C L O S E R || hwang hyunjin

𝐹𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠

I tossed back and forth in my bed as the light from my window hit my eyes. 
I covered my eyes with my blanket. "No way it's morning already.." I muttered to myself. I felt a tired weight on my head as I slowly pulled myself up. I stretched my arms with a big yawn. 
"My nights keep getting shorter." I scratched my head as I dragged myself to get up.
I looked in the huge dresser-mirror. I noticed my hair was really curly and fluffy. I laughed at myself.
"It actually doesn't look that bad." I quickly brushed it and put it up in a ponytail. I flipped my head back. I got into an outfit for school. As I walked out of my room I noticed a growling in my stomach. I quickly looked at my phone. "I don't think I have enough time to make breakfast-" I quickly got interrupted by my brother running past me.
"Jisung, why are you in such a rush?"
Jisung quickly paced around the kitchen, looking in the fridge and different cabinets.
I quickly grabbed my bag because I was about to run behind on my schedule.
"I'm hungry." Jisung ruffled his blonde hair.
"Of course. Take care of yourself." I said as I was about to leave.
"Yeah, that goes for you too." He shrugged as he put bread in the toaster.
I looked back at Jisung and my heart started to sink. He was always in pajamas, he always had his hair messy, "I wish there was a way I could help and cheer him up.." I  thought as I left the house. I quickly paced down the sidewalk. I then felt my stomach growl again.
"Geez.." I whined to myself. "I forgot to eat." I quickly looked down in my bag while walking trying to see if I had any snacks in my bag. 
"The one day I don't have class snacks in my bag," I whined. As I tried to fix myself I ran into someone's back. I looked up and rubbed my nose.
The person slowly turned back their head.
"Oh," I heard them laugh. "Are you in a rush?"
I noticed the soft, shy smile on his face.
"Why did I have to run into Hyunjin at a time like this?" I sighed to myself. 
"Yeah." I quickly scratched my head and paced ahead of him. He ran up to catch up with me.
"Class doesn't start for quite a bit, though," Hyunjin muttered.
I laughed awkwardly and looked down. 
"I was going to check-in at the club room before class..but now I forgot to eat so." I pouted. 
He looked at me with a light chuckle. "Oh, you want to stop by the coffee shop for a quick grab, then?" 
I looked at Hyunjin and noticed he was more open than he was the last time I saw him.
"Was it because I shared my interest in him?.." I thought to myself and looked down.
"Sure, as long as it doesn't take too long." I chuckled nervously.
"No, it shouldn't." He quickly shook his head. "I know the owners, so it should be quick and easy." Hyunjin scratched his head with a light smile, then stuck his hands in his pockets.
"Thank you." I felt embarrassed.
"Don't skip meals." Hyunjin glared at me.
"I didn't try to." I flustered my hands. 
"Haha, it's okay, I do it sometimes too without realizing.." Hyunjin looked down as we arrived at a tiny shop a bit away from my house.
He opened the door and let me in. I looked around the tiny shop, it was small, but decorated nicely with coffee frames around the room. The smell of coffee filled my room it made my stomach growl more. "Ah~" I grabbed onto my stomach. 
He walked ahead of me and went up to the counter.
"Jinnie!" The person at the smiled brightly as they saw him.
"Don't call me that." Hyunjin glared at them. I quickly made my way beside Hyunjin.
"What would you like?" The person was a boy with black hair, and bangs tightly in the hat he was wearing. He noticed me. 
"Oh, who is this?" He made a slow chuckle.
"Just...my friend from school." Hyunjin shyly scratched his nose. "Just get me two caramel lattes, and two bakery donuts, please." He quickly avoided the cashier's tease.
Hyunjin quickly looked at me. "I hope you like donuts.." He chuckled nervously. "It's okay, I do." I flustered as the cashier went back to get the things.
"How do you know him?" I watched.
"Oh, he is my close friend from childhood. Jeongin." 
"Oh-oh, I see you're really close to him." I made a smile, knowing Hyunjin had a good friend made me happy.
