From that day on, you noticed that Jisung seemed to be trying to attune himself to your disability more. He took ultra detailed notes that he offered to you to copy down, repeated anything Mr. Han had said while you were writing, and seemed to know exactly when to visit your lunch table to help you with a new math concept.
You began to wish that you had him in every one of your classes, an idea you would've gagged at earlier that year. Both Chenle and your mother seemed to have noticed some kind of change in you. Chenle commented on how you only ever told him to fuck off in a friendly way now; your mom said that you finally seemed excited to go to school again. Even Jeno would hold lengthier conversations with you at lunch, showing you the drawings and watercolors he was always working on.
Chenle finally asked something you knew he'd been trying to refrain from, "So... what's new?"
"What do you mean?" You queried, eyebrows furrowed.
"You're not... as— I don't know. You're not how you were a couple weeks ago. You're actually nice."
"Oh, fuck off."
"I'm being serious! Both you and Jisung. He actually called us his friends the other day."
"Really?"
"Yeah, and he's actually like, you know, a human."
"Wow." You offered no more information, eyes scanning the textbook in front of you.
"He sits at your lunch table sometimes, right? Jeno tells me you guys work on math."
"We do."
"And that you guys talk and giggle and laugh and that you haven't snapped Jisung's neck yet."
Looking at Chenle with narrowed eyes, you asked, "So?"
"So, you guys are friends now, right?"
"I guess so."
The boy next to you immediately lit up, voice raising with excitement, "You should totally sit at our lunch table now!"
Thankfully, everybody else was talking too, making Chenle's loudness not too out of place.
"Jisung hasn't invited me to sit there, I don't want to intrude."
"So? I invited you."
"And leaving Jeno alone would be a little rude, we actually talk to each other now."
"Then drag him with you."
"Isn't there a reason he doesn't sit with you guys?"
"He'll live if he doesn't draw during lunch one day."
"Chenle, I appreciate the offer, but I'm going to pass today."
"If Jisung asks you will you come?" He challenged, inciting a roll of your eyes.
"Yeah, sure."
☆
After Mr. Han had finished the instructions for your practice worksheet, you could only remember the very first and very last thing you had to do. As you turned to Jisung sheepishly, you saw that your deskmate was one step ahead of you. He had drawn out a small diagram as the teacher had talked, adding notes of all the little steps in between he knew you'd forget. Without prompting, he started quietly and gently re-explaining it to you, and with the added visual you started to understand what was happening.
"Oh, oh, got it!" You whispered excitedly, immediately going to the first problem on the worksheet.
After five problems, you regrouped with Jisung to review your answers. You had gotten all of the same answers except for one, which you were sure you'd done right.
"Okay so, first you've got to..." Jisung trailed off in his explanation, eyes widening almost comically as he fervently went between your paper, his paper, and his notes. "Uh—nevermind. Nevermind. You did it right."
"Wait... that means that you got it wrong?" You gasped loudly, but still whispered as you declared, "I got a math question right and Math God Park Jisung didn't?"
"Yeah, congrats," Jisung said with red ears as he went to erase his work.
"I never thought this day would come! I need to mark my calendar!"
"Oh, stop. I do get questions wrong sometimes, you're the one that invented the idea that I know every answer to every math question."
"Ah, I'm just teasing, Jisungie." You patted his forearm reassuringly right as he accidentally ripped through his paper with the eraser. "Oh. You good?"
Now Jisung's entire face was bright pink as he stood up and mumbled, "I'm going to ask Mr. Han for another one."
When he returned to your desk pair with a fresh sheet, he set to work on redoing the first five problems as you continued on with the rest. There was a click in the somewhat quiet room as the air conditioner turned out. The hums filtered through the room, going undetected by most of your classmates but all too present to yourself. Your leg started bouncing as if it had a mind of its own, hand instinctively tapping your pencil along your desk.
"Y/N," Jisung said quietly, reaching a hand over to halt your pencil. "You're tapping again."
