The next day was going by just as slowly as the last. Junkyu dragged himself through his first classes, bored and tired. He had spent the whole night before putting together a proper cover of Palette. His walk home inspired him to finally do something. Of course, that meant he skipped out on the schoolwork to catch up.

Now, Junkyu had a youtube channel dedicated to posting song covers. It was entirely anonymous, but he wanted to finally get comfortable with the thought of others hearing him sing. His decision was impulsive, no doubt. He began to regret it seconds after posting, but he knew he had to thrive off of this determination.

He had gotten quite a few looks from some people in the hallways, but he attributed it to the lack of sleep that was very visible on his face. Junkyu was a mess. His bed hair was quite obvious, and he didn't bother to change out of what he slept in. The most prominent feature was the giant eye bags under his eyes.

Junkyu steps into English late, and by the time he gets there, everyone is already working on their projects. He spots Mashiho and sits down across from him, ready to start talking about their project.

"So, what were you thinking about our project?" Junkyu starts. His eyes flick up to Mashiho's, waiting for an answer.

Mashiho scoffs, looking up from his hands and locks eyes with Junkyu. The smirk on his face is more judgemental than anything, and Junkyu reacts with a confused expression. Did I do something wrong? he wonders. The boy across from him doesn't respond, so Junkyu tries again

"Okay well... I was thinking we could use the book we read, well you haven't yet but we can work on that, and talk about the psychological significance? It's a pretty broad topic and there's a lot of information we can put into it...." Junkyu stops his explanation when he notices Mashiho on his phone, completely disregarding his existence.

Defeated, Junkyu just looks down, writing down his ideas for himself. The rest of the class is like this, complete silence between the two. Junkyu considers asking him a question, but it's clear he won't budge. The more work he did, the more notable the pounding in his head became. The end of class frees him from the prison he walked himself into, and leaves class, once again forgetting about Yedam.

While walking to lunch, Junkyu was feeling gradually more self-conscious with the number of stares. He knew he looked like , but he didn't think it was that bad. He hugged himself tighter, hoping to draw less attention. It made him feel slightly safer.

The walk to his lunch table was brutal. He wasn't sure if he psyched himself out or if everyone was truly staring at him, but the pressure in his head started to grow, angry and irritated with Junkyu's endless flow of thoughts.

The static in his brain doesn't subside, instead making him more overwhelmed, almost so much he barely makes it to his table. Five pairs of eyes stare as he crash-lands into his seat, hands flying up to cradle his head as soon as they get a chance. It's worse than usual.

The air around them is tense, no one really sure what to say yes. Hyunsuk speaks up first.

"Hey... are you okay Junkyu?" he asks quietly. Hyunsuk was familiar with this Junkyu. He'd spent many nights trying to help subdue Junkyu when it got bad, and he was really the only friend that did. Junkyu didn't have the heart to tell him it never really helped.

Slowly, he raises his head to sit up properly, bracing himself through the pain. He turns slightly to the others and nods, giving Hyunsuk a small smile. At the other end of the table, Doyoung whispers something to Yedam, who promptly shrugs and gestures in Junkyu's direction.

"I- Um.. is it because of the video?" Doyoung asks uneasily.

That catches his attention.

"What video..?" he replies, his voice barely above a whisper. he doesn't mean for it to come out so quietly, but the pounding in his head is blocking all of his senses.

"How does he not know?" Yoonbin says, speaking as if Junkyu wasn't right across from him.

This only makes him more curious. Maybe just more nervous. Did his youtube channel already get found out? There was no way, he had made sure there was no trace.

Not one of them says a word after Yoonbin speaks. They barely move. Hyunsuk sighs, pulling his phone out from his back pocket. Junkyu watches as he opens Instagram, scrolling down a bit until he finds it.

The video is of him, no doubt about it. It's him walking home the day before. The video is being taken from across the street, zoomed into Junkyu's head. At first, he's just confused. Why? His face is contorted in confusion, mouth hanging open slightly. Then he remembers.

Snatching the phone from Hyunsuk's hand, he turned the volume up just enough so only he could hear it. Of course. The international students. The laughing. Because he was singing.

Everything that had happened in the morning starts rushing back to him, the stares, Mashiho's rudeness.

His breathing gets heavier, heat filling his body. It was mostly anger, but there was some embarrassment in the mix. Hyunsuk swallows hard, watching his friend's entire complexion turn bright red.

Junkyu's eyes dart around the cafeteria madly, hunting for the people responsible. Haruto is the one he makes eye contact with. He's looking right back at him. Of course he was. He smirks expectantly, giving Junkyu a quick wink before turning back to his own friends.

He fights the urge to cause a scene. To go over there and punch the living out of him. Luckily, or maybe not so much, Yoonbin interrupts his thoughts.

"I mean, hey, you're a really good singer, Kyu. If that makes up for anything.."

Now, it's Yoonbin's turn to be stared at. They all look at him in disbelief that he would even say something like that right now. Junkyu would probably yell at him if it was any other time, but he is just too deep in the shock.

Instead, he asks his own question. "Why did no one tell me..?" he asks carefully, trying not to inflict his internal feelings on his words, or his friends. Again, they freeze. Internally, he sighs, but he knows he needs to move on. His friends just weren't the ones to talk about this with.

So, he plasters his face with a big smile, fixes his position in his seat, and begins to pick at his lunch. "You guys are acting like you've seen a ghost. Seriously. I am fine. It's just a video. Please, talk. It's weird not hearing you guys argue.." Junkyu does his best to convince them. He knew it was odd to just stop being upset, but honestly, he was tired of the tension. It was just making the buzzing in his head worse.

It takes a few minutes to stop being so... awkward, but eventually, the table is back to its usual liveliness. He catches them stealing worried glances in his direction, but he just gives a smile and a thumbs up.

Junkyu opts to keep quiet and to himself. The static in his brain had slowly been subsiding as the lunch period was drawing to a close. He dreaded what would come after, more staring, more thoughts. All he wanted was to be in the safety of his room, free to exist as himself.

–

The rest of his day goes better than he had expected. The staring was dying down, making it much easier to ignore. His head had died down to a low buzz, not too bad for a day at school.

One class he was dreading was his last period. No friends, but he was graced with the presence of Haruto and Mashiho, again.

Junkyu sits down in his typical seat before most of the class is there. It's quiet, giving him a moment to relax. His eyes flutter close and he does his best to get comfortable in the hard school seat. He wraps his arms around himself, hoping the thin material of his sweatshirt could be just a little more warmer.

He senses the class starting to fill up around him, but he opts to stay in this position. It's peaceful, almost.

That is until a shadow comes over his face and doesn't leave.

"Hey, Yoonbin's friend, wake up. You're in my spot." Haruto. He was lying, of course. Junkyu had sat here the whole year. Haruto started yesterday. Junkyu sighs audibly and sinks further into his seat, not bothering to open his eyes.

"Can't wait to hear you sing on the way home today, 'Kyu'."

Junkyu's eyes flew open, blinking a few times to adjust to the bright light. He looks up at Haruto, astonished, but mostly just pissed off. With a glance to his left, he sees Mashiho watching the exchange, clearly humored by the whole thing.

"What is your problem dude, seriously?" Junkyu asks. Before he can get an answer, their professor asks Haruto to sit down so he can start class.

There is no way I am walking home today.