Kibum was the total opposite of what Jonghyun was expecting.

Sure, their conversation didn’t give much light as to what kind of person he was, but Jonghyun was anticipating a normal guy who was bad at English. Maybe even someone who dressed in scruffy clothing and looked tired all the time, like most typical high school boys.

Instead, what he got was a literal model. The boy was four or five inches taller than him, yet unlike his own stocky build, Kibum was skinny and was dressed in clothes that probably cost more than his apartment. He looked like he belonged with people who were all up to date on the latest fashion trends, or who bought the most expensive clothes and had the most luxurious lives.

What mesmerized him most about the boy was his eyes; they were a gorgeous brown slanted in a permanently narrowed state, giving him a feline-like appearance. His lips were pursed and his eyebrows rested high on their brow bone.

To put it simply, he was gorgeous.

Jonghyun began to feel a little insecure about his own appearance. He was dressed casually with only black skinny jeans, a grey t-shirt, and a black jacket over it. Even his worn out Air Jordans that he loved so much were beginning to make him look tacky. The other was currently on his phone, sitting alone at one of the tables in the library, and didn’t seem like he was going to look up anytime soon.

“Excuse me,” Jonghyun cleared his throat as he approached the boy. The feline eyes immediately snapped up to meet his own, and his heartbeat quickened. “Are you Kibum?”

The boy looked him up and down, pursing those perfect lips in thought. “Yeah,” he said cautiously, putting his phone face down on the table.

His every movement was elegant and graceful, and Jonghyun couldn’t help watching. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t really recall ever seeing this kid around school before. It was confusing, seeing as how beautiful he was. His kind in this world had hoards of people following them around, and yet he hadn’t even heard of him. Kibum folded his arms to his chest and crossed his leg, raising a brow to urge the kid in front of him to go on.

“Oh, I’m Jonghyun,” he said quickly, realizing he had been staring. He smiled nervously, bowing his head a little as he held his hand out for Kibum to shake. Instead, he just stared at it, and then looked back at Jonghyun. Jonghyun might have not know who , but Kibum sure knew who he was.

“You’re shorter than I expected,” he commented, Jonghyun felt his face heat up.

“H-Hey! I’m not short!” he quickly defended himself, retracting his hand in offense. Kibum stood, looking down at the shorter male.

“Shorter than me,” he teased, making Jonghyun’s ears go red.

“Yah,” he started, already feeling his anger bubble up. Was this guy serious? Not even three minutes with this guy and he had already begun to dislike him. “That’s not exactly the proper way to greet someone you know. I’m not going to stand here and let you insult me. Are you interested in getting tutored or not?” he counted to ten in his head to let the anger subside and then let out a sigh, glaring at the taller boy whose eyes twinkled with amusement.

“Yes, I still want the tutoring,” he said, stepping back to grab his phone. “But first, we need to do something about...this,” he motioned with his index finger to Jonghyun’s clothes.

“What’s wrong with them?” the brunette scoffed, looking down at himself. Sure, he couldn’t afford to dress in Marc Jacobs or Chanel, but he had his own style and it looked pretty damn great.

“Your sense of style isn’t bad, I like it. It suits you,” the boy went on, making Jonghyun raise a brow. He was getting very mixed signals here. “It’s just that it could be better. Follow me.”

Jonghyun was left standing alone in the library, mouth hanging open with absolute shock. Kibum had already left without him and it didn’t look like he was the kind to wait. He groaned as he ran out to follow him, confirming his assumptions as the other didn’t even look back to see if he was following.

“Where are we going?” he asked once he caught up, annoyance taking over his features.

“Shopping,” he muttered, taking Jonghyun down streets of the more richer part of town. It wasn’t like he couldn’t go into the unfamiliar streets, he just didn’t feel the need to. Why tempt yourself with things you can’t have? He mostly got his clothes from thrift shops or cheap retail stores, and there wasn’t anything wrong with that.

“Why? I can dress myself. Plus, I don’t have any money,” he pointed out, looking around as stores came into view. The names were already funky enough as it was, but peering inside was a whole other experience. Even without looking at the clothes, the establishment just reeked of superiority and high class. Kibum didn’t answer his remark as they kept walking.

