#344: Cutely, Prettily (Expect Me)

[lordchen]

Prompt: #344
Title: Cutely, Prettily (Expect Me)
Pairing: Chen/Suho
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: underage drinking, references to sex
Word count: 12000+
Summary: Jongdae is here 1) to look great in her cheerleading uniform 2) to win. The student body president president adds one more thing to her list. Jongdae is also here 3) to win over Kim Joonmyun.

“Kim Jongdae, when are you going to fall in love?”

After seven years of being friends, Jongdae is no longer surprised by the ridiculous things that come out of Baekhyun’s mouth. The two are on their backs, warming up by extending their legs, alternating between each one. Cheerleading practice after school is routine for the two girls, having started out as substitutes in their freshman year and becoming centre members in their junior year—with very high potential in becoming co-head cheerleaders next year.

“That’s a really strange question to ask me while we’re stretching.” Jongdae retorts, focused on the kicking task at hand. “I don’t know. When I meet a decent guy, not one that just wants to get in my pants.”

Baekhyun laughs. “Please. You let some of those guys get into your pants eventually.” she turns her head to the side, her eyeliner rimmed eyes meeting Jongdae’s. “But don’t you think you should at least try to find yourself a guy?”

A few feet away from them, they hear the blow of a whistle and the head cheerleader calling for exercise rotation. Jongdae and Baekhyun rise to their feet, raising their arms over their heads and stretching.

“And by ‘try to find a guy,’” Jongdae knew her best friend too well, “you want to try and find me a guy.” She has the urge to whimper when her muscles contract unnaturally, she wants to kick her past self for skipping last weekend’s stretches.

“Well, yeah.” Baekhyun’s lips curve into a large grin. “I just want to make you happy, you know?”

“Bullshit.” Jongdae drops her arms. The strain was causing too much pain to continue. “You just want me to get a boyfriend so we can double date with you and Chanyeol.”

Early in sophomore year, Baekhyun excitedly sat down at her and Jongdae's usual lunch table, blabbering on about this extremely cute, elfish looking boy that sat next to her in science class. “He’s so nice,” she had enunciated, as if a nice boy had suddenly become a national treasure. “I think we have,” the biggest, most sarcastic smirk settled on her lips, “chemistry.”

“Of course I want you and your future boyfriend to go on double dates with us! It would be so much fun. Please, Jongdae?” Baekhyun drops her arms as well, pressing her hands together into a begging gesture.

Jongdae quirks a perfectly arched eyebrow at Baekhyun. “Hold on, I don’t even have a boyfriend yet.” She never thought about relationships too much—she likes boys, she likes kissing boys, but she’s not sure if she likes the idea of dating a boy.

“I just need to know that if and when you get a boyfriend, you will go on a super cheesy double date with ChanBaek.” even Baekhyun’s eyes are pleading for a positive response. “Plus, I just want you to be happy, Jongdae.”

Jongdae scrunches up her nose in distaste. She still doesn’t know how Baekhyun had the gall to make up and use her own couple name. “I don’t need a boyfriend to be happy,” she throws an arm around her friend’s shoulder and squeezes. “I have you, I have the squad, and I—“

Her statement is interrupted by another harsh blow of the whistle. The noise is closer in distance this time, and both girls bring their hands up to their ears in surprise. “Ladies!” The head cheerleader, Luhan, flounces up to them. “Why are your arms down?”

“Sorry, Luhan.” Baekhyun apologizes, a sheepish smile on her face. “We were just taking a little break.”

Luhan’s shrill voice resounds throughout the entire gymnasium. “Don’t slack off now!” her own arms are thrown up enthusiastically. “Get those arms up!”

Jongdae and Baekhyun immediately follow her order. Luhan was really quite nice to them, but the closer the squad got to their first tournament, the more jumpy their head cheerleader seemed to get.

Luhan is beaming, hands on her hips as she counts down from fifty as the girls repeat each exercise. “That’s the spirit!” she chirps when she finally gets to zero. “Now we just have to finish our warm up and perfect our routine!” the senior calls for the entire squad’s attention again, yapping command after command.

The two friends look at each other, identical looks of dismay on their faces. They giggle at the absurdity of their expressions.

“You know,” Baekhyun says before they get to work. “being in love is the best feeling ever. I just want you to experience it too.”

Jongdae is curious, but she also finds lovesickness silly.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


“Jongdae,” Baekhyun approaches her in the change room, clad in only her bra and cheerleading skirt. “would you kill me if I asked you to go to the SAC office with me?”

“The SAC office?” Jongdae asks, recognizing the acronym as the student activity council. She’s already lacing up her converse. “Why?”

There’s a twinkle in Baekhyun’s eyes that Jongdae’s all too familiar with, the smile on her lips that’s been her reason for doing a lot of things since the previous year. “Chanyeol and I have a date, but he’s still in a meeting,”—Chanyeol had been elected treasurer this year—“and I don’t want to be bored waiting for him.” Her voice is beseeching, hands pressed together again to beg.

Jongdae groans into her friend’s shoulder (and bra strap). She really doesn’t feel like being at school any longer. “Baek, I just want to go home. I’m so tired.” she lolls her head around lazily to further accentuate her point, but finds that Baekhyun’s importuning is relentless.

“Please, Jongdae! I’ll be your best friend!” Baekhyun is practically whining now, and Jongdae decides that she’s too exhausted to deal with this.

“I already am your best friend.” Jongdae rolls her eyes and sighs. “So fine.”

Baekhyun giddily claps, and quickly makes to put her clothes on.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


“How much longer is this meeting?” Jongdae drawls, the back of her head feeling cool against the SAC office’s door. Despite the three years she has been in this school, she realizes that it’s her first time she’s ever seen it. It was only Baekhyun’s second time.

Baekhyun pulls out her phone to check the time and announces that it’s almost half past five.

“This is taking so long,” Jongdae moans. “I could be napping by now or eating or—shit, we have a math test tomorrow don’t we—“

The door suddenly opens. The girls, no longer having anything to lean on, fall onto their backs, their heads landing by the feet of the five executive members of the student activity council.

There’s Chanyeol on the very left, looking downright elated to see Baekhyun. Then there’s the vice-president Kyungsoo, a girl in Jongdae’s year who sidesteps past the two girls and leaves with a small nod of her head. On the other side of Chanyeol is the senior secretary whose name escapes Jongdae. She follows suit after Kyungsoo, waving to the other members with a smile. A sophomore, Sehun, practically skips out of the office, her (clearly tailored) plaid skirt fluttering, and doesn’t even bother casting a glance back at the others. Closest to Jongdae is an unfamiliar face, but Baekhyun interjects before Jongdae can distinguish him.

“Hi Chanyeol,” Baekhyun greets cheerfully, extending her hand out to her boyfriend to get pulled onto her feet. Chanyeol responds with an equally dopey smile, and the two share an inappropriately long kiss despite the other people in their presence.

A hand stretches out to Jongdae as well, and she takes it without much hesitation, bringing herself up and dusting her skirt off. “Thank you,” she says to the owner of the hand.

“No problem, sorry for opening the door.” The unknown boy smiles at her, and he doesn’t seem to realize that he’s still holding onto Jongdae’s hand. He has a really good looking face, Jongdae thinks. He looks very boy-next-doorish, positivity practically radiating from his grin.

Jongdae can’t help but smile back, feeling her cheeks turn pink. “Oh, it was our fault. We forgot people were actually going to open the door.” She doesn’t mean it to come out as a joke, but he laughs, and a surge of glee rushes through Jongdae’s veins.

The boy finally seems to notice the grasp he still had on Jongdae’s hand, quickly dropping it with a small apology. Jongdae feels slightly crestfallen, but quickly turns to Baekhyun—who’s still attached to Chanyeol—before her face completely flushes.

“Uh, Baek?” Jongdae squeaks, feeling completely vulnerable in the presence of this boy who was all amiable smiles, rolled up dress shirt sleeves, and, oh, toned forearms.

Baekhyun manages to somehow be released from Chanyeol’s grip, the boy’s face filled with so much delight it was unsettling. “Um, thank you? You can go home now?” she shrugs at her friend, and Jongdae really wants to smack her.

“I’m going home too,” the boy says, seemingly unfazed by the couple’s lack of tact. “We can walk out together?”

