He'd been tugging at his new blond locks distractedly ever since he got back from the hairdressers that morning. It;s not like he was a girl, who had some extravagant hairstyle. The most extravagant aspect of his hairdo was the fact that his hair had been dyed. A honey blonde. He liked it, but he had not had enough time to get used to the new hair colour, before he was being rushed around by his mother.

He knew she was only trying to help, but it was making him feel even more nervous about this than he had been. Besides, make up? Was she serious? It was only a formal, and he was still a guy, even if he was gay.

He was feeling uncomfortable about this. All he could think about was the fact that he was doing all of this because he was seeing L. Joe later. He never dressed up fancy for L. Joe. The knowledge that he was doing so this time made him feel self conscious.

He donned the suit his mother had bought for him, allowing her to fuss over his clothing, brushing away stray fibres and doing up the buttons around his wrists. She'd gone out and bought his clothes for him, several weeks earlier, after finding out about the colours L. Joe was going to be wearing from L. Joe's mother. Chunji guessed that the information was probably relayed through his father, the reminder of whom made him huff, displeased.

He'd tried on the clothes multiple times, in case they needed adjustments, but they had fit him well. Everything about the day was going well. The only thing that had gone wrong, as far as Chunji was concerned was the fact that he'd been reminded about the existence of his father.

The older man had left the house, clearly not desiring to see his son get dressed up to take L. Joe to the formal. He scoffed lightly at the thought. He knew his father still had his issues about the fact that Chunji was gay. He'd made it very clear to him, many times that any reminders of his son's orientation made him uncomfortable. It'd probably make him sick to think that his son was getting dressed up to take another boy to his formal.

Prejudiced fool, he was the one that had organised for Chunji to go to this stupid formal with another boy in the first place. If it weren't for him, promising favours to his friend, he never would have even met L. Joe. Now he disliked the thought that Chunji was going to spend the evening with the other boy?

It kind of made him wish that he were doing more with L. Joe. It'd serve the other man right for them to start going out. Or for them to have a very passionate ual encounter this evening. Isn't that what other kids did on formal night?

But that thought only brought forth a surge of longing for L. Joe. He wouldn't be seeing the other boy for another hour. He supposed it served him right for having such mean-spirited thoughts towards his absent father.

He wished time would hurry up so he could see L. Joe already.

- -

The formal proved to be as horrible as Chunji had been expecting it to be. He didn't recognise anyone there, all of L. Joe's friends being either too old or too young to attend themselves, so it was only the two of them that Chunji even knew.

Apparently, the preferred style of dress this year were short dresses, and so most of the girls were wearing them, with accompanying high heels, they could barely walk in. They clung like mad to their dates' arms, and if their date moved aside to see his friends, or something, they were left completely stranded, struggling not to tip over. It kind of disgusted him to think how many bare, female thighs he'd seen that evening.

The food was horrible, but he couldn't stand the thought of appearing rude, so he tried to eat some of every dish. It was too fancy for the kids, and the side dishes were too dry or too salty; there was always something about them that tasted horrible. He had a sneaking hope that L. Joe might request that they go out after his formal finished to get some real food to eat. After all, he'd barely seen L. Joe eat anything, seemingly preferring to play with his food.

There was no music for them to dance to, and there were at least 20 different people giving speeches that they were forced to sit through. The entertainment at this thing was somewhat lacking. Chunji tried to pay attention to the people on the stage, but he found himself drifting off, into his own thoughts, when he realised that he had no idea who they were talking about. He tried tugging on L. Joe's sleeve to get him to explain, but all L. Joe did was roll his eyes at him, not daring to say anymore, thanks to the teacher standing a few metres away.

In many respects, it felt like he'd gone back to school, and he had to sit through a boring assembly. Except this time round, he had L. Joe with him.

The only bits of the night Chunji enjoyed at all were moments involving L. Joe.