"Sorry, sorry." You also signed as you stopped, your hands still needing to do something as you readjusted yourself in your seat and crossed your ankles under your chair.
You read a question that you realized you'd read about seven times before, but you just couldn't comprehend what it was saying. The air conditioning was still going.
"Y/N."
"Hm?"
"You're clicking now."
"You gonna slap it out of my hand again?" You had snapped before you realized it, face heating up as you mumbled out an apology. "I'm sorry."
Jisung set his own pencil down, resting his cheek on his hand as he fully turned to look at you softly. "Is it the air conditioning? It's irritating you?"
"Yeah." You lowered your voice, leaning in towards him as you whispered, "And I can hear the mucus in his chest every time Mr. Han breathes."
"Gross."
"Yep."
"So how does it work, your auditory processing disorder?"
"My brain is fucking stupid." You deadpanned, your hands instinctively signing stupid as your mouth said it.
There was a sting on your forehead as your friend suddenly flicked you. "No, you're not."
"You really want to know?"
"Why do you think I'm asking?" Jisung's reply made you roll your eyes and flick him in response. "No, seriously. I want to try to understand."
You tried to think of how to explain it to him. "Uh, scientifically, my central nervous system—my brain—doesn't efficiently or accurately process the information it's given from my ears and attributes to me having ADHD symptoms as well. But uh, personal experience, I can't remember or understand stuff given to me audibly. It literally just goes in one ear and out the other. I also uh, hyperfixate on things, such as the sound of air conditioning, someone breathing, or me tapping a pencil. So when you so rudely knocked my pen out of my hand that one time, I really didn't hear you ask me to stop."
"Oh. Sorry, by the way. Do you know like, what caused it?" Jisung was really the first person you'd known who had genuinely taken an interest in your disorder. It was a refreshing change from everyone here who didn't believe it even existed.
"There's no one concrete cause for it, it can be a bunch of different things, and we don't know where mine came from." Just talking to him had already relaxed you, the bouncing of your leg slowing down as you focused on your friend.
It was then that the bell rang, and the shuffling of papers and kids chatting erupted around the room. "If you didn't finish, this is due tomorrow!" Mr. Han called out after the kids who had already run out of the room.
"We can probably get it done at lunch, less homework," Jisung suggested, dropping his binder into his bag.
"Wish I could, but I'm not going to be at lunch. Mom is picking me up early." You explained, shouldering your own bookbag and taking Jisung's arm in yours to walk out of the classroom. He immediately tensed against you, but nonetheless, let you guide him to your locker. Jisung's awkwardness with any kind of contact was amusing to you.
"Why? Are you feeling okay?"
"Just a checkup." You tapped your ear, eliciting an understanding nod from him. Then you realized that you didn't need anything from your locker considering that you were leaving after History, leaning against it to talk to Jisung. "We can do it after school if you'd like. My mom has been dying to meet one of the only two classmates I ever mention."
"Wish I could," He echoed your own words. "But I've got work after school."
"Maybe I'll visit you there." You suggested, habitually signing a couple of the words you said, visit and you.
"Noooo."
"What if you have another deaf patron that you're unable to communicate with?"
"Then I'll send out the Bat signal or something, okay?"
You laughed lightly, enjoying the pink tinge on your friend's ears when you had suggested visiting him at work. "I'll be watching for it. See you tomorrow, Jisungie."
☆
"Y/N! Y/N! Y/N! Y/N! Y/N!"
"Zhong Chenle if you yell my name one more time at that high of a frequency I will throat chop your vocal cords in half with no remorse."
You were currently walking with Chenle to his home, as you had partnered up for a history project. A decision you were now sorely regretting. His excitement at you coming over was nice, but an excited Chenle made you too tired too quickly. Especially when you had a rough time with math that day, something that even Jisung couldn't fix during lunch.
"Sorry." His voice returned to its natural tone and volume, but that same pep was still in his step. "I'm just really excited."
