Chapter Text
Jun-tae, much to his dismay, could only watch from a distance and softly gasp as Si-eun took a hit at Gotak. It was strangely uncanny - how one minute the boy had been completely indifferent, staring off into space, and then when the other had begun going off about some horrifying rumor, Si-eun's face had immediately flooded with emotions. Shock shifting into recognition and clashing with rage. Just raw and unfiltered fury washing over the top student, swirling into his expressive eyes.
That was enough to surprise the shorter boy, whose eyes widened and a perplexed expression surfaced onto his face. The alleged events didn't sit right with Jun-tae. Sure, Si-eun could certainly play the part if he wanted, having experienced their run-in with Hyo-man personally, but his friend definitely couldn't have put a guy in a coma as Hyun-tak had claimed... Right?
Before Jun-tae could actually dwell on the legitimacy of that snide comment though, Si-eun lunged forward, landing a swing on the taller guy with his bag.
And so, Jun-tae now sat a few meters away from them, unable to step in and stop them. He watched with big eyes, much like a kicked puppy, and recoiled with a wince every time one landed a blow on the other.
While it was true that they hadn't known each other for much time, Si-eun had helped Jun-tae overcome his cowardice head on and the younger one could only see the top student in a positive familial light, almost like an older brother, much to Jun-tae's embarrassment. Hyun-tak, on the other hand… let's just say Jun-tae's all the more flustered with his view of that guy. That then made it even harder to watch.
While reasoning with himself that both were understanding people and they would surely hear him out (even though Hyun-tak had literally told him to stay out of it if he didn’t wanna die), he cautiously stepped forward, preparing to attract their attention.
Immediately once Jun-tae opened his mouth though, Si-eun’s hand glided through the air with precision, pen gleaming ominously as it ripped through fabric. The sharp sound of tearing drowned out the groans and straining of the fight, and left silence in its wake.
Gotak gawked at the now present hole in his hoodie's sleeve, looked at Si-eun and then back at the damage, eyes blown comically wide.
“Ah, you motherfucker…,” the taller guy muttered under his breath while rubbing at the tear. The pen hadn’t exactly been able to puncture his skin but it had left a tingling feeling of a scratch below his white undershirt’s sleeve.
As Hyun-tak was about to spit out a rather colourful plethora of insults and beat the living shit out of Si-eun for ruining his favourite garment, a loud thud resonated throughout the underpass as Hyo-man entered the scene with a far too smug smirk. He strolled slowly towards them followed by his lackeys, like a predator cornering its prey. Gotak rolled his eyes, already over the bully’s schemes to have him and Si-eun at each other’s throats, squared his shoulders and got into a defensive stance. The stone-faced teen just stood there and sent a withering look towards Hyo-man, hair disheaved and lips parted. Jun-tae awkwardly looked between the three guys, sensing that something else was about to go down, and softly sighed.
‘Not again…’ He thought to himself with a deflated expression as he heard the sounds of shouts and collisions behind his back.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
A day had passed since Hyo-man’s whole circus show happened but also Baku’s return from suspension. The group was now in the principal's office, suspiciously being the only people called in. Hyun-tak had tried to explain that it was actually the infamous punk’s fault but the tired-looking adult in front of him was having none of it, raising his voice at the former as he dismissed his side of the story. The teen clearly was about to speak up about the injustice but Baku clasped his neck with a firm hand and serious expression, holding his best friend back. Much to Jun-tae’s surprise, Gotak actually held his tongue with an irritated scoff. These past few interactions left the impression that the taller teen was a rather explosive and impulsive character, but it seems Jun-tae had let himself reach the wrong conclusion.
Baku was quick to speak up, promising this wouldn’t happen again and bowed, shoving his friend and Si-eun forward with him, which was in and of itself amusing to watch. Jun-tae hesitantly followed suit, just to make sure to look respectful.
After a bit of fussing and a catfight between the two best friends and occasionally the adult, the group finally emerged from the iffy room. Gotak and Baku were the first out, shortly followed by Si-eun and then Jun-tae. The latter was mostly quiet as he observed the former two’s strange ‘tough love’ dynamic, Baku being overly energetic and Hyun-tak all huffy as if the man beside him was the source of all his problems. The teen with glasses giggled as yet another scuffle reached his ears.
“Gogo, you gotta relax man! You almost jumped the principle back there. You know he already doesn’t like us much, are you trying to get me another suspension? Or do you want us to match this time? Ya, how considerate!” He beamed with a lopsided grin as he slung an arm around the other’s shoulder.
