Taekwoon groaned, realizing that it was a school day, and he would just have to up the pain and go through his day like he always does. That didn't stop him from lying in bed though. A few more minutes, he thought to himself with a moan, before realizing that if he stayed in bed any longer, he'd probably be late to school.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he slowly got out of bed, letting out a soft whimper and holding a hand to his ribs in the process. As a force of habit, he made his bed. Taekwoon was used to everything in the house being arranged a certain way, and everything around him had to be organized and clean. He could blame that on having a dad who once made the military his career, but either way, he always wanted things to be where they should be.

The hot shower Taekwoon took was soothing enough to make some of the pain go away. He sighed in content as the hot water pelted his skin. He knew that he would still need to take his pain medications afterwards, but he was grateful for this moment of temporary relief. He hated looking at his body, knowing that his sight would be greeted by bruises he wished he didn't have. Taekwoon let out a sigh as he started to remember how he got each and every one of them. He had almost forgotten what it was like to not have bruises on his body, seeing as how just when the old bruises would start to fade, there would always be someone to give him new ones. He finally turned off the water. He wanted to stay just a few minutes longer, but he knew that he would most likely be late to school.

Once he was done drying himself and getting dressed, he headed straight to his father's room, backpack in hand and ready to leave.

"Dad," Taekwoon said to his father, who was still asleep. He started to gently shake him. "I have to go to school now."

His father slowly opened his eyes. "Taekwoon-ah," he muttered.

"Good morning, Dad," Taekwoon replied. "I'm going to school now. Sorry I couldn't make breakfast this morning but I promise I'll cook when I come back."

"Okay," his dad said. "Be back as soon as possible, okay?"

Taekwoon nodded. "Okay," he responded. 

Within seconds, Taekwoon was outside, walking to school as he always does. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, his face looking towards the ground, as always. It was getting a little cold, and Taekwoon regretted not bringing another jacket besides the one that came with his uniform.

Taekwoon made it to school a few minutes before the bell rang. He liked coming to school at a later time though, even if it risked him getting in trouble. Coming to school late meant spending less time with-

"Hey, Taek," Taekwoon heard someone say as they flung their arm around his shoulders. 

Taekwoon swallowed. "H-hi, Dohoon," he greeted, looking away from the other one.

"Don't be shy," Dohoon said with a smirk. "I just wanted to walk you to class. Is that okay?"

Taekwoon shook his head. "I-I wanted to walk by myself," he replied, wishing for once that his voice didn't sound so soft spoken.

Dohoon scoffed, releasing his hold on Taekwoon as the bell rang. "That's okay," he said. He leaned closer to Taekwoon, whispering in his ear. "At lunch we can continue our little conversation from yesterday," he promised, a smile forming on his face that sent shivers down Taekwoon's spine. "You should get to class," Dohoon suggested. "I would hate for you to be late."

Taekwoon swallowed the lump in his throat before rushing to his first class.

He was invisible to everyone else. Why is it that of all people, Dohoon had to be the one to notice him?

Taekwoon took his usual seat, which was at the back of the classroom. He put his head down on his desk as he waited for class to officially start.

"Looks like someone took my seat," a new voice said a few moments later, causing Taekwoon to look up at the person. "Mind if I steal the desk next to you?"

Taekwoon recognized the person right away. It was Hakyeon. All Taekwoon knew about the other boy was that he loved to talk.

Taekwoon finally shook his head.

"Thanks," Hakyeon replied as he sat himself down. He looked over to the shy boy next to him and smiled. "You're Taekwoon, right? I'm Hakyeon, in case you didn't know."

Taekwoon nodded. "I know," he replied.

Hakyeon pursed his lips. "You know, none of my friends are in this class," he said, ignoring all of Taekwoon's signals. It was clear that the other boy didn't want to talk, but Hakyeon continued. "I don't like a lot of people in this class, so I try not to talk to anyone. Is that the reason you always sit back here and never talk?" Hakyeon was the type of person who noticed everything, Taekwoon gathered quickly. And one thing he always noticed was the dark haired boy who sat at the same desk everyday, looking out the window all throughout class and never talking to anyone.

Before the conversation had a chance to go any further, their teacher walked in.

"Good morning, Mrs. Kim," the class stood up and greeted in unison. 

"Good morning, class," their teacher replied. "I have your tests graded," she announced, holding up a stack of papers. She went around the room, passing out everyone's test. Once she approached Taekwoon, a smile appeared on her face. "Good job, Taekwoon-ah," she said before placing his graded test on his desk.

Taekwoon picked up the test, looking at his score written in bright red.

100%.

"Wow," Hakyeon said in amazement, his mouth hanging open. "I wish I had your understanding of physics like you do," he said, holding up his test and showing it to Taekwoon. A big 82% was written at the top of his page. "That's the best score I've gotten all semester from this class," he sai