Bang Minsoo loved high school. He spent most of his days working on beautiful paintings, mixing colors into something pleasing to the eyes and fresh to the mind. Other times, he sketched portraits with charcoal, staining his fingers and clothes black. The only hours he did not enjoy were those that required researching or writing papers on different artistic movements or various methods in painting. Drifting without prior knowledge was something that he enjoyed the most, just smudging the blank canvas with the brush and not caring about whether he fit the current trends or not.

Aside from that, he didn’t have any trouble.

The thing with art students is their competitiveness or the sense of loneliness they respect with sanctity. Minsoo had no problem there either. Being the type that doesn’t want to stand out and keep everything to himself, students around gave him that luxury and were still capable of conversing or exchanging short information regarding their schedule or detail their impressions regarding a piece or two.

Yes, Bang Minsoo loved high school… until their humble art school merged with the neighboring sports school in his last year of study.

Ever since then, the once peaceful hallways were full of bratty children louder than any rocket shooting for the stars. They did not know how to speak like normal people, screaming their questions and answers or threatening one another in a never-ending show of raging hormones and too much sugar for lunch. The world in which Minsoo safely retreated from the disaster he called the slums and the rest home had shattered in a matter of minutes.

Sure, at least their hours were separate but even when he took seclusion in one of the empty classrooms at the ground floor to continue his paintings, the sport students doing their rounds outside disturbed his once silent sessions. It had been the same for weeks now. Minsoo could feel the vein on top of his forehead cresting his skin.

“HIT THAT BALL!” He stopped and lowered the brush. “HIT IT RIGHT, GODDAMNIT!”

He lifted it.

“I HIT IT YOU MORON!”

Then lowered it again.

“HIT IT HARDER! AND WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MORON?”

Finally, Minsoo hit his head against the canvas and damped his locks in wet paint. He had been working on what was supposed to be his masterpiece since the year started and he couldn’t finish it no matter how hard he tried. He even carried his headphones everywhere and blasted music at maximum volume, yet it wasn’t enough to cover the boys playing baseball outside.

“YOU’RE THE MORON!”

“You’re all morons…,” he murmured after he got up from the chair. Lazily, he made his way to the window and stuck his head outside.

“I HIT IT! I HIT IT! HOMERUN!”

...just in time to receive a sharp pain spreading from his chin up to his entire face. Collapsed on the floor, Minsoo stared confused at the ceiling, while the shouting outside continued and only puzzled him some more.

“, NOT THAT HARD, STUPID!”

He crawled back to his feet and saw the culprit rolling towards his working space. It was a small white ball, similar to those used by the boys. Grabbing it, he hurried back to the window and saw the team in white aligned near his window with sheepish smiles. Two or three of them in their lips to stifle their amusement when Minsoo’s red face came into their view. He should have picked one of the top floors, even if it meant climbing more stairs, maybe then he would not have been the laughing stock of pubescent teens.

Throwing the ball back at them, he turned around, picked his bag hanging from the chair and exited the room before they would call him names.

He had no idea that the boy in front taking his cap off and ruffling his hair annoyed was about to apologize. His blonde locks shined from the dripping hot sun as he returned to the field and lost focus the entire hour, eating dust and sweat because of his lingering thoughts of worry.

---

For the first time, Minsoo skipped classes and headed straight home.

The house was as chaotic as ever. His parents fought and he wondered why they were still together. Money – he guessed – what else could there be? None cared for him. At least they never hit him – too hard, since his father sometimes lost his temper when Minsoo dared talk back – and they did provide everything necessary, from food (tasteless but it filled his tummy) to clothes (shabby but better than going ), yet he could not stop the sting in his heart when he went inside.

A quick shower, he left the two argue on another trivial thing while going to his workplace. It was at a fast food restaurant close to school and luckily, for him, most avoided it for some reason he didn't understand in the beginning. It must have been that hip mentality of going to the pricey places a few blocks away instead of the comfortable venue nearby.

Or it could be the fact that the food wasn’t that good. However, it was alright, he could live another day with the low pay and the leftovers, so his wish for more clients wasn’t that mighty.

