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A dimmed classroom with the blinds half closed, the heavy scent of cologne and sweat lingering in the air, light snickers bouncing off the white walls.
The school day had ended already and most of the class had packed and left as soon as they could. In the room remained a group of boys, spending the last few minutes of their time bantering and messing around as they usually would. There were about five of them: lounging around on tables, snooping into other people's desks, doodling on the chalkboard at the front of the room - being the rowdy, annoying boys that they were.
Within this group was Park Wonbin. The most popular in the group, extremely handsome, major heartthrob in the school, also a lead guitarist in the school's band. Unlike the rest of the boys, he didn't let this popularity get to his head, sitting peacefully and silently by his own desk, observing his surroundings with a resting frown. Not that he disliked his friends, they were all he had in this campus of the school. But more, he would rather be with someone else than here.
"Oi, Park Wonbin, what's on your mind?"
Wonbin left an arm sling around his shoulder and looked up to see a familiar face. Kang Hyunjoo. Self proclaimed "leader" of their group (everyone else just went with it), also known as the loudest, most annoying in their group with the largest ego on this planet, you could probably move mountains with it.
Wonbin faked a smirk as he scoffed. "Nothing, nothing. Just spaced out."
Hyunjoo laughed, but not from amusement, "Okay, sure," as he glanced at Wonbin's desk, "Hey, we haven't checked your desk for a while. Let's see what we got this time."
Wonbin knew what was coming - he hated it with his whole body - but didn't fight against Hyunjoo reaching out a hand and opening his desk's drawer. And, expectedly, a significant stack of love letters, poems, gifts and chocolate lied there. Lonely, forgotten, abandoned, and probably would've been for a long time if Wonbin didn't have such nosy friends.
"Damn, Wonbin," another friend in the group, Dowon, let out as he examined the desk's contents, "This is the expensive chocolate brand, you know?"
Yeah, I don't really care, Wonbin responded in his mind but didn't dare say aloud.
Hyunjoo ruffled Wonbin's long hair roughly, "Are you really just gonna throw all of these away like you always do, not even pursue a single one?"
"That's fine with me," Dowon chuckled, coming closer to Wonbin, "I'll take the chocolate if you don't want any."
"Dude, do you even read the letters?" a different voice, Sungmin, piped in.
Wonbin just shrugged, wanting this conversation to be over before it even began, "I don't know how many times I need to say it for it to register in your heads," he sighed deeply, "I'm not interested. I'm taken."
"What, taken by your guitar?" the final friend who hadn't contributed yet, Baehyun, remarked.
Everyone in the room cackled in laughter. Wonbin smiled. He didn't find it funny.
"He's got a point though, Park," Hyunjoo sat on his desk, Wonbin wincing at both the nickname and where he was seated. No etiquette, it seems.
"How come you go on and on about 'being taken'," he made air quotes with his fingers as he spoke, "but we've never even seen you with a girl?"
Hyunjoo looked at all the other boys, who just nodded in agreement. All gross pigs to whatever stupid opinion he had, the only way they were able to keep their social status in this school. Wonbin didn't have a response, only staring dead into the chalkboard ahead of him, decorated with horrible drawings, mostly mocking teachers and random students. It filled him with so much rage, he wanted to pick up his desk and throw it at the board. Or the boys. Especially Hyunjoo.
Sungmin shoved Wonbin with his shoulder, breaking his trance, "Do you really have a girlfriend? You don't even have any posts with a girl, not even a soft launch or anything."
Wonbin chose to stay silent. Silence was always the safest option within this group, because anything he said always seemed to be turned against him or mocked.
"Hey, don't be too mean, maybe she's just insecure!" Baehyun suggested, sarcastic and unkind tone behind his voice.
Dowon jeered, swallowing a piece of chocolate, "Yikes, she must be the worst. So hideous she's ashamed to even be seen with you. Dating you to feel better about herself?"
The boys all howled as they laughed, the noise piercing Wonbin's ears and echoing in his head. He was getting sick of them now, bullying a girl they didn't even know just to humour themselves. He usually let things slide, even if they secretly cut deep into his heart. But he was growing tired of constantly sitting and taking the hits in silence.
He stood from his desk abruptly, pulling his bag over his shoulders. The screech of his chair as he stood hushed the boys, as they all looked at Wonbin quizzically.
"What?" Hyunjoo laughed dryly, finding him ridiculous, "We're just joking around, Park."
