Chapter2 : The Devil's Seat

Jong Suk rolls over his side when an endless buzzing under his pillow jolts him out of the unconsciousness. He squint his eyes, blinking a few times until his blurry vision clears up a little.

“I said NO FREAKING ALARMS!!!” a husky voice roars from above his bed, and that is enough to kick him out of his hazy mind.

No alarms in the morning—that was the first rule to a peaceful life with the dinosaur boy. Right after the first night at the Kim’s, Jong Suk was forced to tuck away his LED wooden alarm clock into a box and retract to the alarm in his mobile. But he never thought of the possibility that the vibration in his phone could ring through the metal connecting his bed to the one overhead. 

Knitting his eyebrows in annoyance, he digs for the source  and cracks one eye open to look at the blinking alarm buzzing off in his mobile phone; 6:30 a.m. it glows. He turns the vibration off and slides into his slippers. Only a fragment of gentle rays of the morning sun filters through the slits in the curtains and faintly glows in the dusky room, just enough for him to make out the way to the bathroom. He jerks his head back a little to catch a glimpse of the long figure ruffling in the bed on top of his; no sign of him being properly awaken yet. Thank god…he murmurs under his breath as he heads for a quick shower.

It’s been almost two months since the first time he met Mr Kim and the dinosaur boy. Mr Kim and his aunt got married last week and two days later they moved into a different neighbourhood in Seoul, the house where Mr Kim lives; much closer to the law-firm Mr Kim is working at and at a convenient distance from the hospital his aunt works at. Life has been a bit hectic for the past three days, having to pack and unpack his stuff, having to transfer schools and getting used to the new life in Seongbuk-gu.

Their new house has a small front garden with a little maple tree and a few ginkgo trees. The flowerbed toward the end was dried out with only signs of once lived flowers lying crumped on the ground there. Jong Suk had made a mental note to dig that dried out ground and plunge some plants into the earth before the spiritless garden completely shaken by death.

It was a two bedroom house; there was a grand living room, a spacious kitchen and a bathroom downstairs right next to the master bedroom. On the upper floor there was a large bedroom with a much bigger bathroom inside it and a small storage room adjacent to the room. An ancient wooden staircase spiralled its way up to the attic right next to the storage room; but apparently it hadn’t been used for quite some time. The newly wedded couple had taken the bedroom downstairs and Jong Suk had to share the only other bedroom left on the first floor with the dinosaur boy. Mr Kim had promised to get the attic room ready soon so that Jong Suk can use it as a bedroom. Just for few months they were forced to live in the same room. He was sure that the dinosaur boy hated him more now than he did when they first meet; because now he has started to glare at Jong Suk whenever their eyes met. He couldn’t blame the boy for that; he would also be angry if some random guy someday crashes into his life out of nowhere and occupies his bedroom—the only private place you have.

There was a brand new bunk bed in their bedroom, two study tables and two wardrobes with one bedside table. Woo Bin had occupied the upper bed when Jong Suk entered the room for his relief. He didn’t like heights; his nightmares would easily plunge him off the bed and he didn’t wish to break any limbs yet.

Jong Suk tip-toes into the bathroom and gently clicks the door behind him. Last night hadn’t been a very good one—at-least not on his part. He had finished his preparation for the first day of his new school and had gone down to pour himself a cup of strong, sweet tea. He hadn’t expected to see Woo Bin fiddling through—god knows what—in the small cupboard behind the staircase; and he certainly hadn’t expected to run into him. But that’s what happened; Jong Suk was rubbing the weariness out of his heavy eyes when he had accidently crashed onto the half open cupboard door, probably slamming it against Woo Bin’s he had assumed by the way Woo Bin had stretched from his crooked position while rubbing his bottom. Woo Bin’s glare was enough to send a shiver down his spine. “Sorry,” he had said and darted out of the hallway into the kitchen before Woo Bin could say anything.

Sometimes he wonders why Woo Bin hates him so much. Then again he can come up with more than one reason and he immediately stops wondering. 

***

Jong Suk walks out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his slender waist and a grey t-shirt falling off his shoulders. How come this has suddenly become too large? It was fitting him finely yesterday…. He fixes the shirt up, only to find it sliding off the shoulders once again. He gives up on the futile attempts and makes his way to the closet to grab his new uniform.

Jong Suk stops on his tracks when he sees a half-asleep dinosaur boy standing in his way. He bites back a smile when Woo Bin peeks through his squinted puffy eyes while scratching the back of his bedhead with hair sticking out everywhere. A curtain of slick black hair frames his dinosaur eyes and a thin white line trails down the side of his mouth. He didn’t seem to have noticed Jong Suk standing just a hands length from him, because suddenly his eyes widen just for milliseconds or possibly Jong Suk saw wrong, because the next thing he knows is that familiar glare pinning him down. If Woo Bin’s eyes could shoot daggers, right now Jong Suk would be bleeding to death.

“I thought I clearly told you to NOT-TO-TOUCH-MY-THINGS!” Woo Bin snaps, pointing his finger at him.  

Jong-Suk trains his eyes in the direction of Woo Bin’s finger and lands his gaze on the grey t-shirt dangling off his shoulders.

“Oh…” the sound breaks out automatically. No wonder it was too big for me…he thinks silently. Without a second thought, Jong Suk clenches the hem of the t-shirt and pulls it over his head. “Sorry,” he says, handing the shirt to a dumbfounded Woo Bin, “I thought it was mine. I have the same one,” he tries to pull the best apologetic smile he can manage, but it comes out weirdly, like a chimpanzee’s grin.  

He steps past a petrified Woo Bin with a half wet shirt dangling off his fingers in the air and gets himself into the school uniform.

