Chapter 2. Easy Go

Soft snores filled the small room, breaking the supposed peaceful silence of the morning. Soft ringing began, low and quiet, almost as if it were trying to allow the sleeper to dream peacefully. The soft snores continued, resounding throughout the room before the low ringing rose in volume, becoming an irritating, obnoxious sound. The snores were not interrupted by the sound, only adding to the noise in the room as the dreamer slept as if the moon was still up high. He turned over in his bed, snuggling further into the covers and sighing softly.

Light footsteps were heard approaching the room, before a knock was heard. The ringing of the alarm clock persisted, and did the man’s sleep. He continued as if the noise was nothing, scratching his stomach and groaning a bit before falling back into his comfortable sleep.

“Choi Minho, you have 3 seconds to turn off that alarm clock and get up before I come in there and force you to get up.” The person outside of the room knocked louder now, growing steadily more and more impatient as the ringing continued. The man on the bed groaned and turned over, covering himself with the blankets. At the sound of the first number being counted off, he reached an arm out of his cocoon and slammed it down on the alarm clock, ceasing it’s noise. The countdown ended, but he knew the person was still standing outside of his bedroom door, judging by the fact that he hadn’t heard their footsteps move away.

“I know you’re still in bed,” he heard. He moaned in annoyance and threw the blankets off of himself, knowing that if he didn’t get up and prove himself, the consequences would only be that much worse. He slowly forced himself off of the bed, first throwing his long legs over the edge before forcefully lifting himself into a sitting position. He stared lazily at the door, hearing a foot tapping against the wooden floor before getting up. He stumbled a bit, nearly falling in his half-awake daze, but managed to steady himself before he ended up hurting himself so early in the morning. He managed to reach the door with only a slightly stubbed toe, and opened it quickly.

His mother stood on the other side, eyebrow elegantly raised at his messy state. His hair was completely out of place, pajamas wrinkled and seemingly twisted. She shrugged though, not expecting anything less from her son. He scratched the back of his head, trying to ignore the slight throbbing of his now injured big toe, and instead focused on trying to prove to his mother that he was now indeed up, and somewhat willing to get ready for another day of classes.

“Good?” he asked. She sighed and nodded, knowing that this was the best that she was going to get.

“It’s enough. Now hurry up and get ready before you end up late again.” He nodded and closed the door, walking in the same direction he had come from, this time making sure not to injure his other toe, and threw himself onto his bed once again, rolling in it to wrap himself in the blankets once again. “Also,” he heard from outside, “I know you went back to bed. Get up before Kibum gets here.”

He lazily opened his eyes, unwrapping himself from the blankets before sliding off of the bed and onto the floor, only mildly knocking his head on the ground. He didn’t think much of it though, as he continued to slide off of the bed slowly. His feet were the last to hit the floor, and he dragged himself towards his closet to retrieve his uniform. He forced himself up so that he could reach the clothes and unceremoniously threw them onto the bed. His feet dragged on the ground as he walked out of his room and towards the bathroom.

As soon as he entered, the first matter he attended to was his overly filled bladder. As soon as that was done, he managed to acquire enough energy to wash his hands along with his face, scrubbing harshly to try and force himself into full awareness. It hadn’t worked as well as he had hoped, only leaving him with half-lidded eyes and red cheeks. Either way, the task was done and he set his mind on finishing whatever he had left to do in the bathroom before trudging his way back to his room to get changed.

His uniform was simple, though he could never manage to properly put on his tie. He could never get it to look quite right, no matter how many times his mother had shown him exactly, step by step, how to tie it. Instead, he slipped on his trousers and shirt, socks coming on last as he once again let himself fall onto his bed once his uniform was completely on, minus the tie. He was still incapable of putting the damnable thing on, even after four tries.

He laid there on his bed, quickly drifting back to sleep, thinking that he had a few minutes to spare considering his quickness in the bathroom. Just before dozing off however, he stole a glance at the clock adjacent to him, shifting slightly to adjust his eye sight. It was exactly 7:15 am, and he sighed in satisfaction with the amount of time he had left. With that being said, his eyelids fluttered shut, darkness welcoming him with open arms as his mind became unconscious.
 

“-inho!”

A sudden thundering voice pushed passed through his ears. He cringed as that taunting voice continued to ring again and again. Had he not known who it was he would have slapped his clock thinking it was the alarm. “Minho! Wake up!” He was now slightly awake, but showed no sign to the other and chose to remain still. Maybe he’d stop if he pretended to be deep asleep. “Yah pabo.”
 

