Prompt By: @kireitenshi

-Title: One and a Half

-Ship: BoRene

Characters: [MAIN] Irene/Bae Joohyun (Red Velvet), Park Bogum [SIDE] Baekhyun/Byun Baekhyun (EXO), Momo/Hirai Momo (TWICE), Chanyeol/Park Chanyeol (EXO), Sehyung/Kang Sehyung (Berry Good), TOP/Choi Seunghyun (BIGBANG), Kris Wu/Wu Yifan (EXO) Shownu/Sohn Hyunwoo (Monsta X), Mina/Kang Mina (Gugudan/I.O.I), Mina/Kwon Mina (AOA), Sana/Minatozaki Sana (TWICE), Mina/Myoui Mina (TWICE), Keumjo/Lee Keumjo (9MUSES), Gyeongree/Park Kyungri (9MUSES)

Word Count: 4343

Warnings: Non-con; strong language; ual references; mild violence and blood

Summary: In which Bae Joohyun, the smartest kid in school not only manages to be friends with the dumbest and the gayest, but to be one-upped by a newcomer.

A/N: When I say non-con, I mean an unsolicited kiss. It's nothing too huge, but I've placed it as a warning anyways just to be safe. Also, I've used texting and usernames, so a breakdown in case you don't understand;

-Irene - queenreoncé - a play on words of 'beyonce' and 'irene'. the 're' in irene is supposed to sound like the 'rhi' in rhianna.

-Baekhyun - hyunnybyuns - a play on words of 'hyun' and 'byun' in baekhyun's name. supposed to read like 'honey buns'.

-Momo - momoandcreame - in japanese, momo means 'peach'. peaches and creame is a popular dessert, so the 'peach' is replaced with 'momo' here.

-Bogum - watermelonbubbbogum - watermelon is a flavour of bubble gum and irene's fruit in 'red flavour'. 'bubbbogum' is supposed to read like 'bubblegum', making it watermelon bubblegum.

-Chanyeol - chillyeol - in korean, the word 'chan' means 'cold'. here, the words 'chan/cold' have been replaced with the word 'chill', creating 'chillyeol'. the words share the y, so it reads like 'chilly yeol'. 

---

 

Bae Joohyun always got top marks. She had to, if she wanted to get into her dream school.

 

Joohyun, nicknamed and commonly referred to as Irene, always strived for top marks, and worked hard for them, too.

 

It was always expected that she was at the academic awards and when teachers handed back tests, she was always praised for the top mark.

 

So of course, it was a surprise and a shock when Irene’s maths teacher announced that the new kid, Park Bogum, managed to beat her by one and a half marks.

 

Irene’s gasp was real and audible, and in her shock she stood up abruptly, pushing her chair back.

 

She didn’t notice it, but the kid one and half marks smarter than her turned around in his chair, looking her up and down.

 

He was new to the school, having only been here a few days. He hadn’t the opportunity to introduce himself to Irene yet (and Irene showed no interest in him), but had quickly heard of her smart-kid status.

 

“Mr. Ryu?” she asked, and everyone could detect the panic in her voice. “May I please be excused?”

 

The moment Mr. Ryu bid her absence, Irene did all but run out of the room.

 

Standing in the second floor bathroom with her phone onto of the round, pedal fountain sink, she leaned over, splashing some water into her face.

 

She blinked at her reflection in the mirror, steadying and calming herself as she swiped at her hair and eyes, drying her hands on the skirt of her school uniform to grab her phone.
 

 

-9:52am- ‘baek eats bugs’

queenreoncé: gays it’s an emergency meet me on the second floor washroom asap!!!

 

It took Hirai Momo, the Japanese exchange student and one of Irene’s trusted friends, exactly two minutes to be excused from class and make her way down two hallways.

 

“I got your text.” she sounded as panicked as Irene felt, and waved her hands about as she spoke. “What’s wrong?”

