Walking through the corridors, Renjun made a turn heading in the direction of the school garden.
The short boy came to school a bit earlier than he usually did. He was on a mission and he didn't want his friends to be in his way. Scanning the area first, his eyes land on the familiar boy.
He had seen the boy a few times and at times when he was wandering the hallways on his own, he would see Jaemin with him too. Contemplating whether he should approach the boy or not, he stood still a few meters from the boy.
Don't be stupid. You came here for a reason, so don't back out now. Renjun repeated the words in his head. Ultimately mustering up the courage, he approaches the boy. When he finally reached him, he hesitantly reached his arm forward, but before he could tap on the boy's shoulder, he had already turned around.
Now awkwardly staring at each other, Renjun was suddenly at a lost of words. "Can I help you?" Heeseung asked, a puzzled look on his face.
"Uh, hi!" Renjun beamed. "You're Kang Heeseung, right?" The latter slowly nodded his head. "Thank goodness, that would've been so embarrassing if I got your name wrong." Heeseung could only nod his head at Renjun's words as he was still confused by the situation.
"Right, you're probably wondering why I'm here..." Again, Heeseung only slowly nodded his head. "You don't really talk do you?" Renjun asked.
"Uhm... I- No, that's not- Well, sometimes, I guess." Renjun laughed as he watched the boy stumble over his words. "I'm sorry," Heeseung awkward scratched the back of his head.
Renjun once again laughed, but now taking a seat next to the awkward boy. "I'm Renjun, nice to officially meet you. I'm sorry if I disturbed you." Heeseung shook his head and waited for Renjun to continue, "I actually wanted to ask you something. About yesterday..."
"That was nothing! I was just scanning the classroom. You just happened to catch me while I was looking in your direction." Heeseung said, trying to sound as convincing as he possibly can.
"I wasn't accusing you of anything, bro." Renjun said, while a small smile played on his lips. "Though, I do want to ask. How do you know Jaemin? I never knew you were friends."
Eyes widened, Heeseung looked in a different direction. He didn't know if he should tell Renjun the truth or not. He wasn't sure if he could trust him at all. What if he used this to bully him? What if he told Jaemin- Snapping out of his thoughts, Heeseung whipped his head around, looking around the area. "What are you doing?" Renjun questioned.
"Did Jaemin send you? Because I told him to stay away from me. Look, I don't know what he told you, but we aren't friends and neither are Jaemin and I." Renjun was shocked by how fast Heeseung could speak, but hearing his words made the boy even more curious about the situation.
"I'm not the type to pry but Jaemin was pretty down yesterday after talking to you." Busying him with his book, Heeseung tried to ignore Renjun. "Hey, I didn't mean to-"
Frustrated, Heeseung got up from his seat and started walking away. Renjun was startled, but soon followed suit. He managed to catch the boy before he could completely disappear. "I'm sorry, please don't be mad." He was panting despite the short distance he ran. Heeseung did walk extremely fast though. "We can always be friends, you know? I don't know what your situation with Jaemin is, but I wouldn't mind being friends with you." Renjun smiled at the shocked boy in front of him.
"I don't-"
"Great! Starting today you're my new friend. Good doing business with you. Now come on, let's get to know each other!" Renjun enthusiastically said, walking back to the picnic table leaving a shocked Heeseung to follow.
»
"My friends are throwing this party on Friday for Jaemin's sister's birthday. You should come." Renjun smiled at the boy.
"I don't know, I won't really fit in there." Heeseung said, hesitant about accepting the invitation.
Shaking his head, Renjun chuckled starting to put his books in his satchel again. "No, I'm inviting you and this will be the perfect opportunity to shoot your shot."
Then getting up, Renjun slung his satchel over his shoulder and greeted the boy.
"Wait!" Renjun turned to face the boy, "What do you mean shoot my shot?" Heeseung asked.
Renjun chuckled, "With Jaemin, silly." Then turning around again, he headed back to the main building.
"Oh... Huh?!"
Renjun slyly smiled as he thought back to Heeseung's reaction a few minutes ago. He was inside the main building now, on his way to his first period class not bothering to find his friends first.
Further down, a girl with bright purple hair came rushing through the hallway. She looked down at her watch and realized that she only had about 2 minutes to find her classroom. Scanning her paper for the hundredth time, she let out a frustrated groan. She didn't want to be late for class. At least not on her first day.
Making a run for it again, she came crashing into Renjun. Papers flying everywhere and a mop of purple sticking out between the mess, the two fell on the ground. Renjun immediately stood up and didn't hesitate before offering the girl his hand. Thankful, she took it and started getting up.
"In a rush, now are we?" Renjun teasingly said.
The anxious girl shook her head and started to apologize, "I'm so sorry! I didn't even see you coming. Did I hurt you?" Her voice was laced with concern and it made Renjun instantly like her.
"No, no, I'm completely fine. But why were you in such a hurry? School doesn't start for another 15 minutes."
The girl's eyebrows furrowed. Confused she looked at her watch again. "Oh..." She said before looking back up at Renjun. "I can't believe I read the time wrong."
Renjun laughed at her. He then bend down and started collecting her papers that were scattered all over the place. Realizing what he's doing, she too bent down and collected the papers. "Why did you run while reading these?" Renjun questioned, raising the papers he already had in his hand.
"I was honestly hoping it'll magically turn into a map of the school." She awkwardly smiled, before standing up after picking up the last page. "Thank you," She said after Renjun handed her the remaining pages.
"You're quite the character. I'm Huang Renjun and a senior this year." He held his hand out to her.
She stared at it for a few seconds before she understood what he wanted to do, "Oh! Sorry, I'm Shin Nari. Nice to meet you, Mr Huang." She cheerfully said, shaking his hand.
"Well, Nari, you're quite lucky because you just befriended the most handsome guy in school." Nari laughed at his words, as the two were walking side by side now. "Do you want me to show you the way to your class?" Renjun asked.
"As much as I want to say yes, I don't want to bother you any more. You probably have to get to class too." She said awkwardly playing with the papers in her hand.
"But it wouldn't sit right with me knowing you might get lost. So, you can't refuse my offer. Come on," The Chinese boy said, tugging her wrist giving her no choice but to follow him.
Nari had to run to keep up as Renjun was zooming through the corridors. They passed a bunch of classrooms before stopping in front of one. Looking down at her paper and then at the number above the doorframe for confirmation. "Thank you so much, Renju- Wait, I am allowed to call you by your name, right?" She asked, eyes widened.
"Of course, you are. We're friends now, remember?" He said. She only smiled, before thanking him again and walking into the classroom. She immediately froze in her spot as she was met with a full classroom. Everyone talking within their own circles, some doing last minute homework and some girls checking their appearance.
Nari was nervous and she felt out of place. Looking around the room once again, she felt someone wrap their hand around her wrist and pulling her deeper into the room. Didn't he leave? She thought as she let Renjun drag her towards a table.
"Hey, guys. This is Nari. She's my friend, so please take care of her for me, okay?" He smiled at Nari once more before disappearing from their sight, leaving Nari all alone with four pairs of eyes that were just as wide as hers.
honestly, i never really thought anyone would read this book, but people actually do?! thank you so much for 500+ reads. i was so shocked when i saw it, but thank you thank you so much. i really appreciate your support <333
[sorry for mistakes, i wrote this at 2am lmao]