Archive of Our Own

Eight A.M. He’s walking through the hallway as if he owns it. As always. His friends trail behind like puppies, laughing—no, giggling like little girls. Pathetic.

Ten A.M. He’s scrolling on his phone with his headphones on, unaware of people passing by, or even the people he calls ‘friends’. He makes no attempt to participate nor pretend he’s even at least a little bit interested in whatever it is they’re saying. He is straight up ignoring the world, stuck in his own stupid bubble, and too full of himself to even care. Infuriating.

Twelve P.M. Lunch time. He’s not at the cafeteria. Probably too busy playing ball or shamelessly making out with a random girl in a bathroom—one he might’ve already shoved his tongue into but doesn’t remember. Disgusting.

Two P.M. He doesn’t rush out of the classroom as usual. No. After telling his friends he’ll catch up, he lingers around his desk for a moment, fidgeting with the exam paper the teacher just gave back to the class. Then he heads here. Here. Right here, in front of him. Shit.

Sung Hanbin is the captain of the basketball team. Loved by everyone. All the girls dream to be the one to get in his heart or in his bed—an easier task. When he’s not on the court, he’s partying and sleeping around. The only thing he cares about is himself. Anyway, your typical jock.

There’s always been something about that guy that Hao never liked—hated. For some reason, the mere sight of him makes Hao want to smash his pretty face into a wall.

Anyone who knows about this hatred would think that Hanbin had done something for Hao to hate him this much—there had to be something no one was aware of. But no. Hanbin had never done anything bad to Hao. Hao just couldn’t stand him. We all have that one person that just annoy the shit out of us just by existing—for Hao, it’s Hanbin. And it had been that way since the first time he saw him.

Or not exactly since the first time. To be fair, Hao didn’t hate Hanbin right away.

Hao had met Hanbin for the first time when he was 15, on his first day of high school. Being too nervous and worried, and too busy chatting with his friends about their vacations, Hao had not taken the time to socialize with anyone that day—especially not with the handsome guy with a bright smile who seemed to be too easily interacting with literally everyone. That was the first time he ever saw Sung Hanbin.

During the next week, as he gradually got used to the new environment and high school, Hao started to talk to some of his classmates, but Hanbin was still not in that list. He was too intimidated by the other and didn’t feel the need to talk to him anyways.

As the weeks went by, his interactions with Hanbin were still nonexistent, except for the occasional smiles Hanbin offered him when their eyes met. Hao appreciated those smiles at first, but soon enough he started to despise them. They just became annoying. Don’t ask him why or how, but the more weeks passed, the more Hao hated Hanbin.

The handsome and smiley guy Hao thought he saw on his first day quickly became an irritating, pretentious jock. The way he walked through the hallways as if he owned the place, his brand new clothes, his brand new phone, the way he cackled at his friends’ stupid jokes, the smug look on his face when he played basketball, his lack of will to try to get good grades and the dumb answers he gave whenever a teacher asked him a question that everyone giggled at thinking Hanbin was oh so funny, the way everyone liked him. Everything about Hanbin aggravated Hao.

His friends tried to convince him that Hanbin wasn’t the way he thought, that Hao was wrong about him. Gyuvin was the first to try to persuade him since he was in the basketball team with Hanbin and befriended the enemy. “Hanbin is nice, Hao.” “He’s not like the others.” “I’m sure you’d like him if you knew him.” Bullshit. Hanbin was just a good manipulator and brainwashed them.

Okay, maybe Hao was a little dramatic. But, seriously, he can’t stand him. Just seeing him can turn a great day into a bad day. Nothing anyone could say would make him change his mind. Hao doesn’t like Hanbin, and he never will.

Now they are 17, starting their last year of high school, and Hao still hates Hanbin. And he doesn’t think that will change any time soon. Little does he know his life will take an unexpected turn in just a few weeks.

*

Nine A.M. Hao is sitting at the front, focused on whatever the teacher is saying. Actually, looking closer, he can see Hao is dozing off on his desk, struggling to keep his eyes open. Kinda cute.

Eleven A.M. Hao is leaning on Taerae’s shoulder, listening to his friends’ conversation. When Jiwoong says something funny, Hao’s eyes disappear, and a smile makes his way onto his face. After a few minutes, Hao closes his eyes. Sweet.

One P.M. Hao walks into the classroom with Gyuvin clinging to his side. When Gyuvin sees him, he stops to greet him. Hao doesn’t. He doesn’t look at him, let alone acknowledge him. Hao sits down at his desk, doodling before the start of the class. Whatever.

Two P.M. He looks over at Hao, then at his exam paper. He hesitates. Hao glances at him furtively while putting his stuff away. Hanbin walks over to him. Here goes nothing.  

Zhang Hao is different from him. People call him a “nerd”. He’s a straight-A student—always at the top of his class. Being smart, getting good grades, and studying are what he knows best. But if you take time to really observe Hao, you’ll notice that he’s not just a “nerd”. He’s much more than that. Hao is someone who works hard to get what he wants. That’s admirable.

Hanbin never hated Zhang Hao. It is true that only a few months ago, he wasn’t very fond of him. But can anyone blame him? Hao has always been very clear with the fact that he wanted nothing to do with him. So why would Hanbin like him? Right. Why would he like Zhang Hao?

You see, when Hanbin had seen Hao for the first time, he had thought that the two of them could get along. He can even admit that the boy had caught his eye as soon as he saw him. Hanbin would have loved to get to know him, but apparently Hao didn’t.

He gathered his courage, and tried to approach the other at the beginning, but he never managed to actually do it. Contrary to belief, Hanbin can be a little shy sometimes—particularly with pretty boys. He tried other ways to show his interest—such as throwing smiles his way when he caught Hao’s eyes—but none of them succeeded.

He ended up abandoning his plan of talking to Hao as he didn’t seem interested in him at all. As time passed, Hanbin could see the change in the way Hao looked at him. If his eyes showed indifference, curiosity—maybe even a hint of interest—at first, they soon shifted to annoyance, and hatred. And Hanbin was completely unaware of the reason of this shift. What did he do to him?

Naturally, Hanbin started “despising” Hao too. The boy hated him for no reason, and spent his time talking shit about him. How could he not hate him too? To be honest, hate is a strong word, Hanbin can’t say that he hates him. He’s always been amused by Hao because of how much he hated him, and enjoyed teasing him back.

Everyone at school knows about their hatred for each other. They are known as enemies, and Hanbin never really understood how it came to this. But whatever. It’s fun.

Every time their eyes meet, Hao throws him a death glare, rolls his eyes whenever Hanbin talks, walks away any time he gets too close. If they do end up having to interact, Hao makes sure to talk to him as less as he can, and when he does speak, his words are sharp. Hanbin learned to do exactly the same. Hao teases him, he teases back.

It’s like they’re constantly competing. For what, Hanbin isn’t sure. They’re not academic rivals—Hanbin has never gotten a single A in his life. They’re not competing for the best basketball player title either—Hao can’t shoot a hoop to save his life.

Whatever it is, it’s always been like this. And he liked it. Until a few months ago.

Hanbin made the worst mistake of his life: he stopped hating Hao. Without knowing when, how or why he developed a crush.  Did he ever actually hate him?

If you’d told him a few months ago that he would change his mind on Hao, he would have laughed at your face. Hao is the guy he hates, his enemy. That’s all he ever was. All he was supposed to be.

Hanbin thought he was going crazy when he started seeing Hao in another light. He thought he was going crazy when he started having a weird feeling in his stomach when he heard Hao’s laugh. He thought he was going crazy when he caught himself smiling at the thought of Hao for no reason. He is definitely crazy.

Who has a crush on their enemy?

The day he realized it, he tried so hard to deny it. He couldn’t believe it was real. For a while, he tried to push this feeling away, but he couldn’t—no matter how hard he tried. It had taken him a long time to accept the crush he had on Hao, because, again, who has a crush on their enemy? Well, Sung Hanbin does.

And he hates it. Having a crush on a guy who dedicates his life to hating you is the stupidest thing he’s ever done. That’s why he never let this crush take over him. Sung Hanbin hates Zhang Hao—at least that’s how it’s supposed to be.

When Hanbin stands in front of him, Zhang Hao pretends not to notice—as if they aren’t the only two people in the room—and tries to brush past him, clearly annoyed by Hanbin’s presence. As expected.

But Hanbin isn’t going to back down so soon. He steps in front of Hao, blocking the door to prevent him from leaving. The boy rolls his eyes and heaves a sigh. He opens his mouth to speak, and Hanbin can already guess it’ll be something like “fuck you,” “jerk,” or “asshole”—maybe all three.

He throws his hands in the air like he’s surrendering, and interrupts him before he can get a word out. “I come here in peace.”

Hao stares blankly at him in exasperation. “What do you want?”

Hanbin doesn’t want anything. In fact, he just wanted an excuse to approach him. “Tutor me,” he demands. Okay, this is crazy. He doesn’t know what came over him. But this may be his chance to get close to him, and conquer his heart—not that it’s his priority, but he’s not against it.

Hao frowns. A second later, much to Hanbin’s surprise, he throws his head back in laughter. Not a genuine laugh—nothing close to happiness—but a mocking one. “What?”

He waits for Hanbin to laugh or tell him that he’s joking, but it never comes. “You’re kidding, right?” Hao asks.

Instead of an answer, Hanbin lifts his exam paper to reveal the lowest grade anyone can get. Hao is genuinely shocked that someone can do so badly on an exam. “What did you get?” Hanbin asks, obviously already aware of the answer.

“Perfect grade,” Hao states proudly, holding his head high and his chest rising. He loves being better than Hanbin—it reminds him that the guy isn’t as perfect as everyone thinks.

Hanbin hates the proud grin on Hao’s face. He’s constantly showing off his grades as if he’s the best—he is, but that’s not the point. It annoys him to see Hao taking so much pleasure in mocking him.

“Look, I know you hate me.” Hao nods like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Hanbin can’t help but laugh a little. “As you can see, I suck in this subject, but you obviously don’t. So help me,” he asks desperately. He might have tried to use puppy eyes to convince Hao, but that stays between him and himself. “Please.”

As expected, Hao doesn’t care. “Ask someone else.”

“No.”

Hao chuckles. “No?”

“I want you.” Yeah, probably not the best way to put it. It sounds like a confession. He cringes. “I mean, I really need to pass this subject, and you’re the best, so I want you to help me. Not someone else,” he corrects himself. He can’t believe he just said Hao is the best. Ugh. Hao is never going to let him forget that.

He wants to wipe that satisfied smirk off Hao’s face. He’s enjoying this way too much. And Hanbin is starting to regret talking to him in the first place. Before this conversation, Hanbin was just a jerk in Hao’s eyes. Now, Hanbin is a pathetic and desperate jerk who almost begged on his knees to get the “best tutor” out there.

Hanbin clears his throat. “So?”

Hao offers him a painfully fake smile before he coldly says, “No.” Then, he tries to push Hanbin away from the door to leave, only to be stopped by a strong arm. None other than Hanbin’s.

Hao’s hard gaze locks onto Hanbin. “Leave me alone,” he tells him, his tone almost challenging.

“I won’t hurt you, princess,” Hanbin chuckles. “I just want you to help me. That’s it.”

“I don’t want to help you.” Hao frees himself from Hanbin’s grip, and Hanbin lets him walk past him to open the door. With his hand on the doorknob, he turns around and looks at him one last time. “As a matter of fact, I don’t want anything to do with you.”

Hao’s words always stab like a knife. Hanbin used to be indifferent to them, but since he realized what he felt for Hao, it hurts. Especially because he doesn’t understand why Hao despises him that much. What the hell did he do to him? What can he do to change that? Can he even change that?

Gyuvin shakes his friend’s body while pouting and making use of his secret weapon—the puppy eyes that no one can say no to. “Hyung, please. Come with us to the party. It’ll be fun!” he whines.

“Yeah, you should come. Hanbin will be there too.” Taerae adds with a playful grin, suddenly in a mischievous mood.

Hao’s face distorts into disgust. “One more reason not to go.” He closes his locker—a little harshly—and starts walking to the cafeteria, his friends following behind.

Gyuvin sighs. “What’s your deal with him? Seriously, I still don’t get it. He’s nice—“

“Yeah you’ve said that about a hundred times already,” Hao interrupts, not sparing a glance at his friend. He loves Gyuvin. They’ve been friends for ages, but since he befriended Hanbin back in their first year, he’s been so obsessed with him—as if he’s one of his fangirls. And Hao finds it slightly annoying. What’s so great about Hanbin anyway?

“Why are you so set on hating him?” Gyuvin asks.

Hao shrugs. “I just don’t like him.”

“Wow! Improvement. You usually say you hate him,” Taerae says, chiming in.

Hao spins his head to look at his friend. “I do,” he insists.

“Whatever.” Gyuvin excitedly throws an arm around Hao’s shoulder. “You’re coming with us tonight, right?”

“I have to study for the chemistry exam,” Hao replies. That’s just an excuse. He doesn’t want to go because he planned to binge watch his favorite show tonight.

“It’s on Monday. Please, hyung, you can study after the party,” Gyuvin pleads.

Hao ignores him until they sit at a table in the cafeteria. There, Gyuvin resumes his pleading. “Please, just this once. It’s been a while since the last time we went to a party together.”

“It was only last month,” Taerae points out. Gyuvin elbows him while Hao chuckles at their idiocy.

Gyuvin glares at his friend, “Not the point.” He puts his elbows on the table and interlocks his fingers before he looks at Hao with a serious face—as serious as Kim Gyuvin can be. “I just want to party with my bestest friend in the whole world.”

Taerae puts a hand on his chest dramatically, and pretends to be hurt. “I thought that was me.”

Hao laughs. “Okay, I’ll go—“ He sees the excitement in Gyuvin’s eyes. Before he can say anything, he says “—if you promise not to leave me alone there.” His friend has the habit of sneaking off to flirt with whatever boy or girl catches his eye first at a party, always forgetting about the friends he came with. Hao doesn’t blame him, though. He’s glad if Gyuvin is having fun. He just wishes he’d stay with him more.

Gyuvin nods repeatedly with a happy grin on his face, and walks around the table to throw himself into Hao’s arms. He would’ve fallen over if his friend didn’t steady him. “Yayyyy—“ Gyuvin exclaims a bit too loudly. Hao puts a hand over his mouth and looks down in embarrassment with an amused smile. Why is he friend with a puppy?

The door opens, and the three friends walk in. Loud music is blasting through the room, a crowd of sweaty bodies is dancing around messily, people are making out without a care in the world, Sung Hanbin is standing by the bar, closely laughing with a pretty girl: Classic party.

Wait. Sung Hanbin is here. Ugh. Hao stops in his track at the sight of the other. He knew he would be there, but seeing him always ruins his mood. He’s especially annoyed by the way Hanbin leans close to the girl’s ear to whisper something in a flirtatious manner. Hanbin looks like a predator hovering over his prey.

Hanbin’s gaze finds his, and Hao quickly averts his eyes. He didn’t notice that he’s been staring all this time. And now his friends are gone. Great. Just what he needed. So much for asking Gyuvin to stay with him.

He finds his people in no time, in the kitchen. Hao walks over to them, and jumps to sit on the counter where the two of them are getting a drink. “Found anyone you like?” he asks Gyuvin, knowing how his friend acts at parties.  

“Ricky likes me,” his friend replies confidently while taking a sip of his drink.

Taerae and Hao exchange a glance, and burst out laughing. “Cocky much?”

“When we arrived, he basically ran to say hi to me,” Gyuvin tells them.

“You’re acting as if you guys are not in the same team,” Hao says, laughing at his friend’s delusion with Taerae.

Gyuvin glances back to make sure no one’s in the room, and in a low voice, he says, “That’s not all. I swear, he’s nicer to me than the others. He smiles at me all the time, waits for me after practice, buys me mango smoothie—how does he know I like it? He asked me to do the pair homework with him, and he looks at me like a cat when he’s confused. He even made a drawing of me!”

Hao chuckles. “It sounds like you like him.” Taerae nods in agreement.

Gyuvin looks speechless for a moment. He carefully sits on a chair, and look at his friends dumbfounded. “Do I?”

Taerae bobs his head, “Sounds like it’s mutual.”

“Holy sh—“ He’s interrupted by someone walking into the room. “Oh, hi, Hanbin hyung!” he exclaims, happy to see his friend. Hanbin greets him back with the same energy. His smile fades a bit when his eyes land on Hao—who clearly isn’t overjoyed to see him.

Before he has time to say a simple, polite Hey, Hao is already storming out of the room, mumbling I’ll be back to his friends. Too used to this, they just sigh at their friend’s behavior. He knows leaving like this is rude, but Hao can’t bear being in the same room as him.

Tonight is going to be a long night for Hao. In the span of only ten minutes, he’s had to see Hanbin twice. Hopefully, this would be the last time. He’ll make sure it is. Mission of the night: avoiding Sung Hanbin like the plague. Hao hates to lose, he intends on completing this mission.

Once again left alone—by his own fault—he decides to sit on an empty couch, looking pathetic with a drink in hand as he mindlessly looks over all the bodies mingling on the dance floor. At least, that’s what it looks like from someone else’s point of view. From Hao’s perspective, he’s just pathetic—but he’s not looking at anything. He doesn’t even notice Hanbin resurfacing from the kitchen with two drinks in hand—that’s what he’d say if someone asked.

Minutes passes as Hao swallows the alcohol in his hand without a second thought. Not being good at holding his liquor, the effect are quickly felt. The ache in his head makes him close his eyes, leaning his head against the back of the couch.

After a while, he opens his eyes to see Taerae taking a seat next to him. He says something, but Hao isn’t really listening. He closes his eyes again, the loud music ironically soothing him to sleep.

Hao feels a weight on his shoulder—like someone’s hand. He opens his eyes in a hurry, startled by the unexpected touch. A drink is handed to him from behind. He turns around, and to his delight, Hanbin’s head is resting against the back of the couch. The stupid grin on his face, and the look in his eyes makes Hao want to puke. Ugh.

He spins around, sending a SOS signal to his friend. Unfortunately for him, Taerae is too preoccupied with the game he’s playing on his phone to care. Yeah, his friend is a loser who plays games at a party.

Hao looks straight ahead, trying to ignore the boy sitting next to him who props his head up with an elbow on the back of the couch, turning to look at him. If he didn’t know better, he’d think Hanbin was flirting with him.

“Leave me alone,” Hao hisses, crossing his arms.

Hanbin, as persistent as ever, tries to hand him the drink again. “Take it,” he says, gesturing to the cup in his hand. “It’s for you.”

Hao resists the urge to laugh at Hanbin’s nonsense. This guy being nice to him creeps him out. What’s going on with him recently? First, the tutor-me thing, and now this this-is-for-you drink. He must have lost it. Or it’s part of some diabolical plan to ruin Hao’s life.

“No, thanks. I don’t accept drinks from strangers,” Hao bites, still avoiding Hanbin’s eyes. Hanbin insists, holding the drink out to him. “You could have spiked it for all I know,” he adds sharply, pushing the drink away.

From the corner of his eye, he notices Hanbin leaning closer to him. “Am I really a stranger?” He pouts, pretending to be hurt.

“I don’t know you. So, yes, you are,” Hao states, finally turning to look at Hanbin. Wrong timing.

At the same moment, Hanbin shift closer to him. Hao freezes, and bites his lip when he feels Hanbin’s breath on the side of his neck. “That’s because you don’t try to know me,” he whispers in his ear. Hao rolls his eyes. What’s his deal?

He offers the drink to Hao—for the third time. “Just take it,” he says, smiling at Hao. The boy doesn’t take it. He simply stares at it, then at Hanbin, pleading him to leave with his eyes. Hanbin sighs at Hao’s stubbornness. “I’m just trying to be nice, man,” he admits.

“Don’t. It creeps me out,” Hao says, crinkling his nose in disgust.

At last, Hanbin gets up to leave. He makes sure to leave the drink on the table in front of Hao before walking away. Hao is free. He thought Hanbin would never leave.

After this weird interaction with Hanbin, Hao decides to walk around to stretch his legs. People are still out there shaking their butts—don’t they ever get tired?—and more drunk than before. Passing by the kitchen to get some water, a couple is making out by the sink. On his way to the bathroom, two girls are shoving their tongues in each other’s mouth, a girl is giving a blowjob to a guy who apparently didn’t think of closing the door of the room, and another guy is throwing his guts out on the carpet. Ew.

After this little getaway, he heads back to the couch he spent the night with. Fuck his life. People stole his spot. Whatever. Hanbin already ruined it for him anyway.

To top it all off, his friends are missing. He didn’t run into any of them during his walk, and has no idea where they are. He suspects Gyuvin to be making out with someone—hopefully Ricky—as usual. As for Taerae, he’s clueless. His friend could be anywhere, and nowhere. He could be playing games, getting a drink, or getting lost in a conversation with a friend Hao doesn’t know. He shrugs. They’ll find their way back eventually.

Hao sits on a bench outside, breathing in the fresh air. It cools down the ache in his head. Stars are filling the late night sky, forming magnificent constellations.

His eyes search for the Gemini constellation—his favorite. Hao’s not particularly interested in astronomy, and doesn’t know much about it. He took a liking for this one simply because he finds it beautiful. Two figures holding hands in the vast sky. How nice. Maybe he likes it only because he wishes he had someone to hold his hand the same way when the world feels too big. Anyone.

Well, maybe not anyone. Definitely not the wasted guy hitting on him who just disrupted his moment of peace. Just what he likes.  

“How are you doing, baby?” he asks in a shaky voice. Hao can feel his alcoholic breath as he speaks, making him flinch.

He turns to face him, and gives him a fake smile, showing his annoyance. “I’d be much better without you here,” he spits.

