“So are you coming with us to the arcade after school?”

    Haneul looked up at his friend, a loud sigh escaping his lips as he shook his head.

    “Nah I’m grounded for the whole week.” He answered, not appreciating the snickers he received from his three friends.

    “When are you not grounded?” Iseul asked, twirling his pen between his fingers.

    “When my annoying sister isn't being a .” He mumbled, leaning against his desk.

    “A hot .” Haesong muttered from beside him and Haneul sent him an unimpressed look.

    “Dude!” He exclaimed, immediately regretting the decision when a loud cough rang through the room. All four boys turned to face the stern looking male teacher whose glare was now focused on them.

    “Is there something you'd like to share with the class Haneul?”

    “No sir.” Haneul mumbled under his breath.

    “One more word and I'm moving you. Got it?” The teacher threatened and Haneul nodded slowly.

    “And that goes for the rest of your cronies too.” A small gasp escaped from beside him and Haneul was tempted to groan as he knew what would happen next.

    “Actually..” Jung-Hee began.

    “They're my cronies.” Haneul was tempted to facepalm.

    “Why thank you for clarifying Jung-Hee. Bring your stuff up here.” The teacher replied and Jung-Hee groaned, muttering a quiet “can't a guy fight for his authority?” as he packed his things to leave. As soon as he was settled in his new desk, the teacher turned back to his lesson and Haesong leaned in to whisper.

    “So why are you grounded?” He asked and Haneul glared at him.

    “Dude shut up or you'll get me in trouble.” He hissed back and Haesong scoffed.

    “Oh come on, it's not like you're actually listening to the lesson. So what did you do?” He continued to ask and Haneul groaned.

    “Nothing, just trashed the house while my parents were out.” He answered, hoping the other would be satisfied with the answer. But of course he wasn't.

    “How bad? Like bad enough that you're sure you can't beg your dads to let you come with us to the arcade?” Haneul exhaled slowly.

    “Ya that bad. Seriously though shut up. Mr. Lu already hates me so if I get in trouble he'll just blow things out of proportion.” He whispered and Haesong shrugged.

    “Mr. Lu hates everyone man. So no arcade?”

    “No.” Haneul seethed back.

    “Okay but what if-”

    “Haesong.”

    “-You tell your dads that-”

    “Dude shut up..”

    “-It wasn't actually you who trashed the house-”

    “Shut the u-”

    “Haneul?” Haneul groaned the moment he heard his name. Mr. Lu didn't look impressed as he gestured to the seat at the other back corner of the room. Haneul’s face paled as his eyes landed on the desk behind it, or more specifically at the amused pair of eyes that were now staring back at him.

    “That's your last warning. Next problem and you're getting out of my classroom.” Mr. Lu finished and Haneul knew he didn't have a choice.

…………..

    Tap tap.

    Haneul had to remind himself to breathe, aware that if he didn't, he might just turn around and snap that stupid kid’s pencil in half.

   Tap tap.

   Breathe

   Tap tap.

   Inhale

   Tap tap.

    Exhal- oh for the love of.. Haneul made sure that the teacher’s back was turned before he swivelled around, eyes projecting danger.

    “Would you stop that?!” He whispered loudly and Minjoon stilled his pencil, eyes bearing a certain degree of excitement mixed with boredom.

    “Why? Is it bothering you?” He asked calmly and Haneul had to pray to the heavens that his patience was as good as he hoped.

    “Yes.” He hissed back and Minjoon shrugged, continuing with the tapping. Haneul inhaled deeply, slowly turning back to the front.

    Tap tap. He felt the corners of his eyes twitch.

    Tap tap. His fingers curled into fists.

    Tap ta- okay that was it. He turned around at a speed even he didn't know he was capable of, fingers snatching the blue mechanical pencil out of the other's hand. Unfortunately for him, Minjoon’s grip was a lot stronger than he'd imagined and rather than successfully extracting the stationery from the others hand, he only managed to engage them in an awkward tug of war.

    “Haneul!”

     Haneul slowly turned, gulping when he realized that the entire class was now staring at them.

     “Now you're bothering Minjoon too?!” Mr. Lu exclaimed and of course Minjoon was immediately assumed the victim. In the few days that he'd started coming to the school, the whole staff and practically half the student body were all over him. Haneul couldn't really bring himself to understand how the other boy did it? Must be his fake personality.

     “Outside! Now!” Mr. Lu practically screamed and Haneul had to restrain himself from flipping the middle aged man off. He stared up at the clock, aware that the bell for their last class would ring in about three minutes. So he huffed, grumpily packing his stuff before heaving his backpack on. He made sure to send a pointed glare Haesong’s way before leaving.

…………..

    This was probably a really dumb idea. Haneul knew that. But still, he didn't think he could last another second in that school before punching something- or more accurately, someone.

    Now he wasn't one to skip classes (that was more of a Haesong and Iseul thing) but he'd remembered his dad mentioning something about a client meeting in the afternoon, meaning it was probably his other dad- who was probably still sleeping and probably won't even care if his son skips- who was at home. So here he was, reaching into his backpack for his keys and thanking the heavens for having given him this opportunity to ditch school. With a quiet click the door unlocked and Haneul pushed himself in, kicking off his sneakers without so much as a second thought.

    But he really should have seen it coming...Were it not for the relief that was coursing through him at the feeling of being away from school, perhaps he'd have noticed the quiet moan that filtered out of the living room. But of course as he'd learned through the previous happenings in his day, luck wasn't exactly on his side. So of course he walked into the living room to be faced with his supposedly ‘with a client’ father straddling his supposedly ‘asleep’ father on the couch. I mean sure he'd seen people make out before- he wasn't exactly a kid anymore- but nothing really prepares you for the sight of your parents shoving their tongues into each other's mouths.

    “Holy sh-” Haneul exclaimed, clasping his fingers over his lips much too late. His parents broke apart, heads darting to face him with equally bewildered expressions. And since Haneul was just a kid prone to acting on instinct, he did the only thing that popped into his mind. He ran back out the door.