Originally posted on Tumblr (FlipSideofC).

"How to be a total man-magnet, or – how to make him fall in love with you"

Rin tried to turn the page again… he really did, but he just had to read this. It couldn't hurt, right? Not that he needed lessons or anything, except apparently he really did since Sousuke wasn't in love with him. Ok fine, so maybe he did want Sousuke to love him back – and he did not just admit that he loved him either. No way.

But, hypothetically… how should he act then?

1. Lean forward. Body language is important. Show him your interest.

Rin nodded to himself. Ok, he was going to lean a lot, no problem. Easy.

Just then the nurse called him into the doctor's office. Rin reluctantly put the magazine down. Before leaving after the checkup later he hesitated by the table and finally brought the magazine home with him. He could return it the next time.

Sousuke blinked in confusion when Rin leaned into him – again.

"Rin, did you pull a muscle in training today?"

"N…no."

"You look tense. Here, I'll help you."

"Ok…thanks."

"No problem. Now, take of your shirt."

Rin frowned. The leaning hadn't helped at all…although Sousuke had given him a massage, so maybe he should count it a success anyway? He eagerly scanned the text for the next step. The magazine already looked a bit worn and Rin had marked the two articles with paperclips.

2. Use lighting to your advantage. Dim light makes his pupils dilate, which makes him think you more attractive.

What? Really? Well…at least it was easy to try out.

"Rin? Why is it so dark in here? …Rin?"

"All lamps are broken. We'll have to use a flashlight."

"What? We can just switch them, can't we? I think we have spare bulbs in the box under the bed."

Sousuke came closer, attempting to locate the box in the dim light. He tripped on Rin's gym bag and fell on the bed, right on top of Rin.

Ok…so that was a really bad idea, but still quite nice, Rin told himself. Sousuke had been unusually clumsy when trying to get off him, which was enjoyable enough to almost forget the fiasco with the light.

3. Mirror his actions. Not all of them, but cross your arms when he does, drink when he does, etc.

Sousuke eyed Rin curiously. His red-headed friend was watching him intently with those captivating half-lidded eyes and it was very distracting. Sousuke absentmindedly ate a piece of tonkatsu and noticed that Rin's eyes followed the move closely. Ah, he was hungry, of course.

"Rin? You want some?"

"Huh?" Rin flushed when Sousuke brought his chopsticks close to his mouth.

"Here, taste this."

Rin chewed, cheeks still red.

"Th…thanks."

"Anytime."

4. Take advantage of perfume. He'll be reminded of you when he smells your signature scent elsewhere.

Finally an advice which made sense! Unfortunately for Rin, he quickly discovered that he smelled like chlorine most of the time and not at all of the new (and damn expensive!) perfume he'd bought.

"Rin? I found your scarf in the cantina."

"Really?" Rin frowned. It didn't look like his. It was though. "Thanks, how did you know?"

"Easy, it smells like chlorine and cherry blossoms. Just like you."

Rin clutched the scarf to his chest and tried to stop his heart from racing.

5. Wear red. Men love seeing their future partners in red.

Rin wore more red during the next week than he ever had before. He accidently washed the clothing with his white jacket and had to get a new one. Also, Sousuke's white underwear turned pink. His friend looked pained but didn't complain much, since Rin was already so upset over the jacket. Rin bought Sousuke a weekly set of new underwear with sharks on. They looked damn good on him. Sousuke must find them really comfortable, as he always wore them.

6. Tone those arms.

Rin chuckled. His arms were toned already. Still, maybe he could use the bench-press a bit more…

Rin still tried to forget Sousuke having to rescue him when trying to bench press way more than he could. Sweaty and pinned under a bar was not the look he was going for.

7. Touch him. Play with your hair.

Finally an easy one! Rin enjoyed using every opportunity to casually touch Sousuke. He might have overdone it with the playing with his hair though, as it ended up all tangled. Rin sighed in misery as Sousuke worked on un-tangling it, his fingers buried in his hair. It must've been really bad since it was taking him so long. So embarrassing.

8. Use your voice. Giggle. Make your voice sound lilting and sweet.

9. Don't walk, strut. Swagger and sway your hips.

Those two points were the final straw for Rin. He would never forget Sousuke's wide eyes when he tried to giggle and make his voice "sweet". A classmate who had also attended Samezuka even asked him if he wanted to bring out the old maid costume to suit the occasion. The memory made Rin groan in mortification. Strutting was, if possible, an even worse idea. Swaggering and swaying his hips had made him fall over on the way to practice and he would have seriously injured himself if Sousuke hadn't caught him (being held by him wasn't nice enough to make up for it…even though it was comfy).

Rin sneered at the last suggestion – "10. Be interesting", and read the final words of the article with a frown.

"If these tips don't work, maybe he's just not that into you."

Rin swallowed. He wasn't going to cry dammit. He tossed the magazine in a drawer and left to take a jog.

Sousuke rummaged around the drawers, looking for the next volume in the book series he was reading. Rin had borrowed vol 1, so maybe he also had vol 2 somewhere. A pink magazine greeted him. Sousuke frowned a bit. While Rin sometimes borrowed reading material from Gou (both things he admitted to reading and not) this looked well-read and not really like Gou, who frankly was more into muscle and fitness magazines than girly ones.

Sousuke opened the magazine and located the two marked articles, which also had some notes in Rin's handwriting ("terrible idea", "worked...kind of", "disaster"). Sousuke read them. He read them again – and again. He sat down. He might have chuckled fondly a bit. He finally brought out a pen and scribbled something at the end.

Rin picked up the magazine. He really should return it, even if he had read it several times and scribbled in it. He opened the magazine and read his old comments again. Gods…how embarrassing. Still, some of them had been nice… but… No! No buts… "maybe he's just not that into you".

Rin frowned. There was something written at the end - and it wasn't his own handwriting.

"Or maybe he's definitely into you too and you should just tell him, instead if attempting giggling."

Rin blinked.

"Also, you do look good in red. Especially my red shirt."

Rin went to the closet, pulled Sousuke's red shirt on and promptly went to kiss his new boyfriend.

"Took you long enough."

"Shut up."