Visibly not taking the hint, the guy moves closer, and tries to wrap his arm around him. He’s too close. Hao pulls away from his touch, and wiggles in an attempt to get away from him. He struggles as the man doesn’t let him go. The man laughs. He laughs?

Hao tries to push him away with his arms, in vain. The guy is too strong and keeps insisting, pulling Hao closer by the second. “Let me go!” Hao yells.

“Calm down, baby,” the boy says, with a pervert smirk that Hao wants to slap away.

“Stop!” Hao hits him in the chest, as hard as he can. The guy lets go. He glares at him with an offended look in his eyes. As if Hao is the one in the wrong. Bruh. What’s fucking wrong with this guy?

Hao thinks the guy is going to leave when he sees him shift, but he puts an arm around his shoulder. “No need to get heated, kitten. We’re just having fun.” Hao wants to scream.

Before he can, the boy removes his arm—not exatcly. Hanbin removes the guy’s arm, standing behind him. Him, again. Is Hanbin hovering around him or what? Right now, he’s not mad about it.

Hanbin glares at the drunk boy next to Hao, silently threatening him to leave with his eyes. Hao takes note that he has never seen him so mad before.

“Chill, man,” the guy tells Hanbin, pissed off that he interrupted them. Hanbin says nothing, and waits until the guy leaves to walk away. Not before asking Hao if he’s okay, though.

Hao lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, watching him leave. He silently thanks Hanbin. But, don’t get him wrong, he still hates him. He’d have been thankful to anyone who’d have helped him. Why Hanbin helped him is a mystery, though.

Hao fucking hates this party. His friends have deserted, a stupid-drunk-out-of-his-ass guy literally threw himself on him, and he encountered Hanbin not once, but twice. He sighs in despair.

Eventually, his mind wanders to studying. He can’t even enjoy a party without worrying about his next exam. Every single teenager normally constituted would get up and shake their ass, make out, or drink until oblivion. Hao doesn’t. Sue him. He has a reputation to uphold. That’s how he ends up reciting in his head all he has learned for his chemistry exam next Monday.

Anyone looking at him must think he’s a freak because of the way he smiles in satisfaction when he remembers all the formulas. Except one. His smile drops, and he groans. He desperately tries to remember it, but the damn formula disappeared from his mind. And he can’t retrieve it for some reason. It always frustrates him when that happens.

“C₆H₁₂O₆,” a voice tells him.

Hao lifts his head in confusion, and his brain goes ???. He’s even more confused when he spots Hanbin—again. This guy is everywhere. Everywhere Hao is. And Hao is tired of seeing his face. He didn’t even notice him coming.

“Huh?”

Hanbin chuckles. When he does, whiskers appear on his face. “C₆H₁₂O₆. That’s the glucose formula,” he clarifies. Hao didn’t realize he was thinking out loud. How much more of a loser could he get?

“I know that,” Hao replies with disdain, rolling his eyes. Who is Hanbin to teach him anything? He’s the same guy who begged on his knees to be tutored by him.

“You do know parties are made to have fun, not study chemistry, right?” Hanbin jokes, taking a sip from the drink he’s holding.

“Yeah. You clearly know how to have fun,” Hao says in an accusing tone.

Hanbin frowns. “What do you mean?” He drinks again.

Hao nods toward the cup in his hand, and says, “You keep drinking, the girl. That’s how you have fun at parties.”

Hanbin’s head fall back, and he burst out laughing, almost spilling his drink. “The drink is water,” he explains once he manages to catch his breath. He hands it over to Hao to let him smell it, but Hao moves his hand away. “And the girl—“ he giggles, holding his stomach.

“What’s so funny?” Hao deadpans.

“You mean the girl at the bar? Are you jealous?” Hanbin raises an eyebrow, and smirks. As if.

“Yes—no.” Hao sighs. “I mean, yes, the girl at the bar. And no, I’m not jealous,” he stammers out. Ugh. He can’t believe he just stuttered in front of Hanbin. His usual nonchalant stance was thrown out of the window in a second. He clears his throat.

“She’s my cousin,” Hanbin tells him, still laughing.

“Oh.” Hao feels a strange pang of relief.

He blushes and cover his face with his hands in embarrassment. Confusing his cousin with a random girl Hao thought Hanbin wanted to get freaky with is, to say the less: #embarrassing.

Fortunately for Hao, Hanbin stands up to leave when one of his teammates waves at him. Saved by the bell.

After he’s gone, Hao gets lost in his thoughts for a while, wondering why Hanbin showed up so often during the party. It’s too weird. Hao isn’t used to it. He’s talked to Hanbin more in just a few hours than he has since he knows him.

It seriously disturbs him. Is there a reason for Hanbin to do that? Does he have ill intentions? Is he genuinely just trying to be nice? Nah. Why would he do that? Hao is a such bitch to him. There’s no way Hanbin wants to be nice. There must be a reason behind the way he’s acting—maybe it’s just the alcohol. But Hanbin said he was drinking water. Why is this guy drinking water at a party anyway? He must have lied. But what’s the point of lying about that? And he didn’t look drunk—

Whatever. Why is Hao rambling in his head about Hanbin? He needs to stop. It doesn't matter.

Hao wants to leave. This party is boring, and he’s tired.

He wanders around, trying to find the two boys he came with. Taerae is nowhere to be found. Gyuvin, on the other hand, was surprisingly easy to find. Hao sees him from afar, sitting on the grass at the end of the garden, with Ricky. Hao smiles.

Not wanting to interrupt the two, he goes back into the house, attempting to find Taerae again. Luckily for him, when he asks around someone tells him, “I think I saw him back there.”

And there he is. “Finally. I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Hao says, a bit breathless.

Taerae smiles at him before reaching for his car key in his pocket, and handing it to a confused Hao. “You want to leave, right?”

“Yeah?” Hao replies, more like a question than a statement.

Taerae gestures him to take the keys again. “I can’t drive, Tae,” Hao giggles.

He chuckles. “Right.” His friend is clearly too tipsy to care right now. Hao takes the keys to make sure Taerae won’t risk his life driving home.

“Stay. You’ll be okay?” he asks, and Taerae nods. “I’ll walk home, don’t worry,” Hao says softly, hugging his friend goodbye.

Walking home will be good for him. He’ll have time to sober up—although he didn’t drink much—and clear his mind. Thankfully, the breeze of the night is not too freezing.

Hao is on the other side of the street when someone calls out his name from the house. Hanbin. Again. Okay, what the hell? Is this boy obsessed with him? Bruh.

Hao ignores him, and starts walking. Behind him, he hears Hanbin loudly asking, “Where are you going?” That’s such a stupid question.

Hao stops abruptly, and turns around. “Home.” He doesn’t know why he even bothers to answer him.

“Walking?” he hears Hanbin again.

“Yup,” Hao says, continuing to walk, thinking the conversation is over.

Hanbin starts to cross the street, but is almost ran over by a car. The tires screeching catch Hao’s attention. His eyes widen at first, but when he sees Hanbin is okay—not that he was worried—he rolls his eyes, and laughs at how stupid the other is. He mustn’t have listened when his mom taught him to look left and right before crossing the street.

If Hao didn’t hate the guy, he’d find him pretty endearing sometimes.

Hanbin jogs a little to catch up, and syncs his steps with Hao. “What do you want?” Hao asks, pressing his lips together.

“I’m walking you home,” Hanbin says nonchalantly, as if this was normal.

Hao stops, spinning his head to look at Hanbin, making Hanbin stops too. Hanbin’s behavior is incredibly strange tonight. “Why would you do that?” Hao asks, extremely confused.

Hanbin simply shrugs. “I want to.” This is definitely not the Hanbin Hao knows. Hanbin must’ve a twin no one knows about. “And there are creepy men out there. You know that,” he adds, referring to the guy earlier. The only creepy man at the moment is Hanbin. His kindness, or whatever evil plan this is, is seriously creeping Hao out.

In the end, he lets Hanbin walk with him. Hao leaves a small gap between them, walking in front of him. While they walk, Hao thinks of asking Hanbin why he helped him earlier, but he stays quiet. He doesn’t want Hanbin to think he cares. He certainly does not.

Hanbin attempts to make the conversation a few times, but seeing that Hao isn’t receptive, he doesn’t push it. And Hao appreciates it. He doesn’t feel like talking—especially not with Hanbin. He’s the last person he wants to converse with.

They walk in silence together, under the sky full of stars, the moon being the only source of light. Hao glances up at the sky, spotting his favorite constellation, and smiles to himself.

Whether or not Hanbin was genuinely nice, he still took the time to walk him home, and Hao is grateful. He wouldn’t admit that to Hanbin, but the dark scares him a bit. It felt a little less scary knowing someone was with him.

They awkwardly part ways when they arrive in front of Hao’s house. After thanking Hanbin, Hao goes inside, and looks through the window. What he sees warms his heart a little. Hanbin waited for him to get inside before leaving. Thump thump. Hao puts a hand over his heart. So creepy.

Hao hates Hanbin. He does. Yeah.

As he prepares for bed, his mind wanders back to the party. At the start of the night, Hao had hoped and prayed that he wouldn’t see Hanbin, but it had been the opposite: he saw him everywhere. It feels like he spent the entire night with him, without wanting to—and it wasn’t such a bad feeling. It was quite pleasant—at least, not as bad as he thought.

The night was full of Hanbin, as well as his mind that night, when he went to bed. Because he hates Hanbin. Of course. No other reason.

Unknown

11:32 am: how r u doing, princess ;)

Hao

11:35 am: who is this?

Unknown

11:36 am: the boy you love the most in this world :)

11:36 am: Hanbin

The boy he loves the most in this world. Sure.

Hao

11:38 am: where did u get my number?

He-who-must-not-be-named

11:39 am: Gyuvin :p

Hao

11:40 am: I’m gonna kill him

He-who-must-not-be-named

11:41 am: don’t be mad at him

11:41 am: he’s just helping a friend

He’s definitely not helping Hao.

Hao

11:42 am: what do u want?

He-who-must-not-be-named

11:43 am: nothing

11:43 am: just checking up on you

Hao

11:44 am: don’t.

Next Monday, an unusual scene happens. While Hao is getting some stuff from his locker, Hanbin greets him as he passes by in the hallway, but he ignores him, pretending not to hear him.

Seriously, what’s with him? Does he think something has changed between them because he walked him home? It didn’t. Or is he playing with him? Hao won’t let Hanbin take advantage of him, manipulate him, play with him or whatever his plan is. He’ll be careful.

He prays that it’s the last time Hanbin will acknowledge him. Last night was nice, like some sort of a truce, but that’s it. Nothing has changed.

He does it the next day, too. Hanbin says hi to him, again. And he does it in the most smug way, flashing a ridiculous smile with a basketball under his arm, like the team captain he is. What the fuck? This guy pisses Hao off.

This time, Hao is with his friend and can’t avoid Hanbin by pretending he didn’t hear him, because his dear friend Kim Gyuvin notify him that “Bin is talking to you.” Bin. The nickname pisses him off for some reasons. It makes Hanbin seem cute—which he’s not.

Hao glares at him, threatening him to stay silent. “I know,” he says through gritted teeth.

“Then answer him.” Hao should consider making new friends. Because some of them clearly want to make him miserable.

Hanbin whispers “It’s okay” to Gyuvin and leaves quietly, not insisting.

“Don’t want to,” he exclaims, crossing his arms on his chest, as he watches Hanbin leave.

“Why not?” Gyuvin asks him, his tone sharpening.

“I don’t like him.”

“Yeah we’re aware,” Taerae snorts.

“I heard he walked you home last night,” Gyuvin smirks, raising an eyebrow.

His friends, curious, immediately questions him. “He did?” Taerae asks.

“That’s so romantic,” Yujin mocks, clasping his hands together beside his tilted head and flashing an exaggerated cheesy smile. This kid.

With wide eyes, Jiwoong asks, “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“It’s nothing important,” Hao brushes it off, rolling his eyes.

“The Sung Hanbin walked you home, and it’s nothing important?” Gyuvin gasps. “Bro, all the girls—even the boys—would dream to be in your place.”

Hao is not interested in the slightest. “Well, I’m not all the girls. If you want him so bad, go ahead,” he says, gesturing with his hands in an inviting way, before walking to class.

Hao loves his friends, but they can be so annoying sometimes—especially when it comes to teasing him about Hanbin. He still doesn’t get why they’re so convinced he could feel anything other than pure hatred for the guy.

The next day, to Hao’s pleasure, Hanbin doesn’t try to talk to him. He sees him in the hallway and in class several times, but Hanbin never approaches him. Hao’s almost sure the boy didn’t even look his way once. Weird. Hao almost misses it.

The following morning, Hao watches the droplets of water sliding down the car window, internally screaming at the thought of the rain messing up his hair. He likes the rain only when he’s inside. He hates it when he has to be outside without the umbrella he forgot at home. And the rain is too cold, what if he catches a cold? He whines.

At last, after a long inner struggle, Hao opens the door of the car and gets out. He watches it drive away as he stands under a covered area, stupidly praying the rain will miraculously stop for him to walk to the school. It doesn’t.

He sighs, knowing he will have to ruin his hair if he wants to be in class on time. He uselessly tries to cover himself with his hands as he runs, but he’s drenched in a second. It’s hopeless—he’s going to spend the day looking like a wet rat. He wants to cry.

Suddenly, Hao can’t feel the rain falling anymore. He thinks his prayers have been answered: the rain stopped. However, when he extends his hand in front of him, it is still raining. He lifts his head, and his eyes meet Hanbin’s, who is holding an umbrella over his head. The rain didn’t stop.

“Hi, princess,” He smiles.

Hao sighs. It’s Hanbin. Again. Why is he everywhere? Is he following him?

He could accept Hanbin’s help—just this time. He could really use an umbrella right now. But it’s Hanbin’s umbrella, and his hair is already messed up anyway, so it can’t get any worse. He pushes Hanbin away, and runs as fast as he can to the entry.

Hanbin watches Hao run away, and laughs, finding Hao endearing, although the boy just refused his help. Walking under the rain with his umbrella, he replays the moment of a few minutes ago. Hao getting out of the car, looking at the sky with an adorable pout, as if the sky would take pity on him and stop the rain. How cute he looked running through the rain with his hands on his head, desperately trying to preserve his silky pink hair. Hanbin giggles at the image. Walking over to offer his umbrella was the easiest decision to make.

God. He’s cooked. What was supposed to be just a silly crush turned out to be more serious than expected. Hanbin is down bad.  

He-who-must-not-be-named

7:58 am: don’t forget your umbrella next time, sunshine <3

Sunshine. A chill runs down Hao’s spine. If it means not seeing Hanbin again, he will check ten times to make sure he doesn't forget his umbrella ever again.

One thing is for sure, Sung Hanbin is persistent.

It has now become a habit for him to greet Hao every time he’s in his peripheral vision. Whether it’s a “Hi” said out loud or just mouthed, a smile—cocky, beaming, endearing, or just a wave of a hand, Hanbin never misses an opportunity to do it. Never misses the opportunity to make Hao’s heart beat faster, because it annoys him—of course. What else? It definitely does not make him feel a warmth inside when he does it every day. Why would it? He hates the guy. Anyway.

Hao is tired of Hanbin’s incessant need to talk to him, and he wants to put an end to this masquerade once and for all. Hao will never let Hanbin in. He won’t talk to him unless necessary. And he will certainly not be his friend.

When he sees Hanbin approaching, he takes a deep breath and as soon as the boy waves at him with a stupid smile, Hao strides to him, takes his hand and pulls him to an empty classroom. Hao’s grateful Hanbin is alone because he wouldn’t have had the courage to do anything with those brainless guys around.

The door closes with a slam and Hao checks the room to make sure they’re alone. Once he turns to look at Hanbin, he’s met with a mixture of confusion and shock on his face. His eyes are wide, his mouth open and his head tilted—it reminds Hao of that shocked hamster meme. Hanbin’s gaze drops between them, and a smirk appears on his face. Hao is still holding his hand. He pulls away harshly, his cheeks growing hotter.

Fuck.

He sees Hanbin laugh, and murder crosses his mind for a second. This guy is laughing at him.

Hao clenches his fist, and clears his throat. “Are you going to do this for a long time?” he hisses.

“What?” Hanbin asks, narrowing his eyes.

“This.” He gestures around them, as if the answer was obvious.

Hanbin chuckles in disbelief. “What? Saying hi and being ignored by you?” He takes a step closer, reducing the distance between them. He leans forward—so close to Hao that he can feel his breath on his face. Hao holds his breath as he feels his heart rate accelerate. “Yeah,” Hanbin whispers in his ear, revealing a smirk when he steps back to look at Hao.

His gaze is so intense that Hao has to look away. Gosh, he’s so annoying. “Can’t you take a hint?” he starts, hands on his waist. “Me ignoring you equals me not wanting to talk to you,” he exclaims, taking the time to articulate each word as if he was talking to a child.

Hanbin shrugs in the most irritating way possible. He’s lucky Hao is not a violent person, because if he was, his fist would’ve met his face. “I don’t care,” he says, smiling.

The way he smiles or laughs at any given moment—especially when there’s nothing to smile or laugh about—is the most infuriating thing. Hao hates it the most.

He groans, frustrated by the situation. “Just stop, please,” he raises his voice, fed up. Not wanting to be in this room with Hanbin one more second, he opens the door and walks away.

He’s almost at the end of the hallway when he hears Hanbin’s voice. “Sorry. I won’t stop until you talk to me, pretty boy!” he yells loudly, leaning against the doorframe of the classroom he just left.

People turn to look at Hanbin then at the person he’s talking to, intrigued by the situation. Everyone is aware of their mutual hatred, so this is the best gossip of their life.

Hao spins around, running to his next class with a hand on his cheek, trying to make the fire cool down. He ignores the chatter of curious people, wondering what’s happening between Hanbin and him.

He wants to poison a drink, give it to Hanbin, look at the life leaving his eyes once the poison takes effect, then wrap him in a cloth, carry his body to his car, drive to a safe area away from prying eyes, and burry his body where no one will ever find him. Or he wants to delete all social media, say goodbyes to his loved ones, create a new identity, leave everything behind, and disappear where no one will find him.

Okay, maybe he’s a little dramatic. But Hanbin yelled so loudly that everybody in this school heard him—he’s sure the whole city heard him.

This is the worst day of his life. He’s so embarrassed, and he can’t believe Hanbin called him pretty boy. Why is he always giving him nicknames? And what does he want from him? He’s so persistent that it becomes scary. Hanbin has always been mean to him, why is he being nice all of a sudden? It can’t be genuine—can it?

Whatever it is, Hao can’t deal with him anymore. He’s asking for one thing—just one thing. Is it complicated to just say yes and move on? Why does he keep bothering him?

Hao hasn’t known a day of peace since Hanbin weirdly decided to get close to him. He wouldn’t let him, though. Hao won’t let Hanbin get too close to him. It’s too dangerous—too risky. Not because Hanbin is a serial killer—no, because he doesn’t know what will happen if he gets too close.  

And Hao doesn’t want to find out.

Hanbin won’t lie. He does have a crush on Hao, and until a few weeks ago, it was his business only. A secret—one that he felt a bit ashamed of. Because how was he stupid enough to fall for his enemy?

Since he realized it, it’s been very clear in his mind that this would stay hidden, never revealed to anybody, not even his closest friends—especially not them. They would never let him live. He had also hoped that, this way, this stupid crush would disappear with time. Spoiler: it didn’t—it only grew stronger.

So Hanbin decided to act on it. Since he can’t make it go away, he’ll win Hao over, and make him fall for him too. Bold move. But Hanbin is convinced he can do it.

This is his challenge now. He’s going to make Hao fall for him. No matter what, no matter how. Hao will be his.

This mission was a secret at first, but it didn’t take long for his friends to find out. They actually knew for a while that he had a crush on Hao. They said it was “painfully obvious, bro,” then proceeded to tease him about it for days on end.

Hanbin is known for being too transparent. He can’t hide his feelings or emotions, it just shows on his face every time. His face speaks before his mouth. There’s nothing he can do to change that. It frustrates him.

However, Hao hasn’t found out about the crush yet. Either Hanbin isn’t as obvious as his friends claim him to be, or Hao is totally oblivious. Either way, that’s a good thing—he can’t reveal the crush yet. He’ll have to make Hao stop hating him first, get close to him, gain his trust, then reveal it when he feels it’s potentially mutual. Sounds impossible.

Hanbin is very determined, though. And he knows nobody can resist his charms. Not even Hao will. It won’t be an easy task, but there’s nothing Hanbin can’t do.  

Hanbin will make Hao his. Just watch and learn.

He’s been trying to get close to Hao for a few weeks now without much success. He expected it. He also expected Hao would reject him every single time he would try to talk to him or approach him. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt when it happens, but he’s used to it. The main problem is how to convince Hao to talk to him.

He did reply when they talked at the party, so a win is a win. It’s not much but Hao never bothered to reply to him before. This is an improvement. They actually had a lot of interactions there which made Hanbin’s chest swell with joy. He decided to be bold that night and he doesn’t regret it one bit.

If he keeps trying, he’s sure Hao will eventually fold. Once he opens his eyes and sees Hanbin’s good side, Hao will definitely let him in his heart. Or so Hanbin hopes.

The real problem right now is the man picking up Hao from school. Who is this?

Hanbin has never seen this guy before. He doesn’t go to this school. Why is he here? Why is he so close to Hao? Hanbin refuses to let anybody who isn’t him get too close to his Hao.

The boy hugs Hao tightly, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. When they pull away, he pecks his cheek with a huge smile. Ew.

Does Hao have a boyfriend Hanbin isn’t aware of? No, it can’t be. He would know, right? Then again, who is he to know anything about Hao? He is nobody to him.

He feels his heart drop a little at the thought. Whatever. It’s not like he cares. Hao isn’t his or anything. He can do whatever he wants with whoever he wants.