Next thing he knew, he groaned in agony as his head collided with his wall. He hadn’t even known he had been facing it. But despite his throbbing forehead, he held onto his lower region which hurt far more since he had just gotten punched there. “I-I’m up. I swear..I’ll get up..” He choked out, cowering into a ball.

 

Being the stubborn guy Kibum was, Minho braced himself for what came next. It was a good thing too since he was suddenly pulled out of bed forcefully by his legs. His back landed flat on the wooden floor, another sound of pain slipping from him. His eyes were then opened out of his own will, a steaming Kibum holding his alarm clock to his face. “It’s 7:38 am for god sakes we’re going to be late. If you don’t wake up I swear I’ll stomp on your balls so hard they’ll turn into liquids.”
 

“N-No. N-No more I swear, just give me a few minutes.” He coaxed, trying to regain the life lost from his legs. Getting hit on the crotch was never easy to get over.
 

Kibum sighed and massaged his temple. He slung his bag over his shoulder, “Well I’d rather not be late waiting for a clutz like you. I’ll get going now. Good luck getting up on your own.”
 

Minho nodded his head, not able to process as to what he said. But once he had fully recovered from the painful blow on his groin, he sat upright on his bed and scratched the back of his neck. He looked at his clock once more, sighing before grabbing hold of his own bag. 7:43 am. He stood up and could barely hold his balance, only being able to stay still when he saw his mother practically fuming at his door. “Choi Minho.” She spat angrily, pointing to the end of their hallway.
 

He gave a nervous laugh and immediately walked passed her after grabbing his tie, and went straight to their frontdoor. He slipped on his shoes quickly, not even bothering to give a look at whether or not his shoes were tied. Once outside, he shivered at the cool morning air that instantly took hold of the warmth he had previously from his bed. Several students were walking to school, and after properly putting on his shoes and sloppily putting the tie on, he jogged slightly to reach the sidewalk. It was yet again one of days to where he would most likely be late to his first period.
 

A sigh left him for probably the umpteenth time that morning. This day couldn’t have possibly been any more agonizing than it had already has. He lifted his head up, scanning the students walking in front of him one by one before he was able to spot the familiar blonde hair sticking out from natural colored heads. A small jolt of excitement grew in him just before he started to jog again. However, knowing him he wouldn’t be able to even do something as simple as speeding up his pace without hurting himself. “A-Ah-” And so, here was again, his face on the ground while school papers were spat out from the folder in his bag.
 

He pushed himself up and saw how one of his shoes had been untied. That was probably the reason he had fallen and humiliated himself. He exhaled deeply after hearing the students around him giggle with amusement and tried to recollect the papers around him quickly. But just as he grabbed some into his hold, more would fall out after picking up one after the other. The students continued to watch him and laugh softly, which he didn’t mind as much.
 

The only thing that bothered him more was the strong stares he received from a small group standing in front of him. One of the three in the group he felt uncomfortable with was kind enough to walk up to him and help him pick up the papers. “Here you go. Watch your step next time.” A gentle voice came from the nice stranger leaving Minho to feel slightly happy. He hadn’t really known why, but thought maybe it was just the gratitude he felt for him doing this.
 

As he started to collect his own papers he found the hairs at the back of his neck to stand up. He assumed it was from being looked at so intently by the other two. He stopped what he was doing to take a moment to look up, and found himself stuck in the spot. He felt his eyes latch onto the one with deep sea blue eyes that glowed brightly even in the daylight. His black dress shirt fit him loosely and his slacks seemed to hug his legs perfectly. The lines of his uniform were a darker shade of blue than his eyes, giving life to the dark clothes.
 

The one next to him had the same, only his outlines were the color of a crimson flame. Before he could look any further, the one who had been helping poked his cheek, surprising him completely. He hadn’t realized their eyes were yellow. They were half-demons, which was probably why he felt so strange when they looked at him. “Interesting.” He heard him mumble, and watched them speechlessly as they walked away from him like they hadn’t just been with him few moments ago.
 

Even when their bodies drifted farther, he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of one of them. He stood up on his two feet and scratched his head in confusion, not really knowing what else to do but stare. And at that moment, the one he had been looking at turned back at him, his lips parting and forming words he couldn’t make out. But even if he was just a human, he didn’t have to have the eyesight of a demon to be able to see the hatred dripping out of those blue eyes.

Arriving at the school had been more trouble than usual, after encountering the boy with the beautiful bright blue eyes. He was dazed after seeing him, only being able to imagine staring into those alluring eyes, wondering why there was such hatred in them. It didn’t make sense to him, but at the same time, he had no way of knowing what could have possibly caused the boy to feel that way. Even so, the hatred seemed to be directed at him, which only served to confuse him even more so.

