After school, half the group was complaining about the homework that the harsh teachers have already assigned to them while the other half was visibly excited for school to end. 

 

Jae I was tugging on Haneul’s arm, his knees on the floor. “Please, Haneul, let us have free ice cream just this once!”

 

Haneul looked at his nails. “And why should I do that?”

 

“Dongin, I need to go home, let go of me,” Hwalchan said, trying to pry his boyfriend’s arms off him. “I have homework to do.”

 

“Can I come over? Please?” Dongin whined. “I miss you-”

 

“I hate high school,” Baekgyeol yelled, kicking a rock which accidentally hit Uiyeon’s shin. “I don’t want to do my homework.”

 

Donghwi rolled his eyes at Uiyeon who was on the floor, complaining about his injury and how he was going to die soon. “Let’s just go to the ice cream parlor and study there,” he said, shrugging. “You guys argue over the weirdest -”

 

“WE’RE NOT GOING AS A GROUP!” Haneul yelled at them. “I don’t want to get yelled at and Hyogi is a big snitch! And no one’s getting free ice cream!”

 

“I can pay!” Uiyeon said, knowing he only had twenty bucks, two quarters and a tootsie roll in his pocket. He just wanted to impress the love of his life. “We should hang out together, it’ll be fun.”

 

“Yes, thank you Uiyeon, please pay for me and that hot kid Daun,” Jae I said, getting on his knees in front of Uiyeon. “I will forever be in your debt-”

 

“Uiyeon I- you know what? Let’s go,” Haneul muttered, taking out his phone. “Don’t be annoying during my shift, please.”

 

Donghwi pulled Dongin off of Hwalchan, who had given up on being out of his boyfriend’s grasp. “You’re not going to die for not touching him every two seconds, Dongin,” he said, scolding him. 

 

Baekgyeol pumped his fists in the air. “Yeah, ice cream!! Haneul, you promised me free ice cream during lunch, remember?”

 

“Yep, I didn’t forget- Jae I, get the off of me,” Haneul said, threatening to kick him. “You’re ing insane.”

 

Jae I got off of the ground, straightening his clothes. “Yo, I have two minutes before I meet Daun, you guys go ahead, I want to be alone with him.” And with that, he ran from the group, heading back towards the entrance of the school.

 

“So are we bothering him during his date, or…”

 

“Baekgyeol, you’re so childish sometimes,” Uiyeon said, fixing his backpack straps that were digging into his shoulders. God, he just wanted senior year to end. “Let’s go get ice cream, fellas, and die before we have a mortgage.”

 

“That just sounds like a bonus to me,” Donghwi said, taking out his phone. “Lead the way, Uiyeon.”
 

***
 

Daun stood next to his locker, checking the time on his phone, when his older brother showed up behind him, startling him. 

 

“How’s life- dude, why the did you jump from me?” Horyeong said.

 

Daun glared at him. “You scared me, idiot,” he said, returning his attention back to his phone. “Now go away, the guy said he’ll meet me here.”

 

“I thought you didn’t have money for ice cream,” Horyeong reminded him.

 

“Not sure if you remember, but he said I’ll get free ice cream,” Daun said, shrugging. “I’ll have ice cream and go home, tell mom to stop worrying about me.”

 

Horyeong rolled his eyes. “You know her, she told me to pop in at the ice cream parlor at a random time and make sure you were safe without you noticing me.”

 

“I- can you not- ah, jeez, gotta love our worrying mother,” Daun muttered under his breath. “Okay, but can you not be weird when you do it, I would gladly appreciate it.”

 

“Yeah, don’t worry, I won’t be the overprotective brothers in the stories where I threatened to fight this guy,” Horyeong reassured him, walking away. “I’ll just head home and change first to make it look unplanned or some .”

 

“See ya! Don’t die!” Daun yelled after him, waving only to hear a hey behind him again . 

 

He turned around to see the guy from his engineering class, Jae I if he remembered correctly. “Oh, it’s you,” Daun muttered. How this guy had feelings for him, he had no idea. 

