“Myungsoo! Are you awake yet?”

“Ughhh,” Myungsoo groaned. The loud voice of his father woke him from his dreams and forced him to drag himself out of bed. “Coming!” He crawled to his closet and yanked a plaid shirt from its hanger. “No way am I wearing my uniform today,” he mumbled, pulling the shirt over his head. He only wore his school uniform half the time, when all of his favorite plaid shirts were in the wash.

“Finally,” his father snapped as he entered the kitchen. “Your breakfast is getting cold. Sit down.”

“Yes, father.”

Myungsoo shuffled into his family’s dining room, where his mother and brother, Moonsoo, were waiting. He sat down at the end of the table and waited silently. None of them dared to touch their food.

Minutes later, his father sauntered into the room, newspaper in hand, and sat down. He nodded at each member of his family, signaling them that it was okay to begin eating without him. Myungsoo avoided his eyes.

“Father, may I ask you something?” The quiet voice of Myungsoo’s brother interrupted the silence of their meal.

“You may.”

“Could I borrow some money? I wanted to go to the mall with some friends after school today.”

His father looked up at him, his expression completely blank. “And what have you done to deserve this money?”

Moonsoo twiddled his thumbs nervously. “What do you mean, father?”

“I mean, why should I give you extra money? So you can have fun and waste time? Your mother has already made this wonderful meal for you today, and you didn’t have to move a muscle. And now you want money as well?” He stared coldly at his son.

“But…I really want to go. Mother, can’t I borrow just a few thousand won?” Moonsoo looked expectantly at his mother with his best puppy-dog face.

“Listen to your father, Moonsoo,” was her reply. She avoided her son’s eyes and stared at her plate.

“What have I always taught you boys?” Mr. Kim had a condescending tone to his voice now. “Tell me.”

“You don’t deserve anything you haven’t earned,” Moonsoo replied back solemnly, lowering his head in defeat.

“That’s right. Yah, Myungsoo. Are you listening? This applies to you too,” he snapped, noticing that his son had shifted his gaze elsewhere.

“Yes, father.”

“Good. Now, Moonsoo. What do you intend to do to earn this money?”

“I will clean the dishes for a month, or however long it takes to earn back the money I borrow.”

His father scratched his chin, pondering the offer. “All right, I suppose that will do. But you cannot be gone for more than three hours, understood?”

“Yes, father.”

“Very good. Now, boys, clean up the table and get to school. I don’t have time to drive you today, so you’ll have to walk.”

“Oh, but couldn’t you just drop them off on your way to work?” their mother requested worriedly. “It’s so cold outside…”

She was silenced by her husband’s cold glare, which seemed to clearly say “No.”

“Come on, Moonsoo,” said Myungsoo softly, tugging at his brother’s arm. “We don’t want to be late.”

Once outside, his younger brother stamped his feet angrily. “I can’t believe him!” he fumed. “Who does he think he is, telling us what we do and don’t deserve?”

“He’s our father, and we have to listen to him,” Myungsoo said flatly. Then his expression softened as he saw his younger brother’s lower lip begin to tremble. “It’s alright. Put on your coat so we can go, okay?”

“Mmm,” he agreed, buttoning up his jacket and following after Myungsoo.

As usual, the brothers were silent as they shuffled towards school. Occasionally, one of them would let out a puff of steam into the cold air, but they didn’t bother to speak.

“Huh? Who’s that?” Moonsoo wondered aloud after they had walked a few blocks.

“Who?” asked Myungsoo, shifting his gaze up from the pavement. Just a few hundred yards in front of them, a young boy with a backpack was leaving his house.

“Him,” said Moonsoo, pointing at the boy. “He’s wearing our uniform! I wonder if we know him.”

Squinting, Myungsoo tried to recognize the figure in front of him. Something about the way his hair was styled was familiar…and hadn’t he seen that house before? He shook his head, the cold air muddling his memory.

“ANNYEONGGG~” Moonsoo called out to the boy. He ran past his brother and bounded excitedly up next to the other student.

The boy spun around in confusion upon hearing the greeting, allowing Myungsoo to see his face. No wonder he looked familiar, he thought. It’s Sungjong.

“Myungsoo!” Sungjong called out, waving at his friend. “Is this your brother?”

