Byoungjoo sighed as he fell back onto his bed, tossing his backpack aside with a thump. He pulled out his phone and glanced at the time. '6:15... Hmmmm.... I wonder what Jiho's up to....' He opened his conversation with Jiho with a quick tap of his thumb and hovered over the keyboard, thinking first before he typed:

Bjoo: Hey man, what's goin on? :)

Byoungjoo sent the text and flopped his arm back onto the bed. He was exhausted from that week of school, but he couldn't quite figure out why. He had gotten a good amount of sleep each night and hadn't stressed out that much over school during the week, so why? 'Maybe it's cause I keep worrying about Hansol all the time...' That kid was strange, but for a reason, Byoungjoo had concluded. He wasn't accustomed to someone who didn't talk that much and was so quiet and shy. He was used to the energetic and slightly hyper Jiho bouncing around him whenever they saw each other. Jiho and he didn't have any classes together sadly, but they still liked to chat at lunch if Jiho wasn't with some other people.

That was just how he worked. A social butterfly who couldn't decide which flower was the most appealing. That summed up Shin Jiho's life pretty well, Byoungjoo thought. 'He knows who he is, but he can't decide who his friends are.' It irked him if he thought about it for long enough, but he tried to suppress those negative feelings towards his friend. Deep down, he knew that Jiho would grow out of it eventually and that indecisiveness was common amongst teenagers who were figuring out their lives.

But Hansol was different. Byoungjoo couldn't tell if Hansol was just really advanced and had everything figured out, or if he was just quieter about everything. The way Hansol acted suggested that he was very insecure and fragile, like a child just discovering how the world really was. It reminded Byoungjoo of how bad he was with children or young kids. He never knew how to approach their questions with appropriate answers that wouldn't ruin their childhood. He had a tendency to be overly careful of how he treated others because of this trait he knew could overtake him. Byoungjoo didn't like to mistreat or hurt anyone. It made him feel like his father, who was the complete opposite of who he strived to be. Abusive, insane, alcoholic, cruel beyond compare, inappropriate language ... None of these should be the details of someone who was a father, but unfortunately for Byoungjoo it described his father perfectly.

His mother eventually got fed up with his father's behavior and divorced him, leaving nothing but the house to him and took Byoungjoo and the vast majority of their belongings to her sister who lived in Seoul, Byoungjoo's (fortunately) favorite aunt. There, Byoungjoo grew up a fairly happy life without his crazy father and had been going to the high school he and Hansol were attending for his second year now, making him a junior in high school. Thankfully, the brunette hadn't suffered any major trauma or gained any mental issues like depression from his father's ministrations since he mainly just yelled at Byoungjoo.

His mom suffered the worst from his father since Byoungjoo wasn't home till late evening because of school. His life then would consist of waking up in the very early hours of the morning to avoid his dad and stay at school late enough so that he knew his dad would be passed out because of drinking too much. His mother would text him that it would be safe to come home, to which Byoungjoo would then sprint from school and catch the last bus at the stop nearest his school and rush home, only to hurriedly greet his mother and speak with her briefly until he went up to his room to do some homework before he fell asleep and repeated the entire process all over again.

Now, it was different.

Now, Byoungjoo got up roughly hour before school started to get ready and to chat comfortably with his mother. He would be able to see his aunt later, since she worked in the mornings till late afternoon when he was still in school. He would eat a small breakfast his mother made him then rush out the door to go to school, but not before kissing his mother goodbye on both cheeks and giving her a hug. He would walk to school since it wasn't far from his aunt's house and arrive there just before the first bell would ring. Then his fairly normal school day would ensue, the majority of it with Hansol, but he didn't mind. He'd leave school soon after it ended and sped home, his aunt always waiting to talk about that day with him. His aunt and he would chat until dinner, which was always delicious, even though it tended to be take-out or leftovers since neither his mother nor his aunt could cook very well. He would eat a happy, conversation filled meal with them both before going to his room to complete any homework he had before sleeping fitfully.

All in all, Byoungjoo loved his new life. It was so much happier than his previous one that he could hardly believe that his previous life with his horrible father even happened, even though that was what took up the first fifteen or so years of his life.

Whatever made Byoungjoo suddenly reflect on his life was completely forgotten once his phone buzzed. 'Looks like Jiho's not super busy dancing or something if he's responded already...' Byoungjoo rolled over onto his stomach and opened the text.

B: Hey man, what's goin on? :)

J: Not much, just boring studying... What are you up to, big guy? ;p

Byoungjoo grinned. 'Such a Jiho answer as always...'

B: Ohhh ya know... Layin on my bed, thinkin about when I should start my homework :3

He only needed to wait a few seconds before another reply pinged into the chat. 'He must be really bored if he's replying this fast...'

