A/N: Quick question everyone! For anyone reading on mobile, is this text too difficult to read? I happened to look at the story from my phone for the first time and had trouble seperating the lines.

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N frowned to himself as he watched the boys run around their motel room in the rush to get ready for school.

 

Hongbin had taken up post by the bathroom door, arguing with Ken in rising tones about how long the elder was taking in the shower. Hyuk nearly knocked him over every time he came and went to the dresser, the small walkway not enough for the pair to pass each other without some maneuvering. Both of the maknaes showed the initial stages annoyed with each other and N decided to step in before things got too heated.

 

Starting the day off with another fight was not the way he wanted to go about things.

 

“Hongbin-ah! Come put the futon away!” the eldest boy commanded, pulling Hongbin away from the bathroom door. “Ken! Hurry up so that the rest of the kids can finish getting ready!”

 

“Yes, hyung~” Ken sang, seemingly untroubled by their morning rush. N hoped that he actually listened to him for once.

 

He turned back to the others and nearly tripped over Leo, the latter pushing the leader up against the wall and moving them out of Hyuk’s way just in time.

 

N grinned and wrapped his arms around Leo’s neck, taking advantage of the situation. “Well, this is a pleasant surprise~”

 

Leo rolled his eyes at him but accepted the quick kiss that he was offered. Even though they were in danger of falling behind schedule, the eldest boys took a moment to appreciate one another, sliding closer together without any worry of being caught by someone unwanted.

 

One of the other boys cleared his throat behind them. N’s hand paused on its journey to Leo’s hips and the elder pulled away to look over Leo’s shoulder.

 

Hyuk gave them a mildly interested once-over. “I hate to stop this show, but if we’re gonna have breakfast, we need to pick things up. We’re out of food.”

 

Leo, who might have held food slightly above in the importance of things, was jump-started into motion. He pulled away from N, mumbling to himself about making a grocery list they could shop for after school.

 

N barely had a chance to pout before the bathroom door swung open and a wet-haired Ken emerged.

 

Across the room, Hongbin dumped the futon on Ravi, who had fallen back asleep on one of the beds after his shower, and practically sprinted for the shower, being the last one to need it that morning. Ravi, startled from his slumber, fell off the bed with a thump.

 

N sighed in exasperation and followed Ken to the dresser, frowning at the younger man while he got dressed. “Ken, you’ve got to stop taking so long in the mornings. We’re always in danger of being late to school as it is. If you don’t watch out, I’ll make you shower after I use up all the hot water!”

 

N pointed at him dramatically and Ken pretended to rear back in fear, clutching his shirt to his chest like a girl in a classic horror movie.

 

“Ahhh, what should I do? Is it that bad? If you want, I’ll just start showering at night,” Ken compromised. “But I think you’re worrying too much, hyung! It’s not like we even have to go to school in the first place.”

 

“Being a graduate helps with getting a job,” N sighed, preparing himself for an argument he had seen coming – school was not turning out to be what they had planned for it to be. “And college – even if we could just go back and get more papers saying that we graduated high school, I want you to at least take the exams for real! Besides, this is like practice for being a human adult!”

 

It was like the words threw a switch. The playful look in the younger man’s eyes faded in an instant, replaced by a mixture of pity and annoyance.

 

Ken laughed sarcastically. “Really, hyung, how many of us are actually fitting in at this human school? Besides Hongbin, none of us actually have friends.”

 

“And even if we did, having to keep what we really are a secret kind of gets in the way.” Hyuk added, pausing in putting his socks on to join the conversation. “I can’t even play around with the other kids because I can’t tell when I get hurt! Answering questions about myself is difficult because we don’t live normally either. Am I supposed to say that I live in a motel with five other teenagers I’m not related to and pretend that it’s not a weird situation? Parents, former schools, childhood stories – we don’t have any of those. That’s definitely not a human standard, hyung.”

 

Hyuk’s sentiments seemed to be shared by both Ken and Ravi, the latter of which had been listening with that troubled expression of his that had become the norm lately. Across the room, Leo was watching with an expression that said he too saw the truth in the maknae’s words.

 

All of them, with the exception of Hongbin, had yet to find any real attachments to the human world.

 

Hyuk was too afraid to play around and get close to his classmates for fear of accidentally revealing his secret.

 

Ravi’s jealousy was getting in his way of making an easy friend out of Jeon Chaeyeong, who continued to try and build a bridge for them to stand on only to be continuously pushed away. After meeting her, N could see how badly she wanted Ravi to like her back, but even kind people could give up after one too many rejections.

 

The third year boys were all but being stalked by a group of girls who drove off most of the other students from befriending them early on. Even with N and Ken being as outgoing and charming as they could, no one seemed willing to go against the clique’s power. There was obviously some sort of power play going on at Boseon High School and the boys had fallen into it without being aware – and it seemed to be getting even more intense, as the girls had been redoubling their efforts to get close to the boys as of late.

