School idol clubs in College are ridiculous. You never understood why your University had one.

A boy group called Seventeen, and they didn't even have Seventeen members, what even was that?

It had been around for two years now, and it was popular. All the girls in pretty much all of your classes swooned over the Seventeen boys.

"They are so talented. Did you know Jihoon writes and produces their music, and Soonyoung choreographs all of their dances?"

"Are you serious? How do they even have time for that?!"

"They all work so hard."

"They're all A+ students, I don't know how they do it."

You weren't like the others. You had never wanted to treat students that were in reality just the same as you as if they were idols, so you never tapped into the fantasy. You listened to your music and supported them by going to their concerts but you made a point not to idolize the boys like the others.

You had been in a few classes with the others. Seungcheol and Joshua, and you saw Jihoon pretty often because you had a friend who was a music major. Other than that you didn't see the members around. Even so, it was impossible to not know who they all were.

They all had stage names and stage personas, and really mostly kept to themselves when they were in classes. Girls were polite enough not to bother them when they were studying or in class, but around song releases, they tended to crowd around their favorite of the boys.

"Aren't they dreamy? Junhui is my favorite."

"Ah! I love China line! Minghao is so cute!"

You had a favorite member as well. You had tried not to. Again, you were proud of yourself for not idolizing any of the boys and that statement still stood firm, but even so, you had one member of the group that your eyes always gravitated to.

Jeonghan.

He was one of the oldest members of the group and he had always seemed like the quietest on the surface. He was very sweet when you had seen him in the hall, giving off what seemed like a small and sweet smile whenever he caught anyone's eyes. He was sickeningly sweet to his fans, always accepting their gifts with the kindest words.

On stage, it was like he was a whole other person. He had this dazed expression permanently plastered across it when he was dancing. It was focused, but also relaxed to the point that made you think he didn't really need to think too much to know what he was doing. Instead, it seemed like each and every move was second nature. When he looked towards the audience he always got this sort of short smile spread across his lips, one that wasn't so much sweet as it was confident.

It was something surreal to see him like that.

He was most known for his long hair and got teased sometimes by the other boys for looking like a "girl". Each time you heard him get mocked like that you winced, but a carat was always around the corner to tell them off for it.

The last thing you were expecting when you started your Senior year of College was to see Jeonghan. Honestly, he was the last thing on your mind which was a nice change. You had sort of had a fleeting crush on him ever since he started school here. When you found out he was spending his time in an idol group the way that he did, that crush had grown a little bit as well. He was so passionate about his work, they all were, and it showed in their everyday work conduct.

You had seen Jeonghan more than once napping across the school campus. In the garden during shoots, in the library, while studying, sometimes you even saw him napping in the dining hall. It was impossible to miss.

But he wasn't impossible to miss.

You loved seeing him. You vividly remembered this one day when you had accidentally spotted him on the way to one of your classes. He had been curled up on one of the window ledges, a book half open in his hand and the bright afternoon sun shining down on him like a ray from heaven. It reflected off of his face making him look like some sort of angel.

You thought about that day a lot. A few months after you had seen him like that their group released its first album, and he became a celebrity. After that, it was impossible to see him without a group of girls not far away swooning over him.

The girls at this school were so obsessed with him.

Which was another reason why you were surprised that your Senior year here he was in your recitation for the IAH class that you were helping teach.

He had walked in late, which you knew was uncharacteristic in itself, and the action had made you stutter in the middle of your introduction. He noticed and when he saw you he immediately smiled.

That smile kept you up at night. It wasn't that sweet smile he gave to his fans. It was his stage smile.

Why had he smiled at you like that?

You got back to teaching.

This job meant a lot to you. It was extra cash along with your part-time job, and it gave you some experience teaching.

You wanted to be a teacher. A sociology teacher, not an IAH teacher, but this was the closest you were getting so you put up with it anyways. It was your first time being a TA, and you were already quite enjoying it.

You hadn't seen noticed Jeonghan in the lecture hall… Geez, and you thought this would be the year you wouldn't have a Seventeen member in the same class as you.

Why did it have to be Jeonghan?