When he went over to L. Joe's house, to pick the other boy up. His mother insisted that they move around, taking photos at different spots in the house. L. Joe would roll his eyes and groan at her requests, and complain that the flash hurt his eyes. His mother would just flap her hands at him, calling him 'Byunghyun” making him blush and groan even worse. Chunji knew it had embarrassed him, that his mother was insisting on taking so many photos like this, and refused to call him L. Joe in front of Chunji.

He wondered, if his mother even knew that he preferred to be called L. Joe. Did she even care?

He recalled their awkward conversation as they waited in line to get into the dining room. There were so many kids that had to be let in, and they all had to get their photo taken before they could proceed to their seats. He'd been able to see it in L. Joe's eyes that he wanted to talk to him, though what about, he had no idea, though that was pretty normal for him and L. Joe. But then the boy would look around, and see how close they were to the people in front and behind them, and would close up.

Chunji had been the more excited of the two of them, about the whole thing, but he didn't really care about it. He'd been so sure that L. Joe's formal would be more fun than his own had been. Sure he'd gotten to sit with his friends, but he hadn't had a date, unlike this evening. He had L. Joe today. But even though he was L. Joe's date, they were really only going as friends, so he felt kind of awkward.

He knew the other students knew that he wasn't part of their grade. They must've known that he wasn't a friend of L. Joe's that they'd seen lurking about on campus. Ergo, they also had to know that he was here as L. Joe's date. He could only imagine how that must've made L. Joe feel. On some level, he was a little afraid of some sort of retaliation from his peers, for daring to bring another guy as his date. But no one seemed to care, too wrapped up in their own formal experience.

But maybe that was what L. Joe seemed so caught up about that evening? He'd been friendly, but a little distant; reserved as though he were caught up with some problem, and his mind just wasn't with his body most of the time. Maybe that was why Chunji had tried talking so much, to try and make up for it. He worried a little that he might've been bothering L. Joe, if it might have been better for him to just leave the other boy to his thoughts, but whenever he spoke, the other boy would look at him, his gaze warm and friendly, reassuring him that he wasn't angry at him for his disruptions.

He'd been a little worried that the younger boy wasn't enjoying the night at all, which made him feel bad. The only reason he was there was to make his night more enjoyable, and he couldn't even manage to get that right. But in his defence, L. Joe was a very complicated person; you couldn't tell what would make him happy or sad, because he just saw the universe a completely different way than himself.

But then L. Joe had brought out his camera, snapping photos of himself in the darkened room, and pictures of the two of them together. He had a feeling he'd seen that flash going off out of the corner of his eye, while he'd been focused on other things more than a few times, but whenever he looked back, L. Joe would just be sitting there, innocently staring off into space, so perhaps he was wrong after all.

All the same, he supposed it was a pretty good evening. Sure the formal itself had , but he had gotten to spend time with L. Joe. It wasn't even that late, before they got kicked out of the venue. It came so suddenly that everyone was really unsettled, as though they couldn't quite believe that it was over already. But as the minutes ticked by, and nothing happened, it became clear that there really was no surprise finish, and that their formal was over.

He'd like to be able to say that it almost wasn't worth coming, but he knew he cherished a few hours alone with L. Joe above anything else in the world.

A small thrill of fear passed through him, as they left, making their way out into the parking lot. This was it. L. Joe's formal was officially over. The whole reason their two worlds had collided so many months ago, was now gone forever. Now was the moment that they no longer had anything keeping them together. As of this moment, L. Joe could leave, and just waltz out of his life, never looking back, with no repercussions.

He kind of wanted to cry at the thought. He was so used to having L. Joe around. He was so used to seeking out his form, in the hopes he'd see the younger boy. He was used to hanging out with L. Joe's friends, kind of waiting for someone to mention the boy, in the hopes that he could learn something more about him. He was used to going to parties and places, just waiting to see him. He was used to the sight of L. Joe resting on the hood of his car on a Tuesday afternoon, hair glinting in the afternoon sun.

He didn't think he could picture his life without it anymore.

But L. Joe had said that he was returning to America at the end of this year. He'd just had his formal, didn't that mean that his school year had officially ended? Would he be leaving at the end of the holidays or the start of them? Was that what he'd been preoccupied about that evening? Or had he just loathed Chunji's company as his date? Did he regret ever agreeing to go along with this? Had someone said something to him when he took that trip to the bathroom? Was he bullied or harassed by someone?