That had to crumble too when the same baseball group burst in. No longer clad in their uniforms, he only recognized them from their big mouths and the way they bashed one another like a pair of caged animals unleashed on gladiators in a Roman coliseum. He hoped they weren’t that hungry and only wanted their bubble tea speciality, else, Minsoo would have to take care of them instead of his boss.

“YA YA YA, CALM DOWN!”

The voice that ruined his day rang in his ears. It belonged to a youth with blonde locks stretching slightly under his ears and the biggest lips he had ever seen in real life. No really, they were huge, enough for Minsoo to stare like a fool and involuntarily grin the moment he approached the counter and gazed upon the menu. The rest snickered behind big-lips, making the blond turn around to shut them up with a glare.

“It’s that guy,” one whispered to big-lips, the blond turning once more to the counter and blink three times before his mouth dropped.

“OH IT’S YOU---” he stopped mid-sentence, aware of his high tone, “…I mean, erm, hi? Hello!”

“Hello, welcome to Speedy Food, how may I help you?”

The kid was cute, extremely cute, he didn’t even care anymore that he was part of the group eyeing him suspiciously. Minsoo could stretch it and say that his unusual features and the way he pouted made his heart flutter for a second.

“Erm, well…,” he continued pouting, looking to and fro between the boys and the counter as his heart beat fast and faster until too much blood pumped to his cheeks and reddened his face. Minsoo found that charming, smiling like an idiot until he pointed to the menu and did as protocol suggested, telling the kid, whose name he did not know, about their best choices.

After giving their orders, he spent the rest of his free time with a block of notes rested on his knee and a mechanical pencil scratching its surface with fine lines. He peeked continuously at the tables, imprinting the way the boy’s hair framed his face, the way he erupted in joyful chuckles and the way his nose scrunched with deep wrinkles between his eyes.

Before he knew it, they left. Minsoo hid the portrait of big-lips between his other sketches, never to see the light of day again.

---

Minsoo dwelled in a quieter class he found all the way in the annex. It was also where they kept most of the supplies, so he had easy access to enough materials. For one month, he painted like crazy, drastically changing the original concept of his artwork. He wanted something spectacular, something full of action and excitement. He wanted something to match big-lips and his gigantic golden aura.

Maybe his appearance was too striking or Minsoo’s muse decided to sprinkle him with as much inspiration as she could shake from her magic bottle that gave him the long-awaited boost. In those four weeks, he created his best painting ever. Instead of feeling proud, he went to work with a wary expression, flying through those stressful hours.

His accomplishment was amazing. The teachers would love it, sure, but big-lips would never see it. He slumped on the bus and covered his tired face with one of his hundred caps, waiting for the vehicle to rock him home.

A strong scent tickled his nose. Somebody took the seat near him.

He slowly pushed the cap up and checked the one who dared keep him company.

It was big-lips.

He seemed to feel Minsoo gazing at him, immediately staring back at the sprawled man. Minsoo closed his parted legs, got up and straightened his sitting position just before the bus lurched forward. They shifted their eyes either to the windows or to the driver, letting minutes sway between them.

---

Another month passed, in which Minsoo painted some more but nothing satisfactory. Every evening after work, he always chose the same bus seat and big-lips did the same. They also got out at the same station, through different doors and towards different roads. None had courage to greet the other, so Minsoo gave up after one week and abused his headphones. He was a sensible art student and the boy was a wild athlete, they weren’t meant to be.

That is, until one seemingly ordinary day.

They grabbed their seats as usual and before Minsoo could block his hearing with music, big-lips opened his mouth and threw an unexpected "hi", petrifying Minsoo. It was polite to return that hello but he should first slap himself back to reality if he wanted to impress the boy.

“Hello…,” the bus started, pushing both inside their chairs.

“So ehm,” the boy scratched the back of his head, avoiding eye contact “are you still working at that place?”

“Yeah,” Minsoo lowered the headphones, twisting them around the mobile phone.

“The food there is really bad.”

Minsoo laughed.

“I know! It’s awful but people still come since it’s cheap.”

“Yeah, it was really cheap but still not worth it.”

“You’re a picky eater?”

“I guess? Yeah, yeah I am. I mean my friends---”

He went on and on about food, what he liked and disliked, whining mostly about dieting for the big game, how they all cheated that day and ate at the fast food despite their coach banning it. Minsoo could swear the boy loved food more than baseball and he wasn’t complaining about it.