 

Momo had her blonde hair tied up in two space buns atop her head, her bangs fanned out over her forehead. She wore the same school uniform as Irene, but managed to hike her skirt up as far as it would it go and kept the tie around her neck loose. If you tried hard enough, you could peer slightly down her shirt.

 

“Mr. Ryu handed our marks back.” Irene explained, running a hand through her hair, which was dyed a dark violet. “And some new kid managed to beat me for top marks by one and half.”

 

Momo pouted, rushing forward and wrapping her arms around her. “Honey!” she exclaimed. “I’m so sorry.”

 

“Move, I’m gay.” a familiar voice cut in, and the two girls broke apart just in time to see Byun Baekhyun round the corner, a confused and weirded out Kang Sehyung behind him, who pushed herself into a stall.

 

Byun Baekhyun had been friends with Irene since elementary, and was the source of the Irene nickname. The two were quite different, but they insisted that that was what made them such great friends.

 

Baekhyun immediately made his way over to Irene, placing both hands on her shoulders and looking at her with sympathy. “Muffin.” he cooed, pouting. “What kind of emergency is this? Do I need to eat or beat someone’s ?”

 

“Baekhyun.” Momo hissed, hitting him in the arm, and he released Irene.

 

“Speaking of eating -“

 

“Baekhyun!” Momo hit him again, and he reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder, shying away from her. “Okay, my eating adventures

can wait. That’s the title of my new autobiography. RiRi, this emergency better be an eating emergency or I’m going to be very depressed right

now.”

 

“Will you quit it with the eating?” Momo complained.

 

“Some stupid new kid got top marks instead of me!” Irene burst, stomping her feet in a mini-tantrum. “By one and half!”

 

“RiRi.” Baekhyun pouted again, clamping both of his hands on her cheeks and squishing her face. “It’s one mark. One test. He’s new- you’ll get top marks in the class. This is just a fluke. You have other quizzes and tests on him, too- there’s no way he could’ve written those.”

 

“It’s still frustrating.” Irene’s speech was muffled from her cheeks.

 

“I know.” Baekhyun sympathized, releasing her. “You good now?” Irene shook her head, and Baekhyun slapped her in the face. “Do I need to knock some sense into you, ?”

 

“Please don’t degrade me.” she squeaked, holding her cheek. Momo placed her hands on his shoulders, trying to hold him back.

 

“You into that, stupid ? Can’t even get a mark and a half better than some new kid. I bet his a-“

 

“Okay, Baekkie, I think she got it.” Momo whispered.

 

These were what Baekhyun deemed pep talks, and Irene was used to and understood it (she actually brought about the method herself), but no matter how many times they explained it to Momo, they still scared her less.

 

“’s going to go class and show that new kid who’s boss.”

 

“Damn straight.” Irene whispered.

 

“Louder!”

 

“Damn straight!”

 

“You guys!” Momo hissed, hitting them both as Sehyung exited the stall, running her hands under the water and doing her best to finish quickly and avoid all eye contact from the loud gay guy in the girls’ washroom. “Do not. Call her. Danny DeVito.” Momo warned.

 

Baekhyun bit his lip, squeezing his eyes tightly shut until they heard the bathroom door close behind her. “Oh my god, Danny DeVito, I love your work.” he muttered, releasing the breath he was holding. “You’re so mean to me.”

 

“I’m doing you a favour.”

 

“Okay, we all good?” Baekhyun asked confidently, switching the topic. Both girls nodded, and Baekhyun made his way for the bathroom door.

“Good, ‘cause I gotta skidaddle. If I’m out of class any longer, they’ll think I’m taking a or something and we all know I’m too good for school bathrooms. Especially the first floor one after that kid threw up in it. Which totally wasn’t my fault, by the way.

 

“Also, sorry I was late- Ms. Kwon wanted me to wait until Choi Seunghyun got back from his own ‘bathroom trip’, but we all know he never comes back from those because bathroom is actually code for dart pit.”

