ten felt as though he was going insane. his mind was cluttered with racing thoughts — predominantly surrounding the happenings of the night before. his sleep had been so severely affected that he would've believed a zombie was looking back at him when he peered in the mirror this morning.
unluckily, he and kun stood side by side at the top of the staircase as they watched the mess unfold below in the lobby. he wouldn't have called an ebony student such as the older a 'friend', though the male was very reasonable, wise and kind...so he wasn't exactly an enemy either. his black uniform was perhaps the only reason he couldn't befriend him, for his head would metaphorically be decapitated for that.
"these wars are more of a pain than any form of help," the navy-haired president to his left sighed defeatedly. "i'm glad i don't have to participate."
"true," ten pursed his lips. being a warrior would suck ass since it requires an interest in reputation, fighting and rules. the small boy was thankful for having a position above such hassles.
"it's eight p.m," kun turned to him while glancing at his watch.
"so?"
"well, last i heard from the grapevine; you're tutoring that bothersome third year of yours...johnny seo, was it?"
"hey, he's not bothersome, just...just uninformed." why the hell am i defending that jerk?! he's a huge bother, so what am i-
"well, however you like to put it...isn't it time to go?"
"ugh, it should be. that guy plays these stupid games where i have to hunt high and low for parties and locate him every night. not an ideal situation, let's put it that w—"
"ah, pres! there you are!" speak of the devil and he shall come.
both leaders looked down to see a tall student clad in pristine white ascending the stairs. his brown hair bounced with volume as he jogged, and his beautiful features glowed under the artificial light of the lobby. "johnny?"
"mhm!"
the thai boy swallowed thickly, trying his absolute hardest not to get his hopes up when seeing him like this. it was probably about to become a deliverance of bad news, so there was no point in hoping.
kun, however, chuckled softly from beside him and politely bowed to both before walking away. at least he had the common decency to show a little respect to those he'd call enemies.
"what are you doing here?" ten hissed, pulling the taller over by his hand and bringing them both to the banister overlooking the war below. "it's eight."
"it is. time for our lesson, right?"
am i going delusional? the younger wondered, glancing his tongue over his lip and taking a deep breath. "what's the game this time, huh? where's the catch?"
"no catch this time," johnny grinned with pure innocence, as though he wasn't a huge thorn in the shorter's side. "i felt bad last night since you seemed pretty pissed, and today you fell asleep in class again...so...."
"so?"
"so i'm trying to be nice here, man!" the brunette smacked his shoulder in attempt to cover up the fact that he found this as difficult as riding a unicycle. apologising and admittance were challenges...and he'd overcome them. "let's go."
"pinch me. i think i've passed away—"
"ugh, so ungrateful."
nevertheless, johnny took ten by the wrist and escorted them to the president's beautiful bedroom himself. it never changed from day to day, and both seemed to like it the same. the scents, the lights, the atmosphere. bursting in as they did now like every other night was never actually a stressful memory.
"here, sit down," the ravenette instructed as he took a seat at the large desk and finally snapped out of his strange daze. it was only five past eight in the evening, and lee ten assumed he was going insane. there's no other way to describe this.
"we can both catch up on sleep tonight," the older suggested. "i'm actually extremely exhausted as well, and i'm glad you're here as a visual reminder for sleep, 'cause i'm always staying up."
"that's your own problem though."
"i want to keep up..." johnny murmured, yanking open a textbook about poetry and sighing exasperatedly. "i don't want to be left behind...so i make sacrifices."
"the wrong kind," ten assured him. "sleep is an essential need for health. so is eating and drinking. don't push away your needs just to stay up to date with life, okay? prioritise."
"like i am right now?" the chocolate-haired boy winked flirtatiously, "prioritising you?"
"cheeky."
"was it smooth?"
"ew. very," the smaller chuckled and held a pen to his lower lip to think about what they needed to do. "whoever your partner to be is will need to watch themselves."
"well, i can only hope it's someone like you..."
"hm? why?" the younger flushed fuchsia pink, shooting his gaze down to the copybook at hand.
"because you can handle me. you don't back down from my stubbornness and you're able to tolerate my mannerisms. it's a pity you seem so uninterested in other people."
god, i wanna' keep it that way! the thai panicked internally, dropping his pencil to the paragraph he decided to refer to and choosing not to answer that. a problem of the heart — his heart — had arisen, and he needed to fix it soon.
"kay...let's start here."
the last thing either remember was the darkness of the world outside the french windows and the fatigue that plagued their bodies. perhaps this was their reasoning as their eyes fluttered open and slowly but surely observed their surroundings.
ten was first, having regained consciousness with his cheek pressed to the desk, the pencil in hand over his head and his face far too close to his temporary student's for comfort. their noses could've been touching they were so near...and so he pulled away quickly.
"crap," he whispered, looking around hurriedly to decipher the situation. "crap, crap, crap..." he couldn't prevent it through. the butterflies arose in his stomach and flapped their non-existent wings sickeningly. the bile in his gut was unsettled, and so he leaned back in his seat to think and stare unproductively at his guest.
i'm going insane. he finally decided, nodding on it and covering his face with his hands to rub unhelpfully. this is where my life spirals all because of one boy and his ridiculous affect on my chest.