Key leaned against the counter nursing a mug of steaming coffee, his eyes glued to the youngest member of the household. It was hardly six thirty on Monday morning and after a few days off from school, Mir was heading back to the high school today and it was clear how distraught he was. Even from across the kitchen Key could see his lower lip quiver every few seconds and the glossiness in his eyes of unshed tears. The kid was a complete mess and Key’s heart went out to him. He just wished there was something he could do to help.

There is something I can do but if I’m going to be honest about it, it’s actually a selfish reason of my own with the side benefit of helping Mir, Key mused to himself, taking a sip of the hot beverage. He breathed in deeply; his gaze still set on Mir, and frowned deeply. Even if the reasons were his own, Key knew he had to do this anyway. He was trying to be a better, nicer person and he knew that in the end it was the right thing to do. So, he set his coffee aside and walked out of the kitchen and into the living room where Heechul was sitting in his recliner with his laptop open.

“Heechul, can I talk to you for a second?” He asked, briskly walking to the couch and sitting on it. He waited until Heechul closed his laptop before continuing. “My homebound break ends this Friday and the more I think about it, the more I don’t want to go back to my old school. It will take me twenty minutes to walk there in the morning and you have to drive Donghae to his school. So I was thinking that maybe I could transfer to the school Mir goes to.”

Heechul studied him silently for a moment, trying to detect a hidden excuse for this sudden decision. At the beginning of the school year, before the accident happened, Key had absolutely no problem walking to his high school on the days he’d spent the night here. Time and distance was no reason to transfer and he could only wonder what the real reason was.

“Well, yeah, that wouldn’t be a problem but are you sure you want to do that? You won’t know anybody there. I thought that you would be looking forward to seeing your friends again. It’s been almost three months since you’ve heard from any of them,” Heechul said slowly.

“There is a reason for that,” Key answered briskly, averting his eyes. He shifted and unconsciously crossed his arms. “I just want to start fresh, you know? Things are starting to change and I think that switching schools will be good for me.”

Heechul brushed the caramel colored hair out of his face and nodded lightly. “Alright, if this is what you want then who I am to say no? I’ll get the paper work when I drop Mir off, then I’ll stop by your school to deal with the rest of it. Are you absolutely positive?”

“Yes,” Key said assertively with a nod.

Heechul didn’t say anything for a moment and continued to watch him. This just didn’t seem like something he would want. He knew how outgoing and social Key was; all summer he would be out with a different friend every day that he wasn’t hanging out with Donghae and Mir and now all of a sudden he didn’t want to see those friends anymore? It just didn’t seem right, but it wasn’t his decision to make. After all, Key was so set on what he wanted to do with his education and this could just be part of his plan.

Nodding finally, Heechul stood up and glanced at the time on his phone. “Okay, then I’ll be back a little later today.”

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