Chapter Text
"Page 146. We'll go through the derivation first."
Keonho nodded.
But he wasn't listening.
Seonghyeon's voice blurred into something low and steady, like background music. His hair kept slipping forward when he leaned down to annotate the page, and every time he pushed it back absentmindedly, Keonho's focus disappeared again.
He was supposed to be memorizing formulas.
Instead, he was memorizing the curve of Seonghyeon's face.
"Is there something on my face?"
Keonho snapped upright.
"Yeah," he said automatically. "Something in your hair."
He did not think.
He reached.
His fingers brushed through soft strands near Seonghyeon's temple.
And then he realized what he was doing.
His hand lingered half a second too long.
Seonghyeon went completely still.
The pen in his hand tightened.
"Keonho."
Not angry. Just confused.
Keonho pulled back immediately. "Sorry. Thought I saw something."
You are actually insane, he told himself.
Seonghyeon stared at him for another moment before calmly returning to the page. The tips of his ears red, unnoticeable.
"The formula is correct," he said. "You misread the sign."
Right. Math. Focus.
Keonho forced himself to pay attention this time.
When Seonghyeon handed the notebook over, Keonho worked through the equation slowly. Carefully. He checked it twice before pushing it back.
Seonghyeon adjusted his glasses and leaned closer to examine it.
"It's right," he said. "Progress."
Keonho let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
"It's because you explain it in a way that makes sense," he said.
"That is the bare minimum for a tutor."
"No. I mean it."
Seonghyeon paused at that.
His eyes going over keonho who was visible looking less energetic than he'd always been, a visible bruise on his hand- still healing.
Then he closed the book. "We'll stop here."
Keonho blinked. "Already?"
"You're tired."
"I'm not." Keonho said suddenly with more force in his voice than he'd even said in front of seonghyeon.
"You reread the same line four times earlier."
Silence.
Keonho looked down at his hands.
For a second, he considered brushing it off again.
Instead he said, "If my GPA drops below 3.2, I lose the scholarship."
The words came out flatter than he expected.
Seonghyeon did not react immediately.
"You're on full scholarship?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"And if you lose it?"
"I don't stay."
Simple.
Seonghyeon's posture changed almost imperceptibly. Straighter. Sharper.
Because he never knew that keonho would be this way, he had always seen the guy surrounded by people in hallways too energetic at 8 in the morning. He didn't assume, it was what he'd heard
"he's a rich dude, heard his parents paid for him to be on the team"
But they all knew well he was good at swimming, kind of too good. Rumors flew seonghyeon never paid attention to them but now hearing that keonho was litreally in school because of a scholarship kind of made him feel guilty.
"Why didn't you tell me that before we started?"
Keonho shrugged. "Didn't think it mattered."
"It does."
Keonho looked up at him.
"You're not annoyed?" he asked.
"Why would I be."
"Because I'm behind. Because you're basically dragging me through this."
Seonghyeon's expression hardened slightly.
"I am not dragging you," he said evenly. "You are here. You are trying. That is sufficient."
Something about that made Keonho's chest feel tight.
-----
That day, as Seonghyeon walked through the cafeteria lineup, someone fake-coughed to catch his attention. He turned to see Juhoon carrying a plate piled with a bit of everything. It looked appetizing, honestly.
"Wanna sit with us?" Juhoon asked, his voice casual. They were friends, of course, but not especially close, Seonghyeon was usually busy with student council work, and he was too introverted to go out of his way to make friends.
"Sure, but what's all this?" Seonghyeon asked, eyeing the plate filled to the brim.
"Oh, some of it's for Martin," Juhoon said with a grin, and Seonghyeon smiled back as they chatted about random things while picking out what they wanted to eat.
As Juhoon pulled out a chair for him, Seonghyeon sat down. At the table were Martin—the school's well-known tall, popular guy. Louis, the quiet one who liked to sing, and Juhoon, the chill one.
"So... heard Keonho's your roommate now?" Martin said. He and Seonghyeon were fairly acquainted, once, Seonghyeon had caught him spray-painting the school walls and reported him.
"Yeah, it's been a few days," Seonghyeon said, taking a bite from his plate. He hadn't even eaten breakfast. Martin nodded, though he didn't look satisfied.
"You're tutoring him too, right?" Juhoon added, passing the plate to Martin. They seemed to be sticking to dry snacks, Seonghyeon noticed.
"Yeah... the teacher told me to." Juhoon nodded and added a piece of kimchi to Seonghyeon's plate, earning a small smile from him.
"He's not gonna come to lunch?" Seonghyeon asked. Juhoon looked at him, eyebrows slightly raised, almost suspicious,but he shrugged as Louis spoke up.
"He will. He wouldn't miss lunch even for a day."
Seonghyeon glanced at him, a little surprised. Did he always speak that quickly?
"Oh. Of course," Seonghyeon nodded, assuming it was because of Keonho's diet. Little did he know.
"Seonghyeonn," Keonho called as he dragged the chair beside him and sat down. He hadn't expected Seonghyeon to be there, and he had already planned to ask if he could start sitting with him at lunch.
"You're here?"
"Of course I am."
"Yeah, we all know why," Martin muttered.
Keonho shot him a glare before glancing at Seonghyeon again.
"You should eat. Time's gonna be up soon."
"You haven't eaten either, right?"
"Whoops."
Seonghyeon snickered and pushed his plate toward Keonho, who blinked at him.
"Have some. I've already eaten."
"Gladly." Louis laughed, clearly not believing Keonho's straightforwardness, which Seonghyeon completely missed. Oblivious, for real.
Juhoon elbowed Louis and showed Seonghyeon something on his phone, which immediately caught Keonho's attention too. Still, he had to admit that Seonghyeon's caring behavior was getting to him in ways he couldn't quite explain.
"Ah, we're getting late for class," Keonho said, standing up. The plate was nearly empty when he dumped it into the bin.
Seonghyeon stood as well, checking his phone to confirm,and yeah, they were definitely late.
As they walked side by side, Seonghyeon couldn't help noticing Keonho smiling. He still remembered their conversation from the previous session. He knew Keonho had woken up early for practice, and there wasn't much he could do besides offer minimal support to keep him from spiraling over his grades.
But he was grateful that Keonho had shown appreciation and genuinely tried to improve something most people didn't bother doing. It was kind of charming, honestly.
As they moved through the crowded hallway, some of Keonho's friends greeted him with quick handshakes and half-finished hellos. Their shoulders brushed lightly, but neither of them said anything,the noise was too loud. And it was low-key nice being that close to Seonghyeon.
Seonghyeon hadn't forgotten the moment, when keonho's hand had lingered a second too long oh his hair. But he had just forgotten it afterwards in the spirit of proving that the formula keonho had said was wrong was indeed right. But now that he thought about it the moment was indeed intimate, but he didn't admit it even though the pace of his heart had sped up he acted normal.
When they entered the classroom together, all eyes briefly turned toward them. They both walked back to their respective seats. While Seonghyeon took out the books needed for class, Keonho couldn't help glancing over, still thinking about the warmth Seonghyeon seemed to carry with him.
Seonghyeon was doing things to him, unknowingly, and keonho seemed to never get enough.
---
have fun guys <333