“I, um,” Jongdae hasn’t stuttered in front of a boy in years. She’s not sure why she’s suddenly a mess of mumbles and uncertainty. “okay.” she manages to get the words out, but now she really wants to smack herself for acting so stupid.

He steps out first, strides slow and expectantly waiting for Jongdae to follow. She scurries behind him, only looking back at Chanyeol’s bellow of “Bye, Jongdae! Bye, Joonmyun!” and Baekhyun’s frantic, excited gestures of who-knows-what.

Jongdae can only guess what she’s getting excited about.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


Kim Joonmyun: senior & student body president. He also lives close enough to the school that he can walk—but Jongdae only assumes this because they say goodbye when she halts at the bus stop.

“I’ll see you soon, then?” Joonmyun smiles yet again and it’s getting increasingly difficult to not melt into a puddle every time he does. “Have a good night, Jongdae.” He tosses his uniform blazer over his shoulder—fucking hell, he’s so attractive she’s going to pass out—and waves goodbye.

Jongdae wordlessly waves back, staring at his disappearing figure until he’s merely a speck in the distance. Yet he’s persistent in invading her thoughts as she waits for the bus, as she’s on her way home, and as she is lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

Her phone buzzes, and upon checking it does Jongdae realize she’s been thinking of no one but Joonmyun for the past hour. A second text from Baekhyun accompanies the vibration in Jongdae’s hands.

baek: finally!!!!!!!!
baek: JONGDAE UR MAKING MY DREAMS COME TRUE
jongdae: what
baek: u want joonmyun’s dick!!! B)
jongdae: istg i’m going 2 skin u alive B(
baek: no jongdae this is so great u don’t understand
baek: this will b so cute we’re both cheerleaders our bfs are both in sac idk how yet but we’ll have the cutest double dates!!!
jongdae: baek i met him 2day calm down
baek: ik but u were so in love!!!!!! u couldn’t stop blushing aw my bb
jongdae: i’m actually gonna stab u w/ ur eyeliner and i will not miss you :)))))
baek: w/e u do think he’s cute tho right??? :))))
jongdae: …yea
baek: HECK YEA HECK YEA
baek: rlly tho jongdae he’s a gem u know he’s like the best student and everyone loves him and he’s !!student body prez!! and ur height difference is so cute ((but not as cute as chanbaek’s js))
baek: also he’s rlly hot omg
baek: chanyeol told me that he’s a total stiff BUT i think u could change that use some of that jongdae charm yknow<3 ;)
baek: are u even still reading these????
jongdae: yes i am and i need u 2 stop before i start crying
baek: i just want u 2 know how much i support u
jongdae: o<-<
baek: *luhan voice* that’s the spirit!

Jongdae wonders if she can suffocate herself with her pillow.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


The next morning is too hectic for Jongdae to think about Joonmyun again. She’s up at the crack of dawn, tugging on her sweats, and rushing into the gym just as warm up begins.

Luhan greets her with a look of disapproval. “Late again, Jongdae.” she tuts, her blonde ponytail bouncing as she shakes her head. “One more late and you’re doing an extra hour next practice.”

Jongdae is just about to complain with a start of “Luhan—“ but is happily interrupted by the male soccer team’s entrance. As soon as they arrive, Luhan flutters away from Jongdae, exuding joy as she runs up to the student in front of the group.

“Sorry Lulu, we already booked the gym for today.” Minseok’s voice reverberates throughout the room as he holds a soccer ball in one hand and pulls Luhan into an embrace with the other. The two smile nauseatingly at each other. “But of course, we can just practice on the field if you want.”

“No, no! You can stay, we were just about to finish anyway!” Luhan waves away his concerns with a wave of her own hand. “But I might have to stay behind to supervise, you know?” The same hand snakes around the boy’s waist. Jongdae wants to vomit.

The couple nuzzle noses, eliciting small gagging noises from Jongdae that she doesn’t even try to restrain. Luhan shoots a withering look at her. Jongdae blows her a kiss.

“Alright, girls!” Luhan hollers, clapping her hands together to draw attention. “Good practice, everyone’s dismissed!”

For once, Jongdae takes the obnoxious couple’s actions as a blessing. She bolts out of the gymnasium and into the girl’s change room, grateful for the extra time to make herself look cute(r than usual).

“You’re so obvious,” Baekhyun snarks as she watches her best friend apply generous amounts of lip gloss. Her arms are folded over her chest, her right half leaning against the wall of the mirror Jongdae is currently staring into.

Jongdae looks at her scornfully. “Well, not all of us are as pretty as you are, Baek.” She says this sarcastically, although she’s well aware of how gorgeous her friend is. Baekhyun returns a haughty laugh, followed by posing with her L-shaped hand under her chin.

“Jongdae, don’t worry. You’re very cute, you’re very nice, Jongin tells me you give very good head, why wouldn’t Joonmyun like you?” Baekhyun points at her own top lip, indicating an area that Jongdae missed. The latter merely hands Baekhyun the tube of lip gloss, letting her fill it in for her.

“But Baek,” Jongdae starts.

“But nothing. We are marching over to that SAC office after school, and you are gonna flirt the living hell out of Kim Joonmyun.” Baekhyun grins cheekily. “And he’s going to be so charmed that he’ll ask you to be his girlfriend immediately and you will feign hesitation before you say yes and then ChanBaek and JoonDae will have a joint bubble tea date immediately and we’ll all live happily ever after.”

“Clearly, this isn’t the first time you’ve thought about this.” Jongdae does a once-over of herself in the mirror. Her wavy hair tumbles around her face, and she’s grateful for only having a morning practice instead of an afternoon one—that would have messed her hair up for sure. “I don’t why I’m even getting all worked about him. I don’t even know him. He could be a complete jackass.”

Baekhyun bursts into laughter. “Jongdae, do you listen to the morning announcements? He’s such a dork. A cute dork, but still a dork. He’s always encouraging us to try our best and shit.” She meets Jongdae’s eyes in the mirror, putting her hands on Jongdae’s shoulders and squeezing. “I have a good feeling. It’s too early to say for sure, I know, but I have a good feeling about you two.”

Jongdae smiles and turns to wrap her arms around Baekhyun, a rare sincere show of appreciation for the girl’s friendship.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


Jongdae actually pays attention during morning announcements that day. Joonmyun is unmistakably the peppy, energetic presenter informing everyone of the day’s events and upcoming opportunities.

“Be an aggressive student this year,” his voice is slightly muffled by the P.A system but still rings loud and clear, “and hit the books!”

Jongdae finds herself giggling in homeroom at his joke, to which her classmate, Tao, raises an eyebrow. “Why are you laughing?” she asks. Jongdae finds it quite difficult to not stare at her shifting snake bites while she talks.

“Shut up,” the cheerleader replies. “It was funny, okay?”

Tao shrugs, the majority of her attention already focused back on her phone. “Okay, weirdo.”

Oh please, Jongdae thinks. As if you know what it’s like to be in giddy school girl love.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


“Baek!” Chanyeol opens the door after the first knock, immediately wrapping his gangly arms around Baekhyun and lifting her off the floor. Baekhyun’s face is pink with adoration and regardless of her friend’s happiness, Jongdae feels queasy at the sight.

The boy leads the two of them into the SAC office, which looked completely different from how Jongdae pictured it in her mind. She was expecting a bunch of desks with equally stiff stiffs behind them. Instead, the “office” is filled with a circular table in the centre of the room, a wall painted with blackboard paint; an incredibly large, ratty looking couch on the left side; and a cork board pasted with different multicoloured notes on the right wall with multiple chairs under it.

She steals a glance at the cork board.




Jongdae has to put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Sehun slyly smirks at Jongdae from her seat on top of the table, taking a large, triumphant bite out of the slice of pizza in her hand. She has a phone in the other, a perfectly manicured thumbnail texting with expert precision.

The secretary, Yixing, is sitting on a chair and scribbling away in a purple sketchbook, seemingly detached from the world around her. Kyungsoo is next to her, her legs crossed and eyes focused on papers that actually looked related to student council.

Joonmyun is standing in front of the blackboard wall, neatly writing down the meeting’s agenda with blue chalk. When he turns to refer to his notes in his hand, he notices the presence of the two cheerleaders. He smiles upon seeing Jongdae, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

Jongdae straightens out her spine and flutters her fingers nonchalantly.

