Sehun jolted awake the next morning feeling very confused.  Where was he?  What was going on?  What day was it?  He looked around his still-dark bedroom, trying to figure out what had woken him up, and jumped in panic again when he felt his left cheek vibrate.  Sighing in relief when he realized it was just his phone, he reached underneath himself and pulled it out of the sheets where it had gotten buried while he was sleeping.  He unlocked the screen and saw two new messages from Kyungsoo; one telling him he better not be late, and another telling him to wake his up and get moving.  Checking the time and seeing that he only had fifteen minutes to get there, Sehun groaned and stood up, sending a message back to let Kyungsoo know he was on his way.

-

“You made it,” Kyungsoo said from his place behind the register when Sehun entered the coffee shop fourteen minutes and twenty-nine seconds later.  Sehun didn’t appreciate his sass so early in the morning, but chose to keep his annoyance to himself.  Kyungsoo was doing him a favor, and he didn’t want to make a bad impression on his first day.

“Yeah.  Uh, thanks again for helping me with this so quick,” he said, watching as Kyungsoo handed the woman at the counter her drink.  He stepped out of the way when she turned and brushed past him to get to the exit, leaving the two boys alone in the store. 

“No problem.  I mean, technically you’re helping me out, too.  The faster you get trained, the faster I can quit,” Kyungsoo reminded him.  “Come on.”  He gestured for Sehun to come behind the counter with him, then led him through a set of double doors and into a short hallway.  They stopped at the first door on the left and Kyungsoo knocked.  When they heard a faint “Come in!” come from the other side of the door, Kyungsoo turned the knob and let them in.

“Hey, he’s here,” Sehun heard Kyungsoo say as he followed him into the small, brightly-lit office.

“Ah, Sehun, nice to meet you,” the man who must be Kyungsoo’s uncle said, standing and extending his hand across the desk between them.  Sehun shook his hand and took a seat in the only chair in the room, apart from the one behind the desk, when it was offered.  “Thanks, Kyungsoo.”

Recognizing his dismissal, Kyungsoo let himself out, closing the door behind him.

“Alright, Sehun, I’ve got a few papers for you to fill out.”

-

An hour later, Sehun was on his way to school.  After what seemed like an endless amount of paperwork, he was given a training schedule for the next few days based on when Kyungsoo would be there to work with him.  He had to be back half an hour after school ended to watch some videos, then he would get some practical experience with Kyungsoo at the register when he was finished.  And then he had to go right back at five-thirty the next morning to learn how to open the store.  He was already concerned about the amount of sleep he was going to lose.

-

Jongin was starving.

Not just ‘I could go for a slice or two of pizza right now’ hungry.  No, this was ‘my stomach is trying to digest itself’ starvation.  Or at least that’s what it felt like.  Jongin couldn’t remember ever feeling so hungry.

Of course, it wouldn’t have been so bad if his body had just cooperated with him that morning and let him eat something.  But no, his stomach had to go and try to turn itself inside out at the first whiff of the eggs his mom had been kind enough to make for him.  (The whole thing with smells that had never bothered him before suddenly making him want to throw up everything he had ever eaten in his entire life was already getting really old.)

The obvious solution to Jongin's problem was to go to the cafeteria and get something to eat.  The problem with that solution, however, was that he and Sehun shared a lunch period, and he wasn’t sure how the other would react if they crossed paths.  It had been easy to avoid him all morning since they didn’t have any classes together that day, but he didn’t think his luck would hold out if they were in the same room, regardless of how big said room was.

He decided he had to take the chance, however, reasoning with himself that the fact of the matter was that he was no longer responsible for only himself, and he had to get used to doing things for the well-being of his kid whether he liked those things or not.  During his whole walk across the school he told himself that he would just get in and get out; buy something quick and then sit outside in the courtyard.  It wasn’t too cold to do that yet.  He wouldn’t even be in there long enough to see Sehun, or for Sehun to see him.  It would be fine.

So, of course, as soon as he stepped through the door into the loud lunch room, he looked up and immediately saw Sehun.  He was at their usual table, dropping his bag on a chair.  Then he was turning away from the table and taking a step in Jongin's direction.  Then their eyes were meeting.  Then Sehun froze in his tracks.

He looked… shocked?  To see Jongin?  No, not shocked.  He looked scared.  Terrified, even.  Like seeing Jongin was at the top of his list of nightmares and now it was coming true.

Disappointment, embarrassment, anger, and sadness all seemed to be vying for the title of Jongin's Most Overwhelming Emotion when Sehun made no move to come any closer to him.  He had told himself to expect it, knew it was coming with the way Sehun had run away from him the day before.  But Jongin still couldn’t control the tears that sprang to his eyes at having to actually experience it.

