Kibum and Micha came hand in hand to Kevin’s class and asked if he would like to join them for lunch. Alexander’s and Kiseop’s face instantly darkened, blocking Kevin from his view while saying that Kevin went to the toilet.

“I saw him there.” Kibum frowned, pulling Micha along as they walked to Kevin’s table. “Kev?”

“I’m not feeling very well.” Kevin meekly replied, smiling as he stood up, eye averting Kibum’s and those linked hands. “Eat without me.”

“Why are you not well?” Micha asked, quickly loosening her intertwined hands with Kibum and touching Kevin’s forehead. “Are you okay?”

Kiseop instinctively pushed Micha roughly to the floor, hugging the stunned Kevin. “Get away from him.”

“Lee Kiseop.” Kibum glared, helping Micha up, anger seemingly more at Kiseop being rude to Micha then Kiseop wrapping his arms around Kevin. “You don’t push strangers to the floor.”

“But I won’t stand back when I obviously can do something about a situation gone wrong.” Kiseop stepped forward with the same glare, before tugging Kevin to walk away with him. “Xander-hyung, I’ll meet you at the cafeteria.”

Alexander nodded silently, rolling his eyes at Kibum as he moved to ask if Eli would like to join them. “Fix what you’ve broken.”

“What happened?” Micha blinked confusedly at Kibum, eyes tearing up at the harsh treatment she got from a stranger. “What did I do wrong?”

“You did nothing wrong. That man has a screw loose.” Kibum clenched his fist, idly wondering why Kevin didn’t speak a word against Kiseop.

-

“Kevin, we need to talk.” Kibum sighed, waiting patiently for Kevin to stand up. Kiseop and Alexander ignored his presence, both thinking that Kevin would never listen. Why would he?

Kevin nodded, taking his tray of lunch and shifting to Kibum’s table (with Micha staring at him expectantly) behind Kibum.

Kiseop was about to run after him when Eli stopped him. “There’s something else to this. Let them settle it.”

Alexander grumbled, and his eyes could only stare at Kevin and made sure nothing bad happened from his table.

“Hey, Kevin.” Micha smiled slightly, offering him a pudding. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Kevin smiled faintly back, refusing her offer. “What about you? Kiseop…didn’t mean to push you. He’s just…temperamental.”

Kibum was prepared for Kevin to flare up over nothing, ready to calm him down when all he sees is a very calm Kevin eating. It was almost like there was nothing wrong.

“Kevin….?” Kibum asked, watching Kevin closely.

The younger smiled at him with questioning eyes, before continuing munching happily on his lunch.

Kibum dropped it. There was probably nothing wrong.

“Eat well.”

-

All three of them cannot understand why Kevin would act this way. Wasn’t he the one in tears this morning?

“He’s acting.” Alexander worried frowned. “I’m afraid something bad might happen to him, we all know he’s incapable of keeping emotions to himself.”

Eli rubbed Alexander’s back soothingly, assuring him things would turn out fine. “Kevin’s the type to burst.”

“I don’t want him to burst!” Alexander exclaimed, almost pushing Eli away when the younger quickly defended himself.

“I mean, sometimes it’s best for them to work out the differences. Bursting means letting out all his feelings, he’d probably end up telling Kibum everything and they’d fix things from then on. You can’t change Kevin’s mind.” Eli sighed. “As much as we would all like to, we can’t.”

Kiseop kept silent, watching Alexander break down in Eli’s arms.

-

“Kevin.” A strict but gentle voice called out the moment he stepped into the house, stopping him from taking a step further and causing Micha to collide into him. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

Kevin turned to Aemin with eyes unsure, something Aemin hasn’t seen before. It wasn’t questioning what the question was about. It was questioning if Aemin really wanted to know.

In all truths, that frightened the older woman.

All negative emotions depicted on his face dissolved into a bright smile. “Yeah! The school’s cafeteria food tasted a lot better today!”

Kibum rolled his eyes behind. “It’s the same.”

“I thought it was nicer.” Kevin shrugged. “I’ll go back up to my room first!”

Micha scratched her head, turning to Kibum. “Is the food today really a lot better? Because then it .”

The two laughed at her, Kibum pinching the younger girl’s cheeks and smiled. “What are you, a princess?”

“Am I not? You told me I was your princess when we were young!” Micha pouted. “You don’t want me anymore?”

Kevin smiled as he stood on the last step of the stairs. Oh.

They were childhood friends and Micha was Kibum’s princess. Oh.

Kevin tried to keep calm. If he stumbled just one step back, just one step, he would tumble all the way down and probably die. He couldn’t let those words affect him.

Weakly shifting his feet, he accidentally took a step back.

“I remembered you saying he is your classmate. Why is he in my year, then?”