Chapter Text
He’s pretty, the new exchange student.
Ma Jingxiang was the name that the teacher had introduced him as— the tall, fair, dark-haired beauty standing at the front of the classroom.
Even sitting a fair distance away, Gyuvin could see the other’s sparkling, deep-set eyes and soft lips, curved slightly in an anxious smile. With a swallow, he thinks to himself that the other was perhaps the most attractive person that he’d ever seen at the school— no, in his life.
For just a moment, the other’s eyes make contact with his own, and he feels his heart catch in his throat. He doesn’t know why he feels this way, when usually he isn’t one to be made nervous by a person’s looks— but all of a sudden, the boy begins to walk towards his seat and— oh, he had been assigned to the seat right next to him.
“Gyuvin-ah, make sure to treat our new student well, alright? He may have a little trouble integrating because of the language barrier, so help him as much as you can,” the teacher says as the other takes his seat.
Blinking at the words, Gyuvin sits upright, before smiling nervously at the boy next to him.
“Hi, I’m Kim Gyuvin,” he says, holding his hand out. The other stares at him for a few seconds, lips parted, before taking his hand in his own.
“Ma Jingxiang,” he replies with a soft smile.
Gyuvin can’t help but falter at the contact.
He’s even prettier close up.
“You’re from China, right?” he asks quickly.
“Yes, Shanghai,” the other responds with a nod.
“You’re handsome,” Gyuvin smiles good-naturedly, not expecting too much from it.
But then the other tilts his head curiously, and his smile broadens.
“You’re handsome too,” Jingxiang responds, resting a cheek in one palm, leaning forward slightly.
Gyuvin’s heart accelerates inexplicably at that.
Oh.
Suddenly, the teacher signals for the class to be quiet, and he jumps up at that direction.
Jingxiang straightens up as well, widening the gap between the two.
Gyuvin tries his best not to show his disappointment at that.
The rest of the class passes by like a blur, with Gyuvin trying to look at anything but the pretty boy next to him, or not to cycle through the few Chinese phrases that he knew in order to unsuccessfully impress the other.
But when they’re finally dismissed, his body positioned to speak to the other, he’s interrupted by a girl from another class— one that he’s talked to maybe twice before.
Thinking back on it, she had been nice, and they had maintained a few polite conversations about the weather — but he couldn’t think of a reason why she could possibly want to talk to him now.
“Um, Gyuvin-ah, can I speak to you alone for a moment?” she asks nervously.
He blinks, looking back and forth between the two.
What was he supposed to do…?
Quietly, Jingxiang stands up.
“It’s okay, I can go ahead by myself. Thanks Gyu…vin,” he says with a kind smile, carefully sounding out his name.
Gyuvin can’t help but find it maddeningly endearing.
“Oh, okay…well come find me if you do need any help,” he replies, sounding a little too desperate for his own liking.
At that, the other merely nods, before leaving with a smile so bright that Gyuvin can’t help but be blinded for a few seconds.
He stands in silence, almost shell-shocked, before the girl speaks up again.
“Who was that, Gyuvin-ah? A new friend of yours?” she asks.
“He’s…the new exchange student,” he responds, a little dazed.
“Really? Wow, he’s handsome. And tall, as well,” she remarks, before a blush spreads across her cheeks.
“Not that I like him or anything! In fact…”
**
It’s intimidating— navigating through the hallways with no proper bearing of his surroundings, or a full grasp on Korean.
Sure, he had studied for a few months before transferring over from China, but it was nothing compared to making his way around in practice.
Thankfully, most of the girls are kind enough to lend him a hand, pointing him in the right direction. But only fifteen minutes in after the third period, he finds himself cornered by a few boys, who seem to have an unnerving look of intrigue in their eyes— like he was some kind of new plaything, despite being much taller than them at 188cm.
“You’re new here, right? Haven’t made any friends yet?” one of the boys asks, putting his arm against a wall.
Jingxiang only stares back at him a few seconds, before subtly scanning his surroundings for any way out. He then spots a familiar brunette head with a sigh of relief.
Gyuvin.
The kind, good-looking boy that had made him feel welcome at the start of the day.
