Sehun was muttering curses under his breath as he walked around the main building of the school, not even bothering to duck or avoid the windows despite having arrived only minutes before first period was scheduled to end. He’d had a rough night and was in no mood to squabble with teachers, so he was hoping as much for their sake as for his own that they’d leave him alone.

For once he seemed to get his wish granted, as someone had yet to approach or call out to him by the time he reached the sports field. The numerous dry patches on the lawn around the school were more prominent because of the past few weeks of inexplicable heat, and he scrunched his nose almost involuntarily at how poorly looked after the place appeared to be. Apparently one semester hadn’t been enough to get used to it after all.

When he passed by the third-years’ lair he exchanged cool nods with one of them, just to make sure they hadn’t suddenly changed their opinions of him over the holidays, after which he slowed down and turned a corner. It was just one thing he’d missed, and that was the peace and quiet his own spot provided him with during the days. Green branches greeted him, and he smiled a bit at how vibrant they seemed compared to the dead grass. What he saw when he finally reached his place however – his place – caused him to stop dead in his tracks, and he didn’t even think before speaking.

“Who the hell are you?” He was aware of how rude he must’ve sounded, but couldn’t care less at that moment. The boy who looked up at him in complete shock didn’t seem to have much to say, he just sat there staring blankly for seconds, his mouth slightly ajar. Sehun decided to repeat himself in hopes of an answer, or an apology for trespassing in his territory. “Who… the hell… are you?” He asked slowly and watched the words sink in and the other come to life.

“Ah, oh, uh, sorry, my name’s Kai.” The boy told him with a hesitant smile and reached his hand out as though he was expecting him to shake it. Sehun was far from pleased, and didn’t cease to glare down at the other as he spoke.

“Alright then… Kai. I don’t know who you think you are, and I don’t care why you’re here, but unless you leave right now, I swear I’ll-“

“Oh come on, don’t be like that. I just got here and everywhere else is occupied.” He blinked at the other stupidly as the boy seemed to shift around to make himself more comfortable. It took a couple of seconds for his mind to catch up again.

“Leave, now.” This Kai looked up at him with pleading eyes and a really miserable expression, and he could feel his façade crack a bit. That wasn’t a good thing. “Go on, before I make you.” When the boy wouldn’t move Sehun let out a loud sigh of frustration and slumped against the wall, sliding down slowly into a squatting position.

“Really, I’m sorry dude, but I’m just so sick of this place. Let me hang around for a while longer and I’ll leave you alone after that.”

“Just shut up.” Sehun hissed, rubbing his temples in a futile attempt to get rid of the headache that had been bothering him for hours already. Somehow this new encounter had managed to make it worse.

“...So, what’s your name?”

“…”

“…”

Sehun was seriously contemplating stuffing the boy in a trash can and dumping him in the Han River. He wondered if it really was that difficult for the other to keep quiet and distanced when it was obvious that he didn’t want anything to do with him.

“Well?” Kai urged, and Sehun had to remind himself that murder was in fact illegal. He wasn’t entirely certain of why he decided to answer, but maybe the prospect of possibly getting some peace and quiet spurred him on.

“Sehun.” He muttered grouchily, and to his great dismay he saw the other’s face light up. He cursed under his breath and mentally scolded himself. What you needed in this place weren’t friends, unless they were in cahoots with the right people of course, but Sehun was fairly sure that this grinning person next to him wasn’t. In fact, that was when it dawned on him that he hadn’t even seen the other around before – as much as he hated to admit it the guy did have a pretty memorable face. Since he was wearing the uniform he had to be a student, but he hardly looked old enough to be a third-year, and Sehun figured that if the other was a first-year as well they should’ve both known about each other.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Kai practically sung, and Sehun instinctively kicked his shin, hard. The other hissed a bit and threw him a nasty look as he rubbed the targeted spot gently, most likely trying to ease the numbness that should’ve settled there.

“That’s none of your ing business. Stop prying or I’ll aim higher.” Sehun warned, and the boy grimaced at the crude hint. Although Sehun rarely threatened people – he’d usually act first and think later – there was just something that kept him from lashing out and forced him to act more rationally. After a few seconds’ contemplation he concluded that it was probably because the little corner of the school they were at right now had been like a sanctuary to him the past few months, and he didn’t want to be the one to ruin that on his own. Almost as to confirm that thought the leaves above them rustled softly, to which he couldn’t help but sigh. “Sorry.” The word slipped out before he had time to stop it, and he was sure he looked as surprised as the other did at that moment.

