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The smell of creativity alone is enough to soothe Donghae’s immense stress. He’d been wandering around his local art supply store for about twenty minutes now, picking up little things here and there without any intention of actually purchasing anything before putting them back down. Thankfully, upon arrival, all negative thoughts had bubbled away.

Earlier that week, Donghae had received absolutely devastating news from his school. If he didn’t raise his grades in Maths and Physics, he wouldn’t be allowed to play on the school’s football team, continue in the theatre club, and take Art as a subject anymore. And if there’s one thing Donghae is absolutely terrified of, it’s the thought that he wouldn’t be able to do art anymore.

Twiddling another fine paintbrush in his hand, Donghae thinks he’s been in the store long enough and is probably annoying the old man behind the counter. As he’s about to leave the store, however, Donghae spots a flyer stuck on the giant corkboard of advertisements just by the wall of the exit. The large ‘MATH TUTORING DESPERATE STRAIGHT A+ STUDENT LOOKING FOR $$$’ in bright red had really helped. He gasps slightly and a small smile tugs on the corners of his lips as he pulls the flyer off the wall and holds it gingerly as if it’s the answer to all his question. Donghae reaches for his pocket to pull out his phone, eyeing the number on the precious sheet of paper. Ignoring the brief thought that someone placing an ad for math tutoring outside a store that sells art equipment could possibly have rude undertones, he starts to dial the number on the flyer.

After seven or eight rings, Donghae is nearly ready to give up. However, just as he takes the phone off his ear, there’s a small clicking sound that indicates that the call had been answered.

“Hello?” Donghae hears the person on the other end of the line say. His voice is vaguely familiar, young and masculine, but Donghae chooses to drop the subject in light of other more important topics as he puts the phone back to his ear.

“Hi! I’m calling about the math tutoring advert?”

“Oh, yes!” says the man. Donghae hears some sort of fumbling, and smiles questioningly at the sound, wondering if the man had actually expected any calls. Perhaps the fact that it was just after midnight might have played a part as well. “Right, the math tutoring. Are you…when would you want to do it?”

“Tomorrow at six, maybe? I kind have a test in a few days so I’d love it as soon as possible if that’s okay with you, thanks!”

“Oh, jeez,” the man drawls teasingly. “So this is just for one test? Are you going to ditch me afterwards?”

Donghae is taken aback at the joking nature of the male on the other end of the line. He’d expected someone more serious, like he would expect a tutor to be, however he’s not disappointed in the slightest. In fact, this almost reassures him that it won’t be like extra school, and more of tutoring with a friend.

“No! I promise I won’t!” Donghae laughs. “I kind of need to pass math, since...my school won’t let me continue to do art or play sports if I fail math.”

He pouts unknowingly as the man on the other end of the line tuts in disapproval.

“That’s unfair,” he says, and Donghae nods, leaving the art store. He hadn’t bought anything, but simply looking at art supplies fuelled him with a little bit of hope. “Sounds much like my school, to be honest. Even though I prefer math and science, I do enjoy dancing in my spare time, and the thought of having that taken away from me for being bad at something else kind of hurts.”

“Oh! You’re a student too?”

“Yeah! And I totally get where you’re coming from, so don’t worry. I’ll get you happily doing art and sports and everything else in no time.”

Donghae smiles brilliantly at the vows the other student had just made and tells him he’ll hold him to it. They laugh once more before the man on the other end tells him he needs to go, but to send the address and they’ll meet up tomorrow. Excitedly, Donghae bids him farewell and hangs up, texting the address quickly and smiling when he receives the reply of ‘ok, see u tmr!’  

Shoving his phone back in his pocket, Donghae realises this is the first time he’s been excited about revising math and laughs, hoping that his excitement isn’t for no reason.

Taking one last glance around the house, Donghae finally deems it clean – or at least clean enough. He’d spent quite a while tidying up his house in order to appear somewhat put together, though he’s sure the tutor will see straight through the façade.

When the loud ringing of a doorbell chimes, followed by a curt knock on the door, Donghae jumps a little. He doesn’t even try to hide how fast he makes his way towards the door, looking through the little peephole and gasping slightly at who he sees.

