Beautiful | haobin

Eleven

"Tell us everything!" Ricky whisper yells as soon as Zhang Hao gets to the cafeteria.

"Yeah, what do you mean you're dating Sung Hanbin?!" Taerae asks, still in shock.

Zhang Hao looks towards where he was supposed to sit with Hanbin and his friend group, but Hanbin isn't there yet, so he sits with his friends instead.

"What about Jiwoong?" Ricky whispers, trying to be as discreet as possible.

"It kind of just happened..." Zhang Hao tells them. "We have some classes together. You guys know that. After we got in trouble last week, we started talking and I realized he seems like a great guy. We're still getting to know each other, but we made our relationship official because we're really interested in each other."

"Woah..." Taerae gasps. "That's something I thought would only happen in books."

"Are your feelings for Jiwoong completely gone? You liked him for a while."

"It was just a small crush, you guys. It wasn't anything serious." Zhang Hao lies.

He had always thought he was a bad liar, but his friends don't question him anymore, thankfully.

Zhang Hao looks towards the cafeteria's entrance and sees Hanbin walking in with his brother Gyuvin. Hanbin looks towards the table his friends are sitting at and doesn't see Zhang Hao, so he looks around the cafeteria.

Zhang Hao sees Gyuvin point their way, so he immediately waves and smiles at them, making Ricky and Taerae turn to who he's waving at.

"Hey." Hanbin smiles and rests his hands on Zhang Hao's shoulders from behind. "This is my brother Gyuvin." He introduces him to Taerae and Ricky.

"Hi, I'm Taerae."

"I'm Ricky."

"Do you guys want to sit with us?" Gyuvin points towards where his friend group is sitting.

"Oh, it's okay. We wouldn't want to intrude or anything." Ricky tells him, not sure. They're the most popular guys at school. They didn't even look their way before, so this is new.

"You wouldn't be intruding, don't worry. Zhang Hao is sitting with Hanbin, so wouldn't it be better if you all sit together?"

"Yeah, come on Ricky." Taerae pouts. "I want to see how it feels to sit with them. The air they breathe must be different."

Ricky tries to control his expression due to the second hand embarrassment he just got. "Yeah, okay." He ends up agreeing. Who knows what else Taerae would end up saying just to convince him.

"Have you eaten yet?" Hanbin asks Zhang Hao and he shakes his head. "Then come on, let's get you something." He takes his hand and Zhang Hao stands up, then follows him towards the food section.

As they're waiting for their turn, Zhang Hao looks down at their hands. He wonders what it feels like to get sparks and feel butterflies whenever the person you like holds your hand. He wonders what it'd feel like to have Jiwoong hold his hand.

He wonders why he couldn't just get the courage and talk to him instead of being pathetic and faking a relationship with his best friend just to get his attention.

"Are you okay?" Hanbin asks him, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yeah, I am." Zhang Hao just nods.

They both get a tray and their food, then walk towards where Hanbin's friend group is sitting, Taerae and Ricky are now there too.

"Hey, lovebirds." Matthew immediately says when they sit down. Zhang Hao just awkwardly gives him a small smile. "Wow, this is a couple I never expected, but you two look so cute together."

"Yeah, I agree. They're adorable." Taerae nods.

"So how did you guys meet?" Gunwook asks them. "You said you'd tell the story during lunch."

"We just have a few classes together. We didn't talk much, but we started talking last week when we got in trouble. I guess you could say we just clicked." Hanbin tells them. "We're still getting to know each other more and more every day, but the feelings are there."

"Aww, cute. I think those are the cutest relationships." Gyuvin comments. "I'm just glad Hanbin is finally free from-"

"Gyuvin..." Hanbin stops him.

"Sorry, sorry... anyway, you seem like a nice person, Hao. We should be friends."

"Yeah, I'd like that." Zhang Hao nods and smiles. Since he's Hanbin's fake boyfriend, he needs to be extra nice to his family.

"Let's exchange numbers then." Gyuvin hands him his phone and Zhang Hao does the same.

"So what do you like to do, Zhang Hao?" Gunwook asks him after he gets his phone back.

"Well, I actually like to play the violin and I like to sing too."

"Woah, really? Hopefully we get to hear you sing or play the violin sometime. I really like music." Zhang Hao hears someone across from him say.

He turns to him and sees it was Jiwoong. He had tried so hard not to look at him since he didn't want to mess anything up. He tried to avoid eye contact with him at all costs.

Zhang Hao freezes in place. It's like he forgot how to talk and move. Hanbin notices, so he wraps an arm over his shoulder, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm sure Zhang Hao would love to play the violin for you guys sometime." Hanbin tells them.

"Have you heard him play yet?" Taerae asks him. "Wow, it's still the most beautiful thing I've ever heard."

Hanbin and Zhang Hao look at each other for a few seconds, not sure what to say. Hanbin didn't even know Zhang Hao played the violin until a few minutes ago.

"Yeah, he did." Zhang Hao takes Hanbin's hand, which was still over his shoulder. Their relationship would be more believable if he answered that. He's always told his friends he would only play the violin to the guy he liked. Taerae, Ricky, and his family were an exception, but he had never played the violin for anyone else.

"Zhang Hao must really like you then. He doesn't play the violin for just anyone." Ricky tells Hanbin.

"Aww, I must be special, right?" Hanbin pokes Zhang Hao's cheek.

"Of course you are." Zhang Hao nods and pokes Hanbin's cheek back.

"Oh... they're that kind of couple." Gyuvin makes a face in disgust. "I hadn't seen my brother being lovey dovey before."

"Looks like you're going to have to get used to it." Ricky tells him.