Assignment

Junhong wanted to go back to school despite his chemotherapy sessions. He wanted to at least feel normal, to feel like he did before the cancer, like the disease never happened. But the chemotherapy weared him out. He was a weak shell of the ball of energy he used to be. But he still had that smile on his face, though a facade at times, it kept him going. 

"Ok class, take out your assignments! I hope all of you have done it! Or else, detention." Mrs Shin scanned the class like a hawk, trying to pin down any guilty faces. 

"Shit!" Junhong swore under his breath and face palmed. Himchan would've chewed his ass off for swearing, and he had insisted that yongguk did the same. So the swearing only took place in school. Junhong had completely forgotten about his assignment. 

He rummaged through his bag nonetheless. It was something daehyun had taught him and Jongup. "Even if you didn't do your homework, you have to search through your bag, occasionally muttering under your breath about how it must be here and how long you've spent doing it." he remembered his hyung's words clearly. He never thought he'd have to use it. It was more of Jongup's thing. His fingers brushed past his worksheet countless times, but he continued with his pretense, hoping the teacher would catch a glance of his flustered expression. He mentally praised himself for being a good actor. At the fifth brush of his worksheet, he took a quick glance at it and to his surprise, it was completed. He pulled it out slowly, prepared to chuck it back in case his eyes had been playing tricks on him. But it was complete! In dark blue ink. The handwriting ugly as ever-

"Jonguppie hyung!" Junhong mouthed, a wide smile spreading across his face. Jongup did his homework for him, and even attached a sticky note to it.

Dear Junhonggie,

You were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you. I hope I still remember how to do this! 

Love,

The best hyung in the world. 

Junhong re-read the note a few times, a silly grin plastered on his face. "Junhong? Would you want to share what you find so amusing with the class? Or would you prefer answering the question?" Junhong snapped out of his fan-girl moment and looked up at the class. Everyone was staring at him. Apparently, the teacher had been repeating the question to him for a while now, receiving the slightest of giggles for replies. 

"Oh uhm... Question 4 right? The answer is 7x cube plus 3x squared minus 10 plus C?" no wait, that can't be right! Junhong wanted to retract the answer immediately after it left his mouth. "That would have been absolutely correct if you were integrating, but this assignment is on differentiation. But nice try kid!" Mrs Kim became less harsh to Junhong after she saw him in a wheelchair. 

"Oh my god Jonguppie hyung..." Junhong shook his head as he glanced through the piece of paper. All the answers were wrong. He integrated every single one of the questions. But seeing Jongup's handwriting on his paper and his feeble attempt to help him with his work made his hungry, growling stomach do flips. School always made him hungry. No wait... Boredom... Boredom made him hungry. And that was essentially what school was made of.