"Why did you call me here so late at night?" San asks as he sits down on the bench beside me.
I turn and hand him a Popsicle that I picked up from the convenience store on the way here. He gratefully accepts it.
"Your parents allowed you to come out so late at night? That doesn't seem right" he muses as he stares into the cityscape with me.
All the big buildings look so small from here, the people, mere dust. I like it here.
I just look ahead and try to count all the lights that look like a mesh of fairy lights over the buildings from here.
"I sneaked out" I shrug and San quickly turns to me and forces me to look at him. His eyes are wide and he has a worried expression on his face.
"What happened? Did something happen?" he fires nonstop questions at me and I shake my head.
I turn back to look ahead.
I forgot the count I was on.
Shit.
I need to start again.
"Yeah, Yuri. You are scaring me. Are your parents okay? Is it related to your brother? Tell me. Why are you being so quiet? You are really scaring me" he blurts out and I shake my head.
We have been best friends since prep school. He was always been like a protective brother to me.
I just let a tired small smile play on my lips as I stare at him, wide-eyed and frantic.
"Nothing happened. I have just had a really long day today. I wanted to relax. What better place to relax than here? And you know I cannot come here without you" I say but my answer doesn't seem to appease him because even though he takes a seat beside me, he still gives me a questioning glance.
"I call bullshit. Tell me what happened? You're not gonna call me here in the middle of the night to just hang out and relax. That too when you have work early morning tomorrow. Tell me honestly, what is going on. Did you and Auntie fight?" he asks me, genuinely concerned.
"Well, that did happen" I shrug.
I did need to get out of the house.
This was the perfect excuse.
Well, not the one I told San but I am not lying to him though.
"Was it about college again?" he asks and I wordlessly nod.
He just sighs and puts his arms around me as he rubs my shoulder. I lean my head against him, my head on his shoulder, and well fall into our little cocoon of bliss, him comforting me and my day a little less tiring.
"Tell me about your day" he speaks into my hair and I shake my head.
Usually, this was what he did.
Whenever I had a terrible day, we would come and sit here together and I'll vent out my problems to him. He would give me logical answers that helped clear my mind and made me feel stupid for acting the way I was before but not today.
Tonight I really don't want to talk about myself.
Today was just an overall shitty day for me.
From handling creeps at the chicken place to being scolded by the mother of the student I am tutoring to taking that extra hour at Hive to dealing with that rascal to finally my fight with my mother.
The biggest contributor to making my day like this was that pink-haired boy.
Just thinking about him made me angry.
If he wasn't there at that time and delay me as he did, I would have reached home on time, eaten my food, and gone to sleep like I initially had plans but noooo. That couldn't happen.
The devil with pink hair and invisible horns had to appear.
"You just got tensed thinking about something. Tell me about what went on your day" with a little more coaxing from his side, I end up telling him everything.
Taking extra time on describing my hate for the pink-haired boy.
Once I am done, San retreats his hand from my shoulder and turns me slightly to face him, his face a mix of worry and anger.
"Are you kidding me, Yuri? You should have gotten the hell away from him? Who knows what he could have done" he scolds me and I pout at him with slumped shoulders.
"He was supposedly dating someone from Royals High. I don't remember her name. But she was wearing the uniform, so the guy can't be that bad" I don't even know why I am defending that hooligan.
I just know that San is really worried right now and I need to handle the matter carefully.
"Was the guy from Royals High as well? You told me he was wearing a leather jacket" he looks at me confused.
His hair comes all over his forehead, the night wind stronger than either of us expected it to be.
"Most probably. And about that. Do you guys have different school uniforms?" I ask.
I was genuinely curious. I did this that the hooligan was from Royals High but his uniform was a little different. I was not curious about the guy. I was curious about the uniform.
"Well we have summer uniform and winter uniform but I don't think that's what you're referencing to," he asks and I shrug nonchalantly.
Maybe that guy really was a creep.
God, how stupid was I?
"Yuri I cannot believe you were so stupid. How could you be alone in an empty shop with a strange guy? Stranger danger! Do I need to lecture you on that as well?" he asks me, his face worried, his voice exasperated.
"I told you, it just happened so simultaneously that I didn't really know what to do. Even as I look back, I realize this was reckless and stupid of me. But what is done is done. I did feel bad for the girl though. Even though she was rude to Woojin and me - but let's be real who from Royals High isn't?" I shrug and San pushes my shoulder.
I laugh.
"Also, how are you preparing for the competition? Is your shoulder still hurting? Are you going to compete this year as well?" I ask and he holds his right shoulder involuntarily while nodding.
San was not only a hardworking good scoring student but also an exceptionally talented swimmer.
I knew he won many medals last year. But he had an 'accident' that hurt his shoulder badly so he did have to sit out some of the competitions, later that year.
He wanted me to come to some of his competitions but I could never muster up the courage to step into Royals High. It was so out of reach in my mind that I physically made myself believe that I cannot step onto the grounds of Royals High.
I knew the entire area of the school ground was huge! The first week San was there, he clicked a lot of pictures and showed them to Woojin and me.
I can't say I wasn't jealous but I was also very happy for San because he was beaming.
"Oh, by the way, I thought you guys also had summer break till this week, but I saw many students from your school come into the Hive. What's up with that?" I ask.
I have been meaning to ask him about this but this week has been so busy for me that I didn't get a chance to catch up to him.
I am kinda glad I nearly had a mental breakdown and came here.
"Yeah. Our school officially starts this Monday but we have a pre-week initiation - it is basically given to students to select their classes and talk to the teachers about the upcoming course etc. It is supposedly to help students get a better idea about what they will face in the current year. It is helpful, not gonna lie" he shrugs.
I just nod in awe.
It's not a reputed school for nothing I suppose.
"Why are you asking me all these questions about Royals High? And that too so late at night? Couldn't your curiosity have waited till the next morning?" San asks me with his hands folded over his chest, his eyes analyzing me.
"Well... Cause we are going to be classmates. I got in" I finally let the word out.