YELLOW | yj x bg

☀︎ sixteen.

—beomgyu

Taehyun was someone who I came to know through a very funny incident. After all, being friends with Taehyun comes with its fair share of weird incidents.

One day our Maths teacher was absent so we had a substitution teacher assigned to the classroom. This was before I became friends with Huening, so I'd spend my free time doodling instead of chatting away.

But there was this guilt eating me alive because my Maths teacher saw so much potential in me that even I couldn't, and I wanted to make her proud by scoring a higher-than-usual score for the next maths test. So I sat in the corner by the window, opened my notebook, and practiced a bunch of math questions from the textbook, probably close to 30 questions.

Around 20 or so minutes later (or at least what I assume so; you lose track of time when you're studying) I sense someone standing in front of my desk. Alarm clutches my reflexes for a second, hoping it's not one of those bullies who decided to have a little fun with me today. But far from it. I look up and see a guy with a penetrating gaze who has his hands crossed over his chest.

I recognize him. He sits in the front row and raises his hand to answer a question knowing he's going to get it wrong, even though he offers various connections and innovate ideas for projects when it comes to it. I've had conflicted feelings about him because he looks like the typical bully, but I've never seen him say a bad word to anyone. In fact, I haven't seen him say a single word to anyone.

So you can imagine how surprised I was when I see him standing in front of me, staring down at me with a look I'm assuming through which he's trying to say, 'You're a waste of space.'

He opens his mouth to say, and the first thing I notice is how his breath smells incredibly minty, either thanks to his toothpaste or gum, now I've come to know. "You're going to go very far in your life."

I have to say- it felt nice gaining a compliment from someone even it's a stranger. I didn't know how much I needed to hear what he said in that moment. You get loads of belief in yourself when someone expresses the bright future they see ahead of you. And Taehyun had unknowingly done it for me in that moment.

"T-thank you?" I ask, uncertain.

He continues beaming down at me, and what I hope to be a smile spreads across his face. "No need to thank me. I need to thank your for entertaining me." He sees me tilts my head and adds for further explanation, "I mean- I like to observe people and how they act when we have substitution classes, but you're the first person I've seen in this god-forsaken class who's taken advantage of their free time. Normally students our age gossip with their friends or have a debate on whether Dunkin' Donuts or Baskin Robbin's sells the best ice cream. So it's refreshing to see a guy like you, who's thinking about his future and working towards it."

I stay silent for a few, painful seconds. "Thank you for your kind compliments. But I don't think judging how people spend their time in their classroom is a predictor of success. I've had plenty of friends who liked to have fun at school and study at home, and they're highly praised by teachers."

He stands up straighter. "Are you willing to be a teacher's pet?" He asks suddenly, his tone suddenly changing. "Cuz you sure are acting like one. That's something only a straight-A student would say."

I shrugged and went back to my work. "It's not teachers I'm trying to make proud; it's myself."

As I continue scribbling down solutions in my notebook, I notice Taehyun is still just standing there for a solid 4 minutes. I slammed my pencil down, about to ask him what his problem is, but that's when he said something he thought was a very smart comeback to make- not knowing that when I'd think about it later, I'd burst out laughing.

"You know, you need to harden your heart a bit more. You're the perfect person for the bullies to target."

And that's how Taehyun and I became friends- by treating each other like enemies.