"Good morning!" Jae says brightly, surprising the group of Junhyeok, Dowoon, Wonpil and most excitingly to Jae, Sungjin. They all give him a friendly smile.

"Morning Jae," Sungjin replies first and Jae's so happy that he remembers his name that he doesn't hear the rest of the greetings.

They're walking to class and Jae's actually fitting in to their conversation pretty well. Ever since he got into high school, Jae was never one to have many friends or a distinctive group he was associated with. He was friendly and rather social when the time called for it, but he never really had a crew or a group of friends like Brian's. That's part of why he grew to like Sungjin - he always made the people around him smile and laugh. Part of Jae wishes he could do the same.

Jae doesn't talk to just Sungjin and actually gets to know the rest of them a bit more, finding out they all play instruments. He decides it's a fitting time to mention he plays guitar too, and after they talk briefly about the idea of having a jam session, they talk about the homework from last night.

"Hey, where's Brian?" Jae asks when they're all in their seats, waiting for class to start.

"I was just about to ask that," Junhyeok replies and adds,

"He usually meets us on the slope on the way to school,"

"Maybe he slept in," Dowoon suggests,

"Yeah, probably" and they laugh before settling down as the school bell rings.

Halfway through first period, Brian's still not there and a knock draws the attention of the whole class.

"Sorry to interrupt Mr. Lee," one of the guidance counsellors of their school says and continues,

"Kang Younghyun is late because of an incident that has been handled accordingly," Jae doesn't listen to the rest as his attention is fixed on Brian, standing behind the counsellor. His hair disheveled, and his expression grim.

After the counsellor is done informing Mr. Lee, Brian walks in and silently walks to his seat, and as he draws closer Jae notices a bit of blood on the corner of his mouth. Jae's worried but finds relief when Brian makes eye contact and gives him a bright smile, and he watches as he quietly greets the rest of the boys.

Jae's eyes are focused on the board for the same amount of time as they are on the bruises on Brian's knuckles.

When lunch comes, the boys get up to go to wherever they go everyday and Jae doesn't mind it and simply gets his lunch. He's about to start eating when he notices the group waiting at the door,

"Jae, what're you doing?" Brian says and Jae just looks at them confused,

"C'mon, let's go,"

"Are you sure?" he asks and they laugh,

"Yes, you loser, come on," and Jae almost trips on his own feet in excitement as he gets up to follow them.

Brian's beside him, slightly behind the 4 others, and Jae's just following their lead.

"You didn't say this in the plan yesterday,"

"We can't plan day-by-day, that's just impractical," Brian replies,

"We set a game plan, a rough guideline as to how this thing will play out. This is working on one the steps, becoming friends with him."

Jae just nods, and wonders if it's okay to ask about his hand and face. Right when he's about to, Brian pats him on the back,

"C'mon, let's walk with them, you can't talk to him back here," and Jae just follows.

He doesn't know what he was expecting when they arrived at the place they go away for lunch, but it definitely wasn't the music room that was in front of him at the moment. 

"You guys come here everyday?"

"Yeah, the music teachers don't mind," Junhyeok replies as they all spread out around the room, each of them going to their usual spot.

Jae's still standing at the doorway,

"Are you sure you guys are okay with me being here?"

"You weren't this cautious this morning," Wonpil teases and Brian says,

"This morning?"

"Yeah, he replaced you because you didn't show," Sungjin says as Jae sits on the floor in the middle of the room.

"Jae, there's a bunch of chairs,"

"Yeah, but I'm right under the skylight here" Jae replies with a content smile and Brian shrugs before going to defend himself,

"I didn't show because of this!" he says, raising his bruised fist and pointing at the corner of his mouth.

"Oh yeah, what happened?" Dowoon asks,

"Oh yeah?" Brian echoes, offended,

"You guys aren't worried?" he looks around and scoffs at them just eating their lunches.

"I mean, I don't see a black eye or your head bleeding, so..." Wonpil says before taking a sip of his iced tea,

"Wow, you guys ..."

"Whatever, get to the story," Sungjin says and they laugh as Brian rolls his eyes and takes an angry bite of his food.

"Some in second year was beating up a first year," his serious tone makes them focus,

"Why?"

