Chapter Text
Beep beep! The sound of an alarm clock woke up a very tired Tae-young. Though he was tired, he woke up gracefully, almost like a princess out of a fairy tale movie. He turned off the alarm and laid there with open eyes for maybe a minute, staring at the ceiling. He was a little nervous, but that's alright, most people would be in his situation. Starting at a new school has never been easy, but he was sure that it would be okay. At least, he kept telling himself that.
It was amazing, his optimism. Or maybe it was confidence? There was just something about him, and everybody saw it. Some kind of aura that just exuded "I have my shit together" energy.
He got up and looked in the full-length mirror on his wall. He ruffled his hair for a moment, trying to make it look a little less messy. He made his bed quickly and swiftly and left his room so he could brush his teeth and wash his face.
It was weird to live alone now. He definitely enjoyed it, no doubt about that. He enjoyed living in a smaller place with no parents to nag at him. Of course, they were paying, so he could never say that to them. But being in a peaceful environment without his father audibly expressing his high expectations was a nice change from what it used to be like. He remembered the day he asked his father if he could live on his own. He also remembered being very surprised when he agreed. So they agreed on a little apartment at the other end of Seoul, which also meant switching schools. That's where Tae-young's worries came in.
It wasn't like he ever had trouble making friends in the past. In fact, he had tons. One could even say he was popular. He was smart, athletic and somehow was good at everything. Of course, he never admitted any of his skills himself which also made him incredibly humble. It was hard to find any flaw in him.
Most of his friends would joke about him being the main character of life. He would always have to awkwardly laugh and shrug it off. Because honestly, deep down he didn't agree with any of the praise he got.
His entire life was a competition with himself. Being good at things wasn't a skill but a necessity. He couldn't fail, because that would bring dishonor to himself, not to mention to his family. At least that's what his father always hinted at. He would never say it, but it always felt like a discipline if he wasn't good at something. Not everyone has an interest in instruments, sports, or even school; but Tae-young couldn't afford to not be interested in these things. He had to be good at them. Being good at things was a burden for him at times. But saying that his life was hard would only make other people feel worse — not to mention he'd sound like a douche — so he kept it to himself.
Tae-young washed his face with a foam cleanser his mother got for him as a farewell present. It smelled nice, kind of like lavender. He was momentarily entranced in a nice memory while washing it off his face, inhaling the scent. He patted his face dry with a towel and looked at himself in the mirror for a prolonged amount of time. He found himself nitpicking at himself, so he broke eye contact and left the room. No need to bring yourself down when you're already nervous.
Tae-young went into his kitchen and opened the fridge to see if there were any leftovers he could eat for breakfast. He had some leftover kimchi stew and decided to heat it in his microwave. While it heated up, he went in to change from his pajamas to his uniform, almost routinely. He fumbled a little with his tie because the uniform felt so new. It was a weird feeling. He was used to having used the same uniform for his previous two years of high school, so the fit was just completely different. His old uniform used to consist of gray pants, a black vest and tie, and a burgundy blazer. It was a weird change from that to the new navy-colored blazer and pants. The tie was even a mix of blue and yellow stripes, which just felt... odd. Surely he would get used to it, though. As he stared in the mirror, he heard the microwave beep. He came back to his senses and went out into the kitchen.
He took out the kimchi stew, the bowl being very hot. He quickly placed it on his own little dining table and sat down to eat. It was very warm, which was nice. He sat and mentally rehearsed what to say to his new classmates. As he ate the stew, spoonful after spoonful, he kept rehearsing the simple sentence "Hello, my name is Kim Tae-young." He really couldn't understand why he was so nervous, he was normally very extroverted. Maybe it was just because he'd be joining a new class for the first time. Surely, that was why.
As he finished his stew he got up and put his bowl in the sink. It could be washed later. He went back into his room, grabbed his backpack, and then proceeded into his hallway to put on his shoes. He looked in the mirror in his hallway one final time. He smiled at himself and mouthed some words of encouragement to himself. You can do it. He walked out of his apartment and towards the bus stop. Today was gonna be an exciting day. He was sure of it.
Two streets further down, another alarm rang. Hyeong-jun was laying on his bed on his stomach, all spread out like a starfish — or at least, an oddly-shaped starfish. His pillows and blankets were everywhere. Hyeong-jun slapped his bed continuously, trying to find his phone so he could hit snooze. He kept patting around him, until he grabbed his phone, praying that he could sleep a bit longer. He opened a single eye and saw the time. God damn it.
He was almost late! And on the first day of his final year. That wouldn't sit right with his homeroom teacher. Mr. Lee would definitely say something about how he's a 3rd-year student now and how colleges won't tolerate this kind of manner. You know, what he was normally told. Plus, he hadn't seen most of his friends since before the spring break, so he would like to catch up with them before classes would begin.
He quickly jumped out of bed and rushed out of his bedroom door, "Hyeon-ah, please wake me when I'm late!" he yelled as he rushed towards the bathroom, opening the door and instantly starting to brush his teeth.
