Archive of Our Own

Right now, all Junghwan is thinking is that he’s hungry, and he wants bread from the convenience store. He keeps it in, though, and waits for Jaehyun to start complaining. Predictably, he does. 

“I’m so tired,” he whines, dropping his head onto Junghwan’s shoulder. It feels more like digging his forehead into his shoulder, which kind of hurts, so Junghwan tries, to no avail, to push him off. “I want a coffee. Like from the corner store.” 

“Get me a bread, too,” Junghwan replies drily, not looking away from the teacher instructing them at the head of their little circle with the other second-years. 

“I don’t want to,” Jaehyun says, his voice muffled in Junghwan’s shirt. Junghwan rolls his eyes.

“Too bad. And stand up, what are the first-years going to think if their orientation leader is whining like a big baby?” Finally, Junghwan manages to shove Jaehyun off. 

“They’ll see that I’m a nice and chill guy and get more comfortable?” Jaehyun suggests. “And don’t act like you’re not hungry, too. I can hear your stomach.” 

Junghwan closes his eyes. He was trying to ignore the grumbling sounds coming from him, but unfortunately the tactless Jaehyun had to point it out. He considers swearing at Jaehyun but decides against it, eventually just muttering shut up as he opens his eyes and fixes his attention back to the front. 

“Alright, everyone understand the instructions?” The teacher smiles cheerfully at the room of nodding second-years, some more enthusiastic and others only half-awake, and claps her hands. “Great! Make sure you have your nametags and backpacks, and let’s go out to meet the freshmen!” 

Once they’re out on the lawn, Junghwan bids goodbye to Jaehyun and spreads out from the group, waving his sign with his name and group number in the air. Curious freshmen flit between him and his classmates as they try to locate their respective groups. 

A couple freshmen eye him nervously when they pass. He tries not to get hurt at their apprehension. Junghwan does his best to smile, he really does, but he can’t help it if he’s tall and generally intimidating. It’s okay, Junghwan, he can hear his sister say in his head, you just need to be friendly to the kids in your group. 

Gradually, freshmen come up and ask if they’re in his group, and when they are, they hover awkwardly near him until he has eight or nine first-years in a loose circle around him. Junghwan checks his roster: he has just one kid left, a boy in room 1-3 named Choi Youngjae. 

Just as he’s looking up, another freshman walks up to him. The first thing Junghwan notices about him is that he’s tall, almost as tall as Junghwan himself. The second thing he notices is his face, which is both round and sharp and sporting somewhat of a guarded expression, like he’s not fully relaxed. 

“Hello,” the boy says. Immediately, Junghwan thinks, your voice is pretty. “You’re Shin Junghwan, right? My name is Choi Youngjae.” 

It’s you. Junghwan marvels at the sound of his name in this boy’s voice, and how it sounds like he has a very slight accent, like he’s trying to cover up another dialect with the Seoul dialect. It’s all very intriguing. 

“Nice to meet you, Youngjae-ssi,” he greets him. Checking his name off of his roster, Junghwan looks up and smiles at the group. 

“Alright! Now that everyone is here, we’re going to go around in a circle and introduce ourselves!” Junghwan clears his throat and stands up straight, just like his sisters taught him. “Let’s all share our names and our favorite fruits. As you guys know, my name is Shin Junghwan. I’m a second-year, and I’ll be your orientation guide today. My favorite fruit is strawberries.” 

Turning to his right, Junghwan smiles at Youngjae. Youngjae smiles politely back. “Your turn,” Junghwan whispers. 

“Ah, yes.” Youngjae clasps his hands in front of him and bows to the group. “My name is Youngjae! My favorite fruit is watermelons!” He smiles, revealing two adorable front teeth. 

What? Junghwan mentally slaps himself. What are you thinking? He shakes his head lightly and gestures for the freshman to keep going. 

One by one, every member of the group shares about themselves, until it comes back to Junghwan again. He fishes out a folder from his bag and holds it up. “Now that we know each other’s names, I’m going to pass out your school IDs. This will be handy when you get lunch or need to show ID at the gates, so make sure not to lose it!” As Junghwan picks up the first card, he mutters, “Let’s see if I remember your names.” 

Luckily, there’s faces attached to the cards, so it’s quick work handing it out to the freshmen. He makes sure to address them by name when he gives it to them so he can commit their names to memory. When he gets to the last card in the pile, Junghwan pauses. 

Staring back at him is a fresh-faced middle schooler who looks like a guinea pig turned human. Next to it, the name reads Choi Youngjae. 

“Youngjae-ssi,” Junghwan says, a little teasing. Next to him, Youngjae smiles faintly, but he doesn’t say anything. He accepts the card with a quiet thanks and slips the card into his neatly pressed uniform trousers. 

Junghwan tries not to pout at his lack of a reaction. Then, the Jaehyun in his head chides, He’s just a freshman. Why do you care? To which Junghwan insists he doesn’t. He’s just being friendly. 

“Okay, first up is a school tour,” Junghwan announces. “Follow me.” He slings the bag over his shoulder and begins walking. 

When he glances back to make sure the students are indeed following him, he finds Youngjae standing right behind him. The other first-years have clumped into groups of two and three, beginning to make conversation with one another, but Youngjae is alone at the front of the group with Junghwan. 

Interesting. 

As they walk, Junghwan expertly points out the different buildings of the school, reciting the script the teacher drilled into all the orientation leaders. At every fun fact and comment, Youngjae nods or makes an appreciative sound, but he doesn’t say much. For being the only student not in a group, Junghwan thought Youngjae would at least try to talk to him, but it seems like that’s not the case. 

Or consider it’s because you’re his senior, Jaehyun in his head suggests. You try talking first. 

“So, are you from around here?” 

“Huh?” Youngjae’s surprised sound mirrors the confusion Junghwan himself feels at the question. Why’d I say that?

“I mean, it sounds like you have an accent. So I was wondering if you’re from someplace else,” Junghwan clarifies. I hope that’s not weird. He probably thinks I’m weird. 

Youngjae, to his credit, doesn’t look too weirded out. He replies, “I’m actually from Gimhae.”

Junghwan can’t hide the surprise he feels. “That’s far!” 

“Yeah.” Youngjae ducks his head, smiling sweetly. There’s a faint redness dusting his cheeks. And then he doesn’t say anything else, instead choosing to stare at the buildings. 

Okay. Hint taken. It seems like Youngjae’s not averse to making conversation, but he’s keeping to himself for now. From that point on, Junghwan makes it his personal mission to get closer to Youngjae. 

Around them, other orientation groups are following their own paths around the school. Junghwan lets one group pass before reaching for the handle of one of the building entrances. He holds it open for his group members. Youngjae, at the front of the group, steps quickly through and keeps walking. 

Once everyone is inside, Junghwan threads his way back to the front and leads them down a hallway. “This is the freshmen wing,” he announces, “where your homerooms will be. On your ID cards are your homeroom numbers, so you can find your rooms right now.”

They stop in front of room 1-3, which Junghwan remembers is Youngjae’s room. He watches him from the corner of his eye as Youngjae peers curiously through the window into the dark room. 

“We won’t go in right now, but you’ll have a chance to explore later.” Junghwan gestures for them to keep walking, and just like before, Youngjae sticks right behind him, hovering near his right shoulder. And just like before, he doesn’t say anything, rather looking around and taking in the school. 

Just from their first couple of interactions, Junghwan can tell that Youngjae is the kind of person to value their independence. As the younger brother to two older sisters, Junghwan can’t help but crave attention and interaction, but he keeps it together as their group continues touring around the school. No need to be desperate for some random freshman’s attention, whom he probably won’t even see after this orientation day. 

Once they’ve combed the whole school, Junghwan tells his group to rest under a tree and pulls out his own phone. 

You

How’s your group

Jaehyun

great! these kids are funny 

they keep calling me jungkook which was funny at first but now i think it’s not a joke anymore

i don’t know if they even know my name. and they don’t call me sunbae either :( 

You

Crazy 

My group’s not really talking to me, just talking to each other

Jaehyun

have you considered that’s because you’re an introvert 

You

Hey, watch it

I’m older than you, punk

Jaehyun

yeah, by one month

and we’re both at the end of the year, november and december

we’re like the chumps of the second-years 

You

Whatever 

My group is resting right now. Where’s yours

Jaehyun

coming up i see you

straighten your back man, i can see your slouch from here

Bristling, Junghwan subtly adjusts his posture as he looks around. Sure enough, a far-too-cheery Jaehyun is coming up the path with a group of sweaty freshmen in tow. 

“Hey there!” Jaehyun waves and turns back to his group, saying loudly, “We’re going to merge with this group for the next part.” He stops next to Junghwan and slings an arm over his shoulder. 

Junghwan’s group looks up when Jaehyun’s group approaches, until both groups are in a blob surrounding the two of them. Jaehyun waves and declares, “Hi, Junghwan’s group! I’m Jaehyun, Junghwan’s best friend! We’ll be leading this next part together, so nice to meet you!” 

Junghwan sighs and addresses Jaehyun’s group. “Hello. Like he said, I’m Junghwan, and this is my group. It’s good to meet you.” 

The freshmen all bow their heads and greet them in chimes and chirps. Junghwan doesn’t mean to, but his eyes land on Youngjae and the way he tips his head at Jaehyun politely. 

Jaehyun gets a twinkle in his eye. Junghwan braces himself. 

“Hiya, cutie! What’s your name?” 

And Youngjae, for some unfathomable reason, blushes. “Choi Youngjae. Nice to meet you.” He gives Jaehyun a proper bow, which makes Junghwan’s stomach curl into knots. 

Jaehyun grins widely. “Cute voice. You’re from the countryside?” 

“Ah, yes.” He smiles politely, his hands still clasped in front of him. 

Junghwan grabs Jaehyun’s shoulder and pulls him back. “Stop flirting with my students,” he hisses lowly. 

Shrugging off his arm, Jaehyun says breezily, “Relax. I’m just being friendly.” Then he claps his hands together and announces in a louder voice, “Who’s ready for lawn games?”

Junghwan’s not mad. He’s not, really. He’s not even annoyed. He’s just . . . slightly miffed. 

At what? Well. Considering Jaehyun keeps hanging around Youngjae right in front of him, Junghwan would say he’s pretty justified in his— miffyness. 

“I’m not hanging around him,” Jaehyun retorts when Junghwan lets it slip at one point. Their freshmen are engaged in a game of tug-of-war, which Junghwan and Jaehyun are monitoring from the center point. Youngjae, bless his tall self, is placed at the very end of the rope out of earshot. “I’m literally just sticking with you. He’s the one that’s hanging around you. I just happen to be caught in the crossfire.” 

“Right.” Junghwan is unconvinced. 

“No, I’m being serious,” Jaehyun insists. “Watch, when this is done he’s gonna come stand next to you again.” 

“No, he isn’t.” But with the way Youngjae had been reacting to Jaehyun’s “friendly” conversation, smiling politely and even giggling at one point, Junghwan secretly hopes he does. 

Jaehyun’s group wins the tug-of-war, unfortunately. Junghwan watches his group slump forward in defeat. Then, with widening eyes, he sees Youngjae get up, dust himself off, and hold out a hand for his group members. He helps them stand up, and even seems to exchange a couple awkward words with them. It warms Junghwan’s heart. 

And then, he’s walking. With his heart in his throat, Junghwan tries not to react when he comes closer and eventually positions himself just shy of Junghwan’s right arm. 

Jaehyun elbows him as if to say, see! I was right. Before Junghwan can respond, Jaehyun opens his big mouth and says, “You know what I just noticed, Youngjae-ssi?” 

“Yes? What did you notice, sunbaenim?” Youngjae looks at him curiously. 

Jaehyun points at him, then at himself. “Our names can be combined! Young-jae-hyun. Isn’t that cool?” Then he turns and grins a shit-eating grin at Junghwan. 

Junghwan scowls full-force at him. He tries to convey his words with his eyes: what are you doing, asshole? Jaehyun just keeps grinning. 

Youngjae nods slowly, politely, and looks between the two of them. He cracks a small smile when he sees Junghwan’s scowl, but still doesn’t say anything. 

Ask me, Junghwan thinks, almost desperately. Ask me why I’m scowling. Stop keeping your distance, Youngjae-yah. 

Blinking, Youngjae looks at him with slightly wide eyes. Junghwan quickly schools his expression. “Shall we move to the next activity?” 

The next activity is pair dodgeball, both groups playing against one another, but there’s one problem: Jaehyun’s group has one more person than Junghwan’s, and on top of that, Junghwan’s group is odd-numbered. When they tell the students to pair up, everyone latches onto their newfound friends or the person next to them, leaving one boy standing in the middle. 

“Youngjae-ssi.” Youngjae meets Junghwan’s eyes expectantly. “You don’t have a partner?” 

“That’s a shame,” Jaehyun muses. “Well, one of us can pair with you while the other judges as the referee. How about it, Youngjae? Which of us do you wanna pick?” Flashing what Junghwan thinks is supposed to be a charming smile but is just aggravating, at least to him, Jaehyun taps his chin. 

“What nonsense is that? Obviously, I’ll be his partner.” Junghwan flicks Jaehyun’s forehead and goes to stand next to Youngjae. He gives him a friendly smile, to which Youngjae only smiles cordially back. 

As they walk out onto the court, Junghwan asks him, “So, do you want to be guard and attack, or should I?” 

Youngjae chuckles lightly, rubbing a hand at the back of his neck. “I’m not that athletic, so I can be the back if that’s alright with you, sunbaenim.” 

“Call me hyung,” Junghwan interrupts. At Youngjae’s surprised look, he hurries to clarify, “I mean, it’s okay to call me hyung. You don’t have to say sunbaenim when you address me.” 

“Ah.” Youngjae nods slowly. He looks unsure, but then he looks up and meets Junghwan’s eyes and smiles. “Okay, Junghwan hyung.” 

Hearing his name and hyung on Youngjae’s lips, Junghwan feels an involuntary shiver run up his back. He rubs his arm despite the blazing midday sun. When Jaehyun holds up the ball to signal the start of the game, Junghwan steps in front of Youngjae. 

“Hold onto hyung’s shoulders, Youngjae,” he murmurs. When hands grasp his shoulders, firm and steady, Junghwan sucks in a quiet breath. 

For the first five minutes of the game, Junghwan is genuinely no help at all to his team. Amidst the rush of students, Junghwan is hyperaware of Youngjae’s body sticking close to his back, his body heat sticking to him even more than the heat of the afternoon. Every time the ball comes to him, Junghwan side-steps rather than try to catch it, much to the chagrin of his team. 

“Yah, Shin Junghwan, what are you doing?” This loud outburst belongs to none other than Jaehyun, who looks incensed on the other side of the court. “If you’re not going to play, just step out! You’re ruining the vibe!” 

“Sorry!” Junghwan calls out quickly. He glances over his shoulder and startles when he sees Youngjae’s face staring back at him not five centimeters away. Youngjae startles too, eyes widening as they look at each other. Up close, Youngjae’s eyes are big and brown. 

He blinks slowly. “Sorry.” Junghwan takes a moment to remember why he turned his head in the first place. “Are you okay?” 

“I’m great, hyung,” Youngjae whispers, “but you should probably keep your eyes forward.” Without further notice, Youngjae yanks them hard to the side. Junghwan whips his head forward and realizes a ball was soaring right at them, and he’d almost let them get hit. 

Somehow, the game ends in a victory for Junghwan’s team. He leaps up in joy, turning to Youngjae in the midst of the cheering freshmen. “We won!” 

Youngjae looks amused. “Yay,” he offers. 

“Hold on!” Of course, Jaehyun just has to go and ruin the mood. “We want a rematch! Let’s switch partners!” Jaehyun points an accusatory finger at Junghwan. 

Feeling his blood pressure spike, Junghwan holds out an arm and shields Youngjae from Jaehyun’s prying eyes. “Hell no!” 

“I think he means switch who’s in front and who’s in the back, Junghwan hyung,” Youngjae pipes up. Blinking, Junghwan looks around and realizes the other pairs are reordering their guarding positions. 

“Ah.” A blush crawls up his neck. Junghwan tries his best to ignore it. “Let’s switch, then.” 

Standing behind Youngjae, Junghwan now has a whole different view. When before it would be Junghwan leading his group, with Youngjae sticking by his right shoulder, now he can see the back of Youngjae’s head and the entirety of his slender frame. Despite being almost the same height, Youngjae’s shoulders are much narrower than Junghwan’s. 

“Hyung,” Youngjae calls softly. 

Junghwan stands up, spine ramrod straight. The sound of Youngjae’s voice is doing strange things to his stomach, making it feel like it’s twisting and turning. He begins to sweat under his collar. “Yes?” 

“I think you should hold my shirt around the waist instead of my shoulders.” Youngjae keeps his eyes forward. The only parts of him that Junghwan can see are the reddening tips of his ears peeking out of his brown hair. Despite the heat, his hair looks soft and silky. I want to run my hands through his hair. 

“Did you hear me?” 

“Huh?” Junghwan shakes his head, trying to shake the weird thoughts from his mind. “You want me to hold your waist?” 

“My shirt,” Youngjae clarifies. “The others are doing it, too.” 

Junghwan barely spares a glance at the other pairs of students. Carefully, his hands hover around Youngjae’s waist, before finally landing. Oh. It’s smaller than I thought. Junghwan feels heat zip through his body that has nothing to do with the afternoon weather. 

He hears a small gasp, a small hitch in breath that Junghwan almost can’t believe came from Youngjae. He tightens his hands just slightly. “Is this okay?” 

“Yes.” Youngjae’s voice is even though, which makes Junghwan think he did imagine it. 

