as long as you're cool with it (i'll treat you right)

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/54072361.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: ENHYPEN (Band)
Relationships: Kim Seonwoo | Sunoo/Lee Heeseung, Kim Sunoo/Lee Heeseung
Characters: Lee Heeseung, Sim Jaeyun | Jake, Park Jongseong | Jay, Yang Jungwon,
Kim Seonwoo | Sunoo, Park Sunghoon
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Collegiate
Sports, college basketball, College Cheerleading, Rivalry, Collegiate In-
fighting, verbal arguments, Pranks, Vaguely Homophobic Langugage,
Superficial injury, college shenanigans, Parties, Clubbing, Attempted
Drugging, Secrets, Elements of Chatfic, Getting Together, Flirting,
Tooth-Rotting Fluff, mild violence, Arguments, having the hard
conversations, Inaccurate Descriptions of How Collegiate Sports Work,
Kissing
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2024-02-26 Words: 37,070 Chapters: 1/1
 as long as you're cool with it (i'll treat you right)
by dwntwnsmmrnghts

Summary

“Yeah, we’ll get out of here. You guys get the whole gym now,” Heeseung offers. Jungwon
looks at him, eyes still skeptical. “Have a good rest of your practice.” The three of them
wave, heading out the doors. Seonwoo moves to Jungwon’s side, watching as the three of
them leave.

“Lee Heeseung,” Seonwoo says quietly and Jungwon turns his head to look at his friend.
“Senior, starting center of the Decelis Wolves basketball team. He’s not captain, he’s not the
type to take up a mantle like that but he’s definitely someone people listen to. Also, he’s
gotten hotter.” Jungwoon snorts, shaking his head. “I’m just stating a fact.”

“Sounds like you like him,” Jungwon says, lifting a brow.

“As if,” Seonwoo replies, brow creasing, face turning unimpressed. “I don’t date basketball
players.”

Notes

title: me & u by cassie

beta'd by yours truly

*inspired by the 90s hit movie bring it on and just a little bit john tucker must die - i adore
these movies and i've always wanted to write a cheerleader fic so here it is
*i borrowed some terms and concepts from the hybe webtoon dark moon: the blood altar for
my own personal purposes, don't mind that, it was just easier than trying to come up with
some of this shit myself
Every winter Heeseung comes into the gym to see a volleyball net pulled across half court,
separating the basketball team from the cheer team, as if it accomplishes anything. He
doesn’t know why they don’t just have them practice on alternating days or different times.
Surely both sports deserve as much time and room as they need to practice, dividing the court
doesn’t accomplish much other than causing both teams to resent each other. Heeseung
doesn’t see it that way but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people on the team who do resent
the cheer team and vice versa. Some of the girls on the cheer team can be real nasty and as
hard as Heeseung tries to get his teammates to knock it off they have no qualms with teasing
and mocking the guys on the cheer team.

The basketball team has suggested that the cheer team just practice outside before, but they
live in Seattle. It’s too cold for them, even in their under armor, to practice out on the field.
The cheer team took great offense to this and a small collection of the girls on the team that
didn't attend emptied the basketball team’s lockers while they were at an away game,
throwing all their things on the frost covered football field. Heeseung still remembers having
to physically peel a pair of his basketball shorts up off the frozen turf because they had frozen
to the ground.

The cheer team was made to write the basketball team an apology letter but it didn’t smooth
much of anything over. Heeseung just accepts this as a part of going to Decelis. Every
university has its problems, right? Private universities just usually turn to in-fighting without
official rivals to take on in a public forum.

Either way, Heeseung looks over while they’re on break to see the cheer team attempting
another pyramid. Regionals are soon and they have not been able to get this one formation
right, which he can see is starting to frustrate all of them. Even Jungwon, who’s so competent
and level-headed that he was awarded team captain this year as freshman, is starting to look a
little worse for wear. Jake wanders over to him, water bottle in hand, also watching them.

“They’re working really hard,” Jake comments and Heeseung hums in agreement. “You think
it has to do with Nationals last year?” He asks and Heeseung sighs.

Decelis had a really rough go of it last year at all of their cheer competitions. There was a lot
of in-fighting with the Senior class last year which turned into them doing pretty poorly,
which only exacerbated the problem. They’re guaranteed a bid to Nationals every year;
they’ve gone to Nationals every year since 2000 and won 1st place in ‘21 and ‘22. Last year
they didn’t even make the top three, in fact it’s rumored they didn’t even make top ten. It was
a huge blow to their pride and also to the reputation of the squad. If they don’t do well this
year they might end up seeing budget cuts. It’s a lot to think about while just trying to do
their best.

“Probably,” Heeseung agrees. “Jungwon’s a good captain though. I’m sure he’s going to get
them to Nationals this year.”

“You’re right—” Jake cuts himself off, slapping Heeseung in the shoulder. Heeseung looks at
him and Jake nods to the volleyball nets. “Dude,” he adds on a sigh, the both of them seeing
it at the same time.
“You gotta be fucking kidding me,” Heeseung sighs. He sets his water bottle down on the
bench, Jake dropping his as well to go with him.

A couple of their teammates are heckling the cheer team from the volleyball net. It’s so
childish and Heeseung’s exhausted of having to rein his team members in. He would think
they would grow out of this, they’re all in college for goodness sake, a prestigious one at that.
What is their problem?

Normally Heeseung wouldn’t have to get involved but their coach stepped out with their
team captain to the trainer for a second and without the captain around Heeseung is the
pseudo leader. He’s the center, a lot of the guys on the team listen to him because he is so this
sort of thing kind of falls to him. Besides, he’s a Senior so he’s one of the oldest guys on the
team, they’ll probably listen to him anyway.

“What’s wrong? Never had enough balls to join a real sport, Seonwoo?” One of the guys
calls out and Seonwoo turns, eyes dark and fiery. “Getting all dolled up for a competition
probably gets you going, doesn’t it? Like the other idea of other guys grabbing at you, huh?”
Seonwoo spins to approach them but Jungwon has him by the arm before he can get
anywhere near the net.

“Not gonna let your little captain stop you, are you?! Pussy!” Another one shouts. Heeseung
grabs him by the collar, his teammate choking as the collar tightens around his neck. Jake has
the other two by the back of their shirts, yanking them backwards. Jungwon turns to look but
Heeseung doesn’t notice, dragging the basketball player away by his shirt.

“Fuck, Heeseung!” He coughs as Heeseung throws him to the gym floor. He hits the ground
like a sack of potatoes. Heeseung’s been getting a lot stronger over the last year, a lot of the
guys on the basketball team won’t mess with him anymore for that reason exactly. Jake’s the
same way, he and Sunghoon having been hitting the gym at all hours to keep up with
basketball and cheer season. Jay doesn’t even react as Jake throws the other two players onto
the ground with the other guy, Heeseung glaring down at him. “Bro, what the fuck!” He
shouts, yanking the collar of his shirt down and away from his neck.

“Leave them the fuck alone, Justin,” Heeseung demands. “You’re lucky coach isn’t fucking
here or he’d be on your ass. You know you’re not supposed to be bothering them while
they’re practicing.”

“What the fuck does it even matter,” one of the others says, getting to his feet. “Why the fuck
do you care if we mess with the cheer team? You got a fucking hard on for one of the girls,
Lee?” He jokes, smirking as he steps to Heeseung. Heeseung steps to him and he flinches.

“That’s what I fucking thought,” Heeseung bites. “And that’s none of your goddamn
business. If you distract them and one of them hits the floor during a pyramid it’s your
fucking name I’m gonna give the coach, jackass. Leave them alone.” Devin tsks, turning to
help Justin off the floor. They and their other lackey walk off towards the bleachers, rolling
their eyes.

“Anyone else wanna fuck with the cheer team today?” Jake asks. The rest of the team turns
away, minding their business. Jay laughs around the mouthpiece of his water bottle, walking
over to meet them. Jake steps over to Heeseung, Jay meeting him there.

“I think you managed to extend an olive branch to the new cheer captain,” Jay says, nodding
to the cheer team. Heeseung looks over to see Jungwon standing next to the volleyball net on
the other side of them, hands on his hips. He nods to Heeseung, who nods back. Jungwon
turns back, walking back to the rest of the squad, who are milling around, clearly also on
break. “Nice. Maybe we won’t have to worry about our things being frozen to the football
field again.”

Heeseung never really understood the beef between the basketball and cheer teams and he’s
definitely stood up for them before, but most of the previous cheerleaders didn’t take him
very seriously. He’s never been captain and he only made starting center this year so they
didn’t think anyone else in the basketball team would take him seriously ever. He’s offered
plenty of olive branches in the past but all the previous cheer captains scoffed in his face and
told him, ‘the opinion of a single stupid basketball player doesn’t matter to us.’ Besides, most
of the coaches in the past have suggested that it’s just a healthy rivalry between teams so they
never made any real efforts to change the minds of the two teams to begin with, which has
really only made things worse.

Maybe, this one time, Jungwon will actually take him seriously and this stupid rivalry
between their teams can be laid to rest.

Basketball finishes up first, packing up for the day while the cheer team is still going.
Heeseung, Jake and Jay head out together, waiting until most of the team has cleared out
before making their way towards the exit. Heeseung and Jake aren’t very popular with their
team right now and they’d prefer to not be jumped outside of the gym. It doesn’t usually
happen within teams, and it’s unlikely they would try something when two of them couldn’t
fight off Jake alone and now they have Jay, but it’s worth it to be cautious.

The cheer squad has finally managed to nail the pyramid they’ve been trying to get down all
day as they’re walking past. They all pause to watch as they get into position to try one more
time and they lift their flyers up into position. Heeseung crosses his arms over his chest,
watching as Yujin takes point in the middle while Yunjin and Kazuha are on either side of
her, Seonwoo and Hyeongjun flanking her. It’s a solid pyramid, there’s not even any
trembling and Jungwon calls out for them to dismount, which they all do with ease. Once all
of them are on the ground safely the three of them clap for them politely, Jungwon looking
over in surprise.

“You guys are really talented,” Jay says, adjusting his gym bag on his shoulder. “You’re
gonna do really well at Regionals.”

“We better,” Yunjin replies, flipping her bright red hair over her shoulder. “We’ve worked
hard enough for it. We should get fucking medals just for cheering for our football team,” she
comments. Jungwon looks at her tiredly but the boys laugh.

“You’re not wrong. Everyone comes out to see you guys. Our football team sucks,” Jake
laughs.
The Decelis Wolves football team is not a good team. They manage to not lose every game
they play but they’re far from ever making the conference championship. People go to the
football games mostly because it’s a social event, it’s a good place to gather and pretend to
have any sort of school spirit but it’s not really worth much. If anyone’s going to a game to
see anything other than their friends, it’s for the cheer team. They’re fun, they’re loud, they
always seem like they’re having a good time and they lead the school-wide cheer when the
team is, occasionally, doing well.

“Tell us about it,” Seonwoo comments, sipping from his water bottle. “You guys headed
out?” He adds, lowering his bottle and looking meaningfully at their gym bags.

“Yeah, we’ll get out of here. You guys get the whole gym now,” Heeseung offers. Jungwon
looks at him, eyes still skeptical. “Have a good rest of your practice.” The three of them
wave, heading out the doors. Seonwoo moves to Jungwon’s side, watching as the three of
them leave.

“Lee Heeseung,” Seonwoo says quietly and Jungwon turns his head to look at his friend.
“Senior, starting center of the Decelis Wolves basketball team. He’s not captain, he’s not the
type to take up a mantle like that but he’s definitely someone people listen to. Also, he’s
gotten hotter.” Jungwoon snorts, shaking his head. “I’m just stating a fact.”

“Sounds like you like him,” Jungwon says, lifting a brow.

“As if,” Seonwoo replies, brow creasing, face turning unimpressed. “I don’t date basketball
players.”

“Basketball players don’t date you,” Sunghoon says, coming over to meet them. Seonwoo
punches him in the shoulder, Sunghoon laughing even as it causes him to stumble back a
step. “His friends are Jake Sim and Jay Park. We’re in the same year,” he offers and Jungwon
nods slowly. “I work out with Jake sometimes. They’re pretty decent dudes.”

“For basketball players,” Seonwoo says.

“For anyone,” Sunghoon stresses. “I don’t know a whole lot of people on campus who would
throw a few basketball players around for the cheer team,” he points out and Seonwoo purses
his lips, sipping from his water bottle again. “The other cheer captains never took Heeseung
very seriously, even though he’s probably one of the most stand up guys on the basketball
team. He was younger and second string until last year, they didn’t think his opinion would
make a difference.”

“Well, it looks like it does now,” Jungwon comments. “Good. We could use a few allies in
the basketball team.”

Heeseung normally doesn’t give a lot of attention to anything around him, even less with the
way his senior project has been kicking his ass lately. He has to complete a full portfolio of
demos by the time the year is over so he’s been on his phone a lot, headphones in and
listening to his current works. They need a lot of work before he can graduate this spring so
he’s been very busy and very in his own bubble. The only thing that pops it is basketball
practice, he needs it for his scholarship, so it’s the second most important thing in the world
to him.

Which is probably why he even witnesses what he does.

“Literally fuck off,” Sunghoon is saying as Heeseung steps into the locker room. There aren’t
separate locker rooms in the gym for cheer and basketball so all the guys in either sport have
to deal with sharing a space. Clearly the basketball team has decided that they want to take
their heckling to the next level by trying to antagonize Sunghoon while he’s just trying to get
changed for his practice.

“What’s wrong, you don’t like all this attention? I thought a priss like you would be into it,
all these basketballers playing with you,” one of them says.

“Don’t project your sexual insecurity on me,” Sunghoon retorts. “Maybe if you got more
pussy you wouldn’t have to spend all your time with me.” The guy’s jaw clenches and one of
the others slams Sunghoon’s locker closed, narrowly missing his fingers.

“Hey!” Heeseung calls out. The basketball players pull back, giving Sunghoon some space.
“You guys got a problem?”

“Nope,” one of the players says, stepping away from Sunghoon. “See you on the court, Lee.”
He turns, his friend following him. Heeseung stands his ground as they bump their shoulders
into him on purpose. He rolls his eyes, walking further into the room. He pops the locker a
couple of lockers down from Sunghoon, Sunghoon opening his locker again to get into his
bag.

“You good?” Heeseung asks, shoving his bag into the locker.

“I’m fine,” Sunghoon replies, and then slams the door shut. “But you know you’re gonna
start walking around with a target on your back if you keep doing that.” Heeseung looks over
at him, Sunghoon standing next to him with his water bottle in hand. “You’re friends with
Jake so I’m doing you a courtesy. Also, it would really fucking suck if someone actually tries
to take you in a fight and something happens to your face.” Heeseung snorts, turning back to
his bag, peeling off his hoodie. “Stop trying to defend the cheer team. We’re fine on our own.
The girls are still the football team’s favorites and the rest of us can handle ourselves. If you
keep getting involved eventually the basketball players are going to stop taking you
seriously.”

“Whatever,” Heeseung brushes off and Sunghoon’s brow creases in confusion. Heeseung
pulls his shirt off, balling it up and throwing it in his duffle. “Most of the basketball team
knows I can take them in a fight if they really want to fuck with me. They also know that the
coach is gonna be pissed if they jump me and their starting center can’t play because of them.
I’m their best bet at making Championships this year.” He looks at Sunghoon then. “If they
want to take me out, they’re more than welcome to but their prides are on the line if they do.
And they know it.”

“Is that why you’re being so brazen?” Sunghoon asks, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Nah, I just think this rivalry shit is stupid. We both have to use the gym so let’s just fucking
get over it. It’ll be a lot more tolerable if we weren’t always at each other’s throats. I would
do it anyway, and I have. One of the Seniors my Sophomore year sent me to the nurse with a
black eye when I stepped to him about it.” Sunghoon’s brows lift in surprise. “I’m just able to
do something about it now.” Heeseung digs around in his bag for his practice shirt. “Don’t
worry about me, Sunghoon.”

“Alright,” Sunghoon relents. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He turns away, headed for
the exit. Heeseung pulls the cut off t-shirt over his head, straightening it out as he calls out to
Sunghoon again.

“Hey, Sunghoon.”

“What?”

“You were right,” he says and Sunghoon’s brow furrows in confusion. “Those guys should
try to pull more if they don’t want people to think they’re trying to sleep with you guys.
Makes them look desperate.” Sunghoon laughs, shaking his head as he walks out, the door
swinging behind him. Heeseung smirks as he finishes changing.

“Alright, teams, today we’re gonna do something a little bit different!” Their coach calls out,
catching the attention of the basketball team as well as the cheer team at the beginning of
their practice about a week later. He and the cheer coach are both standing at the side of the
court, by the volleyball net. They all congregate in front of them, the line between the two
teams very, very obvious as there’s at least two feet on either side of the net that no one is
brave enough to stand in. “The cheer coach and I had a little bit of a talk and we decided that
we were going to change it up today. Just a little bit.”

Heeseung looks at Jake, who looks back. Their team is not going to like that. Any deviation
from their usual norm is generally taken badly and culminates into some kind of action taken
against the cheer team. The cheer team gives back so Heeseung makes a mental note not to
leave anything in his locker overnight. Just in case.

“We’re gonna switch sides today,” the cheer coach says. She’s a plucky little mid-20
something with huge green eyes and blond hair that is always pulled back in a severe
ponytail, clad in athleisure wear. She looks genuinely hilarious standing next to their hulking
basketball coach, big and broad with a receding hairline and always wearing some kind of
polo. “Just to try something out! So, I’ll have a couple of the guys on the cheer team move
the mats over to the other side of the gym and the basketball players will have their practice
with the opposite hoop today.”

“Ooh, goody. A different hoop,” Jay mumbles, amused. Jake slaps him in the shoulder, Jay
pressing his lips into a line. Heeseung shakes his head to himself.

“Yeah, question!” A voice comes from the basketball players. Heeseung looks over and sees
that it’s Justin. “Why?”
“Just for fun!” The cheer coach says. “Coach Sanders and I thought it might be a good little
exercise for both of the teams and both of the captains agreed when we brought it up.”
Heeseung looks over to see Jungwon standing between Seonwoo and Kazuha on the other
side of the net. He knows most of the basketball team is looking his way but a few are
looking at their own captain. Heeseung knows him relatively well, he also has a basketball
scholarship so they’ve been on the team together since their freshman year. He’s a tall black
guy, taller than Heeseung even at 6’ 3” and shoulders at least two feet wide. None of their
team is going to question him. “Any other questions?” She chirps.

There are mutterings, murmurings, but no questions.

“Awesome! Then let’s go!”

They disperse to get their things where they’re sitting on either side of the gym’s bleachers,
collecting hoodies and water bottles from the seating. Heeseung picks his up, slinging his
hoodie over his shoulder. He turns, only to see a different one of his teammates right next to
him.

“What’s up?” He asks, heading for the opposite side of the gym.

“This your idea, Lee?” He asks and Heeseung scoffs. “It sounds like something you’d do to
promote comradery or whatever between the two of our teams.”

“You know what, you caught me,” Heeseung says, turning to look at him. “This was all my
plan. I thought, what’s a better way to force our teams to become friendly than to trade sides
of the gym.” He rolls his eyes, turning back around to walk towards the opposite side of the
gym. “Amazing work there, Adames.” Adames stays close to him though, keeping right
beside him.

“What the hell is up with you?” He asks and Heeseung looks at him from the corner of his
eye. “You’ve been up the cheer team’s asses lately. You got the hots for one of the girls on the
team?” Heeseung doesn’t bother answering him. “You got the hots for one of the dudes on
the team.” Heeseung comes to a stop, swinging around to look at him and Adames smirks.
“Bro. I didn’t know you swung that way. Your type twinks or what?”

“You know it’s really inclusive of you to ask, Adames. I’m proud of you,” Heeseung retorts.
“But if I did and it was, it’s none of your fucking business.”

“Language, Lee!” Coach Sanders shouts.

“Sorry, coach,” Heeseung calls out, turning and walking over to the opposite side of the gym.

Most of both teams walk on either side of the net from the other, the cheer team walking past
the left and the basketball team walking past the right. It’s a very clear marker of how much
they do not want to interact with one another. However, it’s only most of the teams, there are
a few stragglers that go either way and Heeseung has his phone in his hand when he’s
walking past on the right side, glancing up when he sees Seonwoo out of the corner of his
eye.
In what is the most juvenile move Heeseung has ever witnessed, one of the boys from the
basketball team trips him. It’s childish, the way they purposefully drag their foot out too wide
and Seonwoo, who is also checking his phone, doesn’t see it coming. Heeseung drops his
phone and his water bottle as he watches Seonwoo fall forward, rushing forward to catch
him. His arms are full of his jacket and water bottle, phone in hand, he won’t catch himself in
time, he’ll definitely end up falling right on his face and this flooring is unforgiving.
Heeseung’s had bruises on his legs and hips and ribs from body checks during games, he
can’t even imagine how bad it would hurt if he landed on his face.

Heeseung throws himself underneath Seonwoo, slamming the back of his right shoulder into
the ground in the process. Seonwoo falls on top of him, Heeseung groaning from the impact
of his back hitting the floor. It’s loud, he knows it’s loud, he did not fall gracefully and he’s
probably going to end up with a bruise. Still, his arms are awkwardly tangled around
Seonwoo, who’s panting from the adrenaline of almost falling on the hard floor of the gym.

“Are you guys okay?!” Someone calls out and Seonwoo shifts to look at Heeseung. He’s
halfway on top of Heeseung, his arms pressed into Heeseung’s chest from the way he’s
clutching his things to his chest, phone still tight in his grip. His knees are on either side of
one of Heeseung’s thighs, which is lucky because another few centimeters higher and
Seonwoo probably would’ve made sure Heeseung couldn’t have kids. He pulls back a little,
Heeseung’s hands resting on his shoulders.

“Are you okay?” Heeseung asks and Seonwoo nods, speechless. “Good.” He shifts
awkwardly. “Your arms are on my lungs,” he says and Seonwoo gasps, finally getting off of
him. He scrambles up and off of him, Heeseung sitting up on the ground, rubbing his chest. A
hand drops into his view and Heeseung takes it, thankful to see Jake on the other end of that
arm. The coaches are close by as well as Jungwon, who immediately rushes to Seonwoo’s
side.

“Are you okay?” Jungwon asks and Seonwoo nods, clearly still a little shaken, surprised from
his sudden fall.

“You okay, son?” Coach Sanders asks and Heeseung nods in agreement.

“I’m fine. A little shaken up, but I’m fine,” he brushes off. “Seonwoo, you’re okay, right?”
He asks and Seonwoo nods, jerky and surprised.

“I’m fine. Thanks,” he says and Heeseung nods once.

“Your stuff,” Jay says, holding Heeseung’s things. Heeseung takes them with a sigh,
collecting them quickly. He then heads to the other side of the net, the cheer coach and
Jungwon walking Seonwoo over to the opposite side of the gym. Jay catches up with the
players that tripped Seonwoo while the coaches are distracted, grabbing the perpetrator by the
collar. “If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I’ll kick your ass,” he warns in a low, hissing
voice. He shoves the guy before following after his friends.

After practice, Heeseung waits until the locker room has cleared out to get changed. His
shoulder and back have been aching ever since he took that dive to catch Seonwoo and he
prefers there not be an audience to see how badly his back is messed up. It’s probably just a
bruise anyway, so he takes his time getting his things together, waiting until Jake and Jay tell
him they’ll wait for him in the gym. He nods his head to let them know he heard them and
then moves towards the center of the locker room where the bathroom stalls and sinks are.

