“Sanghyuk.”

Sanghyuk glanced at Hongbin who sat across the table. Sanghyuk noticed Hongbin was staring at him with his beautiful almond eyes. Hongbin’s chin rested on his palm, head leaning on his hand. Sanghyuk swore his heart stopped beating for a moment. He died and came back to life once he heard Hongbin say his name for the second time. Sanghyuk leaned forward on the table to get a better look at Hongbin. “W-what?”

“Are you having trouble with it?”

“With what?”

Hongbin let out a hint of a smile. He pointed using his ballpoint pen at the current item Sanghyuk was answering. Oh right. We’re studying math… “With this. You’ve been staring blankly on this item for a while now.”

Sanghyuk laughed embarrassed, his hand on his nape. “Yeah—I mean kinda—not really—YES.”

Hongbin moved out of his seat and scooted next to Sanghyuk. He then taught Sanghyuk an easy way to approach the math problem. While Hongbin was focused on telling what Sanghyuk to do, the latter was enjoying his view. He had never been this close with Hongbin, and boy was he going to remember this scene. Sanghyuk bit his lip, preventing himself from smiling too much. Calm down, Han Sanghyuk. CALM DOWN— Sanghyuk snapped out from his thoughts by a tap on the shoulder. He turned and found Hongbin’s face only a few inches away from his. “Sanghyuk, did you follow?”

Sanghyuk squinted his eyes closed. He put his hands together and rubbed them apologetically. “Sorry Hongbin but can you repeat it one more time?”

Hongbin smiled. Sanghyuk’s expression was too funny for him. “Sure.” OH DAMN GOD. OH GOD. He smiled at me…He friggin smiled at me…again! OMYGOD—SNAP OUT OF IT HAN SANGHYUK. LISTEN TO YOUR HANDSOME TUTOR. Hongbin cleared his throat and repeated the previous thing he said, this time Sanghyuk listened.

A while ago, Taekwoon led Hongbin to where everyone was. Hongbin greeted everyone with a bow and introduced himself. Taekwoon then introduced the rest to him. Once he was done with Jaehwan and Hakyeon, Taekwoon pointed at Sanghyuk and mentioned to Hongbin that the two already know each other so there was no need for any more introductions between them. After the short introduction, Taekwoon assigned himself to Jaehwan while Hongbin will be teaching Sanghyuk. Hongbin was in the school’s top 20 afterall.

While Sanghyuk was busy listening and enjoying Hongbin’s company, Jaehwan was struggling with Taekwoon. Jaehwan was already halfway done with his own math problems but he wasn’t enjoying at all. Taekwoon as a tutor was strict as hell. Whenever Jaehwan would stray from math, Taekwoon would quickly shove another math problem at Jaehwan. “I am not enjoying this at all, Taek.” Jaehwan pouted, crossing his arms.

“You really aren’t supposed to enjoy it.” Taekwoon said, checking on Jaehwan’s answers.

“You’re no fun.” Jaehwan retorted which received a death glare from his tutor. He pointed discreetly at Sanghyuk and Hongbin and complained. “Look at him? He’s definitely enjoying over there.”

Hakyeon chuckled, looking at the two. “You’re right. Hyukkie looks like he’s having fun.”

“I know!” Jaehwan suddenly thought of an idea. He clapped his hands and grinned. “I have an idea. How about I show you some of my toys while I wait for Taek here? He’s checking my answers a bit too long now.”

“Oh, sure.” Hakyeon beamed. Hakyeon then watched as Jaehwan crawled to where his bag was. He then took out one of his favorite toys and handed it to Hakyeon. The face Hakyeon made was priceless. It was a mixture of shock and bewilderment. “What’s this?”

“It’s my favorite riding crop.” Jaehwan smiled.

“Ohhh.” Hakyeon examined the red leather riding crop on his hands. “It’s my first time holding one! This looks cool! What do you use it for??” Before Jaehwan could even get a chance to show Hakyeon a new world, Taekwoon quickly took the riding crop away from his boyfriend and handed it back to Jaehwan. Hakyeon and Jaehwan both had their eyes on Taekwoon.