“…don’t worry about it?” Kai replied, almost gingerly, and he instantly snapped out of his thoughts to sneer at the boy.

“This doesn’t mean that you’re invited to stick around.” Sehun growled and turned his head the other way.

They sat like that for a while, him muttering inaudible curses and general bad things about people under his breath whilst Kai simply sat there, back and head against the wall and looking up at the sky. Sehun wanted to punch him for intruding the first twenty minutes, but eventually calmed down. As long as they weren’t actually talking and he shut up, closed his eyes and leaned back like he used to, then it didn’t really make a difference whether some other person was there or not. With the wind blowing he couldn’t even hear the guy breathe. Pity it didn’t last.

“Hey, Sehun was it? Can you tell me something?”

He opened his eyes again slowly, squinting as the light hit him in the face. For the umpteenth time that morning he caught himself quietly asking what he’d done to deserve the nosy company, despite knowing that he’d never get an answer.

“What?” He breathed, tired of trying to scare the other off with harsh words as it was obviously not working the way it should. He looked over at Kai and tried to read the deep frown the other had adopted.

“Well… I’m not sure if you figured it out already or not, but I sort of transferred here today.” No, he had not figured that out. It explained why he hadn’t been around before at least. “I was just wondering if you knew anything about this guy in my class, Tao, I think.”

“You’re in Tao’s class?” Sehun pursed his lips – just thinking about the mentioned fellow made him uncomfortable.

“Yeah… well, at least I think I am since he walked right into the classroom like… you know?”

“No, I don’t.” If it weren’t for the subject Sehun might’ve enjoyed the other’s groan of frustration and even poked a bit more fun at him for the hell of it. Right now though, he was waiting for the other to continue.

“Whatever, that’s not the important part anyways. The thing is, everyone just sort of cowered in the back of the classroom when he came inside, and then… well, he talked to himself for a while, or to me, I really couldn’t tell, and when he left they acted like something was really off…” Somewhere along the middle Sehun had to focus to even hear what the other was mumbling about, but once the end rolled around he was positive of one thing – Kai was one of the luckiest guys he’d ever stumbled upon.

“So you’re telling me he left without a parting gift?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking if he left without knocking the air out of you at least once.”

“Haha, what? He didn’t seem that… alright he did, but… ugh, look, just fill me in on him would you? It totally creeped me out how everyone acted!”

“Were you seriously born yesterday or are you just screwing with me?” At the look of clear confusion the other displayed Sehun couldn’t help but chuckle wryly, feeling a small shred of pity for the newcomer. “Here’s the thing… you do know Kris and Yongguk at least?” When the other shook his head almost childishly from side to side he continued with a sigh. “Alright I’ll let you in on what I know. There’s this way of deciding things here that you must be aware of, right? Well, Kris and Yongguk are third years and have been ruling this place for roughly a year and a half, and they’d been getting along pretty alright and been accepted by the rest of the student body and stuff like that, you follow?” Kai nodded and didn’t seem to have any questions so far. “So this year, when the new batch of first years arrived, they never expected anyone to stand up to them, you know? And then out of nowhere come two first-years – no one’s even heard of them before – and beats a bunch of their guys up; no warning and no apology, they just plowed right through them as though it was all they’d ever been doing.”

“Who’s the other guy?”

“Everyone calls him D.O.; but I can’t remember his real name. Anyways, the two of them pretty much pulled the rug out from under the kings’ feet and everything got jumbled up.”

“So what, they were working together?”

“Hardly – from an observer’s point of view they didn’t even seem to know each other. To be honest they were just retaliating at anyone who bothered them until Kris and Yongguk decided they’d had enough and went after them.”

“Then-“

“Shut up I’m getting there. You’d think the two first-years would stick together in a situation like that, right? The thing is, before everyone knew it that D.O. kid was like magically knocked out, and Tao was doing his thing where he talks to himself saying something like ‘I was certain he would be in the way, so I decided to take him out beforehand’. Now, the kings didn’t seem to mind; only difference was that only one of them would have to get their hands dirty.”

“Huh? I thought you said those two were in it toge-“

“Thing is, it’s not cool to team up, you do that here and the tiny bit of order we have is gone; it’ll be full-blown war before you know it.”

“Oh… then which one did it?”

