Luhan had always wondered how it would be like- to feel an inexplicable sense of attraction for someone, an attraction that would be more than just a tender curiosity, more than just a stirring of the heart. He feels an idle curiosity to the inner workings of his heart, and he yearns for a reality which offers him a temporary escape from his dreams, if only for a little while.

He feels oddly disconnected to the world sometimes, like he's just a spare screw hanging loose, whereas everyone else around him seemed to have a set path, a definite future laid out ahead of them. He drifts aimlessly among the masses, merely existing in his own little personal bubble and never getting himself involved in anything else that doesn't concern him.

He gets an odd sense of loneliness, and he wonders if it's because that deep down inside him, he yearns for a part of that reassurance too- the reassurance that some way down the road, there will exist a day when he feels something stir inside of him, something as old as time itself, in all of its immeasurable ways and lengths. He doesn't know when, and he doesn't know how, but he knows that someday, he will, and he can only hope, until then.














i.



Luhan is immersed in his own thoughts when he hears some faint giggling from outside the classroom window. He glances out and sees a couple of girls standing there, shooting him the occasional bashful glance and shy smile. They wave at him, and Luhan, being the ever so benevolent person that he is, waves back kindly, offering them a small, yet distant, smile. He glances back at his textbook and allows himself to be immersed in his thoughts again.

Those girls don't like me as a person, he thinks as he flips another page of his book. Rather, it's all about my face. They don't know, nor care, about what's inside me, and the kind of thoughts that I harbor inside my head. After all, it is human nature to be judged for your appearance, because no one, at first glance, bothers about the things that they cannot see.

He shakes his head slightly and lets out a rather ungraceful yawn, scratching the back of his head as he rolls his shoulders and refocuses back on his book. He feels a heavy book smack him on his shoulder and he lets out a startled groan. He turns around sharply, but the irritation quickly subsides to mild surprise when he sees the person standing in front of him.

"Sehun? Why'd you hit me?" He complains mildly as he rubs the back of his shoulder. Sehun shrugs and sits down beside him, pulling on the collar of his rumpled school uniform. "It's because you do such unrefined things, like yawning out loud, especially with that good-looking face of yours. I couldn't help it."

Luhan rolls his eyes and closes his book. He leans back on his chair. "Yeah, okay."

"If you act so unrefined again, your girlfriend's going to fall out of love with you pretty soon, maybe even today," Sehun warns as he glances at the impassive male beside him. Even in silence, Luhan looked like a work of art, a finely carved masterpiece, with beautifully tousled blond hair, bright brown eyes, pale flawless skin and an elegantly carved jaw. He was tall, yet not too tall, with a slender build and broad shoulders. Sehun rolls his eyes and tugs on his collar again. "You should be careful."

"Too late," Luhan shrugs as he glances out of the classroom window. The sunlight streams in, bathing his face in a warm glow. "I got dumped yesterday."

He hesitates as he opens his textbook again. "She told me that I'm not the person she thought I was."

Sehun rolls his eyes again. "How am I not surprised?"

Luhan twirls his pen. "It's her own fault for assuming. They're always the one to confess to me in the first place, and then they get all disappointed when they find out that I'm not what they expect me to be. I feel like there's a huge gap between my appearance and my personality, and I'm still struggling to find myself. How can they understand me, when I can't even understand myself?"

Luhan closes his book and lets out a loud sigh. "Stuff like falling in love, you'll never know when it's going to happen to you."

Sehun chuckles. "Well, you'll just have to hope that someday, someone will."

Luhan frowns and puts his book away.












Luhan meets Jongin on a warm spring day, when the signs of winter are finally beginning to recede, and the lingering fragrance of freshly bloomed flowers lingered in the air. He leans against the school wall, reading his book and he's so lost in his thoughts that he's almost startled when a car pulls up on the curb, and a tall good looking male jumps out. He waves goodbye to the girl in the driver's seat and turns around.

"Morning," Jongin greets him cheerfully, an easy smile on his face. He looks like the epitome of relaxation, and Luhan finds himself envying that. He smiles back and waves. "Hello, Jongin. You're early today."

The car pulls away from the curb and drives off. Luhan glances at the female driver again and remarks "Is that your girlfriend of the week? She looks older than 20." He's well-aware about Jongin's reputation among the girls, what with those good looks and effortless demeanour. Jongin quirks an eyebrow and grins. "You're not very observant, Luhan. Wrong on both accounts."

He tilts his head slightly, eyeing the blonde in front of him. "Why are you here, Luhan? Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

Luhan shrugs and leans back against the wall. "I have free period now."

"I see," Jongin joins Luhan by the wall and he leans against it. His legs looked unbelievably long and slim. Even with their unflattering school uniform on, Jongin still looked like he was modelling for an Abercrombie ad. He closes his eyes for a moment, inhaling the sweet spring air.

"So," Luhan remarks carelessly. "Has anyone confessed to you today yet?"

Jongin widens his eyes in surprise. He didn't know that Luhan knew about his reputation amongst the girls. "No, not yet."

"Hmm," Luhan mumbles as he gives a side glance to the boy beside him. "So it hasn't started yet, huh?" He hesitates and looks away. "So are you really fine with anyone as long as they confess first?"


