It all started from a bet. A stupid one, but it was still a solid bet. Honestly Himchan only accepted it because he was bored and was feeling a little adventurous. He was usually a risk taker. He would randomly ask girls on the streets for their numbers, or throw paper airplanes during math class even though he knows Mr. Jung was the scariest teacher on campus or even going as far as doing a little cheating on a science  test.

He's done a lot of stupid things, but this one was a bit odd, even a little out there. He was to befriend a classmate of his and stick with him for the whole semester. Seems easy and harmless, right? Well no, that's not the case. It was more complicated than that. Himchan was to befriend the straight-forward, sarcastic toned and loner classmate, Bang Yongguk.

Still don't see the dilemma? Well, if we go more into depth of Yongguk's character and the whole bet business, you might understand. So let's begin that the bet Himchan has to fulfill isn't the first time someone bet the same thing  involving Yongguk. Actually its around the 5th time. 6th to be exact. Other classmates and peers have tried to befriend the loner, Yongguk, but they never managed to succeed.

Not that Yongguk turned them away or anything, in actuality he didn't really seem to care, but it was more like they couldn't handle Yongguk's truthful, but sometimes harsh, words. As said earlier, Yongguk is straightforward. Now lets add in 2 verys to get the point across. He's also sarcastic. Sarcastic in a mean way if you were wondering. Usually no one could manage to stick with Yongguk for too long. Mostly after 2 weeks, most were done with Yongguk and quit the bet. The longest did manage to stay for a month until he snapped and had a mental breakdown, known as a historical event in school called the "Melt Down of March 24th", when Yongguk called him a self centered prick for always bragging about his medals and trophies he received for track.

Lets just say that a lot of people do not like Yongguk. Some even loathing him.

So the bet became sort of like a game. A really hard game to play. A game of both patience, endurance and positivity, something Yongguk is sure to test for those who take the bet.

So now do you see the predicament Himchan was in? Even though he took the bet because he was looking for something interesting to do, he, in reality, did not have a choice to agree or disagree to the bet. Once you're targeted, you have to meet your demise. If you try to dodge it, you'll be called "Wuss", "Coward", and "Wimp" for the rest of the school year or maybe so on.

Himchan knew he had no choice, so he gave in to his fate with a smile. Besides it wasn't all that bad for Himchan. If he somehow won the bet he would be rewarded generously. 50 bucks for each friend that's involve in making the deal. Totaling in to 500 dollars if he won. Himchan knew what he could do with that type of money. A new camera since his current one was falling apart, new clothes and a chance for him to stock up on cosmetics since his mom was getting tired of him "borrowing" her's. Well he wasn't known to have flawless skin and doll like appearances for nothing. Not to mention he would earn bragging rights.

So a week after the start of 2nd semester, Himchan found himself standing in front of Yongguk's desk with a bright smile and his eyes shining, not in only happiness but also fear. Even though he seemed perfectly okay on the outside, he was a nervous wreck on the inside. He was scared that Yongguk would turn him away, although its known he doesn't do that, but what if he's the first?! With that fear still washing over him he manage to speak his first words to Yongguk.

"Hey, is anyone sitting here?" Himchan asked, smoothly. He tightened his hand on the top of his carry on bag waiting for Yongguk's response. To Himchan, that  one response could give that push, that confidence to befriend Yongguk, or that one response can be his downfall and the one to knock him down.

Yongguk, who was reading a book, looked up and made immediate eye contact with Himchan. His face was expressionless, showing no sign of annoyance nor of happiness. The longer he stared at Himchan, the more Himchan kept telling himself to abort the mission as fast as he can.

However Himchan did not show how he was actually feeling on the outside. If anything, his smile only grew wider as if he was happily anticipating Yongguk's answer.

"Yes," Yongguk said. "I am."

The first words Yongguk ever said to Himchan other than the occasional hello and bowing. The corners of Himchan's lips twitched as he took into account that Yongguk's voice sounded much more deeper and based than usual. Maybe because he was never this physically close to him. His thoughts then went back to Yongguk's answer. "Yes, I am." What the heck did that suppose to mean? Was that a good thing or a bad one. Should Himchan take that as a good start or an extremely horrible one.

"What?" Himchan blurted out, sounding a bit stupid. 

Yongguk , who was watching Himchan standing in front of him, frozen with a smile, began to explain.

"You asked me if you wanted to sit here." Yongguk tapped his index finger on the top of his desk. "But as you can see, I'm currently occupying it."

A million light bulbs lit up in Himchan's head and he felt himself warming up. He wanted to hit himself for being so slow on the uptake but decided against it  since he didn't want to look weirder than  Yongguk probably thought he was. So he decided to smooth it over with a light chuckle.

