"Kim Sunoo, solve this question." Sunoo jolted his head to see his professor glaring at him from across the classroom. He felt a wave of panic rush through his body; he started shaking, and his wrists were frozen–he felt sweat dripping. 'Shit, I don't know anything...' Sunoo wasn't paying attention since he was busy thinking about what had happened a few minutes ago. His legs were stiff as he stood up from his desk and walked over to the board at the front of the classroom.
"Uhh..." He grabbed the marker from the professor's hand and stared at the question. He couldn't even think about the question, as he felt everyone's eyes on him. He took a deep breath and inched his trembling hand closer to the board. He observed the question for a good 4-5 seconds and started solving the problem. 'If I divide this, with this, then it's most likely going to be 6.34. I'll do that.' He pressed the tip of the marker against the whiteboard and wrote: 6.34. He closed his eyes for a second, ready to be scolded but when he faced the professor, the professor didn't seem angry–neither perplexed. 'Was my answer correct?' Sunoo pondered and tightly closed his fists. His nails were digging into his skin–it was a habit that he had. Every time he would feel anxious or agitated, he would tighten his clutch around his palm, into small fists.
"Good job! I thought you weren't paying attention in class." The professor grinned as he faced the classroom. "Sunoo has shown us the perfect example of how to solve any question related to Trigonometry. A lot of people get confused about whether to multiply or divide in these situations, but Sunoo has given us the most reasonable and simple reasoning. You can go have a seat. Thank you." Sunoo felt the pure joy of happiness and glee when his professor complimented him since he barely got any. Sunoo bowed multiple times and nervously walked back to his seat. Just as he was about to sit down, there was a gentle knock on the classroom door. Sunoo was about to sit back in his chair, but he accidentally glanced at Heeseung–who was, of course, glaring at him. Sunoo quickly shifted his gaze away as he placed himself on his designated seat.
"Huh? Are you perhaps a new student?" The teacher asked while peering outside the classroom. "Ah, you must be Ni-ki?" The teacher politely smiled as he welcomed the said boy inside the classroom. There were whispers around the classroom, and everyone was on edge due to the sudden interruption and the boy, who was apparently Ni-ki. 'NI-KI! WAIT–IS IT THAT NI-KI–IN MAH CLASS?!' Sunoo gaped, as he covered his mouth with both of his hands. He leaned forward as he tried peering outside the classroom as well–but then the guy stepped inside the classroom.
Most of the girls in the class gasped. 'It's him! He's in my class!' Sunoo felt a wave of pure happiness and excitement when he noticed Ni-ki.
"Please introduce yourself." The teacher stepped back, near his desk as Ni-ki stood there, like a frozen statue, fidgeting with his fingers. He had terrible anxiety–he couldn't utter a single word, as he stared at his shoes. He nervously glanced up, and at that moment, his anxiety disappeared. He felt comforted. 'I'm in the same class as Sunoo?' He tilted his head and gazed at Sunoo, who had a small smile on his lips.
"Hello everyone, I'm Nishimura Riki, it's nice to meet you." He spoke up after the unnerving silence. The class cheered, and so did Sunoo–which Riki saw. He smiled as he glanced at the professor for further instructions. "Ah, yeah...hmm, you see that boy at the back, with an empty chair beside him–you can sit over there." The professor pointed toward Sunoo, which made Riki happy. 'My first day isn't so bad here.' Riki walked to the seat beside Sunoo, the girls were gawking as he passed by them. Sunoo slightly waved at him when he was beside him. 'He's saurr cutee.' Riki chuckled as he placed himself on the seat beside Sunoo. "Hey." Riki nervously spoke up.
"I wasn't expecting you to be in my class! Is this a coincidence?" Sunoo whispered, moving a little closer to Riki so he could hear better. "I didn't either, but at least I got a class with you. You're like the only person I know here–well, other than Jungwon." Riki whispered while slightly giggling.
While the two latter were whispering and talking to each other, Heeseung was infuriated. 'What a bastard. He probably had some connections–he can't get into this class, it's already full of students and the professor usually doesn't accept new students–especially at the mid-end of the year.' Heeseung lightly scoffed under his breath as he glared at the two latters in front of him. 'Why the hell is he so close to Sunoo? Does he not know what personal space is?' He lightly groaned under his breath as he continued glaring at the two in front of him.
❁
The loud, and piercing ringing of the bell alarmed the students. It indicated that the second period had ended. Some of the seniors who were taking this class would move to the next one while the rest of the students would wait in the classroom for the third period to start.
"So, uhm--I felt someone glaring at me from the back, but I couldn't tell who it was." Riki shuddered as he leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, well, you'll get used to it. It was no other than Heeseung." Sunoo heaved a frustrated sigh as he glanced at the older one behind him, who was busy packing his items for the next class. "I didn't even know he was in this class." Riki peered at the older and glanced back at Sunoo. "Riki, do you know you're schedule?" Sunoo fixated himself properly on his seat and chatted with him. "Yeah, I guess..." He leaned down to grab his bag on the floor and pulled a paper from the side pocket of his bag. "This is my schedule. I had the second-period class with you, but I don't know any other classes." Riki pointed at some of the information prescribed on the schedule. "Oh! So...your first-period class is literally by the entrance of the last hallway, and the second one is with me...your third one is by the cafeteria, and the rest are in the South area of the school. Don't worry, I'll help you find your classes." Sunoo nodded in assurance while smiling. "Can you drop me off at the class, please?" Niki hesitantly asked while crossing his arms over his chest.
