Jiyong stared down at his paper, dragging his pencil lazily across it as he sighed. Shooting a sideways glance over at Seunghyun, Jiyong stuck out his tongue at him, the other man laughing in silence before turning his gaze to focus on the paper on his desk.

As far as roommates went, Jiyong and Seunghyun were pretty close. Compared to the other people that went to their private school, they actually did things together. Jiyong had had his reservations about staying in a room with someone he didn’t know, but he had completely lucked out with Seunghyun.

While his teacher had his back turned, Jiyong tossed a piece of paper over the girl sitting next to him, grinning widely despite the irritated look that she shot him.

“Jiyong. Stop it,” the teacher snapped, and Jiyong looked up just in time to see his teacher staring directly at him as he sank down into his seat.

The entire class jumped when there was a knock at the door and, with furrowed brows, their teacher opened it. Before anyone really knew what had happened, one of the people that worked in the office stepped in, followed by a girl that they had never seen before. Jiyong stared at her.

She was really cute, with her short brown hair and hint of makeup tinting her face, and considering that she seemed sort of lost, he assumed that she was a new student.

“Everyone, this is Kim Hyosonn. She’ll be joining your class starting today. I trust that everyone will help her find her way around and catch up in classes.” He smiled, bowing to the class and gesturing to an open seat. Hyosonn smiled back at him before taking her place and unpacking her bags as she pulled out a notebook and started writing down notes. Jiyong looked to Seunghyun, who looked back at him with nearly the same expression.

Maybe there was something that was going to put a rift between the two of them.

By the time the bell rang, it seemed like Seunghyun and Jiyong had the same plan being set in motion, and they both immediately walked up to Hyosonn, who looked up at them with slightly widened eyes.

“Hyosonn? Hey,” Jiyong said, smiling down at her. Seunghyun waved softly, edging slightly in front of Jiyong as Hyosonn watched them with a confused expression.

“Hello. I’m Seunghyun, nice to meet you,” Seunghyun said, giving her a gentle bow. She nodded, smiling slightly awkwardly up at them. There was a silence for a moment before Hyosonn cocked her head with a knowing grin.

“Are you two trying to introduce yourselves to me so you can show me around and catch me up?” she asked, and Jiyong nodded happily.

“Yeah, that was our goal,” Seunghyun replied, Jiyong narrowing his eyes at the other man before looking back at the girl sitting in front of them. He saw her glance between them as she thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Alright. Then I’ll take you up on your offer,” she said with a wink, smiling happily. Jiyong grinned at her.

“Cool. Well I’m Jiyong. If you want to take a tour of the campus, just follow us after class. Here, give me your phone,” Jiyong said, typing in his number when Hyosonn handed him her phone. He handed it back once he finished, glancing at the charms dangling from her phone absently before turning his attentions back to her face. “Just call us and meet us when you’re done.” As Hyosonn took her cell phone the two walked away, Seunghyun leaning over near Jiyong’s ear.

“Very smooth,” he murmured, Jiyong laughing easily.

“Shut up,” he replied, still smiling as the two of them walked off to their next classes.

Living at a co-ed boarding school was fun, though it could be very hard to skirt around the rules. The campus was separated, the girls’ dorm on one side and the boys’ dorm on the other. Technically, there was a curfew for students if they were in the dorm area on the other side of the school, but there were ways around it. After the tour of the campus, Hyosonn followed the two of them back to their room, settling in to catch up on the assignments and lessons she’d missed at the beginning of the year. Jiyong was sitting next to her on the couch, legs crossed as he held his notebook on his lap and let his pencil tap against his lips. Seunghyun was pacing slightly, trying to explain one of the latest lessons in his own words.

“Then, you have to… God, I can’t even think of the next step. Jiyong, you explain it.” Seunghyun was met with a blank stare, Jiyong just looking up at him with his pencil propped between his lips. Seunghyun rolled his eyes. “Let me go find my notes. I’ll be right back.” With that Seunghyun slipped into his room, leaving Jiyong alone with Hyosonn.

There was a silence that was really only awkward for Jiyong, who glanced over at the girl beside him with a smile. Before he could even open his mouth to speak, though, Hyosonn laughed to herself.

“You two are really sweet for helping me out like this,” she said, and Jiyong nodded, leaning back against the couch as he nibbled absently on the back of his pencil.

“Don’t worry about it, we’re all for helping new students,” he replied, trying his best to not stumble over his words. Hyosonn cocked her head at Jiyong, then let out a little huff before she spoke again.

“I have a question, though,” she said, turning to look at Jiyong fully. He raised a brow.

“Sure, whatever,” he responded with a slight bit of concern. Hyosonn sounded sincere, and he would listen to anything that she said at that moment. She looked adorable, cheeks slightly puffed as she looked him over.

