The whole English class was gathered around one of the walls, upon which was posted the raw marks of every student in the grade for the first essay. Chunji couldn't help but crow excitedly to himself as he observed his own mark, clapping excitedly.

He'd been finding out his marks all day, and his grades were good. He was right on track; he'd passed the first hurdle without any problems. It felt like a major victory, even as he tried to remind himself that it was only the beginning. There would still be a lot of tasks after this one. But he was currently the first person in every academic class he was taking this year.

That meant, odds were good, that he was currently the person ranked number 1 in their grade after their first assessments in their last year of high school. The thought of such early success with his plans made him excited. It felt like his tiredness and perfectionism regarding his work, had all paid off.

He knew he was onto something with all his planning. He knew that it was just this sort of controlled approach that he needed to beat his competition. L. Joe's arms wrapped around Chunji's waist in a congratulatory hug. He was in such a good mood, he didn't even get annoyed about the fact that L. Joe was touching him; simply returning the hug, with equal warmth and joy.

Chunji hadn't hovered around the wall like some of the other students had, quickly returning to his desk and pulling out that infamous notebook of his again. He was scribbling stuff on a new page, which closer inspection revealed to be calculations. He was working out what his raw grade meant his score was; working out the differences between him and his nearest competition in each subject.

L. Joe frowned at the obsessive nature of his behaviour, but then shrugged it off. He was used to Chunji behaving weirdly. But when he heard the other boy, discreetly mumbling about how everything was going according to plan, he became intrigued.

What plan was he referring to? Chunji had said that he cared about his grades because he wanted to get into a good university. Was he actually being a lot more particular about where he wanted to go, than he'd let on? Or was there some other plan involving his marks that he was talking about?

Given how reluctant Chunji was to tell him about his plan in the first place, he had a feeling that Chunji wouldn't be the one to tell him what this plan of his actually was. That meant there was only one other person that L. Joe could ask. Niel. He and Niel were pretty close, so hopefully Niel would explain what plan Chunji had been referring to.

He waited until they were in Art class the next day, knowing that he'd be able to pose his question to Niel directly, without having to worry about Chunji overhearing or interrupting their conversation. “Hey, when we got our grades back in English yesterday, Chunji made an odd remark. Can you please explain what he meant when he said that his good mark was going according plan?” he asked.

Niel was in the middle of copying out some notes on Art Theory, but he didn't so much as look at L. Joe as he answered. “Chunji's determined to come first in the grade this year. Last year, he got absolutely creamed by this girl, Minyoung. He's adamant that he wants to beat her this year.”

“Minyoung?” L. Joe questioned, the name unfamiliar to both his tongue and his ear. He didn't think he had encountered any girls in their grade with that name, but he could very easily have been mistaken, he supposed. Niel nodded, absent-mindedly, as he scribbled out a word, that he'd evidently misspelled.

“This girl in our grade. I think she might be in your Geography class. She's kind of tall, with short blonde hair, she dyed it two months ago, and her regrowth is starting to show. She'd be the one answering like 90% of questions your teacher asks.” Niel explained, frowning as he struggled to make his pen work, the ink apparently having run momentarily dry. L. Joe considered Niel's words very hard before recalling the girl that did that. “Ah! I think I know who you mean. She kicks her feet excitedly whenever she gets a question right?”

Niel nodded, with a slight laugh, “Yeah that's the one.” Niel confirmed, eyes trained on the page before him. “Why would Chunji care so much about beating Minyoung?” L. Joe questioned, feeling kind of suspicious about the whole matter.

Niel shrugged, mumbling something only semi-intelligible as he hurriedly scrambled another few lines, in the hopes of avoiding losing the notes, when their teacher ran out of room in a few sentences time. “I dunno... something about wanting to get into university and needing to beat her score to get in. He really wanted to come first in English last year, but she beat him on the first essay and he could never make up the extra marks he needed. He's bent on beating her this time around.” he explained.

L. Joe frowned at Niel's statement, hearing two completely different explanations for why he'd want to beat Minyoung in the other boy's words. At first, he thought maybe he'd misunderstood, but then he recalled how reluctant Chunji had been to talk to him about any of this in the first place. About the only thing he'd ever seen Chunji get defensive about was....

“Does it have anything to do with him and CAP?” L. Joe prodded. Niel's head immediately bobbed up, observing him, wide-eyed. He fluttered his eyelashes a few times, startled by the question; clearly trying to gauge whether L. Joe really knew what he was talking about, or if he was just fishing around for information.

L. Joe kept his face blank, and Niel seemed to relax slightly, his hand resting against his chest, probably feeling his heart pounding beneath the skin. “I didn't realise he told you about that.” Niel admitted, letting out a relieved laugh. “Ah, and here I thought I was going to have to walk on eggshells around you for the rest of the year, hoping you wouldn't find out. Though I must say it isn't exactly in Chunji's nature to be so.... open with someone.” Niel commented, sending a slightly hesitant gaze L. Joe's way, as though he still weren't a hundred percent convinced that L. Joe was aware of the situation.

L. Joe ducked his head, almost bashfully, “Well, I'm glad. Here I was thinking it was just me that he had it in for all this time.” But Niel shook his head energetically. “No way. Chunji's kind of.... let's just say he isn't very good at making friends.” L. Joe nodded, “I figured as much.”

“So how did you find out then?” Niel asked, curious. “I sort of guessed it, you know watching the way he acted and that. But officially he still hasn't confirmed it for me. But I mean with all the looks, and the fact that he keeps getting me to act as his loudspeaker I just assumed...” L. Joe explained, trailing off. Niel sent him an odd look, “Why would Chunji use you as his loudspeaker?”