"Yeah." Hyunjin shyly scratched his head. 
Jeongin handed us the coffee and a bag with the donuts inside.
Jeongin had a big smile as he added up on the cash register.
I looked at the time again. Then looked back up at Hyunjin. "We should go now." I nudged his shoulder. He quickly nodded. We both quickly left and hurried down the sidewalk. I grabbed the donut out of the bag and took a huge bite.
He looked at me with a small chuckle. I glared at him. "What?! I am hungry as heck right now." I said with my mouth full. 
He had a small smile on his face. 
"Let's quickly get to class." I shrugged.


We finally made it to the school, we walked in the entrance and I quickly slid down the halls. Hyunjin had to run to keep up with me. I turned the corner and quickly ran into the classroom with my coffee in my hand. The girls were already chatting, and the boys gathered around their seats. Changbin looked up and noticed me.
"Wow, you're a bit late." Minho laughed. "It's because I was getting breakfast. But, I was not late." I glared over at him as Hyunjin came in behind me. "Hey!" My face popped up as he held onto his coffee. Changbin looked at both of us. "Did you both get breakfast together?" 
As they asked that, the room filled with silence. "Uh," I scratched my head as Hyunjin just looked down. "Yeah, we ran into each other on the way and both forgot to eat so we decided just to get it together." I made a quick nod and made my way to my seat and sat down. Hyunjin shrugged and made his way to the back of the class. 
"That's nice. Next time I will tag along with you guys." Changbin made a small chuckle.
I wiped my tired eyes and yawned. I took a big gulp of my coffee and leaned my head up against my hand, slowly drifting off. 
"Did you stay up late watching dramas and playing games again?" Changbin got my attention. My eyes quickly opened. "Yeah," I laughed nervously. I looked around at everyone, I was nervous they would judge me for that. But, I quickly shrugged it off. I slowly looked back to see Hyunjin in the back, looking at his phone. 
"I wonder if I could move my seat next to his.."I thought as Chan walked in. 
"You guys have better done your homework!" He dropped a giant book on his desk. He made a large grin. "Ahhhhhh! don't tell me it's another pop quiz.." Felix whined.
"You got it!" Chan clapped his hands. He looked really excited, but I could barely focus on what he was writing on the board. I shook my head, trying to wake myself up. 
"Would you want me to help you?" Grace leaned over and whispered to me. I flustered my hands. "No, it's okay. I can try to do it." I shrugged to say as my eyes felt heavy. Chan went around and handed papers to everyone. 
As he came to me, I was half asleep. 
"Hey, Annie." He waved his hand with a nervous laugh. I quickly popped up. "Sorry." I laughed awkwardly and took the papers. 
"This is weird, the extreme tiredness didn't hit me until now.." I scratched my head with a yawn. I looked down at the page and could barely focus on the words. "Geez..." I muttered. 
"Are you sure you're okay?" Grace whispered to me again. I quickly nodded. I tried to keep my eyes open, but I just couldn't do it. 
I swayed my head around. 
Hyunjin peaked up at me and made a small laugh. "Hey! Annie." Chan got my attention again.
"If you're going to sleep in my class you should at least let me know beforehand." He laughed. I squinted my eyes open. "Sorry, I just can barely focus at all.." I muttered. The others started to chuckle. "I will let you re-do the quiz, but you better be better rested up or there's going to be problems." 
"Hey, can I take it a different time too?" Felix raised his hand.
"No, you have no excuse. I am just giving Annie a pass this one time because I know her, if this was a different class she'd be put in detention or something." Chan scratched his head. 
"Wow..you're too nice." Felix laughed and looked down at his papers. I hung my head. I kept having the thoughts: "Stay awake, you have to do the quiz. Why are you embarrassing yourself?" I kept wanting to rub my eyes. Chan released a big sigh. "Someone take her to take a quick nap." 
"Is that even legal in school?" Minho gasped.
