Chapter Text
In the grand scheme of things, the most difficult encountered experiences in college were all socially related. Source of security, proper engagement, the list went on. Everyone wanted to find the right people to hang out with, the right people to spend their time and thoughts on, and the right people to sit next to in class. Once that social bubble was found, people hardly strayed outside of their designated group.
So why had Zhang Hao just sat down?
The tall, muscular, popular, basketball star who took it upon himself to sit next to Hanbin in a Biology class, out of all the options.
Hanbin felt his hands begin to sweat as he blinked a few times, making sure he hadn’t seen incorrectly. Nope. Zhang Hao was indeed just inches away from him, tossing his backpack onto the floor, ready to pay attention to the class.
Why take Biology in the first place? Just what did a Basketball star need from learning about frogs and fish? They didn’t serve any straight purpose in the quantum realm of pitter-patter and hoop shooting.
Especially since their school’s Basketball team had just begun a new season of crazy interesting ball throwing. Their first appearance to the public eyes of the campus after the large Championship won just the year before.
Hanbin remembered that day clearly. It was a Saturday night when he watched Zhang Hao throw the winning basket on the television with Matthew and Gyuvin. The name that appeared in headlines, taking nearly twenty points ahead in all their games, with a free throw percentage higher than Hanbin’s major class grades was Zhang Hao. Everyone knew his name.
And yet, that face was sitting right next to Sung Hanbin, just an average student.
With a small sigh, Hanbin slumped down a bit in his seat.
The class was large in comparison, but yet, it seemed like everyone around had the same idea, as they were all on the lookout for the same guy. The second Zhang Hao stepped into the classroom, everyone went silent, following him with their eyes like a hawk. Which only brought some questionable attention to Hanbin. They were all probably asking themselves the same question that was racking in Hanbin’s mind.
As the teacher began talking, Hanbin was quickly lost in thought. There was no attempt to grab his notebook or pen, as his eyes were still locked straight ahead, despite the peripheral vision aiming to get a good look at Hao. He wondered if the face was just as perfect as it was on television.
Hao’s eyes didn’t look in his direction, though Hanbin surely didn’t expect them to. Whoever said the school class system died out in Grade School was a liar. Sports kids would always rule over the school, no matter what age. Especially the ones that brought a national championship to the school, and enlisted in the league of division one sports.
Externally, Hao would always be a top star. That was a given. Not just merely because of his actions within the school, no, but the fact that he was well known as one of the best up-and-coming College Basketball players out there. Standing at only six feet tall, he was considered short for a basketball player, which was insane to hear, but that was what it was regarded as. Not to mention, one of the only Asian men to even be selected to participate on one of the top-ranked college teams.
Whatever provoked him to sit next to Hanbin had to be out of sheer chance. It must have been the only seat available for the choosing. As Hanbin had just recited Hao’s entire career story to himself in his head, and it was likely Hao didn’t even know his name.
The rest of the class was spent trying to secure his face away from the man, but it was useless. Hanbin was kind of fucked.
-
“Hanbin! You have to look at this wild statistic I found!” A screechy voice shouted from behind before the body rapidly pulled out a chair to the lunch table, looking all too happy to be alive.
“What is it?” Hanbin replied, curious. The things that Gyuvin said weren’t always the most incentive, but they were certainly interesting.
“Ninety-eight percent of stomach sleepers have neck problems!” Gyuvin gasped out, nearly blowing himself away with the fact of his own information. “Can you believe that?”
Hanbin knitted his eyebrows. “Really? That’s a lot.” He didn’t find himself to be much of a stomach sleeper, but it was interesting to know.
Gyuvin shrugged, opening his bag of Panda Express. “I mean, I made that up, but it’s probably true to some extent.”
“Dude,” Hanbin grumbled, shaking his head. “Stop telling me misinformation.” He focused his attention back on his meal. A nice hearty helping of ramen. It was the best he could do on a budget some days. At least the dining halls had microwaves.
The table inhabitant, Matthew, remained indifferent to the appearance of Gyuvin, continuing to mumble quietly to himself. His hands were in his lap while his head was down, shaking.
“Excuse me, are you performing a witch chant?” Gyuvin asked, waving a hand in front of his face.
