Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Don't do that!" You yell, pointing at your younger brothers when they both pull at a bag of chips. The youngest loses his grip and falls on his ass on the kitchen floor as you put the other groceries away. You snatch the bag before they manage to rip it open, putting it on the fridge and glaring them down. "Dinner first."

Luckily, today you don't have to do anything besides heating some left-overs. School tired you up more than usual.

You put on headphones as you eat and watch some videos on your phone trying to ignore your brothers talking loudly about a game they started to play recently.

You tap on the new message before even reading what the notification says.

UNKNOWN 

You better fucking show up at 8

"What the fuck?" You whisper to yourself.

YOU

who's this?

You don’t even manage to go back to your video before they text you back.

UNKNOWN

Don’t pull that shit with me. You’re dead tomorrow if you don’t come tonight

You frown. You can’t think of anyone that would text you like this, let alone the fact that you did not make any plans tonight.

YOU

yeeeeeaaaahh
no idea what you’re talking about
also
rude

You go to take another bite when you realize you mindlessly ate everything too fast while you were bothered texting. You sigh and lean back as you wait for your brothers to finish too. Your phone vibrates.

UNKNOWN

Listen here bitch. You bring me the rest of the money at 8 or that broken leg will only be the beginning.

You blink thrice as you not only understand that this person got the wrong number but also why. Still, the situation amuses you too.

YOU

my legs work just fine BITCH
your comprehension skills however…

Five minutes or so go by until a new message shows up right when you finish watching the video.

UNKNOWN

Send me a pic

YOU

HUH?

UNKNOWN

Take a pic right now and send it to me

YOU

sure let me just
go break my own leg too while I’m at it

UNKNOWN

I don’t know where you got those balls from in such a short time but you better not show your face again. EVER. Must be fun when you’re behind that screen but you whimpered like a little bitch a couple of hours ago.

YOU

BITCH i don’t know who you think I am but let me spell it out
you
got
the
wrong
number
now shut up I’m busy

You put your phone down and start on your chores. Dishes first. The mundane tasks leave space for you to think about those texts again and again. No matter what your mind keeps going back to them. You scoff. The audacity. Who even talks like that? You never met anyone with that attitude. It’s like a teen gangster from those movies your parents scolded your brothers for watching. How old was this person? Must be young, right? Do adults talk like that too?

You even started to imagine what they looked like writing those messages. The characteristics were blurry but the stupid faces you came up with got you laughing as you were folding your laundry. It’s past 9 when your phone vibrates while you’re studying.

UNKNOWN

(photo)
Know him?

You sigh when you see the notification but you’re actually caught off guard when you see the photo. There’s someone laying on the ground on their side, one hand pressed against their abdomen while the other’s limp under them. Someone out of the frame is pulling their hair as the camera captures their beat up face. So much that you can’t even tell if you know them.

You stare and zoom in and out for every little detail you can get. The uniform’s color doesn’t look familiar, though there isn’t much light to help you out, but you decide, based off what you think the uniform looks like, that you don’t know them. Probably for your peace of mind as well.

YOU

no clue
maybe take a picture before you attempt diy plastic surgery

UNKNOWN

Funny. This is who you were supposed to be.

YOU

wow
gladly i’m not
did you really beat them up to be sure you got the wrong number

UNKNOWN

Would’ve beat them up regardless

This guy’s out of his mind.

YOU

you’re so cool
I’m gonna block you now

UNKNOWN

Like fuck you will. No one blocks me

YOU

or what

You stare at your phone, homework forgotten. You’re not sure why you’re entertaining this. Or why you didn’t block them when you got the first messages. You chuckle when you suddenly remember the stranger danger speech your mother gave you once.

UNKNOWN

Or I find a way to make you pay.

YOU

you literally know nothing about me
besides the fact that I’m not the one in that pic

UNKNOWN

Don’t underestimate me

You scoff and go back to your homework. You finish it later than expected, half-focused on it while your mind kept coming up with scenarios of what could happen if you blocked them. You decide you watch too much TV.

The next day, your phone keeps vibrating on your way to school. It’s a fifteen minute walk and you left a little later than usual, but the repetitive sound irritates you so much you stop and take the phone out of your backpack. 12 new messages.

UNKNOWN

Did you actually block me?
Bitch
I’ll fucking kill you
I see you’re getting these
So you didn’t
Good. You’re all bark and no bite aren’t you?
just some pussy trying to seem bold
Answer me
.

.

.

.

YOU

piss off
i don’t have time for tjis shit

UNKNOWN

I doubt you have anything going on in your life

You quickly snap a pic of the ground as you walk.

YOU

(photo)
late to school

UNKNOWN

You a fucking chick?

You stop and scroll up. It seems your legs and brain take turns working. Why the fuck did you send a photo? This isn’t your friend. What if it’s a creep who can actually find you and also what if they find something on the ground that they can use to find out where you live and they-

YOU

just leave me alone

UNKNOWN

Where you from?

YOU

why?

UNKNOWN

just asking

You stare at the screen, trying to think. Your finger is hovering over the block button.

YOU

how old are you?

You remember you were doing something and start walking, your eyes on the phone the entire time.

UNKNOWN

16

WHAT? You stop again without thinking. They could be lying. They can see you’re in some kind of uniform from that photo that also has your lower body in view. You can’t trust them so easily.

YOU

sure…
send a pic
in your uniform

The photo you get shows their legs, abdomen and left hand holding a lit cigarette. It’s a male uniform. Looks the same as the one the person in the photo last night was wearing.

You start running the rest of the way to school, making it just in time.

YOU

full body. hold a grape juice box in your right hand
and
point left with the other.

Class couldn’t pass slower. You thought about that guy the entire time. They probably won’t send anything in which case you’ll block the number and go on with your life.

As if.

UNKNOWN

You don’t tell me what to do bitch

The second text came 5 hours later.

UNKNOWN

But if you’re so damn curious I’ll entertain it this time only
(photo)
(photo)

He has purple hair. You zoom in as much as you can. His face is kind of pale and he wears glasses with really thin frames. He’s wearing the same uniform he showed you this morning. He looks done with life. You can see he took it in the back of a classroom. The first photo is exactly like you asked. In the second one he’s closer to the camera, his head slightly tilted to the left and his middle finger covers almost half of the picture. You can’t help but smile at it. There’s a million things you can poke fun at but you settle on a little more serious reply.

YOU

we’re the same age

Guess you’ll have to wait for another reason to block him.

Chapter Text

His name is Wolf and, despite the fact that he frequently texts you, that's kind of all he told you about him besides his age. Completely fine. That’s also all the information you told him about yourself.

It's been three weeks since the first time you texted and you've been talking almost every day. You call it 'talking' but usually they're just random texts. Wolf likes to text a lot when he's at school and your phone is turned off the entire time so you get bombarded by texts as soon as you step out of class. It's like instead of thinking he decides to text you. 

You walk the familiar way home as you read the ones he sent today. 

WOLF

(photo)

Shitty ass day already. They didn't have my cigarettes. These are crap

Bored

I’m so fucking bored I even started watching that movie you couldn’t shut up about.

Boring

Why the fuck did he jump? What did he think it’d happen? Brainless. I see why he’s your favorite

There’s no way that shit worked

Why the fuck did they get married?

You got shit taste

(photo)

Pussies good for one thing at least. 

You have no idea what’s the difference between the cigarettes he got this morning and the ones he sent a photo of in the last message. You actually don’t care. You tried a cigarette once and decided it was enough. 

YOU

if you paid attention MAYBE YOU’D FUCKING GET IT 

You’re honestly surprised he watched that. You yapped about it to him a few days ago because you didn’t want to annoy your friends and you figured he’d just ignore everything (which he did at the time) but apparently he read it and decided it’s not worth a reply. 

You sprint home knowing your parents will be early tonight which means the sooner you get there the more free time you'll have. Your mother’s going to cook dinner and you know your dad hates sitting around so he’ll busy himself with chores around the house. Since your friends are busy, tonight’s for finishing your homework in record time and catching up with your favorite show. 

WOLF

Yeah, blame me and not the shitty story. Maybe YOU didn’t pay enough attention 

YOU

MAYBE it’s not some masterpiece

but it’s fun to watch ok

you wouldn’t get it!!!

He doesn’t send another message until late at night when you’re almost finished with the latest episode. 

WOLF

What’s fun about watching 2 dumbasses doing everything wrong and then winning?

You roll your eyes and start typing.

There’s this girl in your class that moved here a month ago. She seems to get along with some of your friends but every time you try to talk her attitude changes. You choose to avoid her but now it’s bothering you. You just finished shopping when you spot your busy friends hanging out at a nearby cafe. With her. They’ve been quite distant lately, not even texting as much in the group chat. There’s no reason to confront them now so you head home. If your shoulders are slumped you're blaming the heavy grocery bags.

YOU

do you have any friends?

WOLF

You pissing me off intentionally now?

It’s 10PM and you’re lying in bed thinking. You usually avoid this but today caught you off-guard. 

YOU

it was a serious question

don’t tell me you’re allergic to those

Wolf tells you about a guy he gets along best since he started high school. You’re skeptical about what “getting along” means to Wolf. You talk for almost an hour until you get sleepy. He went from talking about that guy, Hwangmo, to talking about a bunch of “bitches” he keeps around, not even naming one. Worse, he doesn’t say the word friend once. He calls everyone subordinates . Whatever that means. When he also gets bored of the subject you go to sleep with your negative thoughts lingering still. You realize Wolf is really good at talking without actually opening up and telling you something about him. No worries, you can read between the lines. And one thing is certain.

YOU

so 

you don’t have any friends

You’re writing your to-do list in your head as you put everything in your backpack and turn on your phone. You have to hurry if you want to check them all off by tonight and do your homework as well. 

You’re in the middle of putting your hoodie on when you hear a voice behind you. 

“Slow down, girl, what are you scurrying around for?” You turn around to see the new girl, So-Hee, arms crossed and a smirk you’ve become too familiar with. “You got kids to feed?” She scoffed. 

Yeah, actually, you do, your brothers, but that’s the last thing on the list of correct answers. If it’s even there. 

“Busy” you say, throwing your backpack on and walking away, not even looking at her.

YOU

why do you call them subordinates?

WOLF

Stupid ass question. That's what they are. They listen to me.

YOU

don’t friends do that?

WOLF

Sure but I imagine friends don’t do shit for you out of fear. These bitches have to do what I say. They don’t have a fucking choice. 

YOU

wtf

doesn’t that bother you?

WOLF

That’s what I fucking want. They stay around cuz they fear me. 

YOU

aren’t they supposed to do the opposite?

if they fear you

WOLF

You moron. If they weren’t scared they’d go their own way. Or worse. Start to think they can go behind my back. As long as they behave their faces stay intact. And these pussies know that they also get some reputation just because they’re seen with me. That’s how it works around here.

Your friends haven’t talked to you for a week, at least. They also changed. You can see some of So-Hee’s attitude mirrored in them. You see them glancing back at you just to turn around and whisper and giggle at each other. It’s bothering you more because you don’t know why this change happened in the first place. And you don’t like this feeling you get every time you see them throwing a glance towards you.

What do they see?

YOU

how do you make people fear you?

WOLF

Isn’t it fucking obvious?

YOU

?

NO?

WOLF

Dumbass. You beat the shit out of them and if they know what’s good for them they will.

You don’t know what else you expected from him. 

Your phone is missing. It was in your backpack before last period started and now it’s nowhere to be found. You ask around before the students manage to go home but nothing. You look everywhere in the classroom. Nothing. Someone took it. There’s no other way this would happen. But you need to stay calm. You can’t start pointing fingers without something to back up your claims. Even though your index finger’s itching. You tell the teachers but all they tell you is they’ll ask the students tomorrow. You’re more angry than anxious now. 

When you go back to class to get your things and go home, So-Hee’s the only one there and she watches you a few moments before approaching and putting a phone – your phone on your desk. You quickly pick it up to check if it’s still working.

“What, no thank you?” She raises her eyebrows and you can see the smugness on her face when you speak. 

“Thanks. Where was it?”

She turns around and walks to her desk slowly. “Around…”

YOU

and it’s pissing me off

Your phone rings when you finish ranting. 

“Yes?” You say, hesitantly, not sure why he called instead of texting or completely ignoring your 20 messages. You hear some voices in the background and someone saying you’re lucky and piss off now.

“Are you some weak ass bitch suddenly or have you actually been acting tough with me all this time?” 

You’re a little distracted now. This is the first time hearing his voice. You don’t know what you thought it’d sound like but this one suits him just right. Especially paired with that attitude. 

“Obviously not. Why would I do that?” 

He’s silent for a moment and you wonder if he’s also thinking about your voice. Probably not. Probably trying to decide which insult he should call you first. 

“Then why the fuck do you let those bitches play with you? How many times should I tell you to fucking beat them up?”

You sigh. “I just…” You look around at nothing in particular. Your room is dark, the only light coming from your phone. “I’m not like you. I like to have someone around. I don’t want to be alone again.”

You snap out of your pessimistic train of thought when he’s silent for a second and the next he starts laughing. Now you wish you could beat him up. His laughter is mocking but the thing he says after hits exactly the right spot in your brain. It’s what you’ve already been thinking but couldn’t convince yourself to say out loud.

“You already are, you moron.”

Chapter Text

[The sun feels nice on your skin as you all walk towards the park, snacks in hand. 

“I’ve been watching this anime lately— Bluetiful Exorcist. There’s this episode wh–”

Ji-Won’s a few steps ahead. She looks over her shoulder as she interrupts, “That skirt is SO cute! Where’d you get it?”

“Uh…” You pinch the black material of your skirt trying to remember. “My mom got it for me. I don’t think she told me but I’ll ask her–”

“Nevermiiiiind… bet I couldn’t afford that. And I already spent all my money on this.” She says as she lifts her hand, the bracelet sparkling in the sunlight. 

“Pretty.” You say, your gaze fixed on the way the colors seem to change at the movement as well. When you lock eyes with her you feel like there’s something there, as if you said the wrong thing, but she looks ahead before you can question it. 

“Well, it wasn’t that much but I like it.” She looks back at you three again. “By the way! Did I tell you guys? Last week, Min-Joon said this necklace really suits me… Wait, no, he said something like…”

There’s that feeling again.

You know your friends don’t watch anime but the excitement always gets the best of you. 

A memory comes back to you as you all sit down. You grab an ice-cream and eat it just to have something to do while you trap yourself in your head. That time you were all out shopping… You don’t even remember what you were talking about back then but you remember Mina interrupting you, joking– “Wow, you really like to talk!” making the others laugh as well. You smiled and changed the subject to something you know they like. 

You don’t want them to stop hanging out with you. Thankfully, it’s easy to avoid. You know the signs when they find something about you annoying. 

All you need to do is stop being annoying.]

WOLF

Then don’t do them. Who cares. You’re annoying as fuck sometimes

YOU

Fuck you

I have to do them

Just wanted to complain first

If I’m so annoying why are you still talking to me?

WOLF

Cuz I fucking want to. Now go on. You were pussy talking about…

The situation is even more annoying because your desk is in the back of the class and you can’t avoid seeing them being friends without you. A certain laughter’s making your brain feel like there’s a screw being secured in it, on and on, screeching. You feel childish at the same time. Things happen. You should just ignore them. Some people are made to walk alone. Or whatever. That’s right. You leave them alone and they’ll leave you alone and you all go on with your lives. 

Simple enough. 

But the screw’s still…

There's spilled juice on your textbooks and all over your desk and chair. You approach it slowly, your gaze fixed on the juice dripping on the floor from the corner of a notebook. There’s the screeching sound again…

Drip…

You lift your head to look at the unusually silent group. So-Hee goes from side-eyeing you to writing something on her desk. 

Drip…

There’s this urge you have in your chest to scream but somehow it melts and comes up into a lump in your throat. You must remember to breathe. Remember to breathe. Breathe in breathe–

Drip…

Drip… drip…

Your hands feel strange, as if they suddenly came back to life, when you snatch the soggy notebooks and march towards her. You hit the back of her head, juice splattering and staining the collar of her shirt. She turns around when you repeat the movement. You end up slapping her left cheek.

“You’ve gone mad or something?” She shouts, walking backwards to put some distance in between you two. 

You swallow as if the action would get rid of the lump still in your throat. You don’t reply and she dodges when you throw the notebooks at her. 

Her chair falls when you grab the blazer hanging on the back of it and walk back to your seat to clean it. It soaks up the leftover juice from the desk and chair as you wipe while So-Hee pulls at your clothes and hair to make you stop. She’s screaming but you can’t make out the words. 

You fold the blazer into a ball and throw it aiming for the trash can. It unfolds as it falls and ends up half in half on the floor. So-Hee’s already there taking it out. 

“You bitch! You know how much this was? Fucking psycho–”

The screeching’s gone.

You sigh. You shouldn’t have done that. You don’t know what came over you. Your teacher’s going on and on about bullying and depression and how they won’t tolerate something like that in this school and you can’t take any of it seriously when the one he’s looking at is you. 

He makes you apologize and you do because your parents are busy enough. 

You have to buy her a new blazer.

YOU

i fucking 

hate this school

WOLF

Look who found some balls

You tell your parents when you calm down but now you have to calm them down. They keep saying we should’ve been there and we’re talking to that teacher on Monday and did we stress you out too much? . 

In the end you convince them you’re over it and they make you promise to call them if anything like it happens again. 

But the worrying frown on your mother’s face doesn’t go away.