Carefully, his shoulder blade twinges in protest the whole time, he goes to pull his shirt off.
Heeseung breathes through the pain, pulling his shirt up and off by the collar. He hisses as he
drops his arm, his shoulder aching painfully the whole way. He moves to stand in front of the
sink, turning to try and see the damage.

It’s mottled purple and red, and will probably blossom into a pretty dark bruise. It shouldn’t
be a huge impediment to his performance, he can still play— he hopes— but he’ll have to
wear his under armor to keep it covered, his jersey alone will definitely end up moving
around and revealing it. He sighs, lifting his opposite hand to touch it over the top of his
shoulder. His fingers just barely graze it but it sends sparks of pain through the muscle.

“Fuck,” Heeseung mumbles, and dropping his hand again.

“Oh my God,” someone says and Heeseung looks through the mirror, sees Seonwoo standing
there. He turns around, trying to hide his back from him. “Is that… is that from hitting the
floor?”

“I thought cheer’s practices ran late,” Heeseung says, shifting awkwardly against the sink.

“They do. I came to use the bathroom,” Seonwoo says, crossing the room in a few short
strides. He’s at least four inches shorter than Heeseung, why does he walk so fast? “Let me
see,” he says, reaching for Heeseung’s shoulder but Heeseung just steps back, clearing his
throat awkwardly.

“It looks worse than it is,” he says, lifting his left hand to rub the back of his neck. “I’m fine.
Don’t, uh, don’t worry about it. It’s fine.”

“Heeseung—”

“I thought you had to use the bathroom,” Heeseung says. “You should hurry. Jungwon’ll
wonder where you went.”

“You should see the trainer for that,” Seonwoo says. “She might be able to give you
something for it. Or at least make sure you didn’t bruise the bone.”

“I didn’t,” Heeseung insists. He’s not 100% sure of that, it hurts pretty bad and the coloring is
already a lot darker than he thought it would be considering it only happened a few hours
ago. It doesn’t matter though, they have their first game soon and Heeseung cannot be
benched for it. He’s their starting center, if he gets benched for something like a bruised
shoulder he’s screwed, for so many reasons. “Besides, she’s just gonna tell me to rest it and
put some ice on it. It’s whatever, I’ve definitely gotten bruises like this before. Don’t worry
about me.”

“Okay,” Seonwoo says but he doesn’t sound convinced. “Be careful with it, okay?” Heeseung
nods once. Seonwoo moves to go to one of the stalls and Heeseung turns to head back to the
lockers. “And Heeseung,” Seonwoo calls out. Heeseung turns back to him. “Thank you for
doing that. I really appreciate it.”

“Of course,” Heeseung agrees. “Besides, if I let you hit the floor Jungwon would’ve had all
of our asses. He needs his best flyer if you’re gonna make it at Nationals,” he comments,
smiling gently.

“Thanks, Heeseung,” Seonwoo says, smiling shyly. He slips into the stall and Heeseung goes
back to his locker to finish getting dressed.

“Shit, dude,” Jake says, handing Heeseung a bag of ice. He hisses through the pain that
shoots through him as he puts the ice on the bruise. “That shit looks gnarly. Are you sure
you’re gonna be able to play on Friday?”

“I’ll play,” Heeseung assures him. “If I don’t play, all the guys are gonna blame Seonwoo.”

“They’re the ones who fucking tripped him,” Jay points out from the couch. “They’re lucky
the only thing that happened is your bruised shoulder! If Seonwoo had fallen on his face he
could’ve broken his fucking nose and then the cheer team would’ve had it out for the
basketball team and I don’t like having my spare boxers frozen to the football field!” Jake
clicks his tongue, pointing a finger in Jay’s direction as if to say, “see?”

“Maybe, but the rest of our team are fucking dickheads and they’re not gonna think about it
like that,” he reminds them. “I have to play. Besides, I’m starting. I can’t just not start on the
first game of the season.”

“If you start and it gets worse, you’re gonna miss more games,” Jake reminds him. “Maybe
you should sit this one out?”

Heeseung groans, removing the ice and falling back on his bed. His shoulder protests the
movement but he doesn’t care about it too much. He has more important things to worry
about.

Their first game is this coming Friday and it’s at home, which is great— fantastic even—
away games are such a pain in the ass when you play a collegiate sport, which is why Jake
and Jay are in his dorm. Heeseung is an RA (He knows, okay? He knows he does too much.)
so it’s just more convenient for them to convene in his single dorm and prep for what is sure
to be a grueling game, aka bring their shit over here so the two of them can crash on his floor
post game rather than take their unhappy asses halfway across campus to their actual rooms.
The problem is that this next week is going to be an actual hell leading up to the game.

He’s injured. He has a meeting with his academic advisor on Tuesday. They have an inter-
floor mixer on Thursday night (he tried to beg off but Sungchan absolutely refused to let him
since it’s just the two of them and Heeseung understands, he just hates it). Everything is so
chaotic right now part of him wishes he had never agreed to take on a basketball scholarship
when he started looking for schools.
If Decelis University wasn’t the best private liberal arts university in the state he might not
have even bothered.

“I’ll talk to the trainer about it tomorrow,” Heeseung says, staring up at his ceiling listlessly.
“If she says I have to sit out, I have to sit out, I guess. Will that make you happy?”

“Yes,” Jay and Jake both chorus.

The college sports trainer, Tanya, puts him on bench until the next game as soon as she sees
the bruising. It’s a huge blow and Heeseung has to tell the coach about it at practice that
night. He does not want to because the coach is going to be immensely understanding about
the whole thing but his teammates will not be and it’s going to absolutely suck to have to sit
on the bench for the first game of the season. They’re going to be practically belligerent
about the whole thing and Heeseung makes a mental note as he’s leaving the trainers office
on his way to his music production class to let the cheer team know, specifically Jungwon
and Seonwoo, about the fact that he’ll be bench warming. They’ll want the heads up.

Thankfully, he has a source to help him track them down.

“Yo,” Heeseung says, walking into the gym. Jake and Sunghoon are inside, of course. Neither
of them have Monday classes so they can usually be found here in the evenings, pumping
iron and trying to make gains as Jake always says. Heeseung can’t deny, Sunghoon has
definitely been gaining muscle mass since the start of the year, working out with Jake. It’s
probably pretty useful as a base for the cheer team. Jake looks over and then lets go of the lat
bar, standing up to meet him.

“What’s up, hyung?” Jake asks, taking the offered hand.

“I went to the trainer this morning before my afternoon classes,” he says. Sunghoon stands up
from his leg presses, brow creased in confusion. “I got pretty bruised up when I caught
Seonwoo,” he explains and Sunghoon nods in understanding.

“That sucks. We appreciate you not letting him hit the floor though,” Sunghoon says and
Heeseung’s smile is half hearted.

“Glad someone does. Our team’s gonna kill me,” he quips, then looks at Jake. “Tanya put me
on the bench. She’s worried about the bone, she doesn’t think I should stress it.”

“Fuck, dude, I’m sorry,” Jake says, shaking his head. “Did she say for how long?”

“She said if I don’t stress the injury I should be able to get back to it by the next game. It’s
only two weeks out,” Heeseung says and Jake nods. “I gotta tell Coach today during practice.
The dudes are gonna go fucking nuts when they find out I have to bench.”

“That fucking sucks,” Sunghoon says. “I’m sorry that happened.”

“It happens,” Heeseung shrugs off. “But if you’re real sorry, you can do me a favor?”
Sunghoon tilts his head, confused. “Do you know where I can find Jungwon and Seonwoo? I
want to give them a heads up before I tell the coach. The basketball team’s gonna be pissed
and they’re probably gonna blame the cheer team since the only reason I’m fucked up is
because I caught Seonwoo. I know it’s not their fault but I just want them to know.”

“You’re a lot fucking nicer than I thought you’d be,” Sunghoon laughs. “They have gen eds
all day on Monday, you might be able to find them in the library at this hour. Or they’re
getting a meal at the campus diner before cheer practice.” Heeseung nods, turning to head
out. “Don’t tell Jungwon I told you! He hates when I give out his schedule!”

“I got you!”

He checks the diner first, it’s a hell of a lot faster than scouring the library, and hits paydirt.
They’re sitting in a booth in the back corner of the diner, having a meal before practice starts.
It’s already almost five so he has to make this quick or they’re all going to be late to their
practices. He crosses the diner, waving a hand to Taehyun who’s working the register behind
the counter. Jungwon notices him first, reaching across the table to tap Seonwoo’s arm.
Seonwoo turns slowly and then blinks in surprise, Heeseung coming up to the side of their
table.

“Hey, just the two I was looking for,” he says, holding onto the strap of his messenger bag.
“You got a second?”

“Uh… sure,” Seonwoo says. He scoots over and Heeseung slides into the booth with him.
“What’s up?” He asks, leaning on the table. Jungwon looks, understandably, concerned for
Heeseung to suddenly decide to track them down.

“So… I’ll just get right to it. I’m not playing in the game on Friday,” he says and Jungwon’s
eyes widen in surprise while Seonwoo reaches over, putting his hands on Heeseung’s arm.

“Is it because of the…” he trails off, eyes shifting to Jungwon for a moment before focusing
on Heeseung again. He doesn’t want to say it. He didn’t tell anyone about how bad
Heeseung’s back looked after he hit the floor and he doesn’t think Heeseung would want him
telling people about it. Jungwon looks between the two of them, confused and suspicious
when Seonwoo doesn’t finish.

“Yeah,” Heeseung says, nodding. “I, uh, I hit the ground pretty hard when I caught Seonwoo
on Friday,” Heeseung explains to Jungwon, who nods in understanding. “So, I went to the
trainer and she benched me for the first game. She was worried about it so she’s got me
sitting out until the next game. I should be able to play by then but I just wanted to let you
guys know.”

“Why…?” Jungwon asks, eyes narrowed in confusion.

“Because the basketball team are jerks,” Heeseung says. “They’re probably gonna fuck
around and mess with you since I did it to catch Seonwoo.” He turns to Seonwoo then,
resting his hand on top of Seonwoo’s where it’s holding onto his forearm. “It’s not your fault
and don’t let those assholes tell you it is. They shouldn’t have tripped you to begin with. If
they hadn’t I wouldn’t have had to catch you. But the basketball team is probably gonna be
dicks about it so I just wanted to give you guys,” he looks at Jungwon again, who is now
looking with intrigue, “a heads up.”
“Well, thanks,” Jungwon says. “But if they really want to be assholes about it I can let Yunjin
throw all their things on the football field again. It’s supposed to rain next weekend,” he
comments, bringing his cup up to his lips for a drink, smirking.

“Don’t leave anything in my locker over the weekend. Got it,” Heeseung jokes and Seonwoo
giggles. “Alright, well, I just wanted to let you guys know. You’ll be at the game though,
right?”

“Pompoms and all,” Seonwoo grins. Heeseung grins back.

“Cool. I’ll be there. I’ll be on the bench, but I’ll be there.” He slips away from Seonwoo’s
side, standing back up. “I’ll let you guys finish eating before your practice. See you then,” he
says. Jungwon nods and Seonwoo waves as Heeseung steps away, heading back out.
Seonwoo slumps back in the booth as soon as he’s gone.

“Okay, the hell was that?” Jungwon asks. Seonwoo lifts a brow. “He was being so sweet to
you and you were eating that shit up.” Seonwoo rolls his eyes, shaking his head as he goes
back to his fries. “No, you were. You were totally into it,” Jungwon insists, leaning on the
table. “What happened to ‘I don’t date basketball players’.”

“I don’t,” Seonwoo retorts. “Heeseung is sweet, he’s a nice guy and he’s cute, I guess, but
I’m not into him. I don’t date basketball players.”

“Okay,” Jungwon says, tone doubtful. “But you know, just because you don’t like basketball
players doesn’t mean Heeseung doesn’t like cheerleaders.” He lifts a knowing brow,
Seonwoo rolls his eyes as picks up his cup for a drink.

Nothing obviously horrible happens leading up to the game on Friday but that doesn’t mean
that Heeseung’s teammates aren’t unnecessarily rough with him during practice. Heeseung
can still do basic drills, which mostly just turns into a pushing match. He resists the urge to
remind them all that if they bruise him further he won’t be able to play for even longer
because it’s just not worth it. Also, if they’re too busy harassing him they can’t harass the
cheer team so at least there’s that. He drags himself into the locker room on Friday after a
very, very late night being a chaperone at the mixer he was required to throw for his dorm
floor, quietly thankful he’s not playing. He stands in the back and listens to the game plan,
waiting to see how the first game of the season pans out.

The cheerleaders are already out in full force in their navy, maroon and gold uniforms, the
gold foil of their uniforms shining under the fluorescent gym lights. The gym is already
packed with students, mostly from Decelis since it is a home game, but the opposing
bleachers sport a fair amount of the red and white of Washington State University. It’s going
to be a big game, everyone’s really excited to get to kick off the season and Heeseung can
already feel his skin sparking with restless energy without being able to play.

“Why’d you even fucking come if you can’t play?” Justin asks, sitting on the bench next to
Heeseung. Heeseung resists the urge to ask him the same thing since Justin is second string
and rarely ever sees any part of the game but he’s not going to be petty. Also he doesn’t want
to get into a fight on the bench, that’s stupid.

“Because I have team spirit,” Heeseung says, hands tucked into the pocket of his navy and
gold Decelis Wolves Basketball hoodie. He’s not dressed to play at all, he’s wearing a pair of
jeans and his kicks with his hoodie, Tanya would kill someone if they ever put him in, but he
at least didn’t want to stick out. All of their hoodies are personalized with their names and
numbers anyway, so people can still see the LEE and 15 written on the back of it.

He looks at the sides of the court to see the cheer team already leading the home crowd in
cheers. All the girls are wearing navy and gold pom poms wrapped around the base of their
ponytails, long sleeve under armor under their cropped uniform tops and little pleated skirts.
The picture of perfect collegiate cheerleaders as they jump and yell at the side of the court.

He picks out the guys though, finding them at the back of the formation. Their outfits are a
lot less flashy, long navy and gold pants with sleeveless tops— the same black long sleeve
under armor underneath as the girls— but with the same geometric navy, gold and maroon
pattern on their chest with the Old English D in the center for Decelis. Most people who
come to watch the cheerleaders really only come to stare at the girls but the guys look good
too. Heeseung realizes belatedly that he also hasn’t noticed this before.

The game begins and they do well from the jump. Heeseung feels a little bit of stress melt off
of his shoulders as he watches Shawn, their team captain and acting center while Heeseung is
benched, carry the team. Jake and Jay keep up as well and it’s pretty obvious, to him at least,
that while WSU is a public collegiate team they’re doing a pretty good job of keeping up
with them. It’s a disappointment to the opposing side, he’s sure, most public universities take
them on and expect them to be bare bones as a private school but they’re good. Heeseung is
thankful when the first quarter ends and they’re up by four points.

“You guys are killing it out there,” Heeseung says, standing to hand Jake and Jay towels.

“We’d be doing better if you were out there,” Cory says but he sounds disappointed rather
than resentful. He’s a good guy, quiet but diligent and generally just doesn’t touch the whole
thing with the cheer team at all.

“Next game, I promise,” Heeseung says, gently punching him in the shoulder. Cory nods,
picking up his water bottle for a drink.

“How’s the bench?” Jay teases and Heeseung laughs.

“Keepin’ it warm,” he replies.

The next quarter goes much the same way, even though they no longer have the element of
surprise. WSU starts to catch up, Decelis is still up by the time they reach half time. They
narrowed the gap a little, Decelis is only up by two points now but Heeseung has no doubts
about his team. They can maintain it, they’re good at that.

“And for your halftime entertainment, give it up for your Decelis University Cheer Squad!”
The crowd cheers loudly while the basketball team mildly claps. Heeseung and Jay share a
look as the cheer squad rushes to the center of the court, getting into position. This is yet
another practice for them but unlike football, when they have to give halftime to the
marching band, they have the court to themselves and get to practice their routine for their
own competitions, which are very soon.

Their routine is much faster and upbeat than last year, up tempo too so it happens very
quickly. All of their moves are sharp, assured and Heeseung watches, impressed as the flyers
are thrown into the air like they’re nothing more than ragdolls. It’s truly something to behold,
this is already much better than last year. Jungwon is sure to take them to Nationals this year,
maybe even win with a routine like this. It’s pretty incredible to watch, especially as
Sunghoon and one of their other bases throws Seonwoo in the air, the flyer spinning once in
the air before coming back down.

“Damn, this shit’s always so crazy,” Jay comments softly. “I could never do something like
that. What if they drop you?”

“I guess that’s the whole thing. You have to trust that they won’t,” Heeseung mumbles back.

The court cheers as they finish, the cheer squad yelling out a Decelis cheer for the school to
follow along with.

“Decelis Wolves what?!”

“Decelis Wolves Strong!” Heeseung yells back with the rest of the student body.

They run off the court as halftime is ending, Jay and Jake jumping back up to get back on the
court.

“Don’t fuck it up!” Heeseung yells after them. Jake turns as he’s running back onto the court,
sticking his tongue out. Heeseung laughs, shaking his head.

It’s midway through the third quarter that Heeseung’s phone goes off in his pocket. It’s
Sungchan’s number, which is never a good sign because that generally means that something
stupid is happening at the dorms. Heeseung really hates that he agreed to be an RA
sometimes, the only upside is that he’s an old hat at this by now because he’s done it two
years already. It’s always a huge mistake. The free dorm and meals is nowhere near enough
for all the bullshit he has to deal with. Case and point: this phone call.

He takes it in the locker room because it’s quieter than the roar of the court while there’s an
ongoing basketball game.

“What?” He asks as soon as he answers.

“You’re not playing this game, right?” Sungchan asks rather than offer even so much as a
greeting.

“No hello?” Heeseung huffs. “No, I’m benched this game. What’s up?”

“Party in the dorms. Security was called. Shit’s going down. They want us both here.”
“Bro,” Heeseung stresses, leaning against the wall. “Are you being for real?”

“For the record, I have a six to nine philosophy that I can’t skip! I was out of the dorms when
all this shit happened! Now, we’re both fucked because some idiot freshman decided they
wanted to throw a floor party! I’m not any happier about this than you are!” Sungchan insists
and Heeseung sighs.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ll fucking… run, I guess. Gimme like ten minutes.”

“I’ll let them know.”

Heeseung hangs up the phone and groans loudly. He stuffs his phone into his pocket and then
pushes open the locker room door, only to stop short when he sees Seonwoo standing on the
other side.

“We have to stop meeting like this,” Heeseung jokes and Seonwoo smiles brightly. “I’m
actually on my way out but you looked great out there tonight.”

“Uh… oh. Thanks,” Seonwoo says. Heeseung squeezes his shoulder once then makes a dash
for the gym doors, Seonwoo turning to watch him run away. He laughs once to himself
before heading into the locker room, shaking his head.

“A floor party?!” Jake says, lying on the floor of Heeseung’s dorm room, sharing a blow up
mattress with Jay. Jay is using the bathroom, which is a communal dorm bathroom because
Heeseung’s a freshman dorm RA, brushing his teeth so Jake is currently sprawled, spread
eagle, on the mattress. The blow up mattress is technically contraband but no one needs to
know that. “Bro, you and Sungchan gotta get new residents. That shit’s crazy. Not even I was
bonkers enough to try and throw a floor party in the fucking dorms.”

“Dude, tell me about it,” Heeseung says, leaning against the headboard of his bed, typing out
a report to Resident Services. This is the worst part about being an RA, he has to be a snitch
if people are being exceptionally stupid and since everyone on the floor decided to try and
throw a party he and Sungchan both have to write emails to Resident Services. “Why
couldn’t they just go to a normal fucking party like normal fucking college students?”
Heeseung bemoans, throwing his head back in irritation.

“Because they’re stupid!” Jay announces, coming back into the room and slamming the door
harder than entirely necessary. “Bro, scoot over,” he says and Jake groans but curls up,
rolling over to give Jay room. “You and Sungchan are cool RAs though. Why are your
residents trying so hard to fuck you over?” He asks, lying down and pulling the blankets up.
“Can you get the lights, hyung?”

“After I’m done,” Heeseung says. “I wish I knew. I guess the only upside is that Sungchan
and I were both out so they can’t blame us for it.”

“True,” Jake mumbles into the pillow under his head. “Good night,” he grumbles. He’s been
in a losing battle with his eyelids since he showed up to the dorm so it doesn’t surprise
Heeseung any that he's about to pass out. Heeseung saves the draft, he’ll send it in the
morning, and climbs out of bed to get the lights. The lights go out and then Heeseung
carefully navigates his cramped single, stumbling back into his bed to get some rest.

The whole school is in good spirits come morning because Decelis won their first game of
the basketball season. His teammates are even less sour faced than normal and don’t seem as
ready and willing to start something with him on sight. A good game does that to people,
Heeseung considers. Even if you don’t have any sort of school spirit knowing that your team
managed to best another one can sometimes just make you feel better. A feeling of
superiority even if it’s entirely uncalled for and not true at all.

He has to run to the Resident Services building first thing in the morning, however, because
even though he and Sungchan both sent in emails about the party there are other forms that
they need to fill out. Mostly about security being called and the alcohol being passed around
at the party. They're not a dry campus but they're pretty uptight about underage drinking.
They're a private school after all. They have a reputation to uphold, or something.

Resident Services is unwelcoming as ever, Heeseung thinks as he walks to the building. It

rained last night, Jungwon was at least right about the weather, so everything is wet and gray
and the willows that surround the building look even more drab and horror movie-esque than
normal. They usually give everyone who has to go to the building the heebie-jeebies to begin
with so most students try to avoid the building anyway. The fact that it’s on an off-shoot dead
end drive, straying away from the other service buildings, doesn’t help. Heeseung glances
hesitantly at the encroaching, gray branches hanging over the building like a real-life monster
before sighing heavily. He pulls open the door, stepping into the lobby of the building.

“Seonwoo?” He says, surprised to see the cheerleader standing behind the counter. He smiles
and Heeseung can't help but think there's at least one bright spot in his building. He walks up
to the reception desk, resting his hands on the counter as Seonwoo meets him there. He's
wearing a university lanyard decorated with pins, everything from Animal Crossing to Sanrio
characters. It's painfully cute and at the bottom is a plastic sleeve with his ID safely tucked
inside, Resident Services Receptionist typed neatly above his smiling ID picture. “You work
here?” Heeseung asks, looking up from his ID.

“Only Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays,” Seonwoo says, leaning on the desk counter.
“What brings you to Resident Services?”

“I need… don't make fun of me,” he says. Seonwoo snorts, covering his mouth with his hand.
“I need a Security and a Substance form.”

“Oh, your dorms are the ones who threw the party the night of the game,” Seonwoo says
slowly in understanding. Heeseung rubs a hand over his face, frustrated and embarrassed by
his residents. “I see. I heard the RAs were both out when it happened. That's tough luck,” he
throws over his shoulder as he sorts through the plethora of organizers on the counter behind
him.

“I had the game and Sungchan has a six to nine on Fridays.”

