His raven hair obscured his eyes, which were cast down to stare at his black spiky boots. The teacher's voice droned on in the background as she introduced him to the class. He couldn't care less about introducing himself because what was there to say? He wasn't particularly interesting or anything, and the class obviously didn't care either. A few students in the front even put their heads down and slept throughout the entire process.

The female teacher lightly tapped him on the shoulder, causing the student to looking up slowly. 

"Why don't you tell us your name?" 

The male student nodded almost indecipherably and turned to stare at the back walk, purposefully avoiding looking at any of the bored students. His pressed his lips together into a fine line, his stomach twisting and doing flips as his anxiety kicked in. He finally parted his lips, hardly whispering, "Kim Hansol....." 

The teacher patted his shoulder again and asked ,"One more time please?" 

Hansol cleared his throat quietly and spoke a few decibels louder, "Kim Hansol. My name is Kim Hansol..."

The teacher smiled encouragingly, turned, and addressing the rest of the class,announced, "Alright class, Hansol will be attending this school from now on, so please treat him well!" 

Her small speech was met with a few unimpressed claps, followed by the teacher ushering Hansol to sit at the back next to one of the few students who was miraculously awake. Hansol bowed slightly before sitting down, not even looking at the boys' face. 

He put his backpack down and yanked out his textbook and notebook too fast, resulting in his phone and all his books to fall crashing to the ground. Hansol muttered incomprehensible words of annoyance as he leaned down and gathered his books and stuffed them into his bag. He felt around for his phone on the floor, his stomach dropping and twisting at that awful realization that he lost his phone. 

Hansol frantically searched the ground for his phone, his eyes scanning the surface desperately as his hand shuffled awkwardly on the ground. His mind went into a panicked state. If Hansol didn't have his phone, he'd be lost. He wouldn't have his escape; he couldn't get away from this new, uncomfortable atmosphere. He couldn't hide from all the new faces and judgmental stares. He simply could not function without his phone. 

After a few minutes of frantic searching, the boy next to him lightly tapped his arm, making Hansol jump. He sat up in his chair and looked over at the boy questioningly. The boy stared at Hansol for a bit, staring at the black coal liner smudged artfully around his eyes. He then silently held up Hansol's phone, observing how the latter's body visibly relax.The boy's mouth curled up into a smirk, completely devoid of mockery, just curiosity.

"I assume you were looking for this?"

Hansol nodded quickly, his eyes pleading for the object, hands twisting nervously in each other. The boy nodded slowly and handed him the phone, their fingers brushing together during the exchange. Hansol jerked his right hand back in surprise at the unexpected contact, his brain whirring as to how to react to the foreign incident. The boy giggled quietly at Hansol's odd reaction. "What's wrong? Aren't you used to touching people at all?" 

Hansol shook his head and rubbed his right hand with his other hand, his right burning with an odd, tingling sensation. He wasn't used to people in general, much less having skin on skin contact. He opened his mouth to respond but decided not to and closed it. The other boy leaned down to look at Hansol in the eyes, his face curious and expectant. "Were you going to say something?"  

Hansol's eyes widened as he shook his head again, looking down at his hands shyly. He wasn't used to this, this interest the other guy had in him. Not that it was off putting, just strange. In a way, he appreciated it. The guy didn't seem to want anything from him, just to talk and interact with Hansol. He had gotten so used to girls, and even sometimes the occasional guy, approaching him wanting something of him that he eventually became numb to it. 

Hansol's thoughts were cut short when the same guy nudged his arm gently, nodding his head at the teacher who was looking at Hansol with an expectant expression. 

Hansol sat in his seat paralyzed. 'Did she ask me something? Oh my god I'm so screwed I just waana go die in a hole far faaaaaaar away from-' 

"Um, teacher? I don't think he heard the question very well..." 

The teacher's gaze shifted from Hansol to the other boy, her eyes softening. 

"Ah, I see. Well then Byoungjoo, since your friend didn't hear the question, could you then answer it instead?" 

'So his name is Byoungjoo.... Okay....'

Byoungjoo nodded and stood at his table, a confident smile on his face. 

"Yes teacher. You asked about the two types of atoms that make up water. That's two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom." 

