Zelo walked across the hallway with his head held up high, not minding the attention he got from the students around him. If it were that time, he would be walking with his eyes directed to the ground.

Before his meeting with Woohyun, Zelo had always hated attention. He was only known throughout the school as the tall new student who dared to splash his senior with an orange juice. Zelo smiled slightly, remembering his first meeting with the infamous Nam Woohyun.

 

Zelo bit his lips as he carried the tray to his table. He looked at the floor, carefully watching his step since there are students who like to stick their legs out and tripping other students as the result. But apparently, he didn’t notice the group joking around in front of him.

It happened too fast that he didn’t even have the time to process the situation. The thing he remembered was the sight of a senior crouching on the floor with an upside-down glass on his head. Zelo blinked before he noticed that the orange juice on his tray had disappeared into thin air.

Students around them gasped. Some had their eyes wide while the others stared at him in horror. For after all, Nam Woohyun is rumored to be the guy you wouldn’t want to mess with, together with Kim Myungsoo.

 

            “You…” Woohyun looked up, trying to look for the boy who dared to humiliate him. But when he stood up and looked behind, Zelo was already out of sight.

 

Before Woohyun had the chance to turn around, Zelo ran out of the canteen. He supported himself by placing his palms on his knees, panting hard from the entire running.

Zelo bit his lips as the image of people staring at him once again flashed in his mind. He hated attention. In fact, he feared them. And the one he received just now was not helping his situation at all.

 

            “Hey you!”

 

Zelo froze in his place, slowly turning his head to see Nam Woohyun and Kim Myungsoo walking towards him. Zelo panicked for a while, but then he realized that he would never be able to run away. Not when he’s running away from two influential students around the student body.

 

            “I’m sorry… Really, it was only an accident and suddenly you were all glaring and I couldn’t help but—“

 

Zelo shut his lips and eyes tight the moment Woohyun raised his fist. But then his eyes went wide when the hand landed on his head, ruffling his hair gently. Zelo looked at the older and was genuinely surprised to see a hint of affection crossing Woohyun’s eyes.

 

            “You ran away before I had the chance to ask you,” Woohyun chuckled. “What’s your name?”

            “C-Choi Junhong…”

            “A freshman?” Myungsoo tilted his head. Zelo nodded in response.

 

Woohyun noticed how timid the younger in front of them. He chuckled and reached a hand and circled it around the younger’s waist—since he couldn’t reach his shoulder—before he dragged him back to the canteen.

 

            “Let me tell you something, since we just befriended another junior, it might be nice for the two of you to know each other,” Woohyun said as Myungsoo nodded in response.

            “Let’s go, Junhong,” Myungsoo tugged at Zelo’s wrist.

            “… Zelo…”

            “Huh?” The two seniors looked up at him with pure confusion.

            “I-It’s Zelo… My friends call me that…” Zelo muttered, looking down in embarrassment.

 

Myungsoo and Woohyun exchanged a look before they grinned at the younger.

 

            “Okay. Come on then, Zelo!”

 

But in the end, everyone but Woohyun calls him Zelo. Woohyun said that it was hard for him to shift from ‘Junhong’ to ‘Zelo’ within a short amount of time, but in the end months passed with Woohyun kept calling him ‘Junhong’ and Zelo paid it no attention anymore.

 

            “How come you let him call you Junhong but not the others? Even the teachers hesitated to call you by your real name,” Jongup blinked at him. Zelo simply smiled at the slightly older boy.

            “Because he’s special.”

 

Even when years have passed and even when Woohyun and Myungsoo added more students to their circle, Zelo still secured his place as Woohyun’s most trusted person. Even until this second Zelo still thought that he’s a special person for him. He couldn’t hide his excitement when Woohyun offered to share a flat together when the older just entered high school two years ago.

 

            “So, how about it? We’ll share the rent together,” Woohyun smiled.

            “How about Myungsoo-hyung?” Zelo raised an eyebrow.

            “He prefers a place far away from school,” Woohyun pouted. “When in actuality the closer you are to school the later you can wake up…”

 

Zelo smiled at his senior’s cuteness. He extended his hand and ruffled Woohyun’s hair, startling the older.

 

            “All right. Let’s live together then,” Zelo grinned. Woohyun’s face beamed with happiness and he pulled the tall boy into a tight hug.

