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till’s only just put the basketballs away in the storage room when he hears a low whistle from behind him. he turns, looks to see what hyunwoo is looking at.
it’s ivan, together with mizi and sua. they’re sitting in the bleachers, presumably waiting for till to be done with practice.
till isn’t sure what’s so special about the sight; ivan has waited for him before just like today. just what was hyunwoo marveling at? luckily for him, his questions are answered without him asking.
“lucky bastard,” hyunwoo mutters, wiping the back of his neck with his towel. “how the hell does he do it?”
“who, ivan?” marty glances over before shaking his head. “c’mon, it’s obvious. look at him, and then look at us. it’s no wonder that girls would rather speak to someone like him.”
till frowns. “sua’s his sister,” he says without bite, “and mizi’s been his best friend since they were little. it’s not like he gets any special attention from girls.”
hyunwoo barks out a laugh. “are you kidding, till? you room with the guy, haven’t you noticed? the guy’s always surrounded by chicks whenever he’s on campus.”
“hey! i hang out with him too!” till retorts. “do i look like a chick to you?”
“huh. you could pass, haha.”
“motherfuc—”
“you don’t count, till,” marty says, rolling his eyes as he grabs his gym bag, “you’ve also known the guy for years, of course you’re gonna hang out with him. but seriously, the guy knows every girl in our year. like a walking encyclopedia on how to get along with anyone our age wearing a skirt.”
till wants to mention that he too has worn a skirt and that it’s not only worn by women, but he figures it wouldn’t help his case.
but he thinks about it. really thinks about it.
“i guess i never noticed,” till begins slowly, “that ivan knows a lot of girls. but, he’s also doing fashion design. there’s a lot of women in that department.”
it is also the reason why till has worn the damn skirt, for fuck’s sake.
hyunwoo and marty exchange looks before turning sad eyes toward till.
till is immediately on guard. “what? what’re those faces for?”
hyunwoo places a hand on his shoulder, expression solemn as he speaks. “it’s okay to be jealous,” he says seriously. “trust me, we all are. ivan probably gets more game than the rest of us combined. like, look! another one’s popped up next to him.”
till turns so fast, he almost strains his neck. there, now talking to his three friends, is—
“you’ve got to be fucking joking. it’s fucking lisa.”
lisa, the stupid girl who thinks ivan’s attention is meant for her just because her daddy’s rich and can afford to fully fund the university’s library.
and then there’s stupid ivan who doesn’t want to get docked by his professors and gives her the attention she wants.
till grips his water bottle so tight it starts to crumble, lid falling off and water leaking out.
while till is busy chanting curses for murder in his mind, hyunwoo and marty take till’s reaction at face value, believing he too is jealous.
and they’re right. sorta.
till is, indeed, quite jealous, but not of ivan. no, he’s jealous of every girl who gets attention from ivan.
ivan, who is till’s very own fucking boyfriend.
but no one outside of till and ivan’s close circle know the truth about them. till didn’t want to advertise their relationship, especially now that they’re so close to graduating. of course, ivan would be continuing his studies under his professor as a mentorship, but still. school would be over. they would be free to be tillandivan and ivanandtill without anyone’s judging eyes peering at them.
so, of course till’s own teammates wouldn’t know the real reason till was mad, but they also didn’t think they needed to.
till goes over and yells lisa away before turning his ire at ivan. ivan doesn’t do much than smile brightly, happy to take the brunt of till’s fury.
sua and mizi don’t think anything of it, though they do send pitiful looks in ivan’s direction.
anyone watching the scene would come to the same conclusion, that ivan was popular with women and his roommate was publicly envious about it.
as it turned out, lisa was so upset about the debacle that she just had to vent to her friends, who in turn talked to their friends, who in turn decided to tell the entire university one simple fact: till was jealous ivan had more game than him.
thus ensued the most confusing semester of ivan’s campus life.
guys would slap him on the back, ask him to tell them his secrets, laugh when ivan said he had no idea what they were talking about and snicker at how it wasn’t fair to keep secrets. at that, ivan would just smile and nod, not knowing he was fueling the fire of his own reputation’s demise. some boys gave long, resentful looks when they saw him, unable to hide their insecurity. and if any ever made any insinuations about his sex life, ivan would just grin and say he doesn’t kiss and tell. ivan had a sole person in his mind every time, but everyone else thought that number far exceeded one.
