終わりまで貴方といたい。 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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kokoronashi2015-01-06 01:15 am
takenaka) wrote in kokoronashi2015-01-06 01:15 am
Entry tags:
[ exo : and this is love, in the loosest sense of the word ]
and this is love, in the loosest sense of the word
fandom exo
pairing kailu
style one shot
length 8032
extremely self-indulgent high school au fluff. kailu forever pushing my limits. thank you silv andplanetarium_sky for helping move this along when i got stuck several times.
It was on Wednesday afternoon, unusually hot for late August, that Kim Jongin found himself being lulled to sleep on an uncomfortable plastic chair by a sound that was an odd mixture of Korean cheering and quiet, barely audible French.
La Haine. That was what screening on the old school-owned television not far from him. He liked this movie, but still, a black and white French movie with glaringly yellow Korean subtitles was not the ideal film for such a sweltering hot day, never mind when one kept getting interrupted by the sound of the football game just outside of their window. Not that an ideal film for such an environment existed.
Nothing about this room was ideal to watch La Haine to begin with, and although Jongin was usually not fussy about such things, his efforts to stay awake made it all glaringly obvious to him at that moment. The room assigned to the European Film Appreciation Club was less of a room and more a closet with a large, shaky white table in the middle and six uncomfortable plastic chairs. They managed to fit the school television, placed on a trolley rack into the room, but it always took them at least ten or fifteen minutes to adjust everything. It had a single high window and no air-conditioning, making it an awful place during the summer. To make things worse, it was located near the football field, which meant during game days, the cheers were louder than the volume the old television could reach.
Then again, the European Film Appreciation Club officially consisted of two people, Jongin included.
The other member and their official club president paused the movie and it was the lack of French that shook Jongin from his daze, quickly straightening himself up before Kyungsoo could notice that he wasn't really paying attention.
“I think we should call it a day,” Kyungsoo said, his expression seemed annoyed, but his tone remained impassive.
Jongin held himself back from suggesting they could just finish the rest of the movie in Kyungsoo's own comfortable and air-conditioned room. It wasn't as if both the DVD and the portable player they hooked up to the television screen in the room didn't belong to Kyungsoo to be begin with.
They had lived next door for all of their lives anyway, and it wasn't odd for Jongin to come by Kyungsoo's to watch movies.
Still, Jongin knew that Kyungsoo would be against that. He was the serious sort after all, who insisted club activities should stay in school for it to be club activities. They can always watch something else together anyway.
He nodded weakly instead and collected his things from the table, although really, all he had out was a pencil and the Maths worksheet he was stuck on and attempted to do before Kyungsoo arrive at their club room.
The cheering and booing served as background as they packed, and just as they were ready to leave, turning off the white fluorescent lights of the room an especially large roar echoed to their ears, Jongin wincing sightly.
“Football season,” Kyungsoo muttered, again impassive, but Jongin knew Kyungsoo long enough to know that the older boy was annoyed.
Jongin nodded in response yet again.
Jongin, unlike Kyungsoo, was extremely fond of football. He wasn't, however, fond of high school football. While he would cheer as Chelsea hand Manchester United their asses, he didn't see the point of watching the school's jocks try to impress their girlfriends. From his half of semester of school so far, Jongin had the opinion that most of them were varying degrees of jackasses.
Still, as he and Kyungsoo walked past the field on their way out, one player caught his eye.
LUHAN, 7, the back of his jersey say. A common number to choose for a high school jersey and a name he hardly knew, but the player was the only one who seemed like really something to Jongin. He was a forward, agile and powerful and Jongin had seen him practise before to come close to being that good.
That much he could appreciate.
And a part of him even, wanted to be able to talk to Luhan.
But Jongin knew that people like Luhan and people like him didn't live exactly in the same world in high school.
He had seen Luhan with the other athletes, joking around and practising. He was popular, Jongin learn quickly, from how the girls looked at him all starry eyed and how he had a girlfriend who looked like one of those actresses in the dramas Jongin's sisters like to watch.
Luhan was the kind of person that never really noticed Jongin being there.
Perhaps that was for the best, Jongin thought. This way, he would never have to find out what degree of jackass Luhan was and could pretend that he wasn't one at all.
“You know, you could be very popular,” Sehun told him.
Oh Sehun was fashionable and popular and he too was usually not one of the boys who would notice Jongin existed. He did, though, because of a science lab they were paired up with during junior high. It was then that Jongin found out Sehun was good at maths but bad at languages, which was perfect because languages never bothered him but maths was his weakness. They began exchanging notes and homework to copy and before long, they struck up an odd partnership.
Oh Sehun also attended modern dance class on Thursday evenings at the studio right across where Jongin did ballet, and having discovered their mutual love for dance, the struck up an odd friendship where they would go eat dinner together at a fast food place on Thursdays after dance class.
“No I can't,” Jongin sighed. They had this conversation before: Sehun would insist that Jongin was good looking enough and would capture hearts if he wasn't so shy and hole himself up in the library. Jongin pointing out that being shy was part of who he was and he enjoyed holing up in the library. “I don't care about being popular and what not anyway.”
“You're charismatic when you dance,” Sehun said.
“I dance ballet,” Jongin responded. He had gotten sneers before when he placed his ballet shoes in his locker in the morning and now even made it a habit to put them in a black, standard plastic bag that made them look as if they could be anything or nothing at all to avoid attention.
“Hey, you dance other things too,” Sehun shrugged. “You did well covering for Yixing for our modern dance class performance when he twisted his ankle.”
“Still,” Jongin said, but the word stopped there. Sehun nodded anyway and returned to the fries he scattered on his tray.
It was just as Jongin was about to return to his own burger that Sehun's eyes widened. He had an idea, Jongin realised, and this might turn out horrific. The last time this happened was right before they entered high school and Sehun ended up dying his hair seven colours to make an impact on his first day of high school, despite Jongin reminding him the teachers would likely made him dye those seven colours back to black, or at least dark brown.
“You should come to Chanyeol-hyung's house party this Saturday,” Sehun suggested excitedly.
“What?” Jongin crinkled his nose. “Whatever for?”
“Dancing, Chanyeol-hyung always chooses the best music,” Sehun continued to explain what to him seemed like a brilliant plan and to Jongin sounded awful. “And also, you might go home with someone.”
“I don't really want to go home with anyone, though,” Jongin felt himself flustered talking about this. He hoped he didn't stutter himself into embarrassment with Sehun there, but most of all he hoped he wouldn't have Sehun encouraging this behaviour more.
“Okay fine, maybe you can meet your future husband.”
“In a high school house party?” Jongin laughed uneasily.
But Sehun was unfaltering. Serious. This was his idea and he wanted to see it through, it seemed.
“Who knows?” he said coolly, as if it was a strong possibility after all. And then, without giving Jongin anymore chance to argue, he announced: “I'll pick you up at eight.”
Sehun picked him up unusually on time at eight that evening. Jongin had fussed a little on what to wear but eventually decided on whatever he could find first in his closet that wasn't his school uniform.
He ended up with T-shirt and jeans.
“Not bad,” Sehun said when Jongin answered the door for him.
“You really don't have to pick me up.”
“I do,” Sehun shrugged. “One, because you don't know the way to Chanyeol-hyung's place, two, because if I don't you might never come and three, just in case your outfit was a disaster so we could change it.”
Jongin frowned. “I'm really not that hopeless about all this.”
After all, he watched enough movies to have a rough, albeit exaggerated and Americanised house parties might be like.
Still, Sehun rolled his eyes. “You kind of are.”
And Jongin found himself silently thinking that Sehun might be kind of right.
Chanyeol's place was two train stops and twenty minutes walk from Jongin's and upon arrival, there was little sign from outside that it might have been a party. There was of course, the faint sound a beat and when Jongin really squinted, he could see people moving back and forth from the window.
“Don't be so nervous,” Sehun said as the approached the front door and Jongin's pace slowed down.
“How can I not be?” Jongin sighed.
“Most people are going to be drunk, horny or both anyway,” Sehun shrugged.
“Great,” Jongin muttered, having found Sehun's words unhelpful.
As they got closer, the music grew louder and clearer. Jongin found his fingers tapping along to the beat on his side. Sehun grinned.
“Told you his music taste is good.”
“It is,” Jongin agreed. “But excuse me for not trusting you with deciding who has good or bad music taste.”
“Not excused,” Sehun rolled his eyes.
They entered the house and Jongin took a quick scan around the room. The scene wasn't all too different from the school house party scenes in those movies he watched. All the teens were dressed casually and drank from plastic cups, some were flushed red, no doubt drunk, some were flirting and others were dancing badly.
But to Jongin the most important part was how the music was loud, but it wasn't deafening. It was the kind of music that was nice to dance to and somehow filled the space just right.
Sehun took his hand and led him to where people was dancing.
“Come on, let's dance.”
Jongin let himself be dragged along.
Not many people ended up watching, and soon, Jongin began to forget where he was as he danced. Song shuffled one another, but their beat was good and Jongin found that he didn't need to rest and didn't want to.
It was when Sehun left to get them drinks that Jongin ended up dancing alone anyway, not caring about the crowd because he couldn't see or hear them in his mind there, having let the music carry him away with his dance.
That, is until the warmth of a body crashed into him.
Annoyed at the sudden interruption, Jongin was even more annoyed when a hand slipped around his waist, just as the slow, romantic rock song shuffled on.
“Dance with me.”
The male voice that whispered to him was unfamiliar, someone he had never spoken to, which was fair enough for although most of the faces there were faces he had at least glanced at once in the hallway, none of them were people Jongin talked to, listened to in class, perhaps, but not talked to.
Jongin took a good look at the rude intruder and his eyes widened.
There was no jersey. No name on his back, no number 7, but Jongin recognised him right away.
“Luhan....?”
“Great, you know me,” Luhan flashed him a grin before his expression reverted back to worry. He pulled Jongin even closer and at the feelings of Luhan around him and Luhan's heat against his chest, Jongin blushed. “Help me? I told my ex I'm actually into guys and came here with my boyfriend, so just pretend, okay?”
Jongin wanted to protest, but he was too shaken up at this development too. He let Luhan guide his arms awkwardly to his shoulder in what seemed to be a nonsensical dance position that slightly offended the dancer in Jongin and then abruptly spin him around. “That's my ex, the one in blue and pink.”
The girl who looked like the actresses in the drama his sister watched, Jongin noticed.
Her face was twisted in anger, but even then, she still looked like a drama actress. The anger was no doubt, directed at Luhan, but the more he looked at her, confused, the more Jongin became sure that he was a target for that too.
