After lunch, and before Joonmyeon’s group and Kyungsoo’s group go to their separate classes, Yixing is reluctant to let Jongdae go, but he trusts Zitao will take care of him.  It is almost 1PM and some of the others have to either go to classes right after lunch or wait a while before their classes start at 1:30PM or 2PM.  Meanwhile, a few have their last classes from 1PM to 2PM and will be free for the rest of the day; this includes Jongdae and Zitao. 

Later in the afternoon, around 2PM, Jongdae gets out of class early with Zitao waiting for him outside.  Unfortunately for Jongdae, due to Yixing being an upperclassman, Yixing has to focus on his dancing studies and performances at the studios offered on campus.  Like this morning, Zitao has been Jongdae’s for most of the day, with the exception of lunch when Yixing took over. 

Zitao looks up from his hands as he practices the Korean and American alphabets, to see Jongdae walking out the door with his walking stick and backpack, assisted by a fellow classmate.  Neither the student nor Zitao know each other, so Zitao walks up to the duo, taking out a mini-notepad from his laptop bag and writing down “Hello, I am Zitao, Jongdae’s friend.  I’m here to him.”

The classmate passes Jongdae to Zitao, smiling at him.  “Jongdae, here’s Zitao.  I’ll see you in class on Thursday.  Bye guys!”  Jongdae then links one of his arms with Zitao and, together, they make their way to their college’s entrance gate.

Step…step…step…there is slightly less chatter than this morning…

“So…uhm, Zitao, how did you do on the Math exam?  I know we didn’t get to talk about it, but this seems a good time.  Did you do well?”

With his walking stick in one hand, Jongdae’s other hand is free to take in the responses from Zitao.  He feels his wrist being held and then flicked upwards, before his palm is turned upward and Zitao’s finger is making character on it.

Zitao writes on Jongdae’s palm, I finished the exam in 25 minutes, and I thought it wasn’t too bad.  There were a lot of students taking the test when I left.  How about you?  I’m sorry about what happened back there.  It wasn’t in my favor the moment I came into the classroom.

“Nah, Zitao. Don’t worry about it,” Jongdae assures Zitao.  “I’m actually sorry about my attitude back there.  It was strange that even though my first instinct was you, I thought of Lee Junghwan-sshi.  So I didn't know who to call out first.  As for the exam, I think I did well too, it didn’t seem too bad.”

The duo arrives outside the entrance gates and Zitao remembers that ever since he met Jongdae a year ago, he has never been to Jongdae’s house, thus he does not know the way to get there.  Jongdae notices their steps slowing down and is about to ask Zitao when a noise interrupts them.

A hum of the motor engine is approaching closer towards them…A pause in their walking pace…A really long pause…A tug on Jongdae’s arm causes him to be alert.

The motor engine is getting louder and louder…until it stops, in front of them.

“Zitao, is there something wrong?,” Jongdae is concerned, gently nudging Zitao with his elbow.  “I heard a ca-“

“Chenchen-ah, surprise!” A deep, rich voice calls out to Jongdae.  Jongdae’s eyes widen in surprise at the recognition of his brother’s voice.  Wufan gets out of the car, wearing a v-neck shirt and denim jeans, and makes his way to Jongdae.

“Gege?” Jongdae asks in confusion.  He switches the walking stick in his hand over to his other hand that is linked with Zitao, and moves his now free hand around in front of him.  His hand bumps onto Wufan’s chest, and he feels a warm hand enveloping his hand, and another hand softly ruffling his hair.   There is a faint familiar scent of cologne emitting from Wufan.  “Wh-what are you doing here?”

“What, I can’t surprise my baby brother and take him out for a small ride to the Han River on a congratulatory occasion now that you’ve finished taking the test? After studying your off last weekend? I’m insulted.”  Wufan says in a lightly mocking tone, but his thumb grazes on Jongdae’s hand.  Jongdae chuckles, knowing from the subtle gesture that his brother is joking.  “Oh, hello,” Wufan lets go of Jongdae’s hand as he turns to Zitao.  “Sorry for being rude, I didn’t introduce myself.  I’m Lee Wufan, Jongdae’s older brother.  What’s yours?”

Zitao’s mind, from the moment he sees the driver get out of the car and call out to Jongdae with that smile, has gone blank and now, he cannot stop staring at Wufan. Wow…, Zitao thinks, he’s very…wow.  When Wufan asks him for his name, it does not register in his head that Wufan has just asked him a question.  He is suddenly shaken out of his thoughts when he hears Jongdae explaining to his brother that he is Zitao, one of his friends.  He wills himself to not blush and bows to Wufan.

“Oh, I see, you’re the one with the languages and brilliant math skills that Jongdae tells me about,” Wufan beams, extending his hand towards Zitao.  Blushing hard at the compliment, Zitao tries to bring himself to look up at Wufan but he cannot.  Instead, he gazes at Wufan’s hand, still in a slight stupor, with one arm linked with Jongdae and his other arm just hanging limply at his side.  “Nice to meet you, Zitao.”

Few seconds pass and Zitao has not done anything.  Wufan is left standing there, feeling a bit awkward for not being able to shake hands, and assures the mute student, “Zitao-sshi, we can shake hands.  No need to be shy.”

