The next day wasn’t as embarrassing for Donghyun in the beginning. He had developed a system for ignoring Minwoo the night before, and it seemed to work amazingly. At least, it did until they received their chore sheets and he discovered that he would be alone with Minwoo after all their classes. He made a crying sound at Hyunseong, who had dragged them all outside for lunch since it happened to be such a beautiful day. “Trade with me!” He grabbed his collar, shaking him desperately as Hyunseong attempted to peel him off, causing Kwangmin to run over and detach him from the shaken boy. “No way! The teacher said that we aren’t allowed to switch partners! Do you want me to get detention?” Donghyun glared at him, then up at Kwangmin, who still had his fingers curled around the fabric of his uniform. “Oh, right.” Kwangmin let him go, shuffling back to his seat beside Jeongmin and stuffing a rice ball into his mouth. “Come on, Donghyun, you know we were just kidding about him wanting to murder you yesterday.”

Jeongmin spoke with his mouth full of kimchi fried rice, causing Kwangmin to use his napkin to shield his face from the food showers and Donghyun to frown as he twiddled his pointer fingers together. “But what if he secretly does??? Are you guys okay with that possibility?” Youngmin rolled his eyes as he tilted his head back in order to get the last drop of his iced tea out of his thermos, shaking his head at the oldest in the group the instant his head bobbed back to normal. “Chill out, man. The worst that could happen is that you look into each other’s eyes as the sun sets and you realize just how perfect his features are.” As Kwangmin snorted into his food, Hyunseong laughed. “That has to be the gayest thing I’ve ever heard you say, man.” Still laughing, he turned to face Donghyun, who, if you asked him directly, totally wasn’t thinking about how soft Minwoo’s lips looked. “Besides, Donghyun can’t even look at that kid at all, let alone in a romantic way.” As they all agreed, Donghyun glared at all of them, still upset that he seemed to have been singled out to be partnered with Minwoo.

When they returned to the class, it was Minwoo who didn’t bother to look at Donghyun, even though the older boy was obvious in the way that he stared at him. His chin in the palm of his hand that covered the side that faced Minwoo, his eye peeking through the tips of his fingers.The lessons that day were completely ignored by the two, one because he couldn’t seem to look away and the other because some weird freak was staring at him after he screamed something about him the day before. Or at least, that’s what Donghyun thought as he leaned against the palm of his hand, his chin nestled as he peered over at Minwoo. His eyelashes were way too long for a boy, his skin much too smooth to be manly. In the back of his mind he thought of how soft it must be, until he realized that he was actually fantasizing about the kid that scared him and caused him to be the laughing stock of the class, including his friends.He inhaled quickly, averting his eyes and staring at his notebook.

Without meaning to, Minwoo looked over at him, wondering why he had suddenly moved when he hadn’t even done anything this time. Frowning, he leaned closer to him, staring at the word “no” that Donghyun was scribbling everywhere on his own desk. His brows furrowed as he found himself being much more curious about him than usual. “As this week marks a holiday, you all need to be sure to  read pages 305-320 in your book, that’s your homework for the week before you even think about enjoying the town festival.” Ignoring the groans from the entire class, K.Will rolled his eyes, stuffing papers into his bag and pointing at Minwoo and Donghyun’s seats with each hand. “You two, don’t forget to do your chores. And lock the classroom when you’re finished.” Had he been more attentive to the mischievous friends in the back, he would have noticed that they were giggling and passing notes about something, however his thoughts were on the blind date that his noona had sent him on. Why did it have to be her who wanted him to jump into a relationship? With a frustrated sigh, he closed his bag and clasped his hands together. “That being said, class is dismissed.”

As everyone ran out of the room as quickly as possible, Donghyun found himself being pushed against the wall as people filed past them. “Move out of the way, punk.” A tall repeat student scowled at Minwoo, shoving him aside as he prepared to beat everyone to the exit. Not thinking about much other than “what if he falls and gets hurt,” Donghyun lunged forward, grabbing Minwoo’s arm and pulling him toward him. Before he could react, Minwoo found himself chest to chest with Donghyun, who was leaning against the wall with his arms around the younger boy in an attempt to protect him. The students passed him like blurs in slow motion, his friend’s stares going unnoticed beyond the sound of Minwoo’s startled gasp that seemed to be the only sound that his ears could pick up on at that moment. He hesitantly tightened his grip on Minwoo’s jacket and pulled him closer, avoiding the backpacks that would have hit his head had the older man not been so unexpectedly protective.

Jeongmin laughed, nudging a completely shocked Youngmin as he pointed to the two, whispering something about being right and how much fun it was going to be to watch them, and Hyunseong sighed, picking up his backpack and leaving them behind, causing the two to hurriedly grab their things and run after him. Now abandoned in the empty classroom, Donghyun and Minwoo found themselves frozen in the same position, neither of them wanting to make things even more awkward by reminding the other that they were embracing each other at that moment. “Um...” Minwoo’s high pitched voice sounded as he peeked up at Donghyun, his nose practically buried in his shirt due to the height difference. “I can’t really breathe...” Donghyun’s eyes widened as he quickly pushed him away, coughing awkwardly and walking past the small delicate being to grab the eraser for the blackboard. Not giving him a chance to speak again, he quickly did all the harder jobs before the younger got the chance to do much else than sweep the floor.

