|| A Ploy To Get Closer ||

|| Chapter 4: A Ploy To Get Closer ||

The winter sunlight illuminated the clear skies; the streets were filled with the early morning traffic and faint snowflakes fluttered down to the ground. In between the traffic, the ravenette sat on a black motorcycle. A helmet hid his face but his visor was flipped up, showing off his exhausted eyes. He was dressed in a white buttoned-up shirt and black loose pants with white Converse sneakers. A black-and-white volleyball tracksuit jacket covered his torso while a flat backpack was on his back.

His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showing off some of his sleeve tattoos. He was zoning out, unconsciously leaning forward against the fuel tank and hand handles. A sweatdrop dripped down the side of his side when he recalled everything that had happened earlier this morning - it was a complete mess. His cousin kept spamming his phone with messages and angry phone calls about his attitude and how 'ungrateful' he was being to her. 

He ignored her harassment and got ready for the day, only to find out that a short clip of him being a backup dancer at the award show went viral on almost all the social media platforms. 'What's the worst that could happen?' He thought with a small scoff as he rolled his eyes, shrugging dismissively. Well, everything went wrong when he stepped outside his apartment complex. People started swarming him, shoving their phones into his face as they begged for a photo.

He dodged them and kept noticing how people were stalking him when he entered his nearby convenience store. When he got to the counter to pay for his caffeine snacks, even the clerk asked him if he was 'that' dancer who went viral overnight. He snapped out of his daze when a chiming sound from the traffic lights was heard as the traffic light turned green, allowing the traffic to move. Hurriedly, he switched his engine on again and zipped past the cars. 

Half an hour later, he arrived at his campus - Seoul Metropolitan University, also known as SMU. It was famous for its high graduating rates in the last five decades, successfully luring any freshly graduated high school seniors and gap-year students. It was also known for its massive music and art festivals that were held every semester; mostly in winter and summer. As the ravenette slowly cruised through the gigantic campus - which had a few uphill roads, some passing students recognized his motorcycle and greeted him with a wave.

It wasn't long before he arrived at a roof-covered parking lot and parked in his usual spot. While parking, he spotted the five expensive yet shiny luxurious cars surrounding him. 'Looks like those rich seniors are back from their overseas trip,' He noted with a raised brow, switching his engine off as he got off his motorcycle and adjusted his backpack. 'God, I hope I don't run into them today,' He clicked his tongue with an annoyed frown while taking his helmet off. 

There were two reasons why these five seniors were well-known across the campus; their wealthy backgrounds and ignorant personalities. For some reason, when Siwoo entered SMU after a gap year, these seniors kept an eye on him and constantly tried to convince him to have dinner with them during the week. His classmates reckoned that these seniors were convinced that Siwoo came from a rich family - which he did but just didn't brag about it. Others suggested that it could be because of the reputation that he got in his freshman year.

As he strolled out of the parking lot, he noticed some athletes from fourth-year and fifth-year head to their bus close to the parking lot to leave for the national matches. For a mere second, he made brief eye contact with the athletic team's captain - a fifth-year student. He was slightly taller than Siwoo, more muscular, and tanner. He had dull-grey upturned-monolid eyes and poorly dyed silver-brown hair that was styled in an undercut. He had several piercings in his ears, glimmering in the morning light. Nonetheless, his face was the definition of dangerously sexy and handsome. 

As he focused his attention in front of him again, the light-haired brunette stopped in his tracks, his gaze never leaving the ravenette's retreating backside. "Junsu-sunbaenim?" One of the fourth-year students called out to him when he noticed that he randomly stopped, "Why did you stop? The bus is going to leave soon, you know?" The light-haired brunette didn't respond, he kept watching the ravenette slowly disappear around the hedges. "That guy," A low yet charming voice was heard from the brunette as he asked, "When did we have a guy like that here?"

"Oh, you mean Siwoo-hoobae?" His teammate queried, tilting his head to see where Junsu was looking at. "He's that famous second-year kid from the Multimedia Design Department," His teammate revealed as he held his chin with a pondering expression, "People call him the 'Hidden Visual' or something like that." A slight cool breeze fluttered by them, causing the trees to rustle slightly. "The 'Hidden Visual', huh?" Junsu muttered before turning around with an amused smirk, "They should've called him 'Raven' instead..."

