closer | haobin ⚠️DISCONTINUED

11

Lunch time is going to be different today; having to choose between two candidates to study with him. Zhanghao had been contemplating his decision throughout the day. There was Hanbin, being the ideal study-buddy but he has a trauma, and it is uncomfortable. And there was Jiwoong, who although is smart, he was going to be a distraction. 

The lessons passed with no information staying in Zhanghao's brain never mind even entering it. A couple of times, he had heard his teacher's call Hanbin's name and right after Hanbin would nudge the boy, but it never worked. 

"Zhanghao, pay attention", Hanbin nudged one last time before giving up on his desk mate. 

"Okay", Zhanghao blankly said, snapping out of his thoughts. He patted his head with both of his hands, thinking it would fix his attention span like he did the last hundred times, but the bell had just rung. And the period that Zhanghao had been dreading has come. 

The boy behind his rose from his arms as his eyes squinted to open up. His hair had been all bushed up as his hand had been messing it up through his nap. 

"Zhanghao, ready to go?" Jiwoong spoke as a smile brought up to his face. 

Zhanghao hummed, doubting his chosen study buddy now. He decided to go with Jiwoong to study but his gut yells at him to forget it since the result might not be promising. The boy looked over to his desk mate, seeing how he had just been asked to study by another classmate. His smile automatically flushed the girl's cheeks as she nodded shyly before walking out the door with Hanbin. 

"Earth to Zhanghao", Jiwoong waved in front of Zhanghao's face who had trailed Hanbin. 

"Oh, yeah let's go", Zhanghao stood up, walking out the door first as Jiwoong rushed to get his things. 

                                                                     ☆☆☆

Jiwoong had actually been studious during the time of their session; he had confirmed Zhanghao's right answers, corrected Zhanghao's annotations and suggested different methods of understanding. 

It had been going well till Zhanghao's stomach made a small sound. A grumble. The boy held it, hoping it was low enough to not be heard but as another one erupted, the boy lowered his head in embarrassment. 

"Hungry?", Jiwoong asked, unpacking his backpack, not caring for his friend's answer. 

"No, no I'm"- Zhanghao paused after seeing a tin can with pasta. His eyes glowed and glistened at the meal cooked and ready for him. Topped with barley and seasoning, Zhangha could not help but take out his phone and snap a picture. 

In front of him, the cook, had smiled just as wide as the boy's eyes. There was something about Zhanghao's reactions that brought him great pleasure and motivation to cook. 

"Are you an inspiring cook?" Zhanghao asked after twirling his fork, swirling the long pasta strands around it. He lifted it up and planted it on the waypoint of his spoon before tilting it into his mouth. As if the stars in his eyes were not sparkling enough, Zhanghao fell back, kicking his feet a bit. 

Jiwoong couldn't hold in a chuckle before humbly denying. Credits all belonged to his mother, who was once a popular chef. All the tips and tricks came from her. 

"Then what do you want to be", Zhanghao asked aimlessly. Jiwoong just shrugged his shoulders before looking back down at his booklet. 

"Oh, it's that question! Can I solve it", Zhanghao asked pushing away the tin can and flipping Jiwoong's textbook towards him. 

It was unusually familiar, urging Zhanghao to solve it. He picked his pen back up before his hand wrote slower than his calculating process. Aimless numbers were scattered around the blank space under the question as Jiwoong kept looking up and down at Zhanghao and his textbook.