Chapter 5 : Shattered Plans

Jong Suk leaned back against the leafless linden tree in the school garden and closed his book with a deep sigh. As his literature teacher had ordered, he had been trying to read for the past half hour, but it was hopeless. He just couldn’t focus. Instead of seeing the letters in front of him, he just kept seeing that kiss Woo Bin stole from him this morning.

He was afraid of what will happen next time they meet. Will he steal another kiss? He knew Woo Bin didn’t care about whether someone saw them or not, he never cared about others’ opinion when it came to decisions about his life. But on the other hand Jong Suk was scared of getting people’s attention; he was scared of hurting his parents. How could Woo Bin be so careless? How could he dare to kiss him in school, to top that at the entrance to their classroom…they were lucky that there were no students around at that time since it was so early in the morning.

Jong Suk felt his cheeks heat up just at the thought of Woo Bin’s daring kiss this morning. It’s not like he didn’t like it. In fact those sneaky kisses Woo Bin stole excited him. He shook away the memory. Sometimes he was envious of Woo Bin who could pull a poker face right after kissing him like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. But Jong Suk’s face always showed his emotions and that was what he was scared of the most. If someone were to read his face while he was looking at Woo Bin, he was sure his secret would be caught right away.

For once it had been a relief to go to school in the morning. He had left the house extra early just so he could chat with Woo Bin a bit longer before the classes started, hoping that if he didn’t stay for breakfast he wouldn’t have to listen to his mother rambling on and on about his school report from last semester.

But missing breakfast had accomplished nothing beyond an empty stomach. Because in spite of the fact that it was a beautiful day—though bit cold—and in spite of the fact that he had a free period with nothing else to do but sit outside and read as commanded by Ms Seo, the literature teacher, he simply couldn’t stop thinking about Woo Bin. Where was he anyway? He wondered looking around, but there was no sign of Woo Bin. He turned back to his book, flipped it open and tried to focus.

Jong Suk looked up, momentarily distracted a group of students that came into the garden. He recognised a few of them from his grade, and Jin-Ah was also with them.

Jin-Ah sat down on the grass, far from where Jong Suk was. Didn’t she see me? He wondered. Then a girl from her group titled her head to one side and gave Jong Suk a pleasant smile; she nudged at Jin-Ah and pointed her gaze at Jong Suk. Jin-Ah stood up and rushed back to the school building and the girls followed after her, shouting to wait for them.

“Did they have a fight?” he heard one of the girls say as they ran after Jin-Ah.

What was all that about? Then he tried to think about anything he had done to make his sister angry; other than not getting a present for her birthday, there was nothing else he could think about. Is she like that because of such a petty reason? He went back to reading the book.

***

When Jong Suk got back to class Woo Bin was back in his seat, his was leaning on his desk, head rested on an arm stretched out; he was facing at the window.

Jong Suk walked back to his seat, and slid the book under his desk as he sat down. Woo Bin straightened and looked at Jong Suk whose tall figure was blocking his view on the window.

“Where have you been?” he asked.

“I could ask you the same,” Jong Suk said, fishing through his bag for the literature text book for their next class.

Woo Bin swung his arm around Jong Suk’s shoulder and pulled him closer in a headlock.

“Do you know how much I missed you?” he whispered into his ear.

Jong Suk felt his ears turning red and he feared the same was happening with his face.

“Ya! What are you doing?” He knew that Woo Bin clearly knew how sensitive he was to his touches, yet he played with him every chance he got.

The bell rang and all the students started swarming in. He managed to break away from Woo Bin’s grip.

“I was sitting by the linden tree,” he said, without looking at him. “Where were you?”

“I had to go see Yoo Jin’s homeroom teacher.”

“Why?”

“She caused some trouble again,” he said with a sigh.

Jong Suk stopped flipping through his text book and glanced at Woo Bin.

“Again? What did she do this time?” He wasn’t even surprised anymore. This was the already the second time she had caused trouble within the first week of her freshman year. First time was a fist fight with a boy who had apparently tried to bully her, but from the busted lips and bruised face she had given him, it looked like the victim and offender had been changed in the middle of the initial fight.

