~ Chapter Seven ~

The next Monday morning couldn't have been any more hectic for Chanyeol. He was woken up by the door bell ringing constantly and annoyingly loud banging on the door. Jongin arrived home at three wearing nothing but jeans, and just, jeans. Chanyeol had to call Kyungsoo over and help carry the drunk boy to his room to properly change him in proper clothing. The two extremely tired males then stayed up for the rest of the night to comfort Jongin and his hangover. Despite being very pissed with all the commotion Jongin was creating, they didn't want to make the tanned boy feel anymore worse because his headache was taking care of that quite nicely.

Kyungsoo ended up crashing on their sofa while Chanyeol somehow fell asleep on the kitchen floor holding some Advil and an empty glass of water in his hand. Jongin was tucked in his bed, hair all messed up and limbs hanging off the side due to the crazy night.

--

“You're grounded for a week. You got that?” Chanyeol glared while sending daggers at Jongin's head. The spent boy just groaned and stuffed his head deeper in his pillow. “I mean it Jongin, no more parties until Christmas brake,” Jongin swiftly turned his head to the standing Chanyeol with disbelief growing on his face.

“What?! Why not?” he asked loudly, flinching at the jolt of pain that stabbed at his head.

“Because you ing pissed me off this morning!” Chanyeol shot back, “School starts in like half an hour and I look like crap!” he huffed as he crossed his arms. Jongin peered at the tall boy in confusion.

“When have you ever cared about how you look?” he questioned as a grin danced across his face.

“I've always cared...” Chanyeol replied quicker than he should have. Jongin lightly chuckled at his action while a thought popped in his mind. Kyungsoo came walking in the room wearing his uniform with visible dark bags draping under his eyes.

“What's with all the shouting?” he asked as he glanced between Chanyeol and Jongin. Chanyeol unintentionally cleared his throat in embarrassment as Jongin carefully sat up and leaned his back against the bed rest.

“Well, it seems like Chan wants to look good for a certain girl at out school,” Jongin smirked as Chanyeol's eyes widened several centimeters.

“Really?!” Kyungsoo squealed with a big smile.

“No!” Chanyeol defended as he slightly stepped back to the door.

“Aw, look at that, our little Channie is embarrassed!” Jongin teased as Chanyeol shot him a glare.

“Shut up! I don't like her, okay?! Now stay in bed and don't talk!” Chanyeol explained as he marched out of Jongin's bedroom.

--

“Are you sure you don't like her?” Kyungsoo asked as he opened the front door of their school. Chanyeol tensed up at the sudden change in subject before quickly nodding in response. The two boys walked into the crowded halls of their schools. Many eyes, females to be more exact, eyed the handsome toned figures as they made their way to their lockers. “I don't know Chan, it seems to me like you may have a little crush on her,” Kyungsoo searched Chanyeol's face for any sign of blushing of some sort, but unfortunately, he wasn't.

“Kyung, I seriously don't like her,” Chanyeol stated as they passed a group of girls giggling at their sight.

“Oh come on! You must have some sort of feelings for her!” Kyungsoo whined.

“I don't! And why are you so curious?” Chanyeol questioned trailing off at the end of his sentence once he realized Chinsun's locker was just ahead. Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes at his friend before following his gaze and smirking. There she was, a couple paces down. She was taking her big black coat off, the one that Miss Kim had given them. She kneeled down on her knees and stuffed it at the bottom of her locker. Rising back to her feet, she pulled down her grey school sweater over her bum and dusted off her black plants. Unlike the other girls who ordered the short leg revealing skirts and tight shirts, Chinsun chose the other option that wasn't very favored by any of the females at their school. As they finally passed the oblivious girl, Kyungsoo chuckled as they reached Chanyeol's locker.

“That's the reason why I'm curious.” he spoke up as he leaned against the locker beside his friend's.

“What?” Chanyeol asked, snapping out of his reverie. Kyungsoo scoffed and shook his head in amusement.

“Even though she isn't the least bit attractive,” Chanyeol furrowed his brows at that, “and she's the complete opposite of social,” the tall boy opened his locker and stuffed his bag inside to distract the weird anger that was boiling in the pit of his stomach, “you seem to be interested in her.” Kyungsoo finished, easily taking account to all the reactions he got from Chanyeol. Once the boy finished, he turned to his shorter friend.

