30th June 2016

___________________

 

You knew there would be a new family moving in, the house was vacant since mid-summer. The previous family had moved to the city ever since their son, Luhan, had graduated from high school and now the season was already creeping into fall. The town’s mayor had informed your family regarding the new neighbours moving in. You never knew they had any kids, let alone a son. Rolling around in bed and thinking all night about it - not really knowing that they had actually moved in. Even your parents were shocked to hear the news. Even though your parents worked shifts and sometimes were barely even home, they didn’t see any signs of anyone moving in.  When did that happen? You too couldn’t recall any moving vans or actually seeing anyone move in.

 

“Maybe they packed light, didn’t have much to move.” Your mother had said, shrugging it off.

 

All of those thoughts about the new neighbours were thrown out of the window the next morning when you realized you woke up to see the clock a quarter to seven. Frantically, you began to search for your phone only to find several missed calls from Kyungsoo and a few texts from him asking of your whereabouts. The house was silent (apart from your constant banging and slamming from getting ready) which meant your parents had already gone to work. With a slice of bread in your mouth, you were pulling up your socks and trying sent an apology text to Kyungsoo before running out of the house hoping to catch the bus - barely in the right state of mind since you woke up half an hour ago.

 

You ran as fast as your legs could carry you to the bus stop. To your relief, the bus had just arrived and you quickly hopped on. You were constantly fidgeting in your spot praying that the bus would just speed up. Once you’ve arrived at your destination, once again, you sprinted towards the school gates. Glancing at your watch, you barely had approximately 3 minutes left. Cursing under your breath since you knew you needed to be seated in class before Mrs Jang stepped in for attendance.

 

However, luck was definitely not on your side that day.

 

The minute you stepped into the school’s huge double doors, the final bell rang and there stood Kris - the tall and scary president of the student council. You’ve always wondered how he got to win the votes. He looked like he could be working for the mafia with that face and blonde hair. Probably bribed the principal you thought and almost snorted out loud...but it quickly turned into a groan as he took out the notepad and a pen.

 

“Tardy.” he declared without hesitation as he scribbled down on the pink slip of paper in his hand and handed it to you, “Head down to the office to get it signed.”  

 

You rolled your eyes but took the pink slip anyways - this was merely your second time throughout your whole high school life being late. (Not that you were a goody two shoes, well you are kind of, but you never liked being late). You were about to make your way to the school’s general office when Kris’s deep voice boomed again.

 

“Yah! You there! You’re tardy too! Hurry up!” He yelled while pointing to someone behind you.

 

You spun around on your heel and stiffened at the sight. Jongin was strolling into school taking his own sweet time. His hair was sticking out in different places as though he just woke up, the top button of his uniform was ed with his coat hanging off his shoulders and there were no signs on his red tie anywhere. Kris narrowed his eyes onto him. “Aren’t you the transfer student? Being tardy on your second day of school isn’t a good first impression,” Kris tsked before handed the pink slip and Jongin nonchalantly took it from his hands. “Off you go the both of you.”

 

Five minutes later, you were sitting in the office beside Jongin, waiting to be told of the punishment for being late. The previous (and only) time you were late, you had to do clean up duty for a week after school in the courtyard. The doors opened and Junmyeon walked in with a stack of papers in hand and placed it on the front desk with a loud thump.  

 

“I’m surprised to see the two of you being tardy - especially you Jongin. But anyway, Kris told me you guys were here and since Mr Lee (the discipline master) gave me the thumbs up to decide on the punishment. Perfect timing I might add,” He took a deep breath and smiled so wide it looked creepy. “You guys will be helping the student council distribute the flyers for our school fair!” He had his hands together and looked at the both of you expectantly, looking a little bit like a psycho.

 

Your jaws dropped as you stared at the stack of papers in horror while Jongin still seemed to be nonchalant about everything.  “B-But that’s not our job!” You protested, half whining “I’d rather have cleaning duty again.”

