#i dont konw why but i loved this cheesy scene

[storge]

What are you up to?

Dream of Chang’an Ep. 11

[warmau]

Highschool!AU Haechan

find college!nct (here) & more hs!dream kids will be coming soon!!

favorite subject: piano & creative writing 

least favorite subject: chemistry 

voted most likely to: become a famous game show host

haechan is described by his homeroom teacher as ‘popular’, with pretty high grades in all subjects - even the ones he despises, and a personality that’s loud an vibrant it’s only natural that people want to be his friend

although he does have a streak of giving back cheeky answers to teachers, never insulting or rude just a bit too sarcastic 

but that just makes him even more popular, because everyone thinks he’s hilarious 

his parents are both musically inclined so haechan took every music extracurricular class that was available, the piano teacher basically lets him live in the music room

some older kids had tried to make snarky comments involving haechan’s talent, but he had confidently told them to buzz off with their low college entrance exam scores and well,,,,they never bothered him again

doesn’t skip class often, but when he does it’s totally with jisung and chenle to cause some no good pranks on their friends jeno and renjun

and/or to get snacks down at the corner store, the owner is like “hey shouldnt you be in school??” and haechan is like “oh, it’s national government day so no school!” and the person is always like uh,,,sounds legit and haechan just grins

has he used his cuteness to get free food from the lunch ladies? yeah,,,he has,,,,much to the look of regret on jisung’s face

his other favorite class is creative writing because haechan is imaginative, it’s hard to not notice both his personality and his creativity

and he likes storytelling and songwriting, so even if everyone else is writing cheesy romance hs love plots like haechan’s gonna write his dragon slayer robot apocalypse piano playing hero trilogy - just you watch him

(what im saying is popular boy haechan probably lowkey loves reading magical books and stuff,,, like he might hate science but do i think haechan loves scifi novels??? yeah,,,,look at him)

and you actually have creative writing with haechan this semester, which is funny because ofc you know him

your friends are friends with his friends yada yada, but you’ve like never really given him a thought

one of your friends had a brief crush on him when you were all freshmen, and you’d agreed - something about him was charming

was it the clear, glowing skin? the long eyelashes? the smile that made the room light up? the way you’d made eye contact across the lunchroom and haechan’s eyes , an earthy brown, had sparkled - 

ok yeah you totally just thought that “something” about him was charming not like you’d thought about him twice

but being in the same room with him for a whole semester changed that

and it changed it really,,,, really fast

and you weren’t expecting it, coming into class - trying your hardest to listen to other people read their stories, make comments, ask questions

but all you could do was sneak peeks at haechan

who sat at the desk beside yours, closest to the windows

and when a gust of wind would past buy, his hair would ruffle slightly and he’d tap the end of his pencil gently against his lips

whenever the teacher called on him, he’d have something so interesting to say and the chance amount of times he’d look your way

you had to pretend to be scribbling something against your own notes

because what,,,what was happening

you had never thought your crush would end up being haechan and not because he was the school sweetheart or the most athletic kid on the soccer team or any of that stuff from the movies

you just got,,,,entranced,,,, “he’s a wizard, right?” you once rationalized to yourself in bed but what - no c’mon,,,that couldn’t be it

and it wasn’t like haechan didn’t notice,,,,,,

he’d always wondered - when you were both freshman and you’d met eyes in the lunchroom during the first couple of weeks of school

why had you never,,,looked at him again?

it had bugged him, he had even asked mark about it who had graduated and mark just said something about “why do you care? oh,,,,do you like them?”

haechan had gritted his teeth “what are you talking about?”

mark’s cheery laughter came on the other end “only people ask a questions like ‘oh why aren’t they looking at me?’ when they have a crush.”

