The house was about to burst into flames, Taekwoon was certain of it.
 

"Ah!" A girl had fallen off of the balcony and head-dived into the bushes below. Taekwoon snapped a picture nonetheless, despite of being shocked. What even more shocking was that the girl managed to get up on her feet. One of her friends, Taekwoon supposed, rushed to her side and handed her a cup of beer. And she was ready to party again.Taekwoon shook his head. Young people's party have never failed to amuse him.

Taekwoon could already perceive the rave music blaring inside the fret house from the porch, reminding him how ludicrous the whole idea was. The editor-in-chief thought it was brilliant to write a featured article of one the model students. Taekwoon had thought it was an easy task, until he had added “popular” to the whole equation. Taekwoon had grunted so loud that the whole campus knew that he had offended his superior.

Taekwoon scowled as he sidestepped a body blocking the entrance. By the time he arrived, so many kids had passed out or they were too drunk to notice that Taekwoon was a stranger. He wrapped his arms around his chest, protecting his Canon camera when a guy holding a cup of liquor crashed into him.

"I'm sorry, babe," the guy slurred. "You're so beautiful, babe. Wanna make a lot of babes together?..." his stinky breath almost chased Taekwoon out of this fire pit of grossness.

" off, Sungjae," Taekwoon pushed the drunk away in disgust. His pale stoic face would not betray any displeasure, but his small feline-like eyes always did. He had zero idea why his best friend Hyuk was friends with this barnacle head. Hadn't Sungjae used to bully him too? Taekwoon tried to march forward like he was the only survivor from the deadly disease in the messed-up apocalypse. Though his enemies were drunkards, it was still difficult to fight with a giant leech latching around his leg, telling him that he missed his long luscious hair.

Taekwoon eventually gave up shaking off Sungjae. He picked up an overturned bar stool and positioned himself on top of it. Then he heard a faint snores rising from his leg. Young stupid people never ceased to amaze Taekwoon.

He his camera again and got down to business. He captured a few meaningless photos of party goers drinking and shouting above one another. Some people were grinding at Taekwoon's right, . Taekwoon would show the chief exactly why he couldn't find a role model amongst “cool” kids. And then there's an sticking out of the fridge. At first, Taekwoon thought someone had passed out inside the fridge. He took a picture, creating a loud “click” in the process.. Taekwoon jumped when a guy suddenly popped out from behind the fridge door, grasping a pitcher of water. Even though his hair had became a bird nest after hours of partying, Taekwoon did not mistake Lee Jaewhan for anyone else. His signature tall nose and elvish ears were hard to be mixed up with someone else. Besides that, he was one of the popular kids. He had ten million friends on facebook. He had dated the queenka (or had it been the kingka? Or both?).Taekwoon would never keep track of anyone’s personal lives, especially from their kind.

Taekwoon checked his camera, reviewing the pictures he had taken. When he looked up again, he found Jaewhan staring straight at him. He pretended not to notice and looked down again.

"Hey," Jaewhan spoke to him right next to his ears,  "you were taking pictures of me." His water was still in his hand.

Taekwoon averted his body, "No." He noticed that his speech was slurring. Maybe he was too drunk to notice that he was lying.

He reached over Taekwoon's shoulders, his body was too close to Taekwoon’s liking. Taekwoon stood up before he could touch his camera. “Let me see!” Jaewhan demanded. The water was sloshing in his cup, threatening to spill. Taekwoon flung his arms away. Splash! “Ah!” Taekwoon cried a squeaky scream. “My camera!” Taekwoon frantically pressed the wet power button over and over again, but it gave no reaction. He heard Jaewhan chuckling. Taekwoon wanted him to be as dead as the camera.

“I’m so sorry,” Jaewhan’s smile, however, stayed. “I didn’t know how that happened. If you just handed the camera ov-”

A loud smack cut off his sentence. Jaewhan clutched on his bruised jaw on the ground. Tears of pain started forming.

