A week had passed and the mid-term break was over. Daehyun went back at his boarding school on Sunday evening by bus. He didn’t know how to keep being here after losing contact with his closest friends throughout the break, not even Zelo. It would be too awkward for him to text the younger boy after their accidental kiss.

                Daehyun was walking to his room with his duffle bag slung over his shoulder. His eyebrows knitted together as he deepened his thought. Was the kiss accidental? If it was, why would they take more than a second to pull apart? Why did he like it so much? Wait, he liked it?!

                Daehyun shook his head to cut off his thoughts. Seriously, he had been thinking about the same thing since the day it happened and now he was about to meet his roommate again, the cause of his sleepless nights.

                He twisted the doorknob and found that it wasn’t locked. That meant Zelo must be here already. It’s weird because he guessed the boy would arrive at night or even tomorrow morning. He pushed the door open after knocking a few times. The sight that greeted him was even weirder.

                Zelo was sitting at his study desk. He never did that before. He usually used the desk to eat or to play games using his laptop. But now there wasn’t any trace of ramyun cups or laptop anywhere on the table, just books and papers scattered around. He must’ve not aware of Daehyun’s presence since he had his earphones plugged in into his iPod.

                Daehyun closed the door after him and placed his bag on his bed as he walked passed it. He approached his roommate from the boy’s back and somehow a little surprised to find that Zelo was literally studying. His wide eyes roamed the table which was full of revisions and exercises Zelo had done.

                Feeling a presence behind him, Zelo turned around. He jumped in his seat seeing Daehyun standing so close to his chair. “You scared the hell outta me,” He plucked his earphones to talk to his roommate. “You just came back?”

                Daehyun nodded with a smile. “What about you?”

                “I came here this morning.”

                Daehyun had a hard time believing that. The younger was only here this morning and he had sorted all his things out. He even started studying!

                “How’s your break?” Zelo’s question snapped Daehyun out of his mind.

                “O-Okay…? I guess…” Daehyun blushed unwittingly and wanted to slap himself for that. He couldn’t help remembering what happened at his grandmother’s house. He wondered if this was the right time to bring up the topic.

                “Cool,” Zelo replied before flashing a smile towards the older boy. Then he stuffed his ears back with the earphones and resumed his study.

                Daehyun didn’t have a chance to say anything. He heard somewhere that if someone uses earplugs in front of you, it meant they don’t want to talk to you. So he reluctantly stepped back and started doing his own stuffs.

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                The next day, Daehyun woke up as early as usual. The only difference was that he didn’t have to trouble himself to wake Zelo up again. His roommate rose from his sleep by himself and went straight to the bathroom after him. He really didn’t dare to say any remark at Zelo’s obvious change of behaviour, afraid if the boy would be offended by it.

                Since it’s still early, Daehyun wouldn’t have to rush for his breakfast. He was taking his time walking together with his roommate to the cafeteria, talking about little things as they normally did before. Everything was good until they had to eat with the other four.

                The air was awkward for everyone except Himchan and Jongup. Those two were busy telling their stories during the mid-term break. Yongguk and Youngjae would only chime in here and there to keep the mood going but Daehyun tried not to get involved with them. He only responded when his name was mentioned once in a while.

                Zelo could clearly see how sad Daehyun was to be meeting those jerks again. He couldn’t believe how the older boy’s closest friends didn’t notice it. They were friends even before he joined them. He really wanted to voice out his thought but instead of wasting his time worrying over those ignorant, it was better for him to focus on his roommate.

                He started a conversation with the boy in glasses and got a nice return. As time passed, they seemed to have created their own little world with only just the two of them. Well, Himchan did try to in but he was stopped by Jongup. With a smirk on his face, the freshman said that Zelo needed some alone time with Daehyun.

                As for Yongguk and Youngjae, they didn’t have a solid reason to start talking to Daehyun in a casual way after what had happened between them. Zelo was glad they didn’t do anything that could hurt Daehyun again.

                Right after Daehyun finished his breakfast, Zelo asked him to go to class already. Daehyun didn’t have any time to question when Zelo had excused themselves from the group for leaving early, gaining a weird look from all of them.

                Zelo helped the other cleaned up their trays before catching a hold of Daehyun’s hand. The older boy immediately flushed at the warm contact. His feet just followed every step his roommate led him to.

                “I’ll walk you to your class,” Zelo said.

                “Um… Isn’t it a bit early to go?” Daehyun muttered, taking a quick glimpse at the taller boy.

                “S’okay. We’ll take our time walking there.”

