There was something unbelievable in Till’s shoe locker. Something that was so unbelievable Till closed his locker and checked again to see if it was still there. And did it again.
Till was still so shocked, as he reached for the letter mindlessly, he said to himself in a small voice,
“This has to be a joke, right? Ivan’s messing with me..” Till’s conclusion was definitely justifiable. Ivan was definitely a bastard. (His words, not mine)
Even as his fingertips brushed against the smooth surface of the envelope, he still had his doubts. Finally, he pulled it carefully out of his shoe locker and gave it a proper look-over.
The envelope was cherry red, with a stamp of a heart in an even brighter shade of red, right in the middle. There was no denying it, it was definitely a real love letter. Nobody would put this much effort in a stupid prank, not even Ivan.
“..But even so, maybe it was put into the wrong locker by accident..”
But inspecting it brought some even more shocking news. His name was on the upper left corner of the letter, written lightly and in black ink. One wouldn’t notice it at first because of the elaborate decorations that stood out and stole your attention.
“There’s no way, there’s no freaking way!” he shouted to himself excitedly. Just then, he felt a breeze come by him, and his letter was snatched by none other than Hyuna, the ‘queen’ of gossip and romance.
“Wow! Wow! Well, well, Till. Looks like you got a little letter here. Whose letter did you take?..” She said, slyly. She never would’ve thought it was his own. Till wasn’t exactly popular.
“Hey! Give it back!” Till fumed, jumping up to get the letter while Hyuna playfully waved it above their heads. Hyuna quickly turned around to look at the envelope, while Till tried to yank the letter back with all his might, which… didn’t really affect Hyuna. Hyuna eyed the envelope curiously. Giggling she looked for Ivan’s name on the letter to confirm her suspicion.
“Did this little brat finally try and peek at Ivan’s little love letters?..” She wondered to herself. The two always had a certain tension.. And they have been friends since childhood. Till’s the only one who really hung out with Ivan for Ivan, and that was the same for Ivan to Till.
Then Hyuna stopped giggling, she was hit with shock.
“..Oh my god! I can’t believe this!! A Letter to Till?” She emphasized. Hyuna was so distracted, Till snatched his letter back, and put it to his chest in an attempt to shield it from the woman who was laughing wildly like a hyena at 8:00 in the morning.
While turning away from Hyuna’s hands trying to grab the letter, Till made the last effort to shove it back into his locker, trying to take advantage of how close he was to it. Unfortunately for him, however, the devil had just happened to walk by looking for the both of them.
“Yes! Wait- What? Hey! Ivan!”
Ivan quickly swiped the letter from till, with a playful smile. Till instantly turned red in anger, but his face quickly fell when Hyuna jumped on top of him, not noticing Ivan.
“Aha! I got you Till! Now hand it over- Ah? Ivan?”
Hyuna yelped, sweating, and finally noticed Ivan holding the love letter between his fingertips with a mischievous smile on his pale face. Hyuna noticed a certain glare in his eyes, but quickly shrugged it off as she felt Till struggling to get up from under her.
“Oh? Hey there Hyuna. Are you okay Till? Need me to help you up?” He replies.
The last few sentences encouraged Till to get back up and slap Ivan on the face. Getting up, Hyuna fell backward, but Till didn’t care at the moment. All he saw was red. Till raises one of his hands and grabs onto Ivan’s precious, luscious locks, and pulls. Hard.
“Yeeeooowch!!!!”
Apparently, Ivan didn’t see it coming. Idiot. With the amount of time they spent together since childhood fighting he should’ve known by now. Ivan looks at Till with teary but happy eyes and his signature smile that all the girls at their school adore.
“Something I should know?”
“Shut up!”
“Oh? Someones mad, haha!”
Till yells, face still red, with the addition of some dirt and grass on his face and hair because of falling face first into the dirty floor of the school entrance, which Ivan laughs at. Then Till remembers it: Ivan took the love letter out of his hands. Ivan, perhaps reading his mind, lifts it up and waves it at Till, with his tongue sticking out.
“Come and get it, Till!!”
“Ivan! Give it back, damn it!”
He explodes, and with his hand still holding onto Ivan’s hair, Ivan made a big mistake of teasing Till. He raised his other hand and locked onto another clump of Ivan’s jet-black silky hair. Then Till yanks Ivan’s hair with the intent of giving him a bald spot. Maybe Ivan decided he was too young to have a bald spot, so he grabs onto Till’s hair with his other hand that isn't occupied.
