Word count: 5263

Birds flocking. The faint screeches of grasshoppers. The whirl of the processors inside his laptop positioned next to him. All of those are only what Kim Jongin can hear as he lies idly on his queen-sized bed. Dusk is slowly approaching, and with the darkening of his bedroom also comes the deeper thoughts which consume him. Tomorrow… back to same old routine, he thinks to himself.

Jongin is a second year art student who decided to take up painting after graduating high school. Jongin wasn’t the greatest painter, but he wasn’t the worst one either. People had complimented him on his artistic skills, but there was always room for improvement, and that’s why Jongin decided to enrol in an art school in the first place - but he felt he wasn’t improving as fast as he should have. The high grades he once received in high school appeared to be dropping as the year further progressed. Maybe everyone was a artist back in high school, or maybe he was getting left behind as everyone else was developing his or her own styles. Either way, this made him contemplate what he actually wanted to do.

Jongin was always about the relaxed, easy life. He had thought by taking a bludge class and working as a part-time fast food servant, he would have nothing much to worry about for the rest of his life, but he found his art school more demanding than he’d thought. There would be countless days where he found himself crashing onto his bed night after night, wondering if any of his efforts would pay off in hopes of being discovered by the right person at the right time, who would ultimately end up selling his works for high prices and make a living off of it. His friends had all taken up other ventures that lead to high paying jobs. Chanyeol took up accounting, Baekhyun worked as a graphic designer and Suho went on to study high school teaching, so he wonders if he really chose the right path.

Am I really passionate about this? He thinks to himself.

No, I’ve already completed one year, I might as well not turn back now.

Laying face down on the pillow, a muffled groan escapes his mouth, dwelling on what he really wants to do with his life. I hope everything I’ve done up to this point pays off eventually, he thinks as he twists himself onto his back staring at the indigo roof, once white before dusk.

“Good to see you all back this year.” The teacher circles the classroom as he holds his wrist to his stomach. Jongin didn’t get too much sleep that night. Not because he was excited, but because he was up until 3am that morning waiting for the new music video release of his favourite K-pop group. As the matter a fact, he didn’t really remember he had school again until he woke up, just 20 minutes before he was supposed to leave. It was just a regular night to him. He just saw today as a dent in his plans.

“Now, as you all know, we always get new students every year, and this time is no different,” the teacher continues, “Mr. Do, if you could stand up and introduce yourself to everyone?”

Jongin didn’t even notice the new guy sitting at the front of the classroom. But, who could blame him? Jongin saw him put down a book that he had buried his head into before he stood up. He didn’t really pay attention to the quiet, nerdy type guys.

“Hello everyone, my name is Do Kyungsoo.” The petite male subtly bows towards the other students from his spot. “I hope you enjoy having me in your class this year.”

“This year?” Kris asks. “I thought you had enrolled for next year too.”

“Oh, yeah, that's what I meant.” Kyungsoo replies before breaking into nervous laughter. “First day nerves are getting to me I guess.”

He looks like someone you’d find in a boy group, Jongin thinks to himself. He finds himself observing Kyungsoo’s cute, yet mature looks. He eyes Kyungsoo’s short but built body frame and his glossy jet-black hair, but the one thing that stands out most to him are his lips. Those lips. He could notice them from the end of the room. Their thick, plump shape actually reflected the lights on the roof. And who could forget his eyes? His eyes were some of the biggest that Jongin had ever seen, but it didn’t look abnormal to him. It actually suited his shy, quiet nature. Well, he couldn’t determine if he was quiet for sure but he Kyungsoo didn’t seem to give off the impression that he was the biggest party animal going.

“It's fine. Anyway, I hope you can all make Kyungsoo here feel welcome. I’ve seen his work and he will be a very valuable asset to our class, I can tell you all now.”

~

“Kris?” Jongin asks as he watches the rest of the students leave the room.

“Yes, Jongin?”

“I’ve been giving this some thought over the past few days, and I’ve decided I want to quit this class.. and this school. How would I go about that?”

A look of concern took over the taller males face, just before he turned his back to wipe the whiteboard clean. “Why would you want to quit now? You’ve already paid your school fees for the three years you’re supposed to be here. Is two more years too much for you?”

“Does it make me a bad person if I say it is?”

Kris turns around, still wiping the whiteboard. “It makes you a lazy person.” He turns back around. “What happened to the Jongin who was full of promise when the year first began?”

“I don’t know. I guess I don’t have any inspiration. Or motivation for that manner.”

Kris grabs his books and heads over to Jongin. “Look, I can’t stop you from pulling out of this course, but I can tell you that you will regret it. C’mon, just give it one more week. If you still feel like you want to drop out, I won’t stop you.”

“And what could be so interesting about this next week that will make me want to stay here?”

“Tomorrow, I was going to assign everyone a person to work with for the entire year. I don’t normally do this, but would it make you feel any better if I let you choose who you want to work with?”

“Not really. It takes all the surprise out of it.”

“Okay, then I’ll choose someone for you now.” Kris flips through the folder with loose sheets of paper containing every students name and file. “Ah, this guy would be perfect.” The dark blonde male pulls the sheet from the folder and hands it to Jongin.

