taeil stared at his new hair.
he stared at it when he first got it done and johnny let out a hoot of, "i told you you'd look hotter!"
he stared at it in the mirror both times he'd brushed his teeth in the time he'd been home, and he stared at it again when he brushed them in the morning. he also stared at it in the microwave reflection, and in every reflectable surface they passed on the way into college that day.
yuta and sicheng also stared. yuta said it looked great, and sicheng told him it looked super cute. taeil was pleased, but there was still one person he really wanted the approval of.
lee taeyong.
if taeyong didn't like his new hair, or even notice it, what was the point of life? the way taeil saw it - if his hair didn't make a difference, he might as well shave it off.
oof!
"god, can you watch where you're- oh, hi, johnny," taeil blurted, smacking right into johnny's chest on his way to their math room.
"god, moony, can you stop walking into people?" johnny teased, ruffling taeil's new haircut, "it's turning into a habit for you."
taeil squirmed away, smoothing his hair back into place. "watch it! you're not the one who payed for this haircut," he grumbled.
johnny just laughed and messed taeil's hair up some more, finding the shorter's shrieks of objection hilarious. "hey, leave it like that," he instructed, "it looks cuter a little messy."
taeil swatted his large hands away, but glanced up at johnny curiously. "you think so?"
"i'm the hotness expert, right? of course i think so," johnny scoffed, rolling his eyes. "oh, shit, can you get something for me, by the way?"
taeil frowned at him. "what are you talking about?"
johnny scratched at the nape of his neck. "i just remembered - i left my, uh, water bottle at the student cafe. run and get it for me?"
taeil wrinkled his nose and snorted, "what am i, your-"
"-slave?" johnny finished. he turned taeil around in the other direction and gave him a gentle push, "yeah, you are, so hurry up! math starts any minute now."
groaning and grumbling to himself, taeil trotted along towards the student cafe. why couldn't johnny just pack his bag properly and not leave things behind? it was stupid, really-
oof!
johnny was right - taeil did need to stop walking into things.
"i'm so sorry!" he gushed, "i didn't mean..." his sentence trailed off as he looked up to see exactly who it was he'd bumped into.
breathtaking as always; hair soft and falling perfectly across his forehead, eyes mesmerising, skin as flawless as freshly fallen snow.
lee. fucking. taeyong.
"it's okay," taeyong said, giving a small chuckle and taeil's arm a light clap. "i was in a rush. class starts soon, you know?"
"uh... y-yeah, uh, it... yeah..." taeil couldn't stop staring at him, having lost every percentage of his cool at this point.
taeyong nodded, a little awkward in the silence between them. his eyes glanced up to taeil's newly dyed dark hair, which was now just a little messy, courtesy of johnny seo. "new trim?" taeyong spoke up conversationally.
taeil nearly died inside. "y-yeah, it is," he stammered, feeling himself start to beam.
"looks good," said taeyong with a brief smile. "anyway, i'm gonna be late for my art lecture, so..."
"right, yeah," taeil answered, letting the other boy dodge awkwardly past him, "b-bye!"
he watched taeyong bound away across campus, fantasising over a reality where their goodbye was different - where taeyong would kiss his cheek before finally letting go of his hand, turning to give a wave before disappearing into the art department.
meanwhile, time was ticking by, and taeil was late.
"shit!" he hissed, forgetting johnny's water bottle and sprinting in the direction of the math block.
when he arrived, taeil apologised profusely to the lecturer and took his seat next to johnny... who was sipping from his water bottle.
"are you serious?" taeil huffed, slapping johnny's thigh rather hard under the desk.
johnny smirked at him and took another sip. "yeah, turns out it was in my bag," he said.
"you prick," taeil muttered.
"hey, lay off it, moony," said johnny, slamming the bottle down on the desk, "i did it to help you, obviously."
"how does making me late for class help me at all?" taeil glared at him.
