NIGHTMARE

18 | stuck in the closet

changkyun strained to lift the bar, the weight pressing down heavily on his arms. mr son was supposed to be supervising since it was his first time at the club, but he was elsewhere sorting out a bunch of homophobes who had tripped changkyun up on his way in.

"ah, here you are."

changkyun looked up to see soonyoung and his annoying smile standing over him and he inwardly groaned. "what," he said.

"tryna get buff for someone?" soonyoung teased. he wiped a finger across changkyun's forehead and flicked the sweat off.

changkyun heaved and put the bar back on the rail, breathing deeply. "maybe," he grunted. "why are you here?"

"i was bored," soonyoung shrugged, deciding to be helpful and actually pass changkyun a towel.

"how can you be bored?" changkyun asked incredulously, "you have more friends than subjects i've passed."

"no i don't!"

"yes, you do."

"aw, changgy," soonyoung whined.

"you do, stop lying!" changkyun protested.

"you do, stop lying," soonyoung mimicked him.

changkyun threw the sweaty towel in his face and stood up, rolling his eyes.

"okay, but i did come here for an actual reason," soonyoung put in once he'd ditched the sweaty towel in disgust.

"how much cash do you need," changkyun drawled.

"that's not the only reason i ever talk to you!" soonyoung squeaked. he kept up with changkyun as he went to the locker room to grab his stuff. "anyway, mr yoo wants to see you."

changkyun stopped in his tracks. "mr yoo wants to see me?"

"yeah, that's what i said," soonyoung answered, "are you deaf or something?"

changkyun spun around to face him. "did he say what it was about?" he demanded.

"uh... something about singing?" soonyoung tried to remember. "probably trying to recruit you into his choir, as if you'd ever join, right?"

changkyun was suddenly very interested in his shoes.

"he wanted to see you in his room anyway, so-"

"yeah, okay, got to go," changkyun said quickly, sprinting off out of the locker rooms and into the corridor.

"chang!" soonyoung called, "what about your stuff?"

changkyun ignored his friend and headed straight for kihyun's classroom. he wondered whether he actually wanted to talk about choir club... or if he just missed him, maybe. he was getting too carried away with this, but it was hard not to when the time he spent with kihyun was never enough.

"sir?" changkyun cleared his throat and knocked on the door.

there wasn't a reply so he let himself in, scanning the room for any sight of the teacher. there were rustling noises from the store cupboard in the corner. changkyun shrugged and went over, peering inside.

kihyun was standing on his tiptoes trying to reach a pile of new exercise books on the top shelf, stretching so far but they were just out of reach.

"need a hand?" changkyun smiled from the doorway.

kihyun turned on his heel in surprise, the sudden movement causing a book to slip off the shelf and land on his head. "ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing the sore spot. "there's no way you could reach it, anyway. you're not even taller than me..."