If this guy is his boyfriend, well, good for him. Hanbin is happy for him.

He’s not. Who is he trying to fool? He can’t fool himself. He cares.

Officially, if he walks over there, it’s just to annoy Hao—but Hanbin knows that’s not why.

The unidentified boy notices him, and it makes Hao turn to look at what caught his attention. A displeased expression appears on his face, and he rolls his eyes the way Hanbin is so used to. He’d almost find it endearing.  

He flashes a bright smile, and introduces himself. “Hi! I’m Hanbin.” Hao is probably thinking Hanbin has some nerves to be here right now, and he’d be right. He shouldn’t be here introducing himself to Hao’s…whoever that person is.

He wants to make progress with Hao, though. It’s probably not the best way, but Hanbin is feeling bold and he’s ready to do anything to have what he wants. “I’m Hao’s boyfriend,” he jokes. “Unless you are, then that’d be awkward,” he laughs awkwardly, looking between Hao and the stranger.

Hao isn’t laughing. He’s giving him the biggest death glare of his entire life, shaking his head in exasperation.

The stranger, on the other hand, chuckles, exchanging a glance with Hao.

Hanbin has decided to be bold, but he doesn’t want to be rude. If this guy really is his boyfriend, it’s disrespectful, and he doesn’t want to create problems for Hao. “Are you his boyfriend?” he asks, biting his lip anxiously.

“No,” he laughs as if that’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard. “I’m Kuanjui. Just a friend.” There’s a short silence, before he adds, “So, you’re the famous Hanbin, huh?”

Oh. So Hao talks about him to his friend. Interesting. Hanbin smirks. “I am,” he says proudly.

“I didn’t know you were his boyfriend,” he teases, wiggling his eyebrows at Hao.

“He’s not,” Hao replied sternly. “And he’s leaving.” He gives Hanbin a look as stern as his voice, implying that this is not a question but a demand.

Hanbin doesn’t want to insist too much today, doesn’t want to take Hao’s time with his friend. He obliges. But not before whispering in Kuanjui’s ear, so only he can hear, “He’s not my boyfriend yet, but I intend to make this happen.” He raises a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture—a sign to stay quiet. 

He throws a small smile and winks at Hao as he starts to walk away. “Bye, prettiest boy in this school,” he says with a smirk. He can hear Hao sigh from where he is. Hao must think Hanbin is doing this just to annoy him—Hanbin will let him believe that, for now. If he’s jealous, no one has to know.

“Why is he always in my business?” Hao hisses, annoyed by the other. Argh. Will he ever leave him alone?

His friend giggles and shrugs. “I think he’s nice—”

“No. Don’t be fooled,” Hao states. Why are all his friends so infatuated with Hanbin? It’s not like there’s a lot to like about him.

“It’s game night at Jebes High, and the gym is alive with the kind of quiet tension only basketball can bring,” the commentator starts. “Baseone is back on the court—focused, fired up, and ready to fight for every point.”

“Tonight, they take the floor steady and silent, with the weight of the week on their shoulders and the crowd at their backs. At the center of it all is Sung Hanbin—team captain, calm under pressure, and the kind of leader who lets his game speak louder than words.”

Screams rise from the stands—mostly from Hanbin’s fangirls.

“The stands are filling up, the players are locked in, and the clock’s counting down to tip-off. Whatever happens next, you can bet they’ll leave it all out there on the court.”

Hao’s not a fan of basketball—he’s never been. If Gyuvin didn’t drag him at every game, he would never put a foot in this gym. Gyuvin is the only reason he goes. He’s only there to support his friend.

He couldn’t care less about basketball. And he definitely couldn’t care less about number 21, namely Sung Hanbin, waving at him from the court with a smug look. Hao swears this guy gets even more irritating when he’s in that stupid jersey—showing off his biceps and the pretty ink on there—and those stupid shorts that make his thighs muscles too visible. Not that Hao cares. 

He feels his cheeks heat up. It’s too hot in this gym. Yeah, that’s the only reason. It has nothing to do with the man on the court and his whisker-smile. Why would it? Hao hates him.

He turns away, clearing his throat, to hide the blush on his face. Just to be clear, it’s hot, not because of Hanbin.

“Look who’s here,” Ricky says, wiggling his eyebrows and motioning to Hao in the stands, who’s now enthusiastically talking with his friends. Hanbin flinches when he hears his friend’s voice, too focused on Hao. Oh, he’s gone for this guy.

Still keeping his eyes on the pink-haired boy, Hanbin replies with a smirk, “My boyfriend.” He giggles at his own delusion.

“He hates you, bro,” Gyuvin intervenes, putting a hand on his shoulder while laughing. Hanbin didn’t notice he was standing there.

“That’ll change soon,” Hanbin grins, so sure of himself. He’ll get what he wants. He waves at Hao again, offering a flirty grin this time. As expected Hao breaks eye contact within two seconds.

Hanbin sighs. Adorable. He shouldn’t find it adorable when Hao rejects him like that, but he does. He can’t help it. He’s so gone for Hao that he finds everything he does cute. He’s fucked.

What was supposed to be an innocent crush became so much more since he decided to pursue Hao.

“I’ll make him mine,” he says in a determined voice, as if to convince himself that he can. When he finally stops looking at his future boyfriend (#delulu), and turns to his friends, they are laughing beside him. He elbows the two of them playfully, then locks in the game—not before glancing at his boy one last time.

If Hao wasn’t convinced Hanbin is straight, he’d think the boy has been flirting with him the whole night. He waves at him every chance he gets, and he swears his head turn to look at him whenever he shoots and scores—which is quite often. Hao hates Hanbin, but he can admit he’s a good player—the best of the team.

Hao is front row as always. Gyuvin insists to have his friends as close to the floor as possible—says it motivates him. Right now, Hao wishes he was at the very back.

At halftime, Hanbin comes near the stands to drink some water, and lifts his jersey to wipe the sweat on his forehead, revealing his defined abs. Hao’s brain stops functioning for a second. Hanbin must have noticed because he smirks and teasingly asks, “Like what you see?” while looking straight in his eyes.

Gosh, he’s so annoying. Hao realizes he was staring. He wants to wipe that stupid smirk of his face. He shakes his head, rolling his eyes. As he said before, he couldn’t care less about Hanbin. 

Hao would have looked at anyone’s abs, Hanbin isn’t special.

He takes his phone out of his pocket when he feels it buzz. The first thing he notices is the unfamiliar name he doesn’t remember writing, because he didn’t. Remind him not to share his password with his friends.

Hanbinnnie <3<3

7:35 pm: are you enjoying the game?

No weird nicknames, Hao notes. Not that he’s disappointed—he’s not. Absolutely not.

He is just going to ignore him.

Before he has the time to put his phone back in his pocket, though, it vibrates again.

Annoying guy

7:36 pm: wait for me after the game ;)

Hao crinkles his nose. Why would he do that? He tries to find Hanbin on the court, but he’s not there.

Hao

7:37 pm: I’d rather be home.

7:37 pm: why would I wait for you lmao

Annoying guy

7:38 pm: I have something to show you :)

-seen

The smiley faces Hanbin uses are getting on his nerves. Hao himself is an avid user of these smiley faces, but when Hanbin does it it’s irritating. He can see him making these exact faces. Ugh.

The whistle blows, signaling the start of the second half. Hao is saved.

Hanbin is back on the floor, looking right in his element.

No matter how much Hao hates this guy, he’s not blind. Hanbin is handsome—that’s a fact—and he’s even hotter when he’s playing. He knows he’s good, and that confidence is sexy, especially when he takes a shot and the ball drops right through the net. Hao noticed that each time he scores he does that thing: he smirks and wet his lips with his tongue—which makes him look so hot. Anyone would thirst over him for this.

Hao doesn’t thirst over him. He just appreciates a good-looking man, that’s all. Again, Hanbin is not special, Hao would enjoy any well constituted boy. Hanbin just so happens to be there. Yeah, of course.

The rest of the game flies by, and Hao can’t wait to be home. He remembers the text Hanbin sent earlier, hesitating for a second. Should he stay? Why should he? He doesn’t want to see Hanbin. And what if it’s just a trap?

Hao might be a little paranoid, but he seriously can’t understand Hanbin’s behavior these past weeks. It’s suspicious. He can’t help but think Hanbin is not genuine—just playing with him or something.

He decides to leave without seeing Hanbin. It’s not like he cares. He hopes Hanbin doesn’t wait for him.

Hao doesn’t know it, but he left a disappointed Hanbin behind. He rushed to the showers, got dressed in a hurry, forgetting to close his belt, excited to see Hao. When he ran back to the gym, Hao wasn’t there. Not seeing him anywhere, Hanbin sighed, knowing he left already. He sort of expected it, but it upsets him a little. He looked forward to showing him the good grade he got after studying so hard for it. He thought maybe Hao would be proud of him. Is that stupid? Probably. Hao wouldn’t care. He’d laugh at his face for only getting a B-.

That night, Hanbin goes home with a heavy heart, doubting he can make Hao look at him in another light.

Gathering at someone’s house every Saturday has become a tradition for their friend group. Every week, they get together and hang out. Eating, cooking, baking, gossiping, playing games, studying, dancing, singing, laughing, doing all sorts of manual activities—just being teenagers together, trying things out together.

However, what happens on Saturday remains between them. Like that one Saturday a few years back, when they were young boys with no experience, and exchanged a few kisses just to try. That’s how Jiwoong became Hao’s first kiss—technically. But neither of them considers it such—it was just practice.

It’s a moment they cherish and make sure to never miss. They’ve been doing that for years. They always have so much fun. It’s their way of relaxing after a long week of school.

This week, it’s taking place at Hao’s. Not having any tests next week, they decided to do origami. It’s quite the challenge for them. Hao is trying to make a panda, Jiwoong a cat, Taerae a duck, and Gyuvin a dog. All of them are struggling, except Yujin, who’s making a bunny like he’s done that his whole life.

The youngest never fails to amaze them. He’s good at everything he does. Hao feels so proud, like a mom. He’s only a year younger than them, but he is their little brother, their baby, that they want to protect from the world.

In the middle of their origami session, Gyuvin speaks up. “Why do you force yourself to hate Hanbin?”

What? That comment came out of nowhere. Hao didn’t expect it. Gyuvin isn’t even looking at him, focusing on his origami—which looks nothing like a dog—but he knows who he’s talking to. There’s only one person in this room who hates Hanbin. It’s him. It makes him feel guilty sometimes.

“Why is the topic always Hanbin?” Hao bites, annoyed that they bring him up during one of their Saturday hangouts.

“’Cause you like him,” Gyuvin teases.

“I do not!” Hao insists. He doesn’t like Hanbin—never will.

“You’re just lying to yourself, man,” Gyuvin accuses, his tone teasing and serious at the same time.

“Yeah. Blushing when he waves at you at a basketball game, salivating while looking at him, constantly mentioning him, watching his every move, is definitely not a crush,” Taerae adds, exposing his friend without an ounce of shame.

It’s not even true. “I don’t do that,” Hao says, sounding a bit like a question.

“You do,” Gyuvin agrees, snorting. “You’re literally obsessed with him at this point.” His friends nod beside him. Traitors.

Hao feels cornered. Why are they all against him right now? He groans. “He just keeps bothering me all the time,” he complains, pouting. He sounds like a child throwing a tantrum.

“As if you don’t do the same,” Jiwoong says, pointing out the obvious.

He’s kind of right. Hao won’t tell him that, though. “Whatever,” Hao says nonchalantly, keeping his hands busy with the paper that is supposed to look like a panda. It looks nothing like it. It just looks miserable, like Hao right now.

His friends keep talking between themselves, as if Hao wasn’t in the same room and couldn’t hear them.

“He’s in denial,” Gyuvin teases again.

“Definitely,” Taerae agrees, cursing when the paper in his hands rips.

“He’ll realize it soon.”

Yujin throws stupid comments, such as “Couple goals,” or “Enemies to lovers,” while giggling.

“They’d for real look good together.” Would they? Hao shakes his head at that. He tries to imagine it, standing next to Hanbin as his. Hanbin is a very handsome guy, so is Hao, it’s undeniable. They have the visuals, but—This is so stupid. No. They wouldn’t look good together. Hao dismisses the idea.

Isn’t it normal to bother the guy you hate? Wouldn’t everyone do that? Seriously, his friends can be so annoying when it comes to Hanbin and him. It’s obvious that Hao doesn’t like Sung Hanbin. Everything he does irritates him—just seeing him makes his blood boil. His smug smile, the way he walks like he owns the place wherever he goes, his brand new clothes, the way he talks, his too perfect brown hair that falls into place just the right way, his pretty face—he means, his punchable face. Anyway. Hao doesn’t like him. Definitely not.

Okay, maybe his hatred has been reduced. But it doesn’t mean he likes him or anything. Because he does not. Not a single bit—never. Hao liking Hanbin is impossible. It wouldn’t happen in any universe. His presence is just a tiny bit less annoying and more…bearable.

It means nothing, though. Right? Right. Yeah.

It’s true that he finds Hanbin hot when he plays basketball—like everybody else.

He doesn’t mind when he smiles at him. His smile isn’t as infuriating as before, it’s kind of cute? Not cute—infectious. Like his laugh.

The texts Hanbin sends him don’t get on his nerves as much as they used to. He tolerates them.

He’s gotten used to Hanbin saying hi to him every day, as well as the warmth in his chest that comes with it.

Oh.

Thump. His eyes widen at the sudden noise, snapping him out of his thoughts. It’s not the sound of his own heart, no, but Jiwoong’s phone that fell on the floor.

Gyuvin turns to Hao. “I don’t mean to be annoying, but—”

“Well, you are,” Hao interrupts, his words sharp. He instantly regrets it when he sees the look in Gyuvin’s eyes, filled with hurt. “Sorry,” he apologizes, sighing.

Gyuvin scoffs. “Are you?” He waits for an answer. When Hao doesn’t say anything, only purses his lips, he continues, “I know I’m annoying. I just can’t understand why you want to hate Hanbin so much.” Hao opens his mouth to say something, but he doesn’t let him speak. “He never did anything to you. He’s a good person—I’m his friend, I know that he is. And I tried so many times to tell you, but you don’t listen to me. It’s frustrating, and frankly I’m tired of your bullshit. There’s nothing to hate about Bin. You’re just so stubborn that you convince yourself that there is,” he blurts out all the things he’s been holding back. He sighs. “Why can’t you trust me? Why can’t you see Hanbin for who he really is?”

“I just don’t see it,” Hao mutters in a low voice, feeling like he’s being scolded by his parents.

“Give me one reason to hate Hanbin?” Gyuvin snaps.

“Well,” Hao doesn’t know what to say. Now that he’s put on the spot, he doesn’t find a single reason to hate him.

“See, you’re just an asshole,” Gyuvin hisses, throwing the paper in his hand on the bed and standing up. He’s pissed, and Hao hates it. He freezes.

“Gyuvin,” Jiwoong warns in a serious tone.

Hao feels like crying. He can feel the tears threatening to spill out of his eyes. He never meant to make Gyuvin angry. He excuses himself, saying that he needs to use the bathroom—a lie. Once he’s out of the door, the tears he tried to contain drop. He slides down the wall with a hand on his chest, struggling to breathe.

There’s nothing he hates more than disappointing the people he loves, or the people he loves being mad at him. He also hates being proven wrong when he’s so sure of being right. And he was so sure of what he felt for Hanbin—until Gyuvin made him doubt everything.

His mind is racing, his heart pounding against his chest, and his hands trembling. He doesn’t know what’s happening to him. He’s never been more confused in his life.

Gyuvin is right, Hao is an asshole. He hated Hanbin with all his might for so long, without any real reason, without trying to know the real him. Even when Hanbin tried to be nice—when he showed him who he really was—Hao insisted on hating him. He only wanted to see the bad in him.

He was wrong.

Thump thump thump.

Could it be possible that he doesn’t hate Hanbin anymore? No way. He has dedicated too much of his time hating him. It can’t be possible. He would know if it was the case—he’d feel it. Hao is probably just confused by Hanbin’s unusual behavior lately. That’s it. There’s no way he likes him.

Hao’s lying on the floor, looking at the ceiling of his bedroom, and the random poster of GOT7 Gyuvin put there years ago. He’s deep in his thoughts, trying not to cry when he thinks of the fight he had with Gyuvin. He feels like shit.

He sees his phone light up in the corner of his eye, indicating a new text from none other than his beloved Hanbin. Sarcasm, of course.

Recently, he has been receiving texts from him almost every day. Sometimes he ignores them, other times, he takes the time to reply. The only reason he replies is because he doesn’t want to be rude, not because he cares. That’s what he convinces himself of. 

He checks the content of the text.

Sung Annoying Hanbin

4:21 pm: hey

4:21 pm: listen to this song

4:22 pm: [link attached]

It doesn’t come with the usual smiley face. Weird. Hanbin always uses them.

Why is Hanbin sending him a song?

When Hao clicks on the link, it reads: “True love – P!nk (ft. Lily Allen)”

He’s never heard of this song before. He presses play, curious.

He immediately likes it, there’s a rhythm to it that makes his head bop along. Then he pays attention to the lyrics.

At the same time I wanna hug you
I wanna wrap my hands around your neck
You're an asshole, but I love you
And you make me so mad, I ask myself
Why I'm still here, or where could I go?

Interesting lyrics. It’s weirdly…romantic and mean? Like you can’t help but love that person, no matter how much you hate them. Love takes over the hatred. At least that’s what Hao feels, that’s what he sees in the lyrics.

Just once, try to wrap your little brain around my feelings
Just once, please try not to be so mean
Repeat after me now, R-O-M-A-N-C-E-E-E
Come on, I'll say it slowly
You can do it, babe!

But I hate you, I really hate you
So much, I think it must be
True love

A faint blush creep on his cheeks, making them heat up. Without realizing, a smile makes its way onto his face.

Does it mean something? Is there a special reason Hanbin sent this? Is there a message to decode through his song?

He’s attentively listening to the song, eyes closed, in his own world, when he jumps out of his skin.

He didn’t notice his friend entering the room. “What are you smiling at?” Taerae asks, his tone teasing. Hao looks back at him, unblinking, like a deer caught in headlight, feeling like he’s just been caught doing something terrible.

It is terrible. He didn’t realize he was smiling. What the fuck.

He removes his headphones, and clears his throat. “Nothing.” Yeah, definitely nothing. His friend is not convinced but he doesn’t push any further, just laughs at Hao’s distress.

Why was he smiling? And—oh my god. Why is he blushing? That’s just a song. It doesn’t mean anything. Hanbin probably just likes the song and wanted to share it to get more streams. Why would there be another reason? Just a song Hanbin enjoys that he wanted to share. No other meaning.

Hao doesn’t care anyway.

The past few days have been rough for Hao—not a nightmare, but messy.

He’s been trapped in his thoughts—of Hanbin, trying to figure out what the hell is going on with him, and of Gyuvin, with whom he’s still fighting.

He’s currently sitting around a table with his friends at the cafeteria, enjoying a meal. To be honest, he’s not enjoying anything at the moment. The tension is palpable. Gyuvin isn’t speaking to him, not even acknowledging his presence. The food in his plate disgusts him, he can’t seem to swallow anything. He can’t utter a word, only half listening to the conversation his friends are holding. It feels so distant.

He swallows the lump in his throat, trying to keep the tears in his eyes from falling. He takes a deep, shaky breath, in an attempt to keep his composure. He’s not going to cry. Not here.

He stands up abruptly—pretty sure that he caught everyone’s attention by doing so—and heads to the door, without a word. His friends say something that he doesn’t hear—doesn’t want to hear. He needs to be alone.

He rushes to the nearest door leading outside to a small courtyard Hao knows is always empty—a secret hideout when he feels like the world is too much for him to handle. And the world is too much to handle right now.

He sits down on the old bench, rusty after all the years of being neglected. Finally alone, he allows his tears to fall without restraint. No one will hear him or bother him here. He can allow himself to be weak—vulnerable.

No one followed him. Good. He doesn’t feel like talking to anyone.

His mind is flooded with the way his last conversation with Gyuvin ended—calling it a fight would be more accurate.

“Come to me when you’re ready to stop hating Bin,” Gyuvin had spat.

“Oh, so you choose him? Over me? Your childhood best friend?” Hao had scoffed, feeling betrayed. How could he chose Hanbin, a guy he’s only known for two years, over the first friend he ever had?

Gyuvin’s eyes, glossy with tears, had reflected hurt and disappointment as he firmly but softly said, “I’m not choosing anyone.” He had shaken his head, sighed, and left without another word.

Hao replays the moment in his mind.

They can’t seem to have a peaceful talk since that Saturday Gyuvin called him out for being an asshole.

Actually, they haven’t been talking. Ignoring Hao became Gyuvin’s new skill. Even when they’re with their friends, he pretends Hao doesn’t exist. When their gazes somehow meet, Gyuvin throws him a glare before diverting his eyes. He’s really mad at him, and it upsets Hao.

Is this how Hanbin feels whenever Hao is a dick to him? Is this how it feels to be hated by someone you love? Hanbin doesn’t love him, though. So he wouldn’t feel this way.

Hao feels like shit. It’s his fault that Gyuvin hates him. Although, it does feel a bit unfair that Gyuvin is doing this. Hao hating Hanbin was never a problem before, so why is it now? What has changed? Hao is still the same.

He misses Gyuvin. His best friend. They never fought like this before. It hurts.

The door opens slowly, startling Hao. Did one of his friends follow him?

Behind the door, the head of a concerned Hanbin appears, testing the waters. Hao sighs when he sees him. Great. Just what he needed: Sung Hanbin.

He just can’t leave him alone. It’s fucking annoying. Why does he keep bothering him? Especially now. He doesn’t want Hanbin to see him like this—full on crying, being completely miserable. This will only give him a reason to make fun of him.