“This is exactly why it’s a waste of time giving you idiots a chance,” Taekwoon snarled. “Let go of me already!” he yelled in a high pitch and shook off the half-conscious Sungjae before storming out of the house. Taekwoon had meant what he said. The outburst had not been the heat of the moment.

Getting used to hangovers was obviously not on Jaewhan's bucket list. His mouth was as dry as his math prof's wit and he was dying for water. If he was not thirsty or about to piss his pants he would never drag himself out of the bed with a killer headache. Last night's party was blurred out. His lips remembered making out with someone, probably more than one girl or guy. It's best not to remember those sloppy, face- kisses. He went to pour a glass of water and took a sip. He frowned, looking at the transparent liquid and smacked his face upon remembering something happened last night. "Ow!" the bruise on his face still stung. He supposed he had deserved that punch. The camera looked expensive enough to pay for a class. Poor guy. Whoever that had been was so distraught about the loss. Jaewhan tried to clean himself a bit before heading off to his afternoon classes. His mind was still upon the guy from last night. He wondered how he should apologize to him for the damaged camera.
 

Jaewhan had been auto piloting through all of his classes. His eyes were soulless because of last night's alcohol and the incident with the Camera Guy hanging over his mind.

He was going to head home after two hours but someone caught his arm in the middle of the campus ground.

"Yo, man! You gotta read this!" Sungjae greeted him by shoving his phone in his face.

Jaewhan glanced at a school newspaper article, not really paying much attention at first, until he saw his name, “‘Leaderboard’? What's that?”

Sungjae grinned from ear-to-ear, "A popularity ranking. I'm number nineteen!"

"I see," Jaewhan gritted his teeth. All he saw was his name at the last place, right after Sungjae. He glared at the oblivious guy. "That's stupid. Who cares about the school paper anymore." His eyes wandered to the number-one spot. Bang Minah. Plus an article raving on about how lovable, intelligent, generous, and kind she was. Jaewhan thought it was more convenient to just draw a halo on top of her head. He wished that she could feel his eyes burning through the screen. His next target was the writer of the stupid article that no one cared about, "Who's Jung Taekwoon?!"

Sungjae was surprised from seeing Jaewhan’s face changing from purple to red, "Hyukkie’s best friend? Why? Do you know him too?"

Jaewhan cared less about Hyukkie or whose best friend with the country's president. He just needed Jung Taekwoon's face, phone number, ID, address, and a team of hit men.

***

Jaewhan was playing his new version of Candy Crush. Instead of the colourful blocks, he was crushing Jung Taekwoon's face. How dared he put out a stupid article full of lies that no one cared about? Only dweebs read the paper. "Yes!" he screamed victoriously when he passed the level. More Jung Taekwoon for him to crush. He would beat him no matter how difficult the game was. Jaewhan almost missed his target walking out of the meeting room, but his ears perked at the young voice calling out to "Taekwoon hyung".

He used his last bit of  patient to wait for his friend to be gone. Jaewhan recognized his face instantly. He always stirred some protests around campus. For reasons that nobody understood. Maybe he's that Hyuk kid. Why was he so angry all the time? Why couldn’t he be friends with everyone? He eyed Hyuk warily, hoping that he would not catch him giving him dirty look. Hyuk and Taekwoon finally said goodbye’s in laughs. As soon as Taekwoon turned around and spotted Jaewhan, his smile disappeared. "What do you want?" he asked Jaewhan coolly. Jaewhan's smile irked him, reminding him what he went through last night.

"I'm just wondering how democratic was that Leaderboard. Someone made a mistake on that ranking."

"There's no democracy. I ranked them." Taekwoon had decided that making a public poll was a waste of effort. Besides, it's not a popularity contest. It's his own opinion, but there's no use explaining the motive to him. Someone liked him would not understand.

Jaewhan's smile dropped, as expected from someone superficial, "You what? Do you have any idea how a nobody's opinion can ruin someone's reputation?!"

