Karma

by anonymiss_0

Summary:

"Hey."

The student stops right in front of him, taking off an earbud. He appeared pissed that Ivan stopped him, spitting back a nasty "What?"

"You're new around here, right? Let me show you around–"

"Fuck off."

Or

Ivan makes a bet that he could make the new student fall in love with him.

Chapter 1: the bet

"Man, my man!"

The silence is interrupted when a group of teens enter the locker room, shouting and cheering about their victory.

Ivan grunted after a teammate shook his shoulder while entering the room, exclaiming, "Good job on scoring us those points back there!"

"He's called Golden Boy for a reason," Dante was another teammate of his, the vice captain of the football high school team.

Although Ivan may have been the new recruit during his junior year, he already made himself known throughout the building due to his remarkable skills. He was classified as the "Golden Boy" who won the majority of the matches. To top it all off, Ivan's appearance had everyone weak on their knees.

Those who lay eyes on him would think he's some sort of male pulled out of a romance novel– handsome, skilled, etiquette, money and fame. He had it all and everyone adored him for that.

However, Ivan was heartless. He was never in tune with his emotions. The teen could never truly express himself with words or actions without it feeling fake. Maybe it was because his parents were never present or the fact he was home-schooled the majority of his life until last year.

Either way, Ivan puts a mask on to fit in with the crowd. He made friends that intrigued his life, but his sister wasn't too fond of them. Ivan shrugged it off because it wasn't his sister's concern to get involved in his life.

"It's been a while since we've been to the semi-rounds. Let's give it our all, yeah?"

"That's such a huge accomplishment. We should celebrate," Ivan could hear Travis (who he found quite annoying) encouraging the others to the idea, already hinting that alcohol would obviously be included. It didn't take long for everyone to agree.

"Ivan?" Everyone looked at him. "You coming?"

A fake smile formed on him and he nodded. "Obviously."

The team crashed one of their teammates home because they claimed their parents were out on traveling. Cans of drinks were pulled out and each person grabbed their own individual alcoholic drink. Ivan could never figure out how they could obtain these without getting caught.

Ivan talked in the conversation once in a while, even laughing along with some of the comments his teammate made. He didn't realize how fast time went by until his sister spammed his phone with messages and calls.

It was almost midnight.

Ivan did want to go home already. He was tired and dozed off from the liquor, so he was about to excuse himself until one of his teammates made an interesting comment.

"Ivan, you must have it so easy."

"What do you mean?"

His teammate sighed, leaning onto one side. "It's easy for you to get any bitches. I never once saw you fail in dating."

That was true. Ivan was in previous relationships before with students from school, but none of them made it past two months. It never affected him as much because he wasn't interested in any of them.

Ivan never felt a spark connection.

He remained silent as the teammate continued: "I mean, all these girls are coming after you like flies! I bet you could take on anyone with those looks, don't you think?"

Anyone, as in both girls and boys? Ivan pauses to think about the thought. He never even thought of looking at a boy from a romantic perspective– is it any different from a female?

"I bet I could," Ivan could already tell what was coming. It was a natural occurrence between the team, making bets that were both humorous like wearing a silly costume during a match or testing their abilities.

Sometimes, it could be a bit damaging. Ivan recalls this one time where his teammate took on a bet into making a girl fall in love with him and breaking her heart when she confessed. It was successful, giving a good laugh to the whole team, but discarding the emotional toll that girl endured.

"Anyone? Like in both genders?"

"A boy? No offense, but I don't think boys will swoon for Ivan."

"Really? I think he totally can! He has the looks-"

"No, I think I agree too. Ivan only even spoken to girls, so it might not work–"

"I bet I can," Ivan cuts them off. He sees some of the boy's unsure expressions. "You think I can't?"

"We should make a bet then," The same teammate from before swung his arm around Ivan. "I bet you can't make a boy fall in love with you. Oh, and also date the man."

It shouldn't be too different from a girl, right? Ivan could do this challenge with his eyes closed. A man is no different from a woman, Ivan will make sure that person is under his thumb.

"Let's spice it up a bit!" Not to Ivan's surprise, Travis decides to intervene in the bet by enforcing his own little twist. "We can't let Ivan pick and choose an easy opponent, right?"

Everyone praised Travis like he made some historical discovery, immediately agreeing and coming up with options they could choose from.

"Not him. He's too easy!"

"That person is too much of a crybaby."

"He'll know it's a prank within seconds."

They continued to bicker amongst each other until Travis clapped his hands to grab the team's attention. "There's this student who recently transferred. He's in the Music and Arts Department," He snickered. "I heard he's a lil weirdo."

"Oh, I know who you're talking about! He's the emo kid in my class. He doesn't really speak to anybody–"

"That's exactly who I'm talking about! He thinks he's some hot shit or whatever," Travis scoffed, recalling the time the student cursed him out on campus. "Which is why I think it's a great challenge!"

"Alright then, it's a deal."

Ivan was a man of his words and immediately went to go find the emo student in the Music and Arts Buildings the following day. He was given a description of the male, but was told: "You'll know him when you see him. He really stands out."

They weren't lying.

He caught a glimpse of him right away when students began piling out of the classroom. The student really stood out in the crowd with his oversized clothing, black nails, excessive jewelries and smudged eyeliner.

"Hey."

The student stops right in front of him, taking off an earbud. He appeared pissed that Ivan stopped him, spitting back a nasty "What?"

Alright, Ivan pats himself in the back for grabbing his attention. "You're new around here, right? Let me show you around–"

"Fuck off."

The student passed by him without shoving his shoulder against his. Ivan clenched his fist and looked back at the male disappeared into the crowd.

'This is going to be fun.'

Chapter 2: the jock

Summary:

"Are you always this cold towards people?" Ivan sighed. "I think it's nice making connections with people from the same department."

"Right," Till gathers his stuff and gets up from his seat. He doesn't bother making eye contact with the jock and says, "I don't need your connection." before leaving.

"Fuck off."

Till spat at the jock student before walking off, bumping his shoulder into the other on purpose. It doesn't take two dumbasses to know that the jock was up to no good and Till wanted no part of it.

He transferred to this college to continue his last two years of his major, granting him a bachelor's degree. Four weeks already passed by, but Till was still getting accustomed to the new environment.

With only making one friend, that being a girl called Mizi, Till was content with his small private life. He was wary of the girl at first because he thought she was faking it, but it turned out Mizi was far too kind to pull something like that.

He was introduced to Sua (aka Mizi's girlfriend), but didn't really click with her. Till doesn’t mind being around her though.

Till sighed, glancing down at some lyrics he made for a new song. His professor already threw a huge assignment which involved composing a song and presenting it to the class by the end of next month. The only issue is he wasn't allowed to sing the song.

He had to pair up with anyone at campus who was willing to sing his song.

Hush, my little child

Gentle now, go to sleep

And somewhere in that moment

The sun will shine–

No. Till crossed out the last line. That didn't sound right.

Till hates to admit, but he already had a person in mind who he wants to pair with. The only issue… he hates socializing.

Luka was really well known around campus due to his incredible vocals. Till had the opportunity to hear it during his first week and was blown away at how he sounded like a lullaby.

He sighed and wrote down a little reminder at the bottom of the page: "Speak to Luka."

If anything, Till will most likely ask Mizi if she's willing to pair up.

"What are you writing there?"

Till slammed his book shut and looked behind him. That stupid jock from yesterday was back. "None of your concern," He muttered. "What do you want?"

"You're from the Music and Arts Department, right?" The jock took a seat next to him, much to Till's dislikings. "I am also. How is it so far?"

Till takes a moment to take in the jock's features. He didn't really look like someone who belonged in that department, Till thought he would at least be a business major.

"Why are you talking to me?"

"Am I not allowed to?  The jock tilted his head. He lifts a hand to gently stroke the other cheek. "Besides I think you're cunning to look at."

Till glanced around to see if anybody was hiding. He found it highly suspicious that the jock was by himself instead of being with his usual group.

"Are you pulling a prank on me?" He asked, shoving the jock hand away. "Cause if you are, it's not funny and makes you so immature at your grown age."

"Do you often overthink situations?" The jock replied back.

Till wanted to scream so badly "Can you blame me?". He already had interactions with previous popular students from previous grades, and to sum it up: everyone was fake and rude. Immature was the best word to describe them.

"I don't. It's just a question," Till grumbled, disliking the way the jock avoided his question. "So you're gonna answer my question or dodge it?"

"I'm not pranking you," The jock answered. "I really want to get to know you better. My name is Ivan… and you?"

Ivan held in a sigh as the student didn't answer. "Alright, then what are you doing outside? Aren't you heating up?" It was very hot outside, not even Ivan can bear standing out here any longer.

"I came out here to concentrate. For peace and quiet," Till emphasized the last part, unfortunately it seemed like the jock didn't seem to care.

"Hm," Ivan pointed at the notebook. "I'm guessing to continue writing down your lyrics?"

Till glanced down at his book and cursed at himself for humongously writing "Till Music Book" in sharpie on the front cover. "No."

"Is it for a class?"

"No."

"Professor Wilson?"

"No.."

"So it is," Ivan smiled. "I had his class before. He's a great professor but does give huge assignments. I was once told to compose a song and present it to the class.."

Till maintained his composure as he felt the jock stare at him intensely. "You have that assignment too, hm?" He feels Ivan lean closer. "Are you having trouble, Till?"

Shivers went down his spine when he heard his name slip out of Ivan's mouth. Till shoved the boy's face away, "You never heard of personal space? And I don't need your help."

"If you say so," Ivan shrugged and backed off. "But if you ever change your mind, I'm here to help. The song I composed ended up getting a reward… and I was lucky enough to perform it to the whole school."

Till doesn’t know if Ivan was bribing him to accept his offer or just showing off. Either way, Till continued to deny his help. "Good for you, but no thanks."

"Are you always this cold towards people?" Ivan sighed. "I think it's nice making connections with people from the same department."

"Right," Till gathers his stuff and gets up from his seat. He doesn't bother making eye contact with the jock and says, "I don't need your connection." before leaving.

Till doesn't see the jock after that, not that he minded. His days go on like usual and he finds himself spending more time in the library.

He's once again working on that stupid assignment and was stuck on… well, everything. Till booked an appointment at the studio for this week so he could begin on the instrumental section of the song. His brain was overwhelmed with the amount of work that he was close to dropping out (not literally, just an exaggeration).

His lyrics were a mess. His notes were a mess. He was a mess.

It didn't help that he had a job interview coming up soon for a local coffee shop nearby. "I should probably leave to get there early," Till muttered and grabbed his items, heading to the exit.

As Till walked out the exit, he was placing his things back in his bag and was unaware of the person rushing into him. The person ends up dropping their stuff. "Shit, I'm so sorry–"

"No, it's okay! It was an accident." The person quickly picks up their things.

Oh. It was one of the football team members. He doesn't feel that bad now.

The team member waits for Till to disappear into the crowd. "Why did you need this again?" He scrunched his nose, holding up Till's Music Book like it was an infected item.

Ivan appears around the corner and happily takes the book off his hands. "So I can win the bet."

He couldn't help but be thankful that Till was careless at times.

He wondered how long it would take for Till to realize he'd drop his notebook.

Chapter 3: a deal?

Summary:

"Let me help you partner up with Luka."

That… would benefit Till more than it would with Ivan. He expected something crazy to come out of the jock's mouth. "You want to help me?" Till said. "How?"

"Having connections with people in the same department has its perks," Ivan reminded the student. "A skill you lack if I say so myself. Remember?"

Notes:

having a j*b really does take away my free time 🥲

Deep in his heart, Till knows that someone in the world is wishing for his downfall. Perhaps that kid he punched when he was six or that noisy adult he talked back to in middle school. Maybe a god in this universe hates him for some apparent reason.

Till could never catch a break. Just when he thinks his life is going in the right direction, something just has to happen to ruin his good mood and haunt him for the next month.

He secured a job at the cafe as a part-time worker. Hooray! It was finally his turn to become a victim of capitalism once more.

Terrible news: Till lost his music book and he doesn't know where it is.

Well, he has an assumption. Till believes he may have left it in the library or somewhere near the area.

That book had his life savings. A dedication of blood, sweat and tears, so he's not crazy for running across campus to get there on time when the library opens. He's so screwed if the book is not there.

"A book?" The librarian hummed. "Lots of students tend to leave their stuff here by accident. The staff will pile them up in a box so it doesn't get thrown away. Let me go get that for you."

Till sighed in relief and thanked the sweet lady. He tries to remain calm, telling himself that the book will be in there and then this nightmare will be over.

The lady comes back with a cardboard box labelled "Lost and Found" and settles it on the desk.

"Young man, you can check in here."

The book will be inside there, Till nods and walks over. And then you'll laugh this off and take this as a lesson to be more responsible over your items.

He looks inside.

"Shit."

The book wasn't inside.

Till made sure to apologize (for cursing so loudly) and thank the librarian for her help. As he exited, Till wanted to rip his hair out and jump off a building for losing such a valuable notebook. A notebook that not only contained music he wrote in his freetime, but the draft and notes of the song for his major assignment.

He sighed, leaning against the wall and digging inside his pocket. Till doesn’t usually smoke, but only does so when he's really stressed out. He tries not to make it a habit because he doesn't think he could bear seeing the disappointment on his mother's face.

"You don't appear to be the type of person to smoke."

Great. Just his luck.

"Don't you know it's not good for your health?" Ivan was in front of him with that sly signature smirk.

"I don't smoke a lot," Till muttered and puffed smoke into his face. "Get out of my face."

"How rude. And here I was trying to be nice," Ivan replied, holding up the missing notebook Till was stressing about.

The cigarette fell off his lips upon laying his eyes on it. His body reacted quickly, hand reaching out to snag the notebook out of Ivan's hold, but the jock was quicker and held it above his head.

"You really are something, Till. I never knew you can sway someone with such words," Ivan said.

"Shut the fuck up and give me my book, you jerk!" Till groaned and jumped up, only to have Ivan shove him away each time.

"I am going to give it back. For a deal."

If Ivan hadn't taken his notebook hostage, Till would've kicked him in the balls until he could no longer breed. He would snatch the book and run for his life so the jock couldn't catch up.

Instead, Till finds himself slowly giving up on retrieving the notebook because Ivan was too tall and enjoyed teasing him. He clenched his hand into a fist and asked, "What kind of deal?"

"Let me help you partner up with Luka."

That… would benefit Till more than it would with Ivan. He expected something crazy to come out of the jock's mouth. "You want to help me?" Till said. "How?"

"Having connections with people in the same department has its perks," Ivan reminded the student. "A skill you lack if I say so myself. Remember?"

Till was still fishy about his proposal, but can you blame him? This guy was a total weirdo and a jerk.

"I don't talk to Luka that much, but I'm close friends with his girlfriend. She's a nice person and will be willing to help you out," Ivan said. "Hyuna has practice right now with her band, so we can stop by to visit and ask."

Ivan watches the way Till eyebrows furrowed like he was trying to uncover if the jock was telling the truth or not. "I'm trying to help you, Till."

"You have a weird way of doing it," Till grumbled. He sighed once more and nodded, "Fine. Give me my book back."

"Alright."

Till sticks out his hand, but Ivan never gives the book back and slips his hand into the other.

"You jerk! I don't want to hold hands with you–"

"Blah blah, can't hear you."

Ivan was unbelievably stronger than him so Till gave up trying to slip out of his grasp. He opted to look down to ignore the stares the pair would get from other students, yet that couldn't prevent him from listening to the whispers.

He knew Ivan was popular around campus, but not to this extent. Girls were literally fawning over Ivan and greeting him as they passed by. Till could still feel the glares of some students stabbing his back.

This is torture, Till thought the entire time.

Till finds himself in the music department and heading to the studios that would usually be booked by other students. Ivan knocks on one of the doors and shortly after a girl pops out, a huge grin forming on her face.

"Ivan! Long time no see," She chuckled, glancing over at Till. "And who is this? You made a new friend?"

"Yes, but I hope we become more than that." Ivan ignored the punch he received on the shoulder.

Hyuna finally noticed the pair holding hands. As much as she wanted to, Hyuna refrained herself from questioning because she didn't want to scare Till away. Instead she gives a supportive pat on the back to Ivan. "You have taste!" She chuckled, inviting the pair inside.

"Isaac, Dewey!" She catches the attention of the crew. "Ivan is here and he brought a special guest with him."

Till could hear the tease in her tone. He finally yanked his hand away, but it was too late as the rest already saw.

"Ivan, you brought your boyfriend?" Dewey, probably the buffest guy Till ever laid eyes on, approached.

"We're not dating," Till responded back before the jock could. "He's weird and grabbed my hand without permission."

"A feisty one, I see," Isaac whispered in Ivan's ear. "Good luck, champ."

"Alright, alright, enough teasing." Hyuna assured the two guys away. "What brings you two here anyways?"

Till lets Ivan take the lead. "We wanted to ask your boyfriend for a favor. Is he here?"

"He went to the bathroom but should be back soon," Hyuna smiled. "What kind of favor?"

