Genuine Effort
by -Tigress-
UNIQ Seungyeon + Seventeen Woozi
Genre: uhhh angsty fluffy stuff
Word count: 4361

Opening his locker felt like it would be a mistake, but it was something that Jihoon couldn't avoid. To go to his next class, he had to have his calculus text book. But to get to said book, he had to open his locker, which was, unfortunately, one of the top shelf ones. 

With a heavy sigh, Jihoon pushed his load of books and notebooks from his earlier classes into one arm, then reached for the combination lock with a sense of dread. He just knew that something was going to...

The door popped open as soon as the combination was freed, and a veritable flood of rubber bouncy balls poured out. Most of them hit Jihoon on their way down, bouncing off of the short senior to head in every which direction, and then they were all over the floor, bouncing off to wreak havoc.

Jihoon dropped his head, honestly wanting to do nothing more than scream out his frustration right there, but the snickers he heard from several feet away were just enough of a reminder that his tormentors were watching. "Don't give them the satisfaction," he whispered to himself. His misery was what they wanted to see and he was not going to indulge them.

He set his pile of books on the floor before taking the few left in his locker and placing them on top of the stack. Then, standing on his tiptoes to reach the back of his locker, Jihoon used his free arm to sweep the rest of the stupid rubber balls out of his locker. They bounced around his feet, accompanied by the now open chuckling from the small group of watchers, while the rest of the students tried their best to avoid the chaotic things. Just one person not noticing, that's all it would take...

And just as that thought ran through Jihoon's mind, he heard a yelp followed by a thunk. His eyes squeezed shut as the students around him disappeared, all deciding they didn't want to be there just then, and then it came. "Lee Jihoon! To my office now. Mrs Choi, please get this cleaned up." 

Principal Kim's hands were balled at his sides, and as the short senior followed the older man to his office, he noticed the principal moving with a limp. No wonder he was so pissed off.

Jihoon took a seat in front of the man's messy desk, keeping his eyes on the metalic Newton's cradle where it clicked away the silence. Principal Kim took his own seat with a ginger wince, his elbows coming up to rest on his desk and his fingers pressing into his temples. "What the..." he began, cutting himself off into a more proper phrase. "Can you explain to me why you were throwing rubber balls onto the hallway floor, Jihoon?" he sighed instead.

"I..." Jihoon began, then stopped his explanation. What would it matter what he said? The principal had seen him sweep the remainder onto the floor, apparently. Explaining further would not likely do any good, not when the principal's own nephew was one if Jihoon's tormentors. And so instead of telling the older man what had truly happened, Jihoon heaved a sigh and sat back in his seat. 

"It's like that, is it?" Principal Kim said with a flat expression; when Jihoon didnt answer, he shook his head. "Fine. Detention for a week. You're lucky it isn't longer with such a dangerous stunt. Lucky it was only me who fell and not some kid whose parents are going to sue us."

Oh yes, because getting detention for something that was done to him was what Jihoon considered lucky. He didnt say that, though, instead listening to the rest of the older man's lecture with a blank expression on his face. It wasn't as if the lecture actually mattered, especially since Jihoon was a pretty upstanding student. Besides. It was senior year, finally, and when he graduated in the spring, he would leave this school and its petty students behind without a care. 

First he had to graduate. Principal Kim wound down in his lecture, and as soon as he finished, Jihoon stood to give him a low bow. "Yes sir," he agreed. "I will do my best." The Principal must have been satisfied with the answer, because though his face was pinched with irritation as if he wanted to say more, he did not. He wrote a note on one of the colored papers on his desk before tearing it out to hand it to Jihoon. 

"Your detention will be with Mrs. Kwon, after eighth period, room 210. She will know to expect you, Jihoon. Don't try to skip it."

As if he'd ever skipped a class in his life. Jihoon kept that remark back, too, merely accepting the paper and leaving the office with another bow. Once out in the hallway, though, he heaved a sigh. Nothing ever seemed to go right for him, no matter how hard he tried to follow the rules. It was as if life had painted a target on his back, directing every misfortune toward him.