Shaking off the thought, he continued on his way into the school, ignoring the throbbing on his arm from having accidently hit it against a pole. He feared entering his class, knowing that he was already a few minutes late, but went on anyway. His teachers were already used to his tardiness. He tried his best to enter the room as quietly as possible, but the teacher had already called him out for it, casually reminding him that he was late and that if he wanted to get a better grade, he should get up earlier.

He nodded in embarrassment, keeping his head down as some of the students snickered at his rotten luck. He found an empty seat in the middle of the room and sat down quickly so as not to draw any more unnecessary attention to himself. His bag was tossed carelessly onto the floor beside his desk and he reached in to grab his notebook and pencil. A couple others had the same, while a few had computers in front of them instead, choosing to type their notes.

Turning his head to the side, he found Kibum looking right back at him, laughing silently into his hand at his misfortune. He scowled at him, blaming his friend for leaving him in his home to sleep and making him late, but he also knew that it was partially his own fault for failing to stay awake. Even now, he was tempted to fall back asleep, had it not been for the fact that he knew that the teacher was keeping a close eye on him, just waiting for him to slip up so that he could call him out on it and embarrass him further.

And just as he predicted, the teacher had. As soon as his eyes were starting to fall, even a little, the teacher shouted out his name, asking him to answer the question. Of course, he had no idea what the question was, and to save himself from further embarrassment, simply stated so. Had he still been in high school, he would have shouted out a random number in the middle of a history class. After years of practice however, he knew a bit better how to save himself from that kind of mess.

He forced himself to stay awake after that, knowing that it was the safest option. He wrote down as much of the notes as he could, since everything being written was simply what the teacher was saying. There was nothing written on the board to keep up with. He sighed, knowing that he would have to get most of the notes from Kibum again. The sad thing was that this was the only class that Kibum had with him. He wasn’t sure how he would continue on in his next classes, but he would figure that out when the time came for them. This class would end in an hour, after that, he had a good half hour before the next one started. And during that time he had left, he would be sure to hunt Kibum down not to only get a hold of his notes, but to also scold him for leaving him behind at home.

__________________________________________________________________________

Finally after finishing all his classes, he had one more to go. His last session for the day was his special training for soccer, a class he hadn’t agreed to go to, but was forced to by his parents. They figured this could be one of the things that could get him more active outdoors. However, the decision made was probably meant to torture him rather than benefit his habits. He wasn’t fond of going to school already so the last thing he wanted was to even stay a single minute longer there.  
 

Currently, he was running the laps his coach had commanded him, along with the rest of the class, to do. Everyone had managed to finish before him, and he was again the last player they all had to wait for. What’s worse was he had still not been able to shake off the dizziness of sleep. It was starting to take a toll on his body. So with each lap he ran, it had been the exact amount of times he fell from falling unconscious while jogging. The coach and the rest of the students in his class never really understood how one could grow unconscious while running, but if it was possible, it was Choi Minho who was able to do it.
 

“Hussle hussle!” He heard this once he was just about to fall asleep yet again.
 

Forcing his eyes open, he saw his couch tapping his clipboard constantly with his pen. That meant that his time was running out. And when time runs out, another lap was added. He’d rather die than run another. The thing about him, was he wasn’t as sporty as he looked. Nor was he ever energetic. Not when most of the time he spent the periods dozing off. He was always sleepy, and he wondered why, but the answer never wanted to appear. The solution to this nonsense chose to hide.

So he never really knew why he was like this. Or why he was known as a class clown. It was a title he never intended or wanted to inherit, but somehow the word got around. And he was officially known as the dorky clutz Minho. “No falling asleep Minho! One more lap, and you’re done!” He heard his coach scream from afar.
 

He nodded weakly to his teacher’s words and forced his eyes to remain wide open. His breaths were short and hitched from the amount of effort he was putting into this last one. He had to pass this warm-up, because if he didn’t he’d only feel worse throughout the rest of the day knowing he failed at another thing in his life. Faster. Run faster. He thought to his legs, his eyes lids not obeying his commands to stay open. He had run more than half of the last lap and felt slight joy seeing the end of where his coach stood, ready to signal his finish. “C’mon Minho!”
 

Having this in mind, his legs started to move even faster. In fact, they used too much energy that he lost all the strength to keep his eyes open. He fell unconscious by then, and he wasn’t sure if he had finished the lap or not at this point, but he simply ran, knowing that it was his best option. The coach would have his head if he stopped running before he finished his last lap, and he wasn’t sure how far from it he was.

