Chapter Text
The sun was barely visible as it peaked out from behind the clouds, as though it was as reluctant to wake up as Baby was. Its morning rays bounced off the clean white tiles of the campus quad like a spotlight, catching Baby mid-strut as if the world had decided to frame him. And if people looked at him— if they stared— it wasn’t new. It wasn’t even interesting anymore.
He dressed like this on purpose. With shorts that were barely within the dress code and a pink crop top hanging off of one shoulder, Baby reapplied the sheer gloss shining on his lips. His cheekbones could cut glass. His eyeliner had attitude. The teachers he passed— the ones he hadn’t won over with his dancing and his writing— threw him disapproving glares, but didn’t say anything. They had long since given up on trying to ‘remind’ him what was and wasn’t allowed.
I don’t care, he rolled his eyes to himself. Let them stare. Baby had claws.
But beneath the slow sway of his hips and the smirk tucked at the corner of his mouth, his stomach buzzed. Every step toward the Saja Boys’ rehearsal space made it twist uncomfortably.
“Another perfect entrance,” Mystery muttered beside him, appearing out of nowhere.
“OH… my god,” Baby shrieked, clutching his heart. “Bad dog! Where did you even come from?”
Mystery ignored him, even brushing past the nickname that usually got a rise out of him. “You gonna pretend not to see him again?”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Baby replied airily, continuing to glide towards their rehearsal. “We’re gonna be late, come on.”
“As if you care about that.” He paused. “And yes, you do.” Mystery’s sharp grin stretched across his face. “Tall, dumb, and abs that are built like a wet dream?”
“Wow, that narrows it down sooo much.”
But Baby’s chest tightened all the same from just the thought of him.
And, because the entire universe seemed to wish hell upon him, as soon as they turned the corner into the performing arts department, there he was.
God, Baby forgot how to breathe.
Abby was all lean muscle, wrapped in black and gray— loose joggers slung low on his hips. His sleeveless hoodie was unzipped just enough to flash the whole world the hard lines of his chest, and the way sweat made his jersey cling to his skin in a way that was almost obscene. His hair— messy from a workout or a training thing or something— curled slightly at the edges.
They looked at each other like the world was moving in slow-motion.
And Baby— queen of dismissive glares and bored expressions— looked away first. He always did. He hated himself for it. He didn’t see the way Abby’s jaw tightened just the slightest when his eyes looked Baby up and down.
“Morning,” Abby said, voice low and neutral, the way he greeted everyone every morning. He was trailing behind Baby and Mystery (which made sense, as they were going to the same place) and he was too close. Baby didn’t dare to look back at him, he didn't want Abby to see his lingering and longing gaze.
“Unfortunately,” Baby muttered, his stride not breaking. He grabbed Mystery’s elbow and dragged him into the bathroom, just to get away from the pink haired hunk. He stared into the mirror, watching as Mystery rolled his eyes at him.
“Keep it up,” Mystery said, sounding bored, “and he’s gonna think you hate him.”
Baby whipped around and walked towards him, lips pursed and pointing a finger at his chest. “Good.” A sigh. “It’s better that way.” He let Mystery put one of his pins into his hair, in his own little way of showing affection, and watched him move towards the door. “You go ahead, I’ll catch up.”
The rehearsal room was already loud when Baby walked in, with both the Saja Boys and Huntrix talking over each other. Jinu was pacing near the ‘stage’ and Rumi stood watching with a bemused, exasperated sort of affection. Romance was sprawled on the floor doing sit-ups for seemingly no reason whatsoever, laughing at whatever Mystery had just said to him. Mira and Zoey sat like opposites on the couch: Zoey curled small and reading a magazine, Mira long and her legs sprawling in an absurd manspread.
The chaos always settled when Baby entered. Or maybe it just shifted to accommodate him.
Jinu didn’t even look up when he heard the door open and close. “Baby, late again.”
“Oh come on, hyung,” Baby replied, slouching into his seat like he wanted nothing more than to leave. “I arrive when I want.”
Rumi, who was— in his opinion— the best girl his older brother had ever dated, cracked the tiniest smile.
Romance snorted. “It’s true, Jinu, you really can’t control him. He’s a force of nature.”
“He’s a problem,” Jinu snapped, but his tone had softened. “And you’re a bigger one, Romance.”
