Seungri mouthed the words that had come out of Seung Hyun’s mouth. My freshman. It just kept repeating in his head over and over again, looping endlessly.
He felt his heart begin to beat quickly, his palms sweaty. He couldn’t tell if the physiological changes in him were residual effects of the threat of Kwon Jiyong’s blow, or a reaction to the sudden appearance of Seunghyun, who stood there holding tight to Jiyong’s arm, with a scowl on his face.
“Aish,” Ji Yong exclaimed as he pulled his hand back. He looked from Seunghyun to Seungri before crossing his arms.
“Tell your freshman to watch his step… and stop being so annoying,” He spat before turning on his heel.
“Seunghyun let out a breath, perhaps of relief, Seungri couldn’t tell. He turned in the opposite direction and Seungri decided to follow.
“Yah, Seunghyun!” Seungri heard Jiyong yell echo through the hall. The freshman turned around to see Jiyong standing in the middle of the aisle, eyes fixed on Seunghyun. He became far less irate as he stared. It was then that Seungri realized just how much of the boy’s size was just his presence, his actual physical build being far from substantial. He could see something akin to disappointment flash across Jiyong’s face before he turned around to find Seunghyun had ignored the slim boy's call completely, and had continued to walk down the hallway.
“Hey, what was that about?” Seungri panted as his bag jostled on his back and his legs rushed to catch up with Seunghyun’s strides, which were longer and quicker.
“I mean, what do you mean I’m ‘your’ freshman?”
Seunghyun continued walking.
“Why did you say anything, anyway? You didn’t have to,” Seungri continued to walk at Seunghyun’s side.
“Are you an idiot?” he heard Seunghyun grumble under his breath rhetorically, and turned to see Seung Hyun was still looking ahead.
Half of him wished he would just look at him and the other half was just insulted.
“No, I-“
“Who goes and ticks off Kwon Ji Yong and doesn’t make a run for it.”
Seungri didn’t treat it like the rhetorical question it was. “Well, I suppose someone who didn’t know it was his bookbag. Someone like me. Besides-”
“You’re annoying.”
Seungri bit his tongue, holding back a retort he hadn’t thought through yet. They walked a couple paces before he decided to respond.
“Well, since I’m so annoying, why did you call me your freshman?”
“Jiyong. If I didn’t say something like that, he really wouldn’t have let you be.”
Seungri started to lose appreciation for the way his heart jumped as Seunghyun’s lips moved, the way his eyesight moved along Seunghyun’s jawline. He didn’t like it at all. He tried to stay nonchalant about everything.
“Well, I didn’t need your help. I would’ve been just fine.”
Seunghyun kicked a rock on the sidewalk. “Of course, you would’ve.”
Seungri followed his sunbae for a while before realizing the time. He had to get home soon, so he quickened his pace for a while, walking slightly ahead of Seunghyun, who had taken to staring at the leaves that hung above them from trees lining either side of the sidewalk as they walked, his mind off somewhere.
“Youngbae used to say-”
“Hmnh?” Seungri asked, not expecting Seung Hyun to try to make conversation.
“Nothing,” Seung Hyun said, becoming aware of his companionship.
Seungri wondered about it. Young Bae. How close were they...? The younger boy saw the intersection where their paths diverged just off in the distance.
“Well… Thank you… Seunghyun-ssi.”
“Hyung” Seunhyun said looking at Seungri for the first time. Seungri stopped as he looked back. He felt Seunghyun’s gaze reach through him and make a jolt run through his spine.
“What?”
“You might as well call me your hyung, since you’re my freshman now.”
“Why would you want that? You obviously think I’m annoying,” Seungri mumbled a tad bitterly.
“You are,” Seung Hyun began walking again as he paused, rethinking his decision, “But I already put my name on you now.”
The younger boy wasn’t so sure Seunghyun had to stick to his choice, and he made a face he had learned from his little sister, one expressing the utmost doubt.
“You can refuse if you want to. It makes no difference to me if you get beaten to death.”
Seunghyun continued looking in his eyes, making him fidget. He felt his clothes start to feel tighter, like he was far too hot, like he could barely breathe.