Every second, brought more paranoid thoughts to the forefront of Chunji's mind as he made his way over to his car in silence. He just got this overwhelming desire, for their evening not to end yet. With the way L. Joe had been acting, his plans for the future, and Chunji's own messy feelings for the younger boy, it felt like there was too much at risk of being lost; shattered if they were to part ways now. It felt like his whole world might end, if he couldn't prolong their time together, if only for a few moments.

“Is there an after party or something?” Chunji questioned, hoping his frazzled nerves weren't carried to the younger boy, through his tone. There was a warmth to the air, even when the breeze blew. The further they got away from the other kids, the quieter the evening became; their surroundings, in this parking lot were as calm as the younger boy looked, now that they were alone.

Maybe he'd just been a little distracted, because L. Joe disliked being part of a large crowd? Chunji had never really seen him, when he was in a large group of people, so it was always a possibility, he supposed.

“There is.” L. Joe answered simply, kicking lightly at a particularly large stone, in his path, hands shoved deep into his pants' pocket. “But I don't want to go.”

'Why not?” Chunji pressed, worried that L. Joe realised his reasoning for the question, and was trying to subtly reject him.

L. Joe shrugged, as though he hadn't really considered the idea. Perhaps, he'd never intended on attending the after party, and that's why he was rejecting the implied offer for Chunji to take him. Or maybe he just didn't want to go with Chunji? “It's not really my sort of thing.”

“So? I wouldn't call anything that happened this evening, your sort of thing. Why not top it all off by actually attending the after party?” Chunji continued, wondering for the first time, if he really felt like attending the after party himself. He hadn't attended his own after party. But then again, he hadn't attended his swimming carnival either.

L. Joe smiled at Chunji's comment as they approached Chunji's car, walking round to the passenger side, observing the older boy over the top of the car. “True enough. But I think I'll still pass. It'll be all popular kids there anyway. I don't really mingle with people like that.”

“How can you know that, when you won't even go?” Chunji argued, resting his forearms on the roof of his car, considering the idea that he was probably going to lose this argument. L. Joe was stubborn as anything, and he was probably going to dig his heels in if he kept arguing with him on the matter, but he couldn't bring himself to back down either.

He hoped L. Joe wouldn't get mad at him for it. But Chunji didn't want them to say goodbye. He just wanted them to stay together for a little bit longer.

“Because, it was being held at one of the popular kid's house.” L. Joe answered simply, as though he thought everyone knew that. Chunji had to roll his eyes at that. L. Joe seemed to think everyone he knew would know everything he'd heard, without him having to tell them.

That idiot. If Chunji really were a mind reader, he wouldn't waste his time finding out some useless piece of information like that. Though what he'd go looking for instead, he wasn't certain. It was kind of like when people hassled him to tell them what super power he'd want; he didn't really think about it, and he could see drawbacks to anything he chose.

Still Chunji overlooked his slight irritation, brightly replying, “So you know where it's being held then.”

L. Joe just shook his head at his older friend's one track mind. He couldn't understand why Chunji was trying to push this on him so badly, but at the same time, he was grateful for the distraction the argument provided. He didn't know why the news he had to deliver bothered him so much; it was good news. And yet the thought of talking it all over with Chunji made him feel nervous, but he'd rather tell Chunji than anyone else he knew, all the same.

“No, I know the name of the person whose house it's at. I don't know where they live. I told you, I don't associate with those sorts of people.” L. Joe retorted, unable to resist smiling at the adorable pout that formed on Chunji's features.

The two boys dropped down into their seats, Chunji looking almost reluctant to put his keys in the ignition. L. Joe smiled at the movement, as he settled into the passenger seat. “Now, if you're done hassling me about the official after party, can we go get something to eat? I am starving.”

Chunji beamed at him, only too happy to start the car, knowing that L. Joe wasn't going home right away. “I don't see why. They served food.” he commented, cheekily, as he started driving them towards Maccas. Not his preferred location, since they started putting too much pepper on the burgers, but it was late enough that it'd be the only place open.

