Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

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A pair of pale hands tightly held a thin black poster.

“Here you go, Ivan! I know you wanna see our game, so here’s the time and date.” Hyuna smiled. Winking as she walked away from Ivan.

‘ Oh, oh god. I can finally see Till’s game in person compared to Mizi’s videos. ’

Ivan had a blank face, head full of thoughts about Till. The sweat, his cheers, it’d now be all in person. Ivan would get to see him up close! Ivan owed Hyuna the world, Hyuna got him front seats so he could look at Till even closer!

Here was Ivan’s guilty pleasure. Stalking his crush, not in real life, of course. Just using alternate accounts to look at his posts, check out all of his activities… Nothing strange. According to Ivan. He just wanted to ‘learn’ about Till. Even though Ivan already knows everything about him.

“I should wear something nice..” Ivan talked to himself as he shoved the poster in his bag. Walking out of the campus towards his apartment complex.

Ivan went through the scenic route, wanting to feel the good weather. No clouds, just the beautiful shine of the sunset covering the trees and the sidewalks.

Stray cats followed and trailed Ivan’s steps, purrs and meows circled Ivan.

“I guess I should feed you guys.. C’mon kitties!” Ivan grinned as he lured the cats to his home.

_______

After feeding the stray cats on his porch, he sighed, now only having two hours to get ready and prep himself up, and not to get too jittery when he got to the place.

‘Ugh… I forgot I had to shower…’ Ivan quickly stripped off his clothes as he turned on boiling hot water. Maybe it was Ivan getting ready to handle the temperature of hell when he gets dragged down.

After he stepped out, he tied a towel on his waist. He headed outside of the bathroom as his slightly damp hair clinged onto him.

First of all, he has to pick a really, really cute outfit, nothing that has to be complex. He just wanted to wear something simple; but still presentable.

“I forgot I had this hoodie..” Ivan peeked through his clothes. Looking for something that would make him stand out just a little.

The hoodie was a nice light yellow, the color of a sweet custard with a cute zipper, which was pink.

Ivan got this while thrift-shopping with Mizi, Ivan hadn’t worn it once, but Mizi insisted he looked cute in it.

“I should wear this, it’s comfy, too,” Ivan smiled, putting on the slightly loose hoodie. His hair disheveled and messed up from putting it on.

Ivan then tossed on some baggy star jeans, he didn’t wear these often, but they were for sure one of the few he loved most. Ivan lazily strolled over to his bathroom, fixing his intended slightly messy hair. Some of the strands sticking out.

The raven grabbed a small light pink hair clip, using some on his side hair to stick it in place.

“Might as well touch up, a bit.” Ivan reached out for his highlighter. Brushing a little on the bridge of his nose and a little dab of the highlighter on his cheekbones. The raven then reached out for his eyelash curler, looking utterly ridiculous when using it.

Rapidly blinking his eyes, he was finished!

Now Ivan just had to contact his ride. Mizi.

___

Conversation started 3:33 AM

Navi^^ : I know you slept with my sister…

Miziiii : …What??? WTF told you???

Navi^^ : You realize I have cameras I can access in our home? Ugh nvm.. Sua’s gonna be doing overtime so beware!!!

Conversation started 5:33 PM

Navi^^ : Miziiiii… Are you coming…? :P

Miziiii is responding….

Miziiii : Ofc !! Who else would come with you? Lolololol^^

Miziiii : Also, don’t you worry… I’ll buy you a jersey with his number at the school shop.. Heheheh..

____

Ivan’s face became flush with red, imagining himself in Till’s jersey.

“That’d be so cool.. But how could I wear that anywhere?!~” Ivan whined as he continued to type back to Mizi.

____

Navi^^ : Heya… When r u gonna pick me up, gal???? >:(

Miziiii : Ugh, omw you’ve been an annoying naked mole rat these days . /jkkk I’m pulling up !!

Navi^^ : Hey! Joke or not, I’ll remember what you called me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Miziiii : Chillax, homeboy, come out, come out wherever you are !!! :D

Read : 5:37

____

Ivan quickly grabbed his personal bag, as the strap crossed over from his right shoulder to his waist.

He slipped on some white converse as he ushered himself to hurry the fuck up or Slender Man would murder him in his sleep. That helped a lot.

Ivan was panting by the time he hopped into Mizi’s car. Keychains hung in her mirror, sweet soft music was playing on the screen in her car. The two exchanged a knowing look.

“Till would be so honored a fine shyt like you likes him..” Mizi teased as she put on a shit-eating grin as she faced Ivan. The two had smart mouths, so it was interesting what they’d say to each other.

“..Ugh, shut up. I know what you did at 3:00 in the morning with my sister. I was only looking for where I put my smart watch so I checked the camera which shows her workspace… I didn’t expect you two to be doing.. That stuff near her.. Studies..” Ivan exposed Mizi, her face flushed as she recalled the memory.

“The fuck? Anyways, we’ll be late.. Haha.. So we better hurry, you twink.” Mizi switched the topic as she recollected herself from the flashbacks.

“Who are you calling a twink..?” Ivan snapped back.

The two jokingly teased back and forth, with bright smiles while whacking each other like it was nothing.

____

“We’re finally here… Jesus.” Mizi sighed, anticipating the ruckus of Ivan making the pictures he’ll take of Till his whole phone wallpaper and widgets…

Ivan was already red, even though the night before he was doing a daily mantra telling himself ‘Don’t fucking embarrass yourself, asshat!’

Spoiler alert. It didn’t work.

Ivan was already all fidgety, playing around with his matching rings he always wore.

“Noona!” Ivan smiled, looking at Hyuna’s tan body, obviously eating up and feeding the audience.

“Awwie, Ivan, you’re all dressed up for some reason..!” Hyuna joked around, wrapping Ivan like a Christmas present with her arms. Teasingly pressing kisses all over his cheeks.

The two exchanged pleasantries, shining brightly as they parted ways as Ivan and Mizi walked to their front row seats.

Then there he was.

God.

Till. In. His. Jersey.

And Jesus Christ, Ivan was already buffering, so Mizi was taking pictures for Ivan.

Ivan was praying to whoever was in the sky that he didn’t look like some bum from the streets; though he obviously wasn’t, in fact, he looked eye-catching with his looks.

When the game started, Till and Hyuna were usually the ones ‘carrying’ their team.

The only thing Ivan wanted Till to carry was him. It’d be so comfy…

Ivan was drooling like the other girls in the crowd, he looked like he was disconnected from the world. Mizi was the one taking care of taking all of the pictures with Ivan’s phone, even though Ivan insisted that he was gonna do it.

The game trudged through, ANAKT taking the lead. It was clear as to the difference between night and day.

Till looked at the crowd, it was Till’s move to pick someone from the crowd to shoot his shot for. It wasn’t anything romance related, but rather just for a silly joke. But the girls in the crowd were going wild… It seems like it wasn’t some silly joke when it came to Till.

Ivan just stared, realizing he was in Till’s line of sight.

“Yo, the cutie in the yellow hoodie, this one's for you!” Till teasingly smiled. Ivan? Ivan was internally screaming.

‘Did he just..?’

Many people in the crowd's shoulders slouched as they somberly fell down into their seats, a pitiful sight indeed. Especially the girls sitting next to Ivan. Ivan suspected they spent an extra 30 bucks just to gamble their chances of getting picked by Till.

