Boo Seungkwan, the nightmare of every teacher, stares at the speaker at the top of the wall with disbelief.

 

“Boo Seungkwan of 2-3, would you please come to the principal’s office?”

 

He wrinkles his nose and makes a face before standing up and excusing himself from his lesson with a mumble. The teacher shoots him a glare but resumes teaching as soon as he's out of the classroom.

 

As he walks the hallway to the office, Seungkwan mentally goes through a variety of reasons as to why he was called in. He hadn’t done anything recently, had he? He has been minding his own business, mostly, not that he wouldn’t have a long record of crossing the school rules in the past. Either way, he’s unable to recall doing anything that would earn him such an unpleasant invitation.

 

In all honesty, Boo Seungkwan isn’t even sure how he got where he is. It just so happened that most of the people around him ignited an attitude inside of him that was anything but nice. He had no interest in respecting authorities and frankly, it was a miracle he even attended school.

 

The hunched heads that everyone gave him when he was close were only a bonus, of course.

 

He’s not a bad person, he swears, but the softness inside of him was locked behind many thick walls veiled with bitterness, and he can’t be bothered to appear otherwise.

 

Seungkwan rubs the back of his neck with a yawn as he knocks on the door, and is summoned a few seconds later by the stern voice of the principal. He steps into the office he has been to so many times before and takes a seat on the big brown chair that probably has the form of his carved into its cushion already.

 

The principal, Mrs. Kim, sighs heavily as she rests her chin on her crossed hands and looks at Seungkwan with tired eyes. Seungkwan scoffs and crosses his ankles, staring back at the woman with disinterest evident in his own eyes.

 

“I thought I had seen enough of you,” Mrs. Kim states flatly, earning only a shrug from the brown-haired male.

 

“It’s not my fault you keep calling me in,” he answers snarkily, and the principal is too used to his behavior to even point out the lack of respect. She pushes a piece of paper towards him and he leans forward a bit, laying his eyes on what looks like a study plan. Seungkwan frowns. “What’s this?”

 

“This,” she begins and reveals more of the paper, “is what you will be studying with Choi Seungcheol as your tutor. You know him, I assume?”

 

Seungkwan tries to connect the name to a face, and his eyes widen as the realization dawns on him. “The basketball team’s captain?! That brat can’t be much better than me!”

 

Yes, Choi Seungcheol. How could anyone not know him? He’s friendly, apparently, and most of the female population of the school is swooning over him. With that social and athletic life of his, how could he possibly excel at school, too?

 

Mrs. Kim grimaces at the loud reaction and turns the screen of her computer around for Seungkwan to see, showcasing the general information of both Seungcheol and Seungkwan.

 

“First of all, Seungkwan, when we look at the school ranking, you are here - on place 398,” she says calmly while pointing at Seungkwan’s information, specifically the part where it reveals his position in the school of no more than 400 students. “Meanwhile, Choi Seungcheol is up here, placing third in the whole school.”

 

Seungkwan can hardly hide his surprise as he stares at the screen moment after moment, and the more he stares at it the less sense it makes. “But he’s a jock? How does he have the time? And isn’t he dating like half of the school—”

 

“That is none of my business, nor should it be yours,” Mrs. Kim says with a friendly yet tight smile. Seungkwan rolls his eyes and leans against the backrest of the big chair again. “Either way, you’ll have your first tutoring session tomorrow at 3 in the school library.”

 

“Why do I need this anyway?” Seungkwan asks, clearly irritated, and tugs at his already messy brown hair. “I mean, there are two people even worse than me, right?”

 

The principal shakes her head with a small smile. “Unlike you, those two are trying to improve the situation. Without tutoring you’d be the 400th after the next set of exams.” Seungkwan rolls his eyes again, muttering something that Mrs. Kim deliberately ignores. “Take the paper before you go, you’re dismissed.”

 

“Call me when you miss me,” Seungkwan says casually, takes the paper and leaves the office without another word or a look behind, letting the door slam shut behind him a bit louder than would’ve been appropriate.

 

Seungkwan looks at the paper in his hands while walking back to his class and shakes his head.

 

Bull.

 

--

 

Miraculously enough, Seungkwan does find himself sitting in the school library the next day, chewing gum and tapping the wooden desk with his fingers. His eyes scan the clock and he sneers.

 

The third best in the whole school and he doesn’t even know the clock, Seungkwan thinks and shakes his head. It’s right then that he hears panting behind him, though, and a second later a large bag drops on the desk next to the paper containing the study schedule.

 

Seungkwan turns to look at the sweaty basketball player, still in his gear, and he scowls. Seungcheol, however, only smiles widely, too widely for Seungkwan’s taste.

 

“Sorry that I’m late, the practice took a bit longer than expected,” the older male says, voice bright yet apologetic, before taking a seat next to Seungkwan. The younger one clicks his tongue and rolls his eyes unnoticeably fast. “I’m Choi Seungcheol! You’re Boo Seungkwan, I assume?”

