Essays, one of the laziest school activity students would ever need to do. Some students were really up for it, while some only groaned about it. Fortunately, their English teacher tasked the students to do the essay by pair, and that they could work on it at their homes.

Of course, Taufan would automatically pick Halilintar to be his pair, while the latter had no choice but to become his pair as well. Afterall, he doesn't have anyone to ask, but him, and him only. The good thing about it is that, they'd already know where they live, and they will get to work the essay together.

The teacher instructed the students to write an essay about what they think about their other pair, what they wanted to say to or about them, and what they see in them. She gave them a deadline to pass their written essays before the day of their second term examinations. She thought the deadline was already enough for the students so they could also focus on their tests, and most of them actually agreed to the given deadline.

"Okay, I'm giving you the remaining time now. You may start writing your essays now with your partners or talk about it for a while with each other." Their English teacher stated, proceeding to the teacher's table and sat down to work on something else far more important.

"Hey, Hali! You know what to do, right?" Taufan asked, winking afterwards.

"Yeah, yeah. I'd already heard about the specified instructions once. I don't need you to repeat it twice." Halilintar responded, rolling his eyes off him.

"At my place, alright?"

"Where else, you airhead?"

"By the way, let's meet up at the rooftop later on after class! I just have something in mind that I wanted to show you!"

"Really? Out of all days, why now? You know I have two bags that I currently need to bring at your house later on!"

Suddenly, the school bell rang, signalling for the students to attend their next classes.

"Ah, you can do it! Just go up there, ya?" Taufan immediately said, getting up from his seat and grabbed his things with him. "See you there!" He added, before swiftly going to his next class.

"That motherfreaking airhead..."

<<>> <<>> <<>>

Few hours later, their final subject had finally ended, making Halilintar fixed his things immediately and proceeded to the rooftop while carrying both his heavy bags. Taufan told him that they should meet up at their usual spot because of some reason when it's time for their dismissal time. Halilintar was hesitant at first because it will be a burden for him to go up there again while carrying both his two bags, but he just agreed in the end.

'Why still meet up at the rooftop if we can just meet up on the exit of the school building?' The lightning elemental thought, his teeth gritted in annoyance. 'That airhead is freaking irritating...'

Halilintar was tired, panting as his feet touched every step on the staircase. It was indeed difficult for his side, but it's not like this is the first time he'd been carrying loads of things with him. Afterall, he's also curious as to why Taufan wanted to meet him at the rooftop instead on the actual exit door of the school.

'He's... really... going to... pay for... this...'

As soon as he reached the top level, he quickly set his things down, catching his breath afterwards. He surely is pissed with Taufan's plan of meeting up the rooftop out of all places. He wanted to get revenge after what he'd made him go through.

When Halilintar was finally calm, he walked towards the spot he usually goes to. But, something made him stopped on his tracks and froze on the ground. His eyes slowly widened in surprise the moment he laid his eyes onto something unexpected.

He waited so long for him to see it. He never knew he would see this rare opportunity. The first time he would ever get to look at it with his own rubescent eyes.

He finally saw Taufan's whole face, with his blue mask pulled down beneath his chin.

The more Halilintar stared at it, the more questions started filling up his mind. Taufan's face is actually smoothly clean. No scars, wounds, nor even bruises are found as he scanned his face.

'So, why does he need to wear a mask...?' Halilintar thought, his brows curved into a confused one.

Unfortunately for Taufan, he didn't seemed to notice Halilintar's presence as he was so lost with the breeze gusting through him. His eyes were both closed, while one of his hands was hooked on the mask for it to stay downwards. He was enjoying the fresh air around him too much.

Seconds later, Taufan slowly opened his eyes and turned his body away from the railings. That's when, the moment his sapphire blue eyes met Halilintar's bloodshot ones, he softly gasped. He didn't noticed that Halilintar was already there as he was too distracted by the whiffy wind.

'Oh no, I'm caught...' Taufan thought, panicking a bit as he immediately pulled up his blue mask.

"I'd already saw it, idiot." Halilintar spoke, looking at him expressionlessly.

Taufan only laughed nervously while scratching the back of his head. "Just... pretend you didn't see anything." He sheepishly said.

"Why are you wearing it even though you have no reason to cover your face up?" The red-eyed teen asked, folding both of his hands to his chest with one of his feet shifting to the side.

"I..." The blue masked teen uttered. "Just forget about it." He promptly dismissed his question, turning away from his friend and lifted up his own bag afterwards.

