Girls were dressed in red plaid pleated skirts, a white blouse, with a black blazer over it. They also wore a pair of black Dr. Martin’s boots with black stockings. The boys wore black trousers with white shirts, and black jackets. Jiyong watched students walk by as he was seated in front of the principal’s office, waiting to be attended to.

“You don’t know me,” Seunghyun told him before driving off to school by himself. If he was going to be honest, he wished the birthday present was going to make Seunghyun like him but after the night Seunghyun thanked him, everything returned to normal. “Jiyong... you can still change your mind” His mother pleaded as they ate breakfast together.“Mom, please trust me… I put two inhalers in my bag, and I promise to call as soon as I feel sick or lightheaded”. He hated her worrying all the time. Seunghyun could run out the door and no one ever had to look over his or her shoulders, but it was always different with him. They worried whenever he was volunteering at the hospital, or when he said goodnight to go up to his room. He was always treated as if he was made of glass.

“Jiyong” The pudgy lady he greeted earlier called him, “The principal would see you now”. He took a deep breath and walked into the office. “Hello there” The older man greeted him with a smile, “So you are the one who made the great Choi Eun Hyuk scold me, you apparently applied without your parents consent? Do you know that the Choi’s have been of our sponsors for the last five years”? The man was smiling, but his words seemed angry. “I’m sorry”?

“NONSENSE”! The man laughed, “Now we have two Choi’s in our school”

Jiyong was a little uncomfortable, “I’m Kwon. Kwon Jiyong”.

“Oh, yeah. Your parents told me... so welcome to our school. We have a sickbay so please please please if you ever feel uncomfortable, visit there. Your parents informed me of your state of health”. Jiyong bowed his head in embarrassment. The last thing he wanted was to be known as the sick kid, Seunghyun would certainly not like that. “Don’t worry, they told me not to make it public knowledge”.

Thank God. His spirit peaked again. “Thank you sir”

“These are the list of books, you need” the man handed him handed him a paper, “First of all, you are going to go to the bookstore to pick up your uniform, and your books” he was then handed a slip, “That has your locker number, and it’s combination”

Jiyong examined his list of books, “But sir, I applied for the basic science classes, not advanced”.

“Jiyong, if it were up to me, I would send you to sophomore year in college. The curriculum your former teacher had you on was very advanced for your age”. A girl walked into the office, “Jiyong this is Suzy, she is the valedictorian and is going to be your guide”

Suzy smiled offered her hand, “Jiyong, nice to meet you”. She was super pretty. “Lets go” She pulled him up. “First stop, library.... So I heard you’ve been home schooled, how was it”? He was glad she was making conversation with him; everyone he walked by was staring at him. 

“Wow, you must be pretty popular” He laughed nervously.

She scoffed, “Popularity is overrated. They are staring at you, you’re pretty cute”. She smiled at him.

“Oh”. Cute? Him? He shook his head. They were walking into the bookstore when he spotted Taemin from afar, Taemin waved but he lowered his head. Part of the conditions of being in the same school was that he was supposed to stay away from Seunghyun and his friends. 

“Did I just see Lee Taemin wave at you”? Suzy got a little too excited. “Who”? He feigned ignorance. “Taemin. I thought I saw him waving in our direction” Suzy handed the lady behind the counter the list the principal gave him earlier.

“Maybe he was waving at you”

“Me? Yeah right”!! He saw Suzy blush, “Taemin only talks to a few people, and I’m certainly not one of them”.

Really? But he’s so friendly; he wanted to say but decided not to. With the help of Suzy, he changed into his uniform, loaded his locker with his books, and made it to his first class on time. He was introduced to his classmates, and even made two new acquaintances after answering almost all the questions in class. “So Jiyong, is that your real hair”? Taeyon, the petite one asked. “Of course idiot, he has no roots” Hyorin, the one with surprisingly large s answered. They both asked to be friends after running into him in three different classes; chemistry, biology, and calculus. The two were best friends and were both planning on being engineers. He sat with them at lunch, as he kept an eye out for Seunghyun. He was a little surprised he hadn’t run into him all day, or even Suzy for that matter.

