Chapter Text
"Yongha, this is Seokhwa. He'll be helping you with getting around the school. This is a small school, and everyone knows everyone, so I'm sure you'll get familiar with the school and people in no time."
I nodded to the teacher and turned my attention to the said Seokhwa. Cute. Bright wide eyes with even brighter smile.
"Hi. I'm Seokhwa. You'll be stuck with me, so let's be friends, huh?" Witty. He offered a hand, and I took it, shook it, and smiled.
It didn't take long for us to hit it off since we both are similar in some ways. We both love anime and manga. We both like English, Math and Science. We both hate physical contacts. Well, not really hating it. We're just, sensitive, when it comes to people touching us. We become best friends in no time. He's really easy to get comfortable with. To be honest, I always thought city people are snobbish, arrogant homo sapiens with nothing to do other than spending their fortune on luxurious things just to rub it off in the faces of the less fortunate. Well, I wasn't really far off with other kids in the school. But not with Seokhwa. He's just so sincere and kind and humble. Most importantly, he just doesn't give a shit about other people. Yeah, he would sometimes point out the accent that I never really tried to shake off me, but when others make fun of it he would shut them down and say that he's the only one allowed to do it. The privileges of being a best friend, or something like that. He doesn't care much about stuff, except for anime, manga, studying, and a popular soccer guy who spends most of his time training in the sun but never get tanned named Junseo.
Yeah, that's all he cares about.
"Look! There's Junseo playing on the field. Isn't he's just too godly to be allowed into the soccer team?" Seokhwa tugged my shirt to get me look over the window. I know Junseo is a good-looking, a very good-looking, guy who looks cool, but I could never get over the fact that he looks just like the fox in Zootopia. That face, that hair, that legs. No, I'm not having a crush on Junseo. I'm just stating the facts.
"I bet he would be a national star player with that skills of his. But then, I won't be able to see him everyday. Oh no! What should I do? He would get all famous and have a lot of fans, and he would forget me here. How dare he forgets me!!" Seokhwa went on and on, eyes still looking at Junseo. Over time, I've developed the skill to pretend like I'm listening to what he's saying while my head is thinking on what lunch should I get that day. But I'm in a good mood today, and feeling a bit generous I listened to him blabbering about his future with Junseo. I actually listened, for once. Before I got my chance to reply, I was cut off by the loud, high-pitched scream from the boy next to me.
"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! Thank you Lord for the feast you've bestowed upon us, ehem, me today." Now all attention fell upon the brunette. By all, I mean including the teacher since the class was still running and the teacher was trying to explain on a project we're supposed to hand in by the end of the week.
I stared at my dear friend. What the hell possessed him in this broad daylight? One minute he was talking about giving a slow death to every single one of Junseo's fan, and suddenly he was praying harder than I’ve ever prayed for my exams.
And then I saw it.
Oh.
Oh.
Junseo, topless.
Now I get it.
"Wipe that drool off your face. You look like a pedo on loose. He's our junior, remember?" No response. Seokhwa had lost it. I poked his face to get his attention back to the teacher who looked like she's about to throw the thick textbook to Seokhwa's skull. Not like he would feel it.
I poked several times. No response.
None.
He had totally lost it.
So did several other girls and guys next to him, with drool down their chins.
"Does it hurt?" I looked at his palm which was bright red, with a long line mark across it.
"Nah. Totally worth it." His grin didn't falter at all even after the painful punishment.
"All for Junseo, huh? You’re whipped, dude," I added.
"Yup. You know me, Yongha. You know me very well." He replied. I just smiled at him and continued eating what's left of my sandwich.
I couldn't really say I know how he felt, even though I was the one who's in a relationship. I didn't know how it felt to have a crush on someone, seeing that my boyfriend was the one to approach me before I left my old school.
"Hey, you free after this? Wanna hang out?"
"Yeah, I think I'm free. Changkyun's busy today, so he's not coming over." I usually spent my afternoons with my boyfriend Changkyun hanging out in my apartment, either watching a movie, grabbing lunch, or just sleeping. No, not that kind of sleeping. We were just not at that level, yet.
"Cool. We can go to my house then. I'm calling my friend over. Haven't seen him in a while, you know."
I nodded. A friend, huh? Ever since I got a boyfriend, I haven't really hang out too much. It has always been Changkyun and I, or sometimes Seokhwa when Changkyun's occupied with his activities. And I've never really seen Seokhwa with other people. Sure, he's talkative and stuff, but I rarely saw him with people outside our school. This got me a bit curious, really.
"How's everything with Changkyun? Haven't seen that guy since your party last month."
I looked at Seokhwa. "Great. He's busy with school and exams. He's one year ahead of us, remember? So, he hasn't really got time to hang out with us, y'know."