Outside his door stands Lee Hyukjae, a boy in his year with outstanding grades, dressed in a plain white tee tucked into black skinny jeans and a pair of glasses Donghae is sure he’s seen his grandfather wear. No wonder the voice on the other end of the line had sounded so familiar, he thinks briefly before blinking once or twice out of his daze and opening the door.

Donghae smiles a little when he sees Hyukjae’s eyes widen slightly.

“Donghae,” Hyukjae says, and he sounds breathless, as if this was the most unexpected coincidence. “I-Hello!”

“Hi, Hyukjae,” Donghae replies. Hyukjae smiles politely and Donghae laughs at the professionalism and ushers him inside. Once Hyukjae has taken off his shoes and they’re sitting at the dining table with math books everywhere, Donghae points out, “I didn’t know you wore glasses.”

Hyukjae raises his eyebrows and turns back to Donghae with his hands still on the math books. He suddenly brings a hand up to his glasses to take them off, and cracks a small smile.

“I never really wear them at school; they’re kind of ugly,” Hyukjae admits sheepishly.

“No, I think they really suit you!”

“You know,” starts Hyukjae inquisitively, putting his glasses back on for added effect. He looks at Donghae pointedly and analytically. “I think you’re just stalling so that we won’t do math.”

“No!” Donghae denies immediately (although realising that’s probably exactly it). “That’s not it!”

Hyukjae laughs but doesn’t prod any further, and they finally settle down into math, much to Donghae’s dismay. Hyukjae runs through a bit of the material they’d been learning at school and goes over the basics before getting Donghae to try a few exercises. Initially, he struggled quite a bit to answer the questions but with Hyukjae’s gentle pushes in the right direction, Donghae easily understands. Suddenly, he wonders why it’s so easy and he didn’t understand before. Smiling at the fact that he’d gotten every single question so far right, Donghae eases into the comfortable silence.

Sooner or later, Hyukjae makes Donghae move onto harder questions. Hyukjae sits by him comfortably, a leg propped up on the chair and a leg dangling off, always ready and available for queries that Donghae may have. After about two or three questions, Donghae groans and leans back in his chair and Hyukjae raises a brow curiously, but still looks amused.

“Ugh, I’m so bored,” Donghae complains. He drops his pencil on the page and whines slightly, turning to look at Hyukjae who looks like he sympathises. “This takes up so much brain power.”

Hyukjae turns the math book to the back and checks his answers, ticking them when he finds them to be right. Donghae’s face lights up and Hyukjae lets out a laugh.

“Okay, do you want to finish early?” asks Hyukjae. “You’ve done a lot today. I’m proud of you, Donghae!”

Donghae ducks his head down and smiles sheepishly.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without your tutoring,” Donghae admits in a small, light voice. Hyukjae laughs and shakes it off. “No but really, I didn’t know you tutored math! Do you, uhm, need the money or something?”

“Oh, nah,” Hyukjae shrugs. The math books remain on the table, forgotten. Donghae is turned in his chair so that he’s completely facing Hyukjae, head tilted to the side with a light smile on his face. “I just wanted to save up in case.”

“In case?”

“In case!” Hyukjae laughs. “You know, in case I have any big dreams in the future or if I need the money for hospital or if I want to donate to charity or if I’m robbed or…you know, in case.”

“Oh,” says Donghae thoughtfully. “That’s pretty smart. It’s a shame I have to spend my money on getting a tutor though.”

Hyukjae cracks a smile slowly and lets out a short, breathy chuckle. “What a shame indeed,” he agrees jokingly.

They chat for the remainder of the session, perhaps a little bit longer too, and Donghae ends up offering Hyukjae a hot chocolate. They sit on the couch this time, each sipping on their own cups of sweet cocoa and casually chatting about anything that comes to mind before Hyukjae realises the time.

“Oh, it’s getting late,” he points out. “I should get going.”

“You can stay for dinner if you want,” Donghae offers kindly. Hyukjae smiles at the sweet gesture. He stands, and Donghae follows.

“Nah, I’m sorry, I think my mum’s expecting me home soon. Maybe next time!”

