Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Right, class,” Mr Khun said roughly, slamming a clear tank on the stone tabletops. A sound like something toppling over echoed through the classroom, followed by a mad pounding on glass and a chorus of confused murmurs from the students.

Bam’s elbow almost slipped off the table, his eyes wandering slowly to the tank. His stomach grumbled, and he hoped beyond hope that Ehwa hadn’t burned the pies at the cafeteria again.

The old science teacher, Wangnan, had been stranded in Manila on holiday, missing his flight because he’d lost his ring, and Eduan had come in to replace him. His classes mostly consisted of him trying to explain complex circuits and the whole school’s power somehow shutting down when he tried to demonstrate.

Bam was top of the class anyway. He didn’t really need to listen.

Eduan pushed the tank aside, Endorsi’s glossy hair blocking Bam’s view, and moved a set of test tubes into the centre of the table. He ran a hand through his blonde hair, so pale that it almost looked blue. “Right,” he repeated, his eyes almost unfocused. “Right.”

Beside him, Shibisu muffled a snicker into his tracksuit sleeve. “He’s in a bad mood again,” he whispered to Hatz. “Bet his wife left him again. Didn’t even last a week!”

Bam wasn’t so sure. The look in his eyes wasn’t of sadness, but anger. Pure fire and fury, different to the last thirteen times he’d come in completely dejected and Anaak had told the class she’d seen his wife walking out on him.

A sudden acrid smell wafted around the classroom, and he couldn’t tell if Ehwa really had burned the pies already or Eduan was just about to blow up the classroom. Bam really hoped it was the latter, as he didn’t have anything else to eat apart from what the cafeteria offered.

“We’re moving on from physics,” Eduan declared, a manic glint in his eye. “Circuits... electricity... I’ve had enough of those stupid power boxes bursting every time I touch them.” He paused, poising a vial of scintillant silver liquid over a beaker of green froth, and the melted plastic smell intensified. “Today - we start chemistry.”

Endorsi’s eyes widened. “No, wait- DON’T POUR-“ she shrieked, and as she stood up her lip gloss clattered out of her pocket and Bam looked away quickly from her too-short skirt. Shibisu said his eyes had to be kept pure, whatever that meant.

A flicker outside the window caught his eye, and time seemed to slow as Bam caught a fleeting glance of pale hair, cold eyes, blue hoops and an electrifying smile right before Eduan’s silver liquid hit the green and the whole thing exploded.

Who is that? He wondered, screwing his eyes shut as light washed over the classroom, though Bam wasn’t entirely sure the heat in his cheeks was because of the failed chemistry. Shibisu squealed.

Something joined the hunger that gnawed at the bottom of Bam’s stomach. He was smart. He was smart enough to know that your heart skipping beats was not normal.

He decided to just visit the nurse next study period to get it checked out.

...And what the fuck was in that tank?

-

The boy outside was gone by the time the class left. Bam walked with Shibisu, struggling to fight down his laughter. Shibisu was shell-shocked, his expression reminding Bam of that derp from an anime he once showed him. Tower of God , he remembered. That was a good one.

The whole middle row had parted to avoid the explosion, but Shibisu hadn’t, getting a whole face full of the solution, and if this wasn’t the greatest thing Bam had seen since high school began he didn’t know what was.

Hatz and Anaak tailed a little behind, and one glance over Shibisu’s head showed Bam that they were doubled over in silent fits, Anaak almost keeled over from the effort of not pointing at Shibisu and roaring out loud.

“Bam?” Shibisu’s voice said miserably, dragging his attention back. “You look like you’re about to choke. You can laugh, I don’t care.”

Bam let loose and burst into laughter, joining the now audible howls of Anaak, Hatz, and everyone else in the class.

“I’m sorry, Shibisu,” he gasped as they reached their lockers, tears blurring his vision, “you just- your whole face is bright yellow. I-“ he dissolved back into laughter, Shibisu’s angry remark carried away by Anaak’s scream down the hallway where Endorsi kicked her.

The rest of the class were snorting uncontrollably into their sleeves, with the exception of Endorsi, who Bam noticed was walking with a strangely dignified expression and her head held high. He thought it was a miracle her heels hadn’t broken with how stiffly she was moving.

Endorsi met his eye as she spun around and turned scarlet so that she looked like a glossy guinea pig on fire. If guinea pigs wore sparkly eyeshadow, that is.

Bam wondered if she was okay, as the next smile she gave him looked terribly forced. It wouldn’t be polite of him to ask.

“How is that solution even harmless on skin? It caused an explosion, for God’s sake,” Shibisu wailed, burying his face into the mountain of books in his locker. “It’s a wonder my face hasn’t melted off yet. You know what, it probably will tomorrow. Eduan doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

Bam grinned, shoving his books in haphazardly. “Wanted to start the class with a bang, I expect,” he added, and fished in his pockets for his cash. A meagre $10 left for the day, just enough to buy the ridiculously overpriced Thursday special pies. He felt his heart sink a little as the buzz of chatter continued around the hall, but shook it off.

It didn’t matter. He’d go back to his job tonight, then meet Rachel, and everything would be fine.

“Come on,” he said to Shibisu, and Hatz beat him to dragging him out of his locker by his jacket. “Let’s go eat.”

Shibisu muttered something and slammed his locker shut, a stripe of colour still painted over his face, before his eyebrows furrowed. Bam managed to force his bubble of laughter into an excellent cough; half of Shibisu’s left eyebrow was neon yellow.

He gestured at Bam’s locker as they passed. “Hey, who’s on your right?” He asked, his eyes faraway as he probably strained to remember. “Wasn’t it that chicken guy?”

Bam smiled. Behind him Anaak blew at raspberry at Endorsi, passing with her group, and it sounded like Endorsi had thrown a punch with her purse. “Yeah, it used to be Gyetang,” Bam replied, and a distinct memory of him offering a box of spicy wings around resurfaced. “I dunno what happened to him. He just left one day. Nobody’s had that locker since.”

Dan nodded, falling in step with them. “Bird flu or something,” he said, chuckling at his own joke. “Too bad. I liked him.”

-

They made it into the crowded cafeteria, the sound of people yelling and laughter reverberating off the high ceiling.

Bam saw Endorsi sitting around her table like royalty and waved - she fluttered her fingers back and blushed, ambient light bouncing off her ruby lips. She walked around the school like the hallways were her catwalk, especially when he was watching, and he found it funny but slightly ridiculous nonetheless.

Bam blinked, and Yuri and Endorsi were now staring daggers at each other. They’d always been at each other’s throats for some reason, though he couldn’t imagine why, since they were friends and they both acted the same around him. Weird.

Anaak rolled her eyes, but at least a dozen guys were ogling her openly. “Endorsi Jahad,” Dan whispered in awe in Bam’s ear as they made their way to the end of the line, and Bam had a sneaking suspicion Dan was one of Endorsi’s fanboys. The line was so long that they ended up waiting right near her table anyway.

“Wow, she’s beautiful...”

“Gorgeous.”

Anaak slammed her hand down on the table, and Endorsi’s friends laughed. Bam didn’t know them all that well. “You owe me $15 and an ice cream,” Anaak hissed, “because I found your lip gloss for you after chem.”

Endorsi glowered. Then, under the stare of half the cafeteria, she nodded and that was that. Yuri made a little approving sound. “So fierce!” She laughed, “your sister. Endorsi, watch out, she might break all your precious heels one day!” 

Maschenny raised a delicate eyebrow at Yuri. Bam looked forward eagerly; the line was finally moving forward, and he could almost see Ehwa. He listened absentmindedly to the girls’ loud conversation.

“I seem to remember you almost in tears when you lost that ridiculous hairpin of yours?” Maschenny said icily, flicking the red petals in Yuri’s hair. Their voices were faraway now.

Shilial and Lilial giggled. “At this rate you should all just drop out like Garam,” Lilial said, flicking her blonde hair over her shoulder. “You only care about looks and money anyway,” Shilial finished seamlessly. “Maria, stop texting him, you’ve been on your phone all day.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know where he is-“

Anaak had popped up beside Bam, grumbling something as Hatz prodded her forward.

Bam squinted as Mr Arie, white hair and white suit complete with white paper bag, glided out of the line, and finally he was there. Ehwa looked completely frazzled, and Bam felt sorry for her despite having a terrible part time job herself.

She came from a wealthy family, but she’d been persuaded by Prince and Miseng, two of the tiniest high schoolers he’d ever seen, to join them behind the cafeteria counter.

“Hi Ehwa!” Bam said cheerily. He could practically taste those pies now. “I’ll just take the Thursday special, please.”

She nodded, strands of dark hair slipping out from her bun. “Bam, you’re the first friendly face I’ve seen all day,” she groaned. “Tell you what, just take it for free-“

“You can’t do that!” Miseng pouted, standing on tip toe behind the counter, and Ehwa laughed awkwardly.

“Uh, Miseng! I didn’t see you... I was kidding, of course...” She mouthed a silent sorry to Bam, and though he would never admit it, his mood fell a little. He was tight on money, and the prospect of a free lunch was almost too good to be true.

“No, of course,” he said, fighting to keep the disappointment from his voice as he handed over his money and received a pie in exchange. “You can’t be working and not be paid.”

He stepped back and waved to Prince, who was busy poking Arkraptor in the leg as he restocked the fridge.

“Study period next,” Anaak scoffed as Hatz laid a chip casually in her hair. Bam stifled a laugh as he bit into his pie; the chip was a running joke, and never lasted on her hair more than two periods. “My stupid sister will be asking me questions every minute. What’s the difference between solute and solvent? Why are there letters in my equation? Isn’t this maths class? Honestly...”

“She’s good at chemistry though,” Dan piped up.

Bam looked up and almost choked.

“Yeah, cause she memorised all the mixtures that could possibly stain her clothes, that’s why she was yelling at Eduan not to mix those two...”

Across the cafeteria, the boy from outside the science classroom was back - his hair really was pale pale blue, he’d dyed it, but the colour fit him like a glove, and the ends just swept past his shoulders.

He was wearing a white shirt and black pants, so simple but why did he look so good in them? Bam looked around desperately; the boy was standing at Endorsi’s table with one of her friends (he was pretty sure her name was Maria), his face blocked from view, but guys and girls alike were peeking at the new arrival. Even Ehwa was staring at him with a faint blush as the chatter in the cafeteria shot through the roof.

Bam’s heart did another somersault in his rib cage and he set his pie down resolutely, trying to slow his breathing. What was wrong with him? He was young and healthy, wasn’t he?

He chanced another glance back and why was Maria looking at him like that , and when she reached to touch his hand hot fire shot through his veins for absolutely. No. Reason.

Ok, he just needed to calm down. Maybe he had an adverse reaction to the colour blue. It couldn’t be anything serious, but... maybe he had heart issues, and Bam knew he couldn’t afford a check up. Was he just being paranoid?

Panic rising in him, he nudged Shibisu, who was leisurely eating the rest of his chips, and gestured back to the stranger, words failing him.

Shibisu took one look back and his chips fell sadly to the ground, his eyes blown wide.

“He’s- that’s-“

Chapter Text

Shibisu jumped to his feet, a beacon of neon yellow and purple, opening his mouth to yell something, but whatever he yelled was drowned out by the bell. Bam’s heart leapt.

“Shibisu,” he said loudly over the clatter of chairs and trays, picking up his barely eaten pie. He’d have it for dinner, maybe share it with Rachel. “Who is that? Do you know him?” 

Standing on tiptoe, Shibisu craned his neck over the crowd, his eyes faraway. “I did.”

Bam frowned. He did ? What on earth was that supposed to mean?

His eyes unconsciously swept the vast cafeteria for the blue head, but he and Endorsi’s group were gone. Bam instead caught Dan handing Shibisu’s crinkled packet to Hatz and watched them drop two more on Anaak’s head.

“Five second rule,” Hatz said quietly, clapping him on the shoulder, and Bam gave a half-hearted laugh.

He looked back for Shibisu, but he was already pushing hastily through the crowd - Ran, a tiny kid the size of Anaak, flipped him off - in pursuit of the stranger. Stranger to Bam, at least.

Curiosity welled up inside him, but he’d have to go to the nurse first. He would not let himself die of a heart attack before he heard Shibisu’s answer.

-

Bam hurried straight to the nurse without letting his friends know. They might think he was annoying for telling them everything going wrong, and worrying them was the last thing he wanted to do.

He walked down the steps leading to the pristine white door labelled: Dr Yu. Please knock. What even were his symptoms? Thinking on it now, it was foolish to visit the nurse for nothing. It had only happened twice. Maybe he should just go back-

Bam stepped back at the last moment, pulled out of his thoughts by a squeak, and horror dawned on him when he realised he’d walked into Maria.

“I-I’m really sorry, Maria,” Bam stammered, stepping back again. Gee, what a great way to embarrass himself! From what he’d heard, Maria was powerful, influential - hell, everyone at Endorsi’s table was, and if she wanted to screw up his life she could do it with a snap of her fingers.

Low voices were carrying out from the door, and he saw Maria turn her head anxiously to the sound. “That bastard - these few years...  -s too much...”

“I was just heading to the nurse, I’m sorry I didn’t see you,” Bam added for good measure, but oddly, Maria didn’t seem angry. She was twirling the deep azure tips of her hair between her fingers nervously, and when she spoke her voice was even and calm, completely different to what he’d imagined.

“Fine, just give me...”

“Can’t believe he would do that-“

She glanced at the time on her phone for a second. “It’s alright, happens to us all,” she said, then smiled at him. A real eye smile, not a fake one, and Bam felt something like relief, but a nagging feeling tugged at him - when had Rachel last smiled at him like that?

He crossed the remaining distance to the nurse’s office and knocked. The people inside fell silent, and the door was flung open after the space of one breath. He was immediately greeted by the pungent aroma of a cappuccino.

Bam had only seen the nurse one time as she crossed the school carrying a carton of instant coffee. She had amber eyes and long, shockingly bright blonde hair like Wangnan, but her voice, too, was nothing like he’d expected.

“Ah, Bam, is it? Come in,” Hansung Yu said, and Bam was totally taken aback.

Since when had the nurse been a male?

He smiled as non-awkwardly as he could possibly manage and made a move to step in, but then he noticed the blue haired boy perched on a chair like a leopard about to spring, and Bam saw his face for the first time, the graceful line of his jaw and neck, his sharp blue eyes cutting into him like a blade, and goddammit he was handsome .

Bam stopped, turned, and booked it to the library without a second thought, his heart hammering painfully in his chest.

So much for that.

-

He spotted Shibisu (of course he spotted him, his face was like the sun, and Serena Linen was giving him an even wider berth than usual), and sunk into the chair pulled up beside him, trying to catch his breath.

Shibisu sighed wearily and closed his textbook. “Bam, I just finished my work, what the fu-“

“Shibisu,” Bam wheezed, more than aware of how desperate he sounded but he didn’t care, “who’s that... that blue hair guy?”

His eyes immediately narrowed, and he turned back to his book, flipping it open to a random page. “Aguero. He likes to be called Khun.” He paused to inhale, then continued delicately. “I knew him.”

At this, Hatz and Anaak stiffened, Endorsi pretended not to notice, and Bam frowned. Why they all have these reactions?

“We all knew him,” Hatz corrected, a definite edge to his voice as he set his pen down and leaned back, his eyes darkening. “He had stupid earrings.”

Bam bit his lip. “He’s pretty good looking, isn’t he?” He mused without thinking, before realising what he’d said. Well shit.

The next mastermind move he made to cover up the awkward silence that ensued was to ask an even more disastrous question. “Um, why do you all hate him?” Bam asked nervously, prepared for an explosion, and an explosion he got.

Anaak stood with a snarl. “Hate him? We don’t hate him!” She said with such ferocity that Bam almost recoiled. “He just- left. We don’t hate him, Bam, we’re mad!”

“Shut up, please!” Yuri’s cheery voice rang from behind the counter. Endorsi finally looked up and waved a manicured hand.

“We all excel individually, of course,” she chimed in airily, “but Khun, he was ambitious. He brought us together. And one day he just disappeared. Changed his number, was never home. We haven’t seen him in nearly two years-“

“Actually,” Shibisu interrupted, and Bam’s stomach gave a funny jolt as Khun’s neck appeared vividly in his memory. “I’ve seen him a few times last year. Running around with his brother, a redhead and this blonde freckly girl after school.”

Bam froze. There was no way they knew each other. Yeah. It was a coincidence. A lot of people were blonde and freckly, and it was a large world.

Hatz titled his head curiously. “Which brother? He’s only got, like, a dozen.”

“I’m guessing it was Ran. His actual brother.”

Endorsi snorted. “You sure? The Khun family’s huge, you can never be sure who’s actually real siblings. Check online, there’s bound to be a hundred of them at this school.”

A clacking of keys. “182, apparently.”

Endorsi muffled a scream. “Lauroe! You’re awake! I haven’t talked to you in nearly a week...”

Bam was getting too distracted. The stranger, Khun, a ghost boy, a good looking ghost boy at that, might know Rachel. Bam shook his head. It’s a coincidence , he told himself firmly. 

“Hey, what do you mean ‘excel individually,’ when your grades are total shit?” Anaak deadpanned.

“I’ve made it as the school’s ‘#1 girl to date before I die’ SEVEN TIMES! I have a reputation,” Endorsi scowled.

“Why are you sitting with us anyway, Endorsi-“

“My friends have different timetables, idiot, which you’d know if you really listened-“

Yuri arrived at their table so silently that Bam almost jumped out of his seat. “Detention for all of you after school!” She announced, her playful energy gone, and Shibisu blanched. Bam probably had too - she looked quite scary like that, though the next second she randomly flashed him a sweet smile. So weird. 

“I told you all to shut up,” Yuri said grumpily, pulling out a sticky note pad and taking down their names. “Evan’s gone and given me seventeen pages of homework. Yes, seventeen!” She muttered. “And this stupid library job. I can’t get any work done.”

She made to leave in a whirl of red skirt when Endorsi caught her white blazer sleeve, her eyes huge and imploring.

“Please Yuri,” she began in a low voice that Bam had to strain to hear, her gaze darting around to make sure nobody was watching her. “Do me a favour. I have a nail appointment this afternoon. I’ll give you $80 to move detention to tomorrow.”

Bam looked at her in disbelief as she handed out a wad of crisp notes. Even Yuri looked a little dumbfounded as she accepted the cash and nodded numbly. He would’ve given anything for that amount of money.

Endorsi tucked her purse away, flashed a brilliant smile to Ruel Mon across the room, who flushed crimson and looked away, then sighed heavily and turned back to her physics notes.

Shibisu picked up his things slowly. “That’s just as well, because I have to get this stuff off my face tonight.”

-

The hallway was so noisy and crowded Bam was barraged into twice just trying to set the right combination for his locker; first Shilial, then Lilial. Surprise, surprise.

“Isu, did we have maths today?” He yelled to Shibisu three lockers away, and got a thumbs up in response.

Bam swung open the door and quickly slid his books into his canvas bag, because if he didn’t hurry, he’d be late to his job, and then he’d get no pay and he had to buy food for Rachel.

Endorsi appeared next to him as Maschenny walked past, dragging a grumpy Ran by the arm and pointing someone forward. Her face was tinged pink, but before she had time to say anything she caught sight of something over his shoulder. Her sparkly eyes widened to the size of saucepans and she backed away, shrieking in Shibisu’s direction.

Confused, Bam yelled hurried goodbyes to his friends, and only Anaak waved back as Bam closed his locker and slung his bag over his shoulder. He wondered if he should check on them - Hatz was looking downright murderous at something behind him, so Bam turned.

And what did he see on his right?

One thing was for sure. Gyetang’s old locker was no longer unoccupied.

Chapter Text

It was Khun, his slim fingers almost dancing over the rusted lock, light playing off his high cheekbones and casting silver shadows off his clothes, his hair out and rudely obstructing Bam’s view of his neck.

Bam stared.

Khun ignored him.   

Up close, his eyes were almost unreal - dark, hypnotising blue, his eyebrows furrowed as he crammed things into his locker, a bruise blooming on his cheek. Up close Bam could actually smell him, like autumn air and vanilla cakes and spice.

It was weird how such a strange combination could be so attractive.

Khun continued to ignore him valiantly, but Bam couldn’t fucking move his eyes away because Khun was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

He finally slammed his locker shut, his lips pressed in a half impatient line, and turned those eyes on Bam. They pierced into him like an x-ray, and Bam found himself fervently praying that his legs wouldn’t collapse.

“What do you want?”

Bam blinked. Ok. Maybe this wasn’t how he imagined their first words would be exchanged. That was completely fine.

“Uh.” He managed, and that was definitely not how Bam imagined their second words to be exchanged either.

Khun took a step closer and Bam forced his mouth to move, swallowing thickly, his heart galloping like a horse. He noticed another bruise across Khun’s collarbone, a faded scar on his jaw.

So naturally, Bam, completely clueless in this area, settled on the greatest pick up line he knew. “Hi,” he said, hoping his grin wasn’t too wobbly. “I’m Bam.”

Khun’s eyes didn’t betray a thing as his mouth curved into a wry smile. “I’m Khun,” he said replied, as if Bam was stupid and couldn’t understand anything more complex, and he really almost kicked himself because even Khun’s voice was perfect - it glided like velvet, all smooth edges and the calm tones of deep water.

“I think we’ve already met,” he continued. Bam’s eyes followed the arch of his eyebrow. “-for a second in Hansung’s office before you hightailed it out of there.”

Bam only had time to sputter some embarrassed nonsense, ashamed of his own reaction, before Khun’s phone vibrated and his eyes narrowed as he picked it up and Maria came flying to his side, Ran appearing behind her.

“Aguero,” she said breathlessly, and Khun looked back at her with (Bam noticed, disappointment weighing in his chest like a stone) a much more sincere smile than the one he’d given Bam just then.

“You don’t have to text me if you’re just going to come see me the next second, you know,” he said, sounding amused, tilting his head a little to look into her eyes. “And you shouldn’t be running. You know that.”

Maria raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, it’s just that you might go missing any minute if I don’t text you nonstop,” she remarked in mock offence, nudging him playfully and blatantly ignoring the second comment.

Then Ran spoke, and his voice was grumpy and hard compared to his two relatives. “There’s an idiot staring at us.”

Maria’s gaze landed on him and she too looked at him appraisingly as if he was an idiot, though she did a much better job of trying to hide it. It was probably because of that incident outside Hansung’s office where he’d run into her, then made a fool out of himself by setting one foot inside and running right back out.

Who could blame him though? Khun, the very source of his heart issues, had been sitting in there, looking like a storybook hero carved from marble and sapphire.

“Ah, Bam,” Maria said politely, and frowned at Ran when he scoffed. “We should be going now. It was nice to see you again,” she finished, giving him her ray of sunshine smile before they left, Khun sparing him another glance through the corner of his eyes.

Bam resumed staring stupidly after them, a fantasy he would never admit running through his brain, and he felt an unprecedented surge of jealousy at how closely they were walking together.

They’re siblings, Bam told himself in shock. Stop thinking dirty things! Holy shit, I’m being influenced by Shibisu, not good.

Then it hit him that he was ten minutes late to his job, and panic almost suffocated him now that Khun was gone. Bam turned and almost slammed into somebody. He yelped and slid back, and it turned out somebody was Shibisu, Hatz, Anaak and Endorsi all lined up like garden gnomes, their faces betraying varying degrees of ‘that-was-Khun-what-the-fuck-Bam?’

He exhaled slowly. It looked like he’d be another ten minutes late.

-

Bam flung open the door to the store and dropped his bag near the entrance to Evankhell’s Gaming Hell, panting as he sprinted to the figure leaning on the counter.

It was 5PM already - he usually took less time to jog to the store, but because of Khun he’d tripped over once and almost toppled face first in a shrub, scraping his palms on the concrete. 

Bam had no idea what was wrong with himself. He’d been feeling giddy ever since seeing Khun at his locker, and trying to sprint was like trying to stand on blocks of jelly. A weird sensation that he couldn’t pinpoint had joined his hunger, and it hung like a sunflower in a field of daisies within him.

“Sorry I’m late,” he gasped, grabbing his mop and dragging the vacuum over. “Was occupied. I’m sorry, this won’t even happen again.”

Jinsung stuck his lollipop back in his mouth. “It’s alright, Viole,” he said through a mouthful of candy, and the strong smell of artificial strawberry wafted around the store. Bam couldn’t help but think it didn’t smell at all good compared to Khun, and he busied himself with finding a good grip on the vacuum so Jinsung wouldn’t see the heat rising to his cheeks.

Evankhell walked out from the store room, her long silver braid caught under the huge box she was carrying. “Hi Bam,” she grunted, settling the box onto the counter with a dull thud. Bam greeted her, picking up a fallen Adori action figure.

“Why do you keep calling him Viole, old man? His name’s Bam.”

“I’ve told you before, you crazy woman, you just never listen.”

Evankhell hmphed and turned to her phone, pressing resume and immediately spamming combos. Her avatar shot out raging elephant fire balls.

“Bam, your hair is getting a big long,” Evankhell mentioned. “I swear it’s grown an inch since Tuesday.”

“It looks better long.” Jinsung barked a laugh. “Grow it to waist length and see what the other kids think.”

Bam patted his head. He hadn’t noticed it himself, but it was true his hair grew fast. Rachel gave him so many haircuts he could hardly keep count. He straightened up, thinking he needed a stretch, and saw a flash of red and black outside the window for a second before it disappeared.

Bam looked back wildly. The two store managers didn’t seem to have noticed. He almost threw hands then and there - this day was just getting weirder and weirder.

They kept up a steady lull of conversation as Bam vacuumed and cleaned, going as fast as he dared, because the last time he’d tried to zoom through the shop Evankhell had started a mini lecture on the importance of getting into corners before Jinsung unpaused her game and she’d flown back to her phone in a fit.

“Bam.” Evankhell ducked out again from the store room, unpacking a stack of comics.

He stopped the vacuum as it glided along the edge of the wall. “Yes?”

“Is there a new Khun at your school?” She asked, looking him directly in the eye, and Bam nodded. “What about him?” He resisted the urge to squirm under her scrutiny as the sudden desire to run his hands through blue hair blossomed in his lungs.

“I’ve had to kill so many of those Khuns,” Jinsung added casually, unwrapping another lollipop. Evankhell turned an unimpressed eyebrow up at him. “What? I’m kidding,” he said amusedly, but he didn’t sound like he was.

Evankhell rolled her eyes. “Hansung’s been telling me about him. Smart kid,” she continued. “I’ve met him a few years ago. Too mature for his age.” She suddenly pointed an accusing finger at Bam, who almost fumbled the handle. “Be careful around him, boy.”

He could only ask, “Why?” Because Khun was graceful as a swan and cold and beautiful, he reduced Bam’s heart to butter, and Bam couldn’t see any reason to avoid him. Rather, he would take any reason not to avoid him.

Evankhell’s eyes flashed dangerously. “He’s always been unpredictable. Turning up to school with a bunch of injuries; I can only assume he’s been getting into fights. Hansung won’t tell me why.”

Jinsung snorted behind the counter, checking stuff on the monitor. “That one’s too stuck up to get involved with gangs. I bet he’s just falling over himself trying to be a genius...”

Bam slotted a limited edition Blitz! The Newest Quant Game back into the shelf, a new buzz of uncertainty clouding his other thoughts. Why did everybody know Khun anyway? Why was there a two year blank in his timeline where he could’ve been hanging around with Rachel? 

He wiped the tabletops absentmindedly, remembering Khun’s vivid bruises. And why did he turn up to school injured after disappearing with no explanation, and go to Hansung’s office first thing?

