Tricked Yet Again
Smultronstället
Youngjae let a soft sigh leave his lips as he journeyed to the building that housed the school’s pool, kicking at small rocks every so often with the toe of his shoe. It had been an incredibly long and tiring day for him. First, he’d all but begged Kim Himchan to help with the new petition, during second period he’d had to watch over the entire class while the teacher went to the office for something (sure it was only for ten minutes but it was a hellish ten minutes) and then during lunch his newly assigned lab partner decided to delve into a loud, obnoxious rant about the quality of the school food.
The first two had been bad enough but he’d been able to handle it. His lab partner’s rant, however, had caused several students as well as teachers to look at him as if he should be the one to quiet him down. Which he did, but only after giving his fellow classmate his dessert which he had been looking forward to eating himself thankyouverymuch.
All in all, a few laps in the pool sounded incredibly relaxing right about now.
Youngjae veered to the side of the building once he approached it and headed inside the boys’ locker room where he quickly opened up his locker and undressed himself, replacing his uniform with that of the swim team’s, pulling on shorts to wear over his swim briefs until he got to the pool. He decided to skip wearing the swim cap and instead grabbed his goggles before closing and slipping the lock back on his locker.
Making his way to the pool, Youngjae shivered slightly as a small breeze brushed against his bare arms and chest, wasting no time in slipping through the doors of the building. Once inside, his eyes scanned the crystal blue surface, just barely resisting the temptation to just jump in, and promptly paused when his eyes caught sight of someone already in his watery haven.
A very someone.
An irritated huff leaving him. Youngjae quickly stomped over to the figure in the pool. “Yah! What do think you’re trying to pull? There’s no skinny-dipping allowed in the pool!” He screeched, stopping right in front of the figure, blinking rapidly when he saw the boy, a freshman from the looks of him, grimace. His previous anger all but melted away when he saw just how nervous and scared the boy seemed to be and he quickly crouched down by the pool.
“Can I ask you why you’re in the pool.... ?” He questioned, deducing that the boy wasn’t in here willingly or at least, not entirely willing.
—
Junhong cursed his luck for the thousandth time, then proceeded to curse everything else in the world, fingers tapping against fine concrete as he held himself above water. He sighed heavily and leaned his head against the side of the underground pool, thinking over just how he got like this. It wasn’t like he really wanted to be skinny dipping in the school’s pool - especially when school was still in session.
When the door to the pool house opened, he sank down and tried to make himself as unnoticeable as possible. Unfortunately, the person must have wanted to swim because they gave a sigh and then began yelling at him as they approached the pool. Junhong looked up when the boy crouched down and began speaking a bit nicer, seemingly realizing how uncomfortable he was being . He sighed heavily and closed his eyes, turning his body towards the side of the pool to hide his front at least.
“Well you see…” He started softly, unable to meet the other boy’s gaze directly. He explained how he’d been tricked, yet again, by Yongguk’s goons (this he said with a hiss), starting with almost getting stuffed in a locker during lunch time only to be saved by the principal and then just before the last period of the day, they’d approached him with a proposal. If he would go skinny dipping in the pool and do one lap just like that, they’d stop bothering him.
Being the gullible idiot he was, he’d agreed quickly - he would’ve been a fool to reject it! Or so he’d thought. Now he was more of a fool to have accepted it. “And… when I got to this end of the pool, they’d already left and my clothes were nowhere in sight… I’m not sure what they did with them…” He sighed heavily, shivering some and cursing everything once again (inwardly this time).
Youngjae’s gaze had hardened into a glare by the time the younger boy finished explaining what had led to his current predicament, very much on the verge of being pissed off. How cruel did a person have to be to convince someone to skinny dip with the promise of leaving them alone only to steal their clothes and hide them? ‘Pretty damn cruel...’ He thought with a small huff, letting his eyes soften into a sympathetic gaze as he looked at the boy once more.
Really though, he wasn’t all that surprised. Yongguk’s lackeys were notorious for their bullying; their victims primarily being the freshman but if they caught a sophomore or even junior that looked vulnerable enough then they were fair game too. What made it all the more irritating is that Yongguk, even though he was the leader, just stood by and let them have free reign over torturing their fellow students. Sure, he’d step in if it looked like the situation was becoming too extreme but that was usually only if he thought so.
It was a wonder that none of Yongguk’s group had been kicked out of school; though considering most of them were seniors, it was probably the principal and teachers just turning a blind eye so they could graduate and the leave the school forever.
Sighing once more, Youngjae gave a small smile to the boy, “You certainly got yourself into quite a predicament, didn’t you?” He questioned, making light of the situation by adding a teasing tone to his words. “I’ll go see if I can find your clothes or even a spare tracksuit or something for you to wear, okay? I’ll be right back - don’t go anywhere.” He warned, chuckling softly as he stood upright again and quickly made his way out of the building.
Youngjae was just heading to the gym when he saw movement high up out of the corner of his eye. He immediately turned his gaze to that direction, about to write it off as a bird, when he saw something fluttering in the slight breeze on the school’s flag pole. It took him a few moments to process that, in addition to Korea’s and their school’s flag, there were clothes dancing in the wind. It took a second for him to realize that they must’ve been the unfortunate freshman’s.