Till felt a surge of pain as Ivan pulled at his hair, so he quickly let go of one of Ivan’s locks of hair and just attempted to grab the letter while viciously pulling at Ivan’s hair twice as hard. That earned Till a yelp from Ivan, which he smiled wickedly at. Noticing, Ivan went blank faced for a second. Of course, Hyuna watched from the sidelines on the floor acting dramatic.
“Oh my god! Ivan, Till! Stop that! Hyuna, are you okay?!”
Just then, the sweet voice of Till’s angel, no goddess, suddenly made Till pause, with Ivan not hearing it and taking the chance of getting away from Till’s grasp. Then Till realizes they’re fighting in the entrance of the school at 7:50 in the morning. Ivan sticks his tongue out and it makes Till want to punch his pretty face in with brass knuckles.
“Hm.”
That’s when Till noticed Sua right behind Mizi. She looked a bit disappointed but schooled her face once she saw he was looking at her. She turned her head to look at something behind him with disgusted eyes, and a chilly glare. Then he remembered the bastard behind him that Sua turned to glare at.
“Ivan you- Oh right!”
Till starts, but then quickly remembers his goddess right behind them helping up the dramatic Hyuna. Seeing Mizi with a disapproving face made Till feel just a tiny bit guilty, but not enough to apologize.
“Augh! Oh how it hurts.. How could you throw me like that Till?” Hyuna whines, to which Till just rolls his eyes at.
“Stop whining. You’re taller than me.” He replies. Till sees Sua in the corner of her eye approaching just a bit closer to Mizi. She was a little bit creepy, even as a kid, but she was Mizi’s friend, so he tried to befriend her anyway.
“Even if she’s taller than you Till, you should still be careful..” Mizi sighs, which makes Till feel a little bit more guilty than earlier. He apologizes to Mizi, not to Hyuna, the supposed victim, and gives her an awkward smile.
“Anyway, this is my chance. Ivan’s distracted apologising to Mizi.” He smirks to himself. Right at the right moment when Ivan bowed playfully to Mizi, who laughed, he snatched his letter back and bolted up the stairs to his first period, English.
“I didn’t wanna leave Mizi behind but.. She’ll make a big deal out of it.” He thinks to himself, gloomy. Till remembers when he first found out she was a lesbian. He felt devastated at first, but looking back at it now, it was more of idolization than a crush. He didn’t feel like kissing or dating her, even back then. It was akin to a fan looking up to an idol.
“Hm. When I got that out of the way, I really did start enjoying our time together.” Till admits to himself. Back then, he was too nervous to even focus on anything they did together, or even being close to her.
“I’m glad she told me she was a lesbian.” He whispered to himself. Just in time, the bell rang. The loud chatter around him stopped and he spotted Ivan inching closer to him from the door, which was expected. It seems like he cleaned up from Till’s attack and looked immaculate.
“Hey Till!” He smiles, his snaggletooth catching Till’s eye. Noticing Till shove the letter into his bag, Ivan smiled even wider, which creeped Till out. Till schooled his face, not wanting to have Ivan tease him again.
“Hi.” Till dryly replies.
Ivan responded by shuffling next to him, sitting down in the seat next to Till.
“..Who was that letter from?” Ivan asked Till. He sounded different from when he was teasing Till, but Ivan’s a weirdo, and he does weird things that Till will never understand because he’s weird. Unpredictable. Annoying. Handsome.
Till turned away from Ivan’s face at that thought.
“I dunno yet. Haven’t looked at it.”
Not even looking at him, Till replied nonchalantly. Ivan nodded slowly and turned his head towards the teacher. When Ivan did that, Till glanced at him, eyeing his long eyelashes and pale skin. Just then he heard the most annoying voice in the world speak to him.
“Till! What’s the answer for number 5?” The teacher shouted. It seemed he was shouting for a while, given he looked like rage’s incarnate. Numerous classmates snickered at the teacher for looking like a tomato, which only fueled the man to shout at Till to answer again.
“What is the answer for number 5, Till?” He repeated. The teacher was known for having a bad temper, but even so, Till didn’t really care about him. All he cared about were his dropping grades right now, and if he didn’t answer, the teacher might get so mad he’ll lower Till’s grade out of spite.
“Shit.” Till wasn’t paying attention and was just staring at Ivan the entire time he was supposed to do his work. He turned to flip through the textbook, but then he caught Ivan staring at him with a blank expression, whichquickly transformed into an amused one. Till gave him a glare and quickly read through the question on the paper, which didn’t make any sense at all.
“Do you need my help?” Ivan seemed to say with his eyes. The teacher seemed like he was about to explode so Till gave him a subtle nod as he glanced back to his worksheet. Ivan moved his hand right under the desk so that the teacher couldn’t see, and he lifted three fingers.