“Whatever. It’s up to you,” Seunghyun continued.
They reached the intersection as Seungri gripped the straps of his book bag tightly, swallowing hard. He spoke quietly before turning the corner and sprinting away.
“Annyeong… Hyung."
Seungri to his street just in time to run into his next-door neighbor.
“Ugh,” he heard for the third time that day. Seungri looked to see the young man, who wore a slight frown.
“Could you… move?” Youngbae asked, his voice strained.
“You’re the one that bumps into me,” Seungri mumbled without actually moving an inch.
Youngbae let out a heavy sigh before grabbing Seungri’s arm, his fingers gripping tightly, and pulled him to the side. “You’re really annoying.”
It was the third time in an hour Seungri had been called annoying, and he wasn’t exactly pleased. Especially since this time the insult was coming from Dong Youngblah as Seungri liked to call him. In fact, when he thought about it, Youngbae rarely spoke that many words to him at one time, and had never actually gone as far as to insult him. He really didn’t like the fact that all of a sudden he was being coined as the annoying freshman by all three of the kings of the school. He was starting to prefer when he was what he liked to call the diamond in the rough of the freshman class.
He frowned as he watched Youngbae walk away at an actual human’s pace instead that of a snail’s, which he was accustomed to seeing him travel at. It was probably a first for the slacker, Seungri concluded.
He must be in a hurry, Seungri thought to himself. He found his curiosity growing before remembering it was just Youngbae. No reason to even think about it. No one cares about Youngblah…But…still…
Seungri came home to his mother’s greeting, which he ignored as he trudged up the stairs and into his cave, otherwise known as his room. His day was far too long and eventful for him to put on appearances and do something as difficult as socializing with his family. The freshman threw his book bag to the floor as he flopped on his bed, regretting the amount of time he had wasted wondering about Youngbae, however little the time actually was. The tired boy's mind went back to the day’s events, replaying them in his head.
So, he was Seunghyun’s freshman. Somehow the idea of it didn’t seem so bad.
*****
“Festival ideas!” Chaerin’s voice blared over the classroom on the next day enthusiastically.
“Let’s not do it, There’s an idea.”
Seungri heard his inner thoughts spoken by a fellow student in the back of the classroom before feeling a chalkboard eraser whisk past his head. The projectile hit its target, and a monotone "Ow" rung out above the class' din.
“Let’s do a Taekwondo showcase!” a jock shouted out.
“Let’s not,” Chaerin said, rejecting the boy’s hopes and dreams.
“Haunted house,” Seungri blurted out.
“Boring,” Chaerin sung, feigning a yawn.
“No, I like it,” a voice spoke up from the back of the room.
“Me too. Let’s do it,” someone else said, invoking a chorus of agreement from the class.
“No!” Chaerin shouted. “Let’s just do a café.”
The girls seemed to agree with simple nods.
“Hell no!” The boys of the class yelled in unison.
Chaerin crossed her arms. “A haunted house is not happening.”
“Well, a café,” Kim Jonghyun yelled from the back of the class.
“Use that language again and I will kill you,” Chaerin threatened.
Seungri groaned. “Just put the ideas together and be done with it,” he huffed as he looked out the window.
Chaerin’s eyes widened as she spoke. “A vampire café!”
“Yeah, it’ll have a horror theme.”
“Cool.”
“I like it!”
“Let’s do it!”
The boys and girls had settled on the idea together.
“Alright, it’s settled,” Chaerin smiled. “Now, I need someone to plan it with me.” The class became silent. No one exactly wanted to volunteer to work alongside Class 3-B’s president.
“C’mon, you cowards,” Chaerin muttered through her teeth.
“It was Seungri’s idea,” Jonghyun reminded the class with a smirk. The students grinned and quickly agreed, happy to have found a scapegoat.
Traitors, all of them.
Chaerin groaned. “Okay. Lee Seung Hyun will plan all the decorations and I will plan the definite café parts. Food, menu, servers, etcetera.”
Seungri did not like how his life was shaping up. There were six days until exams, eight until level auditions, and nine before the festival. He really needed to get out of this. Then again he had shirked out of working on every festival in middle school, and he was sure that Chaerin had not- and would not- ever forget it.
