The last weeks of June arrived, and with them, the summer holidays came too. Changkyun was going to Geochang to his parents' house, saying goodbye to the first semester of the college year. They probably would also spend a few days on Jeju Island to visit his paternal grandparents.

Kihyun and Hyunwoo insisted on accompanying him to the train station, but the little boy refused their offer, since it was going to be his boyfriend who was going to take him. Although he omitted that detail.

He still hadn’t told his friends that he was officially dating Wonho now, but he suspected they already knew. By now it would be obvious to them.

“Did you take your comics?” Kihyun asked at his side. Changkyun packed his last sweater into the suitcase that rested on his bed before turning to his worried roommate. “And your glasses?”

"Yes, mom," the black haired boy replied with a small smile.

"Stop standing over the kid," Hyunwoo said patiently from the doorway of the bedroom. Kihyun gave him one of his snorts and followed Changkyun to the bathroom and continued to ask him questions while he brushed his teeth.

After answering everything, Kihyun was calmer. The black haired found that he still had ten minutes left, so he decided to take a quick shower.

His two friends waited for him in the living room: the pink-haired was also going to take a train that afternoon to spend the summer with his family, and Hyunwoo was going to stay in their apartment to work in a nearby restaurant and thus earn some extra money.

A while later, someone knocked on the door, and Kihyun couldn’t help but be surprised to see that it was Wonho. The brunette was standing in front of him, with a Hawaiian short sleeved shirt that could only suit him and his usual piercings and choker; with nervousness, the newcomer greeted him and asked if he could come in.

A strange smile formed on the lips of the shorter one and he stepped aside to let him in; Only a minute passed and Wonho was already cornered by Changkyun's two friends: he was sitting on the living room sofa, and the two boys were standing in front of him and folding their arms.

The only thing Wonho could do in that situation was swallow.

“Are you hungry? Or do you want to drink something, maybe?” Kihyun asked, trying to be nice, but he just made Wonho uncomfortable, who shook his head with a forced smile.

“Are you here to pick up our Changkyunnie?” Hyunwoo asked in a neutral tone. Wonho was relieved to talk to him, since he was much calmer than his short friend. Besides, he had seen him more times at the sports center, and they had engaged some conversations from time to time.

“Yeah...” he answered rubbing his hands on his black, ripped jeans. The sound of running water told him that his boyfriend was probably taking a shower, but still he chose to ask the obvious. “Is Changkyun in the bathroom?”

Both nodded and remained silent; time passed and the awkwardness continued to grow. Wonho shrunk on the sofa, thinking of what to say to break the ice.

“Since how long have you two been dating?”

Kihyun's question made all his muscles freeze. Somehow, he felt as if he were standing before Changkyun's parents, asking for permission to go out with their son.

“For like… a week,” Wonho tried to answer decisively, but spoke in a higher tone than he would have liked. Why was he so scared? They were only his boyfriend's friends, it wasn’t like they were going to forbid him to go out with him. Now he and Changkyun were together, so what? There was nothing wrong with that. “Look, you don’t have to worry, I-”

However, he stopped when Hyunwoo approached him and lifted the sleeve of his black shirt to show him his muscular right arm. To say that Wonho was confused was to fall short; the brunette’s eyes alternated between his arm and his robotic expression, without understanding why the hell he was showing him his biceps.

"Changkyunnie has strange habits when he drinks alcohol," explained Hyunwoo, pointing to some teeth marks on his arm. Kihyun nodded, remembering how two days ago the pianist had succumbed again under the influence of soju. “You think you can handle it?”

Wonho's mouth was slightly ajar in disbelief. He finally giggled nervously, hoping that it was some kind of joke, but the seriousness of both told him otherwise and he cleared his throat feeling uncomfortable.

"I already knew," he said, rubbing his neck. Of course he knew it, since he had had the pleasure of being bitten by a drunk and adorable Changkyun.

This time, it was Kihyun who approached him. “He's a very clumsy child," warned the pink-haired boy. “He gets distracted very easily with anything, so you have to be careful. And besides," he added, pointing him with his index finger, "you must make sure that he wears his glasses, even if he doesn’t want to.”

All Wonho could do was nod repeatedly.

"Also, try to make him go out from time to time," Hyunwoo added, pulling back the sleeve of his shirt. “It's hard for him to socialize, he’ll always prefer staying at home than going out and have fun.”

The brunette took mental notes of all the recommendations and nodded again.

"And lastly," Kihyun said, squinting. Wonho swallowed, waiting for some threat to come, "take care of him.” The worry was evident in his words and Wonho didn’t know what to say. Kihyun took a seat next to him and looked at him with a tired expression. “It's the first time that Changkyun is dating someone... and that's why we're worried.”

Hoseok's eyes widened in surprise: Am I... his first boyfriend? How come I didn’t know?

Silence invaded the room for a while until Wonho decided to speak: the news that Changkyun had never dated anyone before had caught him off guard.

