The rest of the weekend went somewhat smoothly--Myungsoo made sure to stay consistently by Sungjong's side whenever possible, much to Hoya's annoyance (It wasn't like he would admit to it, though). He made sure to sleep by Sungjong and spend a lot of time with him in general. Sungjong made no real complaints aside from the occasional, 'I have to go the the bathroom', so they wouldn't really be counted. However, when it came time to part and go home, the walk from Sungjong's with Hoya and Dongwoo was somewhat tense.

Hoya was the one to ask this time, once they were far enough away from Sungjong's house. "Are you sure you're not gay, Myungsoo?" he questioned, side-eyeing the younger.

Myungsoo stopped, blinking at his hyung, surprise evident on his face. "As far as I know--Dongwoo-hyung asked me this only yesterday. What makes you think my answer would change?"

Hoya sighed, "It's because of how close you are to Sungjong, despite only being friends for less than a week? It's pretty weird, don't you think?"

Myungsoo tilted his head before shrugging, "I guess. But he would push me away if he was uncomfortable, right? So it can't just be all me, Hoya-ssi."

Hoya pursed his lips, wanting to argue. Myungsoo had a good point, he admitted. "I guess." And the conversation ended there, the three walking in relative silence the rest of the way home.

For Sungjong, after his hyungs left, he found comfort in his bed and stuffed animal that both smelled vaguely of his youngest hyung. Truth be told, he hadn't slept beside--let alone with--someone in such a long time; he was pretty sure the last time was when he was a child and still small enough to fit in his mother's futon and sleep beside her.

He sighed and hugged his stuffed bear, closing his eyes as he flushed. Even though he'd only been friends with Myungsoo for a short time, he felt really comfortable with him--he brought a sort of security and assurance that he didn't really receive from neither Dongwoo nor Hoya. 

With Dongwoo, he was touchy-feely, but it was usually because he had so much energy and he was just naturally inclined to skinship; he'd always really been that way. With Hoya, he wasn't really that touchy-feely at all, but he was still a reliable hyung; it wasn't like Sungjong didn't like the distance, because he was affectionate sometimes, just not so much as Dongwoo a lot of the time.

Myungsoo offered a lot of skinship for Sungjong, and probably with other friends, but he wasn't absolutely sure about that--he didn't want to assume things either. He sighed softly, burying his face in the stuffed animal and imagining it was Myungsoo. After all, he was pretty much the only one he could imagine and not feel compelled to completely lower himself to hating himself and insulting himself. It wasn't that Dongwoo or Hoya affected him in a comforting way, but Myungsoo was a different case altogether. He hadn't known him all his life like Hoya or Dongwoo, pretty much, and he felt that was much better in its own way.

~

The next day at school, Sungjong met up with Hoya and Dongwoo, Myungsoo already with him. When asked why, he just responded with a shrug, "I wanted to."

Hoya and Dongwoo were still wary around him, but at least he made Sungjong comfortable enough to smile easily. Since it was Dongwoo's and Hoya's last week to spend with Sungjong at school, they had to make sure that Sungjong would be safe from bullies. Hopefully Myungsoo could ward off Sungyeol before he could even get close enough to harass Sungjong. Well, considering that he was practically glued to Sungjong during breaks between exams and during lunch, there wasn't much assurance in that plan.

Overall, though, the next couple days were for the most part relaxing for their small group--everyone was too concerned with exams to really put forth the effort to bother and bully Sungjong or any of them really.

The lack of stress from Sungyeol's absence was really helping Sungjong too, it seemed like--his complexion had improved and he didn't really seem like he was having issues. If anything, he was a bit more popular with the other females than anticipated. It wasn't in a romantic aspect, but more like friendship, which Sungjong happily and easily accepted.

With all the attention to Sungjong, Hoya felt himself feel a bit apprehensive--over the course of a little over a week, the fact that Sungjong and the school's "ice prince" as they so affectionately referred to Myungsoo as (for some reason--Hoya couldn't see it now that he'd gotten to know Myungsoo; he was one of the most harmless and docile people Hoya had ever met and a bit of a weirdo) had spread like wildfire, and most of the younger girls were flocking to befriend Sungjong--perhaps in an attempt to get closer to Myungsoo. He figured that was the reason, and although he never raised this concern to Sungjong, Sungjong was the first one to address the idea during lunch the day before their graduation.

"I know they're probably becoming friends so they can get closer to hyung, right?"

Hoya blinked, before pursing his lips, "Probably. What do you think?"

