Chapter Text
“Gosh, what was in your cereal this morning, Sung?” Jaemin eyed the boy.
Jisung had walked into school, shoes untied and hair disheveled, five minutes before the first bell.
“Absolutely nothing,” as if on cue, Jisung’s stomach growled.
Donghyuck and Mark were sitting with Jaemin across from Jisung’s locker, watching the boy struggle to open his locker with equally unamused faces.
Mark chucked a granola bar at Jisung, hitting him in the head. He winced, before picking it up with confusion.
“I was saving that for later, but you need it more than me. Eat up.”
Jisung knew he couldn’t refuse to the three stern friends (or mothers?) across from him, so he opened the bar and took a huge bite out of it, making a mental note to buy Mark a new one later.
Jisung wasn’t stressed, not at all. He totally didn’t have 3 huge tests coming up that he hadn’t started studying for. He totally didn’t just bomb the science quiz that he didn’t even remember hearing about. He totally didn’t forget to pack an actual lunch. A banana and some granola bars went a far way, however.
Even as he sat by his three best friends, he felt distant from the conversation. Maybe it was the smell of the fresh hamburgers the cooks were cooking; the actually edible and delicious ones. Maybe it was two boys from three tables away that wouldn’t stop staring in their direction. They always were either just staring or feeding and doing gross coupley stuff with each other. Jisung knew who they were, but he’d never actually talked to them before. Human interaction? He had enough with the three idiots by him.
The three idiots were snapping their fingers in front of Jisung, trying to get him out of his daydream.
“Jeez, Sung, you’re really out of it today,” remarked Donghyuck, glancing between Jisung’s eyes and tilting his head to the left with a raised eyebrow.
“Are you okay?” asked a concerned Jaemin from beside him, eyeing the bland banana and granola bars Jisung was subconsciously picking at.
Jisung just threw a small smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired. I need to figure out how I’ll pay for next year, though.” he could feel the three gazes deepening on him. “I’ve been asking for extra shifts at the bakery, but then I usually have to ask for later shifts at the flower shop. Who needs flowers that late, anyways?”
Donghyuck gave a condescending look to him. “Sung, you know we’re always here to help you…”
“You can always take some money from us. It’s not a big deal,” added Jaemin.
But Jisung knew it was a big deal. Taking money from his best friends would put him forever in debt. Plus, it would make them look down on him even more, as if they didn’t enough already. They babied him mercily every day, could he afford to bother them any more?
He had zoned out again in his thoughts, and was brought back by Mark’s snapping. And that’s when it happened. One second it wasn’t there, the next it was.
Jisung didn’t know where the hamburger came from, honestly. He swung immediately towards the person that had placed it by him, but was only met with the stranger’s back, walking away at a quick pace. Jisung slowly turned his head back towards his friends, eyeing them, demanding to know which one of them put the random boy up to it.
Jaemin raised his hands, eyes wide. “It wasn’t me, I swear! I’ve never seen that kid any day of my life!”
“I didn’t either, but just eat it,” Donghyuck’s honey voice soothingly pressured Jisung to take a big bite of the savory burger.
“That was the new kid, I think,” stated Mark after watching the boy leave the cafeteria. “He’s from China, or something. Just came today.”
Jaemin snorted. “Was he that repulsed by our hot meals already?”
“Can’t blame him,” said Jisung, through a mouthful of hamburger. “Too bad he got rid of the only good meal they serve.”
It kept happening everyday. The strange boy kept leaving food for Jisung everyday . He started leaving homemade sandwiches, fruits, and the like. Jisung was confused. He was more than confused. The boy would set it down without a sound and then zoom out of the room. Jisung saw the side of his face one day. The boy had an even complexion, and well defined cheekbones that perfectly complimented his brown hair. Jisung wasn’t saying he was cute. He just had not bad features. That was all.
Normally in a boy situation, Jaemin, Donghyuck, and Mark would’ve started teasing Jisung relentlessly about the boy that kept leaving lunch for him. But they knew it was a sticky subject, and they kept quiet about it. It didn’t stop Jisung from overthinking the situation to no end, however.
Why would the boy leave food everyday? Did he think Jisung was incapable of providing from himself? Did he think that leaving food made him friends?
The boy was in Jisung’s math class, Jisung had learned. He hadn’t actually realized it until the third day of the weird boy’s arrival. He noticed that the boy didn’t talk much; he only talked directly to the teacher in private, otherwise sticking his head down into the homework or a book. Jisung found himself watching the boy go about during that one class, scowling to himself. Did the boy think he could just lure Jisung through food? To him, the idea that the boy kept leaving food for him was almost repulsing. He would admit, though, the food was excellent. Jisung just figured: it was one less meal that he had to pay for, so he’d finish it all. It was sensible.
