[k.l.h.] handsome allergies !
Pairing: classmate! leehan x reader
Warnings: leehan’s real name is used (donghyun), you might giggle and kick your feet a lil too much, reader is a nonchalant wannabe.
Synopsis: It seems that you have angered the Earth. Somehow. You’re failing your Dataset, Machine Learning and Ethics course, much to your dismay. So, like any normal person, you decide to lock-in and actually pay attention to class this time. All you want is to study yourself out of the “below mediocre” grades before the next exam. Is that too much to ask? And what’s with this strange system you’ve developed that goes haywire at the mere sight of your handsome classmate?!
Genre: Comedy, Fluff, Slice-of-life
You are NOT one to strike a conversation.
You have one simple job this semester. Get in class and get right back out, once you’ve put in your whole blood sweat and tears of attention and note taking. Cause, unfortunately for you, you are a below average student. Dare you say, you’re sharing the bottom of the barrel with a boy named Woonhak, in your class, and if you flunk another exam, that only results in you repeating a year. You don’t have the financial status, nor the mental strength for that.
So (hopefully) that’s not gonna happen.
Not on your watch, at least.
Yet, the one day that everyone and their moms decide to have a secret group chat convo and finally attend the Machine Learning class, you run late.
And that only means that the usual fortress of a free seat on either side of you—one usually occupied by your bag—is no longer a thing, because you have no seat choice privilege anymore.
And late comers don’t get to choose seats.
That‘s how the rule of thumb went...
You hate the rule of thumb.
You sit down towards the very end of a random row. One empty seat remains next to you.
Huh, okay, so maybe your bag could keep you safe today, at least on one side.
Releasing a relaxed breath, you glance around the room, eventually laying eyes on your seat neighbour and find that, funnily enough, you’re sitting next to that Woonhak guy.
At your curious blink, he gives you a look of shared mourning. Your lips give a wobbly smile before smoothing out into a thin line.
Well, you were planning to pass this time, so you dip your head as an apology in advance for not continuing to be the class dumby duo anymore.
As if virtually feeling your abandonment, Woonhak shivers in his seat.
The class is filled with chitter chatter, as the professor joins the lecture hall and begins to boot the slides up.
And one simple, “Sorry, is it okay if I sit here?”—later, and everything goes to absolute filth.
Suddenly, the quote on quote “popular guy” is sitting next to you.
Suddenly, you’re trying your hardest to act as non-chalant as possible and focus on the class instead, even though his temptation of a face is right next to you.
And suddenly, the world decides to sucker punch you in the gut with no remorse.
You choke on your water as you go to take a sip. Your pencil case magically rolls off the table and cascades two floors below where you’re sitting—all this, might you add, at the pace of a snail. And now, as you scrub away at a spelling mistake you made, your eraser decides to shoot a Redbull Ad, grow a pair of wings, and fly to land comfortably on Donghyun’s notebook.
Seriously, the one time you’re actively trying to pay attention to class…
At first, Donghyun thought nothing of it all, that was until your clumsy antics increased in frequency, though. Now, he’s just wondering how you even manage to orchestrate such chaos so rhythmically.
To him, it’s entertaining and borderline impressive.
You’re dying in embarrassment.
Your eye twitches as you try to forget you ever owned an eraser.
From your peripheral, you see a hand, very slowly reach out, drop your eraser near your notebook, and retreat just as slowly as it came.
Sighing, you try to focus on the lesson again. Your brain is fried, the professor rambles on about some coding formula that you’re sure you’ve never heard of and you swear that one more foreign word might just push you over the edge of giving up on passing, entirely.
But you can’t give up yet, because next to you, poor Woonhak is gritting his teeth, hands gripping his pen so fiercely that his knuckles turn white, writing down random information he’s hearing. You can clearly tell he has no clue what they mean, but his eyes scream that he’s trying.
The eyes, Chico. They never lie.
So you frown in determination, pick up your returned eraser, clean that murky spelling mark off and pick up your pencil once again.
