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“Han Jisung. Pay attention.” The teacher called from the front towards the two students at the back of the class. Han Jisung and Lee Yongbok (ie Felix – no-one actually called Felix Yongbok unless he was in trouble). Felix chuckled under his breath and swerved his head towards the teacher to pay attention to him as he explained some English grammar.
Felix couldn’t really focus in English class. It was a useless subject for him to sit through as he was born and raised in Australia for the first thirteen years of his life, only being four years living in Seoul he actually needed more Korean lessons. Ergo, English class was useless and really just an opportunity for Felix to chat to his best friend.
Therefore, Jisung didn’t focus on English class either. He probably needed English class to be honest. He was better at English than most since his parents moved their entire life to Malaysia for four years when Jisung was nine years old, meaning he returned to Seoul the same time Felix moved to Korea and the two new students quickly became fast friends. But now… Jisung hated to say his English hadn’t evolved past basic conversations and memes Felix had shown him throughout the years.
“Noice listening, Jisung.” Felix could hardly breathe through his whispered laugh. Jisung playfully tutted and waved his hand towards him, taking a minute to actually write down some notes. Felix’s exaggerated Australian accent always cracked both boys up when Felix used it.
Jisung turned his head to the side, smirking, and falling in love for a little bit. Felix was Jisung’s best friend, honestly they knew each other like brothers, but not in a weird way where Jisung felt bad to admit how cute Felix was.
Right now, Felix was laid across the desk smiling wide at his with waves of his ash blond hair covering the side of his face. His face was dotted with those freckles he was insecure about, but they honestly made Felix look even more attractive. In his eyes were coloured contacts he liked to wear even though they were against dress code, but they made his eyes pop, and today he had chosen icy blue.
Who could not fall for a guy looking like Lee Felix smiling at you like you were the only thing that mattered in his world?
The English class ended with the teacher leaving, and with them leaving came the lull of quiet conversation until the next teacher would come in. Felix raised his head at the sudden freedom he was given, his eyes watching the students around him talk like he used to do when he came to Seoul for the first time. In those days Jisung would step in, translate into basic English sentences, and correct Felix’s pronunciation. Now though the pair preferred to sit back and people watch.
Well, Jisung people watched, Felix person-watched. He always watched the same person.
Felix’s hand covered his mouth as he watched him, a small smile gracing his face. Felix’s lovesick sigh made Jisung look away in a quiet sigh and towards the boy that had caught Felix’s attention since the beginning of high school.
Hwang Hyunjin. A perfect name for a perfect boy. He was effortlessly neat and perfect, his clothes always ironed and his blazer slightly oversized. His shoulder length brown hair was tied back in a half-bun but he pulled it from his face anyway, showing his sharp cheekbones as he laughed at his friend’s joke. Felix laughed in response.
“I don’t know what you see in him.”
“What don’t you see in him?” Felix turned back to his friend with that goofy smile again. “He’s beautiful, he’s smart, he’s an artist.”
“I’m an artist.”
“Stick figures as your album covers don’t count.”
Jisung tutted again, chewing his cheek and looking out the window. He would do anything to have Felix look at him like he did Hwang Hyunjin. Felix was mesmerised by him, and as Felix’s best friend he should be happy, but jealousy ran deep in Jisung’s veins.
Lunch couldn’t come soon enough. When it finally came, Jisung could forget all his jealousy by stuffing his cheeks with kimchi. He and Felix were chatting like normal again, all until Number One Enemy waltzed along and stole Felix’s attention.
“Guys! I was wondering if I could talk to you.” Hyunjin knelt on Felix’s desk, his eyes between the two boys as he talked as if he owned the world. “As you probably know, I’m an amateur photographer…”
“You’re an amazing photographer.” Felix interrupted in excitement, although Jisung couldn’t tell whether the interruption was just due to his excitement or whether the excitement caused him to only grasp particular words in his second language. Hyunjin nodded and showed his signature perfect smile.
“Thank you. But I was wondering if I could have help with my latest project.” Felix nodded excessively before he even heard the terms of the ‘help’. Perfect looking boys can be serial killers too! Felix had no survival skills around crushes. “I want to take pictures of classmates, and I think your looks would really match with Lee Minho.”
Hyunjin absentmindedly pointed towards the student at the front of the class that, although he had been in the same school as Jisung since the very beginning of their school career, Jisung hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to him. He was quiet, stoic, and kept to himself.
“Do you need both of us?” Jisung dared to ask when he swallowed the food in his cheeks. He would probably still invite himself if there was a possibility this was just Hyunjin’s way of asking Felix on a date, but he was pleasantly surprised when Hyunjin nodded.
“If you wouldn’t mind, yes. How does a photoshoot at the park on Saturday sound?”
“Sounds perfect, thank you.” Felix answered before Jisung could, bowing a little in his seat and almost collapsing in a blush as Hyunjin walked away. Jisung couldn’t help but smile seeing Felix so happy – he deserved it – even if it hurt Jisung’s heart inside.
**
Jisung could deceive himself into thinking he was dating Felix quite easily. Hyunjin had texted the boys to meet in the park just after lunch in outfits that felt comfortable and like what they would usually wear. So Jisung and Felix decided to make a day of the side-quest they added to their life.
The pair forgo studying for Felix to come to Jisung’s in the late morning, and Felix helped Jisung brainstorm English lyrics for his self-made album. For lunch, they went to the 7/11 by the park, where they got their usual. Each had a kimbap, with their drinks being banana milk for Felix and chocolate milk for Jisung, ending their meal with a shared pepero. Not sharing a pepero unfortunately – just the packet.
