*1*

The school was already empty when Jongdae walked over to school’s glass house, willing to check out his flowers for the last time before he went home. The mumblings kept going on out of his mouth after he glanced at his wristwatch. He had wasted about 2 hours of his precious time only for that damn tutoring. Also, he still felt annoyed by what the younger said in library.

He had to feel lucky? Stop kidding him. Was he so ugly or what? Every time people brought the topic of Byun Baekhyun to him, they must be added with irritating words like ‘he should be thankful’ or ‘just accept his feelings!’ Jongdae hated those mockeries. Yeah. He felt offended. He was sure, he wasn’t that ugly to only have baekhyun as the only one chance to get lover.

“See! I’m not ugly!” Jongdae pointed out the first thought that across his mind once he saw his own reflection on the glass walls. The oversized and classic glasses that he adored so much, the sharp jaw, the cat smile, the sparkling eyes (which now couldn’t be seen well because of the transparent mirror of glass), and look! He wore school uniform very orderly. They all were perfect for him. He thought that he would get a better person than Byun Baekhyun because he was good looking after all. His mother always mentioned that, everyday.

“Yeah. You look nice.” A soft voice heard by Jongdae. He eventually realized that somebody else was on the reflection too, next to him. Byun Baekhyun was smiling with crescent eyes to him.

“Why are you here?” like always, Jongdae couldn’t help himself to not frowning at the flawless skinned boy.

“Because I was sure… you’d come here? Is that the answer you want?” The other smiled sheepishly. And Jongdae’s eyebrow knitted even more, wondering why, why this boy always acted like this toward him.

“Not at all… It even sounds weird.” Jongdae simply said and walked into the glass house. A smile finally came to his face when his flowers greeted him by fresh and relaxing air. He loved being here. That was why he chose to be in gardening club, though he was the only one boy in the club. He didn’t care, as long as he could be near with these flowers, why not?

“Aah the air in here… it’s calming.” The other’s soft voice behind him explained that he was being followed by.

Jongdae turned around, frowning again. “Why are you still here?”

“I want to be near… with you?” Baekhyun said, pulling the straps of his backpack once, eyes cutely fixed on Jongdae’s.

“Don’t be. It’s already dark. Don’t you want to go home?”

“Of course!” Baekhyun smiled widely, eyes sparkling, looked so happy and excited as Jongdae could see that the older was practically jumping a bit. “You want to go home with me?”

Jongdae pushed his glasses up. The happy face of the other was too bright, and it made him feel uneasy somehow. “No.”

The bright face turned to be somber in a second. Head hang low, a sigh escaped from those pink lips before the lips moved in a disappointed way. It would be a lie if Jongdae said he didn’t care. Because in the fact, he felt bad, a bit.

Jongdae couldn’t remember what actually he had done to the other for finally receiving these weird acts from the beautiful boy. He only remembered that two weeks ago when he stepped in that school for the first time, he stopped the other who was walking past him by the hand, asking for direction to headmaster office. And that time, he couldn’t believe that the other who had been being a student in that school, didn’t know where their headmaster’s office was. The white skinned boy only managed to say confusedly, ‘Hmm… through that way? No no. I think that other way? Hmm… sorry I can’t help you but I’ll ask the other. Don’t worry.’ And being forward as he always did, Jongdae blatantly commented the other’s carelessness. ‘Are you new in this school too? Huh… I’ll better ask by myself.’  After that day, it seemed like the other would always smile whenever their eyes met. Maybe trying to be friendly to new student, Jongdae thought. At first he kept thinking like that, but then the friendly manner was too much for Jongdae dislike. And the spreading rumors about him and Baekhyun only made it worse. He barely made friends. He only had a few girl friends - that mainly were members in his club – as the other boys seeing him in hostile.

Majority boys in their school had crush to the beautiful boy. Jongdae once heard that for them, Baekhyun was more charming than other pretty boys even girls. Stop kidding him. Jongdae couldn’t have same thoughts like them. Some girls in his club even more charming than Baekhyun. And his flowers were the most charming thing in the world. That was the reason why Jongdae could spend hours like this just to take care these flowers, the flowers that never failed mesmerize him by the wonderful colors, sweet aromatic, and their perfection in beauty. The flowers that really needed his care, his attention, depend on him.

Jongdae was wiping his hands by his brown handkerchief when he saw the dark sky through the glass walls. Damn. It was already too late. He glanced at his wristwatch, panic. He should go home fast or his mother would get angry for being late for dinner.

Quickly Jongdae took his backpack that being abandoned before on the floor, and walked over to entrance. It was when he closed the door, he realized that someone was sitting on the floor next to the door frame, Byun Baekhyun. And he was asleep, hugging his legs while his face buried between his knees and chest.

“Hey, hey!” He kicked the other’s leg not so hard in order to wake him up.

The body started to move. Head rose slowly. Jongdae looked down at him plainly as the beautiful boy rubbed his eyes weakly and whining softly.

“Why are you still here? I thought you had gone two hours ago.” Said Jongdae, cold.

Eventually, the other looked up at him, smiling sleepily. “I was right. You would go home at this time. It’s already too dark right? It would be better if we walking home together. We’re neighbors anyway.”

Jongdae frowned as he once again couldn’t understand the older’s weird acts toward him.

