Sunggyu awoke the next morning to the sound of the smoke alarm ringing, followed by the smell of smoke.  He immediately got out of bed and hurried to the kitchen where he found Woohyun coughing from the smoke inhalation.  He noticed the frying pan on the stove and whatever was in it was burnt as charcoal.

Sunggyu's initial response was to pull Woohyun out of the kitchen before he switched off the smoke alarm and returned to the kitchen to clean up the mess.

Woohyun waited in the lounge while trying to recover from his smoking fit.  When he saw Sunggyu emerge from the kitchen awhile later, he immediately approached the man with the most apologetic look on his face.

"I'm so sorry," Woohyun began.  "I wanted to fry some eggs but..."

He was expecting the man to scold him or even kick him out that very moment, instead Sunggyu looked at him with a worried expression.

"Are you okay?" Sunggyu asked, much to Woohyun's surprise.

Woohyun was taken aback my the man's question that all he could do was nod his head.

Sunggyu smiled.  "I take it you've never fried an egg before?"

Woohyun bit his lip and shook his head ashamedly.  "I wanted to surprise you."

Sunggyu laughed teasingly.  "Oh you surprised me."

Woohyun lowered his head and looked to the floor.

"Come on, we've still got time," said Sunggyu glancing at his watch.  "Why don't you get ready and I'll take you out for breakfast then I'll drop you off at school."

Woohyun looked up at the man in surprise.  "You don't have to do that."


Despite wanting to decline the offer, Woohyun found himself in a cafe with Sunggyu.  While Woohyun felt bad for what happened earlier, Sunggyu did not seem to mind it at all.  Woohyun wondered why the man had not blamed him at all.  It made him feel uneasy.


After breakfast, Sunggyu drove Woohyun to school.  Sunggyu had intended to drop the boy off at the gates until Woohyun asked him to pull over a fair distance away.  Sunggyu obliged without question.  He figured that Woohyun probably did not want to be seen with him.

Sunggyu pulled over by the side of the road and waited as Woohyun got out of the car.  There was an awkward moment of silence where their eyes met yet neither knew what to say.

"Thanks," was all Woohyun managed to say.

"You're welcome," Sunggyu replied with a smile.

Woohyun hurried towards the school gates while Sunggyu watched him.


Woohyun arrived into class moments before the first bell rang.  As he walked over to his seat, he noticed several empty seats.  He soon realised that they were his group of friends.  On one hand, he felt relieved that they weren't present as he did not know what they would do to him but on the other, he wondered what they were up to.  He did not think much of it, figuring that they were just ditching class.


The phone buzzed silently in his pocket.  He glanced at the screen before answering it.

"They've been taken care of," said the voice on the other line.