His mother had left when he was young; he could hardly remember her. And his father preferred to drink the anger away, leaving Jihoon to either join him in the downward spiral, or work to be something more. He chose the latter, with the idea that when he turned eighteen, all would magically get better. It was a naive idea, he realized, because his eighteenth birthday had come and gone and yet he was still in high school. Admittedly, it had passed less than two weeks prior, and he did only have one semester after this one. And with Christmas break nearing, and himself being a legal adult, he planned to go somewhere during the holidays. Or maybe just a hotel. But either way, he didn't have to spend his holiday break with his father as the man downed can after can of beer.

His personal life aside, school . It didn't help that he was nearly a head shorter than every guy in the school, and most girls as well. His lack of height had always been something that people used to try and pick on him. And while he had to admit that their actions and words stung, sometimes more than others, he tried his best to just brush it off. Their words and actions could not matter if he did not let them. Or so he told himself.

On top of that, he did strive to get good grades. He wanted to be able to present his academic portfolio to colleges of his choice and have them want him. Hence, no skipping classes, even if it was a terrible one like detention, something he didn't even deserve. 

With another sigh and a mental reminder to himself that the semester was almost over, he hefted his backpack and headed down the hallway. It was very nearly the end of the eighth period as well, and he couldn't decide if he should be more irritated about missing calculus, or having to go to detention. Calculus was one of the classes that he truly had to work at to get good grades, and to miss an entire period made him nervous.

He had about ten minutes before he had to be to Mrs. Kwon's detention, and so he took that time to go to his calculus room anyway. He waited outside the door until class let out, and then moved against the flow of students to go stand in front of Mr. Cha's desk. He really liked the young teacher, the way that he taught such a difficult subject in such a bright and fun way. 

"Oh, Jihoon!" he said, smiling up at the young man. "I saw you missed class, is everything okay?"

Unwilling to drag someone into his own personal battles, Jihoon gave a bright smile and nodded. "Yeah, just had some things come up. Could I get the lesson layout for today that I missed? I'd like to go over it, if you don't mind."

Mr. Cha gave a bemused smile before digging through the papers on his desk. "I don't think I've ever had a student ask me for more work," he said laughingly, but handed the requested papers to Jihoon. He accepted them with a smile and a bow, then begged forgiveness from the teacher that he couldn't stay. Mr. Cha waved him off with a smile, and Jihoon headed for the detention room.

He'd never been there. Or actually, he had been to that classroom, for some class he had taken back in freshman or sophomore year, but he had never been to it when in use as a detention room. He couldn't help but to be nervous as he stepped up to the door, though he mentally berated himself for that feeling. But honestly, he had no idea what to expect. What did one do in detention? Shaking off his nerves, he pulled the door open and stepped in, offering the older woman sitting at the desk a bow immediately.

"Oh! Lee Jihoon! What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise. Jihoon's mouth twisted in a sardonic smile, but he smoothed it away before straightening up.

"School work, I assume," he replied. She laughed and shook her head, but held out her hand for the slip from the principal. Which he had forgotten all about until that moment. 

Digging through his pockets produced it, albeit a bit crumpled, and he handed it over. Mrs. Kwon smoothed it out, her brow crinkling as she read it, then motioned at the seats. "Well, go ahead and take one. Oh, and don't forget to take one of these," she added, indicating a small stack of papers at the corner of her desk. Jihoon did as she said, though he didn't look it over until he reached his seat.

There were two others in the room, both students that Jihoon knew and did not care to interact with, and so he took a seat as far from them as possible. Pulling his backpack off, he set it on the seat next to his and slid into his chair. The paper she'd had him take was a simple sheet, with questions for the student to fill out. He had to assume that it was to keep detention from being a social club, and from the frustrated looks on the other two student's faces, he could tell it was working. He bit off his grin as he took out a pencil to begin answering.

