Chunji's energy and enthusiasm had only grown in recent weeks, and L. Joe suspected that he knew the reason why. They should start receiving notifications for their second assessment task in all their subjects soon. Chunji still tried to deny his obvious feelings for CAP, but after spending so much effort trying to deny it, even after Niel had confirmed it for him and everything he'd witnessed, proved fruitless. L. Joe knew too much to be able to believe Chunji's lies about it. And thanks to Niel, he could say that he also knew that those feelings played into his approach to his studies this year.

Which meant that he knew the reason Chunji was getting so excited about the thought of getting their second assessment task soon. His results from the first task, seemed like a shining beacon of hope for him; validating his beliefs about his own ability to accomplish his goals. They urged him to strive even harder for the second task; to keep things looking this good. They were proof that he could succeed in his plan, and reassured him that by the end of the year, CAP would have fallen for him, for his perseverance and his intellect.

The knowledge that Chunji got so happy for something like this, always made L. Joe unhappy. He wanted to have the heart to tell Chunji that his plans would never work; because CAP simply didn't like him, but he knew any efforts on his part to convince Chunji of that fact would be useless. Chunji wanted to believe it so badly, that nothing he could say would convince him to give up; only to try harder.

When their English teacher handed out the notification for their next assessment, Chunji was practically squealing in glee, as he tried to absorb the task. His focused gaze on the sheet of paper was so intense, that L. Joe kind of expected it to burst into flames. His face lit up in an excited grin, as he mumbled an unrestrained chorus of “Yes! Yes! Yes!” as he read the task outline, realising that he knew exactly what to do for this task. Rejoicing to himself, he dropped the sheet of paper, in favour of seeking out his notebook again, wriggling in his own personal victory dance in his seat.

L. Joe just rolled his eyes at the boy's antics, even as they made him smile. It wasn't his fault that watching Chunji react to the task was so amusing. It wasn't his fault he found Chunji funny. Although he was really starting to wish that he could see Chunji like that, over something that wasn't related to CAP in any way.

Though that was a pretty big ask.

He really should be grateful that Chunji was even talking to him after what he'd said the day before. He was fairly certain that Chunji had planned out some method of murdering him afterwards. He'd been looking over his shoulder for the entire trip home, convinced that Chunji was planning on jumping him when he least expected it. He'd been cursing at him something awful, but the thought only made L. Joe smile now. It seemed incomprehensible that he could ever manage to be afraid of Chunji when the other boy was radiating such pure joy, as he was right now.

L. Joe wanted to speak to him, but he was still trying to decide if he'd make one of his usual teasing remarks about Chunji's reaction to getting an assessment, or if he should say something more friendly, to try and ease any residual tensions Chunji might've had about the last time he'd . Before he could make a decision one way or the other, however, he was interrupted. “Hey, Chanhee, could I speak with you for a moment?” a low voice rumbled, somehow still audible to both boys from across the other side of the room, despite the chatter of their classmates.

Chunji's eyes immediately grew wide, a breathless “Sure” passing between his lips, though L. Joe had a sneaking suspicion that he might've been the only one to hear it. Despite being a little embarrassing, there was nothing wrong with that, as the accompanying rapid nod of his head, removed any doubts as to what his answer might've been. “Excuse me, L. Joe. I'll be right back.” he mumbled, shock still outweighing his excitement over what was happening.

He slid out of his seat, walking over to join CAP and find out what the other boy wanted. Whatever else was shared between them, was lost due to the soft volume they spoke in, so L. Joe was left the only one with no idea what was going on. Chunji quickly scurried back, his cheeks having turned a rosy pink, as he hurriedly attempted to gather his exercise book and a pen.

He looked like he was in a daze. If L. Joe didn't say something to him; he'd never know what was going on. He'd probably forgotten that he even existed. “What're you doing?” he asked, not sure if he was really expecting Chunji to answer him or not. His words seemed to jolt Chunji out of his trance-like state, and a wide grin spread across his face, his eyes dancing with joy “Minsoo asked me to come sit with him for the rest of class. He wants to talk to me, can you believe it? I better go, I don't want to keep Minsoo waiting. I'll talk to you later, ok?” quickly turning on his heel, to pace back over to CAP.

L. Joe stayed where he was sitting, observing the pair with confusion. CAP was all smiles as he looked at Chunji, but Chunji seemed so nervous, he could only return the looks half-heartedly. CAP kept whispering into his ear, and he was pretty sure that he wasn't the only one who noticed the way Chunji's cheeks flamed at the closeness. They were clearly talking about something, Chunji more so than CAP from the looks of things, but CAP was radiating that friendly charm he's with L. Joe since the first day they'd met.

The sudden change of behaviour made him wary. He couldn't be sure of what was going on, but he just knew there had to be something up. CAP had been complaining about Chunji only the other day; he was always going off at L. Joe for being friends with him, putting the other boy down. He always made him out to be a horrible person, claimed that there was nothing interesting or noteworthy about him, and how he thought L. Joe was wasting both his time and his affection on the other boy by being his friend.

So why was CAP now acting friendly with Chunji?

He could already tell that it would be all the other boy could talk about when he saw him the following day. He would hopefully get some time alone with CAP in Music the next day, before he had to listen to Chunji though. As much as he would prefer working with Chunji, he knew he'd have to push those desires aside. He was supposed to be Chunji's inside man; he was supposed to keep an eye on the other boy's relationship with CAP. If he was suspicious about this sudden change, then he couldn't in good conscience, just ignore his instincts on the matter. He needed to know what CAP was trying to do; so he could look out for him, and protect him if CAP was trying to hurt him.

He really hoped that wasn't the case, because he had no idea what he could say that would convince Chunji to forget about the other boy if his intentions really were sinister. He sighed, deciding that now that he was sitting alone, he really did have nothing better to do than to read the assessment task.

Did Chunji ever feel this lonely when L. Joe went off with CAP?