“I sure am!” answered Moonsoo shyly. “Are you my brother’s friend?”

Sungjong nodded. “Yep~” he said happily. “What are you two doing here?” he asked Myungsoo as the older boy caught up to them.

“Our dad couldn’t drive us today, so we’re walking to school,” he explained.

“Same here! My dad had an early meeting on the other end of town, so I told him I’d walk to school. But it’s so cold…” Sungjong shivered. The jacket he was wearing obviously wasn’t warm enough to shield him from the cold weather.

“Aren’t you cold, Sungjong?” Myungsoo asked, sounding concerned.

“A-a little…I d-didn’t realize it was going to be this chilly.”

“Then take my coat.”

“Eh?! But won’t you be cold?”

“I’m wearing two jackets,” Myungsoo pointed out, taking one of them off to reveal another. “So it’s not a big deal. Here.” He handed it to Sungjong, who accepted it gladly and pulled it around his shoulders.

“Thanks, Myungsoo,” he grinned.

Myungsoo laughed and nodded in response. “It’s so big on you~” he teased. And he was right. The warm coat looked ten times bigger on the smaller boy’s tiny frame. “You’re so skinny. Eat more.”

“Sure, mom.”  Sungjong stuck his tongue out at his friend defiantly, suppressing a giggle.

Meanwhile, Moonsoo was watching the pair from behind as they walked. He almost never got to see his brother interact with anyone, and when he did, it was usually awkward. But with Sungjong, it was different. He actually seemed comfortable. Moonsoo smiled contentedly, happy that Myungsoo had finally found someone he was happy with. “I ship it~” he laughed quietly to himself. “Good for you, bro.”

---

“Hey, Woohyun. You showed up.”

“Yeah,” he said, looking around the cafeteria. “What’s up, Hoya? I was planning on doing some studying.”

Hoya rolled his eyes. “You’re always studying during lunch these days. Come on, sit down. We’ve got a surprise for you.” He put his hands on Woohyun’s shoulders and sat him down at their usual table, where Sungjong, Dongwoo, and Sungyeol were waiting. The trio all had huge, stupid-looking smiles on their faces.

“What are you three so excited about?” Woohyun asked.

“Nice to see you too,” Sungyeol scoffed. “I’ve been out sick for almost a week and you don’t even say hello?” He pouted his lips and dramatically flipped his hair to the side.

“Sorry, Yeollie. Welcome back.”

“You know you missed me.”

“Mhm.”

“Was that sarcastic?”

“Maybe.”

“Shhhh!” Sungjong hushed them. “Look,” he said, pointing behind Woohyun.

Woohyun slowly turned around, noticing that the entire room had gone quiet. To his surprise, standing on one of the tables in the center of the cafeteria was none other than Sunggyu. He held a finger to his lips, asking everyone to be quiet.

“I have something I’d like to announce,” said Sunggyu. “It’s something that I should have told everyone a long time ago.” He smiled nervously and ran a hand through his hair. “There’s someone that I care about very much, but…I’ve been too much of a coward to tell this person what I’m feeling. And for that, I’d like to apologize.”

Woohyun stared in shock at Sunggyu, not understanding what was going on. Is he talking about me? He shook his head. No, he couldn’t be. He said he didn’t want to tell anyone about us.

“If I claim this person as mine right now…would all of you support me?” asked Sunggyu, looking around the room.

“YES~” was the thundering unanimous reply from everyone in the cafeteria.

“I’m glad,” he chuckled happily. “Here I go, then!”

Woohyun watched as the man he was in love with climbed down from the table and strode in his direction. No, there’s no way, he thought. He’ll probably walk right past me. He bit his lip and lowered his gaze to the floor. If he’s going to confess to some girl, I don’t want to see it.

“Everyone, meet the person I’m in love with.” The voice of Sunggyu was close to where Woohyun was sitting. Too close.

Suddenly, Woohyun felt someone’s fingers wrap around his hand, pulling him up to stand. As he was pulled to his feet, he looked up and met Sunggyu’s eyes, which were locked on him. Sunggyu wrapped his arm around Woohyun’s waist and pulled their bodies together until the tips of their noses were touching.

“I love you, Nam Woohyun,” he said, staring into his eyes. Then, ignoring the gasps of the people around them, he smiled and pressed his lips to Woohyun’s.

