byungchan, and Hanse shouted in unison, making everyone in the café turned their head towards their direction. With an embarrassed tone, Sejun apologized to the workers and the customers. The three boys turned their head to the couple. "Wow, I know we were joking about you two a lot, but I didn't expect you would really end up dating." Byungchan said, timid. Chan put his arm around Subin's shoulder and nodded. Then, Sejun asked when Chan and Subin started dating. Subin replied that he has been with Chan since a little bit after meeting the latter. As he was newly transferred, he was alone and wasn't comfortable making friends, but Chan immediately was friendly with him when they met in one of their past classes. Then, Subin said that after hanging out more with Chan, they actually ended up becoming a couple. Byungchan was squealing (like how a fangirl would when she reads a fanfiction about their OTP lol). Sejun giggled at Byungchan's reaction and asked the couple why they didn't tell their friends that they were dating. The couple looked at each other knowing that they had to tell the truth to their friends. Then, the two boys looked at Seungsik who nodded to them. Sejun did notice the looks, but Subin spoke up first. He told what he told to Seungsik at the library about his father to his friends. Sejun, Byungchan, and Hanse had sympathy for Subin's situation. They told him that they understood and that they would be here to help him come out. Subin thanked everyone. Chan cuddled Subin tighter leading the others wanting to give a hug to their youngest friend. Meanwhile, Seungsik giggled at the scene that was happening : it was pretty cute how his friends were caring for each other. Then, Sejun turned his head to Seungsik.

"So, you knew about them? I saw you giving looks to them." Sejun asked Seungsik.

"Yeah... They told me everything earlier when I saw them almost kissing." the oldest boy admitted.

"Ya! You basically followed us!" Chan hit back.

Seungsik put his hand on Chan's mouth to silence the younger boy. The others could only laugh at Chan's reply, making Seungsik more embarrassed.

"Anyway, instead of trying to make other couples admit they are dating, you should admit that you want to date your locker partner." Sejun joked and winked.

Seungsik, annoyed by the teasing, hit Sejun once again and the others couldn't help laughing more.

----

It was the day where Seungsik would receive his teammates to his house for the singing class project. Usually, he wouldn't even bother tidying up his room, but the fact that his locker partner would come at his house did make Seungsik a little bit more nervous about it. He didn't want to give a bad impression to his locker partner, but at the same time, he didn't really know why it mattered so much to him. However, Seungsik was already putting his dirty clothes in his closet and cleaned up his room.

Meanwhile, Seungwoo was on his way to go to Seungsik's house. He didn't know why he felt a little bit nervous about the idea of going into his locker partner's house. But, it's not as if he was going to be alone with Seungsik so it shouldn't be as awkward as he thought it would be. Some minutes later, he arrived to the address Seungsik sent to him. The house looked quite welcoming. Well, more heartwarming than his since his house seemed to intimidate others (that's a story for another time). Seungwoo was, now, in front of the door. He pressed the doorbell and waited for answer. He heard a "One moment please!" coming from inside : it was Seungsik's voice. Some seconds later, the door opened and showed a smiling Seungsik. The younger boy welcomed Seungwoo and the latter greeted his locker partner back.

Both boys entered the house. Seungsik said to Seungwoo that he was in the middle of cleaning the house with an embarrassed face. Seungwoo just nodded. As he felt that the two boys were the only people in the house, he asked the younger boy if Sejun arrived yet. Seungsik replied that they were alone for the moment. Seungwoo nodded, thinking about why he expected Sejun to arrive before him. Then, Seungsik invited Seungwoo to go to his room with a shaky voice. The oldest boy felt awkward to go there, but he couldn't really refuse. So, both boys went inside Seungsik's room. The room seemed tidy since Seungsik just cleaned it up. It was quite warming, it looked less gloomy than Seungwoo's room. Seungsik gave a chair to his guest to sit on. Then, he sat on his bed not knowing what to say to his locker partner. An awkward silence took the whole room with some awkward glances at some moments. Then, Seungsik asked Seungwoo if he wanted to drink something. The oldest boy, wanting to cool down the awkward atmosphere, replied that water was fine. Seungsik nodded and headed to the kitchen. As he was pouring water inside of a cup, Seungsik was asking himself in his mind why he was so nervous with Seungwoo around. He thought that he should try to be more cheerful to lift up the mood. Then, Seungsik took the glass of water and headed to his room. What he didn't expect to see when he arrived to his room was Seungwoo holding a tiny polaroid with hearts drawn at the back. The younger boy recognized that photo that he should have thrown away. Unfortunately, Seungsik's reaction made the glass slipped from his hand, landing on the floor and breaking in pieces. Some pieces scratched Seungsik's ankle which caused him to scream. Seungwoo, who was focused on the polaroid, lifted his head in surprise when he heard the glass breaking and his locker partner's scream.

