Work Text:
The Principal’s office gives way to numerous fantastic thoughts; one of them being this:
Is picking a tutor maybe, possibly, in one way or another, harder than failing the subject you need said tutor for?
The answer might just be yes, Jisung thinks, kicking dolefully at the boring beige carpet. There’s a horrendous painting of a former principal hung on the whitewashed wall, and if he wasn’t so busy deciding who his future TA would be, Jisung definitely would’ve sent a photo of it to Felix by now.
The thing is, Jisung is failing math. Miserably. And it’s all because of his undying love for football. So, his mom— the only woman he’s ever claimed to love— decided that if he didn’t manage to scrape an 80% on his math finals this year, then he could kiss football goodbye. Which is why he finds himself seated in the Principal’s office, trying to determine which of the three tutors he has to choose from would be the best option.
“So, Mr Han, have you decided on your tutor yet?” The secretary, Mrs Lee asks him, jarring him from his thoughts. He’d barely registered her heels clacking on the floor.
“Oh, um, could I have a few more minutes?”
Mrs Lee sighs in annoyance, clicks her tongue twice and turns to face examine the hideous painting Jisung had been looking at earlier with something akin to awe.
Okay, sure, thirty-five minutes spent thinking of the right tutor is slightly crazy, but Jisung’s got his reasons. Good, solid reasons, mind you.
Because here’s the thing: these are his three possible options- Lee Minho, Seo Changbin, and Kim Seungmin. And here’s another thing, there’s a problem with each one of them.
Lee Minho is too sexy, and sexy men and Jisung do not get along. (That’s why him and Hwang Hyunjin are constantly at each other’s throats.)
Seo Changbin is slightly short, and Jisung, being a feral, dwarfed goblin himself, knows that with a short height comes fury straight from hell, so no thank you.
Kim Seungmin, on the other hand, looks adorable. Exactly like a puppy, Felix says, and Jisung is inclined to believe that’s he right. Which, by the way, is the problem, because Jisung happens to be allergic to puppies.
So where does he go from there?
He mentally goes over the list once more; Lee Minho, Seo Changbin and—
“Kim Seungmin,” he says loudly.
The secretary turns to face him. “What?”
“I’ll choose Kim Seungmin as my tutor,” he clarifies, and that’s that.
“Oh, Seungmin’s awesome!” Felix exclaims over the phone later that night, when Jisung calls him to tell him his decision.
“Yes, but you think everyone’s awesome because everyone’s nice to you,” Jisung complains, scribbling mindlessly in his notebook.
“Nah, trust me. He’s great. He’s just really focused when it comes to his academics, but he’s really cool otherwise.”
“Huh,” is all Jisung says, fiddling with the edge of his blanket. Maybe he can work with Kim Seungmin after all.
Felix is silent for a while and then there’s a groan of disappointment from his friend, followed by, “Oh shit, I’ll call you in a bit, Sungie. I just died.”
“Yeah, okay. Bye, Lix. Good luck with Mario Kart or whatever.”
“Bye,” Felix says, “and good luck with your class tomorrow!”
“Oh, right.”
Right.
He’d totally forgotten about his class with Seungmin. Curse his clownfish memory. He hastily pulls out his phone to check what time the other boy had scheduled the class, and frowns when he sees it’s at three o clock sharp, right after football practice.
Jisung winces; there’s no way he can be late to his first session with Seungmin, because although the other boy is cute enough to pass as an enlarged replica of a beagle, he’s also slightly terrifying.
This, Jisung knows from experience after he’d accidentally pushed Seungmin into the door way back in middle school and Seungmin had glared so menacingly at him that Jisung sometimes still shivers just thinking about it.
He sighs, staring up at the ceiling. Sometimes, he really does wish he wasn’t so terrible at math.
Football practice ends at five minutes past three and Jisung nearly passes out in distress. He showers as quickly as he possibly can, spending hardly a few minutes under the steaming water before hurriedly changing into a fresh set of clothes and then racing to the library.
As he runs, he glances at his watch and promptly suffers from another mini heart attack when he sees it’s already three-fifteen. Seungmin will kill him.
When he reaches the library, he’s so out of breath that even the normally aloof librarian turns around to tut at him.
