"May I say I'm so glad to see you there?" Baekho smiled sitting next to Ren in home room.

"You may." Ren said flatly.

Baekho chuckled. He was getting used to Ren's cold attitude.

"You sick yesterday?" he asked.

Ren looked at him flatly. "...Yes. You got my note?"

"Yeah. I'll look out for JR don't worry," Baekho said.

"I wasn't." Ren said looking back to the front.

"If you weren't you wouldn't have asked me." Baekho pointed out.

Ren opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Baekho grinned, he felt like he had just won a battle.

It didn't matter that Ren didn't speak to him for the rest of the day.

~at lunch~

"Keep an eye on JR? Why?" Aron asked wide-eyed.

"Ren asked me to, I think it has something to do with Minhyun, anyway will you help me or no?"

Aron blushed. "You're asking me to stalk him,"

"Yep."

"...I'll do it." Aron looked ashamed to admit that. "But you say Ren asked you to do this? How...odd."

Baekho nodded. "I know. I think he's worried about him. Deep down there's a person inside Ren,"

He picked at his food, muching on some of it on his fork.

"Hmm...a person inside Ren...only a person who really loved him would think that," Aron murmured.

Baekho choked on his food.

"I-I don't l-love him!" He stammered.

Aron looked at him sceptically.

"I-I really don't hyung seriously. I'm straight come on, there's no way. I don't even like Ren." 

He heard a clatter of a fork and he turned to see Ren staring at him. 

His blood ran cold.

"Ren -"

Ren stood from his table and stalked off, no expression on his face, but Baekho knew he had hurt his feelings.

Even a person like Ren had them.

"Well now you've gone and done it," Aron commented.

Baekho sighed. He certainly had.

The next day he sat next to Ren in home room.

"I'm sorry." he said.

He got no response.

"I like you Ren, really. But Aron hyung means...in that way, that's all. I like you, but not like that, like friends."

Still no response.

"Come on Ren please,"

"Stop speaking to me." Ren said coldly. "You're annoying."

There wasn't anything Baekho could do to get Ren to talk to him.

~at lunch~

"Hey Minhyun hyung have you seen Aron hyung?" Baekho asked.

"Not since yesterday. Why?" Minhyun said.

Baekho pointed outside to where Ren and JR were sitting. 

It look like they were...arguing?

JR looked pretty mad, but as usual Ren had no expression on his face, but after a while he got up and left, blocking his ears with his hands.

"It'd be a good opportunity to Aron hyung... to comfort him," Baekho mumbled.

Minhyun didn't hear him.

"Well, I gotta head to class. See you hyung," Baekho said getting up.

The next week went by slowly.

Ren refused to look at him, JR wasn't talking to him, Minhyun seemed to like rubbing that in, and Aron had been spending more and more time with JR lately.

Apparently he was there to 'fix the bridge' between Ren and Baekho, but he knew he was just flirting.

Not that he minded, if Aron wanted to spend time with JR he could.

He just wished he could actually do a little of what he said he was doing.

So with no contact at all from Ren, Baekho dully trudged through the hallway, not even wanting to get to home room that day.

"BAEKHO!"

He stopped. He knew that voice didn't I?

When he turned Baekho saw something he never thought he'd see.

Ren was bolting - not running, bolting - down the hall towards him, tears streaming down his face and the most distraught look on his face Baekho thought he was going ot have a heart attack.

"Baekho! You have to help me! Please!" he clutched at his arm looking desperate.

Numbly Baekho nodded my head, what else could he do?

He would have followed a normal cold Ren.

He pulled me back up the hallway, and he followed him out of the school and over to the football fields.

"It's JR! He's badly hurt I think Minhyun has something to do with it!" Ren shouted as they ran.

Baekho came to the bleeding boy on the ground and crouched next to him, Ren cradled JR's head in his lap and cried, wiping the blood off his face.

"Your mother's a nurse right? Help him hyung!" Ren cried.