Still 10 pm was pretty early for a formal to finish. Normally they had to usher people out of the door, using whatever implement they could get their hands on. Midnight, 2 am, heck he'd even heard about one formal that lasted until dawn.

L. Joe glared at him, as he set about ridding himself of his formal clothing, clearly uncomfortable about being dressed up, now that he'd left his formal. The jacket was thrown into the back seat. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and the button at his collar was undone, so he could breathe more freely. He kicked off his shoes, violently, so he could curl up in his seat, like normal. He seemed to relax a bit, now that he'd made himself at home. “Don't give me that. The food was . Hence why I'm starving.”

“Oh I don't know about that. I managed to eat a bit.” Chunji countered, teasingly. “Then you don't have to get anything. But don't think I missed you trying to discreetly spit the food out, without anyone noticing.” L. Joe responded, elbow resting on his arm rest as he gazed at the driver. “I like your hair like this. Make it permanent.”

Chunji felt himself flush, first at the fact that L. Joe had caught him doing something embarrassing and then because the other boy had complimented him. “You can't make your hair like this permanently” he muttered as he wound down his window at the drive through. “What do you want?” he queried of the other boy.

L. Joe's eyes darted to the menu, before he quickly mumbled a response to the other boy, who nodded. “A large Big Mac meal, with a coke and a small Double Quarter Pounder meal, also with a coke, thanks.” Chunji ordered, for them, driving round to the next window, unsurprised to find that there were quite a few other cars around. He guessed other people were still hungry after the formal too.

“I don't remember ordering a Big Mac.” L. Joe commented lightly, clearly still picking on Chunji for his crack about the food at the formal being edible. “Be nice, or I'll cancel your order, and get you a Big Mac instead” he threatened, wanting to hush the younger boy as they approached the window, struggling to remove his wallet from his back pocket, thanks to his seat belt. As he fumbled, a $20 note floated under his nose. He went cross eyed staring at the unexpected sight, confusedly.

“Give it to her or I'll lean over you and do it myself.” L. Joe stated, making Chunji narrow his eyes even as he grabbed the note, handing it to the disinterested cashier, who handed him his change. They moved the car forward, waiting for the cars in front of them to move so they could collect their food. Again, Chunji fought to free his wallet from the confines of his pants, so that he could repay the younger boy.

He felt bad that L. Joe had paid for his meal. He wanted to repay him the first second he could, to stop the guilt he could already feel welling in his stomach. He was the older of the two of them, the food was supposed to be his treat. Besides, he was L. Joe's date. This is the sort of thing, being a date was really all about, wasn't it?

L. Joe waved him off, gesturing to the space in front of them, stilling Chunji's attempts to get his wallet, in favour of getting their food. He didn't particularly feel like looking like an idiot, right now. “I'm going to pay you back.” Chunji stated, as though his words could ease his displeasure.

“Yeah, yeah, you can do it while we eat.” L. Joe responded, knowing that Chunji had every intention of returning the money to him. But it didn't concern him at the moment, he was still taken up by his hunger. He eyed the licence plate of the car directly in front of them, the only impediment to their eating dinner, when an idea popped into his head. “I want to go to the beach.”

“Now?” Chunji questioned as though he thought L. Joe were crazy. The younger boy nodded, twice. Convinced the slight movement, would be sufficient for convincing the older boy of his feelings. “But it's late and dark. You wouldn't even be able to get out of the car. What would be the point?” Chunji questioned.

“I want to eat our food at the beach. We can sit in the back of your car.” L. Joe stated, firmly, crossing his arms to try and convey just how much he wanted to enact this impromptu plan of his. Chunji sighed, rolling his eyes, not saying anything one way or the other.

He grabbed their food, passing it straight over to L. Joe, who was waiting for it. Drinks and Bag of food safely inside the car, they left, Chunji making his way back to the beach, wordlessly. He parked in the parking lot, the streetlight about 20 metres away, barely able to light the interior of the car.

