False Gods [part i]
Shären 240515 - 200615
Title: False Gods
Band: Exo
Pairing: main!KaiSoo (Jongin/Kyungsoo), minor!BaekYeol (Chanyeol/Baekhyun)
Genre: Romance, fluff, friendship, drama. Highschool!AU
Rating: PG-15 (for swearing?)
Warning: (highlight to see) Slight drug use, attempted sexual assault, underage drinking, bullying
Length: Oneshot in two parts, 13.1k words
Disclaimer: This is fanfiction. I own nothing but the plot and formulations.
Summary: Jongin falls under the spell of glitz and glamour, but Kyungsoo knows that not all that glitters is gold.
'Cause I'm nothing if I don't have you...
[PART I]
“Jongin, can you pass me the calculator,” Kyungsoo asked over his shoulder.
It was late in the afternoon on a day in early summer, and the two high school boys were in Kyungsoo's room, doing homework. Warm air came wafting in through the open window, and besides the trilling sounds of a handful of birds from outside, it was quiet and calm. Two school backpacks were discarded on the clean floor, next to Kyungsoo's school uniform jacket. Kyungsoo was sitting at his desk, hunched over his maths homework and absently fanning himself. He was still wearing the white dress shirt of the school uniform, and despite being able to wear only short sleeved shirts now that summer was approaching, the heat in Kyungsoo's room made him sweat a bit. A minute passed in silence and Kyungsoo sighed, throwing his pencil on his notebook. “Jongin?” he repeated his best friend's name.
Said boy didn't answer, so Kyungsoo spun around on his swivel armchair to face him. “I should've known,” he murmured when he saw why Jongin was ignoring him.
Jongin was lying on his belly, sprawled across Kyungsoo's bed with his ankles crossed in the air, his head nodding and his feet bobbing rhythmically. Kyungsoo listened closely and could faintly make out the beat of music over the birds' noises, coming from the earphones plucked into Jongin's ears. Instead of doing his homework, Jongin was busy doodling on the back of his worksheet. The piece of paper was already cluttered with sketches of mainly dogs and penguins. Unlike Kyungsoo, Jongin had doffed his school uniform's shirt and tossed it on the floor next to the backpacks, along with his socks. Barefooted and only dressed in his his uniform slacks and a grey tank top like this, Jongin was radiating comfortableness and relaxation.
Kyungsoo pulled his reluctant eyes away from the light bronze skin of Jongin's arms, sighed again and stood up to flop down on his bed next to Jongin. “Hey,” he said. “At least share.”
Jongin jumped a bit and turned around with wide, questioning eyes. Kyungsoo had to suppress a grin. Like a startled puppy...
“Huh?” Jongin said unintelligently.
Kyungsoo gestured towards the earphones, “I said, you could at least share the music.”
Jongin gave him an uncomprehending look, before pointing at his doodles. “This?” he said, his voice slightly too loud in the quiet room. “They're supposed to be us. Look, this is me and the penguin is you...” Now Kyungsoo couldn't help but smile. He shook his head and plucked one of the earphones out of Jongin's ear. “I said, share the music!” Kyungsoo called at the same loud volume which Jongin had used and chuckled when the other boy got startled again.
Jongin's cheeks turned a bit pink. “Ah... sorry, Soo,” he murmured. He picked up the fallen earphone and handed it over to Kyungsoo who proceeded to put it into his own right ear.
“Oh yes, SHINee, I see,” the older boy said and nudged Jongin to move over a bit, so he could lie down on his belly next to him. “Good choice,” he added and nodded while putting his left cheek down on his forearms in front of him. Still facing Jongin this way, Kyungsoo peered up at him. “What about your homework, though?”
Jongin groaned in annoyance and shrugged. “I can't be bothered... I'm too tired for this crap,” he answered and turned to his doodles again. Jongin propped his chin on his wrist and kept scribbling on the piece of paper next to Kyungsoo's head. Kyungsoo stole a few lingering glances up at Jongin's face but the comfortable calmness of the room in combination with the soft warmth radiating from Jongin's body next to him and the music playing in his ear made Kyungsoo increasingly sleepy...