“Do Kyungsoo?” It was the new guy from earlier. “Why would it be perfect?” Jongin asks.

“I just have a good eye for pairs trust me. Besides, you need inspiration, and Kyungsoo here could use some new friends. From what I know, Kyungsoo makes different artworks prolifically. It’s a win-win for everyone, right?”

“Prolifically?”

“Oh, you can’t tell me that you had forgotten what that means. Did you not learn anything from last year? It means they generate large numbers of works in great frequency.”

Jongin didn’t see any harm in the idea; in fact he actually warmed up to it a little. He was pretty cute from what he could recall, and the small school picture of Kyungsoo paper clipped to the corner of the sheet wasn’t half bad either. “Fine,” Jongin exhaled, “I’ll give it a week.”

“Good to hear,” Kris says as he grabs the sheet back off Jongin in proceeds out the classroom. “By the way, now I’m going to have to assign everyone pairs tonight in my free time, since I was planning on doing it tomorrow. For that I think you should stay a week and a half.” He grins.

Jongin smiles. “Alright.”

~

The next morning, Jongin finds himself sitting at the back of the classroom again. He keeps an eye on Kyungsoo from where he sits trying to determine his character just by small habits and characteristics, but all he can gather is that he is really quiet, makes little sketches in his A5 sized sketchbook, and likes to read books. He is friendly with others around him, but doesn’t make any real effort to sustain a conversation. Just the simple exchanging of “hi”-s and “how are you”-s was more than enough social contact for him. Jongin wonders if being paired with him is such a great idea after all. He didn’t want to be paired with someone who had no interest in him, especially when he was very interested in Kyungsoo.

Time passes and eventually, Kris ends up announcing the pairs to the classroom. “Everyone, when you hear your names, take a seat next to your assigned pair. From there, we will do some ‘getting to know each other’ exercises and will discuss it with the class at the end, okay?”

As soon as Jongin hears “Jongin, you will be assigned with Kyungsoo”, he flinches a little. Wanting to further observe Kyungsoo’s character more, he purposelly waited if Kyungsoo would get up and make his way to him, but he didn’t move a muscle. He just kept reading his book. Jongin wasn’t sure if he was just ignoring the teacher, or if he genuinely didn’t want to make an effort, but either way, Jongin was the one to go to him.

“Kyungsoo?” Jongin says in front of the seated male.

Kyungsoo looks up. His eyes look wider up close, and his heart shaped lips looks like their in a small pout, but it’s just the natural shape of them. “Yes?” he answers softly.

“I’m Jongin. I’ll be your assigned pair for this year.”

Kyungsoo just nods in response, and pulls out the chair from next to him, quietly telling Jongin to sit next to him.

Jongin sits silently in his seat, slumping into his position with arms crossed. Seconds of silence pass, almost feeling like minutes in Jongin’s eyes. At this point they’re supposed to be getting to know each other, but Kyungsoo’s head is still glued to his novel. Jongin had to break the silence.

“So, you like to read?” he asks.

“Yeah.” Kyungsoo tries to keep to himself as much as he can. He had two rules he bestowed upon himself before moving. 1 – Don’t make close friends, and 2 – do not fall in love. He knew he would end up hurting them whether he meant it or not, so he just decided to be friendly, but not make friends.

“What do you like so much about it? I reckon it’s a snooze fest if you ask me.” Jongin tries to joke. He see’s Kyungsoo plaster a fake smile in response, as if he trying to force himself into thinking it was funny.

“It distracts me from reality.”

“And you don’t like reality?”

“Not really.” Kyungsoo really was the quiet type, Jongin thought to himself.

“Why not?” Jongin leans his knuckle.

“It’s harsh.”

“So you’d rather be living in a lie?”

“No, I’d just like a distraction to get my mind off things. It’s healthier than alcohol or drugs, isn’t it?”

“You know, people only turn to alcohol or drugs after a traumatic experience. What’s your ordeal?”

“Why does it matter?”

"So you admit it?" The left side of Jongin's mouth works it's way into a smirk. "You have an ordeal?"

“I admit nothing.”

Jongin doesn’t know what else to say, he can only sigh and gaze around the room as he fails to initiate any good coversation with Kyungsoo. Right after they finish their brief conversation, Kyungsoo just returns to his novel. He didn’t want to feel like he was bothering Kyungsoo, but if he actually was, he could just say it was for the sake of the exercise.

“So, what kind of artworks do you produce?” Jongin asks, breaking the silence once again.

Kyungsoo doesn’t put down his book, but rather just turns to Jongin, with every intention of turning back to the novel once he responds. “I do a bit of everything. Drawings, paintings, photography, you name it.”

Jongin hums and nods. “You must be really talented then, hey?”

“Not as much as one might think.”

“And who exactly would this ‘one’ be? Even Kris praises your work.”

Kyungsoo sports a nervous look on his face trying to conger up a reply. But luckily for him, Kris interrupts. “Okay, time’s up everyone! Everyone move the chairs and lets form a circle.” Jongin caught this expression on Kyungsoo’s eyes, and after seeing that, he just becomes more curious about his partner.

~

“Thank you for sharing,” Kris says to the students next to Jongin and Kyungsoo, “Now, you two boys. What did you both learn about each