CHEERLEADER, woosan

one

taking a shaky breath, choi san anxiously plays with his striped tie as the loud, excited chatter around him rings through his ears. the blond boy is sat at a table in the school's hall, four of his closest friends sitting with him. jeong yunho is by san's right, song mingi to his left, which leaves park seonghwa and kim hongjoong who are sitting opposite them.

san's knee unconsciously bounces up and down, nervousness running deeper through him when the two soccer team captains make their way into the packed room. the day san — along with all of his fellow peers — have been waiting for has finally arrived.

today is the day that his school announce which five, lucky students make it into the cheer team.

being the only male who had even thought about pathetic, girly cheerleading lead to san becoming the school's laughing stock. if he wasn't already one for his sexuality, that is. people only see him as a joke and sometimes the judgemental stares and whispers are too much for him, but choi jongho's threats always seem to save the day.

after months of exhausting effort, all san wants to do is get today over and done with. of course it would mean the absolute world to the boy if he did make the cut, there's no doubt about it; yet, his anxiety is eating up at him and if it doesn't settle down soon... well, san is done for.

almost as if he can sense the blond's inner panic, seonghwa reaches out to ruffle his hair. "san-ah, what did we say earlier? don't worry, you're going to be fine. the school would be drunk fools for not giving you a chance!"

"exactly, hyung's right! you did great at the audition so unless they're blind, i'm sure you'll make it," mingi chimes in with a grin.

"thanks, guys." san smiles at his friends.

he mentally lets out a sigh of relief when the boys leave it at that. their constant reassuring words mean a lot to san, but never do they make a positive impact on him. his insecurities and lack of self esteem always manage to win him over, clouding his mind with countless of negative thoughts about himself.

thankfully, jeon soyeon's — one of the soccer captains — voice booms through the hall, causing all eyes to glue themselves onto her.

"good afternoon, students! i bet you could all guess correctly as to what this announcement will be about, therefore we will be getting right into it. several of you have auditioned for the cheer team, and after much thought, the sport staff have picked the five of you who they think have the most potential for what a cheerleader truly is!"

this creates a roar of anticipated cheers to fly around the room, until soyeon speaks again, "now, i will pass things over to everyone's least favourite soccer captain!"

ji changmin rolls his eyes, scoffing, as he takes the microphone from soyeon's hold. "we all know that's not true," he remarks playfully, before clearing his throat.

san squeezes his eyes shut, not at all prepared for what's about to come. he's at least grateful that changmin, a boy who's practically family to him, is the one in charge of breaking the news. that thought alone calms san down.

exhaling deeply, the blond feels his hands being pulled out of his lap and being intertwined with two others. one of them is soft and warm, whereas the other is big and strong. san recognises who they belong to in an instant. "i love you guys so much," he whispers.

"we love you, too, san." "shut your flat ass up, i'm trying to hear changmin hyung."

mingi and yunho's hushed voices overlap each other, the contrast between the two forcing san to suppress his laughter.