 

“I’ll walk you back.” Momo sighed, steering Irene away from an aggressively waving Baekhyun.

 

Back in class, Irene sat through the rest of Mr. Ryu’s teachings with a calm, focused mind, doing her best to do as best as she could.

 

Again, she didn’t notice the dark haired kid with the chiseled jaw studying her from across the room.

 

Momo and Irene were already sat in the cafeteria when Baekhyun slammed his lunch tray down, sighing.

 

“I can’t stop thinking about this guy, RiRi.” he said. “Who is he? Is he cute? Is he gay?”

 

Irene set her food down, frowning as she thought. “His name’s Park Bogum.” she started. “And no, he and his face are stupid and I hate it. And I have no idea.”

 

“I heard he’s like, third cousins or something with Park Chanyeol.” Momo muttered.

 

“He’s in my physics class.” Baekhyun said hurriedly. “Park Chanyeol, I mean. Now that’s a fine piece of . He hangs out with Kris Wu, who spends his lunches at the dart pit, so I’ve made a deal with Choi Seunghyun- he’ll pretend to be my friend and I can have an excuse to hang out at the pit if I do his French homework. Speaking of which, RiRi, do you speak French?”

 

Irene sighed. “Malheureusement.”

 

“I never understood why the call Seunghyun TOP.” Momo interjected.

 

“Because it’s ‘pot’ backwards.”

 

“Really? I didn’t realize that.” Baekhyun muttered. “Anyways, RiRi, do you want my homework now or later? I’m going out to the pit to get my hands on Park Chanyeol. I’m not gonna smoke- I only vape.”

 

“You can give it to me now.” she held her hand out for it.

-5:21- ‘baek eats bugs’

hyunnybyuns: LISTEN UP BITVHES

hyunnybyuns: censorship for young momo

momoandcreame: ty

hyunnybyuns: riri you listening????

queenreoncé: malheureusement

hyunnybyuns: ooo ur doin my hmwrk i See

hyunnybyuns: Anyways so I was in the pit with top and kris was trying to shove a cigarette in a joint and chanyeol lookinhot as hELL and guess who shows up????

queenreoncé: enlighten me

hyunnybyuns: riri ur gonna LOVE this

hyunnybyuns: PARK ING BOGUM

momoandcreame: whAT

queenreoncé: oml

hyunnybyuns: apparently he has some friends there anyways he was talkin and guESS WHAT I HEARD

momoandcreame: do I wanna know????

hyunnybyuns: HE DEADASS SPENT LIKE 10 MINUTES TALKIN ABOUT THE CUTE PURPLE HAIRED GIRL FROM MATH

hyunnybyuns: he made a comment about your legs and I almost knocked his lights out

momoandcreame: ew

queenreoncé: he likes my legs???

hyunnybyuns: yea ew the hetero

hyunnybyuns: anyways i Chanyeol’s

momoandcreame: GROSS

 

Ignoring the rest of her friends texts, Irene leaned over her desk, placing her phone face-down.

 

She wouldn’t admit it, but the more she thought about him, the cuter Park Bogum became.

~•~

A month passed, and Irene felt no greater joy than when the next math tests were handed out, and she retrieved her spot with top marks, again beating Park Bogum by one and a half.

 

That day, a few minutes before class ended, Bogum slid into the empty seat beside Irene, his test laid out in front of him.

 

“So you’re the only one that can do better me.” he began. “I think I need a tutor.”

 

She regarded him curiously, and then uncapped her pen. “What did you get wrong?”

 

He flipped the page over on his test, gesturing to a question.

 

She peered at it, and then flipped her own test over, looking at her answer and comparing them.

 

“You forgot to multiply.” she said, circling the part in his equation and explaining it out, writing the right answer afterwards.

 

“How’d you get the extra half mark then?”