Hanbin carefully takes a few steps toward Hao, as if the boy would explode if he got too close. He might.

“Are you okay?” he asks, in a really soft and low voice.

Hao doesn’t answer. He turns away from Hanbin to hide his ugly face full of tears, hoping he will leave.

He stays, taking a seat next to him on the old bench. It’s big enough so they are not too close.

It’s silent, neither of them saying a word. It’s not awkward—just a kind of comfortable silence.

In the corner of his eye, he sees Hanbin fidgeting with his fingers. He’s pretty sure he wants to say something but is scared of Hao’s reaction.

Hao is the one who speaks first. “Why are you here?” It comes out harsher than intended.

Not expecting to hear Hao’s voice, Hanbin startles a little. “Um…I just—I don’t know. I saw you leave, and—” he pauses for a second, unsure of what to say—or if he should say it. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay,” he admits shyly. “I guess,” he adds, to keep his nonchalant composure.

This is not the Hanbin Hao knows. Does he have an angel twin he’s not aware of? That would explain a lot.

Seeing Hanbin so shy and calm is not something he’s used to. It’s weird—not in a bad way.

It’s also nice to hear that someone noticed. He doesn’t blame his friends for not following—he deserved it too—but it feels nice to know that someone cares. Cares? Does Hanbin care? No.

Hao doesn’t care either.

He doesn’t know why the next words come out of his mouth. “Gyuvin hates me,” he says sadly, bringing his legs close to his chest and hugging them. He probably just needed to tell someone, anyone.

Hanbin turns to him, smiling. “I’m sure he doesn’t. He loves you a lot,” he assures. His hand hovers on the back of the bench, close to Hao.

“Not anymore,” Hao laments, with an adorable pout on his lips. The ‘adorable’ mention is Hanbin’s opinion, though he’s sure anyone would agree.

“Why? Did something happen?” Hanbin’s voice is gentle, almost like he’s talking to a child. Hao sort of expected him to know, he’s surprised Gyuvin didn’t say anything. Or Hanbin is just pretending not to be aware.

“I hate you.” Hao is looking at Hanbin with something alike to puppy eyes and a pout. Hanbin wants to take his cheeks between his fingers and squeeze them. Yeah. Right after the other told him he hates him. He’s very much down bad.

He’s also hurt, of course. Being told your crush hates you, by your crush himself, is not fun. Why did he have to remind him?

“He hates that I don’t like you. So he’s mad, and he doesn’t want to talk to me anymore. I don’t want to fight with him,” Hao clarifies, sniffing and trying to stop crying.

“Ugh, why am I even telling you that.” He sighs, crinkling his nose, leaning his head back to look at the sky. He said too much. Why is he confiding in Hanbin?

Hanbin is completely quiet beside him. He lifts his head to look at him, and is engulfed in a hug before he can register it. He stills. Huh?

Hanbin is hugging him, a careful hand on the back of his head. He doesn’t say a word, just holds him in his arms quietly.

Hao can feel his heart beat in his chest—or is it his own? He lets his head fall on Hanbin’s shoulder. It’s comfortable, warm, comforting, to be held like this.

Hao needed this hug. He needed someone to hold him—it just happened to be Hanbin. Unfortunately.

Hanbin smiles to himself, his heart beating so loudly in his chest. Hao is in his arms. And he didn’t push him away. He squeals with joy internally.

The old Hao wouldn’t have let him near at all, let alone talked to him. Hanbin is winning.

The plan seems to be working. At least, he’s making some progress. He’s certain Hao doesn’t hate him as much as he used to. Hehe.

For now, he’s just enjoying having the pink-haired boy in his arms. This has been a fantasy of his for some time now, and he finally gets to do it.

He lays his head on Hao’s shoulder carefully, to not scare him away. “You look cute when you cry.”

Hao was probably not meant to hear that because Hanbin makes a surprised face, like the words he just said weren’t meant to be said out loud. Cute.

Hao giggles before pulling away, suddenly too aware of what’s happening. He was hugging Hanbin—no, Hanbin was hugging him.

He clears his throat, standing up hastily to leave. He lifts a hand to his face to wipe his tears only to realize they’ve already dried. Oh.

He runs away without looking back, closing the door a bit too harshly on his way out.

He puts a hand on his chest, trying to calm down his rapid heartbeat.

What the hell just happened?

Smack. Hanbin’s fist hits the face of a guy. It reads on his face that he is enraged. He shakes his hand, biting his lips in anger. If a look could kill, the guy in front of him would be gone.

People around gasp and turn their head in unison, whispering among themselves.

The guy has a smirk on his face as he holds his cheek with his hand, surprised by the action but also pleased by Hanbin’s reaction. Hanbin would have thrown another fist if it wasn’t for Gunwook’s strong grip holding him back.

Hao’s eyes widen, his jaw dropping, at the unexpected scene unfolding before him. He did not just see Hanbin punch someone in the face. Right?

It was certainly not something he wanted to see in the hallway on his way to class.

With the way Hanbin acted lately, Hao’s opinion of him had changed a little, but seeing this just made everything vanish. Every good thing about Hanbin that crossed his mind recently disappeared in an instant. It only took one punch to ruin it.

Hao is so stupid. He foolishly let himself believe Hanbin wasn’t the way he pictured him to be. Turns out he was right. He wanted to believe he was wrong—that Hanbin was a good person, like he’s been with him for the last few weeks. Hanbin is a jock, like everyone else. And the nice appearances he tried to keep around Hao were probably all an act.

Hao was deceived. He should’ve known—he knew. He let himself be fooled.

He hates Hanbin.

On his way to the principal’s office, Hanbin stops in front of him. Hao’s eyes fall on his bleeding hand. A wave of nausea hits him. He can’t believe Hanbin hit a guy. He’s a bit disappointed.

He cannot stand by or support violence. He hates it. Whatever the reason or situation is, there are other ways to solve a problem. He doesn’t like people who punch others—in particular with no good reason. He doesn't like bullies either. He’s not saying Hanbin is a bully—he doesn’t believe that—but if he ever finds out he hit this guy to belittle him, his hatred for him will be as strong as ever.

Hao hopes he’s completely wrong.

“Nice jeans. You look beautiful, princess,” Hanbin compliments, with a smile. Hao sees some sort of emotion in his eyes, but he’s not sure what exactly. Remorse? Pain? Shame? He’s trying hard to mask whatever it is. It confuses Hao.

He’s caught off guard by the compliment, and the nickname Hanbin seems so fond of using for him. Hanbin said it so casually, as if he didn’t just punch someone in the face.

He doesn’t know what to say, or if he should say something. He feels the faint blush on his cheeks, but don’t tell anyone that. That’s just how he reacts to any compliment given by anyone.

Hanbin is gone before he can say anything. He’s thankful, because he didn’t have it in him to speak to a guy who hit someone for no apparent reason.

Gosh, he hates this guy.

The rest of the day passes by in a daze, his mind stuck on the event that occurred previously. He can’t get it out of his thoughts—how Hanbin punched that guy. He seemed satisfied with what he did. He had a pleased grin on his face, like he enjoyed seeing the guy holding his face in pain after he got hit. The expression on his face sort of scared Hao.

What is Hanbin actually capable of doing?

Hanbin wants to get close to Hao—no matter how.

He’s ready to do anything. Especially now, in light of the recent event. 

Hao has been religiously avoiding him since the day he caught him punching that asshole in the hallway. Hao hates him again. He gets it. Hanbin’s not proud of that either, although the guy deserved it.

Hanbin doesn’t blame Hao, though. For anyone who doesn’t know the reason of that punch, Hanbin is an asshole. He kind of deserves the hate. And he doesn’t care if anyone hates him for that—except Hao, he’s always the exception.

He doesn’t want Hao to hate him. He doesn’t want to be a ghost. He can’t bear with the silence and the side eyes anymore. He needs his Hao to say something, do something—be petty, insult him, hit him, yell at him—anything. Hate is better than silence.

It seems that things have gone back to the way they were before. Hao doesn’t look at him, let alone acknowledge him—despite Hanbin’s efforts to approach him.

He’s become invisible to Hao.

That’s why he’s determined to do whatever it takes to get Hao to see him again. Even if it means doing it in an unconventional way.

Hao is going to hate him more for that, but he has no other choice.

He’s pondered over it, and it seems like the best chance he has to corner Hao into talking to him. It sounds wrong said like that, but Hanbin is desperate.

The great idea is: The trick-Hao-into-detention plan. Ta-da!

Hanbin has gotten a detention after punching that guy. If he has to do detention, he might as well use it at his advantage, and make it fun.

He knows this will probably be Hao’s first detention ever. Hanbin’s not evil, so he thought of something innocent. Something “bad” enough for a detention, but not serious enough to have lasting consequences that could impact Hao in the long term. Just something to bring Hao to him.

(If he had a little devil on his shoulder, he’d be rubbing his hands together with a sly grin right now.)

The plan consists of passing a note to Hao right when the teacher is looking.

Teachers don’t like when students go behind their back. They’re always curious of the unknown content of those notes. Hanbin knows that their English teacher despises that the most.

The plan will occur in her class for better chances at success.

When she’ll see the note in Hao’s hands, she will for sure interrupt the class to scold them, and even give Hao a detention for not listening—she’s done it before, not to Hao obviously. Hanbin always found her a little annoying for that. As long as the students don’t bother her, it doesn’t matter whether they listen or not. Anyway. This will come in handy now.

The only ick to his plan is that Hao is every teacher’s favorite. He’s smart, listens, participates in class and have good grades—every teacher’s dream. This could potentially ruin his plan.

Their English teacher is the most likely to make the detention happen, so Hanbin will give it a shot. If it doesn’t work, he’ll try again with plan B. Yeah, he’s got other ideas. Just in case.

He’s very determined.

D-Day has come.

Hanbin is sitting in English class with Hao in front of him, listening to the teacher, and completely unaware of Hanbin’s trap.

Hanbin scribbles something on a small piece of paper. The content of it is a secret, though—it stays between Hao and him. Not something anyone needs to know.

He folds it in four, writing Hao’s name with a little heart on it. He grins proudly at his work, and gently taps on Hao’s shoulder to get his attention, which he immediately gets. An irritated Hao turns around, glaring at him, then at the paper handed to him. He frowns, but takes it. Good.

As planned, not long after Hao turns around, the teacher’s gaze fall directly on him and the paper in his hands. The teacher goes silent, clearly angry, and clears her throat. Hao gasps when he realizes he got tricked. Hanbin can see the panic in Hao’s eyes as they widen.

The next second, the teacher is by Hao’s desk, handing her hand for Hao to give her the note. He does, his hands trembling.

The teacher opens the note, looking at what’s written inside. Then she does something unexpected. She reads it out loud, in front of the whole class. “’The only good thing about this class is that I get to stare at your pretty face for an hour straight, princess <3’”

Fuck. That wasn’t part of the plan. She wasn’t supposed to read it—especially not in front of everyone. This is humiliating. Hanbin hides behind his hands, although no one is supposed to know the note is from him.

“Zhang Hao,” she shakes her head in disappointment and sighs. “I expected better from you. Detention.”

Hanbin didn’t sign his name—he’s not stupid enough to do that—but Hao knows perfectly well it’s from him.

Surprisingly, he doesn’t give Hanbin’s name. He could have possibly saved himself by denunciating him, but he stays silent. Hao’s too kind for his own good.

Hao looks back at him once the teacher resumes her class, throwing daggers at him with his eyes. He’s been trapped. Hao knew he couldn’t trust Hanbin. This just reminds him why he hates him.

Hanbin smirks at him, looking like he’s enjoying seeing Hao miserable. He’s not.

He feels bad. But his plan worked! And he’s getting his alone time with Hao. (The little devil on his shoulder giggles.) Maybe he’s a little bit evil for this. He’s also very down bad and desperate. Bear with him.

The last part of his plan consisted of asking the principal for a little favor—to get Hao to do his detention with him at the gym after school—and he agreed. Perfect. Hanbin’s got a date!

The first thing Hao sees when he steps foot in the gym is a shirtless Hanbin—more precisely, his defined abs, shining with sweat, and his silky brown hair damp from the sweat too—sweat shouldn’t look so sexy. As much as Hao wants to smash the basketball player’s pretty face on the nearest wall, he’s not blind and can appreciate the sight.

Hanbin looks insanely hot like this, mindlessly shooting hoops after his basketball practice, making it look like it’s the easiest thing in the world. Hao really hopes Hanbin is planning to put his shirt on, or he’s going to be a little distracted.

He snaps out of his silly thoughts, remembering the reason he’s here, and clears his throat. “Fuck you,” he spits, enjoying how Hanbin misses the shot, the ball bouncing back on the hoop.

Hanbin snorts. “You wish,” he teases, with an irritating smirk on his face. “You look pretty, princess.”

This is going to be a long night. Hao sighs.

Hanbin suddenly throws him the ball. There are two things to know about Hao: he has bad reflexes, and he’s bad at sports. He moves out of the way, letting the ball roll behind him.

Hanbin chuckles, his head motioning behind Hao. “Take the ball.”

Hao frowns, looking perplexed. He picks up the ball, thinking of throwing it in Hanbin’s stupid face. He resists.

“Shoot!” Hanbin exclaims, challenging Hao.

The thought of hitting his face with the ball comes across his mind again. He can’t refuse a challenge, so he takes a step forward.

Knowing he’s going to miss for sure if he’s that far, he walks closer to the hoop to better his chances. The ball is in his hands, he looks at the hoop, calculating his shot carefully. Hanbin is right in front of him, under the net, looking at him attentively—like a beast lurking  for its prey. He has a cocky look on his face, so sure that Hao won’t succeed. He has to make the shot, just to shut Hanbin up.

He throws the ball, clearly lacking technique, and misses completely. How surprising. He groans. He hates to suck.

Ball in hand, Hanbin approaches him. He turns his head in his direction, looking straight into his eyes and shoots behind without looking. The ball drops right through the net.

Quite an attractive move. Hao gulps.

After getting the ball, Hanbin runs back to his side, and puts it in his hands. Hao freezes when he hears a whisper in his ear, “Can I?” Hanbin is standing right behind him.

Can he what? Oh. His heart stops beating for a second when he sees Hanbin’s hands hover over his arms. Hao doesn’t know what possesses him to nod.

He feels Hanbin’s hands wrap around his wrists to correct his position. He explains something to him, but Hao can only focus on the feeling of Hanbin’s breath on his nape, of his hands wandering from his waist to his arms in such a gentle manner. Hanbin is so close—too close.

He feels hot. Why is it always so hot in this gym? They seriously need to do something about that.

Hao shoots in the worst way possible without thinking to get away. It’s no surprise that he misses. He backs away from Hanbin, and finally breathes.

Too pleased by the effect he has on Hao, Hanbin laughs.

“You suck,” Hanbin says lightly, as if Hao wasn’t already aware. He rolls his eyes at the unnecessary comment.

He knows he sucks, there’s really no need to say it. He can’t play basketball to save his life—unlike Hanbin, who’s the best basketball player out there. He rarely misses a shot.

“Quit playing around. What are we here for?” Hao asks. He almost forgot why they were here in the first place. Focus, Hao.

They’re supposed to clean the gym floor and organize the storage room which hasn’t been cleaned in ages.

They agree to focus on the gym first and clean together to gain some time. Then, they’ll take care of the storage room.

They sweep, mop and cleanse in silence, not exchanging a single word the entire time.

Hao is still mad that Hanbin framed him. He shouldn’t be here. He should be at home, binge watching his favorite show like every Friday night. It sucks.

Hanbin is struggling to find the right words or even the right time to strike up a conversation. He did all this just to not be able to talk to him. Loser.

Once they finish in the gym, they head to the storage room. It’s a mess—mats, balls, jerseys, cones and all kinds of sport gear are scattered across the small room, stacked in corners or falling off the shelves. It really needs their help.

They exchange a tired look, and sigh. “Let’s do this!” Hanbin encourages as he enters the room.

Hao just wants to run home. This will take a while.

He enters the room behind Hanbin, who’s already collecting all the basketballs, ready to take on the mission. Behind him, the door swings shut with a loud noise—SLAM (dunk).

SLAM. The sound of the door echoes in the room.

Hanbin whips around so fast he almost snaps his neck. He lets out a laugh of disbelief—half amused, half exasperated.

“What?” Hao asks, confused at the sudden change in mood. What’s so funny?

“The door is closed,” Hanbin says, still chuckling. Now, he has time to talk to Hao.

Hao can see that. Does Hanbin think he’s stupid? “No shit, sherlock,” Hao deadpans. He tries to open the door, but it doesn’t budge.

Hanbin chuckles behind him. “It’s locked. It can only be opened from the outside.”

Why does Hanbin keep stupidly laughing? How is that funny? They are stuck. His worst nightmare has come true: being stuck in a room—the same room as Hanbin.

“Great,” Hao exclaims sarcastically. Internally, he wants to die. He doesn’t want to be stuck here. He needs to go home. He has to open the door. “Couldn’t you have said it sooner?” he raises his voice, desperately trying to open the door again. It stays closed.

“It won’t open. Don’t tire yourself,” Hanbin tells him from behind, moving closer to Hao.

“Shut up,” Hao snaps, turning to look at Hanbin with a look that says, “Will you stop talking to me?” He kicks the door with his left foot in frustration, then immediately starts hopping when the pain hits.

After making sure Hao is okay, Hanbin laughs as Hao bangs on the door, trying to ask for help. It’s useless—it’s late and everyone has already left.

Hanbin sits on a randomly thrown mat in the corner of the room. Hao wonders how he can be so calm about this situation. They are stuck. In a tiny room. Just the two of them. No one can help.

“Back in the closet haha,” Hanbin jokes, making Hao’s ears perk up and his eyes widen.

He stops banging on the door, turning to Hanbin. “You’re gay?” he asks, shock written all over his face, his mouth forming a perfect O. How come Hao didn’t know that? He always saw Hanbin as one of those jocks obsessed with girls. Guess he got it all wrong.

Hanbin chuckles lightly. “Yeah. You didn’t know?” he asks, equally surprised that Hao wasn’t aware.

“Why would I know? It’s not like I care anyway,” he tries to say the last part nonchalantly, looking away—it sounds quite chalant to Hanbin.

Hanbin smirks. “Sure, you don’t.”

Hao rolls his eyes, the way he loves to anytime Hanbin says something, and sigh. “Why are you so annoying?” The way he says it and the pout on his face is not unlike a child sulking.

“Why are you always in my business if you don’t care, huh?” Hanbin fires back another question, ignoring Hao’s. He can see the effect he has on the boy, and he enjoys it.

Hao gives no answer. He scoffs, avoiding Hanbin’s watchful gaze. Hanbin could swear he can see pink adorning his cheeks. Hanbin’s eyes don’t leave Hao as he sits on an old wooden chair, biting his lower lip nervously.

Hao doesn’t like being locked up. He’s not about to admit this to Hanbin, though—he has to keep up appearances, pretend it isn’t affecting him. He can’t let Hanbin see him so vulnerable, not again.

He stays silent, fidgeting with his fingers. His mind is playing with him, imagining the worst case scenarios. He struggles to breathe, but tries to hide it.

It doesn’t go unnoticed by Hanbin. In the corner of his eye, Hao sees him stand up from where he was sitting, and crouch down to meet his eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asks, so softly that it makes Hao tell the truth.

“Not really,” he admits a bit against his own will. He doesn’t want to be vulnerable, but maybe it’s okay to be with Hanbin—just for now?

Hanbin’s hands find their place on his knee in an attempt to calm him down, but not before a silent agreement in the form of an eye contact. Consent is sexy, Hao thinks.

Strangely, it works. He feels his body relaxing—he’s more at ease, less panicked by the situation.

He does panic when his mind fully comprehend the close proximity between the two of them. So he does what one of his reflex reactions is when he’s overwhelmed: teasing Hanbin.

 “I can’t believe you locked us here,” he says, in a rather collected voice.

Hanbin’s expression makes him laugh. He gasps, staring at him with wide eyes, slightly stepping back, looking like he’s just been accused of murder. “It’s your fault!’ he exclaims, insisting on the you part.

Hao gives a dismissive shrug, then throws a serious look at Hanbin, “Get us out of here, please.” He’s not lying when he says he doesn’t like being locked up. It’s a serious fear he’s had since he was a kid. Being locked in a cramped space scares and stresses him.

“Do you have any signal?” Hanbin asks, phone in hand. Great. He has a phone, he’ll get them out.

Hao fumbles for his own phone in his pocket. Shit. “I left it outside. Didn’t know you’d lock us here,” he says jokingly.

Hanbin sends a text to his friends, hoping it will get through eventually, although the reception is bad here.

In the meantime, they start cleaning up the space to make time pass faster. Fortunately—or unfortunately—they finish sooner than expected. It only takes them thirty minutes to put everything in place. Now, they have nothing left to do. 

Hao sits down on the floor, leaning against the now-tidy mats. Hanbin sits across from him, because he noticed he still seemed uncomfortable, their feet almost touching.

They sit in silence, only the sound of their breathing filling the air.

There is something really nice about being stuck in a room. You have time to think, to breathe, to stop worrying about the little details of your life. However, it’s hard to think of anything when the man you despise the most is locked in that same room, with you.

It’s harder when you question the nature of your feelings—does Hao hate Hanbin as much as before? It’s distracting to be in a room with Hanbin—confusing, nerve-wracking, surprisingly comfortable. 

Something hits him in the legs—a basketball. He looks up to meet Hanbin’s mischievous look and a teasing grin on his face. What an idiot, Hao thinks, endeared by the cute expression on Hanbin’s face.