 

“Yes yes, I know who you are, whatever. Let’s just get this over and done with,” Seungkwan says quickly, hoping to rid Seungcheol of all the annoying excitement he was showing.

 

To no avail, though - the glint in Seungcheol’s eyes doesn’t leave them, nor did his smile disappear.

 

He does swallow a bit uneasily, though, but he doesn’t let the discouragement show. Seungcheol pulls his old math books out of the large bag alongside with a black pencil case and sets them on the desk. “Alright. Where are you at?”

 

Seungkwan tries to remember, only then realizing just how little he listened in class. Frowning a little, he opens his mouth. “Inequations..?” Thinking about the word after saying it out loud, his face adopts a confident look as he nods. “Yeah, that’s probably it.”

 

“Uhhuh,” Seungcheol mumbles and opens his book, moving to the area Seungkwan had just named. He points at the pictures and questions on the pages while looking at the younger male expectantly. “Does this look familiar?”

 

“I guess,” Seungkwan says with a shrug. Seungcheol holds a heavy sigh in before pulling out his pencil.

 

“How much do you know?”

 

“Uh, there’s numbers, and letters, and those arrows?”

 

Choi Seungcheol, for the first time in as long as he can remember, cannot contain the sigh and just lets it out. Little by little, he’s losing hope on this case that was presented to him as the most challenging tutee he’ll ever meet. He would never let the words ‘Challenge accepted’ pass his lips again, that was for sure.

 

He does, however, start explaining the basics to Seungkwan, one topic at a time. Whenever it becomes apparent that there’s some other integral parts that the younger one has somehow missed on learning, Seungcheol explains those as well.

 

Seungkwan hears but doesn’t quite listen; he finds Seungcheol’s ears and the sweat dripping down his neck much more interesting.

 

“Dude, are you listening?” Seungcheol asks and waves his hand in front of Seungkwan’s eyes, and the younger boy doesn’t even flinch.

 

“Not really,” he says nonchalantly with a slight shake of his head. Seungcheol nods in understanding but lets out a deep sigh.

 

“Look, I know you didn’t really want this, and frankly, I’d have more important things to do as well, but while we’re at it you could at least pretend to be interested,” the older male says with authority evident in his voice.

 

Seungkwan sighs even deeper than Seungcheol a mere minute earlier. “Okay okay, can you start again?”

 

Seungcheol nods and starts going over the inequations again, making sure Seungkwan is listening every other minute. His patience is wearing thin, but he’s glad to notice that the other one is actually paying some attention this time around - or at least looking like he is.

 

By the time the clock hits six in the evening, Seungcheol shuts his math book and takes a quick glance at the study schedule. He frowns a little, not quite feeling the whole tutoring thing anymore, not with someone as challenging as Seungkwan.

 

The black-haired basketball player packs his bag quickly and stands up, pointing his forefinger almost accusingly at Seungkwan, who was still sitting down and looking up at Seungcheol with raised eyebrows.

 

“I’ll see you again tomorrow, and by then I’d like your attitude to be fixed.”

 

“Yes yes.”

 

--

 

Seungkwan lies on his friend’s bed with a basketball in his hands, turning it around in the air before placing it on his stomach and rolling to his side, looking at his friend Hansol, who was reading Harry Potter on the floor.

 

“This is such bull, I’m telling you,” Seungkwan groans, and Hansol lets out a quiet chuckle.

 

“Give it a chance, you’ll be dead if you get kicked out, so I guess this is better than that?” the younger male asks rhetorically, and all Seungkwan can let out is a mumbled, “I guess.”

 

“Besides, it can’t be that bad. I’ve heard that Seungcheol is really nice and chill,” Hansol says and moves his eyes from the book to Seungkwan. The older one sighs dramatically and turns back to his back.

 

“Nice and chill, sure, but he’s so… so…”

 

“Bright?”

 

Seungkwan throws Hansol a glare, but the other one merely smiles to himself, eyes back on the book. Seungkwan rolls his eyes and moves his gaze to the ceiling. “Yes, bright. I hate that kind of bright people.”

 

Hansol finally closes his book and puts it aside before turning around on the floor, now facing Seungkwan. “You know, you talk quite a lot about him considering you say you dislike him.”

 

The older brunet gets a shade of pink to his cheeks as he huffs and shakes his head. “No way.”

 

Hansol chuckles and moves closer to the bed, sprawling his arms over Seungkwan’s upper body. “It happened with Seokmin and it’s happening again, Seungkwan. Just wait for it.”

 

Seungkwan doesn’t admit anything and merely pushes Hansol off of him with a groan.

 

No way, right?

 

His phone buzzes and he pulls it out of his pocket, frowning when he sees an unknown number as the sender of a text message. Seungkwan opens the message without thinking twice.

 

Hi! This is Choi Seungcheol, your favorite tutor! I just wanted to remind you of our lesson tomorrow, don’t forget or I’ll come after you!!

