“You’re going give me what I deserve?” Himchan asked. “Where is my truck-full of gold then?” he asked, still sounding relaxed. However, Yongguk could see a stiffness in his shoulders and his knees were bent slightly as if waiting to move.

“You think you’re real funny, don’t you,” the jacket sneered and stepped forward. Yongguk put a hand on Himchan’s shirt and pulled gently so that they both took a step backwards.

“Yes, I do,” Himchan smiled back. “Don’t you think so, Yongguk?”

Yongguk chuckled and nodded in return, trying not to sound as cautious as he felt. For a second they gained eye contact, Himchan’s eyes quickly looking towards the doors of the school, before he went back to the jackets.

“Play time’s ov-” the jacket started but got cut off by the bell. With no further ado, Yongguk and Himchan spun on the place and sprinted towards the doors. A second passed before the jackets started yelling after them, but the two of them were inside not long after, running down the halls to their classroom. They skidded to a halt in front of the open door and walked inside panting heavily.

Yongguk couldn’t help the bubble of laughter that escaped him, his friend following suit. Their classmates stared at them, but he didn’t really care. This moment was exhilarating for some reason. The teacher arrived and they found their seats, still chuckling. For the first time, Yongguk truly found himself wishing that Himchan and he sat next to each other. It felt wrong to part, but they had no other choice. Maybe it was a good idea because throughout the first lesson, every once in a while, Yongguk would hear a chuckle from his friend and he couldn’t help but join.

The jackets had arrived soon after, looking furious, but unable to do anything with a teacher in the room. This had Himchan chuckling and Yongguk following his example. There would be repercussions, surely, but right now he felt reckless. So much that he didn’t sleep, despite the few hours of sleep, he had gotten this morning.

In the second lesson, however, the lack of sleep caught up with him and he drifted off to dreamland with a smile.

“Yongguk,” someone sang, as something was poking his arm, bringing him back to the world of the awake. Blinking blearily, he found Himchan in front of him. Waking up like this was really very nice, even though he would prefer to keep dreaming just a little while longer.

“Yongguk, it’s time to wake up,” Himchan told him, still in that sing-song voice. “We need to get out of here,” he continued, and now he noticed there was an edge to the singing. Why was he on edge? Did something bad happen? His friend poked him once more. “Come on sleepy head,” he smiled.

Oh, right, the jackets had confronted them this morning.

“I’m up, I’m up,” Yongguk nodded and stood up, losing his balance for a moment.

“You alright?” Himchan asked, steadying him with a hand.

“Yeah, let’s go,” he nodded. Himchan smiled back and took him by the wrist, to guide him out of the classroom, where the teacher followed them out. His friend went through the halls, not letting go of his wrist, which was probably a good thing, seeing as Yongguk wasn’t feeling completely lucid yet. The teacher followed them for some reason, and it wasn’t until they reached the teacher’s lounge that he figured out why.

The jackets had stopped following them after a while of the teacher following them, so now they were almost alone. The only other people were a flock of younger students.

“I’m thinking we wait for our teacher before we head back,” Himchan said and Yongguk nodded in agreement. “Did you sleep well?” his friend asked.

“Yeah, I needed that nap,” Yongguk replied.

“Did you dream something nice?”

“Yeah, I-” Yongguk started, but then thought about his dream. He couldn’t remember it. “I can’t remember it though, I just know that it was nice.”

Himchan chuckled. “Well then it probably was really nice, I read somewhere that the dreams you don’t remember are either really good or really bad,” he told him.

“But wouldn’t most people have really good or really bad dreams most of the time then?” Yongguk asked. “From what I’ve heard, most people don’t remember their dreams on a regular basis.”

“True, but it wouldn’t be a bad thing as such, as long as it’s good dreams on a regular basis,” Himchan said. “It just means people would be mostly well rested.”

“Following that logic, wouldn’t people who are cranky in the morning be plagued by bad dreams then?”

Himchan paused for a second. “I think that’s what’s wrong with my aunt,” he said thoughtfully. “It takes at least an hour before she’s normal.”

Yongguk couldn’t help but laugh. “What about when people don’t dream?”

“Everybody dreams every night, I read that somewhere too,” Himchan replied.

“Well then, it must be true,” Yongguk chuckled. “You’ve read it somewhere.”

“You know what,” Himchan began. “I’m going to do some research when I get home!” he told him and pointed his tongue out at Yongguk.

He chuckled again. “Really?” he asked doubtfully.

“Okay, if I get bored, I’m going to,” his friend admitted begrudgingly. Yongguk laughed. Himchan shoved him lightly, trying to look unapproving, but a smile shone through.

The two of them spent their break chatting and Yongguk didn’t realize time was passing until the bell shook them out of their bubble. Their history teacher exited the teacher’s lounge and they followed him back to the classroom. The jackets were glaring at them when they entered, but they weren’t going to do anything in front of the teacher. As a result of their hostility, Yongguk had spent the lunch break with Himchan, which was anything but bad. He once again found his thoughts drifting towards how comfortable his new friend was.

