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Lee Heeseung is the most popular boy in school.
Everyone knew who he was, Lee Heeseung, the school’s cunning basketball team captain. He’s a tremendous player with immeasurable talent. He made the team when he was still a freshman and became captain that same year. Now that he’s a senior, he gained a huge following. Different universities are already scouting him. Even with his overwhelming popularity and busy schedule, Heeseung remains a quiet, mysterious, and reserved person. They find him intimidating, his six-foot-tall stature is too difficult to approach. He is also well-known for his intelligence, talents, and good looks. He is the president of both music and theater clubs, the editor-in-chief of their school paper, and ranked first in his batch.
If anyone in the school rivals Lee Heeseung’s popularity, it’s Sim Jaeyun.
Sim Jaeyun is a sweetheart.
When Sim Jaeyun moved to town a few years back, everyone immediately fell in love with him. He’s friendly, genuine, and deeply admired by students and teachers alike. There is no nasty bone in his body and he is the type of person you can never hate. He always has that refreshing smile plastered on his pretty face every day. Jaeyun joined the cheer team in his freshman year and they promoted him to captain in his sophomore year. Contrary to popular belief that cheerleaders are unintelligent, Jaeyun has proven himself otherwise. He is quick-witted, highly competitive, and has a 4.0 GPA. As a junior, Jaeyun is now the student council president, the school’s best debater, and Lee Heeseung’s boyfriend.
No one would’ve guessed they're dating until one day, Heeseung almost got into a fistfight after a friendly game against an opposing school. The other team’s shooting guard cornered Jaeyun. He kept bothering Jaeyun even after being rejected several times already. Heeseung, being the perceptive boyfriend that he is, saw this, and all hell broke loose.
Heeseung pointedly ignores his teammates calling out to him, shrugging off the hands of Jongseong and Sunghoon as he stalks towards his boyfriend and Choi Seon, the shooting guard.
“Is there a problem here, Choi?” Heeseung growls. Both boys turned at the intrusion. Heeseung glares at Seon and his eyes soften when it lands on Jaeyun’s face. He scanned the cheerleader with worried eyes.
“Heeseungie.” Jaeyun mumbles. His eyes are watery and he looks uncomfortable. He sees how Jaeyun grips the hem of his skirt tightly, his knuckles turning white. Heeseung quickly gets between his boyfriend and Seon, creating as much distance as the other guy. His hand finds its way to Jaeyun’s wrist, pulling the younger boy back. Jaeyun hides behind the towering captain and grabs the back of his jersey out of fear.
“Chill, bro. You’ll get a turn. I just want a moment with this cutie… I wanna see how flexible he is.” The shooting guard catches Jaeyun’s eyes and gives him a wicked smile. Jaeyun’s grip on Heeseung’s jersey tightens, and a sob slips out as Seon grins smugly. Heeseung slowly removes his grip on Jaeyun. He sees red and grabs the neckline of Seon’s jersey, shoving him onto the floor and his legs on either side of the boy below him. Heeseung can hear gasps and shouts as the other boy cowers when he raises his fist and aims for a punch. Seon closed his eyes as he awaited his fate.
“Heeseungie… Don’t.” Jaeyun—now being comforted by his cheer members—softly calls out to him. Heeseung looks back at Jaeyun and hesitates; his arm lowering slightly. The two lovers stared at each other, communicating with their eyes. Jaeyun looks away first, but after the internal debate in Heeseung’s head, he sighs in defeat. He straightens up and shoots a disgusted look at Seon.
“You’re lucky Jae’s too kind or I would’ve broken your face a long time ago. I should’ve punched you the first time, but he said it’s not worth it.” Heeseung sneers as he stands up, dusting himself.
Seon realizes his mistake and says, “I-I’m sorry, man. I-I didn’t know you guys were—”
“Yeah? Why are you apologizing to me, then?” Heeseung cuts him off, raising an eyebrow at Seon. The latter gulps as he directs his attention to the cheerleader.
