Author's note: the model thingy wasn't really explored much oops

 

Lee Donghyuck was your average highschool student. He gets mostly B's and C's, only sometimes A's. He has a lot of friends but only a few close ones. Overall, nothing that impressive.

 

Suddenly,a ping noise coming from his phone distracted him from his thoughts. He checked newly received message,

Donghyuck, are you coming over to tutor today?

 

Donghyuck typed back, Yes,ma'am. I'll be there in a few minutes.

 

He hit send and immediately got back to getting himself ready. Another thing to know about him is that he was pretty good in math and their neighbours knew that. Which is why their next-door neighbours had asked him to tutor their son who was failing in math. At first, Donghyuck wanted to decline the offer but after hearing he would get paid, he took it up.

 

Hey, he needs money to continue buying EXO albums okay?

 

Donghyuck shoved his notes and textbooks in his bag, grabbed his jacket and went out. Since his destination was his next-door neighbour's house, it only took him 30 seconds to get himself in front of the door and rang the doorbell. He was greeted by Mrs Jung.

 

"Thank you for coming, sweetheart",she gave him a welcoming smile to which he smiled back politely, "Sungchan is still in the bathroom but you can stay in his room while you wait"

 

"Yes, ma'am"

 

Jung Sungchan. A few years ago, that boy landed himself in a part-time modelling job. Because of his tall height and good looks, he was scouted by a modelling agency and made a name for himself there. It didn't take long before the news hit the school and everyone would turn their heads towards Jung Sungchan. Being popular,tall, handsome and a model quickly made him the school's heartthrob. The envy of all the guys and the desired one of all the girls.

 

But having a modelling career while still in school came with a price. It meant that he would constantly missed classes due to work. Thus, his grades were low, especially math which he was on the verge of failing at. And that's where Donghyuck came in. His mother had heard of Donghyuck's knack for the subject and payed for him to tutor his son every Friday after school.

 

Back to the present, Donghyuck made his way up the stairs and guided himself to Sungchan's room where he was greeted by clothes lying on the floor, some fashion magazines and school books on the desk, and an unmade bed with a crumpled burger wrapper lying on it

 

Damn, even his room wasn't this messy.

 

The tanned boy cleared up the desk and sat down, playing with his phone while he waits. Ten minutes later, the door swung open and Sungchan walked in wearing a simple black t-shirt and sweatpants. He  was so busy drying his wet hair with a towel that he didn't notice another presence in his room

 

Donghyuck cleared his throat. The sound causing Sungchan to jump back, "Donghyuck hyung! When did you got here?"

 

"Just now. Didn't your mom told you I was coming?", he laughed.

 

"She...didn't", Sungchan said dejectedly.

 

Donghyuck let out another laugh.

 

After watching a red-faced Sungchan clearing up his room to make it a little more presentable, the two started their tutor session. Sungchan was...not the best,Donghyuck would politely say. The younger had trouble with even the easiest questions that Donghyuck had to go back to basics with him. 

 

After three hours, the tutoring session came to an end. Donghyuck put his notes back in his bag and got ready to leave.

 

"You're leaving?", the younger asked. There was a small hint of dejectedness in his voice but he might be hearing it wrong.

 

"Yeah. Why?",he asked back, confused.

 

The younger opened his mouth but no sound came out. Like he wanted to say something but changed his mind in the last second. Instead, he shook his head and smiled, "Nothing. See you next week"

 

.......

 

For weeks, their tutoring session went like this, Donghyuck came to the Jungs house, got invited by Sungchan's mom then went upstairs to the boy's room. At some point, the two of them became close,close enough to hang out after every session and talk about absolutely nothing.

 

By their fifth session, Donghyuck had gotten so used to this routine that he forgot to knock on the Sungchan's room before he entered.

