Chapter Text
It wasn’t everyday that something caught the interest of the pupils at Daejin High School. The attention was usually only ever drawn to one person; Beomgyu, the class clown. Teacher’s hated him but his fellow peers could simply never get enough of his witty remarks that invited a crowd of chuckles and sneers as the teacher balled their hands into fists and shook with rage. The only time they ever smiled at him was when they handed back his papers; D in a red so bold that stop signs had competition. The same red that usually rose in the teacher’s face as Beomgyu sneered, but oh how the tables have turned, as Beomgyu now bit down his bottom lip in worry as the teacher looked at him with a face of pure joy. Fuck.
...
“Hyung, I’m over here!” rang a voice as Beomgyu stepped barely an inch outside of the classroom door. He swivelled round to face what was essentially the personification of the sun. He trudged towards this beam who couldn’t stop hopping between his legs as his idol approached. “Hyung, I saved us a seat at the table. Well, Seongmin saved us both a place- I know you don’t like him but it’s okay! He’s really quiet today because he failed this test and-” Beomgyu stopped.
Test. How could he have failed the test? He was never an exceptional student - far from actually - but this was one test that he just had to pass with flying colours. So many bright colours that even the rainbow would begin to appear monochrome. He needed this grade so that he could be left in peace; so that the complaints would just stop.
…
“Do you really think my time is so invaluable as to waste it picking you up from school because you were too immature enough to be quiet?” Beomgyu’s mother tugged at the loose threads of her sleeve as she paced back and forth in front of him. He stood solemnly in the corner of the room, staring at a certain patch on the floor that had never been quite so interesting before. His hands were crossed behind his back, as if he were in the military. What if he were in the military? Would they really trust him with guns and stuff? A boy looking not a day over 17 with a bunch of grown ass men, and he was handed a grenade to attack. Picture it…Beomgyu began to smile. “Is this funny?” and not a trace of that smile left on his face.
His mother sighed in disbelief and exhaustion, and began to tie her hair up. Four times, Beomgyu noted. Four times, during Beomgyu’s daydream of accidentally setting his base camp on fire, she had tied her hair up, then let it loose, only to tie it back up again. A habit. “One more time, Beomgyu. You do this one more time and I swear to the heavens I’ll never let you see the light of day again.” With that, she was out of the door as swiftly as the anxiety rose in Beomgyu when he first saw his grade.
He let out a sigh that he was well aware had been stuck in his throat during the 30 minute wait for his mum to arrive, the 15 minute journey home, and the 10 minutes she spent yelling at him. Time well spent for sure. He wasn’t exactly fond of hearing it either. He was well aware that he was inadequate, and that the only time he was wanted was when he made a fool of himself. It was fun at the moment, but afterwards it just went silent again. And Beomgyu was thus left to sit in the corner and observe the room full of future politicians and doctors and scientists, and then himself. He really tried this time. To prove to not only the school but also to himself that he was more than the joke he reduced himself to. He wanted to be better, and he really did try. He truly was confused on how he managed to not-pass so badly. He was sure he studied all the right material, and he studied so diligently. A familiar buzz in his pocket broke his train of thoughts.
“Hyung, are you okay? What happened? I saved a seat for you and everything,” Beomgyu wasn’t too sure how Kai had discovered him in the first place, but before he knew it, he had a number one fan.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow Kai, I’m not in the mood right now,”
“But hyung-”
Aeroplane mode. A good way to act like it wasn’t your fault, and you must have just lost signal somehow. Beomgyu threw himself into the couch. Now that he’s lost interest in the carpet, he has to find something else to entertain himself with until his meeting with the form tutor the next day. Nothing really piqued his curiosity though. So he just waited in silence.
…
The paper was slowly slid across the table as if it was a secret envelope of money. Beomgyu’s eyes flicked between the D grade and the teacher in front of him, staring a hole right through his skull; he wondered which was the worse one to look at. She tapped her pen on the letter to point it out, as if it didn’t already take up half the page and wasn’t in a colour so bright that it made Beomgyu wish he brought a pair of sunglasses.
“Mrs Seo, I really tried-”
“Beomgyu. There’s no point asking for your explanation when it isn’t going to change anything. You’ve consistently caused trouble and gained mediocre grades and this isn’t anything unusual in your usual behaviour, but I’ve grown tired of this! Not a day goes by where a teacher doesn’t complain about you! Do you really not want to be better?” Beomgyu flushed. His tongue felt dry, the tips of his fingers felt the need to itch, and he managed to find something interesting on the floor again. He wasn’t in the state of mind to confront his demons, and certainly not to a random lady who was just giving him the courtesy that she gives her 29 other students. “We’re assigning you a tutor.”
Beomgyu’s eyes shot up. “You are required to pass Mathematics exceptionally in order to graduate, so we cannot allow you to be getting low grades any longer.” Beomgyu already hated spending the 25 hours of lesson time a week that he did at school, studying subjects he was obligated to be educated on but never truly cared about, and now he has to spend his free time studying more? “We have a new student who transferred yesterday and has previously earned exceptional grades. We truly think that he could help you! He has already signed up to tutor quite a few students, so we’ve enrolled you for 1 hour a week with him.” one hour. One whole hour with some random nerd that he’ll never get close to, who will probably just brag about his grades and make Beomgyu feel worse than he already does. Great, perfect, just what he needed.
“You are dismissed.”
…
“Hyung! I saved you a seat again! How was the meeting? You’re not in too much trouble are you?” Huening Kai patted the empty space next to him on the bench and slid a juice box in front of Beomgyu as he sat down to unwind. He rubbed his thumb in the centre of his forehead and let his muscles relax; he didn’t realise how hard he had been frowning. Kai sat patiently, staring eagerly at Beomgyu for a response.
“I’m fine Kai, I just got assigned a tutor that’s all,” he sighed out. He laid his head down on the cleanest spot he could find on the table, as he punctured the juice box with his straw and attempted to drink sideways. “Some new kid or something-”
“New kid? It’s not that new kid is it?” Kai said with this tone of concern in his voice. Beomgyu furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He had never seen Kai without a blinding smile and crescent eyes before. “Some new kid, no one knows what his deal is. He won’t talk to anyone unless he absolutely needs to; he just ignores everyone.”
“Maybe he’s shy.” Beomgyu remarked, chewing on the paper straw.
“This girl kept trying to flirt with him and he threw water in her face and cursed out her dog.”
“...not shy then.” He slid the empty juice box into the pile of trash that had accumulated at the centre of the table.
“He’s strange. He glares at everyone, even me.”
“Even you?” Gyu asked at which Kai nodded furiously. “Damn. He’s stone cold.”
“His name…Seojun, or Soohyuk, or-”
“Soobin. My name is Choi Soobin.”