Yeonjun was standing at the entrance to the cafeteria with Taehyun and Kai next to him, trying to find Soobin in the crowd.
"Who are we looking for again?" Taehyun asked in English, since that's the language they were most comfortable talking to each other in.
"He has jet black hair and two little dimples... The same guy I ran into this morning."
"Really? You two became friends?" Kai asked.
"Yeah, kinda... He's a bit shy, so don't be too overwhelming, ok?"
"I'm not overwhelming." Taehyun said.
Yeonjun turned to Taehyun and said, "I know... I was talking to Kai." before trying to find Soobin again.
Kai hesitated for a moment before saying, "I honestly don't even have a comeback."
Yeonjun smiled at Kai and ruffled his hair, "It's ok, Kai... You're funny and you have cuteness on your side."
Yeonjun scanned the cafeteria again and finally found Soobin, sitting by himself at a table, far from everyone else, "There he is... C'mon."
The three brothers made their way over towards Soobin as he sketched something in his notebook. Yeonjun and Soobin made eye contact, and Yeonjun smiled and waved to him. Soobin hesitantly waved to Yeonjun, wondering who the two younger boys were following him.
Yeonjun sat down next to Soobin while Kai and Taehyun sat next to each other across the table, "Hey, Soobin... These are my little brothers, Kai and Taehyun... They're new here too."
"H-Hi, i-it's nice to m-meet you." Soobin said and bowed to them.
"Jun, why is he bowing to me? Am I supposed to do it back to him?" Kai asked in English so that Soobin wouldn't understand what they're saying.
Yeonjun rolled his eyes and said, "Do you not remember what mom told us? You're supposed to bow to people... It's polite."
"What?! I haven't been bowing to anyone the whole day and you're telling me this now?!" Kai said.
"Have you not noticed how I've been bowing to all of our teachers?" Taehyun said.
Soobin laughed a little and interrupted their conversation, "J-Just so y-you are aware, I t-takeu Engalish five years... I-I am not g-great, b-but I understandeu w-what you s-say." speaking slowly in broken English.
Yeonjun laughed and asked in Korean, "So you knew what we were talking about the whole time?"
"Y-Yeah... Kai-ssi w-was confused when I bowed t-to him. A-And then you got f-frustrated th-that he didn't listen t-to your m-mom. A-And he said he hasn't b-been bowing to people th-the whole day. T-Taehyun-ssi made me laugh w-when he said he's been b-bowing to all the t-teachers and K-Kai-ssi hasn't n-noticed."
Kai's eyes widened and he said, "Does everyone here know English?! Tae and I have been talking to each other in English the whole day so that nobody will know what we're saying."
"N-Not everyone d-does... N-Not many people c-continue taking the class after the f-first year... Th-This is my sixth y-year taking-" Soobin's little smile instantly went away when he saw Jungmin coming over to their table, "Oh, ummm... Y-You guys sh-should leave."
Yeonjun furrowed his eyebrows and replied, "What? Why?"
"Ah... Choi Soobin. New year, same us, huh?" Jungmin said with a smirk as him and his friends got to their table, "You have friends, dipshit?"
"C-Can you n-not do th-this, p-please?" Soobin asked nervously, making the three brothers confused.
"C'mon, you know the drill..." Jungmin held his hand out, "Lunch money... now."
Yeonjun scoffed and said, "Listen, I don't know who you are, but leave him alone."
Jungmin scoffed and looked at Yeonjun, "You know what, new kid? I was gonna give you a chance, but I guess you're just a little piece of shit too."
Soobin took a ten thousand won bill out of his pocket and said, "H-Here, j-just take it... D-Don't drag Y-Yeonjun-ssi into th-this."
Soobin handed Jungmin the money and Jungmin immediately took it from him. Jungmin and his friends walked away, laughing at Soobin.
"S-Sorry about th-that." Soobin said as he played with the hem of his sweater-vest.
Yeonjun noticed how Kai and Taehyun had already taken out their food and asked Soobin, "So, where's your lunch?"
"Oh... I-I can't a-afford it."
"Wait... You didn't bring lunch from home?"
"N-No."
"So, that was your actual lunch money?"
"N-No..."
"So you don't have lunch? A-And you weren't gonna buy lunch with the money you had?"
"Oh ummm... D-Don't worry about i-it."
"Was that money important?"
Soobin sighed and looked down at his lap, still playing with the hem of his shirt, "It w-was ummm... I-It was for g-groceries."
"Like your food for the week? And you only had ten thousand won?"
"I-I know... I-I usually j-just go to the c-convenience store a-and buy instant r-ramyeon."
Yeonjun's blood started to boil. Some jerk just stole all of Soobin's money for food, and Soobin's not gonna do anything about it?
"I'm getting your money back for you." Yeonjun said and stood up.
Soobin stood up and stopped Yeonjun, "I-It's not w-worth it."
