Chapter Text
“For the last time, Woojin hyung, I do not want to hear in great detail about how Ian seems to want to get into Ryul hyung’s pants!”
This Friday morning is just the same as any other ones before. The skies are blue, the streets are littered with busy people going to someplace else, either schools or offices, and there’s also some elderly ladies that are huddled in front of their houses, gossiping while they’re sweeping the front yard or picking some fruits that are ripe. The neighborhood is calm as ever, except for Woojin’s and Louis’ bickering that buzzes in his ear like a mosquito would.
“I’m just putting it out there so he won’t be that oblivious the next time that girl comes to him and acts all cute and helpless, dude. Geez,” Woojin scoffs, clearly disliking the way Louis is cockblocking his attempt on shoving the information down his throat. “Have you thought about what you’re gonna do?”
Ryul glances at him. “What I’m gonna do about what?”
“About her?” He stares at him in disbelief. “About this whole Ian having a crush on you but there’s no way it’s going to be reciprocated since you’re into banging dudes left and right?”
“Oh, my God,” Louis grunts.
“Like how are you going to break down the news to her?”
“Why should I break anything down to her? All I know is it’s just your theories and guesses so far. She hasn’t been doing anything … strange, to me.”
“That’s because she’s shy,” Woojin shrugs, confident dripping in his voice like honey. “I overheard her saying to her friend about how you’re the perfect match.”
“She did?” Ryul stops in his tracks. “You could’ve just led with that information!”
“I’ve given you so much information and none goes into your head!” Clueless about the visible distress in his friend’s face, Woojin slings his arm around Ryul’s broad shoulders. “So, what are you going to do, now that you finally listen to me?”
“Man,” Ryul sighs heavily. “I don’t know— Wait, is there anyone else besides you that heard her saying that stuff?”
“Well, yeah. You can ask Louis,” he nudges Louis’ arm with his. “He was there with me.”
“Don’t drag me into this. I had my headphones on. I didn’t hear anything.”
When Ryul is about to answer how vague the information is since the witness is only Woojin himself, Louis opens his mouth again, saying something in a timid voice, “Although, hyung, I did see Ian staring at you intensely when we were eating at the canteen yesterday. I thought she was looking at someone behind us, but she wasn’t. You didn’t notice it, but I did.”
Okay, so maybe receiving an information that a girl liking him shouldn’t be this frustrating, but it kind of is for him, and there’s no guide on rejecting a girl gently without having to tell her that you’re actually into guys because it’s all rejecting just the same. His shoulders slump, and Woojin squeezes some encouragement into him.
Well, not really.
“You got this, hyung,” he chirps. “I say just be straightforward with her, tell her that it’s nice to know that you find me attractive but I think it’s better if we stay friends, and there you have it!” Woojin pats him in the back, a little bit too hard. “Just be careful, though.”
“What?” Ryul shots up. “Why?”
“Her brother’s a bit … scary,” Woojin whispers. “And everybody knows no one messes with Ian because of him. Why do you think she’s the prettiest girl in my year but no one dares to hit on her?”
Ryul nods, averting his gaze back to the long road ahead of him. So, today he has to attend classes, reject a girl that has a crush on him, and be wary of her scary big brother.
Surely he can survive today, can’t he?
“See? She’s staring at you.”
Ryul uncomfortably shifts in his seat. The lunch tray in front of him goes untouched because his appetite has long gone ever since they stepped into the cafeteria, and the first thing that he notices is how Ian’s friends are letting her know that he has arrived.
Be cool, be cool, be cool.
It’s not that Ryul is afraid to come out, not really. In fact, he came out early this year. His parents noticed and Ryul knew that they’re nice adults, and it was proven with how chill and okay they received the information. His parents only told him stuff like, you know, be careful, wear protection—Ryul blushed furiously at this part—, and about how they’re so proud of him for trusting them for something this huge.
And, of course, the typical teasing question such as, “Is there any boy you like at school?”
Which there is, actually. But Ryul didn’t tell them that, because that’s just the kind of guy he is.
Also, it’s kind of embarrassing that the boy that Ryul’s crushing on just happens to be the boy named Ohyul that has gone to school with him since junior high—now the boy’s sitting in a table not far from them, though they haven’t really shared a class so far. And it doesn’t stop there!
The first time Ryul knew that there’s something different in him, it happened in eighth grade when he was alone with Ohyul in a room, with the other boy’s face not far from his. Ohyul’s wearing braces at that time—a small detail that, of course, Ryul remembers—so he was silent, not daring to say anything.
“I, um…” eighth-grader Ryul started, looking down at his lap. “We still have six minutes left.”
Eighth-grader Ohyul shifted in his seat, slowly nodding. “I know,” he said. “I have braces, though.”
Ryul parroted him, “I know,” he blinked. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“They said it’s hard to kiss someone who’s wearing braces,” Ohyul explained, his demeanor timid and his voice so small that it’s almost hard to hear anything with the music booming from outside. “Like, it’s too much work?”
