junchenny

On The Pulse- Chapter 10: Impromptus

junchenny — Sun, 12 Feb 2017 11:00:47 GMT

Title: On The Pulse
Pairing: Sekai, side baekchen
Length: 10/20
Genre: Romance, Humor, College!AU
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sehun's the king of the dance squad, everyone in college knew that. So you can imagine he wasn't too happy when the freshie Jongin showed up and upstaged him spectacularly.

"Alright listen here freshie."

Sehun did not bother wasting any time getting straight to the point once both of them had arrived to the studio for their first practice session together.

Jongin folded his arms indignantly, eyebrows raised as he waited to hear what he just knew was going to be some obnoxious speech about Sehun's superiority. Jongin wasn't much of a talker, but he was certainly damn good at listening. And he was indeed highly interested to listen to just what the great Oh Sehun had to say to him.

"Taemin and I already started putting together a piece for the showcase, and since you're just Taemin's replacement,"

Jongin noted how emphatically Sehun stressed the word replacement and nodded appreciatively.

"Just follow the choreo I teach you without any questions. Don't try to add anything funny of your own and don't even think of trying to change it. Practice times will be according to my convenience and if you can't make it well that's too bad, you've got to find a way. Understood?"

Jongin smiled once Sehun had stopped, while on the other hand Sehun's brows were crinkled and he had a rather obvious grimace on his face.

"Perfectly."

Sehun was quite taken aback by Jongin's incredibly passive stance, and to an extent he was even beginning to suspect Jongin had something up his sleeve for he was being far too nonchalant at the moment, especially given how he had not brought up the fishy resolution of the theft incident even though Sehun knew he must have been dying to find out just how he got away.

"R-Right. Good. Okay. Now, here's what we've come up with so far."

Sehun began the music and started with a jump spin, watching himself in the mirror as he executed power-move after power-move perfectly. Jongin was watching him closely, not only observing the choreo and technique but also observing Sehun's face. It was the picture of discipline and focus, but at the same time evoking powerful emotion which Jongin found amazing.

Jongin always looked up to Sehun as a dancer, but after what Sehun did to him, there was somewhat of a crack in the perfect perception he held of his idol. While he could still admire Sehun's terrific dancing, it was no longer just pure, solid admiration but more so of 'yeah you dance excellently but you're a crappy person so what's the point'.

The music came to a drum solo bit which was when Sehun stopped dancing and dropped his hands to his hips.

"This is up till where we finished our choreography. Give me till next week, I'll come up with somethi-"

Sehun froze as Jongin suddenly spun and popped his chest to the beat of the music. As the intense drum solo picked up, so did Jongin's fierce movements, with every punch and kick and roll perfectly synced with the beats. It was almost as if his body movements were creating the rhythm and melody.

Sehun could tell it was impromptu dancing, but to any random person it'd probably look like a proper, professional dance. There was something captivating about Jongin's dancing where his movements transcended technique and were more so like a story-telling instrument which just left you speechless.

The music built up finally, signalling that it was going to end, with which Jongin gave a final pirouette and ended off dropping to his knees on the final beat.

As he panted hard, his fringe which was previously slicked up now covering his eyes, he looked up through his hair to find Sehun staring at him with an ajar mouth.

"Sorry, I just, went with the music to see what we could come up with."

Sehun closed his mouth and folded his arms, trying to cover up his state of surprise.

"That...that was alright. But it doesn't flow well with the first part at all and there were too many spins when it got to the bridge. Plus, the movements don't really reflect the lyrics of the song and- nevermind. Point is, like I said, I'll come up with the choreo to finish off the piece so don't worry about it."

Jongin stood up, still panting a bit. There was a lot he wanted to say to Sehun, but he just knew it was either going to be pointless or just end up in a fight. Neither of which he wanted. So, wiping off some of the perspiration on his forehead, Jongin nodded with his gaze on the ground.

"Got it, I was just...experimenting."

Sehun nodded as well, still trying to appear unimpressed and unbothered when in actual fact, he was bloody awe-struck as to how Jongin was able to dance so well on the spot and still look so good. It was a show of pure talent which even he suspected he did not have as much as.

Of course, he'd rather be shot first than ever admitting that out loud.

"Okay, well, let's get started then."

-------------------------

Sehun and Jongin practiced the first part of the choreo for 2 hours without any breaks. At first Sehun was purposely teaching Jongin as minimally and quickly as possible, but Jongin was a fast learner and could catch on pretty easily. There was no small talk, and neither were there any arguments or tiffs. It was just purely about the music and the moves.

There was a particular step which managed to stump Jongin however, where he simply could not coordinate his arms and feet at the same time.

Sehun stopped once he noticed this in the mirror and went over to Jongin, forgetting about their animosity in that moment and mainly focussing on the choreography.

"Punch on the third beat, not fourth. That's where you're going wrong. Like this."

Sehun held Jongin's elbows, moving through the motions and counting the beats as he showed Jongin how to correct his mistake. Jongin paid close attention, finally understanding and nodding once he got it.

Sehun went back to his position and looked at both of themselves in the mirror, counting from the start and going through the series of steps again, with this time Jongin executing it perfectly.

"Yeah, that's it. Good, okay from the top."

As Sehun walked over to his phone to start the music, Jongin watched him with a faint smile, thinking back to how he was guiding him just a few moments ago.

It reminded him of the weeks Sehun spent being friendly with Jongin and practicing with him. In that time Jongin had no clue of Sehun's true ulterior motive. All he knew was someone he looked up to wanted to spend time with him and mentor him. In a brand new environment and school where he barely knew anyone and felt like a lost fish out in sea, Sehun made him feel like... like he wasn't alone.

Like he had a friend.

And that was a nice feeling Jongin cherished so much.

"Okay, 5, 6, 7-"

The music and Sehun's countdown snapped Jongin out of his thoughts, and also reminded him that those weeks were just a sham; this was reality.

Sehun hated his guts, and now he was stuck with him, preparing for a performance in which he couldn't even have any creative input.

Jongin sighed, staring intensly at himself in the mirror as he got ready for the beat to kick in.

Even if he couldn't help choreograph the piece, he could at least make sure he slayed the shit out of it.

-------------------------

"What do you mean you can't come?"

Jongin couldn't help but overhear Sehun's frustrated conversation on the phone with who he could only assume was one of Sehun's posse members.

"What am I going to do now? Baekhyun and Jongdae are off on some date night shit, there's no food in the ro- alone? You want me to eat alone? Do you know how sad that is?"

Jongin contained his chuckle, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he watched the back of Sehun's head while waiting for him to go through the door to exit the studio.

"Ahhh you're such an asshole. You said you were paying so I didn't bring my wallet. Now I'm going to have to go back to the room, get my wallet, go get some crappy takeaway and eat sadly by myself. I hope you know how much I hate you."

Sehun then shoved his phone in his pocket and finally went through the door, allowing Jongin to exit as well.

Seeing Sehun's frustrated face, Jongin pursed his lips before speaking up.

"You know... we could just have dinner together."

"What?"

Sehun looked both confused and disgusted at the same time, as if Jongin had just suggested he take a bath in a pile of cow dung.

"I got this voucher for a double meal at Big Al's Pizzeria and I haven't used it yet. It expires today and it'd be a shame to waste it..."

"You haven't used it yet?"

"Haven't found anyone whom I could use it with."

"Isn't Junmyeon your roommate? He's a nice fellow."

"Yeah he is, but I rarely see him. Our schedules don't coincide at all, plus he always has other dinner plans. So..."

Sehun just stared at Jongin with the same perpelexed and offended look, which made Jongin question why he even bothered being a decent person in the first place. This was the guy who tried to get him kicked out of school, of course he wouldn't really like the idea of eating with him. Taking the silence as a no, Jongin finally shrugged and began to walk off, but stopped after his sixth step.

"Wait!"

Jongin smirked as Sehun caught up to him, and once he turned and noticed the very grumpy look on Sehun's face, his smirk grew even wider.

"I'll pay you back even though it's a voucher, so don't even think I owe you anything because of this."

Jongin's smirk grew into a toothy smile, Sehun and him now step-in-step heading towards Big Al's Pizzeria.

"Thought didn't even cross my mind."

On The Pulse- Chapter 9: Broken Cabinets and Bones

junchenny — Sun, 12 Feb 2017 10:58:41 GMT

Title: On The Pulse
Pairing: Sekai, side baekchen
Length: 9/20
Genre: Romance, Humor, College!AU
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sehun's the king of the dance squad, everyone in college knew that. So you can imagine he wasn't too happy when the freshie Jongin showed up and upstaged him spectacularly.

"You've got to be joking."

"No, I swear. 100% true."

Chanyeol let out a huff that was somewhere between a scoff and a laugh, disbelief written all over his face. His eyes were doing that weird thing where they looked like saucers again, and his mouth being ajar didn't make him look any less idiotic at the moment.

Sehun just kept staring at Baekhyun, while the latter merely sipped on his iced tea, looking back and forth between Sehun and Chanyeol with wide, almost innocent blinking eyes. After explaining his whole plan and how it was a success, he had even smirked at Chanyeol, who was trying to figure out how his own plan failed but this disaster somehow survived.

"You're telling me, the headmaster, the headmaster who graduated from Oxford and has 2 PHD's, fell for a paper bag over your head and a couple of screenshots?"

Baekhyun nodded in response to Chanyeol's question, still sipping his tea.

"To be honest, like I said, it was mostly Kyungsoo's idea. He was the one who knew about the blackmail he could obtain and stuff. I just asked him to help us and also helped to be the paper bag boy."

Sehun and Chanyeol were still flabbergasted beyond imagination. Of course, Sehun was not complaining at all. He had never felt so relieved in his entire life and for the first time, he was actually thankful for Byun Baekhyun's existence.

"Holy shit, I think I'm in love with Kyungsoo again."

Baekhyun chuckled, but only momentarily before his face suddenly became serious. Sehun and Chanyeol tensed up; a serious Baekhyun was like the blood moon- very rare and pretty phenominal.

"Sehun, now that I've helped you, I kind of have a favour to ask in return."

-------------------------

"I still don't understand why you need my help for something like this."

"You're the only one with experience in fixing things."

"I literally fixed a lightbulb once, like 8 months ago. Chanyeol's the handyman out of all of us."

"Well Chanyeol isn't free, so I'm asking you."

"What do you mean he isn't free, I saw him in the library just before this-"

"JUST SHUT UP AND GET IN THERE AND FIX MY CABINET ALREADY!"

"ALRIGHT! JESUS CHRIST CALM D-"

Jongdae stopped mid-sentence as he noticed a presence in the middle of Sehun and Chanyeol's room once he opened the door.

As he stared at Baekhyun sitting on Chanyeol's bed, Sehun shoved him forward and slammed the door, quickly leaning his bodyweight against it seconds before he heard expletives and bangs from the other side from his small but fiesty friend. If it were not for the fact that the school required payment for any damage to its property, he was pretty sure Jongdae would have kicked the door down.

He was one stubborn man, and if he didn't want to see Baekhyun, he was not going to see Baekhyun. That was that.

Unluckily for him though, Sehun was pretty much a dick who couldn't care less about Jongdae's stubborness.

Baekhyun helped to save his precious ass, he owed him this.

"I swear to God Sehun, open the damn door!"

"Not until you make up with Baekhyun."

A very frustrated groan and what felt like a kick against the door was the only response Sehun got, which actually amused him as he pictured a flustered Jongdae which was more like an angry little duck.