Baehyun furrowed his eyebrows, "He's hurt? C'mon, Wonbin, surely you don't love your girlfriend that much if you never post about her."
Wonbin didn't react, making his way to the door. He turned once, stuck out a middle finger to the four, muttered a low "You'll see tomorrow," under his breath, before leaving. The boys weren't laughing anymore, rather angry or confused.
Hyunjoo stood from Wonbin's desk and pushed it over in rage, "That boy has no idea who he's messing with," he grumbled.
Which was in fact ironic, because really, this group of boys were the ones who had no idea who they were messing with.
Study period rolled around the following day, and all the students in the class were working on different assignments or using this period for free time or a break. Chatter filled the empty spaces of the room. The teacher for this class had left for a small errand - they trusted the class enough to behave on their own.
Wonbin was sitting a few rows behind the rest of his friend group, who had all been glaring daggers at him the entire day. It was slightly unsettling, feeling like you were constantly being watched - like every single one of your moves were being observed, judged, talked about, laughed at. He knew their opinions shouldn't matter too much, or at all, but the nervousness was still there, lingering, brewing quietly underneath Wonbin's surface. He tried not to worry about it too much. He knew what was coming, and he knew things were going to be alright.
He felt his phone buzz in his blazer pocket and pulled it out, looking at the screen. On the screen displayed a message, and Wonbin couldn't help but smile subtly.
my baby 🐶
im just around the corner bini
give me a couple minutes! :D
Wonbin quickly typed a reply, putting his phone away before the boys ahead of him got too suspicious.
okok ill greet you at the door <3
A couple of minutes passed, and sure enough, a light knock was heard on the door. Most people were absorbed in their own business, not paying enough attention to hear it, but as soon as Wonbin did, he moved to the door. He opened it, and standing there was a figure, with a soft grin and a slight eye-smile.
"Hi, hyung," he mumbled as he took a step inside.
Wonbin closed the door behind him, loud enough so others would notice, giving him a bright beam in response instead of words. He could now hear the murmurs behind him, whispers saying things like "Is that Lee Chanyoung? From the junior campus?", "From the swim team? He wins all the gold medals!", or "He's so tall... and his muscles..."
The boy, Chanyoung, was embarrassed by the attention, but it was something he had gotten used to eventually. He just smiled awkwardly, hand lingering close to Wonbin's, not quite intertwining their fingers.
"Hey, I know you," Hyunjoo sneered across the room, walking towards the door of the classroom, "You're that star swimmer from the kid campus, Lee Chanyoung," he approached him, standing near him and looking up at his taller figure.
Chanyoung laughed quietly, rubbing his nape with his hand, "Yeah, lots of people know me, I guess."
Hyunjoo eyes then darted to Wonbin, darkening, "What are you doing here, Park? Here to piss me off even more?"
Wonbin shrugged lightly, "Not my fault you can't keep your emotions in check," he mumbled, but Hyunjoo was able to catch it.
With an angry huff, Hyunjoo shoved Wonbin, replacing his spot in front of Chanyoung. Wonbin was thrown against the wall harshly, Chanyoung flinching at the sight. He reached an arm out for him but was interrupted by a friendly cling over the shoulder, turning him away from Wonbin.
"What's got you wondering around the senior campus anyway?" Hyunjoo questioned innocently, as if he hadn't just completely invaded someone else's space.
"Uh..." Chanyoung glanced around uncomfortably, "I'm just here to... visit my love," he hesitated, noticing the shift in Hyunjoo's eyes into amusement.
"Woah! This kid is dating a senior?!" he chuckled, elbowing him gently in the chest, "Tell your fans that one, maybe they'll leave you alone for once."
Chanyoung forced a laugh, trying to break free from Hyunjoo's grip. Fortunately, he let go after a couple seconds, allowing Chanyoung to look at Wonbin properly. He was against the wall, watching the scene with a glint of fury in his glare, looking like a irritated feline who had been bothered from his peace time. Chanyoung giggled at him, genuinely, finding him adorable.
"So, who's the lucky girl then, Chanyoung? They have to be incredibly pretty to be able to pull you," Hyunjoo smirked, scanning all the girls in the room who were either watching Chanyoung with heart eyes, or focused on their school work.
Chanyoung felt his face go red, as he stammered out, "U-uh, well—"
Yet, he paused as he felt a cold hand envelope his clammy one. He looked down to see familiar locks, and his heart fell into a rest.
