Chapter Text
Hyunjin is quite popular at school.
It’s mostly because of his looks, not matter how he hates people reducing him to this. He’s been elected Prettiest Slytherin Boy twice (though nobody knows who actually makes this ranking, it’s quite a reference amongst students), and people do double take when they pass by him in the halls, because apparently, he’s that stunning.
Well, he’s never paid much attention to it. He knows he’s conventionally attractive, but it’s not like he wants to take advantage of it, because he didn’t choose to look like this. He just wakes up every morning with that face and that’s it.
Sometimes, he wishes other students would be more interested in him than in his hair or smile or whatever it is they find pretty about him. It’s like no matter what he does, they’ll be repeating the same thing over and over: “Hwang Hyunjin, right? He’s the prettiest boy in the whole school! His future girlfriend will be so lucky!”. For once, he’d like to hear: “Hwang Hyunjin, right? He’s really smart and kind, and he must be an amazing friend!”. Because he’s trying so hard to be a better person each day, but the only thing people ever seem to notice is how he has a nice face. He’s not even exaggerating. Half the school wants to date him even though they haven’t spoken to him once.
It’s… exhausting. He desperately wants to say that he’s more than that, he’s more than his looks, that he has subjects he’s passionate about and interests he wants to share with others. Whatever he does, he knows there’ll be someone to pay attention to him, but for the wrong reasons. He’s waiting for the day when people will start seeing him for more than just a pretty face.
He knows what they say when he gets praised. It’s just because he’s handsome. If he was ugly, there’s no way he would be so popular. Like if he succeeds, it’s only because of this.
But his looks aren’t the only reason people stare and whisper when they see him. His family’s history also has something to do with all the fuss about him. After all, it’s not every day you see a muggle-born get into Slytherin. No wonder he’s known in the whole school just for existing. He suspects it’s also the reason why so many students are trying to get close to him. Because whether he wants it or not, he’s unique, and therefore popular, and popular people attracts attention.
He's used to it by now. That’s why when he spots a girl walking towards him and his friends, holding a letter in her hands, he knows what’s going to happen. Another student who’s fallen for him and who wants to ask him out. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Chan notices her, too, judging by the way he straightens up next to Hyunjin, as if he wants to get a better look at her. They’re both seated against an old oak tree by the lake, enjoying their day off.
“Look who’s coming,” Seungmin snarls mockingly. “Lover boy has another admirer.”
Hyunjin smacks him in the stomach, and he lets out a painful groan. His friends always make fun of him for his tendency to receive so much love letters, but he can’t really blame them. At this point, he gets a ridiculous number of confessions each week. It has become a running gag for them.
The girl is getting closer now. She’s probably a year or two younger than him, with a round face and blue braids tumbling on her shoulders, matching with her Ravenclaw uniform. He’s seen her before in the hallways, but he’s never talked to her before, he’s sure of that. He sighs, getting ready to reject her in the nicest way possible.
“Hi,” she says once she’s in front of them, blushing slightly.
Hyunjin thought they’d found a peaceful place by the lake, not crowded like every other area around Hogwarts, and that they would actually be able to relax without having to deal with this, but oh well.
“Hi,” Chan answers with a smirk.
This boy is such a flirt, Hyunjin could swear he’d probably throw a pick-up line at the minister of magic if he had the chance.
“I-uh, actually, I was wondering if I could talk to you, uh, in private,” she stutters, looking at Hyunjin right in the eyes.
He waits a few seconds, like she’s suddenly going to disappear if he wishes it hard enough, but it doesn’t happen, so he gets up and follows her as she leads him to the lake.
The sun shimmers on the surface of the water. There’s no clouds in sight, and it’s quite hot for a mid-October day. Not that he’s complaining: Hyunjin loves being able to be outside without having to wear five layers of clothes. Autumn is his favorite season, because it’s not too warm but not too cold either, a bit in between, and it’s just perfect.
“Oh, uh, I forgot to introduce myself,” chuckles the girl, who seems nervous. Her voice is slightly trembling, and Hyunjin can’t help but feel sorry for her. “I’m Naima. Uh, you probably don’t know who I am…”
He often wonders how people can be attracted to someone they’re not even close to. It’s got to be only physical attraction, because how can they decide they like him otherwise, if they never talked before? Once again, they reduce him to his looks, forgetting about everything else that makes him a person.