 

They wanted friends, but the situation seemed too much like something out of one of those American movies they had been watching lately. One where the ‘new kids’ always seemed to find themselves the sole interest of the ‘popular crowd’.

 

It was too strange to be real life.

 

(Honestly, who put that much effort into chasing a group of strangers?)

 

The mood of their motel room had dropped dramatically within minutes. N, being their leader, took a deep breath and pushed away his own insecurities and doubts so that he could reassure his lovers.

 

“Alright, it’s time that we had a group meeting.” N announced, ushering everyone to sit on the beds so that they could all face each other. “Just put everything you’re doing on hold for a moment – we need to talk.”

 

Leo set his partially finished grocery list off to the side and joined Ravi and a half- Ken on one of the beds. Hyuk looked at the leader mulishly as he was led to his seat, not wanting to have this conversation.

 

“You don’t want to wait for Hongbin-hyung?” he tried stalling, ready to get up and run away as soon as N turned his back.

 

"He'll be alright to miss this talk." N said, one hand pressing the maknae firmly down in his seat. "Now, listen, all of you. I know this isn't as easy as we wanted it to be. Meeting people, making friends – it's hard. But a few setbacks aren't enough reason to just decide that it isn't all worth trying for.

 

"This is our chance to actually live! This is what we've fought to escape Saetbyeol for. We've all suffered and been hurt and have cried over how we used to be. But that was just existing! Existing for the cruel enjoyment of a terrible being. And now we don't have to. We don't have to answer to anyone but ourselves now.

 

"We chose to go to school in this city because it's a new start. This is us, living for ourselves. We have a chance to take all that we've been denied. Happiness, health, freedom. I know this isn't easy, trying to find a place in this world, but at least we have a chance to look for it. We're awkward now, but this is just our beginning! Please don't give up because we haven't gotten everything at once.

 

“We have a chance – a lot of them, because we're starting out young. High school is just a test run. We've only been in it for about a month at least. Give yourselves some time to adjust and we'll get there. We have each other still, and we've proven that we don't give up easily when we want something."

 

N looked over the boys apprehensively, trying to see if his words had any effect on them. The younger ones were avoiding looking at anyone entirely, but Ken was watching him with a thoughtful expression. Leo just looked sad.

 

"Hyung," he said, in his usual quiet manner. "I heard the water stop. Since Hongbin is almost ready, we should finish up too. We can talk more about this later."

 

At that, the boys took it as a signal that they were free to do as they pleased and jumped into action, leaving the leader to watch them in frustration, tugging at his hair a bit when he raked a hand through it.

 

They had a long way to go before they had truly fixed things in their lives.

 

"Another body was found this morning in a string of related animal attacks centered near the campus of Haesoo College. According to early reports, the mutilation of the victim was similar to the past four bodies recovered in the same area, all with victims bearing injuries reminiscent of a wild dog attack.

 

"Residents in the area called police last night upon hearing a ruckus in the street, police said. One resident reported hearing sounds like a snarling and growling from the same direction. While evidence points to the source of the attack to be some sort of large animal, police are still unsure of what kind of animal is responsible for the damage. Residents are being urged to not venture out at night and not to approach any unfamiliar or oddly behaving dogs, but to report any such sightings immediately to the police."

 

Ravi was beginning to wonder if Hongbin had gotten some sort of 'Jeon Chaeyeong Radar' installed when no one was looking.

 

Even outside of school, running into her looked like it was going to be a regular occurrence if Hongbin was leading the way. The second youngest boy had been given the chance to choose where they ate that morning and had chosen the cafe he had taken them before.

 

As soon as they walked in, Ravi spotted the girl's now familiar face turned towards one of the televisions in the cafe, doe eyes fixated on the local news report.

 

Hongbin grinned at the sight of her and broke away from their group at once to greet her. Ken and N followed after him once they too noticed her presence.

 

Leo did not seem to notice the break in formation and went straight for the counter to place his order. Hyuk clapped Ravi on the shoulder before following their quietest lover to get food and coffee as well.

 

Ravi was left standing by the entrance on his own, in a sort of self-inflicted limbo.

 

He could follow Hyuk and Leo, who had just met Chae and had less reason to greet her first, or join the others at the girl's table and pretend like he was not so consumed by jealousy that it was making him dislike her.

 

But what good would he do if he just followed the others to the table and got into one of his darker moods, just like he always seemed to do when the girl was around. He would just get angry about feeling cast aside and then Hongbin would get angry at him for acting like a jerk to Chae – and then one of the hyungs would get angry at the both of them for fighting again and Ravi hated being scolded by the older boys.

 

Like a child.

 

Ravi grumbled to himself, not seeing a good solution for anything, but ultimately followed Hyuk and Leo to the counter, wondering how to drag himself out of the hole he had steadily been digging himself into when it came to Chae.