But two weeks later, Jisung was ready to snap. He had rushed to his tiny apartment that was probably breaking in several areas to see it. A golden-packaged present was in his mailbox. Jisung was ready to throw it away at that instant, until he realized he had to be at the bakery in twelve minutes instead of forteen. Stupid present, taking his precious changing time.
Jisung forgot about the present completely until he was home at 10:00 in the evening. He was tired and not in the mood. A customer at the bakery was complaining about how one cupcake had more frosting than the other, to which Jisung had to explain that each cupcake was different and it wasn’t any difference in the amount of calories it gave. (He didn’t actually explain the second part, although he greatly wanted to.) Then, to top it off, his coworker at the flower shop had dropped a vase with water and flowers already in it, and he forced Jisung to clean up the whole mess, claiming that there was a piece of glass stuck in his foot. Jisung would’ve loved to make glass actually stuck in the man’s foot. To top it even more off, it had started raining on Jisung’s walk home, and Jisung didn’t have an umbrella.
Shivering, soaking, and probably infected with a cold, Jisung trudged into his freezing apartment, desperate to just take a shower. It would probably have to be a cold shower, because hot showers were so expensive, but Jisung was willing to risk anything to get the sticky clothes off him.
After showering and changing into warm clothes he had ‘borrowed’ from Jaemin and just hadn’t gotten around to giving back, Jisung flopped on his stomach onto his bed, ready to start his homework and sleep. That’s when he landed straight onto the perfectly wrapped present. It was small, only the size of Jisung’s hand, but some part of Jisung still wanted to chuck it out the window.
He was ready to convince himself that the present wasn’t actually for him, because who in their right mind would send him a present? But when he looked closely, his name was neatly written in the corner. Too neat to be a native Korean.
Jisung tipped his head to the right and narrowed his eyes at the package, as if trying to have a staring contest with it.
He eventually decided to just open it, which he regretted instantly. Under the wrapping paper was a packaged iPhone X. An iPhone X, the newest phone release, the phone that only rich people could afford. Jisung wanted to laugh and drown it in water. His pride was hurt, to say the least. Who thought that Jisung was too broke to afford anything other than his ‘fancy’ iPhone 5s? Whoever it was wasn’t wrong, but who in their right mind would ship a brand new phone to Jisung ? So Jisung did the most reasonable thing he could think of at 10:20 at night.
He called Jaemin.
“What do you want, Sung? I’m doing math homework.”
“Was it you?”
“Was what me?”
“Did you send me the phone?”
There was a little static on the line, signaling that Jaemin had sat up and was now fully attentive. “Wait, Sung, someone sent you a phone ?”
“Sadly. It’s a freaking iPhone X , too. I don’t know what to do. Do you want a new phone?”
“Oh my god, Sung, no. I already have a perfectly good one.” Jaemin cleared his throat, either in annoyance or… just annoyance. “How about this? You get rid of your crappy phone and start using the new one.”
“But-”
“Look. It was already sent to you, there was obviously plenty of time for the sender to think it through. In other words, the sender isn’t stupid and wants you to have the phone. So make the sender happy and just USE IT. It won’t hurt anyone.”
“...” Jisung eyed up the phone in front of him, a mental debate taking place in his head. “I guess I will, no matter how much it pains me to do so.”
“Shut up, I know you’re fangirling in your brain right now. Tell your stupid pride to shut up and just start using the dang thing. It’s really not that complex.”
“Alright, thank you, Nana.”
“Great! I’ll see you tomorrow, don’t forget to bring your new phone so we can take actually good photos!”
Jisung shortly chuckled at his best friend’s dumb ways of cheering him up. They worked, though. “Okay, see you tomorrow.”
“Good night, sleep well, I love you!”
“I love you too.” And the call was disconnected.
Jisung forced himself to finish all his homework, before finally picking up his new phone at midnight.
The next morning, Jisung was more exhausted than normal, but he was excited. He had his brand new phone in his hand. His pride was still a little swollen, but after Jaemin pep talked him he was more confident about the new item.
He slumped down next to Mark and Donghyuck while they cooed over the new phone, taking dumb selfies on it.
Jaemin rushed in a few minutes later, eyes wide and a grin gleaming. “Guys, you will not believe what just happened to me.”
Jisung was the only one to actually give him a response, by tilting his head to the older boy, as if telling him to continue.
