Chapter Text
Prologue
Kang Taehyun is a first-year student at the university. He's a very careless person, walking in a world full of neglected preoccupations. However, he owns one single worry: he cares too much about other people's opinions. In order to please everyone else around him to actually feel good about himself, Taehyun tolerates several inadequate behaviors that lead him to many uncomfortable situations. Like all other people, he has lots of friends divided into distinct groups: the ones he takes classes with; the ones he lives with; the long-forgotten childhood friends that sometimes reach out to him; the party group friends and lastly Ryujin (who he deep down knows is the best of them all). He has had only one relationship that turned out really bad and most certainly influenced this "punching bag" title that he carries around with him. That's all he knows about love: a stupid closed guy that played him like a tool for about one year and a half before dropping him to some random girl. But well, at least the other one's happy, right?
Choi Beomgyu is a second-year student at the university and he's someone who pays close attention to his surrounding. Observing meticulously everything he gets contact with, he's capable of knowing and predicting many characteristics that define the people around him. He does care about others, but doesn't really mind what they think of him, as he knows for sure they might be afraid of his strong and scary features sometimes. He's not into many things, in fact, he has a lot of trouble finding the meaning of certain topics, like love, due to the lack of affection he has had all his life. However, he really likes basketball, which is really surprising for a loner like him to be into a team sport. He plays for the university team and never fought any of his teammates (he's pretty sure they're too scared of him to begin a conversation let alone to start a fight). Overall, Beomgyu is just a nineteen year old boy who carries with him a blunt expression and a single friend named Choi Soobin.
Taehyun and Beomgyu seem to be very different people that have only one thing in common: their hatred for each other. They live together, go to the same university, hang out with the same people, but can't really stand each other. So what could happen when one day everything suddenly changes and one of them starts to fall for the other?
Chapter 1: Angry donuts
Monday, 5:10 PM
"Who the hell ate my donuts?"
The three boys who were cheerfully chatting about the new Marvel movie all closed their mouths into thin lines, as their eyes followed the angry man who had just stormed into the room with heavy steps and a big scary scowl. Neither Kai nor Soobin dares to make a sound, not when Choi Beomgyu is standing in the middle of the room with his arms crossed and a look of anger furrowed in his brow, looking obviously furious.
"I'll just ask one more time. Who ate my donuts?"
Beomgyu had lost all his patience. Somebody had stolen the fucking food that he bought with his goddamn money and it was the third time this month. Usually, the ravenette wouldn’t care that much, choosing a better method to overcome this frequent issue. But not this time. He’s had enough.
"Who was it?"
Silence. Beomgyu squeezes his eyes while he observes every single coward in the room, looking for a guilty expression or even traces of chocolate on the corner of their stupid mouths. Discreetly, Kai forces eye contact with the older and slowly points his finger at one of the boys. One second later, Beomgyu’s blood starts boiling.
The truth was he always knew who was the miserable bastard that stole his food. The answer was obvious, but he wanted full confirmation before dropping his anger unfairly and making a fool out of himself. Eyeing the culprit, Beomgyu feels his anger getting to the next level.
"Why, Kang Taehyun?" Beomgyu pronounces each syllable like it was the most disgusting thing in the world.
The mentioned boy was comfortably lying on the floor, his legs gently extended next to each other with his feet slightly touching, not a simple sign of guilt on his face. His left hand was securing the ground, supporting all his weight while the other hand was too close to his face allowing him to check his nails in the sassiest way possible, showing complete indifference to every word Beomgyu was saying. His messy blonde hair covered almost his entire forehead, a style that clearly favored him, and he was wearing a simple white shirt and grey sweatpants. When Taehyun’s eyes connect with Beomgyu’s, he instantly clicks his tongue and smirks.
"Because I wanted to."
An instant growl was heard in the room and soon after that, the other two boys saw in fear as Beomgyu ran towards the blonde one at full speed, his hands wide open, already prepared to pull that stupid hair of his with all of his strength. However, already expecting this behavior, Soobin caught the black-haired boy in his arms, preventing another physical fight between those two.
"Shhh, it's okay..."
"BUT HE ATE MY -"
"Shhhhh, it's okay, it's okay..."
"BUT HE-"
"It's all right, it's all right..."
After two minutes of heavy breathing and eye-killing the blonde boy on the ground, Beomgyu gives up, clearly influenced by the worried glances Kai and Soobin were sending his way. Hugging Soobin tightly, Beomgyu screams on his neck, his eyes never leaving the silhouette of the boy he hated most in the whole world.
To answer Beomgyu's unpleasant stare, Taehyun stretches his arms to grab an empty donut box hidden under his bed and place it in the middle of the room. Beomgyu observes every move with a cold look: Taehyun pretending to eat a donut, his lustful and satisfied expression as he licks his lips while tasting the fake soft consistency of the imaginary donut and the obnoxious way he closes the empty box with his foot, always with a smile creeping out of his face.
"I can't stand you, Kang Taehyun."
And those were the last words Beomgyu said before being pulled out of the room by an extremely worried Soobin.