 

Seungkwan stares at the message blankly. “Hansol, I think he literally thinks I’m an idiot.” The younger one looks at the message as well and laughs loudly after finishing it.

 

“Cute, he just wants to make sure he’ll see you again,” he hums and grabs the basketball on the bed, rolling it against the floor under his hands. Seungkwan puts his phone back in his pocket and sighs heavily after sitting up.

 

“I better go home,” he mutters and ruffles his hair. Hansol shrugs and gives Seungkwan a knowing smirk.

 

“Have fun on your date tomorrow.”

 

If Seungkwan was in a cartoon, his hair would stick to all directions with the screech that takes over his face.

 

--

 

Seungcheol chuckles to himself as he eyes the message he just sent to Seungkwan, tucking his phone away. His friend Jeonghan raises an eyebrow.

 

“My tutee, you see,” Seungcheol says with a grin, and Jeonghan looks like he expects further elaboration. “He was a bit of a challenge, so I need to make sure he doesn’t bail tomorrow.”

 

“And you do that by bombing him with obnoxious text messages?” his black-haired friend asks in disbelief and gets an excited nod from Seungcheol.

 

“I figured that if I annoy him enough, he’ll come, if only to tell me off,” he concludes. Jeonghan covers his face with his hand and sighs heavily.

 

“Keep me updated on this kid, then,” he mumbles and starts putting his jacket on. “You know I don’t really know the lowerclassmen, so…”

 

“True, you hang out with, well, us,” Seungcheol says, hinting at the group of friends of the same age that they share. Jeonghan nods and smiles.

 

“Meanwhile you don’t really care, do you,” Jeonghan rather states than asks, and zips his jacket. Seungcheol shrugs and starts putting his own jacket on, too.

 

The two leave the restaurant they had been sitting in for quite a while and part ways rather soon. Seungcheol exhales heavily and looks at his phone. Seungkwan had read the messages, all of them, but hasn’t replied anything.

 

Seungcheol shrugs.

 

--

 

The next morning, Seungkwan is sitting in the library again, this time with a notebook and a pencil in front of him. This time Seungcheol actually arrives on time - with a lot less sweat on him - but with a smile just as bright on his lips.

 

“Glad to see you came,” Seungcheol says happily as he takes a seat next to Seungkwan again, digging his book and pencil case out of his school bag. Seungkwan scoffs.

 

“How could I forget when you kept sending me messages about this,” he almost laughs, lips curving into a somewhat amused smile. Seuncheol’s eyebrows rose at the sight of an actual smile on Seungkwan’s lips.

 

“You look better when you don’t look like you’ve had a stick up your for ten years,” Seungcheol says nonchalantly, but the amusement is audible in his voice. Seungkwan purposefully ignores his comment and turns to look at his math book instead.

 

“Anyway, what are you going to teach me today?” Seungkwan asks, and Seungcheol knows he’s not as interested as he pretends to be, but opens a spread anyway. Seungkwan scowls as soon as he sees the figures. “Uh… no thanks.”

 

“You gotta learn this, man,” Seungcheol laughs and Seungkwan wishes he could say it pissed him off, but it didn’t. Damn, it didn’t, not in the least. In fact, it made him want to laugh, too.

 

Seungkwan doesn’t put up any more resistance, so Seungcheol starts talking. The more words pass his lips, the more mesmerized Seungkwan gets with his voice, kind of raspy yet as bright as his smiles. As soon as the younger boy realizes that he was actually just staring at Seungcheol’s long eyelashes and listening to the way his voice went up and down in depth instead of focusing on math, he shakes his head vigorously. No. Hansol just messed up my thoughts.

 

“Something wrong?” Seungcheol asks with one eyebrow quirked, and Seungkwan gives him a forced, small smile.

 

“No, no, keep going,” he encourages, and Seungcheol can’t help but think that the delinquent sure was something else. Never had he ever before met someone so… quirky, especially when they were supposed to be everyone’s nightmare. Noticing that he was focusing on the form of Seungkwan’s lips, Seungcheol blinks a few times and returns his eyes to his math book.

 

Two hours later, after Seungcheol has quizzed Seungkwan on what he had been taught during the past two tutoring sessions, the older one packs his bag and leaves it at the floor as he turns around on his chair, facing Seungkwan.

 

“I’m positively surprised, Boo Seungkwan,” he says almost in awe, nodding approvingly. Seungkwan stares at him, unimpressed. “Thanks for being more serious today. Did you find it helpful?”

 

Seungkwan stuffs his hands into the pockets of his school uniform pants and huffs. “I guess. I suppose you know what you’re doing.”

 

Seungcheol gives him that cursed wide, gummy smile of his, and Seungkwan wants to scream. “Great! So, tomorrow again?”

 

Forcing out a civil smile that doesn’t reach his panicked eyes, Seungkwan nods. “Sure thing.”