It was strange being able to sit next to the other, after having scoped him out almost immediately when walking into the classroom as the one he gravitated towards the most— like some act of fate.
But he hadn’t questioned it— only accepted his good luck.
Further, it seemed that along with being incredibly attractive, the other was also kind, and even a little bit shy. And the fact that he had been pulled aside almost immediately after class to be obviously confessed to had only been the icing on the cake— an indicator that he was also popular and well sought-after.
“Jingxiang?” the other suddenly asks as he catches his eye in the crowd, and he quickly walks over.
“Gyuvin! Thanks for finding me again,” he beams, causing the other’s cheeks to pinken slightly.
It’s strange, but he doesn’t question it.
“What class do you have next? Maybe I could walk you there,” Gyuvin offers gently.
Thankfully, the boys appear to pick up the hint, dissipating with a few grunts of annoyance, but disappearing nonetheless.
Jingxiang’s lips quirk up, grateful for the assistance.
“I think I have chemistry next,” he says happily, before walking over to the other.
He briefly notes that he’s taller than the brunette, but he somehow finds it cute.
“Oh? Well I think we have chemistry together then,” Gyuvin replies as he checks his schedule, before stopping in his tracks at the implication of his words.
“I mean— I only meant we have that class together,” he corrects himself with a flush, which Jingxiang can’t help but find even more cute.
“Just tell me you get what I mean?”
“It’s fine. You’re funny,” Jingxiang shakes his head with a laugh.
The other grins back at that, before pulling on his arm.
“C’mon, it’s this way.”
As they walk, Jingxiang finds it curious— how touch-affectionate Gyuvin seems to be with him, despite how little time they’ve known each other. The way that he grabs his arm whenever he laughs, or pulls him closer as they walk.
But he strangely likes it.
Or perhaps he just likes Gyuvin.
“Have you had a chance to have proper Korean food yet, Jingxiang?” the other looks up at him suddenly, to which he knits his eyebrows together in thought.
“I’ve only had cheese ramyeon,” he replies.
“Oh? Do you like ramyeon?” Gyuvin asks curiously.
“Well, it’s moreso the cheese that I love. I like cheese anything,” he says back.
At that, Gyuvin looks at him in surprise.
“Really? I love cheese too! Cheese hamburgers as well, right?” he points at Jingxiang in anticipation, to which the taller grins back with a nod.
“Yes, exactly!” he laughs.
“We’re the cheese team, you and I,” he adds on teasingly.
Gyuvin looks up briefly at the title, seeming quite pleased.
“I like that,” he responds with a smile. For just a moment, Jingxiang has the overwhelming urge to wrap his arms around him.
When they finally make it to class, he makes a point of finding his own seat, to let the brunette sit with whoever he wanted to with no obligations.
But somehow, Gyuvin still chooses to sit next to him, almost like a lost puppy.
Jingxiang doesn’t know what to make of it— but he feels strangely pleased.
“Do you have any plans after school?” the other suddenly asks, as he takes out his supplies.
Jingxiang blinks back.
“Not really. Why?”
“I was thinking maybe we could go out?” Gyuvin asks, biting his lip slightly.
“What?” Jingxiang says with a blink.
“Huh?” Gyuvin asks back, face frozen as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Go out…?
“Like…a date?” Jingxiang asks.
“N-no!” Gyuvin responds, cheeks colouring with red.
Jingxiang stares back, equally mortified.
“No, I just…I just meant if you wanted to get some cheese hamburgers or something together after school? Maybe?” Gyuvin asks.
Oh…
“I’m sorry, my Korean still isn’t that good,” Jingxiang shakes his head.
But before Gyuvin can speak up again to retract the offer, he places a hand gently on his arm, just as the other had done to him many times before.
“I’d love to,” he says firmly with a smile.
At that, Gyuvin blinks for a few seconds, before melting into a smile of his own.
“Great.”
They don’t speak again for the rest of class, instead opting to pass notes every so often about the content.
But from the corner of his eye, Jingxiang can see Gyuvin smiling to himself, and he can’t help but follow suit, a new crop of butterflies in his stomach.
He couldn’t wait for the day to end.