Chapter Text
“Council.”
[Monday, 06:03am]
Taeil: Taeyong.
I’m really sorry to ask this …
Can you please go into school and do the setting-up for me?
I would, but I’ve been up all morning with my sick niece – I’m helping babysit for the week.
Me: i
okay
tell nayeon i hope she feels better
Taeil: Thank you so much!
I’ll treat you ^^
Me: ok sure
hope ur prepared to actually STICK to this
Five AM starts were never too much of an issue for Taeyong Lee – he was used to waking up early, having done so his whole life. He usually helped around the house; cooking breakfast for himself and his younger brother, ignoring the empty bed of his parents, getting uniforms ready.
Today, however, just wasn’t Taeyong’s morning. He’d stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom, sluggishly but quickly washing his body and drying off. Dressing had proven difficult through his sleepy haze, but only twenty minutes later had Taeyong fully dressed, with his skincare done and hair styled.
“I’m going to be late, going to be late,” Taeyong’s murmurs were constant as he padded through the kitchen to grab breakfast – a simple banana and apple, shoving them into his bag at the table. Snatching his car keys and phone from the counter, Taeyong locked the door behind him and got ready to drive off. It wasn’t until he was at the first traffic lights from his house did he realise …
“Shit, I forgot about Mark.”
Me: mark
markkk
im heading into school early, theres money and food in the kitchen for u, plus money for the bus
when u wake up, text me
Yuta Nakamoto wasn’t a bad boy.
He really wasn’t, that was just the image his classmates decided to give him; with a constant style that screamed ‘i’ll totally fuck your shit up’, alongside Yuta’s countless ear piercings that were never the same, it was no wonder that Yuta had quickly become the feared, foreign student at school.
He really wasn’t mean, though – Yuta had his friends and he was never rude to teachers or fellow peers. He walked girls to class if they were being harassed, he never backed down when sticking up for younger kids, and he only engaged in conflict when the situation called for it.
Yuta wasn’t the type to wake up early and get to school – no, he usually barely made it in time and would stroll in like he owned the place. It was very rare that he’d even wake up before eight, really.
This morning was different, however – combined with stress over an upcoming group assignment and frustration over his mother’s new boyfriend, the teenager found himself packed up and leaving just after six AM.
“’Do this, Yuta, don’t touch that, Yuta, you’re a disappointment, Yuta’ – dumbass,” Yuta muttered, throwing his apple in the air as he mocked his mother’s boyfriend. He was approaching the first traffic intersection, preparing to cross the street and stop by the local bakery. One step onto the road, however, and Yuta immediately scrambled backwards when a car – broken down, garishly green and, essentially, trash – sped past.
“SHIT – SORRY!” The voice floated back to Yuta as he became aware of what had actually happened – how he had almost died – and his vision slowly clouded redder as Yuta’s last braincells managed to remember just why the car was so familiar.
“Taeyong … fucking Lee …”
(It’s not like Yuta hated Taeyong Lee, incredibly gifted and talented school captain who was the golden student to all teachers.
He just … yeah, he hated him)
“Johnny? Wake up!”
Waking up to your best friend pushing you off your bed, his younger brother perched on your chair across the room, is nowhere near a desirable wake-up call for Johnny Seo.
Still, that had never stopped Jaehyun and Lucas from getting into his house at all hours of the morning to terrorise Johnny’s morning.
“What – I swear to God, Jung Jaehyun?” Lucas burst into, thankfully soft, laughter at Johnny’s surprise Korean, almost toppling from his seat.
“You scared the English out of him, Jae!” Jaehyun grinned, high-fiving Lucas, before turning back to help Johnny up.
“We’ve got to get in early if we want to meet with the Student Council about the uniforms,” here is where Lucas flushed in shame, eyes tilting down upon remembering the Uniform Incident, “the court and the season.”
Jaehyun hadn’t stopped moving as he talked, already pulling out clothes for Johnny to wear that day. After Lucas had recovered from his shame about the uniforms, he’d found himself on his feet and pulling Johnny up.
“Come on, Johnny! We don’t have much time! Hurry up!” Lucas’ excited Mandarin prompted Johnny to finally awaken fully, mouthing a ‘what the fuck does that mean?’ to Jaehyun before going to shower and get ready.
Ten minutes later saw the three boys in Jaehyun’s car, Lucas shoved into the back as Johnny scrolled through Jaehyun’s music playlist.
“See, you constantly feed into the Korean stereotype by playing TWICE all the damn time,” Johnny groused after finally selecting a song – something by DJ Khaled, definitely – and relaxing back in his chair. He ignored Jaehyun’s grumbling at Johnny cutting off Signal and turned around to look at Lucas, who was deeply engrossed in his phone.
“What’s up, Xuxi?” Lucas looked up at the sudden call of his nickname – the nickname only those closest to him (and could pronounce it properly) could use. He turned his phone around so Johnny could look, the senior glancing over to see an influx of texts from … ‘little lion’.
“Mark’s brother had to leave early and only told him over text, so he’s complaining because his brother usually cooks his breakfast,” Lucas explained, taking his phone back to continue texting. “He’s really hungry too, but his bus is leaving now and he needs to hurry. Jaehyun, can we get Mark some breakfast?”
“The fuck, Lucas? I’m not your chauffeur!” Jaehyun snapped, though he immediately turned into the lane that would take them to McDonald’s. “Ask your boyfriend what he wants from McDonald’s, or he’s getting jack shit.”
(Jaehyun was an angry driver. He was always angry when driving)
Amidst Lucas’ petulant “he’s not my boyfriend” and Jaehyun mocking as he pulled into the McDonald’s drive-thru, Johnny opened his phone and about to start texting, when he heard a sudden yell from at the intersection across from the fast-food restaurant, and a disgustingly-garish green car zoom down the road.
“What the hell …?” Jaehyun leant towards Johnny, seeing out of his window, as he slowly drove forward in the line. “Is that … Yuta Nakamoto?”
“Yeah …” Johnny murmured, already recognising the vomit-green car and exactly who it belonged too. He was already pulling up his phone, opening his messages to text the basketball team.
“He doesn’t look happy. Is he okay?” Lucas asked, leaning forward as far as he could and getting shoved back by Jaehyun, before the male began ordering their meals.
“He almost got killed by the school captain – I wouldn’t be happy either."
Me: TAEYONG
big brother: ahhhh, markieee
Me: don’t be NICE
you abandoned me!
we have almost no food at home!
i had to get lucas’ older brother to buy me breakfast!
big brother: really?
i made sure there was food for you.
oh well – i’ll treat you for meat soon ^^
and remind me to pay lucas’ older brother back, then
Me: you don’t even know him be quiet
big brother: maybe i do! i AM the school captain!
Me: who is he
big brother: …
okay fair point
but i still want to pay him back
who is he?
Me: jaehyun jung
co-captain of the basketball team with johnny seo
hes a junior
big brother: okay, awesome
thanks mark!!! ^^^^^^^
Me: wtvr