Jinsung practically spat out his lollipop. “Viole, it’s time for you to go - I didn’t notice we’ve gone five minutes overtime, you’ve probably cleaned the store twice over by now, go go go, be happy-“

Bam fought back a laugh as Evankhell slapped him. “I reckon those lollipops aren’t doing you much good,” she said thoughtfully, wrinkling her nose. “You were much saner back when you smoked.” She took Bam’s supplies from him and stacked them near the wall.

Evankhell gave him a pat on the shoulder. “But yes, you should go now. You must have homework. Don’t be late for your payday.”

They waved goodbyes to him, and Bam left the store with his thoughts in a ragged tangle, considerably more confused than he’d been when he entered.

-

“Rachel?” He called, pushing open the door, and immediately happiness welled up inside him at the sight of her golden hair.

Bam hated his house. Hated wasn’t a strong enough word. He utterly despised it.

It was a small thing that smelled awfully of dust and cabbage, no matter what he did to air it out. The rooms were plain, the wallpaper a faded grey-brown, and the whole place could’ve given a cave a run for its money if you were to choose the more uneventful place to live in.

The only thing mildly interesting was a symbol of Jahad imprinted into one of the walls. Apparently whoever had owned the place before him was a big supporter of Jahad’s company.

Of course, the derelict house wasn’t why Bam was happy. It was Rachel that illuminated the rooms more brightly than the cloudy lightbulbs; it was Rachel who Bam could always look forward to after a long day; it was Rachel who spoke longingly about the stars while outshining them herself.

“Bam, you’re finally back!” She exclaimed, holding something out from behind her back with a mischievous smile, her blonde hair a bouncing halo around her. “I brought this with me.”

Bam examined it in awe - it was a bag of little clattering pieces and a checkered board, and he could only assume it was a chess set, the one thing he’d wanted to try for ages.

His face broke out in a giant grin. “Rachel, how did you- never mind,” he said, tackling her in a hug, and she laughed, the sound bright and happy and filling the room with warmth.

It ended all too soon. Rachel pulled away, her smile tinged with regret. “I’m really sorry, Bam, but I won’t have time to play a game with you,” she said, and she truly sounded like she was sorry. “I haven’t been home in a few days...”

The rest of her sentence trailed off, and Bam was crestfallen. He understood, of course he did.  Rachel obviously had a family she had to return to, sometime or another, and she couldn’t dedicate her whole life to keeping him company. Of course, of course he understood. It didn’t stop his bitterness from showing in his voice though.

“When will you be back?” He asked, watching her, trying to absorb some of her radiance so the house wouldn’t be as empty when she left. Rachel set the chess set down on his lone armchair, her eyes darting to the window and back so subtly that he barely caught it.

“Maybe a few days,” Rachel said after a pause, and she sounded so apologetic that Bam didn’t have it in him to stay mad. An awful sour feeling was brewing in his gut and he tried to stop his face from twisting. He knew what it was. It was anger.

“...Alright,” he said, exhaling slowly. He shouldn’t be mad about Rachel leaving. She always left, and in the end she always came back. It was fine. “See you later then.” They walked to the door and he held it open for her. 

Rachel poked him. “Don’t you sound so sad,” she scolded. “You know I’ll be back really soon.” She looked down at his hands and frowned. “What happened?”

Bam blinked. “Oh, I just fell today. It’s nothing,” he said hastily, and images of Khun came tumbling back amidst Rachel into a hazy myriad of blue and yellow.

Rachel thought nothing else of it. “Ok, I really have to go now,” she said, her words rushing out as she glanced outside. “Bye, Bam.” She waved and within five seconds she was out of the house and running down the path away from him.

Bam closed the door. Barely contained himself from slamming it. Purple dusk loomed outside the window, the blazing sun peeking at him over the horizon. The house was even darker right after she left. His eyes would have to adjust.

Bam walked into his dark room and flipped on the light, falling onto his bed gloomily. A moth flew in from the window. That was the quickest goodbye she’d ever given him. He guessed it must’ve been pretty urgent, for Rachel to go rushing off like that...

Doubt flitted across his mind as he remembered Maria’s smile, sunshine bright and profound and friendly, whereas Rachel’s smile fell short. If he thought about it, hers didn’t quite meet her eyes.

Bam thought about his mother, Arlene. She’d left him midway through his first year at this high school on a business trip and never returned. Sure, it was painful to think about, how he’d lost his mother’s embrace and support and how the house had almost fell into ruin because he could barely scrape by with the bills, but then he’d met Rachel.

For a while she was his only friend, his stone to lean on. Bam had next to no idea about her family, her background, or her friends, and she didn’t seem willing to reveal much anyway; so  his strange friendship with her continued. She’d grown to become his closest friend, even closer than Shibisu.

Bam depended on her more than he could express in words. He told her everything that was bothering him, anything he didn’t think his friends at school would like to hear, and she accepted it all with the patience of the moon in the night.

The flicker of doubt was banished immediately. Everyone has different smiles, he told himself. Maria has one and Rachel has another. It’s fine.

His phone pinged once. Twice. Bam reached into his pocket and rolled over on his threadbare sheets, opening the group chat. He felt a flash of annoyance as he swiped hard on his potato phone - he’d saved up for months for it, labouring away at Evankhell’s Gaming Hell.

Bam shook his head firmly. He had to be grateful for what he’d worked for. They paid him well. Yes, he adored his potato phone, because at least he could talk to his friends on it.

Bam stared up at the ceiling as Emily loaded. He pursed his lips. Why didn’t the house feel as empty as usual? Normally when Rachel wasn’t there, it was the worst feeling in the world, but today... The ceiling, he realised, was a faint blue. A wave of serenity lapped over him. It wasn’t as bad today.

His phone pinged again when his chats stopped lagging. Bam opened the top one Emily suggested, grinning before he knew it.

REGULARS

View members (8)

Shibisu:

hiiiiiiii is anyone alive

hellooooo

hi hi hi

yo anyone????? Answer pls

I’m bored I finished hw

Hatz:

shut up

Shibisu:

HI HATZ CUTIE PIEEEEEE

Endorsi Jahad:

hi what’s the answer to maths

Q4 a

Green Lizard:

tf since when did u do hw

OI DID U CHANGE MY NAME TO GREEN LIZARD

U MFNBSNSBBSJS I HATE U

Endorsi Jahad:

yea

change ur phone password dumbass

Hatz:

x = 46 degrees 17 min

Endorsi Jahad:

thxxx

Anaak:

I changed my password

you’ll never guess it

Endorsi Jahad:

lmao u only alt between 2 different passwords

I’ve been in ur phone for five years

Anaak:

...what

aight I’m changin it again

Hatz:

k

Shibisu:

GUYS NDBDBEJJWIW

KHUN TEXTED ME

SAVE ME FFFFFFFFFFF

Hatz:

wut? rly

Endorsi Jahad:

oh yea

what did he say

Anaak:

lol ofc Endorsi’s excited

y’all were a power duo weren’t u

Endorsi Jahad:

wtf is that supposed to mean

Anaak????

I don’t like him

STOP SEEN ZONING 

Ehwa:

hi guys I finally finished my shift

Arkraptor wants to tell @Shibisu no more chips

we’re outa stock

Shibisu:

wow ok omg

dammit Arkraptor

I give u guys a steady income tho

coz I buy chips every day

why is Khun’s pfp so cool

look

he looks edgy wtf

I haven’t opened his message

I’m too scared

Ehwa:

wow he’s cute

u guys know him???

Anaak:

Ehwa don’t fall for guys like him

Hatz:

unless u like stupid earrings

Endorsi Jahad:

idk I think he’s alright

Anaak:

lol what did I say POWER DUO

Endorsi Jahad:

I’m abt to bust into ur room ok

Anaak:

I locked the door loser

Lauroe do not disturb:

how to mute notifs

Hatz:

...wow

Anaak:

CEO of ghosting

Ehwa:

Lauroe texted for the first time in 3 months

Dan:

WHEN IS ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

I’ve been training for 1k every day

Hatz:                                                            

bruh nobody cares

Anaak:

AHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHA

Dan:

>:(

Endorsi Jahad:

anybody know Q4 c???

Anaak:

r u stupid you’ve only progressed one question it’s been like 20 mins

Endorsi Jahad:

stfu father just walked in

and I dropped all my worksheets

Anaak:

rly?

Endorsi Jahad:

omg u would’ve heard us we’re literally a room away

Anaak:                                                        

sry I don’t speak bs so like

I can’t understand what u and dad say

Shibisu:

I dropped my phone just thhhhhen

Anyone know hhhhhow to fix keyboard glitchhhhh

Endorsi Jahad:

wooow Anaak 

and no, I suggest u get a new phone

Shibisu:

NOT EVERYONE HHHHHAS MONEY

Hatz:

@Shibisu rice

Bam:

did u guys know our school nurse is male???

Shibisu:

WHHHHHAT???!!!!1!!!!

Ehwa:

I just burned my toast

HOLY SHT HANSUNG’S A GUY?

Endorsi Jahad:

hey Bam

Bam:

hi Endorsi

Endorsi Jahad:

:)))

Anaak:

hell nah ur messing with us Bam

Hansung def a girl

just look at her

Bam:

have any of u been to his office before tho

today was first time I heard him talk

Hatz:

Bam’s right

Dan:

@Ehwa why u always burn stuff

Ehwa:

:( gran said I’m gifted

dunno if she meant I’m gifted in burning things

Bam:                                                            

u didn’t burn the pies at school this time

it was very good

Ehwa:

TYSM

Shibisu:

btw did anyone see whhhhhat was in thhhhhat tank in sci

Anaak:

oh yea

that thing weird af

Hatz:

eh

Bam’s screen went black, and a sign flashed back at him: critical battery. He sighed and plopped his phone down, rolling off his bed and grabbing his stuff from the lounge room. He’d charge it at school tomorrow. That was basically routine at this point.

He sat back down and pulled out his laptop (he’d saved for half a year for it), textbooks, stacks of worksheets, a pen, and the cold pie from lunch. “Time for homework,” Bam cheered unenthusiastically to himself, and the lonely sound echoed through the house.

-

20:23

Khun flung down Maschenny’s math homework with a sigh. “Don’t you have anything harder? This is elementary work.”

Maschenny swivelled round in his chair and stared at him levelly. He almost laughed. It was remarkable how she could keep a straight face, seeing as how he was stretched out on the bed and she was sitting stiff backed at his desk, Ran on the ground shoving bunches of her hair into colourful straws.

“No. Don’t you think I’ve asked?” She picked up about twenty sheets of answers and shuffled them into a neat pile. Khun turned his eyes back up to the ceiling lazily. It was easy to forget that Maschenny was a genius too. She was too much like Endorsi, stuck up and glamorous, but anyone could see by looking into her eyes that she was far above them all.

20:24

If Maschenny was your enemy, your life would be made a living hell - that is, if you were still willing to live after getting on her bad side.

Her eyes scanned him, and he matched her gaze. “What’s up?” Khun asked innocently, knowing full well Maschenny wouldn’t fall for it. He liked Maschenny. Her presence was an enigma in itself, because Khun knew she had far better things to do than laze around in his room. Most of the time he couldn’t read her, and that made her all the more interesting.

Once when he was five, Maschenny was seven, and she’d made him pour the orange juice down the sink. He’d thought at that time that she just wanted to get him in trouble, and he didn’t care - turns out she’d actually stolen cash from his dad’s wallet while he was busy yelling at him, and an hour later she came back from the store $30 richer with a fresh 2L bottle of apple juice.

All because she knew they both hated orange.

Maschenny rolled her eyes, but her lips twitched in amusement. “You asshole,” she groaned. “I only gave you three sheets. It’s been fifteen minutes and you haven’t written anything.”

“I have the answers, professor,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Khun tapped his head and gave her a sideways wink. “In here. Chuck me a pen.”

Ran poked Maschenny and handed her a piece of paper. “I’ve done one question,” he scowled. “Gave up after that.” He turned to Khun. “You look like you’re on your deathbed.”

20:27

His eyes widened as they strayed to the time again. Khun swore under his breath and sprang up, tossing the maths back to Maschenny. “I will be soon, and so will you both if you don’t leave. It’s 27.”

Mashcenny’s eyes darkened. “Shit, I forgot about that,” she murmured, tossing her stuff into her bag and swinging it over her shoulder in one smooth motion. “Come on, Ran.”

Maschenny held open the door with one hand and Khun waved them out with a pang of guilt, careful not to let it show in the line of his shoulders, the speed of his steps. Ran spent more time with his cousins than his actual brother, but Khun brushed the thought off. It was for his own good after all, so that Eduan didn’t come after the both of them.

“Back door, got it? Don’t run off,” he said firmly to Ran, who looked away. “Sure, sure,” he muttered, but Ran was too similar to Maria. He wasn’t good at hiding his emotions, and his knitted eyebrows were so obvious that Khun’s heart sunk a little - Ran didn’t want to leave. He never did.

20:28

Maschenny was looking at him oddly. It was subtle, the curve of her lips and the set of her jaw, yet the expression might as well have been dancing stark naked across her face. Khun smirked. “Concern doesn’t suit you,” he said. Her reaction was just as he expected.

“Shut up,” Maschenny scoffed, but her hand made no move to leave from the door, and his eyes didn’t stray from his. “Just be careful. I’ll be with-“ the barest hitch of breath. “Maria.”

Khun felt something in his chest jump, so sudden he barely suppressed it in time.

20:29

“Ok, now get out!” He hissed, and he eased the door shut as Maschenny and Ran made their way silently up the corridor and took a right.

Khun released a shuddering breath as he moved back into the centre of his room. His room without his brother, his cousin, a gaping hole left by Maria. His pristine room. His perfect, disgusting room.

It filled him with something worse than loathing. He’d come back after two years in the hopes that things might be just a little better, to find everything covered in a fine layer of dust and his dad alone in the kitchen with five empty bottles of old wine, and in just one week-

In just a week he’d come full circle and landed in the same fucking mess he tried to escape from.

Pathetic.

The room was wide, plush cream gilded with gold, his bed and a piano on one end and useless shit on the other. It was what everybody else wanted to see. It wasn’t what he wanted to see.

He’d rather live in a goddamn cave. At least it wouldn’t reek of alcohol.

20:30

Eduan came storming up to his room from the left. Punctual as ever, Khun thought, rolling his eyes. After years of the same shit over and over, he already knew what to expect. What not to do to make it worse.

He waited until the door slammed open, and Eduan walked in. He stank of wine and perfume, his eyes insane. This was the normal time for Eduan’s dates to realise he was crazy, the normal time for him to barrel in to vent his anger.

He took three steps, so obviously drunk that Khun really wondered who he’d inherited his class from. If it was his mother, she must’ve not been very smart after all, considering she’d actually married Eduan for a while.

“You piece of shit,” Eduan said, his words slurred, and Khun had to physically hold himself back from opening the window and airing out the smell. “Come closer. Where... where’s your brother...?”

Khun moved closer without hesitation, his chin held high. He didn’t feel any fear. Fear was reserved for when the enemy was stronger than oneself - what Khun felt was pure, abhorrent disgust. “I don’t know.”

Then the belt came without warning and slashed wildly, a line of clear, blazing pain igniting over the dull throb of his bruises. His face felt weirdly loose, and he knew the belt had gone through.

Khun stumbled back. That son of a-

He grabbed the wall for support, cupping his cheek as blood streamed down. “What the fuck?” He snarled, his temper rising. He could control it, he could keep his mouth shut, but he’d had enough. “We had a deal!”

Eduan crossed the room to him in two steps and grabbed his collar, the stench around him so strong that Khun’s eyes stung.

“Yeah, so what?” He whispered. “What’re you gonna do ‘bout it?”

Khun stared him right back down until Eduan tore his eyes away. He couldn’t react. He must not react. He closed his eyes for a second and gritted his teeth, Maschenny and his sister flashing past. Everyone his father could hunt if he dared lash out; Isu, Endorsi, Hatz, Anaak, Ran.

Maria’s gentle smile, her head on his shoulder. 

He would not react.

Khun snapped his jaw shut as Eduan slammed him against the wall, his breath sour. “I asked you... I asked you a question, so answer me!”

And if his father was stupid enough to leave marks where people could see, to break the deal, then so be it. Two could play at that game.

-

Bam noticed from the moment science class started that Khun wasn’t there. According to Shibisu, he was their age, and according to Evankhell, he was smart.

It made sense that he should be in their class. 

Bam twirled his pen in a daze, facing the empty seat next to him (Elaine, but she was busy finding her lost wolf dog ) and not seeing a thing as Eduan, looking in a better mood than usual, brought up the tank from yesterday. Bam thought harder than he’d ever done in his life. He’d only known Khun existed for a day, and he was already obsessed. Surely this... wasn’t healthy?

He was just debating whether he should let go of it all, but it was difficult to keep his mind from straying. Impossibly difficult, especially when the subject of his thoughts kept appearing with the smile that fried his nerves to bits.

Eduan slammed his fist on the table and Bam snapped back to reality with a jolt. “Y-yes?” He stammered, and Eduan looked at him like really? Am I teaching at a zoo?

He cleared his throat and pointed aggressively at the tank. “As I was saying,” he continued, shooting a dirty look at Bam, who grinned sheepishly, “Mr Wangnan has kindly left me the task of introducing the class pets to you.”

Bam leaned forward curiously. The thing in the tank had some anger issues, because it was banging the glass and making furious bubbling noises underwater.

“This is Rak and this is Paracule,” he said dully, and Bam finally saw the things inside.

Rak was a giant brown turtle with red eyes, and it was slamming shell first into the sides of the tank with a vengeance, his beady eyes narrowed as if to accuse whichever human trapped him inside.

“Um- is that turtle alright?” Endorsi asked timidly, and a smattering of laughter rippled through the classroom.

Eduan’s eye twitched, and Bam could see clearly that he was under the impression of the whole class being stupid. “Yes, he’s perfectly fine,” Anaak said sarcastically. “Because turtles just love to dive bomb into walls.”

Nobody commented on Paracule, a sad looking green seahorse bobbing unnoticed in the corner of the tank, and Bam felt a little sorry for it.

Eduan waved the class aside impatiently. “Alright, alright,” he said loudly. “Back to your seats.”

Endorsi sat with her perfect posture and wrinkled her nose delicately, leaning over to Shibisu, and Bam caught a snippet of her whispering, “Do you think he’s drunk? I think I just smelled alcohol.”

Shibisu shrugged. “Wife probably left him again.” Bam was pleased to see that the neon yellow was gone and that his face was still attached.

“Alright,” Eduan yelled, looking supremely bored. “Mr Wangnan wants to talk to you. I’ll be outside.” He jerked a thumb to the door and a FaceTime window popped up on the shared screen.

It made sense that Wangnan wanted to talk to them. He was their old teacher after all.

Bam’s gaze followed him absentmindedly to the window and back, then did a double take. What the...? Evankhell?  He thought in shock.  There was no mistaking her strong build, her vintage style, and especially not the long silver braid hanging down her back. What is she doing here?

Before long Wangnan’s grinning face had lit up and Eduan disappeared. The class’ mood lit up so suddenly that nobody could have guessed that Wangnan, the most popular teacher in school, was stranded in Manila and communicating to his class through FaceTime.

“Helloo!” His unmistakeable voice sounded. “Good news, class! I have recovered my ring.” He moved back from the camera to reveal a girl next to him, her straight blonde hair tucked into a hoodie and hawk eyes peeking out from a grey face mask. “Say hello to my long lost sister, Karaka!”

Next to him, Shibisu choked on his laughter. “What the-“

Bam couldn’t refrain from laughing in shock, and the whole class joined, until Wangnan was looking thoroughly confused and Karaka just stood beside him, her eyebrows raising, blinking mechanically like a robot.

“What- what is it?” He asked uncertainly. “What are you all laughing at?”

“Well,” Xia Xia’s small voice piped up. “You went to Manila. Lost your ring. Missed a flight because of it. And now you’re telling us...” She paused to fight back a giggle and failed.

“You just happened to find your long lost sister,” Hatz finished for her, and even he had a smile on his face.

“Well, uh, well- yes,” Wangnan spluttered, at a complete loss. He made a wide gesture with his arm, almost knocking his phone out of his hand. “You see, it’s a long story.”

What did not make sense was when the door opened, Eduan pushed Khun in, and slammed it shut on a frazzled Hansung Yu.

All the weak resolves that Bam had built up half heartedly over the past fifteen minutes disintegrated, and he suddenly felt all tilted and unstable, like the sight of Khun was the only thing keeping him anchored and stopping him from floating giddily into the clouds.

He was wearing all black, a black jacket and pants and fingerless gloves for some reason and holy shit when he drew his arm back his shirt dipped around his chest and exposed a (to Bam at least) scandalous amount of skin.

Dear God, Bam hoped he would be forgiven for imagining what shirtless Khun looked like. Beside him, Shibisu’s jaw had dropped.

It was like he was seeing Khun for the first time again, but better, and today his hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, loose strands falling out onto the elegant curve of his neck. His jawline was as intense and dagger sharp as his eyes, and Bam felt an inexplicable happy swoop and rush of heat spread through his core, right to the tips of his fingers and toes.

But - and it was a huge but - one side of Khun’s face was covered by a large bandage, the corner of it flicking up close to his eye. Bam frowned, squinting slightly at him. There was another bruise spreading from behind his beautiful neck and up to his face, like someone had grabbed him too tightly.

Huh. Maybe Evankhell was right - maybe Khun really did get into gang fights.

Shibisu had gone ashen grey. Bam assumed he had just reached the same conclusion.

Eduan had the nastiest smile Bam had ever seen. “It seems I have another animal to introduce to you,” he said, his tone heavy with faux politeness as he ended the FaceTime call without warning. “Aguero.”

Khun’s fingers brushed the tabletop in a gentle sweep. “I’m surprised you’re not hungover, considering how much you drank yesterday,” he said placidly, a complete lack of inflection and emotion in his voice. “And call me Khun. I am,” he paused, and Bam caught a hint of sarcasm, “particularly fond of my heritage.”

Bam realised he had an accent; a strange and subtle one, like all his words were being suppressed and carefully pruned, like he had a million brittle things to say behind the curtain of velvet that would scatter like glass shards if he ever let them loose.

Anaak chuckled. “Khun and Khun in one class. Awesome.”

Bam was puzzled at why Shibisu’s face was the only one in the class slowly turning purple - he could practically see the cogs turning in Isu’s head as his face varied shades of mauve, but Bam wasn’t making any game changing connections. He supposed, busy lacing his fingers together to hide his completely random jealousy, that Isu had just known Khun longer, hadn’t he?

A vein in Eduan’s forehead throbbed and his hand jerked almost reflexively towards Khun, like he’d been about to grab him, but Khun didn’t flinch, and Shibisu actually jumped out of his seat. Bam thought even harder. What on earth did he realise?

“Mr Khun!” Shibisu exclaimed, standing up. “A- Aguero can sit there. I am incredibly eager to start the lesson!” His eyes were bright with some realisation, and Hatz dove to catch his seat before it clattered backwards to the ground.

Bam didn’t realise that Shibisu had pointed at the seat next to him until he plopped back down and started whispering to Hatz out of the corner of his mouth.

Eduan clenched his jaw. “Of course,” he said in a tone that implied he didn’t really give a shit, “detention this afternoon, Aguero. Sit down.”

Khun wore a satisfied sort of smirk and Bam felt a familiar rush of anxiety as he walked slowly, deliberately closer. Khun had done his part well. The whole class knew him now, knew his daring and his control, but Bam felt like a tottering baby who only knew to hungrily track the planes of Khun’s face.

Eduan went on to explain the group task. “I forgot to choose groups, so... just be a pair with whoever’s next to you,” he announced, slapping the board. “This will be an assignment-“

Bam was awfully aware of what a mess he was when Khun’s hands slowly dragged out the chair and he sunk into it. Bam could’ve just died and gone to heaven except Khun purposely turned those perfect eyes on him. Bam gulped. He couldn’t tell if the world was punishing him or rewarding him.

“You ok?” He asked as Bam kept staring, his mouth still a satisfied curve and Bam realised Khun was a cruel, cruel man, because he knew exactly what effect he had.

Bam tried to relax. Fine. Fine, if Khun wanted to torture him like that, he supposed he could also do whatever he wanted.

Using all the willpower he could muster, Bam turned to face the cocky son of a bitch and reached up to fold the corner of the bandage on his cheek down, so it was no longer about to gouge his eye out. “It was bothering me,” Bam said (rather awkwardly), and he hoped his voice was calm because his insides were a melting puddle of jelly.

He was barely aware of his fingers starting away from the bandage just to brush Khun’s skin. It was flawless, like everything else about him, and the touch sent a shock of tingles through his arm.

Khun’s eyes narrowed skeptically but he stayed frozen in place, leaving Bam to jerk his hand away in a flood of embarrassment. “Ah- sorry!” He squeaked, his face ablaze. “Sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking...”

The whole science class was staring at them, and Bam wasn’t designed to withstand pressure for too long, and he’d touched Khun’s face for God’s sake.

He hid his face in his hands and hoped he could disappear or be reincarnated as an unnoticeable green seahorse, but not before he saw Khun smile - a real smile, somewhat amused, and Bam stifled a mortified groan.

Heart drumming like hail on pavement, Bam tried to keep his eyes off Khun for the next ten minutes. He failed more miserably than he could’ve imagined, because as the class discussed the project, Khun turned to him and said something.

Bam raised his eyebrows. It took him a full five seconds to process what Khun had asked:

“So, do you wanna come to my place?”

Chapter Text

“Ah, w-why?” Bam stuttered. His head felt slow and fuzzy, like he’d just woken up from a year long sleep. He couldn’t think straight with the pretty boy in front of him and the voices of the rest of the class - what was that word that Endorsi always used when someone invited her somewhere? Was Khun trying to...

“Are you asking me out?” Bam managed, his tongue a thick ball of wool, his brain working at the speed of honey trickling down a jar. He had no idea what was going on.

“Hurry up, leave early if you want, I have to stay overtime today because of you brats,” Eduan called over the din.

Khun opened his mouth and Bam’s eyes automatically strayed to his lips. Wow , he thought dumbly. Wonder what they feel like.

“No, I’m asking if you want to come over to work on the assignment,” he said impassively, but his eyebrow was raised like Bam was stupid. “I’m free tonight, unless you’d prefer another time.”

Oh.

Oh.

Bam’s face might as well have been on fire as he shrunk back in his seat, wanting to melt off the face of the Earth. He wanted to die of embarrassment. He wanted to transfer schools to spare himself the shame. He wanted to grab Khun’s face and feel his perfect lips. Either one of those was fine.

“Um, I, uh, I think I can...” Bam started, his eyes sliding anywhere but Khun’s face, but then Rachel crossed his mind, and the fuzzy edges of his brain sharpened a little. She would be back today, wouldn’t she? And choosing Khun, someone he’d just met, over Rachel, his friend for years and years; she wouldn’t like that at all.

His head finally cleared a little, but it felt like he was barely clinging to his sanity like the edge of a cliff. When Bam looked up, those blue blue eyes staring back at him expectantly, something clicked. Rachel was more important.

“No, I’m sorry,” Bam said, relieved to hear his voice come out normally. “I don’t think I can make it tonight. We could arrange another day?”

Khun nodded, his face carefully blank, a strand of his hair slipping over his face. Bam quickly looked away. His fine thread of control was already slipping, his fingers sliding off the edge.

A phone appeared in front of him, and a number was displayed on the screen. The newest model, Bam realised dimly. And it was a... phone number. Huh.

And then it hit him. It was Khun’s number.

“So we can discuss the work,” Khun said matter of factly, and it felt like he’d just shoved Bam off the cliff and into the abyss. “And you can call me if you change your mind.”