“you know what mark, i called you for some REAL advice and you’re giving me this baloney. this was dumb, college is making you dumber bye”

mark hadn’t been hurt when haechan hung up the phone, he was too busy chuckling over the fact that haechan 100% was interested in you - and just refused to admit it 

or maybe haechan was just as confused as you, he would act like you didn’t phase him at all in creative writing

most of the time he’d concentrate extra hard on staring out the window, or asking questions about other peoples work

because one slip up and he’d have his head down on the desk, hearts floating above his head looking at the way your hair falls over your eyes sometimes, the pretty birthmark on your arm, the cute animals you doodled in your pages when you weren’t listening

haechan did NOT want to fall into that hole - he had seen jisung have crushes before and it was never pretty he acted like a total fOOL 

but it was hard,,,you were so cute,,, he’d thought that when he first saw you but high school life had got in the way

now you sat beside each other????? what the heCK was he supposed to do???

you hadn’t told anyone about your feelings, and it was easy to hide you literally never saw haechan in the halls or at lunch - the only period you had with him was creative writing

so no one suspected a thing,,,,not until it was haechan’s turn to read aloud his writing

and you were secretly dreading it, but it did give you an excuse to finally look at him without seeming weird

yet the gnawing idea in your head was just: what if it’s a love poem about someone ,,,,, or some kind of allegory ,,, 

it was a dumb thought - but you’re a teenager in love these things always bubble up

so on the day off, you briefly considered cutting class but ended up at your desk, watching haechan walk to the center of the board 

his story was set in the future, something about a hero who played the piano while simultaneously defeating monster robots - it reminded you slightly of a comic book story line

someone had snorted at the idea, but haechan wrote it really well

to the point that halfway through the class, and even the teacher were on the edge of their seats

and then ,,,, came that part

haechans main character, who played piano in a well known orchestra was sitting beside his love interest

haechan read, “i would sit with them, completely alone in the grand hall. i would read music and they would practice at the other end of the room. the tune they played almost religiously, was one of my favorite. yet, there was never a moment where i could feel their gaze on me. almost as if i did not exist. i could clearly remember the first time we met, the canteen had been full of other musicians and orchestra staff. it was bustling, but like in any special moment time had slowed when we saw each other. it was like looking at someone who embodied spring. bright, just as curious and nervous as i. their eyes were a color i could see myself falling in love with effortlessly. but like spring breeze, the moment dwindled for a second and was gone. since then, they have not dared to spare me a glance.”

for a second you felt something familiar in the scene, then you realized haechan was describing a memory you had

the memory of the two of you in the lunchroom during freshman year

subconsciously, you were arguing that it was just a coincidence. he didn’t remember that, why would he?

but your heart was flipping in your chest, your grip on your pen had tightened

you almost didn’t hear the teacher call your name and ask for your opinion

haechan’s eyes landed on you and your face felt like it was on fire

“i,,,,,,,,,,i really like the scene between the protagonist and his ,,,,,, crush.”

you weren’t even thinking straight, but it came out

you hide your eyes back onto your paper, too concentrated on hiding your blush to see haechan’s lips turn upward ever so slightly

he had thought to himself,,,you remembered this moment too?

as class came to an end, you couldn’t get up out of your seat. your legs had turned to jello and you were still overthinking the whole situation

when the room had emptied out, even the teacher gone you finally put your hands on the desk and pushed yourself up

haechan had been waiting outside the room, he didn’t really konw what to say to you but the look on your face in class had meant something

and really, this itching feeling to look at you,,,,,to hold your hand,,,,,to even kiss you was starting to overwhelm him

and he wasn’t a patient person, i mean when his thoughts had crossed over to ‘why wont they look at me?’ to ‘they look really cute, kissing them would be nice’ he had decided to write that scene in his story

he wanted to know - he needed to konw

if what happened that day meant something and if that something was happening now, now in this one period class you had together

you didn’t see haechan when you opened the door, your eyes were on the floor and you were muttering to yourself

when you heard someone clear their throat and you looked up

“h-haechan?”

he looked at you and that sparkle from back in freshman year was still there

“i dont want to guess, but i need to know. you remember what happened a while ago,,,,,,,,,,what i based the scene off of right?”

you could feel the lump in your throat grow, you were late to last period calculus but you couldn’t even use that as an excuse

“i ,,, i do. but -”

“but, i want you to know that i started feeling it again. what i felt in that moment. i have a,,,,,,,,,,,mark used this word so ill use it too even though,,,it’s,,,corny but whatever - i have a crush on you.”

you stand there, backpack slung over one shoulder and your eyes wider than ever before

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,haechan likes you?,,,,,,,,

“y-you like me?”