Baby stretched his back over the back of the chair, bending enough to hear his spine crack. “Yeah, yeah,” he sighed loudly, watching the ceiling with a practiced look of indifference. As Jinu droned on and on about the upcoming performances for both of their groups, Baby felt a prickling sensation at the nape of his neck. As though someone was looking at him.
Across the room, Abby had stopped paying attention to whatever the heck Jinu was saying. He was leaning against the wall, water bottle in hand, watching Baby with an unreadable expression. Like he was taking inventory. Like he was looking for something, and his eyes darkened as they looked over the sliver of skin shown from Baby’s crop top riding up.
Baby squirmed, his thighs pressing together just a little closer, his fingers playing with the hem of his shorts.
Abby said nothing. Didn’t move. Just kept his eyes fixed—low and heavy and warm. It burned through Baby’s cool like it was nothing.
Romance, still on the floor and halfway through another lazy sit-up, caught the direction of Abby’s stare. His brows shot up. Slowly, a grin curled at the corners of his mouth. He turned his head just slightly, watching the quiet little exchange from across the room like it was a scene from his favourite reality TV show.
“Well, well,” he muttered under his breath, elbowing Mystery who’d just plopped down next to him with a protein bar. “Looks like Loverboy’s overheating again.”
Mystery didn’t even glance over. “Abby or Baby?”
“Both,” Romance chuckled. “But mostly Abby. Poor kid looks like he’s about to bite something.”
Mystery finally turned, subtly following Abby’s line of sight, rolling his eyes so hard they threatened to stay like that. “He’s not even trying to hide it anymore.”
Romance hummed, utterly entertained. “I don’t know how Baby doesn’t see it. How clearly into him Abby is.”
“He doesn’t think Abby will ever see him that way,” Mystery replies, through a mouthful of his protein bar. “He doesn’t think anyone could ever see him that way.”
Romance scoffed, sitting up fully now, forearms resting lazily across his knees. “Then he’s an idiot. Abby looks at him like he wants to pin him to the wall and write poems about it afterward.”
Mystery raised an eyebrow. “That’s… disturbingly accurate.”
“I know,” Romance said proudly, continuing his lazy sit ups.
Just then, Baby crossed one leg over the other, making his shorts ride even higher up his thigh. Abby sucked in a sharp breath, his jaw tightening.
Zoey snorted quietly from her place on the couch.
Hours later, after the girls had already left to rehearse their own performance, the Saja Boys were still going at it.
“Let’s go from the top,” Jinu clapped. “We need this routine clean before the showcase or none of you are seeing sunlight again.”
Romance groaned dramatically, sinking into the floor. Mystery bared his teeth at Jinu, who just ignored it— as this was normal behavior for him. Baby pouted and brushed his sweaty head away from his forehead.
But Abby stepped forward, stretching his arms behind his back with a slow roll of his shoulders—and Baby, just barely, turned his head.
He caught it. The flex of his shoulders. The sweat on Abby’s neck. The way his jersey had slipped low enough to show the curve of his collarbone.
Baby bit down on the inside of his cheek, trying his hardest not to imagine those muscles in a different context.
But then Jinu clapped his hands and said, “Alright, enough of this whining. Break off into pairs for cooldowns, and don’t make me assign them.”
And that’s when Baby’s panic kicked in.
Because Abby was already pushing off the wall. His eyes were zeroed in on Baby, not even pretending to look at anyone else. Not even hesitating.
No. No no no no no—
“Wanna pair up?” Abby asked, voice low and unreadable.
Baby stared at him for half a second too long.
And then he smiled— sharp and bright, because it was (surely) a joke. It didn’t matter, and his heart wasn’t screaming. “I think I already promised Mystery,” he said sweetly.
Mystery, to his credit, didn’t say a word. Just shrugged and stood up, walking towards them with a lazy smirk. “That’s me. Sorry, Abby.” He then wrapped his arms around Baby’s waist, giving Abby a blinding smile.
Abby blinked. Just once. Then he gave a single nod and turned to find someone else.
As soon as his back was turned, Baby’s smile dropped.
And Romance, on his way to partner up with Abby, stopped and looked at Baby like he could see right through him. “You’re gonna break your own heart doing that,” he muttered.
But Baby didn’t answer. He just turned away. Because Jinu was already telling them to get in position, and Abby was already gone, and if he let himself think about it too long, he was going to fall apart.