Kim Jiwon was that kind of person, the kind to walk in a crowd of friends, the kind that talked loudly and smiled brightly and was ridiculously good at sport, the kind that would not hold grudge against anybody. Kim Jiwon was sunshine and daisy and the embodiment of happiness that it would just be out of character for him to be hostile. But according to the current situation when he was trying to refuse being partner with a classmate as if his life depended on it, it was finally happening. Kim Jiwon was being mean.

They were studying Composing, and just a second ago Jiwon was still beaming with his crescent eyes and bunny-like smile, ready to turn to make pair with his best friend Jinhwan for the assignment when the misfortune befell. The professor apparently thought that Jiwon might have been too happy for such a tough project, so he decided to pair him up with another student. It could even be anyone. It could have, but then it had to be him.

"No." Jiwon sternly said. He looked a bit intimidating when there wasn't any smile drawn on his face. "I'm not doing it. Not with that kid." He pointed to a boy who was calmly gathering his books despite being the center of the argument. The professor raised his eyebrow.

"That kid is the best student in my class, and here I thought I'm doing you a favor by pairing you with him." He said, earning a distasteful grimace from Jiwon. "And his name is not 'that kid', Mr. Kim. He's Kim Hanbin, and I would rather you two address each other friendly since you are going to present the assignment together."

Before Jiwon got to say anything, the other boy had cut in without even granting him a glance. His voice monotone and bored as he said:

"It's okay, professor. If he doesn't want to coorperate, I can just do this on my own."

"You kids sure like to talk back," the professor chuckled humorlessly. "This is my class. You do as I suggest, or I fail both of you for the assignment. Period."

"I can't compose with that kid, prof." Jiwon tried again in despair. He knew he was crossing the line, but he didn't want to compose some crap just because his partner was a pain in the . "I can't do this to my music."

"That's too bad." His professor concluded coldly, then strode out before he could say anything further. Jiwon sighed heavily, then turned around to throw a look of hatred to his new partner. He didn't expect to see the other boy staring right back at him with pitch black orbs full of curiosity.

"Wow. 100 points for effort. You must seriously dislike me." Kim Hanbin said, still with his toneless voice. Unlike the sulky look sent to him, he eyed Jiwon with nothing other than pure interest. "What did I do to you?"

"You don't even remember?" Jiwon snapped with disbelief, to which the other boy just shrugged.

"Nope. I'm busy being an to others, too." He said with a light grin. His lips curved into a bigger smile as Jiwon scowled, grabbed his bag and turned to get out of the classroom. He inwardly swore when he heard Hanbin calling after him.

"Look forward to listening to your trash, partner!" The boy said, a laugh soaked his voice.
 

Jinhwan was waiting for him outside the classroom. The older boy gave him a sympathetic pat on the back as he saw a sour expression displayed on Jiwon's face.

"That really ." Jinhwan said after a long silence. He dragged the younger to a vending machine nearby and pushed the button under an iced Americano. "You think you can pass this with him?"

"As in pass away? Yes." Jiwon sullenly replied, slightly nodded in appreciation as the older boy handed him the coffee cup. "I can't even hold a conversation with him, what makes you think I can compose with that brat?"

"You can try. He is the best student in the class. That says something." Jinhwan said objectively, but the other just scoffed.

"That says that he is good at kissing asses." He grumbled, sipping his coffee while Jinhwan watched him amusedly.

"I never saw you like this outside the studio," He chuckled. "Turning all Bobby for him. What did the kid do to you?"

Jiwon gifted the older a childish grimace in reply. Jinhwan laughed, then decided to pick up another topic. Jiwon didn't really listen to him, though. He nodded occasionally, an earbud already in his ear and a song of the max volume played loudly. The artist name on the phone's screen indicated "Bobby", and he heard his own voice spitting words and rthythm by his ear.

He liked listening to his own songs sometime, but not now, not when he needed his source of comfort. He tapped on the screen and a new song appeared. "B.I", the artist name said. Jiwon smiled as he exhaled with the familiar fierce voice ringing in his mind. B.I was his favorite underground rapper, despite him being one himself.

Not many people at school knew this side of Jiwon, the Bobby side who swore and battled with lyrics and rthymth. He started uploading his recordings just for the fun of it a year ago, and unexpectedly, people loved it. The Jiwon side was admired for so long that he didn't realize that he had been craving for Bobby to be acknowledged, too. Only Jinhwan and some of his closest friends knew about this, and he would like to keep it that way.

He discovered B.I less than a month ago, and the moment those arrogant words and aggressive flow intruded his ears, he thought he might have gained a musical crush.- whatever that might mean. While Bobby was all sharp edges, confident and reckless, B.I was cold and blunt to the point of being offensive, it was amazing. Jiwon found himself writing a fan-mail to the other rapper in a daze, not expecting to receive a proper reply, which he actually did.