"I'll take care of him," he said with a genuine smile. That was the pure truth, he would never allow anyone to harm him; suddenly, he remembered the night Changkyun had clung to him in his car, asking him to take him home. He still didn’t know what had happened in the past, and that angered and frightened him at the same time; he had clear that, from now on, he would always be there to protect him. “I promise.”

That caused some relief in the two boys; Kihyun smiled at him and nodded, while Hyunwoo patted him on the shoulder. The fourth-year boy couldn’t help but smile: it seemed that he had just been accepted into that strange family, and somehow he was happy about it.

Just then, the bedroom door opened and Changkyun came out: he wore a striped sweater and held a denim jacket in one hand, and in the other he held the handle of his wheeled suitcase. His hair was still wet from the shower, and he looked with a confused expression at the situation before him.

Wonho thought he looked as cute as always.

"Oh," he murmured, raising his eyebrows. “Wonho? You arrived early..." The aforementioned pressed his lips together and laced his fingers on his knees as Changkyun approached them. The black haired boy looked at Kihyun suspiciously. “What were you guys doing to him?”

The shorter one wasn’t offended by the accusation and shrugged with a relaxed expression.

“We were just having an adult conversation, right?” Wonho nodded with a smile and Changkyun frowned, making a pout for being excluded from the group of adults. But he decided not to make a fuss about it and he made a gesture with his head to the brunette, indicating that it was time to leave.

Wonho got up and followed him to the door, but not before saying goodbye properly to the other two. The smile he received from Kihyun and Hyunwoo gave him a bad feeling, as if it had the subliminal message: ‘if you break your promise, you’re a dead man'.

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Since they had left the apartment and even on their way in his car, a strange feeling chased Wonho and didn’t leave him alone. That's why he had lost himself in his thoughts, looking at nothing and trying to find an explanation to why he had a bad feeling.

The voice of the woman who echoed through the station's speakers brought Wonho out of his reverie. She was announcing the arrival of the train whose destination was Geochang: it was Changkyun’s train.

He his seat to the little boy, who was sitting next to him on one of the wooden benches scattered across the station; Changkyun was too distracted folding a leaflet about the environment that a man had given them to realize that his train had arrived.

Gently, he placed a hand on his knee and caressed the skin exposed through the holes of his jeans, managing to capture his attention.

“Come on, your train is here.”

Changkyun stretched and finally got up; both walked very close to each other until they reached the area where the ticket should be shown and only passengers could pass. Wonho took a deep breath, thinking about the best way to say goodbye: the idea of not seeing his boyfriend again for an entire month didn’t appeal to him very much; rather, he would be glad that suddenly the train suffered some technical breakdown and couldn’t leave the station.

That way, he would have Changkyun for him.

He shook his head, scolding himself for his immature thoughts. Changkyun must have missed his family, it was so selfish of him wanting to keep the puppy for himself.

"I have to get going, hyung," Changkyun said, seeing that Wonho didn’t say anything. He gave him a small smile that showed his dimples and turned around with the intention of leaving. It was then that Hoseok reacted and grabbed his arm.

“Hey, hey, what kind of farewell is that?” he said offended. The dark haired boy frowned without understanding. “Do you think you can leave me here for a month and get away with it?”

Changkyun thought for a moment before answering with a rather expressionless 'yep' that annoyed Wonho. By now, he should be fairly used to his poor signs of affection and his typical replies full of apparent indifference and coldness, but that never failed to annoy him.

And Changkyun knew it.

"You're very cruel," Wonho muttered, pouting and pulling on the other's sweater. “You hurt my heart.”

Changkyun's thin lips curved and he shook his head, sighing for Wonho's childish attitude; they hadn’t been dating for a long time, and he could predict his behavior. “I knew you'd say that.”

“Do you know what’s the only thing that can cure me?” Wonho inquired, still a little annoyed at the coldness with which he was being treated. Then he pointed to his own cheek and leaned toward him, hoping to receive a kiss.

Changkyun's eyes wandered to the sides to check that no one was looking at them and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Not satisfied, Wonho pulled him close and wrapped him in a warm hug.

The small boy gave in and returned the hug, hiding his red cheeks against his chest. Wonho felt as if a hand were squeezing his throat, and his eyes began to itch: for some reason, he felt that he shouldn’t let go.

Wonho hugged him tightly and they stayed that way for a long time, swinging gently to the sides; none of them wanted to say goodbye.

When they finally parted, Hoseok hided his anguish and fondly caressed his black hair, giving him a sweet kiss on his forehead and telling him not to forget to send a message as soon as he arrived at his parents' house. Changkyun nodded and smiled shyly before going with his suitcase to the counter where he had to show the ticket.

The pianist was walking along the platform and, just before getting into the train, he turned to say goodbye with the hand to Wonho, who hadn’t moved from his place. The elder waved at him animatedly from the distance and sniffed his watery nose caused for having contained the tears. He couldn’t help it, he had always been a crybaby.