“Sorry,” he mumbles, scanning the library for any signs of his tutor, and heaves a sigh of relief when he spots him.
Weaving his way through the tables, he finally reaches Seungmin but is stopped, ironically, by the boy himself.
“Please do not sit here. I’m waiting for someone,” Kim Seungmin says without even looking up, too busy frowning at his wristwatch. “Why must all jocks have terrible time management?” He mumbles under his breath, clearly annoyed.
Jisung is fairly certain that it’s him Seungmin is muttering about, so he says, “Uh, do you mind if I ask who you’re waiting for?”
At this, Seungmin finally looks up. “Han Jisung.” Realization seems to settle in as he gives Jisung a once-over, because he then says, “which is you.”
Jisung lets out a nervous laugh. “Yep, that’s me. Sorry for being late, I had football practice today.”
“Of course you did,” Seungmin snarks. “Well, you’re lucky we’re in the library, you could just borrow a book on punctuality. It might prove to be helpful.”
Jisung cracks a sheepish smile, unsure of whether or not Seungmin was joking. It’s hard to tell, really. He’s never been around someone like Seungmin before. He really wishes Felix was here. He’d be able to dissolve the slowly building tension in a jiffy.
Seungmin rolls his eyes at Jisung’s apparent lack of vocabulary, and pulls out a binder from his backpack, pushing it in his direction.
“Here. Your teacher told me you struggle the most with calculus, so I’ve made some notes that’ll help clear your concepts.”
“You talked to my teacher?” Jisung asks with surprise. God, it was almost scary how prepared this guy was. Who talks to another student’s teachers?
Seungmin rolls his eyes again, as if Jisung had asked him a particularly stupid question. “Of course I’ve talked to your teacher. How else would I know what to help you with?”
“Uh.”
“Oh god. Just look at the notes, please.”
“Jeez, okay.” Jisung replies, feeling extremely intimidated. Maybe Seo Changbin would’ve been a better choice, actually. He might be ripped (from what Felix tells him) but at least he wouldn’t make Jisung feel like a midget every two seconds.
He reaches out to grab the binder, and his eyes widen as he skims through its contents.
“Oh wow, Seungmin,” Jisung whistles under his breath in awe. “This is awesome! It must’ve taken you ages to make this!” That binder is quite possibly the most beautiful thing he’s ever laid eyes on, and he hates math.
“It’s not that big of a deal, really.” Seungmin says, his voice definitely not sounding as sarcastic as before. It takes a moment for Jisung to realize that Seungmin sounds shy, which for some reason is so amusing to him that he has to bite back a smile.
It’s also a really interesting observation; the usually stoic Kim Seungmin not being able to handle compliments well. Jisung stores this valuable piece of information away for later.
“Anyway,” Seungmin clears his throat. “We have to come up with a proper schedule because obviously you’ve got your own commitments and I’ve got mine, so.”
“Oh, right,” Jisung nods. “Um, I’m free after three every day of the week except Tuesdays.”
“Okay then. I’ll make a timetable and send you a copy of it, alright? I’ve got debate club in a few minutes now so I guess I’ll see you for our next session.”
And without so much as a farewell, Seungmin hurriedly shoulders his white backpack and runs out, leaving Jisung behind with a binder and beautifully crafted notes.
Over the course of the next two weeks, him and Seungmin have a total of six sessions together which actually prove to be quite helpful. His grade rises from a measly forty-nine percent to a solid sixty, and Jisung feels great. It’s all thanks to Seungmin though, who when he says this to, ducks his face in embarrassment and pretends he didn’t hear Jisung at all.
Besides Seungmin’s inability to accept compliments, Jisung also learns a lot of other things about Seungmin, like how he’s a die-hard fan of the Korean rockband Day6. He’s got around seven albums of theirs, and two walls in his bedroom are dedicated to the members’ faces, with posters plastered all over them. He loves Korean food, if the lunch he brings to school and his Instagram updates are anything to go by. He played baseball until a while ago, and was pretty good at it too. Jisung had pretended the photos Seungmin showed him of himself in his baseball uniform didn’t affect him in the slightest.