Nothing else happens. Nothing happens . You go to school, come home, do chores, do homework and watch a tv show or anime when you get free time. 

You will never admit it to him but you probably would feel worse if you didn’t have Wolf to talk to. It’s amusing how he calls you annoying at every given opportunity yet you can’t take it seriously. 

You don’t try to filter yourself when you text him. He seems like someone who would’ve been gone long ago if he was actually annoyed by something. Or maybe you feel like this because he’s also annoying sometimes so you don’t feel bad for annoying him occasionally.

YOU

BUT YOU EAT THAT 

EVERY 

DAY

WOLF

BECAUSE IT’S GOOD

YOU

Yeah when you eat it occasionally

BUT EVERY DAY??

Don't tell me your brain is really like

Mhmm fried chicken dinner yesterday, fried chicken today, oh MAN I can’t wait to see what tomorrow’s dinner is going to be I hope it’s fried chicken!!

WOLF

Fuck off

YOU

I couldn’t even buy food all the time 

My mom’s efforts… cooking… in vain…

“What do you think about moving back?” Your mom asks, not looking at you, busy washing tonight’s dishes.

You look up from your phone. “Why? You miss aunt?”

“No. I mean, yes, I do… but that’s not the reason. I was thinking about you. Your aunt works from home and she’s always pestering me about not getting to see you three grow, especially your brothers, so I was thinking that if we move back… she’d be around too and you wouldn’t have to always look after your brothers… Don’t look at me like that.” 

You sigh and look away. “I told you I’m not stressed out by yo–”

“Still! I’ve been thinking. You should go out, have fun with your friends–” She presses her lips together when you tilt your head, “ Make new friends and hang out and actually have time to study because I know your grades could be better if you had enough time to study and…” She pauses and puts the plate back in the sink. “I don’t want you to miss these years if I can find an alternative. We can move back and we’ll get a place there for our business. You don’t have to worry about that. What do you think?”

“Well…” You look down at your phone, the screen black now. “It’s been some time since I’ve seen aunt…”

The screen lights up with a new notification.

WOLF

Well then good thing I don’t fucking have one

Winter break is interesting. You send each other texts throughout the entire day, every day. 

You even convince him to call and watch the first episode of your favorite tv show together. He comments on all the insignificant things and you point out all the interesting ones and, when the episode ends and he starts giving you the better scenario which is how he would have taken care of that creature in the first 5 minutes of the episode, you lay in bed with the phone glued to your ear and decide maybe having no friends isn’t that bad.

Chapter Text

The winter break’s almost over and your parents decided the move is necessary so they’re even busier now. You didn’t think that was possible. They wanted to move before school started but it sounded too optimistic from the start. 

You woke up today and made breakfast following a video you saved recently. Your youngest brother didn’t even touch it and ended up eating the same sandwich he’s been eating for breakfast and lunch for the past 2 months and the other menace picked at his for 20 minutes but at least ate half after checking what’s in the fridge thrice. 

You’ll do better next time. 

Wolf talked to you as you ate, showing off the fact that he doesn’t have any siblings and he’s home alone most of the time. He can do whatever the fuck he wants. You say you’re jealous but the more you think about how it’d be like the less appealing it sounds. You don’t remember the last time you were alone in this apartment. 

He hasn't said anything since. In the last text he just said he’s gonna get himself some cigarettes. It’s almost 11PM and you’ve been sending random messages while scrolling on your phone. You can see he’s been reading them yet he stays silent. 

YOU

(video)

you

especially the last part

thats literally how I imagine you act

(photo)

which one

I have the second one

buuuuuut

WOLF

Shut the fuck up I’m not in the mood for that crap

You stop typing, deleting what you managed to write already, and stare at the screen. The text unsettles you a little bit.

YOU

what the fuck

who pissed on your fried chicken?

WOLF

I fucking mean it. I’m already pissed off. 

A couple of minutes pass as you try to come up with something to say. 

WOLF

Talk tomorrow

That’s weird. You’ve talked to Wolf after he got into fights and he has never been like this. He never seemed bothered. You wonder what could make him angry enough to want to be left alone. There’s also something underneath that curiosity… 

Worry.

You call him. He declines the first one but picks up the second time. 

“What?” He barks out. 

“What’s wrong with you?”

“I fucking told you. Don’t piss me off even more.”

“No shit. I got that. I’m asking what got you so angry.”

“Not your fucking business.”

He hangs up. 

Well… that went well. 

YOU

call me after you find out how to untwist those panties then.

asshole

He calls immediately.

“You getting on my nerves. I told you I’m not in the fucking mood for your nonsense. I got my own shit. I’ll deal with it and we’re gonna talk about that crap tomorrow. I got no brain power to deal with-”

You hang up. Now he got you angry and as much as you like to bicker with him, this is not it. You don’t want to fight.

YOU

I was just trying to help.

Sorry

WOLF

You’re like a million fucks away how would you help

Ouch. Like you could do something about that. You tried the serious route and it only made it worse. 

You need another approach.

YOU

I could still do something

You know how much I complain

I’m pretty good at it

Let’s see what you got

I’ll rate it

He reads it and doesn’t reply. Well, that didn’t work either. Maybe you deluded yourself into thinking you got to know him a little bit. 

You put your phone down and roll over to try and sleep. Your shallow breaths manage to annoy you more, brushing away any sleep you had left in you.

Your phone rings a few minutes later. You answer but you don’t say anything. A few moments pass in silence. You can hear his breaths almost synchronized with yours as you wait for him to say something. He breathes in deeply and then sighs. 

“My father came home.” He says it like it should answer all of your questions. He never talked about his dad but this sounds out of the ordinary and a problem for Wolf so you skip all the seemingly stupid questions.

You hum. “Why?”

He huffs. It turns into an unamused chuckle. “Fuck knows. He comes once in a while. Usually late at night. He sleeps most of the time and then leaves. I’ve no idea what he does besides that.” He’s silent for a few seconds. You wonder if he’s waiting for you to say something. “I knew you wouldn’t get it.” His tone slightly changes, getting meaner. “You got a big happy family, the we-go-on-vacation-together type o-”

“Do I have to?”

You imagine him blinking quickly in the time it takes him to answer you. “What?”

“Get it. Do I have to get it?”

“You know what I meant.”

“Not really. I mean… you’re right. I don’t really get it. You barely told me anything but… yeah, I know I probably won’t get it. My life’s different. Since when do you care though?”

He quickly talks over you, “I don’t fucking care-”

“Just get it off your chest. Or whatever.”

He's again quiet for a second. You try to get used to this new side of him but you probably won't have it around enough to do that. This seems like an exception.

“You not gonna look at me after like I-”

“Wolf,” you interrupt, stating the obvious, “I can’t look at you at all. A million fucks are getting in my way.”

You swear you can hear him rolling his eyes but nonetheless he starts talking.

He calls his father names every time but you can’t blame him. He doesn’t come home for days and when he does and also talks to Wolf, which he tries to avoid, they fight. The thing that threw you off most was Wolf admitting he just lets him beat him and never fights back.

“He’s a fucking cop. He kicked me out once and two days later found me with a buddy of his and got me to stop my teenage angst and come back home . He's a sneaky bastard. That old fuck talked about ungrateful brats running away from home for half an hour. I should’ve gotten a fucking medal. I didn’t throw a punch once.”

His mother sends him money sometimes and he steals some from his dad and that’s literally how he gets by. You feel bad for laughing about his dinner habits and wonder if that’s his only meal.

“I get cash from pussies around here. I’m not gonna ask him for any. He spends them all betting and drinking anyway.”

Your feedback consists of hums and a question here and there but Wolf keeps talking so you’re probably doing something right. 

“I thought your mother died.” 

“Nah, she just has another family. I’m not really in the picture. Her picture of family. Not like I’d want that. I told her when she left that I don’t want to go there. Another shithole I’d have to get used to?” He pauses and you hear him move, probably trying to get more comfortable. He must be laying in bed too. “She buys me clothes sometimes, though. Don’t need shit from her but… since I got them I might as well wear them. They expensive, you know. Got herself a rich geezer.”

He tells you about today. He came home in a good mood, which is code for beating someone up, and his father was there turning the house upside down. 

“Must’ve emptied his pockets and came looking for change.” he says, again with that humorless chuckle.

They started arguing and it went from his father telling him not to do dumb shit and ruin his reputation and berating him about the bruises he has to giving him some new ones. He made a mess of Wolf’s room looking for money and left after he found none. 

You just comment on what he says, mostly insulting his father. You doubt Wolf's waiting for advice or words of affirmation.

Before you two end the call he sounds angry still but you can tell not even a little bit is directed at you. 

He talks as if he’s speaking things into existence, but most importantly, like he’s making a promise to himself, “I’m gonna get the fuck out of here.”

You have no doubt he will. You’re waiting for it.

YOU

so I’m gonna move in a month or so

WOLF

how the fuck you moving so fast?

YOU

we used to live there

my parents have been renting out the place since

my aunt lives around there too

WOLF

you didn't tell me you’re fucking rich

YOU

I’m not 

well

not poor either

we’re like

in between

WOLF

you sound like a rich fucker saying that

YOU

shut upppp

(photo)

you didn’t tell me which one

WOLF

why do you need a hundred keychains

(photo)

this one

YOU

i only have 3

i like to change them 

to match my outfits

WOLF

fucking rich people...

Chapter Text

YOU

(photo)

which one is cuter

WOLF

you need some new chick friends. 

you think I care about whatever that shit is?

YOU

really 

you don’t know what skirts are 

I so believe you

choose one I’ll do what I want anyway

WOLF

you’re so fucking annoying 

1

You knew Wolf would be helpful. The second one is definitely cuter. He has no taste at all. You send him a couple more photos as you sort everything out and if you agree with him a few times… that’s pure coincidence. 

You’ve been packing for hours. You found so many clothes you have forgotten about that you decided this is a good time to declutter and donate some. 

This is also a good opportunity to test Wolf’s patience, sending him random photos of the ugliest clothes shoved in the back for a reason and a few of your favorite pieces to balance it out. 

He doesn’t send any insults. In fact, he just ignores everything. 

You call it a win.

“It’s a lot more convenient now! I don’t even remember what we had around here back then…” Your aunt is helping your parents unpack and arrange everything around the house as she brings them up to speed. 

You unpacked half of your things but got hungry so now you’re watching TV with your brothers on the sofa in the living room and eating tteokbokki. 

“And that high school is not only close but it has a decent reputation.” She continues.

Suddenly, your youngest brother stands up and starts jumping around, shouting at the screen, “NOW! NOW! GO, GO, GO, GO, GO–”

“You don’t have to worry about that. She’ll do just fine!” Your aunt shouts over him.

WOLF

we watching ep 12 tonight 

YOU

YEESSSS

at 9

WOLF

fine

“The lack of uniform surprised me, you know? I thought all high schools had one. Well, I got used to that…” Your mom says, standing on a chair to wipe the upper cabinets in the kitchen. 

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Your brothers scream in unison.

An obnoxiously loud sound comes from the other room, followed by your dad cursing. Your brothers run to him immediately, followed by your mom speaking to herself. “Please don’t be what I think it is, please don’t be what I think it is…”

“Aunt,” you call out, putting away the now empty plate, “I want hot chocolate. Is there a…”

“Oh, it’s just a few minutes walk, darling. You go right and then turn around the corner and you’ll see it in no time. You can’t miss it.”

Your mom comes back, pointing towards her purse on the kitchen table. “Get marshmallows too. For your brothers.” She starts frantically opening the drawers one by one, looking for something. 

You take her card and leave. To be honest that was just an excuse. They’ve been loud all day. You need a quiet walk and, why not, a hot chocolate in your room when you get back. 

You vaguely remember walking around here once. There’s just that familiarity clinging to your bones. School’s over so there’s a lot of students you see on your walk. You reach the convenience store too quickly so you tell yourself to walk slower on your way back. 

You get chips as well, one for tonight and two more because you don’t plan on fighting your brothers today. While the cashier is busy putting them in a bag, you stare at the cigarette shelf, a habit of yours recently, doing your little ‘spot the differences’ game. A few weeks ago Wolf held you hostage in a call to explain the difference between the pack he smokes and the special edition version. You can’t help but test yourself every time you buy something since then. For fun. 

“You have to be 19 or older.” The cashier says, making you stare at him instead. When you don’t say anything, he adds, “to buy cigarettes.”

You tell him you don’t want any, pay and step out with the voluminous plastic bag in hand. As soon as you’re outside you see two guys sitting at one of the round tables in front of the store, about the same age as you, both wearing dark trousers, white shirts and a red blazer that makes you do a double take. It looks similar to the color you see Wolf wear when he sends photos. 

You chuckle as you start walking home, an image coming to mind right away. Wouldn’t it be funny if it was the same one? Imagine Wolf popping up out of nowhere one day and looking at you with a stupefied expression on his face. Like surprise, bitch. I found you first. You snicker as you walk back. Yeah, that’d be hilarious. He lives far away though. You forgot the name of…

Actually, where did he say he lives?

WOLF

9:30

YOU

fucker

then we watch 1 ep only 

I’m already tired

It’s almost 10 when he calls. 

“Was busy. Let’s watch it already.” He says, as if he ’s been waiting. 

He’s in a bad mood, you can already tell. He doesn’t talk much and when he does he makes you wish he stayed silent. The problem comes when halfway through he puts you in a bad mood too. When the episode is over you’re fuming.

“Why the fuck are you watching it with me then?” you ask, really holding yourself back from just ending the call and ignoring him the rest of the night.

“Why the fuck not?” he counters.

“If you think I’m so stupid and cringe when I talk about it just don’t watch it with me–”

“I didn’t say–”

“No, you just mocked me the entire time, that's better, yeah–”

“Been doing that already! Why the fuck is it a problem no–”

“You haven’t!”

“I have!”

“You haven’t!” You insist. “You’ve– shit! Just leave it.”

He doesn’t leave it so you argue without solving anything until you snap and hang up on him. You put your phone on do not disturb and go to sleep. 

Jerk.

You don’t talk to him the entire week. He didn’t send any messages since the day after that night in which he didn’t apologize and just argued that he did nothing new yet suddenly it bothers you. You don’t even know why he’s upset too, if that’s the case. Whatever. You don’t miss him at all. 

You can talk to yourself and you’ll be just fine. Especially today. Today’s your first day of school here.

You’ve been planning how to act and dress and speak since you woke up. Good thing you didn’t have Wolf texting you about it. He’d probably ask why you even care about that and just do whatever shit you wanna and beat up the bastards that disagree with it . Something like that.

You take a deep breath and introduce yourself in front of the class. There’s two empty seats and, because you don’t want to sit next to the delinquent-looking guy in the back, you walk towards the short-haired blonde with glasses in the second row. He stares at you the entire time like you offended his bloodline by choosing that seat.

“Hi! Hope we’ll get–”

“That seat’s taken.” He says, expressionless now.

“I don’t see anyone.” You mimic his tone.

“He’s not in this class but…”

“Then it’s not taken, is it?”

You turn your attention to the class. 

That was a good start. Definitely. All according to plan.

Lunch break is fun when a few girls come to talk to you. They mostly ask about your old place but there’s this girl, So-Min, who asks random questions about you related to things she notices, like “you like fashion?” and “is that your favorite color?” and “do you know how to french braid?”. She’s easy to talk to and you join her when she leaves to get something to eat. 

When you come back there’s a guy in your seat and another standing behind him, both talking to your deskmate. They stop when you walk over and stare at the one who took your place. He stares back, a few strands of his orange hair covering his left eye and bouncing as he blinks in confusion.

“That’s my desk.” You say, trying to keep a matter-of-fact tone. “Do you mind?”

He turns his head quickly to the right to face your deskmate. “Timothy!” He shrieks. “How could you?”

You’re taken aback by his dramatic reaction. “Are you even in this class?”

He turns just as quickly to look at you, now awkwardly smiling and rubbing his cheek. “I might as well be…” 

The guy standing behind him smirks and starts to walk away. You notice he’s taking advantage of the lack of uniform this school has and you can’t help but respect that. “It was bound to happen.” He says looking over his shoulder. “Let’s go back. Break’s almost over.”

The other guy stands up, says a quick see you later and sprints after his friend.

Timothy stares at you as you sit down and prepare your things for the next class. When he doesn’t say anything, you let out a tired “What?”

“You could’ve sat somewhere else. I don’t leave class much. Jake likes to hang around here a lot.” He replies.

“Well, sorry Jake , but you looked like less trouble than my other option. He can still come by, what’s the problem?”

He sighs and turns his attention to the already opened textbook.

So-Min, her seat on the other end of the same row, tries to ask you what’s going on through gestures only but you can only answer with a shrug. 

Nothing’s as you imagined. The version you created of yourself in your head has much more self-control and honestly no feelings at all. You’ve always acted according to them. Obviously, that plan you made this morning was going to fail. 

You don’t have to turn off your phone anymore but you did out of habit. Just as, out of habit, on your way home you open Wolf’s chat to read whatever new messages he sent. Shit. Your fingers hover over the keyboard eager to say something, anything, everything about today. What do you even say? His last messages mock you the entire time. You remember your anger when you read them over and over. You don’t want to brush it off and act like it’s not there. But you want to tell him stuff. But you’re upset. But you’re irritated too at the fact that you can’t talk to him. You should’ve handled this then. But you were both too angry to. 

You put your phone back in your backpack. You can’t text him without solving this first. And it’s too late to fix it. You’re just not going to talk to him again. Sometimes you make mistakes and you have nothing to do but live with them. 