Being a short-tempered as he is, Halilintar furiously stomped his way towards Taufan and grasped his wrist. "Don't you ignore my question!" He exclaimed, glaring at him. "I'm asking you!"

"It's none of your business! So just be quiet about it!"

"I thought you want me to talk all this time?! Now you want me to just, leave me hanging?!" Halilintar scowled, which he was only ignored by Taufan. This response made him irked more.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO HIDE SOMETHING FROM ME AGAIN?!" He asked once more, in which he finally got the wind elemental's attention.

"I'M NOT, OKAY?!" Taufan yelled, glaring back at Halilintar with his eyes started to welled up in tears. All this time, Taufan was trying to be patient with Halilintar, but now, it seemed that he'd finally reached his limit.

Taufan's sudden rage shocked Halilintar. It was his first time seeing him angry like this. He'd never imagined him being like this.

Not long after, Taufan realized his mistake and quickly wiped the tears off his eyes. "I'm sorry." He softly apologized, yanking his hand off his grip and faced his back on him.

Halilintar only sighed deeply, trying to think of a better question to ask instead. "Why did you want to meet up here anyways?" He inquired, pursing his lips afterwards.

Taufan then slowly turned to face the lightning element, heaving out a soft sigh. "I just want to do something fun with you." He replied.

"Which is...?"

"But! Before I tell you," The blue masked teenager suddenly pushed Halilintar towards the restroom, closing the door once he successfully entered him inside, with Taufan waiting from outside. "Go change into your indoor clothes first! I'd already changed mine!"

"Oi, my clothes are in my bag!" Halilintar shouted from the other side.

"Oops, my bad~" Taufan giggled before jogging his way towards the lightning elemental's two bags. Since he doesn't know which one he should take, he just brought both of them and kicked the door open, swinging both the bags inside the restroom and closed the door again afterwards.

"Did you seriously just brought two of my bags?!"

"You didn't even tell me which one! So I brought both of them!"

"Ish! Whatever!"

"Also, hurry up in there!"

"I know! Just shut up and let me change my clothes in peace!"

"In the count of ten, I'll leave you be if you aren't dressed yet!~" Taufan joked, snickering after.

"Don't you dare—"

"Ten!~ Nine!~ Eight!~ Seven—"

"Airhead, I swear—"

"Five!~ Four!~ Three—"

"Okay, I had enough!"

All of the sudden, the door was kicked open, revealing a sullen Halilintar. He was already in his indoor clothes, wearing his red jacket with brown shirt covered inside, black jogging pants, and a pair of red rubber shoes. He was glaring menacingly at Taufan, with the latter only whistling innocently while looking away.

"Took you long enough!~" Taufan teased.

"Shut up! Now tell me, what is it that you want to do?" Halilintar asked, clicking his tongue.

Unexpectedly, Taufan gave the lightning element a smugly grin, and Halilintar can totally sense that something's going to happened in which he wouldn't like it, not even one bit.

"Have you ever use a mountain climbing rope before?" Taufan asked.

"No." Halilintar simply replied.

"Have you ever tried mountain climbing before?"

"No...?"

The wind elemental smirked. "Well, today's your lucky day!" He cheerfully exclaimed, as he showed two ropes from his hands.

"Oh no... Don't tell me..."

"Yup! We're going down from here, all the way to the ground using these!~" Taufan answered straightforwardly, and started tying the ropes into knots in between the railings.

"You're literally the definition of a suicidal maniac. How are you even sure what you're doing is safe?" Halilintar raised a brow at him.

"Ah, don't worry, these ropes are fine, one-hundred percent!~" The blue mask teen chirped. "Also, these railings are firmly attached. So, it's totally safe!"

"If I ever fall off, you're in charge for my hospital bills, or my funeral."

"Relax, Hali!~ It's not like you're going to die right away. Don't you love doing dangerous stuffs?"

"Well, yeah. But not as crazy as what we'll be doing right now!"

"Ah, come on! What's the point of living if you haven't tried anything new in your life?" Taufan's eyes smiled, slinging his bag on his back as he held on to the rope and gave the other to Halilintar.

The lightning elemental only frowned as he took the rope. "Fine." He replied shortly. "Whoever gets down the last, will be treating one for a pack of chips!" He stated, before slinging two of his bags on both of his shoulders and jumped from the railings as he gripped tightly on the rope.

The wind elemental on the other hand, scoffed, grinning as he jumped off the rooftop as well, his feet landing on the side of the building.

