Now that part ‘together’ gets Jongwoon’s attention that hasn’t been on the dean who is talking to them but on Kyuhyun and his inexistent-turned-bad-turned-worst relationship with Kyuhyun. Jongwoon knows about the obligatory detention students get whenever they violated school policies but why does it have to be together? It’s his first time hearing of obligatory detention that has to be together for both students. Well, this is his first time to have a second class offense. As a matter of fact, this is Jongwoon’s first time to be in the dean’s office because of an offense. But he doesn’t know why they have to comply with the obligatory detention together.

Why does it have to be together?

After talking to the dean for a few more minutes even though the dean’s the only one talking and all they do is nod and say, ‘Umm’ or ‘Yeah’ or something similar to one-syllable sentences like that, they dean finally says, “So, don’t get into anymore fights, okay? Finals are coming and I’m sure both of you want to concentrate in your exams rather than think about your obligatory detention.”

They stand up and are walking to the door when the dean still says something, more to Jongwoon but seems like he wants Kyuhyun to hear it as well. “And Jongwoon-ssi? Don’t worry, okay? There’ll be a thorough investigation about what happened.”

Jongwoon nods and thanks the dean before opening the door and leaving, Kyuhyun following him behind. When they’re both already outside the dean’s office, the halls are already quiet because seventh period has already started and other than those students who have seventh period as their vacant period, all the other students are already back to their classes. So basically, it’s just Kyuhyun and Jongwoon.

Jongwoon doesn’t even want to say anything to Kyuhyun. It’s not that he doesn’t really want to but after everything that has happened, he just isn’t sure if Kyuhyun would want to talk to him. So he turns around and decides to just leave. Anyway, what’s there to talk to? He just fought with the guy he likes and ruins any possible chances of a happily ever after.

“Um, Jongwoon-ssi?” Jongwoon hears when he’s about to take a step. It’s low and somehow almost inaudible but Jongwoon’s sure he heard his name.

“I’m sorry.”

Kyuhyun? Kyuhyun is apologizing to him?

Jongwoon turns around and sure enough, Kyuhyun has his eyes casted down, muttering, “I’m sorry I hit you. I didn’t mean it. I don’t know what happened but seeing Sooyeon at the ground, she’s been my childhood friend and I know her for a long time, she’d never…”

But that’s enough for Jongwoon to hear. He’s glad that Kyuhyun’s apologizing to him but hitting him but Sooyoung will never hurt an ant, even if that ant is sipping blood from her skin already. Sooyoung may be silent and misunderstood but Sooyoung has got a big heart and she won’t just let anybody hurt her friends.

“I saw her tripped Joohyun, Kyuhyun-ssi.”

The stranger-ship in their voices hurts Jongwoon, because he knows that now, Kyuhyun will never believe that he’s Yesung and he doesn’t even know if he’ll have courage enough to admit to Kyuhyun who he really is.

Kyuhyun’s eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

“I saw her tripped Joohyun.”

“Sooyeon? She’d never… I knew her for a long time.”

Jongwoon smiles weakly at that and gently shakes his head on Kyuhyun. “It’s never how long you knew someone, Kyuhyun-ssi,” Jongwoon says softly, looking straight at Kyuhyun’s eyes and someone hoping, please see through me, Kyuhyun. “It’s who came… and never left.”

Kyuhyun thinks he can hear Yesung saying that to him but that’s not Yesung in front of him but Jongwoon. But the words, they’re similar to what Yesung would say to him. Kyuhyun almost thinks that it’s Yesung saying those words in front of him even though he hasn’t met Yesung, yet. Kyuhyun feels that but even so, this is Jongwoon in front of me and not Yesung, he still thinks.

Kyuhyun isn’t able to say something to that and isn’t able to snap back into reality until he hears no more steps that are slowly fading and fading. He thinks Jongwoon already left but when he looks, Jongwoon’s still there, a few meters away from him.

Jongwoon slightly turns his body to face Kyuhyun and says in that endearingly familiar voice Kyuhyun thinks he heard before. “I’m sorry for hitting you, too,” Jongwoon says. “But I’m never going to say sorry for protecting Sooyoung and Joohyun. I’ll do it the same way again if I need to.”

Kyuhyun isn’t sure if he’s still caught from what Jongwoon said earlier or if he’s began thinking what could be Sooyoung and Joohyun’s relationship to Jongwoon that he isn’t able to reply, once more until Jongwoon isn’t in front of him anymore.

Sisters? Cousins? Close friends? Childhood friends?, Kyuhyun thinks, while walking to his next class. Girlfriends? But no, I don’t think he’s the type to have girlfriends simultaneously.

