It came as no surprise when Leon rewatched last year’s festival performance and recognized Nick. He honestly couldn't believe he spent a whole month in dance practice with the guy and didn’t notice.

One could hardly blame him though. You see, it was just not a possibility inside his head because it’s common knowledge that first years don’t get main roles. It’s hard even for second years to snatch the parts, for a first year it was pretty much impossible. But Nick was not a common person, was he?

For Leon’s utterly demise, not only was he infatuated with the guy, but he had also fanboyed over him for an entire year. He was beyond mortification. The floor could just open up and swallow him whole.

How was he supposed to act towards Nick now?! He growled to himself.

—

Turns out that it was quite easy really, he just had to keep being an asshole. After an awkward weekend of bashfulness, the two of them went back to their usual banters on monday. It was effortless to keep acting the same when Nick was as big of a pain in the ass as himself.

They met, they fought, the bet.

Same old, same old.

Except now Leon paid more attention to Nick in the club. He observed carefully the second-year’s movements so much so that the black haired boy found himself shying away at times.

Except now Nick casually sat at the first-year’s table, much to his admires despise, to chat with them when their schedule aligned, even as they fought every single time.

Except now their strifes seemed to be more friendly than anything.

Every single one of their friends noticed this, but none of them said anything, as if they were afraid of scaring away the peace. You know when people meet a wild animal and they tread very carefully so as not to scare them? Yeah, that type of feeling.

One day Moon called everyone at the end of practice to tell them that even though the theme was still a secret, one of the main characters for the end of year festival was already decided: Nick, because last year’s reception had been great and they wanted to keep it up.

The older boy got surprised at the sudden announcement and caught himself looking back to see if Leon was watching him, and of course he was. He beamed, feeling proud, and the long haired boy rolled his eyes, even as he smiled back.

Two days after that Leon still smiled at the scene in his head.

“Eew, stop daydreaming, or I’ll let you bump into someone the next time” Mark complained after the third time he had to pull his friend away not hit someone.

“Are you thinking about Nick?” John smiled, eyelashes fluttering jokingly and hands behind his back like an anime girl.

“No?” He lied.

“You fool no one” Mark pretended to barf right after.

“Why are you obsessed with me?” Leon shoulder-bumped him.

“I am not obsessed with you, I’m just stuck with your ass”

“You love me~”

“Ugh” Mark pretended to barf again.

Leon laughed softly and the three of them kept walking and chatting away. It was their dynamic, and they felt comfortable with it. As much as his friends knew of his crush, they also knew Leon would not admit to it.

“Why can’t you just admit it?!!”

Mark had gotten angry about his cowardice one day and bursted.

“There is nothing to admit, Mark” Leon answered, looking unusually serious.

“What do you mean there’s noth–”

“Because” He interrupted, “It would be heartbreaking now, wouldn’t it? For me to fall for a straight guy.”

“But maybe…” John tried, but Leon just shook his head.

His friends saw the light leave his eyes and decided to drop it. At least for that moment.

And so he kept acting like always, annoying Nick as much as he wanted while pretending not to care.

Mark and John on the other hand had no intention of letting this go like that, because Mark had seen. He had seen their Senpai get bothered with the proximity of the three of them. He had seen him staring at Leon when the boy was not looking. He had seen the elder help him perfect his dance steps willingly outside of practice. Nick himself might not have realized it, but Mark was sure he saw it. He discussed it with John and they both thought it was suspicious.

Expectation is a bitch though, so they did not tell Leon any of this. They decided to wait and see, even if the wait killed them. He really didn’t want to see his friend go through a heartbreak again.

As he was thinking about all of this, Mark noticed that only he and John were walking side by side, Leon had frozen in place behind them.

They were striding along a corridor on the second floor of the architecture building. The outside corridors of this faculty were verandas styled: they had a little wall slightly over one meter high and up to the ceiling was an open window space to the outside. It was through this space that Leon and Nick had jumped from the fourth floor before.

And through this big open window Leon was looking down directly to the subject of his concerns.

Nature made the university look quite pretty, gave people shade to protect them from the sun and made the whole atmosphere more refreshing. But they also made small isolated areas behind the buildings where students could hide their rendezvous. Good ones and bad ones. 

One floor down, in one of those small isolated areas, Nick was being cornered by five guys.

Sirens of warning sounded inside Leon’s head. He should not jump to conclusions, but the guys’ demeanor was not friendly in the slightest and the way Nick was stepping backwards did not paint a nice picture.

The first-year could identify that kind of situation from a mile away and his blood ran cold at the sight. He felt his feet stuck in place and his breath hitch. They were going to beat him up.

They were going to beat Nick up.

“Mark” He called ever so softly.

“I’m here” His friend was right at his side, looking at the same scene with a complicated expression.

“Give me an excuse”

“Leon, NO!” Mark lectured “We should call someone”

“You KNOW that’s going to be too late” Leon looked right at his eyes and Mark could see the old scars surfacing. “You two go call someone, but I…” He stopped himself as he heard a yell coming from one of the guys down there and saw one of them punch a tree. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it just pressed his sense of urgency. “Give me an excuse!” 

“For whom?!” Mark exasperated at his reckless friend.

“For myself!” Leon exclaimed, voice cracking. 

Mark was taken aback. He knew his childhood friend had… issues with this kind of situation, he knew it was hard for him to overcome his fright. Leon needed an excuse for his own brain to let him go, to reason himself to move. And so he gave him one. He wouldn’t use his friends' feelings for this, but instead “Your club would be in trouble if he got trashed. They need him”

It was enough for Leon.

He climbed up the short wall and jumped right off the second floor.