Walking to school, Kyungsoo sputtered out a laugh as Jongdae pulled the corners of his mouth down and lifted his eyebrows trying to imitate a gouwa's face, apparently a dog-and-frog-like creature from Wumyexing.

"You know I still have no idea what they could possibly look like, right?"

"Okay, I'll just ask my mom to send me a picture and I'll show it to you. They're really fun to race with, and they actually helped me get into paobwia—that's track and field here—Ooh, you and Yuwon have to attend my meets in the spring. We can all carpool in Min hyung's car."

"Yeah, just tell us the day and time, and we'll go."

His best friend made a leap in the air and whooped.

"Oh, speaking of Min hyung, he told me to tell you to be careful when walking home. Apparently, the suspicious person Yifan hyung saw that day is still in that area, so always have a buddy or go home early."

"You need to be careful too then."

"Kyungsoo, not to brag or anything, but I have a little more power than the average human."

"Yeah, yeah," Kyungsoo laughed. "You know, at the party I found this bookshelf, and there was this book called 'From The Beyond: The Qiao'uyi.' Is it okay that information about your people is published like that?"

"What I want to know is if you actually read at a party for two hours, because I didn't want to believe it when I called you yesterday."

"I did. A quantum math book and another on urban gardening."

Jongdae stopped walking so that he could specifically give him a look.

"Guanyek, Kyungsoo. But it's fine. They make books like that to introduce the idea of aliens to the other race. There's one called 'From The Beyond: The Humans' back home."

"It'll just be a whole series of books. They'll make so much money."

They laughed to that before Jongdae sighed.

"You know, I remember most everything that happened at the party, but I don't think Yuwon remembers anything. She said that she only remembers singing kaoroke with her friend... Seulgi-shi? I think was her name."

Kyungsoo made a mental note to ask Yuwon when she and his tutee became friends then patted his best friend on the shoulder.

"Jongdae, you don't want to base your confidence on a night when you two were both drunk. When you confess, you have to go in with the right empirical evidence."

"Emperical evidence about feelings. Yeah, okay, Mr. Math Tutor." He sighed. "You're right. We had a great conversation during the car ride home yesterday. We talked about our upcoming sportsmeets and hangouts and you and Jongin and—"

"Wait, you talked about me and Jongin-shi? Why?"

"You two just came up in our conversation. OH, wait, I remembered something. You know how Teacher Hei had..." He looked around them before leaning in a little and speaking quieter. "How Teacher Hei suspected that Jongin was cheating?"

Kyungsoo nodded. The teacher had said that he was going to talk to the other people who could vouch for Jongin. He wasn't allowed to say anything for privacy, but the matter worried against his mind when he wasn't thinking of homework or how his best friend was literally from another planet.

"What'd he say?"

"He said that he was going to believe him! So Jongin's not going to get into any trouble! Hooray!"

Kyungsoo breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

"That's good then. How'd you find out about it?"

"Jongin texted me and told me thanks too."

He felt his smile fall a little. Jongin didn't tell Kyungsoo about it. He thought that he would at least tell him since he was there to help him first. He shook his head a little to get rid of the thought. He shouldn't have felt like he was owed anything, but the thought popped right back into his mind again. 

"That's cool."

"Oh, don't worry, Kyungsoo. He just told me through text because I don't see him as often. I bet he wants to tell you in person. Oh, aikyang, did I ruin it for you guys? Kyungsoo, I'm sorryyy."

Jongdae shook at his arm, and Kyungsoo had to laugh then. As he walked, another question came to him. It had nagged at him before, but he had always pushed it aside because he didn't think he should be nosy. Since they all shared Jongdae's secret though, Kyungsoo found the question relevant to his best friend and his identity. Not to just satisfy his curiosity, of course.

"Hey, Jongdae, when did you become friends with Jongin?"

"Hmm, the third time I tutored him. You said to try showing that I care for him so that he knew to trust me, and I did care, so I thought that we could just be friends instead. He nodded yes when I asked him, and we've been friends since. You know what that means?"

"What?"

"It means that you're the reason that I have another friend! Thanks, Kyungsoo!"

Jongdae wrapped him in a hug, and Kyungsoo tapped out on his arm.

"It was that easy?"

"Yup. I just asked."

Kyungsoo wondered how Jongdae had made the connection through Jongin's silences and how Jongin observed the world so scrutinizingly. Then again, Jongdae could plow through awkward and silences as if he were crossing the finish line at a marathon, and Kyungsoo was a little jealous of that ability sometimes. Kyungsoo was also certain that he didn't mind how Jongin watched the world. If anything, Jongdae would likely be fascinated and shower him with questions.

When Kyungsoo thought about it, what made him uncomfortable wasn't that Jongin used his eyeballs but what he thought of after he used his eyeballs. Jongdae and Yuwon didn't know what the school had to say about him, but Jongin likely knew. The other students didn't need to keep quiet around him. Part of Kyungsoo held onto a hope that Jongin saw him from their interactions and not from the gossip he heard. Part of Kyungsoo doubted that he even cared.

