July 2015

Hakyeon was feeling pretty nervous as he stepped into the high school. He was there to participate in a variety show where he would spend the next 3 days as a student going through high school life. It wasn’t the classes that were intimidating to Hakyeon – believe it or not he was pretty book-ish in school and did pretty well for his examinations – but the lack of knowing who would be his fellow guests on the show. Despite his bubbly and outgoing personality, Hakyeon was inwardly quite a shy person, and his humorous, entertaining side often needed to be ‘forced’ out in situations that he was not the most comfortable in – situations such as this. It didn’t help that at the back of his mind, Hakyeon could hear his CEO’s expectations of putting VIXX out there and gaining more fans through individual projects. Hence with all his worrying, Hakyeon only managed to get a couple of hours’ sleep the previous night, and he hoped that the dark circles around his eyes would not show up too badly.

Hakyeon was fitted with his microphone and touched up on his make up and styling before being told to head down to the classroom at the end of the corridor. Hakyeon obediently followed the director’s instructions, trying not to look too awkward walking alone down the corridor with various cameras trained on him.

He was happy to see the variety show’s anchor ‘student’ Kangnam waiting for him in the classroom, and greeted him warmly. Of course he knew Kangnam – a seasoned variety show host and entertainer – VIXX had also met with him a couple of times at concerts and charity events. And of course, Kangnam had to make fun of his skin colour the minute after they greeted each other.

Hakyeon took a seat at the table and was about to settle in when the classroom door slid open…

Hakyeon felt a wave of relief when he recognized the newcomer. Jung Eunji was a familiar face. And now actually looking at her up close, this wave of relief somehow turned to a full-blown consciousness of his actions and self-awareness, including his sudden skip and increase in his heartbeat.

They shook hands as they greeted each other politely, and Hakyeon waited for her to be seated before he sat down again. He felt a sudden rush of excitement for the variety show to start, and had a tingling intuition in his gut that he would be getting to know Jung Eunji more over the next few days.

The other cast members came in slowly and were introduced. They continued making small talk amongst themselves as the filming stopped for the camera and production crew to set up for the next shoot. As they were seated according to their ages around the table, Hakyeon did not get a chance to speak much with Eunji. But somehow while he was in conversation with the others, his eyes kept straying and landing on her, as if to capture every action and movement that she made. What’s wrong with you Hakyeon, he chided himself. Concentrate!

“Hakyeon and Eunji, you will be in class 1/1.”

Hakyeon and Eunji gathered their belongings and waited around the set as they prepared to make their appearance in the classroom and in front of all the students. Hakyeon made light conversation with Eunji to get to know her a little better, and Eunji responded warmly. She also suggested addressing each other informally, which Hakyeon was happy to agree to. They talked mainly of common topics that they had – their group, showcases and comebacks, and mutual friends. The conversation carried on as they followed the director’s assistant to their allocated classroom. Curious glances and excited whispers were thrown their way, but Hakyeon barely noticed them. Eunji felt slightly uncomfortable with all the attention, but she was glad for Hakyeon’s small talk to help take some of her nervousness away.

Both idols were greeted with cheers from the class when they stepped in. Hakyeon smiled to himself as he heard Eunji introduce herself methodically, as with many years of practice of introducing as part of a group. He felt strangely connected to her in some way, even though it was barely 2 hours since he first got to know her more.

Hakyeon and Eunji were shown to their seats, and class started properly.

As the day went on, both idols concentrated hard and put their efforts into studying with the other students. Hakyeon was surprised to find that he was actually starting to enjoy it; something the Hakyeon of 10 years ago would never have agreed. Of course, he carried on as per usual as the life of the party, talking and cracking jokes with his new classmates. He was pleasantly surprised to find that Eunji also caught on to his jokes, and played along with him as well. Some of her expressions were even funny, and Hakyeon found himself relaxing and enjoying her company more.

Hakyeon was surprised at how well they seemed to have hit off. He started it off by inviting their class to an ice cream treat by Eunji, who gamely obliged. As the day wore on, Hakyeon noticed that Eunji seemed like she was getting tired. He only had time to ask a quick, “Are you alright?” before their Japanese class started and the cameras rolled. Eunji nodded and gave him a smile, but Hakyeon could see that it did not quite reach her eyes.

However, Eunji’s mood positively brightened when she heard that they were to have PE lesson. Hakyeon enjoyed being paired with her for the challenge, which of course they eventually won against the other students, despite Eunji making many mistakes. At one point after making a mistake, Eunji grabbed onto both his hands in embarrassment as Hakyeon shouted her name in mock anger. Hakyeon knew the cameras were filming and the entire class was watching, but he could not help letting a smile escape and the butterflies in his stomach flutter as Eunji held him and apologized profusely.

Hakyeon and Eunji were separated for the rest of the school day, and it was not until the end of the day when Hakyeon and Eunji were alone, just the two of them. They had just ended their ‘exchange student meeting’, and some of the camera and production crew went to set up in the dorms, while the others packed up. The other idols were heading off to their dorms, but Eunji had to stay behind near the film location to wait for her manager to bring her toothbrush, which she had forgotten to pack. She did not think it would be appropriate for him to search for her near the girls’ dorms.

