Summer Crushes | Jeongchan

thirteen

A couple of weeks later, Hyunjin, Felix, and Jeongin are walking out of their building and into the courtyard to meet with their other friends after class. They were initially only going to be waiting for Minho, Jisung, and Seungmin but upon seeing Changbin on one of the stone tables, they approach him, with Felix explaining, "I told him that I was going to come with you two to wait for the others and he said that he'd wait for us. Since, you know, we go home together."

Jeongin and Hyunjin exchange snickers when Felix starts walking two steps ahead of them to get to Changbin faster. It was clear as day that the Australian was harbouring some beginnings of a crush towards their older friend.

"You were let off class early." Hyunjin comments once they're standing in front of a waiting Changbin. Jeongin and Hyunjin stand on one end of the bench whilst Felix finds a spot standing on the other side, the three freshmen flocking around the sophomore and not bothering to take their own seats.

The sophomore shrugs. "Had sort of a free period for the last class. Classroom was basically a holding cell for us until the bell rang."

"Was our last class detention?" Jeongin jests lightly.

Changbin playfully rolls his eyes at the youngest. "If I had detention, I'd probably be in there with your boyfriend. We're trouble make it double for a reason."

None of the three freshmen could deny it. Although Chan and Changbin carried themselves with dignity and acted as though they were proper students who had the school handbook memorized to a tee, the sprinkles of mischief that they had are quick to shatter that appearance of a model student. They were rebels, sure, but they didn't care much for rules, either."

Hyunjin snorts. "Well, if I remember clearly, our little Jeonginnie has long-since replaced you as Chan's detention buddy."

Changbin feigns offence to that statement. Apart from that one weekend cleaning up the art room months ago, Chan and Jeongin have landed themselves into detention another time a week ago, for repeatedly texting in class. Did that stop them from texting in class? Of course not.

Then Felix speaks up again, like he was puled out of a self-induced trance whilst trying to remember something.  "Oh, Chan should stay away from the faculty room for a while, I saw Miss Kang there earlier and she would probably nag at him again."

"Does she not like him?" Jeongin asks and that makes Felix turn his eyes away from the still-seated Changbin and towards the standing cousins on the other side of the bench that Changbin was seated on.

Felix doesn't see the way Changbin is crossing his arms in an 'x' just in front of Jeongin and Hyunjin. He doesn't notice the way that Changbin is shaking his head, asking for Felix to stop talking because Chan had mentioned once that Jeongin doesn't know aboutㅡ

"She does, but she keeps nagging him about the exchange student program and Chan isn't very excited for those talks."

"Exchange... student?" Jeongin glances at an equally-confused Hyunjin before turning back to Felix. "What about it?"

Now, Felix sees the defeated grimace Changbin is sporting. By then, he realizes that Chan had been omitting this information from the youngest, judging by both Jeongin's and Changbin's reactions, but his shock manifests in more talking, this time more monotonous. "You didn't know? Chan is shortlisted to study in Australia for his senior year."

This is the first time that Jeongin has heard of this. "Oh. No, he... Didn't tell me."

Felix winces when Changbin buries his face in his hands and muffles a groan. He sits down next to the sophomore and smiles apologetically at Jeongin, who seems lost in thought. Felix turns to Hyunjin. "I messed up, didn't I?"