"I don't know, but he was swinging pretty hard. Poor kid was on the ground, helpless," Brian shakes his head as he recalls the event this morning,

"What pissed me off the most was the people just watching, so I get in between them and then his friends join in. I take out the main guy and his friend before Ms. Im comes by and breaks us up, yelling at me that violence doesn't resolve anything," he scoffs,

"If they took care of bullying at this school, I wouldn't need to meddle and resort to violence, but whatever."

Jae's looking at Brian in awe, he likes learning things about him and he wonders what else he'll learn about the boys around him. 

"How noble of you," Junhyeok says with a smirk,

"Oh~ Our Kang Bri as someone's knight in shining armour?" Sungjin joins in

"I give the kid a week before he confesses to you,"

Jae doesn't feel close enough to him to tease Brian, and frankly he wouldn't want to. He admires the fact that Brian had the guts to do what he did, and he wonders how he would be if he had a knight in shining armour like Brian before. 

"Oh, a Boeing 777" Jae says, looking up through the skylight, interrupting the light hearted bickering. They quickly make their way to Jae's side, all looking up just in time to catch a plane fly across the small window. Jae tenses up at Sungjin being so close,

"You can tell what kind of plane that is?" Sungjin asks and Jae gets flustered, only noticeable to Brian.

"Yeah," he says sheepishly,

"Kind of lame, right?"

"No, that's actually pretty cool," Wonpil assures and adds,

"But how?"

"The Boeing 777 is distinguishable due to its 6 wheels and 2 more on the nose,"

"Why would a plane need 8?" Brian asks,

"An Antonov An-225 has 16," Jae replies and they laugh at the random fun fact. Jae loves Sungjin's laugh and how close it sounds and wonders how long he'll be able to stay at his side.

The rest of lunch goes by and the group talks, Sungjin picks up a guitar and plucks a few strings and Jae just watches with an admiring smile to which Brian notices and snorts. 

"So, why do you guys come here?" Jae asks,

"Honestly, we could never eat in peace because Brian had so many people coming up to him to confess. So, we come here and it's not a secret or anything but too many people would come by the class and ask for him,"

"Geez, you're popular" Jae says and Brian shakes his head,

"I don't get why," Dowoon says and they laugh.

"I think at this point they just wanna see who can get with him," Junhyeok says,

"Like, 'my friend got rejected but I didn't' type of thing, so whoever's confession Brian accepts it's kind of like winning the lottery,"

"So, they don't necessarily like Brian, they like the idea of Brian liking them?" Jae sums up and Brian nods,

"Sounds pretty accurate."

As they're walking back to the classroom, Jae and Brian lag behind again and Jae takes the time to ask,

"Are you okay?"

"Hm?" Brian responds, confused,

"Your face and hand,"

"Oh," he sounds surprised,

"Yeah, I'm okay, this is nothing. Thanks for asking,"

"You know, I think it's really cool that you did that,"

"Nah, just did what anyone else would do,"

"No, trust me, barely anyone would do what you did..." and Brian decides not to question Jae's sad smile.

"Hey, you wanna call and do homework after school?"

"Can't, got detention,"

"You got detention? For beating up a bully?"

"Apparently, as a senior I should've 'used my words instead of my fists'" Brian quotes with a roll of his eyes.

"Ridiculous,"

"Yeah, go tell that to Ms. Im so you can join me in cleaning the windows of the school." he suggests with a bright smile and Jae lightly shoves him.

"See what the boys are doing after classes though," he says, 

"Sometimes we go get food or hang out at someone's place,"

"I can't do that without you," Jae says, panicked at the thought of being with the group without Brian,

"You did it this morning apparently," Brian replies and Jae admits defeat,

"That was different. I thought you were gonna show up eventually, and it wasn't for that long."

"If you want our plan to succeed, you gotta do it without me as your chaperone."

"Not yet, I literally got introduced to them yesterday," and Brian can't argue with fact.

They get back to class just before Mr. Yoo walks in to start history.

Once the end of the day bell rings, the group meets up before sending Brian off to detention, laughing at his futile attempts of asking them to stay and help. 

"So, where do you wanna eat, Jae?" Sungjin suddenly asks, and Jae looks up with wide eyes, confused.