You tried to focus on your powerpoint. God, you had spent hours on that stupid presentation and you had spent ages memorizing each and every slid knowing that you would be nervous on the first day. But every time you looked at the class, you saw Jeonghan there, smiling at you.

Why was he smiling at you?

"Does anyone have anything they would like to add? Anything you noticed from the lecture?"

Another student raised their hand and began to talk. You were trying to pay attention to them but out of the corner of your eye, all you could see was Jeonghan. He stared at you for a while but seemed to get tired of it after a while. You noticed him rest his head on the desk and close his eyes.

Sleeping in class was inappropriate, but in College, it was really just irresponsible. People were paying to take these classes, and they were paying a lot of money for each and every one of them. You didn't understand why Jeonghan was wasting his money taking a rest in your class.

You opened your mouth to tell him off for it.

Then you stopped

The night before he had a concert.

You remembered because it was a welcome back concert for school. Seventeen was always expected to perform at those. They were expected to have new music and new choreo and you vividly recalled hearing that all of the boys lived in different parts, they weren't all from the same town, some were hours and hours away from each other.

How did they do it? How much practice did they have to do to make up for all of the practice that they didn't have when they were at home for the break?

You closed your mouth.

You imagined late night practices. You could see Soonyoung watching each of the boys, telling them where to stand for formations. You could even envision Jihoon calling the boys into their studio during breaks to record their song, getting each lyric down for the final track. There wouldn't be a lot of time to rest and knowing those boys they probably spent hours and hours at a time trying to perfect everything.

You honestly wouldn't be surprised if Jeonghan hadn't really slept at all for the past few days.

You wondered if it would really hurt to just let him sleep.

So you did.

He was in the back of the classroom, so no one else in the recitation notice, and to announce the end of the class, you went a little off-book and "accidentally" dropped a book on the floor. Jeonghan's head shot up.

"Have a good rest of the day," you said thoughtfully, giving the class a wave.

You could feel Jeonghan's sharp gaze on you, but you purposely ignored it, instead of focusing on a student who had come up to ask a few more questions about the class. As you talked you noticed Jeonghan pack his things and leave the classroom.

You breathed out in relief.

Jeonghan didn't sleep in lecture classes, and he always arrived five minutes early.

He liked to sit on the side of the large lecture hall that your professor was on, and sat towards the front. As such, you tended to stick to the other side of the classroom.

Oh, not because of Jeonghan! No, you stood over there because the further away from the professor students were the more likely they were to mess around. Yeah, that was why you did that.

You still noticed that Jeonghan took a lot of notes during class.

That's honestly why you were so surprised that he slept during recitation.

Every time, you watched his head fall to the desk.

Every time you ignored it.

Every time you announced the end of class with a literal loud bang.

It was a pattern that you were falling into way too easily.

The other kids in the class were starting to notice Jeonghan sleeping too but all you had to do was pretend you didn't see it, and well… They didn't mention it.

You kind of liked it.

Letting Jeonghan sleep in was one of the things you looked forward to during your week. Pathetic, yeah, but still a highlight of all the things you had to do. Something in your heart warmed every time that you were walking in the hall, trying to get to where you had to go and you heard some girls talking about the boys in passing.

"I can barely handle just my classes. How do they handle classes and practice? They must never sleep."

It was dumb, but it made you feel so good.

You helped give him the opportunity to sleep.

After two months of your pattern, you couldn't help but feel comfortable with what you two were doing. You never spoke or anything. The classmates didn't complain, and Jeonghan got to sleep. Everything was perfect. He woke up at the end, his GPA was great, everything was great.

He just had to ruin it.

The class was over and you were talking to Aeyoung as usual about the course, and the essay. For once the other students had all begun to file out and Aeyoung wasn't as chatty as you were used to. She was soon waving goodbye and wishing you a good weekend. You turned around to gather your own things and lock up the classroom when someone cleared their throat.

Had you missed someone?

You turned around and surprise-filled your body. It was Jeonghan.

"Oh, sorry I guess I missed you," you said politely, bowing your head towards him slightly. "Can I help you with something?"