"To do a project on Japanese imperialism in Korea?" You snorted, kicking a rock out of your way. "Sounds more depressing than exciting."
"Not about that! But because you're coming over while my brother is home! He's really cool, he graduated last year and he's back from college right now."
"Is he a history major or something?"
"What? No, he's majoring in... Actually, I don't know what he's majoring in. I just know that it's not history."
"Then what does he have to do with our project?"
"Y/N, it's not all about projects, you know."
"It should be, you've got that abysmal test grade to make up for."
"Hey!"
"Am I wrong?"
"No." Chenle conceded, a pout on his lips.
You sighed, realizing that you did need to lighten up on your friend a little bit. "Sorry, Chenle. You're right, we can still have fun. Tell me about how wonderful your older brother is."
Chenle had rambled on for so long and repeated himself so many times that you could actually retain several pieces of information about his older brother. He apparently had three different names and you could call him by any of them, but your friend called him Xuxi the most. Xuxi was in college, and according to Chenle, was just as loud as him. Boy, you were just so excited.
At the Zhong's home, Chenle gestured to where in the kitchen you could set your stuff down as he announced, "I'm home! And I brought a friend!"
"Chenle!" Came a deep and unnecessarily loud reply as a man much larger than your friend popped up into your view. Must be Xuxi.
The brunette boy joined the two of you in the kitchen, your friend almost immediately attaching himself to his brother's side as he chattered on about his day. You observed their enthusiastic interactions with interest, your own household was just you and your mom. Finally, Chenle ended with explaining your history project, bringing you back into the conversation.
"This is Y/N, she's my partner for the project." He gestured to you, and you bowed slightly to Xuxi.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Xuxi, or Yukhei, or Lucas. Call me whatever, I'll respond to most anything."
"Like a dog?" You couldn't help but blurt out, eliciting a wide grin and hearty laugh from both of the brothers.
"Just like a dog." Xuxi agreed. "So what class is the project for?"
"History."
His nose wrinkled up in response. "No thanks. Could've helped you all if it was Calc, though."
"Oh, are you going to be a mathematician?"
"Math teacher, actually. So if you ever need some tutoring, I do it for free at the public library on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Need the hours and experience."
Xuxi's offer made you smile, the idea of a real almost-math teacher helping you sounded great. "Yeah, I'll definitely go sometime. Thanks."
"Speaking of tutoring," He forcefully detached Chenle from him to grab his keys from the kitchen counter. "It's Thursday. I'll be back in a couple hours. Are you staying for dinner, Y/N?"
"Ah, I'm not sure yet."
"Well if you are, have Chenle text me your takeout order so I can pick it up on my way back."
"Oh, thanks."
"No problem. See you two later!" With a final bright grin and wave, Xuxi was out the front door.
There was a sudden pinch on your cheek, and you swatted Chenle's hand away. "What was that for?"
"Your cheeks are pink! I've never seen you blush before!" He cackled, pinching your other one.
"No they're not." You turned away from him, rolling your eyes. "I'm flushed from the walk home. Can I have some water?"
"Wait till I tell Jisung you have a crush on my brother!"
"I don't!" You protested as Chenle grabbed you a cold water bottle from the fridge. "He's just nice, is all, and I don't have an older brother or any siblings."
"Mhm."
"Choke."
"Maybe I will, then you'll have to do this whole project by yourself."
"Choke after we finish our project."
"I'll put that on my to-do list, then."
☆
You did end up deciding to stay for dinner, the project was taking longer than you had anticipated. Apparently, your teacher didn't account for the fact that you'd have other homework, as you were not even a quarter of the way done by the time it was nearing your curfew of 10 pm.
"Let's put a pause on this, I've got to get going home before my mom assumes I've been murdered." You declared, standing up from where you'd been sitting cross-legged on Chenle's bed. Stretching your legs out, you tucked your papers away in your folder as your friend flopped back against his pillows.
"I'm dead, I'm officially deceased, Mrs. Lee has succeeded in killing me with all this work." He exclaimed dramatically, pushing his own binder off his lap and onto the floor.