“Joonmyuuuuun,” Chanyeol whines from near the entrance. “Can Baekhyun and Jongdae stay for the meeting?”

“Absolutely not,” Kyungsoo shoots him down bluntly. “we have a lot to cover.”

Chanyeol ignores the vice-president’s reply. “Joonmyun?” He tries again, practically cradling Baekhyun in his lanky arms.

Joonmyun shrugs, slapping his hands together to rid them of chalk dust. “I guess,” Chanyeol whoops in victory. “but could Baekhyun sit away from you?” He wags an authoritative finger in Chanyeol’s way when the latter begins an impudent outburst. “No buts. Don’t you think you should cut Kyungsoo a break?”

Kyungsoo merely huffs, crossing her arms and looking like she’s about to have a conniption. “Can we just get started, please?” Chanyeol quickly squeezes between her and Yixing. She gestures for Jongdae and Baekhyun to sit, the girls hurry to take seats on the couch.

“WHOA, WHOA.” Sehun shouts, dropping her pizza crust. “Don’t sit on the couch!”

“Why not?” Baekhyun asks, taken aback at the other girl’s sudden outburst.

“Do you know how many people have had sex on that couch?!” Sehun cries, pulling both girls up by their wrists and setting them down on chairs next to her. “Just use these, they’re safer.”

Joonmyun rolls his sleeves up to his elbows again, a terribly attractive habit in Jongdae’s eyes, and clears his throat with a cough. “Now, if we can begin—Sehun could you sit on a chair and not the table, thank you—today’s orders of business include freshmen day and semi formal preparations.” He taps the blackboard with his pen. “Have I forgotten anything?”

“Getting all the other council reps together. We haven’t talked to them together yet.” Jongdae’s never heard Yixing talk before, and she’s surprised at how high pitched her voice is. The only adjective she could use to describe it is “pixie-like”. The secretary hasn’t even looked up from her book, and Jongdae hadn’t even noticed that she switched out her sketchbook for a notebook earlier.

“Sehun, make an announcement about a full SAC meeting.” Joonmyun’s commanding tone shouldn’t be as captivating as it is, but it is. “Okay, so that’s settled. What about freshmen day?”

“Over and done with,” Sehun says dismissively, her eyes focused on her phone screen. “Just cut them loose for two periods. All they do is leave school property to smoke, anyway.” she blows a bubblegum bubble, the sheer pink matching the colour of her hair. “That’s what I did.”

Kyungsoo coughs. Joonmyun smiles uncomfortably. “Okay,” he nods his head, drawing out the vowels longer than he needs to. “Any issues with semi formal so far?”

“We need at least a thousand to cover venue alone,” Chanyeol taps the back of his pen against a page of his spiral bound notebook. Jongdae is surprised at how—she struggles to find the right word—responsible he looks and sounds. “I’m pretty sure we could make it up in ticket sales, but we need the reservation money in advance.”

“Then we need a fundraiser,” Kyungsoo sighs, taking off her round glasses to rub at her eyes. “I suggest something simple. We don’t need a repeat of what happened in September.”

Chanyeol sputters, hand on his chest as if he is greatly slighted. “People really enjoyed whack your SAC!” He flips through his notebook, holding up a page dated a few months back. “See? We made so much off that.” He waves the statistics in front of Kyungsoo’s face, but the girl doesn’t seem impressed in the slightest.

“Chanyeol, let it go.” Joonmyun attempts to calm him down with a gentle wave of his hand. “I agree with Kyungsoo, letting people throw pie at us wasn’t fun.”

“I had pie in my hair for weeks.” Kyungsoo grumbles, arms crossed.

“Then what should we do?” Chanyeol asks, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. “A damn car wash?”

“That could work!” Baekhyun squeaks. “We had one last year to pay for new uniforms. It raised a ton of money.”

Jongdae snorts. “Oh please, that only worked because we weren’t wearing anything.”

“You were naked?” Kyungsoo’s large eyes grow even larger.

“Oh, no no no!” Jongdae stutters. “We didn’t have much on. Like, booty shorts and stuff.” Her eyes flicker to Joonmyun to see if he has any reaction, but he looks like he’s merely contemplating the car wash itself. Sehun nods approvingly at the mention of booty shorts.

“It makes sense,” Yixing’s voice is so quiet it could be mistaken for a murmur. “it won’t cost much, and we could easily find people to help set up.” She’s still jotting notes down, eyes constantly focused on whatever she’s writing.

“As long as the VP approves, I don’t see the harm.” Joonmyun shrugs. “Sehun, can you—”

“Yes, Student Body President Sunbae Kim Joonmyun, I will ask the vice principal.” Sehun says flatly. “I swear, I have to do everything around here.” She rolls her eyes.

“Sehun, you’re the it-person, it’s your job.” Chanyeol smacks the girl lightly on the forehead with his pen. Without even glancing up, she grabs his wrist with her slim fingers and digs her nails into his skin until he howls for mercy. “Crazy bitch,” he mutters as he retracts his injured hand.

Jongdae wonders how Sehun can be so focused on her phone and the meeting at the same time. She also wonders who the girl is texting. Sehun shrieks in delight when her phone vibrates again. No one in the room seems to be affected but Jongdae and Baekhyun.

Kyungsoo coughs again. “So, car wash?” She seems utterly exasperated at the behaviours of Sehun and Chanyeol. “I’ll make volunteer forms and flyers for next week.” Her hands smooth down the fabric of her pleated skirt in an attempt to ease her mind.

“Okay, I guess we’re done then. Good job today, everyone.” Joonmyun picks up an eraser and begins to wipe away at the chalk on the wall behind him. “Dismissed.”

Jongdae tunes out the sounds of Chanyeol tackling Baekhyun and Sehun screaming as she gets caught in the crossfire.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


Surprisingly, the vice principal authorizes a car wash, Chanyeol tells Jongdae and Baekhyun a few days later. The girls' cheerleading practice has been cancelled for the day, on account of Luhan being “sick.” The soccer practice is also cancelled by Minseok for similar reasons, but no one questions it. The three of them enter Baekhyun's room, the girls immediately scrambling onto the bed.

Chanyeol has taken a seat on the giant, stuffed teddy bear beside the closet—Jongdae recounts Baekhyun telling her that Chanyeol had won it for her at a carnival. "He probably just wanted to get Sehun out of his hair, she scares him."

Jongdae remembers Sehun with her jelly shoes and white, sharpened nails. Even though she's younger than Jongdae, she agrees. She had seen Sehun arguing with Tao earlier, and by the look on the redhead's face, Jongdae further reaffirmed that Oh Sehun was not one to mess with. She didn't even think Tao could get scared. By a sophomore that chews copious amounts of bubblegum, no less.

“Segue!" Baekhyun is blunt, but her two friends are already used to it. “what does Joonmyun think of Jongdae?”

Jongdae swats at her arm. “Baekhyun,” Her words betray her feelings, she really would like to know herself.

“Why would—Oh.” Chanyeol blinks slowly in realization. “Jongdae likes Joonmyun? That’s actually...really?” he scratches his head. “He’s so...not your type, though? Like you’re so…” he flails his hands wildly. “And he’s so…”

Jongdae shoots a deadly glare at Chanyeol. “So what?” she crosses her arms. “I’m cute! He could fall for me!”

“Now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of him dating a girl.” Chanyeol says. “Like, I’ve known him since he was a sophomore and he’s never even mentioned having a crush?”

“Is he gay?” Baekhyun gasps.

“No no no, I just think he’s always too busy with extracurriculars to date or something.” Chanyeol shifts uncomfortably in his position on the stuffed animal. “Poor guy. Doesn’t even have time for love.”

“I can love him!” Jongdae pouts. “What does he even think of me?”

“I dunno. He’s never brought you up.” Chanyeol shrugs. “Do you want me to ask?”

Baekhyun nods feverishly. “Yes!” At the same time, Jongdae shakes her head. “No!”

“Wait, which one?” Chanyeol looks terribly confused.

“Just ask him!” Baekhyun orders. “But be lowkey. He’s smart enough to get suspicious if you’re too obvious about it.” Chanyeol seems to understand his instructions, but Jongdae knows the big, bumbling boy is a verbal tornado. He couldn't be inconspicuous if he tried.