 

Jae I leaned against the locker next to Daun, arms crossing calmly in front of him. “How are you doing?” he asked. “Liking Jeju yet?”

 

“That cliche is not going to work on me,” Daun warned him, slamming his own locker shut. “Not to sound rude, but I’m here for the free ice cream and no other exchange.”

 

Jae I’s eyes widened. “Oh, god, I didn’t mean it like that- no I promise, I’m just trying to be friendly,” he said, which was half-true anyways. Sure, Daun was hot, but it would be cool to hang out with him, especially if he was a city kid. Jae I had never been to the cities before. “I know Jeju might be kind of big but we don’t really get new students in this neighborhood.”

 

“Jeju is kind of expensive, though,” Daun said, pocketing his phone. “That’s probably why you guys don’t get a lot of people.”

 

“Nah, when people visit Jeju, they don’t visit this place,” Jae I said. “You think when people visit Tokyo they check out the slums? Nah, they go to the rich people shops and hotels.”

 

Daun shrugged. “That ruins the whole point of visiting, you’re not learning their culture, you’re just eating food. An important piece of culture, I must admit, but not everything, unfortunately.”

 

Jae I extended out his hand. “I don’t know what you guys eat back in Seoul but here , we have ice cream,” he said. “I did promise free ice cream.”

 

“I don’t even know your last name and you’re giving me your hand,” Daun said. 

 

Jae I pulled back his hand, running it through his hair. “Well, if you’re so curious, it’s Im, yours?”

 

Daun rolled his eyes, sighing. “Lee, I have my father’s last name.”

 

“That’s cool,” Jae I said when a notification went through his phone. Must be the group chat with them telling Jae I to hurry up or someone yelling at Baekgyeol again, “Let’s go get free ice cream.”
 

***

 

Donghwi swirled his straw in the glass of his milkshake, sighing. His father had yet to respond to his texts of getting back, but unfortunately, he was used to it. 

 

“Why the long face?” Hwalchan asked him, taking another bite of his cone. “What happened?”

 

Dongin, sitting on the other side of Hwalchan, leaned forward, not wanting a screaming Baekgyeol and Uiyeon to hear their conversation. He already knew what it was going to be about, anyways. “Let me guess, you dad is too busy to respond?”

 

“You got that part right,” Donghwi mumbled, turning off his phone. “I should probably head home soon to hang out with Kevin and Helicopter-”

 

“Okay, why is your dog named Helicopter?!” Hwalchan asked. They’ve already had this conversation before, but he seemed to forget all the time. “That’s not a normal name for a dog!”

 

Donghwi pinched the bridge of his nose. “Because his favorite toy in the animal shelter was a helicopter plushie, we’ve talked about this-”

 

“Babe, your chihuahua is named Spaghetti,” Dongin reminded Hwalchan.

 

Hwalchan pouted. “I was hungry when I named him, that is not my fault.”

 

Oof, Donghwi could always relate to that. In his house alone, he was always snacking on something, meaning he had to train his dogs early on not to beg for food, especially his dog Kevin who always liked to whine at him when he was eating chocolate. Dogs couldn’t have chocolate, but as a dog, Kevin didn’t seem to get that. 

 

Speaking of being hungry, Donghwi could use another milkshake. “I’ll be right back,” he said, standing from his chair to head to the register, where Haneul was screaming at his brother Hyogi again who wanted to eat a bag of sprinkles. “Dongin, which flavor should I get next?”

 

“Get the turtle caramel nut, that one is hella good,” Dongin said, setting his hand a few inches from Hwalchan’s, which was on the table. “Can I grab your hand here?”'

 

“Yeah, sure, go ahead, there’s like only us here,” Hwalchan said. 

 

Donghwi left the table and stood in front of the register, whistling for Haneul’s attention. “Can I have another milkshake?” he asked, setting the glass on the counter. “I’m hungry.”

 

Haneul scoffed at him. “You guys love to take advantage of me while I’m working.”

 

“I’ll tip you a twenty,” Donghwi added. 

 

Haneul grinned, taking the glass. “HYOGI, WE HAVE ANOTHER MILKSHAKE COMING!”