He hadn't even begun answering the first question (Why does a teacher assign detention? - he was tempted to answer that the principal liked to see his nephew run wild) when the door opened again, and a tall, thin boy entered with a bright, easy smile on his face. "Hello Mrs. Kwon," he greeted with a bow, and though the older woman shook her head at him for his tardiness, Jihoon saw a smile quirk on the edges of her lips.

"Seungyeon. Again. Let me guess. Being too loud in class?"

He laughed and reached out to grab a sheet, flashing her a charming smile as he did so. "Yes well, I can't help it if I am overly excitable," he responded. She only laughed quietly in return and motioned for him to take a seat. 

He turned toward the classroom and Jihoon looked down at his desk, unwilling to be caught staring. The tall boy laughed again, quieter this time, and Jihoon saw him make his way over to a seat near him and take his place. He didn't recognize the other boy, didn't recognize the name she had called him. It seemed he was a frequent attendee of detention, though; probably a class clown, from the sounds of it. Jihoon focused back on the question at hand, formulating his response in his mind, and was just about to write it when a slip of paper slid across his desk.

'Hi, I'm Seungyeon! I've never seen you before, you are?' - it read, and Jihoon gave a huff of irritation.

"Busy," he whispered back, tucking the sheet under his assigned paper. A light chuckle was all he got in return, but no more notes came across his desk. 

At least not until he completed the sheet. As soon as he finished explaining what he had done to be in detention that day (the final question, and he filled it out as honestly as possible while leaving other names out), another paper floated onto his desk. 

'You're not busy now.'

Jihoon laughed: he couldn't help it. It was a quiet laugh, not enough to catch Mrs. Kwon's attention, but he heard a slight chuckle from behind him as Seungyeon joined in. Shaking his head, Jihoon bent over the paper to write out his name and pass it back to the other boy. 

'You're the kind to be at the top of the honor roll and make us all look bad, right?' - the next note said, and Jihoon's smile fell away. Of course the other wouldn't be friendly for no reason. Anger burned up inside of him but he pushed it down, trying to ignore the sting of the insult. Just because everyone judged him so easily, he didn't need to let them bother him. He ignored that note, as well as the next two, focused on reading the outline for the calculus lesson he'd missed. Seungyeon stopped trying to catch his attention after that, leaving Jihoon in peace.

As soon as Mrs. Kwon announced that detention was over, though, the tall boy pounced. He moved from his seat to take the one that Jihoon's backpack was in, taking said bag and holding it tight in his arms as he looked at the other student. "Why'd you get so mad at me? It was supposed to be a joke."

"It's not a joke, okay? Now give me my backpack." Jihoon stood to move toward the other, but Seungyeon stood at the same moment. His eyes widened comically as he noted their height difference, and a gleeful look spread across his face as he began to lift the backpack out of Jihoon's reach. 

'Not this again,' Jihoon thought immediately, remembering all the times that his classmates had used their height advantage to torment him. To his surprise, Seungyeon must have seen something in his face, because the joy swept away and was replaced by a look of consternation.

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry. What a great impression I am making." He held Jihoon's backpack out to him, who snatched it away and slung it over his shoulders immediately. Then Jihoon turned his back on the other and moved up to the front of the room.

Mrs. Kwon happily received the paper from him, barely glancing it over before shooing him out the door. Surely she already knew that he would fill it out completely. Jihoon left the classroom as Seungyeon stopped to talk to the woman, the other two students already gone as soon as she had announced that they could leave. Jihoon was determined to try and catch the next city bus, not wanting to stay at the school for longer than he had to. He didn't even care where the bus took him, as long as there was somewhere he could sit and do his homework and hopefully stay all afternoon and evening until curfew. 

Running footsteps behind him alerted him to Seungyeon's presence long before the tall student puffed to a stop beside him. "Oh my gosh, I like, never run," he gasped out, a hand to his side as if in pain. "You could have waited for me."

"Why would I do that?" Jihoon asked, exhasperated with this strange boy and ready to be rid of him.