The basketball hitting him reminds him of the punch that hit that guy’s face. It really bothers him. Why did Hanbin hit him? He can’t help but think that the Hanbin he got to see these past few weeks wouldn’t be the type to do that. He hopes he’s right. He wants to believe in him, for some reason.

He cuts the silence with a question. “Why did you punch that guy?”

“He was talking shit,” Hanbin replies immediately.

“Is that a good reason to do that? If you punched every person who talked shit, you’d punch everyone,” Hao says, frowning.

“I don’t do that,” Hanbin sighs, looking like he’s being unfairly accused.

“What? Punch people? You did.” Hao snorts.

Hanbin fidgets with his fingers, head hanging low. In a low voice, he admits, “It was the first time.” Hao’s surprised. It’s true he never saw Hanbin hit anyone, but he thought he was like the others.

Hanbin’s not a violent boy. He never thought he’d ever hit someone, but there was a good reason. “He really deserved it, trust me,” he assures him.

 “Why? What did he say?”

“Really bad things,” Hanbin says vaguely, not sure if it’s a good idea to give more details.

“Like?”

“Homophobic, disrespectful stuff. Things you don’t want to hear,” Hanbin confesses, carefully looking at Hao’s reaction.

“Oh.” Maybe Hanbin did the right thing. “What did he say exactly?” Hao asks curiously, knowing it’s only going to piss him off.

Hanbin hesitates. He doesn’t want the words to hurt Hao. “Hm…he was talking about you. He called you a slut, used the f-word…among other disgusting things,” he answers, choosing his words with caution. Then, he rushes to add, “Which were obviously not true.” Hao smiles slightly at Hanbin.

He understands. It would have been hard not to hit him. “He deserved it,” Hao exclaims so quickly it makes Hanbin chuckle.

 “You’re not mad?” he asks, his eyes sparkling with hope and some kind of relief.

He’s not mad at Hanbin anymore—after knowing the reason, he can’t. He’s touched, even—touched that he defended him, that he stood up for him. “Why would I be? This guy is disgusting.” He gives a sincere smile to Hanbin, who returns it instantly.

Hanbin is relieved Hao isn’t mad and is finally talking to him. Looks like his plan is a success.

They’ve been stuck in here for about an hour already, and the texts are still unsent. At this rate, they’ll have to stay the whole night. Hanbin’s not thrilled at the idea, but at least Hao is with him.

Hanbin shivers at the idea—a whole night with Hao. Not the best conditions, but spending time with Hao is always great.

It’s the best opportunity to get closer to him. It’s a chance he’s not going to waste.

“I’m bored,” Hao suddenly says, lifting his head to look pointlessly at the ceiling.

“Me too,” Hanbin echoes. “Let’s get to know each other!” he exclaims, seizing his chance. Say yes, please, he prays.

Hao shrugs. “Why?” It’s not a no.

“Why not?” he tries. “Let me prove to you that I’m not the asshole you think I am,” Hanbin says confidently.

Hao snorts. “Okay.” This can be fun—they’re bored anyway. Hao doesn’t think Hanbin is an asshole anymore, but he keeps that for himself.

Hanbin internally celebrates the fact that Hao, for once, did not reject his offer. Quick, a question. He touches his chin with his fingers thoughtfully. “What’s your favorite color?” And the award of the most boring question goes to: Hanbin!

Hao must think so too because he teasingly says, “Lame.” A second later he adds, “Pink.”

Hanbin smiles sweetly. “Like your hair,” he notes, pointing at Hao’s sumptuous pink hair. It looks so divine on him.

“Yeah, like my hair,” Hao chuckles, rolling his eyes playfully. “What about you?”

“Blue. Not like my hair.” Why is he so awkward?

Hao surprises himself when he says, “Brown suits you.” Who said that? He should just shut up because why did he just say that. Ugh. No lies were told, but Hanbin didn’t have to know he thought this.

Hanbin grins in satisfaction, running his hair through his locks, clearly liking the compliment. “Favorite animal?”

“Is this your idea of getting to know each other?” Hao teases, laughing at the dull questions.

Hanbin pouts, looking down. “I don’t know what to ask.”

“Do you know those ’50 questions to know someone better” on internet?”

“These are so stupid,” Hanbin laughs. Hao agrees, nodding as he laughs.  

“Let’s do that,” Hao offers. Hanbin is pleasantly surprised to see him actively trying to participate in this conversation.

“There’s no wi-fi though,” Hanbin reminds him.

“We can improvise.” Hanbin shrugs, nodding in agreement.

“I never got to know what’s your favorite animal,” he says, making Hao giggle.

“Cats.”

“Me too!” Hanbin exclaims, beaming, like it’s the craziest thing ever.

“So does half the planet,” Hao teases sarcastically. “You’re not special.”

Hanbin pouts, feigning to be affected by Hao’s words. “Favorite movie?” After seeing the are-you-serious look on Hao’s face, he adds, “Boring. I know.”

“I can’t choose one. But I like romantic movies the most. Don’t laugh!” Hao admits, hitting Hanbin’s ankle with his foot.

Hanbin throws his hands in the air in surrender, grinning. “I like them too!”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I really do. I watch them with my sister,” he confesses, smiling at the memories.

That’s cute, Hao thinks. Something he never expected. He thought Hanbin would be the type of brother who doesn’t care about his sister. He really knows nothing about Hanbin.

“Favorite book?” Hanbin asks. Another boring question. Does Hanbin even read? “Yes, I read,” he says, answering Hao’s internal question. Can he read his mind? “I see the doubtful look in your eyes, princess.”

The nickname. Princess. It gives Hao goosebumps.

“My favorite is The Song of Achilles,” Hanbin tells Hao. He can’t believe he just found out Hanbin reads. It never crossed his mind that the captain of the basketball team read. It’s even more surprising that they share a favorite book.

“We have a lot in common,” Hao says, still amazed by what he just learned.

“Told you. I’m not the asshole you thought I was,” Hanbin declares, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Hao rolls his eyes.

“Okay. Let’s go deeper.” Hanbin has a “That’s what she said” on the tip of his tongue, but he holds it in—that’s not very ‘I’ll-prove-that-I’m-not-an-asshole’ of him. He’s trying to impress Hao here—can’t let the teenage boy in him win.

Hao glances at the ceiling, thinking of what to ask. He’s so implicated in this getting-to-know-each-other thing, it warms Hanbin’s heart. “Hm, who’s your favorite person?”

“Matthew. He’s like my brother. We grew up together. He’s always been there—supporting me, helping me, taking care of me, loving me. I don’t know what I’d do without him,” he says softly with a bright smile. 

Hao can see the sincerity in Hanbin’s eyes. He smiles at the genuine confession. “My favorite person is Gyuvin. He’s my Matthew.” He chuckles lightly, his smile dropping. “Although he hates me lately.”

“He doesn’t. Talk to him. Everything will be okay,” Hanbin reassures him with a comforting smile, holding his gaze until Hao returns the smile. “If you had one day left to live, what would you do?” he changes the subject, seeing that Hao was worrying again.

“I’ve never thought about that,” Hao says, trying to think of an answer.

Hanbin answers for him. “I think I’d spend it with my mom. She’s the one who gave me birth, isn’t it only right to spend my last moments with her?”

Hao thinks about it for a second and nods. Hanbin expects him to say something smart, instead he says, “You’re such a mama’s boy, Sung Hanbin.” He scoffs dramatically, laughing. Hanbin rolls his eyes, chuckling at Hao’s comment.

“What about you? What would you do?”

“Yeah, I’d spend it with my mom too. She’s the last person I’d want to see,” Hao says.

“Wow. You’re such a mama’s boy, Zhang Hao,” Hanbin teases, imitating Hao’s voice from earlier. And Hao loves the way his name sound on Hanbin’s lips—it’s the way he says it so perfectly.

He giggles. It feels easy to talk to him. He’s actually having a not-so-bad time right now. It makes him forget all about being stuck in this small room.

“What’s something you’re scared of?” Hanbin continues, playing with the basketball in his hands. “Not a phobia, something—”

“Something deep?”

“Something deep,” Hanbin affirms. “I’ll go first. I—I’m scared to disappoint people,” he confesses, looking down at the ball in his lap. It’s not something he can admit to just anyone—he’s only told one person before, Matthew.

“What do you mean?” Hao asks, tilting his head, attentively looking at Hanbin.

“I don’t know—I guess I just want people to be proud of me, to only see the good sides of me. Like, basketball is the only thing I’m good at, and if I don’t do well, I’m scared people will look at me differently,” he explains, stumbling over some words, not daring to meet Hao’s eyes.

“Mhm,” Hao hums. “I feel that too. Not with basketball obviously,” he mocks himself, making Hanbin snort. “With studying.” He looks at the shelf behind Hanbin. “Everyone expect so much from you, what if you fail them?”

“Exactly.” Hanbin smiles and knocks his foot against Hao’s to catch his eyes. “It feels nice to be understood.” Hao nods, nudging Hanbin’s foot back with a playful kick. 

“Can I ask you something?” Hao asks Hanbin.

“Yes.”

“Do you love basketball or are you just playing because you’re good at it?”

“I love it. That’s the thing I love the most. Maybe being good is part of why I love it, yeah, but mainly it’s because of the thrill, the excitement that I feel stepping on the floor, the pride I feel when the ball drops through the net and I hear the cheers of the crowd. Everyone’s looking at me, everyone sees me. I wouldn’t play if I didn’t love it. I play for myself, not anyone else. I play because it makes me happy,” Hanbin says, an enthusiastic grin on his face.

He looks so passionate—eyes lighting up as he talks about basketball. It’s beautiful. To have something so precious that makes you smile, that makes life better. Hao’s not sure he has something like that in his life—a passion. He envies Hanbin.

He tilts his head back, thoughtful. “What are you thinking about?” Hanbin asks in a low voice.

“Nothing—just, I don’t have something that makes me happy like that,” Hao confesses. “I like a lot of things, but none of them really makes my heart beat, you know. There’s nothing I wake up excited for. Does that make sense?” Once again, he’s surprised at how easily he confides in Hanbin.

“Maybe you just haven’t found it yet,” Hanbin says, in an attempt to comfort Hao, to give him hope. He means it. And he hopes Hao finds whatever that thing is for him.

A comfortable silence, in no way heavy or awkward, settles over them. Hao is looking mindlessly around the room, while Hanbin’s gaze is fixed on Hao and how pretty he looks under the subtle, yellowish light of the room.

He knows things about Hao already—he has the stalking-your-crush to thank for that—but getting to truly know him, his fears, his joy, through Hao himself, is a different type of feeling. Hao seems to be comfortable sharing that with him, it makes Hanbin want to jump in joy. Looks like his plan to get closer to Hao worked. He wants to know more, he wants to know everything about him.

Hanbin smiles tenderly at Hao secretly. This is not just a simple crush anymore—hasn’t been for a while now. Actually, it stopped being an innocent crush since he started “pursuing” him. He’s fucked—unless Hao opens up his heart to him.

“What’s one thing that nobody knows about you?” he breaks the silence, making Hao jump a little at the sudden noise.

“Like a secret? Hao asks, his gaze falling on Hanbin.

Hanbin hums in response.

“Why should I tell you?” he says, his tone teasing, raising an eyebrow. Ouch. He’s right, isn’t he? Who is Hanbin to know Hao’s secrets?

Hanbin’s about to take the question back when he hears Hao laugh. “I’ll tell you, if you promise not to tell anyone,” Hao says, leaning in slightly. The room is small, he’s so close, Hanbin holds his breath. But he’s gone in a second, letting Hanbin breathe.

“I cheated on a test once,” he whispers, looking around as if someone could hear them.

“You cheated on a test? The Zhang Hao cheated?” Hanbin exclaims, placing a hand on his chest dramatically.

He crinkles his nose, puts a hand on his face and says, “I was hungover.” He laughs, half in embarrassment, half mockingly. “Went to this wild party the day before and barely got any sleep.”

Hanbin laughs. “I can’t believe you cheated. Never thought you were the type to do that.”

“Because I’m a nerd?”

“Because you’re honest,” Hanbin says. Hao gives him a weak smile. 

He brushes off the subject. “What about you?” He narrows his eyes.

Hanbin takes a deep breath. “I have a hamster,” he says seriously, waiting for Hao to mock him.

Hao laughs, thinking he’s joking, but then he sees he’s actually serious, so he holds his laugh. “You have a hamster?” he asks, trying to contain his laugh. “I’m not making fun of you. It’s just not something I expected you to say, ever.”

“I mean, like 5 people know about it so it’s not really something that nobody knows about, but yeah,” he sighs. “That’s my baby.” Hao finds the way he calls it his baby and the way he smiles thinking of it very endearing.

"What's her name?" Hao asks, genuinely curious.

"How did you know it was a girl?" Hanbin asks, his face looking like a shocked hamster.

"Just a hunch," he shrugs. "You look like a girl dad."

The hamster's dad chuckles. "Her name's Binini. Want to see a picture?" he says excitedly, already getting his phone out of his pocket to show Hao his baby.

Hao bursts out laughing, which makes Hanbin look up. He looks hurt. Hao waves his hands in front of him. "No, no. It's just—you're cute," he shyly says, blushing.

Hanbin freezes. Hao called him cute. He wants to scream. He tries so hard to keep calm, but his brain goes AAAAAHHHHHH, and his heart threatens to jump out of his chest. Hao finds him cute.

The smile he tried to contain inevitably appears on his face, betraying his feelings. He puts a hand in front of his mouth to try to hide it, but to no avail. He's so obvious even a blind person would notice.

In the middle of him freaking out, Hao says, “You’re surprising.”

“In a good way?”

“Not bad.”

Hao’s gaze flickers to the tattoo on Hanbin’s arm, a question suddenly popping in his mind. He motions to the tattoo and asks, “Do you have any regrets?”

Hanbin glances at his tattoo. “Who doesn’t?” He says nothing for a moment. “My grandfather died when I was 13.”

Alarmed, Hao says, “I’m sorry.”

Hanbin shakes his head with a small smile, waving his hand. “I really loved him, and he loved me—I was his favorite. We used to be so close, you know, it was us against the world. I thought it would always be this way. But I was wrong. I told him that I liked boys, and he stopped talking to me, or even looking at me.” He takes a deep breath. Hao listens to him attentively. “I thought that he would be the last person to turn his back on me for being gay, that even if the whole world hated me, he wouldn’t. Turns out he was the only one who hated me for it.” Hanbin chuckles dryly, shaking his head. “The 12-year-old I was back then was so proud to finally tell his grandfather who he really was. I was so happy, Hao. But that feeling was crushed when the person I loved the most—and who I thought loved me the most too—looked at me as if I was the most disgusting thing he’d ever seen. My grandfather died hating me, after a lifetime of loving me unconditionally. If I had the chance, I wish I could have changed that,” he confesses, tapping his fingers on his legs. Hao could see the pain in his eyes as he said this—it almost made him cry. No one should experience that. It’s unfair.

“You regret coming out to him?”

Hao looks at Hanbin with genuine care in his eyes, it makes his heart skip a beat. “No. I don’t regret telling him, because if I didn’t, I’d have regretted not telling him. But knowing how he reacted, yes, sometimes I regret coming out to him. If I had just kept it to myself, then he would’ve died loving me. What I regret is not telling him, it’s that I didn’t have enough time to make him accept me. If that makes sense?”

Hanbin’s eyes widen, and his heart rate increases when Hao leans forward to place a comforting hand on his hands. Who knew being pitiful could be more effective than a flirting technique?

“It does. I’m sorry this happened to you, Hanbin. No one should be hated for something as simple as loving,” Hao comforts him, looking in his eyes with a delicate gaze. He doesn’t know that Hanbin is going crazy because of the feeling of his hand touching his.

Hanbin offers him a soft smile in reassurance, assuring him that it’s okay. “I just try to remember how it was like before. When I knew he loved me.”

How can anyone not love the person in front of him, Hao thinks. He looks so sincere and so pure, like he has no idea how cruel people and the world can be—

What is Hao even saying? He hates him, doesn’t he? He just feels bad for Hanbin. It’s sad, cruel, unfair.

Seeing the adorable pout on Hao’s face, and the sad gaze looking at him, Hanbin asks, “You okay?”

“I had no idea,” Hao breathes, a certain emotion in his voice. There’s so much he didn’t know about Hanbin, so much he has yet to know.

“We’re all fighting our own demons. It’s fine.”

“Is it?”

Hanbin nods. “I’m over it. I mean, I’ll always wish things had turned out differently, but I grew up and I realized I was lucky enough to have people who love me regardless of who I am. That’s what matters. There’s no point in being stuck in the past,” he smiles brightly—a smile that lights up the whole room, and that could give hope to the most hopeless people.

It makes Hao smile too. “You’re right.”

“I’m always right,” Hanbin says cockily, shrugging, which earns him a light slap on the arm.

At the same time, Hao’s stomach rumbles. They have been there for more than two hours now, Hao hasn’t eaten anything since lunch—can’t blame him for being hungry. Hao coughs to hide the noise, but Hanbin heard it already. He laughs as he stands up, heading to a corner of the room. Hao follows him with his eyes. Hanbin reaches for something on a shelf behind some old, blue pompoms. Hao gasps when he sees Hanbin pull out snacks.

Hanbin turns to him with a proud grin. “Want to eat something?” He sits back down in front of Hao.

There are different snacks, cookies, sweet and sour candies, chocolate—a lot to satisfy Hao’s sweet tooth. He salivates at the sight of it. The question is, why are those here?

Hanbin must be a mind reader because he answers his question before he can ask, “This, princess, is the basketball team’s secret hiding spot. We keep them here, just in case.” He insists on the nickname, making Hao smile against his will. Hao can admit that he grew to be quite fond of the nickname.

“Turns out to be useful,” Hao laughs.

Hanbin hands Hao a box of Pepero. Before Hao can grab it, Hanbin takes it back with a teasing grin on his face. He opens the box and reaches for a stick. He hesitates a moment. “If you want it, take it,” he says boldly, smirking as he puts in his mouth, challenging Hao. An improvised Pepero game; Hanbin feels like a genius. Ultimate flirting technique.

He’s not very confident that Hao will do it, though. He waits and prays as he watches Hao deliberate in his mind. He doesn’t move, his gaze fixed on Hanbin.

Thinking Hao won’t do it, Hanbin reaches for the treat in his mouth with his hand. His hand is pushed back by Hao, who slowly leans closer, inch by inch, until his lips wrap around the other side of the Pepero. Hanbin’s heart is going to explode. He did it.

They stare at each other, not moving. Hanbin is completely frozen, taken aback by his own plan. His eyes are stuck on the way Hao’s lips are so naughtily wrapped around the snack. It slightly turns him on, but let’s ignore that. Anyway. He stops his freaky thoughts from wandering before it gets too wild and visible. He gulps.

Hao’s looking at him with an expression in his eyes he’s never seen before. If Hanbin didn’t know any better, he’d say it’s something akin to lust.

They are so close. Did someone turn the heater on and pushed the walls of the room? It feels much smaller, much hotter.

Hanbin’s overheating. He has to hold back from screaming when Hao starts moving, his lips getting closer by the second as he bites onto the stick, looking at Hanbin with this insane gaze that drives Hanbin crazy. Hao’s face is so close to his own—a sight he never saw before. The piece left between their lips is small. It would only take one or two bites for their lips to touch.

Hanbin stops thinking when he feels Hao pull back, his lips detaching from the pepero. He drops the small piece in his mouth, letting it fall to the floor as he places a hand on Hao’s nape. It happens so fast. One second they’re looking at each other, feeling each other’s breath—Hao’s face frozen in surprise, Hanbin ready to pounce. The next, Hanbin pulls Hao in, their lips sealing. 

It’s a small kiss, soft and delicate. It doesn’t last long. Hao pulls back, flinching as if Hanbin’s lips burnt him. He’s frozen, surprised by the unexpected kiss. His heart is beating wildly in his chest, his brain crashes, unable to think of anything. His gaze is intense, locked onto Hanbin’s. He’s incapable of processing what just happened.

He replays the touch of Hanbin’s lips, the touch of his hand on the back of his neck, on his mind. A shiver runs through his body. Hanbin kissed him. His lips just touched the man he’s supposed to hate.

Is this a dream? It can’t be real. If it was, Hanbin would never kiss him, and Hao wouldn’t like the way his lips felt on his. He wouldn’t grab the collar of Hanbin’s shirt to crash their lips together again.

But that’s exactly what he does, and this is all very much real. Because he doesn’t wake up when Hanbin bites his lower lip.

He feels like the world is on fire as he moves his lips against Hanbin’s, slowly and eagerly. Hanbin’s perfume is intoxicating, making his head spin. He can feel Hanbin’s heart beating in his chest, or is it his own? He doesn’t know. It feels like they are one—intertwined. He feels things he’s never felt before, things he can’t explain, his mind too preoccupied by the lips of the boy in front of him.

Hanbin is a good kisser—an awfully impressive kisser. He understands why the world is at his feet, begging to have a chance with him. Kissing Hanbin is 100% worth it. Best kiss of his life. 10/10. He could get high on it. He hates Hanbin for being so perfect.

He cups Hanbin’s cheeks, deepening the kiss. The hand previously on his nape travels from his hair to his neck, pulling him closer until there’s no space left between them. They don’t pull away to breathe, breathing in each other’s mouth. It’s suffocating—behind kissed like you matter.

Their lips move in sync, rushed and hungry, like they’d been waiting their whole life for it. Hao never wanted this, but he can’t get enough of it now—he needs more. This feels too good.

When they finally pull away, they are both panting. Hanbin is on cloud nine, in a daze from the kiss. It feels unreal. He kissed Hao, and Hao kissed him back. How lucky is he. This is the best day of his life. There’s no better feeling that kissing Hao, tasting his lips and feeling the burning touch of his hand on his face. Now that he got to experience it, he won’t able to live without it. This wasn’t enough. He wants to keep kissing him until he can’t breathe anymore.

