Chapter Text
“Mmngh—Sean,” Keonho moans, arching into the touch of the other behind him. Seonghyeon’s hands only press down harder, deliberately quiet. “Ohh yeah, that’s the spot.”
“Dude. We’re in school.” Martin says, watching the duo in front of him. Seonghyeon’s hands roll around Keonho’s shoulders, eliciting another explicit grunt out of the younger. They’ve been at this for 15 minutes. Classmates kept peeking into the classroom, trying to see what’s happening, and it’s sending Martin down a hole of embarrassment.
“Swimming really fucked up your shoulders.”
“Ahh—almost there..”
“Dude.”
When Seonghyeon was done massaging his shoulders, Keonho stretched out his body with a strained yell, his head feeling awfully heavy after the session.
“Do you feel better?”
“Hell yeah. Thanks, Hyeonie.”
“Oh my gosh..” Martin mumbles under this breath, placing his slightly flushed face into his hands.
It was literally the first day of the week, and Keonho was already moaning under the hands of Seonghyeon.
“You guys putting Martin under a humiliation ritual or what?” James silently appears behind Seonghyeon, accidentally startling him. Juhoon was there as well, mainly fidgeting around his wrist with a blank expression.
“Why are your footsteps literally soundless?”
“Years of sneaking around like a rat pays off, okay?”
“When you get used to him, you’ll hear his footsteps.” Juhoon says, absentmindedly rubbing around his collarbone. Martin watches him fidget with a raised brow, curious.
“Wait, why are you guys here? Don’t you have girl-rejecting and principal’s-kid duties to get to?”
“..What do you think we do at school? Genuinely.”
——
Juhoon lingers around the back of his friend group with James, subconsciously playing around with the strap of his bag while they talked loudly in front of them. Like usual, it was never something important. It was always ’Did you hear about—‘ and ‘Have you seen — today?’ and never about anything else.
For some reason, he felt.. out of touch. He was physically there, but his mind was somewhere else. He kept zoning out during class, listening but not registering anything said to him, and he kept fidgeting with whatever he could. He could just be tired, but it feels like there’s an underlying reason, he just doesn’t know what it was.
“Alright, what’s wrong with you?” James asks out of the blue, still looking in front and hands placed casually in his pockets. Juhoon snaps out of his train of thought, almost flinching out of it.
“Hm?”
“What’s wrong with you,” James repeats, turning his head to look at him. “You’ve been unusually quiet. Not like you aren’t, but you spoke a max of 10 words today. Out of seven hours.”
“Isn’t that my usual amount of words per day?”
“All of those words were from when we hung out with the trio earlier today. No, that’s not normal, Jju.”
Juhoon doesn’t look at James. He doesn’t know the reason behind this either, so what’s the point of trying to lie? James sighs, dropping an arm onto his shoulder. It wasn’t there to decorate, just an anchor so he doesn’t drift away.
“What’s wrong, bud? Just an empty feeling?”
“Mm.”
James hums, pulling Juhoon closer to him. Staring up at the ceiling, he thinks about what to do so he could help at least fill in the emptiness.
“Yo,” someone stays behind, somehow going unnoticed from the crew in front. James looks down to see who it was, only to see Yeonjun, one of his classmates. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Nothin’.”
“Literally or?”
“Dunno.”
“Stop that. You’re acting like the second years.”
Ah. Fuck.
“I’ve been hanging out with them for the past few days, so sue me.”
“Why? Ah ah ah, don’t answer that. Anyway, I’m about to ditch them for the convenience store outside,” Yeonjun says, leaning over to look at Juhoon. “Wanna join? My treat.”
James nudges Juhoon a little bit, dragging him back to Earth. He stares at Yeonjun’s worried face for a second, then looked at James. Not wanting to worry the seniors any more, he nods.
Truth be told, he just wants to go home and take a cold shower. But, maybe this would help him a little.
Yeonjun seemed happy that he was willing to join, his face quickly lighting up in excitement. James seemed relieved too, a small smile on his face as he looked at Juhoon. He felt a little awkward under their gazes, but whatever.
“Hey,” Yeonjun went forward to poke at Seongmo, who turned around and seemed like he was getting his soul sucked out of him as he continued to listen to the people in front. “We’re gonna head out.”
“..Oh. ‘Kay.” Seongmo says, scratching his nape. He flips his curled hair out of his face before turning back in front, his posture returning to the worst you’ve ever seen. Yechan, a kid next to him, turned around curiously, but returned to face in front.
“Alright, let’s go.”
——
The convenience store wasn’t all that far. Like Yeonjun said, it was right outside of school grounds.
Juhoon was going off auto pilot, reminding himself to put one foot after the other as James and Yeonjun talked. They complained about some teachers, talking about how they were ‘being unreasonable’ and the assignments given being hell on Earth. (To be fair, they’re in a STEM class..)
“Mr. Choi is just too serious about this, man.. love that about him, but chill out a little!” Yeonjun cries, dragging his hands down his face. He was just talking about how his Biology teacher was.. ‘being mean’ to him. However that is, Juhoon doesn’t know. Nor does he want to.
