Hwang Yeji stood in the hallway, shaking her phone back and forth as to somehow solve her current problem.

The poor girl's cell service had cut out earlier, and now that lunch time had arrived, she took to the empty hallways to see if she could find a spot with good reception.

Walking alone, she felt almost kind of peaceful. The last few days she'd been incredibly busy, so now she took her time to stroll, glancing at her cell service bar occasionally.

A strange sound grabbed her attention from down the hallway, and Yeji stopped in her tracks, wondering what exactly she'd just heard.

Her phone still didn't have service anyway. Why not go and check it out?

She made her way down the hall, coming up to a classroom towards the end of the hallway. Was this where the sound had come from? She hadn't seen anyone else in the hallway.

Yeji peeked through the doorway, seeing a boy in a hoodie towards the back of the classroom, leaning over a countertop. She subconsciously squinted at this, trying to get a better view.

A pill bottle lay opened on the counter— and immediately she recognized the noise she'd heard as the distinctive pop of its opening.
Next to it on the counter lay what seemed like dozens of white medicine tablets, the boy seemingly having dumped them there in a pile.

Yeji watched in confusion as said individual pulled out a small plastic ziploc bag. He sweeped the tablets off the counter and into it, shutting the bag tightly.
After this was done, he grabbed a few tissues from a nearby box and wrapped them around the baggie, hiding its contents.

What the hell was this guy even doing? Yeji's eyes widened as the person then shoved what he held into a trash can next to him, dumping a couple of snack wrappers and extra tissues on top of it for good measure.
She had to give him credit... whatever it was he was hiding, no one would suspect it to even be there.

The door Yeji was leaning against creaked as she moved, sending a shockwave through her system at the loud noise.

The boy across the room whipped around, making direct eye contact with her before she could escape.

"Y...Yeonjun?" she blurted out, recognizing the boy's face immediately.

"Yeji!" he replied, his expression incredibly startled. "Why... what are you doing here?"

"What the hell was all of that?" Yeji asked, glancing at the empty pill bottle still on the counter.

Yeonjun immediately shoved the bottle into his hoodie pocket.
"Nothing. How long have you been there?"

"Yeonjun," she repeated, "I'm asking you, what the hell was that?"

Yeonjun fidgeted with his sleeves, looking at her silently. He didn't utter a single word.

"If you're doing some illegal shit, I'm gonna have to tell Soob-"

"Why are you bringing him into this?" Yeonjun snapped at her. "Leave me alone, okay?"

Yeji stared at him, shocked at his change in tone. "I know you two have been close recently, but I'm his best friend! If anything you do could hurt him, then I—"

"It's none of your business!" Yeonjun insisted, taking a step forward.
"Just leave! Pretend this conversation never happened."

Yeji crossed her arms.
"If you've got nothing to hide, why act like this?"

"Yeji..." Yeonjun spoke warningly, still walking towards her.

"What would you do if I told him, huh? What's the big deal?"

"Don't tell him," Yeonjun ordered, his voice low.

"And why is that? It's not like—" Yeji stopped speaking in fright as Yeonjun grabbed her wrist, stopping her hand from reaching to type on her phone.

"What do you want from me?" Yeonjun questioned, his grip on her wrist firm. "You want money?"

Yeji furrowed her eyebrows at him. "What? No... but hey, let me go," she demanded, trying to yank her arm away from the taller boy.

The tiniest bit of fear washed over her as she realized she couldn't free her arm.
"Yeonjun, I'm not joking, let me the fuck go!"

"Promise you won't tell Soobin anything," Yeonjun stated, seeing the girl give him a distasteful look.

"I won't promise shit," she said, still focusing on how weirdly strong Yeonjun's hold was. She pondered an idea for a moment, before attempting to yank her hand away once more.

"You... ah, ow! Fuck, my wrist," Yeji seemed to wince, looking down at it in pain.

Yeonjun immediately let go of her.
"Shit— are you okay???" he asked, glancing at her wrist, a guilty look washed over his face.

Yeji only gave him a smug look. "Dumbass. I'm fine, I lied," she said, Yeonjun's expression morphing into one of betrayal.

"Yeji!" Yeonjun whined, "Seriously, I was worried!"