“Are you two…?” she started, voice trailing off as she linked her fingers together and leaned slightly closer. Jiyong’s brows furrowed.

“Are… Are Seunghyun and I together?” he asked, eyes wide. The question caught him completely off-guard and he blinked a few times, jaw dropped before he coughed and looked down. Maybe he had blushed, or maybe it was something else, but Hyosonn put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently.

“I’m sorry if I said something out of place, but… You two looked really cute,” she said, ignoring the fact that Jiyong was still looking down. He bit his lip.

Did he really give off that vibe? Hyosonn sounded so sincere with her question that Jiyong couldn’t ignore the fact that there was a chance that everyone assumed that about him. A moment passed and he let out an exhalation before looking up, face still flushed.

Then it happened.

“Yeah… Yeah, but… Don’t tell anyone.”

What was he doing?

“It’s not like it’s an acceptable thing.”

What was he doing?

It was like the words were just flying out of his mouth and he wasn’t able to grab them and stop them in time. She just looked like she cared so much about the question that Jiyong was almost forced to agree. The words just kept coming and he couldn’t stifle them – it was like his mind had completely shut off and he was just saying things, making excuses for problems that weren’t really there. Of course he and Seunghyun weren’t together, but if Hyosonn had sympathy for them then they could fake it. Jiyong swallowed deeply, slowly coming to terms with the hole that he’d just dug for them both as he looked down.

Hyosonn simply smiled at him, nodding as she gave his shoulder another squeeze.

“I understand. I won’t tell,” she said, winking as Seunghyun walked into the room with his notebook in hand.

“What do we understand?” he asked, looking from one to the other. Hyosonn looked at him with a knowing gaze, and Jiyong didn’t look over, instead just trying to grasp what he’d just said.

What had he just admitted to?

“Oh, don’t worry. You two are safe with me,” she said, and Seunghyun arched a brow, turning his questioning stare directly toward Jiyong.

“Jiyong, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked, obviously fake smile lighting up his features as Jiyong looked at him with a frown. Hyosonn looked between the two, head immediately bowing as she once again buried her head in her notebook. Jiyong stood, following Seunghyun into his bedroom. Seunghyun locked the door, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned back against it and shot Jiyong a stern glare. “What just happened, Jiyong?”

It took less than a moment for Jiyong to crack under the pressure, hands over his face as he tried not to blush.

“She was just so sincere, Seunghyun. You don’t even understand, she reached over and touched my shoulder and she looked so cute I just… I had to agree with everything she said. I got so nervous, it just sort of slipped out.” Seunghyun raised a brow.

“Please. Inform me of exactly what you said to her,” he asked, and Jiyong looked at him with furrowed brows.

“I… Told her we were together,” he admitted softly.

The silence in the room was worse than any yelling could have been.

“You do realize that this completely wrecked any chance of either of us getting together with Hyosonn, right?” Seunghyun asked, words far too calm for the situation. Jiyong nodded. There was another long silence before Seunghyun looked up in thought, tapping his lips in thought. “Actually… Jiyong, hear me out,” he continued, and Jiyong sat down on his bed, eyes wide.

“If you have a way to fix this, I’m all ears,” he replied, shaking his head. Seunghyun sat down next to him, gaze focused up at the ceiling.

“Say we go along with it. She thinks we’re together. Then all of a sudden we have a huge fight and end up ‘breaking up’. From then on, it’s fair game. We both go to her for comfort and strength and all of that, and she chooses whoever she wants. And whoever doesn’t get her won’t get mad,” he added, eyes narrowed as he finally looked to Jiyong, who nodded.

“Alright. Fine, then you promise you won’t be angry when Hyosonn and I start going out,” Jiyong replied, challenge edging into his tone easily. He turned his gaze to Seunghyun, smirking easily. Seunghyun just chuckled, standing up as he walked over to the door.

“Just keep telling yourself that, Jiyong,” he responded with a laugh, slipping out into the room that Hyosonn was in. He sat down on the couch, watching as Jiyong followed after him. Blushing softly, Hyosonn looked to Seunghyun, who was sitting close.

“I… I’m really sorry for saying anything,” she apologized gently, and Seunghyun just shook his head.

“It’s fine. We just don’t really… We don’t want anyone to know. So…” he said, holding his finger in front of his lips. Hyosonn nodded, mimicking the motion as Seunghyun looked to Jiyong. “Are you going to sit down?” he asked, patting the couch next to him. Jiyong looked from Seunghyun to Hyosonn, about to sit down on the other side of her instead of next to Seunghyun. Then he stopped, lips pursed as he considered the situation.