~||  F R A G M E N T  #  O O 3  ||~

The boy whose name is Jung Daehyun…

            Daehyun’s mother is terribly sick again, so he tells her that he’ll go ahead and walk to school by himself today. He assures her that he’ll be fine when she starts to protest by giving her a small peck on her forehead. He also tells her to stay in bed and get plenty of rest before closing her bedroom door. He then grabs his school jacket that he had left hanging on one of the kitchen chairs and walks out the front door when his jacket is put on.

            Once he reaches the sidewalk outside he begins to carefully count out his footsteps, occasionally placing his hand against a concrete wall or wooden fence to help keep his balance. It’s quite difficult for him to walk to school by himself, but he always manages to find his way. After about fifteen minutes of walking, he sighs in relief when he hears the familiar bustling sounds of students talking and laughing. This meant he was able to reach the school’s front gates safely today.

            Daehyun begins to mentally count out his steps again from the school entrance to the main hallway. He also listens closely to his surroundings to make sure that no one got too close to him, but most people stay clear away from him anyway, so he doesn’t have to worry about bumping into anyone really.

            When he reaches his classroom after getting his books from his locker, he sits at his desk and waits patiently for school to begin.

            On the outside Daehyun looks like a model student, attentive and ready to learn. It’s partially true, but on the inside he thinks school is rather terrifying. It’s not the learning part that is terrifying; it’s the people that he’s surrounded by. He feels like he’s a canary that’s trapped inside a cage for everyone to see. It’s a feeling Daehyun is accustomed to, but it’s also a feeling he wishes he could do without.

            The classroom is getting fuller and fuller by the second. Daehyun knows the bell will ring soon and as if on cue the teacher enters the classroom right when the bell signals off. The students hastily settle into their seats before their teacher, Mr. Kim, could scold them for not already being seated like the disciplined students they should be.

            Mr. Kim then greets the students with an unenthusiastic ‘good morning class’ before continuing on with other announcements, “Today we will be having a new student, please welcome him into our class.”

            Daehyun hears quiet footsteps echo from the front of the classroom from the new student, but he isn’t interested in another person who might bully him later on in the year, so he doesn’t pay any attention. He opens his textbook instead letting his fingers drag across the page as he reads.

            “My name is Yoo Youngaje. Please take care of me.” Daehyun faintly hears, but doesn’t register.

            The students begin murmuring amongst their friends and their other classmates about Youngjae, saying things like, ‘he’s kind of cute’, or ‘he’s alright.’ Mr. Kim immediately shushes the class and tells Youngjae to pick out any empty seat that is available. Youngjae nods his head knowing exactly where he wanted to sit after quickly scanning the room.

            Daehyun is still reading his book completely unaware of how quiet his classmates had become. He should have known something was wrong since there hadn’t been any crumpled up paper balls thrown to the back of his head yet. He’s about to turn to the next page when he hears the chair next to his being pulled put. Someone is now sitting in it making quite a ruckus as they set down their school bag on top of the desk. Daehyun is ready for this person to start teasing him or say some sort of rude remark like always, but instead he’s surprised by the words that come out of the person’s mouth.

            “Hey, it’s me, Yoo Youngjae.”

            Daehyun tilts his head to the side at the now familiar voice. Youngjae is the new student? He then hears a zipper being ped and something being taken out from Youngjae’s bag. There’s a sudden clicking sound that Daehyun thinks came from a camera. The sound makes Daehyun sit up straighter in his seat due to his surprise. Youngjae smiles widely as he takes the photo coming out from his Polaroid camera. He shakes it until the photo of Daehyun’s adorable expression comes into view. He’s happy with how it turns out.

            “W-what are you doing?” Daehyun asks in a quiet voice after the teacher finishes scolding Youngjae to put the camera away. Youngjae gives him a big smile. He’s only heard Daehyun’s voice twice from yesterday night when he asked where Daehyun lived and when Daehyun told him goodnight. Hearing his voice again made him feel bubbly for some reason.

            “I took a picture of you.”

            Daehyun fidgets a little in his seat, “Um, why?”

            “It’s because you’re interesting.” Youngjae says while still smiling.

            Daehyun isn’t sure what to say to that. He also starts to feel a bit uncomfortable when he hears some of his classmates whispering to each other about Youngjae’s interactions with him. He doesn’t like the sudden attention.

            “Besides I have two other pictures of you already. I hope you don’t mind.” Youngjae says kind of shyly.

            “W-when did you take those?” Daehyun asks in shock.

            “I took one yesterday when you were at the park and the day before when I saved you from those bullies.”

            “Oh…” He says after a long pause.

            Realizing how creepy this situation was becoming Youngjae puts a hand on Daehyun’s shoulder and nearly shouts, “Oh, my god, please don’t think I’m a stalker or something! I just…well, I like taking pictures and…”

            “It’s alright, Youngjae.”

            Youngjae pauses and stares at Daehyun for a moment. His face then slowly brightens. He likes how Daehyun says his name, “Okay.”

            Youngjae then pokes Daehyun’s arm feeling a bit hesitant, but asks him anyway, “What is your name by the way?”

            “Daehyun…” He says after debating quietly to himself whether he should tell Youngjae or not, “Jung Daehyun.”

            “Daehyun?” Youngjae smiles and says his name once more, “Let’s be friends, Daehyun.”

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A/N:

If you still haven’t figured it out by now, Daehyun is blind. I didn’t want to plain out say that he was at first, which is why chapter two is filled with lot of references to the color black and why this chapter has Daehyun hearing and feeling everything rather than seeing.  

I know this chapter is really boring and slow, but this is where a lot of the Daejae interaction will finally take off in futures chapters.

<3 dububrit-on