Chapter Text
Jisung truly didn’t mean to steal Minho’s jersey.
He didn’t even know whose it was - let alone who the hell Lee Minho was - he just grabbed it, not a thought in his mind, as he tugged it over his head as he rushed to get ready for the game. He still barely knew his way around the locker rooms and the field - he had been a last minute addition, joining the cheerleading squad three games into the season.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, get it out of the way - Jisung knew it was stereotypical that the gay guy was a cheerleader, but he had tried out for the soccer team and hadn’t made the cut after they strung him along, insisting that they would make a decision after seeing him play a few games. Jisung had grumbled whenever he got put out on the field with absolutely no prep, no knowledge of any of their runs, and basically just meant to be a body on the field.
But, he was a Kinesiology major - it was basically a requirement that he did some sort of physical activity considering it counted as a full four credits each semester he was on a team (four credits he didn’t have to pay for as though he would pass that up).
He had gotten a text message from the soccer team captain telling him he had been cut on Wednesday, groaning loudly as he left his biology class, hiking his bag onto his shoulder. He rubbed a hand down his face as he tapped out a “that’s okay!! Thanks for letting me try out!! :D” as his eye twitched with the need to punch the guy in the throat. Fuck soccer - fuck Choi Yeonjun and his stupid team of fuckheads (fuckheads he definitely hadn’t really enjoyed hanging out with and definitely wasn’t crushing on the vice captain nuh huh Choi Beomgyu was just a close friend fuck you).
He sighed as he tipped his head back, staring at the ceiling as a wave of students had to flow around him, staring at him like he was crazy as they passed.
The last week you could change classes or drop out and not pay for credits was this week. If Jisung wanted to get his extra four credits and not be severely behind schedule, he needed to find a new team to join now.
He stared, dead eyed, at the board in the Kinesiology department. He lifted a hand to his lips, putting his thumbnail between his teeth to gnaw on as he glanced over the tryout postings.
The majority of tryouts had already happened - people had been picked for teams, and positions had been filled. Jisung’s eyes flitted over a few that might still need help - the basketball team was looking for a ball boy, the tennis team needed someone as a substitute for doubles, and apparently the college had an ice skating team.
Jisung scowled as he grabbed a tab off of the only one he knew he would be a shoe-in - male cheerleader needed for backspot position. It wasn’t even for their football team - the D1 sports team had their own squad that had a waitlist probably as long as the waitlist was to get into the college in general. It was for the lacrosse team - which was arguably even worse
He texted the number that night and was basically told to show up that Sunday to the Westfield Wolves lacrosse game being hosted at their home field.
Jisung’s hands wrung nervously in front of him as he walked over to the team, waving and introducing himself to the person he recognized as the captain of the squad.
“Oh, you’re smaller than I thought you’d be,” the captain - Lia - said apprehensively, looking Jisung over. “Are you quick?”
“Quick?” Jisung blinked. “I-I… I guess so?”
“It’s fine, you won’t be doing anything today anyways,” she said, shoving some pom poms at him, “you can just help with the line cheering for now.”
Jisung was pushed toward the male locker room, told the few other male cheerleaders were in there getting ready, and was basically left to the wolves. He ground his teeth together as he pushed into the room, immediately overwhelmed with the amount of pure testosterone in there.
He wrinkled his nose as he walked through the lacrosse players who were getting ready, who were glancing at him curiously - it was probably the stupidly bright gold pom poms in his fists.
“Ah, you must be the newbie, right?”
Jisung flinched at an arm being thrown over his shoulders. He turned quickly to look at whoever had just thrown themselves on him and immediately recognized Hwang Hyunjin - they had a few classes together, and the girls were always fawning over him. He wasn’t in Kinesiology, Jisung didn’t think at least, as he wasn’t in a few of the core classes for Kin freshmen. Maybe Nutrition? Or Biology?
“Ah, yeah, that’s me,” Jisung nodded, smiling tightly.
“I don’t remember seeing you at tryouts,” Hyunjin hummed, tipping his head to be able to better look at Jisung, “you don’t look like someone who would cheer.”
“Nope,” Jisung popped the “p” on the word, “never done it. I was trying out for soccer but got cut.”
“Ah, you must be a Kin major, yeah?”
Jisung hummed in answer, trying to look around but also not look at anyone too hard or for too long - he’d had enough shitty experiences in guys' locker rooms after coming out as queer in high school. He really didn’t need a repeat for the next four years. “I think I’m just going to shake some pom poms around today, but the captain said I’d be a backpost?”
“Yeah, we need a new one - our guy last year graduated,” Hyunjin sighed. He patted Jisung on the shoulder and nodded over to the quieter part of the locker room, “we already got you a locker and everything - number 25. Your uniform should be in there if you want to get changed and get ready?”
“Okay,” Jisung nodded, almost wanting to grab the other and beg him not to leave as he unwound himself from Jisung with a grin. He watched the other turn and greet a few of the lacrosse players, immediately falling into conversation and laughing along with them.
Jisung fucking hated lacrosse.
He hated the game, he hated lacrosse players, he hated how obnoxious the guys were in his highschool as they slammed each other into lockers and laughed as though it was fun getting concussions. Jisung always stayed far away from them, even though soccer and lacrosse boys usually were pretty close - but, apparently, now he was going to have to deal with them for an entire semester.