"Soobin, you're eating half of my lunch and I'm getting your money back. I'm not letting you go hungry for the week because of him."
"Y-Yeonjun, you've known m-me for less than a day... H-He's gonna h-hurt you."
"I'll be fine... I'm not letting you go hungry." Yeonjun said and moved around Soobin, walking quickly over to Jungmin's table.
Soobin followed behind him and said, "A-Are you i-insane?! Yeonjun! H-He is c-captain of th-the baseball team! H-His arms are b-bigger than your head!!"
Yeonjun didn't listen to him and kept walking with an angry expression on his face. He got to Jungmin's table and tapped his shoulder, causing Jungmin to turn around, "Give Soobin his money back."
Jungmin and his friends laughed at Yeonjun and Yeonjun's expression didn't change, "Dude, get away from us. Everyone knows Soobin's a fag... We were trying to help you."
Yeonjun got even more angry and said, "Last time I checked, I'm not homophobic. And that has nothing to do with why you stole his money, so give it back to him."
Soobin was trying to figure out what to do. He decided to grab Yeonjun's arm and pull him away, whispering to Yeonjun, "P-Please don't g-get yourself in a f-fight on the first day of s-school because of m-me."
"Just give me five minutes." Yeonjun said and turned back to Jungmin, "Give Soobin his money back, or I'm gonna go tell the principal."
Jungmin laughed and stood up from his seat. He got close to Yeonjun and said, "The principal isn't gonna do shit... I basically own this school. I'll give you the chance to walk away right now."
"Not until you give Soobin his money back."
"Alright, well... Just know I gave you a chance." Jungmin said and swung a punch at Yeonjun.
Yeonjun quickly dodged the punch, which Jungmin wasn't expecting. He quickly swung with his other arm, which Yeonjun dodged again.
"So are you gonna give Soobin's money back, or are you gonna keep embarrassing yourself?" Yeonjun asked.
Jungmin got angry and threw another punch, which Yeonjun used a defensive move against to block it, staying completely calm the whole time. Yeonjun never retaliated, always using defensive moves with three more swings.
"I can do this all day. Having big muscles does nothing if you can't actually hit me. Can we both save some time by you giving Soobin his money back?"
Jungmin swung again and Yeonjun blocked the punch, grabbing onto Jungmin's wrist once he blocked it. He quickly squeezed a pressure point in Jungmin's wrist, causing him to scream in pain as Yeonjun said to him, "That one was a little better, I'll give you that... Give Soobin his money back, and I'll let go."
"Ahhh, f-fine..." Jungmin quickly reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out the money, "H-Here."
Yeonjun took the bill from him and let go of his wrist. Yeonjun casually walked back over to Soobin and handed him his money back.
Soobin was in shock with his jaw to the floor. He didn't say anything and Yeonjun raised an eyebrow, "Are you gonna take it?"
Soobin gulped, trying time absorb what Yeonjun just did. It was so... hot, "W-What was—... H-How did y-you—"
Yeonjun just smirked and said, "Well, why don't we get to know each other better, and maybe it'll come up."
Soobin smiled and replied, "S-Sounds good to m-me." before taking his money back and shoving it in his pocket.
Yeonjun and a Soobin started walking back over to the table and Yeonjun said, "I'm sharing my lunch with you."
"Y-You don't have to d-do that... Y-You barely know m-me."
"I have two tangerines and a sandwich... You're getting a tangerine and half of my sandwich."
"I-I'm not hungry."
"I've heard your stomach growling the whole day. I know you're hungry."
They got back to the table, seeing Kai and Taehyun arguing about something. Yeonjun spoke to them in English, "Hey! What happened? I was gone for five minutes!"
Taehyun turned to Yeonjun and whined, "Kai took a piece of my tangerine and now he won't give me a piece of his! It's not fair!"
Yeonjun looked at Kai and asked, "Kai? Did you take TaeTae's tangerine? Be honest because I can tell when you're lying."
Kai hesitated for a second before saying, "Yes, ok? I took one piece... I was hungry and he wasn't gonna eat it."
"What? Yes I was!" Taehyun said.
"You never finish your lunch and-"
"Hey!..." Yeonjun cut Kai off and sighed, "Kai, give Taehyun two pieces of your tangerine."
"What? I only took one."
"Yeah, give him one to make it even, and another because you took from TaeTae without asking."
"B-But-"
"Kai... Do it... And just ask next time so we can avoid all of this, yeah?"
Kai huffed out a breath before giving Taehyun two pieces of his tangerine. Soobin just chuckled and sat back down at his seat.
. . . . .
The last period of the day, writing. The only thing Yeonjun was excited about was seeing Soobin, since he had said they're in this class together. Yeonjun walked into the classroom with a smile, not knowing why this boy has been taking up every thought in his brain.
Yeonjun's smile instantly faded when he saw Jungmin in the class. They made eye contact and Jungmin quickly looked away, continuing the conversation he was having with his friend. He looked around the classroom for Soobin and his smile came back when he saw him in the back corner, drawing in his notebook again.