            “Thanks Junhong! I know I can count on you!”

 

Zelo frowned at the thought of Woohyun talking so casually with Sunggyu. Compared to him, an older guy would be someone much better to lean on. He didn’t like it. He despised someone getting too close to Woohyun.

 

But he’s in no position to think that way.

 

Zelo sighed and looked around. He noticed how lonely he actually is. He could see that the students around him kept a distance at least a meter away from him, and yet they still had the nerve to stare at him.

Not wanting to cause anymore problem, Zelo gritted his teeth and stomped out of the school building, ignoring the whispers coming from the other students.

.

.

            “What’s wrong, son?”

            “…” The boy sniffled as he stared at the view in front of him.

 

The sky had turned into orangey color. He had been sitting on the park bench for a few hours, and people couldn’t help but worry about him. A man had appeared out of nowhere and sat next to him.

 

            “I am…” The boy muttered.

            “What’s wrong with you?” The man looked at him, a look of surprise crossed his feature for a moment.

            “Everything is wrong…” The boy said, not minding the fact that he was talking with a stranger. “Whatever I do is wrong…”

 

            “Even my existence itself…”

 

Woohyun woke up with a gasp. He winced when he felt his head pounding as he could feel blood rushing to his head. He blinked when he noticed that he’s facing a wooden wall, which apparently is the upper side of the table that Jongup flipped moments ago. Woohyun peeked up to see his friends lying on the floor, entirely knocked out from trying to calm Jongup down.

 

‘Never mess up with a pissed Jongup,’ Woohyun thought as he shook his head.

 

He looked at the sky outside the window and stayed in his position for a moment. The color had turned into a pretty orange with a little remaining of blue-ish purple. Apparently he had slept throughout the whole day in the isolated corner. He heard a faint click sound from the door and he immediately buried his face to his arms, pretending to be asleep.

 

            “Man… Look at what they’ve done to the room,” Himchan clicked his tongue as he scanned across the trashed room. Daehyun and Dongwoo followed silently behind with an uninterested Sunggyu.

 

They all looked around to see the chairs had landed on the most impossible position and most of them are disfigured already. The table, as big as a dinner table, had ended up flipped to the corner of the room, creating a small triangular area.

 

            “Did they kill each other or what? They’re all knocked up,” Daehyun muttered as he noticed Youngjae and Sungjong piled themselves on Sungyeol. Hoya, Myungsoo and Jongup were scattered across the floor.

 

Sunggyu blinked when he noticed that someone’s missing. Where’s Woohyun? Zelo came to the infirmary looking for Woohyun hours ago. It’s kind of impossible he ran away since the detention room is locked every time it serves its purpose.

He looked back to the flipped table and he noticed a glimpse of a chunk of hair from the corner of the room. Sunggyu sighed and walked towards it. His lips curved up into a small smile when he saw the content look on Woohyun’s face.

 

            “You look far cuter like this…” Sunggyu muttered, poking the student’s cheek.

            “I’m not cute, for god’s sake.”

 

Sunggyu retracted his hand when he saw Woohyun’s eyes fluttered open. The boy’s eyes were slightly red. He would disregard it since the boy just woke up, but then there were trails of dried tears on his cheeks. Sunggyu frowned.

 

            “You’re awake the whole time?” Sunggyu raised an eyebrow.

            “Not really. I was sleeping until you guys opened the door,” Woohyun faked a yawn and stretched himself.

            “Liar. You were awake even before we entered,” Sunggyu ruffled Woohyun’s hair. The boy blinked at him.

            “How did you know?” Woohyun looked at him with bigger eyes. Sunggyu simply raised an eyebrow at him.

            “I’m one of the most wanted doctors at the hospital and you’re an easy case. Quite the piece of cake, right?”

 

            “I’m a great doctor and you’re an easy case. It’s a piece of cake, right?”

 

Woohyun blinked and stared at the nurse-doctor waking up the other students as the voice kept ringing inside his mind. Woohyun shook his head before he forced himself to stand up and walked out of the detention room. He spared one last glance at the red haired man before he walked away.

.

.

Sunggyu walked along the hallway with a straight face. People gasped at the sight of the man who had been gone for quite a while. The nurses whispered to each other when they noticed where the man was heading.

