NIGHTMARE

19 | valentine

kihyun woke gasping for air and struggling between sweaty sheets. his eyes flashed open. it was just a bad dream, another nightmare.

he subconsciously reached a hand to the other side of the bed, meeting nothing but empty space, and kihyun closed his eyes with a sigh. he should have broken the repetitive nature of his old reflexes - it had been months since he'd woken up with hoseok at his side.

so why the nightmares now? and why, today of all days, was his ex boyfriend on his mind?

kihyun clumsily grabbed his phone from the dresser and turned it on to check the time. the date read 'february 14th' and he let out a groan.

valentine's day.

knowing that today would likely be a bad day, kihyun shuffled out of his room to take a shower and get ready for school. by the time he drove through the front gates, he'd already seen enough red and pink hearts to last him a lifetime.

"morning, mr yoo," smiled mr son, helping kihyun out with some books on the way through the front entrance. "happy valentine's day!"

"mhm, you too," kihyun nodded in response.

"no... special someone in your life?" mr son asked in that friendly manner he always seemed to have about him.

kihyun paused at his classroom door and tried to open the handle between the mountain of books he carried. "it's complicated," he admitted.

with lim changkyun, things sure were complicated.

"well, i hope you have a good day anyway," said mr son, before handing over the books and heading off to his own classroom.

kihyun sat down at his desk and sighed. he tried to organise his books between ones that were marked and ones that still needed marking, but it was all a bit of a mess - like his life. he wondered whether he should've gotten changkyun a valentine's gift but then brushed away the thought. it wouldn't have been very appropriate.

besides, it wasn't like they were in a relationship or anything like that...

"knock knock," said a voice at the door.

kihyun glanced up as changkyun let himself into the room, kicking the door shut behind him with his foot. in his arms was the most enormous bouquet of roses he had ever seen. kihyun's jaw dropped.

"what... is that," he wheezed.

changkyun grinned at him and placed the bouquet in the middle of the teacher's desk. "this," he said, "is the newest reason why i'm broke."

kihyun gaped at the roses, hundreds and hundreds of red roses. changkyun was smiling at him in the cutest way, and kihyun felt himself choke up a little. "n-no one's ever..." he trailed off.

"...given you flowers before?" changkyun guessed. "really?"

kihyun shook his head. "never."

changkyun punched the air and beamed at him. "looks like i get to be the first then."

"chang- i- look, i don't think i can accept this." kihyun bit his lip, still trying to think what the hell he was supposed to do with that many roses.

changkyun's face fell. "why not?" he demanded.

kihyun struggled to pick up the bouquet and move around the desk to where changkyun was standing. "it's too much," he said shaking his head, "you must've spent a fortune-"

"it was nothing," changkyun insisted. "and they're for you - you can't give back a gift, and not on valentine's. don't go breaking my heart, sir."

he seized the bouquet back and put them in their rightful place on kihyun's desk. then his hands moved to kihyun's hips and lifted him to sit on the desk.

"what are you doing?" kihyun whispered nervously, hands hesitant on changkyun's shoulders.

"it's my other valentine's gift," changkyun murmured, breath warm on kihyun's lips. "i thought you might want it now."

despite the alarm bells ringing in kihyun's head, he didn't push changkyun away as their lips locked. his thighs wrapped around changkyun's hips and the kiss became more heated, more rushed and desperate as they indulged in the brief moments they could steal together.

"...the bell," kihyun gasped, pulling away and untangling himself from changkyun's embrace, "you should get to class."

"i've got your class first today," changkyun said, his laugh ringing out over the drone of the school bell.

kihyun allowed himself a laugh and checked his reflection in his blank computer screen. "sit down then," he mumbled.

changkyun smirked good-naturedly and went to dump his bag on his desk. "did you like your valentine's presents then?" he asked.

kihyun felt rather flustered and his cheeks flushed as red as the roses. "shut up, if you don't want a smack," he warned.

"i'll be sure to keep talking then," changkyun countered with a grin. "anyway, you're coming to the game this week, aren't you?"

kihyun blinked. "baseball?"

"yeah, it's on thursday," changkyun replied. "you'll come and support me, right? i might even hit a home run if you're there."

"looks like i'll have to come then," kihyun said, rolling his eyes. "now, get out your work, the lesson's starting soon."

students started arriving and before long the literature lesson was about to begin.

"you're actually doing work, chang?" sewoon observed in disbelief as he took his seat next to his desk partner.

changkyun just nodded and shrugged.

"and you're not late," sewoon marvelled. "who are you and what have you done with lim changkyun?"

"ha ha," changkyun drawled.

"changkyun!" squealed jiyeon, bouncing over to his desk with her hands behind her back. "happy valentine's! this is for you." she presented him with a heart shaped box of chocolates wrapped in a blindly-bright pink ribbon.

"uh, thanks..." changkyun said with an awkward smile.

"ooh," said a girl from the desk at the front, catching changkyun's attention, "got yourself a secret admirer, sir?"

changkyun hid his smile. not so secret, he thought.

"oh, uh, yes, it would seem so," kihyun stammered in response.

"she must be really into you, sir," added another girl.

he is.

midway into the lesson, changkyun had already eaten half the chocolates in the box jiyeon had given him. she was radiating that toxic smile of hers at the thought of him accepting her gift. kihyun, meanwhile, was frowning.

"changkyun, can i have a word?" he called.

"you called?" changkyun said once he'd reached the front of the classroom.

"you're eating in class," kihyun stated flatly.

"yeah?" changkyun shrugged. "ohh, i get it. you're jealous."

"pfft, i am not," kihyun scoffed. "put the chocolate away, it's against the school rules."

"i don't like jiyeon, i like you," changkyun murmured under his breath. "i only took the chocolate because, well, it's chocolate."

kihyun tried his best not to smile. "you're a fatass," he said.

changkyun grinned. "but i'm your fatass," he pointed out.

kihyun couldn't disagree with that.

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