#Interclass Friendship

[inspectorspacetimerevisited]

Although the show runners have denied it,

the Inspector’s Associates have generally come from middle-class backgrounds, while the Inspector is implied to be a patrician on his native Kayaclasch.

[pinkwhite]

Alis's potrayal in ACOTAR is so bad. She was objectively Feyre's mammy we never knew what her goals were besides wanting her nephews safe. Every scene we got between her and Feyre was her usually helping her or protecting her, for example when she helped Feyre escape the manor. And it isn't just Alis, majority of the black characters in ACOTAR are there to further the story.

[justanotherrpmeme]

Interclass Friendship starters

"You know, you're the only one who treats me like a person, not just a servant." "I don't care about your title. You're my friend because you've always been there for me." "I never expected to find a friend like you in this place." "Why do you always insist on paying for everything? I can cover my own meals, you know." "You've taught me more about real life than any book or class ever could." "I'm not ashamed of where I come from. You shouldn't feel guilty about being wealthy." "You're the only one who sees me as more than just a charity case." "I'll stand by you no matter what anyone says about our friendship." "Did you really think your money could buy our friendship? It's so much deeper than that." "Sometimes I envy your simplicity. Life in your shoes seems so much more real." "Don't worry about what my family thinks. You're my friend, and that's all that matters." "I know you mean well, but not all problems can be solved with a checkbook." "Let's prove them all wrong. Our friendship is stronger than any class difference." "You've got a heart bigger than your mansion." "You're the only one who doesn't treat me like I'm fragile porcelain." "I appreciate your honesty. It's refreshing in a world full of flattery." "You're the reason I believe in kindness over privilege." "I've learned more about humility from you than anyone in my circle." "Sometimes, I forget how different our worlds are when we're together." "If I ever become like the people you usually associate with, promise you'll tell me."

[MEAL] The sender invites the receiver to a lavish dinner at their mansion. [GIFT] The receiver reluctantly accepts a thoughtful gift from the sender. [MOCKERY] The sender stands up for the receiver when others make snide comments about their job. [SHARING] The receiver confides in the sender about their family's financial struggles. [SUPPORT] The sender offers to fund the receiver's education. [EVENT] The receiver accompanies the sender to a high-society gala as their guest. [VISITING] The sender visits the receiver's modest home for the first time. [PREJUDICE] The receiver confronts the sender's assumptions about their upbringing. [FAMILY] The sender defends their friendship with the receiver against their disapproving parents. [TRAVELING] The receiver and the sender embark on a road trip to explore the receiver's hometown.

[i8adonut]

Hello, my first love.

Yesterday was a bittersweet reunion of sorts, a precious family friend passed away. Though at a ripe old age of 92, he lived life as best he could, sorrow still filled the room and our hearts. Lolo was calm and a predictably happy man. He always gave a ready smile to people he met and greeted us as if we were his grandkids. Lolo was loved by many, especially by his grandkids, one of whom was my first love.

We arrived at the wake venue and quickly said our hi-hello to the family; that's when he stepped out of the room. He scanned the venue, his eyes landed on where I sat, pointed and said "Si Micky!" [It's Micky!] with a big dimpled smile. He came up to us, I stood in respect and offered to shake his hand, but he pulled me into a hug. It felt like I was sucked into a time machine, back to when I was 10 and he was 11.

The school we attended was then newly opened by our family friend, and we were the lucky pioneer batch. I remembered seeing this cute chinky-eyed boy, jogging around school for their PE class. I didn't have much of an expression then, but the next thing I knew we were talking on the phone nightly, and co-owned a Mickey Mouse Disneyland keychain that contained our locker keys. He had the keychain on Monday-Wednesday-Friday, while I got to have it on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

We were both young artists and were forced by our teachers to join the school's art competitions. He would win 1st place, while I came in 2nd. At interclass sports activities, he and I were the match-up as he was his class' tallest guy and fastest runner while I was my class' most athletic. We were literally teased and rooted for by the whole school, whose collective population was about 50.

Until one day, I remember he angrily gave me back my keys and we stopped talking. My first heartbreak. But then again, we were so young, what did we know?

We started to grow up and match with other people. He even dated one of my close friends back then. We went from elementary to high school to college in what now feels like a blink of an eye. For college, I heard he went to the art school across my university, but we never saw each other - not a silhouette or shadow. Last I heard, he worked as a graphic designer in Singapore.

A few years ago, his mom and I met at a function and chatted for a while. She asked if I talked to her son, and I said no. She then encouraged me to keep in touch and persuade him to come home.

So I did. We occasionally chatted, but too many years passed between us, and a close friendship seemed impossible to push for.

Back then, the last I heard was that he came home and got married.

Seeing him yesterday brought so much nostalgia. He was different, but he was also the same. He still looked like the 11-year-old boy I adored, just taller, with facial hair, and married.

Hearing him say my name made me realize that he was the very reason I was fond of chinitos, dimpled smiles, appreciated artists, and loved basketball.

Though I never wished to end up with him, I will always keep this memory in my heart. He will always be my first love.

[alovelywaytospendanevening]

Hello again, not quite sure how to formulate this question, but on the topic of EM Forster, I read most of his novels many years ago, and then recently re-read The Longest Journey. I really enjoyed it and I like the themes, but I found the style quite strange and a bit hard to follow at times. I've read that the book was meant to be 'symbolic' and not particularly realistic. But anyway, I wondered what you made of the style of it and how you like it (or not) in relation to the others. I am planning to re-read (and re-watch) Maurice soon.

Hello again!

I got to say I haven't read The Longest Journey. I love Maurice, but I'm not really a big Forster fan (I actually know considerably more about Fred Benson!).

However, I do know The Longest Journey is commonly referred as Forster's most polarizing novel. It is, after all, his only novel that was never adapted into a film. I read a short summary of it on Drewey Wayne Gunn's Gay Novels of Britain and Ireland (a very useful guide) and I confess I wasn't very impressed. So your thoughts don't seem to be unusual.

On the other hand, it's interesting that for a long time Maurice was considered a lesser work among Forster's bibliography, to the point its rights' owners were reluctant to give Merchant Ivory their permission to adapt it. Just take a look at some reviews from the time of its release:

C. P. Snow, in The Financial Times, found the novel 'crippled' by its "explicit purpose," with the ending "artistically quite wrong" (a near universal criticism at the time). Walter Allen in the Daily Telegraph, characterised it as "a thesis novel, a plea for public recognition of the homosexual," which Forster had "wasted" himself doing, instead of an autobiographical work. For Michael Ratcliffe, in The Times, it stands as "the least poetic, the least witty, the least dense and the most immediately realistic of the six novels." Philip Toynbee, in The Observer, found the novel "deeply embarrassing" and "perfunctory to the point of painful incompetence," prompting him to question "whether there really is such a thing as a specifically homosexual sensibility." Toynbee went on to state that he could "detect nothing particularly homosexual about Maurice other than it happens to be about homosexuals."

The reason for such a cold reception seems clear to me: Forster was seen as a "serious author", and a story about two homosexuals falling in love and having a happy ending was still interpreted in the 1970s as purely trifle activism, and not really “real art”. You can still detect the influence of this line of thinking in contemporary gay literature, where the gays-suffering-and-dying-because-they’re-gay releases remain the most acclaimed and “serious” ones.

Maurice’s reputation (both novel and film) grew a lot in the last few years, thankfully. Forster benefited from writing what he truly wanted: it’s a tightly written, focused story. The themes of romantic friendship, institutional oppression, interclass relationships, masculinity, the English nature and even religion are well presented and utilized. I also appreciate how Forster wasn’t afraid of making his protagonist imperfect, in an “uncool” way: Maurice Hall is an aggressively average middle-class snob, and he's also quite misogynist toward his mom and sisters (and went no contact with them, even though they didn’t deserve it). Some people complain its narrative is too slow for modern standards, but I’m used to it. And maybe Forster needed some missteps like The Longest Journey to reach to this story.

[matt-murdick]

writing my dissertation and I’m reading about the friendship between Tiberius and Sejanus when suddenly I’m listening to My Tears Ricochet by Taylor Swift and I’m now I’m emotional about their strong interclass relationship and the way it fell apart again

[thelandswemadeofpaper]

Authority

Alliance

Evil Power Vacuum

In Its Hour of Need

Playing/Running Both Sides

The Man Behind the Man

Voluntary Vassal

The Missing Faction

Lonely at the Top

Civil War

Enemy Civil War

Brain Drain

Sorcerer's Apprentice Plot

Ambitious Lesser Noble

War and Battle Trophy

Isolationism

A City Sacked

Peace Treaty

Ban on Magic

Royal Decree

Envoy

Trade

Garrison

Siege/Besiege

Restoration

Servitude

Slavery (Race? Mooks?)

Submission

Tame

Dowry

Honor and Reputation

Rumors

Good Princess, Evil Queen

Demilitarising

Monopoly of Resource (can be a more abstract thing, like the Sun?)

