Chapter Text
Nothing ever fazes Choi Suhwan.
When Kang Hyunseo announced to the A class groupchat that three students would be joining their class this year, Suhwan simply like-reacted the message to acknowledge it. After all, he found it inevitable after the amount of students who transferred or dropped out last year because of the school campus downsizing due to budget cuts. Class E took the biggest blow, with more than half of their section gone. The administration had decided to rearrange the sections to even the numbers out.
He missed his friends, of course, but he had no qualms in any sort of change as he could get along with anyone without much trouble. Enough to be productive in class, anyways, and usually nothing more. He always fit in easily wherever he went and adjusted as needed whenever there were any disagreements. People would joke it's because of his small size that he could somehow "squeeze" himself to be comfortable in any situation. Things, like this sudden announcement, just didn't seem to bother Suhwan as much as it did others.
Everyone else in class, on the other hand, started to flood the chat with speculation. Hyunseo, being the goody two-shoes Vice President he was, refused to leak any more information. He was the only one their adviser had entrusted the class lists to, and the admin was smart in doing so. Sunho, their class president, probably would've carelessly told someone if asked. Suhwan had already muted the chat days ago but finally gave it a glance on the first day of class, double-checking where their new classroom would be.
Room 101 was a tiny room, right across the bathrooms, squeezed at the dead end of a rundown hallway. Suhwan winced as the door creaked when he pushed it open. He had thought being in one out of the two honor sections of the graduating batch would warrant some sort of special treatment or at least a classroom building that didn't look like it fit right in a post-apocalyptic movie set, but this was senior high not some swanky reality show.
Hyeonsu was already at the whiteboard, already performing his duties and writing announcements sent to him by their adviser. Sunho sat at the teachers desk with his legs resting up on the glass-topped surface. He looked nearly old enough to be mistaken for a fresh grad teacher but his aloof and boyish nature (and his being literally in a school uniform) still made it clear he was a student.
"Morning, Suhwan!" The class president cheerfully greeted him as he stepped through the door. "Have you met our new classmates?"
He motioned to the front of the classroom, where the rows were still empty compared to the back because no one liked being too near the teacher.
Suhwan immediately noticed Sihun who was seated at the very end of the second row. He had bleached and permed his hair over the summer, which probably (definitely) wasn't allowed in the student handbook but no one really cared at this point. The light blonde curls framed his bright eyes and infectious grin perfectly. Suhwan couldn't help but give a shy smile in return as Sihun waved at him. "Hey, Chili Pepper! I'm lonely here in front, why dontcha sit here?"
Suhwan ignored the nickname he was given for his short stature compared to the rest of the dance troupe he shared with Sihun. He sat himself on the seat directly in front of his friend. "You came from Class B, right?"
"Yeah, I don't really mind the change. Everyone here seems pretty cool so far for a bunch of nerds." He teased, flashing another one of his signature smiles.
Suhwan laughed at his jab. Sihun came from Class B. While known for being noisy, it was still the only other honors class in the batch. He was probably one of the biggest nerds he knew. Sihun is the CEO's son after all and maintained high grades to make his father proud, it wasn't any surprise to find him in another honors class again this year.
"Donghyun's here too. He was Class D, though." Sihun pointed to the back where he could recognize Keum Donghyun sleeping facedown on one of the back row seats. Suhwan wasn't surprised at that either, Donghyun was known for sleeping through his classes but still acing exams. "I wonder who else is coming, heard anything?"
"Dunno, haven't backread the GC yet." Suhwan unlocked his phone and skimmed through the chat for names. "Eunsang, maybe?"
"Nah, bumped into him on the way here. He's definitely still in C." The blonde leaned over to read names off the phone for himself. He laughed incredulously. "Kim Minseo? Didn't he move away months ago?"
"Yeah, this is exactly why I muted it." Suhwan rolled his eyes. "Hyunseo really won't spill so everyone's flooding the chat with wild guesses."
"Well, whoever they are they're about to be late." Suhwan saw his friend's eyes suddenly shift focus to the front of the room. He turned in his seat to see their adviser enter as a few more students took their seats in the front row. Sunho scrambled out of the teacher's seat and took the last seat in front to Suhwan's right. "Yikes, I forgot Lee Seokhoon was your adviser."
"He's ok." Suhwan remarked. He never had trouble with their adviser, mostly because he was the conductor to their school choir as well. He was used to the teacher's little quirks. "I think your class was just noisy, he really hates that."
"Is everyone here?" Seokhoon strode to the front as everyone stood up to bow and greet him. He quickly motioned for them to sit back down and took the class list from Hyeonsu. "As you all already know, we have three new classmates joining your class today from other sections. Kim Sihun?"
"Here!"
"Keum Donghyun?" Seokhoon raised a brow as the boy sleepily raised his hand with a large yawn but didn't give anymore remarks. He gave a puzzled look as he scanned the classroom for someone who didn't seem to be there. "Huh, looks like our last new student isn't here right now."
"Who is it, teacher?" Sihun leaned forward with his hand raised.
"Hasn't Hyunseo already informed you? It's-"
"I'm here!" The door swung open with incredible force as the owner of the loud booming voice stumbled into the room.
Nothing ever fazes Choi Suhwan. Correction, nothing usually ever fazes Choi Suhwan. A stampede of giraffes could've gone crashing through that same door and the only reaction you would've gotten out of him was a slightly confused blink.
But at that very moment, you could see every single muscle in Suhwan's body tense up as he took one look at the boy catching his breath in the doorway. The world around him seemed to slow down as his brain processed what had just happened and who exactly burst through that door.
"Song Yuvin, glad you could join us."
It was like an ill-fated relationship.
Suhwan has had to live with Yuvin's existence ever since he joined the same chorale midway through gradeschool. He didn't even want to be there; Yuvin had only joined after his teacher insisted he did so. It didn't stop their conductor from giving him all the solos after a few rehearsals with him though — solos that Suhwan was used to getting. As if having to see him during rehearsals wasn't bad enough, he ended up in the same class for all four years in junior high.
Suhwan just did what he did best in any situation, he simply adjusted to the imposing presence of Yuvin. He comfortably fit himself into the tiny corner left for him because Yuvin seemed to figuratively, and literally, take up most of the space in the room with his booming voice and loud personality. While he accepted it with gracious defeat, Suhwan couldn't help but feel a heavy weight lifted off his shoulders when he moved up to the honors section in his first year of Grade 11 giving him some respite from being in his taller friend's shadow.
Now here he was, literally bursting through the door into Suhwan's life once again and commanding everyone's attention without even trying.
"Take the last seat at the back, then we can get started on your curriculum this year."
"Actually, uh," Yuvin avoided the glare of his teacher and looked to the rest of the class with a sheepish smile. His eyes locked with Suhwan's for a second before the shorter boy immediately averted his gaze. "I've got pretty bad eyesight. Could I get a seat up front?"
"I can switch out."
Suhwan let out a groan as Sunho — wonderful all-too-kind Sunho — raised his hand and offered his seat immediately. It was all too coincidential. He could practically see Yuvin's wide shit-eating grin as he took his seat to Suhwan's immediate right.
"Hey." Yuvin turned to face his new seatmate, his brown eyes wide with excitement. He had always resembled a German Shepherd with his big brown eyes and messy brown hair; basically an oversized puppy.
Nothing usually ever fazes Choi Suhwan. On the rare occurrence that something does, he gives himself a few seconds to breath and no more than that.
Breathe in, one, two, three, four, breathe out.
Then he adjusts.
"Hey." He answers, swallowing down his insecurities and facing Yuvin with his usual angelic smile. "It's like fate, huh?"