Jongdae groans into a pillow. Baekhyun has to drag it off her to prevent asphyxiation.

"Aw man," Chanyeol chortles. "You would eat Joonmyun alive."

Baekhyun has to drag Jongdae off of Chanyeol to prevent asphyxiation.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


Jongdae and Baekhyun are surprised to only see Sehun in the SAC office when they visit during lunch. They were even more startled by a red faced Tao gliding past them upon opening the door. Sehun merely sits on the very same couch she had warned them about, absentmindedly applying the pale pink lip gloss she always has on.

"Um, Sehun?" Jongdae calls. Sehun is clearly in a daze. The older girl notes her disheveled hair and scrunched up skirt.

"Oh, hey." She finally looks up at the two who just walked in. "If you're looking for Chanyeol, he's probably in hell." She smacks her gum at them, straight faced.

Baekhyun giggles nervously.

“Yeah, we were, but is Joonmyun here?” Jongdae's fluttery tone gives it all away to the second year, who returns a delighted smirk.

"Aw, Jongdae has a thing for the student body president." Sehun's long leg reaches past the round table to kick over a chair. Her head excitedly tilts toward it. Jongdae sits on it, Baekhyun follows her lead on the floor.

Sehun points a sharpened white nail at the cheerleader. "So, you wanna get into Joonmyun’s pants?" Her smiles never seem to be anything but snarky.

"Yeah? Eventually, I guess." Jongdae shrugs, too honest to care about Sehun's mad cackles. "Could he like me? Does he even have a type?"

Sehun presses her lips together and draws out a sound of contemplation. "I suppose not. That kid, he's nice to everyone. I wouldn't be able to get away with half the shit I do in here if he was anyone else." There's a grin on her face that implies she knows something that Jongdae doesn't know (or want to know). "But see the thing with Joonmyun is—“

“Are you talking about me again, Sehun?” Joonmyun strides in, a stack of papers in hand. Jongdae takes in his perfectly pressed uniform and very properly tied tie. She swallows, trying not to imagine being tied to anything with it.

Sehun scoffs, crossing one combat boot wearing leg over the other. "You wish." She says haughtily, but her smirk makes it a good gesture. "By the way, Jongdae here wanted to say something to you."

"What?!" Jongdae stage whispers. She's not sure what to say with Joonmyun glancing at her so fondly. "Um...I was just wondering...if Baekhyun and I could sign up for the car wash?"

Baekhyun mimics Jongdae's proclamation, but only when the latter gives her a nip in the side. "Ah yeah, that's right! We wanna volunteer, yup!"

Joonmyun blinks twice, looking like he's about to question something, but the expression is quickly replaced with a smile (that turns Jongdae into a limp noodle). "Sure! Kyungsoo is putting up the form tomorrow but I can write you girls down now."

The student body president turns to the round table, bending over to rifle through his papers. Jongdae sneaks a peek at his ass. Sehun casually reaches over to pinch it, stifling a laugh when Joonmyun yelps. She looks at Jongdae and gives her a thumbs up. Jongdae blushes.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿



"Jongdae, I thought of the perfect plan to get into Joonmyun's pants." Baekhyun stage whispers from across the lunch table. Her grip is tight around Jongdae's wrist that had just gone to reach for her fries.

"And what's that?" Jongdae manages to grab a few anyway, shoving them into her mouth as her friend rambles on.

"Well," Baekhyun's hands return clasped together, her voice exuding with glee. "Chanyeol said that Joonmyun's never talked about you, right? That means you're completely irrelevant to him!"

Jongdae throws a wadded up napkin at Baekhyun's head.

"No, what I mean is, you need to build your relevancy!" Baekhyun pays no mind to the next napkin ball thrown to her as well. "You know, become part of his life. Spend time with him. Make him think about you. Make him wonder. About your ass."

A quick glance is thrown at Jongdae's ass. Its owner nods understandingly. "I see. And how exactly will I make him wonder about my ass?"

"That's easy! This car wash, he's gonna be there, and you're gonna have a wet shirt on. That's something he can think about it."

Baekhyun is not known to have earth shatteringly brilliant ideas, but Jongdae has to admit this one makes sense.

"Alright. Fine." She decides to concede, only slight regret creeping up on her when Baekhyun whips out her phone from her shirt pocket. She flashes its screen at Jongdae, eliciting a snort of disbelief from the latter.

The notepad app is opened to a page created just hours ago. A bolded title reads “Operation Tight Tie”. Jongdae raises a curious eyebrow.

“You know, his tie.” Baekhyun smiles deviously. “If this plan works—and it will—you can unlock the secret to loosening Joonmyun’s tie.”

“Excuse me?” Jongdae sputters, a piece of fry flying out of her mouth.

Baekhyun folds her arms over her chest. “Oh, please. You think your tie fetish isn’t obvious? Because it is.” She ignores her friend’s attempt at refuting by continuing to talk. “Anyway, read the rest.”

Operation Tight Tie

Let your best friend in the whole world (me) make you look super cute at the car wash so he’ll notice you.
Invite him to one of Luhan’s inevitable house parties.
Make out with him.
He will feel inclined to ask you out the next morning because he is Kim Joonmyun.
He will fall in love with you because you are Kim Jongdae.
Result: Go on a double date with ChanBaek.

“Baek,” Jongdae is somewhat amused, but also overwhelmed at how thorough her best friend thought everything out. “just wondering, but is this what you did instead of the math homework?”

“Maybe.” Baekhyun shrugs. “I was concerned more about your love life than my academic life. I think I deserve the best friend award for that.” Her hand forms an L again and is poised below her chin. “Or, at the very least, I deserve to copy your homework as a consolation prize.”

Although Jongdae doesn’t agree with Baekhyun’s priorities, she hands over her notebook with a sigh. It’s the least she could do. She guesses. “But don’t you think I could achieve the same result with one step?”

“And what would that be?” Baekhyun has begun to scribble down a multitude of equations messily onto a sheet of paper.

“I don’t know, drop his pants and give him head?” Jongdae rests her hand on her chin, exhaling heavily. Baekhyun’s expression is aghast, a dainty hand placed on her chest for emphasis.

“Kim Jongdae—“

“I was kidding—“

“I know you think your mouth is all that—“

“Well, you said Jongin seems to think so—“

“But that is not classy, young lady!”

Coming from the girl who had just earlier talked about wet t-shirts and boob pressing, Jongdae is practically insulted at the comment. She throws yet another wadded up napkin at Baekhyun’s head, wondering if it’s too late to become besties with Zitao.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


The next Saturday’s car wash initiates Operation Tight Tie, and Baekhyun calls Jongdae a whole hour earlier to the school’s washroom so she can prepare her for battle.

“Oh man, oh man!” Baekhyun hollers when she sees Jongdae step out of the bathroom stall clad in a tight white t-shirt and denim cutoffs. An eyeliner is in Baekhyun’s hand, poised and ready to draw on Jongdae’s waterproof weapons. “You’re gonna look so good,” she sniffs when Jongdae steps forward to meet Baekhyun’s touch. “My baby’s all grown up and chasing after a boy.”

Jongdae flicks Baekhyun’s forehead. “Please don’t make this more embarrassing than it has to be. It’s not like I bring up your own mission to chase after Chanyeol.” It had been mortifying to watch Baekhyun practically throw herself at him the year before, but Jongdae can sort of understand why she went to such lengths now.

Lovesickness is strange, Jongdae muses as Baekhyun draws small strokes on her eyelids. After some contemplation throughout the week, Jongdae had wondered if going through all the trouble was worth it. Kim Joonmyun was just another boy, after all. The boys in Jongdae’s life had never been held to such a high standard. They were usually just friends or the occasional fling at one of Luhan’s inevitable house parties. It’s not that she hadn’t been interested in relationships before, it’s just that no one struck a chord in her quite as hard as Joonmyun had.

Which is what Jongdae had been racking her mind about all week. Was he really that special? Or maybe the conversation she had with Baekhyun the day she met him had temporarily changed her? Kim Joonmyun was attractive, sure. But so were many other boys. He was really nice too, yes. But so is lip gloss, which Jongdae doesn’t have many romantic feelings for.