Devasted Land After War

Inheritance

Fallen Princess

Finders Rulers

Rightful King Returns

Orphan Heir

Inadequate Inheritor

Superior Successor

Disinherited Child

Lost Orphaned Royalty

Denied/Stolen Heritage

Denied Position/Candidate

Passed-Over Inheritance

Mother Makes you King

Hidden Backup Heir

Spare to the Throne

Rejecting the Inheritance

Only Surviving Candidate

Royalty Superpower

Former Rulling Dynasty

Nepotism

Royal Blood

Long Lost Heir

Second Son

Position

Conqueror

Tyrant

Rulling Couple

Puppet King

Alleged Boss

Fake King

New Master

Shared Position

Unaware Position

Questioned Position

Unwanted Position

Klingon Promotion

Demoted to Dragon

Stripped of Titles

Dragon Ascendant

Offered the Crown

Abdicate the Throne

Abdication in Shame

Regent for a Life

Weak Leader

Naive New Ruler

Reluctant Ruler

We Can Rule Together

Rash Grey Ruler/Bait-and-Switch Tyrant

Throne Battle (cousins? siblings? uncle?)

Heir-in-Law

Usurper/Usurped (what happened to the usurped? Run Away? Locked Up? Killed?)

Successor/Predecessor (how the they got the position? Their relationship?)

Disgraced

Stolen Lands

Second Place

Vacant Position

Rebellious Rebel

Society and Nobility

Social Hierarchy

Colony

Capital

Split Folk

Foreign

Fantastic Caste System

Ethnicity Monarch

Foreign Ruling Class

Interclass Friendship or Romance

Class Segregation

Nobility Marries Money

Nouveau Riche

Rags to Riches/Royalty

Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor

Crapsaccharine World

Adopted into Royality

Royal Bastard

Minor House

Branch House

The Outsider Befriends the Best

Impoverished Patrician

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC Review: Her Lessons in Persuasion by Megan Frampton

4/5. Releases 1/24/2023.

For when you're vibing with... Fake dating, nerds in love, baby boy baby boy, and VIRGIN HEROES!!!

Wilhelmina is not particularly interested in finding a husband. At twenty-four, she's largely given up on it, instead compiling a list of the men she would not be interested in marrying (this list does include Ivan the Terrible, it is quite funny). Her new stepmother (19) has other ideas, instead insisting that Wilhelmina hits the town and looks for a man, which is why barrister Bram Townsend seems so convenient. He and Wilhelmina did share a pretty great kiss that time she accidentally fell on him, and he is up for a fake courtship...

Megan Frampton's books are great to read in the midst of an angsty period of your life, or between overwhelmingly heavy books. They're light, they're breezy, and they have enough story and romance to make you feel like you're investing in something, versus just moving your eyes across the page in order to pass the time. Her Lessons in Persuasion is no different. To me, this is the kind of book you could call a historical romcom and actually mean it.

Quick Takes:

--Both the hero and the heroine are virgins in this one, which I fucking loved. Bram may not know what he's doing, but he's researched it! Thoroughly! And he will apply that research! Frampton writes good sex, and I could've stood to see a bit more of it, but I do appreciate the virgin-on-virgin action here.

--Bram's backstory is actually pretty great, and an excellent setup for a series, bravo. I'll be interested to see a cluster of heroes who don't come from extreme privilege--Bram being a self-made hero and a complete nerd could've been hard to pull off, as I think we have this idea of the working class hero as like.... the rough and tumble, Derek Craven type. But she pulled it off really well here.

--I actually loved Alethea, Wilhelmina's young, excessively girly stepmother. At parts, I will say that I worried about Wilhelmina verging into Not Like Other Girls territory, but Frampton held her back. I mean, it's also a bit different when the girly girl you're not a fan of is boinking your dad. I can allow for some issues there.

--I appreciated the interclass conflict being present but not overwrought. It's a fact of life that neither Wilhelmina nor Bram seem particularly shocked by, and it makes sense to me that these two characters, both of which don't necessarily adhere to the stereotypes of their respective classes, would find each other.

--Supportive male friendships! A hero who's in a book club and DEFENDS HIS OPINIONS STRONGLY!!!

Is this fluffier than what I would typically opt for? Probably, yes. But it's very satisfying, very romantic, and just kind of... a lovely break from the constant dramarama of life and fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[usergreenpixel]

JACOBIN FICTION CONVENTION MEETING 23: LES ENFANTS DE LA LIBERTÉ (1989)

1. The Introduction

Hey, Citizens! Welcome to the Jacobin Fiction Convention. Please, take your seats and enjoy yourselves.

Okay, so... cartoons. I already reviewed anime twice, so may as well do reviews of Western animation series related to Frev. It’s also media, after all!

This cartoon came up during the hours I spent browsing the French Wikipedia for media related to Frev and it’s not every day we have an opportunity to review cartoons, so I became interested right away, especially since I love me a good cartoon.

Is this one good though? Well, let’s find out!

Fort those who are interested, the cartoon is on YouTube but the quality isn’t the best and half of episode 6 is missing for some reason... but oh well.

2. The Summary

Antoine Beauvisage is a commoner, but his best friends are the children of a noble - Charlotte and Louis.

Said noble, Count André de Vernisac, went missing in America and his children are left in the care of his wicked cousin, Faustine.

Since Faustine is a tyrant and wants the Count’s wealth for herself, the three children swear to bring her to justice and form a pact that they won’t stop until they achieve that goal.

From that point on, they call themselves The Children of Liberty and their adventures begin.

3. The Story

The story is simple so I assume that the cartoon is for a really young audience but the Kidd’s adventures were still quite enjoyable (if a bit predictable) in my opinion. Maybe it’s my inner kid talking though.

The pacing is pretty reasonable. There are only 8 episodes so the story doesn’t drag on and on and gets straight to the point. Kudos for that!

I also like the fact that we have nobles in support of Frev (the Count and his children), a noble and a commoner who are against it (Faustine and her servant) and commoners who are revolutionaries. It’s already more complex than typical children’s media but also accurate, as the opinions on the Revolution did differ from person to person and there were people for and against it in each social class.

The fact that the main characters have different social backgrounds is a pretty cool narrative choice as well, even though in real life most nobles probably wouldn’t allow interclass friendship, but here it makes sense for the Count’s character to allow it, as he basically treats Antoine as part of the family and is open-minded.

The friendship the kids have is pretty heartwarming and they have pretty good chemistry as a friend group, if you ask me.

For a cartoon that’s supposed to be simple, the story is pretty good.

4. The Characters

Most of the focus is on Antoine, and I actually like him. He is kind, brave and resourceful, but not devoid of moments where he shows vulnerability, which makes him feel more realistic.

Charlotte, in a refreshing turn of events, is no helpless ingenue! Yay!

Louis is a troublemaker, but he is also brave and capable of saving the day when the situation calls for it.

Faustine and her sidekick are pretty much stereotypical evil bad guys but it’s still satisfying when they inevitably lose and Faustine does have some charisma.

Marine, Camille and Basile (the allies the characters meet) are kind and pretty badass.

All in all, the characters are pretty simple but most are endearing so I can’t complain about it too much.

As for historical figures, we only have a cameo from Camille Desmoulins so there’s nothing to discuss here.

5. The Setting

I’m going to assume that the show’s budget was not that big, because the backgrounds are drawn in a minimalistic way that still has charm to it. The costumes aren’t always entirely accurate though, so keep that in mind.

6. The Voice Acting

Pretty solid, but the audio quality isn’t the best.

7. The Music

Pretty good. I like the tidbit where the characters sing “Ça Ira” when they oust Faustine. It’s pretty funny in context.

8. The Conclusion

Long story short, although it’s a simple cartoon for children, you’re still welcome to check it out, if only due to the fact that we don’t get cartoons made about Frev all that often. It might be boring and predictable for some people, but has some charm in its simplicity regardless.

But, with that, let us conclude the meeting of the Jacobin Fiction Convention. Stay tuned for updates and stay safe! More reviews are coming soon.

Love,

- Citizen Green Pixel

[wolfcrunch]

What character did you wish Deku would have interacted with more?

hmm... without pointing out the obvious answers (such as uraraka, iida and even inko) i would've loved to see more just, interclass relationships. i would've loved to see izuku interact more with aoyama, or even tokoyami and shouji after the forest camp. i also feel like he could have a fun friendship with mina and momo, and ofc gotta add kirishima..

[franeridan]

@ Midnight honestly same

[worangetraveler-multiverseguide]

Looking at 329... that follows 325 apparently

I was meant to react more to the anime but then Mario Party (and a bit of depression?) hit and so that didnt happen... and somehow a new chapter is here!?!??!?! Well why not, Future Worange here ready to... CAN YOU STOP JUMPING ON THE TIMELINE YOU GODDAMN MANGA!?!?!?!