Sure enough, the horizon before them was pitch black, and it was impossible to tell where sky and sea met. The sound of waves crashing couldn't be heard in the small car, and there didn't appear to be anyone else around.

All in all, it felt like a bit of a waste of time coming there. Why did L. Joe say that he wanted them to come here of all places?

But the younger boy looked pleased, childishly diving into the back-seat of Chunji's car, putting the seat back as far as it would go, to make a ramp into the back seat. He set their food and drinks on the seat behind Chunji, who locked the car doors, not wanting to have to worry about someone getting into the car, because of his thoughtlessness.

L. Joe returned, tugging at the jacket Chunji was wearing, tugging at his sleeves, seeking to undo his mother's hard work from a few hours previous. He even tugged a few of his top buttons undone, in his attempts to make Chunji loosen up and relax. He laughed, slipping out of his shoes as he struggled out of the driver's seat and into the back of the car, to join L. Joe and his food.

He immediately dived into his chips, observing as the younger boy started fiddling with his burger instead. There was a piece of lettuce resting on the top bun of his burger, and he flicked it away with a horrified look on his face, making Chunji cackle. “I didn't know that you don't like lettuce” he commented, amused.

“I like lettuce. That isn't lettuce. It's some sort of plastic that McDonalds tries to pass off as lettuce. But they're not fooling me” he stated, as he took a massive bite out of his burger. “You're paranoid. Is that why you were worried I'd ordered you a Big Mac?”

“No. That's because that sauce is nasty.” L. Joe replied, taking another bite out of his burger. Chunji took one look at the burger meat but forced himself to look away so he wouldn't feel sick. “You want to talk nasty. Just look at your own burger. How can you eat that you weirdo? You don't even have any chips!” he exclaimed, outraged.

“I do too. They may be a small, but that doesn't mean that they're non-existent.” L. Joe retorted, taking even larger bites out of his burger now, in an effort to finish faster. Whether that was because he thought Chunji was disgusted by his burger, and so he was trying to get rid of it faster, or because his ravenous hunger had caught up with him, Chunji couldn't be sure.

“The way McDonalds fills them up, they might as well be. Besides, no one eats a small chips, unless they come in your Happy Meal.” Chunji retorted. Pouting unhappily as he found that he'd finished his own chips, much more quickly then normal. He hadn't realised he was so hungry, but then again it was already 20 to 11, and despite what he'd tried to say earlier, he hadn't really eaten anything for dinner yet.

He took a deep sip of his drink, as L. Joe shuffled, trying to pull something out of his back pocket. He fished out his phone, pressing a few keys on it, clearly looking for something. Chunji wondered if the other boy had been texted by someone, feeling kind of disappointed that he'd taken out his phone during such an intimate moment between the two of them.

Not that anything particularly intimate was going on, of course.

Suddenly that bright screen was in front of his own face, and he scrunched up his eyes, reflexively, trying to stop himself from going blind from the brightness of the screen. Just what did L. Joe think he was doing.? They'd been sitting in near darkness for ages. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness. So he has to go shoving that darn phone in his face, now?

He pushed it away, glaring at L. Joe, though he still saw bright flashes of colour flitting about before his eyes, having stunned the rods and cones in his eyes for a moment. The younger boy, ignored the older boy's displeasure, pressing a button or two, causing music to come blaring out of the speaker.

It was muffled, and far too soft, such that the vocals were almost unintelligible, but he felt an instinctive tug at the noise. He might not be certain what it was, but he already liked it. He just allowed the sound to rumble around the car, as he started on his Big Mac, while L. Joe picked at his chips idly. Every now and again he'd eat one, but then an unmistakable half-grimace would mar his features.

It finished and he observed the other boy, expectantly. When L. Joe made no move to say anything, still picking at his chips, he sighed, “So what was that?” L. Joe's eyes immediately raising to meet his. “Did you like it?” he returned, clearly unwilling to answer until he heard what Chunji had to say to him first.

