incredible ⇢ xikers

incredible

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ 1 ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Jinsik never has many friends growing up. He's told he's nice, he's told he's handsome, but he's also always told he's weird.

No one else in his class would rather read than play outside during recess. No one else in his class painstakingly practices their handwriting so that they don't make any mistakes. No one else in his class raises their hand to say "I have a question!" No one else in his class flaps their arms when they're excited, or goes nonverbal when they're overwhelmed. No one else in his class has to excuse themself to go to the bathroom for twenty minutes trying to calm down after the teacher accidentally scratches the chalkboard with her nails.

No one else in his class is weird. They make sure Jinsik knows that.

So Jinsik buries himself in his work. He studies hard, gets all A's, and quickly climbs to the top of his class. He tries out for every school musical, because sports have never really been his speed. He falls in love with music, taking up singing lessons, and later dancing lessons.

The first time someone wants to be Jinsik's friend is during musical practice in his first year of high school. There are only a handful of underclassmen who made it into the show, so they naturally gravitate towards each other.

All of them except Jinsik, of course.

He sits by himself, humming along to whatever song is playing in his headphones as he skims through the script.

A tap on his shoulder surprises him, and he looks up to see a boy with unruly brown hair and a friendly smile standing next to him.

"Hi! My name's Kim Gyubin, I'm in the same class as you!"

Jinsik forces his brain to start working. "Oh, hi. I'm—"

"Ham Jinsik, I know," Gyubin says, and Jinsik's eyes widen. "I remember you from auditions! You're, like, crazy talented."

Jinsik blushes, looking away. "No, no, I'm just..."

He doesn't have anything to finish his thought, so he stops, hands busying themselves by fidgeting with his pencil.

"You're incredible, is what you are! Do you wanna come sit with me and my friends? We'd love to get to know you!"

And Jinsik really doesn't know what to say to that, so he just nods mutely, letting Gyubin drag him over to where the rest of the underclassmen were sitting.

"Guys, this is Jinsik!" Gyubin exclaims. Jinsik waves awkwardly, only a little startled when everyone greets him enthusiastically.

"I'm Hyunwoo," one that Jinsik vaguely recognizes says.

"My name's Jungwon," a boy with chocolate brown hair and warm eyes says.

"I'm Seungeon, and that's Yunseo," the boy next to Jungwon says.

"Nice to meet you!" Yunseo adds.

"I'm Ricky," a tall boy with pitch black hair introduces.

"It's, um... it's nice to meet you all." Jinsik bows slightly, feeling way out of his depths. "Sorry, I'm not the best at making friends."

"Don't worry, you'll fit right in," Gyubin assures him, slinging an arm around Jinsik's shoulders, and for the first time in a long time, Jinsik doesn't feel like shrugging it off. He smiles.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ 2 ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Much to Jinsik's surprise, the eight of them remain friends for the rest of high school, especially him and Hyunwoo, even in their third year when Jinsik somehow manages to land the lead role in the musical that Hyunwoo had been so excited for.