chenle awkwardly wandered into the canteen as he always did at lunchtime, but he struggled a great deal to find an inoffensive spot to sit. somewhere he wouldn't have been bothering anyone.

jisung had told him to make some friends, and to hide the fact that their socially illegal friendship existed at all. he did look a bit suspicious at this stage; keeping to himself and disappearing conveniently. but that was why he chose to keep this up for a couple of months...so that nobody would question why he was leaving. friends liked answers, and so far he had a decent relationship with jaemin, an unsteady one with donghyuck who was a senior in his performance group, and various other acquaintances whom didn't approach him too often.

he lowered his head and avoided bumping into people as he headed for the back. the noise levels were always high in here and it was usually due to the snide comments the ebony and ivory classes tended to pass above speaking level just to get on each other's nerves.

heck, even now the new boy was walking past a table whereupon he heard something similar. "they sucked so bad in the last war, huh? their warriors are outnumbered by their little princesses."

damn, i don't want to end up that salty, chenle thought and thought too deeply about it before accidentally knocking off another ivory kid's shoulder. it send both him and the other stumbling a little, but not dramatically or anything.

"ah, i'm so sorry!" he bowed quickly. "i wasn't paying attention and..." crap, it's our prince. of all the people in the goddamn ivory class—

"it's fine. thank god we weren't carrying trays," the bluette smiled softly and fixed his white jacket. his eyes then flicked back to his junior, and he folded his arms. "i don't believe we've met yet. you're a first year?"

"yeah, i am. and don't worry," he panicked and blushed like a cherry tomato, "i know who you are. i'm not that dumb..."

"oh!" lee jeno clapped his hands together and produced the cutest smile the younger teen had ever seen. "you must be the transfer then. hyuck told me we had one, although you're not really a warrior...huh?"

"no, not at all." damn it, this is embarrassing. i'm not special and i can't hide that. "m'sorry i bumped into you."

"no biggie. were you going to sit with someone? apparently you're struggling in that area...jaemin told me a bit about you. i suppose i'm the one in charge of helping newbies out."

"i could honestly die right now..."

"don't be embarrassed. it's hard to get to know people around here when you're late. we're all sort of bloodthirsty, huh? with the wars and all that."

"oh my god, i said it aloud," chenle cringed and pulled his sleeves over his hands. "but yeah, i guess i'm pushing myself away from the others."

"then come with me. my table can be a little resting point until you fly off and find your own one, yeah?"

he's so nice...

"you look like me when i used to do that," renjun sighed and waved his hand in front of jisung's face. "earth to ji. commander, you're going to crash."

"what? oh, i'm listening."

"then what did i say?"

"you're gonna crash."

"crash what?"

"you're...car?"

"c'mon, man. i don't even drive. what's with the staring, hm? i did that when i was falling for that moron over there," he jabbed his thumb in the ivory side's direction. "so who's it for you?"

"i'm not staring at anyone specifically. y'know, just scoping out those losers, right?"

"right. that's why you followed someone with your eyes, yeah? planning to ambush them?"

"come on, renjun. lay off. did i bully you this much over donghyuck? no. no i didn't."

"beep, wrong. you did. and now it's my turn."

"your turn hasn't arrived yet, because there is no one in that class for me. got it?"

the older's gaze narrowed and he slowly ate his noodles while holding eye contact. the noise was obnoxious, and the glare was starting to make jisung sweat nervously. as it continued for another minute, that was when the pinkette decided enough was enough.

"anyway, the weather is looking g—"

"oh just spill the beans! do it! tell me!"

"shhhhh!"

"don't shush me you suspicious bitch. fess up to your sins."

"who's sinning?" one of their seniors enquired from the table beside them. jungwoo pushed his chair back a bit to squish his face over in their direction, always a complete hound for gossip. "i had no fun in first year. jisung, what's your secret?"

"back it up. there is no secret."

"that's guilty..."

"right?" renjun waved his chopsticks. "disappearing after dinner, coming to the dorm late, staring at those disappointments in white—"

"ooooh, that's a problem. get that fixed," jungwoo nodded along. "ivory are a rash, don't you know?"

"look, i'm done with this conversation. if you're gonna keep hounding me for answers i don't have, then i'm gonna go." jisung pushed his untouched food away from him and pushed his seat out to get ready to leave. "seriously renjun, we're best friends. where're the boundaries?"

"besties don't have boundaries. you know everything about me. bedside i trusted you. where's this secrecy coming from?"

the youngest was gritting his teeth tightly and feeling a mixture of guilt, anger and nerves stab him at every angle. he had been staring at chenle and lee jeno from across the canteen, wondering what his somewhat socially inept model would've been doing with the likes of him. it made him grumpy but he also felt tired. tired of late nights, weird questions and wondering what was waiting for him around the corner.

two months had never felt like such a long time.

"i'll tell you eventually. when i figure out what it is i'm supposed to say," he sassed and got up, leaving a baffled chinese boy and an intrigued senior behind.

more like when i work out how the fuck i'm suppose to juggle this mess without dropping the components.