Trust

Chicken

"Uff." Yeosang plops down on the ground with a dramatic groan. "That was intense."

"It was awesome", I correct him and grab my towel to wipe the sweat off my forehead.

This training was also absolutely necessary to meet Ms Kwan's expectations in Choreographies. I've still got her words ringing in my ears: 'Practice as though you're gonna perform on the Festival of Lights. I don't want any excuses or mistakes, even though you'll probably never stand on one of its stages.'

"Sure. Whatever." Yeosang's eyes wander up to the clock on the wall. He gasps dramatically. "Holy moly – it's one already!" As if on cue, his stomach starts to rumble and he places a hand on it.

"Holy what?" I burst out laughing.

"Holy moly. What's the matter?", he asks with closed eyes, not even bothering to look in my direction.

He can't seriously pretend that saying holy moly is normal – but I let it slip anyway since I'm also hungry- okay, scratch that: I'm starving. I didn't even eat breakfast, and now I've practiced for more than an hour. "Let's go get some food. I'm starving."

"Good", Yeosang mumbles. He sits up slowly, rubbing his eyes like he just took a nap – his hair certainly looks like it. From all the dancing and jumping we've done it looks more like a puffy cloud than an orderly hairdo. "I haven't had fried chicken all week..." He puts on a bright smile and a sing-song voice: "Let's go to KFC!"

I make a face. "I don't really like chicken in general."

Yeosang freezes. His face morphs into a truly horrified expression – then he starts scooting backwards on his butt. "Who are you? Get away from me! We can't be friends anymore – not like this!", he cries out.

"Drama king." I roll my eyes.

Half an hour later, we're sitting in a McDonald's. Yeosang munches happily on the chicken wings in the box in front of him that is probably XXL – and I'm staring down at my Royal Burger. Apart from pizza, I don't really like fast food.

After his first chicken wing, Yeosang hums appreciatively. "This is exactly what I've needed." A content smile on his lips, he leans back and closes his eyes.

I pick up my burger. At least this is cheap so I don't have to spend all of my monthly budget already on this crap food. I take a tentative bite. It's okay, surprisingly. Not mind-blowingly delicious, but okay.

"You mean you really needed sitting in a Mcces and eating unhealthy food?", I ask. Yeosang only shrugs, so I add: "By the way, you stink."

That does it. Yeosang sits up again and sniffs at him armpit. Making a face, he looks up to me: "Shit, you're right.- Good thing I don't care though." He takes a second chicken wing out of his box. After taking a bite, he chews extra slowly. "This is heaven."

I take another bite of my burger. It's extra greasy in the middle. "Why the hell did we go here again?"

"Because your judgment is shit and this place is good", Yeosang answers.

It definitely isn't. I can confirm that for sure when I take another bite of my burger that seems to be entirely based on flavor enhancers and oil. "You're re one rat haff a crolem in chugdment." My counter is pretty lame.

Yeosang leans over the table, eyebrows mockingly furrowed. "What was that? Sorry, I don't speak Gluttonous."

I swallow. "That was Fuck you."

"Wow. I've kind of expected more from you than this." Yeosang raises an eyebrow dismally, then he adds thoughtfully: "You remind me of San, you know."

"Uhm," I clear my throat, "and... why's that?"

"You're both having a hard time coming up with witty answers." He grins broadly when his answer leaves me speechless for a couple of seconds...

Well... "Fuck you."

Yeosang snickers. After another thoughtful pause of mustering me, he says: "You also remind me of Hongjoong. He gets that red-faced from time to time too."

Apart from rolling my eyes, I ignore his snide remark. "Who's Hongjoong?"

"Oh." Yeosang looks taken aback for a moment, as if I should know who the fuck Hongjoong is. "He's one of my friends. He and Seonghwa. I'm not as friendless as it might've looked like this week."

"Who would've thought?", I tease.

"Shut up – how many friends have you got so far?"

Acquaintances, some. Friends – one. "That's not fair – I've been here for a week. You've been here for a year and a week."

Yeosang dismisses it with a wave of his hand. "Whatever. Figures."

Whatever. I let it go. "So... Hongjoong and Seonghwa... are they, like, dating?"

"Yeah, why?" Yeosang's expression becomes cautious all of a sudden.

Oh for heaven's sake. Can't he tell that I'm, like, really really gay myself? "I think I saw them on my first day. Were they the ones walking you to class? The tall-and-small couple?"

Yeosang bursts out laughing: "Tall and small... I bet Hongjoong's gonna love to hear that.- I need to tell him." He seriously opens his sports bag to get his phone.

"What the hell? Don't! I wanna make a good first impression", I intervene before he finds it.

He snorts. "What – you think you're able to make a good impression in the first place?"

"Sure." I cross my arms. "I'm a pro in that. So don't you dare destroying my future friendships."

"If you say so..." Yeosang zips his sports bag up again. "Surprise me on Monday, then. They both had to take care of some freshmen this week, but I think they'll be eating lunch with us from tomorrow on."

"Great. I'm gonna blow your mind with my social skills." More like my non-existing social skills. I'm way better at blowj... - okay, stop it. I shake my head vigorously to silence my suggestive thoughts, which gets me a questioning look from Yeosang. Luckily though he doesn't say anything.