Jisung kept his head down as he practically ran to the locker Hyunjin had mentioned.
His eyes glanced over the tops before pulling open number 25. His nose wrinkled again as he glanced around, ignoring that it looked like it hadn’t been cleaned out or washed down since the previous semester. He grabbed the uniform out of the top of it, shaking it out and glancing at the gold, white, and red jersey.
He raised an eyebrow at the number - 25 - had they purposefully matched it to his locker number? He wouldn’t put it past Hyunjin - he seemed like someone who would do cute lil shit like that.
Jisung was kind of surprised to notice that the boy cheerleading uniforms weren’t nearly as bad as he had thought they would be. He had noticed Hyunjin’s right away when he had come up to him - a jersey almost exactly like the lacrosse guys’, but rather than padding and cleats, he had on biker shorts that matched the white of the jersey, as well as matching sneakers.
Jisung glanced down at his beat up lowrise converse and realized he probably should have gotten something a bit better for cheerleading - but usually, when he was in sports, he would have just worn the same pair of cleats he’d had for years.
He sighed as he pulled his shirt up and off of his torso, immediately tugging the jersey onto himself. He grumbled slightly as he shoved his jeans off and pulled on the shorts, scowling at the fact that he knew he was going to look ridiculous - even if Hyunjin had looked good, he was pretty sure the other probably looked good in just about anything.
Jisung sighed as he shoved his bag into the locker, grabbed his phone and stupid pom poms, and jogged out of the locker room before any of the lax bros could try to talk to him.
“Oh, you look cute!”
Jisung smiled sheepishly at Lia who cooed at him. “I feel fucking stupid,” he said throguh gritted teeth.
“But four college credits is worth it, right?” she asked brightly, swinging around so her long, blonde hair followed her, ending the conversation.
“Jisunggie, over here!”
Jisung breathed a sigh of relief at Hyunjin waving him over - thank god he actually seemed like a nice guy, maybe they could actually get along. Jisung wandered over, smiling and waving at the two other boys who seemed to make up the entirety of the male population on this squad.
“I wanted to introduce you to the other backspots,” Hyunjin smiled, waving at the other two, “this is Felix and Jeongin - they’re both also freshmen.”
“Nice to meet you,” Jisung said, reaching out to shake their hands. “Are you two also Kin majors?”
Felix’s eyebrows raised immediately, “huh? No?”
“Why would we be?” Jeongin questioned, glancing over at Hyunjin with a look Jisung immediately recognized as a ‘who the hell is this?’
“Oh,” Jisung laughed, fingers trailing up to his neck to scratch at the skin there in nervous habit, “Kin majors get four free credits if we’re on a sports team.”
Felix and Jeongin continued staring at him, waiting for more of an explanation. Jisung realized almost immediately what an ass he sounded like - that he had joined the squad not because he wanted to, but because he wanted a discount on tuition.
Which wasn’t incorrect at all - but it made him sound like a dick.
College is expensive okay?
America fucking sucks.
They couldn’t hate him for this.
“Nutrition majors do too!” Hyunjin said, breaking the silence that had draped over them.
“I’m an English major,” Felix said slowly. Jisung briefly wondered if that was his real voice because, damn, that did not fit his face.
“And I’m in theater,” Jeongin hummed, crossing his arms and looking away from Jisung.
“Oh, are you gay?”
Jisung should just round house punt himself to another dimension cause what the fuck was coming out of his fucking mouth? His lack of a brain to mouth filter was really going to get him fucked up one of these days.
Felix and Hyunjin’s jaws dropped slightly, one in anger and one in absolute horror.
“What?” Jeongin blinked at him.
“I just-” Jisung raised his hands, waving them and laughing awkwardly, “that was really stereotypical of me! Sorry! I am too - gay - I’m gay - or, maybe not too, I don’t know - I - you don’t have to be gay, I don’t-”
“Baby, shut your mouth before you dig yourself a deeper hole,” Hyunjin laughed, wrapping an arm around Jisung’s shoulders again.
Jeongin was glaring at him now, and if looks could kill, Jisung would be up in flames by this point.
He got nervous around people, okay?
Han Jisung was the most extroverted introvert to ever exist - he was loud, chatty, and got people’s attention on him without any issues. He could usually get people laughing within minutes - but sometimes, it was at him, rather than with him. He was the King of making an ass of himself. But, people usually liked him as far as he knew - he had been to several parties since the semester had started, and he’d made friends with his roommates pretty easily.
He also thought he’d gotten along well with the soccer team but apparently not and no he wasn’t salty but like - why the hell had they cut him?
He was already managing to fuck up any chance at making friends on this new team and the game hadn’t even begun yet.
“I am gay but that’s none of your damn business,” Jeongin snapped at him, eyes narrowed.
“Hun, I’m pretty sure we’re all gay,” Hyunjin laughed, “we’re stereotypical cheerleader guys.”
Bless Hwang Hyunjin and his attempt to make things not painfully awkward between them.
He pointed, making them all turn around as the lacrossel guys started coming out of the locker room. “Take your pick for the season, I like to make bets.”
