Vkook | Survival High

8

Unbeknownst to the students, beneath their school and dorms is an ancient demon deep with slumber. The demon, or perhaps its true name Lazrathan, is waiting to come out of his deep sleep.

For when he wakes, he will change the human world, and evolution as we know it will forever be a thing of the past. As humanity takes its final form, the last piece of the puzzle is fitted in creating the final picture intended.

***

Kim Seokjin had always dreamed of being more than what he was now; a part-time cashier for his aunt's grocery store. The pay wasn't bad, considering the fact that all he did was press buttons on a small machine, collect money and give back change, and silently pray everyday that no robbers would pick an interest in the small store.

Seokjin dreamed of being an actor. Or a model. He was very confident in his looks, but felt that they were wasted in the small town he lived in. The same town his best friend Taehyung used to live in.

The hit it off the moment they met back when they were just middle schoolers. Back then, Seokjin had been a bit of a prat. But so was Taehyung. He suspected that they only started being friends during that time for the fact that birds of a feather, flocked together.

He was extremely good-looking. And so was Taehyung. They were both athletic, though Taehyung was a better athlete than he ever was, not that he'd ever admit it to the younger boy. And they were both popular. That played an extremely large factor in how they met.

Seokjin was invited to a rich classmate's birthday party. And there at the center of the birthday boy's attention, was Kim Taehyung who was participating a dangerous game of playing hard-to-get with the older boy.

Seokjin was at the other side of the large room with his own crowd of people to entertain and mingle with, when suddenly, Kim Tae-fucking-hyung called out his name from the other side of the damn room.

It seems that the birthday boy had gotten a bit too close with the underage Taehyung back then. So Taehyung, in the blink of an eye called out to the only other person he recognized in the room in a sweet candy-like voice.

"Seokjin-Jin! Come over here!"

Seokjin who was now Jin apparently, walked to where Taehyung was. Because he was part curious and part amused at the younger boy.

Really, he could have ignored the younger. But looking back then to where they are now, he could never find it in himself to ever regret going along with Taehyung.

"Jin, meet Woosung, my new friend. Woosung, I would like to introduce you to my boyfriend Jin," the younger was puting up a charming mask, but the way his pupils dilated, he could tell the other boy was faking it. And that he really needed to reply instead of staring at Taehyung's pupils.

"Hi. As Tae said, I'm his boyfriend. Nice to meet you Woosung," he puts his hand out and the birthday boy stares him down like he's touched a used diaper.

Taehyung and Woosung exchange a couple of words before the birthday boy walks off to his own friends with a disappointed sulking stance in his shoulders.

Taehyung then takes Seokjin's hand and lead them both to the porch of the house where there was no one but them. Then Taehyung immediately lets go of Seokjin's hand with a piercing sneer on his face. The sneer was not for him, and that was the only thing that stopped Seokjin from punching the boy right then and there.

"Shithead back there likes to hit on underage boys ya know? Won't take no for an answer either. Only reason why he let me go was cause we was in front of everyone. Else he woulda caught me, and probably try to pay hush money afterwords. So thank you Jin."

And after that, they both decided to be friends. Taehyung was apparently a new student that needed the right company and he needed an breadshuttle that he didn't have to bully someone into being, thus ruining his prince-like charm.

Taehyung didn't make it easy for him. He often didn't listen to his orders and never brought back the correct amount of change, if he brought back any change at all.

And then there was the teasing about him being a good house husband since he liked to cook, preferred the colour pink, and according to Taehyung, nagged like an old man. Taehyung did not make it easy for him to like the younger boy, but he wasn't at all surprised when he did.

People flocked to Taehyung, wanting to impress him, or suck his attentions to them.

Seokjin should've saw it from the beginning. Taehyung was extremely attractive, yes. But good looks alone should not be the sole reason alone for his influence on others.

Seokjin was talking about one of the latest trends during those younger years; skateboarding on the roof. Sure everyone listened to what he said out of interest, but that was just about it.

But then Taehyung turns to Sang-ki, one of the shyest people of their school, to skateboard on the roof as a joke.

That was how every student and teacher gather around the front of the school building to witness Sang-ki clumsily attempt to perform tricks on the roof. Students laughed at him and mockingly cheered while the teachers yelled at him to come down.

Taehyung was next to Seokjin, watching the scene everyone else was. The scene he caused. And the look of pure shock was not something he would ever forget completely.

A teacher had gone up on the roof and dragged Sang-ki back down.

Then everyone went back to their lives, and by a few months, the incident was mostly forgotten, but otherwise, old news.

Seokjin thinks that after that incident, Taehyung started to be more serious. The incident had not hurt Sang-ki physically, but the fact that if he had made even the smallest mistake, he could've fell down the roof to his death.

The incident however, did not stop Taehyung from manipulating the teachers and students though, often for the sake of better grades or an access to a shorter line for both him and Seokjin. But he was careful with his words. He only suggested harmless things like letting them cut to the front, or getting another day to finish their maths homework. Nothing serious, and that was how he played it.

Seokjin was the least surprised when Taehyung told him about the transfer to Ajes High. He did not cry, but there was an empty place in his heart when Taehyung packed up and left. They promised to visit each other whenever they could, and that was the plan they stuck to.

Or at least until Seokjin walks over to his mailbox one day and finds a thick envelope from Ajes High itself. And inside, was information for Kim Seokjin to transfer as soon as he could.