A little mashup of the songs for LittleMissShawol98 and DySekai :) Sorry if you didn't want the stories put together, but I thought the plot worked best this way.

Readers, kindly do not blast music like mopey Myung in this chapter. Ears are precious.

He grabs for his phone frantically the moment he hears it ringing only to groan and throw it back on his bed once he reads the caller ID. It stops for a moment, then starts again and he knows Sungjong isn't going to stop calling until he answers.

"What?" he answers.

"God damnit, pick up sooner next time. We're all worried about you."

"Well I'm fine. Now if you don't need anything else - "

Sungjong interrupts him angrily. "You're kind of being a huge jerk right now and I get that you want to be alone and mope but we're your friends and your business is our business."

He sighs. "Sorry."

"Do you want to come over?"

"I'm good."

"Don't forget to eat something, alright?"

It's amazing how well his friends know him. "I won't."

"Okay. See you."

He hangs up and places his phone on his nightstand, feeling more hungry than anything.

After leftovers and about ten chocolate bars from his brother's secret stash, he's back in his room still thinking of him. Music from his headphones blasts into his ears, vibrating his skull and taking his mind off his worries.

Dark, sharp eyes, well defined cheekbones, heart shaped lips, long hair dyed in unique hues and a petite frame. Myungsoo fell in love with all of it. But somehow, even though none of it belongs to him anymore, he's doing far better than he thought. Sure, he thinks about it way too much, but that's normal to do after a breakup. Right? Of course it is, all the dramas play out like that.

Except he isn't going to chase after him like the actors on screen would.

Hoya catches him before the bell rings the next morning. "Hey, Myungsoo. Doing okay?"

"Yeah." he gives half a smile, but he doesn't have to force it.

"Good." his best friend leans against the row of lockers. "Have you seen the new student yet?" It's actually great news, because now people won't be pestering him about his breakup.

Myungsoo frowns. No wonder the halls are so quiet; new students are pretty rare at the beginning of spring and everybody must want to see this guy. Or girl. It doesn't really matter. "No, what year?"

"Ours. Weird, huh? A senior near the end of the year."

"Really weird. Let's go." he turns in the direction of the East Wing, where their next class will be.

Hoya hurries after him. "You don't wanna go check him out? What if he's super hot, just your type?"

"I really doesn't matter, Hoya. He's probably just another of those problem kids who was forced to transfer."

A group of girls walk by, wave at the duo, then continue chatting. A few words float up from their conversation. "The new guy's so cute."

He ignores the eyebrow Hoya raises.

"So what's the deal with the new kid?" Woohyun slides into a chair and stares at Sungjong patiently.

"Transfer from a school in the outskirts of town. Lee Sungyeol, super tall, building a reputation as a new school heartthrob. I hear he has quite the happy personality. Senior year taking biology, chemistry, physics, all the sciences with a full timetable.

"Rumour has it he was the top score in the district for a finals last year. All hundreds except for a ninety nine in English, but that's only because there was a problem with the question, making it a hundred even. Some sort of genius with the world coming to him."

Dongwoo asks what they're all thinking. "So why would he transfer?"

"That's what I can't figure out. Three quarters of the student body already has a good impression of him, and the remaining quarter hasn't met him yet. It doesn't add up to a problem student."

"Job transfer?"

Sungjong shakes his head. "His parents are high up in a big law firm downtown and own a restaurant close to the firm."

"I bet he's a vampire." Hoya says. He ignores the unimpressed looks from his friends. "Think about it: perfect marks because he's been taking the same course for thousands of years, tall because vampires don't come short, transferring schools because his blood- habits were unveiled at his previous school."

"Or bribing his way through school?"

He rolls his eyes. "Not a chance. Do you know how much teachers make? They aren't gonna settle for pennies. Definitely a vampire."

"Sure thing, Hoya."

As it turns out, Lee Sungyeol is the new kid in Myungsoo's afternoon physics class. Which also happens to be the class he shares with him.

It's painfully awkward when his ex walks through the door absentmindedly playing on his phone, starts walking towards the table they share, then realizes last second that he shouldn't because they're not dating anymore. He makes a sharp turn down the isle and goes to sit with another friend.