Ahem... okay lets continue...

Suddenly a Najimi in distress over Komi being “unpopular”... I think is less that and more that all people here are bad at communication or are on their own waves or something like that

Najimi now is the one requesting help? Yuka is reassuring Komi and Najimi over this saying the class is shy...

ABSOLUTE SILENCE!

And the bit follows with the class studying, getting books and... 

WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO DOING!?!?!?!? xD

Maybe it’s my age showing but having a sign “looking for friends” and/or “I’m harmless” is NOT something you would want to do to grab attention xD

oh right, Najimi’s idea... makes sense

And the first “test” is with the all timey girl? 

FAILURE: cause? Komi-san’s status as the school diva is still in effect... okay actually I’m kinda surprised it’s still lingering... when I probably shouldn’t

Pacifier man achieved... friendship with Tadano... NEXT

Omakawa... I guess it counts? Sadly she is still buffering so no clear answer

Kire-san... okay that’s a no but why? Missing some context probably

Sukida died, Iida and Jimochi walking to NOT die and

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!

Wait a minute...

Okay is dude with puppets for hands... I was expecting Yamai disguised to take advantage of the situation xD 

More weirdos with the common fact that they’re ignoring Komi-san... and oof that’s hitting her badly :(

Shina... you have absolutely a point... BUT DO YOU HAVE TO BE THAT ASSHOLE!?!?!??!!?

BUT WAIT. Basa-san along with two other friends seem to be actually starting a conversation even when they think they’re nothing special

Komi still nerveous but thankfully the notebook is still at hand... oh they meet during the festival? And they perform? How can they say they’re nothing special then? ... Honestly nobody SHOULD say that, ever... but still

In the end seems Najimi’s stupid plan actually worked? At least with 3 friends in class Komi is not only wit Najimi and Tadano so a friendship takeover CAN slowly move

OH! Are these the other members of Perro Rabioso? Since they friends with Nakanaka and Yamai (I presume my copy typo’d “Yamami”)

Anyway at the end Tadano is doing his best to reassure the situation and that Komi did good since in the end she did get 3 new friends only in the first day :)

Tadano is dropping Komi at her house but... but...

MDSH: *.*

Komi: “today I did my best so...”

MDSH: O.O

Komi: “nevermind...”

MDSH: *eyes blowing up soundeffect*

Tadano reassures her she can say what she wants

She wants head pats...

MDSH: *dead*

Honestly I can’t blame him... I’m barely holding on

Komi is backing down again

BUT CHADANO (as flustered as he is) WILL GIVE THE DAMN HEADPATS!!!!

WHY ARE THESE TWO SO FUCKING ADORABLE!?!?!?!?!?

And Tadano died, a fitting end since he singlehandedly killed the fandom by sugar overdose

Overall a very good simple chapter, FINALLY caping off this first day that mixes the formula for one last time. Where do we go from here? That’s gonna be interesting since apparently next chapter begins officially a new “arc” and apparently there’s an interclass surviving game?

I swear to God if there’s any Squid Game reference I’m gonna... Probably not notice them :P

See you... eventually. That’s the best I can promise right now.

[kihamsta]

Thief

jeno, nct dream x female oc genre: fluff, high school au

summary: son ahri has had things she treasured stolen from her by lee jeno since the day she met him

words: 8486

Son Ahri thinks Lee Jeno is a thief.

Actually, she knows he is a thief.

When they were four, he stole her favourite swing at the playground in their kindergarten. Her favourite swing was the only yellow one and yellow was her favourite colour. She had recently learned what having favourites was and realised she had a lot of them.

It was a sunny afternoon and she had dashed to where her swing was as soon as she set foot in the playground, only to find a boy already sitting on it. She had told him to get up, that it was her swing.

“It is not yours,” the boy had said, “Your name is not on it.”

She had told him to play on another swing. He had told her to do the same. Seeing no other solution, Ahri had cried. Their respective class teachers got involved but the boy still refused to get up and the girl continued crying.

It was the first time Son Ahri met Lee Jeno, a thief.

                                                             xx

The next time Jeno stole from Ahri was in elementary school.

She didn't have a favourite swing at the playground anymore but she her favourite colour was still yellow. She almost always wore a yellow satin ribbon on her ponytail and made sure it never ever came loose. However, one day, without her knowing, it had.

Just out of her uniform, she had reached up to pull her ponytail loose to find her ribbon gone. She didn't know where she had dropped it. She tried looking for it, in her room, her house and the street outside but to no avail. Her ribbon was gone.

With tears in her eyes, Ahri had gone to her mum and informed her about the grave incident. Her had mum only chuckled and told her she'd buy her some more the next day. It was not a big deal. Ahri had accepted that.

That was until the next morning when she found a guilty looking Jeno standing outside her classroom. They didn't talk much. They were not friends, so Ahri was going to just ignore him. But when she was about to enter the classroom, her eyes landed on what was in the boys hand. Her ribbon! Before she could say anything, though, he shoved the little piece of fabric at her and ran off.

Suddenly, it clicked. The previous day, she had passed by Jeno after school near the gates. She had been a few feet away when he had called after her. “What?” she had snapped.

“Nothing,” he had replied.

Lee Jeno had stolen her ribbon but for some reason had decided to return it. At least that was what ten year old Ahri had deduced.

                                                            xx

It was their first year of middle school and Ahri realised that Jeno was on his way to stealing her best friend.

Her best friend, Na Jaemin, had lived next door to her ever since she could remember. Sadly, he hadn't enrolled in the same elementary school as her but as far as spending time outside of school went, they were quite inseparable. Her piano lessons and his art classes took place in the same building and even at the same time. They always spent every holiday together as well.

Both of them had been ecstatic when their parents had decided that they would attend the same middle school. It meant walking to and from school together, it meant eating lunch together, it meant having much more to talk about together.

Not many of Ahri's old elementary school friends were in her class and unfortunately, neither was Jaemin. She would spend lunch time with Jaemin and that was more than enough. That is until one afternoon, Jaemin showed up to lunch with another boy in tow: Lee Jeno.

Jeno was all smiles as usual as he took a seat across from Ahri while Jaemin slid in next to her. “Jeno says he knows you,” Jaemin said excitedly.

Ahri's smile was thin as she replied, “Yeah. We know each other.”

That was how their duo became, to Ahri's exasperation, a trio. The two boys were in the same class and got along like a house on fire and Ahri feared that at some point, she would drift apart from Jaemin. So, she took precautions. She started spending more time with the girls from her class and formed solid friendships with a couple of them, especially with a girl called Heo Jinri. Heo Jinri always wore her PE track pants under her skirt and always had something to add to any conversation. Everything that Ahri didn't say out loud, Jinri said for her.

However, to Ahri's surprise (and relief), the drifting apart never happened. Jaemin, and even Jeno, for some reason, strongly insisted on eating lunch together, even if it meant eating on the grass outside with Jinri going off about her new favourite idol group.

Ahri had to walk home alone only on days Jaemin was absent. On those days too she'd be accompanied by Jeno for a part of the way home. When their parents allowed it, the four would even catch movies together.

Jeno stole nothing from Ahri all throughout middle school. They shared a best friend though and spent a lot of time together. Maybe, Ahri realised, they were friends too.

 xx

 In their second year of high school, Jeno went back to his criminal ways.

“Did you guys see the poster?” Huang Renjun asked, more like yelled, as he entered the classroom. He had moved to Korea from China a little over a year ago, but his Korean vocabulary was almost scarily good. Ahri thought he made some boys their age sound dumb, but that could be because she was biased. Renjun had become a very good friend very fast, courtesy of Jaemin and Jeno.

Whoever they befriended, Ahri did too, and vice versa, even though Ahri wasn’t as good as the boys at making friends.

“The Duet Song Festival one?” Heo Jinri asked, from her perch on top of her desk. She still wore track pants with her skirt.

“Won't it get our school sued? Copyright... trademarks... something like that?” Jaemin sounded genuinely concerned.

Ahri snorted, “Like they care about one tiny high school.”

“Its interclass,” Renjun announced, like it held deep meaning.

The other three sucked in a breath. Their class had suffered a humiliating defeat at the annual sports event, and that too at the hands of the freshmen. It had been humiliating enough that in high school, they were being subject to things like a ‘sack race’, the fact that Zhong Chenle from Class 1-A was an absolute beast and had annihilated everyone made it worse.

Their class had only one medal, because of Jeno winning the high jump event, and that was it. No one had bothered to even find out what rank their class was on, they had simply, sadly walked home.

The four collectively came to a realisation: this was a chance at redemption.

Renjun’s eyes lit up. The boy could sing, and everyone knew.

“It’s a duet festival though,” Jinri reminded the boy, and his shoulders visibly sagged.

That small technicality didn’t completely bring him down however. One could tell by the way his eyes wandered the classroom, going from one face to another. After some internal contemplation, he spoke, “Guys, does anyone want to participate in the duet song thing?”