“I-I’m sorry, Jake.” Seon stutters as he stands up, glancing nervously at Heeseung, who was standing at the side with his arms crossed. Jaeyun looks down at his shaking hands and nods his head.
“Stay the fuck away from my boyfriend, understand?” Heeseung turned his back before the shooting guard could even reply.
The whole gymnasium fell silent at the sudden declaration. Heeseung ignores the stares as he approaches Jaeyun with a soft smile and shrugs off his varsity jacket to wrap around his boyfriend. He hugs Jaeyun in apology and kisses him on his forehead. Murmurs and whispers flood the gym as Heeseung bows in front of everyone, apologizing for making a scene and thanking Jaeyun’s team for taking care of him, before guiding his boyfriend out of the place.
It took weeks for the incident to blow over for two reasons. First, the two most popular kids in school are in a relationship, and second, how the hell did they get together in the first place?
No one saw the two interacting with each other besides at sports-related events, and even then, they only spoke a handful of times. Everyone wondered how true their relationship was, but the couple in question never really bothered to reveal all those juicy details. They’re not hiding their relationship from the public per se, but they’re not sharing enough either.
Jaeyun thinks they fit their stereotypes nicely, but after getting to know the basketball captain, he thinks otherwise. Heeseung may be in control of most of their activities, but never in their cuddle time.
“Sun, have you reviewed the new routine? I wanna check in with you first before teaching the rest.” Jaeyun holds his phone close to his ear. He’s sitting on his bed with his back against the headboard while Heeseung is sitting between his legs, a book in one hand and the other intertwined with Jaeyun’s fingers.
“Yes, I have. It looks good, but I altered a few steps…” Sunoo, his co-captain, mentions a few changes in their cheer routine. Jaeyun hums as he cradles his phone between his ear and shoulder. His free hand strokes his boyfriend’s head.
“Okay, we’ll go over them tomorrow, so you better be early.” Jaeyun makes a mental note of all the alterations in their routine. Sunoo then goes on a long rant about his ex-boyfriend, Park Jongseong, Heeseung’s teammate and vice-captain. Heeseung overhears this and snickers quietly. Jaeyun smacks his boyfriend’s arm lightly, the latter pouting as he lets go of Jaeyun’s hand and flips another page of his book.
“I can’t believe he crashed my date yesterday!” Sunoo grumbles. Jaeyun sighs as he runs his fingers through Heeseung’s hair.
“Maybe he’s just protecting you? I mean, you did date him for two years and you guys were friends long before that. I still don’t understand why you two broke up. Or maybe he still loves you,” Jaeyun supplies. Heeseung purrs when Jaeyun scratches his scalp with his blunt nails. Jaeyun smiles at his boyfriend’s reaction. Heeseung gives him a soft look, and snuggles closer, his back relaxing on his chest. Jaeyun’s other hand is now resting on Heeseung’s torso. He stares at his lover fondly.
Jaeyun loves this version of Heeseung the most. Don’t get him wrong, he loves every version, but this one in particular… He’s a goner. He still can’t believe that behind Heeseung’s intimidating and cunning personality is a soft and cuddly baby. His baby. He’s honored that he’s the only one who gets to see Heeseung like this.
When Heeseung confessed his love for the cheerleader six months ago—after being acquainted for so long—Jaeyun admitted he was not sure about his feelings yet, but was not against the idea of dating. Heeseung took it like a champ and courted Jaeyun, anyway. It took him a month to say yes to Heeseung. He is sure that he has feelings for the older, but he’s not at that part yet. He thought Heeseung was just giving them a chance because the basketball captain and the head cheerleader always end up together, right? But Heeseung reassured Jaeyun about this.
“I like you. No, I love you for who you are. Fuck all those stereotypes. Just let me take care of you, Jaeyun-ah.” That was what he said.
They’ve only been officially dating for at least five months, but Heeseung never failed to make him feel loved and safe. Seeing how the older boy opens up to him like this makes him think that their relationship is more genuine and their connection is much deeper than he expected.
