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When he arrives at Eunjang High, Sieun isn't that surprised that it's really more of the same that greets him. You have your bullies and your bullied, and everyone else complicit in a silence as to not rock their delicate boat that's travelling down those troubled waters.
And, really, Sieun isn't there to stir those waters, even if he's like a pebble thrown into it, the splashes of rumours circling around him about how he almost killed - well, he really doesn't want to think about that. His heart aches and he checks his phone almost subconsciously. No texts, a few hours left until he can go to the hospital. To Suho .
(He writes him off a text in the meantime.)
So, no. He's not looking for trouble. All he wants is to finish off his year, and wait for Suho to wake up, and hope his mother doesn't follow through on her threats to send him abroad now that she remembered she had a son to care for.
Which is why he doesn't look up at the stolen phone and gets himself a new one, going for a brand he notices doesn't get taken. And he barely flinches when a kid gets pulled to the side. And he simply clicks on his pen, gripping it harder, the few moments someone tends to remember he exists, either not hearing about the rumors or getting bold enough to go despite them. Still, he barely sends a glare, looking down at his work instead, and it's where it tends to end.
However, as much as he tries not to pay attention to anything other than his school work and his ranking, he has noticed one thing that piqued his interest, even unwillingly.
And that is the boy next to him, Seo Juntae, who's been trying his hardest to befriend him since Sieun first walked through the doors. He's young and cute - his glasses giving him that sweet, naïve aura - and Sieun thinks back on how you have the bullies and the bullied and how by all laws of the jungle that is Eunjang High, Juntae should be the bullied. Except, for as much as he has noticed (and Sieun notices it all), no one has ever touched Seo Juntae. Never has a bruised marred his face, his glasses not once crooked, not a single band-aid on his cheek. Barely anyone looks at him wrongly, even when they try to get at Sieun sitting right next to him. They take the long way around him, careful not to even brush up against the smaller boy.
And small he is. Delicate. Sieun thinks he could barely throw a punch. A part of Sieun is even grateful the boy seems to be unbothered by the bullies at the school, since if anyone were to force Sieun to care enough to fight again it would have been Juntae - the boy who greets him in front of the school with a smile, and fondly takes the strawberry milk he finds at the desk each morning, and who then never fails to give Sieun the extra one in his backpack, even if Sieun's always refused it.
So, yes, he's glad he doesn't have to protect him. He'd never want anyone to be getting hurt. The bullies make his blood boil, the grip on his pen strengthens hard enough to break it. He's gone through a pack of them already. But gratitude doesn't stop curiosity. And Sieun is curious.
"You don't have to do this, you know", Sieun tells him one morning, a carton of milk already placed in his hand. Juntae smiles, kind yet shy. He's already sipping on his own, his other hand holding a post-it Sieun didn't manage to read. There's always one attached to the drinks or snacks on Juntae's desk but they never say much.
"You look like you could use it, Sieun-ah", says Juntae simply before the professor is in and the lesson starts. The problems on the board are ones Sieun's done last week, so it gives him time to think.
What makes Seo Juntae untouchable?
Not like he'd ever actually ask him, though.
He reads one of the post-its.
for puppy <3
It doesn't really tell Sieun much.
(' I think you'd like him ' is what he finds himself writing to Suho one day.
' You'd want to protect him. I'd help you. Wake up ', he adds.
Wake up.
It's all he ever thinks about lately, really.)
Sieun finds himself missing his old school at times, if only because there he always knew what was what. Eunjang Highs is confusing as the temperature is continuously shifting, fluctuating between the cold calmness of the lack of fighting and the heat of the instability of impending fights - and it all largely depends on whether or not Park Humin attends school that day.
Juntae is the reason Sieun even knows Humin and Hyeontak. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't really avoid them. Humin is loud, an overbearing presence, the complete opposite of everything Sieun is. Hyeontak almost acts like a middle man between them, mellowing Humin to Sieun and translating Sieun to the other so well that between him and Juntae, Sieun barely has to speak. He prefers it that way.
The guidance counselor is to blame for why he has to see them more than usual. A P.E credit is missing from his transfer papers and Sieun is thrust into the basketball team. Juntae, as if taking pity on him like he would a starving alley cat, decides to join up, too. At this point, Sieun's learned it's useless to try and fight it.
The calm shows itself as the harbinger of chaos it seems to be at Eunjang High when Humin inevitably gets suspended. Sieun contemplates what to do until he realizes he can't risk missing classes. Still, in the back of his head, he thinks - what if this is the week someone remembers Juntae exists? It's a worry that's settled itself in the back of Sieun's mind, even if reluctantly.
The worry isn't completely misplaced. Two weeks later, when Humin is finally back, Hyeontak's knuckles are still bloody and Sieun's broken his own rules and is two pens down.
Juntae is fine, though. Even looks guilty about it.
And, really. Sieun won't ask. There's a reason they say curiosity killed the cat.
One practice, once Humin is back and when Juntae is rushing to cram school, and it's just Sieun and Hyeontak at the basketball court, Sieun tests the waters.
"Is he gonna be okay?", he asks after Juntae leaves - skips away, really - and Sieun throws the ball to Hyeontak who's practicing his free throws.
Instead, it's Humin who chuckles in response. It's darker than his usual tone.
"You don't have to worry about little Juntae, Sieun-ah", he says. "The boy's already got a guard dog."
Sieun looks to Hyeontak.
