Baro was sure Sandeul was next to him just a few minutes ago. They were running laps around the school yard and they were the lasts in the group, but now the kid wasn’t anywhere near. He looked back and saw him; his chubby figure was bend in two, leaned on his knees, breathing hard.

God, that kid. He really needed to exercise more.

“Yah, Lee Sandeul” Baro reached him and kneeled next to him “Are you okay?”

Sandeul was trying to catch his breath “I- I’m fine”

“Aigoo, we just ran for five minutes what’s wrong with you?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine” the kid said standing up “let’s go”

But he just didn’t seem fine, he was looking very pale and weak, like he didn’t have any energy left. Baro felt a twinge of worry inside his chest.

“Hey, c’mon let’s sit down okay? You’re looking awful”

Sunwoo took his friend to the locker room, they weren’t supposed to be there, but he didn’t feel like sending Sandeul to the nursery, they’ll make him leave there, and Baro wasn’t up for leaving the other alone. With a little luck, the P.E teacher wouldn’t notice they were missing.

Sandeul was leaning on his shoulder with his eyes shut. His stomach growled and he tried to shut it up pressing his hand against it.

“Huh? Hungry? Really?” Baro laughed “And I thought you were feeling sick”

Sandeul gave him a shy laugh but didn’t say anything. An idea flashed in Sunwoo’s mind.

“Hey, are you eating enough right? You aren’t like this because you’re not eating, right?”

Junghwan didn’t respond.

“Lee Sandeul, why aren’t you eating!?”

“I’m eating! Alright? Jesus”

Baro frowned “Then what is it? Why are you feeling weak?”

“I’m not eating enough I guess, okay? Stop asking dumb questions and shut up”

Sunwoo kept his mouth closed, Sandeul was still leaning on his shoulder and once in a while his stomach would growl again, and then again, until it wouldn’t stop making noises. Baro started caressing his head, none of them said anything for a while.

“Jinyoung told me your dad doesn’t allow you to see me” Baro said. It wasn’t the right moment, but he couldn’t take that out of his mind.

“He doesn’t know about you. He just needs me to walk Gongchan everywhere so he doesn’t hang out with Jinyoung  hyung”

“Oh”

“Yeah”

Baro thought about his next question for a second “Is it too bad? Your dad?”

“He won’t let my brother have any friends, and he’s always on me when I eat. I think he’d really prefer not to have kids”

“You can have my lunch”

“Huh?”

“You can have my lunch okay? I don’t care what your father thinks, you need to eat as much as you need to eat or you’ll get weak like this”

Baro blushed, he hoped Sandeul didn’t notice how worried he was, but the boy smiled widely.

“Baro-yah, are you worried?” his smile was a mocking one

“Shut up” Sunwoo got him off him “I’m just sick of your stomach making such noises”

“No, no, you’re wooooorried”

“Yah, Lee Sandeul, stop mocking!”

“Sunwoo is worried about me!”

“You’re impossible”

Sandeul wouldn’t stop giggling, and Baro thanked God that the bell rang in that very second, because if a single more minute had passed, he might as well have kissed him.

Jinyoung found a note folded inside his locker, the handwriting was neat and clear. He knew who was behind it even before he read it.

“Let’s meet behind the gym.

Gongchan.”

He could feel a shudder travel around his body. He was aware of how much Gongchan was risking to see him, even if they were in school, but he was going to make him feel like he’d took the right decision. Jinyoung knew, deep inside, that this wasn’t a game anymore; he really wanted Gongchan, this was the real deal this time, and he was scared of letting himself admit it.

Jinyoung knew he was there before turning the corner. His chest was constrained and he felt a hint of a smile fighting for a place on his lips. He was the living contradiction of emotions: Gongchan made him nervous, Gongchan made him feel anxious, Gongchan made him calm. He fixed his bangs.

Gongchan and he sat down on the floor behind the building. No one ever went there –no when they had such a great cafeteria- so they had the whole place to themselves. They decided to share their lunches, put them in between them and take whatever they wanted to try, anyway, none of them was paying real attention to the food. Jinyoung was just using it as an instrument.

“Try this” he said, picking some kimchi stew with his chopsticks and bringing the food closer to Gongchan’s mouth “open”

Gongchan was feeling very shy with this, but he couldn’t deny that he was somewhat enjoying it; he could handle all the embarrassment if that meant his hyung would keep showering him with attention.

“You might like this, hyung” he tried, too. But being in the giving side was harder than it seemed.

“Aigoo, Gongchannie, you’re blushing! You’re so cute!”

Gongchan’s eyes widened. “No, no, hyung stop looking at me!”

