A/n: I haven't actually edited this or even read over it honestly. Sorry for any y things in advance. Read & edited. *yells about my poster* Thank you IrresistableDe~

It was all Jongin could do to roll himself out of bed in the morning and head to the bathroom, rubbing at his eyes and trying to look at his blurry reflection. He made out messy hair and a puffy face, and groaned. In another minute he was stumbling into the shower and attempting to clean and be presentable. Today of all days, it mattered.

By the time he got out he was reasonably conscious, hair tame, face still bloated. It’d be bearable by the time he got to school. He was back to his bedroom, dressed, and heading to the kitchen in a few more minutes and, less than half an hour after he’d woken up, there was a honk in the driveway.

“Make sure your hair isn’t a mess!” his mother chastised him. “I want good pictures of you. I’m sending them to your grandparents.”

“And everyone else in the world, I know,” Jongin brushed her off. “Are you saying I don’t look good all the time?” he added jokingly.

“You know what I meant,” she glared, and reached up to flatten his hair as he slipped on his shoes. “Have a nice day sweetie.”

“I will,” he returned as he went out the door. The car was waiting for him as usual, and he took the front seat beside his friend Kris, glancing back to see three other boys. Like always, the younger Tao behind him, Chanyeol half asleep but still on his phone, and Jongdae in the middle. Only Jongdae said hi to him, Chanyeol immersed in messaging his boyfriend and Tao too quiet to ever talk to anyone but Kris. He was kind of stuck up, but that didn’t bother Jongin.

Jongin leaned his head back against the seat. This was his last year as right-hand man; next year, he’d be in the driver’s seat, taking over the group. Not that he minded Kris – nor was he really any less popular anyway; everyone looked up to him (aka, wanted to be him) and would do his business on a word – but he still looked forward to it. When everything was his. The school as his kingdom.

Yes, that would be very nice indeed.

Regardless of his position in the social world, he was still just a student though, and was still subjected to the usual classes and all that went with them. This semester he had art first thing in the morning, which was the only class he ever really looked forward to. Well, that and gym class, because he was athletic (and had a body worth showing off); but gym wasn’t until next semester, so he just satisfied himself with art and resisted the temptation to skip the rest of the day. They were still in the first week, he couldn’t get into a bad habit so soon.

The morning went slow after art class, and he was glad to reach lunch. Lunch was the time he and his friends could flex their power – not that they really needed to, but they could. Lunch was when they reigned. Over an hour of being drunk on power, and just having a much needed break to spend time with his friends; it got Jongin through the day anyway.

(It wasn’t like Jongin was obsessed with his status. He’d been popular since middle school, and he was used to it. But since entering high school, meeting Kris and the rest of his new group, it had been drilled into his mind that their place was everything. Of course, he didn’t want to lose the coveted position, but it was only his default way to think the way he did. There was nothing wrong with it or anything – which was why he never bothered thinking differently – but that was how things were.)

He still hadn’t gotten his photos done yet, so when they left the cafeteria he told Tao he was making a side trip to the bathroom before heading to their math class. It was he, Tao and Kris walking in a row with Jongdae, Chanyeol and Baekhyun chatting behind them and Yixing undoubtedly listening in (or zoning out; it was a toss-up with him). Then suddenly, Chanyeol was snapping at someone for getting in the way. Jongin just shook his head slightly without looking back. But when the group split up to go to their respective classes, Chanyeol told them to kick Do Kyungsoo’s if they saw him. Jongin didn’t think much of it; Chanyeol wasn’t really serious anyway.

When he and Tao went into the bathroom near their class, there was another boy their age fixing his hair in the mirror. He caught sight of their reflection and dropped his arm, hurrying past them without a word and leaving the place to them. Jongin felt a tiny bit bad; they hadn’t even said anything. But it wasn’t his problem; if he wanted to leave, then he could leave and Jongin wasn’t going to stop him. He pushed it from his mind, heading to the now vacated mirror and inspecting his reflection.

Still the same Kim Jongin. The guy who had the power to get what he wanted without even opening his mouth. He was blessed with good looks, which meant the world was his. And really, was there anything in this world he couldn’t have?

