jeon jeongguk isn't stupid.

chemistry class IS stupid.

Jeon Jeongguk thinks he's stupid.

Stupid is a harsh word, something you use for somebody you don't like, who's wronged you, made you feel lesser. This wasn't the case. Everyone likes Jeongguk. He's nice enough, tall enough, attractive enough, has sharp eyebrows and a sharper jawline, which compliment his big doe eyes and bigger lashes, sitting atop high cheekbones.

Usually when you hear someone's name and think stupid, you feel malicious intent towards the person. A dislike, possibly even hatred. Jealousy.

Jeongguk doesn't feel any of those things about himself. Just that he's stupid. Wonders if other people feel those things when they call him stupid.

He doesn't take it to heart. Knows it's not meant to be taken to heart. He still thinks that it's true. His best friend knows Jeongguk, knows him well enough to see all the stupid shit he does. He's one of the only people who doesn't call Jeongguk the harsh word anyways.

Kim Taehyung isn't stupid. He knows how the world works, the basics of human behavior, the fundamentals of why or why not, why someone does something and another one refuses to do the same. He's not naive. Won't allow himself to be. Whenever someone thinks the name Kim Taehyung, stupid is the last thing that will come to mind, and he makes sure of it.

Maybe that's why he and Jeongguk work so well, in a weird way. Two halves of a whole. One stupid, one not. Simple.

And here they are, in the middle of their chemistry class, test beakers in between them, shaky hands holding glass tubes filled with neon liquids, the colors contrasting against the bland white table.

"Gguk."

He feels a jab to his side, long fingers poking into the spot just below his ribcage. He ignores it.

"Gguk."

The jab comes again, rougher this time. Jeongguk's shaky hands remain on the beaker, pouring a colorless solution into a colorless base. The base turns pink, which doesn't make any sense to him. He pours steadily anyways.

"Jeongguk."

He gives in.

"Yes?"

Taehyung watches his hands work, probably wondering when Jeongguk's gonna fuck it up. Jeongguk wonders too, but doesn't voice it. Internally, he hopes Taehyung won't voice it either. Also knows he won't.

"Why are you ignoring me."

It's a question, but the voice to his right says it like a statement, and Jeongguk rolls his eyes so hard that all Taehyung sees is white. White like the bland table sitting in front of them, white unlike the natural brown of Jeongguk's eyes, so brown it's almost black, but a nice black, a black like the night sky with stars within. It's not hard to find stars in Jeongguk's eyes. Harder to count them. Taehyung's tried, and Taehyung's also failed.

"I'm not," he pauses when a bit of the colorless liquid hits the table, "ignoring you."

He's not looking at Taehyung, but he can feel the smirk radiating off of his face. "Are you sure, because-"

"I'm not ignoring you."

More liquid sloshes onto the table, and Jeongguk sighs, visibly frustrated. Finally meeting Taehyung's eyes he puts down the beakers, one clear, the reflection of the brick wall magnified in the glass, and the other light pink, half assed. Taehyung was smiling before, but his smile fades now, replaced with a thin line for lips and eyes that frown. Jeongguk doesn't realize he's frowning too until his nails dig into the palm of his hand, making him look down and blink at the crescent marks.