He nodded. Seokhwa is the only one who knew about my relationship. It's not like I desperately needed to keep it a secret. Heck, I had no intention of doing that. It's just, I appreciated it more that Changkyun and I could share our moments without much interruptions from other people. Plus, Seokhwa has done quite a good job being much of the said interruption. We walked off to Seokhwa's house, which wasn't very far from school. I've been to his house a few times, so I wasn't really affected by the presence of maids around the house. Well, maybe I did get awed by the size of the house, the ornaments decorating the house, and the pool at the basement of the house when I first came. The pool is as big as my one-bedroom apartment, for God's sake! One time when we were watching a movie in my apartment, I asked Seokhwa if he could let me rent one of the bathrooms in his house to me because it has everything I need – water and electricity – and it is big enough to even put my single bed in it. He looked at me with teary eyes and started packing my things saying I should have just told him that I need money and he can help with everything and he will ask his father to adopt me and I will not suffer any longer and he'll share his rooms and clothes and food with me and he's sorry that he didn't realize that I'm having a hard time. I couldn’t help myself from laughing out loud at his reactions, but I eventually stopped after seeing his tears and snot all over my freshly laundered clothes and shoes and books. Sigh. He's just gullible that way.
Seokhwa disappeared to the kitchen and came back with three bottles of soda. We were just chatting while waiting for his friend to come when suddenly a knock on his door came.
"Hey. Sorry I'm late. Got stuck in a meeting." Smooth voice came from behind the door and when I looked up, there I saw a tall figure with jet black hair and a backpack slung over one shoulder. Damn, this is one fine specimen.
No, scratch that.
This is one godly homo sapiens.
I blinked. And blinked again.
"No sweat, bro. Come in." Seokhwa got up from his seat and walked towards his friend, who was also walking in our direction.
I kept thinking, no way would this guy still be in high school. He's way too tall for a high school student, and his face's way too matured to be one. For all I know, he could be a runway model.
"Come, come. Meet my new classmate. Yongha, Donghan. Donghan, Yongha." Seokhwa pulled the tall guy towards me and introduced us. I held out a hand to shake his. Wow, such big hands. I smiled at the tall creature.
"Hey, I'm Donghan. Seokhwa's ex-classmate." There’s something about his voice.
Wait, did he say he's Seokhwa's ex-classmate? Then that means...
"You're the same age as us?" I didn't mean to sound so shocked, but yeah.
He let out a laugh. Seokhwa slapped me on my back. Ouch.
"Of course he is. He's just tall with deep voice, but he's still a bit younger than me. Do you think I would be friends with an adult man who looks like he would eat me when I'm not looking? I'm not crazy, Yongha." Seokhwa started off his nagging. I blushed and let out an awkward smile.
"Sorry, Donghan. I thought you are at least two years older than Seokhwa and I are. You are just so tall, dude."
"Nah, no problem. Got that a lot. Anyways, how did you get stuck with Seokhwa? He's just an annoying brat who doesn't stop talking. The last I heard, he even got a crush on your school's soccer player. What's the name, again? Junho?" Donghan looked to me and before I could even warn him about that... Seokhwa started jumping all around us while screaming Junseo's name.
"It's Junseo. Kim Junseo. Where the hell did you hear it from, anyways? Do you know him? Or, God! Are you interested in him? Over my dead body, Kim Donghan. I would never let the likes of you near him!"
I sighed. I should've warned Donghan to not talk about Junseo. Oh well. Damage's done.
"Heads up for next time. Never ever mention that guy's name in front of Seokhwa. Ever again. I've spent one period of class just to get him take his eyes off Junseo, who was by the way half-naked, and another period of class to look at his grinning face. I've had enough of that today." I threw my hands up in the air for more dramatic effect on how I felt, which made Donghan laughed out loud while Seokhwa glared at both of us.
"You are just jealous of my undying love for Junseo!" I cringed.
"Are you for real? Why would I? I have Changkyun and that's enough for me." And before he got to reply I cut him off, "I know what you're gonna say, Seokhwa. Shut it."
He grinned, satisfied that he somehow got on my nerves. I ignored that.
"Well, now I know why you stick to each other." Donghan chuckled at his own comment and I made no effort to reply.
We ended up watching an action movie that Seokhwa picked just because he likes Nicholas Cage. Donghan got up to go the bathroom and not a minute after he left, his phone rang. I took a glance at his phone. Babe. Someone got a girlfriend. Or is it a...?
After having dinner at Seokhwa's house (he and his parents insisted), both Donghan and I finally made our way out. I've texted Changkyun if he could take me home, but there was still no reply. Oh well. I could just walk home like any other day.
I fought for a while with Seokhwa who was insisting to take me home, when Donghan suddenly offered to take me instead. I got pissed off. I'm not a kid and I can totally walk on my own, dammit! But before I even got to say a word, I was shoved into the backseat of a black car with Donghan over on the other side. Natural instincts told me to run for my life, until I realized that this car was Donghan' and he had so kindly offered to drive me home. Great.
He laughed a bit at my panicky face and told me not to sweat this out. I began to relax. The car was very spacious and the seat. Oh, the seat. The one car that my family rode was totally rideable, but nowhere near comfortable. This car, is just different.
"Hey, do you like sports?" Donghan sudden question got me turned my head to look his way.
"Not really. I mean, I can watch them but I cannot, for the life of me, play sports. I like basketball, though."