When Kyungsoo woke up again, it was dark in his room. Still a bit disoriented, Kyungsoo blinked and raised his head and squinted around. Outside the window, dusk was just beginning to fall. He was still lying on his bed and he could feel Jongin breathe peacefully next to him. The earphones, still loosely stuck in their ears, were quiet. The album on Jongin's mp3-player must have stopped playing quite a while ago. Kyungsoo blinked at his wrist watch, trying to make out the positions of the hands in the faint light seeping in from the street lamps. His nap had lasted about two hours. Soon, his parents would call him down for dinner. He knew that they wouldn't mind letting Jongin eat with them. With their son's practically inseparable best friend just living down the street, Jongin had been a frequent visitor in their house for several years now.
While Jongin was fast asleep next to him, Kyungsoo grabbed the rare chance of being able to stare at Jongin's handsome face for a while, without fear of getting caught. Kyungsoo's gaze roamed over Jongin's nose, sharp jawline, forehead peeking through the gaps in his dark brown fringe, long eye lashes, full lips... Kyungsoo slowly raised his own fingers, inching them closer and closer towards Jongin's lips which were slightly parted in his sleep...
A knocking sound at the door and Kyungsoo quickly pulled back his hand.
“Honey? Dinner is ready,” the friendly voice of Kyungsoo's mother chimed through the closed door. “Is Jongin still with you? Tell him to come downstairs too, if he's hungry,” she added before Kyungsoo could hear her steps retreat downstairs again.
Next to him, Jongin began to move as he slowly rose from his slumber. Kyungsoo was glad that the darkness in the room hid his own burning cheeks.
“Wake up, Jongin,” Kyungsoo said and gently shook his best friend's shoulder. Irritated groaning was the answer. Kyungsoo chuckled, “Aren't you hungry at all?”
“Yeah, I am...” came the raspy voiced reply. Kyungsoo couldn't suppress the tiny shudder creep down his spine at the sound. He got up and switched on the ceiling light. Jongin rolled over and sat up, adorably blinking away the remnants of sleep in his eyes. Kyungsoo noticed the imprints of his sheets on Jongin's right cheek and smiled.
“Don't forget to pull on your shirt again,” he softly reminded Jongin and opened the door. Kyungsoo saw the other boy nod obediently and bend down to pick up the slightly crumpled-up shirt from the floor, before he left the room.
~*~
Kyungsoo threw the door of his locker shut with a metallic bang. “No!” he repeated with emphasis.
“Please, please, pleeeeaase Kyungsoo,” Jongin wailed and clasped his hands pleadingly. “You know how much I need to hand this homework in today or I'm screwed.” When Kyungsoo kept his eyebrows furrowed and his expression annoyed, Jongin grabbed the other boy's upper arm and shook it along with further whining noises. But to no avail.
“I don't care, Jongin. I can't always let you copy from me. You have to do your homework yourself, or you'll never learn anything,” Kyungsoo said sternly and shook his head.
“I know, but I suck at physics! Look, one more time, please?”
Kyungsoo heaved a sigh, leaned against his locker and was about to give another sermon, when their mutual friend Chanyeol appeared behind Jongin.
“Oy, guys what's up?” the tall boy greeted them before poking Jongin in the ribs to let him know that he was blocking Chanyeol's locker. Jongin hopped away and over to Kyungsoo's other side. “Soo is being a grouchy old nerd, who won't let me copy his homework,” he said.
Chanyeol smiled and nodded. “So, it's the usual,” he said while taking out his books from the locker. Kyungsoo gave Jongin another frown which was replied by a stuck out tongue. “You can copy from me instead, if you like,” Chanyeol offered.
“Nah, thanks, your answers are wrong anyway,” Jongin said. Kyungsoo chuckled.
“Hey!” Chanyeol exclaimed indignantly but before he could retort anything, his body went rigid and he stared at something behind Jongin. The reason for this sudden change of behaviour walked by just a couple of seconds later.