So the next round begins. Junghwan cranes his neck, trying to see around Youngjae’s head and track where the ball is. After some time, Youngjae speaks up. 

“Hyung. Stop trying to look forward.”

“Huh?” 

“If you keep looking like that, you’re exposing your head. Just stay behind my silhouette.” Youngjae says this calmly, very rational and focused. 

Junghwan gulps. “Okay, Youngjae-yah.”

It seems Youngjae’s strategy is to just avoid the ball whenever it comes. With a small yelp, he’ll step to the side, bringing Junghwan along with him. Every small sound that comes out of his mouth goes straight to Junghwan’s head, blurring his senses and delaying his reactions. As a result, he ends up clutching Youngjae’s waist harder than necessary. 

One time, Junghwan presses hard enough that Youngjae gasps, a bit breathy. He loosens his grip quickly, patting Youngjae’s waist in apology. “Sorry, hyung was too rough.” Junghwan’s glad he’s standing behind Youngjae so he can’t see how red Junghwan’s face is. If Youngjae saw how he looked right now, he’d just blame it on the heat. 

Youngjae turns his head halfway. “Ah, it’s oka—”

“Take this, Shin Junghwan!” 

The last thing Junghwan sees is a manic Jaehyun hurtling the dodgeball straight at Youngjae. Junghwan doesn’t think—he just tightens his hands around Youngjae's waist and tugs him backward, his back colliding into Junghwan’s chest. The ball narrowly passes them. 

There’s a commotion to pick up the ball and aim it right back at Jaehyun and his team, but Junghwan’s not paying attention. All he can see is Youngjae’s crown of brown hair, which takes up his whole vision. Up close, he can smell it, too—it smells fresh, like summer. 

In his hold, Youngjae is panting a little, leaning a bit of his weight on Junghwan instead of standing up straight. They’re standing very, very close. 

Looking over his shoulder, Youngjae’s eyes are bright. His whole face is flushed, though whether it’s from exertion or the afternoon heat or something else is lost on Junghwan. “Hyung—”

“HAH! We won!” 

Fuck you, Myung Jaehyun. The moment is broken as Youngjae blinks, suddenly averting his eyes from Junghwan. He steps forward and out of Junghwan’s hold. All Junghwan can do is stare as Youngjae takes a moment to adjust his shirt and pat down his appearance, before looking back at Junghwan. 

His eyes are calm again, his mouth pressed in a polite smile. “Are you alright, Junghwan hyung?” 

“Huh? Yeah, yeah,” Junghwan says distractedly. His head is still spinning from the last couple minutes. One moment, Youngjae was in his personal space, where the only thing Junghwan could see and smell and feel was Youngjae, and the next he’s standing in front of Junghwan, looking as prim and proper and unbothered as he was when they first met. The only thing that gives him away is the faint redness still dusting his cheeks. 

“Man, I’m hungry! Kids, let’s get lunch!” Jaehyun’s speakerphone voice booms across the court. He starts walking away, gesturing largely for the group to follow him. 

Youngjae takes a step in his direction and glances back at Junghwan. “We should get going, hyung.” He says it like a question, eyes scanning Junghwan’s face. When all he gets in return is a dazed blink, Youngjae just keeps smiling lightly and starts trekking toward the lunch area. 

Junghwan scrambles to follow him. He wants to walk next to him, fall into step with him, but there’s a faint awkwardness in the air that prevents him from moving. It feels like they’re back to the air of strangers from that morning, when their every interaction was formal and cordial and reserved. Granted, not much had changed by the time they got to lawn games, but Junghwan had at least hoped the distance between them was beginning to close. 

At lunch, Junghwan herds his group to a table and instructs them to meet him here in an hour, and lets them know that he’ll be eating here and they’re free to join him. Quickly, the other kids disperse in groups of two and three, and Youngjae is once again alone. He sets his bag down at the table and slips away silently. 

Junghwan watches him go curiously. He takes out the lunch his sister prepared, sits down, and ponders over the person that is Choi Youngjae. He doesn’t have the same energy that’s characteristic of Seoul kids, likely due to having grown up in the countryside, so he’s a bit reserved. Still, he’s friendly and amiable when he does interact with others, and doesn’t seem uncomfortable. It seems like he’s just getting used to Seoul life—it all makes Junghwan more curious about him. I want to learn more about you, Choi Youngjae. 

So preoccupied in his thoughts, Junghwan doesn’t notice someone approaching the table until they set a platter down at a seat two seats away from Junghwan. 

Youngjae waves politely when their eyes meet. He sits down and begins taking out his utensils and napkins, carefully setting them down on the table. A very meticulous person, Youngjae is. 

They sit in near silence for the first couple of minutes. Junghwan takes tentative bites out of his food, eyes darting over to Youngjae. The boy seems focused on eating his own food, so Junghwan doesn’t say anything. 

Once, their eyes meet. Youngjae looks away quickly, but Junghwan keeps staring. He clears his throat. 

“I realized something earlier, Youngjae,” Junghwan starts. Youngjae hums in question. “If you put our initials together, you get YJH. Youngjae, Junghwan.” He tries for a cool smile and ends up a little flat and awkward. 

Youngjae holds a hand in front of his mouth and laughs lightly. “So do Jaehyun sunbaenim and I? We’re also YJH.” And Young-jae-hyun, Jaehyun’s smug voice in his mind crows.

“Ah, Youngjae-yah, isn’t that too mean to hyung? Why are you bringing him up when he’s not even here?” Junghwan can’t help his pout. He knows he sounds childish, but he doesn’t really care.

This gets a bigger laugh out of Youngjae, a more open sound than his polite ones. Junghwan positively glows at the sound. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” he says teasingly. “You’re my student guide hyung, after all.” His voice is lilting and sweet and music to Junghwan’s ears. 

“Hey, Youngjae-yah,” Junghwan says. “Hyung is curious. What’s your MBTI?” 

“Me?” Youngjae tilts his head to the side cutely. He puts a considering finger on his chin. “Ah, it’s been a while since I took it. I think I’m an ISTJ? A textbook introvert.” He smiles brightly at Junghwan. 

“You’re an I type, just like hyung.” Junghwan frowns. “But everything else is different. I’m an INFP. We’re like opposites, Youngjae-yah.”

“Oh!” Youngjae claps his hands excitedly, which surprises Junghwan. Still, his smile is so cute it makes Junghwan smile, too. “You have almost the same MBTI as my friend, but just one letter off. He’s an INTP.” 

Friend? This is the first Junghwan’s heard of any sort of friend. He sits up straighter, looking head-on at Youngjae. “Your friend? Does he go here?” 

Youngjae nods, more enthusiastically than before. “He’s at this orientation, but he’s in a different group. His name is Kim Dohoon.” 

“I see.” Junghwan nods, his stomach rolling. Suddenly, the food in front of him doesn’t look that appetizing. “But I thought you’re from the countryside? Did you meet him here?” Who knew the aloof Youngjae could make a friend so quickly in big-city Seoul? 

“No, he’s from the countryside, too. We moved here together.” 

Junghwan nearly chokes. Together? “Together?” 

“Yeah! As in our families both moved to Seoul, so we asked to go to the same high school.” Youngjae gives him a weird look. “Hyung, are you okay? Do you want some water?”

“No, I’m alright.” Junghwan gulps down some air. “So what’s your friend like?”

Youngjae smiles even wider. He’s so pretty. “We’re pretty different. He’s really outgoing and likes to play sports, but I prefer to read and stay inside.” Youngjae shrugs. “But we grew up together, so we’ve always stuck by each other.” 

Junghwan nods, taking in this information. So it’s not that Youngjae is friendless, but that he chooses when he wants to be alone and when he wants to be with other people. He smiles good-naturedly at Youngjae. “Well, I’d like to meet him.”

As it turns out, Junghwan’s chance to meet Youngjae’s best friend Kim Dohoon comes at the end of orientation. When all the groups gather at the front lawn again, Youngjae waves to someone in a different group. Junghwan glances over at the boy, trying to appear casual. 

Youngjae was right—immediately, Junghwan can tell this boy is different from Youngjae. For one, he’s waving his arm enthusiastically to Youngjae’s controlled wave, seeming not to notice or care about the looks he garnered. 

Taking a look at Youngjae’s face, Junghwan sees that he looks pleased, but still in that polite and contained way of his. But when the teacher dismisses them for the day, Youngjae does the unexpected: he turns and looks at Junghwan cheerfully, with a bit of a question in his eyes.

“Hyung,” he says, “come meet my friend.” Youngjae makes no move to start walking. He just stares, expectant, and waits for Junghwan’s answer.

“Okay, let’s go.” 

Kim Dohoon, Junghwan finds, is an interesting character. For one, he’s immediately staring Junghwan down when the two of them stroll up. 

“Dohoon, this is my orientation leader, Junghwan hyung.” Youngjae sweeps a cursory hand at him. “Hyung, this is my friend, Kim Dohoon.” 

It’s a little intense, being scrutinized this intensely by a freshman as soon as they meet. Dohoon holds his gaze for a moment longer, as if judging him, then flicks his eyes to Youngjae, and back to Junghwan. Then, his face splits in a wide smile. 

“Hi! Junghwan hyung? Can I call you that, too?” 

Junghwan tries for a warm smile. It comes out a little awkward. “Any friend of Youngjae is a friend of mine.”

“Oh ho!” Dohoon gives Youngjae a knowing look, which unsettles Junghwan. It looks like they’re having a silent communication with just their eyes. Junghwan’s skin burns. When Dohoon turns back to him, his eyes are still critical despite the grin on his face. 

“You sure like Youngjae, huh?” 

“Dohoon.” 

“What?” Dohoon holds up his hands with a good-natured smile, laughing off the scowl that Youngjae gives him. “As your best friend, I’m just looking out for you.”

Junghwan feels an itch under his collar. “You don’t need to worry about me,” Junghwan says. Liar. “Youngjae and I only just met today, after all.”

Dohoon gives him a considering nod. “Well, it was nice meeting you. Youngjae and I should start walking home before it gets dark. See you around, Junghwan hyung!” And without waiting for a response, he loops his arm through Youngjae’s arm and tugs him along. 

“Bye!” Dohoon calls out with a wave over his shoulder. Youngjae stumbles into step beside him, but he actually turns around, unlike Dohoon.

“Bye, hyung.” Youngjae waves cheerfully. 

Junghwan brings his own hand up. “Bye, Youngjae.”

Youngjae nods slightly, eyes twinkling, and finally lets himself be tugged by Dohoon. As they walk away, Junghwan can hear Youngjae ask Dohoon in a hiss, What was that?, followed by a smack to the back of his head. 

Junghwan watches their figures get smaller as they disappear in the distance. That marks the end of his first day of friendship with Choi Youngjae, though it certainly won’t be the last. Choi Youngjae, a boy from a small town who moved to big-city Seoul with his best friend, Kim Dohoon. How interesting. 

“Dude. Stop staring so much.” 

Junghwan sighs, chin in his hand as he and Jaehyun sit at the table. He barely registers the kick Jaehyun aims at his shin. 

Some tables away, Youngjae and Dohoon are sitting with the soccer team. While Dohoon is animatedly chatting with his teammates, Youngjae is simply reading a book as he sits by Dohoon. 

He can’t help the sigh that leaves his lips. “How is he so pretty?” Junghwan wonders aloud. For something so mundane as reading a book, Youngjae looks like the picture of youth, like the kind of small-town boy you fall in love with in a summer romance. In the crowded lunchroom, Youngjae’s simple beauty in the way his brown hair falls in tousles on his face and his cheeks round out slightly from his chewing looks out of place. 

“Okay, one, gross. Two, are you going to volunteer again as an orientation leader for next semester?” Jaehyun slurps his noodles noisily. This finally breaks Junghwan’s attention; he looks away from Youngjae and to Jaehyun with disgust. 

“Yes, I already told ssaem I would. We still need more volunteers, though.” Junghwan trails off and turns his attention back to Youngjae. 

This time, though, his staring doesn’t go unnoticed. When Youngjae catches his eye, he holds up a hand in a friendly wave. 

Junghwan chokes. He averts his eyes, looking down at his food and at Jaehyun and everywhere that’s not Youngjae. 

Jaehyun looks unimpressed. “Dude, relax.” He emphasizes the word with a slap to Junghwan’s back. “He’s literally younger than you. Stop acting like a loser.” 

“Don’t care. I want him to pay attention to me.” 

“Well, you got your wish.” Jaehyun grabs his head roughly and tilts it up. “He’s still staring right at you.” 

Junghwan looks, wide-eyed, and makes eye contact with Youngjae. He watches Youngjae’s eyes travel over his face, and his lips break out into a small laugh. Junghwan must look silly, with his face squished between Jaehyun’s hands and his hair mussed over his forehead. Youngjae chuckles again and turns his attention back to his book. 

“Yah,” Junghwan says. He’s not whining, thank you very much. He’s just annoyed. “You made me look stupid.” 

Jaehyun snorts. “You made yourself look stupid. What kind of senior just ogles his junior like that?” When Junghwan doesn’t respond (he’s not sulking), he scoffs again. “Ah, you big baby. Here, I’ll make it up to you.” And without further notice, Jaehyun stands up and yanks Junghwan up by his collar. 

“Let go of me,” Junghwan hisses. 

“Just hold on.” 

Jaehyun drags the two of them across the lunchroom to the table Junghwan’s been eyeing all of lunch. Youngjae looks up calmly, as if expecting them. 

“Hello, sunbaenim, hyung,” he says pleasantly. 

Dohoon looks up from a conversation he was having. “Hey there, Junghwan hyung! And Junghwan hyung’s friend! What are you guys doing here?” 

“Hi guys. Actually, I have to run, but Junghwan here has something to ask you guys.” Jaehyun clamps his hands on Junghwan’s shoulders and gives them a cheery smile. “See you around!” And then he’s off, gone like he was never there in the first place. 

Youngjae blinks and redirects his smile to Junghwan. “What is it, hyung?” 

Junghwan clears his throat. “We need to recruit more people to help out at orientation next month. Are either of you two interested?” 

“Ooh, I want to!” Dohoon raises his hands. “I’m gonna charm the pants off the newbies!” 

“That’s inappropriate, Dohoon,” Youngjae chides. He gives Junghwan a look like, are you seeing this? It gives Junghwan a thrill to be in on a joke that Youngjae’s a part of. 

“Anyway, I think I’ll pass. I’m not energetic enough for it, sorry hyung.” Youngjae gives him an apologetic smile. 

“That’s alright,” Junghwan says at the same time Dohoon says, “So? Look at Junghwan hyung, he’s not energetic either.” Sputtering, Junghwan feels his face heat up.

“That’s not true. He was really talkative when we first met,” Youngjae argues. 

“Ah, that’s because I had to be. I think if not for me being in that role, we wouldn’t have exchanged a word, Youngjae-yah.” Junghwan smiles, hoping his warm cheeks aren’t as obvious as they feel. “They trained me to talk a lot. But it’s really okay if you don’t want to do it.” Junghwan takes a breath. “You could still come hang out with Dohoonie and me?” he offers. 

Youngjae nods once. “I’ll think about it, hyung.” 

“Awesome!” Dohoon crows. He pumps a fist in the air. “You should hang out with my group, Youngjae.” 

“Or my group,” Junghwan pipes up. 

“No! Stick with your dear best friend, Youngjae, not boring Junghwan hyung!” 

In their bickering, Youngjae adopts his cool and unimpressed look. He glances between the two of them. Junghwan watches Youngjae with bated breath. Pick me, Youngjae-yah. 

“I’ll decide when the day comes,” he says at last. He picks up his book again and flips the page.

Before he can stop himself, Junghwan sticks a hand out. He misaims, just slightly, and ends up shoving his hand over Youngjae’s open book, right under his nose. Youngjae looks up in surprise. 

“This is my humble request for you to hang out with me— my group on orientation day.” He tries and fails to keep his voice steady; it comes out a little pitchy, a little wobbly. Junghwan clears his throat and hopes for the best.

Youngjae looks between his hand, then his face, and back to his hand. Junghwan’s just about to retract his hand and go find a hole to die in, but then Youngjae does the unexpected: he reaches out and takes Junghwan’s hand. 

His grip is a little limp, but Junghwan’s not really focusing on that right now. Right now, all he can think about is the feeling of Youngjae’s hand in his and the frankly horrific amount of sweat that Junghwan’s skin is producing right now. He’s a little mortified. 

“I’ll think about it,” Youngjae says at last. Then he lets go and picks up his book, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. 

Okay. Junghwan’s face is definitely flaming now. His voice is shamefully squeaky when he says, “Great. I’ll see you guys around.” He turns and makes his escape before he embarrasses himself further. You’re such an F, Jaehyun scolds in his head. 

Whatever, Junghwan rebuts. At least he talked to Youngjae today. That was a win. 

Youngjae watches Junghwan go. The tips of his ears are red, matching the fierce blush on his face. Dohoon laughs from next to him. 

“There’s really no saving him.” Dohoon tsks, shaking his head. 

Holding up another spoonful of food, Youngjae asks, “What do you mean?” 

Dohoon looks incredulous. “Do you not see it? The way he acts around you?” 

“What way?” 

Groaning, Dohoon rubs his temple. “You’re no good either. You two are perfect for each other.” 

Youngjae nearly chokes on his food. He shoots Dohoon a glare and grabs his cup for a sip of water. “Don’t joke about that. Junghwan hyung wouldn’t like it.” 

“Yes, he would.” 

“You don’t know that.” Youngjae sighs, setting the cup down. “I don’t even know that. He’s so hard to read sometimes. Sometimes, I think I’ll catch him staring in my direction, but then he never does anything. I was surprised he came today.” 