“HOLY SHIT! Ivan… He-he called you cutie!!!” Mizi gasped, Mizi was turning red as if Till was Sua and Sua picked Mizi. (Most definitely her imagination)

Ivan was stunned, his eyes widened as he watched Till putting on his shooting position just before throwing the basketball. Ivan was engraving Till’s voice into his head.

Cheers erupted from the crowd as Till made the shot, Till wiping the sweat off his face with his jersey as he raised his arm, smiling at the cheers from the crowd, many assorting from Till’s name, saying how Hyuna and Till carried the game.

‘That jersey must smell nice…’

Ivan turned red as Till tilted his head back to wink at Ivan, Mizi getting Ivan’s dream recording of Till.

“Get me that jersey. It’s payback for what you did with my sister.” Ivan snapped as he dragged Mizi’s wrist, not paying attention to her protests as they ran to the student store.

The jersey was a beautiful red, the team color and name was based off of the native flower that grew here. ‘Anakt’. It was a beautiful red flower with delicate petals.

“..Yes, I’ll take that jersey over there, yes, I got cash!” Mizi hurried on as she bought the jersey.

Ivan clutched the jersey in his hand.

“On God you’re the best person I know besides Till.” Ivan beamed as he hugged the jersey. The sight was utterly wacky and absurd. But it was also a great representation of how enamored Ivan was with Till/

“I know, I- Wait, what??? Hmph, I can say the same with you and Sua!” Mizi puffed, but the two knew it was a light-hearted joke. The two exchanged curses and continued blabbering

Ivan drove the way home with Mizi, light music filling the car, the two were smiling ear to ear.

“Oh, give this to Sua for me, please,” Mizi perked up as she grabbed a light teal bag. “Also, tell her it’s from me. She’ll know what it is.” Mizi winked as she drove up the driveway to Ivan’s home.

“..Yeah, yeah. Thanks again, Mizi!” Ivan looked back once more, waving his hand in the air as the two parted ways.

‘Should I tell Sua about the good news just yet? Or should I tell Hyuna..?’ Ivan pondered at the people he should inform of his stroke of luck.

Chapter Text

Was it worth it? very much so it was. 

__

Ivan woke up from his slumber, the now slightly tinted yellow paper stained by sunlight showed the date. A slow Saturday was Ivan’s reward for staying up so late rewatching the clips Mizi sent. 

Sua seemed surprisingly happy about the bag, just what did it contain? Ivan was curious, but didn’t pester Sua or Mizi, due to the fact that he has priorities. 

“Haaah..” Ivan hummed as he sat up sluggishly, rubbing his eyes, ready to go out with Hyuna for a treat. 

The little Raven walked to the bathroom, yawning 3 times before he even could reach his destination. Washing his face up before walking out.

Sua had already left for work, so Ivan couldn’t tell her, Ivan could barely hold in his happiness about the news, Till calling him cute? Ivan was thinking he was going mental; Till would never call someone as chopped, no, minced like him cute (Ivan stop downgrading urself pls).

Ivan really wanted to practice today, too. Maybe he’d go out later, and he and Luka could go out to practice together. The two weren’t that close, but were good friends and knew each other mainly because of Hyuna. 

Ivan grabbed his phone, dialing Hyuna’s number. Soft ringing filled the room as he tapped his foot waiting for Hyuna’s voice to welcome him.  

“..Hello? Ivan, why’d you call so late?” Hyuna asked, with a gruff sigh afterwards. 

“..Mmmm, I slept in a little.” Ivan replied briskly, licking his lips as he walked his way out of his bedroom into the living room. 

Ivan walked into the kitchen, looking for a mug. Opening a wooden cabinet as he grabbed a porcelain white mug. Turning on the coffee machine as the slow gurgling sizzling hot water colored brown by the coffee beans filled the cup. Hot puffs of steam poofing around the now ready coffee. 

“Don’t forget our meetup! Till’s bringing his friends and HIMSELF. Dress up nice; see ya sweetie~!” Hyuna quickly hung up before Ivan could snap back, Ivan could imagine the shit-eating grin on Hyuna’s smart hell of a mouth in his head. 

But it was okay, the plans were at 1:30 pm, right now it was only 11 o’clock; he had plenty of time to spare.

Wait, did she mention something about Till?.. 

Fuck. She did. 

____ 

Ivan hurried to do his daily practice of standing in boiling hot water for 30 minutes, that practice was called a shower, if you never heard of it. 

“..Ah.” Ivan placed his hands flat on the water-soaked tiles in the shower. Contemplating his decisions.

 ‘Same outfit as yesterday was cute, but I can’t wear anything from that outfit or else he’ll think I’m a gross hobo with only one outfit to spare!!!!’ 

Ivan cursed himself internally for finding such a cute outfit to wear to the game, but yet, he was also forgiving himself, I mean, at least he was wearing a cute outfit when Till did what he did at the basketball game, right?!!?!? 

Ivan took in a deep breath, attempting to keep the last of his sanity just to go insane five seconds after ‘calming’ himself down, boiling water trickling down his hair. Ivan still has not reached clarity, but he can at least look good when they meet up, right? Ivan was tricking himself into feeling good, while slapping himself into reality. Ivan really couldn’t decide when it was anything, anything about him. Him as in Till. 

“I really should ask Mizi, huh?” Ivan cried himself out of the shower, hot steam fogged the mirror and his bedroom that connected to the bathroom. His pathetic little twink sobs and water dripping from the shower was the only thing you could hear throughout the home. 

Ivan wiped his baby tears as he dialed Mizi’s magic digits in his phone, not even a ring made it out of the phone before Mizi picked up the call. 

“What is it, you twat?! I’m tryna sleep in a little more..” Mizi snapped, but her voice didn’t match the face she was making. A soft smile plastered on her face as she grinned brightly with sleepy eyes as she rubbed her eyes, yawning as she stretched her tired, sore arms. 

“Mizi, please help. Help. Outfit…” Ivan managed to get his words out, knowing Mizi would understand whatever was coming out of his mouth. 

“Ohhhh.. Okay.. Show. Closet. NOW.” Mizi bluntly spoke what she had to say, the two both looking like a bunch of idiots as they dissected Ivan’s closet. 

“This light purple shirt?” Ivan said. “No.. Wait, it’s too tight on me now..” Ivan babbled as he gave a whole closet tour to Mizi as the two picked out an outfit. 

The two struggled, but they settled on a light green hoodie with beige baggy cargo jeans. With a cute pale green hairclip too, of course. The outfit was just as adorable as the last one he wore the evening before. 

“Yes, yes.. I'm officially the best, best outfit picker!!!” Mizi squealed through the phone, the two spent 30 minutes alone just combing through his closet. 

Ivan took in a deep breath, why the fuck was Till doing with Hyuna and Luka and himself? Why’d Till even agree to go with them? Ivan said goodbye to Mizi on the call as he made it to his car, shit, it's already 12:30, how much did he dick around? He knew he did a bunch. The clock was ticking and the place was 40 minutes away; without traffic… Why did his parents live in the suburbs instead of downtown..? 

Ivan gathered his bearings just before starting his car as he backed away from the driveway and speeding off towards the direction of the restaurant. 

