three: candy

TWO YEARS LATER

Some days, Jeong-Soon wants to metamorphose into a rock.

Today is one of those days, when everything is just a little too annoying. His friends are too noisy, his girlfriend is too clingy, and his homework is too difficult. But if there's one thing Jeong-Soon's known for, it's keeping a cool head at all times, so he tries to block the world's tomfoolery out and focus on the sums spread before him.

"You can do that tonight, come on," Dillon whines, tugging at Jeong-Soon's sleeve.

"Mia's coming over tonight. I don't want to have to do homework while she hangs out with me," Jeong-Soon replies. Although his girlfriend may be overly attached at times, he still likes her enough to want uninterrupted private time with her.

"No problem, dude. She can come over to mine instead." Dillon laughs at his own joke, and Jeong-Soon gives him a smile for his efforts. "Seriously, you can do that after school."

"I have music class."

"Tomorrow?"

"It's two weeks overdue."

"So?"

"Ms Eliza's threatening to call my parents."

"Joke's on her, then," Dillon says, eyes twinkling behind his thick wire-frames. "Because you don't---" Then his smile drops off his face, sinking into the unspoken list of untouchable topics. Dead parents is at the top of said list, along with pineapple on pizza (Dillon hates it, Jeong-Soon worships it) and whether Lana Delgado is hot or not (she's definitely hot, but being exes with her has made Dillon bitter). "Right. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Jeong-Soon bites his lip. Every time someone brings it up, the crunch of metal and rubber and glass still fills his ears. He pushes his exercise book away. "You're right. I can do it later."

"Awesome!" Dillon pumps a fist in the air. "I'll go tell the guys! We're bound to win with you on our team!"

Once Dillon's out of sight, Jeong-Soon lets out a quiet sigh. It's a common misconception that tall people are better at basketball, but unfortunately for him, he seems to fit that sterotype perfectly. Which sucks, because he'd rather spend his free periods doing something other than tossing an orange ball into a hoop.

As he strides in the direction that Dillon had bounced out from, Jeong-Soon tries to look on the bright side of things, like he usually does. Basketball's been a great way for him to meet new people, and he likes being around people. And the wind under his feet when he jumps always feels like an ultraviolet glissando, propelling him up, up, up until his fingertips find the blue of the sky.

"You're gonna wear jeans to play?" Sully questions once Jeong-Soon gets to the court. Sully is huge---he has to be, being the principal's son and all. Refusing to play into the stereotype of the bullied, goody-two-shoes nerd, he'd bulked up, grown to six-foot-five, and gotten rid of the unfortunate name of Sullivan. Sully doesn't like many people, but he likes Jeong-Soon. Jeong-Soon's grateful for that.

Jeong-Soon shrugs. "I wasn't planning on playing today."

"Twerp dragged you over?"

"My best friend dragged me over," Jeong-Soon corrects.

Sully scowls. "We're getting a newbie tomorrow. Dad told me so. He also told me to stay away from the kid."

Jeong-Soon's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "I thought the school didn't have any more space for new kids."

Sully shrugs. "Dunno. Guess his dad pulled some favours or something. Emergency case. He got expelled from Northtide. Broke someone's leg."

Jeong-Soon winces. "He sounds like trouble."

Sully frowns. "That's what Dad says. But Dad's full of shit."

Someone lobs a basketball at Jeong-Soon, and it rolls to the ground at his feet. He picks it up. The ball is in his court, and all he has to do is play.

٩( ᐛ )و

When Jeong-Soon's not concentrating, he lets his fingers run over the music room's ancient piano at their own will. They wander in single notes with forlorn plinks, lost and confused and alone. And they always stay that way until Mia waltzes in, her head wrapped in a cloud of cotton-candy curls that never fail to make Jeong-Soon want to touch them. Then his notes grow stronger, chords stacking up on each other until a song finally spreads its way across the piano.

Today, though, he can't seem to bring himself to care about the chords. Instead, he continues randomly tapping keys with the tips of his fingernails, even when Mia saunters in. He adds some double notes. A suspension follows. It's 6 5, the least preferred.

"Hey," Mia says, peering over his shoulder. Jeong-Soon takes his time in turning to her, dropping his hand down on the piano at random. Csus4. Then he swivels around to face his girlfriend, who smiles at him prettily. The scent of her trademark bubblegum perfume fills his nostrils.

"Hey," Jeong-Soon greets back. He returns the grin. "Where's everyone else?"

"You're too early, babe." Mia settles herself down on the piano bench, nestling into his side. Jeong-Soon finally takes his hands off the piano, running three fingers through his girlfriend's soft, dark curls. "Magnus and Aimee were going out to get boba when I saw them."

Jeong-Soon nods distractedly. He does recall Magnus rushing up to him after school with a hurried, Dude, wanna double-date for boba? He'd declined---politely, of course. "You didn't join them?"