J: Oh ho ho~! Lying on your bed huh? How ual~~ ;33 Is there anybody  privileged  enough to be -with- the ultra-y B to the Joo?

The brunette laughed out loud at his friend's suggestive reply.

B: Nope~ At least... Not tonight ;)

Byoungjoo giggled at his own -ingenious- comment. He and Jiho both joked about ual things such as this quite often. -After all-, they were both teenage boys, so it was only natural! Both he and Jiho knew that neither was even remotely interested in those types of things, especially with girls.

Well, that was definitely true for Jiho. As for Byoungjoo...

He wasn't sure yet. As in the profound words of Jiho," It genuinely surprises me that nobody has confessed to you, or shown any signs of interest in your extremely y self! Hell, if we weren't already friends, I'd tap that! Hahaha..." Byoungjoo had laughed and just shrugged at the time, but now he sincerely pondered over those words. He wasn't desperate to date per say, more just curious. He had grown up, (with his aunt and mother), being taught to be accepting of all types of people, but not to mindlessly follow trends like drugs or alcohol. Byoungjoo hadn't seen the appeal in those substances anyway, so he wasn't about to dive in head first into ruining his life via substance abuse, since he'd experienced first-hand how that turned out.

When Jiho finally admitted to him that he swung for the 'male team', Byoungjoo wasn't -that- surprised. He had noticed that Jiho was quite popular around the ladies, who'd giggle around him and a few even had harbored quite the crush on the charming lad, but Jiho was just... different... around the guys at their school. Byoungjoo couldn't quite explain it. It was like he looked comfortable around the girls, but looked genuinely happy and more comfortable around the boys he was friends with. Jiho would tend to initiate more skin ship around the guys, whereas with the girls he would occasionally lightly tap their arm or shoulder as he laughed.

Byoungjoo noticed that when he and Jiho first became friends, he was quite touchy and smiled a lot at Byoungjoo's jokes, but as their friendship progressed the touching lessened. 'I guess he realized I wasn't a good candidate for dating since we were becoming pretty good friends...'  He was glad that he didn't need to go through the uncomfortable confrontation of telling Jiho he 'didn't like him that way'. Jiho had enough intuition to realize Byoungjoo's feelings, or lack thereof, early on. But, soon after the realization occurred and the event passed by smoothly, both became better friends.

Byoungjoo counted himself lucky to have a friend like Jiho. He understood Byoungjoo better than anyone, aside from Byoungjoo's mother and aunt of course. Jiho would always know how to cheer him up on those occasional low days he had. Although, Byoungjoo wasn't so spectacular in the comforting department like his friend was. Whenever he'd see Jiho at school with a blank face and eyes cast down to stare at the ground, Byoungjoo would know something was wrong. He would never ask what was wrong since they both already knew there was something off. Instead, he would simply walk up to Jiho and tackle him with a big bear hug that usually involved them falling down onto the ground, giggling insanely. Byoungjoo liked to think that 'hugs heal' and since he was a certified master hugger, he would use his oh-so-famous abilities on Jiho, which usually turned out well. Byoungjoo smiled and began to giggle as he remembered one time that a few teachers saw them sprawled out in the hallway laughing and rushed over to inquire if they were okay. And as always, Jiho replies with the odd answer of "Oh we're fine, teachers! This big lump decided to crush me with his undying love, so if you'll excuse us-" and shot up from the ground and dragged Byoungjoo to their next class with stares and whispers following them.

Byoungjoo started a bit when his phone's buzzing interrupted his thoughts once more.

J: Oh ho ho~ Not tonight, huh?! Makes me wonder if other nights had a different situation ;)

"Sheesh, why's he like this?" Byoungjoo muttered, smirking despite his own words.

B: That's for me to know and me only~ but between you and me... The occasional pillow has ventured onto my bed... ;)

J: WOAH. Calm yourself Byoungjoo! Leave those innocent pillows alone! //dramatic gasp HOW DARE YOU?!!!

Byoungjoo laughed out loud at his friend’s idiotic and unnecessary dramatic reaction. He knew how to twist a conversation or even just one phrase into something completely ridiculous.

B: Oh shut up, it's not like that. Anyway, the homework train has just arrived and I need to board it…

J: 'Aight man! Have fun with that and thanks for spoiling such a fun conversation -_-

B: Love you too;3

With that, the brunette tossed his phone onto his desktop and yanked out his books, piling the ones he had homework in on one side and theft the others in his bag. Glancing at the clock, he frowned at the time. 'Damn... Eight already and I'm swamped with homework... Looks like a late night for me.'