And then Sungyeol walks in looking all lost and confused, but as soon as he sees the empty desk a million-dollar smile lights up on his face and he practically bounces over.

"Is anybody sitting here?"

"No, go ahead." Myungsoo slides his stuff out of the way.

"Thanks." he slides into the seat and arranges his stuff neatly.

That's when Myungsoo notices the little charm attached to his pencil case. Of all the things in the world, it had to be that. It could've been one of those little Winnie-the-Pooh things with a rubber costume, or even a pretty little Hello Kitty, but instead it's a big, ugly monkey. It's nearly the size of a brand new white eraser, and it looks kind of like those plastic eyes will pop out or that fake stretchy brown poop stuff will come out if you squish it.

"Oh, I'm such a total snob. Lee Sungyeol, new transfer from a little school on the edge of town." he nods happily to himself.

"Kim Myungsoo." he replies.

He seems to notice Myungsoo staring. "You like it?" he reaches out and takes it in his pretty hand. "Wait 'til you see what it can do." with a quick pinch between his forefinger and thumb, the monkey's eyes pop out, the fake stretchy poop stuff comes out, and it lights up. Frickin' lights up and flashes red on and off five times before stopping.

"My friend got it for my birthday, it's my favourite keychain. I'm gonna have a pet monkey someday." he declares proudly.

God, first this guys has a dumb monkey keychain, and now he's saying he wants one of the little beasts as a pet.

"I hate monkeys."

Sungyeol stares at him like a little kid who's been told that Santa isn't real. "But they're so cute and pretty and wonderful!"

"Not really." he shrugs.

"Yes, really."

"Not that cute when they're pulling on your hair and biting your hands."

"But they don't do that." he sounds so extremely confident in his words that Myungsoo has to keep going, just to prove him wrong.

"I went to the zoo when I was a kid, and they were letting the monkeys interact with people as part of a little program to raise awareness. You know what that monkey did to me? It jumped on my head, started yanking on my hair and screeching and when I tried to get it off it chomped down on my finger. I had to get three stitches and two shots, thank you very much."

He's silent and Myungsoo gets all smug because how can you argue with that? Then, because he's probably some hopeless cause, he turns away and flicks his hair out of his face.

"My monkey wouldn't do that."

The teacher starts the lesson, but all Myungsoo can do is gape at how unbelievably stubborn this kid is.

It takes a week of physics with Sungyeol to settle the great monkey debate, which is also how long it takes Myungsoo to realize that the other smells like strawberries.

"Do you wear cologne?" the question just pops out one day without much thought.

"Not usually, why?"

"No reason."

Sungyeol frowns but shrugs and grabs Myungsoo's notebook to compare their answers.

They've started to sit together at lunch, mostly because Sungyeol finds everybody else too annoying - but Myungsoo finds Sungyeol pretty annoying, so it's a win-lose situation. People are starting rumours about them and Myungsoo really hates it because he doesn't want to seem like one of those guys who doesn't even care about breakups.

"I have a soccer game today, you guys should come watch." Hoya offers.

"But haven't you guys been losing all season?" Sungjong asks.

Hoya rolls his eyes. "There's only been three games so far, Jong."

"And you've lost.....?"

"Two. But that doesn't matter, just come watch, okay? Dongwoo promised to rip through the other team's defense if you come."

So they all shrug and agree to meet on the soccer field after school.

"He's on the soccer team?" Sungjong nudges Myungsoo in the ribs, staring at the latter's ex.

"I guess so. But he's only ever tried out for track before."

"Isn't he too short for soccer?"

Sungyeol drops his backpack on the grass and sits down beside Myungsoo. "Who?"

"Nah, Dongwoo made it." Myungsoo ignores Sungyeol.

Sungjong starts laughing uncontrollably, slapping a hand over his mouth to contain the giggles when Hoya and Dongwoo jog up.

"You guys better cheer louder than anybody else, got it?"

"Will do!" Sungyeol grins and Myungsoo scoots away for fear of his eardrums.

Hoya and Dongwoo tell them to come to the change room after the game so they can go home together, and it really isn't necessary to go inside but Sungyeol wants to see how it looks.