The professor had now moved on to drawing a graph with part of the coefficients being identified, on the projector.
You don’t even know what a coefficient is.
The intricacies of the graph stare back at you intimidatingly.
The graph had graphs. The linear values had linear values inside them?! THE FORMULA HAd FORMULAS FOR GOODNESS SAkE.
And what the hell were those alien math symbols on the side?!
“Mu….sigma..” you repeat after the professor, under your breath, your hands scribbling with your eyes still on the board.
Beside you, Woonhak goes light-headed, his forehead bangs on the table. Defeat is near.
You slowly sink deeper in your seat, in utter loss. On your other side, Donghyun sneaks glances your way. You can feel his large eyes staring holes on the side of your face, only to move seconds after you don’t reciprocate.
This goes on for a while, and you can feel your eyes drying out, uncomfortably. He sends another lingering gaze, as if signalling his undying desire to engage in a cut scene.
But you don’t have time for silly npc conversations. You’re zoned in on business right now, even if it appears the opposite.
His interest only rises at your cold shoulder and your sanity diminishes alongside it.
As long as you ignore his signals, you can get through this day in one piece. You’ll be fine, as long as nothing else happens.
You shift in your chair, re-adjusting your position, eyes focused on the class when you start to feel a tickling sensation in your nostrils.
You jump slightly. Your abrupt sneeze plummeting you forward in your seat, resulting in one of your knees rising under the desk and making direct contact against the table.
So hard, in fact, that Donghyun sends you a worrisome glance this time. The entirety of the class goes silent, and the professor turns around in concern that a bomb might have gone off somewhere on campus.
All eyes turn to search for the source, and they land on you.
“[name], could you answer this question for us, since you’ve already got the attention of the whole class with… whatever you were doing.”
You weren’t even listening. You start to sweat, your eyes tease to roll to the back of your head to fully leave you passed out in the lecture chair.
And just as you’re about to implode in on yourself, you hear the boy next to you gently whisper like the breeze that caresses the morning waves, much too close to your ear to ignore.
“19.99?” You pip in confusion, more so questioning what he means by that than giving a tangible answer. But the professor doesn’t notice or perhaps he pretends not to notice the dumb look on your face. A satisfied hum leaves the old man before he continues on with his lecture.
Which unfortunately leaves you HAVING to interact and talk to Donghyun because, after all, he did just save you from the doom and gloom of getting humiliated in front of the whole lecture hall.
He was like a guardian angel, swooping in at the given moment.
Ever since he sat next to you it was almost like you instinctively reacted uncharacteristically, solely due to his presence. Like you had some…some handsome allergies or something!
Clearing your throat, you build a pathetic sliver of courage to thank him for his kindness.
You haven’t even fully turned your head yet, but you can feel his smile warming up the room.
You quickly meet his gaze to get this over with. His smile only grows bigger once your eyes lock for the briefest moment as you mutter out a weak and shrill “Thank you.”
Reading the look on his eyes, you decipher the most obvious ‘Finally! An opening for conversation!’— look to have ever crossed an extrovert’s face.
You turn right back around.
From the sneaky glances you take, you see him sulking quietly.
Clasping your hands together, you internally sigh. Something that you’ve been doing an awful lot today.
Okay, you felt a little guilty to shut him down so fast. One question, just one. And then you’ll never talk to him again.
Without moving your eyes from the small frame of the professor at the front of the class, you question. “How did you know the answer was 19.99?”
From your side, you hear the faintest gasp, as if he was surprised you actually acknowledged him first. His mouth hangs slightly ajar, as he practically bounces on his seat, his whole body turning to face you.
Leaning unnecessarily closer to you, he answers in an almost timid manner. “I guessed.” He simply says, shrugging, and your whole jaw literally drops.
Was this, like, a top student flex, or something?
Because what do you mean you can just guess such a specific answer correctly?
You could feel the class divide stretch further and further out.
“What’s your class rank?”
You know you said you’d only ask one question, but this just got increasingly more painful for your ego. And you just love to pinch at your pride.
