lessons in love | minsung

02

The next day was exactly the same. If it wasn't for his schedule sending him to different classes, Minho's day would have been a repetition of yesterday.

Waking up late, having to drag Hyunjin out of his bed –literally–, skipping breakfast due to a lack of time and hunger and both the boys rushing to get ready as fast as they could without nearly crashing into each other every minute, dazed by their disoriented hurry. Oh, and feeding his cats.

That's what Minho's typical mornings were like before the equally similar trip to school would start. The same route every day, around the same time. He often saw the same business vans on the road next to the sidewalk, that apparently held the same schedule as Minho. 

The first few classes didn't hold many surprises, either. The boy faced exactly the same struggles of all the days prior to this one; already having all the notes from last year. However, Hyunjin decided to stay awake during their shared classes so he at least had some distractions this time.

Today was definitely a little improvement compared to yesterday.

"Dear Lord, my brain is totally cooked," Hyunjin complained as they walked through the hallways, stretching his arms in front of him to get rid of the stiffness that settled in them after doing absolutely nothing for hours.

"Mine, too," Minho replied, eyeing the younger with a hint of sympathy. He felt exactly the same, his brain cells already drained from the little enthusiasm he had for this day. 

As per usual, lots of people greeted the boys as they made their way to their usual spot. Halfheartedly, they returned the greetings with soft heys and small waves here and there, the intentions behind the gestures being nothing but polite. Both Minho and Hyunjin were oddly popular among the students, in a weird and somewhat twisted way.

Both were too quiet to live up to that stereotypical popular kid image. Where Hyunjin was actually a tad too shy to become a social butterfly, Minho didn't care enough to become one. He had it in him and with his previous group of friends, that side of him used to show a lot more often. But now that side was completely hidden, leaving a quiet, uninterested and serious boy.

They didn't have many friends. Rather, they only had each other. Yet another aspect that didn't match well with the popular thingy. It was nothing but their looks that gave them that spot. It was no secret that almost every girl admired them for their looks, and more and more boys joining that group. It was a huge advantage for their spot on the social ladder.

Minho wanted to hate it, but he couldn't. It was often the quiet losers that ended up being bullied and if it wasn't for their looks, both he and Hyunjin would probably end up as the bullies' victims as well, eventually.

There was something different about the voices in the hallways, though. Besides the greetings and meaningless chatter that lingered everywhere, there were also hushed whispers that fluttered in and out of Minho's ears. It frustrated the boy how he couldn't make out what they were saying, too many other sounds making it impossible for the incoherent words to make sense. However, he didn't miss the excitement that was laced in their tones and it left him curious.

He could just ask one of the students that brushed past him on their way to their preferred spot to spend their lunch break. Unlike Hyunjin, shyness wasn't in his dictionary. But then again, were a few whispers and a little itching curiosity enough to make him communicate with others?

No.

If it was something important, he'd find out eventually. This school's gossip policy was decent and the whispers wouldn't stop until it was sure every single student attending college –and preferably, the surrounding neighborhoods as well– knew about the matter.