#atthebeginning

A guide how to be lazy, the author? Me. Sorry, this part refelcts a few of my opinions on books and movies (and I hopefully don’t offend anyone (to be sure, check warnings).

Warnings: there is cursing, there is mention of 16-year-olds watching porn (only mention, there is no context, at all, surrounding porn), there are very vague spoilers for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince,  Mark of Athena and House of Hades but won’t spoil the book for ya if you want to read it.

Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning

- Anastasia - At the beginning

 They had an important test upcoming Monday. Seung-gil had studied, and biology was one of his best subjects. Phichit, however, hadn’t studied yet and his biology grade was cry-worthy. So, Seung-gil was supposed to tutor Phichit and save his sorry ass for flopping the upcoming test. However, Phichit had different priorities.

 The library was pretty much empty. The few people who were there were studying, the rest had opted to go home. After all, it was well past four on a Friday. Everyone had something better to do — Seung-gil included. His newly released copy of ‘Fearless’, which was the second book in the series, was lying on his nightstand, ready to be read. That thing was actually the reason Seung-gil had bothered to study in advance, now he had the entire weekend to read the book. But he couldn’t let Phichit fluke his test, it wouldn’t sit right with him. Prioritising his best friend over a book used to feel wrong — he wouldn’t have done it years ago, but nowadays. No, he couldn’t, taking into account how much Phichit meant to him.

 “I don’t like him,” Phichit said as he peered over his study book.

 Not bothering to hide his gaze like Phichit, Seung-gil watched the only other duo in the library. They were sitting pretty close to each other. A bit too close his mind supplied, but Seung-gil ignored it. He wasn’t Phichit — he could let go.

 “Leo is a good guy,” Seung-gil said, pushing Phichit’s head down so he was eyeing his notes instead of the other students. “And he’s Guang Hong’s tutor. If you were better in Spanish, you could have done it. But your Spanish is cry-worthy.”

 Phichit let out a scandalised gasp. “You think my Spanish is bad — have you ever heard your own?”

 “I have, and it’s terrible, but I no longer have Spanish classes. However, we have a biology test coming up, and someone hasn’t studied yet.”

 Thankfully, Phichit looked guilty.

 “Fine — still, if he dares to break Guang Hong’s heart—”

 Seung-gil swatted the back of Phichit’s head. “He’s fourteen, leave him be.”

 “Really? You aren’t rooting for him to get a boyfriend?”

 “No, not really,” Seung-gil lied.

 It was a bit of a lie. Seung-gil wasn’t rooting for Guang Hong to get a boyfriend per se, but he had approved of Leo. The extensive Facebook stalking had helped, a lot. Not that Phichit knew that, and Seung-gil had strategically erased all evidence (aside from his notes on Leo — also known as Leo de la Iglesia — who he had stored in a folder called ‘porn’. There was no porn in that folder, but nobody would look at a sixteen-year-old weirdly if they had a porn folder. He knew Phichit had one). So, yeah, he cared about his friend’s happiness, but he wasn’t going to meddle with it like Phichit was planning on doing.

 “So, you’re telling me that you don’t know anything about Leo, at all? I mean,” Phichit grinned innocently. “I know that he is a second-year student — but he looks a bit old. Our age at least. So do you think he’s held back a few years?”

Seung-gil had little redeeming qualities and a tonne of issues — and one of those issues was that he was a know it all. He was willing to fight anyone to get thing his way, especially if his way is correct. Another issue is that his brain-to-mouth filter, at least around Phichit, was shit.

 “He’s fifteen — second year. Not held back a single year. He is an average student, he mainly has female friends and is openly bisexual, and he isn’t too old for Guang Hong for gods’ sake — please focus on your homework. We have a test next Monday, and I want to finish my book.”

 And he had just run his mouth, and Phichit was going to have a field day. Because he basically admitted that he had Facebook stalked Leo — which showed he cared.

 “Knew you cared,” Phichit said gleefully. “Actually knew it beforehand, but I like to rile you up. You know, I was curious what kind of porn you watched — turns out you hide all your dirty secrets in your porn folder aside from actual porn.”