"Can I give a eulogy at your funeral? I was thinking something along the lines of: Zhong Chenle, beloved son, brother, and annoying ass dolphin. He will only kind of be missed."
He cackled from where he was lying down, pushing on your leg with his foot, "You're so mean!"
You grabbed his foot, yanking on his leg to unbalance him enough so that he fell off his bed with a yelp. Giggling, you watched him roll over and give you a glare. "This is bullying."
"It's not my fault you're such an easy target." You shook your head, shouldering your bookbag. "I'm going to call my mom to come take me home." Without thinking, you signed along to call, mom, and home.
When you pulled your phone out of your bag, you were alarmed to see seventeen texts and three missed calls, most from Jisung. "Aish, is this boy dying or something?"
"Jisung?" Chenle asked, dragging himself back onto his bed.
"Yeah, three missed calls and like fifteen messages."
"My bad."
"What did you do?"
Chenle held his phone screen out to you to show his text conversation with Jisung.
[jisung: y/n isn't answering her phone]
[chenle: she's not dead]
[jisung: that's not what i was going to ask]
[chenle: so what were you going to ask?]
[jisung: if she was mad at me or something]
[chenle: nah, we're just working on a project and she turned her phone off to concentrate. her hearing thing i think]
[jisung: oh yeah, she does that when we study too]
[chenle: and also she's got a huge crush on my brother or something]
[chenle: she's out of the bathroom gotta go bye!!!!!]
[jisung: zhong chenle get back here!!]
"You're such a little bitch!" You groaned, swatting the side of his head. "I don't have a crush on Xuxi!"
"Oh I know, that'd be really gross, he's like super old."
"Then why did you tell Jisung that?"
"You were in the bathroom. Y/N, you're like 89% of my impulse control at the moment." Chenle admitted, and if you could roll your eyes any harder they'd pop out of your skull.
"What about the other 11%?"
He merely shrugged, and you swatted his head again, "You're impossible, Chenle."
It was then that there was a knock at the open door, and you whipped around to find Xuxi standing there, already in his pajamas and looking very concerned. "I heard some yells and my name, is everything alright up here?"
"Yeah, yeah, I was just about to call my mom to come pick me up." You informed him, clicking your mom's contact in your phone.
"Chenle and I can take you home. He needs some practice driving at night if you're okay with that."
"I'm a really great driver!" Chenle piped up, an excited grin on his lips.
"Well, I don't know if I trust you with my life, you hit me in the face with a pen." You said in an exaggerated tone, eliciting an elbow in your side from your friend.
"Because you threw it at me first!"
"I'm kidding, that'd be great if you could take me home. I'll text my mom to let her know."
"Cool, I'll meet you two downstairs in a couple minutes. Chenle, don't forget your permit, we don't want to get pulled over the one time you forget it."
"Why would we get pulled over?" The younger brother scoffed, grabbing his wallet from his nightstand.
"If you swerve because Y/N threw a pen at your face."
"Hey!" You said indignantly as Xuxi left the room chuckling.
☆
Once Chenle put the car into park in your driveway, your phone buzzed in your pocket. Ignoring it, you thanked the brothers for their hospitality and taking you home before climbing out of their car. Your phone was still buzzing as you stepped through your front door.
"Mom, I'm home!" You called out, hanging your bookbag off the back of a chair.
"Hey, honey. How is your project coming along?" She greeted you, kissing your temple as she walked by to get two cups from the cupboard.
"Ah great, we'll probably end up finishing it early. And it turns out that Chenle's older brother, Xuxi, does math tutoring at the library, so I'll probably drop by there for help sometimes."
"Oh that's perfect!" She filled up the mugs with water that was already boiling on the stove before tossing tea bags into each.
You took one mug, sitting across from her at the kitchen table. "Tell me about your day, mom."