“No, sorry.”
The girl -Naima- is herself quite pretty. She’s shorter than him, but that’s usually the case. She’s fidgeting with a silver bracelet she’s wearing on her right wrist, and he notices her nails are painted in white, which stands out on her dark skin. Her soft brown eyes are looking everywhere but at Hyunjin. If he’s honest, her shyness adds to her charm, and she’s probably his type. But he’s not interested. How could he, when he doesn’t know everything about her?
As much as he wishes he could be like anyone else and go out with random people just for fun, he just can’t bring himself to do it. There’s something about dating that feels way too intimate for him to do it with strangers, even if there’s a possibility they’re really nice and he’ll end up having fun. He knows his friends aren’t like that, and that they already hung out with someone they barely knew just because they seemed cool and wanted to get to know them better.
But Hyunjin finds it weird. Maybe it has to do with the fact that he’s an introvert, and that social interactions in general are a hassle. Or maybe he just needs to know someone well before actually thinking of romance. Isn’t it how it’s supposed to be? You spend more and more time with someone and then you realize you’re in love with them. It’s not the other way around, “you meet someone you want to date, and you only get to know them after”.
At the same time, he knows that if he’s going to go on a date one day, he’ll have to talk to a stranger eventually. But he always thought he would be friends with them first, not that they would go straight into the “lovers” phase.
It’s even worse with people who already have a crush on him. He would be too uncomfortable going out with someone knowing that they expect him to reciprocate their feelings. That’s why he systematically rejects anyone who ever comes at him to confess. He’s aware that he’s maybe missing the love of his life, but there’s something about people liking him just because of his looks that feels wrong. Because it’s obviously the reason they like him. What else?
Maybe if they tried a different approach, tried to get to know him before jumping straight to the “I love you” part, he wouldn’t be so suspicious. But it has never happened. They always confess, and then suggest hanging out to learn more about each other.
This time is no exception.
“We don’t know each other yet, because I’m French, I just transferred from Beauxbâtons, and… Well, ever since I arrived, I kept noticing you in the hallways and in the park, and I wanted to ask if you… Would agree to go on a date with me? Because I, uh, find you really cute, and you seem like a nice person, so I…”
“Oh, uh, I’m flattered, but I’m already in love with someone.”
It’s a lie, but she doesn’t have to know, and he finds it nicer than just saying “I’m not interested, bye.” At least she won’t think it’s her fault for not being attractive enough or something.
Naima opens her mouth, then closes it slowly. She’s blushing even more now, and stumbles on her words when she answers:
“Oh, yeah, of course, I hadn’t thought about that. I’m sorry for disturbing you, I’ll go now, uh… I wrote you a letter, so I’ll leave it to you, but if you don’t read it it’s fine, probably a bit cringy, aha… I also wrote my number in it and… Hm…Well, bye!”
She gives him the letter before running away, so fast that Hyunjin just blinks, his brain still trying to process what just happened. He looks at the envelope in his hand. It’s white, with his name written in cursive purple ink: Hyunjin.
He can see Chan and Seungmin watching him, so he shoves the letter in his pocket and joins them.
“Let me guess. You told her you were already in love with someone else,” says Seungmin sarcastically when he sits between his two friends.
Hyunjin doesn’t answer, but his silence is taken as a yes.
“You’re hopeless,” sighs Chan. “Why don’t you give her a chance, at least?”
“I can’t imagine going out with someone I barely know,” groans Hyunjin. “I’m shit at social relationships and she’ll end up being disappointed anyway. And the whole concept of dating someone before knowing them stresses me out.”
“You know, maybe she just genuinely wants to get to know you better because you seem nice,” points Seungmin. “What’s so awful in meeting new people? It’s not like you’re forced to date them after, you can just stay friends.”
“Yes, but it gives them false hope! Plus, I literally don’t understand how people can have crushes on someone they never talked to. I can’t wrap my mind around this concept, so it would just feel weird, I guess.”
“You literally had a crush on that one girl from Hufflepuff last year, and you’d never talked to her before.”
“Sana? That’s different. I knew she was nice, and funny, because she was doing those book reviews on Youtube and I was subscribed to her channel. So, I still knew a bit about her.”
“Well, what makes you think people haven’t seen your dance covers and they’re impressed and want to get close to you because you’re just amazing in them?”
