Work Text:
“Your puppy’s here.” Jaemin laughs, nudging Renjun from his spot on the bleachers, tilting his head back so the sun can filter across his face. Renjun scowls at the younger boy, shoving gently against his shoulder.
“Play nice, Nana.” He hisses, but turns when he hears the clanking of spikes against metal. His gaze softens at the sight of Jisung, the younger boy’s black hair messy from his helmet and dark paint streaked across his cheekbones.
“Hyung!” Jisung chirps, a bright smile on his face. “You didn’t tell me that you were coming to the game today!” Renjun can’t help but laugh softly at his enthusiasm, kicking Donghyuck in the shin when he hears a snort behind him.
“Our practice was canceled today for some reason, so I convinced Nana and Hyuck to come with me today.” Jisung ducks his head with a smile, the two other cheerleaders by Renjun’s side waving lazily.
“You’ll have to tell Jinsoul noona thank you then!” Hyuck snickers again and Renjun shoots him a hard glare before turning back to smile at Jisung. His friends can really be a pain in the ass sometimes.
“I’m not sure why we didn’t have practice today, but I’m glad to be able to come see you play.” Renjun is cut off by the sound of an angry whistle, and Jisung startles, nearly tripping off the bleachers. Clumsy boy. Renjun reaches out with an arm to steady him, and pretends he doesn’t see the scarlet blush that appears on the younger’s cheeks at the contact. “Careful there, Sung! Looks like your coach is getting pretty mad, so you better go. I’ll see you after the game okay?” Renjun tilts his head to the side with a sweet smile. Jisung nods, looking a little bit dazed, and says his goodbyes to the trio, before barreling his way down the bleachers to where his coach is waiting.
Renjun watches the younger boy, a soft sigh leaving his lips. He hears overexaggerated gagging and turns with a glare to look at Jaemin and Donghyuck who are pretending to throw up at the interaction.
“You are so fucking whipped.” Donghyuck says, and Renjun punches his arm. “Ow! Hey! Fuck you! I still have a bruise there from that fucking cradle that Yangyang messed up.”
“You’re such a fucking nuisence. Can’t you just be nice to Jisung for once?” Hyuck rolls his eyes, rubbing his arm with a huff.
“I AM nice to Jisung. He’s a cute kid. It’s cute how he follows you around like a puppy dog and you never do anything about it. I know you said that you didn’t really want to date while you were in high school, but Jesus CHRIST Renjun, we all know you like the kid. You’re just leading him on.” Donghyuck’s eyes drift to the diamond, where Jisung and Jeno are warming up.
Renjun sighs, leaning his chin on his hands as he watches Jisung. It’s true, everything that Donghyuck had said. He HAD wanted to go through school not focused on boys, or dealing with relationship drama, and he DID like having Jisung around. Being around Jisung made him feel warm and fuzzy inside, like he was drinking an entire gallon of the bubbliest soda.
“Jun, I can hear your thinking gears grinding against each other from here.” Jaemin snickers, running a hand through his messy black hair. “Penny for your thoughts?”
Renjun just shakes his head, sitting back up. “It’s nothing really. Just thoughts.” He shrugs, leaning over to grab his water bottle and take a sip. Jaemin looks at him sympathetically, before shrugging and turning to Hyuck to engage in a conversation about who looks better in baseball pants: Jeno or Mark. (The answer, Jaemin insists, is obviously Jeno. Donghyuck does not agree.) They leave Renjun to his thoughts, his gaze trained on the lanky boy who Renjun pretends he doesn’t see glancing over at the bleachers every once in a while.
One thing Renjun appreciates about his teammates, his friends. They never pry.
-------
It’s a Tuesday evening in May after practice when everything clicks into place for Renjun.
“You can turn on whatever you want hyung! It doesn’t bother me. Buckle up though.” Jisung smiles, attention turning to the backseat as he places their backpacks there, and Renjun has to tear his gaze away from the angle of Jisung’s jaw. He hums to himself as he pulls up an old Taylor Swift album on Spotify before he leans back against the seat, buckling himself in. Jisung’s car smells like his cologne, and Renjun tries to be subtle about the way that he breathes in. It’s nice. Masculine, but sweet. Very Jisung.
“Thanks for driving me home after practice. My sister has the car today.” Renjun says softly, picking at a loose thread on his track pants. Jisung turns back to the front, laughing slightly, the sound music to Renjun’s ears. Jisung has the prettiest laugh.
“It’s no problem hyung! My pleasure. Plus, what good is a childhood neighbor with a car unless they drive you home.” Jisung buckles his own seatbelt and starts the car, and Renjun’s eyes are immediately drawn to the way that Jisung’s hands look on the steering wheel. He shakes his head to clear his thoughts, humming along to the music as they drive. It’s quiet for a bit, but not awkward. It’s never really awkward between them.
