.

"Gonna have to do something about that attitude..."

♥♠♥

After what seemed like two hours of torture, the kids were allowed a small fifteen minute break while they waited for the next round of teachers to come in.  Kyungsoo decided it was a good time to check his phone for any messages from Ha Yi but he was met with six messages from Baekhyun and two from Jongin.

Baekhyun’s messages were nonsense, as always; while Jongin’s were a little sweeter:

“Good morning sunshine. Did you sleep well?”

“Is your hand okay? Do you need me before school starts?”

Both were messages from before the school bell rang to signal the start of classes. 

Just as Kyungsoo began to type a message a hard voice came from behind him.

“So you just now decide to send me a message back?”  Kyungsoo jumped and fiddled with his phone for a second before getting a clean hold on it.

“What are you doing here?”  Kyungsoo asked as he turned around and found Jongin staring at him with his hands on his hips. 

“To check up on you.”

“Oh.  Well I’m sorry for not responding earlier, but I don’t check my phone often.”  Kyungsoo flipped his phone shut and hid it in his pocket.

“Yup! He left me in the freezing cold rain last night because he didn’t check his messages!”  Baekhyun wrapped an arm around Kyungsoo’s neck, holding him in a tight headlock.

“Baek-Bae-St- you’re- Baek!”  Kyungsoo grumbled as he fought to pry off Baekhyun’s grip.

“I didn’t know you and Kyungsoo were friends Jongin.  Last I checked he only spent his time working or goggling over cute new exchange students.”  Baekhyun giggled as he spoke to Jongin.

Kyungsoo elbowed Baekhyun hard in his gut, causing him to release his grip and fall backwards. 

Kyungsoo straightened out his outfit and flipped his hair back, frowning when his long locks fell back in place.  “Jongin and I are not friends; he’s only my servant until my hand is better.”  Kyungsoo faced forward in his seat and gave no further acknowledgement to Jongin than needed.

“That’s kinda harsh isn’t it?”  Jongin barely whispered.

“Well, as you can see I’m doing just fine right now, so I don’t need your help at the moment.” 

“Geez Kyung, the kid’s being nice.  You don’t gotta shut him down.” Baekhyun sat on top of Kyungsoo’s desk and observed the frowning student next to them.  

Jongin sighed, “Its fine. I just wanted to check up on him anyways.  I’ll see you during lunch Kyungsoo.” Jongin waited a little longer for Kyungsoo to just give him more of a glance, but nothing came.

Sighing once again Jongin turned around and headed for the door.

“What was that all about?”  Baekhyun started.

“What?”

“Why’d you treat him so coldly? I’ve never even seen you talk to another student before!”

“He’s annoying! I really don’t like him Baek… How can I like anyone who prevents me from working?”  Baekhyun rolled his eyes.  “And speaking of annoying, do you know how hard I want to punch you in the face for that note?!”  Kyungsoo spoke through his teeth.

Baekhyun laughed and held onto his stomach, “it was worth seeing your reaction.”

Kyungsoo jabbed him in the side once more, only to find his wrist grabbed by him and pulled out of his seat. “Come on, let’s go meet him!”

Kyungsoo’s face immediately heated.

“What?! Nononononononono!” Baekhyun had already pulled Kyungsoo half way down the aisle; making him panic and frantically pull away from his grip.

“See, this is the Kyungsoo I’m used to; the overly shy Kyungsoo. Why are you so cool around Jongin?”  Baekhyun stopped pulling him mid way.

“I-I dunno.. I just don’t really feel awkward around him… I feel more hatred than anything to be honest.”  Kyungsoo puffed out his bottom lip and let his head slightly hang.

Baekhyun’s cheeks burned at the cuteness that Kyungsoo gave off. “W-Well who knows, maybe you’ll like the new kid!  You’re supposed to help me him around, remember?”  Baekhyun began pulling him again.

“W-Wait, I never agreed to that! No! I don’t want to! You can’t make me! Stop! Baekhyun stop!”  Before Kyungsoo knew it, he was making clear eye contact with a striking gaze.

