Phantasmagoria

26 | Speaking in Hands

It was pouring the day it all started, Chanyeol wasn't the happiest to go to school today but he didn't exactly have a choice. He would have forgotten to get an umbrella on his way out if it wasn't for one of his maids.

Chanyeol wasn't the popular kind back in middle school surprisingly, he was actually picked on a lot back then because of his ears. He only had Kim Jongin as a friend back then, but unfortunately they grew apart in high school.

"I'll cut them off one day and be like Vincent Van Gogh!" He whispered in an angry manner. "So, you want to be an artist now? What happened with being a professional guitar player or whatever music profession you wanted?" Jongin whispered back, the older groaned quietly and shook his head. "Nevermind– I just remembered you have 61 billion less brain cells than the regular human being." Jongin kicked his feet under the table. They were supposed to be working quietly on something but they got distracted, hell they always did. Lucky for them, the bell that dismisses them for lunch soon rang, freeing them from a scolding from their teacher.

"Aren't you eating today?" Jongin grabbed the back of Chanyeol's hoodie, causing him to almost fall backwards, the younger earned a glare from the other but he just laughed. "I am, I'm gonna use the restroom first."

"Alright. Don't let those pieces of shit bully you tho." Jongin called from behind Chanyeol, who nodded. When Chanyeol was gone, the younger scoffed, "He really does still use the word restroom–"

About 2 minutes in looking for a bathroom, Chanyeol realized he was lost. "Who thought it was a good idea to build a school with so many floors and rooms..." The male opened a door that led to the roof top where a lonely figure stood near the railings. They had a long red scarf covering half of their face and a petite figure. The figure looked back at Chanyeol with a blank expression. The taller had never seen them around, then again they weren't exactly too eye catching.

"Hey uhm– Do you know where the bathroom is?" Chanyeol asked awkwardly. The male approached the taller, gesturing him to follow, so Chanyeol did. He led him to the boy's bathroom, the taller thanked him, bowing politely. "By the way, which grade are you part of? You look so small to be in year three..." The person shook their head and raised 1 finger up. "Ah, I see. And your name? I've never seen you around the school, maybe we could hang out or something." He shook their head again and showed Chanyeol a few symbols with their left hand, the taller didn't understand tho. "I'm sorry?" The mysterious person shook their head once again and did a few more unknown symbols before turning on their heal and walking away. Chanyeol was confused as all hell but he was more intrigued than anything.

The taller didn't intended to seem like a stalker but he sure acted like it, he studied the unnamed male's routine which always started on a bench under the school's biggest tree, it was slightly far from school grounds but they always visited it for some reason. They then climbed up 7 decks of stairs to the roof top. Chanyeol was convinced they sure liked to walk or as he put it, strengthen his leg muscles.

One day, Chanyeol decided to be brave and visit the roof top again. The male was gazing up at the sky with a peaceful look on their face. The taller wondered why this person struck such curiosity in him, he was never one to examine one's behavior like this but there he was, they were just so mysterious. He could argue that the first thing that stood out was the fact they never spoke a word, then was the scarf he always used that covered half of their face. All he could do to become closer was ask yes or no questions so that's exactly what he did from then on.

The mysterious male and Chanyeol became closer, it was a slow process but it still was some kind of process. Tho, his friendship with Jongin began to sink little by little. The younger noticed it was getting out of hand and decided to ask, "Where do you spent lunch break these days? I haven't seen your face in the cafeteria all week dude–" Chanyeol blinked, he grew custom to silence so this was a sudden shock for him. "You know, around..."