And then again suddenly, Luhan turned him around.
He wondered what face was Luhan making at his ex. Wondered if Luhan lied about everything and only wanted to provoke her somehow.
“For the record,” Luhan said in a whisper, so very close to Jongin's ear and Jongin felt the heat rushing to his face again. “I do actually like guys, self-discovery, all that. The boyfriend part is a lie.”
Another slow song started and Jongin started to dislike Chanyeol's choices because this gave Luhan an excuse to press his face closer to Jongin's.
“Are you gay by the way?”
Jongin was taken aback.
The answer was yes, he was. Had known he was since junior high when he watched Brokeback Mountain even though when he rewatched it recently he realised he didn't like that movie after all.
It wasn't that he was trying to hide it, his friends knew, but his friends consisted of Kyungsoo and Sehun and occasionally Sehun's friend Zitao who was out in the 'out and proud' ways and no else.
It was just that as much as possible, Jongin didn't want to show it and telling one of the most popular boys in school that would probably count as showing it.
Although, as he began to notice eyes on him, eyes on him and Luhan, that might already be too late. Or maybe from the way he danced alone, and that was why Luhan knew.
“Yes,” he sighed.
“Whoa really? I was just making a stab in the dark.”
Jongin's eyes widened and he almost pushed Luhan away if only Luhan wasn't stronger in pulling him close.
“Then why me?”
“You dance well. You were dancing alone. You're cute,” Luhan said easily. “Why not you?”
One of the most popular boys in school called him cute, he thought. This flustered him more.
What was he, the heroine of a romantic comedy?
Although, as he spun to see Luhan's angry ex-girlfriend, he realised in this situation, he might as well be.
“You don't know me,” Jongin said in the end, looking away.
Luhan paused, he looked to Jongin although he still secured Jongin securely within his arms. “Then what's your name? What year?”
Jongin hesitated in answering. “Kim Jongin, first.”
“Alright Jonginnie,” Luhan smiled. The too familiar nickname formed so well on his lips and floated so well on the sound of his voice Jongin couldn't object. “You should call me hyung then. Luhan-hyung, but you already know the Luhan part.”
“Um,” Jongin managed to just about make some sort of noise.
“Come on try it.”
“Luhan,” and even that name sounded odd on his tongue. He paused, but Luhan was expectant. “Hyung.”
Luhan smiled and it was only then that Jongin realised Luhan's smile was odd and beautiful.
It was another song before Luhan took his hand and dragged him outside with him. The music of the house was just barely audible on the streets, but Jongin could hear that it was picking up again.
“So,” Luhan said. “Thanks for that. You're a good dancer.”
“You're,” Jongin wanted to say lousy, but he held back. “Okay.”
“Yeah, I'm no good,” Luhan laughed. “Anyway, I need a favour from you.”
Jongin raised an eyebrow.
“I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend.”
Jongin expected that, but still, he took a step back and eyed Luhan uneasily. If he wasn't, he'd have choked on air, instead, he was able to say after a bit of thinking: “What's in it for me?”
“What do you want? Money? Popularity? A place on the football team?”
Jongin shook his head. “I like to pass my high school days peacefully, library, studies, all that. And pass maths too, but you know.”
Luhan smirked. Jongin again, took a step back, but Luhan only came closer. “You're no good at maths?”
“So what if I'm not?”
“I thought you're the good at everything kind.”
“I'm not good at maths. Or football, actually, I can only watch.”
“If you can only watch then why have I never seen you?” Luhan frowned. “You're cute, I would've noticed you.”
“Premier League,” Jongin sighed. He doubted Luhan would notice him if he sat on the bleacher anyway. He had always been invisible to people like Luhan. That was the way it was supposed to be.
“What team – no forget I asked that, more importantly, I can help you pass maths.”
Jongin was hesitant. “You can?”
“I'm in third year advanced maths,” Luhan smiled brightly. “I can do first year maths no problem.”
Jongin thought back to his abysmal score just from before summer break. Besides, Luhan didn't look as if he would drop this whole thing anytime soon. And didn't he just thought on how he wanted to be able to talk to Luhan about his football?
“Fine,” he agreed with a sigh.
“Great,” Luhan smiled, pleased.
Noticing Luhan's ex looking out of the window, Jongin lean in and shyly kissed Luhan's cheek. He stepped back quickly and blushed.
“Aw,” Luhan laughed. “Keep that up and I'd really fall for you.”
At the sound of that laughter, Jongin wasn't sure if he would mind.
Monday morning came too quickly and Jongin's thoughts was filled with Luhan for all of Sunday. He wondered what being Luhan's boyfriend might mean, but the moment he entered school, he understood.
Suddenly, he was visible. Eyes were fixed on him.
He clutched the book he was reading on the bus on the way to school closer to his chest as if that would hide him, but of course that was silly and it didn't.
Kyungsoo, ever perspective, noticed this. They have always gone to school together and this had never happened. “What did you do?”
Before he could answer, Luhan patted his shoulder.
Luhan was smiling brightly right behind him and Jongin didn't have to glance at Kyungsoo to know that Kyungsoo was surprised, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
“Morning Jonginnie.”
“Jonginnie?” Kyungsoo muttered, glancing at Jongin as if he might have committed a crime and a police was not interrogating them.
“Uh,” Jongin didn't know where to begin. Was he supposed to tell Kyungsoo about this deal with Luhan? If so how?
“Do Kyungsoo right? European Film Appreciation Club president,” Luhan flashed a business-like smile. For a while, Jongin thought Luhan would take Kyungsoo's hand there and shook it, all formal and official. “Jongin told me a lot about you.”
He really didn't.
He hadn't talked to Luhan since the party, where they parted exchanging numbers.
He wished his looks to Kyungsoo could express that, but he really wasn't that expressive.
“And you are... Jongin's...?” Kyungsoo wasn't even sure how to word the question.
“Boyfriend,” Luhan said, loud enough for everyone around them to hear. Jongin noticed the pretty, actress like ex in a distance, or at least, someone who looked like her at the corner of his eyes.
Devious little fuck, Jongin caught himself thinking. But as Luhan smirked at him, he realised that Luhan knew that he was one.
“Luhan though?!”
Jongin could hear the anger in Kyungsoo's voice although it was a whisper. Mondays were days both of them volunteer in the library during lunch time. Not that it would matter if Kyungsoo spoke louder considering that the school hired librarian was out having her lunch and they were the only volunteers.
“Er,” Jongin started, then laughed awkwardly. “Surprise.”
“Surprise is right,” Kyungsoo grumbled. “Since when do you even talk to him?”
Jongin didn't know how to answer that. Didn't know how Luhan would answer that and what he would be telling all his friends at that very moment. He returned to quietly stack the books instead.
Kyungsoo sighed.
“Just, be careful.”
Jongin paused his book stacking. “Wait, why?”
“You know the popular types, they play around,” Kyungsoo shrugged. “You, meanwhile, is the dedicated sort.”
Kyungsoo didn't know of course, that all this wasn't really real. Luhan seemed to want to keep it that way too. Jongin smiled.
“I'll be okay.”
This will be okay.
The first text from Luhan came later that afternoon through Kakao Talk.
Luhan: hey, u free now? i can come over and teach u maths :)
Jongin: I'm just struggling with this question right now
Luhan: perf, giv me ur address, i'll be there soon xoxo
'Xoxo'? Really? Jongin raised an eyebrow before messaging his address to Luhan.
Luhan arrived at his place half an hour later, smelling like soap but still holding on to his right coloured school bag and a branded sports bag. Mondays were football practise days, Jongin knew, so Luhan must've taken a shower at school before heading to Jongin's.
“Your dogs are noisy,” he said as he entered the room.
“It's because you're new,” Jongin smiled awkwardly. “They're sweet once you get to know them.”
“I'll take your word on that,” Luhan said. He scanned and studied Jongin's room.
“Lots of books,” he said, sounding impressed. And then, as he turned to a wall, he noticed a poster and made a disgusted look. His tone follow suit. “Chelsea?”
“Yeah, why?”
“It's just,” Luhan paused. Frowned. “Chelsea.”
“What team do you like then?” Jongin challenged.
“ManU,” Luhan shrugged as if that wasn't an opinion but the correct answer.
“Bad taste,” Jongin countered.
“Says you,” Luhan rolled his eyes. But realising he wasn't there to argue football with Jongin, he sat himself on Jongin's chair. “So this is what you're stuck on? Trig?”
“Yeah,” Jongin nodded. He handed Luhan some scrap paper and a pencil.
“I'll show you how to solve this one, alright?”
Jongin nodded again. He watched and listened as Luhan worked on the problem, explaining every step in detail.
He felt like he could get it, somehow.
Although he didn't, not really.
“You're really bad at maths,” Luhan said, surprised. He had backtracked to explaining some rudimentary algebra.
“I know,” Jongin sighed.
“We have time to improve,” Luhan shrugged. We, he said, Jongin noticed. “Next time, we'll do this somewhere else?”
“Why?”
Luhan laughed.
“I can't concentrate with an Chelsea poster in the room. So much bad taste.”
Jongin hit Luhan's face with a cushion.
“Morning Jonginnie,” Luhan said.
“Morning Luhan,” pause. Hesitant. Nervous. “Hyung.”
“We have to work on that,” Luhan kissed him on the cheek, and Jongin blushed.
It was just for show, he had to remind himself.
But the memory of the sensation Luhan's kiss gave him remained on his cheek for the rest of the day.
Wednesday afternoons were film club day and it so happened that there was no football game that Wednesday. Luhan then, managed to wait in front of Jongin's classroom as the last bell rang.
“Hi Jonginnie,” Luhan greeted as Jongin exited with Sehun. “Hi Sehunnie.”
“Hi hyung,” Sehun said, easily.
“Hi,” Jongin meanwhile, didn't find it so easy. “Hyung.”
“Film club today?”
Jongin was more than crept out that Luhan seemed to have memorised his timetable.
“How did you know?” he had to ask.
“Sehun told me.”
Jongin glanced at Sehun, who had a self-satisfied look on his face.
“About Kyungsoo too?”
“Yeah,” Sehun shrugged. “He wanted to know.”
“But--”
Sehun patted his back. “I have extra rehearsal today, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye hyung.”
Luhan waved goodbye to Sehun before turning back to Jongin. “So, shall we go?”
“...You're coming to European Film Appreciation club?”
“It's not so odd is it, seeing my boyfriend's club activity.”
“But we're just-”
Luhan didn't seem to care. He took Jongin's hand in his and dragged him along behind him, through the hallway while everyone glance and watched and gossiped.