It’s 11pm and you imagined about twenty versions in which you kindly explain what upset you and he says sorry and you wake up tomorrow ten times lighter. The problem is you’re never kind and upset at the same time and it was hard enough to just imagine Wolf saying sorry and this day already showed you reality doesn't line up with your daydreams.

Well, fuck it. You press call. You’re at least going to try. 

It takes a while until he answers and you realize you’ve been holding your breath when he talks, his voice raspy. “Yeah?”

You suddenly don’t know what to say. It feels awkward, like you two are talking for the first time. 

Sorry I kind of ghosted you. You know, it really hurt when you… Did you mean that or were you just looking for someone to pour your anger into? 

Can we be friends again?

“Why do you sound like that?” Are you ok?

“Got hit in the fucking throat.” You hear something in the background, similar to a plastic bag being opened. 

“Why did you fight again?” You try to continue the conversation, not knowing how to approach the subject you wanted to talk about. 

It takes a few moments until he responds. He keeps making noise, dropping things and cursing silently, moving around, sometimes really close to the phone, other times not, the sounds muffled. "You called all of a sudden just to ask stupid questions? Why do you think?" His tone is slightly irritated but not at all angry. It sounds like he's far away from the phone.

You roll your eyes. "You wanted to?"

"Why are you asking then?" When you don't reply, he continues, now much closer, calmer, "Why did you call?"

You take a deep breath, suddenly wanting to change the subject, talk about something superficial or anything other than this. 

"This about me calling that anime stupid?" He presses.

"No." You say, "And it was never about that!"

His voice is far from the phone again, barely audible even as he's shouting, "Then what was it about? You didn't fucking tell me!" 

"You made fun of me for liking it! I don't like that! It makes me feel-" Stupid. Weird.

"It didn't bother you before."

You want to strangle him. "You didn't do that before. There's a difference. You never mocked me for getting excited watching something or... Or liking something. You never mocked me." You pause but he doesn't say anything. "Yeah, sure, you talked shit about me and you talked shit about stuff but not about me acting like-" myself, you want to say, but the word gets stuck in your throat. 

His voice is close. Clear. "Fine. Got it. Could've said so last week."

That's the closest you can get him to an apology. "You were in a bad mood. And I was angry."

"What, is that not a good fucking combo?" 

This is closer to what you're used to. This is more like you two. "Apparently not. At least one of us should be the voice of reason, I fear."

"You."

"What?"

"I'm gonna be the angry one and you're-"

"No, we take turns–"

"Why would I fucking want that?"

"Because-" oh, this little fucker, "that's how it's supposed to be-"

"I don't give two shits-"

You argue about that more than necessary but, after he keeps you awake with stupid things that happened this week and you tell him about today, when you put your head on the pillow you remember how it feels like to get a good night's sleep.

Chapter Text

Turns out Timothy is not that bad after he realizes trying to convince you to change seats is pointless and that you’re usually not even in class during lunch break. You only see his friends around for a couple of minutes before class starts and they have to leave. He’s mostly quiet and doesn’t do small talk at all . 

You’re spending a lot of your free time with So-min. She’s easy to get along with and you like to think you don’t have to go out of your way to make her like you as well. 

You two are walking back to class with your eyes glued to her phone. 

“I loved it! Especially this,” she says, swiping through the photos she took spending time with her mom this weekend. “I bought this figurine because it reminds me of this scene from one of my favorite books. I’m not going to go into detail. You said you’ll read it…”

“Any time now…” You side-eye her, apologetic. “Be patient with me, please, I’m not that into reading. It's gonna take a while.” 

“In any case, no spoilers! But it’s pretty, right?”

“Definitely!" You zoom in. "I like these dark details at the bottom…”

Jake’s lounging in your seat, staring into space as Timothy’s explaining something to him. Suspiciously, So-min walks away just as he snaps out of it when he sees you, grabbing your backpack and shoving it in your face so quickly that you think he’s going to punch you with it. It stops a centimeter away from you. 

You take a step back as you two speak at the same time. “What the fuck?” You shriek. “You read it?” He shouts. 

“What?” You tilt your head to look at him. “And get this out of my face.” 

He pulls it back but holds it up to eye level, shaking it, making the character keychains jingle. He has a dumb smile on his face as he speaks, “You read Two Piece?” 

Oh. That’s what it was about. “No.” He deflates. “I watched the anime.” He comes back to life.

“All of it?” He asks, putting your backpack on your desk. 

“Yeah. Why?” 

“Okay, I’m not even halfway so don’t give me any spoilers.” 

O, ho, ho… You’re going to remember that. You hold back a smirk. “For sure. Yeah. No problem.” 

Your conversation is cut short since he has to go to his classroom. 

You sit down and take your phone out to ask So-min if she has something against Jake. When she denies, you insist on the fact that she always avoids being around you when he’s here.

SOMIN

Sorrryyyyy :((

To be honest there’s just some stuff going around about him

Don’t know if it’s true but I would rather keep my distance :( 

YOU

like what

SOMIN

Apparently he’s involved in some shady things

His friends too

And I overheard some people talking about him fighting a while ago

Sorry I didn’t tell you I’m not sure it’s true!!! 

They don’t look like it but still……

A lot of guys are dangerous around here tbh :(

Be careful!!! 

That’s hilarious. Timothy fighting. Timothy doing shady things. You look at him as he’s taking notes while the teacher’s explaining… 

“This is why you don’t understand anything.” he says, not taking his eyes off his notebook.

You open yours and look ahead, forcing yourself to focus. 

YOU

What’s with guys and fighting 

I don’t get it

WOLF

it’s fun

try it 

YOU

you volunteering?

WOLF

HA

anytime 

no holding back though

You forgot for a moment he’s fucking crazy. You would’ve ended up dead if you were in his vicinity the first time you talked. So-min would move to another town if she ever saw him across the street. You change the subject. 

YOU

I’m getting used to this

just you wait

gonna finally make some friends and set you free

Friday. Finally some time to waste or sleep or maybe go out or call Wolf to catch up since this week he’s been texting you two times a day max. 

You hear Jake’s voice before you feel him putting his arm over your shoulder, walking alongside you. Dean catches up quickly. You stare at them, your face contorted into something very unattractive for sure. Jake is completely unaware of your disapproval of his gesture. “Where are you going?” he asks.

“Home.” 

The way you’re walking makes you two take turns on who’s dragging who. 

“We’re going to the arcade. Wanna join?” 

You look at Dean, raising an eyebrow. Did he get your approval for this?  You’re almost convinced he doesn’t like your presence. He shrugs, nonchalant. Maybe you just read him wrong. “Sure. Where is it? I still don’t know most things around here.”

“Not far from here.” Is all he says. You walk straight ahead for what feels like five minutes. They mention some places for you here and there, which you appreciate. You’ll probably forget them the second you reach the arcade though. 

“Look, right there!” He points at a building on your side of the street and then your eyes follow his finger as he moves it to one across the street, “and there’s a fast food close. We’ll go there after. Food tastes so much better after I beat Dean at everything.”

“You do not .” You hear Dean say, probably popping a vein or something, you don’t know, you’re still staring across the street at a group of guys smoking and drinking soda and talking, all kind of gathered around this too familiar figure in a too familiar uniform who’s just puffing and staring at his phone. Your ears ignore all the shit talk the two boys are busy with, too shocked, your body standing and moving because it’s miraculously supported by Jake still. What the fuck is going on? There’s just no way. There’s no way. Why the hell would he be here? No, must be a look-alike. But the more steps you take the more he looks like him. No. You’re going insane. You need some sleep. Your eyes are making shit up. 

Your ears perk up, at the same time this purple-haired guy looks up, straight in your direction, when Dean talks, “Wolf has been busy.” No fucking way. It’s him. Why is he staring too? Does he recognize you? And again, what the fuck is he doing here?  “Gaining a reputation.” Dean continues.

Jake’s tone is light, as always, “Timothy’s having a blast keeping up.” Suddenly, he covers your eyes with his hand, a gesture that grounds you just a little bit with its spontaneity and a second to breathe when you lose sight of Wolf. You push it away, your eyes finding him again, now back staring at his phone. What the hell? Did he not see you? The guys around him stopped talking, some of them staring, others looking anywhere else, acting indifferent. Your phone vibrates, tucked in your jeans' front pocket. Your heart is gonna break out of your chest. 

“We’re here.” Jake says, taking his arm off your shoulder. 

Oh. Yeah. The arcade. You completely forgot about that. “Actually…” You say, your voice weak, “I forgot I was supposed to go home early today. I… gonna help. I forgot about that. We’ll hang out another time, ok?” You have no idea what you’re saying. You’re lucky if you put the words in the correct order. Your brain is impersonating a hamster trapped in a plastic ball, running a hundred miles per hour, continuously bumping into furniture. 

You don’t process what they reply and walk away, your home a couple of minutes from here, the purple stain haunting you from the corner of your eye until you turn left.

The moment you get home you run to your room and unlock your phone. 

WOLF

make sure they chicks

where’d you move anyway?

You search your conversation with him, desperately trying to find where he said he lives. He didn’t. What the fuck?? How did you not notice that??? You go to the chat gallery next, checking every photo you sent. In all the shitpics you sent and clothes and screenshots and fucking food and oh, here’s another one of your fucking legs, there’s not one including at least a centimeter of your face. You never sent one? And he didn’t ask? This is fucking bizarre. Okay. Calm down. So that’s why he didn’t say anything. He didn’t recognize you. He doesn’t know your fucking face. You thought he saw you and ignored you or something. Maybe he didn’t want to talk to you in real life. But no. He just has no fucking idea. Okay. What do you do? How do you tell him? Should you text him? Oh, well, you know, like a 500m from you , probably. Walking up to him doesn’t look more appealing either. Hey, it’s me!!!  Fucking hell. 

You don’t even know how to tell him who you are. 

YOU

obviously

guy friends are useless

You need a plan.

Chapter Text

By Monday, you’ve processed some things and calmed down a little. You’ve never been so eager to go to school and you got here so early that the classroom was empty when you walked in. Despite the fact that you know Wolf can’t recognize you, you still looked left and right the entire way here just in case he pops up and starts chasing you because the angels above whispered your secret to him.

A few classmates come in before you spot Timothy and you feel like you’re going to explode suppressing so many feelings. You have so many questions but you promised yourself you’re going to seem calm and just a little bit curious. 

You’re mindlessly scrolling on your phone, waiting. The second he sits down, you speak up, not taking your eyes off the screen, “What’s, uh… union?” 

You can feel his eyes on you. “Union? What union?” He asks. God, he’s such a shit actor. You feel a little more confident now. Get into character, get into character…

You turn your head to face him. “I heard Jake is union. What does that mean? Is that slang or something?”

He looks to the side. “It’s just… business. Yeah.”

“What business?” 

“You know…”

You don’t know and you don’t find out either because he might be a bad liar but that’s not stopping him from doing it. He doesn’t tell you anything.

Plan B.

You don’t go anywhere when lunch break comes. Timothy won’t stop staring at you. You feel like some animal on the discovery channel. 

Then Jake finally walks in, Dean close behind. If they’re confused as well, they don’t show it. Dean puts a juice box in front of Timothy along with some type of snack that you couldn’t care about right now. Jake sits half his ass on your desk but you keep your comments to yourself this time to not self-sabotage. Thankfully, you don’t have to find an opening to talk about it because it doesn’t take long for Jake to look at you and ask, “You feel better now?”

You’re confused, but since Timothy has the same dumb expression on his face as you, when he locks eyes with Dean, you both get some context. “She shat herself when we saw Wolf on Friday.”

You turn to glare at him as you shout, “I DID NOT!”.

Jake laughs and rips open a bag of chips.

Then Timothy asks, probably without thinking, “That’s why you were asking about the Union?”

Bingo.

“ The Union? Why? Is he that too?” you ask, leaning towards him. 

He replies with a few aah and uhh , probably thinking of a shit lie. 

Your favorite person, the most wonderful, the one you don’t know how life would be without— Jake answers in a heartbeat, “Yeah.” He throws another chip in his mouth. 

Timothy glares at him, wide-eyed. 

“And what’s that?” You press.

“Uh…” He switches between looking at Timothy and looking behind you, at Dean, 

“What? Is this top secret or something?” You lean back, crossing your arms.

“How about we talk about something else?” You hear Dean say.

One more second of this and you’re seriously gonna explode. “How about we talk about that time Luffy went to the Marine Base to free Ace and he has to fi-”

Jake reaches out to cover your mouth with his hand. “I DIDN’T READ THAT YET!!!”

“What’s. This. Union.” 

The Union’s some shady business that Jake’s a part of, a pretty important part, and apparently the same applies to Wolf. The second Jake says Come on, Timothy, everyone knows about it… you get a bunch of information. Mostly things you don’t care about. You want to know about Wolf but you get a fucking PowerPoint presentation of different people from various high schools that are apparently big shots. Then breaks over. 

Luckily, Timothy is eager to talk about it now, so when you see him ignoring the teacher and reading something on his phone, you whisper to him, “Soooo, are Wolf and Jake friends?”  

He looks up slowly, his eyes giving away the fact that he thinks you’re the stupidest human alive right now. That’s fine. You already suspected that wasn’t the case. “No? Wolf is something else.”

“What does that mean?” 

He unlocks his phone and taps on an icon you’ve never seen before. “Well, it hasn’t been long since he joined the Union but he’s already feared by most people who know him. I have a list here of all his fights and-”

You frown, interrupting,  “Because he beats people up? I heard Jake does that too.” 

He stops swiping to glare at you. “Jake isn’t like that .”

“Like what ?”

“He’s…” He goes back to his phone. “Here. Look away if it’s too much. It’s intense.” Before he presses play, he hesitates, locking eyes with you. “Remember I warned you.”

He shows you a video. Someone's filming Wolf from the back, slowly walking around to film his front. Wolf’s head repeatedly jerks to the side as he’s talking with a monotone voice. “That was pussy shit. Again. You fucking suck at this.” 

You yell and take the phone out of Timothy’s hand when you finally see the scene from the front. “Why’s he getting punched?”

“Silence!” The teacher shouts and you nod in apology.

“Why you acting tough?” Another punch. There’s silence all around. Some guys standing around look petrified. “When you can’t even throw a decent punch…” Another one. Wolf’s expression doesn’t change at all. “I hate shitheads like you.” He tilts his head back and the one filming makes a few steps backwards. The new angle allows you to see someone laying on the ground in the back, unconscious. “You done? Is that all?” The other guy throws another punch, his knuckles bloody, fist trembling. He murmurs something you don’t understand. Wolf straightens his back. “I’m getting bored. Come here…” He grabs the guy’s collar, keeping him in place. “ ‘s my turn, right?” He doesn’t even finish his sentence before starting to punch the guy’s face again and again and again. “Look up…” His voice is flat, like he’s talking to you on the phone about running out of cigarettes. “Fucking bastard. Look up. Come on.” The camera gets closer. The look on his face… “Open your fucking eyes, bitch.” Only now you notice he’s not wearing his glasses. You look at the bruises on his skin one by one until your eyes lock on his. Green. Dull.  “Look at me again, I dare you.”

Timothy snatches the phone before the video ends. “It just goes on like that. You can imagine the rest.” 

You’re staring at your hand as if the phone is still there. As if Wolf is still there.

“...Why?” You don’t even know what you’re asking. Not one question you have can be answered by Timothy.

“They probably looked at him for too long.”

You snap out of it at that. “What?”

“He fights anyone if they look at him for too long. He’s known for that. People call it his three seconds rule.” 

He gives you some information about that one particular fight but you can’t concentrate anymore. 

Why are you surprised? Is that even what you’re feeling? Surprise? You knew. You knew , right? You saw what he could do the very first day. But this is really… this is really different from the Wolf you talk to. You knew he’s violent but you imagined him differently. You can’t imagine this person being the one texting you. You don’t want to imagine him with that look in his eyes when he’s talking to you.

WOLF

(photo)

YOU

what’s up with that

WOLF

need a jacket.

I’m gonna buy it.

YOU

ok?

WOLF

you like clothes and shit. 

YOU

wooow

my passion is rubbing off on you?

that’s expensive

WOLF

got some money now.

YOU

you didn’t tell me about that

you have time for a job?

WOLF

fuck no.

just doing my shit and getting money for it

So he’s not going to tell you. You sigh as you look around the store for what’s left on your grocery list. You throw the last thing in the basket and treat yourself with a few lollipops. 

What was that theory about yellow cars? You pay and take a bag in each hand and, when you turn around and see him walking towards check out, your body goes on autopilot, brushing past him and walking straight home.

It just doesn’t add up. You can’t stop thinking about the look on his face you saw on that screen. If he’s like that in real life… No. No. You’re gonna keep the Wolf you know. This stranger with the same name and appearance can stay the fuck away. 

It doesn’t have to change. Nothing has to change. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Or in this case, don’t break it. 

YOU

(link)

this jacket would look better on you

red fits you best

WOLF

I didn’t fucking ask

Chapter Text

Wolf is in a bad mood. Again. Something got stolen from him (well, not exactly from him but from his “incompetent bitches”, which he made sure to clarify twice) and now he’s going to be mad until he gets it back. You learned your lesson last time. You didn’t insist. Especially since he surprised you with a considerate reply. You read it 10 times just to make sure it’s not a fragment of your imagination. 

