Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

tontonie
Hey
Hey @bubumoe
Ppang
Wake up 

ppang
what
wHAT

tontonie
[link]
127 revealed a song of their next album in advance
Today’s concert 

ppang
holy shit
wait i'm busy i have to listen later
tell me taeyong got the dance break

tontonie
Bold of you to assume I cared about anyone else than Doyoung.

ppang
ok predictable but fuck you

tontonie
It’s Taeyong who else would get the dance break bro

ppang
please promise . 

tontonie
I told you I didn't remember
I was assuming

ppang
ok stop playing with me

tontonie
I can go check if you ask nicely

ppang
dont bother
i received my taeyong plush though
do you wanna see

tontonie
Omg
Yes

ppang
[picture]

Ryo could not repress his smile at the sight. 

The picture was a close up of the bottom part of ppang’s backpack. And it would have been a plain and simple black backpack if it was not for the bright star plush and the photocard holder hanging from its side. The star laid there, its face just made of a small smile and two big eyes. It looked stupid, honestly. It was the charm of it.

tontonie
It’s so cute
I’m mad I missed the merch drop

ppang
next one i’ll spam you
dw

“What’s making you smile like that?”

Ryo glanced up from his phone to be met with Stella’s inquisitive gaze; he could feel the way his cheeks were still hunched up. His smile froze on his face, probably making him look really stupid. 

“You texting your crush?” she teased. She approached to take a look at his phone. 

“No,” Ryo replied quickly. He scrolled back a little and clicked on the link he had sent just a minute ago, then turned his phone to his best friend. “It’s just Doyoung,” he said as the video of NCT 127’s stage played on mute on his screen. 

Stella rolled her eyes, losing interest. “Of course. Should have guessed it.” 

An amused smile tugged Ryo’s lips at her exasperation. 

Perfect, that was smooth. 

He tucked his phone in his back pocket. “Let’s move. We have class in ten.”

Stella nodded and grabbed her bag, and they left the university hall. 

The thing was… Stella was actually right. She had not been serious when she had teased him, but she had hit closer to home than she thought. 

Ryo was an experienced and well-versed NCTzen, an elite member of Ncity, if you will; and, a few months ago, he had made a Twitter mutual he had gradually become closer to. They had immediately clicked, and they were honestly texting all the time. They had now migrated on Discord for their regular conversations, and that, if anything, was a sign of closeness.

Or maybe that was just the delusional part of Ryo’s brain talking.

Because he had, in fact, maybe, eventually, caught feelings for his Twitter mutual. 

It was still not something he fully admitted to himself. No, the way he could not go a day without texting him, missed him whenever he had a particularly long day and could not reply, or thought of him every time he saw something Taeyong-related did not mean anything. It was just… regular mutual behavior. Friends behavior, if you will. He was pretty sure they were close enough that they could call each other friends. 

But when Stella had asked if he was texting his crush, he had felt exactly like he had been caught red-handed. Because how else was he supposed to consider someone he was texting all the time and that caused a stupid smile on his face every time he did?

Whatever. With his finals approaching, Ryo had bigger fish to fry than handling a crush on his Twitter mutual.

Ryo let out a groan when his phone rang loudly for the second time next to his ear. He grumbled a complaint under his breath and picked up the call, not even bothering to open his eyes. 

“What?” he mumbled into the speaker.

“Are you seriously still asleep?” Stella scoffed on the other end. 

Ryo dragged a hand across his face. He pulled his phone away, and checked the date. 

Ah. Yes. First Saturday of the month. 

“No,” Ryo replied as he put his phone back against his ear, his hoarse voice betraying him. He sat up and blinked a few times in hope of making the sleep go away. 

“You’re late.” 

“I’m ready.” Ryo stood up and racked the ground with his eyes to find where he had left his favorite jeans the day before. “I’m coming.” 

“I’m here.”

“You’re—what?”

Four loud knocks resounded on Ryo’s door, startling the shit out of him. His phone almost slipped out of his hands. 

“Open the door, Ryo!” she screamed, and Ryo heard it both through his phone and the door. 

He clicked his tongue and hung up. He quickly walked to the door to unlock it, well aware that his best friend would knock awfully loudly again if he did not hurry. 

So he welcomed her in his pyjamas, completely abandoning his earlier lie. It was not like she had bought any of it anyway. 

“Stay here while I change in my room,” he said, not sparing her a glance once he had opened the door. 