The following days, they repeated the roles of chattering box and drying wall.

Minsoo found out his name was Ahn Daniel – as unusual as his face – but everybody called him Niel and Minsoo did the same. He also found out he wanted to be an idol but failed all auditions so far and nobody ever contacted him, so he put that dream aside and focused on his gameplay. The same gameplay he didn’t enjoy anymore and he sometimes wanted to quit school, travel to the USA and make a living there but he knew that was only possible in movies and he wasn’t that bright anyway.

Soon, he ended up talking every time they met. He always told Minsoo about how his day had been, from the funniest event to the saddest failure.

Minsoo laughed those bus rides more than he had done in his entire life.

Again, he painted, day by day, thinking of bubbly Niel, waiting for another of his immortal stories.

---

“Minsoo?” the stern looking woman called the boy to her desk. While the rest left the canvas-filled room, he approached the woman with his head low, afraid she might accuse him of not respecting her indications. He tried to admire her hairstyle, a bun trapped with a fake ruby encrusted pin, instead of her malicious tongue. What came startled him. “Bravo! Those paintings you submitted are brilliant! Keep it up, will you?”

He bowed right away, clutching to the strap of his bag so it wouldn’t fall. “Thank you.”

“Oh, would you please take them home? We need the annex room for tomorrow’s class.”

His mood crashed. No way would he bring those portraits home.

“Isn’t there another classroom I could use? Or something with a key? Everybody else keeps them in the building.”

“I know Minsoo but we are really full right now. You can bring them back tomorrow but please take them home today, alright?”

He couldn’t fight with a teacher, could he? Minsoo was never the type to clash with authority, even if he looked from afar like one of those punks wanting to get into infamous gangs, making it to the top through drugs, guns and corpses. He lowered his head again, murmured an ‘okay’ and went to pack his precious paintings. 

---

Skipping classes for the second time that year, he hurried home and made sure no one could find his artworks until he came back from work.

His heart trashed at his chest, making it impossible to listen to Niel’s ramblings. The blond saw it, his words dimming and his lips forming a straight line. He got compared with a duck when Minsoo looked at him.

“Are you okay? Did something happen home?”

In one of those evenngs, he told Niel about his home situation in a spur of the moment and since the boy was very good at nagging, he ended up spilling everything. He regretted after since Niel seemed to double his vocabulary and nothing could stop him from bragging or boasting about how amazing his life was. Minsoo sometimes wondered whether he did that to annoy him or to distract him. He never felt miserable about it though.

“No.” it did not help him communicate either.

“Bang Minsoo, you know that I’m your friend and you can tell me everything and I swear to God that I would not judge you.”

Friend.

That word… his fingers curled around his phone… that word warmed him.

He had a friend.

“It’s all good…,” the dramatic pause actually shut his friend for once “idiot.”

Niel smacked his arm.

“Jeez! Anyway, Jonghyun brought chocolate today and---”

He wasn’t good. But he wasn’t bad either. He was fine and hearing the blond yacking again soothed him.

“---can you believe that ? Then again, it was hilarious. We really thought he his pants.”

“Yeah, hilarious…,” he paused again, sliding down the chair and leaning his head against Niel’s body with closed eyes “good thing it wasn’t you.”

Niel shut for the second time that evening, a small smile dancing upon his lips.

---

Minsoo the lights. The bag slid off his shoulder, dropping with a heavy thud. He kneeled in front of the mess, picking each canvas carefully. Water gathered at the corner of his eyes, his knuckles turning white, yelling in desperation.

“What are you doing?!” his father was the first to find his son on the verge of tears.

“WHO DID THIS?!” said son jumped back on his feet, lashing at his father with hands grabbing a fistful of his shirt. The elder hit the wall, jabbing the kid off him the following second. Minsoo stumbled upon the canvas and fell on the side. He winced with each kick, covering his head.

“HOW DARE YOU?” the man continued kicking, tramping on the canvas and destroying what was left of the already ruined paintings. Minsoo saw Niel’s face ripped in two, paper raining over him in dazzling colors. He shielded his head some more, not making any sound. After his father lost strength, Minsoo heard him breathing and speaking clearly. “Your mother searched for laundry and found the drawings. She accidentally messed them up when she tried to show them to me.” He huffed, wheezing while grabbing onto his chest. “Bad son, you’re a bad son, acting without thinking. It’s just a goddamn drawing, grow up and get a real job.”