Yeonjun walked to the back of the class and sat at the desk next to him. Soobin looked up when he noticed Yeonjun coming towards him. They made eye contact once Yeonjun sat down. Yeonjun pouted at the bruise under Soobin's eye, knowing that he didn't do anything to deserve it.
Someone tapped Yeonjun's shoulder, causing him to turn around. He saw a girl standing at his desk, "Hey."
"Umm... Hi." Yeonjun replied nervously.
She leaned forward, placing her hands on Yeonjun's desk, "You're the new kid, right?"
Yeonjun gulped, noticing that the top two buttons of her blouse were undone, "Yeah." Yeonjun said, trying to look away from her.
"The same guy who stood up to Jungmin during lunch?"
"Oh umm... Yeah."
"You're a lot hotter than him... I bet you have abs, yeah?"
Yeonjun felt completely flustered, "Umm... You're making me kinda uncomfortable."
"I'm just saying, if you ever wanna have a good time, let me know." The girl said before winking
Yeonjun avoided her eyes, "Oh... Sorry... I'm not interested."
"What? You have a girlfriend back in America or something?"
"No, not at all."
"Then what? My boobs not big enough for you or something?"
"Sorry... I didn't mean to ummm... I'm just not interested... in girls." Yeonjun said mumbling the last part under his breath.
"What did you say? You're mumbling."
"I'm just not interested."
"M-Melissa..." Soobin said, making both Yeonjun and Melissa turn to him, "L-Leave him a-alone."
Melissa laughed, "Last time I checked you weren't a part of this conversation, faggot."
"Yah! Do you talk to everyone like that? That's very rude." Yeonjun snapped.
Melissa just rolled her eyes, "Whatever, new kid." and walked away.
Yeonjun turned to Soobin, who had a small pout on his face, "Soobin? You ok?"
The teacher came in and told everyone to settle down before Soobin could respond. They were both silent half way through the class, just stealing glances at each other and then quickly looking away when the other looked at them.
Yeonjun felt a tap on his shoulder and turned towards Soobin. Soobin held out a piece of paper in his hand, which Yeonjun took from him. He unfolded it and Soobin's ten thousand won bill fall out. He furrowed his eyebrows and read the note he had written:
I never said thank you for getting this back for me. And thank you for giving me some of your lunch... You deserve this more than me. Sorry about Melissa
Yeonjun turned to Soobin, who was too embarrassed to look at Yeonjun. Soobin could feel Yeonjun looking at him, but he pretended not to notice and continued to draw in his notebook. Yeonjun sighed and ripped a page out of his notebook. He wrote:
You don't have to thank me. He's a jerk... My parents gave us extra money because they feel bad moving us here. Please don't starve... And maybe get some real food, not just instant ramyeon. And buy some stuff for lunches. If it's not enough for lunches, let me know and I'll bring some extra food tomorrow... Here's my number: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Yeonjun took two fifty thousand won bills out of his backpack and folded it up. He put it with the ten thousand won bill and folded up his note, sliding the money inside. He reached over and placed it on Soobin's desk.
Soobin put down his pencil and picked up the note. He unfolded it and he saw the money that slid out. He widened his eyes and quickly read the note. Soobin turned to Yeonjun and whispered to him, "Y-Yeonjun, this is t-too much... I-I can't accept th-this."
"I'm not letting you starve... Write so we don't get in trouble." Yeonjun whispered back.
Soobin sighed and flipped over the piece of paper. He wrote something down quickly and handed it to Yeonjun, along with the money:
I can't accept this. You haven't even known me for a whole day and you've done so much for me. All I've done is ruin your senior year on the first day, and you didn't even wanna move here. Please, keep the money... And also, I don't have a phone. I can't afford it
The bell rang, ending the day before Yeonjun could write anything back. He quickly turned to Soobin, who was packing up his stuff, "Soobin?"
Soobin turned to him and anxiously rubbed the back of his neck. Yeonjun reached his hand out with the money and said, "You need to eat."
"I-It's your m-money."
"Are you kidding me right now? You barely have enough money to buy the cheapest food... I don't need this, Soobin... You do."
"Y-You just met m-me."
"Yeah, and I can tell that your kind, even though that jerk has been bullying you for God knows how long... I see how people look at you, Soobin, and I don't get it. You've done nothing and they look at you like you murdered someone. Please, eat something good tonight... For me."
Soobin didn't say anything as he looked down at his feet again. He made sure everyone had left the classroom before quickly wrapping his arms around Yeonjun. Soobin squeezed tight and whispered to Yeonjun, "Th-Thank you... I-I don't remember th-the last time someone w-was this nice to me... I-I'll pay you b-back when I get my n-next pay check."
Yeonjun smiled as he returned the hug, "Don't worry about paying me back... Just eat some food, ok?"
Soobin took a deep breath and whispered back to him, "Th-Thank you."