The two boys arrive at Renjuns house, both clicking the button at the same time signalling the bus to stop. The vehicle slows down, eventually to a halt while the doors click open and glide along the side of door frame. They step out to meet with the fresh air and yell a short “thank you!” to the bus driver, and as they enter his house, Donghyuck runs straight towards the refrigerator. Renjun only manages to stumble past the door, closing it before throwing himself onto the couch in the middle of the living room. Anyone could see he’s still taken aback from what happened earlier. Subconsciously wearing a frown, he buries his cheeks into his palms and continues to worry about what would happen if Jaemin had recognised him in his maths class, would he want to meet at the back of the school and provoke a fight for everyone to see? It is Jaemin after all, one of the most strongest and popular students in school. Sometimes he wonders why this kind of algorithm exists, why a building made for education can turn into such hierarchical situations. Nonetheless he sighs, convincing himself that dwelling on the matter won’t make things better, and maybe talking to Donghyuck will solve the problem.

“You’re gonna get fat,” Renjun shouts at his friend without having to look up to know he’s digging through the large tub of strawberry ice cream.

“No I’m not. If anything I’m malnourished right now,” Donghyuck argues as he brings the tub and two spoons to accompany Renjun on the couch. He sits down with a soft thud and grins while handing him a spoon.

“Thanks,” Renjun accepts the silverware and begins to dig in himself.

“You’re still thinking about what happened right?”

“Yeah, you know me. That was probably one of the scariest situations I’ve encountered in my life,” he admits.

“They’re not scary, just a bunch of . You don’t know how angry I got when he just knocked you over and walked past you like it was nothing!”

Renjun could only sigh in response, and he could only agree he was just knocked over like nothing.

“I’m just worried he’ll see me in class tomorrow and call me out or something,”

“I doubt it, he’s pretty quiet to be starting up a fight. Although he’s eerily quiet,” Donghyuck says as he plops a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth, “As long as I’m around you don’t have anything to worry about.” he says, as he flashes his best friend a pink stained smile from the strawberry ice cream. Renjun chuckles at his remark and dorky attitude, his unique way of cheering him up always seems to work.

“Gross, but thanks,” he expresses.

“I swear to god that Jaemin, he’s dodgy as hell. We don’t even know the best of him and the girls are all attracted to that ‘mysterious’ side of him,” Donghyuck put in quotes, “And did you see how long he was staring at you? Why was he staring at you for so long anyway?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m worried he’s trying to pick a fight with me or something. It’s like he would threaten me,” Renjun adds onto his statement.

“Rest assured Jaemin wouldn’t pick a fight with you…” the younger glances at the older, worried if he just accidentally something wrong.

“Hahahah that’s true. I’m not a worthy opponent to fight with him,” he leans back into the cushioned couch, and lets his head sink slowly into the material. Soft, like a cloud. It was only 8:45 pm, Renjun had checked, but he already feels sleepy. He leans into the other’s shoulder, transferring all the weight to his head and moves into a comfortable position. A thought crosses his mind, he remembers it’d been lingering for a while now and now is the perfect chance to mention it. He calls for his name. Donghyuck hums in response.

“Why do you hate Mark so much anyway?” he questions. Donghyuck stops for a while, even cocking his head a bit, as if to genuinely ponder on the idea only to be met with a quicker thought that answers his question.

“He’s the leader of them. That makes the leader the worst one,” he answers simply. It makes sense to Renjun, in order to be the leader you have to out feature all the others, making Mark the one excelling in...well, whatever they were.

“Not to mention he’s always pissing me off in class. Like throwing my pencil into the bin, or just making annoying comments on my answers for questions?” he complains. “And don’t even get me started on his rumors. It’s like he’s responsible for everything involved with a girl.” Again, a fair argument in Renjun’s opinion as he often sees the younger being irritated at Mark’s little remarks. Like insulting him or constantly disagreeing in group arguments, but he also notices Mark rarely bothers to annoy anyone other than Donghyuck. Not sure if it’s target bullying or something else.

“Do you ever think about why he’s always annoying you?”

“Because he’s annoying. What other reason is there?”