Bam pulled out his phone with trembling fingers, and tried to turn it on - the sign flashed back at him just as the shrill bell rang, making him jump out of his skin like a potato: critical battery .

Crap. He hadn’t charged it yet. “Uh, there’s no battery-“ the phone almost slipped out of his butter fingers as Bam pulled out a pen and wrote Khun’s number shakily on the back of his hand. Khun sat in front of him like a judgmental stone statue. “I’ll call you!” He said nervously back, and without waiting for a response, he made a beeline out the door.

“Hey Bam, meet Yura for detention!” Anaak hollered behind him, but Bam barely heard.

He opened his locker as soon as he reached it, twisting in the combination reflexively, and dropped his things inside. Bam groaned as he rummaged in his bag for his phone charger, the crowd passing behind him like densely packed minions.

“How is it possible to embarrass yourself that much?” He whispered to himself, assuming a determined expression. “Get a grip, Bam. At least it can’t get any worse. Get. A. Grip.” And he did get a grip, though not the one he was particularly hoping for - his fingers closed around his cable and he pulled it out, but thoughts of Khun were still swimming lazily around his mind, basking in the spotlight.

Bam sighed and closed his locker, and it turned out things could get worse after all. He’d somehow forgotten that Khun’s locker was next to his. Absolutely wonderful.

Khun ignored him, just as he did yesterday, but this time was different, because Bam wasn’t staring like an idiot at his face. No, this time he was staring fixedly on Khun’s hand in the biker glove as it twirled the lock somewhat stiffly. It stopped moving, the lock clicked, but the door didn’t swing open.

Instead, Khun turned to him, and Bam made the mistake of looking in his eyes. He was trapped, drowning in the turbulent oceans he saw, gasping for air.

Khun, that bastard, leaned closer, his eyes locked on Bam’s, and Bam could barely react at this point, let alone breathe. He clutched his cable like a lifeline.

“Hey,” Khun whispered, so softly, so gently that Bam was sure he was about to make some life changing confession, and his heart leapt painfully at the prospect. But instead: “I know I’m good looking. But you could tone down the staring a little.”

And with that, he turned and left.

-

Bam made his way to Hansung’s office nervously after plugging in his phone near his locker. He figured, since he had fifteen minutes to get to detention with Shibisu and the others, he may as well try to find Evankhell if she was still at school, and hadn’t she mentioned that she and Hansung were friends? His office was Bam’s best bet.

He arrived outside the door as a voice said something skeptically. “But you’re sure... he was blonde last...”

Bam frowned. Guess he’d found Evankhell.

“You can’t go around telling people! His hair‘s blue, came in yest-“ A male voice - Hansung.

He stopped short, his hand on the door. Bam knew it wasn’t good to eavesdrop, but... Khun. He desperately wanted to know why he was injured, and, well... it wasn’t exactly his fault that Hansung and Evankhell talked so loudly, was it?

Bam leaned closer, pressing his ear as close as he could, and the smell of bitter coffee somehow wafted into his nostrils through the cracks in the door.

“Evankhell, don’t be stupid!” Hansung groaned. It sounded like he’d just slapped something. “Telling anyone will just make this worse. I’m worried it’ll get out of hand.”

“No wonder that boy’s so uptight all the time! What are we gonna do about it?” Evankhell roared.

Hansung sighed wearily. A clink, like he’d just picked up a mug. “The best thing he can do is just keep coming to me. This morning, I was just about to finish cleaning up his face when he got dragged away by Eduan.”

Evankhell’s voice softened then. “Damn... Bet he knows what he’s doing though - he could escape if he really wanted, but he just wants to get revenge.”

“Hm.” A crinkle of material. “You’re probably right. I can tell that he’s smart enough.”

“Yeah, he has that foxy look, doesn’t he?”

“What...? He’s like a hamster. Those things look cute but they’re devils - see this scar? I got bitten at 11 years old!”

Evankhell snorted. “Whatever you say.”

“Don’t believe me then,” Hansung said indignantly. “Karma, Evankhell. It’s karma. A hamster will get you one day.”

“Nooo, I’m so scared!” Evankhell cackled. “Come on now, Hansung, I have more pressing things to worry about than being bitten by a hamster at some point in my life-“

“Oh yeah?” Hansung said, and even through the door he sounded mischievous, followed by a sudden splatter, like something had just spilled - or Hansung had just chucked coffee at Evankhell.

“DAMN YOU! YOU DID NOT JUST DO THAT!”

“HA! That’s karma for you!”

Bam scowled and moved back from the door. The guilt he felt from eavesdropping was scuffed out by irritation; they’d gone so off topic that he hadn’t learned anything new. It sounded as if Evankhell’s idea was being reinforced, but Bam couldn’t imagine Khun getting into a scuffle with other kids. He seemed too sophisticated to let himself get near one.

Maybe he was hurt in other places too, and Bam felt a pang of something in his sternum as he imagined his fingers on Khun’s cheek. It wasn’t possible for Hansung to stay completely sane with Khun in his office all the time. He had to ask Hansung for advice some day.

Someone jostled him in the otherwise lonely hallway as Evankhell and Hansung continued to bicker; Bam caught a glimpse of sparkly aqua highlights and a haughty glare.

“Sorry, Yura,” he apologised automatically, feeling guilty even though he knew it wasn’t his fault. Yura hated him for some reason, though Bam had no idea why, because she was in Yuri’s year. She didn’t bother to hide her sneer as she continued to walk past. Bam looked up after her. Wait. Am I not supposed to meet her for detention anyway...?

He followed her through the hallway to the detention room, and eventually he saw the figures of Shibisu, Hatz, Anaak and Endorsi standing a little apart from Khun. Shibisu was flustered, Endorsi seemed hesitant, and Hatz and Anaak looked furious.

Bam’s heart tore. He didn’t want Khun to be alone for the whole detention, but it wouldn’t be right to choose him over the friends he’d been close with for years already.

He slid silently into the middle of Khun and Hatz as Yura pulled out a list and her nostrils flared at him. He smiled anxiously back. Better to make a good impression so she didn’t organise something terrible for their detention.

Hatz wore a slightly disgusted expression beside him, his dark hair framing his dark eyes as they stared at Khun. He nudged Bam. “Look,” he whispered out of the corner of his mouth. “His earrings.”

Bam looked, and finally he got a good view of the notorious earrings; there was a simple hoop he could see, blue as midnight, and a tiny silver stud above it. He clamped his jaw firmly to prevent himself from saying something stupid and tore his gaze away. They looked too good on Khun. Unfairly good.

“I don’t get why you hate them,” Bam whispered back. “Don’t they look ok?”

To his surprise, Hatz nodded grudgingly. “But they’re still stupid.”

Yura’s sneakers tapped a monotonous rhythm against the tile as she made her way across the floor. “You’ll split into groups of three, since there’s six of you,” she said dully. “Half of you will clean the mirrors. The other half will remove the graffiti from the art classroom 8A. Questions?”

Bam shook his head, and Yura’s shiny blouse rippled as she grabbed her bag and walked out. “I’ll come back to check your progress in an hour,” she called over her shoulder.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Endorsi stormed out of line. “That Yura Ha,” she fumed, jabbing an accusing finger at the door. “Thinks she’s so much above us all! I can really see how she and Yuri are related,” Endorsi scoffed, throwing her hands up. “And I’m cleaning mirrors. No way I’m climbing under tables to wipe off dicks.”

“Language, Endorsi,” said a cool voice amusedly, and Bam turned to see Khun stepping leisurely into his field of vision. Khun was really tall, now that he thought about it. Maybe a half a head taller than Bam at least.

Endorsi’s mouth opened and closed, her eyes darting uncomfortably to each of them in a sudden loss for words.

Khun raised an eyebrow and continued walking like Endorsi hadn’t just malfunctioned. “I’ll be cleaning graffiti then. Meet you at 8A.”

They stared after him as he descended the stairs silently, dumbfounded. Anaak bared her teeth. “How can he just do that and walk away? We haven’t met for years, dammit, and he just- just that?” Her face was screwed up with rage and, Bam noticed, barely concealed sadness. He guessed Anaak’s reaction wasn’t entirely out of the ordinary, because they’d once been a tight group.

“Meet you at 8A,” Endorsi said in a terrible impression of Khun, though her voice was rather wistful. “No explanation. Gee, thanks Khun. Missed you too.”

Hatz placed a hand on Anaak’s hair to keep her from exploding. He looked around thoughtfully. “Does he even know where 8A is? His memory can’t be that good, can it?”

Shibisu sighed. “I’m sure he’ll figure it out. Plus, we did do some weird shit in that classroom once, so... I don’t think he’d have forgotten.”

Bam’s heart was about to bounce out of his throat and stand on the floor laughing at him. “Guys,” he suggested. Four pairs of eyes turned on him, and he gulped. “Um, who wants to clean graffiti with Khun?”

And that’s how, one minute later, Bam found himself marching down the corridor with Shibisu, who looked more confused than Bam had ever seen him.

“What are you thinking?” Bam asked as they crossed the courtyard and he had to grab Shibisu’s tracksuit sleeve to keep him from walking into a bench.

He got brushed off. “Nothing, nothing,” Shibisu said dismissively. “Ah, we’ve reached the classroom.”

Bam frowned. “Isu, you can tell me, you know.”

Shibisu pushed the door open, and it slid with a squeal to rival his when the chemistry solution had hit his face. “I know. I trust you, but I don’t really think,” Shibisu hesitated a little, his expression apologetic, “it’s my information to share.”

Bam nodded reluctantly as they entered the classroom together. Whatever it was, Isu would’ve told him if it wasn’t truly private. Besides, he might be able to figure it out himself. Detention was just a load of free time anyway.

The door shut and Khun was standing near the window, sunlight glazing his hair and his eyes running languidly over the classroom.

Bam’s previous thoughts crumpled themselves and jumped into recycling. Yeah, no. He wasn’t getting any thinking done anytime soon. This detention was specially reserved for admiring Khun.

Shibisu walked straight up to him and said something like, “I know what happened,” and to Bam’s horror Khun didn’t even look surprised. He just smiled and nodded, like he’d expected Isu to know. “Figured. The others don’t know, do they?” And Isu shook his head, his eyes brimming with frustrated tears.

Shibisu grasped Khun’s hand. “I missed you, Khun my love!” He said dramatically, throwing an arm over his eyes, and Khun laughed, the melodic sound filling the room. “You just randomly disappeared, your number changed, we were all worried sick, I figured something bad happened but I wasn’t sure until today...”

“I texted you last night.”

“I WAS TOO SCARED TO ANSWER!”

“Really, am I that scary to you?”

“YES! NO SHIT, HAVE YOU SEEN YOURSELF? Also, it’s Hatz’s birthday soon, did you get anything-“

Was it actually that obvious? Bam racked his brains, so occupied that he forgot to feel awkward at the scene before him. He walked to the cupboard and opened it, not seeing what was inside, then stopped there.

Wait. Why am I even thinking about this? I don’t need to impress Khun by figuring it out. I didn’t even know him before now.

Then Khun’s intoxicating scent was enveloping him and he was reaching over Bam to grab the cleaning supplies, his warmth flooding the area like light and Bam could’ve sworn that Khun, that handsome cocky brat, had just done it as a tease.

Ah, fuck it. Who was he kidding? Of course he had to impress Khun.

Bam turned around on his heel holding a tub of sponges, determined not to embarrass himself. “Where should we start?” Bam asked, looking at Isu and avoiding Khun’s gaze because that would revert him right back to square one.

Shibisu’s eyes brightened. “Let’s do that table first,” he said, pointing at an especially worn down one in the corner that Bam had never noticed and sharing a look with Khun. “This should be it,” he muttered, peering under it. “If I‘m not mistaken...”

Khun joined him a second later with a knowing grin. Bam felt his determination falter and sputter out like an empty fuel tank, replaced by something weird and hollow that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Oh. He knew was it was. It was the feeling of being left out.

Bam tried to smile and push the feeling down. It was natural for Isu to be so close to Khun. After all, they’d been friends for ages before he’d come and Khun disappeared. He didn’t like the empty feeling, but it would pass.

“...Bam?”

Shibisu had left to fill up a tub with water - the sound of a gushing tap and his off pitch humming echoed across the room. Bam looked up, saw Khun approaching, and looked back down quickly.

Khun stood in front of him for a heavy five seconds, Bam growing increasingly panicked, and slowly, slowly, a hand reached out and tipped his chin up gently so that Bam was locked into deep cobalt eyes for a second time.

Bam almost jumped at the electric tingle that jittered down his spine at Khun’s touch. Screw him, honestly. He knew that Bam was tumbling head over heels after him. This was the cruelest punishment the universe could dish out.

He was trapped in the deep waters for the space of one suffocating breath, and Bam had the horrible sinking feeling that Khun could see into him and knew exactly what was going on his head and would tell Isu to kick him out because he didn’t belong, or something, he didn’t know-

Instead, his hand fell away almost immediately, too gentle in contrast to his appearance, full of edges and shadows and everything in between. Bam could finally breathe again.

“Your hair is long,” Khun said mildly, not even close to what Bam was expecting to hear. “Pretty sure it was shorter yesterday.” He chucked him a sponge, and Bam was eternally thankful that both Khun and Isu pretended not to see while Bam sucked in sweet sweet air like a madman because Khun actually noticed how long his hair was a day ago? He didn’t know if the world hated or loved him anymore.

“Yes, I need a haircut,” he answered breathlessly as Isu grunted and flipped the table over to reveal a huge ‘FUCK OFF YURA’ on the bottom.

Khun’s eyes roved unreadably over him. “Actually, I think you’d look good with long hair.”

“I can’t imagine removing this work of art,” Shibisu frowned, rescuing Bam from giving another unintelligible answer. He poked Bam. “Look, after we wrote this Anaak threw Yura’s stuff here so she had to go under and read it.”

Khun patted the table fondly. “Good times.

And I’m surprised it lasted this long,” he added. “I thought Yura was a clean freak.”

Bam made a face. “She is! I think she hates me because I once dropped my pie and her shoe was in it the next second.”

“What the-“

“I think anyone would be mad, Bam,” Khun said wisely, dropping his sponge in water. “Plus, what a waste of food, to have someone like Yura step in it.”

Isu doubled over in laughter, almost knocking over their bucket.

Bam felt like laughing himself, happiness ballooning inside him. Khun was so different now than he was the last few times they’d talked, and suddenly it hit him - he had probably noticed that Bam felt left out, and now he was making an effort to include him in the conversation.

The brash, self confident Khun was too much heat for Bam to handle, but if he was honest, this Khun was almost better ( almost , because his bold smirk and cold eyes were enough to burn Bam to the ground). Bam liked his gentleness, the way his words flowed like honey into the next, and even though it might all be fake just so Bam wasn’t left out it was a nice gesture nonetheless.

“Don’t you wanna take off the gloves?” He heard Shibisu ask quietly. Khun fixed him with a look, and his mouth made a perfect ‘o’ as he nodded.

About ten tables later (with varying levels of graffiti and swear words) Shibisu yawned widely and leaned back on his hands. “When are we gonna finish... Has it been an hour?”

Bam was just about to reply when Khun swore loudly and the water splashed all over his torso.

“Fuck,” Khun hissed, gripping one hand with the other before he seemed to catch himself, his expression smoothing over like glass.

“Khun, what happened-?” Bam asked, bewildered, and oh shit Khun was shrugging off his jacket now, and his shirt was wet - Bam swore and looked up at the ceiling instead. Curse his unholy eyes.

“What the-” Shibisu exclaimed. “Are you alright? You’re not the clumsy type.”

“Fine,” Khun dismissed, his shirt clinging to his shoulders and highlighting his frame and he looked, Bam noticed wide eyed, drop dead gorgeous. He stood up and Shibisu frowned after him, picking up the fallen tub.

“Bam, can you get some...” Khun asked, giving Bam the softest smile he had ever seen, and he nodded without a second thought, not even registering the rest of the sentence, his brain screaming Khun! Smiled! At! You!

Bam grabbed about two more stacks of paper towels more than necessary, his blood singing, and when he turned back there was Khun, completely drenched, running a hand through his hair, his jewel eyes illuminated as they flickered to him.

Bam had to sit down so he wouldn’t die on the spot.

-

Almost an hour later, because Yura hadn’t even bothered to show up a second time, Bam had almost been run over twice because Khun was keeping busy replaying in his mind, and he was absolutely positive something was wrong. This wasn’t normal, and combined with the fact that Khun was about four times as attractive as the ordinary high schooler this was just plain unfair .

Bam let a slow breath out. He could deal with this. He could tell Rachel if she was back today, and maybe she would know what was going on. He had to figure it out soon, because  he wasn’t fully recovered from the near fatal damage of seeing a wet Khun minus hair tie and minus jacket. And because Khun had actually caught him staring, it was minus Bam’s dignity as well. Yay for him.

He barely managed to step over the old tree root on the path in time as he practically dashed to his house. Bam pulled out the key from his pocket and was just about to insert it in the rusted keyhole when he heard a voice from the back.

Stepping back from the door, his curiosity piqued, because it wasn’t Rachel’s voice. Could it be a robber? His house had nothing valuable to steak though, except... maybe they’d found Rachel.

Adrenaline replaced the previous buzz in his veins as Bam gripped his bag tightly, uncomfortably aware that he had nothing to use as a weapon as he snuck around the wall slowly. He could hit them with his laptop. He had his phone, fully charged now, and he could call the police.

Bam froze in place as the voice suddenly hushed. His heartbeat thudded in his ears, a roar of sound amidst the silence.

Then he heard Rachel scream , and Bam flung his bag aside and tore into a sprint, rounding the wall and seeing-

His thoughts came crashing to a sudden halt.

Yura Ha, Rachel next to her, Michael and Apple laughing beside them.

What the actual fuck?

Bam dropped like a stone back down where they couldn’t see him, breathing hard. Rachel had never told him that she knew them. Hell, she shouldn’t know them - she didn’t even go to school here. He craned his neck upwards to watch them, not feeling even a shred of guilt, because he and Rachel did not keep secrets.

“What a scaredy cat,” Apple chortled, retracting her phone and resuming scrolling down. Her nails were painted a toxic purple. “It’s totally fake.”

Michael was practically rolling on the floor laughing, and Yura had tears streaming down her cheeks as Rachel scoffed. “What?! How was I supposed to know that would pop up? That’s not fair.”

“Life isn’t fair, wise one,” Michael said with an air of superiority. He reached behind him and took out something, and Bam squinted to see it, his legs burning with the effort of keeping himself up.

Michael took out something else, and as a flame flickered to life he offered the box around. “Want one?” He asked, but the way he said it almost didn’t sound like a question. Rachel looked at the box hesitantly, then reached in.

Was that...?

Bam almost fell over in shock. That was a cigarette, and Rachel had one - Rachel, the one who’d lectured him on never doing anything stupid. She’d gone on and on about avoiding smoking and alcohol and anything dangerous and here she was, an absolute hypocrite.

She’d said that people who did those bad things were, to put it delicately, trash.

He was about to storm out then and there. He was a hair’s breadth away from walking into the clearing and kicking Michael and shaking Rachel until she told him everything, because why? Why did she have to keep everything from him? What else didn’t he know?

Michael blew out a stream of smoke, and Bam almost choked on the stench and the words he was just biting back.

“Rachel, why don’t you just come live with us? With me and Apple?” He suggested almost lazily, and Bam felt a chill right to his bones. She couldn’t agree. She wouldn’t agree. It would go against everything she’d ever told him.

But Rachel’s eyes widened. “Can I?” She asked hopefully, twirling the cigarette like she’d practiced a million times. “I’m tired of staying in this shithole every time I visit you guys anyway.”

She gestured to his house, and that was the last straw.

Bam stepped out from behind the house, his vision completely red. There was nothing stopping him from crossing the distance except his own self control, and that was stretched taut over the gaping hole that Rachel had created between them.

“I know my house is a shithole,” he snarled, his voice trembling, and Rachel flinched. “But you- you should at least have the decency not to say it in front of me .”

Rachel stood up, the damned cigarette still in her hand and the look in her eyes wasn’t even the fake apology she’d shown him yesterday. It was pity, because she’d ruined another option for herself, because she had one less plan to fall back on. Bam stared back at her, and his eyes stung as her face blurred in his vision.

“Bam,” she said weakly, and her voice was far, far away. “I’m sorry, but... I have a life too, I have my own opinions, you can’t expect everything to go perfectly for you!”

He knew she was right. For anyone else Bam would’ve just smiled and brushed it off. For Rachel, things were different.

Bam’s lips would barely form words. Rachel, her blonde hair and freckles, whom he’d known for forever. Rachel, her familiar presence, her soft voice. Rachel, with her smile that didn’t meet her eyes. Rachel, hanging out with these people and talking shit about his house that he let her stay in and smoking .

For Rachel, things were different, so Bam said: “Get the fuck away from my house.”

Apple practically ran, Michael in hot pursuit.

”And Yura,” Bam said, a sudden burst of courage mounting within him. She looked back with a haughty expression that made him want to bitch slap it off of her. “I wish it was your face that landed in the pie instead of your foot.”

Yura sneered and dragged Rachel away.

Bam snatched up his bag and made it to the front of his house before he sunk onto the steps, the full reality of the situation crashing down on him. His closest friend for the whole life that mattered to him was gone.

Maybe he should’ve just... pretended not to see. He didn’t know. Bam looked down at his hands, at the concrete below him. Rachel wouldn’t come back after this, not now that Michael had offered to let her room with them.

He struggled to chase the comet’s tail that was Rachel through his mind. What was one thing she always said to him? Just one thing he could depend on was enough, just one memory of her for the rest of his life.

“No regrets, Bam,” Rachel whispered. She stared wide eyed at the stars outside the window. “To escape. There are no regrets.”

Bam didn’t know how long he sat there. When he finally unlocked his phone with numb fingers and entered the number on his hand in his keypad, it dialled for an excruciatingly slow ten seconds.

No regrets, right?

“Hi. Is this Bam?” A tiny flame of joy rekindled and flickered up at Khun’s voice.

Bam swallowed. “Uh. Yeah. I’m not actually... busy today.”

“Right. Then I’ll send a driver. Text me your address.”

“Ok.”

“See you later.”

A beat. Khun hung up.

-

The ‘driver,’ as it turned out, was one of Khun’s relatives, behind the wheel of a Maserati like he’d just gotten his license yesterday, or didn’t have a license at all.

He recognised Maschenny. She had her passenger seat window rolled down, her hair in luxurious curls and her eyes sparkling. She looked more expensive than the car, and knowing her, she most likely was.

“Are you Bam?” She asked, sounding as if she already knew the answer. Bam nodded and she waved a hand to the back. “We’re picking you up. Get in.”

He felt increasingly out of place when he got in and saw a Louis Vuitton bag sitting demurely next to him. He took the seat next to it, thinking his plain odd clothes and canvas bag were probably only worth a fraction of what this seatbelt was.

The driver stomped on the accelerator immediately and Bam lurched forward with a yelp as they almost shot off the road.

“Asensio, slow down. We have a guest,” Maschenny‘s voice scolded, swiping to answer a call, and Asensio laughed.

“Whatever you say,” he said amusedly. Maschenny rolled her eyes at him. “We’ll be there in a few minutes,” he added, and from what Bam could see an elegant blue hoop hanging from his ear. A gangster?

“Bam,” Asensio said, and Bam almost jumped out of his seat. “Yes?” He answered, bewildered.

Asensio was silent for a second. Then: “You don’t happen to have a thing for Khun, do you?”

Bam frowned. No, he did not have ‘a thing.’ He didn’t know what having ‘a thing’ felt like, or what it meant. He was sure he’d head Endorsi use the term, but... After Rachel, he was too confused to think straight. “No. We’re doing schoolwork,” he said stupidly.

“Hm,” Asensio replied, but this time he sounded approving. Or it might’ve just been that they just charged over a speed bump and Bam heard wrong.

Maschenny hung up her call. “That’s just as well. To be clear, you’re only allowed to set foot in the house because his father’s out for the night. Don’t expect to be invited back anytime soon.”

Asensio nodded, his eyes locked on the road. “And cause he’s lonely, so he just invites whoever cause he doesn’t wanna bother Ran- OW! WATCH IT-“ Maschenny had punched him.

“You make him sound so uncivilised,” she grimaced, shooting the driver a dirty look. “Anyway. Asensio’s right, though hopefully not in the sense you may be thinking. Khun’s not looking for, ah, that . He just wants company,” she said, sounding rather at a loss for words. “A friend. I guess he is a little lonely now. And I don’t mean to sound too protective, but... he’s got a lot to handle.”

“Basically, don’t make things worse and don’t get the wrong idea.”

“...Mentoring is really not my forte.”

“Yeah, I can see that. The most you achieved just then was to confuse the shit outta him.”

Asensio was right. Bam had no fucking idea what that whole speech was trying to tell him, but he nodded and went along with it.

Maschenny’s phone buzzed again, and she sighed as her eyes flicked over the caller ID. “Yuri... for the fourth time... People from the Ha family are always so slow.”

After a long stretch of silence broken by Maschenny’s low tones on the phone, Bam looked up at the rear view mirror instead and finally put a face to Asensio. He had dark, spiky hair and the classic deep blue eyes, with diamond pattern tattoos spanning from his neck and up to his cheek.

Bam couldn’t help himself staring for a while as the car slid to a smooth stop. Did the entire Khun family just have a thing of looking cool? Even Maria‘s innocence didn’t hide the way that she could probably flip him one handed and walk away, and Ran just looked like he wanted to murder everyone in the proximity.

Then Bam remembered Eduan, who constantly turned up to school looking hungover. No, that couldn’t be right.

Come to think of it, he’d never met Khun’s parents. His father was out today, like Maschenny had said, but what about his mother? Bam’s stomach gave a weird jolt, and he realised what he’d just thought - he looked out the window to hide his furious blush. Of course he’d never met Khun’s parents. He’d know him for like, two days.

Bam shook his head to clear his thoughts as Asensio opened his door, a huge bubble of gum bursting. “Don’t be too surprised.”

He took it, clambering out of the car with his stuff. “Okay, but why-“

His jaw dropped.

So Khun lived in a mansion. The house was grand and sprawling with stylised bricks and glass panes reflective enough to blind a man, sheer curtains thrown open to wide balconies. Bam squinted up and... and the house was actually quite far away. They’d only stopped at the end of the footpath leading into their garden and up to the front door.

He followed Maschenny wordlessly up the path for a good five minutes, blue asters and hydrangeas blooming around him in perfectly pruned hedges. Bam pulled his bag around him as a shield of sorts. He knew that some factions of the Khun family were filthy rich, but for it to be his classmate that he just happened to be visiting for chemistry work?

Rachel . His heart twisted. Rachel was the one who’d told him about Jahad’s descendants and the ten most prestigious families of the area, and now she was gone.

He could barely focus on his steps. Maschenny stopped so abruptly that Bam almost walked past her and into the ornate doors that probably cost more than his whole house. He watched as she pressed her thumb into something invisible on the side and a series of whirs and clicks sounded before the door slid open.

It was insane, being rich. Even more insane was that Khun was standing behind the door, a lollipop in his gloved hand, and Bam’s heart - that traitor - did a set of gymnastic flips at the sight.

Khun blinked once, and Bam honestly had no shame. He let himself gawk at Khun in front of everyone else while he talked to his cousin(s? Was Asensio also his cousin?) because when would he get another opportunity like this? Bam could actually imagine Khun’s tongue and his perfect lips on that stupid lollipop.

“Bam, you can come in.”

He snapped out of it immediately and followed Khun in like a faithful puppy, wisely ignoring the strange look Maschenny gave him. How could he trust himself to say anything when the whole goddamn house smelled like Khun? How could he stop himself from defiling Khun’s angelic being in his imagination?

