Chapter Text
“Ivan!” Sua shouted downstairs which made Ivan shiver. His sister is really scary. He lived with his sister through all his life and that tone is like him begging to be buried 6ft underneath the ground.
“Yes, coming down!” then Ivan rushed downstairs to see Sua glaring at him while rage typing on her phone. He mentally ruffled his hair then went inside the car which Sua is also in. Ivan sat beside her sister while fixing the buttons of his uniform. Okay, he admits to himself, it was all his fault why his sister needed to shout early in the morning. He woke up late because he was busy teasing Till on the phone the night before, thinking about it now, maybe it's all worth it that his sister is glaring daggers at him right now. Also, he should have known that his sister hates tardiness, especially if they're gonna meet with Mizi. He sighed and sneakily peeked at his sister again, ‘She's really hopelessly in love huh.’ He mentally said ‘Well who am I to judge?’ He added and laughed mentally but swallowed when he heard his sister clicking her tongue.
“It’s the first day of school and you’re being tardy already?” Sua said while clicking her tongue, Ivan can’t help but feel like his sister’s gonna kill him right here and then, afterwards commit suicide because of it. “Mizi’s on the way already, what are we gonna do if she waits for a long time?” then sighed.
Ivan pouted then opened his mouth to answer but Sua beat him with it. “Next time, I’m gonna leave your ass at home.” and didn’t say anything else.
While Sua’s busy with her phone messaging Mizi, Ivan grabbed his phone out of his pocket now too and messaged Till.
Ivan: Good morning Till. Are you at school already?
Ivan waited for 5 minutes before his phone beeped. Seeing the answer from his friend he cheekily smiled then proceeded on covering his mouth cause he doesn't want to be murdered by his sister.
Till: Almost, why?
Ivan: Good, wait for me at the gate.
Ivan: Good, wait for me at the gate.
Till was on his way to school when he suddenly received a message from Ivan. He shrugged his shoulders and yawned, that asshole Ivan kept him so late yesterday, well it's his fault too. He should stop humoring that idiot now but he can't help it okay. His steps halted when he saw the message that was sent to him. ‘And why should I follow his order?’ he thought to himself, then started to walk faster than his usual speed. It is still so early in the morning and that punk already infuriates him. Then it reminded him how Ivan teased him to death last night too, making him more angry. Till’s mind was full of thoughts about Ivan until he reached school and did not notice Mizi in front of him.
“Till! Good morning!” Mizi said giddy and raised her hand for a high five but Till went past her, so Mizi grabbed the tip of his uniform.
“Eh? Mizi?” a very confused Till said which made Mizi giggle again.
“It’s still so early in the morning, what are you thinking so deeply?” Mizi asked curiously.
Till then answered without thinking that much, which made Mizi stop and gape her mouth then laughed so hard as if she heard a joke. Which made a light headed Till more confused. He then asked her what’s wrong, then Mizi laughed even harder.
“Till! You’re already thinking about Ivan so early in the morning, we just saw him and Sua last week.” then laughed again, Till flushed because of it.
“I did not!” he insisted and before Mizi could answer two figures came into view. Sua and Ivan just arrived too. Till gazed at the boy who is talking to the driver at the moment and Sua going near to Mizi, saying her apologies and blaming it all to Ivan in the process. Mizi then replied kindly saying that it's okay and she didn't even wait that long.
“Please, it’s just this time, can we just drop this one Sua?” Ivan pleaded while walking to go near Till with a silly smile plastered on his face. Till groaned in annoyance. It's still so early in the morning and he felt like this guy's gonna pissed him off to death. Till can't help but check Ivan out, ‘It's just a simple uniform. How can he still look so good with it, while I'm a mess here?’ he whined.
When they reached puberty Ivan’s height went uphill and became the tallest of them all the reason why Till raised his head a little to look at the boy’s face. Ivan then lowered his face for a bit and gazed at Till’s face, which made Till’s face heat up more. He can’t believe that he is already face to face with this bastard early in the morning. He huffed and then spun to his feet to continue on walking inside the campus. Leaving Sua and Mizi behind who's also busy talking on their own. Ivan chuckled because of it, then waved at his sister and finally greeted Mizi, while half-running towards Till.
