Smiling will get you everywhere.

Smiling will make you happy even when you're sad.

When things get tough you should always smile.

No matter how much it hurts, you should always tough it out.

Everyone will like you better if you smile.

And so, Lee Seokmin forced a smile on his face until his cheeks were sore for days. He had lived his childhood as a legendary crybaby but his family engraved these words into his brain. Seokmin grew up worried that if he cried or he didn't smile something terrible would happen to him. Bad fortune will come to those who allow themselves to be vulnerable to sadness--at least that's what Grandma said.

He was relatively happy. He convinced himself he was. There was nothing to complain about in his life. Well, except for when his mom scolded him for spending too much time on sports and not enough on studying. Or when his dad put down his singing and told him to do something more manly. Or when his family constantly gave him the pressure of doing well in everything he did. Okay, so it was a lie. There were a few things that he could complain but that was besides the point. As long as he convinced himself to be happy, he truly believed he could be. Yes, Seokmin wasn’t anything less than perfect. In fact, he strived to be much more. As he was told, everyone did like him better when he smiled. There wasn’t anyone in this school who didn’t like him.

Scratch that. There was one.

As much as Lee Seokmin tried to convince himself that it didn’t bother him. It did. Kwon Soonyoung did not like him--but for what reason? That was the worst part. They never talked and no one could have said anything bad about him. They just couldn’t have. Who would say something bad about Seokmin when everyone liked him? So what was that guy’s deal anyway? Paranoia ate at Seokmin like a parasite. If there was anyone in this world who could see through his beautiful little smiling mask, it must be Kwon Soonyoung.

That scared out of his mind. Seokmin believed in the "domino effect". And his grandma keeps telling him that this year is not his year and that there will be bad fortune for him. He wasn’t superstitious but Grandma was always right. The bad fortune would only get worse from here on out. Seokmin had to be extremely conscious of Soonyoung. He couldn’t help how nervous he felt thinking about his bad fortune around Soonyoung and so he dropped his walls and perhaps maybe, just maybe, that made his fortune worse because he only experienced great unhappiness afterwards. The domino effect, he concluded. So once the school year finally ended, Seokmin decided that at all costs he wouldn't be in Kwon Soonyoung's sight. At least for this year, Soonyoung would be a senior which meant that he would be long gone if Seokmin waited a few months. His plan seemed solid. No where in sight and there would be no trouble for the both of them. That would make him and most likely Soonyoung very happy.

A lot of important things had to be done junior year, and Seokmin had to study much harder than before. But the best part was here--the juniors and seniors at his particular school could participate in mixed electives. It was thrilling to be able to be in a much different classroom and to get some fresh, new perspective. Whoever came up with the idea must have been a genius. Seokmin thanks the heavens for that guy. As he looked at his class list on the first day of school, he couldn't help smiling at the period for free elective. Astronomy.

There was no particular reason as to why he picked Astronomy. It just sounded a lot more fun than the other choices. Stars were cool. The solar system was cool. He had no complaints. He had high expectations; high anticipations. Examining his class roster for his regular schedule, his smile only grew ten times its size. It's a wonder how his mouth could still fit on his face. He had many friends in his class this year and his season wouldn't start until the very end of the school year meaning that he could finally reconnect and hang out with his friends a lot more. Seokmin was ecstatic. Things finally seemed to be getting better.

His day would have been perfect and great until he got to his highly anticipated mixed Astronomy class. It wasn't entirely bad at first. He walked in and the room was partly filled. He recognized some faces and some people returned his smile and even waved. He was feeling really good until he was told to look at the seating chart that the teacher made for the class. Things would have been just perfect until he saw the name written next to his.

Kwon Soonyoung.

A mistake! It must have been mistake. He took a double take--a triple--a fourth take but the name didn't change as much as he wanted to. There was no way he read it wrong and as much as he wished upon the Gods to make it true, there was only one Kwon Soonyoung. The Gods must have been punishing him. Grandma was right, it really wasn't his year. Grandma is always right.

He didn't dare lose his smile, though now it seemed just a tad bit more forced and the corners of his lip twitched. He sat down at his seat and thanked some other higher mighty being (since the Gods hated him right now) that Soonyoung wasn't there yet. There was the possibility that he or Soonyoung could get his seat switched and all would be right with the world. He didn't need this extra stress. Not now, not ever.

When Soonyoung finally did get in the class, he was conversing with the teacher. Seokmin gave a scoff that was barely audible. At least the two had something in common--neither wanted to get involved with each other. But by the looks of it, no seat was being changed and Seokmin could feel his soul leaving his body at each step Soonyoung took that closed the distance between the empty seat up front to the empty seat next to him. When Soonyoung sunk into the seat next to Seokmin, Seokmin accidentally looked his way out of habit. He curses his natural good nature to greet everyone near him. They both lock eyes for a split second, but unlike usual, Seokmin can't think- can't utter a smile or any kind of acknowledgement to the boy sitting next to him. What makes matters worse is that Soonyoung smiles at him and gives a shy, awkward wave before quickly turning away and Seokmin swears that today he is going to die.

