The rest of the week had felt longer than normal. Lay had been everywhere, making Junmyeon’s life a lot more uncomfortable. It felt like the other male was doing everything in his power to provoke and annoy him. It was bad enough being partners but Lay would purposely do things to make Junmyeon upset. His patience was wearing thin, and it was visibly starting to show.

One day, while Junmyeon was sitting at his desk, he “accidentally” listened in on a conversation between Lay and another student.

“… well, I think it’s interesting. Not only have girls confessed to me, but I’ve had guys like me too.” Seeing as his partner was listening attentively, Lay used the opportunity to poke at Junmyeon by giving him a wink. The brown-haired boy’s face went hot, internally fuming at the suggestion that he would be categorized as one of those males.

This week proved to be a mental war. Up until now, he did everything in his power to act unfazed, hoping Lay would get bored and finally leave him alone and bug some other unlucky soul. But Junmyeon, unfortunately, was not a good actor and could only take so much teasing. Seeing the other boy’s dimple appear with his wicked half-smile at his discomfort was the last straw. He got up and changed to another desk, but not without a resounding “go to hell” first. After feeling a sense of self-achievement, the dark-haired boy turned his attention back to their classmate and continued to ignore him pleasantly.

Yes, nothing got under Junmyeon’s skin more than Zhang Yixing.

Luckily, today Junmyeon hadn’t seen him anywhere in sight. He didn’t know whether to be worried or relieved, but right now, he had other things to deal with. He walked up behind the familiar figure of a short girl with light brown hair and put his hands over her eyes.

“Guess who?”

“Ah, Junnie!” The girl turned around to face him excitedly. Everything about her radiated with a certain cuteness that no other girl could possess, from her bright smile to her adorable mannerisms.

“Minhee, I want to apologize to you about the other night, sincerely. I’m sorry I left like that. It’s just that I-” She put up her hand to his lips and cut him off before he could continue.

“I know how you feel. You were nervous, right? I was too. I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m sorry”. Minhee looked down at the ground, face full of embarrassment with a hint of disappointment. He immediately felt a pang of guilt in his heart.

“No, don’t apologize. It was wrong of me to leave like that. Please forgive me.” He put his hand on Minhee’s shoulder to reassure her that it was okay. It was painful to see her with that kind of expression.

“Junnie, you don’t have to say those words. Sending me flowers and a card was enough for me. I know you’re busy with school, but that shows that you care and think about my feelings. Just know that I love you.” Minhee wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.

The pang now felt like a stab wound. She was so sweet and so pretty, yet why was her touch so emotionally distressing? He tried to think of anything else to separate his mind from his body. An image of the handsome, raven-haired boy was the first thing that his mind scanned to.

‘What the-’

Minhee finally let go of her grasp over him. “I’m sorry, Junnie, but I have to go!” She exclaimed in a cheery voice. “I was actually on my way somewhere. But thank you for tending to me personally. You didn’t have to do that!”

“Ah, no problem-” Was all Junmyeon could say before Minhee turned and left. Before she walked away, he caught a glimpse of something wrong in her eyes, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. She was smiling and looked happy, but her troubled eyes told him something different.

A clapping sound from behind him shook him of his thoughts. He inhaled in shock when he turned around to see Lay leaning up against the wall a small distance away.

“That was so touching. And here I heard you were cold and unfriendly. I guess the rumors about you weren’t true.” Lay rested his thumb under his chin and pretended to think about his new discovery.

“Excuses me, but our conversation is none of your business. As I recall, I wasn’t even talking to you in the first place.” He fired back.

“Don’t worry, your pretty little head over me. I’m not concerned with useless chatter. Besides, it’s too early to be troublesome.” He yawned. Up walked a female classmate who greeted them.

“Hey Zhang, are you coming to class? It’s about to start.” Lay nodded with a smile. “Ah! Kim Junmyeon! How are you doing today?”

“You could say that I’ve been better,” He replied behind gritted teeth while giving Lay an icy stare. The girl sensed the tension and hastily walked off.

“I guess that’s my cue.” Before leaving, Lay closed the gap between them, gently reached his hand up, and brushed some hair away from Junmyeon’s eyes. “Too bad you always have that angry look on your face. With your looks, you have the potential to get a real date. Come talk to me when you’re through with that hostility.” He walked past Junmyeon, leaving him, once again, shocked and angry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gathered around the lunch table, Junmyeon had just finished explaining exactly how mentally disturbed Zhang was and why he couldn’t be trusted.

“Well, he kind of has a point,” Baekhyun stated while poking at his food.

“Are you siding with that creep?!” Junmyeon exclaimed loudly, shocked that his friend would even suggest such a thing.

“No, no. I’m just saying that he has a point.” Junmyeon gave Baekhyun an impatient, questioning look while waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t, Kyungsoo rolled his eyes picked up where he left off.

“You used to be gentler and nicer. But lately, you’re only irritable and annoyed. I know you’re not cold and unfriendly, but people don’t really get to see the better side of you when you are either scoffing at them, or you have your head in a book. How you just treated Minhee was the real Junmyeon, no matter what others think or say.”

Kyungsoo was the straightforward type. However, he never said anything without reason. He always meant everything he said out of sincerity and honesty, but even so, sometimes his words stung more than they were meant to. So Junmyeon sighed, backed in his chair, and thought on his words a bit.

They weren’t wrong after all. He had been irritable these days, and even he didn’t know why. Maybe it was all the stress from school. Obviously, having this psycho for a partner didn’t help. Whatever the case was, if people saw him as irritable and impassive, they might not want him as president of the school. He would have to change the public opinion and soon.

He nodded. “You’re right. I need to try harder and show a better side of myself.”

“Our humble leader! I could just cry.” Baekhyun joked, wiping fake tears from his eyes.

“Please contain your feelings,” Junmyeon said dryly.

“Ah! I almost forgot! I can’t be late drop off a package for Chanyeol after school. Ugh, that guy is such an . Just because I got his clothes a little bit wet, now he thinks he owns me. Hey Kyungsoo, can you come with me? I really don’t like seeing him alone.” Standing up, Baekhyun swung his bag over his shoulder.

“Sorry, I can’t help today.”

“Why not?”

“Uhhh…” Kyungsoo looked up like a child who had just been caught doing something he shouldn’t. His wide round eyes made Baekhyun want to retract his question. “I have to run a personal errand too! He