Hypnagogia

Reality// ENVY

    I got help for the incident! See you after school at the library!- Donghyuck
    Renjun stared blankly at the text message, annoyance prickling at his skin. It had been less than a whole day and that meddling kid had already solved the problem? The very thought cause him to grind his teeth in frustration. That gave little to no time for the Donghyuck to even process his actions and feel guilty about it. Which would mean more ignorance through the days to come, when they would continue their researching. It was like his skin was on fire with anger as he reread the message that was dripping with arrogance and victory as Donghyuck won over yet another battle of wits.
    The blond cursed and tucked his phone away in his backpack. In reality, there was actually a sense of relief settling in his stomach. His friend made quick time in figuring out the problem which in the end, really benefited the decision Renjun made with no though. The realization had only hit during the lunch period when his conversation went on with Jisung. Because over time, he wouldn't have been able to really ignore Donghyuck. And he definitely knew he couldn't just keep Jisung away for eternity since the younger student would most likely find a way to talk to his obnoxious upperclassman somehow. Renjun didn't consider it a win, but more like a compromised settlement.
    It was much later in the day as student were bustling to get out of the prison like facility. Everyone was already occupied with their own things that if Renjun decided to pull someone aside to talk, they would kindly excuse them self for they would need to go to their sports practice, music lessons, tutoring, and everything else in between. But he would never want to strike a conversation with anyone there. He only came for school. And maybe for his two other friends but he hated to admit that out loud much less in his head.
    He found his way slowly to the large doors and pushed them open. Renjun nearly punched the sign placed directly beside him as he looked to find Donghyuck and his apparent help. But all he saw was his best friend splitting the large of stack of books between himself and Jaemin. With fists clenched and narrowed eyes, he approached the two.
    'Of course he would only be so happy when it's his crush helping us.'
    "Oh hello Renjun! I hope you don't mind if I help you and Donghyuck with this problem," the star student smiled kindly just noticing the smaller boy stiffly walking to their table.
    Renjun, in turn, gave a forced smile with clenched teeth. "No it's completely fine, the more help we can get, the more clues we can find." He sat in the chair across from the two and pulled out his huge folder of scripts. "Glad to have you on our team Na Jaemin."
    Donghyuck looked up from the novel in his hands, "He was so nice offering his help wasn't he, pure boy?"
    The usual nickname that made Renjun's blood boil sounded light and cheery which caused some discomfort. He  shifted a bit in his seat, clearly not used to this side of his friend. "Yeah that's really generous of you," he said albeit rather awkwardly. "Especially when you have so many things to do."
    Jaemin's smile faltered for split second and Renjun internally smacked himself. 'Are you kidding? I'm the one who said something wrong? That's usually Donghyuck's job..'
    "I've been taking a break from all of my extracurriculars for a bit, you know to focus on my school work and take a bit of a break from doing so much."
    'Right,' the blond forgot that the athlete was taking a break for a bit. "Well at least you can help us, that certainly is something."
    The smile was back on the pink haired boys visage and he nodded, fingers fiddling with the pages of the book in his hands. With a hum, Renjun started to read over the scripts once again, curtly leaving those two to do their own task.
    This time around Donghyuck seemed extremely concentrated on his work, being able to complete skimming two books in about thirty minutes instead of his normal staring at one for an hour. As he kept highlighting and underlining, Renjun would glance up once in a while to see that both were making good time with their task. There was even moments where they would ask each other for help instead of just sitting there in confusion and not doing anything about it. This partially irked the paranoid boy for too many reasons to go over. Watching the two converse so easily and get everything done so fast made Renjun grumble quietly to himself. There was no lie in saying it was unfair how Jaemin could so simply get Donghyuck to do his work while Renjun had to fight to get anything done with the kid.
    He nearly soaked the paper with the highlighters ink as he pressed it down in annoyance. It was painstakingly obvious how Donghyuck would sneak little glances at the pink haired boy; the admiration in his eyes when he would end up looking over; how soft his voice got when speaking; slowly shifting closer or farther, depending on how confident he felt in that moment; or how red his face could get when Jaemin asked a question or two- scratch that he was flushed the entire time being so close to his crush.
    Jaemin either knew it or was too dense to notice anything. The latter was least likely option to get out of observing the scenario but it was one Renjun stuck on. If  the star student caught on to being liked by Donghyuck and did nothing about it, it would make the blond actually snap. You don't just play someone's feelings like that. The tanned boy hardly ever became so vulnerable, especially with his own reputation around the school, so the fact that it was happening towards Jaemin only must've hinted at something. But the virtuous boy did nothing about it, because if he noticed, he was sure acting like a douche not talking to Donghyuck about it. Renjun was convincing himself against the idea for Jaemin's safety purely but he couldn't help thinking how the athlete could be playing with his best friends heart. Knowing he was liked but still acting equally as nice and nearly flirtatious with everyone else. That was disgusting. But the blond tried his best not to think of it.
    He stood up to stretch, than slide his papers to the popular student. "Here, we can rotate some of the tasks for a bit." Walking around the table, he tugged Donghyuck up and motioned him to help. "We can get some more books on my list and look over them." With that, Renjun placed some books in his friends hand, and despite the slight whine of complaint he carried his own stack and they both went off.
    This was what carried on through the period. Jaemin and Donghyuck enjoying some time together and Renjun- desperately trying to detach his best friend from what his paranoia imagined to be a government tapped student. And through the whole experience, he was pricked by the hot feeling of annoyance on his skin.