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jongseob finished his botched presentation earning blank stares mixed with scattered applause from the entire lecture hall. he lowered his head while walking back to his desk. he sighed and put his head down waiting for someone else to hurry up and go. his classmates wouldn’t forget that anytime soon. as soon as the professor dismissed class, he grabbed his backpack and power walked back to his dorm.
he threw his backpack on his bed only to pause and look at the keyring hanging off the top zipper. he didn’t remember the little alien hanging off his backpack this morning. panic started to seep in when he opened the backpack and didn’t recognize anything. he grabbed the orange folder and checked the name.
“who the hell is baek sangtae?”
-
shota frowned when he saw his backpack didn’t have his alien friend anymore. he went to the cafeteria and sat next to keeho. keeho threw his arms around shota and squealed, “hiiiii my shota!” he paused noticing how shota’s shoulders slumped forward and proceeded to ask, “everything okay, sho?” before shota could answer, he looked at the plain backpack shota placed in front of him. keeho slung an arm around his shoulder and threw another question shota’s way. “wait where’s your alien keyring?” “hi hyung. i think it fell off somewhere. i’m not very sure. it was there before class…maybe i was too focused on the presentations…” he sighed. keeho pinched his cheek and said, “check your backpack. maybe it’s in there. maybe it fell off in class, but i can always buy you a new one! cheer up, sho!”
shota playfully slapped his hand away with a small smile on his face. he opened the backpack but couldn’t recognize anything inside it. keeho peeked and asked, “is this even your backpack?” shota shook his head and flipped through the purple notebook inside.
“who the hell is kim jongseob?”
shota clicked his tongue and put the notebook back. keeho perked up when he heard who it was. shota noticed and raised an eyebrow. “i think i know who he is. im pretty sure he’s my friend’s roommate! you remember intak?” keeho beamed with a proud smile. a bulb went off in shota’s head. “oh! i remember intak hyung! can you go with me to their dorm?” shota asked keeho with his sweetest smile and largest boba eyes. keeho gushed, “of course my sweet baby! let’s go now, so you get your stuff back.”
-
keeho linked his arm with shota’s and walked over to intak’s dorm. keeho knocked on the door waiting for a response. the door cracked open slightly and a mop of black hair popped out. shota’s mouth went dry when he saw who answered. keeho looked confused and asked, “excuse me, where is intak?” the boy shrugged and replied, “probably at the dance studio…did you need something?” shota’s breath hitched when the strange guy turned to him. he asked, “heyyy! a-are you kim jongseob?” he nodded and turned a slight pink. shota continued, “um…i think we grabbed each other’s backpacks.” jongseob invited them in the dorm and asked, “a-are you baek sangtae?”
shota made a sound that sounded like a gurgled laugh and rubbed the back of his head, “m-me? yes…kind of…not really…but techincally.” jongseob tilted his head in confusion causing shota to keep explaining. “that’s my korean name. you can call me shota!” jongseob gave a shy giggle and grabbed the backpack. he handed the backpack towards shota and muttered, “s-sorry about that. my presentation was so awful, so i just focused on getting out of there as fast as possible. i didn’t notice that i grabbed your backpack, sh-shota.”
keeho noticed how shota’s eyes were locked on jongseob and how jongseob twitched when their hands touched slightly. he smirked and loudly announced, “hey sho? intak just texted me to meet him at the dance studio. why don’t you stay here with jongseob? me and tak can bring back food and drinks! so don’t go anywhere!~”
before either of them could protest, keeho slipped out the dorm. the two stared at each other until jongseob cracked first and looked away. shota didn’t miss the pink tint on his cheeks this time and walked closer to jongseob. “so…um…how old are you?” jongseob asked. shota internally cooed at how awkward he was and answered, “i’m 20. what about you?” jongseob whispered, “i’m 19 about to be 20.”
