120926 CHAPTERED FIC: COLLIDE: TWO
Collide
Two | Woohyun/Sunggyu, Hoya(Howon)/Dongwoo, L(Myungsoo)/Sungyeol | Fluff > Crack | PG13 (for cussing and sexual references)
Summary: Typical high school fic in which Woohyun is no longer top dog, Myungsoo’s life becomes interesting, Howon finally feels something and Sungjong discovers his future.
(poster by chocolate_ai)
-
Woohyun and Myungsoo met up with Sungjong, Dongwoo and Hoya at the karaoke bar. Dongwoo had been awkwardly standing alone, constantly pressing the recall button on his phone. Woohyun ignored every single one of his calls, the annoying bastard. Howon and Sungjong were standing together on the other side of the road; Howon was motionless (as usual) and Sungjong was rambling on, not knowing whether Howon was listening or not. You could never tell with that guy.
When Myungsoo was in sight, Sungjong and Howon crossed the road, Sungjong sneering at the West Campus friend of his beside him.
‘This is Sungjong,’ he told Woohyun, pushing Sungjong forward because the youngest was being reluctant.
Woohyun offered his hand and Sungjong shook it, still wary of his character.
Myungsoo then pointed to the boy next to Sungjong, patting Woohyun’s shoulder. ‘And this is Howon. Howon, this is Woohyun.’
‘Hey.’ Woohyun held his hand out again… But Howon didn’t take it, making Woohyun pull it back awkwardly. ’Um. Okay then.’
Myungsoo laughed, ‘Yeah, he’ll do that - and by that I mean absolutely nothing at all. But he’s a good friend.’
Howon’s and Sunggyu’s mothers had been best friends since they were both pregnant with the boys. After they were born, Myungsoo come along right after and the three of them would go on play dates even before they could walk. They’ve known each other for as long as they could remember, but Myungsoo got bored easily and left the two on most occasions to hang out with other friends such as Sungjong. It didn’t take much for Myungsoo’s group of friends and the other two to click. However when middle school rolled around, most of the click had kind of left, leaving the original three again with the addition of Sungjong. After that, they’d never parted.
It was Woohyun’s turn to present his friend. ‘This is Dongwoo,’ he introduced. Dongwoo gave a friendly smile, waving at the other three. ‘He’ll keep smiling, but don’t be freaked out ‘cause he can’t help it.’
Myungsoo raised his palms in the air, grabbing everyone’s attention. ‘Okay, to not get this confused,’ he announced, ‘Woohyun, I will refer to you as Hyun and I will refer to Dongwoo as Woo.’
Dongwoo gaped and Woohyun said in a put-off tone, ‘…That’s so confusing.’
‘Suck it up,’ Myungsoo said simply.
‘Why can’t you just call us Dongwoo and Woohyun?’ Dongwoo asked, trying to understand this Myungsoo guy Woohyun talked so highly about.
‘I address everyone by their second syllable.’
Sungjong jeered, slapping Myungsoo’s shoulder, ‘You don’t call Howon, Won. You just call him yah.’
Myungsoo rolled his eyes, pulling Howon and Woohyun by the forearms towards the doors of the karaoke bar. ‘Well, now Howon is Hoya. Whatever, let’s go.’
-
‘Fun people, huh?’ Woohyun chuckled, wrapping an arm around Dongwoo’s shoulders.
Dongwoo wasn’t smiling. ‘Yeah, but I don’t trust that Howon guy…’ he mumbled, in deep thought. Howon just kept… staring at him? Analysing him? Burning holes through his face with his eyeballs? Dongwoo didn’t exactly know how to explain it. He had surprisingly bonded with Sungjong pretty quickly, but Howon didn’t speak a syllable to him and vice versa. Dongwoo couldn’t get a word in since the other kept looking at Dongwoo like that.
‘Why not? He seems harmless.’
‘The way he looked at me…’ Dongwoo trailed off. He shook his head, deciding to forget about it. ‘I don’t know. I’m just not going to assume anything yet.’
‘You think he has the hots for you?’ Woohyun gasped in amusement. In reality, guys went after Dongwoo all the time. Being his friend since elementary, Woohyun never saw why. In his eyes, Dongwoo was just… Dongwoo-like.
‘Not at all! It’s just… he looked at me like I was a science experiment.’ Dongwoo waved his hands in the air, denying any romantic theories. ‘It was just weird, okay? Now, let’s drop it. My house or yours?’
Woohyun yawned. ‘Mine, so we don’t have to clean up afterwards.’
‘You should really treat your maids with a bit more respect.’
Woohyun scoffed and sped up his pace, ‘Whatever. They can quit whenever they want to.’
Dongwoo smiled bitterly before catching up.
-
Sungyeol woke up in a strange position the next morning, per usual. His phone beeped and he pawed all over his bedside table to capture it, knocking off almost all his knickknacks - he had toys from McHappy meals everywhere, actually.
When his sleepy eyes finally adjusted to the brightness of morning and he read the text he just received, he groaned and fought back the temptation to throw his phone out the window.
From: Your Audience
Morning Lee Sungyeol >;D
For one, Sungyeol knew very well it was the annoying guy that felt him up and violated him yesterday. When Sungyeol saw the guy sitting in the back row of his last period, he skipped class. It was just something about him that he didn’t like. Maybe Sungyeol hated the boy because he ambushed Sungyeol yesterday, catching him completely off-guard. Or maybe it was because the guy saved his name as ‘Your Audience’ on Sungyeol’s phone… Yeah, maybe that’s it.
Sungyeol typed in a reply, redid it and redid it until he found the right words, but all he eventually came up with was:
To: Your Audience
I HATE YOU (>o<)
Sungyeol groaned into his pillow, willing to give away everything to not go to school today. (Too bad his parents would slaughter him if they knew he’d skip again.) That guy irritated him to no end and he didn’t even know his fucking name yet!
From: Your Audience
We have psychology together. I’ll see you at second period! *pats your pretty head*
Life hated him, Sungyeol realised. Life hated him to death.
-
Woohyun arrived to school late, yet again. His heart skipped a beat, although he had too much pride to admit it, when he examined his time table. He had biology first period and to him, that meant only one thing: student body president, Kim Sunggyu. With that in mind, he happily entered the classroom, much to the teacher’s dismay. As expected, Sunggyu was in the third row at his usual spot, seat next to him left empty, and was playing with his phone again. Woohyun plopped himself next to Sunggyu and smiled at the boy with toothache-y sweetness.