"Oi, stop harassing the boy," Wonbin grumbled, stepping between the two with his hand still locked in Chanyoung's, "Your existence is already annoying enough."
"Oh, Park, who the fuck do you think you are?!" Hyunjoo's voice echoed, attracting the attention of everyone in the room.
Silence settled unnaturally, like laying a soft blanket on a bumpy, rocky surface. Wonbin swallowed down a lump of fear in his throat, suddenly feeling the weight of all the eyes on him. But Chanyoung gave his hand a gentle squeeze, lifting him back up, as if he had never been weighed down.
He took a deep breath and replied with a small, "What? Can't you tell you're bothering him, or are you that full of yourself?"
Hyunjoo laughed manically, setting a hand roughly on Wonbin's shoulder, "And you aren't bothering him? Does Chanyoung even know who you are?" Chanyoung's hand gripped tigher, "You can pretend to have a girlfriend all you want, whatever, but don't go around pretending you have friends too."
Wonbin felt a rush of rage through his body, an urge to destroy, a need to absolutely punch the life out of Hyunjoo's face, but Chanyoung squeezed his hand again. They made eye contact, and Wonbin's frustration melted away at the warmth of Chanyoung's gaze. He mouthed, "I'll handle this," to Wonbin, and let go of his hand.
"Look, man, I don't even know who you are," Chanyoung began, calmly, regulated, "But I do know Wonbin hyung. I came to talk to him."
"You don't have to lie," Hyunjoo smirked, letting go of Wonbin's shoulder, "you came here to see your girlfriend, you said that already."
Chanyoung furrowed his eyebrows, the hint of a mocking laugh there but not quite showing yet, "I never said that. I said I'm visiting 'my love'."
Hyunjoo's smile faltered, "Are you trying to gaslight me, kid?"
"No," Chanyoung shrugged, a small smile on his lips, "Just correcting you."
"You're funny," Hyunjoo spat, not even slightly laughing, "If your goal was to piss me off, you succeeded with flying colours. Now go, find your girlfriend or whatever. Your 'love'," he created air quotes with his fingers, a habit when he was making fun of someone.
"Also," Wonbin chimed in, maintaining his composure, "Yesterday, I said I'm already taken. But you've never seen me with a girl, yeah? I've never even posted a girl before. And you're right, I don't have a girl to do any of that with."
"Oh, so you're finally admitting that you were lying?" Hyunjoo snickered at him, raising his voice so that everyone could hear him, convinced he had Wonbin cornered and ready to expose to everyone.
But Wonbin shook his head, taking Hyunjoo off guard, "I wasn't lying. I'm taken."
Hyunjoo started chuckling again, so loudly and madly it could probably be considered screaming, as he replied between tears of laughter, "Okay, both of you are fucking annoying me. This is just wasting my time at this point," he pointed at Wonbin accusingly.
"I understand now. Your girlfriend isn't ashamed to be seen with you. You're ashamed to be seen with your girlfriend. I don't even know why I thought that at first, when I've realise now just how ugly and annoying you really are," he spluttered angrily, a feeling much like the stabbing of multiple knives felt through Wonbin's chest.
He couldn't reply, his mouth ran dry and the volcano inside him was bubbing, bubbling, ready to erupt. However, he forced the magma down, his chest overwhelmed with sadness too. Despite how much he hated Hyunjoo, they were still friends, at some point, even if that line had blurred eventually. It hurt hearing those words from his mouth.
But Chanyoung was fed up with this. All of this.
"Don't talk to my love like that," Chanyoung's voice was the loudest it had been this entire time, which still wasn't extremely ear-piercing, but it was enough to make everyone in the room gasp.
"Huh?!" "'My love'?" "Did he just say-"
"Chanyoung, you don't have to—" Wonbin tried to mumble, but Chanyoung shook his head.
"No, hyung," Chanyoung frowned, turning to him, his eyes softening, "no one gets to talk to you like that and get away with it," then he spun back to Hyunjoo, who was shocked into silence.
"As for you," he stepped closer to him, his height towering over his figure, "Aren't you sick of insulting people just to make yourself feel better? You don't say things like that to my boyfriend, when really, it all applies to you."
Hyunjoo's confidence seemed to be fading, as he stuttered out, "B-boyfriend?!"