Minsoo said nothing. He figured out staying silent was the only solution.

He wished he could speak up like Niel.

---

Explaining to the teacher about his paintings was a hard blow on Minsoo. She didn’t mind as long as he presented the same masterpieces during exam period. She also didn’t care to find out why Minsoo limped slightly or why he had to stop often when short of breath and embrace his waist with pain written across his furrowed brows.

Since the annex was busy, he returned just for that day to the room next to the baseball field. Every time he tried to paint, the previous night’s beating came back. The memory subdued only when Niel’s voice thundered from outside.

“YA, I TOLD YOU TO HIT FREAKING RIGHT, STOP PUTTING SO MUCH POWER IN YOUR BAT!”

“I AM HITTING RIGHT YOU !”

“WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN ?!”

“YOU’RE THE BIGGEST HERE AND WE ALL KNOW WHY!”

Minsoo dragged his numb body to the window, leaning against it. He watched the players throwing glances at the one named Jonghyun, unsure what he meant with that. Niel was in the middle of them, holding the baseball with the cap shading his frown.

“Shut up Choi and let’s play. We’ll never win this way.”

Minsoo became giddy seeing how his friend acted like the group’s leader without their coach. Jonghyun scoffed and rammed the ground with the bat before he prepared for another of Niel’s speed attacks. It surely made Minsoo forget about the incident, the sound of the ball clashing with the wooden bat echoing through the field.

He also happened to yawn when they switched places and it was Niel’s time at the bat.

A familiar sensation stunned his face’s muscles.

“Awww Daniel, again?” Jonghyun moaned in exasperation, slamming his cap against dirt. Niel on the other hand scurried to the window with bat still in his grasp, pout and moistened eyes present when he met a pissed off Minsoo.

“…sorry.”

“So you hit me the first time too?”

Niel placed the bat between their faces, blushing to the tip of his ears.

“Yeah, sorry about that too. I didn’t have the guts to tell you.”

Minsoo laughed, even if it hurt. Niel laughed with him. Soon, the entire group joined in forced chuckles. Jonghyun was the only one rolling his eyes and quitting for the day.

---

The bus ride did not differ from other evenings. Niel shared more of his stories and Minsoo stayed silent, replying only when the blond apologized again. Minsoo concluded his face must be a magnet for Niel’s baseballs, which cheered the boy instantly.

Joking around like that became natural between the two.

Niel was also the only one Minsoo teased and used as a human pillow when work tired him too much. The fast food restaurant changed some of its ingredients and tweaked the menu, making everything appetizing. There were no longer meals made out of demon spawns and Niel sometimes dropped by unannounced for bubble tea since he still had to keep a strict diet. For what, Minsoo never knew why. The boy was so skinny that he wanted to stuff him up, yet Niel explained before in one of his rants how his body burned everything away and it sometimes made him wonder too if he really needed the diet. Of course, even if junk didn’t act on his weight, the coach told him it could one day affect him gravely if he did not listen to his orders.

That was when Minsoo realized he knew a lot about Niel, maybe too much. It was also the first time he questioned the veracity of Niel’s affirmations. Could Niel really be that honest and sweet with Minsoo or was he another troubled kid that only knew how to lie in order to look better in the eyes of society?

Two weeks after the second baseball incident, Minsoo exited through the same bus door as Niel and stopped him from taking the road home.

“So ehm… the big game is soon?”

Niel stared at him, suddenly careful with the way he spoke.

“Yes.”

“Okay…,” Minsoo stood there some more, tensing the atmosphere between the two. “see you.”

“See you.” Niel turned around but didn’t go. Instead, he rotated back on his initial position, smiling brightly as ever. “Actually, want to come over tonight? My folks are out of town and I have an extra pack of ramyun.” He waited like a puppy after its master, bouncing on spot from eagerness.

Minsoo couldn’t say no, could he? It was also a nice change of scenery.

“Sure...?”

Niel fetched his hand and careened between lampposts and houses, his voice the loudest in the neighborhood. Minsoo was all smiles, following the hyperactive youngster.

Their hands fit perfectly.