“Bets?” Jisung echoed.
“Bets on who are we are going to try to fuck this semester, Jissungie,” Hyunjin giggled. “Felix, Jeongin and I already called our dibs, so sorry the three best guys are taken. But the rest of the team is open for you!”
Jisung blushed slightly, glancing at the lacrosse boys quickly before looking back at Hyunjin, “I don’t really like lax bros.”
“Shh,” Hyunjin hushed him, using a finger on his chin to push his face back to look at the team. “Felix called dibs on Seo Changbin-” he pointed at one of the defensemen, a short, buff guy who looked like he could probably break Jisung in half, “- I called Bang Chan, of course, who wouldn’t call dibs on Christopher?” Hyunjin rolled his eyes as he pointed at the attackman who was honestly a little scary looking. “And Jeongin called Seungmin-” he nodded at one of the midfielders, a taller, lankier guy with a scowl on his face, “-which isn’t really fair since they’ve known each other since Middle School.”
“Does that make it more or less fair?” Jeongin hummed, arms still crossed as he glared over at the lacrosse team, “I’ve been trying to get him to notice that I like him for years.”
“Yeah, so I’m betting against you,” Hyunjin said, pointing at him, “sorry babes, he’s so straight - you’d have to get him really fucking drunk.”
“Like Chan isn’t?” Jeongin asked, raising an eyebrow. “Changbin is the only one of them that might be gay.”
“Considering how much he fawns over Hyunnie?” Felix looked back at them, looking slightly miserable.
Jisung raised an eyebrow curiously and had to wait only a moment to have it explained. “The cheerleaders had a mixer with the lacrosse players before the season started - after tryouts,” Hyunjin explained, leaning in to whisper the words to Jisung, “Changbin literally went outside at fucking midnight, absolutely wasted, picked a bunch of flowers out of some poor ladies yard, and brought them to me.” He looked sheepishly over to Felix who was full on pouting now, arms crossed over his chest, “I tried to be a good wingman and told him to give them to Lix, but he didn’t take the hint.”
Jeongin burst into giggled - he was cute when he wasn’t glaring at people hard enough for them to explode, “what did he say about them again?”
“That I’m as pretty as a flower so I should have all of the flowers in the world,” Hyunjin sighed.
“Jeez,” Jisung frowned, glancing over at Felix, “that sucks, man.”
Felix looked like he was going to respond when a voice so loud, Jisung assumed they were speaking into a microphone, interrupted everyone on the field.
“Where the fuck is my jersey?”
Hyunjin and Felix flinched next to Jisung, turned along with everyone else on both the cheer squad and lacrosse team to look at the guy who had just climbed up onto the bleachers and screamed at them.
Well, if Jisung thought Bang Chan was a little scary, this guy was fucking terrifying.
His eyes were narrowed, lips set in a scowl, dark hair falling over his eyes - his face could have been pretty if he didn’t look ready to fucking murder someone or rip their heads off. And he was completely topless - only wearing padding that the lacrosse boys wore on their lower halves, boxers, and his cleats. He wasn’t even wearing the shorts that go over his padding.
Jisung tried really fucking hard not to stare at him.
The guy was built by the fucking gods - his body was literally perfect, how the hell was it so perfect? His shoulders were broad, arms threaded with muscle and veins popping out so much, Jisung could see them from where he stood. He wanted to lick those fucking abs and bite those thighs - good fucking lord, those thighs looked bigger than Jisung’s head.
He would absolutely not mind beind crushed by those.
“Did you lose it again?” Jisung turned just enough to see it was Changbin who had called out the question. “You lost it last year too!”
Jisung almost would have preferred if the guy started screaming and raging - he could have written him off as a dumbass lacrosse guy with a hot temper like most of them did. But, his words were terrifyingly calm, laced with anger but not screaming, as he jumped off the bleachers and stalked forward. “I didn’t fucking lose it. I put it in my locker last night specifically so I wouldn’t lose it.”
“Minho,” Chan sighed loudly, waving at the cheer squad and bowing at them in apology for his player’s behavior. “You literally never put a lock on your stuff - maybe one of the custodians was just cleaning stuff up and-”
“Fuck off, Chris,” the guy - Minho - glared at his captain.
Jisung was surprised to see Chan clench his jaw shut, eyes narrowing as he stayed silent.
“Minho, what kind of hazing or prank would that be?” Changbin asked, holding up his hands as though placating a hissing cat. “We can’t have you come out here and play naked in front of everyone,” he waved a hand at the cheerleaders - several girls were ogling the half naked man obviously, “you’d scar the poor freshmen!”
Minho’s sharp eyes turned to the cheerleaders who immediately looked away, a few even turning around and pretending like they hadn’t been looking at him at all.
Which is when he met Jisung’s eye.
Jisung’s mouth immediately went dry at that look - so fucking dark and sexy, like he was going to eat Jisung if he got the opportunity to. The guy was every bad boy, dark romance protagonist rolled into one extremely hot man. Jisung was having trouble swallowing the lump in his throat as Minho’s eyes didn’t leave his.