 

Junmyeon leaned against the counter and tilted his head slightly to the left. “Well, Yixing called in sick today and he said he won’t be coming for the next few days, depending on his condition. We’re currently short on manpower so there is no one that’s available to take his duty. Plus! wouldn’t it be better to have two persons instead of one do the job? And you can bring Jongin around the neighbourhood too! Get him familiar with the place! It’s perfect!”

 

The way Junmyeon smiled to you meant that there was no way out of this, he was pleading through his eyes for you to just do it. And once he has made up his mind on something, it was probably better not to argue with him. Junmyeon tends to get what he wants - except for Kris, that tall scary Chinese dude wouldn’t budge even when Junmyeon tries his puppy eyes on him. Maybe that’s why he ended up being vice president. Hmm,

 

You turned to look at Jongin’s reaction hoping he would do something about it but he didn’t seem to mind it at all. Instead he stared back at you and raised an eyebrow looking bored out of his mind. You huffed in frustration and slumped your shoulders, crossing your arms in the process. “Fine, we’ll do it.”

 

Junmyeon’s puppy eyes slash evil grin suddenly turned into a sweet smile and clapped, “Right! I believe the two of you are able to take care of each other. Don’t cause any trouble and just distribute all these flyers around. I’ll prepare something to help display them around too. You’re dismissed! See you after school!”

 

Jongin was the first to stand and walk out of the room. You simply trudged slowly behind him, sighing. It wasn’t like you hated the male it was just that you didn’t like the thought of being near Jongin. You were still skeptical about actually being anywhere close to him but you couldn’t deny the invisible pull you feel whenever he’s around and that was what made you confused. The way he was constantly looking at you with a monotonous expression made it seem like he was thinking of ways to murder you. A shiver ran down your spin. What if he’s a serial killer and ran away from his previous home town because the police was on his tail? While you had a mental breakdown, Jongin on the other hand, still wasn’t bothered by anything as the two of you walked next to each other to class. Suddenly, you groaned inwardly at the thought of throwing your afternoon away.

 

“We can do the work separately. I don’t want to force you into working together.” Jongin spoke not once turning to look at you, his voice sounded loud in the empty hallways.

 

You stared at the man stunned for a few seconds. Your word got caught in your throat and you coughed a little before squeaking out “I...I don’t mind. I’m just not good with...new people and socializing.”

 

Jongin remained silent for a beat before humming as a reply. The rest of the day was spent in silence between the two.

 

*

 

Junmyeon had given the two of you specific instructions on what to do, or more like what not to do - Like playing hooky and dumping the flyers in the bin. He had told you to take your time and call him if there was in need of help. When Baekhyun and Kyungsoo heard about the news, let’s just put it that their reactions were the same as their personalities - polar opposites. Baekhyun whined since he wanted to tag along and wanting to get to know the new transfer student first hand but Junmyeon and Kris were strict about it and deemed that both Jongin and Haewon were more than capable of handing out a few flyers (you knew it was because putting Baekhyun in any formula would be equivalent to chaos). And Kyungsoo….Kyungsoo was not fond of the idea at all.

 

“I’ll talk to Junmyeon about it. You can get cleaning duty or maybe something easier.”

 

“It’s okay oppa, we’ll be done before evening and I’ll be back home by dinner. I’ll text you when I’m home okay?”

 

The duo took the bus to the area where most of the town’s population would be gathered around - Celestial Point, the town’s one and only shopping area. There wasn’t much, just a few shops, restaurants and cafes around. Exactly right in the middle of it all is where a 3 storey high building which is the shopping mall - selling all the necessities needed. There’s also a cinema and a few arcades thrown inside. It was the life of the town. And for Teenagers, it was the only place to hang out for some fun. Jongin dropped the stack of paper onto the ground and huffed. “So, how are we going to do this?” He asked, wiping his palms against one another to get rid of the dusty feeling on his skin.

 

You looked back and forth from the stack of papers then to the crowds buzzing by. It was after school and a few more to after work hours - the plaza was already packed with people of almost all ages.

