Seungri was a little more than stressed when he met Seunghyun. He had spent a whole studio period spouting ideas that were rejected, or debunking Jiyong’s. It ended in a silent and sulking Jiyong staying quiet for ten minutes before running off to flirt with Moon Bora who had officially dumped her freshman off on someone else. Seungri had always thought of himself as bratty and spoiled but the three kings really took the cake. They were all difficult, moody, arrogant, and unsocial. Seungri didn’t know how to react to any of them. It was ridiculous that they were popular but somehow each one of them had a way to make you forgive their flaws (with the exception of Youngblah). To be honest, Seungri didn’t even hold Jiyong’s behavior against him; he just wished they could get along for the sake of his grade. Never the less, the boys were truly intolerable and all of a sudden he’d be seeing all three on a daily basis. He set his head on the desk. He really needed to get along with Jiyong. 

            It'd be easy if you weren't so damn hard to work with.

            “Well, it’d be easier if you were actually listening to me,” Seunghyun said. He was wearing glasses as he studied and Seungri wouldn’t have thought he would look as good as he did in them. He adjusted them as he frowned at Seungri who hadn’t realized he said his thoughts aloud.
            “No, I was just thinking to myself,” Seungri mumbled.
            “Well, focus. You don’t want to fail do you? At this rate, you will.”
            “Oh whatever. I’ve definitely studied good enough to pass.”
            “Of course you have. You’ve totally studied well,” Seung Hyun slid over the practice questions Seungri had completed earlier, his red error marks laden all over the paper.
            “You only got four out of ten right,” Seung Hyun informed him.
            What the hall had he been doing all this time? It couldn’t have been studying. But then again, half the time Seungri looked down at his textbooks and it felt like he was trying to read Braille. He felt completely hopeless, and he frowned, looking over the paper again and again, trying to figure out where he went wrong.
            “Don’t worry. I’ll help you.”
            Seungri heard the words in a nicer way than they had actually come out, he knew, but he liked to pretend it was because the other boy cared. As, Seung Hyun started to go over his mistakes, Seungri found that he was really wasn't looking at the paper. Although Seungri did try to focus on Seunghyun as he spoke, he found himself distracted by how good the words coming out of the older boy's mouth sounded. There were a few times he saw Seunghyun smile slightly when he made a goofy mistake. For once he could really study every detail of Seunghyun’s face as the older student talked, going over everything. Despite being distracting, Seung Hyun was still an effective teacher. He taught everything in a way Seungri could actually understand, and by the end of the third round of practice questions he was pretty set on the lesson.
            “I think you got it,” Seunghyun said, smiling a little as he closed his book.
            “Thanks.” Seungri said smiling.
            Seunghyun looked down at the table, the hints of happiness fading away. “Nothing to thank me for. I just can’t be associated with an idiot.”
            It was back to being the annoying freshman. Seungri rolled his eyes.
            “Whatever. Admit it.”
            “Admit what?” Seunghyun asked as he took off his glasses, fogging them and rubbing them with his shirt. Seungri smiled as he watched him clean his glasses and then began to put them back on. He leaned in as Seunghyun sled his glasses up his nose, and stopped a couple of inches from his face.

            Seungri had carefully made a list of supplies he’d need for the festival decorations and when he looked at the time, he still estimated he’d have enough sunlight to get to the store, even if he’d be making the return trip in the dark. He took a shortcut that led him behind the general store as he kept a steady pace, strutting in his tennis shoes. As he rounded the corner, he saw Dong Youngbae standing behind the building, tossing a rubber ball against the wall. 

            Ugh, not again.