He managed to high five the teacher’s hand once he finally reached him. He was cheered on by his own coach and a few teammates, but the signal of his finish didn’t seem to stop him. He continued on running, even when he was done he couldn’t stop his legs from moving because mentally he shut down. ”Yah Minh-” The teacher called as he slowly drifted apart. He tuned out the yelling around him, too tired to feel the difference from the track field and the grass he was currently running on.

He slowed down a bit, but continued none the less. With less energy going to his legs, he was able to open his eyes in time to barely dodge a person walking in front of him. He quickly realized that he was just outside of the school grounds, and knew that if he went back for his stuff now, he would have no choice but to be punished by the coach, laughed at by his teammates, and forced to train longer. He was in no mood for any of those, and simply chose to continue his path, though slowing to a jog.
 

As time ticked on the pain on his calves slowly started to take control of his stamina, ceasing his already dried out energy. He somehow ran in a circle and was now at the back of the school, which was where the changing rooms were for those who took special training. He silently thanked god under his breath, eyeing the gate standing tall before him. He stopped to think for a while, and sighed knowing he had to push himself a little more just to get this last task done. Using his arm strength, he grabbed onto the top of the gate’s bar and hauled himself over, swinging one leg after the other. Without knowing, the foot that kept him balanced had slipped from the bar it rested on, causing him to land on the ground.
 

The pain inflicted on his bottom was harsh, but despite that he pushed the ache aside. As of right now, he had one thing he had to do, and that was to retrieve his belongings before getting caught by anyone. He scoured the area around him to make sure no one was there, and jogged his way to the door leading to their changing room. Pushing the door softly, it creaked open and revealed no other presences besides his own. He walked in quietly and made sure not to let the door close on it’s own since it would practically alarm the whole school of what he was doing with it’s loud slam.
 

He breathed in and out once he was inside, moving as quick as he could finding the locker that held his things. Finally gaining some luck that day, he managed to find it in seconds and opened it. If he had to ever name a day of where he didn’t take his sweet time to dress, today would be the day, because never has he slipped on clothes this fast. He even felt he set a world record for himself. Once done, he put on his shoes while simultaneously grabbing his bag. There was absolutely no time to waste.
 

Without further ado, he closed his locker shut and stuffed the laces of his shoes into his socks. He wouldn’t take any chances of falling when that was the last thing he needed. Again he checked his surroundings when he went outside of the door, running to the bar gate and climbing over outside of school ground. This time he was lucky enough not to fall and hurt himself.

He suddenly heard his name being called, and turned a bit to find Kibum running after him, an annoyed expression on his face. Kibum must have been irritated having to look for him and run after him, and without thinking, he ran a bit faster to avoid Kibum’s anger for a bit longer. He managed to lose him after a minute or two, aided by the fact that Kibum was a slow runner. He had run between people, ducking a bit low to avoid being found with his height.

He turned his head to see if Kibum was anywhere near him, and in that moment, crashed into someone in front of him. He fell over, nearly taking the person in front of him with him, but the person was lucky enough to find his balance. He himself, however, was too far down, and quickly collided with the ground beneath him. His bag, to his misfortune, was still open, and just as they had earlier that day, the papers fell out and scattered.

In the corner of his eyes, he saw the feet of the man he bumped into turn towards him, and the person beside him bent down to help him. This person was different from the one that morning. Instead of a same mustard yellow eyes of the man that helped him in the morning, his eyes were a deep crimson red, staring back at him as he held out his fallen papers. He thanked him, standing up quickly to bow and show his gratitude properly.

As soon as he lifted his head, his eyes fell on those beautiful deep blue eyes again, and he knew they were the same eyes that had him mesmerized the entire day. They reflected the same hatred they had that morning, though a bit more calmed than it originally had been. The boy seemed agitated and upset though, and he wasn’t sure how he should react to that, or how he should react at all.

One thing he knew for a fact was that the people before him were no doubt demons, judging by their uniform. He could tell the one who helped him was a pure-blooded demon, but he couldn’t say the same for the one with the blue eyes. The most common eye color he had seen on a demon was the deep yellow, and quite a few with red, but never blue. However, the uniform was unmistakable. The black haired boy was definitely a demon.

