Hopelessly Naive

how to stop a squish from panicking pt. 1

Kyungsoo glares at the paper as if all of the words will suddenly come together and make sense of what he's been trying to read for the past two hours. Concepts like these fail him. Kyungsoo has always been gifted with learning, with information, but this... this he just doesn't get. Art has never been one of Kyungsoo's strong suits, always the mediocre at best student in his forced art class electives. Numbers, data, and strategies, he understands, but this might as well be a foreign language... which, since he knows five, isn't even as complicated as this. What does surrealism even mean? Abstract... what even is that?

Kyungsoo groans and frowns at the paper, he's been at this for a week and these things still don't make sense to him. Dread fills Kyungsoo as he finally realizes, he's going to fail this exam, and he's never failed anything in his life.

"Stupid art principles for being so hard." He mumbles bitterly under his breath, pouting at his notebook. "Stupid guidance counselor for making me take this class." His stomach tightens and a sudden wave of nausea flows through him at the impending doom of his dropped GPA.

Kyungsoo runs a hand through his hair and takes a deep breath, noticing how tight his chest feels. "I'm going to fail. I'm going to flunk out of college. I'm going to end up on the street, selling rice snacks to cars on the side of the highway. I'm going to die a dirty, homeless hobo because i can't understand how the heck light effects painting." Kyungsoo pulls a little too hard on his hair and winces, noticing how his breath is almost to panic attack territory, which he's not unfamiliar with, Kyungsoo's actually on an intimate basis with his anxiety.

"Woah, okay, um breath." A random voice says next to him suddenly.

Kyungsoo turns, his eyes wide, and startled. Not many people try to talk to him, having been labeled as weird and unsociable a long time ago. His surprise doesn't help his breathing though and the stranger seems to notice, his eyes bulging for a second.

"Oh, hey," The man suddenly says. "you got coffee from the new place just off campus." He points to the cup sitting beside Kyungsoo's notebook. "Is it good? I've been wanting to try it."

Kyungsoo's eybrows bunch and he weezes out a, "Yeah."

The stranger nods and considers it for a second. "Do they have other things than just coffee though? I'm not a big fan of it."

Kyungsoo swallows and takes a breath. "Yeah, they have teas and other drinks there."

"What about food? Ooh, do they have bagels? I love bagels" The guys asks, seeming more and more intrigued by this coffee place.

"Oh yeah, i actually had a bagel there the other day." Kyungsoo says his voice a little horse "It was good, and they have other food. I go there all the time."

"Really?" The guys asks. "Would you mind going there with me now? I have some free time between classes and don't like to eat at new places alone."

Kyungsoo understands how he feels and nods, beginning to pack up his things. "Sure, this coffee is old anyways."

The guy smiles brightly, and Kyungsoo blinks at him for a second, wondering why his stomach just turned a little... maybe he's hungry. It has been a little bit since he's eaten.

"Great." The stranger exclaims, helping Kyungsoo pack up. Kyungsoo notes that this guy doesn't make him feel uncomfortable and that's nice.

********

Kyungsoo orders a latte with the foam in the shape of a cat, because they're cute and Kyungsoo likes cute things, almost as much as shiny things, and he likes shiny things almost as much as sparkly things.