FREAK, seongjoong

ep 13: choi san

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"So..."

Seonghwa looked up from his Chemistry notes which he'd been cramming since he had a test after lunch, his heart stuttering a little when he saw the familiar person standing in front of the oak tree he sat on.

It was hard to tell how San felt then; he didn't look too happy, but he wasn't ashamed either.

Seonghwa wondered if Hongjoong really did tell San he now knew about him, but judging by San's body language, he probably did. "...Yeah? You wanna tell me anything?"

San still stood there, looking at Seonghwa like he was going to do something bad if he stepped closer. Seonghwa didn't like it, so he decided to speak up.

"Hongjoong was the one who let me know what you are."

At this, San flinched as if the taller's words hurt him. He quickly sat down on another root, keeping some distance. "I know. But you didn't have to say it like that."

Seonghwa shut his book with a frown, momentarily forgetting about his test. "Say it like what?"

San exhaled, raking his fingers through his dark locks. "Look, I may not be a 'total human', but I really don't like being referred to as a 'what'. Kinda makes me annoyed even though we're friends."

Seonghwa's frown eased, replaced by a twinge of guilt. He recollected the several times he'd called Hongjoong a 'what' instead of a 'who', and even if the shorter hadn't commented on it, it'd probably made him as mad as San felt right now. "Oh, I'm sorry."

San shrugged. "It's fine. Just -- you don't feel a type of way, right?"

"What do you mean?"

San glanced at him, his eyes an average brown that was reminiscent of the majority of students in this school. But now, Seonghwa wondered if they'd been contacts all along. "You don't feel weird around me, right? I mean, Hongjoong told me you reacted a kind of way towards him once you found out about his capabilities."

Seonghwa shook his head. Yes, he'd been shocked once he saw how San's legs had elongated during the race he had. Shock was even an understatement as to what he'd felt at that point in time, but that didn't mean he'd want to stop being friends with him. Although he'd only befriended San at the start of his sophomore year, the shorter treated him well and didn't try to infiltrate his life with his beliefs like the others had tried to do. He was funny, sweet and thoughtful, and Seonghwa's opinion of him wasn't going to change anytime soon, despite what -- or who he was.

"You're still my friend," Seonghwa confessed. "That isn't gonna change. Hongjoong's just annoying."

Hongjoong being irritating wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a lie either. He had his considerate moments, like when he'd bought a new hoodie for Seonghwa and gave him those cookies that prevented him from going hungry last night.