 

            “Dr. Kim, anything I can help you with?” A nurse looked at him calmly even though a murderous look was visibly plastered on his face.

            “I need to speak with Dr. Kim. Any of them would be sufficient,” Sunggyu said, trying hard not to growl and scare the nurse in the process.

            “I’m afraid one is busy—“

            “I said I need to speak with him,” Sunggyu gritted his teeth. The nurse quickly punched in the code and pressed the button.

            “You may go in, sir.”

 

Sunggyu scoffed. He knew that he had a huge impact in the hospital and his reputation is something no one would want to mess with, quite the contrary to the situation at the school. The students actually had the nerve to mess up with him.

He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose at the memory of the previous evening. All he did was waking up the students and suddenly he found himself sprawled on the floor across the room. Dongwoo only shot him an apologetic look along with a ‘sorry I forgot to warn you’.

And now his back was hurting like hell and it’s all thanks to Nam Woohyun’s friends. Once again, he didn’t have the chance to learn their names.

 

            “Ah, Kim Sunggyu. I didn’t expect you to be here this soon.”

Sunggyu turned and smiled politely at the man on the other side of the room. “I couldn’t help myself.”

            “Of course. You’ve been waiting for this chance since years ago after all,” the other man laughed lightly and sat down on one of the sofas. Sunggyu remained standing near the doorframe.

            “Where’s Kibum?” Sunggyu raised an eyebrow.

            “He still has a surgery to do,” Jonghyun smiled weakly as he noticed Sunggyu let out a small sigh.

            “And I’m guessing that he won’t be done until the next few hours?”

            “Probably until around two in the morning. It can’t be helped, it was an emergency,” Jonghyun muttered.

 

The hospital had always been a very busy place, and Sunggyu reducing his shifts didn’t help the condition at all. A part of him felt bad for leaving like that, but another part of him enjoyed the fact that Yongguk had to work overtime in order to cover Sunggyu’s lost shifts.

 

            “Why in the world did I force myself in then…” Sunggyu frowned while Jonghyun chuckled at him.

“I can help you, though.”

.

.

Woohyun wiped the glass in his hands absentmindedly, not minding the fact that he had been focusing himself on the said glass for the past five minutes. Myungsoo raised an eyebrow at him.

 

            “Something bugging your mind?”

            “Not exactly… It’s just…” Woohyun sighed. “I’ve been spacing out quite a lot these days.”

            “Probably you need to rest more,” Myungsoo looked at his best friend with concern. Woohyun chuckled and ruffled the other boy’s hair.

            “Silly Myung. If I skip another day I might get fired, pabo,” Woohyun shook his head.

 

He felt Myungsoo’s eyes on him for a while and Woohyun couldn’t help but shudder a bit. He’s used to be in the spotlight for years, but until this second he still felt awkward when it came to Myungsoo watching him and all. He glanced quietly at the younger boy and he almost jumped when he found out that Myungsoo was still staring at him.

 

            “Myungsoo…”

            “Nam.”

 

Woohyun looked up when he noticed the weird tone in Myungsoo's voice. Woohyun tentatively scooted away when the younger inched closer to him. He hated it, that emptiness in Myungsoo’s eyes. It felt as if the younger was judging him.

 

            “Nam, help me will you?”

 

Woohyun raised an eyebrow at him and his eyes went wide when Myungsoo grabbed his chin and pulled him for a kiss. He immediately placed both hands on Myungsoo's shoulders and pushed the younger away.

 

            “W-wait! I thought you’re taken already?!”

            “And I thought we’re best friends?”

            “I never knew that being best friends means we can kiss each other just like that,” Woohyun furrowed his eyebrows. Myungsoo smiled lightly.

            “Best friends help each others at hard times, right? Then help me for a bit here,” Myungsoo muttered, leaning closer to Woohyun. “For after all… Apparently I got dumped,” he whispered the last part.

 

Woohyun felt Myungsoo’s lips on his once again and he just remained still. He didn’t mind kissing his best friend, in fact he never thought badly of it. But then he suddenly felt a lump in his throat when something caught his attention.

His eyes went wide in fear when he saw him standing at the entrance.

 

            “Woohyun-hyung.”