"Come on J, please hear me out. Let me explain."

Once Sehun heard a muffled sigh, he pushed himself off the door and paused for a moment, making sure Jongdae was for sure still not trying to escape like his life depended on it. After a few seconds passed without the door being pushed open into his face, he heard Baekhyun start to talk, which was his cue to smile in satisfaction and leave the 2 love puppies to make up.

He just prayed to God they wouldn't have sex in his bed.

Chanyeol's was comfier anyway.

-------------------------

"Bring your hand up a little faster after you spin. Like PAH!"

Sehun rolled his eyes as he watched Jongin teach a rather complicated dance step to Hyoyeon. Johnny and Ten were behind them, watching him as well and trying to follow his precision and technique.

The fact that Hyoyeon actually approached Jongin instead of him to ask for help was ludacris in itself.

Hyoyeon always asked Sehun.

Everyone always asked Sehun.

"He's really handsome isn't he?"

Sehun turned to find Krystal plop down next to him on the floor, tightening the cap on her bottle of water. She was still panting, which was rather normal as she was not exactly the fittest out of all of them, but her eyes were glued to Jongin as he danced, a faint smile on her lips as well.

Ugh.

He got it.

Jongin was great.

Everyone loved him.

He didn't need to be reminded of that literally every other second.

"Yeah, he's not bad."

Sehun realised he really needed to enrol in acting classes, for he had no idea how to convincingly fake not being pissed off. Luckily, Krystal was too busy still oggling at Jongin to notice Sehun's rather terse reply.

He didn't blame her though.

As he looked back at Jongin, his bronze skin glistening with sweat and his mouth forming a really weird but sexy snarl as he executed a powerful move, Sehun couldn't deny it.

He looked super fucking sexy.

The more he watched him, the more he forgot just how much he hated him and how much he actually wanted to gnaw on that plump lower lip and get rid of that annoying shirt that was covering what he knew just had to be perfectly toned abs and-

FUCK.

STOP.

As Sehun took a deep breath and tried to think of kittens and bubbles instead, from the corner of his eye he noticed Krystal staring at him with bewildered eyes.

"What?"

"W-Why did you just...slap yourself?"

Sehun blinked as he reached up and touched his cheek, only now beginning to feel its soreness.

He slapped himself.

He literally slapped himself as he was sexualising Jongin and he wasn't even aware he did so.

This was it.

He really was losing his mind.

He officially spent too much time with those 3 idiots that they finally managed to scramble the wiring in his brain.

Krystal was still staring at him with a quirked brow and wide eyes, not even bothering to hide her utter befuddlement at his action. Sehun, on the other hand, was getting sick and tired for having to come up with lies to cover himself, and at this point he honestly had no idea what to reply her.

Luckily, Yixing decided to pick just that moment to call out for everyone's attention.

God bless Zhang Yixing.

"Alright everyone listen up! I've got an important announcement."

Sehun shifted his position so that he was facing his leader, and while it had been a week since the theft incident was resolved, a small part of him still feared he would be caught one day.

Fuck you guilty conscience.

"As you all know, in a couple of months we have our first Winter showcase."

Ah, The Winter Showcase.

It was their most important and anticipated performance of the year. Talent scouts, dance directors, entertainment managers, all these VIP's were going to be there. The dance club had a history of members going on to join some of the best agencies and teams there were not only in the country but in the world. The showcase was huge and so the level of calibre expected was nothing less than perfect."

Sehun subconsciously took in a deep breath, biting his lip.

It was where all his dreams and future lied.

It was the greatest opportunity to get discovered and scouted by the entertainment world.

It was his golden ticket to success.

The nation-wide Winter Showcase was started only the previous year and was coming to their university for the first time this year. The moment it was announced, everyone already knew Sehun was probably going to be the one all the VIP's would fight over.

And up until a month ago, he would've thought the same thing.

But as he glanced at the freshie just a few feet from him, the thought that that was no longer true made his fists clench and his teeth gnash.

"So as all of you are already aware of, the 2 pieces we have been working on for the past few weeks is for the showcase. However, there is also the special performance which showcases the best talent of the club. It requires at least 2 people and initially, it was supposed to be Sehun and Taemin..."

Oh no, where was he going with this?

Sehun knew he was performing with Taemin for the special stage. They had already began working on a choreo the previous week. He didn't mind working with Taemin, as he knew Taemin had already secured a music scholarship for when he graduated so he did not want or need to be scouted. That was also why he stopped having dance as his main priority and ended up passing the baton of best dancer to Sehun.

What was Yixing announcing about this now...

"However, I just got word this morning that Taemin has actually suffered a pretty serious arm injury which means he will not be able to dance for at least a few months."

Oh crap.

Everyone broke out into worried and concerned murmurs about Taemin's injury. It was common for him to miss dance practices and just catch up with the choreo by himself later, but none of them had known or suspected an actual injury.

Sehun looked at the floor with a frown.

Of course he felt bad for Taemin, and hoped he recovered as soon as possible.

But at the same time, he was also anxious about his special performance.

Was he now supposed to do it alone?

Was it cancelled?

"Don't worry, he will be fine. He's receiving treatment, it was from a car accident which could've ended up much worse but thankfully just resulted in a broken bone. Obviously we wish him a speedy recovery, but at the same time, we still have the issue of the special stage. Therefore, after some thinking, I've decided..."

Oh man.

"Sehun,"

Oh god what has he decided?

"You'll be doing the special performance with Jongin instead."

Oh.

Fuck.

On The Pulse- Chapter 8: Saved By The Paper Bag

junchenny — Sun, 12 Feb 2017 10:56:56 GMT

Title: On The Pulse
Pairing: Sekai, side baekchen
Length: 8/20
Genre: Romance, Humor, College!AU
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sehun's the king of the dance squad, everyone in college knew that. So you can imagine he wasn't too happy when the freshie Jongin showed up and upstaged him spectacularly.

"LA LA LA LA LA"

"Sehun-"

"LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA. I CAN'T HEAR YOU. LA LA LA LA-"

"SEHUN!"

"NO! I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO ANOTHER DUMB PLAN!"

Sehun then proceeded to stick his fingers back in his ears and continue his la-la chant. Baekhyun groaned and looked at Chanyeol for help. Chanyeol merely shrugged, which made Baekhyun even more frustrated.

"Sorry man, I'm staying out of any more plans. I've learnt my lesson."

Baekhyun looked from Chanyeol to Sehun, one looking like a brooding puppy and the other like a five-year-old brat. Sighing, he finally got up and walked away, muttering something which Sehun couldn't quite catch since, you know, fingers in the ears.

"What did he say?"

"Something about showing us..."

Sehun groaned, praying Baekhyun was not going to do something dumb.

The last thing he needed was Byun Baek doing soemething incredibly stupid when he was literally on the verge of being caught and expelled, or worse, handed over to the police.

Fuck, what would his parents think?

What would his future be like?

What if he could never dance again, or could never get a job and sustain himself?

The reputation he worked so hard to achieve, down the drain in an instant.

"Sehun, bro don't worry so much okay? I'm sure they won't find out, and whatever happens, we're all here for you."

Chanyeol was being as sincere as possible, and it was one of those rare moments where Sehun was actually thankful for their friendship, even though he was still kind of mad at him for coming up with the plan.

Then again, he could only blame himself for following it through.

"Yeah, ironic isn't it? I was panicking over Jongin sabotaging my future that I ended up sabotaging it myself."

Sehun gave a sardonic chuckle, looking down at his fingers picking his nails.

Fuck life.

-------------------------

A week passed by with Sehun barely getting any sleep every night. All he did was toss and turn, thinking of how the school could come to find out he was the one who stole the club funds. He did contemplate turning himself in, but he just could not find the courage to do so.

Probably because he was still clinging to that small sliver of hope that they wouldn't find out it was him.

Then there was the prospect of Jongin eventually ratting him out. Sure, Jongin did not have solid proof, but he could never know what could happen if he did expose him.

He had never been in such a bad state before.

He rarely had an appetite. He couldn't stay focused in classes for more than 10 minutes. He did not feel like seeing or talking to his friends at all. He was even loathing the next dance practice, which was shocking given how dance practices used to be the highlight of his week.

As he begrudgingly walked into the studio and let his bag fall with a thump at the back of the room, he noticed how the other members were chatting away merrily with Jongin.

Fucking prick.

Jongin seemed to be enjoying the attention, a full beam on his face. For a moment Sehun scowled at the thought of how that idiot was basking in his own glory, but then he noticed something a bit strange.

While Jongin was undoubtedly smiling as widely as ever, it didn't seem to reach his eyes. He was laughing and grinning and joking around, but for some reason, his eyes didn't quite look as happy as the rest of his expression did.

Hmm.

Odd.

Sehun suddenly caught himself staring at Jongin's eyes and shook his head to pull himself together.

Why the fuck was he even noticing something like that?

Who cared how Jongin's eyes looked?

That douchebag was the reason he was in so much shit right now.

Yixing then swung open the doors to the studio and entered with a certain determined bounce in his step, picquing everyone's curiosity.

"Hey everyone, come come, gather around! I've got news!"

Everyone immediately jostled to the front around the leader, Sehun as well though he chose to stay at the back, a horrible feeling creeping into his gut that told him this could be pertaining to the fund theft incident.

"The thief who tried to steal our club funds has been caught!"

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

FUCK.

Sehun had practically broken out into cold sweat, his heart rate picking up and his chest constricting. He was finding it harder and harder to breathe, and for a second he glanced at the doo, contemplating making a bolt for it and not stopping till he reached China or something.

"Who was it?"

"Oh my god!"

"Was it someone from the club?"

"It was Johnny wasn't it?"

"Shut the fuck up Ten."

Yixing motioned for everyone to calm down a bit, and if Sehun had looked up from the spot he was staring at with knitted brows on the ground, he would have seen Jongin glance at him with a smirk, almost like a proud vigilante who had just turned in a criminal.

"Great news is, it's not someone from the club."

What.

Sehun's head whipped up, hoping his ears didn't deceive him and Yixing did in fact speak those words.

"Yeah, it was some other sophomore but the school board didn't want to reveal the details of the individual. But rest assured he will be dealt with severely, probably expelled in fact. So, you can all rest easy now that the culprit has been captured. And I just want to say I'm so happy and relieved it wasn't any of you. I knew none of you could let the team down like that!"

As Yixing happily exclaimed his last statement, everyone broke out into whoops and cheers and applauses.

Everyone except 2 people.

While the rest toned down and went about warming up and getting into formation, Sehun stood rooted to the ground, absolutely flabbergasted.

What.

The fuck.

Just happened.

"Hey,"

The sudden voice from right next to him made him jolt out of his stupor, and he turned to find Yixing smirking at him.

"Surprised it wasn't Jongin? See, I told you not to suspect our freshie. Now put it behind you and let's train hard today yeah?"

Sehun struggled to let out a chuckle, feigning coolness when he was still going through a hurricane of thoughts and emotions on the inside. Yixing patted his back and was about to head to the front when Sehun stopped him.

"Wait, so, you really don't know who was the actual culprit? The school didn't say?"

Yixing shook his head, looking down thoughtfully as he tried to remember what all information the discipline master had given him.

"Nope, I was just told whatever I announced to the club just now. I guess they don't want rumors and heat travelling around. Anyway, they've told me they've dealt with the person already so we don't have to worry anymore. We're just going to have to be more careful with the funds from now right?"