"Are you alright?" Seungwoo asked Seungsik with a worried tone.

"It's fine, it's just some scratches. I better clean this mess and disinfect my wounds." Seungsik replied with a hurt tone.

"Do you need help?" Seungwoo asked without noticing what he said.

"No no... I should be okay." Seungsik replied, not wanting to trouble the other boy.

Seungwoo didn't know what to do as Seungsik declined his help. The younger boy tried to walk, but it seemed that his scratches were worse than what he thought as he felt a huge pain when he walked one step. He couldn't hide his pain as Seungwoo insisted in helping him. "You should sit on your bed. Tell me where is your disinfectant and your bandages so I can go take them." Seungwoo told the younger boy. Seungsik felt flustered by what the older boy just said. He really didn't want to trouble Seungwoo, but the latter was fast as he got up to help Seungsik go sit on his bed. The younger boy thanked his locker partner and told him where he could find disinfectant and bandages. Seungwoo left the room to go find the items. Meanwhile, Seungsik felt embarrassed by what happened. As he saw the polaroid on the floor, Seungsik felt nervous thinking about what reaction Seungwoo had to it. He wanted throw this memory that should have been gone a while ago. If he would have just cleaned his room more often, he could avoid Seungwoo seeing this picture. He was thinking about how unlucky he was as he didn't find this polaroid while cleaning up the bedroom. Some moments later, Seungwoo came back to the room with the items.  Then, both boys looked at each other.

----

Sejun planned again to arrive late so Seungsik could have some time alone with Seungwoo. When he arrived to his older friend's house, the door was opened and he knew it since it was an habit his friend had when he was receiving. So, Sejun entered the house. He was about to announce that he arrived, but he heard a scream. It was Seungsik's voice. He almost rushed to the room where the scream came until he heard Seungsik say:

"It hurts..."

Sejun stopped for a moment.

"Do you want me to go slower?" Sejun heard a familiar voice say. Then, he recognized who it was: it was Seungwoo's. Sejun walked a little closer to the bedroom without making noise to hear the conversation.

"No no... It's better to go fast.. We should hurry before Sejun arrives." Seungsik said. Sejun didn't know what was happening in Seungsik's room, but he felt something weird. Then, he heard more sounds coming from Seungsik that sounded more like moans somehow.

"Oh crap... They're having sex right now?" Sejun thought, surprised. He decided to let the two older boys some privacy so he went out of the house. As he stepped out of the dwelling, he saw a familiar figure a little bit far. The person was quite tall and was walking with another boy. Sejun took a closer look to the person. "Wait, isn't it...?" Sejun thought. Then, he heard his phone ringing. Sejun checked the caller's name. It was Seungsik. "Hmmm... They must be done now..." Sejun thought. He answered the call making it seemed that he didn't arrive yet.

"Are you arriving soon? You're like 30 minutes late..." Seungsik asked on the phone.

"Well it depends... Are you done with your stuff?" Sejun replied back.

"What do you mean?" Seungsik asked, confused.

"I mean are your locker partner and you done banging?" Sejun just said

"WHAT?" Seungsik screamed over the phone. Sejun could hear the scream from the house too. "Get your ass over here!" Seungsik said on the phone with a mad tone.

 "So, now you want a threesome? I'm not into that though..." Sejun joked. Then, he heard the door opening and saw a furious Seungsik coming out of the house with a Seungwoo looking confused and worried at the same time. Sejun knew he messed up. Some moments and a little beating later, the three boys were in Seungsik's room.

"Ah... So you cut yourself... That explains things hehe..." Sejun said trying to calm down Seungsik. There was another awkward silence.

"But you shouldn't have moan...." Sejun continued. Seungsik hit Sejun on the arm. "I didn't moan!!!" the older boy said to Sejun. The youngest boy rolled his eyes. Meanwhile, Seungwoo felt some heat inside of him because of what Sejun just said since himself thought that Seungsik was moaning.

