“He is a thunderstorm so bright you shut your eyes.
He's a hurricane.”

Jihoon could tell Joshua was uncomfortable by just looking at his face, which scrunched every time someone spoke more loudly than he was used to. Jihoon saw how Joshua’s shoulder flinched when Seungkwan leaned in to talk to Seokmin, who was next to him. It made the now-pink-haired boy frown; he was just now realizing maybe bringing more people to their table wasn’t a good idea after all (even though the idea hadn’t even been his).

However, Jihoon also sees a small grin playing on his lips, his hands when he tries to cover his mouth to prevent from laughing, and the smile he was sporting at him at the moment. Jihoon raised a curious eyebrow, also realizing both of them hadn’t say other word than hello to each other from the moment they sat down on the table. He smiled back, though, and awkwardly stared at him while he thought of something to say. It was Thursday – the second day he went to school in his first week of senior year, which meant Literature wasn’t going to happen until their last period, which also meant he hadn’t seen Joshua until, well, now. Jihoon couldn’t help but feel bad about this; considering the number of messages Joshua had been sending him via Facebook the past two days, wondering when he’d be coming back to school and if Seungkwan “wasn’t bothering him anymore” Jihoon smiled at this, opened his mouth to speak and closed it when he heard Joshua mutter something under his breath.

“You changed your hair,” Joshua said, playing with one of the many containers of food he had brought this time with him with his hands.

Joshua smiled sheepishly at him again, and Jihoon brought a hand to his hair self-consciously.

“It looks good, right?” Seungkwan said next to him, his eyes staying on Joshua a little more than necessary. Jihoon was sure Joshua shivered.

… Or maybe he had just nodded, Jihoon wasn’t so sure.

“Yeah, it suits you,” Joshua nodded with his head again, making Jihoon a little relieved to know someone sane besides Seungcheol thought his hair looked okay.

However, Joshua also frowned and tilted his head to the side, Jihoon frowned back.

“Why did you do it so suddenly, though?” He asked, and said something along the lines of him never having the courage to do something as radical; Jihoon hadn’t been listening with attention, since he was thinking of how to answer to his question.

It’s not like he could say he was planning to revenge Seungkwan and break Soonyoung’s heart… right? Jihoon smiled at Joshua nervously.

“Oh, I just wanted a change.”

Jihoon smirked broadly now, relieved, he felt like he deserved a high five and some of Joshua’s chocolate now.

“Well I like it! It really looks good on you,” Joshua said, raising his two thumbs up and smiling back.

The pink-haired boy only nodded and muttered a small thank you; Jihoon was genuinely flattered about Joshua’s words, even more now than before, because he didn’t feel totally comfortable with his new hair yet – neither with all the people who looked at him strangely on his way to school.

The curiosity on people’s eyes as he walked still made Jihoon frown, think if he had done the right thing and put his appearance on the other guys’ hands, but Seungcheol’s wide smile when he saw him on the way to his classroom and Joshua’s compliments made him wonder if he really regretted it at all.

Jihoon didn’t like to think of him as a self-conscious person, but sometimes the pressure of fitting into what’s considered attractive made him look into the mirror and think he would be better if certain things of him were different. Right now it was clear he wouldn’t be able to fit into the standards at all, but Jihoon now pondered if that was actually a bad thing. 

Waking up and getting ready hadn’t been easy for Jihoon, he had, like always, struggled to leave his bed, but now the nerves and butterflies on his stomach had prevented him from sleeping a few minutes more and rolling on his bed lazily.

He had always cared about what people thought of him and his mother’s reaction on his new look hadn’t been that pleasing the night before. He thanked his father, though, because he had laughed it off as something crazy every teenager did once in their lives.

And Jihoon couldn’t have agreed more: the others had sure done something crazy with his hair.

Jihoon had stared into his mirror for minutes, tilting his head to the side and scrunching his nose every time he did so because his hair was really something. He had tried hiding it under a snapback (Seungkwan’s gift, of course. They had ordered him to wear specifically something they chose the day before, but he could add a few accessories himself, right?) And when it didn’t give the coverage he wanted, he tried with a beanie.