"Oh my God the lockers are so big!" he reaches his arm halfway into Hoya's to emphasize his point. "At my old school we had these little totes that barely fit a pair of shoes, especially my shoes, and gym was mandatory all the way through."

Myungsoo watches Sungyeol chatter on to Dongwoo in amusement, leaning against a locker.

"Excuse me." a curt voice comes from beside him and he turns to see the one person he doesn't want to see right now.

He mutters an apology and moves closer to his friends, telling them he'll be outside.

Sungyeol joins him a minute later, and is that a blush on his cheeks? No way, it really is.

"I didn't know the guys in this school were so hot..." he murmurs dreamily.

Myungsoo an eyebrow. "But you met me on your first day."

His arm is sore for the rest of the evening.

It's a few months since Myungsoo broke up with his boyfriend, and a few months since Sungyeol came to the school. Apparently Sungyeol is really good at volleyball. Good enough to make the team as their best spiker.

After being distracted and pestered through three physics classes Myungsoo finally gives in to Sungyeol and shows up at one of his games. It's intense, even though it's only the start of the season, and the team wins the game by a close call and a collision on the other team.

And then he notices that his ex was watching the entire time too, and he makes his way down the bleachers and up to the muscular team captain. He watches them talk, then they do this little half-hug thing and Myungsoo is happy for him. Like, legit happy, not I'm-going-to-tell-myself-it's-all-okay-but-really-I'm-deeply-hurt-by-this happy.

"Myungsoo! Hey, Myung!" Sungyeol is screaming for him so he gets up and grabs his stuff before the guy starts a bigger scene.

"Congrats, you're really good."

Another player just as tall as Sungyeol hooks an arm around his shoulder. "Of course he is, we could never win without him."

He looks like he's glowing with pride at the compliment, then seems to remember that Myungsoo's still there. "This is Chanyeol, our number one setter."

"Hey." he greets plainly.

"I think we went to the same junior high, right?" the tall boy asks. "I was in Mr. Won's class."

"Yeah, I guess."

Sungyeol seems to notice how awkward this is going to be and grabs Myungsoo by the strap of his backpack. "C'mon. I'll show you my locker. It's totally amazing, I keep getting these pretty little love letters with pink envelopes and all, and I even got a couple nice little boxes of candies, and I should probably be a little bit worried about how these people are getting into my locker, or why girls are in the boy's change room because I recognize girl writing when I see it, but I really couldn't care less because I haven't gotten food poisoning yet and I think Dongwoo and Hoya are jealous because they didn't get this much stuff."

He takes a seat on the bench while Sungyeol changes and continues blabbering, looking away with a hot face when his friend totally rips off his shirt and tosses it into his locker. And then he glances up at his back and notices; the long, faded scars ripping across his smooth skin. But then they're et to go and he decides not to say anything about it.

He's started to realize that he might have a crush on Sungyeol. But it's not like it's anything big, it's probably just the way he laughs. Or maybe the way he seems to have new nicknames for Myungsoo every day. And the way he always smells like strawberries. See? Nothing big.

"Myungsie. Myung. Soo. Soo-soo. Hey. Ugly-face." Sungyeol pokes his cheek repeatedly.

"Stop that."

"You're being rude."

He's being rude? The nerve! "I'm trying to study."

"You're no fun. I should hang out with Chanyeol instead."

"Sorry, but unlike the weird child prodigy you are, I have to study to get good grades."

He huffs and lays his head down on the table.

After ten minutes of silence, Myungsoo decides that this is creeping him out because Sungyeol has never been quiet for this long, so he asks the first thing that comes to mind. "Why did you transfer schools?"

"Why didn't you ask me before?"

"Stop being difficult."

He cracks a humorless grin and sits up. "I was bullied really badly."

Well, that explains the scars.

"The entire school population seemed to hate my existence, so they tried to erase it. They didn't like that I was so smart; they didn't like that I was tall; they didn't like that I was always so happy; they didn't like that my parents were wealthy; they didn't like that I was gay." he hisses the last part as if it tastes bitter in his mouth. "They started ignoring me, then because that wasn't enough they'd vandalize my locker, steal my stuff. And after that they started pushing me and calling me names, and my friends stopped talking to me too because they didn't want to get hurt, but I was fine with that decision because I didn't want them hurt either.