You squatted down next to pile of flyers inspecting them before looking up to Jongin, “Okay, let’s try giving out a few flyers here? And maybe we’ll move on to another location afterwards. Do you want to start pasting some up though?”

 

Jongin’s brows creased and looked at the flyers as though they have offended him. “I’ll start pasting some up. You start giving out the rest.” He took a quarter into his hands before staring right at you, “Stay close. I’m in-charge of taking care of you so don’t go too far.”

 

With that, Jongin stood up with the flyers in his hand and walked over to the nearest lamp post to start pasting it up. You rolled your eyes and muttered under your breath “I can take care of myself thank you very much.”

 

Time ticked by and the two of you managed to get the work done faster than expected - it was mostly due to Jongin attracting women of all ages from literal 5 year old kids to the elderly. All charmed by his good looks and charming smile. You couldn’t help but laugh at the frustrated look on Jongin’s face after being pinched and (gently) slapped on the cheeks multiple times by the group of elderly woman that cooed at how handsome he was. But it was thanks to him that the job was done before sundown.

 

The last area they ended up is at a nearby park; Jongin grabbed the last few pieces of the flyers and had told you to take a break. You couldn’t argue since your legs were tired and sore from standing for hours. You settled down at the fountain nearby and started massaging your aching muscles while staring at Jongin - again. You tend to do that a lot that afternoon. Who wouldn’t? Jongin looked exceptionally beautiful even though his face was absent of any emotion. You looked around the area and spotted an Ice-cream stand at the other end of the park. Gleefully you decided to grab yourself a treat but stopped before turning back to Jongin. He deserves one too you thought before deciding to order two cones of vanilla ice-cream; since you didn’t know what flavour he would prefer.

 

You accepted the two cones after paying for them and was making your way back to where Jongin was. You opted in walking through the trees instead of taking the designated pathways since it was a shorter route. You were halfway through when a man wearing a sly grin appeared from behind a tree and stood in your path. “Hello pretty one, would you want to spend some time with me?”

Your body jerked back a little at the intrusion of your personal space but you instantly got annoyed and glared at the man. “I’m not interested.” you snapped before trying to walk around him but the man was persistent, his disgusting eyes roamed your body with lust.

 

“C’mon I know you want to.”

 

“Leave me alone!” Stomping your feet, you tried to walk around him again and was relieved when he didn’t step in your way this time. You felt slightly better thinking he got the message straight through his thick skull and tried to hurried away.

 

But you didn’t see the man’s gaze hardened and gritted his teeth. Suddenly he lunged out and grabbed your hair to pull you back to him. Your back collided against his front and he snarled, “Such a disrespectful brat! Have your parents not taught you any manners?!”

 

You yelped out in pain and staggered backwards causing the ice-cream to fall out of your grip. Tears welled up in your eyes as your hands reached back to try and pry the man’s hand off of your hair but to no avail. He was too strong - continuously yanking on your hair trying to get you to move backwards. Instinctively, you started thrashing around and screaming for help. You tried to hit him with your hands and feet but he grabbed your wrists and pinned them behind your back with his other hand.

 

“Shut up you ! Naughty girls needs to be punished!” The man hissed before laughing like a madman. The strong scent of his cheap cologne was making your head dizzy. His laughter making the tiny hairs on your arms stand as a wave of panic overcame you. A tear trickled down your cheek as the man tugged extra hard on your hair.

 

“Jongin!”

 

A split second later, Jongin had appeared and punched the guy square in the face. The man released his grip and you fell forward, onto the ground. Everything happened so quickly. By the time you looked up again, Jongin had the man by his collar before giving him another punch to the jaw. You panicked at the sight because Jongin looked like he was ready to murder the man.

