Incessant chatter and the occasional laugh are what Choi Soobin hears as he rests his palm under his chin and props his elbow on the face of his desk. His jaded stare is aimed toward the east wall of the classroom, seemingly focused somewhere outside the laboratory window, and he stays silent. The boys around him scramble to finish the potion's assignment they had been given at the beginning of the lecture, and he's glad they don't try to talk to him. Instead, they allow him to keep to himself; he is grateful. There are clutters of raindrops painting the glass, and he's been counting them one by one as the commotion goes on around him. It's all he's been focusing on as the minutes tick by.
Just as he's reached fifty-four, though, he hears one of the boys in the seats next to him speak up. Most likely to his friend at the table behind them, but still loud enough for Soobin to catch.
"—And I heard she'll be here at the new student's assembly tomorrow. Can you imagine the possibilities?" The blonde-haired boy says smugly, tone dripping sickly in what Soobin can only describe as want. He frowns further into his palm and keeps his gaze away from the two boys. After all, they are just needy teenagers, and Soobin doesn't really know them anyway. He decides after that to continue minding his own business, glancing down at his completed assignment before sighing. He always finishes first. The only downside? Having to endure everyone else around who hasn't.
"Hey Soobin." A voice tears his gaze away from his paper and up to a pair of round, excited eyes staring back at him. Soobin blinks once at his friend, Beomgyu, before arching a brow in question. Beomgyu simply laughs and drags his stool over to sit across from Soobin at his desk.
"Did you know? New student's assembly tomorrow, and get this, they're allowing a girl to enroll." The younger boy beams, a slight lilt to his words as he playfully smacks the older boy's arm. Soobin drops his arm onto his desk and sighs again, his friend's word's not exciting him in the slightest.
"Yeah, so I've heard."
"It's like the first time in history there's ever been a girl allowed at Axiom. Like, can you believe that? Why now? Have they even thought about how risky it could be having a girl-"
"I think they know what they're doing, Beom."
Soobin tilts his head and looks toward Professor Song in boredom, watching as he flips through the course syllabus, before adding, "And anyway, why do you even care about some girl enrolling? She's a complete stranger."
"Because," Beomgyu says, wagging his finger knowingly in his friend's face, "Not only is everyone talking about it, but she's going to be living on campus just like the rest of us. Maybe this will be my chance to finally get a girlfriend."
Soobin nods absentmindedly at Beomgyu's words, knowing that every single boy in the academy has the exact same thought.
Well, every boy except him.
It's not that he doesn't like girls or anything – he likes them very much – It's just that he has a tendency to strike out when it came to members of the opposite sex. That and all his focus is usually on his studies; he figures throwing a girl into the mix will just add unnecessary stress into his life. So, he simply keeps to himself. No girlfriend and only a few close friends at the academy. That's all Soobin has.
"Anyway," Beomgyu's voice broke Soobin out of his thoughts once again, "Yeonjun said he'd save us a spot in the dining-hall after potions class ends, so we should probably meet him after."
The dark-haired boy nods at this, perking up just slightly. He is starving, and he misses his other friends. Lunch time was one of his favorite times of the day.
The sound of a beaker tipping and shattering, and loud laughter exploding from a table across the room causes Soobin to sigh again, and he's looking out the window of the room once more as Beomgyu suddenly dives into a conversation with someone at the table over.
Dark, booming clouds can be seen rolling in steadily from the distance, and Soobin takes a deep breath.
Maybe soon, things will be different.
-
"Hello losers." Yeonjun says in a sing-song voice as he slides into an empty chair at his friend's table in the dining-hall. Beomgyu and Soobin greet him off-handedly before he hums in excitement, already lifting his chopsticks to start devouring his lunch.
"Oh, Jun, have you heard-"
"Yes, I've heard." Yeonjun responds around a mouthful of chicken, already knowing the main topic of Beomgyu's conversation. Soobin laughs at this, eyes crinkling as he glances momentarily up at Yeonjun from his book. This causes his friend to smirk cockily before speaking again.
"Everyone's heard." He adds, grinning at his friend before going in for some rice.
"Clearly not everyone's heard," A voice calls out as they slide into one of the chairs as well, curiosity peaking as they look at Yeonjun with an expecting gaze, "What's up?"
"New student enrolling tomorrow. A girl." Beomgyu answers for Yeonjun, wiggling his brows at the younger red head across from him easily. The red head – Tae, according to his closest friends – perks up significantly at this; eyes blown wide in the process.
"What?" He asks.
Yeonjun and Beomgyu nod at him at the same time, confirming his question. Soobin merely flips through his spells book lying open on the table, mouthing the printed ink as he reads quietly to himself. He seems uninterested, but truthfully, he's listening. He just hopes the conversation about the curious new student dies down soon. He's getting bored of everyone talking about it.
"And they're just... allowing it?" Taehyun asks, starting to eat his own meal now, "Where is she even going to stay?"
"She's going to have her own room, I guess. No roommate, which must be nice." Beomgyu says the last part quietly, side eyeing the older, blue-haired boy who sits next to him. He doesn't notice his friend's cheap shot, instead he continues to eat his meal, a content smile on his lips.
"Anyway," Beomgyu continues, "She's all everyone's talking about, and she's not even here yet. She'll probably be the most popular person here once she starts."
"What if she's not cute?" Yeonjun teases, eyes glinting, "Doubt she'll be popular then."
