Hypnagogia

BREAK

Donghyuck twirled the pencil in his hands, eyes glazed with boredom as he stared blankly at the set of notes in front of him. No matter how long he tried to recollect himself, he just couldn't pay attention to what he was supposed to read. The words seemed to float off the page whenever he was close to focusing. They would circle around several times, like a taunt to try and get a good grade. And as soon as it got him riled up, getting enough energy to do something productive- they would immediately come together to form a beautiful silhouette of Jaemin. Then the questions coming from the earlier lunch period would distract him and Donghyuck would be forced to go through that cycle all over again.
He really could care less about it. There was only the fact that his grades were kind of on the line this time around. It wasn't a small quiz or unit test. Some big exam or something if he remembered correctly, he didn't really listen in when the teacher was talking. 'Maybe I was daydreaming about Jaemin, maybe I wasn't....'
In the back of his mind he totally admitted he was daydreaming about the pink haired boy.
"Hey Donghyuck,"
He lost focus and threw the pencil halfway across the room. Straightening up to get a good glare at the person who addressed him, Donghyuck was pretty close to giving this guy a good scowl. That's until he saw the face that belonged to the voice. Jeno smiled disarmingly, his eyes becoming a bright crescent shape.
"Having a good study session I see?"
The corner of his lips quirked up into an amused smile. "Best one this year." He leaned back in chair, eyes training on the pencil across the room just in case anyone would take it. "In fact, I bet I could get the best grades in the class with how much progress I'm making."
Jeno let out a hearty, genuine laugh that made the whole room brighten up to match how happy he seemed. He pulled a chair from the empty desk beside Donghyuck so he could sit with him. Taking a peek over at the paper, the dark haired boy frowned. What he saw were careless scribbles of random words and some doodles scattered around. Nothing was highlighted, nothing was underlined, nothing seemed to be its correct place- so to say. "Well.... with those notes...."
The younger student scoffed, shrugging carelessly. "Whatever, it's just another year of shitty grades. Nothing new."
"Someone must be distracting you," Jeno said, a knowing look in his eyes. "I'm very sure about this."
Just the tone he used made Donghyuck's face hotter. He moved his attention to the chaotic set of notes and tried to somehow convince himself to stop being so vulnerable. 'It's just going to make it easier for him to find o-'
"Are you worried about Jaemin?"
He nearly choked on air, shocked to the core about how Jeno totally missed and hit the target at the exact same time.
"Bingo,"
"I don't get why you are making it a mission to bring it up right now, while I'm trying to study." Scrunching his nose, Donghyuck tried to gather some scraps of a shattered bit of his pride.
Jeno's smile only grew. "You don't have to be so ashamed of being worried about him, you used to watch volleyball practice a lot." He leaned forward, his features reflecting his kind intentions. "I get how confused you would be when you most likely saw him outside during the practice." His grin dropped a smidge. "He likes to be outside whenever possible."
"Well I guess I am more curious now that you've brought it up." The honey haired boy pouted, disappointed that he was so easy to read. "So now you're obligated to tell me, or I won't stop annoying you."
"You remember what happened on Tuesday."
"Clear as the sky outside at this very moment." Donghyuck new where the conversation would be heading instantly.
"The coach thinks it's best if Jaemin takes some time off of the teams. You know, to recover. They think he is working a bit too hard these days and should be taking a break to refocus himself. Pace himself again, or learn to pace himself." Jeno had a far off look. "Maybe drop something from his busy timetable."
It didn't take long to process.
"So what, he doesn't have volleyball at lunch anymore? No soccer after schools either? Is he immediately off the football team for the next year? How about the basketball team?" Listing all of the extracurriculars Jaemin had throughout the year, Donghyuck understood what the coach meant by maybe dropping a sport or two. Especially since he was in I.T., a more advanced class for those kids with good grades. Which meant more work for him.
Jeno nodded. "Makes sense now that it's out in the open right?"
"Yeah..."
Their conversation was cut off short by the bell, and students stood up, ready to make a bail out of the classroom setting. The athlete left with a wave and Donghyuck was now alone. He repeated the same order of actions. Of course, this week hasn't been all that normal. So when he went to his locker, he was met with a pink envelope with a wax seal.

[LAYING DOWN....]

    Donghyuck groaned, literally face planting the feathery carpet, his face turned to the side so he wouldn't end up 'suffocating'. He watched through the space between the floor and one of the chaise lounges as Jaemin walked around in some bunny slippers- reading over the letter out loud.

"I got the most amazing picture of you today!
You didn't seem to be expecting it at all and that's great!
But a little worrying.
Is there someone else you're staring at?
I bet they don't connect with you like I do."

    The pink haired boy paused and made a sound of disgust.
~What's that supposed to mean??

-I really don't want to know, I may lose my lunch if I do...
    Donghyuck shivered, not really wanting to imagine what the hell that meant.

"Maybe this time I'll get some courage and tell them off!
Honestly it doesn't matter, you are mine and I'm sure of it!
If the billions of pictures don't say something,
I'll try to be more dedicated I swear!"

[CLOSING IMAGE 1028.....]
[CLOSE CONNECTION TO DEVICE 001?]
{YES        NO}

    There was no more sign of Jaemin's slippers through the crack, only the cool breezed vent that happened to be connected to the kitchen. Instead, the boy ended up sitting beside Donghyuck's lying figure and rested a hand on his back for some kind of comfort. Renjun could easily be right over this stalker becoming serious at one point, however until that time comes, the honey haired boy was mostly convinced this was some hoax. In fact, a tiny part of him was worried that if he ever turned the letter in, voicing out how terrified he was, the entire school would laugh at him. It would be one of those large movie plots where the whole school turns on the kid that was getting on everyone's nerves to show him how it feels. So for pride's sake, he would pretend it was nothing.
    Despite this, just feeling the warmth of Jaemin's palm resting at the dip of his back created some stir of comfort. Turning his head around, he stared up at his 'boyfriend' almost helplessly and shimmied a bit closer to find more safety.

~You want to do anything Hyuckie?
-Hmmmm.....
-No.
-I just want to be with you.

    Donghyuck made a mental note to try and pay some attention to what Renjun's plan were when the next day came along.