Heeseung always takes care of him. He makes sure that he doesn’t fall behind in his classes and eats properly when he has a lot on his plate. The older, despite his schedule, always made time for him and set aside his work to put Jaeyun first. He would listen to Jaeyun’s rants when he’s stressed about student council duties or a professor getting on his nerves. Heeseung would always come to his cheer practices with a foam roller and his favorite snacks in his bag. He took Jaeyun home to his parents after he noticed how he listened excitedly to Sunoo, telling him about meeting Jongseong’s parents. Heeseung makes sure Jaeyun knows he loves everything he hates about himself. While all this seems like a cliché, Heeseung is more than that. Heeseung does these things for him willingly.
He doesn’t know why, but he always wants to be around Heeseung and wants to hold his hand. He preens whenever Heeseung calls his name and compliments his performance. Jaeyun’s heart beats a little faster and his hands get clammy whenever Heeseung laughs or smiles. He screams his name a little louder in his games. Jaeyun blushes at the thought of just seeing the basketball captain. When Heeseung dedicates a song to him, he can’t help but feel giddy. Jaeyun loves listening to Heeseung going over his lines for the theatre club’s latest production. He’s happy when Heeseung is happy, and he wants to give him the world because Heeseung deserves it so much. And... and...
Oh.
“I’m in love with him.” Jaeyun whispers, eyes wide as his hands cover his mouth in realization. His heart is doing somersaults. It took him so long to realize that Jaeyun just wanted to punch himself.
‘I wasted so much time. Oh, my god.’ He mentally scolds himself.
“Jake hyung? What are you talking about? Hello? Are you listening to me?” Jaeyun snaps out of his reverie and looks down at Heeseung. His boyfriend has his eyes closed, lying limp between Jaeyun’s arms with his book held loosely in his hand. He looks at his sleeping boyfriend lovingly. He didn’t notice his phone fell from his shoulder, so he picks up the device and places it on the shell of his ear.
“Hey, Sun? I’m sorry, but something came up. I’ll call you later, yeah?” Jaeyun hears Sunoo assuring that he'll be fine before saying that he’ll meet up with Jungwon, Riki, and Sunghoon. They bid each other goodbye and Jaeyun promised to call soon. When he hears the click, Jaeyun drops his phone on the bed.
“Heeseungie…” Jaeyun whispers as he wakes his boyfriend, brushing his hair gently. Heeseung stirs and turns his body to hug Jaeyun’s waist, shoving his face on Jaeyun’s soft tummy.
“Seung? Baby? Can you get up for a bit?” Jaeyun untangles Heeseung’s limbs from his tiny body and shifts their position. Heeseung whines, eyes still closed. Jaeyun is now lying on his back with an arm around Heeseung’s shoulder as the said boyfriend curls up next to him, their legs intertwined. Heeseung drapes an arm across Jaeyun’s torso.
“I love you, Jaeyun-ah. More than you know.” Heeseung mumbles. Jaeyun stills for a moment before relaxing again. Of course, Heeseung loves him. He never failed to make Jaeyun feel loved always in all ways. He fears the day that Heeseung will grow tired of him. Jaeyun’s heart clenches at the thought of Heeseung leaving him or loving someone else.
He has to tell Heeseung now.
“Heeseung-ah…” Jaeyun tightens his hold on his boyfriend as he strokes his hair. Heeseung hums in response. He feels like his heart is about to burst if he doesn’t say the words.
“I’m sorry it took so long for me to say this, but I love you, too. I wasn’t expecting you. I didn’t think that we would end up together. The single most extraordinary thing I’ve ever done with my life is fall in love with you. I’ve never been seen so completely, loved so passionately and protected so fiercely.” Jaeyun whispers, kissing the crown of Heeseung’s head. His heart feels lighter after that. Heeseung’s arm tightens, pulling Jaeyun closer.
“I know, Jaeyun-ah. Even if you don’t say it, I feel it anyway.” He hears the smile in Heeseung’s words.