"What a rush, Hali!~" He commented, chuckling. "But, I won't lose to you just yet."

Like what mountain climbers do, Taufan jumped down and touched the wall from the building steadily but swiftly. Same goes to Halilintar, in a hurriedly way as well. Racing down to reach the surface, both of them would sometimes cheat, like kicking each other but in a light manner, or cause a distraction to the other.

But with both of them wearing their own caps, it would be hard for them too sometimes since, they'll be needing to hold it while going down. Not to mention, they have their own bags to bring with, and it would also be a hassle for Halilintar since he's currently bringing two heavy bags on his own. Nevertheless, both of them seemed to be enjoying their risky antics.

People would think that they're the most foolish teenagers to ever do stunts like that. They would normally think that it's perilous for them to do stuffs like that. But for Taufan and Halilintar, it felt as if, they went on a breathtaking adventure together.

Few minutes later, Halilintar was the first one who touched the ground, followed by Taufan who had only came for a few seconds after him. Both of them were panting heavily, trying to catch their breath. Indeed, it took a lot of energy for them to reach the ground.

"So, I won." Halilintar spoke. "Better treat me a pack of—"

In a flash, Taufan was already running home, leaving the red-eyed boy behind while laughing. "We still need to go home, dorky! We're not yet done! Haha! Bye-bye, Hali!~"

"Why you little! That's not fair! Come back here, you cheating piece of—"

<<>> <<>> <<>>

"Haaaaaaaaaa....." Taufan huffed, as he let his body fall freely on his bed.

"You... freaking... cheating... airhead..." Halilintar grunted, still trying to catch his breath. "I only said... if we go down completely... then one of us... won. I didn't say... that the race... will continue up until... your house... you airhead...!"

"Haha! But I won!" The blue masked teenager exclaimed, jumping off lively from his bed.

"No, you didn't, you cheater! I won!" Halilintar defended.

"No, I won!"

"I won, you idiot!"

Without warning, Halilintar smacked Taufan in a light manner, causing his cap to fall off the floor. After he did, his ruby red eyes widened, surprised by what he just witnessed: a white strand of hair. Taufan quietly cursed under his breath before taking his cap from the floor and only held it from his hands.

"Your hair..." Halilintar uttered, still staring at the strand of his hair.

"This is just natural, don't worry." Taufan reassured, giggling slightly before wearing his cap back. "I got it from my dad."

"Is this why the bullies were teasing you...?" The lightning element took noticed. "It's because of that single, white strand of hair...?

"Apparently, yeah..." Taufan responded, sighing afterwards. "But, it doesn't matter though. It's just a tease—"

"You know, you're just plain stupid. You're standing up for someone like me, but you can't even stand up for yourself." Halilintar interrupted, clenching his teeth in irritation. "Do you want to be called by that ridiculous nickname those bullies been calling you all this time?!"

"... No..."

"Then freaking stand up for yourself!" Halilintar remarked, sighing in exasperation before walking towards his things, getting the materials needed for their essays afterwards.

"But one day, I wouldn't have to." Taufan mumbled, smiling softly before going towards his study table after.

<<>> <<>> <<>>

Few hours had passed, Taufan was already finished with his essay, while Halilintar on the other hand, still haven't written a single word on his paper. It was already late in the evening, but one of them were still working on their essay. Both of them were extremely exhausted, but they managed to finish their essays. Well, one of them...

'What am I going to write on this dang paper...?' Halilintar thought, as he kept tapping his pencil on the table.

His ruby eyes then glanced at Taufan, and was amazed after seeing that he was already done, and now, he's asleep. Staring at his pair's paper— that was flipped on the other way, he was curious as to what he'd written about him. But, he was already warned by Taufan not to look at his work and focused on his own.

He wanted to take a peek so badly, but his annoying conscience says don't. He deeply sighed, resting his back for a moment on the backrest and thought of what he would write on his paper. Taking a quick look at his partner again, he stared at him for a while, trying to contemplate what he really wanted to express.

He doesn't want to interrupt his peaceful slumber. He knows he needed it. So, he quietly do his work.

After thinking for some time, Halilintar finally had an idea. He glanced at Taufan one more time, before removing his red jacket, placing it around the sleeping teen afterwards. Silently, he started writing on his paper, trying to put his mind and heart into it.

====================================================

Btw, in this story, Taufan's the only one who has the white strand of hair, just to clear and point things out. uwu