            He stopped short and realized that Youngbae wasn’t loitering there, but in uniform.  He worked there- even worse. Seungri decided to just walk back around the store to avoid the other boy altogether. It seemed like he was on his break, and Seungri figured he might have enough time to get in and out of the store before Youngbae got back to work.
            Unfortunately for Seungri, the other youth returned to his job right as Seungri strolled in the store. Seungri wondered why Youngbae was working. He didn’t seem like the kind of person who would do it voluntarily. Ugh, no. Do not get curious about Dong Youngblah, Seungri mentally scolded himself, before rushing down an aisle, avoiding detection. He decided that it would be best to just not acknowledge Youngbae the whole time, as if he was above him. He went through the aisles getting everything he needed, compromising for cheap glue sticks instead of the heavy-duty paste he needed. As he got to the register Young Bae didn’t look up and Seungri found himself willing the music department’s “king” to notice him in some way. Instead the teenager just rung up each item, bagging them with care.
            “You need a different kind.”
            Seungri looked down to see Young Bae holding the glue sticks, studying them before looking up at Seungri.
            “This won’t work well,” he continued. Seungri rolled his eyes. He could use whatever he damn well pleased.
            “I think I know what I’m doing.” He sounded like a preteen girl, and despite knowing the words usually meant the person who spoke them knew absolutely nothing of the sort, he didn’t take his statement back, blaming the wording on his exposure to his little sister.
            “18,700,” Young Bae announced the won due after a heavy sigh.
            Seungri sifted through his wallet and pockets finding exact change as Young Bae drummed his fingers on the counter impatiently.
            “You should hide your exasperation. It’s bad customer service,” Seungri said begrudgingly.
            “You shouldn’t take all day if you’re the last customer, but I haven’t commented at all.” Youngbae retorted with a deadpan expression, causing Seungri to crunch his face up in anger. He gave the young man his total before grabbing his bags in a rush and leaving.
            “Thank you come again,” Youngbae called after him. Seungri looked back to see Youngbae smiling, his eyes pulled into sparkly crescents. Seungri found himself wanting to smile back before Youngbae’s smile dropped into his usual expressionless self. He's such a , Seungri mentally grumbled as he made his way out.
            He really hated Youngbae. Seungri couldn’t explain it. Even when Younbae did the smallest things it always got the best of Seungri because it all seemed so unfair. He was seen as handsome without worrying about his appearance, ranked at the top of his class without studying, a musical prodigy without practicing. His life was easy. He had everything at his fingertips and it was all just so unfair. He didn’t know the feeling of floundering and he didn’t know the feeling of failure. He didn’t know what it was to be in a school of fish and for once just want to have the scales to stand out, to shimmer a little more than the rest. Instead he could just be apathetic, indifferent about everything, because he was Youngbae, he had that luxury. He didn’t know any of those feelings Seungri habitually felt, habitually expressed through daily embarrassments and missteps. Envy was probably the biggest part of his resentment. He had never really thought about it and he didn’t really ever want to. Thinking while you walk leads you down roads you never wanted to go on, that’s what his father would say.
            “Seungri,” a voice said quietly.
He saw one of his sister’s good friends walking behind him.
            “Oh, Minji. Why are you out so late?” Seungri asked protectively.
            “I’m looking for my oppa.”
            “Oh, really?” Seungri grimaced at the cliché response.
            “Yeah, he left for work in a hurry and forgot his dinner. I know he’s hungry by now. Ugh, pabo,” Minji lifted the lunchbox up in her hand.
            “Well, where does he work? I’ll walk you there.”
            “Actually,” Minji looked down to the ground, “I don’t really know.”
            “Wait a minute, is this your brother or…”
            “No. It’s not like that!” Minji shouted, laughing and blushing. “But then again he’s not my brother either,” she finished quietly.
            “What is he to you, then?” Seungri narrowed his eyes.
            “It’s- it’s a long story,” she stammered out.
            “Make it shorter.” Seungri said, being stern.
            “He’s just- I owe him a lot. He takes care of me. He makes sure I have everything I need,” Minji mumbled.
            “You sound like he’s your pimp.”
            “Oppa! Stop it!” Minji said in a sing song melody, playfully hitting him on the chest.
            Seungri remembered hearing that Minji had lost her parents, was an orphan. At least she had an oppa to look out for her, he supposed. The teen sighed; he’d probably end up helping her find her friend after all.
            “Maybe you know where he works.” Minji wondered as they continued walking. “He goes to your school.”
            “Maybe,” Seungri shrugged. He was about to ask her his name when she continued.
            “He works really hard. I mean, my clothes- he buys them. My supplies- he gets them for me. But it’s the things I don’t need. The things I beg for like a brat. Concert tickets, stuffed animals, those are the things he works hardest for,” she looked up to the canopy of leaves above them. “I know wandering out in the night, it seems silly. It’s an uneven trade but-“
            “It’s necessary,” Seungri finished for her, “I understand.” His knew his life didn’t have real problems. He didn’t have to care for a dongsaeng. He couldn’t care for his own dongsaengs even if he had to.
            “I’ll help you. We’ll find him,” Seungri said, touched. “What’s his name?”
            “Youngbae,” Minji answered with a smile, “Dong Youngbae.”
           