“Why?” He teases, eyes narrowing down with a sultry glint. His shoulders grow with confidence and his smile tugs to one side; temptingly.
“Want me to be your tutor?” He finishes.
You swallow harshly. Your pupils tremble as you try your humanly hardest to not look at him in the eyes. Yet, you can’t help the sneaky glances you take.
Your non-chalantness was crumbling by the minute! Dang it all!
“Are you smart?” You counter his question with another question. You’re supporting your chin with the palm of your hand now, elbow on the table, attempting to look cool and unbothered. He simply shrugs haphazardly. You squint, this time turning gently towards him. Finally answering his question, you sigh.
“I don’t have the financial capacity for tutoring.”
“I don’t have the social capacity for tutoring.”
He just looks at you weird.
You turn back. Just underneath your row, you can see a student sending glares at you for bickering, but when their eyes meet Donghyun’s, they melt on their seat, a sickly smile overtaking their face.
Nevertheless, you send an awkward smile as an apology.
Okay, focus on the lesson. No more useless conversations. You can do this— no, you have to. The best way to learn how to swim is by throwing yourself off the deep end, right? (No..?) You’re sure studying is one of the same.
Your eyes shift to briefly check on Woonhak’s condition. He’s been awfully quiet for his jovial personality.
He’s sweating from the eyes.
Admittedly, you aren’t too far from tearing up either.
After some careful thinking, Donghyun speaks up.
He answers with a straight face and a voice so monotone that you end up pausing for a split second to compute his words.
Then, you sputter out laughing, choking on your own spit in the process.
You don’t even bother to feel embarrassed, because the whole situation is painfully ridiculous. Perfectly scripted, like a comedy skit.
There are 89 students registered to this course. Woonhak ranked 89th in total, after the last exam, leaving you to take 88th place, like the absolute champion that you are.
So, if your maths appeared to be correct, Donghyun is exactly one position above you.
You’re the three musketeers of foolishness, so to speak. All sandwiched together on the same row.
And to think that Donghyun whispered you the answer without actually knowing.
YOU TRUSTED HIM! The little—
“Since we’ve finished the slides and some of you seem rather eager to go home so badly…” the professor looks directly at you as he ever so slowly nudges his glasses down whilst shaking his head in disapproval. “I recommend we end it here. Now remember, our next quiz will be graded. Your exam is on the—”
You jump. Donghyun’s entire face comes to view, blocking your previous scenery of the professor rambling. You can’t help but shut your eyes for a second. You’re exhausted. Half from the lecture, and half from having this human poodle, bouncing at your side.
You try to remember if you ever had a group assignment with Donghyun, or if you perhaps crossed paths on an odd day. But for the life of you, you can’t think of anything that would make him be so…. happy to simply have you look in his direction.
Maybe it was an extrovert thing.
“Hi, and bye.” You say politely as you finish packing your stuff. You head for the stairs, ready to do some much needed self study, Woonhak closes in behind you.
“Hey [name], did you understand the material today? I didn’t. It was all so confusing! I even considered just ditching the class and not showing up to sit the exam but then my mom would be sad and I don’t want to see her sad so I was like, nah— I gotta at least try! Anyway, wanna cram in the library together?”
The way he says that all in one breath at like, 2x speed actually kind of impresses you.
Behind the two of you, Donghyun lingers, mirroring your every step as he attempts to look at you over Woonhak’s shoulders with his tippy toes.
“I can help!” He chirps with a slight hop, and you can’t help but snort. “You’re literally in the same boat as us.”
“Yeah, but the more people there are in a boat to paddle, the faster the sailing.” He reasons out as he nods to his own remark.
“Meh, alright then. Mind if Donghyun joins?” You turn to Woonhak.
You can hear the ever so slight whisper of a “You know my name?” coming from Donghyun. You raise your brow but think nothing of it.
Just as Woonhak was about to jump for joy at the extra helping hand, he looks over to Donghyun, who is actually a very close friend of his, despite you not knowing this.