“Hello, Chanyeol,” a quite short boy (only roughly as tall as Kyungsoo) with a girly face said in passing to the frozen beanpole that was Park Chanyeol. The boy smiled brightly and gave the tall one a small wave with a hand that was even prettier than his face. However, despite his almost feminine beauty, the boy also had a surprisingly deep and pleasant voice.
“Hi, B-Baekhyun,” came Chanyeol's slightly croaked reply.
“See you later in art history?” the boy called over his shoulder before disappearing in the crowded hallway.
Chanyeol beamed and almost forgot to holler a “Yeah!” after him.
Kyungsoo and Jongin took in the sight of their friend being practically reduced to a tail-wagging, excited, giant puppy before exchanging a meaningful glance. Years of best friendship had taught them to read each other's minds with simply one look.
“Did you just... stutter, Park Chanyeol? Really?” Kyungsoo smirked and Jongin grinned cheekily behind him.
Chanyeol seemed to remember their presence and turned around. “Huh?” His slightly jutting ears grew suspiciously pink.
“I think he did,” Jongin, who was clearly enjoying this as much as Kyungsoo, confirmed. “Now, tell us more about this guy... Baekhyun was his name?”
“I- We- there's nothing to tell,” Chanyeol stammered and hurriedly closed his locker, slinging one strap of his backpack over his shoulder. “Man, I'm starving,” he declared in an obvious attempt to change the subject. “Are you both coming for lunch already or what?”
Jongin and Kyungsoo exchanged another look and snorted simultaneously, before following their tall friend's long strides towards the school's cafeteria.
~*~
“Do you remember how baek in the day, Chanyeol used to tell us everything?” Kyungsoo said a couple of minutes later to Jongin, who was waiting in line for lunch in front of him. Chanyeol, who was standing behind him, groaned.
“Oh yeah, he would tell us precisely what he'd done the day before, as soon as he came baek home from school...” Jongin replied.
Kyungsoo giggled. “He'd play in his baekyard all afternoon...”
“Guys, please...” Chanyeol said and rolled his eyes but the two ignored him.
But before Jongin could say anything more to tease Chanyeol, he had reached the window of the serving counter and the lunch lady gave him an impatient look. “Well?” she drawled.
Jongin quickly glanced over to Kyungsoo and then firmly said to her, “Do you have, by any chance, some bacon for me?” Jongin winked at his best friend proudly, but Kyungsoo just shook his head. “What the hell, Jongin. What kind of pun is this even,” he deadpanned.
Jongin pouted but when he saw the increasingly grumpy lunch lady's face, he hurriedly bowed his head in apology and ordered menu one.
“I thought it was funny,” Jongin grumbled when the three were on their way to their usual table at the back of the large refectory, all of them carrying trays with their food.
“But the word doesn't even sound like the kid's name,” Kyungsoo said.
“Yes it does! Don't you get it? Baekhyun? Bacon?”
“I do get it, Jongin. But nope. Still not funny.”
“Okay whatever,” Jongin exclaimed with an defeated sigh. They put the trays on the table and settled in their seats. “Spill the beans, Yeol. What's up with you and this guy?”
Chanyeol almost choked on his ramyeon and coughed before swallowing the bite in his mouth. “Nothing,” he said and cleared his throat. But the others just looked at him so Chanyeol rolled his eyes again and sighed. “Fine, he was my lab partner in biology the other day. But that's it, I swear,” he added when Jongin wiggled his eyebrows. “I mean, yeah, I do think he's really pretty and all but...” he trailed off.
“But what?”
“But I know I'll never have a chance anyway so it doesn't matter,” Chanyeol mumbled miserably.
“Aww no, that's not true,” Jongin said and patted Chanyeol's head. “I'm sure he likes you, too!”
“Nah I think it's hopeless,” Kyungsoo said with a cheeky glimmer in his eyes. He received a reproachful look from Jongin. “Just kidding.”
Chanyeol gave Kyungsoo a dirty look before heaving another sigh. “I just. I always get so nervous around him and forget what I wanted to say... I feel like he's completely out of my league.”