After a while, Jonghyun stopped paying attention to the stores. They all looked the same to him anyway. He mostly concentrated on the sidewalk, making sure he wasn’t in anyone’s way or about to trip and fall. When Kibum stopped in front of a store, he didn’t pay it any mind since it made no difference to him. His thoughts were occupied as to why he was there in the first place as he followed behind the other, who toured through the store and took his time sorting through the racks.

 It wasn’t like Kibum had anything over him, he could leave any second he wanted. He couldn’t deny that this was a totally new experience and he was eager to see where it led, though. It wasn’t everyday a pretty boy drags you out to go shopping; call it a cheap thrill, but he was curious.  

“Here, try these on,” he snapped the shorter boy from his thoughts as he held out a pile of clothes out to Jonghyun.

“What? I told you, I don’t have any money,” he said bewildered. Kibum rolled his eyes.

“I said try them on, not buy them. Hurry up, my arms are hurting,” Jonghyun sighed and took the clothes, looking around for a fitting room. If it got him out of here quicker, he’d humor him. The large mirrors that gave him a 360 degree view of himself were making him a bit uneasy. He could see his every flaw like this. Not wanting to make the other wait, he quickly put on the clothes.

It really didn’t make any sense.

The clothes were stiff, itchy, and uncomfortable, and yet each item cost about the same as three college textbooks. The shirt was tight with a low neckline that exposed his prominent collarbones, the jacket that was supposed to go with it had so many zippers and buttons he wasn’t even sure that they led to real pockets, and it was so heavy it was hard for him to move his arms. The skinny jeans hugged his thighs and so much, he felt like he was going to rip them if he made a sharp movement, and the fact that they outlined his other areas wasn’t making him love it either.

“Are you done? It doesn’t take an hour to put on clothes,” he heard Kibum’s impatient voice from outside. Jonghyun sighed and opened the door, grimacing as he came face to face with Kibum’s expectant gaze. He stood, circling around Jonghyun. He felt like a small animal about to be eaten by the way the latter’s eyes were piercing into him.

“I don’t like it, it’s too awkward,” he decided after a few minutes of silence. Jonghyun sighed in relief, already turning back to change.  “Not so fast,” another set of clothing was being held out to him. He reluctantly took those too.

“I don’t understand why I have to do this,” he complained as he changed into the clothes. “I’m literally just going to tutor you, not go to a movie premiere!” The second set was definitely more comfortable, he had to admit. It was an oversized black shirt with the logo ‘HBA’ in a white box on the bottom, and another on one of the sleeves, which came past his hands. The jeans were of some leather material but weren’t as tight as the other one was. He stepped out, sighing as he prepared himself for inspection once more.

“Better,” Kibum hummed, rolling up Jonghyun’s sleeves so that they came up to his elbows. He turned around and grabbed a scarf from one of the racks, wrapping it around his neck and folding it around his mouth. Jonghyun felt this was incredibly unnecessary, and his patience was running thin.

“Perfect,” he smirked, turning to one of the sales women. “Can you ring these items up? He’ll be leaving with them on. Oh, and a bag for his other clothes, please.” She nodded with a smile and bow, disappearing behind the counter.

“What part of ‘I don’t have money’ do you not understand?” Jonghyun insisted, feeling anxious again. It only reminded him of his lack of money.

“I’m paying for it,” he said casually, reaching into his wallet. Jonghyun stared at him wide eyed as he paid for the clothes and dragged him out. He ripped the scarf off his face, but gently put it in the bag so it wouldn’t get lost.

“Can you explain to me what’s going on?” he grabbed Kibum’s hand, forcing him to look at him. The other tensed up at the sudden contact, calmly pulling his hand back. “I’ve been patient and let you do all of this but now it’s my turn and I want answers.”

“What? I bought you an outfit. Is there something wrong with that?”

“No, but…Why? We literally just met!”

Kibum cocked his head, pretending to think. “I was in the mood to be generous today. Anyway, I have to go. Meet me in front of the school tomorrow as soon as the last bell rings for our first lesson. Don’t be late.” Before Jonghyun could get a word in, the other had already his heel to walk away. He groaned, looking at the time on his phone. He didn’t expect for this to take so long. How was he going to explain the new clothes to his mom?

He sighed, realizing he was lost. He took out his phone and googled his location, following its directions to get back to his home with nothing but the mysterious boy on his mind.

<3