Yixing laughed and patted Sehun's back again before heading to the front to start the music.

Sehun was still as flabbergasted as ever, but at the same time, he also felt a huge wave of relief wash over him.

Perhaps this was the plan Baekhyun was talking about?

Whatever it was, he wasn't going to complain. By some miracle, he was not caught and everything somehow worked out. Letting out a large exhale, Sehun couldn't help but smile as he rolled his shoulders and looked at his reflection in the mirror. The music was starting and he noticed Jongin scowling at him from the other side of the studio in the mirror, making Sehun smile even more.

Take that, jackass.

-------------------------

"Muack! Muack! Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! Muack!'

Chanyeol couldn't help but laugh at how Sehun was literally showering Baekhyun with kisses and thanking him endlessly. At first Baekhyun revelled in the affection but after the 12th kiss or so, he was starting to get annoyed.

"Okay okay, yah, get off!"

Despite being pushed away, Sehun still had a dopy grin on his face with his eyes filled with adoration for his friend.

"How did you do it Baek? What did you do? How did whatever your plan was actually work?"

Baekhyun straightened himself out and fixed his clothes, wiping away some of Sehun's love from his cheek at the same time.

"I'd love to take credit, but it wasn't actually my idea. It was Kyungsoo's."

Sehun and Chanyeol both looked at Baekhyun in puzzlement, which prompted the latter to go on to explain how Kyungsoo and him saved Sehun's ass the previous day.

-------------------------

"What on earth are you talking about Kyungsoo?"

Baekhyun never thought he would find himself sitting in the office of the headmaster of the college, next to Chanyeol's hacker ex-boyfriend, with a paper bag over his head.

"You heard what I said, this is my friend who tried to steal the dance club funds but regrets his actions and is very sorry. I don't want him to be punished."

Baekhyun couldn't see anything but he was sure there was either a confused or a startled look on the headmaster's face, which to be honest he wished he could see as the headmaster had one of those very expressive faces which looked funny whenever they were filled with emotion.

"Is- I mean...what do you... as in- wait-"

Baekhyun struggled not to laugh under his paper bag as he heard the headmaster stutter from being at a complete loss for words. He didn't blame him though. If he were the headmaster he would be completely dumbfounded by the situation as well.

It was not one of the coolest plans to exist, but it was definitely better compared to that shitstorm Chanyeol came up with.

"You, did you really steal the club funds?"

Crap, okay Baekhyun, years of impersonations have finally come to this moment, don't let yourself down.

"Y-yes, I did."

Wow, not bad.

Baekhyun was rather impressed with himself, he actually managed to sound like a mix of Chanyeol and Sehun, which was exactly what he was going for.

"I was having a bad time at home and I really needed the money. I knew the dance club had the most funds in the school, so I hacked Yixing's accounts to get the security passcode. However, once I did it, I immediately regretted my actions and went to return the funds. But there were people in the studio, so I decided to just leave the envelope outside as I was scared. I really am sorry."

There was a pause, and Baekhyun was praying the headmaster wouldn't question why he sounded like there was a frog stuck in his throat, or worse, reach out and yank the paper bag off his head.

"Well, while it's good that you returned the money, you still did something very wrong, practically illegal, and I cannot let this matter slide."

"That's why I'm here. He has already confessed to you, and I want you to forgive him and let the matter slide."

"What are you even doing here, Kyungsoo? Why does this involve you?"

"That doesn't matter. What matters is you owe me a favour, and this is it. I'm asking you to please let the incident go, the money is anyway back where it belongs and I can assure you my friend here will not repeat his mistake."

There was another pause after Kyungsoo spoke, and with every pause Baekhyun was getting more and more anxious. His life was literally in the hands of Kyungsoo and a paper bag, and he was beginning to think perhaps this was not the wisest plan ever.

Again.

Honestly what was up with his friends and coming up with the dumbest plans and-

"You really have them huh?"

Baekhyun's attention shifted back to the headmaster's now rather low and hesitant voice, to which Kyungsoo gave a low reply as well.

"That's correct. As I showed you a few days back, all the screenshots which I'm sure you wouldn't want Aunty seeing right?"

Oooooooh.

Being completely honest, Baekhyun was a bit turned on by how threatning Kyungsoo sounded. Of course not completely turned on.

The only person who could completely turn him on was Jongdae.

Fuck, even his laugh could make Baekhyun harder than a rock.

Suddenly, a wave of sadness came over him as he thought of Jongdae and how pissed off he was that he was spending so much time with Kyungsoo. He really did want to tell him about the plan from the start, but Kyungsoo and him agreed it was too risky to let it materialize and reveal it to the others before getting solid backup. That was why he waited for Kyungsoo to successfully hack his uncle's computer and obtain blackmail material before going to tell the others.

Which did not really work out well, seeing as to how Jongdae stormed off and refused to speak to him for a whole week and the other 2 did not even want to know the plan.

Ungrateful shits.

"I cannot believe my own nephew is blackmailing me."

"We made a deal. In exchange for not telling Aunty about your rather impulsive and risky online gambles, you owed me a favour. Anything I ask, no questions. Well, this is the favour I'm asking for now."

Baekhyun could hear the headmaster sigh, and by this point he was practically praying to every diety out there that he would give in and let them go. It was already a blessing that Kyungsoo just happened to be the headmaster's nephew, and the headmaster just happened to have some skeletons in his closet which he would do anything to prevent from being revealed to his wife.

Now, he just needed one more blessing in the form of not having the plan fail and him kicked out of school.

Finally, after a few moments of anxious waiting and heavy breathing in the ridiculously thick paper bag, Baekhyun heard the most beautiful word to leave the headmaster's lips.

"Fine."

On The Pulse- Chapter 7: Jealousy's A Bitch

junchenny — Sun, 12 Feb 2017 10:54:54 GMT

Title: On The Pulse
Pairing: Sekai, side baekchen
Length: 7/20
Genre: Romance, Humor, College!AU
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sehun's the king of the dance squad, everyone in college knew that. So you can imagine he wasn't too happy when the freshie Jongin showed up and upstaged him spectacularly.

"Is this all you will be borrowing today?"

Sehun smiled at the friendly old librarian who was giving him a toothless grin and nodded. He loved Mrs Kang. She reminded him of his grandmother with her curly grey hair and deep dimples despite all her wrinkles. She also had the same kind of warm smile that made him feel all fuzzy inside.

As she scanned the barcode on the Prose and Poem 101 textbook, Sehun felt someone come and stand next to him. He turned to his right to find a very familiar person reading a notice on the counter on the procedure of borrowing books.

"Hey, Kim Jun-Junmyeon right?"

The freshman turned with a rather startled look, but broke into a smile upon seeing who it was that called out his name.

"Oh, hi! Yeah, that's me. Wow, you remember me?"

"Of course, how could I forget one of the most earnest auditionees we've had?" Sehun chuckled, though for a spilt second as he thought about that day, a certain other unforgettable auditionee entered his thoughts as well, much to his displeasure.

Junmyeon laughed a little awkwardly, making it apparent that he was not very used to receiving compliments.

Which Sehun would find hard to believe given how handsome he was, and by what he's seen so far, how charming he was as well.

"Ah, I just wanted to try my best. I'm working harder though, hopefully next time the outcome will be different."

Sehun grinned and patted his shoulder lightly.

"I'll look forward to that."

"Okay dear, here you go."

Sehun turned back to Mrs Kang and took his book from her, offering his thanks at the same time. As Junmyeon passed his book to the librarian, Sehun could not help but glance at the title and raise his eyebrows.

"You take philosophy?"

Junmyeon laughed awkwardly again, though Sehun was coming to find it rather endearing, and shook his head.

"No no, I'm helping my roommmate borrow a book he needs. He's busy working on a dance number."

Wait-

Dance number?

"Oh! I just realised, you probably know him." Junmyeon chuckled but Sehun became dead-serious.

Junmyeon was a freshman.

Freshmen always had other freshmen as roommates.

A freshman who was working on dance...

Oh shit-

"Kim Jongin! Ah, I heard he really killed his audition when he went in after me. I've seen him dance a few times, man he really is something else isn't he? I hope I can be like him one day."

Junmyeon was smiling widely as he was speaking, whereas Sehun was trying his best not to grimace in annoyance openly.

Kim Junmyeon, one of the nicest people Sehun had ever met, was rooming with Kim Jongin, the literal devil.

Of course.

And what did Junmyeon mean by hoping to be like him one day? People always hoped to be like Sehun, not Jongin.

Fuck, it was already happening.

"Hey?"

Sehun snapped out of his thoughts as Junmyeon nudged his arm. That was when he realised he had actually gone very quiet, which made Junmyeon rather tense and even more awkward.

"S-sorry, just thinking of some schoolwork, haha..."

Great, now Sehun was sounding awkward as well.

Fuck this all.

"Oh, it's alright, um, I have to go now though. I'll let Jongin know you say hi!"

The bubbly freshman waved goodbye at Sehun before leaving with a small skip in his step.

Ugh, he was so precious.

But Junmyeon's adorableness aside, Sehun was still rather unsettled by how he talked about Jongin. It was becoming more and more clear each day how Jongin was gaining popularity as a dance idol, and how people were starting to forget Sehun was supposed to be the one they looked up to.

Kim Jongin.

Sehun was already getting sick and tired of his name.

Jongin this. Jongin that. Jongin's so great and Jongin's so cool.

Yeah well Jongin's quite a prick as well.

And Jongin's not as hot as him.

Well sure he was hot as fuck undeniably, but Sehun was still hotter, there was no question in that.

And who the fuck takes philosophy anyway?

How pretentious.

As Sehun walked out of the library and down the corridor leading to his class with all these thoughts swimming in his head, he bumped into an equally tall and slender body.

"Oh, Sehun! Sorry man, didn't really see where I was going."

"Yixing!"

In that moment, it was like a lightbulb went off on top his head.

This was his chance.

He could just tell Yixing it was really Jongin who stole the funds.

Yixing would anyway choose to believe him over a freshman so what did he have to lose.

"Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you. About-"

"Ah, sorry but I'm actually running late for class, maybe tell me some other time?"

"No no, wait, it's about the club funds-"

"Club funds? You mean, you know who stole the money?"

"Yeah, it was Jongin."

Yixing folded his arms, and Sehun knew this was not going to be easy. This was going to require a lot of on-the-spot, quick thinking, which he was not very good at unfortunately.

"Jongin? Our freshman? But he's the one who reported the money."

"Exactly, don't you find it weird that he just happened to find a labelled envelope with the missing money? That's really suspicious. I think he stole the money at first but then became panicked at the prospect of getting caught and decided to return it, but through these means so that he's not suspected."

Sehun had never bullshitted so much in his life before, but as he let the words roll out, he realised he didn't sound that bad. He was actually making sense to an extent, which he thanked his lucky stars for because Yixing was not someone to be lied to that easily.

The dance team leader had a single brow raised as he considered Sehun's words.

"That's a pretty serious allegation Sehun, do you have any proof?"

Crap.

"Well, no, but-"

Sehun stopped as Yixing huffed, looking at his watch.

"I'm really sorry man but I need to dash. I understand why you may have that suspicion, but I can't do anything without solid proof or if the real culprit turns themself in. And since it's past the deadline I gave the club members, it's out of my hands as well. The school disciplinary team is looking into it so we'll just have to hope they somehow find whoever did it."

With that, Yixing turned and dashed off, leaving a stunned Sehun who had his mouth ajar and his book on the verge of slipping through his fingers.

