Jongin yawned when he entered the classroom the next day. He arrived earlier than usual because he had a hard time sleeping the night before. Even with Kyungsoo’s comforting, he still lied on his bed and thought about the new student.

He didn’t pay attention to his surroundings and plopped himself into his seat and laid his head on his desk. He was very close to drifting into dream land until he heard some rustling in front of him.

“Good morning, Jongin.”

In seconds, he shot straight up with wide eyes. Sehun was smiling at him.

“G-Good morning…? How did you know it was me?”

There was a light chuckle before Sehun adjusted himself in his seat so he was facing Jongin.

“I assumed it was the same seats as last time so I guessed it was you. It would have been pretty embarrassing if you weren’t there, right?”

Jongin blinked. That was the moment he started to take in how Sehun looked. His dark hair was lightly brushed but it still had a messy look. The opaque glasses still covered Sehun’s eyes and he was tempted to take them off to see how the orbs looked like behind them. Sehun’s uniform still looked a little big on him and Jongin wondered if Sehun ate much.

“Jongin?”

He shook his head and blinked. “Uh, yeah?”

Sehun smiled a little. “Are you okay? You didn’t say anything.”

Jongin seemed to have many urges to slap himself since yesterday. “Ah, sorry. I’m just a little tired.”

“Rough night?”

“Kind of, I guess.”

“I’m sorry to hear.” Sehun gave a wider smile. “I hope tonight will be better.”

Not when you just gave me that smile… “I hope so too.” A comfortable silence fell between the two. Jongin really wanted to continue to hear Sehun’s voice and he decided to actually start a conversation (wouldn’t Kyungsoo be proud). “So, how do you like it here so far?”

“Hm?” Sehun seemed like he was thinking and then smiled slightly. “It’s nice. It’s better than my old school for the most part. Everyone is pretty nice and the teachers too. The work load is about the same, I guess. But we’ll see how things go. Today is my second day after all.” Sehun looked like he was going to say something else but nothing escaped his lips.

“That’s good.” Jongin replied after a moment. You’re so lame, Jongin. Seriously? That’s all you can say? “Hey, Sehun.”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s be friends.” Wow, Jongin. Way to be straightforward…

“Okay.”

What. “Cool.” Wow.

Sehun let out a light laugh. “Alright, friend. I guess we should get to know each other a little more? We have time before class starts, right? Tell me about yourself.”

Jongin sat still. His mind finally caught up with his actions and he was surprised at what he just said and that Sehun actually agreed. A short moment passed before he realized he was supposed to say something. His mind started racing, searching for interesting facts about himself to say, which wasn’t much.

“Uh… My name is Kim Jongin.” Nice start. It’s not like he already knew that, Jongin. “Uh… I’m seventeen and my birthday is January fourteenth. I like to dance but I don’t think I want to pursue that as a career. I do it often because my family has a history of entertainers. I live with my parents and I have an older sister who’s in college. I really love dogs and I have three. They’re practically my children. My favorite food is chicken and I will eat that any time…” He slowly trailed off when he realized that he was rambling.

However, Sehun looked like he was listening carefully. With a wide smile, Sehun opened his mouth to start his introduction. “Nice to meet you, Jongin. My name is Oh Sehun. I’m also seventeen and my birthday is April twelfth. My hobby mainly consists of listening to music and drawing. I don’t do much because I have limited choices to choose from. I moved with my cousin and his boyfriend from China. I really like bubble tea.”

There was a long silence between the two before Sehun laughed. Jongin looked confused at the sudden outburst of laughter.

“That was a little awkward.” Sehun explained after his laugh died down a little. “But you’re interesting, Jongin. I hope we become good friends.”

Before Jongin could say anything, he saw Kyungsoo take a seat next to him. That was when he noticed that Kyungsoo had his eyes on him the whole time.

“Oh, hi Kyungsoo.” Jongin said. “Sehun, this is my best friend, Kyungsoo, the one that just sat down next to me.”

Even though Sehun was blind, he turned his head towards Kyungsoo. Jongin could see how Kyungsoo seemed startled to see how accurately Sehun’s gaze fell on him. The blind student bowed his head and smiled.

“Nice to meet you, Kyungsoo.”

“Nice to meet you too, Sehun.”

“We were getting to know each other.” Jongin blurted. “You should say something about yourself too.”

Kyungsoo gave him a confused stare as if to say what-are-you-trying-to-say-Jongin.

“I would love to have more friends.” Sehun piped up with a smile. “It seems like fun.”

Jongin and Kyungsoo paused to absorb the statement Sehun just said. Before Jongin could question about it, Kyungsoo cut him off.

“As you know, my name is Kyungsoo. There’s nothing much to know about me. As long as you respect me as a person, I’ll respect you. If you can do that, then we’ll be good friends.” After a short moment, he added, “I like to sing and I cook sometimes.”

Sehun had a blank face before he burst into a fit of giggles. “You sound like a cute person.” The smile never left his face. “I think we’ll be good friends then, Kyungsoo.”

