Chapter 1/3

Yoo Youngjae thought of himself as a normal 17 year old boy, sometimes he would even say young man. But if you ask any other student in his year, or anyone in the whole school for that matter, no one would agree. They all saw him as different. Different in some kind of way that Youngjae never bothered to find out. Because really, why should he? If he was the only lonesome person in the whole world, or maybe except for his mom, who thought of him as normal, then so be it.

In school, he was the lonely boy. The one everyone knew existed yet determined to ignore; which might seem like a strange thing, after all how can you be invisible and visible at the same time. He guessed that everyone knew of him because he always made it to top 3 in the school’s test rankings. So Yoo Youngjae would describe himself as smart, not Einstein-smart or anything like that, but just a tiny winy bit above average. And that’s normal. Many people are smart. So why other students would send him death glares the moment he said it was something he still could not comprehend. He was just admitting something they all said over and over again. He never meant it as if he was superior to everyone else, which they would know, if they knew him. Maybe that’s the problem…no one really does know him.

He did make an effort to make some friends for a while, but shortly gave up when it became apparent that his effort was all in vain. People did just not like him and they were all more than happy to point that out to him. They would all say he should be able to read the moment, what is appropriate to say and what is not or just keep his opinions to himself and shut up. They all asked him to change. He made an annoyed sound at the thought of that. Change? Tsk, yeah right…

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Youngjae went to his seat by the window, opened and roamed around in his backpack for the notebook he had with great care named ‘Math’. Suddenly, the classroom was filled with girly shrieks and running steps. He looked up and to his non-surprise found Jung Daehyun walking through the door. Youngjae felt the strong urge to roll his eyes, but thought it more wisely to contain himself.

“Oppa, I made a cheesecake for the first time. Will you have it?” Miyoung, the girl with round glasses said as she handed Daehyun a ribboned box.

Youngjae watched as Daehyun flashed his usual gentle smile and accepted the gift. “Thank you,” he said shyly.

“Daehyun oppa, you missed history class yesterday. Do you want to borrow my notes?” Haru, the most popular girl of their year asked sweetly. Before Daehyun got transferred to their school she paid no attention to any guy in the class but she was now brushing her hair of her shoulder and fluttered her eyelashes shamelessly.

 “It’s fine,” the moon-shaped twinkling eyes of our school’s own Wonbin, made the girls swoon. “I already copied Soyeon’s notes, but thank you anyway.” For one millisecond the shrieking squeals stopped and heads turned to Soyeon, who quickly looked down at her desk, hiding her blushing face from deathly glares.

Then of course the daily worship to the great Jung Daehyun went on again, right until the precise second the teacher set his foot into the room. Youngjae opened his notebook and while he waited for the class to start he glanced over at the boy who was now arranging pretty gifts under his desk, forcing them to fit inside. Jung Daehyun was the new kid in town, in fact they live in the same area and ran into each other occasionally on the subway, but they have never spoken a word to each other. Not that he really cared, after all, he did not really have a good impression of the prince charming and he was sure it was a mutual thing.

Jung Daehyun, the one with large eyes, perfect nose and full lips .The one who spoke in perfect Seoul accent despite having just moved here from the country; he practically had every female student and teacher wrapped round his finger. He was a very quiet person, but his fans did not mind that and only thought it made him more mysterious and dreamy. The male students however, tended to stay away, either because of jealousy or simply because they disliked him.

As if sensing eyes on him, Daehyun turned his head towards the seats by the windows. Youngjae caught his eyes and held them for a moment; he snorted more at himself than at the other and tore his eyes away. In the reflection on the window he could see that Daehyun’s intense stare was on him still, but paid no attention to it. The eyes were gone the moment the teacher cleared his throat, signalising that class has started.

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Youngjae closed his book, a bit too violently for any booklovers taste and turned off the lamp by his desk. He had been studying for three hours straight since he got home and decided to take a well-deserving break. Youngjae reached for his backpack and searched for his mp3-player, right now he just wanted to put his earphones on and disappear into his own world where there was no school, no homework and no pressure.

He felt slightly panicked when he felt nothing in the pocket it use to lie in. He went over to his bed, turned the bag upside down and shook, papers, pencils and notebooks flew all over across the bed but no blue mp3-player was in sight. The bag landed harshly on the floor as Youngjae let out a loud and frustrated groan. He sank to the floor, closed his eyes and carefully went through all the possible places he could have put it, then a flash of his hand putting the device in his desk at school crossed by his eyes. He let out another groan when he realized that he had to go back to school to fetch it or wait until tomorrow. After a few minutes of consideration he got up and grabbed his jacket. “Some fresh air wouldn’t hurt,” he muttered as he walked down the stair. “Mom, I forgot something at school! I’m going to get it!” he shouted and went through the front door not bothered to wait for her reply.