The class was almost full but the responses were few, all of them negative. Morale was at an all time low in Class 2-E after the sports day.

“Good then, me and Ahri will represent our class.”

Ahri let out a strangled protest and stood up from her seat. But soon after, Jeno entered the room, announcing that the teacher was on her way. Everyone went back to their seats, Renjun with an especially satisfied smirk on his face, leaving a shocked Ahri the only one on her feet. Jeno raised his eyebrows at her as he walked over to his seat which happened to be the one right in front of her. Ahri couldn’t help the pout that appeared on her lips as she gestured to Renjun. As he sat down, Ahri thought she saw Jeno’s ever-present smile fall.

                                                                x

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Never.”

“But you will.”

Na Jaemin rolled his eyes. Heo Jinri was scrolling through her phone while Lee Jeno was silently gulping down food, his eyes not leaving the lunch box even once. The back and forth between Ahri and Renjun had been going on for almost five minutes. The other three were growing annoyed.

“I cannot sing on stage!” Ahri said hoarsely.

Renjun looked unconvinced, “Oh, please. I know you did piano recitals since you were like eight or something.”

Ahri opened her mouth but said nothing, taken aback by the fact that Renjun knew something she had never told him about. In a second though, she gained her composure and threw a glare at Jaemin. No one else could have told Renjun. Turning to the latter, she spoke, “We started the chapter on Correlation yesterday in Maths class. Weren't you paying attention?”

Renjun only smirked, “I didn't know you were smart enough to understand Maths.”

Positively fuming now, Ahri turned a shade of pink. Jeno finally looked up from his food.

“How is insulting me helping you, Huang Renjun?” the girl asked.

Said boy's shoulders sagged. “I'm sorry,” he said, his voice now soft, “But I really need you to sing with me. You're good and we have a chance.”

Ahri blinked a few times. Renjun sounded almost desperate. “I’m not good and you haven't ever heard me sing a full song.”

“Then sing for us right now,” Jinri suggested with a shrug.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea!” Jaemin said, enthusiastic for some reason.

Ahri would save a good punch or two for each of them. The only one who wasn't adding fuel to the flames was Jeno, and she was grateful. She turned to Renjun, who looked close to tears. Did this competition mean that much to him? She let out a sigh. “Can you guys at least not look at me?”

Renjun's face lit up. “Sure!” The boy hurriedly turned his back to her. The others followed silently, Jaemin shooting her a dirty look for giving them extra exercise.

Ahri cleared her throat and then let out a deep breath. She chose to sing a song she was most comfortable with. Eyes trained on the floor, she sang a verse and the first chorus. As soon as she was done, Renjun all but spun around on his butt to face her. He started clapping and she'd never seen him smile so brightly. The others turned around and joined the applause, their clapping not as enthusiastic. There were smiles on their faces nonetheless.

“We can win, Ahri,” Renjun grabbed her arm and lightly shook her.

Ahri couldn't help but crack a smile, “We can't be so sure. Other classes have really good singers too.”

“Doesn't matter,” Renjun said dismissively, “we’ll practice hard.”

“We'll have to choose a song first,” Ahri pointed out and then turned to the rest of their friends. “You guys will help us out, right?”

“Sure,” Jinri said with a shrug.

 Jaemin nodded, smiling widely.

“I'll play guitar for you guys,” Jeno suddenly blurted, speaking for the first time since they had started eating. His eyes travelled to Renjun and then to Ahri. Voice much softer, he spoke again, “I mean, can I?”

“Of course! I heard live instruments are preferred.” Renjun held his hand out for a high five which Jeno met halfway. Jinri looked like she was biting back a smirk.

“It's settled, then,” Ahri said, mostly to herself.

Jaemin raised his arms over his head and looked at the sky dramatically. “Finally!”

                                                               x

It didn’t take them too long to choose a song. Two days after Ahri had agreed to the duet, they had shortlisted three songs with help from Jinri. ‘Some’ was rejected on grounds that there were probably five other teams that were singing it. ‘Give Love’ was rejected because Renjun refused to even try to rap, which was, in hindsight, wise on his part. That meant they ended up with ‘Garosugil at Dawn’, which both Ahri and Renjun were fairly pleased about.

“Who broke your heart, little boy?” Jinri had asked when Renjun had shown a bit too much love for the song. To be fair, the boy had looked a little too wistful, staring into the distance with a smile on his face for five seconds straight.

They had quickly decided on a practice schedule: every other day after school at 5 in one of the music rooms; they decided to give themselves rest on the weekdays. The contest was almost two months away, they didn’t need that much practice, not now at least.

Ahri would be lying if she said that Renjun’s enthusiasm wasn’t rubbing off on her. Instead of dreading having to sing with him, she was starting to almost look forward to it. She liked her song and her partner. Things weren’t as bad as she thought they would be when Renjun had first suggested it. But then again, they hadn’t started practicing. Things could get bad then.

Abruptly, she stopped in the middle of the hallway and shook her head. A student or two gave her annoyed looks. Stopping abruptly in a crowded hallway after school wasn’t the best idea.

“What’s wrong?” a familiar voice asked from behind her.

Startled, she turned to see Jeno looking down at her. “Nothing,” she answered, without much thought.

“Why did you stop walking suddenly then?”

Her best friend’s best friend seemed to have a lot of questions today. “Were you following me?” she teased.

Jeno, to her surprise, look uncharacteristically annoyed. “This is a hallway. I was just walking behind you.”

“Cool,” Ahri said dismissively as she glanced behind him, “where’s Jaemin?” They didn’t have the same subjects, so despite being in the same homeroom, they changed classes quite a lot.

“Club meeting. They’re planning a trip to an old age home.”

The girl nodded in understanding, a pout on her lips. “So it’s just us today.”

To her surprise, Jeno looked bothered. She hadn’t intended for that to happen. “Is that so bad?” he asked.

“No!” Ahri was surprised at how defensive she sounded. Since when had she cared about Jeno assuming she didn’t like him? “It’s just that I’ll be alone for the rest of the way.”

“I can walk you home, if you want,” he offered.

Not knowing what to say, she looked up at him with eyes a fraction wider than usual. This was new. Jeno had never offered to walk her home before, and there had been many opportunities over the years.

Somehow she mustered up a few words to say, “No need. It’s too much trouble for you.”

“Tell me if you change your mind.”

The girl could only nod. This was odd. She started walking silently when Jeno motioned for her to lead the way. Their walk from school to the bus stop was spent in awkward silence. It hadn’t been awkward between them in years.

Ahri didn’t know when Jeno had gone from being the boy she had hoped and prayed would stop hanging out with them, to the boy whose company she kind of enjoyed. Sometimes, when he was absent from school for over two days, she missed his presence. Of course, she was never going to admit that. Not even to Jaemin.

Ahri didn’t like this strange silence, so once they were on the bus, she decided to break it. “We chose the song, by the way.”

“Which one?”

“Garosugil at Dawn.” She could feel his gaze on her but she kept her eyes trained on the bland scenery outside. Jeno was behaving strangely and she was afraid to meet his eyes. Maybe she’d see strange things in them.

“I can manage that.”

Deciding Jeno’s response sounded fairly normal, Ahri decided to turn to him. That was a mistake. He was looking down at her, unsmiling. Was he in a bad mood? She wished she could say something that could make him smile till his eyes disappeared. She liked smiley Jeno.

“Will you be playing the piano too?”

It took Ahri a second or two longer than usual to reply, “I guess.”

“Then we’ll have to practice playing together too,” Jeno said, finally breaking eye contact and fishing his phone out of his pocket.

Ahri let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. She felt like she could speak better now. “About that. We’ll be practicing in the music rooms after study hall every other day. You don’t have to come every day if you can’t.”

“It’s okay,” he turned to her again, but this time with a smile, “I’ll try to make it.”

“Thanks for offering to play for us,” the girl managed a smile, “that was nice of you.”

“That’s what friends are for right?” For some reason, the boy took a deep breath after speaking. Not knowing what to say, Ahri allowed a silence to settle between them, this one a little less awkward than the one before.

When they got off the bus, Ahri was aware of the fact that Jeno was side-eying her, probably wanting to know if she’d changed her mind about him walking her home. She didn’t know what she wanted. They walked in silence till they came to where they had to separate. It was a fifteen minute walk to her house and she had taken the path alone so many times. It was his fault for making her feel like she needed him to walk with her. What was Lee Jeno up to?

“You’ll go alone?” the boy asked, sounding strange.

 It made Ahri look up at him. His eyes looked darker than usual and his jaw was clenched. Ten minutes ago, he had smiled at her. What had gotten into him now? “Yeah,” the girl tried to give him a carefree smile, “I’ll be fine.” The boy merely nodded, gave her tiny wave and walked away.

Ahri sighed (out of relief or disappointment, she did not know) and continued on her way.