 

A little display by the register caught his eye, a set of little yarn doll key-chains watching the customers blankly while they placed their orders. They were kind of cute – and they gave Ravi an idea.

 

“Excuse me,” Ravi glanced at the growing group at the table as he lingered at the counter after ordering something for both him and Hongbin. “But could I borrow a pen?”

 

The cashier looked over at the table, noticing where Ravi kept turning to. He smirked as he handed over the pen. “She’s cute.”

 

Ravi flushed, stammering out a protest because the others could be enamored all they wanted to but he certainly was not thinking of Chaeyeong in that way, but the cashier moved away to the coffee machines before Ravi could actually string any words together in the right order for a sentence.

 

He huffed and snatched up one of the napkins on the counter to write a short message to go with the doll he bought with the food, then folded it into a tiny square. Ravi looked over at Chaeyeong, taking in the way she was laughing at something Ken was going on about, and suddenly felt nervous about what he was planning. He felt his ears grow hot and he looked away from the table to find the little yarn doll staring back at him.

 

The rest of the dolls on the display watched him as well, their black eyes feeling oddly judgmental.

 

Ravi groaned under his breath, feeling ridiculous.

 

His idea was ridiculous.

 

He did not like Jeon Chaeyeong any more than he had the day before, nor was he any less jealous of her for receiving the bulk of Hongbin's daily attention. A cheap little doll and a note written on a napkin would not really change anything between them so what was he trying for really?

 

He slid the little square of napkin into the space between the doll's shirt and its body and made a little wish that he could find it in himself to at least try to like Jeon Chae a little.

 

Ravi took a deep breath, hid the doll in his pocket, and steeled himself as he carried the food over to the table.

 

 

The boys ended up having another meal with Jeon Chae instead of continuing their morning rush to school. Even N seemed to relax despite the way he had been rushing them all earlier. Perhaps he felt the need to allow the others more time with Hongbin’s human friend in hopes they would befriend her as well, thus easing their struggle in getting to know some of their classmates. He might have been wanting to see a side of human teenagers he was not really familiar with, taking the chance to relax and act like a ‘normal’ teenage boy instead of mothering the rest of the boys.

 

Or he just wanted to be the center of attention.

 

No matter what the reason, Leo was glad that N had found it in him to slow down a bit and enjoy their morning instead of stewing over the bad mood that had fallen over everyone at the motel.

 

N liked to pretend that he was always in control and able to guide the others into solving their problems. In reality, he was just as lost as the rest of them. They all turned to him first for guidance, since he seemed the natural leader and was the oldest of them, even being able to use magic for more than just a life force, but seeing them struggle and get upset worried him and made him too anxious to sleep at night. Leo had woken up many times before to find N up long after everyone else had fallen asleep.

 

Finding reasons to smile so freely had been difficult until recently, so Leo guided N closer to Jeon Chae while they walked to school together with her, and made sure to keep to the back of the group to provide less of a distraction. Leo even held Ravi back with him, keeping the younger man’s focus so that he never have the chance to get jealous over a lack of attention.

 

However, hanging back out of earshot of Ken and Hyuk seemed to be a mistake. The pair huddled over Chae’s phone, taking turns glancing over their shoulders at Leo, and whispering to the girl about whatever they were looking at on the screen. Chae looked amused and occasionally glanced back at Leo whenever the boys laughed at something the other said.

 

He had the feeling that they were gossiping about him and it gave him the jitters.

 

Leo huffed and linked arms with Ravi, startling the younger boy out of his ramblings about this song he had heard the other day at the store he went to with Ken. Hongbin and N jumped in surprise as a ruffled Ravi was deposited between them, but began laughing as they watched Leo make a beeline for Ken and Hyuk, who looked a little panicked at his approach.

 

“Run Hyuk!” Ken squealed, running away from Leo with Hyuk and Chae’s phone in tow.

 

The girl let out a peal of delighted laughter as Leo chased after the boys, the pair screaming over-dramatically every time Leo caught up to them and they passed the phone between each other to keep it out of Leo’s reach.

 

“Ken!” Leo spluttered, finally grabbing the younger man around the waist and picking him up to prevent him from running off again.

 

Ken shrieked with laughter, ignoring Leo’s slip of the tongue about his real name. The younger man had gone pink in the face, unable to catch his breath. Messing with Leo was fun when they managed to get such a major reaction out of him, and Ken was confident that he would be rescued by Hyuk, who still had the phone.

 

“Ah, noona~” the maknae said cheerfully as he jogged back towards the girl, making a show out of handing her back the cellphone.

 

“Sanghyuk, watch out!” Chae yelped before the maknae could reach her, grinning at the younger teen as Leo charged after him like a bull.

 

Ken, still in Leo’s grasp, shouted for help from the other boys.