“He must think I’m beautiful…” Felix whispered under his breath as the friends sat on a bench, taking turns with the pepero packet.
“You are beautiful.” Jisung assured, looking ahead of him in the same direction as Felix was looking. Those words fell in empty lips with a laugh.
“Then again, he also asked you to do this photoshoot so maybe we’re in a love triangle with the Hwang Hyunjin.”
“You can have him. He’s too tall for me.”
“This is why you’re my best friend.” Felix’s head fell on Jisung’s shoulder, like it usually did, feeding Jisung’s delusions that this could actually turn into a date one day.
The air was warm, but a chill came over Jisung when he spotted Hyunjin, camera equipment in hand, smiling and waving at the pair. “Afternoon! Have you seen Minho?”
As if he heard his name, Minho appeared out of nowhere. He wore an unamused face, removing earphones from his ears as he came closer. Paired with the facial expression that looked like he wanted to leave immediately, he wore baggy jeans with a metal chain loosely around his hips, along with a shirt with the number fifty-four on it and a black jacket with a red and blue stripe. His black hair, which was usually hiding his face when he was in school, with brushed back to show his clear face. His face was soft but paired with the piercing gaze of dark cat-like eyes. His eyes stayed on Hyunjin.
“There you are Minho! Now, I’ll show you the tree we’ll take photos under. The lighting is tres magnifique!” Hyunjin walked along the path, the other boys following. Jisung and Minho stayed a few steps behind while Felix ran to catch up – ecstatic by the inclusion of French vocabulary out of Hyunjin’s lips.
“Do you speak French?” Jisung laughed softly at Felix’s pining, but he let it happen.
“Kind of. Just a word here and there, I think it’s a beautiful language.” Hyunjin ducked his head slightly as he spoke to Felix, his voice soft without the bravado he put on when speaking to more than one person. He looked at Felix with such care which at least meant that Felix hadn’t fallen for a guy that was just out to hurt him.
Jisung watched Felix’s dreams come true from the background. Felix was actually conversational in French, he started learning it in Australia and kept learning the language while sitting through English classes in middle school. Hyunjin seemed interested in that fact and throughout the photoshoot asked Felix about vocabulary and pronunciation. Felix took to the interaction like a dog to a bone.
Towards the end, only Felix was getting his pictures taken by Hyunjin. They were laughing and bonding, like they were old friends, and Jisung felt like punching Mr Perfect because of the way he looked at Felix. He looked at him so softly, like Jisung did. It was obvious by that look that something more than an unrequited crush was developing between them.
Minho matched Jisung, crossing his arms and sighing under his breath. “Of course…” He whispered, although he was speaking loud enough to be heard and side-eyed Jisung once he said it.
“Of course what?” As the young musician turned and tilted his head Minho dramatically scowled, kicking the grass below him and looking at his sneakers.
“Don’t tell me you deluded yourself too. The way Hyunjin looks at Felix, he’ll never look like that at us.” Minho raised his head when he said Hyunjin’s name, his expression blank but his tone laced in anger.
Jisung was brought to looking away from Minho again by Felix’s giggle as he jokingly bit on the necklace he was wearing. He could swear he spotted a blush on Hyunjin’s cheeks at that adorable smile.
“I’m not looking at Hyunjin.” Jisung responded back. Minho lifted his eyebrows like a surprised rabbit lifting its ears, his eyes widened as he watched the laughing photographer and his subject.
“You like Felix?”
“Honestly, I thought it was obvious.”
Minho nodded to himself, his hand fiddling with the chain around his hip for a moment. “And Felix likes Hyunjin…” The quiet boy reminded Jisung of a fact he wished to forget, maybe he was confirming the reality. Turns out there was a love triangle between him, Felix and Hyunjin.
The birds chirped, the boys taking photos laughed, but Minho broke the silence through his rough voice. He spoke as if he were hesitating the words he was saying.
“What if we… stop them from getting together?”
“How are we going to do that?” OK, Jisung was totally with this plan as soon as it was asked. He wasn’t known to shy away from anything really – apart from confessing to his best friend but that was a thought for another day.
Minho smirked, one side of his circular lips lifting and a glint of mischief in his eye. “Well, you’re already attached to Felix by the hip, and I’ve shared classes with Hyunjin throughout high school so far so – so I know a lot about him.” A blush came to Minho’s cheeks as he swallowed his nerves, his arms crossing over his chest again. “Whenever we think they’re getting closer than, that,” Minho guided his hand towards the love story already forming. “We stop it from happening. Eventually, we’ll be there when they feel those lovey emotions and they’ll associate those feelings with us and… We get who we want.”
“Sounds like a deal to me.” Minho and Jisung exchanged numbers and tended to spend time with each other for the rest of the afternoon until Hyunjin had taken all the photos he wanted. When Hyunjin and Minho left, Jisung and Felix went back to Felix’s house to get some studying done. They then spent the evening baking brownies and watching a movie together – just like they always did when Jisung went to Felix’s.
Apart from hopefully, sooner rather than later, Jisung would be able to kiss Felix’s cocoa-powder-covered lips and keep that smile permanently on his face.
**
Mid-term tests weren’t meant to be easy – but surely they weren’t meant to be impossible! Jisung had worked as hard as he could, yet the ranking said otherwise. He wasn’t on the bottom, but he was nowhere near the top, and he couldn’t help but notice who ranked next to Lee Yongbok.
