As Daesung entered the school building he checked his phone one last time. Nothing. He hadn't expected anything anyway, he had just gotten into the habit of checking it constantly. Oh, how much he longed to see that little envelope in the corner of the screen. He had tried staring at the empty spot, trying to will the envelope to appear, but to no avail. He rubbed his eyes and put his phone back into his pocket, he had been up most of the night tossing and turning. He was beginning to worry about himself, maybe this Seunghyun business wasn't a good influence on him. Lately he had been even more agitated and neurotic than usual, bordering on the insane. Now he was losing sleep over him as well. He was afraid that his grades would begin to drop if he continued like this. He was here on a scholarship so his life depended on those grades. He wasn't really that smart, so he had to work really hard to get good grades. If his grades went down, he could lose everything. His new life could be yanked out from under his feet, leaving him in the dirt with nothing to show for it. At first he hadn't really wanted to come here, missing his friends he didn't care whether he had a better future or not. But he had been slowly coming around to the idea, going to a good college, making a life for himself, being able to help his mother out so she didn't have to break her back everyday working multiple jobs. It was a nice thought. If he continued down this path of madness, all that could be ruined. Maybe he should make a pact with himself to stop thinking about Seunghyun altogether! He entered the school determined, thinking up the conditions of this so called No-Seunghyun-pact.

Daesung was early as usual, and yet the carton of banana milk stood on his desk, like every morning. Daesung smiled fondly. He was almost certain it was Seunghyun's doing, but all this time he couldn't figure out how he did it and never once had he caught him in the act. He had tried showing up the moment the school doors were opened in the morning, still it stood there, already on his desk. He had also tried hanging back after class, in case he placed it there after school, but Seunghyun had left early as he normally did and there was no sign of any banana milk anywhere. It was a mystery. Oh no! He was already in breach of the terms of his newly made pact, no Seunghyun!

When Seunghyun entered the classroom Daesung made a point to stare straight down, focusing on a smudge on his desk. He was not going to give him the satisfaction of looking at him, like a dog begging for attention, he wouldn't stoop so low. He really had to remember to bring a wet wipe to school though, his desk was disgustingly dirty, how had he not noticed this before? The class started and he did his best to pay attention.

Without moving his head, he tried to catch a glimpse of Seunghyun, was he looking at him? He gave up and looked in his direction, mentally kicking himself for not being stronger. It was like he didn't exist, his heart breaking. Seunghyun was leaning back in his seat, relaxed without a worry in the world, watching the PE class playing football outside instead of paying attention. Daesung couldn't see the expression on his face though, but he hadn't looked in Daesung's direction once since he came in. He was definitely pissed off at him. Discreetely Daesung fished his phone out of his pocket and checked it under the table, cell phones were not allowed in class. 'No new messages'. Maybe he should send him an apology for last night's message, that it was just an innocent joke, that he hadn't meant anything by it. No, why should he apologize, it was obviously a joke. And even if he got offended, it was rude to just pretend like he didn't exist. Daesung was getting annoyed, Seunghyun had a way of getting under his skin and making him lose all reason.

Time stood still, every minute seemed like an hour. At the least! Not being able to quit Seunghyun cold turkey, Daesung had decided to take baby steps. He was allowed to take a peek at him every 15 minutes and check his phone every half hour. However, this new system had somehow messed with the space-time continuum, changing seconds into minutes, and minutes into hours. It was 5 minutes until he could check his phone again, yet the big hand on the wall clock just wouldn't move. He felt like it was mocking him, refusing to move just because he was waiting for it.

“KANG DAE SUNG!” the teacher yelled, Daesung jumped in his seat. He hadn't been paying any attention at all. “Ehm, yes ma'am?” Daesung had no idea what was going on. “Well?” the teacher looked like she was waiting for an answer, only Daesung hadn't heard the question. Everyone was looking at him. There was an equation on the blackboard beside the teacher, but it was way too complicated for him to be able to see what the answer was just like that. He hated math. He glanced nervous around, the girl that sat in the row next to him secretly mouthed something towards him. “Oh, yeah... 4, ma'am, the answer is 4.” Daesung said, holding his breath. He really wasn't confident in his lip reading skills. “Correct!” the teacher said with a smile and moved on to the next equation. Phew! That was close! “Thank you.” he mouthed to the girl that had helped him. Oh, the clock hand had moved! Finally he could check his phone.

