“Ricky! Good morning!”

“Hyung, hurry up and sit down. We have to talk about yesterday’s match!”

“Oppa, did you bring your lunch with you? We can share mine, if you want!”

Changhyun smiled at his classmates as he entered the room, bowing his head slightly to all of his classmates when they greeted him. This was almost a normal routine for when he entered the classroom. He had gained popularity as a player on the soccer team and was quite humble about it. Even though his close members were his teammates, he made sure to treat his own classmates with the same amount of respect.

“The prince has finally arrived!”

However, not everyone treated Changhyun the way he treated his classmates and teammates.

“Jonghyun, please don’t start a scene so early in the morning.” Changhyun said as he approached his own desk, right next to the person he was talking to.

“Don’t call me that. You have a teammate with that name also, don’t you?”

“Then what should I call you?” Changhyun asked, taking out his textbooks from his bag. He never looked over at his classmate and made sure to keep his eyes on his own desk.

“Call me Changjo. All my friends call me that!”

Choi Jonghyun, who liked to be called Changjo, was a very particular person to Changhyun. Even though they had been classmates before, the young soccer player never imagined being friends with him. Changjo was just a normal student who slept during class and turned in his homework late.

“So does that mean we’re friends?” Changhyun asked as he took a quick glance at his seatmate, who was just grinning happily.

“Of course! You let me copy your homework last week.”

Changhyun rolled his eyes at Changjo before staring straight at the board, trying his best to ignore the person sitting next to him. There was something about Changjo that Changhyun could never quite understand.

And it was that Changjo was gay--  openly gay. He wasn’t afraid to tell the entire school about it. Of course, Changhyun had no problem with his classmate’s uality. However, Changhyun was just surprised at how quickly Changjo was able to express himself.

Changhyun had always been confused about his feelings towards people in general. He didn’t really have an exact definition for the phrase “good looking”. He never really talked about love or relationships, or even with any of his friends or family.

He wanted to be like Changjo, who knew exactly what he wanted and who he wanted.

“That was a good match that you had the other day… The one where you made the last goal.” Changjo said, still smiling over at Changhyun.

“Were you there? I didn’t see you.” Changhyun replied, finally looking right at his classmate.

“I managed to stop by during the second half. That was your older brother at the game also, right? I’ve seen him around before.”

“Yeah, it was his first time watching me play. I’m surprised he even watched the entire match.”

Changjo chuckled before leaning over and whispering softly, “Well, I would watch every game of yours if I could.”

Changhyun blushed and opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted when their teacher finally entered the room. He looked down at his desk and didn’t dare look back up unless he was called on.

For some reason, after hearing Changjo say that, his heart wouldn’t stop racing.

But, they didn’t talk to each other for the rest of the day.

X

“Welcome to—Ah, it’s you Changhyun! Your brother is working at the cashier right now.”

Changhyun smiled at the waitress that greeted him as he entered the café that Chanhee worked at. Though he wasn’t able to visit that often because of practice and games, he still made time to stop by. He quickly found an empty table and took a seat, taking out his homework to work on.

“Here’s your usual. Are you going to be waiting for me again?” Chanhee placed a glass of a special juice on the table before patting his brother’s head.

Changhyun wasn’t sure what was in the juice, but it always managed to help him concentrate on whatever work he needed to do.

“Yeah, I’ll just do my homework while you finish your shift.” Changhyun smiled as Chanhee walked back to the cashier, returning to work.

Changhyun was working peacefully, ignoring how loud and busy the café was. It was a quite popular place for students, so it wasn’t surprising when students rushed in after their classes.

“Changjo! You’re not working today, so why are you here?” Chanhee’s voice called from the cashier and Changhyun couldn’t help but gasp in surprise when his seatmate entered the café, wearing the same uniform that his brother was wearing. He wasn’t expecting to see Changjo at the café.

“I thought I was on schedule? Minwoo and I switched shifts because he had something to do.” Changjo replied as he walked back behind the cashier as well.

Changhyun kept his head down, trying not to make eye contact with Changjo. However, whenever he tried to read his homework, it felt like he was reading another language. His heart started racing again and he could feel his face blushing.

“Go and refill table three’s juice while I finish this order, Changjo.” Chanhee said to the high school student, who nodded in reply.

Changhyun groaned when he heard his brother’s voice, knowing that the table he was sitting at was table three. He tried to compose himself, taking multiple deep breaths when he saw his classmate approaching.

“Sir, here is your refill. Oh, hey Ricky! I didn’t know you would be here today.” Changjo grinned and refilled Changhyun’s juice, completely oblivious to the soccer player’s condition.

“I didn’t know you worked here, Changjo. Now I know why you said earlier that you’ve seen my brother before.” Changhyun smiled, trying to make polite conversation.

“I just started a few weeks ago. Anyway, I’ll come by again later to refill your juice. Have fun with the homework!” Changjo bowed slightly before returning to the counter and Changhyun let out a sigh of relief as he was left alone again.

He couldn’t help but feel nervous when Changjo was around, but he wasn’t quite sure as to why.

X

An interlude to pass the time! I’m thinking if I want to add “changrick” as an official tag to this story, because those two will play an important role soon! Anyway, let’s all look forward to Teen Top’s comeback on the 18^th!

Sorry for any grammar or spelling errors~ Please leave a comment or two, telling me what you think. Thanks for subscribing and reading!