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He looked down at the lunch box in his hands and thought back to Sehun’s words.

“Open yours later and you’ll find out why.”

Curious as to the meaning behind those words, he snapped open his bento box to take a peek inside. His eyes widened as if he couldn’t believe what he saw. Inside, Sehun’s mother had shaped the rice into a cute Rilakkuma bear and added side dishes surrounding the rice as a part of the outfit and background. At the bottom of the box, she used sauce to write the words, “Fighting, Luhan!”. Luhan suddenly laughed. The lunch was beautiful and smelled yummy, but he could only imagine one thing in his head.

How amusing it must have been to see the look on Oh Sehun’s face when he opened this lunch box.

He wished he could’ve been there.

Chapter 10:

Back in class, lunch time quickly ended and it was time for self-study. The teacher spoke her usual speech about the students’ need to keep quiet and actually take out their books for once.

“The mid-terms are coming up really quickly, and if even half of you guys don’t make it above a 50%, I really am going to lose my job.” The teacher said seriously. “Last year, all of our mid term grades added up didn’t even reach student Oh Sehun’s individual score. I hope you students keep that in mind and study extra hard this year to prove that Class F isn’t just a joke. Use this self study period to get started. Arasseo?”

“Nehhhh!” The students replied in unison.

Everyone watched quietly as the teacher evenly stacked a pile of papers into her backpack and zipped it up.

“Yah, if you guys don’t study, I’m really going to get you!” She added with an earnest voice as she put one hand on the sliding door.

“Nehhhhh!” The students replied again. “We’ll study hard!”

They heard her sigh as she slid the door open. The moment she stepped both feet out of the classroom and slid the door close, Kai, Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, and Tao immediately bounced up and dragged their chairs towards Luhan’s desk. The other students moved around to hang out with their own group of friends and soon enough, the class became a chatting frenzy with little groups of students scattered all around the room.

“What am I going to do about midterms...” Luhan said flatly, head on his math textbook. “I can’t believe the students in this class would actually want our teacher to be fired...”

He stared blankly at the empty desk in front of him and sighed. For the past three years, no matter how hard he tried to study, the test results made it look like he never studied at all. His classmates didn’t help either, always causing a ruckus and holding what seemed like a party whenever the teacher was not in the room.

“Kwenchana, Lu. At least you still get better grades than Kai and Chanyeol.” Tao said, putting his arm around Luhan and squeezing him lightly for comfort. “We can’t really do anything about the students in this class though. You know they’re in this class for a reason.”

“Yah, that’s just cause my brain can’t concentrate on a piece of paper for more than 5 minutes, okay? It’s not like it’s my fault or anything.” Kai retorted, seemingly offended by Tao’s comment.

“Jeez, calm down. I never said it was your fault you got worse than Chanyeol, hyung.” Tao laughed.

“Whatever.” Kai pouted, giving Tao a glare.

Chanyeol gave Kai a backhug with a big grin.

“You still have me, hyung!” He said, happy Kai didn’t throw him off of himself.

Kai just sighed, as if he had realized how miserable he was. The only thing he had now, of course, were his looks. Forget about the good grades...and the good friends. He glared at Tao again.

Luhan cracked a smile at his friends’ little argument and lifted his head upwards.

“I think we need a tutor for this midterm.” He said randomly.

Everyone turned to look at him with the most bewildered expressions on their faces.

“Who in their right minds would tutor people like us?” Kyungsoo said as a matter of factly. “You know most of the school looks down on us like we’re pabos.”

Luhan’s mind flashed back to Oh Sehun. There must be something he can do to bribe Sehun into tutoring them. At least, he hoped so.

~*~

“I’m back!” Luhan called from the front door.

He neatly took off his shoes and placed them on the top shelf of the shoe holder, pushed against the wall adjacent to the door. Not expecting an answer to his call, he lazily stretched, exhausted from the day at school. He had tried his best to understand the material the teacher had taught him, but he was hopeless to no avail. He was as confused as a 5 year old would be, attending a high school level class. He rubbed his temples as he entered the kitchen. Though he never wanted to admit it, food was his number one consolation putting aside his father...and Sehun.

No, wait. No, not Sehun. Not him anymore. I see him everyday now, and it somewhat pains me that I’m still in love with a jerk like that.

Upon entering the kitchen, he stopped mid-stretch in front of the kitchen table and his eyes widened. There they were, two of his favorite dishes from back when he was in China, laid out in front of his eyes. They were small plates, a meal designed for one person to eat as appetizer, and they were cleanly decorated to look like they came straight from a restaurant. The aroma was so strong and alluring, Luhan couldn’t help it as he felt his mouth water.

Suddenly out of nowhere, Sehun’s mother appeared with an apron tied around her neck and a huge smile on her face.

“Luhan, you’re home early!” Sehun’s mother said cheerfully. “Sorry I couldn’t come greet you right away...I was cleaning up the laundry just now...”