Ivan nudged Till, urging him to speak. "Uh, it's for an assignment. I need someone to sing my song.. and your boyfriend's vocals sound great, so I'm hoping to have him be a part of the project."

"Oh! I'm certain he'll say yes."

"I hope so."

"I'll make sure he does–"

"Hyuna!" Isaac yells. "The equipment is all set. We can begin now."

"Make yourself comfortable," Hyuna said before excusing herself.

"Come on. We can sit there, love," Ivan teased and pointed over to the spare seats.

"Stop calling me weird nicknames," Till grumbled, but took a seat next to Ivan nonetheless.

Till is at a loss of words throughout the band performance. It was like he was hypnotized hearing Hyuna's voice, feeling the need to record on his phone to capture this remarkable practice performance. Hyuna's vocal range was impressive and effortless, making singing look so easy.

He didn't even realize Luka had entered the room and was sitting right next to Ivan.

The performance came to an end and the three spectators clapped. "How was that?" Hyuna asked, hoping for some positive feedback.

"That was amazing," Luka says, finally grabbing Till's attention. "What did you two think?"

"I agree with you. Your performances are always great," Ivan smiled at the crew. "Till?"

Till looks directly at Hyuna. "Can you be a part of my project too?" He said in awe.

"Y'know Till, my voice is great too–"

"I don't want it."

[2:53 PM] Travis: How's the bet going?

[3:10 PM] Ivan: I still haven't done it yet :/

[3:10 PM] Ivan: He's complicated, but I'll get there eventually 

Chapter 4: not so clever

Summary:

Ah, there it was again. Till wasn't blind to the way Ivan treated him differently compared to everyone else. He knows that Ivan is putting on an act for his little team members. His team wasn't exactly the best at hiding their thoughts whenever Till passed by them. Either way, Till knows that someone like Ivan wouldn't put so much effort paying attention to a nobody like him.

A sigh of relief escapes the lips of the gray-haired boy as he finally finishes the instrumental sections of his music. Three whole weeks of no sleeping and energy drinks really paid off and now all Till has to focus on are the lyrics. The assignment due date was coming to an end, and Till was on track of his progress.

There was a soft knock on the door before it opened, Ivan head peeking inside. "Still here?" He had a bag of food in his hand. "I brought you a sandwich."

Till became accustomed to Ivan's presence, not being that annoyed compared to the first week he met him. It was about to mark a month since he met Ivan and the two had become somewhat closer? Till can't really tell. He doesn't even know if he considered Ivan as a friend.

Whenever Ivan was around, Till was treated as if he was born from a royal bloodline. He lost count on how much money Ivan had spent for him, providing treats and sometimes gifts. Though, those come rarely as Till will force Ivan to get a refund on the gifts, claiming that Ivan should spend his money more wisely and not on a person he just met.

"You really don't need to. I already told you multiple times," Till muttered, taking the sandwich Ivan brought him.

"Hm, but I wanted to. It's you, so it doesn't matter," Ivan smiled, dragging a seat so he could sit next to Till.

Ah, there it was again. Till wasn't blind to the way Ivan treated him differently compared to everyone else. He knows that Ivan is putting on an act for his little team members. His team wasn't exactly the best at hiding their thoughts whenever Till passed by them. Either way, Till knows that someone like Ivan wouldn't put so much effort paying attention to a nobody like him.

Till noticed Ivan the first day he came here, and not once did Ivan bother to look at him or introduce himself. Then on a random afternoon, Ivan suddenly wants to become friends with him? Yeah right.

Till hears the whispers, the rumors, the stares, everything that manages to convince him that Ivan was a fraud. He doesn't say anything though, because having a connection with Ivan granted him the opportunity to partner up with two highly skilled students.

Maybe he was just as bad as Ivan.

Just like how Ivan is using him for some sick joke, Till was using him for better connections. Better opportunities.

"Right," Till muttered and took a bit out of the sandwich.

"How's the music going?" Ivan asked, opening the sandwich he had brought for himself as well. "Can I listen to it?"

Till shoves the headphones into Ivan's lap. "You're only listening because I need someone's opinion," He said and played it when Ivan was ready.

While Ivan was listening, he received a message from his– His… The thought of saying it makes his heart ache.

His job.

[3:15 PM] Manager: Are you free later? We could really use an extra hand.

"Seriously?" Till muttered. He didn't really have anything to do, and he could use the extra hours… but Till doesn't want to work.

[3:20 PM] Till: I'm free at 4.

[3:22 PM] Manager: Perfect! Thank you. 4PM - 10 PM.

"Work?" Ivan's head was on his shoulder, the pair of headphones now hanging on his neck. "Six hours of work shouldn't be too bad."

Till doesn’t reply, but rather changes the topic. "How would you rate it?" He asked.

"Oh," Ivan takes a minute to gather his thoughts. "Your song is really well composed. The instruments compliment each other and it sounds like it belongs to a fantasy world. You're great at these, Till."

A sense of relief floods through the gray-haired boy. He spent so many hours trying to find the right melody and tune, so he's happy that Ivan (someone who did an excellent job at this project) approved and thought highly of his work.

"Now you can finally catch up on your sleep," Ivan's thumb gently rubs underneath Till's eye. "It's getting worse. How long has it been since you last slept?"

"I don't know, yesterday?" Till doesn't bother shoving Ivan's hand away, getting used to the freak touching him at random times. If Till didn't like it he would tell Ivan to stop, and the student would listen in a heartbeat. "I'll be fine. You're going to ruin my eyeliner."

"Will that be bad? I think you'll look so ho–"

"Save it, you freak!" Till hates how easily his face turns red at any convenience. He pushed away and muttered, "Can I ask for a favor?"

"Sure."

"Drive me to my job?"

"Of course," Ivan nodded, agreeing so easily to everything Till said. He wondered how much Ivan would do for him, not that he would take advantage of that. Till is not that cruel. "My sister is joining us. I have to drop her off at practice."

"No worries."

Till preps up his stuff and leaves with Ivan to his car. The jock must come from a rich family, Till thinks this, because there's no way a college student can afford much luxury.

Till shivered slightly at the weather, it was getting closer to winter and he was dumb enough to bring only a sweatshirt. Ivan must have noticed, because a sweater was dropped onto Till's shoulder. "I don't want you getting a cold," He said.

He sees a girl standing there, right next to Mizi. She has such familiar features compared to Ivan, minus her colored eyes that were more purple than dull black eyes. Till swears he must have met her somewhere, but can't point his finger at it.

Oh right, that's Mizi's girlfriend.

"Till! I see you met Ivan," Mizi grinned, giving a wave to them. "You two seem really close. I don't think I've ever seen Ivan stick onto anybody."

"We met like last month," Till said. "He's a weirdo."

"Till, you're being dramatic," Ivan rolled his eyes in a playful manner and unlocked his car. "I think we did get closer. You don't push me away anymore, or curse at me."

"So sweet," Mizi awed, eyes glowing. "I never knew you had that in you, Till!"

"Whatever," Till mumbles, huddling Ivan's sweater closer to his frame. "He's okay."

"I'm going to head back though. I have another class in ten minutes and I don't want to be late," Mizi turns to Sua and gives her a quick kiss. "I'll see you guys another time, except Sua!"

"You're going home?" Sua finally spoke to Till as she entered the vehicle.

"No, I have to work. I picked it up last minute," Till buckled his seatbelt.

"That cafe shop, right? Mind sliding some free drinks from time to time?"

"Sure, just pop by whenever I'm there."

"Can I have a drink too?" Ivan said, keeping his eyes focused on the road. "I believe you owe me."

Till sighed, "Of course."

The drive wasn't that long and Till managed to get there fifteen minutes before his shift. He quietly thanked Ivan and said goodbye to the siblings before entering the cafe shop that was crowded.

"Ah, I forgot to tell him I'm going to pick him up after."

"Do you like Till?" Sua goes straight to the point. "Or are you doing this as a bet, like your other team members once did?"

"I like Till," Ivan replied, trying to sound confident in his answer.

"Ivan," Sua said. "Don't play around with people's feelings. Till doesn’t seem like someone who will allow others to belittle him."

"Good thing I'm not faking it then, hm?"

Sua rolled her eyes, "Sure."

Karma is going to come to you, Ivan.

Notes:

i feel like this story is a bit slow paced :<

i'll try to spice it up a bit next chap :7

Chapter 5: the proposal

Summary:

"So… let me get this straight," Hyun-woo was thankful no customers had appeared yet because he was highly interested in their conversation. "You believe Ivan is pulling some trick on you, like trying to make you fall in love for the sake of his teammates?"

Why…

The only thing playing in the background was the speaker in Till's assigned studio room. His breath hitched from how close their faces were, a pair of lips being way too close to his and Till hates himself for not knowing if he liked it or not.

Ivan was staring at him like a predator eying on its prey, an
slowly making its way around Till's waist. He knows he should push the jock away, but Till was too frozen to make a move.

"Are you teasing me?"

Till was thankful they were backstage in a room meant for him until it was his turn to perform. No one was here except for them.

He gulped and said, "You're delusional."

"Really now? So everything that happened wasn't on purpose?" He sees the way Ivan glances down at his lips, slowly leaning in forward till their lips hovered against each other. "You're not pushing away."

Did I get myself in this position?!

Let's go back in time, shall we? It all started with a text.

[7:45 AM] luka: till, i need a favor.

[7:45 AM] luka: you're required to say yes because i'm helping you with your project.

[8:30 AM] till: what is it?

[8:35 AM] luka: hyuna and her crew are supposed to perform this saturday at a bar, but hyuna got sick and can't perform. we need you to cover for her.

[8:36 AM] luka: you can sing right?

[8:36 AM] luka: actually you should be able to sing since you're in the music department.

[8:45 AM] till: …. yes i can sing

[8:45 AM] till: i'll do it

[8:46 AM] luka: great, you didn't have a choice either way. meet us at the practice studio at 4.

Till groaned. He really wanted to go back home after his shift, but he supposed he does owe the couple back for accepting to work with him. The song was still a work-in-progress, with Till getting ready to make a demo version of his song.

Ivan was waiting for him outside in his car, sipping on a free drink he had gotten from Till. He was typing away on his phone, probably to his little teammates.

Till scoffed, thinking of how Ivan is smirking as he texted his little boyfriends, saying something along the lines: "Till is 100% a weirdo and it's fun being a fake friend towards him! He's so delusional to think I, Ivan, would want to be friends with him!"

Maybe not exactly those words, but along the lines of it.

"You sure do stare at him a lot," Hyun-woo appeared behind him. He continues to engage the conversation while making a customer drink. "As a matter of fact, are you two dating?"

Hyun-woo was a senior student in the same college as Till, but in a different major– that being the health-care department, studying to become a nurse. He was the only worker Till's got close to as they shared similar interests, along with not judging Till's sense of style– finding it cool and rather unique. "You're like the main character." He once told Till.

"As if," Till spat, returning back to putting the dishes away. Him date Ivan? He would rather jump off a plane than date the jock.

"He's always picking you up and buying you free food," Hyun-woo pointed out and shrugged. "I think he may have a crush on you then."

"Ivan is just a friend of mine. Kinda?" Till answered, sounding unsure of his answer. He glances at the clock and puffs his cheeks; only 15 minutes till he clocks out.

Hyun-woo gives the drink to the customer and looks back at Till with a confused look. "What does that mean? So you're in a on-and-off relationship-"

"Shh!" Till hissed, spraying water at the worker to cut his voice off. "The whole cafe doesn't have to know of my personal business, y'know?"

The senior student pats his face with a napkin to get rid of the droplets of water rolling down. Luckily Till didn't drown him with water so his uniform wasn't that soaked. "I don't get it then. What's your relationship with the guy?" He asked.

It wouldn't be too bad to tell his situation to a friend, right? He can't confide in Mizi or anyone because they're close friends with Ivan and he doesn't want to create drama, but Hyun-woo doesn't really know the jock so it should be perfectly safe to say.

"Don't tell anyone what I'm about to say."

"Cross my heart."

With a sigh, Till begins to tell him the whole story about their friendship and how it even started. He tells Hyun-woo of the speculation he has of it because of the way Ivan teammates snicker and whisper, gossiping about his every action. He also mentions Ivan's reputation at the school– a jock who craves for the attention of other people.

"So… let me get this straight," Hyun-woo was thankful no customers had appeared yet because he was highly interested in their conversation. "You believe Ivan is pulling some trick on you, like trying to make you believe that your friends for the sake of his teammates? And Ivan is also flirting with you."

Till nods.

"Wow, he sounds like a huge jerk," Hyun-woo said, taking a quick peek at the window. "You're stronger than me, Till. I would've rat him out on day one. So... why are you still friends with him?"

"He gives me free stuffs, and a free ride," Till said. "If he wants to use me, can I not do the same back?"

Then a playful smirk formed on the senior face. "You should pull a stunt back at him," He suggested. "Like make him believe he's making progress and then– bam! Break his heart and run away."

Till knows that Hyun-woo is merely joking with him, but he couldn't help but consider the idea. Ivan was trying to make a fool out of him, so would it be cruel to do the same back? He kind of wants to make Ivan crumble to his feet for even thinking about playing with his emotions.

"It… sounds like a decent idea," Till muttered, catching the senior off-guard. "Are you going to help me with the plan?"

"I-I was only joking," Hyun-woo cleared his throat and almost fainted from how serious Till was taking his suggestion. "There's no way you're actually thinking about it?!"

"A little… would you help me if I did?"

Hyun-woo couldn't picture an image of himself having any romantic feelings towards Till. He only sees Till as a mere friend, so he doesn't think he's capable of being all lovey-dovey. Yet… the thought of someone ridiculing his friend's emotions made him irk.

"Only for a week," Till adds on. "I'll buy you food for the whole month too."

"Food?" Hyun-woo's ears perked up at the mention of free food. "Hm, alright! But nothing too extreme, and maybe he'll back off if he thinks you have a new intimidating friend and crush."

"Ditto," Till hummed and took off his apron the moment it was time to clock-out. He can already feel Ivan's gaze on him, tracking his every move making it the perfect opportunity to strike.

Till tiptoes a bit and ruffles Hyun-woo's hair. "I won't do anything bad, but let's take things slow."

"Eugh, you say it as if we were actually dating. I'm disgusted," Hyun-woo sticks his tongue out and laughs afterwards. "But I'll listen to what you want. Only for a week."

"Only for a week," he confirmed.

Till excused himself from work, saying goodbye to all his co-workers and giving a thumbs-up to Hyun-woo. The senior student grinned and returned a thumbs-up back.

He really reminds me of Hyuna, Till thought to himself as he entered Ivan's vehicle.

"How was work?" Ivan asked, placing his phone down and began to drive towards campus.

"It was great," Till puts his seatbelt on. "Hyun-woo was there, so it made things even better."

"Hyun-woo?" Ivan paused, feeling like that name was familiar. "Is it that tall guy with brown hair?"

"Yes," Till nods. "He's a really sweet guy. Hyun-woo goes to the same campus as us and is in the health department."

"That's great." It was the end of their conversation.

When they arrived at the studio, everyone was there except for Hyuna. Luka quickly took Till's stuff away and ushered him into the center of the band. "You've seen Hyuna's practices before, right? All-In?"

"Yeah, I remember some parts… like the beginning and some of the middle."

"We talked to the manager at the bar and we agreed to only perform one song," Isaac said. "Since there's only three more days left and we don't want to pressure you to remember all our songs."

"Let's start from the top to see how much you remember," Dewey pats Till on the back and gets into his position.

Luka and Ivan sit in the corner watching as Dewey and Isaac start playing the beginning of the song. "Hey," Luka whispered. "Is it just me or… does Till look like he's about to shit himself?"

Ivan glanced at Till and– wow, Ivan doesn't think he's ever seen the guy so tensed up before.

The first verse comes up but Till doesn't sing. He doesn't sing at all, too frozen and trying to hide the way his hand trembles while grabbing the mic.

Dewey and Isaac look at one another, confused on what's gotten into the student. The music eventually stops and everyone stares concernly at Till.

"Till," Luka finally speaks up. "Have you ever performed before?"

His silence was enough of an answer.

Notes:

jealousy arc begins now!! 😼

Chapter 6: three days left | 1/3

Summary:

Ivan was so used to having the silver-head around him majority of the time, but ever since Till had gotten that job at the cafe, the only person he seemed to ever mention was Hyun-woo. To make matters worse, today Till mentioned him more times than Ivan could count, which was weird because Till never does that.

Ivan Choi made a bet with his football teammates that he could befriend the transfer emo student, Till, and make the student fall in love with him. His ego and high confidence got the best of him, so he easily took it on as he thought it would be over within a month.

His weapon was his ability to charm anyone he spoke to– Ivan never had an issue accomplishing his goals all thanks to his "pretty privileges" and "outstanding academics". Ivan didn't have to lift a finger to make people fawn for him.

"Don't panic everyone," Isaac assured the crowd who were, in fact, not worrying in the slightest. Maybe except Till. "I believe that our outrageous friend Till can overcome his obstacle of stage fright."

"Do you really have to speak like an NPC character?" Dewey mumbles.