You couldn't help but feel a little confused that Jeonghan was talking to you. The two of you had a good thing going. Why had he had to break that pattern?

Why was he ruining their good thing?

"Yeah, I just wanted to apologize," he said. He rubbed his fingers through his long dark hair a smile on his face. It was still that stage smile though, not the one he usually gave to his fans. It made you wonder what persona was real for the boys. An odd thought that you had never had before.

They had three different personas. Their stage ones, the ones with their fans and of course the ones when they were just around each other. You were sure they had other ones. Ones for when they were alone or when they were with their families but at the moment these two were the most important. Stage persona versus fan persona. Why wasn't he treating you like a fan?

"Apologize, you have no reason to do so!" You said with a laugh. "You have one of the highest GPAs in class."

"Only because you haven't told the professor that I sleep during recitation," Jeonghan said slyly. Your cheeks reddened, but you tried to hide it by momentarily turning away from him.

"Sleep during recitation?" You asked innocently. "I certainly hadn't noticed any such thing."

Jeonghan's hand landed on your shoulder, forcing you to face him. He looked you up and down and smiled.

"Hah."

He was so close. Way closer then you were used to him being to you. Way closer then you were used to anyone being to you.

"Uhm, was there anything else? I'm sure you have classes you need to get to," you said politely. You wanted to move, but you ended up just swallowing thickly instead of doing so.

"There is one more thing," he replied. He pulled away from you momentarily, giving you the chance to breathe. Your head dipped to look at the floor momentarily and then you glanced back up towards him. He was still watching you, that amused look on his face.

"What is it?" You asked. You reached backwards to grab your phone off of your desk, but it just fell to the ground. You dropped to your knees to pick it up off the floor but Jeonghan was just a tad faster than you. He handed you the phone.

"Go out with me."

Your jaw nearly dropped.

What had he just said?

You couldn't figure out what to say, all you could do was stare at him, your hand outstretched to grab your phone, but your fingers barely even actually touching the screen.

He couldn't be serious.

Jeonghan seemed to register your surprise and let out a very soft chuckle. He reached his other hand forward and calmly used it to grab your slightly shaky hand. He then placed your phone into your palm and used his other hand to wrap your hands fingers around the device.

"I'm serious, by the way," he assured. "I've liked you for a while now, and I think you like me too… Don't you?"

"Just because you're some sort of school idol-"

"Hey, I'm not that kind of person," Jeonghan interupted, feigning hurt. "I mean, I'm not wrong like. You like me. So, why don't you go out with me?"

You stared at Jeonghan blankly, trying desperately to cope with the current situation. He couldn't actually be serious… Could he?

"One date."

Jeonghan's face lit up.

"Really?" He asked. You nodded slowly.

"Yeah. It has to be totally secret though. I don't want your fans finding out and egging me in the halls or anything. And it has to be like a totally normal date, nno funny business."

Jeonghan laughed and nodded.

"Okay, okay."

He sat back on the floor, folding his hands in his lap.

"I've been wanting to do this for ages you know?" He stated. "I know we've never really spoken or anything, but I've seen you around and heard a lot about you."

"I've always kind of had a crush on you," you admitted. "But I never even imagined-"

"Oh I did, I've been thinking about dates since the first time I saw you. You're always dressed so cute, with the most precious smile written across your face. I've been wanting to hold your hand and take you on movie dates and more for so long I don't even know what date I should actually take you on," Jeonghan stated. His smile had changed just a little bit. It was sort of like the one he got when he was dancing. The one where he was focused, but dazed. Lost in thought, but knew exactly what he was doing.

Your heart skipped a beat.

He was smiling that way… About you.

You had never imagined actually getting to date anyone before. Not anyone nice anyways, but Jeonghan… Well, he clearly didn't have any malintent towards you. Your face was bright red, but for some reason, you didn't mind.

"I'm excited," you mumbled. Jeonghan smiled at you.

"Yeah?" He asked. You nodded.

"Yeah."

And for once you weren't concerned with what others thought, or thoughts about how Jeonghan was some sort of idol or anything. All you were concerned about was what was happening right here and right now.

And that was the best part.