“That's… horrible,” Seonwoo stresses, turning back around with the forms in hand. “For so
many reasons,” he says and Heeseung nods in agreement. “Here are the forms.” He slides
them across the counter to him. Heeseung picks them up, folding them into thirds and sliding
them into his messenger bag. He’ll have to fill those out later. When he looks back up,
Seonwoo is still smiling at him serenely.

“Don’t you think it’s creepy, working here?” He asks, leaning on the counter again, voice
dropping to keep from anyone else hearing them. Seonwoo hums in surprise, eyes widening.
“I mean, the building has a weird vibe, right?” Heeseung points out, unable to help himself.
He can’t be the only one who’s noticed it.

“You think so? I never really noticed,” Seonwoo replies but Heeseung simply lifts an
unconvinced brow. Seonwoo giggles, shaking his head. “I guess it is kind of creepy, since it’s
all by itself out here,” he admits, looking out the window. It’s windy today after all the
weather and the branches of the trees are knocking against the window, looking like crooked
witch fingers where they tap the glass. “It’s not so bad during the day. I worked the night shift
before cheer started; probably won’t do that again,” he comments.

“Probably not safe for you to be out by yourself past dark anyway,” Heeseung says.

“I can handle myself,” Seonwoo replies, his irritation flaring. He hates when people say that
to him. Just because he’s a cheerleader doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to defend himself.
He’s more than capable of walking around by himself after dark. Heeseung must notice
because he lifts his hands in mock surrender.

“I didn’t mean to say that you can’t,” he insists. He drops his hands and leans forward on the
counter again. “I just mean, it’s dark down here after nightfall. The street lights are on the
main road and once you get past this building it’s dark until you get there,” Heeseung points
out, pointing out the window. “It’s not safe for anyone to be over here past dark. They
should’ve been more careful about that. I wouldn’t want to be here once the sun goes down
either.”

“I guess that’s true,” Seonwoo admits, his indignation dying down to embarrassment. “I
didn’t mean—”

“I know how it sounded and you don’t need to apologize for that,” Heeseung assures him. “I
should’ve been clearer. You probably get shitty comments like that a lot.” Seonwoo looks
away shyly. “Anyway, I won’t bother you. You’re probably… so busy,” he jokes, making a
show out of looking around the lobby. It’s completely deserted and Seonwoo giggles. “I’ll let
you get some of your studying done.”

“What—” Heeseung nods to the counter behind him, and Seonwoo looks over at where his
biology notes are splayed out on the counter behind him. He sighs. “Yeah… biology’s a real
beast outside of high school,” he says, turning back to Heeseung.

“I bet. Hwaiting,” he tells him and Seonwoo laughs again. “See you.” Heeseung taps the
counter and then heads out. Seonwoo slumps forward on the desk once the door closes
behind him.
“Why are you so nice?” Seonwoo grumbles, glaring at the door Heeseung just went through.

The next couple of weeks are, thankfully, uneventful. No one from the basketball team
antagonizes the cheer team and the cheer team doesn’t vandalize any of their property. Things
are about as good as they can be between the two teams. The weather is getting colder though
so the basketball team starts showing up in sweat pants rather than shorts and even the cheer
team are seen in yoga pants at their practices. On an even better note, the dorms are quiet
after Heeseung and Sungchan input their reports so maybe they'll have at least a few quiet
weeks leading up to exams. Which are coming fast, much faster than anyone wants them to
be.

Before that, however, there’s another basketball game and Regionals.

“Alright, team, listen up!” Coach Sanders says, corralling the basketball team together. “We
got another game tomorrow which is, as you all know, an away game!”

Away games have their pros and cons. Pros: they get to bus to whatever college they’re
playing at and usually they get to stay the night at a hotel before busing back to campus the
next day, if it’s far. This next one is in Portland so it’s pretty far and they’ll definitely be
staying in a hotel. It’s a whole weekend event which means they don’t have to stay on
campus, they get to go to a different city and be predominantly unchaperoned the entire time
because they’re “adults.” The cons are that they have to do their homework on the bus or in
the hotel since they don’t get clearance to skip just because they’re on the basketball team
and also they have to go with the cheer team. The cheer team buses separately but they share
a hotel, which means the entire basketball and cheer teams are forced to be in pretty close
proximity.

And the Lord only knows what could happen. Pranks have abounded before and despite the
fact that both coaches try to keep them separate, it hardly ever works.

“Heeseung’s gonna be starting as center,” he says, looking over at the Senior in question, a
murmur going through the other guys. “And the games in Portland! We’re gonna stay in the
city for the night since it’s a late game! Pair up, rooms are doubles, everyone’s gonna share!”
He calls out. He claps his hands and the guys turn to their nearest friends, which in
Heeseung’s case are Jake and Jay. But Jake is already gone?

“Hey, coach!” Jake calls out and the coach wheels back around to look at him. “Since we’re
going with the cheer team anyway, would it be cool if I roomed with one of their guys?” He
asks and the coach looks, understandably, bewildered by the question. “One of their members
is a friend of mine, and we have an odd amount of guys on the team anyway,” he points out,
nodding to the rest of their guys.

This is true. Usually it would mean one of the players has to room with the coach, which no
one wants to do anyway, so it works out if one of them rooms with a cheerleader. Except no
one’s wanted to before.

“Uh… I don’t see why not,” he says, scratching his head. He turns towards the cheer team.
“Hey, Kellie!” He shouts and the cheer coach looks over, eyes bright. “One of my guys wants
to room with one of yours during the away game. Is that okay?” He doesn’t sound very sure
of himself even as he asks it but the coach brightens up considerably.

“Of course!” She chirps. “We have an odd amount of boys on our team anyway. That’s totally
fine with me!”

“Thanks, Coach!” Jake calls out and she grins at him. He walks away from their coach, who
still looks extremely perplexed, meeting back up with Heeseung and Jay. If he can feel all the
eyes of their basketball team looking at him he doesn’t indicate it as he stands next to
Heeseung and Jay.

“Sunghoon?” Jay asks and Jake nods. “That’s what I thought.”

“You guys gonna be okay without me to room with?” Jake jokes, crossing his arms over his
chest.

“We’ll room together,” Jay says, nodding to Heeseung. “Without you around hyung’s
practically a target.” Heeseung shoves him gently in the shoulder, making him laugh. “It’s
true. Besides, I’m the only one of us who can handle the other jackasses on our team. Shawn
and Cory are gonna room together,” he points out and they all look over to see the two boys
in question already talking. Cory’s just a sophomore but Shawn was his orientation mentor
when he started at Decelis last year and they’ve been friends ever since. They pretty much
always room together during away games. However, they’re also a couple of the only guys
on the team Heeseung and Jake can stand to share a room with. “If I don’t room with hyung,
who knows what might happen to his pretty face.”

“Shut up,” Heeseung laughs, grabbing him by the shirt. Jake rolls his eyes as the two of them
start rough housing.

The three of them, as per usual, are a few of the only basketball players left in the locker
room well after practice which is when the cheer team rolls in. Heeseung and Jake are still
shirtless and Jay leans around his locker to look, confused.

“I thought cheer practices ran late,” he calls out, which catches Jungwon and Sunghoon’s
attentions. They divert away from the rest of the cheer guys to come over to them, Jake
leaning out to slap hands with Sunghoon.

“Coach Williams cut practice short since we’re going with you guys to the game,” Jungwon
explains. “She wants us to rest up beforehand. Besides, we’re probably gonna have shorter
practices this next week so we don’t strain ourselves before Regionals.”

“Right,” Jake says, nodding. “When are they?”

“Next weekend,” Sunghoon answers. “We fly out to California Thursday.”

“Damn, right before exams,” Heeseung says, glancing over. “Shit’s rough.”

“Nationals are after winter break,” Jungwon tells him. “We’re gonna be practicing all break.”
“You guys are gonna kill it,” Jake assures him. “We all saw that routine at halftime. It was
crazy. Way better than last year.”

“We’ll see. After our major fuck up last year no one has a lot of confidence in us,” Sunghoon
says. Jungwon looks more stressed than Heeseung’s seen him. Just the topic of Nationals
seems to have him on edge. “I heard what you asked Coach Sanders though,” Sunghoon
changes the topic, looking at Jake. “Room together?”

“I don’t want to room with these assholes again,” Jake jokes. Jay throws his shirt at him, Jake
turning to catch it before it lands. “Fucker!” He shouts, flinging it back twice as hard. “You
see what I deal with?” He comments and Sunghoon laughs.

“Yeah, I’m down. Our numbers are off this year anyway. I would’ve had to sign like three
waivers that said ‘I will not fuck my team mate, pinky swear’ before I could room with
Wonyoung anyway,” Sunghoon jokes, making them all laugh. “So it’s cool.”

“You rooming with Seonwoo?” Heeseung asks, looking at Jungwon.

“That’s the plan,” he agrees with a small, knowing smile. “And I’m watching you, Lee. No
funny business,” he warns, lifting a brow. Heeseung laughs, pulling his shirt on.

“Whatever you say, Yang.”

They all pile onto buses the next day for the three hour drive (with traffic) to Portland, bags
packed and homework stashed (for some of them). The cheer team takes a separate charter
bus than the basketball team so Heeseung, Jake and Jay are on their own in the back corner of
the bus. The seats are two on either side so Heeseung lets Jay and Jake sit together, dropping
his bag onto the spare seat, opening his laptop up as soon as they start moving.

“Bro, are you already working?” Jake asks, leaning on his arm rest where he’s sitting in the
aisle.

“I have a project check-in with my professor for my exam,” he tells him. “I need at least six
demos ready if I want to pass.” Jake frowns reflexively. “So, I’m gonna be doing this all
weekend. You guys have fun without me.”

“Dude, c’mon,” Jay complains, leaning over Jake to look at him. “Nick’s tight with the
Portland State team since he’s from Oregon and they just told him they’re hitting the clubs
after the game. Loser buys the winning team’s drinks for the night.” Heeseung shakes his
head while Jake rolls his eyes. “You’re not actually going to study all night, are you?”

“I need to pass if I want to graduate,” Heeseung points out. Jay groans, throwing himself
back against the window. “You guys should go if you want but I’m gonna stay in.”

“Suit it yourself,” Jake says, turning back to his own work. He’s a physics major so he has his
own plethora of studying he needs to do but he’s also a Junior, his entire degree doesn’t ride
on this one exam so if he slacks off a bit, Heeseung totally understands. He’s not so lucky
though.
The hotel is far from being five stars, it’s a Tru by Hilton hotel, which is a little further
upscale than they usually get but it’s better than a Comfort Inn. Heeseung still remembers the
time his high school went to conference championships and they had to stay in a Motel 6,
he’ll take anything better than that at this point. The coaches dole out the room keys, tell
them not to get into any trouble and then basically leave them to settle in before they have to
be on Portland State’s campus for the game. It’s about three hours until they have to be on the
bus so both teams scatter to the far reaches of the hotel. Heeseung looks at Jay, handing him
his key card.

“Don’t lose it. I’m not waking up at three a.m. to let you in if you lose it in the club after the
game,” Heeseung tells him. Jay sneers playfully, snatching his card from Heeseung’s hand.
Heeseung laughs, stowing his own key card in his wallet.

“I’m on the basketball team’s roster,” Sunghoon says, meeting up with them, backpack on
and duffle hanging from his shoulder. Jake passes him one of the cards from the sleeve coach
gave him. “What floor?” He asks, leaning into Jake’s shoulder to look at the sleeve.

“Five,” Jake says, showing him the room number: 515.

“Cheer’s on six,” Sunghoon informs them, hitching his duffle a little further on his shoulder.
“I’m gonna head up to the room. You coming?” He asks and Jake nods. “You guys too?”

“I’m gonna head to the business clubhouse,” Heeseung says, nodding to the wing of the
lobby sectioned off with a doorway. Sunghoon lifts a brow while Jake rolls his eyes, Jay
reaching over to take the sleeve from Heeseung’s hand, sliding his card into it. “What? I said
I have a lot of work to do while we’re here. I’ll head up to the room later,” he tells them.

“Have fun with all your homework,” Jay teases him, turning to head for the elevators. Jake
gently punches him in the shoulder and then follows after Jay, Sunghoon on his heels.
Heeseung rolls his eyes, heading for the business clubhouse. At least it’ll be quiet and the
wifi will be best there.

As much as he loves Jay he knows he’s loud. He plays his music loud, he’s heavy handed,
there is always some kind of noise coming from his friend. If he wants to work on his
homework in silence he’s going to have to find a place to do it that’s away from his constant
ruckus. The business clubhouse seems like the best place so he pushes open the door and
slips into the quiet of the lounge, computer still in hand from when he hastily closed it to get
off the bus.

There’s a free corner in the back of the lounge where he sets up base camp, opening his
computer back up. He still has two demos he needs to finish up before the weekend is over so
he drops his duffle and messenger bag on the floor by his feet, only pausing to fish his water
bottle out of his duffle. He checks the time, he has at least three hours until bus call, he
should be able to dedicate at least two hours to this.

He’s only been at it, headphones in and attention fully focused on his work, a short while
when someone taps on the back of his laptop. He looks up, surprised to see Seonwoo
standing there. He slides his headphones down to hang around his neck, Seonwoo leaning
towards him to speak quietly.
“What’re you doing in here?” He asks, voice soft to not disturb anyone else. There aren’t a
lot of other people in the clubhouse but there are a few suit wearing businessmen who would
probably take great offense to a college student interrupting their work.

“Senior project stuff,” Heeseung whispers back. “You studying too?”

“I hate studying in my room. Makes me all claustrophobic so I thought I’d come down.” He
glances down at Heeseung’s stuff. “You didn’t take your stuff to your room yet?”

“Figured I’d do it later,” he brushes off.

“Do it now,” Seonwoo urges. “That way you don’t have to worry about it when we have to
get to bus call. I’ll watch your stuff, as long as you let me sit with you,” he offers and
Heeseung smiles.

“Yeah, okay,” Heeseung agrees. “I’ll be back in, like, five?” Seonwoo nods and moves
around to sit on the opposite side of the table from Heeseung’s things. Heeseung picks
himself up, closing his laptop but leaving it sitting on the table, along with his headphones
and his notes. Seonwoo opens his own notes, setting up to get some of his own studying
done, one of his earbuds tucked into his ear. Heeseung glances at him once, Seonwoo already
focusing in on his notes and his biology textbook, then heads for the door, duffle and
backpack in hand.

His room is splashed with bright colors, cyan and orange and white. It’s a little garish but
Heeseung’s pretty sure that’s the whole theme of this hotel. He drops his bags on the second
bed in the room, by the window. Jay doesn’t even look up from his phone where he’s splayed
on the bed, texting someone.

“Finally decide to come up?” He asks.

“Just to drop my stuff. Someone’s watching my laptop,” Heeseung tells him. Jay groans,
rolling over on his back.

“You’re really gonna study the entire time we’re here?” Jay complains. Heeseung pats
himself down his wallet and phone on his way back to the door.

“Sure am,” Heeseung assures him, opening the hotel room door. “Don’t miss me too much.”

“You fuckin’ wish,” Jay grumbles. Heeseung grins and steps out, letting the door close
behind him.

All of his things are still sitting there waiting for him when he gets back, as well as Seonwoo,
who seems to be pretty well immersed in his own work. Clearly he’s not the only one who’s
got a fair amount of work that needs doing before exams. Then again, they have the Cheer
Regionals that they need to focus on right before exams. If he’s not prepared he’s not going to
have any time for the pre-exam cram that’s sure to hit the entire cheer team. Smart of him to
be thinking so far ahead. Heeseung just doesn’t want to have to finish his demos right before
exams, his music is the one thing he refuses to put off until last minute.
He settles down across from Seonwoo, who only glances as the chair creaks under
Heeseung’s weight. He looks back down almost immediately, going back to his notes as
Heeseung opens his laptop. They’re the only two from their college down here. No one else
wants to study during this trip, apparently, and who can blame them?

Seonwoo’s phone goes off when it’s only an hour until bus call and he taps the timer to turn it
off. He closes up his things and reaches over, tapping the corner of Heeseung’s laptop again.
Heeseung drops his headphones down again, Seonwoo smiling apologetically.

“Hour ‘til bus call,” he whispers and Heeseung nods, saving his progress and closing his
laptop. They both clean up their things, packing up all their study materials and head for the
door together. Heeseung opens the door first but nods for Seonwoo to go ahead of him.
“Thanks,” Seonwoo mumbles as he steps through, Heeseung following after him. They take
the elevator together, Heeseung pressing the button for five and then six right after. Seonwoo
looks at the lit up buttons and then Heeseung, a confused crease in his brow.

“Sunghoon said cheer’s on floor six, right?” he says and Seonwoo nods.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

They go their separate ways when the door opens on floor five and Heeseung steps out. He
pauses, a hand on the doorway to stop the door from closing, looking back at Seonwoo.

“See you at the game,” he throws over his shoulder with a smile.

“Yeah, see you,” Seonwoo replies. He lets go and heads towards his room. The doors slide
shut and Seonwoo leans against the back wall of the elevator. He closes his eyes with a sigh.
“Why is he so fucking nice,” he mumbles to himself, slumping against the wall.

The game goes about as well as the last one except the crowd is full of green and white with
only a scarce amount of navy, gold and maroon on the visitor bleachers. This means the
crowd is less than pleased by the fact that Decelis is winning by a ten point margin by the end
of the first half. The team runs off the court, dressed in their away game jerseys of gold with
navy and maroon stripes down the sides, their names and numbers plastered on their backs in
navy blue. This time the halftime show is the Portland State Dance Team and the Decelis
cheer team is relegated to the sidelines, waiting it out.

“Do you think I should ask one of the basketball players out?” Seonwoo overhears Yujin ask
Wonyoung during halftime. The guys are all lined up at the edge of the court, some of them
sporting towels around their necks. Wonyoung makes a surprised noise, and Seonwoo sees
her jerk back in genuine shock, pom poms shimmering with the movement.

“I thought you were seeing Adrian on the football team?” She asks.
“He’s been ignoring all of my texts since fall break. He said he’s been focusing on his Art
History class but every time I go on Instagram he’s out with the football team. I think he’s
getting bored of me.”

“You’re a cheerleader!” Wonyoung points out.

“I know!” Yujin insists and Seonwoo presses his lips together, sipping from his water bottle
to avoid offering his two cents. “So, what if I went for one of the basketball guys? Some of
them are cute.”

“They’re jerks,” Wonyoung says as though it’s obvious. Really, it is. The basketball team and
cheer team are far from friends, Seonwoo fails to see why Yujin would think this would work
for her. It would be more worthwhile for her to try and date one of the baseball players, just
wait out the season until pre-season training. He considers offering up that idea, Sungchan
Jung’s going to be starting as pitcher this year he heard, stopping when she speaks again.

“Not all of them,” she says knowingly and Seonwoo looks at the same time as Wonyoung.
You don’t need to be a genius to know that Yujin is looking directly at Decelis’ starting
center, Heeseung Lee, as she says it. “He’s not a jerk, he’s kind of sweet. And besides, just
look at him,” she stresses and Seonwoo is looking.

Heeseung’s got his jersey pinched between his fingers, waving it to try and get some airflow
between it and his sweaty skin. The bruise on his shoulder is mostly gone, just a little bit of
yellowing on his golden skin, so he forwent any under layer this game. When he pulls the
hem of his jersey up to wipe his face it puts his flat stomach on full display. His arms are
nothing but toned muscles, his legs too and his dark hair is plastered to his forehead from
sweat, which he pushes away with a hand. He looks good, he looks even better when he’s
playing and he’s scored at least six of their points tonight. He’s come back to the court with a
vengeance after his forced benching from that bruise, something the opposing team is
probably more than a little disappointed by.

“Yeah… no,” Wonyoung says and Yujin makes a confused noise. “Heeseung’s cute, but I
heard you don’t have a chance with him anyway.” She leans in and Seonwoo strains to hear
what she says next. “I heard a rumor that he plays for the other team. So I don’t think you’re
his type.”

“What?!” Yujin exclaims, jerking back. Her pom poms tremble as she does so. “Ugh, why are
all the decent guys into dudes?”

“Because the others engage in toxic masculinity and dabble in misogynistic tendencies,”
Sunghoon offers, handing Wonyoung her water bottle. Wonyoung smiles prettily as she
moves her pom poms to one hand, taking the offered water bottle. “I figured that one was
obvious.”

“Shut up, Sunghoon,” Yujin replies, turning and walking back towards the others. Seonwoo
snorts, lifting his hands to stretch. His muscles are going to get tight if he doesn’t and the
halftime is almost over. Sunghoon leaves Wonyoung’s side to stand beside him instead.
“Let me help,” Sunghoon says and Seonwoo stretches his arms back behind him, Sunghoon
taking his wrists and stretching his arms up as far as possible. “You know… I don’t think it’s
true,” he says, holding Seonwoo’s arms for him.

“What?” Seonwoo asks, and Sunghoon drops his arms for him, Seonwoo shaking his arms
out once he does.

“What they said about Heeseung,” he says, coming around to stand in front of him. Seonwoo
lifts a brow, lifting a foot off the ground to stretch it behind him as well. “At least, I don’t
think he’s only into dudes. I think someone just made that up about him because of what he’s
been doing for the cheer team. You know how the rest of the guys on the basketball team can
be.”

“Okay,” Seonwoo says, dropping his leg and stretching it out in front of himself instead.
“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you have a thing for him.” He doesn’t even ask it, he says it so assuredly it’s like he
knows it. It’s a statement. Seonwoo laughs, straightening back up and bringing his other foot
up behind himself to stretch it out.

“I don’t like basketball players,” he says, shaking his head. “I don’t know what Jungwon’s
told you but I don’t have a thing for Heeseung Lee.”

“Jungwon didn’t say anything to me,” Sunghoon laughs as though amused. “I just sort of
figured. You’ve been starry eyed about him ever since he caught you in the gym.”

“I have not,” Seonwoo retorts, dropping his leg. He doesn’t even move to stretch it out the
other direction, crossing his arms over his chest. “It was nice of him to do that but I have not
been… starry eyed,” he says, tone incredulous. Sunghoon lifts a disbelieving brow. “He’s just
been nice to the cheer team as of late and I appreciate it. That doesn’t mean I like him.”

“Okay, Seonwoo,” Sunghoon says and the buzzer goes off, marking the end of halftime.
Sunghoon walks back over to the team, the huddle beginning so they can prepare for another
cheer. Seonwoo huffs, drooping his arms and following him. He glances over his shoulder
once more, seeing the basketball team run back onto the court. Heeseung is at the front of the
pack. Seonwoo gets back to the huddle, the team doing one last cheer before taking over the
sidelines again.

“Decelis who?!”

“Decelis Wolves!” The visitor’s bleaches call out.

“Decelis Wolves what?!”

“Decelis Wolves Strong!”

The whistle blows and the bleachers cheer as the game starts again.

Decelis wins by a narrow margin. Portland State came back in the second half, narrowing the
gap down until Decelis won by only four points. It was a tough game but the Decelis team is
in good spirits as they come back to the hotel. The staff are kind to not scold them for the
noise they’re making in the lobby, the cheer team even a little rowdier than normal as they
come in, excited from the game. The teams disperse back to their rooms, the basketball team
surely to change and get ready for their night out.

Jake comes to the room 30 minutes after they get in, already showered and dressed to go out.
Heeseung leans against the doorway after opening the door, Jay having yelled from the
bathroom for him to get it because he’s still doing his hair. He’s not alone either, Sunghoon is
with him.