-------------------------

"Oh man, what if they find out it was you?"

Sehun didn't reply though he was carefully considering Jongdaes' words.

"Fuck, this really is all my fault. Fuck fuck fuck."

Chanyeol had his head in his hands, while Jongdae was tapping his fingers on the table and Sehun was just staring at a freckle on his hand, thinking of how much he wanted to move to Alaska at the moment.

"It was all our fault. We were all in on the plan. Hey Sehun, bro if they find out it was you, we'll go down with you."

"That's right. In fact, I'll take the blame. Tell them I stole the money. It was my idea so I should be the one to be punished."

"Yeah, just tell them it was Chanyeol."

"Hey, what happened to we'll all go down together?"

"Well yeah but, objectively speaking it was indeed your idea so it is only noble for you to take the fall."

"Guys-"

Jongdae and Chanyeol paused their little row and turned to Sehun, who was pinching the bridge of his nose.

"if y'all don't mind, please, please for the love of God, shut the fuck up. I already have a migraine and you guys aren't helping."

The 2 friends went silent rather sheepishly, looking a bit offended as well, but Sehun couldn't care less about how they felt.

He felt like utter shit.

Yeah what he did was wrong, yes he did feel guilty, but at the same time what he hated more was how that freshie punk made him act as irrationally as he did.

He hated how jealous Kim Jongin made him feel.

It was that jealousy which made him so frustrated that he listened to Chanyeol's stupid plan and carried out the mission.

It was that jealousy that plagued his thoughts so much that not a day went by without him thinking of how someone had just waltzed into school and replaced him effortlessly.

It was that jealousy that made him feel and act like a complete idiot, and that in itself made him loathe Kim Jongin even more.

"Hey guys."

Baekhyun sat at the table with Kyungsoo next to him, and while Sehun did not bother to reply or pay them much attention, he did notice the very obvious glare Jongdae was giving both his boyfriend and the group's new acquaintence.

"Um, why is everyone so tense?"

"Shut up."

Jongdae was always snapping those 2 words at him, but this time there was a certain amount of animosity in his voice which took everyone aback, especially Baekhyun.

"I-I was just asking," Baekhyun was trying to laugh it off, but it was clear that the situation was not funny at the moment, which made his laugh disintergrate into an awkward chuckle.

"Maybe if you had been here earlier with us, you'd know what's going on."

Jongdae was really not making any effort to hide his anger, and Sehun knew at that point just what Jongdae was experiencing as it was the very emotion that had been haunting himself for weeks now.

"Baekhyun and I were just-"

"Stay out of this."

Kyungsoo stopped mid-sentece as Jongdae snapped at him, which made everyone even more uncomfortable and tense. It was clear things were getting heated up, and Sehun knew an angry Jongdae was not easy to deal with.

"Jongdae."

Chanyeol glared at his irritated friend, who would not stop throwing daggers with his gaze at Kyungsoo.

"Yah, calm down J, Kyungsoo and I were talking ab-"

"Kyungsoo and you. Nice. That's how it's been the whole week right? Kyungsoo and you. Well Kyungsoo and you can keep these 2 company then, because I'm out of here."

Jongdae got up and left the table with a huff, his whole body tense and his fists clenched.

"Jong-"

"Don't. Leave him for now, he's too worked up."

As Sehun stopped Baekhyun from getting up and going after his livid boyfriend, Kyungsoo cleared his throat awkwardly and rubbed his neck.

"Well, I guess that's a sign it's time for me to leave as well."

"Kyungsoo..."

"It's alright Chan, I don't want to cause any trouble here. Tell Jongdae I'm sorry. Baek, if you want the plan to still go on, I'm still up for it so just let me know."

Kyungsoo then got up and left as well, leaving just 3/4 of the squad behind, upset and frustrated for their own reasons.

"Wait, plan?"

Baekhyun, who was intensly frowning at his folded arms on the table, looked up at Chanyeol's confused face as the latter voiced his curiosity a few minutes after Kyungsoo left.

"Yeah, that's why I've been meeting Kyungsoo so much this week. We came up with a plan to help Sehun out of this mess."

On The Pulse- Chapter 6: Dumb Plan, Dire Results

junchenny — Sun, 12 Feb 2017 10:51:35 GMT

Title: On The Pulse
Pairing: Sekai, side baekchen
Length: 6/20
Genre: Romance, Humor, College!AU
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sehun's the king of the dance squad, everyone in college knew that. So you can imagine he wasn't too happy when the freshie Jongin showed up and upstaged him spectacularly.

"Wait, he said WHAT?!"

Sehun glared at Chanyeol after the latter made his rather loud exclamation. They were all currently sitting in the cafeteria, and while they were in a corner, there were still people around and Sehun really did not want to draw attention, especially given what they were discussing.

Once again, he was wishing to not have any human interaction for the next 40 years at least.

Maybe he should get in touch with Kyungsoo and ask him about how to go about achieveing that.

"I don't get it, it was a fool-proof plan."

"It was the dumbest plan to ever exist."

Chanyeol looked upset at Jongdae's comment, but Sehun nodded in agreement. It was, indeed, the dumbest plan to ever exist.

And the fact that Sehun agreed to it made him the dumbest person ever.

He should have known....

It was a plan by Chanyeol...

Chanyeol....

"This is all your fault."

"My fault?" Chanyeol's eyes looked like saucers on his head, Sehun had never seen them so wide and popping.

"It was your plan."

"You CHOSE to follow it. So it's your fault. I didn't hold a gun to your head and force you to do it."

"You made it sound so convincing. I trusted you. I actually trusted you."

Sehun did not care that he was sounding way too melodramatic at the moment. His emotions were as genuine as they came across, he really was hurt.

He had put his faith in Chanyeol, his roommate, his friend, his brother from another mother.

"And I really thought the plan would help you." Chanyeol looked even more hurt than Sehun, surprisingly, and both of them were frowning deeply at each other.

Jongdae's eyes darted between the two of them before he pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing.

"You two really are the biggest idiots in the school."

Sehun and Chanyeol now looked at Jongdae, their hurt expressions quickly turning to offended.

"You're an idiot for making such a dumb plan," Jongdae pointedly looked at Chanyeol before shifting his sight to Sehun, "and you're an idiot for following the plan."

Sehun scoffed, folding his arms on top of the table.

"You didn't seem to have this opinion throughout the mission. If you realised how awful the idea was, why didn't you say anything?"

"Yeah, from what I recalled, weren't you the one who said 'don't worry Sehun, with this plan, he'll be out in no time'. Right?"

"Together with 'this is a great plan, I'm sure it will work'."

Sehun and Chanyeol were now staring at Jongdae with their eyebrows raised, and Jongdae looked like he had just been backed into a corner with his underwear pulled down.

"Psh- that was- I mean- I just- I WAS BEING SUPPORTIVE OKAY! THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS DO! STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!"

Both Sehun and Chanyeol rolled their eyes as Jongdae indignantly sipped on his iced coffee.

"So, I heard you fucked up."

Sehun sighed as he heard the very familiar voice from behind him, and 2 seconds later as he predicted, Byun Baekhyun plopped down next to him.

"Sorry I'm late, what did I miss? Have you finished telling the entire story of how badly you fucked up?"

"Shut up Baek."

"I mean, it was a fool-proof plan. How could it not work?"

"See! Thank you. Don't blame the plan."

"It was the stupidest plan to exist."

The last sentence came from a voice which did not belong to any of them, though it was indeed familiar. Sehun turned to find Kyungsoo approach them and sit down at the bench table on the other side of him.

"What're you doing here? I thought you loathe coming out into society and interacting with people?" Jongdae questioned, and Sehun could detect a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"When Chanyeol told me about the whole plan and how it went wrong, I just had to hear it for myself. I cannot believe you made me hack into someone's email for such a stupid mission."

"Shhh!" Sehun looked around, making sure no one was in close enough proximity to hear them.

"Can everyone stop blaming the plan?" Chanyeol was pouting, and Kyungsoo quirked a brow.

"You mean, the oh-so-brilliant plan where Sehun steals the club funds, puts them in an envelope and very conveniently labels it 'club funds', hides it in Jongin's bag, which apparently he wouldn't check right, and hopes for Yixing to do a bag search and find the envelope in Jongin's bag because, of course, Yixing would expect the thief to bring the cash to practice and keep it in an envelope which, again, is very conveniently labeled 'club funds' just so that there is no confusion. All of this assuming Sehun wouldn't get caught meddling with Jongin's belongings as well. That plan?"

Silence loomed once Kyungsoo was done with his very sarcastic and sardonic recap of what sounded like, indeed, the world's dumbest idea. Chanyeol was looking down, scratching his head. Jongdae was gnawing on his straw. Baekhyun was rubbing his chin putting together Kyungsoo's words, and Sehun-

Sehun had his head buried in his arms, pretending he was an ostrich in a desert with his head underground, where no one could find him.

Yes.

Underground.

Wouldn't be a bad place to stay.

Away from both people and the sun.

Double benefit.

"Okay okay, so we've established the plan was stupid. And Sehun fucked up. So now Jongin knows Sehun tried to frame him for theft to get him kicked out of the club. Question is, why didn't Jongin just tell Yixing straight away? I mean it's amaing how Yixing bought his story on how he just happened to find the club funds lying around, why didn't he just tell the whole truth about how he caught you?"

Jongdae made a good point. Jongin could have easily exposed Sehun right at that moment, but he didn't.

"Maybe he was being nice? Or maybe he wants you to do the right thing and turn yourself in?" Kyungsoo suggested, which made Chanyeol scoff.

"Nah, that's not it. I bet, he's going to use this to blackmail you. He's going to hold this over your head and make you his slave or something."

"No offence but I think we've established by now anything you say is bullshit." Baekhyun pointed out, making Sehun nod and Chanyeol frown.

"Why don't you ask me yourself?"

The five of them had been so caught up with their discussion, they didn't realise a presence that had approached the side of the table and was quietly listening for the past few seconds.

Sehun looked up and immediately felt his throat go dry. His insides twisted and he suddenly felt the urge to throw up.

Jongin.

He had his arms folded and was smirking at him, a snapback on his head and clad in a plaid shirt with black jeans, looking like the ultimate "cool boy". There was no way anyone looking at him at the moment would think he was a freshman.

And Sehun no longer felt like the alpha of the school, suddenly he felt like a worm as Jongin looked down at him, and oh how he despised that feeling.

Sehun could not seem to tear his eyes away from Jongin's piercing gaze, but he felt a nudge in his side.

"Yah, it's Jongin!" Baekhyun very uselessly whispered.

"What're you doing here?"

Sehun struggled to get the worlds out solidly. He was torn between wanting to run away and wanting to punch Jongin in his ridiculously handsome face.

"I think you and I need to talk, don't you?"

Sehun took in a deep breath and glanced at his friends, who were all looking at the both of them as if they were watching the best drama show of the year.

Jongdae subtly nodded at Sehun though, encouragingly, to which Sehun turned back to Jongin.

"Sure."

--------------------

Sehun and Jongin were currently behind a wall outside the cafeteria. It was early afternoon so most of the students were either having class or in the cafeteria having lunch, which was good because that meant there was no one around.

Sehun had his hands in his pockets and was shuffling uncomfortably, looking everywhere but at Jongin. Jongin, on the other hand, was staring intently at his senior, the ghost of a smirk still on his lips as he noticed how uncomfortable Sehun was.

