boys like boys ✔ luwoo

|11|

|| Kim Jungwoo ||

"Ah! Jungwoo! I'm good at many things!" I didn't care but he kept talking. "I make friends really quickly. I was also top ten to graduate out of my freshman class. My mom thought it was legit but my dad said I could do better." He nudged me almost off the sidewalk. I grabbed his arm to prevent myself from falling into the street. "Sorry," he whispered when he noticed my glare. "You wanna know what my brother said?" I shake my head. "Good job little bro, but I got the top one percent. That's top five students, Jungwoo. Five! Ooh! When I tell you how mad I was—"

I stop walking a few feet from the bus stop just to look at him, face to face. He stopped short in front of me with a smile never leaving his face. "What makes you think I actually care?" He bent his knees the slightest bit and gave me the grin that would make anyone fall off their feet. I kept my stern stare as hard as I could as he pleaded with me using his wide smile and glistening eyes.

"I'm running out of things to say to you," he spoke in a soft voice. "Please accept my rambling as a peace offering. You've been angry with me since we met and I still don't know why." We were both trying not to laugh. My character totally broke when he tripped over his own foot when I backed away from him. "Is that a smile I see?"

I couldn't stop my laughter as he tried to catch himself for a few seconds. I had to turn away. This kid went from annoying to a clown. "You're actually making my day since you're not talking about dumb shit right now."

"I don't always talk about dumb... shit. Do I?" I nod. "Well, there's a lot more where that came from since we're going to be riding the bus together for now on."

"What happened between you and Taeyong?"

He tapped his foot on the concrete as if he was thinking of an answer to something that happened less than two hours ago. "I don't really like drama. Unless it's like important homework that I didn't do. But I don't know who Yuta is and what he did, but it seems to be something I missed. They almost had a fight so I decided to back away."

"And Taeil's arrest?"

"Filled with questions aren't we?" I shrug. "Apparently he was selling drugs. I'm surprised your little gossip queens haven't spilled you the tea. They told me a few words about you." He then winked at me which took me back a bit.

I honestly could care less what Sasung and Injoon whisper to each other. They talk all day and night and none of the information has ever intrigued me. The only time I listen is when I'm sitting there with absolutely nothing to do. Maybe with Lucas clinging to me, I have a reason to actually let them have their rumor fest to themselves.

"Cool. Do you want to sit in the courtyard for lunch from now on?" Lucas looked at me as if I gave him a million dollars in his bank account. Maybe I shouldn't have put too much on his heart so soon. "I mean... we don't have to."

"No! I want to. Will Sasung and Injoon be joining us? If they do we need to choose the table with more seats. Since our English teacher lets us out of class early, we can snatch a seat before everyone starts crowding. Oh! Do you have their numbers?"

I lied and said I didn't just so he wouldn't spam the two with endless texts. "I don't have yours either. Put it in my phone?" I passed him the device and he took it with caution. "And sorry... for telling you to delete it. That was rude." Lucas didn't say a word. He just pressed in his digits and gave me back my phone. "Lucas?"

"Yes, Jungwoo."

"You're nothing like..." my eyes trailed to the stiff boy approaching him from behind. Kun slipped passed Lucas making the younger boy jump. He stood in the corner of the stop away from the germs of the pole and away from us. My eyes were probably burning holes into his uniformed shirt, but I didn't care. This is the second time he's chosen to ride the bus which confused me once again.

I looked at Lucas who was looking back and forth between me and Kun. He covered his smile with his hand then discretely made a heart shape. I now know what Sasung and Injoon told him. Lucas was too busy set in a fantasy land that if I told him anything other than what he pictures as 'beautiful' he wouldn't believe a word.

Instead, we stood silently until the bus pulled up to get us. Lucas and I took a seat in the back while Kun sat at the end of an empty row. I'm assuming it's so he won't be near the walls or the middle so people wouldn't trap him in.

Lucas and I just watched him in bewilderment. I guess he knew how Kun could be. But I knew it all too well. Then again, he was apart of Taeyong's group I met before Sasung and Injoon. Our friendship didn't last long if that's even what it was. To me, it lasted a lifetime. But all it took was Taeyong to ruin whatever we started having. I couldn't be friends with Kun and Taeyong. That's just not how it worked. Luckily they both proved themselves to me. It saved me a lot of time.

"Do you wanna know why I hate Taeyong so much?" I decided to mention this since it was all over my mind like a fly.

Lucas pointed to himself in return as if there was three of us and I was excluding him from the conversation. "I mean, yeah! That's like something I can cross off my bucket list."

"Don't be weird about it, alright?" He nods quickly and instantly gets weird about it. His face inches from mine trying to eat the words coming from my mouth. I was about to drop the entire subject and disregard the boy, but he looked too happy to crush. "It started days after I met Taeyong. I realized how easy it was to make friends at this school. So I told myself, to you know, try other groups. That's when I met Kun. He was a quiet guy"

"That Kun?" Lucas whispered while pointing.

"That Kun." Our eyes then traveled to the quiet boy who was listening to music on his wireless headphones. "He introduced me to a girl named Kyungwon. Apparently, I had the power to set her up with Johnny. I was basically getting used at this point, but I didn't care, I needed a friend. But anyway, I told Kun I could do it. Me and the girl shared Chemistry, so in that class, Johnny was all I talked about to her. Little did I know, she got the impression that I liked Johnny!"

"No. Fucking. Way!" Lucas covered his mouth with both hands. "This is better than my brother's Korean dramas."

I smile along before continued the story. "She had just as much as a loud mouth as Sasung and Injoon. She went and told everyone she knew that I was gay for Johnny. News got back to Taeyong and he came for me like a hawk. Told me that he would do anything for me to stop talking to Kun and Johnny. In my mind, Taeyong had more friends so I said sure. Little did I know he was going to do the worst thing ever."

"Is this where Taeyong gets bad?" I nod slowly. "I don't think I want to hear it. I still have to go with him to Taeil's house when he gets out tomorrow. It'll be kind of bias if I—"

I placed my finger on his mouth to shut him up. "You can still go, Lucas. I just need to know... does Taeyong know you're gay?"

"Yeah. I made that clear when I first met him. I told you mainly to gain trust and I see it's working."

"Then maybe I'm the problem" I thought to myself. "I'm confused. When he rumor spread that I was gay he completely freaked out on me in front of everyone. That's when I became a freak show."