“Don’t tell me you’re going out with them too?” Heeseung says, looking at the cheerleader.

“Sounds like fun,” he says, shrugging. Heeseung shakes his head, moving away from the
door to let them in. Sunghoon closes the door behind them, Jay coming out of the bathroom,
finally ready, as they get past the entryway. “Jake said it was on Portland State’s dime
anyway. I’d be a fool to turn down free booze.” Heeseung snorts, lifting the lid of his laptop
back up from how he had half closed it to get the door. Sunghoon looks him over. “You’re not
going?”

“Nope,” Heeseung says, hanging his headphones around his neck again. “I have demos I need
to finish for my Senior project.”

“Hey, you wanna let Sunghoon borrow your hoodie then?” Jake asks.

“Why?” Heeseung asks but he’s already picking it up from where it’s lying on the desk next
to him. “No one at Portland is gonna believe he’s me,” he says, throwing it across the room to
Sunghoon, who catches it and pulls it on.

“No, but as long as he’s in Decelis colors they won’t ask any questions. And some of the
others are bringing some of the cheerleading girls with us too,” Jay tells him, picking his
wallet and phone up from the end of the bed where he left them. Heeseung looks at him in
disbelief.

“Free booze,” Jake shrugs.

“It gets you every time, huh?”

“The girls are only coming because the basketball guys promised them drinks and the guys
only asked because they want the Portland State team to think they can score arm candy.
They can’t and all of them are going to leave them high and dry as soon as we get to the
club,” Sunghoon assures him. Heeseung snorts, turning back to his computer. “And don’t
worry, Jungwon’s already given us the talk about not getting too drunk and making bus call.”

“God bless ‘im,” Heeseung mutters. “Don’t lose your key!” He calls out as the door opens
again.

“I won’t, Dad!” Jay returns. The door closes behind him and the room is finally quiet.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Jungwon says as Seonwoo finishes putting on his eyeliner.
“I know the others are gonna do whatever they want regardless of what their team captain
thinks but Seonwoo, I really don’t think this is a good idea. I think you should stay at the
hotel.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Seonwoo insists, coming out of the bathroom to look at his friend.
Jungwon is frowning deeply where he’s sitting on his bed on the far side of the room, already
changed into his sweats. Seonwoo knew Jungwon wasn’t going to go but Seonwoo is feeling
a little bit reckless and annoyed so what’s the harm in going out and having a good time.

Maybe people will stop assuming he has a thing for Heeseung Lee if he does.

“A lot of the others are going,” Seonwoo tells him, tossing his eyeliner back into his bag. He
only brought it for the game but it’s coming in more handy than he expected. “Yujin and
Taeyoung are going so we’re gonna stick together while we’re there. And practically the
whole basketball team is going too.”

Everyone except Heeseung. That’s what Sunghoon told him when he asked if he could tag
along. It was like a warning when he said it though. “You know Heeseung’s not going,
right?” Like Heeseung needs to go for Seonwoo to want to go out to a club with the rest of
them. He doesn’t do things just to be near Heeseung.

“See, that’s the part I don’t like,” Jungwon says, pointing a finger. “I don’t like the idea of the
cheer team going just because the basketball team is. I don’t trust the basketball team and I
know most of the squad doesn’t either, they’re just going because the basketball team is a free
booze ticket. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be hanging around the guys that tried to
trip you three weeks ago.”

“Jake and Jay are going too,” Seonwoo says and Jungwon rolls his eyes. “I’ll stick close to
them and Sunghoon. They’re decent guys.”

“I wish Heeseung was going. I trust him,” Jungwon grumbles.

“Well, he’s not,” Seonwoo says, sliding his wallet into his pocket. “I’m gonna go before I get
left behind.”

“Be careful! Don’t let anyone buy you something that’s not sealed!” Jungwon yells out as
Seonwoo goes for the door.

“Yeah, I got it,” Seonwoo calls back. “Be back later.”

“By one!”

“By one!” He confirms.

He meets everyone else out front of the hotel, Taeyoung reaching out for him as soon as he
gets out the front doors. Everyone is in little groups by the basketball team, starting to head
towards the club where they’re going to be meeting the Portland State team. Yujin slides her
arm through Seonwoo’s, grinning as they head down the street but Seonwoo’s pretty sure
she’s also using him to stay upright on her stilettos.

“Seonwoo?” Jake says and Seonwoo looks over, Jake and Sunghoon just a few paces ahead
of them. “I didn’t know you were coming,” he says and Seonwoo nods.

“Sunghoon mentioned it so I thought I’d come along,” he tells him, casual as ever. Jake
doesn’t look convinced, looking at Sunghoon, who just shrugs. “Sounded like fun,” Seonwoo
adds.

“It will be,” Yujin assures him.

It’s a Friday night so the club is packed wall to wall with party goers and the Portland State
team waves them over as Decelis arrives. They’re greeted in a much friendlier way than
Seonwoo was expecting for them to be. The Portland State team gives them their dues as the
winners and orders all five tables of them (a lot of the cheer team came out for free booze)
their first round of drinks. This place also seems to be pretty lax on IDing because Jake
orders for their table and only he gets ID’d. Seonwoo considers it lucky.

A lot of the cheerleaders dip on the basketball guys as soon as the drinks arrive, which
Seonwoo giggles into his drink with Taeyoung about, watching as Yunjin and Kazuha both
leave their “dates” high and dry. Some of the girls even dance with the Portland guys, which
makes a lot of sense because the Portland guys have been checking out the cheerleaders as
soon as they arrived. They also seem to be pretty decent about the whole thing, not sore at all
despite the way they’re a public university and they got stomped in the first half by a private
school.

“I’m gonna go dance,” Taeyoung tells him, leaving his side. It's no sooner that Taeyoung
leaves that a Portland guy slides into the booth next to Seonwoo and Seonwoo lifts a brow,
sipping from his glass.

“Hey,” he greets him. “I noticed you when you came in with the basketball guys but you’re
not a player,” he says and Seonwoo leans back, crossing his arms over his chest. “I saw you
during the game with the cheerleaders. That uniform looks cute on you.”

“Does that line work for you?” Seonwoo retorts and the guy laughs.

“Usually. You don’t seem one for flattery though.” Seonwoo shakes his head. “Fair enough.
How do you feel about dancing?”

“Can you dance?” Seonwoo retorts.

“Haven’t tripped yet,” he says and Seonwoo giggles. “C’mon.” He slides out of the booth,
offering his hand.

“I don’t even know your name,” Seonwoo says, giving him a once over. He’s cute, for a
white boy. Bright blue eyes with side parted black hair that hangs into them and a clear, fair
complexion. Seonwoo doesn’t remember seeing him during the game but Seonwoo didn’t
spend a lot of time looking at the opposing team. He’s wearing a nice pair of jeans and a
loose, unbuttoned flannel, not bad.

“It’s Ethan.” Seonwoo blinks. Why does that name sound familiar? “What about you?”

“Seonwoo,” he replies and fully expects the basketball player to trip on it.

“Seonwoo?” He asks and Seonwoo nods, quietly surprised. “I have a few Korean friends. It’s
pretty.” Seonwoo tilts his head, moderately impressed. “How about that dance now that
we’ve been acquainted?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Ethan is a good dancer, he’s better than Seonwoo expected and they end up spending much of
the night together. He even lets Ethan buy him a drink, a sealed drink, because Seonwoo’s
older sisters didn’t raise a fool. He takes the beer right from the bartender’s hand despite the
fact that he doesn’t really care for beer. It’s better than an open cup though so he doesn’t
mind, besides it’s a free drink, he’s not really drinking it for the flavor. He has a pretty good
time with Ethan, better than he expected for sure.

“Do you… wanna get out here?” Ethan asks later in the night when they’re on the dance floor
again, Ethan’s hands on his hips, his mouth next to Seonwoo’s ear. He’s pretty tipsy and
Ethan must be more so, he’s starting to turn a little bit red in the cheeks, which is cute.

“I don’t sleep with guys on the first date,” Seonwoo replies and Ethan chuckles. “Besides, I
have bus call in the morning and a curfew with my cheer captain.”

“Bummer,” he groans. “Maybe next time? When we come to Decelis?”

“I’ll think about it,” Seonwoo agrees. Ethan kisses his neck and Seonwoo bites the corner of
his lip, tilting his head to give him more room.

His phone chirps with an alarm and he pulls away to check the time. It’s 12:30 and he
promised Jungwon one. He has to get out of here so he reluctantly disentangles himself from
Ethan’s arms, promising to catch up with him another time. He even kisses him, Ethan has
been an amazing distraction tonight. Ethan kisses him back and Seonwoo leaves to find
someone that he can tell he’s leaving.

Sunghoon, Jake and Jay are still at a table, chatting it up with a few of the Portland guys.
Seonwoo grabs Sunghoon’s sleeve, tugging gently. Sunghoon looks over and smiles.

“You having a good time?” he asks.

“A great time, actually,” Seonwoo replies brightly. He looks over his shoulder to see Ethan
having retired to the bar. Sunghoon looks around Seonwoo to look as well, spotting the guy
who waves and winks at Seonwoo. Sunghoon scoffs, shaking his head. So much for Seonwoo
being hung up on Heeseung. “But, I gotta get out of here,” Seonwoo says, looking back at
Sunghoon. “I’m headed back to the hotel.”

“What time is it?”

“12:30.”

“Oh, fuck,” Sunghoon huffs, setting his drink down. He shakes Jake’s shoulder, Jake looking
over in surprise. “Dude, it’s past midnight. Check out’s at ten tomorrow.”

“Fuck, really?” He says, clearly surprised by the time. He grabs Jay by the shoulder while
Sunghoon turns back to Seonwoo.

“We’ll head back with you,” he says, standing up from the table.

“What about the others?” Seonwoo asks, looking around. There are basketball players and
cheerleaders from Decelis all over the place, it would take a long time for them to round them
all up. Sunghoon shakes his head, side stepping to let Jake and Jay both slide out of the booth
as well.

“They’ll figure it out themselves. Let’s get out of here,” Sunghoon tells him, turning him by
the shoulder. The four of them stumble their way out of the crowds and onto the sidewalk as
quickly as possible.

It’s not a very far walk from the hotel to the club, which is convenient. The hotel was chosen
because it was close to the campus but the campus is downtown so it’s also close to the clubs.
It’s a short but cold 15 minute walk from one destination to the next but it’s during that walk
that Seonwoo starts to realize that he doesn’t feel very good.

“Oh,” he moans, putting a hand on his head. He’s feeling dizzy, sort of nauseous. He didn’t
drink that much tonight, only a drink and a half maybe. He never finished that beer that Ethan
bought him but for some reason he’s really feeling it.

“Seonwoo?” Jay says, looking over when he notices Seonwoo has fallen back. Sunghoon and
Jake stop, looking back as well. “Are you okay?” He asks, going to Seonwoo’s side.

“I don’t know,” he mumbles. “I don’t feel very good.”

“How much did you drink?” Jake asks.

“Only, like, a drink and a half?” He says. He goes to step forward but he stumbles and Jay
rushes to catch him. He wouldn’t have fallen but his coordination is going, he’s not going to
be able to make it back to the hotel on his own. Jay takes Seonwoo by the arm while
Sunghoon rushes over to put a hand on Seonwoo’s forehead, checking to see if he’s getting
sick.

“You’re not feverish or anything,” he says. “C’mon, let’s get you back to the hotel. Maybe
Jungwon will be able to help,” he says, taking Seonwoo’s other arm. Seonwoo nods but he
doesn’t feel confident about it.

They take him up to his room, Seonwoo handing Sunghoon his key to let them in the room.
Jungwon looks up from his phone where he was sitting in the middle of his bed, waiting up
for Seonwoo to come back. He’s, understandably, concerned when Sunghoon and Jay help
him into the room, sitting him down on his bed. He’s flushed in the cheeks and holding his
head, unsteady on his feet across the room.

“Do you have some water?” Jake asks and Jungwon hops up to get a bottle of water from his
bag. He usually keeps extra water with him. He passes it over, Jake sitting next to Seonwoo
as Sunghoon and Jay step back, all of them looking concerned. Jungwon moves to stand at
the end of Seonwoo’s bed as Jake takes the cap off the water, handing it to Seonwoo. “Drink
this. Slowly. Take small sips,” he advises and Seonwoo nods, sipping from the water bottle.

Jungwon grabs Jay and Sunghoon by the arms, dragging them towards the door. He leaves
Jake and Seonwoo on the other side of the room, Jake keeping an eye on Seonwoo. Jungwon
glares at them both, but they both seem just as concerned and confused as him.

“What happened?” Jungwon demands, worriedly glancing at his friend.

“We don’t know,” Sunghoon says quickly. “He was fine when we left the club. He even
seemed to be in a really good mood. We were on our way to the hotel when it suddenly hit
him. He just said he didn’t feel well, and he was all over the place, like he was dizzy or just
uncoordinated.”

“He said he only had a drink and a half, and I totally believe that,” Jay tells him. “He wasn’t
this flushed when we left the club. I don’t think he’s drunk.”

“Then why does he look so sick?” Jungwon asks.

“Honestly?” Jay asks and Jungwon nods, once, curt. “I think someone put something in his
drink.”

“In a club?” Sunghoon immediately asks. “We were surrounded by people all night. The
place was packed.”

“Exactly,” Jay points out. “The place was full and security was lax. They didn’t even card
everyone.” Jungwon sighs, running a stressed hand through his hair. “It would’ve taken a
second, less even, to slip something into his drink. And we were surrounded by a lot of
college students.”

“Who was he with?” Jungwon asks.

“I don’t know that,” Jay admits.

“He looked over at this guy before we left,” Sunghoon offers and Jungwon looks at him. “I
don’t know him, he was probably a player for the Portland State team. Average looking white
guy, I guess, but Seonwoo seemed pretty happy. I’d bet he spent most of the night with him.”

Jungwon looks over at Seonwoo again, who’s color is starting to even out. He doesn’t look as
wobbly anymore either so Jungwon walks over to him. He sits down on Seonwoo’s other
side, Jay and Sunghoon going over with him. Seonwoo runs a hand through his hair, taking a
deep breath and then slowly letting it out.
“Seonwoo,” Jungwon says and Seonwoo slowly looks over at him. “Did you ever leave your
drink unattended tonight?” He asks.

“No,” Seonwoo says. “I never left it alone.”

“Did you ever leave it behind… at all?” Sunghoon asks.

“No, I—” He stops, his eyes sliding around in thought. “I finished the first one, the one in the
cup. I never left that one anywhere after the waitress gave it to me. But the second one…” He
blinks slowly, trying to remember. “I did leave that one on the table,” he confirms and
Jungwon sighs, Sunghoon rubbing his hands over his face. “But I told Yujin I was leaving,”
he insists, lifting his head a bit. “I told her I was leaving my drink at the table.”

“She probably didn’t even notice,” Jay says. “The Portland guys were practically all over the
cheerleaders as soon as they realized we brought girls. And none of the cheerleaders gave a
shit as soon as the drinks were bought, they were out of there.”

“You think someone put something in my drink?” Seonwoo asks, fear coating the words.

“It’s not… impossible,” Jake admits. “Did you finish that drink?”

“No,” Seonwoo says, shaking his head. A collective sigh seems to leave the rest of them, glad
that if there was something in Seonwoo’s drink that he didn’t drink all of whatever was given
to him. “I only had half of it. It was a beer, I didn’t even like it that much. The guy I was with
—”

“Who was he?” Jungwon demands.

“A player for Portland,” Seonwoo says. “He said he saw me at the game. He bought me the
drink. I got a bottle so I could see the bartender open it.” He picks at the label of the water
bottle in his hands, shaking his head. “A lot of good that did me. I shouldn’t have even come
out tonight.”

“It’s not your fault,” Jake says, rubbing his shoulder. “So you trusted a guy who acted like he
was into you. A lot of people do that. This isn’t your fault, Seonwoo.”

“I have to tell the coaches,” Jungwon says, standing up and heading for the door.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Jay says, rushing after him and grabbing Jungwon by the sleeve before he
can get to the door. Sunghoon follows after them, standing at Jay’s side. “Jungwon, you can’t
do that.”

“A Portland State player just tried to drug one of the Decelis University cheerleaders,”
Jungwon points out. Seonwoo puts his face in his hand, Jake wrapping his arms around him.
“I have to tell the coaches.”

“If you tell the coaches, half of both of our teams are going to get suspended!” Jay says.
“They’re going to investigate and then we’re all gonna be held accountable. We’re gonna
miss half the season because of this! You can’t tell the coaches.”
“So, I’m just supposed to let this go?!” Jungwon retorts.

“Jungwon, if the coaches find out the cheer team gets suspended too. We’re gonna miss the
season. We won’t even get to go to Regionals, forget about Nationals!” Sunghoon points out
and Jungwon sighs, rubbing his forehead. “If the coaches find out it won’t even be about an
investigation anymore. Some of the basketball players could get academic suspension for
drinking while at an away game. The cheerleaders too! Some of them could lose their
scholarships!”

“Seonwoo is lucky to have not finished that whole drink. God knows what could’ve
happened to him if he had!” Jungwon points out. “Fuck the season. Fuck the scholarships.
This isn’t about them! This is about Seonwoo’s safety!”

“Jungwon,” Seonwoo mumbles. He lifts his face from his hands as Jungwon looks over.
“Don’t tell the coaches.”

“Seonwoo,” Jungwon sighs.

“I don’t want anyone getting in trouble because of this. I’m fine,” he says. Jungwon sighs
again, shaking his head while crossing his arms over his chest. “They’re right, you know?
And by the time someone tests me, it might not even be worth it. Besides, I can’t prove that
anyone put anything in my drink. It’s just gonna cause a lot of problems that we can’t solve.”

“I don’t like it,” Jungwon says. “But okay,” he relents and Jay and Sunghoon both sigh,
shoulders sagging. “However,” he says and they tense up again, “if I’m gonna do this, you
have to agree to something too.” Jungwon says, pointing a finger at Jay.

“Anything.”

“Heeseung can’t know either.”

“Done.”

“Jay,” Jake hisses and Jay wheels around to look at him. “I don’t like that stipulation,” he
bites out through clenched teeth.

“He doesn’t need to know,” Jay stresses.

“I hate lying to him,” Jake says.

“It’s not really lying,” Jay replies. Jake glares. “But Jungwon is right. Heeseung can’t know
about this either. If he finds out he’s going to tell Shawn and Shawn will tell the coaches and
then we’re still screwed. Or worse,” he says, eyes darting to Seonwoo meaningfully before
meeting Jake’s again. “You can’t tell Heeseung about it. If you just don’t bring it up it won’t
even matter. He doesn’t have to know.”

“Fine.”
Heeseung is quietly amazed that Jake and Jay made it back to the hotel at a semi-decent time,
Jay having crept into the room at 1:30. He nearly jumped a foot in the air when he realized
Heeseung was still awake, Heeseung blinking at him. Heeseung barely got a single question
out about the night out before Jay was scrambling into the bathroom, insisting he was just
going to wash up and pass out. He and Jake have also been weirdly quiet all morning,
probably the hangovers if Heeseung had to guess, rolling his eyes at the way they were both
slumped into themselves at breakfast.

Bus call is at ten, the same time as check out. It’s a long drive back up to campus and
Heeseung waits out front with some of the other basketball guys. There are a lot of
sunglasses out and about, which is real smooth if you ask Heeseung. He’s one of the few that
actually look normal, they better hope their coach isn’t quick because if he is he’s going to
have a lot of questions. At least Jake and Jay aren’t dumb enough to wear them.

“Hey, guys,” Heeseung says, glancing up from his phone when Jungwon and Seonwoo come
out. Jungwon turns and walks away while Seonwoo hesitates once before following him.
Heeseung looks up again when Seonwoo doesn’t greet him back. “Hey,” he says and
Seonwoo looks back over. “You okay? You look kinda pale this morning.”

“Oh, uh… yeah…” he mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. He woke up drained, like he had
drank too much, and all of last night was kind of blurry in his memory. If he didn’t have
Jungwon he would’ve been worried he did do something last night that he shouldn’t have.
He’s never been so glad to turn a boy down before. Jungwon was right, God only knows what
could’ve happened to him last night and that’s enough to scare him half to death. He’s
already told Jungwon he’s going to see the nurse as soon as he gets back to campus.

”I said—”

“I’m just gonna tell her I’m not feeling well,” Seonwoo insisted. “I want to get her opinion
on it. God knows what that guy gave me and I just want to be sure it’s not dangerous.”

“You’re right,” Jungwon agreed. “I’ll go with you. Once we get back to campus.”

“I guess… I had too much… last night,” he mumbles. Heeseung locks his phone, taking an
extra step towards him. Seonwoo resists the urge to flinch away.

“You went out last night?” He asks, voice a strange, unreadable tone.

“Yeah. Sunghoon invited me,” Seonwoo says, eyes somewhere near the ground. “I have to
get to the bus. I’ll see you at practice, Heeseung.” He rushes off and Heeseung shifts a little,
unsure how to take that.

Once they get on the bus and they’ve started moving, Heeseung finally turns to his friends,
asking the question that’s been on his mind since Seonwoo said it, “Why didn’t you tell me
Seonwoo went with you?”

“What?” Jake asks, seeming to be startled by the question. “Who told you that?”
“Seonwoo,” Heeseung answers. “You didn’t tell me he went with you guys to the club? Why
didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t know you wanted a full roster of every cheerleader that went to the club with us,”
Jay says, tone casual as he checks his phone. Jake sinks down in his seat, uncomfortable
between Jay and Heeseung. Heeseung’s gaze is unsettlingly steely while Jay isn’t even
looking at him. “Or did you just want to know about Seonwoo.” He lifts his gaze, meeting
Heeseung’s steadily.

“Just weird you didn’t mention it, that’s all,” Heeseung says.

“Well, he went with us. Now you know.”

Heeseung huffs, opening his laptop a little harder than entirely necessary. Jay looks back at
his phone, glancing at Jake from the corner of his eye. Jake gives him a hard stare, Jay
promptly looking back at his phone, avoiding Jake’s stare.

When they get back to campus, Heeseung is one of the last ones off the bus. The cheer team
is already dispersing by the time he gets off, meaning he misses Seonwoo and Jungwon
entirely. Seonwoo looked tired today, pale in a way Heeseung wouldn’t usually associate with
a hangover. It left him kind of worried but he doesn’t see him when he gets off the bus. He
ends up heading to his dorm after a moment of looking around. He still has a few demos he
needs to finish before this next week.

Seonwoo completely forgets that basketball practice is done for the semester when he comes
into practice on Monday and the volleyball net isn’t strung up like a makeshift divider. The
floor is already padded with mats for cheer practices, some of the early girls practicing their
cartwheels and back handsprings. He sighs softly to himself, heading for the boys’ locker
room to get changed for practice.

He isn’t going to see Heeseung, or any of the other basketball players, until after break. That
sort of sucks when he thinks about it. On one hand, he doesn’t really want to see any of the
basketball players because they’re the reason he even ended up in this mess. (The nurse gave
him a clean bill of health and told him to come in if he starts to feel sick again but that’s
besides the point.) On the other, he feels sort of bad about how he acted towards Heeseung.