After your mugs were drained, she had given you a shopping list for tomorrow, and a very unfortunate headache had started radiating through your brain, you gave your mother a goodnight kiss then retreated into your bedroom. Changing into pajamas, you finally checked your phone again. Surprise, the call was from Jisung.
You called him back, and he picked up after only two rings, "Hey, Y/N!"
"Hey. Is something wrong?" You laid back on your bed, eyebrows furrowed with concern.
"No."
"Then why did you call me eight bajillion times? I thought you were dying or something."
"I didn't realize you were doing a project and got a little too worried I guess. I thought you hated me or something."
You let out a light laugh at how Jisung's voice got soft and faster as he rambled on. "I turned off my phone while I was working, Chenle and Xuxi actually just dropped me off. And, if I hated you I'd tell you, remember?"
"Xuxi."
"...Chenle's older brother."
"Yeah."
"Please don't tell me you actually believed Chenle's bullshit about me liking Xuxi. He's old and pretty much just a larger, somehow louder, Chenle."
"You poor thing," Jisung commented, his voice returning to its normal tone of slight sarcasm.
"Yeah, I'm like dead exhausted just from hanging around them for so long. I couldn't imagine being with someone that high-energy."
"Oh, am I keeping you up? You can sleep, you don't have to be—"
You cut him off, a fond smile creeping across your lips, "Nah, it's fine Jisung. Just talking to you already has me refreshed."
"Oh..." His voice squeaked, and he coughed trying to get it back under control. "That's good."
"Ah, I just remembered. Heads up, Mom Y/L/N is sending me out grocery shopping tomorrow for dinner, and you're on her list."
"W-what?"
"I'm not even kidding, it says and I quote," You held the paper up to read off of it. "'Onions, jasmine rice, bread rolls, that boy Jisung that you always talk about, and milk.' Don't worry, you're not an ingredient, that's just her way of inviting you to dinner."
There was a pause before you friend replied, "I'll- I'll ask my parents tomorrow!"
"Are you working tomorrow?"
"No, just Tuesdays and Thursdays."
"Great! We can go shopping together after school and then you can come over and hang out before we eat."
"Al-Alright."
You frowned at your friend's apparent hesitation. "You don't have to come if you don't want to."
"No!" Jisung immediately yelled out, causing you to wince away from the speaker. "I really do want to. Do you think she'll like me?"
"She'll probably start planning on adopting you by the end of the night."
"I have parents." His humor had come back as he was reassured by your promise.
"If I could flick you right now I would." You scoffed, readjusting yourself in your bed. "I mean that she'll love you."
"I'm still going to be an awkward mess."
"Well of course, because you're my awkward mess."
"Y-Yeah, I guess I am." He let out a couple short, nervous laughs. "I've still got a little homework to finish, so I'll let you know if I can come tomorrow."
"Good luck with your homework! Sweet dreams and I'll see you tomorrow, Jisungie." You gave him a cheerful goodbye that he belatedly offered a hollow reply to.
☆
The next day, you found yourself speed walking to get to first period, a new development. Even after becoming friends with Jisung, you never did quite look forward to your math class. But now you wanted to know if Jisung had gotten permission for dinner at your house tonight. The idea of your mom meeting him was terrifying to both you and him, for different reasons. He was afraid that she wouldn't like him, and you were afraid that she would like him too much and make him even more uncomfortable.
You grabbed two copies of the worksheet Mr. Han had set out at the front of the classroom, setting one on Jisung's desk as you skimmed over the other. Didn't look too difficult so far, but you were sure that as soon as you actually tried to do it, your mind would fail you. Humming to yourself, you took out some paper and your pencil to wait for your deskmate. You scrolled on your phone with one hand as the other held your pencil.
"Y/N." A voice came at the same time as a hand pressing on yours, and you knew who it was before you even looked up.
"Morning, Jisung!" You said cheerfully, eyeing the fact that his hand was still on yours.
"You were tapping."
"My bad." You said sheepishly, still not withdrawing your hand, waiting for him to do it first.