Kyuhyun doesn’t even realize that it’s ridiculous for him to think that because one, the one they had outside the dean’s office is the longest conversation he and Jongwoon had in a span of five months, almost a semester. And why does he care, anyway?

It’s just that there’s something precious in their relationship that Kyuhyun can’t pinpoint what. It’s protecting something without any condition, no matter what their relationship can be.

Kyuhyun decides to text Yesung and tell him what happened. This is like a routine in their relationship virtually, how each one of them would tell the other what happened in their life that day, no matter how good or bad, like this one because Kyuhyun thinks this definitely lists under the bad. Except that Yesung isn’t really telling everything to Kyuhyun.

Yesung-hyung!!! Something bad happened to me today >.<

He waits for a few seconds for Yesung’s reply but when the other doesn’t reply even after a couple of minutes, Kyuhyun decides that Yesung might be on a makeup class even though he’s sure that Yesung doesn’t do makeup classes and he knows Yesung’s schedule like his own. Kyuhyun wonders if Yesung’s doing something. Finally, he just enters his seventh period class for that day and settles on the thought that Yesung’s a junior so he must be busier than him.

Meanwhile, Jongwoon’s holding his phone on his right hand and is practically dragging his feet to the botanical garden. He has a seventh period class but he doesn’t know if he’ll survive a terrifying one hour trying to differentiate different kinds of fishes who look exactly the same.

He opens the door to the botanical garden and is about to settle himself in the serenity the garden is bringing him when somebody throws themselves on his.

“Jongwoon-oppa, I’m sorry,” Sooyoung cries on Jongwoon’s shoulder. Jongwoon’s only a little taller than him. “I shouldn’t have done that… I shouldn’t have done that, oppa. But she… she tripped Joohyun.”

Joohyun’s also has her arms wrapped around Jongwoon and Jongwoon’s strength that has been seriously deteriorating from that day’s occurrence seems to have seized, not come back but at least, seized from deteriorating any further.

“Oppa, I can… I can go to your dean,” Joohyun says, sniffling, looking really serious and determined to Jongwoon. “We can explain, oppa. You didn’t do anything wrong…”

Jongwoon smiles weakly at both of them and is lost in words. He doesn’t even asked why aren’t they in the high school building, in their classrooms but he noticed Joohyun has changed her uniform. He leads both of them to their usual table with a long bench-like chair that can fit the three of them. Sooyoung and Joohyun are on either side of him and both of them are crying.

He ruffles Sooyoung’s hair and whispers to the younger girl, kissing the top of her head. “I’m proud of you, for standing up for Joohyun,” he says, softly. “I’m proud of you, two, for sticking up to each other until the end.”

Then, Jongwoon’s eyes slowly close and he hears Joohyun and Sooyoung shouting his name in a frantic way.

“Oppa!”

“Jongwoon-oppa!”

“Oppa, wake up!”

“Jongwoon-oppa!!!”

On the dean’s office, Maestro Jang and Ms. Lee knock and enter Dean’s Park’s office. Holding several tapes on his hand, Maestro Jang says, “Jongwoon’s telling the truth, Dean Park.”

Dean Park nods and sits on his chair, resting his chin on his hands. “He explains everything to me. From the beginning, how he and Ms. Choi and Ms. Seo are eating lunch together at the botanical garden, how he fell asleep and the note Ms. Seo left him, saying that she and Ms. Choi will be the one to buy their lunch for that day, how after twenty minutes, they haven’t returned yet and how he decided to look for them at the cafeteria. He told me that he saw Ms. Jung tripped Joohyun, and the rest, as you’ve seen it.”

“I will call for Jung Sooyeon, Dean Park,” Ms. Lee says and leaves the office.

“What I don’t understand is why did he hit Cho Kyuhyun back,” Dean Park tells his old friend and colleague, Maestro Jang, who’s still sitting on the chair where Jongwoon sat a few moments ago. “Other than Cho Kyuhyun hitting him, there’s no reason for him to hit him back. If he hadn’t hit Cho Kyuhyun, that will be considered a person fighting with another person who isn’t fighting back. That will be considered a First Class Offense which is punishable by…”

Dean Park trails. “Which is punishable by suspension,” he continues, finally understanding why Jongwoon did what he did, “and expulsion.”

Dean Park looks at his old friend and Maestro Jang only nods, giving his friend a small smile before saying,

“Kim Jongwoon has always had a big heart. It’s too bad not all of us can see that.”

Their conversation is interrupted when Ms. Lee’s normal sweet and gentle voice roared in every intercom that’s inside the university premises, both at the university building and at the high school building: “Miss Jung Sooyeon, please proceed to the Guidance Counselor’s office as soon as possible. Miss Jung Sooyeon, please proceed to the Guidance Counselor’s office as soon as possible.”

Kyuhyun looks up at the intercom, Sooyeon?