He just didn’t want to talk to him after that night at the club. In retrospect, it was stupid for
him to go out and try to prove to people that he doesn’t have a thing for Heeseung when he
wasn’t even there. And worse, that just ended up backfiring right on him because he was
almost drugged in the middle of a full club. He’s not drank anything that he himself hasn’t
made or isn’t sealed since the club, so that’s just extra annoying. And then there’s the fact that
they’ve all just agreed to keep the whole night a secret, but especially from Heeseung, kind of
just feels bad because he doesn’t want to lie to him.

Not that Heeseung’s asked but still.

The week leading up to Regionals generally just sucks. Practices are rough, Seonwoo ends up
leaving them lightheaded from all of the throwing practice. Taeyoung and Sunghoon are great
bases and he trusts them with his life but he would prefer not to be thrown in the air an
upwards of ten times during a practice but Jungwon isn’t pulling punches. He wants them to
go to Nationals, and everyone else does too, but Jungwon has something to prove.

Cheer captain hasn’t been a freshman since the 90s. Jungwon is a great captain, he’s an
amazing leader and a great friend but it’s a lot to carry on his shoulders. He’s not very old,
he’s inexperienced in comparison to some of their previous captains even if he was the
captain of his high school squad. This is the big leagues and they have something to prove as
well after the disaster that was last year’s cheer season.

Seonwoo got a front row seat to the way Erica and Yuqi used to go at it. Yuqi was elected
cheer captain last year but Erica was always under the impression that she deserved the
position because Yuqi was an international transfer. Yuqi had a lot of experience, she was the
captain of her last cheer squad in Hong Kong and had taken her team to Nationals while Erica
was just a Senior who expected to be the next captain because she had been on the team since
she was a freshman. Every time Yuqi came up with a new routine Erica was arguing about it
and she had a fair amount of people that were on her side. Most of them were also Seniors
but a lot of them that weren’t didn’t come back this year because they said their squad was a
joke now. Seonwoo didn’t agree, he really respected Yuqi and she had a good outlook on the
team. If they had all worked together they probably would’ve at least brought home a trophy
rather than 8th place.

But that’s the problem with being part of cheer. Cheerleaders are notoriously catty and petty
and Seonwoo can’t say that that stereotype wasn’t true last year.

But they have an even better team this year and Jungwon is a great captain that everyone
likes. They have a real shot at top three, if not first place at Nationals this year. So even
though Seonwoo is dizzy after every practice it’s worth it if they can manage a good place at
Regionals and then pick it up at Nationals.

They all board the bus at eight a.m. on Thursday morning so they can fly out and check into
their hotel in L.A. Decelis is part of the West Coast Conference for Regionals so they have to
fly down to California to be a part of the competition since it’s pretty much always held there
unless they suddenly decide they want to have it in Seattle. That hasn’t happened in years
though so the cheer team has to load up and head to Sea-Tac twice a year, once for Regionals
and once for Nationals. Nationals are always held in Florida.

“Hey,” Jungwon says, nudging Seonwoo in the side. Seonwoo looks at him, tired and
weighed down with his duffle and school bag. “I think he came here for you,” he says,
nodding to the side, a smirk on his lips. Seonwoo’s brow creases in confusion, looking
around his friend. His eyes widen in surprise when he sees the boy standing next to the doors
of the field house.

Heeseung is standing there, bundled up in his basketball hoodie and a denim jacket. It’s
already freezing, frost is coating the tree branches and the weather forecast said it was
supposed to snow this weekend. His cheeks and nose are wind bitten pink, his hands shoved
into the front pocket of his hoodie. He’s hanging around, trying to look casual and failing
tragically with the way he keeps glancing over at the bus. Seonwoo rolls his eyes, breaking
away to approach him. Jungwon chuckles, watching him walk away.

“You’re so inconspicuous,” Seonwoo jokes, walking up to him. The buses are still doing a
practical check and their coach is finishing up the paperwork before they can leave. Jungwon
will cover for him if they call roll, he’ll make sure he doesn’t get left behind. Heeseung stops
pretending to be staring at the trees, turning to look at Seonwoo.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he says. Seonwoo rolls his eyes, stopping just a few feet
away from him. “I just… uhm… I have a morning class on Thursdays so…”

“An 8 a.m.? That you are definitely going to be late for,” Seonwoo points out and Heeseung
smiles shyly. “You’re a bad liar.”

“I know,” he whines, coming closer. He doesn’t even have his bag with him. “Sunghoon told
Jake what time you guys were leaving so… Jake told me.” Seonwoo looks over his shoulder
to find Sunghoon, who is huddled next to Wonyoung and Kazuha, not looking in their
direction at all. He looks back at Heeseung. “I just wanted to tell you good luck one more
time before you leave so… Hwaiting?” He says and Seonwoo laughs, shaking his head.

“You’re so Korean,” Seonwoo laughs. “Thank you. Hyung.” He tacks the honorific on at the
end, Heeseung brightening at the term. “I gotta go, or they’ll leave me behind,” Seonwoo
says. “But thanks.”

“They can’t leave you behind. You’re one of their best flyers,” he points out. Seonwoo shakes
his head at him. “And, uhm… I don’t know what happened, that night, at the club,” he says,
licking his lips. Seonwoo swallows, nerves spiking as he looks away. “But I’m glad you’re
okay. You seemed kind of… off, afterwards. I was, uhm… worried,” he admits and Seonwoo
looks at him from under his lashes. “But you seem fine. So…”

“I am. Thanks,” Seonwoo says, lifting his head again. “I’ll see you… after break?” He
hazards and Heeseung nods in agreement. “Great. I’ll see you. Hyung.”

“You’re gonna kill it,” Heeseung assures him and Seonwoo grins before heading back down
the stairs. Heeseung clenches his hands into fists in his pocket to stop himself from following
him. He stays back by the door as the cheer team boards the bus, chewing on his lip and
watching. He doesn’t leave until the charter bus has pulled away from the curb and rumbled
down the road, out of the campus gates.

The entire team has the jitters. Seonwoo isn’t the only one who can’t stop shaking, stretching,
bouncing around to try and work out their nerves. Everyone is so damned stressed out that
they can barely stand it. They're also quiet, stewing in their own anxiety. The only person
who doesn’t seem to be about ready to combust is Sunghoon, but he’s rubbing Wonyoung's
ankle with tiger balm and reminding her to breathe. She’s a freshman, it’s her first time at
collegiate Regionals and she’s been looking pale since last night.
“Hey,” Jungwon says. Seonwoo looks over at their captain, who looks far less sure of himself
than he usually does. It’s unlike Jungwon to look so nervous, he’s the most level-headed out
of all of them. He, as well as everyone else, is already dressed for competition, navy, maroon
and gold uniform on and his eyes lined with liner, navy blue sweatband around his wrist. All
of their shoes are a concernly bright shade of white but most of them only look like that
because Yunjin passed out magic erasers so they could make sure all their sneakers are scuff
free for today’s competition. “I’m nervous,” Jungwon admits and Seonwoo nods, smiling
shyly.

“Me too,” he agrees and Jungwon huffs a laugh. “It’s normal, I think. I mean, it’s your first
Regionals and it’s my first Regionals where we actually have a chance.”

“Was last year really that bad?” Jungwon whispers, leaning in. “No one else really talks about
it.”

“It was… bad,” Seonwoo admits, rolling his eyes. “Yuqi was a great captain but you can’t
captain half a team. We had a lot of issues. You’re already doing leagues better, not that it
was her fault. I think we really have a chance this year.”

“I hope so,” Jungwon says, voice soft.

“Decelis University, you’re on deck!” A staff member calls out. Jungwon nods once,
Seonwoo nodding back and then they’re all moving towards the exit to get backstage.
They’re behind the University of San Francisco, which has a truly heinous color scheme of
dark green and gold. Whenever Seonwoo thinks he doesn’t like his uniform, he’ll remind
himself of this moment.

“Seonwoo,” Sunghoon says, catching him by the arm. Seonwoo turns, surprised. “Here,” he
says, handing him his phone. “I told Heeseung I could just give him your number but he
didn’t listen so just… read the thing.” He leaves before Seonwoo can ask him any more
questions. Seonwoo looks down at the phone in his hand, Heeseung’s message open.

from: Heeseung
> good luck at regionals! tell the rest of the team too!
> and tell seonwoo i said hwaiting. he’ll know what it means.

Seonwoo huffs a laugh, shaking his head. He locks the phone, tossing it in Sunghoon’s bag
before following his team backstage.

from: Unknown Number Seonwoo 🦊💗

> it’s seonwoo. sunghoon gave me your number.
> thank you, hyung.
> we got 2nd! we’re going to nationals in 2nd place!

They don't see each other again leading up to break or even during break. Exams take up all
their time and then everyone is leaving campus to go back home for the holidays. Heeseung
has to stay most of the break to watch the dorms (RA duties) and Seonwoo as well, for cheer
practice, but they don't cross paths. They do, however, trade a lot of text messages.

from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛❤

> pls tell me why i'm taking music history

from: Seonwoo
> i… don't know
🦊💗
> isn't that a gen ed?

from: Heeseungie hyung

> i may
🏀💙 💛 ❤

> have skipped it previously

> but i need the credit for my degree
> it sucks

from: Seonwoo
> it's a gen ed
🦊💗
from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛 ❤
> i see i won't be getting any sympathy here
> disappointed. blocked. ❌

from: Seonwoo 🦊💗🥺 do you want me come over and read it to you? 🥺 will that make
🥺
> i'm so sorry hyung
you feel better?

from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙❤💛

> ❌BLOCKED❌

from: Seonwoo
> i'm dying. 💀 🦊💗 💀
i've died.
> my calc final murdered me.
> tell my oldest sister i loved her.

from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛 ❤

> what about your other sister(s)

from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> my other sister is just okay

from: Heeseungie hyung

> damn. roasted.
🏀💙❤💛
> posthumously.
from: Seonwoo 🦊💗 🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊
> FREEEEEEDOOOOOM

from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙❤💛

> speak for yourself
> dorm lockdown 🔒
> #RAlyfe

from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> cheer practice all break
> #CheerLyfe

from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛

> we sure are two peas in a pod
❤

from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> but classes are over!

from: Heeseungie hyung

> fuck yeah no more learning
🏀💙🎉🎊💛
❤

from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛

❤
> are you confined to campus all break or do they let you out for holiday visitation?

from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> the week of christmas and new years we are free
> coach williams said jungwon cannot legally tell us we can't see our families on national
holidays

from: Heeseungie hyung

> god bless her
🏀💙❤💛
from: Seonwoo
> literally
🦊💗
> what about you? does your job as an RA force you to miss the holidays?

from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛 ❤

> they can't force us to stay on campus since it's technically outside of our job description
since school's not in session
> so i'm free to go whenever
> i just don't trust my residents anymore so i'm staying on top of them

from: Seonwoo
> deserved!
🦊💗
> no more mr. nice RA 😡
from: Heeseungie hyung
> unfortunately
🏀💙 💛 ❤

> i like being a nice RA 😭 look at what i must do 😭

from: Seonwoo
> poor hyung
🦊💗
🥺💗
from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛 ❤
> my brother just beat me in 1v1?
> my basketball career is over??
> i hate myself???

from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> my oldest sister can hold a lady liberty longer than i can
> sometimes we just have to admit that we will never be better than our older siblings 😔

from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛❤

🥺
> what about comfort? what about sympathy? what about my feelings?
> u no care me

from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> I CARE U 🥺
> I WAS BEING SYMPATHETIC

from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙❤💛

> ok
> your sister was a cheerleader?

🥺
from: Seonwoo
>
🦊💗
> yes!
> seonyeon was cheer captain in high school and university. she took her team to nationals
and won regionals her senior year.

from: Heeseungie hyung

> decelis?
🏀💙❤💛
from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> no. she went to school on the east coast.

from: Heeseungie hyung

> damn
🏀💙 💛 ❤

> long line of cheerleaders, huh?

from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> no. just me and seonyeon.
> seonhee was in debate club and went to yale for law.
> my parents are both math geeks 😔

from: Heeseungie hyung

> wild
🏀💙❤💛
from: Seonwoo
> what about you?
🦊💗
> your brother beat you because he also used to play basketball?

from: Heeseungie hyung

> no 😖
🏀💙 💛 ❤

> my brother was a cross country runner and then gave it up to go to WSU for business
> he's working on his MBA rn
> my dad is a librarian but my mom was a cheerleader!

from: Seonwoo
> omg really?!
🦊💗
from: Heeseungie hyung
> yeah
🏀💙 💛 ❤

> she went to nationals with decelis but the best her team ever got was 3rd her junior year
> now she's an event coordinator for the library and works with my dad

from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> that's cool that she went to decelis!
> you're like a legacy

from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛 ❤

> maybe i should've gotten into cheer

from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> you're an amazing basketball player tho

from: Heeseungie hyung ❤ 🏀💙 💛

> THEN WHY DID MY CROSS COUNTRY RUNNING BROTHER BEAT ME

🙄
from: Seonwoo
>😑
🦊💗

🎄
from: Heeseungie hyung
> merry christmas
🏀💙 ❤💛

from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> merry christmas hyung! ❤💚🎄
from: Seonwoo 🦊💗🎆🎉
> happy new year!

[read @ 12:01 am]

> i hope you had a good new year!

[read @ 12:36 am]

from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛 ❤

> sorry, the guys took me out, i just got home
> you're probably asleep rn
> i hope you had a good new year too
> jake told me about that night at the club. i don't think he even knew what he was doing. he
was so trashed, seonwoo. he practically begged me not to tell the coaches, he was hysterical.
but i don't give a shit about the coaches. i don't give a fuck about the coaches or the season or
my fucked up teammates. i don't care because what the fuck. i should've gone with you. i
wish i had gone with you. i wish someone had fucking told me you were going. i would've
been there. fuck, seonwoo. if i ever see that motherfucker i swear to god
> message has been removed

from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> sorry, i feel asleep around one
> i hope you had fun!

from: Heeseungie hyung

> i did. thanks.
🏀💙 💛 ❤

> sorry about the message. i sent it to the wrong chat. it was for the basketball team.

from: Seonwoo
> np!
🦊💗

Heeseung hasn't stopped thinking about it since Jake said it. He was totally off his face, he
was practically hysterical about the whole thing and had no idea what he even said the next
morning. Totally black out smashed and now Heeseung is left to stew in his own thoughts.
It’s all he can think about, tapping his fingers against the screen of his phone as he stares into
the middle distance in his single dorm room.

He came back to campus on the 30th after spending a few days with his family. The dorm
was still standing when he came back, and after he came back from his night out with Jay and
Jake. It was their idea to go into the city for New Year’s. It was crowded, dim and the air was
thick smoke everywhere they went. Jay and Jake were drinking all night while Heeseung
elected to be designated driver since he had to go back to campus that night anyway. He had
no idea how much of a mistake he was making.

Jake said it when Jay went out for a smoke, he gets nicotine cravings when he drinks. Jake
had seemed to be on edge the whole night and all it took was Heeseung asking him about it
one time while Jake was three whiskey cokes deep for him to break. He was blubbering about
how bad he felt about lying to his best friend for 30 whole seconds before he finally just said
it.

”Jungwon made us promise we wouldn’t tell you! he said but it was nothing but white noise
in Heeseung’s ears by the time the story had finally fallen over him. He was sick to his
stomach just thinking about it and his blood was rushing in his ears, latent rage making his
hands tingle, curling them into fists in his lap. He wasn’t even mad at Jake for lying to him,
he didn’t care about that. He was a little pissed at Jay for agreeing so quickly to not say
anything but he was more angry at whoever that Portland State player was that decided he
wanted to try and fuck with Seonwoo.

Heeseung left the table when Jay came back, telling him he was going out for some air. Jay
said something but Heeseung didn’t hear him, plowing out of the club and into the cold night
air. The frigid Pacific Northwest air stung against all of his exposed skin and his lungs hurt
every time he breathed it in but he couldn’t feel anything. He wrapped his hands around the
iron railing that surrounded the mostly empty smoking patio, midnight was seconds away and
he was staring into the middle distance as he tried to get a hold of himself.

His phone went off around midnight, the vibration just barely managing to shock him out of
his confused stupor. He heard the club erupt into noise behind him, the time had just ticked
over to the New Year. All he could think about was the Portland State game and how he spent
the whole night totally and completely unaware. He fumbled the phone from his pocket to
check it, finding the fox and heart emoji looking up at him from where he had placed them at
the end of Seonwoo’s name.

He opened the message but didn’t answer it. Part of knowing that Seonwoo is fine actually
helped, the knowledge that despite whatever that prick did to him he was fine and they made
sure he got back to the hotel safe helped clear the angry red haze clouding his vision. He
closed his phone and headed back in.

He got the second message while he was driving Jay and Jake back to campus. They were
half asleep, their drunken highs finally starting to drain out of them, leaving them slow and
groggy in the backseat of his truck. He kept an eye on them as he drove, hearing his phone
vibrate again in the cup holder. He checked it at the red light, making a mental note to answer
him. He didn’t mean to leave Seonwoo on read.

Jake and Jay were asleep on his air mattress, the room dark and Heeseung curled up at the
head of his bed when he sent his messages. It was already past 1:30 in the morning, he didn’t
expect Seonwoo to be awake anyway.

He didn’t mean to send the last message, he just did it on autopilot. He unsent as fast as he
could, removing the message from their chat. Telling Seonwoo would only make him feel
worse after all. He went to bed with his thoughts still racing.

And they still are.

He’s startled out of his reverie by his phone going off in his hand. He opens it immediately
when he sees the fox and heart emoji again. There’s a PDF attachment in his message.
from: Seonwoo
> [PDF attached]
🦊💗
> i promise i didn’t send you a virus

from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛 ❤

> i would be more surprised if you knew how to do that in a pdf

from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> it’s my class schedule
> you picked your classes, right?

He did. He picked them just before he left campus for Christmas. His mother threatened to
pick them for him if he didn’t before he came home. He doesn’t have a lot of classes left to
take anyway so he just took his last couple of required courses and a bird course in Human
Sexuality. He asked Shawn and his friend Jiung about courses he could take to fill his
schedule so he would still qualify as a full time student and both of them assured him Human
Sexuality with Kramer was a total no brainer. He could sleep through it and still ace the class.
Perfect.

from: Heeseungie hyung

> yep. before christmas.
🏀💙❤💛
from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> i’m impressed. i thought you would wait until last minute.

from: Heeseungie hyung

> my mom threatened me
🏀💙❤💛
> [PDF attached]

from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> we’re taking human sexuality together!

from: Heeseungie hyung

> what
🏀💙❤💛
Heeseung scrolls back up the chat and opens the PDF attachment Seonwoo sent him. There
are still a couple of gen eds in the mix because Seonwoo’s still just a sophmore but there’s
also Intro to Sports Medicine and Human Sexuality. Human Sexuality, 9 a.m. on Tuesdays
and Thursdays, with Kramer in Cambria Hall. The exact same class that Heeseung signed up
for.

from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> it’s with kramer. we have the same class hyung.
> i heard it’s supposed to be pretty easy from some of the seniors on the cheer team but it’s a
prereq for some of the classes i need for my major.

from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛❤

> yeah a couple of my friends told me i should take it to fill my schedule since it’s easy
from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> so you’re not gonna relive music history again?

from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛 ❤

> that class is harder than you think!

For all that Heeseung is quietly simmering in his own irritation, he can’t do anything with his
anger. It’s too far past, even if he did want to bring it up to the coaches (he doesn’t, and he
doesn’t think he would’ve then either; he would’ve been happy with just breaking the nose of
the player that tried to drug Seonwoo) it’s too late for any of that. It would just dredge up
more problems with both teams than either of them need right now. Cheer is going to
Nationals already in 2nd place from Regionals and the basketball team is on a winning streak,
the season having barely started. All he can do is let sleeping dogs lie at this point.

The break ends, students flood the campus of Decelis once more and Heeseung starts going
back to classes and his basketball practices. Coach hits them all hard with the basics on the
first day back so none of them even have the time to consider the cheer team, who are also in
the thick of their Nationals prep. Jungwon is running the cheer squad like a drill sergeant and
the basketball team are doing drills and suicide runs to get them back into shape. It’s awful,
Heeseung can barely catch his breath when Coach finally lets them break for a second only to
make them do it again.

He’s so tired he almost snoozes his alarm for his nine a.m. Tuesday morning. He genuinely
considers it, but that would probably look bad considering he’s a Senior and he has to pass
this class too if he wants his degree. It won’t take a huge chunk out of his GPA but he likes
his 3.6 where it is so he crawls from his blankets, calves and biceps aching from the drills the
day before. Everything hurts as he gets dressed and heads out to cross campus to get to
Cambria Hall.

The fourth floor is where all the psych and soc classes are. He considers the elevator for so
long that he’s almost late to the first class of the semester. He ends up taking the stairs, he’s a
big kid, he can handle it (he thinks) so he works through the way his muscles are burning to
get up to the classroom. The door is still open when he gets in, the professor standing at the
front of the classroom, back to the desks when he gets in. Professor Kramer is a fresh new
teacher, she’s only a few years older than Heeseung himself, with bright red hair and massive
brown eyes that look even bigger through her large lensed glasses. She dresses like a yoga
mom and Heeseung completely understands how this class is so easy.

He scans the room to see if he can spot an open desk, his eyes stopping on Seonwoo. He
almost forgot they’re going to be taking this class together, his brain has been everywhere
except on the boy himself the last few days. He’s not even texted him since they traded
schedules. Seonwoo isn’t looking at him, flipping open a crisp new notebook and dropping
his textbook on the table with a sigh.

Everyone else is standing in little groups all around the room or busy with their phones,
ignoring everyone else. There are a fair few Seniors in the class alongside the underclassmen
who are actually taking this class for a reason. Lee Chaeryoung, dance team ace, wiggles her
fingers at him from where she’s sitting on a desk in the back, Yang Jeongin and Kim Jungsu
standing next to her. He waves back, slipping between the desks to get to Seonwoo.

“Hey,” Heeseung says, and Seonwoo jumps a little, startled. Heeseung laughs, resting his
hands on the back of the desk beside his. “This seat taken?”

“Nope,” Seonwoo replies, smiling back. Heeseung steps around to slide into the chair, his bag
landing on top of the attached desk. “You know I thought you were going to be late,”
Seonwoo says, pulling out a pencil case. Heeseung lifts a brow, rummaging around in his bag
for his own notebook. “I thought you were one of those really serious about your studies kind
of guys but I guess even you have your limits. Coach Sanders really did a number on you,
huh?” Seonwoo teases.

“As if Jungwon isn’t running you guys into the ground as well,” Heeseung reminds him.
Seonwoo shrugs, turning to his notes. “I saw the way he had you running laps before
practice. He’s more intense than I expected.”

“He just wants us to do well,” Seonwoo says, clicking the end of his pen a couple of times.
“Now that we’ve done well at Regionals he won’t accept anything less than the best from us.
And Coach Williams will side with him about anything.”

“Shawn’s the same way,” Heeseung admits. “I’m still pretty sure the suicides were his idea.”
Seonwoo giggles, doodling in the margins of his notebook. Heeseung drops his own textbook
on the table with his notebook as Kramer closes the door to the classroom, calling all of their
attentions to the front while asking them to take a seat.

The syllabus for the semester is pretty simple. They’ll pretty much be following the book to a
T, which is perfect because that means that as long as Heeseung reads the thing every night
he won’t even have to worry about the class. Jiung was right, he could sleep through this
class and still bump his GPA. The course starts with the basics in sexual development, a
glorified health class, before they get into the psychology of it all. Sexual orientation, sexual
behavior and then it gets into the legal, political and cultural considerations, including gender
roles and sex work.