----

Some moments later, the trio continued talking about their singing project. They finally got along with the type of song to choose for the project. They've planned to sing a ballad since they thought their voices would match more this type of music and that their harmonies would work better to this genre. After finishing their meeting, Seungwoo went home. Meanwhile, Sejun stayed with Seungsik. The older boy complained about what Sejun said to him on the phone earlier. The younger boy apologized again with an embarrassed smile. Then, while Sejun was sitting on his friend's bed, he noticed the polaroid on the floor. He picked it up and was surprised to see the photo.

"Oh my god! You still have that picture of Chani and you!?" Sejun asked Seungsik with a surprised tone. The younger boy who was looking his computer turned around and saw Sejun with the picture from earlier.

"I didn't mean to keep it... You know me, I just lost it... Then, it was there out of nowhere even though I cleaned my room..." Seungsik replied with a worried tone.

"Wait?.... Did Seungwoo see it?" Sejun asked. There was a tiny pause before Seungsik nodded. "Oh....." Sejun could only say.

Chapter Text

Couple of days have passed since Seungwoo and Sejun worked at Seungsik's house for their singing project. Since then, things between Seungwoo and Seungsik changed. It wasn't as if they were best friends or even friends at all, but the younger boy could feel a greater and a more awkward tension between them. Each time they would meet, Seungsik would try to talk to the older boy, but Seungwoo would avoid him by leaving quickly from what he observed. Seungsik didn't know what to do to fix this and it annoyed him. To make things worse, his friends noticed that he had trouble walking due to his previous injury on the ankle. He tried lying to them, but Sejun had to spill everything. Now, his friends were teasing for his "clumsiness" (at least Sejun spared the Chani part from them).

With all this in his thoughts, Seungsik went to his locker after finishing his class. As expected, his locker partner wasn't there. After putting his books in his bag, Sejun came by.

"So, things are still awkward with Seungwoo?" Sejun asked. Seungsik nodded with a sad expression. "Honestly, I don't understand why things are awkward between you two... Is it because of the picture or just the whole incident that happened next?"

Seungsik shrugged. "I do feel embarrassed by everything.. It's probably the same thing with Seungwoo... I mean why the picture would bother him?"

"Well... He could be jealous?" Sejun suggested with a smirk.

"WHAT!???" Seungsik replied. The idea of Seungwoo being jealous never went through his head. It was totally impossible anyway... Seungwoo wasn't interested by the younger boy. Why would he? Anyway, it wasn't as if Seungsik was interested, well that's what he thought. Meanwhile, Sejun laughed at his friend's reaction.

"Wow you never had this thought?... I mean he could be.." Sejun said, giving another smirk to Seungsik.

"Why would he?..." Seungsik replied, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, you're not saying that you're not interested anymore.." Sejun said with a victory expression. The older boy, embarrassed, hit Sejun. "I'm not interested, ok?"

"Yeah yeah whatever... Anyway, I think that him seeing the pic of Chani and you was a good thing. Now, I'm sure Seungwoo's jealous of your ex." the younger boy replied with another devilish smile. Seungsik was about to hit his friend again, but...

"What picture of Chan-ie and you?" a voice surprised the two boys. They turned their head to see who was there. It was Subin. "So, Chan hyung and you were together?" the youngest asked his oldest friend with a jealous face.

"WHAT!!?" the two older boys replied. "Subin-ie, it's not like that... I was dating another boy called Chani." Seungsik explained.

"And don't worry, it's not as if he could compete against your Chan." Sejun reassured his younger friend. "Also, he's younger than you though..." he whispered.

"Oh, so you like younger boys?" Subin questioned his oldest friend.

"Don't make it sound like that... He was just really sweet, but I didn't really think well about this relationship." Seungsik defended himself. Subin only let an "Oh.." come out of his mouth. Meanwhile, somewhere near Seungsik's locker, a tall silhouette left the room. 

 ----

After the talk with Seungsik, Sejun was heading to his class. On his way, he saw two familiar boys approaching. When the boys made eye contact, they had a little surprised reaction.

"Oh, Sejun! Were you heading to your class?" the smaller boy of the two even if they didn't have a big difference asked.

"Yeah..." Sejun replied while looking again at the two tall figures in front of him. "I didn't know you two knew each other..." he continued, still surprised of seeing the two other guys together. They looked at each other and giggled, making Sejun a little bit uncomfortable.