“Kris; Yongguk’s always been the good cop so to speak, doesn’t have the same mean streak that most people here do. So Kris went right ahead but, uh, to be honest I’m not sure how it happened because… well, one second they were just facing each other and the next he was coughing up blood all over the place, and then the teachers called the cops and ambulance and that was that.” Kai nodded a bit, causing him to mentally facepalm with his next sentence.

“So… who won?” Sehun stared blankly at the other who was looking back at him expectantly.

“Were you listening? Who d’you think won?”

“Oh… Ohh.” He scoffed at the sudden realization that crossed Kai’s face, wondering if the other was as slow in the head as he seemed. “Wow, just like that? And Tao, he can’t have been looking that good afterwards either, right?”

“…To be honest, no one noticed anything but a few scratches, he was just out of breath... hell, when the cops came by he’d already disappeared somewhere; came back a week later with a in’ smirk on his face.”

Silence fell over the spot behind the gym after Sehun finished his long story, and he figured it was because the other was just too absorbed in trying to take it all in. Unfortunately those not so nice memories were now floating around his head, and there was nothing he could think of to make them go away.

Soon the trees shielded them from the sunlight, and Sehun smiled at the cool breeze. Whatever happened before didn’t matter much so long as he could return to his place for a breather. After another half hour however duty called again.

“What happened to everyone else then? Because that guy doesn’t seem like he’s the leading type.” Sehun snorted at the preposterous idea before sharing what little knowledge he had, pushing the thought of himself actually enjoying talking to the newcomer to the far back of his mind.

“I’m not sure what happened between Kris and Yongguk after that, but they’re at each other’s throats constantly. They’re still in charge though, but whether they’re as respected as before is hard to say; it’s like they’ve been reduced to normal students again you know? Being publicly humiliated like that… you almost want to pity them, right?”

“I don’t know… maybe? That D.O. then? What about him?”

“Oh, he’s probably making his lunch round right now.”

“Say what now?” The questioning look on Kai’s face made him crack a faint smile, but he quickly caught himself and forced it to go away.

“Mm, he usually walks around school during lunch, pretty much to pick a fight with anyone who annoys him I guess. I think he’s both bored and frustrated, I mean he might’ve been in the same position as Tao where everyone presses themselves against the walls to get out of his way, but because of the little stunt that guy pulled he’s still below both third-years, and that fellow first-year.”

“So? I mean, isn’t everyone else pretty much beneath him if he fought his way to those upperclassmen?”

“You’d think so, but apparently not.”

“Huh… tough.”

“Guess so.”

A minute after their conversation ended Sehun decided he’d had enough; it was time for him to leave, maybe get something to eat if he felt like it. He got off the ground, groaning a bit at the stiffness his body had been reduced to after sitting against the hard concrete structure for almost two hours. He snuck a glance at the other boy and pursed his lips. He could not believe what he was about to do.

“Hey, Kai.” The other’s head snapped up as though he’d been caught thinking about something inappropriate. Sehun shook his head once before locking eyes with the other. “I’m just telling you this once; unless you’re in for a fight, never get in anyone’s way because that’s an unofficial challenge. And make especially sure to make room for D.O. if you have the bad luck to cross paths with him – he’s always carrying a bat around so you can’t really miss him.”

“Oh… alright, thanks. You goin’ now?” Kai averted his gaze slowly to look up at the sky again, pulling a small snicker from Sehun without his allowance. He cleared his throat a bit and spun around to leave.

“You better not be here when I get back.” He warned, and the other’s laugh echoed from behind him.

“Righty-o.”

“Oh for ’s sake-” He spluttered curses when he stalked off, arms flailing wildly as he went; he had a strong feeling he’d lost his place forever.

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A/N: Chapre trois~ quest-ce'que vous pensez? Heh, didn't plan to update today but I was so focused on getting this out so I'll be able to add some action before next year comes around. And, uh, yeah, this chapter was supposed to be the next one or something but I felt it's be pretty bad to do a bunch of time skipping since I'm confused enough as it is and figured I wouldn't wanna read a story where it skips forward three hours at a time and then back ten every other chapter. Because that's how this would've turned out. Yeah.

Anyhow, a daily dose of love to subscribers! <3<3<3 And the extra fluff for comments to andreab990619,Aliceee17 and barami_hatsumoto~! Fluff fluff! <3<3<3 *^w^*

Thanks for reading~! 

~Fi