But the whole reason she was propped up on top of the sink of the girl’s washroom, trying to look as good as she can for a damn car wash—that is the result of something that changed her mind about her wavering feelings regarding Joonmyun.

The day before, Jongdae had accepted Baekhyun’s invitation to get bubble tea with her and Chanyeol after their after school practice. Once the two cheerleaders had reached the SAC office however, they saw through a crack in the door that Chanyeol was still inside, speaking to Joonmyun.

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” Chanyeol asked. “This a lot of data, Joonmyun.” He rifled through the files on the round table.

Joonmyun was sitting on a chair next to him, typing away on a laptop with the utmost concentration. “It’s alright,” the fourth year says without looking up from the screen. “I’m almost done. Besides, don’t you have a date with Baekhyun?”

“Yeah, but—“ Chanyeol’s protests are waved away by an authoritative hand.

“It’s alright, really.” Joonmyun insisted. “Go home. It’s Friday night, you should be out with your girlfriend.” He smiled at the younger, who still looked unconvinced. But another gentle push in the shoulder eased Chanyeol up from his seat.

“Fine.” Chanyeol said, voice still laced with concern. “But honestly Joonmyun, give yourself a break. You work yourself harder than any of us.”

“Chanyeol, I’m almost done. I’ll be out of here in ten minutes, tops.” Joonmyun smiled again, a sincere beam that finally persuaded Chanyeol to duck out of the room with a goodbye.

When Chanyeol opened the door and proceeded to pepper Baekhyun with kisses to her temple, Jongdae peered into the office again. Joonmyun stared longingly at the couple, before returning to his work.

“Um, Baek?” Jongdae took out her cellphone, pretending she had just gotten a text. “Mom wants me to be home early so you two go ahead without me.”

Baekhyun’s lips formed a disappointed pout, but she shrugged. After the three exchanged goodbyes, Jongdae waved the couple away with a grin.

As soon as they were out of sight, Jongdae found herself staring into the office again.

Joonmyun was clearly no where finished, Jongdae thought when she saw the pile of paperwork that hadn’t been there earlier. His eyes were locked in concentration, darting back and forth between the papers and the screen. She wanted to call out to him, ask him why he let Chanyeol leave early when he was offering help, or at the very least ask him if he needed help. Instead, Jongdae loses her footing and falls onto the door, pushing it all the way open.

Before anything else could happen, Jongdae scrambled to get onto her feet and darted out of the hallway. Hopefully she left before Joonmyun could realize that she had been spying on him. Hopefully.

“All done!” Baekhyun claps her hands twice. She raises her index finger to her eye, wiping away a fake tear and sniffling. “My Jongdae looks so pretty.”

Jongdae hops off her spot on the sink to look in the mirror. She examines herself curiously, amazed as always at Baekhyun’s skilled eyeliner application. Baekhyun has a strong grip on Jongdae’s shoulders from behind and stares at her through the reflection.

“Be charming, and be cute.” Baekhyun instructs, massaging her shoulders as if she’s a coach ready to send out her fighter.

“So you’re telling me to be myself?” Jongdae snarks, but Baekhyun surprisingly nods in response.

“Yes, actually.” Baekhyun lifts her hands off of Jongdae’s shoulders to give the girl a back hug. “You look hella good, and you’re hella rad, and you’re going to hella win Joonmyun’s heart.” She ducks when Jongdae turns around to swat at Baekhyun for her excessive use of hella.

“Thank you, Baek.” Jongdae says, and she means it. “I really appreciate—“

Another stall door flies open, startling the girls. Baekhyun shrieks.

“Chill!” Luhan raises her hands in defence. “It’s just me, ladies.” The head cheerleader’s even shorter, even tighter outfit makes Jongdae feels overdressed.

“Since when were you interested in helping SAC, Luhan?” Jongdae asks, well aware that Luhan only ever had one ulterior motive for doing things.

“Since Minseok said he would bring the team van around for a wash.” Luhan grins cheekily. “I thought it would be nice of me to personally do it for him.”

The third years share an eye roll, but they both know how much their captain really cared for her boyfriend. It was cute sometimes, but mostly nauseating.

“Wow, Jongdae!” Luhan says upon completely taking in Jongdae’s look. “You look really cute! Is this for a certain someone? A certain student body president?”

Jongdae immediately flicks Baekhyun in the forehead. “You weren’t supposed to tell anyone!”

Baekhyun casts a withering look at Luhan, who merely shrugs and fixes her fringe in the mirror.

“You’re a go-getter, Jongdae.” Luhan blows a few strands of hair out of her face. “So go get it. Or him.” She gives Jongdae a thumbs up and a wide grin.

Jongdae blushes, and chooses to swat at Baekhyun again.

“Well,” Luhan flicks her head around, smacking Jongdae in the face with her ponytail. “we’re supposed to be out now. Shall we?”

Jongdae spits out a few blonde hairs. “We shall.”


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


Getting Joonmyun’s attention is proving to be much more difficult than expected, Jongdae thinks as she watches him practically prance from station to station, making sure everyone is working. For one, Joonmyun hasn’t even looked at Jongdae so far, besides the one or two times he’s visited the soaping station to check up on their progress.

“I don’t know what to do!” Jongdae hisses at Baekhyun from across a car hood. When the girl doesn’t seem to hear her the first time, Jongdae chucks a wet sponge at her.

Baekhyun looks up, confused only until Jongdae repeats herself. “I don’t know either! Just make up a question to ask him when he comes by again?”

Jongdae wants to groan, why is she even here? In her peripheral vision, she can see Joonmyun talking to Kyungsoo and Yixing at the rinsing station. Soon afterward, it’s Kyungsoo coming by to check up on Jongdae and Baekhyun. After she gives a curt nod and leaves, Baekhyun flails her arms at Jongdae.

“Jongdae!” Baekhyun practically shrieks, flinging the same sponge that Jongdae had just thrown at her back at her. “I think Kyungsoo switched places with Joonmyun, think up a reason to talk to him while he’s in one place!”

“What?!” Jongdae looks from one area (Chanyeol maniacally waving the car wash sign by the entrance) to another (Luhan vigorously wiping down a car that could only be Minseok’s) to another (some obnoxious voice cat calling at Kyungsoo from inside of a car), but she can’t think of anything. When she turns back to Baekhyun, she’s no where to be seen but—

Jongdae shrieks when she feels a bucket of warm liquid being dumped on her. When she opens her eyes, Baekhyun is looking at her sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Jongdae. It had to be done.” is the only excuse Baekhyun can muster for dropping a bucket of suds on her. “Go ask Joonmyun to hose you down!” She pushes her friend toward the rinsing just as the obnoxious voice’s car pulls up to their station.

Feeling utterly confused but pretty desperate at this point, Jongdae strides up to Joonmyun and tries to give him the most amiable smile she can manage. “Um, Joonmyun!” She almost has to scream over the sound of the high power hose.

Joonmyun only replies when the car he was rinsing drives off, greeting Jongdae with his weak-knee inducing grin. “Yeah?” His finger rests on the hose’s trigger again once obnoxious voice’s car pulls up.

“I, um,” Jongdae stutters, knowing she needs to hurry up before Joonmyun’s attention goes elsewhere again. “Baekhyun got this all over me, could you spray me with your hose?” A cringe is creeping up on Jongdae’s face and she really, really regrets not thinking her question through.

“What low budget porno did you come out of, Kim Jongdae?!” Someone yells behind her. Jongdae turns to meet eyes with the same person who had been trying to hit on Kyungsoo just moments earlier.

“Shut the hell up, Kim Jongin!” Jongdae barks at the second year, who was riding shot gun to an extremely tall fourth year that was always at Luhan’s inevitable house parties.

Jongin gives Jongdae the stink eye, irritating the cheerleader even more. “So speaking of low budget pornos, how would you like to make one with me?” There’s a gleam in his eye that Jongdae’s always wanted to smack out of his damn head.

“You know what—“ Jongdae suddenly remembers where she is. And who she’s beside. Her gaze flicks to the side but all she sees is Yixing striking up a conversation with Kris as she rinses off his car. Joonmyun was nowhere to be seen, which meant now Jongdae was really going to kill Jongin.

