Having been best friends with Jongin since forever, Baekhyun had his every move and mood memorized. So naturally, seeing his friend walk into their classroom looking like he just lost a beloved alarmed him.

“Hey Jongie,” Baekhyun chose to greet the other in a mellow tone. He didn’t think Jongin would be impressed with the usual ‘aloha !’ greeting with a matching slap in the back. His downcast eyes and gloomy mood in general just confirmed Baekhyun's suspicions about his friend going through something terrible. “Hey, why the sad face? Did uncle pig beat you up again? Just give me the go and I will burn his with his live cigarette—”

“He did nothing, Baek.” Jongin cut his best friend’s rambling off, patting the other boy’s head to ease his frustration, then merely stared off into space. And it really bothered Baekhyun. Who is this impostor and what did he do to my bubbly Jongie?

“Is something wrong?” Baekhyun gently inquired, leaning closer to Jongin’s space. The latter could only let out a heavy sigh and shake his head. “You know you can always tell me, right?”

“It’s…” Jongin hated himself for being such a sensitive mess. Just a simple question like that and his eyes began tearing up. “I don’t know, Baek. It’s really complicated.”

“Well, I’m not leaving anytime soon.” Baekhyun declared with a tone of finality. Anything that troubled Jongin would eventually drive him up the wall as well and this wasn't any different. Now, it made him wonder how bad it might be this time judging by how upset the other was. For someone who's going through a very ty life, Baekhyun didn't know what would beset Jongin more than his stinking, alcoholic, pathetic excuse of a swine—rather, uncle.

“Promise me you won’t laugh?” Jongin asked. Baekhyun nodded solemnly as an answer. “Just—promise me you won’t react too violently, okay?”

“Affirmative.” Baekhyun even put his hand up as if taking an oath. Jongin sighed, running a hand over his face. Here goes nothing…

“I’m…I’m kinda…you know…I’m kinda…um…imengagedtoSehun.”

Baekhyun blinked. “Can you run that by me one more time?”

Of course Baekhyun wouldn't be expecting anything along those lines. It was too random and quite frankly, preposterous. He enclosed Baekhyun’s hands in his, wearing an expression much like that of a kicked puppy's. He'd never been this emotional; at least not in school but since Sehun was a whole different force to reckon with and the fact alone that Jongin was so into him, his reaction was inevitable. Who wouldn’t, when someone you genuinely adored so much was repeatedly making you feel like a complete and utter ?

“I’m engaged to Sehun.”

Jongin wasn’t capable of lying, he’d rather eat a thousand red chilies than to lie that Baekhyun was attractive. The latter grew eerily silent for a moment, slow to comprehend, his almond eyes blinking a little too fast. In normal circumstances, Jongin might have poked fun of that dumbfounded gape on his face.

“You’re engaged to Sehun,” Baekhyun started out slow, just making sure he heard it right. Jongin nodded. “You’re engaged…to your crush. Like, Sehun. The Oh Sehun.”

“Ye—”

“NOW YOU JUST HOLD UP RIGHT THERE.”

***

Despite staying in the Oh household for three days now, Jongin still wasn’t used to his room. It's twice the size of his uncle’s apartment and every nook and cranny reeked of opulence. He grew up in quite destitute conditions, used to saving his allowances all the time so he could fend for himself and buy the things his useless uncle couldn’t provide. As grateful he was now that wealth had latched onto him, something that could only happen in fiction novels, he couldn't help but be on his toes because based on those books, things like this don’t last a lifetime. It could only be a temporary thing and the thought of going back to his uncle dreaded him.

Most of his things were left behind in his previous house and he only took the most valuable ones per Hyejin's instructions. According to her, there was no need for him to be reminded of his past, which meant all those low-quality clothes and his shoes that he'd been using for nearly five years weren't of any importance to him anymore.

Compared to the environment around that rundown shack he's from, the Oh residence was relatively placid. He's used to sleeping with that couple from the other apartment screaming profanities at each other breaking glasses here and there, as well as the obnoxious snoring of his uncle who constantly mumbled incoherent stuff in his sleep. It always caused Jongin to stir in his slumber with the sounds always grating on his nerves since the walls of his room were almost paper-thin and most of the time, he would come to school lacking proper sleep.

Spending three days without all of that ruckus made Jongin feel much, much relaxed. But in a way he felt lonely, since the only people he'd often bump into in this house were the servants. Hyejin had to go to a month’s worth of missionary work or something like that, and she wouldn’t be home for some time. Neither would Sehun’s parents as they're currently dealing with overseas ventures. It's just him, the servants, and…Sehun.