“Don't worry,” Kyungsoo said with almost undetectable sarcasm. “As long as he's not a cat person, I'm sure this will be the begin of a wonderful puppy love.” Now Jongin tried to suppress a snort.
Chanyeol scoffed. “Oh please, if that is puppy love then what's this thing that you two have going on, huh? Marriage?”
That shut them up and Jongin and Kyungsoo instantly turned to their meals, carefully not looking at each other. Chanyeol smirked smugly and kept slurping his ramyeon. The silence became kind of awkward, until Kyungsoo suddenly bent down to his backpack and pulled out his folder.
“Anyway! Do you still want to copy my stuff, Jongin?”
~*~
The bell rang and Kyungsoo began to neatly put his text books, folders and pencil case inside his backpack. More than half of his classmates had already left the room to go home, when he finally zipped the bag shut and put it on his back. Contrasted by the sweltering sunshine outside, the inside of the slowly emptying classroom almost seemed dark and gloomy.
Kyungsoo dragged his tired feet over to the door that lead to the hallway, but he felt his energy return as a mop of dark brown hair popped into the room. Jongin's eyes met Kyungsoo's and the younger boy broke into a blinding smile that could easily compete with the brightness of the summer day outside the windows. Kyungsoo had been looking forward to the end of the school day ever since it even began in the morning. And it might or might not have been because of this guy.
Jongin walked down the hallway next to Kyungsoo, with only one strap of his backpack casually slung over his shoulder and his tie missing from his school uniform. He was walking backwards so he could face Kyungsoo, excitedly telling him about this new CD which Junmyeon let him listen to today during one of the breaks.
“... and while the bass suddenly hits you right in here,” Jongin bumped his fist against his own chest for emphasis, “the beat in the back just keeps going so it's like a buildup-”
“You're going to walk into a pole, Jongin.”
The younger boy ignored him and kept gushing and gesticulating wildly while stepping backwards, until he collided with one of their classmates who was standing underneath the arch of the school's main doors, blocking them a bit in the process.
“Told you.”
“That's not a pole, that's just Sehun,” Jongin retorted, receiving an irritated look by said boy who was his remote cousin. In their childhood, Jongin and Kyungsoo had often played with the thin, always a bit sickly looking boy during the holidays or whenever the three of them threatened to die of boredom at the occasional big family events. However, until Sehun had transferred to their school last semester, they hadn't really stayed in that much contact so they weren't as close as they were with Chanyeol, for instance.
“Same thing,” Kyungsoo said.
“What are you even talking about,” Sehun shook his head in lack of understanding, before shrugging it off and turning around again. He raised one arm and drew their attention to where, across the high school's courtyard, a remarkably big amount of pupils - mostly girls, but a few boys as well - were gathering around something that looked like a stall. The mere sound level coming from the excited crowd was quite unnerving.
“What the hell...?”
“It's the talent scout noonas,” Sehun explained and pointed to the three or four women standing behind the stall, who seemed to be quite busy trying to talk over the wildly chattering hoards of pupils or distributing flyers or handing out plastic bags filled with probably even more flyers. “They do this kind of open day over there once or twice a semester. They're sent by SM-entertainment, and they're looking for new goods to sell,” Sehun said and added, “rookie models, that is,” after seeing the confused looks on the other two's faces. “They are looking for new, handsome, young and fresh teenagers, who are determined to become rich and famous models,” Sehun said and began to gracefully descend the couple of stairs in front of the building's main doors. Upon reaching their end, he turned around once again, raised his thumb and forefinger to his chin and gave Jongin and Kyungsoo a smug smile along with a wink. “Like me.”
Sehun strutted off towards the clamour, confidently running his hand through his colourfully dyed hair and Jongin burst into laughter. It was contagious (as always) and Kyungsoo scoffed amusedly next to him.
But when they slowly passed the racket, Kyungsoo shook his head. “I can't believe this...”
“Can't believe what?” Jongin asked curiously.