He tried to ignore the bad feeling that was eating his head and wished that the next month would pass quickly so he could hug his Changkyun again.

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A lot of heat and boredom, that defined Changkyun’s holidays perfectly. He wasn’t the type to want to go back to school because he missed his friends, mainly because in his previous schools he never had any friends to miss.

But this time it was different. He missed the nightly rehearsals of his flatmate's plays, the comfortable silences he shared with Hyunwoo and, of course, the scenes that those two made when they tried to act like his parents.

However, what he missed the most was the giggle of a certain idiot, which hadn’t listened in person for a month. Chatting on the phone with Wonho and phone calls had helped a little to make his stay on Jeju Island a little more bearable.

He had arrived at the student residence the previous day, and had spent most of the night talking to Kihyun about what they had done on their holydays and sharing a lot of funny experiences. Maybe he shouldn’t have told Kihyun about how he fell from his grandfather's boat when they went all together fishing, because he laughed like crazy at him and called Hyunwoo just to tell him the funny but embarrassing anecdote.

And today was the first day of classes; his nerves were killing him for seeing Wonho again.

He was dying to see him and hug him. But of course he wouldn’t tell him, because that would only increase his ego. Just imagining Wonho taking pleasure in the fact that he had missed him made him smile on his way to college.

On the steps of the entrance of the faculty, he met Minhyuk, who was absorbed in his mobile and didn’t notice his presence until he passed by his side. The redhead greeted him with one of his typical cheerful smiles and asked him about his holydays. It was the first time they spoke since those messages they exchanged over the phone and Changkyun tried not to feel uncomfortable, answering him as best he could.

He still didn’t know if Minhyuk had lied to him or if he really thought that Wonho had a girlfriend and had only warned him without any ulterior motive; but he preferred to opt for the second option and turn the page of all that matter.

He said goodbye to him and went into the building, thinking that Minhyuk didn’t have any reason to lie to him, and that he surely warned him with good intentions; when he was walking through the corridors, he noticed that many eyes were resting on him. An unpleasant sensation ran through his body, but even so he decided to ignore the obtrusive eyes that chased him everywhere and entered his class.

He could momentarily forget what had just happened thanks to Jooheon, who greeted him cheerfully and, for the first time in the year, offered to sit at the desk on his right for the new semester, saying that, that way, they could talk more and share notes or books from time to time.

Changkyun accepted with a smile; Jooheon had never tried to approach him before, and he finally felt that he was beginning to be integrated into Wonho's group. The morning classes ended earlier than expected, and after telling the blonde that they would meet in the cafeteria in ten minutes, he went to the second floor to go to the fourth-year classroom: he wanted, for once, to be him who waited for Wonho to leave class and surprise him.

He pressed his folder to his chest feeling that, with each step he took, his pulse was accelerating more and more. Just when he reached the second floor, a girl who passed by his side bumped into him, hitting his shoulder and causing him to drop his briefcase, all his notes and scores scattered on the floor.

“Oh, sorry!” the straight bangs girl apologized hastily and helped him put the sheets back in the folder; when they both got up, Changkyun thought that her face was familiar. He quickly realized that she was a member of the health and maternity club and bowed his head in gratitude before reaching his hand to grab his briefcase, which she still held between her fingers.

But when he grabbed it, the girl put on strength and didn’t let go of it. The black haired boy looked at her and noticed something strange in his face: she was observing him with half-closed eyes, and contempt was evident in her expression.

“Lim Changkyun?”

A voice behind him echoed in the hallway and he turned around, meeting a girl with long dark hair who was in his class: she was with crossed arms, and beside her was a big guy who had never seen before and another member of Wonho’s club. There was something threatening in their eyes and Changkyun took a step back, feeling intimidated.

"Ye- yeah," he murmured in a tiny voice.

A smile appeared on the dark haired girl's lips and she advanced towards him, causing the little boy to continue backing until he leaned against the wall of the corridor. The other three also surrounded him and Changkyun wished he could flee from there and get away from those people, but fear prevented him from reacting.

“It’s him?” the big guy asked with a mocking smile. The others nodded and Changkyun swallowed hard.

“Who the you think you are to flirt with Wonho oppa?” the girl with bangs asked aggressively. “Do you really think he could like a little like you, huh?”

So all of this is because of Wonho...

Changkyun looked down in fright, but the boy grabbed his jaw hard and lifted his head.

"We'll make sure you don’t dare speak to him again," he hissed, pressing his fingers into his skin. It hurt like hell, but even so Changkyun's voice didn’t come out. He felt a knot on his throat and his whole body was trembling: it was happening again.

His school years were haunting him once again. He was about to fall back into the nightmare he thought he had left behind some years ago, but this time it wasn’t because he was considered a weirdo, but because of Wonho.

Then, the bell that signaled the end of classes sounded; the four of them left laughing, leaving him completely alone, leaning against the wall with a lost look and with a single thought repeating over and over again in his head.

I should never have agreed to be his boyfriend.