Jongin watched his best friend talk with Sehun. Kyungsoo would often glance back at him and smiled, attempting to bring him into the conversation. The three quickly got to know each other.

They learned that Sehun wasn’t Chinese. He moved in with his aunt, uncle, and cousin when he was young and lived there for a long time, which explained why he was practically fluent in Chinese, Mandarin to be exact. Luhan, his cousin, and Minseok, his cousin’s boyfriend, were moving to Korea because Minseok got a job offer so they brought Sehun to come “see” his home land again. Jongin and Kyungsoo saw that Sehun was holding back about some information but never questioned it.

“Wait…” Jongin suddenly said, causing the other two to face him. “Sehun, you said you like to draw, right?”

Sehun laughed. “That was about fifteen minutes ago, yes. Has it finally registered in your mind that a blind kid likes to draw?”

“I didn’t mean to be ru-“

The new student waved a hand and grinned. “Don’t worry about it, Jongin. I understand. You weren’t rude. I was joking around too.”

Kyungsoo came to rescue Jongin before he blurted something dumb again. “So, you draw? Can we see some of your work?”

Sehun’s face pinked slightly but he maintained a small smile. “Right now? I guess so.”

Right when he was about to reach into his bag, the bell rang and the door swung open by the force of the teacher’s hand. Sehun stopped and leaned back, turning to face Kyungsoo and Jongin, mumbling a, “maybe later?” before reaching to take out his voice recorder.

Jongin laid his head on the desk, drifting off to dream land again. Needless to say, Jongin dreamt about a certain blind student.

~*~

Jongin strolled the relatively empty hallway, making his way toward the cafeteria. His teacher let the class out a little earlier than usual, which meant he could take his time to get food. As he was about to turn the corner, he spotted Sehun heading somewhere down the hall.

Before he could stop himself, he called out Sehun’s name.

The blind student jumped slightly and whipped his head around to locate the noise. Jongin actually slapped his forehead before he made his way towards Sehun.

“Jongin?” Sehun asked.

“Hey. Where are you heading?”

“To the counseling office.”

“How come?”

“To eat lunch.”

“Why don’t you go to the cafeteria with me?” Jongin is quite surprised how brave he was becoming recently. He wondered what caused the change.

Sehun smiled. “Thanks for the offer but I… feel uncomfortable in the cafeteria… You know, with being blind and all eyes on me.”

“Then we can eat somewhere else.”

“Ah, I don’t want to be a burden.”

“It’s fine. Friends should stick together, right? I’m sure Kyungsoo and the others won’t mind.”

Sehun seemed confused. “Others?”

“I know it’s only been a day but have you heard of the beagle line, yet?” There was a slight shake of the head. “Well, you’re going to meet them soon. Let’s go to the courtyard. I’ll text the others to meet us there.”

The blind student seemed reluctant to go but he gave in and smiled. “Thank you for doing this. I really didn’t want to be a burden.”

Jongin stared at Sehun’s shy expression and smiled. “We’re friends now, Sehun. Friends help other friends out.”

Sehun stood still for a moment, clutching his walking stick relatively tightly. He seemed to be in deep thought before he smiled. “Thank you.” He whispered.

“Anytime. Really, though, Sehun, if you ever need anything, don’t be afraid to tell me or Kyungsoo.” He received a genuine smile as a reply. “Let’s head to the courtyard, shall we?”

“Sure.”

~*~

“My name is Byun Baekhyun and I have the best sounding voice out of all of us.”

“Hell no, shut up, Baekhyun. I want to fling myself off a building whenever you talk for more than ten seconds.”

“Shut up, Jongdae. No one asked you.”

“I don’t need to be asked when I’m stating a fact. At least this won’t have to suffer with seeing your ugly face all day.”

“Jongdae, come here and let me rip your vocal cords out.”

“My name is Park Chanyeol and I like small animals.”

Jongin wanted to strangle his three friends so much. At least Sehun was amused with the whole exchange. The beagle line were extremely excited to get to know Sehun but ended up arguing amongst themselves again. The blind student seemed to be optimistic about being friends with the infamous trolls of the school, though.

“Nice to meet you all.” Sehun bowed his head slightly and smiled, making the beagles pause in their quarrel. “My name is Oh Sehun and I hope we can be good friends.” He gave his kindest, most innocent, brightest smiles.

There was silence within the group before Baekhyun grinned.

“I’m sure we’ll be good friends, Sehun!” Baekhyun shoved a piece of meat from Chanyeol’s lunch into his mouth, before he continued. “Just a heads up, deep voice and I are dating. Dinosaur face-“

“Hey!”

“- is also dating another guy. You cool with it?”

Sehun nodded. “I don’t see a problem. Probably because I’m blind but I find it perfectly fine.”

There was a pause before the beagles let out an uproar of laughter, causing a few students to turn their heads towards them. It took a few moments before the three calmed down.

“I like you already, Sehun.” Baekhyun grinned.