However, the most interesting piece of knowledge he attains regarding the other boy is that Seungmin enjoys singing, and is apparently an extremely gifted singer. This, however, he gets to know from Felix, who for some reason is incredibly eager to make Seungmin and Jisung become the best of friends.
“I just think you’ll get along very well, you know? You two seem like the type to really hit it off together.” Felix explains when Jisung asks him for the reasoning behind his statement.
He would’ve begged to differ, had it not been for their previous few classes in which him and Seungmin hadn’t stopped talking throughout. It had been fun, chatting with him about the most insignificant of things, and Jisung ends up looking forward to spending more and more time with Seungmin.
Okay, so maybe Felix wasn’t entirely wrong about the two of them becoming friends, but he would have to die first to admit that.
“Seungmin?” Jisung asks one day, too tired to concentrate on his work. Football practice had been absolutely ruthless that day, and he really couldn’t bring himself to finish his math assignment.
“Hm?” The other boy looks up from his book, looking slightly dazed. It’s cute, and Jisung bites back a smile.
“What do you like to do? Like, what are your hobbies and stuff?”
Seungmin narrows his eyes suspiciously. “Why do you ask?”
Jisung splutters. “Because I want to know more about you?”
“Oh, um... well,” Seungmin fumbles with his pencil case, looking uncharacteristically shy. “I like photography, I guess?”
“That’s so cool! Photography’s awesome!”
“Yeah, I guess. It’s not that big of a deal, honestly.”
“If it’s something you like, then it’s a pretty big deal,” Jisung argues, disliking how casually Seungmin sidelines his interests.
At his words, Seungmin’s cheeks flush the palest of pinks, and Jisung grins; Seungmin is adorable.
There’s a warmth in his chest as he picks up his pencil again, suddenly extremely determined to do well.
[8:58 PM]
from: seungmin
you’re a pretty big deal too.
Jisung’s bedroom’s ceiling is a piece of art. The paint on it has cracked in so many different places that it looks like an abstract painting. Ever since he was little, he’s been naming all the strange shapes he can spot on it. Now, almost a decade later, it’s become a habit of his to look at them before going to sleep and recount their names.
Today, however, he’s got something else on his mind. Someone else, to be more specific.
He can’t stop thinking about Seungmin; about how his hair is the fluffiest Jisung has ever seen. How his laugh is probably Jisung’s most favourite sound now. But more than that, there are so many other things about Seungmin that never fail to make his heart race, that make him wish his and Seungmin’s relationship didn’t depend solely on his extra support classes.
Like how Seungmin would flush at even the slightest implication of a compliment, or how his eyes would widen with excitement when talking about the things that he enjoyed. How eager he’d be to make Jisung listen to a song he really liked, or a book he’d loved. Little things like that made Jisung rethink everything.
“Ask him out,” Felix said, after Jisung had finished telling him everything he’d been thinking. “I’m pretty sure he likes you. Remember that text? Yeah, he definitely has a thing for you.”
So Jisung thinks, fine. To hell with it. He’s going to ask Seungmin out. Maybe not now, but definitely sometime in the future. And as We Are The Champions by Queen blasts from his speakers, Jisung swears on his favourite football that he will not back down from this. And any promise he makes with his football in mind, always ends up being fulfilled, so there.
On Thursday, Seungmin schedules another class for them and Jisung finally manages to reach the library on time. However, everything goes to shit the moment Jisung’s eyes land on Seungmin.
For a second, Jisung questions his very existence, because Kim Seungmin is sitting in front of him, donned in an incredibly long, incredibly fluffy, white coat and Jisung loses his mind. He looks like a rice cake. A rice cake. Jisung loves rice cakes.
There is absolutely no possible way for anyone to look that cute. He refuses to believe it. So, he turns on his heels, ignoring the wave Seungmin directs at him, and runs into the nearest bathroom where he yells silently into his hand for the next two minutes before returning to the library.
When he finally takes a seat, Seungmin does not look amused.
“Is it your job, being late? Because I’ll have you know—“
“I’m sorry it’s just— your coat.”
Seungmin frowns, looking down at his outerwear. “What’s wrong with it? I’m feeling cold, okay?” He adds defensively.
“No, no. It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?” Seungmin presses impatiently, and Jisung can tell he’s getting annoyed.
