Chapter 1
Leap of FaithThe Meeting
Chanyeol's eyes traveled around the classroom. He was absolutely bored out of his mind. Honestly, he always was, but today it seemed his boredom was more extreme. He supposed it was the fact that one of his best friends, Jongin-- or Kai, whichever you preferred to call him-- was absent.
Maybe Chanyeol needed to make more friends. He was always dependent on Jongin to show up everyday, for he was the only person he really talked to at school. Now that he thought of it though, depending on him was useless, for Jongin always became sick quite often. And when Jongin was gone, what did Chanyeol do? Well, nothing really. He kept to himself. He was an introvert after all, and he didn't really talk to or open up to just anyone. Maybe he should change that.
What good was being an introvert anyways? Besides, he didn't have very many secrets. Even if he did, he was smart enough not to tell anyone unless he trusted them with his whole being. He guessed opening up just one time wouldn't hurt.
Who should he talk to though? It was far into the school year, and nearly everyone in his class had their own cliques and whatnot. Surely, they wouldn't want someone like Chanyeol to suddenly intrude into their group.
The male heaved a sigh as he tapped his fingers on the polished, wooden desk before him. He furrowed his brows as he tried to think. Maybe he could try talking to one of Jongin's friends. Jongin was slightly more social than him, and he had the same taste in people as Chanyeol. Chanyeol knew for sure that Jongin wouldn't befriend someone if they didn't fit up to certain standards. But who did Jongin often talk to?Hayoung. He was already friends with her though. Chorong? But she was absent as well.
Chanyeol shut his eyes as he tried to think harder. Think, Chanyeol, think. Who were one of the guys that Jongin conversed with? He couldn't remember a single boy name. Why he could only remember the names of girls- Chanyeol wasn't so sure. Namjoo. Another girl name. Who was Namjoo though?
He opened his eyes and looked around, trying to jog his memory. His gaze finally landed on a female who was hunched over her desk. That's who Namjoo was! She was the female who had schedule-changed and transferred into his class a few weeks ago.
What did Jongin tell him? Chanyeol swore Jongin gave good feedback about her. What was it... Aha! He finally remembered. "She's a really nice girl. Cute too." He said something along those lines. Chanyeol was sure of it. Therefore, he decided to take a chance and strike up a conversation with her.
The male stood up. His body now faced in the direction of Namjoo who sat peacefully at her desk. He brushed the invisible lint off of his clothes before taking the first step forward. He had to give a good impression. His hand reached up to flatten down his hair before he took another step.
Wow! Only two steps and he was already close to reaching her, thanks to the help of his long legs. Just one more step and-- He was right behind her now. Things were happening so fast.
Was he really going to talk to her though? Hell yeah, he was! It was about time for him to come out of his shell. No more of only having one friend. He needed more than that.
Chanyeol felt confident as he reached out and finally poked the female on the shoulder. No time for chickening out now. He bit his bottom lip as he waited for the female to turn around.
"Hmm, just a second." The female hummed in reply, her hand speeding up to finish the doodle she was working on in her notebook. Her tongue poked out from between her lips in concentration. It was an amusing sight, but Chanyeol wasn't able to witness it, for he was standing behind her. What he could see though-- if he leaned in and peeked over the female's shoulder-- was the drawing. He inched closer, trying to get a better glimpse of the notebook, but instead stumbled backwards in surprise when the female suddenly turned around.
"Ta-Dah!" The female smiled widely, presenting a drawing of... What was it? Chanyeol tilted his head to the side as he tried to comprehend what was being displayed on the paper. "Uh..." He started, furrowing his brows. "Nice." He offered her a thumbs up, though he still didn't understand what he was looking at.
"Now this is what I call art!" She grinned, taking another glance at her picture. "Sushi with faces."
Chanyeol opened his mouth to answer, but he quickly closed his mouth once again when the female shut the notebook loudly and shoved it into her backpack with haste. Why the sudden rush? Chanyeol wasn't so sure. This really wasn't how he expected things to play out.