‘3’ was the answer.
“Uh…3?” Till hesitantly answers the teacher. Till swore the teacher was about to burst into flames and drag him down to hell. Then the man in question sighed and stared intently at Till for a second, which felt like an eternity to Till. He seemed to accept that Till answered correctly.
“I thought this was a language class..” He said to himself in wonder of how he forgot this was math class.
“Correct.” The teacher spat, then moved onto the next question, with less anger. Till forced his eyes off the teacher and looked to Ivan, who was looking back at him with a smile. It was truly beautiful, unlike the ones that would tease him or make fun of him in front of his friends or family. Then it turned into a mischievous one, almost making Till punch Ivan in the face.
“Thanks.” Till muttered, then turned to actually do his work instead of staring at Ivan. Ivan also turned to do the worksheet, and finished within a few minutes. He stared at Till intently until Till was finished with it.
“Let’s compare answers, Till.” He suggested, to which Till nodded. Unlike earlier, Ivan seemed sincere. Sometimes there are rare moments when they were not at eachothers throats. Till liked those moments.
Just peace and quiet, unlike the chaotic times when Ivan was making fun of Till, who then punched him in the face and then they fought. The nice moment had Till forgetting about the memory of the interaction this morning with Ivan, and even of the surprising love letter.
_______________________________________________
The bell rang, signaling time for lunch. Ivan followed Till to his locker, as usual.
“What’re you grabbing this time?” Ivan asked, genuinely curious, as Till always went to his locker to grab different things each time. Till struggled to open his locker as Ivan continued to chatter non-stop. For someone who always uses their locker, he takes way too long to open it every time.
Till paused for a moment to glare, and hopefully shut that idiodic mouth of his. He, of course, continues to talk despite seeing the vicious glare.
“Are you grabbing your sketchbook? Maybe an eraser?” He continued, to Till’s dismay.
“Shut up. Why would I need an eraser if I have nothing to erase? I’m only grabbing us drinks.” Till replied, but not with anger or another negative emotion. It was just a statement. Ivan smiled at that and Till finally opened his locker after failing a few times.
“Okay.” Was Ivan’s reply, and the atmosphere of just peace was like a curtain covering the both of them. Until they reached the lunchroom, which was loud and chaotic, instantly snapping the both of them out of their calm mood. They turned to the loudest group in the cafeteria, their friend group. Till spotted Mizi, and smiled, then noticed Sua glaring daggers at him this time.
“What the hell did I do?” Till muttered under his breath. Ivan chuckled at that. He seemed to have noticed Sua’s glare as well.
“..Sua’s just like that. You know, don’t you?” He whispered in Till’s ear playfully, and the latter jumped back in surprise. Till didn’t realize his ears and neck were red, so he was confused when Ivan burst out laughing, gaining the attention of many students nearby.
Sua seemed to have calmed down, and turned to Mizi. She said something, but they were quite a distance., and the rest of the cafeteria was loud as well. Then Sua proceeded to point at us, and Mizi, who didn't notice us earlier, turned as bright as the sun and waved both Ivan and Till over. They both stood there, observing something. Sua was smiling. Brightly.
When Sua pointed at them, Till was surprised she could actually see them, a thought a little late, even though she glared at him before. The cafeteria was extremely crowded, after all. After seeing Mizi’s beckoning intensify, they walked straight over.
“Hiya you two!” Mizi smiled, and Sua’s gaze softened at Mizi. Hyuna, as usual, was arguing with Dewey as Issac stood between them wondering if he should kill them both or himself.
“Everyone ready?” Ivan shouted, and everyone nodded. The big group left the cafeteria and passed through the halls into the courtyard to have lunch, with some people littering the halls staring at them, even though they all go to the same school. They finally reached their usual lunch spot.
“Hm. This place never fails to impress me with its beauty!” Hyuna shouted to no one in particular, but both Till and Issac rolled their eyes, while Mizi agreed.
“We were here yesterday. Literally.” Isaac said. Till nodded his head as he handed Ivan the drink he bought him. Sua gave Ivan another subtle glance, similar to this morning, not that he noticed.
“Awh! Thank’s Till! You’re so nice for treating me to this delicious drink.” He said in a sickening sweet voice. It sent chills down Till’s spine, and he must’ve made a weird face because Mizi and Hyuna’s faces both distorted into an expression almost of laughter and non-surprise.
“Augh.. Don’t even joke like that.” Till replied while gagging as if the thought of treating Ivan nicely would make him throw up. Mizi, Hyuna, and Dewey burst into laughter and Isaac and Sua sat there just listening to it, content.
