golden boy

chapter 2

minho was in distress throughout the day and was unable to entirely concentrate in his classes. he took all his notes mechanically, trying not to attract any more attention than he already did today. but just as he was trying to avoid han as much as possible, he realised the guy was pretty much in his every class.

"han jisung?," the english teacher called out and the boy who was holding minho's destiny in his hands, lifted up an unwilling arm with rolled up sleeves, "hwang hyunjin?," she continued but minho was already distracted.

han, or jisung, as his name was now revealed, sat alone, in the middle of the room with two available seats on each side, but didn't seem bothered at all. in fact, he purposely installed himself in the middle always in order to prove that he couldn't care less about their opinion. and he was equally disliked by both students and teachers.

mrs lawrence, the english teacher, smiled when the check was over and everyone was in class and went through the schedule as fast as possible. bla bla bla, projects, bla bla bla groups of 3 or pairs, bla bla bla, final grade.

~

finally, the bell rang, signalling the end of the first class after lunch. minho was hungry but he couldn't think about that now. he looked to his new master for a short second, just enough to catch him sign to the door with his head.

minho shivered but lowered his eyes and told his seatmate he was going to the toilet. han went out, and after him minho did too, following him casually, trying not to attract attention, towards one of the side corridors.

suddenly, han jumped up on a windowsill and opened the window, then got out into the fresh october air. minho hesitated but went after him, after making sure nobody was around to see him.

"i know what i want," han, lighting up a cigarette in school property, started, "be my partner."

minho furrowed his brows. partner as in, friend? accomplice? what kind of partner? he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"for the project, i mean," jisung explained, "and i'll keep my mouth shut," he smiled. it was nice of him, to not name the embarrassing secret he had learned. though they were already breaking the rules and could be seen together. so that wasn't much of a win in minho's book.

"the english project? why?," the taller questioned instinctively, "i mean, why do you want that of all things?," he corrected, still in shock.

"because nobody will pick me. and i don't want the teacher to put me in a trio with two brats again. i have dirt on you, you need to be nice," he smiled and let out a puff.

"o-oh. okay," minho returned with a doubtful expression, 'he wants me to do all the work. that's alright. at least it would be over with,' he thought, a little relieved.

"that's all," jisung flashed a sweet grin, "you can tell me when you want to meet. and most importantly, where. i doubt you'd want to be seen around school with me, golden boy," he let out a mocking laugh.

"oh? uh, i guess we could meet once a week. but.. i can do it, you don't need to-"

"what? no, no, wait, sweetheart, just because i forced this partnership on you doesn't mean you should do my work. i don't care if you would rather do it alone. you'll deal with me, so think about where you will feel least judged," the smoking boy laughed bitterly and took a long tug of the cigarette.

"alright," minho returned and nodded thoughtfully, "i'll think about where we can go. anything else?"

"no, don't worry," jisung dismissed, "oh, i'm talking about all the projects though. the three of them," he clarified and smiled, then put out his cigarette.

"okay," the taller nodded. that wasn't the turnout he was expecting but at least the other wasn't going all out by wanting something too hard. he started thinking about ways to organise this with the least possible damage.

"maybe we should get back, huh?," the blackmailer laughed lightheartedly and earned a mechanic nod, "damn, for a straight a student you certainly forget your classes a lot."

the two returned to class just in time for the bell to ring. they took their respective seats and the teacher sat down on the desk, starting her first lesson. near the end of it, she decided to take the groups that were already formed. han leaned back and smacked his lips together.

"hwang, wanna do it with me?," a guy from the desk behind whispered to minho's seatmate.

"nah, dude, i'm going with this one for this," the tall brunette replied and squeezed minho's shoulder with a grin.

"actually, hyunjin-ah..," minho started but got interrupted by the teacher's voice.

"han jisung?"

"i'll do it with him, mrs lawrence," minho came in and raised his hand to hyunjin's stunned expression, "the name is-"

"lee minho, i know you," she smiled and jotted down the two names. jisung turned to him and his eyes looked almost grateful and benevolent. minho sent him a short smile and then looked down.

hyunjin furrowed his brows, obviously disappointed and crossed his arms, keen on ignoring his seatmate.

"hwang hyunjin?," the teacher asked and he looked back at the other guy who had already found another person to pair with.

"i'm his partner, mrs lawrence," a girl with a foreign accent and long chestnut hair lifted an arm. she wasn't even wearing the uniform shirt but it didn't seem to bother anyone, "garcia, carmen," she presented herself loudly and then turned to wink at hyunjin who smirked.

minho felt guilty for leaving his long-term project partner but he had no choice. he just looked down into his notebook until the bell rang.

"well thanks for ditching me like a total asshole," hyunjin scolded as the two were going out of the room.

"sorry. i just thought we should try to be nice to the new guy for a little while. you know, we should give him a chance," minho explained.

"uh-huh. and you needed to dump me for that weird druggie?," the taller proceeded, "come on, dude, just so that you could play the good guy?"

"sorry, hyunjin-ah," minho repeated but didn't say anything else. he would have plenty of opportunities to account for all three projects that he'd have to partner up with han for.