"I deeply appreciate your support." B.I wrote, capitalizing first letters and all polite. "It was such an honor, especially when you- Bobby, is also the artist that I respect the most."

Jiwon couldn't count the number of times he had rolled on his bed and read the message over and over again. He was B.I's fan, and B.I was one of his. Whatever this admiration-trading phase they were having, it was awesome. They quickly became online friends, and when B.I explored the musical compatibility between them, he started sending Jiwon songs for advice.

B.I didn't write anything besides rap tracks and it could be tiring having to hear a song full of insults all day, but Jiwon even went to sleep with the song playing as a lullaby. He found them endearing and weirdly comforting in some ways, and just listening to B.I's voice could cure him of bad moods in any day. But even B.I's songs couldn't save Jiwon from the plague called Kim Hanbin.

"Is that B.I?" He had said when coincidentally passing by Jiwon in the cafeteria, back in the time when they were still friendly enough to breathe the same air.

"Yeah. You know him?" Jiwon cracked a huge smile and paused the song. The other boy gave him a scoff in return.

"I do." He smiled fondly, eyeing Jiwon with great interest. "All trash, those songs of his."

Jiwon's smile got swiped off his face instantly. He stared at the other blankly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, those are all empty threats from a cocky asinine individual who has to brag to defend his vulnerable self out of inferiority, clearly." Hanbin tilted his head as he clarified, a smirk never left his face. He seemed even more intrigued as Jiwon clenched his teeth in anger.

"He is not cocky nor asinine," He said, voice low and soaked with annoyance. "Don't say it like you know him."

"Oh? And you know him?" Hanbin raised an eyebrow, his smile widened as Jiwon pressed his lips into a thin line, furious at himself for not being able to say anything back. "Enough said." The other boy chuckled, then strode away with his food tray, leaving a broken protential friendship and ruined future assignment behind.

Jiwon knew Hanbin wrote songs. He bull his way in the mid term test with a love song, and it ranked first, so maybe it wasn't really bull. He excelled at composing stuff different from B.I, but that didn't give him the right to degrade the latter, so Jiwon had concluded. Bobby just wouldn't work with someone who disrespected B.I.

Jiwon let out an exhausted sigh somewhere in the middle of Jinhwan's story about cats' vomit ( Jiwon didn't really know how he got there). He just felt beaten. B.I's voice danced on his mind, but he needed more to lift up his terrible mood.

A sudden idea sparked as his finger lingered on the other rapper's name. He had the plan for a week, but that didn't stop him from feeling all nervous as he typed the message. His heart roughly hit his ribcage when he pressed the send button.

B.I always replied after a minute. But this time the icon indicating new message appeared when Jiwon had only counted to 15. The latter's lips curved in satisfaction as he read the answer, and he plugged the other earbud in his ear.
 

From: Bobby

Wanna meet?
 

Hanbin was not capable of writing s right now.

He could write all kinds of , edgy and romantic and other musical depending on his mood-swing. But not right now. Words and different tracks seemed to be having a death match inside his mind and wouldn't come together. He gave up. As if having to execute the project by himself wasn't ty enough, he couldn't even produce anything for the assignment.

this, he thought as he prodded a hole on his notebook with his pencil, then violently scratched whatever he was scribbling. This .

Alright, if he hadn't been such a to his designated partner, he wouldn't be suffering as much as right now. Kim Jiwon was a capable guy, and he seemed friendly till two weeks ago, but instead of trying to fix their misunderstanding, Hanbin just couldn't refrain from teasing the other hence pushing the tension further downhill. Come on, anyone in his situation would do the same. Okay, maybe only s like him would do the same, but the harm was done. He was positive that Jiwon wouldn't even want to see his face, let alone composing with him.

"Why are you so different today, I see you not as a friend but a girl... Is it because of..." Hanbin read out loud his lyrics, squeezed his eyes shut so as to trace the feelings. Think back about all of your failed love attempt, Hanbin, suffer and wither miserably and complete this . "... Be-because of ... uh, your ing poisonous beauty that almost stabs me blind..."

Scratch that. This wouldn't do.

Sighing his soul out, he tore the paper away and started anew, his cheek pillowed on his palm. This time the pencil in his hand ran across the surface smoothly, but nothing of romance realm nor even close to that came out. It was probably not the brightest idea to waste his time which was supposed to be spent on college assignment to write a diss track, but he was in the mood to curse, a lot, so there was no helping it.

The phone next to his notebook made an abrupt noise, resulting in Hanbin throwing it a hateful glance, but he immediately lightened up as the sender's name appeared on the screen. His eyes glowed as he took in each and every word, a smile stretched on his face. He wasted no time to type back a reply, fingers flying across the screen in excitement. He put his phone back down with a dazed look and bent down to pick up the song he just trashed away. He flattened the paper, biting the end of his pencil and hummed quietly. Now he had something else to look forward to besides his death in Music class.

From: B.I

Just what I need.