"So one day this total psycho comes up to me, and rumour has it his brother's in the mafia, so I try to distract him and get away. But then he punches me to the ground and kicks me and there's a crowd and all, and he's laughing. I guess he figured the people wanted more, and the retarded school population doesn't bother to stop him when he whips out a little Swiss Army knife and the bastard slices my back open, and because they're too stupid to realize I needed help until was bleeding the people started screaming and dragging the guy away."

Myungsoo waits for him to say more, but that's it. "Why didn't you transfer earlier?"

"I'd already transferred once for senior year after my old school got shut down for internal reasons, so I didn't want to make another move."

He takes a while longer to process everything, then scoots his chair closer to Sungyeol and leans into his side. "I'm glad you got away from it all, though. And tell me if something like that happens again. Seriously, if you keep it to yourself I'm stealing your stupid monkey."

Sungyeol laughs softly. "Okay."

"Have you seen Sungyeol? He said he'd meet me at the main door after school." Myungsoo asks anybody who might have the tiniest idea passing by, but all he gets are small shakes of heads. After a few more minutes of this, he gives up and goes back into the school.

"You came from that school out east, right? You got my boyfriend suspended." a female voice echoes through the hall and Myungsoo walks faster.

"Stop ignoring us! You're so weird! Stay away from Kim Myungsoo, you're not meant for him. His boyfriend is everything you could ever dream of being, and you're just scum on the ground." a chorus of squeaky, annoying laughter follows.

Myungsoo peeks around the corner and sees Sungyeol getting the last few things from his locker. One of the girls tries to make him turn to face her, but he resists and continues his business.

Well, acting time. "Sungyeol! I was looking for you." he turns the corner and rushes up to his friend, glomping him with enough force to make the other take a step backwards.

"I - uh, I had to talk to my teacher." he sounds super confused and it's kinda cute.

The girls snap out of their shocked state and immediately begin their interrogation. "Myungsoo! Why are you touching him? He's not worth your time."

He looks up, still hugging Sungyeol, and pretends to be confused. "What? I think he's totally worth my time."

"He got my boyfriend suspended from school!"

"Oh, really?" he turns to Sungyeol. "You did? Good job. I'm sure he's a jerk."

She gapes at him, then purses her lips tightly. "You're probably just messing around with that freak anyways."

"You're funny. C'mon, Yeol. Let's go get bubble tea."

Myungsoo has no idea what to think when Sungyeol shows up to school with cuts on his cheek, flinching every time somebody touches him, but he's mad.

"What the hell happened to you?" the first chance he gets to corner the other is between his second and third classes that morning.

"Nothing. It's fine." he grits out.

"Sungyeol, tell me."

He tries to get away, push past Myungsoo and rush off, but the other isn't going to let that happen. "I got beat up, okay?! That's all you wanna know, right?! Now let me go." he shoves his friend away and slips off down the halls.

All they've done the past two days is argue.

"I don't get why you're not telling me."

"Because there's nothing you can do!"

"How do you know if you don't let me try? I'm trying to help you, Sungyeol."

"It's none of your business."

Sungjong and Dongwoo approach the table, chatting happily until they see their friends.

"Myungsoo, maybe you should drop it." Dongwoo suggests.

"Yeah; you really should." Sungyeol snaps before making a point of leaving.

After an insane marathon in and around the school, he finally finds Sungyeol. "I'm sorry."

"Good." he still has a faint scratch on his cheek, and without his school blazer on there are visible bruises littering his arms.

"I was just worried about you." God, he wants to hug him.

"You don't have to be." seemingly noticing the purple marks, he quickly slips on his coat. "You shouldn't care so much."

He frowns. "But it's my job to care."

"Remember back in high school, when those guys were beating you up?"

Sungyeol laughs softly and snuggles further into Myungsoo's side. "Yeah. You went psycho on their asses. Remember the police came and all? But only they got arrested?"

"They deserved it."

12/15/15: it's almost 1 am and this is a total afterthought but can anybody guess who Myungsoo's ex is?