“Ya, it’s okay, you don’t have to wait with me you know. It’s not that far off to the dorms, I can walk there myself.” Eunji told Hakyeon.

Hakyeon shrugged and sat down on the steps next to Eunji. “It’s no problem. It’s late anyway, and I do hope to still have a fellow classmate with me tomorrow.”

Eunji gave him a look, and then smirked. “You’re afraid of the night right?”

“No I’m not! I’m not that easily scared!”

Eunji laughed. “That’s not what I’ve heard. But okay, suit yourself. Just don’t blame me if you don’t get enough beauty sleep.”

Hakyeon chuckled. “Trust me, I think I’ll be getting more sleep tonight than I did the whole of last week.” He paused. “Who did you hear from about me anyway?”

Eunji was about to answer when she stopped and closed . She shook her head. “It’s no one. I mean, I think I read some magazine about VIXX before…” Her voice trailed off.

Hakyeon looked at her with a grin. “Uh huh. Didn’t know you read magazine articles about VIXX.”

Eunji blushed. “Well, it happened to be lying around in our living room and I was bored…”

“Ya, will it kill you to just say that you wanted to know more about VIXX? It’s not that embarrassing you know. We have a lot of fans.”

“Sure. But, it’s kind of like you admitting that you actively read about Apink in magazines. Isn’t that embarrassing?”

“No, who says so?” Hakyeon challenged Eunji. And before she could stop him, he took a deep breath and said loudly, “I READ ABOUT APINK IN MAGAZINES AND I LOVE IT!”

Eunji slapped his arm, but could not hide her giggles. “Shut up! You’ll cause a scandal.”

“There’s no one here, relax.”

Eunji let out an exaggerated sigh. “Where’s my manager? I want to get away from you quickly,” she joked.

Hakyeon grasped his clothes on the right chest in mock disappointment. “You. Don’t. Like. My. Company?” He gasped and pretended that he was dying.

Eunji laughed out loud. “Are you sure you’re a singer? You should totally be an actor.”

Hakyeon straightened up and pat himself on his shoulder. “Yeah I know right.” He flashed Eunji a beaming smile.

Eunji looked at him for a moment, then looked away chuckling, “So embarrassing.”

Hakyeon gave her a hurt look. “Wa Eunji, I thought after a whole day of being classmates we were tight…” he whined as he pointed his two index fingers together and pulled them apart. “It’s disconnecting; our friendship is breaking,” he said.

He was met with Eunji’s swift ‘cutting’ motion with her hand between his two fingers.

-----

Hakyeon walked Eunji to her dorm after she collected her toothbrush, and they continued to trade light banter and jokes. When they finally reach the ground floor of Eunji’s dorm, she could barely stand straight, doubled over in fighting her laughter. Hakyeon was slightly better, and was amused at how amused Eunji got.

“Seriously, that wasn’t even funny!” Hakyeon commented as Eunji tried to control her laughter. “Really, it isn’t,” Hakyeon insisted as Eunji shook her head weakly and tried to catch her breath.

“Oh my, Hakyeon. I have never laughed so much continuously before.”

Hakyeon gave her a wide grin. “My pleasure. I aim to please.”

Eunji looked at him and shook her head, giving him a shy smile. “Well, thank you for walking me. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Sure. Have a good night, classmate.”

“Goodnight.” Eunji smiled with her matching eye smile before she her heel and walked into the building. Hakyeon felt his heart flutter as he returned her smile, realizing that he still continued to smile as he watched her enter her building before turning to walk towards his own dorm.

-----

“Wa, the dorm is not bad,” Hakyeon commented as his desk mate Mingyu showed him the room. He settled into his bed and unpacked his things to prepare for shower.

When Hakyeon came back, he saw Mingyu on his bed fiddling with his phone. He connected his own phone to the charger and scrolled through the pictures he took that day – as his usual routine before bed. He smiled when he got to one of the photos. Eunji had insisted that she had to get a photo with him in his ‘cute school uniform’, as she described it. So there it was, both of them grinning at the camera. Hakyeon felt his heart skip a beat again as he contemplated the photo. He quickly typed in a caption and uploaded it to his SNS account before he lost his nerve. He heaved a sigh after it was posted, and put down his phone to get ready for bed.

“Do you have a crush on anyone?” Hakyeon asked his roommate several moments later.

“Me? No,” Mingyu replied with a laugh.

“Well, I think you are the most handsome male student in class,” Hakyeon told him honestly. Mingyu laughed as he stammered his thanks in embarrassment.

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AN: These next few chapters will be pretty much Eunji and Hakyeon centric as it kind of follows what I imagined their off-screen chemistry and friendship formation during Off To School was like. Absolutely loved that few episodes! Eunguk fans, bear with me for these chapters because it's going to be important for the rest of the story.