 

"Sungchan- oh"

 

The younger was sound asleep at his desk, his head nestled uncomfortably on his arms

 

Before going upstairs, Mrs Jung told him that her son might be a bit tired after a long day at a photoshoot. The boy definitely looked tired, Donghyuck noticed. His cheeks had sunken.

 

"Maybe we can skip for today",he felt bad of having to wake up the younger when he looked like in need of a rest.

 

Quietly, the older pulled up a chair and sit at his usual spot beside the sleeping boy. He took one of the fashion magazines lying on the floor and went through it, hoping that it would help him pass the time.

 

Donghyuck was halfway through the magazine when he came across Sungchan's pictures. Draped in gorgeous outfits and makeup, the Jung Sungchan on this magazine looked completely different. As if he was another person that's equally attractive. Donghyuck reached for another magazine and flipped through it. He found another one of Sungchan's pictures. Again, he thought the one in that magazine looked different. There was a fierce look in that boy's eyes, an untouchable aura. Whereas this Sungchan, the one sleeping on his desk, bare faced and unkempt hair, was different from that boy in the magazine. This one was cute.

 

Donghyuck glanced at him. Strands of the younger's dark hair had fallen to his eyes. Slightly bothered by it, Donghyuck inched closer and carefully pulled the strands back.

 

"Must be exhausting,huh?", he whispered gently, careful not to wake him up, "It's okay. You can rest" 

 

He didn't realize his hands were  carving through Sungchan's hair. It was only when the boy mumbled something in his sleep that Donghyuck noticed where his hand was. He immediately pulled it back.

 

That was a mistake. The sudden action made the younger stir awake. Donghyuck, suddenly aware of their close proximity, was frozen in the spot as Sungchan's eyes fluttered open. For what felt like a long minute, they stared at each other silently. Donghyuck could hear his heart thumping loud, but why? Maybe embarrassed because he was caught in the act? 

 

It was when he blinked that spell was broken. Sungchan, finally realising how close they were, jolted up from his uncomfortable sleeping position. 

 

"Hyung, when did you got here?", Donghyuck noticed Sungchan's ears turning red, "Why didn't you just wake me up?"

 

Donghyuck smiled,"Your mom said you'd be tired so I decided to cancel the session for today"

 

"Really?", he looked at Donghyuck uncertainly, " But you came all the way here"

 

"I only live next door, Sungchan-ah", Donghyuck deadpanned.

 

"Yeah,but you came for nothing", he mumbled, "I didn't want to waste your time"

 

How sweet of him, Donghyuck thought. "That's thoughtful of you but It's really okay. I'll just hangout here for a bit if you don't mind?"

 

The younger's eyes seemed to sparkle at the suggestion, "No, I would like that", he said quickly.

 

Donghyuck raised an eyebrow, "You're not tired?"

 

The other scratched the back of his head, looking cutely embarrassed, "A little...but we never really hang out before. Not even at school"

 

That's true. The two of them never talked at school. Both were always occupied with their own group of friends. Plus, Donghyuck just knew the students would stare once they see him with the most popular guy in school. Speaking of staring, Donghyuck remembered catching Sungchan's eyes on him at the cafeteria a few times but he never really thought much of it, too busy with his friends' affairs.

 

"Then let's get to know each other",he decided.

 

"Huh?", Sungchan look at him questioningly.

 

"What's your favourite song?", the sudden question made Sungchan blinked a few times, "Uhh...90's Love by NCT"

 

Donghyuck raised an eyebrow, "Huh. You like NCT too?"

 

The younger gasped, "You too?! Then what's your favourite song?"

 

"From Home. Your turn. Anything you want to know?"

 

What about...", the other trailed off to think, "favourite colour?"

 

There was no need to think about it, "Yellow"

​​

Five seconds passed.

 

Donghyuck waited for Sungchan to tell his favourite colour but when those doe eyes stared unblinkingly at him, Donghyuck grew curious, "Is there something on my face? Why are you looking at me like that?"

