"Are you dead?"

Hyuk lifted his head from an endless pile of study notes and textbooks to stare up at a concerned Ken before burying himself in school once more.  "... Almost," he finally muttered. 

"As much as you absolutely want to study," The older man patted his head. "You have work to do."

Hyuk sighed and started to clean table one of his stuff. "Hey, speaking of work... I just realized something."

"What?"

"How am I not fired yet?" The kid asked very seriously, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I've never worked this long at one place before."

Ken shrugged. "There are a lot of reasons. Like... We still need the extra help, and you're an excellent employee."

Hyuk raised an eyebrow. "That's only two."

"I'm not good at math," the chef replied blankly. "I studied food, not numbers. What are you going to study?" 

"For post-secondary? Uh..." Nothing came into the student's head. "... I guess I haven't thought about it." 

Ken narrowed his eyes at him. "Kid. You're graduating next month. You kind of need at least a vague idea of where you want to go!" 

"What do you think I should do?" 

"Do you whatever you like doing. That's what I did," Ken gestured to their dingy bar. "And look where I ended up."

"N-hyung," Hyuk addressed the guy who was walking by. "What do you think I should do?"

N blinked. "What?" 

"What do you think I should do after high school? I'm thinking about going away for college or something." 

The boss hesitated before striding away. "I-I don't want to talk about this." 

Hyuk and Ken exchanged odd looks. "Anyway..." The older started. "Didn't you say before that you only do well in things you like doing? Just consider the things you're doing fine in now."

"Okay." Hyuk let out a sigh and gazed at the ceiling to think. 

Later in the night, N stopped walking mid-stride and sniffed the air. He concluded that something reeked of love.

He shot a glare at the couple flirting by the bar and marched over to them. "What's going on here?!"

Hongbin blinked at him with a blank look. "Nothing, boss. Why?"

"Well one," N pointed dramatically. "You guys are holding hands while practically ogling each other and it’s gross. And two, Ravi was smiling all day like he won the lottery and it's gross! What happened between you two?"

Ravi turned to look at the brunet, still holding his hands. "You didn't tell him?"

"I thought you would," Hongbin replied sheepishly. "Boss, Wonshik and I are engaged."

N looked ready to pass out.

"Not much is going to change, though. We're still the same, even if we already bought rings."

Their bartender smirked. "What did change is the fact that we sleep together now."

"When you put it so bluntly like that..." Ravi blushed, ignoring the fact that their boss was hyperventilating. "People are going to misunderstand. We sleep together, literally."

Hongbin leaned in and left a soft peck on his fiancé's lips. " it up, future husband—"

"NO!" N screamed suddenly, startling everyone within earshot. "I DON'T APPROVE!"

"What?!" The couple stared at him as if he was crazy. "What do you mean?"

 He gestured at them with a face of disgust. "This is not happening. I will not approve of two employees dating each other!"

Ravi and Hongbin both turned to stare at a certain redhead across the room, singing without a care.

"Taek doesn't count!" N huffed, crossing his arms. "He said we were just acquaintances."

"Is that something you should be proud of?"

"Look, you guys are not happening. Marriage or whatever, just forget about it." The boss stomped off, leaving behind a tense air.

Ravi merely shrugged, for it was often that that N had similar tantrums. "Just ignore him. Who cares what he thinks?"

"But Wonshik," Hongbin pouted. "If the boss doesn't approve of us, what makes you think our parents will?"

"... You have a point. I'll try to make him change his mind."

The bartender sighed as Ravi went off to look for their boss. It was then he noticed that the floor was a little empty. "Hey, where's Hyuk at?" He asked the chef through the kitchen window.

"He's in the backroom," Ken replied pleasantly whilst garnishing. "Said he didn't want to be disturbed."

"What, is he getting off?"

"Uh, no. Worse."

The backroom door slammed open and out came a distraught, very panicked Hyuk, eye bags and all.

The busboy strode over to Ken and wrapped himself around the older's leg, sobbing.

Ken let out a sigh as he tried to shake the teen off to no avail. "What is it this time?"

"I... I..." Hyuk uttered between tears. "... I-I don't know what the root of 1296 is!"

 Hongbin stared at the wailing kid and then at Ken. "Is he studying for exams?"

"Yeah." The blond looked down at him. "Kid, I told you. I don't math!"

"Don't you have a calculator? It's 36, by the way."

Hyuk wiped his red eyes. "I sold my calculator for three manhwas and a box of pepero, okay?! I— Wait, how did you know that?"

"What, the root of 1296?" Hongbin shrugged. "It's simple head-math."

The kid jumped and grabbed Hongbin's shirt though the small window. "TUTOR ME!" He shouted, crying all over again. 

"Only after you wipe your nose; it's a waterfall down there." The brunet handed him a tissue. "... And after you help me with something else."

Ravi pushed the washroom door open and spotted N frowning by the sink. "Hey. Mind explaining yourself?" 

The other glared and snubbed him. "I don't wanna." 

"You've been pushing me to get Hongbin for months now, and now you're against us? I don't understand why—"

"There a billion reasons why you two shouldn't be together," N started. "I realized this recently." 

"Name one." 

"You're a peasant!" The boss retorted, stabbing at Ravi's chest. "You actually think I'm going to let you marry a prince?! You guys aren't old enough to be thinking about these things!" 

"That's not even a valid reason!" Ravi shot back, slowly getting agitated. "We never said we were going to get married now! I don't even know if we'll ever get married in this country. But you have to give me an actual reason. Don't give me any of your bull!" 

N searched desperately for one. "I— his parents! His parents will never accept this! I'm saving you from the—"

"You don't give a about his parents! In fact, if you were in your right mind, you would be helping us persuade them right now!"

"No—"

"Hyung." Hyuk walked in, standing in front of the two. "I think I know why he can't accept you guys. Leo-hyung told me."

N's eyes widened in shock. "Shut up."

"He doesn't—"

N covered his ears and turned to face the wall. "Shut up!"

"He doesn't want you guys to leave him." 

A long silence enveloped them. Ravi was at a loss for words as he stared at N's back, which was shaking with contained sobs.

"He knows you guys can't get married here," Hyuk continued. "He knows that you'll want to go somewhere else to get married. Overseas, like—" 

"Paris," the janitor breathed out. "He knows I want to go to Paris."

"But that means you'll leave him. He doesn't want you guys to go, hyung. Please understand."

N didn't hear anything for awhile. He pressed himself against the wall, wanting it to swallow him up and eat him away. He didn't want for anyone to find out about his trauma, but now everyone knew. He was pathetic, he was—

"Hyung." 

N cautiously turned around and was shocked by the sight before him. Ravi was there, kneeling on the floor. His head was down, fists clenched tightly by his sides. It was evident that this was the last resort.

"... We won't leave. We'll stick with you until you get tired and tell us to. But we will never leave without your consent. But please..." He bowed, a sight that the boss thought he'd never see in his entire life; the sight of Ravi begging. "... Please let me be with him, hyung. Please."

N huffed as he wiped his tears away. "Stand up, peasant."

Ravi slowly stood, still staring at the floor. He flinched when the other man raised a hand.

"... Do you promise?" N asked, sticking out his pinky. 

"I promise." 

"... Treat him right."

"I will."

As soon as the two grown men interlocked pinkies, the kid let out a celebratory cry. 

"YES! I DID IT! HONGBIN-HYUNG, TUTOR ME!!!" 

dumb chapter TAT
yey, I'm going to an anime convention today; gonna nerd my heart out <3
Hyuk is everyone right now //EXAMS OTL/
omg I'm so giddy over VIXX's comeback~
sorry for the late update OTL