"Yes I can see that. I meant the one next to you." Himchan's eyes shifted to the empty desk next to Yongguk's.

Of course Himchan knew that the sit next to Yongguk was free, everyone knew that! No one would even think of sitting next to him. Too afraid that Yongguk somehow humiliate them.

"Then yes, it is free. But I' sure you'd much rather sit with your usual bunch of friends in the back." Yongguk did not turn around or look away from Himchan, as if he if he was waiting for Himchan's reaction to him knowing about him and his crew. And how could he not know. They were always the loudest and wildest group in the whole class. Also most of the guys, including Himchan, were pretty popular around school.

Himchan did not say anything at first and sat next to Yongguk, trying to think of a good way to respond to something like that without sounding suspicious.

"Well I decided to try something new today." Himchan cleared his voice and glanced at Yongguk and gave him his killer smile that always seemed to work when he's trying to distract someone or get out of something. "You don't mind me sitting here, do you?"

"I don't really care. It's your choice." Yongguk said simply, not interested or moved by Himchan's friendly ,and a little creepy, smile. He then continued to do what he was doing before Himchan interrupted him. He went back to reading.

Himchan who was tensed and having the jitters, finally relaxed when Yongguk went back to ignoring his presence.

Well that wasn't too bad. Himchan did not end up in tears or upset and its been like two minutes. Yongguk hasn't really insulted him yet. That must be a record.

Actually Yongguk didn't seem bothered that Himchan was there at all. At least Himchan wasn't totally failing right now but he knew that if he was going to befriend Yongguk, he had to communicate with him on a daily basis. He turned around and saw his friends looking his way. Actually everyone in class was looking his way. They all knew about the bet as well and were giving him thumbs up and good lucks. Himchan flashed a cocky and reassuring smile to show that he wasn't having any troubles.

In front of others, Himchan always had a sort of an easy going, care free and happy attitude. Not that it was fake in the least, he was like that in reality, but he never showed much else. Honestly Himchan does not remember a time he expressed anger. Frustration, yes, but anger, never. He was always confident in everything he did and always did it with smile. It was just apart of who he was.

However Yongguk did falter Himchan's confidence a little. Mostly because Yongguk was completely was different from his friends who were goofy, immature and obnoxious like Himchan. That didn't mean Yongguk didn't spark an interest in him. It was because he wasn't like Himchan's usual friends that he looked forward to the whole bet situation. So with  new profound confidence, Himchan waited until lunch time to begin his mission.

As the classroom was being emptied of students going to the cafeteria, Himchan held back with Yongguk, who was packing his books into his bag.

Himchan waved a quick goodbye to his friend, the last one to leave Himchan and Yongguk alone. When Yongguk completed his task, he was surprised to look up and find Himchan still sitting beside him with the same smile he always seem to wear.

"What do you want?" Yongguk did not hesitant to get straight to the point. He never did.

"I was wondering if you would, um,  have lunch with me?"

"Why?" Yongguk looked at Himchan suspiciously.

Himchan eyes widened slightly, unprepared for the question. He thought Yongguk would either say yes or no, but why, that was something Himchan did not think was an option. He knew he could handle the situation if it was yes or no. If Yongguk said yes, he knew it was a step in the right direction, and if he said no, he knew he had to work twice as hard to get on Yongguk's good side. So what could Himchan possibly say to get Yongguk to say yes?

"Um, well, I notice how you're always alone and, um. I was curious on what type of person you are. You seem pretty cool." Himchan ran his hair through his hair and took a peek at Yongguk.

Yongguk stared at Himchan and seemed to be confused at first. Slowly a look of realization came across his face. He turned away from Himchan and stood up.

Himchan felt his stomach drop when Yongguk stood up wordlessly. He sighed and slumped his shoulders. However his ears perked up when Yongguk tapped Himchan's shoulder and spoke softly.

"Where should we eat?"

Himchan practically skipped the whole way to the school's courtyard, feeling as light as a feather in each prance he did. Yongguk actually agreed to have lunch with him and that fact alone made him the happiest boy in school. In his mind, he was getting closer to his goal. He could almost smell the musky scent of those crisp 50 dollar bills that will soon be in his hands at the end of the year. Also he was excited to learn a few new facts about Yongguk.

As someone who's very social he liked to learn things about a lot of people from different backgrounds. Himchan wondered, what kind of interests would a guy like Yongguk have. Since no one really knew, he felt as if he would be the first one to examine an ancient artifact and learn all of its buried and hidden secrets.

Himchan would glance at Yongguk every 5 seconds to see if Yongguk's blank expression would ever change, but that was not the case. Yongguk managed to stick to the look, no matter how much he wanted to laugh how childish Himchan looked for skipping.