“Damn it…” He cursed under his breath, wondering just how he was going to get them down when putting up and taking down the flags was a two if not three person job. Swimming toned his upper body some but not enough that he could handle the flags.
Fortunately, salvation came in the form of a certain dark haired senior heading towards the gates of their school.
“Himchan hyung!” Youngjae called out, waving his arms around wildly to get the other boy’s attention and wishing desperately that he had thought to grab his shirt before leaving pool building.
Himchan had just said goodbye to his last friend and was headed out to the school gates when he heard his name being called. He frowned and looked around briefly before spotting someone standing near the flagpole waving their arms wildly. By the looks of him, Himchan could identify exactly who it was - Youngjae. But what could he want? He slung his jacket over his shoulder and approached the other, tilting his head, “What’s up, Youngjae?”
“Um, well… a freshman got tricked into skinny dipping…” Youngjae replied a bit sheepishly. Himchan crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.
“And…?” He prompted only to have Youngjae point upwards towards the flag. He blinked and looked up, his lips turning downwards in a frown. “Oh. Alright - let’s get them down then,” He nodded, setting his bag and jacket to the side. He knew very well why Youngjae needed his help now - the flag was hard to operate alone, and he doubted the freshman wanted to run around outside .
Youngjae gave the senior a grateful smile and moved closer to the flagpole just as Himchan did. Carefully, the two began lowering the flags and clothes, silence settling between them as they concentrated on their task. Not a few minutes later they had maneuvered the rope enough that they reach the freshman’s clothes and once that was done, they quickly moved the flags back to their previous position.
Throughout those few minutes, the Youngjae caught himself staring out of the corner of his eye at the senior who, thankfully, hadn’t noticed his rather blatant stares (or if he did, he didn’t mention it). He could feel a new respect for Himchan beginning to form because though he’d asked for his help, the other boy hadn’t even subtly hinted at expecting some sort of repayment.
There was more to Kim Himchan than Youngjae had previously thought.
“That’ll do it…” Himchan murmured as he re-tied the ropes, Youngjae nodding in agreement.
“Let’s get these back to him.” He responded, gesturing to the clothes before leading Himchan back in the direction of the pool building.
Himchan nodded his head gently, following after Youngjae who held the door open for him as soon as they’d reached the pool house. Upon walking inside, Himchan instantly noticed the fingers gripping the side of the pool, signaling where the freshman was as he hid himself. He looked at Youngjae before approaching the side of the pool, crouching down. “We got your clothes,” He smiled kindly, watching as the boy grinned in relief.
“Youngjae, your towel?” Himchan stood and reached his hand out, accepting the towel that was willingly given. Himchan led the boy to the edge of the pool where the steps were, covering his body as he stepped out enough to grab the towel and sling it around his waist. The freshman instantly bowed and ran off behind the bleachers to get his clothes back on, only coming back when he was fully dressed and had his bag slung around his shoulder.
“Thank you, sunbaenim,” He bowed to them both politely. “I’m Junhong.”
Himchan gave a smile and nodded his head, “I’m Himchan and that’s Youngjae there. Be careful not to get into anymore predicaments like this one.” He chortled, causing Junhong to laugh sheepishly.
“Oh … I’m late,” Junhong cursed as he looked at his watch, “Ah, I’m sorry, I have to go. Thanks again!” With that, Junhong rushed out, grabbing something out of his bag along the way.
Youngjae waved goodbye to Junhong’s retreating back, knowing that the boy couldn’t see it but feeling like the gesture was needed anyway. He felt bad about what had happened to the freshman but forced himself to think positively and remember that at least they’d been able to help him. After all, at least they’d been the ones to find him as opposed to teachers or even worse, other students.
Smiling to himself, the junior glanced over to his companion only to see that Himchan had already begun walking to the door to exit the building. “What an … he could’ve at least mention he was leaving…” He grumbled under his breath, frowning at the other’s lack of politeness in saying goodbye - it wasn’t that hard, now was it? - and turning to gather his things together so he could go change out as he wasn’t in the mood to swim anymore.
His rant was quickly cut short though when he remembered how quickly Himchan had helped him get Junhong’s clothes down and then how kind he’d been to the boy as he helped him out of the pool. Though the senior had a love for being teasing, there hadn’t been even a glint of humor in his eyes or smile - just pure, unadulterated concern for Junhong. There really was more to Kim Himchan than meets the eye.
“Oh dammit…” Youngjae huffed, quickly gathering the last of his things and running at top speed out of the building. He turned his head this way and that in an effort to locate Himchan and once he did, he called out for him to get his attention.
“What?!” Himchan shouted back once he’d turned around at the sound of his name.
Youngjae bit his lips as he stared across the few yards separating the two of them, contemplating what he was about to say next and if it really was a good idea. Letting out a breath, he decided that it was regardless of whatever consequences came from it. “Come by the Student Council room next Monday afternoon! We’re having the nominations for the committees then, if you still want on!” He shouted, turning back around to head back to the locker room before Himchan could reply.
It didn’t matter though. He could still feel the grin Himchan had on his lips.
TBC
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I decided to add this chapter early because I realized that the previous chapter
and this one, could've easily gone together. So I apologize for the boring chapter before!
Just note, this does not affect the chapter for Saturday, there will still be one posted then!
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