“It just— it makes you look so cute!” Jisung blurts out, unable to stop himself. He feels his cheeks grow hot at his sudden statement, and he silently curses his inability to remain quiet and not be such a babbler.
Seungmin, on the other hand, falls silent. His eyes widen before he quickly ducks his head, and Jisung notes with silent, unbidden glee that Seungmin is blushing furiously. It’s so unusual and so lovely to see that Jisung laughs out loud, which causes Seungmin to whip his head up at once.
“What are you cackling about.” Seungmin grumbles, obviously flustered, which only propels Jisung to laugh harder.
“If you don’t shut up right this instant I will make sure you fail your next test, Han Jisung.” Seungmin snaps, and Jisung’s laughter ceases immediately. Seungmin can be terrifying.
He quickly shifts his focus to the problem at hand, trying his best to solve it. The numbers, however, do not wish to cooperate and fly around in his head. His only coherent thoughts right now are: Seungmin. Coat. Seungmin. Rice cakes. Coat. Rice cakes. Seungmin. Coat. Seungmin.
“Hey!” Seungmin says, flicking him on the forehead. “Snap out of it. You look like someone punched you in the face.”
“Wha—” Jisung begins dumbly, staring at Seungmin’s face. Wait, since when did Seungmin have a mole? Shit, it’s so cute. He’s a goner.
“Jisung, I will kill you if you don’t get your shit together right this instant and solve this question in the next five minutes.”
“Jesus Christ, okay. Let a man breathe.”
“Never,” Seungmin says with a shit-eating grin, which shouldn’t look as adorable as it does right now. It’s all the stupid coat’s fault, and if Jisung wasn’t so scared of him, he would’ve leant forward and kissed Seungmin right there and then.
“Now focus.” Seungmin taps the textbook twice with his fingers and smiles encouragingly at Jisung to continue doing his work.
“Fine,” Jisung sighs in defeat, staring at the numbers and willing them to make sense. A few minutes in and he’s actually doing quite well. Even Seungmin gives him a nod of approval as he checks his answers.
The earlier incident (Jisung totally freaking out over the coat) remains seemingly forgotten, but it’s only when Jisung is turning to leave that Seungmin grabs him by the arm, hastily mumbles an embarrassed “thank you for— you know”, and then dashes out of the library like he’s on a mission.
Outside, Felix takes one look at his dazed grin and makes a disgusted sound at the back of his throat. “You’re whipped.”
“Like buttercream,” Jisung affirms, still thinking about Seungmin.
And well, that’s that. He doesn’t stop smiling the rest of the day.
“You know about the match this weekend, right? Against that school from Cheongdam?” Jisung asks Seungmin a few days later, tapping his pencil on the desk. They’re revising integration, which Jisung loathes, and Seungmin is in his fluffy white coat again and Jisung’s heart won’t stop racing a million miles a second so he’s got to do something to distract himself.
“Stop doing that,” Seungmin scolds, grabbing his wrist. Jisung, like any lovesick fool, feels his heart stutter to a halt at his touch.
“And to answer your question, how could I not know? Everyone here’s talking about it. It’s also the reason you’re always late to class, so.”
Jisung laughs, albeit a little sheepishly. “Yeah, sorry about that. You don’t really mind, do you?”
“Well, sometimes I do.” Seungmin says. When he sees the crestfallen look on Jisung’s face, however, he adds quickly, “I’m only joking, idiot. It gives me time to catch up on other things.”
“Like Day6?”
Seungmin laughs, nodding in assent. “What were you saying about football, though?”
“Oh yeah, so um, I know you don’t really like football...?”
“Mhm.”
“Yes, well, you know I’m playing, so I’ve been meaning to ask, will you come to the match this Saturday? I’d be really happy if you could make it,” Jisung asks, turning to face Seungmin, whose eyes widen at his question.
“You want me to come to your match?”
Jisung laughs at the look of genuine confusion on Seungmin’s face. “Yeah, I do. Why do you find that so hard to believe?”
Seungmin shrugs, but he looks pleasantly surprised nonetheless, if the pleased blush on his cheeks is anything to go by. “If you really want me to come, I’ll be there for sure.”
“Well, I really really want you to come, so you better.”