 

“I’ll save you!” N laughed, running after them.

 

Ravi and Hongbin shared a look before shrugging. “Why not?”

 

Behind them, Jeon Chae watched on with bemusement as the boys made a ‘chasing train’ down the path to the school. Hyuk lead the way with Chae’s phone held aloft like some sort of banner.

 

All she could do was laugh and hurry after them.

 

Hyuk let out a shout as Leo finally caught him at the gates of the school, having dropped Ken a ways back for N to nearly trip over. Further behind, Hongbin and Ravi’s heads were just beginning to appear over the hill in the path.

 

“Hyung!” Hyuk whined, dragging the word out in a terribly nasally fashion. “You weren’t supposed to catch me yet!”

 

Leo ignored him and snatched the phone away from the maknae with a huff. “Why were you laughing at me? What did you do?”

 

Chae’s phone was locked, denying entrance to anyone without her password. Leo furrowed his brow as he stared at the lock screen, a cartoon skull and crossbones grinning back at him.

 

Why was it wearing a straw hat?

 

“Hyung, aren’t you listening?” Hyuk demanded, snatching the phone back. “You’re supposed to watch this in front of Chae-noona.”

 

Leo stared at the maknae for a long moment. “Why?”

 

Hyuk sighed and unlocked the phone. “Noona thinks you’re kind of intimidating – she told me. And Ken-hyung. We wanted to show her how cute you really are~”

 

“Not cute.” Leo mumbled, ears reddening.

 

“Watch this then.” Hyuk grinned, shoving the phone back at the older boy, a video already in play.

 

Leo could have melted as a montage of puppies was shown to him.

 

“Cute.” he whimpered, eyes wide.

 

Hyuk smirked at him. “Exactly.”

 

Leo scowled at the maknae once the video ended and shoved him lightly in the direction of the first years’ lockers. “You’re annoying. Go get your things for class and get away from me.”

 

“Don’t forget to give Noona her phone back!” Hyuk called as they parted ways. “Her locker’s on the far end from ‘Bin’s. I don’t think you’ll have to wait for her long – she wasn’t far behind us.”

 

Leo raised his hand in acknowledgment and hurried to the third years’ lockers, which were closer to the entrance, to get his things before heading over to the lockers where they usually waited after school for Hongbin to say his goodbyes to Chaeyeong at the end of the day.

 

He was not quite sure which one was hers, as she usually dropped off her things before Ravi and Hongbin did, so he settled against the wall opposite the lockers to wait for her to arrive in the hallway.

 

There were a few other students wandering around before class, making the most of their last few moments of freedom. Leo carefully avoided looking in the direction of a crowd of girls at the intersection of the halls.

 

They failed to notice him and he preferred that things stay that way.

 

Instead, they seemed focused on a locker at the end of the row opposite from Hongbin and Ravi’s end. They pointed at it occasionally and giggled to one another. The girl at the front of the pack looked particularly smug about something.

 

Leo looked over the locker, wondering what the fuss was all about and saw nothing unusual – apart from some sheets of paper peeking out from the slots in the metal.

 

Perhaps a love confession?

 

As Hyuk had expected, it did not take Chaeyeong long to arrive, Hongbin sandwiched between her and Ravi as usual. The oldest of the trio seemed more open to the girl than usual, replying to her occasionally with a stiff expression. Chae looked over the moon about the response and Hongbin seemed more relaxed in their company.

 

Leo was glad that they were making progress, but he had not expected to see Ravi opening up so easily after putting up such a fight against the girl’s charms.

 

Hongbin was so pleased with Ravi’s (somewhat) improved attitude that he was hanging all over him, teasing him lightly and whispering in his ear in a way he so rarely would in public.

 

For the first time since they had started high school, Ravi and Hongbin actually looked like a couple. Hongbin’s focus, for the time being at least, had shifted back to center on Ravi, giving the older boy the attention that he felt he had been missing.

 

Perhaps things would begin to balance out between them now that Hongbin seemed to had his fill of Jeon Chae’s presence, and that he would learn to spread his attention between them more equally.

 

The girl seemed untroubled by the turn of Hongbin’s attention and watched him and Ravi with something like realization on her face. She smiled and left them while they were distracted to go to her own locker.

 

The locker with paper stuffed in it.

 

Did that other girl have a crush on her? It wouldn’t be too surprising, Leo thought, glancing at the girls down the hall. Chaeyeong was fairly attractive and charming. She had certainly won over the boys easily enough (Ravi being an exception, but it seemed as if he was beginning to come around).

 

Chae opened her locker to find a dozen slips of paper waiting to scatter across the floor instead of an envelope with a love confession as Leo had thought.

 

The girl jumped back in surprise, eyes wide as she watched them fall about her feet.

 

Hongbin and Ravi, too preoccupied with each other, failed to notice.