____ 

[Conversation started] 

Miziiii : Heya, I’ll be your mental support !! ;) 

Navi^^ : screw off, your such a smart mouth… (;-;)

Miziiii : You’re *** 

Navi^^ : Okay, actually sybau. ^^

Miziiii : Wow, okay.. Anyways, cya tomorrow! (Good luck, my twink.) 

____

Ivan clicked off the app before turning on Spotify, blasting music to chase away his thoughts as he continued to drive; tapping his feet onto the car floor at the beat from the music filling the car, traffic jam wasn’t as bad as he expected; he made it there roughly at 1:20 pm. 

“Hey, you’re actually early for once, you little twat!” Hyuna spat out as she smiled, holding Luka’s hand on the table as she scooched back for Ivan to sit.

“..Hyuna! It’s already so smooshed here!!!” Hyunwoo cried out as his clenched fists flew around as he whined, sending a swarm of light playful punches onto Hyuna’s back. 

“You fucking punk, you’re lucky I let you come down here with me,” Hyuna exclaimed. “..Fuck, we’re in public, you’re a grown ass kid, stop whining..” Hyuna spoke through her teeth. 

Ivan stood awkwardly as he watched the two siblings babble something about manners and code-switching when they were in public, a smile crept onto his face as he saw Till lounging, acting as if it were vacation time. His hand rested on his palm as he watched the two squirm around fighting each other as quietly as possible.

“Let him sit here, it wouldn’t be that much of a deal, Hyuna.” Issac spoke up. Issac and Ivan knew each other for a while, he was Sua’s classmate a while back. 

Issac patted the seat between him and Till, looking up at Ivan’s gaze. Cocking his head towards Till. 

“..Haah, fine, sorry… Ivan.” Hyuna catched her breath as she finally calmed down, tired of all the bullshit. 

“..Okay.” Ivan spoke up as Issac went up to let Ivan sit in the middle of the cushioned seats, Ivan adjusted his posture before fully settling into the seats.

It was like an invisible wall split between where Luka, Till, and Ivan was sitting from Hyuna and the others, an awkward silence fell on the table. Ivan glanced nervously at Hyuna, his eyes full of begging and pleaded to get him the hell out of here. But Hyuna was a dumbass who was extremely slow on catching hints/clues. 

“Hmm? Does my little Ivan need a drink?” Hyuna cooed as she shoved a metal can into Ivan’s hand. Smiling brightly like some clueless, heartless bastard. Couldn’t she see the state he was in? 

“Hyuna, he’s a little kid, you idiot!” Issac spat as he looked at Ivan with the metal can of beer placed into his hands, Ivan’s boba looking eyes looking all nervous made Issac pity Ivan. 

‘Did Ivan get dragged all the time by Hyuna? Poor kid.’ 

“It’s okay, hyung.” Ivan smiled, bringing the can to his lips taking a sip. 

Ivan seemed okay, Issac thought, but Ivan’s eye was barely twitching from the disgusting tart, tangy taste that was plastered onto his tongue. Ivan felt like gagging, but Till was here, and he didn’t wanna look too much of a baby. 

As soon as the attention from Ivan shifted onto Hyuna, Ivan took the advantage to toss aside the beer for the strawberry parfait he ordered; whipped cream with pieces of sweet mango and strawberries decorated with some extra assorted fruits made Ivan drool before even taking a bite. 

He scooped a nice amount of whipped cream and mango into his mouth, the sweetness overpowering the beer, Ivan’s eyes glowed with joy as he continued to slowly snack on the parfait. 

‘Maybe  today won’t be that bad..’ 

___

Till was just scrolling lazily through his feed, looking at Ivan’s account.

‘So this is the person Hyuna wanted me to meet, he seems so shy in real life.’ 

Till glanced back and forth from time to time from his phone to Ivan munching and snacking on the parfait he ordered. His eyes basically sparkled and glistened when he was eating that strawberry parfait. But he also noticed that the little raven looked around nervously at Hyuna from time to time. 

‘Who knew he was this socially awkward in real life..?’ 

Till had looked through Ivan’s social media account, spotting plenty of posts about the basketball game and selfies he took in his jersey. He didn’t know if Ivan was a crazed fan-boy or whatever, but Till had taken a bit of an interest in him. In Ivan’s posts, his eyes seemed to sparkle with glee and joy, but in public? He was a bit of a.. How do you word this? An oddball. He stuck out like a sore thumb. His looks made him stick out, yeah, but his demeanor was something he wouldn’t expect from someone that good-looking. 

‘He definitely looks like the type to drink ridiculously sweet pretty cocktails instead of cheap canned beer..’ 

The split second of Ivan’s face puckering after drinking the beer was a dead giveaway that he didn’t drink beer. He would’ve definitely hated whiskey if he hadn't tried it already.

“..Hey, I saw you at the game.” Ivan started small talk as he scooched forward a bit closer.

Ivan looked at Till innocently, seemingly having only the intention of learning about Till. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to talk to him? 

“Yeah, I didn’t mean to call you cutie, I mean tease you like that.” Till replied with a small smile creeping up his lips, taking a sip of the canned beer as he looked back at Ivan. 

Till wasn’t all sincere also, he did think Ivan had some cute features. Like that one post when he stuffed both of his cheeks with waffles. He looked like a hamster. 

“Maybe we should talk more sometime. We’re at the same school, so here's my number!” Ivan smiled back, handing Till a small sheet of paper. He looked confident, not as nervous as before, but on the inside, Ivan felt like he was getting stabbed with 89 knives into his gut with every word he spoke. 

“Yeah, sure. Thanks.” Till ended the conversation quickly as he went back to his phone to add his number. But he felt like he was floating. Was it the beer, or Ivan’s face card doing this? 

Either way, it was a win-win for the two. 

Chapter Text

___

“..So how was it?” Mizi’s voice echoed through the phone, questioning Ivan’s experience.

Ivan was a little nervous about Mizi’s reaction. If he was going insane, then Mizi would go berserk. The two were crazy when good news about anything happened. And of course, informed each other first.

“I.. Gave him my number,” Ivan reluctantly replied to Mizi’s question. “And I saw him add in my number and saved it into his contacts!” Ivan’s voice slurred a bit. Ivan should’ve never drank the shots Hyuna gave him. Didn't she know he was a lightweight?!?!.. But it’s been a few hours so Ivan didn’t feel so hungover.

Mizi screamed through the phone, you could practically hear the joy in her screams. It seemed as if it were her own good news. It was like the same when Ivan figured out Mizi was dating Sua, Mizi unaware that was his sister. And instead of happy screams; it was terrified screams.

“Awww, my little Navi finally has charisma!” The two weren’t on facetime, but Ivan was already imagining her cooing face on the phone.

“..Stop it! I’m ending the call. Bye!” Ivan abruptly ended the call, a little nauseous of Mizi’s screaming of joys and bewilderment, it made Ivan feel too good. But it also gave him a light headache to deal with.

Ivan sat up from his couch as he heard Sua’s car going up the driveway, quickly opening the door. Ivan went out to see Sua in the car; with a passenger..?

“Hi, how was wor–What the fuck?!” Ivan trailed off as he saw Sua help Mizi exit the passenger seat.

“..Heh, hey Navi~!” Mizi smiled, holding Sua’s hand.