"Yah!" Soobin says, flicking Yeonjun's forehead suddenly, "Stop talking shit. Just leave it."
The rest of the boys laugh at Soobin's action and Yeonjun rubs his forehead in pain, glaring at Soobin. "I'm just being honest!"
"Can we please talk about something else?" Soobin asks, finally closing his textbook before looking around at his friends pleadingly, "Literally anything else."
"Fine, how was potions?" Tae asks after groaning, looking at Soobin questioningly.
"He finished first as always." Beomgyu answers for Soobin, gaze flashing toward the black-haired boy before shrugging, "Him and his big brain."
"It was fine." Soobin finally answers, trying to defend himself somehow as he furrows his brow and lays his chin on his folded arms resting on the table. "Professor Song wants us to work on our love potions next class."
"The love potion was such bullshit." Yeonjun rolls his eyes, referring to his time in potions last fall. "It barely works."
"Just because you tried using it on your crush in the town over, Jun. Not even a potion could have made her have it bad for you." Soobin shoots back. The boys laugh again and Yeonjun slumps back into his chair, muttering a, "Whatever." Before the conversation shifts yet again. Soobin sits back and finally starts eating off his own plate, enjoying the light chatting going on around him amidst his friends. He's chewing on a piece of beef before Taehyun leans in to speak to him quietly.
"So you're really not excited about the new girl enrolling?"
Soobin gives him a glance before nodding gently, "Not really. It's just a girl."
"I know," Taehyun says softly, "But I figured you'd be at least a little excited. All the guys are."
This causes the older boy to shrug and continue eating, "I'm not really too bothered by it. I'm more worried about classwork, if I'm being honest."
Taehyun laughs at this and nods, agreeing with his friend before he drops it and joins in on the conversation the other boys are having. Soobin feels his thoughts start to reel in his head as he decides to sit the gossip out. It's not like more won't occur later.
Suddenly, Soobin is thinking about Taehyun's words from earlier, and something about it doesn't sit right with him. Sometimes, Soobin wishes he could just be like everyone else.
He wishes he could just blend in entirely.
-
Classes pass in a blur of spells and textbooks after lunch ends, and before Soobin knows it, he's in the hallway making his way back to his shared dorm room. The heavy weight of his textbooks begging to be opened and worked on is evident in his black bag swung over his shoulder, and he weaves through the crowd of other students easily, tall figure looming over a lot of the heads around him.
Once he finally arrives at his dorm and enters, he's slipping his wand into the pocket of his jacket and resting it on the back of his desk chair, noticing his roommate actually present too. His roommate, a man by the name of Lee Jeno, isn't around often. He's either in lectures, on the courtyard playing sports, or studying with his other friends in the library. He only ever comes to the dorm to sleep, but Soobin doesn't mind. They get along well enough anyway.
"Hey Soobin." Jeno says with a kind eye smile when he comes in, giving him a half wave after raising his nose from the book balanced against his knees. He's in bed, body leaning against the headboard, and a pair of glasses are perched on the bridge of his nose. He's still wearing his uniform, except his button up shirt is haphazardly only done up about halfway, and his hair is slighty messy. Soobin doesn't ask – he assumes Jeno has had about the same type of day he has. It's understandable without the need for explanation. Soobin gets it.
"Hey Jeno." Soobin says back, dimples indenting in his cheeks at he grins at his roommate politely. He bites the inside of his lip absentmindedly before dropping his bag next to his desk and rummaging around in his closet for some more comfortable clothes. Unlike his blonde roommate, he prefers pajamas to their school uniform. He'd wear them all the time if he could.
"Did you hear?" Jeno asks, and Soobin mentally prepares for the same conversation he's heard all day long. However, he's pleasantly surprised when his roommate speaks again.
"They're adding fudge cake to the dining-hall menu. How great is that?"
Soobin can't help the gleeful laugh that escapes his throat, and he nods at Jeno, "I didn't know. That sounds great Jeno."
Jeno smiles before dipping his head down toward the pages of his astronomy book, and Soobin sees this as his cue to move toward the small bathroom the two share. After he's done brushing his teeth and getting into his nightwear, he moves back into the small room and toward his desk. It's relatively clean from his last study session, and he tugs his backpack over to unzip it and rummage through his books before pulling a few out. His agenda for the night consists of Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, and Herbology. He would rather be doing anything else.
The hours begin to pass, and the only noise accompanying the scratching of Soobin's quill is Jeno's book pages being turned. Six in the evening soon turns to seven, and then eight, and before either of the boys know it, it is already eleven in the evening.
This is when Soobin finally leans back in his desk chair and stretches his aching limbs, deciding on calling it a night. He figures the same of Jeno, who finally lets his book pages fall closed and tosses it onto the nightstand near his bed.
"Lights out?" Jeno asks the taller boy, giving him a small grin as he takes his glasses off and sets them near the abandoned book. Soobin nods and turns off his desk lamp, moving toward his bed as Jeno turns his own lamp out as well.
Soobin pulls the covers back, climbs in, and moves around a bit until he is settled. The darkness is comforting, inviting him to sleep as he finally allows his body to go slack with relaxation.
"Night, Soobin." Jeno says through the darkness, and Soobin can already feel himself drifting away.
"Night, Jeno." He replies softly.
And then he is already dozing off, thoughts already running with the worries and anxieties of how tomorrow will go.