Archive of Our Own

When the first letter arrived, Jisoo had been studying in his dormitory with his Slytherin friends and his Hufflepuff dongsaeng. And by studying, it meant that he was probably the only one who was doing actual revision with textbooks.

Soonyoung and Seungkwan were brandishing their wands at each other while running around the Hufflepuff dormitory yelling out spells in attempts to disarm each other, barely managing to keep the tidiness of the dormitory in tact. The former was the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, and Jisoo knew that there was no point using his prefectorial rights to threaten to book him because Soonyoung never got kicked out of the team no matter how deep in trouble he got.

And with Seungkwan (as well as their other friend and fellow Hufflepuff Seokmin), did he get into a lot of trouble. Seungkwan was a boisterous Slytherin who took up the role of the Quidditch emcee with pride. There was no point trying to book him, either. The boy would just sass his way out of detention, and this left Jisoo wondering if he was too soft to be a prefect in the first place.

On the other end of the spectrum, Minghao, a soft spoken Chinese Hufflepuff and one of his roommates, was trying to coax his grumpy ginger cat out from beneath a couch in the common room, obviously too distracted with his pet to be bothering about hexes or mandrakes. Jisoo did wonder why he always chose to hang out with such a noisy bunch of friends.

There was a soft flutter of wings, and Jisoo instantly knew that his messenger owl had returned. He looked up to see Apollo swoop through an open window and encircle the air a few times before perching on Jisoo’s outstretched arm, tucking his pearly white wings away. In his beak was a paper coloured a soft baby pink, neatly folded yet slightly creased due to Apollo’s beak.

That’s new, Jisoo thought. He rarely received letters from anyone apart from his parents, and they wouldn’t have been written in pink paper and sent without an envelope.

Soonyoung and Seungkwan noticed the letter too, almost immediately, and rushed over to see what its contents were. Jisoo should have expected this, since both of them were especially curious and sometimes very nosy with what was going on with their friends’ private lives.

“Jisoo-hyung, open it!” urged Soonyoung, inching closer towards Apollo.

“Okay, okay,” Jisoo said calmly, and reached over to take the letter from his owl. Apollo opened his beak, allowing the letter to fall into Jisoo’s open palm, then took flight and soared out of the Hufflepuff dormitory, probably heading towards the owlery.Jisoo opens the letter slowly, and written inside is a simple sentence in neat, elegant handwriting. His eyes dart across the words, trying to piece them together.

They finally click, and Jisoo frowned in confusion as Soonyoung and Seungkwan screamed noisily in the background. Even Minghao got curious and stood up from his spot near the fireplace to take a look at what it said. His eyes widened and he gasped at Jisoo, who remained dumbfounded.

I think you're really pretty, the note said simply.

"Hyung!" Soonyoung exclaimed, dancing around a couch with Seungkwan in tow. "You just got confessed to!"

"You've got to accept her confession!" Seungkwan hollered excitedly. "Who would have thought of such a method to confess?"

Jisoo lifted the letter up, brandishing it in their face. "It's anonymous. She didn't sign off with her name."

Soonyoung and Seungkwan's faces fell immediately, and Jisoo swore both of them are like characters spawned from a comedy movie. Minghao pouted sadly. "Couldn't you use a tracking spell, maybe?"

Jisoo thought about it before shaking his head. "Come on, this is probably just a prank."

"What!" Soonyoung yelled a bit too loudly for the peaceful ambience of the Hufflepuff dormitory. "How is any of this a prank?"

"Firstly, I don't know who sent this, so I can't confirm that they actually meant to confess to me," said Jisoo slowly, trying to rationalise his decision to the three upset looking dongsaengs in front of him as well as one grumpy cat. "And secondly, why would she call me pretty?"

Seungkwan shrugged. "Because maybe you are to her? Love works in different ways, hyung."

"Of all the words she could have chosen, it was pretty," Jisoo deadpanned. "I mean, she could have said I was handsome, right?" he joked.

Soonyoung rolled his eyes, then flounced over to Jisoo. "Just write back to her! We can see how it goes from there."

Jisoo held his hands up defensively. "We? It's my letter, and I'm choosing to ignore it. Why would anyone have a reason to write a love letter to me?" He folded the letter back the way the sender had.