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School was practically empty, students usually stayed behind to study but it was now close to dinner time so they’ve all gone home. With hurried steps, Youngjae went in the direction to his home-classroom. He was about to enter when a male’s voice from the inside stopped him.

“Aish, what’s this!? Cheesecake!? Tastes more like sour milk!” Youngjae was taken aback by the person’s heavy accent and tried to recall anyone with such a dialect in his year, but found none. “Uh, I’m so hungry! If they are going to give me presents, at least give me something edible! Argh, this is so frustrating!”

Youngjae looked round the corner and to his surprise found an irritated-looking Jung Daehyun in the room. He watched as Daehyun took another experimental bite of a cake from the box he recognized from math class. The grimace on Daehyun’s face expressed his obvious thoughts of it. After that last bite, he closed the box and threw it harshly on the desk. The box glided over the smooth surface of the table and finally ended up on the floor with a thump. “They are always flocking around me. Tsk, one would think they have never seen a guy before. Aish…” he ran a hand through his hair and ruffled it in annoyance.

Youngjae steeped into the room as he decided that he shouldn't be in hiding anymore and contemplated why he was hiding in first place. While inside, he felt somewhat obligated to make his presence known and therefore, audibly cleared his throat.

Daehyun turned around swiftly upon hearing the sound and Youngjae could tell that he was surprised to find out that there was someone else there aside from him.

Youngjae, hurried over to his bench, lifted the lid and grabbed his mp3-player and headphones. He would have felt content with himself,  to have correctly guessed were they were if it weren’t for the pair of eyes he knew was staring at him intently. He was set to just exit the room and head home, ignoring the other boy completely. However when he passed the cake box on the floor, he unconsciously bent down and picked it up.

Daehyun got up on his feet in record time, “Oh, uhm…about that...” his frown was now replaced by the characteristic gentle smile and the Seoul accent was back on, “you see…I —“

“Ouit it,” said Youngjae, and their eyes met. “I don’t really care who you are or try to be round the girls. But right now, it’s nauseating.” He lifted the box towards Daehyun and waited for him to take it.

Daehyun’s gaze shifted from Youngjae’s face to the box and then up to Youngjae again in a thoughtful manner. Eventually, he reached out for the box and took it.

Youngjae realized that the gentle and shy smile generously handed to everyone was not one of Daehyun’s characteristics, because then what would the smirk now playing on his lips be?

“I guess I should say thank you?” said Daehyun in his Busan accent, still wearing that smug grin.

Youngjae just rolled his eyes and turned to leave.

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He was by the entrance when a loud voice echoed through the empty halls, “Yah! You are going to leave just like that!?” Youngjae turned around and saw Daehyun running towards him still yelling, “I know that you know we live in the same area! Seriously, you have no manners at all!”

They were now standing face to face and Youngjae could not help but look at the other in confusion. “What are you on?” he murmured, and raised an eyebrow in question.

“Me?” Daehyun’s face twitched slightly in annoyance. “You were the one who just rudely left. Aish, since we are going in the same direction, couldn’t you wait a bit for me? Would getting to the subway 2 minutes earlier earn you money? Argh, really…” muttered Daehyun, as he proceeded through the door.

Youngjae was still at loss. No one had ever said so much to him, not to mention during such a short amount of time. The one who barely spoke before now spoke so much and fast that he found it hard to follow. The accent made Daehyun’s voice sound deeper and Youngjae has to admit that it sounded somewhat petrifying.

“Yah!” Youngjae jumped slightly and was pulled away from his thoughts. Daehyun was about 20 meters ahead and was once again screaming at him. “Are you kidding me!? First you put off in a hurry like you just robbed a bank, and now are like…slower than a turtle to the water! Oh, wait, at least they move. What are you just standing there for!?” to express his irritation more clearly, Daehyun’s foot stomped to the ground, “Hurry!”

Youngjae started to feel a headache build up and just wanted to get home as soon as possible. “Really, who are you?” he asked when reached his classmate from Busan.

Daehyun smirked at the question, “Are you stupid?” he asked, in an incredulous manner.

“Well, excuse me for wondering, but your split personality is actually kind of hard to keep up to,” Youngjae spat as he was getting annoyed. “Right now, who are you right now?” he continued.

“Me! Right now I’m me, Jung Daehyun!” Daehyun made a sound in the back of his throat, “Done? What now? Are we supposed to shake hands and bow to each other as well?” Daehyun grabbed Youngjae’s hand, shook it firmly and said in a harsh tone: “Happy? Oh wait…nice to meet you.”

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Thank you for you time!

Ivy