 

Jongin looked terrifyingly angry. His eyes flashed yellow for a split second again. Some passer bys might have witnessed the scene and coincidentally two police officers who were patrolling the area came running after hearing about the commotion. Immediately they grabbed onto the man’s arms before handcuffing them behind his back. One of them forcefully yanked Jongin back. Jongin’s ragged breathing steadied after a few seconds before he snapped out of his senses and came to your side. He held onto your shoulders and asked, “You okay?” His voice wavered a little as his eyes scanned your figure for any bruises.

 

You were still trying to calm yourself down from the shock but stared straight into Jongin’s eyes, trying to blink away the tears. “I’m...I’m fine…” You managed to croak; voice a little hoarse from the screaming.

 

The police officer came to your other side to check on you before informing that the man was wanted for a few kidnappings and ual assaults, said he was a mental patient. Your eyes widened at the thought of being a victim, of almost being kidnapped and potentially . Jongin thanked the officers after helping you up. He threw your arm around his shoulders with a hand around your middle and lead you back to the fountain. Your knees were scraped from the fall and the small cut was bleeding. Jongin winced at the sight and dug around his bag for a band aid. You simply sat feeling dazed out. He kneeled on one knee in front of you to lightly blow on your wound and used water from his bottle to clear off the dirt.

 

“I told you to be careful and stay near…” Jongin said, though his voice did not sound accusing, “What would’ve happened if I didn’t hear or see you and...” He didn’t finished his sentence and ran a hand through his hair out of frustration but you knew very well what he meant.

 

You dropped your head in embarrassment and muttered, “I’m sorry. I just wanted to get us some Ice-cream.”

 

He heaved a sigh and stood up, gathering the remaining of your things. “C’mon, I'll give the rest of the flyers to Junmyeon tomorrow. let’s get some Ice-cream then, will that make you feel better?” He held out a hand for you and you felt your heart skipped a beat. Feeling a small tug on your lips, you accepted his hand and pulled yourself up.

 

The two of you ended up grabbing another order of Ice-cream from the same stand you bought it from previously (and you learnt he indeed likes vanilla flavour just like you do). It’s simple and I like things simple he had explained. You decided to take a walk around the park while eating the Ice-cream and the both of you ended up doing just that, strolling leisurely side by side in utter silence till you spotted a playground. There were no kids around, probably left since it’s almost dark. You were thrilled to see a set of swings and instantly rushed to occupy one of it. Jongin couldn’t help but soften at the sight of your childish side. He settled down on the swing next to yours and continued silently munching on his Ice-cream. The sun was slowly setting and the orange sky was a really beautiful sight to see. The silence that surrounded the two of you wasn’t awkward as awkward as it did that morning, something changed. It felt so much more comfortable somehow; you couldn’t put a finger on it.

 

So peaceful…

 

You tried to stifle your laughter causing Jongin to raise a brow not knowing what the cause of it was. “What’s so funny?”

 

“Nothing,” you grinned, “It’s just….Thank you, for just now. You’re not as bad as I thought you were.”

Those words made Jongin even more confused than ever, “Bad? You thought I was bad?”

 

“Yesterday, you just had this really dark and cold aura when you entered the classroom. It was kinda scary. And your face was just constantly void of any expression at all and if you did have an expression, it’s like you look offended by everything.” You explained making weird hand motions trying to explain yourself.

 

Finally, Jongin’s lips broke into a genuine smile and you felt as though something was tugging on your heart. “I did? Well, I don’t really like making new friends or meeting new people. It’s just not my thing but Junmyeon hyung kept insisting that I talk to everyone and get to know the place. So, I had a bad start and I was really restless from...moving into town.”

 

You nodded in understanding knowing very well how he felt. “Junmyeon oppa is weird like that. You shouldn’t get on his bad side though, he’s really scary when he’s angry or when things don’t go his way - he’ll sulk a lot. I remember one time last year, Kyungsoo oppa didn’t want to help him run for president and he threw a fit. In the end, Kyungsoo oppa had no choice but to give in and help.” you laughed at the memory, “Even Kyungsoo oppa couldn’t go against him! I mean knowing Kyungsoo, he’s caring and helpful all that good stuff but he was grumbling the whole time while helping with the voting. I must admit though, it was pretty funny when he grumbles.”