He and Jongdae passed through the school gates. They met up with Yuwon and got to talk for a bit. Head Janitor Wu also came by and greeted them, asking if there were any good restaurants in the area, before they all had to get to class. Throughout lectures, Kyungsoo couldn't keep his eyes from straying towards Jongin. He couldn't see his face from the angle that he sat at, but it always took him more seconds than he thought was normal to pull his gaze away. 

Of course Jongin wouldn't be able to tell him anything during class, especially since they sat on opposite sides of the classroom. Kyungsoo told himself every time to stop anticipating and to focus on the notes before Jongin felt him staring. Being caught like that would have given him more embarrassment than he wanted to think about enduring.

By the end of biology class, Kyungsoo decided that he hadn't done a good job of restraining his mind because he had more thoughts about the side of Jongin's head than about biology. He sighed and poked Jongdae next to him.

"Can I see your notes during lunch?"

"Sure. Too busy sneaking glances at Jongin?"

His friend grinned at him, and Kyungsoo gave a playful slap to the arm at the suggestive eyebrows he added in at the end.

"Do Kyungsoo."

He turned to the front where Teacher Zhang was waving at him.

"Please stay back for a moment."

He shared a look with Jongdae, who shrugged and pointed out the door, before he finished gathering his things and headed towards the front desk. In his peripheral vision, he saw that Jongin lingered at his desk with all his stuff ready to go. He had to mentally yank his attention back to the biology teacher in front of him. He tried focusing on the dimple that always appeared in Teacher Zhang's cheek when he smiled. The last they had spoken one on one was during the counseling session, though Teacher Zhang took every chance he saw him in the hallway or before class to wave at him.

"Hello, Kyungsoo. How have you been?"

"Good. A lot better than before."

"That is good to hear. Know that you may always come to me if you wish to talk. Now, the reason I called you back is because one of your classmates wishes to speak to you."

He gestured to his left, and Kyungsoo froze. The only person in that direction was Jongin. Actually, the only person left in the classroom was Jongin.

"Jongin, come over. You told me that you want to talk to Kyungsoo, yes?"

He chanced a glance towards him but didn't have the courage to look at his face. All he saw was Jongin rubbing at the inside of his elbow as he shuffled closer. Kyungsoo could feel his presence hover closer towards him. He started playing with his hands as he looked from the wall in the background to Jongin's arm, because now that Jongin stood in front of him, Kyungsoo couldn't look any higher to meet his eyes. He was asking his eyes where all the earlier courage had disappeared to when Jongin cleared his throat. The sound had been quiet, quieter than his voice.

"See you at tutoring."

He slipped past him and exited before Kyungsoo even had time to process his words. He turned to look at the door sliding back close then at Teacher Zhang. Kyungsoo had never seen his biology teacher, who seemed as mellow and lax as they came, cringe until that moment, and he blinked a few times to make sure that he had seen right. Teacher Zhang sighed, chuckling a little, and turned to Kyungsoo.

"I believe that he will see you in tutoring and hopefully tell you then."

"Teacher Zhang, by chance, did Teacher Hei ask you about Jongin?"

"He did."

"Does... what Jongin wants to tell me have to do with that?"

"You'll have to wait and see."

But the teacher winked at him and bid him a good lunch. Kyungsoo nodded his thanks and farewell and stepped out the door. Jongdae just gave him a sly grin as he closed the door again.

"What?"

"I can't wait for your tutoring session."

"Were you eavesdropping? And you're not even in my tutoring session."

"Qiao'uyi naturally can pick up sounds better than humans, but I also asked Jongin as he was coming out. And I can still look forward to a tutoring session that I'm not attending."

He gave an evil chuckle and started directing Kyungsoo down to the cafeteria. At the lunchroom, Yuwon snatched up a piece of their meal as punishment for being late again as Jongdae explained where they were. Yuwon returned half of his egg piece when he pleaded guilty.

"Your biology teacher must really like you if he keeps calling you back after class."

"He only did that so that Jongin-shi could tell me something."

"What was it?"

"That he would see me at tutoring."

Yuwon choked a little on her yogurt drink.

"The teacher called you guys back just so Jongin-shi could tell you that? He could have just texted you."

"He's probably just nervous," Jongdae said. "Don't make fun of him."

"I'm not. I actually think it's kinda cute, being all nervous in front of his tutor."

Yuwon giggled, and Kyungsoo nudged Jongdae to keep it together when the pout on his face grew.

"I'm cute too, aren't I?"

"Yeah, yeah. Of course. For all the grandmas we pass on the street."

Yuwon had made the slightest pause, so slight that Kyungsoo thought he might have imagined it. But then she combed a finger through her hair, starting at her temple. She only did that when she was nervous. Why would she be nervous in her usual playful banter towards Jongdae?

Kyungsoo didn't have much time to think about it as Jongdae reached for his almond milk and sipped at it. If anyone could sip sadly at a carton of almond milk, Jongdae could.