”Of course it’s a girl, it’s a girl’s bathroom,” he whispers back before clasping an hand over Taehyun’s mouth so he wouldn’t let out some smart ass reply. The last thing Jun wanted was to be found out and then denounced to the principal. Or be called a pervert. He had not spent three years carefully building his reputation for it to go down the drain in a minute. He cranes his neck, trying to hear what’s happening. If anything, the girl is going to use the bathroom (which he’d rather not hear but it’s not like he would have a choice) and then leave. It should only take a few minutes right?

”My mom hated our big house and wanted a smaller one where it would feel more like a home than a cold palace,” is his simple reply and that’s actually the reason he and his family had moved back then. His mother, who didn’t come from a rich family and who could have easily taken advantage of her husband’s money, had done the complete opposite and had asked her husband to purchase a smaller home. Seungjun is actually a bit surprised that his father agreed to it, but anyway.

”I can’t say I am not surprised to hear you say that,” he admits. “I feel like a lot of people are still stuck with the old men and don’t really give a chance to the newcomers. From what I understand, there are new pianists out there or other new people playing instruments who make careers out of playing old men music, the same music over and over, only played by different people. What’s the point?”

He has to agree that music would be very boring if it was just keys and violins. He watches her as she walks to the shelf near the wall. “So what kind of stuff do you teach if you do not stick only with the old men? Do you make your students actually play music? Write?” He has no idea what her teaching style is like. School gossip wasn’t able to give him that kind of information.

That said, he did decide he was going to make an effort so he nods before answering. “So are you.” Now that he is closer to the person, he takes the time to look at them from head to toe and back. “I didn’t sleep,” he adds, in afterthought and he moves to start stretching his legs and warm up a little. He is in the process of doing just that when the person (he still doesn’t know their name because he didn’t ask) ask him if he wants to run with them. Well, it could be interesting although he has no idea how fast (or slow) this person is. Seungjun considers himself to be relatively fast. You have to be when you play baseball and he’s been running for years.

he makes his way out into the hall. it’s been a few hours since the bmw has long been gone, everything’s been unpacked, “organized” in his room, the brief interlude of small talk with the designated roommate. he’s chewing bubblegum, the taste of childhood a plastic-y kind of sweet, losing its flavor fast. movements are languid, slow, long limbs taking him to some vague destination he doesn’t have in mind. the boy doesn’t pay attention to the passerby at first, only turning around when he hears his name.

“jungtae?” 

he stops. suddenly thinks of the house, always looking like it’s been abandoned. late summer afternoons in the playground. the same face that would show up at the gate, all toothy grins, who one day stopped coming by all together. he blinks, the flicker of recognition evident.

something’s changed. 

“hey!” he pauses, briefly. “seungjun right? long time no see.” 

He notices that the boy is alone, which could mean absolutely nothing. Jun is also alone after all. But his parents had been there just a few minutes ago. He wonders if Jungtae’s parents came to send him off. He remembers a house, too big, too silent, lifeless and a little boy who was so often alone…

his lips are curved on a smirk when jun takes off their shirts, his arms up and presenting no challenge when the boy tugs him closer. it’s so much easier when he can be himself instead of pretending to be so sweet and innocent. jinwoo closes his eyes when he feels jun’s hand on his neck and hair, how the other boy tugs at it strongly. jun sure does know what he likes, and that’s why it’s always the right call to text the other boy.

A fight for dominance. Two boys not wanting to back down, both wanting to prove they are the ones in control. That’s what it feels like to Jun whenever he and Jinwoo kiss. This time is not different. Jun is standing his ground and he wants it as much as Jinwoo needs it. This strange closeness they share sometimes. He lets the other boy break the kiss and move, but he returns the smirk when he is asked, no, ordered to take off Jinwoo’s pants.

”So you decided to paint flowers because you feel like that’s what people want and will buy?” He snorts because that sounds so ridiculous to him. “And what would you paint if you didn’t care about what may sell or not? Would you still be painting flowers?” In all honesty, he doesn’t hate flowers. He has drawn some on many occasions. They just rarely feel alive. They’re more associated to death, decay, and other dark themes. “Aren’t artists supposed to create because it’s something they feel they have to do? Like, something would be missing if they didn’t listen to that urge to create? But you’re just treating your art like business.”

she’s not sure how or when a drink ends up in front of her, because she doesn’t recall ever actually ordering a drink. but she doesn’t miss when the bartender places a drink that’s so prettily pink in front of her— and she doesn’t miss the little wink he sends her way as he sets it down— and she’s ready to smile politely and navigate herself away from the bar and maybe to a secluded booth that lacks winking bartenders and free drinks when she feels a body suddenly all too close to hers. and she’s willing to ignore it and chalk it up to some drunk asshole who probably can’t even stand straight leaning on her for support, but when she hears the words he says hissed into her ears she can’t help but whip herself around torn between surprise and shock. and she knows his face, maybe not his name, but she knows for a fact she’s passed him in a hallway at school multiple times, but she’s never seen him like this. and the astonishment renders her speechless for a moment and instead she settles for staring at him blankly trying to figure out why he’s here or even talking to her.

”I’m friend with the DJ and I’ve been studying how he does his stuff so he told me to come watch him tonight.” It’s a lie and he doesn’t even know if it is believable or not. He personally thinks that it’s not anything too far off, but he doesn’t know if the girl is the kind to be easily suspicious or not. “But you wanted to go out? In one of the shadiest part of the city?” he asks her, having a hard time believing that. He can count on the fingers of his hands how many kids at Sunhwa are actually children from shady families and he is pretty sure that hers isn’t one of them.

He knows that they are probably being watched. That was usually the case whenever he went to talk to a girl, trying to fool an innocent little lamb into following him and then letting the group do whatever they wanted with her. He was quite good at picking up really pretty ones and this fellow student from school was really beautiful. Surely the men would want to have her and for some reasons, he didn’t want to let that happen. It’s not that he had feeling for this one in particular. He didn’t even know her after all, but his conscience was telling him to be good for once.

So it’s not with a lot of enthusiasm that he watches as someone joins him in his spot, eyes squinting at him until finally he notices who that is. Fact that doesn’t make him not even slightly more excited. 

”Yes, Taehyun. I should be in class, listening to a fucking boring lesson about Ethics.” His voice is dripping sarcasm because he thinks the other has no right to talk as he is definitely skipping class as well. “And in case you were wondering, no I am not stalking you. I have better things to do with my life than waste my time trying to find out about your whereabouts.”

He doesn’t even flinch when Kihyun dabs the antiseptic onto his scratch. It’s not the first time Jun gets bruises and he’s learned to enjoy the little sting of the antiseptic over the years. He watches the nurse work in silence for a little while, to give the man a false sense of security, to make him think that for once, Jun is not going to bother him with questions, but of course Jun doesn’t stay quiet.