Stella’s nails ticked softly on her phone’s screen as she sent a quick text. “Don’t be too long. Your sister will be there soon.” 

Ryo stopped in his tracks, and gave her a bewildered look. “Misaki is picking us up?”

“Yeah.”

An exasperated groan left his lips. “My sister is driving us there, and you’re telling me we’re late?!”

Stella just pushed him inside his room and rolled her eyes. “Go get dressed, stinky.” 

So he did get dressed — not without spending a full five minutes rummaging his room to find his favorite jeans. 

It was not really a surprise that Misaki was picking them up since the three of them were headed to the same place, but she was usually too busy to do so. Most of the time, they met directly in the bleachers of the stadium.

Stella’s older brother and Misaki’s boyfriend were both on the soccer team of their university. And admittedly, Ryo had gotten pretty close with the latter, Yushi. So somewhere between supporting his sister’s boyfriend, supporting his best friend’s brother, feeling slightly patriotic towards his university and hanging out with his two favorite people, Ryo had let himself be dragged by Misaki and Stella to the monthly friendly soccer games their uni team organized with other universities. 

He did not really have any friends on the team apart from Yushi — who did not really count, because he was his sister’s. He actually even had his nemesis among the soccer players. 

So, honestly, the only motivation for him to go to these games was just to spend a good time with his best friend and his sister.

The air felt crisp and light in the stadium. Ryo squinted as the sunlight reflected on the blue seats of the bleachers reached his eyes, and brought his cap lower on his head. 

Stella and he followed behind his sister who was making her way to their usual seats, on the left of their team’s goal during the first round. The seats creaked when they sat down, as they usually did. 

It was pretty hot. Stella had put her hair up in a jaw clip, and for how much she liked to have it down, it was telling of how hot the weather was. Ryo could tell they were slowly entering the era where the sun would cease to just feel enjoyable, and would gain a murderous edge. 

He had not realized today’s weather would be that warm, so he mentally thanked the instinct that had made him pick a light tank top within the three seconds he had been granted by Stella before she had dragged him out of his apartment. 

Ryo drank some water from his flask, which was unfortunately already lukewarm, because he had not had time to put it in the fridge before leaving and had forgotten to do so the day before. His body felt even more hot just imagining the soccer players running around and sweating under the scorching sun. 

He glanced to the side when his sister stood up and put her bag on her seat, her charms clinking together and against the blue plastic. 

“I’m going to go see Yushi,” she announced. 

Ryo gave her a look. “You’re about to see him in ten minutes.” 

“I want to kiss him before he gets all sweaty and gross.”

Ryo winced. “That's already gross.”

Misaki gently smacked him, then leaned down to his ear level, like she had to confide a secret to him. “I’m helping you here,” she whispered. She stood back up, a wide smile on her face. “Don't misbehave while I’m not here, you two!” she teased knowingly — or so she thought —, then gave Ryo a wink. 

An awfully indiscreet wink, because Ryo knew Stella had perfectly seen it too. 

“Misaki!” he hissed as his eyes widened. He heard an awkward laugh leave Stella’s lips as she mumbled a small ‘see you’. 

Ryo sank into his chair once his sister had left and buried his face in his hand. He stayed there, shut off from the visible world, embarrassment creeping up his neck. 

Stella just chuckled next to him. “She’s consistent, I’ll give her that.”

How chill his best friend was about his sister’s innuendo betrayed how often they were subjected to her teasing. 

Because yes, for some reason, Misaki was convinced that Stella and him were dating. Or that they had feelings for each other, at least. No matter how many times Ryo denied it, his sister was not letting up. 

He was honestly seventy percent sure Misaki did not even believe it herself, and just used it as a way to embarrass him. She did not even care that Stella was there and perfectly within hearing range for half of her teasing remarks. 

“I’m sorry,” Ryo mumbled, lowering his hand with a sigh. 

Stella shrugged. “I’m used to it.” 

“She sounds like a broken record.”

His best friend just hummed next to him. Ryo was grateful that she was pretty unbothered by Misaki’s comments, and just felt awkward for the two point five seconds that followed it.

God. That embarrassing moment had not helped Ryo cool down the smallest bit. He grabbed his flask and downed half of it. 

Then, his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket. 

ppang
tonie
why arent u replying

Ryo’s heart did not flutter because ppang was demanding his attention, thank you very much.