Sensing the weird aura going on between the two of you (aka the intensely blank stare that Donghyun was sending him), Woonhak scratches the back of his head as he avoids your gaze.
“Ah! Ah, man! My dog, I forgot to feed my dog this morning.”
“Woonhak, you don’t have a dog.”
“Ahhhh, my cattttt. I forgot to feed my cat this weekend!”
“You live on campus, no pets are allowed.”
You deadpan at his sad attempt at ditching your study session after he himself offered it. You choose to ignore the possibility that he may have actually left a cat with no food for a whole weekend, for your own mental health.
And you’re pretty sure he’s not convinced by his own declaration either, but you let it go. Because you’ve got an academic degree to chase, and this time you’re gonna do it properly. Even if it meant studying in the library alone after your fellow bottom class comrade leaves you out to dry.
Donghyun ended up coming.
Well, more like he followed you here, but you digress.
The point is, something is odd about him, suspicious, even. And you weren’t talking about his cherubic face.
What’s making you suspicious, you ask?
This guy… he’s getting all the questions right.
And you’re not talking like, vague, kind of right. Or the, ‘Hmm, let me think for a minute, then answer.’ kind of right.
No, no. Every single thing that the mark scheme could potentially request, he’s writing it down. From his own brain. At the speed of prime Max Verstappen on a Formula One track.
You blink and he’s already written AND explained the answer.
What makes even less sense, and what tingles your sus metre even more, is that he’s a great teacher.
How is he the third dumbest person in class?!
You narrow your eyes at him.
Something definitely doesn’t add up.
He’s mindlessly grinning. Writing down simplified notes for you to go over at home. You’re glaring at him past the top of the Statistics book you’re holding. A perfect cover.
“If looks could kill, I fear I’d be buried 10 feet under the ocean by now.” He comments, eyes still focused on what he was doing.
You straighten up in your seat. The study room is quiet and the old, dying lights cast a lazy glow over your face.
You chew your lip as you go right back to your gremlin posture, staring daggers at him.
He giggles at your antics.
“It’s not funny.” You huff in frustration.
“It made you laugh though, didn’t it?”
“At the expense of my humiliation.”
“Worth it.” He smiles easily, head lifting to look at your grumpy face.
“You’re cute when you’re angry.”
An imaginary ‘Loading…’ bubble pops up above your head.
“Hah?” You vocalise, your voice a pitch you never knew you could hit.
He simply snickers at your stupified expression. You press your lips in a line. Unsure of what to respond with, you leisurely pick up your pencil and begin attempting to compute the equations on your sheet.
Your neck feels hot, and your ears are ringing and for a second, you wonder if that’s also a side effect of the allergy you’ve seemed to have developed today.
“You’re even adorable when you’re focusing.” You hear him whisper, and that just about does it, because now you’re full on blazing hot and distracted. You duck your head on the table’s surface as you groan.
His eyebrows rise up at your response. “You heard that?”
You stab your pencil against the table. The lead splitting into tiny little shreds.
“Zip it and help me properly, or I’m throwing you out the window.”
There were no more teasing remarks after that.
Which was good, because you somehow managed to get 2 weeks worth of work done in just a few hours. The nail on the coffin? You understood some of it, which was unimaginable progress. You smugly smirk in victory.
Is this how Einstein felt?
“Told you you should let me tutor you.”
You’re both walking out the library. The sky is dark and the wind blows like it’s trying to tell a secret. You’re not sure what time it is, and frankly, you don’t care. This was the most productive you’ve felt ever since you popped out of your mother’s womb.
Stretching, you peep at Donghyun with one eye. “So, Mr. Smarty Pants, what’s your real rank?”
He tenses, goes quiet for a while then he looks up at the sky in false ponder.
“It’s a secret.” He finally muses out. His eyes twinkle with mischief as he takes in your unimpressed reaction.
“Right. Well, whatever it is, I don’t care. You helped me quite a bit today, so thank you. Really.” You say simply.