"Hush now. It's just this one class, and she will redo the work later, so she isn't off the hook." Chan shrugged. He looked around the room. "Anyone want to take her?" Changbin was about to raise his hand but before he could Chan said: "Hyunjin you go!" 
As he said that, Hyunjin quickly looked up flustered. "What...?" 
"Take Annie somewhere to nap. You seem close to her and that you got most of your quiz done anyway." 
Hyunjin made a shy nod as he got up from his seat. He walked up to my desk and looked down at me. I slowly lifted my head to see him. "Let's go." He shrugged. I slowly stood up, following behind him. I felt as if everyone was looking at me, I felt awkward because I was so sleepy even if I didn't want to be. I felt embarrassed. "No wonder why no one wants to be my friend." I wiped my eyes as he led me out of the classroom. "Sorry for the trouble." I yawned. 
"Did you stay up all night? Why are you suddenly so tired?" He looked back at me, who was swaying side by side. 
"When I am tired, I act drunk. It's so weird." I chuckled nervously. "I guess I just haven't been getting enough sleep at all lately, and it hit me like a truck.." 
He led me to the club room, turned on the light, and made sure I got to the couch. I laid down.
"I feel embarrassed," I muttered as I covered my face with my arm. He stood above me, scratching his head.
"Well..It happens to us. I am sure they won't think much of it." Hearing Hyunjn's voice made me feel relaxed.
"I am....sorry," I muttered as I fell asleep.
"For what?" He said but I was already asleep.
Hyunjin made a big sigh. "I guess she's already asleep." He started to pace around the room.
He looked back at me from across the room. "I guess I will stay here with her." Hyunjin made a small smile. I tossed back and forth, as time passed. I finally woke up and immediately sat up with a gasp. "Did I seriously just do that?" I facepalmed. I looked around and saw Hyunjin sitting beside the couch, on his phone. He looked up at me. "Oh, You're awake." I saw his face light up.
"Did I seriously fall asleep like that? it's like I was a completely different world or something...like the tiredness really just suddenly hit me..it was so weird." I held onto my head. Hyunjin stood up and looked down at me.
"We should head back now." He shyly scratched his head. 
"I just can't believe that happened, it's so weird," I said as I stood up. 
"You're just going have to do the work, and it'll be okay." He stuck his hands in his pockets. "Right." I looked down.
I felt a slight disappointing feeling so I let out a nervous chuckle.
"I can help you if you'd like." I heard Hyunjin say. I looked up at him quickly.
"Really? I don't want to trouble you." I scratched my head. 
"Yeah, it's no problem." He muttered. We headed back into the school building. I continued to look down, I felt embarrassed. "Am I not a being a bother to him...?" I thought to myself.
"So, I am taking you are a good student?" 
"Yeah." Hyunjin let out a small laugh. "I take in more than I let out I guess?" 
I laughed a bit. "We will just meet at the library later, okay?" I popped up.
He nodded. I looked ahead in the halls and noticed Changbin ran up to us. "There you two are!" He called out. "I've been wondering when you guys would come back."
"Yeah, the next class is about to start. I feel refreshed now." I scratched my head nervously.
"Geez, you must have been tired." Changbin ran beside me. I made a quick nod. "Stayed up too late again...playing games." I laughed to myself.
"Oh, would you like to play sometimes?" Changbin looked over at me. 
"Sure." I made a quick nod as I arrived at my next class. "I will see you two later!" I waved as I walked into the class.
We usually had different arranged classes. As I walked in I noticed there were a lot of students in there already. I ducked my head as I quickly paced to my seat. I felt like people were whispering to each other about me. 
I sat down and tucked my hair behind my ear. 
"Other classes feel empty for some reason.." I thought to myself. I looked around. Even though there were way more people in this class, I felt a better presence in the other class. I wasn't sure why but something about that class made me feel more myself. 
Someone appeared right beside me and sat down. "Sorry, I was missing my seat." He made a quick smile. 
I nodded. He was wearing a sweater and had light brown hair. He looked tiny. I quickly got out my books. 