‘Morning, cutie.’ Woohyun’s smiled disappeared as Sunggyu looked up at him, eyes burning. Something about Sunggyu’s expression scared the living daylights out of Woohyun, as well as their classmates and the teacher.
Sunggyu huffed, ‘You’re late again. I excused you the first time because it was your first day, but I think I won’t let you get away with it this time.’
His voice was dripping with death or murder or pouring-acid-down-your-throat-and-watching-you-scream, and it rendered Woohyun speechless.
The teacher coughed loudly, nervous about Sunggyu’s death glares, ‘Alright class. Today we will discuss ecology.’
Sunggyu turned his attention back to the device in his hands, expression back to normal in a flash. Woohyun crooked an eyebrow, slowly turning to the front. He heard a psst, pssstt and looked in the direction of the noise. A classmate was mouthing something to Woohyun and it looked an awful lot like: ‘You’re screwed.’
Woohyun glanced at Sunggyu again - full cheeks, rosy lips, flawless skin - and thought there was no way Sunggyu had the potential to hurt him. Was he serious or just bluffing? Woohyun looked at his hands, thinking, ‘His hands are so beautiful. It’s impossible that they’ve been in contact with dirty blood before, right? Definitely bluffing.’
-
Sungyeol was dying in second period. The guy just had to sit next to him and smirk at him every time Sungyeol looked his way. He didn’t know how to get rid of him and just sat there, miserably laying his head in his arms.
And then it hit him… This guy only wanted him for entertainment, right? So to get rid of him was to be as boring as ever, of course! Sungyeol went with his ingenious plan and sat up straight, dumbly watching the teacher.
However, his scheme was hopeless. The guy just sat there and stared at him with fascination like some stalker, intrigued by every delicate feature of Sungyeol’s face. It didn’t help with Sungyeol’s nerves - he stressed all night about this guy and therefore was easily ticked off. The guy was shameless and even though he technically didn’t harm anyone, Sungyeol wanted his existence to seize. What was it about this guy that was so annoying? Class only started ten minutes ago and Sungyeol already wanted to throw him out the window!
Sungyeol decided to try a different method: Use his own medicine against him. Clearing his throat, Sungyeol made his eyes as big and round as possible, turned to his right and stared at the other boy straight on.
Surprisingly, the guy didn’t flinch and smiled cheerfully, petting Sungyeol’s head. Sungyeol just about had it. This guy was the definition of annoying!
‘DON’T TOUCH ME, YOU CREEP! I SWEAR IF YOU TOUCH ME AGAIN, I’LL CHOMP YOUR FINGERS OFF ONE-BY-ONE!’ Sungyeol glared at him, hands positioned in the typical Kung Fu pose.
The obviously anger-management-troubled teacher quickly through a marker at Sungyeol’s forehead, hitting him accurately. ‘Be quiet! We do not tolerate shrieking in this class!’ Mr Lee yelled, red-faced.
‘But you tolerate PERVERTS like him? He’s touching me inappropriately!’ Sungyeol whined childishly, pointing at the student next to him who was almost dying from laughter.
‘Myungsoo, is this true?’ the teacher asked the boy next to Sungyeol.
‘So his name’s Myungsoo? Isn’t that the guy Woohyun was talking about?! Holy shit, he befriended a monster!’
Myungsoo bit his lip, trying his best to suppress his laughter. ‘I don’t know what he’s talking about, sir,’ he responded and then looked at Sungyeol with an evil smirk.
Sungyeol was gobsmacked and started babbling incoherent things, hands flailing in the air. ‘WHAT?! But you -‘
‘Enough! If I hear another word out of you, I’ll send you to the principal’s office!’ the teacher ordered, turning back to the whiteboard.
Myungsoo placed his head on the table and quietly laughed, his shoulders pulsating and his abdominal muscles contracting to the point of pain. Sungyeol pouted and melded into his chair. He was so going to convince Woohyun to ditch this Myungsoo guy. After all, Woohyun liked Sungyeol better than some guy he just met, right?
It was torture for another twenty minutes or so and then, thank heavens, Myungsoo was texting someone and not being an annoying twat.
-
Woohyun assured himself that Sunggyu was just throwing out empty threats, but still. He was just so damn curious. He ended up texted Myungsoo while enduring his second period class, which was chemistry with Dongwoo.
To: Myung Kim
Is your brother a serial killer or something?
Dongwoo actually liked all the chemistry stuff. It seemed as though he enjoyed blowing things up, working out why they blew up and which two substances reacted the most dangerously together. Woohyun made note to stay far away from him when Dongwoo was experimenting with the colourful liquids and not following the teachers safety instructions. When Dongwoo was sitting down and behaving, however, he would flinch every now and then. He would feel strange chills crackling down his spine and when he glanced to his far right, he would see Howon staring right at him with that expression. It made him slightly uncomfortable to say the least. Woohyun found it somewhat amusing to have Dongwoo all jumpy and accident-revolved in a science room, knocking things over and spilling chemicals everywhere.
From: Myung Kim
Yeah, of course. -o- He buries the bodies in our backyard and plants trees to make it look less suspicious. Why do you ask?
Rolling his eyes, Woohyun texted back.
To: Myung Kim
I was late this morning and he sort of threatened me
Woohyun realised chemistry was boring, like all his other classes, and decided he didn’t want to watch the frenzied teacher trying to stop Dongwoo from blowing up the classroom any longer. He gave Dongwoo a wave and Dongwoo waved in return, although busy with the sixty kilos of female on his back. The other students in the classroom were whispering to each other, pointing at Woohyun who was making his escape.
Without creating too much of a fuss, Woohyun stepped through the doorway. Something odd caught his attention and made him pause for a moment. It was Howon. Howon was watching his every move, every detail, and Woohyun finally understood what Dongwoo meant yesterday. It was kind of creepy. With that thought, he proceeded out of the frantic classroom and into the hallways.
From: Myung Kim
Wait, so you were late… and he saw you be late…?
Furrowing his eyebrows, Woohyun observed the text again. Was that a problem? Being late in front of Kim Sunggyu?
To: Myung Kim
yeah…why?