The hairstyle they had done to him the day before was way too complicated for Jihoon, and he didn’t know how to use a straightener, anyways.

The pink-haired boy then went back to his bedroom to change into whatever-outfit the guys had chosen for him, and furrowed his eyebrows once he saw the clothes. The thought of Seokmin and Seungkwan wanting to make him into a bad stereotype of a gay person was still very present on his mind, and the obnoxious chunky sweater and knee shorts laying on his couch only made him think so even more.  

Jihoon shrugged the outfit off, and decided to wear one of the shirts Seungkwan had bought on Seungcheol’s favorite shop, and thought it wouldn’t be a problem to wear his own old jeans. The 18-year-old had sighed contently when he saw himself in his mirror, but jumped startled as someone knocked on his bedroom door.

With questions coming out of his mouth such as why are you here and who even let you in, Jihoon let Seungkwan enter to his bedroom, who shook his head disapprovingly as he looked at him up and down.

Then Seungkwan smiled, he being the reason Jihoon’s hair was now perfectly done and his outfit the one they had chosen originally.

Jihoon wonders what would-

“Oh!” Seokmin yells, startling Jihoon and interrupting his thoughts, “Speaking of… how are we going to… you know, do it today?” He asks, looking at Joshua twice so he’s sure he doesn’t understand anything.

Seungkwan smiled at Seokmin, and then looked at Jihoon with decision in his eyes.

“P.E. class, today after lunch,” Seungkwan said, pointing his finger at Jihoon. The pink-haired boy wasn’t sure if he was nervous because of it or because of the fact P.E. class today after lunch meant in a few minutes.

Jihoon glanced at Joshua, not wanting to leave him out of the conversation at all but having no other choice.

“I know neither Seungcheol nor me are in that class, but you will have Seokmin,” Seungkwan continued, and Jihoon wasn’t sure if he was relieved or not because of that. “And we’ll skip class to see what’s going on, anyways.” Seungkwan said, brushing it off.

“Are we?” Seungcheol asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Um, yeah?” Seungkwan said and rolled his eyes, “We’ll be on the bleachers if you need anything. You just do your thing.”

Jihoon nodded, furrowing his eyebrows.

“But what’s my thing?” He wondered, worried. It was obvious he was more nervous than he wanted it to look like.

“You know… act cute, flirt with Soonyoung… your thing.” Seokmin leaned in and explained with a smile on his face.

The pink-haired couldn’t do anything but breathe in and nod. And, still nervous, glanced to where Joshua was sitting, he had a frown on his face and his mouth wide open.

“Wait, so Seungkwan really broke up with Soonyoung?” Joshua questioned, he seemed conflicted and wasn’t looking at anyone but the space.

“I was lying when I said I wanted you to break up…” He muttered, making Jihoon laugh.

“It’s kind of a long story.” Seungkwan explained and shrugged.

Joshua nodded, understanding, but he still looked confused.

“So… you’re helping Jihoon to get with him?” Joshua asked, “I mean… that’s really kind!”

“Jihoon why didn’t you tell me you liked him!?”

Jihoon snorted, sharing a look with the other three boys, who held their laughter in, and laughed loudly.

The American boy looked as puzzled as ever, but Jihoon couldn’t say anything (nor wanted to) as the ring sounded and made everyone to stand up.

Maybe the others sitting with him and Joshua hadn’t been a bad idea after all.

The nerves that Jihoon had forgot for a moment came back, and made him unable to say anything as Seokmin said he’d see him on the gym.

He really wasn’t ready.

Not at all.

❀ ❀ ❀

Seungkwan had instructed Jihoon not to change until the professor told him to, and to pretend to be busy as Seokmin talked to Soonyoung about him. The pink-haired boy had thought it’d be difficult to pretend he was busy, but realized he had luck on his side as Wonwoo walked towards him and he received thumbs up from Seungcheol and Seungkwan in the bleachers.

Jihoon smiled tenderly at Wonwoo, with whom he hadn’t talked since Monday. Wonwoo smiled back at him, and it was until then that Jihoon realized the dark-haired boy seemed less troubled than last time, but that there was still reluctance on his face.

