It wasn't by any means a short walk to Central High. There was more traffic to avoid and roads to sprint across than Hoya usually encountered in a week. Central High was also–surprise, surprise–located in the center of the city. It was right across from a popular mall that Sungjong told stories about almost every day. That didn't exactly help traveling conditions.

Hoya had never been to the school before. Woohyun had. In fact, it was the school he had graduated from. The man hardly ever mentioned it, but Hoya understood a little about it by the comments the other had made in certain conversations.

It seemed that Woohyun wasn't a scholar student. At all. He wasn't in any clubs, either. He just went there because his friends did. End of story.

These friends, on the other hand, practically ran the school. Each was at least the president of some club, be it speech, math, track, or even pottery. All had exemplary marks in school, and when graduation came, they all had large plans. Woohyun was left behind.

Somehow, through more friends and contacts, he secured two jobs and a questionable apartment.

Most of the time, Hoya was sure that the man thought he was still in high school. Then, at times that were far and few, he would see how Woohyun had made it so far and how he had become self-sufficient. Behind it all, the man had determination. It didn't surface often, but when it did, Hoya was stunned into silence.

The man was born to lead.

Then, he would change back to his idiotic self and Hoya would wonder if he had dreamed the entire thing up or not.

One of those moments had happened minutes ago, back at the store when Woohyun was talking about Sunggyu. Hoya felt slightly bad for pulling the poor guy into this. But, then again, it was his fault that he had stayed until morning.

“Watch where you're walking!”

“Watch where you're driving!” Hoya hollered back. He was done with this. He'd never been a fan of cities. He didn't mind living in the slums. At least it wasn't this honking, screaming, shouting madness. He was once again pushed from behind as he tried to make his way over to the mall, the only landmark he knew in this town.

Earlier, when he was given this chore, he was sure he would be able to make it to the school from there or ask directions if he still didn't know where to go. Now, it seemed as though that wasn't going to work.

He abruptly walked right into a wall.

Hoya clenched his fists and backed up. He tried to ignore the people brushing past him as the words on the wall before him practically screamed at him.

CENTRAL MALL

Not only was it in gold lettering, but each letter was about the size of his hand. How had he not noticed this? Honestly, it didn't really matter. At least he had found it.

Well, here he was. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't see anything except people and cars. He settled for going inside. Maybe the mall had an observation deck.

Hoya walked in, trying to melt into the crowd. After a minute, he gave up. It was impossible. Each person was walking in their own direction. After a minute or two, Hoya had found that he had gained a spot in the traffic. He spotted a map of the mall on a column in the center of the corridor and walked over.

No observation deck, but there was a wall of windows on the second floor near the food court. Hoya tried not to cringe as he pushed people aside to get over to an escalator. He ascended and searched for the windows and food court. It was easy. He just had to follow the smell of fried chicken and pizza.

There it was. Hoya slowly made his way over and took a look. There, two streets away, was a large red building. It was surrounded by what looked to be a black gate and it had a flagpole in the front yard.

Bingo.

It had not looked as intimidating back at the mall. Hoya stared up at the black iron gates with arrow-shaped tips. He walked in, trying not to look spooked out by the lack of atmosphere. There was no one to be seen. It was dead quiet.

Hoya didn't like it.

The school–or asylum, Hoya hadn't quite decided which one it was yet–was just a large red building. However, it had a courtyard. A brown path made of gravel spanned the five hundred or so feet to the front door. The rest of the area was covered in perfectly manicured grass. Abnormally green grass. No grass should be that green.

Hoya in a breath and walked as fast as he could up to the front door. The silence was broken by the crunches of tiny rocks beneath his feet. He was sure that he would be in trouble for disturbing the quiet.

He had finally reached the two red double doors. He threw one open and all but ran inside. Now, where was the front office?

The place was a hospital, he decided. Everything was clean and a combination of off-white and listerine green. Hoya made a silent vow to get out of here as fast as possible.

It wasn't that he didn't like hospitals. Or schools. This place just gave off bad vibes. If Woohyun was right, and Hoya was indeed a robot, then at least ten of the man's warning alarms would be going off now.

Hoya walked forward and reached a dead end. Left or right? More importantly, where were all the signs?

He settled for right after seeing that it had more artificial plants. That had to be a good sign. This all reminded Hoya a little too much of college. Except for the fact that there was no one.

A phone rang in the distance.

Hoya nodded to himself and picked up the speed. Sure enough, in the middle of nowhere, three old-looking women were seated at a table. One was talking on the phone and the other two were discussing their nails.

“Can we help you?” Pink nails asked.

Hoya nodded wearily. “I'm here to pick up Lee Sungjong.”