         
            Youngbae had frowned when Seungri had shown up to the locked storefront. He stood there, broom in hand, a newly acquired cap on his head, cocked to the side. He had already changed out of his uniform and Seungri couldn’t help but look at the way his slightly muscular build filled out the white thermal he wore. He watched his figure as Youngbae unlocked the door, frowning and mumbling. He tore his attention away to look at Youngbae’s face as the older boy noticed Minji standing behind him.
            “What are you doing here?” His voice was its usual monotone but he was obviously annoyed.
            “You forgot your lunch… Well, it’s dinner now, but... You left it when you came by the home,” Minji smiled, despite Young Bae’s stern frown or the fact that she was not supposed to be away from the orphanage this late. “Besides, I wasn’t alone,” she added the fact to help her case, motioning to Seungri who simply stood shuffling his feet. He had led Minji there after hearing the name 'Dong Youngbae.'
            He had always thought Young Bae had no worries, no responsibilities at all, but obviously he had been wrong. He wondered why Youngbae had assumed such a position, why a slacker like him would pick up an extra load as big as another human being. Young Bae looked to Seungri and then back to Minji, his eyebrows knit together, his mouth fixed to say something, although he wasn’t exactly sure what.
            “Who is he to you?” Youngbae asked Minji slowly.
            “No, he’s- Youngbae-oppa, he’s just a friend.”
            Youngbae sighed with relief. “Good,” he muttered before continuing to scold Minji on the dangers of traveling alone. Seungri thought it was pretty ineffective. Youngbae had a sweet voice. It wasn’t too high, but neither too deep, its warm comfortable quality one that Seungri had only in that moment realized. He obviously had a soft spot for Minji too, letting his words drop a bit every time she pouted in response to his chastising words.
            “Who’s going to walk you home this late at night? You live far and you have finals tomorrow.”
            “Well I can sleepover Seungri’s. I do it all the time.” Seungri looked apologetically at Youngbae as the older boy scowled his way. It was the most emotion Seungri had seen his face expressed sincerely.
            Seungri looked apologetically at his pouting sunbae. It was the most emotion or basic concern that Seungri had ever seen Youngbae express.
            “I need to finish this. Wait here and I’ll walk with you.”
            “Oppa, you don’t have to-“ Minji started.
            “If you think Seungri will protect you, I’m going to start worrying about your judgment,” Youngbae said coldly before going to get a mop. Seungri was about to get angry before he realized Youngbae had a point. He couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag. They waited, doing small tasks to help Youngbae before he clocked out and they started on their way home.
            The night gathered around them, the cold whistling by their bodies which shivered in the wind.
            “Hold my hand,” Youngbae commanded grabbing Minji’s wrist.
            “Youngbae, I’m not a kid anymore,” Minji whined. But she took his hand anyway. Seungri wondered if Youngbae had a thing for Minji, if that’s why he protected her so much. It doesn't really matter, I don't care. He walked slightly ahead of them lazily. He didn’t want to walk home alone. He’d rather walk Youngbae’s pace instead. Seungri looked at the time when they returned to the street of their destination, his watch glow in the dark.
           “Did you get that from a quarter machine?” Youngbae asked, dropping back to Seungri’s side. He wasn’t smiling but Seungri could tell he was being mocked.
            “Stop it, oppa,” Minji said. “I like your watch.” Minji directed the words towards Seungri as she went over to his other side.
            It was still well before Seungri’s bedtime, even with it being so dark and Seungri was happy they’d be in before it was late enough for anyone in his household could complain. They stopped in front of his house.
            “Youngbae-oppa, are you going home?” Minji asked Youngbae quietly as she rested her head on Seungri’s shoulder.
            “No, you know that.”
            “You work too hard.”
            “And you don’t work at all.” It seemed like a routine exchange since it only roused a sigh from Minji. Is he going to work again? Seungri thought to himself. It was impossible. He wouldn’t believe that. Minji stepped around Seungri to give Youngbae a hug before going inside and Seungri went to follow her.
            “Yah,” Youngbae called stopping Seungri. He walked up to the younger man so that there was less space between them than Seungri would like as he backed up into his fence.
            “You don’t like girls, right?” Youngbae asked.
            Seungri had never been asked that before. Not that he cared who knew whether he did or not, it’s just no one had ever wanted to know. He shrugged which was an actual sincere response. Some girls he thought were alright, like Minji but most of the time, he just liked guys. Probably because bossy girls like Chaerin ruined the female persuasion for him.
            “Well…Don’t touch Minji.”
            “Wae? Do you like her?” Seungri’s face was a mischievous pout as he spoke in a sing songy voice, teasing his sunbae.
            “I have higher hopes for her than you,” Youngbae said before starting to walk away.
            Seungri felt his blood boil. “Oh, whatever! You- You- You’re a sweaty person and no one likes sweaty people-“ Seungri realized he was just stammering nonsense and mumbled something about no one liking sweat as he just went inside, accepting defeat.  Minji had settled in, chatting with his sister when he got inside and trudged up to his room, as usual. He laid in bed grumbling about Youngbae’s accusation that he wasn’t a good catch. He was a perfectly fine catch. A girl would be lucky to have him- his mother told him so. Besides, what was so special about Youngbae? He was number one in his class, popular, handsome, sweet and responsible toward his dongsaengs. There was nothing special about that. "Stupid Dong Youngblah," Seungri whispered before closing his eyes and going to sleep.
 