“This whole craziness... I mean why would anyone even want to become a model, if they had the choice?”
“Are you serious, Soo? If you're successful enough, you can make a shitload of money with modelling.”
“Yeah but what if you're not?” Kyungsoo said heatedly. “If you don't make it, these people will abandon you faster than you can say 'disappointment', Jongin! All they think about is money and success and competition. They don't care about who gets hurt or lost in the process. Underneath their perfectly photoshopped masks, these people are nothing but cold and fake...” Kyungsoo wasn't quite sure where this sudden outburst came from, but he guessed it had something to do with the way those over-idealised faces of the already contracted models were beginning to be practically everywhere around them nowadays. They were on every advertising surface, on every screen... And each time Kyungsoo saw them, he couldn't help but wonder how much these 'perfect' people had had to sacrifice to get where they were now.
Jongin had stopped walking and gave his best friend a stunned look, “Wow, why are you so aggressive about this?”
“I'm not aggressive... more like... concerned,” Kyungsoo mumbled, suddenly feeling a bit sheepish about his outburst.
“Concerned? But Kyungsoo, this isn't like, organised prostitution. It's just... modelling,” Jongin said and chuckled.
“I know,” Kyungsoo murmured and looked away. “But it still makes me uncomfortable somehow...”
“I think it's not as bad as you're painting it out to be, but alright,” Jongin said diplomatically. They had reached the bus stop next to the school's main gates. Jongin threw one arm around Kyungsoo's neck and pulled the older boy towards the end of the small queue of people who were waiting for the approaching bus. Keeping his arm loosely draped around Kyungsoo's shoulders like this, Jongin smiled down on him. “Now, what's this,” the younger boy said quietly and raised one finger of his other hand to press it gently on the spot between Kyungsoo's eyebrows, until they relaxed and the furrow between them disappeared. “Come on, let's check out the music shop once more. Maybe we can even find the record Junmyeon showed me earlier? It really was so good, Soo, I bet you would love it, too! If it's expensive, you and me could chip in a bit...”
Kyungsoo felt his mood pick up again. Who needs to look at photoshopped faces, when they could revel in Kim Jongin's easygoing beauty every day?, Kyungsoo thought to himself as he looked up at his best friend, and his chest felt a little bit lighter.
~*~
Kyungsoo kicked Jongin's butt off of Rainbow Road for the approximately fifth time this lap. The younger boy retaliated by smacking his hand over Kyungsoo's eyes, causing him to fall off the colourful track as well. Kyungsoo cursed but Jongin just cackled.
They were sitting next to each other on Jongin's bed, leant against the wall, in his room after another day of school. It was Friday, so even Kyungsoo had agreed to chuck their backpacks into the corner as soon as they entered the room and forget about homework until Sunday.
Of course Kyungsoo won this lap again, but Jongin didn't seem to mind. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to check its screen, while Kyungsoo switched to the track selection, indecisively flipping through the stages.
“Should we do this one next, or the one with the desert?”
Jongin just hummed in reply and kept staring at his phone.
Kyungsoo turned around to him. “There's no track called hmm,” he smiled. Jongin started to type something in and Kyungsoo curiously leaned over to peer at the phone, too. “Hey, what's up?”
However, Jongin swiftly pressed the phone against his chest, so that Kyungsoo couldn't see the screen. The older boy pulled back and gave the other a surprised look.
“It's just Chanyeol,” Jongin said too quickly. “You know, just spamming like he always does...” His eyes darted around the room and it was obvious that he was lying.
Kyungsoo furrowed his eyebrows. “Stop it,” he just said, tone calm.
“Hm? Stop what? What do you mean?”
“Jongin, don't play dumb. You know that I know exactly when you're lying,” Kyungsoo said, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice. “And you are lying to me right now. The way you already did three times this week.” In a quieter voice he added, “What's wrong? I thought I was your best friend...” Kyungsoo mumbled and ignored the tiny stabbing pain inside his chest cavity.
Jongin seemed to deflate a bit before he nodded with a sigh. “I'm sorry,” he apologised. “The truth is, I just used this app. For scheduling my new mini job...”