A murmur goes through the room when she touches base on sex work and pornography.
Heeseung’s eyes slide to the side, catching Seonwoo rolling his eyes out of his periphery.
He’s taking diligent notes on the syllabus. This is clearly more than a bird class to him. He
did say this was a prerequisite for his major, but he didn’t mention what his major is.

The class is two hours long, and most of the class period is spent going over the syllabus.
There’s an uncomfortable ice breaker at the end in which they all have to introduce
themselves by telling the class their major and extracurriculars as well as a fun fact about
themselves. One day, Heeseung hopes, professors will realize how uncomfortable this is for
everyone involved and they’ll just stop doing it.

“And what about you, Heeseung?” She fumbles his name a little and he smiles at her.

“My name is Heeseung. My major is music production, I’m on the basketball team,” a quiet
cheer goes through the room, “and an RA outside of class. And… uh… before I came to
college I used to go by my English name, which is Ethan.”

“That’s not true!” Jungsu calls out. “Your English name is not Ethan!”

“You can ask my mom if you don’t believe me,” Heeseung jokes, turning in his chair to look
at him where he’s sitting in the back of the room.

“Alright, boys,” Professor Kramer says, settling them down. “Who’s next?”

Heeseung turns back around, still smiling. He can feel someone’s eyes on him so he turns his
head to see Seonwoo looking at him. His expression is unreadable, which is strange.
Seonwoo’s face is so expressive his emotions are usually clear to see but Heeseung is
confused by the strange look that’s painted across his face. He only breaks out of it when the
professor calls out for him to go next. He blinks hard a couple of times before smiling again,
and introducing himself.

The look on his face stays with Heeseung though.

Class ends at 11 on the dot with the professor telling them all to read the first chapter and
answer the end of chapter quiz for their homework. Seonwoo shuffles his things into his bag
at a speed Heeseung has never seen anyone pack up their bag before, slipping from the room
before Heeseung can catch him. He closes his bag and heads for the door as quickly as he
can, pausing only when Chaeryeong catches him at the door.

“Hey, Heeseung,” she chirps and Heeseung slows to a stop, side stepping the doorway to get
out of the flow of traffic. “I didn’t take you to be interested in a class like this one,” she says,
nodding her head to the classroom.

“Easy a,” he says and she nods in understanding. “I just needed to fill my schedule for full
time.”

“I see,” she replies. “Are you busy? I was gonna meet up with the dance team for lunch
before my next class. Some of the basketball guys usually join us,” she offers, as if to
sweeten the deal. Heeseung knows this already though.

The basketball team and the cheer team may have a less than stellar relationship but the
dance team is more than happy to ooh and ahh over the basketball team and all their
successes. The basketball team is good, that goes without saying, they usually at least make it
to the Championships if not the finals. They’re very accomplished in the private school
leagues. They’ll never qualify for anything other than the private school conference
championships since they aren’t a public university but they’re still one of the best and it
offers them a fair amount of reputation credit around the campus, and that draws in a crowd.
Particularly the dance team and all the girls on it. At least three of Heeseung’s teammates are
dating dance team members and Shawn and Ryujin are tight.

“I actually have plans,” he says, tone apologetic. “But I’ll let you know if that ever changes?”

“Okay,” she mumbles. “I’ll see you next class, Heeseung.” She winks before turning and
walking away. Heeseung sighs heavily before heading out, rushing down the stairs and
hoping Seonwoo hasn’t gotten very far.

He hasn’t. He’s outside of the building, leaning against one of the columns that line the
walkways that frame the building. The main buildings in the center of the campus are all
ridiculously ornate, sparkling white with too many floors and towering columns that offer
cover right along the sides of the buildings. Seonwoo is leaning against the corner column all
the way at the back corner of the building. Heeseung adjusts his bag around his shoulders,
walking over to him, worry festering in his chest at the way Seonwoo seems to be looking out
at the courtyard unseeingly.

“Seonwoo,” Heeseung says, rolling to a stop by him. Seonwoo blinks once and then startles,
turning to look at him. “Hey,” he breathes, stepping a little bit closer, closing the distance
between them. “Are you okay?” He asks.

“Yeah,” he agrees but his voice is small and quiet. “Your English name is Ethan?” He asks
and Heeseung blinks once. Not the question he was expecting.

“Uhm… yes?” He says and Seonwoo nods. “I used to go by Ethan in high school, it was a lot
easier for all the teachers and subs, when we had them, than to explain my Korean name all
the time. I changed back to my birth name when I started at Decelis, I like it better. My
brother still goes by his English name, though. It’s Andrew.” He sighs softly. “Why? Is
something… wrong?”

“No,” Seonwoo says but his voice is trembling. “I just… that name sounded really familiar. I
just thought I’d heard it before.”

“The basketball guys call me that sometimes. To mess with me.”

“Right,” Seonwoo mumbles. “That makes sense. Well…” He half turns and Heeseung
reaches out, gently grabbing Seonwoo by the sleeve. Seonwoo turns back to him, and
Heeseung pulls back jerkily, folding his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie awkwardly.

“You have plans for lunch?” Heeseung asks, avoiding his eyes. “I’m free until three and I
forgot to eat before class so… you know, if you want?” Seonwoo tilts his head at him. “My
treat?” He offers, hesitantly meeting his eyes. Seonwoo smiles, giggling gently. The smile on
his face makes Heeseung smile as well. Seonwoo’s happiness is infectious.

“Hyung is going to treat me?” He teases and Heeseung looks away again, ears and neck hot
with embarrassment. “Well, if hyung insists,” Seonwoo jokes. “Where do you want to do
lunch?”

Their interactions changing over from text conversations to real life is a lot easier than
Heeseung expected. He fully expected there to be a weird intermediary phase where the two
of them have a hard time talking about something or finding things to say to each other but he
doesn’t feel that way. They start having lunch together on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the
campus diner, and they hardly ever seem to run out of things to talk about. If they do they
default to talking about the basketball season or the upcoming Nationals competition.
“When do you fly out?” Heeseung asks the second week of the semester on Tuesday. Human
Sexuality is truly an easy a and the two of them spend more time passing notes like high
schoolers than actually paying attention to the class material. It follows the book so closely
that neither of them are concerned at all about the class. Heeseung read three chapters ahead
in the class and Seonwoo scolded him for not telling him ahead of time so they can share
their answers for the end of chapter quizzes.

“Next week,” Seonwoo says and Heeseung frowns. “I’ll share my chapter notes with you
after practice on Wednesday so you have them for class. I won’t make class, we have bus call
at eight.”

“Sucks,” Heeseung mumbles.

“I think you’ll survive a single class without me, hyung,” Seonwoo teases him. “I’ll be back
by Sunday. Pre-lims are on Friday and the finals and awards are on Saturday.” He attempts to
smile but it just turns into a grimace, making Heeseung laugh. “I’m excited but the whole
cheer squad is about to combust. Jungwon’s really nervous.”

“You got 2nd at Regionals, what’s the worst that can happen?” Heeseung asks and Seonwoo
lifts a brow. “I mean, how many points do you lose if you mess up?”

“Well, it depends on what happens. There’s skill execution penalties, boundary penalties, and
time penalties. We all know where the boundary is so we’re not worried about that and we’ve
run the routine so many times we have the time down. So that just leaves skill penalties.” He
lifts his hands, counting them on his hand. “Hand touches after landing are half points and
falls are full points. That includes stunts, pyramids and tumbling.”

“Damn. Have you guys ever fallen?”

“Yujin fell yesterday,” Seonwoo sighs and Heeseung grimaces. “It happens. We just have to
be sure that everything sticks on competition day.”

“None of you have ever fallen during the games,” Heeseung points out, lifting his cup for a
drink.

“We work well under pressure,” Seonwoo replies and Heeseung laughs gently, setting his cup
down.

“Then you guys will be amazing. Nationals is a lot of pressure.”

“Are you gonna watch?” Seonwoo asks, sipping from his own cup. Heeseung’s brow furrows
in confusion. Seonwoo grins around his straw, putting his cup down. “Nationals is gonna be
broadcasted on ESPN. It always is. If you have a chance, you should watch. Not just for us,
some of the other teams are really good too.”

“Text me before you go on. I’ll be sure to watch.”

“I said the other teams too!” Seonwoo laughs.

“Why would I want to watch the other teams when there’s only one person I want to see?”
Heeseung replies. Seonwoo rolls his eyes, ignoring the way his skin gets hot under
Heeseung’s gaze.

The cheer team flies out on their promised Thursday and, as expected, the basketball team is
entirely too excited to have the gym to themselves. The moment is completely ruined when
the coach tells them they’re going to run more suicides because their next game is the
following week and they need to level up their stamina. Heeseung sighs, sharing a look with
Jay before lining up with the rest of the team at one end of the court. A whole court, of
nothing but suicide runs as a warm up. Great.

Coach has mercy when they finish their first run of them, telling them to take a break before
they play a mock game. Jake sits on the bottom bleacher while Heeseung tries to catch his
breath, Jay already damp with sweat from all the running. Having a court to themselves does
have its upsides since they can play a proper mock game like this but the drills are brutal.

“Hey, Heeseung,” Justin calls out and Heeseung groans, letting his arms hang at his sides. He
looks at Jake, who simply shrugs a shoulder. Without the cheer team around surely the rest of
the team could take a day off of messing with him. “I heard you have a class with
Chaeryeong,” he says. Her name comes out of his mouth harsher and clunkier than it should
sound and Heeseung resists the urge to smirk.

“I do. We have Human Sexuality together on Tuesdays and Thursdays.” Half the basketball
team oohs quietly and Heeseung laughs, rolling his eyes. “What the hell are we, 14? It’s a
bird class! I just needed a credit to graduate.”

“You know she’s single, right?” Devin points out, resting an arm on Justin’s shoulder.

“I thought she was still with that swimmer,” Jake mentions.

“She broke up with him before winter break.”

“Damn. She’s still cold as ever,” Jay comments, bringing his water bottle up to his mouth for
a drink.

“I’m good,” Heeseung says, shaking his head.

“What the hell’s your problem?” Taylor Adames asks, crossing his arms over his chest. “You
have your pick of the whole dance team since Shawn won’t date any of them.” He nods to the
captain, who is absolutely not listening to any of them, texting someone in the corner by the
locker room door. “All of those girls would fall at your feet if you asked. You’re not
interested in dating any of them?”

“C’mon, Adames, surely you can figure it out by now,” Nick says and Heeseung turns
towards him, lifting a brow. “He’s too busy chasing cheer skirts to give a shit about the dance
team.”

“I don’t think it’s skirts he’s after,” Justin adds, throwing the ball at him. Heeseung catches it
easily, sharing a look with Jake and Jay. Jake lifts a brow while Jay simply smirks. It’s a low,
low shot at him, as if Heeseung’s really the type to rise to that kind of bait. He’s never been
that way and he knows his teammates have serious inferiority complexes because despite the
football team being god-awful the basketball team is always second rate in comparison. He
won’t hold it against them. This time.

“You guys are real funny,” Heeseung replies. “I had no idea I was on a team with a bunch of
comedians.” He throws the ball back, twice as hard and Justin groans at the impact of the ball
against the chest as he catches it. “I wouldn’t worry so much about the skirts I’m chasing
considering the dance team has a reputation of changing their minds on a dime. Your girls are
no exception.”

Coach calls them back out for the mock game and Heeseung walks away to get back on the
court. Devin glares at him as he walks past.

Heeseung, Jay and Shawn all end up on the same team while Jake is, unfortunately, passed to
the opposing team along with Cory. They keep them afloat, especially since Justin and Devin
are more interested in throwing Heeseung and Jay to the floor than actually playing. Coach
calls them out on the personal fouls and they still lose to Heeseung and Jay 5 to 1. That’s all
the confirmation Heeseung needs. He doesn’t need the last laugh, even though he usually gets
it. He just knows he’s a better player.

Nationals are hot, crowded and stressful. It’s a lot to take in the moment you step into the
resort that’s hosting all the top three teams from every region across the country. Friday,
despite being a terribly anxious day, proved to be a success for Decelis as they took to the
stage and managed to clear the first round of judges, pushing them into finals position. Only
the top ten teams in the country manage to do that, so that was a huge boost to their morale. It
was a great thing, but now comes the hard part. The finals.

Last night the boys all piled into Taeyoung and Sunghoon’s room and played Nintendo
Switch until late in the night to try and combat the anxiety. Seonwoo heard the girls did the
same, not the exact same thing, but they were all in Yunjin and Kazuha’s room hanging out
until the wee hours as well. It’s sort of nice, being able to get away with his team, Seonwoo
thinks, and having time to relax before they take on their most stressful performance of the
season.

This is only his sophomore year so Seonwoo still has two more years in this team and
Jungwon has three but Yunjin only has this year to get another Nationals win and this could
make or break Jungwon’s reputation as the captain of this team. It’s a lot to think about as
they all stand around backstage waiting for their school to be called to perform.

The ESPN cameras all over the place and the crowds of people, a full stadium of people
coming out to watch them and cheer them on definitely doesn’t help. Wonyoung looks like
she’s going to throw up, has since she woke up this morning, and has been too scared to eat
anything for that exact reason. Jungwon got her to eat a granola bar and drink a bottle of
water but he doesn’t look to be in much better spirits. Seonwoo moves to the curtain to look
out at the platform, the stands rising up on three sides of the stage, full of people settling in
for the competition. He’s only been here once before and it was such a mess he also kind of
feels sick to his stomach.

“Hey,” Sunghoon says and Seonwoo turns away from the curtain to look at him. “It’s gonna
be okay,” he assures him and Seonwoo nods. “Look, even if we don’t win, we made 2nd at
Regionals. That’s way better than we did last year.”

“Shouldn’t you be giving this pep talk to Jungwon?” Seonwoo asks, wringing his hands.

“Jungwon’s taking deep breaths in the corner with Wonyoung,” he tells him, nodding to the
corner of their area. Seonwoo looks around him to see Wonyoung and Jungwon doing
breathing exercises together, hands on each other’s shoulders. They didn’t get a lot of new
recruits for the cheer team this year, could have something to do with the way Nationals were
botched last year, so they’re mostly on their own. They’ve gotten really close. “I don’t think I
should bother them. And you don’t look so good.”

“The cameras are freaking me out,” Seonwoo admits.

“Fuck the cameras,” Sunghoon says. “We’ve been doing this since mids last semester and we
already made finals. National finals,” he stresses and Seonwoo nods. “We know this routine,
Jungwon’s been drilling it into all our heads for so long that we could probably all do it in our
sleep. All you have to do is tumble and trust Taeyoung and I to catch you.” He puts his hands
on Seonwoo’s shoulders, pulling him in a little bit. “Everyone else is gonna do what they do
as long as we do what we do. We got this.”

“We got this,” Seonwoo agrees.

When they get called for on deck, Seonwoo finds his phone in his bag.

from: Seonwoo
> we’re up next
🦊💗
from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛 ❤
> jake jay and i found it on tv already
> holy shit that’s a lot of people

from: Seonwoo
> not helping!!!
🦊💗
from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛 ❤
> your whole team has been working on this all season absolutely killing it. jungwon’s done
everything in the world to make sure you could do this in your sleep. you guys are gonna be
amazing.
> you are going to be fucking amazing
> hwaiting!

from: Seonwoo
> thank you hyung
🦊💗
from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙❤💛
> you’re gonna kill it, baby

Seonwoo swallows, blinking hard when he reads the term of endearment. His throat feels
tight, his stomach is in knots and his entire being feels like it’s about to vibrate apart but all
he can see is the word at the end of Heeseung’s message.

“Seonwoo, we’re up next,” Jungwon says, grabbing his wrist. Seonwoo nods, locking his
phone. He tosses it in his bag. The two of them run over to the curtain behind the platform.

“Coming to the stage now, the private university that took home Nationals two years running
has come back with a vengeance after their failed performance last year! Give it up, for the
Decelis University Wolves!”

from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛 ❤

💗💗💗
> you’re absolutely incredible, you know that?
>

from: Seonwoo 🦊💗
> WE GOT 3RD PLACE. WE FINISHED IN 3RD. WE’RE BRINGING HOME A
TROPHY!!! 🏆

Heeseung is waiting outside of the field house on Sunday, freezing yet again. It’s raining
even, so he’s huddled against the building, umbrella in hand. Seonwoo texted that they
should be getting into campus around three o’clock on Sunday, after the flight and the bus
ride. Heeseung made sure to be waiting outside of the field house by 2:30, just in case they
came in early. He checks his phone to find that it’s 15 after three and they still aren’t in. He
shuffles his feet, checking his texts to see if Seonwoo has messaged him.

Nothing.

The bus trundles down the road five minutes later, the charter bus pulling up to the curb and
letting them all pile out. The girls are all holding their jackets over their heads, unprepared
for the Seattle winter after a weekend in the paradise that is south Florida. Some of the guys
are as well but Sunghoon steps off the bus with Jungwon, Jungwon unfolding an umbrella as
soon as he gets on the sidewalk. Heeseung’s not even surprised, count on the cheer captain to
be overly prepared.

Seonwoo steps off the bus, hood of his jacket pulled over his head, duffle wrapped around
him and backpack on his back. Heeseung straighens up a little bit, waiting to see if Seonwoo
notices him. He did text him that he was going to be here but he’s hesitant to approach, he
can only imagine what Jungwon or Sunghoon would say if he did.

Seonwoo runs over to Jungwon, hiding under his umbrella with him and Sunghoon. It’s not
quite big enough for all of them, but it’s better than getting wet. He leans into Jungwon’s
shoulder, until Jungwon shoves him away gently.
“Hey!”

“Your knight in shining basketball shorts is over there,” Jungwon teases him. Seonwoo’s
brow furrows but Sunghoon simply nods his head towards the field house. Seonwoo turns to
look, spotting him immediately. Only Heeseung would be waiting out in front of the field
house instead of in it, in the rain, waiting for him. Seonwoo snorts, shaking his head. “What
did you say about not liking basketball players?”

“I guess they’re not all bad,” Seonwoo relents and Jungwon grins while Sunghoon rolls his
eyes. “I’ll see you later?” He says and the both of them push him further away. Seonwoo
laughs, running up the stairs to get to the field house.

Heeseung catches him when he barrels into his chest, giggling into his shoulder. Heeseung
holds him with one arm, covering the two of them with the umbrella with the opposite hand.
Seonwoo wraps his arms around Heeseung’s shoulders, hugging him tightly. Heeseung smiles
to himself, pulling Seonwoo as close as possible.

“Welcome back, champ.”

“It was just 3rd,” Seonwoo mumbles into his shoulder.

“That’s still a trophy,” Heeseung reminds him, voice close to Seonwoo’s ear. “Missed you in
class on Thursday.”

“You can just say you missed me. You don’t need to add anything onto it,” Seonwoo says,
pulling back a little to meet his eye.

“Okay. I missed you,” Heeseung says. Seonwoo flushes, inexplicably. “I missed you while
you were gone.” He leans in but Seonwoo turns his face away, shyly. Heeseung pulls back
and instead moves his hand from Seonwoo’s waist to brush some of his hair away from his
face where the rain had plastered it. Seonwoo looks at him from under his lashes. Heeseung
swallows the desire to try again. He can wait. “Are you hungry? I’ll get us lunch.”

“When am I gonna pay for lunch?” Seonwoo complains. Heeseung laughs, reaching up to
take Seonwoo’s arm from his shoulder so he can thread their fingers together instead. He
holds on tightly, pulling Seonwoo into his side so they can walk to the campus diner.

“When I no longer have money,” Heeseung tells him and Seonwoo rolls his eyes at him.

There’s a shift in their relationship, but they don’t really address it. It goes without saying, the
way Heeseung will hold his hand now, wait for him after class or wait for him after cheer
practice. Cheer practice is more of a formality than anything else now since they’re just
cheering for the basketball team until the season is over but they’re back to sharing a gym.
Their friends notice the change, Jungwon and Sunghoon haven’t stopped making fun of
Seonwoo for the way he’s constantly getting distracted during practice. Jake and Jay ask
Heeseung about it after practice on Tuesday, cornering him in the locker room after the others
have left.
“So when did you finally ask Seonwoo the big question?” Jake asks, leaning his shoulder
against his locker, arms crossed over his chest. Heeseung lifts a brow but Jake simply scoffs,
grinning while he rolls his eyes. Jay shuts his locker door and straddles the bench, leaning
towards him as well.

“Hyung, we can tell,” he insists. “You and Seonwoo have been acting different lately. Ever
since break. And ever since he got back from Nationals you’ve been practically attached at
the hip.” Heeseung shakes his head, changing out of his practice shirt. “You’re always
together. What goes on?”

“We’re just hanging out,” Heeseung says. “It’s not serious.”

“Yet,” Jake supplies. Heeseung doesn’t add anything. “It’s not serious yet. That’s what you
mean. Because if I know you it’s that you hate the idea of a casual relationship. You’re not
that kind of dude.”

“Don’t tell me you’re just sleeping together?” Jay complains. Heeseung scoffs, yanking his
bag out of his locker and then shutting it.

“We haven’t even kissed!” Heeseung tells them. Jake groans and Jay throws himself down on
the bench. “We’re really just hanging out. I think we’re a thing but we’re not really a thing
yet, you feel me?”

“Why not?!” Jake says. “You two seem good together.”

“He’s… shy, I guess,” Heeseung says, swallowing the lump in his throat. “I don’t want to
rush him.”

“You’re a good dude for that,” Jay says, sitting back up on the bench. “But hyung, don’t drag
your ass. Seonwoo’s cute, someone else is gonna realize that if you don’t define the
relationship.”

“I will,” Heeseung assures him. “Not that either of you have the room to judge me,” he says,
looking between his friends. It’s no secret that Jake and Jay are also not very active in the
dating scene at their university since both of them are avid party animals. Jake scoffs, turning
to yank his bag out of his locker while Jay climbs off the bench to get his own things. “That’s
what I fucking thought,” Heeseung says, stepping over the bench.

“Whatever, hyung,” Jake mumbles, shouldering his bag.

Their first game post break is coming up on them fast, it’s Friday and the team has to be in
top shape to take them on. There’s one slight problem.

“It’s Portland State,” the coach says and Heeseung’s jaw clenches reflexively. “We’re doing a
rematch at Decelis to get us all back in fighting shape for the season. The team’s real excited
for a rematch, so let’s show them a good game, yeah?” He says and the rest of the basketball
team seems eager to take them on again. Heeseung turns to Jake and Jay though and notices
how pale they both are immediately.
“What’s wrong?” He asks, even though he knows damn well what’s wrong. He hasn’t wanted
to bring it up because he was hoping one of them would crack under the pressure but that
doesn’t seem to be the case.

“Just… surprised,” Jay says, recovering far faster than Jake. “I thought we’d take them on
again later in the season. That’s… uh… fast.” Heeseung nods.

“Right,” Heeseung says, tone flat. “Hey, you guys wanna come by mine tonight after
practice?” He asks.

“Oh, y’know… I’m so behind… in… Economics,” Jake struggles to get out.

“The semester just started,” Heeseung says. “We can study at mine. I’ll see you after
practice,” he tells them. He doesn’t have to look to know that Jay and Jake are definitely
panicking.

