Chapter 4

Hakyeon

I slept well that night. A little too well. Sleeping through my alarm I raced up to the bus stop as the bus pulled away. Sighing in disappointment I sat down on the bench at the bus stop, leaning back against the shelter and replayed yesterday's conversation in my mind.

Taekwoon spoke with me, pleasantly. There were no harsh words. He wasn't really friendly, but there was no anger or sarcasm in anything that he had said. The more I replayed the conversation, the more I was convinced that the quiet boy and I could become friends. "Hmm, Captain Hook and Peter Pan as friends." I chuckled to myself earning strange and accusing looks from the other patrons at the bus stop.

The bus driver slowly pulled up to the stop and opened the door with a friendly smile, which I promptly returned as I scanned my bus pass and made my way to the back of the bus. I lazily threw myself into a seat and began to watch out the window as the bus moved through the city. Two stops later an elderly couple entered the bus and searched for a spot to sit. Being a gentleman, I rose from my seat to offer it to the couple. At the same time the person occupying the seat opposite me rose as well. He and I bumped into each other, and then collided again as we went to bow in apology. Chuckling I rubbed at the sore spot on my forward as I looked up to see Taekwoon looking back at me with widened eyes, that were quickly gone. He nodded at me in acknowledgement.

The bus driver, seeing that the elderly couple had found seats started forward, causing me to stumble toward the back of the bus, and into Taekwoon who reached out to grab the bar to brace himself. His other arm wrapped around my middle. We stood like that for a moment. My hands were placed on his chest just below his shoulders.I stepped back and mumbled an apology before turning toward the front of the bus and holding on to a loop hanging from the bar at the top of the bus. I slowly raised my other hand to my cheek to cool my face, hoping that he was unable to see the blush gracing my cheeks.

After arriving at school we quickly fought our way through the now crowded hallway. "This is why I prefer to arrive early." I grumbled with a sigh of exasperation. Taekwoon nodded in agreement and left me at my locker to continue to his own. The bell rang and the hallways quickly cleared. We were reunited in the doorway to our class. Pausing to read the sign 3-A, we walked in the door together. All eyes turned to us. Being uncomfortable with the attention, Taekwoon continued to his seat without a word. I gave a slight wave to my friends and went to my seat as well. The teacher cleared and then began the first lesson of the day.

After classes all members of the cast and crew for the production of Peter Pan gathered in the auditorium, where the technical director had lowered a large screen. "Ok, quiet down everyone. All eyes on me." Mr. Hwang waved and clapped his hands trying to gain the attention of the group. "Thank you. We are going to start by watching Peter Pan." He held up a finger "Ah, Ah. I know what you are thinking. You will not be watching the Disney version of Peter Pan." The director began to pace as he gave his monologue. "We are going to be putting on a performance of the Musical Peter Pan. It would only be right it we watched the musical Peter Pan."

Mr. Hwang continued to drone on as the small clusters of students began to chat quietly. I sat with Hyuk on my right, Hongbin next to him, and an empty seat on my left. At the last minute, Taekwoon snuck in and sat down in the seat next to me. Knowing that he wasn't going to ask I answered anyway. "You haven't really missed anything. We are going to watch a movie." Taekwoon looked at me and gave me a nod of understand, and possibly thanks, although it was hard to tell.

It felt oddly comfortable having Taekwoon sitting beside me. The silence was new, but just as comfortable as the the chatter and peals of laughter that were coming from Hongbin and Sanghyuk. Jahwan walked in a few minutes later with a wide smile on his face. The door closed with a loud bang and all heads turned to look at him. I rolled my eyes and let out a small chuckle as he waved enthusiastically. "Sorry, I'm late. I had an incident with my locker. I got it open, but somehow the strap of my bag got caught between the door and the locker itself. I spent about ten minutes pulling and pulling and pulling until I decided to cut the strap." He held up the end of his back showing the cut strap.

"That's very nice, but please take a seat." Mr. Hwang dramatically waved his hand toward the audience.

"Sorry, got it." He spotted us and pointed at Hyuk and Hongbin before waving with a goofy grin plastered on his face. Walking over to our row he started pushing his way past each of us. "Pardon me. Hey Taekwoonie, Hakyeonnie, Binnie, Hyukkie." He threw his arms around the two younger boys before noisily settling in next to Hongbin. Taekwoon was glaring daggers at Jaehwan for pushing past him. Wonsik had quietly settled in directly behind us.

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