shota felt a bit lighter and exhaled, “ohh so you’re younger than me!” he saw how jongseob gave a small toothy smile and whispered, “cute.” jongseob looked away showing the red tips of his ears. shota didn’t want to let the conversation die and asked, “so…do you play video games?” jongseob perked up and gushed, “yes actually! i have a pc at my desk and a headset with a cat shaped mouse. but i also like mobile games! i have so many on my phone! i try playing with intak hyung, but he isn’t very interested…or good. oh sorry im rambling. um…what about you?”
shota snorted and revealed, “it’s not a problem for me at all, jongseob. i really like listening to you talk.” jongseob shyly raised his head to see shota’s curious eyes. shota’s lips gave a soft smile as he suggested seeing jongseob’s pc. jongseob hummed in agreement leading the way to his room. he sat on his bed while shota sat at jongseob’s desk in his cat gaming chair. shota saw how tense jongseob still was and asked, “if you don’t mind me asking, why do you think your presentation was bad?” he felt bad for how upset jongseob seemed earlier in class.
“i looked at the class and everyone looked like they would rather be anywhere else. i thought maybe it was too boring or too long. and then it took me ten minutes to set up the slides and presentation because my files glitched. i could’ve done way better…” jongseob sighed and turned away. “it’s whatever. they’ll forget about it and me pretty soon..” shota frowned listening to jongseob. he assured jongseob, “i guess you weren’t looking in my section. this is kind of embarrassing, but my eyes were glued to you the whole time. i really like listening to you talk. you’re pretty unforgettable, jongseob.”
jongseob blushed hearing shota’s thoughts on him. “r-really? are you just trying to make me feel better?” he quizzed. shota scoffed, “i wouldn’t lie about this! seriously, i think we should hang out more after this. or maybe i should keep you all to myself!~” shota got up from the desk and sat next to jongseob on his bed. jongseob was about to move over, but shota told him to just sit next to him.
jongseob couldn’t help but blush even deeper sitting so close to shota. shota sat there lightly blushing and staring at jongseob’s soft lips. jongseob turned to look at shota and was taken aback by how close their faces were. he looked away and whispered, “thank you shota. to be honest, that really did make me feel a lot better. you’re pretty…unforgttable too.” shota grabbed jongseob’s chin and stammered “c-can i—” but jongseob silenced him by wrapping his arms around his neck.
jongseob closed his eyes as shota slowly leaned in. their noses barely grazed until a loud voice, that sounded a lot like intak, shouted “CHICKEN AND SOJU!” interrupting them. they both jumped almost five feet in the air and ran towards opposite sides of the room.
keeho and intak walked in jongseob’s room with two bags only to see the two boys looking away furiously red. they slowly backtracked as keeho said, “actually…we’re going to go to back to my dorm and eat with jiung and taeyang. right intak?” intak chuckled, “yes! we’ll leave…so don’t get too weird!~” he winked at jongseob causing keeho to elbow his ribs. he winced and slapped keeho’s arm as they exited the dorm.
jongseob buried his face in his hands and muttered, “oh god. kill me now.” shota laughed and grabbed jongseob’s hands. “wow. that was just terrible. but…would you like to maybe try again…on a date? jongseob guided shota’s hands to his waist and wrapped his arms around shota’s neck.
jongseob pressed his lips on shota’s cheek and shyly exclaimed, “yes! i would love to shota.” shota gazed at the curves of jongseob’s mouth and closed the gap between them at last. jongseob closed his eyes and melted into shota’s arms. he smiled against shota’s lips when he felt shota cradle the back of his head. shota reluctantly pulled away and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. jongseob hid his face behind his hands and mumbled, “do you want to go now?”
shota grabbed his soft hands and held them against his face. “of course! i know a pretty spot for a pretty boy like you.” jongseob’s eyes crinkled as he laughed out loud. shota gazed at jongseob’s soft feature staring at him with bubbling excitement. jongseob was caught off guard by shota cupping his face and giving him a small peck on the lips. jongseob’s hand slivered its way into shota’s as they exited the dorm because jongseob knew he would follow wherever.