It came to his surprise that Till, the man who was currently frozen like a statue, was a difficult person to befriend. Ivan never had to put so much effort trying to get the attention of a stranger.

Whenever he did accomplish to do so, Ivan's heart soared. The moment Till engaged in an actual conversation with him, he couldn't believe his eyes and ears. He craved to have Till eyes on him– something he didn't think he was capable of feeling of. The jock wanted Till to pay all attention to him.

Being friends with Till was a pain at first. Ivan got cursed every time he made his presence known, but with time, Till got used to the jock being around and accepted that Ivan wasn't going to leave him alone.

"Till," Ivan approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You should've said that to us. Luka could've found another person."

"I'm sure Hyuna would understand," Luka butts into the conversation, pushing up his glasses. "We only chose you because we thought your voice would be perfect for it. You seem like the type to sing heavy metal or rock, like a strong song."

Till wasn't bad looking, Ivan will admit that and never understood when his teammates claimed Till was "the ugliest person to ever laid eyes upon and has terrible taste of fashion". It may be true that Till's style isn't seen that often, but Ivan thought it suited Till perfectly.

His eyeliner that makes his eye pop out, the piercings on his ears that made him look intimidating, or the choker he wore everyday which sometimes wants to make Ivan pull on it–

Anyway, what he's trying to say is that Till is attractive.

"No! I… I want to try," Till says in all seriousness. "I'll come over it eventually."

"Stage fright doesn't go away that easily," Isaac said and sighs. "But if you really do want to do this… then we can offer some tips. You won't back out at the last minute, right?"

"The crowd isn't that huge, but for a newbie like you it must be intimidating," Dewey hangs an arm around Till's shoulder. "How about you close your eyes throughout the whole thing?"

"Wouldn't that be a bit weird?" Luka said. "He's going to close his eyes even during the non-singing parts?"

"Hm, we can try it out now to see how it goes then think of something else along the way?" Isaac shrugged.

"I guess we can do that," Luka mumbles and walks back to his seat.

"You got this," Ivan gives a supportive smile and follows suit.

Having Till in his life was making every day more interesting, Ivan admits that taking on this bet sure was the best decision he ever made. Sometimes he often forgets the only reason why he's friends with Till in the first place is because of the bet.

He still has to go through with it but… Ivan doesn't know if he’s ready for Till to disappear from his life. Was he ready for Till to hate him?

It wasn't the first time Ivan planned to hook-up with a person only to cut them off in a week or two, yet for some odd reason, Till attracted him like a magnet.

The first rundown doesn't go terribly. Till does mess up the lyrics at times or goes silent because he doesn't know the lyrics, but it's not that bad. The only thing he lacked was confidence, and he did look a bit silly having his eyes closed most of the time.

"Not bad," Luka admitted. "But I feel like Till needs a distraction. He's still a bit too tense and having his eyes closed the whole time does look weird."

While Luka was brain-storming ideas with Isaac and Dewey, Ivan stands in front of the anxious singer. "Your voice is beautiful," He commented in hopes of raising Till's confidence. "It suits the song really well."

"Thanks.." It's obvious Till was disappointed in his performance from the way he pouted–

Cute. He can be cute without even knowing it.

Wait what-

"Having another person duet with Till doesn’t seem like a bad choice, it'll make him more comfortable on stage.. but it wouldn't completely keep him distracted. He'll be standing like a stick until it's his turn to sing." Luka considered Dewey's idea, but also thought of Isaac. Dewey's idea wasn't really terrible but it comes to the matter of who the other person would be.

Ivan could be a possible candidate. Luka's been observing their relationship closely– the way Ivan smirked when he successfully managed to make Till blush, or the way Till would occasionally steal glances at Ivan, hiding the small smile that would creep up whenever the jock gave him something.

Luka remembered a time when Ivan was with his teammates, right when Till had walked by without acknowledging the jock. His teammates would tease and joke about it– it almost felt like they were the ones that wanted to grab Till's attention. Ivan would laugh and tell them to calm down, trying to hide how upset he was that Till ignored him.

Ivan was rather clingy with Till, unlike anything he'd ever seen before. The jock seemed to enjoy being around Till– often touching him like a pinch on the cheek, ruffling his hair, or even attempting to hold his hand.

Luka would see Till pass by the football team with a hard glare. Sometimes when Ivan leaves, Till would eye the phone belonging to the jock, like he was suspecting Ivan of cheating on their friendship.

They were both hiding something, but Luka couldn't quite place his finger on it.

"Isaac's idea could work. Till playing an instrument throughout the song would keep him distracted all the time, but it's only a matter of if Till could remember the notes before the gig," Luka hummed.

Till, with full determination and dedication, takes on the challenge. He tells the group that he's a really fast learner and can play any instrument needed.

"I can help you," Ivan offered his assistance after practice ended, which didn't go so terribly. Dewey lent his guitar to Till and managed to successfully (almost) learn every note. "I can help you become less nervous for the performance."

"Oh, you can text me it," Till thanked the jock, sipping on the hot chocolate Ivan brought them as the weather became colder. "I plan on asking Hyun-woo if he—"

"Hyun-woo? You're mentioning that name more," Ivan said.

"He's my friend," Till answered. "I'm going to ask him tomorrow for any advice too. Hyun-woo is great at giving tips."

"Hm. I guess."

He gave a quick side-eye to Ivan, surprised by his bland response. "Yeah." Till said.

Ivan was so used to having the silver-head around him majority of the time, but ever since Till had gotten that job at the cafe, the only person he seemed to ever mention was Hyun-woo. To make matters worse, today Till mentioned him more times than Ivan could count, which was weird because Till never does that.

Hyun-woo poses as a threat to Ivan's bet. He sees the way the two were this morning– with Till even going to the extent of ruffling the senior student's hair. Till was never one to show physical affection.. but with Hyun-woo–

Ivan needs to calm down. Perhaps he's overreacting.

Everything will go back to normal tomorrow.

Notes:

thank you guys so much for the kudos and comments!! (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ

i really appreciate it!! ^^

Chapter 7: two days left | 2/3

Summary:

One of his teammates noticed the way Ivan grip on the drink tightened, almost looking like it might burst at any moment. "Are you sure that bet is going great?" They asked, amused at the situation.

"Perfect."

Notes:

whooo

Everything, in fact, did not go normal the next day.

It was the afternoon and Ivan was with some teammates at the convenience store, buying some food for himself and Till (who was most likely at the studio by now). He bickers with his teammates, talking about the status of his progress.

"It's going great," Ivan lied through his teeth. "I think that by the end of next month, the bet should be over."

"You should totally invite that guy to the party," One of them smirked with the others agreeing. "Everyone would be down to meet… What's his name again? Bill?"

"Till," Ivan responded. "Maybe he might come. I don't think Till is a fan of parties, but I'll convince him to come."

"Wait, isn't that him right now?"

Ivan looked over to where his teammate was pointing at. Till was walking alongside Hyun-woo, a smile on his face followed by laughter. Till, almost immediately, notices Ivan in the store and quickly looks away a bit startled.

The two students are close to each other, to the point where their hands brushed against one another. Hyun-woo seemed to take the opportunity to link their pinkies and swayed their hands back and forth, grinning as Till's face flushed. Till says something, but it's unclear to Ivan what was said.

One of his teammates noticed the way Ivan grip on the drink tightened, almost looking like it might burst at any moment. "Are you sure that bet is going great?" They asked, amused at the situation.

"Perfect."

Ivan refrained his emotions, paid for his stuff, and quickly dismissed himself from the group. His pace was faster than expected, rushing down to the Music and Arts Department to head to the only place Till could be– the studio room to practice Hyuna's performance for this upcoming weekend.

Till also had a meeting with Luka, Isaac and Dewey so they could perform as a group (Luka was only the observer) but that wasn't till the afternoon. Till only wanted to practice a bit more and show them his fast progress.

"Ivan."

Great, just his luck.

"Sua," Ivan smiled. "I thought you'd be home by now."

Sua tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm waiting for Mizi. She's talking with Till and Hyun-woo."

"Hyun-woo? Do you know him too?"

"Of course. He's part of the student council, so he shows up at a lot of events," Sua answered, quietly observing her obnoxious brother. "A lot of people know him. He's popular, just like you."

Then how come I've never heard of him?

"Are you going to see Till?" Sua points at the bag he's carrying. "He has a… friend? I think it's a friend. Till is with a friend, or someone really close to him."

"They're only friends."

"Are you sure? I thought the same thing too, but Hyun-woo seemed rather clingy with Till. I'm starting to think they might be dating."

Ivan hates hard it was to read Sua's expression at times, in moments when he really needed to know. Sua stares at him with a blank expression as she continues to speak on how Till and Hyun-woo could be potential lovers.

"Are you playing a joke on me?"

"Why would I?" Sua shrugged. "You're only friends with Till because of that bet, right? Why does it matter to you what he does?"

"I don't care what he does."

"Really?" Ivan got the gist of what Sua was trying to do. She was trying to push him away from Till. "Then don't get in the way of Till's romantic life."

Hearing those words irked his stomach. Does Till have a thing for Hyun-woo?

"Ivan!" Mizi runs up to them, failing to hide her complete excitement. Sua pretends that nothing ever happened. "It feels so long since I've last seen you. Are you here for Till?"

"Didn't we see each other two days ago?" Ivan playfully joked. "But… I am here to see Till. I always see him."

"Oh my," Mizi hides her mouth with her hand. "Till is with another friend of his. To be honest, those two seem way too close to be seen as friends. I think Hyun-woo likes him."

"That's what I'm saying," Sua agreed.

"Their pinkies were linked when I saw them and Till tried so hard to brush it off, it was hilarious!" Mizi giggled, unaware of the way Ivan's eye twitched. "Ivan, are you sure you want to be a third wheel?"

"Till doesn't like anyone. He would've told me if he did," Ivan denies the allegations he was hearing. "Hyun-woo is a very close friend to Till, nothing else."

"Hm, if you say so.." Mizi muttered, glancing at her girlfriend. "Don't say I didn't warn you though. Me and Sua are gonna head off then."

Ivan says his goodbyes and approaches the room Till always rented out. He could see Hyun-woo and Till having a conversation through the glass walls and–

Till eyes were locked onto Hyun-woo, staring like he was some magnificent being in the universe. He glares slightly at the senior student who attempts to reach for his electronic guitar, before laughing it off and handing it over.

Nope, Ivan did not enjoy this in the slightest and was determined to split them apart.

He barges inside, startling Hyun-woo who almost dropped the instrument. "And your privilege has been revoked," Till said, taking it away.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Ivan shoots Hyun-woo a sweet smile, offering an "unapologetic" look. "Are you a friend of Till?"

"No worries. You must be Ivan?" Hyun-woo stares at him curiously. Till anxiously fidgets with his guitar, standing behind Hyun-woo.

"Yes. How did you know?" Does Till speak about him to other people? The thought of that made fireworks explode in his brain. It's a dream come true.

"You're quite popular around here. I heard you have a match coming up, hm?" There goes all of Ivan's hopes and dreams.

"We do. My team and I are preparing for it."

"I wish your team the best of luck," Hyun-woo grinned, receiving a small 'thank you' from Ivan. He glanced back at Till, focused on his electric guitar rather than their conversation. "Till, I'm gonna head out now! My class is about to start soon."

Till stops playing. "Really? Man, I was hoping you'd listen to at least one performance," He frowned, showing how upset he was.

"Don't frown on me now, Tilly," What a strange nickname– a nickname that made Ivan's blood boil for some reason. "Let it be a surprise for this Saturday!"

Ivan stood by the side as he watched those to talk. Was it bad that he wanted to kick Hyun-woo out of the room? Every minute that ticked by felt like an eternity, Ivan was sure Hyun-woo would be late to his class at this rate.

"So, how's practice going?" Ivan finally started making conversation after Hyun-woo left with a teasing grin. He wanted to wipe that grin off the student's face.

"It's going great surprisingly," Till said in relief, playing a few notes from Hyuna's song. "I remember the lyrics and almost finished with the notes. Luka said I need to work more on my stage presence though."

Till sighed, "I haven't slept for days. I've been busy trying to balance my assignments, work and practice."

"You should rest when you're done with Hyuna's performance," Ivan suggested, more like urging Till to take it into consideration. "I can see your eyebags. It's getting worse."

"Mhm, I will…" Till yawned with a small nod. "Ugh, coming here doesn't bother you, right? I heard you had an upcoming match."

"Oh right," Ivan takes off his backpack and quickly searches for something. With a satisfied grin, Ivan pulls out a blue ticket and hands it to Till. "This is for you."

"For me?" Till slowly takes it and examines it. He read to himself: "FINAL GAME: ANAKT GARDEN VS WONDER MOON TICKET ENTRY".

He chuckled at both teams' names. "Uh, you really want me to attend?" Till asked.

"Of course," He took the opportunity to get close to Till, backing the guitarist against the wall. Ivan gently tilts his chin so their eyes locked. "Having you there will be a great source of motivation."

A sly smirk grew as Ivan watched the boy underneath him blush faintly. Till squirmed underneath his gaze. "Why so shy?" Ivan teased.

"Am not!" Till pushed the jock out the way, fanning himself with his hand from how hot the room was. "But… I'll be there. Can I bring a guest?"

"And who are you inviting?"

"Hyun-woo."

The more he hears that name, the more Ivan wants to throw hands at this Hyun-woo person.

He pauses.

"I'll see if there's any more tickets available." Ivan will, indeed, not be checking in the slightest.

Notes:

new chapters might take longer than intended! bare with me pleaseee :'1

Chapter 8: final day | 3/3

Summary:

"I would appreciate it if you don't touch my boyfriend," Ivan smiled at the stranger, forcefully shoving the hand touching Till. He brought Till closer, tightening his grip around the guitarist wasit. "You shouldn't touch strangers."

Notes:

a chapter before i go to my j o b ,,,

"You definitely improved, Till."

Till felt deeply relieved hearing those words from Luka. The final practice has come to an end, with Till remarkably remembering the lyrics and music notes in a span of three days.

"The performance doesn't start till 7PM, but we have to arrive at 4PM to get the equipment setup and practice one final time," Dewey nudged the smaller boy. "Call us if you need a ride, but.."

He glanced over at Ivan who was fast asleep. "It seems like you already have one!" Isaac finished off the sentence.

Luka hummed. "After this performance, me and Hyuna can help you with your project. Are you finished with your drafts or need a bit more time?"

"Give me another week. I'm still working on the demo," Till answered, placing his guitar in his suitcase. He already, surprisingly, finished Hyuna's part of the song but still needs to start Luka's part.

"Take your time. We'll still be here to help," Luka concluded and went to help Isaac and Dewey.

Till walked over to Ivan and poked him in the cheek. He jumped from how smooth the jock skin was and decided to poke it once more. "Wake up, freak."

Ivan stirred awake, reminding Till of a prince. The jock blinked once then twice, muttering: "How long have I been asleep? What time is it even?"

"It's about to be 10PM. You slept through the whole practice," Till answered, holding back a laugh as he remembered the guys and he took photos of Ivan with different filters. "We can leave now."

"Finally," Ivan whispered and stood up to stretch, the hem of his shirt slightly rising to steal a glimpse of his muscular body. Till quickly looks away with a blush, even comparing his own skinny body to Ivan's muscular one.

"Want to get a quick snack before I drop you off?" Ivan suggested after helping out the others with their stuff. He escorted Till to his usual seat in his car. "You didn't eat all day."

"It's too late. I just want to rest," Till mumbles, placing his seatbelt on. "Do you want to get something? You were with me all day too."

"Let's go to the convenience store and buy a little snack," Ivan responded, turning his vehicle on and starting to drive. "I expect that you will grab a little snack. You need at least something in your system."

Till doesn't fight back, knowing he was going to lose the conversation anyway. He stares at the scenery as Ivan drives and couldn't help but be lost in his thoughts.

'This plan with Hyun-woo is a bit ridiculous, isn't it? Ivan is not even flinching in the slightest! Till sulked at the recollection of memories, he and Hyun-woo attempted to create a reaction out of Ivan– all which had been a huge fail. At the same time, his emotion is very hard to tell.

All this hard thinking didn't make him realize how fast they arrived. Ivan had to tap his shoulder and tell him to get out of the car with a smirk. "Someone's dozing off," Ivan commented. "I wonder why."

"It's nothing," Till clenched the straps of his messenger bag close. "Definitely not about you, so you can wipe that grin off your face."

The trip to the convenience store was supposed to be a quick trip. Ivan and Till ended up parting ways as the jock strolled to the snack section while Till found himself at the drink section.

It was ten at night, it's only common that no one was to be at a convenience store so late at night, so why did Till have such bad luck to suddenly bump into a person? And that person just had to stir a conversation with him.

Right off the bat, Till could sense something was… off about the stranger. His body swayed around easily, posture was a bit hunched, it appeared the stranger had trouble keeping his eyes opened, clothes rather all over thr place, and most of all… this person reeked. Reeked of alcohol.

"I never seen anyone dress up like that," The person examined the guitarist up and down. "You're dressing up?"