Ah yes. Another two to the list of Questions Science Cannot Answer.

Khun walked silently through the extravagant maze while Bam plodded like an elephant behind him. His house was extraordinary. There were huge lounges with the biggest TVs and leather couches he’d ever seen and dining rooms and kitchens and studies.

Then Bam noticed something that shocked his pulse into hyper speed.

“Um, Khun,” he began hesitantly, and Khun didn’t answer. Bam wasn’t sure what to make of this, so he just kept talking. “Have you had a chance to change? Because there’s still water on your shirt, and, uh, yeah.” Fuck, he couldn’t talk properly.

Khun led him up a gracefully winding flight of stairs. “No,” he answered simply, and surely it was not humanly possible to sound so sophisticated with just one word. “I was just about to, but then you arrived. So I’m going to change now.”

“Oh.”

Khun knocked on a door and Ran flung it open, looking exceedingly irritated. His room was huge, but as far as Bam could tell it looked almost unused, like he spent more of his life someplace else.

Khun handed over the lollipop to Ran, who took it with a grudging thanks, then dragged Khun down by the sleeve and muttered something that made Khun smile. It was a special smile, and Bam would’ve given anything for that smile to be directed at him.

Ran shuffled back to flop on his bed and Khun opened another door to what Bam assumed was his room.

“I’m going to change now. Wait outside for a minute.”

Bam stepped into the room and looked around before Khun turned and looked at him strangely.

“Oh,” Bam said bemusedly. Khun’s room was nice. There was a piano - did he play it? Bam’s stomach lurched as he imagined Khun’s nimble fingers flitting over the keys, bright  chords and mellow tones and the low lights frolicking in his eyes, and... Bam frowned. What had Khun just said to him?

Khun tilted his head expectantly as his words finally made it through Bam’s muddled up head and no holy crap that’s what he meant, he was standing in Khun’s room like an idiot, what the fuck?

“S- sorry, I’ll...” Bam’s lips moved wordlessly, and Khun, Khun, that son of a bitch, actually dared to-

“Unless you’d like to watch?”

Bam froze, staring at Khun because that was all he could do, absurdly mortified that his first reaction was to think can I really? He felt heat shoot up his neck as Khun eyed him, totally composed. Thank God his mouth wouldn’t move properly right now, because he would’ve just said something worse and died of cardiac arrest.

Khun’s cobalt eyes were dark and dancing with sparks in this lighting and he was just too beautiful to be real. Maybe Khun was an angel. Maybe Bam was dead and this was heaven.

“...I was kidding,” Khun deadpanned, because Bam had fucked up and kept staring, and he actually looked a little downcast, or scared...?Bam couldn’t tell. “It’s better if you don’t see.”

He found his voice, fucking finally . “Uhh, yeah, so, I’ll just wait outside,” he managed, with the most awkward smile he’d given in 10 years. He stepped out, closed the door behind him, and almost collapsed.

Bam screamed silently into his hands. He was absolutely fucked . He was a wreck. He couldn’t work on a project with Khun if he couldn’t even step out of a room sanely, there was no way. He could possibly slip out unnoticed, but a fancy place like this would definitely have security cameras, plus the rooms and stairs were like a maze-

The door opened and Bam yelled and skidded back. Khun actually had the audacity to laugh at him; was this how normal people behaved when they went to each other’s houses?

“Let’s go to the study,” Khun said absentmindedly, like nothing had ever happened. Bam swallowed his nerves and nodded.

They walked into a (apparently this was the second largest of five) study, a spacious stretch of walls covered in achievements for things that Bam hadn’t know existed, chairs close together and a curving desk underneath a skylight that let in the chrome shades of sunset.

Bam set his bag down slowly. It was unfair for Khun to look so good. Everywhere in his house had good lighting. Khun was always in the good lighting. Khun + lighting = model. Yes, that was a display of Bam’s perfect logic.

“Are you fine with synthesis and combustion? I’ll take decomposition and acid-base, and...”

Bam didn’t realise Khun had been talking until his eyes followed Khun’s hands on his keyboard to the line of his nose to his lips and he saw that they were moving.

“Um, sorry, could you repeat that?” He asked sheepishly.

Khun raised an eyebrow and locked Bam in his stupid magnetic eyes again. “Sure. Are you alright? You look... lost,” he mused with a wry smile, and Bam felt himself losing brain cells as he tried to think of an appropriate response.

“Your- your house is huge,” he said. There. That was good.

Khun stopped typing and laughed humourlessly. Bam was dumbstruck. “It’s not as great as it seems,” he replied, waving a hand dismissively. “Normally I’m stuck in my room anyway. I’d rather be out of here.”

And then Bam realised. It was just a ripple on a glass lake, but suddenly Khun didn’t seem so unreachable, so perfect. The shadows under his eyes and the bandage on his cheek and the bruises on his neck were so obvious , and Khun - he was just human, and he was stuck in this place trying to play a part.

The fire in Bam’s chest died to something like a comfortable buzz of warmth, and he really looked at Khun for the first time and understood.

Then came the tidal wave, crashing over the still waters.

I’d rather be out of here

His father’s out don’t expect to be invited back

I have to stay overtime today

Shibisu jumping out of his chair.

Holy shit.

Bam inhaled sharply. He’d thought Eduan’s last name was a coincidence. It was common, but...

Evankhell couldn’t have been more wrong. That wasn’t why Khun was showing up with these injuries and Bam felt fury lash up in him, hot and bright and overpowering.

“Khun, I... I know what happened,” he blurted. 

Khun leaned back and crossed his arms, his expression and his voice completely neutral. “Yeah?”

Bam was half a second away from delivering his impromptu rant, then stopped. Wait , he thought. Wait. Isn’t he gonna think this is weird? Why did I just burst it out like that? No I fucked up again oh my god WHY ME-

Bam shrunk back into his seat, his face ablaze, and Khun looked at him appraisingly with absolutely no reaction. He was more than a little freaked out - maybe Khun was mad that he’d messed up already, or maybe he wasn’t, but his face was totally blank.

“Nothing,” Bam said timidly. “So, I guess I’ll start research...”

He flinched at a touch on his arm and looked up at Khun; it was almost twilight now, his beautiful features swathed in golden shadows but his sharp eyes catching the light, his touch all gentle and quick and his hand drew away so fast. Too fast, like he was scared of the contact.

“...You worked it out faster than most of the others,” Khun said. “I can’t say I’m surprised though. They wouldn’t notice.” He matched Bam’s gaze, and for the first time in his life, Bam saw a mask crack.

Khun looked so impossibly small and exhausted and swaying on the edge of  breaking down, his hair falling over his cheeks and his lips twisted to one side. Something flared inside Bam’s chest that he couldn’t describe nor pinpoint.

No. Khun wasn’t a robot. He just had self control, and he only let people see what he wanted them to see. Bam had the sudden impulse to kick Eduan in the nuts.

He could barely draw a breath as he looked down at Khun’s hands warily. “Your gloves. What’s-“ Bam swallowed. “Under them?”

He already knew the answer though. Khun hadn’t been wearing gloves the first time he’d walked into the cafeteria, and his best guess was that Eduan had done something. Bam could imagine it, and the feeling surged inside him almost painfully. Blood shouldn’t be on Khun’s hands. It didn’t work. It didn’t make sense. It didn’t belong there.

Khun didn’t answer, but held his gaze for a long, long moment.

Bam opened his mouth and Khun smiled at him then; it reached his eyes, the special smile he’d given Ran, but it was small. Barely a quirk of his lips. “You don’t really want to see. Trust me.”

“He just wants company.”

Before he knew what he was doing, he was pulling Khun into a hug as carefully as he knew how, wrapping his arms around him as tightly as he dared. Khun’s hair was so soft and fragrant against his cheek, and Bam’s whole head was just filled with Khun ; his scent, his eyes, his smile.

Khun stiffened at his touch, and Bam wondered how long it had been since someone had held him, or touched him, apart from the source of those bruises on his neck, and he held his breath and waited until his lungs were aching.

Khun slumped against him. He made no move to hug back, but that alone gave Bam enough euphoria to send him to the moon and back. His head was buried in the crook of Bam’s neck, and Bam could feel his slow breaths, the strum of his rhythmic pulse.

He might’ve been going insane. He couldn’t feel anything, see anything that wasn’t Khun. The feeling smouldered wildly, barely restrained, and Bam had no idea what he could do to satisfy it.

Khun’s touch sent tiny prickles of heat across Bam’s skin, and he was unspeakably glad that twilight hung low in the sky and Khun couldn’t see his face. Vanilla and cinnamon laced the air around him, a soft, pleasant scent.

He tightened his arms just a little and Khun made a tiny muffled noise against his shoulder.

It was too good to be real.

Wait, this ok though? Bam thought suddenly. This was really not the time to start second guessing himself, but now he couldn’t stop thinking about what Maschenny and Asensio had said in the car, and if Khun was uncomfortable they’d be after his blood.

“Khun...” Bam slowly pulled away, and it felt awfully cold without him. “Um, is this ok...”

Khun merely stared back with that heartbreakingly hollow expression like he didn’t know what to do or say, his hands loose at his sides. Bam’s face fell. His expression was too raw and broken and he couldn’t bear to look at it any longer, and this time when Bam leaned in Khun wasn’t tense at all.

This time, Bam felt Khun’s arms reach around him to hug back, bringing the comforting warmth full circle around him.

Needless to say, they got absolutely no work done.

-

Bam had broken him.

After he’d left, Khun had flipped the lights on and retreated back into the study, back into the same spot that he’d let his guard down in and just imagined that strange, strange sensation of being hugged again, the unfamiliar warmth of touch.

It was honestly so fucked up. This wasn’t how he, Khun Aguero Agnes, was supposed to function. He was supposed to move on and not linger on the past or what might have happened, and focus on what he did have and what he could have. He wasn’t supposed to let his guard down.

Bam was just too naive, too innocent. It had been a while since Khun had the first impression of someone like that. Everyone in his family was fractured in some way, exposed to too much, mentally honed to perfection.

Khun’s natural instinct was to play with him a little. To tease him, manipulate him, drag him around like a puppet on strings, because Bam’s personality was about as easily mouldable as putty around his finger, but something about him was so...

Khun’s thoughts faltered. It just felt wrong to destroy something so pure as this golden boy’s smile.

Not to mention the inexplicable flutter in his chest at the thought of it.

The feeling of Bam’s arms lingered over his back no matter how much he tried to shake it off. Even the spike of pain when Bam had jostled about six bruises ghosted on his skin, and yet even that was strange. Foreign. It was pain caused by someone with good intentions. 

Khun grimaced and looked down. Maria .

He hadn’t had someone over in so long that he’d forgotten how to act. Was Bam just as awkward as anyone else? Or was Khun acting weird, and Bam didn’t want to be here?

Khun dragged a hand down his face. He shouldn’t have said he was changing while Bam was there, because honestly, Bam had reacted so strangely... But he’d had to help Ran before and he really didn’t want to go through another hour in a wet shirt.

He stood absentmindedly at a pattern of raps on his door. He was supposed to wear his mask - he wore it like second nature, he’d worn it for so long it had almost become a part of him. He didn’t know what Bam had done to break it.

He opened the door with a frown as he saw the burst of red curls. “Hwaryun,” Khun said, smoothing over his surprise, and she let herself in. He wasn’t expecting a reply or explanation anyway. She didn’t talk much, and he figured she only came over for some company once in a while.

He let his expression fade, but inside there was total turmoil. For the first time, he hadn’t recognised the pattern she’d knocked. What had he been thinking about again?

And now he had amnesia or some shit. Great.

Khun supposed that Hwaryun knew his house like the back of her hand - she’d been in here so many times after all, not nearly as much as his cousins or Ran, but more than anyone else. The running tally so far was so short that a newborn could keep count.

Instead of walking further in though, Hwaryun stopped and stared at him, her face a blank slate of marble. Khun hated that face. He wanted someone easy to read, but he couldn’t deny that it was good practice to have someone like Hwaryun or Maschenny handy, intelligent and more reserved than the people at school.

And he couldn’t blame her. She’d also been though a lot, after all.

Her one eye narrowed at him, then flicked down to his hands, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what she was thinking.

“It’s fine,” Khun said dismissively, and she raised an eyebrow.

“Like hell you are,” she muttered, and turned to walk the familiar path to his room. Khun had no choice but to follow. “Show me.”

He hesitated for a split second, but it was only Hwaryun; he’d known her for years, and though he didn’t trust her fully, she’d seen worse and she knew it.

They went up the stairs silently. Her jumper was scuffed.

Hwaryun shut the door and looked around his room with distaste for a moment before she shot a glance to him that meant hurry the fuck up and started digging in a cabinet for medical supplies like she’d done it a million times.

Which she has, Khun reminded himself. They’d broken into his house dozens of times for supplies.

Khun shifted his gaze away from her and looked down at his hands. He pulled off the gloves gingerly, one finger at a time, revealing a sloppy bandage adorned with splashes of red.

He flexed his fingers experimentally. It hurt like hell, but there was no point showing the pain. There was nothing he could do about it anyway.

Hwaryun looked at him dully as she pointed them to the sink. “What did he do?”

“I tried to block the belt with my hand,” Khun chuckled, rolling his eyes. “Didn’t work, as you can probably tell.” It had gone through so easily that he wondered if it was even a belt. He remembered the knee to his stomach that left him curled on the ground, the kicks to his back that meant he couldn’t even lie down.  No use telling her about those.

Khun watched mildly as she unwrapped the bandage, keeping his fingers still and his face impassive. The sight was gruesome at the least - the cut was ragged and messy, but after he’d inspected it, it probably didn’t reach down to his muscles or nerves.

Hwaryun blanched. “Other hand?” She asked, flicking on the tap and gesturing towards it.

Khun put his hand under the running water. “It’s just one hand, but I couldn’t really show up to school with one glove like an idiot.” He scowled. “I could feel the thing bleeding through the bandages the whole day because of the amount of times I had to open my damn locker.”

“Thought you were ambidextrous... Look at that terrible job you did with the bandages,” she remarked, and he winced as she gently unfurled his fingers. He hadn’t noticed they’d been curling in, and mentally slapped himself.

“I am. But someone would’ve noticed if I kept using the left hand.”

“Nobody’s actually that paranoid. Just you.”

“Hey, it’s called being attentive . Not paranoid,” he scoffed.

She shook her head with a huff. “Why did he leave marks that other people could see? I didn’t think he was that stupid.”

Khun frowned. “He’s about as stupid a Khun can get. As long as nobody else can tell, he doesn’t get in trouble. If anybody else can tell, which they can...”

Hwaryun met his gaze briefly. “You know, that was a pretty good deal for him,” she said fairly. “But not for you. I hope he gets himself into some deep shit.” Her lips were pressed into a thin, frustrated line, eyebrows furrowed, and Khun knew better than to comment on that.

They stood in silence for a minute. Khun took in Hwaryun beside him, a mess of bright red curls and the dirty eyepatch over her right eye.  He didn’t know where she came from, or anything about her family, but if he had to guess...

His eyes narrowed at her. She’d been placed in foster care. A wild, far fetched guess, but he’d never cared to find out.

She unrolled the bandages, her eyes trained on his hand. Khun tilted his head. Her posture was good, but her shoulders were tense, and coupled with her quiet reserve, it wasn’t real confidence - just false authority.

“Hwaryun,” he said, quietly, naturally, not too curious nor quick. Just enough not to garner suspicion.

“Hm?”

“What did you do all day before you met me?”

Her fingers stiffened a little, then continued to twirl the bandage around his palm. She lowered her head so that her red curls cascaded over her eyepatch, shoulders hunching in protectively a little before she drew them back. By the looks of it, her reaction was instinctive.

“I mean... did you go to school?” Khun pressed, and immediately regretted it. That was too far. He shifted his weight and let a little emotion show through on his face. Other people, he noticed, tended not to think before they spoke when they were in pain, and hopefully she’d think this was the case.

“No,” Hwaryun said easily. “I just hung around at home. You know...” she made eye contact, her eyes a startling amber-red in the warm lighting of his bathroom, lingering on his bruises and his cheek and his hand. “Yeah. You’d know.”

Shock jolted through him, and suddenly Khun was uncomfortably aware of how all the times she’d given it away, of how many opportunities he’d had over the years to ask her yet he’d never taken.

“I see.” Khun gritted his teeth. No wonder she’d been so willing to help him. No wonder she stayed with them despite that bitch Rachel obviously throwing her off.

Hwaryun finished bandaging his hand and he let it drop to his side. She really must be used to this - she’d applied it so precisely, twirling around his fingers to wrap around his palm.

“My job’s done. I’ll leave now,” Hwaryun said matter of factly, striding silently past him and out the door.

“Wait,” Khun said, and he almost cringed at how loud it was. The first moment he’d decided Hwaryun could be trusted he started calling after people to wait ? He sighed. Honestly. Look at how weird I am these days.

Hwaryun stopped and angled her body slightly towards him.

Defensive, he noted. Hopeful?

Khun slid open his stupid wardrobe and grabbed some random hoodie. It didn’t matter which, because he must have had about a million of the same fucking ones.

He threw it to Hwaryun. “Take it. Yours looks like it’s about to unravel.”

She looked at him in surprise, clutching the grey fabric awkwardly, then nodded.

“Thank you,” she said hesitantly, then swept out of his room without another word.

Khun waited until her retreating footsteps disappeared, then turned with a restrained sigh. His father would be back soon, probably bearing gifts and promises in an attempt to protect his own fucking reputation far too late. 

He closed his eyes, feeling the twinge of pain lashing across his torso and back and neck, and let his head fall back. All he wanted to do was escape, and maybe it worked - for two years he’d escaped, but now he was stuck in this hellhole despite everything.

Khun‘s face twisted in frustration. He was trapped, he was alone, and fucking dammit he was cold. He stayed there for a minute like a stone, pondering his options. He could go bother Ran, or Shibisu, or Maschenny...

Maria.

Where’s Maria?

Your fault it’s your fault

Something burned the back of his eyes, and without thinking Khun let the feeling dissolve into nothing to maintain his façade, to smooth over any cracks in the icy pond, but it didn’t work. For once, it didn’t work, it wouldn’t work, nothing would ever work out.

Maria-

He tried to ignore the tears staining his face, but it was hard, so hard, it felt unnatural. At least he could keep himself silent. Barely.

Khun found himself back in the study, the world chilled like fragile ice around him as he imagined the warmth of another person around him. It was unbelievably foolish, but he wanted to feel safe again. And for once, another name popped into his head as he let his head fall onto his arms, nervous eyes and soft hair and gold .

Bam.

Chapter Text

Beep.

Beep.

Stop. Shut up.

Beep.

Beep.

What is that sound?

Beep.

Maria opened her eyes. Immediately it was too dark, too empty. It wasn’t home. A sterile stench hit her full force, and she tried to turn her head. Instead, something dug into her face, pulling at points on her arm, and her muscles didn’t respond.

A digital clock was almost blinding on the far wall.

2... 2:51 AM. Monday.

Needles. Mask. Hospital.

Aguero.

Where’s Aguero?

She couldn’t think straight. What had they given her? Propofol? Pentothal? Morphine?

“You shouldn’t be running. You know that.”

Oh.

It was her fault after all. She hadn’t hidden it well. She’d let it show and ended up here. That was just as well. She didn’t think she would’ve lasted much longer anyway.

Something... what... what was it?

Maria tried to relax, but some feeling of unrest overtook her, a deep ache in her that she could differentiate from the strum of pain in her veins.

The medication had messed up her spatial awareness. Her senses were dulled, and now she could only see the outlines of the room from the faint hallway light, hear the dim shuffle of workers outside, feel the tiny pinpricks on her arms, another patch on her shoulder, something warm on her left hand.

No. Someone holding her left hand.

She squinted at the silhouette slumped on the edge of the bed, back rising and falling with soft breaths, fingers tangled with hers, and she instinctively knew it was Aguero.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to tear this world apart.

She wanted to join him fishing at the lake, meet Ran and Maschenny and Kiseia at the dock, see their reflections on the glassy water, dewdrops rolling off the reeds.

Maria couldn’t imagine what he would be feeling every day, forced to go to school and endure Eduan and the stares of his classmates and come here to stay with her. He shouldn’t have to, and now she wasn’t there to support him like how her supported her.

Aguero, her only relative that liked her, accepted her, for her personality.

Aguero, the only one who bore her up while the rest of the family tried to drag her down.

Maria wasn’t the type to change herself for another, to banish her emotions for the sake of appeasing some loser who hurt Aguero, to live her life without a shred of warmth. Dread settled itself into her blood.

At least let Aguero be happy. Please. Someone. Hold him and tell him it’s ok and make him smile and don’t you dare let him live the rest of his life in darkness.

Remember all the while that you don’t deserve him.

...I don’t deserve him either.

It was selfish, but she didn’t want him to leave.

Aguero.

Her breaths were shallow.

It’s not fair.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Stay with me.

-

Hatz sighed. “Please.”

“N. O.”

“Please, Shibisu,” Hatz begged, “give me Endorsi’s book. I have to copy her homework. She has the best handwriting.”

“Oh yeah?” Shibisu said wickedly. “Well then, how about you give me Anaak so I can copy her English notes from last period?”

Bam shook his head in mock disappointment. He leaned in front of Endorsi and suggested, “Why don’t you guys just copy each other?”

Hatz blinked. “Oh... oh yeah,” he said sheepishly, moving away from his huddle over Endorsi’s notes. “You’re right.”

“Boys,” Endorsi muttered, her lips pursed, and Anaak rolled her eyes.

“You say that like you’re not just as dumb.”

The class was in riot as students piled in and fought for the good seats at the back - already taken by him, Isu, Hatz, Anaak and Endorsi. Shibisu and Hatz were holding the sisters hostage from each other, and Bam really didn’t know how his friends could be so utterly clueless sometimes.

Khun still wasn’t in class, and he couldn’t stop his worry mounting. It was hard going through three hours of the day with a big Khun shaped hole in the classrooms, especially now he knew what was going on.

Bam bit his lip. “Isu,” he whispered as subtly as possible, and Shibisu’s face popped around Endorsi’s chair to join him.

“Yeah?”

“Where’s-“

“Quiet!” Evan yelled, and Bam sighed inwardly as they both moved away. Evan dumped down his heavy backpack and clambered onto a mini stool to face the class, shaking his head at a ripple of giggles.

“Alright everyone,” Evan began. “We’ve reached the Jahad unit. You may already know all about this, and you probably do, but it’s part of the syllabus for every year, and you’d better pay attention or fail. Up to you.”

A chorus of groans met Bam’s ears. Anaak rolled her eyes, and to his surprise, Endorsi hid her face too. He’d expected her to preen under the attention - after all, she’d been in the spotlight since he first met her, adoring the eyes of the people on her - but she looked fed up.

Hatz’s eyebrows rose. “Now that’s something you don’t see every day,” he smiled, nudging Endorsi, who made a face at him.

Bam didn’t have to feign disappointment either. He joined in the general chorus of complaints for a different reason; with the door closed, he could no longer hope for a glimpse of Khun.

Evan cleared his throat. “Jahad, the founder and sole influencer of the Middle Tower state. In fact, I believe we have a few descendants in this classroom too...?” Even he sounded immensely bored as every gaze snapped to Anaak and Endorsi.

“Ah, yes. Now, would you two like to-“

“No thank you,” Endorsi said flatly.

“You can do it,” Anaak added.

A murmur shot around the classroom. It was normal for Anaak to act like that, but Endorsi? She was famous around school for being a ‘princess of Jahad,’ and now she was rejecting an opportunity to talk herself up?

Evan clamped his jaw together. “Very well. I get enough of that from Yuri, mind you.”

He pointed at the board as a map projected onto it. “Jahad travelled with ten powerful leaders and started a company, as... company raked... richer than Bill Gates...”

Bam couldn’t even listen past that. He’d bet all he had that the whole class knew Jahad’s history by now, and he really, really wanted to find Khun.

Khun. His heart definitely approved.

Bam turned as Evan droned on. Cassano and Horyang were giants in front. Goseng sat beside Horyang, her eyes moony behind her thick glasses, doodling hearts onto her page.

Endorsi was next to him, huge amber eyes, red lips and chestnut hair and an expression he’d never seen on her before. Normally she looked smug and put together. Now she looked like she’d spent the whole night working on calculus.

Bam frowned thoughtfully. She was actually quite pretty, if he thought about it. No wonder she said the guys were ‘all over her.’

He rested his chin on his hand and looked back at Evan’s tiny figure reaching on tip toe to tap the board. The atmosphere was airy and peaceful, like half the class was already asleep.

Bam remembered the first time he’d walked into this class. Endorsi was the one who’d took him into the group first, her gaze passing over him once before she’d practically dragged him into the circle - so he supposed he did have some sort of special place for Endorsi in his heart. Maybe Shibisu wouldn’t even have befriended him if not for her.

Frowning, Bam let his cheek drop to his arms as Evan droned on. He never showed enough appreciation for Endorsi despite all that; she was always kind to him, and even though she didn’t show it much, Bam still thought she really cared about her friends.

His thoughts wandered over to Hatz and Anaak. A little nagging sensation in his chest told him that they’d never really accepted him. He knew it wasn’t true though.

Hatz was quiet, Anaak was snarky, but Bam remembered their first Christmas Eve together when he’d mentioned that he didn’t have Christmas decorations in his house. Hatz had turned up the next day with what must have been a 10kg Christmas tree and Anaak with a huge stock of baubles for him, both grinning proudly under the weight.

Bam thought back on it a little guiltily, because his gifts for them were pathetic in comparison, and he sure as hell couldn’t afford to repay them.

“...Arie, the swordsman, influential over original... Blossom, nice cafe downtown by one of her daughters, and... Khun, huge control over this area actually, he...”

Anticipation hung like a stone in Bam’s chest. Khun still hadn’t showed up, and it was lunch soon. He could always ask one of Khun’s relatives, but if Eduan had done something he was no doctor.

And, well, he was scared. He was scared that he’d do something wrong or Khun wanted to be alone and didn’t want him to know or care or bother looking, and after Rachel, the one thought in the world that Bam couldn’t bear was losing Khun.

-

Bam stopped short at Endorsi’s table.

Endorsi was in the line for the first time in forever, men ogling at her and girls shooting jealous side eyes. He counted Shilial, Lilial, Maschenny, Yuri. No Maria, and he had no hopes of finding Ran out of this huge cafeteria. 

“Sorry, has anyone seen Maria?” He asked hopefully, and he was met with three stone statues and one Yuri.

“No, she hasn’t been in contact for the past few days actually,” Yuri replied, her dark ponytail bouncing over her shoulders. “But...”

She patted the seat next to her and grinned. “You could always sit here! And ask us anything, Maschenny knows everything.”

Ah. I forgot that Maschenny was a Khun too, Bam thought.. Whoops.

“Maschenny, do you know where Khun is?” Bam asked, nerves jumping around in his belly. Maschenny stared back at him, her eyes like crystalline stone and sharp like broken glass and Bam was trapped, again, like a bug in a web.

Maschenny’s eyes were different though. They didn’t make heat coil in his stomach and climb up his cheeks. They were no match for Khun’s. 

The moment stretched on for so long that Bam wasn’t sure it was hesitation. It just felt like she was sizing him up, peering into his soul, pulling out his secrets and laying them bare in front of her. A long, calculated gaze.

“No,” she finally said; the single word rang out like a command, and Bam was fucking unnerved.

“Oh... ok, thank you anyway,” he replied hastily. He wanted nothing more to join his friends at their table now, leave the eyes of the cafeteria to Endorsi, because Maschenny? On a scale of 1-100, she was off the scale. She was straight up unapproachable to someone like him. She was the princess, he was the slave in this school.