He’s tranquil when he answers.
“Wow, gratitude without attitude? Is this character development I’m seeing?”
You launch for him, barely missing his arm, and he giggles into his hands.
Slowing down your chase, before stopping in your tracks all together, you jut your thumb out in the direction towards your house.
“I’m going this way.” You utter conclusively, and you’re sure that Donghyun lives on campus, yet as you wave him off before getting an answer, you hear footsteps trailing behind you.
Confused, you glance behind only to find Donghyun at your tail. You make a questioning sound and he simply mentions he’s walking you home.
“You’re not planning to kill me and stash me somewhere, right?”
You sweat drop, because he doesn’t exactly say he isn’t going to do that…
Sooner rather than later, you’re at your street, and because you have amazing survival skills, you decide that this is the perfect parting destination.
“Thanks for walking me. You didn’t have to, you know.” You cock your head to the side casually, inspecting his red nose and ears.
It was cold out today too..
Wanting to not take up his time any longer and make him stay outside more, you patted his shoulder like a chad and waved off lazily.
You puff out air as you shove your hands in your pocket, beginning to walk home.
Donghyun jogs over and gently pries your clamped hands open.
He searches his bag with one hand, a serious expression on his face. Finally, he fishes something out.
On your cold palm, he places one of his favourite individually wrapped candies.
He smiles and his eyes reflect the crescent moon in the sky. You just stare at him, taking everything in.
You freeze, and this time it’s not because it’s cold, but because he’s clearly trying to serenade you with his deep, rich and melodic voice and those twinkling eyes of his.
Like a pirate to a siren’s song, you nearly drown in his gaze but shake yourself awake just in time.
You weren’t gonna fall for that propaganda, you’re an academic overachiever now. You don’t do romance fiction. That’s what your weekend tv binge sessions were for. Yeah, pfft, you totally weren’t gonna fall for that! As if!
“Ahem!“ you urgently clear your throat abruptly, startling Donghyun in the process, and your thoughts begin to run empty. “Anywho! Are you coming in tomorrow?” You scratch your cheek, averting your gaze to a random street light. “I’m only attending if you’re coming.” You nonchalantly finish.
He studies your face, the way you scrunch your nose at the awkward tension. The way you’re blinking a little too much because you’re nervous. The way you’re slowly opening up to the idea of him being by your side, albeit, as a casual outlier to your usual, daily pattern.
At his silence, you slightly buffer. “You know, cause… tutoring and stuff.” You avoid his eye contact again. You aren’t lying, but for some reason you start to feel like you are.
“So you agree on wanting to be my student?”
Tugging your lips to one side, you meet his gaze.
“What’s the guaranteed rate of success?”
He hums. “For you, 100%.”
You clench your fist because your heart is racing a little too fast at his advances now. They don’t feel particularly teasing anymore.
His name barely leaves your lips and he’s already willing to do whatever it is you command. His body involuntarily starts leaning towards you. His dark orbs, unmoving, only you in mind.
“Yeah?” He breathes out delicately, and he’s so close, you can feel his heat caress your skin.
You gulp. Squawk in a panic, and yell out. “Thanks for the candy!” And off you go, dashing deeper into the street in a rush to find your house.
Donghyun is left a little stunned. Your unpredictability shaking him out of his trance. He looks at where you were just standing, covers his mouth, and lets out a short, meek chuckle, finding your actions beyond endearing.
He stays there for a moment. Replaying the scene in his head. A dull pigment of red creeps up his ears at the realisation of his behaviour. Covering his face with both hands, he shakes from side to side and crouches down, shyly.
You hadn’t known, but he outright nearly kissed you then and there.
He thought he was keeping it under wraps for quite some time now, but you seem to be able to shatter his efforts so easily.
Looking up at the heavens, Donghyun marvels at the stars, studying each shimmering glint with pure bliss.
And like a mantra, a singular thought circles his head.
He just can’t wait for tomorrow to come.
taglist: @hellokittyforl1fe
Check out my other bnd works: masterlist
