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When a picture of Choi Seungcheol, the renowned rugby team captain, was posted on the university website by one of his fangirls, nothing too big happened.
But when a student replied with a closeup of the redhead's left wrist, arrows pointing at a light pink hairtie, the post blew up. The rumor that the beloved athlete was dating a girl spread like wildfire. And of course, the only one unaware of it was the boy in question.
Seungcheol wasn't a big fan of social medias in general, and never really kept up with things happening on campus if it didn't concern his classes or team. So if his team members, especially their hooker Mingyu and one of the flankers Wonwoo, were perfectly aware of the situation, their captain remained oblivious.
While it was a surprise to no one that Mingyu loved gossip -he was best friends with the social butterfly Boo Seungkwan after all-, Wonwoo being so invested in whatever rumors he could get his hands on often took people aback at first. Wonwoo knew everything that happened on campus. And other students had the tendency to forget he was part of the student council, which had resulted in quite a few bans and disciplinary actions taken.
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When Jeonghan first heard about the dating rumor, it was from the mouth of his beloved junior Seungkwan, the one he believed would be the future drama club president.
"Jeonghannie hyung have you seen the news? Apparently Choi Seungcheol is dating a girl! And people are-"
Tucking his long hair behind his ear, the blonde scoffed and rolled his eyes. The drama club members all assumed it was simply their president being petty again and showing his distate towards athletes.
"I've heard enough, thanks Kwannie.
- But hyung, I didnʼt tell you the list of potential girlfrie-
- I don't care about who that guy dates Kwan-ah. Now back to your activities everyone !"
When the younger members finally focused back on the script of their next play, Jisoo, Jeonghan's bestfriend, sent a wink his way. The older simply replied by sticking out his tongue.
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A week passed and the rumor died down. Seungcheol was never seen with that hairtie again. People concluded it might have been a friend or a classmate who had forgotten it and the rugbyman was simply returning it.
That same week, the self-proclaimed gossip king, aka Jeon Wonwoo, heard about the drama club president getting a new haircut.
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The second dating rumor started a month later. Some fans noticed, during a friendly match hosted by their university, that the centre was sporting what looked like a hickey on his shoulder. It was barely visible, mostly covered by his shirt, but the purplish mark still made quite some noise. Once again, Choi Seungcheol was the center of attention and once again, he knew nothing about it.
Until their youngest teammate, an enthusiastic first year named Chan, brought it up out of pure curiosity a few days later, in the locker room after practice.
"Say cap' are ya dating anyone?
- Huh?"
If the confused face the older made was comical enough, the youngest being so bold and forward was just the cherry on top. Wonwoo couldn't help but snort, which warranted him a dirty look and an elbow in the stomach by his boyfriend Jihoon.
"I said, are you dating someone?
- Why do you ask?
- What do you mean why? Don't you know ab-
- Cap' when was the last time you checked the school's website?
- Like 3 months ago probably. Why do you ask Gyu? What's with all of you and your weird questions?"
It was Mingyu's turn to laugh, confusing the redhead even more. After a few seconds of processing, realisation hit and Chan followed suit. The captain looked over at the rest of his team, hoping for some sort of explanation. It was their fly-half Junhui that provided him with an answer.
"People think you're dating a girl because you had a pink hairtie on your wrist last month, and a lovebite on your shoulder this week.
- Ah, really? Well, that's just a rumor, I don't have a girlfriend."
The collective disappointment of his team didn't go unnoticed by the centre.
"Oh come on guys, you have better things to do than pry into my love life.
- But Captain, who was the hickey from then?"
The rest of the team turned to the left winger, Hansol. They were so used to him zoning out or listening to music that they often forgot the boy was actually paying attention sometimes. And didn't hesitate to say the wildest stuff out of nowhere.
The centre closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath, biting his lower lip in an attempt not to laugh -or cry, at this point no one would have been surprised-. His teammates' eyes were once again all fixated on him, eagerly waiting for his answer. Seungcheol sighed before looking at the winger.
"That's a bruise, Hansol. From practice. Give it up boys, my life isn't a drama."
Once again, the entire team made disappointed faces. Except for Jihoon, who honestly couldn't care less as he knew everything about the eldest. They were childhood bestfriends after all.
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The second rumor didn't die down as quickly. Instead, it got even worse when Seungcheol was seen hanging out with the cheerleading team captain outside of uni, on a Saturday afternoon.
She was one of the prettiest girls on campus and loved pastel colors, so many students thought about her while on the hunt for more information concerning the mysterious girlfriend. According to many, she was the "most suitable candidate".
This time, the redhead had heard about it almost immediately. Jihoon had showed him the picture of them walking side by side on the street, barely containing his giggles when Wonwoo all but begged for more information.