James laughs at his distraught, loving the dramatic nature of his classmate. He glances over to Juhoon, who still seemed like he was unfamiliar with everything. With a little bit of worry, he lets him be.
They all reach the small store in the corner soon enough, the spot already being loitered by mostly first-years. Yeonjun pushes open the doors, only to beam at the cashier.
“Oh my god, Bamgyu!” Yeonjun says in surprise, catching the cashier in a daze. Beomgyu, who seemed to be dozing off, shoots up, only to slightly deflate when he sees Yeonjun. The senior takes this initiative to approach him with big steps, ready to disturb the disturbance.
“How about you go find something, hm?” James whispers to Juhoon, who was just looking off into the distance. He nods slowly, standing still for a second before walking away.
Juhoon doesn’t really go to convenience stores. He never finds a reason to go anyway, other than the occasional invites to hang out. But every time he gets the chance, he only buys whatever gimbap that’s available. Most times, it bangs. Rarely, it tastes like it’s been rotting in its spot in the freezer.
He looks around the shelves of the cold-foods section, rubbing around his arms due to the cold. He eyes a few sweet drinks, but his main goal was the snack he most definitely needs right now.
He spots it at the near end of the freezer, sitting innocently and untouched. He stares at it for a second before reaching out, liking how the coldness feels against his palm. But before walking away, he hears a familiar group of people muttering at the back.
“Oh my god, you need to drink water. Ever heard of that?” He could hear Keonho say, his voice an irritated whisper.
“Monster is technically water.”
“Plain water, Martin!” Seonghyeon then says, voice raising an octave.
Juhoon stills in front of the shelves, not entirely sure if he wants to approach them or go back to James. He would go up to them and maybe talk to them for a little, but his brain is telling him to ignore them and return to the seniors at reception.
Before he could even make up his mind, Martin turns the corner and sees him standing like an idiot. The blonde pauses, the energy drink he was spinning in his hand stopping immediately. Then, he stumbles forward, and a high-pitched yelp coming from behind him.
“Yah, don’t just stop like thaa..oh.” Keonho peeks around the corner, then slowly retreats. Seonghyeon comes in afterwards, but he only seemed slightly surprised.
“..Hey.” Juhoon manages to say, face empty of all emotion. Martin raises a brow—is that his favourite expression or what?—at his reaction, regaining his posture to walk up to him.
“Hey,” he parrots, playing around with the white Monster can in his hands. Juhoon drops his eyes towards the drink, then looks back up at the blonde. “Didn’t take you as a person to visit convenience stores.”
“Oh, James and his friend wanted to come so I decided to tag along.” His voice was annoyingly quiet, he hated it.
“Ahh, I see.” Martin looks in front of him, and immediately spotting Yeonjun flirting(?) with the cashier as James stood there with a permanent strained grin on his face.
“We’re.. gonna go wait outside.” Seonghyeon mumbles to Martin, sneaking past the small sliver of space between them and the freezer while dragging Keonho with him, who was glaring at Juhoon like he was a cockroach. He simply followed the other’s gaze until he was out of sight, turning back to Martin afterwards.
“Still not fond of me?”
“Nah. Not really.” Martin chuckles, ruffing his messy hair. Juhoon lets out a small giggle, finding the stubbornness of the younger funny.
They both start exchanging what happened today to each other, having a light-hearted and humorous conversation. It was mainly Martin talking, mentioning how their Maths teacher almost ‘crashed-out’ on an annoying student. Juhoon listened and laughed, and only shared a vague experience from earlier.
Martin notices how silent he was. They’re not best friends, but it wouldn’t take that to notice how the other kept tabbing out mid conversation. He doesn’t know whether or not that was unusual, but he feels that it is. So he decides to mention it.
“I know we aren’t exactly close—please correct me if I’m wrong but,” Martin pauses, watching his face. Juhoon tilts his head in question, wondering what he wanted to ask.
“You seem.. quieter. A little distant, too. Did something happen?”
Even he noticed.. how obvious was it?
“Ah.. uhm—no, nothing that I.. know of. Probably just tired.” Juhoon brushes off, rubbing his nose. Nodding to the excuse, Martin’s eye catches the glint of the thin bracelet around his wrist, his brows raising.
“You’re wearing the bracelet?” He says, pointing to his wrist. Juhoon hums before realising what he was talking about, looking down at the bracelet with his eyes.
“Oh. Yeah. Uhm, it’s just.. I just forgot to take it off.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either.
“..Mhm.” Martin seemed unconvinced, but he brushes it off.
“Juhoonie, you—woah, who is this hunk of height?” Yeonjun says, looking up at Martin. The taller looks at him weirdly, seemingly his first response to anyone unfamiliar.
“Yeonjun, Martin. Martin, Yeonjun.”
“Oh, Martin? As in the new kid?”
“..I still count as new?”