----Next morning----

Byoungjoo woke up with a start, nearly jumping out of his... Bed? When did he get here? He only recalled falling asleep at his desk the minute he finished his workload. Rubbing the sleep and confusion out of his eyes, he grabbed his phone to look at the time. He sighed with relief. 'Thank god... Only 7:05 ... I still have enough time...'

Byoungjoo threw his sheets off of his body and swung his legs over the side of his bed. He waited for the head rush from sitting up too fast to subside before walking out of his room and jumped into a quick, warm shower.

Once he finished his shower and got dressed, Byoungjoo rushed downstairs to a quiet, silent kitchen. He walked around in confusion. Where was his mom? "MOOOOM? Where are you? I have to leave soon!" he called out. A croaky morning voice behind him made him jump in surprise as he turned around to face his mother who looked like she just woke up from the dead. "Byoung... Joo.... What are you doing? It's Saturday.... You don't have school.... Till...... Uh... Monday... Plus... You're still wearing the clothes you went to bed in.... "

Byoungjoo stared blankly at her, his mouth moving silently as he tried to put his thoughts into words. 'Wha... Wait..... Huh....? Yesterday was......' Realization hit him like a truck, forcing out an "ohhhhHHHHHHH.... Um... Oops... Heh, sorry mom...." His mother just nodded tiredly and walked back to her room and closed the door with a light thump. Byoungjoo dragged himself up the stairs, suddenly feeling really tired, stumbled into his room and face planted onto his bed, out like a light within minutes.

Later that day, Byoungjoo dragged himself out of bed after sleeping for too long and dreaming odd things like giraffes chasing him with Hansol riding on them, laughing like a maniac. He grimaced. ‘ Ugh… that is such a weird image… what made my brain think of that?!’ Byoungjoo stumbled out of his room, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and bumping into anything and everything, which mostly consisted of doorframes and hallways. After bruising up his body enough to be mistaken for him being run over by a semi-truck, he bumped his way into the kitchen and nearly fell into a chair in front of the table. A light chuckle could be heard from the kitchen as something heavenly was sizzling in the frying pan. “Good afternoon Byoungjoo. Sleep well after thinking today was Monday?”

Byoungjoo’s head lulled to one side as he glanced at his mother, who was shining like an angel at whatever time it was. “What…. Oh…. Yeah I guess… What time is it and what is that divine meal you’re cooking up?” This time, his mother really laughed at the hungry look on her son’s tired face. “Oh you know… Just some lunch for you and your aunt to chow down on.” Byoungjoo nodded, satisfied with just smelling the delicious aroma that wafted seemingly throughout the house. Yes, his mom couldn’t cook. But when she did it meant she got the recipe off the internet, which meant it was going to be good. As he waited he heard the rhythmic thump-thump thump-thump of his aunt trudging down the stairs, her yawn audible even from where Byoungjoo was sitting.

The brunette giggled out a “Hey aunt Yeong (Yeong means brave: 3), please look more awake and excited to eat mom’s coo-king.” At that, his aunt immediately perked up and ran over to the table excitedly, her eyes light up with cheerfulness. “Well damn Joo why didn’t you say that sooner?! We gonna eat like kings and queens to-day!”  Byoungjoo chortled at his aunt’s humor even though his mom gave his aunt a disapproving look. “Come on Yeong … Last thing I need is my Bjoo swearing like his good for nothing dad.” Yeong smirked at playfully punched Byoungjoo’s shoulder “Ah come on sis, you know our Joo is better than that! Plus let the kid live a little, right Joo?”

Byoungjoo grinned, “Hellll yeah~” His mom gasped in mock horror, “Byoungjoo!” All three laughed as his mother walked over with a sizzling frying pan full of noodles and vegetables and set it on the table. Both Byoungjoo and his aunt leaned in and sighed simultaneously in pure content. His mother smiled at their reactions and set plates down in front of them. All three dug into the meal and laughed and talked about how their weeks went.

“So Joo, how is that new kid you’re friends with doing?” Byoungjoo had told his aunt Yeong quite a lot a lot the things he and Hansol got up to, but she still felt the need to ask about him. Byoungjoo shrugged,” He’s still quiet and shy… But I think we’re becoming better friends. He met Jiho and didn’t freak out surprisingly.” His aunt Yeong raised her eyebrow, “Yeah that is surprising!” Byoungjoo nodded and proceeded to tell her and his mother about his week and all the ups and downs, especially the rude substitute teacher that was mean to Hansol. Once they finished cleaning up their lunch, since it was about 1 in the afternoon, Byoungjoo went up to his room to go and dance in his room for no reason other than that he’d already finished all his homework the night before thinking today would be Monday. ‘Yeah good job Byoungjoo, keeping up with what day of the freaking week it is…’

A/N: Finals ;u;