“Please don’t introduce my boyfriend to this kind of stuff.” Taekwoon told Jaehwan. He then turned to Hakyeon and pinched his cheeks. “And Hakyeonnie-ssaem. Please don’t encourage the student. This guy needs to study, remember?” And with that, Hakyeon apologized to Taekwoon with a bear hug and on the background Jaehwan gagging.

The study session went on smoothly after that. Not really. Yes, they managed to study but they managed to squeeze in some little fun here and there. With Jaehwan’s random jokes and impersonations, Taekwoon being distracted by some cute cat video (courtesy of Jaehwan), Sanghyuk blabbering nonsense at Hongbin, Hongbin finding the company of others comfortable and fun and Hakyeon helping Taekwoon’s mom in making snacks and feeding it to the group. The group study session was a success. Being immersed in studying, they didn’t even notice how late it was. It was Jaehwan who noticed that it was already late at night. “OH! It’s already that late?”

“Hmm?” Sanghyuk glanced at the wall clock and agreed with Jaehwan.

“Let’s end our study session here then.” Taekwoon said. “You guys are staying for the night, right?”

Jaehwan and Sanghyuk nodded while Hakyeon and Hongbin shook their heads. Hakyeon had dance practice in the morning while Hongbin didn’t ask for permission for a sleepover. Taekwoon volunteered to walk Hakyeon home; Hakyeon happy with his boyfriend’s sweet gesture.

“Then I’ll walk you home too, Hongbin.” Sanghyuk raised his hand.

Hongbin closed his notebook. “I’m fine. Thanks though, Sanghyuk.” Sanghyuk glanced at his friends who encouraged him to ask Hongbin once more.

“I’ll walk you to the station or bus stop then.” Sanghyuk said. “It’s really late.”

Hongbin then nodded. “Okay.”

“And I’ll be alone here.” Jaehwan realized.

Hongbin and Sanghyuk walked side by side along the quiet and lonely street. It was nearing midnight so there wasn’t really anyone outside. Sanghyuk wanted to slap himself. YOU ARE BEING AWKWARD! Say something. “He—“

“Can I go buy something at the convenience store?” Hongbin asked, pointing at the establishment on their right. Sanghyuk smiled and nodded. Hongbin paced towards the convenience store and went in while Sanghyuk waited outside.

“Smooth, Sanghyuk. Real smooth.” He told himself sarcastically. A little later, Hongbin came out with two coffee cans. He walked up to Sanghyuk and handed one to him. “Here.” Hongbin offered.

“Eh? You didn’t need to buy me one.” Sanghyuk blushed.

Hongbin insisted. Sanghyuk then took the coffee can and thanked him. Hongbin smiled, dimples showing. “Think of it as a reward. You worked hard today.” Hongbin out of nowhere ruffled Sanghyuk’s hair. Sanghyuk could feel his heart pounding hard. Sanghyuk then told Hongbin to wait for him while he goes inside the convenience store as well. He handed back the coffee can and ran inside.

Sanghyuk came out of the store. Hongbin turned and noticed he was holding two chocolate bread. Hongbin stifled a laugh. Sanghyuk reached out his hand to Hongbin and grinned. “I remember you buying one the other day…Thank you for teaching me today…also for the coffee.”

Hongbin took the bread from him and handed him back his coffee can. The two sat on the pavement and ate comfortably. “You know…that was my first time to be in a group.” Hongbin said. “It was really fun. I didn’t know that it could be that fun with everyone around…if it’s okay with you guys, I’d like to do that again.”

Sanghyuk turned to Hongbin and saw him smiling genuinely. “Sure.” Sanghyuk smiled to himself. Hongbin was opening up to him and he couldn’t feel any better than that.

“I found it amusing that you were struggling on an easy math problem.” Hongbin took a bite of his chocolate bread.

Sanghyuk wanted to bury himself alive. “I told you. I’m not that good—“

“I know.”

Sanghyuk and Hongbin finally reached the bus stop. It was time to say goodbye. Hongbin turned to Sanghyuk and thanked him for walking him to the stop even though it was already late at night. Sanghyuk smiled cheekily and told him that it was nothing.