"Yeah, we have like 5 minutes before the next class. C'mon." Sunoo pushed his chair back as he stood up. He grabbed his phone from under his desk and glanced at Ni-ki, who was waiting for him. They walked side by side, each not uttering a single word. What can they do? They both were quite anti-social. Ni-ki side-glanced Sunoo as he cleared his throat as tried striking up a conversation. "Sunoo, if you don't mind me asking, what's your relationship with Heeseung?" Ni-ki tucked his hands in his warm pockets, anticipating whether he should've kept his mouth shut or not.
"He hates me," was all Sunoo had stated, while he fiddled with his fingers. "Don't worry, he won't get in your way, since you're like--you know, rich." Sunoo awkwardly chuckled while glancing around the hallway to ease the thin tension after that last comment.
"W-why does he pick on you?" Ni-ki tightly clenched his fists, wanting to punch Heeseung's face. 'How could someone hurt someone like him? He's so precious.' Ni-ki felt rage upon the thought. "I don't know, honestly...he always calls me names--names that I prefer not to say in that way. He hits me..." Sunoo's voice trailed off as he cleared his throat and stayed silent afterward. Ni-ki felt nervous, so he decided not to ask anything else.
"This is the cafeteria, and your class is right over there--along with the other ones, which are literally right next and across each other." Sunoo pointed at Ni-ki's classes and plastered a fake smile--still not forgetting about Heeseung. Riki looked around the cafeteria and attempted to memorize the classes, but he knew that he would most likely forget them.
"Uh, Sunoo-ssi, can I have your number--just in case I get lost, I can text you about it." Riki could ask anyone else for directions, everyone knew him and he was quite popular--so why would he ask for Sunoo's number? Well, it's because he wanted to look after Sunoo and keep him close to him, away from Heeseung. "Ah, of course!" Sunoo beamed as he unlocked his phone. "What's your number?" He rested his gaze on the bright phone screen, displaying the number pad. "Let me type it for you." Riki slowly grabbed the black phone from Sunoo's hand and keyed his phone number, then he later saved his display name as Riki 🌺.
He handed the phone back to Sunoo and walked away, not glancing back at the latter. Riki's heart was thumping inside his chest. "Why does my heart hurt?! GAH!" He clutched his booming heart as he exhaled a heavy sigh. "it's okay, it's probably because I haven't had breakfast in the morning." Meanwhile, Sunoo was astonished. 'Did he just run away from me?' Sunoo gaped at the display name, a smile then forming on his lips. "Cute." He mumbled while watching the figure disappear into the thick crowd.
"Who's cute?" A deep voice spoke up from behind, catching Sunoo off-guard. "AISH! SHI--" Sunoo immediately turned his gaze from Riki to the voice behind him. Yep, it was Heeseung. He really doesn't know how to mind his own business. Sunoo leaped backward, clutching his chest. "A-ah, it's you Heeseung hyung." Sunoo felt his palms washing over in sweat, he bit his lower lip in fear, as he gazed at the latter in front of him. Heeseung noticed the latter biting his lips, so his eyes wandered over from Sunoo's eyes to his lips. 'He has pretty lips; they're naturally pink, plump, and quite soft.' Heeseung's gaze was piercing holes inside Sunoo's body. 'What do I do?! Do I run away or something?!'
Heeseung was inches away from Sunoo, while the latter was standing in front of the school lockers, which were located near the cafeteria. Heeseung started inching closer, and in response, Sunoo started backing away--he felt the cold metal against his skin. 'Shit, how do I run away from this situation?!' Sunoo was trembling in fear. He kept biting his lips, creating a light red mark on them.
When Heeseung was right in front of Sunoo, just a few inches away, he raised his hands upward. 'Is he...going to hit me again?' Sunoo was shaking visibly, not daring to meet Heeseung's eyes, which were sending daggers toward him--or so he thought. When Heeseung's palm was close to his face, Sunoo tightly shut his eyes, patiently waiting to feel the painful slap against his cheek, but instead, he felt a slight touch on his lower lip. He gently opened his eyes, meeting the ones in front of him. Heeseung was caressing Sunoo's bottom lip with his thumb. Sunoo felt a blush creeping on his cheeks, he could feel his heart thundering upon the distance between the two. "Why are you biting your lip so much, hmm? You'll ruin your pretty lips." Heeseung mumbled, his eyes traveling down to Sunoo's lips, as gently caressed his lower lip. His gaze softened, as his eyes traveled to Sunoo's.
"Sunoo, you're so pretty for a guy...sometimes I forget why I hate you so much. Don't distance yourself from me..."