When Jisung and Felix arrived at school the day after the rankings, they were met with their teacher holding a chart in his hand. “Seating change.” He said, making the students around him groan under their breath. He walked past each desk and when he lay his hand on the table he said a name from the sheet. The order of names was coincidentally the same order of the mid-term rankings.
Which meant, once Lee Yongbok’s name was called out, Hwang Hyunjin followed right after it.
Jisung found Minho in the crowd and stared at him, eyes wide, to communicate the urgency of the situation. They had planned to keep Hyunjin and Felix as far away from each other as possible. Their plan had to start now if it was going to work at all.
“Excuse me, seonsaengnim.” Minho spoke over the teacher for a second, disrupting Felix’s smile as he looked up at Hyunjin. “I was wondering if I may sit next to Lee Yongbok this semester, my ranking went down due to my score in English and I would really like to improve my proficiency through a native speaker.”
Jisung liked Minho’s quick thinking. He knew there would be no way to persuade the teacher to let Felix and Jisung sit next to each other again, so Minho next to Felix would be the best option. And the reasoning also worked as Minho was sat between Seo Changbin and Yang Jeongin, who scored low in English as well.
The teacher thought about it for a second, before nodding and switching Felix’s seat with Changbin’s. Hyunjin’s smile faded as Felix walked away, soon replaced with a cordial and friendly one when Changbin approached. Soon enough they were pulling silly faces at each other while the teacher was talking.
The lesson started with no more comments on the seating arrangements. It was coincidentally English class first, and Minho was keeping up the act by asking Felix for help every ten seconds when the Australian’s eyes floated towards Hyunjin.
“I can’t believe I’ve been cockblocked by Lee Minho.” Felix groaned once he and Jisung were allowed to talk again during the ten-minute break between classes. “First my best friend has been separated from me, then I’m dragged away from the hottest guy in the school! That’s not very noice.”
“Minho seems like a good guy.” Jisung could imagine the future now. With Minho distracting Felix from staring at Hyunjin, hopefully soon enough the artist would become the back of Felix’s mind. And in the forefront would be his amazing best friend of course. “Don’t go develop a crush on him though. I can only handle one Lee in my life.”
As Felix and Jisung continued their conversation, out of the corner of his eye Jisung could spot Minho watching him. His head was tilted, allowing one of his black eyes to be seen. He was staring at Jisung as if trying to tell him something – but Jisung was unsure of what. He gave a thumbs-up inconspicuously in Minho’s direction to see if that satisfied him. And with a smile and a look away that seemingly did, and Minho turned back to the open book he was reading.
Felix swished his head quickly at the subtle interaction, the wisps of his blond hair hitting his cheek. His eyes went straight to Minho, then back at Jisung. “I saw that.”
“Saw what?”
“You just gave Lee Minho a thumbs-up, and he’s still looking at you!” In the millisecond of Felix’s look Minho had raised his head again to watch the pair – but probably because Felix was whispering like he had just uncovered a new scientific discovery. In order to whisper more effectively Felix leant forward so his face was centimetres away from Jisung’s. “I thought I saw you guys chatting a lot during Hyunjin’s photos – is he a matchmaker?”
“No, definitely not.” Jisung swatted Felix’s face away like he did with the intrusive thoughts to break the distance in the middle of the classroom, laughing off the nerves. Felix looked unimpressed, crossing his arms.
“You need to tell me if you start dating Lee Minho.”
“That day will never come.”
**
Jisung hated staying in school late to study. He hated that more than anything. Even bugs.
But Felix wanted to study Korean history after classes one day and the only place that had the full timeline of Korean history textbooks was the school library. And who could say no to that pretty grin when he asked Jisung if he could stay late to accompany his boredom? Certainly not a person with eyes.
The trick had worked on Hwang Hyunjin too. Through an under the table text during math class Minho was alerted of the situation and asked Felix to tag along too. So now a table in the school’s library held four boys, two of them more concerned with keeping the other two a distance away from each other than actually getting any work done.
“That’s the Baekje kingdom, not the Goguryeo.” Hyunjin was leaned over towards Felix, delicately explaining two of the three kingdoms in early Korean history. Felix was more concerned with watching Hyunjin with a small smile, his lips moving up and down in miniscule steps as his mind was obviously elsewhere. “You seem to be getting confused on the difference quite a lot, maybe you need some one-on-one tutoring sessions?” Jisung groaned into his textbook, stuck on how to interfere.
Until the slap of half a dozen heavy books landed between the flirting pair. “Good thing we’re in the library with a lot of books about the three kingdoms. It’s like we don’t even need to talk to each other.”
Felix gave a confused look to his best friend as Minho triumphantly collapsed on the seat next to Jisung. He grabbed a book from the top of the pile and started reading. After a second to process the confusion Hyunjin and Felix did the same. Jisung was the last to follow, making notes that he would probably read once or twice before the next test.
Time passed with silent studying. Minho had earphones in his ears and his phone on his desk, actually taking advantage of the extra studying opportunity with his eyes watching Felix and Hyunjin every few minutes. But Felix and Hyunjin were surprisingly friendly and kept to himself.
Jisung could hear the beats of the music Minho was playing through his earphones, and he paused his writing when he heard a familiar rhythm. “Is that my song?” Jisung quietly asked, his head turning making Minho drop his earphones out his ear. Jisung had started releasing his songs onto streaming platforms recently, and this was the first time Jisung had met a listener in the wild. Usually, it was just him and Felix.
Minho’s eyes widened and pink dotted his cheeks. “Oh – I – um – you’re Han?”
Jisung nodded. He used his surname as his pen name, it was a cool surname anyway that was relatively nice and more memorable than ‘Jisung’. “Oh… Cool.” Minho whispered, turning back to his book with a rough swallow.