 

--

 

The next day, Seungkwan has barely slept at all and allows Seungcheol’s calm voice lull him to light sleep. The older boy doesn’t notice until he hears a quiet snore that makes his ears twitch. He turns to look at Seungkwan in shock, but his features soften when he sees the usually very tough-seeming boy asleep, looking as innocent as a baby with his lips slightly parted and head hunched a bit forward.

 

Leaning his cheek on his other hand, Seungcheol moves his other one closer to Seungkwan and pokes his cheek with his forefinger. Seungkwan’s eyes shoot open in an instant, and he stares at the other one.

 

“You look cute when you sleep,” Seungcheol chuckles and retreats his hand, the annoying, wide smile appearing to be permanent on his lips. Seungkwan swallows, his throat suddenly feeling very dry, and stares at Seungcheol in disbelief.

 

He doesn’t say anything, though, and focuses on the inequations at hand while butterflies test their wings in his stomach.

 

It gets worse after that. After he had noticed the effect they had on Seungkwan, Seunghceol becomes fearless with his comments that soon started holding flirty connotations, with or without intention, and Seungkwan is at a loss of what to do.

 

So he decides to let his act down a little and go with it.

 

“Has anyone ever told you that your ears are really cute?” Seungkwan asks in a wondering tone, his eyes dreamy as he stares at Seungcheol. The older male frowns and turns to look at him, utterly confused. Seungkwan smirks; it was working. Now he knew how he felt.

 

“I mean,” Seungkwan continues and moves one of his hands closer to Seungcheol, teasing his ear lightly with his fingers. “They’re a bit big, but that’s what makes them cute. And your smile…”

 

“Okay, you can stop,” Seungcheol laughs and shies away from Seungkwan’s touch, leaving the younger one satisfied yet, surprisingly, a bit disappointed. “I get it, I’ll stop making the comments.”

 

Seungkwan nods, and after that the session becomes a bit more relaxed. While the two were awfully reserved around each other during the first meeting - naturally - the tension comes down slowly. Seungkwan realizes that maybe Seungcheol wasn’t as bad as he had thought, and Seungcheol realizes that Seungkwan was actually quite funny and sweet when he wanted to be.

 

Seungkwan refuses to admit that he starts to look forward to their tutoring sessions, and Seungcheol refuses to admit that hearing Seungkwan’s snarky remarks is what he looks forward to the most every day.

 

That night Seungkwan goes out to an arcade with Hansol, his mind full of conflicting thoughts and his initial reaction is to just groan.

 

“Is Seungcheol that tough of a tutor?” Hansol asks amusedly and pats his friend’s back. Seungkwan shakes his head.

 

“No, it’s not that. He’s just so… so… ugh,” Seungkwan concludes, pointing at a shooting game as soon as he spots one and dragging Hansol to it. While they play, Seungkwan tells Hansol about everything that came to his mind with absolutely no filter, and when he finally loses pathetically to the younger one, he frowns at Hansol’s shocked expression.

 

“You keep saying that you hate him, but that can’t be true,” Hansol says in awe, and the more Seungkwan’s eyebrows knit the brighter Hansol’s smile grows. “Like, you’ve literally babbled about the way his nose crinkles when he focuses.”

 

Seungkwan scoffs and puts the game’s gun away, his heart beating fast in his chest - when had he been talking about that? “I have not, oh my God!”

 

Choi Seungcheol, some meters away with his friends Joshua and Jeonghan, turns his head to the direction of the familiar voice in an unfamiliar tone, and raises his eyebrows.

 

“You just did,” Hansol laughs and pats Seungkwan’s back soothingly. “Are you sure you don’t like him?”

 

Seungcheol frowns, but his attention is soon torn to another direction as Jeonghan pulls him towards a basketball game from his arm.

 

Seungkwan falls quiet and blood rushes to his cheeks as he shrugs Hansol’s hand off of him. “None of your business.”

 

“C’mon, I’m your best friend!”

 

“Not a very good one, may I add,” Seungkwan sighs heavily and turns to Hansol. The younger one swings his arm around Seungkwan’s shoulder.

 

“Always here for you, buddy,” he says cheerfully, completely disregarding what Seungkwan had just said. Seungkwan’s hands are in his pockets as he admits his defeat and lets Hansol drag him around.

 

--

 

The next day, Seungcheol sits by their usual desk in the library and scribbles absentmindedly on the notebook he has open in front of him. Seungkwan is late, and while the older one knows he isn’t the most punctual person out there, the thirty minutes is bothering him.

 

Just as he creases his eyebrows, he remembers what he overheard the previous day. Who did Seungkwan potentially like? What were they like, what did he see in them, and most of all, why did it make Seungcheol so annoyingly curious?

 

Seungcheol scratches his head and gives the clock hanging on the wall one more look before grabbing his phone and dialing Seungkwan. After a few beeps he hears a familiar click, and after that a very groggy voice.

 

“What do you want?”

