Lights Are Missing (PART 1)

2.

I was squished between them all, Soobin and Kai on my left and Taehyun and Yeonjun on the right. Honestly, that surprised me, I'd assumed I'd be left on the outskirts because they didn't know me and putting someone, a stranger, between them just seemed a bit out of the ordinary, but being put in their group like this made me feel better and better about them.

They were all laughing, throwing their arms around each other, making jokes constantly. I couldn't help but laugh too at some of the dumb stuff they talked about. All their inside jokes went right over my head, but I was sure that one day, hopefully sooner than later, I'd be able to laugh along with them all the time.

This might've been a one time thing, maybe Yeonjun just felt bad about the paper and he wanted to make it up to me without having to give a formal apology. Maybe they'd never speak to me again after we finished riding our bikes, but to me, that didn't matter. I was happy with just one chance. It was something I'd dreamed of, and even if it didn't last, it was better than being bored for the 100th, even more, days in a row.

Walking down the stairs, Kai and I had trailed back a bit since all 5 of us couldn't really fit together in a row down the stairs. Kai elbowed me, "Nice to actually meet you, Beomgyu."

I was a bit flustered hearing what he'd said. A tall, handsome, funny, popular enough guy like him was happy to meet me, a more quiet and average looking guy. Sure, looks and reputation meant nothing to me, but you'd think to a guy like him, reputation would've been everything.

But I guess he and his friends were popular in their own world. People were jealous of them, of their friendship and looks. No, they weren't jocks or top of the class, everyone just knew them because they were the ideal teenagers. Attractive and fearless, living the lives we'd all wanted to live.

"Nice to meet you too, Kai." I smiled at him as we turned the corner on the landing, following the other guys all the way down the final stretch of the stairs.

As we reached the bottom, his arm found its way around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him, "You should really hang out with us more. You seem pretty chill."

I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not, seeing as he and his friends likely thought that it was going to be a one time thing. They likely didn't see me as anything more than just a nerdy, and by that I mean non social, kid in their class that they felt obligated to indulge so that I wouldn't tell the teacher they threw something at me or something like that.

I wouldn't have told the teacher anything, but even then, it didn't bother me. It wasn't like it hurt or distracted me from work, and again, that wouldn't have really bothered me either. I guess I was just hoping that they'd asked me to hang out with them because they wanted to, because they thought I might've been cool enough, funny enough, to actually be their friend. Though that may not have been the original purpose, I was sure I could show them that just because I was quiet in class and quiet everywhere else, when I had the chance to open up, I could be one of the brightest smiles in the room.

"I'd love to." I smiled as we walked down the hallway and out the main entrance of the building. I'd walked through those doors hundreds of times throughout my years at high school, but never once did I feel so light. Never once did I have an arm around me, a smile telling me that I was cool, or a group of friends that I was guaranteed to hang out with, even if it was just for the day.

Walking over to the bike rack, Kai's arm fell from my shoulder. He walked up closer to his friends, and so did I. Their bikes were a bit farther down than mine was, so I just watched them all continue walking down to get their bikes as I undid the lock on mine. Once I'd finished, I walked my bike down to them. Taehyun was the last one to get his bike undone.