Soonyoung, Seungkwan, and Minghao exchanged exasperated looks with one another. Seungkwan shrugged and slumped over on a couch.

"Up to you, hyung."

Jisoo smiled faintly and returned to his studying, but slipped the note in his robe pocket anyway.

::

The second letter arrived a few days later, when Jisoo, Soonyoung and Seungkwan were practicing charms together in the Hufflepuff dormitory. Minghao was out and about searching for his pet cat, who had gone missing again. Jisoo was starting to think that the grumpy cat was tired of being trapped in the underground all the time.

Jisoo was legitimately trying to recall his Year 7 charm syllabus so that he wouldn’t fail his upcoming tests (he wished he could just return to being a first year), while Seungkwan was attempting to use the Dancing Feet Spell on Soonyoung with his terrible aim, accidentally hitting an unfortunate chair which started to tap dance across the room. Both of them crouched over and roared with laughter, while Jisoo exasperatedly conjured the counteractive spell and the chair fell over, now still.

The Hufflepuff prefect was certain that they were going to cast even more hexes on the common room furniture, but at that moment Apollo glided in through the window.

Soonyoung’s gasped as soon as he saw the snowy owl. “Look!”

Jisoo turned around to see a familiar pink letter in Apollo’s beak, who fluttered over to rest on his shoulder and dropped the note into his open palm, then soared away.

Jisoo's cat like eyes widened as he stared at the letter. "Another one?"

Seungkwan smirked, tucking his wand away and walking over to sneak a look at the letter. "Told you it wasn't a joke.”

Jisoo didn’t know how to reply, but unfolded the letter to read its contents, which was still written on the same light pink paper. The handwriting was unmistakably the same as the previous note, and Jisoo knew it had to be the same sender. He read the lone sentence that was written in the centre of the letter, two other pairs of eyes scanning it along with him.

I've liked you a lot for a while now, it said.

Jisoo flushed a deep red, and flipped the letter close with the flick of his hand. Who was this mysterious person who was seemingly in love with him? Was it someone he knew? Couldn't be, because all of Jisoo's friends were either already fawning over other people, or were just too loud and obnoxious to perform such an act of confession that screamed shyness and innocence.

And speaking of loud, Soonyoung and Seungkwan were making noisy catcalls throughout the entire Hufflepuff common room, making others who were also using the space glare at them. Jisoo shushed them instantly, but his mind kept wandering back to the anonymous letter that he'd received.

"Hyung!" Soonyoung grinned knowingly. "It's a confession for real."

"I know," Jisoo said quietly, not really knowing how to react. He'd always been so caught up with prefect duties, keeping his friends out of trouble, and studying for his N.E.W.T.s that he'd never really considered much about getting into a relationship, and Jisoo couldn't imagine anyone he would date at the moment.

"You should accept it," Seungkwan says gleefully, interrupting Jisoo's thoughts.

Jisoo sighed. He didn't even know who was the person who had sent the letters was, matter of factly, and he really wasn't keen to date at the moment. But he knew that the two Slytherins wouldn't take the latter as an excuse.

"I don't know who the confessor is," Jisoo explained slowly. "And I really don't want to jump into a relationship with someone I've only communicated with through letters?"

Seungkwan paused. "Technically, hyung, she's been communicating with you."

"Why don't you write back to her?" Soonyoung mused, and Jisoo figured that was the only good advice he's given for his current situation so far. "I mean, Apollo must know who the sender is."

If only owls could talk, then, Jisoo thought dumbly, but seriously considered Soonyoung's suggestion.

"I guess I have nothing to lose," he finally agreed, reaching over to the coffee table to grab a quill and his notebook.

Who are you? he scribbled, and realised with slight embarrassment that his handwriting was nothing so neat or elegant as compared to his secret admirer's. Jisoo contemplated re-writing it so that it would give off a better impression of himself, and not seemingly a sloppy, messy Hufflepuff, but decided screw it, and ripped the page out of his notebook.

"What did you say?" Soonyoung asked expectantly, bouncing on his heels.

"I just asked who the sender was," Jisoo said simply, and folded his letter up, unconsciously in the same way that his secret admirer always did.

Seungkwan stared at Jisoo as if he'd expected him to scribble lines of Petrarch’s love sonnets on his letter. "That's it?" he pressed on.