“Me? Matching a suspension with you? How dense are you, huh? He clearly let Hyo-man off the hook and punished us unfairly,” Hyun-tak huffed at the former and swatted his hand away, “and whose fault is it that he can’t stand us? Huh? Seems like your IQ is even lower than 99.” He rolled his eyes with a teasing smirk and crossed his arms.
As he did that, his sleeves stretched and revealed what was (at best) a wobbly sewn stitch which lined up with where there was previously a tear. The thread was holding onto dear life as clearly whoever handled it didn't know much about what they were doing.
Jun-tae noticed that the tall guy was, in fact, wearing the same blue hoodie he had fought Si-eun in yesterday. ‘Doesn’t he have other ones?’ was the first thought that popped into Jun-tae’s mind, quickly followed by the rhetorical ‘He doesn’t know how to sew, does he?’.
While he was busy pitying Hyun-tak’s handiwork, the latter and Si-eun had once again apologized to each other, this time properly.
“Hey, Gogo! We should adopt the icy princess and Junnie,” Baku eagerly decided to chime in, shooting two thumbs-up in the mentioned’s direction, “Gotta expand the team. Plus they seem cool, don’t they? We could all play basketball together!”
Hyun-tak scoffed at Baku’s overenthusiasm but didn’t protest.
“Don’t talk about people who are listening, idiot. It’s rude.” He said with an unimpressed expression, as if he had tried to drill that into Hu-min’s brain a hundred times before, but alas, it was to no avail. He then shoved his hands into his pockets and turned his attention to the other two. Him and Jun-tae made eye contact and some of Gotak’s previous irritation at the principal slipped away. The guy before him was simply too… soft and endearing to be glared at, it almost made him feel guilty.
“I’m Go Hyun-tak but you can call me Gotak. I’m sorry about yesterday and how I treated you back then,” he introduced himself with a sheepish smile, “I never got your full name though.” He rubbed his neck, feeling a bit dumb at that revelation.
Jun-tae blinked a few times, surprised Gotak had shifted his attention to him. He was used to watching the basketball player from a distance. So he was fast to present himself, brimming with excitement.
“Ah, I’m Seo Jun-tae! Pleased to meet you, Hyun-tak-ssi. It's okay, I know you didn't really mean it!” He returned the smile, eyes big and warm behind his glasses, and he gave him a timid wave.
The gesture seemed to please the taller of the two, since he chuckled and turned to Baku, who was unsuccessfully trying to become buddies with Si-eun.
“We’re doing volunteer work together in about two weeks. We should get to know each other but instead you’re giving me the cold shoulder!” Baku practically pouted like a child, while the other boy avoided the arm headed towards his shoulder like the plague for the second time now.
Si-eun side-eyed him, as if trying to bore a hole through his head. The other didn't seem to be bothered one bit, already grinning again and now aiming for Si-eun's hair, which made the latter quietly scoff at the sheer audacity that Baku possessed.
Hyun-tak himself looked a bit taken aback by his best friend's actions and, deciding that he should draw the line, pulled him away by the back of his collar before this random energy rush got the best of him.
"Baku! What the hell has gotten into you?! You're acting like a kid on too much sugar!" Gotak scolded the other as he started dragging him down the hallway while muttering something about how the suspension had just given him all the more time to act recklessly.
Before they left though, Hyun-tak turned around with an apologetic smile, "Sorry about him, Si-eun-ssi. We'll be going now. Have a nice day!"
He turned, continuing forward, then suddenly faced the other two again as if he had forgotten something.
"See you around, Jun-tae-ssi!" He waved a bit awkwardly, hesitant as if shy, yet puffing his chest out to appear confident. To the boy it was directed to, the gesture was utterly cute, if not downright adorable. Jun-tae beamed with a grin and an enthusiastic wave in return. Hyun-tak surely wasn't as intimidating (but definitely as effortlessly charming) as Jun-tae made him out to be in his head at first. Huh.
Finally, the two boys sped down the hallway, soon disappearing behind a corner and away from Jun-tae's vision. He let out a soft sigh, and turned towards Si-eun…. who was strangely already staring at him, as if he had just witnessed something he'd rather not have.
"Si-eun-ah? Is there something wrong?"
"...," without giving an answer he just walked past him, "Bye."
"Huh?" And so Jun-tae was left standing alone in the hall.