Innocently annoying

Míngzé was always early to each class, making sure he sat down before a wave of students rushed in. He did not need their eyes on him or their help because they were too good for this world. That drew too much unwanted attention. Sometimes he would take the time to speak to his professor if he had questions regarding the previous lesson, but not today.

On the small table in front of him he had his laptop at the ready. Míngzé was also wearing his headset, only covering one ear so he could still hear the professor talk. And last but not least his phone which would record the whole lesson in case he missed something important.

As always there were a couple of early birds who joined after him, before everyone else joined, bringing with them enough noise to wake up a Snorlax. They would quiet down, eventually. Míngzé leaned back in his seat, waiting for the lesson to start. Someone came to sit next to him, but he paid them little attention, instead typing the name of this class and the date.

For a second it felt like time stopped ticking. All the background noise disappeared and he could only hear that one voice. Míngzé turned his head to the side, already forgetting what he was typing. “You.” How could he forget that voice, even though it was now a clear and proper sentence. “What are you doing here?” He fully ignored what the other said. Was it too late yet to leave?

In his head he was trying to figure out an escape plan. Some other people were already sitting somewhere at his other side, so that was out of the picture. Plainly asking the professor he could leave was definitely a no. Asking this person to move would also not work. Sadly, he was stuck.

Míngzé turned his head aside. At least now he was somewhat able to see the person, sortoff. It could be compared to a ghost. A silhouette with no other features. “It is. I thought you’d be sleeping under a bridge somewhere.” With a bottle of tequila in one hand and a stick in the other. But no, he sat right next to him.

Just like last time, the other had to make it personal. Míngzé grits his teeth, turning his head away. “I’ll take that as a compliment,” he says through his teeth. Uncomfortably he shifted in his seat, desperately wanting to run away. “Don’t you have friends who miss you?” No matter what, this guy probably had a shit load of friends. If only he stood up and joined them.

Last time the other gave him a headache and he felt like this would end the same way. Again he was being lectured about having fun. “Really? I never knew, thank you for enlightening me.” What did he ever do to deserve this?

The other did not even want to sit with his friends and Míngzé had no idea why. There was absolutely no reason for the other to stay here. “I bet it is more fun with them.” Normally he made an effort to look at whoever he’s talking to, but now he kept his eyes forward.

“Why do you bring it up?” he countered, not that it is a good comeback. It was not because he did not drink or whatever, that he did not know how to have “fun”. Míngzé huffed as if the other said something ridiculous, not noticing how the other came closer for a moment. “Don’t be absurd. Of course not,” he said, a bit too agitated. In an attempt to act normal, he turned to his laptop. Through his headset he could hear the voice telling him the time. Five more minutes and class would start. Surely the other would shut up then. “It is not too late to go and sit somewhere else.”

What did he do to deserve this, he wondered. Again he rolled his eyes because of some stupid comment. How was anyone able to be around this guy for more than a few minutes? It was a miracle. “I really don’t want to know.” Whatever the other did in his spare time he could keep to himself. It was almost a shame he hadn’t hit his head or drank just a bit more the other day. Then maybe he’d forgotten all about him.

Yet another of his attempts failed. Or maybe Míngzé was wrong about him. Maybe more people thought he was insufferable. Maybe he had no friends.

For a moment he turned his head again to look at the other, only to slightly jump when he noticed he was closer than before. Míngzé moved away a little. “Maybe if the conversation was more interesting and less irritating, that wouldn’t happen.” He turned his head away again. In an attempt to ignore him, he grabbed his phone, pressing the pause button. Immediately a voice told him what he’d done. Pause. This recording was useless. It was best to start over.

Asking him to leave did not help. The other was still there and made no effort to leave. Normally this was enough. Sometimes someone sat next to him, trying to have a friendly conversation and he cut them off. They never tried again after their first attempt. It was easier this way.

Again the other was talking about this stick he’d up his ass. He sighed deeply. "There is no— forget it. This man was wrong. If his snarky comments did not work, maybe he should just accept that he was stuck here for now. “What about him?” Míngzé muttered. If only that pokémon was right here with him.

For now his attention was on his phone as he was navigating through it. Mingze removed his last recording. Do you dye your hair. He looked up again, blinking rapidly. “What? No, of course not. Why would I dye my hair?” Without giving it a second though he got rid of the phone in his hands and grabbed his long ponytail. Still black with no strange colors as far as he could see.

Míngzé let out a sigh of relief when it looked like he was finally about to have a somewhat normal conversation. “He is, he has to be.” While he never personally trained the pokémon, he knew what to do and even how to fight. Not that he had to do it very often, in fact he hadn’t fought for years.  

After everything the other had done and said already, Míngzé should have expected something like this. And still he was surprised. In silence he looked at the young man. He opened his mouth to say something, fire some comment back, but there was nothing. What the other said and did meant nothing. He was only trying to get under his skin and it was working. “If I find a gray hair, you’re the only one to blame,” he managed to say.