“Okay, first, thank you for the compliment, and second, I would literally die of embarrassment if someone at this school found these covers.”
“But they’re so good!” exclaims Chan, tilting his head.
Hyunjin can feel his cheeks heating up. He puts a lot of work in these covers, and he always gets shy when his friends praise him for it. They matter a lot to him.
So he quickly changes the subject, because he doesn’t know how to deal with compliments.
“Anyway, the point is, I’m not interested in any of these people, so why should I bother trying to know them better? It’ll just be a waste of time, and they’ll be disappointed in the end. I may not be close to them, but I don’t want to hurt anybody.”
“Maybe you’d actually find someone interesting,” suggests Chan. “But you won’t know if you don’t try.”
“Well, I don’t want to try. I’m fine by myself for now.”
“That’s a good way of thinking. Romance is overrated anyway,” declares Seungmin, closing his eyes and laying down on the ground.
“You say that like you don’t have the biggest crush on the cute Gryffindor who’s next to you in Muggle Studies.”
“Shut up!”
Hyunjin avoids the rock Seungmin throws at him and starts laughing, seeing the boy getting all flustered at the mention of the guy he’s been crushing on since last year. Hyunjin doesn’t even share the same class as them, because he takes Divination as an option instead, but he feels like the boy is one of his friends since Seungmin talks about him literally all the time.
You should see his smile, he lights up the whole room just by smiling, and he has the softest eyes ever, and he has such a cute accent, and his hair look so fluffy when it’s early in the morning and he just woke up, and he has a deep ass voice but he’s so cute so the contrast is surprising at first…
Hyunjin could probably write an essay about him by now. The worst part is, Seungmin and him aren’t even that close. He only talks to him when they need to get paired up to work on presentations, but every one of their conversations is analyzed later by the three of them, trying to see a hint that he’s maybe interested in Seungmin too.
It’s difficult, because the boy in question is nice to everything and everyone. He’d probably apologize to a tree if he bumped into one. So it’s hard telling if he is being all cheerful to Seungmin because he actually likes him or because it’s just the way he acts with everyone.
“I’m right though,” argues Hyunjin, who immediately puts some distance between him and Seungmin in case he tries to hit him again. “When are going to make a move?”
“Never. I don’t even know if he’s into boys anyway.”
“Have you looked at him? The boy radiates bi energy!”
“I’m with Chan on this one. Plus, who couldn’t not like you? You’re one of the best humans on Earth.”
“I don’t think you know enough humans to make this statement.”
“Irrelevant. The point is, you’ll never know if you don’t try!”
“That’s literally what Chan told you earlier, and you dismissed the idea.”
“Don’t change the subject! We’re talking about you and Lee Felix right know.”
At the mention of his name, Seungmin makes a strangled noise and curls up on himself. Hyunjin sighs. This isn’t going to be easy.
He’s sure his friend has a chance, he really does, but Seungmin is convinced of the contrary. He spends most of his time whining about how Felix is out of his league and how he would never go out with someone like him. Chan and Hyunjin disagree, but none of their words seem to make a difference.
He’s seen Felix before, even though he never talked to him. Seungmin had showed him to them when they were all seated together in the Great Hall. The boy is at Gryffindor, and it’s true that he’s really pretty. He’s always smiling, too.
Seungmin and him would be really cute together. And he’s been pining over him for so long that it’s about time something finally happens between them. What he needs is just a little push on the back.
Hyunjin makes a decision, and before he can think about it in details, he opens his mouth to say:
“Okay, you know what? We can make a deal. You ask Felix out on a date, and I’ll accept to hang out with the next person who comes and confess to me, okay?”
“Who says someone is going to come and confess to you again?” groans Seungmin, but Hyunjin only raises an eyebrow.
Of course, he can’t be sure of that. But since the beginning of school year, he has received four confessions in five weeks, so he has all reasons to believe it will keep going. And if no one comes, well, he won’t be the one to complain, and it’ll be too late for Seungmin to go back.
“Yes!” exclaims Chan, way too enthusiastic about this. “Maybe my two best friends will finally have boyfriends!”
Hyunjin doesn’t bother to precise that he may find a girlfriend instead, because there’s no guarantee that a boy will be next to confess. He already regrets this. He really, really hopes no one will come to make a stupid declaration. Maybe if he dies his hair green or orange, they will stop finding him pretty? Except he likes his black hair too much to do that.