○°

They arrive at school the next morning, walking sluggishly as if they had been knocked out last night yet the only thing they did was to play games until 2 am. With only ten minutes left until school starts, both agree on skipping the non compulsory homeroom time and go straight to their first class - maths.

The door creaks open as they head to their seats next to each other. Donghyuck notices Mark isn’t here yet...as usual, and probably arriving late at that. Renjun doesn’t seem to have much on his mind as a full night with his best friend seemed to destress him quite well.

“Did you do your homework for page 37?” he asks the younger.

“Nope, I was about to do it last night but guess what we were doing. Speaking of which, I was gonna ask you for your book to copy,” he replies.

“Wow. Why am I even surprised at this point,” Renjun exclaims as he hands over his textbook. He sighs as he finally feels relaxed about yesterday after dwelling on it so much to the point where he almost cried talking to Donghyuck, and is only glad to have a reliable friend like him. That isn’t to say Renjun isn’t the slightest bit worried though, as he is with interacting with most other people. He checks his watch - 3 minutes left till class starts.

Renjun watches as the door creaks open to reveal another student marching in. He freezes at the sight, and the world seems to stop as the face he recognises so well reveals himself from the opening door. Renjun already feels his back breaking into a cold sweat. Fearing the presence of this man, he’s quick to turn his head down and avoid all eye contact with him. Maybe he’s imagining it, but he senses the same feeling of someone gazing intently at him like yesterday, and it’s all the more noticeable in a small and quiet classroom like this. Donghyuck turns to his friend to look at what’s going on, only to be met with a timid Renjun with his head down like he’s in fear of something. He looks up to see a tall man that turns out to be Jaemin walking across the front of the classroom with his eyes on Renjun, only to end up looking at Donghyuck as the latter mutters an audible, “.”

The two friends glance at each other, one looking as if he’s guilty for something and the other had the gaze of a tiger about to finish a prey. The younger gives a reassuring smile showing that he can handle this, if anything happens.

Jaemin shuffles along the desks to his seat, diagonally left of Donghyuck. What luck, that he discovers he sits so close to Renjun. His eyes lighten at the thought of being able to observe Renjun easily, as whenever the boy faces left he will be met with his face. He snaps himself back to reality as he questions himself why he’s so interested in that matter. Visible or not, full frontal view or not, he’s still Renjun and Jaemin is still Jaemin, nothing  about their roles have changed and he certainly doesn’t fit in with him. He decides come to a conclusion that Renjun really is in his maths class like Mark said, but the boy somehow always manages to catch his attention from the corner of his eye. He recalls how Renjun’s face looked like it was shining as soon as he stepped into the classroom. Maybe it was the the paleness of his skin that had been brought out by the sunlight, or the lamp that directly shone over him which made him glow all that much more. Whatever it was, it made his eyes go straight to him first.

As Jaemin sits down, he finds himself glancing over towards Renjun constantly, and subconsciously analyses the way his hair fall on his face and curls at the ends. How his frame turns out to be so small and delicate, and the fact his nose bridge is actually very tall. This continues on, flickering his eyes there and back every so often as time goes on. By now he realises that the amount of times he turns to look at him exceeds a normal amount. Jaemin would often fall asleep as soon as he settles down in his desk yet today is an exception, where he’s missing his sleep to observe the boy. Unaware he's so distracted, he continues to make mental notes of every little thing he notices. Did he do this when he first learned of Donghyuck's existence too? It's hard to say that he even paid half the amount of attention to him than with Renjun right now, but maybe it's because this boy intrigues him far more than Mark’s little crush.

I'm just looking at him for today, learning about Donghyuck's friend. Nothing changes. I'll sleep tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that. He won't interest me anymore as soon as the next day comes. Today I'm just learning about him. Jaemin convinces himself that this is nothing special, although the fact that he's bothering to stay awake is out of character in itself.