(He was so screwed.)

tontonie
Sorry woke up late
What’s up

ppang
i need ur help
[link]
help me ratio
you have a bigger following

Ryo snorted. He liked and retweeted ppang’s tweet before even knowing what it was about. 

tontonie
Ok let me read and qrt too

ppang
thanks
i have to go literally right now pls ragebait them for me

tontonie
On it

Ppang went offline, exactly like he had announced, and Ryo took over his argument with a stupid dreamzen. Once he was satisfied with his tweet and had posted it, he pocketed his phone. His heart felt lighter because of his conversation with ppang, even if they had barely exchanged two sentences. 

He then went to take another gulp out of his flask, and realized with a wince that only two sips of water were left. 

He checked the time on his phone. They still had a few minutes before the game started; not that he really cared if he missed the first minutes anyway.

“Be right back,” he told Stella as he stood up. “I’m going to refill my flask.”

She gave him a nod. “Okay. Can you buy us some cans at the vending machine?” 

“Sure. What do you want?” 

“Anything,” she sighed exaggeratedly. “I’m boiling here.”

Ryo laughed. “Okay. I got you.”

He walked down the bleachers and skipped a few steps at the end of the stairs. He entered the attached building, the glass door squeaking familiarly under his hand. As an air as warm as outside greeted him, he mourned the fact that, since it was not summer yet, the air conditioning had not been turned on.

There was not even a fan in sight. At least Ryo had one in his room. He missed it more than ever, right now.  

And as Ryo opened the door of the restroom, he decided he would have definitely been better off if he had stayed home. 

Maybe he had slept in that morning for a good reason. Maybe it was exactly so this moment could be prevented, instead of meeting the faith his body had tried to avoid. 

Because there he was, in all of his glory: Ryo’s nemesis. 

Fujinaga Sakuya.

“Oh,” the latter said. “Hey.”

He was, obviously, wearing a jersey with their university logo. His nape was covered with a thin layer of sweat, despite the game not having started yet. And it was infuriating, because Ryo’s back was sweaty as well, and his hands felt clammy, yet Sakuya’s hair looked perfectly clean and fresh. Not even a single damp strand on his forehead.

Who the hell still looked that good in such weather?

Ryo did everything in his power not to visibly scowl, but he knew his eyes had gone cold. “Hey,” he replied dryly. 

He bypassed Sakuya to go to the sink he was not blocking with his body. He turned on the faucet to the maximum, hoping to both fill his flask as fast as possible and drown every inch of silence that could make room for striking up a conversation.

But maybe Sakuya hit all the marks of being a jock. Maybe he really was stupid, and could not read the room. Because he went: “I didn't know you came to our games.”

Ryo almost laughed in his face. Of course the cool, nice and popular Fujinaga Sakuya would not notice him.

“I’ve been here at every single one, though,” he said flatly.

Sakuya just pursed his lips. He looked torn, like something was bothering him. There probably was. Ryo would be bothered if he learned Sakuya had been attending one of his club activities every month. 

“You—like soccer?”

The hesitation in Sakuya’s voice irked Ryo. Yeah, because it must be so far-fetched for Sakuya that such a loser like Ryo could be interested in soccer. 

(Even if he was, indeed, not.)

Ryo turned off the faucet. “Not really.”

He had been praying for every single one of the past few seconds that Sakuya would stop lingering at the door and leave already, but since he had not, Ryo took the lead. He headed out swiftly and—fuck. The vending machine was right next to the restroom.

Ryo cursed Stella in his head, and angrily pressed a button for her drink. Absolutely aware that Sakuya was still staring at him from the entrance of the restroom.

Seriously, how many times would this guy try to set some civility between them? They did not get along. That was fine. Ryo was living alright ignoring him. Sakuya did not need to—

“Why are you here, then?” 

Sound even more confused and I’ll punch you.

God, did he not have a game to attend?

“Yushi is my sister’s boyfriend,” Ryo replied curtly.

“Oh,” Sakuya said helpfully. “I see.”

It was awkward. Ryo hoped with all of his heart that Sakuya could feel it.

And if the way he rubbed his neck and looked around was anything to go by, he probably did.

“Well, I—hope we’ll win,” he said. And he sounded completely stupid, if you asked Ryo. 

Sakuya was literally on the soccer team. Of course he hoped they would win.