******
            Chaerin looked at the decoration templates before popping her gum.
            “Why do I have to help you? I have my own things to do,” she said, flipping the hair of her ponytail.
            “Chaerin, you’ve borrowed my mother’s recipes. Made me go and ask someone to be servers, using me for my charm-“
            “WHAT? You liar!”
            “The girls will do anything for my beautiful face and you know that,” Seungri made a comical smile earning a kick from Chaerin before continuing. “Well, please. Let’s just help each other out… as friends,” he continued after a pause.
            Chaerin read the sincerity in his face before nodding, “Araso, give me the scissors.”
            Chaerin cut out the shapes while Seungri arranged and pasted them. The glue sticks he had gotten were particularly tedious. Nothing was sticking at all and he grumbled under his breath, trying to find a way to blame it all on Youngbae. He was about to re-paste a letter sliding off his glossy posterboard when he heard Chaerin giggle with delight, an uncharacteristic action for her.
            “Sunbaenim!”
            “Just call me oppa,” Youngbae smiled, his face almost immediately dropping back to expressing his apathy toward everything in life.
            “What brings you here, oppa?” Chaerin’s voice said, making a point of calling him that.
            Seungri didn’t look up. He wanted to seem nonchalant as he heard Youngbae reply, “I just need to tell Seunghyun something.” He kept his head down even at the mention of his name as he attempted to get the paper to stick, instead just sliding it around the posterboard.
            “Shibal,” he muttered.
            “Watch your mouth,” he heard Youngbae say lowly as he came up to the table. He leaned on it as he dropped a tube of glue on the table, the glue Seungri should’ve gotten in the first place.
            “For walking with Minji last night… Thanks.” Youngbae spoke sincerely, his voice soft and sweet, the words reaching Seungri’s ears in some sort of melody. “And… for what I said, I’m sorry,” Youngbae finished. Seungri felt like he would blush if he looked up at Youngbae, so he just nodded instead before continuing to work. It wasn’t until he looked up and watched Youngbae walk out of the doors that he felt like he could exhale.
            Chaerin was still riding a wave of excitement due to Youngbae’s surprise visit to their classroom. “What was that all about?” she asked, smiling, oblivious to the way Seungri all of a sudden felt a jolt in his body when her crush had come near him. Seungri thought about his fear of blushing in front of Youngbae, the uneasiness of feeling him that close to his body, the sound of his voice as it spoke only for Seungri to hear. No. No, not Dong Youngblah. Never could he make me feel that way.
            Chaerin snapped her fingers in front of Seungri’s face. “Aish, do you always need to daydream. Pay attention.What was that all about?" she reiterated. 
           What was that all about? Seungri repeated the question in his head as he felt how sweaty his palms had gotten.