"The teacher is a bit late." The boy next to me said.
"Haha, yeah..I was afraid I was going to be late." I laughed.
He quickly looked at me. "We are deskmates now, so I guess I could introduce myself." He made a quick bow with a soft smile.
"I am Seungmin but you can call me Seungie." He scratched his head.
I made a quick smile. "I am Annie." The teacher quickly walked in, I reacted suddenly and my elbow hit my books onto the floor, making a large crash. Seungmin leaned down picked them up. I took them from him. My heart was beating in nervousness, I could barely look up because I could feel people looking back at me. 
"Sorry about that." Seungmin laughed and scratched his head. The teacher coughed and continued on with the lesson. I realized what he had done. I leaned over to him. "Thank you, you didn't have to do that," I whispered. 
"It's okay, I could tell you didn't want to be embarrassed, but it's okay to make mistakes sometimes, remember that." He made a soft smile. I made a quick nod and looked ahead. When class was over, I had a sudden urge to rush. I quickly stood up, packing my books in my bag. Seungmin looked up at me. "Why the sudden rush?"
"Oh, I just want to meet my friends for lunch," I said while wrapping my backpack around my shoulder.
"Oh, gotcha. Let's have lunch together one day, alright?" 
"Sure." I nodded and looked around as I saw people walking out. I quickly followed them. "I wonder if I can find Hyunjin and Changbin.." I looked left and right down the halls. 
I suddenly found myself really wanting to see them, "Is this what it feels like to have friends? To constantly want to be around them?" I muttered to myself with a laugh. I looked around to see Hyunjin leaning up against a wall, on his phone. I quickly moved past the crowd and made my way to him. I waved my hand in front of his face to get his attention. "Hey there! you are here just in time." I smiled in confidence. His eyes circled around as he looked up at me. "Oh, hey." He made a quick nervous smile. "Wanna go for lunch?" I swung my head around.
He made a small nod and we started walking together. I wanted to know him more. "What is your favorite food to eat?"
"Oh, Pizza." He shyly put his hands in his pockets. 
"Oh, nice. Pizza is..pretty good." I shrugged "I love sushi, peanut butter, white chocolate, and snacks." I lifted my head up. He let out a slight chuckle.
"What?" I glared at him.
"Very random, but okay." He made a slight grin.
"Yeah yeah, I know it is, but they're good." I crossed my arms with a pout.
"But, I think it's cool." Hyunjin nervously scratched his head and quickly walked ahead. I almost saw his face turning red.
"Did he get embarrassed?" I smiled at myself and quickly ran up to him. We walked in the cafeteria entrance. "Do you want to get our food and eat it out on the campus?" I made a suggestion. He shrugged. "Whatever is fine." We went in line and got some food. Then I followed him to a table. "Usually he is the one who follows me, now I am following him." I laughed to myself. I felt a weird feeling, I felt like he was avoiding me. But, I quickly shrugged it off. I sat down at a table that all the class was at. "Hey, been a hot minute," I said quickly. Felix gave me a weird glare.
"Yeah, you mean a hot nap." Felix laughed.
"Yeah, uh-huh. I was really tired, y'know?" I glared back and started eating. 
Hyunjin leaned over to me "So, you want to go study after?" 
I took a glance over at him as I took a bite of my food. 
I made a small nod. "Yeah, if that's okay." I gulped because Hyunjin was close to me.
He made a quick smile. "We have to make sure you don't get behind," Hyunjin muttered as he took a small bite of his sandwich. I looked down, playing with my feet.
"Why are you acting so shy, Annie?" Changbin said as he wiped his face. 
I flustered myself. "I am not." I laughed nervously, then took a peek at Hyunjin who was scratching his head.
"I am just not that hungry today for some reason." I made the excuse. For some reason, I felt nervous, but I didn't know why.

After classes had past Hyunjin and I met at the library. We walked in together. I carried my heavy bag to a table in the library. "So...I had a thought." I quickly looked back at Hyunjin who was approaching the table.
