The next days Minho and his friends were not in the mood to party anymore. They studied extra hard for their own end-of-term exams.and all their professors had given them documents to study assembled into thick corpuses. Pages and pages of laws from different countries, of cases where justice had to intervene be it in trade, child endangering, domestic violence or involuntary homicide. 

Though tedious, their field of study was fascinating to Minho and he believed he would pass his exams without too much trouble if he studied enough. Good thing he hadn't gotten sick right now. Yet, he was slightly anxious that he hadn't started studying early enough and especially in international law where the documents and the essay he'd have to write would be in English, which was not his strong suit.  

Jinki was good at English but when he had to revise for exams, he'd shut himself in his bedroom and study alone. He said he couldn't concentrate otherwise. Even in class, he was so focused that he barely spared his friends a glance or talked to them. Minho had always been impressed by how Jinki could go from a hilarious cheerful goofball to Kibum's twin when he was under pressure. 

As for the rest of his friends, their English level was not better than his so it didn't make sense to ask them to tutor him. Kim Kibum surely was close to being bilingual but Minho would rather fail his exams than ask the top student for help. Moreover, asking for favours when he had practically never talked to him would make him look desperate and opportunistic.

Worrying about international law in his business law class was not good, his teacher's lecture glided over him as if he was telling the weather forecast or some uninteresting piece of news. He knew that if he kept on staring at Pr Kwon with glassy eyes, he'd get a pointed comment from him. Professor Kwon was known for being particularly strict. No one could arrive late, play on their phone or eat snacks without receiving a sharp look from the teacher but since the business law teacher was busy giving them a lecture, Minho took the chance to discreetly send a message on Kakaotalk to the most academically gifted person he knew.

"Hey! Are you good at English by any chance?"

The answer came quickly, fortunately, his phone was on mute.

"I'd say I am, yes. Why?"

"I need help for my exams, got time?"

"Sure! When would you..."

-Mr Choi, if my lesson bores you that much, you're free to go. You come here by your own free will, I'm not holding you hostage as far as I know, so either you get to work or you leave.

Being told off like a kid sent a wave of shame mixed with a bit of anger crashing over him but he had no choice but to apologize and promise he'd be attentive. It's only when his class was over that he could check his phone again on his way to the next. 

"Sure! When would you want to meet? If your exams are close, I'm okay with any day, my schedule is quite open"

"Awesome! You save my life! Let's do Tuesdays and Thursdays if that's ok with you"

He received a thumb up as a confirmation, it appeased his nervousness a bit. Even if he failed international law, he'd have tried his best. 

Criminal law class had not yet started, he took a seat in the auditorium, next to Jonghyun. Jinki was browsing his notes from the last lesson, looking unavailable. Minho's row still had a couple of seats available and it's this row that Kibum chose. Of course, he didn't sit right next to Minho, they were separated by one empty seat.

Surprised that he hadn't chosen one of the first front rows, Minho couldn't help but glance at Kibum who caught his look. His almond-shaped eyes stared back at Minho with his usual jaded look. He pulled up his glasses and said:

- You're friends with Taemin. He told me.

- Uh... yes. He told me about you too.

Minho thought it would be the end of their conversation as Kibum didn't answer right away but he went on:

- He wouldn't like me telling you this but well... He's a good kid. He will never hurt you, never be jealous, never criticise you, never play mind games. He's not too good at standing up for himself. He says yes when he means no. He smiles even when he wants to cry. So I hope you'll keep that in mind.

- ... ok. Yeah... sure.

Kibum's sharp look wasn't unlike Pr Kwon's. A piercing look that seemed to have the capacity to even read your mind. The top student's bluntness unsettled Minho who was at a loss for words. Kibum seemed to know Taemin inside and out but the younger one had once told him they'd been friends ever since they were in elementary school so it wasn't surprising.  

Changmin and Jonghyun hadn't missed a single word from Minho's and Kibum's conversation, seeing the two of them interact was so out of the ordinary that they hadn't resisted the urge to eavesdrop. To keep it discreet, they chatted on Kakaotalk. They got curious about Taemin whom they had met at the bar. Minho told them more details about how they met and Jonghyun was quick to understand that his friend had a crush on the younger student. None of them thought it was outrageous, in their few years in college, they had seen Minho with a couple of different guys and girls. None of them had stayed long but Minho wasn't one to really share his feelings on the matter so his friends never knew why his relationships all crashed and burnt.

Changmin already knew about Taemin but knowing that he was friends with Kibum was new. They were so different, but, Minho and Taemin were too and they had managed to befriend each other. 

Their teacher arrived while they were in the middle of their conversation. They mixed work with some occasional comments on their Kakaotalk conversation but three hours of criminal law to finish his day in college, killed Minho's last brain cells. Yet, he still had to study. Going back home wouldn't help, too many distractions. He decided to go to the school library. During exam periods, it was open until 10 pm. 

Jonghyun and Changmin's brains were too fried to think of revisions so he went alone. Well, not completely. Kibum followed him there but this time, he sat at a good distance from Minho since they had nothing to say to each other. A couple of other students were scattered in the beautiful library which gave "old European library" vibes. The walls were covered with old wooden bookshelves. The long tables had copper lamps with glass lampshades and the ceiling was a glass dome where during the day, light poured in, but at 6 in the afternoon in winter, only the stars shone weakly above his head. 

He was reading one of his textbooks when his phone screen lit up. He gladly took this opportunity to rest his brain for a second.

"Hello Minho! Eun Ji told me you're soon to take your exams. Good luck! I hope you'll do great. I know it's maybe not the best of times, but do you want to go and watch a movie? To take a break from all your books and notes!"

Minho really wanted to stop studying and enjoy a movie with Taemin but he still had some sense of responsibility. It took him quite some willpower to decline. He promised him he'd go with him once his exams were over. Taemin understood and answered that he knew the chances Minho had time to spare were low. 

However, Minho still felt guilty, Kibum's words came back to his mind. "He says yes when he means no and he smiles when he wants to cry." Taemin probably hid his disappointment in order not to upset Minho or guilt-trip him into accepting. 

The next day was another long day of class but since it was a Thursday, he also had English tutoring. Eun Ji and he had agreed to meet at Minho's so as soon as classes were over, he said goodbye to his friends and hoped on the bus to be on time at home. 

Wih the traffic and the many stops, he ended being 10 minutes late but Eun Ji had already been invited inside by Mrs Choi.