Everyday goes by the same. I go to class, sit in the back, my mind filled with boredom as the teachers drone on and on about triangles, or momentum, or invertebrates, or Abraham Lincoln. It's always the same scripted stuff recited each year, never changing despite the times. The students all had their daily routines: Luhan would always be the second in class after Sehun, yet his "present" during attendance was always the cheeriest; Jongdae would constantly announce a new couple regardless of that fact that he already had a boyfriend to worry about; JoonMyun held meetings daily for the student council, all while I trudged through each day with my close friend Do Kyungsoo and his best friend Chanyeol.

My best friend, Byun Baekhyun had been moved to a private schyool due to his parents beliefs that it would "straighten him out", but mentally and ually. Because of this, I was left to struggle at making new friends, yet instead I found myself developing a new crush.

Do Kyungsoo was a strange person. He was usually quiet, with his nose in a book and his mind elsewhere, but he had a powerful energy within him and with the right words he would release it, whether it was by passionate rambling or by angry rant. Specific subjects made him extremely heated, and he knew his facts and used them against anyone who opposed him, and to be honest, it was quiet interesting to watch. When he spoke with this "power", his eyes glowed with excitement, and a genuine smile would tug at his lips at times. You could tell that he took these sort of things very seriously.

On this day, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol had been arguing over the purpose of testing in high school while my eyes wandered across the packed cafeteria, noting our secluded spot set aside from the many rows of tables filled with the preps, jocks, nerds, goths, and advanced students in our school. I then realized that my little troupe was made up of outcasts as we didn't fit into the other cliques scattered across the lunchroom. Kyungsoo might have fit in with the nerds sitting close to the door, but he wasn't as obnoxiously outgoing as they were as they rambled about card games and chemistry work. Chanyeol was stuck between the jocks, preps, and advanced students, as he had the brains and looks to be with them, yet he prefered to have fun and do his own thing unlike the others; this could've landed him a spot with the jocks, but he refused to play a part in the school sports teams, earning him a special spot at my table. I, on the other hand, was not like anyone in this school. I didn't like to study or work out or listen to dark music. I was just Kim Jongin.

"Hey Jongin, what do you think?" Chanyeol asked me, snapping me out of my daze. I turned to look at him and Kyungsoo, both of pairs of eyes staring me down. I stared back at them, completely lost.

"Excuse me?"

Kyungsoo sighed and rolled his eyes, obviously tired of the fact that this happens almost everyday. "Do you think they should cut testing?"

"Well," I pondered over the question before spitting out an obvious answer. "Duh."

Chanyeol tilted his head at my response and Kyungsoo shook his head, releasing another heavy sigh. I could tell he was thinking about something among the lines "this guy is the definition of stupidity". I tried to be smarter in front of him, but failed.

"Testing , it causes stress and it takes too long and makes my hands hurt. Trust me, I need these hands for more important things other than filling in bubbles," immediately after saying this I wanted to take this back, because I could see my image lessen even more before Kyungsoo's eyes.

"That is true," Chanyeol replied with a chuckle. The two went back to their own conversation, leaving me to stare out at the crowd once again.

I noticed a new group sitting by the preps: the music and arts kids. Usually, these students would sit out in the courtyard or be holed up in the art room or band room, but for the first time in history, preps and band nerds were interacting. It was as if they had evolved to be more accepting to the weirdos. This meant that my group might have a chance to.

At further examination, I noticed Jongdae, who was the most skilled singer in the entire choir, sitting with the group, wedged between JoonMyun and his boyfriend, Minseok, who looked extremely bored. Minseok was not really one of the preps, nor was he an artist or a band person, so he was somewhat an outcast like us. I had almost befriended him, until Jongdae swooped in and asked him out during a pep rally in the gym. 

As I stared, confused by the scene, Jongdae noticed me staring, yet I didn't get to watch him further, as Kyungsoo called my name and caused me to turn back to the two of them. I then noticed that his hand was on my arm, making me realize that they had probably been trying to get my attention for a while.

"Jongin," he started in a quiet tone, his eyes looking concerned. "Why do you always zone out and look around the cafeteria?"

I knew that I couldn't tell him the truth. I couldn't just tell him that I wasn't able to look at him when he was that close. That my heart raced when I looked him in the eyes. And I definitely couldn't tell him that I had high hopes to see Jongdae.

Jongdae had been known as a sort of fortune teller for a while, but over the past summer, that had died down. In our freshman year, he began imagining himself as a match maker, calling himself Cupid. We all laughed at him, but one day he predicted that Jonghyun and Kibum would start dating, and lo and behold, within a week, they were a couple.