“Your club room is so small,” Luhan complained after they were done. Or really, after they were kicked out of the club room by Kyungsoo because Luhan couldn't stop asking questions about La Haine.
In all fairness, Luhan seemed genuinely interested. He just had never watched La Haine and didn't seem to get whatever was going on.
“You didn't have to come with me,” Jongin said, his gaze fixed down shyly.
Luhan grinned. “It was interesting. We should go on a movie date next time.”
“We're not really dating,” Jongin reminded him.
“Oh right,” Luhan said, a little embarrassed. “But still it wouldn't hurt right?”
Jongin found himself smiling back.
“It really wouldn't.”
Luhan decided that the change of place was a coffee shop not far from school Jongin had never stepped foot in. It was the Saturday - exactly one week since they started fake-dating. Jongin brought his textbook, worksheets and with him and a pencil case, but Luhan brought nothing but his wallet.
“Americano please,” Luhan ordered, he turned to Jongin. “What would you like?”
Jongin shuffled his feet. He had never been into a coffee shop precisely because of this. Coffee was just something he couldn't bring himself to like. He had tried when his sister made it and not only did he hate the taste, the small gulp made it impossible for him to sleep all night even though he drank it at seven in the morning.
“Tea?” he said tentatively.
Luhan made a face. Confused, disgusted, 'oh-you're-one-of-those-people'.
“W-what?” Jongin asked softly.
“We're in a coffee shop,” Luhan said, his voice slightly annoyed.
“I hate coffee, okay?”
He turned to the cashier and smiled. “Two Americano please, and tap water.”
“I said--”
“Everytime you get a question wrong today,” Luhan said, “you're drinking a sip of the Americano.”
“I seriously won't sleep tonight,” Jongin protested.
“If we're really dating, I would say that's for the best,” Luhan smirked.
Jongin blushed and was unable to say anything more.
By the end of the worksheet, Jongin finished his Americano, each sip tasting more and more awful. As a result, he also drank at least six cups of tap water and went to the coffee shop's toilet twice. The girl behind the counter, he believed, was judging him.
Luhan laughed at him as he returned from his third and hopefully final toilet trip.
“It's not funny,” Jongin sighed. “I'm really not sleeping tonight.”
“Then you can come over my place,” Luhan said.
“W-we're not really dating,” Luhan was really not good good for his heart, Jongin decided.
“I don't mean for that, I meant for the football game tonight.”
This embarrassed Jongin further. Arsenal versus ManU tonight. He had forgotten.
“Oh,” he managed to say.
“Oh,” Luhan grinned back. He teased. “What was Jonginnie thinking?”
“Nothing,” Jongin asserted all too quickly.
“Nothing?” Luhan continued to tease.
“Nothing!”
Luhan laughed again.
And Jongin blushed again.
“I can't tonight.”
Luhan was after all indeed, bad for his heart.
Luhan shuffled himself beside Jongin on lunch on Tuesday, in the little corner Jongin sat in with no one else but Kyungsoo.
“Why are you here?” Kyungsoo asked. displeased.
“I'm sitting with my boyfriend,” Luhan said, as if if it was the most natural thing to do.
And if they were dating, then it would be. But of course, this was for show too, Jongin realised and shifted right to the wall.
“Luhan, why are you sitting here today?”
Jongin looked up to see another member of the football team. The captain, he recognised that much. Kim Minseok. Minseok took a seat next to Luhan, pressing Jongin straight to the wall.
Minseok wasn't the only one, soon, another of Luhan's friend, Yifan shuffled in next to Kyungsoo, and then another basketball team member, Zitao, who was of course, always with Sehun, who dragged behind him an extra chair for the table.
By this point, Kyungsoo was visibly annoyed.
“Sorry Kyungsoo,” Luhan laughed, but none of them planned to move.
“I'm almost done with my lunch, I'll go to the library,” Jongin offered, and Kyungsoo, who was almost done himself nodded, agreeing with this idea.
Luhan placed his hand on Jongin's. “Stay.”
“But,” Jongin wasn't sure. He glanced at Kyungsoo again as if Kyungsoo could give him a hint. Any hint, but Kyungsoo just shrugged. “It's crowded here.”
“If it gets too crowded you can always sit on my lap,” Luhan offered.
Wide-eyed at the suggestion, Jongin was only glad he wasn't chewing something when Luhan said that.
“No? I'm serious.”
“Don't mind him,” Minseok sighed, hitting Luhan's hand with one of the cafeteria's plastic spoon. “I'm sure he's been troubling you a lot this week. I'm very sorry.”
“A lot,” Kyungsoo murmured quietly.
Jongin felt bad, really, that Kyungsoo was somehow troubled by all this, still, he didn't quite agree.
“It's okay,” he told Minseok.
He told Minseok honestly.
“You do ballet?!”
It was Thursday when Luhan waited for him in front of his class again. Jongin had no intention of telling Luhan this, but as he reached inside of his locker for his shoes in the black plastic bag, Luhan had asked.
And when he refused to tell, Luhan took the bag and checked himself.
“Y-yeah, not so loud, though,” Jongin said.
“I think that's cool!” Luhan said, softer, but those around them could still hear him. “My boyfriend does ballet.”
Jongin looked down and reminded Luhan in a soft, soft whisper, just so no one could hear him. “Not your actual boyfriend.”
Luhan whispered back, soft, soft in Jongin's ear.
“Actual or not, still cool.”
It was the Monday after that Jongin began to notice her. It was strange, really, that he didn't, not really, notice her since the party and the day Luhan declared to Kyungsoo that Jongin was his boyfriend.
It was after school and Luhan was holding on to his hands as they walked down the corridor to the locker room. It was half a parade, Jongin realised, walking around the school like this. But he quite liked it.
He liked that time when they walked together Luhan's warmth on his palm as he laughed and joked.
It was exactly then that he noticed her, the pretty actress-like girl, Luhan's ex.
She didn't seem angry anymore, Jongin thought. Maybe, Luhan didn't him anymore.
He chose not to tell Luhan that. He didn't seem to notice after all, that she was no longer following around and no longer mad.
And a part of Jongin selfishly didn't want Luhan to, especially if this would continue.
“Jonginnie?” Luhan looked at him when he noticed him slowing down.
“I'm okay,” Jongin smiled in response. He hesitated a little, but he added anyway. “Luhan-hyung.”
That fitted better with the sound of his voice now.
Luhan smiled back.
Jongin fiddled with the extra invitation for the upcoming dance class recital at the fast food place with Sehun on a Thursday evening. They had been practising for this recital for a while now, but as they're just a dance class, they had problems securing the date for the stage and the tickets were just printed that day for a recital in two weeks on a Sunday. As with everyone else in the class, Jongin had four tickets total. Two for his parents and usually two would go to his sisters, but turns out it was on a date neither of them would be available. So that left one for Kyungsoo and since Sehun was performing, that left one more for, well ---
He had someone in mind.
“For Luhan-hyung, huh,” Sehun said.
“No,” Jongin said, by reflex, but as he settled down, he sunk into his seat. “I don't know.”
“It only makes sense, he's your boyfriend,” Sehun shrugged. “Real or not, it had been what, two and a half weeks by this point.”
Sehun, of course knew. The only one of Luhan's friend that did, apparently, just because he was the one who brought Jongin to the party. Even after these three and a half weeks, as Sehun put it, he was still the only one to know this wasn't real after all.
Honestly, Jongin was starting to get used to the attention at school. He was getting better at ignoring everything, to be fair.
And he occasionally slipped into forgetting that Luhan wasn't his boyfriend. Luhan had been touchy, Luhan had been patient with teaching him maths even though it did involve punishing him with sips of Americanos in the coffee shop, Luhan had been visiting European Film Appreciation Club, although he didn't always understand it.
Jongin was getting used to the cramped lunch time tables. He even attended one of Luhan's football games, although he watched from the corner of a field. He thought Luhan couldn't see him there, but Luhan did and Luhan came up to him after the game, all sweaty and stinky and although Jongin told him that, Luhan kissed Jongin on the cheek anyway.
Jongin was getting used to calling Luhan's name.
Jongin was starting to forget, a little, he wasn't really dating Luhan.
“Would he even be interested in attending his fake-boyfriend's ballet recital?”
Sehun had a smug smirk.
“Try giving it to him tomorrow.”
As soon as Jongin handed him the ticket in the morning, Luhan's eyes lit up.
“Look Minseok!” he showed the ticket to his friend. “Ballet recital!”
And just for a second, Jongin forgot what they had wasn't real and smiled at the light of Luhan's eyes.
It had taken her longer than he thought it would, but Luhan's ex, the pretty actress like girl, finally cornered him just one week later, on a Wednesday afternoon. It was September by then and the weather was no longer painfully hot. The football game outside, however, was just as noisy and Jongin was wondering how they would watch Kyungsoo's film of choice that afternoon when she walked up to him in the hall.
Even close up, she still look like those actresses, her bouncy brown curls, her pouty pink-red lips, her perfect skin.
“Are you really dating Luhan?” she asked, straight to his face.
Jongin was honestly a little intimidated, even by a girl who was considerably smaller than him.
He looked down, but at his shoes, not at her but at his shoes.
“Yes,” he answered.
She sighed. Jongin realised then he did not know her name. All he knew was that she was Luhan's ex and that she was conventionally beautiful.
“Look at me,” she sighed. And Jongin just about glanced up. “Properly.”
And he did as per her instructions, right to her eyes.
“I dated him for what, two years?” she said straight to him. “I know how he is. Is he using you to get back at me?”
Jongin found it hard still to look at her, but by the time he was did she locked him there. She had a rather strong gaze for a girl her size, and this was from Jongin, who had been told himself he had an intense gaze himself.
But then, he managed to say.
“No.”
He sounded sure when he shouldn't be.
He wanted to be, at least.
The football team had an away game that afternoon, leaving the room eerily quiet as they watched Johanna.
“You know,” Kyungsoo said over a Hungarian musical number. “Maybe that Luhan wasn't half bad for you after all?”
“Yeah?” Jongin asked.
“He really likes you.”
Jongin was beginning to allow himself to think that too.
Still, Luhan did end up holding up his end of the deal. Jongin received one of his maths test back the next day and he brought it to Luhan during lunch.
“Look hyung,” he said, proudly. “Sixty-eight.”
“Sixty-eight and you're proud?” Luhan raised his eyebrow.
Minseok scoffed from beside Luhan. “You should be happy for him, that's higher than your Korean score.”