Ivan was first shocked when he found out Mizi liked Sua, let alone know her. His first thought was :

‘She’s into noona’s..?’

Yeah, she really, really, really was into noona’s. Ivan’s older sister in particular.

___

Mizi and Ivan sat on his bed, scrolling on their feeds, bored out of their minds.

Ivan was scrolling through his own account, looking if there was any recent activity when he was offline at the restaurant.

Ivan continued, looking at old memories, he was looking for a specific one, the one where Mizi and Hyuna and him at the fair, eating corndogs and sweets. Where was it all of a sudden? Ah, there it was. Looking at the comments, he found one name that stood out.

_____
2:10 10/27/25

Till_Anakt : You look like a hamster. ^^

___

Huh?

Ivan screenshotted the comment, face flushed, his cheeks feeling all warm.

Miz was long gone, somehow when Ivan was zoned out on the comment that covered his phone. Where did Mizi go? Ivan could care less, maybe she was messing around with Sua again. But Ivan paid particularly into his inbox, Till’s username spammed his inbox with likes and favorites. When the fuck did Till start looking in his account? Not that Ivan was worrying about that. Maybe Till wanted to know a little more about him?

“..Haah, shit.” Ivan took in a shaky breath. He felt too jittery, was it the really unhealthy sugar-loaded parfait, or Till’s comment? Definitely Till’s comment.

Ivan quickly went to check Till’s account on his alt. Scrolling through his recent posts. Did he post about their afternoon outing?

He did. But he took screenshots of basically everyone. Including Ivan. Oh hell no. And it was him when eating his parfait with his eyes sparkling. And his hair was just a bit too frizzy that day! And he forgot to put on his highlighter too…

“I’m always looking so bad in pictures..” Ivan sobbed into his pillow for a few seconds before looking back at Till’s account. Hmm? What’s that?

Oh. There were pictures of the whole group taking shots, too. Fuck. Ivan looked so fucking hung up. He looked like a child who just found the joy of alcoholic beverages.

Ivan decided to save the good photos of Till. Ivan envied Hyunwoo.

‘I wish I could go up that close without getting so nervous, damn it!’

Ivan cursed himself internally, but he managed to stop his mini fit before going into the shower, bringing his phone in so Mizi wouldn’t break into it and make a fool out of him with his sister.

Hot water trickled down his face as he washed it with some light facewash before turning off the shower, grabbing his towel and wrapping it around himself like a burrito. Wiping his face with the end corner of the towel before stepping out.

___

After being all dressed up for bed, Ivan went down the hallway, walking into the entrance of the dining room, Sua, and Mizi sat there eating a soup of sorts.

“Noona, what are we eating for dinner?” Ivan said. He grew used to Mizi coming by for dinner and spending time with his Noona. “It smells good.”

Ivan wasn’t lying, Sua has gotten even better at cooking; since their parents were usually at work. They left as sudden as they came back. But the two had gotten used to it. The scent of kimchi and freshly steamed rice’s smell was mellow, a soft puff of steam lifted from the hot bowl of rice prepped on the table for dinner.

“It’s a simple soup. Just a bunch of random things that we had in the cabinets and fridge. Like the On choy, it was starting to get old so I decided to use it up.” Sua replied before sipping on a glass of water, her palm rested on Mizi’s hand.

Ivan moved the chair to sit down before quickly getting a scoop of soup from the ladle that rested in the bowl, a savory scent made Ivan drool. Ivan was a pretty picky eater, but all of his Noona’s dishes were always to his tastes.

The three sat silently, the food filling them up. The table was full of sounds of the three eating their bowls of rice and soup, an occasional small talk popped up from time to time, but it was mainly silent.

Ivan walked back after washing the dishes, wiping his hands on a nearby towel before strolling down the hallway to reach his room, the sound of the air conditioners humming was a nice white noise, Ivan plopped onto the bed, stretching his arms and legs with a large yawn

“ I better check my phone after I brush my teeth..” Ivan sighed before walking into the bathroom, grabbing his toothbrush and scrubbing his teeth, spitting out and washing his mouth out with water.

Ivan grabbed his phone as he went to put on his wireless headphones, putting

“I wonder what Till is doing?”

___

Till looked at Ivan’s profile once more, saving the picture of him in his jersey.

“..Why’d he get mine instead of Hyuna’s..?” Till pondered as he continued to like Ivan’s posts.

Till did call him cute.. But Till was just teasing.. Right? He felt somewhat conflicted with himself; Ivan wasn’t particularly his type, but he stirred up something in him. And the thought of strawberry parfaits was stuck in his head because of Ivan!!!

Till calmed down before resting his head into the head-cushion in his gaming chair, contemplating if it were a good idea to like the majority of his posts, and favorite some in particular. He especially liked the jersey picture and the hamster one. Maybe he should make Ivan stuff his face so he can see it in person. (Woah there you freak!)

“Calm the fuck down, its a saturday night God damn it.” Till cursed under his breath as he logged into his account on his computer, scrolling through his inbox. Spotting something that catched his eye.
________

[Inbox]

Hyuna liked your post! 10:19
___

70 people have liked your post! 9:48

___

Ivan replied back to your comment! : Oh, ty.. haha^^^ 9:34
___

Ivan has liked your comment! 9:34

________

“Holy, was Hyuna right all along?” Till scoffed as he clicked on the notification.

The text was real, of course, but the situation made it feel like he felt like it wasn’t.

“Fuck, I need to practice,” Till sighed, closing his computer shut. He really needed to clear his head before his thoughts got to him. The feeling of shooting some shots would help him a lot. Besides, he needed to exceed Hyuna quickly, she was catching up to him, and she was ridiculously tall for a high school senior girl.

Stepping outside, the hard concrete floor made him stay in reality, putting on his headphones as he turned on some energetic music. Maybe Ado’s songs would drain Ivan's hamster cheeks out of his head. And his smile and strawberry parfait, too.

The basketball was cool to the touch, he took a deep breath. No more strawberry parfaits, no more…

Till got into shooting position on the line as he shot the basketball, the feeling of warmth flushed back into his fingers as the ball made it through the hoop, as always. The sound of the basketball bouncing onto the floor was overpowered by the music blasting through his headphones. Till could feel much more reconciled as he continued to do his practice shots, every ball making it into the hoop as he started focusing on the basketball than the music; which was hyping him up and snapping him awake from dozing off from the lack of sleep last night.

____

Ivan woke up, around the same time as yesterday. His routine was the same as usual: drink his coffee, wash up, dress up, and hang out with Hyuna or Mizi.

The only difference between yesterday and today was his quality of sleep. Mizi and Sua need to quiet down. For fucks sake, he wasn’t some baby that sleeps like a rock! Ivan was quite the light sleeper some nights, others he sleeps so heavy that the only thing to wake him up is to hit him in the head a few times. It was just an unlucky night Mizi and Sua were doing mischievous things when he was awake…

The day was slow, Ivan strolled around his room, just doodling sometimes, snacking, scrolling through his socials. That kinda stuff.

Ring….

‘Hmm? I don’t remember having any plans..’

Ivan looked at the numbers that called him, a recognizable number.. Who was this again? Ivan picked up the call, wondering who was gonna answer. And what they had to say.

“..Hey, are you busy..?” A light raspy voice echoed from the phone, sending Ivan into full body shivers..

