C H A P T E R O N E

      “Jeon Wonwoo, please come here.”
      “Yes ma’am.” He gets up from his seat and walks to the teacher's desk in front of the classroom. The other kids pop their heads up from their work to see what the problem was. Although he looked like he would be a malicious person, everybody knew he was actually just in the quiet side.
      “Yes?” Wonwoo asks quietly, not wanting to draw more attention to himself than was needed. Not that the attention was actually needed at all.
      “I was wondering if you'd be able to tutor Kim Mingyu. He is from class A-3. Lately he has been doing pretty bad in math and science. I would have asked someone else but they are all busy. Could you tutor him?” His teacher gave him a hopeful look and almost pouted.
      Wonwoo the other way outside the window, thinking and trying to look away from his teacher's weird expression. He was contemplating whether he should or shouldn't. He didn't go to a hagwon after school but did Kim Mingyu? Probably not since he was asked to help the boy out. And honestly, did he want to tutor someone? Truth was, no. He turned to look at his teacher and knew that whether he liked the idea or not, he couldn't say no.
      “Sure,” he said just when the lunch bell rang. Kids hurried around him, pushing each other out of the way.
      “Thank you so very much,” his teacher exclaimed as she grabbed all her stuff and headed out the door, probably to a staff meeting.
      “Yeah, no problem,” he said to no one under his breath. This was definitely a problem, Wonwoo thought as he gathered all this supplies into his bag. He put his backpack under his desk and took his phone and wallet with him as he walked to the cafeteria.
      The atmosphere of the cafeteria was loud. Metal chopsticks and spoons clattered against the metal trays and bowls. Burst of laughter and combustible shouts of anger mixed with the overall sound of soft chatter. Being a quiet person, Wonwoo was not as annoyed as he used to be when he first entered the school. It was familiar and sometimes he wondered if he would miss the loudness when he was due to leave in another year. He entered to long line and waited in patience until it was finally his turn. He let the lunch ladies scoop whatever was on the menu onto his plate and paid for it at the end of the line. After scanning the crowd, he found his friends and sat with them.
      “Yo, Wonwoo. Why did you take so long? We thought Mr. Kim might have killed you,” Hansol said.
      Wonwoo swallowed the bite of rice he had in this mouth before laughing at Hansol’s joke. “I wish he would. Mrs. Yoo has me tutoring some kid. What. A. Pain.”
      The boys chuckle at Wonwoo’s misery before Jihoon asks, “who?” curiosly.
      “Kim Mingyu from A-3.”
      “I know him! He hangs out with Jun. I met him when he had that one party,” Minghao says. He was one of the few Chinese at school which is also how he met Junhui. Minghao began talking about what had happened at the party last Saturday.
      By then, Wonwoo was almost done with his lunch (he skipped breakfast), and decided he needed to get started. One thing about Wonwoo is that he tries to avoid procrastinating. “Well, where is he at?”
      Minghao scans the lunch room before pointing him out, “over there.”
      Wonwoo turns his head and looks where Minghao was pointing. He saw Jun at a table with seven other guys. Which one was Kim Mingyu? Jun was obviously ruled out. So was Jeonghan and Joshua. They were on top of the school hierarchy, placing in the top ten. Also, Wonwoo talked to them a few times before.
      “Which one?” Wonwoo asks Minghao.
      “The tallest one, I think. With his hair gelled up.”
      Male to male, he is pretty good looking, Wonwoo couldn't help but think.
      “Alright.” He slides out from under the table and grabs his trash, preparing to toss it out a soon as possible.
      “Wait, where are you going?”
      Wonwoo gives Seungkwan a look that said ,”duh,” and replies with, “to meet Kim Mingyu. You should really listen instead of watching that drama. Yes, we know you're watching it,” he says when the shorter was about to protest. Throwing his garbage out on the way, he expertly made his way through the maze of circle tables and gossiping girls. On another note, he did find out that Minhee was dating some guy already and now he needed to find a way to let Mingheo down slowly about his unrequited crush.
      Before he knew it, he found himself standing at Kim Mingyu’s table. They looked at him confused and he stared right back, momentarily forgetting why he was even there.
      “Hey, Wonwoo,” both Joshua and Jeonghan state. Suddenly, they were both looking at each other with ridiculous expressions on their face, “jinx! Jinx! Pinch, poke, you owe me a coke. Jinx!” Soon, everyone at the table, Wonwoo included, was laughing and the overall atmosphere was less awkward.
      “So what’s up?” Joshua asks.
      “You're Kim Mingyu, right?” Wonwoo points to Mingyu who looks surprised.
     “Um, yeah? I mean, yes. Why?” He squints at Wonwoo suspiciously. Of course he'd be on guard around Wonwoo-- Wonwoo looked pretty scary.
      Wonwoo chuckles at Mingyu who was unknowingly starting to pout. “I heard you're doing bad in Math and science. Mrs. Yoo asked me to help you out.”
       The others at the table laugh out loud and Mingyu couldn't help but roll his eyes at the others.”Ugh, I don't need a tutor. Doesn't she know I’m friends with you two, who could help me whenever I ask? I bring you guys over all the time.”
       Jeonghan teases, “maybe she knows that you are beyond our help.”
      “Too far in to save,” Joshua jokes.
      Next thing you know, the whole table in joining in, all taking a crack at Kim Mingyu, their hopeless friend. Smiling sheepishly, Wonwoo coughed to grab their attention. With surprised expressions, they turned to Wonwoo.
      “What are you doing after school today? Do you go to a hagwon?”
      “Wow, you sure know how to get straight to business. Umm, nothing, I guess. Why?”
      “Thanks,” Wonwoo mumbles sarcastically. “Let's meet up after school, then.”
      “Wait, what's your number? We can go to my house.”
      “Sure.” Wonwoo recites his number to Mingyu and hopes he won't blow his phone up with texts. The taller male looked like the type to annoy his hyungs.

