Chapter 16

"You do nothing good! All you have to do is keep a good, clean record until you finish studying! And even something as simple as that, you can't do!" Hongbin's mother shouted at him the moment he stepped inside his house. He only hanged his head low so he did not have to see the anger on her face. Hongbin was used to it: being shouted at regardless of whether it was a huge or small thing. But that day was when it hurt the most because he got a mere C on one of his school subjects and his mother literally slapped his record card on his face. "Give me your phone!" The furious woman demanded, and of course, who was Hongbin to rebel against the person who is feeding him and giving him shelter anyway?

Hongbin's hand shook as he handed the phone to his mother. She did not say anything more after that, but all that left Hongbin to do was to break down on the floor. He was tired –

And now, his N-hyung was in his school, bothering him again. Hongbin sighed while he watched N's mouth move and he heard no words coming from him. Did he become deaf or was his N-hyung's voice just too annoying that he got used to it? Whatever the answer was, Hongbin did not bother to make everything hard for himself more than it already was – "Binnie~" His N-hyung prodded his cheek with his finger. Unable to continue letting himself be bothered by the former, Hongbin got up from his seat, face straight and emotionless. "T-They were... calling you," His N-hyung murmured, probably watching his movements. But Hongbin did not need to be told of that since he heard his name not once but three times over the school's speakers. He brushed past his hyung, not uttering a single word, but he did not forget to lock the door behind him when he left.

Apparently, it was his mother who called for him to talk over the phone. Really, he was already used to it. Hongbin's mother screamed over the phone about the silliest things and how he did 'this' wrong and he did 'that' as opposed to how she would have liked it. He did not say anything besides soft sobs of "I'm sorry" or "I will fix it." Hongbin, himself, had gotten so tired of hearing those same words coming out of his mouth when he knew that over a short period of time, she would be nagging at him again for a different (or sometimes even the same) thing.

Hongbin smiled at the receptionist behind the desk. It was his signature smile after all and nobody could ever resist his dimples whenever he smiles. It was convincing if one did not know how Lee Hongbin's life was like. But if one were to just squint a little, they might be able to see how the corners of his lips were twitching and how his muscles were aching just to keep a forced smile up. Then again, who would notice such a thing when his handsome features would blind anyone the moment they see him?

Hongbin came back to the empty student council room as soon as he was dismissed at the reception area. What he only finds, though, was his N-hyung wearing that extra school uniform that used to sit inside the cabinet. His N-hyung did not even have a long hair nor did he have make up on, but he still looked like a girl from behind. Perhaps it was because of his undeveloped body or perhaps he was just simply... effeminate? Well, none of those mattered to Hongbin because that became the last straw for him. He simply blew up; his face became bright red and his hands turned into balls of fists. Hongbin yelled out loud that it startled N.

Still, the latter smiled at him and even attempted to greet him. This only changed once he saw Hongbin's bloodshot eyes and N surrendered to let himself be tackled to the ground. He earned himself a few scratches on his arms when Hongbin tried to strip the uniform off of him by force and he just remained still. N admitted to himself that he was scared because he had never seen Hongbin so mad before and also because his mother would sometimes lash out her temper on him that it became frightening that other people could be so angry too. "Bin-ah..." N choked as he tried to reach out and touch Hongbin's tear-stained face. "Binnie... It's okay. It's okay... You can stop now..." However,