Heechul stopped the car a block away from school, knowing that there would be protests if he took them any farther. Being driven to school by your parent on the first day was social suicide, according Key. It was the first impressions that would make or break them apparently, even though Heechul didn’t understand what the big deal was.

“I suppose I’ll just pick you up here, then?” Heechul assumed, amused with this entire situation. They were acting as if they weren’t about to head into a school full of students that they’d been with for over a year.

“That sounds like a great idea, Heechul,” Kibum said, sipping his third mug of coffee. “Key, Mir, have a wonderful day at school.”

Heechul reached over and whacked his arm. “Get out of the car, you’re not funny.”

Kibum glowered at him, but refused to budge.

“Your schedules are in the main office,” Heechul informed them, checking the time on his phone. “I’ve made special arrangements with the secretary. She knows that you suffer from social anxiety, Kibum, so you’ll get a little extra special treatment this year.”

“Ohh, perks to you, Kibum!” Key said excitedly, wriggling his shoulders. He was so going to play up everything that Heechul had told the school about Kibum if it meant they got special privileges. Maybe being his babysitting wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“I’m going to leave now, I have work to do at home,” Heechul said, turning his attention to Kibum, who was still sitting next to him. He reached over and placed his hand on Kibum’s comfortingly and spoke to him in a soft voice. “I know you’re nervous, but Key will be right by your side. I love you so much and I’m so proud that you’re doing this, even though you don’t want to. You have your phone, so just send a message if you need me.”

Kibum nodded slowly, opening the door to get out. He pulled his black bag over his shoulder and waited on the curb with his brothers, watching as Heechul pulled away. He couldn’t help but feel frightened. This would be the longest he’d ever been away from Heechul but he pushed away the feeling of abandonment as soon as it resurfaced; there was too much going on in his life to feel that way again.

Once the car had disappeared in the distance, Key turned around and faced his brothers, hands on his hips. He looked them both up and down, tapping on his chin as he thought for a moment and admired his handiwork.

He’d put a lot of effort into transforming Mir over the summer. No, it wasn’t transforming, he’d just helped Mir find a style that suited him and taught him the fine art of hairstyling and eye make-up. Over the course of eight weeks the fifteen year old had gone from a cute dork to a breathtaking heartthrob. The makeover began with a simple hair change, cutting the messy caramel locks much shorter and dying his hair back to his natural black. The plain shirts and no style jeans were replaced with a wardrobe that a prince would own.

Today Mir stood before him wearing a pair of tight skinny jeans that really amplified his rear end, giving it the attention that it deserved. He wore a simple white t-shirt with a v-neckline that gave just a peek at his chest. He’d decided that faux leather was going to be his thing, so he donned a black leather jacket.

With his new style, Key knew that Mir would be alright this year. He’d been teaching him how to stand up to the jerks in his class and advised him that the best way to beat the bullies were to steal the hearts of every girl in his grade.

They were ready for the school year so he beckoned his brothers to follow him along. As they began to walk, he reached to grab Kibum’s hand and held it tightly without saying a word. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure what the deal with them being together all the time was, but Heechul had asked him to look after Kibum and so he would do it thoroughly.

Kibum slowly walked with his brothers, purposely staying one step behind. He was half-amused that Key refused to let go of his hand, it wasn’t like he was going to turn around and make a run for it, although when they arrived at the school that idea was tempting.

There were hundreds of students standing about in front of the school, catching up with each other. Girls were jumping up and down, squealing loudly at each other as if they hadn’t seen each other just a couple days earlier. It was loud and crowded, and they hadn’t even gotten inside yet.

“Come on, let’s go to the main office,” Key said, pulling on Kibum’s hand tightly.

Kibum sighed but said nothing as he allowed Key to lead the way towards a wall of glass windows. They walked through the door and as it closed behind them, the noise was instantly gone. The hype and excitement had been replaced with a feeling of peace and quiet.

“Boys, you’ll have to wait in line with everyone else for your schedules,” The secretary informed them.

Key stopped in front of the desk, smiling charmingly. “Actually, it was arranged that we would pick up our schedules here. You see, my brother is new to the school and he suffers from poor health, so my father made special arrangements with the principal.”

“Right, I completely forgot,” The secretary said, quickly shuffling through a pile of papers. When she found the three schedules she handed them over and smiled at Kibum. “Welcome to our school, Kibum. We’re very happy to have you here.”

Kibum shrugged his shoulders, looking away.

“Thank you very much,” Key answered for him. “We’ll be going now.”

Back into the hallway, Kibum waited patiently as his brothers studied their schedules. He didn’t care really, since he’d be with Key all day anyway, so he quietly sipped his coffee. The caffeine was beginning to kick in and he felt more aware of his surroundings. It was having an opposite effect on him too, instead of it making his heart race he was actually beginning to feel rather calm.

“Isn’t that cool? We all have P.E together,” Mir said, showing Kibum their schedules. “Right after lunch too, so we can all eat together and walk to the gymnasium.”

He honestly didn’t care all that much, but he knew that Mir had been looking forward to this day for a very long time and he wasn’t about to ruin it for him. So he forced a smile and nudged Mir’s hand. “That’s great! I was hoping we’d have at least one class together. I’m really relieved that we’ll be able to spend two hours of the day together.”

Mir beamed happily, hugging him quickly before pulling away. “I thought there would be time to show you around, but I really want to find Taemin. I’ll see you guys at lunch! Bye!”

“Speaking of Taemin, I want to find Minho before first period,” Key commented as they watched Mir swim his way through the seat of students. “Do you want to come with me or do you want me to take you to our first class? You can wait there for awhile, I know you’re tired and don’t feel well.”

Kibum nodded gratefully, all this commotion was making him exhausted. He’d promised Heechul to at least give school a try, but if it took this much energy then this would be a very long school year, and first period hadn’t even began yet.

Key didn’t hold his hand as he led the way through the halls, which Kibum appreciated greatly. People were already staring at him, whispering to their friends. It made his insides twist and turn nervously as his mind began coming up with all sorts of assumptions as to what they were whispering about.

Had any of these students recognized him? It was entirely possible since his family had been the center of many newspapers for quite a long time, and a lot of those articles had focused on him. His stomach churned anxiously as he remembered all the horrible things that people had said and done to him at his old school and how his teachers had mistreated him.

When they arrived at the classroom, Kibum kept his eyes glued to the floor as Key introduced him to the teacher. He shuffled uncomfortably, unconsciously inching closer to his brother for protection.

Key put a hand on his shoulder protectively, understanding that he was pretty shy. Heechul hadn’t lied to the principal about Kibum having anxiety. That was the reason why they were to share the same schedule, at least that’s what Heechul had told him. He didn’t like Kibum, but he wouldn’t throw him to the wolves.

“Kibum doesn’t really talk much,” Key informed the teacher,