"Yep." Jisoo replied calmly, and beckoned Apollo over, who had been resting on a coat-hanger nearby. The snowy owl swooped over gracefully, landing on Jisoo's arm once more and taking the letter by his beak.

"Send this back," Jisoo instructed, hoping that Apollo understood his instructions and would send it back to his secret admirer instead of giving his letter to some random student in the campus. Snowy owls were smart, right? Jisoo sure hoped so.

Apollo seemed to understand, flapping his wings and soaring out of an open window in the Hufflepuff common room with Jisoo's letter. Said boy returned to finishing his Defence Against the Dark Arts essay, but his mind kept reverting back to the thought of having an admirer. What did she see in him, anyway?

Jisoo wasn't sure how much time had passed, but when Soonyoung and Seungkwan had decided to return to their Slytherin dormitory, reminding him to update them on his admirer's response, the white owl still hadn't returned yet. The minute he heard the hoot of an owl, he snapped his head up so quickly that his neck felt the strain. Apollo hovered down and perched on Jisoo's arm which was resting on the table, and quietly began to preen his feathers.

Jisoo looked at the owl's beak. It was empty.

Jisoo felt his heart fall, just slightly. He supposed his secret admirer didn't want to reveal their identity just yet, but Jisoo couldn't help but feel disappointed. At least he would have be able to know who it was.

Not feeling in the mood to study anymore, Jisoo swept up his books and quills and headed for his bunk, with Apollo flying in tow.

::

As soon as his potions lesson with the Slytherins was over, Jisoo packed up his books in his messenger bag and took big strides down the hallway, heading towards the classroom for Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws. His friend from the other house, Jihoon, liked both of them to be early for the class so that they could get the best seats for every lesson, and Jisoo knew that the short Ravenclaw always got sulky whenever he had to sit at the back.

"Jisoo!" called a distraction in the form of an angelic voice.

Jisoo didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. He did anyway, and was greeted by the sight of Jeonghan, a Slytherin and fellow prefect, running after him while trying to maintain the neatness of his uniform. It didn't work out so much, with his green tie crooked and robe creased, along with his sleek long hair bouncing as he ran.

Jisoo beamed at the sight of Jeonghan, taking a few steps towards him to close the gap a little. They weren't particularly close, but Jisoo did find himself being paired up with Jeonghan often for their prefect rounds, and he enjoyed the Slytherin's company a lot. Jeonghan defied all stereotypes of being from the Slytherin house, and instead of being rude, stuck up and cunning, he was instead gentle, kind and understanding. Jisoo had always found it interesting how he seemed like he would have been in any other house apart from Slytherin, but there he was.

Additionally, Jisoo found Jeonghan really... well, attractive. Was that normal? He wasn't particularly sure, but just the sight of Jeonghan smiling brightly at him with his black locks flying as he sprinted over seemed angelic enough to prove it. Jisoo guessed it wasn't out of the ordinary to think that way; he did find Minghao's innocence kind of cute, too, and sometimes Soonyoung as well.

"Hey," Jisoo greeted when Jeonghan got close enough, and the long haired boy stopped to recover and take deep breaths.

"Hi," Jeonghan replied after catching his breath, and grinned at Jisoo again. It was blinding, Jisoo felt.

“What’s up?” Jisoo asked, wondering why Jeonghan chose to run after him.

“Well… ah, I was wondering if you understood the potions lesson just now,” said Jeonghan, scratching the back of his head shyly.

Jisoo shrugged. “I guess it was okay. I’ve definitely got to revise, though.”

“What about we study together in the library?” Jeonghan suggested, and… were his cheeks a bit pink? Jisoo brushed it off, thinking it was from the sprint.

“Sure, I don’t mind,” said Jisoo, smiling and adjusting his grip on his textbooks. “Are you free after lessons this Friday?” It was currently Tuesday, and his schedule was completely packed until then.

Jeonghan nodded, a bright smile on his face. Jisoo continued to wonder how he could have been placed in Slytherin.

“We’ll meet there, then,” Jisoo confirmed. “I’ve got to go for DATDA now; Jihoon’s going to kill me if I don’t hurry.”

Jeonghan’s grin only got wider. “Sure. See you!”

Jisoo waved goodbye, and took brisk steps down the hallway towards his next classroom. Maybe Jeonghan knows who’s been sending me all those letters, he found himself thinking.