 Shit. “How did you know my password?” Seung-gil asked, feeling fear coursing through his veins. It was Phichit’s birthday — which friend has their best friend’s birthday as their password? None. But the count of people who had their crush’ birthday or name as their password — oh dear. He was screwed.

 Phichit’s grin was a bit forced. “I didn’t, you forgot to sign off.”

 Thank gods.

 “Yes, fine, I care. Now, study.”

 It didn’t work — but hey, Phichit was willing to do anything to avoid having to study, so Seung-gil shouldn’t have been surprised.

 “I’m studying,” Phichit said, staring at him with a big grin on his face. “I’m studying you, or more like how you are still single. The older girls — the one who actually are looking for a stable relationship — like sensitive guys. The ones that won’t make fun of girls their feelings, or who don’t judge them for dying over the Hunger Games movies and the hotshot actors.”

 Liam Hemsworth was pretty handsome, his mind kindly supplied. On the other hand, Thor.

 “I don’t care that much about the movies — the books are better,” Seung-gil said, ignoring the urge to mention that yes, there were some hotshot actors. He hated puberty, and Phichit’s voice narrating his thoughts. Gay thoughts. He really should consider coming out because this was getting annoying. On the other hand, he didn’t want to lose Phichit. The closet was a pretty safe place.

 Phichit rolled his eyes dramatically. “Not all book-based movies are bad. The Harry Potter movies are pretty great.”

 “The Harry Potter movies are okay — but you were there, you’ve seen the animosity that was the Percy Jackson movie — I can’t believe they’re making another one.”

 Softness and comfort smoothed out Phichit’s teasing expression. “I know — but you’re biased. I only have seen you throw a book twice — which both were a Percy Jackson and Harry Potter book might I remind you — and I lost count of how many books you’ve read.”

 “Well,” Seung-gil crossed his arms and glaring at Phichit. “Some books are meant to be thrown with. The Half-Blood Prince still has scarred me for life and—”

 Phichit nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that one was bad, but it was nothing compared The Mark of Athena. Your bloodcurdling scream when you threw the books across the room is still etched in mind. I thought the main character died, at best.”

 “They might as well have died,” Seung-gil said, feeling himself tear up a little. He hated that book — it taunted him, and he seriously wondered how he had resisted the urge to set it on fire. “I hated that ending.”

 “Hey, at least be happy that nothing happened to him. I know you’re attached to him.”

 Wiping away the dampness before they could start to form tears, Seung-gil smiled thinly. “Don’t jinx it — there are still two books to go.”

 A loud cough burst their happy little bubble, causing Phichit to yelp, nearly toppling off his chair, and Seung-gil instinctively checks the clock. It was well past five — his parents would kill him if he missed dinner.

 “Guang Hong,” Phichit wheezed, voice high-pitched and filled with guilt. “You gave me a near heart attack.”

 A fourteen-year-old shouldn’t look this done with his life. But Guang Hong did look like that, tired, a little frustrated and annoyed — if frustration and annoyance were even two different things.

 “Phichit,” Guang Hong mimicked. “I’m the mean one? You are distracting Seung-gil, who is willingly tutoring you. You know how he gets when you talk about his books."

 Phichit shrugged innocently under Guang Hong’s accusing gaze. It shouldn’t make sense — as Guang Hong clearly wasn’t blaming him — but Seung-gil felt himself grow flustered, a healthy dose of shame washed over him. He was so predictable, one word about his precious books and he was gone.

 “Yeah, well, you were more distracting,” Phichit argued. “So, you and Leo?”

 “Oh seriously,” Guang Hong sounded annoyed, looked annoyed, and he was also flustered from head to toe. Poor guy. “Leave me and my love life alone till you get your head out of your behind and fix your own.”

 Seung-gil hated the meaningful look he got from Guang Hong — because he somehow knew. Like, Seung-gil had never mentioned he is romantically interested in Phichit. On the other hand, after knowing each other for almost ten years, being joined at the hip and Seung-gil being very, very gay, this conclusion wasn’t too farfetched. (It wasn’t hard to figure out, considering the fact he never really liked women, at all. He just hadn’t come out of the closet yet).

