Chapter Text
it was 8:32 am and park woojin was bored to death. history was his least favorite class, he'd rather run laps for the whole day. he slumped back onto his seat and just pretended to listen, there were only 18 minutes left until the bell would ring anyway. "oh i totally forgot!" everyone, even woojin, looked at the history teacher, puzzled. that was the highest pitch she's ever spoken in. "please excuse me for bursting out like that, but something's just-" she talked as she walked towards the door, but before she could touch the knob, the door slowly swung open. everyone else began standing up which just meant that the school dean visited, the principal came to check on them, or there's a new student.
woojin sat at the second to the last row so he didn't bother standing, he wouldn't be seen either way.
"class, welcome your new classmate, park jihoon."
the students were whispering to one another, even nudging each other at the process. woojin had a hunch then that the transferee might just be good-looking. "parks just really have it in their genes." he muttered, shaking his head. "dude, he's something else. i've never seen a boy look that pretty." one of the guys from the last row whispered but it was loud enough for woojin to hear which made him think that it was, indirectly, for him. woojin thought that they were just being exaggerated; even though, technically speaking, he's the one being in denial -- he hasn't even seen the boy's face yet...
and maybe, he spoke too soon. woojin's sight of his classmates' backs fade away as they take their seats and suddenly... finally, all he could ever see in that packed room was him. he wore yellow and white -- a bright color that could instantly catch one's attention, but it wasn't what made woojin stare.
he was smiling and it was such a pretty smile that woojin couldn't believe such a thing existed.
woojin felt a weird, heavy feeling swarming into his chest when he looked at the boy -- and he wasn't so sure why but he wanted to keep him safe and protect his happiness. or maybe because he knew exactly why and that's why he felt so fucking pathetic.
and just when woojin thought he could cover his guilt up by putting himself away from the new kid, the history class teacher enthusiastically called his name out -- proclaiming, that as another park, it is his duty to take care of his classmate, park jihoon. "occupy the seat beside him, go ahead." she said before turning around to continue with the class discussion. jihoon greeted the people around him with a warm smile while making his way to the second to the last row. he was finally close -- close enough that woojin could smell vanilla. jihoon smelt like vanilla.
"hi." jihoon greeted as he placed his stuff down. 43985358349 things were running through woojin's mind even though it was just a simple greeting but he did that one, stupid, unnecessary thing; he only nodded and turned his gaze to the widescreen.
he had his reasons, though.
park woojin wasn't actually just an ordinary kid in school, he was friends with kang daniel. the popular one. only that, his reputation, depended on how many hearts he could break-- everyone was willing to do anything to go on a date with him, though, so it was always viewed as a win-win situation. seongwoo, minhyun, jinyoung, guanlin and daehwi all have no say to this but woojin has always been trying to stop daniel. "just let him have fun, they want it too." minhyun said once. seongwoo, who was leaning on his boyfriend's shoulder agreed. "he doesn't go after someone who doesn't want him."
woojin huffed a breath, giving up. that should be the last time he'd stop daniel.
last time? fuck no. woojin had a strong feeling that jihoon would be daniel's next target and as much as he wanted to warn the clueless boy, he thought it would be better to stay away. maybe daniel won't even notice that there's a new student and maybe daniel won't try to get jihoon through woojin since they're classmates. maybe... just maybe... daniel won't touch him. but in case daniel would dare, woojin is going to do anything to protect jihoon.
"so sorry to disturb you but uhm... can you, like, show me around later?" woojin didn't even realize that jihoon was talking to him until he turned to look at the boy. he wanted to ask him to repeat what he said but that would only make the both of them look stupid. "i..." woojin trailed off as he searched for excuses. jihoon just patiently waited, eyes big and interested.
"alright." biggest. mistake. ever. but woojin couldn't help it and he told himself that he would only do this once -- never again.
the bell finally went off; students took out their lunch boxes, some went out. woojin was still sitting and so was jihoon. "you're not eating?" jihoon asked. "actually..." he trailed off again, finding the right words to say. "i guess not. are you?" he was supposed to eat lunch with the guys today, it's their thing, but he's skipping that. it was the perfect time to roam around the campus anyway.
"nah, i'm not starving." jihoon softly chuckled. "let's go, then." he stood up, ignoring jihoon's confused face. "oh, right. the tour." the latter finally caught on. they both left the classroom quietly and walked down the hallway.
"lockers here, and there. it's just a bunch of lockers and other classrooms."
"how 'bout that room?" "stock room. filthy. dusty. gross."
"yikes, how 'bout that?" "the comfort room, sir. i believe you can read."
they went from the 5th floor down to the last floor, the library, laboratory and other facilities, the gym, except one place: the cafeteria. woojin hoped that jihoon wouldn't notice. "don't you have a cafe here, or something?" spoke too soon, again. but he wouldn't take him there, at least not now. "of course we do. it's just too packed right now." lies. the cafeteria does not get packed anymore since the faculty changed other classes' schedule of break time. for example, seongwoo and minhyun do not eat with the guys because their lunch break is one hour earlier. "oh... it must be so hot in there, never mind then. i'd rather eat my lunch inside the room." jihoon mindlessly said. "that's better, it's just so noisy in there." lies, second time.
woojin bit his lips, it was a habit developed every time he felt like he did something wrong. but was it wrong? was it wrong to lie to someone for their sake? he doesn't fucking know and it's frustrating him. "hey, you good?" jihoon's voice brought him back to reality. "just wanna sleep, that's it." he turned his heel to the other direction and walked, leaving jihoon behind. "i really didn't want to bother you, i'm sorry and thank you for showing me around." jihoon spoke softly, making woojin stop on his tracks. if he took one more step, he was going to hurt jihoon's feelings. if he stayed, jihoon would get hurt in the future.
"it's the new kid!"
woojin's eyes widened as he heard the all, too familiar voice. "hey! park woojin, why didn't you tell us?" kang daniel. "h-hi." that was jihoon's fucking response, alright. woojin chuckled, jaws clenched. he turned around, nodding at the guys -- daniel, jinyoung, daehwi and guanlin. "he has a mouth to speak." was all that he said out of impulsiveness, creating a thick tension between the group. "yo chill, what's up with him?" daniel laughed, sticking his hand out towards jihoon. "i'm kang daniel, by the way." woojin didn't hear more, he silently left -- guilt weighing over his shoulders. kang daniel found his next target and woojin couldn't do anything about it.