 

She flipped her test all the way over to the blank side at the end. “I drew a turtle on the back. Mr. Ryu likes turtles, so if you draw one somewhere on your tests he’ll give you an extra half mark.”

 

“That’s…amazing?”

 

“I’m no artist.” she ducked her head, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

 

“No, I mean the extra half mark thing. Your turtle is . I thought it was a snail.”

 

She snapped her head up, glaring at him. She was unsure of whether to be offended or to agree with him.

 

“Anyways,” he continued, leaning back in the chair. “what I really need a tutor in is French. Do you speak French?”

 

She sighed, leaning her head in her hand. What was with people and French? She didn’t think Mme. Bonnefoy was that bad of a teacher. “Malheureusement.”

 

“I don’t know what you just said, but that sounded pretty Frenchy to me, so I’m taking that as a yes. I’ll meet you in the art hall for 11:15.”

 

Before Joohyun could protest, the bell rang, and Bogum gathered up His test and other things and made his way out of class.

 

“RiRi!” Baekhyun exclaimed a few minutes later, closing Irene’s locked door shut as he leaned against it. “How’s math? How’s Bogum?” he wiggled his eyebrows, taunting her.

 

Baekhyun, who was now dating Park Chanyeol, was at the pit a week ago when he caught wind of Bogum saying that he kept catching Irene staring at him during class, and Baekhyun had about it ever since.

 

“I’m just looking at his stupid face. Trying to figure out how he gets better marks than me.” Irene had argued.

 

“You’re totally in love with his stupid face!” Baekhyun retaliated.

 

Back in the present, Irene shoved Baekhyun away from her locker, digging into it again. “I’m apparently tutoring him in French.”

 

“You’ll tutor him and not me?” he asked, offended. “Tsk, how much is he paying you?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

“I offered you ₩5,000!”

 

“I’m already doing yours and TOP’s homework.”

 

“If you tutored me, you wouldn’t need to do our homework.”

 

“Yes I would. Now, if you excuse me, I have to go to the art hall.”

 

“The art hall?” Baekhyun demanded, and Joohyun nodded. “Honey.” He dug around in his pockets for a moment before producing a thin, clear plastic tube.

 

Twisting the top off, he held the brush of the shimmery, glittery lipgloss out in front of her lips. “Open up.” he instructed, and knowing she wasn’t going to win any argument, she did as she was told and let Baekhyun wipe the clear lip gloss over her lips.

 

“You know the art hall is where all the ually active band geeks hang, so ‘studying in the art hall’ really means ‘ in the art hall’. Trust me, I’ve like, a lot.”

 

Irene sighed, laying a hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder and shoving him away again. “Goodbye, Baekhyun.”

 

“Remember to let him cu-“

 

“I can’t hear you!” Irene shouted, walking away.

 

By the time Irene reached the art hall, Bogum was already sitting there, his binder set out in front of him. “Irene.” he said, smiling and greeting her as she sat down beside him. “Did you eat lunch?”

 

She shook her head, and he turned, producing an energy bar out of his bag and handing it to her.

 

“Thanks.” she muttered, unwrapping it. “What are you studying?”

 

As she took a bite of the bar, she prepared herself for the worst of Baekhyun’s tales of the art hall. He had commented on her legs before, right?

Why would that stop him from making another comment now?

 

“Verbs.” was not the answer she was expecting. Nonetheless, she worked through lunch with him, walking him through endings and stems.

 

“Okay, last part. I have to translate these verbs, but I have no idea what any of them mean.”

 

“Read me out a few and I’ll tell you.”

 

“Manger?”

 

“To eat. Because your verb isn’t conjugated yet and it’s in the infinitive, it’s not ‘eat’, but ‘to eat’.”

 

He quickly scribbled her answer down. “Rentre?”

 

“To go back.”

 

“Travailler?”

 

“To work.”

 

“I have a few I need to translate into French. To wake up?”

 

“That’s a reflexive verb, so it’s se réveiller.”

 

“To watch?”

