Chapter Text
Mina
“MANIAC!” A high-pitched voice screeched, disturbing my slumber. I heard the faint thump of bass and a low voice singing as something hard and rubbery drilled me right in the forehead between my eyebrows. The faint music retreated down the hall along with the sound of devilish giggles, the soft patter of bare feet running from the scene of the crime.
“What the hell?” I hollered as I gruffly shoved my glasses onto my face, searching frantically through my comforter for the item that hit me. My hand finally grasped it, bringing it into my line of vision. I came face to face with a white stress ball with bunny ears and the most sinister look of evil I have ever seen in the face of a cartoon. “MOM!” I whined loudly as I stomped down the hall towards the kitchen.
“Minho, I told you to wake your sister gently.” I could hear my mother scolding my little brother as I entered the kitchen. My ten-year-old brother gave my mom an apologetic look that softened the stern one she gave him before she turned back to the pot of boiling stew in front of her. The minute she turned, he looked at me with the same devilish look that his rabbit gave me a few minutes ago. My brother sat proudly with the small speaker that he took with him everywhere beside him, always playing Stray Kids songs at an ungodly volume. He practiced the dance to ‘MANIAC’ while I glared at him, squeezing the life out of his stupid bunny stress ball.
My mother named him Minho after Choi Minho from SHINee because she was obsessed with them from a young age. My mother is never as harsh on him as she should be since they both share the same fangirl, or uh, fanboy, in this case, tendencies. We have the surname Lee, and once my brother discovered Stray Kids and that he had the same name as Lee Know, he was convinced it was some kind of divine intervention telling him that he was going to be a K-pop star someday. However, I typically refer to him as simply ‘demon’.
I narrowed my eyes at him and pinned the ball to the table, grabbing a chopstick that was aimed right for the eyeball of the rabbit.
“MOM! SHE’S GONNA STAB MY LEEBIT!” My brother wailed as my mother sighed, looking over her shoulder at us.
“Mina, give your brother back his toy, and Minho, apologize for hitting your sister.” Mom said sternly before turning her attention back to the food. My brother mumbled an apology as I stuck my tongue out at him, leaving the table to go to my room and throw on my school uniform.
After brushing my hair, I grabbed my backpack, throwing my phone in the side pocket, before stopping at the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. I took one final look in the mirror, putting on a headband to keep my long hair out of my face. I checked my watch and hurried down the corridor to quickly slurp down the porridge my mother had made for breakfast. I bid my mother goodbye and kissed her on the cheek, leading my brother out of the house after I put on my worn sneakers lying by the door. As soon as we were a safe distance outside of the front gate, I grabbed him by the nape of his scrawny neck.
“If you ever do that again, I swear to God I will-” I threatened before my brother wiggled free and took off running.
“Yunho!” He shouted as he ran towards my best friend, who stood at the corner of the street, waiting for us as he always did.
“Minho!” Yunho said, smiling at my brother and ruffling his hair. I rolled my eyes and sneered at my brother, earning a quizzical look from Yunho.
I’ve known Yunho since I was a baby, our mothers have been best friends since they were children. It seems to be becoming a fast family tradition; I’m sure our children will be best friends as well. He stood a head above the rest, both literally and figuratively. He was the tallest guy in our class and was easily the smartest. He sat at number two in the class rank without even trying. I honestly didn’t know if the kid even had to crack a book outside of school; he just sort of understood things without the need for repetition. I stood at number one in my class by studying my ass off and still only beat Yunho by a matter of single digits.
“This demon decided today’s song of the day was ‘MANIAC’ and drilled me in the face with some stupid rabbit ball while screaming at the top of his lungs.” I griped as the three of us began our short walk to the bus stop near our neighborhood.
“It’s not a stupid rabbit, it’s LeeBit!” Minho protested as Yunho gave me a conspiratorial look before smiling at Minho. Poor guy was an only child and always wanted a little brother. Luckily, I was more than willing to give him mine. No returns or refunds.