His gaze pierced into Kyungsoo’s soul, making his stomach feel nauseous. 

“Hi! I’m Baekhyun. I know we already met, but I wanted to introduce you to my friend who will be accompanying us.”  Baekhyun stepped aside and let the spotlight shine on Kyungsoo.

“U-Uh…  Um.. H-Hi.”  Kyungsoo brought his hand up slightly, for a small wave.  “Um, m-my name’s… K-K-Kyungs-s-soo.”  He finally breathed out.

The new student could see how nervous Kyungsoo was and stood up in front of him, towering over him by at least a foot.

“Hi Kyungsoo.  I’m Zitao, but please call me Tao.”  When Kyungsoo finally looked up at Tao, he was met with a warm smile and open hand.

Kyungsoo hesitantly grabbed it and shook it firmly.

♥♠♥

“Finaaaallllllyyyyyyyy~” Chanyeol sang as the bell rang for lunch time. “I can eat a cow.”

“Technically we eat cows every day.” Kyungsoo stood from his seat and searched his book bag for his lunch bag.

“No, I mean a full on cow. With its hair, utters and hooves and everything. All in one bite. That’s how hungry I am.” 

Kyungsoo stopped in his tracks, and gave a judgmental stare to Chanyeol.  Shaking his head he went back to looking for his lunch bag.

“I swear I had…”  Kyungsoo muttered to himself.

“Kyung-dol! Come on! I’m showing Tao the way to lunch!”  Baekhyun shouted from the door way with Tao standing next to him.

“I can’t find my lunch, hold on!”  Kyungsoo shouted back as Chanyeol stood from his seat and put another red bill on Kyungsoo’s desk.

Kyungsoo looked up not sure of what to do.

“Ch-Chanyeol.. I-I can’t take this.”

“Just take it; you came in late, so you’re probably not prepared for today.”  Chanyeol started to walk away from the table and to the exit.

“Ch-Chanyeol! Chanyeol!”  He called out after him.

Chanyeol simply ignored him and walked out the door, accidentally brushing his shoulder against Baekhyun’s.  Baekhyun turned and watched as Chanyeol walked down the corridor with his hands in his pockets, his eyebrows furrowed.

“I swear Chanyeol…”  Kyungsoo muttered as he put the bill in his pocket and walked over to the two boys waiting for him.  “Stop staring at him, you’re making yourself obvious.” 

Baekhyun turned to Kyungsoo with red cheeks. “Shut up! Come on Tao, I’ll show you to the lunch room. We don’t need jerks like him here.”  Baekhyun grabbed Tao’s wrist and pulled him down the hallway.

“I’m the jerk?! You’re the jerk!”  Kyungsoo shouted as he followed but quickly shut his mouth once he saw Tao look over his shoulder with a smile.

Kyungsoo looked away and shoved his good hand into his pocket.

Upon entering the lunch room, Baekhyun had already gone off into the lunch line to help Tao choose and pick what he wanted/needed for his lunch.  He cursed himself for having to step aside and tie his shoelace only to lose sight of his best friend.

Just as he straightened his posture back to normal he was met with the persistent figure he was hoping to avoid.

“They have tonkatsu today.”  Jongin greeted with two empty trays.

“Is that it? Nothing good for the second meal choice?” Kyungsoo asked trying to be uninterested in the lunches of the day.

“Nah, just some porridge. Unless you like porridge?”  Jongin asked genuinely shocked that Kyungsoo would like school porridge.

Kyungsoo gave no answer but walked toward the lunch lines and looked ahead for something decent to eat.

“Um… Sooo.. What do you want?”  Jongin asked trying to start some sort of conversation.

“Tonkatsu.”  Kyungsoo replied robotically.

Jongin lifted his eye brows and tried hard to not roll his eyes at Kyungsoo’s behavior.  As Jongin placed their trays on the sliding rim of the lunch station, he spotted the desserts.

