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The first thing he noticed when Joonghyuk entered his new classroom was the timid student at the back of the class. Joonghyuk usually didn’t notice these kinds of things but something about this specific student caught his attention: they had messy black hair and were quite small in comparison to the other students in addition to looking too skinny and having a bandage on their face. Joonghyuk couldn’t understand how he managed to catch his eyes seeing as they didn’t look special or anything. Ignore it . He thought to himself as he nodded in greeting after the teacher’s speech. He got assigned the seat next to the quiet student but they didn’t acknowledge him as they stared blankly at their hands. Joonghyuk looked at his desk compared to the one next to him: the student didn’t have anything prepared for today, only a book and a chipped pencil. He frowned at the sight and sat on his seat. Of all the people he could've sat with, it had to be someone who didn’t bother paying attention to class.
Lunch began as the bell rang throughout the school and Joonghyuk made his way towards the cafeteria, only to see the hall packed with other obnoxious students. He scowled with visible disgust and turned around, searching for another place to eat in peace. After stomping around for a while, he found the stairs leading towards the school’s rooftop and without hesitation, he made his way up the stairs and breathed in a sigh of relief as he pushed the metal door and the cold wind blew against his face but before he could appreciate the quietness, he saw a glimpse of a hand below him and the student from before was here, sitting with his knees up and with his book close to his face. Once again, they didn’t acknowledge him entering through the door but it didn’t matter: Joonghyuk wasn’t here to talk with anyone to begin with. As he sat down and began eating, he would sometimes glance at the student. They didn’t bring any food with them but only focused on his book for the entirety of lunch. Joonghyuk noticed that even back in the classroom for next period, the quiet student was still reading. The bell rang for the final time today and Joonghyuk stayed back, watching as the other students walked home in groups but he never saw a certain someone walk home. He was sure they left the classroom but they never appeared again at the school gates. Sighing with tiredness, he picked his bag and walked home. Upon reaching the exit doors of the school building, he heard noises coming from one of the empty classrooms. It sounded like a fight but Joonghyuk didn’t want to meddle in and Mia must be waiting for him and so, he left without finding out what the noise was actually about.
The next day, Joonghyuk arrived at school and sat down, staring holes into the seat next to him. It was as if he was waiting for his loved one to arrive but it was just his curiosity circling around this quiet student. He waited and waited but the student never arrived at school today. He grumbled under his breath but ignored the heavy weight on his chest. He shouldn't be thinking about the student right now, class was about to start.
A full week had passed and they were still gone without a word. Joonghyuk furrowed his brows and turned to look out the window, feeling unsettled and confused. This was unusual for him to feel like this, especially for someone he didn’t even know. He wondered how the student was, if they were doing okay or if they had eaten. They did look very skinny after all. Should I really ignore it? He was in a daze as these questions popped up one by one. He would just have to find out when they come back.
As if an omnipotent being had heard him, the quiet student came back the next day but the black circles under their eyes were darker and they had more bruises on his body than before. He had to hold back the urge to run over and help them though he couldn’t suddenly appear and scare the student away. Throughout the morning, Joonghyuk couldn’t focus on class and secretly watched the student, wondering what they were reading and especially what happened when they were off. It was now time for lunch and Joonghyuk glanced beside him but the quiet student was already gone. He picked up his lunch and rushed up to the rooftop, catching his breath as he glanced around. They were still up here, shivering but reading. Fixing his uniform, he slowly approached them and crouched in front yet they still didn’t acknowledge him. Coughing with awkwardness, he introduced himself,
“Hello? I’m Yoo Joonghyuk, your seatmate. What’s your name?” They looked up and he saw the dead look in their eyes, but they lit up as they looked at Joonghyuk properly. Silence washed over them as Joonghyuk anxiously waited for them to reply. He didn’t know what to do anymore, it was getting too awkward.
“Kim… Dokja.” Joonghyuk stiffened and stared at Dokja with evident surprise. He spoke, he finally spoke. The quiet boy at the back of the class who didn’t contribute to anything in the class, finally spoke. Joonghyuk didn’t know what to do except stare but Dokja seemed to be doing the same. Only with admiration and a faint smile, causing Joonghyuk’s heart to flutter and his mind to go blank. However, before he could blurt out something crazy, his eyes wandered back to the visible injuries from under his shirt collar, the purple and black bruises standing out against his pale skin.
“Dokja…” He began but stopped himself. He could wait until Dokja was more comfortable around him instead of throwing him into the fire. “Nevermind. What are you currently reading?” This question made Dokja’s face lighten up and a grin appeared. It seemed like Joonghyuk had asked the right question. And thus, this day marked the start of their companionship. Days passed, months flew by and both Dokja and Joonghyuk got closer than ever before. Dokja found out Joonghyuk was actually a more caring and sweet person despite the cold shoulder and stares he gave to everyone. The number of times Joonghyuk helped with homework started to increase and Dokja was thankful for it - he still didn't know Joonghyuk helped him deal with the bullies at school. And Joonghyuk? He found out Dokja was a terrible cook. He could still remember the smell of burning eggs and the scream of the fire alarm and Dokja nonetheless looked beautiful amongst the chaos as he laughed and stated,
“This was just a warm up, I can do better than this!” Joonghyuk had to clean up everything and force him to sit down as he cooked both their meals, with Mia sitting far away from them with a look that said 'what are you two doing?'. They celebrated birthdays (Dokja’s birthdays were always more impressive), hung out together (Dokja could never forget the stormy look on Joonghyuk’s face after getting splashed with water on a rollercoaster) and enjoyed going on vacations whenever they had the time off. They graduated from school and entered the world of work. Years had passed since then and Joonghyuk stared out of the window, reminiscing the beautiful memories he made with Dokja from when they first met. He glanced around the living room and took in the silence and calm, his eyes landing on a photo album. Sitting down and opening the book, he found the page with the most precious memory: a flustered Joonghyuk kneeling down on one knee holding out a ring box towards a stunned Dokja. It was the day he proposed. Chuckling to himself, he remembered how his speech was filled with voice breaks and stutters but Dokja paid no mind to the mistakes as he said yes. Of course, he also remembered the laughter erupting from their friend group, especially from Sooyoung and Jihye.
“Joonghyuk-ie?” A slender figure shuffled their way out into the living room and rubbed their sleepy eyes. Dokja, standing gorgeously with the duvet wrapped loosely around him. Joonghyuk walked over with a smile and a soft gaze, wrapping the duvet tighter around his husband and whispering softly,
“You’ll catch a cold at this rate, Dokja.” He looked lovely with the love bites scattered on his neck and collarbone and the way his eyes showed a whole galaxy behind them. The older man yawned and gave him a tender kiss.
“Mhmm, I know… Joonghyuk-ie, I love you.”
“I love you too, Dokja.”