‘Oh shit! I forgot to save Till’s contact!

“..Ah, no nothing of the sort. I’ve just been chilling. Uhm, you know—scrolling through my phone and stuff..” Ivan felt his fucking jaw dropping when Till replied.

“Mmmm, okay; if you want to hang out with me and Hyuna today, you’re welcome to do so.” Till spoke, pausing before saying the rest. “It’d be nice to have some extra company; only if you’re free of course.”

Ivan froze, buffering the information before processing it fully; was he inviting him? How would Ivan be so sure Till wanted him to go? Maybe he did want extra company, but didn’t know who to ask. But wouldn’t that basically be impossible? He has dozens of people lining up to merely talk to him; so why would he want Ivan to go?

“..Yeah, I’m free; I can go..” Ivan managed to not jumble and scatter his words like last time, but where were they going?

“I can send you the address, it’s gonna be at 10:00; see you there, then.” Till hung up the phone, the sound of a light beeping from Ivan’s phone was what really made Ivan snap into reality.

‘He really did call me…’

Ivan began rolling in his bed all crazily; acting like a feral dog.

Chapter Text

Ivan stepped out of Mizi’s car as he waved goodbye before walking away.

Ivan walked into the set location Till sent him through text, it was a beige colored building, a soft yellow light shone, a neon sign displayed its status. The place Till sent? A sketchy bar living deep into the alleyway of the downtown streets. Posters advertising cheap booze and drinks with deals plastered and took up space, overlapping with older posters on the dirt-stained walls.

Next to the ghetto, run-down building, across the street–was a really cute looking dessert cafe. He was really considering just going there and pretending he forgot the time of the hangout while he was munching on some sweets..

‘Ugh, this place is littered with cigarettes..’

Ivan walked in, the smell of bulgogi cooking on grills wafted around the place, Ivan began to drool…

“Till said it was table 17…” Ivan muttered under his breath as he looked back at his phone. Till had told Ivan to wear something casual, so Ivan just wore light gray sweats topped with a dark navy blue hoodie with a black cap. A little switch up wouldn’t do any harm, right?

Ivan walked up to the table, finding Hyuna pouring shot glasses full to the brim with some bottom on the shelf alcohol; she wore a red tank top with dark blue flare jeans with golden earrings and bracelet; she looked way too fancy for such a sketchy place.

Ivan sat down, Hyuna smiling as she placed a laminated menu in his palms before going back to drinking again. Ivan looked at the menu. His eyes crossed with the dessert section in the menu.

“Lucky, lucky, lucky me…” Ivan quietly snickered with himself as he looked down, his eyes widened when he found the most beautiful thing on the menu; ‘Strawberry Parfait’.

Ivan quickly ushered the waitress over, reciting his order to the waitress before slumping back into the cushioned seats, Hyuna was drinking as if it was Saturday night; dummy. They had school tomorrow, didn’t her parents care..?

But it seems like they had a plan, because Till was also taking some sips; maybe it wouldn’t be so bad afterall.

Ivan scrolled through Mizi’s account, curious. Ivan hadn’t been able to make that much time to hang out with Mizi; maybe he should hang out with her after school sometime. The thought of not being somewhere so public and crowded, maybe he should say something…

The waitress came to the table, Ivan was about to smile the biggest smile he ever had; until he saw the parfait…

It was so fucking small.

So fucking ridiculously small that even a little kid would fuck up the place throwing a fit.

“Excuse me; the menu showed me the parfait was way, way bigger than this.”

Ivan attempted to keep his composure before wrecking the place and going on all of his alt account to spam 1-star reviews, but he first must give the poor waitress a chance.

“Yeah, no sorry; the menu’s like that for a reason. Sorry, this is what you get.” The waitress scoffed all haughty; what the fuck was her reason to be acting so high and mighty when she was working an overnight shift at a ghetto, cheap ass place like this?

“Ugh, nevermind. Bug off if you’re gonna have an attitude like this.” Ivan spat under his breath, shoving the plate back into the waitresses hands; it wasn’t worth getting riled up like this for scum. “I want a refund. Take this back.”

The waitress scoffed once more before walking away. Ivan could feel the vein in his forehead throb from being so pissed off.

“You okay?” Till asked, tapping Ivan’s shoulder. “There’s a dessert place real close from here. We can go there instead.”

Ivan flinched at the touch. Not from fear, but more of an unexplainable feeling. Till leaned in a little closer.

“We can go together, I don’t mind,” Till smiled as he looked at Ivan with a patient look for his answer.

“..Yeah. That wouldn’t be so bad.” Ivan smiled back, standing up from the table as Till and himself excused themselves from the group.

The two walked out. Cold air sent full body shivers into Ivan’s spine; but Till didn’t seem to mind at all, really. He actually looked comfortable in the cold like this. The two walked down the street without talking to each other. The sounds of car honks, chatter from everywhere, and the light shower of drizzling rain tickling the road seemed abnormally quiet. The two just being next to each other was a comforting silence. Not as awkward as last time.

They walked down the crossroad; the light of the bright neon signs from the dessert place shone in Ivan’s eyes. Was he going to heaven? Everything wasn’t at all what he expected, but in the end; it seemed like it was the best scenario.

He saw two passersby walk out of the dessert place with fro-yo. They looked oddly familiar. A young Korean man roughly in his late twenties in a white trench coat walked with a handsome male also in a black trench coat. But they quickly blended into the crowd as he walked into the dessert place. His palm in Till’s. The only effective heat source.

Bright, jolly music played in the background of the cafe, a soft, mellow scent of fruit and cream filled the cafe. Ivan didn’t have an appetite until he smelled what they were making. Pastries of many kinds laid out in a beautiful assortment on the tray.

“What are you getting?” Till questioned softly, pointing at the TV that displayed the sweets and the desserts the place had to offer.

“..Strawberry Parfait..” Ivan hesitated as he spoke up, what if still thought he just ate junk all day? What is Till even thinking?

The two ordered, Till got a simple ham and swiss sandwich, Till did look like the simple kind. He looked content while paying 30 fucking dollars for a 7 dollar sandwhich and an a pretty expensive parfait..

The two sat by the window, scrolling through their phones in silence; Ivan didn’t know how to start a conversation with someone he crushed on for so long..

Ivan tapped his foot onto the floor, matching the beat of the catchy pop song playing in the cafe.

“You like this song?” Till asked. Asking a simple question.

“..Mmm, it’s catchy. But I’ve never heard of it before.” Ivan replied. “But a friend of mine does like music like this.”

Ivan paused waiting for Till’s response. But this reaction was different from what he expected.

Till placed his palm in Ivan’s hand before asking another question.

“I can text you the song name, if you want; of course,” He smiled at Ivan. Unaware that his kind actions were making Ivan tweak out.

Ivan sat still, not daring to move his hand. Despite how cold Till’s hands were, it felt warm. It only was a few seconds, but it felt like someone stopped time.

“—..Ahem—Let’s go get our food; it's ready at the pick up station.” Till quickly sat up, Ivan couldn’t see his face, but Till’s ears turned as red as strawberries.

Till sat back down at the table they were seated in. Placing the tray lightly on the table. The sweet whipped cream was as thick and soft as marshmallow cream..

Ivan held the metal spoon with shaking hands as he scooped a nice amount of whipped cream and some fruits as he placed it in his mouth, the whipped cream melted almost instantly with a sweet, delicious after taste with floral accent.

