Hierarchy

Lovely

    The next day was a complete blur. After getting the letter he had received the day before, Jisung had decided against opening his locker. Today was one of the only days where he was being reprimanded for bad behaviour- at least, first time in the past few months. What a welcoming embrace it was to be yelled at once again by the teachers as he would set down only a pencil case and a notebook. It was as if everything was back to normal. And as the class would go on, the orange haired boy thought it could. At least, this part of his day. He could go back to sitting in the back of the class doodling randomly on paper as the lesson droned on. Thinking about anything but school.
It was true. He was going back to his old mannerisms. There was a feeling of relief that had flooded his figure when he realized. However the warmth that spread from head to toe had frozen over when he had flipped his page. Looking back at his research from the day before, he tried to swallow the anticipation. Throughout the whole day he had been feeling rather conflicted about his decision. Trying to distract himself by thinking about old times and doodling were the only ways he could. Still, the pounding feeling of being forced to deal with the inevitable was still there. No denying the feeling. No pushing it away. It was going to torture him until he dealt with it.
And even with the decision to move on and try a different solution. Jisung wouldn't be able to stop the idea of being in Renjun's room. Just like before. He had to do this. Or his thoughts would eat his consciousness with the constant questions. The constant words and sentences. Constantly.
So it was no surprise that he was the first out the door. For once, he had also been anticipating the time like many of his classmates. The two items he had brought with him had already been stashed in his bag. This made his departure all the more faster as he nearly tripped over himself to get to the door. Almost throwing his bag across his back, he had to grasp the strap tight. Just about crashing into the door, the dancer quickly opened it. Before making a mad dash to the exit.
    The halls were already filling up with students as soon as he stepped out. However there was a nice path leading to the doorway. A nice path that was going to thin out very fast if he wasn't quick enough. With as much agility and awareness as he could muster, Jisung started to weave through the groups of students. Curving his body and spinning around, it was like he was dancing as he found a wonky path. Sure, there were times where he bumped into some and almost crashed. But otherwise, his evasion tactic was being deemed successful.
    The sixteen year old was able to make it outside and was only few meters to the gates. Until he saw a flash of green start to cross his vision.
    In a panic, Jisung stopped running altogether. Skidding to a halt and tripping several times, the dancer was able to stop. He opened his eyes, just realizing they were closed. All he saw were bright brown eyes.
    "Hey Jisung!"
    There was a pause as the orange haired boy blinked a bit. Then his face flushed red. His voice was caught in his throat. The beating of his heart started to quicken.
    Chenle grinned cheerfully. His head tilted a bit, staring at the younger student at a different angle. "You're really wanting to keep you're record of not being late huh?"
    "Barely...." The words had slipped out of his mouth. He inwardly smacked his forehead and his heart clenched.
    The green haired teen seemed to pay no mind. Instead he asked another question. "Where are you running to anyways?" He took a step forward. Extremely inconsiderate of Jisung's current condition. "I've never seen you so hyper to go somewhere. You don't seem like the social type of person."
    'No really...' Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, he felt a panic start to build. Students were starting to leave the school grounds. The possibility of being caught or at least being blocked was getting greater. And he needed to go home before the curfew. This was a timed mission.
Eyes skimming around the area, Jisung coughed a bit. "Uh, yeah... you know.. I just have some dance things to do. You get it right?" He didn't let Chenle answer as he started to shift to the side. "It's something to do with the studio. I gotta help Taeyong with teaching you know... Those kids can get pretty rowdy haha..."
Finding an opening from the seventeen year old, the dancer started to slowly walk away.
"So you know!" He waved a bit and forced a smile. "Have a nice day and all! Sorry I couldn't talk much!"
With that, Jisung spun around on his heel and pressed on forward. At this moment his instincts were turned on. Mind blanking out, the orange haired boy let his muscle memory take over. As he started to make his way over to an old friends place.
He ran across the streets. He dodged the civilians walking by. He bowed slightly in apology to anyone trying to converse with him (which was rather rare). He twisted around corners. Jumped over fences. Ran through alleyways. Climbed hastily up walls. Up stairs. Up ladders. Jumping from heigh places. Jumping across to the next platform. Jisung was basically doing a free running trek through the town.
Avoiding as much attention as possible, the student made sure to keep shrouded enough as he went. It wasn't a long journey to say the least. But perhaps that was because this whole day had been a blur. Very fitting for the colours that were meshing together. Nothing was stopping him from getting to his destination.
After a few more minutes of traversing around, Jisung had found himself facing a familiar neighbourhood.
The first thing he had learned about his friends was that the environment of their houses were very different from one another's- even his own.
Where he lived, the neighbourhood was rather run down. Very void of life. Only few rather expensive house dotted that part of the town. It was a long journey from their to the school, partially why Jisung always came with Ten for morning shifts. Or came only minutes to being late to class. Hardly any buses ran to that area. It was filled with more run down houses. Old ranchers that were old and creaking. Ready to collapse at even the faintest of storms. There was a common number of trailers in his neighbourhood. Crime was oddly common for the lower class or for the people with money. However Jisung and his family were on the cusp. Which came in handy with these kinds of situations. In those times, he really cherished his two story house.
Donghyuck had lived in the more urban area of Goldenleaf. His commute to school had to be one of the closest out of the three of them. Only being a five minute walk away, the honey haired boy lived in a quaint neighbourhood. Common with two story houses and the rare three story. The place was littered with nature, with common oak trees and cherry blossom trees alike growing around every street. There was a nice playground where he lived too. A great place for the trio to hang out during the late hours. A pond was close by as well, and although they never swum in it- it seemed to be in a condition for the common dip. The basic idea of it all was that the older student lived in somewhat lavish conditions. Which wasn't surprising considering his doom had been connected to an expensive headset.
Shaking out of his own thoughts, Jisung started to move down the streets. He glanced at the brightening blue sky above him. It was noticeable how hard he was trying to breath normally. An odd statement to consider when he had only known them for a few months.
The orange haired boy was going through the map in his head. 'A few months of hanging out for hours on end.....'
He walked through the cul de sac carefully. It was unlike Donghyucks simple street neighbourhood or Jisung's wide spread one. These houses were compact and looked near exactly alike. It was hard to tell which house was which. To a stranger at least. Having been only three or so minutes of walking, the dancer was able to find the correct house.
In spite of being only two stories; the place appeared looming to him. Even with his tall stature. He swallowed his fears and felt it drop in his stomach like a heavy ball of ice. His eyes trained on the one window where Renjun's room was. It's curtains were red, velvety and drawn closed. No one was allowed to look inside. As if his mom was still respecting his privacy. As if she still thoughts he was out there. Waiting for him to come back. Like he was on a long trip and just didn't warn them. Like he would come back one day. Come back and tell his adventures.
Maybe no one but Jisung thought that.
Staring longer, he noticed how unwelcome he could be. Renjun's mother was as sharp and as witty as her son. There was no doubt that she may still blame the orange haired boy for her child's so called death. Even a chance of being reported for suspicious behaviour. That wasn't what he needed.
So, with silent steps to the front porch, Jisung started to grab ahold of the post. Finding a good grip, he pulled himself up and found footing against the small railing. Continuing on with the climb, he would gaze behind him every so often to check if anyone was passing by or looking through a window. He was lucky enough that it never seemed to be so. And as he made his way up to the slanted part of the roof, the student pressed lightly against the window.
It creaked open at a surprisingly fast rate, almost slamming against the wall. Jisung's breath hitched as he tried not to flinch to hard. Quickly, he slipped inside and dragged his empty duffle bag in. He had no time to turn around and close the window. Footsteps were coming towards the door.
His heart beating quickly, he spun around and dove under the first thing he spotted. The bed. There was a fleeting moment where he thanked Renjun. It was the older students choice that he follow through with Jisung's suggestion and get this model.