The warning bell chimed irritatingly, and the two headed to class. At the door, Jongin spotted Do Kyungsoo seated at one of the desks, pen moving along the side of his page and brow furrowed in concentration. (Then again, he always seemed to be frowning, Jongin realized. Not that Jongin paid attention to him, but it was hard not to notice the eternally serious guy. He was pretty sure he’d never seen Kyungsoo smile before.) He nudged Tao’s arm, nodding in Kyungsoo’s direction, and Tao’s lip quirked up slightly. They crossed the room, and as they passed Tao flipped Kyungsoo’s binder off his desk, grinning as it fell to the floor. Kyungsoo watched without even bothering to react, until a book tumbled out of the binder and slid across the floor. Without even thinking, Jongin went after it, picking it up and looking it over with a smirk.

“What’s this, your diary?” Would he seriously bring that with him to school? And Jongin had thought Kyungsoo was smart. Apparently all the books he read didn’t do much for him.

Another second and Kyungsoo was jumping up and yelling at him, trying to snatch it away but Jongin dodged him and moved a few rows away, Tao stopping Kyungsoo from going any further. Then Jongin was opening the book with a laugh, not entirely sure what he expected to find.

It wasn’t a diary after all, but a sketchbook. Jongin was admittedly surprised; he’d never thought of the boy as an artist. Even more surprising… he was really good. There were a couple still life drawings of things that Jongin guessed were in Kyungsoo’s bedroom – books, a lamp, his glasses – and images of fictional people that were stunningly realistic; mythical cityscapes, random objects, animals that were hyper-realistic. The last drawn-on page was a wolf that Jongin wasn’t sure wasn’t actually a picture, with a messy signature in the corner that looked like an afterthought.

He went through it in about twenty seconds, skimming but taunting enough, making sure Kyungsoo’s privacy was properly invaded. To really send it home, he ripped out the wolf drawing and pocketed it, tossing the book back and watching Kyungsoo flip to the missing page to see what was stolen. He didn’t look up at Jongin, his jaw set tightly and eyes looking blank. Jongin swallowed, an uncomfortable feeling worming in his stomach, and he sat down as the teacher walked in, shaking his head and pushing it from his thoughts.

Still, his mind lingered on the sketchbook. As if Do Kyungsoo was an artist… Jongin had never even seen Kyungsoo in an art room before, nor was any of his art displayed anywhere – and it was certainly good enough to be. Maybe this was Do Kyungsoo’s big secret – that he wasn’t just some nerdy bookworm with a ninety-six average; he actually could… appreciate beauty. And create beautiful things. His mind wasn’t all in black and white.

Jongin had no idea why this was so amazing to him. It was just… there was more to Kyungsoo than he’d ever thought, although he hadn’t thought much of him to begin with. And that was. Huh.

He was starting to think that he kind of admired that about Kyungsoo, and maybe he would want to talk to Kyungsoo about art or something sometime, when he felt something bump his shoulder and turned to see Tao raising an eyebrow at him.

“Huh?”

“Let’s go,” Tao told him. Jongin noticed the other boys were all getting up and leaving the room, and blinked at Tao. “Pictures.” Pictures? He must’ve zoned out when they were called for them. What kind of voodoo did Do Kyungsoo have on those freaking drawings?

When he got up, he was feeling frustrated with himself for how he was reacting over some loser’s art (good art; Jongin appreciated art, but still). And he was annoyed with Kyungsoo for having done this to him; so when he saw the boy waiting at the door and trying to confront them, Jongin pushed him aside – maybe harder than necessary – and then took his revenge by taunting the boy with Tao in the photo room. By the time they returned to class, Jongin was feeling like himself again, his thoughts back in place and not dazed by some stupid art in some nerdy kid’s sketchbook.

But the wolf drawing still burned in his pocket.

“

Jongin got home that afternoon and collapsed on his bed, brain hurting from the information overload. His mind had gotten lazy over the summer with all the parties (aka drinking and ), free time, and lack of math. When was he gonna need to know the equation for a freaking parabola ever? (He was good at math, but that didn’t mean he liked it.)

