-Hyuk’s POV-

There was an undeniable sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I swam the length of the rooftop pool for the tenth time.

I had come up here to escape for a bit, needing quiet time to think for a while and initially planned to just float around on my back and watch as the sky changed from the early purples and blues into warm oranges and pinks. Things that I’d pushed to the back of my brain had my full attention in the peaceful stillness of the water and I found myself scoffing at the irony of being able to feel so weighed down with worry whilst freely floating about.

What was I going to do on winter and summer breaks when I had basically been kicked out of my own home? Was I actually kicked out, though? I really have no clue where I stand with my parents anymore, neither of them bothered seeing me off or even so much as responded to me when I tried to say goodbye. I could always stay with my sister during breaks. She seemed supportive enough of my decisions, being the one to help me move into my dorm in the end, but I’m sure she already has plans to spend Christmas at home with our parents. I wouldn’t want to be a bother to her anyway, not with her taking on a new internship along with university classes.

Should I tell Hongbin about my situation? I wanted to call him up the moment my parents had decided not to help out, but knowing my best friend, he would have done everything possible in order to help me and not expect anything in return. But being my stubborn self, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I would have hated feeling like I had to depend so much on one person. Did he not find it strange that I even applied for such a large scholarship when he knows all about what my parents do for a living? What bothered me the most is the possibility of hurting him or having him be angry at me for not saying anything.

Eventually the thoughts in my head ended up being too loud in contrast to the silent rooftop. That’s when I began swimming laps, the sun now fully visible in the clear blue sky. I only let myself wonder how long I’d been swimming for a short moment before a new worry found its way into my thoughts. The one thing that I would at least have an answer to soon enough, but it’s the answer that worried me the most as I reached the shallow end of the pool once again.

My nails dug into the concrete edge lining the pool as I paused to catch my breath. I heard the sound of footsteps only a second before the voice belonging to them spoke up.

"Shouldn't you be in class, Scholarship?" I closed my eyes and bent backwards enough to dip the top of my head into the water in attempt to get my hair out of my face, not bothering to turn to see who was speaking. It was hard not to recognize such a voice after hearing it drone on and on during class every other day this week.

It was the fifth morning of the new term. The fifth hour and a half that I’d spend wondering if I would have to partner up with the ‘fill in’ again. Well, that’s how it would have gone, had I actually shown up to class.

"Are you just now coming from my class after seeing I wasn't there? You know I'd probably be a lot more willing to attend if you didn't hang around it every damn day." I turned to see Hakyeon standing by the deep end of the pool, his dance bag placed next to mine by a table behind him. His hair color was different from the bright red I remembered it to be yesterday morning. Now a more natural looking dark brown.

"Why? Can't concentrate in my presence? I know I'm good looking, but-”

"Don't flatter yourself." I scoffed, turning my back to him once again and lifted my arms above my head pretending to stretch.

"Hmm, you wouldn't perhaps be worried that we'll get paired together again, eh?" I froze in place halfway through the stretch before, fully prepared to deny him once more.

"Ah, so that's how it is. Why? Didn't we dance well together last time?" That's the problem, we danced too well together. I turned to face him again, wracking my brain trying to come up with some sort of bull answer to his spot on accusation.

"Relax, Scholarship, I can practically hear the gears in your brain turning. I'm not here to pester you about dancing with me. Not this time anyway." Hakyeon said with a small smile.

"What do you want then? And for the millionth time, my name is Sanghyuk!"

"To give you a bit of advice." His expression turned serious as he crouched next to the edge of the pool. "You might think that with the money your parents have that you can waste time and skip class without any consequences, but it's kind of a slap in the face to all the kids who also applied for that scholarship for you to just throw it away like this."

"Wait, throw it away? What are you talking about?" I questioned, swimming over to where he was crouched.

"Did you not read the rules and consequences that came along with such an enormous sum of money? Do you really think you’ll get let off the hook for not attending class to go swimming?”

I recalled skimming over everything about the scholarship but I must have missed that bit. Hakyeon continued talking, no doubt knowing I’d get lost in my head again if he didn’t.

“You’re going to get called out of class later by someone in the admissions department. They will ask why you were absent from class this morning and then go over all the rules with you once again before giving out a punishment or docking your grade by one letter.”

“But it’s only the first week of school!” I exclaimed as the panic started setting in.