Blue nails gave a nod. “Just sign this sheet and wait outside. He's in the health suite, which is located on the other side of the school. It shouldn't take long.”

Hoya nodded, donning the face he used for work. He grabbed the clipboard and signed his name after explaining that Lee Sungjong would be departing school early at five-till twelve due to sickness. He set the pen and paper down, gave the three women a brisk nod, and speedily made his departure. After this was over, he would either convince Sungjong to switch schools, or get Woohyun to come next time, because there was no way he was doing this again.

Hoya turned back down the hallway he had entered from, not looking were he was going.

Someone else came running from the other side.

They collided and both fell to the ground. Hoya was the first to recover. He looked over at the kid and the first thing he noticed was how skinny he was, in a completely different way from Sungjong. He almost looked...breakable.

Hoya stood and walked over to the kid, assessing the situation. Was the guy hurt? He got closer.

Quick as a flash, the kid jumped up and ran out the door.

Hoya stayed where he was. Weird. Well, at least he wasn't the only one who wanted to leave this place.

“You look lost there. Need some help?”

Hoya stayed still as he felt a hand land on his shoulder. “You don't sound sick.”

Sungjong grinned, spinning over to stand in front of the lighter-haired male. “That's because I'm not. I heard something about grandpa being sick this morning, and figured I could pull it off. Plus, there's something going around. If you act sick, the nurse will send you home. And acting is my middle name.”

Hoya nodded slowly, staring longingly at the door.

Sungjong sighed. “Fine. Let's move outside.” He slipped his arm through Hoya's and dragged the willing man through the double doors and down the path until they were outside the foreboding iron gates. “This is good enough.” The younger let go and dusted himself off. Apparently his red dress-shirt had accumulated some debris from the walk.

“Why is your school so terrifying?” Hoya found himself asking.

Sungjong laughed. “If you think that was scary, you should meet the teachers.”

“Are you missing anything by leaving?”

The other shrugged. “Just a history test. It's on ancient Aztecs. I don't need to know that. Probably the only thing that I'll actually miss is gossip during lunch.” He sighed. “It's okay, though. They promised to text me about anything important.” He held up a palm-sized phone with rainbow and flower stickers on it. For some reason, a pink squid was dangling off the side. Sungjong flicked it. “Isn't he adorable? I got him this morning.”

Hoya hummed in response.

“Hey..” Sungjong frowned in concern and stepped towards the elder, raising his arms.

Hoya forced himself to stay in place and closed his eyes. If he complained or moved, it would just make this all take longer. That was the last thing he needed.

“Are you okay?”

Hoya kept his arms rooted to his sides as Sungjong began to play with his hair. He did this every time Hoya looked 'upset'.

Sungjong fixed the chestnut nest, making it look more presentable. “I know you could care less, but I really think that you should at least style your hair in the morning. After all, your outward appearance is the first thing people see when they meet you, and it's good to make a nice impress-” He broke off, letting out a horrified gasp. “What is this?”

Hoya's eyes flew open. What was he talking about? Then he felt a small amount of pain as pressure was applied to his forehead. Oh, it must be a scar or something from the accident. To be honest, Hoya had forgotten all about his near-death experience. Dongwoo was the only evidence left that it had ever happened, and he was working on getting rid of him. After that, he could just erase this chapter from his life.

“What happened?”

“I fell.” Hoya answered simply and quietly.

“My poor Hobaby!” Sungjong threw his arms around the other and attempted to rock him back and forth for a couple minutes. He gave up and stepped back. “Be more careful, okay?” He wagged a finger at the taller.

Hoya rolled his eyes. Wait a minute. Speaking of falling, “Hey, did you see that kid?”

“What kid?”

Hoya sighed. He'd have to be more descriptive. “Really skinny. We ran into each other and he just left-”

“Stay away from him.”

Hoya stared at Sungjong, shocked. He'd always known the boy to be extremely accepting. This was new. “Huh?”

“That guy's no good. No one wants to be around him, and it's no wonder why.”

“Why?”

Sungjong sighed, as though he was talking to a kindergartener. He rested both hands on his hips. “His home life isn't the most stable, and neither is he. Kind of depressed, if you ask me. I doubt he'll make it through next year.”

Hoya pressed his lips into a line. “Oh.”

Sungjong nodded. “So, you walked here, I presume?”

Hoya nodded, taking note on how quickly the topic had been changed.

“That's okay. I know a shortcut back.”

A/N: Not much of an update, but it's better than nothing, I suppose. That little skinny kid? Yes, he is the plot. Hopefully, he'll return soon. Since it is now the weekend, I'll have tons of time to make the next chapter loads better than..this.

Oh, and I absolutely love all the comments! :D