Did he just say "nobody's"? "Last time I checked, I'm the one who can spread the words about what a terrible jerk you are," Taekwoon fired back. "Don't make me write about what you did to me last night and why exactly you should be in the last place!" he grew a little breathless. He did not normally get so worked up in his speech. After all, everyone knew him as a soft-spoken person.

"What did I do? I don't even know you!"

Taekwoon scoffed, "Of course you don't. I'm just a ‘nobody’." He readjusted the strap of his bag and marched past the drama queen.

Jaehwan was yelling something about taking him off of the list altogether. Taekwoon waved his hand at him without looking back at him or changing his mind.

The newspaper meeting was finally drawing to an end. It was excruciating for Taekwoon to listen to the chief bragging about what a brilliant leader he was. Targeting the popular kids’ egos was the right thing to do. He congratulated himself thirteen times in ten minutes for bringing more attention and controversy for the school paper. As if he was a national hero now that the rich kids had started charities for lost pigeons. “Wow. Someone stinks,” Hyuk interrupted his glorious speech. His nose was pinched.

“Yeah. ‘Cause he won’t shut up,” Taekwoon replied loudly. He high-fived Hyuk under the table.

The blood creeping onto the chief’s face made it even harder for them to hold in the giggles. What could he do to Taekwoon anyway? He would make sure the chief did not forget that it was Jung Taekwoon who wrote the article. Jung Taekwoon was the one bringing him a brief second of fame.

The chief proceeded with a proposal of creating an online popularity poll, which Taekwoon and Hyuk fiercely shot down. The meeting ended unpleasantly. Everyone got out of the room as quickly as they could, afraid of being stuck in the open fire.

“Hey!” someone called from Taekwoon’s behind as soon as he had stepped into the hallway. His face was placid when he saw Jaewhan waiting for him. He turned to follow Hyuk.

“Hey!” Jaewhan grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving. “Listen! I’m sorry for breaking your camera. I was too drunk to know what I was doing.”

Taekwoon’s expression was calm, but it was obvious from his glare that he’s boiling inside. Who was he to order Taekwoon to listen to his sorry lame excuse of being drunk? Taekwoon would have none of it.

Jaewhan did not come unprepared. He reached into his bag for the brand new camera. “I really felt bad about your camera. Please accept my apology.”

Taekwoon recognized that it was almost like the same camera he had. He took it, “I accept your apology,” Though he would have accepted any camera graciously. Jaewhan’s grin was wide. "but I won’t change your place on my list any higher if that's what you are thinking about."

Jaewhan's grin vanished, "Why not?" He stomped his right foot, "I apologized, didn't I? I repaid your damage too!"

"No."

Jaewhan was dumbfounded. Just a simple "no"? What’s that suppose to mean?! He waited for Taekwoon to elaborate his “no”, but no words fell from his mouth.

Taekwoon secured his new camera in his bag and left Jaewhan standing by himself. He was not the kind of man to accept bribery, but he would take a well-deserved apology.

The glass of lemonade filled with ice cubes were not sufficient enough to cool down Jaewhan's anger, and it's the middle of December.

"I spent five-hundred dollars on that damned camera! I could've used that money to pay for my math class!" Jaewhan took another giant gulp.

"Or a Gucci bag strap," Minhyuk added.

Jaewhan rolled his eyes. He would never understand his obsession with leather. The kind of leather that would trade away as if it never belonged to you. "Anyway, what do I do now? I heard they will have another ranking soon! I'll be last forever as long as Jung Taekwoon is around!" He was already not invited to the next fret party. He could not imagine what would happen to him if he's last place again. He thought about the people who might be still expecting him to show up to the social gatherings. The thought of abandoning his friends made his frowns deeper. How could he survive in a world where not a living soul was around him?

Sungjae made a dramatic sweep in front of his throat, "I can deal with him if you want."

"No violence!"

