Friends

"What happened to your face? Did you get beat up again?"

Hearing Jon's voice, Hao's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, and he turned the other way to look out the window.

"It's none of your business."

"Oh, so you did suffer a beating?"

Jon said to him with a mischievous smirk on his face, which caused Hao to turn back to him with an irritated look.

"I didn't get beat up! I just fell down some stairs, that's all!"

Hao shouted at Jon with an annoyed expression, and Jon just stared at him with a deadpan look, as if he didn't believe a word that he said.

"Sure, I believe you."

"That's not what the look on your face says, you bastard!"

"That's what sarcasm is, you idiot!"

While the two started to bicker at each other, Victoria stood there and watched them with a shocked and puzzled look.

'What's up with these two? Didn't they fight each other a few days ago? When did the two of them get so close?'

She thought to herself as she watched the most stoic boy in her class argue with the aloof transfer student she met two days ago.

"I don't get it. Why do you go around picking fights if you're so weak?"

Jon said to Hao mockingly, with a mischievous smirk on his face.

"Who are you calling weak, bastard?!"

"Are you deaf or something? Of course, I'm talking to you."

The two bickered back and forth with each other until Victoria's voice caught the attention of both of them.

"Since when were the both of you friends?"

"DO WE LOOK LIKE FRIENDS TO YOU?!!!"

They both shouted at her as she looked at them tiredly and sighed. Victoria gave both of them a deadpan look, shook her head, turned around, and walked away.

'Boys are idiotic as always.'

She thought to herself as she made her way to her seat at the front of the class.

Seeing her leave, Jon let out a deep sigh and shook his head. He then turned to Hao and began speaking.

"So are you going to tell me what happened to you, or are you going to keep sulking over there?"

"You know, you should really mind your own business."

Hao replied to him impassively and turned to look out the window with his head resting on his palm.

Seeing that Hao no longer wanted to speak, Jon stared at him with a puzzled look before turning his head to the front of the class, and as soon as he did, the door opened and Mr. Thomas walked in.

'I'll talk to him later.'

Jon thought to himself as he gave Hao a side-eye, noticing that he still had his gaze outside the window.

***

At lunch.

Their class had just let out for lunch, and as soon as the class ended, Victoria approached Jon and led him to the student council room, where they first had their little meeting.

"It sure is beneficial to have an entire room in the school building to yourself."

Jon gave a brief comment on the student council room as soon as he set foot in. He walked over towards the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

"It's just another benefit of being the student council president."

Victoria replied to his statement as she walked around the table and pulled out a seat directly in front of him.

"I see."

Jon said, and there was an awkward silence for a few seconds as they both sat there and stared at each other.

"Ahem, So now that you're here, what do you want to talk about?"

Victoria was the first to break the silence, as she couldn't tell what Jon was thinking by staring at his apathetic face.

"Before we get started, there's something I want to ask you."

"What is that?"

Victoria replied with a puzzled look, as she wasn't expecting him to talk about anything other than their current 'partnership'.

"Do you know what happened to Hao? You said yourself that you were a bit of a social butterfly, so I was wondering if you had any idea what happened."

"Oh, so that's what you wanted to ask? I thought you said you guys weren't friends? Are you worried about him?"

"Just shut up and answer the question."

Jon said as his eyebrow twitched in irritation. He could see a mischievous smirk on Victoria's face before it vanished. Her face became serious, and she replied in a solemn voice.

"Leonard happened."

"What?!"

Jon's eyes widened in surprise after he heard what Victoria had said.

"You heard me. Yesterday, Leonard sent some of his little minions to our class looking for both you and Hao."

"Why was he looking for me? I haven't even heard of the guy prior to our talk two days ago."

"Do you really have no clue?"

Victoria looked at Jon with narrowed eyes. She no longer had any trace of her mischievous smile left on her face.

'Tell your boss that Leonard says if he ever catches anyone of his people in North Square again, there will be hell to pay.'

Jon remembered what he told the guy he beat up that day.

'I did it to test Leonard's reaction to someone using his name, but who would think that he would react this fast?'