“Oh,” Ryul pressed his lips. “Okay.”
“Can we just, like, tell them that we’ve kissed?” Ohyul winced, like the thought of having to lie to a bunch of nobodies from their school was painful to him.
For the first time in his life, Ryul felt a pang in his heart from having to fake-kiss a cute boy that had been nice to him at school. Ohyul was great at soccer. Ohyul got good grades, too. Surely it would be an honor to be able to kiss him, right? It’s like, you know, one of so many ways for telling him how cool he was?
With a tinge of disappointment in his heart, Ryul nodded. “Okay.”
“I’m sorry,” Ohyul huffed. “It’s not that I don’t want to kiss you.”
Ryul’s eyes widened for a second before he blinked, trying to school his expression back to neutral.
“I mean, it’s not that I mind,” the other boy, too, immediately corrected himself. “I don’t mind at all. I just, um, don’t want you to, like, have a bad experience kissing me because I have braces on.”
“It’s okay,” Ryul smiled, patting Ohyul’s knee. “I’m sure they’re wrong, though.”
“Who?”
“They, the people who said that kissing people with braces is kind of difficult. We’re kissing their lips, right? Not their teeth?”
“Well, yeah, but…”
They spent the last four minutes (and more, once they went out of Woonhak’s bedroom door and sat on Woonhak’s couch while drinking and snacking whatever’s served on Woonhak’s kitchen because they were at Woonhak’s birthday party) talking about kissing people with braces and braces alone itself, eventually, losing track of time.
You see, the curiosity of kissing Ohyul, with braces or not, lingered until he’s now in high school, and Ryul can’t really do anything about it because he’s sure Ohyul’s forgotten everything about that night.
So, like old colleagues that’s drifted apart, Ryul doesn’t really talk with Ohyul anymore. He’s not sure Ohyul even knows him anymore, but what he’s sure of is that he loves to admire him whenever he passes by his class or his table when he’s having lunch. Loves seeing him joke around with his third-year friends, loves hearing his loud ass voice. Loves seeing his cheeks reddened because of the heat that swarms him after PE class.
Woojin and Louis, upon receiving the information that he’s gay, also welcomes it with open arms. And, at this point, people who pay attention would probably know it, too. Ryul doesn’t hide it anymore, he just never blatantly announces it to the world.
So, when he sees Ian approaching their table, he instantly freezes up, because what the fuck should he say to her?
“Hi,” Ian smiles, waving as she wriggles her dainty fingers at the three of them. “Good lunch today, right?”
“Uh, yes,” Ryul blinks. “Yummy lunch.” Shit.
“You should get the chocolate pudding, Ian,” Woojin replies. Ryul envies the ease in his body language, wishing Woojin can transfer some to him. But maybe it’s also because they’re classmates, so he’s having no trouble striking a conversation with her. “It’s really yummy.”
He can hear Louis snorting beside him, but he pays him no mind. He’s too lost in which strings of words should he blurt out to her without hurting his feelings?
“I’ll get them later,” she says to Woojin, before turning back to him. “So, Ryul oppa.”
“Y-yeah?”
“Asking for a friend,” she smiles, slyly, twirling a strand of her hair. “Are you free on Saturday night?”
The thing is, no one is actually asking for a friend when they say that.
So now Ryul is shitting his pants and sweating bullets while Ian is still staring up at him, eyes sparkling with excitement. He is painfully aware that Louis and Woojin are looking at his reaction, though they’re trying to make it subtle, and Ian’s friends across their own table are also waiting in anticipation.
“I, um, Ian, I’m—” Ryul abruptly stands as if the cafeteria table has turned into lava. The motion causes most of the students that are still having lunch or just hanging out with their friends to look at Ryul now, who cannot do anything instead of gulping his saliva down his throat nervously.
“Dude, sit down,” Woojin hisses, pulling the end of his shirt.
He ignores Woojin’s plea and straight on looking at Ian, who’s now looking confused, and takes a deep, sharp breath. “Look, Ian,” he begins. “I appreciate your bravery for coming here and asking me about my availability for, um, Saturday night, which is I am, available, for that specific time of day, but—” he gulps. “I’m not— I can’t go out with you.”
The silence is deafening between them. Ryul isn’t sure of how much of the conversation is heard by the other students, but it’s as if everyone in the room is holding their bated breath, waiting for Ian’s reaction upon being rejected.
But what comes next is Ian’s laugh, covered behind her hand, and Ryul wants to dig a hole to bury his own self.
“Oh!” Ian cackles. She quickly covers her mouth again, trying so hard not to burst out laughing, so it results in her body trembling from the amount of how funny she’s finding this situation.
Ryul stands there, confused. Is this her way of coping? If it is, then, it’s a weird one, sure, but go off, though, Ryul thinks. He’s acting like Ian is some kind of an animal that would jump at him the second he tries anything funny, so he stands there, so still, waiting for her laugh to recedes.