He’s doing it for Seungmin. So he’ll finally stop whining about Felix. That’s what he needs to tell himself.
“Okay, I’m in,” says Seungmin. “But I’m waiting for you to have someone before I make a move.”
“What? It’s not fair!”
“You didn’t think you’d get out of this so easily? I know you, Hwang Hyunjin. If I ask Felix tomorrow, you’ll just keep rejecting everyone after that just like you do now because it’d be too late for me to turn back.”
This boy is a demon.
“Okay, fine. Whatever.”
There’s a big grin on Chan’s face. Seungmin is pouting, and on his cheeks there’s a slight blush.
“I hate you, you know that?” he says.
“Yup, I’ve been told.”
But Hyunjin can’t help but smile too. He will worry about this whole dating thing later. For now, he’s with his best friends, and they have the whole afternoon to themselves.
Well, that’s not entirely true. Technically, they’re supposed to be back in the Slytherin common room by eight pm, because they’re on cleaning duty. Since the house elves are no longer working at Hogwarts, the students have to take care of these kind of things by themselves, and they take turns. Thankfully he still managed to be with his friends. Cleaning isn’t fun, but cleaning while being in a room with two strangers would be way worse.
But it’s only a quarter past three, so they still have time. And they know exactly what to do: nothing. It’s their last year at Hogwarts, and God knows they’ll be drowning under assignments in just a few weeks, so they need to relax while they still can. They went to Hogsmeade the day before and their pockets are full of chocolate frogs and many other sweets, which means they’re ready to spend the best afternoon ever.
Hyunjin lies on the ground next to Seungmin, using his cloak as a pillow to be more comfortable. He’s not particularly tired, but there’s something about the warm atmosphere and the soft breeze that makes him feel sleepy. It would be so easy to close his eyes and to take a short nap…
“Crap, I put chocolate on my shirt,” groans Chan while wiping desperately said shirt, to no avail.
Well, he guesses a bit of rest is too much to ask when you’re friends with Bang Christopher Chan. Even at night, he’s always fumbling around, finishing an essay or working on new spells or catching up on lessons he missed. He’s got a Time-Turner to make it easier for him, because he takes an awful number of classes, but he still works when he’s supposed to be sleeping.
The amazing thing is, he still manages to succeed in everything he does. He’s a genius, but a sleep-deprived genius. Maybe it’s a requirement to be a genius. Hyunjin wouldn’t know.
Isn’t a genius someone who is a natural? Hyunjin gets good grades, but nothing comes easily to him. Being both muggle-born and a Slytherin has put a lot of pressure on him ever since his first year, and sometimes he still feels like he’s a fraud and doesn’t deserve to be where he is now, no matter how much he tries to convince himself he’s worked hard for this.
It’s not the house in itself. Sure, Slytherin has had a reputation of being the place where assertive and powerful people went, but it has evolved a lot over the years, and now it’s no longer a house reserved for a certain elite, even if some students like to think they’re superior because they come from a long lineage of wizards.
Still, Hyunjin feels like he’s failing his family sometimes.
Every time he gets complimented for something, he smiles and thanks the person, but he doesn’t believe it, not really. They’re saying this to make me feel better. They’re nice because they’re my friends. Only a few times in his life the compliments really felt genuine, and it was when they were coming from perfect strangers. Because in that case, it couldn’t be because they pitied him.
Being friends with Chan isn’t exactly helping, because he can’t help but compare himself to him. But it was even worst when he they were in first year and second year. Hyunjin was easily impressionable and desperate for recognition, so he tried to imitate Chan in everything he was doing, forgetting who he was in the process.
It’s a lot better now. Hyunjin has learnt to be more self-confident and to be proud of who he was. He never stopped admiring Chan, but now he can admire who he has become, too. It’s partly thanks to his two best friends, partly thanks to himself.
He looks at them now, trying to wipe away the chocolate from Chan’s shirt, oblivious to the deep thoughts running through his head. Seungmin keeps repeating than Chan is a dumbass, and Chan tries to be respected as he’s older than both of them (spoiler : he’s failing). Hyunjin smiles. It’s a simple October afternoon, nothing special, but he’s so glad to be here with them at this very moment.