"Me?" and the group nods,

"A-Are you sure it's okay I tag along? Brian's not here-"

"Are you only Brian's friend?" Wonpil asks, with a teasing smile,

Friend. Jae thinks, and smiles sweetly at the word. Right, this is a part of the plan.

"I eat everything so I don't really care," Jae finally says and doesn't expect a cheer from Dowoon,

"Great, that means it's my turn to pick!"

"You pick the same thing everytime" Junhyeok groans,

"Convenience store ramyeon and that melon milk is the best." he states as fact and they make their way to the nearest convenience store.

Jae participates in the various conversations, but his mind is elsewhere. This is his first time hanging out with friends outside of school, and he can't help but feel thankful. His heart feels warm at the thought of belonging to a group - finally. Then he wonders if they would still be his friend if they found out about the plan.

They decide to eat outside, and their laughs are loud as they start talking more about themselves. The 4 assure Jae that he's sincerely welcome in their group, and to stop worrying and asking permission to be around them. They exchange social media and numbers, and Jae can't hide his excitement, but he succeeds in calming his shaking hands as he hands his phone to Sungjin to input his information. They talk about how they know each other, a bit about their past and even Jae ends up sharing a small part of his past. About 2 hours of laughter and teasing go by before they part ways, complaining about the homework they've been aside and Sungjin saying he probably won't even do it. 

Brian rubs his shoulder with a pained groan as he exits the school, cursing under his breath.

"Tired?" Brian looks up, surprised to see Jae waiting at the top of the slope. He tosses him a melon milk which Brian catches successfully,

"Dowoon chose today?" he asks, stabbing the straw through and taking a sip, and Jae responds with a nod.

"Why're you here?"

"Felt bad that we got food without you, so I brought that" Jae answers and they start walking down the slope.

"Also, I just wanted to update you on progress," and Brian chuckles,

"You don't have to report to me everyday, Jae."

"Yeah but, still... We sat beside each other at the convenience store," he says with a bashful smile and Brian laughs, shaking his head.

"You really like him, huh?"

"Now that I'm actually talking to him, yeah.. Before it was just a crush without reason, but as I'm getting to know him, I'm finding more things I like about him."

"Good for you," Brian says and jokes,

"Wouldn't want you bored halfway through the game plan."

As they're walking down the slope, they spot someone waving at them and it takes Brian a second to realize who it is before waving back with a small smile.

"Who's that?" Jae whispers,

"The kid I saved," and Jae notices how beat up his face is. His glasses are crooked, his cheek crusted with a bit of blood and his lip busted. 

"Get home safely," Brian says to him and the boy stiffens at his words before bowing grateful,

"Y-You too!" is his response.

Brian just nods and continues walking with Jae,

"Thank you!" he says, and Brian smiles, walking up to him before ruffling his hair,

"Don't worry about it, Seungmin," lowering himself slightly so they're eye to eye,

"If he tries bothering you again, don't hesitate to find me, okay?" 

And the poor kid can only nod as his face gets red. With a pat on his head, Brian rejoins Jae and they continue walking home.

After a couple of minutes of comfortable silence, Jae says,

"You know, I think I get why so many people confess to you," and upon looking at Brian's confused face, he elaborates,

"You're nice and you care. You just ruffled his hair like it was nothing, and offered connection in the future,"

"I think you're reading too much into it," he replies with a scoff,

"Either that or you're just not careful with your actions,"

"Hey," Brian starts,

"All I did was stop an from beating up an innocent kid. All I did was ruffle his hair because he was clearly nervous. All I did was let him know that he has someone on his side if it happens again." 

Jae's surprised at how stern he sounds, and tries to lighten the tension with a chuckle that comes out strained and awkward,

"Still.. Can't blame them for liking you,"

"No one should blame anyone for feelings," he says,

"So why haven't you accepted a single confession, even for fun?" 

Brian chuckles, as if impressed Jae asked,

"Watch yourself," he warns and Jae raises an eyebrow,

"Can't give away all of my mystery on the second day of knowing you."

They walk for a bit longer before they split up, realizing that they live quite close to each other.

"You live close to Sungjin," Brian says,

"What, really?!" he asks, excited, and Brian's laughing,

"Nah, I'm just kidding. He's my neighbour," and Jae pouts.