Hyeon-ah groaned from the couch, still mostly sleeping. She was wearing a sleep mask. She shooed him away, waving her hand at nothing, "You're 19 now, you'll be an adult soon, you're not my responsibility."
"But you're my sister and you're older than me. You literally have responsibility until I'm 20," he said, almost inaudibly, as he was in fact brushing his teeth. Some foam from the toothpaste fell into the sink as he spoke. Honestly, very few words of what he said were understandable.
"When I was your age I was able to wake up by myself, you know," she said, somehow understanding the full sentence. She hadn't moved an inch on the couch, "Weren't you only supposed to meet at 10:00, since it's the first day of school?"
"It's past 9:30!" Hyeong-jun yelled frantically, spitting toothpaste bubbles everywhere.
"Did you really snooze your alarm that much?" she drifted back in and out of sleep, "I had the closing shift at the convenience store and I'll possibly be gone before you come home from school. I bought Chapaghetti, eggs, and some veggies, you can make some nice ramen for dinner if I'm not home."
Hyeong-jun spat into the sink and quickly rinsed his mouth with water, "Thanks!"
He proceeded to vigorously wash his face with water to freshen up and immediately ran back into his room and put on his uniform. Luckily he was the type to pack his bag the day before, so he wouldn't have to worry about being late. You could say it worked out. Kind of.
Shirt, check. Tie, check. Blazer, check. Name tag, check. He grabbed his backpack and ran out into the hall. He slipped into his sneakers. "Bye, Hyeon-ah! Love you!" he yelled as he ran out of the apartment door.
"Love you too," she replied. And then she immediately fell asleep.
Hyeong-jun ran down the stairs with all his speed and out of the apartment building. He kept on running towards the bus stop. As he looked back, he could see the bus approaching. Oh god. He had to pick up the pace, and honestly, it really made him regret not joining a sports team. The bus overtook Hyeong-jun, but luckily some other students were waiting at the bus stop, meaning it would stop. As he finally arrived at the bus stop, he bent down to put his hands on his knees, catching his breath. He felt embarrassingly out of shape. As the other students had all boarded the bus, he entered the bus still breathing heavily, and sat down on one of the empty seats in the front.
When he had finally caught his breath, he looked out of the bus window. He put in his headphones and started listening to some music, browsing through his playlist for a song to listen to. It had been a while since he had to rush out to the bus like that. But it wasn't exactly uncommon for him. At least twice a week he would almost be late — luckily rarely late for real. That wouldn't be good for his attendance rate.
"Is this seat taken, sir?" Hyeong-jun was interrupted by a familiar voice looking down at him.
"Se-rim!" Hyeong-jun's face lit up as he got up and greeted Se-rim with a big hug, "Sorry, I didn't see you." He took out one of his earbuds and sat back down, gesturing for Se-rim to sit next to him.
"No worries," Se-rim chuckled as he sat down, "Isn't it crazy? We're 3rd-years now. I honestly still feel like a 12-year-old."
"Me too. I can't until we graduate though," Hyeong-jun laughed. He gave the earbud he took out to Se-rim, "Do you wanna listen?"
"Yeah, sure," Se-rim smiled and placed the earbud into his left ear. They were both tired, so it was also nice to just sit in peace together.
The thought of this being the last year of high school excited Hyeong-jun. Oh, how he couldn't wait until he graduated. He closed his eyes imagining life out of high school. It was so close he could almost taste it. It was gonna be so great finally being free from those mentally confined walls and out in the open. As an avid watcher of romantic college dramas, he also really wanted to explore the romantic life. But being in high school made that kind of hard for him.
The thing was, Hyeong-jun had definitely liked people before. Lots of people in fact. The only problem was... they were guys. And of course, he would never act that out. He could never act that out. For a very large all-boys school in Seoul, they weren't incredibly open-minded.
When Hyeong-jun and Se-rim were 1st-year students, a 3rd-year had been outed as gay, and people started bullying him so badly that he had to switch schools in the second semester. Hyeong-jun always felt bad about that, of course. His name was Ahn Seong-hoon. He still got mentioned occasionally as an example of bullying by the school administration, yet no action was taken. And Hyeong-jun couldn't risk that happening to him. So he had one goal for high school: don't break out from the crowd. So far so good. It's not like anything would change this year.
Before they knew it, the bus had arrived at school. Se-rim quickly gave Hyeong-jun his earbud back, and they both hurriedly got off the bus with the rest of the students who attended the school. As they got off by the school entrance, they laughed as they noticed two familiar people from the back.
"Won-jin, Jung-mo, wait up!" Se-rim yelled as he and Hyeong-jun caught up to the other two boys who turned around as soon as they heard the familiar voice.
"Hyeong-jun, Se-rim! How are you?" Jung-mo greeted them with a hug. He pulled them into a short hug wrapping his arms around their necks.