“I can’t believe you really waited for me.” Ivan said amusingly, Till can then feel like his head is heating up because of anger just by hearing this boy’s voice. But choose to ignore him for the sake of peacefulness on his side; however, Ivan doesn't think the same as he does.
“Come on, don’t ignore me.” Ivan pleaded while tilting his head towards Till’s face. Till then shove his face out of the way.
“Can I just have a normal morning?” Till said then walked towards their school shoes lockers, he grabbed his indoor slippers then deposited his outdoor shoes then walked faster. And Ivan did the same too. They already know which section they are from three days ago, sadly Till’s in the same class as this annoying prick.
“Hey, come on! Are you still mad because of yesterday? I'm gonna say sorry now, hmm?” Ivan then placed his arms on Till's shoulder. Till’s steps halted and looked at Ivan glaring. So Ivan raised his other hand and shrugged as if saying that it's all his fault. So Till didn't mind him then went inside their classroom.
Both boys arrived first at their classroom and a few minutes later the two girls entered the class too giggling, while Mizi's arms were locked with Sua's. Till sat down then wore his headphones and a literature book and on his peripheral vision he saw Ivan sat beside him, letting out a whining sound while pouting. Ivan leaned on the desk and stared at Till’s face, then he grabbed Till’s other hand. Till looked at him weirdly and raised a brow. Ivan mouthed a ‘sorry’ and flashed a blinding smile. Till tsked then continued on reading his book.
They sat at the back of the classroom and the girls sat in front of them. So Sua can see everything the two of them are doing. She gagged when she saw her brother playing with Till’s left hand. With that, she propped her elbow on Ivan's desk, then tapped her fingers near his brother's forehead.
“Stop that, can't you see that our Till is studying hard? He's eyeing your first rank this semester.” Sua said trying to taunt his brother but instead of paying her mind he continued on staring at Till. The group of friends took the entrance exam of Anakt Academy together, and all of them know how academically competitive Till is. Especially towards Ivan, who was always the top student in middle school. They saw how Till tried so hard to steal Ivan's rank then too, but even with that, the four of them are still friends, well the banter between Ivan and Till is present but they're good friends.
When the results were out, the four of them were so excited, particularly Till, he studied hard for that entrance exam, spending a lot of time at the library with Ivan in tow. Mostly because Ivan can't just leave Till alone. Looking at the results, they saw how Till's face blanked out when he saw Ivan’s name on the first rank with only five mistakes. Then his name afterwards with eleven mistakes. Ivan just shrugged it off and congratulated his sister and Mizi, who also passed with a good score then hugged Till from the side, also congratulating him. Which resulted in Till jabbing his stomach. Mizi who is also listening to the siblings talk was gonna say something when they heard Ivan talk in a small voice.
“He can have it.” Ivan said in a small voice, Sua and Mizi choked because of what he said. Then the both of them looked at Till who wasn't listening to them. Sua grabbed a handful of Ivan's hair and tugged it hard.
“That's why Till's pissed at you! He wants you to work hard too. With that kind of nonchalant behavior you had towards your studies he's gonna reprimand you again.” Sua said with a sigh, Ivan then sat up straight and looked at his sister before looking at Till again. Ivan rummaged at his bag and got a small box, he then tapped Till’s shoulder gently.
Looking away at his book he looked at Ivan then glared. “What?” he said, Ivan removed Till's headphones and placed the box in front of him. Sua and Mizi looked at the box too, then Mizi tried so hard to conceal her giggles.
“Here, I promised to buy you one, didn't I?” Ivan said while pointing at the earphones on the desk. Till's face contorted and sighed, he looked like he wanted to whack the shit out of him.
“Wow, Ivan really got the most expensive brand.” Mizi giggled and tapped her hands on the desk like she's hearing a very hilarious joke. Meanwhile Sua sighed and shook her head.
The more Mizi laughed, the angrier Till is now. He was gonna say something but didn't get the chance to because of the arrival of their teacher. So he mouthed ‘I'll deal with you later’ towards Ivan but still accepted the box of earphones and placed it inside his bag, then sat up straight to listen. Ivan let out a small whine but also faced in front to listen to their teacher. The teacher introduced himself and then proceeded on what are the things they needed to accomplish throughout the semester for his class. Ivan keeps on sneaking glances towards Till who is attentively listening to the teacher.