::

Over the course of the next few days, Jisoo received consecutive letters from his secret admirer. It was getting hard to store them in his robe pocket, so he resorted to keeping them in a small box which he carried around daily. Cliché as it sounded, Jisoo thought that maybe, just maybe, he was beginning to like this admirer of his. If only he could put a face to the sender.

He sifted through the notes he’d gotten, which amounted to a number of six. Jisoo felt himself beam as he read the sentences written on each letter. Though short, they meant a lot to him.

Your smile is the most beautiful thing on Earth, the most recent one read.

“Do you still not know who the sender is?” came a soft voice from across his dorm room. Jisoo looked up, and Minghao was staring curiously at the letters in his hand.

The prefect looked down at them too, smiling bitterly. “No,” he said. “I wish I did, though.” Since that day with Soonyoung and Seungkwan, he hadn’t tried to find out the sender’s true identity, and decided to just let her remain anonymous.

Minghao let out a sigh. “I bet she’s just worried about whether you would still like her once you know who she is.”

Jisoo frowned a little. “Why would she be?”

The Chinese boy shrugged, flopping onto his bed and giving his ginger cat a pat. “Sometimes things are just different once you know who it is.”

Jisoo let out a low ‘oh’, and focused his attention on the letters once again. Maybe things would be better if they remained like this, but he really did want to know who it was. As if Apollo knew about their conversation, he swooped in through the window that Jisoo found himself leaving open more often just in case more letters were going to arrive. The white owl had, once again, a pink letter in his beak, and he dropped it into Jisoo’s lap before returning back to his cage.

Jisoo opened up the letter, and quickly scanned it for his daily message that always warmed his heart up. It was a bit longer than usual, and he treasured every word that was written.

I fell in love when I heard you sing at Christmas last year. Your voice is beautiful.

Jisoo blushed upon recalling his performance for the holiday season last year. As a treat before the students were allowed to return home and spend Christmas with their families, the Hufflepuff head had asked Jisoo to sing a song for the entire school population, knowing his love for music and playing the guitar. He’d accepted his invitation and his performance was a success, but Jisoo had always thought that he’d messed up a certain part of the song. Somehow, it had actually made someone like him — romantically, for that matter.

Minghao let out a sudden gasp. “Hyung, I have an idea!”

Jisoo looked up, startled. “What?”

“You could get Apollo to send your admirer back a letter, and then follow him to see who he gives the letter to.”

And how did Jisoo never think of that? Apollo must have been so familiar with sending these love letters that he would be able to know exactly who the person was.

“Good idea, Minghao,” thanked Jisoo, and reached over to his bag to grab a quill and notebook. But what should he say? Maybe it was best to reply to her message instead of asking for her identity.

Thank you. I bet yours is beautiful, too, he wrote, and hastily folded the letter up. Jisoo beckoned for his owl to follow him, and the majestic bird fluttered out of his cage and onto his outstretched arm. Jisoo decided to release him at the entrance of the Hufflepuff dormitory, just so it would be a little easier for him to follow the swift owl.

“Good luck!” Minghao called as Jisoo made his way out of their room. “Tell me about it later!” The prefect nodded in reply and made his way out of their underground bedroom to the entrance, and once he was outside he handed the letter to Apollo, who snatched it up with his beak and took flight down a long corridor to the left.

“Slow down!” Jisoo said to his snowy owl and chased after it as quickly as he could, but the bird either didn’t understand or ignored him, for it continued to speedily manoeuvre itself down the corridor, avoiding students who passed by and gave Jisoo strange looks. He passed by Seokmin, a fellow Hufflepuff, who grinned at him knowingly, and Jisoo knew that Soonyoung must have been telling everyone about his secret admirer.

Apollo zipped down the corridors that never seemed to end as Jisoo trailed behind to the best of his abilities, taking occasional left and right turns until they reached a place that Jisoo recognised were the dungeons.

And he knew exactly what house his admirer was from.

A bunch of Slytherins ahead whispered the password to a stone wall which marked the entrance of their house dormitory, and it smoothly slid open to reveal a passageway to their common room. Apollo flapped his wings steadily and sped up, managing to glide through the walls just before they closed shut.