“You mean he hasn't been complaining about it all this time?” L. Joe questioned, amazed. Niel shrugged a slightly guilty look plastered to his face. “He might've been, I'm not sure. I tend to block him out whenever he mentions CAP's name. So spill!” he demanded. “I get this impression that CAP likes me. He's always inviting me to hang out with him and his friends, and gets me to sit with them sometimes in Music or English. He seems pretty intent on talking to me, so Chunji keeps trying to get me to talk him up to CAP, in the hopes that he'll like him more.” L. Joe explained. Niel dead panned at that explanation, “Chunji really is terrible at keeping his feelings a secret, isn't he?”

L. Joe wanted to refute it, he wanted to be able to say that Chunji wasn't bad, that he was just very perceptive. But Chunji was very bad, even if he himself was also quite perceptive. “Yes well....” L. Joe trailed off, awkwardly making Niel laugh. “Anyway, you didn't explain why Chunji's really so determined to beat Minyoung this year.” he prodded.

“Oh that. Minoyung is CAP's off-and-on girlfriend. Thing was that the two of them only started going out after she beat Chunji and came first in our grade. So Chunji got this idea into his head that if he could beat Minyoung, then CAP would become interested in him instead. CAP has always said that the reason he started going out with Minyoung, was because she was so smart, and everybody knew it: that it was her intelligence that attracted him. That's why Chunji's so convinced that his little plan is going to win CAP over.” Niel explained. L. Joe cringed at the news. He just knew there was something strange about Chunji's plans.

It saddened him to think that Chunji was throwing so much energy into his studies in the hopes that CAP would pay attention to him. CAP had a bad opinion of him, without ever really getting to know him. CAP had never bothered trying to get to know him. It was such a waste for Chunji to try so hard for someone like that; who didn't care and never would. But then, in a way it was kind of his fault too.

If he had the heart to tell Chunji exactly what CAP thought of him, then maybe it would convince Chunji to give up. As painful as that would be, at least it'd save him from the inevitable disappointment of keeping this up for a whole year, only to be left heartbroken for his efforts.

But then again, knowing Chunji, it was just as likely to spur him on.

- -

L. Joe grinned to himself, as he observed their surroundings. He'd been pondering over Niel's news for some time, trying to work out when he should inform Chunji about it. He'd been looking forward to the thought of finally revealing to Chunji that he'd received confirmation that he had feelings for CAP.

He just knew that Chunji's reaction was going to be priceless.

But it was all a matter of timing. He wanted to be able to get every scrap of enjoyment he could out of revealing it to him, and so he'd been waiting. He'd wait as long as he had to for the perfect opportunity to reveal his little secret.

And here it was, at last.

They were in P.E. again. When he'd been planning it out, L. Joe had figured this would be the only suitable time to tell Chunji what he knew. He didn't have any classes with the other boy in the morning, and it would be mean for him to bring it up in a class they shared, where CAP could overhear them.

He wasn't that mean, regardless of what Chunji thoguht.

That only left lunchtimes and P.E. Considering the fact that he sat with both Chunji and Niel, he had a feeling that he shouldn't mention it then. Niel would probably kill him if he told Chunji right in front of him. He didn't want to cause a fight between them, he just wanted to make fun of Chunji a little.

Hence, he was left with no alternative but to wait for a good P.E. Time. Preferably one where there were no heavy or sharp implements with which he could attack him. Then their teacher was kind enough to inform them that they'd be playing volleyball that day.

Perfect.

The small number of students in their class, meant that the entire class got divided into two teams. Chunji and L. Joe were split up, so they were going to be against one another, but neither boy really cared. There wasn't any real opportunity to talk during team sports anyway. While the teacher was still dividing up the teams, L. Joe pressed in close to Chunji, whispering in his ear, “I know your secret.”

Chunji pulled away from him, no trace of fear in his eyes, as he regarded L. Joe puzzled. “What on earth are you talking about?” he questioned, sounding a little irate, but L. Joe ignored it. Chunji tended to talk to him in tones like that, whenever he knew CAP wasn't close enough to listen in on their conversations. He was used to the edge in his tone.

“You like CAP.” L. Joe stated proudly, feeling the smirk break out across his face before he saw any trace of recognition break out across Chunji's. Chunji looked as though he were about to argue with him, but he stopped, eyes widening comically. L. Joe laughed, quickly stepping round Chunji in order to join his team on the other side of the net, before the older boy could retaliate.

He watched as Chunji's cheeks flamed, as he stepped into position, in a daze, as the game began. He chuckled to himself, only half-paying attention to the game, more interested in what Chunji was going to do now that he'd just told him his shocking news.

He was right: Chunji's reaction was adorable. He wished he had a camera.

He had thought that Chunji would probably stop paying attention, making cute little gestures and expressions whenever the ball came close enough to break his concentration. Instead he was met with the sight of a slightly dazed gaze and darkly flushed cheeks.

But that reaction was gone almost as soon as it had arrived, his skin returning to its normal colour and his gaze honing in on the play of the game. Before L. Joe could try and guess the cause of Chunji's sudden attentiveness he noticed the way that Chunji drew back his arm, hurling the ball over the net so fast, that it nearly smacked him in the face. It would've too, if L. Joe hadn't ducked instinctively.

“Sorry L. Joe!” he sang out, but even from this distance he could see the amused tilt of his lips, even as his cheeks flamed, his eyes swirling with displeased emotions he could barely control. He shook his head, waving Chunji's apology off, unable to suppress his own grin at the thought of what Chunji had just done.

He'd known that he'd get a good response from Chunji, but he hadn't considered he might get a response as good as that. The boy always proved far more interesting than he'd thought possible.