A while later, Felix explained he wanted to move onto Korean since he was with first-language Koreans who could help. Hyunjin knew where a good textbook was that Felix hadn’t heard of before and offered to show him it. The pair walked away towards the bookshelves and out of Jising and Minho’s sight.
Minho was plugged into his earphones with his textbook. Jisung knew he should have followed the two friends but he was stuck still. Felix was his best friend after all, he wanted him to be happy, and having nibbles of his crush flirting with him wouldn’t hurt the outcome of Felix falling in love with his best friend, right? Jisung was a nice person, he could overcome his crush talking to other people.
“Where have they gone?” Minho raised his head once he realised the two empty seats opposite him, placing his book on the table but not standing up.
“Going to get Korean books.” Jisung explained, finishing his latest flashcard with the prettiest handwriting he could manage. “They’ll be OK, we can’t be too suspicious.”
“They could be making out between the bookshelves.”
“Not with Kim Seungmin around. I saw him come in earlier, and he hates watching people kiss in the library.” Minho nodded unsure, taking his earphones out and watching the direction that Hyunjin and Felix walked. “I have experience, Seungmin has a tight punch for a baseball player.”
The library was too quiet between them. The only noise was the occasional fellow student walking past, or pages turning, or pens writing on paper. It was a good place to get some work done – but Jisung could never be quiet for long. “Can I ask you something?”
Minho looked over in a hum, his finger which he was using to trace the words he was reading stopping too. His black fringe covered his eyes as he wrote notes on Confucianism, his cheeks slightly pink as what happened a lot when he was focused. Jisung only realised that when he had to distract himself from staring at Felix in class. Just like how he noticed Minho only stared at Hyunjin when it was a good time for him rather than it being a compulsion to desire any acknowledgement.
“When did you get a crush on Hyunjin? I just noticed you don’t stare at him a lot, you seem pretty casual with your crush.”
“I’m casual with everything.” Minho quickly answered back, leaning in his chair slightly and his eyes floating to the direction of Hyunjin and Felix as he spoke. That was true – Jisung didn’t think he ever saw Minho showing any strong emotion. “I met Hyunjin during art class last year.” He said after a second of thought. “And sure, Hwang Hyunjin is popular and wanted. But in the art room he’s just Hyunjin. He’s quiet then, and we can talk about anything and it doesn’t feel as though a minute has passed.”
In class, Hwang Hyunjin was chatty and extroverted. He had a constant gaggle of friends that changed each week. He was known as the artist but no-one had the luck of seeing his art. Felix had talked about hoping to see it one day.
“I find art attractive. And Hyunjin is the artist so… I fell for him.” Felix and Hyunjin came back to the table with books in hand, making Minho’s voice fade. Eventually, Minho and Jisung moved on to studying Korean as well.
By the time they all gave up digesting more information it was dark outside. Under the moonlight, Felix and Jisung walked home together while Hyunjin and Minho walked separate ways, promising they’ll all study together again.
Felix laughed under the streetlight as Jisung tripped over his feet on the sidewalk, the kind of laugh that was addictive. The type of laugh that Jisung wanted to keep in a bottle and store forever. Jisung wasn’t just in love with Lee Felix – he was in love with Felix, the joyful sunshine who could laugh at anything.
**
“I’M BOOORED!” Felix screamed into the ether as he lay on Jisung’s dirty laundry that acted as a second bed. Jisung laughed softly and strummed on his guitar, humming new song lyrics the pair had brainstormed together in one of the few nights the high schoolers could forget about studying and focus on their hobbies. Jisung’s hobby was creating music, Felix’s hobby was attaching to him like a koala. “How late is it?”
“Ten pm.” Jisung’s eyes went to his clock before falling to his guitar pick, strumming, before he dropped the small object in the pile of dirty hoodies and swore to himself before searching for it and finding it.
Felix tapped away on his phone for a little bit, a small smile on his face, probably watching TikTok. “You want to go to 7/11? In the next twenty minutes?” The Australian asked out of the blue, causing Jisung to raise an eyebrow at him. “What? You need to put that hat I got you to good use.” Felix picked up the fluffy black hat that was beside his knee. It was an trapper fake-fur hat that Felix had bought him for his birthday a couple years ago.
“Fine, your powers of persuasion have worked on me.” Jisung smirked as his hat hit his knee. He put it on and placed his guitar in the case, carrying the case over his shoulder. Walks around Seoul tended to be when musical revelations hit, so Jisung tended to carry his guitar when he left his house for any purpose other than school.
The pair walked down the Seoul streets, appreciating how empty they were at this time of night. When they passed their nearest 7/11, Felix confessed that that he didn’t like that particular one – apparently the banana milk wasn’t that fresh. So they delved deeper into the city, where salary men were still working or drinking their salary away and they stopped to help a group of lost tourists trying to find the Hongdae district. They took selfies together near the Han river (it was a mandatory requirement with a surname of Han). Several 7/11s passed them on their way but they continued walking until one caught Felix’s interest and they went inside.
“I think this is a new one for us, right?” Felix asked, the friends immediately finding the drink aisle and grabbing their flavoured milk. Felix grabbed Doritos as an extra snack ad Jisung got the pepero. It was going to be a night of eating snacks and using Jisung’s Netflix subscription to its full extent.
As mentioned before, Jisung knew Felix like a brother. So when his eyes widened and he let out a dramatic gasp Jisung knew he hadn’t chosen this 7/11 just for the vibes and adventure. And sure enough, as the pair approached the till, they spotted Lee Minho behind the till talking to an assumed co-worker.
