that boy | hwang hyunjin | ✔

Chapter 44

I remain quiet as I trail behind the two boys that stroll through the busy hallways, chatting away amicably about typical boy stuff. The name Fortnite comes across more than once and it's not hard to guess Felix leads this conversation.

Greeting the boy wasn't as much of a struggle as I expected it to be. It was a mutual hi from both sides and before Hyunjin could say anything, Felix literally attacked him with an outburst of words and they've been talking ever since.

The only thing that bothers me is how Hyunjin keeps glancing back at me over his shoulder from time to time, shooting me a gentle smile that would send my heart into madness every time.

I still can't get myself to smile back at him, no matter how much I want to. Honestly, I feel like jumping up and down in sheer happiness when his eyes meet mine, but it's the confusion that keeps me down-to-earth.

The lack of a response doesn't go unnoticed and soon, the silly grins are replaced with a glint of worry in his soft brown eyes as he glances at me again.

A hint of uneasiness settles in my stomach as I force myself to smile dismissingly. It's nothing, Hyunjinnie.

He buys it without a second thought. Relief fills his eyes as the corners of his lips curl up before he turns around again, continuing his conversation with Felix.

The crowd stumbling through the hallways quickly shrinks as more and more students slip into their assigned classrooms. The chatter dies down and soon, there aren't many students left aside from us and some of our classmates. The walk to the third floor is always a sole journey, especially when you're headed towards the east wing. We often have Korean class here for reasons that are unknown to me.

Mr. Won closes the door behind us after the last student entered the room and we all scurry to our seats. Felix and I sit down in the far back of the classroom and Hyunjin takes a seat in front of us. I can live with this.

"Greetings, students," Mr. Won greets us, glancing around the classroom just once before reaching out to grab a stack of documents from the desk next to him. "We will use today's class to practice for your upcoming test. This paper will help you study."

Nobody really complains as our teacher starts to hand out the documents. Practicing by yourself means that you don't have to listen to a boring lecture for at least 30 minutes and nobody cares when you use that paper for anything else.

"Can you please check my answers when I'm done?" Felix whispers as soon as he receives his paper. I instantly nod, not really minding to do so. It's been like this ever since we're going to school together. I help him with his Korean and he helps me with English. It's a fair deal that works well for both of us.

"Sure," I reply. "It's always fun to read what you make of it."

The orange boy huffs and sticks out his tongue in a childish manner before grabbing his pen and bending over the paper with questions. Silence fills the classroom and soon, a tight frown is set on his forehead.

I bend over the assignment as well, my eyes scanning the questions. I soon find out that it's just above elementary school level and I can't see how this would help us study for our next test.

Unless the test will be as easy as this.

Minutes pass by as I start writing, minding my handwriting a little more than usual in order to give myself a little challenge. It's really easy, all basic Korean grammar and stuff that you should know before you enter high school.

I'm finished within a short span of time, along with a lot of other students who already lean back in their chairs. Most of my classmates are pretty good at Korean but this was on a different leven entirely.

Soon, Felix slides his paper over to me with a questioning look in his eyes. With a nod, I accept the document and let my eyes roam over his handwriting. I can't help but smile in contentment as I see how much he has improved ever since we started high school. But then I come across something and I have to blink a few times, making sure I read that right.

But it's really there, no doubt.

I softly nudge Felix' elbow to grab his attention and the boy leans closer, following my finger as I point at a particular sentence.

"Felix, I don't know how you did this, but-" I have to stifle a laugh before I am able to read it out loud. "You wrote 'I told you to wear pants today' instead of 'I bought some new pants today'. How did you even do that?" I whisper.

In front of us, Hyunjin suddenly snorts with laughter and the entire class turns to look at us to see what's so funny about a simple Korean task.

Then Mr. Won clears his throat and all the heads turn back towards the front.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he speaks, a look of concern in his eyes. "I'm sorry, but I handed out the wrong documents. This was meant for freshmen."

Next to me, Felix' cheeks flush red and I pat him on his back a few times. I know what he's thinking; already making mistakes like this on a freshmen test.

"Don't worry, it was the only mistake I found," I quickly tell him. Not only to make him feel better, it's also the truth.

After his mistake, Mr. Won makes another round through the class, making sure to hand out the right document this time. Felix groans as he looks at the questions and mouths me a desperate help me.

I nod and turn around my paper to reveal a nice blank space. And then I start my explanation in soft whispers. And for a moment, my mind is free from evrything that's going on.

--

Don't ask. I found that somewhere in a "things that could be fake subs" stray kids thread on insta lmao.

??? idk man