Class was set to start early that day. Early meaning 7:00 am.

Kyungsoo wasn’t very annoyed. He figured it would be healthy to wake up the same time the sun does, take a shower when the dorm bathroom was empty and the water still ran hot, and be one of the first to breathe in the chilly campus air. However, the majority of his classmates picked most of their classes to take place in the evening, the time that this class usually took place, as to avoid having to wake up early. So finding out that they’d have to wake up before or around 6:30 was a disliked concept, especially since it would be most of their first times waking that early since high school days.

Kyungsoo had always been one to arrive early; A good habit now that he was flying solo in college. On this particular day, he was only 7 minutes early. But despite that, the room was completely deserted, leaving a comfortable silence. He pulled a book from his backpack.

It was 2 minutes later when the first person filtered into the room. It was a boy, and he walked slowly. Very slowly. His back was hunched over, probably due to large backpack on his back that was filled with who-knows-what. He carried two coffees, one in each hand. As he walked up the aisles to find a seat for the lecture, his eyes scanned the clock hanging on the wall. They were still stuck on the clock when he came to a stop at the end of the aisle Kyungsoo was sitting at, and a large sigh left his lips.

“I’m going to die,” the boy mumbled with his sleep-stricken voice. His legs figured out how to move again, and the boy walked into the row and took a seat next to Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo uncomfortably shifted in his chair as the boy plopped down onto the wooden chair next to him. The whole lecture hall was early, why had he chosen to sit there?

He tried to go back to his reading, but his attention was brought back to the person on his left at the loud sound of a clang. Kyungsoo slightly jumped in his chair, irritated as his eyes drifted back to the left to see what had caused the noise.

It was a thermos, and a large one at that. The boy had pulled it out from his large backpack that had seemed to be giving him a hard time before, and was now emptying the contents of the two coffee cups he held into the thermos.

Kyungsoo tried to turn back to his book, but his attention was once again pulled back to the boy at the sound of a can opening. Kyungsoo couldn’t do more than gawk as the boy opened three Monster energy drinks he had pulled from his backpack (all of different flavors, mind you) and emptied them into the thermos with the coffee. Caffeine Kid didn’t even bother to put the lid on the thermos before tipping the contents into his mouth, taking a huge swig of the concoction before finally lowering it. His eyes met Kyungsoo’s.

“Want a sip?” Caffeine Kid asked. Kyungsoo snapped out of the trance he didn't know he was in.

“Sorry- I... uh...” Kyungsoo cleared his throat, embarrassed to be caught staring. “No thank you.” Kyungsoo turned back to his book.

The silence that followed was full of tension. Caffeine Kid took another sip from his ungodly sized thermos. Other groggy students began to file into the room.

Although Kyungsoo had turned back to his book, his eyes continuously wandered back to the boy next to him. It’s not that he could help it, really. Although this boy was indeed weird (who even owns that big of a thermos anyway?), Kyungsoo hadn’t noticed until now how the boy in question was also ungodly handsome . His dark brown locks were tousled in a manner that was somewhat untidy, but complimented his face so well. His skin was a perfect shade of light caramel. His lips were heart shaped and plump, although not as plump as Kyungsoo’s own. Kyungsoo could imagine them being drawn thin when the boy would break into a smile that would rival the sun.

“You’re staring again,” Caffeine Kid said. A smirk tugged at his lips when Kyungsoo jumped slightly in his seat.

“I’ve just never seen anyone combine coffee and energy drinks before,” Kyungsoo protested, “much less drink it without gagging.”

“Gagging?” Caffeine Kid placed a hand on his chest in mock hurt. He seemed to be much more alive now that he had coffee and energy drink pumping through his veins. “This is my special recipe! I call it ‘Wake-the--up-Kim-Jongin’. Patent pending.”

Jongin. So that’s his name. “Creative. I would’ve called it Discount Go Go Juice, but that works too.”

“Haha, I see your Honey Boo Boo reference. Clever,” Caffeine Kid, apparently Jongin, nodded. He took another sip from the thermos, his eyes never leaving Kyungsoo’s. Kyungsoo felt the sudden urge to turn back to his book. At least then he would feel more comfortable, shielded from Jongin’s stare. “What’s your name, anyway?”

“Kyungsoo. Do Kyungsoo.”

“You talk like James Bond,” Jongin scoffed, “I like it. Kyungsoo.” He spoke as if he was testing the name on his tongue. It fell silent for a moment. “I’m Kim Jongin.”

Kyungsoo’s eyebrows furrowed, and “I know” on the tip of his tongue, a phrase of which he would’ve said if it wasn’t too early to be accused of being a stalker. Not only could this guy apparently not function without an ungodly amount of caffeine, but it seemed like he couldn’t remember the things he says just mere seconds ago either. “Good to know,” Kyungsoo said instead.

“Why is class starting so early today, anyway?” Jongin mused just as Kyungsoo began to turn back to his book, taking another sip from his thermos.

“Professor Wu has a date. He was talking on the phone yesterday when I was the last one to leave the classroom. Some guy named Zitao who apparently looks nice in tight pants,” Kyungsoo replied, nose crinkling and the memory of hearing his admirable professor talk about a guy’s . Jongin spat the heavily caffeinated beverage back into the thermos and coughed. The cough evolved into a laugh that Kyungsoo’s hopeless-romantic heart (curse the amount of Doctor Who fanficiton he reads) could only compare to the sound of tinkling bells. Despite the beauty of his laughter, Kyungsoo couldn't see what was quite so funny. Other students in the classroom glanced over at the pair, some in groggy interest and others in groggy annoyance.

“Good for him,” Jongin finally said after his outburst of laughter. “The guy needs to get laid, anyhow. He’s young, too. It must for him, having to stay inside grading papers instead of keeping up with a social life and all. I could never do what he does.” Jongin tapped his chin. “Well, maybe that’s a lie, I’d like to train dogs, and that’s almost the same thing, right?”

“Dogs?” Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow. A large smile grew on Jongin’s face.

“Yes, I love dogs! I have three of them back at home, damn dorms don’t allow pets. Here, let me find a picture.” Jongin reached into his bag and pulled out his phone, flipping through the photos.

Professor Wu walked into the room as soon as Jongin finally found a picture of one of his dogs (the picture of which, as Kyungsoo observed, was buried under a mountain of pastel tumblr aesthetic screenshots), and the excitable boy tucked away his phone. Kyungsoo faced forward after putting his book away, and although he typically liked learning, he found himself suddenly yearning for the lesson to end before it had even started.

Sometime during the lesson, after what felt like hundreds of sideways glances, a crudely-ripped out sheet of notebook paper was slid in front of Kyungsoo. Raising his eyebrow at the boy to his left (of which who was unsuccessfully trying to be subtle), he looked at the paper.

I would say we should go out to coffee, but I already spent most of my money on overpriced coffee and energy drinks. Give me your phone number instead?

Right on cue, Jongin slid his phone to Kyungsoo under the table, open to a ‘new contact’ page.

Kyungsoo left the room grinning, trying to decide how he could ever thank Professor Wu for moving the class to the morning. Maybe a kind letter of thanks would do. He could imagine it already.

Dear Professor Wu,

Thank you for checking that guy Zitao’s out when he was wearing tight pants. It means a lot to me. Also, please send Zitao my thanks for wearing those pants. And if you could, please ask him where he bought those pants. I’d like to thank the owner of that company too.

Your student,

Do Kyungsoo

Yeah , Kyungsoo nodded to himself. That works .

Kyungsoo decided he would write the letter first thing when he got back to his dorm.