"Oh, you know, just thankful I made it in time," Hyeong-jun smiled. He looked over at Won-jin and gestured with his hands to come over and hug him as well. Won-jin laughed and accepted the offer. They patted each other's back thrice. You know, like bros. And then, a nice car pulled up at the school entrance and the boys instantly knew who it was driving.
"Se-kwon!" the boys yelled in unison as the boy stepped out of the car. How convenient that he arrived at the same time as everyone else.
Se-kwon thanked his driver for the ride and closed the back door, watching the car quickly drive off. He then looked at the other boys and ran up to them spreading his arms for a group hug. Hyeong-jun got a little squished in the middle, which caused him to laugh. The five boys started walking towards the entrance of the school, feeling a little bit of excitement while walking to their classes. This was gonna be a good year.
That was Hyeong-jun's main group of friends. Se-rim, Se-kwon, Jung-mo, and Won-jin. Won-jin and Se-kwon were in Class 3 though, while the rest were in Class 7. This is also why they always hung out in Class 7; Jung-mo would always bring up jokingly how the majority rules. Their classroom was way nicer anyway. More spacious, plus it had more students so there were more tables and chairs.
"One year to go 'til freedom!" Se-rim smiled widely and spread his arms. He almost fell down the table he sat on but caught himself.
"Hyeong-jun, you better study well this year," Jung-mo joked, "Have you studied at all during the spring break?"
"Oh, you know I haven't," Hyeong-jun laughed. It was nice playing around with them after this time.
Se-kwon chuckled, "I mean, it's exciting. This is our final year before graduating. I can't wait to get out of this dump."
"Yeah, I'm ready for yet another uneventful year," Hyeong-jun laughed, "Let's just fight through it. As long as we pass the CSATs we're fine."
"Yeah, I'm just striving for the lowest passing grade," Jung-mo joked.
"As if you could even reach that," Won-jin bickered.
"Says you? Didn't you fail chemistry last semester?" Jung-mo bickered back. They did that a lot. They made some mocking faces at each other.
"Let's be real, only Se-rim and Se-kwon are passing," Hyeong-jun tapped Jung-mo's shoulder, gesturing for him and Won-jin to stop acting like an old married couple.
Se-rim gave a shy smile, "What are you saying...?"
"Let's just study harder this year," Se-kwon announced, "We should go to the library and study at least, like... once a week or something."
"Once every two weeks," Jung-mo suggested.
"Once a month," Won-jin counter-suggested.
"Once a year," Jung-mo counter-counter-suggested.
"Never," Won-jin announced, "I don't ever wanna study. Ever."
Se-kwon slapped Won-jin's arm, with a jokingly appalled face, "Stop being so lazy. Don't you have ambitions in life?"
"You know I don't," Won-jin gave a smug smile back.
As soon as they finished speaking, the class's homeroom teacher, Mr. Lee, entered the room. Won-jin's eyes widened, instantly sprinting out of the classroom and towards his own, causing Se-kwon to laugh at him for looking like an idiot. He gave a cheeky wave to Mr. Lee and followed walked out of the classroom at a normal walking speed. Mr. Lee shooed him out to walk faster, but Se-kwon remained unbothered, still smiling smugly.
All students walked back to their seats. Hyeong-jun, Se-rim, and Jung-mo took the seats in the back right corner by the windows, Hyeong-jun sitting alone behind Se-rim and Jung-mo.
Hyeong-jun put his backpack on the back of his chair. God, did he not miss these chairs. They were terrible. He stared out of the window, looking for something to distract him from whatever Mr. Lee's announcement would be. He saw a cloud that looked oddly similar to a bear, slowly traveling across the bright blue sky. Yeah, that'll do as a distraction.
"Hey, who's the new kid?" Jung-mo asked. Se-rim shrugged his shoulders. Hyeong-jun was still preoccupied with the bear-shaped cloud. Its arms had kind of changed shape from arms to something that kind of looked like bazookas. Weird.
"Hey, earth to Hyeong-jun," Jung-mo tapped Hyeong-jun's hand. Hyeong-jun got a little startled and instantly looked at him. He pointed up towards the teacher's table, where Mr. Lee was standing with someone he had never seen before.
Hyeong-jun's eyes were instantly caught by this mysterious boy. It was as though he felt himself wake up. He found himself studying the new kid; his hair was brown, but Hyeong-jun couldn't tell if it was natural or dyed. He had the kind of bowl cut that easily also could be styled as a middle part. He was tall, thin, had a small face, and very nice proportions. His eyes were big and dark brown but it was as though they were sparkling. His smile was beautifully entrancing. Hyeong-jun wanted to smile back but felt too starstruck in a kind of weird way.
"Welcome back, Class 7! I hope you had a nice break. Before any real talk about exams, I'd just like to start by saying we have a new student in this class this year. Even though it's your last year I hope you treat him well and get along."
Some kids were muttering. The new kid gave a little wave. He was actually keeping it very well in a slightly awkward situation.
"Why don't you introduce yourself to the class," Mr. Lee asked.
The boy smiled brightly and genuinely, "Hello, my name is Kim Tae-young. I hope you'll take good care of me."