Jongin sat upright on his bed, snapping out of his thoughts at the three tentative knocks on his door. “Come in!”

The door opened then, a maid’s head peeking in. Jongin offered her a friendly smile and the shy girl straightened up, returning the gesture amicably. “Young master Jongin, it’s time for supper.”

The amount of respect in her manner of addressing him suddenly made Jongin so embarrassed his cheeks glowed pink. “Um, please don’t call me that! Jongin is fine…”

The maid smiled, seeing Jongin’s discomfort. She, as well as the other servants, were ordered to address Jongin as such from now on, seeing as he was Sehun’s fiancé and more importantly, a child of this house. But since moving in, Jongin had been insistent on asking servants not to be too formal with him stating that he didn’t deserve it. He's pretty adamant about not claiming the title and privilege he'd been given, and the teen’s fresh attitude prompted all servants in the household to take a liking to him. One would think that growing up from the terrible care of his uncle, Jongin would turn out to be an equally dreadful child but that wasn't the case. He was a humble boy, too nice and polite for his good.

“Okay, Jongin. Would you like to come down or would you prefer to have your dinner brought up here?”

“I'll be down in a minute. Thank you!” Jongin beamed. The maid returned it once more with a small bow, excusing herself out.

Having the royalty treatment bothered Jongin. It's not like he didn’t like it, rather it intimidated him. Despite his life turning for the better, everything was alien to him and to think that he’d be having this lifestyle from this day on...honestly it's still not sinking in.

Jongin hopped off his bed and made his way to the door. On the way, he passed by his full-length closet mirror and his steps came to a halt. He stared at his reflection, wondering in awe of how much his appearance had changed the moment he stepped foot in this house. He's no longer dressed in his old clothing—he looked clean. Decent. Just like any usual gilded kid from a filthy rich family.

If someone asked him about his great qualities, Jongin's sure he wouldn't be able to answer. He wasn’t proud of his looks, nor his self-esteem which depleted every five seconds. Sure, he might be a few inches taller than most of his classmates, but that's not really something to boast about. He wasn’t the most fair-skinned boy around either, and his eyes often appeared droopy despite not being deprived of any sleep. His nose wasn’t that tall and perfect and his built was a bit chubby compared to other kids his age, but it wasn’t something to be insecure about. Baekhyun's a lot chubbier than me.

In conclusion, no, he had no great physical attributes. The only thing he's proud of himself was his consistent good marks in his subjects, with the exception of English Literature because he couldn’t, for the love of God, tell what the difference was between a verb and a noun. He’s a moron, and he's aware of that.

He had no parents. When he was five, his uncle and aunt from his mother’s side took him in after learning of the unfortunate passing of his parents. Until Hyejin told him the truth, Jongin had no idea what the cause of their deaths was. It bugged him and for years he sought answers but because his aunt didn’t want him to grieve, she didn’t say anything and kept everything beyond his knowledge. His aunt used to always tell him stories about his parents though, but when she passed because of some incurable illness, he was left with his uncle, who turned out to be an alcoholic, sadistic pig. His true colors were revealed after his wife died. Jongin was eight at the time and had been the object of his uncle’s abusive nature.

That was until five men in black, fancy suits stormed into their apartment and saved him from his uncle’s impending, relentless beating. His uncle was, as usual, drunk like mad at that time and was cursing him off to oblivion because Jongin failed to buy him his case of beer. Jongin couldn’t even defend himself and say that the convenience store clerks wouldn’t allow him to purchase alcohol since he was obviously underaged, because his uncle didn’t give a flying .

Kwon Hyejin had emerged from behind those suit-clad bodyguards. She looked cold and intimidating for an elderly woman and had spooked Jongin back then. But when she turned to him and asked ‘are you Jongin, dear?’, in her warmest voice and softest expression, Jongin felt an incredible surge of relief within him and he found himself nodding as an answer. Hyejin then had a word with his uncle afterward and the way they spoke so formally to each other bothered Jongin. His uncle didn’t suit that type of behavior, he’s the complete replica of a trashcan; spouted trash, behaved like trash, acted like trash.

“And you suppose I would just let you take him? He’s under my care, woman.” He heard his uncle say then, and Jongin almost scoffed at that.

However, his curiosity was piqued the second Hyejin instructed one of the bodyguards to lay down a briefcase in front of his uncle. His eyes almost bulged