"Shit, shit, shit-"

Engaged in a full-on pursuit, the dog necked closer to Thomas with each stride. The closer it got, the more nervous he felt. Sweat beaded off of his face.

Goddamn, it had to be a dog!

He'd transferred only a week ago, but he was already the subject of the majority of his peers' attention. As he narrowly edged corners to take the chase indoors, he became more aware of the craning necks of his classmates, and felt a crippling knot in his stomach. Feeling his ears begin to burn a bright red, he grimaced and tried to messily hide his face with his hands as he ran.

"Augh, fuck!" he yelled, his voice cracking from embarrassment.

He peeked behind him in hopes of finding that the dog had given up, only to see that not only was he still being pursued, but his classmates had all begun to point at him and laugh softly amongst themselves.

Great, is this gonna be my reputation? Are people gonna mock me for this forever? The shy kid running from a dog!? Shit!

He started to tear up and he gritted his teeth.

Oh my god, if I cry I'm gonna be labeled as a loser for-

A classroom door abruptly slammed open and a hand reached out and grabbed Thomas by his forearm, yanking him into the room. The door slid shut behind him.

Startled, Thomas spun around to address whoever had pulled him in.

"W-Who are you? You didn't have to-"

The dog began to excitedly claw at the door, and the other boy's hand immediately clasped over Thomas' mouth, and he pushed his back into the wall to the side of the door. The boy gave Thomas a quick smirk and motioned him to be quiet.

Madly blushing, Thomas' eyes widened in awe at the boy. As he took sharp breaths in between the boy's fingers, he realized how incredibly attractive the boy was—to girls, that is. He was slightly taller than Thomas, muscular, and had a sharp yet kind face.

The boy pulled away from Thomas, who found himself accidentally leaning towards him before stopping himself.

"Sorry about that, haha. Looks like the dog's gone," the other boy awkwardly explained, scratching the back of his head.

Thomas had completely forgotten about the dog.

"No, ah, thanks for that," he said, forcing a smile. "I'm Thomas, by the way."

"I know! You just transferred into my class, didn't you? I'm Minho. Nice to meet 'cha," he said, extending his hand.

Forcing a misshapen smile, Thomas shook Minho's hand.

"Sorry, I haven't memorized everyone's faces yet," Thomas muttered, feeling a bit guilty for not recognizing him.

"So, what gives? You make the dog angry or something? It was just a puppy, you know."

"No, uh, I mean, I didn't particularly do anything…it kinda just started chasing after me. And, yeah, it was a puppy, but it was pretty big! So, I mean—"

"Ah! Let me guess, you're scared of them, but they love you. Or somethin' cliché like that!"

A soft smile escaped Thomas' lips. He always tried to hide his fear of dogs from everyone he met, but Minho felt…trustworthy.

"So, Thomas, I was watching you run outside from the window and, well, were you on the track team in your last school or something?

"Huh? No, why?" Thomas asked, a bit perplexed.

"You were pretty good! Well, better than pretty good…Ah, what I'm saying is that I think you should try out for track."

"Huh? Are you serious?" He asked, creasing his eyebrows in doubt.

"Of course! You were pretty fast, you know. You must be great in gym class, huh? So, do you wanna come to practice with me?"

Minho seemed to glow when he talked about Thomas, who couldn't figure out if it was just because Minho was so charismatic or because of something…else.

"…Sure," Thomas mumbled, too distracted by Minho's bright gaze to realize what he'd said.

Minho's soft smile turned into a grin. He slid the door open and grabbed Thomas by the arm. Trying to fight a ridiculously elated smile from forming, he averted his gaze from Minho as he was pulled down the hallway.

"Sorry, where are we going?"

"The Saga West track club, idiot."