 

As Chae knelt to collect them, one of the papers slid over towards Leo, one short word taking up the entire page in bold, striking letters.

 

 

Leo frowned at the paper and looked back at Chaeyeong, who was rifling through the rest of the papers with a deceptively blank expression.

 

Leo could not see what they said from his position across the hall, but he had an idea that their contents were not any nicer than the one before him.

 

He bent over to pick the paper up and heard the girls down the hall laughing.

 

Chaeyeong got a little closer as she moved to trash the papers and Leo caught a glimpse of more messages.

 

We saw you.

 

STAY AWAY

 

To him, they did not mean much, but he found himself clutching the paper so tightly in his hand that it was in danger of tearing beneath his nails.

 

Still, he said nothing to Chae, as it was not his business and he did not consider himself close enough to her to feel right about asking.

 

Instead, he called out to her quietly, just managing to catch her attention once all the papers were in the trashcan. The piece of paper he had picked up was hidden in his pocket.

 

Chae looked at him blankly for a moment before pasting on a friendly smile as she responded to his call.

 

“Taekwoon-ssi! Did you catch Sanghyuk in the end?”

 

“Yes.” he answered, pulling out her cellphone as evidence. “I came to return this. I… watched the video. It was cute.”

 

Chae looked a bit surprised to hear him speak, as it was the most she had heard from him yet, but managed to keep her smile. She had interacted with him the least in the past two times they had met, and was uncertain how to act around him. He intimidated her somewhat and she found herself feeling shy before him.

 

“Sanghyuk and Jaehwan said you would like it. Thank you for returning my phone.”

 

Leo bobbed in head in acknowledgment, once again falling silent, and left without another word before Hongbin and Ravi noticed him. He had to hurry to his classroom before N got impatient and tracked him down.

 

On his way, Leo passed the girls at the end of the hall, recognizing them now as the girls who were obsessed with getting him and his lovers to join them in their clique. They were watching Chae rejoin Hongbin and Ravi with no small amount of jealously in their expressions and the girl who had seemed so smug before now radiated frustration.

 

It seemed as if these girls had a goal to cause trouble for Jeon Chae, though she seemed relatively calm about what had just happened.

 

Leo almost pitied them. At this rate, they were going to invoke Hongbin’s wrath for messing with his friend – and their sweet-smiling boy was rather vindictive when it came to getting even.

 

For once, Hyuk almost wished that he could feel minor pain so that he could slap himself as a repercussion for being so stupid.

 

He had, yet again, threatened the secret that he and his lovers carried.

 

Though not intentionally, Hyuk had hurt one of his classmates.

 

For a day that had seemed to be turning around after breakfast, it certainly had turned terrible for him.

 

Hyuk had been invited to play with some of the other kids in class – to join an arm wrestling competition of all things.

 

Normally, they did not talk to him much, but Hyuk had seemed exceptionally cheerful this morning and it made him more approachable than usual. He had even found himself cheering on one of the girls who won a few rounds against another, rather burly guy with the ease of a champion before she got bored and left the game.

 

Hyuk had been invited to try his luck and, in his enthusiasm, forgotten that humans were a bit more fragile than he gave them credit for.

 

He just squeezed too hard.

 

The boy he was challenging had let out a pained shout and jerked away on instinct. Hyuk let go before he accidentally ripped the boy’s shoulder out of the socket.

 

The other kids were not alarmed and simply laughed at them. They had called out the boy for getting cocky for challenging Hyuk after winning too many matches in a row. They thought it was just a hand cramp.

 

But Hyuk knew better.

 

He took himself out of the competition at once and the whole thing seemed to fall apart as their break ended and class resumed, everyone quickly forgetting about the incident. Except for Hyuk.

 

He had returned to Sanghyuk the Unapproachable in his classmates’ eyes, and they went out of their way to avoid bumping into him as they headed out of the classroom for lunch.

 

(He may have been using his magic to buffer the interactions, as humans felt discomfort in the presence of magic.)

 

“Hey, Sanghyuk!”

 

(Well, most humans.)

 

Hyuk jumped as Chaeyeong appeared beside him, the magic pulsing around Hyuk seeming to not affect her in the slightest. He stared at her in bewilderment.

 

Hyuk prodded her lightly with his magic, wondering if he would get a reaction.

 

Chae twitched a bit and moved away from the boy like she had just received a static shock.

 

Like two same charges repelling each other.

 

She might have had a touch of magic about her that she was unaware of, enough so that it would affect her relationship with other humans. Any reason she had trouble finding friends could be attributed to that – and why Hongbin had been initially drawn to her.

 

Magic, unlike electrical charges, attracted its own kind.

 

Hyuk offered her a small smile. “Hey, Chae-noona. You’re not with the hyungs?”

 

Chae snorted. “Contrary to what you may believe, I’m not always with them.”