 

“Regarder.”

 

“There’s a few phrases, too. Open the door.”

 

“Ouvrir la porte.”

 

“She lives in Germany.”

 

“Elle a habite en Allemagne.”

 

“Kiss me.”

 

“Embrasse-moi.”

 

The next thing Irene knew, his lips were on hers, and she wrenched away, wiping with the back of her hand.

 

“What the hell?” she demanded, scooting away from him.

 

“Are you wearing lip gloss?” Bogum asked harshly.

 

“Why do you care?” Her words her laced with venom and disgust, and every sense in her body began screaming at her to run away.

 

“What flavour?” he pressed, grabbing her chin and leaning in again.

 

“ off!” she cried, smacking his hand away. She abandoned her things and their study session as she got up, making her way down the art hall and into the cafeteria.

 

“Baekhyun!” Irene exclaimed, sliding into the cafeteria table beside him and leaning into his shoulder, her face in her hands.

 

She tried her best to hold back her tears as she left Bogum, but now in the desolate cafeteria and in the comfort of her friends, she let them out, not worrying about getting Baekhyun’s school uniform wet or smudging her makeup on it.

 

“RiRi?” he asked, quickly wrapping his arms around her. Despite how much he , he really was a good friend, and valued her well being over anything else. “Is everything alright?”

 

“He kissed me, Baekhyun.” her voice came out muffled against his shoulder.

 

“Did you kiss him back?”

 

“I didn’t ask him to. He didn’t ask me. When I pulled away he tried to kiss me again.”

 

Baekhyun was silent a moment, and then stood up, throwing Irene off of him. “Where is he?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“I’m going to punch his lights out!”

 

Irene didn’t notice until now that Momo, silent, was sitting on the other side of the table.

 

Baekhyun clambered out, storming out of the cafeteria.

 

“He can’t even tie his shoes.” Momo whispered, and then was also to her feet, running after him. “Baekhyun! You’re going to get yourself killed!”

 

Irene had no choice but to follow her friends. She quickly pulled herself together, wiping at her eyes, and then chased after them, abandoning the lunch trays and her friends’ half-eaten food.

 

Irene followed them out to the dart pit, Momo pointlessly tugging on Baekhyun’s arm.

 

“I just saw him by the lockers.” TOP was saying, seated at the feet of some girl who perched atop a table. “I heard him saying something about Irene. I don’t know what it was, but he didn’t sound very happy.”

 

“I’m going to kill that son of a !” Baekhyun exclaimed. He shook Momo off and headed into the school.

 

“Baekhyun please!” Irene begged, trying her best to stop him. “It’s not that big of a deal, seriously.”

 

He didn’t say anything, just pushed past her, and Momo came up a few seconds later, latching onto her arm. “Has he done anything like this before?”

 

Irene shook his head. “I’ve never seen him like this before, and I’m not sure whether it’s a good or a bad thing.”

 

Again, Momo and Irene followed Baekhyun back into the school, making their way to the lockers. They were immediately met with shouting, and a

small crowd beginning to form.

 

They fought their way to the front, watching as Baekhyun stood in front of Park Bogum.

 

Baekhyun was shorter than Bogum, and not one bit of him seemed very intimidating or threatening.

 

“Did you or did you not?” Baekhyun exclaimed, and it sounded like it wasn’t the first time he had asked the question.

 

“Yeah, I did.” Bogum answered. “What are you gonna do about it?”

 

“No one treats my friend like that, you piece of .”

 

Baekhyun threw the first punch, which caused a cheer for the increasing crowd, and the next thing Irene knew Baekhyun was on the ground.

 

People began to push in front of Irene and Momo, blocking them from reaching Baekhyun, but their view still remained strong.

 

Wiping his mouth, Baekhyun stood up, but before either boy could throw the next attack, another body cut in, sending Bogum flying to the floor.

