You and Me: Scholar Differences || ZB1

CHAPTER 1

Zhang Hao.

A familiar name that could spark the interest of many peers. He was highly regarded in multiple areas of academics, and including music as well. He was known for his ability to perfect anything he put his hands on, and he was ultimately loved by everybody. His teachers, mentors, classmates.. and hell, even the parents who'd come to the open school events when it was time for yearly registering.

"It was deserved," everybody else would state. Hao had never used any type of shortcut throughout his life, he started from the rock bottom and decided to climb from there after all. Hao was a dreamer — one that believed that a life without dreams would simply be another form of staying dead.

People would come flocking to him, constantly asking for details and taking pictures in secret, as if they were stalkers searching for something new to document their models. Hao basically seemed like he had the whole world in his hands, and it was all the result of working on his craft for years and years.

....Well, that was how it felt back in Fujian, at least.

Hao was now sitting by the corner of the classroom, scattered papers all over his desk and his glasses just barely tipped on the edge of his nose. He started living in Korea just a few months ago, and he recently transferred into a new school.

"Hao-hyung, are you done yet?" The dirty-blonde haired boy asked, his figure looming over the disorganized desk. The classroom was dim, and everybody had left, with only a flicker of a lightbulb keeping the room even slightly alight.

"Not yet, Matthew.." Hao responded under his breath, the answer barely audible to even Matthew. Taking in the context of the fact that Hao was still writing the strokes of some random Korean words, though, made it easier for Matthew to guess his answer anyways.

"Okay." Matthew sighed. "What are you doing right now?" Matthew hollowly asked another question, clear disinterest in his own inquiry.

"Why are you waiting for me in the first place?" Hao, for the first time in a few minutes, averted his gaze from the worksheet he dealt with to Matthew's dark brown eyes. "Do you like me?" Hao teased, eyes lightening up as he let out a soft laugh.

Matthew's breath hitched, "Of course not.." He simply responded, shaking his head.

Hao averted his gaze back to his desk, grabbing a folder and taking the first paper he saw once he opened it absentmindedly.

"Are you serious?" Matthew groaned as he looked down on Hao's desk, recognizing the strokes of Hao's name written nearby the corner of the paper he had just grabbed. "You're taking on another worksheet when I'm right here waiting for you?" Matthew frustratedly commented.

"I never asked you to wait for me. I told you that you could leave twice like, 2 minutes ago." Hao talked back, rolling his eyes.

Matthew scoffed, "Why are you even doing worksheets? School ended."

"I like to save time. I'm gonna be going home after this, so.. I may as well just finish a few of my worksheets now. It's easier to do it when you're still in that school mood."

"That's the point, though."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not going home yet." Matthew spoke blankly with a neutral tone.

"Can you elaborate? What do you mean I'm not going home yet?" Hao subtly raised an eyebrow, intrigued by Matthew's sudden statement. He stopped moving his pen momentarily, wanting to hear his classmate out.

"The principal called for you." Matthew simply said with no hint of life, contrary to Hao's immediate and overdramatic reaction of dropping his jaw.

"And you decided to wait here for around 5 minutes without telling me a word!? It's literally the principal!" Hao quickly returned his worksheets back into his respective folder, stacking up his scattered textbooks and trying to shove them into his bag.