“Well then that will teach you not to ditch class ever again. Better to learn early on don’t you think?”

“I just.. can’t afford to lose this scholarship.” I mumbled, sounding a lot more weak than I would have liked.

“I guess there is one way out of getting punished.” Hakyeon sighed. He seemed almost unsure of himself, but I was ready to accept any help at this point.

“Really? What is it? I’ll do whatever it is!”

“Tell whoever you talk to in the admissions office that you had a private lesson with me.” He said simply.

“But I didn’t?” I trusted Hakyeon, but not to the extent of lying to the school board.

“You will. Now.” Hakyeon said, not giving me any room for argument. He reached a hand out to me before continuing. “Get dried off and changed and meet me in studio 3-B, I know the curriculum pretty well so I’ll have you caught up to your class within an hour or so. I’m sure they wouldn’t want their dear Scholarship to be behind in class, now would they?” He joked.

I only stared at his outstretched hand. Part of me was overflowing with gratefulness towards him for being so nice, but part of me also couldn’t help but wonder why. Why did he care if my scholarship was to be taken away? No one else would give a , so what sort of fascination does he have with me to care whether I’m here or not? Ultimately I knew that I didn’t have any choice but to accept his help, no matter what his underlying intentions may be.

Still, I was skeptic, slowly lifting my gaze to meet his eyes. They were warm and filled with sincerity, so much so that it was almost painful to keep eye contact.

What happened next is a perfect example of just how awkward I am when it comes to serious situations. I just can’t function properly and tend to act out in ridiculous ways. I rationalized my actions by the way the glistening beads of sweat that were slowly rolling over Hakyeon’s temple as I reached my hand to his. He must be hot, I thought before I gripped his small slender hand and started to pull myself forward as if I was getting out with his help, only to stop once our faces were nearly touching.

“What?” Hakyeon questioned, his eyes blinking wide at my closeness.

“My name,” I gripped his hand a bit tighter with a small smile, “is Sanghyuk.” I began pulling back on his hand and a look of realization overcame his features.

“Wait, wait a minute! Please!” Hakyeon struggled against the hold I had on his hand, desperately trying to pull back, but it was painfully obvious who was stronger between the two of us. Still he squirmed about and stuttered over his words in attempt to stop me.

“Sanghyuk-ah, don’t! I swear to- please st-” I pulled on Hakyeon’s hand once more and he fell forward into the water next to me with a small yelp.

I knew he would be mad, it was obvious from the way he kept resisting. Not to mention he was fully dressed in dance clothes and sneakers. But I made sure the pants he was wearing didn’t have pockets so there’s no way he had his phone.

What I didn’t expect was the way he began to cling to my arm as if his life depended on it. That was when I felt the first pang of guilt. Then he was coughing and sputtering from the water that must have gotten in his mouth when he fell in, but what really hit me is when the coughs turned into sobs.

Not knowing how to react, I put my hands around his waist to try and comfort him a bit. His nails dug even harder into my arms, his eyes squeezed shut, tears flowing nonstop.

“Hey, what’s wrong? I was just playing around, I’m sorry.” Hakyeon finally opened his eyes again at my apology, but the look he gave me was incredulous, and mixed with the tears that still fell it was like a punch to my gut.

“You’re s-such an idiot!” He half screamed, weakly pounding his fists against my chest. “Seriously, I a-asked you to stop, practically begged! Help me get out. Now!” He snapped with a few more hits to my chest. I complied immediately, a dreadful feeling settling in my stomach knowing that I probably just ruined any chance of him helping me now.

I tightened my grip around his waist and moved us back to the edge of the pool before lifting him out of the water and setting him down as gently as I could. It was a bit awkward since we were in the deep end, but he was light enough to where it wasn’t difficult. Hakyeon sat with his legs in the water for a moment, staring down at me with an emotionless expression. I couldn’t tell if he wanted me to apologize again or if he was thinking over whether or not he would still give the lesson. I decided it was better to be safe than sorry and started to apologize.

“Look, I-”

“Studio 3-B. You have twenty minutes, even one minute late and you can forget it.” He said sharply before standing and walking over to his dance bag. He fished a small towel out of it and pat as much of himself dry as possible before leaving without another word.

A/N: mm, i was going to continue this into the next part but i decided to switch to hakyeon's pov for it. so the lesson will be the next chapter. please look forward to it ^^

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