“Hey new friend”. Speak of the devil. He heard Suzy behind him.

“I was just thinking about how I hadn’t seen you all day” He smiled as her as she joined them on their table. “Of course, I’m in law so I have mostly art classes, and you’re science so our sciences classes are totally different” She stuffed some rolled up eggs into , “We have history together later though”

“Oh. I....” He was cut short by the sound of commotion that was coming from the entrance of the cafeteria; it was Seunghyun and several other boys. Some he’d seen at his house, and a few others. They were running, throwing things at the each other, and making a ruckus. “Uhh welcome to senior year. You would think that they would be a little mature by now” He heard Taeyon hiss but he had his eyes fixed on Seunghyun. There was something different about the way he looked, he was smiling widely, greeting people, and running all over the place.

“And that would be the amazing Choi Seunghyun” Suzy told him. He’d been caught staring, “He’s the star quarterback player, and captain of both the football and basketball team" 

“And his parents are rich”, Hyorin joined in, “And cool too, they let him do whatever he wants. Did you see his new car”?

Taeyon also joined in. “Well he’s an only child, so of course they spoil him”. Those words hurt him a little but they were the truth. “Uh, I can’t wait to be done with high school”.

“Why? Are they bullies”? He asked, and the girls laughed in his face. “This is a bully free school, as they love to advertise, but too bad a bully free school doesn’t mean that the uncool people wouldn’t get ignored” Taeyon hissed.

“Why are they sitting way over there”? 

“That’s the stupid cool table” Suzy answered air quoting the words cool, “It’s reserved for athletes and other cool people, and in this school athletes are like royalty or whatever”.

Jiyong was still gazing at the athlete’s table, now Seunghyun was standing on one of the table’s demonstrating something, while the others were laughing. Why isn’t he like this at home? Is it because of me? Do i make him that comfortable?

“He’s not for you new guy”, Taeyon said, he’d been caught staring again, “Seunghyun isn’t into guys”

“Don't be rude Tae, just because Jiyong's pretty doesn't mean he's into guys” Hyorin spoke directly to Taeyon before turning her attention back to him, "She's just jealous because she has the biggest crush on him, and he totally ignores her". Taeyon shoved Hyorin lightly, “That's not true, why would I like a total player”?

Suzy slammed her chopsticks, “Please don’t feed Jiyong lies”. They three were engrossed in a heated argument while he was still to get his head wrapped around the ‘he’s not for you’ comment. Was he that obvious? Did Seunghyun know? Did his parents know? It was a while ago and he stopped himself before he drowned in it; Seunghyun was his brother and all he felt was brotherly love… right?

“Here comes the person he seems to be into these days”. He wondered whom Taeyon was referring to as he watched everyone around the athlete’s table direct their attention to the entrance of the refectory. “Lana’s here” Hyorin was also looking towards the entrance. Jiyong traced her gaze, and watched a girl walked up to the cool table and was immediately enveloped by hugs from different people, both boys and girls. “Who is she”? He couldn’t resist asking.

“The most annoying person on the face of the earth who lied to me that she wasn’t coming to school today” Suzy said before walking away.

He watched as Suzy walked over to the cool table and shared a long hug with the girl she had just called annoying. “I’m confused,” he said to the two reminding girls.

“Suzy and Lana are best friends”

Jiyong was so confused; it was like he had to learn both his schoolwork and the social organization within the school. “Suzy’s pretty cool too. For a while she’s been trying to blur the lines between the cool and uncool people but as you’ve seen.... it’s not working” Hyorin informed him.

“Yeah, but Suzy is crazy stubborn. She still refuses to eat lunch over there”

                                              ***

Three weeks had passed since his first day in school and everyday seemed like the last. School was a little lonely, and as much as he liked Taeyon and Hyorin, they were always studying. There were times when he felt like they were only using him as a tutor. He seldom ran into Suzy in the hallway but they only exchanged casual hellos, she always seemed busy. “Earth to Jiyong” Min hyuk’s voice pulled him away from his thoughts, “Open your mouth”. Min hyuk was holding a thermometer to his face.

