beautiful stranger | s.l. + j.h. (seoksoo)

1/15/16 pt. 1

Jisoo was in his third period class: guitar. The class was mostly filled with beginners, but there were a few others who, like Jisoo, knew how to play guitar already and were studying independently in the class. He walked to the storage room, grabbed his guitar, and sat down in his seat. He quickly tuned his guitar and then proceeded to play a few pieces on his guitar. He rapidly switched between the strings and the frets, working hard to learn the piece he was working on currently.

After a while, he took a break and used this opportunity to shake out his hands and flex his fingers. As he clenched and unclenched his fists, he felt a slight pain from his pinky. He looked down only to see blood on his finger. Though he wasn't bleeding severely, Jisoo still hated blood. He put his guitar down, carefully avoiding touching it with his pinky, and asked the teacher for a bandaid. The teacher apologized to him and told him that she didn't have any bandaids in her room so she gave him a pass to go to the nurse to get one.

As Jisoo walked to the nurse's office, he berated the teacher in his mind. What kind of teacher doesn't have bandaids in the room? Sighing lightly, he walked into the nurse's office.

He looked around but didn't see anyone at the counter. Jisoo was confused for a moment, but was slightly relieved that he wouldn't have to talk to anyone. He hesitantly looked around the room, and was about to look for a bandaid when a loud voice rang out, "Hello! Sorry, I went to the bathroom. What do you need?"

Startled, Jisoo jumped and turned to find the source of the voice standing in the doorway. A boy was smiling brightly at him, showing off his gums and teeth.

"Ah, I should introduce myself, shouldn't I? Hello! I'm Lee Seokmin, a sophomore here." the boy, Seokmin, said happily.

Jisoo didn't respond, but he pondered where the school nurse was. And why was this kid acting like he was in charge of the nurse's office?

"You're probably wondering where the nurse is right? She's running late today because her daughter is really sick. Actually, she left about 10 minutes ago to go pick her up from school and drop her off at home. Isn't it ironic that the daughter of the nurse is sick? I'm normally in here everyday around this time anyway, so I told her I could run the office for her until she gets back. I want to be a hospital nurse when I grow up, so it's nice to have some experience right now, you know? Besides, I have a free period now, so it all works out! Anyways, what did you need?" the boy rambled, pausing for a few select moments to breathe.

Jisoo took a minute to process what he was saying, then remembered the reason he came here in the first place.

"I need a bandaid," Jisoo mumbled, holding up his pinky finger for Seokmin to see. "My teacher didn't have any in her room."

"Oh okay! I have to write a form though, so can you tell me your name, grade, and what class you're in right now?" Seokmin informed him, still smiling politely. How did his mouth not hurt from smiling so much?

"My name is Hong Jisoo. I'm a junior and right now I'm in guitar," Jisoo murmured.

"You play guitar? That's so cool! I've always wanted to learn guitar. Are you good at it?" Seokmin pushed, excited. He entered the information into the computer and opened the bandaid packet.

"I guess...? I don't know, I don't wanna be vain about it," Jisoo admitted.

"Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us," Seokmin quoted. "I'm asking your opinion of yourself, not what I would think of your playing, though I'm sure I would love it!" he smiled dazzlingly at Jisoo.

"I guess I'm okay then," he said, taken aback by Seokmin's words.

"I really wanna hear you play now!" Seokmin chirped. "Will you play for me sometime?"

"Well we're probably not going to cross paths again..." Jisoo reiterated.

Seokmin didn't reply. Instead, he hummed and placed the bandaid on Jisoo's pinky. Seokmin blushed slightly when he came into contact with the fair boy's hand, fumbling slightly, before clearing his throat and securely wrapping the bandaid around Jisoo's pinky.

"Well, you're all set then! Do you need anything else?" Seokmin spoke after a few moments of silence.

"No, I should be fine, thank you," Jisoo whispered. He got out of his chair and turned to leave.

"Hey, before you go...you said you wouldn't play for me because you'd probably never see me again right? What if we do see each other again? Will you play for me?" Seokmin pushed.

Jisoo hesitated for a moment. He didn't like playing for most people. However, he found himself unable to reject the sanguine boy's request, and replied, "Alright, if we see each other again, I'll play for you."

"Really? Thanks! Goodbye, Hong Jisoo!" Seokmin waved at him excitedly.

Jisoo awkwardly looked at him, raised his hand in farewell, and quickly walked out of there. What a talkative kid.

Seokmin glanced at the door where the junior had just been and grinned mischievously. Jisoo said he was in guitar, didn't he? Rummaging through his bag, Seokmin found his schedule change request form and filled it out, requesting to change his free third period to guitar.

A/N: Wow, okay, um I didn't expect more than one person to read this...thank you to all those who read it! I hope you enjoyed it. The song linked is "Come Back Again" by my favorite male idol group, Infinite(it's from their debut days wow that was so long ago). I put it there because...I mean I guess Seokmin is gonna make sure to see him again...right...I guess...uh anyways, it's a really good song and they're a really talented group, so definitely check them out! The quote was from Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". I found that quote interesting when I read the book and thought this was the perfect situation to use it. Also, a pic from the predebut days of Seokmin putting a bandaid on Jisoo is attached. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you have an amazing day!

3/15/16 update: I took out a minor part of the story bc it contrasts with the timeline I decided I wanted the story to be in. so this story is currently in the start of the second semester of American high school, around the beginning of January. thank you!