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spring had never been as breathtaking as it was now. the season, in dejun’s opinion, created a palette that complimented his crush perfectly. the blush pink hair that delicately framed his face reminding dejun of a cherry blossom and fairy lights almost rivaled the sparkle in his crush’s eyes. he had been gawking at his crush all class period like usual but in dejun’s defense, it’s not like it hurt anyone to stare at someone out of your league.— “xiao dejun and na jaemin! your prompt for the creative writing assignment is~ the main character and love interest going on cute dates hence romance!” mr. seo, dejun’s creative writing teacher, announced— successfully snapping dejun out of his jaemin-filled reverie.
oh. oh. oh! the processing of the information went in phases. oh, i’m paired with na jaemin for our end of the year creative writing assignment and the prompt is romance. oh, i’m paired with my crush that is way out of my league on the end of the year creative writing assignment with a prompt about romance. oh, i’m paired with the boy i’ve had a crush on since ninth grade on a writing project about romance!
dejun buried his head in his hands, deciding to revel in his misery instead of paying attention to his surroundings. ha, a midlife crisis happening to a romantically inexperienced highschooler. how depressin—, “dejun? seems like you zoned out but that’s fine! did you hear the premises of our project?” a voice asked from beside dejun.
dejun nearly choked on his saliva when he met the curious gaze of his partner, na jaemin. when did he get here? wow, he looks even more surreal up close, “uh, yes! we’re partners, our topic is romance, our prompt is cute dates, this is the end of the year summative project and it’s worth 50% of our grade— due by june 1st,” dejun sputtered, his heart threatening to burst out of his chest.
he averted his eyes from jaemin’s gaze, “i promise i’m not horrible or mean to work with. i’m really not bad,” jaemin reassured, inching closer to dejun, who looked five seconds away from bolting out of the classroom (the thought did cross his mind).
dejun fixed his posture, snapping his eyes up to make eye contact with jaemin, “i don’t think you’re horrible! i think you’re great— like, your poetry piece we did in the middle of the year. i was just thinking about how we are going to perfectly write a romance with cute dates— i guess since, for me, i’ve never been on a date and my writing technique is based on experience to get some source of accuracy and realism.” oh my god, what type of loser tells their crush they haven’t had their first date yet? dejun’s face growing warm in complete and utter horror.
“then let’s start going on dates so we can both write from experience,” jaemin suggested nonchalantly, “i’ll give you my number then we can start planning, sounds good?” the bell rang signalling the end of first period however the only bell dejun wanted to hear was wedding bells.
“yeah, it sounds cool.” dejun croaked.
-
dejun squinted at the text message on his cracked iphone screen, half expecting it to read better after a mean glare. he reopened the message with renewed hope however the few parts of the message that were readable were “saturday,” “3PM,” “blossom park,” and the cute set of kaomojis spammed by jaemin, an avid kaomoji user (to dejun’s delight). ‘love alarm! see who’s crushing on you within a mile’s radius! find love and find out!’ the ad blasted from dejun’s iphone. he desperately pressed the lower volume button to no avail as the ad continued loudly. it’d be nice if na jaemin rung my love alarm. dejun mused, gazing at the advertisement longingly because, like most popular apps, love alarm required recent versions of ios rendering dejun’s run down iphone 5 non-compatible. “dejun! did you forget the address?” a familiar voice calls, dejun shoves his outdated iphone into his pocket, scanning to place that voice to its owner.
the bright pink hair successfully alienated jaemin from the rest of the people on the crowded sidewalk even though dejun could successfully pick jaemin out of a crowd of million people if asked. the butterflies in his stomach flew at a frenzy. a “date” with na jaemin. taking the opportunity, when jaemin was looking at his phone he rapidly wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. sweaty palms in seventy degree weather? get a grip, dejun.
the younger furrowed his brows at his phone, glancing up at dejun again. jaemin’s disoriented facial expression shifted when he approached dejun, “you made it! hold hands?” jaemin beamed, offering his hand.
the entirety of their “date” consisted of closely walking throughout the park and chatting (with dejun occasionally pinching himself to assure he wasn’t dreaming like the other 50 times a scenario like this has played out). conversation flowed between the pair as if they were old friends, sifting through topics from ice cream preferences, apparently jaemin hates milk and strawberry ice cream, to sports, which jaemin is expectedly good at, and hobbies, ending with a promise to take dejun biking. the more jaemin revealed about himself, the more dejun felt comfortable like he was less of an unreachable, human version of adonis, “see, i bet i’m not even as bad as you anticipated me to be,” jaemin smugly peered down at dejun.