A reply came back twenty seconds later.
From: Myung Kim
Oh nothing~ you’re just dead :)
Woohyun stopped walking.
To: Myung Kim
I’m what? O_o
From: Myung Kim
D - E - A - D. Not living, not breathing, not loving. Just dead.
It was almost laughable, in Woohyun’s opinion. Kim Sunggyu, a murderer? A bully? A menace? It was utterly ridiculous. He was too pretty, too fragile-looking, too freaking adorable to hurt someone. Not with those beautiful hands, anyway.
To: Myung Kim
…Your squishy brother’s going to kill me?
From: Myung Kim
Maybe not completely kill you. He’ll just screw with you until you wish you were dead.
Woohyun really did laugh this time.
-
After the recess bell, Sungyeol sprinted out of the classroom at the speed of light, searching for Woohyun to warn him off Myungsoo. Myungsoo shrugged and started walking in the opposite direction. He took his time getting to his locker and putting his books in. And as he closed the metal door with a thud, Sunggyu appeared next to him with a greeting smile splayed across his face.
They were walking to the music room together side-by-side and Myungsoo was telling his brother all about Sungyeol and his outburst.
‘Myungsoo, please don’t bring this person home tonight,’ Sunggyu grumbled. ‘I’ve had it with all your tainting of innocent minds. Why do you think I avoid your room nowadays?’
The younger laughed, wrapping an arm around his brother (who of course shrugged him off, not amused), ‘I don’t think this guy is that easy, hyung. Plus, it’s not like I want him, I just think he’s interesting to watch. Like Animal Planet on steroids.’
Sunggyu remembered Myungsoo mentioning something about Animal Planet yesterday - that meant Myungsoo’s harassing actually continued for more than a day. ‘Interesting,’ Sunggyu thought. ‘That doesn’t usually happen.’
‘My brother’s a creep,’ Sunggyu scoffed, hitting the back of Myungsoo’s head.
They both walked in silence after that, Sunggyu smiling at and greeting students that gave them a quick hello. Myungsoo didn’t say hi back and yawned. He didn’t sleep during second period like he usually would because of Sungyeol and it already had an effect on him. While rubbing his eyes, he spotted a familiar figure from across the room, also hearing that distinct voice of his.
Myungsoo quickly ran over to him, startling Sunggyu who followed. ‘Hey, it’s Hyun! Last night was fun, right?’ Myungsoo said, exchanging a high five with the mentioned boy.
‘Yeah, hi Kim,’ Woohyun chuckled. He then saw Sunggyu and grinned cheekily. ‘Hey, cutie.’
Sunggyu tsked, glaring back at him. It saddened Woohyun a little to not be greeted back; he really wanted to hear that voice again.
Myungsoo informed, ‘Sunggyu, I think I’ll hang out with Woohyun today, so -‘
‘No,’ Sunggyu cut off dryly. Woohyun raised an eyebrow - Myungsoo wasn’t the protective-over-your-siblings-type, Sunggyu was.
‘What?’ Myungsoo mumbled, eyes widened.
‘No.’ Sunggyu shook his head this time in emphasis.
‘But hyung, Woohyun is a new kid and I need to show him around,’ the younger whined, failing at acting cute to win his brother over. Sunggyu’s seen the act a thousand times before and he was completely immune to it. Especially when Myungsoo was spewing bullshit.
‘Myungsoo, you’ve heard about his reputation!’ Sunggyu nagged, grasping his arm.
Myungsoo shouted back, ‘So? It’s not like I’m going to date every single student of one class at the same time and bang their mothers behind their backs like Hyun did!’
Woohyun butted in, looking at Sunggyu in particular, ‘Not true, by the way.’
Sunggyu rolled his eyes.
The two brothers kept bickering, attracting attention from everyone at the all-boys school. Woohyun tried to look for a diversion to halt them because all he could do was stand there and listen to Sunggyu throw insults about him - he couldn’t let Sunggyu get the upper hand. The top position was his.
Like being thrown a life ring in the raging ocean, Woohyun spotted his saving grace - the guy he hung out with yesterday, Myungsoo’s friend.
‘Hey Howon,’ Woohyun called, waving his arm.
Howon just looked at him and walked past, not caring the slightest about the older guy. After a few seconds, he felt a hand grabbing his wrist and forcing him to spin around.
‘Um, Howon? It’s me, Woohyun…’ Woohyun pointed out, biting his lip slightly.
Howon’s expression didn’t falter. ‘And?’
Woohyun was astonished by the other’s disrespect and let his wrist go, saying, ‘And I just wanted to say hey, but I guess you’re on drugs or something and too messed-up.’
The whole hallway silenced, much to Woohyun’s enjoyment, Myungsoo and Sunggyu long forgotten.
Oh how Woohyun loved being the centre of attention.
‘Nam Woohyun,’ Sunggyu growled angrily, rushing his way to Howon’s side, the bystanders clearing the way for him. Dongwoo spotted Woohyun encapsulated in the sea of students and squeezed his way past, placing a hand on Woohyun’s shoulder. He had found him late and had no idea what was happening.
After a moment of students whispering things to each other, Howon opened his mouth again, his voice turning toxic, ‘To be skipping class proudly for attention… Do you really think I’m the messed-up one?’
Sunggyu knew exactly what his tone meant and he was ready to put a hand over Howon’s mouth and haul him away.
‘W - What?’ Woohyun stuttered, not liking the look the younger was giving him.
Howon said effortlessly, ‘You’re useless to this world, you’re useless to society, so all you do is seek attention and you have no other means to do it besides being a delinquent. It’s hard for you to win by trying, so you just don’t try. You do what’s comfortable and put on this I-am-the-best persona. Don’t you think that is sort of cowardly?’
It seemed as though Howon knew every detail about him, not falling for his big tough guy act that everyone else couldn’t see through. Woohyun found it kind of terrifying - being caught out, that is.
‘Hey, you can’t talk to him like that!’ Dongwoo finally shouted, stepping in front of his friend.
Howon looked straight at Dongwoo and the latter could’ve sworn his glare had softened. Howon picked up his feet and walked off, the crowd separating a path for him.
‘Hey I was talking to you, youfff-‘ Dongwoo made a move to come after him, but was pulled back by Sunggyu and Woohyun.