Dohoon snorts. “Of course you’re trying to rationalize him and his weird behavior. It seems pretty clear to me that he’s obsessed with you. Even I can see that, and I’m a T.” He gives Youngjae a disapproving look. “It doesn’t help that you call him hyung all the time but act like there’s a ten-meter pole of respect between you two. Would it kill you to throw him a bone sometimes?” 

“I said don’t joke about that,” Youngjae chides. “I wish I could read his mind. Then I would know what to think.” He watches across the lunchroom, where Junghwan had hurried over to his friend at their lunch table. 

The issue keeps him up at night, too, when Youngjae is trying to fold his laundry in peace. He thinks back to the way Junghwan had acted during lunch. Staring at Youngjae, coming over and talking to them, staring at Youngjae some more—what is Youngjae supposed to think?

You know what to think, Dohoon argues in his head. Youngjae swats the thought away. He doesn’t like assuming—Youngjae’s the kind of person to prefer concrete facts and evidence, so guessing at Junghwan’s feelings is something he doesn’t want to do. 

When he lays back in his bed, the exhaustion and confusion he feels seeps out of him into the bed, leaving him in a boneless heap under his blanket. 

What are you thinking, Junghwan hyung? Youngjae rolls onto his side and sighs quietly. Are you thinking of me? I wish I knew.

“See, this is exactly why I didn’t want to go with you.” Youngjae gives Dohoon an unimpressed look. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dohoon responds distractedly. At this part of the school tour, the freshmen in their group are spread out around the gym, where multiple clubs’ tables are set up to promote to the new students. There’s the soccer club, the baking club, the drawing club, practically every club imaginable. Youngjae doesn’t recall there being this many clubs when he was a freshman. 

“Look at yourself. You’re shamelessly staring at that kid in your group because you think he’s pretty.” 

“You agree, right?” Dohoon looks at him excitedly. “He’s so pretty, it’s unreal. But you can’t have him. He’s mine.” 

“He doesn’t even know your name.” 

Dohoon makes a hurt noise and places a dramatic hand on his chest. “What are you talking about? Of course he knows my name. I introduced myself to everyone, and he repeated my name in that cute accent of his.” 

Youngjae throws his head back and groans. “If you keep this up, I’m gonna go join Junghwan hyung’s group.” He crosses his arms. 

Snorting, Dohoon waves a hand. “Fine, go. Why didn’t you just stick with him in the first place?” 

Hesitating, Youngjae takes a moment before responding. “I didn’t want to feel pressured to talk to him.” 

This time, Dohoon really gives him a nasty look. “You and him? Pressured to talk? I’ve seen you guys sit in silence more often than talking. And he’d be busy talking to his group, duh. Just speaking nonsense, I swear.” Dohoon rolls his eyes and swats at Youngjae dismissively. 

“Just go, seriously. I’m going to go see if Hanjinie needs my help. I was good at Chinese in elementary school, right?” And then he’s off. He couldn’t hide his eagerness if he tried. 

Youngjae scoffs. “Hanjinie?” he whispers, turning and shaking his head in disbelief. “He’s got a few screws loose, I swear.” He looks up, and like a magnet to a pole, his eyes find Junghwan’s in the crowd. 

Junghwan raises a hand and waves. And like he’s right next to him, Youngjae hears his voice in his head: There you are, Youngjae-yah. 

See, this is the reason why Youngjae didn’t go with Junghwan’s group initially. He’d taken one step onto the field, made eye contact with Junghwan, and heard his voice say, clear as day, Youngjae is here. He looks cute today. 

Except Junghwan’s mouth hadn’t moved at all. And when Youngjae yelped, “Hyung!” Junghwan had tilted his head in confusion. 

“What is it, Youngjae-yah?” This time Junghwan’s lips formed the words, so Youngjae was sure he said them aloud. Youngjae had just stared at him, feeling a blush crawl up his neck, and squeaked, Nevermind! and ran off to find Dohoon. 

It just didn’t make sense. In Youngjae’s orderly, logical, rational mind, he knew that reading minds was something that only happened in cheap science fiction movies. Certainly not in real life, where everything had its definite cause and purpose. 

(When he’d tagged along with Dohoon’s group in the first hour, he thought maybe he hallucinated it. After all, being able to read other people’s thoughts is outlandish. But then they’d been visiting the classrooms, watching the students run around trying to find their homerooms while Youngjae and Dohoon hung back by the wall. 

“Hanjinie is in room 1-5, just like I was. Isn’t that fate? If I ask him to marry me, would he agree?” 

Youngjae sputtered. “What?” 

Dohoon looked at him in surprise. “What?” he’d asked back, and Youngjae realized that Dohoon must not have realized he’d spoken aloud. 

It was Youngjae’s fault, really, for forgetting that Dohoon was the kind of shameless guy to speak his candid thoughts aloud and not even realize he’d done it. You didn’t need a mind reader to know half of the crazy things that ran through Dohoon’s mind when the lack of a mind-to-mouth filter does the trick. 

“Nothing,” Youngjae responded. He rubbed his temples and hoped this was all one big, bad dream.) 

It was not a dream. At least, not the usual kind of dream that involves Junghwan (don’t ask him what kinds of dreams those are). Junghwan strolled over to where Youngjae was standing, still maintaining eye contact, and Youngjae could hear his every thought: Youngjae looked at me first! I can’t believe it. Be calm, Junghwan-ah. Remember what you practiced. 

Youngjae averted his eyes, opting to stare at Junghwan’s ear instead. “Hi, hyung.” 

“Youngjae-yah. Dohoon left you alone?” 

Chuckling, Youngjae shrugs. “He has his group to look after. You do too, don’t you, hyung?”

Junghwan smiles. “Eh. They’ll survive. I’m glad Dohoon feels such a duty to lead his group, though. Then that means I can talk to you alone.” 

“Huh? Alone?” 

“Ah, that’s not what I meant.” Junghwan clears his throat, looking a little awkward. “Just, it’s nice to talk one-on-one, isn’t it, Youngjae-yah?” 

Youngjae braves a look at his eyes. Instantly, he hears Junghwan’s anxious thoughts: Was that too forward? Did I scare him? Youngjae looks away quickly. 

“Yes, I suppose so. Is there something you wanted to talk about, hyung?” 

Junghwan blows out a breath, blowing the loose strands of his bangs off his forehead. “Yeah. You know I’m on the track and field team, right? We have a meet coming up next month.” 

Breathing evenly through his nose, Youngjae tries for a relaxed smile. “Really? That’s great, hyung.” 

Junghwan hums in response. “It’d be even greater if Youngjae could come and support me, hm?” 

Youngjae feels himself flush. “When is it? I’ll see if I’m free that day. I might be at hakwon, though.” 

Nodding, Junghwan pulls out his phone. “Of course. No pressure to come, though. I know you take your studies very seriously.” He squints down at his phone, pressing some buttons. Presumably navigating to his calendar, though Youngjae would be none the wiser. He waits, politely looking away, until Junghwan speaks again. 

“April 17, after school,” he reads aloud. He shoots Youngjae a hopeful smile. 

Youngjae checks his own calendar. “Ah, hakwon starts a week before that,” he says apologetically. Junghwan just nods again and pockets his phone. 

“Youngjae-yah, do you have any siblings?” 

“Just an older brother and a younger sister. So I’m right in the middle.” Youngjae tips his head at Junghwan. “What about you, hyung?” 

“Only older sisters, so I’m the youngest. I actually have a cousin who’s going to this school, though, starting this year.” Junghwan glances at him sideways. “He’s actually in my orientation group today. If you decide to stick around, you might meet him.” 

It’s an open invitation for Youngjae, giving him an out in case he wants to go hang out with Dohoon again. He finds he does want to stay, though, to spend a little more time with Junghwan. 

When Youngjae meets his eyes, he hears Junghwan’s thoughts again. Please stay. No pressure, though. Okay, a little pressure. Isn’t this a bit much, Shin Junghwan? Just keep your mouth shut. He shifts his focus to Junghwan’s ear. They’re a bit pink.

“Sure,” Youngjae says casually. “I’d like to meet him.”

In no time at all, two boys run up to Junghwan amidst the crowd of freshmen in the auditorium. One of them has the same smile as Junghan; the other is openly staring at Youngjae. 

Junghwan clamps a hand on the boy’s shoulder and grins at Youngjae. “This is my dear cousin Kyungmin,” he introduces. “Say hi to Youngjae hyung, Kyungmin-ah.” 

“Hello!” The boy, Kyungmin, clasps his hands in front of him and bows enthusiastically. “It’s good to meet hyung’s friend! Nice to meet you, Youngjae sunbaenim!” 

Youngjae chuckles at his zeal. “Nice to meet you too, Kyungmin-ssi. You can just call me hyung.” 

“Can I call you hyung, too?” The boy next to Kyungmin speaks up, looking at Youngjae with wide, sparkling eyes. He holds out a hand and says, “My name is Han Jihoon! I’m Kyungmin’s friend from our middle school dance club!” complete with a deep bow. 

Somehow even more energetically than Kyungmin, Jihoon’s enthusiasm flusters Youngjae. In his surprise, he looks over at Junghwan. 

For some reason, Junghwan’s face is tight, his lips pressed in a thin line. When their eyes meet, his voice rings in Youngjae’s head. 

Why is he so excited to meet Youngjae? What’s gotten into this kid? 

Youngjae blinks. Huh? He turns back to Kyungmin and Jihoon, who smile at him brightly. Jihoon still has his hand out, so Youngjae takes it politely. 

“Nice to meet you, Jihoon. And yes, you can call me hyung.” Jihoon’s grip is much stronger and he shakes his hand vigorously, Youngjae notices. He hears Junghwan huff next to him.

“Why don’t we take a look at the sports clubs?” He places his hands on Kyungmin and Jihoon’s shoulders, gently steering them towards the eagerly waiting club members. 

“But hyung, we want to join a dance club!” Youngjae hears Kyungmin whine. He huffs, amused, and trails behind them as they stop in front of the stands. 

“Kyungmin, look at this!” Jihoon exclaims. He stops in front of the school band’s table, flailing his arms at the various instruments they have available for the first-years to try. Jihoon runs up behind the drum stand and, after carefully asking permission, takes a seat. 

With a flourish, Jihoon holds up his newly acquired drumsticks and slams them down on the hi-hat. 

Youngjae winces involuntarily. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Junghwan whip his head towards him—when Youngjae looks at him, Junghwan’s face is tight again. 

Youngjae flinched. Isn’t this too much? 

Hurriedly facing forward again, Youngjae tries to diffuse with a smile. Before he can say anything, though, another voice cuts in. 

“What is this, instrument abuse?” Dohoon strolls up with an unamused look. Behind him, Hanjin is trailing with wide, curious eyes. Silently, he approaches a nearby piano and hovers around it, pressing a key experimentally. 

“Han Zhen! Go on, try it!” Dohoon says encouragingly. 

“Han Zhen?” Youngjae whispers. “I thought his name was Hanjin?” 

Dohoon waves a hand, not taking his eyes off of Hanjin (Han Zhen?). “His real name is Zhen. He said I can call him that.” With a smug look, Dohoon sticks his tongue out.

At the same time, Jihoon gets up from the drum kit and wanders to the same piano. The two of them eye each other curiously. Neither of them sit down. 

Jihoon gestures to the piano and says quietly, “You can try it first.” 

Hanjin shakes his head quickly, gesturing for Jihoon to sit instead. 

“Or what if we . . .” Jihoon trails off and points at himself, then Hanjin, then the piano seat. After a moment, Hanjin nods, and the two of them take a seat together. 

“This is so sweet,” Youngjae murmurs to Junghwan. “They’re bonding.” He feels Junghwan shift a miniscule amount closer to him, humming in agreement. 

Jihoon and Hanjin exchange a look, communicating silently, and nod at each other. 

“Hey, isn’t this unfair?” Dohoon suddenly complains. “Let Zhen try it alo—” 

A loud chime rings out from the piano. The two boys look at each other again and burst out laughing. Outside, the sprinklers suddenly go off.

Next to Youngjae, Dohoon sputters. He takes an incredulous step towards the piano. 

“Uh oh.” Junghwan whistles softly. “Someone’s mad.”

Youngjae shakes his head tiredly. “He’s always like this.” 

Junghwan glances at him. Youngjae peeks at his eyes.

Right. Of course he’d know that, they’ve known each other for so long. How could I forget?

Up front, Dohoon is pulling Hanjin’s arm. He’s scolding Jihoon, saying something about being respectful and letting others try things alone. Jihoon, to his credit, is just laughing along with Dohoon’s griping. 

Hanjin taps Dohoon’s arm quickly. “Dohoon hyung,” he says in his crisp Chinese accent, “I want to try that.” He points to a nearby sports stand, where Kyungmin is bouncing a tennis ball with a racket. 

Dohoon brightens. “Sure! Hyung will help you!” 

But when they step up to Kyungmin and the tennis club members running the stand, Junghwan speaks up. 

“Yah, Kim Dohoon. Let the kids try things on their own, remember? You don’t need to supervise or hold their hands.” 

Dohoon drops Hanjin’s arm hesitantly, looking like a boy caught with his hand down the cookie jar. He pats Hanjin and says awkwardly, “Actually, hyung will stand over here. You can ask this nice friend here if you want help!” 

Hanjin nods pleasantly and picks up one of the rackets lined up on the table. Youngjae can already tell Kyungmin is a kind and helpful boy, because he immediately approaches Hanjin and starts talking. 

“Don’t feel too bad, Dohoon,” Youngjae reassures him when he retreats to Youngjae’s side. He looks sulky already, which Youngjae thinks is a bit of an overreaction for a boy he met just this morning. 

“What do you mean?” Dohoon says petulantly. “I’m not feeling bad.” 

“Right.” Junghwan sounds unconvinced. “Like how you weren't mad earlier that Jihoon and Hanjin slammed down on the piano keys.” 

Dohoon shakes his head adamantly. “Of course not. As a matter of fact, I was entertained by Hanjin’s enthusiasm.” He grins. “Didn’t he look so cute? He was so gleeful." 

Youngjae snorts. “He was so happy to break all of our eardrums, I’ll say.” 

“Hey! It wasn’t his fault!” Dohoon scowls. “It was that kid, Jihoon or what’s his face. He probably put Hanjinie up to it. Well, anyway, at least he’s having fun.” 

The three of them watch Kyungmin and Hanjin attempt to hit a ball back and forth between each other. Numerous times, they would miss or misdirect, either losing the ball between their feet or ricocheting it into the gym walls. 

Dohoon laughs, delighted. “That’s it, Han Zhen! You got it!” 

Youngjae shakes his head. “This is unnerving,” he whispers to Junghwan. “Isn’t this too much energy for someone he’s known for literally only three hours?”

Junghwan just hums. “It’s more common than you think. An orientation leader developing an infatuation with a student in their group.” His tone is knowing, as if he has personal experience with it.

Youngjae flushes. He keeps his eyes forward. “Speaking from personal experience, hyung? Or maybe your friend?”

There’s a pause. Then, “Yes.”

“Yes?” Youngjae looks at him this time, eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean, yes? It wasn’t a yes or no question.” 

Junghwan just smiles mischievously. “It means whatever you want it to mean.” What do you think? Are you jealous, Youngjae-yah? Coughing, Youngjae doesn’t deign that with a response. 

“Youngjae hyung, what kind of clubs are you in?” 

Startling, Youngjae looks to the side. Somehow, Jihoon had cropped up on his other side without Youngjae noticing. 

“Me?” He bites his lip. “I’m not really into the club scene, sorry.” 

“This kid’s always got his nose in a book.” From Youngjae’s other side, Junghwan jabs a thumb at Youngjae. “He’s too busy studying to be in clubs.”

“There’s too many clubs, I don’t know which ones to join!” Jihoon runs his hands down his face and groans dramatically. “What about you, hyung? What clubs are you in, or which ones did you join when you were a first-year?”

“Me?” Junghwan points a finger at himself in surprise. “Well, I tried out basketball, but it wasn’t really my thing. I’m in the track and field club now. But Dohoon picked soccer at his orientation, and he stuck by it this whole time.”

“Dohoon?” Jihoon tilts his head with a sly grin. “Is that the mean hyung that was yelling at me earlier?”

Youngjae’s eyes widen. “Oh no, did he give you too much trouble? I’ll scold him later for you.”

“You will?” Jihoon flails his arms excitedly and wraps them around Youngjae. The force of his hug takes some breath out of Youngjae, but he doesn’t push him off immediately. 

Next to him, Junghwan chokes. When Youngjae looks over in concern, his eyes are wide. 

Why’s he holding onto Youngjae like that? Why’s Youngjae not pushing him off? What’s going on? 

Youngjae hurriedly looks back at Jihoon. Patting awkwardly on his back, he says, “Ah, it’s no problem, Jihoon-ah. That kid needs to be put in his place sometimes.” 

“Okay, that’s enough.” Junghwan reaches out and pries Jihoon’s arms off of Youngjae. “Let’s move on to the next section, shall we?” He takes that moment to call in the other students in his group, who are spread out at the various club tables. 

When they group up again, Junghwan explains their next activities out on the lawn. When he’s done, he looks at Youngjae and says in a lower voice, “Let’s go, Youngjae-yah.” 

Then, he does the unexpected. Junghwan reaches out and takes Youngjae’s wrist in his hand, tugging him lightly. Behind them, the rest of the group are beginning to follow their lead, talking animatedly amongst themselves. 

When they step out into the sunlight, Junghwan lets go of his wrist. “Sorry,” he says quickly. “I didn’t mean to grab you like that.” 

“It’s okay, hyung,” Youngjae murmurs. Just to see, to fulfill his perhaps unbecoming curiosity, he looks into Junghwan’s eyes. 