There was a crumpling sound in his pants, and he remembered the piece of paper there, pulling it out and unfolding it to admire the drawing again. He was still blown away. He kind of wanted to put it in a frame to keep it safe – but yeah, that wasn’t happening. If anyone ever noticed the signature… no; better to be safe. So instead he just stared at it for a while and tried to imagine all the work that had gone into it. Do Kyungsoo’s mind was really something.

A mystery. It was a mystery. And Jongin was so curious.

Beginning to get annoyed again, he opened his side-table drawer and threw the drawing in there with the half-empty box of condoms. Which reminded him… ugh. He needed . The first party of the school year was happening tomorrow at Kris’ house, but Jongin hadn’t gone to the last one of summer, meaning he was going on a month of not being laid. He was a healthy (see: ) teenage boy; he had needs. Those needs were namely lots of food and regular s. And wasn’t really as satisfying as having someone else pleasure him.

But he wasn’t patient enough to wait for tomorrow night; he was feeling the mood shivering through his nerves now. Where had it even come from? Had he suddenly grown an art kink? He shook his head; that was stupid. Going without for a month was bound to catch up to him eventually.

Once he started though, his mind kept going over the images in that book, and it was doing something to him. Oh gosh, I have an art kink. What kind of weirdo even got off on art? He sped up his pace so he could just be done, and then maybe do some homework or something to get his mind far away from everything going through it right now.

In a few moments, he was lying there catching his breath, his mind blank for once. This was why he liked ; the build-up was always good, the incredible, but this – the calm, the peace in his mind afterwards was the best part. He just stayed there until his hand had stopped and his mind slowly began to process again. When it did, his thoughts turned to Do Kyungsoo. Haven’t I thought enough of that kid today?

Jongin had done enough today. Gone through something private of someone else’s, taken something that didn’t belong to him; he knew he was flooded with hormones that were making him all soft, but he felt a little bit sorry. What do I need to be sorry for? The kid’s a jerk anyway, he had it coming. But he might’ve gone a bit too far…

No. It’s just one drawing. I didn’t tear up the whole book or show the rest of the class or anything. It’s fine. He’ll get over it.

"

The next day he saw Kyungsoo leave the cafeteria by himself, and followed shortly after alone. Jongin hung around his own locker for a while, and when he got the nerve to walk by Kyungsoo’s, the boy was sitting in front of his own locker, having fallen asleep in the hall. It had only been a few minutes; he must’ve been really tired.

A tiny part of Jongin wondered if the other had cried himself to sleep, and maybe felt a twinge of guilt. It stirred something in him, and he half-jogged back to his locker, grabbing a pen and ripping a strip of paper out of his binder. Glancing around nervously, he wrote a single line as neatly as possible; nothing too friendly and nothing that looked his usual disastrous writing that could ever be drawn back to him. And then he was hurrying back to Kyungsoo’s locker, heart racing at the idea of someone seeing him or Kyungsoo waking up as he left the note in the pages of Kyungsoo’s book.

As soon as it was safely lodged, he almost ran away, wondering what the hell he had just done.

“

Jongin got the he needed at the party Friday night, and it was good as usual but even after the long break it was less satisfying than he’d hoped. Assuming he was sick or something, he had gone home afterwards. Drifting off to sleep, he began dreaming about another body on top of his. The images echoed the hours earlier, being touched and kissed and riled up; but when he caught sight of the person, they were a boy – he was dreaming about having with a boy. When he woke up again he was very confused; he’d had dreams like that but never with a guy… He had kissed a few guys before, had even got pretty heavy with one once, but …

The next afternoon Kris texted him, asking about why he’d left early and Jongin excused that he wasn’t feeling great. By this point, he really was wondering if Do Kyungsoo was a witch or something; had he cursed that book to mess with the minds of anyone who looked in it? Jongin wasn’t so unsure that was far-fetched anymore. Ever since he’d seen Kyungsoo’s art, his head was doing weird things and he didn’t like it at all.

But he saw Kyungsoo on Monday and nothing happened, so maybe he just was sick and losing his mind.

Maybe.