“Hyung I just had my check up yesterday” He whined. “Well, lets just say I’m using you as a dummy”, Min hyuk forced the glass apparatus in his mouth.  “Cough once”. He obliged, “The nurses told me you had an attack”

“It’s okay, it’s getting cold is all. It happened after school”. Min hyuk smiled and nodded before proceeding to jot things on his notepad. “Hyung were you popular in high school”?

“Why”?

“Well, I can’t seem to make friends... even the ones I made aren’t even fun. They just want to study all day”. He was starting to wish he’d just remained home schooled. High school was not for him. “I only have four Facebook friends when some people in my school brag about having hundreds, even thousands of friends”

"You kids and your social media" Min hyuk laughed “Actually, I was” Min hyuk joined him on the bed; “I used play football". Jiyong eyed his older friend, “Really”?. Min hyuk certainly had body for it, but it was still a bit shocking.

“Don’t look at me like that... my entire life changed when I entered college” He heard a change in Min hyuk’s voice, “I got into college on football scholarship. Full ride. Then I blew my kneecap during the second game of the season and my life changed forever”

“How”? It was the first time his doctor friend was opening up more about any other thing than how much bar exams .

“Well I trained as hard as a could, but the coach thought I wasn’t as good as before and I got cut off the team, so I decided to become a doctor. There was always something sophisticated about doctors, so I spoke to my uncle” he knew the uncle very well. Min Hyuk’s uncle was his primary physician; the one who save his life every time during his crisis. “And it was the best decision I ever made. I knew that if I tried hard enough, no one was going to tell me I wasn’t good enough”

As much as the older man wanted to sound convincing, Jiyong could still tell that there was a part of him that missed the sport, “And to think one day, I would be telling someone that story, and referring to you as the one who I looked up to”.

“Right! When both your parents are as amazing as they come” Min hyuk rose up, “Aish. This is why I didn’t want you to go to high school at first; I knew you were going to lose your naivety.... I like you better cute”. Jiyong blushed, “Hyung I’m almost eighteen, I am a man now”, A man with feelings, so please don’t smile at me like that anymore. Min Hyuk’s pager went off, “Oh, it’s time for rotations...” the older man picked his file up from the bed, and took a look at Jiyong, “I’ll help this once because I really hate when you pout and stare into space like that” they both smiled, “Jiyong high school is basically all about standing out, in fact not just high school, life in general”, the older man spoke hastily but Jiyong drank in every word, “You have to do something that would make people remember you; like be insanely good at sports, be the rich flashy kid, be the one with the amazing taste in music, be in different clubs, be the valedictorian, or even the sick kid....which I know you don’t want to be.... plus you have your spoiled brother and from what I’ve deducted, he’s pretty cool right”?

Jiyong nodded, “but...”

“Yeah yeah, you’re not supposed to know him. I don’t under....”

“Hyung” Jiyong frowned, “Are about to badmouth my brother”?

“Okay fine” Min hyuk sighed, “Just do something amazing, but don’t try too hard. I honestly thought the girls would be all over you with you looking like that and all, but I guess times are different”

The truth was, girls did say hi to him a lot and he didn’t even know half of them, but none of them ever approached him or asked to be friends. It all seemed hard and pointless; maybe Seunghyun was right, what was the use anyway? His honest reason for going to school was to be able to see Seunghyun everyday, which didn’t even happen. Seunghyun was in the arts also so he had basic science classes, while he had advanced, Seunghyun also always left early for school and got back late so he still never got to see Seunghyun. He was going to quit, there was no use going to school for learning things he had learned almost a year ago. He was going to stay home henceforth, preparing for the college entrance exams.

                                    ***

Jiyong was seated in chemistry laboratory the next day, waiting for someone to join him at his table. It was his last class for the day, actually it was his last class overall; he was marching to the principal’s office and calling it quits when school was over. Nothing was exciting about high school, even the chemistry lab he used to think was fun had gotten boring; he was restricted to materials he could use even though they were present in the lab.