 

“Seungkwan,” Seungcheol starts, momentarily forgetting what he was about to say. He tells himself it’s because he’s never talked on the phone with the younger one and that it has absolutely nothing to do with the oddly low voice of his. “You’re thirty minutes late from the tutoring, what’s up?”

 

“I’m…” Seungcheol rolls his eyes at Seungkwan’s wondering tone that easily gives away that he’s coming up with an excuse. “...sick. I’m sick.”

 

“Are you just a bad liar or bad at coming up with excuses?” the older one asks snarkily, slightly agitated, and holds his pen in a tight grip.

 

On the other end of the call, Seungkwan is playing with the hem of the shirt he has slept in, a small pout on his lips. “Both?”

 

“I can’t believe this…” Seungcheol mutters and rubs his temple with his free hand. A heavy sigh leaves his lips. “Where do you live? I’m coming over and we’ll get all this stuff into your head.”

 

“Hell no, I’m not telling you where I live! Who knows what you’ll do with the knowledge?!”

 

“Boo Seungkwan, I swear to God,” the older one starts loudly enough for everyone in the school library to turn their heads to him disapprovingly. He scowls and continues, his voice now small and quiet. “I’m at the library so I can’t shout at you but please tell me where you live. It’s not like I’m going to spread or misuse the information, you idiot.”

 

Seungcheol hears a loud sigh from his phone, and when Seungkwan mutters a “Fine,” he’s prepared to write the address down.

 

Twenty or so minutes later Seungcheol arrives at a house so pretty that he has a hard time believing Seungkwan lives in it. However, as soon as he raises his eyes to the window on the second floor and sees Seungkwan staring down at him, he has to accept that yes, the notorious Boo Seungkwan did indeed live in a grand, baby blue house with a blooming garden.

 

He grins before continuing his journey to the door - if the garden and the appearance of the house were the reasons Seungkwan didn’t want to reveal where he lived, Seungcheol would make sure to remember it.

 

Seungkwan opens the door to him, now wearing loose joggers and a green hoodie. The older one steps in and looks around, his fascinated smile only spreading wider, and Seungkwan has to resist the urge to smack it off his face.

 

“I would’ve never guessed you live in a house like this,” Seungcheol grins. Seungkwan rolls his eyes and bites the insides of his cheeks, trying to will the uneasiness wallowing inside of him to go away.

 

“Blame my mom. She likes it pretty,” the younger one mumbles and starts walking towards the staircase.

 

“Where is she?” Seungcheol asks absentmindedly as he follows Seungkwan, still looking around curiously. The younger one freezes for a second.

 

“Probably Italy,” he replies curtly and speeds up his steps, a confused Seungcheol behind him. They end up in his room, and the dark-haired male is once again awestruck. He expected Seungkwan’s room to be messy and dark, or to just be very different from the rest of the house, but he’s met with open curtains, bright walls with a few posters on them and an overall neat room.

 

“Probably?” Seungcheol asks when he’s gotten over the surprise. The brunet sits down on one of the chairs by his desk and shrugs, his eyes staring down at the wooden surface.

 

“She’s got a lot of business trips that take her to too many different countries for me to keep track of them, I don’t know,” Seungkwan mumbles and hurries to get his math book and pencil case out before turning to look at the older male expectantly. “So, are you gonna tutor me or what?”

 

Seungcheol studies the look on Seungkwan’s face and frowns a little at how difficult it is to read. All he can tell is that there’s something very sad about the way his eyes are looking at him and the way he’s pursing his lips.

 

Forcing a smile to his lips, Seungcheol nods and takes a seat on the chair next to Seungkwan’s and pulls his own material out from his bag. He takes notice of how fidgety and nervous the younger one seems, especially after he moves his chair closer to his in order to explain things more up close.

 

With how much the two have relaxed around each other with their meetings, seeing Seungkwan like that is new and Seungcheol can’t help but frown.

 

“What’s up with you?” he asks from Seungkwan, who stiffens at his words and accidentally draws a long line across the calculation he was doing.

 

“Nothing,” Seungkwan mumbles, avoiding Seungcheol’s eyes and focusing on the wooden desk instead. Seungcheol places a reassuring hand on his knee and looks at him as softly as he can, a small smile on his lips. Seungkwan’s heart skips a beat and his breath hitches in his throat. What the hell?

 

“Come on, it’s clearly something,” the older one insists, voice soft and understanding, and Seungkwan almost, almost, wants to admit that he may or may not have some kind of feelings for the older boy, and maybe, just maybe, his mother’s two-month business trip that was only halfway through was a bit tough for him.

 

But, instead of admitting to anything, he crosses his arms by his chest after pushing Seungcheol’s hand off his knee.

 

“You’re good at math, so how about you just figure it out on your own, huh?” Seungkwan suggests, voice and words a bit harsher than he had intended them to be. Seungcheol raises his hands in surrender, laughing a little even though he swears to bring the topic up again eventually.

 

“Fine. Let’s study, then,” he says brightly, and Seungkwan has never been as eager to lay his eyes on a bunch of equations.