"So, are you going to own up?"

Sehun was rather caught off guard by Jongin's sudden question, and his mind was racing with a million thoughts.

What the heck was he supposed to answer?

No, you cannot let him have the upper hand here. Fuck man, you're older. You're the senior. You're the king of the school. He's just a freshman, he has nothing on you.

"So it is blackmail? Alright, what do you want?"

Sehun was acting as nonchalant and cool as possible, folding his arms and quirking his brow at Jongin, making the latter a bit surprised.

"You really have no shame huh?"

Sehun refused to answer, simply maintaining his demeanour.

"You know, there's nothing stopping me from telling Yixing the truth about what you did."

"Go ahead then. Let's see if he believes a freshman over the assistant leader."

Sehun was even surprising himself with his sudden burst of confidence and snarkiness. Just a few moments ago he was feeling like a hot mess.

Perhaps it was from the annoyance he felt when he noticed the way Jongin was looking at him, all smug and cocky.

Who did this kid think he was?

Jongin's smug expression started to melt away, making Sehun the one to smirk this time.

"You did the wrong thing here. You tried to frame me. I don't think you get the luxury of acting all cocky right now. The least you can do is apologise."

"I'm not apologising."

Holy fuck, it was like Sehun's mouth had a mind of its own.

Jongin scoffed and looked at him in disbelief.

"Are you really that threatened by me? I mean I know I'm better than you, but-"

Fuck.

Something in Sehun snapped as he heard those words, making him grab Jongin by the collar and slam him against the wall.

"You're not better than me, and you never will be."

Sehun could feel his anger boiling inside him, his face a mere inches from Jongin's as he glared daggers right into his eyes. He was seething, even more so once Jongin actually had the audacity to smirk again.

"Quite a drastic reaction if you were really secure with that thought." Jongin glanced down at Sehun's fist grabbing onto his collar.

Sehun let go with a shove, still seething and glaring at Jongin as the freshman straightened his shirt and returned the scornful gaze with his own.

"Listen here, I don't know who you think you are, but around here, there's only one king. Me. And I don't like some random kid coming into the school and the club and thinking he owns the place. There's a hierarchy here, and you need to realise who's at the top. So don't you dare try to compare yourself to me or even think you have a shot at replacing me. Got it? You're a freshman, you're nothing."

The venom that laced Sehun's voice was clear, and coupled with his intense and threatening look, it was obvious there was not a hint of joking around in his words.

Sehun expected Jongin to break and give in, he knew just how scary he could look and sound. But much to his startlement, Jongin pushed himself off the wall and walked right up to Sehun so that their faces were just inches apart once again.

"I didn't come here with plans to take over you. I literally did nothing wrong to you, in fact I trusted you as a senior and a friend. I looked up to you. And you just stabbed me in the back. After what you did, after you tried to sabotage my place on the team, it's now my sole goal to crush you. If there's one thing I hate, it's slimy and manipulative people like you. So you can threaten me all you want, but I know it's just an act to hide the fact that you know the truth as well as I do. I am better than you, and guess what? I will replace you, and you'll be nothing by the time I'm done. You messed with the wrong man Oh Sehun. So watch out."

Jongin gave Sehun one last, nasty up-down with a scowl before turning and walking away with his hands in his pockets.

Sehun had never been talked to with such venom and disrespect before, and if his blood was boiling before, it was now on fire. The amount of rage he felt was enough for him to slam his fist into the wall, the anger overwhelming the pain.

Fuck you Kim Jongin.

You're dead.

Chapter 5: Guilty as Charged

junchenny — Sat, 11 Feb 2017 17:26:56 GMT

Title: On The Pulse
Pairing: Sekai, side baekchen
Length: 2/20
Genre: Romance, Humor, College!AU
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sehun's the king of the dance squad, everyone in college knew that. So you can imagine he wasn't too happy when the freshie Jongin showed up and upstaged him spectacularly.

Sehun was tapping his fingers agitatedly on the floor as everyone settled down around him, buzzing away. To his left Kystal and Taemin were talking animatedly, and to his right Hyoyeon was texting away furiously on her phone. Ten and Johnny were behind him, playing some kind of weird thumb game. That meant everyone was already gathered, except for Yixing and Jongin.

Where are they?

"Hey."

Sehun jolted as Hyoyeon nudged his arm. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice she had actually called out to him.

"What's up with you? You seem nervous."

Sehun tried to feign nonchalance, or perhaps ignorance, as he chuckled and shook his head.

"Just thinking about some classwork."

"Oh, I thought it was more to do with the weird text we got. Any idea what this could be about?"

Sehun shook his head, knowing what text she was talking about but more importantly, indeed knowing what it was about. The text flashed in his mind again, making his heart race once more.

Leader Yixing: Everyone to gather in the dance studio this afternoon by 4. No practice, but emergency situation. All attendance required. Thank you.

"No idea, sounds serious though."

Hyoyeon nodded, biting her lip. She looked like she had more to say, but before she could say anything, the door opened and Yixing walked in with Jongin behind him.

Why was Jongin with him?

"Hey everyone, thanks for gathering today despite the short notice. There's been an incident and I needed all of you to be here."

Everyone quietened down and was now all ears, Sehun especially. His legs were folded and his back was straight, his fingers still tapping but now on his knees instead of on the floor. Jongin sat down in front of him, which frustrated Sehun as he really wanted to see his expression as this whole thing unfolded.

When he walked in with Yixing, he seemed rather calm though.

"Right, I'll get right to it. There's been a theft of our club funds from our safe."

Everyone broke out into shocked murmurs, including some 'what the hell', 'oh shit' and 'oh my god'. Sehun tried to act shocked as well, though acting was never really his forte, so he ended up just awkwardly rubbing his mouth.

"Now I know it's quite a serious allegation, but you must understand that the first suspects we'd turn to would be the club members of course. You guys know where the safe is and have access to it. I don't know how the code was found out, but it was and the money went missing. Now, I have some good news and some bad news."

Sehun took a deep breath, hoping his suspicions about what was going to happen next were correct.

"Bad news is, all of you are suspects in this very serious offence that could lead to termination from the team."

Great.

"Good news is, we have actually found the stolen money."

WHAT?

Sehun was unable to mask his expression of utter bewilderment as Yixing mentioned the last part. He glanced at the back of Jongin's head, desperately wishing to see his expression as he tried to make sense of the 'good news'.

That...that's not possible...

"Thanks to our newest recruit Jongin, we recovered the stolen money. He found it discarded outside the studio yesterday, in an envelope labelled 'dance club funds'. So that just goes to show whichever one of you tried to steal the money did an utterly horrible job."

Found it?

Discarded?

Sehun continued staring at the back of Jongin's head in utter shock, when suddenly Jongin turned his head ever so slightly, not fully looking at Sehun but just enough to make it obvious he knew Sehun was staring at him.

And that was when Sehun caught a hint of a smirk on the corner of his lips.

--------------------

"Hey man!"

Sehun swung his arm around Jongin's shoulder from the back, startling Jongin to say the least.

For weeks, Sehun had been consistently trying to talk to Jongin and get friendly with him. He had offered to sit with him during lunch numerous times, practice the routine with him and even help him with getting orientated with college.

At first Jongin found it rather weird, especially since he had heard so much about the infamous Dance King Oh Sehun's cold personality. He just figured Sehun was trying to become buddies with the new 'It' boy since he was all about keeping up appearances and reputations.

Still, he wasn't going to deny it felt nice having someone chase after him like that. Starting college was hard, and having a senior (and someone with such a huge status at that) being so willing to help him out and befriend him made Jongin rather happy.

He wouldn't mind being friends with Oh Sehun at all; the guy was a freaking legend.

"Where ya heading?"

"Dance studio, my classes finished for the day and I had some spare time so I thought I'd work on the routine."

Sehun chuckled, squeezing Jongin's shoulder.

"You seem to spend every other second in the dance studio. I like that. You're like me. Well, you wouldn't mind me crashing your session again right?"

"No not at all! It's always great training with you, I learn so much."

Sehun laughed again, and so did Jongin as they both merrily entered the studio.

They practiced for about an hour, both of them giving their all and amping up the intensity as time went by. Sehun finally called for a short break as they were both drenched in sweat and panting uncontrollably.

Jongin loved that though.

He loved having private dance sessions with Sehun. Not only was he so inspired by how good Sehun was, he loved how Sehun pushed him to stretch his limits and strive to become an even better dancer. He loved how intense their sessions were, how his heart raced as he tested his boundaries and gave his everything in every move.

"Hey, I don't have my towel with me and my legs are really sore. Do you mind heading to the back room and grabbing me a spare towel?"

Sehun was currently on the floor, rubbing his ankle and looking up at Jongin through his sweaty fringe. His face was glistening with sweat, and it was no question that in that moment, Sehun looked hot as fuck. Period.

"Sure."

Jongin took a large gulp of his water before heading for the back entrance door, rotating his shoulders as he walked. As he opened the door, he realised that he actually did not know where the towels were kept in the back room, so he turned to ask Sehun.

And that was when he saw Sehun sneakily put an envelope in his backpack, hiding it in the inner compartment and making sure it was at the bottom and covered by his other things.

--------------------

"This is a very serious offence, and I am very disappointed by whoever did it. Not only did you take advantage of your position in the club, you betrayed all of us and our hard work. Those thousands of dollars were raised as our funds through blood, sweat and tears. This person will be severely dealt with, but because we are such a unified club, I want to give whoever it is one more chance. You have until this saturday to confess to me yourself. If no one comes up to me, I'll raise the matter to the school board who will investigate and most definitely inflict an even harsher punishment. So please, do the right thing and come to me so that you don't have to make things worse for yourself. That's all, thank you all for coming down once again."

Sehun was finding it hard to breathe as everyone was still bustling and getting up to leave. His eyes were still glued to the back of Jongin's head as he tried to figure out where he screwed up in the plan.

Taemin appraoched Jongin and started to talk to him, making Sehun finally peel his eyes away and get up.

Heading to the back to get his bag, his thoughts were going at a million miles per hour, wondering if Yixing somehow knew it was actually him or if everything was just a coincidence and Jongin happened to drop the envelope and then later find it.

"Hey."

As Sehun slung his bag on his shoulder, the deep and unmistakable voice made his heart jolt. Slowly, he turned around to find Jongin smirking at him with his hands in his pockets. Everyone was already streaming out of the studio, leaving only the two of them.

"What?"

Sehun's throat was very dry, and all he wanted to do in that moment was rip that smug smirk off of Jongin's face as it made him unbelievably uncomfortable.

Jongin walked one step, then another, and another.

All along, his eyes bore deep into Sehun's, making Sehun unable to look away as well as he got sucked into those intense orbs.

Finally, Jongin was right in front of Sehun, so close that Sehun could practically see the small specks of light brown in Jongin's chocolate irises. Sehun was breathing heavily, willing himself to not let his gaze falter as Jongin's smirk widened the moment he noticed how tense Sehun was.

Suddenly, Jongin leaned in closer, until his lips were barely touching Sehun's ear and his breath was fanning his lobe. Sehun's heart was practically doing acrobatics by this point, and it was truly a wonder how he hadn't suffered a cardiac arrest yet. Sehun was frozen solid as Jongin's hair tickled his jaw slightly, making him involunatrily gulp.

Fuck, did he have to smell so good?

"Next time you try to frame me for theft, make sure I don't see it."

