A/N: Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope you’re having a great week. Today’s chapter is just a fluffy Academia special to bring some winter cheer to our boys. Hope you enjoy!
“Higher,” Min-jun commanded. The two boys lifted the garland above their heads, arms straining as they stretched out. Hmm, almost there.
Min-jun took a few steps back, tilting his head to the side, his arms folding over his chest. “A little to the left.” The boys moved again. “There! That’s perfect! No, now a little higher. Oh, now it’s all wrong.”
The boys continued to try to return the garland to its previous position, only making more of a mess, as a handful of needles fluttered to the floor. Min-jun hid his eyes behind his palm and heaved a sigh.
“I think it looks alright,” said a grating voice. Not grating because it was unpleasant to listen to. No, Yi Cheol had a voice that could either lull one to sleep or keep them awake all night, just to listen to its graceful cadence and the endless stories that rolled of his tongue like honey. Cheol stood behind him, his hands tucked into his pockets. His tie lay loosened around his neck and his jacket hung off his arm, and on his head, his dark, curly hair was left disheveled. Even the first few buttons of his crisp white dress shirt were unfastened. Tch, was he trying to pass as a delinquent? Honestly, every time Min-jun looked at his roommate, there was something new to be angry about.
“Take a break!” Min-jun told the boys, who breathed a sigh of relief and promptly got down from their ladders. The two of them ran off, probably to raid the kitchens of their pastries.
“You’re too hard on them,” Cheol said, as they began to walk in the opposite direction, toward the snowy lawn of the courtyard.
“I don’t want to hear that from you,” Min-jun told him. “Where have you been anyway? I could’ve used your help in planning.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
They stepped out into the cold air, wrapped up in their old winter jackets and scarves. A pale fog had settled over the school grounds, concealing the evergreens that crowned the school. It moved over the land like smoke. Min-jun could feel its wetness against the bare skin of his neck and face. He breathed in the cool, humid air, the scent of pine needles on his tongue. Through the fog, some of the fairy lights cracked through, pale yellow against the gray walls. Underneath their feet, the snow crunches, ice crystals breaking and compressing beneath their weight.
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“Vlcmf ktfc vb sbe mjgf jybea ktja atf Lfjvwlragfrr rjsr?” Zlc-pec jrxfv jr atfs rja vbkc bc bcf bo atf yfcmtfr. Lf gfrlrafv atf eguf ab qijmf tlr tfjv bc Jtfbi’r rtbeivfg, atbeut tf ofia delaf kfjgs cbk atja tf kjr jkjs ogbw atf qgfqjgjalbcr. Viffq tjv fnjvfv tlw atf qjra ofk vjsr, jr tlr wlcv gfqfjafv jii atf ajrxr tf’v tjnf ab jaafcv ab bnfg atf cfza ofk vjsr.
“I care about you,” Cheol said. Min-jun whipped his head around to face him. The sincerity in his voice . . . it always threw him off. How was he to respond to that? “And you care about what she says. It wouldn’t be right for me to intervene and get you in trouble.”
For the millionth time since they entered the Academy, Min-jun wondered why the Headmistress despised Cheol so. Sure, he was a bit of a trickster. With his silver tongue, he could get under anyone’s skin, but in the four years Min-jun had known him, Cheol had never once crossed the line. Beyond that, his grades were continuously at the top of the class, and he always kept the more unruly students in order.
“Does it make you upset at all?” Min-jun had asked him once, in the odd hours of the night when neither of them could keep the nightmares at bay and so they cuddled up together on the same bed and waited for dawn to break. The fabric of the comforter had irritated his skin, but with Cheol so close, he barely noticed anymore.
Cheol had shook his head, his eyes following a spider crawling across the ceiling above. “No. There’s nothing I can do about it, anyway.”
Min-jun had never believed him, really. No matter what, the Headmistress acted as a guardian to them all. To be hated by the one who was meant to care for you. It was enough to break any child’s spirit.
‘I hope he knows.’ Min-jun thought then. ‘I hope he knows I care about him, even if he drives me insane sometimes.’
It was a brief moment, one that he often forgot about. Sometimes, he would even forget he loved Cheol at all, but then he would catch a glimpse of him in the library or in the dining hall and he’d remember again. Ah, when’d he get so sappy? Min-jun leaned back, watching his breath turn the same color as the fog.
“You should help me anyway,” Min-jun told him, casually. “I’ll just take the credit if you’re so worried.”
Cheol cracked a smile and it sent Min-jun’s heart into a frenzy. “Oh? And what, pray tell, would you have me do, Mr. President?”
“Don’t call me that.” Min-jun pouted. “I’ll double your workload.”
Cheol laughed, propping his arm up on the back of the bench. “How frightening. Perhaps I’ll continue to call you that, just to spend some more time with you?”
This teasing again. This was why Min-jun so often forgot he loved this boy. Min-jun looked down at his boots, brown leather, inside his toes curled. “My waltz still needs a bit of work.”
Indifference at first, and then something like amusement appeared like a ripple in the water, spreading across Cheol’s face. A wide grin, crinkles at the corners of his eyes, and then he leaned in. “Oh my, does the perfect Student Council President have something inappropriate on his mind?”
“I can ask someone else if you’d prefer,” Min-jun snapped, crossing his arms.
Another vibrant laugh sent a flush of heat to Min-jun’s face. “Fine, fine. I’ll stop. I can’t pass up a chance to dance with the Academy’s golden boy, after all.” Cheol laid his chin down on his hand. “Let’s meet in the observatory tower.”
“The observatory tower? Not our room?”
Cheol brushed the edge of Min-jun’s fringe, teasing again. “I doubt our room has the space for a proper waltz. So, how about it? After dinner. No one should be in there then.”
Somehow, the way Cheol spoke made his suggestion come off as more of a challenge, and Min-jun never backed down from a challenge. “Fine.”
Cheol grinned again. He rose from the bench and began to walk back into the building. In the years they’ve spent together, Min-jun had learned the boy did not fare well in the cold. He could withstand it quite well, but he did not enjoy a minute of it. Perhaps that was why Min-jun always dragged him out here.
“It’s a date, then.”
Min-jun scrambled onto his knees to yell back at him, hands gripping the cold, metal backrest. “It’s not a date!”
A/N: Min-jun is in denial in any universe, though in this world, it seems to be a very special brand of denial. Let me know if you want more of the fluffy boarding school romance in the comments. I had a lot of fun writing it! Wednesday, we’ll probably be back to our regular storyline (unless I get caught up in the holidays, in which case, I will let everyone know through discord).
Boarding school AU with these two are too sweet. I love that they are roommates and Min Jun freely admits he loves Cheol
Thank you for this AU
I’m glad you enjoyed it! These two can be so sweet to each other when given the chance.
I’ll love more of that in the future 🥰… Esp the dance..
Thanks for the chapter ♥️♥️
I’ll definitely continue it then! Thank you for commenting!
YES. MORE.
Soon.
Lol yup in denial in any ‘verse. Thank you the updates and happy holidays!
Min-jun wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t have a good dose of denial to him. Thank you for commenting!