In his head, Junghwan’s familiar voice rings. Is he uncomfortable? What were you thinking, Shin Junghwan? He probably thinks you’re a total weirdo now.

Wow. Shin Junghwan is definitely an F. 

The thought makes Youngjae laugh, a small puff of breath more than anything. Junghwan seems to relax when he sees it, though, his shoulders coming down from their tense position. 

Youngjae tilts his head and offers a kind smile. “Let’s have fun today, hyung.” Before he turns his head, Youngjae hears one last thing: 

He smiled at me again. 

Out on the field, Youngjae stands with Junghwan and Dohoon as they face their groups. Dohoon waves his arms with a friendly smile. 

“Hey everyone! I’m Kim Dohoon, a second-year here and the leader of my group—” he sweeps his arm to the students gathered on the right side, “—who will be doing this next activity with Junghwan’s group—” another sweep, this time to the students on the left side, “—so let’s all get along!” 

Junghwan raises a hand in greeting. “And I’m Shin Junghwan, a third-year student. I was his orientation leader, so everything he does well came from me.” Junghwan jabs a thumb at Dohoon. “And if he gives you bad advice, that didn’t come from me.” 

“Excuse me!” A student in the crowd raises her hand. 

“Yes?” 

“Who’s he?” She points straight at Youngjae. 

“My friend,” Junghwan answers immediately. 

“My best friend,” Dohoon corrects. Junghwan glares at him.

“I’m just a second-year student here, don’t mind me.” Youngjae puts a hand on both of their shoulders. “Let’s start the games, guys.” 

Like it was with Youngjae’s orientation, there’s an odd number on one of the teams. Hanjin ends up pairing with Dohoon, much to his delight. This time, though, Junghwan’s group is also uneven.

“I can pair up with Youngjae hyung!” Jihoon volunteers. 

Kyungmin smacks his shoulder. “You’re with me!” 

“Oh, right.”

“It’s okay, I can be someone’s partner,” Junghwan interrupts. He glances at Youngjae. “It’ll be fairer this way, since Youngjae is impartial. He can referee and determine the winner.” 

Inside Youngjae’s head, he hears Junghwan’s voice say, Make sure I win, Youngjae-yah. 

Youngjae barely hides his scoff. Shin Junghwan is secretly a shameless guy. Outwardly, he agrees amiably. 

But when the game starts, Youngjae can’t help focusing on the way Junghwan stands so close to the student he’s paired with. Youngjae knows that’s the nature of the game, and it was exactly like that when he and Junghwan were partners, but the thought of someone else being close to Junghwan the way Youngjae had been leaves a sour taste in his mouth. 

This time, though, Junghwan's hands hover over her shoulders rather than directly make contact. Youngjae doesn’t know if that’s better or worse, that he’s politely maintaining the distance between him and the student. 

Was I different? Am I the only one you’ll hold onto tightly?

He isn’t trying to be petty, he swears. The first time it happened, Youngjae genuinely thought he ruled fairly. The ball had touched the student in the back, so the pair was out—those were just the rules, and Youngjae was simply enforcing them. 

The next couple times it happens, though, Youngjae begins to sweat under his collar. He can see in the faces of Junghwan’s students: This guy is supposed to be fair, but he’s acting so suspicious! It’s simply a coincidence that he ruled against a lot of Junghwan’s players, Youngjae is adamant. He’s a fair and rational person. 

The first round ends in a victory for Dohoon’s team. 

While they celebrate, notably with Dohoon clutching Hanjin’s shoulders and bouncing up and down with glee, Youngjae looks at Junghwan. 

Youngjae-yah. You didn’t purposefully make Dohoon win, did you? But Junghwan’s mouth doesn’t move, instead staying pressed in its flat line. 

“Okay, time to switch,” Youngjae announces. He looks away from Junghwan to the group. “If you were the guard, move to the back. If you were in the back, you become the guard now. Is everyone ready?” 

He can feel Junghwan’s gaze drilling holes into the side of his head. Youngjae smiles pleasantly. 

This time, Youngjae directs his attention to Dohoon’s team’s side. Maybe this is the fallacy, he muses. If I focus solely on one side, I’m more likely to catch their mistakes and penalize them. 

Which would mean Youngjae was paying too much attention to Junghwan’s side in the first round. He must’ve done it subconsciously, since he really did try to approach it with a fair mind at first. 

To make it even, I’ll keep watching this side instead. 

His theory seems to prove correct somewhat when more of Dohoon’s players are called out. The round continues like this until it’s just Hanjin and Dohoon’s duo against a couple of pairs remaining on Junghwan’s side. One of them, Youngjae notices, is Junghwan himself and his partner. 

“You’re going down, Shin Junghwan!” From behind Hanjin, Dohoon hollers at the other side. 

Junghwan, being the guard for this round, scoffs at Dohoon’s taunts. “Big words for someone cowering behind his partner, aren’t they?” 

Dohoon gasps, offended. “Don’t say that! Don’t listen to him, Hanjinie, we’re a team. Go on, just hurl the ball straight at him!” 

Youngjae isn’t sure Hanjin is keeping up with the barbs exchanged between Junghwan and Dohoon. He just grips the ball, staring straight ahead at Junghwan’s team. When he throws, it’s with a force Youngjae wasn’t expecting to come from him. 

The ball whizzes past Junghwan’s pair and smacks the duo behind them. 

“HANJIN!” With his hands around Hanjin’s waist, Dohoon wraps his arms around him and lifts him up, swinging him around with the force of a toddler gripping their favorite plushie. “Good job!” Hanjin giggles, smacking lightly at Dohoon’s arms to let him down. 

Ah. Young love. It makes Youngjae sick. 

Dohoon sets Hanjin down. With one arm still around his waist, Dohoon points his other hand at Junghwan. “It’s just you and me now, buddy.” An ooh rises up from the eliminated freshmen standing at the edges of the court. 

“Youngjae!” 

Startling, Youngjae glances around. The person who called his name is none other than Junghwan, who looks at him pleadingly. “Cheer for hyung?” 

“Yah!” Dohoon barks. “He’s the ref! Have some shame!” 

Junghwan ignores him to give Youngjae one last pout. Don’t let me lose to that guy, Youngjae. Don’t you want to see me win? 

He blinks. If only people knew how whiny the cool and aloof senior Shin Junghwan was, he wouldn’t have such a foreboding reputation. Youngjae clears his throat. 

“The game is still ongoing. Carry on.” 

The first-year standing in front of Junghwan picks up the ball. Rolling it in her hands, she sets her eyes on Dohoon and Hanjin. She steps forward, pulls her arm back, and throws. 

It’s a straight shot, hurtling right towards the pair on the other side of the court, but they move quickly. Dohoon tugs Hanjin to the side—at the same time, Hanjin holds out his hands. As if pushed by a gust of wind, the ball veers just slightly from its straight path. 

What the . . . ?

“Hurry, hurry!” With Dohoon’s encouragement, Hanjin picks up the fallen ball and throws it swiftly back across the court. Its trajectory? Straight for the freshman’s face. 

“Ack!” The girl yelps and ducks, covering her face with both hands. Unfortunately, that leaves the surprised Junghwan wide open, directly in the path of the rubber ball. It smacks his chin with a loud thwack. 

“Hyung!” Youngjae abandons his post at the midpoint between the two sides. In his rush, he pushes aside the girl crouching in front of Junghwan—he’ll apologize later. Right now, he’s concerned with the reddening welt on Junghwan’s face. “Are you okay?” 

To his horror, a thin red stream is beginning to crawl down from Junghwan’s left nostril. The blood is shocking against his pale skin.

Junghwan blinks, looking a little bit dazed. His mind must be jumbled, because Youngjae’s not hearing any of his unsolicited thoughts despite their eye contact. Finally, he manages a “Youngjae?” 

“You need to see the nurse. Oh, but the nurse might not be here since it’s just orientation.” Youngjae furrows his eyebrows. “Okay, you’re coming with me. I’m going to get you some ice and tissues.” 

Turning back to the crowd of scared freshmen, Youngjae points. “Everyone, follow Dohoon and move on to the next activity. Junghwan sunbaenim and I will be right back.” 

The freshmen murmur amongst themselves. Fortunately, Dohoon takes control and herds them into an organized group, allowing Youngjae to turn his attention back to Junghwan. 

If he had any hope that the collision would solve his hearing-Junghwan’s-thoughts problem, those hopes were all dashed now. When their eyes meet, Youngjae hears Junghwan’s voice say reverently, You saved me. 

Externally, Junghwan just blinks again. He brings a hand up and touches his chin gingerly, wincing slightly. 

Youngjae sighs worriedly. “Let’s go, hyung. Pinch your nose.” He tugs lightly on Junghwan’s wrist. 

Junghwan doesn’t budge. Youngjae frowns again. “What’s wrong?”

“Aren’t you going to help me walk?” Junghwan pouts slightly. 

He scoffs. “Did you get hit in the face or the legs, hyung? Come on, let’s go.” Youngjae pulls his arm again, and this time Junghwan goes. They fall into step, walking side by side up the path to the school. 

After some silence, Junghwan speaks. “You were pretty cool back there.” 

“Oh, that?” Youngjae shrugs. “It was nothing. The freshmen were going to freak out, so I sorted out the situation.” 

Junghwan nods. “Still, pretty cool.” He looks at Youngjae sideways, grinning lightly. Youngjae notices his face move slowly, like it hurts. The only saving grace is that his nose seems to have stopped bleeding. “I haven’t heard you call me sunbaenim in a while.” 

Youngjae gives him a flat look. “I was addressing the kids. You’re the one who told me to call you hyung, anyway.” 

“That’s true.” When they approach the doors, Junghwan turns to Youngjae again. “So how are you planning to get me ice?” 

Opening and closing his mouth, Youngjae frowns. “I guess I don’t know,” he admits. He spots a vending machine inside the hall. “Here, I’ll buy you a cold drink. You can press it to your face to stop the swelling.” 

“Oh, buying me a drink, Youngjae-ssi?” Junghwan says teasingly. He grabs the door handles and holds it open for him, gesturing for Youngjae to go first. “I guess it’s time for our relationship to reach that stage, hm?” 

“Don’t be weird, hyung.” Stepping into the air-conditioned building, Youngjae breathes out a sigh of relief. It’s a welcome reprieve from the beating afternoon sun. He gestures for Junghwan to follow him to the vending machine and pulls out his wallet. 

“Wait.” Junghwan stops awkwardly next to the machine. “I feel weird making you buy me something with your money.” 

“You’re not making me, hyung, don’t be silly. I’m just . . . taking responsibility.” As soon as the words leave his mouth, Youngjae flushes. He avoids Junghwan’s eyes. 

Junghwan grins widely. “Taking responsibility, huh?” 

“Hyung.” Youngjae gives him an exasperated look. “One of us has to be responsible, or else you would’ve been standing out in the heat with a huge welt on your chin and blood dripping from your nose.” 

Junghwan brings a hand to his face self-consciously. “Is it really that huge?” 

“Not important, hyung.” Youngjae turns to the array of options in the machine. “What kind of drink do you like?” 

Humming, Junghwan taps his finger on his chin. He winces slightly. 

Idiot, Youngjae thinks. It’s almost fond, which can’t be true. Youngjae is not fond of Junghwan. 

“What about you, Youngjae-yah? Which drink is your favorite?” 

Youngjae scowls over the quickened beats of his heart. “What, are you planning to give me the drink after you’re done pressing it against your face? And I asked you first.” 

Shrugging, Junghwan smiles again. “Isn’t that what you’re planning to do to me? That’s why you asked which one I liked, right? So I can drink it after.”

Youngjae flushes. Damn it. Curse Shin Junghwan for out-witting Youngjae even after getting smacked in the face with a rubber ball. He doesn’t respond.

“Come on, Youngjae. Just tell me which one you like. Then I’ll tell you mine and you can buy that one. Hyung is just curious about your tastes.” 

Huffing, Youngjae looks at Junghwan and immediately looks away when he sees the twinkle in his eye. “I like the watermelon Milkis,” he grumbles. 

“Cute. Me too.” 

Liar. Still, Youngjae punches in the buttons. Feeling heat crawl up his neck despite the cool air conditioning, he crouches and picks up the can that rolled out the bottom. 

“Here.” 

Still smiling, Junghwan takes the can and presses it to his chin. “Ah, it feels good.” He purses his lips. “Or maybe it feels better because Choi Youngjae bought it for me?”

“Hyung.”

(Later, when they’re walking back, Junghwan gives him the can back. “I feel all better now,” he reassures Youngjae. 

Warily, Youngjae accepts the drink. He pops open the tab and looks at Junghwan suspiciously. 

“Watermelon’s not actually your favorite, is it?” 

“Nope.” Junghwan enunciates the word with a pleased smile. “I like strawberry milk. But you like the watermelon one, so that’s what I wanted, too.”

Youngjae’s ears buzz. This guy’s going to be the death of me, I swear.)

Junghwan watches Youngjae bring the can to his lips and tip his head back, letting the watermelon drink flow into his mouth. His throat bobs with the motion. Junghwan finds himself swallowing, too. 

When he’s had his sip, Youngjae holds it out to him. “Do you want some? If you don’t mind drinking from the same can.” 

“I don’t mind.” Junghwan takes it, albeit a bit quickly, and brings it to his own lips. He takes a quick drink, mind swimming. Even with the drink, Junghwan’s mouth feels dry. 

We just had an indirect kiss. Youngjae’s lips were on this can, Junghwan thinks giddily. Youngjae gives him a weird look. He wonders if he’s blushing too profusely. 

“Let’s go meet up with the others,” Youngjae suggests. He turns quickly, not waiting for Junghwan to follow. He only takes a moment before quickly running up to catch him. 

Junghwan can’t resist teasing a little bit. “Aw, you weren’t going to wait for me?” 

“Again, you got hit in the face. Your legs work fine.” 

He sighs. Worth a shot. It was fun, in a way, to act shameless and try to wheedle affection out of Youngjae just to see his exasperated reaction. When they reach the lunch area, some distance away, Dohoon shoots up amidst the throng of students. 

“Over here!” He waves frantically, beckoning the two of them to his table. As they approach, Junghwan sees that Hanjin is sitting next to Dohoon on one side of the table. Kyungmin and Jihoon are there too—Kyungmin sits next to Hanjin, and Jihoon across from him. 

When Hanjin spots them, he shoots up from his seat and folds his hands in front of him, dropping into a deep bow. “I am sorry for hitting you, sunbaenim!” 

“It’s alright,” Junghwan says with an embarrassed laugh. “Hanjin, right? Please take a seat.” 

“Are you okay?” Kyungmin looks at him with a scrutinizing look. “That looks pretty bad!” 

“Yah,” Junghwan says warningly. “I’m fine. Youngjae took care of me.” He smiles, pleased with how incriminating his wording sounds. It’s true. Youngjae took care of me, Shin Junghwan.  

“That’s so sweet!” Jihoon exclaims. “I knew Youngjae hyung was super kind!” 

This kid. 

Now it’s Youngjae’s turn to chuckle awkwardly. “It’s really nothing.” With the two remaining seats across from Dohoon and Hanjin, he places a hand on the back of the middle chair. Jihoon, in the seat next to it, smiles up at him cheerfully. 

Not on my watch. 

“I want to sit there.” Junghwan pushes Youngjae’s hand off and pulls the chair out, dropping himself into the seat unceremoniously. He can practically feel Youngjae’s stare drilling into the back of his head. Junghwan tries and fails to hide his smug grin.

“Yah, is that any way to treat the guy that saved you?” Dohoon drawls. “This hyung seems pretty ungrateful, Youngjae, I would be careful if I were you.” He dodges the pen that Junghwan throws at him with a cackle. 

“It’s fine. I’m going to go get food.” 

“I’ll go with you, hyung!” And before Junghwan can register it, Jihoon is out of his seat and accompanying Youngjae to the tables of sandwich boxes prepared for orientation. 

Junghwan scowls. Kyungmin just laughs at his expression. “Don’t be too sad, hyung, he’ll come back. And you should rest anyway.” 

“It’s my face that got hit, not my legs,” Junghwan says snidely. He thinks of Youngjae’s huffy voice reprimanding him and smiles. It’s funny to parrot what Youngjae said to him when he was taking care of Junghwan. 

“Man, look at this guy smiling for no reason. He’s probably thinking of Youngjae.” Dohoon drapes an arm around Hanjin’s shoulders and points at Junghwan dramatically. “Isn’t he such a loser, Hanjinie? He’s supposed to be the cool sunbae, but he’s acting like this over his junior.” 

Hanjin giggles. Look at him, getting influenced by Dohoon, Junghwan thinks tiredly. 

“I don’t care,” he says blithely. 

“Wow, Dohoon hyung was right!” Kyungmin observes. He glances at Dohoon behind Hanjin’s head. “But you’re not really one to talk, are you, hyung?” 

Dohoon sputters. Hanjin looks at him in concern, asking Are you okay, Dohoon hyung? and What does Kyungmin mean by that?

Junghwan sighs loudly, turning to look for Youngjae. At a distance, he can see Youngjae and Jihoon at the tables, picking out sandwich boxes. Jihoon seems to be attempting to carry six boxes by himself, while Youngjae laughs with an arm full of water bottles. 

He clenches a fist. The two of them weave their way through the crowd back to the table. 

“Food is here!” Jihoon announces. He sets the boxes down one by one in front of each seat. 

“Here.” Standing behind Junghwan, Youngjae holds out one of the water bottles to him. “Drink this so you don’t end up bleeding again.” 

Junghwan blinks. He gets a sense of deja vu from when Youngjae had held out the watermelon drink to him, complete with the same pounding heart in Junghwan’s chest. 

