Sehun flopped onto the living room floor, staring at the ceiling. Tomorrow he would have a fresh start at a new school. Not that he didn’t miss his old school, and his old friends, but the prospect of meeting new people made him excited.

“My show’s on now, do you want to watch with me?” His mother had entered the room and taken a seat on the couch, lifting the remote to turn on the television. Sehun sat up and ran a hand through his hair.

“Sure.” He got up and went to sit by his mother on the couch. He’d been watching this show from the start and the last episode had been a serious cliffhanger. Maybe it was silly of him to be so into a TV show but he liked feeling so close to his mother, the bonding time over mutual love for the stupid plotline was something he relished every sunday night.

The pair spent the next hour shouting at the characters as they made the wrong decisions and ended up with the wrong people, again. Of course the episode ended on yet another cliffhanger and they both laughed with exasperation knowing they’d have to wait another week for the next episode. The silence that followed as the television was turned off was pleasant, and both just took a moment to enjoy the other’s company.

“Alright sweetie I think it’s time you headed off to bed, tomorrow’s a big day after all.” His mother finally broke the silence and Sehun sighed and nodded, resigned to the fact.

“Yup.” He stood and turned around to kiss his mother on the cheek before straightening up entirely.

“Goodnight mom, I love you.” He was already walking out of the room.

“Night sweetheart, sleep well.” She gently called after him.

Upstairs in his room Sehun collapsed onto his bed, glancing at his new uniform hanging on his door. What tomorrow would bring he just didn’t know.

    The tension in the room was almost visible as Luhan took a seat carefully on the leather couch, as if it was made of thin glass. He didn’t meet his parents’ eyes and instead found the carpet suddenly of incredible interest.

“I expect you already know why I’ve called you in here.” His father’s voice was cold, almost devoid of emotion. “Look at me so I know that you’re listening.”

Luhan lifted his eyes slowly and was met with a fearsome stare that made him want to curl up in the darkness somewhere and die.

“I’ll get straight to the point.” Luhan braced himself for the worst and could almost feel himself shrinking away under the harsh, demeaning gaze.

“Your last progress report,” His father continued, moving his eyes to drag over the offending object, laying painfully on the coffee table, “was more than a little disappointing.”

“Really Luhan, I thought we raised you to know the importance of your grades.” It was his mother this time and Luhan felt his heart sink even lower.

“Not an A. Not an A minus. This is a B we’re talking about boy.” His father’s voice was rising in anger. “Is it really too much to ask that you try?”

Luhan could feel the tears stinging the corners of his eyes, he couldn’t let them fall, he couldn’t. But fall they did, streaking down his pale cheeks and towards the ground. He wiped his eyes quickly on his sleeve as he heard his father sigh in exasperation.

“Honestly, you're acting like a girl Luhan, stop blubbering you’ll make a mess of my new couch.” The disgust in his voice was purely evident and Luhan had never felt like more of a miserable disappointment.

“Thank god this is only a progress report, but I fully expect you to spend every waking hour studying until you pull this grade back up where it belongs.” His father paused, pursing his lips. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Y-yes daddy.” Luhan struggled to keep the tears out of his voice but inevitably failed. He wanted to apologize, to beg his father to understand, he hadn’t meant to get that grade, it was a mistake and he’d never do it again. But he knew anything else he said would only be the wrong thing. So he looked at the carpet while his parents left the room, his mother muttering something in his father’s ear as they took their leave.

The moment they were up the stairs he broke down and the tears spilled from his eyes like a torrent. He knew he was a weakling and he knew he would only spoil his surroundings with his messy tears but he couldn’t help it. Not now.

Covering his face with his hands, soaking the sleeves of his sweater in the process, he tried to make himself regret the decision he’d made that had landed him in this situation. No matter how many times he tried to convince himself it would have been better to have gone to school and been there for the test he still didn’t believe it. If by not being there he’d failed automaticly, a B on his progress report could never outweigh the life he’d saved by taking the extra time to find a good home for a lost kitten. He wouldn’t have been able to live with himself knowing he’d done nothing to try and save that kitten’s life.

Taking a shaky breath he slowly stood and returned to his room, where his books awaited him. He needed to study extra hard to make up for his mistake, then maybe his father wouldn’t be so disappointed.