The Hideout I Need

Chapter 2: The early developing phases of a crush

Hyeong-jun looked up at Tae-young. Wow, even his name was nice. Kim Tae-young. He looked at him as he stood up there with his nice and wrinkle-free uniform. He was still giving out a cheerful smile, and some of the students started smiling back. Some of them even waved. This new kid definitely had an impact.

"He seems cool," Se-rim whispered to Jung-mo, to which he responded with a nod.

"You can sit in the empty seat down there by the window," Mr. Lee gestured.

Hyeong-jun then saw Mr. Lee's finger pointed directly towards him. Oh my god. Panic rose within him. How could he make a good first impression? What was he supposed to say as a greeting? The closer Tae-young got to his chair, the harder it was for Hyeong-jun to decide between "Hi" and "Hello".

His panicking thoughts proved pointless, because Tae-young greeted first, "Hi," he smiled. He extended his arm, hand suggesting Hyeong-jun shake it.

"H-hello," Hyeong-jun stuttered and shook the hand. He then mentally cursed himself for messing up the simplest conversational word in the language, "I'm Hyeong-jun! Uh, Song... Song Hyeong-jun."

Luckily, Tae-young found his awkwardness cute and giggled a little. He then took off his bag and sat down next to him, "Nice to meet you, Song Hyeong-jun."

Tae-young had a kind smile on his face. Hyeong-jun couldn't help but smile back.

"OK, now let's talk about some of the practical stuff for this year!" Mr. Lee yelled out into class with an enthusiastic smile that fooled no one. Everyone in class groaned.

"Mr. Lee, can you please convince our teachers not to give us too much reading material? I get a headache just thinking of the homework," Jung-mo pouted.

"I could if you guys weren't the lowest ranking class. Out of nine classes. Pull yourself together. You could learn a thing or two from Se-rim, you know?" Mr. Lee shot back at Jung-mo.

The two boys looked at each other, Se-rim with a pleased look on his face and Jung-mo with a disappointed look. Se-rim playfully stuck his tongue out at Jung-mo. This apparently bothered Jung-mo so much that he was about to get out of his chair to fight him, however not actually doing it because he couldn't punch his best friend, and definitely not in front of a teacher. So, he basically just jumped in his chair and made a bunch of frustrated noises. Se-rim just winked at Jung-mo.

This whole scene unfolding in front of them, made both Tae-young and Hyeong-jun laugh out loud. They then looked at each other and Tae-young flashed a happy smile, as a friendly signal. Oh no, Hyeong-jun's heart was fluttering. Was he in the early developing phases of a crush? Oh my god, always when you least expect it. Hyeong-jun quickly looked away from Tae-young in a flustered manner, looking once again at Mr. Lee.

"Anyways, your exams are coming up. We'll be doing monthly mock exams from now on—"

Nope, never mind. Not interesting. Hyeong-jun basically tuned out everything Mr. Lee was saying from the mention of mock exams. He couldn't be bothered with that. He looked back out the window, seeking the cloud he looked at earlier, but to no avail. It had already floated across the sky, away from the view of his class window.

Tae-young listened carefully to Mr. Lee but slowly started looking around the classroom. It was a nice, big classroom with space for at least 30-something students. At his old school, they all had individual tables and chairs, so it was interesting to see how everyone sat in pairs here. He noticed some motivational posters hanging around the class, but they were all kind of worn down. They must've been there for years before the current students moved in.