In front of him, Hao looks flushed. He stands up abruptly, staring at Hanbin in disbelief of what he just did. Being in that room makes him do crazy things. Does Hao regret it, Hanbin panics.

Hao looks away, avoiding Hanbin’s heavy gaze on him. Now that he’s not in the heat of the moment anymore, he wants to run away. He can’t. The door is still locked. He’s stuck here, with Hanbin, with no way to escape. He sits back down, farther away from Hanbin as possible.

This is wrong. It feels like he did something right by doing something wrong. His mind makes no sense right now. He can’t think with Hanbin around.

“Looks like you don’t hate me so much anymore,” Hanbin cuts the silence.

“I still hate you,” Hao hisses, trying to convince himself as well as Hanbin. It’s useless to say that it doesn’t work.

Hanbin snorts. “You say you hate me but you kissed me back, Zhang Hao,” he teases. “That’s an interesting way to hate someone. I wish you’d show me that hatred more often,” he adds, referring to the kiss. He can see the blush appearing on Hao’s face.

Perhaps Hao was wrong all along. Maybe what he has been feeling since the beginning was the opposite of what he thought.

Was it ever hate?

Or was it love all along?

He kept denying what is supposedly the truth. Maybe it was never hatred— just attraction he mistook for hate because he couldn't understand why he was drawn to him. All this time, he wanted a reason—whatever that was—an excuse to despise him. What if he hated Hanbin because he couldn’t have him? Thinking he liked girls could be part of the reason. His friends often teased him about having a crush on Hanbin, what if they were right all along, and could see what Hao refused to see? Did Hao develop feelings for Hanbin at some point, and hid his crush behind hatred? Why would he do that?

One thing he’s sure of as he watches the boy in front of him is that there’s nothing but positive feelings he feels for him right now. He likes the sight in front of him. He likes the eyes looking back at him, the mole on his face, the way his ears and his cheeks reddened after the moment they just had, his beautiful brown hair where Hao wants to run his fingers through, the way he’s biting the lips that Hao wants to feel against his again—for scientific purposes, to make sense of his feelings, of course.

At this moment, Hao likes everything about Hanbin. But does he like Hanbin? Or is it just the kiss that confused him, and made a mess of his mind? Can he trust his heart right now?

If he decides to trust his heart now, then it’s telling him that he likes Hanbin. If he decides to trust his brain, then he’s just confused. Anyone would be in that situation, right?

Just to make sure, Hao leans in again and gives Hanbin a small peck on the lips, making Hanbin’s eyes widen before he smirks. “Again?” he says teasingly.

The sound of Hanbin’s phone buzzing interrupts them. “Oh my god!” Hanbin exclaims, lifting his phone in the air in triumph. “Matthew got my text! He said he’d be there in 5 minutes, 20 minutes ago,” he announces, confused that his friend isn’t here already.

Honestly, he’s a little disappointed that the alone time with Hao will be over. He doesn’t want to sequestrate Hao here, knowing that he hates being locked up, he’s glad that they’re going to be freed soon.

Hao seems to be sharing his happiness, squealing excitedly at the news. “Finally!”

“You sound so happy to be rid of me,” Hanbin says, pouting.

“Very!” Hao replies. He hates being stuck in that room. Hanbin’s company isn’t so bad, though, he had fun, but he won’t tell him that.

A comfortable silence fills the air as they wait for Hanbin’s friend to come save them.

Hanbin clears his throat. “Hey, hm…Can I confess someth—“

“You planned it, right?” Hao interrupts, already knowing the answer. He just needs the confirmation.

Hanbin tilts his head in confusion—Hao thinks he looks quite adorable. “When you gave me the note,” Hao states more than ask.

Hanbin rubs the back of his neck and chuckles. “Yes. Sorry. I just—I never planned for this to happen, but I did plan to do detention with you. It wasn’t supposed to end that way though.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you actually planned to lock us here. You didn’t tell me about the door,” Hao complains.

Hanbin sighs. ”Sorry about that. It didn’t cross my mind.”

Hao smiles, looking behind Hanbin. “It’s okay. It was quite…fun? Not being locked up in that stupid tiny room, talking to you. I mean, I guess. Not horrible, you know. Anyway,” he babbles, cringing at his honest words. It’s not natural for him to compliment Hanbin, he’s used to do the exact opposite.

Hanbin’s heart swells with joy. Hao liked talking to him. This must really be a dream, because he kissed Hao and received a compliment from him too?????? This can’t be real. It feels like heaven. The trick-Hao-into-detention plan was a huge success.

Hanbin laughs giddily. “I know you loved it.” He smirks. “Especially my lips—"

The door bursts open, a light breeze filling the room as it opens. The two of them stand up abruptly, wanting to get out of here as soon as possible.

Matthew, their savior, is standing there, looking at them with a mocking grin on his face. Gunwook is there too, with the same face. They both laugh at the sight of Hao and Hanbin in that room. It’s something they never imagined seeing in this lifetime.

“What took you so long?” Hanbin asks his friend. Matthew and Gunwook shift awkwardly, looking away as they clear their throats.

Hao moves to stand by Hanbin’s side. “Your friends were making out. Hope that helps,” he says, touching his shoulder as he exits the room. When he’s next to Matthew, he sneakily adds, “Nice hickey.”

Matthew’s hand flies to his neck, trying to hide it while Gunwook smirks beside him.

“What?” Hanbin gasps, shocked by what he just heard.

His friends sigh, chuckling at Hanbin’s dramatic reaction.

“Let’s go,” Gunwook says as he starts dragging a shocked hamster out the room.

“You guys made out?” Hanbin says, looking scandalized about the new information. It feels like he just caught his parents in the bedroom. He had no idea that his friends were doing that behind his back.

Hao laughs at Hanbin’s reaction from where he’s standing at the door of the gym. He’s so dramatic.

He hears Matthew say, “Nothing you haven’t done before. Remember that guy from the party at Ricky’s last year, you guys were going at it—” Hanbin shuts him by putting a hand on his mouth.

Oh. So, all this time Hao thought Hanbin was making out with girls, he was actually doing it with boys. Guess he was at least right about one thing.

What if Hao was just another guy Hanbin made out with? What if he only kissed him because he was bored? Hao sighs, trying to stop the overthinking. He leaves quietly after waving to Hanbin and his friends.

Hanbin puts a hand around his best friend’s shoulder. “You don’t want Gunwook to know about all your dirty secrets, do you?” He threatens Matthew, whispering so only he can hear.

“Haha let’s forget about it,” Matthew laughs nervously, putting an arm around Hanbin’s waist as they leave the gym.

That night, Hanbin doesn’t tell his friends everything that happened in the room when they ask. He tells them about their talk but omits the kiss they shared. This is a secret between him and Hao. He doesn’t even know how Hao feels about it.

What happens in the storage room stays in the storage room.

When Hao arrives at school the next morning, he’s surprised to see Hanbin isn’t here. He’s also a bit disappointed, but there’s no way he will admit that.

He was looking forward to seeing him, but he buries that thought. He doesn’t care whether Hanbin is at school or not. Denial is his best friend.

He spends the rest of the morning wondering why Hanbin isn’t here, if he’s okay. His thoughts always wander to Hanbin whenever he tries to focus on the class. He isn’t listening to anything the teacher is saying. Instead, he thinks of Hanbin, of the kiss, of everything that happened in that room last night when it was just the two of them. 

Is Hanbin thinking of Hao too? Is Hanbin thinking of the kiss too?

Truth is Hao can’t stop thinking about the kiss. No matter how much he tries to deny it, he can’t stop thinking about Hanbin—the Hanbin he saw in that room was different from the one he used to see. Being stuck in that room made Hao see Hanbin in another light.

He tried to forget, to pretend he doesn’t care about what happened, but he can’t lie to himself, he can’t get it out of his mind. Since last night, he keeps replaying the events, the kiss a hundred times in his mind, over and over and over again. It’s stuck, glued to his mind. Hanbin consumes his every thought.

He replays everything: what they said, the touches, the laughs, the kiss—especially the kiss, too many times. The way Hanbin’s lips felt against his own, the way they tasted, the way it made him feel like he was on fire.

He doesn’t understand himself. It’s all so confusing and he still haven’t made sense of his feelings. He didn’t sleep the whole night, turning around in his bed and staring at the ceiling, trying to understand. How could he like Hanbin when he’s spent years hating him? He’s always been so sure of it. A kiss was all it took to destroy everything he’d been so sure of.

Hao can’t stop his thoughts from wandering to Hanbin. He was so lost in his Hanbin thoughts that he didn’t hear the teacher ask him a question. Later, he didn’t hear his friends talking to him because he was daydreaming—more like daynightmaring—about Hanbin.

What’s wrong with him? Why can’t he just forget and move on?

It’s not helping that Hanbin is absent. He keeps wondering why he’s nowhere to be seen. He’s curious, that’s all.

Unconsciously, or very consciously, he ends up asking the first friend of Hanbin he sees in the hallway when he leaves the classroom. It happens to be Gunwook, the one who freed them yesterday.

As expected, Gunwook laughs when Hao asks. “Are you worried about him?” he teases, wiggling his eyebrows. “You can’t stop thinking about him since last night?”

Oh, he doesn’t know how right he is. But Hao is not about to tell him that. He snorts. “Nah. Just curious,” he brushes it off, trying to play cool.

“Text him if you’re so curious,” Gunwook says.

That’s not a bad idea. Does he want Hanbin to know he cares, though? “Why don’t you just tell me?”

“I don’t know why he’s not here,” Gunwook shrugs. He knows very well why Hanbin isn’t here, he just wants to push Hao to talk to him directly.

“You’re his friend.”

“So? I’ve been busy,” Gunwook replies.

Right at this moment, Matthew enters the scene. Hao doesn’t miss the way Gunwook places a hand on his waist. He also notices the hickey on Matthew’s neck has been covered. Are they a thing now, or have they always been like this? Hao was too focused on Hanbin to notice.

Matthew seems surprised to see Hao talking to Gunwook. “He misses Hanbin,” Gunwook clarifies, motioning toward Hao.

Matthew laughs. “He’s sick,” he tells Hao. “Must have caught a cold.”

“Is he okay?” Hao asks. Despite the attempt to hide it, the worry in his voice is obvious.

“Ask him yourself.”

These two aren’t helping. Hao sighs and leaves, a new thought in his mind. Is Hanbin okay?

Fuck it. Hao needs to know or he’s never going to stop thinking about it.

Hao

11:59 am: hey

11:59 am: I heard you’re sick

The reply comes almost instantly as if Hanbin was waiting for it.

Hanbin

12:00 pm: worried ‘bout me? :)

Hao

12:01 pm: pfft

12:01 pm: you wish

Hanbin

12:02 pm: I’m fine, thanks for asking :))

Hao

12:03 pm: *rolling my eyes*

12:03 pm: as class president, i just want to make sure you keep up with class content

No replies come for a few minutes. Hao bites his nails, patiently waiting. Why did Hanbin stop answering?

When he sees Hanbin typing, he sends a new text.

Hao

12:10 pm: are you okay?

Hanbin

12:10 pm: sorry, didn’t feel well :’)

Hao

12:11 pm: what happened?

Hanbin

12:11 pm: I threw up lol

12:12 pm: but I’m okay

Hao

12:12 pm: are you sure?

Hanbin

12:12 pm: yes! don’t worry!

12:13 pm: even though you don’t worry about me haha

He receives Hanbin last text at the same time he sends his.

Hao

12:13 pm: I won’t!

That’s obviously a lie. He’s been worried since the morning, and it hasn’t stopped—it even got worse now that he talked to Hanbin.

That’s why a few hours later, after class, he finds himself in front of Hanbin’s house. He’s been standing in front of the door for a few minutes now, debating whether it’s a good idea or a totally stupid one he’s going to regret very soon.

His hand hovers over the doorbell, hesitating. He turns around to leave, then walks back to the door, taking a deep breath before putting a finger on the doorbell without pressing it. Shit, why is he so nervous?

He startles when the door flies open, revealing a sick-looking Hanbin in a white shirt and grey sweatpants. He looks ridiculously fine, but that’s totally not why Hao’s here.

“You might want to press the doorbell next time,” Hanbin says, chuckling at Hao’s visible surprise on his face. His laugh rapidly turns into coughing which makes Hao instinctively get closer to put a hand on his back.

Hanbin waves a hand, signaling that he’s fine and invites Hao into the house. It takes a few seconds for Hao to process what Hanbin is telling him, and he enters.

He’s been here before, for a Halloween party Hanbin organized. His friends had to promise him a month of free drinks every day for him to accept going. It looks better during the day—homey, cozy, and pretty. You can tell this is a house full of love, with pictures everywhere, kids drawings on the fridge, and medals and trophies on display.

“What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting you…at all,” Hanbin says, clearly surprised by Hao’s visit.

“Hm, I…” He can’t find his words. What the hell? When did it become so hard to speak to Hanbin? “I brought you the stuff you missed from class today,” he stutters, handing papers to Hanbin. That’s not the only reason. He was worried about Hanbin after their small exchange by message and needed to make sure he was doing okay.

“Hm, thank you,” Hanbin says, taking the papers and looking at them quickly. “Do you want something to drink?” he asks hesitantly.

“You should rest. I just wanted to give you the notes,” Hao answers. He can’t stay, it’d be too weird.

“Okay, then,” Hanbin says, a bit disappointed. He starts coughing and it only reinforces Hao’s decision to leave. He’s still worried about him, but there’s nothing he can do.

There’s this weird tension between them, like something’s left unspoken, undone. And this magnetic attraction pulling them in, but apart at the same time. Neither of them dares to make a move or say a word.

Hao doesn’t say anything more. He offers a small smile and leaves. Well, that was so awkward.

He feels bad for leaving like that, so he decides to send a quick text to Hanbin.

Hao

5:28 pm: take care of yourself

It’s nothing special, but it gets the feeling across. Just a genuine text, a genuine feeling.

What Hao doesn’t know is that it means a lot to Hanbin. He stares and smiles stupidly at the text for at least five minutes, giggling like a teenage girl in love.

Hao feels so much more than he shows. He wants to make Hanbin and everyone—probably even himself—believe that he doesn’t care, but Hanbin knows he got into his heart, at least just a little. He knows Hao is worried about him. Never before would he have come all the way to his house just to give him notes that he knows Hanbin doesn’t really care about anyway.

Hanbin successfully made his way into Hao’s heart.

Hanbin is back at school a few days later, all good and healthy. After the awkward interaction he had with Hao at his house, he looked forward to seeing his crush again. It’s been too long since the last time he saw him—only a few days, but Hanbin is down bad and a little dramatic when it comes to Hao.

He’s also been worried that what happened that night in the storage room made things awkward between them. They haven’t talked about it. What if Hao regrets it?

Hanbin doesn’t regret it at all. If it was only up to him, he’d do it again in a heartbeat, that’s all he’s thought about the past few days—Hao’s lips and how badly he wants to feel them again.

He isn’t sure how Hao feels about the kiss, so he decided to give him some time. Hanbin doesn’t want to push him into anything he doesn’t want. He doesn’t want to be too insistent. He wants Hao to come to him on his own will. If Hao wants to take things further, he should be the one to approach him first. Hanbin doesn’t want to rush into things and ruin every improvement he made with Hao.

Hao should be the one to open his arms for Hanbin, only if he wants to. Hanbin hopes that he wants to.

What Hanbin fears is that Hao doesn’t want any of the things he wants. If Hao thinks the kiss was a mistake, if he regrets it, Hanbin fears that he won’t stay around anymore and distance himself. He’s afraid that things will go back to the way they were before.

But then again, Hao kissed him back—it has to mean something, right? You don’t go around kissing people for no reason? You don’t kiss someone back and disappear after? Hao wouldn’t do that, right? He won’t?

Hanbin wishes, hopes, prays that Hao will finally give his heart to him.

The moment they see each other again, though, Hao acts like nothing happened. Nothing has changed. It’s even worse than before. All the progress Hanbin had made with Hao are gone.

Hao doesn’t greet him back when Hanbin waves at him. He doesn’t turn around and ignores him when Hanbin calls his name in class. He barely looks at him, and when Hanbin manages to make an eye contact with him, he looks away immediately as if Hanbin’s eyes were lasers.

The atmosphere is awkward and tense whenever they are in the same room. This doesn’t go unnoticed by their respective friends.

Hanbin told half the truth to his friends about what happened that night. Only Gunwook and Matthew know because they were the only ones aware of the situation. He told them—or more accurately, giggled and kicked his feet—about pretty much everything expect the kiss. He left that part out voluntarily.

Now why didn’t he tell them about it when it’s all he’s dreamed of and talked about for the past few months? Well, Hanbin wasn’t sure Hao would want anyone to know. He wants to respect his privacy. And also he kind of wants to gatekeep this moment. Keep things private but not secret for now.

Gunwook quirks an eyebrow. “Are you guys awkward because of what happened the other night?” he asks Hanbin, earning a few looks from people around them.

Hanbin puts a hand on his mouth, shutting him instantly. His other friends are next to them, and he doesn’t want them to know yet. He leans in close enough to whisper in Gunwook’s ear. “Say anything to the others, and I’ll tell them about you and Matthew,” he threatens, offering a fake smile to his friend.

Gunwook nods and pretends to zip his lips.

Ricky and Matthew blink cluelessly at their friends, throwing curious glances their way, wondering what they’re whispering about.

The two whisperers quickly change the subject, diverting it on some trivial basketball talk. While their friends are busy talking amongst themselves, Gunwook asks quietly, “Did you talk to him?”

With a sad face, Hanbin replies, “No. He’s been acting so weird. He doesn’t even look at me anymore. I think I ruined everything.” He sighs.

Gunwook cheers him up with a hand on his shoulder. “It’s only been a few hours. Maybe he’s just busy and you’re imagining things,” he says, trying to reassure his friend, who looks disappointed.

Hanbin’s not really convinced by his friend’s attempt at comforting him, but he nods. Hao probably just needs some time.

Much like Hanbin, Hao didn’t say anything to his friends about that night. Unlike Hanbin, he told them nothing, not even that he was stuck with him.

But he’s thought about it too much. He needs to tell someone, or he’ll explode.

“Hey, what if you kissed the man you hate—or thought you hated—and even though you tried to forget and pretend it never happened, you can’t stop thinking about it? Just asking for a friend!” Hao bursts out suddenly, interrupting Taerae in the middle of their conversation.

His friend gasps, mouth hanging open, completely frozen. “Oh my god!” he enunciates. “Zhang Hao! You kissed Hanbin?” he exclaims a little too excitedly and loudly. Hao looks around, telling him to keep his voice down. Thankfully, no one is around—it’s only the two of them.

“I was talking about a friend,” he corrects, rolling his eyes at his friend’s dramatic reaction.

“Don’t lie to me! I know you too well, my friend. You kissed Sung Hanbin,” he whisper-yells, looking at his friend proudly. “I can’t believe it,” he murmurs, eyes wide, trying to process what he just learned. “When, where, how, why?”

Hao sighs, knowing he can’t lie to his friend. “It just happened,” he shrugs, pretending it’s not a big deal. It is a very big deal, in fact.

“You like him?” Taerae asks, in a softer tone. It’s the tone he uses when he stops playing around and gets serious.

“I don’t know.” He runs his hands over his face and groans. “I’m confused now. Just a few days ago I hated him.”

“If you kissed him, I don’t think you hated him.” Here he goes, hitting him with the truth. Hao hates when Taerae does that, because he’s always right—he always knows what Hao feels better than Hao does himself.

“I really thought I did, but now—ugh, I don’t know what I feel anymore,” Hao sighs, looking ahead.

“You liked the kiss?” There’s no teasing in his voice, just a simple question. It’s rare to see Taerae so serious. It feels like talking to his mother—in a good way: warm, caring.

“More than I should’ve,” he admits, defeated.

Taerae tries hard not to yell at Hao’s answer. He presses his lips into a thin line, holding back a cheer. “It’s so over for you,” he chuckles.

“What?”

“You like him,” he states, nodding sadly as if this were bad news.

“Do I?” Hao’s brows furrow slightly, making that uncertain face—the one where you’re worried something you want to deny might be true.

“You liked kissing him, you can’t forget about it, and you’re looking for Hanbin everywhere you go—”

“How do you know I do that?” Hao cuts Taerae off, making him laugh.

“Anyone who has eyes can see that,” he says teasingly. Then in a softer voice, he adds, “It’s okay if you like him, Hao.”

His friend stares at him for a few seconds, unblinking. “I don’t know. Maybe I just enjoyed the kiss because it’s been too long since I kissed anyone. And because he’s a really good kisser.” At this point, Hao is just trying to find excuses. Deep down, he knows this isn’t true.

“He is? I knew there was a reason people wanted to hook up with him,” Taerae jokes, playfully getting hit by Hao and laughing. “Anyway. You like him. Stop being in denial.” Hit with the truth, once again.

“What if he doesn’t like me?” Hao worries.

Taerae bursts out laughing. What’s so funny? Hao thinks. “He does,” his friend deadpans, so sure of himself.

“How can you be so sure?”

“I have eyes,” he says, pointing his index and middle fingers at his eyes, then at Hao. “Just accept that you like him, Hao. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“It’s so wrong. It’s Hanbin.”

“So? Hanbin isn’t a murderer or anything.”

“He might as well be.”

Taerae fixes his posture and sits down properly. “Hao,” he says sternly, getting Hao’s full attention. He listens to him attentively, like a child listening to a parent’s lesson.

“Let yourself love, please,” he says in a soft voice filled with care, almost begging. “Try it out. You have nothing to lose.”

“I have my dignity to protect. I’m not going to be someone whose heart got broken by Sung Hanbin.”