People started tripping in slowly, he took his time to examine the people in the lab; everyone already had their own partner’s, there was chit chatting all around him. “Want to be lab partners”? Someone with a familiar voice asked behind him. “Hyung”? It was Taemin. Last time he checked, Taemin and Seunghyun had basic chemistry together.

“Hyung? I’m older than you by months.... you just need to eat more” Taemin shook his head. “Why are you so skinny”?

“What are you doing here”? Jiyong was suddenly aware of all the eyes on them, there were even some whispers going on around them. “This is advanced chemistry”. Taemin casually picked one of the goggles that were laying on the table, and placed it around his head, “I have free period, and I didn’t feel like going to football practice so I came to see what kids did in advanced chemistry”, he looked around and saw his classmates giving him questioning looks, some even had their phones out. Great. Now Seunghyun was going to fret over nothing. He was grateful Seunghyun was on the field and as far away from his phone as possible. He could sense uncomfortable Jiyong was, “So do you guys clone cats and stuff”? He saw Jiyong relax a little before bursting into laughter.

“No”

“So what do you guys do that’s so different”?

“Nothing really”, Taemin was so nice. He and Suzy would have been perfect for each other; he could tell she liked him. “Just basic titrations, formation of salts, and the accompanying calculations”.

“WHOA”! Taemin’s outburst had people staring again, “MY ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL LIFE IS A LIE”!!!. His reaction had Jiyong dying laughing.

“Lee Taemin” The professor was suddenly behind them, “If you are going to sit in my class, you are going to have to do the work silently”

“Sorry sir” Taemin quickly bowed. “Wow, I see Mr. Choi is still as lovely as ever. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile, or lose his composure,” he whispered to Jiyong who was still laughing, when the man walked away. “So I hear you’re quitting school”? He was a little disappointed when Seunghyun earlier told him Jiyong was quitting.

“Yeah, It’s not for me”

“So you’re giving up”?

“I’m not giving up, I just prefer being home-schooled” Jiyong said as he took out all the apparatus needed for the day’s lab work. “School is a bit boring”.

“Of course it is... you’re in advanced chemistry and you guys aren’t doing anything fun” Taemin scoffed, “Come join us in basic chemistry, that’s where all the fun things happen. It’s like someone thought it would be awesome to put all the dumb kids in one lab and watch what happens. Just last week, some Kevin kid burned his eyes brows and now he wears eyeliner to school everyday”. He had to stop to laugh again; it was hands down the funniest thing he’d ever seen. 

“That’s nothing, I’ll show you something fun”. It was his last day anyways. First he made sure Mr. Choi was back in his station, he brought out several Erlenmeyer flasks and some beakers, and arranged them out, then beside it, a Bunsen burner and a stand, and also a hot plate. He got all the chemicals he needed, and set each before the three different reactions he was going to perform, he also took out a pack of gummy worms.

“Uhhh, okay I’m confused. What’s happening”?

“I’m going to show you what advanced high school chemistry should look like... I’m doing four different experiments;  the old Nassau reaction, the briggs-rauscher reaction, the hydrogen peroxide and sodium iodide and the potassium chlorate and gummy worms reaction”

Taemin was beyond confused, “I’m just going to nod my head and pretend like I know what that means”. Jiyong started and he watched, not just him but several other of their class mates were watching from their stations. Just when he thought the first two reactions was the coolest things he’d ever seen, Jiyong did the third and he was mind blown. At that point, people’s phones were out but they were quiet not to alert Mr. Choi, but the fourth reaction was far from silent and inconspicuous.

                                                       ***

“Jiyong we have to talk about what you did in school today...” Mi Rae screamed at her youngest, when she first got the call, she was so sure something bad had happened and she thought the worst.

“I don’t know why they’re calling it a bomb, it was just a simple redox reaction”.

“I don’t know honey, it thought it was pretty cool” Eun Hyuk commented. The three were back home after the meeting with the principal. “Eun hyuk don’t encourage him”. She sighed as she watched her husband high five their son, “I don’t understand, I thought you said you were going to quit school… What happened”?