                Daehyun frowned. “But your class isn’t that close from mine,” He looked up and his heart thumped a little bit faster when he saw Zelo was smiling at him.

                “I can run real fast with my long legs,” Zelo bragged as a joke.

                Daehyun snorted. “You shouldn’t run in the hallway, you know?”

                “There’d be no problem if I don’t get caught,” Zelo shrugged and Daehyun was finally laughing. Zelo sighed quietly, satisfied in being the cause of the beautiful sight of a happy Daehyun.

                When the situation had turned out like this, Daehyun wasn’t sure if it would be alright to speak up about their shared kiss. Zelo seemed to be unbothered about anything whereas he was having turmoil of feelings on the other side. Was it possible that Zelo had forgotten about it?

                Daehyun started to feel frustrated. He began to act bitter towards Zelo, only responding to the talking boy half-heartedly but he was so subtle that Zelo couldn’t notice it. He just remembered their first kiss. Zelo pretended like he didn’t know him the day after and he was told to forget about it when he had the courage to ask. Maybe Zelo did forget.

                Without realizing it, they had already arrived at his class. Zelo released his hand, leaving it hanging on his side.

                “See you later, Daehyun hyung,” Zelo said before walking off to his class.

                Daehyun was even more annoyed. Zelo didn’t even wait for his reply. With a pout on his face, Daehyun got into his class and slammed the door close.

                That loud bang startled Zelo. He turned around and a frown appeared on his face. His roommate had already gone from his previous spot. It disappointed him since he was expecting a shout of ‘see you’ from the older boy. He wondered if Daehyun was the one to slam the door like that because he didn’t think he had done anything wrong before that.

                A few minutes before the bell rang, Youngjae reached his class. Daehyun noticed it from the corner of his eyes, the said boy approaching the table next to him. He immediately busied himself by flipping through the textbook.

                When Youngjae put his bag away after bringing out his own textbook, he suddenly turned to Daehyun. By that time, Daehyun’s heart was beating so fast he thought he might puke. He was not ready to face Youngjae and it made him nervous as hell.

                Youngjae finally spoke up. “Umm… Daehyun…?”

                Daehyun didn’t know what to do. Should he tell Youngjae to shut up or ignore him or answer him and pretend nothing happened between them? In the end, among all the choices he had, Daehyun chose to just ignore him.

                “Ah… I don’t think Minho would come today,” Seunghoon, the boy sitting in front of them suddenly turned around to talk about his absent deskmate.

                “Oh… Really?” Daehyun retorted. “Why’s that?”

                “He’s still on vacation with his family. One week isn’t enough for him.”

                An idea popped in Daehyun’s head. “Then can I sit with you today?”

                A confused look etched on Seunghoon’s face. He took a look at Youngjae but the boy had his gaze fixed on Daehyun.

                “Can I? You know how bad my eyesight is…” Daehyun was almost pleading, using his big puppy eyes.

                Seunghoon nodded hesitantly. “Alright…” Though he didn’t know why, he was sure Daehyun was having a problem with Youngjae. Those two really couldn’t be apart before since they were best friends. But friendship would always be tested to see how each of them deserved to be called friends by one another.

                Daehyun sighed heavily. He succeeded in disappearing from Youngjae as soon as the class ended for today. Somehow, he managed to avoid that guy the whole day. He didn’t even go to lunch, not just because of him, but also because Zelo couldn’t join them. As far as he was irritated at his roommate, he really needed Zelo to be by his side during times like that.

                When he reached his room, Daehyun was shocked to see Zelo at his desk, again. It’s absurd because the boy would usually go out to ride his skateboard or do something else right now. He really wanted to ask the younger why he didn’t have lunch this afternoon but Zelo had his earphones plugged in again and he looked so focused in his study.

                Daehyun huffed angrily before flopping down onto his bed.

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                “Daehyun hyung? Aren’t you going to have dinner?” Zelo finally talked for the first time since his roommate got back.

                Daehyun was still lying on his bed, looking at his iPad. He did fall asleep but it was just for less than an hour. When he saw Zelo was still studying after he woke up, it killed the mood for him to do anything productive. “I don’t feel like it,” He answered nonchalantly.

                “You’re not hungry?” Zelo asked again. This time getting up from his chair and went to stand next to Daehyun’s bed.

                “Nope,” Daehyun shook his head, keeping his eyes on the tablet’s screen.

                “Well, then. I’m just gonna make ramyun. You want one?”

                “No, thanks. I’ll make one myself when I’m hungry.”