Ivan barely moved his head up to look at Till, eating the crisp, golden brown sandwich that dripped a buttery mixed cheese. Till hummed as he went in for another bite.

The two ate the food in silence, the delicious food kept them occupied. The awkward atmosphere dissolved, only the two happily eating and making small talk ended when Till dropped him at his home.

“Sleep well, I’ll see you tomorrow at school.” Till tossed a small smile. An oddly sincere smile. Ivan felt his heart skip a beat as Till drove off.

Ivan would either sleep the best sleep of his night, or won’t sleep for three days.

______

Chapter Text

____

Ivan made sure to wake up extra early; he had plenty to do in the morning.

First, eat breakfast. Which was a nice toast with homemade plum butter and a small glass of milk. Ivan wasn’t the best cook, but he could bake pretty well. Breakfast today was on him. Sua decided to sleep in today.

Ivan hummed as he continued to munch slowly while scrolling through his phone.

“Huh!?” Ivan quietly hissed as he flinched at Till’s post.

He took pictures at the dessert place???

And one was humiliating… It was him eating another strawberry parfait.. Stuffing his cheeks to the brim with strawberries and fruits like a hamster.

“...” Ivan stopped chewing as he scrolled down to look at the comments.

_____

Mimimi_Mizi : How cute.. Hehehe^^^ :P

Hyuna_Anakt : That’s where you went?! Ughh,sdscvf… I’m stillness nothing subor…

Reply to Hyuna_Anakt :

Lukaaa_8 : Translation : She’s not sober.

Reply to Lukaaa_8 :

Mimimi_Mizi : Thanks old geezer!

Bonbon_Sua : It seems like Ivan’s growing up.

Reply to Bonbon_Sua :

Mimimi_Mizi : We’re still doing hotpot.. Right? ;)

Bonbon_Sua : Yes. Bye. [Insert heart]

_____

Sua saw it too?! How many people even saw this? Was eating dessert with his crush a stroke of luck, or make him wanna have a stroke?! He wanted the earth to swallow him whole right now!

Ivan looked at his toast. Unbothered to finish it. His thoughts chased his appetite away. The thought of Mizi’s relentless taunts and teases firing at him continuinglessly forever made his heart drop down to his fucking future grave.

Now Ivan was left with his dignity stripped and yanked away from his arms and left to rot and sink into the ground.

What to do?

Pretend it never happened. Maybe that’ll help!!!

Ivan quickly washed his dishes after feeding the birds the bread crust from his toast before quickly heading back in to hop into boiling hot water until his skin was stained a light, coral red as he hopped out to change quickly.

Pants. He needs basic but not the too basic type of pants. Maybe cargo? No. He wore those this weekend… Hmmmm; maybe some baggy lightly worn out jeans? Score! Ivan tossed on a white and navy blue graphic baggy shirt. Even though it was freezing because of the wind and crazy weather around here, he didn’t bother to put on a jacket. In fear of it ruining his outfit.

With him rushing and waking up almost an hour early, he had roughly an hour and a half to burn out.

“Shit, what now?” Ivan huffed as he slouched onto his chair in his room. Clearly now irritated. His eyebrows knitted as he continued to sit in silence.

‘Maybe Mizi’s awake by now?’

Ivan went to grab his phone on the desk as he texted Mizi. A silent pause before he shortly heard a ring from the phone. Quickly picking up as he heard her voice from the speaker.

“Ivan, you’re up early.. Mmmm; what do you need?” She licked her lips as she awaited his response.

“..I’m bored.” Ivan strictly went onto the point. No longer able to deal with the boredom sticking onto him.

“Then go stalk Till! I’m gonna sleep in. Fucking twinks these days.” Mizi huffed before quickly hanging up. Clearly fed up. Ivan could barely even make out the last sentence.

Ivan sat in silence for a minute before quickly doing exactly what Mizi had said in the call.

Pictures of Till? All of them were already saved.

Looking (stalking) Till’s mom’s account to find childhood photos of Till? Also done. Weeks ago.

Now with nothing to save, or to stalk, he sighed. Maybe he should’ve slept in, too.

Ivan decided to do something he hasn’t in a very, very long time.

Go to the outside world for 30 minutes by himself…

He stepped out of his house, making sure to look presentable enough that the elders that walk on the street would eye him with side-eyes. Each of his every breath looked like puffs of smoke. The cold dry air stung his bare arms, but he was already used to such cold.

Ivan walked to the nearby coffee shop. The ‘Not-so-good-but-not-so-bad’ coffee shop. It was full of socially awkward people like him. Perfect!

He walked in, the bells that hung on the about to break down the wooden door. Light lofi music played. The white noise helped the distressed raven calm his frayed nerves.

He walked to order a vanilla chai, specifically iced with an extra pump of vanilla syrup. Nothing could satisfy his craving for sweets.

He sipped on the iced chai. It was sweet, but the kind of cheap sugar cookie kind of sweet, but it would make do.

He sipped slowly, looking at his feed. Scrolling and scrolling some more. At least it took up his attention from the grainy after-taste of the coffee.

‘Since when have so many cat videos been posted?’

Ivan scrolled through short clips of cats. Some small, skinny. Others were chubby or extremely fluffy. But they all had one thing in common. Really big cute eyes. Ivan unconsciously was smiling softly looking through the short clips constantly. And had finally realized he had been sitting there for an unreasonable 20 minutes sipping on his vanilla chai scrolling through cat videos.

He looked at the clock on his phone, time passed way too fast. Maybe that’s why all the little kids these days look at their tablets.

Ivan sat up, making sure to wipe up the table with some napkins and heading out the door. The bells jingled once more.

He went on his way to school on foot, since he found strolling much more comfortable. The rural areas were always littered with red, and orange leaves on the ground. The trees made the scene beautiful. Light seeped through the leaves on the branches of the thick, oak trees. The sight alone made Ivan question why he didn’t go to the park more often.

He made it to the school, the warm air helped flush his ears with warmth, he found himself more alive at school than anywhere else. Even with the dozens and thousands of times he told himself to make it to Friday, he found school as stressful as calm for him. His friends, his teachers, he didn’t like the idea of school itself, but he didn’t mind going to school.

_____

“..Haah, what time is it?” Till grumbled under his breath. His head lightly throbbed, but he felt mostly okay-ish.

He stepped from his bed, the cold floor almost immediately numbing his feet from the freezing floor. He managed to go to the bathroom to wash up his face. Alcohol lightly reeked from his breath. He was lucky he only did a round of shots before going with Ivan.

Ivan.

He felt his ears flush with warmth at the thought of his name.

“..Fuck.” One word described what he felt like. He wasn’t pissed at Ivan, but himself. What if he rushed in too fast and scared off Ivan? He shouldn’t have acted too quickly.

He woke up almost an hour too late from when he usually woke up. But he knew if he quickly dressed up he could go to school on time.

He went into the shower, the cold water helped him distract himself, as he let the cool water trickle down his broad shoulders as he took deep breaths to calm himself down. He needed to compose himself before he acted rash again. He only wanted to get closer to Ivan, but he did it probably the worst way. Ivan looked a little awkward with him.

He probably acted so foolish that Ivan decided to take a step back!

