Chapter Text
Youngjae closed his locker, keeping his head down as Mark, BamBam and Yugyeom passed. They were talking– arguing about something, pushing and screeching and laughing as they went. "See you at the table!" Yugyeom yelled from the other end of the hall, finally realizing who they'd passed, people immediately looking at Youngjae.
Youngjae smiled, waving at them. "Get me a pudding cup, please!" He shouted back, all his friends giving him a thumbs up before walking off. Shaking his head, he sighed. They were roughly a hallway and a half away and Youngjae could hear their conversation as if they were right next to him... until it was abruptly stopped by a shrill scream. Typical.
Everyone rushed to investigate (typical). Everyone but one person. A boy with dark red hair that Youngjae had seen about the school a lot this term. Maybe he'd seen him hanging around Jinyoung and Jackson regularly (a feat), but Youngjae couldn't be too sure. For a year now, they'd been adding and kicking people out of their group like they were hot potatoes.
On his way to the unsuspecting boy, Youngjae let a small smirk peek through his determined expression. It seemed today's mission wouldn't be as difficult as he'd thought it'd be when he woke up to BamBam and Yugyeom blowing up the chat because their favourite Naruto characters died (mind you, it was their third time rewatching the entire series).
I mean, Youngjae couldn't really judge seeing as he did the same from time to time or made a big, dramatic thing out of sharing the latest drama. But he liked to think he knew his limit.
Youngjae switched the smirk to a friendly smile when he was close enough. "Hi, I'm–"
"Do you need something?" The boy interrupted, not looking away from whatever he was doing in his locker. Youngjae's eyebrows furrowed and unfurrowed in confusion within nanoseconds. It had been a while since someone had treated him like anything other than a queen. He couldn't tell whether it was a good or bad thing.
This was going to be an interesting year.
"I realized that I haven't talked to you, like, ever so I was wondering if we could be friends or s-something," Youngjae said, unnerved by the burgundy-haired boy's blatant disinterest as he kept his head in his locker. Maybe it was a sign that this was a bad idea.
Normally, Youngjae easily exuded confidence in his speech and actions. But now, every few seconds, he felt an odd itch to play with his fingers or fix his hair and he'd messed up his pitch.
"Choi Youngjae," the boy began. He didn't sound too happy. Yup, Youngjae thought, a huge mistake. "I've been in most of your classes since the start of the year and probably before that, have talked and hung out with all of your friends countless times and I even let you borrow one of my notebooks last week." The boy shut his locker (at least he was giving Youngjae his full attention now?). He chuckled but it held no humour. "Do you even know my name?" Youngjae clearly didn't have an answer. The other boy hummed at his silence, shaking his head. "You'll need a better reason to be my friend for, let me guess, a week?"
The ray of sunshine pouted, nervousness replaced with slight offense. "Look, you're not as new as I thought you were, I guess. I'm sure, though, that I haven't had a proper conversation with you."
"We've talked in class–"
"Well, it doesn't count if I don't remember it."
Jaebum sighed. "That's barely logical, but whatever."
"Regardless, it wouldn't hurt to have a proper conversation."
The boy crossed his arms. "Well, if we're counting this as one then I'll have you know my head's been hurting since you opened your mouth."
Damn, go for the neck, I guess. Mirroring the other boy, Youngjae glared at him. "Hahaha," he snarked. "Very funny, whatever your name is."
"Jaebum."
It sounded oddly familiar. "Very funny, Jaejoon." The boy rolled his eyes, looking over Youngjae's shoulder after. "...What are you looking at?" Youngjae asked, turning around as a loud commotion started.
A girl in the year below walked down the hallway with a flock of boys behind her, praising her and complaining all in one messy breath. It was rumoured that she was dating a boy from a different school and the simps were mad. Youngjae scoffed. Her name was Im May, his mortal fucking enemy.
As she walked by, Youngjae turned to Jaebum, leaning in and covering his mouth. "She's such a hoe. I heard she's fucked half of the school," Youngjae said, pure venom laced into every word.
"She's my sister," Jaebum informed.
Youngjae stared back at the burgundy-haired boy in complete and utter shock. He needed to leave before the embarrassment hurt his larger than life ego. "Oh, fuck! Gotta Luhan!" Youngjae screamed before running to the canteen.
Jaebum stood dumbstruck, staring in the direction Youngjae had ran in. Then he gasped. "Did he just make an EXO reference?"