“Hey!” Luhan protested. “I'm the cool hyung, he didn't have to know that!”
“What's your Korean score?” Jongin asked, curious. Seeing that Luhan wouldn't answer, he turned to Minseok.
“Forty-seven,” Minseok answered, a huge smile as he ruined his friend's 'cool hyung' image. “What's your score Jongin?”
“Ninety eight,” Jongin answered, honestly but quietly. He wasn't sure if that was something Luhan needed to hear, after all.
“Hear that? You should get Jongin to tutor you next time,” Minseok teased Luhan.
Luhan nodded.
“Jongin, tutor me, literature in your language is pain.”
Jongin chuckled.
“What do I get out of it?”
“Sweet kisses and candies and uh,” Luhan raked his brain for an idea. “I'll help you walk and clean your three dogs.”
“Candies are okay, I walk my own dogs,” Jongin said.
“The sweet kisses?” Luhan grinned.
“I can go with the kisses, I guess.”
They were more than good enough for a fake-boyfriend with what was, Jongin realised as he said those words, a crush, after all.
Luhan: jonginnie, chelsea vs manchester 2night
Luhan: sleepover @ mine y/n
Luhan: ofc, bring ur hw
Jongin sighed as he received the text just past midday the Saturday before the recital as he woke up. They've been sent a long time ago and was trailed with several more messages asking for him and if he was awake yet.
He looked at his phone and replied.
Jongin: yes
He hesitated for a second before adding in another line.
Jongin: Good morning hyung.
The reply for that came almost immediately.
Luhan: finally ur awake! see u in 2 hrs?
Luhan: and good mornin jonginnie
Luhan: only u would call 1pm morning tho lol
Luhan's flat was a few stops away from Jongin's, in a rich residential area filled with high-rises that needed you to be let in by someone already inside. There were BBQ pits for the resident, a swimming pool
He was a little stunned at it all. Jongin grew up in the suburbs with the neat row of single family houses. These flats, obviously meant for security as well as luxury.
On the night he and Luhan made the deal, Luhan had offered him money. Now he understood that Luhan might have been serious about this.
707. Even his flat number was full of sevens, Jongin thought.
He pressed it on the intercom and Luhan's voice came bouncing through.
“Jonginnie!”
And although Jongin couldn't see them then, he knew that Luhan was smiling.
“You live alone?” Jongin asked as he noticed that the shoes at the front door all seemed all belong to Luhan – sports shoes and school shoes and trainers, all of the same sizes.
“Yeah, my parents are in Beijing,” Luhan said.
That's right, this was something he should have remembered. Luhan was a foreign student, after al.
“Your Korean is good, though,” Jongin complimented.
“Not as good as my maths,” Luhan sighed. “Anyway, the bathroom is over there, pizza for dinner and we still have time before the game, so, studies?”
“I'm not in the mood,” Jongin grumbled.
“I thought so,” Luhan walked up to a plastic bag he left on the couch. “We can give you a break with that sixty eight.”
“It's good for me, alright.”
“I know, I know,” Luhan took out a DVD case from the plastic bag. “So, La Heine tonight?”
“La Haine,” Jongin laughed as he corrected Luhan. “But alright.”
Luhan grinned. He then gestured for Jongin to follow him into a room at the back – his bedroom, Jongin guessed, the largest in the flat.
“Speaking of which,” Luhan said. “If ManU wins tonight, you have to drink a cup of Americano.”
“That's diabolical,” Jongin faked being hurt, but he was grinning anyway.
“You already know this about me.”
“I do,” Jongin said. “But what if Chelsea wins?”
“They really won't.”
“Treat me to tea. At the coffee shop,” Jongin decided.
Luhan crinkled his nose. “Thank god Chelsea won't win, that's a blasphemy.”
Luhan had a lot of questions about La Haine and by the time they were done, with all the pauses, it was time for the football, even though it was midnight there.
Luhan leaned on Jongin, he chuckled.
“This is nice,” he said, his tone a little lonely. “Watching football with someone else.”
“Don't you do this with the team?”
“What watching it live at midnight like this?” Luhan chuckled. “First time. Minseok can't sleep over you know, parents and all.”
“And in Beijing?”
“My friends there don't like football. So you know, this is the first time for me,” he laughed.
Jongin leaned in closer. “It's the first for me too.”
Luhan looked at him and grinned. “Well I'm glad.”
He took his hand in his.
Jongin just realised how close they were and how hard was his heart beating then. Luhan must've noticed, with him being so close to Jongin like that.
Just like how Jongin noticed the way Luhan's was beating a little faster too.
The cheers of the audience from the live broadcast roared and with it, Luhan leaned in. Jongin leaned in and their lips met for something soft and tender and chaste.
“No one is here to watch,” Jongin said after.
“That's okay,” Luhan replied with yet another kiss.
Something hard and passionate and the furthest things from chaste as the whistle signalled the beginning of the game on his laptop screen.
“The game?” Jongin asked this time when they parted, breathless.
Luhan glanced at the screen – it had started, the score still 0-0.
“There'd be another time,” Luhan declared, he put his laptop to sleep, the noise fading. Suddenly, heartbeats sounded louder and so does breaths. Luhan kissed Jongin again, this time, his hand tracing to bits of Jongin's skin.
Suddenly, the whole world was breaths and heartbeats and kisses and Luhan's skin against his.
And during all that Jongin forgot that this was all pretend.
This was love, he realised.
And this was real, he felt.
Jongin woke up the next morning to a cup of tea, although it was no longer morning and the tea was lukewarm.
It took him a second to realise he wasn't in his own bed and was no longer wearing his clothes. He looked at Luhan's face and grinned.
“Chelsea won?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Luhan sighed. “Good thing we didn't end up watching.”
“Next time,” Jongin grinned.
Luhan sat by his side and kissed him. Lips again, quiet and chaste.
“We're going to win next time,” Luhan laughed. “Anyway get up, you have a recital to go to in two hours.”
“Shit, two hours, why didn't you wake me?” Jongin complained. “And why did I agree to do that last night?”
“You were cute asleep,” Luhan laughed. He kissed him again. Twice now. “And because you like me.”
Jongin sighed.
“So is this still fake?”
Luhan kissed him a third time.
“Get to your recital, silly.”
And as the music started for him that night, he and his dance and the music.
He was rudely brought back down to earth after as he walked off the shabby stage of the little theatre to have a bouquet of flowers shoved at him.
“This is real,” Luhan said. “I really like you and you're a good dancer.”
Jongin blushed.
“I really like you too,” he replied. “But before we start this relationship for real, let me say this now. You were a lousy dancer, hyung, I lied. You're not a lousy kisser, though.”
Luhan laughed and kissed him there. Again and again. Four and five and six and seven.
And Sehun, who was preparing to go on stage, rolled his eyes.
“I'm going out with Luhan,” Jongin told Kyungsoo that Monday during lunch the next day. It was in a whisper as they stacked the books together.
“I'm not that behind, I know that,” Kyungsoo said.
“No, that was fake,” Jongin said. “He asked me to pretend to be his boyfriend to get his girlfriend off his case.”
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.
“It was never fake for you Jongin.”
And Jongin realised that Kyungsoo might be right.
The table they shared was further cramped with the arrival of Chanyeol, who followed after Sehun and Baekhyun and Jongdae who followed after Chanyeol.
“I told you, you could always sit on my lap,” Luhan teased Jongin.
Despite being flustered, Jongin complied anyway, arms around Luhan, met by cheers and whistles by the rest of the table.
“This is uncomfortable,” Jongin smiled awkwardly.
“I'll make it better,” Luhan said. He leaned in to kiss Jongin and Jongin leaned down to meet him.
There was nothing chaste about their kisses and strangers were watching.
Let them watch, Jongin thought. He tasted Luhan again and again and there was something good about it, even though they just ate the bland school lunch. It was Luhan's heat, Luhan's arms around him, it was his arms around Luhan's.
The breaths and heartbeats the kisses.
It was Kyungsoo that interrupted them by clearing his throat, and upon being brought back, Jongin found himself embarrassed that he did just make out in the cafeteria.
“Sorry Kyungsoo,” he said.
“We could move to a bigger table,” Kyungsoo ignored his apology and came up instead with a solution, said as impassively as always.
“Good idea,” Minseok laughed. “You guys are sweet, but you don't have to go down at it here.”
“Sorry, Minseok-hyung,” Jongin muttered quietly, he looked down, not daring to meet another set of eyes.
“I'm not sorry,” Luhan frowned “I still want Jonginnie on my lap.”
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and Minseok gave him an apologetic pat on the back.
“He's been giving you a lot of trouble, I'm sorry.”
“A lot,” Kyungsoo muttered.
It was Wednesday and it was an unusually cold November afternoon when Jongin found himself on the bleacher of the football field. Kyungsoo sat by him, huddled in his coat. They had cancelled European Film Appreciation Club that week because it was the football finals and even if it was no longer hot and miserable in their club room, it was noisier than ever.
That was fine, Jongin wanted to be here.
Jongin wanted to watch as Luhan moved, agile and quick and truly something else. His eyes were affixed on that back.
LUHAN, 7.
The jersey read.
A common number for a high school jersey.
But the name floated comfortably on his voice.
fandom exo
pairing kailu
style one shot
length 8032
extremely self-indulgent high school au fluff. kailu forever pushing my limits. thank you silv and
planetarium_sky for helping move this along when i got stuck several times.It was on Wednesday afternoon, unusually hot for late August, that Kim Jongin found himself being lulled to sleep on an uncomfortable plastic chair by a sound that was an odd mixture of Korean cheering and quiet, barely audible French.
La Haine. That was what screening on the old school-owned television not far from him. He liked this movie, but still, a black and white French movie with glaringly yellow Korean subtitles was not the ideal film for such a sweltering hot day, never mind when one kept getting interrupted by the sound of the football game just outside of their window. Not that an ideal film for such an environment existed.
Nothing about this room was ideal to watch La Haine to begin with, and although Jongin was usually not fussy about such things, his efforts to stay awake made it all glaringly obvious to him at that moment. The room assigned to the European Film Appreciation Club was less of a room and more a closet with a large, shaky white table in the middle and six uncomfortable plastic chairs. They managed to fit the school television, placed on a trolley rack into the room, but it always took them at least ten or fifteen minutes to adjust everything. It had a single high window and no air-conditioning, making it an awful place during the summer. To make things worse, it was located near the football field, which meant during game days, the cheers were louder than the volume the old television could reach.
Then again, the European Film Appreciation Club officially consisted of two people, Jongin included.