“Hey, Kyungsoo!” Jongin yells again, clearly toward Kyungsoo who had just returned to the rinsing station and already had a hose in her hand. The expression on her face is nothing but scornful. Despite this, Jongin keeps going. “When are you going to stop playing hard to get?”

Jongdae almost feels bad for Kyungsoo. She wants to drag Jongin and his filthy boy mouth far, far away from Kyungsoo and the rest of the female population.

“Get bent, you bug.” Kyungsoo spits. She raises her hand and flicks the hose’s trigger, allowing a strong stream of water pelt Jongin before he manages to frantically roll up the car window.

“Wow.” Jongdae’s never seen someone shut Jongin up so quickly.

Several feet away, Baekhyun calls Jongdae’s name, making her remember why she was even here in the first place. But now Joonmyun was nowhere to be seen.

Yixing, helpful as always, decides to hose Jongdae down instead.

Jongdae spends the rest of the car wash thinking up a list of ways she could murder Kim Jongin.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


“You said what?” Baekhyun is trying to stifle her laughter, she really is, but once Chanyeol barrels over, so does she. The couple howls, bent over the table, and Chanyeol even slams his fist on it a few times.

“Keep it down.” Jongdae hisses through clenched teeth. The other patrons of the bubble tea shop were beginning to stare. Neither Baekhyun nor Chanyeol seem to pay any mind.

“S-Sorry,” Baekhyun is wiping tears from her eyes now, careful not to smudge her eyeliner. “It’s just, that’s so,” she struggles to find the right words between aftershocks of laughter.

“Hilarious?” Chanyeol helpfully supplies. Jongdae shoots him the strongest glare she can manage, but the boy takes shield behind Baekhyun.

“I didn’t mean to say that,” it just happened. And I didn’t think he’d take it that way either. But then Jongin had to come by and screw everything up for me!” Jongdae pauses to take an angry sip of her mango milk tea. “I hate that kid.” she grumbles.

Baekhyun nods understandingly. She too shared contempt for the second year, although it was usually in jest. Occasionally it was like that for Jongdae as well, but more so the opposite. “Well, don’t think too hard about it. I’m sure Joonmyun didn’t even notice.”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol adds. “he probably just got called over elsewhere. Don’t worry about it.”

“Speaking of, is there progress on Operation Tight Tie?” As the words come out of Baekhyun’s mouth, Chanyeol repeats them silently, a questionable look on his face.

“Wait, Operation Tight Tie?” Chanyeol asks, still confused.

“It’s the name of Jongdae’s plan to get Joonmyun to notice her.” Baekhyun rolls her eyes. “Keep up, Yeol.”

“Ah yes, Jongdae’s tie fetish.” Chanyeol nods and brings his lips to his taro milk tea.

Reddening, Jongdae reaches over the table and smacks Chanyeol’s head down, causing him to choke and sputter and spit out tapioca. “I do not have a tie fetish!” she stresses.

Baekhyun tuts and shakes her head. She retrieves a cellphone from her coughing boyfriend’s pocket, tapping a few keys that Jongdae couldn’t see. When Baekhyun turns the screen in her direction, Jongdae sees a picture of Chanyeol and Joonmyun, probably from one of their school’s formal events. Baekhyun uses her thumb to tap the screen twice so it can zoom into Joonmyun and his pristinely pressed tie.

Jongdae’s mouth goes dry.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


Immediately after Monday morning practice, Jongdae is rushing up several flights of stairs to make her way to the SAC office. Luhan had asked for someone to deliver their budget, and Jongdae had jumped at the opportunity.

When Jongdae finally finds herself in front of the office’s door, she pauses to catch her breath before bringing up her knuckles to rap on the wood. To her dismay, the person who greets Jongdae at the door is in fact not Joonmyun, but Sehun.

"H-Hey," Jongdae says, still feeling somewhat frightened by the second year's intimidating aura. "Luhan asked me to drop something off?”

Sehun smirks and hollers a "Joonmyun!" that prompts the school president to scurry over to them. Joonmyun looks gorgeous as always, Jongdae thinks. How someone could look so good in their bland school uniform always surprised her. Even she couldn't look that good.

"Oh, Jongdae!" Joonmyun looks surprised.

"Hey," Jongdae waves, trying to act nonchalant. "Luhan said you needed our budget?”

"Ah." Joonmyun nods. "Alright, but I’m actually, um, about to leave now. So, just feel free to wait for um, Kyungsoo, or something. Yeah." His sentence stops abruptly with an awkward clearing of the throat. He speeds out the door, leaving Jongdae slightly (very) disappointed.

“Sehun, legitimate question.” Jongdae says as she walks into the office. “How are you on SAC? You shoved freshmen into dumpsters last year.”

"Jongin tried to touch my butt, he deserved it." Sehun shrugs. That butt-grabbing had been the reason Jongdae became aware of Oh Sehun's existence in the first place. Also Jongin’s, since Jongdae had been the one to fish him out of the dumpster out of pity.

"Aw, nice to see you're talking about me." Jongin retorts, walking into the room holding a tray of iced coffees.

"Go to hell." Sehun scoffs.

“You’re here, aren’t you?” Jongin laughs obnoxiously.

"Shut the hell up." She smacks Jongin over the head. “Shouldn’t you be chasing some vice-president around?”

Jongin rubs the side of his head. "Not chasing! Kyungsoo is warming up to me! I swear to God she smiled at me at the car wash." He plucks one coffee out of its carrier.

Jongdae quirks an eyebrow at Jongin. "You're serious about her?" She snorts. "Good luck with that, friend. She wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole.

“She won’t need to with my ten foot pole—goddamn it, Sehun!” Jongin stops suggestively pointing between his legs to clutch at his recently kicked shin. “I was kidding!”

"Shut your goddamn mouth, Jongin." Sehun rips open a straw wrapper with her teeth. "Anyway, Jongdae. How’s your SAC hunt going?"

Jongdae chokes on her own saliva and has to reach for Jongin’s coffee to subdue her coughing.

"Wait." Jongin looks at the two of them curiously. "Jongdae likes Chanyeol?"

Sehun smacks the younger again. "No, dumbass. She likes Joonmyun."

Jongin is wincing but amused. "Joonmyun? Kim Joonmyun? You want to get into the student body president's pants?" He looks positively delighted at this bit of information. And Jongdae wants to castrate him for it. "But Jongdae, you're so...Joonmyun is so pressed ties and pleated pants and you're all pressed up against walls and rolled up skirts?"

"I'm cute!" Jongdae shrieks. "He could fall for me! I could be good for him!"

"In what world, exactly?" Jongin sniggers. "Because I don't know where Joonmyun fits into blowjobs in Luhan’s bathroom."

"That was one time!" Jongdae snaps.

Sehun looks incredibly entertained. "Good luck getting close to Joonmyun. Between SAC and the newspaper and debate club and model UN, Joonmyun doesn't have much time to talk to anyone.”

"Well, I'll just have to make it so all he'll want to do is talk to me." Jongdae huffs, taking another sip of her coffee. "You should both have some faith in me. I'm gonna flirt the pants off him.

"And what are you planning on doing once his pants are off?” The grin on Jongin’s face is absolutely feral.

"Go to hell." Jongdae repeats.

"Already here, remember?"

Sehun drives a foot right into Jongin's ten foot pole.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


Sehun was right. It was incredibly difficult to get a hold of Joonmyun at any time of day. Jongdae had probably memorized his entire schedule just trying to chase him around for a few moments of conversation. Before school, newspaper meetings, which Jongdae couldn’t even bother with because of cheer. During lunch, tutoring suffering underclassmen, which Jongdae could have signed up for if it wasn’t a known fact her grades were outstanding. After school, SAC meetings mostly, where Jongdae and Baekhyun were still welcome, but expected to remain silent lest they unleash Kyungsoo’s wrath. Any other time of day, Joonmyun was busy doing something, somewhere, because Jongdae just had to fall in love with the busiest person on the entire planet.

"Jongdae?" Luhan's voice interrupts Jongdae's frustrated self-absorption. "Yoohoo! Did you hear what I just said?”

"Um, no." Jongdae says sheepishly. "Sorry."