YOU

we can watch something to get your mind off that for a second

or we can play something together 

if you promise not to block me again if I win

WOLF

stfu

it was for half an hour or something

YOU

no??? 

you unblocked me the next morning

asshole

WOLF

I fell asleep.

it doesn't count

YOU replied to your own message: “We can watch something to get your mind off that for a second”

So?

WOLF

doesn’t fucking help when I'm angry

and I don’t wanna say shit I don't mean

I’ll deal with these fuckers first.

I don’t want to say something I don't mean I don’t want to say something I don't mean I don’t want to say something I don't mean I don’t want to say something I don't mean…

You sigh, putting your phone away to try to sleep. You wish you were able to help with these moods instead of just waiting for him to feel better.

Wolf is impulsive, cocky, narcissistic and proud of all of it. At least that’s what you concluded from the 10-minute summary given by Timothy. 

He pauses for a second after it, then asks, “Are you a delinquent fan, too?” 

Uh oh. Did you ask too many questions? Does he think you’re a fan of Wolf ? You scratch the back of your head. “Well… I just find it so interesting, you know?” you show a small smile. “A lot going on.” You turn and sit straight, facing your desk. That’s it. No more questions. You said to yourself you don’t care about all this shady stuff. And you promised you’ll separate- “By the way!” You face Timothy again, “I saw him yesterday and he looked really angry.” That’s a lie, you didn’t see him, but whatever. “Is that his default setting?” 

“Oh, he doesn’t have a friendly face, but he has a reason to be mad now.” He lowers his voice, “He’s trying to keep it a secret but nothing happens without me knowing. Apparently he lost some important files and he’s on a manhunt to get them back before word gets to Donald. He found the culprit yesterday and I” he points to himself, “found out where Wolf will deal with them.” 

You frown. “Where? Why?” 

He answers with the same hushed tone, “Pass Education’s rooftop.” He leans in. “Don’t tell Dean.” You nod. “Jake wants to watch. I told you about the White Mamba…” You nod again and he continues, “He’ll be there. Even if Wolf wins, Jake wants to see what’s up with the new guy. And I want some new information.”

So Wolf will get this over with today and he’ll feel better tomorrow. Good. Time will pass quickly since you and So-min planned to hang out today at her place. Just a little bit more waiting…

So-min has a lot of books. She loves thrillers and it shows. As you read the titles and admire the covers, she drops a bunch of snacks on her bed. You quickly take a photo of a cover.

YOU

(photo)

you

“Come here, let’s talk about boys!” So-min says, now lying in bed, opening a pack of jelly beans. 

“No.” You smirk, lying down on your side to face her. You grab yourself a bag of corn chips to snack on. “Just your boy, please.” 

She laughs but you know that’s what she was waiting for. There’s a guy from another class she has a crush on and she’s been overthinking every interaction they had and asking for your opinion. She’s almost convinced he likes her back but can’t bring herself to confess. She starts going over every thing she considers evidence to him liking her. He asks about her favorite books and he brought her banana milk twice because she said she likes it and oh, she loves spending time with him and she can see it in the way he smiles that he enjoys those little moments too-

“I started reading that book because you like it!” You remind her. “Friends do that too.”

She softly sighs. “They do… but with him it’s different. Ok, those aren’t good examples…” She laughs like she always does when she talks about him. “I don’t know how to explain it. If there’s even a way. I feel like I just know he likes me.”

“Why wouldn’t he?” You jokingly roll your eyes. You eat a couple of chips in silence before you ask, “How do you know you like him?”

She raises an eyebrow and giggles as she talks, “What, you never had a crush?” 

You press your lips together, not saying anything. 

“Oh!” She stops giggling. “Oh! Well…” 

“How does it feel like?” You ask with a faint laugh. “Come on, show me your world!”

That pushes her back into that dreamily state she had earlier. “I just… think about him all the time. All the time! And I want him to be everywhere in my life and I don’t know how to say it but I just feel… I just feel in love!” She starts giggling, hiding her face with her hands. “I’m sorry I don’t know what to compare it to… I just feel… a lot. In a good way!”

You’ve been smiling the entire time to encourage her to talk about it but you don’t get it and you don't know what to say after that. 

Luckily, your phone rings. It’s Dean.

“You with Timothy?” He sounds pissed off. 

“No. Why?”

“Shit. Why isn’t he answering? You know where he is?”

“No. Did something happen?”

He angrily mumbles something and hangs up on you. Oh well. 

Wolf’s name pops up at the top of your screen. 

WOLF

especially with that face full of blood

got my ass beat

What the heck? 

YOU

Bad?

WOLF

jusst need a fucking moment

He never told you he got hurt, not even that one time you heard him say he lost a fight, and you saw how the majority of his fights look like… The fact that he’s hinting at it means it’s serious enough. 

You realize it's late and in ten minutes you’re on your way home. You can’t believe he lost. What does that even look like? He looked like a mess in that video and he was winning! Did he break anything? Is he bleeding out somewhere or did he pass out after sending you that message? You look around, remembering the place Timothy mentioned. Not far from here if you walk fast. You’re already power walking, fueled by your anger.

No. No, if he wants to die, that's up to him. You don’t care. What if you didn’t move and you were still far from here? You wouldn’t be able to do anything just like all his past fights had you. Your feet start carrying you in that building's direction anyway. The what if’s don’t matter. You moved here and you can at least check if he’s badly hurt by normal people's standards. 

No, you should go back. Go home. What are you even going to do? Peek around a corner to make sure he’s moving and then leave? And isn’t he always with someone? What if they see you and beat you up for intruding? They’d take him to a hospital if he was hurt, right? This is so stupid. He can take care of himself!

“Yo.” 

You stop and look left, squinting at the person sitting in the dark alley, on the ground, with their back leaning against the building’s wall. You should’ve known. You’ve been constantly running into him since you moved. Of course you wouldn’t have to try to get to him. 

“Come here.” He says. He doesn’t shout and his voice sounds harsh and tired. 

You don’t move but you force your eyes to check his condition from here. He wasn’t kidding about that blood. “Why?”

He’s flicking a lighter again and again. “Go get me some cigs.”

Oh, he’s got to be kidding. You’re out here fearing for his life and he-

“Your face is covered in blood and you want cigarettes ?” You snap.

“Wait.” He turns his head towards you slowly. “Come closer.” 

You go as close as you think you can handle without having the opportunity to strangle him for not taking care of his fucking self.

“Ah…” He sighs. “You Jake’s girl.” What the heck? How many times did he hit his head? “Shit, my ears are playing tricks on me… Go get me a pack of-” 

“You’re fucking unbelievable!” You turn and walk away, not before you mock his tone, “ Jake’s girl .” 

He shouts something like get back here right when you turn right. You passed a convenience store on your way here.

You don’t have a fake ID but, when you bat your eyelashes at the high school boy behind the counter and insist that it’s for your dad and he’ll kill you if you go back without them, he gives in and scans Wolf’s stupid cigarettes. You get him painkillers and a couple of things to disinfect and treat those cuts and fly out the door back to him. He better use these too.

He’s staring at his phone like he’s looking straight into a turned on flashlight. Screen’s not even that bright. He looks up when you drop the bag in his lap with a quick “Here.”

He checks what’s inside one by one and takes the cigarettes only. You should’ve gotten some water for those pills. 

He has blood in his hair and his clothes are torn apart and there’s not an inch of his skin you can see that’s not damaged in some way. 

You can’t help but voice out one out of a million things you want to yell at him. “Thought you were strong and shit.”

He doesn’t say anything. Stares at the cigarettes, looks at you for a moment then goes back to staring at them. If you stay here a second longer you’re going to burst. You walk away and, when you look back one last time to check on him, he’s smoking, still staring at that damn pack of cigs, the light accentuating his frown. 

Must’ve hit his head pretty hard.

Chapter Text

You check your phone when you get home and find two new messages.

WOLF

its been s whikle 

since i jad a xhallenge 

Okay, you can’t help but burst out laughing. You don’t know if that was all he was doing, but you imagine him staring at that screen for five minutes or so while you were away to write these two messages and not even noticing he gave you a riddle. 

Actually, no, it's not funny.

YOU

wow I’m so glad you weren’t hurt badly

as in that was sarcasm

as in can you even see straight

as in go to a hospital

He calls you instead of replying.

“It’s not that serious” He says, the moment you answer the call. “I’m going home now. I’ll clean these scratches and call you back.”

“Why? Go to sleep. You sound exhausted.” 

You hear a car horn and a couple of profanities before he answers. “Not tired. A lot on my mind. Almost there.” 

He hangs up with no warning.

You eat and take a shower before you throw yourself in bed and check your phone. He called you a few minutes ago. You call him back. 

“Where were you?” He’s already sounding more like his usual self. 

“Showering. Was I supposed to sit tight and wait?” You ask as you try to find the most comfortable position.

He groans but doesn’t comment, instead telling you some details about his fight, then going on a tangent about the guy who stole his things (who wasn’t even the guy he fought against??) and his weird contradicting behavior, then argued with you about what’s considered a fair fight and then telling you about this weird chick who looked like she had a grudge against him but helped him nonetheless.

“Why would she have a grudge? You hit girls?” 

“Not really. Unless they do something really disrespectful.” 

Like looking at you, something completely strange and reasonable to beat up someone for , you think to yourself. “So what would I have to do for you to beat me up?” you say instead.

He’s silent. You wait. Wait. “I don’t fucking know. I never hit a girl. I’ll tell you when I find out.” he grumbles.

You think, in your situation, you might have the best chances to make it to the top of the list. Good thing you won’t ever tell him and you’re not already second guessing your decision.

“So they weren’t the ones who stole the files?” you ask with a hushed voice. 

Timothy leans in and copies you, nodding, “Yes! It was just a misunderstanding!” 

Wolf was right. Those guys aren’t his friends. It’s just a surprise he got played when he didn’t trust them much in the first place. You never even heard of this guy. 

The subject gets boring quickly so, when lunch break comes, you take So-min to get you two something to eat and entertain yourself by listening to what she was up to last night after you left. She talked for over an hour with her crush and he confessed and now they’re dating and everything is good everyone’s happy and-

“He’s already stealing you from me?” you gasp.

“Just this weekend!” She giggles. “We didn’t even have something planned!” 

“We could have!” You’re joking. You’re happy for her. “Does he have a cute friend?” You raise and lower your eyebrows in a repetitive motion. 

“I’ll ask!”

“I was joking.” You admit.

“I wasn’t…”

You hold eye contact for a few seconds as a warning.

WOLF

I just fucking hate this 

It’s full of fuckers who act superior

You know I hate that

YOU

yeah

what can you do though

WOLF

leave

fuck else am I gonna do?

I’ll leave and find another way to get out this shithole

YOU

just like that?

leave?

WOLF

yes? 

HA

I forgot you always complicate shit

YOU

think*

WOLF

fuck off

School is so hard. How do others make it look so easy? Every time you try to remember something your brain asks you to log in first.

You lean back on the chair, stretch your legs and groan in annoyance. 

“What now?” Dean’s alone today. He’s been talking about a new game with Timothy ever since he stepped in. 

“I need to…” You pause for suspense. “...make time to study…”

“Just go to cram school.” Timothy chimes in. “It helps with learning and allows for some improvement in self-discipline.”

Ouch. Why did he look at you like that? You have discipline!

You cross your arms. “I have time. I don’t have that much time.” Your eyes start to shine, probably, as you get an idea. You grab the sides of your chair and hop one centimeter closer to him. “Can we study together?” 

Dean snickers. Timothy makes a face too typical of him when he’s cornered, stands up, grabs his chair, drags it fifteen centimeters away from you, and starts telling Dean which combination of moves he found to deal the most damage.

A few days later he offers to study together for a couple of hours. He has one rule. Be quiet. Ask questions at the end. 

You have a lot of them, to say the least, but he is a surprisingly good teacher. 

You’re walking home, planning to get some takeout, eat with your brothers and then relax to give your brain a break. When you walk out of the store with two bags in one hand, you see two familiar faces across the street. Jake frantically waves at you to make sure he gets your attention and motions for you to wait. Wolf stands with both hands in his pockets and gives you a glance before looking back at Jake. His face is still bruised. It looks worse than you expected it to. You can see a still bruised hand from here when he takes his phone out of his pocket.

You only notice Jake crossing the street when Wolf turns and walks away. You give him a thankful smile when he takes the bags out of your hand and offers to walk you home. 

WOLF

(photo)

let’s watch this

has 8 episodes 

YOU

ok 

we can watch 2 tonight I’m not that sleepy

He made you watch the whole thing. Well, he didn’t have to try that hard at convincing. You didn’t even notice it was past 2AM and then you just told yourself what’s another two hours and now it's almost 5.

“Why would I want to have ten other people with me if I was trying to avoid zombies? They’d get in my fucking way. And annoy me the entire time.” He huffs then continues. “Do you wanna spend the end of the world with random people?”

“Not random people!” You defend your choice. “Friends!” 

“What friends?”

“Well, even if you annoy me, you, and I made thi-”

He exhales loudly. “Since when are we friends?”

“I’m rolling my eyes. In case you wanted to know. What else would we be?”

He’s quiet for a second. “...acquaintances?”

“I’m going to sleep, friend.”

“Good to know, girl I talk to occasionally.” He sounds so serious.

“Sweet dreams, guy I happen to know.” You smirk and hang up.

He’s not your fucking friend. No. A friend would never do this to you. You’re barely putting one foot in front of the other, walking around this suddenly too big and confusing convenience store, trying to find something sweet to give you an energy boost. You’ve been sooooo sleepy all day. You lost count of how many times you yawned just in this shop. You grab an iced coffee, tired of looking, and hurry to pay. Yawn. Your eyes have been teary all day. He’s dead to you. 

He’s right in front of you. Yawn. He’s sitting at one of the tables outside with his head on the table. His knuckles are still bruised. Three guys are smoking and whispering to each other. 

“He’s been sleeping all day.” Says one of them. “Someone accidentally woke him up and he beat him up and then-”

“He went back to sleep! I saw that!” Says another.

“I’ve never seen him like this. Must be recharging after…” Adds the guy with black lipstick.

You yawn again and head home. 

He’s dead to you.

Chapter Text

The moment the teacher walks out, So-min is at your desk with the widest smile on her face. “I have good news!”

You raise your eyebrows in anticipation.

“Eun-yeong is planning a triple blind date,” she continues, “and Ji-hyun wants to go but they need one more pretty girl,” she points to you, “otherwise they’ll cancel it.”

You blink with no emotion. “And the good news?”

She clicks her tongue and you can no longer hold back your grin. “At least give it a try!”

OK. How bad can it be? Maybe you’ll even like the guy. You’ve been bored lately with Jake suddenly busy and Timothy disappearing on his secret mission . “When?”

She gets excited again. “This Saturday!”

“Ah… I can’t.” You rest your chin on your hand. “Eunchan’s throwing a party, remember?”

“That’s later! Here,” she takes out her phone and taps a few times, “I texted you Ji-hyun’s number. She’ll give you the details.” 

“Fine.” You stand up. “Can we go eat now? I’m starving.”

You decide you need to get something new and cute to be sure you make a good impression on that date tomorrow so, since So-min’s busy, you go shopping alone. You already checked out four stores and you hated everything. This is not one of your good days. You decide to just walk around and judge by the clothes on display if it’s even worth it to go into the stores. Boring. Boys only. Ugly. Not for me. Not for me. Wait. 

You stop right in front of the entrance of the store after you see a familiar logo. Isn’t this what Wolf’s wearing almost all of the time? He looks like he has some white shirts in his wardrobe but, other than that, this is basically all he wears. What does he like about this style so much? It's simple besides the logo, which is big on everything.

You go in out of curiosity. 

Some of the pants have a more subtle logo on them. You wonder if he buys his from here too and you just didn’t notice. 

Jackets are ugly. Hopefully, he didn’t end up getting one of these. He never told you which one he settled on.

You make your way to an array of dark t-shirts. Some of these are better than others. Well, somehow it makes sense this is what he likes. 

You turn around when you sense someone hovering over you. Wolf is staring at your backpack, thrown over one shoulder. You’ve never seen that expression on his face. He looks… deep in thought. This is the first time you’re close enough to smell the smoke lingering on his clothes. You grimace. “What?”

He snaps out of his meditation session and returns to his bored bitch resting face. “This is the man’s section.”

You look at a mannequin a few feet behind him. “And?”

He grabs a gray t-shirt and shoves it in your face. “This isn’t Jake’s style at all.”

You take a deep breath. Not that again. Where did he even get it from?

“What, are you helping me choose a present? Do you work here?” You tease.

His eye twitches as he looks at your mouth when you’re speaking then looks you in the eyes, unimpressed. You look down at his tense shoulders, the clothes hanging on your right, the floor, the t-shirt still in his hand, now at this side, his split knuckles— Why are they always like that? You’ve never seen his hands without them. Does it hurt? Does it sting? Why doesn’t he put something on them? Or bandage his hands? How hard do you have to hit someone for your hands to… look like… 

You didn’t mean to move your hand. Really. Your brain caught up with the motion too late, when your fingers were already brushing the scabs, or at least trying to. He pulls his hand away like it burns and takes half a step back. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he yells, panting. 

You lock eyes with him, green, wide, shocked behind the thick lenses. Familiar. They make you forget how to breathe properly. 

You don’t know how long it takes you to look away and make your legs cooperate but, when you do, you mechanically get out of there, sprinting home, unable to think until you slam the bedroom door behind you.

You didn’t get anything yesterday, besides a reminder that you have tachycardia, so you just chose one of your favorite shirts and plain pants and put all your confidence in your best necklace and a cute braid.

