It was his third day of work and Kiseop figured he was getting the hang of it already. Good!

“Kevin! How was your day?” Kiseop greeted happily, since the younger male was always so smiley. Without Kevin opening his mouth, Kiseop went to do all the things Kevin would have said. It was always the same order, anyway.

“Kiseop-ssi! Aha, my day was fine, better than yesterday. I had after school programme with two other males, you see. It didn’t go so well and I’m having another one tomorr-”

“Hey, Kevin Woo, I’m in a rush.” A male cleared his throat from the back.

Kevin turned around and frowned and whoever was cutting him off in his chit-chat. “Oh, it’s only you, Shin Soohyun. Remember to turn up tomorr-”

“Same order, quick.” Soohyun ignored Kevin’s words and moved in front of him, quickly snatching the plate and running off.

“Rude. How very rude.” Kevin gritted his teeth and glared at the running figure but turned his head and immediately smiled at Kiseop. “Thank you, it was nice talking to you, see you tomorrow!”

Kiseop bade the younger goodbye, although confused as to what they had talked about. Had they talk? Wasn’t it just Kevin ranting?

Kiseop shook those thoughts out of his head, ears focused in catching whatever the other students in line had to order. He took in another deep breath and was about to continue in his job when he saw that very rare male (carnivore) species again.

“Hello, what would you like?” Kiseop asked with a friendly smile, but as expected (and after two days of total ignorance), the male only stared at the food.

“This, that, and that.” The other replied, jabbing his fingers at the food, though blocked by a glass screen.

Kiseop nodded meekly and handed the plate over to the counter, releasing the breath he didn’t know he held and then smiling at the next student.

Why does that guy have such a lonely aura around him...hmm...?

-

“And then there’s this HUGE guy walking around with skinny jeans! Do you know how hilarious that is? I don’t know his name yet but I’ll find out-” Alexander blinked at the queer scene he was looking at. “Isn’t that Lee Kiseop?”

“Hey, that is! Wow, he’s stepping out of the kitchen even though there’s still a queue? Slacker much?” A girl commented and took another spoon of her lunch.

“Inside information tells me he’s hardworking though...” Alexander pondered as he stared at Kiseop.

“Inside information? What else do you-”

Alexander clapped his hands together and widened his eyes. “Wow, he’s heading towards Kim Kibum! What a wonderful world, he’s gay.”

There were some crestfallen looks on a few girls.

“Damn, those two looks too beautiful to be true. Great gain for man-kind if they’re both gays.”

“Maybe that’s why Kim Kibum’s anti-social. He’s gay.”

“Ohhh! Maybe!”

“Yeah!”

“Nah, his face tells otherwise.” Alexander shook his head as he stared at the interaction between the two guys about five tables away. “Besides, if he’s gay, he would have fallen for me already. Not that I am gay, but who can resist my charms?”

“Gosh, Alexander!” The whole table erupted into laughter. “Narcissist much?”

“Only because I have the looks.” Alexander shrugged smugly.

-

“Hello! What’s your name?” Kiseop asked, looking at the table with no one else but the beautiful male in front of him. “Can I take a seat?”

The male looked up from his food and gave Kiseop a look before returning to his food.

“What does that mean? Are you sizing me up or something? I’m not an evil person, really! I’m just a worker in your school’s cafeteria. My name’s Lee Kiseop.” Kiseop held a hand for the other male to shake.

“Mm.” The man made an almost inaudible sound, pushing his plate towards his left and then moving to his left, wanting to eat his lunch in peace.

“So...what’s your name?”

“Kim Kibum.” Kibum finally replied. “Can you leave me alone now?”

“Why?” Kiseop frowned. “You can eat all you want, I’m just going to sit here and- Hey! Don’t leave me!”

Kibum got out of his chair and took a seat at another empty table. When he settled down, Kiseop was already in front of him.

“I think you’re interesting. More interesting than Kevin, even. Sit alone, carnivore, has almost the same lunch everyday. I wonder why they don’t store your information up cafeteria’s people-to-take-note-of list.”

“...” Kibum swallowed his food and paused, staring into space. “You know Kevin?”

“Yeah! But are we talking about the same Kevin?” Kiseop pouted as he pondered. “He’s that really friendly guy with thick spectacles, brings his lunch out of the cafeteria everyday, seemingly as alone as you. But he talks to people, unlike you.”

“There’s only a few people in this school with English names.” Kibum rolled his eyes in reply.

“Oh, is that so? I thought kids these days find English names...what was that word again? Cool?” Kiseop bit his lower lip as he cocked his head to one side. “Hmm...”

“You don’t look that old.” Kibum commented, eyes still averting Kiseop’s gaze.

“Oh! You’re finally talking about me! To me! Great improvement. Let’s be friends. I always have weird friends, or so my friends say. They say I’m attracted to aliens, I don’t know for sure. Are you an alien?”

Kibum ignored the friendly worker and decided to start eating again.

“All right, so you don’t really want to be called “weird”, huh? But...you know Kevin too?” Kiseop asked, remembering how Kibum reacted to that name.

“That horribly smart nerd that aces every examination unlike me? Yeah, we met yesterday. There’s this programme the principal introduced, where good students teach bad students. He’s my teacher.” Kibum explained monotonously. “I don’t know why I’m talking to you, but I guess you’re nice.”

“I am nice!” Kiseop defended his own name. “So, friends?”

“I guess.” Kibum gave a faint smile and nodded.

“Kevin’s really smart, huh? Good memory too. He knows everyday’s menu although he only eats the usual things he eats. Don’t get much chance to talk to him though. I don’t know his classes, besides, it’s weird for me to go anyway other than the cafeteria.” Kiseop said with a smile. “I like him too, is he weird?”

“I guess.” Kibum shrugged, chuckling a little at the memory of the nerdy boy.

Kevin sighed. “pH is equals to -log10[H+], where [H+] is the concentration of H+ , expressed in moles/litre. In pure water near room temperature, the concentration of H+ is about 10-7 moles/litre, which gives a pH of 7. Does that answer your question?”

“You’re laughing! Wow, Kevin has some kind of influence over you, huh?” Kiseop grinned. “All right, I think I have to get back to work. Enjoy the rest of your lunch, I’ll come bother you tomorrow too.”

“Mm...” Kibum hummed, before thinking about Kiseop’s words. Influence over him?

“Oh yeah...nerds are scary this way.”

-

“Wow! They talked for more than seven minutes! Kim Kibum even LAUGHED.” The girl gasped, tugging Alexander. “Your detective work would have to start!”

“I know, I’m considering the possibilities now...” Alexander raised his eyebrow. “He said “Oh yeah. Nerds are scary this way.” though. Might be the study buddy thing with Kevin. And why are they talking about Kevin?”

“You can hear from such a distance?” Another girl blinked in admiration.

“I read lips.” Alexander shrugged with a smirk. “Talented Alexander is talented. How precious, am I not?”

“And what does my lips tell you then?” A fascinated girl started mouthing words.

“That you want to kiss me but I’m not bringing our relationship up another level, no thanks.”

“EWW!”

The whole table started laughing again.

-