Chapter Text
“And lastly, Choi Minki and Kang Dongho. These pairs are final and there will be no changing or swapping allowed.”
The moment Minki heard the name Kang Dongho he felt himself flinch a little. Seungcheol, who was seated next to him, seemed to be the only one who noticed this and patted his back pityingly. Their biology teacher rambled on about the assignment but Minki wasn’t listening. He was glancing across the row at his partner, who was sitting with folded arms and looking at their teacher with the usual uninterested expression on his face. Minki looked back at his table and sighed, sliding down in his seat.
The sudden ring of the school bell jolted him out of his stupor and he sat up straight, looking around the room as his other classmates started finding their assigned partners. “Cheol, don’t leave me.” Minki whined, holding onto Seungcheol’s shirt as he stood up. “Why do you get all the luck?” He scowled as Seungcheol’s partner, a willowy boy with long hair approached them. Seungcheol grinned and high-fived the taller boy.
“You can’t separate the dream team.” He said in a sing-song voice.
“Shut up, Jeonghan.” Minki scoffed. Jeonghan raised his hands in surrender.
“Sorry man.” He said, sounding a little more sincere. Seungcheol pulled the strap of his bag over his shoulder and nudged his partner.
“We should get going.” He said. He looked at Minki apologetically. “I think someone wants to talk to you.” Minki glanced at where Seungcheol was looking pointedly and felt his insides freeze for a second. Kang Dongho was making his way over from his side of the classroom.
Minki closed his eyes briefly as Seungcheol and Jeonghan left to discuss their project before plastering the most friendly smile he could muster up on his face as Dongho approached him.
“Uh, hey.” Dongho said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. Minki continued smiling, blinking as he took in the boy (correction: man) who made half the school duck their heads in wariness whenever he walked through the hallways. He would have looked his usual, slightly menacing self if it weren’t for the bright pink flower pot he was currently holding.
To be fair, Dongho wasn’t ugly. Minki could appreciate that. Anyone with eyes could see that. With a jawline that could kill and the slightly scruffy hint of stubble he left on his chin, he had the rugged kind of charm that most of the female (and male) population at school would fall for. Hell, he even had the physique of someone who could easily be the star player of the football team. But for some reason, he just wasn’t. He could easily have the school fall head over heels for him if he wanted it.
Instead, he was a lone wolf. An outsider. He didn’t speak a lot unless he was called on in class. He hardly ever smiled or laughed. Minki never saw him at parties and he was beginning to think that maybe Dongho didn’t have any friends. While Minki was surrounded by a group of his friends, Dongho was surrounded with whisperings. Minki wasn’t usually one to believe groundless rumours but with Dongho he just couldn’t tell what was true and what wasn’t.
During the start of sophomore year, Dongho had been absent for 3 weeks and came back with a cast on one arm, several bruises, and cuts all over his knuckles. He was withdrawn and didn’t answer when someone asked about his injuries. Soon, various rumours started flying around. Some said that he had gotten into a fight with a gang on the other end of town. Others said he had joined a gang. No one really knew what the truth was. But ever since then, everyone had begun to feel wary of him. And Dongho’s lack of effort to argue against or correct the rumours did nothing to dissuade people. Even until now.
Which was why Minki still felt a pang of something akin to fear as Dongho placed the pink flower pot in front of him. “So,” Minki began, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. Never let a tiger sense your fear he thought. Dongho pulled up a chair from the other table and sat down, leaning forward.
“What do you think we should name it?” He asked, sounding uninterested. Mr. Han, their biology teacher, had given them the task of raising a marigold plant in pairs because, although none of them could see the significance of this project in their learning, it would be a “fun way to start senior year” and because “flour babies are too cliché” . Minki hummed and looked at the tiny plant that he and Dongho would be raising for the next 2 months.
“Alejandro.” Minki said proudly, looking up to meet Dongho’s eyes. Shit, he’s gorgeous. Look at that jawline. Dongho frowned at this.
“Alejandro? Why Alejandro?” He clearly didn’t like the sound of this. Minki rolled his eyes and huffed.