“Ah right! This morning..Ivan..Till.. What were you guys fighting about this time?” Mizi questioned, gasping for air from the laughter. It was an innocent question, but Till couldn’t open his mouth.
“It was funny at first, but then you guys really started to fight..haha..” She continued with an awkward smile. Dewey and Isaacs glanced at each other, noticing that it was different from the usual fight. Realizing this was her chance, Hyuna’s eyes lit up at the thought of gossipping and guessing who this secret admirer was. Valentine's day was coming up soon, Friday, and she wondered if they would ask Till out.
“Oh I’ll tell you what happened!” Hyuna cackled, and Till instantly knew he had to shut her up, lest she say anything to Mizi. He would be so embarrassed if the entire group teased him the entire day for the letter. Till instantly lunged at Hyuna, who didn’t expect the surprise attack and she covered her mouth in surprise.
“Oh no! Someone stop Till!” Dewey shouted loudly, with a touch of amusement, and Mizi looked just as shocked as Hyuna. Sua looked in interest, along with Isaac. The only one not focused was Ivan, who was contemplating something. Hyuna and Till usually argued and wrestled, so he wasn’t too worried. What made him curious was the letter, which he had in his hand earlier this morning, and felt. It was definitely a love letter. He also quickly deduced it was for Till, since Till was
“Shut up! Shut up!!!” He shouted, and knocked Hyuna off the wooden bench, both of them crashing into the (thankfully) soft grass. Unfortunately, he failed to notice the victim of his attack this morning.
“I can say it instead.” Ivan’s toothy smile was very cute, even to Till, but that didn’t stop him from going after Ivan next. Hyuna was sprawled on the ground, shocked.
“You better not say a word, if you know what’s good for you!” Till’s last words made their mark on Hyuna, snapped out of her shock, and sweated as she mimed zipping her mouth shut. Even if Till was a little weak twink, he still had such anger that even she, who was bigger than him, wouldn’t wanna get involved.
Till rose on his two feet, and so did Hyuna. She slowly backed away and stayed quiet, which was unusual for her. Then Till turned to Ivan.
“Don’t you say a word.” He warned.
“Hm? And what if I do? It’s only a little thing, Till. Why are you overreacting so much?” He teased back. That does it!
Till walked over slowly to Ivan, the entire group invested and stuffing their faces in with popcorn. Till stopped right in front of his face, just a hair away from Ivan’s noticeably less pale and more pinky face.
“What?” He asked. Till continued to stare him down, then he whispered very softly, which made Ivan’s hair stand on end in anticipation because he’s weird.
“Don’t you say a word, either, Ivan.” Was what Ivan heard, and Ivan swore the voice Till used was worth messing with him. Maybe he should tease Till like this in the future. The pain and curses would definitely be worth it. Ending with that thought, Ivan opened his mouth.
“They’ll find out soon anyway. Why shouldn’t I?” He retorted.
Just then, Ivan noticed out of the corner of his eye, Hyuna miming unzipping her mouth. He smiled, and Till realized where he was looking. Ivan moved his eyes back on Till’s figure, whose skin was turning from a pale color to a nice pink.
“Hyuna! Don't you dare!” Till shouted, warning her. Hyuna sighed, and she turned to Mizi, whose eyes started to shine once she realized it was her turn to play a part of this drama.
“What? Now this is making me extremely curious! Please, please, please!” She begged. Sua also looked interested, and so did everyone else. Dewey was making (disgusting) puppy eyes at Hyuna, Ivan, and even Till, who gave him a death stare. He didn’t cower away, unlike Hyuna though.
With Mizi’s nagging, Till realized he would never win. They would all find out soon anyway, just as Ivan said. Mizi wasn’t one to give up on finding secrets once she caught a whiff of them, unless they were extremely personal, of course.
“..Whatever.” He muttered. After all that work of making Ivan and Hyuna shutting their mouths, he let them be. It wasn’t like they wouldn’t find out soon. Hyuna would probably get drunk and spill it during a party anyway.
Mizi’s eyes lit up even more, and Till dragged Ivan with him back to the group. Hyuna began to slowly and dramatically retold the story.
“So, at first I thought it was Ivan’s letter, since he usually gets a truckload everyday, y’know?” She started. Everyone nodded their heads aggressively, prompting Hyuna to continue.
“Then I read Till’s name on the top left corner-” She continued, only to be interrupted by gasps and screams of surprise and amusement.
“Wait what?! Till? Our Till?” Mizi gasped, and both Hyuna and Ivan nodded while Till remained unfazed.
