Wildfire And Rain

Chapter Eight

It seems like both Soobin and Taehyun avoid talking about "it", or rather they both pretend like that night never happened. Like the blood, they clean it off, throw it in the trash and it's like it never was.

They sit together every night to watch the anime that was released that week and unlike other nights, they never sleep in separate beds. Either Taehyun dozes off in Soobin's bed or the other way around. Both won't admit that it is the only way for them to sleep at night.

It's understood without saying.

Taehyun tells Soobin nothing of Kai. And Soobin does not ask. But from then on, it's difficult to see them not near each other.

When he has the time, Soobin escorts Taehyun to his classes and from. They study in the library together all week and Taehyun hasn't seen Kai even once since the janitor room incident.

Not until his sociology lecture with Mr. Harrison.

Maybe he forgot Kai was in that lecture with him, or perhaps he wished to block the information from his brain. Either way, he finds himself feeling that same hot stare on his back as he uses every part of his mind to try to listen to his professor.

"I'll give you a topic to discuss in pairs, you have exactly 10 minutes to share your thoughts on the topic. At the end of the 10 minutes, you will get an additional 2 to get to a conclusion and write it on a piece of paper."

Work done in pairs, just what Taehyun dreads of. He looks around, the students are already pairing together, and he prays that Mr. Harrison puts the chatter to an end and chooses the pairs himself.

But he gives them 2 minutes to pair by themselves and by that point, Taehyun's sweating buckets just hoping someone will tap him on the shoulder and save him from embarrassment by partnering with him.

No one does.

He sees them all already begin working and he's the only one from the line of his seats that is still looking for a partner. He realizes he might have to work through his anxiety and approach someone, but he physically can't. He starts to develop a dislike for this class.

He bows his head low and buries it in his textbook, hoping no one notices how pathetic that is.

"Kai and Taehyun." the professor calls and Taehyun lifts his head slowly; his eyes are twice their normal size. "You both seem equally disinterested in finding a partner, so congratulations. You just picked each other."

In the big swarm that is Taehyun's dislike for the entire discourse his life was taking, there was one burning question.

Why would Kai not partner up with anyone? Or rather, why did no one ask to partner with him?

After that one question, rose a couple more.

How come he had never seen Kai talk to any of the other students, and again? Why did he see no one talk to Kai?

While he does not like to rave about people, Kai is, the most attractive person Taehyun laid his eyes on. And he wouldn't be surprised if he was the most attractive anybody laid their eyes on. Secondly, Kai is crazy good at this class.

Anyone who's present in the lecture can tell. He answers not always first, but always right. His debates with the professor may be long but pertinent and relevant to their curriculum. And if this class is any indication of what kind of student Kai is, he thinks he may be the most successful academic in his entire department.

Those people are the first to get elected in group assignments.

So why-

"Stranger." Kai sits next to him as the students all gather in their respective pairs.