It would be the perfect occasion for Ryo not to be insufferable and be polite enough to wish them to win too, but he refused to let Sakuya think they got along. Not even a single second.

So he just replied: “Yeah,” and pressed another button to buy his own can. 

An awkward silence stretched between them, heightened by the weight of the hot air. 

Sakuya rubbed his neck again and cleared his throat. “I think I’ll get going,” he said quietly, hesitant. Ryo wished he could say that he saw gears turn into Sakuya’s head for him to decide what to say next, but he seriously suspected there was nothing but void in his brain. Which is why he added: “See you,” then immediately regretted it. Ryo caught a glimpse of his wince as he left. 

Ryo rolled his eyes and retrieved his can, welcoming the cool humidity against his hand. He hoped Sakuya would keep replaying their awkward interaction in his mind and finally stop being cordial with him.

He did not understand why Sakuya was so keen on trying to talk with him once in a blue moon, as if their usual interactions did not consist of non-verbal mildly irritated looks.

It had started as soon as the first semester began. For some reason, their eyes had met across the room during the single class they shared, and Ryo had been able to physically feel the wall being erected between them as their eye contact grew longer. 

A quick glance to the people at Sakuya's side, and Ryo had been able to gauge him. Loud guys in sweatpants, half of them with dyed hair. In high school, this kind of student would have meant trouble; but now, it only meant attention-seeker. Or attention-attractor. They did not need to seek it. Everyone knew and liked them anyway. 

Sakuya’s own bleached hair had told Ryo everything he needed to know. The way his gaze had lingered on him had just topped it off. 

That had been their first encounter — if you could call it that way —, and while Ryo was not in favor of judging a book by its cover, everything he had noticed about Sakuya afterwards had only confirmed his gut feeling about him. 

He was a soccer player. Which was the worst kind of all jocks. Or at least Ryo thought so at the time, since he had not met Yushi yet. Now, he only thought they were as bad as the other sports guys. And that Yushi was an exception. 

There was also something vicious in the way Sakuya occasionally glanced at him silently, and Ryo would just glare back at him.

Attention-attractor, remember?

It sometimes felt like Sakuya could not stand the fact that Ryo openly showed that he did not like him. More exactly, ‘could not stand’ was a bit strong, because Sakuya actually acted like none of this really bothered him — and it only irked Ryo more. Sakuya looked at him more with curiosity than irritation, like Ryo was an enigma he had to solve.

Which was also why Ryo was two seconds away from snapping at him the rare times they exchanged a few words. Sakuya kept trying to talk to him, and Ryo had figured out two possible reasons. One: Sakuya did not like that Ryo disliked him, and was trying to get on his good side to complete his ‘I get along with everyone’ streak where Ryo stood out like a sore thumb. Two: Sakuya was well aware that they did not like each other, but acted like he was the bigger person and could have a civil conversation with him without his cortisol level spiking. 

No matter which one it was, it infuriated him. 

Ryo walked back to the bleachers with his teeth clenched, almost stomping his way there. He had not realized how much this encounter had pissed him off until he plopped down next to Stella, and she raised a brow.

“Why do you look so grumpy all of a sudden?”  

Ryo gave her her can, opened his and took a sip before replying. The cool and fizzy liquid was a blessing.

“I ran into Sakuya.”

Stella laughed, then hummed in acknowledgement. “What did he do?” she inquired.

“He said hi. Asked me if I liked soccer.”

“That enough to put you in a bad mood?”

“Of course it is,” Ryo scoffed. “That’s Sakuya.”

Stella just tapped her fingers on the side of her can, gathering the condensation droplets on the tip of her nails.

“You know, I think you assume you two are more different than you actually are.”

“He's a sports guy. That tells me enough.”

She gave him a deadpan look. “Both of our brothers are on the soccer team with him, Ryo.”

Ryo made a face, his can hanging halfway to his mouth. “Yushi is not my brother.”

Stella just waved her hand to brush his words off, like this was a detail. “Brother-in-law," she corrected.

“Still no.” Ryo took a sip.

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she gave up. But since she could not let him catch a break, she added: “He has a BTS plush on his bag, you know.”

Ryo raised an unimpressed brow. “Okay?”

She glanced at him. “You like NCT.”

He gave her a disbelieving look. “BTS and NCT are nothing alike. That's like—two different worlds.”