"Ah… no, I'm not dressing up," Till answered and doesn't make eye contact with the stranger. He grabs two random drinks out of those freezerd and takes a step back.

"You look really familiar," The person muttered, taking a step closer. Till takes one back. "Why are you stepping back? C'mon I don't bite!"

Till scanned the area in hopes of finding that annoying jock. He will be so much better to be with than this random stranger. "Actually, you're pretty fucking hot."

A hand hovered over his right ear, Till flinching and immediately pushing back from the sudden contact. "Are you here alone?" The person asked. "My place is not too far."

"No thanks," Till spat in disgust, visibly showing in his expression that he was not interested. "I'm not interested."

The stranger didn't catch the hint. "I'm not intimidating. I won't do anything to you." They grab Till's arm and tugs him closer. Till cursed at how strong the person was. "C'mon, loosen up a bit, would you?"

"You're really annoying–" Till felt a hand wrap around his waist followed by a familiar voice.

"I would appreciate it if you don't touch my boyfriend," Ivan smiled at the stranger, forcefully shoving the hand touching Till. He brought Till closer, tightening his grip around the guitarist wasit. "You shouldn't touch strangers."

"What– I wasn't doing anything bad," Their words slurred and the person scoffed, shrugging the two away. "Whatever! It wasn't a big deal. Loosen up."

Ivan pushed aside their words and watched as they exited out the store. "Are you okay?" He asked. "Sorry I didn't come earlier."

"It's fine," Till muttered, looking down at Ivan's hand. He sighed, "Neither of us expected this to happen… but I'm okay, just creeped out."

He could feel his heart beating faster than usual. Ivan's touch shouldn't create this reaction out of him, but here Till was, head over heels over a single touch. Till shook his head. Stop thinking this way. There's no way in hell I'm falling for this dude.

"Thank you."

"Hm?" Ivan eyes widened. Thee Till was thanking him? He grinned and turned Till around, keeping place of his hands on their waist. "What did you say?" He teased and leaned forward.

Ivan took the chance to glance at the guitarist lips. As each day passed, Ivan found it harder to control himself around Till. "I didn't hear you." He told, watching the student turn red. He loved how easily he could make Till blush.

"You heard what I said!" Till screamed, pushing the jock off him. He huffed and made his way to checkout.

Boyfriend... He said I'm his boyfriend. Get him out of your head!

Ivan grinned and followed suit.

"Let me pay for those and we can get going," Ivan removed his hand and gently took the drinks out of Till's hand.

After that, Ivan drove Till to his apartment and gave him the drink and snack (Ivan chose for him). "You really chose some unique snacks," Till said.

"It's good."

"If you say so… but thanks for the drive. I'll see you tomorrow, right?" Till unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Mhm. I'll meet you around three," Ivan nodded. "I'm sure you'll do great in your performance. Get some rest."

"I will…" Till yawned. "Goodnight, Ivan."

"Wait! Before you leave, I've been meaning to ask you something," Ivan hears a small 'go on' from Till. "After my match there's going to be a party. Mizi and Sua are going to go… so would you want to go too?"

"Ah… parties aren't really my thing, Ivan."

This won't do.

"Can you at least think about it over? I would really want you to come."

There was a heavy silence between them, until Till sighed and nodded. "I'll let you know soon."

Bingo.

Notes:

aaa concert chapter next whoop whoop

Chapter 9: all in

Summary:

Till drops his phone on the chair. "I'll talk to my mom after," Right now he needs to focus on this. He can't do multiple things at once. "I… I will figure it out, but my mom has money if she is sick, okay?"

Till halts, feeling a hand tug him back. He locks eyes with Ivan's. "Don't let his words get to you. Prove him wrong."

Notes:

howdy

"Your shoulders are tense again," Luka paused the music on his phone and looked over at the time, only 40 minutes left. It seemed like the progress they've made with Till is diminishing as each minute passed by. It was clear to the crew that Till was getting more nervous as the deadline approached. "And you're stuttering a bit."

Till sighed helplessly. The practice was coming to an end and he felt like all his progress went down the drain. Maybe he shouldn't have picked up the offer. Ivan, Mizi, Sua, anyone would've been a better choice than him.

"No worries," Luka snapped him out of his thoughts. "The only thing that matters is that you try your best. It is your first performance."

"Let's celebrate after, hm?" Isaac grinned. "As a token of remembrance to your first gig!"

"I can also tease you about it later," Dewey laughed, already imagining Till shaking in his boots on stage.

"There's only 40 minutes left, so how about you guys use that time to get ready?" Luka said. "I'll meet up with Hyuna. I think her brother is coming too."

Till decided to tag along with Luka to see Hyuna, who he hasn't seen since the first practice. There were already a lot of people at the bar, huddling close to their own group. Till would have to perform to all these people soon.

My stomach hurts thinking about this, Till thought. He takes a deep breath and decides to focus on the present– for example: Finally meeting Hyuna's brother!

He was thrilled to finally see how Hyuna's brother looked, everyone spoke so highly of him, saying how he was destined to be in the medical field. Till would probably ask what part of the medical field he's a part of. Maybe they might know–

"Hyun-woo!"

Huh?

Till locked eyes with Hyun-woo. He glances at Hyuna then back at Hyun-woo. Once, twice, a final glance. Ah, they do look super familiar. It was literally a copy and paste. Till feels dumb now.

"Till, my man!" Hyuna squealed, keeping her distance away as she was still recovering. She had a mask on. "I'm so excited to see your performance! Thank you so much for doing this for me."

"No worries. It's the least I could do," Till chuckled nervously. He sees Hyun-woo staring at him, raising an eyebrow as he notices Till's anxious behavior.

"The song isn't that hard, right? I chose the easiest one to remember," Hyuna said.

"Till got the hang of it pretty quickly. We were just doing a final practice in the room since all the equipment is on stage," Luka responded, which Till was thankful for. "Isaac and Dewey were there for emotional support."

"Isaac sent me a message that you're going to celebrate right after. I would join you guys, but I think I should sit this one out," Hyuna said, not wanting to risk everyone else from catching her sickness. "We should do a second celebration with me in it!"

"You just want to drink," Hyun-woo scolded her sister. "I believe we had this conversation before. Luka, back me up!"

"Ah…" Luka tensed under Hyuna's gaze. He looked over at Till and changed the subject, "You should go get ready, Till! We don't want you running around at the last minute."

"Right," Till was still in his clothes from this morning, which was a plain white tee and gray sweatpants. Sua had been kind enough to help Till with his outfit, having enough money to personally design his clothing.

"I want to see!" Hyun-woo tagged along so he didn't have to third wheel the couple.

Needless to say..

"Ah… it looks very interesting! Unique choice of fashion, Till!" Hyun-woo gave a thumbs up to Till's outfit, which he couldn't really tell what was going on.

Till had on a light green plastic… transparent vest? Hyun-woo didn't know how to describe the clothing, but it worked perfectly with the outfit so he didn't complain! A black tank top was underneath it, being paired with gray pants that faded into a crimson red at the bottoms– oh, and were those armbands on his shoulder?

"Do you think this is too much?" Till pulled lightly on the vest, examining himself in the mirror. His hair was slightly pulled back, looking a bit messy but rather presentable.

"It suits you," Hyun-woo definitely wanted to say it was his taste in fashion. He points underneath his eyes, "You look like an idol. Though it's a bit weird seeing you without your eyeliner."

"Oh, I think it's in my bag," Till rushed over, counting down how much time was left. His heart was beating so fast. Time was being so cruel to him right now, he couldn't wait till this was all over.

"Hm?" Hyun-woo noticed the way Till hand shook as he poorly attempted to put his eyeliner on. He cursed as his hand twitched, causing the eyeliner to lose its path and go off course, smearing his cheek.

"Woah, what's all this?" He walked over. "I've never seen you so nervous before!"

"Hyun-woo," Till holds onto his stomach. "I think I'm going to hurl."

"What? Please tell me you're joking," Hyun-woo pleaded, frantically looking around to find a bucket or trash. He ran so fast and snatched the small trash bin in the corner, shoving it into Till's hands. "Till, my brother, deep breaths! Deep breaths!"

"I don't think I can do this."

"Don't say that! Everyone is waiting for you," Hyun-woo said, rubbing the other shoulder to comfort him. "You worked so hard for this."

"I don't know–"

"Till, you're not really considering-"

"But I can't sing for the life of me–"

"Yes, you can! You have one of the most unique voices I've ever heard!" Hyun-woo confessed, hoping to soothe Till's nerves. "You're born to be on stage-"

"Am I interrupting something?"

The two freezed and looked at the sudden intruder– it was Ivan, with a necklace in his hand. "Hyun-woo… your sister is looking for you," Ivan said. "You forgot your necklace, Till."

"Damn.. okay," Hyun-woo sighed in defeat, knowing he shouldn't leave his sister hanging (especially in a bar). Poor Luka could hardly control the chaotic girl once drunk, to head over heels to deny her requests. "I believe in you, Till! Don't let your thoughts tell you otherwise."

Ivan closed the door after Hyun-woo exited. "Turn around," He said and Till easily obeyed, allowing Ivan to place the necklace on him. "Did something happen between you two?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, weather boy?" Till answered, causing Ivan to sigh (He had gotten used to Till quoting viral videos).

"Nothing," Till answered like a normal being, noticing the hint of disappointment in Ivan's sigh. "Why do you ask?"

Ivan shrugged, "Just asking. You two have gotten super close this week."

"Uh-huh," Till faced the older male after the necklace was placed. "You're not bothered, right? We've always been close, it's nothing new."

Ivan doesn't answer, which somewhat leaves Till dissatisfied. Why was he so obsessed with getting a reaction from Ivan? For the purpose of revenge, or in hopes that maybe, deep inside, Ivan actually–

"I'm not bothered. I'm just observant," Ivan fingers gently brushed Till's hair back, admiring the new look on him. "I like your outfit."

"Thanks. Hyun-woo said the same thing–"

Till yelped at Ivan's sudden action to corner him against a table, blocking Till from escaping by placing his hands on each side. His breath hitched from how close their faces were, a pair of lips being way too close to his and Till hates himself for not knowing if he liked it or not.

Scratch that, Till knows exactly how he's feeling.

Ivan was staring at him like a predator eying on its prey, and slowly moved his arms around Till's waist. "Are you teasing me?"

He gulped and said, "You're delusional."

"Really now? So everything that happened wasn't on purpose?" He sees the way Ivan glances down at his lips, slowly leaning in forward till their lips hovered against each other. "You're not pushing away."

He should push away, right? That's the only logical answer to this situation. Till should reject Ivan right here and now, just like he and Hyun-woo agreed on. Besides, he can't make Hyun-woo go on with this plan any longer. Hyun-woo made it clear he doesn't want things to get too messy.

Yet, he can't help but lean in closer, craving the touch of his lips on Ivan's. Till's plan had ultimately failed– he's now the one crushing on the jock and will be rejected in the future. Why go this far to catch Ivan's attention? He should've ignored the jock from the start.

"I–" Till jumped, a ring tone interrupting their moment. He pushes Ivan away and rushes towards his phone, reading the ID contact. "What do you want?"

"Not even a greeting? That's no way to greet your family member."

"I'm in the middle of something," Till groaned, already wanting to end the call. "And I don't like speaking to you. Why did you even call–"

"Your mother is sick. Can you send some cash over so I can pay her expenses?"

"What?" Till stalled. "You're lying. She's not sick! Are you seriously lying–"

"Why are you acting so complicated? Do you not love her?"

"I do–"

"Then send the fucking cash now. I know you're working right now." The man lets out a frustrated sigh. "Are you finally realizing your degree is useless? You should really switch majors and choose one that's actually going to get you somewhere– ."

Till hangs up.

Letting out a sigh of his own, Till's shoulder hunched up after realizing Ivan witnessed the whole thing. "Sorry," he muttered. "It was… a family member."

"He sounds awful-".

"Till!" The door barged open revealing Luka. "It's time to go– huh? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Till responded, grabbing his electric guitar. "Uh.. can you give me one second?"

Luka wants to pry, but refrained back, not wanting to cause any more stress to Till. He glances at Ivan, then at Till, and back at Ivan, seeming to understand that something is going on between them. "Make it quick. I'll wait outside."

Till goes into his phone. He cursed at himself as he opened up his bank account, clicking the option to send another user cash. Ivan barges in, "Are you actually going to..?"

"I don't know if he’s lying or not," Till hissed through his teeth, obviously knowing the answer to it. He sends the money before Ivan could reply.  "But.. What if my mom is actually sick? I can't call her now. I need to go."

Till drops his phone on the chair. "I'll talk to my mom after," Right now he needs to focus on this. He can't do multiple things at once. "I… I will figure it out, but my mom has money if she is sick, okay?"

Till halts, feeling a hand tug him back. He locks eyes with Ivan's. "Don't let his words get to you. Prove him wrong."

Luka leads Till to the stage, just before entry. Isaac and Dewey are already there with huge grins, anticipated for their show. Till hand starts to shake again, but Luka grabs it and offers one last smile with a quiet "you got this" before letting go after their names are announced by the host.

Till follows behind Dewey and Isaac, forcing himself to take each step until he is at the center of the stage. His eyes shut from the harsh light blasting on him, but he adjusted and– his stomach dropped from how huge the crowd was, every single eye on him.

The music started playing, Till panics but takes a deep breath in, eyes scanning the crowd. He locks eyes with Hyuna and Hyun-woo who are at the bar, drinking away. Hyun-woo cheered him on proudly and Hyuna bops her head to the beat. Luka finally appears and puts a thumbs up.

Till takes a deep breath:

"Your eyes grow wide at my dazzling entrance
And your heart beats fast, OK
There's no point in fighting back
This is the march"

He was a bit off-key at the end, or maybe it was just him imagining it. Till tries to sound confident in his voice, but it sounded too forced– too fake, like someone threatened to make him sing.

"Of the fools
Endless cheer and applause
I hear the song grow louder and louder
Fill up the entire nebula"

Mizi and Sua are in the corner, watching carefully at Till's performance. Mizi squealed and took her phone out to record this moment, Sua nodded her head proudly.

Till shuts his eyes, feeling as if his voice has become quieter the more he sings. He felt like it was noticeable how his hands trembled, voice stuttering, shoulders tense. Till wants nothing more but to get off the stage.

Suddenly, there's a loud cheer, causing Till to almost mess up his line but then he sees him. Ivan stands alongside Mizi and Sua, focusing all his attention on Till with hopeful admiration. He's almost pleading Till to remember: Prove him wrong.

Prove him wrong.

Those words made something snap in Till. He'll prove that son of a bitch wrong any time and show him that his major will prosper into a career. Till refuses to let the man called his "step father" be right.

He rather die than accept Urak words.

Music was everything to him, not some hobby. He's able to make connections and create music that allows him to feel. It was work he enjoyed making, even if it became stressful at times, but hearing each element of a song come together was enough to soothe his heart.

He raised his voice, with much more confidence and nodded at Ivan. Don't get him wrong, Till was still very much nervous of the whole situation, but perhaps letting himself become more carefree without overthinking can help him be better. This performance could potentially be the start of a career, even if it isn't, Till can at least have a chance to come back in the future just to improve.

"Just laugh, hey kick and break ya
To the galaxy shining bright, ch-cheers
Change the game with a single action
Trust me and I'll show you, ch-cheers"

Isaac grinned as he watched the boy become more comfortable on stage, even giving a playful whistle from how Till sang certain notes differently that weren't rehearsed in practice.

Dewey is taken back from the sudden switch of presence– going from shy and quiet to harsh, yet confident. He doesn't complain though and matches Till vibes, loving the way the audience awed at their performance and especially stared at Till. He sure did have a unique voice.

"Every obstacle in my way
I've crushed them all
Step all over me but I'll rise again
It's you who's in the wrong, bet you had no idea"

Ivan doesn't bother paying attention to Sua and Mizi and focuses on the performance, his eyes all over Till. He can't help but remember the moments before the performance– his hands all over the singer and the way Till eagerly brushed their lips together.

Ivan wishes they could go back to that moment, so he could tease Till more and perhaps take things a bit further if they had more time alone. Just thinking about it is making him go crazy, wanting nothing more than to drag Till off the stage and take him back to his house.

"Whatever comes to mind, give it a chance
Contemplate all you want, won't change a thing
Ride the waves of passing time
And run with the wind 'til morning, don't stop!"

The music stops and for a moment Till could finally catch his breath. Everyone in the audience broke out into loud cheers and applause, with Dewey and Isaac running up to bring the singer in a group hug.

"I knew you had it in you, Till!" Isaac exclaimed, roughly ruffling his silver hair.

The band gives their thanks and bows to the audience. Till locks eyes with Ivan– the heat rushes to his face and he smiles at him, hoping his performance impressed the jock.

He quickly runs backstage with the rest and the first thing he does is call his mother.

"Till, sweetheart, is everything okay?"

"Mom," Till relaxed. "You're… you're not sick?"

"Oh, sweetie, did he call again?" His mother sighed in disappointment. "I'm not sick, dear. Don't listen to a word that man says, okay?"