After that event years ago, he would predict couples only a few weeks before they were official, and all of these couples lasted months or even years. Jonghyun and Kibum, who graduated together last year, are rumored to be getting married soon, despite the fact that they are so young. Jongdae just knows true love when he sees it. That's how he got Minseok- he predicted it. And because of that, I had hoped that maybe one day I would be the next prediction, and hopefully Kyungsoo would be the pair.

It took me a while to realize that I hadn't answered my friend and I glanced at him before looking back over at Jongdae, who stared intently at me. I could feel Kyungsoo's hand still resting on my arm but I let it remain there as I spoke.

"Did you guys notice that the preps are being more accepting," I finally said in a dry voice. "It's like a revolution."

Kyungsoo scoffed and removed his hand, turning to Chanyeol and saying something quietly before standing up. They bid me farewell with some sort of excuse, but I was far too engrossed in Jongdae as he continued to stare. 

I noticed him mouthing something strictly directed towards me.

"O-T-P".

"And so the basic algorithm..." 

All day I thought about what I witnessed in the lunchroom. I repeated it over and over again in my head: OTP. The acronym was like a puzzle piece in my brain, yet I had no clue where it fit and what part it played in the whole picture. 
Chanyeol sat beside me in my math class, staring intently at the teacher and scribbling words and numbers on his paper. The equations looked like a confusing code to me, just like the message from Jongdae. Maybe my smart friend could decode it.

"Chan-" I was interupted immediately by his shushing. He clearly was too engrossed in the lesson. After a while he took a break to take some notes and whispered to me.

"I've already gotten in trouble enough this year Jongin, and it's all because of you," he seethed through his teeth, scribbling furiously. What was the purpose of all those numbers and letters on his page.

"I have a question."

"Is it about math?"

"Math?" I tried very hard not to burst out in a fit of giggles. "Hell no. Do you know who I am?"

"You're Kim Jongin," he sighed and looked up at the teacher, as if to at least act like he was still paying attention. "What is it?"

"You're good at solving things, right?" he hummed positively in response. "Well, what does OTP mean?"

Chanyeol continued to look foreward, his eyes boring into the blackboard as if the answer was hidden in the cryptic writing from the teacher.

"Why?" his voice suddenly turned cold.

"Uh," I hesitated, wondering if I should confess to him. "Jongdae mouthed it to me earlier today."

"Hmm." 

Chanyeol said nothing further, simply tapping his pencil repeatedly. The sound stressed me out, making me feel like he was a ticking time bomb, yet that idea seemed extremely foolish, even for me. I sighed and picked up my pencil before opening my notebook to the first clean sheet of lined paper. On there I wrote down the letters OTP and brainstormed possible ideas.

Overly terrific person. Obvious terrifed platypus. Only try pineapples. Octopusses taste purple.

It was hopeless. The possiblities for the definition were countless, and unfortunately I can only think that hard for so long. Once the bell rang I rushed out of the room, heading towards the bathroom to ease my mind with an easier task: scrawling swear words in the stalls. Before I got too far I heard my name called to me in a deep, familiar voice, and suddenly felt a hand land on my shoulder. I turned around to see Chanyeol. He stood there silently for a long time.

"One true pair," he said finally before walking away without saying anything else.

One true pair. That was the coded message from Jongdae, but why? Does he like me? Gross. Jongdae was not my type.

Then it hit me. Kyungsoo had grabbed my arm around that time, and maybe Jongdae assumed that we were a couple. Or perhaps, he predicted it? 

My heart raced. It was a sign. It was time to do something.

On my way home I pulled out my phone and dialed a number memorized by heart.

"Hello?" a friendly voice rang through the speaker, followed by a loud yawn.

"Baek, it's me."

"Ah, Jongin?" he sounded excited. "How may I be at your service?"

I chuckled before explaining the whole ordeal. After telling him my predicament and asking him for his help on flirting, he went silent for a long time.

"Baek? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it's just," he sighed. "I haven't heard that in a long time."

"What do you mean?"

"OTP. Jongdae said it to me too once," he confessed quietly. "But whatever, he seems to have forgotten me anyways."

I knew he was talking about Chanyeol, but I chose not to remain on the subject.

"Well, can you help me?"

"Definitely."

The day soon arrived where I would woo Do Kyungsoo. I had a bouquet of flowers in my right hand and a bottle of wine in the other. Chanyeol had informed me that it was his only weakness. I walked up to a quaint home in the middle of a quiet neighborhood, not surprised that the Do home relected the beauty that was Do Kyungsoo. 

Instantly I felt regret. I was a creep, a stalker, finding out his weaknesses and his home, while barely knowing the boy I was there to win over. With cheap wine and a few pathetic flowers.

Yet I was there, and I was going to get it over with.

-------- to be continued in part 2 --------