Obviously Jisung had met some damn good looking guys since coming to college - had even had a few hookups in the first few weeks (he was fucking good at dancing and he knew it, of course he knew how to grind on guys and get them to come home with him to his dorm room that was almost always empty of roommmates). He’d gone to mixers with the soccer boys as well, so he was pretty well acquainted with hot men on this university campus.
But no one had made his stomach clench up in knots like just one fucking look from this guy was doing.
Minho took a step forward.
Holy shit was he walking toward Jisung?
Holy fucking shit he was walking toward Jisung.
He vaguely wondered what gay lacrosse or cheerleadign god he had been good to to have Minho’s eyes on him for this long - for the guy to bodily shove through several people to walk over to him. Jisung sucked in a breath as he stalked forward until he was right in front of Jisung, his heart slamming in his chest, eyes round as he had to tilt his head up just the tiniest bit to look up at the lacrosse player.
He was not expecting Minho to grab him by the jersey, wrench him forward and growl in his face, “why are you in my uniform?”
Jisung’s jaw dropped as he looked down at what he was wearing.
It was literally the same as what Felix, Jeongin and Hyunjin all had on - none of them had commented on it.
“Wh-what?” Jisung stuttered, eyes going round.
Minho stepped somehow closer, making Jisung stumble back, their chests bumping together as Minho shoved their faces together. “Why. Are you in. My. Uniform?” He repeated, eyes boring into Jisung’s.
“I-I… I’m not?” Jisung whispered, praying his words were true.
Minho’s hands gripped him so hard he yelped, as he was manhandled until he turned around, showing the back of the jersey. “Is your last name Lee?”
Jisung’s eyes went wide - he hadn’t checked the back.
He assumed they wouldn’t have names on their jerseys - especially not Jisung who had only joined a few days before.
“Uhm-”
“Are you all so racist you just thought every Asian dude’s name was Lee?” Minho yelled, glaring at the cheerleading squad who was staring in shock at them.
Jisung yelped, tripping over his own feet as Minho pulled the jersey right over his head.
Jisung wasn’t that shy about his body - he didn’t have any qualms about wearing revealing clothes to parties or changing in front of his roommates.
But he’d had enough bad experiences with lacrosse boys that he didn’t want them seeing him naked. He shivered remembering the last time he was topless in front of a team of them.
“What the fuck?” he screeched, immediately covering his chest with his arms, hoping to cover the flush crawling up his chest and throat - hopefully, if anyone noticed, they’d assume it was from the heat of the day.
“Are those my shorts too?” Minho asked as he folded his jersey over his arm.
“Probably but- hey! No! Do not take them off here!” Jisung squealed, scrambling to his feet as he felt Minho’s fingers dip beneath the waistband - far too comfortable, far too uncaring. “We can just go to the locker room!”
Minho did not look impressed with the suggestion, but jerked his chin toward the building.
Jisung practically ran to the locker room, blushing up to his ears, feeling Minho following on his heels.
“Give me them,” Minho said, holding out his hand the second they walked into the building.
“Bro, let me find my actual uniform before you take my pants!”
“No,” Minho deadpanned, flexing his hands, “give me them.”
Jisung ignored him, avoiding his hands that tried to grab the shorts right off of him again - blushing even brighter as he felt Minho’s hand skim over his ass as he turned - and ran to the locker he had been told was his.
“Hyunjin told me this was my locker, I didn’t know it was yours, I really am sorry for the mix up, but I don’t know what happened, and-”
He paused, looking up at the locker numbers.
Oh.
He opened number 25 which was perfectly cleaned, empty of any extra equipment besides the jersey folded neatly on the top rack.
Well.
“Oops,” Jisung breathed, looking over his shoulder sheepishly.
Minho was still glaring at him, arms crossed over his chest. “Oops,” he echoed back.
Jisung tugged the jersey over his head - number 8 - noticing it was definitely a little bit more fitted, considering he didn’t need any padding under it. He pursed his lips as he turned away from Minho, trying not to be too awkward as he tugged the shorts off of his legs and tossed them to him.
He was just pulling his own on - a much better fit - when Minho spoke, “who even are you? I’ve never seen you before.”
Jisung turned, watched as Minho pulled the shorts over his padding. “I’m new, I only signed on a few days ago,” he said simply. Minho raised an eyebrow in question, so he continued, “I’m a Kin major - I need to be on a sports team. I normally play soccer, but I got cut from the team.”
Minho’s eyes trailed over him - Jisung really tried not to squirm under his gaze or cover himself up, “you played soccer?”
“Yeah,” Jisung nodded, “midfield.”
“You look way too fragile for something like soccer,” Minho said simply, as though it was a fact.
Jisung scowled, huffing, “not all sports guys have to be all thick and muscley and shit.” He waved at Minho as though to show what he meant by all thick and muscley and shit. Minho’s lips twitched slightly at that, but he didn’t respond, making Jisung even more flustered. “What position even are you?” he spit out, “probably something fucking lame.”
“I’m the goalie,” he deadpanned.
A goalie?
Jisung tried not to let his eyes skim over the other again - and failed miserably - no wonder he was so fit, a goalie had to be quick and violent as hell, even more so than the rest of the team. The goalie needed to be fearless enough to run out of the crease if necessary, but also stupid enough to put himself in the way of a ball coming at him a hundred miles an hour - for fun.