He looked at you for a couple more moments before retracting his hand and joining you at your desk pair. "So, are you coming for dinner?" You asked eagerly, watching him grab a pencil for himself.
"Uh, yeah, yeah I am. You said right after school?"
"Yeah."
"So we'd be leaving school together?"
"Yeah, is that okay?"
"Of course!" Jisung blurted out before lowering his voice again. "Of course, I was just making sure, that you were okay with that."
You raised an eyebrow at him questioningly, "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Uh, my friends, they would uh, see us."
"And?"
"Never mind."
After that weird conversation, the both of you went to focus on the worksheet. You noticed that Jisung still hadn't relaxed by the end of the period, especially when you linked your arms to leave the room like you usually did. As you slowed to stop at your locker, Jisung awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, "I've got to go find Jaemin before next period. Bye, Y/N."
"Are you sitting with me at lunch?" You called after him, but he was already too far down the hall to have heard you.
☆
You were still frowning from your earlier interaction with Jisung when you had sat down beside Chenle in history. Just as he opened his mouth to greet you, you declared with a sigh, "Jisung is fucking weird."
"Nothing new." Your friend jested but tilted his head to add, "But you've never mentioned it before. Why now?"
"He's coming to my house for dinner tonight, and he's being really weird about it."
"Dinner? As in, he's meeting the mom?"
"Yeah, it was her idea."
"Do you realize that he's for sure just on constant internal freak-out mode right now?"
"I figured that much, but even with just normal stuff he's being..."
"Weird." Chenle finished your sentence, to which you nodded.
"Mhm, he didn't even let me know if he's sitting with me at lunch or not."
"He's sitting with us." Chenle held up a finger for you to wait as he opened his phone, showing you a group chat labeled 'these fuckers.' You guessed that Jisung was the one in as 'precious maknae', you knew that he was the youngest of his friends.
[precious maknae: i'll be at your lunch table today]
[jeno: mine or theirs?]
[precious maknae: theirs]
[renjun: for the first time in like a month, i s2g]
[nana: i thought you were going to be sitting with your girl friend today]
[precious maknae: y/n's not my girlfriend!!]
[nana: i know, that's why i said 'girl friend' and not 'girlfriend']
[hyuckie: no need to get so unnecessarily defensive, jisungie]
[precious maknae: go choke, donghyuckie]
[hyuckie: fuck off]
[chenle: lmao you learned that from y/n]
[precious maknae: unlike you guys, i actually want to learn at school, so i'm turning my phone off now]
[hyuckie: goody two-shoes]
[nana: nerd]
You handed Chenle's phone back to him, a faint smile from reading their conversation lingering on your face as an idea popped into your mind. "You know how you offered for me to sit at your lunch table a while ago?"
"Yeah."
"I think I'd like to take you up on that offer."
"Awesome! This is going to be so much fun!"
At the end of the period, Chenle waited up for you to pack your stuff like he normally did, but this time you accompanied him to his locker. He got a textbook before practically running down the hall, forcing you to speedwalk behind him.
"Chenle! Slow down!" You grabbed his elbow, stopping your excitable to let you catch up. "It's like taking care of a puppy, I swear."
"But I'm a cute puppy, right?"
"Sure."
Chenle led you to a booth table at the edge of the lunchroom, where you could already identify the hunched over figure of Jisung, fervently writing. There were already a couple bags there too, but no other boys in sight.
"Jaemin and Donghyuck buy their lunch." He explained as the two of you reached the table. Jisung looked up at Chenle's voice, eyes widening as he made eye contact with you. "Hey, Jisungie! I invited Y/N to sit with us today!"
Your friend then gave you a light shove for you to scoot in beside Jisung, then sandwiched you on your other side. "Hi, Y/N. You uh, you should've told me you were coming." Jisung commented, returning to what he had been writing on before.
"Chenle just asked me last period, sorry." You peered over his shoulder at what he was doing. "Oh, did you not finish the worksheet this morning?"
"Yeah, I was just a little distracted."