The other member and their official club president paused the movie and it was the lack of French that shook Jongin from his daze, quickly straightening himself up before Kyungsoo could notice that he wasn't really paying attention.
“I think we should call it a day,” Kyungsoo said, his expression seemed annoyed, but his tone remained impassive.
Jongin held himself back from suggesting they could just finish the rest of the movie in Kyungsoo's own comfortable and air-conditioned room. It wasn't as if both the DVD and the portable player they hooked up to the television screen in the room didn't belong to Kyungsoo to be begin with.
They had lived next door for all of their lives anyway, and it wasn't odd for Jongin to come by Kyungsoo's to watch movies.
Still, Jongin knew that Kyungsoo would be against that. He was the serious sort after all, who insisted club activities should stay in school for it to be club activities. They can always watch something else together anyway.
He nodded weakly instead and collected his things from the table, although really, all he had out was a pencil and the Maths worksheet he was stuck on and attempted to do before Kyungsoo arrive at their club room.
The cheering and booing served as background as they packed, and just as they were ready to leave, turning off the white fluorescent lights of the room an especially large roar echoed to their ears, Jongin wincing sightly.
“Football season,” Kyungsoo muttered, again impassive, but Jongin knew Kyungsoo long enough to know that the older boy was annoyed.
Jongin nodded in response yet again.
Jongin, unlike Kyungsoo, was extremely fond of football. He wasn't, however, fond of high school football. While he would cheer as Chelsea hand Manchester United their asses, he didn't see the point of watching the school's jocks try to impress their girlfriends. From his half of semester of school so far, Jongin had the opinion that most of them were varying degrees of jackasses.
Still, as he and Kyungsoo walked past the field on their way out, one player caught his eye.
LUHAN, 7, the back of his jersey say. A common number to choose for a high school jersey and a name he hardly knew, but the player was the only one who seemed like really something to Jongin. He was a forward, agile and powerful and Jongin had seen him practise before to come close to being that good.
That much he could appreciate.
And a part of him even, wanted to be able to talk to Luhan.
But Jongin knew that people like Luhan and people like him didn't live exactly in the same world in high school.
He had seen Luhan with the other athletes, joking around and practising. He was popular, Jongin learn quickly, from how the girls looked at him all starry eyed and how he had a girlfriend who looked like one of those actresses in the dramas Jongin's sisters like to watch.
Luhan was the kind of person that never really noticed Jongin being there.
Perhaps that was for the best, Jongin thought. This way, he would never have to find out what degree of jackass Luhan was and could pretend that he wasn't one at all.
“You know, you could be very popular,” Sehun told him.
Oh Sehun was fashionable and popular and he too was usually not one of the boys who would notice Jongin existed. He did, though, because of a science lab they were paired up with during junior high. It was then that Jongin found out Sehun was good at maths but bad at languages, which was perfect because languages never bothered him but maths was his weakness. They began exchanging notes and homework to copy and before long, they struck up an odd partnership.
Oh Sehun also attended modern dance class on Thursday evenings at the studio right across where Jongin did ballet, and having discovered their mutual love for dance, the struck up an odd friendship where they would go eat dinner together at a fast food place on Thursdays after dance class.
“No I can't,” Jongin sighed. They had this conversation before: Sehun would insist that Jongin was good looking enough and would capture hearts if he wasn't so shy and hole himself up in the library. Jongin pointing out that being shy was part of who he was and he enjoyed holing up in the library. “I don't care about being popular and what not anyway.”
“You're charismatic when you dance,” Sehun said.
“I dance ballet,” Jongin responded. He had gotten sneers before when he placed his ballet shoes in his locker in the morning and now even made it a habit to put them in a black, standard plastic bag that made them look as if they could be anything or nothing at all to avoid attention.
“Hey, you dance other things too,” Sehun shrugged. “You did well covering for Yixing for our modern dance class performance when he twisted his ankle.”
“Still,” Jongin said, but the word stopped there. Sehun nodded anyway and returned to the fries he scattered on his tray.
It was just as Jongin was about to return to his own burger that Sehun's eyes widened. He had an idea, Jongin realised, and this might turn out horrific. The last time this happened was right before they entered high school and Sehun ended up dying his hair seven colours to make an impact on his first day of high school, despite Jongin reminding him the teachers would likely made him dye those seven colours back to black, or at least dark brown.
“You should come to Chanyeol-hyung's house party this Saturday,” Sehun suggested excitedly.
“What?” Jongin crinkled his nose. “Whatever for?”
“Dancing, Chanyeol-hyung always chooses the best music,” Sehun continued to explain what to him seemed like a brilliant plan and to Jongin sounded awful. “And also, you might go home with someone.”
“I don't really want to go home with anyone, though,” Jongin felt himself flustered talking about this. He hoped he didn't stutter himself into embarrassment with Sehun there, but most of all he hoped he wouldn't have Sehun encouraging this behaviour more.
“Okay fine, maybe you can meet your future husband.”
“In a high school house party?” Jongin laughed uneasily.
But Sehun was unfaltering. Serious. This was his idea and he wanted to see it through, it seemed.
“Who knows?” he said coolly, as if it was a strong possibility after all. And then, without giving Jongin anymore chance to argue, he announced: “I'll pick you up at eight.”
Sehun picked him up unusually on time at eight that evening. Jongin had fussed a little on what to wear but eventually decided on whatever he could find first in his closet that wasn't his school uniform.
He ended up with T-shirt and jeans.
“Not bad,” Sehun said when Jongin answered the door for him.
“You really don't have to pick me up.”
“I do,” Sehun shrugged. “One, because you don't know the way to Chanyeol-hyung's place, two, because if I don't you might never come and three, just in case your outfit was a disaster so we could change it.”
Jongin frowned. “I'm really not that hopeless about all this.”
After all, he watched enough movies to have a rough, albeit exaggerated and Americanised house parties might be like.
Still, Sehun rolled his eyes. “You kind of are.”
And Jongin found himself silently thinking that Sehun might be kind of right.
Chanyeol's place was two train stops and twenty minutes walk from Jongin's and upon arrival, there was little sign from outside that it might have been a party. There was of course, the faint sound a beat and when Jongin really squinted, he could see people moving back and forth from the window.
“Don't be so nervous,” Sehun said as the approached the front door and Jongin's pace slowed down.
“How can I not be?” Jongin sighed.
“Most people are going to be drunk, horny or both anyway,” Sehun shrugged.
“Great,” Jongin muttered, having found Sehun's words unhelpful.
As they got closer, the music grew louder and clearer. Jongin found his fingers tapping along to the beat on his side. Sehun grinned.
“Told you his music taste is good.”
“It is,” Jongin agreed. “But excuse me for not trusting you with deciding who has good or bad music taste.”
“Not excused,” Sehun rolled his eyes.
They entered the house and Jongin took a quick scan around the room. The scene wasn't all too different from the school house party scenes in those movies he watched. All the teens were dressed casually and drank from plastic cups, some were flushed red, no doubt drunk, some were flirting and others were dancing badly.
But to Jongin the most important part was how the music was loud, but it wasn't deafening. It was the kind of music that was nice to dance to and somehow filled the space just right.
Sehun took his hand and led him to where people was dancing.
“Come on, let's dance.”
Jongin let himself be dragged along.
Not many people ended up watching, and soon, Jongin began to forget where he was as he danced. Song shuffled one another, but their beat was good and Jongin found that he didn't need to rest and didn't want to.
It was when Sehun left to get them drinks that Jongin ended up dancing alone anyway, not caring about the crowd because he couldn't see or hear them in his mind there, having let the music carry him away with his dance.
That, is until the warmth of a body crashed into him.
Annoyed at the sudden interruption, Jongin was even more annoyed when a hand slipped around his waist, just as the slow, romantic rock song shuffled on.
“Dance with me.”
The male voice that whispered to him was unfamiliar, someone he had never spoken to, which was fair enough for although most of the faces there were faces he had at least glanced at once in the hallway, none of them were people Jongin talked to, listened to in class, perhaps, but not talked to.
Jongin took a good look at the rude intruder and his eyes widened.
There was no jersey. No name on his back, no number 7, but Jongin recognised him right away.
“Luhan....?”
“Great, you know me,” Luhan flashed him a grin before his expression reverted back to worry. He pulled Jongin even closer and at the feelings of Luhan around him and Luhan's heat against his chest, Jongin blushed. “Help me? I told my ex I'm actually into guys and came here with my boyfriend, so just pretend, okay?”
Jongin wanted to protest, but he was too shaken up at this development too. He let Luhan guide his arms awkwardly to his shoulder in what seemed to be a nonsensical dance position that slightly offended the dancer in Jongin and then abruptly spin him around. “That's my ex, the one in blue and pink.”
The girl who looked like the actresses in the drama his sister watched, Jongin noticed.
Her face was twisted in anger, but even then, she still looked like a drama actress. The anger was no doubt, directed at Luhan, but the more he looked at her, confused, the more Jongin became sure that he was a target for that too.
And then again suddenly, Luhan turned him around.
He wondered what face was Luhan making at his ex. Wondered if Luhan lied about everything and only wanted to provoke her somehow.
“For the record,” Luhan said in a whisper, so very close to Jongin's ear and Jongin felt the heat rushing to his face again. “I do actually like guys, self-discovery, all that. The boyfriend part is a lie.”
Another slow song started and Jongin started to dislike Chanyeol's choices because this gave Luhan an excuse to press his face closer to Jongin's.
“Are you gay by the way?”
Jongin was taken aback.
The answer was yes, he was. Had known he was since junior high when he watched Brokeback Mountain even though when he rewatched it recently he realised he didn't like that movie after all.
It wasn't that he was trying to hide it, his friends knew, but his friends consisted of Kyungsoo and Sehun and occasionally Sehun's friend Zitao who was out in the 'out and proud' ways and no else.
It was just that as much as possible, Jongin didn't want to show it and telling one of the most popular boys in school that would probably count as showing it.
Although, as he began to notice eyes on him, eyes on him and Luhan, that might already be too late. Or maybe from the way he danced alone, and that was why Luhan knew.
“Yes,” he sighed.
“Whoa really? I was just making a stab in the dark.”
Jongin's eyes widened and he almost pushed Luhan away if only Luhan wasn't stronger in pulling him close.
“Then why me?”
“You dance well. You were dancing alone. You're cute,” Luhan said easily. “Why not you?”
One of the most popular boys in school called him cute, he thought. This flustered him more.
What was he, the heroine of a romantic comedy?
Although, as he spun to see Luhan's angry ex-girlfriend, he realised in this situation, he might as well be.