girls, too, would come up to him, having heard all about how kind ivan was and what a good conversation partner he proved to be. he got handed slips of phone numbers almost every day he set foot on campus, would find his usual table in the library not as empty as before, would find himself talking about books, movies, fashion, celebrities, even politics with girls who wanted a real man to pay sweet attention to them. poor ivan... he just thought he was getting better at making friends. he didn’t know girls thought he was cute and wanted any chance they could get with him.
the more girls hung out with ivan, the more the boys talked. the more the word spread, the more girls sought out ivan for his company. it was a never-ending cycle that made ivan’s last semester quite puzzling.
as for till... well...
the power ivan exuded far exceeded what anger till could muster. there was only so many pillows he could rip apart, only so many times he could go all out against the punching bag at the gym. it didn’t help that ivan, his dumb and sweet ivan, was clueless about everything.
phone numbers might have been trashed upon entering their dorm room, because ivan couldn’t hold any more data on his phone, but till still had to listen to ivan talk about his day, about his new friends from the marketing, biology, wherever departments and how they got boba tea and talked about american rom-com novels that were more porn than plot.
sometimes, till would even see it in action, ivan laughing with girls till had never seen before, and would overhear guys from nearby tables debating how large ivan’s body count was currently.
incensed wasn’t strong enough to describe how till felt. it felt almost out of control, in a way.
but through this, one thing became absolutely crystal clear to till, something that would be non-negotiable going forward.
if the universe wanted to make ivan available to the entire goddamn planet, then till was just going to have to take away his open availability status.
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fast forward to graduation, and ivan was saying goodbye to old teaching assistants, favored professors, and peers who he studied with from his department. most didn’t notice, but towards the end, lisa and her friends noticed metal shining on ivan’s hand.
“ivan!” they gasp out. “is that a ring? a couple’s ring?”
ivan’s eyes widen, but then he smiles. it’s the softest, most loving smile they’d ever seen the man make. “yeah,” he says quietly, “i’m finally engaged to someone i love very much.”
the girls gape.
lisa is the first to recover and is just about to inquire further when till comes up to them and informs ivan that till’s mom was looking for him to take pictures with. he’s scowling straight at lisa the entire time he speaks.
ivan beams at till, quickly says goodbye to the girls, and follows till when the other grabs his hand.
when the two are out of earshot, the girls talk in a flurry amongst each other. who was it? who was ivan seeing? the way ivan was talking... was this some long-lost love come true? is that why ivan had never been seen with a girlfriend before and was hanging out with other girls?
the consensus was that they were happy for ivan. the guy deserved someone lovely, someone who suited him well. they were just about to leave when lisa screeches and multiple pairs of eyes turn to where she was looking, horror in her eyes.
ivan and till were locked in a kiss, one that was not as pg-rated as it should’ve been for public-viewing. an older, woman with short grey hair snapped pictures of them with her camera, giggling to herself that these would make great photos for the wedding slideshow.
everything and everyone came to a halt around the bubble surrounding the two lovers, who by now had broken apart and were gazing into each other’s eyes with an affection that people couldn’t believe they had missed the first time. when ivan notices the stares in their direction, he simply grins, raising his and till’s joined hands in the air and letting the sunlight bounce against the silver of their rings.
“we’re getting married!” he yells out.
for a moment, till is speechless. in the next, he is mortified, because everyone except lisa and her friends erupts into cheers that rival what he heard during the actual graduation ceremony.
he feels ivan grab him and spin him around, but he can only focus on the angry splotches of red on lisa’s cheeks and her disgruntled expression. when they meet each other’s eyes, till sends her a wicked smile and sticks his tongue out at her, mouthing ‘i win.’ it doesn’t take long for the girls to rush away from the congratulating crowd.
when hyunwoo and marty, the original enviers of ivan, come up to them, the first thing out of their mouths is why and how. till breathes easily, finally comfortable with telling his friends.
“why and how aren’t important,” he says smoothly, “but next time you talk about my fiancé behind his back, i’ll beat you both up.”
his ex-teammates laugh easily while ivan turns pink at till’s passionate defense.
“fair enough,” hyunwoo allows. “i guess that means you had no reason to be jealous, huh?”
ivan excuses himself to talk to some girls from other departments, all of whom want to see his ring and coo about it with him. from what the basketball players can hear, there are plans being made to go shopping together without the threat of men present.
till just sighs, already aware of his role in ivan’s new circles.
“no. you were right about that. i was as jealous as they come.”
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