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rule number one of ham wonjin and kang minhee’s ways of life: constantly be at each other’s throats. they don’t know any different, some kind of tale as old as time.
in kindergarten, they competed over gold stars. at the end of the school year, the tally ended 173-172 for minhee: wonjin misspelled orange on a spelling test, thanks to losing his two front teeth and the resulting lisp.
in sixth grade, their class had a baseball game to celebrate their last day of elementary school. with wonjin and minhee choosing the teams, they were locked in a tie until one of minhee’s teammates hit a grand slam and minhee(’s team) won, 20-16.
starting in junior high, class president elections only fueled the fire. minhee has continuously held the title despite a few close calls (but wonjin was too stubborn to request any recounts because he would rather lose with dignity, thank you very much).
up to their senior year of high school, they’ve traded first and second places within the school depending on subject. there’s no question that the valedictorian will be either top arts student ham wonjin or top sciences student kang minhee.
minhee’s always been first. but with a heart riddled with teenage angst, wonjin’s coming into the end swinging.
“silicon-30 can be formed from phosphorus-30 by a process of beta-plus decay. what is the nuclear equation that represents this reaction?”
two hands at the front of the class shoot up simultaneously. amused, the senior physics teacher chooses. “yes, wonjin?”
“phosphorus-30 decays to become silicon-30, a positron, and a neutrino.” without missing a step, he takes a glance at the expression of the taller boy in the classroom.
“very good.” the teacher nods and continues with the next section of the question.
“try-hard,” minhee mutters under his breath and wonjin’s grip on his pencil tightens.
“hey,” wonjin hears from behind him at the end of class. he turns around to see kang minhee, the boy he’s always been second-best to since kindergarten.
“why are you talking to me?” wonjin laughs awkwardly, staying distracted by his materials. he and minhee aren’t exactly on the best of terms because wonjin is stubborn and a little jealous. and minhee is… well, he’s minhee. appealing at first glance, but insufferably irritating. but that’s just wonjin’s personal opinion.
“just wanna know why you’re so into science all of a sudden. thought we were all losers.”
wonjin tosses his head back and rolls his eyes, knowing it grates minhee like nothing else. “because i’m committed to finishing first, duh. just because you don’t try in lit class –”
before wonjin can dig in on him, minhee’s already on his way.
as wonjin said – insufferably irritating. not to mention flaky, jesus christ.
“thank you so much, mr. lee. i’ll see you next week.”
“no problem, wonjin. you’re doing exceptionally well, have you considered switching to sciences?”
with the praises singing in his mind, wonjin smiles as he walks through the high school’s empty hallways in the afterhours.
when wonjin said he was committed to finally coming first, he was serious. as an arts student, he’s been working even harder on maths and sciences to balance out his gpa. that includes directly asking teachers for help.
honestly, he’s a bit embarrassed that he’s asking for help at his high academic standing. his own mind has come up with its positive-sounding reasons, but he’d rather not have others judge him. which is why he’s been keeping it mostly a secret, careful to move around the school when he’s finished.
on this day, he’s opening the lead door of the back exit when he notices a shadow stumbling across the parking lot. confused and a bit frightened, wonjin stops in his tracks until the figure is closer. tall, blond hair, same uniform as wonjin —
well.
this is a very not-ordinary day.
pushing open the door and herding in the other top student, wonjin takes a moment to lean against the glass and wonder how he ended up in this situation.
taking a deep breath and deciding to not be annoying (yet), he speaks carefully from his standing position. “minhee, are you okay?”
the younger boy groans and wonjin drops to his knees, the door slamming shut loudly. both of them wince. pushing the bangs off his forehead, wonjin spots red and his blood runs cold. he doesn’t deal well with gore of any kind. or minhee. clearly, these next few minutes will be best forgotten.
“okay, just… come with me.” wonjin stands up and reaches out a hand, but minhee doesn’t move. “uh, hello? earth to minhee?”
“how do i know this isn’t a setup?”
for the first time in his life, wonjin is left speechless. “minhee, i –”
“they were arts students.” minhee holds his head low, bangs barely masking his pained expression. this has to be the most vulnerable wonjin’s ever seen him: more vulnerable than the many times they ended up in the principal’s office for arguing during class, more than the one time minhee badly scraped his knees from falling off the swing during recess. wonjin felt obligated to be there with him at that time, for he was the one pushing him with a bit too much force.
wonjin has nothing to do with this, he could just let minhee into the school and send him on his way. he’d know how to tend to his wounds himself.
but he doesn’t.
wonjin starts speaking carefully, “i don’t know exactly what you’re implying here, but i had nothing to do with this. do you really think i would ever do this to you?”
minhee looks at him with an icy glare that speaks a million words and wonjin moves away, a visceral reaction to the sting.