"you're so clueless," johnny scoffed. "i passed taeyong before seeing you, dumbass, so i sent you right in his direction. get it now?"
taeil blinked. johnny really did that for him? "doesn't make it any better," he retorted, trying his best to keep up the angry facade, "you can't just order me around."
"yes, slave, yes i can."
---
despite pretending to still be mad at johnny, taeil's mood was on a high when he sat down in the science lab later that day.
"good to know someone in this miserable shithole is happy," doyoung drawled as he sat down next to him.
"afternoon to you too, partner," taeil nodded, giving doyoung a mini-salute.
"jesus, how many times- i am not- we are not partners," doyoung grumbled. he emptied his entire bag onto the desk just to try and find something in amongst the mess.
"uh, yes we are," taeil objected, "we're lab partners."
"wish we weren't."
"god, who took a shit in your milk?" taeil inhaled sharply, rolling his eyes.
"i'm lactose intolerant, fucktart."
taeil bit back another remark and instead started going through doyoung's stuff, which he was desperately trying to sort through. "why's your stuff so messy?" he asked, "you're usually neat as shit- is this jung jaehyun's homework again?"
"shut the fuck up!" doyoung hissed, snatching the papers right out of his hands.
"why are you still writing up stuff for him?" taeil demanded, "you said you'd never write up notes for me, not even if jesus asked you to himself and-"
"can you shut your mouth?" doyoung pressed a finger to his temple, taking a breath. "fancy haircut's got you all confident, has it?"
"doyo-"
"fine!" doyoun burst out, crushing a sheet of paper in one hand, "you wanna know why i'm in a fucking bad mood? wifi. neighbour. coursework. jaehyun. put the puzzle together, sherlock."
taeil paused.
"...you have a crush on jaehyun?"
"are you inbred? no!" doyoung's hand flew up to hit him but he restrained himself, the hand curling into a fist and the arm lowering.
"so you do."
"no i don't!"
"you do."
"no, i-" doyoung was caught off guard by the cheeky look taeil was throwing him. "shut up. that johnny seo sure is bringing out the best in your personality."
taeil grinned stupidly at him.
doyoung flicked the side of taeil's head. "i was being sarcastic."
"anyway, tell me about jaehyun," taeil pressed.
"can you not say his name so loud?!" doyoung whispered, his voice all squeaky and panicky.
"okay, i won't," taeil promised whole-heartedly. "so, jaehyun's your next door neighbour, right? and he shares your wifi now?"
doyoung buried his head in his hands.
"come on, tell me all the details," taeil begged, tugging on doyoung's arm.
doyoung ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "he's still borrowing my wifi," he admitted. "he's so busy all the time with classes and sports and extracurricular, that i just feel so bad. he never gets enough sleep and he's always tired, so i give in and agree to write up my notes for him and finish his assignments. it's just..."
"it's just... what?"
"i don't know how much longer i can keep this up," doyoung confessed, pressing his face to the desk in misery.
"keep what up?" taeil questioned.
"this! everything," doyoung cried, "he keeps coming round mine as well, and it's driving me crazy!"
"so ask him out," taeil stated, as if it was an obvious solution.
"are you insane?!" doyoung squeaked. "he's straight, taeil, if there weren't already enough reasons why that would be a terrible idea."
"look, johnny said-"
"i don't care what johnny seo thinks about relationships," doyoung snapped. "he's straight too, and he will never understand anything about you or me, okay?"
taeil gaped at him, his heart breaking a little inside. "come on, that's-"
"-the truth," doyoung finished. "i'm sorry, but if you think he can help you at all, then you're wrong."
___________________
a/n: long time no see :')
i'm really enjoying writing this atm though (especially doyoung's character lol) so expect updates! (maybe)
thank you so much, ily♡
i ? love ?? them???
the height difference is so precious ♡
also yuwin are faves
((ps. yuwin vs winil?))
thanku bye :))