“It sounded cool.” Chunji said, nodding slightly, eyes raising to meet L. Joe's, from where they'd drifted down to his drink, so that he could take another sip. “What was it?” he repeated, certain that this time he'd get a response from the other boy. L. Joe looked relieved, shuffling slightly, as an embarrassed smile overtook his face, as he toyed with his own small drink. “A song CAP and I made about a week ago.”

“Eh? You made a song?” Chunji questioned, amazed. He'd never known anyone that had made music before. It probably took a long time to make something like that. He didn't realise that CAP and L. Joe spent so much time together, without him around. Suddenly, he felt kind of left out.

“No need to make such a big deal about it. The wonders of music programs. CAP has one on his computer. He helped me make that song, when we were messing around.” L. Joe explained, eyes resting on Chunji's form, intently. “I'd intended on giving it to you as a goodbye present, so I'm happy you liked it.”

Chunji could feel his eyes already b with tears. This was it. This was their goodbye. L. Joe had made it special and private and intimate. He'd probably let him cry, if he wanted to. He'd done it like this, so that Chunji wouldn't have to mask his emotions. But it was still him saying that he was going; that he was about to walk out of Chunji's life, just as easily as he'd walked into it in the first place.

He tried to swallow the raw lump of hurt in his throat, wanting to say something more than anything, so L. Joe wouldn't get suspicious. He really didn't want to cry, he didn't want L. Joe to realise just how much he meant to him. He wanted to be strong, and handle their goodbye like the mature, adult he was.

He thought he could feel a tear or two trickling down his round cheeks, but he couldn't bring himself to wipe them away, knowing that although L. Joe might realise he was distraught if he saw them, that he'd definitely know if he tried to brush them aside. “I didn't bring it for you” he commented lightly, as though he weren't leaving, and this whole conversation wasn't really happening, and it wasn't hurting Chunji's feelings more, with every extra word; every breath he was able to take, after saying he was leaving

It wasn't fair that he should be the only one suffering.

“Is that so? Well we can always pick it up later, I suppose.” Chunji murmured, knowing his voice had come out more hoarse than it usually did, because of the sadness, he was trying to swallow.

L. Joe's eyes flashed, taking him in immediately. He made no attempts to move closer, or stop his tears, just looking at the older boy, before reclining back into the corner of his seat, turning himself so that he was half-facing Chunji as he spoke. “I'm not going back.”

Chunji froze, wondering if he'd imagined L. Joe's words. If he'd conjured them up out of his own desperate desire not to have to say goodbye tonight. Or tomorrow. Or ever. “Seriously?” he questioned, voice hushed, not daring to hope that he'd heard him correctly.
 

L. Joe nodded, a small smirk coming over his features. “I'm staying in Korea. I'm going to go to university here. I don't want to go back to America anymore” he stated, calmly, delighting in the way Chunji's eyes lit up with joy at his words. He'd hoped that Chunji would want him to stay.

“I... Promise?” Chunji questioned, not sure what he should say to the news, too happy to really be able to formulate anything he could possibly say. “Promise.” L. Joe agreed, tilting his head, slightly as though he were bowing to show his agreement.

“Where are you going to go? What are you going to study?” Chunji questioned quickly, his mind finally clicking back into gear. L. Joe shrugged, helplessly. “I don't know. I was kind of hoping you'd help me decide.”

“You seriously hadn't considered what you'd be studying?” Chunji questioned, disbelievingly.

“Well until a few days ago, I thought I'd be going back to America to attend university, now didn't I?” he retorted.

“And you didn't think you'd have to decide what you'd be studying there?” Chunji pressed, unable to believe that L. Joe could behave so thoughtlessly. But all he did in return was shrug.

“Well, university can be very jarring if you don't have any friends with you. With both me and CAP attending the same university, maybe you should consider joining us, so you've got some friends on campus with you?” Chunji suggested. L. Joe gave him this considering look, before he responded. “But you and CAP are in completely different degrees; different faculties. What would I study?”