“Sure,” she replied, unbothered. “It still means he likes K-pop.” She stared at him. “Like you,” she helpfully supplied, as if he was stupid. 

“It’s not—” Ryo groaned, then sighed, giving up on the urge to go on a tangent about the fundamental difference between Armys and NCTzens. “I wouldn't even care if he liked NCT. That doesn't make him less of an asshole.”

“I thought that was a requirement to like NCT, though,” Stella retorted.

Ryo smacked her shoulder. “Hey!”

“You told me so!” she laughed. 

He sighed. “You’re so annoying.”

“And you’re dense.”

Ryo looked at her with a frown. “Why are you even defending him so much? You know I don't like him.”

Stella just shrugged. “No particular reason. I just saw his BTS plush.”

Ryo squinted, unconvinced. “You still fancy him?”

Stella gave him a level look. “You know, hating a guy I once was interested in is not helping with the whole your-sister-thinks-we’re-secretly-dating situation.”

“What?”

“It makes you look jealous.”

Ryo scoffed, offended. “I’m not jealous. He’s just so fucking lame.”

“That's exactly what a jealous guy would say.”

“Okay, Stella, stop playing with me—”

“I'm just seeing it through your sister's tinted glasses.” She brought her hands up to her face to mimic glasses. “Ouuuhh my beloved little brother who hates that guy for no apparent reason and my little brother’s best friend who just so happened to have a crush on the same guy months ago. I wonder what conclusion I would draw from here.”

Ryo pushed her and almost made her fall off her seat. 

“That's not why I hate him. That was just the cherry on top.”

“I think anything Sakuya-related is the cherry on top,” Stella argued. “Everything from him annoys you.”

“Bingo,” Ryo said flatly. “You got it.”

Stella dropped the topic, and the game started two minutes later. Their university won the first round, Yushi scoring most of the goals.

Ryo refused to look at Sakuya the whole game.

Luckily, the weather cooled down the following days.

It also meant Ryo had no unfortunate heatwave to blame for his eventual procrastination, and that the fact that he was sitting at his desk with his binder and lessons wide open but left unattended was entirely on him. 

Well, Ryo would argue it was on his Twitter crush too. 

They had been texting for, what—an hour now? He was not keeping track. 

tontonie
We should also live react to the MV

ppang
i cant
i’ll only be able to watch it in the evening, i have an exam that day

tontonie
Aw nooo

ppang
yeahh that’s annoying
dont spoil me before i watch it

tontonie
Np
I think I also have a test the day after

ppang
i hate it seriously
all the final exams are coming up

tontonie
Same
The weather is getting so hot too

ppang
johndo shippers are everywhere

tontonie
Dreamzens are infiltrating our sphere

ppang
my crush is not talking to me

tontonie
Doyoung and ty are going to the military soon

ppang
im going yo kms

tontonie
Wait
Waht

Ryo’s heart jumped in his chest. He almost fell off his chair. He reread ppang’s text once, twice, thrice, his eyes bulging out of his head a little more each time. 

ppang
im joking tonie
im not actually suicidal 

tontonie
Not this
Ur crusj
Crush
?

Okay. If Ryo still had any doubts about having feelings for ppang, he was now set. The way his heart had dropped to his stomach was very telling. 

Fuck. He was done for. 

ppang
thats just a guy at my uni

And if Ryo thought he had already gotten his heart broken with the first text, he was wrong. Because this felt like a second blow. 

Okay. So ppang liked boys.

Cool.

Ryo did not feel like he had lost at all. 

tontonie
Why did you never tell me about it

He immediately regretted this text. He sounded so obviously jealous. 

ppang
cause nothing’s happening
i told you
he’s not talking to me

tontonie
Wait you meant like
Permanently?
Y’all are not just arguing?

Ryo had no idea what he was doing. Maybe he had masochist tendencies he did not know about. Why was he asking further questions, when every text pained him more? 

ppang
no
we never talk

Great. So Ryo was losing to a guy who did not even talk to ppang. 

tontonie
Do you even know each other

ppang
not really
i mean yes but
i just see him around honestly

tontonie
Then why tf you got a crush on him

ppang
idk
he looks good

Brother. Ryo was about to lose it. 

tontonie
You’re such a loser

ppang
?
unprovoked

He was right. That was unprovoked. 

tontonie
Why don’t you talk to him

ppang
i dont think he likes me

tontonie
Well no shit
Yall dont talk

ppang
no like
i think he dislikes me

Ryo was about to throw his phone across the room.

