Ryeowook was late.

Ten minutes into Kyuhyun’s first class in SM Institute, a fat kid ran into the classroom panting out loud, trying to catch his breath. Kyuhyun rolled his eyes at the fat not even surprised that they were going to be classmates. He had stolen a copy of Ryeowook’s class schedule and when he looked over it, he didn’t know if he should curse or be thankful. He had two same classes with Ryeowook.

The professor who introduced herself minutes ago as Mrs. Im clicked her tongue, annoyed but waved her hand at an empty table at the back of the class. The fat bowed ninety degrees, apologizing for losing his way and walked through the row of tables, accidentally hitting everything and everyone in the way. Some students glared at him while some others, the vampires mostly, pressed their noses.

“Hey, I didn’t know that this school accepted pigs too!” Kangin shouted, snickering.

Kangin crushed a paper and tossed it towards Ryeowook’s head and everyone in the class burst out laughing. It was hilarious, how could you not? As usual, the kid avoided eye contact, making his way towards the table without making any noise. As the class went on, Kyuhyun watched from the corner of his eyes as Ryeowook stayed glued in his seat, diligently writing notes for the first half of the class. The second half, he found Ryeowook slumping as he stared outside a window. The kid traced the windows with his fingers and Kyuhyun wondered what the kid was thinking about.

As long as he had known Ryeowook, Kyuhyun knew that Ryeowook often stared emptily, tracing random patterns on anything he could find. He didn’t know why Ryeowook often did that and whenever he did that, his expression was blank. His eyes were always so distant, as if he was lost so deep in a sea of thoughts. Kyuhyun never asked Ryeowook why he always did that and neither did Ryeowook ever told him anything about it.

Was it hard? Growing up without a mother and a father? Growing up knowing that they were murdered? Growing up without a family? What did it felt like? Kyuhyun often wondered about this. He had a close relationship with his family. The thought of growing up without his mother and father by his side, the thought of them being murdered sent shivers down his spine. He’d never once thought about it. Kyuhyun couldn’t ever imagine a life without his family. It would be too unbearable. But the kid was fine now and Kyuhyun shrugged. Why would he even be thinking of giving him any pity in the first place?

Class was dismissed and Kyuhyun packed his bag, listening to Kangin and Heechul grumbling about how this class was going to big time. Out of the corner of his eyes, he watched as Ryeowook gathered his belonging and stuffed them into his bag. He slung his bag over his shoulders and quickly pushed past students to head to his next classroom.

“Hey, watch this.” Heechul grinned at Kyuhyun and Kangin, eyes glinting with mischief.

In a blink of an eye, his friend was standing in front of the door, blocking the exit. The students grumbled and Heechul ran a hand through his blonde hair, unconcerned. Kyuhyun looked at Kangin and his friend only smirked, crossing his arms. God, he was really starting to like these two idiots. Just like him, they were fearless and although they were troublemakers, Kyuhyun enjoyed getting into their kind of trouble. They were the every definition of cool. His friend Kangin was loud and manly, strong muscles peeping out from his shirt while Heechul was the complete opposite. The guy was skinny but he dressed like a complete diva. But he was loud too. Damned loud.

“If I hear that any of you get invited to The Cube before me, you best pray that you’re already dead before I find you.” Heechul warned with a smirk on his lips.

“Ah, he’s so obsessed with it.” Kangin laughed, shaking his head.

“The Cube?” A student tilted his head to look at his friend. “What’s that?”

“As expected.” Heechul nodded his head, staring at them pitifully, “You losers wouldn’t know anything about it.”

Heechul grinned pretending to zip his lips before stepping aside for the students to exit the classroom with confused faces. Kyuhyun and Kangin were about to faint trying to hold back their laughter at the back of the classroom. The confused faces of the students were priceless.

“You’re too damn obsessed with it, Heech.” Kangin laughed, “, it’ll be even funnier if you don’t get it.”

“Are you insane?” Heechul shrieked. “Of course, I’m going to get it! Kyuhyun already got it! You know they’re watching us.”

Kyuhyun smirked, about to give a witty comment when a loud thud caught their attention. Turning their attention to the source of the sound, Kyuhyun groaned in his mind. God dammit. It was Ryeowook. He must have caught his leg between a chair and tripped, landing right in front of the three of them. Kangin and Heechul burst out laughing while Kyuhyun frowned.

‘’Aish, look where you’re going fatty.” Heechul leaned down to brush away the dirt on his pants.

“Hey Kyu, isn’t this the fat elf you were talking about?” Kangin raised his brows, crinkling his nose, “Your roommate.”

Ryeowook was fumbling around, trying to find his glasses now. Kyuhyun sighed and bent, picking it up. “Not o