The teacher nodded in satisfaction, ushering Byoungjoo to sit down. Hansol stared at him whilst he slid back into his chair. The young male looked over at him and flashed a quick smile at him. "Next time, try and pay attention a little, ok?" 

Hansol decided to pluck up enough courage to actually answer him. 

"Y-yeah... I'll d-do that..." 

Byoungjoo's eyes lit up at Hansol's tiny reply and beamed a satisfied smirk. "There we go, we're gettin' somewhere!" 

Hansol blinked and looked back down to his hands, a tiny smile playing about his lips. But his face was lying; it didn't show what he was actually feeling, which was excitement beyond measure. He just talked to someone he hardly knew! He felt like he just aced an exam and got into the school of his dreams, received a box of chocolate from someone he liked (theoretically) and got a phone for the first time: THAT is how excited he felt. His heart was racing and his palms became damp with sweat because he talked to someone. And not only did he talk to them, but they responded positively and encouragingly...!

Hansol felt so happy that he could have burst into a million pieces. But his little 'happy high' was short-lived because damn it the bell rung and ruined the moment. Hansol put his books back into his bag (not that he opened them once in the entire class period) and stood up, only to freeze. 

He had absolutely no idea what or where his next class was, and frankly it terrified him. He just stood there, like a deer in the headlights, unmoving. His brain raced to find a solution. Anything.... Anything at all.

He had his phone. 

Good. 

He at least had that. 

Maybe he could look up his schedule online? 

Wait, didn't he have it in his...

Hansol patted his left jean pocket and slid his fingers in to find a crumpled up piece of paper inside. He pulled out the slip of paper and unfolded it, revealing his class schedule. He quickly scanned it, a sinking feeling forming in the pit of his stomach as he realized he had absolutely no idea where this classroom was. Hansol felt like he was dying. All his energy felt like it was flowing out of him at terrifying rates, and he felt his knees grow weak. He felt like his insides were going to flip over and just twist themselves into tight knots until they broke, which seems dramatic but it really was how he felt. 

Hansol nearly passed out when Byoungjoo slid in front of him, his confident smile morphing into a face of almost concern. He leaned down till he was eye to eye with Hansol, inspecting his frightened face. 

"Hey, are you okay Hansol? You look like you just saw the biggest spider in your entire life. What's wrong?" 

That comment definitely didn't help Hansol at ALL. He jumped up, spinning around from side to side, scanning the walls for potential eight legged enemies. Where was the spider and where was the place furthest away from that demon of a creature?! 

Byoungjoo saw Hansol's expression turn from fear to pure panic and immediately regretted his choice of words. He gingerly grabbed both of Hansol's shoulders, steadying him and mumbling "Hansol I was just kidding, there's no spider! It was just a figure of speech..." 

Hansol's shoulders, well, entire body trembled under Byoungjoo's hands at the sudden rush of fearful adrenaline that was slowly ebbing away. The taller male tried calming the shorter one down, dropping his hands from Hansol's shoulders, and began walking him out of the classroom, thanking the teacher as they went.

Byoungjoo stopped a few feet away from the room and turned to look at Hansol again, more cautious than before he asked,"Are you okay? I didn't mean to scare you about the spiders back there-" Hansol shivered at the mention of the bug as Byoungjoo continued,"I'm sorry... But, you looked scared even before I talked to you. Do you need help?" 

Hansol had been chanting in his head 'calm down, it's okay, calm down, it's okay' the entire time and, had succeeded in soothing his hectic emotions. He plucked up the courage to respond, very quietly, with " I don't really.... Know where to... Go...." Byoungjoo nodded. "Okay, thank you for telling me that-" he leaned down a bit and patted Hansol's head at this, sadness stabbing through him when Hansol flinched at his touch.   'Crap, I keep forgetting he's not used to any kind of skin ship...' . "Okay... What's your next class?"

Hansol raised his hand and showed Byoungjoo the piece of paper that had his schedule on it. The chocolate haired boy gingerly took the piece of paper from him, making sure he didn't touch Hansol's hand, and glanced at it. Byoungjoo sighed with relief as he handed the paper back to Hansol, who was staring up at him curiously, much like a kitten who wanted to be fed but only stared at you till you did so. 