“Hey,” Wonwoo greeted, looking around him awkwardly.

Jihoon wondered what had happened for Wonwoo to act that way with him, but shrugged it off as he nodded at him.

“So- I am sorry for what you had to go through on Monday,” Wonwoo said, “He is my friend but not even I knew what he was doing…”

Jihoon now frowned at his words.

“Anyways, those four didn’t cause you any trouble, did they?” The dark-haired boy asked, smiling forcefully at him.

“Oh… that?” Jihoon laughed, “It wasn’t your fault, Wonwoo. Don’t apologize for what your friend did… it just happened!” Jihoon reassured the other boy, brushing the problem off with hand gestures.

“Detention didn’t feel like it at all. Don’t worry.” Now that was a complete lie, but Wonwoo didn’t have to know that, did he?

Jihoon gave another grin to Wonwoo, who smiled truthfully this time, and looked around, only to find Soonyoung standing alone in the basketball court.

The pink-haired boy furrowed his eyebrows, neglecting Wonwoo for the moment to look for Seokmin, who he, after a few moments of searching, found next to Seungkwan.

Jihoon raised his eyebrows at him, and then tried to read his lips as he mouthed some words and pointed to a certain someone.

… Soonyoung.

Jihoon widened his eyes, took a deep breath and nodded. He could do this! He only had to say a few words and give Soonyoung a few smiles and he’d be hanging. Jihoon clenched his fists, he could do this!

“Uh… Jihoon?” Wonwoo tried to gain his attention with eyebrows furrowed.

“W-Wonwoo let’s catch up later, okay? I have something really important to do right now!” Jihoon exclaimed, not even looking at him once to hurry to the other side of the court.

He sighed, Seungkwan had also told him to do something special to gain his attention on their way to the gym, and gave him a few examples too, so when his eyes spotted a ball next to him he smiled contently and took it, butterflies dancing on his stomach.

The pink-haired boy breathed in and nodded with his head once again. He was ready.

The plan was simple: he would send the ball to Soonyoung’s direction so the blond had no other option but throw it at him, then Jihoon would thank him and he would be hanging!

The plan was simple, yet so difficult, he thought, cringing as soon as the ball flew away and… hit Soonyoung right in the head instead.

… Jihoon had said he was strong after all.

The 18-year-old cursed under his breath, and ran towards Soonyoung, who stood in the floor and rubbed his head with his hands with a passion.

Somewhere not-so deep in him, Jihoon thought the blond deserved it.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” Jihoon said hurriedly, and offered his hand right away.

Jihoon was sure Soonyoung’s head hurt like a , and knew that if that had happened to him he would have been yelling at whoever who did that, but Soonyoung only shook his head with a smile on his lips and his left eye tightly shut.

“It’s okay,” Soonyoung reassured him, but winced in pain, “It… didn’t hurt, anyway.”

Jihoon huffed, “Yeah, right.”

“What?” Soonyoung asked with his eyebrows furrowed, making Jihoon widen his eyes.

“I mean! Let me help you, come on.” Jihoon said, changing themes and smiling tightly at him.

Soonyoung accepted his hand without hesitation and without much struggle he stood up again, still holding his head with his hand.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jihoon questioned.

Soonyoung nodded, and opened his both eyes.

“Yeah, I’ll be okay,” The blond said, smiling so much, his eyes almost disappeared.

“Hey, you’re Lee Jihoon, right?” Soonyoung asked, raising one of his eyebrows with curiosity.

Jihoon nodded, curious of what Seokmin had said to Soonyoung of him, “Uh, yeah… why’s that?”

Soonyoung kept staring at Jihoon in a way the pink-haired boy couldn’t decipher well, and frowned when Soonyoung didn’t answer to his question.

Jihoon blinked twice, and smiled as tenderly as he could.

“… Why?” Jihoon tried again.

For someone popular who had three boyfriends at the time, Soonyoung was sure weird.

“Oh, it’s nothing; it’s just that I’ve been told a lot of things about you,” Soonyoung replied, smiling back at him.

Jihoon raised his eyebrows, and why was the blond looking at him like that?