‘It’s fine,’ Sunggyu spoke, not patronisingly at all, more leader-ly than anything. ‘Let it go. He could kill at the moment.’
Sunggyu threw Myungsoo a look behind his shoulder and the younger nodded. They both set out to find Howon because he could be lethal in the state he’s in and they didn’t want to mop up any blood today.
-
‘Where did he go?’ Myungsoo panted, resting his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.
Sunggyu blew his bangs away from his face, using the sleeve of his blazer to wipe away the sweat that collected at his brow. How the hell could Howon just disappear like that? Myungsoo and Sunggyu had ran around everywhere in the gigantic school and hadn’t caught a glimpse of the guy anywhere.
The older nodded unconsciously, thinking about a different approach. ‘He’s a little enraged at the moment. I think we should let him cool off first. Most of the students have probably heard about how angry he is by now and will back off when they see him,’ he put forth, fluffing up his red-caramel hair in frustration.
‘Hyung, I’ve never asked you this before, but…’ Myungsoo sat down on a nearby step and rubbed the nape of his neck. ‘What happened to Howon? Why is he always so distant? Every time he looks at me, it feels like I’m not there and he’s staring straight through my face.’
Sunggyu sighed. He knew Myungsoo would ask about Howon one day, and he sort of wondered how stupid his brother was if it took him so long to ask. Sitting down next to him, Sunggyu digressed, ‘He’s just a little depressed - wait, not exactly depressed. I can’t really explain it. But I assure you, it wasn’t a sudden change that made him this way… He just slowly stopped expressing his emotions.’
‘Do you think one day he’ll become a statue?’ Myungsoo laughed. Once Myungsoo gave the topic deep thought, he realised he never really pondered on Howon’s odd personality. It just seemed so natural to him because he’d known him before he was even born. Earlier, that glint in Howon’s pupils screamed murder. It sent chills down his spine and riled up his gears because Howon was always harmless in his eyes. Sure, he’d seen the look before, but the last time he saw it was in middle school, when three older boys had teased Myungsoo and he had jumped on them. The boys were bigger, in bigger numbers, and therefore quickly gotten the upper hand, beating Myungsoo up until he was bloody. Howon stopped them and although Myungsoo was dizzy from all the clocking, he saw how terrifying Howon could be. Even after that, Howon was still harmless to Myungsoo because he never once hurt him before.
‘The way he talked to Woohyun today… I never thought he had it in him.’
‘Like I always tell you, don’t underestimate him. The reason he’s so good at analysing is because he listens,’ Sunggyu commented. ‘Even if it doesn’t seem like it.’
Myungsoo mumbled, ‘And he’s mute.’
‘Shut up, kid,’ Sunggyu chuckled and hit the younger’s head. (Again.)
‘And Woohyun…’ Myungsoo trailed off, sensing Sunggyu’s bitchiness towards the mentioned delinquent. His brother utterly hated delinquents. (Hence Myungsoo always being hit.)
‘What about him?’ Sunggyu responded through fairly gritted teeth, scowl evident on his face.
Myungsoo tried acting cute again, making Sunggyu cringe. ‘Can you let him off this time? Pretty please?’
‘Why should I? I’ve never let anybody else off before.’
‘Give him one last chance. After that you can torture him as you please…’
Sunggyu thought over the suggestion and decided Myungsoo was right. He shook the offered hand and nodded, giving off a presidential feel. ‘Deal, but only because I’m your brother and I love you,’ he informed, smile playing at his lips.
‘You hate me…’
‘That’s true too, I guess.’
-
Dongwoo had left Woohyun’s side and decided to explore the school - without a map - and find Howon. There was nothing more in the world he treasured more than his friends. Perhaps Woohyun could be a bastard at times, but Dongwoo knew that if Woohyun were him, Woohyun would’ve nailed Howon right in the face at that very moment. If Sungyeol were there (and not wandering around the school with no clue in where he was going, Dongwoo assumed), he probably would’ve jumped on Howon, screaming tribal prayers, and suffocated him with his long limbs.
Woohyun might’ve gotten over it, but Dongwoo hadn’t. Everyone had seen Howon turn into a demon, but Dongwoo didn’t sense any of that. Not because he was ignorant or because he was unintelligent, but because Dongwoo wasn’t scared. He wasn’t scared of people. Even if he was being held hostage and threatened at gunpoint, or even chained in a dungeon without doors or windows, Dongwoo would be too optimistic to be scared. Sure, the subhuman and supernatural scared him shitless, but Dongwoo always saw the silver lining or the way out that everyone else was blind to. Therefore, Howon wasn’t anything horrifying to him, even if his eyes pierced like rusty daggers.
Dongwoo quickly got lost and started circling around the hallways. Not bumping into anyone he knew, he cursed under his breath. Eventually he made it to the intersection of the two main hallways. Using the eeny-meeny-miny-moe method, he decided to turn right where there weren’t any students at all… except for one.
Howon was just about to enter the bathroom, until Dongwoo ran up to him and forced him around.
‘I want your apology,’ Dongwoo breathed. The apology obviously wasn’t for him, but he felt that he needed it even more than Woohyun did.
Howon didn’t reply.
‘I said I want your apology!’ Dongwoo repeated, gripping the younger’s blazer in anger. Not many things angered Dongwoo, actually.
Howon didn’t respond and just kept staring at him with that look. At first that look was just weird, but now it was making Dongwoo go insane.
‘Look, we came onto your turf and ruined your hierarchy, but no one is allowed to talk to my friend like that!’ Dongwoo yelled, getting even more irritated at Howon’s ignorance. He couldn’t hold it in much longer and slapped the other across the face, the sound echoing through the empty hallway. ‘You stupid jerk!’
Dongwoo walked away, finally starting to calm down. And with calming down, came throbbing guilt dispersing in his skull.
Watching Dongwoo’s figure slowly disappear, Howon decided he didn’t need to go to the bathroom after all. Because the slap really did hurt.
-
AN\ This is the most boring fic in existence…
And is this angst-y? OMG AM I WRITING ANGST? DOES THIS EVEN MAKE SENSE?! I’M THE ONE WHO INVENTED YEOLVILLE AND POLE-DERELLA AND MUTANT, CARNIVOROUS MOTHS THAT PLAN TO RULE THE WORLD AND NOW I’M WRITING ANGST?!?!?! WHAT HAS THE WORLD COME TO?!