“Why not? I don’t see you coming up with any fresh ideas.” As soon as he said this, Minki immediately felt like his insides had shrivelled up and died. Why, why, why couldn’t he have stopped his stupid mouth? Did he really just talk back to Kang Dongho ?
To Minki’s relief, Dongho simply shrugged and pulled out a marker from his bag. He wrote ‘Alejandro’ in surprisingly neat handwriting on the side of the flower pot. “Do you want to take him for the first week then?”
“Him?” Minki raised an eyebrow at this. “If I’ve learned anything from my last 4 years of taking this subject, it’s that plants are asexual and probably have no gender.” Dongho simply looked at him.
“I know. I was just humouring you.” Minki blinked at this. “So, do you wanna take him this week? We can swap next Monday?” Dongho suggested.
“Alright. I’ll make sure not to let Alejandro die of thirst.” He said, pulling the plant closer to him. The other boy slid off his chair smoothly and pulled his bag on his back. He raised his hand as a gesture of goodbye.
“See you around then.” Minki watched Dongho walk away and slumped back in his seat, the tension leaving his body. That wasn’t so bad, was it Minki? He thought. He glanced down at Alejandro and smiled.
____________________
Sometimes Minki wondered why he hung out with these ‘friends’ of his. He was sitting at one of the picnic tables outside the school building with Jeonghan and Seungcheol, watching as the other two squabbled uselessly over their plant-child (as Jeonghan called it). Personally, Minki was praying for the poor plant. Hopefully it could survive being under the care of this duo for two months.
“Listen,” Jeonghan said frustratedly. “This sunlight is way too strong for it. It’s gonna get too hot and die. It’s like a human. If you stood in this sun for too long you’d also shrivel up and die.” Minki looked on as Jeonghan attempted to build a makeshift umbrella/tent/shelter for the plant. Seungcheol shook his head exasperatedly.
“Um, did you not pay attention at all in class? Plants need sunlight for photosynthesis or whatever it is they do. You’re literally depriving it!” Minki rolled his eyes.
“What happened to the ‘Dream Team’?” He shot at the arguing pair. The two of them glared at each other before backing away from the mess they made on the table.
“We’re just in the middle of a rough patch. Nothing we can’t fix.” Jeonghan said simply, swiftly and sneakily moving their plant closer to him. “Anyways, how was your first meeting with the tiger?” Minki ignored Seungcheol’s snickering.
“First, please don't ever call him that again. It sounds so gross. Second, it was uneventful. He asked me to take this first week with Alejandro and then left. That’s it.”
“That’s it? Damn, I thought he would have totally decked you after being exposed to your annoyin-” Jeonghan swiftly dodged the book Minki threw at him. “Ass.” He finished, turning to Seungcheol and high-fiving him.
“Why do I even bother hanging out with you guys? And where the hell is Jonghyun? He said he would drive me to my interview after school.” Minki pouted, checking his watch. Seungcheol perked up at this.
“Oh? A job interview?” He asked excitedly, scooting closer to Minki. The boy nodded, his face scrunching up in annoyance.
“My parents nagged me for months. They went on and on this morning about how I had to “stop spending so excessively” and to start being “responsible” and to learn “the value of money”. I mean,” Seungcheol could tell Minki was about to go off on one of his infamous rants and reached over the picnic table to pat Minki’s hand reassuringly.
“They’re just looking out for you, man.” He said sympathetically. Minki shook his head.
“Can you believe they wanted me to sell off my Gaga CD’s?! Like I didn’t starve myself for MONTHS to save up for them?!” Minki was nearly shouting at this point and was starting to gather stares from passing students. Seungcheol and Jeonghan looked at each other tiredly and tried to calm their agitated friend.
“Anyways…” Jeonghan had moved over to sit next to Minki instead and slung an arm around his shoulder. “Where’s your job interview at?” This question only seemed to deepen Minki’s frown.