“Another fight,” he said, disappointment clear on his face.

“Did he call your parents again?”

Woo Bin nodded. That means she is getting her allowance cut off for another month, though it was already cut off for this month, and an earful from her parents.

“Who does she take after?” Jong Suk mumbled to himself.

“Dad, probably,” Woo Bin said. “But…Why did you go there?  I even went to the rooftop, looking for you,” his voice held a bit of disappointment.

“I was going to go there, but the P.E. teacher was heading there. That’s why,” he said with a soft smile.

Ms Seo came to the class and started her lesson. The only affect her low voice had on students was making them sleepy. It only took less than ten minutes to make half off the class doze off. Jong Suk widened his eyes in an attempt to stay awake and focus on the lesson, but he was putting more energy into staying awake than listening. Woo Bin was already leaning on his desk, eyes solely focused on Jong Suk’s sleepy face.

Jong Suk jolted to the sudden feel of a hand on his forearm. When he gazed, Woo Bin was grinning at him. Then he quickly looked around; Ms Seo was continuing a monologue lesson and most of the students were already nodding off. Luckily their seats were located next to the window in the last row, so unless people carefully watched, no one will see anything other than their faces.

“What are you doing?” he mouthed the words, trying to move his arm away. But Woo Bin gripped tight.

“Stay still. Otherwise people will see,” Jong Suk read Woo Bin’s lips moving slowly as he formed the words. Then he smiled.

Woo Bin’s hand on Jong Suk’s arm made him very nervous. And it did not get any better when Woo Bin moved it to Jong Suk’s hand and started playing with his fingers. Blood rushed to his face. He tried calming down; it was important to keep his face clear, not giving anything away with his expression. Jong Suk had to look like there’s absolutely nothing going on underneath the table, except that now Woo Bin’s hand was groping the length of his thigh. Jong Suk clamped his mouth, stopping his heavy breath from getting out. He clutched the hand groping him and glared at Woo Bin.

“Okay…” Woo Bin mouthed again, his face in a very clear grin—he is enjoying this!! Jong Suk thought.

“Only hand,” Woo Bin’s lips read and Jong Suk let it go at that.

Jong Suk felt like a woman playing footsie with her lover at a fancy dinner party.

Woo Bin was playing with Jong Suk’s hand for the rest of the class and that sure managed to keep him awake. But he remembered nothing from the class. He only knew that he didn’t dare to look at Woo Bin until the bell sounded. 

Woo Bin jumped to his feet, the minute the teacher was out of their sight. He clutched Jong Suk’s hand and grinned before running out of the class, dragging him with him.

“Ya! Where are you dragging me?” Jong Suk shouted, but the hallway was already full of screams of freed students that his voice sounded like a silent wind.

“At least go slower,” he said, when Woo Bin didn’t seems to be answering.

Woo Bin ran up the stairs, Jong Suk following—or rather dragging—after him. Then he squeezed through the rusted door into the rooftop. Jong Suk pulled his hand away and bent down, clutching onto his knees as he huffed for air.

“Ya…what is wrong with you?” Jong Suk asked in between his deep breaths; Woo bin was laughing at him.

“What?” Jong Suk barked straightening back to his feet.

“I always wanted to do that,” Woo Bin said, that big grin still pasted on his face. “You know, like in those dramas where they run with their lover…I always wanted to try that with you,”

“Crazy bustard!” Jong Suk couldn’t help a laugh escaping with the words. Woo Bin laughed harder and gripped Jong-Suk’s waist, pressing himself to Jong Suk. His hot breath was wafting on Jong Suk’s face and the heaving chest so close to him that he could almost feel Woo Bin’s skin on his. It gave butterflies in his stomach. He wanted to run his hands down Woo Bin to feel the lines of his muscles. Woo Bin bent down and kissed him, wrapping his arms tightly around Jong Suk, pushing him against the wall. He lightly on his bottom lip and Jong Suk gladly opened his mouth, eager to taste him again. He tasted sweeter and stronger than this morning, probably because the morning was a short lived kiss so he couldn’t appreciate it as much. His beautiful kissing was sending ripples of desire racing through Jong Suk’s body.