“I hadn’t seen you before, right?” Soonyoung tilted his head, still looking at Jihoon strangely.

The pink-haired boy shook his head, decided to remind him about that time the douchebag he called brother threw him to the floor and didn’t apologize.

“Actually-

“I mean, I would’ve remembered a face like yours.”

Jihoon’s eyes widened and he coughed awkwardly, only to smile forcefully afterwards.

“Wow- I mean, thank you, I guess.” Jihoon cleared his throat, and looked to the ceiling.

… Soonyoung was a smooth one.

“And… who are you?” He asked, tilting his head to the side.

Because that looked cute, right?

“You don’t know who I am?” Soonyoung sounded genuinely impressed, and Jihoon couldn’t tell if it was because he was honestly used to everyone knowing his name, or because he was acting like the self-centered he probably was.

“I’m Soonyoung, Kwon Soonyoung.”

There was that strange look on his face again, and a smile that made Jihoon want to erase it with his own fists.

Soonyoung cleared his throat, and smiled wider at Jihoon.

“So, I’m playing basketball in a few minutes… do you want to watch?”

Jihoon nodded eagerly, and sat down on the floor as he was told.

The pink-haired boy couldn’t lie, disliking Soonyoung didn’t mean he wouldn’t admit the blond was actually pretty good at basketball; he had thought so since the first time he saw him on the court, and this was the reason he watched with awe every time he stole the ball from his model friend’s hand and scored a point.

However, Jihoon being impressed by Soonyoung’s skills wasn’t a reason for Soonyoung to smirk smugly every time he saw into Jihoon’s direction.

Jihoon rolled his eyes for the fifth time it happened, but cheered as Soonyoung scored another point.

The 18-year-old saw as Soonyoung whispered something to one of his friends and started walking towards him. Soonyoung then sat down in front of him and smiled, Jihoon smiled back.

“You’re… good at basketball,” Jihoon commented, raising his eyebrows as Soonyoung’s face lit up.

“You think so?” Soonyoung asked, grinning broadly.

“Eh… yeah, really! You look so… cool on the court.” Jihoon awkwardly complimented the blond and looked to the floor as if it was interesting.

He could tell, however, that Soonyoung was still smiling.

“Thank you! You look good yourself sitting here,” Soonyoung said.

The comment made Jihoon blush and hide his face even more, but the pink-haired boy wouldn’t ever admit it. Instead of it, he shivered as he pretended to giggle.

Because honestly, giggling?

“Pretty,” The blond muttered, and Jihoon was sure his cheeks were an even deeper shade of red at the moment, but it was just acting, right?

Pretending.

Jihoon didn’t know what else to say, though, and felt somehow relieved when he heard a loud laugh in the distance.

“You are sure busy, Jihoon.” Wonwoo mockingly said, smiling at them and sitting next to Jihoon.

“Please tell me you won’t fall for Soonyoung too,” Wonwoo continued, “Run while you can!” He said, exaggerating the pronunciation of the words.

“You’re so funny,” Soonyoung said as he rolled his eyes, sarcasm dripping in his words, “Jihoon please don’t believe in anything he says.”

Jihoon just shook his head and smiled.

“Man, but he saw it himself-

“What are you talking about, dude?” Soonyoung questioned, half-annoyed, half-jokingly, “And why are you here, anyways? Shouldn’t you be bothering Mingyu?”

The situation suddenly didn’t felt as friendly as before – Jihoon, who didn’t know what was happening, could tell. He saw as Wonwoo frowned, and laughed off the awkwardness in the situation. Soonyoung himself seemed aware of it.

“He just left with Hyerin.” Wonwoo said moments before the bell rang.

Soonyoung nodded at him and looked down at the floor, Jihoon somehow felt he was watching something he shouldn’t; so he cleared his throat and looked to the bleachers, in where Seokmin was, smiling proudly at him with his hands together.

However he realized neither Seungkwan nor Seungcheol were next to him anymore. It made him ponder if something had happened, had they been caught? It was a probability but Jihoon didn’t know.

Jihoon frowned, not sure where to look at anymore since he was confused on both sides.

It was Thursday and Jihoon still didn’t know what the hell was going on.