“yes, im sorry for saying crush it’s corny but i guess,,, i dont know,,,,it fits the situation?”

haechan gives a small shrug, but a smile starts forming on his face

the cute, shy one you’ve never seen before

“i - i like you too,,,,,,, i just got kind of confused because well i just,,,,, it’s never really,,,,something,,,”

haechan nods “something you thought about before?”

it’s not like this is middle school or anything, but even as high schoolers neither you or haechan ever had much of a mind when it came to crushes

haechan had always found distractions in good friends and music - you had found it in your pasions

so it was only normal that liking each other kind of sent you bothi nto mini panics

but haechan, has never been embarrassed by telling the truth so it was just a matter of time till he confessed

and standing there, alone in the hallway with the muffled sounds of other classes going on , you were happy he did

your first date starts that afternoon, you both are too late for your last classes so you sneak off and go into the city

neither of you has much allowance, so you scrap up what you’ve got and buy snacks to eat, dropping what change you have into the pal of your hand

“it’s not much, but we can go see what it’ll get us at the thrift store?”

you nod and follow haechan into a small, underground store that is stuffed to the brim with second-hand items and vintage clothing hanging off the ceilings

aside from the trendy adults in the store, you and haechan stick out like sore thumbs in your school uniforms

but you completely forget because haechan puts on a large, round straw hat with flowers on it and does an impression of one of your favorite actresses

you two giggle over trying on outrageous clothes, digging through old records and books, until haechan pulls an old puppy toy from the depths of some stack and goes 

“doesn’t he look like me?”

you laugh because the puppy is a slightly washed out red color, but the adorable face with big eyes does sort of remind you of him

on he flip side of the dogs ear is a worn out tag, the name ‘cherry’ spelled out in cursive

“should we spend our change on this guy?” haechan asks

you take him and hold him up “well it’s either him or we share cup ramen in the subway,,,,”

haechan and you agree, cherry is worth it

and as you walk around till late, the city lights illuminating you two in a soft glow, you hold cherry 

and the people walking by flash smiles at you two, a young couple in love

when it’s time to go, haechan has to catch the train but you’re getting on the bus

he fusses with you over waiting till you get on safely, longenough for your bus to actually get there

watching you climb on, you turn over your shoulder and tell haechan to be safe

he points to cherry and raises an eyebrow “you two be safe as well.”

you nod, and haechan seems to stutter for a moment

“see you tomorrow.”

you call before the door shuts and the bus stars on its way, haechan watches your figure through a window as the bus pulls away

softly, with a smile he answers “see you tomorrow”

on the bus ride you stare out the window, holding cherry tightly in your arms

who knew haechan’s story would be the reason you two,,,,finally understood each others hearts

haechan gets home,,,,,and immediately calls mark

“i have a stupid crush. you were right. college is making you smarter.”

mark just laughs, he saw this coming and asks haechan to tell him all about you 

when you end up in class the ext time, you try hard not to smile like an idiot when haechan comes in

but to your surprise, he doesn’t hide it all

he smiles, sliding into his desk and moving it just an inch closer to yours

“how’s cherry?”

“fine, did you get home late?”

the entire class seems to shift their gazes on to you and the weight of their stares makes you nervous 

but haechan doesn’t seem to mind, he just looks at you and says everything was good. clumsily he adds in,,,,if you want,,,,,i gotta show you something after class

the thing he shows you is the piano in the schools music room, you never knew it before = but haechan is a skilled player

and when he sits down behind it, you think he looks handsome - like some kind of young prodigy - like the character in his story

the more you get to know him, the more you see a side of him that you’re sure he hides from others

the little that you knew from other people was his popular, sarcasti image

but there’s a lot more - there’s someone that wholeheartedly loves music and his friends 

it makes you fall for him even harder,,,,,,,

haechan isn’t sure how to tell jisung and the others, so he approaches jeno first since he knows he’ll deal with it the calmest