 “My love life is perfectly fine,” Phichit grumbled. “I have a hot date with biology and maybe this guy,” he gestured to Seung-gil. “If he’s still willing to tutor me.”

 Rubbing his eyes, Seung-gil let out a deep sigh. “More like torture you, but fine. Just don’t whine when I call you out of bed at 2:00 in the middle of the night after finishing a book.”

 Phichit beamed. “Deal.”

 ~*~

 “We have a test tomorrow,” Phichit used as his greeting.

 He loved Seung-gil, he really did, but it was well past midnight, he had been sleeping just fine, and tomorrow they had a test early. This wasn’t the time for a phone call.

 “Technically today,” Seung-gil answered, voice filled with emotions that had nothing to do with the upcoming test. He sounded like he just—

 “Are you okay?” Phichit asked, flicking a light and sitting upright in bed. “It sounds like you have been crying.”

 Seung-gil sniffed, followed by a muted noise that most likely was him blowing his nose. “Regretfully started the book today,” Seung-gil explained.

 Oh. Okay yes, that might explain a lot.

 “Did they die?” Phichit asked.

 “No,” it was odd to hear Seung-gil talk with a tight, emotion-filled voice. “It’s something else — but that doesn’t matter. I have to tell you something.”

 Phichit hummed as a go-ahead. It wouldn’t be the first time Seung-gil had stopped mid-book and ranted to Phichit about whatever was bothering.

 “I’m gay.”

 Phichit seriously wondered where he learnt that many curse words, but that didn’t matter because right now he was mentally cursing up a storm. Because he didn’t see that coming — which made him a horrible friend. An awful friend. Because Seung-gil was his best friend and he never had realised it, though it all made sense.

 “I’m sorry,” Seung-gil said, voice shattered into many delicate pieces. “This must be awkward for you, but I decided that you deserved to know, you’re my best friend and—”

 “I should be sorry,” Phichit blurted out, effectively cutting Seung-gil off. “You’re my best friend, I should have noticed, but I didn’t. And the sad part is that everything makes sense — the fact you never liked girls to begin with,” taking a deep breath, he forced a few tears back. “I shouldn’t even be allowed to call myself your best friend.”

 Seung-gil sniffed, which was followed by a chuckle. That Phichit was surprised was an understatement — because he heard Seung-gil laugh and cry within ten minutes and it was like an early Christmas miracle though they didn’t really celebrate Christmas.

 “You don’t mind?” Seung-gil asked. “Me, you know, liking men?”

 Phichit snorted. It was such a stupid question. Ten years of friendship weren’t going to be ruined by the fact that Seung-gil came out as gay. Heck, Phichit was actually happy Seung-gil confessed. Because suddenly the puzzle that was Seung-gil made a lot more sense. The interest in men, the support he offered Guang Hong after coming out, his crush on several fictional characters, always male characters. Phichit honestly wondered how he could have been so blind.

 “Mind? Seriously, I’m actually happy that you trust me enough to tell me — what prompted you, to know, confess?”

 “I’m glad,” a brief pause. “It’s well past two — do you really want me to keep you awake for much longer? It will be a long explanation.”

Part VIII was supposed to be the last part, but it had gotten very long, so I cut it up in two. I mean, this part is still 3k long so...

Warning:  internalized homophobia, ‘family traditions’ (this isn’t necessarily a cultural representation, it’s just a way some people think. It’s partly based on second-handed experience), some cuss-words, maybe? Very subtle sexual innuendos. 

We were strangers, on a crazy adventure Never dreaming, how our dreams would come true

Seung-gil had never been happier to accidentally poison himself. The vomiting hadn’t been pleasant. He was sure he had spent most of his morning and afternoon hovering above the toilet or camping close to the bathroom, just in case. But by the time evening had arrived, he had felt reasonably well. Well enough to walk around, eat a bit and lay down on the couch to read a book. And, the best thing of them all, he had a good excuse to miss prom.

