The moment Chanyeol entered Do Laboratories the next morning, he was perplexed to see Shin Hye aghassi talking with Dr. Jung and Dr. Shim.

He wasn’t late, was he? It was still 10 minutes before 8 a.m. and he made sure to leave the house by 7 a.m. to get to the laboratories before rush hour.

Dr. Jung and Dr. Shim greeted him as Shin Hye aghassi turned around.

Chanyeol immediately bowed low to them, his expression slightly worried.

“Good morning, Chanyeol-ssi,” Shin Hye aghassi greeted with a soft smile. “The director wants to speak with you.”

Chanyeol swallowed, as cold sweat started trickling down the sides of his face. Was Kyungsoo-ssi’s impression of him so negative that Dr. Do had heard about it this quickly?

Suddenly, he imagined all sorts of horrific scenarios of Kyungsoo-ssi marching home, throwing a tantrum to his father, demanding to fire Chanyeol as his tutor and consequently kick him out of the Do Laboratories’ internship program.

He blinked back to reality as Shin Hye aghassi prompted him to follow her, and Dr. Jung and Dr. Shim could do nothing but to excuse him.

Chanyeol fidgeted with his fingers on the way to the CEO’s office on the 12th floor. Maybe he should have listened to his father. It wasn’t too late to find another company to do internship with, was it?

When they arrived, Shin Hye aghassi calmly advised him to wait at the lobby first while she informed the director. Chanyeol anxiously nodded, clasping his clammy hands together.

This likened to the feeling of being outside the principal’s office. While there had been several occasions of Chanyeol being a student in this situation years ago, he was never the one in trouble, but rather the receiving end of the bullying...

This time was different, though.

He almost jumped as Shin Hye aghassi gently called his attention and told him to proceed to the CEO’s office.

Chanyeol heaved a deep breath as he knocked and the director told him to enter.

“A-Annyeong hashimnikah, Dr. Do,” he greeted formally, couldn’t quite look at the CEO in the eye.

He was just about to grovel and apologize for ruffling Kyungsoo-ssi’s feathers—trying to form his words in his brain coherently—when Dr. Do beat him to it.

“Joseong-hamnida, Chanyeol-ssi,” went the esteemed Dr. Do’s apology, much to Chanyeol’s bewilderment. “I can’t believe my son would do this.”

“Uh... s-sorry...?”

“His school gave me a call 30 minutes after picking up the books and discovered that all answers on the written exercises had no mistakes in them and the History essay contained extremely intricate terms that no 18-year-old understood or ever used, especially not Kyungsoo so...” The CEO gazed at Chanyeol empathetically. “Did he instruct you to do all his schoolwork for him?”

“Uh... a-a-aniyo...” The intern’s voice shook as he answered, blushing to the roots of his hair. “K-Kyungsoo-ssi was just a little preoccupied and...”

“Just tell me the truth, Chanyeol-ssi.” Dr. Do sighed heavily.

Chanyeol lowered his gaze. He never liked being the snitch, even in his younger days, but lying felt heavy on his conscience. “K-Kyungsoo-ssi had to go out for a working lunch so I... b-because they said the books were to be picked up in 2.5 hours and I...”

“I understand that my son has a strong personality, something that he inherited from me,” Dr. Do admitted, but still repentant. “However, that was wrong of him to make you do his schoolwork. It defeats the purpose of you supporting him as a tutor. And I don’t blame the school for giving him zero marks for the exercises that were submitted yesterday.”

Chanyeol’s jaw went slack.

Zero marks?

That was way, way worst than... getting second place in a quiz bee or something.

“So I had a long, serious talk with him last night, and he promised to do this week’s worth of schoolwork himself, with you supervising, of course.”

Oh.  Chanyeol couldn’t explain the great relief that washed over him.  Did that mean... he was still Kyungsoo-ssi’s tutor? 

“That is...” the CEO paused, giving Chanyeol a pleading look. “If you still want to.”

“O-Of course, Dr. Do. I... I am truly sorry that I didn’t think my actions through yesterday. I thought I would be helping your son out, because he had other things to take care of and...” Chanyeol rambled when he saw the CEO putting his hands up in surrender, which was a rather humbling gesture, considering that the man had such a high and respectable stature in the international pharmacological industry.

“Can I just ask you to give Kyungsoo maybe another couple of weeks to be able to cope up and he can do the work on his own so you can concentrate on your internship program here as well?”

Chanyeol nodded, sincerely relieved that he was not expelled from the internship program over his first unsuccessful tutoring session with Kyungsoo. He resolved to try his very best to connect with his student, so that they would be able to go through each study session with more synergy... and, hopefully, more peace.

“Kamsa-hamnida, Chanyeol-ssi,” the director told him gratefully, even rising from his seat to shake his hand, which Chanyeol respectfully took in both of his hands. “Will you email me an end-of-day report of his schoolwork, just so I can monitor what he has finished? I can also send this daily report to his principal, which would serve as his attendance.”

“De,” Chanyeol promised. It was only right, since it would keep him on track as well, if he was able to teach Kyungsoo-ssi the lessons in time with the curriculum. At least with more adults checking in on them, Chanyeol also had to step up his game as tutor.

