**

His right foot hit the wooden box at the top of the pile, propelling him up and towards the fence. The stack of boxes collapsed as soon as his foot hit it, but the boy didn’t flail his limbs in panic. His body still keeping the form of that of a long jump athlete, his eyes undeterred.

And just like that the boy, Pledis High School’s notorious troublemaker Xu Minghao, jumped over the fence and into the free world.

From where he sat under a nearby tree, a book on his lap, Wonwoo wondered how it felt to jump like that.

**

“I don’t know why you try hard to keep studious bookworm persona. There’s no one here.”

The voice tore Wonwoo’s gaze away from the field where the school’s marching band was having their daily practice. He turned his face towards the direction of the voice and saw Xu Minghao standing just outside the shade of this tree that Wonwoo leaned on. It was the first time he saw the infamous sophomore after witnessing the latter’s jumping ability several days ago at the very same spot.

Wonwoo didn’t reply to Minghao’s question; he just stared. He knew it was rude, but he couldn’t help it as he was stunned. They had nothing in common except for being in the same year. Wonwoo thought he would graduate high school without even exchanging one conversation with Xu Minghao.

“You hadn’t touched your book for like—“ Minghao rummaged his pants’ right pocket and pulled out his phone. “—10 minutes or so. Just staring at the field.”

The words made Wonwoo regained his sense and now he could feel his fingers splayed across the open pages of his book, lying forgotten on his lap. He looked down and saw that he hadn’t even gone past page 10.

Lifting his head back up, Wonwoo said, “And what were you doing for 10 minutes?”

“I wanted to ask you if I can sit there but you seemed so occupied. Your gaze was intense. And at times you smiled; your stone-cold face suddenly smiled, it was kinda creepy.”

It surprised Wonwoo how much Minghao’s words revealed about his own self that he didn’t even realize.

“I was just... I like the arrangement, the trumpet part, and the formation.” Wonwoo stopped at that. He didn’t know why he felt like he needed to explain to someone he barely knew. He usually wouldn’t care if people thought of him as weird.

Minghao hummed. There was no mocking in his tone.

“So you don’t mind me joining you, eh?”

“It’s the school’s ground. Not mine.”

Minghao rolled his eyes before coming to the empty spot on Wonwoo’s left side. Wonwoo noticed that Minghao was slightly dragging his left leg.

“Can’t jump. Fell the other day.” Minghao said as he sat down. “So I’m stuck here until it’s dark enough for Kang to give up and go home.”

Wonwoo knew Minghao’s reputation and relationship with Mr. Kang, their history teacher and also coordinator of school’s student guidance. So he had a rough image of Minghao’s situation now.

“If you just do it, it will be over before you know it.”

Wonwoo saw Minghao giving him an incredulous look.

“I am not cleaning the toilet with Kang drilling stares to the back of my head and keep telling me to scrub the same spot over and over again.”

Wonwoo just shrugged and Minghao laid his back on the ground.

Wonwoo had never paid attention to the school’s notorious troubled student. He only knew that Minghao had been into detention more than anyone in this school (Mr. Kang always complained about it at least once during lesson, even though Minghao was not in Wonwoo’s class). The reasons seemed to be nothing too serious; skipping lessons to sneak into the rooftop and sleep there, breaking at least two rules on how students’ appearance should be every single day, stuffs like that. Wonwoo didn’t see him as someone he should be cautious of.

There were rumors though. Some said they saw bruises on Minghao when changing clothes for PE, and people just assumed he got them from fights. More elaborated by sharing their accounts on seeing Minghao with their town’s gang of good-for-nothings. Wonwoo didn’t know if all those talks were true and didn’t bother to find out.

So he let Minghao lay down next to him, eyes closed and lips slightly curved up, exuding a feeling of ease as if the slightly damp soil under the tree was the world’s most comfortable place.

“This is a great spot,” Minghao said with eyes still closed.

Wonwoo agreed. It was at the back of the school complex, only separated from the woods with a fence. Being on top of a slanted land and having a quite abundant number of bushy trees, the spot was hidden from the inattentive eyes, but it had a great view of the field inside the school premise. Wonwoo had only found this place recently and had been coming here ever since. Although he didn’t even know why he liked this place until Minghao’s words earlier made him realize.

Wonwoo closed the book on his lap, no longer interested in pretending, not to Minghao nor himself. He gazed upon the field, eyes following the changes in the formation of the marching band players, while ears tuning in to the harmony of various instruments. Then he realized how much he wanted it.

The realization wasn’t accompanied with the warmth of hope. Only the cold acceptance that he would never obtain what he longed for.

The marching band continued practicing until it was dark and lights at the field were switched on. Wonwoo stayed. So did Minghao. They didn’t talk and Wonwoo experienced for the first time what’s it like to share a comfortable silence with someone else.