“Aren’t you a little small for that?” Jisung quipped immediately.
He was not expecting Minho to get in his space again, was not expecting a lacrosse bro in half of his gear and uniform to have him pinned up against a locker on his first day on the cheer team. His pulse thumped in his throat - immediately remembering the last time he was shoved against a locker by a lacrosse dude, he’d walked away with a black eye and bruised lip as they screamed “faggot” at him as he ran.
He really hoped Minho wasn’t about to punch him and call him slurs.
Jisung whimpered, actually kind of terrified - the sound falling from his lips instinctually - as Minho slammed a hand next to his head, caging him in with his arm and body.
What fucking was this? A kdrama?
Jisung’s eyes were round as he watched Minho lean closer, so close he could feel his breath on his cheek as he spoke. “Trust me, baby,” he murmured, “I’m definitely not too small.”
Jisung was going to pass out.
Was Minho flirting with him?
Or was this the lacrosse player’s way of making fun of him, of teasing him?
Jisung didn’t even dare to breathe as Minho pulled back, a single eyebrow still arched as he stepped away from him.
“Now,” he hummed, pulling his phone out and glancing at the time, “you’ve made me late for my own game - something Chan really hates and I get in a lot of trouble for considering I’m pretty essential to them warming up.” He looked at Jisung pointedly, “how are you going to make it up to me?”
Jisung blinked at him, “huh?”
“How are you going to apologize for breaking into my locker, taking my stuff, and getting me in trouble with my captain?” Minho questioned.
“I…” Jisung trailed off, unable to break eye contact with the other as he swallowed thickly. “I’m… sorry?”
Minho stared at him, not responding - but his gaze told Jisung that apologizing wasn’t enough. Jisung fidgeted, hands twisting in his new jersey as he tried to think of what he could possibly offer him - the seven bucks in his wallet? The shoes off his feet? An invite to a party at the most popular frat house that his friend happened to be a part of? A blowjob? Like, what was the guy expecting?
“Uhm,” he pondered, looking up at the ceiling as though it would give him answers - needing to look anywhere but at Minho’s hard, cold gaze.
He nearly jumped a foot in the air when Minho spoke again, “You said you’re in Kinesiology?”
“Yeah,” Jisung mumbled.
“Perfect, then you should be great at biology,” Minho nodded. He handed Jisung his phone, a new contact page pulled up, and motioned for Jisung to fill it out. “I’ll text you so you can come by and help me with my labs.”
“Huh?” Jisung just stared at him.
“You’re going to help me with my labs,” Minho said slowly. Jisung’s fingers were already tapping his information into the phone in his hands on autopilot. “I have to pass this fucking bio class before next semester or I can’t graduate and I suck at science. So you can put your pretty little head to work and do it for me, yeah?”
Jisung nodded dumbly as Minho clapped him on the shoulder before turning on his heel. He waved - a single flick of his wrist - over his shoulder, not glancing back as Jisung slid down against the locker until he was sitting, still trying to figure out how to breathe correctly.
***
“Nice job getting on Lee Minho’s bad side.”
“He’s a fucking psychopath.”
“Seriously, I heard he got expelled from his first high school for killing someone.”
“That can’t be true,” Jisung rolled his eyes.
If anything had come out of the absolute shit show of emabrassment that was Han Jisung’s first game as a cheerleader, it was that he was apparently now friends with Felix, Jeongin and Hyunjin.
The three of them had called him over when he wandered into the dining hall, clutching a plate of food and debating where to sit since none of his friends had the same break times as him. He had practically sprinted over to the three of them, sitting down with a grin.
They figured out pretty quickly that they could have lunch together more days than not, which was great for Jisung’s slight social anxiety (he didn’t have a ton of friends that weren’t just people looking to get drunk and party with him).
But, the problem was, now he actually had to talk to them - including talking about Lee Minho and his fucking powerplay over Jisung at the game.
Jisung couldn’t help but think that he dodged a bullet as he watched the other play, shaking his pompoms and feeling ridiculous. Minho was a fucking beast on the court - the team in general was pretty incredible, far better than the high school team Jisung had watched in previous years. He felt sick at how loud helmets and padding clacked together as men checked each other. He had never seen so many yellow cards thrown in a single game.
Minho controlled the entire field from his position in the crease. He made Jisung nervous with how often he would step outside of the protective circle, moving up the field to be able to yell at his defensemen and midfielders, telling them off for bad plays or for not falling back enough.
He blocked almost every shot - his reflexes were absolutely insane as he practically punched the balls coming at him, catching them in his oversized stick before slamming them down the field with more power than was necessary. Jisung heard Changbin’s gasping “oof” as one of Minho’s passes hit his net - could literally see the defensemen’s muscles flex as they took in the brunt force slamming into him.
Minho’s face never changed - cold, scowling, calculating as he watched from his vantage point in net. He was an insane player - he could easily be picked up by the pros after his graduation.
He seriously could have done far worse to Jisung than just rattle him up a bit. Hence feeling like he dodged a bullet - or maybe a freight train.