“Minho! I didn’t know you worked here!” Felix announced in dramatic fashion, passing over his snacks. Minho watched the two boys with his lips slightly parted and sighed as he scanned the items.
“Did Hyunjin tell you?”
“Nooooooo…” OK, looking back maybe letting Felix (who believed Jisung had fallen in love for Minho Disney movie style) and Hyunjin have a moment finding a book was a mistake. They exchanged numbers during that time, which was already bad since it meant an open line of communication that neither Minho nor Jisung could control – and now it looked like their new method of communication was being used for chaos. “Are you clocking off soon?”
“You have arrived just in time, my shift finished two minutes ago.” Minho took off his jacket and nametag, giving it to the co-worker. The three walked out together into the Seoul night, Minho brushing his hair away from his eyes as he walked. Jisung followed his eyes, as he went from watching the limited cars on the roads to Jisung himself.
Jisung smiled at Minho and Minho smiled back, until Minho’s eye furrowed. “I have two questions.”
“Ask away.” Jisung responded, the late-night Seoul breeze hitting him. Felix lingered behind with the excuse he wanted to take a picture of the store so he could remember it next time he and Jisung went on a late-night 7/11 run. At least he had the packet of Doritos to keep him company as he stuffed his face with the cheesy flavour.
“One: what’s with the hat? Two: why are you carrying a guitar?” Minho’s eyes were trapped on the fluffy black nest that wrapped Jisung’s face. It looked like some kind of animal, but it was warm and comforting and reminded Jisung of his best friend.
The boy in the fluffy hat laughed softly and he could swear Minho paused his rhythmic steps for a millisecond. “Felix got me the hat for my birthday a while ago, he says it suits me. And – as you know – I write songs so whenever I get the idea for a song I stop and strum for a bit and write down lyric ideas.”
Minho’s eyes widened in interest just a fraction, enough for the streetlight to make his eyes shine. His coldness became an innocent charm as he smiled softly, pink dusting his cheeks, before quickly looking away.
“I’d love to hear you play one day.” Minho spoke softly, as if he were speaking to a small woodland creature. Jisung’s face warmed up at the tone and he burst into a goofy smile, Dorito dust falling out his cheeks and an unmistakable joy flowing through his limbs.
Wait.
Oh no.
Lee Minho was cute too.
“I – um – I can show you tonight. Felix and I were probably going to settle near the river, and I can show you what I’m currently working on.” Minho smiled at that. It wasn’t a wide grin, just a tug on the cheeks, but it was enough to cause an extra beat of Jisung’s heart.
Once Felix caught up with them, Jisung informed Felix of the change of plans. “Oh, I would love to do that but I think I’ll call it a night.” The blond said before Jisung even finished his sentence, causing the Dorito boy to let out a confused squeak and the quieter boy to look at the ground. “You two have fun though!”
Felix ran away from the situation as if he were on fire. But Jisung kept the plan in place, showing Minho the area of the river that he and Felix went to together and playing a song or two under the moonlight. Minho hugged his knees as he listened to the songs and gazed at Jisung like he was the only person in the world, that smile tugging on his lips like it was teasing him.
Now not only was Jisung in a love triangle between him, Hyunjin and Felix; he was also in a love triangle between himself, Felix and Minho. And himself, Minho and Hyunjin. Did that count as a love square by now? Well, at least he knew what love triangle he preferred.
**
Everything faded slowly. Almost unidentifiably.
Art class had been a struggle for Felix since he was thirteen. He told stories about his art class in Australia, where the focus was on individual artistic expression and he was given the freedom to draw and design however he wanted. Art classes in South Korea worked differently. Everything had to imitate the artist of focus, not a brush stroke out of place, and Felix couldn’t get it right. At first it was due to the language barrier, he’d paint a strawberry blue instead of red, but even once the language caught up to him in high school he was the student constantly criticised and told to improve.
In middle school, Jisung was there to point to the right colours or paintbrush the teacher wanted to translate which pencil it was mandatory to use. The actual skill of art was also lost on him however, so Jisung had to just witness his best friend lose his creativity day after day.
That was until Hwang Hyunjin came into the picture.
It started with Felix’s birthday, the day after Jisung’s. Felix had bought Jisung a quokka keyring, Jisung bought Felix a chicken-themed hat the same shape as Jisung’s black one. It reminded Jisung of him because it was bright yellow and had a cute chicken face on the front.
Hyunjin, during lunch, revealed his present to be a new sketchbook since he heard Felix used to draw in Australia. “I won’t grade you on your drawings. They’re for you.” Hyunjin whispered with a smile, causing Felix’s freckles to blush themselves. “That being said, if you want some advice, I’m only a phone call away.”
That sketchbook was almost full a month later, with Felix showing his best friend all the drawings he had managed to do. And slowly, the art lessons started to click too. Felix was praised, with Hyunjin giving thumbs-up after every comment and Felix smiling wider.
It was only during a 7/11 trip after school one day, where Felix shook his banana milk beside his face to see if it matched his skin tone, that Jisung realised Felix’s smile had lost its magic. He still liked to see Felix smile, of course. But gone were the visions of kissing Felix and going on dates. Instead, the joy came from seeing Felix happy. And seeing him with Hyunjin.
“Are you thinking about what flavour you’re going to pick or are you imagining doing the pepero game with Minho?” Felix joked as Jisung had taken his brain somewhere else realising how gently his crush had faded. “Oooh, you’re blushing! You totally have a crush on him!”
