Changkyun enters the classroom the next day with a flurry of butterflies going crazy in the pit of his stomach. He hadn’t wanted to eat breakfast, but he knew his appa would be worried if he didn’t, so he forced himself to eat. He regrets it now, feeling like he’ll throw it up at any moment. Doing anything that required talking to other people set him on edge anyway, still too much of the new kid to be accepted in this advanced science class. But, the fact that he has to talk to the class president…

It’s enough to make Changkyun wish he had stayed home today.

The older glances up from his desk, as if hearing Changkyun’s thoughts, and motions at the younger for him to sit beside him. The seating arrangement was changed around the day before so the kids could sit next to their partners, something everyone but Changkyun was excited about.

“Hi,” Kihyun greets with a nod, fiddling with his glasses as the younger sits. He stops writing in his notebook, and turns to give the boy his fullest attention. Changkyun nervously smiles, bowing respectfully to the older. Kihyun watches him move, and notes his anxiety. Kihyun can’t help but sigh in exasperation at this.

“Look,” he says, “you don’t have to be so nervous around me, okay? If you are, then it’ll make this project harder than it should be.” Changkyun blushes to the tips of his ears, but nods fervently all the same. Kihyun smirks, finding the reaction to his bluntness kind of cute. Usually people would just scoff or tell him to back off, or even remind him that there’s such a thing as manners. But, not this kid. Kihyun likes that.

“Okay class,” the teacher calls over the chatter of her students, clapping to get their attention. “Today I’ll give you your project topics right away so you can spend the morning planning out what you’re going to do.” She then rattles off a list of subject matters, adding in students’ names at appropriate times. Changkyun and Kihyun dutifully write down their topic, the ecosystem, and begin to discuss what they could do with such a broad topic.

“I think we’ll need some more time to talk about this,” Kihyun sighs, raking a hand through his hair as he looks at the clock and sees they’re nearly out of time. He in a breath through his teeth, adding, “I had really wanted to at least figure out what we were going to do today…”

“We could talk after school,” Changkyun suggests, though he doesn’t know why. With a start, he realizes he had enjoyed talking to the older. He’s easier to talk to than the others. Perhaps it’s his height, which is similar to Changkyun’s, that makes him so relatable. Or, maybe it’s his chubby cheeks that Changkyun thinks are so cute he just wants to pull at and pinch.

Changkyun clears his throat, suddenly breaking his gaze on the older and looking down at his desk embarrassedly.

No, no pinching faces of people you’ve just met, he chastises. Bad, bad Changkyunnie. You’ll ruin this friendship before it even starts.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Kihyun says, oblivious to the younger’s thoughts. “But, it can’t be at my house. My appa’s working until late tonight.”

“You could come home with me,” Changkyun offers. Kihyun glances over questioningly, wondering if that’d really be okay. “Really,” Changkyun adds, nodding, “my appa would be okay with it, as long as yours is.” Kihyun stares down at his own desk, pouting in thought, before he finally raises his hand to get the teacher’s attention.

“May we go to the office?” he asks when she calls on him. “We need to talk to our parents.” The woman hesitates a moment, unsure of if that should be considered a proper excuse, but eventually lets it slide for her two best students. She nods, telling them to make sure to grab the hall pass, and they do so, Changkyun confusedly following the older from the room.

“We need to make sure your appa would be able to pick me up,” Kihyun explains, noting the younger’s silence. “There’s rules for this kind of thing.” Changkyun makes a sound of realization with his mouth, nodding in understanding. Kihyun chuckles at the expression, shaking his head at his cute partner.

He’s sure if he were paired with anyone else, he’d have been able to iron down a subject matter to study for the project by now, and possibly writing out an experiment. But, Changkyun is absolutely too cute for his own good, and incredibly distracting for Kihyun. They ended up bonding over similar interests in music and comic books, and very much not getting any work done.

They reach the office, and Kihyun asks immediately if he can use the phone. The office workers are a bit taken aback by the kid’s straightforwardness, used to kids at this school mumbling out responses shyly until they warm up to the adults. However, they point him to the phone available to students for use, and Kihyun steps up the stepstool to dial out his appa’s cell phone number.

Hyungwon adjusts his stance slightly, showing off his silhouette a bit better than before. The photographer before him makes a sound of approval. Hyungwon holds back the tired sigh he feels coming up, the monotony of it all bearing down on him like a weight trying to push him into the ground at his feet. He wishes he could just do away with the whole modeling career, but knows he can’t. He has no other way to support for his son and himself, and he’s pretty sure Kihyun’s gotten too accustomed to having a roof over his head to have it pulled away from him now.

Hyungwon’s agent suddenly waves to him from the sidelines, holding his cell phone in his hand, the screen lighting up with an incoming call. Hyungwon asks for a break from the photographer, who’s more than happy to give it to one of the best subjects he’s ever worked with, and he goes over to his agent to retrieve the device. He glances at the Caller ID, anxiety ripping through him in an instant at seeing it’s Kihyun’s school calling.

“Appa!” Kihyun greets, only serving to worsen his stress. If it isn’t the principal calling, if it’s his son, then he can only be sick or injured. That’s the only reason he’d think to call during the day.

“Kihyunnie?” Hyungwon asks worriedly. “Is everything okay?” Kihyun hums in response, and Hyungwon releases a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“I’m okay, Appa,” Kihyun tells him. “I just need to go over to Changkyunnie’s house today after school to work on our project.”

“Um,” Hyungwon hesitates, biting his lower lip. He instinctively checks in a mirror to make sure his makeup hadn’t been smudged, which luckily it hadn’t. “I don’t know, Kihyunnie. I don’t know where that is, and it isn’t as if his appa has permission to pick you up from school, anyway.”

“But you can approve it,” Kihyun points out stubbornly. “Appa, we didn’t get a lot done in class today, and I don’t want to fall behind. Please?”

Hyungwon’s eyes flick up to the ceiling in thought, not really sure if it was such a good idea. He had never met the man outside of their collision the day before, and honestly the man seemed a bit too ditzy to be trusted with his son. He sighs, turning back around at the call of his name. The photographer is calling him over to look at the new shots.

“Have you asked Changkyun-ah’s appa to see if it’s even okay with him?” Hyungwon finds himself asking.

“I wanted to make sure it was okay with you first…”

“Give me his number and I’ll talk to him today,” Hyungwon tells his son, hearing the evident disappointment in his voice. He can’t stand to disappoint Kihyun, even if it’s for something like this.

No wonder the brat is so spoiled, Hyungwon muses fondly, rolling his eyes at himself. Kihyun hums again, and there’s murmurings on the other line before Kihyun starts to rattle off a string of numbers. Hyungwon fumbles around for a moment to find something to copy them down with, agent confusedly handing him a notepad and pen she keeps in her pocket eventually.

“I’m not promising anything,” Hyungwon warns his son, though even to him it sounds halfhearted. “I’m just going to talk to him. If he says okay with it, then I’ll call the school back to add him to the list of people who can pick you.”

“Don’t forget to call halmeoni about the change of plans!” Kihyun chirps happily. He then tells his father goodbye and hangs up, without even waiting for a response. Hyungwon sighs exasperatedly, handing his phone back to his agent with a shake of his head.

“Is Kihyun-ah doing okay?” she asks concernedly. Hyungwon waves off her worry, smiling gratefully at her for the question.

“He’s fine,” he tells her. “Just needed to ask something.” She hums in acknowledgment, and then follows him over to where the photographer is. He then focuses on the job at hand, shaking his head free from thoughts of the man he needs to call on his next break.