 The only reason he would have gone in the first place was Phichit. His best friend has insisted they would go together — as friends of course because Phichit had more romantic chemistry with his phone than with Seung-gil — and as this would be their last chance, Seung-gil hardly could say no. But having barely eaten anything, and still feeling a little squeezy, he had called Phichit to say that he couldn’t come — food poisoning and such. Phichit had almost kicked down the door to check on him, realised that he hadn’t been lying, and spend the rest of the afternoon comforting him and passing the time before leaving, getting ready for prom. Because Phichit had been dreaming of this moment, a big room filled with well-dressed teens, a lot of cheap music and Seung-gil wouldn’t be surprised if someone smuggled some alcohol in the drinks.

 This lead to Seung-gil lounging on the couch at seven in the evening. His parents were out for a family visit, a trashy TV-show was playing in the background, and a good book was ready to be read. In the meantime, the rest of his year was preparing to celebrate the last day of high school, before they had to kiss their ‘youth’ goodbye and start college.

 And, so, with an entire evening planned to read and sleep, Seung-gil was startled by the ringing of the doorbell. It couldn’t be his parents, they would have returned earlier if they had forgotten anything, and Seung-gil could hardly imagine who else it could be. The rest of his friends were preparing for prom (despite that neither Leo or Guang Hong were graduating this year).

 Bookmarking his book, muting the television and picking up his mum forgotten deodorant — you never knew for sure, and getting deodorant sprayed in your eyes hurts — Seung-gil grabbed the keys from the derisory and unlocked the door carefully.

 Opening the door a little, Seung-gil let out a breath of relief as he recognised Phichit immediately. He let Phichit in and locked the door after his best friend/neighbour/love of his life. He wasn’t going to risk being robbed in his own home just because he forgot to lock the door (because he was most likely distracted by Phichit behind — because it was a damn fine behind. Though everything about Phichit was beautiful).

 “What are you doing here?” Seung-gil asked as he dropped off the keys and hid the deodorant bottle out of sight. “You know that’s prom night?”

Phichit wasn’t even dressed for prom — he was wearing flip flops, a pair of sweats and a faded Hogwarts t-shirt.

 Phichit shrugged nonchalantly and plopped down on the couch, stealing Seung-gil’s blanket without a second of hesitation. The guy remained foolishly fearless.

 Taking in the uneasy look on Phichit’s face, Seung-gil opted to grab a chair, placed in front of his best friend and sat down on it.

 “Fess up,” Seung-gil said promptly. “What’s eating you?”

 Curling up further into the blanket, Phichit shrugged. “Nothing, really.”

 Seung-gil concluded that, in fact, something was bothering Phichit, as:

 1) Phichit should have spoken more than two words by now. No greeting, no ‘how are you’, and the ‘nothing, really’ was pretty rich, considering the shrug told plenty.

2) Phichit only withdrew himself from social interaction when he was uncomfortable — which nine out of the ten times was linked to the fact that something was eating him.

 “Talk,” Seung-gil urged on.

The Previous Part

This story isn’t dead yet!

'Warning’: I think there is some cursing? A little bit.

And life is a road that I wanna keep going Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing

- Anastasia - At the Beginning

It was war.

 Okay, war was a bit of an exaggeration, but still, elbows were jammed in other students their ribs, hair was pulled and fingers poked eyeballs. This was one of the reasons Seung-gil hated lab-work. There were enough lab coats, but only a few were a decent state. Most were partly scorched, holes littered the sleeve were strong acids burned through the fabric, and most of the cuffs were threadbare. Not to mention the different sizes —oversized lab coats weren’t comfortable to wear, and small ones were even worse. But the lab coats weren’t the only lab equipment that was more often a miss than a hit. The safety goggles. Hence Seung-gil robbed the rack with safety goggles to find two decent ones. An oversized lab coat was annoying, but if the glasses weren’t comfortable, it would be an hour of hell.

 Seizing two glasses that deemed respectable for high school standards, Seung-gil turned around and sought out Phichit. They hadn’t agreed on pairing up yet, but he assumed they would. It was the second week of high school, and neither Phichit or he really had found a click with fellow classmates, and it was a free-for-all partner-wise. Plus, Phichit was most likely looking for two lab coats, two different sizes because Seung-gil proudly had outgrown Phichit, by an inch or so.  