“Thanks,” he says softly. 

When they’ve all settled down with their meals, the conversation turns to the dodgeball game from earlier. 

“You have some serious strength, Hanjin!” Kyungmin says. “Every time you threw the ball, it went way faster than I was expecting.”

Dohoon puffs out his chest. “That’s because he had help from me.” 

Junghwan snorts. “What kind of help were you giving? Moral support?” 

“No! Every time we had the ball, I felt like I had this energy in my hands, like I could push the ball without touching it,” Dohoon insists. 

He scoffs again. From next to him, even Youngjae says, “That sounds pretty fantastical, Dohoon.” 

“It’s true!” Hanjin speaks up. He holds up his hands, miming the ball. “I felt it, too. Even when I had already thrown the ball, it was like I could still redirect it.” 

Junghwan shakes his head. “You’re both—”

“Wait! Us too!” Kyungmin taps the table in front of Jihoon excitedly, looking around the table with sparkling eyes. “When we were playing, I felt it too!” 

“I used it to win a lot of our points,” Jihoon admits. “It felt so easy just to push the air and control where the ball was going.” 

Shaking his head, Junghwan laughs incredulously. “What are you all talking about?” 

“I’m serious!” Dohoon presses. “All four of us, we somehow got that ability during the game! I’ve never had that before!”

“You sound crazy,” Junghwan says flatly.

“Hold on.” He feels a touch on his arm, where Youngjae is pressing slightly. Junghwan looks at him, wide eyes meeting Youngjae’s calculating ones. “I saw it. The ball was coming at Hanjin one time, and it looked like he pushed it to the side with just air.” 

Junghwan’s mouth drops slightly. “That’s crazy,” he says softly. “Youngjae, why didn’t you say anything?” 

“Oh, you’ll believe him but not us?” Dohoon snarks. 

Youngjae shrugs, a light blush dusting his cheeks. Pretty. “I thought I imagined it.” 

Junghwan exhales. “Did I get hit and wake up in an alternate universe?” He looks at Youngjae. You feel real, though. Like the same Youngjae that I know. 

The blush on Youngjae’s face reddens even more. Are you hot? Drink some water. He takes the bottle that Junghwan offers to him. “It’s hard to believe, but I guess strange things can happen.” 

Why do you believe them? Junghwan wonders. Aren’t you supposed to be rational about these things? 

For the second time today, Youngjae gives him a strange look. Sure, Junghwan likes it if it means Youngjae is looking at him, but it still throws him off. He shrugs again. “Anyway, it’s probably nothing. Let’s move on.” 

Dohoon looks around the table. “So, have you guys decided to join any clubs?” 

Jihoon swallows his food and says, “Kyungmin and I might start a dance club, like the one we had at our middle school! The only thing is that we need members to fulfill the club limit.” He leans forward and looks down the table. “Youngjae hyung, you said you’re not in any clubs. Have you ever tried dancing?” 

Youngjae’s eyes widen slightly before he laughs, a small puff of air past his lips. “Oh no, you don’t want me in your club. I need to focus on my studies, anyway.” 

“Forget it, kid.” Dohoon points his fork at Youngjae. “This guy likes to sing and dance in his free time, but you wouldn’t know it from how studious he is.” 

Youngjae? Sing and dance? 

“Really?” Jihoon claps his hands together like a happy seal. “Aw, are you sure you don’t want to join our club? I’d love to dance with you, hyung!” 

“He already said no, Jihoon,” Junghwan says firmly. At his defeated expression, Junghwan softens a little. “But I’m sure you’ll be able to find people for your club. It’ll be something new for this school.” 

“I guess you’re right, hyung.” Kyungmin smiles. 

“What about you, Hanjinie?” Dohoon turns to Hanjin next. “What clubs caught your eye?” 

“I want to try tennis. Kyungmin said he’d join with me,” Hanjin replies. 

Dohoon blinks, deflating a little. “You don’t want to join the soccer club with hyung? It’s okay.” He drapes an arm around Hanjin’s shoulders. “You can come cheer for me at my games, hm?” 

“Speaking of which,” Junghwan adds. He glances around the table—Youngjae averts his eyes when their eyes meet. ? “I have a track meet next month if you guys want to come support me.” He tries to look at Youngjae again, but Youngjae’s staring down at his food. 

“What event do you do, hyung?” Jihoon asks. 

“The high jump.” Junghwan rubs the back of his neck. “But they’re talking about moving me to a higher tier, so the jump will be more difficult.” 

Kyungmin leans in. “Are you nervous, hyung?” 

Junghwan shrugs. “I’ll just have to practice and see.” 

Suddenly, Dohoon claps his hands together. “I wonder what the limit of our powers is? Like, do you think we can push Junghwan hyung over the bar?” 

Immediately, Youngjae scoffs. “No way.” 

Junghwan whips his head around, looking at Youngjae in surprise. “You sound pretty sure.” 

Youngjae stares back, scanning his face. His eyes dart between Junghwan’s eyes and around his face. “Yeah,” he says finally. “Whatever happened before was probably a fluke.”

And there’s my pragmatic Youngjae again. Unbidden, a smile unfurls on Junghwan’s lips. “What if it’s not, though?” 

“Yeah,” Dohoon buts in, “you don’t know that for sure. I bet if all four of us combine our forces, we can push him over.” 

“Combine your forces?” Youngjae repeats mockingly. “What is this, the Avengers?” 

“Wanna bet?” 

“Sure,” Youngjae says easily. His smirk is making Junghwan’s stomach do flips. He watches, slack-jawed, as Youngjae stares Dohoon down defiantly. “If I win, you have to buy me three new books of my choice.” 

Dohoon winces but nods. A mischievous light enters his eyes, somehow even more challenging than Youngjae’s look. Junghwan has a bad feeling about this. 

“If I win, you have to go on a date with Junghwan hyung.” 

Junghwan chokes. 

“What?” Junghwan, Youngjae, Jihoon, and Kyungmin all speak simultaneously. Even Hanjin looks shocked, glancing between the two of them with widening eyes. Dohoon sits back, crossing his arms with a satisfied look. 

Why am I in it? A date? With me? Junghwan looks at Youngjae, but he’s pointedly keeping his gaze forward at Dohoon. 

“Fine,” Youngjae says finally, sounding much less confident than before. “It’s okay, because I know you’ll lose.” 

“Just you watch.” Dohoon makes a fist and thrusts it over the middle of the table, hovering between all of them. “Come on, guys! We have to show this nerd that there’s no messing with us!” 

“Yeah!” Hanjin exclaims. He bumps his own fist with Dohoon’s. 

“Yeah!” Kyungmin repeats. He sticks his own fist into the middle excitedly. Looking at Jihoon, he nods his head to the pile. 

“What the hell, sure.” Finally, Jihoon joins their pile until all four of them are in some odd amalgamation of a group fistbump. 

Junghwan can only look at Youngjae helplessly. What is this, he asks with his eyes.

I can’t believe it, Youngjae agrees grimly. Somehow, Junghwan’s landed himself in an alternate universe where his friends gained magical powers and a date with Youngjae got mixed up in the middle. 

They stare at each other a moment longer and burst out in laughter at the absurdity of it all. 

“I hope you all enjoyed your lunch.” Junghwan opens with this line once all of the students in his group have reunited under a tree by the lunch area. 

“This next part,” he starts, “is a new tradition they’re starting with orientation. That means you—” he glances to the side at Youngjae, who averts his eyes quickly. Cute. “—didn’t get this during your orientation. Good thing you’re here now, right?” 

“And it is?” 

Junghwan turns to his group. “I and the other orientation leaders are going to take all of you freshmen up to the rooftop. Exciting, I know. There’ll be water games up there, too.” At his group’s blank expressions, Junghwan musters up all the energy an introvert could offer. “Let’s go!” 

When his group makes it to the rooftop, Dohoon’s group is already there. The first thing he says when they see each other is a cryptic Watch out.

“Huh?”

Junghwan takes a step first. Immediately, his sneaker is submerged in water, quickly soaking through the material and reaching his sock. He loses his footing, flailing his arms as he falls backward. 

“Woah!” Strong arms wrap around Junghwan’s body. They steady him, and when he turns his head, he sees Youngjae’s wide eyes staring back at him. This close, Youngjae looks away as soon as their eyes meet. 

“You okay, hyung?” Youngjae carefully pushes Junghwan into a standing position. His feet are fully submerged now in the five-centimeter water that, for whatever reason, is covering the rooftop. “When you said there would be water games, I wasn’t quite imagining this.” 

Junghwan blinks. “Me neither.” 

The rest of his group step onto the rooftop from the stairwell, exclaiming in various voices and noises about how cold the water is. Youngjae steps up, too, so they’re side by side by the stairwell entrance. 

“So, this is what I missed out on in freshman year? Getting my feet wet in ankle-high water?” Youngjae looks at Junghwan, amused. 

“In my defense, when the teacher suggested water games, I was imagining water balloons.” Junghwan surveys the scene in front of him. Some ways away, Dohoon is splashing water on Hanjin while the other squeals, trying to run away amidst the water. Junghwan can’t even scoff at how Dohoon is acting like a puppy in love, because he’s formulating his own plans to splash Youngjae with the water. 

Beside him, Youngjae takes a tentative step further onto the rooftop. The water sloshes at his feet, dampening the ends of his jeans. Junghwan looks down at his own trousers, which are beginning to weigh him down the more water they absorb. 

“Hyung.”

Junghwan turns and gets flicked with water immediately. Youngjae smiles, a little teasing. 

“Youngjae.” Junghwan pouts, taking a step towards Youngjae. He relishes in the way Youngjae steps back, eyeing him intently. “Hyung is all wet now. How could you?” 

“It’s hot out,” Youngjae counters. He’s still smiling that smile of his, like he thinks it’s just a little bit silly but is playing along. Junghwan wants to play along, too. 

“Yeah?” Quickly, before Youngjae can react, Junghwan bends down and cups his hand. He brings it up in one fell swoop, sloshing water all up the front of Youngjae’s vest. 

Youngjae yelps, jumping backward. He brings his arms up to cover his face when Junghwan leans down again, launching another dagger of water at him. 

“Hyung, stop!” he gasps. “It’s cold!” 

“It’s hot out,” Junghwan parrots. This time, though, when he launches the water at Youngjae, he stumbles backward. Junghwan’s heart lurches into his throat at the sight of Youngjae’s body dropping. 

Running more quickly than should be possible in ankle-high water, Junghwan dashes forward and wraps an arm around Youngjae’s waist. Unfortunately, this much water is a liability, and Junghwan loses his footing again. 

In the fall, he tightens his arm around Youngjae and presses him flush against his chest. Junghwan casts out his other hand and feels it plunge into the water, colliding with the concrete of the roof. 

Immediately, Junghwan feels pain shoot up his wrist. He’s essentially in a one-handed plank above the water, while squeezing Youngjae’s entire weight against his upper body to prevent dipping him into the water. 

Junghwan feels more than hears Youngjae gasp next to his ear. This is much closer than they were when they were playing dodgeball, and not only that, they’re pressed chest-to-chest instead of their earlier position. 

Every polite bone in Junghwan’s body, as well as nearly every muscle, is screaming at him to get up and put distance between himself and Youngjae. As shameless as Junghwan may be in his mind, this kind of position is too intimate even for two people who’ve known each other for only a year. 

“Hyung!” Bracing two hands on his shoulders, Youngjae carefully leans his head back. His whole body is still pressed to Junghwan’s front, so his neck cranes to look Junghwan in the eye. Still, the space between their two faces is laughable: they’re practically sharing the same breath, their noses brushing as Youngjae breathes harshly. 

“Youngjae,” Junghwan tries—his voice is strained with effort. His whole face is red, but that could be blamed either on their proximity or exertion from holding the both of them up. 

Youngjae’s eyes are round saucers, revealing the deep black depths of his pupils. He’s still breathing quickly, his breath lightly fanning over Junghwan’s lips. Junghwan is so light-headed, he can barely think. 

“How do we get up?” Youngjae whispers. 

“I’m not going to drop you,” Junghwan grunts. His wrist is genuinely about to sprain if he continues this, Junghwan knows, so he does what he perceives to be the next best thing: he falls to his side, rolling quickly and pulling Youngjae closer to him to prevent him from sliding.

Water immediately seeps into the backs of Junghwan’s clothes. Unfortunately, the impact also brings up waves that lick at Youngjae’s sides. 

He sees Youngjae lift his head off of Junghwan’s chest to stare at him. This visual is really not helping Junghwan’s fantasies, but the water is helping distract him somewhat. Youngjae looks mad. 

“Hyung!” he snaps. “Why did you do that?” 

Junghwan winces. “You got wet, right? I tried to keep you out of it.”

“No, not that! This!” Youngjae detaches a hand and gestures to the space between him and Junghwan. 

“Ah, that.” Junghwan closes his eyes momentarily. “I’m sorry for forcing you so close to my body. I didn’t want to drop you in the water, but it must’ve been uncomfortable.”

He peels open an eye. Youngjae is staring at him with a complicated expression, his cheeks flaming. “Not that,” he chides. “I mean dropping yourself in the water. You’re completely soaked, hyung.”

Junghwan shrugs. The motion splashes more water onto his neck. Great. “If you’re on a raised platform, you wouldn’t get wet, right? Think of me as that platform.” 

“I’m not using you as a board, hyung.” Youngjae shifts on Junghwan’s lap. Oh my god. He reaches behind himself and pries Junghwan’s hand off of his waist. Junghwan, not realizing he still had his arm wrapped around Youngjae, removes it quickly and drops it into the water. He must look silly, completely laying in the water like a springtime version of a snow angel. 

“Excuse me for a moment, hyung,” Youngjae apologizes. Then he places both his hands on Junghwan’s stomach and presses down, using it as leverage to push himself off and right himself on his feet. Junghwan gasps at the pressure.

Like this, with Youngjae standing above him with the midday sun shining behind his head—you look like an angel. Youngjae’s face inexplicably reddens. He holds out a hand. 

Junghwan takes it. He’s lost count of how many times he’s held Youngjae’s hand, but it’s as soft as he remembers, if a little pruny. With great effort, Youngjae hoists him to his feet. Water drips off his entire back like a human rag. Junghwan winces, feeling the water run down his body in a number of cold rivulets.

“You need to change, hyung.” Eyebrows furrowing, Youngjae frowns at him again. “Seriously, dropping yourself in the water so I wouldn’t get wet? You’re really something, hyung.”

Despite himself, Junghwan feels a smile spread across his lips. He’s so cute like this, scolding Junghwan like an angry hamster. 

Youngjae’s face reddens even more. The heat must be getting to him. Junghwan shakes out a hand and brings the back of his hand up to Youngjae’s forehead. 

He swats his hand away before Junghwan can make contact. “What are you doing?” 

“Checking your temperature. You seem a little warm, Youngjae-yah.” 

“That’s not important,” Youngjae says brusquely. He grabs Junghwan’s outstretched hand by the wrist and begins tugging him along. Junghwan, blinking, just stumbles along. 

“Where are we going?” 

“To get you a change of clothes?” 

“Aw. Taking responsibility again?” 

“Shut up, hyung.”

Shin Junghwan is so stupid, Youngjae thinks vehemently. He ignores the questioning look Dohoon sends their way when they pass and calls over his shoulder, “Watch our group, please.” He pulls Junghwan into the stairwell, away from the godforsaken minipool that is the rooftop. 

“Our group?” 

“You know what I mean, hyung.” Youngjae dares to look back and sees Junghwan already staring at him. His thoughts, if they weren’t already loud and clear in Youngjae’s head, are written all over his face. Junghwan looks pleased as his voice rings in his mind: Youngjae looks so cute like this, scolding me. He’s still holding my hand, too. 

Youngjae’s gaze drops to his hand, which is indeed still wrapped around Junghwan’s left wrist. He drops it quickly and turns back around. 

“You keep your gym uniform in your locker, right?” Junghwan hums an assent. Youngjae nods. “Okay, you can change into that. But then what if you get a cold? Maybe you should go home.”

“I’m fine, Youngjae-yah,” Junghwan interrupts. “Aside from my back being damp, it’s not even that bad. I just need to stand in the sun to dry off.”

Youngjae casts a dirty look over his shoulder. “That’s exactly how losers get colds.”

“Losers?” Unphased, Junghwan’s tone is playful. Youngjae pushes open the door that leads out into the hallway. 

“Yeah. Losers that willingly drop their whole bodies into five-centimeter water.”

“Hey.” Even from his tone of voice, Youngjae can tell he’s pouting. “This loser is the one that saved you from getting wet, by the way.”

“I still go wet,” Youngjae responds snarkily. He sighs and slows down, letting Junghwan fall into step beside him. “Still, though, I guess I could’ve been more wet. So thanks for that, but you’re still dumb for dropping yourself in the water.” 

“Hm.” Junghwan steps into the sunlight when they exit the building. He turns his face to the sun and squints, looking at Youngjae through one eye. His smile is boyish and carefree. The way his wet hair frames his face, especially his bangs, looks artfully crafted for a magazine, and not like he’d just been rolling around on a watery rooftop. “As long as Youngjae is okay, it doesn’t matter how wet I get.” 

Isn't that too corny? Junghwan's internal monologue asks. For some reason, it sounds like Jaehyun sunbaenim. Then, I don't care.

Youngjae shivers despite the sun and already-drying dampness of his clothes. Damn Shin Junghwan for making it hard to keep being mad at him. If he stares at Junghwan’s handsome grin any longer, Youngjae might do something stupid, so he valiantly keeps his head forward. 