Mr Arie glided in front of him, parting the babbling crowd of students like the Red Sea. Bam was just about to brave the din and push through the mass of flailing kids (he bet they were all struggling to see the Jahad kids) when Maschenny appeared beside him.

Great.

“Try Hansung’s office,” she murmured this time, as if she was scared someone might hear. Bam almost snorted at the thought - the noise level in this place was enough to cover up a rocket launch.

But. Hansung’s office meant Khun was injured again. Worry kickstarted in his chest, hot and urgent and painful.

He looked at Maschenny again, and she looked worried, not so much like the polished gem she was. A multi-faceted sapphire, with cracks sprawling over its fragile surface under pressure.

“And... tell me if you find him.”

Bam set his jaw. “Alright. I’ll be back if I have time.”

The last thing he heard was Endorsi’s cry of “I’m vegetarian, I said-“ before he lost Maschenny and twisted his way to the nurse, his footsteps echoing cheerfully across the floors, louder and louder as the sound from the cafeteria diminished and it was just him and the office, him and possibly Khun on the other side.

He wiped his palms on his pants as he reached the pristine door and knocked.

There was a slight rustle. “Come in,” a muffled voice said, and Bam pushed open the door.

Immediately the smell of coffee blasted in his face and Bam almost reeled back, his eyes watering. Hansung hurriedly brushed past him and closed the door.

“Don’t want this aroma escaping,” he tutted wisely, and Bam raised his eyebrows, resuming a normal expression. The smell was a little stronger than a mere aroma, if you asked him.

A steaming cup was pressed into Bam’s hand, and he looked up in surprise as Hansung nodded. “Please take it. None of my patients want coffee for some reason...”

“Oh. Thank you,” Bam said. Gee, he wondered why nobody was a taker. He’d had enough coffee for a lifetime already.

He took a sip. It was a perfect brew though. Not too bitter.

Hansung slid back to his chair and smiled at him. “So,” he began before Bam had a chance to speak, his eyes sparkling. “Come to delight me with your medical shortcomings? Or are you...”

He looked at Bam dead seriously, and Bam couldn’t help but think there was something going on. What was with everyone just staring at him and someone reading his mind?

His reflection stared up at him from his cup. “Um, I-“

“Here to find your boyfriend? Because he’s over there, behind the curtain. I’ve just patched him up again.”

Bam almost spat out his coffee.

“What-“ he choked, coffee splashing all over his face as Hansung guffawed at his expression. “I’m not- Khun’s not- what?!”

Bam gaped openly as Hansung continued slapping his table in laughter (did he even care that all his paperwork was being destroyed?). He felt his face turn scarlet. How could the nurse know what Khun was to him? It wasn’t like he liked him. Khun was just special...

And blue. When had blue become his favourite colour?

Hansung finally sighed and wiped away a tear, and Bam reached over and grabbed a tissue to wipe the drink off his face.

Hansung nodded approvingly at him. “But you see,” he said, his voice still shaking in hidden laughter, “Not once did I mention that the patient’s name was Khun. You filled that information in yourself.”

Bam sat in shock as realisation hit him like a truck and he probably looked like a fucking fire truck, god dammit. “But- but- no, this is a... misunderstanding! You’ve got it all wrong, Miss- I mean Sir-“

Hansung chuckled and pushed him towards the curtain. “You never know. Maybe you do like him.”

And just like that, Bam found himself face to face with Khun.

“Oh... hello!” Bam greeted nervously. Khun looked like a mess, but a hot mess nonetheless - Bam, on the other hand, probably looked so shit that he couldn’t even be considered a mess.

“Hey.” Khun gave him that little smile and something in Bam’s chest sighed and melted away for hibernation, but he knew it would reappear the moment Khun was out of sight. “Wanna sit?” He patted the bed next to him. Thank God he didn’t mention whatever the hell he’d most likely heard from Bam and Hansung’s conversation.

Bam sat down in a daze. “Um. I came looking for you, because- because you didn’t show up to class, and Maschenny, uh. Yeah. It’s lunch.” Fuck. Khun smelled so good that even the coffee was drowned out.

“I’m aware,” Khun said wryly, raising an eyebrow. He looked down. “Thank you. For coming to find me.”

Bam grinned stupidly. “No problem,” he replied, and when Khun didn’t answer red flags slammed into his addled thoughts, even though it was probably nothing.

He tilted his head to get a better look. The bruises didn’t look as fresh. The bandage on his face looked new, and his hands were gripped tightly together, still in those fingerless gloves. There didn’t seem to be any new injuries, but he couldn’t just assume anything like this.

“How much sleep did you get last night?” Bam’s mouth moved automatically, and for once he didn’t mind. Concern seemed to overrule his inability to function around Khun.

“Maybe... four hours,” Khun replied after the briefest pause, his fingers strangling each other as he talked. “It’s fine, Bam. I don’t sleep much more than this on a daily basis.”

Bam frowned. “Well then, Khun. Fix your sleep schedule. We’re in high school.”

Khun’s eyes narrowed and flitted to his. “You... Why’d you say my name so weirdly?”

“Why’d you say mine so weirdly?”

A ghost of a smile appeared played on Khun’s lips. “Fair enough.”

“My name means night in Korean. Or chestnut,” Bam added, then blinked. Why was he saying this? Then he looked at Khun, his beautiful form and messy hair and sharp features and his perfect lips, his skin like porcelain.

Ah. That’s why. And frankly, it was better talking on autopilot and actually forming full sentences than embarrassing himself again.

Khun really smiled this time. “Chestnut...” he murmured. “Bet you’d taste delicious.”

“Wanna test that?” He countered. Khun looked so taken aback that Bam actually laughed, surprised at his own confidence. It was actually easy to talk to Khun. He just didn’t need to overthink everything like he normally did, draw up the bad jokes he’d learned from Shibisu, and hope for the best.

He got a laugh from Khun too, though it was tinged with melancholy, and Bam frowned as the warm buzz in his chest died a little, but he could still imagine Khun’s lips, and he probably tasted like heaven.

“You know, I think our friends are just waiting for you to approach them. Just try talking to them. I’m sure Isu has...” Bam trailed off.

His hands...

Bam reached over and gently pried Khun’s hands apart so they rested in his lap separately, saving them from death by strangulation. “That can’t be good for the injury,” he said matter-of-factly.

Khun had no reaction for a dangerous second. It was almost silent outside, and Bam was fairly certain that Hansung was trying to eavesdrop.

Khun just locked eyes with him, those stupid lovely eyes, and though Bam could see the pain and conflicting emotions burning underneath he was certain that Khun had perfect control, that Khun knew what the world saw in him every second he wasn’t alone.

His breath caught in his throat.

Khun must have been teasing him. The moment was far too delicate, like a sphere of crystal on the edge of a precipice, time stretching on for eternity and his heart was beating so hard that he was sure even Hansung could hear it.

Was he... leaning forward?

Bam didn’t know how to move after this. He needed Endorsi’s advice. One misstep and this would all come crumbling down - Bam didn’t want to lose Khun. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. Khun was too precious to him, and suddenly-

An epiphany.

He liked Khun. He really, really, really liked him.

Fuck this. Was he really that clueless?

Khun was so, so close to him, and the bell... the bell was so loud.

Wait, what?

Khun withdrew almost instantly at the sound. The delicacy shattered in the space of one breath. The stretch of time snapped and resumed its normal cycle.

Bam glared at the stupid speaker in the office that kept blaring the sound. Damn you, he thought angrily. I was having a moment!

Hansung opened the curtain with a flourish and the superior air of someone who’d been in on the conversation for the past fifteen minutes but was currently pretending that they didn’t hear a thing.

“Ah, it’s class time. Khun, do you feel fine for attendance now?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Hansung replied, patting Khun on the shoulder as they passed each other, the whole ordeal over as smoothly as if they’d done it a million times.

Bam followed Khun out. He was shocked at how fast Khun had regained his composure - he looked so smug and self-confident as usual, like nothing had changed, like his skin wasn’t littered with bruises and they hadn’t just been having a moment half a minute ago.

Bam’s eyebrows knitted. Did that not mean anything to him?

He closed the door behind him and turned to follow the slow line of students back to the lockers when Khun tugged his sleeve back.

“Bam,” he said. “I’m sorry about that.” Again, there was no expression on his face - something just there, behind his eyes, but it was so well hidden he couldn’t tell what it was.

Bam was thunderstruck. “What? Why are you apologising for that?” He just didn’t get it. He was happy about it; Khun was sorry. Why was Khun so... so...

Perfect, his mind auto filled for him.

“Why do you always act like that?” Bam asked, then cringed. “I’m sorry. That came out wrong. But - you know what I mean? I just-“ Just want to hold your hand. Just want to hug you. Just want you. “-wondered.”

“Hm.” Khun hesitated, his gaze darting to the ground for a split second before his sly eyes snapped back up. “You’ll have to keep wondering then.”

“What-“

Khun just turned and continued walking to the lockers, that cocky bastard. Bam was in disbelief. “It’s time for class,” Khun said, louder this time. “Don’t be late.”

Bam’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. It was scary how fast Khun could drop his mask or pull on a personality like a velvet cloak around him, and even scarier was how well he could do it.

At this point, Bam didn’t even know which side of Khun was real.

What he did know was that he wanted to kiss him either way, and kill Eduan, that son of a bitch.

-

“Bam!”

“Yes?”

“The ground’s disgusting.”

“Why? I think it’s alright.”

“It’s wet.”

“We’re next to a pool, Endorsi.”

“Jesus, why do we have such a random swimming lesson in the middle of the term?” She sighed and pulled her towel closer around her. “Anyway, it’s a shame you can’t swim today. I kind of wanted to tell you something.”

“Oh?” Bam raised his head curiously. “You can still tell me out of the pool though.”

“Quiet!” Mr Lero yelled, and the chatter stilled immediately. A pigeon skimmed across the water and Endorsi wrinkled her nose.

It was sunny today, light washing over the pool and reflecting off in blinding waves. Perfect weather for the main characters in a fanfiction to go swimming, Bam thought fondly. Alas, I’ve forgotten my swimsuit.

He felt like he was really wise now. He saw Khun sitting with Novick, some guy in the class Bam had never talked to, and now he could recognise the strange emotion rising up and smouldering within him - jealousy.

Bam was so inexperienced in the world that he’d never had any reason to feel it before. He’d also felt it when he saw Rachel with Yura, but there was no time to dwell on that shit when Khun was right there diagonally in front of him.

Bam leaned forward. Hatz and Anaak were still pointedly turned away from Khun, and his heart sank. He just wanted everyone to be friends, he wanted Rachel back; after all, that was what she’d told him. It was good to make friends.

He wouldn’t give up Isu and the group for Khun, but he wouldn’t give up Khun for the world. Bam sighed. He’d be stuck at crossroads until they got everything between them sorted.

Lero Ro looked especially disgruntled as he shattered Bam’s train of thought. “We have a special guest today,” he said grudgingly. “Please welcome Quant Blitz... You may know him from his, uh, action figure line.”

He turned away, looking thoroughly embarrassed as Quant jumped out from behind a pole to a smattering of muffled laughter.

Bam stifled his laughter as fast as possible. Rachel had taught him that it was rude to laugh at people you weren’t close friends with. Obviously she was right, but... Well, Quant was a lot less muscular than Bam had seen on his action figures at work.

He took in Quant’s fiery red hair that could’ve passed as a volcano eruption as he grinned at the class. “I’m actually a friend of Ro’s,” he acclaimed proudly, clapping Lero on the back.

“Yes, yes,” Lero said, looking rather like he wanted to jump into the pool and drown. “Mr Blitz contacted me yesterday. He thinks his skills in PE will benefit this year’s swimming class exceptionally.”

Shibisu snorted so loudly that Endorsi almost fell backwards, then covered it up with a hasty fake sneeze.

Quant grinned broadly. “Ok kids. I want to see your diving skills - come on now, jump in, jump in,” he fussed as the class rose and walked reluctantly to the edge, and only he and Khun remained seated. Endorsi poked the water with her toe with a disgusted expression.

“Hi Khun,” Bam said, shuffling over to sit next to him. Lero was standing with his eyebrows raised as Quant yelled orders at the flailing students in the water.

“Hey.” Khun’s eyes swept the length of him and Bam imagined he could feel it, like the gentle brush of a feather, and looked down to hide his smile.

“Why aren’t you swimming?” Khun asked, so casually, so controlled, and Bam had the horrible feeling that he’d messed up somehow.

It felt like something was missing, something that was just there in the atmosphere of Hansung’s office.

Bam frowned. No, he didn’t think it was the smell of coffee that was missing.

“I forgot my swimsuit,” Bam grinned sheepishly. “Uh, what are they called? Trunks?” In truth, he didn’t have one, but he didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for him. It was fine not swimming anyways. Rachel had said pools were unhygienic.

Khun laughed briefly. “It’s fine. I don’t think I have swimsuits either.” And Bam almost choked.

“How did you-?” He asked in shock.

Khun smiled, a polite one. Nothing like the one he’d given in his house. “You’re easy to see through,” he said.

Bam nodded. “I suppose I would be...” he said slowly. “Rachel taught me to be honest, so I guess that’s why I’m bad at lying.”

Khun tensed nearly imperceptibly, one eyebrow raising as the class splashed to Quant’s instructions. His gaze rose almost lazily to Bam’s, pinning him down for one second, and time seemed to slow, the buzz of voices around them like he had cotton buds stuffed in his ears.

“Rachel? She used to live with you, right?”

Bam frowned. That was a bit weird. “Yes... you know her?”

Khun smirked, sunlight bouncing off his silver earring and off his pale blue hair. “We have some history.” He looked so ethereal, and- and it was time to stop. Bam couldn’t really be lusting over Khun every lesson they had together, even though he was gorgeous.

“Oh. She was really nice. I think you two would’ve been good friends,” Bam said numbly, because he was almost 99% sure Khun was looking at his lips. Suddenly he felt extremely self conscious again, a cheap doll sitting next to this luxury boy.

Khun shrugged, then turned away too late to hide his wince. “You’re the trusting type. Don’t trust anyone like me or Rachel.”

Bam opened his mouth to argue, but then decided against it. After all, yesterday Rachel had left him just like that, his only influence and one closest friend gone.

Yeah. She’s gone. Get over it.

He swallowed. “But I do trust you. And I’m sure you won’t do anything stupid like Rachel did.”

That got a grimace out of Khun, though Bam couldn’t be sure whether it was because of his injuries or what Bam had said.

Then Khun’s mouth twisted into a wry smile and he laughed bitterly, the sound like sweet cruel birdsong. “You never know,” he said. Bam watched Anaak tackle Hatz underwater with a shriek, then looked up when a shadow blocked out the sun - it was Quant, who grinned broadly.

“Now, why aren’t you two swimming? Let me hear your excuses.”

Bam raised his eyebrows. Quant sounded like he was stuck in his action figure counterpart in the middle of giving a heroic speech. Maybe he’d lost the ability to talk like a regular person.

“I left my stuff at home,” Bam said.

“I wasn’t aware we had swimming,” Khun said, pointedly looking at Bam like don’t talk about it, he doesn’t need to know. Luckily, Bam got the message (it was hard to concentrate with someone like Khun in front of him) and promptly shut up before he started talking.

Quant nodded, his neutral expression somehow still comical. “I’ll-“

Lero Ro marched in and dragged him out of the line of fire as Horyang dove and water cascaded out of the pool. “Khun, you help Quant with his half of the class. Bam, come with me.”

His words almost slipped right past Bam’s ears. He supposed the atmosphere was too nice now; it was comfortably warm and though the class (minus Endorsi) looked like they were having fun in the water, he much preferred sitting beside Khun - so close that he could’ve leaned over and rested his head on Khun’s shoulder. Bam was too chicken to try, but it was a nice thought regardless.

Then Khun nodded and stood, his hands in his pockets. Bam raised his eyebrows blearily, took a moment to remember what was going on, then winced sympathetically; Quant had taken right to demonstrating wide, flailing strokes, and there was no doubt that it would hurt like hell if he made Khun take over.

“See you later,” Bam called, immediately regretting it, because he’d probably sounded like a desperate loser.

Khun nodded almost dismissively, and Bam’s heart sunk.

He followed Lero Ro reluctantly to the opposite side of the pool, light flashing off Shibisu’s goggles into his eyes, and tried not to stare at Khun for the rest of the lesson.

Half an hour later, Bam had failed yet again - because damn, Khun was one fine specimen - and the class was climbing out of the pool.

Lero Ro clapped Bam on the back. “Good work today. I can hardly believe you were able to handle this bunch,” he sighed exasperatedly, his words almost drowned out by the slashing behind him. “You can go after the rest of the class finishes changing.”

He frowned. “Anaak, I’d like a word outside. There’s a limit to how many times one can accidentally dive bomb.”

Bam thanked the teacher and hung around the back of the crowd pushing through the pool gates, hoping to see a glimpse of pale blue hair amidst the rest. Someone pushed against him. He stepped back, craning his head over them. The person moved against him again.

Bam frowned in irritation. “Wha-“

He stopped short. It was Endorsi.

“Oh... hi Endorsi,” he grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, I thought you were someone random...” he tried to look discreetly over her shoulder, and a glint of silver caught his eye. Was it Khun’s earring? Just maybe?

Endorsi exhaled. “Bam, I have to tell you something.”

He blinked. “What is it?”

She stepped closer, just a little. She smelled like chlorine now and something like a lingering scent of flowery perfume, and Bam couldn’t help but think that Khun smelled better, because Khun was just far superior to everyone else on earth.

He mentally slapped himself for being rude.

“I- um.” Endorsi faltered, red creeping up her cheeks, and her golden eyes fell to the side.

“Are you ok?” Bam asked, his concern spiking. Endorsi was acting really weird.

“Fine,” she muttered. She was just wearing her one piece amber swimsuit, a towel draped over her shoulder and water dripping down her skin, and it dimly occurred to him that Endorsi wouldn’t approach him like this if not to prove a point.

Prove what though? He thought desperately. Girls are fucking confusing.

“Bam, I...” Endorsi began in a rush, looking incredibly out of place, then stopped abruptly and changed course. “What would your ideal partner be like?”

“Uh.” Was all Bam could reply, because Khun had just dropped a pool noodle into the water and was being scolded by Quant. “Ideal partner? I’m not sure...”

Endorsi just continued looked at him expectantly, so Bam kept talking. What else could he do? “Smart, I guess? Um, tall... shoulder length hair... Blue?”

He stopped short, because he was literally just describing Khun. Fucking hell, he couldn’t think of anyone except Khun, his dark eyes and hair and his smile.

When Endorsi spoke this time, it was barely more than a whisper. “You like Khun.” And if Khun heard, he had no reaction.

Bam blinked. “Yeah.”

She smiled a little, but her whole face screamed disappointment. “Well then. I’ll go change now.”

Ah shit, Bam thought, scowling. Shit. I was supposed to keep my mouth shut, wasn’t I?

He had to act fast to change the topic, because Endorsi looked an inch away from punching something. His brain turned harder than ever to think of something to say.

“By the way,” Bam blurted out, and she turned back to him.

“Hm?”

“You should talk to Khun. I think you guys would get along well, even after what happened before,” he ventured.

Endorsi regarded him silently for a second, her eyes darkening, then nodded and walked away. The gate swung shut behind her.

Bam waited until she was safely in the change room before he facepalmed. What was that even about? Was he really this clueless?

He didn’t have time to think about it, because Khun appeared next to him a second later.

They fell into step beside each other out the gate. The silence would have been almost tangible if not for the stream of students leaving school, and Bam - grand master of social skills - had nothing good enough to say.

When Bam finally reached his locker he was almost a nervous wreck, and Khun’s warmth right beside him didn’t help. The chatter of the remaining students indoors mingled into a buzz that did nothing to dispel the fat block of silence that had separated him and Khun for the past three minutes.

Bam heard Khun slam him locker shut, then hastily picked up his things and followed suit.

“Are- are you ok?” Bam asked hesitantly. He was reluctant to talk about anything too deep, especially after the weird awkwardness between them he’d felt on the bench.

Khun just nodded, uncharacteristically silent, though his eyes were sparkling blue under the hallway lights and under different circumstances Bam could’ve cried at the pure display of visuals before him.

“Is it your...” Bam gestured at Khun’s multiple injuries helplessly, feeling sick as he realised how many there were. A surge of protectiveness rose in him, but almost immediately it was curbed by doubt. Bam wasn’t strong. He wasn’t particularly skilled at anything.

If they faced Eduan together, could he really help Khun at all?

But he had to be a good friend no matter what. “You can tell me,” he said firmly.

Khun cut in front of him with one perfect step, maintaining his distance. Bam wanted to reach out and pull him forward.

“And if I said yes,” Khun began dangerously, and Bam was stunned to hear his voice laced with pain, “what could you possibly do about it? Send me back to Hansung? Tell your friends, drop me anywhere else in the world that isn’t my house? Because my father will find me no matter what.”

Bam frowned. “No. I just... I wanted to check on you.”

“Mm.” Khun tilted his head, his stance loose but more intimidating than ever. “Then what?”

Bam opened his mouth, then closed it under Khun’s withering stare, ignoring the heat in his cheeks. Stay with you until you’re ok sounded so fucking generic, but it was true, it was all he wanted to do.

Khun took half a step closer, still not getting too close. “Tell me.”

“Well I’d-“ Bam swallowed, gathering his courage. “Be here for you. And you wouldn’t be alone.”

Rachel. You told me I wouldn’t be lonely, you liar-

Khun looked a little surprised, just a little, then smiled. “That’s cute,” he replied, shouldering his bag. His hand rose almost of its own accord towards Bam, but it moved away after a split second like it always did. “Let’s go.”

Bam tried his hardest not to grin like an idiot as he followed Khun out into the wide stretch of concrete and artificial greenery. He felt like his circuits had fried.

Bam shook his head. Khun hadn’t even touched him. He was getting worked up for nothing.

They parted ways as Khun walked over to join his relatives, and Bam skipped down to meet Shibisu. Anaak and Hatz were fawning over something he couldn’t see, and as usual, most heads were turned to Endorsi.

Shibisu waved as he reached them. “Bam, what took you so long?” He asked, his hair still dripping from their swimming lesson.

“Uhh... talking,” Bam said. It was a horrible dodge, but hopefully Shibisu wouldn’t notice. He leaned over and saw a massive, shaggy grey dog that Anaak and Hatz were patting, and his eyes widened.

“Is that-“

Shibisu smirked. “Yeah, never knew Hatz was so soft - Elaine finally found her lost dog.”

“Looks more like a wolf to me,” Endorsi deadpanned, walking over to them. She seemed to be deliberately avoiding Bam’s eyes.

He spotted two unfamiliar people leaning on the edge of the stone fountain with Yuri; a tall man talking animatedly to a woman who looked like she’d just come from a year long ski trip, and would rather go back than keep listening to him.

“Who are they?” Bam asked.

Shibisu turned from Elaine’s dog and his jaw dropped. “Detective Urek Mazino! Or policeman, I think he has a bunch of jobs... Dunno who the lady is though, but she seems familiar.”

Endorsi seemed to be fighting an internal battle, and settled for looking uncomfortably at the ground. “That’s Garam Jahad-“ this got an ohhh of recognition from Shibisu- “One of my relatives. I’ve always wanted to meet her, but my father probably wouldn’t want me to...”

“Wait, why not?”

“She was some kind of prodigy. Everyone thought she’d climb the ranks of Jahad’s business, but she dropped out of the family. Become some wildcard in the company with Urek... My father wouldn’t want me following her example.”

“But he wouldn’t know that you’d met her?” Bam said.

Endorsi’s gaze slid right past his and she nodded. “I guess.” She looked like she wanted to say more, but she trailed off and turned herself the other way.

“Uh. Is she mad at me?” Bam whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Isu. Subtlety was really not his thing; he really hoped she wouldn’t overhear.

“Dunno,” Shibisu whispered back, and Bam almost cringed at how loud and obvious they were. “She said she was gonna talk to you after swimming. Was she acting weird there?”

Thankfully Yuri spotted Bam out of the corner of her eye, beamed, and waved all three of them closer, saving him from telling Shibisu about their awkward encounter.

“Perfect timing,” Endorsi muttered under her breath.

Yuri smoothed down her red skirt somewhat nervously. “Hey guys. This is Urek, this is Garam- my cousin... third cousin? Not sure anymore.”

Urek inclined his head in a mock bow. “You may have heard of us. Specifically, me.”

Garam slapped him.

“Ah, hello,” Bam said. He had no idea why Yuri had called them over. “I’m Bam.”

Shibisu was on the verge of bowing. “I’m Shibisu. It’s an honour to meet you, Miss Garam, Mr Urek,” he said reverently.

Garam smiled amusedly, her silver-blue hair streaked with gold in the sun. “Nice to meet you too. We’re not celebrities though. There’s really no need to be so formal.”

Yuri nodded wisely. “They’re just friends of mine.”

Shibisu looked very impressed at this, but Bam didn’t know how to react, so he just looked shocked and nodded. Yuri seemed fine with that. Her smile still had a little girl’s innocence.

Urek patted Garam’s shoulder. “Accept the fame, Garam... Anyway, you guys can call us if you’re in trouble, even though it’s unlikely. The normal police are useless, and plus, I need to prove myself and get a pay rise.”

A business card materialised in his hand and he slid it to Bam. “Now, Yuri, about those movies you borrowed... I’m going to have to take Up back.”

”Dammit, I haven’t watched it yet!”

Urek shrugged. “Garam wants it. She said something about breaking the CD...?”

“Oh- BREAK-” Yuri said with wide eyes, and promptly dissolved into helpless laughter.

Bam flipped over the card. There were contact details, and some sort of white tree was imprinted behind a bold, elaborate script: ‘WOLHAIKSONG.’

Garam turned her eyes to Endorsi. “And you must be Endorsi. Jahad’s new high heels on display.”

Endorsi flashed her such a Hollywood-worthy smile that Bam could actually hear half the guys in the area sigh. “Garam.” There was a hint of curiosity in her voice, though her eyes were wary. “The shoes that fell out of the display case.”

Garam laughed. “It’s not so bad.” She waved her hand at everyone staring, and a bunch of guys blushed and turned away. “Better a runaway from the Jahad family than this,” she said with distaste.

Endorsi’s eyebrows knitted. “To be honest, I used to like this. But now...”

Bam sensed his cue to leave, hurriedly pulled Shibisu away by the sleeve and left Garam and Endorsi alone.

“Whyyy, Bam, why?” Shibisu groaned. “I’ll look like a dumbass if I approach them again!”

“I think they started to talk about something personal. And we were just standing there staring, so I thought we may as well go.”

“...As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right,” Shibisu said, kicking a rock that flew forward and wedged itself perfectly between Hatz’s feet. He gave a deep sigh. “I’ll never get my autograph now.”

Anaak swung herself off the wall easily and the four of them set off at a lazy pace together.

“Hatz, would you by any chance want a dog?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok, let’s just get Hatz a dog for his birthday then.”

“He can’t leave the dog at home alone, Anaak!”

“Oh yeah. Forgot about that.”

”Geez. You’re so obvious.”

Bam caught sight of three blonde/blue heads on the opposite side of the fountain. Maschenny looked relieved, Ran looked grumpy as hell, Khun looked like a lost runway model, and Maria was nowhere to be seen.

As he watched, Maschenny checked the time and frowned, then said something to Khun and took Ran away with her, presumably to some department staff room. Khun stayed leaning on the fountain.

“Guys, wait a minute,” Bam said loudly. “Anyone have anything important on today?”