Heeseung’s learned over the years that it’s a lot easier to just rip the bandaid off than dance
around the subject. It doesn’t get them anywhere, waiting around and dragging your feet,
especially when the issue is very clearly an elephant in the room. Jake and Jay don’t even
hide it very well when they go with Heeseung back to his dorm after basketball practice. The
silence is deafening and Heeseung drops himself down on his bed, only waiting until Jay’s
closed the door behind him for him to say, “I know. About that night at the club.”

“What?” Jay says, voice nothing short of alarmed. “I mean…” he inches over to Heeseung’s
desk, sitting down slowly. “What… uh… do you mean, hyung?”

“Don’t fuck with me. I know about what happened to Seonwoo.”

“What the fuck, who told you?” Jake hisses, sitting down next to him on his bed. Heeseung
thinks about telling them the truth, that Jake is a complete mess when he’s drunk and that
trying to get his best friend to lie to him was going to end poorly to begin with but he doesn’t.
Instead, he figures it’s better to bypass the blame game entirely because it really doesn’t
matter who told him. What matters is that he knows and he’s not very happy about it.

“That’s besides the point,” Heeseung says. “The point is that I know and we’re about to play
them again. And I don’t trust any of those fuckers anymore.”

“Are you gonna tell the coach?” Jay asks, voice uncharacteristically small.

“Why would I?” Heeseung asks and the both of them breathe a sigh of relief. “It doesn’t
fucking matter now. What matters is that those fuckers are gonna be on our campus and one
of them is apparently not above doing something as fucked up as drugging someone to get
something they want. Did Seonwoo tell either of you who it was?”

“No,” Jake sighs. “Not that it matters. We can’t do anything about it anyway. Seonwoo
pointed out that he doesn’t have proof that it was one of them that did something to him to
begin with so we really don’t have anything against them. We just have to play them again
and, I guess, act like nothing happened.”
“I’m not gonna do that,” Heeseung states.

“What’re you gonna do, start a fight with all the members of the PSU basketball team?” Jay
asks, expression doubtful. “All you’re gonna do if you start something is manage to rack up a
bunch of fouls and guarantee that we lose. It’s not gonna change anything.”

“Then we should tell Seonwoo not to come.”

“He’s a cheerleader, he has to be there,” Jake says, gently. “Going to games is a requirement
for the cheer squad. They can’t just skip them without a valid reason.”

“I don’t want that fucker anywhere near him.”

“The cheer team is going to know before the game who we’re playing,” Jay offers. “Which
means Sunghoon and Jungwon will be able to play defense. If one of those Portland fuckers
gets anywhere near him Sunghoon and Jungwon won’t be far off. We can’t do anything since
we have to play them but they can run interference while we’re on the court.”

Heeseung’s jaw is still clenched and his shoulders are tense. Logistically, he knows Jake and
Jay are right. They’re absolutely right and he can’t actually do anything about any of this.
They were going to end up paying PSU again anyway, whether they wanted to or not and he’s
gonna have to be on the court. That’s a deep downside to being the starting center but what
else can he do? He doesn’t want to bench anyway because if they’re going to beat them he’s
going to have to be the one to make damn sure of it but still. Just the fact that that guy is
going to be that close to Seonwoo again is enough to make his blood hot.

“Hyung,” Jake says, resting a hand on Heeseung’s hand where it’s clenched in his bedding.
“Nothing’s gonna happen to Seonwoo. There’s no way he’s going to go back out with that
guy again and this time we know who we’re dealing with. It’s gonna be okay.”

“It just pisses me off that some asshole took advantage of him like that. Seonwoo deserves
better than that.”

That Friday Heeseung walks out onto the court, his first game at home, wearing the navy blue
home game uniforms, striped with red and gold down the sides, his name and number
emblazoned on the back in gold. Portland State is wearing their away uniforms, white stripes
on green, an inverse of their home game uniforms. Heeseung looks over at the opposite
bench, his eyes scanning over the team, wondering which one of them he’d gladly throw
hands with if it were to come to that.

“Fuck,” Seonwoo mumbles, watching the opposing team fill up their bench on the opposite
side of the court. They’re intermingled with their cheerleaders but the basketball players are
more obvious. Sunghoon comes up to his side, resting an arm on his shoulder, also looking
with him. Last time they did this they didn’t have to watch them with such scrutiny.

“You recognize the one you danced with yet?” Sunghoon asks. Seonwoo shakes his head.
“Let me know when you do.”
“Don’t get in trouble,” Seonwoo comments. “Besides, you don’t know how to fight. You’ll
just get hurt.”

“That’s hurtful, Seonwoo,” Sunghoon says. Seonwoo snorts, rolling his eyes. “I could throw
a punch.”

“I don’t think you should though,” Jungwon says, coming up to Seonwoo’s other side.
“C’mon we’re gonna have a huddle. Game’s gonna start soon.” Seonwoo nods. Jungwon
leaves first and then Sunghoon’s wrapping his arm around his shoulder, pulling him away.
Heeseung looks over and watches them walk away from the sidelines. He turns his attention
back to Portland State.

“Remember what I said, hyung,” Jay says, stretching his arms out. “Don’t rack up the
personal fouls tonight. We can’t afford ‘em.”

“No promises.”

The game starts like the other game did. Perhaps Heeseung is a little bit more aggressive than
he was last time, but that just means he scores a few more points than last time. Coach
suggested starting on the defense considering Portland State knows how they work now but
Heeseung doesn’t pay that advice any mind. He’s got another plan in mind and he throws a
three pointer in the first half of the first quarter, the crowd going wild. Coach Sanders looks
mildly irritated but he can’t really complain about a solid three pointer.

“Hyung!” Jake shouts and Heeseung passes the ball over the head of the defender trying to
stop him. He’s bigger than him but he heeds Jay’s warning and decides against knocking him
out of the way. The less personal fouls the better after all. Jake catches the ball and shoots,
another two points for their board. The defender backs off and Heeseung runs over, slapping
hands with Jake.

“Damn, Lee,” one of the Portland players says, getting back in position. “You’re really on it
tonight,” he says.

“Don’t want you guys to think you’re gonna beat us on our own turf,” Heeseung replies. The
player turns and Heeseung reads the name and number in a flash. Evers, 24. “Sorry that
happened to you but that’s not gonna happen to us,” he adds and the guy laughs.

“Just the first quarter, Lee!” He calls out.

“That’s him,” Seonwoo hisses. Jungwon turns away from the crowd to see where Seonwoo is
looking. He’s looking out at the court where they’re resetting to put the ball back in play.
Jungwon tries to follow where Seonwoo is looking but he can’t spot him.

“Who?” Jungwon asks.

“That’s the guy. That I met at the club,” he mumbles. Jungwon’s eyes widen in realization.
“He just talked to Heeseung. Number 24.”
The first half ends with Decelis in the lead by 15 points. Coach Sanders doesn’t look happy,
voices such thoughts when Heeseung gets off the court after the buzzer.

“Just trying to win the game, Coach,” Heeseung offers.

“Then follow the plan. Don’t rogue on me now, Lee,” he warns him. Heeseung nods and Jake
gives him a look. Heeseung doesn’t offer anything else, just picks up his water bottle for a
drink. The game is going well so he’s not going to worry too much about it. Portland was
clearly expecting something else from them so this works out in their favor. Coach will
eventually forgive him for his antics, Heeseung isn’t usually a trouble maker for the team.

“We present to you, for your halftime entertainment, the 2024 Cheerleading Nationals 3rd
Place Runners Up, the Decelis University Cheerleading Team!”

The cheer team, despite having finished out the season already, are still slated to perform
during halftime for this particular game. They’ll start trading out with the dance team after
this game but for now it’s a show and a flex for the fact that they brought home the bronze at
Nationals this year. Heeseung stands behind the bench, arms crossed over his chest, watching
the cheerleading team with a small smile on his lips. Seonwoo never looks happier than when
he’s performing with the cheer squad.

It’s an amazing routine and the whole gym cheers for them, even the opposing side. They’re
very talented and the cheer team leads the home team in their usual cheer.

“Decelis who?!”

“Decelis Wolves!” The crowd roars back.

“Decelis Wolves what?!”

“Decelis Wolves Strong!” They shout back, the girls in the front yelling and woo-hooing
before running off of the court, the guys close behind. Heeseung watches as Seonwoo slows
to a walk at the corner of the court, looking over his shoulder at the opposing team. The smile
slides off of Heeseung’s face as he looks over at the opposing team. None of them are
sticking out right now but it’s pretty obvious to Heeseung.

Seonwoo’s recognized one of them.

He doesn’t have time to try and figure out which one, the buzzer is blaring and the second
half is starting.

He never promised Jay he wouldn’t have a foul tonight.

The first couple of stray arms go unnoticed, but that doesn’t mean the other team agrees.
There’s some petty squabbling happening on the Portland bench the second time Heeseung’s
block is a little more aggressive than it needs to be. No foul is awarded though, and Jay gives
Heeseung a look as they reset after Portland scores two points. He simply shrugs before
moving back into his usual position as they reset to put the ball back in play.
The next elbow is a little more egregious and that does get him a technical foul. Coach glares
at him from the bench and the ball trades hands to the opposite team. It’s just one technical
foul though, so he won’t be ejected from the game. Not yet at least. Jake glares at him,
meeting up with him in the middle of the court.

“Hyung, I swear to God, if you get ejected for something stupid—”

“I won’t. Relax,” Heeseung assures him. He leaves Jake’s side but Jake doesn’t look like he
believes him as the ref blows the whistle and the game starts up again.

And then, just as quickly, Heeseung finds himself on his ass on the court.

“Personal Foul, Unsportsmanlike Conduct, Number 24,” the referee calls out. Jay helps
Heeseung up from the ground. Heeseung turns to spot the player that knocked him on his
backside, finding number 24 walking over to the bench. It’s Evers, the name and number
written across his back in white. He looks over his shoulder at Heeseung, lifting a
challenging brow.

“Don’t,” Jay mutters, still holding onto Heeseung’s hand. “He’ll get what’s coming to him.
Don’t start anything.”

“I don’t start shit,” Heeseung bites out. “I fucking finish it.”

Heeseung’s desire for petty vengeance leaves him as soon as the ball trades hands yet again.
He looks over and sees Seonwoo standing at the sidelines, looking more worried than
anything else. He squares his shoulders as he gets back into position. He’s not going to play
these stupid games anymore. Portland State is going to regret thinking they can take him out.

No other fouls are called, but Heeseung’s pretty sure part of it has to do with the fact that
none of the Portland State players can catch them. Heeseung, Jake and Jay are a well oiled
machine and even Devin and Nick are on the ball with them. They may have their
differences, and Heeseung was playing a bit recklessly, but it’s a cheap shot to throw a player
to the ground and they’re not just going to stand idly by and let that happen. The five of them
rack up point after point on Portland, the home team crowd going crazy with every successful
basket. The cheer squad is screaming and jumping up and down with them, Nick passing the
ball to Jake, who passes it to Jay, who jumps to dunk on the basket. The crowd goes wild.

The third quarter ends with them still up, this time by 20 points. Portland is falling behind.
They all leave the court, Heeseung looking over at the cheerleaders. Seonwoo is grinning,
which is exactly what he wants to see. He winks and Seonwoo giggles, shaking his head at
him.

The game ends with Decelis winning 32 to 26. The gap is smaller than they wanted it to be,
Heeseung especially, but they’re still the winners at the end of the night and that’s what
matters. Portland has been sufficiently beaten, both at home and away now. The crowd goes
absolutely insane when the time runs out, the cheer team jumping up and down while waving
their pom poms around. Nick grabs Heeseung around the neck, dragging him towards their
celebrating teammates. Their coach looks absolutely exasperated but, as Heeseung expected,
he tells him good game anyway and lets that land where it falls.
Seonwoo manages to get out of the press of the basketball court after the celebrations die
down. It’s the first game of the season after winter break so it’s pretty exciting for everyone
that Decelis is still on a winning streak after a few weeks off. Everyone is starting to finally
leave the venue and he walks around the corner to try and get some air. The cold night air is
refreshing after a whole evening in a stuffy basketball court.

“Hey,” someone calls out and Seonwoo freezes up. Footsteps approach, louder than
everything else despite the way there are so many people pouring out of the building not 100
meters away. He turns slowly to face the person who called out to them and is forced to meet
a pair of bright blue eyes. “Yeah, I thought that was you,” he says, hands in the pockets of his
shorts.

He’s still in his uniform, Portland State written across the front of his green jersey along with
his number, 24, in white. He’s taller than Seonwoo, as is to be expected, but not as tall as
Heeseung. His bright blue eyes make Seonwoo’s stomach turn now, his black hair plastered
to his forehead from sweat.

“Needed some air?” He asks, looking around.

“Yeah,” Seonwoo mumbles. “It was stuffy in there.”

“I know, right?” He laughs. “I’m glad I was able to catch you. I was worried that you might
disappear on me again if I looked away.” He steps closer and Seonwoo steps back, finding
the wall of the building at his back. “Did you give me… any more thought, after the club?”
He asks, crowding Seonwoo against the wall.

“Yeah, I did,” Seonwoo trembles out and the guy smiles. “But I’m not interested anymore.”

“Oh?” He asks, leaning back as though taken aback. “I can’t say I’m not disappointed. I was
hoping we could come back around to what I suggested the last time we met up?” He asks,
leaning down towards him. Seonwoo turns away from him and Ethan pulls back. He looks
less than pleased by being rejected.

“I’m seeing someone else,” Seonwoo says and Ethan’s brows draw together in confusion.
“I’m sorry. It’s a recent thing so…”

“So you gave me very little thought after that night in the club, huh?” He comments. “Well, I
can’t say I’m surprised. I heard the Decelis Cheer Team was like this.”

“What does that mean?” Seonwoo asks, straightening up in offense.

“Your basketball team has a lot to say about your cheer squad, you know?” He says, stepping
back and crossing his arms over his chest. “I guess I should’ve figured someone like you
would be the type to change your mind. I hope this next boy knows that he doesn’t have
long,” he quips, turning to walk away.

“Excuse me?” Seonwoo says, turning to face him. Ethan turns back to look at him. “What the
hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You were all over me in the club,” he says, facing him again. “If you didn’t have bus call
would you really have turned me down?” He comments, walking back towards Seonwoo.
“You’re real cute but I imagine you know that. Is that your bit? You’re real cute so you can
lull guys into this false sense of security?” He asks, leaning down towards him, Seonwoo
jerking away. “How long before you get bored of him too?”

“I don’t even know me.”

“I know your type,” he insists. “I guess I was the lucky one, because I can only imagine how
much you get around.” He gives Seonwoo a long up and down. “All the basketball guys have
a go already? Oh, right,” he says, leaning back. “I heard you’ve had your eyes on the starting
center lately. What was his name again? Heeseung?” Seonwoo swallows. “Justin told me his
name was also Ethan. I guess I was just a filler until you got what you really wanted.”

“Fuck off and leave him alone.”

Ethan turns around, smirking when he sees Heeseung standing there. Seonwoo freezes up,
paralyzed with fear.

“You must be the guy,” Ethan says, walking over to him. “Damn, Justin was right. You are
just Korean me.”

“You’re the one who looks like a store brand version, white boy,” Heeseung replies. “Now
fuck off and I won’t tell anyone you were harassing one of our cheerleaders.”

“One of your cheerleaders was halfway in my pants a month ago,” he retorts and Heeseung’s
jaw clenches. “I don’t think I was the one doing the harassing.”

“This is my last warning. Get lost.”

“Or what?”

Heeseung has him by the collar and his back against the venue wall in a second. Seonwoo
gasps and Heeseung cages him back against the outer wall, Ethan groaning from the impact.
Heeseung twists his jersey up in his fist, pinning him underneath his body. He’s taller and
wider than Ethan and clearly a lot stronger. Ethan glares up at him.

“This is what,” Heeseung tells him. “If you leave now you’ll be getting away with bruises
instead of bleeding. You can keep pissing me off and see where it gets you but you’re not
gonna like it. Fuck. Off.”

“Alright, alright. Let me go,” he complains. Heeseung does as he’s asked, stepping back.
“Fuck, dude,” he mumbles, straightening out his jersey. “You think your boyfriend’s worth a
fucking black eye. Get real.” He walks off, Heeseung watching him until he goes back inside.
He turns back to Seonwoo then, walking over to him. Seonwoo flinches back when Heeseung
lifts his hand and Heeseung drops his hand, closing his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he sighs. “I didn’t mean to scare you. He just pissed me off. I can’t stand
assholes like him.”
“You almost got into a fight,” Seonwoo points out and Heeseung nods, dropping his
head.“You almost got into a fight with a student from a different university. What if he had
wanted to fight back? You could’ve gotten into so much trouble. What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t,” Heeseung admits. “I just saw him with you and I… I didn’t think. I was worried. I
didn’t know what he was going to do.”

“I told you I can handle myself,” Seonwoo bites out.

“I know you did.”

“Then what the fuck?” Seonwoo demands. “I’m not a damsel in distress for you to save,
hyung.”

“I don’t think you are.”

“You have a funny way of showing it.”

“Seonwoo,” Heeseung says, tone urgent as he lifts his head. “I know about what happened at
the club.” Seonwoo stumbles back a step, eyes wide in surprise. He looks almost… afraid. “I
know about what happened to you. Jay and Jake told me that it was one of the basketball
players. When I saw you. Out here. With him. I didn’t think about anything except you. I
didn’t know what he was going to do. I was… scared. For you.”

“He wouldn’t have,” Seonwoo says, but his voice lacks conviction, soft and scared.

“Neither of us knew that,” Heeseung points out. “Neither of us knew what he was capable of.
What was I supposed to do?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Seonwoo demands. “That you knew. Why didn’t you tell me
before the game, that you knew about the away game and the club and the drink. You didn’t
think I should know that you knew?”

“I didn’t… have time. Seonwoo—”

“You should’ve fucking told me, hyung,” Seonwoo says. “I deserved to know.” He walks past
Heeseung, headed for the door. Heeseung turns around, sighing heavily as Seonwoo leaves,
the door slamming shut behind him.

“You should really forgive him,” Jungwon says when he comes over to Seonwoo’s dorm the
following Saturday night with Bring It On and Stick It in hand as well as a heinous amount of
junk food. Seonwoo stuffs another spoonful of mint moose tracks ice cream into his mouth
rather than say anything back.

Seonwoo told Jungwon about the whole thing as soon as he could, the two of them walking
back to the dorms rather than go out with the other cheerleaders. Seonwoo’s not sure he’ll
ever want to go out with the cheerleaders ever again. Jungwon was a great sounding board
but he also has opinions, opinions that Seonwoo doesn’t actually want because he’s upset.
“He was just trying to protect you,” Jungwon points out, dipping pretzel thins in nutella.
“And I know it was kind of a shitty thing to do, keeping it from you that he knew, but think
about it like this,” he says, stuffing the pretzel in his mouth and then turning towards
Seonwoo, who looks at him from the corner of his eye. “You were already stressed out about
the game, obviously, and telling you that he knew wouldn’t make anything better or worse. It
would just make you more upset, and for nothing at all! Heeseung was trying to spare your
feelings.”

“I didn’t ask him to do that!” Seonwoo points out, shoving the spoon back in the ice cream
container. “And you’re completely missing the ‘he threw someone into a wall’ part of the
story.”

“For you!” Jungwon insists, throwing his hands around. “It was for you! I don’t condone
violence but, like, he grabbed those fuckers by the collar for the cheer team and he threw that
asshole who put something into your drink into a wall for you. I mean, violence is bad but
also, is it?”

“Yes!” Seonwoo retorts.

“Debatable,” Jungwon grumbles, settling back into the couch. Seonwoo has never been so
glad that his roommates are all women and generally tend to mind their business. He doesn’t
know what he would do if they were also agreeing with Jungwon.

The worst part about it is that Seonwoo isn’t actually that mad at Heeseung. He was glad that
Heeseung was there, he was kind of scared when Ethan followed him out there. He didn’t
like being alone with him and he wasn’t sure what he could possibly do. He’s just mad that it
spiraled so out of control and the only person he can really blame right now is Heeseung. He
didn’t like how Heeseung handled it and he didn’t like that Heeseung didn’t tell him that he
found out.

He’s ignoring the part where he agreed that Jay and Jake not tell Heeseung to begin with
because he sort of feels like a hypocrite when he thinks about it too hard.

What’s worse is that Heeseung hasn’t texted him at all since that night and it kind of makes
him feel extra shitty even though he doesn’t want to talk to him anyway. It probably has to do
with Heeseung’s last messages.

from: Heeseungie hyung 🏀💙 💛 ❤

> i know you’re mad at me and i understand
> but when / if you want to talk about it just lmk

They weren’t even an official thing yet and Seonwoo already feels like Heeseung expects him
to break up with him. It sucks.

Jungwon sleeps in his room throughout the weekend, giving advice and telling Seonwoo that
if he really likes Heeseung and really wants to stay with him he should just talk to him. He
knows this, if he wants to stay in a relationship with Heeseung they have to have the hard
conversations but he just doesn’t think he’s ready for it right now. For the weekend he just
wants to sit in his anger, adult emotions can wait until next week.
He’s hit full force with that knowledge when he shows up to his Human Sexuality class on
Tuesday and Heeseung is already there. He’s sitting in his usual seat and Seonwoo hovers in
the doorway for a moment, considering his options.

He could sit somewhere else but this is a really full class so that would be very, very obvious.
Someone else would have to sit next to Heeseung and Heeseung would have that horrible
kicked puppy look on his face the entire class period and Seonwoo doesn’t know that he
would survive that. He should just sit in his normal seat and be an adult about this, it isn’t that
big of a deal, after all. They probably won’t even talk in class, they’re starting a new section
of the book, so they’re past the basics and finally getting into the psychology of it, something
that’s actually interesting. He’ll have to take notes, they won’t have time to talk to each other.

Mind made up, Seonwoo steps into the classroom, headed for his normal desk, when
someone else sits in his normal seat. He freezes up, surprised to see Lee Chaeryeong sitting
down next to Heeseung. Heeseung also seems surprised by this turn of events, looking at her
like a deer in headlights. She sets her bag down on the desk, smiling at him.

Seonwoo diverts to sit in her now vacant desk, in the back next to Kim Jungsu. He drops his
notebook and book on the desk, pulling out a pen to take his notes. When he looks up from it
he notices the way Heeseung is looking back at him. Seonwoo avoids his gaze, turning away
to look out the window, head in his hand, propped up with his elbow on the desktop.

Class feels like it goes on forever. Seonwoo can barely focus with the way his gaze keeps
straying to Chaeryeong where she’s sitting in his normal seat. Heeseung is tilted away from
her, focused on the professor at the front of the room. He spends the entire class doodling in
the margins of his notebook instead, violent red and blue pen scribbles. When the class
finally ends Seonwoo packs up as quickly as possible, rushing from the room rather than
have to deal with looking at Heeseung for another second.

He gets to the courtyard before someone has him by the arm, turning him around. He can’t
find it in himself to be surprised that it’s Heeseung. He avoids his eyes, Heeseung sighing as
he lets go of Seonwoo’s shoulder.

“I didn’t tell Chaeryeong to sit there,” Heeseung says. “She just did.”

“You didn’t tell her not to.”