“Whatever.” He tries and fails to keep the corners of his lips from curling up. The two of them walk on, heading for the south side of campus where Youngjae knows Junghwan’s locker is. Don’t ask him why he remembers. “Let’s get you into some warm clothes.”

“Aw, Youngjae wants to see me take off my clothes?” 

“I won’t deign that with a response.” 

Okay, Youngjae’s not stupid. He knows Junghwan has a crush on him—it’s practically confirmed for him, if Junghwan’s thoughts are anything to go by. That whole water-on-the-rooftop fiasco definitely confirmed it. What he doesn’t know is his own feelings. 

“Just give him a chance,” Dohoon says later when they’re on their walk home. “Maybe you’ll find out something about yourself if you give it a shot with him.” 

(When he’d broken the day’s revelations to Dohoon, he’d been met with silence initially. Then, Dohoon laughed in his face. 

“Why are you laughing,” Youngjae said irritably. 

“Do you hear yourself? You can read minds now?” Dohoon wheezed. “First you were moping about wanting to know what Junghwan hyung was thinking because you couldn’t get a read on him—which I don’t believe, by the way, I think Junghwan hyung’s intentions are perfectly clear, but I digress—and now you can read his mind? Can you read everyone’s mind?”

“Not every mind. I can’t read yours, for example.” Thank god, Youngjae muttered. He didn’t need to hear all of Dohoon’s uncouth thoughts swimming in his head. “Just Junghwan hyung’s, for some reason.” 

“What’s he thinking up there?” Dohoon wiggled his eyebrows. When Youngjae didn’t answer, he threw his head back and cackled again. “I knew it! I didn’t even need to ask!”

“You didn’t know anything,” Youngjae countered pettily. “And is it that hard to believe anyway? You were literally going on about how you can push objects without touching them.” 

“Yeah, because I have empirical evidence and witnesses,” Dohoon sniped. “For all we know, you’re just hallucinating Junghwan have freaky thoughts about you and he’s not actually thinking any of that.” He paused, frowning. “He probably is, though.” 

Youngjae covered his face with his hands and groaned loudly.)

Youngjae sighs. “Still, I’m not sure yet. I don’t want to lead him on if I don’t even feel the same way, you know?” 

Dohoon nods. “That makes sense.” He brightens, looking at Youngjae sideways. “Well, what can you do? Just wait until I inevitably win the bet, and then you can go on a date with Junghwan hyung and see how it feels.” 

“Okay, first of all, you don’t know that you’re going to win.” Youngjae kicks a rock on the sidewalk. If he’s being honest, he’s not quite sure how likely or unlikely it is that the four of them can actually manage to push Junghwan over the high bar, but he’s not— opposed, to them trying. Call it morbid curiosity. 

Curiosity about what? His mind asks. About whether they can do it, or the prospect of going on a date with Junghwan if they do manage to push him over? 

Youngjae shakes his head, trying to clear his mind of wayward thoughts. “Anyway, I’m going to focus on studying. Good luck with your side of the bet.”

“About that.” Dohoon pulls out his phone, smiling wickedly. “I’m going to make a group chat so we can plan meetups to practice our touch. That’s what I’m calling it, by the way. Touch.” 

“That sounds lame.”

“Only to you.” 

They enter the building of their apartment complex and call an elevator. When they reach Dohoon’s floor, Youngjae bids good night to him and waits for the elevator to take him up to his own floor. 

“I’m home!” He calls out. He hears his brother shuffling in his room. Youngjae walks past, pushing open the door to his own room and dropping onto his bed unceremoniously. From his phone come a number of ping!s and alerts. When he pulls it out, he sees that Dohoon has already created the aforementioned group chat. 

Dohoonie added Junghwan hyung 🍓, 401-0506, 503-2806, and 610-0207

Dohoonie renamed group to “operation: help junghwan hyung clear the bar and land a date” 

Dohoonie 

hi guys!!!!!!

this is dohoon 

i made this group chat so we can plan whenever we’re going to meet up to hone our touch

503-2806

hi everyone! i’m jihoonie!

what’s “touch” 

610-0207

this is kyungmin! 

ㄴ replied to 503-2806 (“what’s ‘touch’”): i think that’s what Dohoon hyung is calling our powers

Junghwan hyung 🍓

What is this groupchat

Dohoonie 

read back old man 

JOKES. i’m joking

401-0506

Hello everyone! My name is Hanjin! 

Dohoonie

hiiiiii hanjinie 

your texting is so polite it’s so cute ㅠㅠ

401-0506

Thank you Dohoon hyung!

Dohoonie 

SO CUTE 😭😭😭

the guy that asked what this groupchat was for and didn’t introduce himself was junghwan hyung btw everyone

and the guy that’s reading all of these messages and not saying a word is youngjae 😒

503-2806

HI YOUNGJAE HYUNG

Dohoonie 

hold your horses kid 

this guy’s about to be taken by junghwan hyung so back off 

if you ruin this bet for me i’m gonna kill you

You

Dohoon.

Dohoonie 

jokes! 😄 i’m just joking everyone

503-2806

fine i’ll go along with this “““touch””” thing

401-0506

It seems like Korea has interesting ways to joke 

Dohoonie

don’t worry hanjinie i can show you all the differences between korea and china 

503-2806 

WOAH 😭

610-0207

i think we got a bit derailed…

Dohoonie 

right right 

back to operation: help junghwan hyung clear the bar and land a date

The fact that the second part of the group chat name is there, implying that the setting-Junghwan-and-Youngjae-up-on-a-date part is as important as the Junghwan-succeeds-in-his-track-and-field-event, makes Youngjae’s stomach flip. Why he’s even in this groupchat, he doesn’t know—he doesn’t even have the “touch,” for crying out loud.

Before Youngjae can keep reading to see what preposterous things they’re going to say next, another notification comes in at the top of his screen. 

It’s Junghwan hyung. Youngjae presses it immediately. 

Junghwan hyung 🍓

Youngjae-yah

Are you uncomfortable? 

I’m sorry, I let them joke for too long

I can tell them to stop

Wait. Like what he was thinking earlier, Youngjae’s not exactly opposed to the idea. Again, blame his morbid curiosity. 

You

it’s okay hyung

it’s fun to let the kids joke around

anyway, aren’t you curious too?

Junghwan hyung 🍓

To be honest, i’m still skeptical

But as long as you’re comfortable, I don't mind

Woah. My heart fluttered for a moment. Youngjae thinks for a moment before responding.

You

that’s sweet, hyung

well, i have to get back to studying 

fighting on your high jump!

Junghwan hyung 🍓

Thanks, Youngjae

Happy studying 

Youngjae laughs quietly. He doesn’t know how much fun Junghwan thinks he has when he studies, but it’s a nice sentiment. He shuts his phone off with a sigh. 

Okay. Time to focus, Youngjae. You can think about touch and a date with Junghwan hyung later. 

He settles at his desk and opens his notebook with a pounding in his chest.

Unfortunately, the first time they plan to meet to “work on their touch” when the school year starts, Youngjae has lessons at hakwon. They’re discussing it at lunch while Youngjae listens, laughing occasionally and scolding them for their delusions every now and then. 

“Fighting, everyone,” he says as he gets up. Youngjae gives them all a cheerful wave. 

“Wait! Hanjin and I are coming with you.” Dohoon gets up, too, grabbing his and Hanjin’s platters off the table to deposit at one of the clean-up stations. Youngjae waits, watching Hanjin get up primly and slings his bag over his shoulders while Dohoon runs around. Finally, all three of them begin walking. 

“Do you have a class in this direction, Hanjin?” Youngjae asks as they walk. 

Hanjin blinks and smiles pleasantly. “Yes! My health and wellness elective.”

Youngjae nods. He looks at Dohoon. “What about you? What business do you have here?” 

“I’m walking Hanjin to class!” Dohoon chirps. 

Right. Youngjae should’ve seen it coming. He refrains from rolling his eyes, lest Hanjin get the wrong idea. “So, what’s this I hear about you all go-karting?”

“It’s not go-karting, exactly,” Dohoon explains. He mimes a large box around himself. “Basically, there’s going to be a wagon, and I sit in it while Hanjin, Kyungmin, and Jihoon pull me along. At the same time, the train is going to pass by, and also at the same time, Junghwan hyung is going to race all of us.”

“All of you? As in, the four of you and your makeshift carriage?” 

“And the train,” Dohoon adds helpfully. “That part’s important.”

“What does that have to do with touch?” 

Dohoon shrugs. “It’s just fun. Right, Hanjinie?” 

Hanjin nods. Then, in his practiced Korean, he says, “I’m not sure what the exact plan is, but I think it will be fun with friends.” He finishes with a pleased smile. 

Youngjae coos. He can see why Dohoon is so fond of him. He turns to Hanjin with a kind smile. “Hanjin, do you like it in Korea so far?”

With sparkling eyes, Hanjin nods again. “My parents were worried about letting me study abroad in Korea because I would be a foreigner, but everyone is really nice!” 

“Don’t worry, Hanjinie.” Dohoon puffs his chest out with a thump. “You won’t be lonely on my watch! I’m here for you.”

“And the rest of us, too,” Youngjae adds. He kicks Dohoon’s shin lightly. This guy needs to cool it, seriously. The three of them stop in front of Youngjae’s classroom. He turns back and waves. “This is me. I’ll see you guys later.” 

“Bye, Youngjae hyung!” Hanjin waves too, before Dohoon slings his arm around him and tugs him along again. Youngjae shakes his head with an amused huff. At his seat, he takes out his notebooks and materials and plugs in his earphones, silencing the world around him. 

“Where’d you get this wagon from?” 

Junghwan’s question goes unanswered. All he gets is a laugh from Kyungmin as he helps the others tug the wagon onto the dirt path. In the distance, he can faintly hear the blaring of the train’s horn.

From inside the wagon, Dohoon calls out, “What are you just standing there for? You scared?” 

“No,” Junghwan snaps. “I’m just struggling to see why the wagon is relevant.”

Dohoon shakes his head and mutters something that sounds like just like Youngjae, if Junghwan’s hearing him right. Or maybe his mind is just full of Youngjae, to the point where everything sounds like it’s about him. It’s possible.

“Just get ready, hyung,” Kyungmin says. “The train is coming soon.”

Right. The train, whose tracks run along the other side of the wire fence that separates the train tracks and the dirt path they’re currently standing on. It’s moments like these that Junghwan misses Youngjae and his rationality. 

Stop thinking of Youngjae. He’s studying hard, so show him that you’re working hard, too. 

Junghwan sighs and faces the group. “Where do I stand?” 

Dohoon looks at him, unimpressed. “Are you wearing that?” 

Junghwan looks down at his outfit: jeans, a white windbreaker, and his trusty satchel. He looks up again. “Yeah? I came straight from class.” 

Dohoon sighs heavily. “Whatever. Come stand here, next to the wagon. When the train is about to pass us, we’re all going to start running. Your task is to outrun both us and the train.” 

“And the train?!” 

“Just go along with it, hyung,” Jihoon says. “No one’s expecting you to actually outrun the train.” 

“It’d be cool if you did, though!” Hanjin adds.

He can only shake his head in disbelief. When the others get into position, Dohoon in the wagon and Kyungmin, Jihoon, and Hanjin flanking him on every side, they all look at him expectantly. Junghwan stares at them, then at the train tracks, then down at his hands. He steps up beside the wagon. 

“Okay!” Dohoon crows. “On the count of three, we’re going to take off!”

Junghwan nods. 

“Ready?” 

Junghwan gulps. 

“One!”

Junghwan shakes his hands out. 

“Tw— GO!” 

And they’re off, the four of them stampeding down the dirt path. Junghwan’s mind takes a second to catch up—he stares after them in disbelief. They didn’t even count to three! 

Despite the clunky frame of the wagon, they move with surprising agility. In the distance, the train horn blares. Junghwan jolts, remembering that he’s supposed to be racing the train, too. 

Go, go, go!

Junghwan takes off. 

(In the end, Junghwan doesn’t manage to beat the train, but that was a given. Somehow, though, he does beat the four of them, much to their disbelief. 

“You’re so fast, hyung!” Kyungmin heaves, hands on his knees. 

“It’s because,” Jihoon pants, “the cart is heavy.” 

“You three didn’t coordinate right!” Dohoon complains. 

“I think we all tried our best!” Hanjin says. “Don’t feel bad!” 

“You’re right, Hanjinie!” 

Junghwan rolls his eyes. “Is this really what your plan is to help me train for my event?” He crosses his arms, staring down the four teenagers huffing and puffing on the ground in front of him. 

“Don’t worry, this isn’t the main deal.” Dohoon gets up, dusting his palms off. He grins cheekily. “You’re still going to train with your coach and stuff. Think of our touch as supplemental services.” 

“Supplemental services,” Junghwan repeats. He suppresses a groan. What did I get myself into?)

As fun as Dohoon’s “touch-enhancing” techniques are, Junghwan still needs to seriously practice with his coach if he wants to make it over the bar come next month. At practice, his coach beckons him to attempt the jump right off the bat, just to see where he is. 

Junghwan stands some meters away along the track, breathing deeply in and out. His coach keeps telling him it’s all mental, that he can make the jump but he just needs to get over his own trepidation. He’s trying, he really is, but her tough-love approach is shaking his nerves. 

“Any day now, Shin Junghwan,” she calls from her post. As always, she has her clipboard and a pen out to write whatever it is she writes during their practices. Probably notes for their track and field team, but Junghwan’s not inclined to find out. 

“Got it.” Shaking out his limbs one more time, he breaks into a sprint. He gets close, closer, so close, but then he baulks—his knees buckle, and suddenly his feet are like dead weights on the ground. He can’t jump. 

His coach sighs. The sound cuts through him like a dagger of shame. “Stop overthinking, Junghwan-ssi,” she chides. 

“Yes,” he responds miserably. 

She sighs and slaps a hand onto his arm. “Remember, it’s all in your head.” Starting to walk away, she calls over her shoulder, “Lower the bar to your usual. I want you to rep them out for thirty minutes.” 

Junghwan is left staring at the ground. He squeezes his eyes shut, then opens them with vigor. There’s nothing left to do but follow her orders, so he does just that. Junghwan adjusts his bar and takes his place again some meters away. 

The next half hour is a blur. He makes it over the bar, at least—how embarrassing would it be if he couldn’t even do his usual?—but it gradually wears at him each time he lands on the mat behind the bar. 

When the timer in his phone rings, Junghwan takes his last leap and lands on the other side. He knows it’s annoying, the sound of his timer, and he really should get up and turn it off, but he’s tired. He lays on the mat for a moment, just collecting his breath. 

Suddenly, the sound stops. Junghwan slowly lifts his head and sees a figure straighten up from where he’d dropped his phone on the grass. They approach him on the mat—it’s Youngjae. 

You’re here. Inexplicably, relief washes over Junghwan. The ache in his bones doesn't feel nearly as bad now. He tries his best to muster a presentable smile to Youngjae, but he can feel his bangs plastered to his forehead in sweat. Great. I look like a mess. 

“Hi, hyung.” Youngjae’s quaint smile reveals his two front teeth. Cute, as always. His face seems to be a bit red, too, probably because of the beating sun. You should wear short-sleeves, so you don’t overheat. Even though the blush on your cheeks is cute. 

“Huh?” Youngjae’s face pinkens more. 

Junghwan blinks, realizing he must’ve spoken out loud. Maybe he’s getting loopy from sitting out in the sun. “Sorry. Just ignore what I said. Are you hot?” 

Youngjae gives him a half-shrug, face still faintly red. “I just came from the library, and it has AC, so. What about you, hyung? You look kind of red yourself.”

Junghwan probably should get up and get some water. I’m so tired though, he complains in his mind. 

His petulance must show on his face, because Youngjae takes a step back. No, wait! But Youngjae returns quickly, holding up Junghwan’s water bottle he’d left next to his phone. He holds it out to him. 

Quickly scrambling into a sitting position, Junghwan accepts the water with a small thanks. He drinks greedily, quenching his thirst after pushing himself for the past half-hour. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Junghwan realizes with a thrill that Youngjae is watching his mouth. 

Don’t overthink it. It’s probably nothing. Junghwan smiles, stronger now. “So what brings you here, Youngjae-yah? Come to watch me?” 

Youngjae brings a hand to the back of his head, smiling awkwardly. “Kind of, yeah. My teacher gave me a small break, so I wanted to come down and see what you were doing.” 

Just lying on the mat like a dead fish, Junghwan thinks grimly. Still, the thought of Youngjae wanting to see him makes him smile giddily. “Sorry it’s not anything interesting. I’m just practicing.”

Nodding, Youngjae watches him carefully. “Still, I wanted to come. Since I probably won’t be able to make it on the day of your meet, I wanted to see you in action at least once.” 

Junghwan blinks. “Wait. How long have you been here?”

Youngjae shrugs again, a little sheepishly. “Like ten minutes? Your jumps were cool, hyung.”

He closes his eyes and wishes for a hole to open up underneath him and swallow him whole. “It’s nothing special.” He gives Youngjae an apologetic smile. “This is just my usual, since I keep freezing when I go up a level. My coach says it’s a mental block.” 

“It could be. Just from watching you, I think you could go higher, hyung.” Youngjae looks at him eagerly. 

Junghwan slides off the mat and gets to his feet. “You think?” The giddy smile splits his lips again. Youngjae thinks I can do it. I can do it. I won’t disappoint him. “Shall hyung try it right now?” 

Youngjae huffs a small laugh. “Sure. I’ll be cheering right here, hyung.”

“Okay.” Junghwan reaches up to the pole and adjusts one side, then the other, bringing his bar up a notch. It’s still not the height he’s going to attempt on the day of the match, but progress is progress. He’s working up to it. “Okay, let me try.” 