"Invite me over sometime?" he suggests with a playful wink and Brian says,

"Noted, I'll add that to the plan." and they say goodbyes.

The days pass by and gradually Jae feels more natural in the group, and he's stopped asking to join them. Now during lunch, they all sit on the floor under the skylight in hopes a plane flies by so they can test Jae's knowledge. He now joins in teasing Brian, and chooses where to eat after school, his choice being various street food nearby. 

One at lunch, they're talking about the upcoming project that's due the following week and how'll they'll split up in terms of partners when an announcement cuts off their rock, paper, scissors game.

"Students of InJoon High!" an excited voice comes through the PA,

"Join us this Friday night and watch fellow students perform at the school festival! Come for a fun night of food, games and music!"

They confirm that they're all going to the festival before resuming their rock, paper, scissors game.

As Jae's luck would have it, he gets paired with Sungjin as they both throw out rock. Brian and Wonpil throw out paper while Dowoon and Junhyeok put out scissors.

"That was easy," they say, satisfied with their partners.

They all said they didn't care who they end up with, which is why they played the game in the first place. Jae would never admit that he was hoping he'd get Sungjin, and after being confirmed partners, he couldn't stop smiling.

"Told you he puts out rock," Brian says on the phone that night,

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Jae cheers into the phone and Brian just laughs,

"Hey, that's what I'm here for, right?"

"Still, thank you... I'm going over to his house next week to work on it," he says with an excited squeal,

"Geez, okay Jae!" he teases,

"I can't believe this is actually happening... Who would've thought I'd actually partner with my crush," and Brian can hear the smile in his words.

"Me, 'cause I'm a genius planner and I get things done." he replies, giving himself a mental pat on the back.

"Oh and!" Jae starts, 

"He told me I should watch him perform on Friday. I mean, I'm sure he invited everyone else obviously, but still, it made me so happy,"

"Yeah, I could tell," 

The rest of their phone call consists of Jae talking about Sungjin and Brian telling stories of the most memorable confessions, little details about Sungjin that would be good to know and Jae asking about Seungmin. When they hang up, Jae just stares up at his ceiling, simply waiting for the day he goes cover to Sungjin's place. He thrashes in his bed and laughes at himself for being so lame, and after lightly slapping himself in the face, he gets to doing the homework for the night.

Friday arrives quickly, and the school day is rather light as teachers are aware of the festival that evening. The boys are discussing what they're going to wear, Sungjin's song choice, who will win the most prizes and what time they shoud meet up. 

When they meet up later, Jae is almost amazed at how good Sungjin looks - how good everyone looks, actually. He had only seen them in their uniforms, so seeing how their dress on a regular was like finding out a fact about them. Jae was in a sweatshirt with light ripped jeans, a hat on to top everything off. Sungjin was in black ripped jeans, paired with a white t-shirt underneath a blue and white striped dress shirt, his guitar case on his back and his hair styled upwards. Brian was in black jeans with a white t-shirt and light jean jacket. Junhyeok sported a light pink t-shirt tucked into black pants, Wonpil was in an oversized sweater and black jeans with a backwards black baseball cap, and Dowoon in an all black outfit, his white hat backwards like Wonpil's

.Jae never really went to their school's festivals, he'd rather stay home and finish up homework or get ahead on a few readings. But this time, his friends invited him out. This time, he had friends to go with. So this year he left his books behind, and his smile is genuine as he looks around at the other smiling faces at his side.

"What time are the performances?" Jae asks,

Sungjin looks at his watch,

"They're in like an hour," he replies, 

"So we got time for food," Sungjin says excitedly, and with that the boys' set off into the festival.

AUTHOR'S NOTE;

Hi guys, it's Zen! <3 here is the second chapter, sorry if things aren't as eventful as they could be. Please bare with me as the storyline progresses and I'll try not to disappoint!

Please please please comment anything on this chapter! I love comments - I appreciate upvotes and subscribers too, but I'll always emphasize how important comments are to me.

Until the next time I update, please upvote if you're enjoying the story and subscribe to keep updated! I'll try to continue to update regularly, and until then, peace! <3 much love - Zen