Before Sehun could even organise his thoughts enough to fathom a response, Jongin was walking away from him.

As he watched his junior's back heading out the door, his thoughts more or less settled and summarised into one main word.

Fuck.

On The Pulse- Chapter 4: Getting in to Get Him Out

junchenny — Sat, 11 Feb 2017 17:26:17 GMT

Title: On The Pulse
Pairing: Sekai, side baekchen
Length: 4/20
Genre: Romance, Humor, College!AU
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sehun's the king of the dance squad, everyone in college knew that. So you can imagine he wasn't too happy when the freshie Jongin showed up and upstaged him spectacularly.

"So? How'd it go?"

A moment of silence passed, before the sound of a hand slapping a skull resonated as the response to Jongdae's question.

Baekhyun didn't even have words anymore, he just made a string of outgraged and disgruntled noises as Sehun glared daggers at him.

"You are so lucky I'm not mincing you right now. Do you have any idea how awkward you made me with him?"

"Don't be so dramatic, you guys were fine." Baekhyun pouted and looked to Jongdae, but the latter just shook his head and pursed his lips.

"Look, important thing is, you've established a foundation. If not a friendship, at least an acquaintance at best. That was the first important step. Just keep it up. Remember, the goal is to get as close to him as possible."

"Something you shouldn't mind at all." Baekhyun wiggled his eyebrows at Sehun.

"What?"

"Oh admit it, you find him insanely hot don't you? We all saw how you were oggling at him when he auditioned. So you should have no qualms with getting close to him."

Sehun should have hit Baekhyun or at least scolded him, but for some reason Baekhyun's logic flustered him.

Getting close to Jongin...

That didn't sound bad at all....

Chest to chest, inches away from his tantilising lips and-

FUCK. STOP IT.

"HE'S THE ENEMY. WHY THE FUCK WOULD I WANT TO GET CLOSE TO HIM?"

Sehun's very angry and abrupt yell of a reply startled Baekhyun to the extent of causing him to drop his soda can and spill it all over his jeans.

"SHIT! YAH! YOU CAN JUST SAY THAT RIGHT! LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!"

At Chanyeol's outburst, Sehun huffed and rolled his eyes, while Baekhyun took out some tissues and Jongdae helped his boyfriend to wipe off his cola-stained jeans.

"Now, Sehun, you know the next step right?"

Sehun sighed, regretting ever agreeing to this whole plan because honestly it was just too much effort, especially having to deal with these 3, but he didn't have any other choice.

"Yeah, but I can't do it."

"Why not?"

"I don't know the security code."

"I thought leader and assistant leaders knew the code?" Jongdae asked, crumpling the used tissues.

"Nope, only the leader."

"Damn."

A couple of seconds passed as the quartet thought of how to overcome the issue at hand.

"Okay uhm, is there somewhere you can access the code? Like somewhere that kind of information exists?"

Sehun thought about it before nodding and replying.

"Yeah, I think I know where I can get the code. But again, I won't be able to do it because it'll involve hacking into Yixing's email."

Chanyeol smirked, crossing his arms.

"That's no problem. I know a guy."

---------------------

"Seriously, why the hell is this guy here of all places?"

The four boys were currently at the back of the main central building of the school campus. No one ever went back there as it was just assumed to be an empty alley and where the teachers would take smoke breaks. However, once Chanyeol led the three others to the area, he walked to the corner of the alley where there was actually a corner which led one to a smaller corridor after taking the turn.

Sehun didn't like the ambience of the whole area. It was too quiet and bare and dimly lit, the picture-perfect scene for where murders in movies would take place. Everything was concrete and grey, and it was clear the school did not really care or bother about the maintenance of its rarely-frequented areas.

From the corner of Sehun's eye, he noticed Baekhyun walking closely behind Jongdae, and in fact clutching the back of Jongdae's shirt. Sehun couldn't help but chuckle softly.

What a wimp.

Making the turn around the corner, the first thing Sehun noticed was a wooden picnic table. The next thing he noticed was someone seated at it.

The person wore a black hoodie with black jeans and a navy blue cap. His side was facing them, but Sehun could make out his features were rather prominent and in fact quite intense. Walking closer up to the person, who was furiously typing away on his laptop, Chanyeol cleared his throat, getting his attention.

The minute the stranger heard Chanyeol and looked up at the quartet, a chill went down Sehun's spine. His eyes were freakingshly round and there was just something about them and the way they looked up at each of them that made him feel like this man was capable of horrific atrocities.

"What are you doing here?"

Fuck.

His voice was soft and low, but there was a very threatening and menacing undertone to it which made Baekhyun literally gulp anxiously. The strange man was not very big to be honest, in fact he was rather small and physically not very threatening, which was what made Sehun wonder why exactly he gave off this intimidating aura.

The eyes.

Yup, it was all in the eyes.

Seriously, how the fuck were they so round?

"We need your help."

The round-eyed man looked at Chanyeol, then at Baekhyun and Jongdae, and finally at Sehun. His eyes moved slowly between each person, studying them carefully, analysing and judging no doubt. Being under such scrutiny from such a scary but small person made Sehun incredibly uncomfortable to say the least.

"Don't worry, they're all friends."

The strange man looked back at Chanyeol for 2 more seconds, before taking all 3 of them by surprise by breaking out into a huge smile.

"Ah, Chanyeolie! It's been so long since I've seen you!"

Chanyeol grinned and grabbed the man's outstretched hand, bending down to bump shoulders with him as his three friends watch the scene unfold with wide eyes and hung jaws.

"Everyone, this is Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo, these are my friends. Jongdae, Baekhyun and Sehun."

Kyungsoo looked at each of them as Chanyeol introduced them, but this time instead of a studying gaze, he flashed them all the most warm, heart-shaped smile.

Fuck, he's actually so adorable.

Sehun felt a little bad for judging Kyungsoo to be some kind of mass murderer without even knowing the guy, but in his defence, how else was he supposed to react to someone sitting alone in the decrepid back alley of the school dressed like a drug dealer and with the expression and features cold enough to pass off as Jack the Ripper.

"Ah, I'm sorry I haven't talked to you in so long. School's been insane but I promise once everything settles down a bit, we'll have a meal!"

"Um, not to be rude or anything, but Chanyeol? Care to mention who exactly this is and how you know him and you know, those kind of details?"

The tone of jealously was slight but obvious in Baekhyun's voice, making Jongdae chortle.

See, according to Baekhyun, the four of them were only allowed to be friends with one another. They were a pack. They were a squad.

They were a unit which no one could infiltrate nor break up.

"Ah, Kyungsoo's actually my ex, but we're good friends now."

"WAIT, WHAT?"

Even Sehun couldn't believe his ears once Chanyeol had spoken. There was no way he just referred to this guy as an ex. Nope, no way. Not possible. Chanyeol was the most disgustingly straight person Sehun knew, his ears had to be deceiving him.

"Yeah... guess it's time to tell you guys the truth. I'm actually bisexual. Kyungsoo and I dated in high school for a while but we realised we were better off just being friends. Plus, he's more into guys and I'm more into girls even though we're both bi so, that nicely balances out as well."

"Plus, Chanyeol's a social butterfly, and I normally despise any kind of human interaction. So that didn't really bode well for a dating relationship either." Kyungsoo contibuted once Chanyeol had finished speaking.

Jongdae's face was the picture of confusion, his hands on his hips as he squinted at Chanyeol and had his mouth open. Baekhyun was rubbing his temples, being melodramatic as usual. And Sehun was just finally understanding why he had caught Chanyeol checking him out numerous times whenever he changed in their room.

"Why didn't you ever tell us?"

Chanyeol shrugged in response to Jongdae's question.

"I suppose I didn't see the need to? I mostly like girls, Kyungsoo is the only boy I've ever liked which is why I say I'm bisexual but in all honesty, I'm more on the straight side of the bisexual spectrum."

"Shit man, why are you so fucking complex?"

Baekhyun was still staring at Chanyeol as if he was the world's greatest enigma, while Jongdae leaned over to Kyungsoo.

"That's not the real reason is it?"

Kyungsoo grinned and shook his head.

"Nope. It's because I told him if he ever told anyone we dated, I'd cut him in his sleep."

Kyungsoo meant it as a joke, but Sehun still felt like there was some degree of truth to his words.

"You claim you're embarassed of me, but you know you love me."

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, but his lips were still in a smile, and a fond one in fact.

"Anyway, what help do you need?"

"Wait wait, so what are you, like a hacker?"

Kyungsoo looked at Sehun and then looked up in thought before replying with a nonchalant shrug and a slight smirk.

"Of sorts."

Sehun didn't really know what to reply or what else to say, and he didn't really want to say anything more either.

The little man may be adorable and friendly, but he still scared Sehun, something he would of course refuse to admit openly though.

"Yeah, so, we need you to hack into an email account and get us a security code."

"That's it? Ah that's a piece of cake. So who am I hacking?"

"Zhang Yixing, leader of the dance club."

"Okay, I'm going to need to know his email address, date of birth, location of birth and handphone number."

Sehun provided Kyungsoo with all the required information. Chanyeol was just sitting next to Kyungsoo and watching the screen. Baekhyun was staring at Kyungsoo's hands with fascination as they moved like lighting across the keyboard, furiously accurate. Jongdae on the other hand, did not really appreciate how Baekhyun was staring at Kyungsoo so much, not just his fingers but time to time looking up at his tanned and intense face as well.

Baekhyun was an annoying little shit, but he was his annoying little shit.

And Jongdae did not really like his annoying little shit checking out some marshmellow-sized-low-key-serial-killer-hacking-elf.

Jongdae's rather jealous thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Chanyeol exclaiming "yay!" rather childishly.

"Alright, I'm in."

On The Pulse- Chapter 3: Operation Jong-Out

junchenny — Sat, 11 Feb 2017 17:25:26 GMT

Title: On The Pulse
Pairing: Sekai, side baekchen
Length: 3/20
Genre: Romance, Humor, College!AU
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sehun's the king of the dance squad, everyone in college knew that. So you can imagine he wasn't too happy when the freshie Jongin showed up and upstaged him spectacularly.

"Guys, I swear, just give my idea a chance."

"Shut up Baekhyun."

"It's a sure way to make you happy Sehun."

"Enough Baek."

"He wants to maintain his title right? Well this will definitely make sure of that!"

"FOR THE LAST TIME BYUN BAEKHYUN, WE ARE NOT MURDERING A FRESHMAN!"

Jongdae's outburst caused the previously rather noisy college student to shut up, fold his arms and pout rather childishly. Sehun patted Jongdae's back appreciatively, since he was on the verge of sticking a fork in Baekhyun's eye.

It was supposed to be a study session, but for the past 20 minutes Baekhyun had just been blabbering on about how he watched a crime documentary on executing the perfect murder, and how much faith he had in the four of them to get away with killing off a freshie. The only problem would be blood being too messy for Baekhyun himself to handle or see, so he wouldn't actually do anything, he'd just be moral support because Byun Baekhyun could never get his pretty hands dirty of course.

"Seriously Jongdae, why the fuck are you dating this jackass again?"

Jongdae merely sighed and shrugged in response to Chanyeol's question. Meanwhile, Sehun was just trying to concentrate on finishing his literature paper which was painfully overdue.

The last thing he needed was to get in trouble for being behind in his classes.

"Can we not talk about this right now guys? I don't want to keep thinking about that kid. We can't get rid of him, so just leave it."