“You’re so cute, so cuuute” Jinyoung kept going, he seemed truly happy about this, like he couldn’t believe he was so lucky to get such a sight

“Hyung stop”

“I’m sorry” Jinyoung apologized “You seemed so adorable”

Gongchan looked strangely at him, he didn’t think he was adorable, he was just… he was just him.

Jinyoung saw the doubt in his eyes, he didn’t like that. He knew he was putting things at risk, but he leaned on anyway, he leaned on and placed a small kiss in Gongchan’s lips.

They both kept quiet, staring at each other.

“I’m sorry Gongchan” Jinyoung said when the silence started to make him nervous “I should-“

But Gongchan obviously thought that yes, he absolutely should have. Jinyoung lips were thin and warm when his own encountered them for the second time, this time it was more preciously, more determinate, Gongchan forgot his worries for a second and focused only in the movements. Jinyoung was caring, sweet, and Gongchan was shy himself, either way, he felt his insides burning.

They separated and Gongchan gave him a timid smile. Jinyoung looked at him for a second and then, suddenly, wrapped him in an awfully tight hug.

“We’ll make this work” Jinyoung told him “We’ll make this work”

Gongchan just rested his head on his shoulder.

They had turned the radio on and sprawled their notebooks and pencils over the dining table. Their parents weren’t yet home so they decided to turn the volume up at the maximum, the school supplements over the table were just to pretend they were actually doing something if they parents appeared, but they were really busy with more important things.

Sandeul’s phone beeped for the hundredth time that evening, but the older was in the kitchen and anyway, Gongchan knew it was for him. He smiled at the open text.

Jinyoung

I saw a puppy in my way home and thought of you!

Huh.

“Hyung” Gongchan called his brother “do I look like a dog?”

Sandeul came from the kitchen with some sandwiches and sat down, he looked at him funnily.

“Like a puppy, but why do you ask?”

“Jinyoung hyung told me…”

“Huh”

“Why are you smiling?”

“You two are cute” Sandeul simply said, his mouth full of food.

“Hyung, are you going to eat all of that before dinner?” Gongchan took a look at the plate with no less than four sandwiches

“Dad’s always on me so yes”

Gongchan felt bad for him, he knew that if he wasn’t such a problem his father wouldn’t be so bitter and his hyung wouldn’t have to pay for it. They used to be a lot happier before he opened his mouth.

“I have something to tell you, but you can’t tell anybody”

“I never tell anybody anything, you’re offending me”

Gongchan raised an eyebrow “You told Jinyoung hyung that dad won’t let me see him”

Sandeul swallowed hard “Yah! It was only because he seemed to like you a lot!”

“And you did well”

“I did?”

“I kissed Jinyoung hyung”

Sandeul stood up violently.

“YOU KISSED JINYOUNG HYUNG?”

“HYUNG! Shut up would you??”

“God. Really? I can’t believe it! Really??”

So Gongchan told him.

The happiness they felt when they were talking about what happened at lunch with Gongchan and Jinyoung was soon vanished. Their mom and dad had got home from work, they studied in silence while their mother prepared dinner and his father watched the news. Nothing bad specially happened, but the feeling they got when they were near them was bordering on fear.

At dinner, when their father cleared his throat they got tense, but it was a good day, and it was going to remain like that.

“Kids” he said solemnly “we have to talk to you”

Both of them straightened on their seats, knowing that their father appreciated manners very much.

“We have come to terms with the company and we are leaving from Thailand next week.”

Sandeul and Gongchan looked at each other, both knowing what that meant, but remaining quiet.

“As you know, we have decided that you are old enough to stay here, however, if you fail on your grades or responsibilities you’re going to have to flight all the way to Thailand and finish your studies there. The failing of any of you will drag the other.”

“We’ll do fine, father” Sandeul said “Don’t worry”

The man gave him a disdainful look. “We’ll see about that”

They finished dinner in silence.

Gongchan

JINYOUNG HYUNG! MY PARENTS ARE LEAVING NEXT WEEK!

We’ll be able to see each other then! Counting the days >.<

The phone rang a few seconds later.

Jinyoung

Whoa! Gongchannie I’m so happy! <3

I’ll plane the most wonderful dates.

Just wait and see.

Wait and see.

Gongchan had been waiting for so long that he thought waiting one more minute would make him explode. He’d never wanted something as much as he wanted his parents leaving. Would he miss them? Maybe. Would he want them back? Absolutely not.

His brother seemed very cheerful too.

He was humming a song and munching some cookies he’d stolen from the kitchen, Gongchan haven’t seen him this carefree for days.

He guessed it was only because no one would mess up with his weight anymore.

But Sandeul was thinking about Baro.