Sungjong looked to Myungsoo, who was clinging comfortably to the younger. He shrugged, "As long as they realize that I'm not interested and don't take it out on Jjongie, I'm fine with it. As long as they don't hurt him, it's a good thing that Sungjong has more friends, after such a long time of no friends, right?"

Sungjong shrugged a little, taking a bite of his food from the lunchbox his mother prepared. "It's strange--I'm not used to so much attention, but I don't mind having so many friends. I understand that when Myungsoo-hyung graduates, they probably won't talk to me ever again, but that's okay."

"Lee Sungjong."

He looked over when he heard his name being called, to find two familiar faces at the door. He felt both himself and Myungsoo tense, and both Hoya and Dongwoo tensed up visibly.

The two upperclassmen approached, Sunggyu nodding to Myungsoo, and addressing Hoya, "Calm down; I'm not going to do anything funny." Woohyun stuck his tongue out at Hoya and Dongwoo, taunting the younger and older males, accompanying his friend harmlessly; however, they all knew that Woohyun would probably jump into fight mode if prompted.

The eldest looked at Sungjong then, feeling very uncomfortable with the distress that was evident on the youngest's face and posture. He knew it was his fault, and although he couldn't completely remedy everything, he knew he would at least try and get the other to not hate him, or at least not be so scared of him. It hurt, honestly, but he knew it was his fault.

"What do you want?" Hoya growled, sounding ready to pounce if need be. The way that Woohyun was taunting him, that would be very soon, actually. 

"I want to set up a meeting with Sungjong for tomorrow after school and before the graduation ceremony. Either then, or today after school--whichever works, really," he told them all, playing off his nervousness as a nonchalant demeanor. He didn't want to give Hoya a chance to make him lesser than how he felt right now, which was pretty low.

There a was a long moment of silence that passed between the six boys before Sungjong spoke up, looking away, "After school today. I want to help Hoya-hyung and Dongwoo-hyung get ready for their graduation." Even though he was the one to speak, his voice sounded so small and hesitant that Sunggyu felt that same discomfort as earlier.

Sunggyu nodded, "After school today, then. Let's meet on the roof. I'll be waiting, Lee Sungjong." He had to play it off as cooly as possible, for his own sake--he refused to be humiliated nor embarrassed in front of Sungjong, since that would come later. He left with Woohyun in tow, and the four remaining watched as he left.

"What was that about?" Dongwoo questioned, taking a bite of his sandwich. Everyone still felt tense, Sungjong so much so to the point that he left his lunch alone, packing it away and claiming he was full.

Myungsoo was the only one that didn't complain about it, even though he wanted to; however, being the closest physically to Sungjong at the moment, he could feel the distress Sungjong was feeling--he could tell that if Sungjong were to any more, it would cause him to throw up whatever he'd eaten up to this point. So instead he just rubbed gentle circles on his stomach through the fabric of his shirt.

He wanted Sungjong to settle, since that was the most important thing right now.

After a bit, and by the end of lunch, Sungjong had managed to calm down and not feel so upset anymore. He smiled gratefully to his hyungs, "Thank you." He bit his lip and looked down, hesitating in what he wanted to say.

"We're coming with you after school to meet Kim Sunggyu," Hoya told him, no room for argument evident in his voice. Sungjong smiled gratefully, nodding.

"Thank you--I didn't want to go by myself," he murmured, and Myungsoo pet his hair, it gently.

"Like we could trust him alone with you," Dongwoo scoffed, grinning as he gave Sungjong a hug.

"Alright, we better get going; see you after class," Hoya smiled, leaving with Dongwoo.

Myungsoo hugged Sungjong before leaving with fewer words but more physical affection, ruffling his hair and fixing it with a half-smile before leaving.

Sungjong sighed to himself and settled in for the last exam of the schoolyear. How was he so lucky to get three hyungs who took care of him so much? It almost made him forget his insecurities.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a/n: So, it's a rather short chapter--I wanted to get into some backstories that a friend of mine and I were developing, starting with Gyu, you know? I had to give at least a little myungjong in exchange for a short chapter, I guess. Back to the drama~ And I have three day weekends from classes, so I will update on weekends more often than not, but updates will come less often but hopefully still very often until I finish this, and then I can focus back on other fics if I still have inspiration~

Give me your predictions on the situation in the comments, though; I love reading interpretations and comments and predictions so much~ Especially when I have to restrain myself from spilling the beans (You guys have no idea how little restraint I have when it comes to revealing ideas and plans that aren't too detrimental to health and important things)

Anyway, like usual, until next chapter~