Chapter Text
Thaddeus lets out a profound sigh while sweeping the floor. He glances at the clock opposite him and realizes how late it has gotten.
Even if he knew he’d be staying longer, he didn’t know it would have been this long. Then again, cleaning an entire classroom alone would not be an easy task to do completely alone.
He never should have said yes to covering someone else’s cleaning duty. They always do this.
The sun hitting his eyes isn’t helping him at all.
He is too desperate to be well-liked, isn’t he?
The soft ticking of the clock brings him strange comfort. At this point, it could be considered a friend of his, judging from the vast amount of time spent together.
Thaddeus, feeling disheartened, stops sweeping the floor. Another sigh escapes his mouth, this time unwillingly. As he looks around the abandoned classroom, he can feel his willingness to continue seeping into his shoes.
He leans on the tip of the broom, the point irritating his forearm. He wants to go home and eat his mother's cooking already. The light flickers here, and it makes him feel frightened. His heart is beating in his throat.
The door suddenly opens, scaring him to his core. Could this be a ghost?!
A gloomy figure steps out of the unlit classroom (safe from some lightbulbs flickering here and there and the setting sun).
“WHAAA” Thaddeus screams out of instinct, unable to do anything else. Raising the broom in the process.
“Are you alright? D-did I do something wrong?” Sun-Gu asks, eyes furrowed with worry.
“Uhm, y-you didn’t d-do anything wrong, Sun-Gu, you just started me.” Thaddeus has to almost physically bite his tongue while trying not to say Xiongdi, something people have told him time and time again he shouldn’t be calling Sun-Gu. He finally begins to accept that maybe he shouldn’t be calling the taller male his xiongdi.
“Xiongdi,” Sun-Gu adds, his face has an expression Thaddeus isn’t able to pinpoint.
Thaddeus blinks in surprise. He is still shaking a bit from the fright.
Thaddeus almost lets the broom fall from his hands. He must have misheard that, right?
While holding the broom, Thaddeus flumbles a bit with the chains adorning his pants, trying to calm his nerves for a bit.
Sun-Gu steps right in front of the illuminating window, blocking the sunlight from Thaddeus his face no longer exposed to the sun. Not that it makes much difference as to Thaddeus Sun-Gu is the sun.
“I’m sorry, Sun-Gu” is all that escapes Thaddeus’s mouth, his lips shaking ever so slightly.
Sun-Gu is way too good for him; he doesn’t deserve him at all. It stings to think about, yet it's abundantly clear. At the very least, to Thaddeus. Who is he kidding? It’s visible to everyone.
“What are you apologizing for? Besides its Sun-Gu xiongdi for you,” Sun-Gu says, raising his voice a tad, just enough to make one know he’s serious yet not enough to scare Thaddeus. All while he’s emphasizing the xiongdi and the you.
Thaddeus can’t help feeling special, even if he probably shouldn’t be feeling this way. He’s unworthy of someone like Sun-Gu. He’s someone who could get anyone he wants, he wouldn’t waste his time and effort on someone like him.
“Shouldn’t we start cleaning?” Thaddeus says on instinct, trying to change the subject as he can’t wrap his head around Sun-Gu's strange behavior.
“Please don’t change the subject,” Sun-Gu answers while the sun hits his face delicately. His eyes seemed to get bigger.
Sun-Gu should have just let him clean all by himself like everyone else does; he shouldn’t be this kind to him; he doesn’t deserve that. He should’ve gone home early and not wasted his time on him.
Like everyone else.