Seungyeon flashed him a hurt look, though Jihoon was positive that it was all acting. "So I could tell you I'm sorry! I am, by the way. Sorry." He added the last bit with a serious expression, his dark eyes searching Jihoon's face for something. "I wasn't thinking. That's like, one hundred percent my problem with everything, I don't think. And I ramble. But anyway. Um."

He paused for a long moment, his face screwing up in confusion, until Jihoon sighed and took pity on him. "You were apologizing," he prompted.

Seungyeon's face brightened up and he nodded emphatically. "Yes! And I am sorry. About not thinking and just saying."

"Uh huh. Can you like, go away or something?" Jihoon asked, irritated with himself, Seungyeon, and all young people in general because high school . The surprise that flashed over Seungyeon's face was expected, but the hurt that was there before quickly being hidden was surprising.

"Oh. Um, yeah. Sorry."

And before Jihoon could take back his words, the tall student turned and headed across the parking lot, leaving Jihoon at the bus stop alone.

He didn't see Seungyeon for the next several days, despite being in detention each day after school. Jihoon couldn't pinpoint why his thoughts kept returning to the tall boy, except that he couldn't shake the feelings that his sharp words had hurt Seungyeon. He didn't know him, so why should he care? All he needed to care about was getting high school over and done with. So why did he keep thinking about Seungyeon?

If thoughts could have been a summoner, his had worked. On the final day of his assigned detention, he was finishing filling out the sheet, not even halfway into the session, when the door to the classroom opened. He looked up, curious as to who would dare to interrupt a detention, and to his surprise it was Seungyeon. He entered and moved to Mrs. Kwon's desk to whisper something in the older woman's ear. She looked out over the class briefly, then nodded and followed the young man out of the door.

There were no other students in with Jihoon that day, a Friday, something that he had been surprised of. But he'd tucked into his seat and begun working on the assigned sheet right away. It was the same one that he'd been given at the start of each detention, and instead of just writing the same thing over and over again, he'd taken to telling the story in a new way each time. If anything, it kept the action of filling out the questionaire from being too monotonous. Now, with Mrs. Kwon gone, he ducked his head and finished off his paper, trying not to let the curiousity get to him.

The door finally opened again and Mrs. Kwon entered alone, a smile on her face as she looked at Jihoon. "You're a pretty exemplary student, Jihoon," she said, completely out of the blue. "Have you filled out your assigned paper?"

"Uh, yes ma'am," he began, unsure of where this was going. 

She shook her head slightly with a laugh, then motioned for him to bring it to her. Once he handed it over, she looked up at him with a raised brow. "Well? What are you still doing here? Detention is out."

His gaze darted to the clock above her, showing that there was still almost twenty-five minutes left. She laughed and pointed at the door, though, and so without questioning his good fortune, Jihoon returnd to his seat to gather his things quickly. He gave her a bow and a wish for a good weekend as he left, which she returned, and then exited the door to see Seungyeon leaning against the lockers beside him.

A slow smile spread over Jihoon's face, one that he tried to keep away with little success. "How did you manage that one?" he asked in lieu of greeting. 

Seungyeon's cheeky smile grew wider, his eyes nearly disappearing. "I'm charming, if you haven't noticed," he teased. They fell into step with one another, headed out of the school in a surprisingly comfortable silence. Jihoon was torn between saying that he was sorry for what he had said the other day, or thanking the tall boy. Before he could do either, Seungyeon moved around in front of him. "Can we go somewhere? Like, I don't know, grab a hamburger or something?"

"Um, I don't-"

"I'll pay!" Seungyeon cut him off. Jihoon gave a short laugh at the excited tone in the tall boy's voice, and gave in with a nod. "Yay! Um, I am kind of new here, so... lead on!" he finished, with an over-exaggerated motion. Jihoon did laugh that time.

The place he led them to was not a fancy burger joint by any means. It was one where the upholstery needed re-doing and the floor tiles were scuffed and cracked, but the food was delicious reasonably priced, and within walking distance of their high school. Seungyeon didn't say a word about the appearance, something Jihoon was both surprised and grateful over. They ordered at the counter, where Seungyeon did as promised and paid for their meal, then took a seat in a cracked and faded booth to wait on the food.