“Are we... I mean... Are you in some sort of hurry?” Minwoo’s voice squeaked out again as he wiped his brow, tired from his sleepless night before combined with personal problems he had dealt with that morning. Donghyun turned from the desks he had stacked and unstacked in order to make room for the floor to be cleaned to see his face flushed and beaded with sweat. ‘He can’t even do simple jobs without collapsing?’ He frowned to himself as he looked up and down his small frame, noting the weight being kept to one side of his body. “Ah... Not really.” He stepped toward Minwoo, taking the broom from him in order to put it away, and lingered with the realization that the poor kid was burning up. “It’s uh, supposed to rain, we should get out of here.” He forced himself to smile instead of running away before he stabbed him in the darkness of the school halls, finding himself slightly worried for him for no reason other than the fact that he had no idea where the kid was from and he also had no idea how far he lived from where they stood at that moment.

“Oh, yeah...” Minwoo smiled back, noting that the smile wasn’t genuine and feeling a bit hurt. He couldn’t really understand why the older boy seemed to either have zero interest in him or so much that it scared Donghyun to bits. Biting his lower lip, he reached for his backpack that had been thrown next to Donghyun’s, and they both froze as their fingers brushed against each other’s, each clearing their throats at separate times and trying repeatedly to avoid the other’s touch until their attempts succeeded and they grabbed their bags instead of each other. Walking briskly out the door, they found themselves going in the same direction. Feeling weird just walking next to each other and not saying a word, Minwoo kept glancing at Donghyun while trying to think of something that wouldn’t make him sound like a complete idiot by starting a conversation with it. Not finding anything, he was about to make a comment about the weather when Donghyun spoke up for him, relief washing through his entire being.

“Do you live near here?” He had no clue that the younger boy was only staying four houses away from where they stood at that exact moment, and Minwoo bit back a smile. His happiness was something that he didn’t want to reveal over something as minor as another person’s interest, so he kept his pokerface on and nodded slowly, pointing ahead of them and spoke quietly. “I live right there.” As if the world was protecting him from the dangers inside, it was at that moment that the door slammed open, revealing a stumbling middle aged man who had clearly been drinking too much. Minwoo’s steps halted as he looked on, his mother walking outside slowly as she tried to convince the man to go back inside before making a scene in front of the neighbors. “I’m not leaving until that bastard gets over here.” He snarled, looking directly at Minwoo as his mother’s brows furrowed with concern. Donghyun stared at Minwoo with shock, obviously clueless as to what was going on or what he was supposed to do.

Without a word, Minwoo stared right back at the man, showing no signs of fear nor any intention to back down. “Are you alright, Mother?” He didn’t bother to look at her, knowing that averting his gaze would cause more harm than good with someone like him, and his mother nodded, quietly assuring him that everything was fine and that he should have stayed with his nice new friend that night since it had already gotten so late. “Mom-” His concern was obvious, his fear being only for his parent instead of himself, but his mother hushed him before he spoke another word. “I’ll take care of things here, you go have fun, mm?” She smiled brightly, wrapping her arms around the man’s waist and pulling him into a hug, putting her lips close to his ears in an attempt to distract him.

“Honey, come on inside, okay?” His mother smiled at the man, motioning behind his back for Minwoo to run while he could, and before Donghyun could react, Minwoo grabbed his arm and pulled him along with him, running the way they came until they reached the bus stop that Minwoo remembered seeing Donghyun waiting at the previous day. “What just-” Donghyun gasped for air as he began to ask the question he had been holding in since the incident had begun, but Minwoo glared up at him, leaving no need for words as Donghyun immediately silenced himself. Their silence was only meant to last for a few minutes however, as rain began to pour on the both of them, leaving them completely drenched within moments. “Your bus should be here soon, you shouldn’t come back.” Minwoo’s eyes turned back to stare into Donghyun’s own pools of chocolate, and the older boy watched as the rain streaked down his face, his lips quivering and turning a purple hue in the cold. “And you?” The question shocked himself even more than it had surprised Minwoo, and he looked away, scratching the back of his head in an attempt to think of something he could say to get rid of him.

“I’ll be fine.... There’s a park nearby.” He refused to look into the elder’s eyes this time as he stared at the approaching bus, and Donghyun sighed, instantly the action he hadn’t even committed yet. “Come on.” Minwoo opened his mouth to speak, only to have his lips covered by Donghyun’s long, slender pointer finger as he stared at him with nothing but seriousness. “Don’t say anything, just come on.” Grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers together, Donghyun pulled him along beside him, leading the way into the bus and ignoring the stares of the few people who were riding on it. “They....they’re staring at us....” Minwoo tried to pull his hand away as Donghyun rolled his eyes, tightening his grip and pushing his hand against his chest. “Do you think other people matter in this situation? What do you want me to do if you try to run away?” He smiled, genuinely for the first time since he had met the alleged scary boy, and leaned closer, turning his face to make it look as if they were either whispering or kissing, laughing into Minwoo’s ear as they heard gasps from the older people on the bus. “I don’t like bringing a stranger into my house either, but since we have no choice, don’t make trouble for me.” Donghyun didn’t notice the blush on Minwoo’s face as he pulled away to look out the window, and they both refused to look at each other for the rest of the ride, neither noticing that they no longer needed to hold hands.