Till felt that someone kept on staring at his way, so he whipped his head and scanned the whole classroom, while still listening to the teacher talk. And he caught Ivan staring right into his face. He rolled his eyes and with a small voice he said.
“You need something?” he asked, which made Ivan smile widen, Ivan slightly hunched his back and leaned forward. “I’m thinking of what clubs you are interested in.” Ivan answered.
Ivan’s answer made Till hum in return then replied “Let’s talk later on lunch break.” he simply answered then brought his attention back to his notebook and continued writing. He also opened the book that was given to them and skimmed through it while the teacher was talking. But his mind suddenly came back to what Ivan told him.
Actually, Till already had a club in mind, before going to this Academy he did some research and found out that their debate team was a very good one. The students that are part of the club were all brilliant and are good at speaking, which caught his attention. So he's planning on joining one, but he doesn’t want Ivan to know cause if that idiot knows about his plans, surely he would submit his application in a heartbeat too. So Till plans on sneakily going to the debate club and give his student form. Also, it would be a good after-school activity for him that would hone his skills more on researching and public speaking, if he got in.
Their morning classes went into a hitch, the bell rang which means it’s lunch break already. Mizi and Sua connected their tables with Ivan and Till. Mizi groaned, saying “Tell me again? Why did we choose this prestigious school to attend high school with?” she wailed and then hugged Sua on the side which earned her a pat on the head. With that act, Ivan’s eyes shined and then he gave Till a puppy eye.
Till clicked his tongue and then shoved Ivan’s face on his desk. “Mizi, this is a good school. We were particularly invited to attend here.” Till reason out, then glance at Ivan whose face is planted on his desk “Especially this idiot, we decided to take our chances because we don’t want this one to be alone here.” he added. Ivan giggled then stared at Till.
“I feel so loved guys, thank you so much.” Ivan said dramatically, which earned him a glare and scoff from his sister.
“Let me remind you, you whine for a month that we should go with you here or you’ll be very sad and threaten us to receive a hundred messages per day.” his sister said, Ivan scratched the back of his head because of it.
“Even if you didn’t beg, I’d still try my luck here. I was invited too, you know?” Till said while fixing his table and placing his lunchbox on his desk, Mizi and Sua looked at each other meaningfully because of what Till said. Then glance at Ivan who is nodding his head a little and so the other three do the same. Ivan then passed a red lunchbox to his sister.
While all of them were munching their food, Ivan spoked. “So about the after-school clubs, you guys have something on mind already? Till?” he inquired. Sua nodded her head the same as Mizi.
“Mizi and I decided on trying to join the student council.” Sua said, with that it caught Till’s attention. “Oh? Were you invited?” he asked, Sua nodded and recounted what happened at their freshmen orientation last week. She told everyone that someone approached her and asked if she’s interested in working with them, then offered a position for her. And more importantly she does not want to be apart with Mizi again, like what happened in their Senior year in middle school. Wherein Mizi was part of a different after school activity so is Sua. So she grabbed the opportunity of being with her on the student council.
“What about you Till and Ivan? Are you gonna apply for the same club together or not?” Mizi asked and before Till could answer, Ivan answered first.
“Of course we will be together, why would I choose an after school activity without Till.” he said and earned a groan from Till “Seriously? You won’t leave me alone even with the clubs too?” he mournfully said.
“Hey, don’t phrase it like that.” Ivan whined. “If I can’t be with you then I won’t join any so that I could just be with you.” he added and underneath the table Sua stomped on his foot which made Ivan yelp.
“You’re so evil.” he hatefully said towards his sister.
“Stop being so annoying to Till.” Sua replied and gave his brother her deadliest glare.
Then the siblings started arguing. Deep in his thoughts, Till didn’t pay mind to the siblings' banters, they always do that. Till did say he doesn’t want Ivan tailing him wherever he is but it is also not that bad if Ivan’s with him, because if with Ivan, no one would say anything rude to him or bother on trivial talks rather they kept a good distance with him, never bothering him. But to be able to beat Ivan to the top rank in the academy he needed some extra points too, especially on this one. So Till made up his mind on not being together with Ivan on the debate club so that he can earn some extra points.