***

Jong Suk plods down the staircase into an empty kitchen. Have they already left? He wonders as he heads to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. He snatches the post-it note on the fridge; The breakfast is in the fridge, heat it up and eat with Woo Bin. And I left some money for the two of you under the vase on dinner table. Use it to buy your lunches. Sorry I didn’t have time to pack you a lunch box ^^ Love Mom. He sticks the note back on to the refrigerator and drops an extra magnet on top, just in case it falls. He sets two slices of bread into toaster, pours himself a glass of milk and heats up the two plates with fried eggs and sausages.

He sets the plates on the table and eyes at the staircase, wondering how many slices of bread Woo Bin would want. When he sees no sign of the dinosaur boy he places another two slices into the toaster and grabs the carton of milk. Does he drink milk? Jong Suk tries to imagine the dinosaur boy with a glass of organic milk in his hand; he can’t help a snicker cracking his lips. It wasn’t something that suited Woo Bin, so he tucks the milk carton back into the fridge and pours a glass of orange juice for the dinosaur.

By the time Jong Suk finishes his breakfast and walks to the sink with his plat, Woo Bin is still nowhere in sight. Should I wait for him? But he doesn’t like seeing me around…He turns to the note on the fridge; he will notice this, right? But what if he doesn’t come to the kitchen? Should I stick it on the front door? He gives himself a slight nod and is about to pull the note off when suddenly the dinosaur boy walks into the kitchen with that intense stare fixed in his eyes. He smacks his shoulder against Jong Suk’s, tumbling him away from the refrigerator, and yanks the door open. 

Jong Suk grips on to the kitchen counter to steadies himself before looking at the up- brows focusing on a bottle of water in his hands.  Is he always raising his eyebrows or are they naturally like that? Jong Suk finds the thought crossing his mind as he watches Woo Bin crack the bottle-cap open.

“I-I heated up your breakfast,” he says pointing at the now cooled breakfast waiting on the table. “And mom left us some money to buy lunch,” he indicates at the few 10,000Won notes right next to the food plate.

Woo Bin says nothing; he gulps down half of the liquid and throw the bottle back into the fridge. Then snatches the few bank notes from the table and heads out of the house. Jong Suk hears the front door slam shut and a lump of air he didn’t know he was holding, leaves his lungs in a sigh.

***

Jong Suk plugs in an earphone and let the other dangle under his shirt. He searches his iPod-shuffle for a song that would match his mood—he always did that, listening to a song that matches his mood, a sad song if he is upset, a merry voice if he feels giddy. He pauses at December’s I Love You More Than Anything and sets it to repeat before tucking back the device into his pocket. He feels bit nervous when students rushing down in clusters takes up his visage, but shakes it off by increasing the volume of the song.

At the end of the ten minute walk to school, he feels his mood lighting up. He tries his best to avoid bumping into anyone in the over-crowded road heading to school, but a rough shoulder slams him, almost plunging him to the ground. For a moment he thought it was the dinosaur boy, because shoulder-smacking Jong Suk seems to have become his main source of amusement lately. But to his relief or disappointment, it was another boy with silver brown hair that had kind of a tousled look which must have taken great effort and time; it curls away from his slim forehead almost like a soft quiff. His almond eyes nestled under thick brows gives him ruggedness. He grins at Jong Suk and reaches to the spot he had crashed onto. Jong Suk involuntarily jerks away from his hand.

“Sorry,” the boy says, withdrawing his rejected hand “I didn’t mean to bump onto you,” he bows. Then he eyes Jong Suk from head to toe and asks “Are you a new student? I haven’t seen you before.”

“Ya!!! Seung Hyun!! Stop right there,” some guy screams from behind them and the boy automatically breaks into a spurt. He waves a good bye at Jong Suk as he disappears into the mass of students pulling into the school.

“Ya! Choi Seung Hyun!!!” the guy screams his guts out once again as he charges after the almond eyed boy.

***

Jong Suk fall behind the teacher, wondering if he will be in the same class as the dinosaur boy. He finds the thought bit calming, knowing at least one person in this school reduces the nervousness swelling in his chest.

“Now, be quiet!” she slams the pile of books in her gasp on the desk and waves Jong Suk in. “We have a new transfer student,” she sings and the class breaks into a mass of noises, Jong Suk hears a few girls squeal and some stares at him with…surprise? He doesn’t really know, but their jaws are hanging low. He scans the class room for that familiar death glare, but he doesn’t find it anywhere. Instead the almond eyed boy is sitting at the back waving at him like crazy. His hand is going to fly away, Jong thinks as he directs a soft smile at the Seung…whatever it was boy. He never remembered anyone’s name—he never had the need to since he never made any friends and hardly ever spoke to the same person twice. He has learnt not to bother with people’s names when he isn’t going to use it.

Jong Suk introduces himself in the shortest way possible and walks to the empty seat at the back where there is no one sitting.

The class gasps in sync and Jong Suk stops in mid-air, his body in a half seated position.

“Don’t sit there,” the girl in the front seat says to him, “He doesn’t like having anyone sitting next to him,” she emphasises the word ‘he’ while pointing at the empty seat next to Jong Suk. 

“Come and sit here,” the Seung boy pats the empty seat beside him. Jong Suk takes a deep breath, his mind not yet made up. For a moment he was glad that he could sit all by himself with no one behind him and he thought he was spared a palpitating heart for rest of the year. He sighs and walks to the designated seat.

A/N: So...how was it?

I know there wasn't much happening in this chapter, hope it wouldn't bored you. I'll update the next chapter soon and primise I'll make it more interesting ^.^