You shouldn’t have bothered. Why did you even agree to this? Why do you get reminders of Wolf wherever you go? Out of all the guys living around here, why is your date one of his friends? Scratch — subordinates. Sigh. Well, you’re glad he’s not a friend of his. He’s so unlikeable. He’s good at makeup, you can at least admit that, though you wouldn’t say that style fits his features. That’s pretty much the only compliment you can give him. He’s so smug. He won’t stop talking about himself. You zone out ten minutes into the conversation. The only things you managed to say were your name, age, school, “thanks”, “really?”, and “no way.”

He took a bunch of selfies of you two and wanted you to follow each other on Instagram before you told him you don’t have one. 

Ji-hyun isn’t lucky either. Her date’s been asking her questions the entire time and, when she asked him something, he gave her an answer that basically said nothing and then asked her some more questions. At least the guy talking to Eun-yeong is decent. He’s sweet, considerate and he scolded Hayden when he asked if you can unbutton your shirt a little when he was taking selfies.

You’re never doing this again. 

At least you and Ji-hyun bonded over this on your way home.

"Jake, tell me the truth. You're on your way to Eunjang, aren't you?" Dean’s gripping the phone so tight you expect it to turn into dust any time now. “This son of a bitch hung up on me!”

You loudly put the boba cup on the table, concerned. “Eunjang? Why?” 

“He’s going to fight Ben Park all alone…” Timothy answers, looking at the floor. He sound scared.

Boys and fighting. When does it end, really.

“I thought he was still planning that. He hasn’t said anything about today.” You say.

Eunchan’s leg is shaking, restless. “It's my fault. Jake didn't want me to get into trouble again.. because my suspension just ended. That's why he went by himself... He's always been like this. “ He clenches his fists and stands up. “But there's no way I'm staying out of this."

Dean nods and puts his phone in the pocket of his jeans."We should hurry." He turns to you. “Not you. You’re not coming.”

“Why not?” You almost whine.

“You’re not. And you’re not following us either.” He turns to Eunchan’s friend and asks, “can you make sure she goes home?”

The guy shakes his head and steps closer. "I'm coming too. I've got my own bone to pick with Eunjang."

“I’m not a child, Dean!”

He’s not changing his mind. “I can’t fight if I’m focused on protecting two friends.” 

You look at Timothy, defeated, then sigh. “Fine. But you keep me updated.”

The four of them run out without saying anything else.

You’re worried. You can’t really imagine Jake fighting but he must be good if he’s supposed to be stronger than Wolf. Still, you wish you were with them all. You don’t like waiting and you hate not knowing what’s going on. 

It’s really dark when you start walking home so you decide on calling Wolf, for company, to distract you from the scary scenarios you are already coming up with. He picks up on the first ring. 

“What?”

“What are you doing?” you mumble.

“Eating.”

Your mouth unintentionally stretches into a smile. You press your lips together, but eventually give in and ask, “...fried chicken?”

Chapter Text

They look fucked up. Dean is covered in bandages. Eunchan’s face is swollen and covered in bandages. Timothy looks like he hasn’t been with them at all.

“Are you gonna stare all day?” Dean asks without looking. School just ended and you’re all walking around trying to agree on a place to eat. All except Jake.

“I’m just glad I listened to you.”

He rolls his eyes. “I’ll shut up next time, then”

You gasp but don’t manage to reply because Eunchan starts whining. “I can’t believe Jake lost, man! Not even in a million years would I have- I thought he won and then it was like…” He goes on and on, saying the same thing, worded differently.

When he pauses to sigh, you take the opportunity to ask, “Where’s Jake anyway?”

“Hospital.” Dean says.

“Is he that bad?” You shout.

He looks at you like that’s the stupidest thing he’s heard you say, which you doubt it’s true, while Timothy answers, “No, he’s with Kenny.”

“Oh.”

When Eunchan starts his rant again, Dean screams in frustration, “Fuck’s sake! Let’s go eat already!”

Your phone vibrates in your jean’s pocket.

“I want chili wings! I told you that like five times!” Eunchan screams back.

Maybe it’s him. You take out your phone to check as the three of them argue.

“I said I want bulgogi…”

It’s an email. Sigh. No new messages. Maybe he replied and you accidentally deleted the notification.

“We had that last time!”

Nope. All the messages sent to Wolf today and last night are still on delivered.

“What about you?” Someone’s waving their hand in front of your face. You look up. Dean. “What do you want?”

“Huh?”

“That’s it!” He screams. “Rock, paper, scissors!”

YOU

(link)

I’ll buy this for you too

if you wanna play

Wolf is busy. That’s what he told you, at least. You’ve been seeing him around, especially at the convenience store, which he seems to frequent, and to your frustration he’s usually on his phone. Yet he doesn’t have time to text.

“Tim.”

“I told you not to call me that.”

“Any drama in the Union recently?”

He scratches his cheek. “I don’t think so. The Union’s tense, laying low right now after everything…”

What else is he busy with? Family, maybe? But he always told you about it in the past. This time, he’s just busy.

Ji-hyun catches up to you on your way to the cafeteria. You talk a little about the upcoming exam but then she changes the subject to the date last Saturday.

“I think that guy might like you. He posted a pic of you on Instagram.” She takes out her phone and types something, then swipes up repeatedly. “That’s weird.”

“What is?”

“It’s not on his profile.” She frowns and swipes around more. “I swear I saw it yesterday…”

You don’t really care about that guy but you remember Wolf told you his Instagram a while back. Since his profile’s public, you checked it once out of curiosity. It had, like, four photos in total, but he had a few stories. Maybe he posted one today.

You go to the bathroom to check, in case anyone might look over your shoulder and wonder why you’re specifically looking at Wolf Keum’s posts. Like it’s a felony. Nothing. Just three photos of him and two with his group.

You sigh and go to class.

It’s pouring and you didn’t bring an umbrella to school today. The weather was nicer this morning. You’re soaked. “Wait! I don’t understand anything you’re saying, Timothy.” You run as fast as you can, phone glued to your ear, eyes fixed on the convenience store.

Of course he’s here too.

You try to catch your breath and hope not to faint. Finally, shelter. “Ok, say that again…” Breathe in, breathe out…  

Wolf is a few feet away and somehow everyone in his group has a closed umbrella in hand. They probably stole them. He’s staring. You look away, locking eyes with an orange haired guy instead. The fuck? That’s Eun-yeong’s date. That guy’s in Wolf’s gang as well? He didn’t act like a delinquent at all when you had that blind date.

“Can you come stay with Timothy? I’m going after those bastards.” Dean sounds pissed. You have no idea what’s going on.

“What bastards?”

“He told you!”

“I couldn’t hear anything!”

Wolf’s guys watch his every step as he starts walking towards you.

There’s silence in which you imagine Dean throwing the phone like a baseball.

Instead, he passes it back to Timothy. “Some Yoosun guys beat me up… They were spreading lies about Jake. I corrected them and…”

“You look like a wet dog.” You hear Wolf say while you’re staring at his shoes a few centimeters away from yours. With the umbrella still in his left hand, he quickly zips up your hoodie until his hand brushes against your chin, then he puts your hood up and pulls at its strings hard, until the material wraps around your face, trapping your hand and phone too. You dare to look up, expecting a cocky grin or some type of amusement on his face. Instead, you’re met with nothing. There’s no emotion in his features. “Better.” He says. You watch his Adam’s apple as he gulps.

With your free hand you snatch the umbrella from his grip and open it while you run. “I’ll give it back!” You shout. Someone shouts back but when you look over your shoulder in fear that they’re after you all you see is them walking in the other direction, Wolf holding another umbrella as two of his guys try to squeeze themselves under a single one behind him.

Taking a hot shower and wrapping yourself in a thick blanket after you get rained on is heaven. Timothy is fine. He has a few bruises but he was more pissed off at them badmouthing Jake than he was about the beating.

There’s a new message when you check your phone.

WOLF

busy?

YOU

no

getting ready to sleep

why?

He texts you two nights later. He didn’t even answer you that night. You don’t know what’s up with him or if anything’s wrong or if you did something to piss him off and you’re even more frustrated by the fact that you can’t even walk up to him to talk when you see him.

WOLF

(photo)

He doesn’t say anything for two days and then sends a photo of him smoking at that damn table in front of the store.

YOU

not busy anymore?

WOLF

Not now

just catching my breath

YOU

why

what did you do

WOLF

had a little fight

my head’s killing me

YOU

then take some ibuprofen or something

WOLF

nah

this cig will fix it

He’s unbelievable. You put your phone down and continue eating, apologizing to your aunt since she hates phones at the table.

He calls you a few minutes later. You apologize again and go outside to answer.

“What?”

“How come you choose to stop texting me now?”

“Oh, so you were getting those?”

“Was just busy.”

You stay silent for a few seconds, feeling childish, then change the subject, “Don’t just sit there. Take something for the headache.”

“Can’t.” A pause. “Hurt my leg.”

You clench your jaw. Why is he always getting hurt? He should have a first aid kit with him at all times. “Ask someone, then.”

“No one’s here. I’ll just put my head down a little bit. I’ll call you later.”

He hangs up. You call again twice. He doesn’t answer. If this jerk dies with his ass at that table you’re going to lose it.

You go back inside and grab your wallet.

Asshole.

Your aunt doesn’t live far from you so it’s a short walk to the convenience store but you make a detour to buy the meds.

Jerk.

When you’re at a safe distance from the store you spot him, his head still on the table. You were planning to wait around until a kind face walked by but you’re impatient so when you see a highschooler smoking and walking towards you, you grab his arm just before he walks past.

You give him a good amount of money and ask him to give the bag to that purple-haired guy without mentioning you.

“Just play the Good Samaritan, will you?” you say, before pushing him into action. You hide and watch to make sure he doesn’t just throw the bag and walk away.

Luckily, he taps Wolf’s shoulder and sets the bag on the table.

You leave when you see Wolf lifting his head.

Chapter Text

You should tell Wolf the truth. You should’ve told him from the start. Things are changing anyway and you can’t go on like this. You can’t split yourself in half, you can’t look at Wolf without seeing your friend too and you can’t turn the other way when you could be there for him. Not to mention that the more time passes the smaller the distance becomes between the Wolf you know and the one you can now touch. You used to worry about him, going to sleep feeling useless, and now, when you had been lucky enough to be in the same space as him, you’re going out of your way to stay away.

What’s the worst that could happen? Would he cut ties with you completely? Will you have to walk past him and not only act as if you don’t know him but also know that he’s doing the same? Will you cross the street when you see him just to avoid the look of contempt in his eyes?

Would he just beat you up? Is that more like him? Get it out of his system?

Would he forgive you after?

He didn’t call you back that night. He didn’t reply to your messages after either. You’re getting used to it. You’re forcing yourself to get used to it. Wait until he deals with whatever he’s busy with. It’s how you two move, after all.

“This is new.” You say, looking back at Jake who’s walking behind you, his pace slower as he’s distracted typing something on his phone. “You don’t have to walk me home.”

He speaks without looking up, “I’m not. I just wanted to spend time together.” He shows you that wide, excited smile and catches up to you. “I just finished volume 70. That reminds me,” he pokes the keychain attached to your backpack, “is Law your favorite? You only have keychains with him.”

“He is.” But that’s not the reason why. The reason is that you made the big mistake of asking Wolf to choose more than once and then followed through. He always chose the ones with Law. “I have Luffy and Chopper too…”

You talk about Two Piece until you get home. This time, you avoid spoiling anything.

He stops you by grabbing your shoulder just before you open the gate. You look at him, frowning in confusion. His expression is a lot more serious than earlier.

“Has anyone been bothering you lately?” You shake your head. “You’d tell us if that happened, right?” He adds.

“Yeah…” You reply, unsure of where this is going.

Nowhere. It was going nowhere. He smiles and leaves, waving bye and see you tomorrow while you suspiciously stare.

When you get to school an hour late everyone is staring at you, except for a classmate who’s sweeping in the back, and Wolf is sitting at your desk with the seat beside him empty. You approach cautiously, looking around at the frightened faces watching you. Some of them look hateful, like they’ve been waiting for this, like they know what’s coming and they think you deserve it. The desks look more like the ones at your old school and the rainy weather makes the class darker. It looks like it’s afternoon. All you can hear is the broom’s head being dragged around the floor. You wonder how Wolf got in by wearing his school’s uniform. The blazer is a darker red and Wolf’s hair color is off as well, his hair lacking volume and a few pieces of his bangs sticking to his forehead. He’s trying in vain to light a cigarette. You put it together when you get closer. There’s juice all over him and the desk and there’s a puddle already formed on the floor and his cigarette is soaked as well and there’s a big black bag you saw him carry once with a golden text that glows and makes you squint and suddenly there’s heavy silence and when you look around everyone is gone besides the guy sweeping as the broom strokes don’t make any noise.

“Clean it up.”

You turn your head towards Wolf again and flinch when you see him standing right in front of you. He grabs your collar and you look down, only now realizing you’re wearing his school uniform too.

“Clean this up, you piece of shit!” He yells.

When you try to look him in the eyes, the shine from the bag’s logo blinds you and you close your eyes as you’re being pulled towards him.

You startle awake.

It’s Saturday and you’ve been waiting to hang out with So-min all week. It’s nothing much. You decided to go shopping with her for her cousin’s wedding and get something to eat after but it’s something that was supposed to relax you and help you stop ruminating and instead of doing that you’re on the sidewalk talking to Timothy on the phone while your friend is bothered by an overconfident guy who did a double take thinking he has a chance.

“What’s up with you guys lately?” You hiss. When they asked you yesterday if you have plans for the weekend and you told them about this, Dean argued with you for ten minutes because he wanted to come along and really, why would he do that? “Yes, I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be?” You reassure him, watching So-min try and fail at making the douchebag accept a no. His face is a few centimeters away from her and her arms are crossed and the way she’s standing makes her appear so small and vulnerable. You hate this guy.

“Talk to you later then!” He says and you hang up, impatient to get between the two.

“Come on. Just a drink. One. I’ll make it worth your time, doll, I promise.”

“She said no and you’ve already wasted enough of her time.” You snap, grabbing her wrist and gently pulling her towards you.

The guy straightens his back, keeps his hands in his pockets and looks down at you like there’s a pest in his way.

“Did I ask you?” He slaps back, walking towards you two. “I hate attention seeking bitches. Did I ask you? Huh?” Your heart’s going jump out of your chest and never return. Why are guys such assholes? Why can’t they just listen?

He grabs your arm and shoves you to the side with such force you barely manage not to fall so you charge at him and hit his head with your bag twice before he takes it out of your hold and throws it on the ground. You feel your left cheek burning before you realize he slapped you and you blink trying to stop your eyes from tearing up.

“Move.” You hear someone say.

You turn your back to everyone and fall on your knees heaving.

“Fuck you want?” Your aggressor says.

“You’re in my way.”

So-min kneels in front of you and lifts your head to look at your face, apologizing like it’s her fault. She starts rummaging for something in her bag.

“Walk around, bitch.”

“One, two…”

“I’ll fucking kill-”

You quickly turn around when you hear someone crash right behind you. Wolf is standing right above your attacker, whose head is right at your feet, punching him relentlessly. You stare at his jade green eyes, fixed on his target, his glasses’ lenses sometimes catching the light in such a way that they go white and you have to tilt your head just to be able to see what’s behind them again.

The fist’s grip around your heart lessens and your breathing returns to a regular pace.

He's done in an instant, getting up and turning his back to you without saying a word. So-min’s wiping your cheek, though you don’t know why. There’s blood on his knuckles. “Wait.” You say, looking down at the tissues your friend placed on the ground and taking one out. Wolf looks over his shoulder at your outstretched hand holding a tissue then shifts his gaze to your face and clenches his jaw. He ignores you and walks away, not even looking back when you thank him.

He’s still texting you twice a week. Max. Maybe he got bored of you. What’s the use in telling him now then? You’ll just complicate things, really. Just go on with your life and look at him once in a while when you have the chance.

The swelling goes away in two days but there’s still a small cut on your cheekbone on Friday. You’re exhausted without reason. There’s a heaviness in your chest you can’t throw away, not even in those fun little moments with friends, like right now.

You’re in the cafeteria picking at food and listening to Eunchan listing all the reasons why you should take him with you tonight when you go out for drinks. Yes, that’s who you’ve become. Last time you had a drink you drank soju thinking it’s water. But alcohol is supposed to make you feel better, right? Loosen up. You’re at least giving it a try. One drink only.

“And I’m friends with everyone. Who’s going? Come on, try me!” He says, leaning over the table.

“I was already going to let you come and also I have no fucking idea.” You move a rice grain a little bit to the left with your chopsticks. “I just know Ji-hyun’s going.”

“Who’s that?”

You raise an eyebrow. “I thought you knew everyone.”

He sticks out his tongue.

You got a fake ID for nothing. They didn’t even ask for it. There’s more than ten people here. You had one drink and you don’t feel anything. You’re a little sleepy actually. This is not going well. Eunchan’s really social. He’s already friends with everyone (by his standards) while you talked to two guys in an hour and patted yourself on the back for it.

You gulp down another drink. Everyone’s so loud here and there’s a sour smell all around that looks like it only bothers you and you’re going to throw up if you let it get in your lungs one more time.

You walk out and greet the fresh air. So nice outside with the stars shining and the moon almost full and it’s so quiet and there’s no foul smells if you don’t count the smoke scratching your throat right now. You cough. Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up.