Seungmin looks down at his notebook, but Jisung can see the shy smile that’s playing on his lips anyway. It makes his heart flutter pleasantly in his chest, and he wonders, not for the first time that day, how it’d feel to make Seungmin smile like that every day.
The thought has him grinning as he continues to flick through his textbook, and he knows, without even looking up, that Seungmin’s smiling too.
On the day of the match, it begins to drizzle slightly, and his day goes from bad to worse. Seungmin had texted him the day before, telling him that he wouldn’t be able to make it to the match. He had apologised so profusely that Jisung genuinely could not hold it against him. Still, it doesn’t stop him from moping. He’d been looking forward to having Seungmin watch him play the entire week, and now that he wouldn’t be able to make to make it really bummed him out.
A small raindrop drips pathetically down his nose, and he stares up at the sky overcast with grey clouds in dismay. Even their coach looks upset, glancing ever so often at the sky with a look of utmost disappointment, as if the heavens had wronged him in every imaginable away.
“Do you think we’ll have to call it off?” Someone from their team asks, and their coach merely shrugs, too busy drowning in his sorrows.
To be honest, Jisung himself doesn’t really care whether they play the match today or don’t play it all. Especially since Seungmin isn’t coming. Actually, scratch that, only because Seungmin isn’t coming. His heart races with this sudden realization. God, he really does have it bad for Seungmin. He used to think football was his one true love, but the other boy just keeps proving him wrong, time and time again.
He’s about to turn around when something catches his attention. He looks back to see Felix hollering from the bleachers, waving his arms frantically to grab his attention.
“JISUNG!” Felix yells, pointing to something which Jisung can’t really make out.
“Felix?” Jisung yells back, feeling extremely confused. What was going on?
“JISUNG! LOOK!!!”
“Wha—“ He looks towards where Felix’s tiny finger keeps pointing, and squints at a blurry figure standing near the edge of the field. It takes him a few seconds to realize that it’s Seungmin.
Wait, Seungmin? Before he knows it, he’s running out into the rain, his teammates yelling at him to come back. He tunes them out, barely registering his own feet slapping on the ground as he runs, too focused on getting to the other side of the field.
He doesn’t stop till he reaches Seungmin, and by the time he does, he’s half soaked in the rainwater and gasping for breath, but even the rain can’t dampen his excitement, because Seungmin is here. To see him. And that all by itself is enough to make Jisung feel like the happiest person alive.
“You said you weren’t coming!” Jisung exclaims, pointing his finger accusingly at Seungmin, who’s grinning so wide Jisung thinks his cheeks might fall off any second.
“I know! I was lying so I could surprise you!” Seungmin replies, eyes crinkling at the corners because of how happy he is. He sounds so excited that it makes Jisung’s heart melt.
“That’s not fair! You’re playing with my heart, Kim Seungmin,” Jisung whines dramatically, leaning forward to give Seungmin a playful punch on the shoulder.
“Well, you’re always playing with mine, so consider this my revenge.”
Wait, what?
Seungmin sounds almost serious, and Jisung scans his face to check whether he’s joking or not because if he isn’t, then Jisung is approximately ten seconds away from risking it all and kissing him right there and then.
“What are you looking at me like that for? Don’t you have a match to win?” Seungmin chides jokingly, gesturing towards the field, and Jisung comes back to Earth.
He shakes his head twice, looks at Seungmin straight in the eyes and says, “If I win, I’ll do something crazy.”
“Awesome. You know I love crazy.” Seungmin replies, and there’s a knowing glint in his eye as he pushes Jisung in the direction of the field.
“Yeah,” Jisung grins. “I know you do.”
And then, with newfound courage and a kick of exhilaration, he leans forward, watches as Seungmin’s eyes widen in confusion and something else he can’t quite figure out, and places a sloppy kiss right on Seungmin’s cheek.
He’s off before Seungmin can say anything, letting out a whoop of delight as he races across the field and completely missing the way the other boy’s cheeks redden.
He’s going to win today if it’s the last thing he does.
As it so happens, the match ends up getting cancelled, the rain picking up in both speed and heaviness. Before they know it, the area around them begins to flood, and they’re forced to sit inside their school building and wait for their cars to arrive.
