CHAEBEOL | minsung

twenty-four

↷♡ ꒱..°

Chan was good at being undercover. 

You get used to it after a while. You learn how to hold yourself to avoid attracting unwanted attention, you discover new ways to answer questions so that you don't bring on follow-up questions. You find out, pretty quickly, how to lie. 

"Yeah, mate, don't worry." This time, he lies with an easy grin. "I'm honestly just waiting for the corridors to clear up a bit so I can go the bathroom... undisturbed."

His friends laugh at this. Chan thanks himself internally once again for forcing himself to infiltrate the jocks when he started at this school. They're good guys, but to say they were the smartest? Well, even Chan wasn't that good of a liar. 

As they leave, Chan rests his back against the cool panelling of the corridor wall. He's waiting for the corridors to clear up, sure, but for a different reason. 

It isn't until just after the rest of the students in the school seem to be in their respective classrooms that his reason appears. 

A smile cracks a round face in two, matching dimples on either end of the corridor, the newcomer glancing to the side every now and then to check he wasn't about to be seen. But still, even with the corridor empty, the newcomer barely even nods at Chan. If anything, he subdues the smile, walks straight past him. 

Chan gives it a few moments before following. 

They walk through the corridors like this for a while, the space in between them small enough to feel close to one another but big enough for other students not to notice. When the newcomer turns a corner and walks up a flight of stairs, Chan pauses by the same corner, pretending to fire off a text. Checks no one is watching, follows him. 

The stairs lead up to a seated balcony which overlooks a hall, the furthest wall from them taken up by an ornate stage, all red velvet curtains and shining, polished wood. There are a few students throughout the theatre room; some rehearse, some craft, some sit on the sidelines and watch. 

Anyone else would have thought the balcony area was empty, as though the newcomer had headed up the stairs and vanished into thin air. Chan knew better. 

"Took your time," chided the newcomer, face tilting to one side as Chan threw himself into a heap in the chair beside him.

Chan took a crisp from the bag being offered to him, eyes fixed on the stage. "Had to ward off the idiots. What did I do deserve spending the rest of my time here with the sports kids?" 

"Was your choice, Chan. Not my fault that you hate yourself that much." He sighed as he said it, the light shake of his head sending permed curls bouncing around his face. 

"Couldn't I have stuck with the poor kids?" Chan argued back with a pout. "Hyunjin can at least hold a conversation. Jeongin, admit it, you got lucky."

Jeongin laughed at this. It's a loud laugh, one that makes both boys duck their head all of a sudden as one of the kids on the stage cranes their neck to try and work out where the sound came from. 

"Nice one," Chan muttered. 

"Sorry, just funny that anyone thinks I got lucky with Hwang Hyunjin," snorted Jeongin. "I love the guy to shreds, but Jesus, I'm fucking bored."

Chan nodded. "Yup. Sports kids are boring, too."

They shared a glance, shared a sigh, shared another snack from the bag. A silence settled as they watched the kids downstairs continue with their work. 

"But there's a new kid. You've met him, right? Seems fun." Jeongin was grinning as he spoke.

"Seems like an idiot," muttered Chan under his breath.