Meanwhile, the said ravenette walked uphill, lazily ruffling his messy hair to look neater than before. "Morning, Siwoo-sunbaenim!" Some passing freshmen greeted him with wide smiles, to which he returned with a small grin and wave. As he kept walking uphill, he took his phone out of his pocket and cringed at the hundreds of messages he kept getting from his cousin. With a light click of his tongue, he blocked her number from his phone.

"Woah, dude," A smokey yet playful voice mused next to his ear from behind him, startling him a bit as a slender arm wrapped itself around his waist, "Did it get that bad that you had to block her again? Aish..." With narrowed eyes, he glanced at the owner of the arm and voice. It belonged to an attractive man, who was the same age and height as him. He had smooth yet short peach-coloured hair that was styled in a side-part style and droopy hooded honey-coloured eyes.

He had broad shoulders and a slender torso, but his jawline and face shape were sharp. He seemed to have tanned ever so slightly from doing outdoor work during the summer vacation. He was dressed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans with black sneakers. An orange-brown knitted cardigan was tugged over his torso, keeping him warm from the winter breeze. "Ah, yes, morning to you too, Jihun-ah," Siwoo stoically greeted him as he looked back at his phone again.

"Aw, don't be like that, honey," The blonde teased him, pulling him closer to his side while rubbing his cheek against the ravenette's cheek, "I haven't seen you because of our schedules, you know?" An irked vein popped out of Siwoo's forehead at his clinginess and he grabbed him by the face before pushing him away from him, creating some distance between them.

"Ah, he's really going to hit you one of these days if you're going to be that touchy, Jihun-ssi!" Someone from their year group cackled from the upper level of the uphill path, causing other surrounding students to giggle at the sight. Some first years, who weren't familiar with the inside joke between the duo and the others, gawked at how openly affectionate the brunette was being with the ravenette. 

After creating some distance between them, they walked next to each other. "I overheard some professors mention that we're going to have a huge music festival again," Jihun randomly mentioned while adjusting his computer bag over his shoulder, glancing at Siwoo from the corner of his eye. "I have a feeling that they're going to choose random groups to perform like last year again," Siwoo predicted with a sour frown, recalling how he was picked to be one of the guitarists last year.

"Probably," Jihun hummed in agreement with him, folding his hands behind his head as he stared up at the tall bright red camellia trees that towered over the pathway, "Who knows what's going through their heads..." He silently glanced at Siwoo and pursed his lips at the obvious dark circles under his eyes from the sleepless nights. There was a small gentle yet relaxed smile on the ravenette's fullish lips as the cold air made the tip of his nose turn pink. 

Unconsciously, Jihun reached out to him and pinched his nose, surprising him. "What are you doing now?" He lightly snapped at him as he continued to pinch his nose with an amused chuckle escaping him. "Just checking if you're not a zombie yet," Jihun playfully joked, releasing his nose with a cheeky smile, "Those dark circles under your eyes made you look like one for a second, haha." Irked, the ravenette tightened his grip on his helmet before swinging it towards Jihun's head.

Jihun leaned back with mischievous eyes just before it could touch his face. "You missed me, honey," He taunted the ravenette while sending him flying kisses as he started jogging away, "But I still love you~!" Veins popped out of Siwoo's forehead when he felt his blood boil under his skin. "Ya! Park Jihun, get your ass back here!" He angrily yelled at him, raising his helmet into the air as he sprinted after him, "Let me hit you once, ya bastard!"

Onlookers watched Siwoo chase the cackling blonde, yelling threats at him while swinging his helmet like a madman. 'Ah, you overdid it again, Jihun-ssi,' Most of the onlookers thought in unison with deadpanned expressions at the comedic scene of the duo playing chase. Amongst the onlookers, a man dressed in a navy-coloured turtleneck and white trousers with a black trenchcoat, watched the two men act like hooligans for a second before continuing to walk to class.