“I don’t like it,” Kyungsoo grits out, pacing back and forth after pulling Jongin outside with him and slammed the rooftop door hard. “I don’t like how they treat you.”

Jongin stares at him blankly, leaning his back against the door and crosses his arms across his chest as he continues to watch the older boy pace furiously. Kyungsoo’s cheeks tints pink and his eyes flare in anger while beads of sweat forms on his forehead from the much-to-hot weather.

After 5 tense minutes of watching Kyungsoo pace, the older boy huffs and decides to sit near the edge of the roof, hands clinging to the rusted fence and gaze set on the school’s soccer field below. Jongin sighs through his nose and pushes himself off the door with a grunt and drags his feet to where Kyungsoo’s sitting before settling himself down beside him.

They don’t talk.

The only sounds between them are Kyungsoo’s heavy breathing and the occasional squawks from the birds flying above. Jongin steals a glance from the corner of his eyes to the boy sitting beside him. Kyungsoo’s eyes are hard and narrow on the fields that extends below and his jaws are clenched tight. Jongin wants to reach out and smooth the creases between his brows with his finger tips on an impulse, but then just as his hands begin to move, Kyungsoo startles him by punching the fence in front of them.

“I really don’t like how everyone’s treating you.” He punctuates every word with a small punch to the fence, and then he’s leaning his forehead against it. Jongin wants to pull him away from it because the fence is rusty and brittle and what if it breaks down from Kyungsoo weight, then Kyungsoo would surely tumble down from this tall building. The image alone is enough to send shivers down Jongin’s spine.

Jongin pulls Kyungsoo back gently from the fence and the boy looks at him puzzled. “Let’s not sit near the edge. It’s dangerous.”

Kyungsoo blinks but then follows Jongin up and they sit a nice distance away from the edge. “We still have our fifth period,” Jongin reminds half-heartedly and Kyungsoo groans in response.

“And I’ve also got the student council meeting,” He buries his head against his knees. Jongin looks at him incredulously and jolts up to his feet.

“Then what are you doing here?! That meeting is very important right? Hurry up before you’re late.”

Kyungsoo laughs and pulls Jongin back down. “Calm down, Jongin. They’re probably doing fine anyway,” Kyungsoo reassures even though he’s not really sure himself. Jongin is not convinced and he stares at Kyungsoo warily.

“Are you sure? Kyungsoo, don’t- don’t let me hold you back. Don’t ruin your reputation just because you’re being with someone like me.”

Kyungsoo chuckles before looking at Jongin square in the eyes. “I really don’t care about my reputation, Jongin-ah. And I really prefer spending some time with you here rather than being back in class. I like being around you.”

Jongin in a breath. Kyungsoo’s gaze on his is still sincere, until he breaks away and covers his face with a hand. Jongin sees that Kyungsoo's neck and the tip of his ears turn pink.

“I- I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean for it to sound so cheesy,” he stammeres, too embarrassed to face the younger. Jongin stares at his covered face amusedly and stifles back a smile.

“It’s okay. Truthfully, I like being around you too.”

--*--

When Kyungsoo returns back to his class at the last period of the day, everyone’s head turns immediately towards him, but what’s different this time is that their expressions are not the usual overly-friendly kind of faces, instead, they stare at him in strangely and Kyungsoo should have expected it. Whispers float around the room and Kyungsoo trudges back to his seat by the window, unaffected by the soft mentions of his name and the not-so-subtle stares directed at him.

“Kyungsoo, man. Where were you at the meeting?” Kyungsoo sees someone approaching from his peripheral view before the person sits himself at the empty seat in front of him.

“Minseok, not now please?” Kyungsoo attempts a pleading smile in hope that Minseok, the student council’s secretary, would understand and leave him be. Minseok huffs and props his chin up with one hand. “Well, here’s what we’ve been up to in the meeting,” he nudges his glasses further up the bridge of his nose with a finger. Kyungsoo almost whines irritatedly because Minseok clearly doesn’t get the meaning of not now, but then he figures that he might need to know what has been happening in the meeting, so he lets Minseok continue.

“We are still in the middle of preparing to open up that new dance club and art club. We’ve already started phoning and making contracts with some dance tutors and maybe hiring two or three professionals. And then some people suggested that we could renovate the old music room on the third floor of the west building to make a new dance studio for the club.”

Kyungsoo nods as a sign that he’s listening, noting down the information in his head. When Minseok is in the middle of explaining the plans for the new art club, old Mrs. Hwang who teaches Geography walks into their class, clutching thick books to her chest with spectacles resting askew on her nose. Everyone rushes back to their respective seats and so does Minseok.