“Listen,” he spoke up while closing his door, “I don't like her.” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, sure,” he said sarcastically.

--

Chanyeol sat in his spot at the back of the class tired out of his mind. He couldn't concentrate at all when Miss Kim was speaking. He was seriously going to fall asleep any second. If someone didn't splash him with water he would probably just crash right there. He needed something to grab his attention, he needed to focus on something that would snap him out of his sleepy state. Slowly he was being pulled into the dream world, only pure motivation keeping his eyes open.

Being sent to the office was not fun, he already got caught smoking on school grounds once, he didn't want to deal with the principle again. Anything. Just anything.

Chanyeol scanned his eyes around the ceiling for any random piece of junk that could be sticking oddly on the white clear platform...but, their janitor was a very hard working man, nothing came into sight. He diverted his gaze to the floor and trailed his eyes to the many shoes that scattered the ground while tracing the different colored tiles. Finding himself landing on Miss Kim's heels, he trailed up her chubby legs and black dress then to her red lipstick she always wore. It sort of made her look badass for some strange reason. Nothing interesting was radiating from her features though. Looking at his empty desk where he was supposed to have his notebook, which he forgot at home, because of Jongin. He then lifted his head up looking to his left and then saw...her.

.

.

.

...What the hell am I doing? Chanyeol panicked as he forcefully yanked his eyes away from Chinsun. Chanyeol knew that deep down in his heart he was not attracted to her. There was nothing to be attracted to. She was the loser of the school, she didn't wear the short skirts and tight tops that other people wore, her hair wasn't long and glowing, she never wore makeup to compliment her face and she didn't have any curves what so ever. Well, Chanyeol didn't know that for certain because she always wore baggy clothing. But whenever he saw her, his heart never skipped a beat, he never felt shy or embarrassed, he never blushed uncontrollably or cooed at the things she did. He was just always worried about her. ALL the time! Maybe this was a friendly feeling. A feeling of care that friendships held dear. Did he want to be Chinsun's friend to protect her and stop the bullying? Maybe the teasing and laughing really bothered him and he didn't like it when people treated her that way. As Chanyeol came to terms with this. He decided yes. He was not attracted to her, but simply worried for her well being.

Chanyeol was snapped out of his thoughts once the bell rang signaling the beginning of lunch. Quickly getting up from his chair, he mindlessly left the class.

--

He inhaled the tip of the cigarette, closing his eyes as the aroma filled his system. A calm feeling washed over his body when his breath caught short and the dark smoke escaped his lips. Chanyeol sighed in content as he let the cigarette hover just a few millimeters from his lips allowing himself to fully enjoy his time in a slow relaxing manner. It was by far one of the most tiring days he had experienced. He wondered what it would be like if he could just win the lottery and his life would be without worry in the matter of seconds. But of course, he had to have a crappy job that paid just enough for his rent with some extra cash on the side.

Chanyeol groaned as a couple clouds began passing through the sky, creating the beautiful spotless blue to evaporate into a dark grey miserable color. It was getting very cold out. Chanyeol decided that the best option at the moment was to probably go back inside the school at look for Kyungsoo who was most likely in detention for another odd reason.

Lifting himself off the wall and tossing the cigarette bud on the ground, Chanyeol made his way around the back of the building walking down the stone path leading to the entrance. It was very peaceful, too bad it was too cold to enjoy the beautiful environment that surrounded him. Chanyeol would do anything to just lay down on the ground as the hot sun hit his face while the cold snow wet his hair. He was a man though, men weren't supposed to do those things. He had the cool laid back image to carry on his back so all the girls had something to dream about. Ruining that would just disappoint the many fans he had and cause unnecessary stress for the boy. And Jongin, who would most likely call him a noob. Chanyeol rolled his eyes at the thought of his messed up friend. He didn't even know how he got to be friends with the hormonal teen. He shook his head slightly chuckling as he remembered Jongin's face when he said he wasn't aloud to party for a week. Before Chanyeol was able to turn the corner to the front of the school, he came to a complete halt when he noticed a familiar figure sitting alone on a bench near by munching away on a sandwich. It was her, Chinsun.