"Yeah," Minhyuk chimed in. "Besides, when was the last time you won a fight?"

Sungjae whacked him in the head, "Not too long ago," he hissed.

Minhyuk ignored his threatening tone, "What about we dig up his trash and blackmail him? We'll have him kicked out of the school before the next paper comes out."

Jaewhan watched the two argue the best ways to get rid of Jung Taekwoon swiftly and subtlety. The plans were ranged from public humiliation to calling upon notorious gangsters. Jaewhan finally got chilly.

"Hey, you guys won't ever do those things to me, right?" Jaewhan was all smiles, but his voice was shaky.

"Of course not! We're besties, right?"

Jaewhan was not reassured, he nodded nonetheless, "Leave him to me. I think I got a plan."

Sungjae and Minhyuk looked relieved. Perhaps they were happy for Jaewhan having found his solution. Or perhaps they were glad that the plan did not involve them so they could party some more. He saw Sungjae and Minhyuk exchange knowing glances, the ones that he was not supposed to understand. All Jaewhan understood was that he’s all alone.

***

Taekwoon was zoning out in yet another tedious newspaper meeting. Yes. He still cared about having his own opinion and had everyone heard his voice, but the idea that the chief came up with each time was growing more ridiculous. "We should have photographers at the charity parties hosted by the rich kids" or "we should support the auction of used-brand stuff worn by the rich kids”. He could imagine morons like Sungjae buying Bang Minah’s skirt for a thousand dollar. Taekwoon rolled his eyes. As if the rich and popular had not gotten enough attention to begin with. He watched the hands of the clock ticked by. Nothing could possibly get worse in the next five minutes until the end.

Taekwoon’s wish was so close to coming true, if not for an innocent voice crying out from the door at the moment, "Am I late?"

Taekwoon dropped the pen he had been spinning. However, his face betrayed no surprise. His eyes narrowed and were about to shoot laser at Jaewhan.

"What is he doing here?" Hyuk asked the question that's on Taekwoon's mind.

Instead of calling a security guards who would throw out the rude intruder, the chief leapt from his chair with a smile that took up half of his face, as though the dean of the school was visiting them, "Jaewhannie! I thought you'd never come!" Then he introduced Jaewhan to the rest of the club, "Guys, this is Lee Jaewhan - our campus celebrity.”

Taekwoon and Hyuk simultaneously grunted. It's not the dean of the school, but a celebrity, was visiting.

"Jaewhannie is a new member of the newspaper club. And no. I would not hear any opposition from Jung Taekwoon or Han Sanghyuk." He shot them a glare for a second before they could say anything. The chief continued to yap about how wonderful it was to have an "insider" to provide reliable informations for the paper. Every single one of the students would appreciate the existence of Lee Jaewhan. It did not matter that not everyone knew about him joining the club. Taekwoon was the first one to leave. He ignored Jaewhan's glances when he tried to get his attention. Taekwoon grabbed Hyuk and escaped Jaewhan as fast as he could.

"I'm quitting! I'm serious, Hyuk. I'm quitting the ing newspaper!" Taekwoon sat down dizzily from all the yelling. He took the water bottle from Hyuk and it was all gone in a second.

"Are you sure, hyung? What about having your voice heard? Bringing attention to the pressing issues that everyone should care about?"

Taekwoon grew quiet. He had cared about all those at one point, until the ridiculous Leaderboard and Lee Jaewhan happened. Who cared about environmental sustainability around the campus anymore when all they cared about was if they could make it in the "A" list? If everyone was so impressed by the big show of good deeds that the rich kids tried to outdo each other? Come on now. The school wasn't the Heirs, for God's sake! Why had he written that article?

"Don't blame yourself, hyung," Hyuk said. "The chief would have asked someone else to write the article. It could have been me." He leant forward on his armchair and chuckled. "Who would have thought there are still people care about the newspaper anymore."

Taekwoon nodded. He went to the fridge for a can of ice-cold beer to cool off.