“Wow! That’s just amazing! Isn’t this your first love letter Till?!” Dewey laughed wildly, while Isaac just rubbed his chin.
“Well they sure were dedicated. How do you guys know it was real?” Sua contributed, fueling the conversation.
“Ah right! How did you?” Mizi asked. Ivan put his hand to his chin and Hyuna looked around as if she was really looking for an answer. Till watched the group in silence, and huge embarrassment. Till didn’t realize, but his entire neck and ears were stained a bright pink, which Ivan noticed.
“Well, it felt really genuine. There was a wax stamp and the name was written beautifully.” Ivan concluded. Hyuna nodded vigorously, and added to the evidence.
“Well, also, nobody at our school really messes with Till like that. He doesn’t talk to anyone besides us.” She smirked at the last part, filled with pride, but Till just felt like his introverted personality was being attacked.
“Ugh..” He groaned because of the indirect attack on him. Everyone turned to him in an instant, as if they didn’t know he was still here, even though they were talking about him.
“Well..Who is it?” Ivan asked. His question seemed normal, but even one in the group knew how Ivan felt. Hyuna was at first amused by the letter, but quickly fell into a ditch of pity and sadness for Ivan. Till never seemed to notice, though.
“..I don’t know yet.” The man in question replied.
“Ah, right, you still haven’t read the letter yet.” Ivan smiled, but everyone, aside from Till, knew how fake it was. Especially Sua, his older sister. They were very similar, almost eerily so, but even Sua was cured by Mizi, who reciprocated her feelings, but they weren’t dating yet.
So In Ivan’s case, who loved Till so very much, and Till who wasn’t interested, they were vaguely aware of what Ivan was feeling. Sua knew it was a bitter smile, similar to the ones she had when she didn’t know she was a lesbian.
“Yeah,” Till dryly replies, pauses, and continues. “So? Any more useless questions about the letter?”
Nobody spoke up, the mood damped by their knowledge of Ivan’s pining. Till on the other hand, radiated once he knew he was free from these seemingly useless questions. But then Mizi got curious.
“Um, actually, I do.” She says, with much less excitement than earlier. Till didn’t notice however, because he’s an idiot.
“Yeah, what’s up?” He faintly smiles at Mizi.
“Who do you think gave you that letter?” She continued once given the okay.
“..Eh?” Was Till’s surprised question. He hadn’t thought about it. Not really.
“I meant..Like who do you think likes you enough to send you a letter like that?” She asks, genuinely curious, since Ivan wasn’t the one who did it (judging by his bitter attitude) and Till didn’t talk to anyone besides the current group surrounding him.
“...” Everyone stayed silent, letting Till sort out his thoughts. HE thought long and hard, yet no face showed up. He let his gaze flicker to Ivan for a moment, then dismissed the growingly nice thought of Ivan sending it.
“..What am I thinking? He hates my guts, just as I hate his.” He thinks to himself, and refocuses on the more important part; who sent him love letter?
“I genuinely do not know.” Was his final answer. Short and truthful, and Sua nodded, as if she expected it, and everyone else let out a breath, aside from Isaac who was.. Staring at Dewey.
“Were you nice to someone the other day? Maybe love at first sight?” Ivan, who hadn’t spoken in a while, finally let out his thoughts. This made Till relook at his recent memories, forgetting about Ivan’s antics.
“Ah. I remember a girl watching me draw the other day. That’s the only thing that comes to mind.” He says, and unlike the moment before, the entire atmosphere changed. In the group, there was Mizi and Hyuna discussing what it meant, Dewey and Isaac asking if he knew her and if he would date her, and Sua remaining by Mizi’s side listening and contributing to the conversations around her.
But Ivan wasn’t talking, which was odd. He could yap forever if he wanted to. Everytime in middle or elementary school, he would always tease till whenever there was a little crush or a few words to another person. But he sat still, thinking. Till didn’t like it.
“What’re you thinking about?” He blurted out to Ivan, who snapped out of his odd behavior and put on a smile.
“Hmm. I’m thinking about all of our classmates who match the description of that girl. Isn’t it funny?” He chuckled, but Till didn’t buy it. This is one of the few times Till really paid attention to Ivan.
“Liar. I don’t believe you.” Till scowled. Till didn’t like it when Ivan kept secrets from him. He never did, and he wasn’t gonna like it to start in the future. Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of the eternity of lunch. Ivan and Till had different classes from this point on, so he didn’t have the chance to fully confront Ivan on his weird and strange behavior.
And that marked the end of an escalating interaction between Ivan and Till.