He was texting ppang every day, he made him laugh, they shared the same interests, they agreed on most things, they had matching Twitter layouts, for fuck’s sake—and Ryo was losing to a guy who barely knew ppang and disliked him. 

Ryo could only resort to projecting. 

tontonie
Wow
You’re really a loser

ppang
ok pack it up now
dont act like you have game

Ryo almost choked on his own spit.

Because ppang was right. Talk about worse game than pining for someone online. Who, by the way, had a crush on a real person like anyone sane. 

But ppang was not supposed to know that.

Who was he to assume Ryo did not have game? 

tontonie
?
I literally have a gf

Okay. 

That was definitely far-fetched.

But it was too late. 

ppang
????
what
you never told me

tontonie
You never told me about your crush either

God. Ryo sounded so petty and bitter. 

ppang
thats literally not the same thing
nothings going on with my crush
but you
you skipped a whole chapter

tontonie
Nothing’s happening with my gf either

ppang
thats a whole GIRLFRIEND
why are you acting so nonchalant

Because I don’t have a freaking girlfriend. I just made her up. 

tontonie
Doyoung is more important anyway

ppang
wow
you’re unbelievable

tontonie
She knows dw

Ryo cringed at his own text. He hesitated over blocking ppang for a second just for this whole conversation to disappear.

There he was, coke ranting about the behavior of a girlfriend that did not exist.

He just assumed that if he did have a partner, they would know how much he liked Doyoung. Well, if ppang had been his boyfriend, he would have—

ppang
ig that much was obvious
how long have you been together

Okay. Ryo could literally not sink further into his lie without dying from cringe. 

tontonie
What r you asking so many questions for

ppang
im taking notes

tontonie
What

ppang
did you start dating this year?
idk how to date people in college

tontonie
Yeah we did

ppang
can you give me advice

Could Ryo give him what. 

Oh my god. He had dug his own grave.

He did not want to give advice to his crush to get his own crush. Especially not with experience he did not have!

tontonie
Thats not the same thing 

ppang
what isnt

tontonie
Im dating a girl

ppang
so?

tontonie
Thats not a guy

ppang
damn i thought so :/
ofc it’s not dumbass
what does it change

tontonie
Well I wouldn’t know
I never dated a guy

That was probably the first time he had not lied for the past twenty minutes. 

tontonie
Have you?

ppang
yeah
girls too

tontonie
So does it?
Feel different

ppang
idk
it does ig

tontonie
I dont have any advice to give u ppang
Especially not over a guy who hates you

ppang
ok so he doesnt hate me

I hope he does. I hope he never looks in your direction.

tontonie
Sure

ppang
thank you for the support im moved

tontonie
Ure welcome 

ppang
alright
dont keep such big things away from me now
i thought we were friends

Ryo’s heart broke a little. Maybe ppang had really been upset that tonie would hide something so important from him. They did talk about everything, after all. 

But Ryo was also completely hiding the fact that he had feelings for him, so. He was keeping something that big from him anyway. 

tontonie ppang
Yeah mb
Dw I’ll tell you next time I poop

ppang
shut up

Ryo finally let go of his phone. 

He now tried to focus on his revisions, but his mind kept going back to his conversation with ppang. He was fucked, honestly. 

He went to sleep half heartbroken and half irritated that night.

Weeks went by.

The weather indeed got too hot. Ryo’s final exams started. He continued to be annoyed by dreamzens online. NCT 127 released their comeback. Ryo still talked to ppang, even if he had gotten his heart broken. 

(And ppang’s crush still did not talk to him; but that, Ryo did not know.)

With the reality check of ppang having a crush on someone else, Ryo had tried to focus on other things. He had tried, at least, not to be too bothered by it. He was doing pretty good, if anyone asked. 

But exactly when he thought he was managing his heartache, things took a turn he could have never predicted. 

It happened on a random Tuesday, at the university’s cafeteria. 

Ryo was sitting across from Stella, and they were just peacefully eating their lunch when someone bumped into the corner of his tray. 

“Oh, sorry!” the girl immediately apologized, giving him only a little bow of her head since her hands were occupied with her own tray.

“That’s fine,” Ryo replied with a small smile, pulling his tray away from the edge of the table. That was on him, it had been sticking out. 