Anaak frowned suspiciously and everyone shook their heads. “Why?”

“Because...” Bam stepped behind them and turned Anaak and Hatz by the shoulders. “Khun’s waiting there. You finally have the chance to talk to him, work out whatever the hell happened between you-“

“No,” Anaak said stubbornly, crossing her arms.

Hatz raised an eyebrow. “Getting just a little ahead of ourselves here.”

“Come on, I think Bam’s right. You should just get it over and done with,” Shibisu added, to Bam’s immense relief. If Isu hadn’t backed him up he would’ve just retreated somewhere and hid in embarrassment.

Bam sighed as Shibisu shoved their friends towards the fountain amidst a torrent of panicked complaints.

“Thanks, Isu,” he said, and Shibisu grinned.

“No problem. I’ll make sure Endorsi gets in there too when she’s done with Garam.”

“If this works, I’ll really owe you one!” Bam called, breaking into a jog, because plot some cruel deity required him to always be running late for work. “Gotta go. Bye!”

Bam smiled inwardly as he turned the corner. Now, he thought, reaching into his pocket to make sure the card was secure, I have Wolhaiksong to do something about Eduan.

Chapter Text

Bam skidded to a stop at the door in confusion. The sound of construction greeted him from inside Evankhell’s Gaming Hell, as well as the tinny blast of music from a stereo.

What the- ‘closed for renovation’? He thought incredulously, trying to catch his breath. The white sign winked back at him. How come I didn’t know about this...? He peered inside, trying to see past the closed blinds, when someone swung open the door and Bam almost fell inside with a yelp.

A tiny man with a tilted blue cap looked up at him grumpily. “Yes. What do you want?”

“Uh-“ Bam began nervously, unsure of whether he should bend down to match this guy’s height or not. “I’m supposed to work here, but I didn’t know there was construction today. Could you tell me what happened-?”

The man shrugged. “Sorry. I dunno exactly, but it seems something crashed and it caused this. We were hired at short notice, but I’m pretty sure you won’t be working here anytime soon,” he chuckled, gesturing inside, then cleared his throat and puffed out his chest. “Is that all?”

Bam wanted more details (what on earth happened? It looked like a bomb had detonated in the middle of the wall), but refrained. He didn’t want to annoy the workers more. “Yes. Thanks for your time, uh...” He looked down for a tag on the man’s clothes. “Mr Love.”

Love nodded curtly. Bam heard a faint yell of “What’s the status on the fried chicken?” Before the door closed on him.

Bam sighed and plopped down on the bench outside, pulling out his phone from his bag, and all of a sudden three messages pinged up at him from his screen.

Ah, he mused as he swiped through the texts. Of course. My phone was off.

Shibisu:

1 attached image

He’d sent a meme. A terrible one at that.

Ms. Evankhell:

Hey kid, the store is closed for emergency renovation because one of the shelves exploded. I don’t know how this happened but you can take a day off :) relax :)

Mr. Jinsung Ha:

Bam, sorry for the short notice but don’t come to work today - someone tried to move a shelf by herself and ended up destroying half the shop. We’ll let you know when we re-open ASAP.

He looked up slowly. Well... that explains it.

A streak of red flashed in Bam’s periphery and he jerked back to attention. That was the same girl he’d seen just days ago. Why did she keep appearing here?

Drop it, a small voice said in the back of his head. Don’t waste your time.

Yes, another added. Listen to me. You can’t replace Rachel with another one so fast-

Bam gritted his teeth and ignored them both firmly, sprinting around the back of the shop to chase after the girl.

“Yo.”

Wait, what-

He stopped moving and doubled back to see the girl standing on the edge of the sidewalk next to a bus stop, her red hair now tucked into a grey hoodie. He would’ve run right past her if she hadn’t spoken.

“Looking for me?” She asked with a slight smile, more a statement than a question, and with a jolt Bam realised she only had one eye - or rather, the other was covered in an eyepatch, and he looked away quickly to stop himself from staring.

“Um, yes, actually. I was wondering...” he nodded, trailing off, realising that if he asked why she was always here he’d sound like a stalker.

A bus zoomed by, breaking the ensuing silence, and Bam glanced up to see her waiting for the rest of his sentence.

Well shit. This is awkward.

“I was wondering why you kept appearing around here. Since I’ve seen you a few times...?” He tried, and she merely blinked - or winked, whichever one it was - and tugged on the strings of her hoodie.

He pursed his lips thoughtfully. She didn’t look bad, but she looked... Sad. Like a wild animal being forcefully tamed. Or a human who walked the streets alone, hunting for a purpose.

Huh. Was he high or something? That was the weirdest shit he’d thought in a while. 

The girl seemed to settle on an answer. “I just pass by here on the way to a friends house,” she said simply, her tone flat. A real subtle indicator that the conversation was over.

He opened his mouth, about to ask if she was ok, but something stopped him. It was just a simple question but... it felt like he was pushing her boundaries. Instead, Bam did what Bam did best; he nodded, stood there awkwardly, and waited for her to make the next move.

A bird trilled softly as it landed on a branch above them.

A cicada chirped from his left.

...Her next move was taking awfully long.

Waaait a sec, why does she look like she’s about to cry? What did I do?! Bam panicked inwardly, furrowing his eyebrows. But I have to respect her privacy. I shouldn’t ask her anything, right?

And as if she’d just realised as well, the girl glanced up and away. “Ok then. I guess I’ll, uh, see you around,” she muttered. Just like that, she turned to go, and Bam had just left the shittiest first impression ever. There was no way he could let her leave like that.

“W-wait!” He stammered after her. There was something... What had Isu said again? Something about a red haired girl all those days ago... “What’s your name?”

Yes, Bam realised what a bad decision this was. Somedays he just couldn’t help possessing remarkable social skills. Unfortunately for him, this was not one of those days.

It’s right on the tip of my tongue, Bam frowned, rummaging through his mind for the elusive answer, some remnant of memory. I wanted to find her because- because...

She didn’t even pause, just kept walking steadily forward. A bit rude, if you asked him.

“Hwaryun.”

-

She was surprised.

It was that guy. Bam. She didn’t know how his face filled with genuine concern for her, a complete stranger. She didn’t know why he bothered to stand there for so long and waste his own time, gaping like a fish out of water.

He was, without a doubt, the sweetest and most awkward thing she’d come across in a while.

Also, she was jealous.

She didn’t know how he did it.

Hwaryun kicked a rock into a tree, watching it skirt jarringly across tree roots and roll to a stop. Even that flash of bitterness only lasted a second. She went through life mindlessly, emotionless, watching herself act like a puppet without strings from above.

Nothing ever lasted lasted. In the end, it would be swallowed by a cloud of static. It was ironic, really - she hated it, but over time, it had become comforting in its own right; an excuse to run from reality.

The best part was that didn’t know how to fix herself. Just great. Amazing.

She was just walking aimlessly to anywhere but the house. Hopefully her new family wouldn’t find her this time. They would probably just report her missing to the orphanage, but it always turned out fine for her anyway.

They were good enough to her. She had food, and clothes, and wifi, but... They were fucking insane.

She’d become their punching bag , and they forced her to smile through it until her cheeks hurt and she could barely breathe. It had only been a week, but despite popular belief, Hwaryun still had standards, and she couldn’t - she wouldn’t - set foot in that house again.

Her mind floated away from thoughts of that family more easily than she would’ve guessed. 

... And where was she heading now anyway? Khun’s house?

Hwaryun sighed, quickly dismissing the idea. Khun must be annoyed... He just didn’t show it - she’d been there so many times for the sole purpose of finding somewhere familiar to stay, and she just took up space, didn’t even try to converse half the time, or ask how he was, or- or-

For a while she’d regarded Khun, maybe his brother, Michael, Apple and Rachel as her only friends. The list had dwindled down to just Khun, and now that she really thought about it, he probably hated her and only let her in out of pity.

He has his own problems. I shouldn’t visit anymore, Hwaryun decided, tilting her face up to the sky. Huh. She didn’t always see herself as the impulsive type. The light was underwhelming as she tried to grasp onto one bright shred of sadness, a rare glimpse of regret, before they too shrivelled up and disappeared.

Yeon shopping centre wasn’t far. Maybe she could head there and find somewhere to stay...

Shit.

A couple was strolling together, heading towards her, and she kept her eyes resolutely down.

The couple stopped walking, but Hwaryun kept going.

Just ignore me. Please.

(Some part of her wanted them to approach her, to ask if she was ok, but she pushed it down, she didn’t need anyone)

“Hey.”

She froze, then turned a little to her left, just enough to see them. It was a lady speaking, soundly mildly concerned, half passive, a step in front of her partner. She had nice hair. Silver, blue at the tips.

“You alright?”

She didn’t know how to reply. She didn’t know if she was alright.

“Um, yes... Why do you ask...?”

Someone had noticed her. There was a sudden burst of overwhelming desperation and relief and fear and the urge to run and scream-

The lady frowned, tilting her head slightly. “You’re crying.”

And fuck , Hwaryun hadn’t realised she was crying. She didn’t realise she’d started backing away until she saw the lady mouth something through blurry eyes that she didn’t register. It was so faraway she didn’t know if she’d imagined it or not.

It was weird though. She felt the tears on her cheeks. The world was a mess of blurred lines, but inside it was still the mass of static and grey, a familiar weight in her chest, neutralising everything else.

Hwaryun tried a smile, making it reach her eyes even though no one was watching. Her hands bunched in the sleeves of Khun’s hoodie, the fabric almost comforting.

Almost.

-

For the fifth time in the past hour Bam wrinkled his nose and slammed his pen down in frustration. He was cold, starving and couldn’t concentrate on his homework. It wasn’t even hard, he just- couldn’t do it.

Whatever. He picked up his phone and opened Emily to the group chat to pass the time, since he was currently brain dead anyway.

REGULARS

View members (8)

Shibisu:

I fixed my keyboard glitch!!!!

• 5 attached images

Bam facepalmed as he scrolled through the previous messages. The memes Shibisu had sent were depressingly bad.

Hatz:

bro pls no more

Anaak:

...I have no words.

Shibisu:

Hey show a little appreciation

My blood sweat and tears went into those

Anaak:

ngl that’s even worse

Hatz:

lmaoooo

Anaak:

jk we love u Isu

Shibisu:

>:(

Anyway

I was GOING to ask if u guys figured some things out

Ya know with Khun

If u did I can add him to this gc ? Maybe ?

Hatz:

of course u would ask 

uhh he told us why he left

What? I shouldn’t have gone to work that day, Bam groaned, scrolling frantically, but there were practically no details.

Anaak:

and why he came back

Hatz:

i mean

lets not get too desperate yeah

what if he leaves again

Shibisu:

U guys kinda cute ngl

Dont worry I don’t think he will

What does @Endorsi think

Anaak:

loser hasn’t been online for the whole day

what happened

Hatz:

u live together dumbass why don’t u ask her

Anaak:

true very true

Shibisu:

Awww sibling goals

Anaak:

stFU

ok lol I think she’s having a mid life crisis be back in 5 mins

Shibisu:

Gotcha

...Hello

It’s been 2 hours where r u

Guys don’t ignore me :/

Lauroe do not disturb:

Bit late for that eh

Shibisu:

LAUROE????????

I keep forgetting u exist dude...

Ehwa:

imma just leave u guys to it idk what’s going on

Dan:

yeh we’re the outcasts in this gc Ehwa

Should I text someone? Bam wondered. Usually his friends (except Isu, who spammed him daily) wouldn’t text him since his reply game was so bad, but there was Khun’s profile right there, just a touch away...

His finger yearned to press Khun’s contact and type out a message like a cow yearned to eat grass. It was unavoidable. It was the way of life of his finger now.

Bam reluctantly decided against it. He didn’t know if it would be awkward, and he didn’t know what he would say next, because conversation in his head - which would undoubtably be the same in reality - went like this:

Bam:

Hi Khun!

Khun would then proceed to ghost him for two weeks, because why would he bother to text Bam of all people?

He shook his head and plopped his phone face down on the table. Why worry about things like this when he had bigger fish to fry? There was that science assignment due next week, he had to get something for Hatz’s birthday soon, he didn’t know what to eat tomorrow, and to top it off he was practically penniless.

First world problems much? He thought wryly, slumping back in his chair, twirling his pen in one hand. The first few stars twinkled serenely at him through the sunset haze, but Bam felt restless for another reason that he couldn’t really figure out.

I guess I’ll just sit here and try to do homework,  and wait for Rachel-

Oh.

He’d forgotten.

Usually Rachel would come around to visit now, wouldn’t she?

There was Rachel’s contact as well, almost near the top of the list.

A jumble of feelings exploded inside his chest, tangled like barbed wires, catching on his ribcage and refusing to untangle. Above them all, panic.

Ok. That was fast. He was panicking.

Bam had no idea what to do with his life. He’d relied on Rachel for so long, to keep him company and help him get through the day; he remembered sharing meals with her, doing work together, her laugh moon bright and clear as sunshine in his mind.

He bit his lip, letting out a long, loose breath. Ok. Ok, just... think, Bam repeated to himself. He didn’t want to burden his friends with his life situation, but nobody knew that he was hopelessly broke except Rachel.

He could confide in her, trust her with whatever he wanted...

Used to, Bam corrected bitterly. I used to trust her.

Bam felt like a plastic bag. An angry, betrayed, rebellious plastic bag, used once and then discarded. To make matters worse, he hadn’t been recycled. He didn’t know if there was another chance at life for him.

There was a harsh tug amidst the coiled fury waiting to spring in his chest and suddenly three words clouded his vision.

I HATE HER

After losing Rachel, he’d gone to Khun’s house and back in shock. Now he wanted to break something, smash glass, find Rachel-

Bam’s phone rang, his chain of irrational thoughts cutting off abruptly, and he picked up so impatiently that he didn’t even look at the number. “What?”

Silence. Then a slight rustle, and:

“Oh, sorry. Wrong number.”

The first smooth tones of Khun’s voice smoothed over Bam’s anger like butter, impossibly calm and controlled.

Wait.

Khun’s voice?!

Bam screamed inwardly in embarrassment. Holy shit, there was absolutely no way he would recover from this. This was the end of his nonexistent reputation with Khun. This was the greatest failure he’d ever accomplished.

“I’m sorry,” Bam squeaked. “That was so rude of me, I-“

“It’s fine.” Bam was relieved to hear a slight smile in his voice, and thank the heavens Khun had cut him off, because he would have just gone on a tangent for the next ten minutes.

There was a crackle, then Khun’s voice emerged again. “-have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Ok... Bye!”

Khun hung up.

Bam muffled a groan into his hands. He had no idea how to face Khun tomorrow... or make more money, he added as an afterthought.

He also wanted Rachel back, even though he was probably better off without her.

Woah... I really am completely hopeless, he nodded to himself . Gotta work on that.

-

Bam had turned the corner as usual, pushing as politely as he could through a crowd of blabbering students, and who did he see right in front of his locker?

Endorsi and Yuri. Just standing there, smiling, glaring daggers at each other.

It was the most passive aggressive thing he’d seen in a while. That was definitely not good.

All around him people had started to pull out their phones and were no doubt filming the whole thing. By the end of the day, posts of two Jahad princesses fighting would probably end up going viral.

You see, Bam liked to avoid the spotlight. He’d never seen this happen before, and to make matters worse he had a severe lack of support from his friends, who simply patted him on the back and wished him luck solemnly. Isu had congratulated him for some reason.

He was simply in desperate need of help.

In the span of five minutes he’d tried everything he could think of: dragging Anaak in to help (failed - Endorsi had smacked her away), suggesting that he had to get to class (failed - Yuri shoved a hall pass into his hand), and, as a last ditch attempt, tried to run away and leave them alone (failed - he’d run straight into Arkraptor wheeling the lunch tray and had to back up into his original position).

Bam shivered. Girls were scary.

He swallowed and gathered his wits. “What’s going on? Anyone?”

Endorsi mustered a forced smile, her eyes narrowing. She looked so wild in that moment that Bam resisted the urge to run again. “Oh, nothing...” She said sweetly, with a pointed glance at Yuri. “Yuri here was just wondering if you were taken.”

“No, no, not at all,” Yuri replied with gritted teeth, taking a step forward to get in Endorsi’s face. A collective rush of breath rose from the audience. “I already know the answer.”

In the midst of his confusion, Bam sent up a silent prayer. Please, gods, let me understand girls in my next life. Thank you.

“What do you suggest, Bam?” Yuri asked, locking eyes with him, and he literally felt the sparks fly.

He wanted to disappear. She doesn’t know how intimidating she is, does she?

Bam was pretty sure these two could start a world war easily, given their bloodline, so he just smiled and waved like those penguins from Madagascar. It seemed to work, because Yuri’s expression softened slightly.

Then a hand suddenly landed on Bam’s shoulder and he almost jumped. “Message for Yuri,” a cool voice said from behind him. Elaine’s voice, he thought. “Evan wants you in his office. You forgot to submit half your homework.”

Yuri broke eye contact with Endorsi, shot a cold glare at his saviour that would’ve literally made him piss his pants if she directed it at him, then stormed off without another word.

Then she doubled back, flashed Bam a bright smile, then continued stomping away.

Endorsi looked livid. She whirled around, her eyes dark and distant in the cool lighting. Bam took a step back, preparing for an explosion.

Instead, the crowd parted for her as she turned stiffly on her heel and walked off.

Bam didn’t know what to think as the onlookers muttered in disappointment and filed off the class. His palms were sweating already, and he didn’t want to spend English as a nervous, clammy Niagara Falls.

He turned, and Elaine spoke before he could, already disappearing. “Yuri’s gonna kill me after this,” she laughed over her shoulder. “Whatever. It was worth it. See you around.”

I owe Elaine one now. He groaned as he swung open his locker and shoved his books inside. I hope Endorsi’s not still mad at me... I’ll talk to her at lunch, he decided firmly, before his motivation wilted. Never mind. Endorsi’s terrifying when she’s mad. I’ll just see if she wants to kill me, and if not, then I’ll talk to her.

“Rough day, huh?”

Bam turned so fast that he almost pulled a muscle in his neck.

Woah.

He’d forgotten just how beautiful Khun was - it felt like they hadn’t met in months, even though they’d just seen each other yesterday.

Bam tore his eyes away reluctantly. If he stared at Khun for too long he’d start getting too used to it. He couldn’t start taking miracles for granted.

“You could... say that,” he nodded finally, smiling without realising it. “Even though the day’s just started.”

Khun smiled softly too, a gentle curve of his lips that made something inside Bam flutter, though it was gone within a split second. “Let’s go to class. We’re already late.”

Of course, it took Bam a while to realise they were going in the wrong direction.

“Khun... Where are we going?”

“Honestly? I don’t have a timetable, so I have no idea.”

-

With how often Bam’s teachers favoured complained about each other instead of actually teaching, Tuesday morning English may as well have been a free period.

English was the most ridiculous class he attended by far, which was saying a lot, considering the tough competition it faced daily.

Khun slid into a seat beside him (Bam’s heart leapt hopefully as Shibisu blew a kiss to him, Anaak and Endorsi offered grudging waves, and Hatz gave a curt nod) as Yasratcha sauntered into the room, and immediately Yama rolled his eyes like the drama queen he was.

“Well well well, look what the cat dragged in,” Yama said loudly.

Yasratcha took a seat at his desk on the opposite side of the classroom. “Yes, yes,” he replied mildly, rummaging in his bag and pulling out a pair of fancy glasses. “The cat dragged in the better English teacher.” He slipped on his glasses, the gold rim flashing directly into Bam’s eyes. “What has this madman taught you so far?”

“Nothing much, since you keep interrupting me.”

“You mean because you can’t teach.”

Yama turned his nose in the air, flipping to a random page in his play. “We’ll see about that, won’t we?”

This earned a chuckle. “I’ve already seen it. For the past five lessons with this class, in fact.”

Shibisu picked this moment to leaned closer to him and whispered, “Well? What happened?”

Bam frowned. “Nothing...? What was supposed to happen?”

Isu shot a not-so-sneaky glance at Endorsi, who did look like she would kill Bam given the chance. Guess there was no talking to her now. “Bam! Two girls were literally fighting over you!” He hissed.

Bam facepalmed. “Seriously?!”

Hatz cleared his throat. “You’re so loud,” he muttered though gritted teeth, shifting in an attempt to divert Endorsi’s attention elsewhere.

Shaking his head in mock disappointment, Isu whispered, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, Bam... you have two of the greatest ladies chasing after you!”

“But- I don’t like any of them? I don’t drink?” Bam said desperately. He’d messed up bad,  a nd he didn’t want to make things worse  between him and Endorsi... So what was he supposed to do now?

“I’m telling you,” Isu said sternly, “this is a great opportunity you’re turning down. Any other man would give anything for this sort of thing to happen to them.” He paused for a second, then added: “Like me.”

“I... I don’t know how to turn them both down though,” Bam groaned. “I can’t deal with this pressure.”

Beside him, Khun laughed. That little shit. Bam couldn’t concentrate with him so close.

Shibisu eyes were faraway as he waved a hand. “Don’t worry. The great Shibisu is on the case! We’ll work something out after class, ok?”

Bam nodded uncertainly and turned back to the front of the class, where Yasratcha was flippantly boasting about his multiple PhDs in useless subjects.

Anaak scoffed. “Who the hell let these two work together? Honestly...”

“I ask myself this every lesson,” Bam nodded absentmindedly. He suppressed a yawn, turned, and unsurprisingly saw Shibisu already asleep, his face crinkling several poor pages of Macbeth.

“Fine!” Yama fumed, standing up without warning, and Yasratcha flinched like a startled cat. “We will enact Macbeth to show our young students who is better once and for all!”

Shibisu snorted blearily, turned his head and promptly went back to sleep.

“Who laughed?” Yasratcha demanded. “I, for once, agree with this buffoon. This will just boost my inflated ego even further.”

“...I mean, you’re not wrong about your ego.”

Yasratcha stood too, flaunting his play. “Let us begin.”

Yama nodded solemnly, then paused. “What scene again?” He asked quickly.

“Ah. Let’s do Macbeth’s death.”

“Right.”

Yasratcha cleared his throat, then boomed: “Turn, hellhound, turn!”

“Of all men else, I have avoided thee!” Yama exploded, puffing his chest out proudly. “My soul is too charged with blood of thine already.”

Khun tapped his shoulder and Bam turned way too eagerly. “Yeah?”

He looked supremely bored, like a prince lounging on his throne, his arms crossed and his hair over his eyes and one eyebrow raised in a way that asked ‘is anything interesting going to happen?’

Bam shook his head jerkily and turned away before he started reflexively acting like an idiot. He had self control ; he could resist staring. He could.

Out of the corner of his eye, Bam saw Khun lean back in his seat with a practised grace.

His heart thudded painfully as he squeezed his eyes shut. Self control. Self control.

Ten seconds later, Bam found himself staring.

The ugly bandage was still hiding half of Khun’s face. Maybe it was for the better. A Khun in his final form would be a terrible, terrible blessing.

The next second Khun’s pretty eyes lifted up and caught on Bam’s like a snare, giving him that easy, half honest smile, and for a horrifying moment Bam wanted to tear off Khun’s jacket and bury his hands in that blue hair-

God, what the fuck. His face was frozen in an expression that he prayed wouldn’t send the message Hi Khun! I’m defiling you in my imagination right now!

And how long would it take for those bruises to fade? He wanted Eduan gone and Khun all to himself. Nobody else could touch him.

There was a piercing knock on the door that jerked Bam’s attention back to the front - a good thing, because he would’ve been stuck in that position otherwise - and the next moment Arie poked his head in, looking supremely disgusted. “Both of you, shut up. I can hear you from upstairs.”

The pair of teachers looked up sheepishly in the middle of an imaginary grapple and the door slammed closed without another word.

Yama paused, listening to Arie’s retreating footsteps. “Well,” he said delicately, clearing his throat. “Moving on.”

“No.” Yasratcha brandished his book like a sword. “We’re settling this. Now.”

Bam closed his eyes. I may as well sleep...

-

After waking up with his head on Khun’s shoulder and one arm flung over Shibisu’s face, flying into a panic and apologising profusely, Khun was now standing so close to him that Bam could barely think straight. Literally.

(un?)Luckily for him Khun showed no signs of moving away anytime soon. It would be too suspicious if Bam stepped away now, after waiting so long. He was stuck there, waiting nervously, wondering if there was anything left out of the ‘Top 10 Most Embarrassing Things that could happen to YOU in High School, by Q. Blitz’ that he hadn’t experienced yet.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Do you need to get anything, or are we just standing here for no reason?”

“Oh.” Bam didn’t even register the question, just continued staring at his lock pointlessly. What the hell? He couldn’t remember the combination to save his life.

Do it. Tell him. Confess.

Ok, just breathe...

He steeled himself and inhaled slowly, probably looking like a complete fucking mess  right now, but in a flash of utter stupidity - or bravery, he couldn’t really tell - he turned to look up at Khun. “Actually, I...”

Bam stopped dead, his voice abandoning him completely. Honestly, he deserved it for making eye contact again with  an angel.

Khun could not be real. Seriously. Like the rest of his family, he looked too expensive to be standing under the cheap hallway lights, his face a collage of blue shadow and marble and white light.

Bam’s pulse stuttered. Today was not a great day to be rejected.

“...Never mind,” he faltered, hoping Khun wouldn’t see his face burning. I must be crazy... I’ve known him for less than a week! He definitely would have rejected me. “Let’s go find the others.”

“Sure.” Khun’s voice was completely unreadable. “Do they sell anything good there?”

Bam thought for a moment. “Sometimes? You’ll have to ask Ehwa about it.”

Khun nodded. “I’ll check it out.” He turned and set off slowly towards the cafeteria, aloof and distant, and because mere seconds ago they’d been walking so close together Bam didn’t bother to hide his disappointment.

-

He wanted to scream . Khun would have all but disappeared into the endless canteen line if not for one tiny, tiny thing... Why were so many girls staring at him? Hell, there were almost more people staring at him than Endorsi.

This was absolutely ridiculous. Yeah, Khun was probably the hottest guy in the school, but there was no reason for them to check him out so openly. Bam (the hypocrite) felt the unmistakeable rise of jealousy in his chest as he trudged to Isu’s table.

He snuck another glance in Khun’s direction and his jaw dropped. Khun actually waved to one of the girls and blew a kiss at another, sending the crowd into riot - he was like the president of his own fanclub or something. He was the biggest, fattest flirt Bam had ever seen.

That’s it. I’m doubling my effort from now, Bam scowled. He was sure as hell not going to let himself be pushed down the waiting list by some strangers.

“Woah, someone looks pissed,” Hatz remarked as Bam approached, his eyebrows disappearing into his dark bangs. “Calm. Think of good grades. Ocean breeze. Caaaaalm.”

“I’m not mad,” Bam lied. He was a terrible liar. “This is... my thinking face.”

“You sure about that?” Anaak asked skeptically. By the looks of it, she was cramming her maths homework for next period. “Bam, help me with this. I don’t get it.”

Shibisu swallowed and shook his head. “I’ll be honest, Bam, you look like you’ve got no brain to think with right now. Have a break. Have a chip.” He waved them in front of Bam and Anaak smacked him. “Stop distracting my tutor!”

“You’re better at maths than me. If you don’t get it, I certainly won’t either.” Bam mused as he took a chip. “Wait, Isu, I thought you were banned from buying more of these?”

“Yeah, about that... I used my overflowing charm to bargain,” Shibisu waved his arms, striking a grin that would’ve blinded a donkey. Across the table, Hatz fucking choked.

“Dude, no way.”

“Yes way! You think just because you’re cute, you can disregard beauty when you see it?” Isu wiggled his fingers across his face.