If Wonwoo was the biggest tattletale ever, the scrum-half knew how to keep secrets, even when his man ridiculed himself by dropping on his knees, dying to know more about their captain's love life.
That day after practice, an annoyed Seungcheol logged into the university website for the first time in months, and wrote a post asking people to stop spreading misinformation about him and his cousin.
The discomfited look on the flanker's face upon reading the post made his boyfriend's day.
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Jeonghan sighed. Seungkwan had finally stopped yapping about Choi Seungcheol after the latter's post and the older couldn't be happier about it. What made him sigh however was the imminent play his club had been rehearsing for weeks.
The decors weren't done, some costumes still needed adjustments and the representation was only in a few days.
"All that stress is going to make me turn grey...
- Stop being an overreacting bitch and come help me fix the clouds, Han.
- You don't understand Jisoo, life is so hard on poor little me !"
Dramatically putting his hand against his forehead, Jeonghan sighed once again.
"Great acting hyung!
- Oh thanks Soonie!"
Soonyoung beamed at the blonde before coming to rescue the poor vice-president, who was on the verge of falling over with the big prop clouds in his arms.
"At least someone here is being helpful.
- Shut up, I know where you live Hong Jisoo.
- Yeah yeah, whatever.."
The oldest let out a final dramatic sigh, bowing when Seokmin applauded from the other side of the room, before dropping his antics and helping out at last.
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Tonight was the night. Well at least that's what the drama club president kept saying during the entire rehearsal, preparations, all the way until the very second before the representation started.
Everything went perfectly. No one tripped nor stumbled on their words, the decors were all in place and every costume looked exactly like what Jeonghan had wanted them to.
Seokmin, who had been stressing out over getting the main role, didn't even flinch when a series of enthusiastic 'oooh' and mocking whistles erupted during the final kiss scene. At most, a slight blush appeared on his cheeks.
After the play ended and everyone had already returned home, Jeonghan was still in costume, humming contently while he removed his makeup.
When a muscular arm circled his waist, pulling him against a large torso, and the familiar smell of cologne invaded his nose, the blonde didn't react much. He instead leaned into the touch, eager to feel more of the comforting warmth on his tired body.
"Hi baby..
- Hey...
- You did great today.. You're really the most talented actor I know."
The last sentence, combined with a kiss to his temple, made Jeonghan giggle.
"I didn't even have a main role!
- You didn't? That's impossible, you were the only one I saw sparkling on that stage.
- That's because you're a simp though.
- Only for you.
- Cornyyy..."
The actor felt more than he heard the quiet giggle his man let out. The urge to kiss that very same person was too great to resist, even if melting in his arms from the warmth sounded like a very tempting offer. So Jeonghan did just that. He turned around, brought his hands to his beloved's face and locked their lips together.
The sound of a camera going off and rushed footsteps in the hall made the both of them freeze for an instant, quickly pulling off of each other.
"Well, shit."
Jeonghan giggled, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's neck while the other whined.
"And here I thought we've been discreet all these years, I can't believe we got caught!
- Don't tease..."
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The next day, Seungkwan fell out of his chair out of surprise, in the middle of class. Quickly apologising, cheeks red out of embarrassment, he then turned to the hooker sitting right next to him and watching his friend curiously. Seungkwan ducked his head, whispering for Mingyu to do the same.
"What is it?
- It's.. It's... Oh my god, I thought he hated him!
- Dude what the fuck are you talking about?!
- Boo Seungkwan, Kim Mingyu, if my class is not to your taste, you can collect your belongings and leave. The door is open."
The teacher's voice right behind them made both of them flinch, before Seungkwan turned red once again and Mingyu promptly apologised.
As soon as the two got out of class, they saw dozens of other students in the corridors, looking at their phones as if the devices suddenly came to life. Mingyu was now even more impatient to hear the news, as his phone died last period and Seungkwan had promised the rugbyman to show him the news.
It's only when the two were outside that the taller couldn't wait any longer, begging his bestfriend to just tell him what was going on. The younger opened the university's website and shoved his phone in front of the hooker, who squealed like an highschool girl at a One Direction concert.
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Seungcheol had always prided himself on being very private. Until today that is.
Everywhere on social medias, should it be the uni site or their official Twitter and Instagram accounts, was a picture of Yoon Jeonghan, the pretty drama club president whose angelic face made many girls jealous and was known to strongly dislike athletes, in the arms of none other than Choi Seungcheol, the popular rugby team captain with bright red hair and a body that made more than one salivate. The two men were sharing a tender kiss, Seungcheol smiling into it.
Throughout the day, the thousands of questions students from every department were asking him left and right gave the redhead the biggest headache of his life. Oh how much he regretted not closing that damn door behind him.
But when a blonde angel welcomed him with a warm smile and a kiss on the cheek after he'd just gotten out of the locker room, the rugbyman told himself that maybe -just maybe- it wasn't that bad.