It was some kind of miracle that they hit it off so well. Himchan was perfect. He thought back to this weekend when his friend had entrusted him with why he always wore hoodies. It hurt that his friend thought little of himself when he was so perfect just the way he was. Sure, he wasn’t perfect, no one has ever been, but he was perfect in all his imperfections and Yongguk couldn’t think of a better friend. Himchan made him feel things in his heart he had never felt before and it was really nice. Everything with Himchan was really nice.

All these feelings kind of felt like…

“Yongguk, Himchan, your turn to present,” the teacher interrupted his thoughts and Yongguk shook the word at the tip of his tongue away. He looked back at his friend who had gotten out his computer and together they went up in front of the classroom. As he waited for the other to set up the computer, he scanned the classroom. Everybody looked like they couldn’t care less, while the jackets clearly had other things in mind than listening what with their intense glares. Yongguk looked back over at his friend and found that his hands were shaking slightly and he looked a little pale. He looked… scared.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked Himchan quietly.

“Yeah, just a little nervous,” his friend replied with a tight smile but didn’t look up from what he was doing on the computer.

“It’s going to be okay, I’m right here,” Yongguk said and put a hand on his friend’s back, hoping it was comforting.

This time Himchan looked up from the computer and smiled a little brighter. “Thank you,” he said and pressed a couple of buttons on the computer. “Shall we begin?” he asked and with a nod from Yongguk and their teacher, they presented the information they had found during the last couple of weeks. They had planned everything thoroughly, going through it smoothly. Every time it seemed like Himchan got a little insecure or nervous, Yongguk would step a bit closer so that they stood shoulder to shoulder. It seemed to help and when they finished, his friend whispered a quiet ‘thank you’ in his ear while their classmates did some half-hearted clapping.

Their teacher praised them highly for their work, and Yongguk had two reasons to smile now. They went back to their respective seats as another group went up to start their presentation. With Himchan’s smile and his quiet ‘thank you’ on his mind, Yongguk drifted off to sleep.

Yongguk and Himchan were discussing the pros and cons of using wine when cooking while they walked home, side by side. He didn’t know when and where they had come across this topic, but he was surprised that there were any bad sides with using wine when cooking. So far Himchan had counted up dangerous fire hazards that could occur if you didn’t know what you were doing.

“Yes, but no one with common sense will actually try to do that ‘fancy stuff’, as you call it while cooking. Most of us just try to get by with what we know and hope for the best,” Yongguk argued with a chuckle.

“I hope you realize you just insulted my mother, because she actually tried and it did not go well,” Himchan said seriously, but Yongguk could see the twinkle of laughter in his eyes. “But then again, you’ve got a point,” he continued with a shrug and a grin.

Yongguk couldn’t help but let out a bark of laughter. “You…” he said but didn’t know how to continue it.

“I?” Himchan inquired, but Yongguk simply shook his head at his friend with a fond smile. The other was a mystery, so different from himself, yet so open and familiar, so like him.

“Though, I have to admit my greatest argument against using wine in cooking isn’t anything we’ve talked about so far,” Himchan said thoughtfully, making Yongguk curious. “My biggest problem with it is that I don’t get to drink it then.”

Yongguk threw his head back and laughed. His friend was truly one of a kind. Himchan grinned back, seemingly proud of his words. The deep fondness he felt for his friend filled him once more, and he grinned back as he shook his head at the other. Himchan went on to tell him about the rare occasions his parents let him have a glass of wine, and the more often the occurrence of letting him taste the wine they drank for dinner. He was quite passionate about the wines that he liked and Yongguk could see his friend becoming an avid wine drinker in the future. It would fit him well, drinking a glass for dinner every week, and Yongguk would join him every once in a while as well.

He almost stopped up at that thought. The picture he had just seen before him was the two of them living together, domestic somehow. Where had that come from? Usually, when he imagined his future he saw some faceless person at his side, but suddenly Himchan showed up. What could that mean? Maybe he wanted the two of them to become such close friends that they would live together? It was like a significant other didn’t matter anymore, he just wanted to be with Himchan.

He smiled to himself. It seemed like his deep fondness and friendship with the other grew day by day. There was no doubt the two of them would be best friends for a long time.

Hehe, heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey there... long time no see

So, life happened, and then it calmed down again, but then life came back with a bat. And then it got kicked out the door so I could relax (aka summer vacation). But... da dada daaaaaaaaaaaaaa, I'm back! xD

I know some of you worried I had abandoned this ('cause you told me), but I haven't as I've merely been busy. Now I'm less busy, so this should get up and running again (hopefully until it's finished). ^^

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the update and I wish you a lovely whatever time of day it is ^^

Peace out (^_^)v