Was she always alone at lunch? He never took in to consideration what she actually did with her time out of class, considering she didn't have any friends. It really made him pity her lack of bonds with fellow students. Maybe I should go talk to her...Chanyeol thought as he unconsciously took the first few steps to the poor girl. By the time he knew it, he had seated himself in the free spot beside Chinsun. She tensed up at his arrival quickly stuffing her meal in her blue lunch box. The tall boy turned to her observing how nervous she had become. Chinsun was scooting inch by inch further away form Chanyeol up to the point where she was the farthest she could possibly go. Her head was held low while she clutched her bag on top of her lap for support. In the corner of his eye, he saw a small sketch book hanging out her jacket pocket. Seeing that it was obvious she wasn't going to make a move speaking to him, he put the initiative on himself to do so.

“What kind of stuff do you like to draw?” Chanyeol asked, hopping the question would start a conversation between the two. Chinsun froze at the sound of his deep strong voice, but once she was able to realize he was actually taking to her, the Chanyeol, one of the few popular guys at her school, she couldn't feel any less intimidated. Swallowing hard, she finally replied with as much strength she could muster up from her wimpy social skills.

“Everything,” Chinsun said, or more like mumbled. It was vague, but Chanyeol knew why she was trying to keep it simple. He could clearly hear the fear in her voice, I mean, who wouldn't be afraid of talking to someone at their school knowing quite well that everyone bullied and treated them as the loser and outcast? Not to mention being one of the most well known guys, she would probably think he was going to make fun of her or something. Chanyeol didn't want Chinsun to look at him that way, he wanted to help her, build her stronger, maybe even be her friend.

“That's cool,” Chanyeol complimented but quickly continued his sentence making sure not to lose the flow, “what do you like drawing most?” he questioned as he observed Chinsun becoming more confused by the second. She didn't understand why he was talking to her, the lame boring Chinsun. The girl that was picked on by the majority of the school. Why was he being nice to her?

“U-um...I don't know, I draw animals a lot,” Chinsun answered as she began fiddling with the lunch box strap.

“Oh really? Is there any particular reason for that?” Chanyeol inquired as he watched the girl.

“Um...” she muttered as she thought about the question. She took a deep breath looking down at her hands feeling more nervous than ever. “I have a cat at home,” she finally told him as a breeze blew by; the air becoming dry and cold.

“I heard cats are really cool pets to have,” Chanyeol mentioned. Chinsun shyly nodded at his statement. “What's your cat's name?” he asked.

“Gummy,” she responded quietly.

“That's really cute,” Chanyeol gleamed as a smile lit up his face. Chinsun snapped her head in surprise, his reaction was the complete opposite to what she was expecting and...their eyes met. Chanyeol didn't understand why he couldn't look away and brake their gaze, but he couldn't find the will power to do so. It was as if someone locked their eyes and threw the key somewhere far away. Chanyeol never realized how dazzling Chinsun's dark brown orbs were. It made him feel comfortable to be around her, unlike the seductive and flirtatious looks he got from other females. She was different. She didn't act like the others. She was unique in her own special way. Despite how disliked she was to the population, to Chanyeol, he couldn't find a single flaw in her at that moment. She seemed...perfect.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated, rudely disrupting his thoughts. Chinsun, finally realizing she was staring at him, turned away in embarrassment while ducking her reddening face from Chanyeol. The boy awkwardly grabbed his cell out of his pocket and read the message.

Kyungsoo :

Sup Chan, I'm at your place right now. Jongin texted me that he threw up and was in serious need of help.

Chanyeol grunted as he stuffed his phone back into his jacket pocket. Getting up from the bench, he sighed in frustration. Chinsun peeked up and watched as Chanyeol zipped his coat higher.

“Sorry, I got to go,” Chanyeol told her as he comfortably placed his hands in the warmth of his jacket pockets. Chinsun nodded in understanding slightly frowning at the loss of company she rarely experienced. “I guess I'll see you later then,” he then spoke up, before shuffling away in the snow.