*
He forgets about the deal he made with Seungmin after that. The weeks go by, and he’s so caught up in school assignments that he barely has the time to send letters to his family to tell them how he’s doing. It seems to be the case for everyone else, because after Naima, no one comes to give him love letters or anything of the sort. He’s a bit relieved. Rejecting people isn’t something he likes to do, so he’s glad people seem to have stopped finding him attractive. Maybe they just collectively realized they had no chance with him.
Either way, he’s enjoying walking in the hallways without people staring at him. It’s good to take a break sometimes.
Well, not that he sees many people at this hour. The library just closed, and he’s going back to his dorms, but most students are already in their bedrooms or in the common room of their house. He was up this late to finish an essay for his Astronomy class, but the librarian told him he had to go to sleep eventually.
His essay was so interesting he didn’t notice it was already 10pm. He had to choose a constellation and retrace its history, from when it was discovered to the meaning of its name, before explaining the influence of this constellation on the Earth. He had a hard time choosing which one he wanted to work on, but he finally settled on Vulpecula, the Little fox. It remined him of his favorite book, The little prince, where the protagonist befriends a fox and they have one of the most beautiful and meaningful conversations ever. To be honest, the book as a whole is beautiful and meaningful. Of course, Hyunjin cries every time he reads it.
He is headed to the Slytherin common room when he realizes he’s forgotten his scarf at the library. He curses under his breath and stops in his tracks. But there’s no point in going back, because it’s closed now anyway. He’ll just have to go tomorrow before his first class. It’s no big deal, so he brushes the thought away and go back to his room, even though his mood is a bit down now. It’s not the usual Slytherin scarf they’re handed at the beginning of first year. This one has been knitted by his grandmother, who sadly passed away two years ago, and it means a lot to him. Mainly because it’s a gift, but also because it’s a proof than his family is proud of him for being in Slytherin, that they think he belongs here, even if other pure blood students don’t share this opinion.
The absence of his scarf is still bothering him when he enters his bedroom and finds Seungmin already asleep and Chan up working as always. The sight of his friend focused on whatever he’s working on tugs at his heart. He never speaks about it, but it’s obvious that he’s exhausted most of the time. Being in seventh year is a lot of work, and he was abroad for two years working in a shop, which means he has to work twice as hard to catch up with the classes.
“Oh, Hyunjinnie, I hadn’t seen you.” Chan turns on his chair to face him. “Where were you? Seungmin couldn’t wait to show you the pictures he took at Hogsmeade this afternoon, but you weren’t coming so he fell asleep.”
Hyunjin feels guilty at the thought of Seungmin waiting for him excitedly with his camera in hand, only to go to bed disappointed when he never came. He scratches his neck and sighs.
“Shit, I’m sorry… I was at the library finishing the paper for our Astronomy class.”
“It’s nothing, don’t worry, he’ll show them to you tomorrow. I thought you had already finished it though?”
“No, I was originally doing it on another constellation, but then I had a better idea and I had to redo it completely. But it was worth it, I’m much prouder of what I did with this one. It was like I had this connection with the topic, and so working on it didn’t feel like working at all.”
Chan smiles knowingly.
“It’s easier to work on things that we like. That’s why I always try to tie my assignments to subjects I’m passionate about. This way, I don’t have the impression that I’m doing homework.”
“What are you working on right now?”
He removes his cloak and put it on a chair before getting closer to Chan to take a look at what he’s doing. His notebook is filled with lots and lots of numbers.
“Is that arithmetic?”
“Yup.”
“Ew, math.”
“Excuse me? Math is a very good subject.”
“Math is awful, and I don’t know how people can like that.”
“Because we’re all different and unique and we don’t have the same interests...?”
“Meh, I guess you’re right,” sighs Hyunjin before plumping on his bed. “Although I hate to admit it. Can’t you just let me hate on math like Seungmin? No, you have to be more intelligent than that, of course.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” chuckles Chan.
“It is. I hate intelligent people. I hate talented people in general. They’re annoying.”
“Wow, you must loathe yourself in that case.”
“I- what’s that supposed to mean?!”
Chan doesn’t answer, only winks to him and then gets back to his work. Hyunjin feels his cheeks heating up and grumbles. This boy is going to be the death of him.
After that, Chan keeps writing and writing. Hyunjin would normally read a bit, but he’s feeling tired, so he quickly undresses, puts on his pajamas and snuggles in his bed, his mind already drifting towards comforting things to fall asleep more easily, like he’s been doing since his childhood. He doesn’t react when Chan pats his head before going to bed as well, because he’s already snoring softly at this point.