'It's a good spot to hide from the government or whatever.' He had stated half heartedly while they were gathered. 'I know you like to hide so you know. You're welcome.'

The door creaked open, he could see the faint shadow of the blond haired boys mother.

'I don't hide.' Renjun had snapped, spinning the chair around to face Jisung. 'I strategically shroud myself from their awareness.'
Donghyuck, who had been lounging across the older students bed, snickered. 'Yes that's what it's called. You amaze us once again with your ability to make cowardice sound like a wise decision.'

She seemed to walk around the room for a bit. The dancer could feel his heart in his throat just watching the pair of slippers slide around the bed.

'I like to think of myself as more wise then you are Hyuck.' Renjun had scoffed, curtly flipping his friend the bird.
The honey haired boy had only laughed and returned the gesture, popping another twinkie in his mouth.

Finding the windows open, she seemed to sigh and walk over. With slow movements, as if she was thinking, she sluggishly closed them. There were a few seconds where she had stalled there, looking out into the neighbourhood.

'Aren't those things even a little disgusting to you Donghyuck?' Jisung had frowned. He had checked the expiration date on that set of treats. Long past what the numbers stated, the orange haired boy couldn't help but retch a bit.
His friends appeared offended. Although it was for different reasons.

After a moment or two, his mom decided to shuffle off. She closed the door behind her. The footsteps were starting to fade away. Jisung let out a large breath.

'The expiration date isn't actually when it goes bad.' Renjun had answered in a 'as a matter of fact' manner. 'It actually is when the supplements stop working. The exact supplements that toy with your brain and make you think everything is just sunshine and rainbows. When in reality, the government is warping our minds.'
'I'll have you know that these things are absolutely delicious.' Donghyuck declared angrily. It was a completely opposite answer from the blond's. But seemed to hold as much, if not more aggression and aggravation behind it as his classmates.
'Great.' Jisung had sighed. 'I've become friends with a pair of absolute psychos.'
The two had traded glances before bursting out laughing. It was so contagious that the youngest couldn't help but a laugh a bit as well.
'I think you're the psycho, for choosing to actually stick with us.' Renjun had stated bluntly.
Donghyuck, on the other hand, had stood up and wrapped an arm around Jisung's shoulder.

Deeming the coast clear, he started to crawl out from under the bed and stand up. He was getting a clearer sight of Renjun's old room. Having stayed the same since he had last visited. The light creeping through started to illuminate the rest of the room. With a sigh, he set the duffle bag on the bed and started to sift through the inventions, trying to recall what his friend had said about them.

The orange haired boy felt a warmth burst in his chest at the friendly gesture. Warming up as Renjun turned to look at him with a kind smile as the honey haired boy grinned.
'It looks like you're a psycho too now.' Donghyuck teased, poking at the dancers cheek. It was a bit of an endearing action and before Jisung could comment, the honey haired boy pulled up their smaller friend into the circle. 'Look at us! Just a bunch of psychos in a town full of boring people.'
Renjun snorted. 'I guess that means we need to stick together to survive right?'
'Well no shit Renjun!' Donghyuck chirped happily, pulling them in closer.
Jisung smiled. A real genuine smile.