abberation | jicheol

four pt 2

four pt 2 [a/n tbh idk why this and the last part are linked but HEY HO they are so here we go]
                  

"Hey, wanna listen to music while we do this?" The shorter boy looked up from his notes as Seungcheol spoke. The library was far quieter than usual; where they would normally see a few figures lingering in the tall aisles, searching for books, they hadn't seen a single person in the 40 minutes they'd been there. Jihoon inspected the item in Seungcheol's hand for a minute, before nodding, "Sure." Handing him a headphone, Seungcheol began searching through his phone for music to listen to. After 2 minutes of nothing but an uncomfortable feeling in his ear, and a prominent lack of music, Jihoon looked to Seungcheol. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as he scrolled through his device, occasionally stopping to investigate something for a second, before continuing. As nice as it was, in a weird way, to watch Seungcheol so focussed on something, Jihoon was restless and bored. He groaned, "God, can you just pick a song please?"
"I will!" Seungcheol argued back, "I just want to listen to this one song, alright?" Jihoon sighed and Seungcheol pushed him slightly, making a small smile grow on Jihoon's face. "Just hurry up, will you?"

Suddenly, a bassline started up and a voice was blasted into his ears.

Only God can judge me, is that right?
Only God can judge me now
Only God baby, nobody else, nobody else

Confusion washed over Jihoon. "You listen to Tupac?" Seungcheol looked up quickly to meet Jihoon's eyes. He smiled sheepishly, but kept eye contact, suddenly feeling self conscious in front of the younger boy, "Am I not supposed to? Do you not like it, should I change it?" Seungcheol said as he began to unlock his phone. Jihoon's eyes widened, and his face softened slightly as he stopped Seungcheol's hands, "No, don't! I like it, it's cool." Exhaling softly, Seungcheol removed his hands, leaving his ipod on the table in front of them.

Jihoon spoke again, "It's just that-.." Jihoon stopped, searching his mind for the words to express what he meant. "Yeah?" Seungcheol prompted, after a few seconds of silence had passed. "It's just..you don't really look like someone who would listen to Tupac." He said uneasily. Seungcheol's face melted into a smug smile, as he leaned back as far as the wire connecting their headphones would allow. "Oh, really? What do I look like then?" Jihoon observed the boy for a moment; his look was dishevelled, black hair a mess on top of his head and uniform as if it had been thrown onto his body in a mad rush. He looked rebellious and adventurous; as was common of a Gryffindor. "You look like you'd listen to rock bands. Like, indie rock, that kind of 80s style music they play in the background of films when the protagonist is hanging out with his 'gang'." He said, making air quotes with his hands as he said the word 'gang'. Seungcheol nodded, making a curious noise as he thought over Jihoon's words.

"So Soonyoung wasn't lying then." Seungcheol replied, leaning forward in his chair. The smaller boy frowned. "What? Lying about what?" Seungcheol chuckled softly, turning to look Jihoon straight in the eyes and the Ravenclaw could feel his face flush. "You really do think about me a lot." Widening his eyes and furrowing his brows in response, Jihoon felt his face burn a deeper shade of red as the smirk on Seungcheol's face widened.

Well, it was true that Jihoon thought about the boy a lot; he plonks himself down in the library one day and begs Jihoon to tutor him and he's expected to not think about it or ask questions? How ridiculous, of course Jihoon as thought about him. Of course he's wondered why Seungcheol knew his name. Of course he's wondered if Seungcheol gets on well in his other subjects. Of course he's wondered what type of music or books or films he likes, or what he was like when he was younger, or what he likes to do when he's alone. Or if he thinks about him too. Of course Jihoon has wondered, but he didn't see it as anything but pure curiosity. Because that's what it was. Plain and simple.

Except from plain and simple didn't explain why he was blushing so furiously or why he wanted to wipe that smile off of Seungcheol's face or why it felt so much like he'd been caught red handed. "Yah! I'm allowed to wonder aren't I? Don't get so full of yourself, Seungcheol." Jihoon turned away from the taller boy to busy himself with his notes. Seungcheol simply laughed. "Sure, you can wonder, Jihoonie; all I'm saying is it's cute that I'm on your mind." Jihoon's heart basically jumped in his chest and he cursed himself being this way around Seungcheol; he didn't even have a crush on him. "Shut up, Seungcheol."

"You know," Seungcheol started and Jihoon couldn't help but roll his eyes, as he must do around 10 times daily, ", just for the record, that 80s rock stuff isn't too bad, but hip hop is sort of my style." Jihoon turned to look at Seungcheol, thinking it over for a minute. "When I think about it more, that seems to fit you so well."
"How?" Seungcheol answered, a look of genuine curiosity on his face. Jihoon thought for a moment. "Well, it's like-...a lot of people never think much of rap and hip hop, right? They always think hip hop artists are just, like, delinquents or that they don't care about anyone but themselves. In reality, however, some of the most powerful lyrics I've ever heard have been written by hip hop artists; they aren't just hoodlums who do whatever they want, they're writers and they have real emotions and they are human. But no one ever gives them credit for that." Seungcheol nodded as he listened, "Right."
"Right. So, in a way, it kind of epitomises you-or at least how I know you. Initially, you just seemed like some kid who got bad grades and wanted to talk to me to keep his parents happy when they saw his report card-and I was okay with that. But, you're not that at all. You're actually..-", at this point, Jihoon stopped himself, noticing that he had got far too carried away and was sure Seungcheol would think he was freaking in love with him by now, "-uh, you're..pretty cool. I guess."

Seungcheol stared back in what could only be describe as absolute awe. His gaze was burning into Jihoon's face and the silence between them made the smaller feel as if he'd said too much and freaked the other out.

"You really are something else."

The Gryffindor said suddenly and Jihoon felt butterflies stir in his stomach. "Shut up." He replied shaking his head slightly.

"What music do you like, anyways?"

And they went on like that for gods knows how long, working and chatting simultaneously about anything-music, books, school, family, everything. Jihoon liked it. It wasn't often he confided in someone else about, well, anything. He didn't tend to talk solely about himself; he didn't see that anyone really cared that much. But talking with Seungcheol just felt comfortable, like it made sense and he didn't have to constantly question whether Seungcheol actually cared about the conversation, because his replies were enough to show how intrigued he was. After around 3 hours of half-studying, half-getting to know each other more, the boys decided they should probably go back to their respective houses before heading down to dinner.

"Oh, hey," Seungcheol said, turning back to Jihoon as he began to leave, "don't forget about our date tomorrow." The taller boy smiled brightly, before turning and walking out of the library. Jihoon froze to his point, staring at where Seungcheol had stood not seconds ago. Only one thing stuck in Jihoon's head, making his cheeks burn bright once again; did he say date?

❾¾