“You don't know me,” Jongin said in the end, looking away.
Luhan paused, he looked to Jongin although he still secured Jongin securely within his arms. “Then what's your name? What year?”
Jongin hesitated in answering. “Kim Jongin, first.”
“Alright Jonginnie,” Luhan smiled. The too familiar nickname formed so well on his lips and floated so well on the sound of his voice Jongin couldn't object. “You should call me hyung then. Luhan-hyung, but you already know the Luhan part.”
“Um,” Jongin managed to just about make some sort of noise.
“Come on try it.”
“Luhan,” and even that name sounded odd on his tongue. He paused, but Luhan was expectant. “Hyung.”
Luhan smiled and it was only then that Jongin realised Luhan's smile was odd and beautiful.
It was another song before Luhan took his hand and dragged him outside with him. The music of the house was just barely audible on the streets, but Jongin could hear that it was picking up again.
“So,” Luhan said. “Thanks for that. You're a good dancer.”
“You're,” Jongin wanted to say lousy, but he held back. “Okay.”
“Yeah, I'm no good,” Luhan laughed. “Anyway, I need a favour from you.”
Jongin raised an eyebrow.
“I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend.”
Jongin expected that, but still, he took a step back and eyed Luhan uneasily. If he wasn't, he'd have choked on air, instead, he was able to say after a bit of thinking: “What's in it for me?”
“What do you want? Money? Popularity? A place on the football team?”
Jongin shook his head. “I like to pass my high school days peacefully, library, studies, all that. And pass maths too, but you know.”
Luhan smirked. Jongin again, took a step back, but Luhan only came closer. “You're no good at maths?”
“So what if I'm not?”
“I thought you're the good at everything kind.”
“I'm not good at maths. Or football, actually, I can only watch.”
“If you can only watch then why have I never seen you?” Luhan frowned. “You're cute, I would've noticed you.”
“Premier League,” Jongin sighed. He doubted Luhan would notice him if he sat on the bleacher anyway. He had always been invisible to people like Luhan. That was the way it was supposed to be.
“What team – no forget I asked that, more importantly, I can help you pass maths.”
Jongin was hesitant. “You can?”
“I'm in third year advanced maths,” Luhan smiled brightly. “I can do first year maths no problem.”
Jongin thought back to his abysmal score just from before summer break. Besides, Luhan didn't look as if he would drop this whole thing anytime soon. And didn't he just thought on how he wanted to be able to talk to Luhan about his football?
“Fine,” he agreed with a sigh.
“Great,” Luhan smiled, pleased.
Noticing Luhan's ex looking out of the window, Jongin lean in and shyly kissed Luhan's cheek. He stepped back quickly and blushed.
“Aw,” Luhan laughed. “Keep that up and I'd really fall for you.”
At the sound of that laughter, Jongin wasn't sure if he would mind.
Monday morning came too quickly and Jongin's thoughts was filled with Luhan for all of Sunday. He wondered what being Luhan's boyfriend might mean, but the moment he entered school, he understood.
Suddenly, he was visible. Eyes were fixed on him.
He clutched the book he was reading on the bus on the way to school closer to his chest as if that would hide him, but of course that was silly and it didn't.
Kyungsoo, ever perspective, noticed this. They have always gone to school together and this had never happened. “What did you do?”
Before he could answer, Luhan patted his shoulder.
Luhan was smiling brightly right behind him and Jongin didn't have to glance at Kyungsoo to know that Kyungsoo was surprised, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
“Morning Jonginnie.”
“Jonginnie?” Kyungsoo muttered, glancing at Jongin as if he might have committed a crime and a police was not interrogating them.
“Uh,” Jongin didn't know where to begin. Was he supposed to tell Kyungsoo about this deal with Luhan? If so how?
“Do Kyungsoo right? European Film Appreciation Club president,” Luhan flashed a business-like smile. For a while, Jongin thought Luhan would take Kyungsoo's hand there and shook it, all formal and official. “Jongin told me a lot about you.”
He really didn't.
He hadn't talked to Luhan since the party, where they parted exchanging numbers.
He wished his looks to Kyungsoo could express that, but he really wasn't that expressive.
“And you are... Jongin's...?” Kyungsoo wasn't even sure how to word the question.
“Boyfriend,” Luhan said, loud enough for everyone around them to hear. Jongin noticed the pretty, actress like ex in a distance, or at least, someone who looked like her at the corner of his eyes.
Devious little fuck, Jongin caught himself thinking. But as Luhan smirked at him, he realised that Luhan knew that he was one.
“Luhan though?!”
Jongin could hear the anger in Kyungsoo's voice although it was a whisper. Mondays were days both of them volunteer in the library during lunch time. Not that it would matter if Kyungsoo spoke louder considering that the school hired librarian was out having her lunch and they were the only volunteers.
“Er,” Jongin started, then laughed awkwardly. “Surprise.”
“Surprise is right,” Kyungsoo grumbled. “Since when do you even talk to him?”
Jongin didn't know how to answer that. Didn't know how Luhan would answer that and what he would be telling all his friends at that very moment. He returned to quietly stack the books instead.
Kyungsoo sighed.
“Just, be careful.”
Jongin paused his book stacking. “Wait, why?”
“You know the popular types, they play around,” Kyungsoo shrugged. “You, meanwhile, is the dedicated sort.”
Kyungsoo didn't know of course, that all this wasn't really real. Luhan seemed to want to keep it that way too. Jongin smiled.
“I'll be okay.”
This will be okay.
The first text from Luhan came later that afternoon through Kakao Talk.
Luhan: hey, u free now? i can come over and teach u maths :)
Jongin: I'm just struggling with this question right now
Luhan: perf, giv me ur address, i'll be there soon xoxo
'Xoxo'? Really? Jongin raised an eyebrow before messaging his address to Luhan.
Luhan arrived at his place half an hour later, smelling like soap but still holding on to his right coloured school bag and a branded sports bag. Mondays were football practise days, Jongin knew, so Luhan must've taken a shower at school before heading to Jongin's.
“Your dogs are noisy,” he said as he entered the room.
“It's because you're new,” Jongin smiled awkwardly. “They're sweet once you get to know them.”
“I'll take your word on that,” Luhan said. He scanned and studied Jongin's room.
“Lots of books,” he said, sounding impressed. And then, as he turned to a wall, he noticed a poster and made a disgusted look. His tone follow suit. “Chelsea?”
“Yeah, why?”
“It's just,” Luhan paused. Frowned. “Chelsea.”
“What team do you like then?” Jongin challenged.
“ManU,” Luhan shrugged as if that wasn't an opinion but the correct answer.
“Bad taste,” Jongin countered.
“Says you,” Luhan rolled his eyes. But realising he wasn't there to argue football with Jongin, he sat himself on Jongin's chair. “So this is what you're stuck on? Trig?”
“Yeah,” Jongin nodded. He handed Luhan some scrap paper and a pencil.
“I'll show you how to solve this one, alright?”
Jongin nodded again. He watched and listened as Luhan worked on the problem, explaining every step in detail.
He felt like he could get it, somehow.
Although he didn't, not really.
“You're really bad at maths,” Luhan said, surprised. He had backtracked to explaining some rudimentary algebra.
“I know,” Jongin sighed.
“We have time to improve,” Luhan shrugged. We, he said, Jongin noticed. “Next time, we'll do this somewhere else?”
“Why?”
Luhan laughed.
“I can't concentrate with an Chelsea poster in the room. So much bad taste.”
Jongin hit Luhan's face with a cushion.
“Morning Jonginnie,” Luhan said.
“Morning Luhan,” pause. Hesitant. Nervous. “Hyung.”
“We have to work on that,” Luhan kissed him on the cheek, and Jongin blushed.
It was just for show, he had to remind himself.
But the memory of the sensation Luhan's kiss gave him remained on his cheek for the rest of the day.
Wednesday afternoons were film club day and it so happened that there was no football game that Wednesday. Luhan then, managed to wait in front of Jongin's classroom as the last bell rang.
“Hi Jonginnie,” Luhan greeted as Jongin exited with Sehun. “Hi Sehunnie.”
“Hi hyung,” Sehun said, easily.
“Hi,” Jongin meanwhile, didn't find it so easy. “Hyung.”
“Film club today?”
Jongin was more than crept out that Luhan seemed to have memorised his timetable.
“How did you know?” he had to ask.
“Sehun told me.”
Jongin glanced at Sehun, who had a self-satisfied look on his face.
“About Kyungsoo too?”
“Yeah,” Sehun shrugged. “He wanted to know.”
“But--”
Sehun patted his back. “I have extra rehearsal today, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye hyung.”
Luhan waved goodbye to Sehun before turning back to Jongin. “So, shall we go?”
“...You're coming to European Film Appreciation club?”
“It's not so odd is it, seeing my boyfriend's club activity.”
“But we're just-”
Luhan didn't seem to care. He took Jongin's hand in his and dragged him along behind him, through the hallway while everyone glance and watched and gossiped.
“Your club room is so small,” Luhan complained after they were done. Or really, after they were kicked out of the club room by Kyungsoo because Luhan couldn't stop asking questions about La Haine.
In all fairness, Luhan seemed genuinely interested. He just had never watched La Haine and didn't seem to get whatever was going on.
“You didn't have to come with me,” Jongin said, his gaze fixed down shyly.
Luhan grinned. “It was interesting. We should go on a movie date next time.”
“We're not really dating,” Jongin reminded him.
“Oh right,” Luhan said, a little embarrassed. “But still it wouldn't hurt right?”
Jongin found himself smiling back.
“It really wouldn't.”
Luhan decided that the change of place was a coffee shop not far from school Jongin had never stepped foot in. It was the Saturday - exactly one week since they started fake-dating. Jongin brought his textbook, worksheets and with him and a pencil case, but Luhan brought nothing but his wallet.
“Americano please,” Luhan ordered, he turned to Jongin. “What would you like?”
Jongin shuffled his feet. He had never been into a coffee shop precisely because of this. Coffee was just something he couldn't bring himself to like. He had tried when his sister made it and not only did he hate the taste, the small gulp made it impossible for him to sleep all night even though he drank it at seven in the morning.
“Tea?” he said tentatively.
Luhan made a face. Confused, disgusted, 'oh-you're-one-of-those-people'.
“W-what?” Jongin asked softly.
“We're in a coffee shop,” Luhan said, his voice slightly annoyed.
“I hate coffee, okay?”
He turned to the cashier and smiled. “Two Americano please, and tap water.”
“I said--”
“Everytime you get a question wrong today,” Luhan said, “you're drinking a sip of the Americano.”
