throwing the door to his science class open, san pays no attention to all the eyes that are on him as he enters the room. his eyes dart around for yunho, and shortly lands on him by the very back of the room, where the two of them normally sit. but before san can even step an inch towards his best friend, the teacher at the front of the class snaps at him. "care to let me know why you're thirteen minutes late to class, choi?!"
ignoring the several snickers that echo around the room, san turns to mrs kim. "i, uh, have a late slip — if that would make you feel any better."
"oh!" the teacher's eyes widen in surprise, before taking the small note that san leans forward to hand her. head bouncing up and down as a nod, mrs kim murmurs the words that are written under her breath, "...had a chat with social worker... important issues regarding his current living situation... hope you understand.."
san can tell that majority of the students are unnecessarily listening, and he hates himself for being so bothered by it. it shouldn't matter, practically everyone knows about the fact that he's adopted, but for whatever reason he's itching to tape his teacher's mouth shut as a way to quieten her.
eyes lifting up from the paper in her hands, mrs kim nods in approval at san before ushering him to his desk. wasting no time, the boy squishes through the rows of desks to where yunho is patiently sat and waiting for him.
smiling slightly, san pulls out his chair that was tucked into the table, sitting down as he discards his backpack onto the floor. shoving the thought about jung wooyoung currently being right behind him to the back of his mind, san shifts sideways in his seat, met with yunho — a questioning expression plastered onto his face.
"what?"
"spill the tea, babe," yunho simply says, san now mirroring his expression.
"there's tea to be spilt?"
"well, duh, about your social worker and all."
"oh, that tea." sighing, san rests his head onto his desk. "about that motherfucker," he adds in a mutter.
"it's bad, isn't it?" yunho asks, although he already knows the answer to that question.
san closes his eyes. "could i just... lie and act like everything's okay?"
"nope. not an option."
sitting upright in his seat, san weaves his fingers through his blond hair for a moment, lips curving upwards a little at the hand that places itself onto his back, rubbing small, comforting circles onto the clothed skin.
san exhales a deep breath to settle his nerves. "it's just- you know how my social worker is, like, super homophobic and likes making it known to everyone around him? he's becoming too much recently, a-and i've been thinking and... i don't know, i kind of want to report it but..."
"but what? i'd go for it straight away, so what's stopping you, hm, sannie?" yunho questions softly.
"well, if i did end up getting him fired... who'd be my social worker next? they'd have to look for someone who's willing to take me in as their client and that'd be difficult, don't you think? because of my mother and all? so—"
"san." yunho looks up for a second at the student who's been appointed to hand out the worksheets, and takes it from their hold, before continuing, "i don't understand why you're thinking too much into this. a social worker is meant to look into your past and do all they can to keep you safe — that's their job."
"i guess you're right," san agrees, beginning to skim through the information on the worksheet he'd just been given.
"i am right. so don't stress over it too much, okay?"
"i'll try," replies san, before averting the subject of their conversation, "i can't believe we have a fucking project for the second time this term."
yunho hums, before snorting. "but, you've got to agree with me, the last one wasn't that bad."
"maybe because you were my partner, and you insisted that we use as much rainbow as possible for our presentation." laughing, san shakes his head in disbelief at the recollection.
"i hope we can work together again. that was really fun."
"me too. i doubt it, though, since mrs kim despises us now," san points out, as he scruffily writes down his name on the sheet of paper in front of him.
"who cares? mrs homophobic can take her ass elsewhere for all i ca—"
"jeong yunho and choi san!" none other than mrs kim's loud, exhausting voice rings through the room, creating the blond to flinch, whereas the blue-haired boy just rolls his eyes with no care in the world. "since your conversation is more important than your education, why don't you share it with the rest of the class?"
san glances at yunho, who somehow gets the gist, and speaks up for the both of them, "we were just discussing our plans for the project."
"there's no need for that, because, differing from your previous project, i'll be choosing your partners this time," mrs kim informs them all, pointedly glaring at san and yunho.
simply the idea itself causes san to sigh in disappointment, as he rests his head onto his desk once again. however, he keeps his ears open whilst mrs kim blabbers on about the details of the project, before moving on to how she'll be picking the pairings for it. "i have a spinning wheel on my laptop with all of your names, which is going to determine your partners. got it, everyone?"
"yes, mrs kim!" the students chant, although none of them are in sync; instead, their voices just overlap over each other's, rather unsatisfyingly.
