Everything You Do Is Magic | seventeen au

Chapter 8: Muffins On Claws

Sociology was their first class at eight, and the subject had always fascinated Seungkwan. He looked at himself as a people person, which meant that learning about how human interaction and human thoughts shaped the society they lived in today proved very interesting to him.

"I heard from the seniors that Ms. Mo's been through a break-up this past weekend," Joowon whispered to Seungkwan just as she's close enough to do so and even before she's placed her bag down. "They said she's like a ticking time bomb just waiting for an unfortunate student to set her off."

"You think she'll ask us to pass our papers by tomorrow?" Seungkwan stopped sipping on his iced coffee in sudden worry. "I haven't even gotten through half of the pages she assigned."

Joowon had a similar fashion sense to Seungkwan. They both gravitated to more colorful, pastel colors, which was the main reason Seungkwan had befriended the girl in the first place. He watched her dig around her purse. "Hopefully not. Has Hansol made any progress?"

Seungkwan turned to his left where Hansol was listening through his wireless earphones, his attention solely on his tablet. He was reading a textbook, Seungkwan wasn't sure for which class. He didn't like disturbing Hansol when the other was obviously in the zone. "He would have told me if he finished," Seungkwan settled on saying.

Ms. Mo still hasn't made an appearance, so Joowon proceeded to show Seungkwan messages from her group chat. One of her friends was having boy troubles and she needed Seungkwan's opinion on the matter because even without any first-hand experience at being in a relationship whatsoever, Seungkwan was obviously a great advice giver.

In the middle of explaining to Joowon how relationships needed compromise and effort, Seungkwan heard deep voices behind him. Three men had stopped by Hansol's desk, Seungkwan only knew two of them. The one speaking to Hansol was Byun Minjun, also a liberal arts student. "Hansol-ssi, you up for a little get-together this Saturday? My sister's been bugging me to invite you." Minjun had an easy smile on his face, hand tucked into his pocket.

It didn't matter how nonchalant the man seemed because to Seungkwan, Minjun was intimidating. Seungkwan had tried to be friendly towards him once. Minjun had just brushed him off like he was dust on his brown leather jacket.

Hansol took out one of his earphones and gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, can't make it. Already have plans."

"Come on, I'm sure this is going to be more exciting than anything you have planned," The other man who spoke was in some of Seungkwan's classes. Chong Dungha squeezed Hansol's shoulder in a friendly display. Dungha was a teddy bear compared to Minjun; he was wearing a fluffy turtleneck for crying out loud. "What are these super important plans that you have, anyway?"

"Seungkwan and I have been wanting to try out this new arcade that opened. I do appreciate the invite though," Hansol answered casually, like he hadn't just come up with that lie on the spot, like Seungkwan wasn't just there sitting next to him.

Minjun's glance shifted to Seungkwan. Seungkwan felt his eyebrows shot up at the sudden eye-contact. Was that a glare Minjun gave him? The man's face turned away before Seungkwan could confirm. "Miya's going to be bummed out you won't be there," Minjun said, already back to talking to Hansol. "We'll see you around, yeah?"

Hansol gave his own easy smile in return. By that time, most of the students in Seungkwan's class had already settled to their own seats. Jowoon had been whisked into another conversation (she and Seungkwan were definitely more alike than he originally thought), so Seungkwan was free to interrogate Hansol once Minjun and Dungha said bye to their friend and were seated near the back of the lecture room.