“Shut up.” With the weight lifted off his shoulders of a crush on his best friend, Jisung let it slip that his mind had fallen for a certain classmate they were both familiar with now. He picked up the chocolate flavour without a comment and shook his head as the idea of Minho playing the pepero game with him floated through his mind.
“You should totally ask him out! I mean, you spend a lot of time with each other anyway – pretty much whenever Hyun and I are together you two are. I think he likes you back.”
Yeah, the agreement was highly inconvenient and really not working now that Jisung supported Felix getting his crush and wanted Minho for himself. He hadn’t revealed anything to Minho of course – what if he didn’t want to hang out with the three of them anymore when Felix and Hyunjin become a couple? Jisung would surely die of unrequited pining. Things had to be kept under wraps for now.
“Talking of the other Lee…” Felix continued, used to having a conversation with himself after their years of friendship (he called it language practice). “How do you feel about a study session this Friday with the usual pair? We’ll call it a double date, without telling them – of course.”
“Sounds like a deal.” Felix smiled bright again, making Jisung feel warm like he was under sunlight. But that warmth was platonic now – and it certainly wasn’t going away.
**
“You did differentiation again…” Minho spoke as he turned Jisung’s math sheet the right way round after reading it for him – and correcting his many mistakes. He took a deep inhale as Jisung pouted and tilted his head, but laughed it off before anything was said and returning to his cold facial expression as he looked at his own math questions like a soldier returning to war.
Beside them, Felix and Hyunjin were laughing like usual. They weren’t thinking about calculus now – although they probably weren’t at the beginning of the study session. They were sitting so close that their knees were touching, maybe even overlapping, under the table and they were whispering something unintelligible to each other. Surprisingly, Minho wasn’t paying attention to it.
“I think we need a study break.” Jisung announced, sliding his math work back in his bag. He definitely needed a break from staring at numbers, and Hyunjin and Felix needed a break from each other to actually start staring at the numbers. “How do we feel about 7/11?”
Minho nodded without saying anything, packing away his stuff and slinging his bag over his back. Felix and Hyunjin soon followed suit, walking ahead, continuing their conversation. It wasn’t until they reached the entrance again that Jisung heard the patter of rain outside and watched Hyunjin, who must have been prepared for this, bring an umbrella out before he reached for the door.
Jisung, the most prepared person in the world (sarcastically), forgot to bring an umbrella. He had the perfect quokka themed umbrella at home but unfortunately he was not at home right now.
Felix hid under Hyunjin’s umbrella, seemingly also forgotten his. He giggled as he squeezed close to his crush, the entire situation looking like a kdrama moment as the pair walked down the stairs together.
“We can share too.” Minho mumbled under his breath as Jisung opened the door and was ready to battle the rainfall. He was holding a comically large umbrella with a sweet nervous smile that Jisung couldn’t help but fall for.
But then he followed Minho’s eyes. His dark eyes were watching Hyunjin and Felix – not with a blank expression – but one that was empty and forlorn. He wanted that kdrama moment with Hyunjin, his crush. Jisung was under Minho’s umbrella for a few moments before courage came through him. He wanted Minho to get what he wanted.
“I have a plan!” Jisung screamed at Minho as he snatched the umbrella from his hand, sprinting faster than he did during gym class towards the budding young loves. He caught Felix’s sleeve and yelped in his excitement. “I found an umbrella Yongbok! Chase you guys to 7/11!”
Felix and Jisung ran together towards the 7/11, bursting into laughter once outside as the umbrella didn’t help either of them not get wet even with its size. As they caught their breaths Hyunjin and Minho caught up, Minho under Hyunjin’s umbrella and both of them looking at the best friends with confused faces.
But Minho achieved a kdrama romantic situation with his crush, so even though Jisung was wet and slightly annoyed he wasn’t getting the kdrama moment with Minho – he considered his plan successful.
“Don’t run away from us again, you two, we thought you were running away from something!” Hyunjin moaned dramatically, finding his way next to Felix effortlessly and brushing his hand with his own. The dramatics caused a laugh from the group before a low voice called out the names of Lee Minho and Hwang Hyunjin.
An elderly man with a walking stick approached the group, his smile warm and welcoming. He had a dyed blond buzz-cut keeping the youth inside him and a rather significant nose. “I haven’t seen you boys in so long, you’ve been too busy with schoolwork to catch up with Grandpa?”
Huh? Grandpa? Did… Did Minho and Hyunjin have the same grandpa?
Jisung was quite taken aback with this sudden older man approaching them, even Hyunjin and Minho seemed shocked before Hyunjin laughed. “Honestly, yeah, school’s been taking all our attention.” He said, before turning to Felix and Jisung. “This is Grandpa Bahng, he’s Minho and I’s neighbour.”
“Oh cool!”
“Are you related?”
Felix was taking this sudden news a lot better than Jisung, who was double checking he wasn’t supporting incest. The confusion came back to Hyunjin and Minho at Jisung’s question and Minho looked a little embarrassed, staring at his feet.
Grandpa Bahng answered for the teenagers. “Oh no, these boys live between me – the Hwangs to the right and the Lees to the left. There’s no blood relation, I would just take care of the boys when they were little with young working parents.”
But… Minho said that he met Hyunjin in high school art class last year. The pair hardly spoke in school until Felix and Jisung got involved, so it was beliebable that they didn’t know each other that well. Certainly not as well as neighbours. “You… grew up together?” Jisung asked, watching Minho silently nod and not look up from his feet.