"Hey, on the bright side. Now the paper actually has attention, it makes whatever you want to write about relevant, right? Why not ride on the popular kids' coat tail and focus on what you've been doing?"

Taekwoon took a sip, savouring the bittersweetness in his mouth like he was tasting what his best friend had suggested. Hyuk always knew what to say. It was true that their readership had increased tenfold for the past week. It would be the perfect opportunity to promote his green work. Whether it would work out or not, at least the new stratagem was squeezing Jaewhan out of his mind.

***

Taekwoon had been observing Jaewhan using his hawk eyes for the past week whenever the staff gathered for stupid things. Unlike the FBI, Taekwoon made sure Jaewhan knew he was watching his every moves, looking for a chance to kick him out of his sight forever, or what Jaewhan liked to think: "tarnish his reputation".
 

After the meeting, Taekwoon tried to complain about Jaewhan’s work ethics to the chief, "What did he contribute so far? Nothing! He said his grandma was dying so he didn't do his part of the research! Fine! Let's just say his grandma was dying, then what about the photocopier? He can't even photocopy properly! No! He's worse than that. He spills hot chocolate all over our only copier! And what was his reason again? He said the copier was haunted. Like, machines aren’t suppose to make sound?!" Taekwoon's heart was thumping in his chest from speaking too fast.

"Oh. You know how newbies are. They are required to make mistakes."

Taekwoon was usually a master of his poker face, but his face physically turned into a bright shade of red. He took an obvious breath to draw some cold air to calm himself down, "Fine.  He can stay in the club and I won't complain anymore about it."

The chief raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"But I will be in charge of him, or else I'm quitting."

The chief thought about it. He liked Taekwoon as a journalist. It would be  a waste to give him up just because of some spoiled kid, "Deal."

Taekwoon finally had a bright smile on his face after what seemed like forever, "Thank you, chief. I'll take good care of him."

Taekwoon would take such a good care of him that Jaewhan would soon to be reunited with his dear grandma.

The sky was PMS-ing today. It could not decide between bright sunshine and pouring dogs and cats, so it rained annoyingly. The rain was noticeable enough to be irritating, but not severe enough for an umbrella. Taekwoon wiped his face for the nth time, walking a hundred paces ahead of Jaewhan. Taekwoon did not spare him a glance when Jaewhan struggled with his reflective board.

"Where are we going?" Jaewhan whined for the hundredth time.

Taekwoon no longer bothered with an answer. He walked leisurely around the campus with his camera hanging off of his neck. He took some pictures of the firs lining the pavement, leaving Jaewhan to his own device.

After thirty minutes of random photography, Taekwoon decided to call Jaewhan over. He bounced to him eagerly for escaping his tedious duty, Taekwoon supposed.

"What can I do for you?" Jaewhan beamed.

Taekwoon was revolted by his pretence of sunshines and rainbows. Jaewhan would not be good enough for him to change his mind, no matter how hard he tried.

"Get me a persimmon," Taekwoon pointed at the highest fruit branch.

"Pardon?"

"Go get one! It's important."

Jaewhan placed the board against the tree he was going to climb. He felt the wet surface of the tree trunk, so he grabbed hold of a crease to position himself. He tried to put one foot up, but his foot slipped. Taekwoon watched silently as Jaewhan tried and failed again. At last, his patient ran out, "C'mon, now. A grandma can climb trees faster than you."

Jaewhan grunted as he used the last of his strength to pull himself up on the neck of the persimmon tree. A dark cloud gathered above his head, ready to have a good piss on Jaewhan.  A victorious pluck was heard. A satisfied smile spread on his face, "I did-" he stopped, taken aback by the sight of Taekwoon chomping on a persimmon. "How did you get that?"
 

Taekwoon demonstrated by leaning on his rear before springing upward to rip a ripened fruit off of the lowest branch. He took a bite out of that one too. "How long are you going to sit up there? We have a long day ahead of us." Taekwoon shuffled his feet, not bothering to see if Jaewhan was following.