It was then that another boy approached the table, moving the two bookbags to sit across from the three of you. "Oh, hello."
"Hey, Renjun!" Chenle greeted his friend enthusiastically. "Y/N decided to join us today."
"Ah, nice to meet you." Renjun nodded politely to you, then squinted at the boy on your other side. "You're being rude, Jisung."
"Excuse me?" His head snapped up as he looked at his friend.
"Didn't even say hi to me when I sat down. I thought I meant more than that to you."
"You mean nothing to me." Jisung shot back, and you giggled at his friend's offended gasp.
"Does anyone mean anything to Jisung?" Another sarcastic voice joined the conversation as the two missing boys returned with their lunch.
"Of course, Jaemin." The shorter of the two scoffed. "I do."
"No you don't." Jisung immediately retorted, eyes still on his math paper.
"Well then how about whoever that is next to you?"
He briefly flitted his eyes up to look at you, his face softening for a moment. "Y/N, the annoying one is Jaemin and the other annoying one is Donghyuck."
"Oh, so this is Y/N! Hello!" The one that had already been named as Jaemin greeted you with a blinding smile. "I'm Na Jaemin, and the actually annoying one is Donghyuck."
"Hey!" Donghyuck said indignantly, pushing up his sleeves to grab his sandwich. "No I'm not."
"Nice to meet you all." You replied.
As friendly chatter sprang up around the friends, you leaned towards Jisung to look at his paper. "Number twelve is cosecant x squared." You murmured under your breath to him, pointing to the problem.
"Thanks." Jisung's free hand grabbed yours appreciatively for a split second before returning to holding the paper still as he erased his answer.
"Did my ears deceive me, or did Park Jisung just get a math problem wrong?" Renjun announced loudly, snatching the paper from in front of him.
His other friends eagerly clamored to look at the mistake, and you turned to see Jisung's face getting red as they did so. "Sorry." You apologized, but he shook his head against your apology.
"No, it's okay. They need an ego boost once in a while." He reassured you, bumping your shoulder with his playfully.
You bumped him back, finally earning a smile from him as he bumped you again. You continued going back and forth until you accidentally knocked into Chenle, nearly sending him off the edge of the bench.
"Bullying! This is bullying!" He immediately yelped out as he regained his bearings.
"Ooh, are we bullying Chenle?" Renjun practically threw Jisung's paper down, an ecstatic look on his face.
"No, we're not!"
Through your laughs, you backed your friend up, "Yeah, it was an accident."
"Damn." The older boy clicked his tongue in disappointment, reaching out to pick Jisung's worksheet back up, but the youngest grabbed it before he did. "How did math star Park Jisung even get a question wrong? It's unheard of."
"Maybe because you guys are being annoying," Jisung suggested, finishing erasing the incorrect answer.
"Now you sound like Jeno."
The rest of the lunch period continued on like that, friendly banter between the boys, with you adding your input every once in a while. You mainly just listened to them with an amused smile on your face. At one point, Donghyuck had commented on how pretty your eyes were and within the context, it was perfectly friendly, but you could immediately feel Jisung tense up beside you. His fingers were turning white with how tightly he was holding his pencil, and you thanked Donghyuck with a laugh as you wrestled the pencil from your other friend's grasp.
"You can finish that later, Jisungie." You insisted, setting the freed pencil back onto the lunch table. "You haven't eaten a single bite of food."
"I don't have any food today."
Without a second thought, you slid the half of your lunch you hadn't eaten yet over to him. "I'm full anyway."
"You sure?"
"Eat the damn food."
"Why don't you ever take care of me like that?" Chenle whined loudly, and you flicked him on the forehead.
"You're way more annoying than him." You told him, emphasizing your facial expression as you signed annoying.
"She's not taking care of me!" Jisung protested through a mouthful of food.
Jaemin shook his head, "She is."
"For sure," added Donghyuck.
"It's really cute, don't worry, Jisungie!" Renjun reached over to pinch his friend's cheek.