 

That seemed to pull him from whatever realm he was in. Sungchan blinked but his eyes never left Donghyuck's, "Nothing. It's just...I think yellow really suits you. It's bright and pretty. Kinda like you"

 

"You think I'm pretty?", you can't blame Donghyuck for blushing when the boy just said what he said. Suddenly, the floor looked interesting to him. Anywhere's better than Sungchan's doe eyes. Damnit, where was his confidence when he needed it?

 

"Yeah", straight answer.

 

There was a long silence after that. It wasn't an awkward one though. No, it was something else. There was something else in this atmosphere. And it was probably due to the younger's unreadable face closing in on his.

 

Suddenly, just when they were only five inches apart, a loud knock was heard from the door. Immediately, the two of them back their chairs away, further than it was before. 

 

"Come in!"

 

The door opened and Sungchan's mom stood in the doorway, "Are you two finished? I made dinner. Donghyuck, would you like to come join us?"

 

He forced a polite smile on his face, "No, that's okay. I have to be home early today". Lies.

 

He slinged his bag on his shoulder and followed her to the entrance, not noticing the disappointed look on Sungchan's face as he stared at Donghyuck's retreating figure.

.......

 

As much as Donghyuck would like to take some time off to figure out what the heck that just happened, mid-terms is in two weeks. Which meant he would have to go back and do more math tutoring sessions than before with Jung Sungchan. But weirdly, they don't seem to act differently like how Donghyuck predicted. Instead they fall into this professional and cold manner. As if they were never close. Almost as if that day never happened. 

 

But on the bright side however, Donghyuck noticed that the boy was slowly improving. They don't take too much time on basic questions anymore and he was making less mistakes. That's progress.

 

And then finally, it was mid-terms day.

 

Donghyuck stood in front of the school gates. Somehow, his friend Jaemin came a bit late than usual, making him wait there because he simply doesn't want to walk to class by himself. He sighed, "Of all the days he can be late, he chose today. Unbelievable, that guy"

 

Suddenly,at the corner of his eye, a familiar tall figure passed by. He turned his head and sure enough it was Jung Sungchan. But he was different today. His eyes were red and he kept rubbing them, indicating that he burned the midnight oil last night. Also,his hair looked like they were run through multiple times. He looked like a mess.

 

"Sungchan-ah",he called out.

 

The boy turned around and Donghyuck could see nervousness was getting to him.

 

"Are you okay?",he asked concerningly. The younger nodded, "Just nervous that I would fail. Again."

 

Donghyuck stared up at him. He looked tired. Something within Donghyuck ached. He wanted to help this boy. At least ease his worries.

 

An idea clicked.

 

"Hang on", Donghyuck shoved his bag for something, "Aha! Found it"

 

He pulled out a yellow pencil.

 

Sungchan stared at him quizzically, "Umm..."

 

The older shoved it into his palm, forcing him to take it, "Use this later. It's my lucky charm"

 

That received a small laugh from Sungchan, "A pencil?"

 

"Yeah,I know it's childish", Donghyuck waved it off, "But it worked for me for years. Trust me"

 

The sincerity of his voice might have made him believe it. His eyes went to the pencil in his hand. The pencil was short,shorter than Sungchan's middle finger and had a tiny carving of the sun on the wooden body, it clearly had been used for so long. 

 

"Won't you need it?",he asked uncertainly. To which Donghyuck shook his head and smiled teasingly, "No. I think you need it more than me though"

 

Donghyuck watched as Sungchan brought the small thing close to his chest, his cheeks a light shade of pink and a shy smile on his face, "Thanks hyung. You don't know how much this means to me"

 

He couldn't help but smile brightly at those words, "Your welcome"

 

As Sungchan headed his way to his class, Donghyuck's eyes never left his form,nor did his smile ever left his face.

 

"Was that Jung Sungchan?"

 

He jumped at the new voice, "ing hell, Jaemin! Why do you always creep up on me?!"

