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͙⁺˚*･༓☾
"are they dating?"
"oh my god, they're holding hands!"
"i thought he hated everybody?"
"wait park sunghoon is gay?"
"who the fuck are we looking at-"
the murmurs in the halls were pretty hard to ignore, but sunoo didn't find himself bothered. past kim sunoo would have been all over the attention, greeting each and every person near him as he flashed them a friendly smile. don't get him wrong, he still gave some quick grins to those he made eye contact with, but he'd rather save all of his smiles for the person he was currently holding the hand of.
sunghoon kept his focus on sunoo. he was trying his very best to block out the whispers around him. thanks to the latter, it was easier than he'd predicted. besides, after yesterday with choi yeonjun, sunghoon felt like he could do anything.
"let's go, seat partner," sunoo exclaimed, pulling sunghoon by the hand to move a bit quicker so they could catch their first class before the bell rang.
both boys—along with the rest of the class—took their seats just in time, materials all ready and set once class was to start. sunoo chuckled lightly to himself.
what is it?
he then diverted his gaze to the boy beside him and shrugged, gesturing to the notebook and pencil in front of sunghoon. "it's just funny how only a couple months ago, you wouldn't have even owned these materials unless i let you borrow them."
sunghoon airily chuckled along with him. it's true, he had been putting much more effort into classes and assignments as days went on, determined to graduate this year. he definitely had sunoo to thank for a lot of the motivation.
"class has now begun! please take out your homework from last night," the teacher explained, setting all attention to her.
the class did as told, sunghoon proudly beaming at his paper complete with answers.
"now, does anyone have number one?"
sunghoon did. but so did kang taehyun, so he let him answer, of course.
"very well, taehyun. and number two? any volunteers?"
sunghoon was a bit uncertain of his answer here, so obviously it would be best not to share. good thing sunoo did instead.
a couple more questions were answered, leaving only a few more to go through on the page. sunghoon focused in on one of his answers, more than positive he had it right. his hands clammed up at the thought of sharing his answer, but a rush of adrenaline coursed through his veins at the thought of doing it. where was this sudden confidence coming from?
"and number ten? anyone?"
no hands.
a beat.
one hand raised.
"p-park sunghoon? wow! i—please, do share your answer!"
sunghoon could feel all eyes on him, especially the ones beside him, in which he could see were wide with shock through his peripheral vision. nevertheless, he continued.
"the answer is eleven."
a pin-drop could be heard within the room, for it was deafeningly silent. it wasn't a big deal, he only said four words. what's everyone so surprised about? sunghoon wished he could sink into his chair and disappear.
this was a bad idea...
but then something weird happened.
the class began to clap.
cheers and applause rang through the classroom, as if sunghoon had given some sort of award winning speech. if he wasn't embarrassed before, he was surely embarrassed now from all the unwanted praise.
"yah! let's go hoonie!" a kid named yoon keeho cheered from the front of the room. sunghoon had literally never spoken to him before.
from next to him, sunghoon heard the soft giggle he'd grown to adore over the last weeks. he instantly locked eyes with the boy, who looked at him with admiration and pride.
sunghoon cocked a smile, feeling much more at ease, proud of himself. this had certainly been an unexpected start to his day. he wouldn't have it any other way, though.
"the answer is actually twelve, by the way," the teacher then spoke.
͙⁺˚*･༓☾
is this what it's like to be kim sunoo?
news spreads real quickly, especially when it's gossip. sunghoon had never seen so many smiling and beaming faces directed toward him at once. it was almost overwhelming as he walked through the halls, coming intact with a handshake or a pat on the back from people he'd never even seen before.
he didn't think he did anything worthy of deserving any sort of attention. he wasn't kim sunoo; he didn't smile at strangers and befriend everyone who breathes. just because sunghoon talked, suddenly everyone is treating him like a prince or something.
"see? people like to hear your voice. it's not just me, you know."
sunoo and sunghoon were walking home from school that day, hand-in-hand, something they found themselves doing quite often. the taller had given sunoo a brief explanation of the events that took place earlier.
"but why does anyone care?" sunghoon asked, as if the idea was practically impossible.
"because believe it or not dummy," sunoo began, nudging his side playfully, "people actually care about you. besides, all the seniors know you from last year, so they're probably proud of how far you've come."
people care? about him? about what he has to say? come to think of it, sunghoon hadn't even heard one remark since this morning about holding hands with sunoo. sure, people had asked around if he was gay or something, but it wasn't even in a disgusted tone. that was something, right?
"what are you thinking about?"
sunghoon stopped in his tracks, the younger following suit. "i'm just...happy."
sunoo's heart fluttered at the words, a smile forming as it did so. "and why's that?" he asked, a playful tone to his voice.
stepping closer, sunghoon took hold of sunoo's other hand, too, bringing them into his chest with a sigh of content. "because you're in my life."
sunoo blushed furiously at his genuine, heartfelt words, flustered from the sudden confession. he tilted back and forth on his feet a few times before saying, "well, i'm happy you're in my life too, hyung."
"sunoo?"
"hm?"
a loose strand of blonde hair was tucked gently behind sunoo's ear by the delicate fingers of the older, who now stared into his eyes brazenly. "i want you to be my boyfriend. is that okay?"
sunoo practically cooed from the way sunghoon cautiously asked, as if sunoo was a delicate rose, in which a petal could fall at any moment. without hesitation, the shorter reached a hand up to caress sunghoon's cheek, rubbing his thumb in adoration. "more than okay."
a blossoming warmth filled sunghoon's chest, sparks igniting as he closed the gap between them. both their eyes fluttered shut, sunghoon's fingers carding through the younger's hair as they breathed each other in.
life couldn't get more perfect than that.
but the little voice in the back of sunghoon's mind begged to differ.
