The light fumes scattered in grey hues as it ascended upwards mixing with the clear air and slowly, carrying it away as they were never present to begin with. Wonshik stared at the light trails of grey that left his lips with apathy; his orbs dull and drifted, as if he were in a world of his own. Which truthfully, he was. Wonshik was trapped within the confines of his mind, his mind reeling upon the only emotions he felt these days; the only ones he could really feel these days.

A light chuckle left Wonshik's lips as he twirled the cigarette in his hands. He knew smoking wasn't allowed within the school premises but, at this point, it didn't make a difference to him if it did or didn't; he just needed a getaway and if these harmful, acidic substances gave him that then, so be it. Although he wasn't a regular smoker, occasionally, he would pick up a cigarette and indulge in it, just to momentarily forget; forget anything and everything. 

"There you are!" Out of nowhere, a voice called out, cheerful and curious. Wonshik turned his head sideways to gaze at the source of the noise only to hold back a sigh. 

"I was wondering where you went when you didn't show up to lunch." The voice of the young man continued, as he sat beside Wonshik on the patch of grass located at the back of the school building; far from anyone's eyes, just like Wonshik wanted it to be. The newcomer caught sight of the lanky substance within Wonshik's fingers and he snatched the cigarette and went to dispose of it in the nearby trash can after extinguishing it, that is. He returned back, the previous glee of seeing Wonshik now replaced with a slight frown as he took in Wonshik's state.

"Why, Wonshik? Why are you doing this to yourself?" The man whispered, his tone soft and caring.

"Not now." Wonshik replied, his voice slightly more gruff than usual due to the recent inhalation of smoke. "Not now, Hakyeon."

With a sigh, Hakyeon seated himself back next to Wonshik. Cha Hakyeon was in the same year group as Wonshik; that's how they met. Hakyeon was one of the first to ever approach Wonshik, even before the tanned one knew of the tragedy that had befell upon him. If anything, it made Hakyeon more determined to stick with Wonshik. Of course, Hakyeon wasn't with Wonshik the entire time; that couldn't be possible as Hakyeon was a social butterfly and he had his own friends to attend to but, everyday, he would come to Wonshik during lunch and sit with him or catch him sometimes in the hallways. They talked; well, Hakyeon mainly did (he was a quite a talkative one) while Wonshik nodded and replied back to him, in whatever way he could. There was no doubt in the fact that Wonshik appreciated Hakyeon's efforts, he really did; it made him feel a bit more normal, if that made any sense.

But, sometimes, Wonshik wanted to be left alone. Times which included now, for example. Hakyeon had an uncanny ability of ignoring things and continuing on with what he wanted to say so Wonshik wasn't surprised when Hakyeon let out a huff of air. "Okay, you don't want to talk about it, fine. But come on, smoking, really? You know that's not good for you, right? It'll damage your lungs, for heaven's sake!" 

At that, Wonshik let out a chuckle. There Hakyeon went again acting like a mother. But he was right. Wonshik wasn't doing anything more than hurting himself, making it even worse for himself and his parents. He knew Hakyeon wanted to help; but that's the thing; Wonshik didn't know how to take help, he just couldn't. 

"I know. I know, Hakyeon, and I appreciate your concern. I really do but I just.....I don't know. I just don't know what to do. I know I should get over it, let myself heal not make everything worse by smoking and doing other f*ked up sh*t. But, I just can't. I just don't know how to." 

Hakyeon's face morphed into a soft look as he placed a hand upon Wonshik's head, lightly petting his hair. "It'll be okay, Wonshik. People take different amounts of time to heal, you will eventually, as well. It'll all be okay, one day." But even Hakyeon knew the possibility of that happening was slim. He had seen Wonshik for months now with no sign of improvement, the depression medication or moral support doing absolutely nothing to boost Wonshik's mental and physical condition. Maybe he was too far gone. But Hakyeon refused to believe that; albeit, he had only known Wonshik for a couple of months, he still felt as though he had to protect and take care of him like a little brother. And, that he would do. Only Hakyeon really didn't know how or what to do and he just hoped that maybe, one day, Wonshik could meet someone who did. It'd be nice, Hakyeon thought, to meet the previous Wonshik who was all smiles. Yeah, that'd be nice. 

~*~

Jaehwan let out a slight grunt as he struggled to open the door to his locker. Letting out a few colourful words, he cursed at the boys who had done who knows what to get his locker door jammed. How Jaehwan knew this was because of them crowding around his locker when he approached it and letting loud snickers radiate through the area when Jaehwan slightly ducked his head. 

