Chapter Text
Jai rushed out of his apartment, drink in one hand and his phone in the other. He had overslept and was currently running late to practice, all because he'd spent his night looking through numerous websites and even Reddit threads, just to find out more ways to flirt with Pik.
He had almost given up, when he finally found a piece of advice which sounded like it had worked for multiple other people who were currently in healthy relationships.
It was a Reddit post of a woman who had been hopelessly crushing on her coworker and desperately needed help in flirting with her, and he found two comments which had said:
Dang, that sounds rough. Try this method I found online, the triangle method: it worked out well for me and my girlfriend ;)
When trying to get my current husband interested in me, I guess using eye contact really helped him realize that I liked him!
Jai hurriedly typed out trangle metod in his Youtube search bar as he got on the bus, putting his drink down next to him and fully focusing on the YouTube video playing before him.
After watching it a few times, he still felt skeptical.
Is this really going to work, he thought, sighing to himself. At this point Poohpik is going to find someone else and forget all about me.
Jai pushed himself further down into his seat, frowning. He'd have to try every method he found online if he wanted Pik to finally realize his feelings, and that meant even doing the ones he found difficult to wrap his head around.
I mean, if it worked for that girl and her lover, it should work for mine as well!
Jai hopped off the bus and made his way towards the practice room. Inside, he found the trainees already warming up, so he quietly tried to slip past them, hoping to not get caught in the act of arriving late.
However, as expected, it didn't work.
"Hey Jai," Otd exclaimed, waving him over to them. "Why are you so late today, usually you're the first person here!"
Jai sheepishly shrugged.
"Sorry, I overslept," he rubbed his neck. "It won't happen again."
James, their leader, sighed.
"It's fine, let's just finish warming up quick and get started on practice."
Sure enough, they all began warming up again, but this time with six members instead of five, which meant Otd and Pik naturally gravitated towards him while stretching.
Pik looked at him, worried.
"Did you not get enough sleep last night?" Pik asked, looking at him. He lifted a hand up to Jai's face to examine. "You look sort of tired."
Jai swallowed.
Tactic Two: Eye Contact
"No Pik, I'm fine," Jai said, lowering his gaze so that he could stare directly into Pik's eyes. "I just slept a little late, that's all."
Pik tilted his head slightly, softly looking up into his eyes. This caused a loud alarm to start going off in Jai's head as he weakly blinked, desperately holding onto Pik's gaze.
"That's good," Pik murmured, his warm palm still on Jai's face. "You haven't been sleeping well for the past few nights, so I thought..."
"Uh huh," Jai said, unable to form a coherent sentence. "I-it's okay now, I'm sleeping well."
Pik nodded, letting go of his face, and Jai almost let out a sigh of relief, clutching his chest.
"If you say so," Pik turned back to stretching, and Jai looked away, just in time to see Otd looking at them both, face expressionless.
"What," Jai hissed underneath his breath to him.
"Oh nothing," Otd said, smirking. "You two seem closer than usual today."
Pik looked over his shoulder, still stretching his leg.
"Really, I didn't notice."
KO
Jai feel on the floor and curled up into a ball.
"Jai?" Pik exclaimed, worried. "What the hell, are you okay? You're not sick, are you?"
Jai just rocked back and forth, not answering.
Gahhh, I want to die...
After practicing for two hours, they took a break, which consisted of James leaving to use the restroom, and Tutor, Yim and Otd watching something on their phones.
Jai and Pik sat a few feet away from them, slowly drinking water and taking deep breaths after their extreme practice.
"Jai," Pik said, shaking his empty bottle. "Do you mind if I share some of your water? Mine ran out and I'm two tired to go fill it up."
Jai shrugged.
"Sure," he said, passing it over to Pik.
Now, it's time to use the triangle method!
Jai patiently waited until Pik finished drinking from his bottle, looking way too eager for someone who was just waiting for their water bottle.
He noticed Pik stilled, slowly looking at Jai.
"Do you want it back?" Pik asked hesitantly, confused at why Jai was looking at him so intensely.
Jai happily shook his head.
"Nope!"
"Okay..."
Pik took another swing from the bottle before he reached out to hand it back to Jai. He waited a good while for Jai to reach over and grab it, before he looked directly into his eyes.
Jai fastened his gaze onto Pik's eyes, not blinking and then slowly locked his eyes towards Pik's mouth.
Which turned out to be a big mistake.
Pik's lips, which became glossy due to the water, were plump and soft, and had Jai unconsciously leaning towards him, his mind forgetting whatever shitty triangle method he was supposed to be doing.
Just as he was about to close the gap between him and Pik, the practice door thudded wide open, and James burst into the room.
"Okay everyone," he exclaimed, clapping his hands. "Get back into positions, I want to see it from the top."
Everyone scrambled to get up, including Jai, when he looked down to see Pik, still sitting on the floor, frozen.
"Pik...? Are you getting up?"
Pik blinked, the tips of his ears flushed a bright red.
"Yeah, sure."
Jai frowned.
What is he blushing for? My triangle method didn't even work.
He let out a frustrated sigh, pushing his hair out of his face. He'd try it again later, and make sure it'd work then!
He glanced back at Pik, just to see Otd smirking at them both, looking from Pik to Jai.
Jai squinted at him, mind wandering.
Does he know something I don't?
After practice ended, Jai cornered Otd, demanding him if Pik actually liked him back.
Otd snorted, pushing Jai to the side.
"Jai, it's obvious to anyone that Pik's literally in love with you. Well, your the exception I guess."
Jai sighed in relief.
"So you think he'd accept my confession?" Jai asked, hope glinting in his eyes.
"I don't know about that," Otd said, frowning and crossing his arms.
Jais eyebrows shot up in dismay.
"What? Why, you just said that anyone could see he was in love with me?"
Otd rolled his eyes.
"I know I said that, but look at yourself. You've been dating and hooking up with anyone and anything that has a pulse for the past three years, and you expect him to believe that you'd drop all of those people for him all of a sudden, even though he's been sending you signs all this time?"
Jai scowled.
"I guess not...but how do I get him to know that I actually do have feelings for him?"
"Convince him through your actions, not just bad flirting," Otd shuddered, remembering the horror scene that had just played out during practice. "Give him gifts and show that he means more to you than those other people did."
Jai hurriedly nodded.
"Okay, that makes sense! Thanks! No more bad flirting, only thoughtful actions from now on!"
"Thank God, I thought I'd die if I saw you two do any more of that," Otd muttered, turning away and walking back to the practice room.
"Now hurry up, we have to get back to the dorms. You can shower him with gifts and stuff tomorrow."
"Yes sir!" Jai held up his fingers in a mock salute and bolted after him, gleefully thinking of all the gifts he could get Pik.
"Pik!" Otd called as they went back to the other members. "Someone's desperate to walk home with you." He winked and nodded towards Jai.
Jai turned a bright shade of red, and jabbed Otd in his stomach, watching with satisfaction as he let out a sharp yelp of pain.