 Spacing out, waiting for Phichit to escape the war zone of white coats and teenagers, Seung-gil was too late to notice the girl striding towards him.

 “Hey,” she said, a smile was painted on her lips. “Want to pair up?”

 Seung-gil blinked, suppressing the urge to look over his shoulder to see if she was talking to anybody else. This was new — back in primary and middle school nobody even dared to ask. It was Phichit who usually was asked for projects, and declined all the offers to group up with Seung-gil.

 “I, um, actually,” Seung-gil shifted nervously on the spot. “Was going to work with Phichit,” he gestured to the war zone.

 His classmate eyed him with scepticism. “The two of you are friends from primary school, aren’t you?” she asked, making Seung-gil even more nervous. Why were people suddenly interested in him?

 “Yes, we’re friends,” he said curtly. Phichit had said he had to be nice to their classmates, as maybe Seung-gil could get a better reputation here in high school than back in primary or middle school. But the girl made him uncomfortable, so he refused to be kind. “What is it to you?”

 The girl looked surprised but wasn’t put off by his rudeness, at all. Teenagers and hormones were weird — he missed the good old days that people were scared of him because he had a natural resting bitch face.

 “I thought someone as cool as you have, well, cooler friends. Nothing against Phichit, but he is a bit dorky,” she held her head up high in confidence. “Though, if you change your mind, the offer still stands.”

 She turned heel and walked towards her girlfriends, who were giggling and whispering. Seung-gil also noticed that the girl was blushing a little, which grew worse when her friends kept on talking and giggling.

 Did she just try to ask him out? And she thought he was the cool one? Yes, Seung-gil had forgone his Spiderman backpack for a ‘normal’ one, but that was solely because it couldn’t hold the books he needed for classes. Didn’t she notice his Batman t-shirt? Or his hardcover copy of ‘Mockingjay’ that laid on his desk. And foremost, Phichit was cool. People loved him back in primary and middle school — most people had asked Phichit why he was still friends with Seung-gil.

 “Hey, I got you a coat,” Phichit said, hurrying over to him. “Um, of course, we don’t have to pair up if you don’t want to, I saw you talking with—”

 Seung-gil took the coat from Phichit, offering him a small smile. “I said no, I mean, I already got your glasses.”

 Phichit beamed. “You know she probably likes you,” he pointed out.

 “We’re fourteen,” Seung-gil countered. “Also — you’re my best friend. She called you uncool, which is totally untrue. You’re the coolest. I wouldn’t date anyone who doesn’t like you.”

 Thankfully, Phichit was terrible at picking up lies. Because there was only one person Seung-gil would feel right dating — aside from the fact they were just fourteen and dating should be the least of their worries — and that person would be Phichit. Phichit didn’t have the best self-esteem, though he would never vocally tell that to anyone, especially Seung-gil. So if Phichit thought he was uncool, Seung-gil would break his promise that he wouldn’t date anyone who though Phichit was uncool.

 On the other hand, he had yet to figure out how exactly his sexuality was holding up. He knew that two men and two women could be together — his previous neighbours were two women who have been living together for ages and were in love. The fact that they hadn’t been legally married for a long time never deterred them.

 “Should we get started?” Phichit asked. “I mean, the teacher is already glaring at us, and the rest already has a head-start. Maybe the teacher will deduct points if we don’t finish things in time? Chemistry never has been my strong point.”

 Grinning — though Seung-gil knew it was more manic-like than anything else — he picked up their equipment and walked over to the table Seung-gil had claimed.

 “The day I’m letting you fail in chemistry is the day they have concrete evidence that the moon landing is faked.”

 Phichit blinked in confusion. “But the moon landing isn’t faked?”

 “Exactly.”

The Previous Part

Small pat on the shoulder for updating in time. Still should remember to reblog stuff.

Warning: mentioned of possible off-screen bullying, mentioning it just in case.

No one told me I was going to find you

Unexpected, what you did to my heart

- At the Beginning - Anastasia

Even though he was friends with Phichit — yes mum, he had a friend and no he didn’t hang out with Phichit to get her off his back — Seung-gil still wasn’t good with people, especially younger people.