“You have a mini job?”
“Yeah... And I just didn't tell you about it because... Because you were so against it...” he trailed off.
“Against what?”
“...Modelling. I. I started modelling,” Jongin said hesitantly and stared at his fumbling fingers in his lap.
Kyungsoo was stunned. “You... what?”
“I can explain!” Jongin blurted. “The other day, you know, when you had to bring some books or something to Mr Lee after class, and I was waiting at the main gates with Sehun, one of those talent scout ladies from before came up to us and started talking about how she was looking for junior models and how fitting I would be for the upcoming collection of whatever and then she started listing how much money I could get with one of such deals and if it went well, how much more I could earn and all I could think about was how many CDs I could buy with all this money for y- for us, and she said that it was a really easy job with not much foreknowledge required,” he rambled on while Kyungsoo still only gaped at him.
“So I thought... why not try? And so far, it's actually fun,” Jongin concluded in a tiny voice.
Kyungsoo frowned again and bit his lip.
“Are... are you mad now?”
“No, I mean, yes! Because you lied to me,” Kyungsoo scolded. Jongin guiltily ducked his head. “But I'm not mad. I'm just... worried,” the older boy added, slightly frustrated. “Worried that you'll get hurt. Or... forget about me...” Kyungsoo lowered his gaze and fought down the small blush creeping up his cheeks.
After a heartbeat, Kyungsoo suddenly felt Jongin's hand on his head, ruffling through his hair affectionately. When he looked up, he saw Jongin smiling fondly at him.
“Don't worry, Soo,” he said, voice warm. “I won't get hurt. And I certainly won't forget about you, my bestest of best friends of all the best friends in the world!” Kyungsoo had to chuckle at this, but it also calmed him down.
“No more lying!”
“I won't, I promise.”
“Good,” Kyungsoo said and relaxed back against the wall next to Jongin. The younger boy's shoulder was touching his own and Kyungsoo felt the warmth radiate into his own body. With an air of finality, he picked up his controller again before handing Jongin's to him. “Now, which track?”
“I don't care. Just not the one with the ice.”
“Deal.”
After a while, when he was losing against Kyungsoo once again, Jongin remarked, “You should've seen Sehun's face when he realised that the noona was talking to me instead of him.”
Kyungsoo laughed. And promptly threw another banana peel.
~*~
“Sorry for being late,” Jongin said with an apologetic smile and placed his tray of food on the table in the cafeteria, next to where Kyungsoo and Chanyeol were already seated. Chanyeol's plate was already completely empty and Kyungsoo had also only half of his food left. He had intended to wait for Jongin to join them before beginning to eat, but after his best friend still hadn't shown up even after fifteen minutes, Kyungsoo's hunger had eventually got the best of him. However, Jongin didn't seem to mind that his friends had already started eating without him. Good-humouredly, he placed his backpack on the vacant seat next to him and picked up his spoon.
“Got a call about the photo shooting later today and had to discuss a few more details with my agent,” Jongin explained and began to stir his bowl of bibimbap.
“It's okay,” Kyungsoo said.
Chanyeol gave them a look. “Kyungsoo waited for you, Jongin. You could've told him before that he could start without you,” he said, tone slightly reproachful.
Jongin looked up in consternation, “Oh, I'm sorry! Next time, please just start eating if you're hungry!”
“I said that it's okay, don't worry,” Kyungsoo mumbled.
“Anyway, my agent says that if I can leave a good impression at the interview later, my next shooting might be together with a real celebrity,” Jongin told them with unmistakeable pride in his voice. He opened his backpack to put his wallet back inside again.
“Hey, wait a minute, is this a real MCM-bag?!” Chanyeol suddenly exclaimed incredulously, pointing at Jongin's bag.
Jongin beamed. “Yes! Isn't it pretty?”
“Well, yeah,” Chanyeol said, taken aback, “But... aren't those like, bloody expen-?”
“I got it from Luhan, as a gift! Isn't this so nice of him?” Jongin blurted excitedly.
