✩

                “We should travel to Gyeongju* once I get my driving license. You know, to celebrate.” Baekhyun excitedly said from across the table, scrolling through his news feeds. Gyeongju was the 7th destination he proposed for the past 10 minutes and Kyungsoo wondered if he will, in the end, decide over a place. He understood his friend, sure thing. Now that Baekhyun had the time to actually learn for a license, one could say he was in the 9th sky. He was kind of disappointed back in their last year of high school when he failed his test because he didn’t learn the sections well enough but it seemed college didn’t put as much pressure on him; on him, at least.

Do Kyungsoo hummed, being his usual quiet self, as he stared around the cafeteria. He happened to hear people again gossip about it, the childish story Kyungsoo could only find stupid. He wondered how people could believe in rumors so easily when there was no proof of the actual happenings. They were irrational; they were still kids.

“I’m telling you,” one hissed “I’ve even heard moans coming out of there.” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, of course you did.

Truth was, his college life wasn’t as he expected it to be – exciting, colorful. One year there was enough to prove Kyungsoo the otherwise and yes, he was, somehow, disappointed. He found out he craved for something that in the end came to be way more plain than high school. He has always been quiet, calm, minded his own business, but even he himself was sick of that personality. He hoped maybe college would make adrenaline run through his veins, but no, it didn’t.

However, it seemed he wasn’t the only bored child out there – yes, child, because none of them, in spite of being 19 years old, or older, thought with an adult’s mind. College life was so gray people even started spreading those ridiculous rumors about some junior banging students in the locker room only to make their life a little bit more exciting; to have reasons to hold ‘conversations’ about, to not seem so monotonous.

“Do you believe it?” Baekhyun nodded towards them, finally taking his eyes off his phone. He placed the device aside and watched the students with eyebrows slightly furrowed. He didn’t seem to be waiting for his friend’s answer but Kyungsoo still scoffed.

“No.” his shoulders slightly raised, head turning back to his food. Baekhyun broke into a smile and Kyungsoo wondered what was in his mind. He didn’t disturb himself to question though and continued to eat.

“It’s him! The guy from the locker room!” the same guy pointed his way to the door and by instinct, Kyungsoo’s head jerked in that direction.

He didn’t know why he reacted that way. He couldn’t care less who the boy was and what he was doing, but he still looked and as his eyes fell over the frame of him, his mind went blank. Nothing made sense anymore and he could swear he heard Baekhyun chuckle at his expression. He didn’t mind him though and continued to watch the latter, headphones over his ears and hands stuck into the pockets’ of his hoodie. Kyungsoo wondered, at that time, how could someone so inoffensively-looking be the center of a rumor known by the whole campus. The student didn’t seem to care about what others talked about and he didn’t mind their intensive gazes as well. He just seemed drown in another world, maybe his music, or maybe his thoughts. I guess we can’t simply judge a book by its cover, though, Kyungsoo thought.

“His name is Kim Joonmyun.” Baekhyun stated, folding his arms over the table and carefully examining his friend’s reaction. “He’s a junior. A pretty good-looking one, I’d say.”

Kyungsoo made a face at that and turned back to his food, deciding he, yes, couldn’t care less about whatever that bunch of no-lifers was gossiping about. Baekhyun got the hint and decided to not press it anymore so he returned his attention to his phone and smiled, more for himself, as he realized something finally, – finally, caught Kyungsoo’s attention.

✩

The school’s magazine was an annoying place. It was noisy, and noisy, and noisy again and Jongdae could swear it was the only cause for his brain’s damages. The most disturbing part was that he had to lead a bunch of idiots who had no idea what an ‘interesting subject’ was, and he hated them; all of them.

He threw the last month’s edition over the pile of many useless papers and sat his legs over the desk. He frowned at his team as he listened to their endless bickering over that foolish story of the junior banging students in the boys’ old locker room. Apparently, one proclaimed he did actually go there and he did actually have those…intimate times with the said one. Then Jongdae wondered, why would, in the first place, someone spend time in the there. It was like the dustiest and loneliest and most avoided place in the entire campus.

“I’m telling you, he is awesome. Nobody does it like he does.” Jongdae laughed, heartlessly, earning everybody else’s attention. When they asked him if there was anything wrong he simply shook his head and mentioned for the boy to continue with his… experience.

Jongdae could tell it was all a lie by the way the other’s hands were so exaggeratedly gesticulating and his bottom lip would tremble as some sentences came out. He rolled his eyes when the ‘exciting’ part –as the boy called it, came, and then stared blankly at the narrator as he described the heavenly feeling he had when it all was over. I bet you’re still a , Jongdae thought, turning to his English assignment and deciding that yes, college students were way more stupid than his high school classmates, and Jongdae could have never imagined there will ever be someone to overcome that record.

“It’s true!” One called. Jongdae sighed.

“No, it’s not. They are just rumors. Rumors are never true!” Another one argued, and Jongdae, absent-mindedly, nodded.

“Then how about his story?” a girl pointed her finger straight to the front and the one from earlier laughed.

“Everyone can come up with a story.”

“Are you accusing me for lying?!”