Baekho didn't ask how Ren knew that, or why he called him hyung.

"Yeah, I can help him, let's get him to my house." Baekho said picking JR up bridal stlye.

Ren followed him as he ran awkwardly with JR in his arms, his house wasn't far, so they got there fairly quickly.

"Run into the kitchen and get me my umma's medical bag, then come upstairs first door on the left," Baekho said taking JR to his room.

"Right." Ren rushed to the kitchen, found the bag and ran upstairs.

"Thanks. Ren hold his head up for me," Baekho said.

"Yes." Ren held JR's head and Baekho carefilly tipped some clearn liquid into his mouth.

"This will num any pain he's in." Baekho said.

Baekho cleaned off the blood from JR's body, then cleaned up his cuts, bandaging the worse ones.

He put his arm in a sling and sat him up so he was comfortable.

"Well, I've done all I can do," he said to Ren, who was sitting on the wall against the wall, head on his knees. "He'll be fine, he just needs to rest.

Ren didn't respond. Baekho thought he had gone back to being rude but then he noticed Ren was still crying.

"Hey," he said quietly slipping his arm around Ren's shoulders. "Hey it's okay,"

Ren sobbed and threw his arms around Baekho, who willingly held him in his arms as he cried.

"Ssh baby, it's okay, it's okay," Baekho whispered.

"B-Baekho-h-hyung, I-I -"

"Ssh don't worry Ren, you don't have to say anything," Baekho said comofrtingly patting the younger's back.

An hour later Ren had calmed down and Baekho was having coffee with him in the kitchen.

"So you're sixteen." Baekho said.

Keeping his eyes lowered Ren nodded. "I skipped a grade." he said dully.

Baekho nodded. So, small talk wasn't working.

"You said you'd keep an eye on JR." Ren said flatly.

Baekho nodded. "I did I know, but I got so distracted when you began ignoring me, I totally lost focus,"

"I...affected you that much?" Ren's voice held dull surprise.

Baekho nodded, embarrassed. 

Then Ren did something unexpected, he laughed.

Baekho was stunned into shocked silence as the blonde's body was racked with giggles and his face alight with joy.

What the...?

"That's so cute!" he squealed. "You can't believe how happy that makes me, even though JR got hurt because of your distraction."

"I'm...cute?" Baekho paused, still in shock. "Hey! You should be the cute one, look at you, you practically scream adorable,"

Ren laughed again. "Maybe my face does but my attitude certainly doesn't hyung. You know, all Cold and Gloomy? Haha,"

Baekho smiled. "Well if you acted more like yourself people wouldn't think that. You're cute when you smile Ren,"

He watched as Ren's cheeks went a curious shade of pink. "Ah, yes well, I have my reasons." he smiled impishly at Baekho and laughed again.

"Choi Minki." he said.

"Huh?" Baekho asked.

"My real name's Choi Minki, Ren is my outer shell, the person I put up when I feel threatened, which in school or public in general."

Baekho smiled. "So I'm special?"

Ren smiled and tilted his head to one side, looking at him. "Y...Yes. I guess you are."

"Good to know I'm the only that knows Choi Minki then," Baekho said. "By the way, my name is actually Kang Dongho," 

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Hiding behind a persona too Baekho?"

Baekho laughed. "Not really I was just being all myterious like you on that first day,"

"Oh stealing my thunder huh? I see how it is," Ren joked.

Baekho laughed. 

Ren giggled at his laugh, his hand over his face. "Baekho-ah, I'm sorry I've been so mean,"

"It's okay Minki." Baekho said.

"Call me Ren in public," Ren said. "In private you can call me Minki. Do you mind if I come over often? It'd be nice to have a friend to visit,"

"Sure Minki, anything you like," Baekho said. "You can stay the night too, to take care of JR with me."

"Thanks. I'll need to go to my place later and get some things," Ren said.

Baekho smiled. 

He liked discovering this new side to Ren