It took Jongsuk more than one week before he finally started warming up to Woobin. In the first week in which Jongsuk transferred to the new school, Woobin had been very kind in helping him orientate and had also tried to talk to Jongsuk as much as possible, hoping to help him comfortably settle down.

Of course, Jongsuk hadn’t responded very positively. His replies to Woobin never went more than what was necessary, and the conversations that Woobin had started never lasted past one minute. Even then, Woobin wasn’t going to give up. Rather, it made him even more motivated to get this new boy to talk to him. It wasn’t very often that he meets someone who doesn’t buzz around him. He felt that although Jongsuk didn’t like him, he didn’t dislike him either, and Woobin was determined to push the neutrality over to the liking side.

What he didn’t know was that, Jongsuk had a very good impression of him and wished they could be friends. Woobin had invited him for lunch every day, and Jongsuk realized that true to Myungsoo’s words, Woobin’s lunch was the same every day – 6 hardboiled eggs and one packet of milk. Jongsuk was impressed by Woobin’s determination and conviction. It definitely wasn’t easy maintaining a diet like that. Of course, Woobin being friendly to him helped a lot. What was holding him back from reciprocating the friendliness, was just his personality and character of not easily opening up. A couple of times, Jongsuk had wanted to try to talk to Woobin, but he stopped himself before he could say anything.

One thing he didn’t like about being around Woobin though, was the attention that came with it. Just sitting next to Woobin had gave him much more attention than he had hoped for. It was unintentional, of course, and the attention really wasn’t on him. It’s just that he was sitting next to Woobin so when the other kids gathered around Woobin, he was naturally there as well. He could fully understand why the kids liked Woobin though. He was charismatic and friendly, and it was only natural that people like him. That was also probably why Jongsuk found himself rather intrigued by this friend next to him.

It was history class that day and the teacher was just going on and on. Her monotonous voice was sleep inducing, even more effective than a lullaby. The warm and humid weather didn’t help either, and everyone was just very lethargic and drowsy. Half the class were already asleep, and both Jongsuk and Woobin were on the urge of falling asleep as well. Jongsuk contemplated and hesitated for a while, before he finally nudged Woobin lightly. Woobin jolted at the nudge, slightly surprised as he shot Jongsuk a curious look. It was the first time Jongsuk initiated any form of interaction with him -- apart from school work of course – and he knew very well this couldn’t be about school or class, especially since Jongsuk obviously wasn’t listening as well.

“….I’m bored,” Jongsuk whispered, a little awkwardly. He wasn’t too sure that was the proper way to start a conversation but that was about the best he could do.

Woobin grinned, still surprised at Jongsuk’s attempt. “Me too. Time isn’t passing at all…”

“….” Jongsuk wasn’t sure how to continue the conversation. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Mmm, sure.”

“Why do you want to be a model?”

Woobin wasn’t expecting this question. He didn’t think Jongsuk even took interest in what he wanted to do with his life. Recalling that expressionless look on Jongsuk’s face that day during lunch on the first day, Woobin couldn’t decide if Jongsuk thought he wouldn’t be able to make it just like the other students, or if he was purely uninterested. Either ways, Woobin didn’t think that he needed to explain his dream to someone who wasn’t interested or who didn’t believe in him. But now that Jongsuk finally began a conversation, he didn’t want it to end just like that.

“Why do you want to know?”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to say. Just pretend I didn’t ask.” Jongsuk shrugged.

“Do you think I won’t be able to make it too?”

“H-huh?” Jongsuk shook his head. “I think you can do it.”

Woobin squinted his eyes at Jongsuk. Jongsuk didn’t look like he was mocking him. But he wasn’t sure either, because no one had ever told him that he would be able to make it as a model. His parents and family had been supportive of him, but he could tell that they weren’t exactly convinced either. His classmates burst out upon laughter hearing it, and have been mocking his dream since then. Even his homeroom teacher told him to be serious when he said his dream was to be a model. After realizing that Woobin wasn’t joking, he had a few talks with him to tell him to carefully reconsider his dream.

“Are you mocking me?” he blurted out.

“Wh-what? Of course not!” Jongsuk frowned. He wasn’t expecting that kind of a response from Woobin, and he couldn’t help but feel slightly offended. He already wasn’t sure if it was a right decision to start talking to Woobin, and now he wished he hadn’t.

“No one else ever believes that I can.” Woobin quickly replied, seeing Jongsuk’s frown. He quickly added, “I don’t mean to doubt you. It’s just that no one in this class, not even the teachers, believe that I can and it’s just surprising anyone would.”

Jongsuk nodded. “Ah…but I really think you can do it.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Just a feeling…you haven’t answered my question.”