After minutes of grunting and panting, he finally managed to open his locker door. It took him longer because of the fact that Jaehwan, was in no way, in any fit condition. He didn't work out and the occasional beatings and lack of food left him in a skinny mess; bones even slightly evident in some positions. He hated it, he really did. Pushing his zero-vision glasses back into place which he wore for the mere purpose of hiding, he started walking down the hallway, into the rather isolated section. Jaehwan needed some peace and quiet right now to get his mind back together. And he knew only one place where that would be possible; the music room. He hadn't entered the music room in quite a while now mainly, because he wanted to avoid the place. It was a bittersweet setting reminding him of aspects he genuinely loved about life but, were unfortunately too far away and completely unattainable. 

Jaehwan liked singing, he really did. It was something he was good at especially, because he had no other notable traits about him. He wasn't exceedingly smart, not fully atheltic, wasn't exactly good looking either; in fact, he could see why his parents called him ugly and useless. It was to an extent, true. But, he knew he could sing; he knew he had a melodic voice and that brought him happiness. In a long time, he found something he genuinely adored. 

But alas, for Jaehwan, all good things must come to an end. A sour taste entered his mouth when the thought of his dear parents cackling at the prospect of him singing sawm into the breaches of his mind. They had said that Jaehwan didn't need to open his mouth; it would be better for them and the world if he kept it shut. Yet again, they took away something that gave him joy, something that brought him peace. Just like they always did. 

Engrossed in his thoughts, Jaehwan failed to notice the light ring of melodies that swam across the empty hallway until, he was at the door of the music room. The sound was coming from within. Curious, Jaehwan slightly opened the door to see who it could be. As far as he knew, no one really entered the music room; it was abondened due to the lack of teachers and staff within the school that could provide musical training.

So, when Jaehwan caught sight of who it was that was playing the low symphonies of the piano, his eyes widened slightly. Sitting there, in front of the piano was a black-haired boy, the dark covering his forehead; eyebrows creased together, lips lightly parted as his fingers gracefully hovered and pressed the keys of the piano emitting a serene melody. It was Wonshik. 

Jaehwan stood next to the slightly ajar door absorbing the sweet waves of the notes that escalated into the room from the piano. He knew he should have left; escaped before Wonshik saw him. But he couldn't. Especially, after the look he saw on Wonshik's face. The other boy looked at peace; the previous emptiness that had absorbed him not apparent anymore. Instead, he glowed; although, slightly, he still glowed. Jaehwan let his eyes flutter shut and leaned against the door out of sight as he listened to the soft tune and bathed in it. It set his heart at peace; maybe it was the music or maybe it was that Wonshik was playing it but, regardless of which one, it made Jaehwan slightly less anxious and slightly less guarded. 

Maybe it was that drop of guard that Wonshik noticed for all of a sudden, he sensed a presence. He slightly looked up to catch a glimpse of the door slightly open and knew someone was on the other side. It wasn't the first time this happened as many would drop by to nourish their curiousity of who was the cause of the sweet sound but, it was the first time when Wonshik wanted to know who was on the other side of the door. So, slowly, he brought his playing to an end and stood up quickly, making his way to the door. He pulled the door open and stepped back when a fluff of brown hair tumbled inside the music room. The face of the soft brown hair looked up and a sound of recognition escaped Wonshik. 

"Um, hi." He said, awkwardly as Jaehwan straigheted himself back, his fingers adjusting his glasses. "Were you listeneing? To the piano, I mean."

Jaehwan lightly fidgeted, his fingers intertwining with each other; an action Wonshik noticed as he replied. "Oh, um, yeah. Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."

"Oh, no, it's fine. You didn't intrude or anything." Wonshik sent a light smile at the other boy hoping to put the other one slightly at ease which luckily, worked as Jaehwan's fidgeting halted a bit. It was also the first time in a while that Wonshik genuinely smiled, he realised. Or attempted to comunicate with someone, his mind reminded him. But, for some reason, Wonshik wanted to talk to Jaehwan. The answer to why was simple; because he saw a similiar look in Jaehwan's eyes that had recently filled up his own ones. And maybe, he wanted to know why Jaehwan felt that way. What had Jaehwan lost? Why did he have such a far away and empty look in his eyes? He wondered and so, he decided that he wanted to know; he wanted to know what plauged the so called 'freak' of the school. "Did you like it?" 

"Huh?" Jaehwan replied, clearly not understanding.