When they entered the court yard planted dead center of the school, they took a seat at a wooden table near a small duck pond. As they sat across from each other, Himchan did not waste a second to begin conversation.

"So the weather's nice today. It's to be in school when a nice day like this could be enjoyed with activities like soccer or running around. Don't you agree?"

Yongguk shrugged his shoulders. "I think it depends on your definition of a nice day."

"Well I think a nice days are when its warm outside with a cool breeze to cool you down every so often so you won't pass out from the heat. And the sky is clear of clouds and you can see the sun shining brightly for everyone to see." Himchan pulled out his lunch bag and rummaged through it and brought out a ham sandwich. "What's your definition of a nice day?"

Yongguk places his hand under his chin and props his elbow on the table. He hummed aloud to indicate that he was thinking deeply about it.

"I would say.......that a nice day for me is when the clouds are out because the clear skies look never ending. Kind of bothers me a little. Then it's like 70 degrees so it won't completely humid if I take a walk outside. The birds, or animals in general, are outside doing the things they do. Music playing in the background and I mean the good music, not the ones that have meaningless lyrics." Yongguk hummed again as if he wanted to say something else, but didn't open his mouth.

Himchan, who was at his last two bites of his sandwich, stared at Yongguk in awe.

Yongguk feeling the stare from Himchan smirked. "What?"

Himchan slowly put his sandwich down on his paper bag and broke out in another smile. "That's the most I've heard you talk. In, like, ever."

"What? You expected me to be a boy of not many words?"

"Honestly? Yes."

"Well your quick judgments of me were wrong. You probably also think I'm blunt and mean too." Yongguk looked at Himchan and frowned.

Himchan had thought those things, which was the reason why he felt both ashamed and guilty. He slightly nodded. "Sorry. I shouldn't believe in the rumors."

"I don't really care and it's true, I can be blunt and mean. Being honest sometimes hurt feelings but its better than lying."

"I don't really agree." Himchan said. "Sometimes lying is for the better."

"How so?"

"Like trying to protect someone."

"But how long will that lie be used. What if the person you try to protect found out you lied? Wouldn't that be hurting them anyway?"

"I believe lies are told for a reason. Some bad and some good. it really depends on the situation." Himchan pulled out a juice box. "Want it?" He offered Yongguk.

Yongguk took it and thanked Himchan. "I still think being straight forward is better than being fake."

Himchan only nodded, feeling that there was no point in going back and forth when both were not willing to back down. They were both very stubborn. Himchan ate the rest of his sandwich then commenced to peel and orange.

"So seen any good tv shows lately?" Himchan asked/

Yongguk, who was poking his peanut butter and jelly sandwich with his finger, looked up and glared at Himchan, making the boy's heart stop.

"I know what you're doing." Yongguk said.

"Doing what?" Himchan immediately knew that Yongguk knew but played dumb.

"I know that you're only talking to me because of that stupid, bet, challenge or whatever it is. Not that I give a crap, I just wanted you to know that I know." And Yongguk really didn't care because he was just so used to it.

Himchan, caught red handed, smiled nervously pretending that he had not been figured out. He ran his hand through his hair and cleared his voice. "You don't want to be friends?"

"Its not like I don't want to nor do I want to." This confused Himchan even more as Yongguk said this.

He didn't know if Yongguk wanted him to stay or to leave. Yongguk, noticing Himchan's total silence, rolled his eyes. "Do whatever you want. It doesn't matter to me if you're with me or not." And with that Yongguk dumped his unbitten into sandwich in his bag. "I'm leaving" Staying true to his words, Yongguk began to walk away.

Himchan was conflicted with himself. Yongguk said that he didn't care if he was there or not, which is good on his part, but it bothered Himchan. Why was Yongguk so okay with being used like that, didn't he feel hurt? Betrayed? Or even mad? Instead he just showed indifference, and said so many times that he simply did not care.

Why didn't he care?

Why was Yongguk like that? Was he always so void of showing, expressing or having emotion? This was much more than the bet or pure curiosity, Himchan wanted to know why. Why Yongguk was like that. He wanted to get to know Yongguk, he wanted to understand him, and that feeling was the one, and only, reason why Himchan jumped out of his sit and called after Yongguk.

Yongguk, already halfway though the court yard, turned around and faced a different Himchan. A Himchan with a natural and genuine smile and eyes full of true determination.

Himchan jogged over to Yongguk and stopped in front of him And with more sincerity,

"Bang Yongguk, I would like to get to know you better. Can we be friends?"

A/N

Ugh I know. Its crappy. I had this planned out pretty well but now it just seems odd. Well hopefully my writing does improve while doing these. Thank you for those to subscribe. i also should let you know that generally each chapter will be around this long. Not too long and not too short. Sort of in the middle. Bye!

-Connection