**

Wonwoo came again. Although, today he planned on not watching the practice until it’s finished. He wouldn’t skip another day at cram school and risk the school staff telling his mother about it. So he promised himself to get out of school after the band finished the first set of songs.

Xu Minghao came when the band got into the middle of a song. He saw Minghao pointing at the ground with his chin. Wonwoo nodded and let Minghao sat next to him.

Gaze back at the field, Wonwoo asked, “Hiding from Mr. Kang again?”

“No, I was looking for you.”

Wonwoo turned his head to see Minghao looking back with an air of seriousness, it made Wonwoo knew that Minghao meant his words. Wonwoo wondered what kind of business Xu Minghao could have with him.

“You know Kim Mingyu, right? I saw you talking with him a few times.”

Wonwoo didn’t know how to presume what Minghao would say, but he certainly didn’t expect this. Kim Mingyu was a fellow sophomore. Just like it’s the case with Minghao, there’s not a single person in this school who didn’t know Mingyu, though for entirely different reason. Kim Mingyu’s popularity was due to his constant position in the top of the school’s academic rankings and his good looks. He’s also secretary for students’ council and followed every school rules to the dot, so teachers treated him like some kind of idol. To Wonwoo he’s just a neighbor whom he sometimes have conversation with when Mingyu’s mother asked his son to deliver her cooking to next door, or when they both participated at some neighborhood event as expected for every member of the community.

“Yeah, I know him.”

“I need you to hook me up with him.”

Wonwoo blinked. The serious look on Minghao’s face didn’t disappear.

“Uh...”

“Look, I wouldn’t have asked you, but I’ve tried everything. He just kept running off as soon as I enter the room.”

“....why would he do that?”

Minghao shrugged. “Probably because I walked to him at the library, told him that I find him hot and let’s kiss--why are you giving me that look?”

“Have you had any conversation with him before that?”

“Not really. We’re not in the same class, nothing in common, and his friends always get in the way whenever I try to sit near him at the cafeteria.”

“So you decided you can go to him at the library and kiss him...”

“I’m a straightforward kinda guy.”

Wonwoo didn’t respond to that and asked instead.

"He rejected you, right? Shouldn't you leave it at that?"

Minghao scoffed and looked at Wonwoo like the latter was the silliest thing he'd ever seen.

"So? He might fall for me later. Besides, he did blushed when I cornered--ehm--approached him."

He ended with a smirk that made Wonwoo wanted to question how he could be so confident, but Wonwoo asked this instead.

“How do you think I can help you?”

“Invite me to your hangout session or something.”

“We don’t really hang out, we’re just neighbors.”

“Then you can get me to his home!”

“I don’t think that’s....”

Minghao rolled his eyes. “Or you can get me in some kind of study group with him.”

Wonwoo was surprised. He didn’t think Minghao would volunteer for a study group. He didn’t seem like the type who enjoyed studying (apparent from Minghao’s frequent absence from class and Mr. Kang’s complaints about his grades). Somehow this made Wonwoo thought that Minghao might be earnest.

“I’ll try.”

“THANK YOU.” Minghao grinned and then asked Wonwoo for his phone. His thumb moved with impressive speed as he entered and dialed his own number with Wonwoo’s phone. He returned the phone before he stood up and went off with a “let me know!” His steps were almost like hops.

As Wonwoo saved Minghao’s number in his contact, he realized it’s only the second time he had conversation with Minghao.

**

Wonwoo didn’t feel like talking, but he always replied to every questions his mother asked him from across the dining table. How’s your grades? Is the cram school enough to help you prepare for the upcoming exam? He didn’t want to upset her mother by refusing to answer, like what his younger brother did when their mother asked the same questions to him.

He could feel his brother tensing up next to him before starting a conversation with their father about a new trending game among his friends. Maybe his brother thought that their mother would forget to shove him with unwanted questions as she waited for her husband and son finish talking. It seemed to work. She had her dinner in quiet while Wonwoo joined in the conversation after his father asked him if the same game was trending in his school too.

After dinner they all sat in the living room, the TV showing an ongoing drama series. Mother had this impassive look but Wonwoo knew she always paid attention as she never failed to talk about the drama in the following day with the other mothers in their neighborhood. Father had a can of beer with him as usual, while his brother continued to fiddle with his phone and pretended he wasn’t interested.

Entered the long series of commercials, almost everything was familiar, including this one about laundry detergent that featured a high school marching band in it. Wonwoo had seen this commercial many times before, but somehow tonight it got stuck in his head, the memory replay button was hit again and again even after the drama was back on.

Wonwoo thought of his school’s marching band. He also thought of Minghao, how the latter was so open about his attraction towards Mingyu seemed to be determined to get close to Mingyu. The image of Minghao jumping over the fence came back to his mind. He wondered if he could jump like that too.

He quickly brushed the thought away.