He smiled,"Good news Hansol, I have the same schedule as you!-" Byoungjoo watched Hansol's face brighten in just the slightest, smallest of ways "Except the second to last period... That I do not have with you, but my classroom is right next to yours, so don't worry." 

Hansol's face fell slightly, but still looked considerably relieved. Having the majority of classes with Byoungjoo meant he wouldn't be absolutely terrified every day, just less frightened and anxious. He spoke up bravely (at least, for him it was brave) to Byoungjoo, "I'm glad we ... have most of our classes together....." Byoungjoo smiled and nodded before he began to walk down the hallway slowly, allowing Hansol to catch up with him as he explained, "I'm happy about all this, but we really gotta get to our next class!" 

Hansol nodded and followed him to the next class, then the next one, then the next, then lunch (which was very awkward for the both of them) and so on till it was that fateful class period. The second to last class period. The ONE class that he didn't have with his bodyguard/Byoungjoo. Hansol stopped in front of the classroom doorway and glanced at Byoungjoo worriedly. Byoungjoo just smirked and gave him an encouraging nod as he entered his own classroom, whispering over his shoulder, "Tell me about it after class, okay? You'll be fine, trust me. I'll be right here." 

Hansol nodded glumly and entered the classroom. He shuffled to a seat in the back of the room ,his eyes never leaving his hands that were twisted together in front of him. Thankfully, nobody bothered him much and the teacher was fairly nice, but had the occasional sarcastic comment here and there that had the class chuckling quietly; even Hansol let slip a quiet giggle or two. The class period crawled by, but once the bell rang, Hansol nearly leaped out of his seat and walked down the classroom and out the door to find Byoungjoo. 

His eyes scanned the crowd, which was difficult at his slightly-shorter-than-Byoungjoo-height, until someone bumped into him. The boy was a quite tall and lanky kid with quite pale skin, who simply mumbled an apology and moved on through the sea of students, high fiving a few of his friends and went on with his life. Hansol stared after him, marveling at his ability to socialize so well. His thoughts were interrupted when Byoungjoo finally bumped into him and nearly caused them both to fall over. 

Byoungjoo laughed as he steadied himself and grabbed onto Hansol's forearm, balancing them both. Hansol stared at Byoungjoo's hand that was so close to him, invading his space but yet keeping him from falling. It was an odd comfort. His strong grip on Hansol was both reassuring and unsettling. The brown haired boy realized that his hand was in Hansol for too long and quickly let go. He motioned for the two of them to go to their final class. As they walked, he questioned Hansol on his class without him,"Well, how was it? Was the teacher nice? Did anyone bother or scare you?" Hansol shook his head,"It was okay... Teacher was nice... Kinda funny... Nobody bothered me..." 

Byoungjoo smiled warmly and laughed openly at Hansol's blunt honesty, seriously confusing the poor shy boy. He tried to explain himself once he got his laughter under control, "Ah haha... I'm sorry, but you are so blunt and honest that I was a bit surprised. But it's good you like that class. So it looks like you'll be able to survive without me for a whole period, right?" Hansol nodded quietly. Byoungjoo smiled and kept walking down the busy hallway. 

Hansol was an odd one, to say the least. He didn't talk much and seemed frightened of practically anything and everything. Somehow Byoungjoo had coaxed him to speak more and more throughout the day, and even if that itself was only a few sentences strung together, Byoungjoo felt proud. There was something about Hansol that drew Byoungjoo to him. Maybe it was the feeling of needing to protect him that he was drawn to. 

Nevertheless, Byoungjoo didn't mind the smaller's odd behavior and character. His mother always told him people behaved the way they did for a reason, and that if you get to know them, you find out that reason and understand them. Byoungjoo intended to do just that. He wasn't one to be judgmental and Hansol was so different from his other friends that he thought it'd be a nice change. Hopefully his other friends wouldn't treat Hansol the way they treated him, but not to say they treated him badly. They treated him like anyone would treat their friend, but for Hansol that would be too much. 

Byoungjoo found their last class and ushered Hansol in, who naturally refused to go in first. He smirked, "Come on Hansol, fine. I'll go in then you follow me. " Hansol nodded and followed Byoungjoo into the classroom like a puppy who was overly attached to his owner. The two sat in the back, as per usual, and began their last class of that day together.