Ong Seongwoo was not the type of person to dislike a lot of things. Sure, he cowered at the sight of a bee, or a cockroach, or even just a mosquito. And sure, once or twice he had his own prank backfire on him because random passersby accidentally gave him a surprise attack as he snuck up on other people (and he absolutely despised failing at this sort of thing, which he considered his own expertise). And sure, he was deathly afraid of ghosts, and hated having to do chores alone at night because of it. But apart from such things, he liked mostly everything. And most everyone liked him, too... except for his teachers. But despite the fact that he had, on multiple occasions, been branded "public enemy number one" by the faculty at Mireu High for being a troublemaker and repeat offender, he didn't hate being their student either. The teachers even sincerely wished for him to graduate, which he appreciated, even though it was less likely because they wanted him to succeed in life, and more because they wanted him out of school already, as he had long since overstayed his welcome. But that didn't stop him from annoying the heck out of them during detention, sometimes on purpose. 

Oh, once he did manage to graduate, he would definitely miss his teachers. But the one person and the one place Seongwoo hated the most in the world?

The vice principal. And the vice principal's office. In front of which he just so happened to be sitting, because of his quadrillionth attempt at stirring up trouble. He had been to the office so many times before, he had practically memorized the map of Korea that was framed and on display just outside the office, across from where he was seated. He was horrible at geography, but he could tell you where every province was in relation to everywhere else. He even knew how many tiles were on the floor (360 at last count), how many leaves were on the plants (27 on Kimchi and 35.5 on Cheese, because one was half-eaten for some reason), even how many stray white hairs were on the vice principal's balding head (way too many hairs for a guy his age), because he made a habit of counting them as the vice principal droned on with his unnecessary spiel on how tired he was of seeing Ong's face. An extra hair probably sprouted out of stress just by talking to him. But who would even get tired of seeing such a handsome face so often, anyway? The vice principal should feel grateful Seongwoo even bothered with a visit since he was always in very high demand with the ladies. 

Man, how he wished to be with them instead of in this hellhole waiting for judgment day to arrive, yet again. He drummed his fingers against his knees impatiently. What was taking the old guy so long anyway? Seongwoo stood up, walking across the waiting room to the door of the main office, pressing his ear against the small space between the door and its frame, straining to listen in.

"...your mother and father in Taiwan..." he heard the vice principal saying. "... donated so kindly to our school..." 

Ong pressed his ear closer. The snippets of the conversation he was hearing made little sense. A donation? But this was just a student he was talking to wasn't it? 

"...though you're in Class D..." "...not required to share room with student Lee Daehwi anymore..." "...your parents asked for only the best for you..." "...your family's generosity..."

What was this? Was the vice principal offering a Class D student the privileges reserved for A ranked students only? Seongwoo distinctly remembered the sort of hardship he had to go through just to get a room of his own and escape the torture of sharing a space with his noisy Idol track roommate (it involved a bribe, a couple of bottles of soju, some drunken confessions, and a short-lived romance with his Theatre Arts professor. Well, sort of. Ong was only acting his part, but he guessed his acting was extremely believable to naive girls). And yet whoever this kid was, he was being given some sort of free pass... who was he anyway? 

He heard the students voice next, and Seongwoo was surprised at how deep it was. 

"...no need for special privilege..." "...already gave up my scholarship..." "...not the best, but I'll prove myself soon..."

Hmm. Seongwoo could hear this clearer since the student's chair was nearer to the door, but his accent was thick so he wasn't sure he was hearing it right. Well, at least one person had common sense in this place. 

Wait, two people. Seongwoo wasn't too shabby himself, either. 

But just as Seongwoo began pressing his ear to listen in further, the door swung open. Seongwoo straightened himself, and immediately began employing his acting chops to salvage the situation. 

"Wow that surprised me," he said, feigning the surprise with his expression. "So you're done? That was quick."

"What do you think you're doing?" The vice principal demanded. "So you've resorted to eavesdropping now, have you?"

Seongwoo feigned as much scorn and indifference as he could muster. "I was practicing my ear-folding technique." From the corner of his vision, he noted the student behind the vice-principal. He glanced upwards at him to give him a proper look. 

Okay, first of all this guy was as lean as a bean pole and as tall as a basketball player. Wait, he'd seen that face somewhere before. Was it on television? Was he actually a basketball player somewhere?

And hey, he was almost as good-looking as Seongwoo himself. Almost. "You know how to do it?" he addressed the boy, smiling. The boy looked confused. Seongwoo demonstrated his ear-folding technique, first with his left ear and then his right.

The boy suppressed a chuckle. "Cool! How'd you do that?" Seongwoo smiled knowingly, then unfolded them both at the same time. "I can do it while dabbing, too."

The boy's look turned to something akin to admiration. "Really?" 

Seongwoo nodded. "Actually, I was practicing a new technique. It's ear-folding with my ear pressed to the door, which is why I was doing that just then. I was trying to see if I could unfold it while doing that, since I was bored out of my mind and needed a new gimmick for my promotion exam performance." It was a lame, unbelievable excuse if he ever heard one, but it was the best he could do. 

"That is a lame, unbelievable excuse if I've ever heard one," the vice principal said, seeing right through him. 

"Why are you being so suspicious?" Seongwoo countered. "Were you talking about something suspicious? Besides, I bet you can hear nothing through this crack. Try it yourself." 

The vice principal shot him a look of disgust. "If you even dare--"

"Seongwoo pretended not to hear him. "I'm actually trying to showcase some variety skills here and there," he told the boy. "I'm actually pretty interested in pursuing a double track of Actor and Host/Comedian." At least this wasn't too much of a lie. But if he were being honest with himself, there was another track he really wanted to pursue. But he would never admit it out loud. 

"Impressive." The boy said, looking at him with adoration. "That's good for you, hyung."

"Don't think for one second I believe you," The vice principal continued. "If you get caught doing the same thing twice, I will not be so kind. I have a duty to uphold here as vice principal, and inappropriate behavior will not go ignored."

Liar, Seongwoo thought to himself. You speak of abiding by the rules, yet you try and bribe a student with privileges because you're trying to impress his wealthy parents for them to donate even more money to the school. Or your pocket.

"Let's just let it go, vice principal," the student said, trying to sound polite. "I think someone else is waiting for you outside there, too." He gestured to the door at the entrance of the waiting room, where yet another boy had entered, as silent as a fox. At this, the vice-principal shot Seongwoo a long look, and then finally sighed in defeat. 

"Let's settle this matter a different time," he said. "You may go, Mr. Lai Kuanlin. Thank you for your time. And tell your parents I send them my greetings."

Kuanlin smiled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. There was a certain graveness in them that mimicked Seongwoo's own. I kinda like this kid, he decided. Kuanlin bowed to the vice principal and them to him before excusing himself, but not before Seongwoo managed to give him a look that said. Thanks man, you saved my hide. After Kuanlin left smiling, the vice-principal gestured to the other boy waiting at the entrance. "Come in, Daniel." He then turned to Seongwoo, both his tone and expression changing from gentleness to displeasure. "You too. And don't even try to do anything stupid this time."

After being seated inside the office, Seongwoo took the liberty of examining the student who had come with him. Now this was a face he had seen multiple