“Oh yum!  They have strawberry short cake today!  I really love strawberry short cake.. Strawberries are so delightful.  Do you like strawberries?”

Kyungsoo’s hands were now crossed above his chest as he moved forward in the line, grimacing at Jongin. 

“Oooookay… Guess not.”  Even though Jongin already knew the answer to his question.

Once Jongin grabbed food for the two of them, Kyungsoo paid using Chanyeol’s and Jongin’s money.   Kyungsoo took his seat next to Baekhyun at the rectangular table with Tao sitting across from Baekhyun.

“Thanks.”  Kyungsoo muttered as Jongin placed his tray in front of him.  Jongin huffed and slammed his own tray next to Kyungsoo.

“Don’t mention it.”  Jongin took his place next to Kyungsoo and dug into his food as Tao and Baekhyun watched the scene unfold.

“Hey, what happened?” Baekhyun leaned over and whispered to Kyungsoo.

“Nothing.”  Kyungsoo said out loud as he dug into his rice.

“It sure doesn’t seem like nothing.”  Baek whispered again.

“Tao, how was your first day here so far?”  Kyungsoo avoided Baekhyun again, this time using Tao as his excuse.

“Umm.. It’s been okay.  Quieter than I expected but it’s been okay.”  Tao smiled at Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo smiled back a bit and looked down at his tray to pick at his kimchi, still smiling to himself.  Jongin dropped his fork and furiously grabbed his chopsticks to continue eating. 

“Yo.” A voice called out as it bumped an elbow into Jongin’s back, causing him to cough on whatever he was eating.  Everyone at the table turned to see who it was.

“Hey! I’m eating here!”  Jongin said furiously as he pounded on his chest to clear his breathing.

“Why are you eating over here?”  The voice asked without acknowledging the fact that Jongin just choked.

“Because I want to!”

“That’s a stupid excuse.” Kyungsoo butted in.

The mysterious kid looked over to Kyungsoo and stared into his eyes, making him a little uncomfortable.  Kyungsoo tensed at the uncomfortable atmosphere and forgot all about his anger toward Jongin for the moment and let his anxiety of people over run his emotions.

“Oh, I see..”  The mysterious kid mumbled as he looked back at Jongin.  But Jongin could see how apprehensive Kyungsoo was now, so he mouthed to his friend “get lost”.

The kid scoffed, “fine, but I’m coming over later. I got a new video game I wanna try out. And we’re gonna go get bubble tea too.”

“Yeah, yeah.  I’ll see you later Sehun.”  With that, he walked away.

Jongin looked over at Kyungsoo and furrowed his eye brows in worry. 

“Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine.”  Kyungsoo tried to recollect himself as he ate a bit of his cake.  Baekhyun and Tao sat there watching the two as they ate their lunches.

“Here.”  Jongin handed his slice over to Kyungsoo.  However, Kyungsoo reacted in a way that nobody expected. Nor did Kyungsoo himself expect to react in such a manner.

He had smacked the cake clean out of Jongin’s hands.  Kyungsoo’s own hand became smeared in the whipped cream, but the cake went flying backwards.  Everyone stopped what they were doing at the table and watched to see where the cake would land.  To their dismay though, it landed right behind them. On the person’s head.  Boy did they regret who was sitting behind them. To top it all off, the cake fell off the front of the kid’s head and onto his plate, causing his porridge to splatter everywhere.

The kid’s shoulders hunched up as his hands dropped his utensils.  He stood up angrily and shook his hands off to the ground.  Chanyeol, who had been sitting in front of the kid who was just plastered with food, started giggling at his state.

The kid turned around, furious.  His face was trailed with the cream, and red with anger.  Everyone in the lunchroom grew silent as they watched him stand up. 

“Who threw that?!”  The kid yelled, looking beyond the table in front of him.  No one answered.  “I’m not gonna say it again!  Who?! Threw that?!”  The angry and towering kid finally looked in front of him, only to find Kyungsoo’s hand covered in whipped cream.

“Oh ..”  Jongin muttered to himself.