*
“Hyunjin? Hyunjinniiiiie, wake up!”
Hyunjin doesn’t want to wake up, because he’s too comfortable right now, wrapped up in his sheets and blankets, and the idea of opening his eyes is too tiring. But then someone starts shaking him and he whines, trying to hit whoever is disturbing his peaceful night.
“We’re gonna be late for Professor Flitwick’s class - again - if you don’t wake up immediately.”
Class? But who would want to go to class when sleeping is much more agreeable?
“Hyunjin, I swear if you don’t get up right now I’m getting a glass of water and -”
This actually has an effect on the sleepy boy. His mind is still blurry and he’s having trouble forming coherent thoughts, but he has a clear memory of a splash of freezing water thrown at him at 7 in the morning and he doesn’t want to reiterate the experience.
“I’m waking up, I’m waking up, don’t throw water at me please!”
He rises and finds himself inches away from Seungmin, who looks a bit annoyed. It’s understandable, since he has to face the same scene every morning. Hyunjin is a late sleeper, while Seungmin rises at dawn fresh as a daisy. And they’re almost every day late because of Hyunjin’s tendency to get as much sleep as he can. Chan leaves first, because he meets the teacher before every class to make sure he understood everything from the previous lesson. He’s determined to succeed, and the teachers appreciate that.
“What time is it?” Hyunjin slurs, still trying to figure out where he is and why he’s suddenly awake.
“Half past seven, and we’re supposed to be having breakfast already.”
“Oh shit,” he mutters, before getting up and scrambling to get to the closet.
It’s the same thing every day, but he never learns. Seungmin must be fed up with him, but still he’s here every morning, waiting for Hyunjin to wake up, screaming at him if necessary. Even when he knows that he’s going to be late as well, he’d rather stay with him, because that’s what friends do. Hyunjin is glad to have him as his friend.
Years of waking up too late have at least taught him one thing: to get ready quickly. In five minutes, he’s dressed, with his bag ready. Seungmin raises his eyes, but the second after his usual smile is back on his face.
“We’d better hurry now, because there’s no way I’m going through the day without my caramel pancakes.”
“Chill, no one actually eats that except for you, there’ll still be plenty.”
He remembers halfway on their way to the Great Hall that he’s supposed to get back his scarf, and tells Seungmin to eat without him, that he’ll be back in no time. The library isn’t too far away, so he runs there in hopes to find his scarf quickly. Except when he actually gets here, there’s a whole bunch of Ravenclaws doing botanic research, and there’s a boy seated at Hyunjin’s usual spot. His scarf is nowhere in sight.
Hyunjin hates talking to strangers when it isn’t necessary, so his first instinct is to look around. Maybe it fell on the ground, maybe he missed it. But he realizes he looks weird walking between the tables and looking at the ground desperately. So he finally gathers enough courage to go ask the boy who’s seated where he was yesterday if he has seen it.
He’s obviously younger than him, since Hyunjin is in his last year, but not that much, maybe just a year or two. He has straight black hair falling onto his eyes, and the usual Ravenclaw uniform, except his is a bit disheveled. He doesn’t seem too focused on his work, since he’s doodling in the margins.
“Hmm… Excuse me?”
The boy raises his head right away, and his eyes widen when he identifies the one talking to him. At the same time, a slight blush spreads on his cheeks, and he opens his mouth slightly, but no sound comes.
“I was wondering if you’d seen my scarf. I was here yesterday, and I’m sure I left it here.”
“Oh, uh, a Slytherin scarf?”
He’s so flustered it’s almost funny. Hyunjin doesn’t like to make fun of others, but there’s something so endearing about the youngest spluttering and blushing that makes him smile in spite of himself. It’s not like he wants to brag, but he’s used to having this effect on people, and sometimes it’s amusing.
“Yes, a Slytherin scarf.”
“Yes, uh, it was here, but I gave it back to the librarian because I didn’t know who it belonged to.”
Hyunjin suddenly realizes he’s being stupid, because he could’ve just asked the librarian first. And so he stays for five seconds frozen in his spot, eyes locked with the cute boy in front of him. Then he figures maybe he should move if he doesn’t want to seem weird.