Jisoo was not as fast, and braked to avoid slamming face first into the cold stone wall. Great. He still didn’t know who his admirer was, but at least he knew they were from Slytherin. Not like that was anything much to go about, though.

“Jisoo-hyung!” came a familiar animated voice. Jisoo turned to see Soonyoung waving at him from a few metres away, walking in pace with another Slytherin. He had sharp chiseled cheekbones and tousled light brown bangs that swept across his piercing eyes, and Jisoo recognised him as Junhui, a beater on the Slytherin Quidditch team under Soonyoung.

“Hi,” Jisoo greeted, taking a step away from the dungeon entrance.

“What’re you doing at our dorm, hyung?” Soonyoung asked as they got closer. Junhui smiled politely at him.

“Minghao suggested I follow my owl to see who he gives the letter to. I was chasing after him, but he made it through the entrance before it closed,” Jisoo explained. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Junhui stiffen a little, and look away at the torches illuminating the corridors.

Wait. It couldn’t be him, right?

“Are you my secret admirer?” Jisoo asked before his brain could even catch up to his mouth. He wasn’t even that close with the Quidditch player, and he didn’t expect the response he would eventually hear.

Junhui spluttered in shock while Soonyoung cackled with laughter, bending over to clutch his stomach. Jisoo stared.

“You’re mistaken, hyung, I don’t— I’m not—” Jisoo had to admit, it was slightly amusing to see the seemingly cold Chinese Slytherin trip over his own sentences.

Soonyoung continued laughing, his small frame shaking with mirth. “Why would you think Junhui’s in love with you?”

Jisoo smiled awkwardly, and very apologetically. “I’m sorry, he was just acting a little strange when I was explaining about my situation.”

“Ah~” Soonyoung trilled, giving Junhui a knowing look. The other Slytherin still looked like he had been accused of stealing candy from Honeydukes when he didn’t even like sweets. “It’s probably because you mentioned Minghao.”

“What?”

Junhui continued to looked increasingly embarrassed.

“You didn’t know?” Soonyoung’s eyes widened. “Junhui’s been in love with him since both of us were fourth years.”

Jisoo gaped. “That’s two years.”

“Yeah, so I’m definitely not your admirer,” Junhui concluded, sounding eager to end the conversation so he could hide in his dorm forever.

“Well, do you mind letting me in? I want to see if I can find out who my admirer is,” said Jisoo.

Soonyoung looked apologetic. “Sorry, hyung. Grumpy old Snape won’t let anyone from other houses in. We get a huge demerit if we get caught.”

Jisoo sighed. He should have expected better of a house with a preference for purebloods and a particular distaste for other houses, and especially with a strict teacher like Professor Snape.

“Okay, thanks anyway,” he said.

“We could help you check if you’d like,” Junhui offered, picking up on his disappointment.

“Yeah! I’ll let you know when I hang out at your dorm again,” Soonyoung beamed.

“Thanks.” Jisoo bid them goodbye as they entered the Slytherin dormitory, and headed back to the Hufflepuff basement. As he made his way back slowly, he couldn’t help but think about Junhui’s one-sided pining for Minghao, and wondered if maybe his admirer might be a boy too.

::

Jisoo tapped the library table rhythmically, his mind wandering off to think about when he would receive his daily love letter and not really focusing on what ingredients were needed to make a Felix  Felicia potion. Maybe he should really study this topic more; he might find a potion that would help to figure out who his secret admirer was.

“Jisoo,” Jeonghan hummed. “You don’t look like you want to be here.”

Jisoo blinked himself out of his reverie, and offered the Slytherin who was sitting opposite him a smile. “Sorry. It’s not you, just what we’re supposed to be doing right now.”

“I thought you’d be more studious since you’re taking N.E.W.Ts,” Jeonghan said, grinning coyly.

Ah, Jisoo thought. Maybe these moments brought out the Slytherin in him. It was kind of amusing to see Jeonghan’s change in personality.

“My parents wanted me to,” he admitted. “I guess I could pursue my dream of being a singer after graduation, but they’d probably hold me back and get me to apply to be an auror or something.”

Jeonghan frowned. “They don’t support your decisions?”

Jisoo shrugged. “I wouldn’t say that. I guess they just… prefer the wizarding world to the muggle world.”

“I think you’d make a great singer, though,” Jeonghan offered with a bright smile. “Not that you wouldn’t be a fantastic auror, either.”