“I changed my mind, I want to finish”.

Mirae sighed again, a little part of her was glad that Jiyong wasn’t quitting. “Jiyong go to your room, i need to talk to your father”.

“Sorry mom, I didn’t mean to make you worried” Jiyong’s said before making his way upstairs. He was really going to throw in the towel on school but then Taemin told him that Seunghyun was happy they were in the same school, and that was enough for him to stay. He didn’t want to believe Taemin at first, but Taemin had no reason to lie to him.

                                             ***

Seunghyun was beyond tired; the entire team was still out of shape even after several weeks of training and homecoming was in a few weeks, being the captain was no joke. “Have any of you guys seen T”? He asked the rest of the team. They were resting on the field after running the same play for several hours. “Do any one of you have your phones on you”?

“Well, thanks to the captain we don’t” One of the boys said before they made their way to the locker room, and Seunghyun couldn’t help but notice the looks people were giving him. “Dude!!!! That new kid's is your brother. How could we not have known”? Three of his friends from the basketball team ran up to him, “He’s so cool”!

“What”?

“You haven’t seen the video”? One of them shoved the phone in his face. He watched the video; Jiyong was on it, Taemin also for some reason. “Did you see Mr. Choi, he totally lost his ” The boys added before bursting into laughter. He was beyond angry, not because Jiyong had just ruined him, but Taemin helped in the process. By the time he was done changing, his phone was so bombarded with calls and messages that it went off. I AM GOING TO KILL HIM; he thought when he stormed into the house, “JIYONG”!!!!! He basically kicked down Jiyong’s room.

“Hyung”?

He caught sight of Jiyong in his room, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY....”, just when he thought he couldn’t possibly get angrier, he saw one of his beloved bear brick on the floor, in pieces. “No no no no…” he bent to pick some of the shards.

“Hyung... I’m sorry. I promise to glue it back”

“Glue it back”? Somehow he felt like laughing. “Why are you doing this to me”?

“Hyung....”

“Bad enough I have to share my parents with you, now I have to share my school, and friends”? He was not going to try to hold back, “School was the one place I had to myself”. He caught sight of his parents at the door, “Seunghyun that’s enough” his father said.

“No dad, please stay out of this. You guys have always wanted he and I to talk right? Well, we are having a conversation”

“Hyung, I’m so sorry” Jiyong was crying, which aggravated him more, "You're always sorry and pouting all over the place. If you love pity so much why don’t you just die already......” Okay that last part took him by surprise.

The room grew quiet, even the sound of a dropped pin could have been heard. “Seunghyun come with me... let’s go for dduk”, his mother pulled him out of the room.

                                              ***

“Mom...” Seunghyun did'nt have the words. “Mom you know I didn’t mean that right? I was just so angry, did you know what he did… people in school saw you and dad today in school and now they know about us…” She had driven past four different dduk kiosk, and he was getting a bit scared. “Are you going to kill me”? He asked causing Mirae to bring the car to a screeching halt, “You know, I once wanted to take Jiyong back to the orphanage? It was a couple of days after I brought him home; you weren’t eating, and you were always so moody, but then he had a crisis and I knew that no other person would be better suited to take care of him than your father and I”

“Mom I really didn’t mean what I said”

She finally turned to face him, “I have seen you say and do all sort of things to your brother and I’ve always tried to understand you but I have never been disappointed in you until today. It was like a hug slap on the face; you’ve seen all your father and I have been through to safe guard his health and yet so say such a thing” She was resisting the urge so slap some sense into him.

“Mom, I said I’m sorry”. He'd never seen her so angry, there were even tears in hers which made him more disappointed in himself.