“i didn’t think you were horrible— i just come off really antisocial sometimes. plus, mr. popular was gracing me with his presence, could you blame me?” dejun teased, nudging jaemin’s shoulder with his own. not because i have a raging crush on you.
after a few more hours, the sun set, placing the sweetest lighting and kiss onto jaemin’s skin before disappearing. the wind nipped at dejun’s face, leaving his cheeks and nose pink while subtlety attempted to tighten his hold on jaemin’s soft, warm hand, “you really don’t have to wait with me for the city bus.” dejun said, attempting to subtlety inch closer to mooch off of jaemin’s body warmth.
jaemin gave dejun’s hand a squeeze, “dejun— i’m not letting you wait alone, in the city, at nighttime, in freezing weather for a bus. it’s fine if you don’t want me to drive you home, and of course i respect your decision, but you aren’t waiting to here alone,” jaemin deadpanned. he let go of dejun’s hand and unzipped his jacket however before dejun could mourn the loss of warmth, jaemin wrapped the jacket around dejun, his arms keeping dejun warm and secure in the jacket as perched his chin on top of dejun’s head.
lord, i am not your strongest soldier, dejun thought to himself as his face began to burn, “thank you,” dejun said shyly. he eased his rigid posture, leaning a bit more into jaemin’s chest. seizing the moment is fine sometimes, right? dejun glanced down at his phone, the miserably cracked screen illuminating the time, “the bus should be coming in, like, three minutes.” he said, unbeknownst to him, jaemin’s gaping expression.
“is that your phone? does it still work?” jaemin asked incredulously.
dejun bit back a laugh, “yeah! and to be honest, it barely works.”
“i could imagine so.”
“i’ve been meaning to buy a new phone. the screen is so cracked sometimes i can barely see, the volume button is broken, and i can’t even download the newer apps due to them all requiring ios 8 and up. i’m just barely scraping by,” dejun listed, the bus interrupting their conversation.
“even social media apps? and apps like love alarm?” jaemin questioned, unwrapping dejun from his arms and taking off his leather jacket to set it across dejun’s shoulders, “for when i’m not there to keep you warm,” jaemin winked, an unidentifiable twinkle in his eyes.
he turned quickly to face jaemin, “jaemin, you’ll be cold,” dejun scolded, switching his glances to the arriving bus and jaemin.
“jun, i’m literally going straight to my car after you get on the bus— i’ll be fine,” jaemin deadpanned, “plus, it looks better on you.”
jun? dejun questioned in his head, reprimanding himself when hope began to bubble up, an implication that this wasn’t all for the project. the older turned to the bus but quickly turned back, “thank you, oh! and to answer your question, i don’t have social media apps or love alarm,”waving goodbye before scurrying on the bus.
dejun slumped into the bus seat, smugly cozying himself into jaemin’s jacket. it felt warm and home-like— like jaemin’s arms wrapped around him. the combination of jaemin’s cinnamon-like cologne, the jacket being oversized on dejun’s significantly less broad frame, and the lingering warmth it held from jaemin’s body heat was almost like a lullaby. would it be bad if i didn’t give this back? dejun cursed himself for considering stealing.
-
the due date of their creative writing assignment neared while the boys lacked progress. two weeks into the project with barely written anything in their google doc and a looming paranoia for if mr. seo decided to randomly check their progress. dejun at least took the liberty to log the details of their dates, deciding it would be useful when they finally stopped procrastinating and crammed their writing into one night. he fawned at recounts of details like to jaemin failing miserably at fair games due to his lack of competitiveness and dejun winning him a stuffed bunny or jaemin excitedly dragging dejun along in the aquarium while informing him of different kinds of fish. It’s not like it’d be challenging to write the novel all in one setting considering the butterflies he’d write about— the heart flutters and the sudden urges to kiss the love interest would all be projecting anyways.
and lord, he’d miss this when the project was over. na jaemin was just so endearing. he wasn’t just the popular, heartthrob adonis everyone liked— he was also a boy who liked photography, hated milk and strawberry flavored things, loved to cook, had a love and natural talent for music, loved skinship, and is the first person to accept dejun’s mint chocolate chip ice cream obsession without judgement. how could he bear to let the boy go? the fear constantly plagues dejun's mind— after this project, jaemin would go back to his place at the top of the social pyramid, successfully leaving to be where he’s always been, which is out of dejun’s league.
-
the smell of caffeine nearly sent dejun into a frenzy as he eyed jaemin holding a cup of coffee. the younger barely managed to set down the cup before dejun launched himself at him, hanging off of him, “we shouldn't have procrastinated writing this,” he whined, nuzzling himself closer to jaemin.
“well, it wasn’t in vain— was it? we went on dates and got the experience needed to successfully write this and we are nailing it! i’m not even tired.” jaemin said, messing with strands of dejun’s hair.
the warmness of jaemin paired with the heaviness of his eyelids had dejun fighting the urge to sleep, “you sound tired— it’s all in your voice, nana. coffee is barely keeping you hanging on,” he slurred, untwisting himself from his awkward positioning of leaning over the chair.
if xiao dejun could wish for anything, it would be to stay in this moment forever. in the public library, at midnight, in a closed off study room that had homely lighting, and jaemin sitting as close as their chairs would allow but he’d settle for bookmarking it in his memory, “jun, come on. one last paragraph and we’re finished with the entire project. we’re just wrapping up the ending which is already outlined by us.” jaemin ruffled dejun’s hair.
forcing his eyes open, dejun grabbed jaemin’s half drunk coffee and stole a swig, “this tastes like death. i forgot your coffee order is like battery acid.” he recoiled, his face scrunching up with disdain.