Prologue One Three
Two | Woohyun/Sunggyu, Hoya(Howon)/Dongwoo, L(Myungsoo)/Sungyeol | Fluff > Crack | PG13 (for cussing and sexual references)
Summary: Typical high school fic in which Woohyun is no longer top dog, Myungsoo’s life becomes interesting, Howon finally feels something and Sungjong discovers his future.
(poster by chocolate_ai)
-
Woohyun and Myungsoo met up with Sungjong, Dongwoo and Hoya at the karaoke bar. Dongwoo had been awkwardly standing alone, constantly pressing the recall button on his phone. Woohyun ignored every single one of his calls, the annoying bastard. Howon and Sungjong were standing together on the other side of the road; Howon was motionless (as usual) and Sungjong was rambling on, not knowing whether Howon was listening or not. You could never tell with that guy.
When Myungsoo was in sight, Sungjong and Howon crossed the road, Sungjong sneering at the West Campus friend of his beside him.
‘This is Sungjong,’ he told Woohyun, pushing Sungjong forward because the youngest was being reluctant.
Woohyun offered his hand and Sungjong shook it, still wary of his character.
Myungsoo then pointed to the boy next to Sungjong, patting Woohyun’s shoulder. ‘And this is Howon. Howon, this is Woohyun.’
‘Hey.’ Woohyun held his hand out again… But Howon didn’t take it, making Woohyun pull it back awkwardly. ’Um. Okay then.’
Myungsoo laughed, ‘Yeah, he’ll do that - and by that I mean absolutely nothing at all. But he’s a good friend.’
Howon’s and Sunggyu’s mothers had been best friends since they were both pregnant with the boys. After they were born, Myungsoo come along right after and the three of them would go on play dates even before they could walk. They’ve known each other for as long as they could remember, but Myungsoo got bored easily and left the two on most occasions to hang out with other friends such as Sungjong. It didn’t take much for Myungsoo’s group of friends and the other two to click. However when middle school rolled around, most of the click had kind of left, leaving the original three again with the addition of Sungjong. After that, they’d never parted.
It was Woohyun’s turn to present his friend. ‘This is Dongwoo,’ he introduced. Dongwoo gave a friendly smile, waving at the other three. ‘He’ll keep smiling, but don’t be freaked out ‘cause he can’t help it.’
Myungsoo raised his palms in the air, grabbing everyone’s attention. ‘Okay, to not get this confused,’ he announced, ‘Woohyun, I will refer to you as Hyun and I will refer to Dongwoo as Woo.’
Dongwoo gaped and Woohyun said in a put-off tone, ‘…That’s so confusing.’
‘Suck it up,’ Myungsoo said simply.
‘Why can’t you just call us Dongwoo and Woohyun?’ Dongwoo asked, trying to understand this Myungsoo guy Woohyun talked so highly about.
‘I address everyone by their second syllable.’
Sungjong jeered, slapping Myungsoo’s shoulder, ‘You don’t call Howon, Won. You just call him yah.’
Myungsoo rolled his eyes, pulling Howon and Woohyun by the forearms towards the doors of the karaoke bar. ‘Well, now Howon is Hoya. Whatever, let’s go.’
-
‘Fun people, huh?’ Woohyun chuckled, wrapping an arm around Dongwoo’s shoulders.
Dongwoo wasn’t smiling. ‘Yeah, but I don’t trust that Howon guy…’ he mumbled, in deep thought. Howon just kept… staring at him? Analysing him? Burning holes through his face with his eyeballs? Dongwoo didn’t exactly know how to explain it. He had surprisingly bonded with Sungjong pretty quickly, but Howon didn’t speak a syllable to him and vice versa. Dongwoo couldn’t get a word in since the other kept looking at Dongwoo like that.
‘Why not? He seems harmless.’
‘The way he looked at me…’ Dongwoo trailed off. He shook his head, deciding to forget about it. ‘I don’t know. I’m just not going to assume anything yet.’
‘You think he has the hots for you?’ Woohyun gasped in amusement. In reality, guys went after Dongwoo all the time. Being his friend since elementary, Woohyun never saw why. In his eyes, Dongwoo was just… Dongwoo-like.
‘Not at all! It’s just… he looked at me like I was a science experiment.’ Dongwoo waved his hands in the air, denying any romantic theories. ‘It was just weird, okay? Now, let’s drop it. My house or yours?’
Woohyun yawned. ‘Mine, so we don’t have to clean up afterwards.’
‘You should really treat your maids with a bit more respect.’
Woohyun scoffed and sped up his pace, ‘Whatever. They can quit whenever they want to.’
Dongwoo smiled bitterly before catching up.
-
Sungyeol woke up in a strange position the next morning, per usual. His phone beeped and he pawed all over his bedside table to capture it, knocking off almost all his knickknacks - he had toys from McHappy meals everywhere, actually.
When his sleepy eyes finally adjusted to the brightness of morning and he read the text he just received, he groaned and fought back the temptation to throw his phone out the window.
From: Your Audience
Morning Lee Sungyeol >;D
For one, Sungyeol knew very well it was the annoying guy that felt him up and violated him yesterday. When Sungyeol saw the guy sitting in the back row of his last period, he skipped class. It was just something about him that he didn’t like. Maybe Sungyeol hated the boy because he ambushed Sungyeol yesterday, catching him completely off-guard. Or maybe it was because the guy saved his name as ‘Your Audience’ on Sungyeol’s phone… Yeah, maybe that’s it.
Sungyeol typed in a reply, redid it and redid it until he found the right words, but all he eventually came up with was:
To: Your Audience
I HATE YOU (>o<)
Sungyeol groaned into his pillow, willing to give away everything to not go to school today. (Too bad his parents would slaughter him if they knew he’d skip again.) That guy irritated him to no end and he didn’t even know his fucking name yet!
From: Your Audience
We have psychology together. I’ll see you at second period! *pats your pretty head*
Life hated him, Sungyeol realised. Life hated him to death.
-
Woohyun arrived to school late, yet again. His heart skipped a beat, although he had too much pride to admit it, when he examined his time table. He had biology first period and to him, that meant only one thing: student body president, Kim Sunggyu. With that in mind, he happily entered the classroom, much to the teacher’s dismay. As expected, Sunggyu was in the third row at his usual spot, seat next to him left empty, and was playing with his phone again. Woohyun plopped himself next to Sunggyu and smiled at the boy with toothache-y sweetness.