With that knowledge, Seung-gil wasn’t surprised to draw a blank and stare at a random kid sitting against their tree. Their, plural, his and Phichit’s. Not that he would ever tell Phichit that. Phichit would have a field day if he knew that Seung-gil actually cared about him. But, back to the issue — Seung-gil had no idea what to do about the kid sitting under their tree. Maybe walk off? But Phichit would expect him to be here.

“What are you doing here?” Seung-gil asked.

The kid flinched, looking up at him with big, damp eyes. Seriously, had the kid been crying? Now he felt even worse. He was most likely terrifying the kid, which would result in even more tears in the future. And while Seung-gil was bad with kids, he was horrible with crying kids.

The kid looked terrified, eyes growing wetter and bottom lip trembling.

“You can remain here if you want,” Seung-gil hurriedly added. “I mean, I don’t own this tree — um, are you a first grader?”

This earned him an undignified pout. “I’m a second grader,” the kid said. “But I just transferred here, and the school is so big, and all the people are new and—”

The kid stopped talking abruptly, his gaze settled on someone behind Seung-gil.

Before Seung-gil could move, someone slung an arm over his shoulder, pulling him against another warm body. He so hoped that it was Phichit, or he was willing to kick the person against their shin.

"I can't believe you're making friends," Phichit said cheerfully. Out of his experience with Phichit, the guy was offering the kid a 'my friend isn't entirely hopeless' look. "What's your name?"

The kid looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here, which was fair. Seung-gil probably had frightened the kid big time, and Phichit’s sudden presence wouldn’t help either. They were two fourth graders, which was quite the difference from a second grader.

“Guang Hong Ji,” the kid answered. “I, um, can leave if you guys want — I mean, this must be your tree.”

Phichit hummed, neither in agreement or disagreement. "Okay, I'm Phichit," Phichit pulled him even closer. "And this is Seung-gil. Don’t fear him. Everyone thinks he's a ninja, but he's actually just a big nerd. That's a secret though," Phichit added in a whisper, offering Guang Hong a wink.

Guang Hong relaxed a little, which made Seung-gil glad that Phichit had a lot of younger cousins, cousins he spends a lot of time with. If someone was good with younger kids, it had to be Phichit. Though he had to correct Phichit on one matter.

"I'm not a secret nerd," Seung-gil corrected Phichit. "I’m carrying around a Spiderman backpack. The library staff knows me by name."

“Why do people think you’re a ninja?” Guang Hong asked, curiosity and interest clear in his voice. At least he was no longer frightened. “You don’t look so scary.”

Seung-gil wanted to point out that just a while ago, Guang Hong was rather afraid of him. But Phichit would scold him for making things worse and would tell his mum, which would lead to no library visit this weekend.

“Once Seung-gil knocked out someone’s teeth with a book,” Phichit told Guang Hong. “Plus he looks scary — his scowl has terrified people up to sixth grade.”

Guang Hong was looking at Seung-gil with amazement as if he was actually some kind of ninja. That was new. Most kids were terrified of him.

“That’s so cool — maybe you can become some superhero in the future?”

It came to no surprise, that as they cross gazes, Phichit looked inches away from laughing. Seung-gil, becoming some superhero? That wouldn’t work out, at all. Superheroes had to be athletic, insanely clever or required some kind of mutant-like powers. Seung-gil only had a liking for reading and a grumpy look. It wasn’t even Medusa worthy of scary.

“I think he would be a suit, working in the background and all — but what about lunch? You want to join us?”

A suit would be too flattering. Seung-gil didn’t know how to dress well, his mum still picked his clothing most of the time. Apparently, colours could clash…

Guang Hong’s face lit up. “Really?” he asked, voice filled with disbelief. “I would love to.”

The Previous Part 

This took way too long to actually publish – but hey, Part II is here and I hope I will have Part III soon-ish (faster than this one at least).

Now here we are, I'm suddenly standing

At the beginning with you

- At the Beginning - Anastasia

It turned out that the Chulanonts neither were aliens or as bad as Seung-gil originally had expected them to be. Phichit's parents were nice, all kindness and bright smiles. Well, Phichit shared his smile with his mum, who was a social butterfly. Phichit's father was a bit shyer, but still kind. However, that didn't mean he spends a lot of time with the Chulanonts. Seung-gil still preferred to sit in his room and read when the Chulanonts visited during the summer, and as soon as school started, he spent his lunch breaks somewhere safe and out of the sight of other kids, including Phichit who also was a second-year student.