“Nooo,” Anaak groaned, shielding her eyes. “Save me...”

Hatz took this opportunity to reach across and drop a chip onto Anaak’s head, and she looked up suspiciously. “Hey-“

Bam flinched at the sudden crash as something slammed hard onto the tiled floor, cutting off all conversation, and a hush rippled across the hall.

There was no sound, save for one set of footsteps and someone breathing hard.

“..What was that?” Bam whispered.

Shibisu stood on tiptoe with him, trying pointlessly to look over a hundred heads. “I dunno, I can’t see shit.”

“Let’s get to the front,” Hatz muttered. “I have a feeling this is-“

“What the fuck is wrong with all of you?”

”-Endorsi,” Hatz finished flatly.

They managed to push to the front and it was Endorsi indeed, eyes ablaze, her voice quiet but so cold and clear that it could’ve cut through Bam like a knife.

He expected someone, anyone, at her table to jump in. Maschenny simply sat back and watched, arms crossed. The twins leaned forward eagerly, and Yuri sat stiff backed and impassive.

“Can I even take a step without you watching my every move? Huh?” Silence met Endorsi’s words, and she kicked the fallen chair, frustration written across her face. Its metal legs scraped sickeningly across the floor. “I’m sick of this! Clearly nobody has anything better to do than record my whole life and stare at me to your heart’s content.

“It’s like you morons only have the brain capacity to slander me online for trying too hard and once I try to change, you just catcall me and...” Her voice dipped down until it was almost inaudible. “I...” She faltered, something like horror at what she’d just done rising up her face, and took a step back.

Anaak stepped out. “Endorsi-“

Bam reached out to stop her, but someone held him back. “Let her go,” Khun said quietly from behind him.

A girl laughed. A dozen others joined in, jumping on the opportunity.

“-never heard Endorsi Jahad like that-“

“Did you see her face?!”

“Her parents are gonna disown her after this...”

He felt sick listening to it all. They’d completely ignored what she’d just said.

“Damn, what’s gotten into her?” He heard a guy laugh. It was Yool. Bam had always hated him. “Can’t she just sit there and look pretty like she’s been doing for the past year? It’s not hard.”

Bam kicked him in the shin.

Khun fell into step next to him. “I think she’ll be ok. She’s Endorsi, after all.”

“Oh, Khun’s back. Great,” Hatz sighed.

“Missed you too, Hatz.”

As the four of them left the cafeteria, he tried and failed to imagine what Endorsi must have felt, going from loving to hating the spotlight. Maybe it was selfish of him, but boy was he glad it wasn’t him in that position.

-

The two of them were just lounging outside their lockers, and the chip was miraculously still on Anaak’s head.

“Hey,” Bam said tentatively. He didn’t exactly know how to approach this situation. “Is everything ok?”

Endorsi nodded. “You guys wanna come to my place later? I know it’s random, but my parents are out for a business trip, and we haven’t hung out in ages...”

Bam’s eyes widened. This wasn’t what he’d expected. Instead of a heartfelt speech about her ruined image, they’d basically gotten an invitation to a house party.

He looked around to the others. By the awed looks on their faces, they were thinking the same thing.

He felt strangely proud. This was real character development he was witnessing.

“Hatz, what do you say?” Shibisu asked, and Hatz shrugged. “Sure. I’m down.”

Bam nodded too, and Khun’s eyes glanced over him in that appraising, scarily attractive way.

“Don’t you have work?”

“Cancelled for now. It’s kind of a long story.”

“I can make it. I’ll just need to check in with Ran first,” Khun said after a split second of hesitation, and Bam prayed he would only see Endorsi, who smiled a little, rather than him and Isu who were grinning like idiots.

Anaak sighed, her face a picture of solemnity. “I’m sorry, everyone. I can’t go. Endorsi’s house is too far from mine. Hope you have fun,” she said glumly.

There was a moment of silence for this terrible loss before Shibisu spoke up. “Wait - Anaak, you troll! You guys live together!”

“AHAHAHAHA I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU IDIOTS!” Anaak cackled, then gasped. “Oh shit, I haven’t done my math homework yet-“

“Oh my god, Gustang’s gonna kill you,” Hatz laughed. “Sucks.”

Bam lingered at the edge of the group as the bell rang, waiting for the noise to build as students poured into the halls, then cleared his throat.

“You’re a really nice friend, Endorsi,” he began, clasping his hands behind his back. Shit, did I just friendzone her? “And if you ever need to talk, you know, we’re all here. Don’t keep it to yourself for so long.” He smacked away thoughts of Khun that had popped into his head. Go away. You’re too distracting.

“Thanks, Bam,” she smiled. “Sorry about this morning. That was, uh... Let’s just say it probably won’t happen again.”

“I sure hope not.”

Endorsi laughed. “And by the way?”

“Yeah?”

“That was a really smart way to friendzone me.”

“...Thank you?”

Chapter Text

Maschenny could practically sense the stupidity before she saw it bouncing towards her, and she sighed in exasperation.

“You’re late,” she said mildly, snapping her purse closed and leaning back against the wall. She couldn’t let her irritation show. That wasn’t how business worked, after all.

“Sorry,” Yuri rolled her eyes. “Evan kept me back even later than I expected.” It was loud with the traffic around, but as expected, Yuri was louder. She glanced up at the building behind them, and Maschenny’s spider sense tingled. Another dumb question incoming.

“Why’d you wanna meet at the hospital?” Yuri asked quizzically. “You aren’t sick, are you?”

“No. It’s my nephew. He ate a rock at school.”

“Are- are you serious?”

Maschenny sighed and locked eyes with Yuri. “Dead serious. Now about Wolhaiksong... you know them, don’t you?”

Her expression glazed over. “Kinda. Why?”

“I need you to pull some strings for me,” Maschenny said, a little louder, keeping her eyes up and posture relaxed. People like Yuri were just so easy - it was almost no fun. “Because there’s a job I want them for, and I don’t know if they’d take it seriously.”

Yuri narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Ok... What’s the job?”

She grimaced, looked around, then lowered her voice. “Please, Yuri,” she began, changing her approach, adding just the right amount of desperation for a respectable woman to show in public. “I didn’t want to beg you, but... Someone keeps replacing my nephew’s food with rocks. He could get seriously injured, and I need real detectives. The police wouldn’t help me,” Maschenny pleaded.

“Um.” Yuri looked torn, probably unsure of whether she should take this seriously or not, and Maschenny held back her smirk with immense difficulty. “Ok, I suppose I could ask.... Do you want to meet them, or...?”

Maschenny nodded eagerly. Damn. Took her long enough.

“All of them? Or just-“

“Garam,” Maschenny said firmly, cutting her off. She’d done her research. Anyone named Urek Mazino was bound to be an airhead, and she knew Hachuling personally. He wouldn’t take the case on, because the moron was scared of Eduan too.

Yuri ran a hand through her long ponytail. “Alright. You owe me after this, yeah?” She winked, and Maschenny resisted rolling her eyes with every ounce of her being.

Instead she smiled, but not wide enough to garner suspicion. She wasn’t the smiling type. “Of course, Yuri. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She waited until Yuri had bounced away, then picked up her bag and walked straight into the hospital, flashing her ID at reception. She stepped into the lift and selected level 2.

If Yuri actually believed my story, Maschenny thought, tilting her head back, I will take matters into my own hands. She singlehandedly lowers our school’s average IQ by 50%.

There was a metallic ding and the doors squeaked open. Nobody questioned her as she walked through. They’d seen her too many times in the past week, after all.

A towering man caught sight of her. “Hello, Maschenny. Back again?” Hendo Lok Bloodmadder, the owner of this hospital, but a doctor above all; he insisted on making rounds to each patient with a practised efficiency and incredible memory, blunt and professional. He was entirely devoted to his own work, and Maschenny respected that.

“Of course. How is she?”

His eyes fell, and immediately Maschenny’s heart plummeted. Outwardly, she remained impassive. She had to.

“I’m afraid her condition is deteriorating. Despite the consistent treatment, there’s a high chance of  her experiencing respiratory failure.”

“And... remind me again, is there absolutely no alternative you haven’t tried?”

“Not that I’m aware of. COPD is a progressive disease. I’ve not seen many cases where the patient’s symptoms suddenly worsen like this,” Bloodmadder said sympathetically. She’d been expecting it, but the words still stung.

He seemed to notice her lack of appropriate response and saved her from having to answer, saying something about a patient downstairs, apologising and patting her shoulder before he walked off.

Lord, she was screwed.

Maschenny stepped into Maria’s room, sliding the door shut quietly behind her. I can’t do this. She plonked her bag down and pulled out a small bouquet of soft white flowers. “Surprise.”

She was trying to hide the gaping hole left by Aguero, the only thing she needed to bring but couldn’t. Maschenny smiled a little, all thin gossamer and hopeful eyes, and hoped Maria wouldn’t mind.

It was stupid. Of course she would mind.

“Maschenny,” Maria exclaimed, as if they were kids who’d just met up to play at the beach instead of at the hospital, surrounded by oxygen machines and monitors. “Glad you could visit.”

It was warm inside, but her lips were tinged blue. Cyanosis, her brain recited. Not good. She set the flowers on the table, their gentle scent mingling with the sickening antiseptic smell in the air.

It was a few seconds too late when she decided on an answer, and though it hurt to see Maria’s face fall like that, she had places to be. She didn’t have time to waste. “I’m afraid I can’t stay long. I’m sorry.”

“Oh... That’s ok.” She couldn’t look at Maria’s smile.

Maschenny walked to the window, feeling Maria’s eyes follow her heels as they clicked across the floor. “Do you want me to get Aguero for you?” She already knew the answer, but she would ask anyway. Hell, she almost wanted to hear the yes just to know that at least one thing in her life wasn’t changing-

“...No. I don’t want to bother him.”

Her gaze flitted back to Maria, her eyebrows raising before she could stop herself, and it hurt to see the conflict on her face, the defeat in her eyes.

Maschenny had crafted the perfect guise to come here. She’d painted on a smile and pulled her hair up and faded into someone she barely even recognised, someone from years ago, to open this door, and now she felt it all coming apart.

This wasn’t the Maria she used to know. This was someone else entirely, a bud that had blossomed into a fragile collection of petals and serrated leaves.

Where was Maria, the little girl who would rely on Aguero to navigate through her life?

Where was predictable Maria, the innocent, soft-spoken little thing, she’d grown to love?

Maria had always been strong in her own way. She’d searched alone for Aguero after the rest of them had given up so they could all spend time together again, and now that she’d succeeded, her whole life was crumbling down.

Damn her. She was still fucking smiling despite it all.

Maschenny didn’t quite remember the few words they’d exchanged before she was out of the room, sliding the door shut quietly behind her again. She didn’t recall how she’d gotten to her car, hands buried in her hair, because it hurt the most knowing that she had walked away from Maria when she needed company the most.

I already have too many regrets. What difference would another make?

She stood there for a minute, alone in the damp car park, discarding her disguise, pulling down the walls and the lies and the bitter identity she’d built up.

But if I make this mistake, it will cost me more than all the others combined.

Maschenny had never felt more bare and uncertain as she walked back into the hospital and knocked on Maria’s door again.

-

Endorsi added Bam to the group KCBDVSJ

Bam threw on a new shirt, then hurriedly shuffled into the lounge room (if you could even call it that, it was so empty) and picked up his phone anxiously, a towel slung over his shoulder.

He was going to be late to Endorsi’s place at this rate. His hair was dripping all over the floor, and he brushed it out of the way irritably. If he thought about it, it was getting pretty long, practically at his shoulders.

KCBDVSJ

View members (6)

Bam:

helloo?

Khun:

what the hell is this

Shibisu:

Ily

Hatz:

am I being replaced here

Shibisu:

NO NEVER HATZ WHAT

Endorsi:

• view location

here

Khun:

oh u were serious

Endorsi:

no, I wasn’t, I just sent my address for fun so u can all stalk me

Khun left the group KCBDVSJ

Anaak:

HAHSHSHHSHAHAHAHAHA

Endorsi:

OMG that idiot nfhdhdjsj

Shibisu added Khun to the group KCBDVSJ

Khun:

.. oops

Anaak:

wtf is this group name

Endorsi:

i couldn’t think of anything

Shibisu changed the name to :))

Shibisu:

<3

Hatz:

good enough

Shibisu:

Honestly guys can we just skip school tmr

I cbf

Endorsi:

yea lol I dont wanna go back there

Anaak:

we pre much have an alr record so far so sure

except khun

Khun:

heh

Bam:

bit sus eh

Endorsi:

why don’t u all sleep over

there’s enough guest rooms and stuff

just bring ur own clothes yea

Anaak:

like this message if u can’t make it

no likes? excellenttt

Hatz:

fr?

Isu let’s go

Shibisu:

Yess

@Endorsi Can we order pizza

Bam:

yes pls

how much do we bring?

Endorsi:

nothing I’ll pay

Hatz:

u sure??

Endorsi:

yep

Shibisu:

Hooooly ytb Endorsi

Khun:

wait i can’t leave ran by himself

lemme check smth

Shibisu:

Ran is so cute

Btw Hatz I’m giving u ur present day after tmr 

It’s not gonna fit in my bag

Bam:

ok I’ll just bring it then too

Khun:

yea I can stay over

Endorsi:

i can call bong bong to pick u guys up ?

Bam:

wth is a bong bong

Endorsi:

shes my driver ...

Bam:

ohHH SORRY

Anaak:

yea Endorsi has a driver and I don’t :(

discrimination at its finest

Endorsi:

DONT LISTEN TO HER SHE FIRED HERS 

Hatz:

can’t relate :(

Bam:

can she pick me up pls ur house is rly far :D

• view location

Shibisu:

Ok let’s carpool

• view location

Endorsi:

yup

she’ll be there in like 15 mins

Khun wbu

Khun:

• view location

oh nvm I’ll just walk we live pre close

Endorsi:

ok

Bam:

wait 15 mins?

my gps says 30

Endorsi:

nah

cya all there

EVERYONE SHOWER AT HOME OK

i don’t want naked men running around my house 

He put down the phone, blowing hair out of his face. He’d gotten ready so fast for no reason, and now he had fifteen minutes to wait for this ‘Bong Bong.’

Bam glanced around his house aimlessly. That can’t be her real name, can it? He went back to his room and started packing clothes for tomorrow. A ten dollar note winked at him from his desk.

Well... He pocketed it. I’d feel bad if I don’t pay Endorsi back a bit. She’s basically renting us her house. But for free.

He sighed, stuffing pants into his bag, glad he’d managed to pick up at least one good value out of all those years with Rachel.

-

Bam tried not to question anything. He really did, but when Bong Bong pulled up in a sleek black Ferrari and greeted him by rolling down a window and popping a huge bubble of gum, it was pretty damn hard.

He got in the car and grinned like an idiot when he saw Isu and Hatz already sitting in the back, both wearing expressions like petrified wooden logs. Probably because the entire interior of the car was hot pink. “Hi,” Bam laughed. “Thanks for picking us up, uh...”

“Bong Bong,” Bong Bong winked at him through the rear view mirror. “Ready to go?”

Her hair was dyed peach pink, glittering piercings in her bottom lip and ears, rings adorning her fingers. Her voice was mature enough but she looked way too young to drive, and for that reason exactly Bam kept his mouth shut with the questions. A wise choice, if you asked him.

“Yep,” he replied. “Let’s go.”

Maybe he’d sounded too eager, because the next second the engines purred and Bong Bong moved smoothly into the street, the car shooting off into the midst of traffic at what must have been twice the speed limit. “What the-“

Bam shot forward, his seatbelt holding him back, and a look to his left showed Isu hanging onto Hatz’s arm for dear life.

“You guys want music?” She yelled over the roar as she zoomed past a nearby truck, moving one hand off the wheel to the radio, and Bam shook his head frantically.

“No, no, it’s fine, no music,” Hatz managed, and all three of them collapsed back in relief as she nodded and returned her focus to driving.

Bong Bong just kept zooming dangerously fast through the streets with an ease that made Bam feel like she’d done this a million times. She would jolt to a sudden stop and then the red lights turned green for her in a second like magic - it was unbelievable.

No wonder Endorsi said the drive would only take fifteen minutes.

After what seemed like a decade of hanging off the edge of a cliff, the car parked and Bam watched Bong Bong’s boots click on the pavement as she opened the back door for them. He stepped out of the car in a daze, Isu and Hatz not far behind.

“Magnificent driving,” Shibisu said weakly, his face slightly green.

“Awe-inspiring,” Hatz added, looking star struck.

“Exhilarating,” Bam chimed in, feeling like he’d just been put through a washing machine.

Anaak waved to them as another car pulled up, standing impatiently next to Endorsi, who was tugging her heel out of a bush. “Wait, who’s that?”

Bam recognised it, a glorious silver Maserati with a spiky haired driver. Right on cue, Asensio stepped out from the drivers seat and locked eyes with Bong Bong as if it was fate. They blew bubbles with their blue and pink gum, looking the other up and down.

“Average speed?” Asensio demanded suddenly.

“85 miles per hour,” Bong Bong smirked, her pink fur coat flung out like a cape behind her. “Or 135 km. Wherever you’re from.”

Asensio grinned mischievously. “Decent. Nice car. Mine’s better though.”

“Love at first sight,” Bam muttered, and Shibisu wheezed. Khun, dressed like a bear in jeans and a white hoodie that looked way too soft, ignored his cousin’s budding romance and walked over to them.

Bam frowned. “Didn’t you say you were walking here?”

“Yeah. Asensio was nearby though, so I thought I might as well just let him drive me.” He ran a hand through his hair, and Bam realised his gloves were still on, half hidden by his long sleeves.

“Well,” Bam said, cringing at his own voice, pulse strumming painfully loud. He didn’t want to see Khun’s reaction to his next words. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Endorsi cleared her throat and gestured in front of her. Perfect timing. “Guys. Let’s go.”

There was a grumble from Isu, who was basically dead on his feet from Bong Bong’s car ride. Bam looked over and his eyes widened. Endorsi’s house was... surprisingly modest in size.

It’s not much bigger than mine, Bam marvelled. It was made of bricks baked red-gold, a huge sliding door in the front. I was expecting a mansion or something. It’s a bit long though. And flat.

Endorsi and Anaak kept walking right past it.

“Uh, Endorsi, what’s this building?” He asked, puzzled. Maybe there was another entrance on the other side.

“Oh, that’s just the garage,” she replied lightly, and Bam’s mind fucking exploded as he tried to process this. Her garage was bigger than his entire house . “We can go take a look if you want?”

He shook his head weakly and hoped they would never speak of this moment again.

The four of them in front quickly dissolved into a conversation about hotdogs - how they got onto that topic, he had no idea - leaving Bam and Khun together at the back.

Khun was walking slow. Really slow. Bam just had this thing against slow walkers. He couldn’t help it.

He didn’t want to ask Khun to go faster, because that would be too weird. He didn’t want to leave Khun behind either, because that would be straight up rude. That left him with exactly two options.

1. Keep walking with him at the same pace and try to force conversation, or:
2. Ask him what was wrong, because something was definitely wrong - Khun was basically a human icebreaker, and would’ve definitely said something by now.

He played out the scenarios in his head, and neither option sounded good.

Ah, whatever, just go with option two, he thought. It sounds smarter than the first one.

“Hey, are you... Ooook,” Bam said, concern rising hot and fast, jumbling with his words so that he didn’t even know if he was spouting questions or statements. “Ok, you’re basically limping. What happened?”

Khun had the nerve to look annoyed with himself - as if it was his fault Bam noticed. Ridiculous. “Well... You know what happened,” he replied blankly, not meeting Bam’s eyes, and his heart clenched. “My dad got new ideas. Bigger, better ideas.”

“Not necessarily better,” Bam remarked. He’d probably asked Asensio to drive him last minute because he couldn’t walk. “We have to do something about him...”

Khun slipped his hands in his pockets. “We?” He said slowly, a tiny skeptical smile crossing his face. “Did I mishear?”

“No,” Bam replied, surprised at his dubious tone. “Obviously you’re not doing anything about it, so someone else has to.”

He kept silent for a moment. Then: “Of course I’ve tried to do something, but my dad has connections. Nobody would believe me. And it was fine,” Khun added quickly, seeing Bam’s face. “He started off small anyway.”

“Is- is this considered small?”

Khun’s expression darkened. “Not... really.”

Bam opened his mouth, feeling sick just thinking about it. He didn’t know what to say - there was too much he could see, and judging from the way Khun had said that, there were injuries a lot worse that he’d hidden, things a lot worse that happened.

He wondered if Khun ever asked for help.

I need to be a better friend.

He stared at Khun. “You gonna keep walking like that?”

“No. I’m just about to start flying, gimme a second...” Khun stretched out his arms to embrace the wind, the very image of beautiful sarcasm.

Bam took the chance and ducked under his arm as he dropped it. Immediately he felt Khun shift to lean on him. There was some resistance, like Khun wanted to keep as much weight off him as possible but couldn’t.

Of course he was too proud to admit he could barely walk.

Ah. Khun smelled better up close. In a few moments, Bam knew he would be unable to function.

“I can’t believe I just did that,” he said incredulously (Was he talking to himself? He didn’t even know). “Huh.”

“Knew you had it in you,” Khun replied wryly. “But thanks. I... appreciate it.”

Bam felt his soul just left his body and float away out of pure happiness, and he smiled giddily. “Why’d you flirt with all those girls at the cafeteria?” He asked stupidly.

Khun laughed, and for a second the world fell silent. The sound was like watching dew bead on blades of grass in the quiet of morning. It was an irreplaceable feeling. “What are you talking about? I only flirt with you.”

Bam narrowly avoided tumbling into a bush. “W-what? You’re kidding, right?” He spluttered. It was too hard trying to keep ahold of his sanity pressed up this close to Khun’s side.

Khun eyes him for a moment, then his mouth quirked up in that half smirk Bam hated and loved so dearly. “You tell me.”

Bam felt like he’d just been fucking microwaved. He couldn’t feel his legs, and spontaneously abandoned all faith in his plan to walk faster. This was fine. Perfectly fine.

Not fine, Bam thought desperately. I can’t tell if Khun was joking or not. Holy shit.

The four in the front stopped outside Endorsi’s house and he barely registered it in time, wobbling a hairs breadth away from crashing into them. He could feel the way Khun’s breath hitched every time he stepped down, his pale blue hair tickling Bam’s cheek. His brain was quickly turning to mush.

“We’re here,” Endorsi exclaimed cheerfully, sliding a key into the front door and entering an incredibly complex pattern on a pin pad.

Shibisu was almost on his knees. “How do-“ he wheezed, and Bam was about to laugh before he realised that he was out of breath himself- “how do you walk up that path every day? Without dying?”

Anaak shook her head in disappointment. “We aren’t lazy asses like you.”

“I tried getting you a gym membership,” Hatz said with an obvious tone of ‘I told you so!’ “You see the consequences now? Huh? Huh?”

Bam heard something slide and click into place as Endorsi did whatever to unlock the house. He had never seen something like that on a simple front door, but he guessed someone like a Jahad would need extra security.

The door swung open silently, and Bam couldn’t hold back a gasp. Immediately he could tell Endorsi’s house was even bigger than Khun’s. It was absolutely massive, the interior decorated tastefully, with expansive rooms, paintings, furniture of polished wood and marble.

He shook his head wordlessly, ashamed of the abrupt wall of jealousy he’d just stuck right into. “This is just... Wow...”

“Perks of being Jahad’s kid,” Hatz nodded, kicking off his shoes and sighing. He let his eyes travel around the house before they landed on Bam under Khun’s arm, and suddenly Bam realised how strange they must have looked standing together. “You guys alright?”

Bam practically launched himself away, his cheeks burning. “Um, yes- we-“

“He was cold,” Khun said offhandedly, carrying himself with a dignity that Bam failed to muster. He lied so easily ... like it was second nature. “Can you believe it? He forgot his jacket on a day like this.”

“Oh.” Hatz frowned. “You can probably ask Endorsi for a jacket.” He looked around and shrugged. “Nobody else brought one either. You’re just cold blooded, earrings.”

They grumbled into their hands together like little kids behind Hatz’s back. “I’ll just leave you to all the talking,” Bam sighed.

“And I’m not gonna stop wearing earrings,” Khun huffed. “Though I’m not denying the cold blooded part.”

They went up a huge flight of stairs to the second (probably out of four) storey. Anaak and Endorsi waved to a man wearing a black suit on the landing. “Hey Alumik.” Anaak doubled back, her eyes widening. “Alumik? What are you doing here?”

Alumik’s fancy moustache twirled up as he spoke, his eyes twinkling in a way that made Bam want to ask this man to share hot chocolate with him. “Your father sent me here to look after the house for a day,” Alumik laughed. “I know you lot can handle yourselves better than your cousin Repellista can. Trust me, I’ve seen things.”

He wandered away, humming to himself. “Oh! Would you like some tea?”

“No thanks, Alumik,” Endorsi waved, slapping Anaak away before she could answer.

“Alrighty. Fus ro dah!” He chanted as he walked on.

They made it up the stairs before Endorsi rounded on Anaak. “Do. You. Ever. Read. Father’s. Emails?” She hissed.

“No,” Anaak deadpanned. “What, why?”

“Father told us that he was coming today and leaving at night! Alumik Edrok is very respectable - his family and ours go a long way back! He may be a little odd, but that’s because Repellista influences him. You can’t just walk up to him and ask what he’s doing here!”

“Calm down, he was fine with it!”

The two of them bickered until they kicked open the door to someone’s room. “You can dump your stuff in here,” Endorsi said, ducking back out. “We have a theatre, games room, pool table, actual pool-“

“Hold up,” Shibisu held up a hand, eyes gleaming enthusiastically. “You had me at pool table. 8 ball, we meet again!”

“Like, two words ago.”

“Shut up. Let’s go.”

Bam hesitated. “I don’t know how to play.”

-

As it turned out, all five of them were good - better than good, in fact. Bam opted to watch a game first, and it was over in two minutes.

Wondering how on earth he was supposed to keep up, he watched Endorsi break with such force that the balls ricocheted off the edges and threatened to bounce off the table. Hatz, Shibisu and Anaak followed up, getting shots in at angles he swore were impossible.

Khun didn’t sink anything. Instead, he struck the cue ball with unnerving precision and control, setting up impossibly perfect shots for his team and blocking the others. Bam didn’t know how he did it. The next hit always ended up swinging the game in his favour.

“You guys are insane,” Bam remarked, clutching his cue. He’d been chalking so much that there were clumps of powder falling off the tip. “How much have you all played?”

Shibisu thought for a moment, drumming his fingers absentmindedly. “Eh... A lot. Like, a whole lot more than you’re imagining.” Bam couldn’t believe this man was the same Shibisu who’d gotten his face splashed neon yellow last week.

“Five minute break!” Anaak called dramatically, flopping over the neighbouring table. “That was too tiring.”

Bam shook his head. “Anaak. You guys just played for three minutes. Max.”

Anaak grumbled something, and Hatz translated. “She’s lazy.”

Shibisu snorted, leaning his cue against the wall. “Ok, let’s just come back in a bit,” he said, voice muffled as he stretched out his arms like he’d just done a 40 minute workout. “We’ll take turns teaching Bam how to play. Sound good?”

“We’ll order the food while you’re at it,” Endorsi piped up.

Bam nodded eagerly. Some part of him hoped Khun wouldn’t volunteer, because then he wasn’t about to learn shit except for how much of Khun’s face he could memorise. “Ok. Who-“

“I’ll go first,” Khun interjected, his voice warm and smooth, and Bam was just about ready to die. Khun looked too hot in this lighting, his hair was tied, he could see Khun’s neck . He couldn’t handle this. Nope. Not today.