But what if it was the other way around? Maybe Ivan thought he did the wrong thing! Hyuna had told Till he overthinks and shit like that! Maybe Ivan thought Till was just trying to get closer and brushed it off?

But why was he thinking so much about him? Last time they hung out, he didn’t think that much of it. But why did holding his hand feel so.. Weird? He felt a knot form into his stomach as he continued to shower in the freezing cold water.

Why, why, why did Hyuna not tell him about how Ivan felt about him? Now here he was struggling to figure out what Ivan thought about him.

He felt like he wanted to drown himself and disappear forever.

But, maybe things could work out? What could he possibly do? He only knew Ivan liked sweet things, and watching sports like basketball! Wait, sweets, and.. Sports. What if he asked him to hang out with him and go get some sweets while watching a game together? Would that work?

His thoughts raced with scenarios of him and Ivan eating some treats while watching the game. It was basically the perfect thing to do!

Till got ready as he drove off to school. With the thought and plan in mind; maybe he could redeem himself this way.

____

Chapter Text

What really made a crush different from love? Ivan had been questioning this. The answer was on the tip of his tongue, but he really couldn’t figure it out. Was it how long you liked them, or is it loved?

Maybe Till would solve it?

Maybe, the two needed to solve it themselves.

The friction of the two of their bodies caressing gently made Ivan’s skin crawl. A comforting heat radiated from his body. No words were said, but their actions made it clear.

Till’s fingertips gently cradled his waist, his hands were softer than they looked. Till’s pale fingers and palms explored Ivan’s body with light pecks of his lips making contact with Ivan’s abdomen.

Ivan squirmed at the ticklish touches and teases as Till put his lips on Ivan’s.

Is this how love was shown? Or was this how love was?

Ivan gripped the sheets and wriggled around, obviously showing signs of slight discomfort. The idea of wearing his jersey like this never crossed his mind.

His and Till’s sweat soaked the sheets, it’s only been touching and light kissing; but the two had little to no experience in these kind of lustful activities.

“..Are you really okay with this?” Till quietly whispered in his ear, his ghostly breath sending shivers down Ivan’s spine.

Ivan hesitated before lightly nodding his head, avoiding eye contact by all means.

Till slowly stripped each piece of clothing, revealing a toned body for his age. Ivan clenched the sheets into balls of cloth in his grasp as he felt something pull on his waistband.

…

His milky pale thighs were revealed, the sweatpants now no longer offered him protection.

Till paused for a moment before slowly tugging at Ivan’s boxers, Ivan quivered at the cold air hitting his inner thighs, quietly hissing under his breath.

Adjusting Ivan’s knees to rest on his shoulders to help with positioning, He’d never thought he’d ever have the chance to do something this devious with Ivan.

“Just calm down a bit,” Till assured Ivan as he aligned his fingers “This is gonna hurt..” Till lined up with Ivan’s opening, looking at Ivan; scared to hurt him.

Ivan had closed his eyes tightly shut the whole process, unsure of how it’d feel. Would it be only pure pleasure for the two; or would it be one-sided pleasure?

It was quick to determine.

A burning sensation washed over Ivan, his back arching at the unexpected pain, unable to comprehend the stinging pain he never felt before.

Ivan could feel the pulse in Till’s fingers, his hands seemed warm before, but now it felt icy cold inside him.

“Haah..” Ivan huffed as he attempted to adjust to the new sensation. Trying to search for pleasure in the sea of pain.

Till made scissor-like gestures with his two fingers in Ivan. Unsure if it felt good. But Ivan felt blazing hot, Till grew slightly excited at the sight.

Till went faster after pauses and breaks for Ivan to adjust the demo before he would really shed some tears.

He finally was able to shockingly fit his third finger, the stretched skin turning pink. Till didn’t know how long he took loosening up Ivan, but it was surely entertaining for him.

Ivan finally could take breaths without whimpering from the pain that radiated from his gut, covering his face into the pillow to shield him from embarrassment.

“Whoo, take some deep breaths, okay?” Till attempted to make Ivan mentally prepared for what was about to happen.

Till tore a condom awkwardly before rolling it on his length. His face was flushing from embarrassment.

He lined up the head of his length before almost forgetting to grab the small bottle of lubricant.

He topped off the cap before drizzling it over Ivan’s entrance, his body flinching from the cold.

“I’ll take it slow, okay?” Till was nervous himself. He had never anticipated this.

Ivan huddled closer to the pillows to cool himself down from the pain and heat, and to muffle his quiet whimpers to ease himself.

He felt throbbing in his head and in his lower back, the pain slowly spreading to his gut.

It hurt to even take a breath. He didn’t even dare open his eyes; ashamed of what he was doing when his Noona was out meeting her fellow peers at a get-together.

Clothes were littered all over the floor, some even tossed onto his chair. He lost count of how many clothes stripped off of them scattered across the floor.

‘Shit, is this how you really do intercourse?’ Ivan hissed again at the pain, before Till finally fucking burried himself to the hilt.

“Prepare yourself..” Till warned Ivan before slowly moving, if the fingering hurt, then shallow thrusts would be a ride to the devil.

Ivan felt his thighs twitch, the pain now borderlining with pleasure.

The pain was the same, but he had adjusted enough to finally reach the shore of finding satisfaction in the pain.

Ivan began digging his face even deeper into the pillows, horribly covering his high-pitched moans.

A hand helped Ivan face Till, his eyes widening as Till’s face was soaked with beads of sweat, cheeks a light coral pink.

He looked similar to when he was done with a game, but his expression was more pleased and tired.

“Haah—just a little longer.” Till grit his teeth as he spoke, shallow, slow thrusts sped up, Ivan rocking with the bed mattress. Ivan almost lost his grip on his pillow, feeling more pleasure than pain.

At first it hurt, but now it was all satisfaction.

Shallow breaths were the only thing that could be heard, who knew intercourse would be so tiresome?

___

“Let me help you up.” Till lifted Ivan up by his shoulders, still exhausted.

Ivan managed to step off the bed to the master bathroom, hot water let out puffs of hot steam as the bubbles swam up.

The two stepped in, just relaxing in the hot water. Letting the heat relax their mind and their bodies.

___

Chapter Text

Hiatus Notice!!!

Hello dear readers! Sorry if you thought this was a new chapter..

I’ve decided to take a short break due to school and work! (Yes I am employed..)

All comments melt my heart! Some are interesting in a good way! I really do enjoy writing this!

It's just that dealing with working and school (which is already stressful enough) is pretty difficult..

But I will follow up soon with new chapters ASAP!

If you guys have any short Oneshot writing requests, please comment!

And.. If you have any cool ideas for this ff, I could add it when writing!

Again, thank you so much for supporting me! I savor every comment; and kudo!

Have a great December!

-Bani

Chapter Text

It was finally Monday.

A dreadful Monday for the two; really.

The days had become shorter, colder, and much harder to bear. But the views at dawn were beautiful, the sunlight peeped through the thick, dense grey clouds. Yellow light seeped through the blinds and onto the floor, the room looked like something out of a Pinterest board..

For once, the classroom looked pretty; he’d never expect such a thing. But also, it was a pretty classy high school, too.

He was typing notes into his study guide, since it was soon to be the end of the semester, finals were coming through, and even though it’d be about a month until then, Ivan had always wanted to absorb as much information as possible.