He anxiously looks around the cafeteria and notices that some students have gone back to whatever it is that they are doing, although some are still watching. They’re whispering, Ryul notes to himself. What are they thinking? Perhaps some of their guesses can help Ryul figure out what is Ian doing right now, laughing her ass off as if she hasn’t been rejected just now.
“Ryul oppa,” she calls, still with that ear-to-ear grin that Ryul badly wants to wipe off of her. “Did you seriously think I was asking you out?”
Ryul blinks. There’s no other word to describe him other than dumbfounded.
“Did you?” Ian asks him again, and this time he nods. “Oh, my God,” she leans down, lowering her voice. Ryul mirrors her action, taking a seat and dips his head down to level her. “Did you actually forget that I was the one who clocked your gay ass on Instagram, like, five months ago?”
“What, you follow me on Instagram?”
“Yeah! You posted something on your Instagram Story and I commented on your choice of song, and we talked for a bit before you ghosted me.”
“Oh, sorry,” he scratches his nape. “I’m not that active on social media. I post stuff and call it a day.”
“I can tell,” she squints her eyes.
“Excuse me,” Woojin interrupts. “So, like, now that we’ve got that established, shouldn’t we address the elephant in the room?”
“I hear that his classmates call him a ‘baby elephant’,” Ian points at Louis, who looks like he just wants the earth to swallow him away from this conversation. “Because he’s so tall and all that. Hey, try standing up—”
Woojin clicks his tongue. “Ian, be serious.”
“Fine,” she huffs. “You look like someone that my brother would like.”
A heavy silence drapes over the table.
“Your brother?” Woojin and Ryul ask at the same time.
“Yes, my brother,” Ian repeats it while nodding. “I know he looks a little bit intense, but I swear he’s…”
Ian’s voice becomes static in his head, a white noise as she drones on talking about her brother. Ryul’s trying to grasp this situation, because it’s pretty unbelievable to know that someone is going to set him up with a guy that he doesn’t know. He knows that Ian is doing something good for him, because who wouldn’t want to meet the potential one from someone you know, right?
But something in his heart just tugs his instinct to look at the cafeteria table not far from him, because that’s where he sees Ohyul that he’s been admiring. Ryul feels a kick in his heart when he realizes that Ohyul is now staring at him, his glare so intense that Ryul has to look away first before the other does.
“So, what’d you say?”
“Huh?”
“My brother,” Ian says. “Do you want to meet him? Get to know him, at least?”
“I, um, I don’t know,” Ryul shakes his head. He feels odd, not knowing how to use his body all of a sudden. And he doesn’t even know what Ian’s brother looks like. Does he even go to this school? Ryul can’t think. “Maybe?”
“Okay, great!” She sighs happily, once again wipes the remaining tears from her giggling fit back there. “I’ll text you later or whatever. Bye!”
Ryul looks at Woojin and Louis, who are doing the same to him. He blinks. “What the fuck just happened?”
When the school bell rings, there is nothing that Ryul wants more than going home right away. He doesn’t want to meet Ian and whatever brother she’s going to introduce to him, he doesn’t want to indulge Woojin and his endless theories, so he might just copy Louis who always wears his headphones whenever school’s done so no one will try to talk to him.
After he bolts out of his classroom, fumbling with his wired earphone, not looking at where he’s going nor his surroundings, something blocks his way and causes him to crash onto someone, too late to step on the brakes.
Someone is standing in front of him, wearing the same uniform, though the other’s unbuttoned, revealing a black t-shirt that he’s wearing underneath. Ryul looks up, taking a note that this guy is slightly taller than him, and stills when he finally sees the face of the person standing in front of him.
It’s him. It’s Ohyul.
He’s even more breathtaking up close now; sharp eyes, pointy nose, plump lips—no longer wearing braces, and some parts of his messy hair that’s not covered by his bandana sticking out. Ryul sucks in his breath when his eyes drop to Ohyul’s dusty pink cheeks.
“I’m just going to make this fast, okay?” He says without any opening nor introduction, and his voice is just so soothing that Ryul finds himself nodding along to whatever he’s saying.
And within a second, Ohyul’s fist collides with the left side of his cheek.
Caught off guard with the impact, Ryul stumbles a few steps back, hands shooting to cup his left cheek, feeling it hot and throbbing on his hand. Recovering from the shock, he stares at Ohyul with his widening eyes. The other boy doesn’t budge, still standing there with his pumped fist. They stare at each other for a brief second, before Ohyul finally says, “That’s what you get for making my sister cry,” and leaves the scene.
Ryul, still with his hand on his cheek, drops his jaw. Ohyul’s back that is getting smaller and smaller as he walks further away from him is the only thing that’s grounding Ryul to the present.
Using all his might, his painfully pounding head starts trying to connect the dots. And before he can come to the conclusion, Woojin and Louis come running toward him, and Ryul feels the ground slide beneath his feet.