Their conversation wasn't that long, Till briefly caught his mother up on his life and told her about his performance, to which his mom said they should celebrate. His mom encourages him to come and visit, claiming she missed her little boy. Till promised he would visit.

"Everyone is waiting for you outside," Ivan entered the room, closing it with a brief click that went unnoticed by Till. "Oh, I didn't interrupt anything again?"

"No, no, you're fine," Till responded. "H-How did I do?"

"I think," Ivan tilted the singer's chin up, eyes glancing down to his lips. Till allows the jock to bring him closer and it's similar to the position they were in before. "You did amazing."

No other words were made as Till crashed his lips onto the jock from running out of patience. He cursed Ivan for being so eye-captivating and charming. Ivan was a jerk and a bit of a freak too, but Till actually enjoyed having his company around and often forgot the reason Ivan became his friend for the purpose of entertaining his football team.

He told himself from the beginning that he would only use Ivan for his gain, yet Till ended up falling for the man instead, wanting for this moment to be true.

Till knows that this is all fake, but… for now he'll allow himself to believe this is real.

Notes:

i fear updates will be longer than usual

also, do you guys prefer long chapters like this? i was going to separate this chapter into two parts but got lazy LOL

Chapter 10: avoiding you is impossible

Summary:

"So you like Ivan?"

"Well– I– I…"

The celebration Isaac and Dewey held after the performance involved the group going out to eat with the involvement of liquor. Hyun-woo and Hyuna excused themselves because of a certain someone being sick, and Luka left too because he wanted to be with Hyuna.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened. Mizi chatted along with mostly everyone in the group, showing them the recording she took of the performance. Sua made small talks with the group and mostly ate peacefully, refraining from drinking too much.

Isaac and Dewey took as many shots as they wanted, impressing everyone with how well they tolerated their liquor. Well, it wasn't too shocking considering they spent most of their time with Hyuna.

The two band members paid the bill as promised and called a taxi to get back home. Ivan would have offered to drive them, but not everyone would fit in the car. He drove Mizi first, then proceeded to drop off Sua who glared at him, almost like signaling to him to not do anything stupid.

Ivan willingly walked him to his apartment door and helped settle his instrument down in Till's room. Right before he was about to leave for the night, Ivan brought the singer into another deep kiss, holding him tight so their bodies were pressed together.

Maybe it was the alcohol speaking for them both, neither of them wanted to pull apart and now that they were alone… well…

None of them mentioned that night ever again, but that didn't mean Ivan stopped showing his interest after.

Till was in the studio room with Luka and Hyuna, listening to the now completed demo of the song Wiege. His leg tapped the ground repeatedly as he watched their faces for any hints of liking or disliking the song.

"Till."

He tensed up and nodded at Hyuna, "Yes?"

"This song is so magical!" Hyuna faked sobbed, dramatically falling onto Luka. "It feels like I'm levitating listening to this song."

"I agree with Hyuna," Luka answered, pushing his glasses back in place after Hyuna knocked it to the side. "You really have a special talent."

All those sleepless nights finally paid off, Till could shed a tear from how close he was to finishing. He couldn't help but smirk at the imagery of announcing to his class that he managed to get two of the top best vocal students to work on his production. Seeing all their shocked or surprised faces would totally be worth it.

Till proceeds to start off with Hyuna and take her recordings as much as possible. Luka, of course, stayed back to admire his girlfriend's shine in her moments.

Often, or sometimes, Till can't help but feel slightly jealous of their relationship. It was obvious the two loved each other, maybe Luka won the trophy of loving their partner to the extreme, but it was gut-wrenching watching the two do lovey-dovey things. Till admired having something like that in the future, with or without Ivan.

Either way, Till was happy for the couple. Hyuna already wanted him to be a performer at their wedding. Luka hummed, already bothering Till on what songs he should sing.

"You seem off," Luka commented as he packed his bag up. It was already the afternoon and Till decided to end the session for tomorrow. Much progress was made, so Till would probably be done with the project by the end of this week.

"Do I?" Till muttered, putting his laptop inside his backpack. He eyes the pack of cigarettes in his bag and sighed. It's not that he has an addiction towards those, Till hardly uses it if anything.

"Are those…?" Golden eyes widened, mouth wide open in shock. If Hyuna wasn't in the restroom, she would've totally told the whole crew of Till's smoking habit, maybe even invited him to join her band for a smoke session. "Since when did you smoke?"

Till zipped his bag quickly, "I don't smoke a lot. Besides… I don't think Ivan would allow it to happen."

He recalls the moment Ivan busted him at smoking before they became friends. The day when Till allegedly "lost" his music book which led him to scavenger hunt in the library, only for Ivan to reveal that he had the book in his possession. After that day, Till never smoked once but kept the box in his bag.

The conversation doesn't go much further with Luka dropping the conversation with a small nod. Instead he thought it'd be best to change the topic, offering a quiet, "Is Ivan going to pick you up?"

"No," Till sighed, both in relief and dissatisfied. The thought of facing Ivan after such acts made his stomach curl. "He's off practicing for his match. I think… it's tomorrow?"

"You think?"

"I forgot."

Luka deadpanned at the silver-head. If Hyuna hadn't entered the room on time, Luka would've jumped Till for being so obvious at avoiding his feelings. The tension between them did intrigue Luka, but it also gave him a massive headache. It was hard to tell if they hated or loved each other.

"Ivan isn't here yet?" Hyuna said. "I thought he would be here to pick up his little boyfriend."

"He's at practice," Luka crossed his arms and, suddenly, an idea popped in his head. "How about we pay him a visit? Let's wish him luck on his practice."

"Are you reading my mind? Cause I was thinking the same thing!" Hyuna grabbed both of their arms and dragged them out of the studio room. "Ivan could use Till as a source of motivation."

Till wanted to protest, but the way Hyuna was easily dragging him like a ragged doll made him zip his mouth. He looked over to Luka, who appeared to be used to this type of behavior and was instead admiring Hyuna with adoration, listening to her ramble.

"By the way, what's the status between you two?" Hyuna peeked back at Till. "I can't tell if you're just close friends or have crushes on each other."

"We're only friends!" Till was quick to answer.

Hyuna stopped walking. "Oh boy," Luka sighed, feeling the interrogation that's about to happen. He pitied Till at the moment.

"Really? 'Cause Hyun-woo told me something rather interesting."

That little shithead! Till marked on his to-do list: Smack Hyun-woo in the head the next time they see each other.

"What did he say?"

"Uh… he said that you liked someone, but didn't specify who," Luka took over the conversation. "Sua and Mizi also suspect you like someone but… it's rather hilarious what they said."

"Till…" Hyuna placed both her hands on his shoulder. She then exclaimed, "My brother is not the best choice! Please reconsider!"

"Huh… huhhh?" What were they saying?

"Mizi and Sua think you have a crush on Hyun-woo." Luka said. "And Hyuna thinks the same too, which is funny, don't you think? Ah, Hyuna thought you were using Ivan to make her brother jealous."

"No, no, you got the wrong idea!" Till groaned, wanting to crawl under a rock. It's already bad enough he has to deal with Ivan, but now this? "I don't like your brother, Hyuna. We're only friends."

"So you like Ivan?"

"Well– I– I…"

Hyuna and Luka stared at him amused at the confirmation that Till, indeed, did have a crush on the jock. There was no denying it from how much of a tomato he looked or the constant stuttering to say a simple 'no'. Till knows this too.

"I don't think he feels the same way."

"You're joking?" Hyuna wanted to laugh, but Till seriously wasn't pranking them. Ivan is only using him for entertainment, and Till has been dumb enough to fall too deep into his trap.

From the lack of response from Till, the couple knew the student was taking this literally. Hyuna chuckled and continued walking to the football field, "Ivan is so fond of you. I've known him for so long and never have I ever seen him so affectionate!"

Luka could see in the distance the football team running around the field, no doubt practicing a match. There were people sitting on the bleachers, talking amongst their friends or focusing on the match. "Ivan definitely has something towards you," Hyuna concluded, but it wasn't enough to convince Till.

Has something towards me? Right.

"You think?"

The match is paused to give the players a break. Ivan catches a glimpse of them from Hyuna yelling his name with no care of how loud she was. "Watch this," Hyuna grinned as the jock runned over to them.

"Ivan! How's your match going?" Hyuna greets.

"It's going great. Are you three done with the project?"

"No, I still need to do my part. Hyuna thought it would be a sweet idea to say hi," Luka responded. "How are you feeling about your final match?"

"I think we got it," Ivan responded too confidently with a smirk, showing off that snaggletooth that marked his signature look. That same tooth the bit into Till's neck–

"We got tickets to see your match tomorrow!" Hyuna wrapped her arm around Till and brought him close. "We went to the college store to see if they were still selling your football team merch, but unfortunately Till couldn't find any of his size."

"Poor man! What should he ever do!" Luka grinned as he watched his girlfriend dramatically 'faint' onto Till. He was definitely going to tease her about this later.

"Right, Till?" Hyuna winked at him, almost like saying he should tag along to her little scheme.

"Right.."

Ivan took a moment to process their act before saying, "You could borrow a spare uniform of mine. It's in my locker right now, want to go get it?"

"Ah.."

"Till would love to!" Hyuna smacked his back and pushed him forward, taking Till's backpack for whatever reason. "We'll wait right here for ya!"

Luka watched the pair walk off before looking at his girlfriend. "You never fail to amaze me, Hyuna." He said, placing a kiss on her cheek. "But… do you think Till is going to be okay?"

Till was not okay.

He was currently sitting down on the bleachers, cautiously eying Ivan who was digging through his locker. Their walk to the locker room was nothing but silence, Till hesitatingly strolling behind the jock. "It might be a bit big on you…" Ivan hummed as he examined his spare uniform. "But it should work out."

Till quietly thanked the jock and held the uniform in his hand. "You're very quiet today," Ivan said. "Is it because of yesterday?"

"N-No," He answered. "I'm just tired."

"Hm, you should rest then," Ivan gently stroked his hair, resting his hand on Till's cheek. He smirked at the way Till subconsciously leaned toward his touch. "Want me to drive you home? I don't mind leaving early."

"No. I'll go with Hyuna and Luka." Till knows that the jock won't take his denial for an answer. Ivan would leave practice early and drive Till home if it meant spending more time with him.

"We should head back, right?" Till backed away from his touch. "Hyuna and Luka are waiting."

He turned around to exit, but then a hand wrapped around his waist and pulled him close so his back was against Ivan's chest. Till felt the jock lean in from behind him, tenderly whispering into his ear: "You sounded lovely yesterday."

Till flushed and wanted to kick the jock for mentioning that moment, but the way Ivan's hand slid up his shirt made him shut up. His knees buckled under Ivan's small touches and he could feel the jock's lips on his neck. "I honestly wouldn't mind doing it again."

"I…" Till finally snapped back to his senses. He pushed away and exclaimed, "You're a freak, you freak!"

Ivan doesn't say anything but smile, watching Till run away. He loved the way he was able to bring another side of Till that no one has ever seen before.

But he really wasn't lying when he offered to go again. Maybe next time.

"Why do you look traumatized?" Luka commented when the boys came back.

"Nothing!" Till screamed and made sure to stay away from Ivan the whole night.

Hyuna and Luka looked at Ivan.

The jock shrugged. "He's a bit weird tonight."

Notes:

hoping to write more chapters before the school session starts 😭😭

Chapter 11: it's for the best

Summary:

"Also… I don't mean to sound rude but," Sua points to the jersey he was wearing as she sat down on her seat. Till blessed Mizi for giving Sua the same section as his. "Is that my brother's shirt?"

Notes:

quick chapter before i go on my mini vacation!

Till clenched onto his messenger bag, feeling people brush by him to the security entrance. The ticket was well in his hands and all he had to do was join the line to enter. There was really no big rush, Ivan had given him a special ticket that reserved a seat in the front row.

"Till?" A gentle, low tone spoke out. It was Sua, who looked fairly nice dressed and looked too much like a model. "Are you here to see my brother?"

"Yeah," Till often forgot the two were related. Thinking of it now, besides their facial features, the two of them were nothing alike in terms of personality. Sua was more close-minded, silent and kept to herself (except when she was around Mizi). Ivan appeared more social, showing off his personality more and appearing more confident. "You're here for Mizi, right?"

Sua nodded. "Are you going to head in or continue to stand there?"

Right. He's been standing here for ten minutes now, it's honestly surprising security hasn't kicked him out yet. Since Sua was here, Till might as well tag along for company.

"Also… I don't mean to sound rude but," Sua points to the jersey he was wearing as she sat down on her seat. Till blessed Mizi for giving Sua the same section as his. "Is that my brother's shirt?"

Till hesitatingly nodded. "He gave it to me yesterday."

"I'm surprised you decided to wear it," Till couldn't tell if there was a hint of sour in her tone. Sua was very unpredictable, her emotions hard for someone to comprehend. "Hyun-woo doesn't interest you anymore? What's so special about… him?"

Him, referring to the jock on the field doing warmups.

"I never liked Hyun-woo," Till shamefully admits, sensing the disappointment in Sua's aura flooding the atmosphere. It was clear that Sua didn't want that answer as she sighed and said, "Mhm, what about my second question?"

Till clenched his fists as he watched Ivan flash a grin at his direction and stuck his tongue out at his sister. What did he like about Ivan? The attention he gets? The gifts that were never ending? His touch? The way he makes Till feel like he actually wants to be in a relationship?

Small, subtle gestures and respectfulness towards the music Till creates. Staying with Till all day long to offer advice on how to succeed in his project. Willingly driving Till home even if it's so late at night.

Yet…

"I don't know."

He sounded defeated, looking down at his shoes.

Sua heard a bunch of people chattering, and it was coming from no other than the football team. Ivan gets pushed to the front, as if encouraging him to make a move. Her eyes twitched at the sight.

"Till," Ivan called out. He admires the jersey that's on the musician, a bit stunned that Till actually wore it. "It looks great on you, better than what I imagined."

A pit of fury churned in her stomach. Sua barged into the conversation before Till could reply, "I'm here too, thanks."

And as if the universe was on her side, Mizi appears with her cheer team. "Till, can you go get Mizi? Now." Sua commanded him. "My feet hurt."

Till sighed, "For someone who heads over heels for Mizi, I expected you to walk through the pain."

He doesn't complain, but seemed rather grateful for the random task and sets to bring Mizi. Sua would walk through the pain to see Mizi, but right now, she needs to have a serious conversation with her brother. Her idiotic brother.

"You need to stop," Sua goes straight at it, not caring if she sounds rude at this point.  "I'm talking about this whole shenanigans you're doing for your team. Till doesn’t deserve none of this."

"Sua-"

"Your team targets him because he's different? What a bunch of childish behavior," Sua scoffed, jabbing a finger at Ivan's chest "You're an adult, Ivan. I know you're better than this. Since when did you allow yourself to become a toy to others?"

Sua sighed. "If anything happens to Till, I'm kicking your ass. Get your act together."

"Sua!" Mizi giggled and gave her a hug. She noticed her lover's stressed expression.."Ivan! What were you two talking about?"

"Nothing," Ivan responded. "I should go back."

Ivan jogs back to his team, her sister's words constantly playing in his head. Even as his team tried to talk to him, Ivan could only look at Till who was chatting with Mizi and Sua.

He had mentioned it in the beginning, but Ivan had always found Till attractive despite what others would say. He did love teasing the male because he found it cute from how easily Till got flustered. Ivan enjoyed being around Till– he didn't mind staying with him all day in the studio or tending to his needs such as bringing in meals.

He started flirting with Till for the purpose of the bet, but he often found himself cringing whenever approaching Till with it, like he was scared Till would reject or laugh at him. Yet he was able to have the opportunities to hold Till's hands or even kiss him, which brought pure joy into Ivan.

This bet is kind of stupid, isn't it? Ivan thought.

None of this was worth losing Till.

The match went as anticipated. Ivan was the star of the match, showing everyone that he lived up to his name as the best player. Till found himself on the edge of his seat during the match, often wincing whenever Ivan got tackled to the ground so forcefully. Sua would chuckle and record when it happened, and when she wasn't, she paid attention to Mizi the whole time.

Nonetheless, Till would have gone home right after if it wasn't for him agreeing to go to Ivan to the party. He was thankful to hear that Sua and Mizi would tag along, but Luka and Hyuna excused themselves from the party. Hyuna had an assignment due the next day and Luka was too tired to attend (he wasn't a huge fan of parties anyways).

Till was bound to lose Mizi and Sua eventually, he couldn't tag along forever and third wheel the whole night. With a drink in his hand and sitting at the edge of a couch, Till watched Ivan chat along with some students after being forcefully dragged into the conversation.

He only spoke to one other person in the party. His name was Acron, and apparently he was a part of the football team as a coach assistant, but didn't typically involve himself in the activities the team does. "It's childish," Acorn commented.

Unfortunately Acron had to leave with his friends, but the two exchanged socials to keep in contact. Now Till scrolls through his phone, contemplating whether he should just call a taxi and leave without telling anyone. It's not like anyone would notice… and even if they did, Till could just lie his way out of it.

