Seunghyun struggled home with all the notebooks, regretting not working out for once in his life. He eased open the door and held it open with his foot, legs shaking. He walked into the house without thinking, exhaustively collapsing all the notebooks onto the kitchen table.

“Choi Seunghyun!”

Seunghyun turned around to find his shocked and shrill omma.

“You get your shoes off this instant!” She said, pushing him to the doorway.

“Omma…I was just so tired and…” Seunghyun began.

“No excuses! Have we not taught you any manners? Shoes go off no matter what is going on. Even if you are bleeding, your shoes go off first.” She lectured.

Seunghyun sat on the floor and pulled off his tennis shoes before his omma’s observing eyes and put them in line with the other shoes close by.

“That’s better. Now where have you been all day?” She asked him in a softer and more approving tone.

“You know I always go out on Saturdays.” He said vaguely.

“Yes, but you never leave so early and come home with a giant stack of notebooks.” She explained, obviously intrigued.

Seunghyun tried to think of an explanation. There were way too many to claim that they were all his. Whose would they be? He wracked his brain for an answer when his omma sparked an idea.

“Did you finally find a tutor?” She asked again, hope shining in her eyes.

“Yes, I did. These are their notes from the years and they want me to study them as much as I can before next weekend.” Seunghyun lied, amazed at how easily this story fit with the truth.

“Omo! I am so happy for you, my son.” She said smiling at him.

“I’m happy too, omma.” Seunghyun said, hoping he didn’t seem too suspicious.

“Would you like help carrying your notebooks to your room?” She offered.

“Sure, thank you.” He said, hoping Jiyong hadn’t written on the cover of the top notebook in her stack she lifted.

Seunghyun entered his room, turning on the light. It was messier than most would find comfortable. His clothes were in a heap on the floor. Various dishes were scattered on his floor along with a few on his desk that housed a boombox and a tape recorder with an attached microphone. His bed was made at least but it wasn’t much considering the stale smell of the unkempt room. Seunghyun’s omma looked around the room and sighed at the sight.

“You really need to clean up your room, Seunghyun-ah.” She said exasperatedly.

“In here I am Tempo, omma, Tempo.” Seunghyun stated.

“Don’t you talk to your omma that way. Respect your elders. From tonight alone you would have thought I raised a wild beast.” She said pointedly.

Seunghyun bowed his head.

“I’m sorry, omma. I’ll try to be better.” He said guiltily.

“That’s all that counts. Now where would you like me to put these?” She asked looking around the cluttered room.

 “The floor by my bed is fine.” Seunghyun said, making room for the stack.

She placed the notebooks down on the floor gently.

“Is there anything you need while you study?” She asked him.

“I don’t know. I’ll let you know if I think of something. I’ll be bringing my old dishes into the kitchen later.” He said.

“Okay. I’m proud of you.” She said as she left the room.

Seunghyun was up all night reading. His eyes burned and he felt his body weakening in preparation for sleep. He wished he had coffee at home to drink. He rubbed his eyes looking out his window behind his desk at the hint of a rising sun.

He stood up and stretched as far as his arms would reach. He thought about his week and he scowled a little. He had to get revenge on his noona for the teasing she has been doing lately. He still had his pride. He couldn’t let this slip by. He smiled as he thought of all the things he could do.

He opened his middle desk drawer and looked at his stash. He could put something in her food but it was Sunday. He would just be hearing her complaints all day and she may possibly plot her own revenge. He thought long and hard. He didn’t want to be too mean. He just wanted to let her know that he wasn’t the dongsaeng to mess with.

He perked up and pushed the drawer closed to sneak into the bathroom with a smirk on his face.

After all that was sorted out he laid on his back again and looked at the ceiling. It was the same one he had looked at his whole life. It was constant and for that he was grateful. He knew that one day he would leave this home and make a new one elsewhere but for now he savored what he had.

He flipped onto his side reaching for his phone on the desk next to his bed to check the time. He opened it to find 2 missed text messages. He furrowed his eyebrows trying to think clearly of who would be texting him during the night.

Hey, you make it home alive?

Seunghyun froze. He forgot he had his phone number. It was saved under the name Jiyong-ah. Someone was a little confident saving that into his phone. He smirked to himself. He had called him that though. He thought about the previous day and groaned. He was so forward. It wasn’t like he had the complete man set to give to him. He was just Seunghyun. Not to mention, all of this happened in public. He buried his head in his hands ashamed. He hugged him and gave him a poem in public, for all of Korea to see.

He only looked up when he remembered there was still another text message he hadn’t read. He felt more nerves opening this one than the last. He screwed up. He knew he had screwed up. Now Jiyong wanted nothing to do with him. He wanted to call things off. He opened the message and felt his breath seize and his eyes start to bulge.

Hey. I know this may be a bit rushed but my friends are having this party Friday night. I was wondering, do you want to come?