He finds Seungmin sitting by himself near the water fountain, back against the wall and his legs stretching out. He looks like a lost puppy amidst the chaos inside, and Jisung can’t help but hold back a smile as he as walks over to where Seungmin is, plopping down beside him with an air of disappointment.
“Ah. Our uncrowned victor,” Seungmin says with a toothy grin upon his arrival, and Jisung’s heart flutters at how fond he sounds.
“Why’d it have to rain today of all days? Why not tomorrow?” Jisung moans, burying his head in Seungmin’s shoulder. He feels Seungmin stiffen beside him for a spilt second, before he relaxes against his body. Jisung smiles to himself; it’s a tiny victory, but a victory nonetheless.
“It’s okay. I’m sure they’ll reschedule it.” Seungmin tuts sympathetically, gently brushing Jisung’s hair out of his eyes. This is the life, Jisung thinks. He can’t remember feeling this blissful in a long while.
“Anyway,” Seungmin begins, sounding slightly hesitant. Jisung can tell by the way his body tenses that he’s nervous. “What was that crazy thing you were going to do?”
Jisung sits up straight to get a good look at Seungmin’s face, whose expression is completely blank except for the telltale reddening of his ears, which show that he’s embarrassed by his own question.
“Well, I haven’t won the match, have I?”
“Yes, so? What does that have to do with anything?”
“I distinctly remember saying I’d do something crazy only if I won.” Jisung teases, trying to rile Seungmin up.
Seungmin glares at him, clearly not liking where this is going. “Well, you can still tell me.” He persists half heartedly, knowing Jisung is going to make this hard for him.
Jisung taps his finger on his chin, pretending to think. “Hm,” he says, “I don’t think I can.”
“Stop being annoying,” Seungmin whines, voice turning nasally towards the end, which makes JIsung burst into a peal of laughter.
“You’re so cute, Seungminnie,” Jisung coos, pulling Seungmin’s cheeks. He watches in fascination as they color up immediately, and grins. Seungmin is cute.
“Stooop,” The other boy complains, dragging out the ‘o’. “I hate you.” His lips involuntarily form into a pout as he speaks, and Jisung finds his resolve crumbling into little flakes of dust. He’s a sucker for pouts, and an even bigger sucker for Seungmin, so there’s no choice for him but to do as the other boy asks. It’s a bit scary, the amount of power Seungmin has over him, but he’s cute so he’ll allow it.
“Okay, fine.” Jisung says, admitting defeat, loving the way Seungmin visibly brightens at his words, like a flower blooming under the sun.
“Really? You’ll tell me?” Seungmin’s eyes widen in disbelief, like he’s waiting for Jisung to retract his statement or say he’s joking.
Jisung looks at Seungmin’s face again, takes in the rosy cheeks and the eyes still bright with excitement, and thinks screw this— go big or go home.
“Yeah,” he nods jerkily. “Okay. I can do this.”
“You can do this,” Seungmin agrees. His hands find their way to Jisung’s and he squeezes them reassuringly, like he knows exactly what Jisung is about to say.
“Okay, here goes.” Jisung takes a deep breath, and then... forgets what’s he’s about to say. Something along the lines of ‘I like you’? But he’d prepared an entire speech just for this moment and he wasn’t going to half ass it.
“Oh, no,” he says to Seungmin. “I don’t really remember what I was going to tell you?”
Seungmin sighs in exasperation. “Idiot,” he says, flicking his forehead. He closes his eyes and leans back against the wall again, and Jisung wills himself to not let the overwhelming feeling of disappointments meddle with his plans. Wait, he can still do this.
“Seungmin,” he says, and tries not to panic as Seungmin opens his eyes to look at him. “What?” Seungmin asks.
“I’m ditching plan A.”
“Okay...?” Seungmin says, unsure of what Jisung is impying.
Taking one final look at Seungmin, he leans in slowly, feeling his heartbeat pick up as he does so. He watches as Seungmin’s eyes brighten with clarity, and knows that Seungmin finally understands what happened he’s about to do.
“Oh,” Seungmin whispers, and lets his eyes fall shut. It feels like an eternity, but finally his lips find Seungmin’s, and then they’re kissing and Jisung swears for a second his soul leaves his body.