“A-annyeonghaseyo!” Luhan said quickly, giving a slight bow.

She really did appear out of nowhere and it kind of scared Luhan a bit.

“I didn’t expect you to come home so early. You didn’t hang out with your friends?” She asked concerned.

Luhan stared at her for a few seconds, confused as to why she considered it early.

“Isn’t Sehun home yet?”

Mrs. Oh shook her head.

“He’s always lurking around the library after school as if he needs to study more. I’m sure he’s read the whole library by now. What other studying does he need to do?” Mrs. Oh said discontented. “He should just use that time to get a girlfriend for me to meet...I’m dying to meet his girlfriend. I wonder if he’ll even get one at this rate!”

Luhan forced a small smile, resisting the urge to blurt out his feelings for Sehun by digging his nails deep into the palm of his hand.

“Mrs. Oh, can I go to my room to study now?” Luhan asked, glancing at the food from time to time.

“Ah, bata! I forgot you have your midterms coming soon!” Mrs. Oh clapped her hands together in realization. “Arasseo, Luhan-ah. Go upstairs and start to study. I’ll bring the food upstairs for you as well; I asked your dad what your favorite dishes were and made them today~!”

“Komowo, Mrs. Oh!” Luhan grinned, bowing once again before bounding up the steps with his backpack.

When he reached his room, he immediately closed the door, dropped his backpack on the floor, and plopped facedown into the depths of his new bed. Buried into his new fluffy bed sheets that held the scent of fresh laundry detergent, he took a deep breath and stretched his arms once more. He then jumped up and reached for his backpack. It's been a while since Luhan diligently tried to take out his textbooks and study. Luhan was determined to reach the bulletin board list and prove Sehun wrong this time, and he knew that he needed tremendous focus to make it at least to the top 50. Meaning, it was time for work. He pulled out his notebooks and binders, flipping to the most recent page of notes for review. With one last sigh, he began to work, knowing that tonight would be one long night.

~*~

The door swung open to reveal a tired Oh Sehun, ready to retreat to his room and enjoy the silence. The library was quiet for sure, but the freshmen had just found a new home there and caused quite a ruckus. Sehun was irritated. He flung his shoes off lazily and placed them by the shoe holder before slipping on a pair of sandals. He shuffled past the living room and headed towards the stairs. There was a series of clangs and the sounds of the running faucet turning off as Mrs. Oh hurriedly rushed out of the kitchen.

“You’re back?” His mom asked, helping Sehun take off his uniform jacket. “How was school?”

“Fine.” Sehun said plainly.

He quickly changed out of his jacket and his mom frowned.

“You say that everyday, it’s getting old.” She said with a pouting look.

Sehun sighed at his mother, curious as to why she wasn’t used to his attitude by now. “Can I go upstairs to study now?”

“Study?” His mother laughed. “You’ve studied well enough at the library today, Sehun. You could’ve used that time to go hang out with your friends or watch a movie. You must be tired now, so just go to sleep, okay?”

She folded over the uniform jacket she was holding in her arms and scrambled over to the coat closet to hang it. When she was done, she made her way back around the kitchen table and grabbed a small plate of sandwiches. They were cute and decorated with small side dishes as well as flagged toothpicks stuck in the middle of each sandwich to hold it together. Sehun observed her, intrigued by the fact that she was making snacks at midnight.

“Anyway, do what you want. It’s not like you’ve ever listened to what I told you, right?” Mrs. Oh said with a twinkle in her eye. “I’ll be upstairs in Luhan’s room if you ever need me.”

She bounded up the steps and Sehun watched her from below.

Why would she be hanging out in Luhan’s room?

Right then, his mom turned around, startling Sehun.

“W...what?” Sehun asked, slightly shaken.

“On a second thought, no. Don’t disturb Luhan and I. It’s a ‘getting to know each other’ time between us, okay? If you need me to do something for you, I’m sure your dad can do it too.” His mother said with a smile. “I can hear him snoring all the way from here. Just wake him up. He doesn’t do anything once he gets home anyway. Can you believe him? Gosh, Ivy League graduates are useless.”

With one last word, Sehun’s mother turned around and made her way to Luhan’s room. She knocked on the door and walked in.

“Why do I feel like something fishy is going on between my mother and Luhan?” Sehun muttered to himself as he walked upstairs and entered his room. “Ugh, I’m too tired to worry about this. I’m going to sleep.”

He quickly changed into his pajamas and switched off his desk lamp. He climbed into his bed and slowly closed his eyes, falling asleep almost instantly. Little did he expect what events would be waiting for him the next day.

~*~

A/N:

How was the chapter?! I didn’t exactly go through and edit it after I wrote it, so please pardon any mistakes >.<” Anywho, I wonder what Sehun sensed was fishy between Luhan and his mother tonight...Hm.