“So you know how I’ve always had a crush on,” his voice got hushed. “Lee Jeno, right?”
Donghyuck didn’t even look up from Jisung’s phone, he just rolled his eyes. “The boy you’ve been pining after since, like, forever ?”
“Yes, and guess what happened! So you know his boyfriend, Injoon?” That earned Jaemin three sympathetic eyes on him. The couple had been dating for nearly three years, and Jaemin had been helplessly in love with Jeno since the first day. Everyone knew Injoon and Jeno were a couple, a no one dared to mess with either of them. Jeno was intimidating until he smiled, and Injoon looked sweet until he got angry. Then he was just plain scary. The whole school knew that they were a pair; you didn’t see Jeno without Injoon and Injoon without Jeno.
Jaemin just huffed and gave his typical pout. “ So , I was walking past them and I made eye contact with Injoon and it just hit me. I never realized he was so cute !”
“But what about Jeno?” asked Mark, out of pure confusion. “You’re, like, smitten for him.”
“I can like two people, that’s a thing! I was reading all about it last night, it’s called a polyamorous relationship. Polyamory is defined as loving more than one.”
Jisung nearly choked on the granola bar he was eating. “Wait, so you want to date both of them?”
Jaemin stood his ground, not even letting the possible judgement get to him. “Yup, I do. I like both of them equally and I want to kiss both of them equally and-”
“We get it, okay Nana?” whispered Donghyuck with a small smile. “We’ll always support you, you know that. Just be careful, I don’t want you getting hurt by either of them.” he nuzzled into Jaemin’s side, letting the cuddly side of both of them take over.
“So, Sung,” asked Mark, lightly nudging his side. “Do you know who this is from?” he waved the phone in his hand.
“Nope,” replied Jisung, popping the ‘p’. “But Jaemin-”
“I told him he’s keeping it because it’s obviously a gift and there’s no returns. So he’s keeping it.” The words ‘he’s too poor and he really needs the phone’ were left unspoken.
Everything was silent and normal for the next few weeks. The strange boy still dropped off a lunch for Jisung daily, to which Jisung kept putting off saying thank you, and nothing special showed up in the mail.
Jisung wouldn’t say he overworked himself. He loved the bakery with all his heart, and the treats that he was allowed to eat during his break made him happy. The flower shop wasn’t that stressful, besides when a bee would fly in. Those days included screaming customers and a flyswatter.
Jisung, however, wouldn’t say that the two jobs were his first two choices. Jisung really loved dancing. He danced in his living room. He danced while walking to work. He danced when there were no customers. Whenever he passed the dance building down the street from the bakery, Jisung would always stop and wistfully stare at inside, with the hopes and dreams of one day being able to dance in an actual studio. He never went in. The classes were just too expensive.
But after a few uneventful weeks, life sprang up at him again. Jisung was sweeping the floor of the bakery after school, and the owner suddenly walked in. The owner was the popular Jung Jaehyun, who Jisung actually looked up to. The man was, in the non-creepiest way, the most beautiful human Jisung had ever seen in his entire life. He was fresh out of college (and sadly, taken), but still was very successful. Jisung wanted to be him.
“Park Jisung?” the man asked while bowing politely. His lips were slightly curved upwards. “I’m Jung Jaehyun, the-”
“The owner,” Jisung spluttered, bowing low, with his cheeks tinted pink. “And yes, I’m Jisung.”
“Great. I came to talk to you about something.” In that moment, Jisung thought he was being fired. Thoughts were running through his mind at incredible speeds.
“Don’t be worried, it’s nothing bad.” Jaehyun let out a light chuckle, smiling so Jisung could see his teeth. Jisung couldn’t help but think that the man in front of him was an actual angel, because how could someone’s teeth be that white? Jisung nervously chewed on his lower lip, waiting for the news to be delivered.
“I’ve noticed you’ve been working extra shifts and hours lately… is everything okay? I asked around, and I know you also work at the flower shop.” Jaehyun paused, giving Jisung a chance to explain himself.
“Ah, yes… I have to afford my apartment, so I got as many jobs as possible.”
At those words, Jaehyun’s face became unreadable, and his brows scrunched together. Jisung hoped he wasn’t judging him, but it was probably too late.
Jaehyun could tell that the situation was much deeper than what Jisung was letting off, so he decided to take the safe route. “Jisung, we’re closing the shop early. It’s a Friday, and I know you don’t work later.”
Jisung eventually got the courage to ask, “Where are we going?” a few minutes after Jaehyun locked the doors. He was following Jaehyun, who seemed like he knew where he was headed off to. They stopped in front of the dance building.