"The melody. I made it myself. So, did you like it?"

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I liked it; it was really nice." 

"That's good, I guess." Wonshik said, as he raised his hand upwards, towards the other boy. "I'm Wonshik, by the way. Kim Wonshik."

Jaehwan resisted the urge to say, I know, and instead just replied. "Jaehwan. Lee Jaehwan." He ignored Wonshik's extended hand. Jaehwan wasn't good with skinship, never had been even if it was something as simple as a handshake. Wonshik seemed to sense that and lowered his hand with a slight nod. "So, what brings you here? Normally, people don't come here unless they want to use the music room or well, if two of them want a place to be alone, I guess. Since there's no one with you, I'm assuming you came to use the room?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to stay here for a bit since, no one comes here so I thought I could be by myself for a while."

"Oh."

Wonshik faintly wondered if he should leave. He didn't want to because he wanted to converse with Jaehwan. Hakyeon did say it was about time he made some friends. But at the same time maybe Jaehwan wanted to be alone and Wonshik might just be getting on his nerves. So, he looked towards Jaehwan only to see the other looking at him with a slightly curious and strange expression. "What? Is there something on my face?" Wonshik asked with a slight quirk of his lips, upwards.

Jaehwan seemingly realising he was staring lowered his gaze and focused on his intertwined hands, instead. "U-Uh, no, there's nothing."

Wonshik nodded and decided at that point that he needed some friends. Or, more like he needed a friend. Truth be told, there was just a part of him that wanted to be around Jaehwan. Maybe it was the enigma that surounded Jaehwan that pulled Wonshik in or the fact that were both similiar in some aspects but, whatever it was, all Wonshik knew was that he wanted to be friends or even, accquaintences with Jaehwan. And, so with a new found courage, Wonshik decided to venture upon this. "Hey, you wanna hang out after school?  I've been meaning to make some friends around school but never really got the time. So, if you're not busy or anything, maybe we could hang out?" 

Jaehwan quirked a slight eyebrow at him which immediately filtered the word 'cute' in Wonshik's mind. Why that happened he didn't know but that thought stopped when Jaehwan replied. "Um, aren't you friends with Hakyeon? Why don't you hang out with him?"

The fact that Jaehwan even knew that Wonshik was friends with Hakyeon had him slightly taken back, not many people really knew that. "Yeah, but Hakyeon is hanging out with his boyfriend today so can't really."

"Oh, okay." Suprised would be an understatement on Jaehwan's end; he was more baffled and shocked at the fact that Wonshik wanted to hang out with him. It was strange, to say the least. He wondered whether he should or not; his parents wouldn't be home till night time, he knew that. And he didn't have anything specific to do, he could be back before his parents came back home; they wouldn't know. Despite the light fear, he convinced himself they wouldn't know, that nothing would happen and so with a slight apprehension, he nodded his head and said, "We can hang out after school."

That made a soft smile appear on Wonshik's face as he grabbed his bag from the side when the bell went off, right that moment. "Great, I'll meet you outside school then, okay? For now, I'll head to class."

"Okay." And at that, Jaehwan tilted his lips slightly upwards in an awkward smile as he bid Wonshik a small 'bye' and headed to his class. The previous distaste for Wonshik wasn't there, anymore. In fact, it was replaced by something else; only Jaehwan didn't know what. He was a never a master of emotions anyway and decided to not dwell upon it. Wonshik would soon enough leave him after growing bored; the same as those others who tried to befriend him only to leave him after a few days. They only did it thinking Jaehwan was someone who wanted comfort and warmth, who would be indebted to them for approaching him. They were sorely disappointed because Jaehwan wanted none of that, he was absolutely fine. Or, at least that's what the world thought. The walls he built and the masks he put were too strong to be broken. A part of him wondered if Wonshik would be up for the challenge or if he would scamper away after a few days, pretending as if they never knew each other. 

Jaehwan knew Wonshik would leave yet, a part hoped that maybe he wouldn't; that maybe, this time things would be different. As he gazed at the clear, turquoise sky from the glass-paned window, he could only wonder what the future would hold for the two of them.  

so here is the 2nd chapter of this story! i'll be updating hopefully everyday or every two days so updates can be expected soon enough c: it's summer vacation, i have loads of time to write. also, for those wondering who hakyeon's boyfriend is, well that'll be revealed soon c; anywho, if you liked this chapter, please comment and subscribe, it would really really really mean a lot! ^^

the next chapter shall be up soon enough. until then, enjoy!♡