Junghwan makes the familiar trek back to his starting point. He regulates his breathing, steadily inhaling and exhaling the way he usually does before a jump. From beside the mat, Youngjae gives him an encouraging smile. 

Here goes nothing. With renewed strength thanks to Youngjae’s smile and his water, Junghwan sets off. This time, he feels lighter, instead of that dead weight feeling he sometimes gets, and it’s an easy thing to push off the ground. In a clean swoop, Junghwan clears the bar. 

“Hyung! That was awesome!” Youngjae leans over him with sparkling eyes and gives him two thumbs up. Like this, the way the sunlight frames his brown locks makes him look like an angel. Junghwan blinks, dazed. 

Youngjae blinks rapidly, too, his smile slowly drooping. “Hyung?” 

He snaps out of his graze and sits up on the mat, so Youngjae doesn’t have to crane his neck so much to see him. “Thanks,” he says shyly. 

“Junghwan!” Both of them whip their heads towards the sound—it’s his coach, pointing a finger at him. Luckily, she’s not frowning. “That was great! Come here for a sec!” 

“Looks like that’s my cue to go,” Youngjae says. He gives Junghwan another encouraging smile. “But that was really amazing, hyung! You got this!” He pumps two fists. “Fighting!” 

So cute. Youngjae nods, satisfied, and turns towards the stands. Junghwan watches him go, until his coach calls his name again in a decidedly less joyful tone. 

“Coming!” 

Later, when Junghwan’s freshly showered and lying on his bed, he pulls out his phone. 

You

Youngjae-yah

Thank you for coming today

Hyung really gained a lot of strength thanks to you

Youngjae guinea 🍉

ah, don’t mention it hyung

I’m glad hyung appreciates my support 

You

Still, i wish i could see you on the actual day

I think I need my Youngjae booster to do well, don’t you think?

Youngjae guinea 🍉

don’t be silly hyung

i’m sure you’ll do amazing whether or not i’m there 

besides, the others will be lending their services to you

You

I forgot about that

Do you actually believe it, Youngjae?

Youngjae guinea 🍉

whether i believe it isn’t important 

dohoon and the others already believe in it enough 

besides, it’s fun to play along

You

I guess

Still, Youngjae’s support is all I need

Youngjae guinea 🍉

so cheesy hyung -_- 

just believe in yourself and your hard work

i think your coach is right, it is just mental

you can do it, i know you can

besides, isn’t a date with me enough motivation? 

You

Don’t tease me, Youngjae ㅠ

I still can’t believe you agreed to it

Are you sure you’re not uncomfortable?

Youngjae guinea 🍉

don’t worry yourself over that, hyung 

anyway, just think of it as something fun and do your best

I’m going to go now to study 👋 good night, hyung

You

Good night, Youngjae-yah

Sweet dreams

Junghwan smiles at his phone. Hearing Youngjae’s supportive words fills him with a warmth in his heart. And, on the topic of the possible date with Youngjae, Junghwan had tried not to think about it too much. One, because he needs to actually make it over the bar first, and two, because he doesn’t want to overthink it and get too overexcited (read: delusional), and three, because he’s still not sure how Youngjae feels. 

Maybe it is just fun and games for him, as heart-breaking as that is. Junghwan just won’t think about it for the time being. 

For the next installment of operation: help junghwan hyung clear the bar and land a date (stupid name, by the way, according to Youngjae, but Dohoon refused to change it), they meet in the gym during lunch. Youngjae’s glad it isn’t after school again, since he was trying to maintain a good attendance streak in hakwon. 

It seems he’s not the only one thinking about that, because when Youngjae enters the gym, he meets Junghwan’s eyes across the room. 

Youngjae’s here, Junghwan’s voice says happily. I thought he’d be at hakwon. I’m glad he came today. 

On the outside, Junghwan just offers a, “Hello, Youngjae.” 

“Hi, hyung.” He glances around the gym. The others haven’t arrived yet, but he can hear chattering out in the hall. “What are we doing today?” 

“Team bonding.” At Youngjae’s confused look, Junghwan shrugs sheepishly. “Dohoon said it’d help them hone their touch—” he says it with air quotes and a vaguely skeptical tone, “—if they all got closer to each other.” 

Junghwan clears his throat awkwardly. “He said I needed to be here because, well, y’know. I’m the one jumping. And you needed to be here because—” he breaks off in a cough. “Because you’d bring team spirit up.” He avoids Youngjae’s eyes. A light red is beginning to dust his cheeks. 

“Right,” Youngjae says, amused. It’s a little funny (and cute) how easily Junghwan seems to get red when Youngjae’s involved. He’d seen it coming, when Dohoon sent today’s meet-up information into the group chat and then privately messaged Youngjae, practically threatening his life to make him come today. 

Okay, okay, I’ll come. I’d come anyway, so threatening me is unnecessary, he’d replied. Dohoon had only sent a GIF of a baby wolf sticking its tongue out in response. 

Really, though, it’s not like Youngjae needed a lot of convincing to come. These are his friends, for goodness’ sake. Of course he’d want to hang out with them, (not) subtle crush from Junghwan notwithstanding. 

“Are you guys gonna keep standing there, or are you coming over here?” 

The two of them turn. In the center of the gym, Dohoon and the others are already sitting in a loose semi-circle. He tips his head expectantly. 

Youngjae strides over to his friends and takes a seat. Unsurprisingly, Junghwan drops into the spot next to him. Once they’re all seated, Dohoon claps his hands. 

“Great! Junghwan hyung, stand in the middle.” 

“Huh?” 

Dohoon gestures to the center of their circle. “The middle. Stand in it.”

“Why?” 

“It’s just the training, hyung,” Kyungmin says.

Youngjae watches Junghwan get up hesitantly. He glances at Youngjae, and he doesn’t need to be able to read minds to know how confused Junghwan is. At this point, the fact that they’re circling up to improve their “touch” and they’ve all apparently raced a train (?) has desensitized Youngjae to his friends’ shenanigans. 

“Okay, now let’s all hold hands.” Dohoon grabs Hanjin’s hand excitedly, and Jihoon’s hand markedly less excitedly. 

“Why?” 

“What do you mean, why?”

“Like a cult circle?” 

“Not a cult circle, Jihoon,” Dohoon says exasperatedly. “We’re honing our touch! Touch! And you!” He turns to Youngjae aggressively. “Will it kill you to hold hands? God, it’s like I’m the only one trying to make this operation work!”

“Your hand’s getting sweaty, hyung,” Hanjin says. 

Youngjae bites back his smile and obliges, grabbing Kyungmin and Jihoon’s hands. He would point and laugh at Dohoon, but his hands are currently occupied in this not-cult circle. Once they’re all linked up, Dohoon clears his throat. 

“Alright, here’s the deal. We’re going to all pull each other so we squeeze together like a scrunchie—don’t make that face, hyung—and without letting go, we’re going to all get up.” He pauses when Hanjin starts shaking his head. “Yes, Hanjinie? What is it?” 

“What’s a scrunchie?” 

Dohoon opens and closes his mouth. “They don’t have scrunchies in China?” 

“They don’t have scrunchies in Korea, either,” Jihoon retorts. “What are you talking about?” 

“Okay, okay! Not important!” Dohoon looks incensed. “Just try and pull each other towards the center. There’s another part once we get up, but I’ll hold off on explaining that so you don’t get confused.” He looks around the circle and grins. “Are we ready?” 

A beat of silence. His smile starts straining. “I said, are we ready?” 

Youngjae takes pity on him. “Yeah!”

“Yeah!” 

“Ready!” 

“Let’s go!” 

“Oh, woah.” Junghwan stumbles a little when the five of them start pulling, their bodies sliding across the gym floor to crowd at his feet. Up close like this, all Youngjae can see is his left knee.

“Everybody up!” 

Youngjae doesn’t know how hard he expected the getting-up part was going to be, but it doesn’t prove to be that difficult. He mumbles a small apology to Jihoon when he squeezes too hard on his hand so as not to lose balance. 

They must look a little silly, the five of them all standing in a tight circle holding hands with Junghwan in the middle. It feels like some kind of bastardized group hug. 

“Okay!” Dohoon is speaking into the back of Junghwan’s head. Youngjae bites back a laugh at Junghwan’s annoyed expression. Is this seriously my life, Youngjae hears Junghwan think sourly. “Now for the next part! Do we all know what a trust fall is?” 

“Trust fall?” 

“It’s when someone stands with their back to their friends, and then they fall backwards,” Dohoon explains. “They’re supposed to trust that their friends will catch them. It’s pretty self-explanatory.”

“What does that have to do with this?” 

“Because.” Dohoon pauses, probably for dramatic effect. “We’re going to all—yes, all—lean back. Still holding hands, though, and you have to plant your feet where you are. Imagine opening an upside down umbrella.” 

Youngjae imagines it and nods approvingly. It’s not a bad analogy, all things considered. 

“That’s where the trust comes in.” Dohoon does his best to look everyone in the eye around the circle, but it’s a little difficult with Junghwan in the middle. “The goal is to drop as low as possible while keeping our feet planted and still holding hands. We have to trust each other not to let go, or else we’re all going to fall.” 

“This is supposed to increase your closeness?” Junghwan says doubtfully. 

“I sure do feel close, all right,” Jihoon mutters. 

“Let’s just hear Dohoon out,” Youngjae suggests. 

“And!” Dohoon opens his eyes even wider—again, probably for dramatic effect, but also again, he’s mostly blocked by Junghwan and his tall self blocking everybody’s point of view. Youngjae laughs lightly. “There’s a punishment!”

“Punishment!” 

“Yup!” Dohoon looks especially pleased with himself. “The first person to fall and ruin the circle will get flicked on the forehead by the person next to him.” 

“Flicked on the forehead?” Hanjin repeats worriedly. 

“Don’t worry Hanjinie, I wouldn’t flick you too hard,” Dohoon reassures sweetly. 

“Who says it has to be you?” Youngjae challenges, just to be annoying. “What if Kyungmin wants to flick him?” 

Dohoon looks at him murderously. “He won’t. That won’t happen because Hanjinie wouldn’t drop me and fall! I trust you, Han Zhen!” 

“Thanks, hyung.” 

Youngjae rolls his eyes. 

“Okay, does everyone understand the rules?” When the group nods, Dohoon smirks. “Everybody lean!” 

The sudden shift in weight when everybody leans back makes Youngjae tighten his grips on Jihoon and Kyungmin’s hands. He nearly loses his balance, but reorients his footing just in time. 

Okay, I think I got it, Youngjae thinks. He glances up and nearly falls right there when his eyes meet Junghwan’s. 

Don’t be weird, Junghwan. Just because he’s leaning back forty-five degrees in front of you does not mean you get to stare at him. Just be normal. Don’t be weird! 

Youngjae looks away, his cheeks flaming. He didn’t realize how compromising his position looked until Junghwan started thinking about it. When he takes a peek at Junghwan. He sees that his face is also heating up. 

Just focus, Youngjae tells himself. Don’t fall, or you’re going to get flicked. 

For all his efforts, Youngjae is miraculously spared. 

“Ack!” 

On the other side of Junghwan, Youngjae hears a loud thud. Lying on his back on the floor, groaning, is none other than Kim Dohoon. His fall causes a ripple effect—through their linked hands, Youngjae feels the center of balance shift drastically until they’re all stumbling and falling to the ground.

Youngjae barely feels the impact of his fall from how hard he’s laughing. They’re all laughing, and even Junghwan drops into a squat to join them on the floor. 

“Hah!” Jihoon crows. He’s the first to recover, righting himself into a sitting position. He points a gleeful finger at Dohoon. “You fell!” 

Dohoon, still groaning, brings his hands to his face. “Stop laughing,” he whines. “It’s not funny.” 

“I can’t believe after all that talk, hyung was the first one to fall,” Kyungmin giggles. 

“How’d you fall, anyway?” Youngjae asks. 

Dohoon mumbles something in response. Youngjae, just to be annoying, says loudly, “Huh? What was that, I didn’t catch it.”

“I said my hand got sweaty,” he snaps irritably. 

“It’s true!” Hanjin chirps.

“Hey, get up so I can flick you.” Jihoon kneels, pushing at Dohoon’s leg insistently. 

“Hell no! I want Hanjin to flick me!” 

“Rules are rules,” Junghwan smirks. He looks at Hanjin with a mischievous grin. “Hanjin, you don’t mind if Jihoon is the one to flick Dohoon, right?” 

Still laughing, Hanjin shakes his head. “Go ahead, Jihoon!” 

Dohoon groans louder, but even he’s beginning to laugh. “Okay, fine.” He sits up, closing his eyes and taking in deep breaths. Youngjae watches eagerly as Jihoon kneels in front of Dohoon. 

“I’m not going to go easy on you,” Jihoon warns. 

“Yeah, whatever,” Dohoon says flippantly. “Just do it.” 

It’s not every day Youngjae gets to watch Dohoon get flicked on the forehead. He and the others crowd closer, trying to get a good view of Jihoon and Dohoon. 

Jihoon places a steady hand on Dohoon’s neck and positions his finger at his forehead. 

“Ready?” he taunts.

“Just do it,” Dohoon snaps. 

Thwack!

Even Youngjae flinches from the sound of the impact. Jihoon sits back with a satisfied grin, while Dohoon throws himself backward onto the gym floor. “Ow!” 

Is Dohoon faking it? Youngjae can’t tell. While Dohoon clutches his forehead and whines something about ah, it hurts, Hanjinie can you kiss it better, Jihoon leans into Youngjae. “I didn’t even flick him that hard,” he whispers. 

“Sounded pretty hard to me,” Youngjae whispers back. The two of them giggle. 

“Okay,” Junghwan interrupts. He glances over for a split-second before fixing his attention on Dohoon. “Stop complaining. Are we done here?” 

Dohoon, seeing that no one is taking his forehead pain seriously, sits up abruptly. He gets up briskly and dusts himself off. He doesn’t manage to get even a word out before the bell rings. When it finally stops its shrill tone, Dohoon sighs heavily and shakes his head. 

“Our next meeting, same time and place, will be soon. The next phase,” he says ominously, “is coordination exercises.” 

“These are the coordination exercises you were talking about?” 

Dohoon brandishes his game controller, ping pong ball, and water bottle proudly. “Yup! The other day, me, Hanjin, Kyungmin, and Jihoon were brainstorming in the classroom. We figured if all four of us channeled our energy, we could push bigger objects than if it were just one of us.” 

From next to Youngjae, Junghwan glances around the classroom. “This classroom? What did you do?” 

“We knocked over a book!” Dohoon chirps. 

“A book.” Junghwan looks unimpressed. “Was it hard?” 

Silence from the four of them tells him all he needs to know. Junghwan rubs his temple. “And you expect to be able to push me over the bar when it comes time for my event?”

Youngjae nudges him and says quietly, “Maybe you should go harder on your real training, just in case.” Junghwan snickers, making a small smile unfurl on Youngjae’s lips. 

The two of them watch as the others spend the next thirty minutes attempting to all land a successful bottle flip, which Dohoon insists needs to be out in the stairwell, for whatever reason. They come close a couple times, but it’s always one of their bottles tipping on the landing that prevents them from achieving a perfect round of bottle flips.

After Kyungmin’s bottle tips onto its side for the nth time, Dohoon lets out a sound of frustration. He looks like he’s two seconds away from pulling his hair out of his scalp. 

“Why isn’t it working?” he mutters. “We keep getting close, but it never works out.” Youngjae, who had been considering asking to flip the bottle too, sits back on his hands instead. He catches Junghwan’s eye behind Jihoon’s head.

Can you believe this? Junghwan’s eyes ask. In his head, he says, Would Youngjae think it’s cool if I landed a bottle flip?

Youngjae glances away again. He needs to be careful about looking at Junghwan for too long, lest he be privy to his more unfiltered thoughts.

“I know,” Hanjin pipes up. The others look at him curiously. “What if we just take one away?” 

“Huh?” 

“No, he’s right,” Jihoon says slowly. “If we keep getting three bottles out of four, let’s just flip three bottles. That way, it’s three bottles out of three bottles, instead of three bottles out of four bottles, so we get a perfect round of flips”

Dohoon stares at him. Finally, he says, “You just said something intelligent. As expected, it came from our smart Hanjinie.” 

“That might actually work!” Kyungmin considers. 

Youngjae catches Junghwan’s eye again. Here they are, sitting in a stairwell while their friends debate about trying to make a certain bottle flip achievement within their arbitrary rules, all to improve some sort of touch that Youngjae is still not sure is really legit. 

Junghwan raises an eye at him. Who knew bottle flipping was such a big deal, he muses. I don’t think I’ve flipped a bottle in a good five years. Is Youngjae good at flipping bottles? 

Their attention is brought back to their friends when a cheer erupts from the circle. Youngjae joins, looking down and realizing they’re cheering because the three bottles in sight are all right side up. Hanjin’s bottle is conveniently tucked away at his side. 

“Finally.” Dohoon claps his hands. “On to the next exercise!”

Next up is table tennis. There’s a reason Dohoon only held up a ping pong ball, Youngjae soon finds out—he has no other equipment. 

“Not even a paddle?” he asks, staring down at the makeshift net of standing books positioned between two desks. The nerd in him winces at the misuse of books for non-literary purposes. 

“I found this ball outside. It’s not even mine.” With a bright grin, Dohoon bends down and takes off a sandal. “Let’s play!”

The hygienic implications of using classroom sandals to hit a ping pong ball back and forth aside, Youngjae finds himself actually enjoying the game. He’s mostly a bystander, due to a lack of athletic process and coordination on his part, but he enjoys monitoring as a referee to Dohoon’s intense matches against the first-years. 