Failing at any task was not an option for him.

And with that, he amiably bowed to the director and Dr. Do wished him a good day at the lab.

“I thought you were in trouble when the director decided to call for you first thing in the morning,” Dr. Shim patted Chanyeol on the shoulder, once their intern returned to the laboratory, looking relieved. “What happened?”

“Oh, uh...” Chanyeol looked up his mentors shyly, grinning a bit. “It’s about tutoring Kyungsoo-ssi and...”

“Is he as rude as people say he is?” Dr. Jung suddenly asked, appearing to be curious.

“We’ve only seen him twice, I think,” Dr. Shim said, as Dr. Jung nodded. “At the company Christmas party last year and the year before. He never talked to anybody, attending only because he was family.  I remember he was always on his phone, probably working because he had just launched Gravity then.”

“Um... well, he was very busy and concentrated on his work yesterday,” Chanyeol replied carefully, the urge to defend Kyungsoo startling him a bit, as the cute picture he’d had saved of Kyungsoo on his phone flashed in his mind. “I haven’t talked to him extensively so I’m not able to conclude if he’s rude or just preoccupied.”

Dr. Jung shrugged. “Still, the public seem to like him, despite this cold reputation. Someday, Kyungsoo-ssi will take over the laboratories and I hope he’s as kind and personable as his parents are.”

“Anyway, I sent you the research we’re doing on gram stains. You can make your notes and I can go over them sometime this week, whenever you’re ready,” Dr. Shim told him, suddenly picking up his tablet as Dr. Jung did the same.

“We’re off to a meeting with Mr. Riley so it depends how long it will last,” Dr. Jung said, getting to his feet. “I guess we’ll see you at lunch?”

Chanyeol nodded, as he was left with a few other staff in the office. He opened his email then, and eagerly went over the 40-page document about gram stains and their categories, typing down his observations and insights in a separate document and opening another browser to research some more on the subject.

Time flew by and suddenly, it was lunch time. Since his mentors had not returned yet, the other staff members invited him to join them at the cafeteria. Chanyeol had to politely decline, because he was so focused on the research that he didn’t want to break his momentum.

He did give himself half an hour more, setting his alarm from his watch, so that he would still be able to eat and not miss his appointment with Kyungsoo-ssi.

His alarm went off and still Chanyeol only deactivated it, typing up his thoughts on the study on the 7th page before his ideas eluded him.

It was a couple of minutes before 1 p.m. when he finished, reading back his written analysis with satisfaction and was about to submit it to his mentors when his cellphone suddenly rang.

It was an unknown listing.

“Y-Yeobosaeyo?” he answered nervously.

“Park Chanyeol-ssi?” a man at the other end of the line asked. “This is Shin Shindong. Can you meet me at the lobby so I can take you to the Gravity office?”

Aish! Chanyeol thought in panic as he hurriedly saved his work and switched off his laptop. “De! Kindly give me 5 minutes.”

He quickly deposited his lab coat and access card in his locker and went down the lifts to meet an impatient looking chauffeur.

Chanyeol apologized repeatedly as the sighing driver only motioned for him to follow to the car.

While in transit, that was when Chanyeol realized that he was starving. He wished that the big breakfast he’d consumed with his father this morning had lasted him longer.

He wanted to ask Shindong-ssi if they could stop quickly at a convenience store somewhere so he could grab an onigiri or two.  But then he heard Shindong-ssi mutter in frustration when they hit the afternoon Seoul traffic.

Shindong-ssi met his eyes warily through the rear view mirror. “We’re going to be around 10 minutes late, if this traffic doesn’t ease up soon.”

Okay, maybe Chanyeol didn’t deserve to eat then.

Thankfully, Shindong-ssi opened a compartment in the middle of the vehicle and it revealed a mini fridge!

“The other drinks are alcoholic as per the director’s preference, but I don’t think you should be tipsy before Kyungsoo-ssi’s study session so just settle for water in the meantime,” Shindong-ssi joked with a smirk as he got himself one and gave Chanyeol another.

The younger one gratefully took a big gulp for his incredibly parched throat, thinking to himself that this would have to do.

It was 2:15 in the afternoon when Chanyeol was delivered to the Gravity office, with the tall tutor hurriedly putting his Gravity ID around his neck and rushing to the elevators to the 6th floor.

He was out of breath when he reached the reception area, and Yeri was looking at Chanyeol’s disheveled state in shock.

“Joseong-haeyo,” Chanyeol apologized fervently. “Uh, there was traffic...”

Yeri only shook her head and pointed him towards Kyungsoo’s office. “Araseo, Chanyeol-ssi. The boss is waiting.”

He quickly proceeded to room 612 when he heard someone discussing the impact of Korean culture...?

He tentatively opened the door to find Kyungsoo looking up bored at Heechul-ssi, who was trying to read the lesson from the textbook, when Kyungsoo directed his detached gaze towards him, a frown settling between his thick eyebrows.

“So thoughtful of you to graze us with your presence