You don’t want to look to the side. You know who you’ll see. You take a few steps to your right to put some more distance in between you two.

“Of course he’s here too.” Of course he’s fucking everywhere besides your messages. You don’t care. But really, why lie about being busy when he could’ve just told you he hates you now or something?

“Fuck you talking to?”

He can read your mind? Nah. No way. You’re not best friends anymore. That’s over. Bye bye.

“Myself. Just having a little chat with the most reliable person I know. Or not. Actually, I might be the stupidest person I know. Why am I even here. I don’t even like alcohol. I mean I didn’t know that but I know it now. It has that taste of alcohol, you know what I mean? It’s not alcohol, it’s alcohol. You get it.” You let out a long sigh. “I’m sleepy. I should’ve gotten my bag and put it here. As a pillow. A nap and I’ll be brand new. I should get it, actually. You think if I drink another two glasses they’d cancel each other out? You think I’ll feel like… not drunk but like… in between… not thinking but not not thinking either… I should go get some… I’m never drinking again…”

He's just smoking and staring. Before you walk towards the door, it opens, the guy who was sitting in front of you walking out and coming straight to you. You cover your mouth when you yawn.

“Didn’t know where you disappeared to. D’you wanna take a walk with me?”

You shake your head and stop when you instantly feel dizzy. “Not really…”

“You wan’ another drink?”

You open your mouth to reply but Wolf talks before you find out what you were going to say. “She doesn’t.”

They stare at one another a couple seconds before the guy looks at you and asks, “You know him?”

“You don’t?” Wolf says.

The guy looks at him again. What was his name? Do you know it? You don’t think so. Why is Wolf talking over you. That’s so rude. And

“why is he always looking for a fight?” You mumble.

The guy takes your hand and takes a few steps towards the stairs. “Leave him.” You don’t know what he says next since you’re too focused on shooting laser beams out of your eyes at his hand. You try to free your hand when it doesn’t work. Why’s he so stroooonnnng?

“What’s wrong?” The guy asks.

“Let go.” You say it three times thinking he can’t hear you, yet he’s not listening. You try and fail to unclench his hand with your free one.

“Let’s just go on a walk." He says, wiggling his eyebrows. "Have a little fun.”

He’s scary. He’s an asshole. Everyone’s an asshole lately. The laser beams aren’t destroying his face either but a cigarette butt hits him right in the temple.

Wolf is closer now.

Your hand’s finally free. You take a step back as they stare each other down and insult one another until the guy turns to you and says, “Wait here. I’ll deal with this bitch first.”

Wolf let’s out a humorless laugh then looks at you and calls you over. In a second you’re behind him and in another second he kicks the guy in the stomach, causing him to fall, then kicks him two more times. That’s it. That was the fight.

Your eyes follow Wolf as he walks towards you. Maybe not everyone is an asshole. Well, your friend Wolf is an asshole. This not really a stranger is your guardian angel. Why else would he be there every time you’re in trouble? There’s no other explanation.

“Why are you seeing losers like these?” He lights another cigarette.

“First and last time.” You mutter, looking at his shoes.

“Better be.”

You turn and walk toward the stairs. You can’t wait to get in bed and sleep. You’re never doing this again.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” He shouts behind you.

You turn, frowning. You didn’t expect him to be that guy. You slowly approach him. Well, he did save you twice. You purse your lips intending to kiss his cheek as a thank you. He pushes your face with his hand, throwing you off balance. Don’t throw up.

Immediately, he starts yelling, “What the fuck are you doing? Your bag! You stupid fucking-”

“OH!”

You go in, grab your bag quickly and leave.

Halfway home you feel someone following you. You walk faster, seeing his purple hair in the corner of your eye. He’s gonna kill you for that, isn’t he? You can’t even run. You’re already dizzy.

He doesn’t catch up to you though and you make it home in one piece.

Later, after a panicked Eunchan calls you and asks where you are and hangs up when you say you’re home and after you sober up a little, you go over the events from tonight as you’re lying in bed trying to sleep and, just as your eyelids get heavy, you jump out of it when you realize Wolf called you by your name.                

Chapter Text

You couldn’t sleep all night but this time you can’t blame Wolf’s presence — or the lack of it in your life lately — for it. Your room was surprisingly hot the entire time, there was a sound of static coming from somewhere, your brothers kept turning in their sleep in the other room and at exactly 5:24 you heard a car’s engine which turned out to be the last straw. 

You get up and groan when you get the last piece of the puzzle. Your period’s early.

Six hours later you’re still in bed but now you’re also cursing the ibuprofen for not doing its job in twelve minutes. Your mom told you to stay home today even though you insisted you’re not feeling that bad and you can handle this and school at the same time.

That was long ago. In the meantime your thighs and back started to hurt too and you’re tired and unbearably sweaty no matter what you do. You don’t even have the urge to waste time on your phone. You’ve been lying on your side with your legs glued to your chest and staring at your desk doing the forbidden: thinking.

Does he know? Did he just randomly find out that-random-girl’s name? It’s not like you’re the only one with it… No. No, Wolf is smart. That’s probably why he’s acting odd. When did he find out? How? What is he thinking? Why didn’t he say anything? Why did he just stop talking? Why doesn’t he ignore you in real life too? Why doesn’t he lash out? Every time you come with an answer there’s something to counterattack it. The two versions of him are still clashing when you try to picture them together. You really need some sleep if you want to come close to figuring this out.

You grab your phone when the screen silently lights up.

WOLF

convenience store at 7.

last chance.

You throw your head back on your pillow, let your phone slip out of your hand, and loudly groan. Whyyyyyy? You’re already dying!

Alright. Let’s close our eyes and get some rest and actually, just in case, set up an alarm. The last thing you want is to not even show up and explain yourself. You reach for your phone when you hear your youngest brother screaming at the top of his lungs, which means he’s fine but he won’t stop until you check. Why is he even home? You thought you were alone. You drag yourself out of bed and down the stairs until you see him in the kitchen sitting on the floor with his hand on his forehead. You kneel in front of him and immediately regret it when it makes your legs hurt more so you sit down instead.

When he stops screaming he tells you he tripped and hit his head on the corner of the parson chair. The pain is not his concern.

“Is it ugly?” He shrieks, eyes teary. “Is it ugly???”

You forcefully pull his hand away to look at his face and answer, matching his tone: “There’s nothing there!!”

He’s set on irritating you today. “Is it ugly? AM I UGLY???”

“THERE’S LITERALLY NOTHING THERE!!” You repeat while your other brother, now standing behind you, speaks up at the same time as you: “Yes.”

You turn towards him, incredulously, “THERE’S NOT A SCRATCH ON HIS FACE. SHUT UP!” as the youngest cries out at the same time “SHIT!” to which you automatically shoot back: “DON’T SAY THAT!”

The other shrugs, “He’s ugly all the time,” then steps back when your not-hurt-at-all brother tries to push him with an incredibly smart retort, “I’ll show you ugly!”

You’ll give them some credit for tiring you enough to fall asleep an hour later, though you tossed and turned a hundred times. You wake up when you hear voices downstairs. Your mouth and lips are dry but at least the pain is almost gone and you feel almost rested.

It’s unusually dark outside. You search for your phone lost under the covers and take a long breath in shock when you find it and see the time. 7:16. You jump out of bed and scramble to quickly get yourself decent to leave the house.

You shouldn’t run when you feel like this but there are more important things right now, really. You’re in front of the store in eleven minutes but he’s not here. Of course. Why would he still be here? You can smell smoke in the air that you’re convinced your brain is making up. You didn’t expect him to wait but you hoped he lingered with a drink or something. You sigh and turn on your heels, wishing you had your wallet, to at least buy something sweet to eat while you stare at the ceiling later, but you barely remembered to grab your phone when you left. You send him a short message, not convinced you can defend yourself anymore.

YOU

I just woke up. I’m sorry…

He hasn’t said anything since then. You definitely didn’t cry that night and you definitely didn’t write a long paragraph in your notes that you ended up deleting but you did stay home the following day as well. Today your body feels like functioning again so you’re back at school. Well, you were. The day is already over. You’re on your way home. The ground is especially interesting today. You slowly look behind you when you hear footsteps then back at the ground when you see who it is. “I can’t believe it.” You say, voice lacking the usual energy, “My own personal bodyguard.”

You hear Dean scoff. “Don’t act like you don’t need it. It was a little funny though, you know?” He doesn’t sound amused at all. “Timothy said you’re fine and, when I checked in, you didn’t want to turn on the camera. You looked like a blobfish.”

“I thought you’re supposed to protect me not attack me. Why the special treatment though? Am I the weak link? Am I gonna get jumped and interrogated about Jake?”

Dean’s reply is a loud, long laugh that makes you stop for a second and look at him like he’s gone mad. You weren't even trying to be funny. "Yeah, you would be interrogated about Jake."

He sounds like there’s something he wants to say and can’t. You don’t feel like asking.

“I wish Timothy was here. We always find something to talk about.” You comment.

He stops laughing and walks in your shadow again. “You wish Timothy was here to guard your back?”

There are so many cracks in this pavement. “I can use him as a shield.”

“I can talk.”

“Then let’s see what we have in common.” A car drives by. You can hear the squeaky sound a rag makes as a man wipes the front windows of the shop you pass by. Another car. “Where’s Jake? I haven’t seen him much lately…”

You don’t finish what you wanted to say because you stop dead in your tracks when you see those worn-out brand shoes in front of you and almost step on them by mistake. Wolf grabs your arm and pulls you towards him before you can manage that. He keeps his tight hold when Dean grabs your forearm and gives him a death glare. Wolf looks down at something until he hears Dean speak: “I didn’t believe it at first but you’re really threatening girls to like you now.”

You put your hand on top of Wolf’s when he grips your arm tighter. You’re close enough to whisper: “It hurts.” He lets go completely but his hand lingers.

“You’re annoying.” He addresses Dean but looks at you mockingly, “I can’t even spend a few minutes with my friend?”

Well, this isn’t how you wanted him to sound like when he said the word for the first time. He isn’t admitting it. Actually, you can’t tell if he’s saying we were friends but you fucked it up or we never were but for someone who thought we were you sure aren’t acting like it.

Dean loosens his grip and looks between you two confused and intrigued at the same time. He must be trying to find out if he’s bluffing.

Wolf stares him down again and continues, his voice serious now: “I can fuck you up first.”

“NO!” You intervene and free your hand from Dean’s. “I’ll be fine. Let’s talk.” You grab Wolf’s hand dragging him to a narrow alleyway on your right and look over your shoulder to glare at Dean. “Stay. There.”

He listens, though it’s probably because he can see you still and because he’s bewildered by either the fact that you know Wolf or that you just ordered him around. You walk far enough for him to not hear your conversation. 

When you let go of his hand, Wolf puts it in his pocket and starts talking as he walks towards you. “Had fun with your little game?” 

You step back to keep at least a small distance in between, but he keeps going. “What did you tell them about me?”

You don't know where to look. 

“Why did you avoid me? You got friends now?”

Your back hits the cold wall. Remember to breathe. You risk a second to look in his eyes. You expected to see more fire, but even his voice lacks it. It's demanding, not aggressive. His expression is neutral but his eyes are different. You may be projecting but he looks more hurt than angry. You follow the way his lips move when he clenches his jaw and when the silence stretches too much, he lowers his voice and adds: “You’re really not afraid of me, huh?”

Out of all the things you wrote on your phone yesterday, none come to mind. The words crawl out of your mouth on their own. "I wanted to tell you but you were getting bored of me anyway."

His chest is a few centimeters away from yours. His glasses feel like a barrier. "What?"

You look at the collar of his shirt. "You've been distant lately. I've been texting you and I've been waiting for you to deal with whatever kept you busy, you know, like always. I didn't know you figured it out. I didn't know you were just busy avoiding me. You stopped talking to me and you've been a lot colder when you managed to reply. You used to tell me everything but now-

"Because you couldn't fucking tell anyone!" He snaps.

You look up again, at his eyes, wider now, and his furrowed brows. You’re trying to anchor yourself in something as you process. “What…?”

His face is impossibly close. He speaks through clenched teeth. “Even if you wanted to, you couldn't tell anyone anything about me.”

You were projecting. You were trying to find in him something similar to the portrait you created for yourself when you had nothing to look at but letters. You tried to sneak meanings and feelings into the cuts on his hands, face, feet. Cuts he wears as proof that there’s nothing soft underneath. You stare at his hands. At his split knuckles. Again. You wish you could peek into him through them. There’s nothing here, they scream. There’s nothing here. You feel your eyes watering. You made up a world of him just to watch as he smashes himself into it, kicks and scratches at, stomps on it in front of your eyes right here, right now.

“Are you serious?” He stares. Doesn’t say anything. “Ok...” You say as you nod then push him aside to walk away. “Then why don't you just go the fuck away and I won't tell anyone I know you! Actually, from now on I don't think I do or-“

He stops you by pulling your hair and really, like a prey's last resort, in a second you're facing him again, your hand in his hair as well, pulling his head down. He looks dumbfounded. 

"Let go." You say through gritted teeth. He pulls harder. You close your eyes and pull at his hair too. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Let go, you fucking prick!"

"You let go."

You open your eyes to stare but only a fool would try to bargain with him.

You let go.

He lets go.

Great. 

Now what?

"Just hit me. Get it over with."

He starts laughing and you’re startled by the unfamiliar sound. You heard him laugh when he found something funny and you know how it sounds when he’s mocking someone and this one is wrong. Forced. He abruptly stops, exhales and exclaims: "I had nothing to fuss about. You don't know me at all!"

You’re taken aback. “What?”

"You heard me."

You want to defend yourself. Now that he’s the one saying it and you hear your thoughts out loud, you don’t believe them. You want to shout at him that you do, you do know him, at least the parts he let you see. You know him as he wanted you to and you want to believe that’s who he really is.

But you don’t say anything. You stare at each other until you deflate and you remember you wanted to apologize to him the next time you met and you’re nowhere close. It’s uncomfortable with all these things you have to say when you can’t find an opening. You wish you could just snap your fingers and transfer them into his mind.

You look at his shoulders.

"Why did you do that?"

You’re ashamed at the fact that you don’t know what he’s referring to. "Which part?"

"Pretend."

You gulp. “I’m sorry.” You look up again. “I wanted us to stay the same.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone you know me?”

How does he know that? Why does he sound so sure of it? More importantly, this is the first time you think about this. It’s like your subconscious knew but you never actually contemplated it. It’s funny. The way you find this out at the same time as Wolf. You surprise yourself when you immediately reply: “I wanted to keep it to myself.”

He stares. One, two, three… He says nothing more. Turns around. You watch him walk away until he turns right, out of your sight.

“What the fuck was that?”

Exactly. What the fuck was that? Did he come to get his answers and then just go on with his life? What?

“You looked like two girls fighting over shoes on sale. I thought I wasn’t seeing right.”

Oh. You forgot Dean was here. And your back is again stuck to this cold dirty wall.

“And you just stood there.” You walk out of the alley and turn right, eager to get home and feel like you’re not part of the world for a while. “I guess my hair is not on your list of priorities.”

He hums. “So you actually know Wolf? Thought he was stalking you.”

You quickly turn around to face him with the sudden realization. “THAT’S WHY YOU ALL HAVE BEEN ACTING WEIRD?”

“Obviously.”

“How??”

“Doesn’t matter.” He walks ahead of you. “How do you know him?”

That again. Know him. You think of Wolf’s expression when he said you don’t.

“Doesn’t matter.” You throw the words back at him. “I just do.”

Chapter Text

“Green onion…” You mumble as you put all the vegetables you need on the counter. “Carrot, mushrooms, yellow paprika, red…”

“What are you doing?” Your brother (the one who doesn’t check his forehead in the mirror every chance he gets just in case a bruise appeared 4 days later) asks, getting closer to stare and irritate you with his phone playing a video at maximum volume.

“Japchae, go away.” You say, slicing the onion.

He groans.

“Marinade with garlic, a little bit of ground black pepper, two teaspoons of soy sauce…” The video on your phone goes on, way ahead of you.

“What?” You ask, uninterested.

“Where’s Yoo-joon?” He asks, ignoring you.

“Isn’t he in his room?”

He runs to check without saying anything else.

You put the onion in a large bowl and grab half of a carrot to cut it into thin strips.

It’s already Friday. Wolf hasn’t said anything since that argument two days ago. He’s not avoiding you. You saw him twice since then. He just doesn’t say anything. It’s fine. If that’s what he wants, so be it. Who cares.

On top of that Jake’s acting strange, not coming to your classroom anymore, and Dean doesn’t want to tell you anything about how they knew and how much they know about Wolf and you. 

At least Timothy didn't change.

You follow the teacher’s hand movements as he explains something you aren’t listening to.

The sequel to one of your favorite movies just came out and you have no one to watch it with. You can't wait to see it but you got used to watching things with Wolf. You need to find someone else to keep you company.

You squint your eyes and adjust the brightness of your phone screen as you scroll on it in the darkness of your room. It’s almost midnight, your eyes are burning and you’re reading old conversations as if they’re bedtime stories.

(((

YOU

and if you die I won’t ever know

WOLF

I’m not dying.

Just closing my eyes for a few seconds

YOU

famous last words

is this the first time you lose a fight?

???

are you dead

??????

if you don’t answer I’ll call you

WOLF

What for?

To make my headache worse?