“Ok, we’ll get the pizza. It’s a bit early though...”

“We’ll just decide first and order later.”

“Ok. Do you guys have ice cream?”

Bam swallowed. Jesus. Help me.

“First of all,”  Khun said, as the rest of them filed out, leaning on the table beside him,, “you’re holding the cue like a fork. Hold it like this-“ he spun his cue and let it rest on his hand- “and you can either balance it on or through your fingers, depends on what you prefer-“

Khun had such pretty hands, splayed on the green cloth for the whole world to see. I want my fingers through yours, you asshole.

He went silent for a second when there was no reaction to his demonstration. “...Bam? You following?”

“Uh... Yes?” He lied, sounding incredibly guilty even to himself. He must’ve done a bad job at it, because Khun sighed and moved closer, and Bam had the sense to feel ashamed before he panicked. “Wait, what are you doing-“

Khun’s gloved hand closed over his, one arm reaching over Bam’s shoulder to flip the cue and position it. What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck - “You were holding it backwards,” he said mildly - Bam was probably imagining it but his voice was so teasingly soft it couldn’t be normal - “and you seriously try to tell me you were listening?”

He kept talking, but Bam couldn’t hear him. His heart was pounding too fast, too hard, because Khun was literally on top of him.

“Say something. I feel like I’m instructing a rock,” Khun titled his head. Bam couldn’t say anything. He was trying to ignore the fact that Khun’s lips were two inches away, and that he could close the gap faster than he could say mashed potato - dimly he felt one of Khun’s hands pull away and settle on his shoulder instead. “Hey. Are you ok?”

Bam squeezed his eyes shut. No. No, I am most definitely not. I am madly in love with you.

Mustering all the self control he could manage, he ducked away and moved out of Khun’s reach. It was suffocating cold standing by himself.

Holy. Fuck. He could literally feel himself disintegrating. Hopefully he’d completely reduce to dust before he did something stupid. 

“I can’t- think- you’re too close to me,” Bam finally managed, the words stumbling over themselves in a rush.

Khun blinked, his eyes narrowing. “Sorry?” His hair was falling out of his messy ponytail, and Bam wanted to tuck it behind his ear so badly. 

“Um.” Why did I just say that? Oh my god, he didn’t get it - I can still save myself! His thoughts warred in his head, and eventually, by some miracle of nature, he pointed out of the doorway to sweet freedom. “I’m. Uh. Bathroom.”

Bam fucking sprinted out of there.

He almost barrelled straight into Shibisu, who was juggling six ice cream cones on his treacherous journey up the stairs. Please, no, Bam groaned. If anyone could connect the dots, it was Isu.

“Sorry,” Bam called sheepishly over his shoulder. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

“Wait, there’s one right up there,” Shibisu yelled back, wobbling dangerously on the edge of a step. “Hurry up, you gotta take your ice cream before I drop it all-“

“I...” Bam stopped. He’d just left Khun standing there alone, like, ten minutes after he’d affirmed that he needed to be a better friend. He was about to turn and ditch Shibisu when he was on the verge of face planting into vanilla and chocolate.

What the hell was I thinking? Bam facepalmed. I’m the world’s shittiest friend.

“...Did I say bathroom?” He took three of the cones from Shibisu and breathed a sigh of relief when the chance of him falling down the staircase seemed to lessen considerably. “I meant games room! Not... lost or anything.”

Shibisu’s eyes widened. “You brave, brave man,” he whispered. “Ignoring the call of nature just like that. I admire you.”

They walked back in and Shibisu zoomed to Khun as if they were magnets. Bam hung around the edge, holding ice cream and looking around aimlessly; he was the kind that would rather third wheel than be the centre of attention.

“That was fast,” he heard Khun say sceptically. He kept busy by avoiding eye contact with the two of them. “Bam. Come here.”

So much for that. He walked closer, his heart thumping double time.

They locked eyes, and Bam was reminded of the first day he’d glimpsed Khun outside the science classroom. It hadn’t even been that long, but... a lot had changed.

Khun’s mouth opened. He paused, his eyes widening. “I... forgot what I was about to say,” he muttered, turning away. “Sorry. Shibisu, you can teach Bam.”

He looks so nervous for some reason, Bam thought, reaching for the cue he’d just left there. What happened?

“-Stop, stop, stop right there!” Shibisu called, and Bam almost jumped out of his skin. “You’re holding three ice creams, you madman! Wait until everyone else get back before you pick up the cue!”

“Oh. You’re right.” He peeked at Khun out of the corner of his eye - he was sitting on one of those plush velvet armchairs now (probably lined up all across the wall just for show), half his face buried in his white sleeve. Bam couldn’t lie. It was incredibly cute.

He sucked in a deep breath, standing there stiff-backed like a stoic bowling pin and hoping Isu wouldn’t spot him blushing like a maniac. No! Focus, he scolded. Khun later.

“Uh... Bam, you know what I said before? You look about ready to stop ignoring the call of nature now.”

”W-what?”

-

“Alright. Draw?” Endorsi grinned, holding out the hat. Bam pulled out a black slip and looked around for his teammates - Hatz and Endorsi.

“Nice,” he nodded to himself. “You guys can carry us to victory.”

Hatz shook his head. “You improved so fast, it’s crazy. I’m kinda glad we’re on the same team.”

“Wow, rude!” Shibisu gasped. “It’s on.”

Endorsi tossed the hat across the room and hopped down from the table, wearing that incredulous expression Bam only saw when she was hanging around idiots - i.e. them. “Alright then. Khun’s breaking, Bam’s turn after that. Right?”

“Man, I can’t break,” Khun complained, setting the cue ball down with a dull thump. “So much effort.”

“Just try. You can probably do it.”

He sighed, shifting to an angle nobody else had attempted (and, Bam noticed, favouring his uninjured leg), then drew his hand back and smashed the cue ball with almost as much force as Endorsi.

There was an awed silence before she sniffed dramatically. “Can’t believe you lied to my face - you said you couldn’t break.”

Bam smiled. “Not everything is fair. Not even the prices at the canteen.” He scanned the table. By the looks of it, there was nothing he could sink. I’ll just have to hit it where Shibisu can’t sink anything next turn either, he thought. Like Khun always does. It’s super annoying.

He tapped the ball just hard enough to brush a yellow 9 and roll to settle comfortably in a corner. Perfect.

“Wow, that shot was Khun worthy,” Anaak remarked. “How’d you copy that so fast?”

He shrugged. “I dunno. I watched him do it too many times, I guess.”

Shibisu stepped up, brandishing the chalk. “My son has some TALENT! He takes after me, I suppose,” he chuckled. Endorsi snickered into her arm, disguising it as a cough.

“Ugh... I can’t watch, he’s going to fail,” Anaak rolled her eyes, poking Hatz’s arm. “Help me.” Hatz lifted her with a short laugh and dropped her onto an armchair as easily as if he’d just picked up a newspaper.

Hatz covered his mouth with a hand like the guilty man he was and turned away. “The chip fell off her hair,” he whispered.

“Hey, witch! Why’s there a chip on this chair...?”

“Idiot, it came from your head!”

“Don’t jinx me, Anaak,” Shibisu scowled. “Prepare to be amazed.”

... A measly four turns later, Hatz was aiming to sink the 8 ball and Anaak was doubled over laughing at Shibisu, who was slack jawed in disbelief.

“How... how did I miss all of them?” He muttered, sinking into a chair next to Anaak. “Anaak... Khun... how?”

“It’s- I did-“ Anaak howled, gasping for breath. “I actually jinxed you-“

“I can’t believe it... Don’t talk to me.” Khun turned his nose into the air, attempting to feign anger, but his expression was too content, his eyes sparkling with the effort of trying to hold back his smile. Bam liked it. It was so different from the stone cold facade and dark humour he’d gotten used to.

They must have been really close before all this, Bam thought with a smile. From the way they laugh together, like they’ve done it a million times.

Hatz did this thing where he purposely missed the corner pocket and sunk it into another instead. Bam had no idea how on earth he managed that.

“Show off,” Anaak giggled. There was a chorus of ‘good game’s and a collective sigh as Shibisu suggested that they play poker next, but the set was lost somewhere in the garage.

-

About an hour later, a frazzled Endorsi stormed back up from the garage (“It was under the spare TV the whole time! Can you believe it?!”). Alumik stood nearby since he apparently had nothing to do, acting as dealer, and Bam was sitting opposite Khun.

He looked friendly enough, but every time the cards were dealt  his face fell into the intimidating stare that had literally scared Bam shitless the first day they’d met. His eyes were like ice - not in colour, but...

He didn’t know how to describe it. Like falling on your palms on a frozen lake and feeling the prick of ice and pure subzero cold pierce through your skin.

Bam tapped the pile of chips next to him out of habit, frowning at his cards. He had a pretty good hand - a full house. He glanced around at everyone else; Shibisu was full on panicking, Hatz looked depressed, and Anaak and Endorsi were sitting beside each other exchanging looks he couldn’t decipher. Probably something like Shit, I have nothing. Oh really? Same.

They went clockwise starting from Hatz. He stared down at his cards, raised an eyebrow, then tossed one chip in.

“Bro, you alright? One chip?” Shibisu asked, bewildered. “Raise.”

He tapped down three chips with a grin.

“Hey! That’s not much better than mine!”

Khun didn’t wait for them to stop before he pushed all his chips in but one. “Heh.”

Endorsi’s jaw dropped. “What the fuck... is that even allowed? I fold. My hand is done for anyway.”

“Don’t look at me,” Anaak said. “No way I’m gonna call that. Fold.”

“Seriously?” Bam bit his lip, looking back down at his cards. If Khun had pretty much gone all in this early, he probably had a really good hand, but...

He was probably bluffing.

“Call.” If he was lucky, his hand would be worth more than Khun’s. Bam slid one chip off his stack and pushed the rest in. He levelled his gaze at everyone’s raised eyebrows, but he was probably sweating really badly compared to Khun because his poker face was terrible - Rachel had told him so.

Hatz groaned. “I fold. Screw it.”

“Are we even playing properly?” Endorsi asked.

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Hatz shrugged. “Just let them do their thing.”

“Man, why?! You just left me to fend for myself against them?” Shibisu complained, scrutinising Khun. “I can tell you’re bluffing, bro. Too bad I’m not rich enough for this. Fold.”

Khun shrugged, a wicked grin tugging at his lips. “You know me too well. Anyway, since we’re the last ones...” He revealed his hand and Endorsi immediately burst into laughter. “I only had one pair.”

Bam’s heart leapt, and he couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled out of him. “One pair? I thought for sure you were lying, but I didn’t expect that.” He flipped his cards, a full house gleaming proudly under the light.

“Nice,” Khun smiled, and Bam blinked. Just like that his cold front was gone, the sly glint back in his eyes. “Thank god we’re not playing with actual money, otherwise I’d be flat broke.”

“No way ,” Shibisu gasped suddenly. “HATZ!”

“What happened?”

“HATZ, YOU HAD A STRAIGHT FLUSH! YOU LITTLE-“

“Wait, what? Since when- OH MY GOD.”

“HOW COULD YOU MISS THAT?!”

The doorbell rang over them yelling at each other and Alumik practically teleported out of the room. Bam heard him zoom down the stairs like Quicksilver in a patter of footsteps and answer the door.

He shook his head as Isu started talking about dodging fate and swept in all the chips in the centre with a grin, and then all too quickly Khun was pressing his last chip into the pile, his fingers grazing Bam’s before they darted away.

He sucked in a breath and barely held back whatever gibberish he would’ve spouted in response, snatching back both his hands with wide eyes.

Khun had his sleeve covering his cheek again, looking amazingly fluffy bored at first glance, but this time Bam could make out the half hidden smirk on his face.

Holy shit. Please kill me now. Bam just sat there, an unfortunate teenager who’d happened to fall for this Khun of all people, and didn’t dare look up until Alumik bounced back in to announce that the pizza was here.

-

“I can’t believe your lounge room looks like this,” Bam sighed longingly. “It’s so big. It’s bigger than my house.”

“Come on, there’s no way,” Anaak replied, her voice muffled from under a stack of pizza boxes. “What movie do you wanna watch?”

“I want to eat your kidneys.” He frowned. “That doesn’t sound right. It’s something like that.”

“...What?” She dumped the pizza on the table. He was surprised the glass didn’t crack under all that. “Eat someone else’s. I’m too young to die.”

“I think it’s a movie,” Isu snorted.

“That’s a good one,” Khun said. “And pretty sure it’s pancreas.” Bam seriously wished he was that bottle of Pepsi Khun was hugging right now. He would even settle for being that hoodie itself, actually. In his next life he was going to make whoever created Bam: a human and not Bam: a fluffy clothing piece regret it.

“Is it sad?” Endorsi asked hopefully, flipping the TV on. It was huge, one of those 50-inch screens at least.

“She doesn’t want to smudge her mascara.”

“Shut up, lizard.”

Bam paused. “Very.”

”Oh, great.”

As Shibisu flipped open the pizza lids, Bam’s stomach grumbled. Free food was always good. Hatz took a seat on the left and Anaak flopped like a noodle next to him. Bam sat down rather stiffly next to Khun and Endorsi, who looked completely in their element on the leather sofas and plush carpet. As they should, he reminded himself. They’re basically descendants of royalty. Khun’s house is like this too.

Endorsi dimmed the lights. As the opening scenes rolled, Khun almost stood up to pour the drinks, but Bam stopped him. “I’ll do it,” he said firmly. He’d rather save his friend’s legs than... not save his friend’s legs.

“Yo,” Shibisu started, swallowing a huge mouthful of pizza. “What’s happening with the rooms?”

“We’ll check it later,” Anaak said, sprawled across the couch. “Prioritise, my man.”

“Sure. If you’re a room short though, I don’t mind sharing with Hatz. We’re roommates already.” He thought for a moment. “Housemates. Whatever it is.”

“But I’m sure as hell not sharing a bed with him,” Hatz muttered, to a choked laugh from Shibisu. “This one time his bed burnt down I let him share, with strict conditions, and he kicked me off in the middle of the night.”

“To be fair, I did warn you.”

“Yeah, ok, but why you decided to try science experiments in your bedroom is something else entirely. You could’ve saved your bed!”

Shibisu grinned. “Noted.”

Bam felt his eyebrows rise to astronomical heights. “You guys are housemates? I never knew.”

“I know right? I couldn’t believe it either,” Endorsi shook her head, sipping her soda like it was tea. “Imagine them going shopping together like a married couple.”

“Why did you decide to live together?” Bam asked, and within a second the atmosphere changed, tension seeping into the room. He suddenly realised all the terrible answers that question could have warranted. “Don’t answer that,” he said quickly. “I-“

“No, it’s...” Shibisu smiled, though it looked too strained to be natural. Bam winced. He never really appreciated just how much Shibisu affected the group’s dynamic - when he was around, they all laughed a little more, gravitating towards his terrible humour and optimism.

Oh my god, Bam thought in horror, sinking down on the spot. Have I been taking Shibisu for granted?

Hatz leaned back calmly. “I think we’ve all... left something behind. The world is balanced. If you gain one thing, you lose another.”

That was all that needed to be said. Bam pressed his hands together as thoughts of his parents and Rachel seared through him. There was Khun, cut off from his family and friends because of Eduan. Endorsi, who clawed her way up from nothing and lost her freedom because of it.

There must be a reason Shibisu and Hatz were alone that they didn’t want to talk about. Anaak fingered the necklace she always wore, a thin golden chain with a faceted blue-green gem on the end, her eyes distant and downcast.

For a while, the room was silent save for the cheerful tones of music from the TV.

-

Shibisu blew his nose with a blast like a freight train horn as the end credits cut off on the screen.

“That was complete bullshit,” Anaak said thickly, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. “He didn’t eat anyone’s damn pancreas.”

“Aw, Anaak. I didn’t know you were so soft,” Hatz teased, patting her head, but looking a little teary eyed himself. Anaak stuck her tongue out at him.

“Did you see how Sakura just- he finally started expressing himself, because of her, and- she just-“ Shibisu dissolved into sobs, adding a new tissue to the small mountain building next to him.

Bam sighed and squinted at the clock across the room - it was 9 already. Endorsi was snoozing on the arm of the sofa on his right, her mouth wide open, and Khun was sitting there with an odd expression on his left.

“Khun.” He ventured. “You ok?”

“Yeah. I’m just... thinking.” His arms were crossed, a slight furrow between his eyebrows. Bam was no genius, but he could tell this wasn’t a thinking face. It was almost like he didn’t know whether to smile or cry, and was torn at that equilibrium.

Endorsi awoke with a jolt before Bam could reply. “What the-“ She sat up, blinking bemusedly. “What was I doing again? Oh yeah. Gotta check rooms.”

Without another word, she dashed upstairs.

He watched as Endorsi stumbled into a pot plant. “Should we be worried?”

Khun shook his head, his expression still strangely off. “She’s always like that when she wakes up.”

He was so close Bam could’ve just leaned to the side so their arms touched and blamed it on the wind if anyone asked. He could’ve tilted his head so it coincidentally rested on Khun’s shoulder. Unfortunately, he was a wimp, and now his back hurt from sitting so still for the entire movie.

“You know, you’re pretty similar to the main character.”

Khun’s eyes flickered sadly towards him. “Yeah?”

“You seem pretty... distant at first. But I know you’re not like that,” Bam said quietly. “You’ll find your Sakura.”

A long pause.

“...I already have,” Khun replied, his voice bitter and shaking ever so slightly as he turned away, his hands fisting in his sleeves. “And I’m losing her.”

Bam’s heart sunk. “Khun...”

Endorsi’s footsteps thudded as she came down and swung from the staircase. “Bad knews,” she gasped. “We’re missing a bed.”

“What?” Anaak exclaimed. “How can we be missing a bed?”

“I don’t know!” Endorsi slumped down on the sofa again, waving a hand. “I can’t find it!”

“We couldn’t have just lost it! You know how big a bed is, Endorsi?” 

She groaned. “Father’s gonna kill me... But the good news is that the remaining one is king sized. Anaak and I have our own rooms, so if Shibisu and Hatz are sleeping alone, then...”

Bam closed his eyes. Fuck.

Chapter Text

“You’re both sleeping on the bed,” Shibisu said, very calmly, very slowly, both hands out like a peace offering. 

Khun had thrown his pillow on the ground, holding the small open slice of floor in the room hostage. Bam was mortified. At this rate, Khun was going to take the floor, Bam was going to sleep halfway out the window.

“We can’t,” Bam protested. “It’s just- we just-“

Shibisu grabbed Khun’s pillow, hurled it back onto the bed, and sprawled right across the floor like a fucking purple banana. “Too bad!” he yelled. “You guys can’t sleep on top of me, so get fucked!”

Good god. Bam was going to cry - not because of Isu - because of the mere idea of sharing a bed with Khun.

He turned to Khun desperately before the situation could transcend into even higher orders of bullshit. Please, Bam prayed, please say no. Universe, please just let me take the floor. I cannot handle this. I cannot.

Khun shrugged. “I’m fine with it.”

And just like that, Bam was having his fifth crisis of the day, hunched over the sink downstairs, furiously brushing his teeth.

-

They half watched another movie, half sung along to a Christmas carol playlist, despite the fact that it was around smack in the middle of the year. Hatz had somehow baked an entire carrot cake in the time that Bam had taken in the bathroom.

”Wonder what’s taking him so long,” Anak said, a gallon of orange juice in hand, watching Hatz turn off the carrot cake timer.

Hatz snorted. “Probably sulking over his fate,” he said, snapping oven mitts over his wrists and shooting a dirty look across the room. “He has to share a bed with Khun, of all people.”

”Yeah, you wish it was you!” Khun called back, watching Shibisu change the music to this year’s Top Pop Hits. Quant Blitz’s warbly music started playing. “Huh. I didn’t know he made music.”

“One-hit wonder.”

“Just like you in geography last year,” Endorsi shook her head.

Hatz shot up so fast that the cake almost sprung out of the oven, looking scandalised. “I thought you said you’d never bring that up again?”

Anak beamed. “She never keeps her promises!”

Endorsi whacked her with a spare apron, and suddenly something started beeping in time with the music.

“Guys?!” Bam’s yell sounded from across the hallway. “Is something burning?”

”For God’s sake, Hatz, your stupid carrot cake-”

”I got it, don’t help me-”

”…I’ll go check on Bam,” Khun said, raising his hands. “I wasn’t part of this, don’t look at me - you like orange juice, Anak? Who are you?!”

-

Bam had genuinely never felt more doomed in his entire life, and it wasn’t even the fact that he’d almost needed to pull up Emily maps to find his way through Endorsi’s house from the bedroom to the bathroom, or the fact that he could still smell the cake burning.

Sure, maybe talking to Khun had gotten easier, after getting to know him a little, but that didn’t change the fact that a) Bam had approximately less capacity for socializing than Eduan had for being a decent person, and b) he was about to share a bed with Khun.

Keywords: SHARE, BED, KHUN. 

The biggest problem was that, when Endorsi had dropped the news, Khun hadn’t even said anything. Not even shrugged. He’d just sipped some more Coke while Bam had launched himself off the couch with the poor excuse of cleaning up the pizza boxes to stop his soul from flying away. 

He groaned in dismay, fighting the urge to punch something with his towel. 

The others had turned on a speaker, blasting party songs across the hallway. Bam could hear the unmistakable sound of someone wailing mid solo karaoke, which was almost definitely Shibisu. 

Good. Surely no one had noticed how long he’d been in here, trying not to lose it-

A knock. “Bam? You alive?”

-oh, fuck his entire life. 

Bam felt his heart rate blast off to Mars. He turned around, panicking; Endorsi’s bathroom was enormous, but there was only one place he could possibly hide, and there was no way in hell he would let Khun walk in on him hiding inside a bathtub. 

Ok, Bam. He spat out his toothpaste. Just open the door. Rinsed like a madman. It’s easy. 

He opened the door. It was easy. The hard part was what came next. 

Sure enough, Khun was standing there. He was wearing one of those button-up pyjama tops, except the problem was that it wasn’t fully buttoned, and all Bam could think was Khun half-shirtless??? He could almost see the lines of Khun’s chest, his stomach - if he just turned his head a little that way-

“Hi,” Bam said, as if Khun hadn’t definitely just caught him staring. It was already over. 

Khun raised an eyebrow. “First time?” 

“Wha-” Bam frowned, before he realised Khun was probably talking about the spectacular mess he made in his search for a hiding place, and the fact that he was still holding his toothbrush like an idiot. “Oh, I just… struggle with brushing my teeth efficiently. Yeah.”

“I was kidding,” Khun laughed. “But really. Was your hair getting in the way?”

Bam reached up at it absentmindedly. “Not really. I don’t really pay attention to it.”

Khun looked at him, considering. “Turn around.”

“Ok,” Bam said, heart in his throat. 

The next second, Khun’s fingers were in his hair. Bam promptly forgot how to breathe. 

It took him an agonising few seconds to realise Khun was tying it for him, pulling his bangs away from his forehead. Nobody had ever touched his hair like this - not Rachel, not his mother - and so Bam didn’t know if it was normal for Khun’s fingers to hover so close to his skin, for so long, with a kind of gentleness he hadn’t really thought was possible.

Maybe he was actually asleep, he thought desperately, and this was all a dream, and Khun was really asleep too and not leaning half-shirtless over him, tying his hair. 

He was just about ready to slap himself to check when he felt Khun pull the hair tie loosely on, twist it once. His fingers grazed past the side of Bam’s face and through his hair, and Bam had to physically fight back a shiver. 

Holy fuck. This was so unfair. There was no way Khun didn’t know what he was doing. 

He felt it when Khun was done, the final soft snap of the hair tie, but Khun didn’t pull away. For a crazy moment, it hit Bam fully - it was just them, Khun’s breathing slow above his shoulder, the door half shut behind them. 

If he turned around right now, he could do anything he wanted - look Khun in the eye, tell him he liked him - kiss him, even. God. Bam couldn’t believe he was even thinking about it when he couldn’t even meet Khun’s eyes in the mirror. 

He was starting to go dizzy. He wasn’t sure if he’d breathed once this entire time, or swallowed. 

“It’s so long now,” Khun said, startlingly even. “And I kind of just wanted to see what you’d look like with it up.”

It took Bam a while to figure out what he’d said. One of Khun’s hands was still on his hair, drumming soft patterns over the crown of his head. Everything felt so off-center, for some reason, so unreal.

Bam’s brain could not catch up to his eyes. He could not understand a single thing that had just happened to him. Was there a YouTube tutorial on how to deal with this? 

“Ok,” Bam managed, grabbing his towel off the rack. “Yeah. I’m almost done, just give me a minute-”

“Take your time,” Khun said absentmindedly. “I’m gonna go for a round of Quant Blitz with Isu.” 

And then he left. 

What.

The.

Fuck.

After that entire exchange, Bam was so befuddled he had to go splash his face with water again - but at least he’d figured out what Shibisu was trying to sing.

-

Sharing a bed with Khun was honestly - well, a lot easier than Bam had expected. Khun didn’t move around a lot, didn’t snore like a foghorn like Endorsi allegedly did (“I put a voiceover of her snoring over this clip of a train pulling in, check it out-”), and didn’t try to kick him off the bed like Shibisu apparently did to Hatz. 

Khun was currently lying on his side, facing away from Bam, and was scrolling peacefully through his Emily inbox. 

Here’s the catch: Khun’s 31 unread messages, excluding their group chat, consisted of approximately 9 guys and 22 girls - not that Bam was counting - and were approximately all sprawling paragraphs of love confessions - not that Bam was reading them or anything. 

He tried not to kick all the blankets off the bed in frustration then and there. Honestly - how stupid was he to think he could’ve ever had a chance with Khun? He dragged a hand over his face, remembering the hordes of people gathering around the cafeteria the first day Khun had appeared. 

This must be what all of Endorsi’s fanboys feel like , Bam realised miserably. I’m just as bad as them. I can’t make fun of them anymore .

“Endorsi and Yuri,” Khun’s voice cut in, reading his mind. “Done anything about that yet?”

Bam jerked violently out of his monologue, rolling onto his back so it wouldn’t look like he’d just been judging Khun’s options over his shoulder. “Huh?”

Khun flipped around to lie on his back too, so Bam could hear him better. He raised his eyebrow. “They both like you, you know.”

Bam sputtered something. “I don’t really like them like that,” he said, suddenly feeling embarrassed. “Besides, that’s nothing,” he added, jabbing a finger at Khun accusingly. “You have 31 admirers!”

He slapped a hand over his mouth. He’d just exposed himself. It was over. The end was near. 

But Khun just laughed. His voice was just barely hoarse from singing earlier, and it rounded off the edges of the sound in a way that Bam apparently now had a thing for. He screwed his eyes shut for a moment and breathed in, which turned out to also be a mistake, because all he could smell was Khun’s shampoo. 

“No one’s really caught my attention yet,” Khun said mildly. “So I’m not interested.”

Bam’s heart leapt, then plummeted. “No one at all?”

Khun glanced at him sideways, then turned fully to face him, and the blue hit him like a knife point. He reached a hand up to the side of Bam’s face and just held it there, thumb pressed against his throat, forcing Bam to meet his eyes. 

“You don’t believe me?” he said, with a strange sort of smile. 

Something in Bam genuinely, honest-to-god flatlined. He wanted to scream. He wanted to die. He didn’t know how long he just lay there, not even breathing, Khun’s hand on his face. Khun’s hand on his face . 

“What about you?” Khun asked, smiling as if he couldn’t see Bam having a complete fucking meltdown in front of him. “Anyone you’re thinking about?”

“You,” Bam said, voice very, very small. 

Khun moved his hand away. “Good,” he said.