Luhan tuts, shaking her head. "Pay attention, it’s not like you to doze off. I was just saying we’re supposed to cheer at the soccer game on Friday.” She twirls a strand of blonde hair around her finger. "And it'd be nice if we could all be there to cheer for Min—our school."

Jongdae rolls her eyes, probably at the same time as everyone else on the squad.

"So you're saying we need to come in for an extra practice so you can wear your cheerleading skirt in front of your boyfriend." Baekhyun deadpans, looking exasperated. “Can’t you do that on your own time?”

"Maybe." The head cheerleader shrugs. “But it’s been a while since we’ve performed at a school event, ladies! Where’s that spirit?”

Silence ensues.

Luhan sighs. “You’re all coming anyway. Or it’s laps for all of you.” There’s a collective groan from the girls, but Luhan merely flicks her hair. “Dismissed. And Jongdae, Baekhyun, stay behind.”

As the cheerleading squad files out, Jongdae approaches the fourth year, Baekhyun following suit. Luhan immediately breaks out into an impish grin. “So, how are you and Joonmyun?” She cups her own face with her hands.

Baekhyun sighs and shakes her head. “It’s a tragedy! He doesn’t even seem the slightest bit interested in Jongdae!” The girl dramatically clutches her blouse.

“Baekhyun—” Jongdae’s smacked in the mouth by the back of her friend’s hand. An “ow!” escapes her but neither Baekhyun nor Luhan seem to care.

“But Joonmyun has to notice Jongdae!” Luhan cries, just as theatrical as Baekhyun. “How else can Jongdae’s thirst be cured?!”

Jongdae really hates her friends.

With closed eyes, Baekhyun grips her heart and says her next words solemnly. “But wait...there is but one solution!” Her arm reaches around Jongdae’s shoulder, pinning the girl to her side. “Look hella good at the soccer game and invite him to Luhan’s inevitable party!” She declares as Luhan sings a “dun dun dun” soundtrack.

“You guys are nuts,” Jongdae frees herself from Baekhyun’s grasp. She stomps to the door, opening it and giving one last stern look to her friends. “I might do that, but you guys are nuts.”

She leaves the gymnasium as Baekhyun and Luhan high-five.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


The soccer game is surprisingly fun. It's been so long since the squad's actually performed for an audience instead of judges. Luhan's running back and forth with a megaphone, hyping up the crowd with her energetic voice. Jongdae laughs when there’s a chorus of deep yells during the high kicks, and despite her previous worries, Jongdae's back handspring is flawless, and gets a round of cheers from the crowd.

Jongdae doesn't even see Joonmyun until after the third quarter, watching the game excitedly next to an unamused looking Sehun. When, Jongdae manages to reach his side of the bleachers, she throws him a wink and a kiss.

It's odd how Jongdae feels while she's cheering. There's a new confidence implanted in her. Not that she's not confident off stage, but there's something about performing for such a crowd that makes Jongdae feels great. She suddenly remembers what it feels like to know what she's doing again.

Baekhyun’s words suddenly come to mind again. Inviting Joonmyun to Luhan’s inevitable party seemed like a pretty good idea.

With just ten minutes left in the game, Minseok manages to score another goal, breaking the tie and pulling his team into the lead. As Jongdae and Baekhyun try to restrain Luhan from going on the field herself, Jongdae deduces that the win will make Luhan’s inevitable party...inevitable.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


"Joonmyun!" Jongdae calls after the student body president immediately after the game ends, still in her cheerleading uniform.

"Yeah?" Joonmyun looks a tad startled. (And uncomfortable but that could just be Jongdae’s imagination?)

"Luhan’s having a party at her house to celebrate the win. She said you should come." Jongdae smiles amiably.

"Ah, um," Joonmyun stutters. He takes one step backward before being grabbed by the shoulders, and pinned to Chanyeol’s side.

"Of course we'll go." Chanyeol grins. "Wouldn't miss it for the world." The tall boy carts Joonmyun off, giving a thumbs up to Jongdae.

Jongdae gives him an OK sign back.

Phase 1 successful.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


By the time Jongdae arrives (fresh out of the shower, hair curled to perfection), the party already seems to be in full swing. She sees Jongin in the mess of sweaty bodies on the dance floor, Sehun and Tao somehow having a regular conversation on the couch, and a wobbly Luhan headed her way.

“Jongdae! You made it!” The fourth year says, alcohol on her breath. She slings an arm around Jongdae’s waist, wailing her next words. “You look r-really good. I can’t believe Joonmyun hasn’t—”

Minseok speeds in, peels his girlfriend off of Jongdae, and drags her away with apologies. Jongdae would be taken aback if Luhan was anyone else but her.

"Jongdae!" Baekhyun greets her next, just out of the kitchen with two red cups in hand. She gives her friend a quick hug, then thrusts the cups in her direction. “Joonmyun’s in the den, quick, take these too him! I think Luhan’s had enough anyway.” They both shoot a look in the direction of the party host who could not be seen, but heard amongst the loud music.

“I’m so nervous!” Jongdae yells, accepting the cups gratefully.

“You’ll be fine!” Baekhyun screams back, giving her friend a reassuring smile. “Good luck!”

Jongdae tilts one of the cups at Baekhyun in response.

Phase 2 successful.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


The den’s door is locked. Strange. Jongdae presses her ear against it, but hears nothing. Then she knocks (using the heel of her boot because of her preoccupied hands). Once. Twice. She’s about to leave when Joonmyun answers the door, wide-eyed like a frightened puppy.

"H-Hi." He says.

"H-hi." Jongdae echoes. It seems that every time she convinces herself that Joonmyun’s just a boy, she quickly tears down that image and rebuilds one of immaculacy. And it sucked. She couldn’t even tell if it was the music or her actual heart thudding against her chest.

“Do you want to come in?” Joonmyun asks, stepping out of the doorway to give her space. Jongdae realizes it’s also the first time Jongdae’s ever seen him without a uniform. How is it possible for someone to look so good in a hoodie?

Wordlessly, Jongdae steps inside, apparently unable to even remember the word “yes”.

Joonmyun still looks positively panicky when he takes a seat on the armchair across from Jongdae, eyes darting side to side like he’s watching a tennis game.

“Why are you alone?” Jongdae’s surprised she can even produce a cohesive sentence. She offers one cup, glad that it’s not filled to the point where her shaky hand would spill it all over the rug.

Joonmyun accepts it with two hands, courteous as ever. "Ah, I don't really know. I don't feel like being in that chaos. It's not really my thing."

Jongdae nods in understanding. "Oh. Me too." She takes a large gulp of her drink.

Joonmyun laughs. “Really?”

“No.” Jongdae admits. “I like it sometimes. But I like quiet.” I like you too.

“I see.” Joonmyun nods, raising his cup to his lips. He coughs the moment the cup tips back, letting the liquid spill all over the table. “Shit.” He laughs. “I thought that was gingerale.”

Jongdae’s never heard Joonmyun swear before, but she thinks it’s kind of hot. (She thinks everything he does is kind of hot.) “Here.” Jongdae rifles through her bag for a napkin, moving onto the couch to wipe up the spill.

“It’s okay, I got it.” Joonmyun says, taking the napkin from her hands.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do it.” Jongdae pulls it back.

Joonmyun tries to take it back, but tugs Jongdae closer instead. She freezes. She’s never been so close to him. The napkin between them slips out of her hands, and now Jongdae’s just worried that Joonmyun might feel how fast her heart’s racing if they get any closer.

Joonmyun gulps, and he’s so, so close to her. Jongdae’s eyes are beseeching, desperately trying to articulate in some way that her heart is about to burst.

Jongdae’s head tilts up to meet Joonmyun’s lips, and suddenly all the music thudding through the walls stops. And it’s just her kissing Joonmyun and she feels like she’s never kissed someone before and she doesn’t know what she’s doing until—

Joonmyun’s pulled Jongdae closer to him by her waist. Now she’s really going to collapse. Their noses bump too many times and it’s a complete mess, but Jongdae couldn’t care less because she loves the way their mouths fit together and how soft his lips are.

But then Joonmyun pulls back. He retracts completely, drawing back his arms and even leaning back into the couch. There’s a look of bewilderment on his face. Jongdae wonders if she’s done something wrong.

“I’m sorry but...” Joonmyun stands up. He scrambles to get onto his feet, making a hasty exit and leaving an open door. No goodbye, no wave, nothing.