“Thanks,” Jisoo grinned. “I’ve always wanted to be a singer, but I guess they’ve never really seen a bright future for me if I went down that path.”

“Well, they should have seen your performance at Christmas last year,” Jeonghan said firmly. “You were amazing, and your singing was beautiful.”

“You flatter me,” Jisoo said, but he kept thinking back to Jeonghan’s words. Where had he heard or seen them before?

“Are you… really stressed about N.E.W.T.s?” Jeonghan asked cautiously, watching how Jisoo’s expression fell.

“A little, I guess,” Jisoo tried to smile. “I spend most of my time studying now, even though I’m with my friends.” He thought about how he was always bent over his books and trying to memorise facts about dark arts creatures, while Soonyoung and Seungkwan were keeping him company in their dorm.

“Then, are you going with anyone to Hogsmeade next weekend?”

Jisoo usually didn’t go to the village unlike his friends, since he was too hung up over studying. “No.”

“Do you want to go together?” Jeonghan asked, then hastily added, “If you’d like to, that is. You’re probably busy studying and everything—”

“Sounds good,” Jisoo beamed widely, secretly glad that he could take a break from all his stress. “You sure you don’t want to go with anyone else?”

“No!” Jeonghan said, maybe a little too loudly, earning shushes from those around them. He slumped back in his chair.

Jisoo chuckled. “Okay. Can’t wait, then.”

He thought he’d heard Jeonghan mutter something into his textbook, but was too busy thinking about his secret admirer again. Maybe they’d be at Hogsmeade, too?

::

Apollo swooped through the room door, hooting to signal his arrival. He dipped down to drop the pink paper safely in Jisoo’s lap, then nestled himself in his cage for a rest. Jisoo could tell that the snowy owl was getting increasingly tired from delivering letters here and there, and poured an extra helping of bird treats for him.

The past week had been exhausting, with Jisoo falling into step with the tiresome schedule of classes, revision, then sleep. The few things that were keeping him going were the daily letters, which Jisoo felt were getting sweeter, as well as his friends who were constantly cheering him on with his N.E.W.T.s.

Especially Jeonghan, whom Jisoo was meeting up with more and more often for study sessions. They were surprisingly productive, and Jeonghan made studying way more tolerable with his short conversations and occasional rants about the topics they were on (When would we ever need to turn animals into inanimate objects?). Jisoo found himself looking forward to meeting up with Jeonghan, since he made studying way more enjoyable than it was when he was revising alone.

But of course, Jisoo was constantly distracted by the thought of his secret admirer. He wasn’t sure if it was possible, but he felt himself falling — just a little — for the anonymous sender. Jisoo did try to put a face to his admirer, but couldn’t imagine anyone that would fit. Jeonghan’s smiling face flashed across his mind, and it was then that Jisoo realised that he wouldn’t mind if the long haired boy was in love with him.

It’s impossible, Jisoo figured, for him to be the sender, and ignored the thought.

He was still trying to ignore it as they walked through the bustling streets of Hogsmeade, looking for a café with empty seats so that both of them could just sit and chill with a couple of drinks. They’d stopped by the popular music shop to browse for any new albums, and Jisoo found out that he and Jeonghan had the exact same music taste despite being muggle-born and pureblood.

Unfortunately, Jeonghan’s usual hangout spot, the Three Broomsticks’ Inn, was completely full and his face fell at the thought of not being able to have a taste of butterbeer that weekend. Jisoo felt slightly disappointed too — he’d never tried it before, but Soonyoung went there often with Seokmin, and encouraged Jisoo to try the drink at least once before he graduated from Hogwarts.

So here they were, standing outside a shop painted in a slightly sickening shade of pink (much unlike the sweet soft pink of the letters) and decorated all over with tacky looking lace and frills. Jisoo grimaced, understanding why this wasn’t Jeonghan’s first choice of café.

“This is Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop, and, well…” Jeonghan trailed off awkwardly. “It’s for couples, I guess.”

“I’ve never been inside, or even heard of it,” Jisoo admitted, thinking that maybe he should really be more aware of places in Hogsmeade.

“You don’t mind, right?”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Jisoo said with a smile, and pushed open the door that greeted them with a cheerful tinkle.

