neighbours (hyungwonho)

1

"chae hyungwon"

the substitute teacher bellowed as his beady eyes scanned the room. the teacher really didn't want to be here. he was supposed to meet his girlfriend for lunch yet he had gotten a call last minute from the principal asking if he could teach one class.

a lanky boy with jet black hair raised his hand only slightly, just enough for the teacher to see.

the teacher raised an eyebrow, "chae hyungwon?"

hyungwon nodded and the teacher let out a silent sigh as he ticked the boy off. he continued throught he list.

"shin hoseok"

"sir! call me wonho!"

the boy with raven coloured hair whined in a playful way as he watched the substitute teacher nod in a defeated manner.

the class was going on smoothly. hyungwon was paying attention, making notes and actually learning things like he always did. wonho was chattering, eating and laughing quietly like he always did.

"okay lets read these poems....hmm okay. chae hyungwon? read porphyria's lover"

silence filled the once buzzing room. all eyes turned to hyungwon, even wonho's.

the boy who was supposed to read only had his head down and he burned under all the gazes diverted at him.

"chae hyungwon?"

the teacher looked at hyungwon as he tapped his brown leather shoes showing his impatience.

"chae hyungwon??"

hyungwon still had his head down and before the teacher lost it, shownu, the class captain spoke up.

"hyungwon doesn't really talk", there were a few giggles but shownu continued " it'd probably be better if you just chose someone else"

all eyes darted from hyungwon to the frustrated teacher.

"okay, you then", he said pointing to another boy.

***

wonho was walking home. he always walked the first half with all his friends: jooheon, kihyun and minhyuk. then they would start to head in different directions.

kihyun was the last to separate from wonho, leaving wonho alone. that was when the boy started thinking.

when the teacher called on hyungwon to read, he didn't know why but he felt the boy's pain and he could imagine how embarrassed the boy was.

it dwelled on him that he had never really tried to get to know the taller boy. the two had been neighbours for over 10 years but they had never greeted each other. it wasn't that wonho had never said 'hi' it was just that hyungwon never replied and so without even knowing it, wonho had given up.

hyungwon had attended a private school till the start of high school and it was only then that hyungwon and wonho had been in the same class.

they had miraculously stayed in the same class for 5 years yet they never spoke. hyungwon barely ever opened his mouth, he occasionaly would speak up to say that he was here or say he was okay when asked but from years of experience, all the students and teachers knew that if hyungwon was not in the mood to talk, noone could make him talk.

so a sudden though popped into wonho's mind. 'i want to change him. i want to make him feel confident. i want him to feel confident'

but who was he to change the boy? wonho wasn't even friends with the taller boy.

'then i'll become his friend first!' wonho thought. that would probably be a plausible task if wonho did it because 

1. wonho had a bubbly and lovable personality, nearly everyone in the school adored him 

2. wonho and hyungwon were in the same class

3. wonho and hyungwon were neighbours

a smile stretched on wonho's face as he thought about getting closer to the taller boy and wonho skipped the rest of the way home as some giggles escaped his mouth.