Luhan is well aware about Jongin's "rule"; Jongin will accept anyone that confesses to him first every week, but his relationships will always only last for a week, and it'll end by him abruptly breaking up with the confessor. Because of this, he usually had a long line of girls anxiously looking for him around the campus every Monday, yearning to be the first one to confess to him.

The only reason why Jongin's popularity and reputation doesn't drop among the girls even though he puts an abrupt end to every relationship he's had is because he would sincerely do everything his partner wants in the one week that they're going out. He's perfectly faithful and loyal to his partner, never straying away from his role in the relationship and everything else that came along with it.


Jongin hesitates at Luhan's question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you accept anyone as long as they confess to you first? Don't you have a type?"

Jongin nods thoughtfully at Luhan's question. "A type? I guess I don't really think about looks...." He trails off and glances at Luhan. "But I really like your face, though." He smiled at that statement, his eyes crinkling up in the corners.

Luhan doesn't know why, but at that moment, he felt a sudden impulse. He was curious to see how Jongin would react if he confessed. He glances down on the ground and shifts his ankle to the side, bumping with Jongin's. He felt nothing towards Jongin, at least, not yet. He was merely seized by a strong relentless curiosity, a curiosity to know whether Jongin was as good a person as everyone else said he was.


"Why don't you go out with me, Jongin?"

Jongin freezes and widens his eyes, turning around to look at the smiling male beside him. Luhan doesn't look like he's joking, though. His bright brown eyes smile back into Jongin's dark ones, and Jongin feels something stirring inside of him.

Jongin lets out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding. "Okay."














Later that afternoon, Luhan wakes up from his reverie to find a baffled Sehun staring at him. "Luhan...." Sehun says slowly, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "Why is Kim Jongin standing outside of our classroom?"

Luhan glances out of the classroom and he sees a smiling Jongin standing outside, his hands stuck inside his pockets. He looked like the personification of perfection itself, with his dark tousled hair, clear bright eyes and smooth skin. Jongin sees Luhan staring at him and he grins, stretching out a hand to give him a shy wave. Luhan finds himself grinning back and he waves at Jongin too, his brown eyes crinkling up in the corners. Something flickers in Jongin's eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it came as Luhan stands up and walks out of the classroom, ignoring Sehun's incredulous stare.

"So, you're in class 4-1." Jongin grins. He takes his hands out of his pockets, letting his arms hanging awkwardly by the sides. "I was wondering if we could go home together today."

"Huh?"

Disappointment flickers in Jongin's eyes. "Oh, you're not free today?"

"Well, no, I don't really have anything that I need to do now. But you have club activities after school today, don't you?" He side-eyes Jongin and Jongin shifts his feet nervously. "Uh... yeah." He and Luhan were in the same archery club, but Jongin was notoriously famous for never showing up during practice, despite the constant chiding from his other club remembers.

Luhan scoffs and crosses his arms. "You have so much talent for archery. It'll be a waste if you keep skipping it."

Jongin chuckles and abruptly changes the subject. "Hey, Luhan, do you have a cellphone?"

Luhan blinks at him, adorably confused. "I do have one. Why?"

Jongin digs his phone out. "I was hoping we could exchange phone numbers and email addresses." He beams hopefully at Luhan, his implication clear. Luhan widens his eyes in surprise. Is he always that direct to other people? He's even more surprised to admit that he's not at all bothered by that revelation though. In fact, he kind of likes it.

"So," Jongin remarks as he taps Luhan's phone number into his phone. "Is Luhan your full name?"

"Yeah," Luhan replies. Jongin nods thoughtfully as he slips his phone back into his pocket. He beams at Luhan, and Luhan feels something pleasant tingling down his spine.

"I like your name. Can I call you Lu?"

Luhan's eyes darken. "Call me that and you're dead."

Jongin laughs and he's just about to interject when someone runs down the corridor. "Jongin!" They turn around to see a freshman come running up to them, panting and out of breath. "Matsutani was looking for you. He wants to go over something."

"Okay," Jongin shrugs and turns around, clearly dismissing the freshman. "Here." He hands Luhan's phone back. "I've put in my number and email address already." Luhan nods and accepts the phone, slipping it into his leather backpack. He still senses Sehun gawking at him from inside the classroom. Luhan knows that he's about to get interrogated by Sehun later and he's not looking forward to it at all.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Jongin grins effortlessly as he walks down the corridor, his figure tall and perfectly lean.

"Make sure you go for club practice!" Luhan yells.

Jongin turns back and smiles at him, not answering his question. He gives another wave and saunters off, disappearing from Luhan's line of sight, leaving the latter rooted in the corridor.



Luhan realizes that this is the first time that he's had a proper conversation with Jongin, and surprisingly, Jongin was an even stranger person than he thought he was. Jongin was the picture of effortless perfection, but despite his careless grins and the easy way he carried himself, Luhan sensed an undercurrent of something else underneath, something that intrigued him and made him want to get to know Jongin more.

In less than three hours, they had already exchanged phone numbers and email addresses, and Jongin had even offered to walk Luhan home. Luhan wasn't an expert on relationships but somehow he felt that everything was progressing too quickly. Despite the obvious interest he had in Jongin's mysterious aura, he still feels slightly uneasy around the latter.

Luhan takes a step back to the classroom and suddenly stills, furrowing his eyebrows.

He feels something tugging at the back of his mind, and he realizes that maybe, just maybe, Jongin had taken what he said seriously.