“’MANIAC’ is a pretty good song.” Yunho giggled with a shrug before he quickly took off his backpack, hooking it around the front of his arms, against his chest. “Speaking of rabbits,” He said with a wide, mischievous grin, “I found these at a market near the mini mart.” He unzipped the small front pocket in his backpack as my brother beamed with joy. Yunho worked some weekends at a local mini-mart part time and often brought my brother snacks or trinkets when we walked to the bus stop together. His long slender fingers fished the item from the pocket and slowly unfurled them to reveal a handful of pencils with that same rabbit plastered all over the damn things, as well as his detached head as the eraser topper.
A nice touch, if you ask me.
My brother took them gingerly, closely examining the pattern with sparkling eyes. Not only was Yunho incredibly smart, but he was also the most naturally warmhearted person I had ever met. Smart, tall, and kind? It was really starting to make me feel like a wet mop in comparison.
“What do you say?” I said sternly, my big sister instincts taking over.
“Thank you, Yunho! Thank you! Thank you!” The boy squealed as he held the pencils tightly against his chest.
“I thought they’d be nice for the first day of school.” Yunho said, patting my brother's shoulder as he put his backpack onto his back. We came up on the bus stop just as my brother’s bus was pulling up, his best friend, Kyungmin, waving eagerly from one of the windows as my brother ran to get on the bus. Minho sat by his best friend and then waved goodbye as the bus screeched and sputtered into motion. My other two best friends sat at the bench under the awning, leaving only one person left to complete our posse, who would be on the bus when ours pulled up.
Hongjoong sat facing away from us, an apple hanging out of his mouth by his teeth while he straightened our other friend’s tie. I let out a snort as Hongjoong turned to look at us, his large eyes looking hilariously bulbous behind the round frames of his glasses. Hongjoong took a bite from his apple and scooched over to fit Yunho and I on the bench.
Hongjoong was the vice president of our class and was almost always seen with a camera around his neck or in his backpack. He was our school’s main reporter for the yearbook.
“You looked like you were ready to be cooked up for dinner with that in your mouth.” I laughed.
“Are you calling me a pig?” He gasped with a full mouth and a hand clutching his chest.
“Yes.” Everyone besides Hongjoong chimed in, causing us all to snicker. Still as quiet as ever, my friend, San, sat next to Hongjoong, fiddling with his disheveled tie that Hongjoong had somehow made worse.
He was a shy and gentle soul with broad shoulders that you would never notice, since they were always folded inwards for him to hide behind. He was always targeted by degenerates because he never fought back.
“How are all of you so bad at tying a tie?” I asked as I got up, forcing Hongjoong to scooch closer to Yunho as I took the spot besides San. I unraveled the tie in one swift motion and quickly tied it up the correct way. It was a valuable skill I learned since my mother started working long evening shifts after my father passed.
I straightened San’s tie and tucked it neatly into the vest of his uniform. A soft ‘thank you’ left his lips as our bus finally pulled up. We all piled on, seeing our friend Yeosang waving to us from where he sat at the back of the bus. Somehow, by the grace of God, he managed to save four seats on a crowded public bus. I will never understand the power he holds, but I won’t question it either.
He can charm any older woman who tries to take it from him as they simply melt under his sickeningly sweet smile. He was every mother’s dream, with a perfectly chiseled face and impeccable manners. He had a very mellow and smooth voice that never needed to be raised above a purr, making the vast majority of the female population swoon on sight. Many old women would tell him to quit school and become a model or an idol. You know, stuff that beautiful people do, or whatever.
I sat beside Yeosang while the other three piled in the seats behind us. We all exchanged good mornings and started discussing our schedules for the upcoming year. It was our senior year and of course, we were gearing up for college admissions and entrance exams. Luckily, we all managed to get the same lunch period as well as the same home room and even shared a free period on some of the days. The four boys began talking about the advanced calculus class they were taking together while I leaned back against the seat. With any luck, this year looked like it could actually be peaceful.