 

Jongin held on to a beat or two, fondly looking at you as you talked.

“You’re really close to him huh?”

 

“Yeah, Junmyeon can be a pain in the but he's just a mother hen sometimes.”

 

“No, that Kyungsoo guy.”

 

You were lost for words for a second before you felt your body turn warm and fuzzy just at the thought of Kyungsoo. You didn’t even realize you were grinning at the thought of him and your smile turned shy, softly tugging on corner of your lips as you spoke, “Yeah. Our parents are friends so I kinda grew up with him. I rely on him, a lot. He’s just always there.” Your voice trailed off thinking about Kyungsoo, all those memories flashed back into your mind - not noticing the way Jongin was staring again. You shook your head and grinned again feeling a little happier, “Well, enough about me. Tell me something about you! Like why did you move here?”

 

Those words seemed to cause a change of atmosphere as Jongin’s expression once again turned cold and avoided eye contact, instead staring at his last bite of Ice-cream. “I...I don’t want to talk about it.”

 

There was pain in his eyes and somewhat a feeling of longing. You started to get curious about him but the pained look on Jongin’s face told you that it wasn’t the right time to ask. You laughed it off, even if it sounded forced, to try lighten up the mood again.  “Oh, it’s okay. You don’t have to tell me anything. I mean, we’re not really friends right? We just met.”

 

“We’re not?” Jongin had a brow raised.
 

You swung your legs a little not thinking much about it, “Are we not?”

 

He started to mimic your movements and swung his legs a little. “Then what are we?”

 

The question made you stop swinging and stared at the male. What are we? What kind of question is that?

Suddenly you were flustered and started stuttering for a response (this is why you at socializing) “I-I don’t know? Uhm Seat mates maybe? Classmates? or Acquaintances? It’s not like it matters anyways, we’re not that close.”

 

Jongin leaned his head against the metal chain and smiled, clearly not offended at all and instead joked around, “You sound like you really hate being with me.”

 

Your eyes widened and shook your hands, “What? No! I don’t, I really don’t! At first I was scared but no I never hated you.”

 

Jongin let out a hearty laugh and you grew stunned - captivated by the sound. Jongin realized he liked teasing you just to see your cheeks grow slightly pink. “Let’s be friends then?” He said casually, holding out his hand out for an innocent hand shake. You stared at his hand in bewilderment for a second. You had not expected him to want to be friends with you; no one has ever said those words to you. Like for example, Baekhyun - declaring himself and Soojung was simply obliged to talk to you since you were seatmates. Never once you had someone that actually wanted to be your friend. It felt odd. After what felt like a while of processing the situation, you reaching your own hand out and pressed your palm against his warm one. You were unsure of yourself but the invisible tug convinced you that maybe it was a sign that he wasn’t as bad as you think he is.  

 

“Friends.” You smiled back. And in that moment, a spark was ignited deep within you.

 

*

 

Things were starting to look up between Jongin and you. You’ve started talking in class more and more as the days passed - at first regarding school work and slowly it turned into discussion of different things like movies and music. Jongin has been helping you with class work and vice versa, he did have a flaw after all. The only subject he seemed to be poor at was English (He gets tongue tied trying to pronounce some of the words). When you almost laughed at him in class for spelling a word everyone learns in elementary school wrong, he threw you a deadly look but you knew he was just pulling your leg. Soojung too was more than thrilled to talk to Jongin, since practically almost everyone wants to be friends with the new kid in town. Slowly he started to open up to you and your few friends - namely Baekhyun, Soojung, Kyungsoo (and Junmyeon). ‘Any friend of yours would be trustworthy to be a friend of mine’ he had told you even though you never understood the context behind his words it made you feel somewhat special. His personality was the totally not what you had expected it to be. He was really just a boy that laughs at lame jokes and a child at heart. Baekhyun adores Jongin at times like these because he seems to be the only one that laughs at his lame jokes.

