You Are (Not) a Cursed Boy // 2ho/yunjong

I Told You to Leave Me

Being the last to pick their meals, Seonghwa and Hongjoong looked around the overcrowded canteen in search of their friends. Mingi spotted them first and waved them over to a table at the very far end of the room, next to a window.

As they slowly made their way through the crowd, Hongjoong turned to his companion, who had to raise his voice over the incessant chatter. "By the way, did you end up telling off Jongho this morning?"

"Who?" Hongjoong squeezed in between two juniors, thinking about all the rule-breakers he encountered this morning. "Ah, that one. Nope, I only handed out a slip to one student today, and it was because I caught her roaming in the halls in the middle of a lesson. Sent her to the principal's office. Why?"

Seonghwa garnered his friend's attention, but there was still no sign of recognition. "Just curious," he shrugged with a wistful smile. "I heard you're one of the most insufferable student presidents we ever had."

Hongjoong scoffed. "Yah, what do you mean? Still regretting giving me the spot? I doubt you'd be any better than me, Park Seonghwa."

"What's this prattle about?" Yeosang asked as the two of them sat down. Then he turned this way and that, as if looking for something. "Wait, didn't Yunho come with you?"

San stood up on his seat and surveyed the area, using Mingi's head as support. There was no way they could miss a white-haired boy among the sea of black and brown. "Nope, not here. Is he still in the washroom?"

Suddenly, Mingi elbowed Wooyoung exaggeratedly, almost causing San to lose his balance and Wooyoung to choke himself with the chopsticks in his hand. "Look, look, isn't that him?"

All six of them followed Mingi's gaze to the canteen entrance, where a long queue of students were waiting to get their lunch. Close to the front of the line, Yunho looked like he was talking to the person next to him.

Using his chopsticks, Wooyoung pointed at the tray next to his. "But his food is here, why is he lining up again?"

"Ah, Wooyoung, did the economics test fry your brain just now?" Mingi ruffled Wooyoung's mauve hair and laughed. San, who was sitting directly opposite of Wooyoung, was practically shooting lasers at Mingi. "That dude's obviously Jongho."

"Tsk-tsk. Look at his face, that cherubic smile. No wonder he got the Friendship Award five years in a row during primary school." Yeosang took a sip of his orange juice, whilst Mingi stared at him with puzzlement. Yeosang ignored his question about what cherubic meant.

Meanwhile, Wooyoung chewed on his kimchi loudly. "How can Yunho be so chill? If I were him, I would've beaten up that guy for slamming into me."

San chuckled, clearly amused. "Sounds like you're jealous that Yunho's being nicer to a stranger than he is to you."

In response, Wooyoung blew away a few strands of his fringe away from his face and smirked. "Why would I, when I already have you?"

A blush crept up San's neck and cheeks, almost as red as the highlights in his hair. Everyone else laughed, except Seonghwa. He wasn't paying attention to their conversation, and was instead studying Yunho and Jongho from behind his wire-rimmed glasses with a frame that glimmered under the sun.

"Shouldn't you go back to your table?" Jongho cleared his throat with slight annoyance. He didn't understand why Yunho was following him around, when he made him fall in the corridor earlier. "I don't think your friends will like it if you're talking to me. You should leave me. I'm an outcast."

Yunho seemed oblivious to Jongho's irritation, or decided to deliberately ignore it, because instead of replying directly, he said, "whatever, I'm not hungry yet. You look familiar to me, but I guess it's because we study in the same year. What classes do you take?"

Jongho suppressed his urge to sigh. He thought that if he kept quiet, maybe Yunho would eventually give up and go away. He didn't want to give Yunho the impression that he was insolent, but he had a feeling this was the only way to drive Yunho away. He was in no mood to make friends, even if he wanted to, which he didn't. He never would, not after what had happened the last time he tried.

Plus, he felt like someone was spying on him at that moment, making him uncomfortable. He glanced around the canteen, and there, at the far end: the same pair of cat eyes from this morning. This time, shivers went down Jongho's spine.

He turned around swiftly and narrowed his eyes at Yunho. "Your friend keeps staring at me."

Yunho spotted Seonghwa and laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, Seonghwa's the type to quietly observe everything around him instead of taking action. I bet he's just thinking of a way to approach you." Then, he turned his back to Jongho, who was filling his tray with food, and gestured to Seonghwa to look away and stop being such a creep.

Seonghwa pretended to listen for a while, but as soon as Yunho looked away, he continued watching them, feeling entertained.

Jongho took that chance to skip ahead, hoping that Yunho would lose him among everyone else, but Yunho was tall enough to spot Jongho near the vending machine. Jongho cursed mentally and started to run away, but something made him stop in his tracks.

Yunho was fast-walking towards Jongho, while a student, probably one or two years younger, was running across with a tray in one hand and a bowl of hot soup in another - that kid must've been an idiot!

The accident occurred and ended faster than Jongho could think, "holy shi--", but he clearly saw everything that happened right in front of him.

The junior tripped - of course -, sending the things he was holding into the air. Yunho, who was right in the student's path, halted and stuck his hands out, as if he wanted to catch the tray. Before Jongho could react, the tray landed perfectly in Yunho's arms, only a few pieces of radish and rice falling to the floor.

There was no time to be satisfied. Jongho watched in horror as the hot liquid flew out of the flying bowl, coming straight at Yunho, who paid no attention. Jongho was already bracing for the impact when the impossible happened. A short girl, looking like she was late for a meeting, dashed in front of Yunho towards the exit. Startled, he raised his arms to let the girl past, and by doing so, he protected his head. The soup deflected off the tray, most of it ending up on the floor, while some of the fluid splashed to nearby students.

Seonghwa saw everything, and was standing up to go check on Yunho. When he approached, he realized his help was not needed.

Jongho gave his lunch to a random person next to him and rushed to Yunho. "Are you okay?"

Yunho nodded, somehow still smiling. "Yea--"

Jongho took the tray from Yunho's hands and put it on a nearby table. Then, he pulled Yunho to the side, away from the mess on the floor. Neither of them had noticed Seonghwa yet.

"I told you to leave me," Jongho hissed, his grip on Yunho's forearm getting stronger.

Yunho winced at the pain, but didn't complain. "Please calm down, Jongho. I'm not even hurt, look." He used his free arm to gesture his whole body, which was indeed spotless. Not even a drop of sauce got onto his shoes, which almost seemed impossible.

"You didn't have to give away your lunch... do you want some of mine?" Yunho's smile was back, but Jongho only glared at him. He flung Yunho's arm away harshly and tromped towards the exit.

Seonghwa was standing near the doorway, and when Jongho passed by, he thought for sure he heard him mumble, "you should've stayed away... then none of that would've happened."

—

Author's Note:

Finally, some drama! It took a while for the interesting parts to come out but I promise it will only get more exciting from now on, so stick around!

I hope you enjoyed reading ☺️

- Nerdy Giraffe