FIRST | JOHNTEN

TWO | LUNCH

by the time his lunch break came, ten's excitement only grew. despite any previous worries and nervousness ten had, he was sure his first year of university would be fine. good. great, even.

art leads the way out of the cafeteria to the outdoor seating area, the sun shining down on everyone. many students, in fact, were out here already, talking and laughing as they ate their meals under the sunshine. they either sat at one of the tables or sitting down on the grass with blankets to have mini picnics.

ten curiously inspects a patch of flowers blocked off by a small surrounding fence. they were multiple colours, ranging from pink, to purple, to a soft blue, a small sign attached saying 'these were cared for by past students. you should do the same.' huh. interesting and very beautiful.

he quickly looks away at the call of his name, seeing johnny wave at him from the two doors that led back inside of the cafeteria. he was smiling, carefully taking his time to meet his roommate. art and maew had already gone on without telling ten, not that ten even noticed. he was too fixed on johnny's smile and his shiny eyes. ten focuses a bit too much on his face when his mouth opens to speak.

"hey ten," johnny's voice is cheerful and he's clearly happy to see him. "i was hoping i'd find you. where are you sitting?"

"with my classmates," ten turns around and finally realises art and maew were gone. "well, wherever they went...."

"we could find them," johnny suggests, letting go of his tray with one hand to roll his shoulder before using both to hold his food again.

"no," ten finds himself surprisingly saying. "we can just eat together."

johnny doesn't object to that. they find a table off from where most of the students were, sitting across from each other. johnny was quick to free his plastic utensils and napkin from the plastic they were put in, grinning down hungrily at his meal. ten, on the other hand, took his sweet time to do the same thing. though, he glanced down at his meal with a slight frown. it just made him long for those restaurants nearby his parents would take him to....

"i'll definitely show you other places near the university," ten says aloud. "their food is way better than this."

"oh, you did say you knew a few places around him," johnny smiles again and ten feels the urge to look away while also the urge to keep looking, like the smile itself has him hooked. "thanks. that would be cool and helpful."

"yeah," ten smiles back. he pokes at his food before taking a small bite. he decides then it's not the worst he can eat.

"so, how are you liking it here so far?" johnny questions curiously. ten, for a moment, when he's supposed to be thinking up an answer, his brain decides to focus on his roommate's voice. ten definitely wouldn't mind to hear him talk, talk, talk —

wait. no. never mind.

"my teachers and classmates are nice," ten says. "i never asked your major."

"music," johnny says proudly. "you? art?"

"yeah, how did you know?" ten says in surprise.

"you seem the type," johnny grins. "like, you look like someone who would major in art. well, i just assumed and now i realise i should just shut up."

ten giggles. "it's fine. i guess i do. how are you liking university so far?"

"i feel like i don't have an opinion yet since the first day isn't even over yet," johnny says with a shrug, taking a big bite of his food. he swallows. "though, what you said is the same for me. well, one of my teachers doesn't seem too nice. i had sophomores tell me that he's the worst to freshmen."

"oh," ten didn't like the sound of that.

"at least, he can't be as bad as they said, i hope," johnny goes on, taking another bite to then swallow. "i might try out for the basketball team."

he is tall. though, ten's childhood best friend was shorter than everyone else in his friend group and was great at basketball. ten wonders if he wants to play still now that he's in university off in europe somewhere. where did he go again? scotland or something? "oh."

"yeah, i've been playing for years," johnny goes on cheerfully. "do you play any — "

"i did football for a bit, but i prefer dancing," ten answers quickly before taking a small bite of his food again. johnny nods but then they fall silent. what else is there to really talk about? ten really doesn't know. they eat in silence for a bit, ten trying his best to not sneak glances at johnny.

every time he does, he feels weird. like, there's a weird feeling in his heart that comes in a flash and seems to linger for a bit before fading away. huh.

"ten!" comes a shrill voice. art. "i thought i'd lost you!"

"not really? i just sat with my roommate," ten retorts, making a face in his new friend's direction. maew rolls her eyes again, as expected. she has to be careful, ten thinks, or she'll get them stuck in the back of her head.

at the sound of 'roommate,' maew seems to pause and do a double take at the sight of johnny. johnny meets her eyes briefly before furrowing his eyebrows. "this is your roommate?" she says with interest.

"yeah," ten glances at johnny and their eyes meet. that weird feeling in his heart hits again and he finds himself looking longer than he probably should. he smiles slightly. "his name is — "

"— johnny," the brown-haired man says for himself. "nice to meet you."

"i'm maew," maew says, twirling a lock of her hair with a finger.

"i'm art," says ten's other friend. "you seem nice plus ten knows you. i'm sitting here."

so, art and maew do. maew makes sure to sit next to johnny, though ten's roommate appeared more intent on focusing on ten more than everything. every time he made a joke that got everyone to laugh, his eyes went right to ten first.

not that ten really noticed. when he did, however, he barely thought much of it.