It was then that Jisoo realised that they were in a shop with tons of kissing and flirting couples, with cherubs throwing confetti at them from above. Also, both of them were the only two males to come in together. The shop owner stared at them both, and Jisoo shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

“We’re not like that,” Jeonghan explained, offering a smile. “There’s just no other café around with available seats.”

“… I see.” The shop owner buried her face in her notebook. “What would both of you like?”

“I’ll have a tea.” Jeonghan turned to Jisoo. “You?”

“Um. Coffee.”

Madam Puddifoot nodded. “Have a seat first, dears.”

Jeonghan beamed, then led Jisoo over to a table by the window, where they sat in awkward silence for a while before their drinks arrived, the American boy not knowing what to say in such an uncomfortable situation. He tried not to notice the PDA going on around him, but it was hard not to.  Jisoo attempted to focus on sipping his coffee, which by the way tasted amazing.

“Sorry for bringing you here,” Jeonghan suddenly apologised. “It must be so weird, huh?”

Jisoo blinked before waving his hands hurriedly. “Oh, no! It’s fine. I like the coffee here.”

“What an awkward place for two guys to be,” Jeonghan said, voicing Jisoo’s inner thoughts.

The Hufflepuff shrugged, trying to play it casual. “I think it’s fine. It’s just a cafe, after all.”

Jeonghan smiled faintly. “You’re right.”

The romantic atmosphere was overwhelming, and Jisoo couldn’t help but wonder if one day, when his admirer would finally reveal her identity, they would come to this cafe for a date. Then it suddenly occured to him that Jeonghan was from Slytherin, and so was his admirer, and he wondered why he’d never asked Jeonghan about this topic before. Maybe he’d seen sights of Apollo and the sender of those heartfelt messages.

“Jisoo—”

“Jeonghan—”

They spoke at the same time, then paused, and stared at each other.

“You go first,” Jeonghan said, breaking the eye contact to drink his tea.

“Okay.” Jisoo steeled himself for a befuddled reaction. “So, do you know if there’s anyone in Slytherin who… may like me? In a romantic way?”

Jeonghan jerked, almost spilling his tea. He set the cup down and coughed before looking at Jisoo in the eyes. What would he say?

“I’m sure there are tons of girls who like you,” he said slowly. “You’re a handsome prefect with good grades and a good voice.”

Jisoo laughed at that. “Thanks, I guess.” Still no specific person, though.

“Why? You thinking of dating one of them?” Jeonghan’s voice was low.

Jisoo smiled at the thought of the letters he’d be receiving. He knew, that if his admirer would just admit who they were, he would seriously consider going out with them.

“Yeah,” Jisoo admitted with a lovesick grin on his face. He bet he looked like an idiot at that point.

“Oh. That’s nice,” Jeonghan said with a small smile, and the conversation ended right there.

The Slytherin didn’t say a word as they made their way back to Hogwarts castle, and Jisoo silently wondered if he’d said anything wrong.

::

The letters started to arrive less often. They used to be daily, but now they arrived every two to three days, and they were short and curt. Jisoo honestly wondered if he had offended everyone around him, but at least Apollo was happier that he didn’t have to spend all his time looking out for love letters that had to be delivered.

But even that wasn't as bad as the fact that Jeonghan was ignoring him. It wasn’t obvious, but Jisoo could tell that the long haired boy was speaking less and initiating even less study sessions. Even now, as they were sitting opposite one another to study in the library (Jeonghan was reluctant to even agree to it), neither of them were talking at all.

Jisoo was terrible at initiating conversations and had no idea what to say. He wished he was like Jeonghan, who seemed like he knew exactly what to say whenever the atmosphere was awkward. Like now, where both of them were sitting quietly in a corner of the library alone, Jisoo pretending like he was studying when he was actually worrying over Jeonghan.

Jisoo searched around for his notebook to make notes, then realised that he’d left it in his dormitory.

“Um,” he started awkwardly. “Could I borrow a notebook?”

Jeonghan nodded, not even bothering to look up.

Jisoo smiled, even though he knew that Jeonghan couldn’t see it anyway, still thinking if he had done anything wrong to Jeonghan during their Hogsmeade trip. He reached over to grab one of Jeonghan’s notebooks and opened it to rip a page off, but paused.

The notebook had light pink paper, and etched on it were smooth, elegant words in a handwriting that Jisoo knew all too familiar. His breath hitched, eyes not moving from the page.

