Hyunjin peeled off his shirt in an small room that connected to the main front office.
He sighed as the back of it stuck to his skin, since it was soaked in coke.
What was that guy doing that he just ran into me like I wasn't there?
Hyunjin guessed texting, because after the initial shock of a cold liquid running down his back, he had registered the sound of a phone hitting the ground followed by a dramatic "Oh my gosh!" come from the guy who had just bumped into him.
Hyunjin had expected the guy to ask if he was okay or at least say sorry, but instead he had watched the guy cradle his phone like a baby for about ten seconds while talking to it like it was alive and needed comforting from the traumatic experience of being dropped.
The guy then stood up abruptly and sent Hyunjin a funny look before trying to drink out of his coke can. After trying twice to quench his thirst the guy realized it was empty. He pouted for a second and then just scrunched it in his hand as he walked off towards the trash can.
At the time, Hyunjin had just blinked trying to take it all in, but now he was contemplating how someone could be that oblivious to his surroundings.
He couldn't fathom being that socially awkward. At least he knew enough to have basic manners.
Whatever, right now he just needed a new shirt and quick, because he had left his food by Jisung and Hyunjin was pretty sure Jisung would be stealing his fries by now.
He held his shirt in front of him and groaned at the sight of the weird, splotchy, brown stain on the back of it. If Hyunjin looked close enough, it kinda resembled one of those pictures they showed you in therapy sessions. The ones you had to find shapes in? Yeah, those.
A knock on the door interrupted Hyunjin's train of thought as another student walked in with a new shirt.
"Sorry it's wrinkled, but it's better than being all wet." Hyunjin smiled weakly at the comment and accepted the shirt. He felt really embarrassed that this had happened on his first day of school.
"You're the new student, right?" Hyunjin nodded, hoping the short answer would make the guy leave and let him go back to lunch faster, but unfortunately it didn't because soon the guy was full on cackling.
Hyunjin was confused. Had he missed something? All he knew was he was hungry.
"Sorry," the guy said in between laughs, "it's just that most people don't have their 'Lee Felix' moment until at least a week in, so it must stink to have it happen on your first day. I would say I feel bad, but at least now you know."
"What?" Hyunjin didn't know what a 'Lee Felix' was, but it sounded weirdly foreign.
"The guy that ran into you. His name is Lee Felix. He's Instagram famous, but a total mess in real life. You're lucky you just got away with a coke spill."
"Oh...." That's why he cared more about his phone than me. Hyunjin thought.
"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! Choi Kaiyong, student council treasurer!" The guy stuck out his hand and gave Hyunjin a huge smile. It seemed a little overboard and formal, but Hyunjin returned the handshake while also giving his name.
Kaiyong laughed at how uncomfortable he seemed.
"Sorry, this must be a lot for your first day."
Hyunjin chuckled quietly and looked at the floor.
"Yeah, kinda."
"Well at least Minho hasn't found you yet. We should save a little excitement for later, shouldn't we?"
Hyunjin wasn't so sure about that. Whatever this excitement was going to be, it didn't sound good.
Kaiyong's laughter rang through the room once again making Hyunjin's head snap up in surprise.
"Don't worry, he won't kill you. He just might freak out a little when he sees you, since you're so pretty." Hyunjin blushed at the compliment and ran a hand through his hair.
"Yeah, he'll definitely freak out." Kaiyong said as he watched Hyunjin's fluffy hair fall back in place. "Anyways, put that on and meet me outside the office so we can go back to lunch."
Hyunjin's blush got even darker as he realized he just had a full conversation with a stranger while not wearing a shirt. He quickly turned around and held the new shirt up to his chest like that was going to change the fact that Kaiyong had seen everything anyway.
Hyunjin stared at the ground for a few seconds as he waited for Kaiyong's giggling to leave the room. Once he heard silence, he slowly glanced over his shoulder to ensure no one was there, only to make eye contact with another student whose jaw looked like it was going to literally make contact with the floor.
Hyunjin spun around quickly, eyes wide, and clutching the shirt to his chest.
After a few seconds of staring, the guy's eyes refocused and his mouth shut. He turned slightly to yell down the hall, but not enough to lose sight of Hyunjin.
"Hey Kaiyong! Did the school hire a model for our school uniform or something?" A groan came from down the hall along with an 'oh no.'
Hyunjin didn't like the sound of that.
Soon Kaiyong appeared in the doorway grabbing both of the guy's arms and leading him away.
"He's a new student, you idiot! Now let him get dressed. Felix spilled coke on him."
"I don't believe you. We don't get students like that."
"We got you."
"Well now that you put it that way..."
