20cm ∙ t.keita

part 1

"did you hear..?"
"didn't someone say..?"
"i was told.."

keita had always disliked rumors and found them a waste of time. he had himself to worry about, not a student he had only vaguely heard the name of prior.

"did you hear someone was moving?"
"didn't someone say shes like 6'5?"
"i was told she was friends with half the students here already!"

these whispers were no different. who cares if there was an incoming student? sure, she might be tall. but is that enough to occupy someone's time? it seemed like all his friends were consumed by this newfound knowledge, constantly looking around the hallways for an unusual skyscraper. although the boy felt out of touch with the constant buzzing news, once he hears it keita always ends up unsatisfied.

"c'mon, you act like she's a celebrity" he rolled his eyes, slamming his locker shut before turning to beomgyu. he was met with a shrug, trailing behind his friend as they strolled through the halls. "i'm just happy theres finally someone taller than sungmin. seriously, that mans is a monster!" keita nodded along. the constant knocking on the door frames by the basketball boys was always irritating. no matter how tall you are, that ritual is reserved for annoying 13-year-old boys. "maybe sungchan will finally get humbled." he mumbled to himself. The two captains were always grouped as a unit, along with the football (soccer) and hockey captains, much to keitas dismay. almost exclusively hanging out with them proved to be quite chaotic, where keita was left scolding them for their outbursts.

he hadn't noticed how deep in thought he was until he crashed into beomgyus shoulder, stumbling back a bit. "hey! why'd you suddenly stop-" keita hadn't gotten the chance to finish his thought before he looked up, joining his friend in his frozen state.

there, walking into the class next to theirs, was an unfamiliar face. actually, scratch that. they didn't even get to see her face. her head was obscured by sheer *leg*. nevermind humbling the basketball boys.. beomgyu visibly gulped in surprise.

"well. there's the new student I guess.." keita scratched his head, unsure of what to say. "yeah." was all beomgyu responded, walking inside their next period without another word.

☆...★...☆...★...☆

it wasnt long before the class came to an end, and all the students piled out one after another like a pack of animals. keita quickly maneuvered past them, making it to his locker perfectly in time to make it to his next class. only one problem. well actually two.

a pair of legs blocked his path. keita had the top locker, and the one on the bottom remained unoccupied for as long as he could remember, so hes never had issues getting to his until now. he had assumed whoever was there must've gotten mixed up, since theres no *way* someone would purposely block him.

as his eyes trailed to see who they belong to, his eyebrows quickly furrowed in discontent. "my lockers right there" he calmly stated, pointing to the area behind you. you put a hand on your eyebrows, pretending to look around before peering at the girl next to you. "you hear something minjeong?" winter shrugged, digging through her locker a bit more. under all the piles of expired coupons for makeup brands, surely her binder would be there. "knock it off. just cause he's short doesn't mean he's invisible." you did the same for her, looking around sarcastically. winter laughed at your antics, hitting your shoulder.

ah yes, winters friend group. there was practically gorilla glue that stuck their phones and makeup brushes to their hands. keita had always been around them, since they usually ended up in rotation dating a member of the rugby team. he couldn't find himself liking any of them, which only worsened your appeal to him. he scoffed, pointing to his locker. "can you move?"

"or what? why'ya in such a rush" you finally acknowledged his presence, though once you did keita wished you'd gone back to ignoring him completely. the way you looked and talked to him as if he was a child utterly *irked* him. he took a deep breath, stabilizing his anger. "look. i just need to get my notes for my next class. and you're in the way of my locker." he spoke clearly and slowly, purposely over-explaining. somehow this seemed to satisfy you though, as you ruffled his hair and moved closer to winter.

"why didn't you just say so? isnt it easier to just use your words?" you cooed, peering over to winter to earn a giggle out of her. now, this had never been something keita had experienced before. being one of the all-star athletes of their grade, people went out of their way to not pick on him. and even if they did the whispers were quickly silenced after the first game of the season. so this kind of behavior was completely foreign to the boy, leaving him dumbfounded on how to respond. he furrowed his eyebrows, not appreciating the way he was the butt of your jokes.

"don't touch me."
"ouch! the boy bites" you pretended to wipe the hand on your jeans, acting as if keita was some rabid dog that just gave you a disease from his metaphorical bite. winter seemed to find this hilarious, elbowing you with a mean grin.
"pick on someone your own size!" she sneered, clearly meaning it back-handedly as the pair walked away giggling.

keita balled his fists, feeling his blood boil. he swore, in all his past interactions with minjeong she was never this bitchy, and the sight of the new winter made him huff out in frustration. is this what it felt like for all the kids his friends had teased throughout the years? this shit blows! maybe he should've listened to all the anti-bullying campaigns from jr high...