 

While explaining everything clearly as per usual, Seungcheol pays extra attention to Seungkwan. He’s a bit dazed and often stares right back at Seungcheol without him himself noticing; other times he just stares aimlessly at the page they’re on. His cheeks are a bit pinkish and he squirms in his seat a little every now and then.

 

“Are you sure you don’t like him?”

 

Seungcheol grins as he remembers the brunet asking Seungkwan the question, so he turns to face him. “Boo Seungkwan, do you like me?” he asks innocently, half as a joke, and stares right into Seungkwan’s eyes.

 

Seungkwan screeches involuntarily and shifts his eyes from one point to another. He stammers as he speaks unsteadily. “I don’t— I— I don’t know, why the hell are you asking?”

 

Seungcheol chuckles and shakes his head, warmth slowly spreading all over his body. “Just wondering.”

 

Seungkwan is flustered and he hates it, hates the way his cheeks are heating up and the way his heart is beating so fast at the prospect of his secret being out in the open.

 

The older one continues smiling to himself, though, fairly confident that what he thought was happening was actually happening. Seungkwan liked him. But then he frowns. Does he like him back? What does it mean to him that the younger one likes him?

 

He looks at Seungkwan while he erases the long line he drew before and does the calculation again. Seungcheol’s attention is drawn to the features of his face; the small moles, his slightly pouty lips and the cute nose that crinkles a little when he frowns enough. With yet another dumb smile spreading to his lips, Seuncheol admits that perhaps there’s something about the feisty brunet next to him that intrigues him, even in a more romantic way.

 

The next day, Seungcheol doesn’t wait until their tutoring session after school, but looks for Seungkwan during the school day already. Upon finding him, he grabs his arm and smiles brightly at his scandalized expression.

 

“What are you doing, Choi Seungcheol?” Seungkwan asks as calmly as he can, although Seungcheol’s touch is practically burning him.

 

“I thought we could have lunch together,” the older one smiles back and begins pulling the younger one towards the canteen. Seungkwan doesn’t even want to put up a fight and just follows him, his heart racing and making him grimace. Whatever the dark-haired male pulling his arm was up to couldn’t mean anything good.

 

They get something to eat and sit down near the window, first in silence as Seungkwan moves his food with his chopsticks and Seungcheol merely observes him. The younger one shoots him a glare. “What?”

 

“I want to know more about you,” Seungcheol replies casually, leaning his chin on his hands, dimples forming on his cheeks with the smile he has plastered all over his face. Seungkwan takes some of his noodles and brings them to his mouth. He thinks about it - Seungcheol isn’t as bad as he initially thought, and he just bought him food. Even with his confusing feelings, perhaps he could let his guard down a little more.

 

“Ask me something,” he says flatly, his chopsticks moving around his bowl again. Seungcheol gets a mouthful of noodles.

 

“When did you become… like this?” he asks, his eyebrows creasing a little at the way he put his words. Rubbing the back of his neck, he averts his eyes from the younger one’s. “I mean--”

 

“I know what you mean,” Seungkwan mumbles and puts his chopsticks down, sighing heavily. Seungcheol focuses fully on him and lets his food be for the time being. “It’s a cliche, really. I used to be a lot like you, actually, just that I was in the drama club instead of the basketball team.”

 

Seungcheol listens, already fascinated with the revelation and the way the younger one gets a fond, sweet smile on his lips that he hasn’t witnessed before. Seungkwan sighs again.

 

“My grades were high and everyone liked me and I liked everyone. But you know, it really changes you when your parent dies and you’re left with the one that’s at home two days at a time, for approximately a month per year.”

 

The older one frowns and nearly hates himself for being so nosy and curious - he realizes the sensitivity of the topic when Seungkwan’s eyes begin glistening, but when he tries to say that he doesn’t have to continue, the younger one shushes him.

 

“I kind of want to tell you,” he assures and swallows, mumbling something about one more mouthful of food before he’d continue. Seungcheol snorts and nods, which makes Seungkwan smile a little, too. “Anyway. I love my mom, I really do, and I know she cares about me too, but she’s never here. Most of what I get are hour-long Skype calls once a week unless the school has contacted her, and…”

 

“You want attention?” Seungcheol asks softly and almost takes Seungkwan’s hands into his, but stops himself early enough. A bit abashed, the younger one nods.

 

“It sounds lame but--”

 

“It’s not lame,” the older one shakes his head and smiles warmly. “Isn’t it only natural? Humans need attention, some more and some less. But maybe acting the way you’ve been acting wasn’t the best idea… I’m sure you’ve gotten your mother’s attention covered, but what about everyone else? What about friends and all?”

 

“I have one,” Seungkwan mumbles, taking in all of Seungcheol’s words with his heart becoming heavier even though he’s sure it’s supposed to become lighter. “I don’t mind, really. Attention is always attention, and--”

 

“But it feels nice when someone actually listens and shows that they care, right?”

