"Can I come in?"

Heechul jolted his body, jumping out of his bed when he heard who was outside of his room. After a good minute of calming his heartbeat, he twisted the knob and opened his door slightly.

"Can I come in?" Jungsoo repeated, voice unusually sweet. Heechul frowned as he saw his professor holding two cups of drinks. It only meant one thing—that Jungsoo wanted to talk. Having no choice, Heechul finally opened his door wider. Jungsoo put the cups on Heechul's study table as he pulled out a chair to sit and asked Heechul to sit on the bed, across. He handed a glass of tea he made earlier to his student and sipped his own, letting the tension subsiding although he knew it hardly did.

"W-what's wrong, Prof. Park?"

Heechul was done with all the silence so he had to man up and face whatever his professor intended to talk. He heard Jungsoo let out a heavy sigh which made him even more nervous.

"I went to the orphanage yesterday."

Jungsoo was ready to receive any harsh words from Heechul knowing he had pushed the boundaries by being aware of Heechul's past. He would accept if his student got mad at him for meddling too much but he wouldn't let Heechul go away again.

" I figured," Heechul simply said and put his tea down on the table.

"Sungmin called me saying that you came."

Jungsoo tried to scan any unpleasantness in Heechul's expression but he found none. Continue he did, to the part where he was a hundred percent sure that Heechul wouldn't appreciate.

"I... I– Mrs. Han also told me about your brother. That's how I sort of understand why you got upset."

However, the outburst he expected from his student never happened. Heechul only stared at his lap, muted. Jungsoo sighed and got up from his seat to sit beside Heechul on the edge of the bed, keeping a good distance between them. Heechul's body stiffened.

"You're mad at me, aren't you?"

The older tried to confirm his prejudice.

"It won't change anything."

On the answer, Jungsoo noticed that Heechul's hands were trembling. He badly wanted to comfort him but his brain told him not to follow his heart.

"You can still be angry. I have dug information about you without your permission."

Heechul laughed bitterly, clasping his hands together to hide his emotions. He knew, as soon as Sungmin told him that Jungsoo went to the orphanage, his professor would know him more than he wanted him to do. It should have made him extremely infuriated but a part of him fought against, defending that his professor did that to understand him better. What worried him was to what extent Jungsoo knew.

"What did Mrs. Han tell you?" 

Heechul's voice quivered.

"I... I asked her where you were right then and she said that you likely came to your brother. And then... She told me everything about how she met you and about your cold personality in the beginning."

Jungsoo noticed that Heechul was fidgeting a little, perhaps impatient to hear what he knew about his brother.

"Mrs. Han said that maybe you could relate to what Hyukjae felt that was why she thought I offended you in some way. She... Kind of shared about the unfortunate event that happened to you and your brother. I'm sorry for your loss."

Jungsoo couldn't will down the need to gently pat Heechul's head. But, what did he expect? Heechul immediately swayed his hand away.

"Don't pity me, Prof. Park. I don't need—"

"I don't."

Heechul glared at his professor, ignoring the fact that his vision was blurry from a sheen layer of tears. Jungsoo was neither smiling nor looking sad; his face was too vague, difficult to see.

"I never think of taking pity on you. Instead..."

Jungsoo got up and grabbed his teacup. Heechul gazed up at his professor, waiting for the continuation.

"I admire you. I can't imagine how depressed you were back then and if it were me, I didn't think I'd make it until now. But you stayed strong."

Heechul was surprised hearing what his professor felt about him but he got even more surprised when he realized that his hand already on his professor's wrist, stopping him from walking away. Jungsoo stared down at his hand and shifted his gaze to him.

Damn.

His professor smiled, with a smile that almost forced him to break down.

"Good night."

Jungsoo Heechul's hair lovingly and went out of the room, leaving Heechul with a messed heart he never wanted to deal with.

»»————-　♡　————-««

"Daddy, can you help me? I don't understand this question."

Hyukjae tugged his father's shirt as Jungsoo was still busy looking at his laptop.

"Daddy?"

"One second, Hyuk. Go to the living room first, I'll follow later. Okay?"

Without even glancing at his son, Jungsoo ordered, having his whole focus on the document he was working on, not noticing the sad look Hyukjae had as he strode over to the living room to finish his assignment.

"Is he busy?"

Heechul, who was already sitting on the floor with books and papers in the table in front of him, welcomed the boy with the question. After adjusting Donghae, who was drinking his bottle milk on his lap, to face Hyukjae properly, he could only smile sadly when the poor kid nodded weakly and sat beside him, looking down already.

"Daddy told me to wait for a second but I know Dad—"

"Ehm, look who rants to his Maw."

Jungsoo jokingly protested as he walked over to join them, pretending to sulk over what Hyukjae said. The said kid, however, was immediately cheered up, his expression changing drastically, clearing his things for his father to sit.

"Uhm... I— I thought Daddy was busy. I... I need to find my other notebook. Don't go, Daddy. I promise I'll be quick."

Jungsoo shook his head in disbelief when Hyukjae just ran off to his room before he, then, noticed that his other son—Donghae– had already been drowsy in Heechul's lap, clutching his milk bottle with his eyes gradually closed. Heechul perhaps wasn't aware of that because he seemed to be so engrossed in his study, eyes focused on the literature book.

"Hae has already fallen asleep."

Heechul spared him a glance before he looked down at the tiny human curling on his legs. He smiled, looking at how peaceful Donghae was and taking the empty bottle away.

"I'll put him to bed—"

Heechul was taken by surprise when Jungsoo without any warning leaned closer to him and kissed the boy on his lap. He froze as his professor was taking longer time, Donghae's head, most likely unaware of how this simple gesture sent Heechul hyperventilating. Moreover, when his professor final