Silence followed Sehun's rather defeatist declaration. It was no doubt his three friends were currently feeling pity for him, and Sehun hated that. He hated being pitiful, he hated that he felt so defeated.

He hated how that stupid freshman made him feel like he was no longer the school's best talent.

A couple of seconds passed, with even Baekhyun was being quiet for once, as they all tried to just get back to their work and not think about Sehun's endangered reputation.

Suddenly, Chanyeol banged on the table, making all of them jolt in surprise.

"I have an idea."

"Causing any grievious bodily harm is out of the question as well Chanyeol."

"No no trust me, this one may actually work. I know how we can get rid of this guy without murdering him."

------------------------------

"This is stupid."

"Shut up, he's coming. Operation Jong-out is in action."

"I cannot believe you came up with such an idiotic name."

"It's a brilliant name and you know it."

"If this fails, I'm burning all your clothes."

"That's fine, I'll just walk around naked then. You'd love that wouldn't you?"

"Seriously guys shut the fuck up, he's here. Go go go!"

Jongdae pushed Sehun out from behind the wall, causing the latter to unflatteringly stumble into the corridor and glare at his friend. After correcting himself, Sehun noticed that Jongin was on his phone, wearing simple trackpants and a T-shirt with a snapback and a slingbag. Taking in a deep breath, and after glancing at his three accomplices who were giving him cringe-worthy thumbs-up signs, Sehun quickly ran in front of Jongin before he could enter the dance studio.

"Hey there freshie."

Jongin looked up startled with a rather blur look on his face, but still managing to look ridiculously handsome, which annoyed Sehun endlessly.

"Um, hi."

"This is your first dance practice with us right? Just wanted to tell you don't be nervous or anything."

Shit, he was sounding so awkward.

Jongin quirked a brow, making Sehun's inside squirm.

Fuck you Park Chanyeol.

"Um, thanks?"

"Haha...yeah. Just, you know, if you need anyone for support or anything, don't be afraid to approach me yeah?"

'don't be afraid to approach me' ??? what the fuck Sehun you sound like some high school student counsellor.

"Thanks, um, I'll...I'll make sure I do."

Jongin attempted a half-smile, which was rather obvious to be forced but Sehun couldn't blame him, he was one offered-candy away from being an actual creeper.

"Ahe-ahe!"

Sehun's heart jolted at the muffled coughing noise coming from behind them which made Jongin turn in confusion.

FUCKING BAEKHYUN.

Before Jongin could fully turn to check out the source of the noise, Sehun threw his arm around Jongin's shoulder and pulled him towards the studio.

"Great, let's get going then! Practice starts soon and as I always say, punctuality is a virtue!"

"HA!"

"Quickly now, in we go, first dance session with the new star freshie, woohoo!"

Yup, he was definitely going to castrate that little shithead.

------------------------------

"Alright everybody, take 5!"

Sehun dropped his hands to his hips, catching his breath. It was an intense routine no doubt, but he still loved the feeling of his blood pumping and his heart racing. Heading to the back, he picked up his waterbottle and chugged down a few gulps. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Jongin a few feet away wiping off his sweat with his towel.

Alright, here's a good chance.

Sehun was about to approach Jongin when Krystal beat him to it, making him freeze.

Damn it.

The two seemed to hit it off pretty well as they engaged in some friendly conversation, and it was no doubt Krystal seemed to have a bit of a crush on him.

Psh, of course she would, with his perfect face and perfect body and glorious smile and- what? No. Stop it Sehun. Focus.

"Is that jealousy I detect?"

Sehun turned to find Johnny smirking at him, which made him roll his eyes.

"Ew, gross. Krystal's like a little sister."

"Who said anything about Krystal?"

Sehun's heart stopped, and it felt like someone had just crushed his lungs.

Fuck, did Johnny know..?

As Sehun's bewildered expression remained, Johnny broke out laughing, punching him playfully in the shoulder.

"Relax man, just a joke. Don't look so offended, we all know you're the alpha chick magnet of Lykos."

Sehun's stomach was still knotted, but he forced himself to laugh along and seem unfazed, even though on the inside he was still experiencing a hurricane of emotions.

Why the hell did he react like that?

Was it from the shock of Johnny possibly knowing about him being gay?

Or was it more from being caught liking Jongin...

No.

It couldn't be that.

That was absurd.

Because Sehun didn't like Jongin.

Jongin was the enemy.

Sehun couldn't forget that, no matter how hot he was.

"Anyway dude, seems like you have some competition. We haven't seen a kid this good since...well since you auditioned."

Sehun's jaw clenched momentarily, but he was able to mask it effectively and put on a smile.

"Ah, there's no competition. He's good so it's an added strength to the team. That's what matters."

Johnny looked amusedly at Sehun, giving him the obvious 'what a load of bullshit' face.

"Alright, whatever you say."

Sehun was about to reply when Yixing yelled out for the members to get back into formation.

As Johnny walked away, Sehun turned back to watch Jongin head to his place, rolling his shoulders and staring intensly at himself in the mirror.

Competition? No. There was room for only one dance god at Lykos, and Sehun was going to make damn sure it was always and only him.

Watch out freshie. Operation Jong-out (fuck that name) has just begun.

On The Pulse- Chapter 2: Fresh Prince

junchenny — Sat, 11 Feb 2017 17:24:25 GMT

"Next!"

Sehun tried to stifle his yawn as Yixing called up the next auditionee. He knew it would absolutey obnoxious of him to show how bored and unimpressed he was, but that was the sad reality. They had gone through 16 auditions already, and only 2 were good enough to join the team.

One of the fellows even forgot his own choreography and started crying.

Of course Sehun felt bad for the poor guy, but at the end of the day, this was the best dance team in the nation. Of course expectations were going to be high and if you couldn't handle the heat, then you shouldn't be in the kitchen.

"How many more do we have?" Sehun heard Taemin ask Yixing, to which Yixing glanced down at the paper and then held up 2 fingers.

Okay, just 2 more.

When all the auditionees were first gathered in the studio and briefed, Sehun felt like there were at least 30 of them. It definitely sounded like that when they cheered for him after his dance.

Well, this is going to wrap up soon then, so that's good.

The next auditionee walked into the studio, confidently but respectfully smiling at the panel.

His face was definitely not bad to look at, so Sehun propped up in his chair a little bit.

Not exactly his type though, he looked far too prim and proper, but he was definitly handsome, there was no doubt in that.

"Hello there, why don't you introduce yourself to us."

Sehun always admired how Yixing had the stamina to maintain his cheerfulness when the rest of them were droned out by this point. The auditionee returned Yixing's large, dopy smile with his own, flashing his perfect row of pearly teeth.

"Hi everyone, my name is Junmyeon and today I am hoping to secure a place on the best dance team in the nation. I love dance and I may not be the best but I have been training endlessly for this, so I hope you give me a shot and let me prove how hardworking I can be."

Sehun could not help but smile at his earnesty, it was refreshing to hear after countless baseless renditions of 'I'm the best' and 'This team needs me'.

The music started, and Sehun's smile slowly disappeared.

His beginnning stance itself was shaky, then he missed a couple of beats which caused him to spin off time. His lines weren't straight enough and his movements weren't sharp enough. His face was too serious and his moves compromised emotion for the sake of technique.

By the end, Junmyeon was panting hard and his face was still as hard as steel. Sehun knew he was definitely not anywhere near the standard of the team, but still, there was something there, some spark in this kid, that made him want to give him a shot.

"Thank you Junmyeon. That was good, you're not a bad dancer at all. I can see that you really put your all in every move and that's really admirable. But I don't really think it is at the standard that we need it to be for you to be on this team."

Yixing was trying to be as nice as possible, but it was obvious along what line he was going. Junmyeon's face started to fall even though he tried to maintain his composure and respectfully listened to the feedback.

"Yeah I agree. We're looking for the top-notch dancers out there, and while you have the drive, maybe you need to go back and train just a little more and then come audition again. I bet by then, you'll be ready."

Sehun was rather surprised by how nice Taemin was being, because for the other hopeless auditions his usual responses were "are you kidding me" and "what are you even doing here"

But it was understandable, this kid was so sincere and passionate that it was practically impossible to be able to look him in the eye and say something mean.

Finally, it was Sehun's turn to speak.

"Train just a little bit more. You'll get there. You have the spark, you just have to turn that into a flame."

Sehun loved sounding inspiring and wise, it made him feel like a deep and intrinsically mature person even though most of the time his quotes were from brainyquotes.com

Junmyeon pressed his lips into a smile and nodded, trying his best to mask his disappointment.

"I understand, I will definitely work harder and come back stronger next time."

The three panel judges smiled encouragingly at him as he left the studio, and as Sehun watched the disappointed boy leave, a part of him hoped sincerely that he would see him again, indeed stronger and better.

"Alright," Yixing sighed as he crossed off another name on the audition list, "just one left."

"Great, let's wrap this up so I can go read." Taemin yawned out as he stretched his arms over his head.

"You read?" Sehun glanced behind at Krystal, who was looking at Taemin with an amused smirk.

The rest of the club together with Sehun's gang was sitting on the floor behind the judging panel, watching the auditions as well. The system used to be that everyone would give feedback, but having 20 people each take turns took way too long so Yixing decided to just have himself, the leader, and Sehun and Taemin, the 2 sub-leaders, judge the auditions.

"He means his manga, so it's not legit reading." Sehun replied, to which Taemin scoffed, but with a hint of a smile.

Sehun and Taemin didn't get along well at first, as both competed for the title of the best dancer in the squad. But after working together on numerous pieces, they realised they actually got along well enough to be friends. Also, Taemin was most of the time not even able to participate in the activities due to his own work and college commitments, so he let Sehun amicably hold the title.

Well, Sehun wouldn't say he let him hold the title, more so than he just gave up and admitted that Sehun was better than him.

Which one was true, the world would never know.

"Next!"

As Sehun sipped on his chocolate bubble tea (honestly god bless chocolate bubble tea), the door opened and the final auditionee walked in.

And suddenly the most delicious chocolate tea, his most favourite drink in the world and the true love of his life, started to choke him.

Well, it wasn't that it started to choke him more so than Sehun just inhaled deeply which caused it to get stuck in his throat.

And why did he inhale so deeply, you ask?

Because as he sipped on his most precious bubble tea, the most beautiful creature walked into the dance studio.

And in that moment, Oh Sehun, for the first time in his life, cursed himself for being very gay.

This walking embodiment of perfection just casually walked up to the front of the panel, clad in all black from head to toe which made Sehun so angry because honestly this guy must definitely know how good he looks in black and how it shows off his sexy tanned skin and how the shirt shaped his muscles so well and his pants made his legs look like they went on for miles and just honestly who does this guy think he is??????

"Hi, my name is Kim Jongin."

Oh, and of course his voice must be downright sexy as well.

Sehun was on the verge of crying at just how gorgeous this man was.

NO. REPUTATION. HONOUR. DIGNITY. YOU WILL NOT CRY.

"Hi Jongin, you've been waiting quite a while haven't you? Well, you're the last one so let's hope you end off our day well."

Jongin flashed his ridiculously charming smile at Yixing and then nodded at the whole panel. For a spit second he made eye contact with Sehun, and in that spit second Sehun wanted to jump over the table and ravage this stupidly sexy being.

Okay. Calm down Sehun. Yes this is the hottest man you have ever laid your eyes upon, but you are Oh Sehun. You are the best dancer in the college, heck in the whole nation. You are cool, keep it together and just judge this kid. He probably isn't even that great dancer and- oh. f*ck.