“I seriously won't sleep tonight,” Jongin protested.
“If we're really dating, I would say that's for the best,” Luhan smirked.
Jongin blushed and was unable to say anything more.
By the end of the worksheet, Jongin finished his Americano, each sip tasting more and more awful. As a result, he also drank at least six cups of tap water and went to the coffee shop's toilet twice. The girl behind the counter, he believed, was judging him.
Luhan laughed at him as he returned from his third and hopefully final toilet trip.
“It's not funny,” Jongin sighed. “I'm really not sleeping tonight.”
“Then you can come over my place,” Luhan said.
“W-we're not really dating,” Luhan was really not good good for his heart, Jongin decided.
“I don't mean for that, I meant for the football game tonight.”
This embarrassed Jongin further. Arsenal versus ManU tonight. He had forgotten.
“Oh,” he managed to say.
“Oh,” Luhan grinned back. He teased. “What was Jonginnie thinking?”
“Nothing,” Jongin asserted all too quickly.
“Nothing?” Luhan continued to tease.
“Nothing!”
Luhan laughed again.
And Jongin blushed again.
“I can't tonight.”
Luhan was after all indeed, bad for his heart.
Luhan shuffled himself beside Jongin on lunch on Tuesday, in the little corner Jongin sat in with no one else but Kyungsoo.
“Why are you here?” Kyungsoo asked. displeased.
“I'm sitting with my boyfriend,” Luhan said, as if if it was the most natural thing to do.
And if they were dating, then it would be. But of course, this was for show too, Jongin realised and shifted right to the wall.
“Luhan, why are you sitting here today?”
Jongin looked up to see another member of the football team. The captain, he recognised that much. Kim Minseok. Minseok took a seat next to Luhan, pressing Jongin straight to the wall.
Minseok wasn't the only one, soon, another of Luhan's friend, Yifan shuffled in next to Kyungsoo, and then another basketball team member, Zitao, who was of course, always with Sehun, who dragged behind him an extra chair for the table.
By this point, Kyungsoo was visibly annoyed.
“Sorry Kyungsoo,” Luhan laughed, but none of them planned to move.
“I'm almost done with my lunch, I'll go to the library,” Jongin offered, and Kyungsoo, who was almost done himself nodded, agreeing with this idea.
Luhan placed his hand on Jongin's. “Stay.”
“But,” Jongin wasn't sure. He glanced at Kyungsoo again as if Kyungsoo could give him a hint. Any hint, but Kyungsoo just shrugged. “It's crowded here.”
“If it gets too crowded you can always sit on my lap,” Luhan offered.
Wide-eyed at the suggestion, Jongin was only glad he wasn't chewing something when Luhan said that.
“No? I'm serious.”
“Don't mind him,” Minseok sighed, hitting Luhan's hand with one of the cafeteria's plastic spoon. “I'm sure he's been troubling you a lot this week. I'm very sorry.”
“A lot,” Kyungsoo murmured quietly.
Jongin felt bad, really, that Kyungsoo was somehow troubled by all this, still, he didn't quite agree.
“It's okay,” he told Minseok.
He told Minseok honestly.
“You do ballet?!”
It was Thursday when Luhan waited for him in front of his class again. Jongin had no intention of telling Luhan this, but as he reached inside of his locker for his shoes in the black plastic bag, Luhan had asked.
And when he refused to tell, Luhan took the bag and checked himself.
“Y-yeah, not so loud, though,” Jongin said.
“I think that's cool!” Luhan said, softer, but those around them could still hear him. “My boyfriend does ballet.”
Jongin looked down and reminded Luhan in a soft, soft whisper, just so no one could hear him. “Not your actual boyfriend.”
Luhan whispered back, soft, soft in Jongin's ear.
“Actual or not, still cool.”
It was the Monday after that Jongin began to notice her. It was strange, really, that he didn't, not really, notice her since the party and the day Luhan declared to Kyungsoo that Jongin was his boyfriend.
It was after school and Luhan was holding on to his hands as they walked down the corridor to the locker room. It was half a parade, Jongin realised, walking around the school like this. But he quite liked it.
He liked that time when they walked together Luhan's warmth on his palm as he laughed and joked.
It was exactly then that he noticed her, the pretty actress-like girl, Luhan's ex.
She didn't seem angry anymore, Jongin thought. Maybe, Luhan didn't him anymore.
He chose not to tell Luhan that. He didn't seem to notice after all, that she was no longer following around and no longer mad.
And a part of Jongin selfishly didn't want Luhan to, especially if this would continue.
“Jonginnie?” Luhan looked at him when he noticed him slowing down.
“I'm okay,” Jongin smiled in response. He hesitated a little, but he added anyway. “Luhan-hyung.”
That fitted better with the sound of his voice now.
Luhan smiled back.
Jongin fiddled with the extra invitation for the upcoming dance class recital at the fast food place with Sehun on a Thursday evening. They had been practising for this recital for a while now, but as they're just a dance class, they had problems securing the date for the stage and the tickets were just printed that day for a recital in two weeks on a Sunday. As with everyone else in the class, Jongin had four tickets total. Two for his parents and usually two would go to his sisters, but turns out it was on a date neither of them would be available. So that left one for Kyungsoo and since Sehun was performing, that left one more for, well ---
He had someone in mind.
“For Luhan-hyung, huh,” Sehun said.
“No,” Jongin said, by reflex, but as he settled down, he sunk into his seat. “I don't know.”
“It only makes sense, he's your boyfriend,” Sehun shrugged. “Real or not, it had been what, two and a half weeks by this point.”
Sehun, of course knew. The only one of Luhan's friend that did, apparently, just because he was the one who brought Jongin to the party. Even after these three and a half weeks, as Sehun put it, he was still the only one to know this wasn't real after all.
Honestly, Jongin was starting to get used to the attention at school. He was getting better at ignoring everything, to be fair.
And he occasionally slipped into forgetting that Luhan wasn't his boyfriend. Luhan had been touchy, Luhan had been patient with teaching him maths even though it did involve punishing him with sips of Americanos in the coffee shop, Luhan had been visiting European Film Appreciation Club, although he didn't always understand it.
Jongin was getting used to the cramped lunch time tables. He even attended one of Luhan's football games, although he watched from the corner of a field. He thought Luhan couldn't see him there, but Luhan did and Luhan came up to him after the game, all sweaty and stinky and although Jongin told him that, Luhan kissed Jongin on the cheek anyway.
Jongin was getting used to calling Luhan's name.
Jongin was starting to forget, a little, he wasn't really dating Luhan.
“Would he even be interested in attending his fake-boyfriend's ballet recital?”
Sehun had a smug smirk.
“Try giving it to him tomorrow.”
As soon as Jongin handed him the ticket in the morning, Luhan's eyes lit up.
“Look Minseok!” he showed the ticket to his friend. “Ballet recital!”
And just for a second, Jongin forgot what they had wasn't real and smiled at the light of Luhan's eyes.
It had taken her longer than he thought it would, but Luhan's ex, the pretty actress like girl, finally cornered him just one week later, on a Wednesday afternoon. It was September by then and the weather was no longer painfully hot. The football game outside, however, was just as noisy and Jongin was wondering how they would watch Kyungsoo's film of choice that afternoon when she walked up to him in the hall.
Even close up, she still look like those actresses, her bouncy brown curls, her pouty pink-red lips, her perfect skin.
“Are you really dating Luhan?” she asked, straight to his face.
Jongin was honestly a little intimidated, even by a girl who was considerably smaller than him.
He looked down, but at his shoes, not at her but at his shoes.
“Yes,” he answered.
She sighed. Jongin realised then he did not know her name. All he knew was that she was Luhan's ex and that she was conventionally beautiful.
“Look at me,” she sighed. And Jongin just about glanced up. “Properly.”
And he did as per her instructions, right to her eyes.
“I dated him for what, two years?” she said straight to him. “I know how he is. Is he using you to get back at me?”
Jongin found it hard still to look at her, but by the time he was did she locked him there. She had a rather strong gaze for a girl her size, and this was from Jongin, who had been told himself he had an intense gaze himself.
But then, he managed to say.
“No.”
He sounded sure when he shouldn't be.
He wanted to be, at least.
The football team had an away game that afternoon, leaving the room eerily quiet as they watched Johanna.
“You know,” Kyungsoo said over a Hungarian musical number. “Maybe that Luhan wasn't half bad for you after all?”
“Yeah?” Jongin asked.
“He really likes you.”
Jongin was beginning to allow himself to think that too.
Still, Luhan did end up holding up his end of the deal. Jongin received one of his maths test back the next day and he brought it to Luhan during lunch.
“Look hyung,” he said, proudly. “Sixty-eight.”
“Sixty-eight and you're proud?” Luhan raised his eyebrow.
Minseok scoffed from beside Luhan. “You should be happy for him, that's higher than your Korean score.”
“Hey!” Luhan protested. “I'm the cool hyung, he didn't have to know that!”
“What's your Korean score?” Jongin asked, curious. Seeing that Luhan wouldn't answer, he turned to Minseok.
“Forty-seven,” Minseok answered, a huge smile as he ruined his friend's 'cool hyung' image. “What's your score Jongin?”
“Ninety eight,” Jongin answered, honestly but quietly. He wasn't sure if that was something Luhan needed to hear, after all.
“Hear that? You should get Jongin to tutor you next time,” Minseok teased Luhan.
Luhan nodded.
“Jongin, tutor me, literature in your language is pain.”
Jongin chuckled.
“What do I get out of it?”
“Sweet kisses and candies and uh,” Luhan raked his brain for an idea. “I'll help you walk and clean your three dogs.”
“Candies are okay, I walk my own dogs,” Jongin said.
“The sweet kisses?” Luhan grinned.
“I can go with the kisses, I guess.”
They were more than good enough for a fake-boyfriend with what was, Jongin realised as he said those words, a crush, after all.
Luhan: jonginnie, chelsea vs manchester 2night
Luhan: sleepover @ mine y/n
Luhan: ofc, bring ur hw
Jongin sighed as he received the text just past midday the Saturday before the recital as he woke up. They've been sent a long time ago and was trailed with several more messages asking for him and if he was awake yet.
He looked at his phone and replied.
Jongin: yes
He hesitated for a second before adding in another line.
Jongin: Good morning hyung.
The reply for that came almost immediately.
Luhan: finally ur awake! see u in 2 hrs?