The most challenging subject for finals would be mathematics…

But good thing Sua is a master at such things, her past notes and study materials documented and old notebooks were easy to understand. She should’ve been the teacher in this class…

“As you all know, sooner or later, finals are coming. If anyone is struggling with such subjects or classwork, please report to peers, the assistant teacher, or myself.” The teacher projected her voice, a stern reminder of what was to come… “Many of you are already exceeding my expectations, so if anyone has spare time, please savor it for studying for other classes, or use the extra work posted in Google Classroom”

Many students groaned dreadfully, at this point, since Ivan had studied so much, he should take a whole day off to sleep. But Ivan knows better, even though the teacher is strict, she’s straightforward with her words.

Ivan decides to take up as much information as possible.

The teacher began speaking about the subject, touching in parts Ivan was confused in.

“Integrals are complex, but you guys chose the AP class, so don’t be moaning about something you chose yourself,” Said the teacher. “..--but, remember; please make sure to study as much as possible–these are not easy subjects.” The teacher paused before speaking again.

“Again, please take breaks. This class is important, but so is your health; so don’t be studying overnight and sending me work at 2:01 AM!” The teacher glanced at Ivan. Obviously targeted.

Ivan tapped on his metal mechanical pencil, tapping to the beat of the music playing.

Humming a bit, he wrote down what he was confused about.

In..Inte–Integrals? Ah, yes.

Ivan wrote down the concepts and the key parts he was struggling with, scribbling in here and there.

And finally, after scribbling and jotting dozens of pages stuffed with notes, the class ended, for which felt like an eternity!

But he walked out quickly, wanting to meet with Luka Sunbae to ask for help with mathematics! Since Sua was at work, and he had no one in AP calculus in his friend group he can talk it out with.

He walked to the nearby college, only a short 5-10 minute walk he had already arrived at the entryway of the college.

“Excuse me, do you know who Luka is?” Ivan asked someone who looked like someone around Luka’s age.

“Ah! Yes, Luka-nim is at the library currently digging through his studies, walk in, take a turn to the left, and you’ll find the library!” The person informed Ivan. “They won’t let you in without an ID, but since I know you’re acquainted with Luka-nim , I can use my ID to open the doors for you.”

“Thank you Sunbae!” Ivan smiled before briskly walking in the building, leaving behind a smiling figure waving back.

To the left, to the left… Don’t forget, Ivan!

Ivan entered the library, his feet walked on soft carpet, shelves stuffed to the brim with books, old and new. Some collected dust, others just returned or arrived. Dull and bright colors decorated the plain shelves.

Ivan thought he’d have a hard time finding Luka with this many people stuffed into this library, but Luka stuck out like a sore thumb.

Ivan strode to Luka, who was sitting next to Hyuna, by the way, who had the lowest IQ Ivan has ever witnessed.

“..Sunbae?” Ivan tapped Luka’s shoulder. Interrupting Luka midway in his studies.

“Huh?!—Hoobae, what brings you here?” Luka smiled softly as Hyuna eyed Ivan.

“..Yeah, little rascal! What do you want?!” Hyuna snorted. Her and her fucking big mouth. Jesus. How’d she ever date someone as quiet and good looking as Luka-Sunbae..?

“Pfft, yeah right. Sometimes I wonder how you got into collage..” Ivan grumbled. “Anyways, Luka, can you help me with Integrals? I’m having a hard time with them.” Ivan smiled as he handed his notes.

“..Yeah, I’ll write down about how the process works and how to simplify your work easier,” Luka began jotting notes down in Ivan’s notebook with ease. “Here you go, Ivan. Please study these well. I went to AP Calculus as well, and it’s not that easy, thank you for getting me these candies, too.” Luka spoke with a soft smile before popping one of the peach flavored hard candies into his mouth.

“Gimme one, cutie.” Hyuna grinned as she ripped the wrapper off and sucked on the crystal-like candy.

“..Have a good time! Don’t forget to relax, too, Sunbae.” Ivan nodded before reviewing the notes as he walked out to rush back to the school campus.

Since all this school work was going on, Ivan had recently been nodding to sleep, while studying deep into his studies of Calculus, Science, and English Language Arts.. Maybe he should’ve laid off the AP classes and just choose normal classes, but College credits were worth the hard work…

Ivan began studying the notes at his study hall where he shared classes with his friends, such as Mizi and Till–wait, Till could be considered a friend..Right?

“Ivan~ Help me with my homework! My math teachers gonna chew me out for not getting it done..” Mizi pouted her lips then smiled as Ivan turned to face her.

“Ah, fine, okay, only because it’s you, Mizi. Now hand me that homework.” Ivan snagged the paper from her hands as he analyzed the paper. So simple.. If only Mizi went to his class she’d get a reality check. Lols.

“You solve it like it’s child’s play, Ivan.” A soft voice echoed behind Ivan.. Was it Till?

Ivan looked behind him, turning his head once more away from the homework. His heart hammered like a freshman girl obsessed with the concept of love.

“..Till! What are you doing here? Weren’t you with Dotori?” Ivan questioned Till, attempting to keep his poker face on.

Haah, let’s do this…

“..Hmmm, correct, but I had a question..” Till grinned as he chimed in right after Ivan spoke, it seemed like he had something pretty important to say… “Since we’re gonna have winter break next week, would you like to check out the basketball game at the college on Friday?”

Ivan froze. Basketball game? Huh?

“Ah–uhm–” Ivan trailed off as he tried to find the words to speak up before Till interrupted. “—Unless you're busy, Ivan.” Till fluttered his eyes as he spoke.

…

Ivan couldn’t let this chance slide..Right?

It's a once in a lifetime chance for your crush to basically ask you out to hangout!!!

Ivan pursed his lips before replying.

“..That’d be nice, Till. Please text me the errr—time.” Ivan held in his squeals and pure joy just listening to Till say his name.

‘Ih-van.’

His voice was goon worthy to be exact.

“I’ll make sure I do, Ivan. I’ll see you Friday.” Till nodded before walking to the other desks where Dotori and Marty sat.

Was this just Till wanting to be friends with him?

Or was it..

Something else?

____

Till felt the back of his neck flush with heat as he saw Ivan’s soft features. Big eyes, pale skin, long lashes, plump lips, that really cute snaggle tooth made Till go borderline insane!

Ivan’s eyes widened with every word, he looked more like a sweet puppy than a person..

Till had to keep blinking so he could snap out of his fantasies of sorts..

Basketball and sweets would be a great hangout, right? Especially if it’s someone you like! Ivan likes sweets, Till—err, (kinda) likes them too; and most importantly : they both are interested in basketball!

After speaking to Ivan, Till walked back with his ears red, sniffing his nose as he looked back at Ivan facing his back towards him, making him smile.

He was so cute, how could’ve he not realized this?

Till walked back to where Dotori sat with Marty, smirking.

“Soooo~ Did he say yes?” Marty smiled as he tilted his head, waiting for Till’s answer.

Till hummed his assent as he smacked Marty on the head lightly to tick him off, which worked! (A little too well..)

“Hey—what the hell was that for; Till?!” Marty screeched as Dotori chuckled under his breath, watching chaos unfold right in front of him.

It definitely was gonna be a really, really long day, and he was willing to bet his right leg on it.

____