Instead of freezing in shock like Sunggyu had expected him to, Woohyun instinctively wrapped his arms around the older boy’s neck and pulled him deeper into the kiss. He didn’t care that people were watching; in fact, he wanted everyone to watch, to see that Sunggyu was his and only his. Someone could be filming them, for all he cared.

When Sunggyu finally pulled away, he was grinning sheepishly. “I guess everyone knows now~” he whispered, eyes still locked on Woohyun. “Sorry it took so long.”

“Get a room!” someone yelled from the other end of the cafeteria.

“Gladly!” Woohyun called back, lacing his fingers with Sunggyu’s. “Shall we?”

“Might I recommend the music room?” said Sungyeol, raising his eyebrows suggestively. “It has a couch. A very nice couch.”

Sunggyu facepalmed. “Yeollie, could you not?”

“What? You guys are an official couple now, so you might as well celebrate. Get some.”

“You’re insane.”

“And?”

“And you should stop,” Woohyun laughed. “Before Sunggyu passes out.” He ruffled the hair of his boyfriend, who had his forehead rested against Woohyun’s shoulder to hide his embarrassment.

“Meh, okay. You two go have fun. I’ll go pester Sungjong about his ice prince instead.”

“You really need a girlfriend,” mumbled Sunggyu, motioning for him to leave.

Sungyeol grimaced. “If you find one for me, let me know. All the girls here are boring.” He sighed and walked away, leaving the couple by themselves.

“So…” said Woohyun, “…how about that couch?”

Sunggyu groaned. “Please tell me you’re not serious.”

“I’m just kidding,” he laughed. “Come on. Let’s go get some ice cream before lunch ends.”

---

“Sungjong?”

“…”

“Joooongie?”

“…”

“EARTH TO SUNGJONG! WE REQUEST YOUR ASSISTANCE!” Sungyeol screeched from across the table, desperate to gain the attention of the sophomore, who had been staring off into space for quite some time.

Sungjong jolted in surprise when Sungyeol raised his voice, causing him to flail his arms wildly and fall backwards out of his seat. “Waaaah!” he yelled, desperately trying to regain his balance. Just as he was about to flip backwards onto the tile floor, someone caught his arm and carefully pulled him up to a sitting position.

“You have to be more careful, Jongie.”

“M-Myungsoo,” Sungjong stuttered, recognizing the voice of his friend. “When did you get here?”

“I was leaving. But then you flailed. So I caught you,” he explained simply.

“Oh. Well, uhm, thanks.”

Myungsoo nodded and continued on his way out of the lunchroom.

“You are making this teasing thing way too easy for me,” Sungyeol chuckled. “You two practically ship yourselves.”

“Shut up.”

“That’s not the way you should speak to your hyung.”

“Hyung, I respectfully request for you to shut up.”

“He does have a point, though,” interrupted Hoya. He and Dongwoo had been observing the scene from the other end of the table. “Your prince saved you. That’s pretty cute.”

Sungjong puffed out his cheeks. “It is?”

“Yep.”

“Does this mean you’re going to confess to him soon?” Dongwoo asked hopefully. His eyes were sparkling with anticipation.

Sungjong dismissed the question with a vigorous shake of his head. “No way!”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know if he likes me!”

“So?”

“So…what if he rejects me?”

“Yah, what happened to thinking positive?” Sungyeol kicked Sungjong’s foot under the table. “He might like you. You never know.”

He’s right, Sungjong thought, I don’t know. But I need to find out.

a/n: I wanted all you guys to know why Myungsoo thought he didn't deserve Sungjong, soooo... there you go ^^ I don't think his dad will be appearing too much in the story, though. I hate him too much xD

I hope I pulled off the WooGyu scene well enough! I'm so terrible with romance sob ;~; part of the reason I'm writing this is to practice writing that sort of scene. Hopefully I'll improve by the end of this fic~

Oh yeah, and there's something I need your help with. I don't want Sungyeol to be alone forever, so is there anyone you guys would like him to be with? Girls, that is. For some reason, I just cannot ship him with guys xD don't know why. If there's someone you think he would look nice with, let me know! 

Thanks for reading, commenting, and subscribing! <33