Chanyoung giggled to himself, "You're joking, right? You can't be that stupid, or ignorant, or whatever you are, to not connect the dots sooner," he took Wonbin's hand in his tightly, "We're both taken, Wonbin-hyung quite literally specified he didn't have a girlfriend, neither of us ever mentioned any genders at first. You're the one who assumed we both had girlfriends. And now, you're strangely so shocked to find that your baseless assumption was wrong?"
The class laughed at that, or more accurately, at Hyunjoo, who couldn't seem to find any words except for incoherent mumbling and stammering.
"And, for the record," Wonbin spoke up, squeezing Chanyoung's hand as he did, "I'm not ashamed to be seen with Chanyoung. And Chanyoung isn't ashamed to be seen with me either. I love Chanyoung. He loves me," he pressed a quick kiss to the back of Chanyoung's hand before letting it go, "But I was ashamed to be friends with you, all of you guys. Insulting a girl you didn't even know just because, what, it was funny?"
"She doesn't even exist anyway," Hyunjoo murmured under his breath, "it doesn't matter. It's not that big of a deal."
"Wow, it doesn't matter? It's not that big of a deal because she never really existed?" Wonbin shoved Hyunjoo onto the wall and held him there. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't budge from Wonbin's grip.
"You're disgusting, Hyunjoo. I don't know why I was your friend when I've realised who you really are. You are disgusting, ugly, and annoying."
Wonbin let go of Hyunjoo, who immediately dashed out of the classroom, embarrassment evident by the red on his cheeks. Chanyoung smiled at Wonbin, taking both of his hands, finally no longer needing to let them linger anymore.
"I should never get on your bad side," Chanyoung joked, laughing softly.
Wonbin rolled his eyes, reeling forward into his chest and resting there for a couple seconds, "Says you! I've never seen you insult anyone before. Who knew my baby could be so scary?"
Chanyoung brought one of his hands to his face, flustered, "Gosh, hyung, stop. That was the meanest I've ever been, I almost feel bad," he brought his hand off to put a strand of Wonbin's hair behind his ear, "Almost. Except he insulted you way too much."
Wonbin exhaled, "Well, I probably won't have to deal with him anymore. It's been a long time coming..." he glanced up at Chanyoung, who was looking down at him with loving eyes, "Thank you, Chanyoung. I haven't been brave enough to do it myself, I couldn't have done that without you."
"Hey, that was all you," Chanyoung wrapped his arms around Wonbin's waist, "I just sat and watched you be your amazing, badass self, and intervened when I thought he was talking too much."
"God, I love you so much," Wonbin whispered, a private sentence, a secret exchange, something for only the two of them to hear.
"I love you more."
A pull towards each other, like the opposites poles of a magnet, an electric force as their lips met. It wasn't a long kiss, but it wasn't rushed either. Perfectly synced, perfectly timed, understanding each other without needing any words. Light, gentle, an expression of love that was only saying a small "Thank you for being there. Always," and left it at that. Nothing grand - it didn't have to be, just like their relationship. Simple, but real.
But as they broke apart, the sound of clapping could be heard behind the two. One pair of hands turned into two, turned into the entire class, applauding and cheered for the newfound knowledge of this "power couple".
Chanyoung giggled breathily, glancing up at the ceiling with a slight blush on his cheeks, "Oh, God, I forgot I declared that you're my boyfriend out loud to like, everyone," he sighed to himself, "It'll spread quick... even to my campus... we won't be very private anymore."
"It's okay, baby," Wonbin grinned, patting his head tenderly, "It's a good thing! I'm all yours now. No more love letters, confessions, people spending their life savings to buy me chocolate..."
"Aw," Chanyoung pouted, "I'm gonna miss people thirsting over me while I'm swimming shirtless."
"Oh, shut up."
Hearty laughs and warmth of love bounced off the once heavy walls, the atmosphere of the classroom seemed to completely switch since the unnecessary waste of space was finally absent. Perhaps everyone would see Wonbin differently. Perhaps many of the girls in the school harbouring large crushes on him would turn against him. Perhaps that terrified him slightly... yet he felt okay. It didn't matter what everyone else thought. Wonbin knew he was loved, that he could pull himself back up if he ever sunk too deep.
And as Chanyoung left the senior campus, his heart was full, birthed anew. It was strength, it was courage, and most of all it was a passion. And maybe it was okay to be known. After all, nothing could get in the way of him and Wonbin. No matter how hard it tried.