 The moment the school bell rang, the one that announced lunch break, Seung-gil shoved his stuff into his backpack and scurried out of the room. The schoolyard was large but mostly empty. There was some playground equipment, like swings and a slide, and of course a large sandbox, but most people dug up the worn balls, hoops and crayons and went to town on the schoolyard. Seung-gil ignored the people who made a mad-dash to the shed with school equipment and headed the opposite direction, Spiderman backpack securely strapped on his back.

 He didn’t encounter anyone as he snuck towards his tree. Well, the school tree he had claimed unofficial property over. Checking if there was no teacher watching, Seung-gil climbed up the tree with practised ease and settled down on the lowest branch. His mum had scolded him after he had broken his wrist falling out of the tree. That wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t climbed up high to remain out of sight. Wanting to avoid another broken wrist and a coddling mother, Seung-gil had decided to sit low and hope that nobody would find him.

 Making himself comfortable on the sturdy tree branch, Seung-gil unzipped his bag. Pushing his lunch aside — he wasn't that hungry — he took out a battered copy of 'The BFG'. He had finished 'Mathilda' the previous evening and simply couldn't wait to start the next book written by Roald Dahl. It was nice to see clever main characters, especially the ones who shared his desire to read, like Mathilda in 'Mathilda'. It was somehow better than the heroic characters he had crossed in other books that swung around swords and needed friends to figure out puzzles.

 Starting the story, Seung-gil blocked out his surroundings, aside from the shrill sound of the bell which would announce the end of lunch break. Twenty-five minutes of reading, surviving the afternoon class, go home and read a bit more, eat dinner, more reading and finishing the book. That sounded like a great idea.

 It seemed that, however, not everyone shared his opinion. Or at least someone didn't. Seung-gil just had finished the first chapter when something hit his leg, causing him to jerk slightly.

 Frowning at his book, Seung-gil decided to ignore it, filing it as a 'one-time thing'. But as the second thing hit his leg, and a third one followed a minute-or-so later, he pushed a bookmark between the pages and lowered his book.

 Phichit Chulanont stood below his tree, looking up at him with a grin plastered on his face. A dozen rocks or-so were scattered below the tree, which gave Seung-gil the satisfaction to know that Phichit didn't have an insanely good aim.

 "What do you want?" Seung-gil snapped, not bothering with his manners. He wanted to be left alone with his book, and that Phichit was his neighbour gave him no privileges whatsoever.

 Phichit huffed, clearly not impressed with his grumpiness. "Do you spend every lunch break reading?" he asked.

 Surprised, Seung-gil nodded. "Yes," he added as vocal confirmation.

 "And shouldn't you be spending time with friends?" Phichit continued. "I mean, isn't it lonely?"

 Seung-gil shrugged. "I don't have friends," he said nonchalantly as if it didn't sting a little. "And books never disappoint me."

 Phichit didn't look surprised. "Make room, I'm coming up."

 Seung-gil surprised himself by not even considering to protest. He scooted over on the branch, giving Phichit the room to sit down as soon as he reached the right height.

 "Why are you up here?" Seung-gil asked as Phichit settled down. "I mean; don't you have friends to be with?"

 Phichit offered him a bright smile. "You're my friend, so to answer your question, I am spending time with my friend."

 It was hard to figure Phichit out. Seung-gil just had said he didn't have friends, so yeah, he doesn't see Phichit as a friend. This didn't deter Phichit though. Maybe it was time to dig up the box with the theories that the Chulanonts might be aliens, trying to invade earth. Though he wasn't sure if becoming friend with him was really that useful for their mission statement. After all, Seung-gil didn’t have influential family or friends — actually, all Seung-gil could offer was a vast knowledge of kids’ books and what to read and whatnot. Oh well, maybe he should get more books on aliens the next time he visited the library. Maybe this way he could figure out how Phichit worked.