                                                                  x

Thankfully, Jeno had returned to his normal self the next day. He wasn’t sitting in his place. He was at the front of the class discussing something with a group of other boys that apparently was hilarious. When he caught Ahri looking at him, his eyes didn’t grow dark, and his smile remained on his face.

Mood swings, much?

His behaviour the previous day had left her confused and irritated and she didn’t know what she would do if he had continued to behave that way. She didn’t know what had caused that behaviour, she just hoped it wouldn’t happen again. She liked smiley Jeno.

Breaking eye contact, Ahri turned to talk to Jinri, who was a bit stressed lately. The latter was on a quest to find a part time job to finance her fangirl-ing expenses. “By the way, I saw a ‘Hiring’ sign at a café nearby,” she told her friend.

Jinri smirked, “By the way, I caught you staring at Jeno for one minute straight.”

Ahri felt her cheeks heat up. “I wasn’t staring!” she claimed, her voice a whisper as she looked around, making sure no one had heard.

“Watching, observing, eyeing, whatever,” the other girl rolled her eyes, “You were looking at him.”

A sigh left Ahri’s lips, “He was acting weird yesterday but now he’s completely normal.”

Jinri’s smirk seemed to grow, “It was just the two of you yesterday, wasn’t it?”

Ahri didn’t like how her friend sometimes acted like she was enjoying a private joke that no one else knew. “Yeah. So?”

“Nothing,” the smirk refused to leave the girl’s lips, “He was probably having a bad day or something.”

“But…” Ahri trailed off. She didn’t want to tell Jinri that Jeno had seemed like he was angry but had been nice to her at the same time. How does one explain that? She didn’t like the way Jinri was smirking and also didn’t want anyone to overhear, especially not Jeno.

“Oh wow,” the other girl said flatly, “now he’s staring at you.”

Eyes narrowing into a glare, Ahri spoke, “I know you’re trying to trick me.”

Jinri shrugged, “Don’t believe me if you don’t want to.”

Rolling her eyes, Ahri turned to the front. She didn’t understand what had suddenly gotten into her friend. Jinri liked teasing people and especially got on Renjun’s nerves but she had never teased Ahri about Jeno. Sure, she had tormented Ahri when she had developed a crush on a senior the previous year but never over any of their guy friends. Why Jinri thought it was now a good idea to imply that Jeno liked her or something, Ahri couldn’t figure out. Jeno didn’t like her, she knew. She wasn’t always nice to him. He had no reason to like her.

When Jeno scrambled to his desk just before their teacher walked in, Ahri found herself unable to look at him. Instead she just stared at the book on her desk.

For the entire class, she felt like Jinri was smirking at her and she just couldn’t concentrate on what the teacher was saying. The fact that their Korean teacher taught like he cared about the class as much as he cared about a pebble on the road didn’t help. The girl felt her eyelids grow heavy. A few times she startled herself awake but after the fifth time she dozed off, she decided to give up on staying awake.

Glancing at the teacher to make sure he wasn’t looking, Ahri slowly reached out for Jeno with both hands. He grew stiff when she first touched him, and it almost made her pull away, but he relaxed soon enough. He allowed her to gently position him so that he was blocking their teacher’s view of her. This was a frequent occurrence. He was taller and broader and covered her perfectly.

The sound of chairs scraping over the floor made Ahri shoot up in her seat. She stood up to greet the teacher as he left, but as soon as he was gone she sat back down and resumed her previous position: cheek squished against her arms as she used them as a pillow. She squeezed her eyes shut as the class grew noisier. She really wanted to fall back asleep.

Her eyes shot open, however, when someone grabbed her shoulder and violently shook her. Cursing under her breath, she looked up at the perpetrator. Jaemin looked down at her with an angelic smile on his face. “It’s lunch time, wake up.”

“I hate you.”

Jaemin did not look bothered by the sudden hatred directed towards him, he only reached forward and took his best friend’s cheek between his fingers. “You’re drooling, sleepy beauty.”

“I’m not,” Ahri snapped defensively, but still reached up to wipe the corners of her mouth. It was a difficult task, given Jaemin was still pinching her cheek.

Renjun was suddenly beside Jaemin. “Let’s go, guys, I only had an egg for breakfast,” he said, his hands on his tummy.

Jeno, who had been putting his things away, stood up. Renjun spared him a quick glance before speaking to the girls, “You guys head to the roof, we’ll buy a few things in the cafeteria, okay?”

“Sure,” Jinri responded with a shrug while Ahri only smiled up at the boys, turning to put her things away.

With no more to say, the boys made their way towards the door. Jeno put his arm around Renjun’s shoulders as they listened to Jaemin talk rather passionately about food.

Just as they were about to exit the classroom however, Jeno stopped in his tracks like he had been struck by lightning. The smaller boy beside him looked up at him in confusion, but Jeno paid him no mind. He turned to where his other friends were sitting. “Do you want something from the cafeteria?”

The question was meant for both the girls but for some reason, his eyes met Ahri’s.

“Banana milk,” Ahri and Jeno said at the same time. Ahri tried to stop her lips from tugging up into a smile but failed. Thankfully, Jeno did too. He gave her a nod and then pulled Renjun along with him and into the corridor.

“Nice,” Jinri said, “he forgot about my existence.”

Ahri stood up, lunch box in hand, and turned to her friend, “Did you really want something?”

Jinri smiled mischievously, “No, it would be nice to be asked. I just want Lee Jeno to stop being an idiot.”

“Fair enough.”

Ahri shrugged and held out her hand for Jinri to hold before they made their way out the class too. This was routine. The boys usually got their food from the cafeteria and the girls brought homemade food. Apparently it wasn’t cool to carry lunch boxes for the guys anymore. Their group of five always ate together on the rooftop. They didn’t know why but a portion of the rooftop wasn’t off limits for the students, and it was never crowded. A majority of the time, they were the only ones in the place during lunch. Maybe it was because the kids were too lazy to climb up the stairs. More realistically though, first years probably did not know about it yet and the third years were too busy to come out of their classrooms for trivial things like lunch. No one was complaining about the lack of other company though.

Everything was going as it always did everyday of every week until the girls rounded a corner. As soon as they did, they came across a group of girls deep in conversation outside one of the classrooms. One of girls in the group happened to glance over to Ahri and Jinri. She narrowed her eyes at them (much to their confusion) and leaned over to whisper something in her friend’s ear. Said friend also turned to look at them and was less cautious about showing her disdain, her lips curling into a sneer.

As confused as they were, the two girls didn’t stop walking. It wasn’t worth getting into fights for no reason at all. Once on the floor above though, Ahri spoke. “What was that about?”

Jinri seemed to be thinking of an answer. “Don’t know,” she finally said, “That class in full of weirdos though. Even their class teacher is weird. He’s always smiling, but only at girls.”

Ahri frowned, “I thought he was just being nice.” Nice teachers were rare.

“Oh, you naïve little child,” Jinri said with a shake of her head.

Ahri only rolled her eyes. She took the stairs two at a time, making the other girl rush behind her with a string of complaints. She flung the door to the rooftop open and made her way to their usual spot, right at the edge, in a corner against the safety net.

As soon as they were seated, Jinri whipped out her phone, ready to show Ahri her favourite girl group’s new music video. It took four more music videos for the boys to finally arrive.

Jeno made his way over to Ahri and sat down beside her. With a tiny smile he handed her that banana milk. The other boys followed suit. No one said a word as lunch boxes were opened and seals were ripped off as everyone wolfed down the food they didn’t ever realise they had been craving.

After several minutes of silence, which was only broken by faint sounds of chewing, Jinri spoke up. “By the way, Na Jaemin, what did you do to Kim Solmi? She and her gang looked like they were plotting to murder us.”

Everyone loved Jaemin, with his bright smile and chatty ways. However, sometimes, try as he might, he couldn’t return certain people’s feelings. He’d inadvertently left a trail of broken hearts behind him. Alarmed at the new information, the boy seemed to find it difficult to swallow a mouthful of omurice. Interest piqued, the others waited for him to speak. Jeno, however, had taken a sudden interest in a trash can on the far end of the roof.

“It wasn’t me!” Jaemin burst out as he was done chewing his food. “It was Lee Jeno this time.”

Ahri reacted a little…a lot more quickly than she would have liked to. Her head whipped sideways to look at Jeno, the tips of whose ears had turned pink. He seemed to hold her wide-eyed gaze for a fleeting moment before he turned to the rest of their friends. “It isn’t like that,” he claimed, holding up his hands as if in surrender. “She, uh- actually she confessed to me yesterday and I said liked someone else to get out of it. That’s really it.”

Was it okay for Ahri to sigh in relief? “That’s it?” She felt like she sounded a little too hopeful.

Jeno didn’t seem to notice, he nodded earnestly.  “Really,” he said. Then, after a pause, “She didn’t do or say anything to you, did she?”

“Except for the glaring, no. It’s weird though. We used to be friends in middle school.”