"Anyway," The female started, finishing up with zipping her backpack. "What did you need to tell me?" She wondered, her head lolling back, so she could look up at him. Chanyeol was awfully tall, and the fact that he was standing while Namjoo was sitting, didn't help very much with the height difference.
"I was hoping we could become friends...?" Chanyeol intended his sentence to be a statement, but it came out as more of a question. He rubbed his nape. Was this how you socialized? Jongin would probably be laughing at him, had he been there. Idiot. That's what he would be calling Chanyeol right now.
"What's that? I can't hear you from all the way down here." The female teased. Chanyeol really didn't like being joked with, and he wanted to ditch the conversation with her, but decided against it. He sat down on the seat next to the female's and listened as she replied with a "That's better."
"Not going to lie," The female spoke once again, "I actually heard you. You want to be friends, right?" She asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked at the male. Chanyeol nodded his head as he played with his fingers. His nervous habit. "Fine with me! Let's start with introductions. What's your name?"
"Oh, right. How rude of me." Chanyeol chuckled to himself. How could he forget to tell her his name? "I'm Park Chanyeol. And you are?" He already knew Namjoo's name, but he decided it was only normal to ask her anyways.
"Chanyeol! Cute name." She beamed. Chanyeol noticed that the female talked an awful lot, but he didn't necessarily mind. Her babbling made him feel at ease, for she made it much easier to keep a conversation with her. "Namjoo. I'm Kim Namjoo."
Her voice was sweet and melodic as she chirped her own name. "Namjoo." Chanyeol repeated. The name danced off of his tongue so smoothly. "Namjoo, Namjoo, Namjoo." He had to say it three more times. It was an ordinary name, but for some reason, he liked it a lot.
"Yeah, yeah." Namjoo answered, swatting her hand around. "That's my name, don't wear it out."
"Aha, I'll make sure not to do that." He said smiling softly at her. The female only nodded her head at him in acknowledgement.
It was silent between them for awhile before Chanyeol realized that it was his turn to say something. "So, that drawing you showed me... Sushi with faces?" He raised a brow at her as he awaited an explanation.
"Mhm, sushi with faces." She nodded her head vigorously. "I was bored, okay. Don't judge." Namjoo herself didn't have very many friends at school either, so often, she would have to find other ways to entertain herself. Doodling was always pleasant, for it always kept her busy and distracted. She didn't always draw such weird things like the one she had presented to Chanyeol, but that just so happened to be what she had been working on at that very moment.
Chanyeol chuckled at the female, eyes smiling. "Of course. No judging in any friendships of mine." He patted her arm in reassurance. "We're all weird here, anyway." And from what it seemed to him, Namjoo was especially weird. Faces on sushi? Who does that? But then again, Chanyeol had his share of doing equally weird things too. Like that time he... Forget it. Chanyeol shook the thought out of his head. It was too embarrassing for him to reminisce about.
"We are?" Namjoo asked, her face lighting up in surprise. Chanyeol seemed so chill, and the female found it rather attractive. Ah, but a guy as cool as him probably wouldn't even think once about liking her. Therefore, it wouldn't hurt to be herself and show him her excessively peculiar side. "Does that mean I can be as weird as I want around you?"
"Sure, why not." The male answered. And just as he said that, a loud squeal followed soon after the statement. "Thank you, thank you." Namjoo repeated over and over. Chanyeol assured her that it was not a problem as he smiled rather awkwardly at her enthusiasm.
He'd be lying if he said he didn't find it cute though. Not once had he come across a girl who acted this way, until he met Namjoo. She was unique, and he liked that about her. She seemed to be an outgoing ball of energy. The opposite of Chanyeol. Before, Chanyeol couldn't stand outgoing people, but coming across the female who was still squealing-- he guessed they weren't so bad.
When the bell rang, signaling the end of the period-- or the end of the school day, for it was last period after all-- Namjoo quickly jumped out of her chair, startling the male a bit.
