Chapter Text
“Gyeomdoong?” a gentle voiced roused him from his thoughts, pulling him back to the real world. He blinked slowly, before realizing with a start that everyone’s eyes were on him. He cringed, attempting to shy away from the attention, but was stopped by a small hand squeezing his own.
“Hey there,” Nayeon smiled sweetly as she continued to speak, her thumb caressing his knuckles. “You okay? You’ve been quiet ever since Jinyoung-oppa and I picked you up from school.”
His older brother nodded from where he sat, pressed between his girlfriend and one of his best friends, Mark; his other best friend, Jackson, was curled up against Mark’s body and stealing bites of his ice cream.
“What’s going on, man?” Jinyoung asked as he slipped his arm off of Nayeon’s shoulders and stood up, joining his younger brother on the other side of the table. “C’mon, talk to your hyungs…and noona,” he added quickly, glancing at Nayeon with a smile, before returning his attention to Yugyeom. Jinyoung began to rub his back, just as he did when they were little and he’d cry over the mean things people would say about him, and about his family.
He sighed, leaning into his brother’s touch as he wondered where to begin.
“Well, this morning…”
“Class, may I have your attention please?”
Yugyeom spared his teacher a brief glance, before going back to his doodling. A few moments passed, before he did a double take, his eyes widening as he swore under his breath. The pencil he had been holding slipped from his grasp and fell onto his desk with a small tap.
His teacher continued her speech, something about “sister schools” and “building new friendships”, but it all sounded like gibberish to him; instead, he focused his attention on the beautiful stranger standing next to their teacher, taking in the short, vibrant red hair, sharp angles along tanned skin, lips that begged to be kissed, and holy shit, those legs…
He jumped when the beautiful stranger began to laugh, the sound drawing him in like a moth to a flame. “It’s pronounced Kunpimook Bhuwakul,” he informed the teacher, who gave him a strained look in response. “But please,” he addressed the class, smiling brightly, “Call me Bambam. It’s nice to meet you all!”
Bambam.
Yugyeom gulped, his heart pounding.
“Awe,” Jackson cooed as he finished his story, ignoring Yugyeom’s glare and Jinyoung’s patented eye roll. “Gyeomdoong has his first gay crush! Remember those days, sweetheart?” he giggled as he questioned Mark, who responded with a kiss to Jackson’s nose.
“Anyways!” Jinyoung raised his voice, his hand still stroking Yugyeom’s back. “It’s totally normal to have a gay crush at some point, Gyeomdoong. And you know,” he paused, giving his brother an amused look, “The only reason you and I are brothers is because appa had a gay crush, and he fell in love with daddy.”
He couldn’t help but giggle at that, nodding his head in agreement. “What should I do, then?” he asked, resting his cheek against his brother’s shoulder. “Should I ask him out, see if it means something?”
“Start small,” Nayeon spoke up, giving his hand one last squeeze before letting it go, “Befriend the boy, then see what happens.”
Sadly, nothing happens; and not for lack of effort on Yugyeom’s part, but every time he approached the beautiful boy, he’d begin stuttering and blushing like a fool. Bambam would look at him curiously, but before he could question the other, Yugyeom would run away, nearly tripping over himself in his haste.
It was pathetic, to say the least.
“At least there’s no school tomorrow,” he finished lamenting to his brother, his ears perking when Nayeon’s giggle echoed over the phone. “Wait, am I on speaker?”
“Of course not, Gyeomdoong,” Mark replied dryly, prompting Yugyeom to curse and hang up the call.
“Jerks,” he sighed, pulling up a game of candy crush as he waited for the bus. While he played, he felt someone sitting beside him on the small bench, but paid them no mind; that is, until he heard a familiar accent say, “Oh, I love that game!”
He jumped, nearly dropping his phone as he looked over at Bambam. Oh no, he thought to himself, as his heart began to pound and his cheeks grew hot, while his palms became clammy.
“Yugyeom, right?” Bambam asked, smiling gorgeously. He waited a moment for Yugyeom to respond, before continuing on, “So, word on the street is you’re a pretty good dancer. I don’t want to sound boastful, but,” he paused, grinning devilishly as he stood up, “I’m pretty good myself. Check it out!” he then began to sing, his voice cracking as he thrusted his hips up and down.
Yugyeom immediately burst into laughter, watching the boy as he switched to another dance, bending over and wiggling his butt with a grin. “Oh god, no more!” he began to hyperventilate, choking as he held up his hands in defeat. “I surrender!”
Bambam straightened up, gasping dramatically as his mouth dropped open. “How rude!” he shouted, feigning anger as he sat down with a huff, his arms crossed over his chest.
“I’m sorry,” Yugyeom apologized in between quiet giggles, his breathing slowly returning to normal. “You dance really well, actually,” he admitted softly, scooting closer to the boy.
“Oh, I know,” Bambam replied casually, winking when Yugyeom gave him a confused look. “I figured if I made a fool of myself, then you wouldn’t feel so shy around me. Did it work?”
Yugyeom blushed as Bambam cuddled closer to him, smiling shyly at the boy, “Yeah, it did. Thanks, Bambam.”
Bambam shrugged, resting his cheek on Yugyeom’s shoulder, “You seem cool, Gyeommie. We should hang out soon, okay?”
Yugyeom nodded, his heart still pounding in his chest.
“Yeah, I’d like that.”