“They’ve known each other since diapers.” Grandpa Bahng laughed, before he hobbled towards one of the shelves. “Anyway, I’ll let you boys get on with your evening. Don’t waste your youth with work like I did!”
Grandpa Bahng walked away, singing a song as he left. As Felix smiled he brushed Hyunjin’s hands, who in turn faked disgust at the rainwater falling on his fingers. The group separated to buy different snacks to eat on their walk back to the library – but the entire time Jisung couldn’t stop thinking.
Why would Minho lie about how long he knew Hyunjin?
**
Being an only child as a teenager, when Minho’s parents were at work, he often went to Hyunjin’s house to relax. The inverse happened if Hyunjin’s parents were working. And when both sets of parents were working, which often happened as the four parents worked together, the teen boys kept Grandpa Bahng company as he tried to figure out the new fancy technology (otherwise known as a phone) to make songs that sounded like the good old days.
This was one of the days Minho was in Hyunjin’s bedroom, covering his eyes with his arm as he tried to get some sleep. Music was softly playing and Hyunjin was drawing in his sketchbook.
“You know, you’re reaching stalker levels of drawing, Jinnie.” Minho mumbled as he spotted his friend’s latest art piece. Yet again it was their classmate – Lee Felix Yongbok. It was his twenty second piece of the boy’s pretty face.
Hyunjin laughed lowly but blushed, wiping his blush away with his hand. “I found a new freckle today.” Minho laughed loudly at the pining. Hyunjin was officially stalker levels of staring at his crush without ever speaking a word to him.
“Honestly, just talk to him Jin. You’re so pathetic around him.”
“What can I say? ‘Hey, I think you’re really pretty and I want to take photos of you so I can draw them and hang them around my bedroom because I’m hopelessly in love with you’?” Hyunjin sighed at his drawing, deeming it finished and adding it to the collection on his desk. “He would look so pretty in photographs…”
Minho rolled his eyes, turning his head towards a drawing stuck on the wall. It was of Felix, because of course it did, at lunchtime with a sandwich to his lips mid-laugh. But he was with a classmate who was also in the drawing by proxy – a classmate with shaggy black hair, honey skin, a round face, and eyes like boba pearls. That was Minho’s favourite thing he had ever drawn; he was such a good artist that just the look of the pen marks against the paper made Minho’s heart flutter.
The silence continued, Hyunjin sipping his iced americano. Music played softly in the background, some soothing jazz, until Hyunjin’s voice cut through it.
“So… When were you going to tell me?”
Minho quickly turned his head with his eyes wide looking like a deer in headlights, making Hyunjin snigger and choke on his coffee. It wasn’t often that the usually stoic boy was caught doing something but when he felt something strong it was written all over his face.
“I wouldn’t have taken you as having crushes on goofballs.” Hyunjin gently prodded, focusing his eyes on his drawing. He knew Minho like the back of his hand – and knew he didn’t like probing questions. The older boy sat up, deliberately turning away from the drawing in question and hiding his impending blush as he fiddled with his fingers and looked at his sneakers. But he didn’t deny it.
Hyunjin lifted his arm for Minho to fit under in a tight hug, making sure when he said the name of the boy his best friend had an affection for, he said it in a song-songy tone. “You have a crush on Han Jisung! I can’t believe the class pet Lee Minho has a crush for the first time. Ah, they grow up so fast! When are you going to tell him?”
“Maybe when you tell Felix about your crush.” Minho’s eyes floated up to the drawing again, and although that sentence was meant as a joke (since Hyunjin was not ready to even greet his crush), it was said with a quiet seriousness in its tone. “As if he’d look my way anyway. He has such an obvious crush on Felix I doubt he knows I exist.”
Minho could remember his crush starting like it was yesterday. It was during the school’s sports day the previous year, in the harsh sun, where Han Jisung was tasked with one of the relay races. Jisung was in red and Minho was in blue. Minho sat in the field, fiddling with his water bottle as a teacher counted down for the race to start. When the boys started to run it was neck-and-neck, the baton passed from one hand to another. Minho didn’t give it much focus.
Until the baton was in Jisung’s hand. He must have been so excited because he yelped and giggled, screaming towards Felix that was ahead of him and sprinting… Until he fell over his shoelace. He fell over in front of Minho, quiet for a second. But after a couple of seconds, he laughed from the chest and turned himself to a sitting position, his wide eyes glowing in the sunlight as Felix helped him to his feet and the race was restarted.
That moment changed everything in Minho’s brain. From then on he was acutely aware of where Jisung was at all times – and not just because he was following where Hyunjin was staring. Everything Jisung did reminded him of that laugh on the field and the loose, red shoelaces. That small moment transformed Minho from focusing on his classes and getting top rankings to a messy teen who searched for Jisung’s laugh everywhere because it felt so good to the ears.
It got worse when Minho found Jisung’s ‘Han’ Instagram page, and soon every song on his playlist contained his classmate’s sweet singing voice.
Hyunjin watched the drawing as well, with a determination in his eyes that pointed towards a plan developing in his brain. Eventually he smiled – with that smile that meant that he was plotting something like a supervillain.
“What is we help each other?” Hyunjin started, although he wasn’t going to finish any time soon now he had caught Minho’s attention. “We don’t talk much in school so I doubt Felix and Jisung would think we’re plotting something if I invite them for an art project. I can get photos of Felix and you can talk to Jisung.”
Minho matched his friend’s smile. Since the pair had grown up together they were more similar than first assumed and Minho was all for plotting with Hyunjin’s support. “I could bring up the conversation about Jisung’s crush on Felix… I could frame it as me having a crush on you which – ew – I never would when I saw you drink out the urinal at three years old straight after it was used. That turned me off you forever.”