Jon thought to himself as he sat there with a puzzled look on his face. Victoria observed him, noticing he was no longer wearing that apathetic expression he usually walks around with.

"Seeing you with that look means that you thought of something. Which means that something did happen between you and those Southland guys, correct?"

"Hmm? Well, I did help out Hao the other day when he was up against some punks from another school. I also mentioned Leonard's name to try and find out just how influential he was after our little talk."

After hearing what Jon just said, she couldn't help but sigh and hold her hand over her face. She then peered through her fingers to look at him, but seeing that he was looking at her lethargically, she had no choice but to explain what he had done so he could understand.

Sigh

"That little trick you pulled started a war between Southland High and Bridgeview Academy. In fact, Leonard's pretty pissed off because of it."

"A War? Get real; you can't be serious."

"I am serious. You might not know this, but Newport City was known for its gang violence. It was only due to my father's efforts in recent years that things have gotten a lot better. But it's still a major problem for the city. And do you know where these gangs originated from?"

Victoria finished her explanation with a question as she looked at Jon, who was looking at her with a nonchalant expression.

"Let me guess, the schools? Am I right?"

"In fact, you are. To be specific, there are four schools. Each of these schools is located in a different region of Newport City. Bridgeview Academy's territory is the entire North Square, and we also control all the other schools in this area as well. As for Southland High, like their namesake, they are located in the southern region of the city, and they reign over all the schools there as well. And the southern region of the city is the most dangerous part of the entire city."

Victoria finished speaking and noticed Jon was looking at her with a deadpan expression that seemed to be implying that he couldn't take what she was saying seriously.

"This is so stupid. Are you telling me there's going to be a war because I used Leonard's name to threaten some thugs that were causing some trouble in his territory?"

"I know it sounds stupid, but that's what happened. Anyway, Hao told Leonard that he was the one who started the fight, and now Hao has to be the one to deal with it. At least that's what I heard anyway."

"I'm the one who picked the fight, though? So why did he say it was him?"

"I don't know; maybe he was covering for you? Aren't you guys friends?"

Jon's eyes widened as the words that Victoria said echoed in his head. He never had someone he could call a friend before, so he didn't know why Hoa would sacrifice himself to cover for him.

'That idiot. As if I need a weakling like him to fight my battles for me.'

Jon thought to himself as he thought about what Hao had done. As much as he wanted to deny it, he felt happy that someone other than his sister stood up for him.

It was a new feeling for him that he didn't know how to feel about. Victoria watched him grow silent with a puzzled look on his face, as if he were trying to understand something.

"Is it that shocking that he tried to cover for you?"

She couldn't help but ask after she saw the look on his face. The feeling she got from him was different from his regular aloofness or the dangerous feeling he gave off when he was angry. It was as if the concept of a friend was new to him.

And for a minute—one long and silent minute—she thought that he looked a bit lonely. He didn't look dangerous; he didn't look like he was bored; he just looked lonely. And as if to confirm her thoughts, she heard the sound of his voice.

"Believe it or not, I've never had someone I could call a friend before. If what you're saying is true, Victoria, then I need to thank you. Because I now know what friends are."

"...."

Victoria was silent after hearing the words that came out of his mouth. She wasn't silent by choice; she just didn't know what to say.

'Impossible."

She thought to herself as she stared at his amber-like eyes. Even though she couldn't believe it, she could tell by looking at his lethargic-looking eyes that what he had just told her was the truth.

'Are you telling me that for the past sixteen years he had never had someone he could call a friend?'

She thought as she stared at him. The room was enveloped in an awkward silence once more as the two of them sat there, saying nothing to each other.

"Can I ask you something?"

Victoria broke the silence that enveloped them.

"What is it?"

"What are you going to do now that you know what happened to Hao?"

"I'll repay the kindness that he showed me, obviously. Isn't that what should be done?"

Jon asked her with a slight tilt of his head and looked at her with a puzzled look on his face.

"No, you're right."

'He's a lot more innocent than I thought he was.'