Suddenly Jinri’s interest seemed to be piqued. “Yeah, Jeno. It was weird. What did you say to her?”

The pink from the boy’s ears seemed to shift over to his cheeks as he mumbled something that was hardly audible.

                                                               x

In the weeks that followed, Kim Solmi’s distaste for them thankfully didn’t take a turn for the worse. Sometimes, when she passed by Ahri, she would side-eye the girl. Ahri didn’t dwell too much on the other girl’s actions.

Except, when she happened to be with Jeno, Solmi seemed to be extra hateful. She’d roll her eyes and let out really loud scoffs as she passed by them. Once she’d gotten a bit too close in the hallway and Jeno, for some reason, had wrapped an arm around Ahri’s shoulders and pulled her a little bit closer. She hadn’t thought much of it then. It was just her friend saving her from an unreasonable, one-sided conflict.

When Jeno started doing it when his admirer wasn’t around, however, Ahri thought about it. Ahri thought about it a lot. Like right now as they were walking to the music rooms together. He had his guitar case slung over one shoulder, but he had his other arm over her shoulders. There was absolutely no need for him to do that. Ahri tried to tell herself that it was because the hallway was crowded, but he had never had a problem with letting her walk on her own before. It wasn’t like she couldn’t dodge the occasional rowdy kid.

She didn’t detest being touched by her male friends. Sometimes, Renjun fondly patted her on the head and she was used to Jaemin and his affectionate ways. ‘Affectionate’ couldn’t be used to describe her relationship with Jeno though. There had always been an underlying awkwardness between the two of them. It was perhaps because they both knew of Ahri’s dislike for him during their childhood.

As she was forced to befriend him in middle school, she’d found herself trying to recall why she’d disliked the boy and had come up with nothing. Even now when she tried to remember why she’d been so reluctant to get to know Jeno, she could come up with nothing substantial.

When they did become friends, they got pretty close but not like the rest of the group. Their relationship was never carefree, both a bit strung up around each other. Jeno was so nice and respectful that sometimes Ahri thought something was wrong with her. No one would be a friend to her like Jaemin was. That fact was undisputable. But even Renjun, who she’d known for only little over a year, was more of a ‘buddy’ than Jeno ever was: the kind of friend that didn’t leave her skin tingling whenever he touched her.

When they arrived at the music room their passionate friend had rushed after class to capture, Jeno finally let go. They entered the room to find Renjun waiting with his arms crossed over his chest and with one foot tapping on the floor impatiently. “There you are!” he exclaimed.

The other two couldn’t tell if he was annoyed or excited. What they did know was that they would be spending a long time practising.

They indeed ended up spending quite some time in the room, but at some point, they had stopped practising the song for the competition and started singing random songs that came into their minds. Obviously they had had way too much fun because when the trio separated at the main gate, it was already dark.

Renjun said goodbye with a cheerful wave and went his own way, leaving the other two in each other’s company. Without words, they started walking towards the bus stop. Now that there were no rowdy boys or glaring girls to protect Ahri from, Jeno didn’t have his arm around her shoulders.

“We really lost track of time, huh?” the boy broke the silence.

“No kidding.”

There was long pause before Ahri spoke again, “But it was fun.”

“It was like karaoke,” Jeno smiled down at her. “Can you believe the number of Korean songs Renjun knows?”

“Sometimes he feels more Korean than us.”

Jeno let out a chuckle. He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something but before he could, the bus’s bright headlights shone on them from a distance, making them both turn towards it. The two silently climbed onto the bus as it slowed to halt before them. Finding seats wasn’t a problem, finding a way to keep Jeno’s guitar upright and making sure it wouldn’t fall as the bus moved was.

“I can’t believe you’ve been doing this every day,” Ahri said, her lips curving into a pout, sympathetic and extremely touched. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you,” Jeno simply responded. Those three words made Ahri’s stomach flip. That had quite literally never happened to her before. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything. Swallowing rather obviously, she turned away from him, wondering why he was making her feel this way.  “...and Renjun,” the boy added belatedly.

This time, Ahri felt her stomach drop. She was disappointed, she realised. She unconsciously shifted away from Jeno as another realisation hit her: she wanted Jeno to do something, anything, just for her. What did that entail for her feelings for the boy? She didn’t want to know.

That is why she rushed off the bus as soon as it stopped at their stop. She was hoping the guitar would slow Jeno down a bit, but he was quick. He caught up to her soon enough, grabbing her by the sleeve of her blazer. Surprised at how brazen he suddenly was, she let out a little gasp as she looked up at him.

His eyes softened when they met hers. “It’s pretty late. Let me walk you home at least today?”

It was late, and Ahri didn’t want to walk home alone. “I will allow you to walk me home,” she said with a cheeky smile.

Jeno let out a snort of laughter that he didn't seem too embarrassed about. Then he did something that she’d never thought he’d do. His hand slipped from her blazer, slowly and deliberately, and came to hold hers. Ahri struggled to keep the same cheeky smile on her face. Thankfully, before she could do something embarrassing like squeak or gasp, he tugged her forward gently.

It took a few moments for her to fall in step beside him. It took longer still to process the fact that Lee Jeno had decided to hold hands with her. Maybe friends did that sometimes but a friend holding your hand isn’t supposed to send your heart racing, is it? She didn’t know. She didn’t know anything other than the fact that she kind of wished Jeno would walk her home every day.

                                                              x

There was only a week left till the competition and Renjun was late. Ahri checked the time on her phone. He was exactly twenty minutes late and she had listened to four songs in an attempt to pass time after getting bored of waiting. She let out a sigh of exasperation. She hated waiting. She had spent too much time out of the window at the quad waiting for Renjun to come running across it.

Just as she was about to call him up, she felt a nudge on her shoulder. Her heart leapt up to her throat at the sudden touch. Her mother always told her not to keep her earphones on all the time, maybe she was right.

With a gasp she turned to face the person. It took only a moment to realise the person in question was a lot closer than she had thought and that the person was Jeno. In the next moment, her lips came in contact with another pair of lips. She closed her eyes on impact, body only half facing Jeno. Time seemed to slow down and she couldn’t hear anything other than the pounding of her own heart.

This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. These kinds of things only happened in unrealistic dramas. This wasn’t happening.

It felt like eons before he pulled away. Ahri let out another gasp, “Jeno, I—” His lips were on hers once again. One of his hands gently gripped her chin. Her eyes shut once again, finally accepting that this was actually happening. As confusing as it was, it was happening and she wasn’t opposed to it.

The kiss stopped as suddenly as it had started. Jeno pulled away suddenly, staring down at her, his breath ragged for whatever reason. “I’m sorry,” he breathed out. Ahri couldn't quite find it in her to speak. “I didn’t mean to,” Jeno added.

Ahri felt a lump grow in her throat as she watched Jeno grab his guitar and rush out of the music room.

Lee Jeno had just stolen her first kiss.

Lee Jeno had stolen her first kiss and run away.

x 

The day of the competition had arrived. It had been a week. A week since Jeno had kissed her and fled. A week since he had actively maintained an arms distance from her. She didn’t know what to feel about the fact that he had made sure that they never had to go home alone together. Sometimes she wanted to laugh when Jaemin showed up out of nowhere when they were heading home after practice.

“How is our Riri doing?” Think of the devil, Ahri thought as her fingers halted on the piano keys mid-arpeggio.

“I’m okay,” she said. She gave him a tiny smile as he pulled up a chair beside her. Jaemin reached up and played a single shrill note on the piano and flinched. Her smile grew. He always did that.

“Don't lieeee,” he said in a sing-song voice, his pout almost audible.

Ahri's gaze fell to the piano keys. “I’m kinda nervous.”

“I’m not talking about that.” The light heartedness in his voice was gone. “Look at me.”

Despite the fact that her cheeks were quite literally flaming, Ahri’s met her best friend's gaze. “Jeno has been avoiding me,” she let out, sounding small.

“We all know that, idiot. Why is he avoiding you though?”

Involuntarily, she sniffled. “He didn't tell you?”

“No,” Jaemin let out a sigh, “that's why I'm asking you.” Another sniffle from Ahri. “Are you crying? Did you guys fight?”

The girl shook her head. “He kind of...kissed me and ran away. He hasn’t spoken to me since.”

There was a long silence.

Almost a minute passed before Jaemin let out a laugh that sounded more like a scoff. “That idiot!” After another beat of silence, the boy let out a real laugh. “You're an idiot too, you know? Stupid things like this wouldn’t happen if you guys just admitted you like each other!”

“We don’t—”

“He’s right. I agree.” The pair of friends both looked to the door at the same time, eyes wide. Renjun stood there holding Ahri’s water bottle, looking like he hadn’t snuck up on them. “You guys are talking about you and Jeno, right?” The other two nodded. “That guy’s taking too long to confess,” he said with a slight tilt of his head.

“No one’s talking about confessing,” Ahri blurted.