                Right after Zelo moved to get some hot water, Daehyun shot the younger boy a sharp glare at his back. His furious eyes followed Zelo until he left the room.

                “Urgh!!!” Daehyun grunted. He really hoped Zelo would ask him to have dinner together and then Zelo would apologize to him for not talking to him for the whole day! But maybe he was too dense to do it!

                “If he could be insensitive like that, I can too!” Daehyun threw aside his iPad and slipped under the cover, planning to go straight to sleep but on another note, he was too hungry to do that. So he peeled the cover back before getting off the bed and went out of the room. He was thinking on having some food at Himchan’s room but Yongguk could possibly be there. Well, maybe he could ask Jongup for some bread in mercy.

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                Days passed and everything was still the same as they were. Daehyun still didn’t talk to Youngjae or Yongguk and he was still mad at Zelo. It’s because that Zelo boy continued to be a study freak and treated him like he didn’t exist.

                Zelo studied from morning until late at night. Daehyun didn’t know how to tell the boy that he was angry at him. Zelo didn’t seem to notice at all. Daehyun felt like he was just wasting his life being mad at his roommate when the said boy was never affected by anything he did.

                Today was already Friday. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at Zelo from the back. He was tired with all of these s and wanted to end it right away. He decided that he would stop being mad at Zelo and ask the boy about his sudden interest in studying all the time.

                Getting on his feet, Daehyun heaved a deep breath before going to his roommate. He patted Zelo’s back a couple of times to grab his attention. The younger boy took off his earphones and looked up intently at the other.

                “Um… I was thinking…to go outing with you…” He uttered, fondling with his sleeves.

                Zelo raised his brows. “Outing?” He seemed confused for a second. “Oh yeah, today’s Friday. I forgot!” He laughed to hide his embarrassment.

                Daehyun was still waiting for his answer. “…So…?”

                Zelo scratched his head. “Ah, hyung…” He bit his lips while spinning the pen in his grip. “I don’t feel like going out now…” He stated with a sense of guilt.

                Daehyun’s expression tensed. His gaze dropped to the ground, unable to look at the younger boy anymore as he was afraid if he got angry again.

                “Maybe tomorrow?” Zelo asked.

                Daehyun forced his eyes to make a contact with Zelo’s. He slowly nodded his head. “Sure…”

                “I’m sorry, hyung…” Zelo reached out to hold his hand.

                Daehyun quickly snatched it back. “It’s okay. I-I’ll go with…someone else…” He walked away from there, grabbed his phone and wallet before leaving the room.

                He couldn’t believe it. Zelo refused to go out with him. He knew that’s only a small matter but his chest tightened so hard and it hurt real bad. He started to walk back and forth in the hallway, trying to calm himself down. He wouldn’t allow himself to cry over something small like that.

                This was the time he really needed something to distract himself from Zelo and remarkably, he received a message in his phone. He straightaway read it and unfortunately got another trouble.

From : Youngjae

Can we talk? Just the two of us?

                Daehyun released a long sigh. He knew this time would come. If he said he still wasn’t ready to face Youngjae by now, that’d be a lie. It had been more than a week and he would be a coward to keep running away from his problems. So he decided to settle it today.

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                Since most of the students went out this evening, there were not many people at the school park. Daehyun chose to meet Youngjae at the lake, just because that place could give him some sort of serenity. He remembered when he was accompanied by someone for the first time and not wallowing in sadness alone anymore. Zelo was that first company, sitting next to him, pulling him out of his despair, but now that spot was replaced with someone else.

                “Are you still mad at us?” Youngjae spoke after the long silence ever since he got there.

                Daehyun breathed out, shifting his gaze from the lake in front of him to his feet on the ground. “I’m not actually mad…” His eyebrows furrowed as he was thinking whether he’s saying the truth or not. He took quite a moment contemplating on his next words. “…But why didn’t you tell me that you and Yongguk hyung are an item?”

                Youngjae whipped his head towards the other, his eyes wide before scoffing in disbelief. “Daehyun, if Yongguk hyung and I are really dating, you’re the first person I’d tell.”

                Daehyun timidly brought his gaze up to meet Youngjae’s. “But you…had …” He managed to say it just a tiny bit louder than a whisper.

                Youngjae laughed quietly. “I’m not sure about it myself,” He turned to the front again when he couldn’t hold the other’s stare. “Why did I have with Yongguk hyung? Was it because of love? I don’t know,” He shrugged with a shake of his head. “He never told me that he likes me.”

                Daehyun’s heart clenched at the sight of his dejected friend. He had realized that Youngjae’s situation wasn’t any better than his. “So you…confessed to him?” He asked carefully.

