DRAMA CLUB | hyunin ✔

.17

"that is not how you do it." chan warned.

"yes, it is." hyunjin retorted.

"have you ever even done this before?"

"of course!" hyunjin snapped back at him, clearly not able to focus anymore, "i've done this countless of times!"

chan snorted. "yeah? because that looks like a first time for me."

"ow!" jeongin cried out, "slow down! are you crazy?"

"maybe if you don't get in the way i can--"

"stop!" chan warned again, now reaching to stop him, "you're going to spill it all over!"

hyunjin dropped the spoon to the ground, face flaming in anger as he turned to chan, the colored water in the glass unchanged and agitated for being stirred mercilessly by hyunjin

"i get that you've done this experiment when you were, like, six months old, Bill Nye, but this is our science project -- mine and jeongin's -- so could you just fuck off for a minute? thanks!"

"wow, hyunjin, calm down!" jeongin said while nursing the finger hyunjin accidentally bruised with the spoon, "he's just here to help."

"well, i don't want his help!"

"well, i do!" jeongin retorted, "none of us are qualified to do this, anyway. let him help us!"

hyunjin had a weird expression on his face while looking at jeongin. "you really don't think i am able to do such a simple thing as combine some freaking color powder and water? is that it?"

"that's not color powder," chan scoffed, "that's tannic acid. and you're supposed to mix it with only water, that's what i've been trying to tell you."

hyunjin remained silent as he listened to chan's explanation, then went back to look at jeongin.

jeongin grimaced, "yeah, i think so."

there was silence.

and then there was the loud banging sound of the door violently closing shut. hyunjin was gone.

jeongin felt an unexplainable pain in his chest. did he say something wrong? they usually bickered like that, why was it different now?

but then he turned to chan's smiling face and there was nothing to worry about, hyunjin being pushed to the back of his mind.

"so, now that he's gone, let's get into it?" chan said, still smiling, and reaching for the glass and spoon.

***

jeongin went to school the next day not as a human, but as a panda, since the dark eye bags were so bad.

he hadn't a blink of sleep the night before, guilt eating him up as he had flashes of hyunjin's hurt face randomly popping up whenever he closed his eyes.

maybe he shouldn't have teamed up with chan on that, maybe he should've sided up with hyunjin and say he believed his science abilities, but then they'd both get low grades! no! he did the right thing. chan really was an expert on that and he would get them a b or even an a! what could hyunjin possibly get them? embarrassment?

jeongin sighed. life was too complicated.

"why are you looking at me like that?" jeongin snapped at felix, who was watching him with disappointment.

"i didn't raise you to be like this." felix reprimanded him.

"what? like this how?"

"this mean! i raised a mean monster!" felix lamented.

"what the hell are you even talking about?" jeongin began to feel annoyed. he was too tired to take any shit like that.

felix was really angry at him: he pointed an accusing finger at jeongin, "don't pretend to not know what you did! you hurt hyunjin!"

"i did not!"

"did too!"

there was a loud shhhhhhhhhhh! from the teacher, startling both of them. jeongin didn't remember going to class. what class was this? what teacher was this?

"mr lee, may i know the reason for all this yelling?" then he turned to jeongin, frowning, "and who are you? you're not in my class!"

god, jeongin needed a nap, quick.

washing up his face in the toilet, jeongin found the reason for all the yelling.

"hey, hyunjin." he greeted him.

hyunjin was leaning on the wall, and had a toothpick between his fingers, like he was smoking it. he gave jeongin a quick, uninterested glance, then went back to stare at the ceiling, not giving him more then a bored hum.

jeongin eyed him up and down.

hyunjin was... not hyunjin anymore. he had on a black leather jacket over an equally black t-shirt, all paired up with black ripped jeans and knee-high black boots. his hair was all over the place and... was that eyeliner?

"jinnie... what is..." jeongin got distracted with the way hyunjin bit into the toothpick and pushed his hair back, "... this?"

hyunjin arched one brow. "this what? the bathroom? the school grounds? or the lack of chan-hyung?"

jeongin blinked rapidly, trying to make sense, "what?"

hyunjin rolled his eyes. eyeliner went well with him, jeongin thought.

"forget it. don't you have classes to attend to?" hyunjin spat.

"don't you?" jeongin didn't remember any of his classes. maybe it was the sleep deprivation and not the way hyunjin spat the toothpick in the trash bin and the heavy sound of his boots on the floor as he walked to the door.

"whatever. see you at rehearsal." hyunjin said simply, and closed the door.