“Oh. Text me when you get home safely.” Sanghyuk said. Hongbin laughed, reminding him that Sanghyuk didn’t have his number. Hongbin then reached out for his phone in his pocket and the two exchanged numbers. The bus arrived just as they finished saving each other’s number.

“See you later, Hongbin.” Sanghyuk waved.

Hongbin waved back and went inside the bus. Sanghyuk watched the bus leave before going back to Taekwoon’s house. Just then, he received a text message from Hongbin.

I really enjoyed today. Hope to hang out with you again. Study hard.

Sanghyuk threw an air punch at the air. He patted himself on the shoulder. “Smooth move, Han Sanghyuk. Smooth.”

“This . I want to sleep over at your place.” Hakyeon pouted.

“You have your dance practice, remember?” Taekwoon reminded. “And you got to sleep over at my place all the time.”

Hakyeon’s pout disappeared and transformed into a smug grin. What Taekwoon said was true anyway. He had been sleeping over at Taekwoon’s place most of the time, this just wasn’t one of those times. The two continued walking until they reached Hakyeon’s house. “We’re here.” Both stopped in their tracks.

“See you on Monday.” Taekwoon said. Hakyeon nodded. Taekwoon cupped Hakyeon’s face and smiled. “See you.”

Once Hakyeon went inside the house, Taekwoon went on his way. What he didn’t know was that Hakyeon came out of the house and ran for him. Hakyeon wrapped his arms around Taekwoon’s waist. The gesture shocked Taekwoon causing him to stumble forward but what surprised him the most was the kiss he received from Hakyeon.

“I forgot to give you my goodbye kiss.” Hakyeon teased. “Night, Taekwoonie.” Taekwoon looked down, completely avoiding his boyfriend’s gaze plus his whole face was beet red.

First day of exams. Just before the exams were about to start, Hongbin accidentally bumped into Sanghyuk who was busy reading the notes Hongbin made for him. “Hongbin—“

“Still studying?” Hongbin asked, eyeing his handwritten notes. Sanghyuk nodded and told him that he didn’t want to miss anything. “Good. I think you’ll ace today’s exams.”

“I hope so!” Sanghyuk sought.

“You can do it.” Hongbin said. “I have to go now. Good luck, Sanghyuk.” Before Sanghyuk could wish him luck back, Hongbin had already left. Sanghyuk then shouted out loud in the corridor. “GOOD LUCK, HONGBIN!” Hongbin turned and let out Sanghyuk’s favorite dimpled smile. AHHH. TODAY IS SOO GOOD.

A week has passed. Exams week is finally over. It was the last day of exams and everyone was either dying or had died from the bloody exams. Once Jaehwan and Sanghyuk passed their exam papers, the two cried. More like wailed. Taekwoon watched his two friends cried to each other. “IT’S DONE! FINALLY!” Sanghyuk sniffed.

“I know, dude. I know.” Jaehwan wiped his tears.

Taekwoon patted both his friends and congratulated them. The three went out to celebrate and ate at an all too familiar bakery prior to Sanghyuk’s request. Unfortunately, the person Sanghyuk wanted to see wasn’t there since it was his day off. It wasn’t until the next day that Sanghyuk got to see Hongbin. He was shy to text him yesterday and he wanted to thank Hongbin personally for helping him.

The trio stayed inside the classroom during lunch time. Taekwoon and Jaehwan were busy eating snacks when Sanghyuk rose surprisingly from his seat. The two stared at their friend confusingly. “What the hell—“ Jaehwan munched on his biscuits.

“What is it now?” Taekwoon asked.

Sanghyuk slammed Taekwoon’s table and announced. “Valentine’s Day is coming.” Jaehwan and Taekwoon didn’t respond and so Sanghyuk continued. “Which means…there will be chocolates.”

“Obviously.” Jaehwan blabbered. Taekwoon agreed.

Sanghyuk slammed Taekwoon’s table once again. This time, Taekwoon swatted Sanghyuk away, not wanting his table to get hurt. Sanghyuk sat on Taekwoon’s table and stared from afar. “I NEED TO HAVE HONGBIN’S CHOCOLATES.”

Jaehwan laughed. “Valentine’s Day is when the girls give chocolates to the guy they like. From what I remember, Hongbin is a guy.”