"Wow, school's done. GuessIhavetogonow,bye!" Namjoo spoke rather hurriedly as she ran out the door. The male gawked at the chair who had belonged to the female who was already long gone. His eyes traveled down to the backpack that was still slung over the back of the seat. Idiot. How could she forget her backpack?
He reached over and removed it from the seat. He decided he would just return it to the owner the next day. But in a blink of an eye, Namjoo was suddenly rushing back into the classroom, tripping over her own feet and toppling over desks in the process.
"Y-Yah!" Chanyeol yelled in surprise. "Be careful will you?! Slow down, you're going to get hurt!" What was she doing? She seemed so reckless. The female ignored his scolding though as she finally reached him.
"Aw, come on. I'm fine~" She brushed him off casually, "Kim Namjoo does not get hurt, nuh-uh." Taking the backpack from Chanyeol's grip, she slung it over her shoulder. "Thanks for watching my belongings." She leaned down and wrapped an arm around his shoulder for a partial hug. "See you! I'm leaving for real this time!"
And with that said, Namjoo turned around, accidentally hitting Chanyeol in the face with her backpack. Not realizing her action, she ran out the door, giving no apology.
Chanyeol winced slightly as he cupped his cheek. He craned his neck to look out the door where the female exited. He let out a sigh.
Kim Namjoo was really something.
---
"So, how was school?" Jongin asked, rolling onto his side, so that he could look at Chanyeol. He was lying in bed, too sick to sit up, but not too sick to the point where he couldn't interrogate his bestfriend who was sitting on his swivel chair. "Let me guess- You just stayed as a loner the whole day."
Chanyeol looked at him, crossing one leg over the other as he leaned back into the chair. One hand clutched an ice pack against his slightly swollen cheek. The other hand pointed a finger towards Jongin's direction as he corrected the younger. "Actually, it wasn't the whole day. During last period, I managed to make a friend."
Hearing Chanyeol's reply, Jongin immediately sat up with interest. "Oh God." A loud groan followed as Jongin grabbed his head. "Shouldn't have done that. My pounding headache is coming back." Chanyeol stayed unresponsive for a while, giving Jongin a bit of time to recover.
A few moments later, the male gave Chanyeol the 'ok' sign with his fingers before folding his hands in his lap.
"A friend, eh?" He asked, snorting in amusement, "Who is it?" Jongin was really curious to hear about who his bestfriend had chosen to socialize with, considering he didn't really make an effort to talk to new people that often.
"Namjoo-" Chanyeol was immediately cut off by Jongin throwing a pillow at his face.
"Namjoo? Namjoo! That cutie patootie. Oh man, you chose the right person to talk to! She's such a sweetie pie, I swear. You just gotta love her. She can get a bit weird, but eh, doesn't matter. I adore her nonetheless. She's like the little sister I never had..." Blah, blah, blah. Jongin went on and on about the female. He knew Namjoo and Jongin were friends, but he didn't know that the male adored her this much. He was clearly fond of his friend choice.
"For someone who's sick, you sure do have quite a lot of energy to run your mouth." Chanyeol commented, setting his ice pack down, so that he could hug the pillow that had been thrown at him. He laughed lightly when Jongin shot him one of his death glares.
"Because there's just so many things to say about Namjoo." He retorted, returning to his original position of lying down in his bed. "She's a great person. Don't you agree?"
"I only started getting to know her today, but from the looks of it, yes. I suppose I do agree." Chanyeol answered, a yawn escaping his lips. Was Namjoo really that great? Guess he'd have to get to know her a bit more and see. Jongin was filled with enthusiasm at the mention of her name, and Chanyeol wondered if he too would begin to adore Namjoo to the same extent as Jongin adored her.
Jongin said no more about Namjoo as he watched the sleepy Chanyeol rub his eyes. "Tired? Making friends is some hard work for you, huh?" He teased. Chanyeol only raised the pillow up, wordlessly threatening to throw it at him.