He’s about to turn around and go to the counter to ask for his scarf when he spots a book half hidden by the boy’s textbooks. It’s not that surprising considering they’re in a library and they’re literally surrounded by books. But Hyunjin could recognize this one anywhere. And before he can think too much about it, he points to the book and asks, surprised:
“You’re reading The little prince?”
The boy in front of him seems confused for a second, but then his whole face brightens. He grabs the book and looks at it with an air of fondness. Hyunjin still can’t believe his eyes.
He’s used to having to explain to everyone his muggle references, the books and the songs and the tv shows, because children from wizards’ families have their own books and songs and tv shows and therefore there’s a lot of things they can’t understand about each other.
At first, he felt left out, unable to really fit in because it seemed like he had to catch up with years of cultural references he had no idea existed before receiving his Hogwarts letter. He already felt like an outsider in Slytherin, with people looking at him furtively, and it was even harder because when he wanted to make friends, he discovered that there was a gap between them.
It changed when he met Chan and Seungmin, who were eager to discover a whole new culture, and Hyunjin was more than happy to let them into his world. They even took muggle studies as an option to understand him better so he could feel more accepted.
But apart from them, almost no one knew a lot about muggle culture. So seeing someone randomly at the library with a muggle book, his favorite on top of that, was unsettling.
“Hm, yes?”
Okay. Hyunjin needs time to process this information, but he has to act like he isn’t totally freaking out.
“I- How do you know it? It’s a muggle book.”
If the boy is surprised, he doesn’t show it. Instead, he seems less shy than a minute ago, as if it is a subject he’s comfortable talking about. Hyunjin can relate. He is awful at making conversation, but the idea of talking about something he loved eases his anxiety a bit.
“My mother is a muggle. She used to read it to me when I was young.”
“Oh, I see. My parents are muggle too, that’s why I know it,” he adds before he can really think.
It isn’t a secret, but he doesn’t usually shoot it from the rooftops. But it has escaped his lips before he could think of it. The boy doesn’t seem to mind. Instead, he’s looking at him with wide and earnest brown eyes.
“It’s my favorite book!” he exclaims, and that’s when Hyunjin is finally convinced he’s dreaming.
If you’ve met someone who shared the same interest as you, then you can maybe understand what it feels like to suddenly feel connected to a perfect stranger, just because you know he’s passionate about the same thing as you. You are hit with the realization that maybe, all that you’ve felt, someone felt it too. And you’re suddenly filled with hope and something else, eagerness to get to know this someone better.
Except Hyunjin is still a very shy introvert, and so no matter how much he’d love to express all this, he just physically can’t.
“Oh, I like it as well,” is all he manages to get out.
It doesn’t discourage the boy, as he smiles widely, not bothered by Hyunjin’s visible coldness.
“I’m so happy to find someone who read it too! It’s so cool!”
“Yeah, totally. It’s such a wonderful book, I read it like ten times and I never get tired of it.”
“Me too! It’s so simple, but at the same time it makes you think about life and you just question everything around you when you close it. I’m amazed by the writing because the characters are just, ethereal, but at the same time what they say is so real? I don’t know how to express it. But it’s so great!”
He’s so enthusiastic Hyunjin immediately wants to be friends with him. This boy just puts word on everything that goes through his mind every time he reads the book. Except he can’t, because he has to get his scarf and join Seungmin for breakfast and go to class, because he’s already late. And he’ll probably never meet this guy again, except maybe if he passes by him in the hallways. He’s not even in the same house and same year as him.
“Uh, yes, but I, uh, I should probably go,” he starts, and the boy deflates slightly. “To get my scarf and all. I haven’t even eaten yet, so…”
“Okay, sure, well, it was nice talking to you! You should hurry if you want to get breakfast, because they stop serving in ten minutes.”
“Shit, you’re right. Uh, I’m happy I found someone who likes this book, too,” he adds, because he doesn’t want to seem rude. “Maybe I’ll see you around?”
“Sure!” The boy nods, and his cheeks are a bit red again, like he just realized he’s been rambling to a perfect stranger about some children book. Hyunjin himself doesn’t know what to think, because it was both really weird and kind of enjoyable.
When he finally gets his scarf back and exists the library, he stops and turns to look at the boy, who returned to his homework like they never interacted in the first place.
He feels like he’s just gotten out of a dream.