Daesung's heart was about to burst out of his chest. There it was, the envelope! He couldn't believe his eyes. His hands were trembling so much that it made it hard to hit the right button. 'Stop being so cute.' the message said, Daesung read it over and over. He looked at Seunghyun but he didn't seem to have moved a muscle. When did he send it? Daesung hadn't noticed anything. All the blood in his body rushed to his cheeks. He thought he was cute? He fought the giggles that were trying their hardest to get out. That was the last thing he needed, to giggle out loud in class, and in front of Seunghyun to boot. He was still a little ticked off at Seunghyun, he could've saved him a lot of heartache if he had just answered his message like a normal person. Daesung knew that he would never have the guts to confront him about it, but he didn't care anymore. He thought he was cute! He smiled from ear to ear.

The lunch bell rang. As the room started to empty, Daesung panicked. He would be left alone with Seunghyun. What should he say? He wasn't prepared for this at all. His hands began to sweat, he was dizzy. In the spur of the moment he stood up and ran for the door. He went to the nearest bathroom and splashed water in his face. He could do this, he told himself. It was no big deal. They had gotten along so well yesterday, why should it be any different today? Although being at school made it very awkward and that message, should he just pretend he hadn't seen it? Pretend that it didn't exist? He smiled to himself as he read it again in his mind, 'Stop being so cute'.

After talking some courage into himself and drying his face, he drew a deep breath and went back to the classroom. His hands were beginning to sweat again as he turned the doorknob. It was empty. There was nobody there. Daesung sank back into his seat, utterly disappointed. Why had he been such a coward? If he had stayed... If only he had stayed. He lost his chance. Again. He checked his phone out of habit, a message! He almost dropped the phone to the floor in the haste to open it. 'Roof'. Roof? He grabbed his lunchbox and headed up to the rooftop to check it out.

Daesung had never before been to the school's rooftop. The first thing he noticed when he opened the door, was the amazing view. You could see over everything, the entire town and the mountains that surrounded it. It was beautiful. Daesung took a breath of fresh air, it was invigorating. Then he noticed him. He was sitting in a corner, basking in the sun. How could anyone be so beautiful? Now Daesung finally understood the saying 'to take someone's breath away'. Seunghyun nodded, signaling him to join him. He sat gingerly beside him and opened his lunchbox. He tore his sandwich in half and handed one half to Seunghyun, biting into the other. Surprised, Seunghyun examined the sandwich half in his hand for a moment, glanced at Daesung who was almost done with his, and started eating as well.

“You know..” Seunghyun started with his mouth full, “..that girl before, that saved you in class..”. Daesung interrupted him, “Oh you mean Bora?”. “Mmm..” Seunghyun continued, “She's into you.”. Daesung coughed up the last bite of his sandwich, “What? No.”. “I'm telling ya, I've seen her looking at you.” Seunghyun replied. Daesung just shrugged his shoulders, he didn't really care. If Daesung didn't know better, he would think he was jealous. He decided to take advantage of the weird vibe that had colored the atmosphere. He cleared his throat intently. “When I send you a message..” Daesung said clearly but softly, he took a deep breath, “..you should answer.”. Daesung stared at the ground, not daring to move an inch. He knew he was acting a bit childish. He couldn't for the life of him imagine how Seunghyun would react. “Ok.” Seunghyun said after a short silence and prepared to stand up, lunch was over.

It was Saturday morning, Daesung had been up for an hour but still hadn't gotten out of bed. He hadn't regretted his confrontation with Seunghyun for one second, Seunghyun had kept his word and replied faithfully to every single message he had sent him. He couldn't be happier. He lay in bed re-reading all of his messages, giggling into his duvet, when the wonderful envelope in the corner of the screen made it's appearance known with a beep. 'Awake?' Seunghyun was asking. Daesung giggled even harder. 'Yeah, why?' he was getting the hang of this messaging thing, now he only had to read it over three times before he sent it. That was definitely an improvement. He waited excited for Seunghyun's reply. 'Hungry?' Okay, Seunghyun wasn't really the Shakespeare of messages, but Daesung liked them anyway. Before he could reply, he got another message. 'Be ready in 15'. 'Be ready for what? Where?' he sent the message puzzled, he had no idea where Seunghyun was going with this.  'I'm outside.'.