♪♫ See how we rock each other's wooorrrrllllld ♪♫ She was a sk8ter boi, he said-
"Have you eaten?"
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Hongseok paused his MP3 player, his concentration studying now broken, and looked up to see some first-year sitting in the desk in front of him, staring intensely at him, waiting for his answer.
"No..."
The first-year's eyes lit up. "Do you wanna have lunch together?"
"Sure..."
"Let's go!" The kid jumped up from his seat. Hongseok got up tiredly and followed after him. "My name is Changgu!"
"I'm-"
"Hongseok!" He finished for him, which wouldn't have been weird to know since he was wearing a name tag, but then Changgu continued, "I remembered everyone's names!"
"Why-"
"Because first impressions matter! Knowing someone's name shows that you care about them!"
The hell kind of logic is that? "You're definitely new around here," Hongseok said sarcastically.
"Yes! I am! I'm from Daejeon."
The city will break this sunflower quick, Hongseok thought.
They reached the cafeteria and sat down at an empty table together. Hongseok pulling out his laptop out again, a guard between him and Changgu as he immediately went back to typing- only to be interrupted by a large object making its way into his peripheral vision. Changgu's backpack was a black hole of snacks that he just kept taking out and adding onto a giant pile on the table. After a while, he finally took out the last thing, a triangle kimbap. He then turned to Hongseok. "Is that all you're having?" He asked concerned, pointing to the cup of coffee at Hongseok's side.
"Uh, yeah. I don't really have time to eat-"
"You don't eat?!" Changgu screamed.
"It's the middle of exams. I'll sneak something in during class, but I need the free time noOwhh-"
Changgu had unwrapped the kimbap and shoved it into Hongseok's mouth.
"Du woo wahnah diE?!" Hongseok yelled while chewing.
"Do you?" Changgu asked. "Because you will if you don't eat."
"Changgu-"
"Eat!"
And so every day from then on he did because Changgu would scold him to when they'd have lunch together. Soon enough, it wasn't just at lunch that Changgu would visit Hongseok, but during every break, then every class Changgu would sit at the desk in front of Hongseok offering random snacks he found in his bag. And who was Hongseok to say no to free food?
And it felt nice. Having someone be there.
.
A couple weeks later, when exams were over, Hongseok and Changgu were sitting at their desks when some tall guy who'd borrowed Changgu's notes approached to return them.
"Thanks, Shinwon." Changgu smiled.
"Yeah, no problem, uh... Changguroo? Wait... Chang... Kang?... Hyunggu-"
Was this guy an idiot? Hongseok thought. They'd literally just been in a group project together. That they shared their phone numbers and emails for. His also ridiculously tall friend was laughing as Shinwon failed to remember his name and Hongseok was too until he noticed Changgu's face.
He wasn't smiling. He looked panicked. Hongseok had been learning this about Changgu. Changgu seemed easygoing, but he cared too much, both for people and about what people thought of him. Right now, he thought they were laughing at him, making fun of him, and with other students around able to overhear their conversation, able to feel sorry for him- he couldn't take it.
"Changgu," Hongseok said loudly, breaking him out of his anxiety, then turning to Shinwon. "His name is Changgu." Hongseok grabbed Changgu's arm. "We're gonna head out now. Bye." He said hurriedly, the pair heading outside the classroom.
.
"What do you want?" Hongseok said, staring at the buttons on the vending machine nearby that they'd stopped at. He glanced at Changgu sitting on the curb and sighed. "Why aren't you talking? You're always talking."
Changgu looked up, quickly putting a smile on his face. "Oh! I'm fine. I don't need anything."
There was the sound of the machine whirring, then metal banging, then Hongseok's footsteps.
"Here." Changgu looked up to see Hongseok holding out a bottled coffee to him.
"I'm fine-"
"You're not." He's always looking out for everyone. What about himself? "You need to, uh, stay hydrated... Let me make sure you don't die too." That was as smooth as Hongseok was gonna get. And it was exactly what made Changgu laugh and accept the drink.
"You know... I've never drank coffee before." Changgu said, opening the bottle.
"Why-"
"My grandma said I'd get too hyper." He took a sip. "This tastes good." Another sip. "I think I'm addicted now." Sip. "I'm high."
"You can't- I mean there's caffeine, but-"
"To be honest," Changgu blurted. "When I first saw you, I thought you looked like a jijiri."
"What-"
"But then I thought, I will befriend this jijiri."
"I-"
"Because everywhere else I tried fitting in... People already had friends."
Hongseok felt that. He hated moving from San Diego.
"It was really hard that first day. So when I met you... I was really happy," Changgu smiled. And not with his average, surface-level "Have-you-eaten?" smile, but genuinely, with enough warmth to break through Hongseok's defenses. Why is he actually the sun?
"People are missing out," Hongseok said. "Or you just scared them away with your bowl cut."
Changgu smiled even brighter, both of them knowing fully well that he was the least scary person anyone could ever meet. He stood up and they began walking home together.
"My hair is very cool!"
"No."
"Yes!"
"It's not. It's jijiri hair."
"It's fashion!"
"Changgu-"
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A/n: There you have it, the beginning of The Adventures of Predebut Honggu™ :,) Where will they go next? Who will they meet next? Will Changgu ever get a new haircut?