Till goes to get up, when an unknown person wraps an arm around his shoulder and pulls him back down. "Till, right?" The man said.

Till scrunched his nose at the scent of alcohol hitting his face. "Who are you?" He responded, shrugging the arm away.

"I'm hurt you don't know me, Till," The man pouted, handing Till a fresh new cup of alcohol. "My name is Travis. I'm a teammate of Ivan's."

"Okay."

"Not much of a talker?" Travis cocked his head to the side. "I thought you'd be a bit ruder, Till. You're a real talk around campus, you know that?"

"And?"

"In a good way! You're kinda unique. That choice of fashion isn't always seen around this area," Travis reached out to touch the piercings on Till's ears, who reluctantly backed away. "It's a bit cool if you ask me."

"Right," Till muttered and looked away, hoping to find the couple around. Ivan was no help, too immersed into his conversation.

"You should take a sip," Travis nudged him, holding his cup out. "It's a celebration after all. I'm actually glad you're able to make it here."

Till sighed and their cups clattered together as they took a sip at the same time. He ignores the bitter taste afterwards, not much to be expected considering broke college students spent their week spending on this. "I've always wanted to speak to you," Travis continued. "Ivan talks about you a lot."

His ears perked up at this. "Okay," However Till pretends to be disinterested.

"It got me interested to want to know you more," Travis hummed. "You like making music?"

"I guess."

"You should show me around sometime! Maybe I'll become your biggest fan!"

Till groaned. Was it just him or was Travis speaking louder than before? It was becoming suddenly hard to even focus on the man in front of him, his movements became more clumsy. "You really intrigue me Till," Travis commented, a grin on his face.

"I think I should leave–" Till flinched from the man's sudden need to hold him by the waist. The two were very close to his dislikes.

"Come on, I just want to talk… you know, I can see why Ivan is hooked onto you," Travis muttered. "You're not that bad looking. Fuck, you're actually pretty hot… how–"

"I think you drank too much tonight," Travis is forced onto his feet by Ivan who has a calm smile on his face, similar to the ones Sua would give whenever she was arguing with someone. Till could tell Ivan was pissed, but chose to remain calm since he already caught the attention of other people.

The team wanted Till to come so they can have fun chatting about him. Ivan was aware of this, but after the conversation with Sua, he wished so badly he never listened. Ivan would be lying if he said he wasn't watching Till and Travis interaction. He was trying to excuse himself from the conversation, but one of the girls kept clinging onto him like a sloth.

The jock clenched his jaw whenever Travis made a bold attempt to lay a finger on Till. It pissed him off even more that Travis even thought to approach Till's presence.

"No, I haven't!" The drunk man denied, slapping Ivan's hand away. Another attempt to reach back to Till was denied as Ivan stepped between them. "What's your problem, Ivan?! Let me speak to him!"

"He doesn't want to speak to you," Ivan spoke through clenched teeth. "Leave him alone."

Till finds this as enough of a distraction to leave the party. Fuck it, he'll take a bus home. "Aw, come on, you made him leave!" Travis groaned, watching him leave the house. "I was having fun. I didn't actually find that tard attractive."

Ivan rolled his eyes and left the teammate behind to run after Till, but Travis, as idiotic as ever, holds him back and complains. "You're seriously going after him? Till will come crawling back to you the next day!" Travis yelled. "This bet doesn't have to continue on anymore. That bitch is too hard to manage–"

"Travis," Ivan sternly said. People started to create a circle around them, some even taking out their phones to record in case a fight broke out. "Keep your mouth shut, would you?"

"Are you defending him?"

"And what if I am?"

Ivan shoved him into the crowd, ignoring the gasps and chaotic screaming. He shoved his way through the crowd, accidentally bumping into her sister along the way. "Sua-"

"Don't screw this up."

The jock nods and runs out the door, falling onto the figure not too far away. He ran towards the student and yelled once he was close, "Till! I can give you a ride home–"

"I don't want that shit."

"Till?" The jock noticed that Till's words were slurring. He quickly turned Till to face him and noticed how flushed his face was. "You're… drunk?"

"Get off me!" Till ignores him and poorly attempts to push Ivan away. "And go back to your little boyfriends."

"Don't yell," Ivan hushed the other male, dragging him toward his vehicle. The last thing he needs is to get the attention of the neighborhood and think that they're fighting. "I'm taking you back home, Till."

He gently puts Till into the passenger seat and places the seatbelt on, ignoring Till's protest to do so. "I thought you weren't going to drink," Ivan begins to drive down the road. "How much did you drink?"

"He gave me one… 'Ravis?" Till leaned his head on the window, closing his eyes.

"Ravis?" Ivan thought hard. "You mean Travis?"

"Mhm."

Ivan held his breath. He should've knocked Travis right there and then. Hell, Ivan should've never left Till's side and declined those girls' offer to have a conversation. "Okay," he muttered, making a reminder to himself to talk to Travis the next day. "How are you feeling?"

"Since when did you care about how other people feel?" Till laughed. "Stop acting and just drive me home."

"Till, I'm not acting."

The jock doesn't receive a response, Till being too bothered and consumed by the alcohol to respond. The drive back home was silent, but Till made it difficult to get to their destination.

The alcohol really got the best of Till. From how long he had known Till, Ivan never saw the male act so childish and aggressive at the same time. He didn't even know that was possible. Till will do anything in his power to get rid of Ivan, ask Ivan to carry him back to his room, then back to throwing insults at him.

Ivan opted to allow Till to walk by himself once they were in the apartment (after Till bonked him in the head). Ivan stood behind Till just in case the drunk male tripped or fell. "Go," Till collapsed onto his couch.

"I'm not leaving you in this state," Ivan sighed, going to look for some water in hopes of sobering up Till. "Drink and eat a bit, then I will leave when I think you're fine."

Ivan scanned through his kitchen. "A croissant and water should do for now," He sighed and returned back, helping Till to sit up.

Till felt an item nudge his lips– a croissant he had recently brought for lunch (it was cheap too). Instead of grabbing it from Ivan's hold, Till took a small bite and Ivan didn't complain one bit if it meant food got into his system. He even opens the water bottle and, with tender care, makes sure Till takes sips of water without creating a mess.

The croissant wasn't even halfway done when Ivan noticed the crumb on the edge of Till's lips. He wipes it away gently with his thumb, chuckling on how clumsy Till is in this state.

"You're cruel."

Ivan was taken back as he watched Till lean into his touch.

"The way you act towards me is so fake, it's cruel that you're willing to go this far with your bet."

The jock eyes widened. Till snickered, "What? You thought I didn't know? You and your team make it so obvious."

"Maybe I was a bit cruel too. You were using me for entertainment and I was using you to make connections," Till breath shaked as he continued. "Maybe we're both wrong in this situation."

He sounded disappointed with himself for admitting these next words. "I like you," Till's voice cracked. "But I don't want to like you."

Ivan's heart dropped. A tear strolled down Till's face, head looking down in shame. "I wished you'd never approached me," He whispered. "I wished we'd never met."

"Till," It felt like bullets were being shot at Ivan's body, struggling to maintain himself as Till broke down in front of him. "I'm sorry. I really am sorry–"

"You're not sorry," Till whispered, eyes shutting down. Exhaustion was taking a toll on him, but he craved to continue the conversation because he wanted to hear what Ivan had to offer. Will Ivan leave him after this? Take a picture and laugh at him before showing his team?

You're only apologizing because I caught you red-handed.

"Till?" Ivan cursed under his breath after realizing Till was deep asleep. Wanting the sleeping male to dream comfortably, Ivan carries Till to his room and lays him on the mattress, bringing the covers up. He even brought a chair with him, so he could observe Till if any occasion was to pop up.

He knows everything, This was all his fault. There was no other person to blame but himself. Sua was correct about her perdiction– karma came to bite him in the ass and now he was about to lose the person that kept him whole.

When Ivan woke up the next morning, Till was gone.

A note was on the bed.

Dear Ivan,

I'm at work by the time you're reading this.

Thank you for bringing me back home.

Our relationship is a bit weird isn't it? I can't tell if we're friends or in a situationship. Were we even friends in the first place?

I think it's best if we stop seeing each other. The last thing I want is unnecessary drama.

It's for the best.

Notes:

angst? more angst?

Chapter 12: sorry?

Summary:

"When the fuck did this campus get a gossip account!?" Was all he could say. 

Notes:

im bacc

or am i??

school is so close, it hurts to know i can no longer rot in bed

It's been two weeks since the party.

Till stayed true to his word and cut his relationship with Ivan, avoiding him at all cost to the point of even changing his whole work schedule so Ivan doesn't interfere. Ivan was prohibited from entering the same studio room as Till because the silver-head would lock the doors and shut the curtains.

Mizi was very disappointed in Ivan after the drama was revealed. She scolded the jock for a good thirty minutes before being dragged away by her girlfriend who proceeded to yell at him for the next half hour.

Luka and Hyuna were shocked to hear the ordeal. Luka shaked his head in disapproval and Hyuna bonked the boy in the head, telling Ivan that he had to apologize for his actions whether he liked it or not. Isaac and Dewey even gave Ivan a deadline to apologize.

"You really messed up, huh?" Sua took a bite of her meal over the dinner table, watching her idiotic brother mop behavior. "I can't really defend you."

"I don't need you to defend me," Ivan responded, resting his head against the table. "I already know I messed up. Till's been avoiding me, so it's hard to track him down."

Sua sighed, "Honestly you should give up."

The jock shoulders hunched up– those were the last words he wanted to hear, especially from Sua, who was always considered to be right in every situation. "I don't want to."

"Isn't it bad enough you've lost your upcoming internship?" Sua muttered, recalling the day after the party. She was sitting with Mizi in the cafeteria until Luka approached them with a panicked look. Ivan had gotten into a fight with Travis, a teammate from the football team. Spectators claimed that Ivan was the one that initiated it, ruffling the teammate up until he punched Travis across the face.

He was suspended from campus for a week and, with a slap to the face to finish things off, lost his position for an internship he secured at a music studio. Ivan went to the extent of quitting the football team.

"Till doesn't want to see you anymore too."

Sua understands that Ivan was trying to make up for his actions, but too much damage was already done. She warned her brother multiple times to stop hanging with the wrong crowd, but Ivan always shrugged it off like a joke. This was the actions to his consequences, and now he has to bear with it.

"Why did it take you this long to stop?" Sua angrily said. No matter how hard she tries, Sua can't help herself to pity her brother for his choices. Idiot. Her brother was a huge idiot. A big, fat idiot.

She let out an annoying groan and slammed her spoon on the table. "I will admit, if you hadn't fucked up this badly, you two would've made an adorable couple," Not as cute as mines though, Sua wanted to add. "But you're an idiot."

A falling silence settled between the siblings, the sound of their clock echoing in the kitchen. Ivan can't even defend himself, allowing his sister to say every single fact about this whole situation. He messed up heavily and there was no going back.

Sua sighed, "Do you actually like him, Ivan? Be honest with me too."

"I…"

At first, Ivan didn't have any romantic feelings towards Till because he thought the silver-head was complicated to talk to. Ivan only pushed through this challenge for the purpose of the bet: Make Till fall for him, date him, break his heart in the end. However the more he got to know Till, Ivan found himself becoming attracted to him.

He loves Till's passion for music, spending hours dedicated to making a single piece. He loves the way Till's tongue would poke out when he was concentrating or the way Till's eyes shined whenever Ivan brought a snack. Ivan loves the way Till would ramble about anything he adored– whether that was music or the latest clothes he brought.

Ivan admired Till's determination and confidence to play in place for Hyuna, even if it was his first performance. Till followed his passion through thick and thin, shutting down any negative opinions anyone had.

The plan Till had with Hyun-woo to make Ivan jealous was a success. It was probably the time Ivan realized he had a thing for Till. The thought of anyone being in a romantic relationship with Till made his stomach turn and it hurt watching the two get so close to each other.

The way Till's lips crashed on his felt like fireworks being lit in the sky. Ivan never knew he could crave for someone this badly until that night.

And now, Ivan had made Till cry that night and his heart shattered into pieces till today.

"I do."

Sua takes a deep breath. "He's working right now," She choked out. Ivan finally lifted his head, a faint red mark on his forehead. "He leaves soon, maybe fifteen minutes? Don't screw this up."

She gasped in surprise from how fast the jock stood up and ran out the kitchen. "I'm being serious, Ivan!" Sua yelled loud enough for him to hear as he got ready to leave. "If you hurt Till again, I'm going to make you wish you'd never done that– What are you?!"

Sua stopped speaking, being embraced into a tight hug from Ivan. "Thank you," He said. "I really appreciate this. I won't screw up."

"Tch, you better not," Sua muttered. "Also.. I need to tell you something. Till's recently got a habit of…"

Till wouldn't say today was a bad day. He was given twenty dollar tips by a kind customer, who also complimented his fashion sense. His shift just ended so he was walking towards the bus stop.

He could never get used to the cold. Ivan… was usually the one to drive him anywhere so Till never had to worry about the cold, but now he found himself suffering in the cold waiting for the bus. It made it even worse when snow started to appear around the area.

"I should probably buy myself something to eat," Till muttered, lighting up a cigarette to keep him occupied. Till screwed himself over by allowing his assignments to pile up, so there was no time to cook dinner. It wasn't helping that he got into… a situation after returning home to visit his mother.

Till thought it would be best to visit his mom after Ivan's incident so he could clear his head. It did work. It would   have worked if it wasn't for Urak's presence. He was never on good terms with that man, always arguing and throwing insults at each other. It was no surprise when Urak punched him in the face, resulting in a bruise under his eye.

His mother apologized profusely and Till couldn't do anything but tell her that it was okay. He left the next day and promised her that he would come back.

Till would cover the bruise with makeup if it wasn't for the fact he was running late to work, so Till slapped a bandage over his face and hoped for the best.

"Smoking is bad for you. You shouldn't make it a habit."

Till jumped, recognizing that voice anywhere. "Ivan?" The cigarette was replaced with a lollipop. When did Ivan take the time to buy one of those?

"Till," Ivan was quick to notice the poorly placed bandage on the silver-head face, showing a glimpse of a faint purple bruise.

Till gulped when warm gloves caressed his face. "What happened?" Till could hear the frustration in his tone. "Was this Travis–"

"No," Till was quick to shut down his accusation, already aware of Ivan's confrontation with Travis. "It doesn't matter. Why are you here?"

Ivan's hands were removed. "Doesn't matter? Someone laid a finger on you," Ivan claimed that the matter was serious. "I'm here to speak to you, Till."

"There's nothing to speak of," Till mumbles. "Is your team hiding behind a bush somewhere? Are you here to play with me again?"

"I'm not," Ivan responded. "I came here by myself."

"What do you want from me now?" Till sighed in defeat. "I think you caused enough damage."

"I'm not asking for anything," Ivan confessed. "I want to apologize to you, for everything I have done."

Till scanned the area. "Is your team hiding inside a car?" He scoffed. "Your apology is 'accepted', you can leave me alone now."

He begins to walk away, but Ivan was quick to stop him. "I'm by myself," Ivan puffed his cheeks. "I don't know if anyone told you but… I quit the team."

"Oh," Till said. Did Ivan seriously quit the team? It was hard trusting Ivan. Maybe he should ask Sua or Mizi tomorrow. "I see."

"I really am sorry," Ivan said once more. "I fucked up badly, and I should've done something rather than escalate the situation. You didn't deserve none of this, and I'm sorry for ruining your first term experience on this campus. It's been eating me alive not being able to see you, it was even worse when I couldn't find you to apologize for my actions. Till, I'm sorry for everything I've done. I'm really sorry–"

A cold hand covered his mouth. "A-Alright, I understand already!" Till flushed, but trying his best to show his angry face. "Apology accepted, I guess. This doesn't mean we're back on terms though."

A loud honk interrupted their conversation, Till jumping from the noise in the process. Hyun-woo stuck his head out the car window and slightly glared at the jock, "Till, sorry for being late! I had to drop off Hyuna at Luka's house! I'm not interrupting anything..?"

"No!" Till shakes his head, removing his hand from Ivan's face. He took a final glance at the jock and sighed, "I don't know what to feel about you Ivan. I was being serious about not seeing each other anymore. Bye, Ivan. Good luck on your studies."

Hyun-woo watches as his friend gets in the car and puts on his seatbelt, leaving the jock all alone on the sidewalk. "Did he do anything?" He asked.

"No," Till sighed. "He apologized, but I told him it doesn't change anything. I think this is the last time I will ever speak to him."

It was, in fact, not the last time.

Till must have the worst luck possible because the next day he pulls up to campus and is chased by Mizi. "Till, is it true? Don't you think this is a bit too soon?!" She exclaimed, covering her mouth.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Till wondered. A phone gets shoved in his face and he squinted his eyes, focusing on the username on the social media page. It was an account about campus gossip, run by an anonymous user, who posted multiple images of Till and Ivan.

@ankt.gossip
It appears the popular student and #1 ex-football team member, Ivan, has gotten close to a random student who enrolled this semester.

With Ivan's sudden step-down from the team and suspension off campus, there are rumors going around that this student could be the reason for all Ivan's sudden actions. Perhaps a friend, or a secret lover?