 

“Will you ever stop interrupting my sentences?” Seungkwan asks harshly but softens soon afterwards. “I guess so.”

 

They eat in silence for a while, until Seungcheol speaks again. “If you’re ready to stop pushing me away and all that, I’d like to be your… friend.”

 

Seungkwan smiles, but he feels his eyes welling up with tears again, and he hides them fast. “Why are you so nice?”

 

The older one reaches over the table to ruffle the other one’s hair and smiles a little. “I don’t know, I want to believe that I’m a good guy?”

 

Seungkwan rubs his eyes and sighs before putting his hands down again. “You’re too good to be true.” He squints. “There must be a bad bone in your body and I will discover it.”

 

Seungcheol shrieks when a hand is suddenly placed on his shoulder and Jeonghan’s voice becomes audible. “You can try, but you won’t find it. Seungcheol here is soft all the way to the very core.”

 

The eldest of the three pouts at his friend, who takes a seat next to him with a bubbly laugh, and Seungkwan can’t help but laugh as well. “You’re kind of ruining my reputation here, buddy.”

 

The long-haired male laughs a bit louder and places his panini on top of the table. “What, your reputation as the resident marshmallow? Seungcheol, I think everyone knows how you are.”

 

Seungkwan grins while bringing noodles to his mouth. “Not everyone.” When the two older males turn to look at him with quirked eyebrows, he explains. “I thought you were a brainless jock who circulates like five girls at the same time, but now I’ve come to realize that you’re far from that.”

 

Jeonghan explodes into another bubbly laughter. “Oh, no, Seungcheol doesn’t--”

 

“Well!” Seungcheol interrupts his friend nervously. “I’m glad that has changed, then. And for the record, you’ve gone from an annoying brat to a sweet sugar plum in my eyes, too.”

 

The youngest one grimaces at the words, but his heart flutters a little in his chest. Jeonghan’s never-ending amusement is evident on his face as he offers Seungkwan his hand. “Anyways, I’m Seungcheol’s best friend, Yoon Jeonghan.”

 

“Boo Seungkwan, his sugar plum,” Seungkwan says with exaggerated sweetness in his voice, appearing fully serious in every other way. Jeonghan nods and Seungcheol wants to hide his face but resorts to only tapping his warm cheeks.

 

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Jeonghan quips and gives the eldest one a meaningful look that Seungkwan doesn’t miss.

 

“Like what?”

 

“I think you’ll see soon,” Jeonghan says mysteriously and starts eating his panini, leaving the other two quiet as they inspect each other’s expressions, trying to find signs of something.

 

The three eat with a casual conversation going on throughout the lunch break, after which their ways part. Jeonghan and Seungcheol head a floor higher than Seungkwan, and the youngest enters his classroom with an odd feeling in his body.

 

The odd feeling only increases as days pass. Seungkwan starts opening up a bit more, little by little giving up on his tough act, and one day he actually apologizes when he bumps into a boy from a lower grade. He’s not sure how he feels about the change, but he has to admit that he kind of likes the way his teachers don’t look like they hate every fiber of his body anymore. His classmates start talking to him a bit more, too, when he stops being rude and starts showing signs of actual kindness towards whoever he’s talking with, and even those he wasn’t.

 

One reason to his change is undoubtedly the increased time he spends with Seungcheol and Jeonghan and their friends, and Hansol makes it clear that he likes the change; while he’d always stay by Seungkwan’s side, he did prefer him the way he was now - open, friendly and most importantly, happy.

 

With Seungkwan’s increased smiles and playfulness came the fluttering of Seungcheol’s heart. The eldest one has accepted the fact that that he likes the younger one, but even with the knowledge that his feelings are more or less reciprocated, he hasn’t dared to make a move. Even as they play Playstation side by side, nudging each other playfully to distract the other from the game, he silences the feeling inside of him telling him to hold his hand. Hold his hand. Jeonghan laughed him out of the room when he first heard of that, but Seungcheol doesn’t actually mind that much.

 

Seungcheol loves hugs and the like and he uses that shamelessly to his advantage, hugging Seungkwan as often as he could without the younger one getting too annoyed by it. Seungkwan barely even questions the back hugs or Seungcheol just drooping over him when he’s doing his homework, and just groans whenever it happens, praying that his fast heartbeat wouldn’t be too obvious.

 

Seungkwan often jokes to Hansol about how he’s in the ideal situation where his crush is being touchy with him, yet he feels like it’s the most suffocating thing ever, especially when those silly feelings of his could never, ever be returned. Hansol hums every single time. He’s seen the way Seungcheol and Seungkwan act towards each other, and if one knew what to look for, the affection in their eyes couldn’t go unnoticed.

 

Jeonghan sits behind Seungcheol in their classroom while the older one has turned around on his chair to talk with him.

 

“You want to confess? Now?” Jeonghan asks, both amused and somehow touched. Seungcheol bites his lip quickly before nodding determinedly.