It’s been a week since the starting of the school semester and Till still hasn’t been on the debate club yet. He can’t go because Ivan’s getting clingier and clingier each day. Till clicked his tongue as the taller boy kept on hugging him on the side. Suddenly, he remembered the annoying face of a kindergarten Ivan, where he first met the boy and so was Sua. He could still remember Ivan pissing him off everyday, like stealing his crayons, paper, scissors, pencil, and many more. Till would be so angry, they would shout at each other while Till's in tears and Till punched Ivan like three times. Now he wonders, why would he be friends with this guy again?
“What are you? A fucking Koala? We're at school, stop that, don't you have something else to do?” Till fumed trying to pry off Ivan’s hands around him and Ivan whined even harder.
“It's just the first week of classes and you're already so busy studying. Pay some attention to me too, hmm?” Ivan whined, they are currently walking in the hallway going back to their classroom. They're a lot of students too, because Ivan – this idiot said something weird, the students who heard it looked at them amusedly. Till flushed and rolled his eyes. He tugged at Ivan's school uniform.
“You're the one who's taking it so easily, punk. You think I'm not eyeing your rank?” he said while still tugging hard on Ivan's sleeves. Ivan just smiled at him and rested his chin over Till's shoulder.
“Way to go mister with a 45/50 score on a Mathematics quiz.” Ivan teased Till, to which he stomped at Ivan's foot angrily.
“And what about that history score you've gotten huh?” Till rebuked. Before Ivan could say something a student came towards them sauntering.
“Hey Ivan!” The student called, Ivan clicked his tongue and faced the student. Gone with the whining face, he looked at the student with a straight face. Till facepalmed, this is not the first time he saw Ivan acting this way. He's usually approachable, always smiling warmly but sometimes when he's with Till and someone's gonna interrupt them he'll act quite strange. Till can't pinpoint on why this happens but he also listened to their conversation. Slapping Ivan's arm that is wrapped around him.
“Ahm, a teacher requested you to come to the office.” the student said while glancing back and forth to Till and Ivan, then on the ground.
“They need me for what?” Ivan said a little bit rudely, Till slapped his arms again and glared at him saying ‘do not be rude’.
“Fine, I'll go with you.” Ivan sighed then looked at Till. “You go first, I'll follow.” Ivan told Till, so he nodded absent mindedly, with Ivan gone on the halls Till's face lit up. ‘Finally! I can go to the debate clubroom now.’ He told himself.
He then quickly walked towards where it was and knocked at the door. A student with Blonde hair and golden eyes , probably a member of the club, opened the door for him. Till smiled awkwardly.
“I want to join the debate club.” He said, the student nodded and smiled warmly, Till looked at him and wondered why this senior looked familiar.
“Oh, sure please go inside. By the way, I'm Luka, a senior member of the club.” He introduced then guided Till to sit on one of the chairs. He handed him a paper and pen, Till accepted it and started writing his information on the paper. After answering he handed the paper back to Luka.
“Thank you so much, senior. Can I ask when I'm gonna start going here in the club?”
“Hmm, the classes just started. And the seniors are just getting ready for the materials we needed but you can come here on Friday after class. We're still recruiting potential members, hopefully on Friday we get to meet the new freshmen members and you'll also meet your seniors too.” Luka answered, Till nodded carefully and talked a bit with his senior about his queries.
Luka patiently answered all of his questions, then he left when he heard the bell ring. Till thanked his senior again and bid his goodbye. He smiled proudly at himself walking back to their classroom. When he arrived, Ivan’s still not there yet. ‘Oh? The talk with the teacher, was it really that important?’ He wondered. But before their afternoon class started Ivan came back, he looked so down and a bit pissed off.
Ivan sat on his seat and Till couldn't help but glance at his friend. He poked Ivan's side which made him look at him.
“What happened?” he asked worriedly, Ivan huff and nodded his head towards the front.
Instead of answering Till, Ivan said. “Let's go home together later, I'll walk you home.”
‘Now his acting so weird this punk and here I am being worried for nothing.’