 

He was also a er for skin contact. At first it was small motions like leaning into your personal space and brushing his arm against yours or like standing literally so near to you there wasn’t even any space for a fly to pass through. Then it started to grow as though Jongin was pushing to see your limits, the first move was putting an arm on your chair while leaning in when you were reading out the pair task in class. It made you blush a little feeling his arm around your back. The next thing you know, he was throwing his limbs on your small body or resting his head on your shoulder. It wasn’t new to you since Baekhyun (and sometimes Kyungsoo) loved to do the same. You never minded it especially since Jongin’s body seemed to be consistently warm which was nice since the weather was starting to grow colder as the days passed.

 

Other than that, he has been really helpful and even though he dislikes it when the girls come swarming around him for a picture or an exchange of phone number, he’ll always politely decline all of it and apologize even if he doesn’t need to.

 

“A habit I guess, my mom told me to never play with a girl’s heart and it just sticks.” He had told you with a hand shyly rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding your gaze.

 

You made a mental note to thank his mother (if you were to ever meet her) for raising him well. And after he confessed on knowing you lived just across his house, the two of you made a silent agreement on heading to school together and he even joins in for lunch occasionally with Baekhyun and Kyungsoo and other times with Soojung. It was pretty rare to see the both of you without the other since the two of you are in every single class together. Junmyeon was more than happy to see you getting along very well and even tried to hug Jongin for being such an awesome prince charming - the nickname doesn’t die down. A month had passed since he first came and you already felt as though it’s been forever since you had known him. Guess some people are simply meant to fit together like two pieces of a puzzle.

 

One day during lunch, Baekhyun made a plan to catch the latest blockbuster movie that was just released. He had invited Jongin to come along with your mini group since he was technically part of it by then and after much whining from Baekhyun, Jongin gave in and agreed to it.

 

Friday night, the day before the school fair, You and Jongin made your way to the meeting point which was at Celestial Point - more specifically the plaza. You had also invited Soojung over too since she wanted to watch the movie. Soojung had tugged you to the side while the boys were buying the tickets and she was gushing over the fact that Jongin looks good in a simple light pink sweater and light blue jeans that hugged his figure really well. He looks better than in uniform you agreed. Kyungsoo had bought you nachos and you cooed at how he remembers it was your favourite movie snack. 10 minutes before the movie start and all of you filed into theatre. You were almost as blind as a bat finding your way through the dark, you almost tripped on your own feet when you felt a hand grip on your arm. Jongin muttered a small ‘be careful’ and helped you find your way to the seats. You ended up seated between Kyungsoo and Jongin. You made yourself comfortable in your seat and a few minutes later the movie started. Throughout the movie, Jongin ended up cracking you up with silent lame jokes and you had to try so hard to stifle your giggles.

 

At the end of it all, everyone was talking about the movie and the different scenes they loved. It made you bicker with Baekhyun for a while but it ended well with a pout from Baekhyun and you can never resist, punching him lightly on the arm. It was getting pretty late and you wanted to get plenty of rest before the day of the fair. Kyungsoo offered to walk you home but you told him it wasn’t necessary and that Jongin would be doing that.

 

Little did you know, throughout those few weeks, something or rather someone was forgotten. Kyungsoo was suddenly replaced ever since Jongin came into the picture. He wasn’t thrown aside he knew that very well, You still talks to him and cared for him the same way but, he felt left out and forgotten. Jongin seemed to always be everywhere and anywhere in between the two; especially during bus rides, lunch time and now even walking you home. At first he didn’t mind, since he knew Jongin was a good guy - he’s nice overall. But it started to hurt, Kyungsoo’s heart clenched every single time you would exchange smiles with Jongin as though there was a really big inside joke to everything.

 

Kyungsoo gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, feeling his blood boil in anger as he watched a guy he barely knew steal you away from him.   

 

___________________

 

Thanks for reading :)

/hugs

~Dee