deal [stray kids hyunjin]

chapter nine

whenever someone gets called in class, we look at the person standing. i get called out almost all the time because i sleep in class. but, this time, everyone's glancing their way towards me and i'm just sitting down.

maybe if i were "known" around school, this would just be a normal thing. but i'm not, and it's making me feel uncomfortable. i'm usually the one watching someone do something out of boredom. now, the people who i used to watch are watching me. is this karma?

i can't talk to minho and express what i'm feeling because he's sitting in front of me. if i reach out to him and he leans back to hear what i have to say, they might think that i'm asking or giving him answers because we're currently doing math tasks. and, might i add, talking is prohibited while doing tasks because there has been numerous cases of cheating on the subject.

which i was once a part of.

what? i got payed for answers, so it was a win-win situation. i was never exposed for the one giving answers, though, so i'm grateful no one snitched.

suddenly, hyunjin placed a folded paper in front of me. by the way, he took minho's seat and he was beyond ecstatic when hyunjin said he's going to sit beside me.

his response to hyunjin was, "i finally get to sit away from this person." which surprised me because he never considered me as a person before.

i unfolded the paper and it read, what's wrong?

i wrote nothing on the same paper, folded it and waited for the right time to place it on his desk. as i mentioned a while ago, people glance my way from time to time and if they catch me put something on hyunjin's desk, who knows what they will say to the teacher?

but, before i could even give him the paper, the bell rang.

"alright, pass your papers forward and once i collect them, you may take your lunch." the teacher announced.

the class started talking now, so hyunjin asked me the same question he wrote on the paper. "what's wrong?"

i shook my head as i looked at him, "nothing. why do you ask?"

"you were fidgeting."

i looked at him shock, i fidget when I'm uncomfortable? "i was?"

"yeah. let's go." as he said that, he held my hand and started walking. i struggled to walk properly because i was taken aback by what he did. me fidgeting hasn't even registered in my brain properly then he's forcing me to walk. "wait!"

he stopped walking and i finally managed to fix my composure. once i did, i started to walk and so did he.

and because i'm walking with hyunjin, hand in hand in the hallway– everyone's looking. it's even more unsettling than getting called in class because the people that are looking is the whole school. also, they're whispering and i know that they're talking about why the fuck hyunjin's holding my hand.

"you're shaking." he whispered. i looked at him and got surprised as to how close his face was to me, but i still managed to reply; "i hate people."

he chuckled, "so i've heard."

after a few minutes, we managed to reach the cafeteria and sit with minho and the others. the guys have already got me and hyunjin food. later on i found out that stray kids receive exclusive food for free.

yes, for free.

but, i pack my own food.

"y/n, what do you have today?" minho asked me as if it it's just the two of us. he adapted pretty quickly with the guys, too, which honestly makes me feel like i'm really a burden to him. "the usual."