Mission failed.


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


Jongdae spends the next two weeks moping. She sulks in class, during practice, after school--she sulks to the point where even Jongin begins to genuinely worry and sends her a text questioning her behaviour.

I’m fine, Jongdae answered. That’s all she’s been saying for the past two weeks. She was fine. She was fine, really. So things with Joonmyun hadn’t worked out. It was alright. Jongdae was Jongdae, and she was fine.

Except Jongdae is also a big liar and is anything but fine. She feels terrible. So absolutely horrified for kissing Joonmyun. She can’t believe she’d do something like that. The last thing Jongdae ever wanted to do was hurt him.

Sweet, kind Joonmyun. Generous, helpful Joonmyun. Disappointed, sad Joonmyun because Jongdae had screwed everything up.

Ridiculously stupid Jongdae.

Jongdae tries to go by the SAC office as soon as school is over, but Joonmyun no longer seems to linger. One day, Kyungsoo says that he’s started to take all of the council’s work home. Yixing has to politely shut Jongdae and Baekhyun out of SAC meetings, much to Chanyeol’s dismay. Sehun mentions that Joonmyun tenses up at the mere mention of Jongdae’s name.

Jongdae is the worst person in the world.

She absolutely cannot go on without looking Joonmyun in the eyes and apologizing. Otherwise, she’d probably find herself despicable for the rest of her life.

Although she doubts he’ll be there, Jongdae knocks on the SAC office’s door during lunch. Yixing answers it, clearly surprised that the younger girl is on the other side.

“Jongdae,” Yixing looks around in the hallway. “what are you doing here?”

“I want to apologize to Joonmyun.” Jongdae states firmly.

Yixing ushers Jongdae inside. The two sit in silence, Yixing on the couch and Jongdae on a chair. Jongdae thinks it’s a bad time to ask why Yixing’s sitting on the sex couch.

“Yixing, is Joonmyun really mad at me?” Jongdae decides to ask.

“Yeah,” Yixing nods, looking apologetic for even saying so. “I’ve never seen him so out of it.”

Jongdae feels sick and wants to roll off a cliff. Kim Joonmyun aka The Light of her Life is mad at her.

“He’s really disappointed.” Yixing says. “You were really insensitive about his feelings.”

“I know,” Jongdae says, feeling even more terrible than before, if that was possible. “I didn’t mean to. I just like him so much. I just kissed him and I feel so awful and I can’t believe I did that.”

“Wait, you like Joonmyun?” Yixing blinks in surprise. Jongdae thinks it’s the first time she’s seen the older girl move so quickly. “Like, you like-like him?”

A blush creeps up onto Jongdae’s face. “Yes, I like-like him.” She says.

“Well then,” Yixing smooths down her skirt. “I think you should apologize to him. And tell him that. Because I think he’d appreciate it.”

“But he keeps avoiding me! I mean, I can never find him. Ever!” Jongdae flops over the round table. “I think he hates me.” She wails.

“No, no, no.” Yixing shakes her head. “Joonmyun’s incapable of hate. Just…don’t let him run away next time you see him. Chase after him. That’s all you’ve been doing so far, I’m guessing.”

Jongdae sighs.

Yixing repeats herself. “I think you should chase after him.”


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


Jongdae waits outside of the school entrance for Joonmyun that day. These are the only doors he could use to go home unless he was willing to walk around the entire school yard. She doesn’t think he’d go that far to avoid her. (Or maybe he would? Maybe Jongdae was that terrible?)

When Joonmyun finally comes out of school, Jongdae closes her eyes and clenches her fists, yelling his name before she can convince herself that this is not a good idea.

When Jongdae opens her eyes, she sees Joonmyun staring back at her. He looks frightened, like he’s about to run away.

But Jongdae’s not letting him go yet. “I need to talk to you.” She says. “It’s really important.”

Despite looking extremely hesitant, Joonmyun takes a few careful steps toward Jongdae. He nods.

Jongdae takes a deep breath. She’s never been so nervous before. “I’m sorry for being so insensitive. Like, I know I do some things that I shouldn’t do but—”

“Why did you do it?” Joonmyun cuts her off, voice tense. “I just want to know why. You’re so nice. And I know my crush on you was—”

“What?” Jongdae interjects. “What did you say?”

Joonmyun stares back at her, confused. “What do you mean?”

“You said ‘my crush’.” Jongdae repeats. “What did you mean by that?”

“What it means?” Joonmyun looks hopelessly lost. “Weren’t you teasing me?”

“Why would I tease you?” Jongdae asks, having trouble finding words.

“Because I liked you! But I didn’t think you would mock me for it.” Joonmyun is completely baffled. “I thought it was just a coincidence how you showed up at SAC meetings at first, but then there was the thing at the car wash, and then Chanyeol and Sehun started talking about you, and the soccer game and the party and the kiss?”

Jongdae doesn’t know how to describe her feelings at that moment. Dumbfounded would be an understatement. “Why would I kiss you just to make fun of you?” She asks. “I did that because I like you!

“Wait, you like me?” Joonmyun’s face is completely red. “Since when?”

Jongdae’s cheeks flush a similar colour. “I don’t know! Since that time you helped me up the first time I went to the SAC office? When I realized you had a really nice smile? When I saw you do all the work so you could send Chanyeol home? Probably somewhere inbetween?”

“Wait, you were that?” Joonmyun sputters. “Why do you like me? You’re beautiful and confident and smart and—”

Jongdae somehow interrupts him by making some sort of gurgling noise. There is no way Joonmyun is saying all this. She must be dreaming or something. She pinches herself. It hurts.

“Wait, so this isn’t a dream?” Jongdae asks quietly. “This is real? Real life?”

Joonmyun nods, allowing a small smile to form on his lips. “Can I say something now?” He lets out a shaky breath. “I know I probably thought too much about everything you did, but it’s just because I’ve never liked someone so much before. I’m scared, even. I’ve never been this unsure of something before.”

“Me too.” Jongdae smiles coyly. “I don’t understand a lot of things about relationships and love and everything, but Kim Joonmyun, I like you so much that it scares me. So I think it’s partially your responsibility to date me and make me less scared.”

“That makes sense.” Joonmyun reaches to grab Jongdae’s hands, intertwining their fingers. “Want to make this an official deal by shaking hands?”

Jongdae is appalled. “You’re joking, right?”

Joonmyun laughs and bends down to kiss her.

When they break apart, a kittenish smile forms on Jongdae’s lips.

“So do we get a turn on the couch?”


✿ ✿ ✿ ✿


“We’re never going to get any work done around here.” Kyungsoo lets out a deep sigh. Her glasses rest on the bridge of her nose, eyes scanning through the document laid out in front of her.

Baekhyun giggles a few feet away from her, whispering things back and forth with Chanyeol on the floor. Every time they exchange words, their laughs grow louder. As do Kyungsoo’s sighs.

Joonmyun, at least, is trying to be productive. Kyungsoo appreciates his effort to try and help record last week’s revenue, but she’s sure that he’s quite distracted with Jongdae nuzzling into his neck. The vice-president makes a mental note to just redo the file later.

With Yixing taking off to go on some date with that tall guy and Sehun being preoccupied with texting Tao on the couch, Kyungsoo figured the school year would end by the time she got all this work done.

But she at least wanted some peace and quiet while doing so.

“Get out.” Kyungsoo deadpans. When Sehun doesn’t seem to pay much attention, Kyungsoo snatches the phone out of her hands.

“Hey!” Sehun shrieks. “Give it back!”

“Take your phone and your girlfriends out of here.” Kyungsoo huffs. “I can’t concentrate.”

Joonmyun looks concerned. “Are you sure, Kyungsoo? There’s a lot of—”

“Joonmyun, get out right now.” Kyungsoo points a stern finger to the door. The five of them immediately file out. Baekhyun yells something about a bubble tea double date.

Finally alone, Kyungsoo opens her notebook to a clean page and picks up her pencil.

Just a few feet away from the door, Jongin contemplates going inside.

---

Author's note: Thank you for the cute prompt, OP! I had a lot of fun writing this! Special thanks to K and A for being my cheerleaders! ♡ Also, thank you to the Mods for being so amazing ♡

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