“Your hair’s getting so long.” Renjun looks over at Jisung at the comment, the younger boy’s eyes trained on the road, like a good driver should. Renjun chuckles softly, tugging on a loose strand of hair falling from his ponytail.
“Yeah, Hyuck got on my ass about it during a stunt, so I put it in a ponytail… it doesn’t look dumb, does it?” Jisung makes an ugly noise at the back of his throat, which startles Renjun, but makes him dissolve into giggles.
“Please, like you could ever make anything look dumb. You’re always so well put together. I kinda envy you honestly. I look like a hot mess half the time.” Renjun wrinkles his nose. Jisung’s lying, he always looks good. Jisung’s style leans more towards athleisure than Renjun’s own preppy style, but Jisung makes it look good.
“You just have that jock aesthetic. You pull it off though!” Jisung laughs, taking one hand off of the wheel to run it through his hair, the freshly washed strands falling back into place. Renjun’s eyes follow the movement, and he’s glad Jisung has to keep his eyes on the road. Getting caught staring at him would be SO embarrassing.
“Do I have something on my face?” Jisung asks, and Renjun lets out a squeak, turning back to the front quickly, a dark blush appearing on his cheeks.
“N-no, nothing like that.” Renjun doesn’t see the smile and matching blush that make their way onto Jisung’s features, too busy beating himself up over getting caught. Jisung’s boyish laugh echoes in the small car before he changes the subject, which Renjun is eternally grateful for.
“Prom’s coming up huh? Are the cheerleaders doing anything?” Jisung asks, smoothly navigating through their small town. Renjun purses his lips, shaking his head.
“Not that I know of. I know some of the older girls have already been asked.” He says, fiddling with his letterman jacket, the overlarge sleeves falling over his fingers. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t a little bit jealous.
“And you?” Renjun looks at Jisung quizzically, not understanding the question. “Have you been asked? Or asked anyone?” Renjun snorts, shaking his head.
“No, no nothing like that…. What about you?” Renjun asks tentatively, afraid of the answer, and Jisung just chuckles.
“Hyung, I’m only a sophomore. I can’t even go unless a junior or senior asks me.” Renjun’s mouth makes an O at the realization, and Jisung smiles as he pulls into his parents’ driveway. After putting the car in park and turning off the engine, Jisung reaches back to grab Renjun’s backpack from the backseat, handing it to him. He gives Renjun a long look, a warm glow in his eyes. Renjun swears that Jisung can hear his breathing hitch.
“I’ll see you tomorrow hyung.” Jisung says, his deep voice piercing straight through Renjun’s facade. He feels like his heart is about to beat out of his chest. Renjun nods, and says his goodbyes to Jisung. He pauses at the end of the driveway, looking back at the front door, just to make eye contact with Jisung, who is looking back at him. The taller boy laughs, though Renjun can’t hear it, and waves goodbye again before disappearing through his front door.
Fuck.
Renjun practically runs up the stairs once inside his own home, throwing his backpack on his desk chair before pulling out his phone. He lays back on his bed, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth before furiously typing out a message to his groupchat.
Groupchat: bring it on 2: electric boogaloo (and lele)
Renjun > I need an emergency meeting.
Jaemin > ?????
Donghyuck > ????? x2
Chenle > wot
Jaemin > like AA?? Are you on DRUGS?
Renjun > EMERGENCY MEETING.
Renjun > Bring
Renjun > Doyoung hyung.
Jaemin > OH IT'S SERIOUS
Donghyuck > IS IT TIME?
Renjun > It’s time.
Chenle > TIME FOR WHAT
Not even 2 hours later, Renjun is joined in his bedroom by Jaemin, Chenle and Donghyuck, and via FaceTime on Renjun’s iPad, Doyoung. The former cheer captain looks ruffled, but according to the schedule that they all had set on their phones once Doyoung had chosen his classes, he’d just gotten off of class for the day.
“This better be code red, my friends.” Doyoung grumbles from what seems to be his dorm room. “I’m missing a date for this.” Jaemin makes a sympathetic noise, nodding in understanding. (Bullshit, Renjun thinks. Jaemin doesn’t know shit about missing dates.)
Renjun folds his hands, looking around at all his friends before speaking, his voice surprisingly not shaking despite his heart feeling like it’s about to do a lap around his room. He’s doing this.
“I’m going to ask Jisung to prom.”
The entire room loses their shit.
Chenle starts screeching in that loud voice of his, Jaemin and Donghyuck start speaking over each other to the point that Renjun can’t understand what either of them are saying, and Doyoung simply starts cackling. Renjun pouts. He watches as Chenle sighs and hands Donghyuck a bill, and Renjun gasps, feeling a little bit betrayed.
“You BET on it?” Donghyuck shrugs, waving the bill around like he’s just won the lottery or something.