Taerae sighs. He loves his friend, but he can be so frustrating. “Seriously, Hao, just do whatever you want to do now. Worry about the rest later. Let yourself enjoy this if that’s what you want. Hanbin seems to be sincere. He’s been trying to get close to you for weeks.”

Hao tilts his head. “What?”

Taerae chuckles. “Come on, Hao. Have you ever seen Sung Hanbin waste his time on anyone he doesn’t care about?” He raises his eyebrow in question.

Hao’s mouth parts in realization. “No,” he breathes.

Taerae lifts his hands as he shrugs, as if to say See? Then he raises his fists in front of him. “Go for it, babe!”

Hao’s lips curl into a small smile, amused by his friend. “I’ll think about it.”

Hanbin scrolls on his phone mindlessly while his friends talk excitedly about the recent basketball game. He’s wearing his varsity jacket, his bag slung over his shoulder carelessly, his hair down, covering his eyes. He’s so effortlessly handsome.

Taerae’s words echo in Hao’s mind as he looks at Hanbin across the hallway: Let yourself love. Let yourself enjoy this if that’s what you want.

Is this what he wants? Should he keep his distance, or go for it like Taerae said?

Whether he wants it or not, there’s an attraction he can’t control—something pulling him in.

Hanbin lifts his head, looking up from his phone, meeting Hao’s gaze. This time, Hao keeps his eyes on him, unable to look away. Hanbin holds his gaze.

They stare at each other for a few minutes as the world keeps moving. People walk, talk, and laugh around them. The sound of cars and a faint piano can be heard in the distance, but the two of them hear none of it—too focused on each other.

The world around them keeps moving, but their world—where it’s just the two of them—stops.

The sound of their hearts beating rings in their ears.

Hao doesn’t know who makes the first step, but they get closer. When they’re standing midway, facing each other, Hanbin grabs his arm with a strong grip—firm, but gentle. He leads them into the closest unoccupied room he can find—what seems to be an old art room Hao didn’t even know existed.

Hanbin closes the door with a swift movement, pinning Hao against it and caging him between his arms. The eyes looking back at Hao hold an intense gaze he’s never seen before.

Neither of them says a word. They look into each other’s eyes, breathing heavily, as if they just ran a marathon. In reality, they’re just trying to control themselves, not to throw themselves at each other.

Hanbin’s hand hovers near Hao’s face, close to his cheek. Hao feels his heart drum against his ribcage in anticipation. His brain short-circuits when Hanbin’s hand finally lands on his cheek, a blush creeping onto his face.

He feels hot all over.

“I can’t pretend it never happened,” Hanbin suddenly breathes, standing so close that Hao feels his breath on his lips. Hao knows exactly what Hanbin means—he can’t pretend either. It haunts him. He needs it again too.

Hanbin steps closer, still looking straight into Hao’s eyes, asking for a silent agreement. Hao answers with a quick nod. No need for words. He understands. He closes his eyes.

It takes only a second for Hanbin to close the distance, crashing his lips onto Hao’s like he’s been starved for weeks. God, he had missed this feeling. Hao’s lips are addicting. If he could, he’d never stop kissing him.

The world pauses and their hearts explode at the contact.

It’s messy and hungry, both of them tasting and feeling every inch of each other’s lips again. Soon enough, it turns more eager—teeth clashing and Hao’s bottom lip bitten by Hanbin. Their mouths move against each other desperately, hands wandering everywhere, wanting to touch every part of the other.

Hao’s hands circle around Hanbin’s neck, resting on the back of his head while he plays with his hair. Hanbin pulls him by the waist, trying to be as close as humanly possible with his free hand. The other stays on Hao’s cheek, his thumb caressing it slowly.

The old door rattles behind Hao’s back. They step away from it, Hanbin pinning him against the next wall. What’s with them and kissing in old rooms?

For a fleeting second, Hao’s aware of his surroundings and puts a hand on the doorknob to check if the door is open. It is. Hao is traumatized from last time—don’t mind him. Hanbin giggles into the kiss, noticing what he just did. He doesn’t break the kiss though.

They don’t pull apart to breathe, wanting to enjoy this for as long as possible. It feels too good, too perfect—so right. There’s this invisible connection between them. They move in sync, understanding each other and their needs perfectly without any words.

In between kisses, Hanbin murmurs, “I thought you hated me,” in a teasing manner.

“Just shut up and kiss me,” Hao says, crashing his lips against Hanbin’s savagely.

When they finally pull away from the kiss, they are panting. They stay in silence for a minute, catching their breath as they look into each other’s eyes passionately.

Hanbin cups Hao’s face with his hands, grinning as he presses a soft kiss on his lips. He feels so giddy. He can’t believe he’s holding Hao like this, kissing him as he pleases.

He throws his head back in happiness, making Hao giggle. “What does this mean?” Hanbin asks, gesturing between them with a finger. Hao kissed him, but he still isn’t sure about the way he feels about him.

“What do you want it to mean?” Hao answers with another question. He doesn’t have the answer himself. He doesn’t know what he wants. He just knows that he loves kissing Hanbin, being close to him. It makes him feel good.

Hanbin sighs, removing Hao’s hands from around his neck and taking them into his own, holding them carefully. “I honestly have no idea how you feel about me, but I like you, Hao. So much. I want to be with you,” he confesses. “It’d break my heart if you didn’t feel the same way, but—”

“I’m still figuring it out,” Hao interrupts. “I can’t say I like you, but I definitely don’t hate you. All I know is that I really like kissing you, being around you and I can’t stop thinking about you,” he says, scrunching his face as if it was painful for him to admit this. It’s not something he imagined saying, ever. But it is true.

Hanbin smiles at his honesty. “So you’re not rejecting me?” he asks, unsure and afraid.

“I’m not.”

“That means I can flirt with you? Woo you? Show you off to everyone?” Hanbin asks excitedly, teasing in his voice.

Hao chuckles, finding Hanbin amusing. He has learned to see Hanbin in a new light, especially since that night in the storage room. And he likes that Hanbin.

“You can take me on a date,” he says, trailing a finger from his jaw to his chest. “And kiss me. Don’t hesitate to do that,” he smirks, satisfied by Hanbin’s flustered reaction.

“You want to go on a date? With me?” Hanbin asks, pointing at himself.

“Don’t you want to?” Hao asks with a pout, perfectly knowing the effect it will have on the other. This guy will be the death of Hanbin.

“Of course! Yes, I—I, yes! I want to! So bad.” Hanbin is anything but chill about this situation and he can’t hide it. He’s such a loser when it comes to Hao. He groans in embarrassment.

Hao laughs, enjoying how desperate Hanbin is. “Perfect!” he exclaims, stealing a quick kiss from Hanbin’s lips.

He walks over a dusty canvas depicting a sunny field with colorful flowers in bloom and the silhouette of a woman walking among them to, Hao thinks, reach a big tree in the background of the painting. Hanbin follows him, like a dog trailing behind his owner.

Hanbin wraps his arms around his waist from behind, placing a kiss on his shoulder. Hao feels a shiver run down his spine, and a warmth spread in his chest.

“Is this okay?” Hanbin whispers in his ear, his thumb caressing his sides. Hao leans back into him, smiling softly as he hums in answer.

He could get used to this—that warmth, that care, Hanbin.

Taerae is right. Hao should live a little. He’ll give this a try—he’ll give Hanbin a try. That’s what he wants.

Hao sees Gyuvin sitting alone at a table with headphones on. To the eye of anyone who doesn’t know him, he’s studying. But Hao knows him better than anyone—he’s playing a game or watching a video, not studying. He could bet his life on that.

Gyuvin and he are still not on talking terms. Gyuvin tolerates his presence in the room, but he doesn’t speak to Hao at all, always ignoring him. They never fought like that—it’s the longest fight they ever had and it’s all Hao’s fault.

Hao wants to resolve the conflict. He misses his best friend. With ways things are now, Hao is sure Gyuvin will forgive him, and they’ll be able to put this behind.

He heads to his table quietly. Gyuvin rolls his eyes when he notices Hao, then looks back down at his phone. Hao was right—Gyuvin is playing.

Hao sits down across from him, placing his bag on the chair beside him. He nudges Gyuvin with his feet under the table, trying to catch his attention. Miraculously, Gyuvin looks up at him, removes his headphones and looks at him blankly.

“You were right,” Hao tells him, straight to the point.

Gyuvin raises an eyebrow questioningly, waiting for an explanation.

“About Hanbin,” Hao clarifies, now having Gyuvin’s full attention. He lets out a breath and says, “Hanbin and I are going on a date.”

Gyuvin practically jumps over the table at that, his eyes widening as shock writes itself across his face. “You what?!” he shouts, and Hao is thankful no one is around at this time of the day.

“You heard me.”

“Seriously? Why—I mean, when did that happen?” he babbles. You can almost see the loading in his eyes as he tries to process the information Hao just told him.

Hao nods, chuckling at his friend. He missed this silly guy. “We kissed,” he says with a smile, adding more crazy news for Gyuvin to process.

He watches Gyuvin malfunction, his eyes widening again and his jaw dropping too. “You what!” Gyuvin repeats. “How much did I miss?”

“Long story. But yeah, I’m giving him a chance,” he shrugs, playing with his fingers on the table.

“You like him?” Gyuvin asks seriously, although Hao can see he’s trying to contain himself not to scream.

“I think so.” Hao smiles at the thought. Across from him, Gyuvin is looking at him with a soft smile. Hao stays silent for a few seconds. “I’m sorry. You were right, I was an asshole,” he says, looking at Gyuvin apologetically.

Gyuvin waves his hands in front of him. “No! You weren’t. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry, Hao.”

“It’s okay, I deserved it,” he says, offering a faint smile. He looks down. “I was pretty stubborn when it came to Hanbin—I realize that now. And I’m truly sorry for how annoying I must have been. He’s your friend and I kept talking shit about him without even knowing him. You had the right to be mad.”

The next second, Gyuvin is throwing himself into Hao’s arms without any warning, almost making Hao fall backward. “I forgive you. Let’s never fight again, okay?”

Hao smiles brightly and nods eagerly. Not talking to his best friend was the hardest thing ever, he never wants to go through this again. “I missed you,” he tells him with a pout.

“Me too,” Gyuvin replies, squeezing Hao’s cheeks.

Hao takes his phone out of his pocket, starting to scroll in his camera roll. “Now tell me what shirt Hanbin would like better. I want to look good for our date.”

Gyuvin laughs out loud. “Who are you and what have you done to my Hao?”

Hao feels so alive. It feels so good to finally be able to talk and laugh with his favorite person.

The day of the date arrives fast, Hao is wearing a dusty pink t-shirt—“to match with your hair”—on top of a white shirt as per Taerae’s recommendation, with taupe pants as per Gyuvin’s recommendation, his usual white sneakers and a set of jewelry complimenting his body.

The three of them have spent a long time—mostly because Hao was never satisfied—picking the right outfit. In the end, this is the one Hao settled on, and he likes it. He feels confident, and is sure that Hanbin will like it—which is the whole point.

He may be feeling confident about his outfit, but he’s a little less confident about this whole date. He’s nervously fiddling with his fingers as he waits for Hanbin. A part of him is excited to see how it will turn out. Another is afraid that this was a bad idea.

After all, he and Hanbin aren’t close. It hasn’t been very long since they started really talking. But Hao figures it’s the point of a date, getting to know each other. And he now knows that that’s what he wants.

They spent the last few days together, talking, for the most part—if a few kisses ended up being exchanged, that’s their business. He appreciates the time he spends with Hanbin. It’s never awkward between them. Sometimes Hao forgets he even hated this boy at all. It’s so easy to exist around him.

Hanbin shows up after a few minutes, looking like a snack. He’s wearing a checkered shirt, unbuttoned just enough to display the tattoo on his chest—Hao’s almost drooling, and the glasses, that he’s sure Hanbin doesn’t even need, are not helping.

He’s holding a bouquet of flowers in his hands—daisies. Hao’s heart skip a beat when he hands it to him with a wide smile, eyeing Hao up and down, shamelessly admiring the view. “Thank you,” Hao blushes.

Hanbin points at the flower and with blushy cheeks, he shyly says, “They reminded me of you.” Hao resists the urge to kiss the boy silly.

The feeling seems to be mutual. “You look so pretty. I want to kiss you so bad, but let’s wait for the end of the date,” he says, all shyness from a second ago gone, taking Hao’s hand in his and starting to walk. It’s impressive how quickly Hanbin can go from being cute to being extremely bold.

Hao smiles at their intertwined hands. Who would have known Zhang Hao would ever go on a date with Sung Hanbin? And like it?

They arrive at their destination after almost 15 minutes of walking in comfortable silence, just enjoying each other’s presence.

Hao wasn’t expecting Hanbin to take him to the aquarium for their first date—for any date at all for that matter.

Hanbin turns to him. “Is that okay?”

Hao nods with a smile. “Yes, I love aquariums!”

“Me too! I come here all the time, and I never get tired of it.”

“You do?” Hao asks, surprised.

Hanbin chuckles. “I’m full of surprises.”

“I didn’t take you for the type,” Hao admits as they enter the building.

“The type to what? Like fish?” Hanbin mocks, giggling.

Hao laughs. “Just never thought you’d take me there out of all places.”

“Where did you think we were going to go?” Anywhere but here, Hao thinks.

“Don’t know. Somewhere more…straight? I kind of expected a basketball date, a movie, or anything plain.”

“’More straight’?” Hanbin repeats, confused by what Hao means, but also amused by his way of thinking. There’s a pause while he gets tickets. When they enter, Hanbin holds the door for Hao and says, “I’m gay? And how is an aquarium date gay?” He laughs, putting a hand on Hao’s waist to lead him to see the clownfish. 

Hao’s gaze follow the fish silently. “Are you really gay?”

Hanbin bursts out laughing at Hao’s sudden question, which he might add, is unexpected and strange.  “I’m on a date with you, aren’t I?” he says, as if it was explicit enough to answer his question.

“Yeah, but do you also like girls? You must be bi, or something?” It’s simple curiosity. It doesn’t sit right with Hao that Hanbin only likes boys. There has to be a reason Hao always thought he was straight, he couldn’t just be completely clueless.

“Nope,” he says, emphasizing the word with a pop. “I’m very, very gay, Hao. Why is it so hard to believe?”

Hao shrugs, moving to watch the angelfish. “You’re the captain of the basketball team, everyone loves you, especially the girls, you wear fancy clothes, call your friends ‘bro’ and ‘dude’, and you’re such a flirt,” he insists on the such. “The straight cliché.”

“I can do all these things and be gay?” he exclaims defensively, pouting, a little hurt that Hao thinks he’s a straight cliché. “FYI, I did date a girl before. But it definitely wasn’t for me,” he says, crinkling his nose in disgust. A smirk appears on his face, and he stands closer to Hao’s ear to whisper, “Unlike you.”

Hao gives him a playful hit on the shoulder, chuckling. “So why did you take me here, gay boy?”

“I like it here! And you told me you loved I told sunset about you the other day.”

Hao’s eyes widen, and he turns to look at Hanbin who’s already staring at him instead of the sea horses. “You remember?” he asks, biting his lip to hide his smile. He’s touched that Hanbin remembers what he told him. And if he knows about the aquarium scene, then he must have done his research—Hao wants to jump in his arms.

It might seem small, but it’s always meaningful when people remember little details about you and your interests.

“Of course,” he smiles sweetly at Hao. “I remember everything about you!” He exclaims, placing a peck on Hao’s cheek before turning away to pretend to watch the now interesting sea horses to hide his blush.

“Wow, you must like me a lot,” Hao teases, bending to try to catch Hanbin’s eyes.

Hanbin nods in approval. “A whole lot,” he replies, meeting Hao’s eyes. Much like his words, his eyes hold a sincere care, making Hao’s heart flutter. This date wasn’t a bad idea.

They continue their visit, peacefully walking hand in hand through the aquariums, hopping excitedly to stop and admire each type of fish. It’s mostly silent, except for Hanbin’s random facts about the creatures and the occasional look it’s so cute or ew this one is ugly as they walk past the tanks.

“Stop judging these poor little fish, Hao,” Hanbin had told him jokingly—at least he thinks he was joking, he isn’t sure considering how serious he looked when he said it. Anyway, Hanbin is adorable.

It’s a wonder how quickly Hao went from thinking Hanbin was the most punchable guy to believing he’s the most adorable boy on the planet.

They’ve been walking around for almost two hours now, nearing the end. The mesmerizing jellyfish dancing in the water under colorful lights are now in front of them—dozens of jellyfish floating around prettily.

Luckily, they are the only people in the room at the moment. So they get to enjoy the show as long as they want.

They take pictures of each other in turns, posing in front of the beautiful sea creatures. Hao doesn’t know that Hanbin has taken plenty of pictures of him secretly the whole time, smiling at his screen each time and pretending to shoot the fish when Hao noticed.

They sit on a bench across the tank, watching the jellyfish. There’s enough space for at least four people on this bench, but they’re so close that their knees are almost touching—so close that Hao feels his heart beat wildly in his chest.

“Will you tutor me now?” Hanbin asks suddenly, in a joking manner.

Hao chuckles. “You were serious at that time?”

“Yes!” he exclaims. He takes Hao’s hand in both his hands. “Although I admit it was mostly to spend time with you,” he says, flashing him a flirty smile. 

Hao rolls his eyes dramatically, secretly loving the fact that Hanbin wants him so bad. He likes being wanted and desired.

“So what did you think? How was the date?” Hanbin asks nervously, hoping the answer won’t be negative.

“Terrible,” Hao jokes. But when he sees Hanbin’s face fall, he quickly adds, “I’m kidding. It was good—really great.”

Hanbin’s face instantly light up, his eyes sparkling with joy. “It was?”

“Yes! I had fun!” he says sincerely, nodding with a smile. “You’re not so bad to be around,” he teases, seeing the way Hanbin’s smile soften even more at his teasing. “What about you?”

“Best day of my life!” Hanbin replies, throwing his head back with an overjoyed grin.

Hao feels so good. He laughs wholeheartedly, probably for the first time around Hanbin. It only makes Hanbin smile harder, his teeth on full display. They would look like fools if anyone saw them.

Hao likes the sound of Hanbin’s laughter a little too much. It makes his stomach twist—in a good way. And unfortunately, Hao knows exactly what that means.

He watches Hanbin laugh— the way his cheeks rise, the whisker dimples appear, making him look like a cute kitten, and the way his eyes sparkle with happiness.

How could he have been so wrong about Hanbin? He’s nothing like he envisioned him to be. He’s kind, caring, attentive, sensitive, cute, funny, radiant, and not the biggest jock of all time like Hao always wanted to believe.

How could the way he feels about this boy have changed so fast? In only a few weeks, Hao went from wanting to never be around Hanbin to wanting to always be around him.

Who would have thought? Certainly not Hao.

His heart is racing faster than a racing car as he watches Hanbin with a slightly parted mouth.

The world seems to stop, leaving only the two of them moving.

Hao can only make out the sound of Hanbin’s laughter resonating around the room and the soft breaths he lets out. He doesn’t register the jellyfish anymore, they’re no longer interesting as he looks at the boy sitting next to him. Their knees are now touching, sending a wave of heat through Hao’s body that reaches his cheeks.

“I like you.” Hao breathes out before he can realize what he’s saying. It’s so sudden, it not only surprises Hanbin, but also Hao himself.

Hanbin’s eye widen and his face shape into one of shock, but it is soon replaced by a grin so wide it makes his cheeks hurt.

The mission is a complete success: he managed to get into Hao’s heart and make him fall for him.

“You do?” he murmurs softly—so softly it feels like a warm hug. Hanbin is looking at him with a gaze filled with surprise but mostly with genuine care.

Hao feels unusually shy as he nods, looking down at his hands and fidgeting with his fingers.

Hanbin tilts Hao’s chin with a finger, making him look at him. He offers him a tender smile, which Hao returns without a second thought—Hanbin’s smile is infectious, no one can resist.

Hanbin’s hand shifts to Hao’s cheek, holding it delicately in his palm, before softly pressing his lips onto Hao’s own.

The most awaited moment of the day: Hanbin kisses him—softly and slowly as though they had all the time in the world in front of them. It somehow feels like the first time he’s kissing him—and god knows they’ve had their shares of kisses during the last few days.

It’s a surge of new feelings—good ones, only great ones. Thrill. Care. Warmth. Want. Desire. Need. Love. Things Hao never imagined feeling for this boy in particular.

Now Hao is sure about what he feels. He’s not hiding behind his denial anymore. He likes Hanbin, he’s certain of that. And it’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with liking Hanbin. It’s just new and unexpected, but not bad—not at all.

He’s fully accepting it. The boy he was a few weeks ago would have avoided it at all cost, but the boy he is now understands that you don’t get to choose who you love—Hao falling for Hanbin is the best example of that.

Hao will embrace this and make the best of it, so that he doesn’t have any regrets later. Just letting himself live what feels right.

Before leaving and ending the date, they make a stop at the aquarium gift shop. They spend half an hour there, choosing matching keychains for each other and giggling for no visible reason, just happy to be in each other’s presence.

They end up buying a pink jellyfish for Hao—“so that you never forget our kiss”—and a blue one for Hanbin. They clip them on their bags with the promise of keeping them there as a reminder of each other at all times.

Hao has a hunch that he won’t need this keychain to be reminded of Hanbin because the boy won’t let him breathe, and stay by his side at all times.

The weather changed without them knowing while they were inside. As they step out, the chilly air hits them full face, making Hao shiver from the sudden cold. Hanbin notices—as he always does when it comes to Hao—and without hesitation, he puts his jacket on Hao’s shoulders to shield him from the cold.

What a gentleman, Hao thinks, smiling to himself.

In the next few weeks, they are glued to the hips. Wherever Hao is, Hanbin is too.