“Ehh.. whatever. Hey there, Martin. You ready to leave?” Yeonjun looks back at Juhoon, pointing to the entrance with his thumb. Juhoon stares at the senior for two seconds, before returning back to Martin, who was looking at him expectantly.
“..Sorry, I gotta go.”
“Yeah. No worries. I gotta get going before those two kill me.” Martin mutters under his breath. Juhoon laughs lightly at the joke, ignoring the way Yeonjun was looking between both of them.
“Yyyeah.. okay. C’mon, I’ll pay and bring you home. James left a while ago, saying that I should walk you.”
——
“So. Martin?” Yeonjun starts, looking ahead of the street. Juhoon hums, chewing on his food. Luckily enough, the food was pretty good.
“You like this kid or?”
“..What do you mean by ‘like’?” Juhoon asks after swallowing, already taking another bite.
“I’dunno, like.. romantically? I mean, I never took you as a gay guy but you never know.” Yeonjun shrugs, looking down at the junior for his reaction. He honestly seemed as blank as ever, just slowly chewing on his food as he registers the question.
“No. I’m not gay.”
“Really.”
“Really.” Juhoon takes another bite.
“I don’t know man, the way you looked at him and laughed at his unfunny joke doesn’t seem straight to me.”
“Can’t I look at someone and laugh at their joke? I’m not gay, and I will never be.”
Yeonjun looks at the kid in pity, but sighs in defeat. Of course, he should never assume. He’s the exact same with Beomgyu after all. But something in his gut says that Juhoon feels something.. more. He just hasn’t noticed it yet. He wonders if James did.
Then, he notices the chain around his wrist.
“..Martin gave that to you?” He asks, eyes trained on how the metal shines. Juhoon looks down at his wrist, then almost immediately hides it in his pocket.
“Yeah. Forgot to take it off.”
“..You forgot to take it off?”
“James invited his group to hang out with us on Saturday, and it just slipped my mind.”
..This kid is hopeless.
——
That night, after a long session of doing homework, Martin collapses on his bed with a groan. He reaches for the phone next to his pillow, turning it on and started scrolling through everything he received.
A few instagram likes, reels sent by Keonho, Twitter updates, WhatsApp numbers, a new follow…
Wait, what?
Last he remembered, he hasn’t given out his instagram since Keonho and Seonghyeon asked for it. Which was.. almost five months ago. It was somebody from his school too, which was weirder than it seemed. Plus, the profile was vague to the point where he couldn’t even tell who it was. The only clue he had were the initials in their display name; “CYJ”.
And, the mysterious profile sent him a message request.
CYJ :
yo, you’re martin, right? I wanna talk to u abt smth’
..Hm. Maybe this is a tomorrow thing.
——
The following day, Martin was alone for lunch.
Keonho had to prepare for his upcoming competition, so he was practicing at the swimming pools. Seonghyeon had to do some school project, so he was in his class rushing to finish it.
And that left him to be alone in the corner of his classroom for the second time.
Not like he really minded, anyway. Like how he is usually at home, he just either goes on his phone or works on his personal projects. He just prays that there would be no distractions. But 90% of the time, his prayers don’t get answered. Example, the following interaction.
“Hey.” a kid called out, already dragging a chair towards his table and dropping onto it. Martin slowly looks over, only to see the senior from yesterday.
“..Yeonjun, was it?”
“Honoured that you remember! But that’s not the point. Why didn’t you accept my message request?” Yeonjun says, a threatening smile on his face. Martin stares, then recalls the Instagram notifications from last night.
“Because it was weird as hell. Who just DMs someone like that?”
“Uhm.. me? But whatever. I wanna talk to you about Juhoon.” Martin’s interest was piqued when he mentioned the other, to which Yeonjun noticed. He saw how he leaned in slightly.
“Ahh. You like him, don’t you?”
“What? No. Why would you think that?”
“Oh my god, are all second years this oblivious? You leaned in when you heard his name come out from my mouth.”
“I did?” Martin sounded genuinely surprised. Did he actually subconsciously do that?
“Yes. You did.”
“Oh. Didn’t notice.” Martin shrugs, going back to his phone. Yeonjun compresses all of the irritation he had into a little cube, shoved it aside, and exhaled sharply out of his nose to calm himself down.
“Look. I have a theory.”
“Game theory?”
“No, but sure. Let me be straight forward, I think Juhoon is secretly gay and he’s just struggling with it.”
Martin could never connect Juhoon with internalised homophobia, but it seemed in character.
“And what does that have to do with me?”
“I think he likes you,” Yeonjun then mumbles something incoherent under his breath, making Martin confused. “But, he’s denying it. Has James—assuming you’re also friends with him—ever mentioned it?”
“He teased us a little bit. But isn’t that what seniors do?”
“I mean.. sure? Did Jju look flustered after though?”
Now that Yeonjun mentioned it, Martin could recall a few instances where Juhoon was flustered or blushing when he was around. He also tends to avoid eye contact, but everytime he does, his ears grow a little red.
“..I guess.”
Yeonjun then snaps his fingers, pointing to him. “I knew it! Now, I have a plan.”