The girl just gave him a polite smile and turned around. She did not look familiar enough that Ryo would have recognized her as one of Sakuya’s friends, but since she had bumped into him, it had made him look up; and his gaze now landed on a silhouette he had unfortunately learned to recognize against his will. 

Sakuya. 

Which would not have been that much of a problem in itself. Ryo did not hate him to the point that just seeing him around would ruin his mood. They literally went to the same school, and shared one class. Ryo would be constantly pissed if that was the case.

No, the issue was Sakuya’s bag. And more precisely: what was hanging from it. 

Ryo did a double take, and his stomach dropped.

He watched, stunned, as Sakuya walked away, a Taeyong star plush and a small photocard holder swinging happily behind him. 

No. 

What the hell?

Sakuya sat down at a nearby table, turned away from him. His bag was still in plain view though, and Ryo could not take his eyes off the star plush. 

No thought crossed his mind.

He could only hear a faint buzzing in his ears.

He suddenly received a light kick in his chin, and that broke him out of his trance. He blinked and looked up at Stella, who was staring at him with an eyebrow raised.

“You good?” she asked, mouth half full. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Ryo could not help the way his eyes naturally drifted back to Sakuya. Stella followed his gaze, then turned back to him.

“Okay, that’s just Sakuya,” she chuckled. “I don’t think he asked his friend to bump into you though, you're fine. You can relax.”

Haha. Yes. He should probably relax.

After all, anyone could have a black backpack and Taeyong merch, right? He was one of the most popular members. That was like, so common. 

Ryo had definitely seen hundreds of people with a black backpack and a Taeyong star attached to it before. That did not mean anything. Right. 

He tried to calm down for approximately three seconds, then frantically pulled out his phone. 

tontonie
Hey
Ppang

Ryo glanced at Sakuya’s table. Nothing. 

He looked back at his screen. Hoping ppang would reply while Ryo had an eye on Sakuya not being on his phone. 

But if ppang did not reply to him, Ryo would not have anything answered.

tontonie
@bubumoe hellooooooo
Emergency
Please reply

Ryo waited for a few seconds, fingers nervously drumming on his thigh. He kept sneaking discreet glances at Sakuya. 

Still no reply. 

So...

Ryo resorted to spamming. 

@bubumoe
Hey
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
Ppang
P
P
.
.
.
.
.
P

Sakuya did not budge. Nor did ppang. 

Ryo did not even think and pressed the call button. 

And he watched, horrified, as Sakuya finally pulled his phone out of his pocket.

The latter frowned at the screen, cheeks still full of food. 

Ryo looked down at his phone.

Ppang went online. Hung up his call. Started typing. 

ppang
???
whats going on

Ryo looked at Sakuya again. He was staring at his phone, a confused frown laying between his brows. He was not typing anymore. 

Ryo just waited. Waited. Waited for ppang to lose patience and send him another text.

And when Sakuya blinked twice then typed again, Ryo’s eyes snapped to his phone. He saw the bubbles of ppang’s text appear right before his eyes.

ppang
hello???????

Fuck.

There was no room left for doubt now.

And Ryo had definitely not thought this through, because now, he had no idea what to tell ppang. He had only been driven by adrenaline. 

He typed the first plausible thing that came to his mind.

tontonie
Mb
Someone said Taeyong enlisted
It was js ragebait

ppang
bro
dont ever scare me like that again

Sakuya visibly relaxed, then put away his phone. He smiled at his friends and entered their conversation again. 

Ppang went offline.

Oh, Ryo was so screwed.

He exhaled a tortured sigh and let his head fall between his arms on the table.

“Stella?” he mumbled, exhausted. 

“Hm?”

“Look at Sakuya’s bag. Is that the BTS plush you were talking about?” 

He heard his best friend turn around, then give a positive hum. 

“Yeah. Is it not?”

Ryo just closed his eyes, and did not reply. 

He should have known he could not trust Stella when it came to K-pop. 

And it must have been Ryo’s lucky day, because they got out of the cafeteria at the exact same time as Sakuya’s group. Ryo nothing but jumped when he noticed he was next to him. He was pretty sure his ears had become bright red too. He would like to say he was just being paranoid, but between the way his heartbeat had quickened like he had just downed three of Stella’s awfully sweet milkshakes and the weird look Sakuya had given him, it was obvious. 

So much for being the only person that did not like Fujinaga Sakuya. He was now just a loser among losers.