“Business.” Chunji said, with a sharp nod. He sounded so sure of his answer. “Are you sure about that?” L. Joe pushed. “But you said you enjoyed Economics, so I just figured...” Chunji stated, sounding doubtful, now that L. Joe was questioning him on it. He hadn't really thought about his answer before he'd spoken, and now L. Joe was making him doubt himself.

“Yes but if you'll recall, you started extolling the virtues of History to me in that same conversation. You might have converted me... Tell me something to do with History you know, teach me. Let me see what I could be finding out about instead.” L. Joe demanded, reclining backwards, using the headrest of the passenger seat as his own personal footrest.

Chunji froze, panic setting in a little, at L. Joe's demand. “You can't just say something like that. I've learned about all sorts of things, but I don't remember them at the drop of a hat. Besides, I don't even know what you want to know” he spluttered.

“I want to know something I don't know already. I want to know something I've never heard of. Tell me a story, Chunji. Something you remember; something you enjoyed.” L. Joe returned, eyes softening as he observed the older boy, who, was now thoughtfully sipping at his drink, the remnants of his burger long since discarded in favour of conversation.

He bit the straw thoughtfully, trying to think of a story L. Joe wouldn't have heard. He'd been learning a lot about Asia these days. L. Joe would've heard all of that stuff already. He wanted something new. He tried to think back further, he tried to grasp at some tale from his Western history classes, but nothing stood out as a particularly extraordinary tale. Nothing seemed worthy of being told to L. Joe.

But he didn't want to disappoint.

The pressure got to him, and so he felt his cheeks warming as his gaze drifted over to L. Joe “Ah, I don't really know anything you'd be interested in hearing about” he stated apologetically. He felt like he was letting himself down. L. Joe was giving him a perfect opportunity to impress him with his knowledge of history, and his brain had seized up refusing to work. He couldn't recall having learned about anything. Ever.

L. Joe pouted lightly, but he didn't hold onto the matter. He knew he'd probably made Chunji uncomfortable, putting him on the spot like that. He'd only really been intending on teasing the other boy anyway. Besides, now that he was staying in Korea, he'd have plenty of opportunities to find out more about what Chunji learned about. He'd have years ahead of him, yet. “Oh well. It serves me right for teasing you.”

“Teasing me?” Chunji queried, confused.

L. Joe nodded, explaining “I had already decided on the course I'd be studying and my university. I just wanted to see what you thought I should do; see how well you knew me.” Chunji gave him a light shove, playing with his straw, as he gazed up at the other boy hopefully, “So, did I pass?”

L. Joe smiled, nodding again. “Are you really going to come to my university? Really?” Chunji persisted, cackling with delight and kicking his legs childishly when L. Joe nodded again.

“Where are you going to stay? With your mum?” Chunji questioned, eyeing the other boy uncertainly. He didn't really know why he was asking, or why he couldn't breathe as he waited anxiously for L. Joe's answer.

“I suppose so. But then again, I might come live with you.” he joked, making Chunji smile. L. Joe didn't need to know just how much his heart soared at the prospect of living together. But then he chided himself, he was still older than L. Joe after all. Old enough for living together to be creepy; for them being together to be unseemly. Everyone would probably be horrified at him, for preying on such a young, impressionable boy.

Though he had to scoff at the idea of anyone trying to describe L. Joe as impressionable. He was the most stubborn person he'd ever met. He didn't think it was physically possible to impress anything on L. Joe.

“Why did you change your mind?” Chunji questioned, biting his lip softly, wondering why he kept asking questions he wasn't sure he wanted the answers to. L. Joe eyed him for a moment, clearly weighing something up in his mind, before he answered. “My priorities have changed.”

But then he shuffled about, returning to the front of the car to play with his iPod docking station. Chunji had to force himself to look away when L. Joe's backside passed right in front of his eyes. He felt like such a ert, and yet he didn't really regret looking all the same. Surely L. Joe must've known that he'd be giving Chunji a birds eye view of his rear, and if he did it any way, wasn't he implicitly giving his permission for Chunji to look?

“Now stop asking me questions and show me how to use this damn thing.” L. Joe demanded, irately, Chunji laughing as he leaned over the back of the driver's seat to help L. Joe get the music working.