“The man that owns this studio, Lee Taeyong, he’s my boyfriend,” explained Jaehyun. “He’s noticed you peeking in, and he wants to meet you.”
Jisung took a few steps backwards in surprise. “I wasn’t doing anything bad, I promise! I’m just really interested in dance and I’ve always wanted to see what a practice room actually looks like and-”
“Relax, Jisung.” chuckled Jaehyun, his eyes turning into little crescents. “He’s not mad at you. He wants to meet you for different reasons. Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad.” With that, Jaehyun pushed open the glass doors and directed Jisung to follow.
They walked in silence for a little bit, until Jaehyun opened a door that read ‘Practice Room E’. Jisung was more than astonished by the sight. The floors looked so shiny and new, and the mirrors glistened off the bright sun coming in from the windows.
Jaehyun had walked up to the pink haired boy and planted a soft kiss on his lips, while Jisung’s jaw dropped as he examined the room.
“Jisung,” Jaehyun was hand-in-hand with his boyfriend. “This is Taeyong, my boyfriend.”
Taeyong was more cheerful than Jisung thought he would be. “Hello, Jisung! I’m Lee Taeyong. I hope we didn’t frighten you or anything, we didn’t mean to! Honestly, the first time I saw you, I just knew you’re dancer material.” Taeyong threw his arm around Jisung, leading him towards a stereo in the corner. “Oh yeah, sorry if I smell bad, I just finished two classes! Now, pick a song.”
Jisung blanked. “A song?”
“Yes, silly. I want to see what you can do.”
Jisung ended up choosing a Chris Brown song that he liked to dance to around his apartment. It was awkward at first, but he eventually got into a trance, forgetting all about the two men watching him.
Before he even realized it, the song was over. Jisung’s light pants filled the room, and he shrinked into a thin line again. Taeyong and Jaehyun had different reactions. As soon as the song ended, the two erupted in claps.
“Jisung, you’re really talented! You have tons of potential, with proper training,” gushed Taeyong, who almost seemed more excited than Jisung. Jisung just blushed and nodded in thanks, keeping his head lower than normal.
“What’s wrong?” asked the curious dance teacher, his face softening into a concerned gaze.
“I...I don’t really have the money to afford this,” confessed Jisung. “I have to pay rent every month, and I have to start getting money ready to afford tuition for next year.”
Both Taeyong and Jaehyun’s eyes widened in realization and sadness.
“Wait, I didn’t tell you earlier?” Taeyong enthusiastically grinned. “Classes would be completely free.”
“Are you sure?” Jisung was more than shocked. Lee Taeyong , who the whole town knew of, was offering him of all people lessons for free? People surely wouldn’t be happy to hear that. Jisung, for a split second, let the thought that Taeyong was just pitying him slip into his brain.
But Taeyong changed that in a matter of seconds. “Yes, 100%. You have serious talent, you could go far with a little help.”
Jisung couldn’t help the smile that grew rapidly on those words. He hadn’t been that happy in a while. Maybe it was the excitement of dancing in the room again, or maybe it was the feeling of being wanted . Whatever it was, Jisung liked it.
As Jisung was about to leave after talking for around 20 minutes, Jaehyun stopped him. “Hey, Jisung? You know, if you ever need anything, Taeyong and I are more than happy to help.”
“Thanks hyung.” the smile still hadn’t worn off. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”
When Jisung arrived home, he was happy for two reasons. One, he could call himself a dancer now, and two, he had got home at eight at night, which was more than great compared to his normal schedule. Jisung and Taeyong had made a schedule so he could fit everything in. On school days, he’d go to the studio at six in the morning and dance with Taeyong for an hour. Then, he’d get ready for school. It worked out perfectly, because Jisung still could keep his two jobs that took place after school. Jisung knew Taeyong would be waking up earlier than he normally did, which poked at his conscience for a few hours, but he asked Jaehyun, who told him that Taeyong was up at all hours, so it wasn’t any difference.
He didn’t even realize there was another gold packaged present under his mail until he threw it on the counter. But Jisung soon discovered it wasn’t a package, it was a gold envelope. Jisung was more than confused.
He carefully opened the package to reveal a note on top of other things. The note, in squeaky neat Korean, read ‘ For your tuition next year, Jisung. ’ Underneath the note was… more than enough money. Jisung’s jaw dropped with every bill he counted. Who would have this much money, and why would they be giving it to Jisung?
So Jisung did the most reasonable thing he could think of. He called Jaemin.