The voices trailed off as Kaiyong pulled the guy down the hall. Once they were out of sight, Hyunjin whipped the shirt over his head, buttoned the bottom two buttons of the four, and fixed his hair a little before folding his other shirt and walking out.
"For the last time, Minho, he's not a model!"
"But look at him!" The Minho guy ran to Hyunjin and placed his hands on both sides of Hyunjin's face. He squished his cheeks so his lips looked like a fish and dragged him forward so he was face to face with Kaiyong.
"Can't you see!?!" Minho let go and gestured up and down at Hyunjin.
"What am I looking for exactly?" Minho sighed.
"Model perfection, duh! Like do you not even notice his perfect skin, plump lips, voluminous hair?"
"I'm more noticing that he thinks you're a freak."
"I'm not a freak! He's just hot!"
"Whatever you say."
"Kaiyong, you disgust me. Like are you even human?"
"Well, I'm just a glorified calculator for the student council, so I guess not." Minho was not satisfied with that answer, but gave up so he could admire his new muse.
Minho inspected Hyunjin's face and clothes for a second, making Hyunjin feel very uncomfortable.
"Can I put eyeliner on you? 'Cause man would it make your eyes pop. And with a black velvet suit? Oh! And don't forget the red accents! I wonder if I could find a red silk handkerchief? That would be perfect!" Minho's sparkling eyes wandered back up to Hyunjin's face. "And I mean if we're doing eyeliner and red accents, we might as well add red eye shadow. You would look... mysterious."
"U-um..." Minho blinked rapidly and stepped back a little as he registered Hyunjin's voice.
"Oh! It talks!"
"Of course he does, you idiot! Did you think he was a robot?"
"Well he was so quiet up until now, I thought he might be mute or something."
"S-sorry," the other two boys gave their attention to Hyunjin, "I was just surprised, so I didn't know what to say."
Minho burst out laughing.
"Well aren't you the cutest?" He teased. "If I had known, I would have put you in a fluffy sweater and skinny jeans, but I still stand by my first choice."
"Minho, I don't think he cares about that." Minho completely ignored Kaiyong and kept talking.
"We should go shopping together sometime. A cute boy like you needs cute clothes." Minho finished his sentence with a wink that flustered Hyunjin and made him look at the ground again.
Minho smirked at the effect he had on the boy.
"Ooookay, I think that's enough," Kaiyong pulled Minho away from Hyunjin before continuing his sentence, "I'm sure Hyunjin has plenty of cute clothes already."
After admonishing Minho, Kaiyong turned to the shy boy beside him.
"Please ignore him, he literally flirts with anything that moves. Wait... I take that back. I also saw him flirting with a lamppost one day-"
"That was so I could practice asking Jisung out! I wasn't actually flirting with an inanimate object!"
"What's the point? It can't give you a reaction!"
"I don't know! I was nervous, okay!" Hyunjin giggled at Minho's outburst.
"Okay, that was illegal." Minho pointed to Hyunjin in an accusatory way while Kaiyong just rolled his eyes.
"You should probably stop before Jisung finds out you've been drooling over some other guy."
"Nah, he'd understand."
"He was really excited to meet me this morning." Hyunjin pointed out.
"See? We're just good at spotting hot guys, each other included." Minho raised his eyebrows at Kaiyong in a stuck up manner. He waited for a reply, but was disappointed when Kaiyong just shook his head.
"Sorry to break up to party, but I left my food with your boyfriend and-"
"No you didn't." Minho said in disbelief.
"Um... yeah, why?"
"Sorry, dude, but there's no way you still have food now."
"What? Why?" Kaiyong chuckled at the innocent boy.
"Jisung literally eats anything close to him. I learned the hard way." Minho explained.
"Man, rough first day. First Felix spills his coke on you and now Jisung is bound to have eaten your lunch."
"Hey! Don't put my boyfriend on the same level as that crazy guy!"
"I wasn't! I was just recapping Hyunjin's misfortunes."
"And I bet he loves you for it." Minho replied sarcastically.
"Whatever, let's just get to the cafeteria fast to save any food we can from you vacuum of a boyfriend. Let's go, Hyunjin!" Hyunjin nodded and followed his new acquaintances back to the cafeteria.
He couldn't quite call them friends yet, but he felt willing to give it a try, even if their quirks made him unsure of how it would work out.
As they neared the table where Hyunjin had set his food, he noticed that his tray was nowhere to be seen. He scanned all around the table until his eyes settled on the two trays stacked in front of Jisung.
Both were empty.
Minho and Kaiyong laughed as they saw his face fall.
He felt like his luck just kept getting worse.