[First Image out of Five: Till and Ivan sitting close to each other, their hands almost touching. The two were enjoying a meal of sandwiches at the campus cafeteria.]

He skimmed through the second image.

[Second Image out of Five: In the campus parking lot, Till and Ivan are in the jock's vehicle. The two seemed to be talking.]

Till went through the comments.

@giselo
I've seen those two around campus a lot! I've always thought they were friends though.
>> @wakuis replied to @giselo me too!! they were together 24/7, even waiting for each other classes to end

@rahhh
I saw Till's performance. Ivan was staring at that man with full LUST

@abc123
this account is so fucking weird. you're a creep with nothing better to do?? stop stalking other people

@yeisk
unpopular opinion: i'm so glad ivan beat travis ass. defend your man ivan!!!

"When the fuck did this campus get a gossip account!?" Was all he could say. 

Notes:

i fear i may have some writer block.

dw i'll think of something eventually

Chapter 13: accident

Summary:

"That's good to hear. You and Till should come by and have dinner at my place. I'll be delighted to meet a friend of Till, especially one he looks up to," The mother giggled. "He speaks very highly of you."

Notes:

ehhh not really liking this chapter 😞

i really hope you guys enjoy it though :,)

"Luka!"

The blonde was by the vending machine, putting in some cash to select a snack. "Ivan," He didn't bother looking at the jock as he typed the number of the snack he wanted. "I haven't seen you in a while. Did you learn your lesson after getting suspended?"

Ivan huffed through his nose. "Yes, I've learnt my lesson. I need to ask a question though," He said and Luka nodded to go ahead. "I spoke to Till yesterday and I noticed a bruise under his eye. Did anyone from the team cause it?"

"The football team doesn't even dare to approach Till anymore," Luka grabs his snack. "Y'know, after you beat the shit out of Travis. Congrats on that by the way."

"Then… who?"

"I have no clue," Luka shrugged, but it was obvious he was concerned too. "Till hasn't told anyone about it, not even Hyun-woo knows. He claimed he 'fell off the bed', but we all know that's not true."

Luka took a bite from his snack bar. His eyes lightened up and he said, "Also, have you heard the rumors?"

"Rumors?"

"Someone really crossed the line this time," Luka took out his phone and went to the campus gossip account, clicking on their recent post. He showed it to Ivan. "Pictures of you and Till. They claim that you're either friends or lovers, but a lot of people think you're dating."

"What? When did this campus get a gossip account?!" Ivan scrolled through the pictures, all of them being located on campus. The account had a good number of followers, but there was no indication of who ran the social media account. It has been active for quite some time, even before Ivan enrolled on campus.

"It's always been there," Luka responded. "You're on it quite some times, but it's nothing serious. This is the first time they've posted something quite personal."

"I thought school gossip accounts were an American thing."

Luka shrugged. "Either way, it's pretty weird. If you want, I can try and report it to the school," He suggested. "I don't know if they'll do anything about it though."

"We can try that," Ivan agreed, but was also unsure that the school could do much about it. "I can try contacting the account and see if they can take it down too."

Ivan should talk to Till about this, but the silver-head made it clear he doesn't want to talk anymore. He lets out a frustrated sigh. Texting was a huge no too– Till blocked him from everything.

"Till heard of this too," Luka brought up like he was reading Ivan's mind. "He does want to do something about it. As a matter of fact, Till's in the studio room with me."

"Recording?"

"Mhm, Till should be done by the end of the day. Here," Luka handed him a spare card key to the room. "Use this to get in. I'll let him know you're coming."

Ivan hesitated to take the card. Was this a good idea? Till is going to kick his ass if he enters. "Go," Luka shoved the card to his chest. "Listen, I'm still a bit wary of you after finding out the truth, but the last thing Till needs is to deal with this situation."

Ivan nods. "Okay," He muttered and walked towards the rooms, ignoring all the quick stares he received from fellow followers of the gossip account.

He finds the correct studio room and scans the card, unlocking the door. Ivan slowly opens the door, "Till? I'm sorry for intruding, but Luka texted you… oh."

Till turned around and shoved a finger against his own mouth, signaling him to be quiet, but it was already too late. The person on the call stopped talking and it soon turned into excitement, "Sweetheart, is this the Ivan fellow you mentioned in the past? His voice sounds familiar! Put him on the phone!"

Crap, is he on a call with his mom?

"Mom, it's a random student," Till tried to brush off, but it failed to work.

"You shouldn't be embarrassed to introduce your friends, Till!" His mother innocently scolded. "I remember when you showed me a song he produced. His voice was amazing like yours, Tilly!"

The silver-head blushed from the nickname and whined for her to stop. "Fine," Till said in defeat and looked at Ivan, motioning him to come forward. "I'm passing the phone to him."

Ivan nervously chuckled and grabbed the phone. "Hello?" He awkwardly said.

"Hello!" A sweet, bubbly voice replied back. "My Till talked so much about you these past couple of months. I'm so happy he's doing well on campus, I was a bit worried about him being a loner."

"Loner?!" Till yelled in the background, completely offended.

"Don't worry, miss. Till has a lot of friends on campus to keep him company," Ivan assured her, hearing the lady sigh in relief.

"That's good to hear. You and Till should come by and have dinner at my place. I'll be delighted to meet a friend of Till, especially one he looks up to," The mother giggled. "He speaks very highly of you."

Before Ivan could respond, the phone was taken away from an embarrassed Till. "I don't think that's a good idea!" He was quick to shut down the offer and had his reasons for doing so. "I don't want him to see… ugh, that guy."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I did not know Urak was coming over to drop off some things," Till's mother's tone was completely sincere. "If I had known, I would've never told you to come by. But I would be happy to meet a friend of yours, Till, and see you again."

Ivan observed the bruise that was fading, but still noticeable under all that makeup. Till probably touched it by accident which caused his makeup to smear. So Urak was the cause of this? Ivan thought.

Till paused.

"Okay." He gave in. It was clear that she didn't know about their rocky relationship. "I will take Ivan there."

There were many reasons why Till didn't want Ivan to meet his mother. Ivan was so charming and deceiving that Till could already see his mother claiming Ivan as her favorite person. Till felt guilty at the thought of declining his mother's offer, already feeling and hearing the sadness in her tone if he was to lie his way out.

Till sighed and shoved his phone in his pocket after the call. One day bearing with the man he likes shouldn't be too bad, Till could ignore the jock on the ride to his mother's house and then proceed to act like friends until they left.

"I need a coffee," The silver-head groaned and looked back at Ivan, the exit, then back at him. "Follow. I would rather not be alone with you."

The jock doesn't comment and follows close behind to walk to the cafe shop near the cafeteria. Word must've gone around campus because almost every student glanced at their direction, specifically eying the transferred student. Ivan kept his guard as they passed by, wanting to make sure no one approached them.

"Why are you even here?" Till spoke up. "Where the hell did Luka go?"

The cashier recognized the boy right away, offering a sweet smile and saying: "Same order as usual, young man?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Ivan was quite unsure of the blonde whereabouts. "Luka went… to explore?" His best guess was that Luka went on a scavenger hunt to find his girlfriend. "And I didn't mean to interfere with your phone call. I wanted to apologize but… things happened."

Till gave his thanks to the kind lady who gave his drink. He rolled his eyes at Ivan and said in a harsh tone, "I don't want your apology."

The jock sighed helplessly, but still followed Till through the crowd back to the studio. He was thinking of ways to grab Till's attention without irritating him further. If Ivan was to let Till walk away, he wouldn't be given another chance to speak to the silver-head. It was now or never.

"Ivan!" A cherry voice called out and a soft hand grabbed his shoulder. Ivan recognized her as a classmate from one of his classes, along with someone who has a crush on him. "Are you busy at the moment?"

Till froze and turned around to look at the pair. He sipped his coffee and waited to see what the jock did.

"Kira," Ivan nodded. He cursed to himself, begging for Till to not walk away. "I'm busy right now."

"That's a shame," She sighed helplessly. "I was hoping you can help me understand the materials for our class. I'm having trouble with it!"

"I don't think I'm the best choice," Ivan lets out an awkward chuckle.

"Please, I've seen your grades in class! You're definitely the right choice. I can make it up for you even," Till chest swelled hearing the girl giggle and get so close to Ivan. "So what do you say?"

Till gagged in his head at her acting skills. "There's tutoring sessions for a reason," He found himself saying. His eyes locked onto her hand on Ivan's shoulder. "Y'know, with students who are actually willing to tutor other people."

Ivan and the girl were a bit surprised by his intrusion. "Till is right," Ivan agreed. "There's tutoring sessions that can help you."

"Is there?" She smiled. "Mind escorting me there? I don't know where it is–"

"Room 329-C."

Till grabs the jock and drags him away before the girl can utter another word. He stayed silent, a faint blush on his cheeks, and his eyebrow furrowed in annoyance. His mind was swarming with thoughts– mainly throwing a fit at the girl flirty tactics.

He stood in front of his studio room and could see Luka had returned from his adventure. "Saturday," Till jabbed a finger in the jock's chest. "Meet me in front of my apartment at eleven on the dot."

Ivan opens his mouth, but the door slams shut.

He takes out his phone and makes a call.

"Sua, can we go shopping later?"

Notes:

genuine question out of curiosity:

have you ever experienced any type of random media account based off your school? (like the one till and ivan encountered)

the only reason i mentioned it in the fic is because it's a common thing where i live. students will make different types of content based on the school: gossip, matchmaking students, rating students posture, anonymous confession, etc.

it's actually insane how many i would find. i never interacted with those and am fortunate not to become a victim on their account LOL

Chapter 14: friends

Summary:

Friends was a term that ached Till to say. He wanted to be more than friends, but considering everything that happened.. perhaps the two weren't meant to be. Till was still confused about Ivan, so being strictly friends would help Till with his emotions.

Notes:

school is sooo tiring
also having such huge writer block with this fic...

"You're leaving already?" Hyun-woo complained as he put his apron on. Till was in the process of putting on his gray hoodie. "I just got here."

"Not my fault you switched shifts," Till answered, swinging his bag over his shoulder. "Now you have to stay till closing."

"She asked politely," His friend shrugged. "How can I say no to our young employees? We need to set a good example, Till!"

Till rolled his eyes, "Yeah, right. You devouring all the whip cream in under a minute was a good example? What about that other time where you drank a customer's drink to see if it was poisonous?"

"One may never know."

"I made that drink, moron!"

"I couldn't help it!" Hyun-woo screamed, covering his face with his hands. A bit too dramatically if you asked Till. "Your drinks are good!"

Till huffs out a light chuckle. "Today is pretty dead, so you won't be doing much."

Hyun-woo groaned, "Every time you say that a large group appears. Shush your mouth now and leave this premises before your spell becomes real."

The silver-head pretended to be offended. "All those smooth words just to switch on me!" He exclaimed. "I thought we were best friends."

"No, you're an old man to me." Hyun-woo commented, an inside joke between the two. It was how they first met after Hyun-woo mistook Till as an old man because of his silver hair. He felt so bad that he brought Till lunch after their shift, but after developing a closer friendship with the silver-head.. it sort of became a joke between them and was Till's nickname.

"Jerk," Till begins to leave the break room. "This is why you're working."

"I'm going to have such a fun shift that you'll be jealous!" He could hear the brunette scream. Till holds back a laugh as he exits the store, spotting Ivan's car in the distance. The jock was too busy scrolling on his phone with headphones on.

He walked over and tapped on the glass. Till wanted to laugh at how easily startled Ivan got but he kept it in. "Open," He mouthed.

Till doesn’t say much when he entered, just a small greeting before shoving his own headphones on and staring at the window. He shuffled anxiously as he felt Ivan's eyes staring into his soul. Till was unaware of Ivan's attempt to make a conversation, sighing in defeat and focusing on the road.

The drive was about an hour long, driving out into the city and into a small town with a beautiful ocean scenery. Till texted his mom throughout the drive to keep her updated on how far they were. He took a sneak peek at Ivan, his heart racing at how effortlessly charming the jock was.

He thought by now his feelings about Ivan would go away, but it got worse, aching his heart every time he looked back at their old moments. Till will admit he misses Ivan company around and yearned to go back to the way things were. It hurts that things ended up this way, but wasn't it for the best? Nothing between them was sincere, Till tries to convince himself this, because they both used each other in different ways.

"Ivan," It's only for one day, then things would go back to normal after this. "It's that house right there."

Io, his sweet mother, was waiting at her porch while knitting. Her face lit up upon seeing her son walk out of the vehicle, and curiosity sparked in her when Ivan came into view. "Oh my," Io giggled. "You're such a charming prince, Ivan!"

"It's really nice to meet you," Ivan greeted, holding a bouquet of flowers and a gift bag. "Thank you for inviting me over. Please take this as a thank you gift."

She happily takes the gifts, taking a sneak peak inside the gift bag. "These items look very expensive!" Io commented.

"Ah, it wasn't that pricey," Ivan responded, knowing damn well it was. He had asked Sua to go shopping with him the previous day, wanting to make a great first impression. They spent three hours at the mall in the perfume store as Sua ranked which ones were the best. "I hope you like them."

"I'm positive I will. Thank you, Ivan. I hope my dinner is enough to pay you back for your generosity," Io finally looks over to Till. "And I'm so happy to finally see my baby again!" She pressed a kiss on her son's cheek, ignoring his whine to stop embarrassing him.

They walked into the house and Ivan liked how cozy the atmosphere was. "Make yourselves at home," Io said. "Dinner is almost ready, so maybe you two can hang in Till's room to kill some time?"

"No, it's fine–" Till was cut off.

"I insist, dear!" Io patted his head. "You two must be exhausted from traveling. Take a rest and I'll call you down when it's ready, okay?"

"Fine…"

Io walked off to the kitchen and played some music to keep herself occupied. Till sighed, looked over at Ivan, and sighed even deeper. "Let's go," He mumbles and walks up the stairs.

Till's room was everything Ivan had anticipated. The theme was heavily centered around music– vinyls and posters hanging on the wall in a clean manner, shelves were filled with different albums, and his desk was clustered with music sheets. "Ah," Till organized the sheets in one stack. "I forgot I left those like that."

Ivan gently closed the door behind him. "Your room is nice," It really speaks volumes on who Till was as a person and his dedication to music. "It's …" He doesn't finish after he catches a ginormous cage in the corner.

A hamster? Till was into hamsters? Ivan watched the little animal roam around their habitat, munching on a diversity of snacks that was left for them. The hamster home was luxurious and Ivan felt at awe watching it run around stress-free. He never had a pet before, so it was memorizing watching what the hamster would do next.

"His name is Casey," Till said. "I got him three years ago. I took care of him, but now that I go to college my mom took over."

Till smiled softly at his pet. "I plan on taking him with me eventually," He said.

Ivan nodded. "He has a nice home. Most people would put them in wired cages and call it a day."

"Uneducated people," Till scoffed.

"Mm."

"I have some manga and comics if you're into those types of stuff," Till pointed over to a shelf. "I also have some games if you want to play on your own."

Right, Till doesn’t want nothing to do with him. Ivan should know this by now, but it hurts trying to make the effort to reconnect with someone who wants to do nothing with you anymore. "I'll look at the comics," He said.

Till nods and jumps onto his bed. He pretends to be on his phone, occasionally taking glances at Ivan to see what he was up to. Oh, Ivan was looking at his marvel comics but he seemed confused.

"Ironman?" Ivan muttered. It was fascinating what the human mind can come up with. Ivan would've never thought of characters like these. "There's so many of them."

"You…" Till hesitated to speak. "Look confused. Have you never heard of the franchise?"

Ivan shakes his head, a bit stunned that the silver-head was speaking to him willingly. "It looks interesting," He said. "I'll read this one."

"No," Till said, snatching the comic out of his grasp. "You're not going to understand anything if you skip volumes. I'm making you watch the movies."

Ivan is forced to sit down on the bed as Till pulls up the first movie. He sat against the wall and pulled his knees towards his chest, watching as Till sits a few centimeters away from him but enough for their shoulders to brush. "I can't believe you never watched any of these," He muttered.

He doesn't respond, but pays attention to the movie just like Till wanted. Not a word was said between them except for occasional touches by accident like their hand brushing against each other or getting caught staring at one another.

The silver-head peeked down at their hands, his fingers slowly curling away to avoid any more accidents. If Till was to look any longer, he would've seen the way Ivan's pinkie reached out for some comfort.

They both thanked the universe when Io called them down for dinner. "Go on ahead. I have to use the bathroom," Till said while putting away the remote.

Io already had the table set up and the plates down with food. Ivan was thankful his stomach didn't growl loudly after sniffing the food scent. "Till's not here?"

"He went to use the bathroom," Ivan responded, taking a seat across Io. "Thank you for the meal."

"No worries, Ivan. You can dig in if you want," Io poured herself a glass of water. "How's your studies going? Till doesn’t talk about you as much, so I was a bit worried that something happened. I'm glad to see you're still friends."

"My studies are going great, miss," Ivan answered, deciding to wait for Till to arrive. "I have been… busy, so I haven't hung out with Till in a while."

