After Jungmin left for Australia, to Sungyeol’s utter annoyance and secret delight, Woohyun moved into his house. It wouldn’t have happened if Sungyeol’s father hadn’t called Mr. Nam and requested him. Sungyeol was dumbfounded that his father had actually requested Woohyun to move in to his house. He didn’t ever remember telling Mr. Lee who his friends were. But turned out he had.

“Remember when you were 3, you wanted Woohyun as your birthday present,” Mr. Lee told Sungyeol over the phone. “I know I’m 13 birthdays too late but I hope you like your gift.”

Sungyeol’s mouth hung open.

“You remember what I told you when I was 3?”

“Of course son, I am your father after all. And you were always so…vocal.” Mr. Lee chuckled.

“Hey dad, is that your nice way of saying I talk too much?”

“No, of course not. And the power of speech is a gift.”

“Dad!” Sungyeol whined. Mr. Lee laughed.

“Sorry son, it’s been so long since I teased you. It’s fun. I wish I could see the expression on your face though. Maybe I’ll visit tomorrow. And I promise to do so more often.”

“Thanks dad. I-I miss you.”

Sungyeol wore a genuinely happy expression the whole day. Woohyun smiled inwardly.

Thanks appa, you’ve made Sungyeol and me really happy.

When Mr. Lee had called Mr. Nam to ask Woohyun to stay with Sungyeol, Mr. Nam had told him how much Sungyeol missed him.

“You should visit him more often. And me too. Make sure you have time, we have a long catching up to do.”

Mr. Lee also arranged for a new tutor for Sungyeol, a calm young man named Shinwoo. He was adorable and sincere but he was extremely lazy and slow. Whenever Sungyeol needed help with something, he would find Shinwoo deep in sleep. He sometimes wondered how a young person slept so much. 

Dongwoo, however, found Shinwoo utterly delightful. He would poke, pinch and nag him continuously when he came over. Shinwoo, like a snail, would only inch away a bit and shake his head annoyingly. This would make Dongwoo giggle and poke him with even more interest.

“He’s such a good sport,” Dongwoo would tell Woohyun enthusiastically, while he nodded his head embarrassedly.

Dongwoo found another target quite interesting as well—Sunggyu. Dongwoo had asked him some questions once to which Sunggyu had replied in the most arcane ways, hoping he wouldn’t bother him anymore. This however, had amplified Dongwoo’s interest in Sunggyu and he would go to his home on weekends and to his office unannounced and bother the hell out of him.

Sunggyu was very straightforward with his displeasure but it did nothing to lessen the frequency of Dongwoo’s visits. Before long, Dongwoo grew on him and he started stacking sugar in his office because Dongwoo had lots of sugar in his tea while he had none.

The downside of having Woohyun in the house was that not only he would study himself, he would also nag Howon and Sungyeol to death unless they studied. And it wass not like they had the freedom to study however they liked.

“Sungyeol, sit straight and wipe that sorrowful owl expression from your face. And for God’s sake, hold your book the right way up. Howon, why on earth are you doodling in your homework copy? Why are you doing Math in your Physics copy? Why is page 7 of your History book missing?”

It was morbid pain to study in the same room as Woohyun and even if Sungyeol or Howon studied in a different room, Woohyun would poke his head into the room once every hour to check on what they were doing.

Shinwoo, as expected, didn’t do much. Whenever he tried to help Sungyeol with a Math, Woohyun would pull the book towards him and start explaining with a sage expression. No amount of grumbling from Sungyeol and Howon could dampen his spirit. He even bragged about it to Mr. Nam and Mr. Lee, when they visited one day.

“Woohyun’s such a good boy,” Mr. Lee said, ruffling Woohyun’s hair. “And Sungyeol we have decided that either your mother or I will collect your report card from now on. Don’t forget to call us and tell us when.”

Sungyeol looked scandalized.

“I might forget since I have a lot to do—”

“That’s ok, I’ll do it,” said Mr. Nam, smiling. Sungyeol looked like he had been slapped while Howon, Myungsoo and Woohyun sniggered.

“And I’m collecting yours’ too mister,” said Mr. Lee, wagging his finger at Howon, whose jaw dropped.

Sungyeol stuck his tongue out at Howon. Myungsoo copied him. Myungsoo had been fine ever since Sunggyu had changed. In fact, he didn’t even need therapy. The doctor had commented that Sunggyu had been his cure. But Sunggyu and Myungsoo both knew that Sungjong had played his part as well. This had made Sungjong an unconditional favorite with Sunggyu and whenever he would have conferences abroad, he would bring back the biggest presents for him.

“Seriously Mr.Lee, there’s no need,” Howon said shyly.

“Of course there is. We should take care of you boys more.”

Mr. Nam nodded his head.