“I did, and I WON!” Renjun makes to get up, intent on strangling Hyuck, but Jaemin pulls on his arm, making him sit down again.
“What are you gonna do? Like…. Seriously?” Renjun groans and flops back on his bed, throwing an arm over his eyes.
“I have no idea. That’s why I called an emergency meeting.” Hyuck pats Renjun on the head sympathetically, and Renjun pretends to bite him, making Donghyuck scowl and swat at him.
“You are truly hopeless.” He says with a laugh, and Renjun whimpers, covering his face with a pillow.
“Shut up and help me.” Renjun whines, a true sign of his desperation. Hyuck leans back on his hands, thinking for a minute before he sits up suddenly. Renjun moves the pillow away from his face at the sudden jerk, raising an eyebrow.
“I have an idea.”
------
“Isn’t this too cheesy?” Renjun says, looking around. He’s being a lookout while Hyuck and Jaemin attempt to open Jisung’s locker, Chenle having pilfered the code off of the baseball player under the guise of leaving him a textbook.
“Jisung loves cheesy shit.” Jaemin says simply, looking over at Renjun. “He will love it, so shush. Did you bring the note?” Renjun nods, digging into his backpack to pull out the handwritten note telling Jisung where to go.
“I wrote it with my left hand just like you said.” Jaemin nods, and Donghyuck whoops as he pulls Jisung’s locker open.
“Okay, Jaemin, note.” Jaemin hands Hyuck the note, and Donghyuck takes a little jar of yellow candies out of his backpack. Renjun flushes scarlet. Yellow is his favorite color. An obvious hint, but Renjun wasn’t exactly trying to be subtle. Donghyuck places the note underneath the candy jar and neatly closes Jisung’s locker.
“Okay, so like the note said, you just need to be in the Astronomy Club classroom at 3:10, Jun, okay?” Renjun nods, fiddling with his sleeves. Donghyuck comes over and places his hands on Renjun’s shoulders, making the shorter boy look at him. “You got this, Jun. I promise.”
Renjun’s not sure, but he can feel the warmth of Donghyuck’s faith in him.
----
All day people are talking about the note. Renjun had been prepared for this, of course, knowing how popular Jisung was, but his hands still tremor every time he hears a whisper.
“Any idea who it is?” He overhears a pair of freshman girls say as they pass him in the hallway.
“No idea, probably some girl desperate for Jisung’s attention.” Renjun’s heart is in his throat.
As the clock strikes 3, Renjun nearly trips over himself on his way to the Astronomy classroom. He looks around, making sure that no one is hanging around. Seems like Jisung didn’t leak the contents of the letter, only that he had got one. Though of course, someone only had to be near him when he opened his locker to see the note and spread the rumors around the school.
No one is in the classroom when he gets there, and Renjun takes the moment to breathe, running his hands through his messy caramel hair. Can he really do this? He paces, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. What would Jisung say? Would he reject him? What if Jisung laughed at him?
He doesn’t get the chance to overthink and leave the room, because he hears the sound of the door turning, and he whips his head up to see Jisung entering the room, his baseball bag slung over his shoulder. Their eyes meet, and Renjun can feel all the tension leave his body.
Jisung doesn’t even look surprised to see him, an easygoing smile turning up his pretty lips.
“Hi.” He says, the jar of candies in his left hand. Renjun’s cheeks turn pink at the sight, and he coughs, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. Jisung chuckles, tucking the jar away, setting his bag down.
“You don’t look surprised to see me.” Renjun comments, biting down on his lower lip. Jisung raises an eyebrow, and a short laugh leaves his lips.
“Renjun, I’ve been your neighbor since I was born. I know your handwriting even if you use your left hand. Plus, yellow? Really?” Renjun feels his face heat up even more, and he turns away from Jisung, patting his cheeks, trying to calm down.
“What did you bring me all the way over here for? I told Coach that I would be late.” Jisung takes a step closer to Renjun, and Renjun can feel his heart pick up a little bit.
“I-” It feels like the words get stuck in his throat, like he can’t say anything. Jisung crosses the room to stand in front of Renjun, and he grabs onto the elder's wrist gently, making Renjun face him.
“Hey, hey, it’s just me. You can tell me, it’s okay.” Jisung says in a soothing voice, big brown doe eyes gazing down at Renjun.
“I like you.” Renjun blurts out, and covers his mouth with his hand in horror. He hadn’t meant for it to come out so casually. He had a script! He’d spent hours going over everything with his friends! Jisung blinks down at him, and Renjun feels his heart drop into his stomach at the lack of reaction from the younger boy.
His worries are soon soothed by Jisung’s hand sliding down to take Renjun’s in his own. “You do?” He says softly, a small smile appearing on his lips. “You said you didn’t want to-”
“I did. Say that,” Renjun flushes scarlet at the fact that he just interrupted Jisung, “But, I’ve just been thinking a lot, and since that day when you drove me home…”
“You were staring at me.” Jisung chuckles softly. “I pretended I didn’t notice, but I did.” Renjun whimpers and nods, running a hand through his hair.
