Shoelaces | JiHan

Chapter One

The world was cruel to Jeonghan.

He could be walking on the sidewalk, and the sidewalk would be empty, right? No little kid on a tricycle. No old lady walking. No Legos or anything like that. It'd be empty. Well, that's what Jeonghan would think. Cause then BAMN! He trips over a kid. He trips over a toy car. But worst of all is when he steps on a kid's Lego toy. He hates making kids cry, but more than that he hates the amount of bruises he has on his legs.

He could be walking in school, and all lockers are closed, right? Wrong! The moment Jeonghan walks in he gets hit by a locker. Every stinking time!

Let's not forget how many times he forgets his homework. All the times he sleeps in class. Or all the times the teacher asks him where his project's at, and all he ever responds is, "sorry, I forgot."

The boy's memory was shot. It just sucked butt, and sometimes no matter how hard he tries, he just can't remember things. He's clumsy and a tad bit messy. Which is why he went through the same thing every stinking day!

Yoon Jeonghan always forgets to tie his shoelaces. His birthday? He still forgets. He has to do something important for school? He forgets and falls in school. Just going for a stroll? Jeonghan forgets and trips. No matter how many notes he leaves himself. No matter how many times he chants, "today I'll tie my shoelaces!" He just won't do it.

Why?

The question will forever remain unanswered.

Just like every day today was one of those days. The long haired pretty boy finally made it to school. But of course, only after he tripped over a cardboard box. He was happy, though. It was a record to just fall once and make it to school on time. He was wearing a white sweater over his uniform to keep warm, his messenger bag slung over his right shoulder. He had his hands in his pockets and a goofy smile on his face.

People greeted him and some just nodded their head towards him. Some girls waved and others called him out. It was a normal day for Jeonghan. But he felt like he was missing something. But what? He couldn't quite figure it out. So he kept walking and walking, trying to rush and make it to his music class.

Then it happened. Jeonghan was waiting for it. The day was too good to be true.

He fell.

But why?

His effing shoelaces.

"You might wanna start tying your shoes, dude. If you keep falling like that, you'll break that pretty face of yours." Jeonghan was a tad bit confused as to whom the voice belonged too. But he noticed a tad bit too late. When he finally got that it was his all time crush, Joshua Hong, he kinda freaked. Jeonghan only nodded at the boy and turned to walk away.

"Hey! Wait up! I wanna ask you something." So Jeonghan waited. "Why are you always forgetting to tie your shoelaces?" Jeonghan looked up to face Joshua, but he first focused on his lips. Then switched his gaze over to his eyes, making eye contact with Joshua.

"Do you really wanna know?" Joshua nodded his head eagerly, waiting for Jeonghan to start. "Dude, I'm just a clumsy, forgetful guy. No matter how hard I try, I just never remember to tie my shoes. Sure it sucks, but I kinda get used to falling on my face because of my shoelaces." Joshua let out a small laugh, clearly holding himself back. Jeonghan turned a deep scarlet.

He didn't want his crush to laugh at him! That was just embarrassing!

"If you're done now, may I go to class?" With the comment he seemed to make Joshua frown. "Yeah, sorry. Didn't mean to hold you up." Jeonghan soon felt sorry for making Joshau frown. But being in front of his crush made him so nervous!

"Sorry. I didn't really mean it like that. But thank you for your concern." Joshua's bright smile returned and he even let out a light giggle. "No, it's alright. From now on, until you remember, I'll remind you to tie your shoelaces. Kay?"

That right there, what Joshua had just said, was heaven for Jeonghan. The one he loves offering to remind him of the things he forgets most every day? Jackpot! "Thank you." And the two said their farewells.

No matter how bad Jeonghan's day was later on, he always smiled. No matter how many times he fell or got called out by a teacher for anything, Jeonghan still smiled. Who wouldn't when you have Joshua, not only knowing who you are, but helping you out?

Everyone loved Joshua. He was the perfect gentleman, complete boyfriend material. He was loved by all the girls, and all the guys got along with him just nicely. He was the teacher's favorite student, as the boy was just so responsible. A person who didn't like Joshua just didn't exist in their school.

He had so many secret admires, both male and females. It was almost impossible for Joshua to know them all. There were too many. But it was understandable. He was cute and charming.

"Jeonghan-ah! Stop spacing out, yeah?" It appears that the long haired boy was still in his seat, looking at the board and everyone else was gone. Seungcheol stood before him, holding Jihoon's hand who munched happily on candy, and Soongyoung whom stood beside them just stared blankly.

"Yeah. 'Course, it's just Joshua kind of um, talked to me today." That was enough for Jihoon to stop munching on his candy and laugh out loud. "And what'd he say? 'Jeonghan I love you! Let's get married' please, like he'd talk to you." Seungcheol gave Jihoon a warning look but the shorty shrugged it off.

He was the mean one out of the five. There was Seungcheol, the responsible one. Soonyoung, the funny one. Seokmin, the minion. Finally, Jeonghan was the pretty face. Who was clearly the messy one. But no one really knew, so it was okay for the group.

They weren't exactly popular, just friendly. Especially towards their lower class men. It has always been the only reason why they were a bit known. Just for being nice, to most people anyway. Depending on Jihoon's mode swing would he actually speak. Depending on good days would Jeonghan actually converse without falling or breaking something. It's how they worked.

"But he really did Jihoon! He reminded me to tie my shoelaces! Yah! Why are you so mean?" Jihoon shrugged instead of replying and continued to munch on his candy. "Good for you Jeonghan," Seungcheol smiled at him, taking Jihoon's free hand into his. "Thanks hyung."

Jeonghan got up and followed his friends out. They all conversed amongst each other, bringing up memories from years ago, and some, from only a couple of hours ago. "Remember that time Jeonghan got asked out, because they thought he was a girl?" They all started laughing at him, but Jeonghan only shook his head.

It happened one too many times, to be honest. It was another reason Jeonghan considered himself unlucky. He always falls, breaks something, says the wrong thing at the wrong time, his memory's basically useless, and he get's confused for a girl. "Life's just peachy," he sarcastically muttered, looking at the ground.

Fuck, he forgot to tie his shoelaces. So his friends walked ahead as he knelt in the middle of the sidewalk just to tie his shoes. When he finished, his friends got so ahead, he lost them. "Shit. My day's just getting better," he mumbled, annoyed.

"Fantastic, effing fantastic."

The sarcasm, was real that day. Instead of attempting to follow his friends, he just texted them. Saying he wasn't going to meet up with them anymore. He lied, saying he felt unwell. He goes home, not wanting to think about his day.

But Joshua popped up in his mind, and his day felt so much better. He smiled and covered his face a bit. He was blushing so much, he could feel it.

"I love you, for making my day better." He whispered to no one. But he knew who it was for.

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Edited August 29th, 2016