Dealing With It | skz

viii. this was a very bad idea

warnings: mentions of violence (beating people up), bullying, strong language
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CHANGBIN WASN'T SURE why he felt compelled to go to the mall with Seungmin. Sure, he felt bad about the boy being bullied and shit, and he did have a nice face to look at, but Changbin could stay home and finish his homework. And he would really prefer to finish his homework before midnight, Sunday night.

"So, you want me to go with you and your friend? Are you sure?" Changbin asked, his phone next to him as he sat at his desk, looking down at his math homework.

Seungmin had called him at approximately 8:57 P.M. on the first Friday after the principal decided to pair them up to be best friends. Changbin had looked at his phone suspiciously for the first two rings of the incoming call, and then decided Seungmin was rational enough to call only if it was important. The call had started out awkward and about the weather. Then Changbin told Seungmin to cut the bullshitting and say what he had to say. That led to Seungmin very sarcastically explaining his point for calling.

Through the cellular device, he heard Seungmin sigh heavily, and say, "I wouldn't have called and asked you if I didn't want you to. And I don't necessarily want to hang out with you either. It's just so we can get one weekend of the hanging out stuff over with."

"Don't you have baseball games every weekend?" Changbin asked, turning up the volume on his phone with one hand, the other using his pencil to scratch his head

"No," Seungmin said pointedly, as if he was offended Changbin had asked at all. "They're every other weekend. You should look up the baseball schedule. You have to be at every game."

"Well if we're at all your baseball games together, why do we need to hang out this weekend? Every other weekend is two weekends a month like the principal said, right?" Changbin asked. He hoped his suspicions were right. He did not want to spend every weekend with the guy, no matter how nice his face was.

Over the phone there was shuffling, like Seungmin had just stood up from his bed. Then there was even more shuffling, but this time it sounded more like Seungmin was looking through papers. When the shuffling stopped, there was a long silence. Changbin was beginning to think Seungmin had hung up on him before the boy suddenly spoke, despair obvious in his voice. "It says school events hosted on weekends do not count for the assigned two weekends."

"That is such complete and utter bullshit," Changbin claimed, the heavy feeling of dread weighing him down as his slid lower in his desk chair.

"That's what the paper said, not like we can change it." Seungmin said, his voice allowing Changbin the knowledge the the other was dreading their predicament as much as he was.

"You could quit baseball." Changbin suggested, his tone joking, trying to keep the conversation going in pure curiosity to see how it would go.

"Tomorrow, mall, the entrance near the bookstore, noon. Be there or be square. Bye." Seungmin said, voice flat, then quickly hung up.

Changbin looked at his phone, which he was now eye level with, incredulously, as if it had anything to do with what Seungmin did and said.

"I can't believe he said be there or be square." Changbin muttered to himself, beginning his homework again.

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Changbin was not square. He was at the entrance of the mall near the bookstore at noon, alone. He stood leaning against the wall in all his dark and mysterious glory (actually in a very dorky t-shirt that had a lame science joke on it with a dark green jacket to cover it.)