This took a bit longer than anticipated >.<

Enjoy :D

Kyung had been lost, unsure of what was happening. Jiho didn’t want Kyung near him anymore, that much was clear, but why? Why had he forgotten all the years of friendship?

All the questions had remained unanswered for days, leaving Kyung in the dark about Jiho’s behaviour. He was confused, one moment he believed that Jiho and himself were still best friends, the next, Jiho had turned and told him to stay away?

Questions, questions, questions, but no answers.

To add to that, Jiho had disappeared during the days that followed.

“Why do you care about Jiho so much? He’s probably just out with Jihoon again.”

Yukwon had been the first kid to approach him, quickly greeting him with a bright smile the moment Kyung was assigned the empty seat next to him. They had quickly become friends, as both were intelligent beings of sorts, and Yukwon was much kinder than Jiho ever was. Kyung gritted his teeth at the thought of Woo Jiho.

Wait.

Jihoon? Who the hell was Jihoon?

He voiced his question to Yukwon, who looked at him, confused.

“Who’s Jihoon? I thought everyone knew. The two of them have been wreaking havoc for the past year or so. They’re crazy!”

“Crazy? What do you mean?”

“Kyung, just stay away from them. It won’t do you any good if you go near them.”

Kyung opened his mouth to say something.

“Trust me.”

And Kyung did.

He trusted Kim Yukwon and kept a distance from Jiho.

Kyung was only just settling into his new school and environment, when the inevitable happened. He had been expecting it earlier, truth to be told.

Sarcastic comments ran through Kyung’s mind when he saw a tall figure coming towards him. The person coming towards him was a stranger, but Kyung could tell the other boy didn’t fight much. He was taller than Kyung, but he was just as thin, bones sticking out from underneath his uniform.

Kyung knew about people like this.

Ones who were useless and powerless against other bullies, [like Jiho, he added bitterly] and had taken to newer kids to make themselves feel better.

Kyung was both new to the school, and probably weaker than the boy in terms of body mass; Kyung was the perfect target for a teenage boy with self-esteem issues.

He let himself be cornered into the wall.

The other boy towered over him, only by a couple of centimetres, but he was taller nonetheless.

Kyung sighed.

He wished he didn’t have to use this tactic, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Using a move he learnt specifically from some of his Maori peers in New Zealand, he shoved the other boy off quickly and took to running away as fast as he can.

Before he got too far, he heard fast footsteps approaching, meaning that the boy had gotten up to chase him.

Goddamn.

Kyung hated chasers.

He turned a corner and sped down hallways, but the boy was still close behind and Jesus Christ when will he give up. It was the fourth time Kyung had thought he’d outran the chaser, but was only revealed to impending doom when the sound of flurried footsteps could be heard again.

He jumped over an open window and fell onto soft ground. He groaned and tried to get up.

Ground wasn’t soft.

Looking down, he was greeted with the sight of an annoyed Jiho, but before Jiho had opened his mouth to say something, Kyung was out of there, searching for another place to hide.

What the hell?

Nobody ran from Woo Jiho after bumping into him.

Jiho got up as well, but was promptly stopped when someone sped pass him, heading the same direction Kyung went. Jiho narrowed his eyes and began following them, quick on his feet.

Kyung had barely found another hiding spot before the sound of two pairs of feet were heard.

Well, besides the weird chaser, the only other person who could be chasing him was… Jiho.

Jesus, he needed to leave.

Kyung quickly jumped over the fence of the school, into the neighbouring primary school, and ran for the colourful playground. He ducked underneath a thick slide and evened his breathing out.

He peeked out the side of the slide and saw that it was clear and got up from the ground, dusting off his jeans with his hands.

First of all, Jihoon would like to clear up that this was Jiho’s fault and he had nothing to do with the 5^th grader’s underwear being hung from a flagpole. Well, technically, he had been the one to snatch the underwear with a pair of tongs and then make a run for it, but the idea was Jiho’s to begin with, and the kid had technically deserved it, running his mouth and sticking his nose in places it didn’t belong.

Whatever.

The point of the matter, is that Jihoon did not deserve detention afterschool in the library, while Jiho got off scot-free. Jihoon had been staying out of trouble at school, too; he’d been told that if he skipped another detention, he’d have been suspended, and his parents wouldn’t have let him hear the end of it.

He grunted as he tightened the tie commonly found hanging loosely on his neck, to the request of the ancient librarian, and went to search for a sufficient hiding spot between the bookshelves where he wouldn’t get caught playing smartphone games.

Finding one, he settled in the corner for a few moments, before he heard approaching footsteps, light and slow. Jihoon pocketed the phone and stood up, pretending as if he was inspecting the books, even though he’d been here for half an hour. At the appearance of another figure, Jihoon raised his eyebrows. Well, it wasn’t the librarian, that’s for sure, but what was a middle school kid doing in a high school? Jihoon was sure that the boy couldn’t be older than 15; he had soft-looking cheeks, shiny eyes, unruly hair and small lips, not to mention, the top of his head barely reached Jihoon’s shoulder. Jihoon thought he was cute.

“You’re causing a commotion with the noise from your phone. Please either turn the volume off, or leave the library.” His voice was high and soft when he spoke, and firm despite the polite use of words.

“Sorry, I have to stay here.” The boy quirked an eyebrow. “Detention.” He added.

The boy sighed.

“Okay, but please keep your volume off. Some of us need to study.”

“You? Study? What are you studying for, next week’s spelling test?”

The boy’s mouth dropped open.

“If by spelling test, you mean the college entrance exams, then yes.”

Jihoon gave him the blankest stare he could muster.

“I’m 18.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Not even a little bit.”