“What do you want, hoe? Wow, it’s early, no work tonight?”
“Not at the flower shop, just the bakery. Actually, something great happened tonight!”
“Did you get a boyfriend?”
“No.”
“Was there a cute kitten on the side of the road? Or a dog? Wait, are you into dogs or cats?”
“No, and both.”
Jaemin sighed into the phone. “Then what is it?”
“So you know Jung Jaehyun and Lee Taeyong?”
“I wasn’t born under a rock, of course I know who they are! Wait, did you meet them? Oh my gosh, spill-”
“Yes, I met both of them. Jaehyun owns the bakery and Taeyong owns the dance studio down the street.” a faint ‘oh my god’ was heard from Jaemin. “You know how I’ve always loved dance? Well, guess who’s going to take dance lessons now?!”
“OH MY GOSH, SUNG! I’m so proud of you! I’m going to put a picture on the fridge, I’m so proud of my boy~” Jaemin was literally cooing through the phone, but Jisung just smiled to himself.
“Okay, now I have a problem, also.”
“Spill!”
“So...I got another gold present.”
“And?”
“The person sent me… money. For my tuition.”
Jaemin didn’t even try to hide his gasp. “Really? Are you going to use it?”
“I don’t know if I should…”
“Well, Sung, you can’t exactly return it to the sender, right? I would just set it aside for now until tuition fees come around and then you can decide. You can also ask Jaehyun hyung for advice!”
“Thanks, Nana, really… I don’t know where I’d be without you.”
“Will you introduce me to them? You know I LOVE them. Like, with all my heart. I would take a bullet for them. They’re so-”
“Yes, Nana. I’ll introduce you. I’m going to shower now, okay?”
“Okay, make sure to put the money in a safe spot and a bank first thing in the morning!”
“I will, thanks.” There was a slight pause of silence. “Hey Nana?”
“Yes, Sung?”
“You know… I’m okay with the poly relationship stuff. I only care about your happiness, and if two people make you happy, then I’m okay with it.”
Jaemin just laughed. “Sung, I’m not even dating them yet. I’m just hopelessly in love with both of them.”
“Introduce them to me sometime?”
“Of course I will. Have a good night, okay? I love you!”
“I love you too, Nana.”
Later that night, Jisung decided to count the money. His eyes widened in realization that the money could take him through the rest of high school and college in ease, with still extra money on the side. Jisung decided that whoever the person was, they were loaded .
The next week went by slowly, Jisung dancing before school and working after school. He had safely put all the money in the bank, not wanting to lose it. The weird boy was still leaving lunch for him every day. Jisung had learned new things about him. The boy didn’t seem to have any friends. Jisung hadn’t seen him interact with one person besides the teachers the whole week .
Jisung had brought Jaemin to the dance studio and introduced him to Jaehyun and Taeyong, to which Jaemin nearly fainted. That afternoon was spent laughing and playing around with random dances. Jisung, for once, didn’t feel stressed out to the max in his life.
It all changed when the weird boy sat down next to him one day at lunch. It was a wordless exchange; the boy sat down and shoved the meal towards Jisung without even making eye contact. Mark, Donghyuck, and Jaemin all stayed quiet as they watched the boy, until Jaemin got fed up with the silence.
“So, guys, I have news about my love life!” he exclaimed, clapping his hands together with a grin. The three heads took their attention off of the strange boy and placed it on Jaemin. “Jeno and Injoon invited me hang out this weekend!”
“As a date?” asked the wide-eyed Donghyuck.
Almost on cue, Jeno and Injoon walked past them.
“Yup, it’s a date!” smiled Injoon as Jeno winked.
Jaemin nearly started crying as his face turned beat red. The rest of the day, his grin was plastered on his face. It was like someone molded it on, with that someone being Jeno and Injoon.
The rest of the week went by simply; the strange boy would sit down next to Jisung every day and push his lunch over to him.
One day, however, Donghyuck and Mark had left to go argue in the gym, and Jaemin was waved over to Injoon and Jeno, leaving Jisung and the boy alone. He watched as the small boy ate and stared blankly the table in front of him, emotionless.
Jisung decided to change the awkward silence, and he (attempted) to clear his throat. “I should’ve said this a while ago… but thanks for bringing me lunch. It means a lot.”
The strange boy almost jumped in shock. His eyes got owl wide and his lips parted a little before he muttered a small, “You’re welcome.”
Feeling more confident, Jisung continued conversing. “I’m Park Jisung.”
“Zhong Chenle.” the shy boy muttered so quietly that Jisung almost didn’t hear him.