                Youngjae nodded before covering his eyes with his palm. “I did…” He answered with a cracked voice and it was followed with quiet sobs shortly after that.

                Daehyun was taken aback to see Youngjae crying like that. This best friend of his had never cried in front of him unless he was having problems with his grades. And whenever one of them cried, they would always be there for each other.

                Youngjae sniffed, rubbing his runny nose with the back of his hand while the tears were still falling rapidly. “But ever since then…I feel like I’m being played with…and until now…I didn’t even care about it…because all I wanted is…to be with him…”

                Daehyun was no longer wasting any time to pull Youngjae into a hug. He rubbed the other’s back and lent Youngjae his shoulder to cry on. Youngjae appreciated Daehyun’s kind act, squeezing back the slender body in a tight hold.

                “It must’ve been really hard on you,” Daehyun uttered sympathetically. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

                “I was too embarrassed to do that…I didn’t want you to be disgusted with what I was doing with your childhood friend…” Youngjae replied in a more calmed voice because of Daehyun’s warm arms wrapped around his body.

                Daehyun sighed before pulling apart, his hands gripped Youngjae’s arms as he stared into the other pair of eyes. “Youngjae, you know you can always share anything with me. We’re best friends, right?”

                When Daehyun asked that with those large hopeful eyes which he always thought very adorable, Youngjae couldn’t do anything except stretching his lips into a genuine smile. “Yes, you’re my best friend,” He patted the boy’s head before resting his hand on the nape Daehyun’s neck. “Thank you.”

                “You’re welcome,” Daehyun retorted with a broad smile.

                “And Daehyun?” Youngjae gathered Daehyun’s hands in his grasp. “I… I’m really sorry…” He apologized from the bottom of his heart.

                Seeing the sincerity written all over Youngjae’s face, Daehyun heaved a deep breath and smiled again. “I forgive you.”

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                Daehyun returned to his room late at night. He spent the whole time listening to Youngjae’s story about him and Yongguk from A to Z. It turned out that Youngjae had a huge crush on Yongguk ever since they first met. It was love at first sight for him but he didn’t know if Yongguk had the same feeling.

                Daehyun wondered what would he do if Youngjae had told him from the beginning. Would he be more determined to make Yongguk his or he would give him up for his best friend? But it didn’t matter anymore now that they were both hurt in the end.

                When he got into his room, Daehyun was not surprised to see Zelo still sitting at his study desk. He slowly shut the door before plopping down on his bed. He sat the quietly, fiddling with his fingers as he reflected back what he had done today. He was indeed happy he got his best friend back but he couldn’t deny the painful feeling in his heart.

                It’s funny how he listened to his best friend talking about his own crush and being so in love with him. Why could Youngjae share his feelings with him but he couldn’t when they liked the same person? Obviously, Daehyun couldn’t tell Youngjae that he felt sad because he had to let go of his first love to his own best friend. It would make things complicated between them. So who would want to listen to him then?

                Daehyun felt very lonely all of a sudden. He just wanted to let go all of his feelings without holding back anymore. He started with faint sobs before they grew to a loud wailing. He was bold enough to do that, knowing his roommate wouldn’t hear him with the loud music blaring in the boy’s ears.

                On the other hand, Zelo was getting more and more depressed when he still couldn’t solve the math problem which he had been working since dinner. He threw his pen on his work sheet before glancing at the small clock at the corner of the table. It’s already eleven o’clock, an hour past the curfew. He suddenly remembered he hadn’t seen his roommate came back from the outing.

                Zelo turned to look around the room. His searching eyes instantly landed on trembling back of his roommate sitting on the edge of the bed. He could sense something was off so he tugged off his earphones, only to be more worried when he heard the crying sound from Daehyun.

                Blood rushed throughout veins and he started to panic. Jumping off the chair, Zelo quickly ran to the older boy. He dropped himself next to Daehyun, startling the older boy in the process.

                “Hyung, what’s wrong?” He asked anxiously while pulling Daehyun’s hand from covering his face.

                Daehyun shook his head, vigorously trying to break off Zelo’s strong grip. “No, don’t m-mind me… Just go do wh-whatever you’re doing…” He wept loudly while taking off his glasses using his free hand and threw it somewhere on the bed.

               “But hyung, you’re crying! At least tell me what’s wrong,” Zelo pleaded because he couldn’t stand watching Daehyun being sad like that.

               With the full force, Daehyun managed to release his hands from the younger boy. “Nothing’s wrong…I don’t even kn-know why I’m crying…” He keenly rubbed his wet eyes using his sleeves, just like what he usually did when he cried.