Ok, screw the food.  He would buy Baby an entire pizza later to make up for it, but he had to get out of there.  Hoping that no one had noticed his mini breakdown, Jongin quickly turned and darted out the door he had just come in.  He rubbed at his eyes, wiping away the moisture gathered in his lashes as he hightailed it away from the cafeteria, no plan in mind as to where he was going.

After wandering around aimlessly for a while, Jongin eventually found himself in front of an empty dance classroom and let himself in.  He had taken dance classes when he was younger, but gave it up as he got older and decided (influenced by several of his friends) that it was lame and “girly”.  He had always liked his dance classes, though, and being in the studio brought about a sense of nostalgia.  It was peaceful in there, and he suddenly couldn’t think of a better place to spend the rest of the day.

-

Oooh .

As Sehun made eye contact with Jongin across the room, he realized how big of a mistake he had made.  Less than twenty-four hours ago, Jongin had told him probably the most important thing he could ever tell him, and Sehun left him alone with nothing more than a promise to talk to him later that night that he didn’t even keep.  In his rush to try to do the Right Thing for his future child, he forgot that Jongin was there in the present and needed his emotional support right away.  Sehun felt like pretty much the biggest on the planet right at that point.

By the time Sehun’s epiphany had been had and he refocused on the world around him, Jongin was out of sight.  Cursing under his breath, Sehun took off in the direction Jongin must have disappeared in.  He didn’t know what he could possibly say to apologize for being such a totally insensitive prick, but he had to at least find him and say something.

He checked the bathrooms right outside the cafeteria doors, hoping to get lucky, but Jongin wasn’t there.  Nor was he in the library, his next class, or the supply room on the second floor they would sneak off to every once in a while when they were bored.  When he had exhausted all of Jongin's usual hangouts, he pulled his phone out of his pocket to text him and ask where he was, but it wouldn’t turn on. 

Of course it was dead, he had slept on it instead of charging it last night.  Fantastic.

Twenty minutes into his search, Sehun realized it was futile.  Jongin obviously didn’t want to be found, so Sehun would give him his space.  He stopped his hunt and headed back to the cafeteria to pick up his bag that had been sitting there unattended the whole time. 

-

Jongin was surprised that he was able to stay in the dance room undisturbed for the rest of the day.  He was sure someone would show up and tell him to go to class, or at least kick him out so another class could use the room.  He had spent the time going over the chapter they were supposed to cover in his math class that day.  Most of it was understandable, but he did have a few questions for his teacher the next time he bothered to show up to class.

When three-thirty rolled around, he packed up his books and left the room, joining the throng of students making their way to the exit.  He kept his head down and tried to make himself as unnoticeable as possible, while simultaneously keeping watch for Sehun.  Just when he thought he was clear, he caught sight of him near the main exit.  Jongin hid behind a staircase, intending to wait until Sehun had gotten far clear of the door before he moved.

But Sehun wasn’t going anywhere.  In fact, he was facing away from the door and seemed to be waiting for someone.  That was a little bit odd because the only person Sehun ever waited for at the end of the day was Jongin.  And Sehun didn’t want to be around Jongin anymore.  Right?

Right.  That was right.  Sehun had made it clear that that was what he wanted.  Jongin wasn’t going to fool himself into thinking that there was still a chance.  And look, right there, Kyungsoo was walking up to Sehun and talking to him, and they were leaving together.  He hadn’t been waiting for Jongin after all.

Once they had gone, Jongin waited another minute to make sure he wouldn’t run into either of them outside, then emerged from his hiding spot and went home.

-

“Are you sure you’re ok?” Kyungsoo asked Sehun as they walked across the school parking lot together.  “You were acting weird at lunch, like more weird than normal, and right now you seem kind of… not with it.”

Sehun cleared his throat and looked up at Kyungsoo.  “Yeah, I’m fine,” he lied.  Kyungsoo didn’t look convinced.  Damn.

“Does it have anything to do with why you suddenly needed a job at midnight last night?”  Ugh, why did he have to be so perceptive?  Sehun looked away from him and kept his mouth shut.  “Ok, your business is your business.  Fair enough.  But if you something up and my uncle fires you because you’re incompetent, that’s on you.”  Sehun snorted.  “Also, if you need to talk to someone, just let me know.”

Sehun knew he needed to talk to Jongin before he talked to anyone else about any of his problems, but he appreciated that Kyungsoo was willing to be there for him if he needed it.  “Thanks,” he muttered quietly just before they parted ways to go to their own cars. 

it's nearly 6 am and i haven't slept.  but i was writing and i thought it was decent and now i have a chapter for you guys that i'm pretty ok with. hope you liked it :)  if you see anything that needs fixed please let me know.