“I seriously couldn’t believe he stripped you in the middle of the field,” Felix said, bringing Jisung back to the present as he shook his head and pointed his chopsticks at Jisung, “how is that not psychopath behavior?”
“I’m not saying he’s not a psychopath,” Jisung said, chewing his food thoughtfully, “just that he definitely didn’t murder someone.”
“Seungmin!” Jeongin called suddenly, waving with a huge grin across his face. Jisung turned, noticing the tall, brunette boy who was very obviously looking to sit alone on the far side of the dining hall. He smiled tightly but wandered over to their table, taking the seat beside Jeongin.
“Hey,” he muttered, immediately shoving some food into his mouth.
“We were just discussing Minho and how he’s a psychopath,” Jeongin filled him in.
Seungmin groaned, looking up at Jisung sheepishly, “yeah, dude, I’m sorry about him. He is a little unhinged. Chris screamed at him after the game if that’s any comfort.”
“Don’t they live together?” Hyunjin hummed, leaning his chin on his hand. He glanced at Felix with a raised eyebrow before asking, “isn’t it him, Minho and Changbin?”
“Yeah,” Seungmin nodded, looking down at his food, “they’re upperclassmen so they have off-campus housing.”
“They throw great parties,” Felix nodded, looking over at Jisung to avoid Hyunjin’s shit-eating grin, “I’ve never really talked to Minho though. He’s not usually there.”
“They’re trying to say Minho murdered someone,” Jisung said to Seungmin, rolling his eyes.
Seungmin paused, seeming to think, “I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“Right!?” Hyunjin laughed.
“He didn’t seem that bad,” Jisung grumbled, rolling his eyes. Did Minho seem cold and a little mean? Sure, but nothing more than was normal, in his opinion. He could have done a lot worse, having Jisung pinned up against the wall of the locker room.
“For real, Jisunggie,” Jeongin shook his head, “honestly, what he did to you wasn’t even that crazy compared to other shit - like, seriously, the guy has issues.”
“Like what?” Jisung asked, curious now.
“He stole a car in his freshman year,” Seungmin said immediately, tapping his spoon against his lips. “I didn’t see it obviously, but he stole a car that was apparently one of the professor’s. They still have no idea where it is - he refuses to tell anyone where he hid it.”
“I heard he also literally jumped off a bridge,” Felix added.
“Yeah, that’s a lacrosse guy thing though,” Hyunjin said, “at the end of the season when it’s cold they do a polar plunge type of thing.”
“Off a bridge?” Jisung’s jaw dropped.
“It’s not a big bridge.”
“Yeah, but not a lot of people actually do it,” Seungmin pointed out. “It’s always just one or two insane people.”
“I heard he also was apart of that group of people who got caught having a fucking orgy in that classroom in the humanities department,” Jeongin said, voice pitched low.
Jisung gaped at him, how the hell did they know all this gossip and he didn’t? They were all freshmen! “A what?”
“Yeah, I can confirm that one is true,” Seungmin nodded, “he’s talked about it before.”
“How many people have to be involved for it to be an orgy and not just a “-some”?” Hyunjin questioned, leaning back in his seat. “Like, not a threesome or foursome or?”
“I feel like five,” Jeongin nodded.
“I think he’s said it was six of them.”
“How does that even work?” Jisung questioned, eyebrows pinched together as he tried to think it through.
“I know you’ve never seen one naked, Sunggie, but girls have three holes, baby,” Hyunjin cooed, laughing as Jisung glared at him. He threw himself around the other, which had become a weird norm for them - Jisung had never had a friend who was so touchy. It was kind of nice. He leaned into the one-armed hug, even while still glaring at him.
“He’s also the worst with hazing,” Seungmin snorted, rolling his eyes, “always trying to get the freshmen drunk and convince them to do shit during our mixers and gatherings.”
Jisung bit his lip, hands fiddling with his fork. He hadn’t mentioned the whole ‘helping Minho with his biology labs’ thing to his new friends. He glanced between them before finally saying, “so… he asked me to help him with some of his coursework. If I don’t, is he going to like, kill me or something?”
All three of their heads flicked to him, expressions a mixture of curiosity, confusion, and concern.
“He asked you for help?” Felix questioned.
“With coursework?” Jeongin echoed.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Minho even touch a pencil,” Seungmin shook his head, “I’m not even sure what major he is - he doesn’t give a shit about school.”
“He said he needed it to graduate,” Jisung shrugged.
“Psh,” Hyunjin waved a hand at him, “athletes don’t actually need to do well to pass - the professors are basically told that they have to give them at least a D even if they don’t do a single assignment and bomb every test.”
Jisung’s eyebrows furrowed as Hyunjin pulled away from him, looking thoughtful. “Maybe this one is different? I don’t know, he said he’d text me when he needs help and expects me to basically do the work for him - as an apology for stealing his jersey.”
“What a fucking weirdo,” Jeongin sighed, leaning back in his chair.
Seungmin was staring at Jisung curiously, moving his spoon over his plate but not actually eating anything. Jisung looked at him with a raised eyebrow in question, but the other said nothing.
Jisung didn’t know what that look meant, but it made a strange feeling itch beneath his skin.
