HAZARDOUS ✷ Lookism.

𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈. real men wear cute headbands

─── chapter eighteen.
❛ REAL MEN WEAR
CUTE HEADBANDS ❜

YET AGAIN, and certainly not for the last time, kil deok-su found himself in a place where he didn't want to be at. sandwiched in between his sister and zack, at the entrance of one of the largest theme parks of the world.

if the previous sentence was anything to go by — deok-su was not happy. thanks to deok-ja and her constant nagging, he was dragged all the way to such a crowded place.

all the people, the mess, the stench, drove the kil boy mad. he hadn't been too bothered during the sports day festival last year because at least it was only his school and his department. now, it was multiple schools with many annoying kids who liked to pick fights.

and like his own blood, deok-su was sure deok-ja would also be one of these people. zack too. it was almost as though they ached for a brawl (ugh, losers).

today, he would just try his best to avoid conflict. the crowds were inevitable, so deok-su supposed he could suck up the urge to curl up into a ball and let the earth swallow him whole — just for today.

up ahead, he spotted a familiar group of six — zack, mira, zoe, jay, daniel, and this freshman girl named joy. deok-su wasn't too friendly with either daniel, jay, or the freshman girl, but he would be fine hanging around them for the day.

jay was alright, he didn't talk so there was no way he could bother deok-su, but daniel was another thing. the kil boy was still not over all the times the teen had just said his mind and gotten him involved. as for the girl, she was loud, so he would definitely steer clear from her.

"have fun!" deok-ja grinned as she nudged deok-su towards zack, who had his hand up in a wave.

with a quick hug to mira and zoe, the younger kil excused herself to find her own department and left deok-su with the disfigured group.

"wow deok-su, no glasses today? come to think of it, this is the first time you've worn your uniform unbuttoned!" zoe said brightly, giving him a thumbs up. "you're actually very stylish!"

she was right, obviously. deok-su could be stylish when he wanted to (it was totally not because the uniform was too stuffy to wear buttoned in the heat). with a black shirt underneath his uniform and no glasses, he looked like, well, a non-nerd. though, he felt quite naked without his lenses.

there was still the fading print of the frame against the sides of his nose, and his eyes felt more aired without the protection. this part of his outfit was not planned, only that his glasses had accumulated a large amount of tape in the middle of the frame and he could no longer wear them. so, he finally brought out the contact lenses deok-ja had gifted him for his birthday years ago.

the rest of the group looked at him in awe. it wasn't like the glasses did too much of a difference, but seeing him now without them was almost blinding. especially when he wasn't wearing that scary expression — today, he resembled a scared puppy. his eyes stood out more against his tannish complexion, big and round like that of a puppy — honestly, everything about the teen seemed to remind the group of a puppy.