                “Is it because of Yongguk hyung? Or Youngjae hyung?” Zelo placed his palm on Daehyun’s back, thinking it would calm the other a little but he was wrong.

                “No, none of them!” Daehyun abruptly got up before treading to the door.

                Zelo realized Daehyun was trying to leave. He hastily went after the older boy and grabbed Daehyun’s arm before he could place his hand on the knob.

                “Wait, where are you going?” He stood in front of the door, preventing his roommate from trying to run away again.

                “What do you care?! Just go back to your desk and ignore me like you always did!” Daehyun burst in anger out of nowhere. He seemed like he was not in a right state of mind when he shouted at the innocent Zelo. He just came back to his sense after seeing Zelo’s shocked expression. He immediately turned his back to the latter in order to avoid his baffled stare.

                Zelo let out a scoff after the stunning moment. “So that’s why? That’s why you’re crying?” He went in front of Daehyun and held his arms again. “Are you mad at me?”

                “I’m not…mad at you… I’m just…” Daehyun still couldn’t stop crying. He had his head hung low since he couldn’t look at the younger in the eyes.

                A smirk tugged on Zelo’s lips. “You feel like you didn’t get much attention from me. Isn’t that right?” He felt so inappropriate to behave like this when Daehyun was still crying but he couldn’t help in teasing the older boy, moreover when a blush crept up Daehyun’s neck to his ears right after he said that.

                Zelo chuckled at the cute sight. When Daehyun began to squirm out of his grasp, he quickly pulled him to sit on the bed. He made Daehyun folded his legs as he did so that they can properly face each other.

                “Now, you got all my attention to yourself,” He declared while his hands were busy wiping the tear stained face and fixing Daehyun’s hair. He searched for the other’s glasses on the bed before taking it to put them on Daehyun again. Then he intently gazed at the older boy. “What should we do?”

                Daehyun who was being silent for a couple of minutes ago wasn’t sure on what to say. He kept rubbing his nose, still sniffling even though he had stopped crying. “I don’t know…” He murmured without looking up.

                Zelo sighed, thinking that Daehyun was still sulking. “I’m not doing it on purpose, you know? I thought it’d be fine if I don’t tell you.”

                Something in that line had triggered Daehyun’s interest. He lifted his head a little, looking at the boy in front of him from under his glasses. “Tell me what?”

                “The reason I’ve been studying like a freaking nerd…” Zelo dragged his speech, just to see if Daehyun really wanted to know about it.

                “What is it?” Daehyun was so curious that he started to ask eagerly.

                Zelo thought there’s no use in further delay. “I will be sent abroad if I don’t excel in the exams,” He stated frankly.

                Daehyun frowned. “Wh-What do you mean…?”

                Zelo sighed for the umpteenth time. “I always have bad grades, ever since kindergarten. And to save the heir of the company from being a delinquent, my dad decided to send me here. But during the break, he found out that I didn’t do any better. So he said he’ll give me a last chance to perform well in this school or he’ll set me to study abroad.”

                “So…you’re going to leave…?”

                Zelo swore Daehyun looked so sad that if the older boy was a kitten, he would be staring at him with those large doleful eyes and dropped ears. He just shrugged at him. “I am if I don’t do a good job in the finals.”

                “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!” Daehyun shrieked, surprising the out of Zelo. “I’ll help you!”

                “Okay…?” Zelo was confused but at the same time, amused in Daehyun’s sudden determination.

                “Come on!” Daehyun grabbed Zelo’s hand and tried hard to make the tall boy stand on his feet. “Tell me everything you don’t understand and I’ll – ”

                “Whoa, hyung! Whoa… Chill,” Zelo gave in and stood up to stop Daehyun’s struggle. “I appreciate your strong will to help me but it’s already late? Shouldn’t we sleep first and start our tutorial session tomorrow?” He smiled lopsidedly.

                Daehyun froze on the spot, his hand slowly releasing Zelo’s larger one. “Yeah…right,” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “I’m gonna…wash my face. And…brush my teeth. So…” He nodded a couple of times before rushing to the toilet, causing Zelo broke into a fit of laughter at the cute act.

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I updated fast enough ain't I?! *super proud of myself* no? okay

but have anyone seen bap's matrix teaser images?! Like how hot and manly Zelo has become?!! How y Daehyun is??!

YAAASSS I like!! GIves me more inspiration you know :D

Thank you upvoters, subscribers, readers and commenters! Love ya!!! ♥♥♥