***
Library - today at 2pm
Jisung stared down at his phone, eyebrows furrowing. He glanced up at the professor who was rattling on about the different bodily systems - it was a lecture of over 200 people, no one would care if he was on his phone.
He tapped out a quick,
Minho ??
im in class at 2
He saw the three little dots pop up almost immediately. He stared at them, waiting for the other’s reply to come in.
i’ll tell lia to kick you off cheer
Jisung’s jaw dropped as he gaped at the text message - was this blackmail? Was he being threatened? Minho had to realize he was on the squad entirely for those four extra credits.
bastard
see you at 2
Jisung fiddled with his phone as he stood in front of the library at 1:45. Luckily, the class he had to miss was his easiest one - a gen-ed with a few hundred people that never took attendance. He hda been told it was an easy class to do your first semester, since there was no midterm and the final was just an essay about a movie they were required to watch.
He was tempted to text the other to ask if he was already at the library - it was massive, multiple floors high, a cafe on the ground floor, and dozens of study rooms - it would take Jisung forever to check around for the lacrosse player.
He didn’t have to wait much longer, though, as Minho walked up just as Jisung was opening their text messages.
Jisung flinched as Minho stalked over to him, not even bothering with a greeting - just flicking his chin toward the library and marching in, expecting Jisung to follow. He scoffed in amazement at this guy’s personality - but, he did scurry in after him.
He tried to ignore how much his heart raced, a flush creeping up his neck, at just the sight of Minho. He had literally seen the guy half naked, but seeing him like this - unbrushed hair fluffy around his face, eyes tired, wearing a black hoodie and sweatpants set with sneakers shoved on his feet? He was adorable - scary, but adorable.
Jisung slid into his seat as he watched Minho tilt the contents of his bag out onto the table. He shoved the textbooks and a few notebooks towards Jisung before shoving his laptop and the rest of his possessions away. Jisung glanced over the items curiously - a beginner’s Biology textbook (he had already passed out of it thanks to AP credits) and some crudely scratched out notes. He pawed through the materials for a moment before looking up at Minho.
The older had pulled his backpack in front of him, crossed his arms over it, and buried his face in his elbows.
Jisung gaped at him, looking around to see if there were any cameras - see if he was getting punked right now.
He poked the other with his pencil, getting Minho to raise his head just enough to glare at Jisung. “I don’t even know what you want me to do,” Jisung hissed at him, keeping his voice down as he motioned to the stack of random books. “What assignment is this?”
Minho sighed as though Jisung was the stupidest person in the world, “Chapter 3 - there’s lab questions. My notes from the lab are in the yellow notebook.”
Jisung pursed his lips as he grabbed the notes and flipped through them. “Yellow isn’t science - green is science you weirdo.”
Minho just stared at him, eyes looking even more tired, before putting his head down again.
Jisung wondered how long Minho was going to try to get away with this - forcing Jisung to do his homework for an entire semester was definitely too much for Jisung stealing his jersey. He hadn’t even made him late to the game - only warmups. This seemed like overkill.
But, he had to admit, looking at the lacrosse player with fond eyes - he did look really tired. It must be hard keeping up with studies while playing a sport, he knew from his time with the soccer team that they expected three to five hours a day dedicated to practicing - and sometimes that meant being on the court until one or two in the morning.
The cheer squad had been much more chill - three practices a week for about two hours, and one game each weekend.
So, Jisung sighed and opened up the textbooks, Minho’s notes, and started working on the answers. He had already done this exact experiment back in high school - and he remembered it well enough to know Minho’s numbers were completely off - but he could easily figure out the short answers based on what Minho had done.
He bit his lip, smiling slightly to himself when he heard Minho’s soft snores and mumbles from across the table.
He finished the assignment only about forty-five minutes later, but let himself sit there a while longer, just watching Minho and feeling bad about having to wake him up.
He tried to be gentle as he reached across the table and shook the other’s elbow slightly.
Jisung squealed - getting several looks from the silent studiers in the library - as Minho’s hand shot out, gripping his wrist so hard he felt the joints pop. He immediately grabbed Minho’s fingers, trying to pry them off as he whisper-yelled, “ow, ow, ow! Stop!”
Minho barely seemed to notice as he raised his head, face heavy with sleep. He looked at where he was gripping Jisung’s arm so tightly his fingertips were turning red, and let go unhurriedly.
Jisung held his wrist to his chest protectively, glaring as Minho yawned wide, stretching his arms high over his head (no, Jisung definitely didn’t look at the taut strip of abs that showed as his hoodie rode up, and he definitely didn’t tuck the information that Minho doesn’t wear a t-shirt under his sweatshirts into the back of his brain), and stretched. He grumbled as he rubbed at his hair and face - Jisung would have giggled at him mussing up his hair even more if his wrist didn’t feel two seconds away from being broken.
He shoved the work he did over to Minho, glaring as the other sleepily looked down at it. He barely spared the multiple paragraphs Jisung had written more than a second’s consideration before shoving it, along with all his other materials, into his backpack. Jisung winced as he watched the papers get folded and crumbled beneath textbooks.
He scowled as Minho stood up, not even saying a ‘thank you.’ The older paused before he turned, eyes drifting over Jisung until the younger’s ears turned slightly pink at the scrutiny. “We have an away game this weekend.”