“Some random cafe on the other end of town.” He scoffed. “My parents literally forced me to call them up and ask for an interview after throwing the classified ads at me during breakfast today.” Jeonghan whistled. He elbowed Minki in the side, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“The other end of town? That’s where all the prep school kids are! What if one of them ends up falling for you? Or what if one of them works at the cafe too and you end up falling for them? Imagine: you’re looking all hot and barista-y in your apron with rolled up sleeves and looking all focused making drinks an-”
“Keep your weird fantasies to yourself, asshole.” Minki pushed him away while Seungcheol dissolved into a laughing fit across them. “Anyways,” Minki trailed off after spotting a familiar black-haired boy walking their way. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Good luck deciding what to do with your plant-child.” He picked up Alejandro, waved goodbye to Seungcheol and Jeonghan and hurried over to his best friend.
“Hey, man.” Jonghyun smiled apologetically as he unlocked his car. He and Minki threw their bags into the backseat. Minki took care to tuck Alejandro in with a seatbelt to make sure his plant (son?) didn’t fall over during the journey. “Sorry, I got held up at the student council meeting.” Minki slid into the shotgun seat as Jonghyun started the engine.
“What’s the drama this time? Anything juicy?” The car pulled out of the school grounds and, while Jonghyun maneuvered the car smoothly, Minki took the opportunity to plug the AUX cord into his phone, scrolling through his music library seriously. Jonghyun smiled a little, shaking his head.
“Nothing like that. We were just discussing about plans for the homecoming dance.” A familiar tune started playing through Jonghyun’s car speakers and Jonghyun could see Minki’s legs moving in time to the beat. “Seongwoo got a little too excited and talked non-stop for almost the whole hour. In the end we decided to let him form his own homecoming committee so they can meet on another day so we don’t end up staying in school until nighttime.”
“Good call. Once Seongwoo starts going, there’s no stopping him.” Minki mused. “Remember that time during assembly when he was asked to give a rundown on the latest theatre production?” Jonghyun laughed at this.
“How could anyone forget? He would have started acting out the first scene of Macbeth by himself right there if Daniel hadn’t come up and dragged him off the stage.”
The two of them continued laughing and chatting comfortably as they continued driving. Outside, the difference between their own neighborhood and the unfamiliar one they had just entered became clear. The houses were slightly larger and newer than the ones they were more accustomed to. New, modern looking shops and restaurants lined the streets and Minki gaped at the kids walking around in what was unmistakably the uniform for Pencey Prep.
“Why do I feel like we just drove right onto the set of Gossip Girl or something?” Minki stared at the pleated skirts and blazers that all the students were wearing. Jonghyun was distracted, looking for the cafe Minki was (hopefully) going to be working at.
“What did you say the cafe was called?” He asked. Minki made a face.
“ unsigned. Isn’t it pretentious? I bet you it’s some lame ass hipster cafe that plays that awful indie music that all sounds the same with weird artists and vegans as regular customers.” Minki shuddered at the thought of having to suffer through the same boring playlist again and again every shift. As an avid lover of pop music, he couldn’t understand the appeal of the whiny, half-whispering voices he associated indie music with.
Jonghyun parked the car in front of a moss green cafe with the name unsigned painted neatly in white letters on the black sign that sat above the entrance of the store. Jonghyun could sense Minki’s reluctance and (though the other boy wouldn’t admit it) nervousness. He turned the engine off and turned to face his best friend. “You’re gonna be fine. They’re gonna love you.” He said as reassuringly as possible. Minki gave him a small smile. “Do you want me to come in with you? For moral support? I’ll bring in Alejandro too so he doesn’t suffocate in the car.” The boy shook his head.
“Nah, it’s cool. It probably won’t take longer than 15 minutes. Thanks though.” Minki straightened up in his seat and fixed his hair, using his phone as a mirror. “How do I look?”
“Like a model.” Jonghyun said honestly. Minki had changed into a sensible looking striped pale blue button down shirt and a pair of black jeans after school. He still wore gray contacts that made him look a little fiercer than usual but his hair was styled neatly, his fringe combed down to soften his overall appearance. He wasn’t even wearing eyeliner today. Jonghyun felt proud and clapped his friend on the back as he got out of the car. Minki turned around one last time.
“If I don’t come out after 20 minutes tops, I give you permission to barge in and save me.” He said solemnly. Jonghyun nodded, crossing his heart in an unspoken promise.
“Go knock ‘em dead.”