They were walking side by side on the empty street. Whenever the other being too close to him as their fingers touched, Jongdae had to pull his body aside, making distance. He pushed his classic glasses up when the beautiful boy chuckled by his own story. Actually Jongdae found the story quite funny too, and not to mention the cute way Baekhyun told the story, but he managed to hold his laugh. He didn’t want the other thought that they were close friends, because in fact they weren’t. He didn’t want to be too close with someone like Baekhyun. Baekhyun was too bright, receiving so many attentions.

Just like now. When all of sudden their path blocked by four boys from another school.

“Hey cutie~” a boy with messy school uniform remarked, he had two piercings on his left ear, eyes staring predatorily to Baekhyun.

“Look, look what we got here.” Another boy in the same school uniform, messy too, weird hair style, said disgustingly as he walked closer to them, along with other two boys.

“Such a waste, walking with ugly guy like this. Let us accompany you, sweetie.”

Jongdae’s eyes widened. Ugly, he said? He was uglier than him though.

The boys walked even closer to Baekhyun now. Jongdae fisted his palms and moved to stand in front of the older, shielding him from those strangers.

“Well, well. Trying to be hero, nerd?”

“I give you a chance to run away to your mommy. Just go!”

Jongdae narrowed his eyes, removed his glasses, and inserted them into his pants’ pocket carefully. He knew what would happen. And there was no way, he let those punks crashing his classic glasses.

“Ow, ow wanna fight huh?”

“Let him go.” Jongdae stated in low tone, eyes fixing on the others’ dangerously. He didn’t know how to fight. But he, at least knew how to give such dangerous threat. The key point was on the eyes.

“Nope. I want to get to his pants, his - !” Jongdae clenched his teeth, looking at fresh blood that streamed down from the bad mouthed boy’s nose. “The ! You want death huh?” the bad mouthed punk growled and flying a fist to Jongdae’s face. But the fist never touched him. It was stopped, by Baekhyun’s grip.

Jongdae was blankly looking at the starting intense battle of those five boys, before his eyes. One versus four. It wasn’t fair. But it seemed like one Baekhyun was too hard for them to fight with. Those four punks fought hastily and only managed to punched nothing but air, instead of Baekhyun. Meanwhile the beautiful boy… was very good in technique and such. Jongdae wondered where the other got those amazing fight skills.

He only stood there. Two boys had already curled up on the street. He was too focus on Baekhyun’s elegance yet deathly movements, so he didn’t realize that one of Baekhyun’s opponent had disappeared, until he felt pain on his face, then his stomach. He fell down and suddenly a weight pressed his body down. The boy sat on his stomach and kept punching his face brutally. He could manage to hear a shouting of his name before the weight on his stomach gone. His nose bled, and his face all in pain. Through heavy lidded eyes, he saw another boy - who was Baekhyun’s former opponent, walked over to Baekhyun’s back, silently trying to smack his head while the beautiful boy busy with the punk that hurt him before.

Jongdae thought he had to do something. “Baekhyun!” he shouted, trying to get his attention. “Watch out your back!” he warned him, struggled to get to his feet while his head was hurt to death. Jongdae felt worry when the older looked at him too long and still didn’t realize the other boy’s presence behind him. “Your back!” He shouted once again, hoping that the other would get it and turn around. But Baekhyun walked over to him instead.

“J-jongdae…” He stuttered, looked so worry.

Jongdae shook his heavy head, desperately ran over to Baekhyun, pulling his arm to get him away from the hard punch. Thankfully it didn’t get Baekhyun, but his shoulder instead. Jongdae felt his shoulder burned.

“Jongdae!”  Baekhyun shouted frantically. Once again Jongdae saw that the other being oblivious.

“I’m okay! Just knock them down first!” He pushed the other off him.

All things then happened quickly for Jongdae. A boy with handsome face - and was in same uniform like his and Baekhyun’s - out of nowhere was there, helping Baekhyun fought the punks. He had amazing battle skills too, but the movements were different from Baekhyun’s.

Jongdae felt small by the view. He couldn’t fight. He even didn’t know how to do it. What he could do only being a burden, doing nothing but kept standing on the side. Face and body were in big pains even though he didn’t join the battle from the first.

 He thought that he was pathetic. Maybe those people right. Maybe Sehun was right. No, not maybe. They were actually right. He was nothing. He should be thankful that the brightest and the most beautiful boy in the school doing such overly friendly manners to him. He wondered… did Baekhyun only do such things to him or to others too?

“Thanks Daehyunie! Thanks God you’re here on the right time!” Baekhyun remarked happily once the four punks running away. Suddenly the pain on Jongdae’s body moved to his heart as he witnessed with his sore eyes, Baekhyun pulled the other – that called Daehyun – to his embrace. He didn’t know why but it hurt his feelings.

He was so thankful that those messy punks didn’t hurt his legs. Because now, he still could manage to run, even faster when he heard his name being called by that soft voice. And Jongdae didn’t want to look back. He kept running and hoping he could forget fast anything that had happened today, including his growing feelings for that beautiful boy.

Byun Baekhyun was bright, beautiful, and loveable. He was very similar to those flowers, Jongdae thought. But unlike his flowers, Baekhyun was independent. He didn’t need him. Also he could leave whenever he wished, betraying him, even before the season changed.

He didn’t want this kind of flower.

***