Renjun exchanged a look with Jaemin. “Are these two still in denial?” Jaemin only shrugged. He honestly didn't know. The other boy sighed and handed Ahri her water bottle. “Warm water. Our performance is soon.”

Ahri muttered thanks and proceeded to chug the water.

Renjun placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a smile that made her feel like the world was at peace. “You guys will be fine. Let's go.”

 Ahri could feel her heart pounding in her chest harder and harder in her chest as they approached the back of their school auditorium. She could tell Renjun was nervous too. He was a lot stiffer than usual.

“I wish Jaemin could have stayed,” Renjun murmured as they finally entered the crowded backstage area. Ahri couldn’t agree more. Jaemin was quite a bubble of cheerfulness; he’d at least keep them distracted. Unfortunately, only participants and musicians were allowed backstage. So he had happily bounded off, promising to tell their friend Raon from the photography club to take good pictures of them. “Where’s Jeno anyways?” Renjun sounded antsy. Almost as if his name had summoned him, Jeno appeared beside Renjun. He muttered an apology, something about his guitar and the sound people.

For once the pounding in Ahri’s chest wasn’t because Jeno was in the vicinity. She was nervous. It had been a while since she had performed in front of this big a crowd. Renjun seemed to notice. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. His hands felt a tiny bit unsteady. The smile that he gave her though was reassuring. From the corner of her eyes she saw Jeno stick his head out to take a glance at them before quickly going back to his previous position.

Too soon, someone called for Son Ahri and Hwang Renjun to go on stage. The MC who was someone from third year gave them an enthusiastic and over the top introduction, of which Ahri could register very little. The spotlight was glaring down at them and it made her eyes water. When she looked down at the crowd she couldn’t make out a single face. Someone let out a loud shriek of a cheer. It sounded a lot like Chenle. That made her smile.

Shaking off the nervousness, she quickly made her way towards the piano and settled down, making sure the mic wasn’t too close to her. As her partner was introducing their song to the audience, her eyes wandered to the other side of stage. Jeno had already seated himself on a stool, looking more relaxed and ready to perform that she ever felt. Maybe he felt her eyes on him. That was probably why he turned to meet her gaze. She must have looked a lot more nervous than she thought, because the first thing he did after their eyes met was to take a deep breath, as if reminding her to do the same. Then with a quick glance at Renjun he mouthed, ‘One, two, three, and four.’

Renjun sang the first words of the song at the exact second Jeno strummed the first chord. “When I put on my jacket at 9pm after the sun has set, When I leave the house no one will come home to...”

Everything that happened after the performance was a bit of a blur. The only thing Ahri remembered was the fact that Renjun couldn’t stop smiling from the moment their performance was over till they made their way to the audience to join Jaemin and Jinri. Ahri would be lying if she didn’t do the same. Maybe Jeno was smiling too. She wouldn’t know. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She was seated in between Jinri and Renjun. Jeno still hadn’t spoken to her.

The smiles faded, however, when it was time for the announcement of the results. There was a vicelike grip on Ahri’s arm that belonged to Jinri. Every time she tried to swat her friend’s hand away, it would come back stronger. There would be bruises on her arm for sure. Renjun wasn’t doing too well either. He’d probably have no fingernails left by the time the winner was announced.

“The winners are...” There was an entire unnecessary and long pause. “Son Ahri and Huang Renjun from class 2-E!”

Two pairs of arms wrapped around her, belonging to Renjun and Jinri, as the audience applauded. The loudest cheers came from the area around them. All of class 2-E had decided to sit together so that they could make a lot of noise. Smiles back on their faces, they went up to receive their trophies.

 “Redemption!” Jaemin cheered as they made their way out of the auditorium, the trophies now in his arms. “We’re not the class that is bad at everything. I love you guys.” The other four chuckled. Jaemin was always like a proud, doting mother.

“Let’s go celebrate. The cafe I work at has amazing food,” Jinri suggested.

“Someone’s taking their job seriously,” Renjun teased. Jinri just blew him a raspberry.

Ahri was just walking quietly beside her friends, when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. “What?” Jaemin stopped beside her.

“I forgot my water bottle in the music room.” She looked up at Jaemin with a pout, hoping that he’d offer to get it for her. He was a nice person that way.

“No,” Jaemin said firmly, “that won’t work with me.”

With a sigh, Ahri begrudgingly said goodbye to friends and hurried to the music rooms on the other side of the school. Since the competition was over, the music rooms were eerily quiet. Only a day ago, they would have to fight for some time in one of the rooms. Quickly, she stepped into the music room she had left her bottle in and picked it up. She couldn’t help but let out a sigh as she stood there for a moment too long. This was the same room Jeno had kissed her in. It had been an entire week since they hadn’t spoken directly to each other. She didn’t know what she had expected to happen, but this wasn’t it.

A loud bang startled her out of her reverie. With a gasp, she looked to the source of the sound. Jeno stood at the door, looking like he’d raced all the way to the building. He had opened the door a bit too forcefully.

Ahri reacted automatically. She tried to make her way around him and out the door, but Jeno’s arm came to block the way out. “Please.” It sounded like a plea.

She had to gather all her courage to look him in the eyes. “It’s okay. You can continue ignoring me.” It was when her voice broke that she realised she didn’t mean those words.

“No,” Jeno let out a sigh. “Look, I really didn’t mean to—”

“I get it. You made a mistake. It’s fine.” Ahri couldn’t maintain eye contact. She looked down, hugging her water bottle to chest.

“That’s not what I mean.” Those words made her look up at him again, eyes wide and unsure. “It was an accident and I didn’t want it to happen that way. I kissed you out of nowhere and I wasn’t sure if you wanted to and...and I haven’t even asked you out.”

A long silence followed during which Ahri’s eyes got impossibly wide, her mouth hanging just a bit ajar. She felt dizzy as Jeno’s words echoed in her mind. Her stomach was full of butterflies she had never felt before. “What do you mean?” she managed to whisper.

The boy swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and then back down. He took a step inside. Ahri took a step back as she watched him shut the door behind him. “I like you.” Silence. “I like you, Son Ahri. I’ve liked you for a long time. I just...didn’t know.” Jeno hesitated before continuing, “Everyone seems to think you like me too.”

Ahri almost dropped her beloved water bottle. Everyone was right, she realised. The irritation she’d felt when he had gotten his first girlfriend back in their last year of middle school had been jealousy. She hadn’t liked when he sat beside her acted oh so friendly because she had wanted him to do more. She had wanted him to treat her like she was more than a friend. She had liked Lee Jeno for a long time too.

“Everyone is right,” she said as a giggle inevitably left her mouth. They were idiots, the two of them. “I like you too.”

Out of nowhere, Jeno tackled her into a hug. Her bottle fell to the floor with a clatter, uncared for. He was warm and for some reason, smelled faintly of her favourite cookies. Shyly, she wrapped her arms around him. He sent tingles down her spine when he leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Let me kiss you? Properly this time.”

With cheeks feeling hotter than the sun, she nodded against his chest. He loosened his grip on her waist only for his hands to cup her cheeks. Ahri eyes shut the moment his lips touched hers. Her grip on his blazer tightened when her knees started feeling weak. And as if he knew, Jeno’s arms went around her waist again, pulling her closer.

When they broke apart, flushed and breathless, Ahri dazedly let two words slip from her mouth. “You thief.” Both her hands came up to slap her mouth shut as she gasped in embarrassment. She couldn’t believe she’d let that slip. Tentatively, she looked up at Jeno, hoping he hadn’t heard.

For some reason, Jeno looked just as embarrassed. “You remember that?”

“Huh?”

“Back in fifth grade, you dropped your ribbon and I took it home with me because...it was yours.” He let out a little laugh. “My mum scolded me and told me to return it to you.”

Ahri chuckled, “I do remember.” But that was not what she had meant. It was unexpected, unbelievable and awfully corny, but Lee Jeno was a thief because he had somehow stolen her heart.

author’s note: i did not mean for this to be a birthday post, but happy birthday, jeno! i’ve been writing this for months. i actually wanted to write high school aus for the 00 liners before they graduated but since no one is graduating, i can post high school aus for 6dream and maybe a college one for mark. but again, no promises.

[mythgirlimagines]

Can you please do some Kaede and Kiyotaka friendship headcanons?

Absolutely!

They were both pretty active with their classes, so naturally they got together at times to discuss interclass activities. Then they started hanging out outside of that.

Taka really appreciates the work Kaede puts into practicing her talent while also keeping her grades up. Some of his classmates could take a note from her, in his opinion.

They’ve discussed her music sometimes, as Taka uses classical music to study. She recorded a CD for him to use once, and he found that he really liked listening to it.

She kinda helps him to be more open to social situations, or at least not be as strict with the rules while relaxing or having fun. He admits that he does have fun hanging like that.

Once a wall or two are broken down, they tell each other just about everything, and help each other out with decisions from time to time. They truly are good friends.

