Hypnagogia

Reality// SLUSHY

"I bet your virtual room is the most angsty piece of shit on this earth."
    The room was abuzz with the chatter of the students, refreshed from the short break of the weekend. Though not refreshed enough, everyone was still in high spirits, obviously because of the Virtual World building game. Of course not everyone used it to merely world build. Just by looking at the visage of some of the kids there you could deduce that they used the game for sports. While others may use it as another source of studying. Maybe even a new location to do extracurriculars at home instead of wasting time moving. It didn't really matter what they used it for, they most definitely turned it on and they were most definitely renewed by it.
    Donghyuck scoffed at the blond's previous statement. "I find you the most angsty piece of shit on this earth sometimes Renjun."
Said boy reeled back in fake offence causing Donghyuck to snicker.
    Apparently there was one boy who happened not to be as recharged as the majority. Just by the way his stone cold eyes were framed by some kind of red bagginess was enough to give off a tired, irritable impression. Though he was small in size, and narrow in stature, the aura he radiated was nothing of the such. The overwhelming tensity he had could fill the whole room and command everyone's presence. He appeared too tired to extend anything that far though. Yawning to draw eyes to his contradicting, adorable snaggletooth, Renjun frowned for the tenth time that morning.
    "Those things are just a way for the government to hack into your mind and see what useful information you have stored. And you know what else they can use it for?" He tapped the end of his pencil against Donghyuck's forehead. "Subliminal messages."
    Laughing at the conspiracy theorist, he leaned backward in his chair. "Just like you to think of those things, huh?"
    Renjun furrowed his eyebrows, the atmosphere around him getting that much colder than it already was considering it was Monday.
    "Chill, chill. All I'm saying is that you watch a ton of Buzzfeed Unsolved and stuff related to that."
    "Don't be ridiculous" his 'clearly bonkers' friend sneered. "I find printed scripts of those videos and catch up on the books in the library."
    Another thing to add when describing Renjun. He was pretty much suspicious of everything. This kid had traps installed all round his house, especially in places where he had more important items and information; he created specially wired camera's, only accessible with the SD card installed; his bag was filled with multiple burner phones, one for each persons contact (which he has written down for the new burners). His real room didn't have a trace of modern technology, everything was vintage, and if you didn't know he was an absolute paranoid, you'd think it was cute. But when he refused to do anything fun because 'we're all a higher powers toys to play around with when we venture outside' you may have wanted to smack him upside the head. Which used to happen, until the honey haired boy came along.
    "Whatever, hey wanna skip the next few classes? None of my subjects leading up to lunch seem all that fun. And I know that the local 7/11 is having a free slushy period from ten to eleven. It's literally a whole hour of brain freeze opportunities." Donghyuck suggested leaning back in his chair casually.
    Renjun didn't particularly decline, nor did he agree either. He just rested his head against his hands, clearly bored. "You can have as much as you want, I'll be having my home made refreshments."
    "What if they implanted some sort of supplement in the ingredients you used?" The younger boy snickered, trying to irk his friend a bit just for some amusement.
    "Now you're just being plain paranoid."
    "You've got to be kidding me."

    The bell ringing bounced around the halls as class started to begin furthermore after the break they just had. The ringing was cue for Donghyuck. As he swirled the lollipop to the other side of his mouth and closed the screen of his phone to move along the empty hallways. The two boys decided to follow up on their plan previously made at the start of school, planning to meet at the gates. Despite Renjun's whining about having to enter a camera monitored area he still complied to the idea. Most likely because he would not want to be alone in a room filled with socially tainted beings. Donghyuck snorted at the older boy's somewhat disdainful comment, the blond's voice coming to his mind along with his own echoing footsteps.
    The delinquent student would have defended some of the people in the school. However if he did, he would've gotten a huge lecture about how the pretty boys of the school were clearly trying to get him to be less aware of everything. And maybe that was true. But he could have also considered that hanging out with Renjun so much had permanently implanted the voice of worry into his mind. Just the idea of anything implanted in his brain was enough to make him grimace. Thank the stars there was Jaemin, who was indeed one of the only breaks he could catch from anything.
    "Hi Donghyuck!"
    He froze. The first thing that registered in his mind was that he got caught by a teacher. The next thing he registered was that he was going insane by the sound of Jaemin's voice ringing out. By the time he actually figured out the clear answer, his taller classmate was already by his side.
    "Are you heading to class as well?"
    Donghyuck's voice got caught in his throat while his eyes got trapped in the gaze of star student, Na Jaemin. He was completely drowning in the dark chocolate coloured irises, losing any train of thought. Or maybe he was focusing on how much bigger he was standing next to Donghyuck. With his broad shoulders that were framed by his school blazer that was completely unbuttoned, showing off a t-shirt with the school's logo printed on. And how his sleeves were always rolled up halfway to present some kind of defined muscle- along with his pants, which were also rolled up, maybe because it was a size too big. Or maybe it was his lips....
    Donghyuck shook his head a bit, face almost flaring up red and he glanced up to Jaemin's visage to check if his classmate knew at all. However, the pink haired boy was smiling absentmindedly, seemingly unaware to no response as he stared ahead.
    "You know, dentist appointment and stuff, my parents really are stepping on my heels about how much candy I eat." He lied through a thin lined smile.
    Jaemin nodded, almost as if he was truly paying attention. "Lucky for you, I got I.T. next," He bopped the binder in his hands upward a bit. "And we're working on a huge project for the end of term. It's better than having to take a test but I don't find it that fun. Of course all I'm doing is some editing on a mini movie filmed by some friends."
    As he continued to talk on about his work, Donghyuck couldn't decide whether he should scowl or sigh. Nothing like Jaemin doing some sort of flexing on him to remind the kid that his grades weren't all that. And that the younger student was miles ahead in the genetics race: with how well he preformed in every sport, the fact that his lowest grade was -A's, not to mention how attractive he was and how kind he acted to literally everyone in the school. Donghyuck honestly preferred that rather than downright bragging. But it still didn't feel good to be thrown back into the league of low grades. "Sounds fun."
    "Oh... I was ranting wasn't I?"
    "Kind of," He huffed,
    'Don't do it. Don't do it.'
     "But for good reason I'm sure." He held out the ending in sure for a long enough time to prove any point of being sarcastic. Inwardly, he flinched at his own comment but it couldn't be helped. Old habits die hard. If that was the case though...
    'Why don't I make any jabs at VR Jaemin?'
    His classmate most likely did not hear what he said, because he smiled once again and branched off to his class. "Well, it was nice talking to you Donghyuck! Good luck at the Dentist!"
    'Yeah right.' Donghyuck smiled, the joy not reaching his eyes as he moved along. 'Sometimes you wonder whether he actually is smart or just extremely lucky.'