Call

)))

You take your brothers’ games, cartoon cards or whatever they are, and junk off the desk to wipe the dust. You wipe the TV. The bedside table. You put the clean clothes in their drawers. You vacuum their rooms. Your room. The living room. You wash the dishes and wipe the counters. You put another load in the washing machine. You clean the shower. You wipe the dust in your room...

So-min agreed to watch the movie with you. She’s not that into fantasy and supernatural but it’s fine. Wolf isn’t either. It was… decent. Actually, it was a good sequel. Technically. Something’s just off.

“Is she sick?”

You look up from your phone, not remembering what you intended to do on it, to see both of your parents staring at you with worried expressions.

“What?” You ask.

“Are you sick?” Your mom steps closer and puts the back of her hand on your forehead.

“No.”

She looks like she’s contemplating something.

Your dad looks at his phone again, typing. “We’re getting takeout tonight. What do you want?”

You purse your lips, thinking. You’re not in the mood for anything special. Well, maybe…

“Can we get fried chicken?”

“Is he that bad?” So-min asks.

You’re surprised she didn’t leave when Eunchan sat down at your table. Maybe the hunger overshadows her dislike.

Eunchan puts his chin on the edge of the table. “Well… I mean…” He suddenly stands up and grabs his hair with both hands. “I just can’t imagine it. What do you talk about? What does he even do besides fighting? He doesn’t like anything!”

That’s not true.

He sits down again. “Are you really friends?”

“Kinda.” You say and eat a spoonful of rice to end the conversation.

(((

YOU

I’ll show you after I finish eating

(photo)

WOLF

Pollock roe?

YOU

yes

why?

WOLF

Haven’t had that in ages

YOU

you can buy some yk

WOLF

So you never tasted that store shit

If you did you wouldn’t say something so stupid

)))

Who the fuck is he to say you don’t know him? Really? There’s no way he lied about so many things. And if he didn’t— well, you have a long list of things you know about Wolf, starting with the fact that he wouldn’t make shit up about himself just for fun.

The only way not to know him would be to not pay attention.

And you did.

You’ll show that jerk how wrong he is.

You never go to the grocery store in the morning. You don’t need to.

Today you’ll make an exception. It’s early. He usually comes around at this time so you won’t be late to school either.

You already went inside, talked to the cashier, showed him your fake ID, paid and asked him for a little favor. You’re sitting outside scrolling on your phone. The air is nice. You should do this more often.

Here he comes.

You don’t look up but you feel his eyes on you. He goes inside. In less than a minute he’s outside. He locks eyes with you as he lights a cigarette and then leaves.

(((

YOU

I took a couple guitar classes

and then never touched it again

I don’t really like it

WOLF

I’ll get one when I have my own place

YOU

I can send it to you

WOLF

no.

later

)))

It’s finally here. You open the package and put the box in a brown paper bag. You considered giving him that guitar now but decided against it. This is good too. It’s not really something he said he likes but it’s something you think he’d enjoy. It checks some boxes in his areas of interest.

A 3D Metal Puzzle. You were stuck between the dragon and the griffin but in the end you chose the latter.

Of course he’s here. He’s here almost every day at this hour. Except that day he called you to make things right and you were late. Here he is though at 7:36 with all his not-friends too.

You walk straight to the table he’s sitting at, drop the bag in front of him then go back the way you came without saying a word.

(((

WOLF

don’t fucking lie to me

you played this before

YOU

I DIDN’T

I swear

guess i’m just a natural

WOLF

I went easy on you

let’s go again

)))

You put the bibimbap —topped with salted pollack roe, and a couple side dishes in a bag, tie a knot, put that in another bag, walk the familiar way to the convenience store, ignore the way the guys look at you as you strut towards their table, slam the bag in front of him, ignore the deja-vu, and walk into the store to buy some batteries.

When you walk out, Wolf is gone.

(((

WOLF

they’d be dead without them

(video link)

YOU

it’s us

you’re the monkey

WOLF

sounds like an insult

you didn’t finish it yet did you?

YOU

shit

well

the deer's pretty

at least I’m the pretty one

)))

You didn’t plan anything today. Your aunt sent you to the store with a short list for tonight’s dinner and it’s earlier than the usual time he hangs out around here. He’s in his usual seat though; this time alone. He’s just smoking and scrolling on his phone. You walk inside, get what you need and ask the cashier to scan an energy drink at the last minute. You don’t want to break your streak.

You walk out and place the drink near the pack of cigarettes on the table.

He speaks at the same time you turn around to leave, “How long are you gonna act like my bread shuttle?”

You look over your shoulder, offended, not saying anything.

“Come here.” He says. You approach slowly, placing the plastic bag on the table. He tilts his phone and you bend down to figure out what he’s showing you. A shirt and a jacket. “Do these go well together?”

You scoff. “You really have no sense of style.”

“Good for you then.”

“Me?” You frown. “Why?”

He’s looking at his phone still. “Means I have a reason to keep you around.”

You can’t hold back your enthusiasm, smiling and wrapping your arms loosely around his neck, “Does that mean you forgive me?!”

“Get offfffffffff” He pushes you away in the next second and you lose your balance, falling on your ass on the ground.

“Shit!” You get up just as quickly. “It’s dirty!” You brush the back of your skirt with your hands, trying to get the dust off. You can’t see well from this angle. You turn your back to him. “Is it clean?”

He barely looks and says: “Yes”

You turn around and close the distance between you again. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“We're talking again. What else do you want me to say?”

You nod, mostly to yourself. “Good enough.”

You remember the reason you came here, grab your groceries and sprint back to your aunt’s house, promising Wolf that you’ll text him tonight.

You hand your aunt the bag and offer to help her. You wash a few dishes.

That was quicker than you expected. Barely a week passed since you fought. Maybe he did see you as a friend after all. Maybe he missed talking to you too. You can’t wait to text him after you finish here and tell him about that movie and about–

“What’s that?” Your aunt asks.

“What?”

“That.” She nods towards your skirt. “Did you fall?”

You go to the living room and look in the mirror. Two streaks of dust cover the back of your skirt.

That jerk.

Chapter Text

“And you called me his girl!”

You cover your mouth with your hand to avoid waking up the whole house at 1am with your laughing.

Wolf’s irritated voice echoes through the phone as if he’s on speaker: “I didn’t fucking know!” It only makes you laugh more. “Why were you glued to him then?”

“That’s just how he is!” You answer in between giggles.

“That fucker. Don’t talk to him anymore.”

“Suuuuuure…” You move the cursor on your laptop when the screen goes dark again. You forgot why you turned it on, now using it just to have some light in your room. “From now on or do I get some time to say goodbye and my sincerest apologies?”

“Careful. I know where you live now.” You imagine a shitty smirk on his face while he’s speaking.

“Yeah, I remember you wanting to kill me once.”

A few seconds pass in silence. “When?”

“When I got drunk that night and you-”

“You were pathetic back then. Two drinks got you like that?”

“Something like that…” You mumble.

“Never have a fucking drink again.”

You roll your eyes. “Is that all? Should I make a list of these?”

He ignores you. “What were you doing there?”

“Trying something new?”

“You avoided me to drink with those bitches and go on dates with t-“

You groan. “Don’t remind me of that date…”

“Heard you had a good time.”

“Yeah. The best. That guy with orange hair was nice but, just so you know, if I’m avoiding you in the future it’s probably because of that other guy.”

“You can ignore me if I’m with someone.”

You didn’t see that coming.

“…why?”

“I’m being nice here.” He answers with the same monotone voice.

“I don’t get it.”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to keep this to yourself?” A pause. “Or something like that.”

You hum, despite the fact that it still doesn’t seem right. “Okay.”

He changes the subject. “So you liked Hwangmo?”

“Like is a strong word.” You say. “He was just the opposite of the guys you keep around.”

“Uh-huh.”

You yawn. “We can hang out though.”

“What?”

You clear your throat. “I won’t bother you when you’re not alone but we can hang out, right?”

“How do you manage to ask the stupidest questions?”

“So tomorrow…” You continue your idea, “Can we go watch Triassic World? I mean, the third movie that’s out now…”

“When?”

“Let me check.” You wake up the screen of your laptop again, open your browser and look at your options, the page still opened from the last time you checked. “6:40?”

“Fine.”

“Let’s just meet there around 6:15.”

Another yawn escapes you.

“Didn’t you say you watched it already?” Wolf says.

“So? I want to see it again.”

You talk some nonsense after and, when you ask if he left the Union, he denies and somehow starts talking about new faces and drama going on.

You unwillingly fall asleep listening, with the phone under your ear, unsure about the connection between grapes and scorpions in street fights.

You’re confused. Really confused. You’re supposed to meet and watch the movie but you’re also supposed to ignore him when he’s not alone so you have no idea which one’s the right option right now.

Wolf and Hwangmo are smoking together, with Wolf being on his phone and the other looking around in a nervous manner. They're both wearing their uniform. You take your phone out, take a picture of them and quickly type:

YOU

(photo)

should I wait?

WOLF

for what?

YOU

?????

for you to be alone???

WOLF

Hwangmo’s watching it with us

That would’ve been nice to know. Sometimes you swear Wolf thinks you can read his mind or something like that. Or maybe Hwangmo is an exception.

He pockets his phone, keeps his hand in said pocket and stares at you as you approach them. Hwangmo gives you a small nod when you introduce yourself in case he doesn’t remember you.

“Let’s go already.” Wolf says, then carelessly throws his cigarette, spits and walks inside.

Both of you follow him. No one says anything until you’re face to face with the cashier. You’re lucky to find three seats in the middle row and get yourself cheese popcorn and sparkling water while Wolf gets nachos and a lime soda. Hwangmo politely asks for iced tea without getting any snack.

You and Wolf take out your wallets at the same time.

“Put that back.” He says.

“I’m paying. I dragged you here.”

“Like you could.”

You sigh. “I pay for the tickets and you can pay for the food.”

He grabs your wrist when you move to hand the cashier your card. “I said I’m paying.”

You give in, putting the card back in your wallet and watching the money slide out of his hand when he hands them to the cashier. 

You each carry your own things and Hwangmo grabs the tickets when Wolf nods towards them with his hands full.

Wolf sits in the middle. You start eating your popcorn, waiting for the movie to begin, while they talk about names you don't recognize. 

They go quiet when the movie begins. Wolf takes a sip of his drink, pours the cheese over the chips and holds them with his left hand (the one closest to you) so you snack on some without asking. 

"Boring. Why isn't he riding the dinosaur?" He mutters. 

"Because he's trying to catch it." You whisper and place your popcorn closer when he reaches for a handful of it. 

Hwangmo doesn't talk throughout the entire movie while you and Wolf whisper back and forth, him judging and asking stupid questions and you reacting like you've never seen this before and answering him still.

"A baby!" You whisper excitedly. "It's a baby!! Look at it!!! She had a baby!!!!"

"Who the hell are these people?"

"Watch and find out." You hold out your popcorn for Hwangmo to take some.

"That was predictable."

"I hate these guys. I fucking hate these guys." You hiss.

Unsurprisingly, Wolf leans forward, putting his elbows on his knees, suddenly interested in the story when a fight breaks out.

"Like that'd work." He frowns. "How did that work? Yeah, see? It didn't. Stupid bitch."

It goes on like that. Half into the movie you realize you didn't pay as much attention as you thought you did the first time you watched it. This might be your least favorite out of all of them.

You take some more chips. At some point you ended up holding them, your popcorn now in Hwangmo's hands as he mindlessly eats one at a time and keeps his eyes on the characters somehow managing to be faster than dinosaurs.

Your breath catches in surprise when Wolf's fingers touch yours as you're grabbing another chip. He quickly moves his hand to take one too then looks at you, his expression saying nothing. "Right?"

You blink. "Huh?" 

"I said they would have died an hour ago if dinosaurs didn't appear out of nowhere every time to fight against each other."

You nod, looking at the screen. "Predictable."

"No one even died." He says, then throws a couple more chips into his mouth.

"People did."

"Nobodies."

You hum. "What are you doing after this?"

"Going home." 

"What? No one to take care of today?" There's one chip left. You look at it as you speak. "Do you want this?"

He shrugs. "You eat it. I don't fight every day."

"I thought so." 

You munch on the last chip as the credits roll.

You walk out a lot more talkative than when you came in. You. Singular. 

Wolf pulls out a cigarette when you step outside.

"I'm pretty sure this was the last one. They should leave it at that. I might watch the first movie again. That's still my favorite."

Hwangmo doesn't say much about it. He quickly says he needs to be home soon, nods as goodbye and leaves. 

"You going home too?" Wolf asks, the cigarette now between his lips. You nod. "Come on. I'll take you."

He lights his cigarette and walks away, not waiting for an answer. You follow him suspiciously. He better be talking about the bus. 

"No." You say when he turns right and you spot what he's walking towards. "Not with that." 

"Why not?" He says without looking back. "I got a license now. Don't be a pussy." 

You stare. The blue motorcycle stares back mockingly. 

He hands you a matching helmet, throws away his half-smoked cigarette and gets on.

You reluctantly put the helmet on and sit behind him. "Of course you're not wearing a helmet."

"Don't need one. That's to shut you up."

"And you expected that to work?"

He doesn't answer, starting the motorcycle instead. You grip his blazer nervously. He looks over his shoulder when he speaks, so close that you can count the cracks on his dry lips. "Hold on properly." 

You tightly wrap your arms around his waist and close your eyes, already regretting this. You glue your forehead to his back when the wind caresses your temples, trying to control your breaths, letting the smell of cigarette smoke overwhelm your senses and distract you from the way your heart's beating faster from fear.

Chapter Text

Your parents agreed to you sleeping over at So-min tonight. The past week passed by uneventfully, with you and Wolf mostly texting and occasionally hanging out at the convenience store when you caught him alone. You found out Wolf lives in the neighborhood —which you started to suspect long ago when you noticed it was part of his everyday routine.

The moment you walk in and put your backpack on her bed, you can tell So-min is eager to tell you something but she’s trying to save it for the right moment.

You both sit on her bed as she puts on a thriller movie. She’s fidgeting the entire time. Halfway through you pause it and decide to have mercy on her (ask what’s on her mind).

Her body language immediately changes, all the excess energy emanating off her as she speaks. “Well… you know how me and In-Ho went on a date yesterday?” She presses her lips in a thin line as you nod, then bursts out: “We kissed!”

You plaster a small smile on your face to encourage her to continue.

She giggles nervously, looking at her hands, “He was taking me home and…” She pauses, putting her hand on her chest, “My heart’s beating so fast just thinking about it! Um… When we got to my place he wanted to talk a little more before I went in and at one point he leaned in and asked me, he actually asked me if he can kiss me and-“ She covers her face with her hands, making it a bit of a challenge to understand what she’s saying, “I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t talk at all! I was so nervous! I just nodded and he kissed me… “ She moves her hands to her neck, mindlessly scratching the sides, “Well, he just pressed his lips on mine. Just a peck! Then he looked at me a few seconds and leaned in and kissed me. Really! Kissed me! I think I was trembling with emotion. I was so shy. I’ve never been so shy before!” You doubt that. “And he was so gentle and he kept telling me I’m so pretty and he likes me a lot and I shouldn’t worry about it because it’s our first kiss and it’ll only get better. Probably because he could tell I was overthinking it. I kept thinking Am I doing it right? I’ve never kissed anyone before…” You start laughing despite your best efforts not to. “Stop laughing! I’ve never- Did you kiss anyone before?”

You stare, trying to turn your expression into something that screams Isn’t it obvious? “What do you think?”

“No?” She says slowly, shaking her head.

You mirror her motion. “No. Who would I kiss?”

She shrugs. “You don’t have to get a boyfriend to do that. Well, I’m just telling you now, it’s going to be awkward.” She puts her head on the pillow and turns to lay on her side. You do the same. “Every first kiss is like that. It’s just going to happen. You don’t know what to do so it’s awkward and kind of bad.” She grimaces. “Can I say that? Am I discouraging you?”

No, you’re just destroying everything I thought I knew about romance. “Not at all. I just thought your first kiss is passionate and…” You make your pitch higher as you continue: “Oh My god! I love you so much! The love of my life! Bla bla bla movie romance-“

“No…” So-min says slowly. “No, it’ll be bad.”

“Okay…”

“I mean, there are exceptions. You know what? Don’t worry about that now. Unless you like someone. Do you?”

You look at her suspiciously. “No. Why?”

“I was just asking. You look… thoughtful. Like you’re thinking abou-“

You shake your head. “No. I wasn’t thinking about anything. Tell me the rest. He was saying how pretty you are, don’t worry…”

“Um, yeah… We kissed and then I just said bye.” She laughs. “I was so nervous I sprinted to my room and I’ve been thinking about it since. My mind keeps replaying it. I want to scream! I love him so much!”

“Yeah, I can tell.” You say with a monotone voice.

She frowns. “It’s not fair. You get a boyfriend too.”

“Why?” You raise your eyebrows. “To be awkwardly kissing?”

“No. It’s like I’m telling you something you don’t believe in.”

“I believe in it. I just don’t know how it is. I like that you’re telling me things about your relationship. Like you’re trying to prepare me for what’s to come.”

She smiles. “Yeah…You know, I heard… " She randomly gesticulates with her hand as she continues: "I don’t believe it because we’re friends and I think you would’ve told me. I’m confident I’d be one of the first people you’d tell. If you liked someone you would have told me, right?”

You nod. “If I was going to tell anybody it’d be you.”

“Alright. I just wanted to tell you some classmates think you…”

“Me…”

Her smile gets bigger as she tries not to laugh. “You…”

“Go on…”

She bursts out laughing. “I’m sorry! I know you’re going to laugh or think it’s… bullshit?”