“It’s not me you should be apologizing to. I am going to need you to think about how you are going to apologize to your brother on your walk home” She unlocked the door. "By the way, Jiyong wasn't the one who broke your precious man toy... it happened when one of the maids were cleaning your room and Jiyong offered to help her put it back together"

Okay, then he really felt like the devil, "I didn't know, I was just too angry from school.... mom please don't make me walk. It's pretty dark out" he pleaded. "I promise to do whatever you want"

"Out"! She yelled, and he finally got out of the door, "Close the door Seunghyun"

“Mom it's like 5 miles, and I don’t have my phone or wallet with me” he tried mimicking Jiyong's pouty face, "Nice try Seunghyun, you look like an old english bulldog"

"Mom, don't you love me anymore"? He finally closed the door, and she locked it, "I love you so much, but the next time you feel angry with your brother enough to wish him dead, you would think of this punishment and pick your words wisely. Make sure you stick to major roads, there are a lot of creepy people out there” She said before speeding away.

                                      ***

“Where’re we going dad”? While his wife took their older son for a drive, he took their younger. “I was hoping to talk... you know, make you feel better and all”.

“Okay, can we have ice cream”?

“Sure... Jiyong it’s okay to cry” He took little peeks at Jiyong. “It’s okay to be angry at your hyung”

“Hyung probably feels bad for what he said”. Eun Hyuk hated how much Jiyong valued Seunghyun, it just didn’t seem fair. He knew Jiyong was hurt. “Jiyong who am I to you, am I some stranger you live with”?

“Of course not, you’re my father”

“Really how”? It was a dialogue they’d been having for years, “I mean, Mirae and I certainly aren’t your biological parents, so what’s with that? How am I your father”?

“You are my father because you had me with love. You love me just like your own child” Jiyong was now looking down sadly. 

“Okay so if that’s the case why do you keep tiptowing around our home like you are some stranger living with us”? It was the first time he asked this, and Jiyong didn’t answer. He suddenly had an idea on how to cheer him up.

“I want you to pick one, anyone”? He told Jiyong when they entered the pet store. "It's about time we had a pet in the house"

“Really”? Jiyong beamed.“Yes, any” He had a dog growing up; dogs were certainly a man’s best friend. “Go look around while I call your mother. I hope your hyung is still alive” he saw Jiyong face paled, “I’m joking” I hope

“This one” Jiyong was back before he could even dial Mi Rae. “I love him, I want him”. It was certainly a strange looking dog but he wasn’t surprised at his son’s choice. “Jiyong, are you sure. You didn’t even look around long enough”. The dog Jiyong had in his arms looked off. 

“No this is the one, I going to call him gaho”. The puppy was restless in Jiyong’s arms, trying to Jiyong everywhere “See, he likes me”. Jiyong kissed the dog.

“I’ll go take care of the paperwork”

Jiyong played with the puppy for a while, Ooh, let me take a picture. He took out his phone for his pocket; it had been off all day. The minute he turned it on, he had seventy five Facebook messages and over a hundred friend requests and wall post, and most of them were people from his school. 

Unknown number>>>Jiyong

Hey Jiyong, its Taemin…remember me? I kind of stole your number from Seunghyun a while back (yes I’m a bit creepy). Anyways, if you haven’t heard, the whole school’s talking about you and your awesome science experiment. Plus I kind of let it slip that you are Seunghyun’s brother when your folks showed up today, and news travels fast in high school (our little secret). See you in school tomorrow since now you have no reason to ignore me when I wave at you.

His head was spinning. Was he cool now?, he put that thought aside for the moment, the most important thing was that Seunghyun had his number. How? Since when?

Unknown number>>>Jiyong

P.S don’t worry about Seunghyun; I’ll talk to him :)

Jiyong's OST:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HEY you, how are you today? Did you like today's update? So...I am henceforth going to be adding ost's to my updates so you can get a better feel of the character. So when you see Jiyong's OST, try and use it to understand how Jiyong feels, or how Seunghyun feels when you see one in his name.... The songs in the links would always have the lyrics :)  Usually, when I read fanfincs, i kind of listen to my fave drama's OST's so that I can drown myself in feels, so I thought it would be nice if I provided them for my readers. Plus I am so lame that i have these songs  on my ipod, haha....they give me feels okay?????? NO JUDGING!. 

As always, feel free to ask any question, or even correct me..... just dont be mean, my heart can't take it okay? haha. I love you:)