My American Bad Boy.

First Meeting

Vernon was a friend of Seungcheol, they met up at an underground rapping event. They had a round of playful dissing and Seungcheol was thoroughly impressed with Vernon’s talent. They instantly clicked and in the next few days, Seungcheol invited him to meet the rest of his friends.

The boy had intrigued Joshua. They both had American blood in them, but they were nothing alike.

“Oh Vernon! This is Joshua. He's from America too.”

Joshua didn't understand why his heart was beating so fast when Seungcheol brought Vernon to him for a personal introduction.

Vernon nodded slightly in a greeting, his lips curled up to the side in a smirk.

“Sup! I'm Vernon. I came from New York, you?”

Joshua blinked at the boy. The charisma and confidence that radiates off the boy was simply attractive. Joshua felt Seungcheol elbowing him in the ribs, making him realise that he had yet to reply.

Vernon raised an eyebrow at him and chuckled to himself softly.

“OH! I'm Hong Jisoo! But you can call me Joshua. I'm from Los Angeles, California. I came to Korea three years ago. When I was seventeen. I'm twenty now.” The words left Joshua like a bullet train.

Now it was Vernon’s turn to blink back at Joshua, his eyebrow still raised. Vernon bit his bottom lip, holding back his laughter as they heard Seungcheol face palming himself.

Seungcheol turned and walked off, massaging his temples, muttering, “You're hopeless Jisoo..”

Joshua dropped his gaze to his shoes, utterly embarrassed by his outburst. Vernon was amused with Joshua’s state.

He tapped the older boy on the arm.

“Well, hello Joshua Hyung. I'm only seventeen now but same as you, I've only been in Korea for three years.” Vernon said.

Joshua raised his gaze to meet Vernon’s. The other boy gave him a final smile before pulling away to greet the other guys.

“Oh gosh. He probably thinks that I'm a weirdo now.”

As months passed, it became more obvious that Joshua and Vernon are polar opposites. Joshua was the definition of a proper gentlemen and Vernon was the epitome of a bad boy.

Joshua kept his hair neat and tidy, whereas the colours in Vernon’s hair just don't seem to fade. Joshua get dressed up in a button up when he goes out, but Vernon dressed down in a casual tee.

It's obvious to Joshua that Vernon is so out of his reach.

But Joshua finds it hard because the other boy constantly makes him feel like he's trying too hard. Joshua finds himself, more often than not, that he's not being himself.

Joshua was really trying hard to be someone he's not for Vernon, but nothing seem to work. Joshua plays the guitar but Vernon was into drummers. Although Vernon sees his face around, he hardly ever calls his name. Heck, at this point Joshua doubts whether Vernon even remembers his name.

Joshua tried to pierce his ears so that Vernon would think that he's cool. He wore ripped jeans and tried to be more charismatic. At times Joshua would casually follow Vernon around town but soon realised that it makes him seem weirder than before.