Hyunjin faked shock but was overjoyed at the plan coming into action. It was like he was writing a kdrama with his words as he could visualise it happening. “You can sabotage Felix and I getting together. It would cause you and Jisung to get closer and cause me and Felix to have such a romantic Romeo and Juliet situation! You’ll be soulmates!”
With that, the plan was put in place. Minho nodded and smiled wide, bringing out his hand to shake which Hyunjin did happily. “It’s a deal, partner.”
“Oh, I love planning evil things with you.”
**
Jisung: Meet me by the river 😊
One text, late at night, sent Minho’s head into a whirlwind. He was just preparing for bed, listening to one of Jisung’s songs that always got him to sleep quickly, as his phone buzzed with a text from none other than his crush. Minho would be insane if he refused the invitation.
It was almost the end of the school year, meaning the weather was warming up and there were ruminants of Christmas decorations on shop windows. Minho tried to remain casual as he walked the streets, passing the 7/11 he worked at where he bought some almond pepero and making his way to the area of the river Jisung showed him months ago.
And Minho had to catch his breath when he saw him. He wore that fluffy hat – not because of warmth – and it made him look beautiful. He sat cross-legged on the bench with his guitar case to the side and stared at the water rushing past. He was hardly visible in the darkness but to Minho, Jisung would be easy to spot on the darkest night.
“Hey…”
Realisation hit Minho like train as Jisung turned to him, his boba eyes in a sceptical glance. The last time they spoke was when Grandpa Bahng confirmed that Minho and Hyunjin knew each other since they were little rather than meeting in art class. They hadn’t spoken at school but they usually didn’t. It was possible this wouldn’t be the conversation Minho was hoping for.
“So… Grandpa Bahng, huh?” At least Jisung brought it up first, a chuckle escaping his lips. “Why didn’t you tell me the full story of you and Hyunjin?”
“I… um…” Honestly, Minho was speechless. He sat beside Jisung, unsure whether to spill his guts about the whole situation and the plan and the fact that Felix and Hyunjin were probably dating by now.
Minho swallowed harshly and ripped the truth off like a band-aid. “I never had a crush on Hyunjin.”
He expected astonishment, disgust, for the chocolate milk Jisung was sipping to be thrown at his face and countless words to be said to him until his heart broke in two. He did not expect Jisung’s laugh to come out fully – but when it did Minho couldn’t help but calm his worries down. Maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal.
“Well, it’s good I found him. I needed some old man advice for this next bit.”
Jisung grabbed his guitar. He grabbed his guitar! He held his guitar and started playing. It was just strumming at first as he spoke gently. “You know our classmate, Seo Changbin? Turns out that’s his actual great uncle or something and he knew where he lives. I paid Grandpa Bahng a visit and he taught me some things…”
The silence and the strumming slowly became a song, careful and beautiful. It wasn’t any of the songs Minho had heard before (and he had listened to every song Jisung had released onto the internet). Jisung’s usual songs, like Minho’s favourite one ‘Hold My Hand’, talking about longing and wanting. Because they were about Felix – the love he couldn’t have. This new song… It was about having, and loving. The style of it was not the modern type that Jisung usually sang, it was old and traditional, but suited his voice amazingly.
This might be Minho’s new favourite song.
When the song finished Minho was hiding a blush, and Jisung placed his guitar on the ground like nothing happened. “Did you know Grandpa Bahng used to be a song producer when he lived in Australia? That old man’s had a life I want to live.” Jisung turned to Minho with a mischievous half-smile. “Maybe a life I can live with you, how does that sound?”
“You don’t want Felix?” Minho asked, just to make sure. Jisung shook his head, before his head moved into the distance where two silhouettes were seen in the distance a little further down the river. The silhouettes were cuddled together and laid near the riverbed.
The quiet moment of watching the silhouettes was disturbed by Jisung, well, being Jisung. He brought out his phone and turned on the flashlight, swerving the flash towards the couple a few metres away from them. He spoke in English, using an exaggerated English accent.
“GET A ROOM!”
“OI, THAT’S NOT VERY NOICE!”
Felix’s voice was identifiable over anything, as well as Hyunjin’s laugh. Felix and Hyunjin were the silhouettes cuddling together which really wasn’t surprising – Hyunjin had told Minho he started dating Felix soon after their first study date.
And by Jisung’s smile and laugh the young musician wasn’t that hurt by Felix being taken. Which meant that the song about having, and loving, was about Minho. Minho was the only other person Jisung had talked to in depth. “How long have you known they were dating?”
“Grandpa Bahng told me everything you missed. Hyunjin isn’t known for keeping his mouth shut apparently.”
Minho laughed, agreeing with Grandpa Bahng on that. He shuffled closer, and Jisung let out a hum before sticking his tongue out, his dark eyes widening in such a cute way. Minho lay his hand behind Jisung’s back, allowing Jisung to lean towards Minho’s shoulder and place his hand on it. The river continued to pass by. Minho kissed Jisung’s head and said one word to confirm that his dream had come true. “Are you my boyfriend now?”
“Sounds like a deal to me.”
Jisung held Minho’s hand. Their confession wasn’t spectacular or dramatic or marvellous, like Felix and Hyunjin likely had. But it suited them perfectly. They settled into this new phase of their relationship as snug as a glove.
The next date, which of course was a double date with Hyunjin and Felix, was at the 7/11. This time when it rained Jisung stood under Minho’s umbrella, firm in their deal to spend the rest of their lives as each other’s boyfriends.