“You’ll fit right in!” Chanyeol barked.

“We’ll even make you an honorary beagle member!” Jongdae piped up.

Jongin silently watched, swelling with happiness and pride to see Sehun’s shocked and joyful expression.

“Well, I guess you’re a new member to our group, Sehun.” Kyungsoo finally joined the conversation. “Don’t feel like you don’t belong because, like they said, you fit right in.”

Sehun turned his head towards Kyungsoo before he slowly smiled again, facing every person. “Thank you for accepting me.” He bowed his head. “I hope I won’t disappoint.”

Baekhyun waved a hand, forgetting that Sehun couldn’t see. “You won’t disappoint and there’s nothing to be disappointed in! You’re really cool, Sehun, I promise. The only disappointment is this guy right here.”

Jongdae pouted. “Shut up, Baek. You’re an insult to the world.”

“Excuse you, I’m the definition of fabulous.”

A few harsh statements and flying food later, Jongin turned back to Sehun, who was fiddling with his fork and barely touching his food. He only saw Sehun take in a few fork full of food before he stopped. He leaned in slightly so only Sehun could hear.

“Not hungry?”

Sehun flinched slightly at the sudden voice but turned his head and smiled, adjusting his glasses. “Not really.”

Jongin looked Sehun up and down and frowned. “Do you not eat a lot?”

“Huh?”

“I mean… The uniform looks really big on you.”

There was a brief pause before Sehun chuckled. “Thank you for the worry but I’m fine. You should see me when I’m at home. I can shovel food into my mouth without a care in the world.” He shrugged. “I’m just naturally skinny. I take it as an advantage.” Sehun put on a lopsided smile.

“Oh I see.”

Jongin finally registered how close he was to Sehun. His face quickly colored and he pulled away. Sehun, on the other hand, barely noticed.

“Hey Sehun.” Kyungsoo called. When he got the blind student’s attention, he continued. “Is it okay if you show us your drawings now? I just remembered we never actually got to see it earlier.”

“Whoa, you draw?” Baekhyun’s voice could be heard.

“That’s so cool!” Jongdae added.

Sehun blushed slightly but kept a smile on his face. “Okay.” He slowly reached into his sketchbook. He gripped onto it but hesitated to pull it out.

Jongin noticed. “You don’t have to if you’re uncomfortable with it.” He said.

“No, no. It’s fine. I never had anyone want to see my stuff before. They usually…” Sehun stopped himself and quickly changed the subject by pulling out his sketchbook. “Here it is.”

Jongin and Kyungsoo noticed how Sehun changed what he was going to say, but they didn’t pry. Kyungsoo reached over and took the worn down black sketchbook. The beagles gathered behind him while Jongin was next to him, Sehun sitting in front of Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo slowly opened the sketchbook, followed by loud gasps.

The page was filled with sketches of different busts of different people, ranging from young children to middle aged adults. The next page was filled more with more busts but also included full body drawings. Several pages into the sketchbook included interactions between people. A few pages after that had animal sketches. Near the middle of the book was a sudden transition from people and animals to landscapes. It ranged from elegant scenes from forests and canyons to city landscapes and parks. The details were precise and breath taking. It almost seemed like the drawings were a photograph.

“Are you sure you’re blind?” Chanyeol whispered in awe.

Sehun let out a shy laugh. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure.”

“How did you draw so amazingly?” Baekhyun asked.

“By memory, I guess.”

The five boys turned to face the blind boy. “Memory?” They practically all asked at the same time.

Sehun rubbed the back of his head, sticking his tongue out to quickly his lips before he nodded. “I… Wasn’t born blind…”

Judging by Sehun’s silence, the group knew he didn’t want to say anymore and quickly changed subjects.

“But wow! Blind or not, you’re artwork is amazing!” Baekhyun quickly said.

“Yeah!” Chanyeol agreed. “You’re really talented, Sehun! What other things you can do?”

“You should totally show us how you do it!” Jongdae grinned. “I would pay to watch you, honestly!”

Jongin let out a slight sigh of relief. He was glad that the beagles always find a way to lighten the atmosphere. Sehun’s bashful smile allowed Jongin to feel at ease. He’s curious about what Sehun’s hiding but he doesn’t want to force Sehun to talk.

Maybe when we’re closer…

Lunch ended in a happier note with Baekhyun and Jongdae somehow managing to find another topic to argue about while Chanyeol enthusiastically talking about animals to Sehun, who could only nod and smile, never actually given a moment to comment, not that he would.

As soon as Jongin reached his class, he sat in his seat and closed his eyes. When he was awakened by the bell, he concluded that that was one of the best naps he had in a long time.

AN: This was a little longer than I was planning hahaha. I wanted to post a chapter before the week started because I know I won't have time until two weeks from now and I didn't want you guys to wait. I probably won't have a chapter up until three weeks, more or less, after this chapter. I hope you guys don't mind! School is ending soon (two more weeks!) so I might update quicker then! Thank you for reading and I apologize for any spelling/grammar errors! :-)