It did not even matter if the other left now. He was too worked up to pay attention to this lesson. Mingze fully turned his body to directly face this stranger, crossing his arms. “Tell me, as it seems I don’t know how to live my life, what do you suggest?” They were almost the same height so he looked straight ahead, trying to ‘stare him down’.

Míngzé simply shrugged. He did not care what people thought about his pokémon. Fighting was frowned upon, but if a wild pokémon decided to attack him, he wanted Qiān to be able to protect him. “By now you must know I’m not most people,” he stated, almost as if he was avoiding the question. No matter what, Qiān was a gentle soul.

At this point it would not surprise him if his whole head was gray the next day. Not with what he had to deal with. The other mentioned a different color in his hair. It was enough to spike his curiosity and for a moment he looked back at him. Maybe he saw something among the blond, but he couldn’t be sure. “Color does not suit me,” he decided. He was worse than another well known person and had even more black in his closet. Probably only black.

It was hard to see if the other leaned in closer, or if he was moving in his seat. The ghostly figure became somewhat bigger, but that was it. What the other did or didn’t do, mattered not. Míngzé kept his back straight and refused to back away.

What did he expect? Something he should change, do different, behave differently. Those were the things Míngzé expected to hear. Not… this. An actual laugh escaped, deep and harsh. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he muttered to himself, turning away from thim. “This is too crazy for words.” The other actually managed to leave him speechless. How was he even supposed to answer that? “You have some nerve, I give you that.” A smile was on his lips, but lacked any kind of happiness. “Go out with you,” he muttered to himself followed by a huff.

There was only one reason why Míngzé had a pokémon, which was to help him through daily life. He liked having him around, but probably wouldn’t have any pokémon otherwise. Especially in a city where battling was illegal. “Almost sounds like a challenge,” Míngzé stated calmly. “So, is it?” He continued while looking back at the other. In no way was he looking for a fight, but this might make the other shut up for a moment.

Míngzé was perfectly happy with his colorless clothes. With the fact that he could not really see them anyway, he did not really care. With other people it was different, he was happy when they wore something bright. But gold? Not what he’d thought the other would say. “What makes you say that?” Curiosity killed the litten. The question was out before he could stop himself. Before the other could even answer he was already shaking his head and mentally slapping himself.

At this point he is completely over the guy. That he even dared to ask this question after all his mockery. It frustrated him so much when he could hear the other laugh. Míngzé leaned forward only to bury his head in his hands. Oh yes, by now he had a headache. “You’re a real asshole, you know that,” he sighed, lowering his hands again and taking a deep breath.

Fighting back did not work. On the contrary. He probably did exactly what the other hoped he would. Was he predictable? Maybe. But at this point he just wanted the other to shut up for once and leave him be. “You won,” he said in defeat. Whatever he said next, did not mean anything. He would simply ghost him. “I’ll go out with you,” he said as if he just ate something disgusting. It even left a bad taste in his mouth. He did not even look at him, only rubbed his eyes.  

For only a second, Míngzé thought the person was crazy enough to agree to the challenge, knowing all too well it was illegal. Good thing he didn’t. “That’s a lie,” he simply stated. Even a child would realize this was someone who’d break rules if it suited him. Míngzé was certain of it.

The color of his eyes. Míngzé knew they had an almost golden color to them, but because he never saw them it slipped his mind. Sometimes he forgot that other people could see, unlike him. The way he addressed him, however, made him forget what they were talking about. He narrowed his eyes. “Right.” This man was truly insufferable.

As soon as Míngzé agreed, he sat back with his hands in his hair. It was for a good cause. After this lesson, he could ignore the other. Even pretend none of this ever happened. “Yeah, yeah— wait what,” he muttered until the realization hit him. Immediately he sat up straight again, his hand moving over the table where he left his phone, but nothing. Then he could hear the voice and he knew. “Give that back,” he said furiously. There was faint light and together with the sounds, he could guess where it was. Míngzé reached for the other’s arm so he could find his way to his phone next, not caring that meant he had to get closer to him. For a moment he forgot they were still in class.

He was promised he would not regret it, but huffed immediately. “Too late for that. Now give. Back.” Because he already regretted his decision. And here he thought this would all end if he agreed. There was the question of what he wanted to do, but he completely ignored it.

A criminal? The question made him frown. “Not a criminal, a liar.” Which was not too bad. Everyone lies, some more than others. Even though this guy has been very honest, too honest, he doubted it was always this way.

His attempt at retrieving his phone was in vain. No longer did he know where the other was holding it. Behind them he could hear someone shush them both. Although he did not want to accept defeat, there wasn’t much he could do. Slowly he pulled his hand back and sat down normally on his chair. “Remember when I told you that you are an asshole?” This was proof that he was right. But maybe the other still had some good in his heart. A very tiny part perhaps. Míngzé held out his hand, palm turned upwards asking for his phone back.

When the other asked yet another question, he looked rather troubled. Míngzé could lie, say he was not free. He could also not answer the question but somehow he knew that meant he wouldn’t get his phone back. “Yes,” he forced out through clenched teeth. “Why?” How was everything going from bad to worse?