Luhan: and good mornin jonginnie
Luhan: only u would call 1pm morning tho lol
Luhan's flat was a few stops away from Jongin's, in a rich residential area filled with high-rises that needed you to be let in by someone already inside. There were BBQ pits for the resident, a swimming pool
He was a little stunned at it all. Jongin grew up in the suburbs with the neat row of single family houses. These flats, obviously meant for security as well as luxury.
On the night he and Luhan made the deal, Luhan had offered him money. Now he understood that Luhan might have been serious about this.
707. Even his flat number was full of sevens, Jongin thought.
He pressed it on the intercom and Luhan's voice came bouncing through.
“Jonginnie!”
And although Jongin couldn't see them then, he knew that Luhan was smiling.
“You live alone?” Jongin asked as he noticed that the shoes at the front door all seemed all belong to Luhan – sports shoes and school shoes and trainers, all of the same sizes.
“Yeah, my parents are in Beijing,” Luhan said.
That's right, this was something he should have remembered. Luhan was a foreign student, after al.
“Your Korean is good, though,” Jongin complimented.
“Not as good as my maths,” Luhan sighed. “Anyway, the bathroom is over there, pizza for dinner and we still have time before the game, so, studies?”
“I'm not in the mood,” Jongin grumbled.
“I thought so,” Luhan walked up to a plastic bag he left on the couch. “We can give you a break with that sixty eight.”
“It's good for me, alright.”
“I know, I know,” Luhan took out a DVD case from the plastic bag. “So, La Heine tonight?”
“La Haine,” Jongin laughed as he corrected Luhan. “But alright.”
Luhan grinned. He then gestured for Jongin to follow him into a room at the back – his bedroom, Jongin guessed, the largest in the flat.
“Speaking of which,” Luhan said. “If ManU wins tonight, you have to drink a cup of Americano.”
“That's diabolical,” Jongin faked being hurt, but he was grinning anyway.
“You already know this about me.”
“I do,” Jongin said. “But what if Chelsea wins?”
“They really won't.”
“Treat me to tea. At the coffee shop,” Jongin decided.
Luhan crinkled his nose. “Thank god Chelsea won't win, that's a blasphemy.”
Luhan had a lot of questions about La Haine and by the time they were done, with all the pauses, it was time for the football, even though it was midnight there.
Luhan leaned on Jongin, he chuckled.
“This is nice,” he said, his tone a little lonely. “Watching football with someone else.”
“Don't you do this with the team?”
“What watching it live at midnight like this?” Luhan chuckled. “First time. Minseok can't sleep over you know, parents and all.”
“And in Beijing?”
“My friends there don't like football. So you know, this is the first time for me,” he laughed.
Jongin leaned in closer. “It's the first for me too.”
Luhan looked at him and grinned. “Well I'm glad.”
He took his hand in his.
Jongin just realised how close they were and how hard was his heart beating then. Luhan must've noticed, with him being so close to Jongin like that.
Just like how Jongin noticed the way Luhan's was beating a little faster too.
The cheers of the audience from the live broadcast roared and with it, Luhan leaned in. Jongin leaned in and their lips met for something soft and tender and chaste.
“No one is here to watch,” Jongin said after.
“That's okay,” Luhan replied with yet another kiss.
Something hard and passionate and the furthest things from chaste as the whistle signalled the beginning of the game on his laptop screen.
“The game?” Jongin asked this time when they parted, breathless.
Luhan glanced at the screen – it had started, the score still 0-0.
“There'd be another time,” Luhan declared, he put his laptop to sleep, the noise fading. Suddenly, heartbeats sounded louder and so does breaths. Luhan kissed Jongin again, this time, his hand tracing to bits of Jongin's skin.
Suddenly, the whole world was breaths and heartbeats and kisses and Luhan's skin against his.
And during all that Jongin forgot that this was all pretend.
This was love, he realised.
And this was real, he felt.
Jongin woke up the next morning to a cup of tea, although it was no longer morning and the tea was lukewarm.
It took him a second to realise he wasn't in his own bed and was no longer wearing his clothes. He looked at Luhan's face and grinned.
“Chelsea won?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Luhan sighed. “Good thing we didn't end up watching.”
“Next time,” Jongin grinned.
Luhan sat by his side and kissed him. Lips again, quiet and chaste.
“We're going to win next time,” Luhan laughed. “Anyway get up, you have a recital to go to in two hours.”
“Shit, two hours, why didn't you wake me?” Jongin complained. “And why did I agree to do that last night?”
“You were cute asleep,” Luhan laughed. He kissed him again. Twice now. “And because you like me.”
Jongin sighed.
“So is this still fake?”
Luhan kissed him a third time.
“Get to your recital, silly.”
And as the music started for him that night, he and his dance and the music.
He was rudely brought back down to earth after as he walked off the shabby stage of the little theatre to have a bouquet of flowers shoved at him.
“This is real,” Luhan said. “I really like you and you're a good dancer.”
Jongin blushed.
“I really like you too,” he replied. “But before we start this relationship for real, let me say this now. You were a lousy dancer, hyung, I lied. You're not a lousy kisser, though.”
Luhan laughed and kissed him there. Again and again. Four and five and six and seven.
And Sehun, who was preparing to go on stage, rolled his eyes.
“I'm going out with Luhan,” Jongin told Kyungsoo that Monday during lunch the next day. It was in a whisper as they stacked the books together.
“I'm not that behind, I know that,” Kyungsoo said.
“No, that was fake,” Jongin said. “He asked me to pretend to be his boyfriend to get his girlfriend off his case.”
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.
“It was never fake for you Jongin.”
And Jongin realised that Kyungsoo might be right.
The table they shared was further cramped with the arrival of Chanyeol, who followed after Sehun and Baekhyun and Jongdae who followed after Chanyeol.
“I told you, you could always sit on my lap,” Luhan teased Jongin.
Despite being flustered, Jongin complied anyway, arms around Luhan, met by cheers and whistles by the rest of the table.
“This is uncomfortable,” Jongin smiled awkwardly.
“I'll make it better,” Luhan said. He leaned in to kiss Jongin and Jongin leaned down to meet him.
There was nothing chaste about their kisses and strangers were watching.
Let them watch, Jongin thought. He tasted Luhan again and again and there was something good about it, even though they just ate the bland school lunch. It was Luhan's heat, Luhan's arms around him, it was his arms around Luhan's.
The breaths and heartbeats the kisses.
It was Kyungsoo that interrupted them by clearing his throat, and upon being brought back, Jongin found himself embarrassed that he did just make out in the cafeteria.
“Sorry Kyungsoo,” he said.
“We could move to a bigger table,” Kyungsoo ignored his apology and came up instead with a solution, said as impassively as always.
“Good idea,” Minseok laughed. “You guys are sweet, but you don't have to go down at it here.”
“Sorry, Minseok-hyung,” Jongin muttered quietly, he looked down, not daring to meet another set of eyes.
“I'm not sorry,” Luhan frowned “I still want Jonginnie on my lap.”
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and Minseok gave him an apologetic pat on the back.
“He's been giving you a lot of trouble, I'm sorry.”
“A lot,” Kyungsoo muttered.
It was Wednesday and it was an unusually cold November afternoon when Jongin found himself on the bleacher of the football field. Kyungsoo sat by him, huddled in his coat. They had cancelled European Film Appreciation Club that week because it was the football finals and even if it was no longer hot and miserable in their club room, it was noisier than ever.
That was fine, Jongin wanted to be here.
Jongin wanted to watch as Luhan moved, agile and quick and truly something else. His eyes were affixed on that back.
LUHAN, 7.
The jersey read.
A common number for a high school jersey.
But the name floated comfortably on his voice.
no subject
Wait, scratch that. I don't think I'll be getting over this for a while because:
1. This is 8k long. i8k. I can't emphasize the word count enough because you seem fond of anything below 5k and suddenly you drop this so casually into my hands and I've been so *O* about it and I'm still in awe.
2. It's Kailu!
3. It's fluff!
4. It's 8k and it's Kailu and it's fluff!
Hyperventilating aside, I couldn't stop grinning while reading this. So many things had me cackling as well, like Jongin's [mis]fortune of meeting Lu Han and then becoming fake BFs. [I can foresee Sehun crediting himself for this in the future LOL.] Kaisoo as the only members of their little club makes me laugh and shed a single tear for them at the same time; but it's okay, they can always recruit new members. [Lu Han is probably a honorary member already with the frequency of his visits. Stay strong, Kyungsoo! ^^;] Also, I find it amusing how Kaisoo slowly had people joining them for lunch until it became a thing =3
Often there are twists and outcomes that seem unavoidable in this kind of setup that could turn the fic predictable, so I like how you put your own spin on them. One example is when Jongin allowed himself to fall; while he did fall, it didn't happen completely or in one fell swoop, because the reality of their situation would always be at the back of his mind. He might like Lu Han, but he also knows it's a temporary thing; you could've thrown in some angst to worsen the conflicts and create drama, but I'm glad it didn't go down that way. Another is avoiding the cliche of the typical vengeful ex. She could've easily raised hell if she wanted to, but I'm glad she's levelheaded and came to accept reality, even if she did get angry/upset before [and rightfully so; two years isn't a short time]. Also, thank you for not demonizing her, because some fics can go really OTT with these characters =o=
And of course, Kailu. I'm so TOT at their everything here. It would've been epic if they had watched the soccer match live; Lu Han would've probably been irrationally angry and Jongin would just be sitting there, enjoying the scene of his fake BF raging LMAO. Jongin's strong point in languages while Lu Han is good in math; Jongin's hesitation in calling him hyung, perhaps apprehensive that he'd get attached and forget that it's not real; Lu Han kissing Jongin's cheek like it's second nature to him [I cry a little each time it happens]; and last but not least, the easy transition from fake BFs to real BFs. I wonder what this would've been like if you had written it in both POVs; I would've liked to see what's going on in Lu Han's head [but this is fine, of course ^^]. I can only guess Lu Han knew what he wanted from this not long after they began their charade, maybe only waiting for Jongin to see if they're on the same wavelength.
Devious little fuck, Jongin caught himself thinking. But as Luhan smirked at him, he realised that Luhan knew that he was one.
I wheezed because it's so true LOL. Lu Han's innocent face fools no one!
“I'm not sorry,” Luhan frowned “I still want Jonginnie on my lap.”
Of course you would LOL.
I won't object to it, either.This was so much fun to read!! >w< I shall add this to my list of go-to fics when I need cheering up or if I want something fluffy. You've really pushed yourself with this one on the word count alone, and you've done a wonderful job so give yourself a pat on the back ^o^ I hope you continue to challenge yourself in writing, and continue writing, too!