[yeosanqtuary]

gentle breeze - pt. 10

♡ - list of chapters

yunho let go of the hug. “what do you think? of course i will, idiot!”

–

a night has passed, and it is now friday. physical education was the first period, so the students had to go to class in their gym clothes.

hongjoong woke up at 7am sharp, and did the necessary. he had noticed that his clothes were already prepared, and a smile crept up to his face unknowingly. he looked over to seonghwa, who had already finished showering, and was dressed in his gym clothes already. he was silently reading a book on his desk, paying no mind to hongjoong. it was quite strange. usually, seonghwa would ask if he had a good night’s sleep and whether he had any dreams, but this time, he only greeted him with a single ‘good morning’.

and what’s weirder was that he was up earlier than usual, and even prepared hongjoong’s gym clothes for him. he thought that seonghwa was just being nice, so he tapped his shoulder, and informed him that he was heading to the public bathroom.

without saying a word or lifting his head up, he nodded and continued reading his book.

soon, hongjoong was back from the shower, and seonghwa was still at his desk, reading.

“hey, seonghwa. did you sleep well?” he asked, trying to kill the awkward atmosphere in the dorm. if seonghwa wasn’t gonna ask, then he will.

“mm,” seonghwa mumbled with a nod, his head still buried in his book.

“had any dreams?”

“nope,” again, head still buried in his book.

“seonghwa,”

“hmm?”

“look at me,” hongjoong said with a stronger tone, to which seonghwa ignored. he grew more and more anxious as the seconds passed and nothing else other than silence was heard.

“seonghwa, please. what’s wrong?” hongjoong asked nervously, afraid that something might’ve happened to him that he didn’t know of, and that he was crawling back to his shell.

silence followed, and hongjoong inched closer to seonghwa.

the smell of his sweet, berry-scented body wash crept its way up seonghwa’s nostrils as hongjoong moved closer and closer to him. his heartbeat increased along with every step hongjoong took. seonghwa’s face was flushed, and the tips of his ears probably were too. hongjoong probably could’ve already noticed his ears at this point.

“oh my gosh, you’re so red. are you sick?” hongjoong started to worry as has, indeed, noticed seonghwa’s fully flushed face. hongjoong stuck his hand out to feel seonghwa’s forehead for his body temperature, trying to confirm his guess, but before his hand could get in contact with his forehead, seonghwa had snatched it.

“hwa?” with a confused look on his face, hongjoong felt that his assumption might be correct. maybe he was really crawling back into his shell.

“a-ah… i’m sorry,” seonghwa let go of hongjoong’s wrist, and turned his body away from him, focusing on his book once more.

“seonghwa. is everything alright? you’re weird today. i’m really worried. please tell me,” hongjoong started to panic, thinking of all the things that could possibly happen to him. either he is really returning to his shell because someone had threatened him, or he’s getting bullied, or–

“hongjoong, i’m really okay. please don’t overthink. it’s j-just… b-because of something stupid,” seonghwa finally spoke up, turning around to look hongjoong in the eye, but failed to keep eye contact after two seconds or so.

“i’m not convinced. you seem fishy,” he raised an eyebrow at his explanation. the way he avoided eye contact seemed fishy too. “please, tell me, seonghwa. i want to help,”

“b-but,”

“seonghwa. i trust you. you can do this. whatever problem it is, we can go through it together. you don’t have to–”

“i just think that you look really hot in your gym uniform and i would really faint if i watched you play basketball in it!” seonghwa shut his eyes tight and exclaimed, mustering all the courage he could.

he’s gonna hate me for life now, how could i have told him that…

after hearing this, hongjoong went… o.

seonghwa had called him hot. the same person who he thought was extremely cute and hot at the same time. had. called. him. hot.

the room returned to silence for a while, as hongjoong stood rooted to the ground, thinking about the compliment. while seonghwa sat rooted to his chair, thinking if he made a mistake.

the two remained like this, until someone knocked on their door.

“seonghwa, hongjoong hyung! let’s walk to class together!” seems like it was yeosang.

hongjoong then snapped out of his thoughts, and shouted back to yeosang, agreeing to walk together.

“s-seonghwa, let’s go get ready,” he motioned for him to pack up his stuff, ans went to his own desk, only to find that his bag was already packed. it must be seonghwa.

“t-thanks for helping me pack my bag,” he awkwardly smiled to him, to which seonghwa replied with a little hum.

–

the class started quickly. everyone seemed to know what to do. the teacher didn’t seem to notice his presence anyway, and he hadn’t really bonded with his fellow classmates ever since news about his roommate had slipped out. his only friends were jisung, changbin and minho whom he had first met.

coincidentally seonghwa’s homeroom class had the same class slot as hongjoong’s, so their class had always played basketball together. it was either students from each class come together to form a team, or they have a friendly interclass match. it was always fun. at least, not to seonghwa who didn’t have many friends, and was feared.

today was very different and special for seonghwa. he was finally going to play basketball with his friends! yeosang was in his class too, followed by mingi and yunho. additionally, he can even get to see hongjoong playing in his gym uniform!

“hongjoong! come join our team!” changbin called from one end of the court, and his shout was followed by another from yunho who was standing at the other end, “hongjoong-ah! let’s trash your class!”

this was very stressful.

he wanted to play with seonghwa, but at the same time, he wanted to support his fellow classmates.

“i’ll just watch you all play…” he awkwardly smiled, and backed off to the bleachers.

“why not we play rock, paper, scissors to decide whose team he’ll join?” jisung suggested, and the agreed. mingi sent seonghwa to represent their team. his opponent was minho.

“rock, paper, scissors!”

minho won. the match soon started.

hongjoong, as the self-claimed basketball prodigy he is, and one who is an avid fan of basketball/any sports anime, his skills were already god level. he could make the ball turn at any angle as he wish, and move at the speed of sonic the headgehog.

do not look down on him just because he is tiny. he has many hidden talents.

well… maybe not.

in the end, jisung and the rest never wanted to be teammates with him again.

–

seonghwa wasn’t feeling right. even though his team won, and it was quite funny seeing how hongjoong kept missing his shots after bragging about his god level skills, he was still very distracted from that incident in the early morning. hongjoong was 100% disgusted by that compliment. was their friendship not going to be longlasting? would they even… become lovers?

seonghwa was really hating himself now.

next ->

[cheerfulomelette]

A value-neutral statement: we in the west live in a culture that has, historically, not prioritised a plurality of opinion

Another value-neutral statement: we in the west are raised in a culture that has systematically discouraged diverse social/friendship groups (men and women, LGBTQ people and cishet people, interracial, interfaith, interclass, etc)

A third value-neutral statement: due to these two cultural issues, cishet white men are often raised in a situation that prioritises their opinions and never gives them direct cause to challenge their worldview.

I have encountered a shocking number of cishet white men who cannot distinguish between their opinions and facts - or who genuinely do not believe that there is a difference (nb: this is not a problem unique to cishet white men). This is not meant as a condemnation; this is a skill they were not taught.

Heterosexual men, by definition, do not view other men as sexually desirable. In conjunction with being conditioned to believe their viewpoint is an objective truth about the world, a man are left to conclude that, because he does not find men sexually attractive, no one finds men sexually attractive.

The best thing a man can do for his self-esteem is to diversify his friendship group to include people who find men attractive. He shouldn't be looking for potential sexual partners, but for genuine friends who can show him a different way of looking at the world and at himself.

I think there's a real tragedy in the way straight men don't see themselves the same way that people who are attracted to men see them. If you ask a straight man to describe what an attractive man looks like, there's very little variety - the masculine male ideal is tall, broad-shouldered, square-jawed with a cleft chin and built of sculpted muscle. The stereotypical image of an Alpha Male, someone whom he could respect, and envy.

And sure, there are plenty of women, gay men and people of all sorts who are attracted to to this specific type, even exclusively attracted to it, there is so much more variety in this, both in the tastes and their subjects.

The stereotype of "hot wife, ugly husband"-couples was drawn from the observations of straight men, from their own perspective. Women going after men that men find unattractive makes no sense to them, and they figure that women are willing to overlook being ugly if a man's funny, smart or rich enough. If a woman insists that she's attracted to a specific man who isn't attractive by their standards, they'll assume that she's lying.

The tragic part is when a man who believes himself to be ugly grows bitter over this, developing a foul personality which people do find repulsive, and then uses their repeated experiences of being romantically rejected as proof that they're physically unattractive, insisting that surely women would overlook his heinousness if only he was tall and muscular enough, and had the right bone structure. The self-feeding vicious cycle of being a bitter incel is born.

The thing about "ugly men with a good personality can still be attractive" is that they're usually not even ugly. Some people do genuinely find fat and hairy men, thin and delicate men, short men and feminine men attractive. There's as much variety as in cheese, you can't compare aura to brie. And just like in cheese, as long as you're not toxic, somebody's into that. You just need to find the right wine to compliment it.