“Luhan?”
“One of the more experienced seonbaes at my job, he has been modelling for years and he was really nice to me right from the start,” Jongin gushed and pulled out his wallet again in a flourish. “And look at this Louis Vuitton wallet I got from Zitao!” Jongin looked back and forth his both stunned friends, clearly hoping for some sign of approval.
Jongin's smile was just about to falter, when Kyungsoo quickly cleared his throat and said, “Yeah, uhm. Great. It looks great!” He received a wide grin from Jongin in return. Chanyeol was still staring at the brown-chequered wallet, tightly pressing his lips together.
But before any of them could say anything else, Jongin's phone started to vibrate, indicating an incoming message. He grabbed it reflexively and after glancing at the screen, began to wolf down his remaining lunch. After he was finished, he stood up. “Sorry guys, but I gotta call them back, it's for work and it looks like it's important,” he said as he hurriedly packed his things and picked up his tray. “See you tomorrow, Soo, Yeol, 'kay, bye!” And he ran off.
The two remaining boys just stared after him for a minute, before Chanyeol turned around to Kyungsoo again. “Tomorrow? Isn't he going home with you today?”
Kyungsoo lowered his gaze. “Nope,” he said simply.
Chanyeol gaped. “But... isn't this like, the third afternoon in a row now? The last time you guys hung out was... last week, then?”
“Yep,” Kyungsoo said, still staring at his plate and trying to ignore the pang in his chest.
Chanyeol was silent for a while before he quietly remarked, “That wallet was fugly as hell.”
“Awful,” Kyungsoo agreed.
~*~
Kyungsoo stepped out of the school building's main doors into the oppressive summer heat. He was on his own, as Jongin had already texted him earlier that he wouldn't be able to accompany Kyungsoo home again. The older boy had already been expecting it, but it still made him sad.
He crossed the courtyard and stopped when he reached the main gate, opening his backpack to take out his mp3-player and his earphones. Listening to music might make him feel less lonely on his way home. Of course, his earphones were all tangled up, and quietly cursing under his breath, Kyungsoo kept standing on the spot to untangle them.
Suddenly he heard a drawling voice to his right. “Ugh, look at this kindergarten... You don't think there's any use in asking them if they got a light, do you?”
“Nah, no chance... But we could make him buy one for you later.”
Kyungsoo looked up, surprised. Cigarettes were strictly prohibited in their school, and if any of the pupils got caught smoking, they had to suffer heavy consequences. But as Kyungsoo looked at the guys loitering next to the main gate (so technically outside of school's property), they didn't seem to be even going to this school. For instance, the three guys and one girl weren't wearing the school uniform, even though some of them looked young enough to be still pupils. One guy held an unlit cigarette in his fingers and was presumably the one who had called Kyungsoo's school a kindergarten. He had a doll-like face with big eyes and a button nose. To his right stood an exceptionally tall guy, who had impressive eyebrows and seemed to be busy surveying the street in front of him with a somewhat grouchy expression. On the left side of Doll-face stood another very tall guy, but this one was skinnier and had several rings and piercings in his ears. He seemed to have answered to Doll-face's complaint earlier. Next to him, the girl, also very thin and with long wavy hair, stood with her arms crossed and with big designer sunglasses covering half of her stony expression. The four did not only visually stand out of the crowd because they were not wearing school uniforms, but because they were actually all, without exception, dressed in fashionable, expensive-looking designer clothes. They also had meticulously styled hair and flawless make-up on their already remarkably good-looking faces.
Although he had never met any of them before, Kyungsoo immediately knew that these people were Jongin's new model friends.
Kyungsoo was wondering if he should introduce himself, but he froze when Doll-face spoke up again.
“What the heck is taking him so long?! Is he still busy making out with his pathetic little boyfriend or what? What was this guy's name again? Kwangsoo or something?”
“It's Kyungsoo, but how did you forget that, he literally babbles about this loser all the freaking time,” Ear-Piercings replied.