Kyungsoo was now making full eye contact with the overly tall student, his chest heaving up and down heavily as he watched the expression on the kid’s face change from angry to something worse.  Kyungsoo thought he knew the definition of fear, not until today.

“Was it you punk?!”  The kid took a slight step forward and grabbed Kyungsoo by his collar and yanked him upwards. 

Baekhyun, Jongin, Tao and Chanyeol all stood up from their seats and ran over to Kyungsoo who was now a good foot off the ground.  Kyungsoo used both his hands to force off the kid’s grip.

“Kris! Put him down!”  Baekhyun yelled at him as Chanyeol grabbed Kris’s arm and applied pressure to his wrist that caused Kyungsoo to fall to the ground. 

Jongin caught him in his arms before he could stumble backwards and hurt himself anymore.

“Leave him alone Kris, he didn’t mean it.”  Chanyeol calmly said as he pulled Kris backwards.

“You did do it didn’t you? You little fruit!  Wait until I get my hands on you.”  Chanyeol rolled his eyes as he pushed Kris away from the scene and out of the lunch room, earning the stares off all the students in the room. 

As soon as both boys left, all the kids went to whispering and gossiping about the incident and whipped out their phones to tell the rest of the students what happened.

“I hope you realize you just made enemies with the school’s most popular guy right?”  Baekhyun said as Kyungsoo and Jongin sat on their bench side. 

“I thought you were the most popular kid in school Baek?”  Kyungsoo said still out of breath and nervous from the previous encounter as he clutched onto Jongin’s arm for life support.

“Haha.. Yeah, I’m the most popular kid in school because I know everyone and I’m nice to them.  Kris is the second most popular because he’s one of the richest kids in school and he’s been established in the group of kids we classify as ‘populars’.”  Tao sat next to Kyungsoo and put a hand on his shoulder for comfort.  “Oh and to top it off, if he doesn’t get what he wants or doesn’t like something, he’ll use force.”  Baekhyun said while crossing his arms.

“Who was that guy?”  Tao asked as he looked up at Baekhyun.

“Wu Yi Fan. Richest kid in school, but everyone calls him Kris.  He’s technically an exchange student like you, but he lived in China for like the first three years of his life and then moved to Canada where he got the name Kris.  I’ve gone to school with him for the past five years, so I think he’s been here for five years..”

“Then who was that kid who pulled him away?  He’s in our homeroom too.”

“Park Chanyeol.  Literally the second richest kid in school.  He and Kris have been together since birth.  Their parents are business partners, but their fathers went to the same college in Seoul.”

“So does that mean Chanyeol lived in China for a while too?”

“I don’t know to be honest..”  Baekhyun put a finger on his chin as he thought.

“No, Kris only lived in China for like three months.”  Kyungsoo spoke up. “His parents are Chinese so they wanted Kris to be born around their family before they moved back to Seoul.  Chanyeol was born a year later after Kris so Kris was already living in Seoul.  Thus starting his friendship with Chanyeol.” 

Everyone stared at Kyungsoo.

“How the hell do you know that?”  Baekhyun asked vehemently.

“Because I’m closer to Chanyeol than you are. You probably got all that information from rumors you heard right?”

“I-I guess..  Then does that mean he never lived in Canada?”

“No he moved to Canada when he was about.. Eight I think? So he only lived there for like four or five years.”

“And Chanyeol just told you all this?”  Jongin asked.

“Yeah. He vents to me about his friendship with him a lot.”  Kyungsoo turned around in his seat as Tao and Baekhyun took their own to finish eating their lunches.

“I’ve never heard Chanyeol say more than ten words in a sentence.  I can’t believe you know more about him than I do…”  Baekhyun muttered as he took a mouthful of food.

“I always knew that they were friends and all, but I never realized that they were that close.  They’re hardly ever seen together.”  Jongin said as he took a napkin and gave it to Kyungsoo.

“They usually hang out a lot outside of school, but not so much inside of school.  He says Kris has been acting differently lately and he doesn’t like it.”