“Am I, now?”

“Look dude, you haven’t be—“

“You shut up, ers, or I’ll chop your sickening tongues!”

And the room finally fell into silence and Jongdae, although he wasn’t one to go all loud, cough cough, was grateful they listened to him.

✩

Kyungsoo had no idea how later that day his feet brought him to the old locker room. The boy called it ‘curiosity’ although Baekhyun kept telling him it was rather ‘attraction’. He smacked his friend in the head for that. He wasn’t attracted – not even in a million years, by someone who was rumored to bang people in a deserted place. That was, if Kyungsoo was to think about it and assume it was, -assume, true, kind of disgusting. Go bang people in a hotel room, or at someone’s place, or maybe in a toilet cub, but not in a sweaty, dusty locker room.

Kyungsoo sighed, hands pushing inside the back pockets of his jeans and wondered if it was a good idea, in the first place, to be there. What if it all was true? What if he was throwing himself in a mouse trap? Rumors are just rumors; he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Just rumors, he assured himself.

It should have been the moment because the student never doubted his view over anything and it was weird, for Kyungsoo at least, to have himself all freaked out by something he clearly knew was completely false. In the end he shrugged and leaned in for the doorknob and he almost opened the door –almost, before his entire body froze at the sound of chords being poked. Guitar, Kyungsoo’s mind went, once more that day, blank. Calm down, Kyungsoo, it’s just a rumor.

He gulped hard, feeling a knot in his throat as he made his way in, careful to not disturb the latter from whatever the hell he was doing. He walked through the lockers and his ears caught something in the air that sounded more like a …moan?

“,” someone hissed and at the same time, the sound of the guitar was interrupted. Kyungsoo rushed in the back of the room and his feet came to a stop when his eyes landed on the same Kim Joonmyun, all stretched over the bench, trying to get the first aid kit from the table beside. The junior watched Kyungsoo, questioningly, as he pulled out a medicinal pad. He poured alcohol over it then pressed it over what seemed to be a…bloody finger?

“Oh,” Kyungsoo’s voice trailed off as the latter’s gaze never left his. He felt kind of dumb, honest to be, to even be freaked at a certain point when he knew; he clearly knew it was all a story made up by idiots, to be believed by idiots. “You were just playing guitar.” His voice came more as a mumble and he didn’t exactly mean for the other to hear him; he just wanted to convince himself everything his eyes were spectators of at that moment was simply, yes, reality.

“Why do you seem so disappointed? What were you expecting me to do?” Joonmyun’s eyebrows furrowed and his index finger came up to be stuck inside his mouth. Kyungsoo could swear that was something illegal to do in front of a stranger; he could swear.

‘Speechless’ was less said. The sophomore simply watched the other, eyes as wide as ever, and maybe his brain wanted words to be let free but, unfortunately, there were no words. Anything I say now will make me look like an arsehole, Kyungsoo sighed.

“You don’t know about it?” the younger quietly started, looking everywhere but in Joonmyun’s eyes. “The rumor?”

Joonmyun, however, was taken aback by the intruder’s words and tried to understand what in the world the boy was talking about. Truth was, he never paid attention to the ones around since he had better things to do, like focus on his music. He caught the latter’s gaze once more and slightly shook his head like demanding for an explanation.

“What rumor?”

It took a few minutes for Kyungsoo to answer, perhaps. It felt just so awkward to actually say it out loud and to think his lips were the one to break it in front of the culprit made the boy shiver. “They say…” he bit his lips “you bang people in here.”

Afterwards it all went quiet. Kyungsoo wondered if he did something wrong because Joonmyun only watched him with a blank expression, eyes rigid and lips pressed in a thin line. He expected a reaction, a burst out, a flushed face, a yell, perhaps, but the junior did nothing.

“Um,” Kyungsoo brought his hand up to scratch behind his ear “sorr—“

Cheerful, intoxicating laughter filled the room and at that time, Kyungsoo could swear everything looked so neat, and warm, and sunny, and…perfect. Joonmyun’s lips were wide split allowing his pearly teeth to show off to the world, and the sound of his laughter made Kyungsoo’s mind fly back at the park next to his house where children would play football each day after middle school classes, all happy and worriless. And they would smile to each other, and hug each other, and be glad they were there, playing, living, laughing.

Joonmyun’s eyes disappeared under his lashes and his cheeks rounded and his fingers were tightly wrapped around the guitar’s neck while his other hand was coming and going, patting his own knee, and Kyungsoo could swear never before he saw such beautiful features. So he just stood there and watched, and stared, and couldn’t believe it was him –him, out of an entire world, who caused that beautiful laughter to erupt.

“Why would they say that?” Joonmyun questioned, trying hard –as Kyungsoo noted, to hold back his amusement.

“Apparently, they have nothing else to talk about. You are also practicing it,” he nodded at the instrument “in a place nobody steps anymore.”

“And you are here because?” he raised an eyebrow and just by that the younger could feel blush spread over his face.

“Because I was” attracted “curious.” He lowered his gaze and once more cursed Baekhyun for his filthy, but not really, mind.

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