You put your arm under your pillow and smile. “Who taught you to talk like that?”

“Shut up. Okay. Some classmates think you like Eunchan.”

“WHAT?” You sit up quickly, flabbergasted. “WHO???”

She wraps her arms around her abdomen, laughing harder. “I don’t know???”

“Where did that come from???”

She manages to compose herself by avoiding looking at you, now talking to the ceiling. “I don’t know. Maybe they saw you talking and they got… the vibes.”

“The vibes.” You repeat in a much serious tone.

She nods. “The vibes.”

“What vibes?”

This is ridiculous.

“I don’t know. You two easily get along, you know?”

“Because!” You pause, trying to find the right words. “I was gonna say we’re friends but… I mean… we’re kinda friends. By association.”

“And someone said they saw you two hanging out at a bar.”

You stare, slack-jawed. “That’s! That’s because he wanted to go to the bar. He was there for the drinks. Not-“

“I get it.”

“That’s so stupid.” You mutter.

“So you don’t like anyone?”

“No.”

She hums. “OK. Well, I’m not setting you up with anyone again. The last date was…” She looks at you apologetically.

“Yeah.”

“And I’m sorry.”

You nod. “You should be.”

You watch a few more minutes of the movie before she pauses it. “How is it going with that guy?” You raise an eyebrow, waiting for clarification. “The one you were friends with and then…”

“Oh! Wolf?” She nods. You smirk at the opportunity to tease her. “Did your guarding angel allow you to ask about him and-“

You catch the pillow when she tries to hit you with it. “Shut up!”

“And talk about him… since he’s a bad…”

“Shut up and just answer!”

You hug the pillow. “Well, we made up and we’re talking again. We’re friends. Why?”

“I never had a guy friend.”

“Really?!”

She shrugs. “Yeah. Just because I don’t know what to talk about… we’re not compatible like that… I think.”

“Well, I do. I don’t really care.”

“So you don’t… You know…” She wiggles her eyebrows.

You roll your eyes. “Yeah. You know everyone asks that when you have guy friends? When you said our classmates think I like a guy —or we’re dating or whatever, I had a spinning wheel in my mind with every guy I talk to.  Because I didn’t know who you were going to mention. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think it’d be Eunchan. I don’t even talk to him that much.”

She grabs the remote again. “Alright. No more boys. Let’s watch the movie.”

You smile and grab the bag of cheese flavored chips you put on the bed earlier. “I like it by the way.”

“You should read the book.”

“I’ll try.”

Later, after So-min falls asleep, your curiosity wins and you grab your phone to look up what others are saying about their first kiss.

“Ninety-eight, ninety-nine…” You impatiently tap your mouse with your index finger, eyes glued to the screen of your laptop. “Come on.” The progress bar freezes for what feels like a minute then you see it complete for half a second before it disappears and you’re met with a Download complete.

Quickly unlocking your phone, you take a photo of it and send it to Wolf.

YOU

I bought it

WOLF

why?

YOU

??

isn’t this the game you talked about?

we can play it together

WOLF

I didn’t say I want to play it with you

fine

YOU

you can come over anytime but

my brothers will probably annoy you

and they’d want to play too

sooooo

WOLF

come to my place then

What a surprise! You weren’t waiting for him to say that at all!

YOU

thursday?

WOLF

friday

Since Wolf said he has something to take care of after school, you go home and change your clothes, then busy yourself with small chores around the house for half an hour. He said he’ll call when he’s done. Time’s moving slower today for some reason.

It’s past 7 when he texts you saying he’s in front of your house. You grab your laptop bag and a minute later you’re standing in front of him, holding the handles of the bag in a death grip while you’re staring.

His right cheek is swollen, eager to showcase a bruise tomorrow, and the other one has a few scrapes near his nose and mouth, to which he did a very bad job at wiping the blood away.

“You look great.” You say. “Did you style your hair?”

The corner of his mouth twitches. “It’s not that bad.”

“Really? I can’t tell. You’re so ugly.”

“Heard that before.” To your surprise, he smirks.

You don’t ask about it, choosing to fill in the gaps yourself. If someone was bold enough to call Wolf ugly, they must be on another continent now. If they’re still alive. You ask about the fight instead before following him through a narrow side street.

“Did you intentionally let them punch you again?” When he looks at you with the sort of stare you’ve decided to attribute curiosity to, you clarify: “I saw a video of you way back when I first moved here. You were mocking someone for not punching you properly. Or something like that. I forgot most of it. I only remember you getting punched and then punching them.”

“So?”

You sigh, walking in silence for a few minutes, trying to pay attention to your surroundings and memorize the way to his house instead of entertaining the lots of questions overlapping in your head. Nevertheless, some of them win.

“I heard you beat up anyone who looks at you for a few seconds.”

You stop in front of an ordinary-looking apartment building not far from an arcade you went to once or twice.

“I can’t stand disrespectful bastards.” He says, scanning his keycard and pulling the door open. “Wait,” He abruptly stops, turning around to face you, “That’s why you’ve been acting weird all this time?”

“Shut up, I wasn’t!” You shoot back, pushing him out of the way to walk in.

You take the elevator to the fifth floor and walk towards his apartment in a sort of silence that’s starting to feel not only familiar but comfortable as well.

“2, 46, 157” He tells you, tapping the numbers for the password at the same time.

Two, forty-six, one, fifty-seven. Two, forty-six, one, fifty-seven.

Your attempts at memorizing it are interrupted the moment you see the inside of his place. It’s normal. So normal it looks like you came here interested in renting it. Because of the lack of… anything, really, it looks like it’s clean as well. It’s so devoid of personality that the only thing you can give Wolf credit for is the stale air that surrounded you the second you walked in.

“Do you even know how to open these windows?” You say, opening them yourself.

He ignores you, opening the door to what you find out is the bathroom, getting something from the cabinet above the sink, just beside the mirror, and putting it on the edge of the sink, then coming out, opening another door to what must be his bedroom since you spotted a bed there, and then going back to the bathroom with a plastic bag in hand.

You drop your laptop bag on the couch and follow him, since he left the door open.

He’s leaning over the sink, dabbing at his cheek with a cotton pad. You lean on the door frame and watch him go through a routine he must have gone through a hundred of times until now.

A few hair strands stick to his forehead. His lips slightly part when he gets to the wound at the corner of his mouth and you notice that they’re fuller than you thought, even in thickness and the curve from his nose down to his upper lip is a lot more dramatic compared to others.

You leave, intending to wait on the couch until he’s done and immediately changing your mind when you see the door to his bedroom still open. You don’t go in but you get as close as you can, your eyes analyzing it, desperate to find fragments of him in this place. His bed is messy. His school bag lays in a corner, on the ground, under a desk. The furniture has gone through some stuff, a few scratches on the edges of the desk and the wardrobe catching your eye. It makes more sense when you entertain the thought that he must have had this room when he was a kid too, not making many changes since. Some notebooks are scattered on the desk.

Ignoring those, you can’t believe Wolf is an organized person.

You step to the side when you hear his steps behind you. He shoves the plastic bag in the top drawer of the dresser. “Look around if you wanna.”

You take a step towards him, crossing your arms. “At what?” You look at the empty white walls and the lack of decoration for the dust to settle on and frown. “Where is you?”

“What?”

You shake your head in disbelief. “This is strange. Why is it so bland? I don’t even see the puzzle I got you.”

He rubs his neck and opens the right door of his wardrobe, kneeling and shoving his hand behind a stack of clothes to grab something from the back.

You’re busy staring at the amount of clothes, that he must have carelessly thrown in at some point, ready to fall at any moment. You grin. “That’s more like it.”

He stands up, putting a box on the bed. “I didn’t finish it yet.” He takes its contents out as you approach. More than half of the griffin is put together while the rest of the pieces dance around in the box at any sort of movement.

“You can put it on the dresser when it’s done.” You say, pointing at the furniture.

He puts it back in the box then shoves that back into its place without saying anything.

You take a random piece of clothing from the horror pile and hold it in front of you to see the design while he stands back up.

“How do I never see you with clothes this wrinkled?”

He opens the other two doors to reveal several pieces hanging, ironed and ready to gain their wrinkles from fights like God intended. “It takes forever to fold shit.”

“Oh, so you know how?”

“How hard can it be?”

“Just watch a tutorial.”

He closes the doors with a scowl. “I told you I don’t have time for that pompous shit.”

You face the bed and quickly fold the t-shirt you’ve been holding. “It’s that simple. It’ll have a few wrinkles but it’s quick.”

He looks at it then nods towards his wardrobe. “Do the rest of them too then.”

You give him a death stare as you slowly pick up the folded t-shirt, shake it, crumple it into a ball with more force than necessary and squeezing it between the rest of his clothes.

He closes that door as well and, since it's already later than you planned, the two of you walk to the living room to play on your laptop before it gets too dark and you have to politely ask him to walk you home.

Chapter Text

“Why do they want to talk to the principal if they already know he’s involved?” You ask So-min, your body completely facing her as the two of you sit at one of the tables in the cafeteria. You barely touched the food you got, too preoccupied with ignoring the noise made by everyone else who’s sitting with you. You’re trying to focus on talking about the novel you started reading when she couldn’t stop talking about it.

You don’t hear Jake at all when he slaps the Two Piece manga on the table and yells: “Here too!” and you don’t see Eunchan leaning forward, his face a centimeter above the opened book and his mouth agape before he matches Jake’s tone and says: “Whoa! Looks just like him!”

So-min side-eyes them with curiosity for almost two seconds before you put your hand on the side of her face to block her view. “Focus, comrade! The principal!”

“Well, because despite what Mark said, some of them…”

Jake continues speaking at the same time as her: “If you cover his hair here-“

Focus. Only. On. So-min. “…still believe that it’s a misunderstanding…”

“Whoa, whoa, Jake, you’re a genius!”

You frown, close your eyes and lean forward. “…and they want to give him a chance to…”

“How did you even notice that?”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!!!” You stand, turning around and yelling at the one who’s sitting closest to you, which happens to be Timothy who decided to eat here for the first time. Maybe you shouldn’t have left the classroom. Maybe he has a point.

“I didn’t say anything!” He yells back, startled.

Your run your hands through your hair, grabbing the strands at the back of your head, and look at the ceiling. If you concentrate enough, maybe you can turn back time to the day your mother decided on moving here. You can convince her not to. You can make sure you don’t meet these guys and have them ruin your life right here, right now. Close your eyes and concentrate every cell in your body…

Jake’s voice is suddenly in your ear, the humor in it annoying you more. “You didn’t even look.” When you snap your eyes open, Law is staring back at you from the manga Jake is shoving in your face. The swear words disintegrate before you manage to let them out. You slap the book away and he pushes it back towards you resulting in you two fighting over it before he puts it back on the table and uses his hands to cover everything but Law’s expression. “Tell me it doesn’t look like Wolf!”

So-min hums in agreement. Traitor.

“They have nothing in common and you’re all dead to me!” You lean forward and put your hands on top of Jake’s, covering the rest of the page. “You ruined everything! I can never look at my baby again without remembering this-“

“I thought you weren’t dating…” Dean mutters, looking at something on his phone. He’s the only one sitting. The rest of you are gathered around this manga like you’re preparing for battle. Which you would be if you knew how to fight and your opponent wasn’t Jake.

“I was talking about Law!”

Jake glares at you and lies with no shame: “They have the same eyes.”

You grit your teeth. “Stop talking shit.”

“They both look like they’re done with life.” He says, trying to move your hand away while maintaining eye contact.

“Law is a lot prettier than Wolf.”

His hand stills. He presses his lips together, suddenly looking amused. “You think Wolf is pretty?”

Your hands are in your hair again as you throw your head back and groan. Someone’s laughing. “I mean Law is pretty.” They’re not listening. “That’s what I was trying to say.” Dean is snickering. “Law is pretty and that guy is not!” Jake mocks you by nodding along.

You plop back on the chair, pushing away your lunch so you could bang your head on the table.

For someone who keeps complaining that you suck at this game, Wolf surely spends a lot of time playing it with you. This was the third text this week in which he told you to come to his place to play. 

YOU

I’m here

You stare at the door for a few seconds before you get a reply.

WOLF

you already know the fucking code

You pocket your phone and enter the passcode.

When you walk in, Wolf has a window open and is looking outside almost finished with a cigarette. He shifts his body to face your direction and leans on the window frame. “I told you I’m alone. Why do you keep announcing your arrival like you’re some big shit?”

You scoff, his bored eyes immediately reminding you of that moment at school a few days ago.

“Is this the first time you come across a civilized person?” You say, placing a plastic bag on the kitchen counter and walking towards him. You stop when the smoke invades your nostrils. “Still stinks here. Why did you open that if you don’t blow the smoke outside?”

He doesn’t answer, instead putting out the cigarette on the windowsill and throwing it out. You bite back a remark and put your laptop bag on the sofa to take everything out one by one.

From the corner of your eye, you can see him fidgeting with the bag, fighting the knot you made and finally winning when you suspect he was close to ripping it open instead.

He takes out the containers and lifts each one to see what food is inside. You set your laptop on the living room table. When you’re done, you look up to see him with a full plate in hand, heading towards the couch.

You raise an eyebrow. “What if all that was for myself?”

“Not anymore.” He says and sits in front of the laptop. “You didn’t even turn it on?”

“I thought we’re eating first.” You hurry to the kitchen counter and inspect an empty place left beside the things you brought. You don’t remember it being here when you walked in, but you must make sure it’s clean and not just one Wolf is planning to wash later this week.

“So?”

It looks clean. You fill your plate and drag the side dishes closer – since you’re not an animal like some people to throw everything together on one plate.

“So… we eat first and game after.”

“Why the fuck not both?”

“I always eat at the dinner table.” You say, opening and closing some random drawers. “Where are the chopsticks?”

He stomps over and hands you a pair before you manage to turn around. “I always eat on the couch.”

“I don’t want to.”

You sit down and start eating, ignoring his stare.

“You’d rather sit here and stare at the furniture?”

You roll your eyes. “Yes. It’s in pretty good shape. When did you get it?”

“You’re so fucking annoying sometimes.” He hisses. Before you take another bite, he puts the laptop and his plate on the table and drags a chair closer to you to sit down. “Put something on.”

You shove that memory to the back of your mind and choose the latest Two Piece episode.

“Bibimbap was better.” He says a few minutes in. “Bring that next time.”

“You’ll have to compliment me harder if you want me to cook for you again.”

He doesn’t say anything in return. Maybe you should eat while watching from now on if it gets him so quiet.

Sadly, your peace of mind doesn’t last long. Law shows up for a mere twelve seconds, in which you have no idea what’s being talked about because you keep looking at the screen – at Wolf – screen – Wolf – screen – cursing Jake at the same time. You almost forgot about that for a second. They don’t look alike at all. You’re sure that guy is getting back at you for something and he just happened to find your weakness. Wolf’s eyebrows are thick and his nose is softer. His chin is rounder. He looks like he gets his beauty sleep. He doesn’t wear any accessories, though you suppose he could pull off a few earrings…

“Fuck you staring at?”

You finish the rest of the food staring at the furniture.

“You always ruin everything when we switch!” Wolf growls in your ear as you try really hard to concentrate on the game and not turn around and accidentally elbow him in the stomach.

“Fuck off. It’s my laptop.”

He comes closer, gluing his chest to your back like he’s trying to push you into the game to experience it for real. “Go that way.”

“No.”

His hands hover above yours, as if that helps with anything. “You’re going to kill us again.”

“Like you did better!”

“Better than you.”

You press the keycaps aggressively: the secret to a guaranteed win.

“My turn.” He says, his hands now trying to replace yours.

You push him away with your shoulder. It's already too hot in his house. You don't need the extra heat radiating from his body. “I told you to fuck off!”

“You’ve done enough—”

You hit pause. “I didn’t come here to bore myself by watching you play, Wolf.”

“Get a snack then.”

Great. Now that he mentions it, you actually want a snack.

You lay back, sighing. “Don’t wanna gooooo. I have no energy after making most of the progress in this game.”

“Shut the fuck up. You’re not gonna die walking two meters.”

“Huh?”

“The chips on the counter. Go get those, moron.”

You didn’t even notice he started playing, but considering he bribed you with chips, you’ll let it go this time.

You get the bag and sit back down beside him. He’s mostly silent when it’s him playing so, for a while, the only sound in the room is made by his fingers on the keyboard, the clicking of the mouse and the chips you’re eating one by one.

“Didn’t know you like these too.” He stays silent. “Here. Fuel.” You say, offering one.

He pauses the game, turns to look at you with his usual bored expression, then his attention is back to the game. You poke his cheek with the chip so he tilts his head and opens his mouth and you can spot the tip of his tongue and— your hand is empty, the chip gone.

You try to find a more comfortable position. You might’ve eaten too many of these and it’s hard to breathe, most likely because he never opens those windows to let some fresh air in despite all the times you told him to—

“Stop moving! I'm gonna die because of you!"

You throw a chip at him and miss. “Why do you always blame me for your shit gaming skills?!"

He gets back at you when he dies by shoving his hand in the bag and taking out almost half a bag worth of chips and dropping them on the table beside the laptop. Your jaw drops. He hits play. Your jaw drops lower.

“Wash. Your. Hands. I don’t want your oily shit on my laptop.”

His reply is predictable. “You’re so fucking pretentious.”

Nevertheless, he eats the chips in ten seconds, washes his hands and comes up with better ways to annoy you.