“Oh…there really isn’t a particular reason. It’s just last year, when Mr. Kang asked us to share about our dreams, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted at that time so I just randomly said the first thing that came to mind, which was a model. And yeah, you can imagine what happened. Basically the entire class burst out laughing and I suddenly felt very determined to become one.”

“Ah, since it’s you we are talking about, that does seem like a valid reason.”

Woobin laughed, a little too loudly, and immediately the history teacher shot a glare over. She knew no one was listening and didn’t really care but even then, she hated it when the students have their own conversations and disrupted her train of thoughts. Woobin gave an innocent smile, hoping to get off with it and Jongsuk just pretended to be taking notes, and it clearly wasn’t convincing. The teacher gave them a look that said “one more time and you’re going to get it from me” and continued her monologue.

Woobin and Jongsuk gave each other a glance and snickered quietly. Neither continued the conversation. Jongsuk went back to doodling on his textbook, trying very hard to fight his drowsiness and Woobin just turned and looked out of the window, quietly observing the students who were having PE lessons in the field. He let his thoughts drift off. Any time of the day, he would rather be at the field running or just working out, instead of being in class listening to the teacher talk to herself.

After what seemed like years, the bell for the end of school finally went off. Among the bustling excitement and chatter of the other children, Jongsuk idly packed his bag. He didn’t have plans after school, and neither was he in a rush to get home. Even when he reached home, he would just be alone in his room, doing nothing in particular. Woobin said his goodbyes, slinging his bag over his right shoulder and was about to leave the classroom. He stopped in his tracks and turned back to Jongsuk, asking casually, “Hey, I’m going to the gym. Want to come along?”

Jongsuk hummed a little in thought, before asking. “Who else is coming?”

“No one. I don’t usually ask anyone. But, yeah, I don’t know, just thought I could ask you.”

“I don’t have suitable clothes though?”

“We can just get Myungsoo’s if you want. He always has an extra set in his locker and you probably can fit into his. It’s okay if you don’t want to go though, no pressure.”

Jongsuk hesitated for a while, and Woobin thought that he wasn’t going to go along anymore, already ready to go off alone.

“I’m not too comfortable taking his clothes, so I’ll just go and watch you….if it’s okay?”

Woobin shrugged. “Sure, if you want.”

Jongsuk nodded, got his bag and followed Woobin out of school.

Jongsuk had no idea why he had agreed to it. Sure, he didn’t have any plans and he didn’t exactly want to go home, but those reasons weren’t strong enough for him to agree to go with Woobin, not when they weren’t close. He was almost absolutely sure that it was going to be a very awkward afternoon.

They spent the first five minutes not talking. Woobin didn’t think it was a big deal though, and he didn’t think much of it. He was feeling a little too lazy to initiate any sort of conversation, and he didn’t think Jongsuk minded. But Jongsuk did. He felt so awkward he wished he could just back out and go back home. The awkwardness was getting into him so badly he couldn’t take it any longer and forced words out of his mouth.

“U-uh…why did you ask me?”

“Huh?” Woobin asked naturally.

“You said you don’t usually ask anyone. So why did you ask me?” Jongsuk cursed himself silently for having started this topic. It wasn’t even anything big but now that he asked, it suddenly felt like it wasn’t all that normal to invite him to the gym.

Woobin didn’t think much of the question though, and simply stated, “Because you were the first one to tell me you believed me. And I think you genuinely believed that.”

“Ah…” Jongsuk desperately thought of how to continue the conversation, but before he could think of anything, Woobin spoke again.

“Why do you believe me though? I mean, when no one else does. You said it was just a feeling, but a feeling isn’t a strong reason to believe in someone, is it?”

“Maybe it is. I function a lot based on feelings.”

“And what gave you that feeling? It must be something, isn’t it?”

“Maybe…eggs? I mean…you don’t seem like the kind of person to give up easily. And the way you persevere just makes me feel like that,” Jongsuk said, casually kicking a pebble.

“You got that right about me!” Woobin beamed. “Never going to give up something I started, especially not when so many people are waiting for me to fail.”

Jongsuk smiled and nodded, and the rest of the journey to the gym, they just talked about random things, about the other people in class, about their teachers, about the weather….It wasn’t anything significant, just normal comfortable conversations. It was mostly Woobin talking, of course. Jongsuk had shared his opinions a little and asked questions, more than he normally would, but mostly he was just listening. Even then, his opinions and responses encouraged Woobin. It was way better than his usual responses which were really nothing more than necessary. The entire way to the gym, Jongsuk found himself gradually becoming more and more comfortable. It wasn’t as awkward as he thought it would be. Even when they eventually ran out of topics and walked in silence, Jongsuk felt strangely okay with it.

It seemed like he really was warming up to Woobin, a lot quicker than he thought he would.