      The afternoon classes went by in a blur. Wonwoo couldn't concentrate nor could he pretend to pay attention. He didn't really care for social studies. Not only that, last night, he stayed up with Jihoon, helping his small friend with the homework he put off last minute. Of course, Wonwoo didn't mind but the decision was biting him back. When he received a text, he was mentally thanking God (more like screaming) and was glad he didn't feel like a zombie anymore. Successfully, he checked the message without being detected by his teacher who was furiously scribbling on the wipe board. Blinking hard, he tries focusing his tired eyes on the small text.

Recieved 15:48
Fr: Unknown number
Hey Wonwoo. It’s Mingyu. Sorry for texting you at a bad time but Mrs. Yoon is so boring and I'm fighting the will to sleep. Please understand…

      Wonwoo fought the urge to chuckle out loud because it seems like he and the taller lad were in the same boat.

Sent 15: 53
To: Kim Mingyu
No problem. I feel you. Mr. Kim has been giving me death glares for the past half hour because I kept falling asleep. Do you always get tired during math?

      Wonwoo tucked his phone into his pocket but it was no use because it vibrated as soon as he pulled his hand out. Feeling a bit annoyed (but joyful), he pulled out his phone and unlocked it.

Received 15:57
Fr: Kim Mingyu
Yeah. Sometimes >< I can't help it. I was up later than usual for good reason.

      School had just technically ended for the day but there was still the task of daily chores. Everyone grabbed supplies out of the closet and began the task of cleaning the classroom. Some of the students had the chore of cleaning the windows around the whole school.

Sent 17: 09
To: Kim Mingyu
I can now see why you aren't doing so well in math. And science too bc Mr. Gong has a really deep boring voice. So where do you want to meet afterwards?

Received 17:14
Fr: Kim Mingyu
Yup! kkkk Lets meet by the main gate and then we'll go to my house.

Sent 17:17
To: Kim Mingyu
It's a date.

      An hour later, the classroom and halls were clean and the students were heading home. Wonwoo leaned on the gate, patiently waiting until he saw a particular tall male through the crowd of uniformed students. Hesitantly, Wonwoo gave a shy wave. He caught Mingyu's eye and Mingyu made his way to the shorter.
“Hey. You ready to go? My house isn't to far from here.”
“Lead the way,” the shorter says, gesturing for Mingyu to go first.

       Mingyu was right when he said his house wasn't to far from the school. It was shorter than expected and there was really no time for a conversation. His house was surrounded by a six foot tall brick gate and there was an passage to walk through it and an entry way for cars. Since Wonwoo and his parents lived in an apartment, he couldn't help but feel refreshed by the normal looking house in the middle of the city. A few pines about fifty years in age