“minhee…” his voice falters, but he’s determined to prove him wrong. “c’mon. let’s get you fixed up.”
“would you be able to crouch down?” wonjin says these words as he uses paper towel to dab away the droplets of blood on minhee’s forehead. it’s shitty and scratchy, but it’s much better than the plan b of bleeding to death.
minhee winces. “can you try sitting on the counter?”
wonjin furrows his brow, but minhee looks back with innocent eyes. compromising, wonjin sighs and spins them around. god, he’s way too old to be sitting on the bathroom counter.
“fuck, could this school not afford anything better?” wonjin continues to mumble about the subpar quality of the paper towel, minhee likely too lightheaded to snap back.
“my bag.”
wonjin pauses. “you want me to use your schoolbag as a compress,” he says with an unamused monotone.
“look in my bag. there’s a little first aid kit. take one of the gauze pads, the cut’s small enough.”
“just on the off-chance you get beat up by some hot shit high-schoolers?”
“well, i usually keep it on me for others, but… yeah.”
wonjin tells himself that minhee’s messiah complex is ridiculous, but he tries to frame minhee in a positive light as a selfless, caring person and… it’s kinda nice to think about. and not too far-fetched, honestly.
after wonjin digs around in minhee’s bag (and unfortunately fails to find any blackmail), he throws out the brown paper with a sense of accomplishment and continues to care for minhee.
when the first gauze pad bleeds through, wonjin recoils at the damp feeling on his fingertips. going to throw it out and open another, minhee opens his mouth. “actually, you’re supposed to keep pressure on the wound at all times –”
“stuff it, kang,” wonjin says, following his advice and sandwiching the second pad between the first and his hand. “i see you’re back to normal.”
“it wasn’t that bad, i was never out of normal.”
“okay, well, you were quiet and now you’re bossing people around again. back to normal.”
a smile plays across minhee’s lips. “can you check it now?”
wonjin lifts the gauze and almost faints. again.
silence. “did it stop?”
“well… there’s no fresh blood.”
“but?”
“but it’s a mess .”
minhee looks over wonjin’s shoulder at his injury and lets a quiet “christ” slip. “you look a bit nauseous, i can take it from here.”
“no!” wonjin says a bit too quickly and minhee’s eyes widen. “i mean… you still may be too weak.”
minhee laughs quietly and wonjin’s heart picks up tempo. “i can hold it by myself, you know. i just bumped my head, my arms work fine.”
“you did not bump your head, there is no way you could “slip and fall” and end up with… that.”
“you say that like it’s a bad thing! i think it looks pretty good on me.”
not that wonjin’s gonna admit it, but minhee does look way too attractive for someone who just got beat up by schoolyard bullies.
“just use water to clean it up. and a clean part of the gauze.”
“there is no clean part of the gauze, genius.”
“get the second one, then,” minhee says with exasperation.
once wonjin manages to manipulate the situation in order to get the sink running, he pushes minhee’s hair back and begins to dab at the area. his internal monologue annotates that their proximity doesn’t get a separate thought because it’s definitely not making him feel anything.
“jesus fuck, did you have to make it so cold?” despite the expletive, there’s no ill intent and they both burst into fits of giggles. and to think they were still on rival terms just half an hour ago.
they’re laughing until they notice the distance between them, and then they’re not. trapped in silence, wonjin keeps his gaze fixed on minhee’s eyes. at some point, the younger’s eyes flicker down to wonjin’s lips and back up again, but it happens so quickly that wonjin must have imagined it. wonjin opens his mouth to speak.
“so, ham wonjin, why were you even around these parts at this hour?”
and then the moment’s over, just like that.
because wonjin likes to think of himself as a proper gentleman, even to those who have wronged him, he offers to walk minhee home. he’s a forgiving person (starting today).
they continue their conversations outside, finding they have a lot in common outside of school. wonjin finds it so easy to talk with minhee, a lot similar to their intellectual quarrels of the past but more playful this time.
“it would look suspicious if you ended up fainting on your way home, with me being the last person you saw and everything.”
“honestly, i’d be more concerned about you fainting. i’ve never seen someone with such a weak stomach.”
“says the kid who vomited on frog dissection day.”
“the teacher kept them for too long, they were decomposing!”
wonjin laughs happily and nudges minhee’s shoulder. the younger boy is visibly surprised by the change of heart, wonjin just keeps on smiling.
“what is wrong with you?”
wonjin looks to his side with curious eyes.
