Everyone turns to look at Jihoon, Hansol tried to put an arm around him but he shakes him off. Seungcheol looks like a deer caught in headlights at the fact he’s even speaking, but manages to nod dumbly.

“Was I really just a joke to you?”

It’s been a week.

Soonyoung and Seungkwan are the only ones he’ll allow to talk to him. They were there with him before. Hansol and Seokmin are good friends, but they don’t really understand what memories have been brought back to him. A few days since he’s refused to leave his room and he’s already completed all his work for the next two weeks, yet the source of his troubles still hasn’t left his mind.

Sighing, he rakes a hand through his hair before once again reading through the assignment that’s not due till next month. Drowning himself in work seems to be the only option he has left. Like there’s any way he’s going to speak to Seungcheol at this point. He’s already found out everything he needed to know since the entire college can’t stop talking about the basketball captain’s new relationship. A little part of Jihoon wants to curl up and die every time he thinks back to the image of Seungcheol kissing Jeonghan, hands on the other boy’d neck and oblivious to the chaos around them, him. He wasn’t even half a conquest. Both of them are probably getting a huge laugh over him right now, maybe the entire basketball team. He inhales sharply and tries to make sense of the words on his laptop screen. There’s a reason he doesn’t go to parties there’s a damn reason he hates going along with everyone and-

Jihoon just needs it not to feel like twelfth grade again.

Jihoon is seventeen and everything is grey.

He goes to class, hangs out with Soonyoung and reads till it’s four am and sleep becomes inevitable. He’s top in most of his classes, typical honor role student with the occasional jeer from a hoard of jocks. Nothing out of the ordinary for someone like him. He’s used to it.

With Soonyoung and Seungkwan, (he refuses to agree that he had any part in this latest development) Soonyoung’s friend in the year below, Jihoon would say he’s pretty satisfied in his high school life. They all plan to go to the same college, Soonyoung and him have pretty much lived their entire lives together, and Seungkwan- while he contains far too much enthusiasm for any one person- isn’t completely awful to be around. It’s not perfect- though he blames that part on the constant saga that is Boo Seungkwan’s ongoing war with the lunch tray portions- but he’s never really expected as much.

Like every day, he’s rapidly taking notes in psych class when someone taps his shoulder and very nearly ends up with their eye taken out by his biro because what the , Soonyoung I’m not about to listen to a single Oedipus pun you have to make.

Except it’s not Soonyoung but the handsome, all-star student that is Hwang Minhyun and is he really smiling at him? Did he have something on his face? Jihoon is a second away from turning back to his notes and resigning himself to the likelihood of sniggers and not-so-subtle whispering when he so much as breathes after this, when Minhyun shoves a note into his pen wielding hand. The shorter boy frowns, turning away from him to read it and simply becomes more confused when he sees its contents.

How about we go out sometime? ;)

Jihoon almost snorts at the use of emoticon and raises an eyebrow at the number following the message. He gives Minhyun a wary look, but his face betrays nothing, only a slightly shy smile before he glances back to the teacher, fingers tapping on the desk.

It’s only when he notices Soonyoung on the other side waggling his eyebrows at him and mouthing get that Jihoonie that he crumples the paper and turns back to his notes.

Jihoon is seventeen and everything is pale pastels and warm whispers.

It’s not even two days later when he runs into Minhyun again. Quite literally, as he knocks the taller boy down as well as himself in the greatest game of hallway bowling. Several students around them titter mockingly, and one or two- Minhyun’s fanclub, amazingly people like that do exist- ask them, no Minhyun if he’s okay once they retrieve themselves from the ground. Jihoon glares at anyone in sight before making his way down the hall, except now he’s got a follower. A tall, well built gentle follower with perfect hair and is that an arm around his shoulders introducing himself as Hwang Minhyun, and to apologise for this whole situation will you go get lunch with me? My treat!

It takes