Jaewhan imagined the fruit in his hand was Taekwoon's head and bit as hard as he could.

The rain came down like needles now by the time Taekwoon and Jaewhan arrived at a small stream off of the main campus. The water was in an unusual uproar with all the excessive water. Taekwoon wiped the lens of his camera delicately. He was grateful that it was water-proof.

Sweat and rain were mixed into Jaewhan's every pores from dragging the board for an extended period of time. It seemed like Taekwoon had long forgotten about the board and Jaewhan altogether, until they were at the bank of the stream.

"Go into the water," Taekwoon instructed.

Jaewhan stared at the roaring water, "Pardon?"

Taekwoon pointed his head to the direction of the stream.

"Is it 'important' too?"

Taekwoon did not answer him, however, his eyes conveyed everything. Jaewhan would meet worse fate than dangerous icy water if he did not do as he was told.

Taekwoon watched him dip a bare foot in the water slowly. Taekwoon smiled to himself when he saw Jaewhan’s face as frozen as the water. Jaewhan now have two feet in. He physically quivered like a stray, but almost immediately, a big grin etched on his face. He was wading and splashing like a child and the cold water splattered onto Taekwoon's clothes. Jaewhan's smile dropped as soon as he met the death in Taekwoon's face. "Um. What do I do now?" he timidly asked.

"Never mind! Just get back here!" Taekwoon yelled. He marched away in a huff. He did not give a damn if Jaewhan was being swept away in the flooded river.

The cloud dispersed a bit and the rain has been lifted slightly. By late afternoon, Taekwoon was still dragging Jaewhan around in his wet clothes with that useless reflective board. They were trudging upon the muddy grass field, until Taekwoon stopped them in front of a group of pigeons idling around. By now, Jaewhan was skeptical of what he's going to ask him to do next.

Taekwoon pushed him towards the birds, "Catch me a pigeon."

"Pardon?"

"I need a picture of a caught pigeon."

"How am I suppose to catch one? With my bare hand?"

"I don't care what you do. Catch me a pigeon."

Jaewhan ran his finger over his bottom lip, unsure of what to do. He took one step towards the birds. They flew away and then landed on a spot not very far. He took another step, the same thing happened. He ended up chasing the pigeons around fruitlessly. Taekwoon aimed the camera at Jaewhan, laughing out loud now. His stomach hurt from the hilarious pictures. The next thing he knew, Jaewhan grew bigger and bigger in his lens. Taekwoon spun away, dodging Jaewhan's outstretched hands.

Jaewhan grabbed onto Taekwoon's forearm from behind, "Delete those photos!"

"You want something for you on the paper, right? I'm just doing what you want."

Jaewhan slapped his wrist as hard as he could. The camera went into the mud with a splash. Taekwoon squeaked.

"You are an !" Jaewhan shouted. "Why are you making me putting up with you? Huh? I just want my place to be higher on your stupid list! I put in all my effort being helpful, didn't I? Everyone else acknowledges it and you just ignore it completely. You're worse than my superficial friends, Jung Taekwoon!" Jaewhan stomped off once he decided that he had enough of Jung Taekwoon to last him a lifetime. He could do better than this. His mother had not given birth to him just for some loser to step all over him.

He left Taekwoon rooting on the spot, staring after his camera, shocked. He did not know which to save first: his camera or his pride. He bent to pick it up and wiped the mud off with his sleeve. He caught a glimpse of his own reflection on the surface of the lens, though he did not see himself. He saw Jaewhan pointing an accusing finger at him. The camera was possessed! Taekwoon loosened the grip on his camera, and the device went straight into the muddy ground for the second time. Taekwoon cursed at Jaewhan who was trapped behind the lens.

Author's Notes:  This is the first time I split the story in halves, so I don't know how the response will be different. Hope you like it enough for the last part of the story! >< Ahaha, is Taekwoon too mean though? :/