 

“Oh please, you’re more attached to Hongbin’s hip than Wonshik-hyung – and they’re sleeping together.” Hyuk countered and immediately froze when he realized what he revealed to her. He was kind of terrible at keeping secrets. “Wait, noona I –”

 

“I knew it!” Chae exclaimed delightedly. She grinned up at Hyuk.

 

“W-what?” Hyuk stammered, looking at her with wide eyes.

 

Chae smirked. “Oh, come on. I’ve had my suspicions for a while. They gravitate towards one another. They have whole conversations just by looking at each other. My parents used to do that when I got in trouble… Besides, Wonshik’s totally the jealous type. Now that you’ve confirmed it, I understand a little better why he’s so grumpy when I’m around.”

 

“… yeah. They’re not exactly subtle are they?” Hyuk smiled wryly, shoulders sagging. They were all extremely touch addicted to one another – none of them were subtle. He was relieved that Chae had taken the news well and had no bad judgments for them and their love. Hongbin and Ravi’s at least. “Um, Noona, do you think we could keep this between us for now? Hongbin might be upset that I told you before he could.”

 

“Sure thing. But, y’know, it is their relationship. They deserve to know if someone knows about their ‘secret’ relationship.” Chae looked at him pointedly.

 

Her stern face was kind of adorable, yet strangely intimidating at that.

 

“Yes, Noona.” Hyuk said meekly, ducking his head.

 

Chae beamed at him. “Great! Let’s go get lunch then!”

 

Hyuk had no chance to protest as Chae linked arms with him and dragged him off to the cafeteria.

 

The girl was strong.

 

Hyuk allowed himself to be pulled off by the smaller girl.

 

“So, Sanghyuk-ah,” Chae began lightly as they were in line to get lunch. “What has you so upset?”

 

Hyuk stilled, staring down at his hands to where an apple sat in his palm. “You noticed?” He turned his eyes to her, wondering how this girl, who barely knew him – who had only met him twice before – could read him so well already.

 

“You looked sad earlier when you were walking with the other first years.” Chae said quietly and pulled him along the line when he stood still for too long. She offered him a more reserved smile than her normal one. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. But sometimes a good rant does wonders.”

 

Hyuk laughed weakly. “Can you read the hyungs like that too?”

 

“Open books, all of you.” Chae teased as Hyuk walked her to the table where they were going to wait for Hongbin and Ravi. “It’s not such a terribly thing, in case you’re worried. It’s refreshing.”

 

“Glad you think so.” Hyuk fell silent for a long moment, playing with his drink while he gathered his thoughts. “Hongbin’s talked to you about how weird this move was, right? We’ve all… been friends so long it’s like we’ve forgotten how to make new ones. I guess it’s a little easier for the hyungs – none of them are alone in their years. I’m all alone in my class. It’s just lonely.”

 

Chae’s brow furrowed in concern. “They don’t try to talk to you?”

 

“Not really,” Hyuk shrugged. “I did play a game with some of the other kids this morning though…”

 

“Oh? Did you have fun?” she asked hopefully.

 

“Watching was fun.” Hyuk confirmed, then hesitated to continue. “When I got to play too… I accidentally hurt someone.”

 

“What were you playing?”

 

“It was an arm wrestling competition. I forgot my own strength. It… it made me a little scared of myself.” Hyuk admitted, head drooping.

 

Chae reached over and pushed his head up, hand firm beneath his chin.

 

“Sanghyuk-ah,” she said seriously, eyes stern. “Please don’t do that to yourself. The boys around here are always falling over one another here and getting themselves and each other hurt. Getting a little banged up playing a game isn’t anything out the usual. There’s nothing to be afraid of – especially not of yourself. You said it was an accident. Were you lying, or do you believe that you were telling the truth?”

 

“It was an accident.” Hyuk repeated, starting to feel a little better.

 

Chae offered him a kind smile and let his chin go. She hesitated a moment, then petted his hair a few times like he was a puppy. “Good! Then there’s nothing to worry about, is there?”

 

“No, Noona.” Hyuk smiled shyly, ears burning.

 

Chae relaxed back into her seat and they began their lunch peacefully. Occasionally, Hyuk found himself looking around for Hongbin and Ravi, wondering where they were and what was taking them so long. After seeing the way Hongbin acted around Jeon Chaeyeong, treating her like a precious gift, seeing her at school without him was disorienting.

 

“Sanghyuk,” Chae said suddenly, startling Hyuk out of his searching. “I’m sorry that you’re having such a hard time here. If it makes any difference… I don’t think you’ll have trouble finding a friend for too long. I think you’re a lot of fun to hang around with.”

 

“Then, would you consider me a friend too?” Hyuk asked, half teasing and half hopeful.

 

“Of course,” Chae grinned, eyes sparkling. “Like I would miss out on an opportunity like this! And you’ve got your hyungs too. Sanghyuk-ah… don’t think that you’re alone here. Seeing you in class isn’t really an option for us, but the boys are there for you, right? And I’ll be there for you too… if you want.”