 

“Get your hands off him!” Park Chanyeol growled, and it took two teachers and the quarterback, Sohn Hyunwoo, to pull him off of Bogum.

 

“To the office, now!” the teacher, Coach Kim, shouted, gesturing down the hall. “Even you, Byun!”

 

The three boys trudged to the principal’s office, and the crowd dispersed, running off to classes.

 

Instead of making their way to their own classes, Irene and Momo again followed their friends into the office.

 

Bogum, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol all sat outside the principal’s on opposite sides of the room, Bogum seated alone and Chanyeol seated beside Baekhyun, who held a tissue under his mouth.

 

“I told you not to.” Irene grumbled, taking the seat beside Baekhyun. “Are you alright?”

 

“He bust my lip open.” Baekhyun muttered, spitting into the tissue and balling it up.

 

“You got a pretty mean punch in, though.” Momo comforted. “At least half a black eye.” Baekhyun laughed at that, and then Momo turned to

Chanyeol. “Are you alright?”

 

Chanyeol nodded. “He didn’t even touch me.”

 

“Weren’t you supposed to be in math help?” Baekhyun asked, gingerly dabbing the tissue to his lip.

 

Chanyeol nodded. “Kris text me saying you stopped by the pit saying you were going to fight Bogum by the lockers. You asked me to open your water bottle earlier, so I knew there was a good chance you’d probably die.”

 

“Touché.” Baekhyun spit into the tissue again as the principal poked her head out of her office.

 

“Mr. Byun Baekhyun? I’ll see you in my office now.”

 

Both Baekhyun and Chanyeol stood up, and the principal shot Chanyeol a look.

 

“Mr. Park, is your name Byun?”

 

“Not yet.”

 

“Sit down!” Baekhyun laughed, shoving his boyfriend in the shoulder and then disappearing into the principal’s office.

 

Irene and Momo waited for both their friends, sitting in silence.

 

Irene sneaked a few glances over at Bogum, but he never glanced at her. When he walked past her to make his way into the office, Baekhyun made sure to stand between the two.
 

 

-3:53pm- private chat

queenreoncé: is this the right account?

watermelonbubbbogum: Irene?

queenreoncé: yes. This is Bogum

watermelonbubbbogum: yes

queenreoncé: look im sorry about what happened

watermelonbubbbogum: it’s not your fault

watermelonbubbbogum: is it?

queenreoncé: no

watermelonbubbbogum: I’m sorry I kissed you

queenreoncé: look

queenreoncé: maybe he can talk about this after class tomorrow? This should be something we talk about in person not via text

watermelonbubbbogum: I got suspended for three days

watermelonbubbbogum: I’ll be back on Monday

queenreoncé: oh

watermelonbubbbogum: they didn’t tell you?

watermelonbubbbogum: they both got suspended for a week

queenreoncé: no

watermelonbubbbogum: yea well we can talk about it Monday? Or we can get together

queenreoncé: I’m at Momo’s all weekend

watermelonbubbbogum: it’s Tuesday

queenreoncé: I have to study for a biology test

watermelonbubbbogum: I can help with that I’m good at biology

queenreoncé: no I’m okay but thank you goodbye
 

 

-4:34pm- ‘baek eats momo’

hyunnybyuns: GUESS WHO GOT SUSPENDED FOR A WEEK AND TWO STITCHES IN HIS LIP

hyunnybyuns: THIS GAY

chillyeol: I also got suspended for a week

hyunnybyuns: gang gang

hyunnybyuns: we’re gonna all week

hyunnybyuns: we should get suspended more often

hyunnybyuns: YOU GIRLS SHOULD SKIP WITH US

hyunnybyuns: we’re going to the beach and the arcade Friday

momoandcreame: the beach is like an hour away

hyunnybyuns: yeollie has his license AND a car

chillyeol: gang gang

momoandcreame: mind if sana and Mina come???

hyunnybyuns: Kang, or kwon mina ???

momoandcreame: myoui

hyunnybyuns: are you dating sana or mina

momoandcreame: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

By the time Monday rolled around, Bae Joohyun sat in maths class, a strange feeling fluttering in her stomach.

