Dark to Baby: A Changjin Story

Chapter 1

"H-Hi, I'm Hyunjin. It's nice to meet you."

The light fell on the new student's face from the window on the right as all the girls cooed at his cuteness. He looked down before glancing back up and making eye contact with some of the boys and giving them shy smiles. He stood before about twenty-five students, all of them giving him goofy grins.

Well, almost all of them.

There was one boy on the back row that couldn't stand the flowery atmosphere this new kid had created. To reverse the effects of the pretty boy, he pulled his black beanie further onto his head, so that it almost covered his eyes and looked down to continue drawing a skull on the inside of his wrist with a black ball-point pen.

Hyunjin tried to catch his attention and at least give a good first impression, but the teacher had finished taking attendance, so he needed to find a seat.

His eyes settled on a few empty seats. The first was by a really enthusiastic girl that he felt the need to avoid at all costs. The second was by a cute guy whose hair looked like it was really fluffy, and the last one was all the way in the back by the window, which was not ideal since it was late September and the chilly air was bound to make him shiver. As he stood in indecision, the teacher took things into her own hands.

"Okay, thanks Hyunjun. You can sit next to Jisung in the second row."

The new student nodded his head quickly, made eye-contact with the guy with fluffy hair who he guessed was Jisung, since the guy was now waving wildly at him, and made his way to his new seat.

Thank goodness he got the best option.

After a few steps, a growly voice spoke up from the back row.

"His name is Hyunjin, not Hyunjun. Get it right." Half the class laughed at the comment, while the rest gave him a shocked look.

Hyunjin's head snapped up and he locked eyes with the dude that wouldn't even look at him before. How did he learn his name so fast?

The guy immediately narrowed his eyes.

"Sit down, you're in the way."

Hyunjin broke his stare quickly and turned to sit in his seat.

"Sorry, Hyunjin. I'll get it right next time." The teacher apologized. "And Changbin? Hats off, you know the rules."

Hyunjin heard an obvious grumble and turned to the guy once again to see him tear his beanie off to reveal a mass of messy black hair.

Changbin, or at least that's what Hyunjin thought the teacher had called him, stuffed the hat in the front pocket of his backpack and proceeded to run a hand through his hair. Miraculously, it fell into a sleek line across his forehead only after a few seconds.

Hyunjin studied him for a second longer before turning his attention to the teacher once more. He contemplated how someone could be a completely disruptive student yet care that much about their hair.

He put a hand up to his own light brown locks and fingered the ends. He wondered what it would take to get hair that perfect. Probably intense conditioner and less dying, but Hyunjin was not about to put in that kind of effort.

As his hand fell back to his lap, he felt someone's breath on his neck. He turned cautiously to see the guy next to him only inches away. He quickly leaned back while the guy just broke into a huge grin.

"Hi! I'm Jisung!" He said way too enthusiastically for Hyunjin's liking.

Hyunjin opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Jisung putting a hand on his shoulder and saying, "it's nice to meet you," in English with a dramatic American accent.