"Then you should play with me. I'll teach you how."
"I know you are tall and stuff, but what makes you think you are so qualified to teach me how to play?"
He smirked. Shit, I was just digging my own grave then. "Just so you know, you are currently talking to the captain of basketball team with more than 3 years experience. Is this not enough qualification?"
If I could, I would just wipe the smug on his face. Instead, I chose to shrug it off. Then, his phone rang off. I caught a glimpse of the caller ID. It's Babe, again.
"Hey babe. Yes, I know. I'm sorry. No. I'm on my way home right now. Sure. I will. Yes. I miss you too, babe. Bye." With that, he hung up and turned his head towards me. I kept my straight face.
"Sorry, that's my boyfriend." Guilty face. Funny.
"No prob. It's your car. You can do whatever you like, bro." I smiled.
The rest of the ride was just spent with arguments over why would he choose Arsenal and why wouldn't I be interested in soccer.
We hung out more after that. Sometimes it would be Seokhwa, Donghan and I. Other times it would just be Donghan and I with additions of our boyfriends. Donghan’s boyfriend, as I thought, is another rich kid who somewhat fits into my description of city people. Donghan, on the other hand, though might not be as humble as Seokhwa, managed to get in between the two extremes. I had also brought Changkyun along, once, when we were all hanging out together after our final exam. There were Donghan and his plus-one, Seokhwa, Junseo, Changkyun and I. Yeah, you read that right. Junseo was there.
I remembered the day Seokhwa got Junseo's number. I remembered it too clearly, unfortunately. Seokhwa had been stalking all of Junseo's social networking accounts, and somehow he had gotten a hold of Junseo's number. How he got that is still beyond me. He was grinning from ear to ear that I would think he would get cramps by the end of the day.
"Seokhwa, stop grinning. You're lucky you're cute, or else you'd look like The Joker already." No response. Sigh.
"Earth to Seokhwa. Come in Captain Seokhwa. There's a rat to be dissected on this planet and it looks like it's going to get into your mouth any second. Beginning countdown to rat's invasion. In 5. 4. 3. 2." Before I got to end my countdown, Seokhwa smacked me right on top of my head causing me to startle and drop the mice. Luckily, it's sedated.
"Damn it, Seokhwa! You don't have to do that." Shit. Almost touch my head with the infested hand. Gross.
"Were you planning on getting that mouse in my mouth? Can't you be happy that I'm happy? Can't you?" He started pouting. If a normal guy showed me a face like that, I would definitely punched him with all my strength. But this was Seokhwa, which made it difficult to even stay mad.
"You know we're supposed to cut this mouse open, right? In what ways would this mouse remind you of your dear...." Gloved fingers on my mouth. Fuck, Seokhwa! This hand better not be the hand that touched the mice before. Another hand on my eyes.
"Hello. I'm looking for Senior Seokhwa." A voice I've never heard before.
I was still struggling with Seokhwa's hands on my face when I felt the grips loosened. I was about to yell at him but seeing the look on his face, I got curious as what would make his eyes look like it's about to pop and his mouth to drop to be able to fit 5 mice in it. Oh.
It was Junseo. The glorious Junseo. The boy-with-great-flow Junseo.
No response from Seokhwa. Shit, not again.
"And what business would you have with this Senior Seokhwa?" I asked Junseo, who was bewildered by the sight of me struggling before him.
"I just need to pass a package to him. I'm Kim Junseo, by the way." Oh, there's a package in his hand, and something else.
"Okay. I'll let you take my lab partner away. Wait, I'll have to check if he's breathing. Yup. He is. But I don't know how you would get him out of his trance. It's like talking to an empty coconut shell. Here, I'll show a demo." With that I knocked not-too-gently on Seokhwa's head. He blinked. Once. Twice.
"Hey Seokhwa. This kid here wants to give you something. Are you alive? No, no. That's not a ghost." I turned towards Junseo. "Sorry kiddo. Seems like Senior Seokhwa is not available today."
A kick at the back of my legs. Seriously, Seokhwa should stop hitting people.
"I'm well awake, thank you very much. And who says anything about not being available? I'm always, I repeat, always available for my dear juniors." Wow. Good work, Seokhwa! "Now, what can I do for you, Junseo?"
"Ah yes. Well, you see. I.. Ehem.. I.." I continued to stare at him, trying my very best to hide my grin.
"Hmm. I don't think Senior Yongha here would like to get a mouse down his throat, and I don't wanna lose my best friend just yet. So, would you like to talk outside?" Seokhwa said softly. Sometimes I wonder if Seokhwa actually had split personalities.
They had already made their way out before I could say anything. Well, whatever makes you happy Seokhwa. I just returned my attention to dissecting the mouse on the table. Never really thought of following after them and eavesdropping on their little discussion.
It's not until two periods later that Seokhwa came back to the class, with a mouth-splitting grin. Damn, I hope he got that permanent for the rest of his life.
I don't have to be a genius to know that something good must had happened between him and Junseo. Nope. Not with a familiar package in his left hand. I didn't even bother to ask him what happened.
Surprisingly, he didn’t even say a word.