“Go to prom with me.” He means for it to come out as a question, and Jisung laughs softly at his boldness.
“Is that a question or a demand, hyung?” He says cheekily, and Renjun swats at his shoulder. Jisung squeezes his hand warmly.
“It’s a date.” Jisung says, bringing his hand up to brush against Renjun’s cheek, before crossing over to his bag, picking it up. “I’m gonna be late to practice, but we can text about this later, okay?” Renjun nods dumbly, and Jisung starts to leave the classroom.
“Oh and hyung?” Renjun makes an inquisitive noise, and Jisung grins at him, halfway out the door.
“I like you too.”
--------
Prom had been a whirlwind for Renjun, dealing with teasing from his friends, clapping and cheering enthusiastically when his cheer captain Jinsol was named Prom Queen, and trying his best not to jump every time Jisung’s arm slid around his waist, or when the younger boy leaned over to whisper something into his ear.
But now, alone in Jisung’s car, Renjun felt more at ease than he ever had. This was their thing, his safe space with Jisung. The familiar sight of Jisung’s hands on the steering wheel, the gentle sounds of a random playlist filtering through the car, and the streetlights filtering warm light across the other boy’s face.
The drive back is quiet, but different from the last time that Renjun was in Jisung’s car. This time, Jisung’s right hand is in Renjun’s left, their fingers intertwined. This time, Renjun is free to stare at the younger all he wants without fear of getting caught.
“Did you have fun?” Jisung asks, eyes not leaving the road. Renjun smiles, nodding, playing with Jisung’s fingers slightly. They’re rough, a product of his sport, the hours of practice, but Renjun doesn’t mind.
“Yeah, though I could have done without seeing Jeno and Jaemin making out in the corner.” Renjun makes a face, which makes Jisung laugh, shoulders shaking slightly.
“True, though expected. Don’t they always end up doing that at every major event?” Renjun purses his lips, before making an affirmative noise. He supposes they do. His fingers fiddle with Jisung’s ring, the championship one from last year. Talented baby.
Before he knows it, Jisung is putting the car into park in front of his house, and Renjun’s smile falls at the fact that they have to part for the night. They both get out of the car, and Renjun huffs, but Jisung just laughs at his reaction.
“I’ll walk you to your door, hyung.” Jisung says, wrapping his arm around Renjun’s shoulders and leading him towards his house. Renjun revels in the touch, leaning into Jisung, letting the younger lead him. Jisung smells nice as usual, and Renjun can’t help the happy sigh that leaves his lips.
They stop in front of Renjun’s house, and Renjun can see the flicker of the curtains, altering him to the fact that his sister is just behind the door, but it doesn’t faze Jisung. The younger boy smiles down at him, and there’s a twinkle in his eye that Renjun knows he put there.
“I had a lot of fun, hyung. Thank you for asking me to come with you.” Jisung says, reaching out to move a lock of Renjun’s hair that had come undone from his carefully placed style.
“Thank you for saying yes.” Renjun replies softly, chin tilting up so he can look at Jisung. He’s so damned tall. Jisung taps Renjun’s nose with a laugh, and there’s a moment of eye contact, heavy and emotional. Renjun watches Jisung’s eyes flick down to his lips, then back up to his eyes, and he can practically see the conflict written on Jisung’s face.
Renjun reaches up and wraps his arms around Jisung’s neck, making the other boy lean down a bit. Jisung’s eyes are wide, and he blinks a few times in surprise.
“We’ll talk more in the morning okay?” Renjun says, smiling brightly. “How about brunch? We can go to that diner you’ve been mentioning a lot.” Jisung laughs softly, and nods.
“Sounds like a plan hyung.” He murmurs, hands moving to press at Renjun’s waist, deep brown shimmering under the sheen of Renjun’s porch light. “I should get going.” He continues, but makes no movement. He just looks down at Renjun like the elder has hung the stars in the sky.
Renjun steels himself, then presses up on his tiptoes, his mouth gently meeting Jisung’s in a chaste kiss. He pretends he doesn’t hear the patter of feet, his sister running up the stairs, probably to his bedroom to hear all about it after Jisung leaves.
Jisung makes a small noise of surprise before gently kissing Renjun back. It only lasts a second or two before Renjun pulls back and steps out of Jisung’s arms. He brushes the back of his hand against Jisung’s cheek and tilts his head, one hand reaching out for the doorknob.
“See you tomorrow, Sungie.” Jisung brings a hand up to his lips, looking a little bit dazed, but his eyes turn up into that beautiful shape that Renjun can’t resist.
“See you tomorrow, Renjun.”