 

Hyuk beamed at her. “Thank you, Chae-noona. You shouldn’t deny Hongbin’s praises so much. I think you’re pretty great too~”

 

Chae flushed, covering her face yet again.

 

“Honestly, I feel like I ought to be thanking you. I haven’t had an easy time of making friends either. I’m grateful to make a new one like you.” she admitted in a mumble so quiet that Hyuk nearly missed it.

 

Hyuk raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “You’re so nice though. Why is it so hard for you to make friends?” He winced. “Wait, I didn’t mean to sound so accusing. Sorry.”

 

“Nah, it’s fine.” Chae waved him off and shrugged. “I guess I’m just kind of… awkward? I dunno. I made friends well enough as a kid, but we all fell out of touch when we started high school.”

 

“Noona… are you saying that you haven’t made a friend since middle school?” Hyuk asked weakly. Chae’s silence was answer enough for him. “How… could you even stand it?”

 

“Not well?” Chae tried for humor and failed. She looked at her hands as she spoke, playing with her fingers as she found the right words for what she wanted to say, mimicking Hyuk’s earlier posture. “I thought about it a lot when everything seemed too much to bear. It was so lonely I felt like I was going to go crazy. I did whatever I could to stay around people. I tried talking to my classmates and was always the first to ask about who wanted to join my team in gym. I talked to whoever I could between classes and went to games and a few parties even though I didn’t really like that sort of thing. Nothing seemed to work for me and I began to feel like I was all alone even in crowds. Like Rose did in Titanic.”

 

“Who?” Hyuk blinked.

 

Chae shook her head in disbelief. “Poor child. It’s like, the must see sad romance movie of our generation. I’ll have to get you to watch it sometime. Rose said that, sometimes she felt like she was standing in a room full of people, screaming and no one even notices. I started wondering if something was wrong with me. Was I too boring for anyone to find interest in me? Was I annoying? Did everyone just want me to leave them alone? Did I smell bad?”

 

Hyuk snorted. “Somehow I doubt that was it. You smell nice – like apples.”

 

“My favorite shampoo,” Chae smirked slightly, flipping her hair exaggeratedly and succeeding in lightening the mood that time. Hyuk was caught by a sudden wave of apple scented air and found himself leaning closer to the girl before him.

 

He caught himself and coughed a bit nervously. “It’s very nice.”

 

Chae smiled at him. “Thanks! After a while, I just decided that if I was awkward, then I couldn’t be the only person in the world who was. I don’t think anyone knows how to be perfect – some people just learn how to be happy. Being a person isn’t easy and figuring out how to make things work for you generally takes a lifetime, so I don’t want to give up on trying to make friends. I figure, since I’ve got two cool guys like you and Hongbin to like me, then I’ve finally begun to learn how to do this whole thing better now.”

 

Chae grinned at him, eyes closing and nose scrunching up cutely and Hyuk felt his breathing stutter at the sight.

 

“R-right. Yes. You’re great.” Hyuk stammered, confusing even himself. “Wait, what?”

 

Chae raised an eyebrow at him. “… I don’t know.”

 

Hyuk stuffed his mouth full of food to avoid making an even bigger fool out of himself. Being around Chaeyeong made him feel like an idiot and he was not quite sure why.

 

“Hyuk-ah! Chae!” a familiar voice called, saving them from the awkward moment. Hongbin waved at them as he and Ravi finally arrived, the latter carrying a stack of books in his arms.

 

Chae gasped in excitement. “Hongbin! Are you going to read the rest of the series?”

 

“The first book was great.” Hongbin grinned as he sat down beside her. “Hyuk, read this later.”

 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was shoved unceremoniously at the maknae, who stared at it in bewilderment.

 

Who the hell was Harry Potter?

 

“What were you guys talking about?” Ravi asked after a moment, turning to Chae for once for the answer.

 

She looked surprised by the sudden change of heart from him and Hongbin looked pleased.

 

“Sanghyuk was telling me about an arm wrestling competition he and his classmates were having.” Chae answered, struggling to hold Ravi’s gaze as she spoke. She had been trying to get on his good side for so long but now she did not seem to know how to interact with him without feeling awkward. She seemed to steal herself for a moment and managed to meet Ravi’s gaze and hold it, a mischievous expression that might have belonged on Hongbin or Hyuk finding its way to her face. “Actually, from what Sanghyuk was telling me, I think he may have been bragging a bit. Is this kid really as strong as he claims he is?”

 

Ravi laughed before he could stop himself. “Hyuk? Definitely. You ought to challenge him yourself if you wanna find out.”

 

Chae seemed enthused by the idea.

 

“Wonshik,” Hongbin began, tone warning.