Jeonghan looked up at him, then froze when he realised what had happened. He audibly gulped, and lowered his quill slowly.

“Jisoo, it’s not what you thi—”

“Why?” Jisoo’s voice trembled slowly, notebook still laid open in his hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I’m just your friend, and I’m a guy,” Jeonghan’s words, though soft, were like knives through his heart. “You would never want to speak to me ever again if you knew that I was in love with you.”

“You could have said something,” Jisoo said, feeling tears prick in his eyes. “Instead of just leaving me hanging.”

“I was scared, okay?” Jeonghan sounded like he just wanted to end the conversation right there. “Nothing’s worse than when the one you like drifts away just because you like him.”

“Who says I’ll drift away when you confess?”

“How was I supposed to know?” Jeonghan looked truly frustrated, with Jisoo, with himself, with his own feelings. “You’re popular with the girls in school, even though you don’t know that. I couldn’t risk it with you and tell you how I felt at the expense of our friendship.”

Jisoo wanted to put an end to Jeonghan’s doubts and worries. He felt so regretful that he’d been so blind to not even notice one of his closest friend’s feelings, and it had all built up to this very point.

“Then tell me now, what you feel.”

Jeonghan stared at him as if he was insane, but Jisoo stared back intensely, like he was daring Jeonghan to challenge what he’d just said.

“I… like you,” Jeonghan began, then started to tear up and covered his face with his hands embarrassedly. “I love you, I guess I adore you. So much that I’ve held it in for so long now.”

Jisoo felt a rush within his own emotions, and he also understood what he’d been feeling for Jeonghan after all this while. He had to say it now, before Jeonghan could run away from his grasp forever.

“I love you too, Jeonghannie,” Jisoo confessed. “I really do.”

Jeonghan blinked up at him, looking duly confused. “Since when? And why would you even like me?”

Jisoo got up, and walked over to Jeonghan’s side of the table before grasping his hands tightly.

“Since you sent me those letters. And, I was also thinking that, maybe it wouldn’t be so weird to fall in love with one of your closest friends.”

Jeonghan beamed, his eyes sparkling due to the tears, but also with underlying happiness.

“I’m glad my tactic worked, then.”

Jisoo couldn’t help but laugh at that. Sneaky Slytherin.

“What should we do now?” he asked.

Jeonghan looked away, cheeks tinted pink, and now Jisoo understood why they were so when they were together. The Slytherin was honestly adorable, biting his lip shyly, and Jisoo knew what he wanted to do at that moment.

Tilting Jeonghan’s head with a hand so that the blushing boy was facing him, and grabbing his open Potions textbook with the other, Jisoo bent down to give him a kiss.

That marked the day Jisoo realised who he’d rather spend his whole life with, and also the fact that textbooks made great shields when kissing in public.

::

The letters completely stopped coming, but Jisoo didn’t mind, because the sender himself would show up to wait for the Hufflepuff outside their dormitory every day before both of them headed off for class.

“I could go over to the Slytherin dorm to wait for you sometimes, you know,” Jisoo said as they made their way to their classrooms.

“I don’t mind,” Jeonghan said with his angelic beam. “It’s on the way to my classes, anyway.”

“Aw, so it’s not because you want to see me?” Jisoo teased in low-key Slytherin fashion.

“You know it is,” Jeonghan replied, still grinning.

They stopped walking when they reached Jisoo’s classroom; Jeonghan’s was just a couple of rooms down.

“See you at Potions later.” Jeonghan waved and turned to go, but Jisoo tugged him back by his hood.

After a quick glance to make sure there was no one else around, Jisoo pulled him in for a kiss. Jeonghan stared for a moment, shocked, but slowly relaxed and looked disappointed when they pulled apart.

“Bye,” Jisoo grinned cheekily, and walked into his classroom. As he sat down next to Jihoon, he felt a crunching sound in his pocket.

Jisoo blinked in confusion, reaching into his robe to pull out a now crumpled pink letter. How did it end up there? He had stored all the letters in his nightstand. Jisoo slowly unfolded it, feeling a strange sense of deja vu.

I’m glad I decided to send you those letters, it read.

Jisoo smiled, knowing that Jihoon was judging him, and that he looked like a fool.

Me too.