‘Morning, cutie.’ Woohyun’s smiled disappeared as Sunggyu looked up at him, eyes burning. Something about Sunggyu’s expression scared the living daylights out of Woohyun, as well as their classmates and the teacher.
Sunggyu huffed, ‘You’re late again. I excused you the first time because it was your first day, but I think I won’t let you get away with it this time.’
His voice was dripping with death or murder or pouring-acid-down-your-throat-and-watching-you-scream, and it rendered Woohyun speechless.
The teacher coughed loudly, nervous about Sunggyu’s death glares, ‘Alright class. Today we will discuss ecology.’
Sunggyu turned his attention back to the device in his hands, expression back to normal in a flash. Woohyun crooked an eyebrow, slowly turning to the front. He heard a psst, pssstt and looked in the direction of the noise. A classmate was mouthing something to Woohyun and it looked an awful lot like: ‘You’re screwed.’
Woohyun glanced at Sunggyu again - full cheeks, rosy lips, flawless skin - and thought there was no way Sunggyu had the potential to hurt him. Was he serious or just bluffing? Woohyun looked at his hands, thinking, ‘His hands are so beautiful. It’s impossible that they’ve been in contact with dirty blood before, right? Definitely bluffing.’
-
Sungyeol was dying in second period. The guy just had to sit next to him and smirk at him every time Sungyeol looked his way. He didn’t know how to get rid of him and just sat there, miserably laying his head in his arms.
And then it hit him… This guy only wanted him for entertainment, right? So to get rid of him was to be as boring as ever, of course! Sungyeol went with his ingenious plan and sat up straight, dumbly watching the teacher.
However, his scheme was hopeless. The guy just sat there and stared at him with fascination like some stalker, intrigued by every delicate feature of Sungyeol’s face. It didn’t help with Sungyeol’s nerves - he stressed all night about this guy and therefore was easily ticked off. The guy was shameless and even though he technically didn’t harm anyone, Sungyeol wanted his existence to seize. What was it about this guy that was so annoying? Class only started ten minutes ago and Sungyeol already wanted to throw him out the window!
Sungyeol decided to try a different method: Use his own medicine against him. Clearing his throat, Sungyeol made his eyes as big and round as possible, turned to his right and stared at the other boy straight on.
Surprisingly, the guy didn’t flinch and smiled cheerfully, petting Sungyeol’s head. Sungyeol just about had it. This guy was the definition of annoying!
‘DON’T TOUCH ME, YOU CREEP! I SWEAR IF YOU TOUCH ME AGAIN, I’LL CHOMP YOUR FINGERS OFF ONE-BY-ONE!’ Sungyeol glared at him, hands positioned in the typical Kung Fu pose.
The obviously anger-management-troubled teacher quickly through a marker at Sungyeol’s forehead, hitting him accurately. ‘Be quiet! We do not tolerate shrieking in this class!’ Mr Lee yelled, red-faced.
‘But you tolerate PERVERTS like him? He’s touching me inappropriately!’ Sungyeol whined childishly, pointing at the student next to him who was almost dying from laughter.
‘Myungsoo, is this true?’ the teacher asked the boy next to Sungyeol.
‘So his name’s Myungsoo? Isn’t that the guy Woohyun was talking about?! Holy shit, he befriended a monster!’
Myungsoo bit his lip, trying his best to suppress his laughter. ‘I don’t know what he’s talking about, sir,’ he responded and then looked at Sungyeol with an evil smirk.
Sungyeol was gobsmacked and started babbling incoherent things, hands flailing in the air. ‘WHAT?! But you -‘
‘Enough! If I hear another word out of you, I’ll send you to the principal’s office!’ the teacher ordered, turning back to the whiteboard.
Myungsoo placed his head on the table and quietly laughed, his shoulders pulsating and his abdominal muscles contracting to the point of pain. Sungyeol pouted and melded into his chair. He was so going to convince Woohyun to ditch this Myungsoo guy. After all, Woohyun liked Sungyeol better than some guy he just met, right?
It was torture for another twenty minutes or so and then, thank heavens, Myungsoo was texting someone and not being an annoying twat.
-
Woohyun assured himself that Sunggyu was just throwing out empty threats, but still. He was just so damn curious. He ended up texted Myungsoo while enduring his second period class, which was chemistry with Dongwoo.
To: Myung Kim
Is your brother a serial killer or something?
Dongwoo actually liked all the chemistry stuff. It seemed as though he enjoyed blowing things up, working out why they blew up and which two substances reacted the most dangerously together. Woohyun made note to stay far away from him when Dongwoo was experimenting with the colourful liquids and not following the teachers safety instructions. When Dongwoo was sitting down and behaving, however, he would flinch every now and then. He would feel strange chills crackling down his spine and when he glanced to his far right, he would see Howon staring right at him with that expression. It made him slightly uncomfortable to say the least. Woohyun found it somewhat amusing to have Dongwoo all jumpy and accident-revolved in a science room, knocking things over and spilling chemicals everywhere.
From: Myung Kim
Yeah, of course. -o- He buries the bodies in our backyard and plants trees to make it look less suspicious. Why do you ask?
Rolling his eyes, Woohyun texted back.
To: Myung Kim
I was late this morning and he sort of threatened me
Woohyun realised chemistry was boring, like all his other classes, and decided he didn’t want to watch the frenzied teacher trying to stop Dongwoo from blowing up the classroom any longer. He gave Dongwoo a wave and Dongwoo waved in return, although busy with the sixty kilos of female on his back. The other students in the classroom were whispering to each other, pointing at Woohyun who was making his escape.
Without creating too much of a fuss, Woohyun stepped through the doorway. Something odd caught his attention and made him pause for a moment. It was Howon. Howon was watching his every move, every detail, and Woohyun finally understood what Dongwoo meant yesterday. It was kind of creepy. With that thought, he proceeded out of the frantic classroom and into the hallways.
From: Myung Kim
Wait, so you were late… and he saw you be late…?
Furrowing his eyebrows, Woohyun observed the text again. Was that a problem? Being late in front of Kim Sunggyu?
To: Myung Kim
yeah…why?
A reply came back twenty seconds later.
