Chapter Text
It’s no secret that Doyoung isn’t a fan of group projects, and he makes sure to show it with a sigh when the professor announces one. They get to choose their own project partners, which is at least more fortunate than having it be a luck of the draw, but he doesn’t even know who to choose. This is a bigger class than usual and he recognizes half of the students, though regrettably he also identifies them as unreliable project partners. The other half he has never even talked to to begin with.
“And before some of you volunteer to go lone wolf, no, I will not allow that this semester. The expected workload is not reasonable for just one person to handle, and no matter how well you work on your own, you need to learn to cooperate with others,” the professor interjects as if he can read Doyoung’s thoughts. “Email me your desired group formations by Friday, only one person per group has to do it. That’s all for today, I’ll let you go early so you can talk with each other and form groups.”
Doyoung gives his desk mate a strained smile and gets one in return. Around them, people in the class are already starting to introduce themselves and chat. Pairing up with your desk mate is a convenient option, but Doyoung knows that his desk mate, although very smart, tends to be talkative and loud, and he’s not sure he wants to spend the next month and a half being subject to his sonorous laughter every time they meet up.
“Professor, can you assign us into random groups if we don’t have any group preferences?” Someone asks from the back of the class. The voice is warm, not gravelly deep but smooth with a rich timber. Doyoung doesn’t have to turn around to know who it belongs to. The choir kid in him has spent years wishing for such a tone.
“Sure, if you want to be assigned, email me that by Friday also,” the professor says easily. As he should, given how difficult he’s about to make their lives become with this monster of a project.
Doyoung is a little worried that he might appear bossy and unapproachable to others just because he wouldn’t say yes to group invitations. He really is quite easy going and friendly to new people. It’s just unfortunate for his social life that he takes his studies seriously and has actual standards for the work he submits, and most of the time after finishing a group project, he’s too disappointed to want to talk to his group mates again. Maybe getting a random group mate wouldn’t be so bad, at least there won’t be any lingering awkwardness once the class is over. Doyoung emails the professor on his phone right away, and packs up to leave early for once.
Jaehyun scrolls up on his iPad to exit the notetaking app and clicks on the browser app with the tip of his Apple Pencil. On the course page for the class, a pdf with group assignments has indeed been posted. He opens it and skims through the page. Near the end, he finds his name next to one “Kim Doyoung”. The name is familiar to him, he hears it called in class often enough. It must be one of the front row people. Having only mostly seen the back of their heads, he does have trouble putting a face to the name, but that’s alright.
Engineering students are required to take a lot of math classes, and for good reason, they sure need it in their field of study. It’s just Jaehyun has never felt like he fits in with the math people in his math classes. It’s not like he has a lot of interest in the theory and proofs, he’s just here for the neatly packaged formulas that he can apply in the real world. He does know some people around his seat but has never really struck a proper conversation with them, arriving late to class too often to grab an iced coffee on the way, and then leaving as soon as possible to refill his empty cup. That’s why signing up for a random partner seemed like a convenient option.
He has actually heard people mention Doyoung in quiet hallway conversations, or in classroom gossip, the few times that he was ever on time enough to catch it. Apparently he’s a strict group partner and has a bit of a mean streak with the people he gets paired up with. Jaehyun is a very non-confrontational person, so he tends to stay away from working with demanding and intense people, but he will probably live. Maybe Doyoung has a good reason to be mean. If Jaehyun had higher standards, he would probably be dissatisfied with many of his fellow students too.
He goes back to his notes and looks up at the board to catch up with the mountain of equations that has appeared since he got distracted checking the project groups. Someone from the front row turns around and catches Jaehyun’s eye. He has neatly trimmed black hair and cute metal frame glasses, a face that positively radiates model student energy. He has large and smart eyes, but the tail extending upwards give his gaze a certain intensity. Jaehyun blinks for a moment, a little unnerved by the sudden eye contact, perhaps, but then the stoic expression breaks into a wide smile at him. Jaehyun feels his confusion dissipate, and he smiles back a little. This must be Doyoung. The fact that he recognizes Jaehyun and seems friendly means that they’re off to a good start.
No longer able to afford to be distracted, Jaehyun gets to scribbling right away with laser focus. He knows himself, if he doesn’t finish taking these notes during lecture, he will never get to taking them, ever, no matter how much he convinces himself that he will. Three years into an engineering degree, he has at least learned that much.
As Jaehyun’s pen glides across the glass screen of his iPad, from three rows of seats in front of him, Doyoung’s pencil temporarily pauses above his paper. Doyoung isn’t one to get distracted in class, but, oh, dimples. Jaehyun has dimples, and they’re going to work together for the rest of the semester on a project that makes up more than half of their total grade. It’s a good chance to get to know someone he’s been noticing since the start of the semester, but he wishes the stakes were a little lower.
He kind of has a crush on Jaehyun. There’s no use in denying that to himself. It was supposed to be a silly little secret, though. Doyoung actually likes going to class, because he loves math for what it is, so he doesn’t exactly need a classroom crush to motivate himself to show up every day. Jaehyun is just hard to miss.
Doyoung remembers seeing Jaehyun enter the classroom fifteen minutes late on the second day, his thick blond hair tousled as he pulled back the hood of his jacket. It had been raining outside. No one should look that good with damp bangs and dark specks of rain on their grey hoodie, Doyoung thought to himself. Jaehyun went to the back of the class because most of the other rows were full, but Doyoung got another close look at him when he came up to talk to the professor at the end of class. In a low voice, he explained how he decided to back out of another class at the last minute to join this one instead, which was why he didn’t show up on the first day and was late for class today.
