[Chapter 7]

                                    

                                          
Sunoo yawned as he reached the school gates, his slumped posture reflecting his mood going into the school day. He prayed to the lord above, that the students had already moved past what happened yesterday, because if not, he was going to be in for another rough one. 
Like always, his white air force ones hit the concrete, no longer bringing with them a nobody. He put a lot more effort into his outfit today [aka making it more basic], knowing that people were going to be looking at him. He wore a light denim jacket, with a white shirt underneath, and black high-waisted jeans.
He checked his phone for any messages from Jake, the boy was running late today. Even though they both slept through their alarms. Sunoo literally went to his own house, got a shower, and picked an outfit, before Jake had even climbed out of bed. Sunghoon had left before both of them, not bothering to wake them up. He used the excuse that they looked too cute to wake up, but Sunoo reckoned he just wanted them to be late.
There was no messages, so Sunoo tucked his phone back into his pocket, and walked towards the school. He took the main path, listening to the morning wildlife. He liked hearing the birds chirping, and stopped to admire one of the Robbin's that sat on a tree branch. That's when he noticed something abnormal next to one of the bushes in the distance. He decided to investigate.
"Jiwon?"
"Shhhhhhh."
The girl grabbed Sunoo's wrist, dragging him into the bush. He could feel the twigs digging into his side, repositioning himself to crouch more comfortably. He looked at the blonde, who was extremely over dressed to be in a bush.
"Ah Yujin's about to-" She peeked over the bush, sighing dramatically. "They're gone."
"Do you always sneak around like this?"
"How else will I get the gossip? I can't call myself I've got the gossip, if I don't have the gossip. That would be false advertising!" This girl really was eccentric. "Ooh any luck with your secret admirer?"
"Not yet, but I managed to cross off one person." Sunoo replied, with Jiwon listening intensely. Of course he worried about sharing information with her, I mean, it's literally her job to report on the school's gossip. Though, she had that job for a reason. Maybe working with her would help him get some answers. "It's not Lee Heeseung."
"Really? He was actually on my list too." 
Sunoo widened his eyes. "Why?"
"I heard whispers that one of the footballers was planning something for Valentines. He's a really laid back kind of guy, anonymity suits him. How do you know it's not him? I need to know you're a reliable source." Jiwon was skeptical, but seemed to believe in Sunoo's words.
"I guess you already know I'm friends with Sunghoon." She nodded her head. "Well he asked Heeseung about the gesture, and apparently it wasn't him."
"I had such faith in you." She sighed, shaking her head in disapproval. "You can't trust what Sunghoon says."
"Why not? He wouldn't lie to me." Sunoo grew nervous.
"He would if he has something to hide. You neglect the fact that he's close with Heeseung too, and he's his captain. If Heeseung wants him to hide it, then you can't trust that Sunghoon will tell you the full story."
____
If having a secret admirer wasn't complicated enough, now Sunoo had to deal with the idea that Sunghoon may have lied to him. He couldn't see a reason why Sunghoon would lie. He seemed adamant it wasn't Heeseung, and it wasn't meritless, since that's what he was apparently told. Was this all just a ploy to make Sunoo more confused? If so, it was working.
The seed of doubt had been planted, and there was nothing he could do about it. It was just another problem to add to the pile. It's not like he had enough on his plate already.
His finger traced over the carvings on his desk thoughtlessly, as his mind was clearly somewhere else. He was way too preoccupied to notice the red head standing in front of him.
"Hey."
"Hi." Sunoo mumbled, without looking up. Still focused on all the thoughts running through his mind.
A firm grasp took hold of his hand, stopping it's inconsistent movements. This brought Sunoo back to earth, snapping his gaze down to his hand. He scrunched his brows, immediately looking up, only to gulp, and feel his heart rate speed up by 1000%.
"You're trying out for the cheer squad today, right?" Heeseung's voice was like honey, sweet, and addicting. Sunoo was entranced, not able to muster a reply, he slowly nodded his head. "Good luck."
The grasp loosened; Sunoo regaining control of his hand. It was like he blinked, and Heeseung was gone. He turned around, watching in confusion, as the boy walked to his desk. Did Lee Heeseung just talk to him? He couldn't have. He wouldn't have. He doesn't talk to nobody's like Sunoo. But he did.
This was the second sign he'd received from Heeseung, maybe Jiwon was right.
Mrs Son walked into the classroom, the school bell ringing in the background. Sunoo paid zero attention to this, still trying to comprehend that small interaction he had with Heeseung. 
"Good morning class, I hope you've all settled down from yesterday's fun. Let's get on with registration." She said, taking a seat at her desk. Clicking sounds could be heard from her keyboard. "Alright-"
"Sorry I'm late!" The whole class looked to the doorway, where a heavily panting, and sweaty Jake stood clinging onto the door frame. 
"It's fine Jake, take your seat."
The boy nodded, quickly running to his desk, which was on the left of Sunoo. Mrs Son started registration, calling out the first names on the register. 
Jake had barely caught his breath, when he lent over to Sunoo. "Did Sunghoon get the chance to speak to Heeseung yesterday?" He whispered, very carefully, so no one else could hear.
Sunoo hesitated answering that. He could have easily just said yes straight away, but he wasn't sure if it was in his best interest anymore. "He did, but before I tell you what he said. I think we should keep Sunghoon out of this from now on; I don't think he wants to help."
"I kinda got that feeling too. Like when we first brought up that it might be Heeseung, he started acting all strange." He was glad Jake felt similarly, it made things a lot easier. "So what did Heeseung say?"
"He doesn't know anything about it."
"Of course he'd say that if he's trying to stay anonymous."
Sunoo stopped the conversation for a moment to answer his name when called, with Jake doing it moments later also. 
"Heeseung spoke to me before you got here." Sunoo made sure to keep his voice very low, now leaning over to Jake himself. "He wished me luck for cheer try outs. That's the first thing he's ever said to me."
"Woah, this can't all be coincidental." Jake gasped, eyes glossing over, you could almost see the cogs turning. Pieces of this ever confusing puzzle coming together.
Jake's shocked expression seemed almost out of place. Considering that Heeseung had only winked, and spoke to Sunoo once. Both interactions being very insignificant. Sure they added up to something in the scheme of things, but there had to be something else he knew.
"I was on his Instagram account last night, and I found this picture of him studying from a few weeks ago." Jake cautiously took out his phone, scrolling to the photo, without letting Mrs Son see. "Look to the top right hand corner. It's a phone number, and I could have sworn I'd seen it before. I checked my call logs, and it's the number of a florists. I called them when I ordered flowers for my mums birthday."
"This means-"
"Heeseung has been ordering flowers recently."