“Oh my god, please do not torture me like this,” Heeseung begs and Seonwoo blinks up at
him. “She’s part of the dance team. The basketball team is dating, like, half of it. I didn’t tell
her to sit there, she’s single and wants to date a basketball player. I don’t like her.”

“I didn’t say you did,” Seonwoo whispers. Heeseung sighs heavily. “I have to go,” Seonwoo
mutters, turning to go.

“Is that it?” Heeseung asks and Seonwoo chews on his bottom lip, stuck in place. “I know I
was wrong. I know that I should’ve told you and I shouldn’t have let my emotions get the
best of me and I’m sorry. Seonwoo, I’m sorry.” He steps back around him so he can stand in
front of him again, Seonwoo looking away to avoid his gaze. “Please don’t let this end before
it’s even begun.”
“I didn’t say I wanted it to,” Seonwoo mumbles. “I just don’t know what to say to you, all of
a sudden. I’m still upset about what happened but I’m also… embarrassed. A little bit.”

He’s given it a lot of thought, mostly at night while Jungwon was asleep and he was left to
mull it over, staring at the ceiling of his room in the darkness, nothing else to distract him.
He’s angry and he’s upset but he also hates the fact that Heeseung knows now. In a way, it
makes him feel stupid and vulnerable that he let something like that happen to him. And not
only did he let that happen to him, it happened because he was trying to act like he didn’t like
Heeseung and then that guy, that asshole, completely exposed him right in front of Heeseung.
It’s enough to make him want to crawl under his covers and never come out.

“About what?” Heeseung breathes.

“It’s…” Seonwoo runs a hand through his hair, huffing. “I can’t believe I let that happen to
me. I can’t believe I was so stupid.”

“Seonwoo, that’s not your fault,” Heeseung insists, gently taking hold of Seonwoo’s wrists.
“It’s not your fault that that happened to you. Don’t blame yourself.”

“It’s… I don’t want to talk about this here,” he says, shaking his head.

“I want to talk about this,” Heeseung insists and Seonwoo hesitantly meets his eyes. “Will
you come with me back to my dorm?” he asks and Seonwoo swallows. “Do you trust me?”
He asks.

Seonwoo doesn’t think he trusts anyone more than Heeseung Lee.

Heeseung’s dorm is well kept considering he lives in it by himself. It’s a pretty small dorm,
unfortunately, since he’s a freshman dorm RA and he has to use a communal bathroom since
none of them come equipped with an ensuite but it’s not so bad. A lot of privacy, Seonwoo is
sure. And it’s more spacious, he realizes, with only one desk, bed and wardrobe in
comparison to when he had to share his freshman year. He’s never been so glad to have so
many friends as when Yuna and Yujin asked him to share an apartment style with him at the
end of last year.

“Sorry it’s a mess,” Heeseung says, kicking his duffle under his bed and throwing a stray t-
shirt and hoodie into the hamper by his desk. It could definitely be worse, he’s seen the inside
of Sunghoon’s dorm before. “You can sit… wherever,” he tells him, dropping his messenger
bag on the ground by the head of his bed. He sits down on the edge of his bed, which is
unmade but the blankets and pillows at least look clean.

Seonwoo closes the door behind him, which is a risky move. He’s pretty sure RAs are
required to keep an open door policy, not that it has to be literal, but if someone knew
Heeseung had him in here he could get in trouble. Still, he’d rather not have someone listen
in on their conversation. He then crosses the room and sits next to him on the edge of his bed.
Heeseung’s gaze is on the floor somewhere, his shoulders tense. Seonwoo has a feeling he
didn’t expect him to sit next to him but sitting at the desk would probably feel weirder than
just being next to him.
He drops his bag on the floor at his feet and carefully curls his fingers over the edge of the
thin, university mattress. The walk here was just as quiet as it is right now, but now there’s
not even any campus ambience to fill it. It’s just stiff, tense silence between the two of them.
It’s the first time in a long time that neither of them know what to say to the other.

“About what you said,” Heeseung breaks the silence. “I meant that, y’know? You don’t have
anything to be embarrassed about. It was never your fault. You can do everything right and…
shit happens. That doesn’t mean it should’ve happened to you but you can’t blame yourself
for something someone else did.”

“It’s not just… not just that,” Seonwoo mutters, staring at the ugly, navy blue threadbare
carpet. “You know why Jungwon didn’t want you to know?” He asks and Heeseung nods.
“He did it for the team, he didn’t want to throw Nationals away before we even got there and
I… I agreed with him, of course. We had all worked so hard and the basketball team didn’t
deserve to have their season cut short just because of me. So I agreed with Jay and I agreed
with Jungwon when he didn’t want to tell you. But I also,” he swallows, “I didn’t want you to
know because I didn’t want you to know that I went out that night. I didn’t want you to know
that I had done something so stupid.”

“Seonwoo—”

“It’s not about him,” Seonwoo continues, ignoring him. “It’s not… he doesn’t matter. Fuck
that guy, it’s never really been about him. He was… convenient, I guess. I just got unlucky
that I caught his attention but I… I would be lying if I said I didn’t go out that night trying to
find someone to dance with.”

“What do you mean?”

“He wasn’t… totally wrong,” Seonwoo mumbles, voice softening even further as he curls
into himself even further, head dropped and shoulders hunched. “Sunghoon had told me
about the club earlier, on the bus. The cheer team was all talking about it but Jungwon and I
said we weren’t going to go. I changed my mind after the game.”

“Why?”

“Sunghoon… said I had a thing for you. And I was… I dunno. It annoyed me at the time. I
had always told the others I didn’t like basketball players and, I mean, everyone on the cheer
team says that. It’s just the way it is here, the cheer team dates the football players and the
basketball team dates the dance team. I guess I just felt like I had to prove a point to everyone
that I wasn’t… hung up on you, or whatever.”

“And now?”

“And now I look like the idiot,” Seonwoo sighs, tipping his head back to look at the ceiling.
His eyes are watering. It’s upsetting, telling the guy you like that you wanted to not like him
so much that you went out and instead of getting over him someone tried to hurt you. And
going out in the first place didn’t even work because you still like him. “He was right. He
was just a filler anyway. And it didn’t even work because I still like you.”
“What's wrong with that?” Heeseung asks and Seonwoo finally looks over at him. Heeseung
lifts a hand, brushing Seonwoo’s fringe away from his eyes. “I know how it is around here.
This is a small university. It’s like we never really left high school sometimes, y’know?”
Seonwoo chokes a wet laugh and Heeseung smiles gently. “It sucks sometimes. But that guy
was an asshole and I still like you too. So I don’t see what the problem is.”

“You don’t think it’s kind of pathetic?”

“It’s not,” Heeseung insists, gently cupping his cheek. “You’re not pathetic. Being afraid of
going against the grain is just the way we’re hardwired.”

“You’re not,” Seonwoo points out.

“I’m kind of broken, if you couldn’t tell,” he jokes and Seonwoo laughs again, leaning into
his side. “I have a tendency to say things no one else will and do things that get me in trouble
because I don’t think first. And I’m sorry that you have to deal with that.” He strokes his
thumb gently over Seonwoo’s cheek and Seonwoo looks up at him from under his lashes.
“Seonwoo, I still really like you. And I know I messed up but I’m so sorry. So sincerely
sorry.”

“I know you are,” Seonwoo whispers. “I already forgave you.”

“So?”

“So, I still like you too. I thought I already said it,” he quips. Heeseung grins. “I feel like
you’re just dragging this out now. I’m waiting for the question.”

“Do you want to go on a date with me?”

“That was the question,” Seonwoo confirms and Heeseung leans in, pressing a kiss to his
forehead. “I’m never gonna pay for anything,” he complains and Heeseung laughs, knocking
his forehead gently into Seonwoo’s.

By the time February breaks over the campus the basketball team is in the thick of
preparations for conference championships. Washington and Portland States were just
preliminary games, the team having taken on Washington on their campus just last week.
They don’t qualify for those conferences since they’re not a public university but now they
have a game against Reed College, which is part of the private university championships.
They have a solid winning streak having won against Washington last week, now they just
need to keep it up as they enter into the real games of their season.

These games will determine how their season goes and whether or not they’ll even have a bid
at the championships.

They’re away again at Reed College in Portland. It’s a different hotel this time, a little less
ostentatious than the last one, a little further away from city center since Reed is a private
college. The buses pull up in front of the Best Western (a far cry from the Hilton they had last
time but it’s not bad), all of the students piling off of the buses and into the lobby. The
coaches dole out the keycards again and tell them not to be late for bus call before departing
and, once again, leaving them to their own devices.

“I thought you would room with your boyfriend,” Jay says as Heeseung hands him his
keycard.

“I’m pretty sure Jungwon brought the ban hammer down on that one,” Jake jokes. Heeseung
rolls his eyes, putting his keycard in his wallet again.

“I didn’t even ask,” Heeseung tells them. “Isn’t it bad enough that you and Sunghoon have
the entire basketball team thinking you’re fucking?” He points out. Jake shrugs, holding his
extra keycard out. Like clockwork, Sunghoon is there to take it from his hands.

“Jake wishes he was fucking me,” Sunghoon comments, putting his card away. Jay and
Heeseung share a look while Jake punches Sunghoon in the shoulder, hard. Jungwon and
Seonwoo join them shortly, Heeseung wrapping his arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders as
soon as he’s close. Sunghoon side eyes them as Heeseung presses a kiss to Seonwoo’s
temple. “I’m literally disgusted. I wish I had never supported this,” he says, looking between
the two of them.

“Too late,” Seonwoo chirps happily. “You studying in the lobby again or are you headed up?”
He asks, wrapping his arm around Heeseung’s waist.

“No studying. Why don’t we head up?” He suggests.

“I’m going with,” Jungwon says and they both look over at him. “I don’t trust the two of you
to go up alone,” he remarks and then leads the way to the elevators. Heeseung and Seonwoo
share a look before following after Jungwon, Jay groaning as he follows after them.

“I can’t believe this is my life now. A perpetual third wheel,” he complains, getting on the
elevator after them.

“Join the club,” Jungwon says, stabbing the buttons for the third and fourth floors.

Heeseung and Seonwoo, despite officially dating now, have yet to have the time to actually
date yet. All of their friends have been forced to witness them flirting and occasionally
exchanging chaste cheek and forehead kisses before and after their practices for the past
week. With basketball season finally ramping up and cheer practices becoming fewer and
further between since their season is over they haven’t been able to sync up to actually going
on their date. They have plans but nothing has come to fruition yet.

“You have to focus on your Senior project and basketball and I’ll give you my Human
Sexuality notes while you sleep through the class,” Seonwoo once told him. Heeseung
laughed, pulling him in to kiss his temple sweetly.

“You’re the most perfect person in the world, you know that?”
“You’re only saying that because I’m bolstering your GPA after you barely passed Music
History.”

“Let Music History go!”

The game is at six that evening and the cheer team is all dolled up at the visitor sidelines
while the basketball team is dressed in their golden away jerseys again. Reed College is a sea
of red and black on their home bleachers, the basketball team lined up at their own bench in
red uniforms with black and white writing, Reed College written proudly across the chests.
Seonwoo and Jungwon help each other warm up before the game, Seonwoo sneaking glances
at Heeseung when he has a chance.

“Hey,” Jungwon says, snapping his fingers. Seonwoo looks at him, serene as ever. “God, you
were so much more tolerable before you started dating him,” he complains, shaking his head
but looking over at the basketball team as well.

“You know how I told you it’s factual that Heeseung is hot?” Seonwoo says and Jungwon
looks at him from the corner of his eye, lifting a brow. “Now it is objectively true that he is
the hottest man I have ever seen.”

“Being in a relationship is rotting your brain,” Jungwon informs him. “Focus up or you’re
gonna roll your ankle during your tumbles.” Seonwoo doesn’t have a good response to that so
he supposes he probably should.

Decelis gets off on a good foot from the jump, but this game is immediately more difficult
than the ones against the State universities. Then again, big schools tend to underestimate
places like theirs. Reed College isn’t going to do that, they know exactly what Decelis is
capable of and they play just as hard. It’s the first time that season that they end the first
quarter behind. It’s not a big gap, just three points, but they are behind. They’re gonna have
to pick it up if they want to win.

The second quarter goes better. The crowd screams when Jake throws and scores them three
points right at the beginning, the ball practically swishing into the basket, putting them on an
even keel. The cheer team waves their pom poms around, navy and gold sparkling as they
cheer for their team. Reed College keeps right on their heels the whole game, the two teams
trading baskets back and forth until the quarter ends. They end it at a tie game, the first half
ending like that.

It’s a bit frustrating, Heeseung can’t deny it, but he doesn’t mind. A good game is a game
where it’s close most of the time. The last time they played Washington could barely keep up,
they ended up winning by 15 points. Games like this one are why he got into basketball to
begin with, the ones where he’s up against a team that’s just as into the game as they are and
wants to win as badly as they do. He sometimes wonders if public universities simply think
they aren’t worth their time so they give up before it even starts. A win isn’t worth much like
that but he looks at the scores, tied at 21. He’s optimistic about this one.

“Squad’s split on the outcome,” Sunghoon tells Seonwoo, meeting up with him and Jungwon
where they’re standing at the corner of the court, watching the Reed College cheer team
perform. “We have a bet going but it’s pretty even odds. You guys in?”
“I’m not betting on my boyfriend,” Seonwoo replies.

“Ten bucks on Reed,” Jungwon says. Seonwoo looks at him in surprise while Sunghoon nods
in understanding. Jungwon glances at Seonwoo and then does a double take. “What? Decelis
has had a really good season but they can’t possibly keep it up. They’re gonna lose eventually
and I’d bet it would be against Reed. It’s not personal, I just think it’s unlikely they keep up
this winning streak.”

“I’m gonna tell Jay,” Seonwoo says and Jungwon straightens up.

“Don’t do that!”

The buzzer goes off for the end of halftime and they all look back over, both teams taking to
the court again.

The second half follows the formula of the first half. The ball doesn’t stay in anyone’s hands
for long and baskets are traded back and forth at a break-neck speed. It’s impressive how hard
both teams are working to keep the other from making baskets and there are a few close shots
that have the entire gym on their feet. Seonwoo even gasps as one of the players from Reed
throws the ball and Heeseung leaps off the floor to catch it before it can make the basket,
hitting the floor and throwing it to Jay. The visiting bleachers go crazy as Jay runs it down the
court, passing it to Shawn so he can jump and shoot. Two points to Decelis.

Twenty seconds on the clock at the end of the fourth quarter, tie game. The Decelis cheer
team is hyping up the crowd as the basketball team resets on the court.

“Decelis who?!”

“Decelis Wolves!”

“Decelies Wolves what?!”

“Decelis Wolves Strong!”

The referee blows his whistle and the crowd cheers as they start playing again. Reed has
possession and they’re running for the end of the court. Decelis is hot on their heels but
without the ball they can’t do much of anything except defend. There are no openings, Reed
has them backed out, blocking them from getting close. Sneakers squeak on the court, the
ball hitting the ground the only sound as everyone waits to see how the last few seconds will
play out. The Reed player with possession of the ball throws, the ball is in the air, and then it
bounces off the rim of the basket just as the buzzer goes off.

“A shocking missed basket has put this game, a tight game from the beginning, Decelis
University vs Reed College, into overtime!” The announcer calls out and the visiting
bleachers cheer.

“It’s not over yet,” Sunghoon says, watching as they reset to go into overtime. “Reed could
still win this.”

“You don’t go to Reed,” Seonwoo reminds him, rolling his eyes. “Do you mind?”
“Seonwoo really wants Heeseungie to win,” Yunjin says, pom poms rattling as she adjusts
her ponytail. “I wonder why that is,” she teases, bumping her shoulder into Seonwoo’s.
Seonwoo doesn’t answer her but his neck feels hot under the implication.

Reed still has the ball in their possession when overtime begins but Decelis is more
aggressive this time. Jake manages to break through the blockade and rushes alongside the
Reed player, trying to keep pace with him. They’re going for the basket again, a
straightforward attempt at a win. The player stops again, throwing, and this time Jake is close
by, knocking it out of the air. It hits the ground, bounces, and Shawn picks it up, passing it to
Nick. Reed players are on him in a second, stopping him from moving forward.

“Nick!” Heeseung shouts. Nick throws it as hard as he can, Heeseung catching it at the base
of the basket. The Reed players are too far away, they can’t catch him in time. Heeseung
jumps and dunks the ball in the basket. The visiting bleachers go wild.

Decelis just won, 39 to 38.

Heeseung hits the ground, only for Jay to come in and practically tackle him to the ground.
Reed leaves the court while the Decelis basketball team floods it, cheering. The cheer team
screams above it all, jumping up and down. Half of the team just lost money but their school
just won their first game against a conference opponent.

“Decelis who?!” The cheer team shouts.

“Decelis Wolves!” The basketball team shouts back.

“Decelis Wolves what?!”

“Decelis Wolves Strong!” The crowd yells back, cheering loudly.

It isn’t until they’re back in the lobby of the hotel, making way too much noise for it being 11
o’clock at night, that Heeseung finally manages to wade his way through his teammates and
the cheerleaders. Seonwoo is in the back of the crowd, hanging back with Jungwon as the
cheer team captain laments his loss of ten dollars. He’s been swept up with his teammates
since he got them the game winning basket, which is nice but also extremely claustrophobic.
He’s got his gym bag hanging on his shoulder, still in his uniform, when he finally gets to the
back of the crowd, everyone crowding around the hotel elevators while Seonwoo and
Jungwon are still by the doors.

“Hey,” Heeseung says, stopping in front of them.

“Hey, yourself,” Seonwoo replies, grinning.

“My ‘hey’ is insignificant,” Jungwon states. “See you in the room,” he says, resting a hand
on Seonwoo’s shoulder. “And you’re sleeping in our room tonight.”

“I think it goes without saying,” Seonwoo replies. Jungwon still narrows his eyes at him in
playful warning before joining the rest of the Decelis student body all trying to get in the
elevators at once. Seonwoo rolls his eyes while Heeseung laughs. “He’s so over protective.
As if I’m not older than him,” Seonwoo says, shaking his head.

“Yeah, I think that’s just his personality,” Heeseung says. “You wanna get away with me for a
while?” He asks and Seonwoo tilts his head.

“Get away… where?” Seonwoo asks.

“There’s a lounge on the top floor. Or so I’ve heard,” Heeseung says, closing the distance
between them. He takes Seonwoo’s hand in his. “What do you say?” Seonwoo leans to the
side to look at the elevators, everyone clearly too caught up in themselves to notice them yet.
He looks back at Heeseung, who lifts a questioning brow.

“Yeah, okay,” Seonwoo agrees. Heeseung threads their fingers together and pulls him
towards the stairs, avoiding their teammates entirely.

The hotel is only six floors tall so there aren’t enough stairs for it to be too taxing. Seonwoo
holds Heeseung’s hand the entire way up, the hotel quieting around them the further away
from their teammates they get.

“So, how was the game?” Heeseung asks.

“Don’t fish for compliments, it’s not cute,” Seonwoo says and Heeseung laughs, a step ahead
of him on the stairs. He waits for him to join him on every landing.

“Noted,” Heeseung replies. “Still, you had a good time, right?”

“I’m glad we won,” Seonwoo offers and Heeseung looks over his shoulder at him, smiling.
“You know the cheer squad had a bet going on. Sunghoon said it was a pretty even split.”

“You bet on us, right?”

“I didn’t bet,” Seonwoo laughs and Heeseung stops on the fourth floor landing, pretending to
be offended. Seonwoo laughs, pulling him towards the next flight of stairs. “I wasn’t going to
bet money on my boyfriend, that’s ridiculous. Jungwon lost ten dollars though since he bet on
Reed.”

“We should tell Jay,” Heeseung says, following him up. Seonwoo barks a laugh, throwing his
head back.

The lounge is all the way at the back of the building on the sixth floor, Heeseung swinging
their hands back and forth as they cross the hotel floor. No one else is up and moving around
and both teams are at least two floors beneath them. It’s just the two of them up here, the
lounge opening up to them as soon as they reach the back corner of the building.

“Oh, wow,” Seonwoo says, pulling Heeseung over to the panoramic window that stretches
across the back of the lounge. The hotel is situated a little bit departed from the college, on
the 99 East, overlooking the Willamette River. There’s a thick line of trees between the edge
of the highway and the river, almost all of them nothing but skeletons of dark brown, only
occasionally interrupted by dark green conifers. The river runs just past them, midnight black
waters washing past them in the darkness. It’s harder to see because it’s the middle of the
night now but the lights are off in the lounge, allowing them to see out. It’s a really beautiful
view considering this isn’t much of a hotel. Heeseung lets go of Seonwoo’s hand to wrap his
arms around his waist instead, resting his chin on Seonwoo’s shoulder. “I didn’t think it
would be this beautiful.”

“It’s a good view,” Heeseung agrees. “I’m glad you came up with me.”

“I’m glad you asked me to,” Seonwoo replies, turning his head to look at Heeseung from the
corner of his eye. Heeseung pulls back, moving to stand next to him again. Seonwoo turns to
face him head on. Heeseung brushes his hair from his eyes again and Seonwoo breathes a
laugh. “You’re not gonna kiss me now, are you?”

“Do you not want me to?” He asks, pulling his hand back.

“It would be kind of lame.”

“I won the game tonight!” Heeseung points out, pretending to be taken aback. Seonwoo
laughs, leaning in to wrap his arms around Heeseung’s middle. “That’s such a rude thing to
say to your boyfriend who literally just won the first game of the season against one of our
conference opponents. I’m a goddamn hero.”

“Okay,” Seonwoo mocks him. Heeseung huffs, wrapping his arms around Seonwoo’s
shoulders anyway. “Heeseung,” Seonwoo says, his cheek resting against Heeseung’s chest.
The material of his jersey is both slick and scratchy against his skin but he doesn’t mind.
Heeseung hums above him. “You were amazing tonight.”

“I was kidding.”

“I know,” Seonwoo retorts. He pulls back and Heeseung looks down at him. “I still mean it.
You were still amazing.”

Seonwoo would have to be a fool to not see the way Heeseung is looking at him with such
tenderness, so much adoration and desire. He would also be lying if he said he hasn’t also
been thinking about it, hesitant yet wanting. He lifts a hand from Heeseung’s back to instead
touch his cheek, Heeseung leaning into the touch. He brushes his thumb gently over
Heeseung’s cheek, then pushes himself to his toes. His lips press softly to Heeseung’s, a
fleeting kiss.

Heeseung pulls him in by the waist, kissing him back. It’s sweet, chaste and gentle. Seonwoo
kisses him a little harder, lifting his other hand to Heeseung’s shoulder, pulling him in closer.
Heeseung smiles into his lips, tilting his head as he parts from Seonwoo’s lips for just a
second before kissing him again, more firmly. Seonwoo gasps into his lips but doesn’t pull
away, instead wrapping his arm around Heeseung’s neck. Heeseung lets go of him just long
enough to let his duffle fall off of his shoulder and then carefully eases the straps of
Seonwoo’s bag off of his shoulders too.

Seonwoo drops his arms and the bag hits the ground. They crash into each other again, lips
meeting with a latent desire, a quiet wanting in the way Heeseung cups Seonwoo’s cheek in
his hand, Seonwoo’s arms around his neck, Heeseung’s opposite hand holding tightly to
Seonwoo’s uniform shirt. There’s a dim stream of moonlight illuminating them through the
window, the only light in the whole room as they kiss again and again.
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