“i’ve never seen you like this. ever. even with other people.”
“i’ve decided to turn over a new leaf. high school’s almost over, isn’t it time to quit it and not waste these last few months hating each other?”
“i guess that’s right,” minhee ponders. “i like the way you think.”
wonjin smiles to himself before realizing one last burning question. “hey,” he says slowly, knowing he’ll have to be careful to let himself down easy. “did you actually think i would ever do something like that?”
minhee freezes. “oh. you’re talking about this, right?” he points at his forehead.
wonjin nods. “i’m sorry for bringing it up again. it’s just been on my mind.”
“i never thought it was you. honestly, i think they were from the private school.” minhee rolls his eyes. “i just pretended to blame you because i know you love to prove me wrong, which would mean that you would take care of me. worked pretty well, if i do say so myself.”
okay, well. wonjin takes a second to process. “kang minhee, has anyone ever told you that you are such a pathological liar?”
“ham wonjin,” minhee turns with a smirk, “has anyone ever told you that you are the most gullible person known to man?”
wonjin rolls his eyes. “anyway, can we let the past go? both of us, not just me.”
“and why should i agree to that?”
“because i don’t hate you, minhee. i get why you’re everyone’s favorite. you’ve earned all of your first-place ranks and i think you’d make an excellent valedictorian. you deserve it. and not because arts are easier than sciences or whatever you guys tell yourselves.”
minhee blinks. “uh…” jesus fuck, this boy is so emotionally constipated it hurts to watch him talk about his feelings.
“this is where you thank me,” wonjin instructs.
“but i don’t wanna be valedictorian anymore!” minhee bursts out and wonjin’s steps stutter.
“okay, hold on. you’ve always been the most competitive and now you’re just gonna hand it over?”
“how could i not?” minhee whispers. “you were so dead-set on helping me out despite our past. i don’t know if i could’ve done the same.” and then, barely audible, “you’ve always been the better person.”
wonjin ignores the last part for clarity of mind. ignorance is bliss. “of course you would, you know exactly how to take care of just about anything. if you weren’t giving me instructions, you likely would’ve bled to death in the boy’s locker room.”
minhee eases up and laughs. “then why did you do it?”
wonjin decides it’s now or never. “because i like you. and i saw this as a way to show you that i’m tired of our stupid competition. because somewhere along the way, i caught feelings for you.” afraid, he backs off and looks down at the sidewalk.
“wonjin,” minhee whispers and the older boy’s head snaps back up, met with a small smile and glassy eyes. minhee is shining bright in this moment and wonjin hears the clock ticking down.
so wonjin doesn’t waste any more time. as the streetlights flicker on, he latches a hand onto the tie of minhee’s uniform, pulling him down, down, down into a kiss.
minhee’s lips are soft. tasting strawberry chapstick, wonjin holds him closer around the waist. minhee’s hand raises to rest on the nape of wonjin's neck, sending a shiver down his spine. as short as it is, it’s nothing short of perfect in wonjin’s eyes.
wonjin pulls away first, staying close to admire the adorable way minhee’s eyes stay closed in anticipation of a second. the younger boy pouts when denied of what he wants, exposing the cruel ways of wonjin’s heart. he so badly wants to kiss minhee until the sunrise, but he also has a voice of reason and it’s nagging that his parents are not going to be happy with his tardiness.
“i’m so sorry, it’s getting late,” wonjin rushes out when minhee grabs his wrist.
“i just wanna know,” minhee begins, “is this it?”
“huh?”
“are we going to act like today didn’t happen?” minhee’s voice wavers, eyes pouring with emotion and wonjin’s heart snaps in two.
“if you want to,” wonjin breathes out. “but i don’t.”
silence. “me neither.” the blond boy smiles back radiantly, brighter than the sun. the setting sky casts golden shadows and light across his face. he looks absolutely breathtaking.
wonjin’s sinking into the moment until he snaps back to reality. “i really have to get going now. but first,” he extends a palm, “your phone.”
minhee looks back with a puzzled expression. “for?”
“my number, you idiot. i wanna make sure you survive the night,” but it’s said without the previous bite and it makes both of them smile. even if things have changed now, this is still part of who they are.
when wonjin returns his phone, minhee has built up the courage to speak honestly. “again, thank you so much for helping me out.”
wonjin laughs. “i think you should be thanking those private school beefcakes for landing you a boyfriend.”
minhee flushes at the final word and wonjin has to fight every muscle in his body to not reach up and pepper every square inch of his face in kisses.
“see you tomorrow. don’t forget to put some ice on it every few hours to reduce swelling.” i love you.