“Hah!” Dohoon yells when his hit sends the ping pong ball into the table and bouncing off, zinging past Jihoon into the bookshelf before he can hit it back. “Who’s next?” 

“Me!” Kyungmin steps up, taking the proffered sandal from Jihoon. “I’m ready, hyung! Give me your best shot!” 

Junghwan snorts from his seat next to Youngjae. Well, technically, he’s sitting in the seat across the aisle from the two tables they pushed together, while Youngjae is perched on the edge of his table, but semantics. He juts a chin at Kyungmin. “You’ve never been able to beat me, Kyungmin-ah.” 

“Yeah, well, your high school jumping career is on the line,” Kyungmin says primly. “Watch this.” 

The ball bounces back and forth between Dohoon and Kyungmin. To Youngjae’s knowledge, Dohoon doesn’t even frequently play table tennis, but he’s been tearing through his opponents so far with voracity. 

Then, Kyungmin rears his arm back. When the ball comes over the book-net, he sends it flying back with all of his might. It bounces on the table and whizzes past Dohoon into the other tables. 

“See!” Kyungmin waves his sandal around. Youngjae leans away from it. “I won, hyung!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Dohoon picks up his controller. “Next game.” 

The day winds down with Dohoon plugging his controller into the room TV and booting up an old game. All attempts at honing touch are off the table now as the six of them delve into competitive matches against each other. Youngjae, surprisingly, is quite good at computer games. 

With the controller in his hands and his friends laughing by his side, Youngjae feels his chest lighten and swell with happiness.

Youngjae takes a bite of his food. Today, they’re just having lunch in the gymnasium, since Dohoon decided to take pity on Junghwan and stopped roping him into their “touch-honing exercises,” allowing him to focus on improving his jump with his own methods. The methods in question include jumping up and down below the basketball hoop, apparently. Youngjae swallows. 

“How long has he been like this?” 

Kyungmin shrugs. “Here? Just since lunch started. In general? Two weeks ago. He’s been hopping around the house like a freaking rabbit.” 

Youngjae nods. “He’s working hard,” he says absentmindedly, still watching Junghwan from across the gym. The height he gains just from pushing off the ground is impressive, especially considering how his whole body is ramrod straight throughout. It looks high, for sure, but Youngjae doesn’t know if it’ll be enough for D-day. 

He chews his lip between his teeth. “Just watching him jump is stressing me out, and I’m not the one jumping. I can’t imagine how he feels.” 

“Just look at him,” Dohoon says flippantly. He meets Youngjae’s eyes with an amused look. 

Youngjae shoots him a dirty look back. Very funny, he thinks drily. To their friends, it seems like Dohoon is just saying, it’s obvious how nervous Junghwan is just from looking at him, but Youngjae knows he’s making subtle reference to Youngjae’s strange Junghwan’s-mind-reading abilities. 

“It’s not just this.” Jihoon points a chopstick at the still-jumping Junghwan in the distance. “Have you seen his notebook? He’s been writing GO HIGH in English over and over like a madman.”

“He’s manifesting.” Hanjin nods sagely. Somewhere outside, the sprinklers suddenly turn on again.

Suddenly, a thought occurs to Youngjae. He glances at Dohoon, then the rest of the group. “It’s a shame he quit the basketball team. They could probably use his height and vertical jump.”

“You’re right.” Dohoon suddenly gets up. He walks over to one of the equipment stands, picking up a basketball off of the rack. “Hey, Shin Junghwan!” he calls across the court. “Catch!” 

Youngjae sees Junghwan look over in surprise when his name is called. Dohoon hurls the ball at him with all his might, but Junghwan catches it easily. The casual way he caught the ball, effortlessly showing off his athleticism and coordination, makes Youngjae’s stomach flip. As expected of the cool senior, Shin Junghwan. 

With the ball in his hands, Junghwan switches to tossing it into the hoop. With every basket he makes, his strong and lithe body chasing after the basketball in every direction it bounces, Youngjae sees the stress practically bleed out of him. 

Even if he’s doing track and field now, Youngjae thinks, basketball is like his first love. 

Then, another thought: isn’t that too romantic, Youngjae? He shakes his head warily. Something about today is messing with his head, making him see Junghwan in this new light unlike the stuttering hyung Youngjae usually knows him to be. 

It’s the confidence, the voice in his head chirps. Doesn’t Junghwan look so cool when he’s in his element? The rising heat in Youngjae’s cheeks is all the answer he needs. 

Still standing, Dohoon cups his hands around his mouth. “Hey, do a slam dunk!” He looks back at the others, eyes twinkling alongside his wide grin. “Let’s go ambush him,” he whispers. 

Even in high school, Dohoon gets up to shenanigans and Youngjae follows along. He feels his heart warm as he laughs out loud, sprinting across the gym alongside the others. Junghwan, not expecting his friends to ambush him, widens his eyes when they grab him at all sides. 

The five of them hoist Junghwan into the air, right up to the hoop. When he dunks the ball in, they all cheer. This, too, is team bonding. Youngjae grins.

(Later, when they drag Junghwan out to the convenience store for food, he’s still jumping up and down. At this point, he knows it has to be nerves regulation or something—Junghwan jumps up and down, both practicing his high jump and burning off the jittery nerves that always come in the days leading up to a big match.

So as not to be a disturbance, Junghwan keeps his jumping outside. In his field of vision, he can see his five friends crowding against the window of the convenience store and watching him. 

They look funny, with their fish cakes and ramen hanging from their mouths as they watch him, slack-jawed. Even Youngjae has noodles raised mid-bite between his lips. Somehow, even that is cute to Junghwan. 

He shakes his head. The combination of pre-match nerves and general infatuation nerves is seriously no joke.) 

Youngjae’s just tucked into bed, scrolling through his phone, when a notification pops up from his messages. He’d been thinking about putting his phone down and going to sleep, but when he reads the sender’s contact name, Youngjae’s wide awake now.

Junghwan hyung 🍓

Youngjae-yah

hyung is nervous 

ㅠㅠㅠ 

Youngjae’s heart warms at Junghwan’s pouting, conveyed even over text. It’s so different from the cool senior image that everyone projects onto him, and somehow Youngjae feels like he’s the only one Junghwan shows this side to. He bites his lip, trying to contain the smile that threatens to spread across his face. 

You

because of your event tomorrow?

don’t worry, I know you’ll clear it

you’ve worked so hard

Junghwan hyung 🍓

Still, the height’s even higher than anything i’ve done before

What if I fail? A date with you is on the line 

Youngjae’s eyes widen. Before he can respond, the message disappears. 

Junghwan hyung 🍓

Sorry, ignore that

I must be going crazy with my nervesㅠㅠ

You 

don’t apologize

I agreed to the bet, didn’t I?

regardless of anything, I just want you to do your best

Junghwan hyung 🍓

I guess you’re right

I don’t know what’s happening to me, that my heart is still heavy even after getting encouragement from Youngjae 

I’m even listening to the playlist we made together, but it’s not workingㅠ

Youngjae’s fingers pause, hovering over his keyboard. He hesitates for just a moment before pressing the microphone icon. 

You

Voice message 1:03

there

please listen to my voice and feel my sincerity

I’m going to sleep now

good night, hyung. sweet dreams

Youngjae clicks his phone off and drops it facedown onto the bed, panting slightly. His mind spins with what he just did. Singing into his phone and sending it to Junghwan? What was he thinking? 

He picks up his phone gingerly and pulls down the notification shade, scanning for any new messages from Junghwan. He doesn’t know how long he does this, just that his eyelids begin to droop after some time has passed and no new message has popped up. 

Maybe he fell asleep. Listening to Youngjae’s voice? Was it too boring? Or maybe he got weirded out and is avoiding their message channel. 

Youngjae rolls over, burying his face into his pillow and letting out a muffled scream. Curse Shin Junghwan for making him feel this way, for inadvertently making Youngjae send voice notes singing into his phone so he can feel a little better. 

Ah, I’m going to die. Youngjae checks his phone one last time—no new messages. With a sigh, he plugs his phone into his bedside charger and rolls over, pulling his blanket over his head. Nothing else to do but sleep, I guess. 

(Across the city, one boy lays on his bed with his arms folded over his chest, breathing heavily. A quiet melody drifts through the air from his phone, filling the bedroom with soft notes and a gentle voice. 

A single tear rolls down his cheek. He blinks up at the ceiling. 

Choi Youngjae, Shin Junghwan thinks, you’re going to be the death of me.)

The bell signalling the end of the school day has just rung, and Junghwan feels like he might throw up. His coach, noticing his expression, claps him on the back. 

“You nervous, Junghwan-ssi?” she asks cheerfully. He nods shakily. This earns him a laugh from his coach, who continues to smile encouragingly. “You’ll do great,” she reassures him, “you’ve trained hard for it. Just try to breathe.” 

“Okay.” Junghwan sucks in a huge breath, counting to ten in his head. 

“Hyung!” 

Junghwan gasps. Huh? He turns, scanning the crowd in the bleachers for the voice—there. Clutching the edge of the railing, leaning over it slightly with an arm raised in a wave, is Youngjae. He smiles brightly when Junghwan meets his eyes. 

You’re here. Junghwan breaks away from his team and jogs up to the stands. Youngjae stares down at him, still smiling. 

“Youngjae,” he breathes. 

Youngjae nods. “Hi, hyung. I can’t stay long because hakwon starts soon, but I wanted to come see how everything is coming along.” He pauses, eyes scanning Junghwan’s face. “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”

He begins to pout, eyebrows furrowing. So cute. “Are you still nervous? Did my voice note not wor—” 

“No,” Junghwan interrupts quickly. “Thank you for the voice note. Your singing is beautiful.” He stares intently at Youngjae, who looks away bashfully.

“Aw, I’m glad you think so, hyung. Anyway, I have to get going now. Are the others not here yet?” Junghwan shakes his head. Youngjae purses his lips and nods. “That’s a shame. I’m sure they’re on their way. Junghwan hyung, fighting!” And then he’s off, hurrying down the back steps of the stands. 

Junghwan watches his retreating back, his breathing steadying. He wills his heartbeat to slow down. After the initial rush of seeing Youngjae, Junghwan realizes his mind isn’t so loud anymore. And the voice note did help pull Junghwan out of his head last night, when he felt overcome with nerves and tension. Somehow, Youngjae had that effect on him. 

He glances at his watch. Where are the others? 

“Junghwan!” At his coach’s call, Junghwan whips his head around. She’s motioning for him to come back and get ready for his event. Junghwan breathes another steadying breath. 

“Where the fuck are we?” 

“Hey,” Kyungmin pants, “language.” 

“You’re all in high school now.” Dohoon waves a hand. “You can handle it.”

“He’s a foreigner,” Jihoon wheezes, pointing at Hanjin. “Also, why’d we stop running?”

“Because you all are acting like you’re going to drop dead from exhaustion,” Dohoon replies, “and we’re lost.” He puts his hands on his hips, surveying the trees surrounding them. “Who puts a high school in the middle of a forest?” 

“Hyung!” Hanjin points in one direction. “I hear cheering!” 

“Awesome!” Dohoon pumps a fist in the air. “Let’s go!” 

The four of them break into a sprint again, barrelling down the dirt path in the direction Hanjin pointed in. As they run, Dohoon’s mind races. Are we too late? Did Junghwan jump yet? Is he about to lose his date with Youngjae?

Finally, the forest breaks and reveals the sports field of their high school. Dohoon doesn’t even remember how they got lost, but they’re here now. They scramble up the steps and nearly throw themselves at the railing. 

“There!” 

Crowding against the railing, Dohoon cranes his neck to see over Hanjin’s shoulder. Down on the track, he sees Junghwan already sprinting towards the pole. 

He’s doing it! Dohoon’s heart lurches into his throat.

Junghwan moves quickly, approaching the bar set up in front of the landing pads with practiced precision. And then he’s off the ground, jumping with all the effort he’d put in over the past few weeks. 

“Now!” 

Dohoon, Hanjin, Kyungmin, and Jihoon all hold out their hands and push with all their might. Come on, Dohoon thinks desperately. He tries to channel even more energy through his hands. Come on . . . 

Junghwan is airborne. He ascends up, up, up—

Youngjae is about to eat his fist. Not literally, of course, but he might as well from how anxious he feels. He knows he’s supposed to be doing his worksheet right now, but he honestly couldn’t care less. With his phone out on his desk and his earbuds plugged in, Youngjae is laser-focused on the match. 

On-screen, Junghwan is jumping up and down in little hops. It’s cute, like a human rabbit. (What are you thinking, Youngjae?) Then he’s going, feet taking him down the short path to the awaited bar. It looks high, even to Youngjae’s untrained eyes. 

Like this, the world shrinks down to just Youngjae and his phone screen and Junghwan in motion. His blood is rushing in his ears. Is he going to make it? 

In this moment, Youngjae realizes he really, really wants Junghwan to make it. Yes, in part because he worked incredibly hard to achieve this feat. And, if he’s honest, in Youngjae’s heart of hearts, he wants Junghwan to succeed for selfish reasons—he wants to lose this bet, so Junghwan will go on a date with him. 

He’d go on a date with you anyway, if you just asked, a voice that sounds like Dohoon’s pipes up in his mind. 

Youngjae is focusing so intently, he doesn’t realize what’s happening until it’s right in front of his face. One moment, he’s sitting on the edge of his seat, gripping his phone in his hands, and the next, he’s looking at Junghwan from a very different angle. 

In his field of vision, from Youngjae’s perspective floating above the track and looking down (?!), Junghwan is miniature. His frame moves swiftly down the track towards the bar set-up. Some distance away, Youngjae sees the small figures of Dohoon and the others pushing their hands out towards Junghwan. 

And then, Junghwan’s airborne. His body opens up to the sky, completely horizontal when he pushes up off the track. Then, as if by invisible hands, Junghwan is going higher and higher. Before Youngjae can register it, Junghwan is surpassing the bar and accelerating still towards the sky— towards Youngjae. 

Their eyes meet. Both their eyes widen. Then, Junghwan reaches out a hand. 

It’s only natural. Youngjae extends his own hand, and they meet in the middle. Just like the first time Junghwan held out his hand, it’s warm and comfortable in Youngjae’s grip. 

The two of them spin in the air. The wind whips through their hair, licking at their faces. Youngjae’s smile is so wide as it breaks across his face. If this is a dream, it’s the best one Youngjae’s had yet.

Across from him, Junghwan’s smile is boyish, carefree and easy and so, so handsome. Youngjae is dizzy. Is this even real? Youngjae thinks hazily. It feels real. 

Junghwan’s lips part. Youngjae-yah, he says, wake up. 

Huh? 

Youngjae blinks. All of a sudden, he’s back in his classroom, sitting in a very solid chair against a very solid desk. He blinks again. For some reason, all of his classmates are turned in their seats, staring at him. 

Youngjae stands up quickly. His chair scrapes against the floor behind him. His teacher raises an eyebrow. 

“I’m sorry,” he says stiffly. “I have to go.” Before he gets a response, Youngjae bolts. 

Was I dreaming? He wracks his brain, trying to come up with a sensible explanation for what just happened. Did I hallucinate that whole thing? 

He must’ve. In what world does it make sense that he’s suddenly transported from his classroom to floating meters in the air out on the field? 

In what world does it make sense that you can read minds? That people can apply force to objects they don’t make contact with? 

Touché. 

Youngjae sprints with all his might down the corridor and out the doors of the building. The afternoon sun momentarily blinds him—he blinks, trying to orient himself. To his left, he hears cheering. 

The match. Turning towards the sound, Youngjae runs. 

When he bursts onto the scene, the landing pad behind the high bar is some meters away. And laying on the pad is Junghwan. When Youngjae approaches, he sees the bar of the high bar dismantled from the posts and laying on top of Junghwan. 

Did he knock it over? Does that mean he couldn’t clear it? 

Youngjae slows to a walk, cautiously approaching the landing pad. Junghwan’s eyes are closed, his expression serene as he breathes in and out on the pad. 

“Junghwan hyun—!” 

His hand shoots out, grabbing Youngjae’s wrist and tugging him onto the pad. He lands with a small oof, half on top of Junghwan. Before he can squirm, Junghwan wraps a solid arm around his waist. 

“Youngjae-yah,” Junghwan rasps softly. His eyes are still closed, breathing steady. “I imagined you were there. Up in the sky, holding your hand out like an angel.” 

He imagined it? Does that mean Youngjae somehow entered his mental plane while he was jumping? This is next-level, even for mind-reading. 

In the end, all he manages is a squeaky, “Huh?” 

Junghwan lets out a long breath and slowly opens his eyes. He looks down at Youngjae with softened eyes. “I’m tired, Youngjae-yah,” he whispers. 

Youngjae swallows. “You just did your event?” 

“No.” Junghwan’s eyes are round and deep with emotion. “Tired of waiting and not knowing. Youngjae-yah, I like you. I think you know already.” 

At a loss for words, Youngjae can only nod. 

Junghwan’s eyes are sad. “Do you like me, too? I wish I knew what you were thinking, Youngjae-yah.” 

It’s at this moment that Youngjae realizes he can no longer hear any thoughts that aren’t his own in his head. He stares up at Junghwan. 

“You don’t need to know what I’m thinking, hyung.” Youngjae fiddles with the fabric of Junghwan’s jersey. It smells like strawberries, like him. “I like you, too.” 

He watches Junghwan’s eyes turn as round as saucers. Then, another arm wraps around him, and Junghwan is nearly on top of him as he engulfs him in a crushing hug. All Youngjae can see or smell or feel is Junghwan. 

“I’m happy, Youngjae-yah,” Junghwan whispers. 

“Me too.”