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Seungcheol slumped over his desk in defeat. Why was it that he was unable to do anything in life properly? Such a golden opportunity had been given, no, spoon-fed to him, yet he still insisted on spitting it out. The slip of paper that he clenched so tightly in his fist was burning his skin with the thought of the name written on it.
Yoon Jeonghan.
The friendly class president with his easy smiles and bright laughter that crinkled his eyes into the cutest crescent moons, liked by everyone and loved by all. With perfect grades and perfect looks, not to mention a talent for pretty much anything he attempted, he was practically worshipped by the entire student body. It was pretty much impossible to not have a crush on him.
“Simp.” Ah, Hong Jisoo. His ever-supportive best friend.
“Shut the fuck up.”
“I can’t believe it, Choi Seungcheol, star athlete, the jock to rule all jocks, seducing ladies left and right, and you can’t even seduce your crush?”
“It’s not my fault he’s so unapproachably perfect.”
“Trust me, he’s really not.”
“Easy for you to say, you’ve known him since you were kids.”
“Yes, and I hated every moment. You know, he’s not that unapproachable nor perfect as you make him out to be. In fact, I think he’d be more intimidated by you.”
“Why? Because of my dashing looks?”
“No, because you look like you’d beat someone up with only your pinkie.”
“Fuck you.”
“No thanks. Anyways, you’ve literally got half a year until we graduate. You can either make good use of this opportunity, or you can just forget it and never see him again.”
And those were the words that stuck with him until now, with not even a full day left until the Secret Santa gift exchange. He had the gift picked out already, that part was easy enough, he had chosen it the moment he saw it. A Pandora bracelet charm in the shape of a heart with angel wings. He had noticed Jeonghan recently started wearing a Pandora bracelet, and it looked a little empty so far.
But the card, oh, the card. He wanted to write something witty, charming, enough to entice him to where he would confess.
Santa’s next stop – the gymnasium after school. See you there?
Fuck no.
Rudolph lost his way and ended up at the school gym. Come pick him up after school?
He gagged at the thought of even writing that down on paper.
Paper after paper were crumpled and tossed in the general direction of the trash can, some going in, most just landing in a pitiful heap on the floor. Ah, the pain of creativity. He was even blasting Christmas carols to get in the mood, but they really did nothing to help him out. But no matter how much he struggled, he refused to SOS Jisoo. That was just plain suicidal. The teasing he would have to endure afterwards was definitely not worth it.
After much deliberation and frustration, he finally decided on what was probably the corniest message out of all the things he’d come up with all night, but at this point, he had nothing to lose. With a groan, he folded up the card and wrapped it all up with the present. If he failed tomorrow, he failed, and if, by some lucky chance the heavens bestowed upon him, he succeeded, then he would be the happiest man alive. Three years of pining finally made worthwhile. Of course, just being able to see his face every day and being in the same homeroom as him made everything worth it, but he wouldn’t mind a slight change in their relationship from classmates to something more like… boyfriends. Yes, that would be a dream come true.
He felt like he was in a dream. It was last period on the last day of school before winter break, the time the school had chosen for their Secret Santa gift exchanges. And Yoon Jeonghan had just collected his gift. The present was being opened, and the moment his face lit up when he saw the contents before showing it off to his friends formed a smile on his face against his own knowledge.
“Simp.”
“Go away, Jisoo.”
And, fuck, now he was opening the card. He watched with rapt attention as his eyes scanned the paper, thankful that he hadn’t chosen to read it aloud. It was impossible to discern any reaction from his expression, however, maintaining a perfect poker face throughout. Fuck?
Fuck. That was the only thing he could think as he wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. He had rushed down to the gym as soon as the bell rang, but now he regretted coming down so early, because as every minute passed, the only thing that grew was his anxiety.
…What if he didn’t come?
Just forget it and never see him again.
Jisoo’s words came back to him once more. It was the easy option, yes, but he was competitive as hell and liked to make things difficult for himself. Besides, he wasn’t quite ready to just let go like this, not when he hadn’t even attempted to make his feelings known.
In the midst of his internal pep talk, he somehow managed to notice a lone figure cautiously walking into the empty gym, instantly straightening his posture and mind going blank.
Jeonghan’s eyes widened slightly once he recognised him, hastening his footsteps until he stood before him. He noticed the charm he had gifted him was already resting on the bracelet, fitting right in with the others.
“Hi.”
“Hi.” An awkward silence filled the space between them.
“I, um—”
“So, you were—”
“You go first.”
“No, you.”
“Okay.” Seungcheol drew in a deep breath. This was it.
“I have something to tell you,” he started.
“Yes.”
“…What?”
“My answer is yes.”
“I haven’t even asked you anything?”
“You were going to confess to me, no?”
“Well, you’re not wrong, but…”
“I like you too, you idiot.”
His heart stopped at those words. Both of them were flushed from head to toe, refusing to meet each other’s eyes and instead staring at anywhere but.
“…You do?”
“Yes, I do.”
“So… you wanna go out with me?”
“Yes, Choi Seungcheol, I want to be your boyfriend.”
He finally fixed his gaze on Jeonghan’s face, a smile breaking out on his face to match the other’s. Reaching out a hand, he tentatively interlocked their fingers, internally breathing a sigh of relief when he was met with no resistance.
“What were you going to say?”
“Oh, just something along the lines of, ‘so you were my Secret Santa’. Just anything really, as long as it made this less awkward.”
“I still can’t believe you said yes.”
“And I still can’t believe you asked me out.”
“Technically, I never got the chance to. You know, I had a whole speech prepared and everything, but you just decided to steal my thunder.”
“I like being the centre of attention.”
“You’ll always be the centre of my attention.”
Jeonghan stared at him for that, repeatedly opening and closing hi mouth in disbelief before opting to just shut up and look away.
“Let’s go now. I’ll take you home?”
“How do you know where I live?”
“I don’t.”
“Hey!”
“What? We’ll get lost, spend more time together; I see this as an absolute win!”
Grinning impishly, he pulled Jeonghan by their still intertwined hands towards the exit.