Seungmin reacts almost immediately, hands coming to rest on Jisung’s waist as he pulls him closer, and Jisung grins into the kiss. At the back of his mind he wonders what he could’ve possibly done to deserve this, but his mind is so consumed with Seungmin that he decides he’ll probably never reach a conclusion.
He focuses on the kiss again, trying to etch every single memory into his brain, like how Seungmin’s lips are chapped and taste of the watermelon flavored balm he’s always carrying around. How gentle his hands are around his waist, and how he smells of chocolate and coffee.
Seungmin makes a low sound at the back of his throat and then pulls back, letting his hands stay where they are. His cheeks are even more flushed than before, hair slightly ruffled from when Jisung had slid his hands into them sometime during their kiss. His eyes are shining so brightly that if Jisung tried, he’d probably be able to see his reflection in them. The entire sight is just so lovely to see, that Jisung finds himself unable to look away.
“Crazy, huh?” He says, breaking the silence.
“Yeah,” Seungmin says breathlessly. “Totally crazy.”
“I didn’t think you’d let me kiss you, actually,” Jisung admits, glancing at Seungmin’s face to check his reaction.
Seungmin laughs, sounding confused. “Why?”
“I don’t know. Seemed too good to be true, I guess.”
At this, Seungmin flushes. “Stop being a sap.”
Jisung grins. “Never.”
And as he leans in to kiss Seungmin again, he realizes that he did end up winning after all. Just not in the way he expected.
Not a lot changes after they kiss, except for the fact that Seungmin is definitely more affectionate now, and will often initiate skinship, albeit the mildest kind, in the more secluded corners of the library.
Besides that, due to the match being postponed, his football coach makes them practice harder than ever. After one particularly grueling day of practice, Jisung nearly falls asleep on his way to the library. Every inch of his body feels like it’s on fire, and he can’t even think about doing calculus. Even Seungmin, who’s absolutely relentless when it comes to improving Jisung’s performance in class, finds himself pitying the boy.
“Seungminnie,” he whines, inching closer to him. He slides his hand into Seungmin’s, and relaxes when he feels him squeezing it gently.
“Bad day, huh?” Seungmin asks sympathetically, taking in Jisung’s disheveled state.
“The worst. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to feel my body again.”
Seungmin tuts, patting Jisung’s arm in a comforting manner. Jisung feels a soft pair of lips pressing down lightly on his forehead, and his eyes flutter shut almost automatically.
“Hey,” Seungmin murmurs quietly, “what do you think could make you feel better right now?”
“Honestly? A good cup of coffee and blueberry cheesecake.”
Seungmin remains silent, so Jisung assumes he’s began working on his own classwork, or perhaps he’s immersed into the thick novel he always has in his white backpack.
But then:
“Okay, let’s go,” Seungmin says just as he’s about to doze off, sounding faraway. For a second Jisung thinks he’s dreaming, so he lifts his head from his arms and stares at Seungmin just to make sure he isn’t hearing things. This wouldn’t be the first time, actually.
“What?” He asks.
“You said you wanted cheesecake and coffee, right? So let’s go!”
Jisung blinks, unsure of whether or not he heard correctly. “Seungminnie, are you feeling alright?”
“Yes. Fantastic, actually. Let’s go.”
And with that, Seungmin stands up, shoulders both his and Jisung’s bags in one swift motion, and begins walking towards the exit. Jisung thinks he might be in love.
“Are you coming or not?” Seungmin calls after him, and Jisung hurriedly gets out of his seat, suddenly feeling about as energized as a rat high on a particularly strong dose of marijuana. Cheesecake has that effect on him, or maybe it’s just Seungmin. When he sees the crazy glint in the other boy’s eyes and the manic— somewhat out of place— grin on Seungmin’s face, he nods to himself in realization.
Yep, it’s definitely Seungmin.
A few days later, he gets his final test back, which turns out to be the best day of Jisung’s life, because written right at the top left corner of the paper is a huge A plus in red lettering. Jisung feels a kick of serotonin as he ogles the grade. The last time he’d seen that charming letter in math was way back in seventh grade, and he can hardly believe it’s come back to save his ass. He won’t have to give up football after all, so there mom, he thinks.