“no! i’m just a real coffee drinker who doesn’t want to buffer the taste of coffee with obsessive amounts of sugar,” jaemin pouted, snatching the cup away from dejun, “plus, if you think this is bad, you should meet my older brother, jaehyun— he’s worse than me.”
dejun hummed, focusing his attention back to his computer, “my grandma would really like you. someday when you meet her, talk to her about coffee— she’ll be over the moon.” jaemin did save this bit of information, hoping it would come in handy in the future.
at nearly three in the morning, jaemin finally pulled up in front of dejun’s grandparent’s house. and disappointment pitted itself in dejun’s stomach as his thoughts ran rapid. the project was finished— did this mean jaemin wouldn’t take me on dates anymore? is bad that i was in it more for personal gain than experience for the project? that i wanted to pretend jaemin was taking me on these dates because he liked me too?
sensing the somber mood, jaemin the silence, “before you go, i have something to give you,” reaching into the back of his car and quickly hiding the gift behind his back. he took a deep breath before showcasing it to dejun, “a new phone... so you don’t have to worry anymore about buying one anymore.”
dejun resisted the urge to drop his jaw, “oh my goodness— nana, you didn’t have to buy me a new phone. ho-how much did this cost?” he stumbled, staring at the phone.
“jun, i promise it didn’t cost much. my mom and dad are both doctors, remember?” that doesn’t mean blow all your money, “please just take it… for me?” he pleaded wrapping dejun’s hands around the sleek iphone. any debate dejun was willing to argue died once his looked into jaemin’s starry eyes.
dejun nodded wordlessly. gently setting the phone down in his lap before encasing jaemin in a hug. the positioning was awkward due to dejun having to reach over from the passenger's seat but it worked. a hesitant silence fell over the both of them, “i’m gonna miss this— us.” dejun said, his voice muffled.
he felt jaemin tense at his words, “we should meet again but without anything concerning the project.” jaemin hesitantly said.
“i should go inside before my grandparents start to worry, but i would like that. maybe tomorrow? i’ll need help setting up my new phone.” dejun asked, focusing his gaze onto the phone.
“our spot?”
dejun nodded, muttering a quick goodbye before exiting jaemin’s car. ha! ‘our’ spot! they have a spot. he smugly grinned to himself.
-
i’ll have to ask jaemin for all of the photos they’ve taken over the course of their dates. slight feelings of envy bubbling in dejun’s stomach, i wish i could capture jaemin as breathtakingly as jaemin captures me— a flurry of light pink hair caught dejun’s attention. dejun waved excitedly at jaemin holding up his phone.
the younger visibly brightened, fastening his pace over to dejun. he setting two bento boxes in between them as he sat, “have you started setting up the phone yet?”
“no, i wanted us to do it together and i also have no idea how to work any of the newer iphones.” dejun started, “i atleast got as far as turning it on but then i chickened because it seemed too complex.” all lies. i just wanted an excuse to be with you. i could easily google this if i was that inclined.
jaemin nodded, taking dejun’s phone and starting the set up process. while jaemin was distracted, dejun took the opportunity to study jaemin’s features— taking in every detail as if he was looking at the younger for the first time. about ten minutes passed when jaemin finally looked up from dejun’s phone, directing his attention to dejun, “apps?”
“yeah, you can just download all of the social media apps and, uh, love alarm.” dejun said, mumbling the last part.
he heard jaemin’s breath hitch slightly, “love alarm is a bit complex at first— let me download it first on your phone and then i’ll demonstrate how it works on mine,” jaemin chimed, pulling out his own phone. dejun didn’t miss the fact jaemin’s wallpaper was a selfie of them at the aquarium as he talked dejun through the apps layout, settings, and functions. butterflies buzzed in dejun’s stomach buzzed, should i confess? what if he doesn’t like me back? he thought, watching jaemin turn on his love alarm as an example.
dejun’s phone pinged signaling the completion of love alarm downloading and they immediately averted their attention to his phone. jaemin’s phone was long forgotten, laying in his lap as while jaemin adjusted the settings of his app. the younger hands passes the phone back to it’s new owner, “and when you’re ready— just slide this button and the alarm will turn on.” dejun nods in response turning the alarm on as a test run.
both boys jump at their phone pinging, their gazes simultaneously shifting between each other’s phones to each other, “you like me back?” jaemin smiles.
dejun gapes as his gaze continues to rapidly flicker between his phone and jaemin, “back? you like me? wha— since when?” he questions, standing up in disbelief.
jaemin stood up too, peering downwards with a subtle cast of fondness twinkling in his eyes, “i literally suggested us going on dates. there’s no way you believed that was solely for the project,” he snickered in amusement, “i just wanted to get closer to you which by the way worked but to answer you, i’ve had a crush on you since the beginning of last school year.” jaemin finished, giggling at dejun’s widened eyes. “so xiao dejun, jun, junnie, my junnie— will you be my boyfriend?”
dejun nodded almost immediately pressing his lips to jaemin’s. and yes, they did get an a+ on their creative writing project.