“Okay, Hyukjae,” Donghae says, and watches Hyukjae pick up his things frantically, double checking and scanning the house for anything he might have left. Donghae notices the endearing way Hyukjae’s eyebrows are furrowed atop his glasses which had managed to slip down to the tip of his nose. He holds back the urge to reach out his hand and push Hyukjae’s glasses up, and can only smile when Hyukjae turns back to him with a small look of success and completion.

“See you at school, Donghae,” Hyukjae says.

Donghae waves him off happily and continues to stand by the door with a smile plastered on his face even after Hyukjae has left. Turning around on his heel, he acknowledges the math books that still lie on the table and don’t feel any sort of resentment towards them. In fact, Donghae feels a certain excitement he can’t begin to describe in words, and finds himself excited for next week.

Honestly, Hyukjae was completely unprepared. He knew the voice on the other end of the line was familiar, but upon finding out that it was in fact Lee Donghae, one of the popular kids, he’d been absolutely blown away.

Also, the fact that Hyukjae had kind of been crushing on Donghae for the past year or so after watching one of his performances might have enhanced the shock of the coincidence. Donghae was popular for being on the school’s football team, extremely talented at the Arts, and also very much for his charming and genuine personality. Hyukjae, however, was simply Hyukjae.

“You’re tutoring Donghae?” Sungmin asks incredulously. When Hyukjae nods, he lets out a boisterous laugh. “Oh man, how’d it go? Did you make a fool of yourself yet?”

“Sungmin! I know I like him but I’m not an idiot!” Hyukjae ignores Sungmin’s look of disbelief. Beside him, Ryeowook laughs loudly into his fried rice. “He’s really intelligent. Honestly.”

Hyukjae wasn’t lying. Although initially Donghae had struggled with the content (Hyukjae didn’t blame him; the teachers at school weren’t exactly the best), when he finally understood, he really understood. Donghae was very clearly an auditory learner, and the fact that most teachers would rather set students exercised to do didn’t exactly suit him. It honestly made Hyukjae a little heartbroken to hear Donghae talk about himself so lowly in such a joking manner, as if he truly believed and accepted the fact that he wasn’t smart. And it wasn’t true in the slightest.

However, the cute way Donghae’s eyes would light up and he would gasp slightly every time he got a particularly difficult question correct made Hyukjae fall a little more for the student.

“He’s charming and funny and artistic and smart and sweet and so charming,” Hyukjae continues to drawl. Ryeowook continues to eat his lunch as though Hyukjae isn’t there at all, and Sungmin stares strangely at him. “I don’t think he really knew much about me besides my name and the fact that I get pretty good grades, but I don’t really mind since he’s just so…perfect.”

Ryeowook pretends to gag over his food for a second and Sungmin laughs, and Hyukjae shakes his head at his friends. Despite their teasing nature, he’s pretty sure they’re happy for him. Even if they don’t quite get it.

From the corner of his eye, Hyukjae spots Donghae sitting on the popular table. He looks innocently, just wanting to catch a quick glance before leaving the cafeteria, but his breath hitches when Donghae looks back almost immediately.

Hyukjae remains silent even when Donghae beams at him and waves excitedly, but he smiles a little in return. This causes Sungmin and Ryeowook to turn around dramatically and laugh when they notice Donghae still looking over.

Hyukjae looks back down at his lunch with a cheesy grin plastered on his face and a pink sheen over his cheeks, heart beating quickly in his chest.

“Wow,” says Hyukjae breathlessly once he enters the apartment. Donghae is confused for a second before he remembers the painting he had just been working on that still lies across the living room floor. Hyukjae’s eyes remain on the painting and reflect awe and amazement, and Donghae can’t help but flush pink. “Your art?”

“Yeah, uhm,” Donghae starts nervously, unused to the attention. He continues to ramble mindlessly. “The theme I’m working on is called ‘everyday’ and, like, I wanted to focus on the lives of everyday people and so I thought I could paint people staring straight ahead? Like it’s vulnerable but at the same time it reflects so much of who someone is and it’s also…uh, you don’