[ ten years ago ]
The first time Jeon Iseul met Ohn Kian was when the latter transferred to their school. He stood out not only because he was wearing a different uniform but because the bastard had always been taller for his age and whether Iseul wanted to admit it or not, he has a handsome face. Aside from the fact that the guy transferred in the middle of the second semester. Iseul was unsure if that was possible or what they did but somehow Kian was allowed to start in the middle of the second semester so Iseul concluded two things. Either Kian was a genius or his parents had money.
He later found out much to his disdain that Ohn Kian had both—he was frustratingly smart and he was born with a silver spoon.
"Please introduce yourself," the teacher turned to Kian who stood there with nonchalance yet he somehow manage to captivate every attention and heart in the room. And Iseul refused to acknowledge the fact that Kian got his attention even when he was combating his drowsiness because he pulled another all-nighter playing his favorite mmorpg. He stared at the guy, his cheek resting against the palm of his hand.
Iseul remembered thinking how fucking bored Kian looked as he grabbed a chalk from the box and just wrote his name on the board. After writing, he placed the chalk back into the box and just lazily bowed down. Iseul wouldn't even call that bowing down if he was honest, it's more of how he just put minimal effort to imitate a bow using his head.
Even when the teacher asked Ohn Kian to sit at the back, on the newly added desk that made the last row uneven, all their classmate's eyes still followed him. They whispered about him. Iseul kept his eyes in front at writing Kian left on the board and as the teacher began to drone about some science lesson that Iseul couldn't be bothered to remember, he closed his eyes and thought of how Kian knew who he was and what he was and because of that he was just insufferably bored.
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⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺ ‧ ⨯. ⁺ ✦ ⊹ . * ꙳ ✦ ⊹
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Iseul was never a good student. He wasn't bad as well but there were days that he would skip classes just to hole up in some computer shop working his way up to ranks in Aesir. It was a newly launched game that was slowly getting popularity among the gaming community. It was a first-person shooting game but unlike what's already out in the market, this one combines magical powers where you will be grouped into two teams with the goal to protect your Yggdrasil sapling while either destroying the opposing team's own sapling or wiping them all out.
Since he was in middle school he had been following the development of the game and being a loyal fan who somehow managed to save enough to at least put some donation on during the time the entire game development team was trying to scour for investors, Iseul had the chance to be one of the beta players of the game. The first runs were absolute disasters with bugs and glitches but as the team continued to develop the game, Iseul just fell in love more with Aesir despite the fact that his game style doesn't seem to match the game.
Though Iseul had more time to be familiar with the Vanirs (the game avatars) his style of game was not strongly suited for attacking and raiding. Iseul was more of a shadow. He lurks behind and allows the other players to shine by guiding them and making sure they're at the right place, at the right time, and using the right skill on the right opponent.
It was the kind of play style not everyone appreciates and most of the time he heard people telling him that he was useless and does nothing but waste people's time. Iseul doesn't mind their words because he knew not everyone will understand how it felt whenever his strategy works. Whenever his /design/ works. It was a satisfaction he could only appreciate.
Sometimes, he does feel bitter about how many don't see the glory of what he does but through time, Iseul had accepted that not everyone will appreciate and understand and it's not the end of the world.
"Iseul, don't you have a class today?" Minho, the assistant in his favorite pc bang, asked.
"The usual place," Iseul refused to reply to his dumb question because the answer was obvious but the thing was if Iseul planned to go to school, he would not be there.
"Bummer, man, someone's there already," Minho shrugged. "Didn't I give you my number? You should have texted me."
Iseul frowned before letting a sigh, "I'll take the seat next to it." If he's lucky whoever took his seat will not stay long. Iseul was planning to play all day since his father was on a business trip and he can stay out late.
"Gotcha!"
The last person Iseul was expecting to see on his spot was Ohn Kian. He may have been what the people in their school call the Ice Prince (which was a huge fucking cringe by the way) but Iseul was so damn sure that the guy was a model student who acts as if no one is ever good enough for his attention.
For a month that Kian started attending school, he only heard the guy speak whenever their English teacher asked him to read page upon page of whatever classic literature they were studying. Apparently, Kian lived for at least seven years in Canada and he can speak really well English. And this Iseul only knew because the English teacher was so impressed and asked Kian about it. In true Kian fashion, the guy answered in few words and didn't entertain other people's questions.
Iseul never tried to strike up a conversation with him. He never tries to breathe his way or looks his way. It was his little way of staying /cool/ because his new hot and handsome classmate meant nothing to him when everyone was out trying to get every bit and piece that Kian has to offer.
He knew he was going to be ignored but Iseul was in a good mood because the chocolate drink he had before going to that place somehow tasted the best for a while. So, he opened his mouth to talk to Ohn Kian as he slump down on the seat next to him.
"I guess we're both missing class today."
Iseul was not expecting any response so he focused on his computer and fired up Aesir. As the loading screen popped up, he pulled his own earphones from his pocket as he yanked off the headphones from the computer, and attached his own. As he was putting his earphones on, Kian spoke.
"It's not like anyone will die if we skip a day."
Iseul turned to him, "Well... I wouldn't really say that."
Kian turned to him, eyebrow quirked up.
"You know what they say that everything and everyone is connected. That a single drop of water can cause a ripple," Iseul replied. Kian held his gaze. Iseul was somehow compelled to continue. "Let's say you take a bus to school and since you are not going to school, the seat you are supposed to take was then taken by a suspicious man and this man was drowning in debt. As he sat there he was sweating bricks, holding unto a gun that he hide in his coat. Somehow something happened and he was pushed onto the edge, he began to hijack the bus and accidentally shot the driver. Without a driver, the bus swerved and crashed killing everyone on board."
Kian's brows furrowed into a frown, "And how is that my fault?"
"Well, if you had ridden the bus this morning, the guy won't have anywhere to sit down and he would have left the bus as he stood waiting for another one at the bus stop he saw a flyer of a place looking for workers and as he held that flyer he decided that he needed to turn his life around."
Iseul was surprised when he heard Kian snort and then burst into low chuckles. "You have a great imagination."
"Thanks, I was born with it," Iseul turned to his pc, stopping a smile from blooming in his lips. He entered his username and password as he was taken to the lobby of the game.
"What's that?" Kian asked staring at Iseul's computer screen.
"This?" Iseul grinned maniacally. "This is the best game you'll ever play in your life."
Kian doesn't look convinced.
"Let me help you register," Iseul offered as he turned to Kian's computer. Kian gestured for him to take over and Iseul was quick to pull Aesir and its website to create an account for Kian. "What username do you want? You got to choose carefully, your username is forever."
"There's no such thing as forever," Kian huffed.
"Alright, Mr. Emo. Chill out with the angst we're only playing Aesir." Iseul grinned. "So, username?"
Kian replied, "Nevermore."
Seven years after when dungeons suddenly burst and took over, Iseul still refuses to admit how much he thought that Kian's chosen username was cool.