Before he could even think about saying anything about rejecting the position, the school bell rang, and he reluctantly resigned himself to his fate.
He heard a low voice ask him as he left the classroom, “What is your rank?”
“What?” he answered turning around.
“Your rank… What is it?”
Seungri turned around, halfway into the body that stood behind him. He looked up to see Seunghyun looking down at him, his jaw clenched.
“Well…” Seungri looked away quickly, “Rank isn’t really…important.”
Seungri continued to avoid Seunghyun’s glare as he stepped off to the side of the hallway and out of the way as a stampede of second year students coming their direction.
Seunghyun looked up as he took a deep breath, his exasperation palpable. “Just- Meet me here after school.”
“Why? What?" Seungri said.
“If I’m going to be your hyung, you can’t be an idiot. You’ll tarnish my name.”
Seungri was starting to grow frustrated. It wasn’t like he was really Seunghyun’s freshman; he didn’t have to go out of his way to insult him. Besides, just because Seung Hyun was handsome, cool, rich, and smart didn’t mean he could look down on people. Well, maybe it did, but still.
“I’m not an idiot,” he looked at Seung Hyun who looked as though he couldn’t possibly believe that Seungri wasn’t the dumbest person in the universe.
“I’m not dumb, okay!” Seungri reiterated.
“Good for you,” he heard another voice speak behind him before seeing Youngbae walk past the two of them, strolling along slowly. He stopped at Seunghyun’s side.
“Hyung,” he said simply, the salutation sounding more than a little sarcastic. Seungri felt his fists curl up before he knew it. He muttered under his breath.
“I hate him. That stupid Dong Youngblah.”
Seunghyun laughed, his laugh short but deep and joyful. Seungri had never heard it before but he wished he could have recorded it so he could hear it again.
“Well we have that in common- I don’t like him either,” Seung Hyun spoke before walking a few steps backward. “I can’t be late to studio.”
“Oh, yeah,” Seungri remembered that it was time for their studio classes to begin. Seunghyun offered a small, slight, smile before turning around, his demeanor a little different than before, a bit…nicer. Seungri knew it’d be an understatement to say he was looking forward to seeing him after school.
He found himself almost late to his studio course, but the heavens allowed him to get there right before the bell rang. Seungri had studio courses, like every student, which were based in whatever arts department you chose. In Seungri’s case, it was theatre. They were the best parts of his- and everyone else’s- week. The boy slipped into the theater and spotted seniors scattered out in his usual freshman drama course. His teacher began to speak as he took a seat to the side.
"Settle down. Settle down,” the educator said loudly, subduing whispers and speculations wafting through the huge mass of students.
“You were told earlier to prepare for your level auditions. As you may have guessed, this year they will be a bit different. I’m excited to announce that the senior class and the freshman class will be working together.”
Shock set into the student body as the teacher continued.
“Each freshman will be paired up with a senior- One you will not be choosing.” This clarification inspired grumbles and groans from the boys and girls. “Freshmen will be graded by improvement as usual and seniors will be judged on their leadership skills as a director. And, since you will have seniors to guide your way, the grading criteria have been set at a higher bar than before for underclassmen.” More moans could be heard ringing through the auditorium.
“Shut your mouths. It’s a learning experience,” the teacher grumbled. “Now, I’m going to call out the pairings, so feel free to find each other and sit together.”
Seungri prayed for an at least average level senior to be paired up with. He figured he’d use this audition to be more than just average, to rise above his current rank but the announcement really sent him for a loop. He scanned the classroom looking for a possible candidate to hope for.
“Kim Dongwook and Choi Minsu.” The boy/girl pairing seemed to be happy with the decision.
“Moon Bora and Joo Jisung.”
“Kim Hyundae and Jang Hyujoo.”
Seungri continued to look over the senior class, recognizing a few faces but none of them standing out until his gaze reached him.
“Ah, Lee Seunghyun,” the teacher continued as the boy Seungri looked at noticed his gaze, looking his direction and frowning, his eyes like daggers.
Please. Don’t. Say. Him.
“You’ll be paired with Kwon Jiyong.”
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