“Yah, Choi Minho!” he heard behind him. He winced, knowing that the lecture he was soon to get was anything but good. He mentally prepared himself as his friend approached, and was just about ready for it when Kibum was beside him, however, nothing came. Instead, he turned to find Kibum just as fascinated as he was by the blue eyed demon. His lips were slightly parted in astonishment and he reached over to close his friend’s mouth out of courtesy.

“Wow, you’re eyes are beautiful,” Kibum said. The blue eyed demon’s eyes narrowed, a scowl quickly forming on his expressionless face at the compliment. Minho watched, curious about how the conversation would play out, or if he should join it, when the demon suddenly turned away, scoffing at them. Kibum frowned at the rude gesture, but said nothing about it.

“I apologize for his behavior,” the red eyed demon said. His hair, contrary to the other’s was white, and the outline of his uniform was green. “He’s been in a bad mood all day.”

The boy scoffed again and glared at the pure-blood demon. “Why apologize? They’re humans.”

“Human or not, your attitude is rude.” The pure-blood demon glared back at the other before turning towards them once more. He smiled, and extended his hand towards them. “My name is Kim Jongin, and this is my cousin Lee Taemin.”

Both he and Kibum took turns shaking the demon’s hand. Minho reached for Taemin’s hand, but the demon simply glared at the gesture and crossed his arms, making no move to even touch him. He went so far as to step away from them, sneering at him. Jongin scowled at the sight, but said nothing to his cousin this time. It wasn’t until Taemin muttered “Filthy humans,” that Jongin nudged his cousin roughly.

“Enough. I’m tired of your attitude today.” Jongin stared pointedly at his cousin, his face showing that he was indeed unhappy, and clearly irritated. “Five minutes. Could you act like you care about something for at least five minutes?”

Taemin rolled his eyes and said nothing. Jongin sighed, giving up quickly as he knew that there was no getting through to his cousin.

He and Kibum watched them in confusion, but they managed to get the gist of it. Taemin had something against humans, but they weren’t sure what exactly. Minho wasn’t sure if he should ask, even though the question was just at the tip of his tongue. He knew that the second he opened his mouth, his curiosity would get the best of him, and he’d ask the question without thinking, so he opted for keeping his mouth shut instead. Kibum however, was never one to keep his mouth shut.

“Why do you hate humans?” Minho wasn’t sure if he wanted to hit his friend for just asking that way, or to thank him for ‘taking one for the team.’ Either way, he couldn’t bring himself to budge even an inch. Instead he held his breath to brace himself for what he would say.

Taemin’s eyes narrowed solely on Kibum now, focusing intently on him. Kibum could feel the demon’s anger, and took a step back, but did not take back the question. Taemin scrutinized him, mapping out every flaw he had, inside and out.

“Humans,” Taemin said, disgust lacing his voice, “are nothing but useless creatures sent out to ruin us. They do nothing but cause trouble wherever they go. Take this one for example,” Taemin said pointing to Minho. His eyes were focused on the taller now, but his gaze still was harsh as it had been with Kibum. “The two times I met him, he falls on his face.”

Kibum’s eyes narrowed as well, but more so in frustration than anger. “Minho is a clutz. You can’t categorize all humans like him.”

“No, but nonetheless, humans are all still the same. They are manipulative and uncaring, and they put themselves in places they have no business being in.”

“Well whatever human you’ve met, isn’t the same as us all. The human that has made you think this way of us is horrible for doing so. But I guarantee you, not all are uncaring, or manipulative as you say. There are those who put others before their own selves, who care for their friends and love everyone they know to no extent. There are sweet, cheerful, and heartwarming people who exist among us humans. You probably just haven’t met one yet.”

Taemin scoffed in annoyance. “You’re right. The human I’ve met is horrible. But it doesn’t change the fact that foolish and stupid is what you guys are. Putting another’s sake before their own? That’s real hilarious.”
 

“We’re not stupid or foolish. And it’s not funny really.” Kibum smiled slightly at his stubbornness, confusing the younger who continued to glare at him. It was kind of cute. “It’s this thing called kindness.”
 

Jongin was surprised to how calm this human was towards Taemin. He never knew anyone who had that long of a patience to handle his cousin’s rudeness. He was afraid of having to make up reasons or excuses for his doings, but with how things were going he didn’t really need to do anything at all. This Kibum guy seemed to know what he was doing.
 

Not knowing to respond, he rolled his eyes and turned away from them before he started walking. Jongin bowed to them, trying to be polite as opposed to Taemin’s attitude, and followed his cousin’s path. Kibum looked frustrated at the two as the walked off, but didn’t try to follow them. Minho though, watched Taemin walk away the entire time, trying to take in every aspect of the boy.