On Tuesday all afternoon classes were optional as the first soccer game of the year was being held against a rival school. Soccer was a pretty big deal at their school, and since all social events required their presence, Jongin and his friends of course went (as if he would go to an optional math class). He wasn’t looking, but he noticed Kyungsoo as he took his seat beside Chanyeol, the boy in the front row with Oh Sehun and… was it Kim Joonmyun? He couldn’t remember the other’s name. Jongin knew Sehun from his dance class – they’d been in the same class for years, but never really talked much. Sehun was weird to Jongin; he’d always been a quiet kid who practiced dancing a lot and didn’t really talk to anyone, but once they were in the same school, Jongin had found out that Sehun was really obnoxious. He was loud and enthusiastic about things – at least around his friends. But he was still the same at the dance hall; quiet, awkward loner kid. It was no wonder he and Kyungsoo were friends.

Now Sehun was cheering enthusiastically for their team – or at least, part of their team. His eyes followed the same player throughout the game – Luhan, a Chinese kid who Jongin didn’t know much about besides that he played soccer. Jongin glanced to Jongdae – who had blue stripes on his face in school spirit and was grinning as he watched. Jongdae had just started talking to another guy, Minseok, who was friends – or not friends – with Luhan, Jongin was pretty sure. He wasn’t sure about much when it came to the lot of them, honestly, just that Jongdae seemed to be interested and Minseok was sad and they were all connected back to Do Kyungsoo somehow.

Maybe it would be good to just accept that he was cursed.

Jongin wasn’t very engaged in the game, but by the end he heard it was a tie and in the last few seconds their team scored a goal and everyone burst into cheers. Then he caught sight of Oh Sehun running onto the field and kissing Luhan – which was kind of shocking; not that Jongin had never seen two guys kiss (Baekhyun and Chanyeol were his friends, he got that every day), but it wasn’t exactly common and after the dream he’d had on Friday…

But Kris was getting up, which meant it was time to leave. Jongdae had run off without a word, and apparently it had annoyed the leader (he didn’t say so but Jongin guessed that was why), so they weren’t sticking around any longer. As they went, Jongin spotted Kyungsoo leaving too, walking ahead of them, and he groaned internally. Can’t you leave me alone?! Why was this guy everywhere he was now?

Jongin wasn’t the only one who noticed him, because in a minute Chanyeol was calling after the smaller. Kyungsoo retorted without even giving them a glance, but he seemed a bit more tense. Still, he said something that set Kris off, and then they caught up to him and Kris grabbed him, spinning him around. Jongin stayed back, watching as Kyungsoo glared at Kris fearlessly, returning snarky comments without even wincing, though Kris was digging his nails into Kyungsoo’s arm tightly. It wasn’t until Kris pulled back and punched him hard that Kyungsoo showed any reaction, at which point he dropped to his hands and knees, letting out a pained sound. The group laughed at it, and Jongin joined in mindlessly, watching as blood began to spill from the boy’s nose while he held himself up.

“Let’s go,” Kris ordered after a moment, bored again. The fun had been had; it was time to go home now. “I dunno where Jongdae went. He’s on his own.” They all headed off to Kris’ car, Jongin taking his seat and Baekhyun sitting in Chanyeol’s lap in the back so they, Tao and Yixing could all fit. “You okay Jongin?” Chanyeol asked from behind him. “You seem kinda out of it.”

“He has been since last week,” Tao put in.

“Have you?” Kris asked, glancing Jongin’s way from beside him. Jongin shrugged. “Has he?”

“When you hit Kyungsoo he was just kinda standing there,” Chanyeol noted. “Like he didn’t find it funny. You’re not getting soft on us, are you Jong?”

Jongin shook his head. “Just… I dunno, in a back-to-school funk or something.”

“Maybe you’ve been hanging around Yixing too long,” Baekhyun put in jokingly. “And you’re starting to tune us all out.” They all laughed at that, and Yixing just gave a smile.

“I wouldn’t mind tuning you two out sometimes,” Jongin returned teasingly.

“You don’t wanna know what they’re doing right now,” Tao muttered, and there was a collective rolling of eyes as Chanyeol grinned and Baekhyun stuck out his tongue.

Jongin didn’t turn around to see it. But things felt like they were back to normal again, and he was glad to forget about Do Kyungsoo for a while.

A/n: Don't hate Jongin too much please <3 Let me know your feels~