"So..." Jihoon began slowly, unsure of what to say.

"Yeah. So. I need to apologize, again. The other day, when we met, I meant the note as like, an ice-breaker joke or something. Because the way you were doing your homework and the questionairre so intently were really cute and I assumed that you were like, an honor's student or something. Which I now know is true, but still. I didn't know that you'd be offended over it and-"

"And I shouldn't have been." Jihoon interrupted. "It was an innocent remark and I overreacted, and I am the one who needs to apologize. And for snapping at you to go away. I'm sorry, Seungyeon."

The smile that lit over the other's face was worth the discomfort that Jihoon had to fight through to be able to apologize. "Well. I suppose we're even, yeah?"

Jihoon snorted a laugh. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Now that that's done. I want to say something. And you can feel free to tell me to shut up or whatever anytime you want, I know I'm nosy and poke into places where I don't belong." Jihoon felt tension gather in his stomach as Seungyeon was speaking, but when the taller boy paused and looked at him for consent, he gave a short nod to continue. "You see, I can kind of tell you're not-"

"Order sixty-three!"

Seungyeon deflated, shaking his head as if all the courage had been out of him with that inerruption. Jihoon gave a somewhat forced laugh and slid out of his seat. "I'll get it," he said. 

When he returned, drinks and burgers and an order of curly fries piled on the tray in his hands, Seungyeon seemed to have gathered his thoughts better. He waited until Jihoon had sat down before beginning again. "I'm a transfer student, I bet you didn't know that. From China. No, I'm not Chinese," he cut off the question with a laugh. "My dad is a teacher and we've lived a lot of places over the years. Anyway. That's not where I want to go with this. When I was a kid, I was always taller than everyone. I hit my growth spurt at like, eleven, and I was living in Brazil at the time. I got teased a lot for it and because I was a foreigner, the kids had already been trying to make my life a living hell. Once I shot up, well, it just made it even easier for them."

Jihoon could understand that. Seungyeon was completely his opposite, tall and thin and lanky where Jihoon was short and sturdy. Either one could make them an easy target for bullies.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that, well, I get it. Like, the only reason you were in that room in the first place was because of Wonwoo and his friends., right? But like, I understand. Where you're coming from, how it feels. When I saw your face... with the whole backpack thing... which I'm sorry about, by the way."

"You already said that."

"Still. I am. But when I saw the look on your face I knew that you knew what that feels like. To be picked on for something beyond your control. To have, you know, everything beyond your control just fighting against you. And I guess I just wanna say that, you know, you're not alone."

Jihoon wanted to make it a joke, wanted to have something to laugh at instead of focus on what Seungyeon was saying, but he couldn't. He felt emotion choke his throat and he took a long moment to get that under control first, avoiding Seungyeon's eyes and picking at the food instead. To his relief, Seungyeon dropped it, reaching out to take a hamburger from the tray and biting into it. He made a loud fuss over how delicious it was, his enthusiasm pulling a smile from Jihoon despite the melancholy thoughts. With the way that Seungyeon would give him side glances occasionally, Jihoon was pretty sure he was doing it just to make Jihoon smile.

Which he wasn't used to. Finally he finished off his burger and wiped his mouth with the napkin before looking at Seungyeon. "I am not so sure how to believe that an extended hand is real," he admitted slowly, knowing that even that small admittance could cost him if Seungyeon decided to turn it against him.

The tall boy merely nodded slowly, though. "I get that. Honestly. But you know, sometimes you gotta just... make a genuine effort. Reach out and trust." He let Jihoon mull that over for a moment, then, in a moment of surprisingly quietness from Seungyeon, he said, "It hasn't been easy since moving here. But I'm happy to have met a friend."

Jihoon considered that, considered everything, and to his own surprise found a smile coming over his own face. Soft, hesitant, but a genuine smile. "Yeah, me too."

END