Taekwoon arrived at school one day to find Hakyeon in his class, desperately clinging to one of the class reps. “Please, please, pleeeeease” he begged.

“You should have brought your own!”

“I know! And I will! Promise! Just this once!”

The class representative sighed and pulled an English dictionary from his bag. As he did so he said “I want it back at lunch.”

“Thank you Kong!”

The class rep pulled Hakyeon by the collar. “I- I mean thank you Hongbin!”

Hongbin freed Hakyeon from his grip. His furrowed brows relaxed to reveal his devishly handsome face.

“Ah!” Hakyeon’s face lit up and he bounded over to seat number four after noticing Taekwoon.

“Another friend of yours?” Taekwoon asked.

“That’s just Ko- I mean Hongbin. We went to middle school together.”

As if noticing the increased tension Taekwoon felt, Hakyeon added “He was on the go-home club.”

Taekwoon’s shoulders dropped and he took his seat. Hakyeon started babbling on about the new TV show he was watching. Something to do with water bottles. Taekwoon listened, doing his best to hide his disinterest. He nodded where appropriate and allowed Hakyeon to carry on until the bell rang.

The lessons started with history followed by mathematics. Taekwoon’s teachers quickly learned that calling on him was almost pointless. Talking in front of the whole class was not his strong point, so he mainly stared straight ahead, keeping his poker face and remaining silent, when asked to answer a question.

Because of this, Taekwoon was able to complete his lessons peacefully, often stealing glances at the classroom across the hall to see what amusing faces his only friend was making.

Mr Choi’s maths lesson was a tough one. Taekwoon was still staring blankly at his workbook when Hakyeon approached him at lunch time. He was interrupted mid-greeting by Hongbin, who desperately wanted his dictionary back.

“How come you two are so friendly anyway? He hasn’t said a word since the first day. Taekwon was it?”

“Taekwoon.” Hakyeon corrected him, “And it just sort of happened, didn’t it?”

Hakyeon looked to Leo, who nodded as a reply.

“Doesn’t your neck get sore?”

Hakyeon hit Hongbin on the shoulder “You can h