“I’ll tell you later,” Minseok whispers from his seat and Kyungsoo merely nods.

--*--

Kyungsoo tries not to tune out of Mrs. Hwang’s long explanations and slaps his cheeks lightly when his mind drifts off somewhere irrelevant to the topics discussed in class. Finals are just four months away for god’s sake; he needs to graduate with good grades, if possible, the highest grades if he doesn’t plan on letting his parent’s expectations go south.

He sighs silently and his mind wanders of unconsciously to thick lips, slightly tanned skin and lazy smiles. That brat. Kyungsoo thinks how lucky Jongin is; still having one more year until graduating and that kid probably doesn’t need to think for finals and stupid college choices yet while Kyungsoo is busy fussing over the mock exams this week.

It took ages for the last bell of the day to ring but when it finally comes, everybody packs away their books in haste, some complaining about the long day of school, some talking excitedly with their friends of the plans they are going to do after school and some chattering loudly about the new horror comic series that appears to be quite popular these days. After Kyungsoo led the class’ afternoon greeting to Mrs. Hwang, the class became quieter as students file out of the room one by one.

When Kyungsoo is just about to push his chair back under the table, three boys approach him and Kyungsoo turns to face them.

“Hey, Kyungsoo,” one of them greets simply. Kyungsoo waves his hand awkwardly and feels a little bad not knowing their names while they know his.

“Ahh, we’re from class 3-4,” another says, as if he had clearly read Kyungsoo’s mind. “We saw the incident today where you defended Kim Jongin…”

Kyungsoo’s back stiffens unconciously and he narrows his eyes at them. “What about that?” His tone is suddenly frighteningly cold. They gaze at him uncertainly.

“Nothing, it’s just that… everyone is worried that you’ll get hurt by him. Don’t you know? He’s been banging a lot of girls since his first year in this school and dated a couple of guys just to dump them in the end. We’re just worried that you will be targeted as his next victim, Kyungsoo. Just don’t be near him anymore.”

Kyungsoo stood there staring at them dumbly. What the hell are they saying? Is this just some sort of tactic to get Kyungsoo away from Jongin?

“Kim Jongin is really weird, Kyungsoo. He’s doesn’t even belong here. He’s wrecking the image of our school and—“

“Shut up.”

All three boys looks surprised at him and Kyungsoo tries to restrain himself, but it’s hard.

“Shut up. All of you. You don’t even know him so just— just shut the up. Don’t just go coming to me saying about someone you barely know. Do you think it’s alright to treat him differently and act as if he doesn’t exist just because he’s weird?—no, he’s not weird – ,”

And then Kyungsoo thinks the image of Jongin smiling down at him. Jongin who likes to laugh awkwardly, but smirks when Kyungsoo’s cheeks flush pink in embarrassment. He thinks of the subtle glances he gives Kyungsoo and the way he likes to gaze up at the blue stretch of sky above, wind caressing his hair gently.

Kyungsoo thinks of how lonely Jongin’s eyes looked the first time he appeared at the rooftop when Juyoung was confessing to him.

He thinks of the red flush on his cheeks when Jongin had tried to hold back his tears that day.

Kyungsoo grits his teeth and, .

He doesn’t want to cry.

Not now.

But why does his eyes sting so much?

The boy’s face in front of him is blurry.

Everything is blurry.

So Kyungsoo presses the heel of his palms to his eyes and wills the tears to not fall. It’s the first time he’s been this emotional.

“Kyungsoo, we’re sorry. But Kim Jongin is really—“

“ off,” Kyungsoo bites.

He could imagine their shocked faces from behind his palms. The image of Jongin, his face tilted upwards and his eyelids closed as he enjoyed the heat of the sun against his skin, a soft smile curling on his lips, burns the back of Kyungsoo’s eyelids.

That’s all it takes.

“Just off!!”

And he’s shouting now. They all scamper away, leaving Kyungsoo alone in the empty class room. The orange light of the setting sun pours from the open window. Kyungsoo sits back on his chair and pinches the bridge of his nose, suddenly feeling exhausted.

There’s a knock on the door and he really couldn’t be bothered to look up. But then his name is being called softly by the voice he’s grown accustomed to and Kyungsoo snaps his head up to see the person waiting at the entrance.

“Kyungsoo,” Jongin calls out, standing there with a sad smile on his face and wistful eyes.