"Kidding, kidding." Jongin cowered, lifting his blanket up as a shield. "Anyway, care to explain to me why your cheek is a bit fatter than usual?"
Chanyeol raised his hand up to lightly tap the cheek that Jongin was referring to. It was numb and cold still from the ice. He smiled a bit. "It's nothing."
Jongin scoffed, "I'm not buying that. What happened? Did she slap you? What did you do this time?" He shot questions at him, determined to find the real answer.
Chanyeol heaved a sigh, "Well...." He started, rubbing his nape. "Namjoo was in a rush, and she accidentally ended up hitting me in the face with her backpack." He looked at Jongin who still had a straight face. "Uh?" He uttered when he stayed unresponsive.
Jongin laughed loudly, now pointing a finger at Chanyeol. "Did she really? Why do I find that so funny?"
After what seemed like years of laughter, he now coughed, clutching his throat. He groaned in pain, complaining of a sore throat. It was Chanyeol's turn this time to laugh and point.
"Oh shut up, will you?" Jongin huffed, now motioning for the taller guy to come closer. "Come here. Let me see how bad your cheek is."
Chanyeol gave him a weird look, but did as he was told anyways. He scooted his chair towards the bed in which Jongin lay in and leaned over, turning his cheek towards the sick boy.
"Make it quick." He requested, "I might catch the sick germs-"
He was cut off when Jongin lightly smacked him in the face. A wince emitted from the other male, and he turned to shoot a "what the hell" look.
"For laughing at me." Jongin told, now inspecting Chanyeol's face for real this time. "But eh, seems like she hit you hard. It'll be gone in no time though." He informed, now patting the male assuringly.
"I know that already." Chanyeol told, scooting his chair back into its original position-- infront of Jongin's desk. "Anyway, do you plan on coming to school tomorrow?" Jongin looked alright to him. If there was anything that gave away the fact that he was sick, it would be his hot skin. A touch from him, and it'd feel like you had touched the scorching hot sun. Other than that, he often complained of not feeling well, cursing at symptoms that only occurred when you were sick. He was also a bit paler than usual too.
The ill friend stared at him in disbelief. "No way in heck will I be coming to school. I feel like I'm dying." Of course, he may have exaggerated a little, but at least he had gotten the point across. "Don't worry though." Jongin told, swatting his hand around like Namjoo had done earlier. "You'll be fine. You have another friend now. Go hang out with her for the meantime."
"I want to hang out with you though." Chanyeol complained, stomping his foot against the carpeted flooring. He caught Jongin roll his eyes.
"Come here then. Let me get you sick." Jongin replied, the upper half of his body coming off the bed as he reached out for Chanyeol.
"No way." Chanyeol refused, moving away from his reach. "Don't you dare contaminate me with.... with whatever it is you have!" Chanyeol didn't like being sick, nor did he like the missing work he had to catch up on from having to be absent. Being sick really didn't have any perks, therefore, what was the point?
"You can't hang with me then. it up." Jongin stated, his body fully on the bed again. "Have fun with Namjoo tomorrow. I'm going to go to sleep now."
"Eh," Chanyeol sighed, finally, but reluctantly giving in to the fact that Jongin wouldn't be there to accompany him at school the next day. "Whatever. But anyway, why are you sleeping- It's barely even 5 pm." Chanyeol blinked in confusion.
"I'm sick, let me be." Was the only reply that Jongin gave.
Chanyeol only stared at his friend, listening as soft snores began to fill the room.
A/N: Aha! Finally updated. Was it boring? Sorry if it was. The beginning chapters will mainly be ChanJoo, and Sehun will be showing up in the later ones. Forgot to tell you guys, Jongin is going to be a part of the story as well. Just as a bestfriend though, nothing more.
Feel free to leave comments below. :))) heart heart.
Notice! Forgot to add this to the a/n, but Bomi and Sehun might be making an appearance sooner than what I had originally stated, but I'm still not yet sure.
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