Unkind

One Thing He Isn't Good At

Leon Pownall is talking history of American independence and Chris is thinking “oatmeal”.

It had been six minutes since the bell rang yet the man insists to have them hostages for the next twenty just because several students in the class didn’t do the homework assigned yesterday. Pownall claims that this is his strategy for making them work all together towards success, that no man is an island, or something. Chris would have agreed if only Pownall isn’t trying to extend his time on their lunch break. And Chris is going to need the extra time if he wants to get to the archives.

Chris peers over his shoulders. He sees Minho jotting down notes from his book. He doesn’t even seem bothered by the ordeal. When Minho finally looks up, Chris attempts to get the boy’s attention by subtly waving his hand. Minho catches on and raises his brow in his direction, lowering his head so Pownall doesn’t catch them conversing.

“What?” Minho mouths. Chris silently giggles. He looks silly, he thought.

“Aren’t you hungry?” He whispers as low as Pownall’s ear couldn’t hear.

Minho gives him a look then shakes his head, returning to his note taking. Chris grumbles, but he couldn’t help the corners of his mouth stretching sideways. Minho just talked to him, he thought to himself. Well, he didn’t actually talk to Chris. It was more like he felt obligated answering nevertheless who was asking. Chris knows. He never sees Minho strike up conversation with anyone, and it was to Chris’ knowledge that Minho had been attending the academy for a long time. Shouldn’t he at least have a couple of friends?

He had Jisung though. But Chris thinks it is unavoidable to be friends with your roommate, so there’s that. And Minho seems upset whenever Chris mentions Jisung. Did they have a fall-out? No. That wouldn't be right. They were alright a few weeks ago. Otherwise, Jisung would’ve told him.

He shrugs the thought away. It isn’t his issue to mind. What’s important right now is the present, he reminds himself. And Chris is content with whatever he has with Minho. He isn’t planning on ruining it.

“What’cha smiling about?” He glances up at Felix, who has a mischievous smirk displayed.

“Oh, nothing important,” Chris waves him off.

“Really? You were looking at Lee, though,” Sam presses.

“Pft, so what?” Chris laughs as he is expecting a following joke from his friends. They occasionally talk about Minho, just harmless things, really, and Chris gets to know what the others think of Minho.

“Ooh, you two were even walking together this morning,” says Sky, joining the growing chatter. “You didn’t even sit with us during breakfast.”

Felix begins to fake cry, two fingers pointing at his eyes, and then a frown, “it hurt, y’know?”

“Heh, I can’t just hang out with you, guys, forever. You always try to get me in trouble.”

“No one hangs out with Lee, though. You’re the first,” says Sky, glancing around for approval, “voluntarily, that is.”

“Isn’t Jisung friends with him?”

Sam suddenly exclaims, “man, I hated the guts of that guy, but I heard Minho used to act weird around him. Going all red and shit.”

Pownall attempts to quiet them down. It worked for a while, but they continued in lowered voices. Chris’ head is swirling at this point. Minho’s been blushing and fidgeting too often to even consider it strange. He thought he’d always been like that. The way his friends are talking about him now feels like heading to a direction Chris’ doesn’t want it to enter.