“Whatever, man... I bet he's a lame little nerd and ugly as hell,” Doll-face declared. Kyungsoo was still standing only about a metre next to them, frozen in shock. He panicked for a split-second, before he realised that they probably didn't know what he looked like and therefore hadn't recognised him.
“Yeah dude, can you guys picture him with his ugly little face sitting in his ugly little room with a controller in his ugly little hands, raising Pikachus to fight against goblins or whatever?” Ear-Piercings said, hunching up his shoulders and mimicking to play some video game with his hands, along with a nasty grimace. The girl laughed and it sounded ice-cold.
“Haha, what a loser! Imagine him wearing really hideous glasses, too!” Doll-face cackled and making an equally nasty face, aped a person holding a hand of cards. “Go Digimon! Send him to the shadow realm!” he cried in an exaggeratedly squeaky voice. Ear-Piercings guffawed, the girl gave another icy chuckle and even tall Bitch-face smirked coldly.
Kyungsoo was still standing there, gaping and unable to move. He couldn't believe what he just heard. They had never even met him, for heaven's sake! Just how could they be this mean?!
He had just decided that he had heard enough, when he suddenly felt a familiar arm snake around his neck. Oh no!
“Hey, Soo!” a happy Jongin exclaimed. “I thought you already went home, but great that I still caught you in time!” It was obvious that he hadn't heard what his 'friends' had said.
Kyungsoo choked out of shock and started coughing. The four models turned around to them. They didn't seem to be startled in the least.
“Hello Kai,” Doll-face singsonged, his expression completely innocent. “We were already waiting for you.”
Kyungsoo was about to panic again. Did they realise that he had overheard their conversation from before? Sending out a quick prayer that they didn't, Kyungsoo spluttered a bit before asking the first thing that came to his mind. “Err, Kai?”
Jongin grinned. “It's the name the agency gave me to use in the showbiz,” he explained. “And my friends here use it as my nickname. Ah, have I never introduced you guys to each other?” He turned and respectively pointed at the four models who were still leaning against the wall next to the gate.
“These are Kris, Luhan, Zitao and Jessica, my friends from modelling,” he said proudly, before pointing at Kyungsoo next to him. “And this is my very best friend, Kyungsoo!”
The four snickered and exchanged looks and Kyungsoo was sure that Jongin didn't see the contemptuous look in their eyes, but he did. It was obvious that they saw their prejudices against him confirmed.
“Oh, how nice to finally meet you, Kyungsoo!” Luhan said, his voice as sweet as sugar. Kyungsoo almost winced. “You aren't wearing any glasses! I always imagined you to have glasses, after all that Kai told us about you.”
“Oh... really?” came Kyungsoo's lame reply. He wished a hole would open up beneath him to swallow him.
“Oh yeah,” Zitao said and rolled his eyes. “He talks about you a lot. Like, non-stop, actually.”
Jongin's hand, which was still lying on Kyungsoo's shoulder, suddenly squeezed it as if in shock. “Uhm! Yes! Well, uh, sorry Soo, but we need to go!” Jongin said hurriedly. He took a step away from Kyungsoo and without thinking, the latter grabbed the younger boy's wrist to hold him back.
“Jongin, wait! I -” he started before his voice disappeared. Kyungsoo saw the others exchange looks again from the corner of his eye and he felt the blood rush to his face. But Jongin just gave him a surprised look, waiting patiently for him to speak on, so Kyungsoo gulped and pulled himself together.
“Are you coming over to my house tomorrow after school? For, uhm... you know, video games...” he only whispered the two last words and desperately tried to ignore the four silently jeering models behind Jongin's back. The younger boy seemed to be completely oblivious to it, though. Instead, the he gave Kyungsoo his usual warm smile and nodded.
“Yep, see you tomorrow,” he said and glanced down to his wrist. Reluctantly, Kyungsoo let him go. Jongin waved at him, before he turned around and walked down the street, with the other four in tow.
Kyungsoo was left standing there, shoulders slumped. He tried to tell himself that first impressions weren't that important after all, but it didn't work.
>>> see here for part ii<<<