It's better to convince Io that they were friends, right? Ivan doesn't want to cause any more trouble to Till. "He used to speak about you a ton! He even showed me a song you created, it's very good."

"Thank you," Ivan responded. "You're son recently created a song and I was given the chance to listen to it. He has a special talent and an amazing voice."

"Tilly has always been fond of music," Io chuckled. "I know he's making another song. The last time he came here, he spent all night writing this one song… ah, I think he named it 'Vida Loca'? Something like that."

Was that the music sheet I saw on his desk? Ivan thought.

"I wasn't aware of that," Ivan replied. "I'll ask Till about it later." He wasn't.

"I'm glad he has a great friend with him," Ivan held back a wince and recalled all the memories that weren't really 'friends'-like. "Don't tell him, but Till struggled making friends here… so I was a bit worried when he left for college. It seems I don't have to worry too much."

"Till has a lot of friends on campus who care deeply for him," Ivan smiled, unaware of Till's presence. "I.. care for Till a lot and I hope to be there when he succeeds."

Till pulled out a chair, startling the two. "What are you guys talking about?" He asked.

"Nothing much," Io's smile grew more, watching the silent exchange between them. She thinks they make a cute couple and the thought of it made her heart soar.

"Studies," Ivan said at the same time. A faint blush spread on his cheeks that went noticed by Io. He takes a bite of the food to keep him distracted.

Thankfully Till doesn't pry and joins the meal, thanking his mother for the food. The conversations are light topics about their studies and hobbies. Till mentions about his job and tells Io of all the funny stories that happened, mainly involving Hyun-woo. Ivan was put on the spot about his football team.

"Ah… I left because it wasn't working out with my classes," Ivan lied. "I was good at the sport, but never felt a connection towards it. I guess… I just wanted to pass by time."

"Aren't your friends sad that you left? It must be weird without you there."

Friends? The only true friend he could think of was Acorn, but he was an assistant. Acorn knew how to push his buttons and keep him on track. The rest of his team… Well, it took him a while to realize how much of a jerk they were towards others and how blindly he followed just to fit in.

"I…"

There was a pair of knocks.

Ivan noticed the way the silver-head tensed up. He glanced at Io who sighed and got up from her chair. "Mom," Till called out.

"Don't worry. I won't let him come in," Io assured. "He's probably here to pick up his packages. I wished he would've sent a message though… sorry about this Ivan."

Io opened the door and Ivan could barely see the man standing there. "Urak," Io greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"I left my sweater here," The man's voice was deep. Till made sure he wasn't in view. "I was so busy bringing my stuff out that I forgot about it… that brat isn't here, right?"

"Don't call my son a brat, Urak!" Io answered with frustration. "Why does it even matter to you if Till is here or not?"

As the adults were bickering, the sweater belonging to Urak was placed on the living room table. Till's emotions got the best of him as he erupted up from his chair and snatched the sweater, ignoring Ivan's protests.

A hand tugged him back. Till looks back at the jock and lets out a gasp when the sweater is snatched away. "I'll give it to him."

"Are you insane?" He said, a little too loud for Ivan's likings.

"If that makes me insane, then what does that make you?"

The jock placed his hand over Till's cheek, the same one where it was bruised. "I don't know much of your relationship with Urak, but it's obvious that man doesn't like you," Ivan whispered so the others wouldn't hear. "He hurt you."

Till was too late to respond with the jock heading out to the entrance. His brain processed the situation and Till shouted for Ivan, but the jock was already at the door.

"I'm a friend of Till," Ivan answered the man's question. "My name is Ivan."

"A friend of his?" Urak couldn't help but laugh, feeling like a prank was happening. "I'm surprised that a brat like him is capable of making a friend."

"Urak." Io said sternly. "I believe you should leave now."

"Why so soon? I still have a bone to pick with the brat," Urak smelt off alcohol from what Ivan could sense. His nose scrunched at the strong odor. "Bring him here to me or I'll make him face me."

"You have your sweater, Urak! You will not be seeing my son ever again, not after last time!" Io stood her ground, bracing herself for the worst.

"That bitch still needs a lesson from–"

"I need the lesson?" A voice appeared. It was Till who was absolutely furious and stomping towards the entrance. "You're the one who loves putting your nose into everyone's business! I was only putting you in your place, dumbass."

"Till!"

"Say it closer to my face, you brat!"

Before Urak could take a step closer, Ivan placed himself in between the two groups. "You should leave," Ivan warned. "My family is rich, so we have great connections with lawyers."

Ivan dislikes mentioning his family status for multiple reasons, but right now his life depended on it. He was unsure if he could fight Urak on his own. The man did look intimidating and Ivan would rather not fight.

Urak didn't seem to believe him as he laughed his ass off. "I'm so scared," He said between laughter. "Io, you need to control these kids before they mess with the wrong ones. It won't be pretty."

Ivan relaxes when the man leaves, stumbling in his steps. Io throws a harsh glare at her son's direction, "We talked about this."

"Sorry…"

"We'll talk later." Io said. She remembered vividly telling Till to never approach or be in the same room as Urak for his own safety and prevent fights from happening.

"Ivan, I'm so sorry for all this commotion!" Io bowed apologetically. "Me and Urak are separating, so he often comes by to pick up his stuff or drop some papers."

"No worries, miss. I'm just glad everything turned out okay," Ivan smiled to assure her. He was indeed glad Urak didn't decide to barge in and cause a commotion with Till.

Despite the high tension, they go back to the dinner table to finish their meals. Io resumes their previous conversation after scolding her son in front of Ivan. Till accepted his fate and got no dessert for disobeying his mother's wishes.

It didn't last long as Io felt bad and gave Till the dessert.

Time passed by so fast that they didn't realize it was late at night. "You two can stay over tonight!" Io suggested, causing Till to spit his water out. "I don't want anything bad happening to you two. My nerves are high after Urak came by."

"Uh… there's not a lot of room."

"Don't be silly, Till. Your bed is big enough for the two of you," Io said.

Let's just say… Till lost the conversation.

And now Till was laying down next to Ivan.

Ivan, who unfortunately, had to wear spare oversized clothes belonging to Till.

Their backs were facing away from each other, nothing but the faint noises of outside being heard. Ivan wondered if the silver-head was asleep because of how still he was.

"Sorry."

"Huh? Why are you apologizing?" Ivan turned around.

"Because… of the way I behaved," Till mumbles. "And I put you in danger too."

"I don't mind."

"Huh?" Till turned around annoyed. "You should mind! Urak isn't someone to mess around with… I know this, yet I made an impulsive choice… and you.."

"I don't mind… because," Ivan hesitated. "I still care about you, after everything I did, I want to continue caring about you."

Ivan's heart jumped when Till finally looked at him. "And I'm sorry for causing you so much pain. I was a jerk. I should've known better."

Till scoffed, "Yeah… you should've."

The silver-head flicked Ivan in the forehead, causing a small 'ow'! "I care about you too," Till admitted. He wants to reach out for the jock's hand so bad. "I… don't know what to do with you."

"Give me another chance," Ivan responded a bit too fast. He pauses, does what Till yearned for and holds his hands. "I… wish that you would give me another chance. I want to continue being in your life, Till. I want to redeem myself for you."

The heavy silence was killing Ivan.

"Friends," Till finally speaks out, removing his hands from Ivan's pair. "Only friends. Nothing more."

Friends was a term that ached Till to say. He wanted to be more than friends, but considering everything that happened.. perhaps the two weren't meant to be. Till was still confused about Ivan, so being strictly friends would help Till with his emotions.

"Friends," Ivan nodded. "Nothing more."

@ankt.gossip

 

ANKT Football team was immediately eliminated in the first match of the Winter Tournament, scores settling by a huge gap.

 

With Ivan being no longer present, ANKT Football team is surely showing how much they suck without him. One team member, Travis, didn't hesitate to show his frustration on the field!!

Notes:

updates will be slower than usual :((

Chapter 15: new addiction

Summary:

"No, I'm asking what do you want to do, Ivan?" Till jabbed a finger to the jock's chest. "Thinking about it now, we never did anything you wanted to do. You are always following behind me like some lost puppy."

Notes:

next chap is unknown i fear

"Give me another chance."

Till wanted to slam his head against a desk from how committed Ivan has been to redeem himself. Although they may not be as close as before, Ivan stuck around with Till whenever he got the chance and even defended him when times got rough within campus.

Students just loved to go up to Till and bother him about his status with Ivan. Girls who confessed were eager to know how he managed to swoop Ivan's heart while the boys wanted to know the drama going on in the football team. It bothered him to know he was known for 'ruining the football team' when he didn't want to be involved with them in the first place.

Ivan, as promised, announced on his account that he and Till were not dating. He claimed that the gossip account was being dramatic and taking photos out of context. It was supposed to go well. It was going to work if it hadn't been for his old teammates commenting– specifically Travis.

ivan @offical.ivan

It has come to my attention that our campus gossip account had created dating allegations towards me and a friend. I wanted to take the time and deny these rumors, as the photos that were shown were taken out of context.

ANKT gossip account disabled other users from messaging them, so if the owner sees this: please take down that post :)

And respectfully, don't take pictures of strangers.
Posted three days ago

@floweyyy
this post shouldn't even exist!! its crazy what ppl do these days for attention

@wonhon
I disagree! Coming from a fellow teammate :)

@lolllopppq
the football team has always been toxic!! i hope karma gets to them FR

@hwuwjw
You were so willing and committed to have your tongue deep inside him tho???
>>>> @floweyyy grow uppp
>>> @acorn you're a grown ass adult btw. how about we act like one?

@traviiiisss
stfu, you wanted to date that thing from the start

@raghhh
can we cancel the football team?? all of them need some humbling

Till was exhausted from dealing with this drama, often making him wonder if this was all worth it. It would be a lie if he told everyone he wasn't thinking of leaving. Till search history has been filled with multiple colleges around the area or even further. He could always transfer next semester.

Mizi told him to ignore everyone because the drama will die down by next week. Sua even assured him that everything will be okay, much to Till's surprise.

Yet it was hard to believe so when the football team was staring at him constantly, specifically that one dude he met at the party. Travis, was it? "What a bitch," He whispered.

Acorn, bless his soul, has been doing his best to keep the damage control, even going through the hard efforts of gathering any evidence to remove certain players off the team. He's been doing it anonymously so the team doesn't catch him.

"Hm?" Ivan looked up from his computer.

"Nothing. I was talking to myself," Till replied. They were both in a private study room located within the library. He wanted to focus on his assignments while Ivan studied for an upcoming exam. "What outfit should I wear for my performance?"

"Performance?"

Till shrugged, "Oh, I forgot to tell you. I was voted top best music in my class. The professor said I can have it performed at the winter festival."

Crap, Ivan almost forgot about that school's tradition. Right before the students go on break, a huge winter festival is held inside the building to celebrate the upcoming holidays and success of its students. It's turned into a source of entertainment with a lot of activities such as DIY, allowing students to sell items and providing food and drinks. There's a stage to allow students to perform, specifically those who are in any type of performing arts.

Till was honored to be listed as a special guest, along with Luka and Hyuna who are his special performers.

"Oh.. congratulations," Ivan said. "We can go shopping if you don't have anything to wear."

And that's how they found themselves at the mall on a random Saturday.

Till wanted to go for something basic, like a casual suit to make himself appear professional in case any companies appear. He went through three different colors suits– the classic black suit, a gray one, and a teal one.

"This one is way too painful to look at," Till commented at the teal suit, eyes soaring from the color.

"The classic one is probably for the best," Ivan agreed that the teal was too outshining, not to Till's liking for sure. He thinks everything looks great on the silver-head, but Till didn't appear as confident unlike in the classic one. "How much is it?"

"Uh," The way his face scrunched up is enough to tell Ivan the suit was expensive. "A price. Eighty bucks. Are suits always at these prices?"

The jock grabbed the suit and hummed, "Usually. There are others that cost quite more."

"Alright then, I'll go grab my wallet– Ivan?" Till looked away for one second and the jock disappeared into thin air. He quickly grabbed his bag and roamed through the store to find Ivan. "For a guy so tall he sure is hard to find–"

"We can go now," Ivan said. His hand was now holding a shopping bag.

"Did you…?"

"I wanted to–"

Ivan was dragged to a designated lounge area and thrown onto one of the empty chairs. Till sat right next to him, ignoring all the shoppers' stares, and took out eighty bucks to shove it into Ivan's chest.

"You don't have to pay for me anymore," He commented. Till rubbed the back of his neck and hated the way he blushed so easily. "We're not… dating or anything, so you don't have to pay for my stuff."

But I want to. Ivan wanted to say, instead he nodded and accepted the cash.

"So… what do you want to do now?"

Ivan shrugged. "Whatever you want to do."

"No, I'm asking what do you want to do, Ivan?" Till jabbed a finger to the jock's chest. "Thinking about it now, we never did anything you wanted to do. You are always following behind me like some lost puppy."

What does he want to do?

What does he even want to do?

Ivan was always caught up in entertaining others at a young age to fit in because of his odd personality (according to Sua). Constantly buying people snacks or gifts was enough to sustain them throughout the school year. Constantly pretending to use another personality to fit in was exhausting, but it allowed Ivan to create his own group of 'friends' to stick around with.

"I…" Ivan looked at the ground, trying to think of anything before Till got bored. "I want ice cream."

"In this cold–" Till stopped. He takes a deep breath and nods, not wanting Ivan to feel ashamed at his request. "Ice cream it is then."

There were plenty of ice cream shops around the mall, but the duo took their time deciding which one was the best place. A total of thirty minutes passed by before Ivan settled for one, getting a vanilla ice cream while Till got cookies and cream.

Ivan ends up taking Till to almost every store imaginable, exploring the variety of products and even buying a couple of things like a new pair of shoes, headphones, and a plushie for Sua. The plushie was a capybara with a yellow bow on top of its head after a wild debate on what Sua would prefer.

Obviously Ivan won the conversation.

Till tried to hide his shivering as they walked down the mall. He was thankful Ivan was fixated at whatever store he was staring so intensely at. Till rubbed his hands together for warmth while regretting his choices to eat such a cold dessert in this weather.

"Those look fascinating," Ivan pointed at a series of trinkets– a collection of little green fellows doing all sorts of poses. He specifically pointed at one trinket that had a sweater over its head while sitting. "I want that one."

"Ah… those are like mystery boxes," Till decided to warn his friend of the dangers of these products and how fast people become addicted to them. "There's a chance you might get a different one and they're pricey too."

Despite the warnings, Ivan went ahead and brought a mystery box. They sat next to each other on a bench, hustling close as Ivan eagerly prayed he got the one he wanted. He opens the packaging, closing his eyes and pulling the figure.

"Is it the one I want?"

"Uh…"

Till hesitating was enough to tell him he didn't. Ivan opened his eyes and sighed in defeat, revealing it to be a figure holding a thumbs up.

"I'll be right back."

He brought another one.

And another one.

Another.

Another.

Another one.

"This is a scam," Ivan huffed and wanted to throw the duplicate figure across the mall. The figures were cute and Ivan was definitely putting it in his room, but he was hoping to get the one he wanted. "I'm buying another one–"

"Woah!" Till shakes his head and drags Ivan out of the mall. "Absolutely not. You spent way too much on those! That was close to a hundred!"

Ivan complained to the silver-head the whole entire walk back to the car. Even as he buckled in his seatbelt, unnoticing the way Till side-eyed him, he said: "I can feel it in my bones, Till. It's the next one."

Till held back a laugh. He never thought he would see a frustrated Ivan before– the same flirtatious, cunning college student bickering about trinkets was hard to imagine. Till smiled and said, "We can come back next time. You're going to become a gambler at this rate."

Ivan continued to express his disappointment, arguing that the company did it on purpose to fool the customers into believing they'll get different figures from purchasing multiple blind boxes. Till finally burst out laughing, wiping a tear when Ivan finished his statement.

"Do you want this one?" Ivan handed over the duplicate figure of it holding a thumbs-up. "I want to give this to you before you leave."

"Thanks. It does look cute," Till muttered, taking the figure. He also thanked Ivan for driving him home. He found it cute how much thr figure correlates with Ivan-- it may be a simple design, but it resembled Ivan's pokerface and personality.

He unbuckled his seatbelt and exited the car. Till glanced one final look at Ivan and said, "You look even more memorizing when you express yourself."

Till doesn’t give the jock a chance to respond, shutting the car door and running into his building. Ivan was left flustered at the interaction, chuckling to himself before driving away.

Later that night, Till receives pictures of the figures scattered around Ivan's room, with a message saying: "I'm happy we bumped into these. Let's go to the mall again sometimes."

Till softly smiles and replied back quickly, their conversation slowly progressing and lasting throughout the whole night before one of them accidently fell asleep.

Maybe Mizi and Sua were right. The drama will die down eventually and the football team would get off their backs after realizing how childish they've been... right?

For now, Till will enjoy the comfort of having Ivan in his life once more.

Notes:

anyone else got a mystery box addiction??

cause i do a tons.

ivan is a smiski person