"You have one hour," the teacher announced before gathering his belongings and exiting the classroom. By this point in time, Hyungwon was just starting to stir.
"Hey, newbie," Minhyuk said, grinning and leaning in close to Hyungwon's face.
Hyungwon blinked, pulling his head back and wincing.
"It's lunchtime," Minhyuk said. "Are you hungry?" Minhyuk paused. "Well, you sort of have to eat anyway or they'll put it on your report that you didn't eat and you'll get a demerit or something. And just so you know, just because the teacher's not here doesn't mean anything, they've got-"
"They've got cameras," Kihyun said from the back of the classroom, his eyes marking the corners of the room. "They're watching us, all the time, watching us from their screens."
"Exactly," Minhyuk said, smiling. "Couldn't have phrased it better myself. But since it's basically free time, we usually push our desks into a circle so we can all talk. Are you cool with that?"
After a slight pause, Hyungwon bobbed his head forward and followed Minhyuk's lead, dragging his desk over to form a connected circle. The only difference was that Minhyuk let the metal chair legs screech against the ground while Hyungwon subtly picked up his desk to avoid causing the awful noise.
"So," Jooheon began, taking a bite of the lunch that had been provided for each of them on black trays. "The passing out thing. Is that some sort of party trick or what?"
Hyungwon shifted uncomfortably, adjusting the collar of his uniform. "No."
Wonho looked up at the other boy, confused why everyone was treating him like an outsider.
"He's new," Shownu explained, taking sympathy on Wonho instead of acting fed up with him like everyone else.
"Oh," Wonho said, pretending like that explained everything, but it didn't. I'm new too, so why are they treating him differently?
"What's wrong with you then?" Changkyun asked, ignoring Wonho, and Wonho frowned.
"Hey now," Minhyuk said, draping an arm across Hyungwon's shoulders without asking.
Hyungwon looked uncomfortable.
"You're all going to scare him off. Remember the last guy?"
They all sighed. Life was boring. New blood meant new drama. And when they scared off the new kids, they took the excitement with them.
"Besides," Minhyuk went on. "Who better to understand a messed-up guy than six other messed-up guys?"
Wonho raised an unsure hand. "I'm sorry, I don't follow...isn't this supposed to be a school? A boarding school of some sort? Because...I'm not...I don't know what you mean about being messed-up, I'm just a normal kid, so...so I don't know if I'm supposed to be here-"
"It's a school where they throw kids who aren't all there," Jooheon said.
"Different," Changkyun added.
"Crazy," Kihyun said, and the room grew silent.
"But I'm not- I'm not crazy," Wonho said, casting a nervous glance at he boys around him. Maybe they deserved to be here, but he sure didn't.
"We know why you're here," Jooheon said sharply before looking over at Hyungwon. "But why are you here?"
Hyungwon said nothing, staring down at his food.
The room was quiet.
Then, "Is he going to pass out again?" Changkyun whispered.
Hyungwon looked up with a grimace on his face. He looked slightly upset, but not in an angry way. "It's called narcolepsy. I'm narcoleptic. I don't control it. It just happens."
Jooheon mulled it over for a second before leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms with a scowl on his face. "So you're not crazy."
He may as well have said You're not one of us.
Hyungwon flinched but didn't reply.
"What the hell," Jooheon muttered, rolling his eyes.
"Jooheon-" Shownu began, but the other boy glared at him.
"Don't say anything, Shownu. You know how this goes. They're going to expect us to play nicely with him, but he's not one of us. He doesn't belong here."
Hyungwon sat silently while they argued around him. He wanted to say, I didn't belong there, either, but he stayed quiet. Talking wouldn't do anything. It only got him into trouble.
It was why he was sitting in a desk, wearing a white uniform, and trying to eat food he didn't want to eat.
Hyungwon slowly lifted a hand to his neck, his index finger hovering just above his pulse, but he dropped his hand before he made contact.
From across the room, Wonho stared at the quiet boy.
I'm normal too, Wonho thought to himself. I don't belong here either.
So why are they only telling it to him?
Why am I here?
I'm not crazy, either.
...right?