The whole experience was much less worse than Seokmin remembers it. They didn't make any contact after that except for the slight brush of their elbows after so often while the teacher was explaining the rules of the class. Seokmin could have acted like Soonyoung didn't exist like he planned but he felt uncomfortable. Soonyoung had never been friendly in the beginning so why does he choose to smile at him now? Could he have perhaps been transported into some alternative universe? As he lay in bed, Seokmin stares blankly at the cieling. He would only have to see Soonyoung once a day and he didn't even have to pay attention to him. Sure, it ruined all of his plans to avoid the guy but it was better than nothing. Seokmin was honestly very confused. The whole experience was very new to him and he just didn't know how to deal with this at all. Every inch of him wanted to just be his usual, perfect, pleasant self but Soonyoung was breaking his walls. He couldn't be normal around him. It was the other guy's fault. He had a reputation to keep. Tomorrow he would definitely NOT look Soonyoung in the eyes.

The next day, Seokmin got to that class as early as possible. He had one target in mind. Kim Mingyu. Kim Mingyu was a nice guy. Freakishly tall, but a nice guy who always had nicely made lunches and seemed to be a bit jittery on coffee every day. They talked every now and then but both had their own respective sports teams and so their friendship was only based on the few conversations the held during class discussions. Their friendship was good enough that Mingyu let him drop formalities, at least. From what he could tell, Mingyu liked him so his plan may go much easier than he thinks. 

"Mingyu, I'm sorry to ask this of you so suddenly but do you think that we could maybe switch seats?" Seokmin asks the taller, an apologetic smile hiding behind his clasped hands. Mingyu looks conflicted for a second,

"But what will I tell the teacher? It doesn't seem like he wants to move seats around...." Mingyu avoids eye contact and taps his foot repeatedly. Seokmin's a little confused by his actions--coffee, perhaps?

"Couldn't you tell him that your eyesight is a little bad? Please, for me--" Seokmin is cut off by another guy who excuses himself past and sits next to Mingyu. Mingyu straights up and bites his lip before looking at Seokmin but immediately looks back to his desk nervously.

"S-sorry, Seokmin, I can't do that. I can't lie to the teacher, I'm sorry," Mingyu honestly looks like he's about to explode from anxiety so Seokmin decides to leave it at that. Judging by his behavior, Mingyu must really not want to leave that seat and so Seokmin let's him be. 

The only problem is that he still has to worry about his seat. Soonyoung's already there and for sure he heard him and Mingyu's little ordeal. Maybe it's for the best; maybe Soonyoung will get a hint and change his seat himself. Seokmin likes to be optimistic. Soonyoong doesn't move, unfortunately.

It will go all according to plan, Seokmin thinks as he takes his seat quietly. The teacher is still going through his extremely long and unnecessary book of rules and guildelines for a damn astronomy class so all Seokmin needs to do his relax and avoid any form of contact with Kwon Soonyoung. He's never felt so stressed out in his life. No scolding from his mother or lost game could ever amount to the stress this guy is causing him. For what cost? For what reason? Who even knows. In fact, Seokmin only remembers saying, like, two or three words to the guy. What a mess.

It's mid-hour and the teacher is making them write an introductory paper on what they already know. Everything would have gone smoothly but the domino effect is always faithful. Seokmin's pencil runs out of graphite and he has no more. Pens were a big no-no and a hi-lighter definitely wouldn't cut it. Glancing around the room, everyone around him seemed to be too focused on what they were doing in fear of being scolded by the seemingly uptight teacher. Seokmin doesn't want to get in trouble, nor does he want to cause a scene. Those two options seem much more appealing than to ask the guy next to him for a pencil; all because that guy happens to be Kwon Soonyoung. What deed has he done for the Gods to have forsaken him like so?

After about 3 minutes of heavy contemplation, Seokmin clears his throat and nudges Soonyoung. A little startled, Soonyoung looks at him nervously just as Seokmin mouths that he needs to borrow a pencil. Soonyoung seems to miss the notion though and squints a little harder or maybe he's not squinting, Seokmin can't really tell. Seokmin repeats his mouthed words and Soonyoung hurriedly hands him his pencil. Seokmin in a breath and mouths a thanks as he continues writing. 

It isn't until after Seokmin returns Soonyoung's pencil quietly that he realizes that the other also only had one pencil and had been waiting for him the whole time. Seokmin feels like his stress levels are off the roof because now he feels like the tables have him. Soonyoung was being too suspiciously friendly compared to their mishaps from last year and Seokmin doesn't know if he's trying to make him miserable or if he is genuinely being nice. Seokmin now feels like the bad guy here and he can almost hear the glass that is his perfect and ideal image breaking. He feels sick to his stomach and doesn't know how to react. The only thought he can think of that he was wrong.

There really must be two Kwon Soonyoungs in this school.

If only it were true, but there aren't people who look exactly alike in this world.

A/N: dude pledis is messing me up with these teasers. sorry for taking so long to update! Works been keeping me busy these days and THIS TURNED OUT AS A MESS AS USUAL. Things have been moving slowly but it's gonna go from 0 to 100 real quick