The 1 Rule - haobin

want you

"Hao!" I say, loud enough so the boy walking in front of me can hear me. He turns around and a small smile plays on his lips

"Hey" he mouthes, waving a little before looking back at the boy boy next to him. It's the boy that Cho talked to me about. I've seen them together before, but I've never actually talked to the boy

I jog up to them, confused that they continued walking after Hao had already seen me

"Hao! I've been looking for you" I say, placing my arm over his shoulder. Hao looks up at me and laughs awkwardly. I look at the boy next to him and smile

"Hey, I'm Hanbin," I say

"I know" the boy answers, looking slightly annoyed.

"You do? How?" I ask, my arm still over Hao

"All the girls in our class have had at least one phase where they liked you. You didn't know?"

"Really? Damn, I guess I'm popular" I say. Hao coughs and I look at him with a raised eyebrow "Any objection?" 

"Nope, not at all," Hao says, obviously trying to hide a laugh. I laugh in return and look at the boy expectantly

"Oh, right. My name's Jun" the boy, Jun, says. I smile in response and let go of Hao to get a better view of him

"Are you doing anything this afternoon?" I ask. Hao nods

"I need to finish a piece of art that I'm working on"

"Isn't school finished for you too though?"

"Yeah. They're still giving us stuff to do during the summer though" he answers. 

I nod. Not gonna lie, I really wanted to talk to him about what happened with Cho yesterday. I don't know how to approach the subject, or how to explain anything without telling him that I like him. But what if I do want to tell him? How would he react?

"I mean, if you want you can come along with me. I have one class left" Hao says quietly. I immediately bat my thoughts away and nod

"Sure. I finish class at 7 today though..." I reply

"I'll just meet you at the art studio then. I'll send you the address later, ok?" Hao says. I nod and smile at the boy next to me, but he doesn't look.

"We'll get going then," Jun says, giving me a quick smile, then taking Hao by the arm and dragging the boy away. 

As I watch them leave, I see Jun say something to Hao, whose face and ears turn red in a matter of a second. He's blushing. 

Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Ricky was wrong. Maybe Hao likes Jun.

---

It's dark already, the wind hitting my shoulder as a gust of fresh air pushes past me. I walk towards the building that Hao had sent me the location of. It's clearly old, vines rotting onto the walls and climbing upward. The walls are white, but dust makes certain areas seem darker. The street is silent, with barely any houses around. I open the door to the old complex, and I am met with a small space of narrow wooden stairs.

I climb onto one staircase, half expecting it to creak. Surprisingly, it stays silent, as if to guard my presence. It is dark at the bottom, but a faint blue light flows from the top of the stairs and brings me vision. The calm and silent space smells like fresh paint and nature, with beautiful small pieces of art carved into the sides of the white walls.

I climb to the top and walk into a remotely big room. It's empty, art supplies crowding the edges and sides of the walls, but the middle of the room is unoccupied. The white of the moon falls upon the empty space, making it feel less isolated. The blue light comes from the window, which is large and goes from the bottom of the wall, all the way to the top. It makes a width of the whole wall, and gives a clear view of the grass and unattended houses below. Cotton curtains hang over the window, and flow messily around from the wind hitting at its back. In front of the large window, a boy is painting over a canvas on an easel. He has brushes sitting on the floor next to him, along with two palettes, and a pencil over his ear. He strokes onto the canvas with careful easiness, gliding it from one side to another. Hao leans over the painting, pushing his head to one side, and then to the other. He freezes, leaning his head back to inspect the artwork.