On Track | MINSUNG

2

It was the first after school study lesson, and it really wasn't going well. What could he say? Minho just wasn't good at English, and couldn't really bring himself to care that much. He lived in Korea, and had no plans of ever leaving—what did he need to speak English for?

His teacher gave him a pointed look. 'Minho, I can't exclusively help you when I have an entire class to teach. I think it would be best if you went into a separate room for some more one-on-one tutoring.'

Minho internally groaned. Now he really would be branded as one of the dumb kids. But he got up, going to the room he was directed to. He knocked, and a gentle voice called 'Come in.'

Minho entered, to find a small classroom with a large, round desk in the middle. There were seven students, all looking at him. Minho recognised Jisung immediately, their eyes locking for a second before Jisung's cheeks turned red and he looked away.

'Teacher Oh sent me.'

The teacher nodded. 'Take a seat, please.'

There was an empty seat next to a boy Minho vaguely recognised as Jeongin. Oh great, now I have to sit with Hyunjin's stupid boyfriend.

Minho spent the lesson not paying much attention. He struggled to keep up with the teacher, and gave up, favouring instead to watch Jisung, who understood almost all of it. Minho hadn't realised how good at English he was. He liked the way Jisung seemed to brighten when the teacher complimented his work.

He likes praise? Minho stored the information in the back of his mind, and started looking round the circle of students. A girl with messy brown hair sat next to Jisung, continually asking him questions. The boy sat next to her was whispering to Jeongin beside him. Minho caught snatches of their conversation, the boy whispering 'How can Teacher Kim expect me to pay attention when he looks like that? Damn.'

'He's like ten years older than you, calm down. And I thought you liked Mingi, anyway?' Jeongin whispered back, making random marks on his worksheet.

'I do like Mingi, but that doesn't mean I can't think Teacher Kim's attractive. Because he is. He's very attractive.'

'Jesus, Jongho, you're too young to be a whore.'

Minho rolled his eyes, looking to the girl sitting on his other side. She had badly dyed blonde hair, which looked very heat damaged. There was a faint smell coming off her, and it wasn't pleasant. Her shirt was open so much Minho wondered if she'd even buttoned it up. She leaned forward, pushing her tits on the table. 'Jisungie,' she purred, reaching out her hand, 'can you help me?' She spoke with a noticeable accent.

Minho narrowed his eyes. She was so obviously flirting with him. She brushed her fingers against Jisung's with a giggle. He pulled his hand away and pushed his worksheet towards her, instructing 'Jennifer, for the translation question...'

She smiled at him, batting her eyelashes. Minho didn't like her acting like this, so clearly after Jisung. People like her treated others like a game, something to conquer and win, only to throw them away. Minho clenched his fists in anger, then paused. Why did he care so much? Jisung was just Hyunjin's friend, some Second Grader he happened to know. Sighing loudly enough that Jeongin looked at him, Minho forced himself to calm down and write something on his worksheet.

* * *

The following day, Minho was sat at lunch with Changbin, Hyunjin and Jisung. Jisung sometimes sat with them, which Minho had never really cared about before. But now he found himself sneaking glances at him. If he hadn't known Jisung was so good at English, what else didn't he know? He wanted to know everything about him, from his favourite colour to his biggest dreams.

Jisung was talking animatedly to Changbin, disagreeing with him on the importance of horror films. 'So what films do you like?' Minho asked him.

Jisung turned to Minho. Their eyes met, before Jisung looked at the table. 'I like most films. I don't really have a favourite type, but I don't like horror.' He shot a glance at Changbin. 'There're like five different horror film tropes, and they get reused over and over. Horror films are incapable of being good.'

Minho nodded. 'Do you like anime?'

'I love anime!'

'Me too.' A small smile crossed Minho's face. 'Maybe we should watch some together sometime.'

'Maybe we could do something this weekend,' Hyunjin interjected. 'Go to someone's house, invite some friends, watch films and stuff.'

Minho nearly sighed. He wanted to do things with Jisung, on their own. He didn't need Hyunjin third wheeling.

'Hyunjin!'

They turned to the voice. Jeongin, Jongho and a black haired boy whose name Minho couldn't remember were coming towards them. Jeongin was crying, with Jongho's arm around his shoulders.

Hyunjin immediately stood up and pulled him into a hug. 'What's wrong, darling?' He kissed the top of Jeongin's head, holding him tightly until he quieted down. Jeongin pulled back, and Hyunjin ushered him to sit down. He sat in Hyunjin's lap, looking rather embarrassed.

'Sorry. You probably think I'm a whiny baby.'

Hyunjin wiped his cheeks. 'No one thinks that. Tell me what happened.'

'It's just Woojin,' Jeongin mumbled.

'Kim Woojin?' Changbin asked.

Jeongin nodded. 'He's just a shitty person, you know?'

The black haired boy leaned forward. 'He's bullied us for a while, but since we came back to school, he's been shoving us into lockers and shit.'

Jongho pulled Hyunjin's food towards him, and swallowed a mouthful. 'We were going to sneak out for lunch, right, and Woojin came down the hallway with his ugly friends and shoved us into the wall. Jeongin hit his head really hard.'

Hyunjin gently stroked Jeongin's hair. 'Does your head hurt?'

Jeongin shook his head. 'Not anymore.'

'I'm glad. You can sit with me whenever you want, darling. That goes for Jongho and Seungmin too.'

'We've been sitting with Mingi and San these past few days.'

'Jongho likes Mingi, don't you?' Minho asked. All eyes turned to him as if seeing him for the first time. That tended to happen a lot, Changbin and Hyunjin having their own conversations while Minho sat quietly, only for them to remember he was there when he suddenly said something.

'Um, yeah,' Jongho said. 'How do you know?'

'I heard you and Jeongin talking about it yesterday, after school.'

'Yeah, we don't get much studying done,' Jeongin joked.

'Speaking of studying, we need to get going or we'll be late,' Seungmin told them. Minho got the impression he was the mum friend.

Hyunjin pressed a quick kiss to Jeongin's mouth and pushed his milk carton into his hands. 'We should go, too.' They all got up to leave, and Minho watched Jeongin slip his hand into Hyunjin's as they left the food hall.

Minho flung himself in his seat in his next lesson. Hyunjin and Jeongin were so cute, with their stupid little romance, and their stupid hand holding. In the back of his mind, Minho briefly wondered if he'd ever find someone like that.

Okay, so maybe he was a teeny tiny, just a little bit absolutely jealous of Hyunjin.