“Jeez. Thanks. Great way to break my fantasy, Jaehwan.” Sanghyuk glared. HE returned to his seat and sulked like a baby. 

Taekwoon stole a biscuit from Jaehwan. “Then why don’t you just do a reverse chocolate?”

“A what?”

“No jargons!”

Taekwoon rolled his eyes. He flicked Jaehwan and Sanghyuk’s foreheads and explained what he meant. He told the two that a reverse chocolate is where the guy is the one giving the chocolate instead of the girl. He then mentioned that he and Hakyeon would be doing it on Valentine’s Day since both of them are guys which received some sappy romantic comment from Jaehwan. Taekwoon glared icily at his friend.

“Oh!” Sanghyuk smiled. “If you’re going to make one, can I come with you?”

“Sure.” Taekwoon smiled back.

“Oh, oh! Count me in!” Jaehwan raised his hand.

And so, the day before Valentine’s Day the trio visited Taekwoon’s house (again) and made handmade chocolates. Taekwoon was quite skillful in the kitchen, be it cooking or baking. Taekwoon was really good at almost everything. Jaehwan and Sanghyuk followed Taekwoon’s directions carefully. The two sometimes messed up but Taekwoon would manage to help them get back on the right track. Sanghyuk, out of the three was the most serious one. He wanted to make his chocolate perfect. He couldn’t wait for Hongbin to taste the one he was—

“I JUST REALIZED…” Sanghyuk’s eyes widened. He stopped from molding his melted chocolate and stared at Jaehwan and Taekwoon. “I CAN’T GIVE THIS TO HIM! HE’LL BE WEIRDED OUT!”

Jaehwan face palmed. Taekwoon chuckled. The expression Sanghyuk was giving was priceless. The possibility of Hongbin rejecting him was too high or that’s what Sanghyuk thinks.

“Oh, you’re right.” Jaehwan grinned devilishly. “He might reject you. I mean he only sees you as a friend, that’s all—“

Taekwoon covered Jaehwan’s mouth. The guy’s sadistic mode was switched on for some reason and before his words could get to Sanghyuk, Taekwoon interrupted. “What he meant was, you could just give that chocolate as a friendship chocolate. Friends give chocolates to each other on Valentine’s day too.”

“…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Taekwoon reassured his friend. After that conversation, the trio returned to molding their chocolate. Jaehwan went back to his usual bright and cheerful version of himself after Taekwoon giving him the glare and Sanghyuk pushed away the thought of Hongbin rejecting him. For now. In the end, they all finished making their very own handmade chocolates. Taekwoon made a simple puppy paw-shaped chcolate sincehe and Hakyeon liked animals. Jaehwan made heart shaped  chocolates since Taekwoon won't allow him to make a whip patterned chocolate. And, Sanghyuk made one chocolate ball.

Valentine’s Day.

As usual, female students were giving chocolates to the boys they like. There were some boys who gave chocolates instead, following the reverse trend, while others bought it for themselves. The day went as normally as it could. Dismissal time and Taekwoon left first since he was meeting up with Hakyeon. Sanghyuk and Jaehwan on the other hand roamed around to look for Hongbin since Sanghyuk still hasn’t given him his chocolate.

The two were strolling the second floor when Jaehwan felt tired to do another round of ‘Let’s look for Hingbon.’ Jaehwan scratched his head. “Why won’t you just call him? We’ve been walking around in circles.”

Sanghyuk laughed nervously. “Oh...you’re right. I could have done that.”

Jaehwan stomped his feet violently. He sighed. “Dude. Seriously. You better give that chocolate to him since I’m holding back here. I want to spank you for dragging me into this.”

“Okay, okay. I’m going to call him.” Sanghyuk pulled out his phone and called Hongbin. It wasn’t long when Hongbin answered. Thankfully, Hongbin was still in school and was about to leave. They decided to meet up at the locker room since Hongbin was there. The two went down to the locker room and found Hongbin waiting. Jaehwan purposely slowed himself so that the two can have some privacy.

Sanghyuk walked up to Hongbin who was standing by the door. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s okay.” Hongbin said. “What is it that you want to talk about?”     