And then his mind immediately jumps to how proud Seungmin would be if he saw his results so he quickly pulls out his phone to text him. Halfway through typing out the text though, he pauses. He wants to tell Seungmin in person and he wants to witness his reaction.
Feeling even more excited than before, he grabs his backpack and sprints out of the class the moment the bell rings. Seungmin’s usually outside classroom 13-E around this time (Jisung knows this because Seungmin himself had told him numerous times incase he was ever late for their extra support classes.)
He comes to a halt right outside 13-E, where the lockers are, and grins when he spots Seungmin stacking his books neatly into his locker. What a nerd, Jisung thinks fondly, making his way towards him.
“You owe me a treat,” Jisung singsongs right into Seungmin’s ear, causing him to startle and drop his notebook.
“Shit,” Seungmin curses, bending over and hastily snatching his book from the ground. “Do that again and I’ll castrate you.”
“Jeez, okay. Hello to you too.”
“So, what is it? Why do I owe you a treat?” Seungmin asks, slamming his locker door shut and turning around to face Jisung. He looks tired, hair hanging limply onto his forehead. Jisung doesn’t think twice before quickly leaning in and brushing them gently out of his eyes.
“There,” he smiles, stepping back with an air of satisfaction. “How does it feel to be able to see?”
“Great. Now why do I owe you a treat?” His little act of appearing indifferent to Jisung carefully fixing his hair doesn’t work as well as Seungmin had probably hoped it would, because his cheeks are tinged a soft, rosy pink. Jisung basks in the fact that he made Seungmin lose his cool again. It’s small accomplishments like these that really inflate his ego.
“Hm,” he says, pulling the paper out of his bag and thrusting it into Seungmin’s hands. “Why don’t you see for yourself?”
He watches as Seungmin’s expression morphs from one of confusion into complete joy as he stares at Jisung’s test.
“Jisung, this is incredible! You did it!” Seungmin exlcaims, and before Jisung can agree and say yeah, he sure as hell did, Seungmin steps forward and engulfs him into a hug, wrapping his arms around him so tightly that the two of then end up stumbling slightly. Jisung feels his eyes widen at the sudden contact, and he’s sure he’s probably blushing but god, Seungmin is so warm and he smells so good and his hair is so incredibly soft. He could stay like this forever.
As Seungmin pulls back, eyes alight with excitement and something else Jisung can’t really put a finger on, he thinks, screw cheesecake and screw coffee, too. This is better than any treat could’ve asked for.
Jisung grins as Seungmin begins fussing over his appearance, seeming a million times happier than before than before; straightening his collar and combing his hair with his fingers so that it appears less disheveled.
“So,” Seungmin asks, stepping back tom admire his handiwork. “What do you want as your treat?”
“Just to spend time with my baby,” Jisung teases, pulling Seungmin towards him in one swift motion and placing a kiss on his lips. Seungmin kisses back immediately, before realizing they’re in school and then suddenly he goes rigid and gently pushes him back.
“Not here, Jisung!” Seungmin hisses, looking around to see if anyone had noticed the two of them kissing. He’s still blushing, so Jisung can’t really find himself caring about what his boyfriend thinks.
“Okay, baby. Whatever you say.”
“Call me baby again, I dare you,” the other boy threatens, making his way down the corridor. Jisung runs after him, grinning like an idiot. “Baby,” he sings, and watches as the color returns to Seungmin’s cheeks.
“Stop it,” Seungmin whines, shoving him in the opposite direction.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry.” Jisung says. “Aren’t you proud of me, though?”
Seungmin softens immediately, smiling fondly at him. “Of course I am.” He takes a quick look around and then, without any warning, leans in and kisses Jisung softly.
“I’m really proud of you. You know that now, right?” Seungmin asks, grabbing his hand and pulling him closer to himself.
Jisung nods dumbly, too caught up in processing their last kiss. “Yeah.” God, he might just love Seungmin.
“Okay, let’s get out of here now. I can’t wait to celebrate.”
And as they run outside, hand in hand, giggling like lovesick fools, Jisung decides that maybe failing math wasn’t as bad he thought. In fact, failing math was maybe the best thing that had ever happened to him. And for Seungmin, he would fail a hundred different courses a thousand times over.
And that, he thinks, is the epitome of romance.