 

She felt nervous and shaky, although she could find no reason to be.

 

She tried her best to stay focused, concentrate on her work, but her mind kept backtracking to her nervous feeling and for some reason, Park Bogum.

 

When Mr. Ryu silenced, leaving the class to do their independent work, Irene started to hear the whispers.

 

She heard them from the two girls in front of her, Lee Keumjo and Park Kyungri, the guy behind her, and even the two her sat directly beside her in her first period class.

 

She heard her name thrown about in the halls, saw keyboards typing out her name, the pointed glances her way.

 

“Bogum’s back.” Kyungri whispered, but loud enough for Irene to listen in.

 

Keumjo nodded. “He only got suspended for three days. The other two are out for a week.”

 

“I heard they were fighting over Irene.”

 

Keumjo risked a glanced back at her, and Irene made it a point to keep her head down. “That Irene?”

 

“What other Irene is there?”

 

“Why?”

 

“I’ve heard so many things I don’t know what’s real and what’s not. I heard it’s because they both love her. I also heard she told them to.”

 

“Then why was that Chanyeol guy in there?”

 

“I heard he’s dating Baekhyun.”

 

“Baekhyun’s ed like, every guy in this school.”

 

“Yeah, except Chanyeol and Bogum.”

 

Park Bogum scared the living out of her when he slid into the empty desk next to her.

 

“Let’s talk.” he said.

 

“You scared me.” she said.

 

“You said you had something to tell me?”

 

“I wanted to apologize for Tuesday. I didn’t tell Baekhyun or Chanyeol to do that to you.”

 

“I didn’t think you did.”

 

“Are you alright?”

 

Bogum wore a pair of sunglasses, which Irene found strange that he hasn’t gotten dress coded for them. Momo has almost got sent home earlier for wearing brightly coloured socks, although they fit dress code height.

 

Bogum brought his glasses up to sit atop his head, peering at her. “Chanyeol did me in good, but Baekhyun’s not the best fighter.”

Bogum’s left eye was bruised black, and a small bruise formed under his right eye. It looked like he wore an eyepatch, and had tried to even it out but adding dark makeup to his other eye.

 

Irene held back a laugh. “You’ve got like, one and a half black eyes.”

 

“That’s one and a half black eyes more than you.”

 

Irene hit him in the arm. “You bust Baekhyun’s lip open.”

 

Bogum laughed, flipping his sunglasses back down. “Yeah, I know. I’ve made my peace with him and Chanyeol, though.”

 

“You talked to them?”

 

He nodded. “Messaged them Wednesday. Went to the beach with them Friday. Momo and two other girls were there, too. Surprised you weren’t there.”

 

“I had a biology test.”

 

“Shame. Anyways, I wanted to apologize for kissing you. Baekhyun made it quite clear I should’ve asked first.” Irene didn’t reply, just avoided her gaze. “If I asked, would you have let me?”

 

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

 

“What if I asked you to the movies tomorrow night? We can see whatever you want.”

 

“I’d like that very much.”

 

Halfway through the movie, Park Bogum leaned in close to whisper in Irene’s ear.

 

“Can I kiss you?”

 

This time Irene kissed him back.

 

Byun Baekhyun had a habit of slamming his lunch tray down everyday at lunch, sitting down while he gestured to Chanyeol.

 

“Guys, this is my boyfriend, Chanyeol.”

 

“I know. You’ve been dating for like, two months now. You say that every day.” Momo pointed out.

 

“I know. I just wanted to remind you that his is mine.”

 

“Baekhyun! I’m eating!”

 

A week after the boys’ suspension, Irene slammed her lunch tray down, sitting down while she gestured to Park Bogum.

 

“Guys, this is my boyfriend, Bogum.”

 

FIN