“you’re dating,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,what how did we not EVEN KNOW?”

haechan shrugs “you guys are kind of oblivious.”

jeno frowns at haechan’s joke, but congratulates him nonetheless

now when isung, renjun and chenle find out ,,,, it’s a whole different ball game. there’s a lot of shouting. renjun even goes “haechan, you have a heart? you never told us!”

when you meet them, they all have some story to tell you about haechan

and haechan just ends up chasing half of them around, threatening to reveal their own secrets to their parent if anything

jeno, who stands beside you watching this unfold leans over and goes “he says he’s really happy these days thanks to you.”

you even get to know jaemin, haechan’s close friend whose on a break from school 

haechan is a half-decent cook, you find out when you try to have a picnic and your homemade lunch is nothing like his

you end up discarding your pitiful sandwich for whatever haechan has in his fancy lunch box

dates with him are always a surprise and goofy

the amount of times you two use the ‘cute highschoolers with no money’ charm is uncountable - free popcorn at the movies? check. extra fries at burger king? check compliments from people on how you two will only get better looking from here on out? weird, but check

you don’t even need money to be happy, honestly you and haechan can make it fun no matter what

from running by the sea, backpacks discarded in the sand and the early fall wind blowing the waves up close as you yell when haechan pretends to jump in

to taking cute pics of the puppies in the puppy cafe windows

heck, once haechan gave you some flowers before first period and you were like how’d you get these,,

and he had told you that he just “got them” when in reality he part-timed for a friends cafe on the weekend to get some money for a gift

you and him meet up at the public library to try and study, but get distracted because you text each other even though you’re a foot apart

‘hey, chemistry sucks’

‘you know what doesn’t suck? my cute face’

‘agreed’

haechan sends you memes he made of jisung himself

you keep asking to meet mark because, most of the dating advice haechan gets is fro him but haechan is just like ‘mark’s a loser,,,,,,,,,,but he’s my big brother and he’d say something to embarrass me.’

you do meet mark when he comes back on college break and he does tell you something embarrassing. it’s that haechan doesn’t shuttup about you. 

haechan teaches you some songs on the piano, you two stay late after school and the music teacher entrusts you with the keys to the room

but it’s nice, to be there with him in the soft evening glow of the sunet - no noisy kids in the halls, just you

your first kiss is outside of the music room, with haechan’s hand on your waist and his nervous laughter afterwords, because he’s confident but ,,,,,,a first kiss is really something else

but you reassure him, when you kiss him a second time before getting on your bus home and haechan walks to the subway, dizzy with glee

haechan doesn’t do pda persay, but he does do little things that are cute

he’ll lay his hand flat on your desk, looking at his textbook like he didn’t just do that and you’ll giggle and hold his hand or play with his fingers

one time you kissed them and haechan blushed deeper red than you thought was humanly possible, but he likes it,,,

other cute quirks; calls you nicknames that have to do with your clumsiness, compliments you when you least expect it, sends you his favorite instrumentals when you say you can’t fall asleep because he knows they can calm you down, has your favorite snacks memorized so he know what to get you without asking, haechan would probably read your horoscope to you everyday if you were into horoscopes like he’s that kind of boy

also if you’re ever upset by something or someone, haechan has the kind of skills that will uplift you in ways you never thought possible. with possible jabs at what made you upset here and there

he might be ‘sarcastic’ to some people, but with you he is nothing but truthful and gentle. he can make jokes and be playful, but his love is real and strong and if anyone hurts it - he goes after them like bad blood

always ends his texts with “stay safe” if you’re going anywhere

and totally leaves his cardigan on purpose on the back of your chair in class if he sees that you’re cold

mark: can’t believe you’re soft for someone haechan

haechan: im not,,,soft

mark: their name in your phone has three heart emojis next to it  

haechan:,,,,,,,,,and yours has three poop emojis now goodbye

(he is soft for you tho, fyi ^^)