Zitao shyly raises his free hand to shake Wufan’s hand, and he immediately feels goose bumps and warmth all over his body.  He wills himself to not shudder at the contact, only to end up having his hand trembling inside the grasp of Wufan’s hand.  Zitao notices that Wufan has not let go of his hand yet, and when he looks up at Wufan, his eyes widen in slight shock as Wufan gazes at him intently.

“Are you okay?” Wufan asks him in Chinese.  That seems to shake Zitao out of the reverie and soothes him from the internal tension he is having, and Zitao nods quickly.  Zitao remembers, as he recovers from a slight shock upon hearing him speak Chinese,Right…Jongdae is half-Korean and half-Chinese, naturally his siblings would be too. Loosening his grip quickly on Wufan’s hand, he feels Wufan’s hand letting go and watches Wufan step back a bit with a reassuring smile.

Wufan steps a little closer to Jongdae to take Jongdae’s backpack off his younger brother’s back and escorts him to the car. “Jongdae-yah, come on!  Let’s go to the Han River.” He leads Jongdae to the passenger seat and closes the door.  He then turns around to face Zitao and asks him, “Thank you, Zitao, for accompanying him.  Actually, do you want a ride to your place?”  Zitao shakes his head hastily with a small smile, and, looking a bit nervous, he points to the direction of his house opposite of where Wufan and Jongdae are planning to go.

“Oh…er…how far is it?” Wufan looks in the direction Zitao is pointing and turns his head slowly to look at Zitao in concern, as he inquires about the distance.  Zitao signals to him with a slight pinch of air, and holds up two hands.

“Oh, ten minutes?  That’s not too bad for you then, eh?”  Zitao shakes his head. “Okay, well, thanks again.  I hope we’ll be seeing each other soon, Zitao.”  Wufan gives a little salute to Zitao and jogs to the driver’s side of the car before getting in.  There is a noise of windows sliding down and Jongdae faces his head to the right.  He reaches out for Zitao’s hand and Zitao obligingly extends his hand to meet with Jongdae’s.  Jongdae wiggles it gently in a comfortable manner.

“Zitao! Thanks for helping me get around today; I really appreciate it.  I’ll take up on that offer about learning Morse Code, it sounds quite useful!  Get home safe, ok?”  Jongdae beams at him, and he feels the upward flicking motion of his wrist from Zitao’s response.  He chuckles and lets go of Zitao’s hand before waving.  “Bye, Zitao!”

Zitao smiles and sees Wufan looking at him, giving a little nod and a grin.  The car takes off and heads towards the Han River.

For a moment, Zitao feels slightly hotter than before, as he reflects on his actions from the moment he saw Wufan get out of the car.  He bites his lower lip in worry, wondering why he has acted like that.  Before he can think any further, a shout interrupts his thoughts.  He turns around to face the shouter.

“Heeyy, Zitao! How are you? Feeling alright today?”  Shin Dongwoo walks up to Zitao and claps Zitao’s back, giving him a smile.  Zitao smiles back and nods, thankful that the blush has gone away due to being surprised at the shout.

“What’s going on with you for today? Are you finished with class for the day?” Dongwoo asks.  Zitao bobs his head and points to the direction of his house, like how he did with Wufan earlier.  Dongwoo exclaims, “Walking home that way? Ah really? My house is also in that direction. Mind having company?”  Zitao shakes his head, gladdening at the thought of walking home with a friend. Together, they make their way home, passing by stores along one side of the street.

Although they walk in companionable silence, there are a few times when Dongwoo asks Zitao some questions that do not need too much explanation, Zitao will either gesticulate, or shake his head in a “yes” or “no” response.  In return, Dongwoo gives Zitao his own answers to the same questions he asks Zitao, as if Zitao is asking him the same question.  Dongwoo and Zitao get to know each other more, with the way Dongwoo has planned out the talk.

As they are walking in silence once again, Zitao catches the sight of someone familiar walking across from him.  The person is lean and lanky, with smooth, silky, neck-length hair that sweeps across half of his face, concealing the right side of his face.  Unfortunately for Zitao, the person is wearing sunglasses.  The lean face gives him almost an androgynous feel, but even so, the person looks really pretty.  He walks with a light gait, almost with dignity. As Dongwoo looks around, enjoying the view, Zitao steals glances at the person passing by them.  He cannot help but be bothered at why this person looks so strikingly familiar.  He racks his brain to remember a name and whom the person resembles, but none are coming to him.  When the person walks past them, Zitao gets one last look at the person behind him and frowns, telling to himself that he feels like he should know this person from before.

A few minutes later, the duo stops at Zitao’s apartment building.  It turns out that it is not just Zitao’s apartment building when Dongwoo exclaims, “Hey! You too?! This is my apartment building as well! What a coincidence, hahaha. Wow, daebak.”

As Zitao and Dongwoo enter the building, they take to the elevator, legs already tired from all the walking around school.  Dongwoo asks Zitao which floor he is in, and Zitao points to the top floor button.

“FLOOR SIX?!” Dongwoo