Chapter Text
Donghyun’s life long dream had always been to become an idol. That was why when his mother finally agreed to let him pursue it after graduating from high school, he was so happy and he set out to quickly achieve his dream.
As most people in their lives learn though, fortune is elusive. No matter the effort, things are sometimes not meant to be.
It was undeniable that he worked his hardest even to the point of irrationality. The entertainment agency he went to made him clean and sanitize the whole building, especially the units that the agency did not rent. He was also tasked to deliver the orders from the restaurant downstairs like a part-timer. However, he did not receive any salary or allowance. He was told to go on a diet despite his already light physique. On top of it all, he had to practice until 3 A.M.
Donghyun kept lying on every phone conversation with his mother that he was fine, that they were treating him well, and that he was going to debut soon — a very vague soon.
One day, his mother decided to see it for herself. She came unannounced and needless to say, Donghyun went back to school after training in the shady entertainment agency for two years. His mother embraced him in comfort and told him that everything will be fine but that he had to give up on his dream. It broke Donghyun’s heart and pride to come back empty handed but there was nothing else for him to do at that point but agree.
He just clenched his teeth and moved on. Being an idol was not meant for him; he had decided to take a business course instead. He tried to set his mind on it, nothing else. All Donghyun had to do was study hard — continuously studying hard — and then eventually, graduate.
Even if he was a couple of years behind, it was going to be fine. Joochan, his best friend, was also behind some classes that they could take together. It would not be so lonely. He would be alright. He would lead a decent life afterwards.
Things would have been fine for him had it not been for one person though. Donghyun was not even sure if he was really a person. To him, that person was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a wolf parading in guise of the name Choi Bomin.
“I’m going now,” Donghyun told Joochan.
Joochan merely nodded and went back to his Math books, completely forgetting that they were just about to get lunch together.
There was a certain thing Donghyun kept avoiding lately.
“Hyung! Donghyun Hyung!” a deep voice called. It got louder and louder. “Donghyun hyung! Please wait, Donghyun hyung!”
Donghyun broke into a sprint but with his luck and relatively small stature compared to his pursuer, of course, Bomin caught up with him.
Bomin was catching his breath and Donghyun stood there unable to move because of Bomin’s hands on either side of him. “Ah, hyung, why couldn’t you hear me? I was already yelling.”
“Ah, were you? I didn’t hear clearly.” Donghyun tried to bite back down the urge to explain but it came bubbling out. “I might have really damaged my eardrums from listening to too much music like my mother said.”
Bomin eyed him suspiciously but then, burst out laughing. “You’re really cute, hyung. I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at you. You’re just so cute.”
Choi Bomin seemed to be the type who always gets what he wants. He had a sophisticated aura and a charm that made everyone feel at ease. His smile was refreshing and contagious. He had a handsome and clear face and he was tall, not only taller than Donghyun but actually towering-ly tall.
Donghyun did not like the boy; he was not vocal about it but the fact of the matter was, he did not like Bomin. He had a strange feeling about him, as well as all the strange things that happened between them last year.
Donghyun was on his toes. Their height difference bugged him and he felt the eyes of everyone passing by against his back.
“Why were you calling me?”
“Ah, about that.” Bomin smiled looking down. “I was just going to ask hyung if it was okay for us to get lunch together.”
“I’m going to eat with Joochan.”
“But you just left him back there.” Bomin’s eyes were big and curious, inspecting his whole being.
“Because we already ate lunch.” As soon as he let out those words, his stomach rumbled.
Bomin’s face was unreadable and Donghyun felt so guilty.
“If you don’t want to eat with me, you can just say so, hyung. I don’t want to bother you.” That was what Bomin said but Donghyun heard something else entirely.
“Wait!” He said as he grabbed the back of Bomin’s shirt. Bomin did not look back.
He acted on impulse and another person took over his body. His brain was shouting at him to stop what he was doing. This was Choi Bomin, the manipulative rich kid who always looked down on him. But he could not stop the words as they fell from his mouth. “I-I’m sorry. I can only treat you to the convenience store.”
Bomin was pouting when he finally looked at Donghyun. His eyes were doubtful.
“I… I mean, if it’s still okay with you?”
In an instant, Bomin’s eyes were sparkling and his smile was blinding. Donghyun was doomed. His wallet was doomed.
“Just the convenience store though.”
“Wherever and whatever you want is fine with me, hyung.”
“Do you like kimbap?”
“I’m going to be honest. I haven’t had any kimbap in my life yet.”
Donghyun cursed in his head. Of course, chaebols do not eat the food of the commoners, he thought to himself.
“Well, there’s only triangle kimbap in the convenience store. It’s made with tuna. Maybe someday I’ll buy you other kinds but...” He trailed off shocked at himself for being so generous to this little brat. Being civil to one another was fine but how he was acting so close to Bomin was alarming.