Once Matthew offered no response, Gyuvin turned towards Hanbin, giving a curt nod to the questionable man. “Why’s he in a mood?”
Hanbin only shrugged. “Probably something with Mirae. He said she’s been acting ‘crazy’ these days, or whatever. His words, not mine.” He teased. That caught Matthew’s attention, which earned him a small kick from under the table.
“Fuck off. That has nothing to do with it. Mirae is just annoyed at me for something.” Matthew added. With that, his head dropped flat onto the table, more groaning sounds coming out.
“What is it then, exactly?” Gyuvin asked. “What did you fuck up this time?”
“Being mad for no reason… sounds familiar.” Hanbin tapped his chin, finding it a bit too fun to tease his friend. All in good fun, of course. If Matthew was really truly going through a mental crisis, he’d be the first one to care. Hanbin’s self-proclaimed greatest weakness was caring for others more than his own good.
“Whatever,” Matthew replied, voice muffled from his head pressed against the table.
“Anyways.” Hanbin changed the subject, turning it away from something else other than his friend’s misery. “Guess who sat next to me in Biology today.”
“God. I do not care.” Gyuvin hummed.
Hanbin rolled his eyes, “You might care when I tell you that it’s Zhang Hao.” He stated. Hao was the kind of guy that every Asian dude at their school was kind of obsessed with. The three weren’t exceptions to that rule. A lot of their lunch conversations revolved around the star.
Gyuvin’s eyes widened immediately, “Are you fucking shitting me? The Zhang Hao?” Even Matthew leaned in closer to show interest.
“Yep. That would be the one.”
“You mean, the star basketball player, the one everyone’s after, the same fucking guy who's appearing on all of our televisions as the next big thing?” Gyuvin continued, repeating the same words that filled Hanbin’s mind in the moment. “He is sitting next to you in Biology?”
“Correct.”
Gyuvin nearly dropped his chopsticks. “What the hell Hanbin! Why didn’t you tell us!”
“Well, you see, I did and yet you claimed that you wouldn’t care!”
Matthew butted in, looking just as invested and frantic as Gyuvin. “No, I definitely care about this. I care about this a lot. Shit, you have to get his autograph for me. I need it. It would be a great present for Mirae, she can’t stay mad at me after that!”
“Zhang Hao is the only Asian guy on this year’s roster! As a matter of fact, the only Asian to ever be on the school’s team! As a matter of fact—”
“Okay! That’s enough!” Matthew cut him off, holding a hand out to simulate the virtual choking of Kim Gyuvin. “We all know it, he’s insanely cool. In all my years of attending this school, I have yet to see him with my own eyes. That is insane.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a basketball player in the flesh, let alone Hao. Tell me, Hanbin. Is he big? He’s tall, right? Is he burly? I know those arms must have some muscle to them.” Gyuvin continued to nag on, eagerly awaiting answers.
“Honestly, from the bare eye, he looks a lot like just a regular dude,” Hanbin admitted. “He’s insanely cool, believe me, but if I didn’t know who he was, I’d have thought nothing of it when he sat next to me.”
Gyuvin deadpanned. “Stop fucking lying.”
“You are the one who tells lies! Statistic that, this there, you’re the lair, Gyuvin!” He replied, nearly feeling the urge to toss his chopsticks across the air and have them land on his friend’s face.
“How many people are in your class, Hanbin?” Matthew asked, deterring the murderous thoughts from his mind.
“It’s a Biology lecture hall. Pretty big class, probably about one hundred fifty?” He estimated. From the wandering eyes of the humans in that class, that was a pretty large number to think about.
“Damn, that’s a lot… and he chose you out of all those people? Why?” Gyuvin raised an eyebrow.
Matthew butted in, “That’s what I was thinking too. It was probably the only empty seat, seeing as if nobody else had any interest in sitting with Hanbin. Hao was just the unlucky victim who had to!”
“Hey! Both of you!” Hanbin cut them off, nearly springing off the table to strangle them both. “Why is it so hard to believe that someone wants to sit next to me in class?”
“You’re probably right, Matthew.” Gyuvin agreed, ignoring Hanbin’s mild protests. “Say, do you think he’ll join the Asian American Student Association? We could easily use more people.”