 

“You know how I am, Jeonghan. I can’t keep big feelings in forever,” he almost whines and aims puppy eyes at his friend. “Won’t you help me come up with a way to do it?”

 

“But will it then be me confessing…” Jeonghan mutters and squints his eyes, laughing when Seungcheol whacks his arm. “You’re tutoring him in math, right? Why don’t you make some use of that?”

 

The long-haired male can practically see the light bulb going off above Seungcheol’s head when he breaks into a smile that easily replaces the troubled expression on his face.

 

“I knew I could trust you! Thanks,” Seungcheol grins and turns back around on his seat when the teacher enters the classroom and starts the lesson, most of which Seungcheol spends trying to come up with a way to creatively use math in a romantic way. Seemingly impossible, but Seungcheol has yet to get rid of his eternal willingness to accept challenges.

 

When the break finally starts, Seungcheol jumps off his seat and lunges to the hallway. Jeonghan’s eyes widen while he puts his books away. “You’re doing it now now?!”

 

“Yep!”

 

Seungcheol arrives at the lower floor and finds Seungkwan walking in the hallway. As soon as he reaches him, he grabs his arm, making the younger one screech in surprise. He pulls Seungkwan towards the window and grins, and Seungkwan frowns at that. What was Seungcheol up to?

 

“How do you solve 9x+8y-(-14x) < -25?” Seungcheol suddenly asks with a serious face, although little breaths of a laughter leave his mouth anyway. His heart is hammering in his chest but he’s so, so ready for this moment.

 

“How is this suddenly a pop quiz? Come on, everyone’s watching,” Seungkwan mutters uneasily, trying to shake Seungcheol’s hand off his arm but failing to do so.

 

“The answer is,” Seungcheol begins and his plump lips, eyes firm on Seungkwan’s almost scared ones. “That I like you.”

 

Seungkwan’s face falls as he squints. “Where does it— Wait..!” His eyes widen when he realizes that Seungcheol was, in fact, serious, and the older one smiles sheepishly at him before breaking out into a loud laugh.

 

Seungkwan blushes furiously and lowers his head, staring at the floor, but as Seungcheol places his hands comfortingly on his stiff shoulders, he raises his head.

 

“I, uh, kind of like you too,” Seungkwan mumbles, avoiding eye contact with Seungcheol and aiming his eyes on his left ear instead. Seungcheol grins.

 

“Not so tough anymore, huh,” the basketball player says and pats Seungkwan’s shoulder, and the younger one merely rolls his eyes.

 

“Shut up, you’re literally the lamest athlete I’ve ever met,” Seungkwan whines in embarrassment, now fully oblivious to the way everyone was looking at them.

 

“Yet you fell for me,” Seungcheol laughs heartily, and Seungkwan finally pushes his hands off of himself, not willing to hear a single word more.

 

Seungcheol’s amusement doesn’t die even with that, especially when a smile tugs at Seungkwan’s lips anyway.

 

--

 

Two months later, Seungkwan and Seungcheol sit in the principal’s office. Mrs. Kim looks at them with a friendly smile.

 

“Well, I sure am glad to see the positive effect Seungcheol has had on you, Seungkwan,” she says brightly, referring both to the way he was finally wearing his school uniform properly and the improved records that were shown on her monitor.

 

His rank has gone all the way up to 250 - shocking everyone - and he hasn’t gotten a single mark on bad behavior or disrespect for a full eight weeks.

 

And, what secretly freaks the principal out the most, he was smiling. But she doesn’t mention it.

 

Seungcheol practically beams as he opens his mouth. “Seungkwan’s been a very good tutee, Mrs. Kim. We had our difficulties in the beginning, but we overcame them quickly.”

 

Mrs. Kim smiles in a friendly way and nods approvingly. “I’m glad this worked out to benefit the both of you.”

 

Seungkwan smiles back at her. “Yes, thank you, Mrs. Kim.”

 

When she dismisses the two, she shakes her head amusedly. She’d never thought to see the day, but she’s glad she did.

 

Seungcheol fishes for Seungkwan’s hand when they exit the office and smiles at the younger boy.

 

“Good job,” he says softly, and while Seungkwan cringes a little, he smiles with a nod.

 

“Thank you, Choi Seungcheol,” Seungkwan says and halts his steps, turning around to face Seungcheol. Without a warning, he steals a kiss from him. It’s slow and sweet, but doesn’t last too long.

 

Seungcheol blinks a few times, cheeks tinted a soft hue of pink. It’s not the first time they’ve shared a kiss, and it’s probably not even the hundredth, but Seungcheol is always thrown aback when it’s Seungkwan initiating anything more than hugs or holding hands, especially when they weren’t home.

 

Seungcheol gives Seungkwan a bright, gummy smile, and hugs him close.

 

“You’re embarrassing me,” Seungkwan mumbles, but hugs him back anyway. Seungcheol doesn’t answer, and only tightens his arms around him.