He looked up at the boy practically skipping beside him. Bomin had the biggest smile Donghyun had ever seen. It was disturbing. Donghyun usually saw Bomin smile but an insincere kind of smile. Granted that Donghyun was never a good judge of character but he never had any feeling that Bomin was ever actually happy with where he was. Donghyun remembered everyone would always sponge off Bomin either for schoolwork or food though so maybe he judged the boy too fast.
“But what, hyung?”
“What, what?”
“But what? What were you going to say about the next time you treat me to other kimbaps?”
“Nothing,” Donghyun said. If he had to be honest, it scared him that Bomin remembered he promised more kimbap and another time to hang out. “You might not want to hang out with me next time. I’m pretty boring.”
Bomin laughed at that — a loud booming laughter. “No way! I think you’re really cool.”
“I would have never imagined you felt that way about me."
If any of Donghyun’s friends saw them especially Joochan and Jibeom, they would be shocked. There they were on a table in a convenience store eating kimbap and milk. Donghyun still could not believe it. He watched Bomin carefully. He found it a bit unnerving at how Bomin looked out of place in the small dingy convenience store. If Donghyun thought about it, it felt like a scene in a drama. He was showing this rich boy the way of the commoners and love would ensue in a slow romantic ballad montage but that would be ridiculous; those things never happen in real life.
Bomin looked like a child and he found himself laughing at how Bomin managed to unwrap the seaweed from the rice.
“I’ll show you how,” Donghyun said as he carefully showed Bomin how and where to start removing the plastic wrapper. “Here, you can have this. I’ll take yours.”
“But this is mine!”
Donghyun clicked his tongue. “You’ll make a mess of yourself. You wouldn’t know how to eat that.”
Bomin reluctantly surrendered his kimbap sliding it across the table. Donghyun handed him his. Bomin accepted with both hands, his fingers lingering a little too long on Donghyun’s.
“Say hyung, you were watching me back then, weren’t you?”
Donghyun was beat red. He took his hands away like he did not hear anything and looked down at the kimbap, trying to salvage it.
“I mean last year. You were watching me like you were watching me with the kimbap just now.”
Donghyun took a bite and pretended to look like he had no idea what Bomin was saying. It was a trap after all. Everything about Bomin was a trap. If he said anything, he might become Bomin’s lackey or something of the sort. It was kind of incomprehensible how things would turn out that way but Donghyun knew that once Bomin was involved, anything could happen. Donghyun had no time to be involved with other people; he had to continuously study hard.
“Congratulations on the scholarship, by the way.”
Donghyun nodded his thanks and continued to eat, trying not to care about how Bomin kept looking at him. Donghyun did not want to talk about the scholarship with Bomin, least of all. He just did not want to talk to Bomin in general.
He finished his kimbap and milk in what he thinks could be a new world record. He was getting up to throw away his trash when Bomin asked, “Are you in a hurry?”
Donghyun nodded. He looked at his watch and said, “Yes, I have Mrs. Kang at 1. I can’t be late.”
“I see,” Bomin’s face dropped as he said it. He was turning his half eaten kimbap between his hands. He looked up hopefully before Donghyun could leave. “How about tomorrow? Can we have lunch again?”
Donghyun hesitated. But looking at Bomin’s face, he knew he was not any better than everyone else. Bomin, despite being tall with a deep voice, had a certain cuteness to him that seemed to need protection.
In the end, Donghyun said, “Let’s see. I’m not sure how tomorrow will be.”
Bomin smiled at that. “Okay, hyung. Tomorrow, then. Go ahead. You’ll be late if you don’t get going.”
He felt a little bad for lying about the time but Donghyun had to get out of there.
When the clock struck 1:30, he was already there with his book and his laptop opened. Mrs. Kang walked in and dropped folders upon folders that contained stacks of paper onto her table. Some of the papers went flying out and the students who came in filing after her picked some up and handed them to her.
What made Donghyun look up though was a familiar deep voice. It said, “I can help, Mrs. Kang.”
Choi Bomin, Donghyun’s worst nightmare, handed her a small stack of paper and picked up some more at the opposite side of the door.
“Mr. Choi, you’re not registered in this class.” Her voice was nice and sweet unlike how she talked to everyone else.
“I just registered today. There were a lot of students in Mr. Bang’s class. I thought a smaller size would be more effective for me. And I already know Mrs. Kang’s teaching skills. I don’t doubt I’ll learn better from you, Mrs. Kang. I’ll study hard.”
Donghyun could see her blush. There was really no escaping Bomin now. The world was really coming for Donghyun.
“Go ahead and take a seat, Mr. Choi.”
Donghyun ducked and kept himself as small as he could. But today was not Donghyun’s day. Bomin sat beside him and whispered, “Hi, hyung!” He had a big smile. “I guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other this semester.”
Donghyun was really doomed.