Matthew flicked his head to the side, mouth parted open in surprise. “Actually, he would be a great addition. Maybe then, we’d get some social credit around the school! You’re able to do that, right Hanbin?”
“No.” He said simply. “I’m not.”
“Speaking as your president.” Matthew paused to clear his throat, “Pretty please get Zhang Hao!”
Hanbin rolled his eyes, shaking his head at the stale request. “Seriously, do you think that busy man has the time for that? He probably doesn’t even know what clubs are, let alone how to join one. I bet he eats breathes and sleeps basketball.” Hanbin was certain he’d never speak to Hao, let alone find the chance to convince him to join a school club.
“But we’re lacking new members! Are Asian people just not moving their kids to Virginia anymore? Are we just not smart enough? Too many sad possibilities.” Gyuvin sighed, motioning as fake tears ran down his face. “We need some more people, that’s for sure.”
“You will survive. Believe me, Gyuvin.” Hanbin said, somehow on the receiving end of two very prominent middle fingers.
“Anyways, whatever. That’s still pretty cool, Hanbin. You two didn’t exchange any words, did you?” Matthew said, ending the small squabble of middle fingers that birthed from the two.
“Nope.”
“Not throughout the entire class?”
Hanbin sighed, “He literally arrived right before the class began, and left right after it ended! How would there be any time for us to begin a conversation?”
“You make time for important things, Hanbin. Did nobody ever tell you that?”
“They must have skipped me.” He added sarcastically.
“But, back to Zhang Hao. I bet he’s an asshole.”
“That’s a rude assumption, Matthew!” Gyuvin protested.
“I can’t even blame him, though! If I was him, I’d be the biggest asshole in the world.”
“You already are—” Gyuvin’s comment was cut off by a flying piece of bread thrown just inches from his face.
Matthew took a quick sip of water before placing the bottle back down, making eye contact with Hanbin, “I mean, think of the news articles, the media, the looks, the talent. God, he has it all. But hey, Asian representation! Because of him, the other kids don’t look like they want to yell slurs at me anymore. Yay, Hao!”
“Ah yeah, Hao combating modern-day racism here in America. Next, he can—”
“Shut up, Gyuvin! Don’t pretend like you’re not in love with him either.” Matthew grumbled.
Gyuvin raised an eyebrow, a soft laugh escaping his lips. “Stop being pissy because your girlfriend hates you— OW!” He yelped seconds after being kicked from under the table, “Fuck you, fuck you!”
Hanbin sighed, rubbing a hand on his forehead. So much for exciting information. Talking about Zhang Hao was something they did all day every day, yet it never seemed to be enough. He knew that none of them would be able to function, knowing Hanbin was in such close proximity to him.
He cleared his throat, deciding to join in on the current conversation. Talking about Matthew’s girl problems seemed pretty interesting as well. “What is she even mad at you for?”
Matthew let out a groan, nearly throwing his head into his hands. “Believe me, if I knew, I would try to be fixing it already.”
“Fair.”
“Truthfully, I would also be mad at you for no reason, given the chance,” Gyuvin added, as if he hadn’t learned his lesson from the last few slaps that his mouth earned him.
“You’re no help!”
“Yes, I am!”
With a shudder, Matthew stood up, holding tight onto his lunch bag. “I’m not finishing this gross sandwich. Disgusting. Fuck you Gyuvin, too, by the way.” He paused, turning towards Hanbin, “Goodbye, Hanbin. I’ll see you later. Have fun in the Zhang Hao class with Zhang Hao!” He said, waving off as he walked away from the table.
It was silent for a moment after he left until Gyuvin took it upon himself to speak again, “Okay, now that he’s gone, how large is Zhang Hao’s penis—”
“Gyuvin!” Hanbin tried to cut him off, but his words were a bit too late. “You can’t just say that out loud! We are in a public place.” He paused to glance around, hoping none of the other students caught on.
Looking uninterested, Gyuvin raised an eyebrow. “So… you don’t know? Come on, two gay men, and you don’t want to talk about a hot dude’s penis with me?”
Hanbin sighed, pushing his head back into his seat, mentally cursing Matthew for leaving him alone with the man. It was going to be a long day. At least, there was something to look forward to during the new semester. He might get to see Zhang Hao again.