From: Myung Kim
Oh nothing~ you’re just dead :)
Woohyun stopped walking.
To: Myung Kim
I’m what? O_o
From: Myung Kim
D - E - A - D. Not living, not breathing, not loving. Just dead.
It was almost laughable, in Woohyun’s opinion. Kim Sunggyu, a murderer? A bully? A menace? It was utterly ridiculous. He was too pretty, too fragile-looking, too freaking adorable to hurt someone. Not with those beautiful hands, anyway.
To: Myung Kim
…Your squishy brother’s going to kill me?
From: Myung Kim
Maybe not completely kill you. He’ll just screw with you until you wish you were dead.
Woohyun really did laugh this time.
-
After the recess bell, Sungyeol sprinted out of the classroom at the speed of light, searching for Woohyun to warn him off Myungsoo. Myungsoo shrugged and started walking in the opposite direction. He took his time getting to his locker and putting his books in. And as he closed the metal door with a thud, Sunggyu appeared next to him with a greeting smile splayed across his face.
They were walking to the music room together side-by-side and Myungsoo was telling his brother all about Sungyeol and his outburst.
‘Myungsoo, please don’t bring this person home tonight,’ Sunggyu grumbled. ‘I’ve had it with all your tainting of innocent minds. Why do you think I avoid your room nowadays?’
The younger laughed, wrapping an arm around his brother (who of course shrugged him off, not amused), ‘I don’t think this guy is that easy, hyung. Plus, it’s not like I want him, I just think he’s interesting to watch. Like Animal Planet on steroids.’
Sunggyu remembered Myungsoo mentioning something about Animal Planet yesterday - that meant Myungsoo’s harassing actually continued for more than a day. ‘Interesting,’ Sunggyu thought. ‘That doesn’t usually happen.’
‘My brother’s a creep,’ Sunggyu scoffed, hitting the back of Myungsoo’s head.
They both walked in silence after that, Sunggyu smiling at and greeting students that gave them a quick hello. Myungsoo didn’t say hi back and yawned. He didn’t sleep during second period like he usually would because of Sungyeol and it already had an effect on him. While rubbing his eyes, he spotted a familiar figure from across the room, also hearing that distinct voice of his.
Myungsoo quickly ran over to him, startling Sunggyu who followed. ‘Hey, it’s Hyun! Last night was fun, right?’ Myungsoo said, exchanging a high five with the mentioned boy.
‘Yeah, hi Kim,’ Woohyun chuckled. He then saw Sunggyu and grinned cheekily. ‘Hey, cutie.’
Sunggyu tsked, glaring back at him. It saddened Woohyun a little to not be greeted back; he really wanted to hear that voice again.
Myungsoo informed, ‘Sunggyu, I think I’ll hang out with Woohyun today, so -‘
‘No,’ Sunggyu cut off dryly. Woohyun raised an eyebrow - Myungsoo wasn’t the protective-over-your-siblings-type, Sunggyu was.
‘What?’ Myungsoo mumbled, eyes widened.
‘No.’ Sunggyu shook his head this time in emphasis.
‘But hyung, Woohyun is a new kid and I need to show him around,’ the younger whined, failing at acting cute to win his brother over. Sunggyu’s seen the act a thousand times before and he was completely immune to it. Especially when Myungsoo was spewing bullshit.
‘Myungsoo, you’ve heard about his reputation!’ Sunggyu nagged, grasping his arm.
Myungsoo shouted back, ‘So? It’s not like I’m going to date every single student of one class at the same time and bang their mothers behind their backs like Hyun did!’
Woohyun butted in, looking at Sunggyu in particular, ‘Not true, by the way.’
Sunggyu rolled his eyes.
The two brothers kept bickering, attracting attention from everyone at the all-boys school. Woohyun tried to look for a diversion to halt them because all he could do was stand there and listen to Sunggyu throw insults about him - he couldn’t let Sunggyu get the upper hand. The top position was his.
Like being thrown a life ring in the raging ocean, Woohyun spotted his saving grace - the guy he hung out with yesterday, Myungsoo’s friend.
‘Hey Howon,’ Woohyun called, waving his arm.
Howon just looked at him and walked past, not caring the slightest about the older guy. After a few seconds, he felt a hand grabbing his wrist and forcing him to spin around.
‘Um, Howon? It’s me, Woohyun…’ Woohyun pointed out, biting his lip slightly.
Howon’s expression didn’t falter. ‘And?’
Woohyun was astonished by the other’s disrespect and let his wrist go, saying, ‘And I just wanted to say hey, but I guess you’re on drugs or something and too messed-up.’
The whole hallway silenced, much to Woohyun’s enjoyment, Myungsoo and Sunggyu long forgotten.
Oh how Woohyun loved being the centre of attention.
‘Nam Woohyun,’ Sunggyu growled angrily, rushing his way to Howon’s side, the bystanders clearing the way for him. Dongwoo spotted Woohyun encapsulated in the sea of students and squeezed his way past, placing a hand on Woohyun’s shoulder. He had found him late and had no idea what was happening.
After a moment of students whispering things to each other, Howon opened his mouth again, his voice turning toxic, ‘To be skipping class proudly for attention… Do you really think I’m the messed-up one?’
Sunggyu knew exactly what his tone meant and he was ready to put a hand over Howon’s mouth and haul him away.
‘W - What?’ Woohyun stuttered, not liking the look the younger was giving him.
Howon said effortlessly, ‘You’re useless to this world, you’re useless to society, so all you do is seek attention and you have no other means to do it besides being a delinquent. It’s hard for you to win by trying, so you just don’t try. You do what’s comfortable and put on this I-am-the-best persona. Don’t you think that is sort of cowardly?’
It seemed as though Howon knew every detail about him, not falling for his big tough guy act that everyone else couldn’t see through. Woohyun found it kind of terrifying - being caught out, that is.
‘Hey, you can’t talk to him like that!’ Dongwoo finally shouted, stepping in front of his friend.
Howon looked straight at Dongwoo and the latter could’ve sworn his glare had softened. Howon picked up his feet and walked off, the crowd separating a path for him.
‘Hey I was talking to you, youfff-‘ Dongwoo made a move to come after him, but was pulled back by Sunggyu and Woohyun.
‘It’s fine,’ Sunggyu spoke, not patronisingly at all, more leader-ly than anything. ‘Let it go. He could kill at the moment.’