 

Hyogi came out of the backroom, a mad look on his face. “Why do I have to make it?”

 

“Because if you are the bane of my existence, I’ll be yours,” Haneul flat out said. To Donghwi, he said, “That’ll be 4,200 won please.”

 

Donghwi took 25,000 won out and handed it to him. “Add extra caramel, please, I’m really craving sugar right now.”

 

“You’re going to die of diabetes,” Haneul said.

 

Donghwi rolled his eyes. “So is Uiyeon if he, quote on quote, ‘keeps looking at you’.”

 

Haneul’s face turned red. “Shut up, he does not like me,” he muttered, waving him off. “Go away, someone just entered the shop,” he said, looking behind Donghwi. 

 

Donghwi stepped to the side, looking at the person who walked in. It was just another teen like them, probably in the same high school, though he did look unfamiliar. Maybe it was a new student, he figured. 

 

The guy walked up to the register and said, “Uh, hey, can I just get two chocolate scoops please?”

 

“Hi and welcome to- oh okay, that’s your order,” Haneul trailed off, writing it on a post it note. “That’ll be 4,070 won, please.”

 

Donghwi felt someone stand behind him, so he turned around and saw Hwalchan, a surprised look on his face. “That’s Daun’s brother,” he whispered to Donghwi, who must have looked confused at the moment. 

 

“Uh.. whose Daun?” Donghwi asked. 

 

Hwalchan pointed to the windows, where Jae I was eating ice cream with that one guy he’s been mentioning that was hot and all that jazz. Apparently, Jae I wanted to sit farthest from their table since he knew that his friends would be dumb asses. “That’s Daun, the one Jae I is with.”

 

“Oh, yes, the two new students who just got to Jeju and you guys were shoving petitions down their faces,” Donghwi recalled. 

 

Hwalchan faked a gasp. “You know how important that is to us,” he harshly whispered to him, heading back to the table where Dongin was yelling at him to come back. “Oh, ask Haneul if I can have a cookie, I ate all my granola bars today.”

 

Donghwi rolled his eyes, leaning against the counter. “Haneul! Hwalchan wants a cookie-”

 

“WHY DID YOU MENTION MY NAME?!” Hwalchan screeched. 

 

Hyogi handed the glass to Donghwi. “I don’t know why you guys are friends with my brother,” he said. 

 

Donghwi shrugged. “I don’t know either, he yells at me for everything-”

 

Hanuel came back with the ice cream for the guy who came in. “Really, Donghwi? Sympathizing with the devil? How could you- oh, here’s your ice cream sir.”

 

The guy took the cone, nodding. “Yeah, thank you for the ice cream,” he said, taking a bite- oh, god, he was one of those psychopaths that bit their ice cream. “Truly the best ice cream I’ve had in Jeju so far.”

 

“Ha! You should tell that to my parents, they’ll be so happy and build you a statue right here in the ice cream parlour!” Haneul exclaimed. “And Hwalchan will do it, too, he’s glad you and your brother signed the petitions.”

 

The guy looked at where Jae I and his brother, Daun, were at, sitting. Daun was laughing at something that Jae I said. “Should I be worried about him or not?”

 

Hanuel shook his head. “Jae I’s just weird, like everyone else here,” he said. “He doesn’t mean any harm.” 

 

“Huh,” he said. “At least Daun’s smart, he knows how to take care of himself.”

 

Donghwi stifled a laugh, hearing the new guy. Clearly he hadn’t heard of the older brother stereotypes. “Shouldn’t you go over there and threaten Jae I or something?” he said, taking a sip of his milkshake.

 

The guy shook his head. “I’m assuming all his friends are you guys over there,” he said, pointing at the back table where Baekgyeol now had Dongin in a chokehold position. “Actually, I should probably leave before this becomes a crime scene.”

 

“Good luck! Avoid them at all costs!” Haneul shouted. “Bye, stranger!” 

 

The stranger left, ice cream cone in hand, and Donghwi couldn’t help but think there was something weird about that guy, something he couldn’t pinpoint, exactly.