First Impressions
I Wanna LoveNiel was nervous: actually kind of terrified. For some reason his father had decided to send him to a different middleschool to the rest of his classmates. As a result he was shuffling down a crowded hall feeling exposed. He knew his face was 'special' but it had been a long time since anyone had reminded him. Niel was often told he looked like a foreigner, but it wasn't often that he felt like an alien.
In an attempt to escape the comments he could hear and the stares he could feel, Niel hurried into a bathroom, crashing into another boy leaving through the same door.
Niel ricocheted back into the door frame painfully as the stranger staggered back into the deserted bathroom.
"Ouch. Hello there," Came a light, amused voice.
Niel looked up to find a well-dressed boy smiling at him. He had cheeks like a chipmunk and a kindness to his eyes that made Niel want to latch onto him immediately.
"Uh. Hello." Niel bowed, keeping his eyes down.
"Are you a freshman?" The other boy asked with interest.
Niel nodded, "Yes."
"I'm Lee Chanhee, I'm in the year above you. Are you lost?" Chanhee introduced himself.
"Uh. I don't think so." Niel muttered, eyes still locked to the mint green floor.
"Ok. Well don't be late, it's not a very good first impression," His sunbae said, moving to pass Niel and leave.
"Yes, I won’t." Niel dodged to the side nervously.
Chanhee was almost out the door when he paused and turned back to Niel.
"What's your name?"
"Ahn Daniel," Niel answered obediently.
"Anda Niel? Are you foreign?" Chanhee asked, an eyebrow raising.
"No. I'm Korean. My first name is Daniel." Niel tried to dismiss his wave of irritation at the question.
"Oh. I'll see you around, Hoobae." Chanhee said with a small wave and wandered out of the bathroom.
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Niel rushed through the almost empty halls, Lee Chanhee had given him one piece of advice "Don’t be late" and here he was: late! He had waited the crowd out in the bathroom, too nervous to join the people in the hall again. And now he was left rushing to his homeroom.
Only 5 minutes late, he made it. He earned a reprimand from his homeroom teacher, things about first impressions lasting life-times. Then Niel was directed to an empty seat and promptly ignored.
He took the seat feeling defeated before the lessons had even begun. A girl in front of him snickered. She leant over to her neighbour when the teacher had turned to write on the board.
"He looks like a fish!" She said in a stage whisper.
"Or an alien." The other girl replied.
Niel stared down at his desk. His cheeks were burning and he could feel his pulse in his temples. Why had he been sent here? Why couldn't he have just gone to middle school with his friends?
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Byunghun lounged beneath a tree with Chanhee sitting beside him.
Byunghun was using his blazer as a make-shift pillow. It was second-hand anyway, it wasn't like he cared about it. Chanhee was sitting cross-legged with his blazer folded in his lap meticulously.
He was half asleep in the warmth that held on from summer, content with his best friend by his side again. Summer holidays were never fun for Byunghun, especially now that he had a friend like Chanhee. He preferred school, away from his mother and step-father and close to Chanhee. He was just slipping into sleep when he heard Chanhee give a small, "Oh. Uh oh."
Byunghun opened his eyes reluctantly. Chanhee was staring across the soccer field at a small group of students. Byunghun shut his eyes again. He did not care what other people were doing.
He heard a rustle of clothes as Chanhee stood up. Byunghun opened his eyes again in irritation.
"Where are you going?" He asked in a snippy tone, he wanted Chanhee to stay close to him.
"There is a boy over there. They're giving him a hard time." Chanhee said down at Byunghun.
"Why do you care?" Byunghun demanded.
Chanhee simply shook his head at Byunghun and walked off towards a lone figure crossing the pitch.
"Yah! Lee Chanhee! Come back here!" Byunghun ordered, Chanhee ignored him. Byugnhun propped himself on his elbows to watch.
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Chanhee crossed the pitch in long confident strides, he smiled as he reached Ahn Daniel.
"Hello again," Chanhee said brightly, paying no attention to the other kids on the field.
"Uh. Hello sunbae." Niel bowed nervously.
"FISH! FISH! FISH!" One of the girls in the group of students nearby yelled at them, the group broke into giggles.
How original, Chanhee thought sardonically, rolling his eyes without realising.
"Why don't you come sit with us?" Chanhee offered and the boy finally looked up to meet his eye. Chanhee was still smiling.
"Oh. Uh."
"Go back where you came from!" A boy yelled rudely and Chanhee felt his smile harden a little. That was racist. And also wrong, Daniel had told him he was Korean that morning.
"Come on. Forget them," Chanhee said softly, stepping over to throw an arm over the hoobae's slim shoulders. "Come and meet Byunghun. He's prickly but he has a good heart." Chanhee said, basically frog-marching the younger boy back over to the tree. The immature comments faded into the distance.
"Who the are you?" Byunghun snapped, still laying on his back but propped up onto both elbows. Chanhee sig
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