"No one wants to anger the wolf, Sieun-ah. You'll find out soon", the boy adds before another free throw. It falls through the basket.
Humin claps, a satisfied yell filling the court. Hyeontak hasn't missed a throw in the last dozen.
"Give me another one, Sieun-ah."
This time, he finds a post-it on the floor. It attaches itself to Sieun's foot, so he takes it off as he sits down.
hwaiting, jagiya <3
Juntae takes his seat, hurriedly. His face flushed from running, Sieun thinks. They have a test today and he's cutting it close. The boy turns around when Sieun calls to him, carton already in hand.
"I think this is yours, Juntae-ah", Sieun says, handing him the paper. Somehow, Juntae flushes a deeper red. Suddenly shy, he carefully takes it. There's a smile as he quickly reads it, presses it to his chest.
"Thanks", he says, voice quiet. "He hates it when these get lost", he murmurs and Sieun doesn't really catch it.
He decides to let it go.
(' Do you think he's in love, Suho-ya? ' he texts. ' Is that how you act? When you have a crush? '
He pauses, fingers trembling in front of the screen. The phone is the only thing lighting up the hallway in front of Suho's room. Sieun thinks the nurses forgot to kick him out.
' Have you ever been in love, Suho-ya? I think I have. ')
Humin and Hyeontak made it into the school's team. They have an away game, which means the temperature at Eunjang High is once again rising to boiling.
He's talking to Juntae during lunch, the two of them on one of the benches in front of the school when a group of boys approaches them, heading directly to Sieun.
"Hey, newbie. We heard you put a guy into a coma", says one, giggling.
Others are behind him, cracking knuckles already. "We wanted to see if there was any truth to that", another says, goading.
Sieun forms a fist so tight, he thinks his own nails might draw blood.
Juntae, however, barely lifts his head from his lunch.
"We're eating", Juntae says simply, humming over his next bite.
Sieun sees one of the boys already turn to say something to the smaller boy, a vein popping as if to yell. As quickly as it appeared though, it's gone once he realizes who Sieun is sitting with. His face pales, and the others around him scramble, taking two steps back.
"Jun.. Junate-ah-- Juntae-nim! Please don't tell hyung-nim", they mumble as they bow down, foreheads almost hitting their own knees, and run away.
Sieun looks at Juntae, a puzzled look on his face. His fist releases. His nails made little crescent moons into his palm.
"Juntae-ah..."
"Eat your lunch, Sieun-ah", Juntae simply says, looking up from his food and smiling. "We have a test later, you need strength!"
Sieun thinks it's the law of the universe that once you decide to let it go, the answers end up finding you.
He's walking out of the school for lunch, hoping to find Juntae. The boy skipped half of the day, unusual for him. Another unusual thing was that the gifts Juntae gets on his desk daily also weren't there, no post-it either. Although it should trouble him further, Sieun takes it as a sign that Juntae is with whoever the gifter is.
Murmurs pass him in the hallway, gossip spreading.
"Didn't you see?!"
"He's really here..."
"Geum Seongje-"
"The Wolf!"
"So, he's really dating-"
Sieun goes by the benches they usually take their lunch at, the one that's actually always empty. It hit Sieun recently that it might be because of Juntae, too. He thinks back on the murmurs through the hallway, growing softer the closer he's to the bench.
Sieun turns the corner and suddenly pauses his steps. In front of him, a few feet away, leaning onto the school wall a bit by their bench is Juntae. He's relaxed, a smile on his face as he looks up to another boy. The other boy is taller, a few inches on Juntae. One hand is by Juntae's head, leaning on the wall. The other one is running through Juntae's hair before it pauses on his cheek, a finger slowly caressing. Juntae leans into it.
It takes Sieun a moment before he recognized Seongje, the main Kanghak High delinquent. Sieun's seen him a few times, only from afar, but the stories spread quickly. Everyone knows everything at Eunjang High. That's the way of the world.
Juntae doesn't seem scared. If anything, the nervous energy that seems to now haunt the school is completely absent around the two. Instead of moving away, when Seongje says something - whispers it near Juntae's ear too quietly for anyone around to hear - Juntae laughs. Then, he takes a hand and uses it to pull Seongje down to him by his tie, which Seongje seemingly wore only for Juntae to use and not so much for school rules. Juntae doesn't have to pull hard, as Seongje goes more than willingly, and captures Juntae's lips with his.
They stand there for a while, kissing like no one's there even though students keep moving about, whispering. When they finally pull apart, Seongje simply leans down to the smaller boy's neck. Juntae giggles.
"I have to go, hyung", Juntae says. The taller boy nods into his neck.
"Mmhmm. No one's bothering you, puppy?", he asks, looking up. His eyes are soft, Sieun notices. Softer than Juntae's, he thinks.
At that, some tension from his body releases. Sieun realizes he was gripping his lunchbox tightly, ready to throw it. His grip releases.
"I'm fine, hyung. I have to go grab lunch, I promised", the smaller boy says and lightly pushes Seongje away. The taller boy lets himself be moved like a doll. Sieun thinks Juntae could throw Seongje on his knees if he wanted to. He thinks Seongje would never get up without permission. Thinks, he'd bite off the hand of anyone who dared to come close.
So, that's what Humin meant by a guard dog, Sieun thinks.
Curiosity sated, Sieun simply moves to the bench, not disturbing them.
Juntae will join him when he's ready.