“Actually, I want to give you something.” Sanghyuk mustered up his courage. He took out a blue box from his bag and gave it to Hongbin. Sanghyuk smiled sheepishly, “It’s chocolate.”

“Oh.” Hongbin stared at the blue box he was now holding. Sanghyuk then explained that the reason why he was giving Hongbin such a gift was because it was Valentine’s Day and it was a friendship chocolate. Nothing weird. 

“I’m really happy that we got to be friends.” Sanghyuk chuckled. “Also, it’s my way of saying thank you for tutoring me. I passed all my exams thanks to you.” Sanghyuk swore that he saw Hongbin blush at that moment. His heart was pacing faster than ever but he had to maintain his cool for the moment. He had to be cool. HE HAD TO BE. The two looked at each other for a moment. In silence. Sanghyuk had no idea what was happening between them and to be honest, he felt uncomfortable. The thought of Hongbin rejecting him came to his mind.

“I—“ Hongbin started. “I actually was going to give you chocolate too.” Hongbin stifled a laugh. He then put the blue box inside his bag and took out a similar box only his was white. “I made one for you too. I wasn’t sure if you would like it so I didn’t give—“

“I LIKE THEM!” Sanghyuk blurted out. “I mean—I like them. Thank you.” Sanghyuk clumsily took the chocolate from Hongbin and smiled like a puppy. He wanted to scream right that very instant. I got to give him chocolates AND he gave me some as well! Hongbin let out a laugh. He really liked seeing Sanghyuk’s childish side. “By the way congratulations on passing your exams again. I didn’t get to congratulate last time.”

“Thanks. You too.” Sanghyuk joked. “Even though we all know you passed.”

“Funny.”

Hongbin arrived home and placed his belongings on the floor. He let his body sunk on the couch and sighed. Valentine’s Day. The day where he gets tired the most every year. Thanks to the girls who kept coming at him and giving him their chocolates, Hongbin ran out of energy. He wasn’t someone who would mingle well with other people but for some reason whenever Valentine’s Day comes, girls approach him all the time and due to wanting to be nice to others, Hongbin couldn’t say no. Hongbin stared at his bag. Inside were tons of chocolate gifts from different years and schools. He sighed. He opened them and frowned. Hongbin stared at the large amount of chocolate in his bag. One box caught his eyes. Sanghyuk’s. He pulled it out from the rest and opened it. He then found one medium-sized chocolate ball. He smiled. He remembered Sanghyuk mentioning to him that the chocolate was handmade and it was the only thing that came out pretty. Hongbin took a bite. I don’t even like sweets but this one is an exception. It’s bitter.

“Are you going to eat it or not?” Wonsik asked Sanghyuk who was staring at the chocolate Hongbin gave him for quite some time now. Wonsik poked his friend one more time. “Hey. Hyuk.”

“What? WHAT?” Sanghyuk snapped. Wonsik laughed and repeated his question, this time Sanghyuk answered. He shrugged. “Later. I’m savoring this very moment.” And went back to staring. Wonsik sighed, defeated.

“Well you’re no help.” Wonsik commented. The two met at Wonsik’s house to hang out but it seems like Sanghyuk’s thoughts were in someplace else. Seeing his friend preoccupied with his own thoughts, Wonsik began to look into his friend’s bag for something to play or do with. He then noticed another chocolate box inside the bag and without any permission or whatsoever, Wonsik opened it and ate a portion of it.

“Hey. Who gave you this one?” Wonsik asked, popping another piece of chocolate into his mouth. Sanghyuk glanced at Wonsik and saw him holding the chocolate Jaehwan made.

“Oh. A friend. He didn’t have anyone to give so he told me to eat it instead.”

“Oh. Too bad. It’s delicious. If she gave this to someone she likes, he’ll definitely like her back.” Wonsik chewed. “I like her now.”

“He.”

“What?”

“The one who made that is my friend. He’s name is Jae---I mean—uhmm…” Sanghyuk almost slipped. “Ken! His name is Ken!”

“Well then, tell Ken I like him and his chocolate.” Wonsik grinned.

“Aha….sure…” No way in hell bro. No freaking way.

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there we go^^ chapter 3 is out Please do share your thoughs on this one, it will help me in improving, thank you~ Feel free to subscribe, comment and upvote!