"Actually, we have the same Math class and we had to work together for a project. When we knew we were both friends with you, we decided to hang out more." the tallest replied.

"Oh it's great then! I have to go to my class, so I guess I'll see you later." Sejun said with a bittersweet smile. he waved at his friends and left them. Meanwhile, the two tall boys continued their way talking.

----

Some moments later, Byungchan was alone at his locker. He seemed quite excited as he was texting to someone.

Byungchan: YOOO!! Your plan totally worked! :DDDDDD

Hanse: What plan?... o_O

Byungchan: Well the one to get closer to Seokwoo!

Hanse: OMG YOU REALLY DID THAT!!? I was joking bro...

Byungchan: Woah didn't expect u to react like that lol

Hanse: U know its kinda bad what ure doing, right?

Byungchan: Its just to make Sejunie a little bit jealous... I dont see anything wrong with that..

Hanse: welp.. dont tell me i didnt warn you but youll ruin their friendship

Byungchan thought about the message his friend just sent. He didn't really think about that beforehand. But, at the same time, Sejun wasn't interested by Byungchan and he certainly didn't think that Seokwoo could fall in love with him. So, for now, he decided to stick with the plan. He was about to reply back to Hanse, but Sejun arrived to the locker.

"Who are you texting to?" Sejun asked suddenly.

"Oh, just to Hanse. You know the usual weird talk.." Byungchan said smiling with a "you know" look. Sejun couldn't resist, but to smile back at his friend. "Anyway, Seokwoo and I planned to meet a café later. Do you want to join us?" the younger boy asked waiting for Sejun's reply.

Sejun's smile quickly fainted. "Umm... I don't know, I gotta practice for my singing class. But, thanks anyway.." he replied, feeling a lump in his throat.

"Oh, it's ok then. See ya another day I guess." Byungchan said. He smiled to Sejun one last time before going. Sejun stood there, thinking about his two friends meeting up at a café. He didn't feel good about it. But, why? His friends are getting along and that's good, no? But why did it make him uncomfortable inside? After some thoughts, Sejun closed his locker and took out his phone. 

Sejun: Byungchan where's the cafe you told me about? I changed my mind I'll join u 2.

Sejun sighed.

----

Exhausted of his day, Seungsik was finishing packing his bag. His Math class really did worn him out somehow. But, it wasn't just the amount of work that bothered him. Usually, he would be sitting next to his locker partner in this class, but a girl just took his place before he could sit there. Seungsik didn't want to make a scene especially since there was a bigger awkward tension between the two boys, but he couldn't help feeling bad inside of him seeing someone else next to Seungwoo. But, it's not as if he owned Seungwoo so it was the older boy's right to have whoever to sit beside him. And Seungsik really didn't understand why this bothered him so much anyway. To forget about it, he just thought of his schedule for this night. What didn't help him was Seungwoo arriving to their locker. Seungsik greeted him, but his voice felt shaky. Seungwoo greeted the younger boy back, but the awkwardness was really obvious. A big silence floated in the air as the two boys were packing their bags. Seungsik closed his bag and was about to leave, but Seungwoo held his wrist. The younger boy was surprised by the sudden action and he could feel his heart skip a beat. He turned his head to the older boy.

"So, how's you ankle?" Seungwoo asked, shyly.

Honestly, this was the first sentence that Seungwoo ever pronounced that seemed to have a certain emotion since that incident. Seungsik felt relief and heat inside of him. "It's better now, it hurts less." Seungsik replied, with one of his sweet smile. Seungwoo felt his cheeks becoming hotter when he saw his locker partner's beautiful smile. He nodded to the younger boy. Then, both of them looked at each other. Seungwoo, realizing that he was still holding Seungsik's wrist, let it go slowly. The younger boy gulped before asking: "So... Are we fine now?"

He looked at his locker partner with anticipation. He was afraid that this question would ruin everything. Seungwoo looked down for some seconds before meeting the younger boy's eyes. "I think we're fine now." he replied. To that, Seungsik smiled widely. Seungwoo felt his lips wanting to curve up too.

"So.. Uh.. Do you want to hang out some day?" Seungsik asked with a shy tone. He didn't really realize what he just ask due to his excitement, but he felt regret some seconds later.

Seungwoo didn't expect the younger boy to ask him that suddenly. He took a brief moment thinking about it before replying: "Sure. Where do you want to meet?"