But how is it that Renjun, a weak boy he saw from yesterday managing to distract him so much? This isn't like Jaemin at all. Perhaps his skin really does resemble a glowing light, that you can't help but draw your attention to. And maybe his scent as he brushed past him yesterday reminds him of heaven, Jaemin only recalls now, and holds such a familiar smell that is so indifferent to his scent today. His name, Renjun that rung so flawlessly as it left Mark’s lips yesterday had begun to repeat itself over and over in his head before he realised, transferring that same ringing tone to his mind. Renjun, Renjun, Renjun, Renj...was his name even Renjun? He recalls himself lying on his bed last night where he repeated the name to no end, until it began to sound foreign, until the name eventually loses all meaning. Out of all the names he's heard in his life, Renjun seems to peak his interest in a way no other name does, and he begins to question the amount of attention he's giving to a single person’s name. Maybe, that was why he ended up staring at Renjun for so long yesterday. All the little details he could see at the first glance had held his attention solid but he doesn't know for sure, why he ended up looking at him for so long. And again, he ended up being so distracted that he barely managed to mutter a, “Is that all?” in reply to Renjun’s apology. Truthfully, Jaemin didn't even know he knocked someone over, yet he was met with the scream of Donghyuck demanding an apology to his friend, where he turned around to discover the boy on the ground. He didn't feel sorry, nor victimised, only time seemed to stop at the discovery as his mind blanked out for a millisecond.

The teacher’s voice suddenly sounds, “Huang Renjun! Can you please come to my desk...hello?” Renjun’s attention didn't get caught but Jaemin’s did, at the sound of the other’s name. The teacher calls a few more times and to his surprise, the boy still doesn't seem to hear. He sees this as a chance, like a chance to test the sound of his name against his own mouth. He ponders on the decision a little, before calling out his name for the first time.

“Renjun,” Jaemin says in his smooth, quiet yet audible voice. Curiosity peaks in his heart as to what kind of reaction would follow. He notices Renjun jolting at the deep sound of his name, and quickly flicks his head in his direction. That's the first time today, Jaemin records, that he finally looks his way, and the reason for him to be avoiding Jaemin’s direction would be; out of fear.

Renjun freezes at the sight of him, and his expression visibly darkens. He could feel his palms getting hotter and damper as he deliberates why Jaemin must've called him.

“...y-yes?” Renjun stammers and his breath is slightly shaky. This catches Donghyuck's attention as he recognises the voice of his best friend. He's quick to also turn to the direction of Jaemin, which shocks him to discover the voice belongs to the the latter. Ready to take on whatever Jaemin has in mind, he doesn't fail to make his presence known with a sharp glare and a crack of his neck. However, the receiver’s not in the slightest bit intimidated, knowing Donghyuck could be easily knocked over by a light punch of his own. He is Na Jaemin after all.

“The teacher,” Jaemin says simply, flicking his eyes to the teacher’s desk then back onto Renjun.

“A-ah, right...thanks…” he finishes, then stands up to leave for the teacher. The tone in his voice clearly shaken and nervous, as if he's never been so nervous about something in his life before. Jaemin could only hold back his laughter, letting out a little chuckle in a belittling way. He's still timid, and slightly hopeless like Jaemin remembers from yesterday, proving him no different today. In this world there are people worthy enough for Jaemin to worry about, and Renjun proves himself less than worthy with his shy and quiet character, but why is it that he still finds his eyes following the boy to the teacher’s desk?

He observes how his dark hair bounces softly against his forehead, how he's even smaller when standing up, and wonders how much smaller would he be if he were to stand next to Jaemin.

As Renjun makes his way back to his desk, he finds his eyes still glued onto the latter. The other however, notices this and instantly feels obliged to keep his head down as he continues down the length of his path. With a pair of cold eyes on him, he finds it difficult to concentrate on the rest of the class. At times he would find that the strong stare on him has been released, so he glances back to check, only to be met with a pair of eyes on him again. The stare doesn't seem direct, and is unlikely that it contains any special or deep feelings, but rather it’s just a thorough scan on the outer appearance before deciding whether he's interesting enough to keep observing or not.

And Renjun is sure, that Jaemin isn't actually staring at him with much intent, but it only looks that way because of his naturally menacing eyes combined with the mysterious image he holds. Renjun is sure that after today, the staring will definitely stop. Surely, Jaemin is going to lose interest and by tomorrow things will be back to the way it was - how he likes it - unnoticed by Na Jaemin who for some reason today, keeps making him feel strange.