 

Jaemin gave him his signature teasing grin, "I didn't know you two were that close"

 

"Whatever it is you're thinking, it's not like that", he denied, "He was nervous about the test today so I just lent him my lucky charm"

 

"But you don't have a lucky charm", Jaemin grinned wider.

 

"I don't", Donghyuck said nonchalantly, "But he needed one"

.......

 

The last bell rang. Donghyuck slinged his bag on his shoulder and exited the classroom only to be stopped by the none other than Jung Sungchan.

 

"Sungchan-ah? What are you doing here?"

 

The boy held out the yellow pencil that was given to him, "I wanted to give this back. It actually helped a lot, I think I managed to answer most of them correctly"

 

"Oh really? That's great!", he exclaimed, "but you don't have to give it back"

 

" You don't need it?"

 

Donghyuck shooked his head, "Not anymore. I'm doing fine on my own. You can have it though"

 

"Oh, okay."

 

A brief moment of silence. More and more pairs of eyes started to focus on them.

 

"Is there something else you need?"

 

"Actually", the younger rubbed his neck nervously, "there's something that I've been wanting to tell you"

 

His cheeks are now flushed a soft pink and so are his ears. His hands fidgeting, going in and out his pockets then rubbing the back of his neck before putting them down to his side again.

 

"I'm listening", Donghyuck said softly upon seeing how nervous he looked.

 

"I...",the boy screwed his eyes shut,as if bracing for an unknown impact, "I don't know how I should say this but I can't keep this to myself any longer", a shaky breath followed, "I like you"

 

A silent pause. 

 

" And now that I think about it, maybe I shouldn't have confessed my feelings in the middle of the ing hallway", he covered his face in his hands, "God, I'm so stupid. Can you please just ignore everything I just said?"

 

"Since when?", Donghyuck asked.

 

"Since...way before our first tutoring session"

 

So more than six months ago. 

 

Donghyuck slowly peeled the boy's hands away from his face, "Look at me, Sungchan-ah", Sungchan opened his eyes.

 

Donghyuck was smiling softly at him, "Would it help if I said I actually like you too?"

 

Sungchan stared at him unblinkingly, "Wait, really?"

 

"Yup",his hands were still holding Sungchan's. He didn't plan on letting them go.

 

Sungchan glanced down at their joint hands, tightening his around Donghyuck's, "You have no idea how much I wanted to do this"

 

"So now that that's out", it was Donghyuck's turn to blush, "wanna go home now? We can talk about this more on the way back"

 

The nervousness plaguing Sungchan was gone, replaced by a much more happier expression. It reminded Donghyuck of a cute baby fawn.

 

"I would like that"

 

.......

 

(2 weeks later)

 

They were at Sungchan's room again. But this time, instead of math worksheets, a laptop was placed on his desk. The school website was opened and their test results are out.

 

" I'm going to fail", Sungchan said a matter of factly as they wait for the website to load.

 

"You don't know that", Donghyuck tried to reassure him as the website completed loading and Sungchan's report card appeared, "it's out!"

 

Sungchan scrolled down and stopped, "I passed...",then a little louder, "Hyung, I passed!"

 

Immediately, Donghyuck was crushed in a bear hug before he could realise it. His eyes shifted from the C+ on the screen to Sungchan, hugging him back tightly.

 

"Congrats",he giggled on his shoulder, "I knew you could do it"

 

Sungchan pulled away from the hug but his eyes, Donghyuck realised, were lingering on his lips. 

 

"May I?", he politely asked. And how could Donghyuck say no, "Sure"

 

And the lips were met. Sweet and chaste, Donghyuck sighed into the kiss. It felt nice and fluttery inside. It'd be nice if they could do this for a long time, he thought until- "Ow! Ow! Don't bite my lip!"

 

Sungchan drawed back and laughed at Donghyuck's misery, all the while resting his head on his hyung's shoulder, feeling content.