"I wanted some quality time with my boyfriend." Mia puts her arms around him. Jeong-Soon leans down, tucking his head into her shoulder and breathing in her scent. She's sweet---almost like candy in his veins.

"You're already coming over tonight."

"I can never get enough of you." Her words are a songless flutter in his chest, and Jeong-Soon tries not to think too hard. It's always like that, think think think, until he's successfully managed to poison his own mind against the whole world. He doesn't want to do that. Not to Mia, not to his friends, not to everyone. They don't deserve his distrust. They don't deserve to be emotionally kicked out of his life by the hole in his heart.

"You're right." Jeong-Soon lifts his face from his girlfriend's shoulder. He traces the outline of her face, circling her chubby cheeks with his index finger before quickly booping her nose, unable to stop the chuckle that escapes his mouth. Mia looks stunned for a moment before breaking into giggles and immediately heading straight for Jeong-Soon's nose in retaliation.

"Boop!" Mia chirps, her dark curls bouncing around her head as she laughs. She raises her hand to Jeong-Soon's cheek and starts tracing invisible hearts over his face. Jeong-Soon can't help the way his soul comes to life at her touch, melting into the playful caress of her soft fingers.

She chooses that moment to throw her arms around him, making them both nearly fall off the piano bench. When Mia starts giggling again, Jeong-Soon can't help himself from following suit, and they end up tumbling onto the floor anyway in a heap of uncontrollable cackles.

Somehow, Jeong-Soon ends up on top, one hand threaded in his girlfriend's hair, the other laced tight in her palm. In this position, they're pressed chest to chest, and their hearts pound as one. He can feel the melody of their matching heartbeats twining together, note to note, rest to rest, an orchestra spelling out their love story in the stars.

Candy lingers in every inch of Mia's being, from her hair to her midnight eyes to her beautiful smile. He could kiss her right now. He could probably hover his mouth over hers, a silent request for permission. And she would probably press their lips together herself.

Before Jeong-Soon can carry out his plan, the door swings open.

"Dumb fucking balloon-titted slut!" a voice shouts. A very familiar voice.

Jeong-Soon's about to wrack his brain for the voice's source, but its owner's already stomping into the tiny music room with long, aggressive strides. A pair of ripped black jeans come into sight, followed by a torso clad in an ebony t-shirt and a scarlet jacket. A longish neck follows, and on that neck sits a head. The boy is wiry, Asian, and probably a few inches shorter than Jeong-Soon himself, but it takes Jeong-Soon a few moments to register the boy's other features---scruffy dark hair, tanned skin, and fury-filled eyes so black he can't distinguish the irises from the pupils.

But it's his lips that really catch Jeong-Soon's attention---mainly because he's a hundred percent certain he's kissed those lips before.

The boy's gaze momentarily fixes on Jeong-Soon and Mia. "Fuck, sorry, I didn't realise there were other people here---" He cuts off suddenly, doing a double take as his black-eyed stare scans Jeong-Soon again.

Jeong-Soon doesn't reply. He can't. His heart feels like it's stopped in his chest. But it hasn't, because he's still alive. There's no more blood in his veins, though---it's all run cold, freezing in place until he can barely breathe.

Memories from two years ago, memories that he thought he'd long buried, flood his mind. A music festival, two pairs of headphones---and a boy. A boy with dark eyes that had made Jeong-Soon dizzy. A boy with a mouth of sin. A boy with music vibrating through his bones. And danger, pure danger, the thrill that had shot through him upon pressing their mouths together, the adrenaline rush he'd felt tugging at his fingertips.

Jeong-Soon wants to think that this is all a dream, that the person who'd given him trust issues isn't standing just a few feet away from him. That the boy who'd disappeared out of his life just as easily as he'd slipped in isn't back in it.

But deep down, Jeong-Soon knows it isn't a dream. No matter how much he tries to deny it, the only person he'd ever kissed is standing in his after-school music class, and all he can remember is how Gregory Gan had rushed out of his existence, leaving behind nothing. Not a trace. Not a text. Not even a ghost.

for, uh, tax purposes---sex scenes: yea or nay? (please answer this question, it's ViTaL for my ReSeArCh)

i have a challenge for you, my precious smol beans! there is one obvious (intentional) song reference in this chapter! hint: this song was released on 6 May 2015, but it was very popular on social media last year :) let's see if you can find the reference and name the song!

glissando — a continuous slide upwards or downwards between two notes

suspension — where a note from a chord is held whilst the other notes of the chord change to a new harmony. a 6 5 suspension (stylised as ⁶ ⁵ suspension) is the least preferred suspension type

Csus4 — a chord made out of C F G (do fa so)

now let's have a round of applause for Gregory Gan, who's possibly made one of the worst first (second?) impressions ever

anyways, thank you for supporting this book, my precious smol beans! i hope you're enjoying it so far and that you'll stick around for the rest of the ride! and to my fellow ONC peeps, once again, good luck!

xoxo, Alex