"Do you wanna die?!" 

Kai winced at his father's bellowing voice.

"Kim Jong Soo-ssi." The supervisor warned. Jong Soo glanced at the supervisor and bowed his head apologetically before going back to glaring at his son.

"Are you trying to end up like me??" He hissed with disappointment. 

Kai lowered his head with guilt. "Halmoni already gave me the speech, five times." He said.

Jong Soo sighed and shook his head. "Kai, we're only doing this because we want you to have a successful future. The world isn't how you want it to be; school and grades are important no matter how much you hate them." 

"I know I know." Kai bitterly mumbled. Jong Soo watched Kai fiddle with his fingers and just decided to drop it, Halmoni probably gave him hell for it anyway.

"Besides cutting classes, how's everything else at school?" He asked, easing up. 

"Not bad." Kai shrugged. "Same old same old." 

"Nothing interesting happen?" Jong Soo asked. 

"Well spirit week starts on Monday." Kai said. "Monday we get to wear whatever we want instead of our uniforms, Tuesday's costume day, Wednesday is pajama day, Thursday has a fun fair after school, and Friday is the dance." 

"Oh that sounds fun!" Jong Soo exclaimed. 

"Appa, come on, we're in high school." Kai groaned. "Pajama day? What are we? 7?" 

"Oh come on Kai. It's just the school's way of helping you guys let off some steam. It might be nice to do something different instead of the usual go to class, do work, study, go home."

"It's childish." Kai mumbled, slumping his back into the seat. 

Jong Soo snorted. "And cutting class to go watch the cheerleading team practice isn't?" He raised an eyebrow. 

Kai's face burned in embarrassment at that one. "That- that was- Sehun's idea." He stuttered. 

"Yeah, uh-huh." Jong Soo sarcastically nodded, trying not to smile. Kai sat up straight and pulled on his collar, trying to ease his embarrassment. 

"So um," Kai cleared his throat in desperation to change the subject, "any news on your sentence reduction?" 

Jong Soo's shoulders deflated the slightest bit when Kai brought the sticky topic. "Oh, um, it's fine." Jong Soo nodded, avoiding Kai's gaze. "Not much news on it yet, but I'm sure everything will turn out okay." 

Kai nodded as he stared down at his hands placed on the table. "I hope so." He said with a small voice. Jong Soo's eyes softened. He knew that Kai tried to present himself as if nothing ever mattered, as if he never cared about anything. But a father knows how much his child is hurting. 

And no one could blame Kai either. His mother was off somewhere with her new family, his grandmother was ill in the hospital, and his father was in prison. How is a child who's not even 18 yet supposed to handle that all by himself? Sure he has his friends but none of them truly know what he feels no matter how hard they try.

Which is why Jong Soo tried every month to get a sentence reduction. He needed to be out there with his boy, helping him through life. A child without someone to watch over him is like a lamb thrown into the slaughterhouse.  

"I'll get out of here one day and then I'll take you on that rollercoaster you're so scared to ride on." Jong Soo said as he reached out and held his son's hand. 

Kai immediate love at his father's touch, but like the "macho" guy he was, he scoffed and shook it off. "What am I? 6? I'm not scared of any roller coasters." 

Jong Soo grinned and shook his head. "Yeah, sure." 

Kai sarcastically laughed. "You honestly think I'm afraid of roller coasters? Ha! Appa, you're talking to the guy who went inside an abandoned school building alone at midnight because I thought I heard a little girl calling out for help." 

Jong Soo played along with Kai's little manly man game. "Really?? An abandoned school building alone at midnight??" 

"Mhm." His bravado coming out. "The girl's we were with were so scared so I offered to go in first." He said like it was no big deal. 

"Oh well thank God you were there to make sure they didn't get hurt." Jong Soo gleefully clapped. 

"Yeah..no biggie." Kai shrugged, inwardly smiling.

Suhan

"Did you see the way Im Na's brother looked at me when we were doing our routine??" Joo Ri squealed as she, our two other friends, and I walked down the dark sidewalk. 

"Omo I know!! He was totally checking you out!" Hye Ra swooned. "He's so cute!" 

"Don't even get me started on when he smiles!" Dabin added. 

"How much do you guys want to bet he'll ask Joo Ri out before our recital?" Jaekyung chimed in. 

"Please. How much do you guys wanna bet he'll ask me out before next weekend?" Joo Ri chuckled. The other three girls all laughed in unison while I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Should I tell them that Im Na's brother has a girlfriend and that the only reason he was