Sehun's jaw literally dropped as the first beat of the music started and the freshman snapped his fingers right on point, as sharp as can be. The next beat came on and he whipped his head to the side, right on point again. As the melody kicked in, so did the shock that Sehun felt as he watched Mr. Sexy dance magnificently. His every move, every expression, every pop and lock and even freaking roll (his roll was so sexy Sehun felt like crying again) was absolutely on point. Even with his technique so clean, he still managed to maintain emotion in his expression and moves, one of the hardest things for a dancer to do.

And he was doing it effortlessly.

By the end, he was on the ground, on his knees, panting hard but his face as intense and strong as ever. The music slowly faded out, leaving the room finally in complete and utter silence.

What.

the F*CK.

WAS THAT?!

The silence lingered on as literally everyone in the studio had their jaws hung open. Sehun peeled his eyes away from the dancer to observe the rest of his team.

And that was when admiration turned into alarm.

Because in all the faces and all the eyes of everyone in his team, he saw utter awe and amazement.

He saw the exact look people had whenever they watched him.

But this time it was not for him.

This time it was for this... this...

This freshie.

As Yixing finally spoke up, bursting into a series of praises and commendations, Sehun clenched his teeth.

This was not good.

This was not good at all.

Sehun was the king of the dance scene, not Mr. Se- no, Kim Jong-whatever.

"You are, undoubtedly, the best dancer I have ever seen."

Hearing Taemins' words made Sehun clench his fist under the table.

Best dancer?! Clearly Taemin was high on something.

Yeah his technique and execution and all were good, fine great, but he wasn't the best by any stretch.

Sehun was.

"Sehun?"

Looking at Yixing, who prompted him, Sehun forced himself to look at the little brat and had to remind himself to look past the sexiness and remember that this was his new threat.

"You were good. Very good."

With that, Sehun looked back down at his fingers tapping on the table, leaned back in his chair and trying his best not to look affected by what had just happened.

"Alright, welcome to the team Jongin!"

Everyone clapped, which meant Sehun had to as well, and Jongin bowed respectfully to the whole panel and then to the whole studio, his bright smile still plastered on his face.

Once he left the studio, everyone broke out into murmurs about how spectacular the last auditionee was.

"Yah."

Sehun felt a large hand clasp his shoulder and turned to find Chanyeol looking down at him with raised eyebrows.

Oh no, now he had to deal with the three baffoons.

"See, I told you someone may surprise you later."

"Shut up! Can't you see he's absolutely broken. It's finally happened guys. Someone has finally come along to replace- OUCH! YAH! SERIOUSLY!"

Chanyeol returned the dagger glare Baekhyun was giving him as he rubbed the back of his head. Sehun couldn't be bothered to deal with the three of them, he already had a headache as it was and he just did not feel like having any human interaction for the next 50 years or so.

So he got up and started heading towards the back to get his stuff.

"Hey!"

As he slung his bag around his shoulders, Jongdae jogged up to him.

"You okay?"

This time there wasn't a tone of teasing or amusement, Jongdae was soft and was looking with pure concern at him. He knew how much his title and reputation meant to Sehun, more than just the reason of fame and glory, so he knew how upset Sehun was.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Sehun, this doesn't actually mean anything you know. Yeah he's a great dancer, but he has nothing on you. No one's going to respect you any less."

Sehun scoffed, folding his arms.

"You saw him. Even you don't believe your own words. He's...he's better than me. He'll replace me and everyone will forget Oh Sehun. It'll be Kim Jong-whatever, Dance God of Lykos College. I'll fade into obscurity."

Baekhyun and Chanyeol had joined them back again by this point, both now more quiet and serious as they saw the intense scowl on Sehun's face.

"That won't happen, I promise." Jongdae tried to reassure him, rubbing his shoulder.

"Yeah, we won't let it."

Sehun cocked a brow at Baekhyun, "and how exactly do you have any control over the situation?"

Baekhyun smirked, and it was the same smirk as whenever he was up to absolutely no good.

"I have an idea."

On The Pulse- Chapter 1: King of the Scene

junchenny — Sat, 11 Feb 2017 17:23:33 GMT

Title: On The Pulse
Pairing: Sekai, side baekchen
Length: 1/20
Genre: Romance, Humor, College!AU
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sehun's the king of the dance squad, everyone in college knew that. So you can imagine he wasn't too happy when the freshie Jongin showed up and upstaged him spectacularly.

"Oh Sehun! Oh Sehun! Oh Sehun! Oh Sehun!"

The reverberation of the crowd's cheering only made Sehun's blood pump faster. The exhiliration he felt throbbing inside him was almost like a drug that he already knew he was getting addicted to. With a sea of lights ahead of him, every bead of his perspiration being watched and photographed and squealed over, Sehun knew right now, in this very moment, he was a God.

People worshipped his every move, and why shouldn't they? He was the King of Dance. The best there ever was. Michael Jackson, may the brilliant man rest in peace, and with all due respect, had NOTHING on him. He was the greatest dancer in the world and that was what made the huge smirk on his face unremovable.

"Oh Sehun!"

Yes, chant my name.

"OH SEHUN!"

Music to my ears, the most glorious chorus of angels-

"YAH SEHUN! GET THE F*CK UP!"

A violent yanking of sheets resulted in Sehun having a very rude awakening coupled with some expletives mumbled in annoyance.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"Shut up asshat."

Chanyeol chuckled, already used to his roommate's rather unique terms of affection for him. As he watched Sehun yawn and scruffle his messy bed hair, which made him look like a 5 year old, he folded his arms and quirked a brow.

Groggily rubbing his eyes, Sehun noticed Chanyeol just observing him with a look of bemusement.

"What?"

"Look at the time, sunshine."

Sehun frowned and reached under his pillow, grabbing his phone. Pressing the home button, his screen and the numbers 8.52 flashed before him.

"F*CK!"

Scrambling out of bed, the panicked boy raced to his wardrobe, grabbing whatever pieces of clothing he could get his hands on first. Chanyeol maintained his posture and his amused grin, shaking his head as he watched Sehun check to see if his clothes were matching properly first even though he only had 8 minutes to class.

"My dear Sehun, you have less than 7 minutes to get to class, and you're still checking to see if your clothes look good. Amazing."

"Image is everything, and I have a repuation to keep up. I can't walk around looking like you."

Chanyeol's grin immeditately turned into a frown. Looking down at his bermudas and oversized sweatshirt, he pursed his lips and folded his arms even tighter.

"Mock my fashion, but we both known underneath the clothes is what matters. And in that department, I'm unbeatable."

Sehun didn't even bother to reply as he rushed into the bathroom. He didn't have to turn and look to know that Chanyeol had pulled up his sleeves and was flexing in the mirror.

And no, it was not because that was how well he knew Chanyeol even though they were best friends.

It was more from the murmurs of "Yeah it's okay Channie", "You're hot, he's just jealous" and most importantly, "I mean just look at these guns" that was what gave it away.

Yup, just another day of Sehun being Sehun and Chanyeol being Chanyeol.

-----------------------------------------

"So I heard you were late for class again?"

"It's Sehun, the interesting news would be when he's actually on time for something."

As Sehun slapped Baekhyun across the back of his head, Jongdae laughed which made Baekhyun frown at both of them.

"Hey! You're the one who was late to class, why am I being punished?"

"Because you're being an annoying little s*hit, like you always are."

"You're my boyfriend, you're supposed to be on my side!"

Jongdae stuck his tongue out at Baekhyun, and the latter returned the action, still rubbing the back of his head.

Watching the couple banter was always amusing, and Sehun couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy that they both were able to find love with each other. Well, it wasn't like Sehun couldn't get a significant other if he wanted to.

He just had to snap his fingers and at least 20 girls would flock to his side in an instant.

Even at the current moment, as Baekhyun and Jongdae continued arguing with each other at their table, a group of girls a couple of tables away from them in the cafeteria were openly oggling at Sehun. He even managed to hear how one of them "would eat a sock for him", which nearly made him spit his milk out at the absurdity.

So yes, getting a girl theoretically was not the problem.

The problem was that he didn't want a girl.

He wanted a boy.

Because Oh Sehun, and Dance God of Lykos College, was gay.

Very, very gay.

And while it was not something the school or its students didn't approve of, as seen by the very open displays of affection being completely normal between Jongdae and Baekhyun when they were not bickering their heads off, it was still something Sehun was afraid to let out.

He had worked himself to the bones to get to where he was today, his populartity and title of being the best dancer in the school did not come easy by any means. He simply could not fathom how broken he would feel if word got out about his uality and people viewed him as lesser than the man he was.

Reputation was everything to Sehun, so love just had to take a backseat.

"Oi, where's Chanyeol?"

"Music practice."

"Ah, why!? He was supposed to have lunch with us! This was supposed to be a celebratory lunch for surviving the first year of college and beginning the next one!"

"Jongdae, you should know by now Chanyeol doesn't give a f*ck about us when it comes to music. He missed my birthday dinner last year to finish up some composition. That meatbrain doesn't deserve our friendship, we're too good for him. And honestly, we- OUCH! YAH!"

Sehun, who was sitting opposite Baekhyun, could see Chanyeol walking up to the table and standing behind Baekhyun as he bad-mouthed him. And of course Sehun knew Chanyeol was going to slap him across the back of his head, which was why he decided to not say anything to oblivious Baekhyun.

There was something inherently satisfying about seeing Baekhyun get hit.

"Too good for me? You should be happy I even interact with you, do you know how hard it is to put up with your loud-a** mouth?"

"MY loud-a** mouth? Have you even heard yourself in the gym? It's like you're wanking yourself off whenever you work out. Ohh yess, yesss! That's it, aw yeah!"

"Enough with the s*x noises Baek."

"Well you weren't complaining last night."

And that was how Byun Baekhyun received his third slap across the back of his head in the span of just 10 minutes.

As Baekhyun continued complaining and Chanyeol high-fived Jongdae for his brilliant and much-appreciated slap, Sehun's phone buzzed.

Leader Yixing: Today's session starts an hour early since it's audition day for the freshies. Sehun, don't be late. The rest of you, see y'all later.

"What is it?"

"Dance starts an hour earlier today to audition the freshies."

"Ooooh, new meat. Can we come watch?"

"Please don't refer to our juniors as 'new meat', but sure since it'll be an open session."

Jongdae, Baekhyun and Chanyeol all nodded and agreed to drop by the dance studio later. Auditions were always fun to watch according to them, but Sehun usually found them boring.

There were either mediocre dancers with the potential to become good, or really lousy dancers who were deluded to think they had a shot. The only good part about audtions was when Yixing called Sehun up to showcase the quality expected of the dance squad. There was something about seeing the look of awe and inspiration in the eyes of aspiring dancers whenever they watched him dance which made him feel special.

It was one of the best feelings in the world.

"So do you think there'll be any golden eggs later?"

Sehun shrugged, picking at his peas and looking contemplative even though he knew the answer in his head.

"I doubt it. We hold auditions every few months and every time, it's mostly the same standard. Numerous lousy ones, a couple of promising ones and maybe 1 or 2 ones that just about live up to my standard. But never anything mind-blowing so, I'm just expecting the same thing later."

"Well, you never know. Maybe someone will come along later and surprise you."

Sehun raised his eyebrows at Jongdae, a small smile gracing his lips as he thought about how improbable that was.

It took a lot to surprise Sehun.

A lot.