Sunggyu threw Myungsoo a look behind his shoulder and the younger nodded. They both set out to find Howon because he could be lethal in the state he’s in and they didn’t want to mop up any blood today.
-
‘Where did he go?’ Myungsoo panted, resting his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.
Sunggyu blew his bangs away from his face, using the sleeve of his blazer to wipe away the sweat that collected at his brow. How the hell could Howon just disappear like that? Myungsoo and Sunggyu had ran around everywhere in the gigantic school and hadn’t caught a glimpse of the guy anywhere.
The older nodded unconsciously, thinking about a different approach. ‘He’s a little enraged at the moment. I think we should let him cool off first. Most of the students have probably heard about how angry he is by now and will back off when they see him,’ he put forth, fluffing up his red-caramel hair in frustration.
‘Hyung, I’ve never asked you this before, but…’ Myungsoo sat down on a nearby step and rubbed the nape of his neck. ‘What happened to Howon? Why is he always so distant? Every time he looks at me, it feels like I’m not there and he’s staring straight through my face.’
Sunggyu sighed. He knew Myungsoo would ask about Howon one day, and he sort of wondered how stupid his brother was if it took him so long to ask. Sitting down next to him, Sunggyu digressed, ‘He’s just a little depressed - wait, not exactly depressed. I can’t really explain it. But I assure you, it wasn’t a sudden change that made him this way… He just slowly stopped expressing his emotions.’
‘Do you think one day he’ll become a statue?’ Myungsoo laughed. Once Myungsoo gave the topic deep thought, he realised he never really pondered on Howon’s odd personality. It just seemed so natural to him because he’d known him before he was even born. Earlier, that glint in Howon’s pupils screamed murder. It sent chills down his spine and riled up his gears because Howon was always harmless in his eyes. Sure, he’d seen the look before, but the last time he saw it was in middle school, when three older boys had teased Myungsoo and he had jumped on them. The boys were bigger, in bigger numbers, and therefore quickly gotten the upper hand, beating Myungsoo up until he was bloody. Howon stopped them and although Myungsoo was dizzy from all the clocking, he saw how terrifying Howon could be. Even after that, Howon was still harmless to Myungsoo because he never once hurt him before.
‘The way he talked to Woohyun today… I never thought he had it in him.’
‘Like I always tell you, don’t underestimate him. The reason he’s so good at analysing is because he listens,’ Sunggyu commented. ‘Even if it doesn’t seem like it.’
Myungsoo mumbled, ‘And he’s mute.’
‘Shut up, kid,’ Sunggyu chuckled and hit the younger’s head. (Again.)
‘And Woohyun…’ Myungsoo trailed off, sensing Sunggyu’s bitchiness towards the mentioned delinquent. His brother utterly hated delinquents. (Hence Myungsoo always being hit.)
‘What about him?’ Sunggyu responded through fairly gritted teeth, scowl evident on his face.
Myungsoo tried acting cute again, making Sunggyu cringe. ‘Can you let him off this time? Pretty please?’
‘Why should I? I’ve never let anybody else off before.’
‘Give him one last chance. After that you can torture him as you please…’
Sunggyu thought over the suggestion and decided Myungsoo was right. He shook the offered hand and nodded, giving off a presidential feel. ‘Deal, but only because I’m your brother and I love you,’ he informed, smile playing at his lips.
‘You hate me…’
‘That’s true too, I guess.’
-
Dongwoo had left Woohyun’s side and decided to explore the school - without a map - and find Howon. There was nothing more in the world he treasured more than his friends. Perhaps Woohyun could be a bastard at times, but Dongwoo knew that if Woohyun were him, Woohyun would’ve nailed Howon right in the face at that very moment. If Sungyeol were there (and not wandering around the school with no clue in where he was going, Dongwoo assumed), he probably would’ve jumped on Howon, screaming tribal prayers, and suffocated him with his long limbs.
Woohyun might’ve gotten over it, but Dongwoo hadn’t. Everyone had seen Howon turn into a demon, but Dongwoo didn’t sense any of that. Not because he was ignorant or because he was unintelligent, but because Dongwoo wasn’t scared. He wasn’t scared of people. Even if he was being held hostage and threatened at gunpoint, or even chained in a dungeon without doors or windows, Dongwoo would be too optimistic to be scared. Sure, the subhuman and supernatural scared him shitless, but Dongwoo always saw the silver lining or the way out that everyone else was blind to. Therefore, Howon wasn’t anything horrifying to him, even if his eyes pierced like rusty daggers.
Dongwoo quickly got lost and started circling around the hallways. Not bumping into anyone he knew, he cursed under his breath. Eventually he made it to the intersection of the two main hallways. Using the eeny-meeny-miny-moe method, he decided to turn right where there weren’t any students at all… except for one.
Howon was just about to enter the bathroom, until Dongwoo ran up to him and forced him around.
‘I want your apology,’ Dongwoo breathed. The apology obviously wasn’t for him, but he felt that he needed it even more than Woohyun did.
Howon didn’t reply.
‘I said I want your apology!’ Dongwoo repeated, gripping the younger’s blazer in anger. Not many things angered Dongwoo, actually.
Howon didn’t respond and just kept staring at him with that look. At first that look was just weird, but now it was making Dongwoo go insane.
‘Look, we came onto your turf and ruined your hierarchy, but no one is allowed to talk to my friend like that!’ Dongwoo yelled, getting even more irritated at Howon’s ignorance. He couldn’t hold it in much longer and slapped the other across the face, the sound echoing through the empty hallway. ‘You stupid jerk!’
Dongwoo walked away, finally starting to calm down. And with calming down, came throbbing guilt dispersing in his skull.
Watching Dongwoo’s figure slowly disappear, Howon decided he didn’t need to go to the bathroom after all. Because the slap really did hurt.
-
AN\ This is the most boring fic in existence…
And is this angst-y? OMG AM I WRITING ANGST? DOES THIS EVEN MAKE SENSE?! I’M THE ONE WHO INVENTED YEOLVILLE AND POLE-DERELLA AND MUTANT, CARNIVOROUS MOTHS THAT PLAN TO RULE THE WORLD AND NOW I’M WRITING ANGST?!?!?! WHAT HAS THE WORLD COME TO?!
Prologue One Three