Finally, he pulled away and they were both breathless. Jong Suk looked into his eyes and he could see that they were dancing with excitement. He grinned and caught Woo Bin’s lips again; his arms wrapped around Woo Bin’s neck pulling him closer as he deepened the kiss once again. He felt a moan escape Woo Bin’s mouth and his harden against Jong Suk’s groin. He pulled away and looked at Woo Bin who was clearly expecting him to continue the kiss. Jong Suk grinned and walked passed him, heading toward the bench behind the storage room.

“Ya! Are you going to leave me like this?” Woo Bin cried behind him.

“That’s your punishment for toying with me in the class,” he said waving a hand at him. “Now go buy our lunch.”

“Why me? You go buy it,” Woo Bin said, catching up to his pace. Jong Suk stopped and turned around.

“YOU are the one who dragged me here! I’m not going down again, so you go buy it,” he said, finalising his decision. Then his heel and started heading to the bench. He could hear Woo Bin hiss while walking back to the door, to go buy their lunch.

***

“Woo Bin-ah…”

Woo Bin stopped in the middle of the hallway at the familiar voice. He smiled at the girl bouncing toward him.

“Jin-Ah-ya.”

“Are you going to the cafeteria?” she asked, tagging along with him.

“Yeah…to buy lunch,” he said.

“Want to eat with me?”

He smiled at her invitation, but he wanted to head back to the rooftop as quickly as possible, because he didn’t want to leave his lover alone for longer.

“Sorry, I’m having lunch with Jong Sukie.”

He saw her smile falter. He knew that they—all three of them—used to have lunch together in the past, but now all he wanted was to be alone with Jong Suk whenever possible. But perhaps they had been ignoring this girl bit too much; it must be too sudden for her to accept such a change just because they were no longer in the same class.

“You can come join us if you want,” he said after giving it some thought.

She smiled brightly again, and wrapped her arm around Woo Bin’s.

***

Jong Suk was lying on the bench when he heard footsteps approaching his direction. He sat up; knowing who it was. To his surprise, Jin-Ah was there with Woo Bin, her arm wrapped around his as they walked toward him. For some reason the sight gave him a pang. He formed the best smile he could manage and moved down, making space for the two.

She released her grip on Woo Bin and quickly sat next to Jong Suk, leaving Woo Bin with no choice but to sit next to her.

“Here, your favourite chicken sandwich,” Woo Bin handed Jong Suk his lunch and a carton of banana milk. He smiled and accepted it.

“Oppa…” Jin-Ah looked at Woo Bin who was chewing a mouthful of his food. “Where is my birthday present?”

He choked. He had completely forgotten to buy a gift for Jin-Ah because he was only focused on buy that ring for his Jong-Sukie.

“Sorry, Jin-Ah-ya,” he said, gulping down half of the milk carton Jong Suk had handed him.

She hissed. “Both of you forgot about me,” her voice seemed to break with clear pain. Both Jong Suk and Woo Bin glanced at each other.

“I will buy you something…tell me what do you want?” Woo Bin asked quickly before she broke into tears.

“Go on a date with me,” she said.

“What?” Woo Bin jolted at her answer. He hadn’t even gone on a proper date with his lover yet. Then he glanced at Jong Suk who was nibbling on his sandwich as if he hadn’t heard a single thing.

“Jong Suk-ah…tell him to come with me,” he said to her brother when Woo Bin didn’t seem to be saying anything. “My friends are going on a date with their boyfriends and want me to tag along. But I can’t go by myself. So come with me.”

She nudged at Jong Suk asking to convince him. “Go with her…” he said without looking at Woo Bin.

“W…when is it?” Woo Bin asked.

“This Saturday,” she said.

“Tomorrow?” 

She nodded at Woo Bin. He was planning to spend the day with Jong Suk since his parents weren’t at home for the weekend. He sighed, knowing his plans wouldn’t go as he wanted to.

***