"Only you would be worried about hurting me while threatening me," Yeji said, sarcastically. "Still though, the fuck's your problem with me telling Soobin if it's not illegal?"

"I just don't want him to know? He'll either get worried, or be way too smart and..."

"And what?" Yeji asked, seeing a hesitant look on Yeonjun's face.

"It's personal, okay?" Yeonjun tried to reason. "Please, Yeji—" he tried, eyes widening as she turned around and walked out of the classroom.

"Yeji???" he said, stumbling after her, seeing the girl dash down the hallway.

Yeonjun sighed, not finding it in himself to chase after her. He would have to come up with a better way to stop her from talking to Soobin, however hard he had to think...

He paused, realizing the blatantly obvious option. He pulled out his phone, clicking on a contact number and waiting.

The phone rang for just a moment before picking up.

"Yeah?" came Soobin's voice through the speaker. Yeonjun subconsciously smiled at the sound of it.

The elder focused for a moment, trying to figure out what tone to use to persuade Soobin the easiest.
"Binnn," he started, choosing his method. "Come outside, eat lunch with me," he spoke playfully, yet secretly needing the other to take the offer.

The air remained silent for a moment.

"Okay... where are you?" Soobin inquired. Yeonjun instantly realized he would have to actually be outside, and started walking.

"Out the back of the building, near the benches. The exit closest to the cafeteria," he instructed, hurrying to that location himself.

"Is this some sort of special occasion...?" Soobin asked, his tone light. "You never really ask me to do this anymore..."

Yeonjun felt like he'd been hit with the words. It was too true. Ever since their second day of meeting, the two hadn't eaten lunch together once.

"No..." Yeonjun said, as he pushed the exit door open and walked outside. "I just wanted to ask."

He took a seat against the wall as he waited, taking a sip from his water bottle. It really was a miracle that Soobin would come over here for someone like him...

After about ten minutes, the door swung open, a tall boy peeking through it and looking around.

"Ah-" Soobin noticed Yeonjun sitting on a bench, and stepped through the door, carrying his backpack on one arm.

"Bin," Yeonjun waved him over, patting the seat next to him.

The younger smiled upon seeing him, and padded over, setting his bag on the ground and sitting directly next to Yeonjun on the bench.

"Can you eat these?" Soobin questioned, pulling a box of little brownies out of his bag.

"Oh...!" Yeonjun said, surprised, as Soobin opened the box and handed him one. "Yeah... these are really cute, where'd you get them?"

"My mom made them," Soobin answered, leaning against the wall behind him. Yeonjun took a little bite of his brownie, watching the younger for a moment.

"Tell your mom I love her..." Yeonjun said, jokingly holding a hand up to his heart after popping the rest of the brownie into his mouth.

Soobin laughed at this.
"Do it yourself. I don't want her to kill me for giving out her pastries."

Yeonjun smiled silently at this, leaning back against the wall as well. He glanced briefly towards Soobin, whose shoulder was only an inch or two away from his own.

He scooted sideways, bumping up against Soobin without saying a word.

Soobin looked towards him, a little grin forming on his face. "What...?" he asked quietly, catching Yeonjun's gaze.

Yeonjun looked away nonchalantly.
He took a sip from his water bottle, ignoring the way Soobin was staring at him.

He almost flinched at the feeling of Soobin's chin on his shoulder, the younger setting his head there as if trying to grab his attention.

"So, Soobin—" he spoke quietly, just a little surprised as he was interrupted.

Soobin glanced up at him.
"Why the full name?"

Yeonjun's mind went blank at this.
"Oh. Um, Bin..."

"Binnie is better," Soobin muttered, being a little petty.

"Okay, Binnie, bunny, baby, whatever..." Yeonjun started, "Do you wanna go somewhere this afternoon?"

Soobin sat for a moment before answering, secretly composing himself.
"Of course. Where?"

Yeonjun shrugged. "My place? Or we could get drinks somewhere."

"I like your place. It's nice," Soobin admitted. Yeonjun tensed at the feeling of Soobin's soft hair against his neck, the boy still leaning against him.

"We'll go there, then," he said, hesitantly wrapping an arm around Soobin's shoulders.

Soobin nodded, happy at this decision, and took another brownie out of the box.

Yeonjun only hoped to god that his heart could handle this.