"starting off, we have..."the smart board at the front of the class displays the colourful spinning wheel, and san apprehensively watches the handle rotating. "...lee gahyeon!" mrs kim announces.
the girl ends up being paired with song yuqi, which causes the pair to giggle in contentment. the same cycle repeats, over and over again, all while san crosses his fingers that he won't be partnered up with someone who isn't fond of him.
shortly there's only four names remaining, and as if it's all one big coincidence, they consist of san, yunho, a boy named haknyeon, and wooyoung.
anyone but him. please, please, please, the blond internally begs, eyes squeezed shut.
san can't bare to look as the wheel spins for the nth time that day, so averts his gaze to his lap, fiddling with his fingers. "jeong yunho and..."mrs kim begins, san praying that his name is called. "...ju haknyeon!"
no.
san's mouth gapes open slightly, unable to process the predicament he's in, the rest of the students' reactions certainly not being any more positive than his own. standing up from his seat, yunho attempts to approach haknyeon, yet san holds onto his wrist to stop him.
"yun... i-i can't—"
"you'll be okay, sannie. i'm only a few seats away," yunho assures softly, before leaving a quick peck on the other's forehead.
san refrains himself from protesting, and instead nods, wistfully watching as his best friend turns his back on him. with yunho leaving, san only now notices the feeling of a figure hovering behind him. his heart is practically beating out of its cage, and the boy's surprised that the deafening sound isn't loud enough to project around the room for everyone to hear.
the chair besides san scrapes against the floor as it moves, then the noise halts, the blond unable to face who's besides him.
"hey, san," jung wooyoung's tender voice breaks into the atmosphere, those two words alone causing san's cheeks to flame a light pink. taking a deep breath, the older meets wooyoung's gentle gaze — for the second time in his life — and he feels as if he could melt on the spot.
"h-hi..." san can't bring himself to say any more, neither can he keep up the intense battle of eye contact, therefore darts his gaze elsewhere bashfully.
searching for something inside of his pencil case, wooyoung sighs. "i'm hoping you're decent at science, because i'm fucking terrible at it," he expresses. "but it's okay if you're as bad as i am. we'll just earn low grades together, then, won't we?"
wooyoung turns to san, who assumes it's his way of silently asking for an answer, so he incredulously finds the bravery to do just that. "i'm not the worst, i-i don't recommend getting your hopes up either, though," san says, unsure if wooyoung even heard him due to his quietness.
yet, when wooyoung smiles, the same endearing smile he's gotten the golden opportunity of witnessing twice before, san is certain that the latter had caught his words.
"hopefully i'm not mistaken, but you're the one who made that feminist poster, right? you know, the one by the cafeteria?"
you know about that? san wants to say. instead, however, he just nods his head.
wooyoung's grin widens at that, shocking san even more than he had been beforehand. "ah, that's great — your handwriting on there was so pretty! are you, uh, okay with doing the written work for the project, then?" wooyoung asks, head cocked to the side. "you have the right to say no, i'm just wondering, because, er, i-i'd like that..."
jung wooyoung radiating any kind of nervousness was too contrasting to the brief personality of his that san knew of, but here they are. and in all honestly, seeing wooyoung so almost vulnerable around him, made san feel like he wasn't just a stranger to him.
he likes girls, san. don't push it.
"san-ah?" wooyoung's fingers are now delicately wrapped around his arm, and san finally comes to his senses, realising that he's yet to answer the younger's question.
"oh! shit, sorry, i-i wouldn't mind doing tha—"
"jung wooyoung!" the sharp tone of mrs kim's voice causes san and wooyoung to glance at each other, confusion drawn on their faces. "i hope it's not a bother, but i'd like for you and yunho to switch partners." wooyoung freezes in his spot as if he can't believe his ears, mrs kim continuing at his lack of verbal response, "now please."
"what the fuck- why?!" the boy yells across the classroom.
"there's no need to be difficult, jung. just listen to what i—"
although wooyoung's volume decreases immensely, the coldness in his adamant voice is loud and clear. "answer my question first. why? i want to be with san, so you can't just separate us without a valid reason."
listening to his crush's words, san feels himself warm up, blood rising to his cheeks. and he thanks god, for wooyoung doesn't seem to notice, though the hand that's still on san's arm definitely isn't of any help on the blond's end.
"this is just me trying to protect you, jung, from boys like him. could you not find it somewhere in you to be grateful for that?! mrs kim shouts, her words quietening all of the class.
san's entire world crashes down on him, the never-ending silence creating everything to feel like it's occurring in slow motion. he puts every ounce of his focus into not crying, because allowing the desperate tears to escape is without a doubt the last thing he wants with wooyoung so close to him.
yet, simply the thought of the beautiful dark-haired boy and the way he stood up for him is all it takes. one lone tear drips down san's cheek, causing him to stand up, so very reluctantly pull himself out of wooyoung's grasp, and race for the exit of the classroom.
san almost regrets his decision, when the last thing he hears before the door slams shut behind him is jung wooyoung's concerned voice calling out for him.
———
a/n: thank you for 1k reads ahhh! i hope you guys' days are going well <3