Junhong yawned as he stepped out of his lecture, eyes bleary and head muggy. He had barely slept the night before, too busy trying to get his score to come even close to Jongups, and completely forgotten that he had a morning class the next day. Truthfully, he probably should have stayed in bed considering he learned absolutely nothing in the class and kept dozing off, but it was the thought that counted right?

Yongguk walked beside him, eyebrows raised. “You look a state, did you sleep last night?”

“Not much,” Junhong mumbled, rubbing his eye with the heel of his palm, “I ended up gaming all last night...” He closed his eyes and pouted a little.

“Have you done any work on the essay for tomorrow?”

Junhongs eyes snapped open.

“So no.”

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh... I totally forgot about that.” Junhong dropped his hands down to cup around his mouth, mortified.

“I haven't finished mine, if you want I can help you write it and you can read through mine and help me finish it.”

The younger looked at him and nodded quickly, eyes wide and filled with gratitude.

Yongguk laughed. “Okay, walk with me, I don't live too far away so you don't need to worry about paying for transport or anything.”

Yongguk lived in a nice house by the river that got a lot of light and definitely cost a little more on the rent than any of the other houses. It was a bit old fashioned, like the man himself, and was shared among a small number of older students who could afford actual apartment rooms rather than student accommodation.

It also faced the fairy tale house.

“It's a nice house isn't it?” Yongguk commented, seeing Junhong's wide-eyed expression. “I looked at it when I was moving in but it's shared between a lot of younger students and I prefer a quieter place.” He unlocked the door and let them into the house.

“Do you know the people who live there?”

“Not really. I see them head out sometimes but that's it.”

Junhong only nodded and took a moment to look around the house as Yongguk lead him up to his room. It wasn't exactly messy, but it had the untidiness of busy people who didn't care much for organization. His bedroom wasn't much different in that respect, except there were a number of plates piled up on a corner of the desk and scrap pieces of paper everywhere.

“You can sit wherever, just move anything onto the floor.”

Junhong nodded and looked around, finding a chair tucked to one side with some notebooks stacked on it. He moved them side and sat himself down, crossing his legs and looking out the window. He had a perfect view of that beautiful house from here, and could practically see into the room with the bay windows.

“Here's what I've written so far, wanna read through it and see if it makes sense?”

Junhong snapped his gaze back to the older and nodded, taking the papers. “But I don't even know what I'm writing, am I even going to help much?”

“A second pair or eyes always helps. Besides, you're a smart kid, you'll give me good feedback.”

Junhong felt his chest swell with pride as he looked down at the essay... Then slowly deflate. Yongguk's academic writing was incredible. The essay was written clearly and concisely, each point addressed and explained with correct referencing and no extraneous or repeated phrases. Even the few errors dotted about had already been circled in pen with a note written beside it by the man himself. All he had to do was write the conclusion and he'd be done.

Junhong swallowed and looked up. “Um, it looks fine. All you need to do is finish it.”

“You don't think it needs anything else? When I read it it feels so...jerky” Yongguk opened his laptop and tapped the keyboard until the screen woke up, showing the essay open and ready for editing.

“Um,” Junhong racked his brain to think of an answer that might help. “Maybe you could... Change some of the... Structure?” He said the words randomly, guessing at what you were supposed to say when giving feedback.

Yongguk gave him a hard stare for a moment, eyes narrowed, and for a moment Junhong worried he'd said something wrong. Then Yongguk's eyes widened.

“That's it! If I swap these two sections around-” he grabbed a pen and marked the paragraphs on the page in Junhongs hand, “then the whole paper flows much more easily. Brilliant, you've really helped me out.” He gave the younger a hearty pat on the shoulder.

“Glad I could help.” Junhong nodded a little, feeling lost.

“This is really going to help me a lot. Hey, if you like you can look at how I planned out my essay and see if that can help you write your own.” He flipped through his class notebook and handed it over for the younger to read. “I don't mind if you borrow it and give it to me in our next class.”

“Thank you!” Junhong took it gratefully, blessing the day he met this generous, kind man.

They chatted occasionally as they both worked (or, as Yongguk worked and Junhong secretly copied his essay) but mostly sat in comfortable silence. The younger soon found his gaze drifting out the window and into the room...

And saw him. Stood with his fluffy hair and gently curved nose, small body wrapped in an oversized sweater and small hands clasped onto a large professional camera. He gently turned the lens, staring at the screen on the back with a focussed expression.

Junhong slowly stood and placed his hands on the windowsil, gazing at him with interest. When the other looked up, he quickly turned his head away as though he was looking up at the sky across the road. From the corner of his eye he could see the boy – Youngjae? – raise the camera and point it at him. He held still, heart beating in his throat, until he saw the other lower the camera and look once more at the screen. He let his head drop down to look at him properly.

At that moment, the other boy looked up and their gazes met for a moment. Junhong's throat closed. The other nodded once, then turned away and walked to a part of his room that wasn't visible. Junhong let out a heavy breath.

“He's a photographer,” he said aloud.

“Pardon?” Yongguk's eyebrows were raised.

The younger blinked. “Yonggk! You're an artist right?”

Yongguk seemed a little flustered by this. “Well I- I like art. I paint.”

“Tell me everything you know about photography!”

“Taehyunnie!”

Taehyung turned, eyebrows raised and eyes searching, until his gaze landed on a short boy bounding over to him. “Ah, Baekhyun! Hey!”

The older student gave him a grin as another, taller boy approached the two.

“Daehyun, you too!”

“How are your classes? Tutors teaching you right?” Daehyun gave him a playful punch on the shoulder.

“I'll pass this course, no problem,” the youngest replied, pretending to land a punch on Daehyun's stomach and making an explosion with his hand.

Baekhyun raised his eyebrows, barely holding back a laugh. “Keep up that attitude and you'll definitely do well.”

“Hey! Daehyun!” The three boys turned to see another student approaching: a young boy with fluffy brown hair and a straight nose. “You left this at our place,” he added as he approached, holding out a cardigan.

“Ah! Youngjae, thanks.” Daehyun took the cardigan and the boys smiled at each other.

Taehyung blinked as he turned to look at Youngjae. “Hey, don't you live in that European-looking house?” He asked.

“Yeah, I do.” Youngjae smiled at him gently, tilting his head a little.

Taehyung nodded. “Good. Just making sure.”

The three boys gave him curious looks.

“Youngjae! There you are! Come on, we're meeting up with the others.” From behind them all came another boy, all of who recognised him on sight.

“Jackson! Sorry, I was just returning something. See you guys round!” With one last wave, Youngjae jogged off to meet his friend.

“What was that about?” Daehyun asked, eyebrows raised.

“Junhong asked.”

“Okaaayy.” The two older remaining boys looked at each other awkwardly.

“Anyway, kid, we should head off. Lots of work.” Baekhyun patted him affectionately on the shoulder then mimicked his explosion hand and laughed.

“Remember to study hard!” Daehyun ruffled his hair and joined the other as they left.

Taehyung fixed his hair as he watched the older boys walk away, grinning with pride. Youngjae was friends with Jackson, he realised, and Jackson was friends with Namjoon, and Namjoon was friends with him. A plan started to click together in his head.