Jisung scrunched his nose - he already knew. Lia had told him that the four guys on the squad would be shoved on the bus with the lacrosse team rather than the rest of the cheerleaders because their bus didn’t have enough space for the whole squad. “Yeah, I know.”
“You’ll sit with me on the bus,” Minho said simply - the words weren’t a question.
Jisung furrowed his brow - the bus ride was going to be a full two hours, he could think of a lot of things he’d rather do during that journey than be tense and awkward next to Minho for hours. “Why?”
Minho didn’t answer, just turned on his heel and walked out of the library.
Jisung groaned, burying his face in his hands and wondering what he did to deserve this bullshit.
***
“Jisunggie, come sit with me!” Hyunjin cooed as Jisung hauled himself into the bus, already sweaty and miserable.
He’d had to practically sprint across campus as his last class was cutting it far too close, and he’d had to grab his overnight bag from his dorm room before heading to the field where everyone was meeting. By the time he got there, the cheerleaders had already left and only Chan and their coach were standing outside talking.
“Ah, Han Jisung, right?” Chan asked, looking up as Jisung raced over, doubling over as he finally stopped to catch his breath. Chan laughed, waving a hand at him, “don’t worry, we’re still waiting on a few guys.”
Jisung could only raise his hand in thanks before stumbling onto the bus.
Hyunjin, Felix and Jeongin were huddled together in one seat, giggling together at the front of the bus. When Jisung hauled himself on, Hyunjin immediately brightened and dove into the seat across the aisle, patting the seat beside him for Jisung.
It would have been so easy to just sit down, rest, and chat with the other three for the next two hours. But, he could already feel Minho’s eyes on him.
Jisung flinched when he looked up, immediately finding Minho’s dark gaze toward the back of the bus.
“I-I… I told Minho I would sit with him,” Jisung mumbled to Hyunjin, trying to plead for help with his eyes.
“Minho?” Hyunjin echoed, looking back on the bus until he found the goalie. He scowled at him, “we need to talk to him about squad stuff! He’s still learning the cheers!”
Minho didn’t answer, just stared Hyunjin down as the team in between them looked back and forth between the couple.
Hyunjin pursed his lips at the silence before conceding, “fine, we get him on the ride back though!”
Minho didn’t respond, just watched as Jisung shoved his way to the back of the bus, dropping his bag on the floor and groaning as he fell into the seat next to the goalie. He ignored the curious stares around him as he tipped his head back, eyes closed, trying to remember how to expand his lungs correctly.
He only peeked his eye open again when he heard the last few people get on the bus - Changbin, laughing as he shoved one of the attackmen in front of him, and Chan who was holding a clipboard and very much looking like a dad about to chaperone his son’s field trip.
“Looks like everyone is here!” He said happily, turning to speak to the bus driver before finally realizing he needed to find a seat for himself.
Jisung smiled to himself as Hyunjin immediately grabbed the captain’s bicep, hauling him down into the seat next to him.
“What the heck?”
Jisung looked up at a pouting Changbin who was glancing between him and Minho.
“Min, I thought you were going to save me a seat!”
“I never said that,” Minho said coldly.
“We always sit together!” Changbin whined, looking around to see where another available seat was. “Please don’t make me sit with Seungmin - he refuses to talk to me!”
“I also don’t talk to you,” Minho deadpanned.
Changbin threw his hands up in irritation before going back up the bus aisle and falling into the seat beside the midfielder who looked irritated as hell to have the shorter man beside him.
Jisung finally glanced over at Minho who was staring right back at him. Jisung kept back a yelp as he flinched in his seat at the hard gaze on him. He pursed his lips, “so, what do you want?”
“Nothing,” Minho responded.
“Why do I need to sit here?” Jisung questioned.
Minho’s gaze slid over him, considering. “I like to have a pretty boy beside me.”
Jisung blinked, absolutely not expecting that answer. He felt his face flush as he pinched the bridge of his nose, “then have Felix or Hyunjin or Jeongin come sit with you - why me?”
“They’re not pretty,” Minho said, eyebrows pinching together as though what he was saying was obvious - which was the exact opposite of what it was. Hyunjin, Felix and Jeongin were all gorgeous, Jisung was sure they had guys falling all over themselves.
“You’re crazy,” Jisung muttered, shaking his head and looking forward as the bus finally lurched out of its parking spot and started on the two hour drive. Jisung sighed and settled back, immediately pulling out his phone and digging in his bag for his headphones.
He could feel Minho’s gaze on him as he put his airpods in, browsing his music and picking something loud to drown out all the chatter and dude-bro laughter around him.
Jisung was barely through two songs before he felt one of his earbuds being pulled from his ear.
He glared at Minho who had tugged the little white pod from his ear. He opened his mouth to snap at the other about how rude he was, but the words died on his lips as he watched Minho slide the airpod into his own ear.
He watched the older man's face as he made sense of what Jisung was listening to - a rock song from an Italian band he had found recently. Minho didn’t seem to react at all, just sat back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest.
Jisung sighed in irritation but settled back in his own seat, ignoring how their shoulders bumped against each other each time they drove over a pothole or any uneven part of the road.
This was going to be a long fucking season.