Taemin waited by the doors of the gym. His guts tightened from the nervousness and Taemin plopped down on one of the benches in the hall, shaking his legs unconsciously. A group of boys came out from the gym and Taemin stood up sharply, but sat back down after discovering that their uniforms weren’t the gray soccer ones. Taemin brought his hands to his head. His head hurt. So did his lips and so did his hand.

The volleyball and the basketball team passed by during the thirty minutes Taemin waited but there was no sign of Jongin anywhere. Honestly, when Taemin traced all of this back, “this” had happened because Soojung had called on Taemin to thank him for acting like her new boyfriend, which Taemin did, for the sake of Jongin. Hence the cause of this all would actually be Kim Jongin. Taemin raged silently. How could Jongin beat him up for doing him a favour?! As Taemin grumbled soundlessly took his anger out on the floor, the door opened at that moment and the soccer team showed up. A guy that Taemin knew as one of the forward positions came out first, discovered Taemin, stuck his head back between the doors and yelled.

“Kim Jongin, your boyfriend is here!”

Then he skipped down the hallway. Taemin’s face dropped to his palms. Everybody in Paran High seemed to his enemy, or a secret nemesis planted by the evil Jung Soojung. The door opened again and a group of boys rushed out this time, talking and laughing loudly. Jongin was among them. He was taller than his average friends and had changed back into his uniform shirt so Taemin could spot his (ex)friend easily. Taemin hastily got up to his feet and Jongin looked at him. Taemin had no idea why his back was damp with sweat or why his heart pounded so hard; he was innocent after all.

The boys walked down the hallway to where Taemin was standing. Taemin could hear them talking about the game and making inappropriate jokes among themselves.  Unlike the plan that Taemin simulated a hundred times in his head, Taemin just stood there. He couldn’t go up to Jongin and confront him and clear out all the misunderstandings between them.

He had never seen Jongin look so cold. To be more specific, Taemin didn’t know Jongin could look at someone so coldly. And he had never imagined that someone to be him. As if Taemin didn’t exist, Jongin brushed past him. A couple of friends in the soccer team that recognized Taemin looked back and forth between him and  Jongin, surprised and confused at Jongin’s blatant ignore. Roughly fixing his uniform tie on his shirt, Jongin continued down the stairs and his fellow teammates scurried after him, shooting Taemin an apologetic smile. Taemin blankly stared at his feet.

He was ignored.
Jongin ignored him.
, and it felt like .

***

By the time Taemin woke up from his daze and left the school building, the orange sky had turned to an opaque blue. A veil of pitch darkness greeted Taemin when he opened the door to his house. Taemin let out a heavy sigh and overturned the plastic bag full of chocolates he bought on the way home. He picked one up and plopped down on the couch. He could only breathe when the TV filled the bare house with some nerve-easing noise. The bright flashes on the screen brightened the dark room and Taemin turned his head to see the unlit kitchen. All the other homes’ living rooms and kitchens outside the windows were brightly lit. Taemin threw the remote and let his body fall on the cold leather couch. He never thought that Jongin’s cold eyes could affect him this much.

Taemin doesn’t find this situation all that unfamiliar. He was sitting alone in the dark living room like this too when he watched his mom leave. Taemin closed his eyes.

By the time he opened his eyes again, the neon numbers of the digital clock was telling him that it was past ten. Nothing had changed during the time though, the room was still dark and quiet. Taemin sat up straight and dialed his sister.

“What?”

Answered Jieun with an annoyed voice.

“Where are you?”
“Outside.”
“Hurry home.”
“Why? Something wrong?”
“………….Yes, something is wrong! It’s past ten, what the hell is a young lady doing outside so late at night… hey!! Lee Jieun!!!”

The ending dial tone of the call cut Taemin off. Cussing in irritation, Taemin threw the phone to his side and walked up to his window. Taemin bopped his head against the veranda window and rubbed the frosty glass with his good hand. The small circle he drew became bigger and bigger as he continued circling on the window with his fingers, and Taemin noticed a figure lingering outside his house through the clear circle. Taemin’s fingers stopped movin