 

Ravi just grinned at him cheekily, wiggling his eyebrows, and Hongbin puffed out his cheeks in annoyance, diving over the table at the older boy and sending him flailing away. Hyuk and Chae were sent into peals of laughter at the sight.

 

“What do you say, Sanghyuk-ah?” Chae giggled, dodging Hongbin’s dangerous elbows. “Wanna have a go against a real champion?” She raised her eyebrows teasingly.

 

“A real champ?” Hyuk smirked, setting his elbow on the table, arm in position to play.

 

“Of course,” the girl sniffed haughtily as she slipped her hand into his. “I’ve won every match I’ve ever been in – all two of them.”

 

Hyuk was too busy laughing to fight against her pushing and quickly lost their first match.

 

Hongbin turned away from wrestling with Ravi to cheer Chaeyeong on, Ravi doing the same for Hyuk. They were fairly good sports about the whole thing, cheering and booing when appropriate and ignoring the fact that Hyuk was barely using a fraction of his strength against the girl before him.

 

Chaeyeong had no qualms about playing dirty though and, as she had in their first game, did her best to make him giggle and squirm to make him lose his concentration and the match too. Occasionally, her free hand snuck across the table to poke at his stomach and ribs, finding all of his ticklish spots with ease.

 

The older boys did their best to sabotage the others ‘team’, though Ravi was a bit more reserved than Hongbin when it came to mischief. Well, against Hongbin at least.

 

He was putty in the flower-boy’s hands.

 

In Hyuk’s opinion, Ravi was the easiest of the hyungs to tease and Hongbin never had any trouble getting the older boy so flustered that he could barely see straight.

 

Most of Hyuk’s losses though were primarily caused by distraction, which Chae proved to be the real champion of. She pulled out all of the stops against Hyuk, making ridiculous faces at him and squawking at him whenever she lost a match herself.

 

Their lunch table was probably the loudest in the cafeteria, what with the hyungs yelling at each other between their cheers and Chaeyeong keeping up a running commentary and panicked yelps. Even Hyuk added his voice to the throng just before he lost a match.

 

Not that he lost all of them.

 

He was too competitive to throw every match.

 

But still, he found himself completely floored by the girl at times.

 

Her hand felt so small in his – the smallest hand he had ever held. All of his lovers, their hands were large like his, patches on their hands rough against his skin in places where Chaeyeong’s were soft and smooth. Yet again, she had made him feel off balance without doing anything at all. Even Ken, the willowiest of them all, didn’t seem as delicate as the girl before him.

 

(Though, Hyuk had a feeling that the girl was not all that fragile – she probably failed to realize it, but she was squeezing his hand so tightly that even Hyuk could feel the pressure of it.)

 

Chaeyeong grinned at him again after winning another match, Hongbin cheering at her side and a flush of exertion high on her cheekbones.

 

Pretty, Hyuk thought dazedly.

 

The thought surprised him, and his hand fell limply to the table as Chaeyeong released him to high-five Hongbin.

 

She yelped in pain and then laughed at herself. “I think I challenged Sanghyuk to too many rematches.” She shook out her hand, which had begun to cramp.

 

Hongbin cooed at her and took her hand in his to massage it while they talked about the second Harry Potter book that Hongbin had just started.

 

Judging by Ravi’s thunderous expression, he had noticed Hyuk’s sudden realization and the maknae felt his chest grow tight with guilt. He ducked his head, avoiding his lover’s gaze.

 

Hyuk had never really given much thought to girls, having never met one worth consideration before.

 

But Jeon Chae! He found her to be kind and funny and, for the first time since he had been welcomed into his lovers’ arms, Hyuk found someone outside of their group to be pretty.

 

So pretty it brought a blush to his face and a skip to his heartbeat.

 

He felt like such a traitor for feeling that way.

 

Ravi stood abruptly and stormed off, Hyuk curling in on himself as the older boy went. A little doll, made of yarn and with long, dark hair, fell to the floor beside Hyuk’s feet.

 

Hongbin smiled nervously at Chaeyeong as he stood, pulling Hyuk to his feet as well. “Sorry, Chae-ah. Wonshik – he’s a sore loser I think. We’ll go talk him into calming down some! I hope you won’t mind going back to class alone…”

 

“Not at all,” Chae said weakly, barely managing to finish her sentence before the boys were running after Ravi.

 

Alone at her table yet again, Chae slumped, gaze dropping to the ground.

 

The little yarn doll stared back at her sadly.

 

She picked it up with a sigh. “Why do I feel like everything just got messed up all over again?”

 

The note Ravi had written that morning to go along with it had slipped out unnoticed, the napkin sliding across the floor and into a spill of water, ink seeping into the fibers and spreading into an unreadable mess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Chaeyeong-ah,

 

I’m sorry I’m such a jerk. I want to try being friends from now on, even if it’s difficult.

 

-Wonshik)