They tried to keep it low-key at school in the beginning, but they were so driven by their need to constantly be around each other that they stop caring. They’re always so deep into their own world that they don’t notice the curious gazes everyone throws their way when they see the two of them together. As much as they don’t care, they try to make it look like they’re just friends for now. They don’t need people to gossip—although they already do.

They technically are—friends—but they know there’s something more. Their friends know too. They’re just waiting for the right moment to take the next step. It’s already been a tumultuous journey for Hao to accept his feelings, he doesn’t want to rush into things.

During those weeks, they go on more dates, each more different than the other. The dates include, among others: a simple walk in the park; a bookstore date (Hao still can’t believe that Hanbin reads); a movie date at Hanbin’s house that ends with Hanbin’s tongue down Hao’s throat; an arcade date where Hao laughs more than he ever has and Hanbin wins him some plushies; and a basketball date (yes, really)—mostly Hanbin showing off and Hao resisting the urge to tackle him to the ground and kiss him until he can’t breathe.

They go out so much, they might as well have seen everything the city has to offer by now. But they don’t mind. Every moment is precious when they’re with each other.

Hao loves going out on dates with Hanbin—hell, even just sitting with him in silence is amazing. He never thought it’d ever come to the point where he enjoys Hanbin’s company. Life is full of surprises—for Hao, life is full of Hanbin these days.

Now, it’s a Friday night, Hanbin and Hao are on their nth date. Hao was reluctant to go because they have a math test on Monday, but he couldn’t refuse Hanbin when he looked at him with puppy eyes, begging Hao to come. “Please,” Hanbin had whined in the softest voice ever. How could Hao say no?

Hao is glad he said yes when they arrive at their destination—a hill overlooking the entire city. If he had declined a stargazing date for a study session, he would have hated himself. He’s even more happy about it because he remembers telling Hanbin how much he’d love to stargaze with the person he loves.

The way Hanbin remembers every little detail and every single thing Hao tells him never fails to warm Hao’s heart.

As they watch the stars shining in the night sky, Hanbin turns his head to look at Hao (he’s more interesting than the stars anyway). He still can’t believe this is happening, that this is real. Everything he imagined, wanted, dreamed of, is happening to him now.

Hao likes him. He actually likes him, it’s not just a fantasy in his mind—this is real. He gets to go on dates with Hao. He gets to touch him. He gets to kiss him. He gets to be near him. He gets to be liked by him. How lucky is Hanbin.

Hao likes him and Hanbin gets to take him out on dates. But Hanbin wants more than that—he’s greedy. He wants Hao to be his boyfriend.

Hanbin, as the gentleman he is, gave Hao time to acclimate to this relationship and his feelings, knowing it wasn’t easy for him to come to terms with the fact that he ended up falling for the man he hates—thought he hated. He gave him enough time.

Now is the right time. Hanbin cannot wait anymore. He has resisted for weeks. At every date, he wondered if he should just pop the question, but never actually did it, afraid of Hao’s answer.

Hanbin is 99% sure about Hao’s feelings now. He always seems to enjoy himself on their dates, or whenever they’re together and he even initiates physical contact and kisses. It’s almost as if the whole past of Hao hating him never existed.

So he goes for it. Today Hanbin will become Hao’s boyfriend.

“Do you want to be my boyfriend, Hao?” he murmurs anxiously, biting his lips. Even though everything’s going well with Hao, he’s scared it might be too soon for the other, and he really doesn’t want to be rejected right now, or he’ll cry.

Hao snaps his head in Hanbin’s direction, his eyes widening and his mouth parting in surprise. Seeing how nervous Hanbin looks, looking at him intently for him to say something, Hao offers him a soft smile and nods happily. “Okay,” he whispers, not hesitating for a second about his answer and placing a hand on top of Hanbin’s on his leg.

With everything that happened these last few weeks, all the time he’s spent with Hanbin, there isn’t any doubt in his mind. He’s known for a while now that he wanted Hanbin to be his. And the moment has come.

“Yeah?” Hanbin beams, almost pinching himself to make sure this is not just a figment of his imagination and that Hao is actually agreeing to be his boyfriend.

“Yes, Sung Hanbin.” His name sounds magical from Hao’s lips. “I’ll be your boyfriend,” Hao breathes, cupping Hanbin’s cheek delicately and giving him a peck on the lips, smiling into it.

There’s no reason for fireworks to go off in the sky right now—but in Hanbin’s chest, it’s a firework explosion, with a grand finale and all. And there’s a perfectly good reason for it: Hao saying yes to be his boyfriend.

A few months ago, Hanbin could have only dreamed of it, but tonight, it’s reality.

Hanbin wants to run and slide on the grass the way soccer players do when they score a goal—or since he’s a basketball player, it would make more sense to say that he wants to jump and fist pump as if he just hit a game-winner.

Whatever. It’s like Hanbin just scored, and he could drown in his happiness right now.

Instead, he throws himself into his boyfriend’s arms—boyfriend!— catching Hao off guard and making him fall backward on the grass, both of them giggling like maniacs. Hanbin showers his boyfriend with kisses on the cheeks, the mouth, the forehead, the nose, the chin, the neck, the jaw—everywhere he can, just because he can.

“This is the best day of my life,” Hanbin exclaims between kisses.

Hao chuckles. “You said that the day of our first date too,” he says, rolling his eyes teasingly.

“Every day with you is the best,” Hanbin says flirtingly, and it’s so cheesy that it makes him cringe too. He means it though. There’s not a dull moment with Hao—his boyfriend (in case you didn’t get that yet).

Hanbin rushes to Matthew’s house right after leaving Hao, excited to share the good news with his best friend. Upon entering the house—without knocking, because this is basically his second home—he runs into Matthew’s mother, saying hi to her giddily in a hurry while he runs to his best friend’s room. She giggles at the boy she’s used to call her second son.

The door flies open as Hanbin storms into Matthew’s room without knocking—again, it’s a habit to show up whenever. What he stumbles on is not the usual sight of Matthew gaming in his underwear, but of Matthew making out with Gunwook on the bed—tongues shoved deep into each other’s mouth, Matthew shirtless on an almost as shirtless Gunwook’s lap. At least, he has pants on this time.

Hanbin closes the door in a second, hiding his eyes with his hands as if he could still see them although the door is closed—he’s traumatized. What if he had walked in a few moments later? He groans, unable to forget what his eyes just witnessed.

After a minute of rustling inside the room, Matthew opens the door looking disheveled—messy hair, shirt inside out, and a clearly visible bruise forming on his neck which he tries to hide with his shirt when he notices Hanbin staring.

He smiles innocently at Hanbin, like he didn’t just see him getting heated with Gunwook a few seconds ago, and lets him in.

On the bed, Gunwook is shifting uncomfortably, looking at Hanbin with guilty eyes as if he just broke his mom’s favorite vase.

Hanbin admits that this situation is quite funny. His friends are acting as if they just committed a crime.

“You do know your mom is downstairs right?” Hanbin says as Matthew adjusts his shirt, wearing it the right way this time.

Matthew turns around with wide eyes. “What?” he exclaims. Okay, so he didn’t know. “She is?” he whispers-yell, alarmed by this information.

“Yup,” Hanbin nods.

“Shit!” Matthew curses, turning to look at Gunwook.

Hanbin laughs at his friend’s misery. “Is she aware that there’s a guest in her house?” he asks teasingly. “Someone who isn’t me?” he adds, cracking up when Matthew shakes his head.

“No! I didn’t even know she was here,” he sputters.

Hanbin almost forgot why he was here. He’d tease his best friend more, but he needs to share what happened to him. “Anyway,” he begins excitedly. “It’s great that you’re here too Gunwook!” The mentioned boy raises an eyebrow curiously.

“Hao and I are dating!” he squeals, looking at his friends attentively, waiting for their reactions.

Both of his friends’ jaws drop, gasps echoing through the room. The Matthew and Gunwook situation is already forgotten.

“Really?” Matthew asks with a surprised but happy smile.

“You did it, man!” Gunwook exclaims, high fiving Hanbin cheerfully.

Hanbin grins widely, the rush he’s been feeling since he left Hao still very much present. It feels like it will never subside. “Hao is my boyfriend!” he says to no one in particular, mostly to himself. He giggles. “I never thought I’d say that. Am I dreaming?” he asks Matthew, who pinches him. “Ouch!” Hanbin yelps.

“You’re not dreaming.” Gunwook chuckles.

Gunwook’s phone rings, startling all of them. “It’s Ricky,” he declares, lifting his phone in the air. He doesn’t have the time to put the phone to his ear because Hanbin snatches it from his hand and gushes, “I’m dating Hao!”

He hangs up the call, giving no time to Ricky to react.

His friends burst out laughing at his antics. “Did you just hang up on him?”

“I said all I had to say,” Hanbin shrugs.

“He’s gone mad,” Gunwook whispers to Matthew, glancing at Hanbin who’s smiling like a fool.

Matthew sighs. “He’s going to be so sickening.”

“I hate people in love.”

Hao’s announcement to his friends goes about the same as it goes for Hanbin, minus the friends making out half naked on the bed. His friends are hanging out at Jiwoong’s, and when he arrives, he finds them slumped on the couch—far from making out with anyone.

His friends scream, like literally, in joy when he says, “Hanbin asked me to be his boyfriend, and I said yes.”

Gyuvin jumps on him excitedly, not unlike a puppy greeting his owner when they come back home, hugging him tightly, then squeezing his cheeks. 

Yujin, always being his annoying-little-brother self, makes weird kisses noises and wiggles his eyebrows. Although he looks a little disinterested, Hao knows that he’s sincerely happy for him. He even comes find him before leaving and tells him that he’s “glad that you finally found a boyfriend, hyung.” Then of course he adds, “Thought you’d die alone.” This little brat.

As for Jiwoong, his reaction is quieter, but no less genuine. He congratulates him with a pat on the head that makes Hao smile proudly.

Last but not least, Taerae teases him at first. “Took you long enough, Mr. I-hate-Sung-Hanbin.” A few minutes later though when the excitement and chaos has died down, he puts on his serious tone and tells him that he’s proud of him for trying even though he was scared. “It’s good to see you this happy,” he said, flashing a wide smile to his best friend.

Hao feels incredibly lucky to have such amazing friends in his life.

After announcing their relationship to their friends, the next evident step was to announce it to the whole word—at least the whole school. This was a subject of debate for them.

Hanbin, ever so thoughtful, told Hao that because he’s popular he wouldn’t mind keeping it secret for now in case Hao didn’t want the spotlight on him. As much as Hao’s touched by how considerate he’s being, he doesn’t care about that. It’s not like Hanbin is a movie star or anything, and everyone knows Hao already as the guy with the best grades in the whole school. #flex

In the end, they decided to keep their relationship private but not secret. Because 1) there’s no reason for it to be a secret anyway and 2) Hanbin can’t keep his hands off him, as he had said. Also, they look hot together, and Hao wants to show Hanbin off.

They decided to not give a single fuck and just be in love. It’s not like no one guessed what was happening between them already—it was always kind of obvious.

Hanbin and Hao will just shock them with a kiss, and they’ll act surprised even though they already sensed something.  

Walking hand in hand through the school has now become their routine, but the first time they did it, it did shock the whole school, more than they thought. Now that Hao thinks about it, he would’ve been shocked too if a guy who claimed to hate someone with all his guts started dating that exact same person.

At that time, it crossed his mind how weird it was to date Hanbin, but not in bad way, just completely unexpected. He never thought that it would ever happen, but it feels fucking nice actually—something the Hao of a few months ago would have never believed.

He still remembers the gasps people let out as they walked past them that day and the things they whispered, thinking they wouldn’t hear. Little did they know Hanbin and he could hear them perfectly and it was quite funny.

It went like:

“Couple goals!”

“I’d volunteer if they need a third.” (This one made Hao laugh so hard)

“The finest ones are always gay bruh.” (Hanbin’s glad that a fine man like Hao is gay—it’s a win for him)

“What the fuck when did that happen?!” (That guy was clearly late to the party)

“OMG hottest couple ever!”

“I thought they hated each other?” (Yeah, Hao too)

Hao felt a little awkward with all the attention, but his boyfriend looked so pleased and proud beside him that it made him relax.

Hanbin can finally show off Hao as his boyfriend; nothing could make him more happy and proud than this.

“Boyfriend out of the bag,” Hanbin had whispered as they left the hallway behind, giving a small peck to Hao’s cheek and giggling in his ear.

Hao ends up tutoring Hanbin for real. Turns out he wasn’t lying that day when he said he wanted better grades.

So Hao, being the great boyfriend he is, made it his mission to help Hanbin and make him receive good grades—the best grades possible. He’s been working seriously for it, wanting Hanbin to succeed.

Hanbin has been very cooperative too, always interested in what they’re learning, trying the best he can and meeting the deadlines Hao gives him. The perfect student, you’d think. Except Hanbin is not only interested in the subject. He’s also very interested in the teacher.

When Hanbin is in a mischievous mood or just not in the mood to study, he never focuses on the task at hand. Instead, he constantly tries to kiss Hao, and most of the time he’s successful because they end up making out on Hanbin’s bed, which is where they study 90% of the time—probably not the best idea, that’s why Hao started doing those study sessions at school more often. Or Hanbin just stares at Hao dreamily, not listening to anything because “your face is too pretty to ignore, baby.” He throws random comments like, “My boyfriend is so beautiful,” which makes Hao all flustered—he noticed that Hanbin really loves calling him his boyfriend; he acts all giddy whenever he uses the word. Hanbin is a pro at avoiding studying by flirting with his boyfriend shamelessly, knowing it has an effect on Hao.

Hao knows that if he lets himself get distracted they won’t study anything, expect maybe their anatomy, but it’s hard to resist when you’ve got a whole Sung Hanbin in front of you.

They do study enough for Hanbin to make progress. And Hao can’t lie, studying looks good on Sung Hanbin. He himself gets distracted by the way Hanbin bites his lips when he’s focused on solving a question, or the way he smiles so adorably when he gets it right, or when his gaze is fixed attentively on Hao and he rubs his thumb on Hao’s thigh when he actually listens to him. Hao’s a weak man.

What Hao loves the most about those study sessions with his boyfriend, apart from making out, is when Hanbin proudly shows him the good grades he gets. He skips happily toward him with his wide whisker-smile, taking out his paper from behind him and showcasing the good grade he just got with pride, making Hao giggle at his cuteness when Hanbin without fail gives him a soft peck on the cheek to celebrate it.

And yes “good grades” is plural because since Hao has started tutoring Hanbin, bad grades are slowly leaving the picture to make place for only good, or at least decent, ones. Hanbin is actually smart, he just never took time to study, mostly because he doesn’t appreciate it. But with Hao he doesn’t mind—“I like my tutor.”

Back to the present, Hao sees Hanbin jogging toward him with a hand behind his back. He smiles endearingly, already knowing what Hanbin is about to show him.

He shoves the paper in Hao’s face to show him the good grade written on top of it, going to leave a peck on his boyfriend’s cheek right away. Hao giggles like a fool because this is just the effect Hanbin has on him for no reason.

“I’m proud of you, Bin-ah!” Hao exclaims, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s neck, careful not to crumple the sheet. Hanbin flashes him a big smile, placing his hands on Hao’s waist and hugging him tightly. He almost suffocates him, so Hao has to tell him to pull back by hitting his shoulder.

As soon as they pull away, Hanbin intertwines their hands and asks, “You’re coming to the game tonight, right?”

“How could I miss it? My boyfriend is playing. Team captain and all,” he brags.

“Your boyfriend is lucky,” Hanbin says with a smug grin, swinging their hands. Hao doesn’t hate that smug grin anymore, he’s grown quite fond of it.

“He is,” Hao replies with the same grin. He is flustered and looks around after Hanbin kisses him on the lips with no warning. But nobody pays them any attention anymore. They’re too used to this, it’s been months.

When Hanbin has to leave, he slowly lets go of Hao’s hand, turning back to look at him with a giggly, pouty expression, not wanting to leave his boyfriend. Hao chuckles and gives a small nod, motioning for him to leave.

Hanbin’s as sickeningly in love as his friends predicted. But Hao’s as disgustingly in love as he is. He loves Hanbin as much as he used to hate him—that’s very strong.

As promised, Hao is at the game, cheering for his boyfriend on the court, wearing his usual basketball-game-night outfit that he personalized himself—yes, he’s down bad, but Hanbin loves it. It’s a sweater vest inspired by Hanbin’s jersey, with his number, 21, with ‘Sung’ written in the front instead of the team name, and ‘Hao’ on the back.

The atmosphere is tensed in the gym. Time’s expired and the score is nearly tied, but not in Baseone’s favor. Hanbin has to make this last shot, or this season will be over for them.

He’s at the line, the ball is in his hands—this is his last chance. In search of some strength, he glances at Hao who looks at him cheerfully, albeit nervously from the stands.

If this were high school musical, the light would dim, a light would shine on him and Hao would stand up to burst into a song, sing and dance around to motivate his boyfriend, but it isn’t, so he settles for an encouraging smile and a wink, hoping this will be enough to give Hanbin some strength.

Truth is Hanbin doesn’t need much. Just looking at his beautiful, perfect boyfriend is enough.

His eyes fall on the hoop again. He focuses, takes a deep breath, and shoots. Hanbin, his teammates on the court, their opponents, and the crowd hold their breath for a second, all awaiting the result.

If Hanbin makes it, Baseone wins. If he doesn’t, the opponents win—and Baseone loses.

The ball drops through the hoop without touching the rim, clean and steady. It’s a win. The buzzer sounds. Baseone has won.

The crowd erupts in cheers, standing up in the stands. His team runs to him, embracing their captain and shoving him happily. But Hanbin’s only looking at his boyfriend who’s watching him from the stands, a proud grin on his face.

Hanbin is drowning in happiness, and there’s one specific person he wants to share that with: Hao. His dear Hao. The one person he wants next to him when his dreams come true.

Without thinking, he makes his way through the horde of people, straight to his Hao. As soon as he’s standing in front of him, he closes the distance and kisses his boyfriend giddily, taking Hao’s face in his hands and stroking his thumbs on his soft cheeks, holding him as if he’s the most precious thing in the world—which he is.

Hao was clearly taken aback by the kiss, not ready for it, but it takes one second for him to register what’s happening and kiss back with the same vigor.

They both smile into the kiss as they hear noises of people around cooing and squealing at them. One funny thing about all this is that the people who used to be Hanbin’s fan club are now Hanbin and Hao’s fan club.

“What did you think?” Hanbin ask cockily after pulling away, Hao’s face still in his hands.

“Not bad,” Hao shrugs, never missing an opportunity to tease his boyfriend.

Hanbin giggles—partly because he finds his boyfriend cute no matter what, and because of the euphoria of winning the game. “It’s all because I have a good cheerleader,” he says, putting a strand of hair behind Hao’s ear.

Hanbin’s being called by his coach but before leaving he makes sure to tease Hao one last time. “Put a skirt on next time, princess.” Hao playfully slaps Hanbin on the back as he turns to leave.

He knows how much Hao loves the nickname. There are lots of things Hao used to hate that he loves now, isn’t that ironic?

Hanbin is smiling from ear to ear, feeling genuinely happy. He just won one of the most important games of the season, and managed to win Hao’s heart too. He couldn’t be happier. He feels like the luckiest man on the planet.

Hanbin

6:45 pm: meet me at our spot ;)

Hao is pulled inside the storage room as soon as he’s standing in front of his boyfriend. By habit, he glances at the door to make sure it isn’t closing.

Hanbin laughs, amused by his boyfriend. “Don’t worry, I blocked the door. We won’t get locked in,” he reassures. “Although I wouldn’t mind spending more time with you,” he adds, voice teasing. Hao hits him in the chest and giggles.

Hanbin pushes Hao against the wall, putting a hand behind his head to secure him so that his head doesn’t hit the wall. This simple gesture makes Hao’s heart flip in his chest. Hanbin cages him, placing his hands on either side of Hao’s head.

Hao’s breath catches in his throat, every sane thought leaving his mind. Hanbin looks like a snack, and Hao wants to devour him. The strands of hair on his forehead dripping from sweat after practice shouldn’t look this hot, but they do. His jersey sticks to his abs, making them more prominent and his shorts displaying his legs make him look even hotter. His muscles look delicious. Hao is salivating. He wants to run his hands on every part of Hanbin’s body, feel his skin against his—

It’s hot in here—too hot.

Hao loses his mind when Hanbin places a hand on the back of his head, directing him for a kiss.

The kiss is hot, teeth clashing, tongues intertwining, and all. No need to spell it out, they make out shamelessly.

This is far from the first time it happens. They’ve been meeting up here after Hanbin’s practice, or whenever they feel like making out, for a while now, almost every day. Usually no one is around so it’s a great spot. A little risky considering the door doesn’t close, but a great spot nonetheless.

Last month, the coach caught them in the middle of their heated session—top 10 most embarrassing moments of their lives. You’d think this would have made them stop, or at least choose another spot, but Hanbin and Hao kept coming here, for the thrill of it.

There’s something quite special about kissing in the exact room they got locked in, the room that changed everything for them, the room where they exchanged their first kiss—“Who knew this would become a regular thing?”

They let go of each other after a while. “Join me in the shower,” Hanbin says with a teasing grin, looking down at Hao’s private area knowingly, as if he wasn’t in the same situation.

Hao shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “I hate you,” he pouts, folding his arms, pretending to be mad at Hanbin.

Hanbin mirrors his pout mockingly, trying to unfold his arms and catch his eyes. “You love me,” he states, chuckling at his adorable boyfriend.

“Kinda,” Hao shrugs, looking at his boyfriend with so much love in his eyes that no dramatic act could ever fool Hanbin—eyes always betray actions. There isn’t an ounce of hatred in his eyes anymore—only love.