Even after he was properly registered, Jaehyun still came to class late on a regular basis. Just five to ten minutes, tops, nothing criminal, but enough to have Doyoung keeping an ear out for the creak of the door and the thud of Air Jordans into the room. With his height and looks, he could very well be one of those frat boy types who prop their feet up on the desk and give unprompted opinions about anything and everything, always commanding attention whenever they walk into a room. But Jaehyun isn’t like that. He’s soft-spoken and polite the few times Doyoung has overheard him in conversation, even a little shy. He’s no airhead, either. He finishes the weekly quizzes early and asks questions, or answers the professor’s questions, from time to time. There’s something charming about how he casually excels in class, the effortless kind of smart that draws in nerds like Doyoung.
Today’s lecture is kind of boring, so Jaehyun is glad that the professor lets them go ten minutes early to start talking with their groups. Before Jaehyun even finishes his notes, though, Doyoung has made his way over and dragged out a chair next to him.
“Hi. I’m Doyoung. I think we’re going to be project partners. You’re Jaehyun, right?”
Jaehyun isn’t sure if it’s Doyoung’s laundry detergent or perfume, but he smells like fresh cotton and the ocean breeze. Jaehyun always warms up quickly to people that smell nice, so he nods and extends a hand, which Doyoung shakes. “Yeah, nice to meet you. Are you a junior, too?”
“Yeah. You’re not a math major, aren’t you?”
“Nope, I’m engineering,” Jaehyun smiles shyly, with just a hint of dimples. “Is it, like, obvious that I’m bad at math?”
“No, no, not at all. It’s just I definitely would have remembered you if I’d seen you around the department.”
Jaehyun’s ears heat up at that. It’s too direct to be a compliment, but it sure sounds like one. Luckily Doyoung is too busy opening the class webpage on his laptop to notice. A straight-to-business partner. He can respect that.
“So it looks like we have two weeks to submit our project proposal, and then there’s a progress report every three weeks until the deadline. Sounds like we should try to meet once every week, and schedule more later if necessary.”
“Sounds good.”
“I’ll send you a /when2meet/so we can find a time. What’s your email?” Doyoung pushes his laptop over with an email draft already open. He seems really efficient with everything he does, which is a little intimidating. But not necessarily in a bad way, Jaehyun could always use a little push.
Jaehyun types his school email address as the recipient and hands it back. He thinks about how Doyoung smiled to him earlier and approached him first, which is pretty friendly and not at all mean. Jaehyun feels compelled to try to be friendly as well. “You know… instead of emailing, we can just text like normal people do.”
Doyoung blinks at him. “If we’re talking about the project, then email would be the best, honestly.”
Jaehyun’s shyness is yelling at him to take a hint and stop venturing into awkward territory, but he tries again. “Can I have your number or Instagram or something? That’ll be more convenient.
“I don’t talk to group mates on Instagram.”
“You don’t use Instagram?” Jaehyun is surprised.
“No, I do, but.” Doyoung lets out an exaggerated sigh. “I just never seem to get on well with my project partners, and we don’t really become friends after we’re done. So it’s a bother to be too connected. If we don’t want to face each other anymore, it’s easier if we weren’t friends to begin with.”
Jaehyun raises an eyebrow. Now he’s confused.
Doyoung takes a breath and rushes to explain, “It’s not because I’m particularly terrible to work with. It’s more like I’ve never had responsible partners, and I’m a little too petty to be friends after they make me do most of the work. I swear I’m not bossy or a control freak, I just actually give a shit about the class, and it’s frustrating when people don’t even care. I just can’t take them seriously.”
His face falls behind his oversized frames like he’s said enough to offend Jaehyun before they even start. “I’m not trying to imply that you don’t care. Sorry.”
Jaehyun doesn’t mind that. It stings a little that Doyoung implied he didn’t want to be friends, but the guy probably has trust issues, so he shouldn’t take it too personally. It’s their first time talking ever, after all.
“Look, man, I get it, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m not a super motivated student, but I care enough about classes. And about not upsetting other people. I don’t know if I’m smart enough to be a good project partner, but I can at least be responsible.” Jaehyun tries to make eye contact to show Doyoung that he’s serious, but it’s hard because he’s nervous himself. He’s not confident that he’s good enough for Doyoung.
“Thanks,” Doyoung’s shoulders slump a little. “I appreciate it, Jaehyun. So—”
Jaehyun’s phone buzzes. A calendar reminder pops up on the screen, rescuing him from continuing the conversation. “Oh shit. I actually have to run. I have a lab in like, fifteen minutes, and it’s all the way across campus. Sorry.” Jaehyun begins to pack up his bag. He didn’t realize they had been talking past the class time. The room has mostly emptied out by now.
“No worries, let’s talk more later,” Doyoung puts his laptop away. “Are you going to have enough time to get lunch, though?”
“I just don’t have lunch,” Jaehyun swings his backpack onto one shoulder and stands up to leave, but pauses when he sees the frown on Doyoung’s face. It’s kind of sweet of him to be concerned. College students aren’t exactly known to have the healthiest lifestyles, after all.
“I eat a lot for breakfast, and I have snacks with me. And coffee,” Jaehyun explains, raising his paper cup.
“Okay,” the frown smooths out a little. “I’ll see you later, Jaehyun.”
From [email protected]: optimization group meeting
Hi Jaehyun,
Here’s the when2meet link, fill it out when you get a chance.
I hope I didn’t give you the wrong impression when we talked after class. I’m looking forward to working with you, honestly. To prove it, can I have your instagram? Mine is @/dozenyogurt.
Thanks,
Doyoung
From [email protected]: Re: optimization group meeting
sorry I was in class all day, just filled it out! sent you a follow request. if you end up hating me by the end, you can always block me, but I hope it doesn’t come to that. :) - Jae