"Hm?" He raised his eyebrow.
"Am I cheating, technically? like, it was a pop quiz and since I missed it I am prepared for it now?" I laughed nervously.
"Oh," Hyunjin realized and his eyes widened.
He put his books on the table. "Does that mean teacher Chan will give you a different quiz to make sure you don't cheat..?"
I glared as I organized the books. "What do I study then?" I started to worry. 
"Well," Hyunjin looked confused.
"How about everything?" He made a tiny laugh.
"Everything in that in a short time?!" I gasped as I glared over at Hyunjin, who was silently giggling.
"No wayyyyyy." I whined as I sat down at the table.
"I will try to help the best I can." Hyunjin sat across from me. As he organized through his books I realized that he was being more open than usual. "Does this mean we are closer....? are we friends...?" I thought as I flipped through the books. He handed me one of his textbooks. "Try reading this one,"
"Thanks." I took it from him.
I slowly looked up at him and saw him focusing on what he was reading. I slowly felt a nervous feeling in my chest. I quickly looked back down and started reading the text. I was happy for some reason. I made a small laugh.
"Hm?" Hyunjin looked up at me.
"I just realized..this is my first time studying with someone." I scratched my head. 
"Oh.." Hyunjin made a small giggle. "Me too." His laugh was quiet, but it made me smile.
"I think we are similar in some ways." 
Then we worked on it for a long time, he pointed out a few things. But, it started to get late. Time passed so fast it was hard to realize. 
I took a deep breath. 
"I'm hungry." I shrugged. 
Hyunjin started closing up books and made a small shrug. "Want to eat?" 
I looked up at him. "I don't want to bother you anymore, soooo..I will just eat when I get home." I got nervous, stood up, and put my books in my bag. I looked outside and saw it was dark, and there weren't many people around.
"It would be my pleasure, though. I am a bit hungry too.." He shyly scratched his head. "Okay then.." I muttered as I looked at my feet. We then started to walk out together. "We live close anyway.."
"Didn't you buy me breakfast though?" I remembered.
"That's no big deal." 
"Yeah, it is. So let me pay! I mean you did help me study!" I looked over at him, insistent.
We walked outside and I felt a quick breeze. 
"Uh...well, I won't say no.." He stuck his hands in his pockets. His face looked calm as he walked ahead.
"Since we live close we can just stop by a taco place then head back, you think?" I suggested. 
His face lit up and nodded quickly.
"You like tacos?" I giggled.
"Yeah." He said softly. 
"That's great, I do too." I swung my head. I felt happy for some reason. Being by him made me feel so comfortable and made me feel like a had a true friend, even if we didn't know each other for long at all. I felt like he was an important part of my life somehow.

We ordered tacos from the quick fast food. They gave it to us in a bag. I looked in the bag and grabbed a huge taco out. "I'm starving!" I whined and took a huge bite. He giggled at me. "What? I do love food.." I looked down at my feet. 
"No, it's not that." He had a small smile. "What is it then?" I looked over at him as we started to walk.
"I just haven't done this either, I don't go to many places with my friends.." Hyunjin nervously ate.
"Oh, me too.." I let out a small sigh. "Wait,, does that mean we are friends?" My smile started to grow on my face.
"Yeah, I mean, what else?.." He made a quick smile.
"Oh-oh, sorry...I just haven't really made a lot of friends so I am not used to it." I nervously laughed.
Hyunjin shrugged. "Same," He stayed silent.
"Well, If I am honest. I want to become a better friend. I want to know you better! and well...do more things with you.." As I let that out I felt a bit embarrassed, I didn't know what I was saying.
"I am fine with that." Hyunjin calmly looked ahead as we walked together.
what was so different about him than my other friends?
As I was with him, I felt so different than when I was with others. The aura, atmosphere, it felt light, different. I wasn't sure what it was, but I felt happy. 
"Why did things change so suddenly...? my life was the same before but now...it's different. and I am okay with it...?"