---

They hadn’t done anything spectacular because they were both exhausted. Eating the ramyun settled their stomachs and a good night’s sleep woke both fresh. Minsoo found out later that Niel actually hated loneliness. The very thing that Minsoo enjoyed was Niel’s kryptonite.

Every time his parents were out of town, he found someone to keep him company. Minsoo just happened to do it more often than needed, soon watching TV shows and even exchanging clothes – well, more like Niel donating his to Minsoo – for they had the same sizes too.

The more Minsoo got to know Niel, the real Niel, the more he had the dreadful idea they were destined. The small things they had in common built a bridge on top of the enlarging gap between their general preferences.

Five days before the big game, Niel asked Minsoo once again if he wanted to spend the night over. It was the same night Niel stared blank at a corner with his knees to his chest and the thick blanket over his head.

“Hey…,” Minsoo was over the floor reading a manga. He lifted his eyes at Niel, waves of heat tormenting him. How could somebody be so goddamn cute? “You’re my friend, right? My… best friend?”

Minsoo nodded, turning the book around and leaving it open on the floor. He swept the floor with his , scooting closer to the boy.

“You’re my only friend.”

“Could… could I tell you something then?” he saw Niel swallow, his Adam’s apple dropping and rising. “But please, please don’t judge me, I beg you.”

Minsoo laughed, his hands landing over Niel’s head. He pulled the blanket away, combing Niel’s tousled locks.

“I swear, now tell me before the clock strikes midnight and you turn into a fish.”

Niel hit his arm, Minsoo exploding in more chuckles. He didn’t say a thing for one minute, preparing mentally with each of Minsoo's touches.

“Okay, okay, I…,” he gulped, messing with his hair again to the disapproval of Minsoo “…I like… guys. You know. I like them that way.”

“Oh.”

Silence.

“Please don’t tell anyone! The only other one that knows is Jonghyun but he turned cold ever since and now we’re not as close as we were and I think that’s why he keeps ing with me on the field… oh God, not ing! We’re not ing, I swear! Argh, ing is such a bad word, don’t---”

Niel stiffened the moment Minsoo’s lips connected with his. He remained agape, trembling after Minsoo pulled away and breathed out “guess I like them too… or just you.”

“About that…,” he wiped his mouth “...I have a boyfriend.”

Silence.

“…oh.”

“Oh…,” Niel imitated the sound, using the blanket as his hat again. “…still friends?”

There was no hole deep enough to fit Minsoo’s shame. He stood there perplexed, between screaming again for the unjust situation to knocking his head against the wall for not asking first.

“Yeah,” but there was something he was dead sure about “still friends.”

Daniel was a lovely creature and he was happy to have met him.

---

The day of the big game arrived. Their high school competed against their no. 1 rivals from the other side of the city. Player Ahn Daniel was at the bat, ready to salvage his team or destroy their only chance for finals.

Despite the masses cheering for both teams equally, despite the ruckus Minsoo despised, there was no other place he’d rather be.

The more he waved the flag, the more he shouted with his art colleagues, the more Niel wanted to show them he was worthy to bear the school logo on his chest.

Minsoo was the first to go crazy the moment Niel won the game with a perfect swing. Minsoo was the first to rush from his seat and the first to want to reach Niel and congratulate him.

Niel on the other hand brushed past him in the arms of another. He smiled brighter than ever, hanging onto his lover as he spun him around before the team tickled him to the ground.

Minsoo watched everything from nearby, still smiling, quietly removing himself from there. Niel didn’t need him, he had too many wonderful people

“HYUNG!” He stopped and glanced backwards “MINSOO HYUNG!” The moron ran after him. Before he knew it, Niel straddled his back and pointed to the sky. “FORWAAARD!”

Minsoo rolled his eyes and commenced to Niel’s command. Giving a piggyback to a guy wasn’t on his bucket list.

“You’re heavy!”

“Keep talking Bang Minsoo!” Niel laughed, wrapping his arms around his friend’s shoulders “…you’re my best friend and you will always be, know that?”

He spoke so only Minsoo heard him.

And he did.

Oh he did.

“Of course I know goby fish, try not to become sushi before we reach our 30s.”

Niel slapped his head.

Minsoo laughed.

That was the best day ever.