“Well, now that we practically know Kris’s life story, shall we finish eating our lunch?”  Baekhyun suggested for the table and everyone gladly obliged. 

♥♠♥

As the school day came to an end, Chanyeol was nowhere to be seen.  Kyungsoo wasn’t particularly worried, but he was curious.  Was he with Kris? Was he skipping out on class again?  Even though the two weren’t terribly close, Kyungsoo still worried about him.

“Hey, my dad’s here to pick me up. Come over.”  Kyungsoo jumped a bit as the sound of Jongin’s voice echoed to his right.

“What?”

“Do you wanna come over?” Jongin pushed again.

“Uh-”

“Yo Kyung! I’m taking Tao around town, you should come with us!”  Baekhyun shouted as he gathered his backpack from the back of the class.

“N-No wait!” Jongin tried to fit in.

“In fact, Jongin! Come with us! It’ll be good for all of us to hang out! The more the merrier!”  Baekhyun waltzed over with Tao close behind.

Kyungsoo would be lying if he said he was paying attention, but that simply wasn’t the case. He was overwhelmed at the moment and didn’t exactly fancy being surrounded by the two boys fighting over who would have him for the day.  All he was concerned about was the well-being of his sister and the pain surging in his hand.

“Well?”  Baekhyun pressed.

“Um.. What?” Kyungsoo blinked a couple of times and looked up at Baek.

“Hopeless.” Baekhyun rolled his eyes and looked away. 

“Do you wanna hang out with us after school?”  A soft voice echoed in the background catching Kyungsoo’s attention.  Stretching his neck out a bit to look for the owner of the voice he was met with those striking eyes and soft smile.

“I-I-I…”  Both Baekhyun and Jongin rolled their eyes. “I-I’m sorry, I actually have to pick up my sister after school.”  Kyungsoo finally managed to say. 

“Oh.. Well we can do it another time?”  Kyungsoo’s cheeks flared up again as he slowly nodded.

“Okay, next time better be soon, you hear me?”  Baekhyun pointed at Kyungsoo as he slung his own backpack on one shoulder.

Kyungsoo stood up from his seat and nodded while taking his own backpack to put over his shoulder.  Facing Jongin as he did so, he sized him up and down with eyes and sneered.

“Here.”  Kyungsoo shoved his backpack into Jongin’s chest. “Carry it outside for me.  I’ll see you later Baek.”  He shifted his eyes to Tao quickly and bowed slightly. Looking back at Jongin he threw on his stoic façade. “Let’s go.” Walking away with all the purpose in the world, Kyungsoo left the classroom.

Doing the infamous wolf whistle as Kyungsoo walked away, Baekhyun nudged Jongin, “he totally likes you.” Jongin was startled and took his gaze away from Kyungsoo’s to find truth in Baekhyun’s face; only to find that Baekhyun had been staring at the same exact spot he was.

“You think so?”  Jongin asked a little too hopefully, making Baek turn in an unpleasant manner.  “I-I mean..”  Jongin coughed a bit. “I mean um..”  Stalling for a short moment, Jongin ran off after Kyungsoo.

Baekhyun shook his head and crossed his arms. “Yeah, you and me both Jongin.”  Baekhyun looked over at Tao only to find him staring at the one spot him and Jongin were both staring at earlier.

Gasping loudly, “Tao! Oh my god! Don’t stare at my best friend’s !” Baekhyun laughed as he wrapped his arms around Tao’s neck, dragging him down a bit with a grunt.

“I-I wasn’t staring!” Tao tried to pry off Baekhyun’s grip.

“You totally were! I saw you!” Baekhyun laughed. “It’s okay; it’s a cute perky little thing. But if you touch it, I will smack you.” Tao’s smile dropped at the threatening tone Baekhyun used.  “I’m just messing with ya.” Baekhyun started to pull Tao out of the classroom.

“Guess that makes three of us now.”

Thank you for your support up to this point guys, it means a lot ♥